[IC] Target Earth! [A Monster Marathon]

[IceHeart]

Monster Lab

---

"So what deadly creations do you have for our first test run?"

That was the first question to come out of the commanding mouth of the alien with the moth like antenna hair. Her eyes quickly scanned over the various tubes of liquid and gadgets that filled the lab to the brim. Every color of liquid, tubes, vials, and computers were all over the place to be used, including what appeared to be a random junk pile.

Monsternancy was a fairly...inexact science. It tried a lot on trial and error and had some, mystical elements to it which added to the random factor. Data, chemicals, lab grown flesh, a lot of power, and even a foundational piece were all part of the 'recipe' process of Monsternancy. Various combinations were mixed together for a wide range of results.

The lead scientist, a somewhat, grasshopperish looking individual in what appeared to be a white, hazmat suit with no helmet, quickly walked over to one of the tubes with a fully grown specimen inside, tapping on the outside. The creature inside stirred in response to the knock.

"I believe this specimen should do quite nicely in response."

The scientist rubbed its hands together as if they were furiously washing their hands.

"What is its foundation based on?"

"A very good question indeed commander. The monster is based on something the humans call a 'traffic sign'."

"A what?"

"A traffic sign commander. You see the humans employ rather crude methods of transport and so follow various signs' rules in order to prevent accidents. They also use such signs for various other things such as marking territory and warnings to other earthlings. The signs essentially dictate what a human can or cannot do in their society. So using this data and one of their own 'yield' signs, we have managed to crank up the signs' mental and physical effects to a level far beyond mere suggestion. I can assure you that the effects are both versatile and powerful!"

The alien female commander squinted their eyes as if they had a headache as the scientist explained their creation.

"Well in any case the monster is strong, correct?"

"Most certainly commander, I am sure our first test run will be a startling success!"

"Well it had better be Head Monsternancer; I would like to get this over with on the first try for the Patriarch. Ready the monster at once!"

"Certainly!"

As the commander left the scientist gleefully rubbed their hands even faster, rather imitating the habits of a fly pondering their next flight path. With the push of a button the liquid was draining from the holding tube and the monster could be more easily seen.

It was a rather interesting monster, rather humanoid but with what appeared to be muscles made from metal rope, as if it had been made in a construction site. It was rather bulky, like a small gorilla and appeared to be wearing a welding helmet with very tinted lens. In one hand was a blank sign like one you might find on the side of the road.

"I suppose you need a name...let's see I'll got for a rather on the nose one I think for simplicity's sake. You shall be titled...Sign Master!"

As soon as the name was given, the 'glass' cracked and splintered into a thousand pieces as the monster burst forth from the tube.

"Greetings creatures of all varieties! Sign Master reporting for preparing our new construction site on some slimeball called Earth! You better follow by directions or you'll be on a one way trip to the medical bay!"

One of the more unique side effects of monsternancy was the monsters tended to gain strange personalities as soon as they were activated, and Sign Master was no exception.

"We'll get you to the construction site soon, but first you'll need to clear the way for us so we can really get under way!"

"Oh there is an obstruction to construction is there! Sign Master will be sure to take that obstacle to the black hole compactor! We'll be underway before the children can get across the crosswalk!"

The Head Monsternancer wasn't so sure about that last example but monsters would be monsters. Soon enough, Sign Master was being shoved into the laser beam transporter and was being directed at Earth with enough power to smash through the barrier. It would be mere moments before the monster would appear as close to the source of the barrier as they could pinpoint from so far away.

[IceHeart]

Earth - Coral City

---

The laser transporter broke through the invisible barrier and the Sign Master materialized on Earth, on a road just outside of a coastal city. The city was of moderate size, no metropolis to be sure but large enough to perhaps have a sizable tourism industry with its beautiful location. The area had lush vegetation further inland and nice, white beaches for the masses to enjoy.

The Sign Master looked down at a little wrist scanner that had been implanted during its germination stages. A little blip appeared further into the city but it was hard for it to get an exact lock on the barrier creation site. Sign Master shook its arm a bit but of course that didn't really help at all.

"Hard to start the demolition process without knowledge of the work area. Hopefully this gadget will tell me better when I get closer."

Suddenly a large blaring sound could be heard behind him and Sign Master turned to see a large semi-truck baring down on him at high speeds. Without a second thought his sign transformed into a 'Right Lane Closed' sign and he slammed it on the side of the road. As soon as the truck got closer it suddenly veered over into the other lane, straight into oncoming traffic. Sign Master laughed as the semi truck tried to correct course but for some reason was unable to get back into the other lane, even after passing the road sign and the monster. Vehicles quickly veered out of the way as the truck slammed the brakes as hard as possible.

Sign master started walking toward the city and when he got to the now halted semi, he stopped for a moment to glare at the pale driver.

"I don't want anything interfering with my company's construction plans so I think I'll go ahead and use you to make a little road barrier here."

Another sign materialized in Sign Master's hands, this one being a truck tipping over warning sign. Slamming the sign in the ground it then tilted it over so the truck in the sign was on the ground, and the truck itself quickly followed suit, and rolled over on its side blocking both lanes of traffic. With a big belly laugh, the Sign Master created another road sign, this one being a 75 mph sign. This one he held in his hands and started running down the road, instantly reaching 75 miles per hour.

"Shouldn't take more than an hour to find that demolition site at this rate. The master will be pleased the more quickly I can prepare the construction site!"

As the monster rushed down the road the previous signs disappeared, their uses having been expired they returned to mere energy.

[Searat]

Apparently Not a Waste of Government Funds.

---

Warning klaxons blared and red emergency lights flashed on and off throughout an underground facility hidden beneath the peaceful Coral City. Dozens upon dozens of staff ran to and fro through the dull grey halls, some even stumbling over one another as they desperately tried to go to their respective posts during this emergency. Never had the city -nay- the world managed to face such an emergency of this magnitude. Aliens were invading the planet Earth. Humanity had always believed that they were not alone in this universe, but they hadn't expected their first contact with other intelligent life forms would be such an openly hostile one!

But the secretive Federal Department of Normality was always prepared.

From the spillage of information regarding the existence of the paranormal to the very extinction of humanity as a whole, the FDN had plans A to Z ready for each situation...not that Earth needed any of them since the creation of the Department. An excuse that nearly de-funded the FDN several times in the past four decades. But now...now they knew that they weren't a waste of tax payer's money. In the command room there was a clamor of voices ranging from information of the attack to the current location and actions of the invader. Screens were showing the flow of data and live video feeds of the city, news broadcasts, social media, and even the strange metallic creature itself.

Everyone was in a panic, all but one. The current department head and founder of the FDN. Retired Field Marshal Titus Ross. Hardened by years of experience both on and of the battlefield, the news barely phased the old man. Hell it didn't even stop him from smoking his pipe. With a simple wave of his hand, an intern handed him all relevant documents and records of the incident that occurred no longer than ten minutes ago. "Hmm. A humanoid creature with the ability to use road signs to predetermine actions of things...we don't know the full capacity of this monster. We'll just have to send some of our best." A number of the staff paused and looked back to Titus. He couldn't have meant sending that. Lumps formed in their throats as they waited for the words to come out of their leader's mouth. "Sound for an evacuation order for the immediate vicinity of the monster. Send Grizzly-1 to the scene." A collective sigh of relief was shared throughout the command room. They weren't using that…yet.

---

Just as Sign Master reached the outskirts of Coral City proper, a looming figure roughly five meters tall stood in its path forward.

"Greetings, hostile xeno-lifeform. Prepare for termination." its synthesized 'voice' blared, uncaring and monotonous, before raising an arm and emitting a focused nova of searing energy at the alien.

[Gentlemanvaultboy]

The Last Gas~P was a small gas station on the outskirts of Coral City, situated right on the main road. It was named such because it was the last chance for busy tourists to top off and get a few snacks before leaving the confines of the city and setting out for home. Popcorn, snack cakes, jerky, extra large bags of chips, even a slurpee machine hummed along in the back corner. The only noises in the place were hums now. The hum of the machine, the hum of the electric lights, the humming of the woman as she pulled down the lever on the machine and filled a big cup with blue raspberry.

She moved to the front of the store, slurping up the frozen drink as she fiddled around in her pocket and threw a couple of dollars onto the counter. There was no one there to take it thanks to that general evacuation order. Most people had been eager enough to get out of dodge when they had the chance, but not Luna Delphina. She considered it lucky that she had been out here.

She picked up her oar from where she had laid it on the counter and walked to the door, pushing it open and leaning on the doorframe to get the best possible view of whatever was about to happen. She didn't have to wait long as a monster came zooming down the roadway toward it. The robot called out a salutation to the monster in its own killer robot sort of way before raising it's arm and firing a laser at the thing.

She eagerly sipped on her slurpee as she started moving closer, oar slung across her shoulders, a gleam in her eye and a bounce in her step. She wanted to know what the alien was going to do. Was it about to get obliterated? Dodge out of the way? Take the attack unscathed? What if it had some other trick? She prayed it did. Even if the robot had first dibs she didn't want the monster to go down before she had a go at it.

[WindsOfFate]

Butterflies of various shapes, sizes, and colors fluttered around the room. Minimalistic furniture sporadically inhabited specific places. A beautiful expensive curtain draped over the window to keep those who were unable to mind their business out of his. A dim light from the overhead lamp illuminated the center of the room, but left the edges dark and filled with mystery. In the center of the room, directly underneath the light was what looked to be a book. It levitated above a podium flipping through pages as if an invisible hand playfully ran through it. A man stood in the corner enrobed in the shadows. On the adjacent wall was what looked to be a mirror, beautiful and carved like a butterfly at the bottom and in the top right and left corner. The man stepped toward the mirror and reached out touching it gently with softly tanned hands and fingers that were elegant and betrayed the years of training he'd undergone.

With his touch, the mirror rippled showing all that was happening with the new threat to this world he called home. Yuri, born in a plane far away from this one, had come to call it home. He'd come here after being orphaned here. His parents were killed by someone who wanted him dead because of his gifts, but with the guidance of the Lan Sect, his parents made the best decision by leaving him in this plane of existence. Earth is what the natives called it, and it is what he called it as he learned who he was and where he'd come from. He trained day in and out in his younger years hoping to one day avenge his parents, but the day never came, instead, Earth was the home in which he had to protect from various threats, this time was no different. The news media named him the Butterfly Ninja because of his powers and agility. There were others like him with the unique gifts to protect Earth, and he'd gotten to know a few of them, but the job of protecting something comes with a price and sadly death ended the journey for many warriors of light.

He smirked as the creature displayed its abilities before speeding off toward its destination. He knew only that the creature had some sort of affinity with signs, but other than that he was going into this blind. He didn't have an arsenal at his disposal, but he was a weapon, fine-tuned with years of experience ready to jump in when needed. A large robot entered the scene and Yuri recognized the craftsmanship immediately. The old man was still alive it seemed. Another entered the fray, only this one was more youthful and seemed ready to take over if the robot failed. Yuri sighed and stretched.

"No time like the present," he said before transforming into a swarm of butterflies.

The swarm surged straight into the mirror leaving the room void of life. As the mech prepared to completely obliterate the alien threat, Yuri appeared in mid-air, the swarm of butterflies combining. He sat down in the air and watched.

"This is a little dangerous don't you think," Yuri said out loud, "perhaps a change in scenery. Besides, we don't want any harm to come to bystanders, now do we?"

Yuri drew a cube with his fingers and as he drew walls began to jut up from the ground and surrounded all those who had come to intercept the monster. The cube closed overhead and Yuri smiled.

"That should do it, a perfect cube. Now have at it."

[mantou]

---

_{mentions:@Searat@Gentlemanvaultboy@WindsOfFate}

Gou

Gou's sharp silver eyes narrowed in the darkness of the sewer tunnels, making sure to pace himself so as to not give away his position while running beneath the city. The beast panted non-stop as its speed increased further - it truly was a struggle to keep its footfalls light. He snarled as the water continued to splash around, wetting his fur. From what he could recall, the Elders back at the Yuheng Sect did mention having to run across underground tunnels, but nobody ever told him it would be this wet.

They'll definitely be hearing from me once I'm back...

Its nails dug into the concrete and skidded to a halt-- this was the place. He shook himself dry, then readied himself. A yowl echoed in the tunnels as the wolf leaned back on its hind legs and positioned its heavy body upright. Its neck stretched up towards the tall opening of the sewers, and its limbs began to morph and elongate, gradually overwriting fur with tough human skin. The once-quadruped creature now stood taller as a man at six feet - with coarse and wavy hair that fell to his waist.

Soon, a wet thud was heard as the backpack that was previously secured to the wolf's chest waist fell to the floor, unable to be held up any longer by the man's slimmer torso. Grunting, he lazily leaned one arm against the wall to support himself. With his signature eye-roll and a click of the tongue, the man pursed his lips into a thin line and waited.

"As always, the transformation takes its sweet time."

It took some time before his tail finally disappeared - and just like that, all traces of his beast-form were gone. Gou let out an exasperated sigh as he walked over to the bag to turn it over, emptying its contents onto one hand. In swift motions he slipped into the black mission garb the Yuheng Sect provided its students. The seamstresses of Yuheng had spiritual arrays sown across the inner linings and hems of the robe, so their wearers were mostly protected against various types of spiritual and elemental damage. Along with this, it looked rather elegant, inconspicuous, and allowed for nimble movement in the heat of combat. The only remark Gou could think of was that the robes were definitely not waterproof. With a sigh, he proceeded to tie his hair into a high ponytail.

Soon after securing both his hair and then the scabbard that held his dao to his waist, he gripped the ladder in front of him with both arms and pulled himself up. During the climb, Gou began to hear faint rumbling and voices that grew louder the higher up he progressed.

"Greetings, hostile xeno-lifeform. Prepare for termination." a monotonous, alarm-like voice resounded within the tunnel hole; accompanied by another voice not long after. Gou's curiosity only grew further, scaling faster up the ladder until he reached the manhole cover. He twisted it slowly, hoping to not alert anyone on site.

Popping his head up, he had made it just in time to hear the second voice from earlier continue:

"That should do it, a perfect cube. Now have at it."

Gou stared in awe at the giant cube surrounding several select entities - a couple of which looked human, and others not. Using the chance to stay hidden, he gave the battleground a once-over and took note of the people currently present.

Firstly, what looked like his assigned target: a grotesque being that almost resembled a human... with a helmet in place of a head. It held a traffic sign that read "75 mph" and looked rather ready to defend itself.

Second - a tall, hulking figure that Gou could only refer to as a mech. This thing must have been where the loud voice came from - it definitely looked like it. The robot stood completely grounded with an arm pointed forward at Gou's target, already emitting a ray of light - a strange type of magical energy that he was not familiar with. Rest assured, he did NOT want to get in the way of that light.

Next, his eyes swept over a lady with white hair and an outfit that made the young wolf quickly avert his eyes momentarily. Looking back, she seemed to be happily... walking towards the enemy. Surely, she must have something up her sleeve... Gou thought to himself, his initial concern for her depleting as he decided to assume the latter.

Lastly, the beast spirit looked towards the man who he assumed was the one who just finished speaking. The figure was lithe and bright, donning a suit that made him look nearly celestial. He mentioned a 'perfect cube'... this must be it-" Gou exclaimed inwardly, giving the cube another glance before he finally settled on a decision.

With a loud scrape, he pushed the manhole cover to the side and swiftly lifted himself onto the ground. After revealing himself, he promptly bowed in the direction of the two humans and singular robot. Gou then cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled loud enough for the others to hear:

"From the Yuheng Sect - here to provide assistance!" he figured that he needed to make it clear whose side he was on first - only then proceeding to make his way between the robot and the man in white. Gou unsheathed his dao and prepared for the sign-monster to make a move.

[IceHeart]

Earth - Coral City

---

The first road block to appear was that of a giant robot blocking the way, forcing Sign Master to grind to a halt to prevent a head-on collision. The giant robot greeted it with tried and true killer-robot fashion, essentially announcing the monster's imminent destruction. The robot was actually fairly impressive, given the average technological level of the primitive Earthlings.

"Rather impressive piece of construction there. I wouldn't mind meeting the engineer sometime and give them some tips!"

Sign Master taunted as the massive machine raised an arm to fire a laser. Sensing the oncoming attack, sign master quickly spun his sign around and it quickly transformed into a round-about sign, with the lack arrows starting at one end, going around in a circle and flowing out the other end. Due to the sign, normal physics was completely ignored as the laser got within a few yards, then was forced to bend around, like a car getting into a round-about, and exit out the other side, smashing into a newly constructed perfect cube.

Three other humans appeared and soon it was a 4-1 in somewhat cramped conditions. Sign Master whistled at how the perfect cube seemed unfazed by the powerful laser.

"We got ourselves an actual builder on hand I see. Also two weirdos."

The builder was of course the newly arrived butterfly mage and the two weirdo's being the oar girl and manhole man. They were unknown factors at the moment, but what was quite apparent was butterfly guy's attempt to limit the battlefield. This was a decent strategy, however not against Sign Master.

"I want to thank you for this wonderful construction work of yours human, I'll be sure to use it to the utmost!"

With a laugh, he spun his sign around again, changing it to a 'no trespassing' sign he planted it in the ground in front of him, easily piercing through the asphalt of the road. The 'no trespassing' sign had the very strong effect of preventing anything from going past it however the area was limited but because of the cube that limit wouldn't really be a factor. With a step back a new sign materialized in hand, a 'falling rock' warning sign. The 'no trespassing' sign wouldn't last long, but as long as the cube remained there would be nowhere to dodge.

"Maybe I'll be able to scrounge a few parts for when the real construction project starts!"

Sign Master chuckled as rocks suddenly started to materialize above the everyone's heads, from small pebbles to giant boulders, the rocks started to come down like an avalanche, threatening to crush them all.

[Gentlemanvaultboy]

As the robot fired its laser three things happened in rapid succession. First the monster held up the...sign? Yeah, that's what it looked like. Like a crossing guard ferrying a bunch of school kids across the road it held up a sign to block the laser. From the angle she was approaching from she couldn't see what was on it.

The second was that a swarm of butterflies appeared out of thin air and coalesced into the butterfly guy. You know, that guy? From the news? She didn't watch the news a lot, admittedly, but every other time she had caught it he'd been there being up some bad dude or helping out with some disaster. So that meant the robot was right, this really was some kind of evil alien. She doubted butterfly guy would have shown up to help with some kind of ordinary misunderstood alien. With a wave of his fingers he threw up a magic box to keep the alien, the robot, and them contained. Which was a good thing, as the robots laser swerved around the alien to hit the cube behind it.

The third was that a black robed kung-fu boy popped up out the sewers and drew his blade, also here to fight the monster. Thankfully, it seemed like besides declaring their intentions both were content to wait their turn. She started running at the alien, ready to take her shot now that the robot had whiffed, but as she got closer the alien swung that sign around towards her and jammed in into the ground. She ran headfirst into something invisible and bounced off a step. She looked confused for a moment, taking up her oar and tapping the air in front of her in three different and surprisingly solid spots before looking at the actual symbol printed on the sign. "Oh, that's your power?" She said as it clicked, more impressed than anything. "Neat technique."

She leaned a shoulder casually against the invisible barrier between them as the alien stepped back, like she was talking to a friend in a school stairwell. "So my names Luna, nice to meet'cha. You're, like, an alien construction worker? That's cool. That's cool." She took another long drag from her slurpee, licking her lips before continuing. "You got a name? You're supposed to introduce yourself before you fight somebody. Earth custom."

The aliens answer seemed to be in the form of another sign, one anyone that had ever been hiking in the mountains should recognize. She glanced up just as a pebble glanced off boulders plummeting toward her. "Is that a no?" She asked. She threw the remains of her slurpee into the air, the cup tumbling end over end in the air between her and the rock aimed right at her. At least it was before she took he oar in both hands and swung right through the plastic cup. The contents, however, didn't spray everywhere like you would expect. Inside as the oar traced its way through the air the liquid that hand been smashed out of the cup adhered to the oar, fluttering like a sail as she brought the oar around again at the boulder. "Wavebreaker Style: Sailfish."

The liquid coating the end of her oar began to flow around it in a torrential current as she swung. By the time she impacted the boulder it was moving with enough speed and force that, with her single swing, she was able to cleave a boulder the size of herself clean in half. The two piece of the boulder slammed into the ground on either side of her, but her motion didn't stop. There were still, after all, more rocks. Her oar flowed cleanly from one to the other, weathering the storm of rocks and leaving piles of them bisected all around her. She didn't get all of them, the smaller of the rocks knocking into her head and shoulders as she danced, but she had to focus on the bigger ones.

Amid the oppressive noise of the avalanche, though, he voice still managed to right out across the cube. "Okay, somebody else's turn now." If there was any distress over the current situation present in the woman her voice did not betray it. She said it as though passing the controller to a video game.

[Searat]

The Real Battle Begins.

---

A good deal of other participants joined in the fray. The Butterfly Ninja, The Hydromancer, and a member of the Yuheng Sect. All individuals that the FDN had kept close tabs on. He was very pleased that they managed to keep the paranormal away from the normalcy of Earth, but he guesses that they couldn't keep the secret any longer. Titus smirked at the sight. Then a light chuckle followed. Not long after, it turned into a hearty laugh. The sight of the usually cold and stoic head of the FDN unsettled those in the command room slightly. "Apologies...heh...I just thought I'd never see the day that Operation Burning Cover would actually be used. Protocols A through G are in effect. Let's hop to it ladies and gentlemen." With a singular chorus of 'Yes sir' the staff redoubled their efforts and focus. Titus couldn't have asked for a better workforce than those of his employees.

Meanwhile...

---

"Spacial anomaly detected. Recalculating plans..." Grizzly-1 said as Sign Master nearly effortlessly redirected the blast of energy. Harmlessly impacting...an invisible force? His sensors then picked up three new life signatures in the combat zone. The mech's AI recalculated the current strategy into prioritizing the safety of the organics present. What better way to keep them safe by keeping the hostile xeno-lifeform focused on it? But before it could act, the creature caused two more anomalies. One to prevent them from getting into melee range and another had summoned boulders the size of people crashing down upon them!

But with the intervention of the strange oar wielding woman, the waters she controlled reduced the boulders to a nearly harmless shower of stone. Merely doing superficial damage to the paint job of the mech. Raising a hand to give the woman a thumbs up as a sign of appreciation, it warned them of its attack. "Please cover your ears." If sound was still able to bypass the anomaly caused by the 'no trespassing' sign, then a concussive force created by sound will as well. Rerouting the energy meant for the arm lasers to its voice module, it modulated the volume to the maximum limit. Turning the somewhat mundane voice module of the machine into an impromptu one shot sonic cannon. Lunging forward and aiming its head at Sign Master, Grizzly-1 unleashed a powerful roar.

[WindsOfFate]

It was key that he observed his opponent before engaging in any sort of fight. Yuri never underestimated an opponent. All the cultivation efforts he did with the clans of the west and those of the east had built him to remain calm even in the face of imminent danger. The creature displayed an affinity with using everyday signs as a means of protecting itself and attacking others. The way the beam of energy from the Grizzly-1 bent in response to the sign the creature held was impressive. Not only that, but Yuri couldn't help but chuckle at the response the alien gave to all of them arriving to stop it from doing whatever it was it intended to do.

Yuri watched as his fellow guardian of Earth stepped forward to face the menacing sign-wielding creature. It was no secret that warriors of light either knew each other or knew of each other. Yuri knew of nearly all of the saviors of Earth realm, and he kept the information safe in his Grimoire, but he knew not everyone knew of his existence, even though he didn't make it any less obvious who he was. Known as the Butterfly Ninja or Monarch by the public, Yuri did all he could to keep the world safe from various supernatural threats, and today was no different.

He watched Gou enter in through the manhole cover that led to the sewer and shook his head. He vanished and appeared next to him.

"The Yuheng Sect you say? I know your master, quite a lovely man. I also know the Lan Sect masters and a few others," Yuri said with a smirk, "I dated a few of them, but that's a different story. Anyways..."

Yuri's conversation was cut short when the boulders started to fall. He watched as the oar-wielding heroine smashed the boulders to bits, but there were still a few that had managed to escape her oar of destruction. Yuri muttered under his breath and held his hand in front of him in a Buddhist Monk way. The boulders that neared him and Gou shattered instantly without being touched, but if one were to look closely they would notice butterflies striking the boulders and causing another pebble shower. Not a single pebble touched Yuri as he turned his attention back to the sign-wielding maniac. There had to be a weakness to his power. Clearly, it was sign-based, and whatever was on the sign was what happened, but was there a time limit?

By this point, Grizzly-1 was preparing another attack, this one sound-based.

"This might hurt," Yuri said surrounding himself, Gou, and Luna in a soundproof barrier. He then extended his hand and watched as a butterfly fluttered swiftly over to the mechanized machine, affixing itself to the cold metal. The purpose of the butterfly was to increase the power of the machine. Instead of the sonic attack being a normal one, the butterfly amplified it to incredible levels. Thankfully the perfect cube would keep all of it inside and Yuri's soundproof barriers would keep them safe.

[mantou]

---

_{mentions:@Searat@Gentlemanvaultboy@WindsOfFate}

Gou

Gou took a mental note after watching the helmet monster bend the rules of reality by changing its signs - this fight was not going to be easy for him. Yet earlier when he had arrived, there were those around him who confidently stepped into the fray not long after. This gave him plenty of time to gauge what the sign-wielding creature was capable of. From the moment the light beam detoured and took its exit, things ramped up fairly quickly. The 75mph sign transformed into one that read "No Trespassing". The pieces didn't come together for the young man at first and squinted his eyes at it.

While still in confusion, his stone face did not betray him. His train of thought did not have a chance to start before he was interrupted by a voice that came from beside him. This sudden closeness coupled with the dialogue that came from nowhere would have startled Gou if he hadn't already steeled himself before entering the fight. "The Yuheng Sect you say? I know your master, quite a lovely man." Being a cultivation disciple, it was important to stand your ground and keep a steady face. However, hearing that sentence made Gou's stance shift slightly.

...my master? is a lovely man? could it be that we are thinking of different people? he questioned the possibility and inadvertently narrowed his eyes at the man in white.

"...I also know the Lan Sect masters and a few others. I dated a few of them, but that's a different story, anyways..."

At this, Gou's eyes could not have possibly gotten any wider. The Lan Sect is a place where he had trained for four whole seasons as a young transfer disciple not too many years ago. During his time there, he learned that they were the strictest of all sects within the cultivation world. Respect, righteousness, and most importantly, discipline. There were over thousands of rules written in stone, and breaking any one of them meant risking your life's worth of hard work and getting kicked out of the exchange program. Their disciples were separated by male and female - anytime Gou would even glance at a girl, he'd be met with disgust and dust thrown in his face. The boy lamented this fact as the scenes flashed across his eyes. With disbelief etched across his soul and heart, he struggled to maintain a thick face in front of the man as he tried to digest such offensive information. Just how, how could this be?

While that person was getting involved with the Lan Sect leaders... this poor disciple could not even ask for the names of the sectmates he fancied. Just then, a name resounded in his head as words overheard from his sectmates flooded in. Could this person really be the same man his peers spread word about? Rather than being gossip, he was held with respect in terms of getting what he wanted when he wanted. So, this was Yuri.

"You..." Gou grit his teeth as his ears turned a shade of red. "...you'll have to tell me about them when this battle is over." The young man cringed internally. He was equal parts annoyed and embarrassed after being one-upped by a tenfold so easily - but he was always the type who willed himself to learn more from those he respected.

The disciple turned his attention back to the fight, seeing that the lady in blue had just managed to dodge the monster's swing. The fight ensued between the two after the lady introduced herself as Luna, and the rest of them simply watched in anticipation. The situation that unfolded left Gou feeling amazed. Since this was his first time taking missions outside of his sect's province, this was also his first time witnessing an ordinary person brandish the power of waves - and with a technique that he'd never heard of, let alone learned. This disciple was shaken. For the longest time, he'd thought himself one of the best at his age group, spending countless years meditating, and disciplining himself to cultivate a core to properly hone his element: wind. It was not easy, and without his core, he would be practically useless. And yet, this water-elementalist in front of them had no spiritual core that he could sense... spiritual core or not - he had to admit that her skills were no joke. The boulders summoned by Helmet's new sign were sliced in half above her as the water around her oar continued to swing and showcase its deadly potential. He decided that as soon as this mission was over, he would communicate directly with his master and inquire about the existence of these deviants.

After that passing thought, the mech spoke. "Please cover your ears." Gou's hands quickly shot up and pressed against his ears expecting the worst. He already knew that the mechanized, yet somehow thoughtful, creation had the potential to melt him down easily with only light rays - what more could it do with sound waves? The man cursed at the fact that he chose to stand so close by. Would his ears be able to handle what was to come? At least the robot warned them...

"This might hurt."

Gou was ready to lose his eardrums before coming to realize that the white-clad mage had already cast a sound-protection barrier around himself, Gou, and Luna. And not only this, but the magic-user had also been materializing and sending out what looked like butterflies to counter the giant rocks falling from above, threatening to crush them both if not for the intervention of the mage. His last move was not clear to Gou, squinting his eyes at the butterfly that landed on the mech. However, he was not keen to ask too many questions this time. He was with a team that was more than capable of pulling their weight - he figured he’d do the same.

Under the protection of the barrier, he unsheathed his saber and poured his spiritual energy into it, imbuing it with the element of wind. He willed the motions of his weapon to collect and guide the air surrounding it and performed three consecutive slices aimed at the helmet-sign-monster. Three shockwaves exploded from where he stood, shaking the ground around him and kicking up debris as it traveled quickly towards the monster alongside the mech's sonic blast.

[IceHeart]

Earth - Coral City - Currently Cubed

---

The boulder attacks were proving not to be all that effective. The main problem was the water gal cut down all the big one's little bits, turning what could have been a crushing defeat into a small nuisance for everyone involved. The problem with the falling rocks sign was Sign Master couldn't actually make all the rocks big ones, it was completely random and therefore just didn't have enough...'gravity' power to do much with all the big rocks being chipped down by water.

"Well fine, slosh away all my hard work why don't ya!? But at least with my 'no trespassing' sign you can't do much-"

That was as far as Sign Master got as the giant mech did something very unexpected, it roared like the loudest, most obnoxious bear you could imagine which itself become a sonic cannon. Sound was not something that a no trespassing sign could stop, while a person was not supposed to cross past it, you could still yell at someone across the way, like the machine was doing right now. The Sonic blast smashed into Sign Master, his helmet head not really helping matter, causing it to fall backwards, holding its head.

"Gah! I didn't realize I'd need hearing protection at this worksite!"

Sign Master grumbled as he forced himself up, but the disorientation from the sonics caused him to miss the approaching shockwaves from Gou. The three shockwaves slammed into him, forcing the monster back and making it grunt in pain. Sign Master glared at the group in anger.

"No one gets away with messing up my work schedule! Ya got that! HUH!? Guess I should have known this would be a bit more of a hands on job."

As the 'no trespassing' sign started to disappear he materialized his next sign, this time an 'Ice Warning' sign with a blinking light included. Slamming it into the ground instantly the ground was covered in a layer of ice. Next he materialized an 85 mph sign, ripped off the sign part while leaving the pole in hand. He slapped the 85 on his chest and instantly bolted forward, skating across the ice with ease while wielding the metal pole like a club as he passed Gou to knock him out of commission, as soon as he passed he materialized a U-turn sign with his free hand, instantly turning around for another strike, intent on fully paying him back for the earlier shockwaves.

Once past him again, another sign would appear such as a left or right turn, allowing Sign Master to effortless skate across the icy ground at breakneck speeds. As he sped around he mostly aimed for Gou and Luna, trying to knock them out first before turning on the butterfly man and the robot; while the butterfly guy was a little hard to target, the robot was a big target and so Sign Master threw a sign plate like a shuriken onto one of its legs.

The sign that attached itself to the Grizzly-1 was yet another ice-warning sign, this time instead of freezing the ground tried to freeze the Grizzly-1 from the left-leg up. In the meantime Sign Master continued its assault on the 'ground troops' with its vehicular speed and deadly metal pole.

[WindsOfFate]

The sonic wave crashed into the barriers he'd placed around his allies and Yuri could feel the potency. Such a roar would have been adequate enough, but with the enhancement provided by the butterfly, it proved to be enough to rattle the sign-wielding maniac. To add to it, Gou had launched a wind-based attack as well which collided with the alien and proved very useful. Yuri was impressed. The Yuheng Sect was known for their intense training, much like the Lan Sect and those of the Silver Moon Sect. Being a part of the same world made Yuri feel some sort of responsibility for Gou as if he were his guardian or something. He knew of Gou's master and his mind reminisced to the day he first met him. Talented. Strong, and very rash. His disciples often laughed at Yuri when he would say that their master was kind. Apparently, he was known for having a cold exterior, but when the man trained Yuri, he had a warm approach and everything flowed better. There was no sexual attraction there, but Yuri knew he could also reach out to the man if needed. There was one from the Yuheng Sect that he missed terribly, but he dare not go back, he couldn't not now, not after what he'd done.

He left that lifestyle for a reason because he wanted to prevent fighting, but he knew he'd hurt them, he knew they would probably never forgive him. Meeting Gou was bringing back memories he didn't expect and it unnerved him slightly to think that there could be a possibility of returning just to visit, only to visit. His mind had left the battlefield, if only temporarily, but when it returned he saw that ice now covered the ground and the lifeform now had a speed limit sign attached to his chest with a metal pole in hand. His body reacted on instinct and when he heard the clang of metal striking metal, he looked at Gou and quickly located the Sign Master. The blade of the beautiful sword Yuri held pulsed with energy. Letters etched in the blade began to glow. He didn't have time to wonder why as the Sign Master came charging again and again his body reacted, protecting Gou as if he had sworn to do so. The sword's edge collided with the pipe in a shower of sparks littered the iced ground.

"This has gone on long enough," Yuri said as he cut his hand and ran it across the blade.

The letters engorged with power and Yuri's form brightened slightly as he flipped away elegantly on the ice before spinning around to unleash his attack.

"Blood Omen: Spirit Swarm!"

Yuri's aura fluxed as several portals within the cube opened releasing a swarm of spiritually charged butterflies before closing swiftly. Each butterfly was packed with arcane energy, resistant to manipulation, and controlled only by Yuri. He would need to be knocked unconscious for the swarm not to attack their target. The swarm of butterflies gathered around Yuri, Yuri's eyes having changed with the power of the spell. Holding the blade of the sword, the swarm waited until Yuri made one slashing motion in the direction of the Sign Master. The swarm surged forth like a bright line of destructive energy.

[mantou]

---

_{mentions and actions:@Searat@Gentlemanvaultboy@WindsOfFate}

Gou

Inside the cube, anticipation rested heavily in the air when Sign-master was taken off guard by the combined attack.

Things started to look up for the group. After gathering its bearings the alien started to spout some angry nonsense that Gou didn't find too noteworthy. While it was true that its abilities were remarkable, this guy couldn't help feeling rather smug. An exasperated sigh left his lips accompanied by an eye-roll while the thing spoke - almost as if to hurry it up with the threats.

It was not long before he realized the ground beneath him had turned slippery. Tsk... All it’d take was one careless move and he would end up on the ground. With knuckles white, he tightened his grip around the hilt of his saber, quickly channeling energy through three main chakra points to reach his feet. The spread-out spiritual energy would be enough to center his mass, allowing him more freedom to move on the ice.

The sound of scraping ice rapidly closed in on Gou. It appeared the Sign-master wore a new creation on its chest and used it to the best of its ability. Gou had no time to observe much else and could only take note of imminent danger. A quick scan of his surroundings showed that it was only him and Luna within the Sign-master's attack range. Immediately he shifted his weight and got ready to dodge. There were very few times that his calculations were incorrect - this moment added to them. With his focus entirely on keeping a steady balance and deciding on his next move, he realized he was not going to make it in time before the pipe connected with him. Still, there was a slim chance and he decided to take it. His palms slammed together, he proceeding to close his eyes and muttering a quick spell. With one arm, he circled it around and pushed forward.

A strong gust of wind blew towards Luna and himself in an attempt to push them both out of the Sign-master's line of attack. Gou simultaneously ducked to the ground and kept one hand on the ice to control the distance of his slide. A whistle of wind came from an item being thrown from where he previously stood. However, this time he was not the cause of it. The sound of crystallization cracked through the air; it came from the mech. Soon the monster’s intentions were clear... the robot that released the sonic boom earlier had its leg frozen over.

The sharp ringing of metal reverberated in the air before he could think of anything else.

Looking back, he realized that Yuri intercepted the monster before it could have possibly reached him - not grasping that the monster had come back around for another attack. With a scoff, he narrowed his eyes at the scene. So, now people think I need their help? he went off in his head. It was quite the opposite of many peoples' reactions after being rescued; he felt slightly offended. A look of disdain was plastered on his face and it refused to budge. Clearly, I am perfectly capable of handling mys-- he paused. What was that in Yuri's hand? And just why on earth did it look so much like the holy weapon his master used to keep in his study?

Then a thought occurred to him. It felt like an uninvited guest that forgot to take their shoes off before stepping inside his house.The Yuheng Sect you say? I know your master... I dated a few of them... Gou groaned internally. Thankfully his thoughts were cut short when Yuri spoke.

"This has gone on long enough," Gou's eyes widened in disbelief as his suspicions were confirmed. Yuri's intention was to use a spell that required the use of his blood... this was definitely that sword. And there was only some time left before the ancient script released its energy. Yuri went on to distance himself from the Sign-master and activated his spell with a phrase.

"Blood Omen: Spirit Swarm!" This was Gou's cue to leave. A dangerous situation was about to unfold for the enemy and he did not want to be within the vicinity when it happened. While Yuri was handling the Sign-master, he would try and assist his teammate in the meantime. This lad was arrogant and competitive, but he knew deep down that he probably would be a dead disciple by now if it weren't for this group of people. Before he left he struggled to express his newfound gratitude to Yuri, who now stood before him to take the attack meant for Gou. The sorcerer looked as though he was emitting a strange light. Gou blinked once in confusion then shook his head, craning it upwards to glance at the magician. "Thanks..." he forced through clenched teeth, hoping Yuri heard so he wouldn't have to repeat it. Respect to those who go out of their own way for others.

With thickened skin, he pushed himself up and formed a channel of wind for him to move faster on the ice. Gliding this much cost him a bit of stamina but allowed him a hasty meeting with his teammate. Upon arriving, he gave the mech a once-over and clicked his tongue - this wouldn't do. Ice and metal usually didn't go well together. He looked around and thought further. Granted, the process of rust would be slowed down by a lot... but right now the mech suit was still immobilized. At this point, he grew concerned about how his decision-making performance would look on his report, and he quickly made his choice.

After a slight hesitation, he bit his lip and raised the saber, striking it down on the bot's ice-encased leg in an attempt to chip away at it. Never in his life did he expect to use his trusted, most-prized possession as an ice pick one day. Gou cursed silently to himself in the process - profusely apologizing to the weapon while hoping that this effort would be worth it.

”I’ll try to get this ice off... sir." His tone raised at the address of choice - realizing the person inside could very well be a woman. No matter - woman or not, the ice was proving to be difficult to break. Even though his saber was exceptionally strong, he as a person was not well-versed in how to efficiently pick at ice. "Please feel free to move while I do so; it could help with the process."

[Gentlemanvaultboy]

Luna twirled her oar and set the thing across her shoulders again as the last of the rocks stopped raining down on them, the torrent of water on the end still raging but slightly diminished. From the looks of it she had gotten a few more rocks that she had intended judging by the clean cuts in the rubble around the robot. Sailfish did have a habit of throwing off blades of water when swung at that speed, so she had been careful to only swing at angles that went above the heads of the others.

The robot surprised her with a thumbs up, which she returned. It just went to show you couldn't judge of robot by the lack of tonality in its voice or the array of extremely deadly weapons in carried, even as it prepared to unleash one of those deadly weapons in a wide area. She went to cover her ears like it said, but a voice and a bubble that suddenly appeared over them stopped her. The voice was clear, because every other sound had suddenly been muted. "This might hurt."

She turned to spot The Butterfly Guy and The You Hang guy inside the bubble with her. She turned her thumbs up into a wave. "'Sup?" She greeted them. She had been two busy smashing rocks to hear what they had been talking about, but she did get to witness You Hang Guy taking his turn. Her eyebrows perked up as she watched him draw his weapon, taking in all the details like you would a painting on a relaxing trip to an art gallery. The concentration, the form, the subtle way the air distorted around the blade as it was gathered together. She cupped her chin in interest. He moved air like she moved water. "Cool." She said, graciously bowing out of the way as the the three shockwaves left her poncho fluttering as they sped past.

Whatever noise the mecha made she couldn't hear, but she could feel it vibrating through the ground. The alien certainly felt it, the noise rattling him enough to send him onto the ground. He had just barely climbed back to his feet when the shockwaves threw him back but didn't cut him. Either he was real tough or those had just been pure concussive force, no blade at all. Regardless, as the sound barrier came down both man and robot were greeted to the sound of Luna whistling at them in applause.

Before she knew it, though, the next phase of the battle had begun. Ice spread out across the floor as far as she could see. She took her oar back off her shoulders and readied in the alien's direction, but the alien wasn't there anymore. She caught a flicker of movement in the corner of her eye, tracking it to spot the alien going after Hang Guy. The black robed man pushed his hand in her direction and she felt a gust of wind push her across the ice even as it propelled him away from the aliens first strike.

She skidded backwards, spreading her stance and using the oar as a third leg to keep herself balanced. She watched, nearly calling out a warning as she saw the alien come around for another go at Hang Guy but stopping as Butterfly guy deflected the blow before it could reach him. That was when the alien changed it's target, skating across the ice right for her. It raised its pole, and she twirled her oar and swung as it came into striking distance. The two clashed, but Luna had no leverage on this ice and was sent flying like a hockey puck across the cube. She couldn't help but think it was kind of fun, even as her arms started to ache from the clumsy way she had tried to deflect that blow.

Luckily, her salvation had been provided by he alien himself. She saw something brown out of the corner of her eye and reached out, grabbing onto the cleanly bisected edge of one of the boulders from earlier. As the Alien went in for a follow up blow Luna disappeared, her momentum transferring to the boulder and causing it to spin like a merry-go-round on the icy floor. As she held on she flipped her oar over and dragged the head along the ground, the rotation of the water still attached to it melting the ice it came in contact with and collecting it into the torrent.

As the makeshift top completed its rotation she saw the alien again. "Wavebreaker Style: Greenland Shark!" She swung the oar forward, launching the water across the ice. It kept going, a cutting blade rolling across the top of the ice like a deep sea predator lurking just below the surface. As it sped across the ice toward its prey it only got bigger and more powerful, melting the ice and gathering the water into itself as it went.

[Searat]

Progress But With a Cost.

The use of a sonic attack was effective!

Sign Master was directly hit by the concussive force but, with the butterfly ninja's magics empowering the blast even further, was even disoriented to a degree. Even managing to cause the alien to disorient it and allow the Yuheng agent's attack to hit without any chance of defense. But this progress came at the cost of utterly frying the voice module, rendering the mech mute. A few of the armor plates on the robot's chest slid back as a cube of semi-solidified meld of plastic and copper was ejected to the asphalt before it could do any damage to the Exoframe's other systems. In the time that Grizzly-1 ejected the slag, Sign Master realized that a hands on approach would yield better results than being passive about its attackers.

The signs switched out, one to freeze the asphalt and another to enhance its speed significantly. So fast that that Grizz-1 failed to react fast enough to defend Gou or Luna. But the mech didn't have to do anything by that point. Yuri and Gou's competencies were enough to protect the Hydromancer and the young Yuheng agent. As its AI calculated the chances of hitting Sign Master with one of its combat claws, a system warning alerted the unnatural decrease in temperature to the left leg and the imminent immobilization of said leg. A quick system diagnostic revealed that Sign Master had embedded a sign similar to the one that caused the road to freeze into the knee joint. The frost was growing quickly as ice began to encase the entirety of the leg. Yuri then utilized his magics to summon spectral butterfly projectiles and Luna performed her hydromancy to make a cutting blade of water, both aiming at Sign Master and likely occupying the alien bioweapon's attention. Allowing Gou to provide support to Grizzly-1.

The mech wished to reply to the young man but with the voice module missing the only gesture it was able to give to him was a thumbs up. But with the combined efforts of Gou and the brute strength of the Advanced Exoframe, Grizzly-1 broke through the ice binding it down...but the damage had been done. A number of armor plates had grown brittle from the instant freeze and broke into pieces as the mech marched forward. The Exoframe of the mech was by no means weak, but having its only layer of defense stripped was definitely a bad situation. Straddling into a form similar to a sumo wrestler, it unleashed a pod's worth of Hornet missiles aimed at the hostile alien.

The Hornet missile did not function similar to more mundane and simplistic missiles used by the military. Rather than being launched and guided to the target and detonate the payload, the Hornets functioned as autonomous weapon platform that surround targets and launch attacks from multiple angles. Grizzly-1's Hornets were equipped with the fully charged direct energy weapons that focused more on quantity over quality of the attacks. With six of the Hornet missiles locked onto Sign Master, a barrage of light was unleashed.
(Warning: Link GIF contains flashing lights. Individuals with a Photosensitive trigger to seizures, do not click.)

[IceHeart]

Alien Command Deck

---

The alien commander tapped a finger on her armrest in annoyance as she watched the battle unfold on the screen. Was the monster strong? Yes, it's abilities to ignore physics and bend reality to its will through the use of signs was quite the ability; however, the monster had some severe limits. The signs were useful to be sure but they were also quite limited: First, they could only be used with a sign that actually existed. Second, the signs were limited to ones that one might actually see on the road that were used to inform traffic, third, the range was limited and the time was limited. The monster made good use of its options but there was really only so much it could do.

Every monster was equipped with a microchip at conception that gave a direct line back to the ship, meaning they could view what the monster was viewing, plus their telescoptics could easily view anything on Earth from above with perfect clarity. The monster had done some clever maneuvering and achieved some success on the battlefield, but it was nowhere close to taking out even one of its assailants as of yet. It had knocked the woman around a bit and iced the mech's leg but it was painfully obvious the monster was getting cornered. It was boxed in and despite its speed would soon lose the area needed to dodge.

With a click of holographic touch screen, an electric impulse was sent to the monster, to prioritize finding the barrier's source over combat. She had seen enough of the monster to know that this first one was indeed a failure. There was a reason this planet had yet to be conquered, clearly sign master was not up to the task but it could still prove to be of some worth if they could narrow down the barrier's location in the meantime.

Earth - Coral City - Currently Cubed

---

For a moment it seemed like Sign Master had been making some progress in the fight, but the butterfly guy had started taking direction action and had prevented him from getting a clean hit on the manhole man. The water lady was also proving to be rather slippery and suddenly everyone had decided to counterattack all at once! It wasn't fair!

An electric jolt later and Sign Master suddenly knew what he had to do, continue the mission and abandon the fight if he could, but how? He was currently cubed, a water strike was coming in, the butterflies suddenly turned into a swarm of killer locusts, and Mech had a bunch of nasty missiles getting into position to turn him into a slab of metal! Sign Master was in quite the pinch! Then he realized something, manhole man had come up through the ground which meant the 'perfect cube' was not so perfect.

"Alright you obstructions have put me behind schedule long enough! Time to jump this joint! Well, tunnel actually!"

Creating a tunnel sign, he angled it down and instantly a tunnel appeared for him to slip down into. He quickly jetting down into it as narrowly missing the water strike and the barrage of light threatening to cut him down to size, unfortunately the butterflies kept coming.

"The heck are you, a swarm of bees!?"

Sign Master complained as he made sure to tilt the sign back up, changing the trajectory of the tunnel ahead to make into into a sort of U-shaped tunnel to slip out from under the cube's wall. As soon as he exited the tunnel he quickly got rid of the tunnel sign , causing it to vanish, trapping most of the butterflies underground, but a few managed to get through in time and strike him in the back.

"Ow, ouch! Sheesh those things sting, good thing I avoided most of the swarm! Well I have to get back on schedule or I'll be stripped down for parts! See ya losers!"

His chest sign having given out he fashioned a new one and put the plate on his chest for extra speed and bolted for the city. He needed to get some better readings and fast before he was intercepted again!

[Searat]

Was Designed To Be Tough, Not Fast.

Despite their best efforts, the xeno was a persistent and slippery one. Realizing that he was cornered, it opted to avoid any further confrontation and decided that getting past us is the priority. Utilizing how the young Yuheng agent entered the fight was quite creative of the creature but now that it was dashing away and growing more distant by the second, one thing was made apparent. It won't be able to catch up with the hostile before it could reach Coral City proper. Someone else needed to stop or intercept Sign Master before he could inflict any harm to the civilian populace or infrastructure.

With the energy cells depleted on the Hornet missiles, they promptly fell out of the air and plonked down onto the pavement. Slowly turning into a molten slag. A fail-safe to prevent the missiles to be reverse engineered by the wrong hands. Grizzly-1's AI reported the incident back to FDN facility in Coral City and a request for redeployment. The request was quickly approved by Titus and the mech promptly deactivated itself for preparation. Back in the FDN facility, a room the size of a football field contained a massive machine that roared to life as it accumulated the necessary energy required to recall the mech via displacing the space around it and replacing it with another space located within the machine. In other words, this football field sized machine was a teleporter. Titus' greatest achievement and his greatest failure...but that was a story for another time.

The recall of the massive mech would take at least ten minutes, and another ten to redeploy it on field. More than ample time for Sign Master to wreak havoc on the city. Thus the limitation of the FDN stuck out like a sore thumb. It was severely incapable of the deploying multiple assets on field in rapid succession, leaving it near incapable of dealing with multiple attacks. Regardless, Grizzly-1 would be temporarily neutralized and it was up to Gou, Yuri, and Luna to catch up and slay Sign Master.

Or perhaps another defender of Earth would be able intercept the metallic monster?

[mantou]

---

Gou

On the other side, a raging wave tore its way through the ice towards the Sign monster. Once again, it was a level of elemental skill that he only ever witnessed his elder martial brothers reach.

Gou looked back at his handiwork to be greeted with Grizzly-1’s thumbs up. He grinned at the mech and hacked away harder. The ice eventually broke but it was clear that Grizzly-1 was in a state worse for wear. The disciple watched as the giant robot willed itself forward still, and let loose what looked like strange robotic insects.

Another brilliant combination attack: Yuri’s deadly butterfly swarm, Luna’s rolling tidal wave, and the Grizzly-1’s light-emitting hornets. The excitement inside his chest swelled, swallowing in anticipation as he felt his mission nearing the end. In a way, he wished this would last longer.

"Alright you obstructions have put me behind schedule long enough! Time to jump this joint! Well, tunnel actually!"

Gou clicked his tongue at the word “tunnel”. His mind flashed back to the moment he entered from the manhole, already knowing what the Sign Master intended to do. He grit his teeth as a flash of irritation pricked at him. When an animal is cornered, they’d have no other choice but to flee. Next to him, a damaged Grizzly-1 stood still as the air around him distorted, as if it were in a trance. Something seemed to be happening to it, but there was no more time to wait. The situation was progressing fast, and before he knew it, the monster had already jumped down a tunnel.

The two perfectly executed strikes just barely missed. The butterflies, however, continued to follow. Gou decided there was enough time for him. With another click of his tongue, the disciple hastily unwrapped his upper robes and threw his scabbard down, leaving him half-naked. Now with enough freedom to do so, his body began to contort, submitting itself to the flow of energy that surged from his core. Within mere moments, Gou assumed his wolf spirit’s form, standing tall at 5”10, even on all fours. He slipped his head in between the rope that held his scabbard and let it fall to his chest, allowing him to wear it in his beast form.

Upon noticing that Sign Master had already left, the wolf dropped his head to the ground and inhaled. The monster bought with it a stench akin to heavy rust - and in this form, tracking was his specialty. Additionally, Yuri had already dispersed the cube they were in.

The direction the monster was heading in didn’t spell anything good. Before proceeding, Gou gave the group a howl to signal his departure and urged whoever could follow, to follow. The beast immediately took off into a sprint towards the Sign monster’s figure. This time around, the Sign Master definitely upped his pace, but Gou’s tailing abilities never failed him before. If speed was the game, then he was all for it.

Gou huffed as he sped up, effectively regulating his breathing to conserve as much energy as possible. At the same time, he was manipulating the wind behind him to will his body further and faster. In this form, his energy communicated with the elements much easier. It proved not to be much of an effort catching up to the alien. From behind the Sign Master, the beast’s eyes glared wide as he began to zero in. With a leap forward, the black wolf moved swiftly through the air and attempted to catch one of the Sign Master’s hands in his mouth. The plan ahead of this was uncertain, but keeping the Sign Master in one place was his main priority, entrusting the events afterward to his newly-found teammates.

[Gentlemanvaultboy]

Luna drove the tip of her oar into the ice, cracking it and bringing her spin to a stop so she could watch as her attack was joined by two others, two raging swarms of light. Hornets and butterflies and sharks all sped after the same prey, cutting off the aliens options of escape. At least, that was what she thought. Like lots of clever prey species he had a burrow he could slip down into for safety.

Luna sighed as she watched her Greenland Shark hit the edge of the aliens hole and launched into the air, being scattered apart by its own rotation into a harmless splash. The butterflies are the only ones that kept hunting, but as her eye caught movement outside the cube she saw that only a few reached the alien before it closed up the tunnel it had created and started sprinting off toward the city.

She let herself drop back down, scratching her head. "So, I guess we win huh?" She said. The alien had run off, that was definitely a sign you were winning even if it didn't feel like it. Maybe it was because she hadn't gotten the proper punch up she wanted, or that they'd gone four on one with the thing, but there was a lack of catharsis to the fight that was starting to eat away at her relaxed state of mind as Yuri dropped the cube.

At least one of them was as unsatisfied with things as she was. Hang Guy stripping off his top earned him a pair of raised eyebrows, but dramatic transformation sent a wide smile across her face. A werewolf. Like, an actual werewolf! The newly christened Werewolf Guy set his nose to the ground, picking up the scent of the alien, before howling and taking off down the road after it. The hunt wasn't over yet!

Luna sprinted, not after the wolf and the alien, but across the road to the gas station parking lot. There was only one vehicle left there since the evacuation and it didn't take a genius to figure out who it's owner was. A motor scooter painted navy blue, a duffel bag sticking up out of the attached sidecar. On the side of the sidecar the words "Wave Body" were printed in black under a depiction of a cartoon dolphin mid jump. The dolphin had its fin extended, giving anyone who passed it on the road an entirely anatomically incorrect thumbs up.

She leaped, clearing the sidecar and landing right on the seat before turning the key and putting the pedal to the metal. She turned out of the parking lot, zoomed between the robots legs, and set off after the alien and Werewolf Guy. With how fast the alien was moving she wasn't sure she would be able to catch up, but that didn't really matter. She was caught up in the current now, and she would only sap her strength fighting against it. It was like her Guru had said: when you're caught in a current like this the only thing to do was relax your body and let it carry you to where it terminates. Whether that was an island paradise or a barren rock surrounded by sharks, trust in the Wavebreaker Style to see you through safely.

It actually surprised her when she spotted them running along the road, but as she got closer she saw that Werewolf Guy had clamped his jaws around the aliens hand. No wonder she had caught up. Though the aliens' gorilla-like body was undoubtedly strong, the Werewolf Guy was wrenching and tearing and jerking him around. It threw off his running form, not to mention the fact that he practically had to drag the giant wolf as he went. That would slow anyone down.

She spun her oar up, holding it up and facing the broad side forward as she approached. As she did a glossy sheen of water began to cover the paddle, her chi grabbing and knitting together the moisture in the air into a thin glove of water for it. It wasn't a lot, but it began to spin all the same like before. A weaker version of Sailfish. She didn't have time to gather more before she was pulling up beside him.

"Hey!" She shouted at the alien. "Remember me? We met in the cube? I'd still really like to get your name." The alien's only answer was to lash out with its sign pole, an attack that was met with her oar. The two weapons clashed, the muscles on Luna's arms bulging with the strain, but this time with the two on relatively equal footing there was no clear winner. The two broke off, Luna's oar coming for the aliens helmet, but he spun his own pole up to block her swing again before sliding his sign pole down the shaft of her oar towards her. Luna was forced the retreat to get out of the way, breaking slightly to slip out of range but was still only saved from a braining by a well timed wrench by Werewolf guy pulling the alien aside just enough so that the pole only scraped the tip of her nose.

She couldn't do this only one hand free. Luna kicked off her sandals, letting them bounce away behind her. She kept one foot on the accelerator and brought the up onto the steering wheel, gripping the brake plunger with her toes getting two hands on her weapon she steered back towards him. "Wavebreaker Style: Swordfish!" She said, striking at the monster with a series of swings and thrusts. The alien, to its credit, did its best with one arm and a gothic horror monster doing its best to disrupt its offence. It blocked or deflected one out of every three attacks Luna threw its way, always striking the shaft of the oar to avoid its weapon being eaten through by the water saw on the oars end that opened up a new scar on his body every time it struck. It was a losing battle though, and the alien knew it. Luna was having the time of her life, finally getting the kind of insane clash of weapons she had been dreaming of since the fight began, but to the Alien she was only an annoying and dangerous obstruction that had to be dealt with. It cared nothing for the fight itself, so it changed tactics.

Deflecting one last strike it banished its weapon end summoned up a new sign that it presented to Luna. It took her a moment to process, but in that moment she found herself flying through the air carried forward only by her previous momentum. The scooter was nowhere to be found. All Motor Vehicles had been Prohibited. Her duffle bag fell to the road, flipping end over end as it struck the asphalt and fell behind them in a morbid preview of what was about to happen to her. She was not dressed to deal with road rash, and so in a hail Mary effort she swung her Oar down at the road. The oar pushed her just enough, but she was forced to drop it as she wrapped both her arms around the aliens neck and held on tight. She locked her legs around the aliens torso and started punching him in the side of the helmet, doing almost nothing damage wise but really making an annoyance of herself.