Archmage MC

World of Light

Roland

And
Robot Girls



Level 5 Roland - (31/50)
Level 13 Blazermate (Holding 5 level up) - (8/130)
Level 7 Susie - (19/70) - (Holding 4 level up)
Location: Outside Midgar
Word Count: Less than 750

Susie and Blazermate were able to fly to the ship that was being surrounded by clouds, arriving before it took off. Although Susie learned the downside of that fusion with Midgar's guardian; it made her slower even on her transporter. Still, unlike Roland and Goldweis, being able to fly let the two bot ladies make it to the airship. Roland was a lot less fortunate though as Goldweis had an idea that Roland didn't like, but had no input on. With a quick "Wait wha..." Roland was uppercutted and used as a jump point by Goldweis. This brought them both to the ship, and something of Goldweis' made it so Roland took minimal damage but it was still dangerous. "Holy crap, your a crazy old geezer!" Roland said in shock and surprise as he got up, Blazermate healing the minimal damage done to him and getting everyone ready with overheals for what would be a fight with another Consul.

"Speaking of old geezers, that one makes you look like a young buck." Roland said, making fun of the Consul that was chasing them. Having been ages since the greeks in his world, Roland had no idea who Consul Z was supposed to represent. Neither did Susie or Blazermate, although for the latter, it was due to her lack of interest in history. That, and they were going to have to fight something that, unknown to them, terrified another Consul.

With battle starting, Roland was reminded of the strange spender of the Floor of Natural Sciences, and the darkness it held for him. Something he'd need to use for the battle ahead. Susie herself summoned her new Business suit, or mech now. Roland began to build his strength in combat by clashing with Z's cloudy minions using his swords. Susie meanwhile used her new business suit and its functions to go after Consul Z directly, with its area of effect attacks possibly splashing the minions as well. While the Artificial Gravity wouldn't do much, the Magicrystal missiles would do quite a lot. First however, Susie fired off her normal missiles and froze them in time leaving a veritable minefield for Consul Z to navigate through. She then attacked everything around her with the Magicrystals. This attack didn't do too much damage and even the minions would survive it... assuming they didn't stay stacked and magnify the damage they took.

Roland meanwhile was at it dealing with the cloud minions, building up his clashes with them. Since they weren't all that strong, Roland felt this would be a good thing for him to start with. With a won clash with his swords, a failed one with his daggers, and a tie with his hammer, Roland was already at Emotion level 2. He gained Justice, marking the one who did the most damage to the group as a 'villain' and thus amplifying the damage they took from him and his allies with the words of a peppy girl saying "Finally, a villain shows up! Careful, everyone." and Blessing, which would give Roland resistance to the last attack he was hit by, with a different woman's voice, more solumn, said "If I could have another chance to protect…"

Seeing his minions being dealt with, and having some of these impertinent whelps attempt to attack HIM, Z decided to turn his attention to the seekers themselves instead of their mode of transportation. He started by zapping Susie with a chain lightning and a lightning bolt. Being electricity element, these did bonus damage to her robotic suit and form. The chain then bounced to Roland, whom reflexively attempted to counter it, stopping the chain with him but gaining a stack of Charge. Blazermate healed up Susie, whom's Magicrystal barrage had landed at this point and destroyed any minions that grouped up and did a bit of damage to Z as well. This was a good call, as getting hit by Susie, Z decided to detonate his charge, zapping her and Roland with lightning. Roland then gained Electricity and Holy resistance, having been last injured by those elements.

"This is going to get worse before it gets better!" Susie said from her suit, having taken a few large hits already.

World of Light

Return of the King II

Ganondorf’s @Double, Sectonia’s @Archmage MC, Primrose’s @Yankee, Ms Fortune
Word Count: 3400

Soon, the Seekers reached the throne room. Though somewhat similar to Validar’s in Al Mamoon in terms of construction, it lacked its counterpart’s excessive size. Instead it was open to the air, offering a splendid view of the desert sands from its spacious balconies, but the interior seemed to be no less rich for it. The newcomers could see themselves in reflecting pools that sparkled in the light of magic lamps, beneath hanging curtains of rich white cloth adorned with huge gold ornaments and turquoise gemstones. At the top of a short flight of stairs sat the throne itself, a relatively humble affair of stone. To either side stood a red-haired woman of impressive stature, each with a huge crimson ponytail: the formidable Bulliara, captain of the guard, and the clever Nabooru, advisor to the chief. Between them, poised with an uncomfortable air on a throne that seemed almost too big for her, sat the young Lady Riju, crowned with a splendid tiara of gold that shone like the desert sun itself.

As the crowd followed Ganondorf, Nadia slipped into the throne room, where she kept to the shadows up and out of the action. Though far from insecure, this palace hadn’t been built with high jumpers or airdashers in mind, and with an enormous distraction in play getting in had been fairly easy. After a moment she stashed herself in one of the hanging banners, using it as a hammock in order to listen to the proceedings.

Sectonia, not wanting to miss the things to come, also entered the throne room, hovering a bit out of the way to get a better view of things. She found herself not that far from Nadia, but unlike the cat burglar, she didn’t really attempt to hide herself.

Riju watched Ganondorf approach evenly, neither intimidated nor intrigued. If anything she seemed out of breath. Maybe the news of Ganondorf’s sudden arrival had forced her to sprint here from elsewhere in the palace. How often did rulers just while away time atop their thrones, after all? To her credit, though, the teenager was making a heroic effort to appear calm, collected, and in control–despite the explicit challenge to her authority that the warlord offered. Dorrah ushered the Seekers closer, with the wall of Gerudo Town residents and guardswomen a respectful distance behind, and after the newcomers stopped a tense silence hung in the air for a few moments.

“...Greetings,” Riju said after a moment, a slight frog in her throat. After clearing it, she clasped her hands. “It’s very, very rare to see a man among Gerudo. But I’ve been told that you are no ordinary man. Please state your business,” she gestured regally, if a little stiffly, to her subjects. “For all to hear.”

There was a long pause from Ganondorf. Namely due to the one familiar face among the sea of strangers watching him. So there were others from his era in this town after all. And unfortunately for the warlord, Nabooru would surely have warned Riju against trusting anything Ganondorf said. He had no doubt that the bad blood that he and her once had still lingered in some form or another even here in this world. But nevertheless he let a smile cross his face as he held up his right fist and the Triforce of Power for all to see. ”Greetings, my Gerudo Sisters!” he called out in a voice for all to hear, ”See my face and behold the Triforce! It is I, your brother - Ganondorf! At long last, I hath returned home!”

His announcement brought forth a fresh surge of whispers. For the most part non-Gerudo citizens just kept quiet, wondering what was going on, but every member of the desert tribe had heard the old legends. That shining emblem on Ganondorf’s fist was all the evidence most of them needed to accept that the true Gerudo King stood before them in the flesh. Even Riju couldn’t deny what she saw. Yet while Bulliara looked to the young chief for guidance, Nabooru bristled, quietly seething. Out of the three, none seemed to be in any rush to kneel before him just yet.

After a moment, Riju swallowed. “That’s quite the pedigree. As you may surmise, though, no king has reigned in Gerudo Town for quite some time. I would ask what your intentions are here, Ganondorf.”

I would know that myself, Primrose thought, cutting a glance towards Ganondorf. When she had first mentioned Gerudo Town, the man had mentioned his "throne and subjects," and staking a claim in the current world. She was curious what that meant exactly. Currently though, she stood on his side of the throne room representing the King of Evil's faction. At some point she had lost sight of Ms. Fortune, leaving herself and Queen Sectonia in the public view along with him.

Sectonia was both a bit miffed and interested to see where this was going to go. After all, she was still a ‘homeless’ queen as it were as she hadn’t found her own kingdom while Ganondorf found his? Although from what she knew, Bowser was also without his kingdom. Well, all that was left to see how Ganondorf would handle this.

”The throne, naturally.” Ganondorf said quite simply. ”Our laws dictate that it is mine, do they not?” He lowered his fist and then began to rub his chin thoughtfully, ”But let us not labor the details just now.” He offered, attempting to sound as non-hostile as he could. ”I am told that thou hath many enemies in this desert. I, too, have enemies of my own as it were.” Ganondorf added, making it rather clear where he was planning to go with this discussion. And so he held out both arms in a gesture of proposed unity and solidarity.

”Let us help one another.” The Warlord proposed, ”I will help thee bring an end to the troubles with thine enemies. And you shall help me against mine.” Ganondorf explained and then added, ”A rather beneficial trade, is it not?” But of course her current wariness was not lost on him, ”The matter of the throne can be settled after we have achieved our respective goals. All I ask of thee is to allow my allies use of Gerudo Town as a base for rest and resupply - both the vai and the voe among them alike. Rest assured, their stay here will be a short one. You’ll find that my particular enemies will require that my allies and I remain away to deal with them abroad in more faraway lands, so the vai here will not have to service any of the voe for long.” He paused for a breath, but then continued.

”I would also ask a personal favor of thee.” Ganondorf finally said, ”I seek to pay a visit to the Spirit Temple. Does it still stand?” That was a topic he hadn’t brought up with anyone before this, not even the other Seekers. In fact it was entirely possible that Nabooru was the only other person in this room that would even know what the Spirit Temple was or why Ganondorf might have interest in visiting it - namely that it was traditionally the home where his two adopted mothers resided.

Finishing his proposal with a question left those Ganondorf was addressing in the awkward state of having to answer when they needed to deliberate. Luckily, the three didn’t need to put their heads together about this one. While the location didn’t ring a bell for Lady Riju or her guard captain, Nabooru stepped forward to reply, her tone curt. “There is no Spirit Temple in Gerudo Town, nor the surrounding desert. The expeditions I’ve arranged have made many discoveries, but the Spirit Temple that we remember is not among them.” Her reply left little doubt that the chief’s advisor remembered Ganondorf himself, despite his changes, and not necessarily favorably.

After that, Riju cleared her throat. “Excuse us, just a moment.” The three conversed in low tones, Nabooru taking the initiative while Bulliara offered little. They did not keep their petitioner waiting too long.

Riju clasped her hands in her lap. If anything, she seemed a little relieved. “You say that leadership over the Gerudo should be ceded to you outright, but also that you plan to campaign in other lands, effective after your company’s ‘short stay’, I presume.” She paused, thinking. “I can only assume then that the state of affairs in Gerudo Town itself would change little. Though in truth I would be only too happy to surrender the mantle of leadership, I have a responsibility to my people, just as you do. I believe mutual aid, both at home and abroad, would benefit us both.”

Nabooru did not seem pleased, her eyes slitted with distrust for Ganondorf, but she did not challenge Riju’s decision. “To that end, it would not be a problem to host your company here, vai and voe alike. We expect discretion and honorable conduct from them, one and all. I’m sure you would expect the same.”

Nabooru’s first answer was a disappointment to be sure. If there was no Spirit Temple in this land, then that greatly lessened his chances of locating his two mothers - who he was certain would be invaluable assets to him if he could only but find them. Still, this didn’t completely eliminate any hope of finding them. It just meant that if they were here, they were simply somewhere else. When the deliberations were finished and his petition ultimately granted, Ganondorf nodded and even offered the young chief a courtesy bow. ”But of course.” He said in agreement with her proviso at the end, ”Any of them who act otherwise, will answer to me directly if needed.” It probably meant he was going to have to keep a close eye on Bowser and that son of his should they enter the town, but no matter.

”May I have a word, Nabooru?” He requested, indicating that he wanted to ask her something further once the crowds had dispersed and he could privately ask her a little more about what she said regarding the Spirit Temple. ”If there is no longer a Temple, then… What of Kotake and Koume? Do they live?”

If Nabooru seemed reluctant to even hear Ganondorf out, she seemed completely disinclined to offer him any form of comfort. “I haven’t seen them around town,” she told him coldly, making it clear that her response came as a professional courtesy only. “But who’s to say where they might be out in the world?” Even if Ganondorf wasn’t plotting to overthrow the rulership here right away, or orchestrate some power-hungry scheme that left his kingdom in ruin, there was no telling what endless ambition might reach for tomorrow.

Her answer was about as cold as he thought it would be. Even before he went to war with Hyrule, he and Nabooru had never exactly seen eye to eye. Maybe she didn’t like the idea of bowing to a man or maybe it was something else entirely? Ganondorf didn’t know. Either way, he at least learned what he needed from her and that would have to be satisfactory for the time being. So after this he returned his attention to Riju and stood before her again.

”About our respective enemies,” Ganondorf began, ”Mine are a group of masked individuals known as Consuls. They orchestrate conflicts and wars to suit their own ends in service to an enemy that is greater still, a… false god, I suppose is one way to describe it.” He explained. ”My company and I seek to dismantle this group and ultimately the ‘god’ that sits above them. But tell me, what enemies have you that troubles our tribe?” Ganondorf inquired, ”I am confident that I can help rid thee of them.”

Something he said seemed to take Lady Riju by surprise, shocking her momentarily. Perhaps sensing her leader’s unease, Bulliara stepped in to help. “Our main problem is the Bandit Hordes,” she told Ganondorf matter-of-factly. “They’re a problem all across the desert, but their stronghold is the Aregal Salt Plain to the south. They’ve infested the place. You’ve gotta see it to believe it. I swear, there are more bandits than normal people in the desert by a factor of two or three to one, and while we Gerudo are no strangers to taking what we want, the Hordes make us look like saints in comparison. Our warriors make a better living as heroines than raiders.”

Well before she finished, Riju was ready to follow up on what she heard. “You mentioned Consuls?” she questioned Ganondorf. “That…complicates things, somewhat. You see, every week the three of us meet with our own Lady Consul X, who helps us in our efforts against the Hordes and others. She’s always keeping us updated on the latest incursions, making sure we’re ready to meet our foes in combat, as well as where we can take the initiative. You’re saying…this whole war is her orchestration?”

For the first time in this entire meeting, Ganondorf himself was surprised. But he couldn’t let this throw him off, so he kept his composure as much as his tall and dark figure allowed him to. ”I cannot say for certain.” He admitted. ”Has this Consul ever mentioned anything to thee about a flame clock?” He asked. ”Each of the Consuls possess one. My company has learned that these clocks are used as a source of power and life for the Consuls, and that the only way to fuel them is with the lives of others. And so to that end, we learned it is commonplace for the Consuls to orchestrate wars as a means of harvesting lives for their clocks in large numbers. I know not if this Consul X employs the same tactic, but the Consuls I have encountered up until now hath done so. So it is merely my presumption that the same is true for all of them.”

Riju ruminated on the troubling information. “Flame Clock,” she murmured. “That sounds familiar…”

“After we’re finished here, go to Clair de Soleil,” Nabooru spoke up, her tone confident. “And see for yourself. It’s the city’s temple, after a fashion–more like a monument to mankind’s greed. I think you’ll find what you’re looking for there.”

”I see.” Ganondorf answered, ”I intend to destroy the clocks as a means of stripping away the source of the Consuls’ power.” He told them but then added, ”But I’ve learned they cannot be destroyed by normal means. There must surely be some kind of weapon or tool that can do it, and so that is what I am focusing on searching for.”

Riju nodded. “Then we will help you in your search.” She paused. “If there is nothing else you wish to speak of, shall we consider this audience concluded?”

”Yes.” Ganondorf agreed with a nod, ”I shan’t keep you from your duties any longer.” With this he turned to make his exit from the palace, hopefully with his ‘entourage’ of Seekers in tow.

As the throng began to disperse, Nadia waited until the guards had all moved on, then dropped down from her hiding spot. Things had gone better than she hoped, despite the reveal of yet another Consul, and she had a lot she could tell the guys left behind. In fact, she realized, she could have used her linkpearl to transmit the conversation to them live. That would’ve been smart. Oh well. She hurried in the direction that the other three had gone, trying not to draw too much attention.

”We should inform the others that they hath been granted permission to enter the town.” Ganondorf told Primrose and Sectonia once they were all outside and he was reasonably sure no one would be eavesdropping on them, despite him being the talk of the town. ”And I’m sure they’ll be interested to know of the flame clock that may well be here within the town’s walls as well.” He added in a more lowered and hushed town. ”And one more thing. If Gerudo Town is going to be our allies for the foreseeable future, then it would be wise of us to find some way we can ‘destroy’ them, lest we run the risk of them being turned against us as the people in the Home of Tears had been.”

Primrose nodded her head in agreement. She had kept quiet the whole time, as she had no stake in Ganondorf's claim to the throne besides wanting to be there to see how things turned out and lend her aid one way or another, but now that the meeting was over she was relieved by the way Ganondorf had handled things. The brute he becomes in battle is not all there is to him, she mused to herself, all the while knowing that being well versed in politics did not make the man any less dangerous - maybe even more so. Still, it was a fruitful meeting, and she would be glad to have Gerudo Town as another safe zone for the Seekers eventually.

"We can come up with a plan of action in the morning," she suggested. "So long as the latest Consul doesn't know we are here, we can afford ourselves some rest first."
Much like Primrose, Sectonia was also taken aback a bit by Ganondorf’s little encounter there. But she didn’t show that on her face. Still, he had shown that ‘king’ title was more in the talking kind than the ‘things follow you’ kind like bowser. If this bore anything would need to be seen though. ”Hm, While I would recommend keeping bowser under a close eye, he isn’t a womanizer. From what I’ve seen, hes more the… ‘single dad’. Sort. ” Perhaps that's how he gained his kingdom, a kingdom of the lost and downtrodden looking up to a ‘father’ of sorts. A lot more noble of a prospect than his demeanor seemed to indicate.

There were many things they had to consider if they were going to take on another Consul so quickly, in addition to what Ganondorf had mentioned there were also the other Seekers back at Alcamoth and even farther that could use the information they had. Perhaps they knew things their current team didn't and could lend their aid as well. For now though, Primrose glanced around to see if she could spot their Feral friend now that they were outside. Once the men (and Rika) were informed, she had a bathhouse and tailor she wanted to take Ms. Fortune and Sectonia to.

“I guess if we’re gonna spend the night somewhere, we’d be better off in Carnival Town.” Primrose’s search came to an end when Nadia dropped down into the Seekers’ huddle from a nearby rooftop. A shiny sprinkle of water on her legs suggested she’d used the aqueducts to get around away from the crowds. Now that the feral had only her friends for company, she seemed a lot more like herself. “This place isn’t that big. If the Consul did show up, I Gerudon’t think there’d be many places to hide.” She crossed her arms and shrugged. “Still, it’s nice to be welcome, eh? I’ll call the guys in a minute and let ‘em know they’re good to come in thanks to Ganondorf’s ‘man’-date.”

After this, the Seekers could fan out to do whatever business they had in Gerudo Town. For Ganondorf’s part, he intended to pay Clair de Soleil a visit as Nabooru suggested. Of course, for all he knew, she was trying to lead him into a trap of some kind. Well it was better to settle that issue now rather than allow it to become a problem in the future. But before that, Ganondorf had the inkling to pay a little visit to the town’s Bazaar. His twin greatswords hadn’t been worked on in some time and who better to work on a pair of Gerudo-made weapons than a fellow Gerudo?

Sectonia meanwhile would make sure that, if they were supposed to be here, she’d make the others prim and proper. She wouldn’t be around slobs while she was here, and there was quite the bathhouse in this place. Although she may need to use her antlers to…. Give the common folk some privacy.

World of Light

Roland

And
Robot Girls



Level 5 Roland - (30/50)
Level 13 Blazermate (Holding 5 level up) - (7/130)
Level 7 Susie - (18/70) - (Holding 4 level up) -

Temporal Paradox

Susie can freeze any of her projectile attacks in time to deploy them later. If an enemy runs into the frozen attack, it will instead explode in a 25ft radius (Or bigger, if the attack's radius was bigger.) dealing its damage to every enemy in the explosion and applying a stack of Vulnerability Up. (Check Tycoon for details on Vulnerability Up.)

Location: Outside Midgar
Word Count: Less than 750

Roland watched the fight between the chef and Goldlewis. He couldn't help but question if they were pro wrestlers or something with how showy and flashy this fight was. Roland hadn't gotten a good look at how the vet fights, but it was a lot of show for Roland who preferred to get things over and done with. Not the showiest thing he's seen though, no, the 9 o clock circus takes that cake for very different reasons. At least all things considered they kept things clean. Although before they could finalize the fight finish, they got a call about another Consul. Really?

Susie was busy at work when she got the call as well. She had finished two jobs and was on her third when she was called, slamming her head on the underside of the tractor she was under to automate. Rubbing her head as she got out and back on her feet, she listened to the whole report. Apologizing to the person with her half finished job, Susie left with only some meager profits coming from this little idea and a bit of a headache. Well, another Consul was something she could test her new business suit on perhaps.

And finally Blazermate had been spending her time healing the various injuries that came in, making a bit of money (Although far, far less than an actual doctor even though she did the work of 30.). Upon getting the call, Blazermate left in the same way as she arrived, suddenly and with little word. Since her and Susie were roughly in the same spot, the two ended up running into each other and making their way to the rendezvous. Another Consul so soon? Well, apparently they were making a name for themselves in a bad way, but there were only so many letters to go about.

Helping Goldlewis to his feet, Roland made his way with the fighter donning his mask as he sensed a fight about to come. What was with these guys and attracting all this trouble? It was just like the library again, but at least this time he got to eat food from different places instead of what he cooked himself. He did miss the endless booze though, that was quite the perk.

World of Light

Roland

And
Robot Girls



Level 5 Roland - (289/50)
Level 13 Blazermate (Holding 5 level up) - (6/130)
Level 7 Susie - (17/70) - (Holding 5 level up)
Location: Outside Midgar
Word Count: Less than 750

Blazermate soon learned there wasn't all that much to see after hovering around a bit. Susie and her chatted for a bit before splitting up again, discussing what was going on and how the teams would be split up again and all that before going their own ways on the waterfront. Not wanting to hear Susie do some business with the local farms, Blazermate drifted off and eventually found herself in the local infirmary healing what injuries she could. She couldn't heal most sickness, but she could heal physical injuries and some conditions easily, quickly, and with little effort which she did. This greatly sped up the recovery of said patients, and earned her a bit of money on the side as she waited for everyone else to come up with something fun to do.

Susie meanwhile had just finished up the cone of ice creams he bought as she walked with Blazermate, splitting with the medic bot when she saw some business to be made. Sure the farmers market itself wasn't all that impressive, but that gave her an idea which she could satisfy later when she saw the equipment. Midgar would be needing quite a bit of food as it got restarted, so why not get something up and running here? Fully automated of course assuming she had the time to rig that all up. Although from what she could tell, it seemed even Blazermate wanted a few days to de-stress from the constant fighting and she was a combat bot! So she figured she had a day or two to enact her plan. Although once Susie saw the equipment, she found that it wouldn't take nearly as long as she thought to get it automated and working for Haltmann Works.

Although this was an idea that she found wouldn't work since well... Land was expensive. She knew this, since thats what Haltmann Works had been doing for ages, but she forgot how bad it was when she wasn't the one involved with the roboticization and harvesting operations and had to buy from others. A few thousand dollars? Yeah, the seekers didn't have anything like that in their reserves. It was more expensive than most of the equipment they had seen! Well, there was something she could do at least to tide herself over and get a little bit of business done for the time being. She could offer her services to automate the equipment for the current farmers for a fee, although with only her PDA she couldn't charge them a subscription as you would normally do, so she could only get a flat fee for her work. Still, the tinkering would give her something to do besides meander around much like Blazermate seemed to like to do.

And finally Roland, who was a bit surprised that Goldweis not only picked up the bill, but was also short on money? Wasn't he some kinda bigshot? Roland figured he'd be loaded, but no, instead he was having to scrub dishes or rather, fight the chef for his meal. Well, Roland did like the simplicity of the situation anyway and decided to just watch the fight. Not the first cook hes seen fight, but the last one was a giant shark, so this could be a lot better.

World of Light

Level 11 Sectonia (holding 5 level up) - (92/110)
Location: The Metro
Word Count: 1124

Sectonia didn't have the time she thought she would in the City of Tears. Everyone was raring to go to another place to relax and she had no time to even fly to the bathhouse, let alone get some time there. Granted the Gerudo's springs were better, so perhaps everyone was waiting for the better place to get all cleaned up. Well, if that was the case, she wouldn't complain about their agreeing taste, but for now they couldn't well travel there dripping wet. While the stag ride was a bit too cramped and fast for a way to dry everyone, the Metro cat in Dirtmouth provided a longer ride.

Not wanting herself, or her minions and allies to be soaking wet going into the metro, Sectonia summoned a red antler and used it as an express heat dryer to dry everyone off before they got to the metro. Everyone was free to use the red antler as they saw fit, although they'd have to deal with a quick styling to fix their hair if they wanted, they didn't have infinite time...

At least the metro hadn't changed much. Still a bit dirty overall, but a welcome sight from the underground's disgusting asthetic. Although thinking about that, she had taken the source of the underground's infection into herself for power, even if the source itself was quite decent looking. She'd have to see if there were any side effects of her possibly spreading the infection or not, but so far it seems nothing had happened and the effects were reversing. Her standards of beauty perhaps? Well, those were idle thoughts as having been through the Metro once before, Sectonia summoned some of her ice antlers to run around and collect Poms. the Antlers were much bigger than before, so this should make collecting them easier.

While Sectonia finished up dispatching her antlers, she noticed something odd. Ms. Fortune, enlivened by the myriad charms of this feline-friendly locale and filled with energy, had been prepping herself for some parkour a minute ago, but now the feral stood still. With her black coat acceptably dry thanks to the red antler's ambient heat, she'd donned it once more, then stared off into the distance, her arms crossed. A change of plans, maybe? Once her minions lumberd off to scrabble together her train fare, Sectonia wound up wondering what to do with herself in the mean time, and in those doldrums Nadia made her move.

Ms Fortune approached, her hands in her pockets. Though she could typically be counted upon to face the world with a cordial smile and peppy energy, something about her expression seemed more sly than usual. "Heya, Toni," she greeted the big queen. Even her voice possessed a playful tinge of mischief. "Isn't this place just the cat's pajamas? I mean, I know it might not be your idea of 'beautiful'. But I think there's beauty everywhere, if you know where to look." She pointed down the Metro's main thoroughfare, past the colorful neon lights to a large boutique of expensive brown wood bathed in tasteful white. "Take that place 'fur' instance. Le Félin. It's a jeweler, purr-etty big-time by the look of it. Why not check it out?" She gestured at the pink crystals that adorned Sectonia's outfit. "Never too much of a good thing, right? Might as well roll the die...mond. Nyehehehe!"

Sectonia didn't laugh nor flinch at Nadia's little chitter chatter, even though the mention of a jewellery store was interesting. Sectonia replied "... You really stretched yourself for that last pun." Sectonia said cooly. "But yes, that store could have something interesting. I suppose I'll take a look." With that, Sectonia made her way to the jewelery store, with Nadia discreetly in tow, the catgirl's plan in motion.

Sectonia was unaware of this though, and took the bait by heading into the jewellery store. Unknown to her this store was run by one of the big heads of the Metro, The Empress. Not knowing or really caring about that, Sectonia approached the counter. Inside the case were various bits of jewelry, most of it was pretty but non magicial, but there were a couple magical ones such as a sapphire amulet that increased magic power a bit, a ring with an adorned ruby that increased regeneration a bit, and a dubious diamond necklace that says that it'll save its wearer from death once.

"Hm... a new customer... Welcome. Anything catch your eye?" The Empress said cooly, only keeping a slight eye on Sectonia. Sectonia browsed the jewellery, from your basic gold rings to your more extravagant gemstudded bands. While she liked jewellery for its looks, the magic ones were what caught her eye. At least until she saw the price at a whopping 4000 poms for a single one, with an exchange rate for gold at near 2 to 1! That made the queen balk a little bit as she knew the magic in these things wasn't THAT strong compared to the price of things she had seen in other places with much stronger items.

But this was a jewellery store, so Sectonia had an idea. A trade of sorts. "I'd be interested in this..." Sectonia said, pointing at the sapphire amulet of magic. "And I see you have a lack of gemstone jewellery compared to all of your gold stuff, so how about a trade?" The Empress wasn't impressed with Sectonia's suggestion, but decided to humor the armored bug. If anything it was a slow day and this was some mild entertainment.

Sectonia moved out of the establishment to conjure her giant crystal platform, a deep ruby red. The platform was quite large, pre cut, and what Sectonia was going to offer for trade. She had tried this once before with no luck, and this time would be no different. While not expecting this bug to make a huge crystal like that, the Empress wasn't one to be upstaged, nor give in to anyone she had power over as was this case. "And how am I supposed to make use of that? Its far too large, and was that made by magic? its barely worth more than glass."

This lead to a bit of an argument between the two prideful ladies, Sectonia pointing out that beauty was beauty and this was brilliant while the Empress was having fun getting what would be a ground shattering deal over this large bauble. Still though, an argument was an argument, and the pride of both of these ladies wouldn't let them actually come to an agreement and after some heated words and long arguments, Sectonia shattered her gem platform and left in a huff leaving the area covered in a ruby dust.

World of Light

Roland

And
Robot Girls



Level 5 Roland - (28/50)
Level 13 Blazermate (Holding 5 level up) - (5/130)
Level 7 Susie - (16/70) - (Holding 5 level up)
Location: Midgar- The Guardian
Word Count: Less than 750

Well, a place like this, peaceful and almost saccharin to Roland, was new to him. As such, he did enjoy the food presented to him, but often waited for others to take a bite before he tried any himself. City life messed him up bad when it came to trusting something that was 'too good to be true'. At least Susie was a lot more trusting than he was, having no paranoia herself besides a curious glance. Blazermate, being unable to eat, didn't join Roland in the restaruant, instead just floating around the docks taking in the sights and finding something fun for everyone to do later.. Granted the menu of items in the restauraunt they were lead to was... odd to say the least. None of the three had seen any of these items before and Roland matched Goldlewis' confusion at the menu items being one of the group who actually needed to eat. Susie, being the sweet tooth that she was, decided to go along the docks to see what all the stands had for sweets and everything.

"Hm... I guess I'll try the herb roast. Both if you could." Roland said. You wouldn't think it by his exterior, fighting style, or mannerisms, but Roland was quite the foodie. If the other patrons were finding this food delicious, he was going to try it and see what the hubub was about. While he was from Midgar, and had tried a fair amount of different foods there, he hadn't left the city so this was all new stuff to him.

Much like the others though, he waited for his food and tried it. Well, it was different for sure. Not as good as some stuff in the City, but still not bad. And also not nearly as ethically and morally questionable which was a relief. You don't want to know how the hotdogs are made or so the saying goes, but Roland was unfortunate enough to learn that truth and had to live with it. Granted he often forgot his past when it came to food in most cases so... well, he was enjoying himself for once. Even offering to finish something of someones who had something he hadn't tried.

Blazermate, drifting along the docks, eventually ran into Susie who was eating some cotten candy and a bit of ice cream. Blazermate had seen Pit and Roxas at one point chasing around a dog, but had only gotten a glancing look at them as she drifted around. She'd have to ask them about that later. Susie meanwhile was just unwinding from having to deal with another fight and escape. "Hey so... I see you like sweet things. Any reason why? I don't eat so..." Blazermate said, looking at Susie having two food items in her hands. The secretary shrugged, saying. "I just like sweet things. I can't really explain food to someone who can't taste though, apologies. " Blazermate shrugged herself, getting that. Still it couldn't hurt to ask, they didn't have too much time for small talk as it had been. The two bots ended up moving down the docks chatting and having a bit of a gossip session about the other group and how the new people of this group would handle the more monstrous of the seekers.

---------------------------------------------------------

Level 11 Sectonia (holding 5 level up) - (90/110)
Location: The Under - City of Tears
Word Count: Less than 750

Sectonia decided she'd go down to the City of Tears with Therion and the others that didn't go to talk to Asgore. She was tired from all the stuff that had been going on with the Radiance and all of that, and really didn't want to stay in this stagnate pond more than she had to. She did try out her new powers from the Radiance on some of the smaller weaker bugs she passed by as she moved through the Dripstone Cave and Ash Lake to see what they did. She'd find that unlike her other spells, these wouldn't be duplicated by her strange mask item. They were far stronger than her baseline abilities though, so she could guess that what power they had, was what they had. It would probably take some special spirits or powers to amplify them more which was both a blessing and a curse. Well, at least, thats what it seemed now. Perhaps like the first spirit she fused with, more powers would reveal themselves. On the plus side, these attacks came out really fast which was nice. Sectonia ended up taking out a couple Goams and a single five legged clam that had appeared to attack, being victim to a rain of swords and laser beams while slowed itself for Sectonia to try out to see if her debuffs still worked when attacking something with these attacks; They did.

Having not taken one of these 'warp pipes' before, Sectonia was a bit hesitant at first, but seeing the others take it with no question, she gave it a try. At first she figured she wouldn't fit, but she'd find that the pipe would expand to her size which was unsettling, strange, and a bit weird. Granted she had gone in long before Jr and Rika got there, so having the bowser tot's reassurance would be a bit helpful since these came from his world, but that was neither here nor there. What really sucked was needing to clean herself after this... travel. But much like what Nadia said before, this was infinity better than the poop and flesh covered dungeon they had gone through earlier to get down here.

Upon making her way to the City from the pipe, she noticed almost right away that the control F had put everyone under had disappeared, meaning it was either concentration based or temporary. Both good things to know. Still, while she had some plans int his city, taking up her idea before she was rushed out by F to annex this place, she had to go get herself cleaned in the hot springs. She'd also drag the others kicking and screaming to get cleaned if they were going to spend any amount of time in this city as well. It wouldn't do to have her minions look disgusting when she had plans here.

World of Light

Level 11 Sectonia (holding 5 level up) - (89/110)
Location: The Under - Hollow Knight Victory
Word Count: 812

Basking in the sheer power the Radiance spirit gave Sectonia, she didn't really mind too much who was going to use that helmet to crush the hollow knight's spirit. And before she even noticed who it was, the helmet was already in her posession. But coming down from that and her little bit of domination over F, she'd both scold and laugh at herself for letting her guard down. Although for a self proclaimed 'king of evil', it seemed that title only existed in the monsters he kept around him. Still a royal was a rival, time would tell how their kingdoms interacted if they should ever meet.

Well... Sectonia wasn't expecting F to be forthcoming with information, but even in his own insanity he let slip quite a bit of information. Although with him getting his second wind and trying to retreat, Sectonia attempted to stop him with a holy ray alongside the gunshot from Jesse, but it didn't matter. F had managed to retreat with an ominous message. "Hmph, seems like he is a quite the weakling. He'll just pull pranks and tricks on us, but its clear he can't challenge us directly." Sectonia said, almost as a taunt, and also reassurance.

Sectonia mulled over the information F had given them, and said. "Even with him using that time we gave him to get his second wind and retreat, through his own insanity... he gave quite a bit of info even if he didn't mean to. I'm sure Kamek caught onto it as well. But I'll explain what I heard from him, paraphrased." Sectonia started, before giving her own royal little speech on what they had gained by letting F a chance to escape. "First the flame clocks. It seems that what he said is that by taking the spirits of others, you can extend your own life force. The Flame Clocks allow this to be applied to a wide area, or so I assume. but its good to confirm what they are used for and in a way, this whole spirit system we find ourselves in."

Holding a hand up, she put a single finger up to show what they had learned, then put a second finger up to empesis the next point. "Now the information I think F didn't mean to give us in his jest of P. Its clear some of the consuls don't like each other now. But the important information is it seems that through some means unknown to us, they 'break free' of the entire spirit system and gain power over those that are Galeemed in the process and possibly some form of immortality. But as they are no longer spirits, they can't interact with them either nor gain power from them. A double edged sword so to speak as we have seen what happens when they are defeated." She then thought, and presented a question, almost absently. "Hmm... does that mean these consuls were previous seekers, or are we some sort of divines in the world and they found other means?" But she wouldn't linger on that and continued.

Raising her third finger bringing up the next point, Sectonia stated. "Without there being a 'leader', if what he said was true, that would mean that the Consul's secret power is possibly a communal secret or something made by the letters he mentioned. A, D, and Z. He mentioned D and Z the most, so its probably with one of them. But with his fear of A, perhaps that is the strongest of them all but is more... lazy with that strength. So out of all of them, those three are likely to have the most info on what is actually going on. That is if we can even take him at his word. The only thing I'd say is trustworthy is probably his dislike for A. Often fools say their lie first, then yammer truth behind it as a backhanded statement."

Letting that aside, she then gave her fourth finger, although this one she was a lot less enthusiastic' to share as she thought it was a pointless question. "And whatever power they gained allows them to essentially do whatever they want. I figured that was clear but I suppose that needed repeating..." And with that, she was done speaking. "A bit of a shame he'll be a thorn in our side, literally. But I suppose thats what getting information about the bigger picture gets you."

Then the question of where to go next was... an interesting one. Sectonia already had something in mind. "Some rest and relaxation would do everyone some good. I don't know about you, but I'd rather forget that nasty infection business, possibly with the help of some hot springs and honey. And I'd rather it be some place not here in this underground, the lack of sunlight down here is quite annoying."

World of Light

Roland

And
Robot Girls



Level 5 Roland - (19/50) Learned

Furioso

Furioso
After using 9 different weapons, Roland can use this ability. He preforms a long, quick combo swapping between all 9 weapons he has used, striking once with each weapon. Each weapon deals 25% of its actual damage and may proc any other effects it has on its own proc chance. When being used to clash, the combined damage of all MELEE weapons used by furioso is what is clashed with, and if Roland wins the clash, he cancels out the entire attack he clashed with. Win, draw, or lose the clash, Furioso is used and another 9 different weapons must be used before he can use it again. EGO do not count towards Furioso.

Level 12 Blazermate (Holding 4 level up) - (116/120)
Level 7 Susie - (15/70) - (Holding 5 level up)
Location: Midgar- The Guardian
Word Count: 1016

Sitting down upon the defeat of Tycoon and all of C's 'friends', Roland gave out a sigh of relief with some of the others. "Phew, that was a rough fight. Do you guys get into big scraps like this all the time?" Blazermate, sitting nearby and healing everyone's wounds with her medi beam, said. "Uh... its not usually this bad. But yeah, its usually something big and scary. Like the first one was this giant flame breathing flame winged turtle guy based off one of our other friends who isn't here. Hes a big teddy bear even though he acts tough. Maybe you'll get to meet him?" Blazermate said, looking over the other spirits of everything they had fought.

Roland followed her glance, and noticed that all the spirits, besides Tycoon's, had turned into books much like those at the library. "Huh... Well, I guess the power of the library is following me around now? I don't know how that works, but thats useful I guess." Roland said, moving to pick up said books and look them over to be sure. And from opening one up... yep it was exactly as he thought. The story of Karen laid before him, or at least a snippit of it alongside pages for his powers and everything. He did notice though that a couple books were... damaged? That was odd, but when examining those books, he just found that the snippit portion was missing but the power addendum was totally ok.

While Roland was messing around with the books, Susie had moved over to Tycoon's spirit. Considering how big the robot had been, and how strong it would be as it was a guardian with apparent time travel capabilities, perhaps it would make for a great upgrade to her business suit? So far things hadn't been all that wonderful in a technological city such as this, except for this, the beating heart of the city. Hopping into her business suit, she fused it with Tycoon...

For Susie

Premier Spirit Assimilated:
Tycoon
Both the host and her Business Suit are larger, but the Business Suit much more so. The host is now about 4 feet tall. Her eyes are now a bright cyan, and the more elaborate lashes are the same color. Her 'skin' is now a light metallic gray. Her hands now have five fingers and are more mechanical looking. Her visor now looks somewhat like a knight's, which pair with her glowing eyes to make striking slits, and her headset now has metal Valkyrie-like wings. Her Business Suit now much more closely resembles Tycoon itself, being big, heavy, and bulky, with huge arms long enough to reach the ground separated from the torso at the shoulder rather than the wrist. These arms have hands in the middle of three drill-tipped turbines each for more than triple the total power. The Business Suit also has mechanical wings, more for decoration than anything else. This spirit confers the Powers Magitek Crossray, which allow the Business Suit to shoot big lasers that can be frozen in time and released at will, Artificial Gravity, which lays down magic 'mines' that after a brief delay will swell up and then detonate into spacetime vortexes, and Magicrystal, which allows the Business Suit to call down a delayed AoE on top of every enemy present in a large area, which is more effective the more they overlap. All of these Powers also cause stacks of Vulnerability Up that increase damage taken by 20% for 1 minute. This spirit also confers the Weakness Ultra Heavy Metal, which makes the Business Suit's speed match Susie's, and makes Susie unable to fly over a foot off the ground under her own power

Well... after fusing, she saw that the weak point in her business suit was basically all patched up now. She was in a full mecha, instead of a strong yet pretty mech suit. And it had quite a bit of new functions which were really good. "Hmm... So I see why these guardians do so much, quite a strong spirit." Susie said, noting her new business suit and the affects it had.

"Huh... I was thinking I could take that, but I guess its a good idea I didn't. I can't imagine not being my cute small self, nor being that heavy and unable to fly... And I don't wanna know what it'd do to the rest of you." Blazermate said.

Roland meanwhile explained to everyone what these books were, explaining that they were the same as the spirits they had been gathering, but more advanced. He showed them how they worked and explained what he knew about them and everything. There was a reason that the library had attracted the biggest of the big when it came to denizens of the city. Knowledge was indeed power with these things.

Then came the discussion of the city losing all of its power. Susie was a bit confused and concerned that the entire city's power supply came from one point of failure. That was just stupid of their planning design. Roland meanwhile, only sighed and put his hand to his face. "So we caused another Smoke War. Hope someone picks up the pieces quickly." Well, that was someone elses problem it seemed. And there were some people on Shinra's board who could pick up those pieces well. Or a few on their team, from what he had been told but hadn't seen yet.

When they reached the top from the teleporter, they found themselves in a strange area which the three were informed was where Trevers had made their announcement earlier. Sandalphon informed everyone that they should probably explain to the populace why there wasn't any power or anything and own up to their mistakes, but Roland shot that down right away. "People don't even KNOW about us, and you want to take all that heat? Thats a horrible idea. Just blame it on the guys we ran into when dealing with the 'guardian'. They were the leaders of the Ever Crisis as it was anyway, so it'll be much more readily accepted and not make us public enemy number 1." Susie clapped for hearing this from Roland, saying. "Thats a great idea! And I could take over Shinra since their president is gone and run this city far better than he could. At least until I get someone under me who I deem is competent. Now... I'll just have to think of what could generate enough power on a large scale..." Susie said, thinking. She didn't have the access ark, as that would fix everything right there. But perhaps there was something else. Considering tycoon had ran the city like it did, maybe there would be a way to automate that process without needing such a colossal machine? Or was there another method?

"Well if thats your plan, then I'd suggest talking to Binah assuming shes not got orders to take us out." Roland said. "The old hag used to be an Arbiter where I came from, one of the strongest people in the City. And she used to work at L corp, the energy producer for the City. And each Wing needed insane amounts of power to run their own singularities, so I'm sure even a fraction of what she knows how to generate would meet Midgar's needs... maybe." Roland scratched his chin. "I don't know her full story, nor do I know what she used to do in L corp. And shes a real pain in the ass to talk to, so get ready for that. Even then its a longshot." Roland said.

Blazermate looked at the others and said. "Whatever doesn't make everyone hate us is fine with me."

World of Light

Level 11 Sectonia (holding 5 level up) - (88/110)
Location: The Under - Hollow Knight Victory
Word Count: Less than 750

The Radiance had been more scared than Sectonia had thought. Perhaps much like herself, she shrugged off pain until it got too great to ignore? That would explain how they were able, upon some of her allies approaching the front of the train, able to take it out without as many hits as the arena itself. Sure the Radiance was in a blind fury, out of anger or fear, and thus not stopping her void globules as often, but it was still a relief. Using her conjured gemstone barricade, Ganondorf and the other melee bruisers were able to get up close and send the Radiance down into the darkness below, which ended up finishing her off. With her dead, her spirit drifted to the train with everyone. A spirit that Sectonia was interested in and grabbed.

Sectonia, having grabbed the guardian spirit, was interested in it. It had great power, and it wasn't half bad with its looks. Plus it would be difficult to ignore her beauty with such control over light. And did she mention it was powerful? Much more powerful than the other spirits she had grabbed earlier. Besides the first spirit she grabbed, the others hadn't been too great in terms of power. But outside of one, which she used the respec orb to get rid of, the others at least had some beauty to them. And there could be some untapped power she'd have to figure out. She hadn't gotten a chance of doing so recently as of late. And with that thought done, Sectonia assimilated the Radiance.

For Sectonia

Premier spirit assimilated:
The Radiance
The host has increased in size 20%, now predominantly white in coloration (and with a fuzzy texture) with just a few traces of deep blue finery and pink crystal. Her extra set of limbs is gone, and her abdomen stinger is longer and narrower, its exoskeleton featuring a texture almost like carved bone. Her eyes glow with sunlight, and her hat is now mostly a crown with three domineering spikes. This spirit makes the host more insistent and assertive, dead-set on making sure everyone remembers her. This spirit confers three Powers: Unforgotten Rays, which allows her to fire off targeting lasers that become large light beams after a short delay, Unforgotten Blades, which allows her to create vertical or horizontal lines of pure nails either cropping up from the ground or travelling through the air for a set distance, and Unforgotten Smite, which allows her to call down a heavy pillar of light that can hunt down its target slowly. All have relatively short cooldowns but are unaffected by modifiers. This spirit also confers the weakness Archetypal Enemy, causing the host to hate (and take more damage from) darkness

After assimilating the spirit and having a Rumor Honeybottom spirit in her hands, unsure of what to do with it for now. With that done, the dream ended and they found themselves back within the hollow knight temple. That was when an interesting surprise appeared before them. A terrified F whom 'saved' them from a still moving hollow knight no doubt trying to attack Sectonia due to her taking the Radiance's power. Sectonia could only look at him with skepticism and doubt; what was he planning this time? But perhaps she could take advantage of his terrified state if it wasn't a game. "Hmph, if you want to be helpful, giving some information would be a good start." Sectonia said. "What are the details behind the flame clocks? Why did P vanish without a spirit? And do you Consuls have a leader?"

Sectonia trusted F less than she did Ganondorf, whom she trusted less now for some reason; even though he had shown that he was at least quite strong and useful when pointed at something to destroy much like his other king cohort. So she wouldn't let him leave, at least not until she was done poking his brain. She did momentarily think about mind controlling him, but she doubted that would even work.

World of Light

Lost at C

Midna’s @DracoLunaris, Roland’s @Archmage MC
Word Count:3640 +4

When Midna went on defense, the Consul did too. He hopped away, then used Scapegoat again for an extra spurt of backward movement. He glanced up at her huge, inert mech. It had yet to take action, and thanks to the various AoE attacks from both Karen and Tycoon, it was taking a pounding. After a brief moment, he seemed to understand. “Ah, I see. Now that’s a side effect that didn’t come on the bottle.”

Indeed, even as he realized the ploy, the pilotless machine was already sinking back into the twilight realm, the princess unable to sustain the summoning of the sized up titan for more than a few moments.

Though Roland’s ability to rapidly switch weapons impressed him, C felt no need to test their mettle by clashing. Instead he used Steady Aim, gripping his pistol with both hands as he locked onto Midna’s legatus again. With Mephisto’s gasp seeping in through her broken mask, now looked like a good time to try again. His bullet couldn’t hit her Beast Legion, which meant it would pass right through, and if he took out her wolfos that would work, too. This time he fired, canceled his stance into reload, then resumed his stance after reloading one round to fire again. Shooting like this fully optimized his resources, allowing him to keep blasting away at max accuracy and power until his concentration waned.

Aware of this possibility now, however, Midna had made a non reactive plan, and brought up her one lower arms to block her upper one that was holding the legatus. The bullet ripped into the limbs, shattering the entirely replaceable magic, the only cost of which was causing her to drop the gun she’d been holding with them. She struck it with her knee as she kept moving forwards, bouncing it away and into a portal.

A second bullet came in, a second arm was sacrificed, and then her beast legion struck back for her. Not with claws, but by running a lap of the Consul as Midna closed in close enough for it to do so, wrapping the chain he kept trying to break around him.

”Let’s see you get out of this one, you slippery moblin” Midna taunted, before attempting to deliver another igniting axe blow to her foe.

Roland had used Midna’s distraction to fade back into the smoke, using his silent movement to get around and strike once Midna opened up with an axe shot of her own. Roland struck C with his lance, using the extra range to strike even sooner, before swapping to his daggers to rush him down.

For his part, C seemed focused on Midna, and he evidently knew something she didn’t. “Hehe, well, if you ins-!” Then the Astral Chain closed on him with a jerk, cutting him off. The Twilight Princess had no trouble bringing her axe down on his head in a puff of flame, and his rabbit-eared helmet practically exploded into halves to reveal a visage topped by small horns and a mop of gray hair, accompanied by an almost cartoonish bonk. His x-shaped shades (worn beneath the helmet) flew from his face, which turned to one of dismay as his eyes rolled like slot machines, sounds included. Once Roland stabbed him with his lance and dashed in with his daggers, his rolling eyes stopped on two blue symbols.

Immediately an omnidirectional wave of blue energy exploded outward from his position, freeing C and lifting him up into the air with a stylish pose. The Burst did no damage, but it did knock his foes away and floor them. When the Consul landed again, he flicked his hand and made a new pair of shades appear from thin air, which he donned with a grin. “Now we’re cooking!” He drew his gun, but as he twirled it for effect copies of the gun flew out of it and littered the ground around him. When he noticed this, C looked bewildered, lifted his shades to give the pistol a better look. “Wait, what?” Doing so meant that he also noticed the early warning signs of Tycoon’s Artificial Gravity. “Ugh, guess it’s about that time.” Rather than attack, he hurried toward a particular point on the arena, some purpose in mind.

Getting back up from the ground, Roland saw the signs of some big attack coming as well from Tycoon, having had enough of getting shot at by Blazermate’s sentry gun. Well, it was doing something that concerned C, so Roland decided that getting next to and dealing with him would be the best idea. Either to stop his plans, or to be in the same protected area he was in. Plus he could get a few more clashes in on his new… weird form with his sword.

”Wha, where, how?” Minda asked, very confused about everything that had just gone down, as she picked herself and her axe up off the floor alongside her wolves, before glancing over at Tycoon and realizing it was doing … something. Something big.

”That can’t be good” she observed, as she unsummoned her wolfos so she didn’t have to worry about it getting caught in whatever was about to happen. She tossed her ax into the same portal before it closed, before hopping onto the back of her Beast Legion, and then spurred it into sprinting after C.

”I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m going to make it your problem not mine!” she declared as she formed her shadow hand and prepared to slap it down on top of him once she got in close enough.

Seeing Midna mount up, Roland decided to hitch a ride so he could start shooting C with his own gun as they rode towards him, pulling out his own pistols to shoot C with before he got in close to clash swords with him. ”Not the weirdest thing I’ve done…” Roland said, looking at the… whole situation he was in right now.

C slid to a stop and turned on the Seekers as they bore down on him. The sight of Midna on an invisible steed and Roland piggybacking on her shoulders really threw him off. “Pfff, haha!” Of course, the wild shots in his general direction forced him to block, and the two reached him the next second. “Not bad. If this hero business doesn’t work out, you should join the circus.” Suddenly the miniature vortexes all around the arena grew much larger, blanketing almost the entire battlefield. But the spot the Consul parked himself in wasn’t a safe space–it was an intersection point where a whopping four different AoE markers overlapped. C grinned. “‘Cause this is gonna be funny.”

The next moment Tycoon’s Artificial Gravity descended, and the area filled with raging spacetime vortexes. Even the chip damage from blocking them might have been too much for C if he didn’t mitigate chip damage with Faultless Defense. Unfortunately, the others weren’t quite so lucky, including Mephisto. “Well now,” the Consul muttered as the attack subsided. “Guess who just sang his swan song.”

As for Roland, Midna, and her Legion all that reminded them of where they had been was a little crack in the air. A crack that expanded open, and out of which black particles descended, reforming the trio as Midna warped them back down from Arahabaki. As soon as the Legion’s claws hit the steel floor, it continued its charge towards C as if it had never stopped.

Roland hadn’t expected to be pulled through time and space so… violently yet gently to dodge that massive attack, he had gotten ready to try to get into a defensive stance instead much like C. But no, Midna had his back while C had tanked all of that and gotten 4 stacks of Vulnerability Up.

“Huh.” C sounded mildly surprised. He hadn’t really expected that his opponents would get caught in his trap using Artificial Gravity, since that would be a pretty ignoble way to go out, but he’d guessed wrong as to how they’d avoid it. Now, with only a brief delay, the two were on his case again. The sight of Midna riding nothing (not to mention Roland riding her) still amused him, but it also solidified his idea of what her invisible companion was. “You really do have a thing for wolves, eh?” Without any time to prepare, or an invincible reversal to bust loose with, the Consul resigned himself to defense behind a conjured barrier.

”I have a dragon too!” Midna declared as her flygon burst from a portal and lunged forwards to deliver a one two swipe of dragon claw slashes while the princess lightly slowed her beast’s charge so that Roland could dismount and join in the fight. Which Roland did, doing an anime jump off of Midna to clash with C’s conjured barrier in an attempt to shatter it with his twin blades. This clash also leveled up his Emotion level, hitting emotion level 3 and gaining Learning, a puppet’s voice echoing “I’m keen to learn as usual. Would you like to see me learn?” as well as the EGO Aspiration. That EGO was a bit… risky to use.

“A dragonfly, maybe,” C grumbled as Midna called in the cavalry. “But if an apple can be a dragon, it hardly matters.” After that, he got locked down on defense. While no amount of whaling on the magical smiley face would destroy the Consul’s guard, the various attacks still did chip damage, amped up by Vulnerability. By now, C had lost (or spent) enough health that he couldn't just burn through his reserves wildly. “Oh, put a sock in it,” he told the mouthy puppet. This nonstop pressure from his opponents left him without many options. They weren't giving him any space to do much of anything that wouldn't just result in an immediate punish.

“I know I'm one to talk, but this is pretty cheap,” he griped with a wince. “Guess I better turn things up a notch.” While still in blockstun, he performed a Yellow Roman Cancel. The short-range wave interrupted his foes’ attacks and staggered them just enough to leave nobody at advantage or disadvantage. “Time for rock, paper, scissors,” he told the Seekers, flipping out his gun. “Shoot!”

”Agreed” Midna said, having not engaged alongside Roland, but instead held back for a moment to rearm. Now, as man and beast were blasted aside, she hefted her Mutagen Shotgun, and squeezed the trigger in tandem with C, filling the air with enough lead that even she couldn’t miss.

Roland, seeing this mess, jumped out of the way to let the two have a shootout. He didn’t want to be in the middle of a firefight, that was for sure.

The two blasted each other at almost the same time, C slightly faster due to his skill and smaller weapon, but Midna with a lot more force. Her shotgun threw the Consul backward to land on his back and roll over into his stomach. Then he faded out, a copy fading in simultaneously into a standing position above him. “Oof,” he muttered. “These debuffs are a real buzz killer.” He reached up above his head and snatched something out of the air. It seemed to be a little shield-shaped emblem, emblazoned with a black and orange spiral. C ripped it in half, then drew his pistol. “Now where were we?”

[d7d7d7]”How many times do we have to kill this guy?”[/color] Roland said, a bit annoyed with just what this C was doing. There was also the other option; they were fighting an illusion this whole time. Well, he could at least confirm the latter bit, although it was going to hurt a bit. Manifesting the EGO he had gotten, Roland donned Aspiration, looking like he and turned himself inside out with the arena turning into the inside of a chest cavity for 10 seconds thanks to the page wisps. And with that Roland let out a massive burst of energy blasting everything around him in a large AoE with the power of unending craving and aspiration, at the cost of half of his HP. This buffed Midna and any other allies near him for 10 seconds, while doing a massive amount of damage to all enemies hit. C would have a hard time blocking this move.

When Roland transformed, C made a face at the sight of him. “Now you’re just being nasty.”

”What?” was Midna’s first confused reaction to this as she picked herself up from the floor where she’d been knocked down to by being shot, followed by observing that ”well that’s disgusting” as she took the mess they were in and Roland had become for a brief moment.

Still, it was only for a moment before she got moving again. Predicting that C was going to try and block and no-sell whatever this big explosive attack was, she thrust her shadow hand forwards to grab C so she could then hurl him at the gross wall of whatever arena magic or pocket dimension they were in. Then she’d have Flygon land between them and him and give him a bub buzz for good measure.

The sight of a hand reaching out to grasp him prompted a reflexive response from C, but he misestimated what he was dealing with. His attempt to tech Midna’s throw failed, and the tenebrous fingers closed around him. “Oh, come on.” A split second later, he found himself tossed straight at the energy surge’s nightmarish epicenter, too fast for him to recover and block in the air. Roland’s eldritch outburst blew the Consul away, and once he hit the floor he tumbled before skidding to a halt. This time he lay there, groaning. “Ooh, got that one wrong.” When Midna’s Flygon landed next to him, he unceremoniously emptied his pistol into it, which immediately resulted in a handful of cactus needles. Then the gun clicked empty, and he allowed the hand to fall back down. Seemingly defeated, he stared listlessly at the ceiling. “Man. I really do suck at this.”

A moment after Midna tried ”You gave it your best, and that’s all they can ask for?” vaguely hoping they could add him to the list of foes who had booked it. He didn’t deserve to live, in her mind, but she also did not want to learn how many more times he could play the fake body trick, so playing along it was.

Roland himself was recovering from using Aspiration, the page wisps changing the arena back to its normal state. ”Phew, that one is a bit rough…” Roland said. Unlike Midna though, he wasn’t really humoring C, instead being on guard since he knew weirdos like him were up to something at all times. Especially if he had that same ‘moebius’ thing that the previous consul had.

C seemed to ignore Midna as he began to speak, his voice as coarse and conspiratorial as ever. “You know, until humans die, all they have is the process. And if you can’t enjoy the failures along the way, you’re really missing out. So here’s the question. If there was a set path you could follow to reach your final destination, that being death, without ever suffering failure, could you really call that path life?” He grinned as his head lolled to the side. “All that is to say, I’m feeling very fulfilled right now. A happy…accident…”

His body rippled, as if a shadow passed over it. When it faded, it wasn’t the body of the Consul laying there at all, but that of Akira Konoe, which quickly began to dissolve. As Midna and Roland stared at it, someone walked out from between them. “Of course, that begs one other question,” the voice belonged to C, and when he turned to face them, pointing finger guns at them both, he was wearing a devilish grin. “Are you my protagonists?”

Time seemed to freeze for a brief moment as he drew both his pistols, spinning them in his hands as he framed his head. He then pointed them sideways, firing into a magic portal as time resumed. “Deus ex Machina!” A handful of portals manifested around Midna and Roland, and from all directions a fusillade of bullets blasted toward them. More portals would appear to trace their movements, making evasion almost impossible. After a couple seconds a final, much larger portal appeared overhead, and from it hurtled a supersized bullet bigger than an outhouse that plowed through the arena itself.

Roland pulled out his sword and began to parry the bullets fired at him from the various portals. He had to admit that he wasn’t as good as the blue sicko when it came to parrying gunfire. He wasn’t a slouch, and could deflect a fair amount of shots from himself and Midna as the two were near each other, but he couldn’t get them all. And once the big shot came, there was nothing to do but just avoid it entirely. There was no way he was parrying a shell that big. Only the blue sicko and the red mist could deal with something that big without specialized weapons. And even then, the latter did have that cool sword that split entire city blocks.

Midna did her part by, after realizing dodging wasn’t going to work, by opening a portal of her own. Out of it the paw, and only the paw, of her giant mecha-bear rose up, while next to it she summoned her warthog ATV. Putting their backs against these twin walls, they massively reduced the amount of space the portals could open in.fire at them through, letting her pull out and wrap her shadow hand over their heads to block bullets coming from above, while Roland focused on those coming through the remaining gap.

Then when the big bullet came she whipped her shielding shadow hand up, slapping the shot in the side to try and direct it away from the way they chose to try and evade it, while dropping their cover back into the twilight realm.

When the bullet storm ended, and the last few spent casings clattered to the ground, C lowered his guns to get a look at his handiwork over the gunsmoke. Deus Ex Machina was no joke, and he’d definitely dealt some damage, but the two Seekers were still very much alive. “Well damn, looks like you might just be. Only a true protagonist could have that much plot armor.” Holstering his right-hand pistol, he span his left with a flourish. “How about…”

”TIME!”

A disembodied voice echoed across the Consul’s corner of the arena. When he heard it, C’s shoulders drooped, an annoyed look on his face as he scratched his head. “Aw, really? Victory by timer scam? What a rip.” He squeezed off a near-instant shot, aimed at an nonspecific point in the air. It hit something invisible to his opponents and shattered it, leaving a hole like broken glass in the fabric of reality itself. With an exasperated sigh, he put away his other gun and shrugged. “Still, a win’s a win. If I’m being honest, I was hoping you’d win. Really breaks the monotony whenever you guys show up. Let’s do this again sometime, huh?” He grinned. “Who knows, maybe next time you can try beating me for real. Good luck figuring out how, hehe.”

”I… What just happened?” Midna asked, entirely bemused by C’s antics and, entirely unable to maintain any anger at him as a result of it, before deciding simply that ”You know what, I’ll take it.”

C crossed his arms, looking over at Tycoon. Thanks to the efforts of Pit, Roxas, Zenkichi, and Susie, Midgar’s Guardian seemed to be suffering. “Still, I gotta wonder. Do you really know what you’re getting into? The consequences of your actions? There’s no way, right?” He glanced back at Midna and Roland. “If you did, though, heheh. Wouldn’t that be something.”

”You tell me?” Midna replied noncommittally as she took a moment to first catch her breath and then another reform her second pair of arms.

The Consul snickered. If she really expected him to give a straight answer by now, she should learn to temper her expectations. “Nah, go ahead and find out for yourself. And if you can’t get it, maybe that brainy angel lady can fill you in.” Without further ado, C turned to go. He skirted around the perimeter of the battlefield, ducking away from stray shots, as he headed for his parked car. Once he hopped in, the Consul turned as if to say something. Then he lifted up a glass with a grin, swirled it, and took a drink. “Ahh. My favorite.”

”What the hell…” Roland said, utterly confused. Apparently this C was way crazier than he figured, or he could see some weird wing test, or WAS a test or… ”Ok so… hes just…. Leaving? Well, I guess with how his powers work, I guess it makes as much sense as anything hes doing. These weirdos…” Roland said, sighing.

”If it means I don’t have to listen to him throw out a dozen more terms I have never heard of I’m not going to complain” Midna replied as she shook out her newly reformed limbs ”I mean, what is plot armor?”

”It’s a literary term for “your invincible due to plot” but why he was making quotes on writing is… well he is a weirdo.” Roland said, clarifying that for Midna, who supposed that was on brand with whatever C had been on about.