BrokenPromise

Symphony of Espers

@Hammerman GM post is going up tomorrow, think you'll be able to write a response in time?

Symphony of Espers

_{@The World@Hammerman@ERode}

Bees, beasts, and businessmen, oh my!

Things just kept getting crazier for the Mavericks. The scent of foul socks still lingered in the air when part of the warehouse got its shit pushed in. The foreman looked normal enough, but anyone who showed up at seven O’clock to prattle on about finances was not a normal person. They had monkeys, they had bees, might as well add some lizards to the mix.

As eager as Luna was to slay the queen and get her drones on her side, it seemed Marrie still wanted to play with the monkeys. This wasn’t an ideal choice for Luna. The main target was the queen and her church of honey. Not only that, but those construction workers could end up covering the entrance to the Bastion, forcing them to find another way in. There was also the matter of the bees that were really into her. In Luna’s eyes, they were attacking the wrong threat. But she understood Marrie’s reasoning. They were the closer threat, and Huntress was probably too proud to admit she needed the help anyway. Once they got the monkeys off their back, they could take on the big fish. Big bee? Big lizard? Whatever.

Luna dropped the hammer on the ground. She might come back for it, but Pit Boss was her weapon of choice for this arrangement. Her first few shots were aimed at the swarm of bees that had been closing in on her. Pit Boss’s projectiles had a shrapnel effect that should make short work of tiny endangered species like them.

With Marrie closing in on the whip ape, that left Luna to make sure the long sword ape was kept in check. And for that, she’d have to make sure he didn’t get too close to Marrie. That called for a melody that could hold someone in place. Her hoop spun up as she charged a beam to fire. Faster and faster, It glowed with power as it hovered between her hands. Before long, she fired at the ape. Her melody manifested itself as a firework that zoomed towards her target, only instead of firing sparks, it fired blue glitter.

POOF!

Now Luna smelled of moldy socks, honey, and she was covered head to toe in fine blue particulate. Provided her melody landed, the sword ape would be lifted off their feet, suspended in a swirling mass of glitter.

”I hope they have running water nearby!”

Tetrad moved closer to the sword ape while she fired. She wanted to be nearby should Marrie or Regina need a hand.

Luna

21 | Female | Maverick | Fortune
Pit Boss | Staff | Arcane | High Roller
Croupier | Graceful
Gambit | Gravity | Draw 4
[Weightless, Suspend], Damage, Heal, Push, Transplace, Extend, Purify, Zone, If: Friend , Else

DAMAGE: E | SPEED: C | SENTINEL: D | 750

Roll = I’m Blue! roleplayerguild.com/rolls/22382

[Silver Beam][Suspend] = -72 MP

PHYSICAL: E | ARCANE: C | CHAOS: D | 390

Symphony of Espers

_{@Izurich@Crusader Lord}

”Understood, proceed with caution.” Fritzi sounded a bit more professional than she had earlier. Less jovial. ”I’ll notify the other squad about the military weaponry.”

Merry may have covered her mouth and lungs, but the concentrated coal mixture found in tear gas was a natural irritant to one’s eyes. No amount of holding her breath or shielding her mucus membrane would clear her vision. But before momentary blindness set in, she managed to get off a single shot. Practiced hands ensured it went straight through the machine gunner’s head. The armor did little to slow the round down. Nor the barriers that were behind him, and certainly not the people hiding behind those barriers. Good thing most of the locals had fled the area, otherwise someone four blocks down would be getting a very rude wake up call. Once Merry moved to fresh air, her sight started to clear up. It seemed they weren’t using military grade tear gas. That was a relief at least.

But as short lived as her blindness was, it masked a subtle bit of movement at the other end of the building. Someone had stuck their hand out the window, pointed towards the apartment complex and then just vanished!

What Merry did notice was how the bullets entering the apartment building seemed to stop. The gangsters backed away from the windows and headed further down the hall. The grenadier dropped a smoke grenade to block their exit. No one could accurately fire at Merry, nor could she fire at them. What was going on?

But on the same floor as her was a helmetless individual wearing a gas mask, sporting neon hair and an impressive bomb suit. They had an empty shotgun, but opted to leave it by the fire escape before entering the building. Now was the time for Viper’s knives, their fangs, a pair of twin ka-bars.She spun the knives while keeping herself out of sight. Their prey had run into the hallway, not too far away from their current position. They wouldn’t need a gun at this range.

Viper tied a bandana around her head before listening for Merry’s footsteps or her breathing. She had just run away from a slew of bullets, and there was no reason for her to think that now wasn’t a good time to catch her breath.

Viper didn’t wait for their prey to move. Viper shuffled up to Merry and wrapped her arm around the barrel of her gun. This was to prevent her from trying to fire at them. Merry might have been able to wrestle the gun free, but would she be able to do it before Viper’s other knife wound up in her chest?

---

_{@SilverPaw@TheGMbby}

Shortly after the gun brute emptied his entire clip into Su’s shield, he charged her. They whipped the empty gun at her face, but it just harmlessly bounced off her shield. Once the brute closed the distance, he grabbed Su’s shield and managed to pull it out of her grasp. He was strong, but he stumbled backwards as the shield was pulled clean out of her hand. This gave Su a clear shot at his legs, which she capitalized on. A single shot shattered his tibia, dropping him to one knee. Most thugs would have called it quits after taking a shot like that. But these convicts had seen a lot of fighting, and had fought through more grievous wounds than that. With his good leg, the thug lunged towards Su.

”Gah!”

He nearly flattened her under her own shield, giving her a concussion from the impact. He was going to make use of her state of vertigo to climb over her and drive his fist through her face. But Su wasn’t one to stay down for long. She used her knees and elbows to lift her shield and dump the thug onto the floor. Su rose to her feet as soon as she was free. The brute grabbed Su’s leg, and the agent retaliated by dropping her metal shield on the thug’s arms. He roared in pain as both of his forearms were crushed under the force of the blow. He was no longer a threat to anyone. Her ears were still ringing when she stumbled towards her partner. ”Still okay?” There was a hint of concern in her voice when she examined Jacqueline’s wound. It was nothing serious, but it was like a mother to worry about such things, even if the children in question were not her own.

Jacqueline’s assessment of Rottweiler’s plan was pretty much on the mark. He hadn’t radioed for backup, but the brutes they fought were there to stall for time. Rottweiler had made it to the other end of the jail where he kneeled before a beautiful, if unkempt woman. She had a round face with mature features, and golden strands of hair that tumbled down the full length of her back. She wore no clothes, save for a tattered robe that was due for a trip to the washing machine, if not the furnace. She dragged a thin blade along the former police officer’s palm and clasped her hands in prayer. A red circle appeared around the woman, which shot rays of light upwards. The entire cell was basked in a red glow, and her robe looked like it was getting swept up in some sort of wind storm. The light dimmed seconds later, leaving Rottweiler with an eerie glow. The woman turned to the chain brute, who had just limped over. She held her hands together in prayer, and again, the red light and localized wind storm returned. When it expired, he too was given a red aura. The gash on his chest was no longer bleeding, and had scarred over.

”The hell is going on here?”

Of course the situation was plainly evident to the Gemini Agents. The woman in the cell had to be a blood magi: one who practices the taboo art of blood magic. Magi were relics of the past when there wasn’t enough mana in the air to make espers viable. Rather than being conduits of mana via grimoires, Magi relied on artifacts designed exclusively for the art of casting spells. They did not enjoy the types of enhancements espers did, and casting spells took more concentration and time. When that wasn’t the case, there was usually some other cost. Blood magic was infamous for its potency as well as requiring blood to activate its spells. There were stories of people being sacrificed by the hundreds to summon cataclysmic events.

”You’ll be free soon, Lada.” Rottweiler stood back up and turned towards the espers. ”You know, it’s been one hell of a week. One minute I’m a mild mannered martial arts instructor, the next I’m some coward who cohorts with gang members to save his own skin.” He chuckled as he walked closer to the espers. The prisoners didn’t stop screaming for blood, but they had quieted down after Rottweiler received his dark blessing. ”Ten years of service, and in just a few days my biggest fans have all lost faith in me. Man, people sure can be fickle, huh?” He shook his head with a smile. ”I don’t think I need to tell you guys there’s a hidden government complex around here, right? That’s probably why you guys are here. They take magically gifted convicts down there for research. I had Cobra Gang move Lada up here for me. But even they don’t like the idea of her walking around freely.” He sighed. ”We don’t have to fight, I just want to get Lada out of here. I don’t really care what happens to the gang.”

Su fret her brow and leveled her pistol with Rottweiler’s head. ”Alliance or not, experiment or not, I only imagine what blood magi was convicted of.” She shook her head. ”She can’t be free.”

”Hah! I guess that’s fair.”

The chain thug Took a deep breath and charged Su with refound determination and power. She managed to fire a round into his shoulder, but his only reaction was for his shoulder to swing back like it had been shoved. There wasn’t any indication that the bullet penetrated his flesh. Su raised her shield and fired several more rounds before he slammed into her shield with his other shoulder, knocking her back. All of the gunfire had shredded the shoulder of his jump suit, revealing a cluster of bruises. Whatever the magic did to them, it made them incredibly durable. While gunfire wasn’t too effective, did that mean a giant war pick would be just as ineffective, or even their melodies?

”I feel like a mountain!” The convict cheered.

Rottweiler had a pistol and billy club in his holster, but drew his hand held metal detector instead. ”Let’s have some fun.” He brought his detector across his chest and sprinted for Jacqueline. He dropped his radio with his other hand and reached towards her weapon. It was too early to tell if he was going for a disarm, or was going to attempt pushing the weapon out of the way. But it was clear she was going to have a master martial artist on top of her if she didn’t act soon.

specs

32 | Female | Gemini | Steel Gaze
Bipartisan | Handgun, Greatshield | Physical | Bullet Window
Dragon Breacher | Kevlar Vest
Debris | Wind | Locally Sourced
[Storm , Flight ], Push, Pull, Build, Purify, Restrain, Damage

DAMAGE: D | SPEED: E | SENTINEL: C | 500

PHYSICAL: D | ARCANE: D | CHAOS: E | 404

---

_{@FamishedPants@OwO@mantou@ERode}

With the second floor in chaos, and the guards on the stairwell trapped, there was little barring the advance of the freelancer team. Aria spear headed the team in the metaphorical and literal sense, plunging her weapon through the opposition before hurrying upstairs. She kept moving forward before unleashing the strongest pull melody she could muster. Though regrettably, it still had to conform to the nature of the notes she cast it with. The range on an AoE note was only five feet in all directions around Aria. Her magic also had no way to distinguish between a gun and a person. Aria’s power came from drawing in the flows of mana, which was something inherently in the air rather than something found in metal. Her magic was more akin to a gravitational force than a magnetic one. But there were loads of guns from the divine explosion Apollo unleashed earlier, and many of those guns were drawn to her feet. So if Apollo wished to swap his pistol for one of the many AK-47’s strewn about Protector’s feet, that was viable. Another, perhaps unintentional effect of her melody was that she could hear some people fumbling in the stairwell above her. Were the stairs not in the way, they may have fallen directly on top of Aria. The older waiter and the cronies beside him were unaffected as they were just too far away.

But not out of range of Samuel’s magic.

"Master Wade!" The old crow waved his hand at one of the gunman. "Move your feet! Something bad is about to-"

As Wade would soon learn, talking isn’t always a free action. Silhouette's horrific melody triggered just moments later, but by the time the shadow enveloped the poor bastard, it was already too late. Many of them opened fire on Samuel’s melody, which cracked the shadow and revealed what remained of poor Wade. He didn’t even look like a human anymore. Just a sack of meat with his bones and organs scrambled about, filled with bullet holes from his companions. Cobra Gang was largely made up of criminals who preyed on people they perceived as weaker than themselves. It made them feel powerful to steal, rape, and murder as a group. Their friendship was based on how strong they made each other feel, and watching one of their own get crushed by a shadow did not reinforce that image. A fair fight wasn’t worth picking, these espers were so far above them they were little more than roadblocks to them. Many wore a look of terror on their faces and fled at the sight. They ran to the opposite end of the building to escape out the windows. They would try their luck with the drop rather than face something that could do that to them. Plenty of the fleeing thugs fell to Apollo first.

During all that, Fritzi’s voice came over the freelancer’s earpieces. ”Military arments have been spotted on the upper floors. Expect heavy resistance moving forward.”

But with all the chaos afoot, nobody noticed Viper was no longer present. One does not simply watch their prey jump out of a window and stand by idly as they rally their friends. Viper had entered one of the offices before the freelance squad made their way up the stairs. Once they were alone, they spoke into their intercom.

”Hey hun, got some espers in here, wanna swap?”

After receiving a reply, Viper stuck their hand out the office window, pointed it at a distant building and just...vanished! Some yellow powder soaked into the floor, and there was no trace she had even been there.

Though their exchange here was about to make things much more interesting for the freelance team.

It looked like the freelancer group had cleared the second floor pretty well, with just the butler and two other cronies that were too stubborn to flee. The old man had two of his fingers pressed against his temple when he suddenly smiled.

"Very well. If a group of low-brow rabble wishes to dance, what am I to do but oblige?" The waiter pointed his hand down the hall at the freelancer team, still keeping his fingers pressed together. "Servant Sofron, at your services!" At that moment it all clicked. The funny outfit, the eccentric personality… Sofron was an esper. Maybe he was a new addition to the gang Fritzi didn’t know about, or maybe he was a hire for extra muscle, but there would be time to think about that later.

A burning, screaming skull flew out of his fingertips. Most projectile melodies travel at the speed of a stone throw, and can usually be dodged if you see them coming. But this one was moving quickly. Its disembodied scream grew louder before diving into the floor and filling a zone of the hallway with burning ash. The effects weren’t obvious to start, but Aria, Apollo, and Samuel could feel the heat baking them. Their mana felt like it was being limited, and their bodies were starting to catch fire! They only had a few seconds to clear out before they were fully engulfed. That wasn’t even accounting for the bullets that would fill the hallway once the gang opened fire again. And that would resume shortly judging by how they were looking down their sights.

But that was not where the freelance team’s troubles ended. The “men” on the stairs turned out to be a single man clad head to toe in black armor. Visually they looked similar to viper, save for “Mamba” had a different name sprayed across their chest, and they had an orange cattle prod in place of a shotgun. ”Smells like dinner’s cookin’!” They sprint down the stairs after Apollo. It wasn’t hard to imagine someone wanting to shock someone like that.

Klava seemed to be relatively safe. She was still on the stairs, and there wasn’t enough room at the top for her to squeeze in. Not that she’d willingly enter a hallway filled with fire and bullets anyway. (Unless?) But that didn’t mean the stairs weren’t going to get exciting. She could hear some people moving around on the first floor.

”See? I told you those zip lines would come in handy! Just rappel down from the offices and-”

”Save it, Adder. Just be prepared to shoot anything that comes through.”

A tear gas grenade was thrown into the stairwell, filling the staircase between the second and first floor with smoke. This was followed by the sound of gunfire filling the staircase.

Important notes on Sofron’s “Balefire”

[Diamond Projectile][Quicken][Zone][Ignite]

The Ignite note has a grade of “B,” which means that someone with B grade arcane defenses will become fully engulfed in flames after six seconds. Every grade below that will quicken the engulf by about a second. So C takes five seconds, D takes four, and E takes three. The zone is not entering the stairways, but is filling up twenty feet of the hallway’s length. That’s roughly six meters for those of you who don’t use the imperial system.

Everyone hit by Sofron’s melody are also under the effect of “Baleful Flame,” which makes it so that your next melody can’t cost more than 50 mana

---

_{@The World@Hammerman}

A daring escape prevented Regina from being fatally skewered, as the Huntress slipped out from the brawler-ape’s grapple and blinked herself away, landing in relative safety near the warehouse’s entrance...until the mangled corpse of a rat struck her face. Looking through the entrance, she was greeted by the surreal sight of Billy Black being clothed in carnivorous rats, while a squadron of chefs with very tall hats sat down and patted their duck fat.

”Ya gotta be five finger fuckin’ me!” Billy turned to face Huntress, not too pleased to be doing battle with so many rats at once. Though he also seemed to be in good condition, all things considered. ”Get your- I say get your ass back in there and do what I’m paying you for!” He looked to the sky as a caldron filled with a murky green liquid was launched into the air off of a catapult. ”Hell’s bells!” He quickly nudged Regina aside, causing her to stumble through the illusionary field and avoiding a bath in rat broth.

Insane as that was, however, her escape was only temporary, and the two apes continued to follow her doggedly, rushing her down with the spear-ape now taking the front while the brawler-ape lagged from behind. The poison still slowed him down, but in time, the effects of that magical affliction would fade, and if Regina didn’t find a sniping position soon, she’d undoubtedly find herself back in a two-on-one melee.

Of course, compared to Marrie, Regina had it easy. Suddenly incredibly vulnerable due to the loss of her Esper form, the depowered girl sprung into action, morals forgotten as the situation became much more dire than expected. With desperate force, her kick landed right between the legs of the longsword-ape, pummeling something soft and inexplicably moist. He let out a gasp in response, doubling over in agony and giving Marrie just enough time to dive for her instrument. The shark tooth necklace vibrated within her grasp, and in the next moment, she reclaimed her superpowered form! Blood soaked her left arm, but her right was strong, and with her opponent still shaking, the Apex Predator lunged for a killing blow!

Only for her right foot to be yanked backwards by the whip-ape’s accurate strikes, and for her chin to strike the ground in a skull-shaking impact. Of course. In a fight between multiple opponents, to ignore the one with the longer range was to leave yourself exposed at any time.

And while the world around her blurred and loosened, swirled and ached, Marrie could see the longsword-ape stand up once more, raising his sword to thrust into her back before she could recover. A miserable end, to a life that had seemed so full of promise. But as death neared, a strange smell bloomed in the area. A smell of mold, of old sweat, of high school locker rooms. The smell…of old socks! A wave of decay burst outwards near Marrie, driving both monkeys and bees back before the finishing blow could be delivered. And, standing before her was Tetrad, in that moment smelling both weirdly sweet and also incredibly repugnant. Both espers now had time to recover, and the menace of Tetrad’s newly-acquired hammer caused the apes to reflect on their plan of attack…though it certainly didn’t stop the bees from rushing T at all. With an angry buzz, they swarmed for the only sweet-smelling individual in the vicinity, ready to lay stingers on Tetrad and dedicate their hearts to the cause.

Meanwhile, the Queen of Bees, still basically untouched and still basically having not drawn any aggro this entire time, strutted forward menacingly as her subs pumped up the honey water within their Super Soakers once more. Those Neanderthals, not knowing that the true threat laid with her and her Hyper Larva Growth magics! Those peons, fit only to massage her feet with their pitifully soft and weak hands! To think that their brains were so underdeveloped that they chose to fight each other rather than group up on the mightiest threat in this warehouse!

“Take aim!” She shouted, her minions lining up their guns once more. “Fire!”

KABOOM!

An explosion sounded behind the Queen, completely drowning out her yelp of surprise as a wrecking ball smashed through the entire back wall of the warehouse. Chunks of rubble flew out, pasting one of the subs as the light of day pierced through the storm of dust. The music could be heard loud and clear now, accentuated by the rumbling of behemothian engines. Two bulldozers flanked a tall crane, all their lights pointed in one direction to backlight the squat businessman who strode into the room like a true American psychopath. He wore a yellow hard hat that didn’t match his custom-tailored Italian shoes, and the grin he had on his face was undoubtedly one of a man who had more money than sense. Pulling out his megaphone, he let it crackle annoyingly, then called out.

“Alright, ya freaks and sheeps! Time to clear the fuck out. This shitty little warehouse has been blotting the cityscape for far too long. Pax Septimus Holdings has just cleared demolition for this here building, so clear the hell out and find some other warehouse to squat in!”

He sneered, supremely arrogant of his position and also totally unaware of what was going on at the other side of the warehouse.

“Maybe if y’all worked as hard as I did, you’d be able to afford to lease one of the rooms for the mega-apartment I’ll be building up after this!”

---

_{@Majoras End}

Children are little more than adults in training. Be they six, twelve, or even eight-teen, they are still learning how to behave like someone who can handle responsibilities. One of the more difficult lessons children must learn is the appropriate amount of force to use in a given situation. It’s a tricky one to learn, one that many adults haven’t mastered.

As an example, when Mary saw Betty in zir seat, ze could have asked her to move before resorting to magic. That could have made Mary seem reasonable in the eyes of others. Instead, Fable was filled with fear, notably so as ze drew closer. Though much like zirself, Fable was also a child. Throwing a hot cup of coffee into someone’s face was a perfectly reasonable thing to do if they made him feel uncomfortable.

Maybe the coffee had cooled for a few seconds, maybe a minute, but hot coffee was still hot coffee. Mary’s scream could pierce glass, but it didn’t stop Fable from running off. As he disappeared out the door, Mary fell to zir knees, still screaming as the coffee trickled down zir elaborate shirt. Denny stuck out his big tongue and tried to clean as much off it as he could. Mary eventually calmed down enough to where ze could reach into their blouse and retrieve a handkerchief to clean zirself off with. They cleaned up most of it, though ze still looked miserable. Zir dress was wet with coffee, and ze couldn’t stop themselves from crying. Mary’s cheeks were bright red, and zir nose was running all over the place.

"Mastress! This won’t do!" Denny shook Mary. "It’s my fault! I shouldn’t have tried to hook you two up! But after seeing how bad things have been going-" But Deny went silent as soon as Mary decided zir skills as a ventriloquist wasn’t going to cheer them up. It was depressing, really. Pretending to be a puppet to overcome zir crippling social anxiety.

But while ze was content to just sulk, someone else wasn’t going to let zir do that.

“Ahhh...” A gloved hand slid under Mary’s chin and lifted it up. Ze immediately stopped zir crying when ze was able to see who the hand belonged to. It was a slender man with short blond hair and some of the most regal clothes ze had ever seen. He looked like he had just stepped out of a castle in Transylvania. Ze couldn’t see his eyes because they were closed, but that didn’t stop him from “looking” at zir. “What a beautiful flower I’ve come across. But why, her pedals are stained with coffee, and her eyes run over with tears.” The man offered zir a handkerchief, which ze took and blew zir nose into. “What is your name, madam?”

"M-Mary." Ze fret zir brow. "And it’s ze! I’m a demiboy!"

“Ahh, I apologize.” He bowed. “I am Justin. You may refer to me as a ‘he,’ if that is acceptable?”

Mary’s face broke into a smile. "I don’t see a problem with that, Justin."

”I see you’ve had a little mishap with your cup. Would you like me to get you another one?”

"T-this was not a mishap!" Ze folded zir arms. "B-but yes, I would like some coffee. I haven’t had any luck getting a waiter over this way, and some guy just threw ‘this’ one at my face!"

Justin was taken back by this news. ”My condolences, Mary. I knew Pax Septimus was a rough place, but any neanderthal who would do such a thing to a flower as beautiful as yourself is truly depraved. Do you know anything about him?”

Ze sighed. "I saw his face."

”That may be enough.” He looked back towards the counter and raised two fingers. The shop owner gave a nod before disappearing behind the counter. ”Perhaps you can help me out, Mary. It would mean a lot to me. I’m looking for a girl. She has silver hair, pale skin, and she was playing the violin a few minutes ago. I was going to leave, but I simply must have her autograph.” Justin smiled. ”You wouldn’t happen to know where she is, would you?”

---

Fable ran. He ran and ran and ran. There was no destination in mind, just the desire to escape. Unfortunately for Fable, it is not possible for an Esper to run away from trouble. Without a location in mind, an esper will always be drawn to places where other espers or monsters reside. And since Fable was avoiding the former, it was just a matter of time before he encountered the ladder.

And boy did he encounter one!

He didn’t see anything at first, but he heard it. The ground quaked with every step the monster took. Before he could even consider running away again, he caught a glimpse of it as it barreled through the streets. At a distance, it looked like nothing more than a giant crab. One that was several stories tall maybe, but there wasn’t anything especially unique about its construction. Though he did notice lots of small cracks running all over its body, and it’s shell seemed to… move? It shifted, punched, and skidded about as it drew closer to Fable. But as it did, Fable would soon realize it wasn’t a giant crab, but thousands of normal sized crabs locked together. Swinging their pincers and dancing about.

Below the creature was a green haired woman with the longest legs he had ever seen. She was wearing a doctor’s coat and had all manner of doctor’s equipment hooked up to four metal arms mounted on her back. Bone saws, an oversized injection gun, and various other implements that were too big and cumbersome to be used to heal anyone. There was even an overhead light rigged up to shine on whatever she was looking at. Despite the bulk of her equipment, she moved with the grace of an ice skater, twirling through the air as the crab swung it’s claws at her.

”This would be a lot easier if our teams were the same size.” Despite the doctor’s quip, it was clear that it was taking everything she had to not get flattened under the monstrosity’s claws.

Then, Fable’s phone would blip with a notification from the Shimr app.

Request From: G.E.M.I.N.I. (Vermillion Veronica)
Details: BEHEMOTH ELIMINATION
Behemoth-class monster “Crab Rave” has appeared on Richter ST. Espers are being hired to assist with the elimination of the threat and help vacate the vicinity of civilians. Help is required ASAP. Payment will be distributed based on contribution towards Crab Rave’s elimination and evacuation of the battle area. Crab Rave’s elimination is 80% of the reward.

Richter? That street ran right past the Great Escape!

The crabs on the behemoth’s head shifted apart, and two clusters of crabs were blasted out of it. as they flew through the air, they scurried around each other until they looked like two smaller versions of the behemoth they spawned from. They landed on their “feet” a few meters away from Fable’s position and started to close in on him. One rolled onto its head and started to spin, breakdancing towards the wee lad.

Crabs to his back, a giant crab to his front, and walls on either side of him. Would Fable attempt to continue his daring escape, or would he stand and fight?

Symphony of Espers

_{@The World@Hammerman@ERode}

Well, shit.

Is probably what Luna’s inner monolog would look like if she had one. The monkey men creeped her out enough by just existing. Now they were standing right beside her, waving their arms and twitching to get her to react. Her eyes darted between the two. She had a white knuckle grip on Pit Boss, but hesitated firing. Regardless of who she attacked, it would create an opening for the other one. Sweat was running down her forehead, and she couldn’t wait for this nightmare to bee over.

Though Luna had a brief reprieve from her terror when the mist girl’s melody activated. Sure, it was an impressive spell and the destruction it caused made her feel less lost than before. But hot diggity dog, Those were some epic pecs those guys were rocking. It was a shame they were weird honey worshiping cultists, but in the moment she didn’t care. She wasn't even phased when said hot guys covered her and the two apes in some yellow sticky fluids. It didn’t taste half bad either. Not that she had given consent for such a thing, but- Oh no, not the bees!

Luna wasn’t about to just stand there like a dope while the bees went to work on the ape men. She knew she was next if she didn’t do something about the honey she was stuck with, or at least the bees. But when she turned around to run, she became aware of the peril the freelancers were in. It didn’t really surprise her, but she had hoped they would have faired better. But Luna knew she had set her hopes kind of high. Who would expect a snooty person like Huntress to be a team player? “Uhhh, a hunter is a hunter who lives when they are not hunted.” Or whatever nugget of chuuni wisdom she’d use in the situation. If there was going to be any teamwork among the espers, she was going to need to foster it herself.

She slid Pit Boss over her shoulder while she ran to the mist girl’s position. She snatched up the hammer while sprinting as fast as she could manage. A good Olympic runner can run about 20 miles per hour, which is close to the speed bees fly at. So as long as she didn’t stop, she shouldn't get stung. In theory, at least. When she was in close proximity to the mist girl’s position, Luna slid onto her knees and slapped the floor with her free hand.

”All bets are off!”

When Luna touched the ground, the area was filled with a repulsive energy. The repulsive energy of… dirty dirty gym socks! The surrounding 20 foot space smelled like an old gym locker, and even the confetti the melody produced looked like they might have been made out of old socks. While it would smell bad to the espers, the monkey men, and especially the bees, would find it so repugnant it actually pushed them away! That should give the girl a bit of breathing room, and protect them from any incoming honey or bees for the time being.

”Something’s coming, and I don’t think it’s backup.” If an ape man made the mistake of trying to stay in the repulsive area to harass the mist girl, Luna would just crack her newly acquired hammer against the side of his skull. Having the physical might of a weight lifter wasn’t something Luna took advantage of often as an esper, but it came in handy for times like this. ”I’ll focus on keeping you safe. Just deal with the threats as they come.” She’d add something about getting her grimoire back if she hadn’t recovered it already. ”If we’re distracting enough, maybe Huntress can sneak in close.”

Did Huntress hear that? Of course she did that selfish chuuni wanna be loner who can’t stop-

Luna

21 | Female | Maverick | Fortune
Pit Boss | Staff | Arcane | High Roller
Croupier | Graceful
Gambit | Gravity | Draw 4
[Weightless, Suspend], Damage, Heal, Push, Transplace, Extend, Purify, Zone, If: Friend , Else

DAMAGE: E | SPEED: C | SENTINEL: D | 750

Roll = Smell of old socks! roleplayerguild.com/rolls/22347

[Bronze Touch][Extend][Zone][If:Friend][Else][Push] = -128 MP

PHYSICAL: E | ARCANE: C | CHAOS: D | 462

Symphony of Espers

I don't feel like I did a great job of describing the staircase near the back entrance in great detail, so if anyone has a hard time picturing it, it's shaped like this, only far wider, and the steps themselves are made out of thick slabs of concrete. Though the picture demonstrates how there's kind of a "half floor" that two sets of stairs meet at. Anyway, all of the posts thus far have been fine, just wanted to clarify as more action is happening inside the staircase presently.

Symphony of Espers

_{@Izurich@Crusader Lord}

Fritzi was not the sort of person who enjoyed sudden changes to her plans. At least, not when it was her agents insisting on the changes themselves. When Silmeria announced that she was going after King Cobra, she started to groan. Only for it to turn into a sigh of resignation when Jacqueline seemed to like the idea.

”I don’t like leaving Leroux and Breacher without backup, but keeping Cobra occupied will preserve more of the police station.” She chuckled. ”And if they’re okay with it, why not? Seems like agent Wukong is joining you anyway. Just remember the freelancers are coming up the stairs, so watch your aim. I’ll let you know when they reach the fourth floor.”

It didn’t take too long for Silmeria to reach the top floor of the apartment. They climbed into the center window just as Lilliah landed on the roof above them. They could see the commissioner’s office, or perhaps it was King Cobra’s office now. It had gone over quite the renovation since the takeover. The commissioner’s paperwork had been shoved into a nearby waste paper bin. In its place was a bottle of aged wine. Though all that remained of it after the quake was a label resting on top of a pile of shattered glass. The only other interesting thing in the room was a tall safe that had yet to be opened. But if the scorch marks around the dial were any indication, someone had been trying to get in. Any wall decorations in the room had since fallen on the floor. It was difficult to know what had been caused by the quake and what had been done by the new residents.

Beyond the desk was the hallway. Several desks had been dragged out of nearby offices and pushed onto their sides. Judging by the direction they had been pushed in, it seemed like they were preparing for an assault from the staircase rather than the commissioner’s office. Not many people try to raid a building from the top floor. Less so when you have a plethora of explosive weaponry and could shoot a helicopter out of the air with ease.

And there at the other end of the hallway was the Cobra himself. He grinned at the esper before ducking under cover.

”Fire!"

Plenty of gunned goons leaned out of offices and popped over cover to shoot in Silmeria’s direction. More notable than the 6 or 7 regular gang members were 2 men clad head to toe in balistic armor. One of them held what appeared to be a grenade launcher, while the other was sporting a light mounted machine gun. These clearly weren’t arments they found at the police station. These guys had to be dealing with black market arms to get their hands on military grade weapons like that.

It wasn’t long before the hallway turned into a steady flow of led bullets. The grenade launcher thug fired a round straight into the apartment hallway. The round didn’t explode, but instead slowly filled the room with tear gas. If Silmeria remained for long, her lungs and throat would burn as she inhaled the concoction. She would be unable to resist coughing, and her eyes would sting if the smoke was allowed to enter them.

King Cobra was difficult to spot, but it was possible to see his lit cigar disappear inside one of the side offices. It didn’t look like he planned on running away.

Things were a bit more peaceful for Lilliah if she chose to ignore the gunfire below her. There were a few vents, each fitted with a set of whirling fan blades and a cage to prevent birds from falling in. Probably a bit too small for a human to use for entry. There were no entryways on top of the building, but she had spotted a fire escape on the north side of the building. It was made out of wrought iron and needed some TLC, but it did allow access to nearly every floor. It was located towards the front of the building away from the above ground staircase.

---

_{@SilverPaw@TheGMbby}

”Breacher, Leroux, I’m sure you heard the transmission. You’re on your own. Securing the jail is vital to things going smoothly, so it’s importent you don’t overextend.”

”Got it!”

As soon as Jacqueline called Su’s code name, she was backing up to her position. It wasn’t until the skin face at the other end of the hall cast aside his gun that she felt confident rushing to her position.

The giant with a chain was formidable. Even with her shield, a single shot was enough to send Su reeling back from the impact. But Jacqueline was able to cast her melody in relative peace. It took Su a moment to realize what she was doing, and she used Jacqueline’s longer casting time to follow up with something of her own.

She leveled her pistol with the giant’s legs. He seemed to be prepared for something like this, as he reached ack into the darkness and pulled out a fiberglass riot shield. Probably not enough to stop a high caliber round like Su’s gun fired, but it was irrelevant anyway. What came out of her gun was a pulse of wind, creating little dust loops as it flew trough the air before smashing into the shield. It didn’t inflict any damage, but the concrete steps seemed to grow tendrils that latched onto the shield, locking his arm in place.

”Knew you girls were into that shit!”

By the time Jacqueline’s projectile went off, there wasn’t much the brute could do to evade. He ducked behind the frail shield, which was just barely enough to stand up to improvised weaponry. But it seemed that luck was on his side.



A second man, this one taller and leaner, leapt from the shadows before firing several rounds into Su’s sculpture. He had just enough time to pull the brute out of harm’s way, but not before the twisted metal cut into his shoulder. He cried in pain as his crimson was sprayed on an adjacent wall.

”The hell are these people?”

There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that the new hostile was Rottweiler. While he seemed to be dressed up as a security guard, his mannerisms were on a different level than the thug that stood next to him. His posture was better, his workout regimen was better too. There was no doubt the brute standing next to him had a stronger upper body, but Rottweiler didn’t look like a cartoon character due to skipping leg day for the past 5 years. There was discipline with all of his movements. Even the brief moment he stood there it looked like something that he had been rehearsing until he had the moves down perfectly.

”Espers.” Rottweiler moved his radio up to his mouth and mumbled some commands before slinking below ground. ”Fall back.” With a groan, the wounded convict followed after him.

”I not like the look of this, not one bit.” Despite what her gut told her, Su walked down the stairs with her shield up. No sense getting jumped on the staircase because some gang member was hiding out.

The “jail” in the basement of the police station wasn’t any bigger than the other floors. The agents knew it was a single long corridor lined with cells, courtesy of the map they saw earlier. Technically, this wasn’t a jail, but a series of holding cells. Once the felons here were processed, they were dressed in orange jumpsuits in preparation for their move to a real jail cell elsewhere. It didn’t look like most of the inmates had been released. There were a few open cells here and there, but that could have been a result of a slow day at the precinct. Most of the prisoners looked rough. They held onto their bars and howled like animals. Blood had been spilled, a battle was going to take place, and they wanted to see the outcome. It wasn’t hard to imagine they were on their 3rd or 4th conviction. There were a few here and there that appeared to be everyday people. One cell had a business man in it, who seemed to be content to sit at the back of his cell. Another had a young woman inside, who had her hands over her ears.

The corridor had been turned into an arena. Some lockers had been thrown about to create makeshift barricades. Though the area was surprisingly vacant. Rottweiler had retreated half way down the corridor, with the chain brute trailing a bit further behind him. The only other people present were two other brutes in jumpsuits. One had duct tapped some shivs to his wrists, while another had gotten ahold of a pistol. They both charged as soon as the two agents showed up. The gun brute screamed as they emptied their magazine into Su’s shield, and the shiv brute ran for Jacqueline, leading with both knives.

specs

32 | Female | Gemini | Steel Gaze
Bipartisan | Handgun, Greatshield | Physical | Bullet Window
Dragon Breacher | Kevlar Vest
Debris | Wind | Locally Sourced
[Storm , Flight ], Push, Pull, Build, Purify, Restrain, Damage

DAMAGE: D | SPEED: E | SENTINEL: C | 500

[Bronze Beam][restrain] = 48

PHYSICAL: D | ARCANE: D | CHAOS: E | 404

---

_{@FamishedPants@OwO@mantou@ERode}

Aria managed to protect herself from eating a face full of buckshot by suspending the bullets and redirecting them towards the floor. ”Hmph.” Was their only response before pumping their shot gun again. The empty gun Apollo threw at him harmlessly bounced off one of the guard’s shields, causing it to wobble a bit.

When the two gunman hosed the floor with bullets, Aria was there again to keep the bullets out of her allies flesh. Her shield was a bit small for the job though. While Breacher enjoyed a large shield that she could easily hide behind, Aria’s shield was smaller and more designed with mobility in mind. It was what allowed her to be nimble in close quarters combat, but was less practical to use as cover from a hail of bullets. The pulling effect did direct many projectiles to the center of her shield, but a few bullets ended up grazing her legs. They weren’t enough to slow her down, but she’d feel it for the rest of the mission if it wasn’t treated.

This gave Apollo all the time he needed to find the pistol he lifted off a dead gang member. As he had no allies near his targets to hit, there was nothing stopping his bullets from finding their mark. The pistol was more than enough to shatter the shields they held, but were still stopped by the bullet proof vests they wore. The armored criminals stumbled backward from the blows. Even with bullet proof vests, shots like that hurt.

This was when Viper was going to fire another round of buckshot, but some movement distracted them. It was hard to ignore someone killing people on the floor above you. They spotted the incoming corpse bomb, and adjusted their aim accordingly. They did manage to get a shot off, but by that point, the ice bomb went off. A large ice spike jetted out of the trap Klava had set. While modern bomb helmets could stop projectiles moving at 2000 feet per second, they offered no protection against arcane attacks.

”Gah!”

They flinched, and their helmet fell to either side. Viper’s head was mostly revealed. Their gas mask couldn’t conceal their bright neon hair. Cyan locks fell on either side of their shoulders as the last fragments of their helmet hit the floor. Judging by their cheek bones. They seemed to be rather thin despite the bulky suit they were wearing. They might have even been a woman, but it was really hard to tell with the suit and mask covering the lower half of their face. Fortunately sex appropriation for hostiles wasn’t too important.

”Fall back!”

The two goons that were with them backed their way up the stairs, wildly spraying their bullets just to slow the freelancer squad on the first floor. Viper marched up the stairs towards Klava’s position, firing round after round of buckshot at her.

Viper wasn’t the only person gunning for Klava. The second floor had never been cleared out, and gang members were starting to come out of the offices. One of which was a man dressed like a waiter. He was pushing a catering table and lifted the lid off of a dish as he approached. It became clear he was going to serve her a submachine gun, the bullets at least. He used the cart to steady his aim as he fired down the hall.

There were also more gunmen coming down from the third floor, but they hadn’t come into sight yet.

”The other agents are clear, Silhouette.” Binky called in to the lone Gemini agent. ”King Cobra was spotted on the fourth floor. Proceede as you would.”

---

Fritzi stepped into the armored vehicle Binky was driving and sat in the passenger’s seat.

”So you can show up like a normal person?”

”It’s not as fun, but I do it on occasion.” Fritzi folded one leg over the other. ”So what was so important you couldn’t say so over coms?”

”There’s a big monster coming our way.”

Fritzi hesitated, then reclined in her seat. ”The ‘Holy Diver’ is coming to Pax Septimus? That should be weeks away.”

”Different one. Smaller, but it’s still a behemoth class.” Binky looked at Veronica. ”It’s not too late to call off the opperation.”

”We’re not calling off the operation.” Veronica’s face hardened when she looked at Binky. ”If there’s a behemoth coming our way, it will need to be kept busy.”
Binky closed her eyes. ”Just us? I’m glad you have faith in me, but 30 seconds is all I’m good for. Forgive me if it sounds rude, but there’s a pretty good reason why you didn’t go in there after them. Even if we could hold up a behemoth-”

”We?” Fritzi slapped Binky’s shoulder. ”Binky, someone has to relay information between the agents. You’re going to keep that thing busy by yourself.”

”What!?”

”Besides, 30 seconds is more than enough time for them to finish the mission.” Fritzi adjusted her mic as she prepared to continue with the operation.

---

_{@The World@Hammerman}

It was melee. It was SMASH!

Regina’s arrow, shot in haste as the Huntress prepared for close combat, struck the spear-ape’s shoulder, jerking him back a step. It wasn’t an inconsequential blow, but it had stalled him two steps behind his allies, isolating the brawler ape that she went for. Arcane transfigurations shifting her arm into a bear’s, Regina swung for the ape’s stomach with lethal intent, only for the brawler ape to shift his own stance. Bringing his right foot forward, he twisted his hips and launched a strong right hook as well, catching her not in her exposed left side, but rather in the furry wrist of her right hand. Padded by fur and fat, it wasn’t a blow that could seriously injure her, but the exchange had drastically slowed the velocity of the Huntress’s swipe.

That was the difference between a group of freelancers and a unified Ape Gang: one couldn’t coordinate, while another was a society based upon sacrifice and brotherhood.

No longer threatened by disembowelment, the brawler ape caught her arm as it struck into his side, wrapping both his arms around it while stomping on her right foot as well. Her claws bit deep into his fursuit, poisons causing the ape to shudder and spasm, but his grip held tight, and in his shadow, the spear-ape caught up to her. “RETURN TO MONKE!” they hollered together, before the heavy head of the spear, optimized for hunting bears, thrust for the Huntress’s chest with the desire to take out a lung or her heart before she could break out of the grapple or any of her allies could assist.

Not that Marrie was in any mental state to do so. Viscerally, absolutely, totally, completely disgusted by the Queen of Bees and her kinky sub-bees, the Esper of the Hurricane unleashed her magical onslaught, dramatically ramping up her conversion of the mana within the atmosphere before shooting off a ball of hot winds to the ceiling. The core of a condensed storm arced up and released raging winds unto the cultists below, lacerating the mob of sub-bees who immediately rallied to their Queen’s defense. Spread out as it was, the rebounding effects of her spell were largely ineffectual in inflicting damage, but the overall effects were still clear to be seen: the chiseled, bloodied forms of the sub-bees were now visible for all to see, and goddamn, did they put in the work to look good.

Such single-minded focus upon the Church of the Hive, however, meant that Marrie had ignored the Ape Gang completely, and by the time she heard the crack of the whip, it was already too late. A sharp pain bloomed over her wrist, skin parting and veins bursting as a bullwhip struck with supersonic speed, and even her dagger went flying. The whip ape, three meters away, chortled with a victorious grimace, while the longsword-ape had already maneuvered around the disarmed Marrie, closing off her routes of escape. Like a true master of the sword (only also an ape), the longsword-ape brought his sword up high, blade parallel to the ground, before whispering, “It’s…banana.”

Three slashes flew at her, swift as a flying swallow.

Tetrad’s gambit, one that literally no one saw coming, saw the Gravity Gambler landing behind the initial wave of the Ape Gang instead, her crooked teeth the last thing that the hammer-ape saw before his cranium was dashed against the rusted beams of the warehouse. The war hammer tumbled out of his grasp, floating for another few seconds before crashing into the ground between Tetrad and the others. But while the Esper would’ve loved to find some respite behind more shipping crates, what she didn’t account for was the fact that, despite being bruised and bloodied, the axe-ape and the dual-swords ape were still not broken. Coming in after their brothers did, the weakened but still dangerous ape-bros menaced Tetrad, one on each side of her, both feinting blows in order to try to catch her off-guard and create an opening for the other.

Neither, however, accounted for the disdain of the Queen to who they’ve turned their backs.

“Ingrates! Rapscallions! Neanderthals!” Stained in the blood of her subs but otherwise unharmed, the Queen kicked the backs of one of the men. “Enough of this! Douse them all in holy water and let the judgment of sun and night descend upon them!”

Immediately, the Super Soaker cultists formed a firing line, and as one, they blasted. Six streams of yellow fluid shot out in mathematically-calculated arcs. They doused the axe-ape and the dual-blades ape, some of the fluid splattering onto Tetrad as well…but nothing happened. The apes, between the dangerous foe in front of them and the agony of their own wounds, didn’t register it. The Esper even inadvertently tasted some of it. Sweet?

Oh no. It was sweet.

“UNLEASH!”

The Queen raised her hands to the sky.

“THE!”

She crossed them, clenching her fists.

“HIVE!!!”

And with violent force, swung her arms forwards.

From her arms, from her weeping sores, larvae shot out in the hundreds, before rapidly transforming mid-flight into a swarm of bees. Still covered in human pus and blood, they rushed singlemindedly for the apes, covering both of them in an instant. Right before Tetrad’s eyes, the apes that had menaced her were reduced to a frenzied mound of vibrating wings and mutual destruction. The apes stumbled about, swaying like drunkards, and ultimately collapsed within seconds, their flesh having swollen so much that it burst out the seams of their ape-suits. And though many of the bees have died in the process, dozens more hadn’t yet sacrificed their lives for their Hivemother, and buzzed now, forming another swarm to descend upon the honey-scented Tetrad.

Not all magic in the world was blessed. Some of it was cursed as all fuck.

…

In the distance too, the strumming of bass and an acoustic guitar sounded, gradually increasing in volume. A new challenger was approaching.

---

_{@Majoras End}

Fable didn't even get a chance to finish talking to the girl(?) before ze burst out into tears. ze used one of zir hands to cover zir heart shaped irises.

"Mastress! Are you alright?" The puppet placed a reassuring mitten on the back of Zir head.

"Today has been troubling, so troubling!" The girl(?) stared at a spot on the table. "It all started when Elm got outside." Ze stood up. "He's a troublesome mutt. Our front yard is fenced in, but did you know that grass gets wet in the morning? He tracked it all over the house! My parents were beside themselves, but I don't think any of them were as upset as I was." Mary paced back and forth in front of the table. "I got on web cam with Jake later, and despite xe being my friend for months, they forgot that I wear purple when I need to be referred to as 'Zir.' Xe's genderfluid, and I remember xer color codes! They're the same as mine!" With a huff, Mary Folded Zir arms. "Then I went to school, it was the usual, with the other kids whispering just out of earshot. Even the private music instructors who greeted me back home can't help but do it now." Ze circled around the table to Fable's side. "I thought I could sneak out and have a drink at the Great Escape. It just opened, and I'm always on the lookout for new hangouts. But it seems this was a bust too."

"Or at least, it would have been!" Denny flung his paws up.

"You are a good listener, Fable." Ze kept zir hands behind their back. "You are the single best thing that has happened to me all day, perhaps all week." Despite the clear positive intent of zir words, zir tone and expression remained grave. Almost like even ze couldn't believe what ze was saying. "But I don't know your pronouns yet." Ze reached a hand for Fable's seat. "Perhaps when you arrive in my room, you can tell me what they are?"

Symphony of Espers

_{@The World@Hammerman@ERode}

So far, the encounter with the ape men hadn’t been anything special. They were disturbing, but hardly out of the norm from what Luna had encountered in the past. They bled, they died, whether they were costumed or not hardly mattered. There was a brief respite when they were driven behind a container, but Luna knew they would attack again.

Though she hadn’t anticipated they would rush her down with a flippin' storage crate.

She franticly prepared a melody. Confetti and dice twirled around her hand as her spell started to take shape. As fast as Luna was, the monkeys were faster. They made impact before she could finish. She lost her footing and fell. The only thing there to break her fall was an ape holding 1 too many hammers for her liking. While the monkeys were disturbing at a distance, they were downright terrifying at this range.

I can't repeat the bronx!

Fuled by fear and more mana than she’d normally care to use, Luna hurled her card at the sky fairing ape. In a flash of light and glitter, the two traded places in the air. This worked to Luna’s benifit two different ways. First, the distance she had to fall to the ground was much shorter. She’d get the wind knocked out of her, but it was something she’d recover from pretty quickly. The hammer ape would be less fortunate, as he would find that gravity no longer had an effect on him. He was jumping far higher than he had intended (probably). She wondered if he would crush his head on a steel crossmember, punch a hole through the roof of the warehouse, or simply spend the next 6 seconds defying gravity before returning to earth. Tetrad looked over her shoulder at the monkey and grinned at her clever play, revealing a mouth full of crooked teeth.

Once Luna was back on her feet, she realized that there were far uglier and more disturbing things in this world than monkey men. The queen herself was one such thing, as were her drones. It didn’t take Luna more than a moment to realize that the super soakers were not filled with water, and could be filled with whatever was seeping out of the queens arms. Regardless of what it actually was, It wasn’t something Luna wanted to get sprayed with.

Unless it was honey? Nah, it would be way too sticky.

While it sounded like the queen wasn’t with the apes, it didn’t seem like they would be able to make a truce. Not that Luna would ever considering allying with one of Billy’s targets anyway. The apes were out of view, so she chose to resume directing Pit Boss at the bee drones to hopefully mince some of those super soakers. Luna moved to the opposite end of the shipping crates so that she could find some cover and not get overrun by the monkey people. Should they return the way they ran off to, Luna didn't want to bump into them if they retreated. Luna also cast an eye at the sky every so often to make sure an ape or it’s hammer didn’t fall on her head.

Luna

21 | Female | Maverick | Fortune
Pit Boss | Staff | Arcane | High Roller
Croupier | Graceful
Gambit | Gravity | Draw 4
[Weightless, Suspend], Damage, Heal, Push, Transplace, Extend, Purify, Zone, If: Friend , Else

DAMAGE: E | SPEED: C | SENTINEL: D | 750

Roll = Crooked Teeth roleplayerguild.com/rolls/22325

[Bronze Projectile][Weightles][Transplace] = -144 MP

PHYSICAL: E | ARCANE: C | CHAOS: D | 590

Symphony of Espers

Alrighty, there seems to be some confusion regarding casting melodies and what can be done during a single post, so it's gunna go here before getting added to the pile of things that the DoCs needs to be updated on.

-During operations like this, each post grants about 6 seconds of meaningful action, give or take a few seconds. Your actions are limited by what you can reasonably do in such a time span. non-critical actions like spitting banter or observing developments in the situation are free.

-Preparing a melody takes about a second, but can be longer for special casting notes like [Spawn].

-Only one melody can be cast on a single post, as it takes roughly 5 seconds to cool down after casting a melody.

-Using the [Multi-melody] note lets you cast more than one melody on a post. this is significantly more expensive, but does let you use more melodies.

-If doing a collab, you can cast a note on every add, within reason.

Symphony of Espers

_{@Izurich@Crusader Lord@SilverPaw}

First contact seemed to go without a hitch. Shortly after Breacher’s initial distraction, Valkyrie supplied covering fire. Su had considered remaining outside to help draw fire away from the sniper. But she would soon realize that further assistance was unnecessary. A shockwave further disoriented the gang. Breacher didn’t feel it herself, but she could see its effects. The gangsters stumbled, but also the glass in nearly every window cracked. Some even shattered, raining down glass in a glimmering hail. A few computer monitors in the offices detonated, spilling onto the desks they were placed on. It wasn’t hard to imagine the mirrors in nearby bathrooms shattering as well. This said nothing of the ceiling tiles that were shaken out of place and fell onto the floor, often along anything that had been affixed to the walls. A considerable amount of colladeral, but nothing as dire to Breacher as the condition of the alcohol. She was really looking forward to taking that bottle of Jack Daniels the gangster was drinking as a trophy. But she had doubts as to if even the shot glasses could have survived. The front of the building had sustained some damage, with most of it being done to the 2nd and 3rd floors.

It was not long before the Gemini agents' coms lit up with Vernoica’s voice.

”We’re trying to preserve the police station. Was that part of the briefing too difficult to understand, Leroux?” Fritzi growled. ”Mind your melodies, agent. You’re not a freelancer.”

The loss of the drinks aside, Su was okay with a distraction like this. If Valkyrie was safe, that just meant she could continue to assist Leroux inside. Maybe there were more bottles further in.

While her pick wielding ally made short work of the recovering gangsters, Su moved to place herself between Jacqueline and the other end of the hall. And it was a good thing she had, as an erratic spray of bullets ripped down the hall in their direction. More surprising was that it was the other squad rather than a gangster.

”Friendly! Friendly!” Su cried down the hall as she did everything in her power to keep the bullets from hitting Jacqueline or herself. Fortunately it seemed like their numbers were thinning. There couldn't have been many hostiles left.

But behind Su trouble was starting to stir. The staircase leading down into the jails was right before Jacqueline. At the base of the staircase was a mammoth of a man in an orange jumpsuit. He had just stepped out of the shadows to greet the espers. His size was comparable to Apollo, albeit shorter and fatter, and he had a single chain wrapped around one of his arms. He held a 5 foot length of it between his hands, and the fluorescent lights lit up his perfectly bald head.

”Don’t suppose you’re into bondage?”

In the blink of an eye, he whipped the chain over his head and slammed it downward. Were he in the corridor, there might not have been enough room to swing the chain like that. But the staircase shared the same ceiling as the first floor, and the criminal’s lower position on the staircase gave him the room to attack.

...

But the interior of the Police station wasn’t any more dangerous than the outside. While the gangsters were starting to draw away from the windows to focus on fighting inside, one of them had other ideas.

”Espers? Guess they’re getting desperate.”



From a window on the top floor, Valkyrie had just enough time to spot a tall man dressed head to toe in black. She could practically smell the hair gel from where she was standing, somehow overpowering the cigar he was chomping on. Despite it being quite dark out, he chose to wear shades. She might not have noticed him with the sun no longer in the sky, but his bare chest was far too pale and white to work as good camo. Even the ink black tattoos that ran all over his chest barely concealed this fact.

He was there just long enough to fling a handful of grenades at her. He didn’t stick around and instead retreated into the building. His aim was pretty good though. 2 out of the 3 grenades fell into the room with her while the 3rd one bounced off the side of the building and landed in the street below. Not bad for someone wearing shades. They would detonate any second now.

specs

32 | Female | Gemini | Steel Gaze
Bipartisan | Handgun, Greatshield | Physical | Bullet Window
Dragon Breacher | Kevlar Vest
Debris | Wind | Locally Sourced
[Storm (4), Flight (6)], Push (2), Pull (2), Build (8), Purify (6), Restrain (4), Damage (2)

DAMAGE: D | SPEED: E | SENTINEL: C | 500

PHYSICAL: D | ARCANE: D | CHAOS: E | 452

---

_{@FamishedPants@OwO@mantou@ERode}

Meanwhile, the Freelancer’s squad was already entering the building. The thugs were helpless against the pull of Protector’s shield, and were hardly a match for the combined efforts of Klava and Apollo. Before they could even attempt to break out of their icy prison, Apollo's spell struck them all with a burning radiance. The few that didn’t get burned to a crisp were knocked down the stairs. It was doubtful anyone caught in the blast would be fighting again soon. With all the erupting chaos it was hardly a problem for Silhouette to blend in unseen, picking off stranglers and anyone that might inconvenience the squad of freelancers.

That wasn’t to say the freelancers hadn’t misstepped. Apollo had picked up a gun to fire down a hall filled with gangsters. While this was acceptable in most circumstances, the two Gemini agents on the other end of the hall were less appreciative of his wild bullet spraying. It was not long before the freelancers were contacted on their own com line. Binky had supplied them with earpieces while they rode into position, so that she could guide them once they got inside. ”Check your aim, Apollo! We’re not paying you to fire on our agents! Engage in melee or fire somewhere else!” Not long afterwards, Samuel would receive a transmission. Since Silhouette was a Gemini agent, he was set up with a separate private frequency that the other freelancers were oblivious to. ”Keep an eye on Apollo for me. we can’t let him jeopardize the other agents.” Binky let out an exhausted sigh before turning to look at Klava, who was using the APC for cover. ”I'm going to move, you should probably head inside. Looks like most of them gave up shooting out the windows.”

The first floor was starting to look pretty cleared out, but something massive was headed down the stairs. Each step it took shook the staircase. The “it” in this case was someone dressed head to toe in bomb disposal armor, with the word “Viper” hastily spray painted across their chest. Flanking them at either side were two guards covered in body armor and holding body length riot shields made of plexiglass in one hand and uzis in the other. They came to a stop at the first landing on the staircase, allowing them to look down at the first floor.

”Well I’ll be! If it isn’t the watchmen rejects!”

Viper pumped the shotgun he was carrying, and their 2 goons stood off to the side as soon as he had his gun up. With a guttural laugh, Viper fired a round of buckshot directly at Protector. His guards immediately stood in the way and prepared to fire around their shields while their boss reloaded.

---

_{@The World@Hammerman}

Five feet in radius, ten feet in diameter. If Regina had utilized a proper Rain note, perhaps the Huntress would have been able to bombard the Ape Gang in their entirety, but as it stood, only two apes were caught in the sudden shower of arrows. Letting out a hoot, the axe-ape beat his chest with greater ferocity before leaping up and covering for his dual-blade-ape brother, shouting out a manly “Team Sacrifice!” as arcane arrows embedded themselves into his body. They went deep, deep enough to puncture fur to get into the meat, but whatever this whole ‘Return to Monke’ chant was doing, it certainly seemed as if it was improving the entire Ape Gang’s physical capabilities.

But whether it was magical, or simply a measure of self-hypnosis that unlocked the human body’s latent potential for hysterical strength, it was hard to tell.

It was definitely easy to see though. With Regina spent, and Marrie hesitant, only Luna offered a continuous barrage, her playing cards machine-gunning everywhere. Inspired by his brother’s sacrifice, dual-blade-ape pushed in front of the vanguard now, his twin katanas spinning like helicopter blades while the others chanted and ran behind him. Magically enhanced paper shattered like shrapnel against steel, ripping his costume up and exposing human flesh underneath, but troubling enough for Luna, there looked like no indication that there was any skin underneath. A momentary trouble, truly, when the apes all reached cover behind another shipping container.

There was an instance of peace…until the shipping container began to rumble. It began to roar. It began to scrape! Metal screeched as it was pushed over rough concrete, sparks grinding out as the shipping container moved with ever increasing speed towards the container that Luna stood upon! Of course the Ape Gang was strong enough to push containers around. With no power tools and no one else incentivized to access the manhole of Bastion except for invaders, who else but the Apes could’ve moved a dozen shipping containers out of the way?!

A calamitous crash sounded, both containers crumbling into each other from the tremendous impact. Luna found herself without footing, her "rug" pulled out right under her feet, and as she tumbled through the air, a hammer-wielding ape vaulted off the hands and knees of his brothers to challenge her to an aerial duel. Meanwhile, the other four apes who were still perfectly healthy (brawler-ape, longsword-ape, whip-ape, and spear-ape), scrambled out from the wreckage as well, hooting like hooligans as they rushed for Marrie and Regina.

Things were getting hot now, things were getting spicy!

And the Queen of Bees, the Mother of the Church of the Hive, fucking hated spicy food.

The manhole clanged like church bells as it was kicked open as neon yellow lights surged up. Rising up upon the backs of her worker drones, the bald Queen posed, bedecked in a dress made out of golden scales that hugged her bodacious curves. Her arms, bare and unadorned, were a mess of weeping sores, yellow puss leaking from dozens of holes within her flesh. And yet, there was not a single sign of pain upon her face as she glared at the rubes before her. Stretching out an arm towards the melee of Esper and Ape Gang, she called out, as her six most capable subordinates somersaulted out of the manhole in sync and landed at her sides, “You primitives dare step upon the hallowed combs of the new Queen of Pax Septimus? Arrogant mammals! Thine flesh shall be inlaid upon pools of liquid gold and feed our larvae!”

And in that same unnerving synchroneity, the six sub-bees pulled out two-handed Super Soakers from their Walmart discount Bee costumes, before pumping them rapidly to pressurize the contents. From the distance, it was clear that it was some sort of yellow liquid, but whether it be poison, piss, acid, or just flavoured water, it at least wasn't as bad as having to deal with assault rifles instead.

Maybe.

---

_{@Majoras End}

”Hah! It's alright! I could do to get out of my own head for a bit.“ Betty folded her arms on top of the table. ”I have an easier time dealing with other people's problems than my own. Though really, you were outside and you didn't realize the sun was setting? Not that I can really judge, I've been day dreaming all day." She lifted her cup to her lips and took a small sip. ”Wow, that's still really hot! I wonder if I could put ice in it? That's not taboo among coffee drinkers, is it?“

There were a few disadvantages to taking a seat so far back in the great escape. While it was quieter, it was kind of the worst place to sit by design. The entrance door was right there, which made it cold during the winter time and hot during the summer. Worse still was that the restrooms were located just a few feet away from the table they were seated at. The door to the men's room swung open and out stepped a regal if loudly dressed girl. Her outfit was pretty loud. Everything was so bombastic, from her huge flower accessories to her overly ornate outfit. She even had a massive puppet on one of her hands that looked like a creepy bunny. She couldn't have been any older than Fable, but Betty was never the best at guessing ages. She was more concerned with why a girl like that would be in the men's room. But she soon realized she was staring and decided it was best to just mind Fable for now.

”But yea!“ She swished her coffee around before taking another sip. ”If you aren't doing anything, maybe you could watch me play a few songs? I think I'm okay at it, but I get performance anxiety when my mother isn't watching.“ It felt a little weird to admit that to a stranger, but she was just talking. It did a lot to calm her nerves even when she didn't know who she was talking to. Though fable seemed like a good egg and probably wouldn't squeal on her. ”Also, Fable, right? Is that a stage name by any chance? You look like you'd be good at-“

Before betty could say another word, she fell into her chair. the violinist stumbled backwards into a bathroom stall where she landed on a toilet seat. Her surroundings had completely changed. Fable, the table they were sitting at, she couldn't see any of it. Did the past few minutes happen, or had she fallen asleep and was just waking up?

It is very uncommon for non-espers to encounter magic. What few times they are subjected to a spell they rationalize it away with one excuse or another. If magic does not exist, than what makes more sense: That Betty fell into a portal that placed her in a restroom, or that she simply woke up from a dream? Yes! she must have gone to the bathroom after that coffee went through her. And she must have been so tired that she just fell asleep right here. Perhaps it was decaf, but a good nap was probably all she needed anyway. But then why was she holding onto a hot cup of coffee? Shouldn't it have cooled by now? Regardless, If Betty fell asleep, then she really, really owed Elroy a big one. She took hold of the door to her stall and pushed it open. But then she froze in mortal horror.

There were people using the stand up urinals.

And they were guys.

Which was a given, but still!

Betty's face turned as pale as her hair as she shut the door. Had she really fallen asleep in the men's room? She couldn't just leave though. Not without getting noticed at least.

---

Fable would surely notice the regal-looking esper had placed a hand on Betty's chair, causing a portal to spread across its surface. As Soon as Betty fell inside, she banished it and took her place.

"Of course my order isn't ready yet, but what do you expect when a white cisgender male runs everything?" The girl(?) seemed to be talking to herself, but was doing so loud enough that Fable couldn't ignore it if he tried. "No respect for demi-boys, had I kept my mouth shut he'd have treated me like one of his white princesses." With a huff, she propped her head up with her elbow. "Suppose I should thank that 'actual' white princess for keeping my seat warm."

The regal girl made no attempt to acknowledge Fable's existence. But her puppet seemed a bit more interested in him. It looked just a regal as the person who's hand it sat on, and had an oddly spooky vibe. But it's melted face was more kid spooky than R-rated body horror film spooky. "Well hey there handsome!" The bunny waved its mitten at Fable. "I'm Denny! Denny the fantastic! And my master here is Mary!" He(?) gestured to the girl(?) that his torso was attached to. "Mary has been having kind of a rough day, I think ze would really appreciate it if you tried to talk to zir. Just make sure to use zir correct pronouns!"

Symphony of Espers

Luna was not a huge fan of freelancers. At their best, they were eccentric and motivated by money. At their worst, they were that and a pain in the ass to deal with. Regina was certainly the latter, seemingly looking down her nose at everyone around her. “Uhhhhhh, a hunter without a hunter is a dead hunter, uhhhhhhh!” Like seriously, how chuuni do you need to be to say something so cringe? The fact that she was pretending to be the leader was also somewhat irksome, and totally uncalled for. If anyone was in charge, it would be Billy or herself. Claiming expert skills to a group of strangers was a huge red flag too. At least the quiet girl wasn’t going out of her way to be obnoxious. It was actually kind of cute how she interacted with Billy. Regardless of how much she liked or disliked her present company, or her reservations about freelancers, it didn’t change the fact that she was going to need to rely on them. So Luna decided to keep her chin up and be as pleasant as she could.

”I’m Tetrad, by the way. As for what I do, mmmm, a little bit of everything with a little bit of luck.”

Hopefully that would be enough.

---

The magic veil was unexpected, as was the group of gorillas. Only Luna lacked the animal knowledge to realize they were people in suits, and also the clarity of vision to realize they were suppose to be gorillas.

”This is like that time I got jumped in the Bronx!” _{Apologies to anyone that might have offended. Don't hurt me, tis just a meme.}

Whatever they were, they barely had time to charge before super stealth Regina used a very big attack on them. That was a lot of arrows.

But Luna didn’t feel safe standing out in the open like this. While the “great and powerful hunter Regina” might have been content to just stand there and hose everyone down with arrows, Luna decided to move to higher ground should they close the distance.

She ran for one of the shipping containers and jumped. To get a bit more oomph, she conjured a melody to shove her higher into the air, where she would be high enough to climb onto the shipping container. This felt a bit more safe, provided nothing was hiding inside.

She drew Pit Boss, her hoola-hoop shaped weapon, and pointed it at the incoming apes. The middle of the loop started to surge with energy before it launched a barrage of playing cards. Each card that hit something burst into confetti. Despite how colorful the projectiles were, the confetti was no joke. It cut like shrapnel on contact. Luna focused her fire on the gorillas headed towards the quiet girl. She never gave her name, did she?

”H-hey!” Luna called to her. ”Watch where you’re going!”

She would have shouted a warning to Regina too if she could, but she probably had things under control. That smug little-

Luna

21 | Female | Maverick | Fortune
Pit Boss | Staff | Arcane | High Roller
Croupier | Graceful
Gambit | Gravity | Draw 4
[Weightless(4), Suspend(4)], Damage(2), Heal(16), Push(2), Transplace(8), Extend(2), Purify(6), Zone(4), If: Friend (0), Else(0)

DAMAGE: E | SPEED: C | SENTINEL: D | 750

Roll = Contracted notes roleplayerguild.com/rolls/22317

[Bronze Self][Push] = -16 MP

PHYSICAL: E | ARCANE: C | CHAOS: D | 734