BrokenPromise

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@Exit Seems we've watched a lot of the same stuff.

Arcane was good, and is probably the best new show on Netflix right now. But I feel it got weaker over time when they were setting up for season two and sometimes the rapid pace of the show prevented certain emotional beats from landing. Like that one bridge fight between two childhood friends might have meant more to me if they had appeared on screen together for more than just two very short scenes. There's more to nitpick about, but it's not really worth bringing up.

Invincible was also excellent, and had a very powerful final episode to its first season. I think it could have used a lot less Amber though, and it's clear some of the side plots were better fleshed out in the comic.

I stopped watching Castlevania after season two ended because I didn't really care for where the plot was going, and talking to people who saw season three made me think it probably wasn't for me. I did like Alucard and Belmont's relationship though. He was a Belmont, right? Been a while.

Avatar: the last Airbender was excellent. It did have tonal shifts and felt a bit unfocused at the start, but I also feel like that was partially because, surprise surprise, it was a kid's show on Nickelodeon. Though it does get mature enough later on that really anyone can enjoy it. I was never put off by it. Most of the worst episodes were in season one, but I also feel like it was kind of nice to get the core characters established before the real meat of the story started. Also, the Korean studio did some fine work with the animation. It was really refreshing to see something that while clearly anime inspired, wasn't afraid to be its own thing. Toph best character.

LoK gets a lot of hate, yea. I liked the first and third season while the second and fourth seasons were a snooze fest or bordered on painful. But really every season of Kora had its share of good and bad episodes. Regardless, a lot of the hate it gets is justified. The writing isn't nearly as careful in Kora, and at times the logic is so baffling that even a kid could pick it apart. Once such instance I'll put in hiders, which actually comes from my favorite season. While there are plenty of plot holes/contrivances, I felt like this was a big one given how much the plot rests on it.

Metal Bending

Kora is a special avatar because she is the first one to learn how to metal bend. Something that is frequently brought up over the course of the series is that platinum is too pure a metal to be bent by metal bending. So when she is captured in the later half of season three, they bind her with platinum bonds. And then they poison her, because that's just what villains do.

After the bad guy is defeated, someone approaches Kora and laments that they have no way to heal her, as the poison has no cure and she's on the verge of death. For a moment it looks like we're not going to get a forth season, but wait! The poison is a metal based one! So one of the metal benders that are hanging around her just pull the poison out of her, and she more or less makes a full recovery by the time the next season's first few episodes end.

If the poison was metallic, why did Kora allow herself to ingest it? Why did the bad guys pick a metallic poison if they knew she could bend metal? Didn't they account for the fact that she has a trope of like, 23452345 characters that could bend metal even if she couldn't? If you just wanted to kill her, why not just stab her with a platinum sword, cause a cave in, etc.

And this sort of stuff really breaks one's suspension of disbelief to the point where you become critical of everything.

Kora also focused way too much on its side characters, to the point that Kora became a side plot in her own show during season four.

Symphony of Espers

“Su gettin’ upset!”

— Su Fang

_{@Crusader Lord@FamishedPants@Izurich@SilverPaw@ERode}

Her squad was being sufficiently harassed by the enemy. They had yet to do any real damage, but such an outcome was expected with the sort of start they had. They walked into a trap, and the less experienced espers were struggling against their stronger, more cunning opponents. Well, not really. Su was confident if she had a few days, she could make her home into quite the death trap too. Scratch that, even on Su’s worst days, she’d never do something as barbaric as use civilians to weaken the resolve of her opponents. Experience and training told her that they were already dead. Even if they turned around and left when the fighting started, there was no guarantee that the vampire wouldn’t just drain them as a snack. But it was still tragic to see. She bit her lower lip as the next set of heads rolled. She groaned through her teeth, and tightened her grip on her pistol.

But that said something about their opponents. That and the way they grinned and giggled after every successful move. These creatures were a deplorable sort. They were outnumbered, and couldn’t afford to fight fair. They only had an advantage because they extensively trapped the place. Even now, Su was sure they had more traps waiting for them. Nothing they did was honest. They were standing where they were because they were hoping to lead them into another such trap. That was a damn certainty.

As much as Su wanted to just focus them down one at a time, that wasn’t going to work. Centrocius needed to be occupied before it did too much damage, the nun was a dangerous opponent to leave alone for how easily she could jump in and out of combat, and Arzendale killed more civilians any time he cast a spell. But they still outnumbered their opponents. They just needed to avoid their traps and keep pressure on them. Now that they knew the nun was an esper while Arzendale and Centrocius were monsters, it made deciding who should go after who fairly easy. They just needed to get to them, and fast.

While Binky was technically the leader of this operation, there wasn’t much she could do to direct the team from outside the mansion. Su was one of the most senior agents present, and while she wasn’t the most comfortable in a leader position, some direction for the squad was better than no direction. With their opponents so far away, there was no reason to not just speak with her squad directly. “Attack monsters with magic. Wukong, follow me, we attack nun shortly. Silhouette, follow or stay, Valkyrie may need assistance soon.” Su groaned when Silmeria told her to cover her. It wasn’t like there was a lot of room in front of her railgun, and she’d have difficulty backing away with the nun looking at her.

But Su could fix that.

Su lept over the edge of the railing. She did not fall too far before landing on her castle, which was continuing to expand towards the opposition. Su had cast a melody when she took hold of the railing, and now a steep ramp was building itself in front of her, faster than she could run. Along with the ramp at either side was a wall, which was as tall as the towers she had just left.

The swerving blood projectiles were coming right her way. Her shield was up but something didn’t feel right. She had no doubt that she could just take the bloody projectiles with her shield, but it just seemed too simple. This entire fight her opponent had been using their magic in really creative ways. There was no reason to assume these projectiles didn’t have other effects tied to them. Maybe they could change their heading, or explode.

The ramp in front of Su suddenly curled upward, creating a sort of cavern below her. The blood projectiles should have flown just under her. If any fortune was still with them, that would be enough to deter the attack. Otherwise, well, she left Silmeria a balcony to hide behind.

As Su got closer, she wondered what sort of trap awaited her (and Lilliah/Samuel if they followed). Did the rug conceal another portal? Maybe siege engines were located at the ends of the halls to either side of the room. Or maybe…

The chandelier?

It was a simple enough ruse to use. The entire band of Gemini agents would rush to help their friend, only to get a big chandelier dropped on their heads. Due to it being a physical threat, it wouldn’t do as much harm to any of the monsters present. Only the nun really had to worry about being crushed by such an attack, and she had the ability to transplace, which would be bad if used at the wrong time. Which meant-

”Stay hidden!”

As Su got to the end of the ramp, a large barrier came up in front of Lilliah and herself. When the trajectory looked good, Su aimed her hand cannon into the air and fired. Afterwards, she raised her shield over her head and walked along the edge of the wall with anyone who followed her, waiting for the chandelier to hit the ground. The idea was that if the nun or vampire tried to lob a projectile over the wall, it would hit her shield instead of any of the espers. Though hopefully by moving her position in a quiet manner, such an attack would miss anyway.

She didn’t care if she managed to hit any targets with such a play. One less trap was one less trap. She was the shield between her fellow agents and harm. Though even Su had to admit there was a certain joy in the possibility of catching their harassers in their own trap.

Su

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

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

[Bronze touch][Construction]= 64

PHYSICAL: D | ARCANE: D | CHAOS: C | 292

Symphony of Espers

_{@Ponn@Crusader Lord@FamishedPants@Izurich@SilverPaw}

Vengeance-wrought incantations rang through the air as more than half of Valkyrie’s mana burned through her veins, expelling out into her grimoire before unleashing a singularly blinding bolt of lightning, one filled to the brim with a myriad of arcane effects.

But through the scope of her sniper rifle, within the sickening fumes of poison and petroleum, Valkyrie could only see the widening smile of the armored nun, her lips pulling back to reveal human teeth.

Lightning roared.

She raised her sword, her Instrument.

Sparks scattered, the Piercing note unable to penetrate magical steel.

Blacklight pulsated, the Paralysis note consumed by Purity’s anti-debuff effects.

Tiles cracked, the Push note driving her back only six feet, pressed against the opposing statue.

Blood was let, a scorched dent in her armored habit the only sign that the Damage X note had left a mark. Whatever hurt Valkyrie had applied was hard to tell through the woman’s dark attire and her grinning countenance. Was it just a surface level wound? Did she manage to pierce through? Break a rib or two? The fatigue of magic consumption seeped into the sniper’s mind, reminding her that she had never been an accomplished mage to begin with. The wrong choice, to prioritize retaliation over safety, and to choose subpar magic over a reliable bullet.

“Wanna try again? I’m sure you’ll get me on the second one, little birdie,” the nun drawled, her falchion resting on her shoulder. “C’mon, let’s give it a g-”

Light flashed and she twitched her head. A bullet shot from Breacher pierced through the statue behind her, powerful enough to pierce the stone sculpture but unable to cause it to explode in the same way that the nun had. Petroleum leaked out all the same though, and that moment’s distraction was enough for both Breacher’s and Silhouette’s gambits to pay off. Though their clothing were saturated with gas, they were all pulled away before the ember fell, and great flames raged at their escape. Breacher’s work was not done yet though, as the debris from battle swirled, tearing into the floor to propagate even more. A Construction, a citadel of four grand towers, rose to slam against the ceiling, causing the skeletal steed to relinquish its position right as Wukong’s bolt of wind blasted off one of its middle legs. Bone splintered out, but five remained, more than enough for it to remain mobile.

“Centrocius!” The nun had hopped off her own tower as well, her monstrous ally’s whip-like tail wrapping around her waist as the two retreated away from Breacher’s domain. Another explosion of flame lit up their own departure, fiery breath streaming out from the holes that the shieldbearing Esper had made in the statue. Her Construction must have knocked over the other firelamp while that storm of debris whipped around, and now brighter lights illuminated the room, causing stark, chaotic shadows to snake out.

This was good. Their fortifications had made their enemies retreat.

This was good? They were just at the entrance and hadn’t made any headway at all.

This was bad. Jacqueline was now incredibly outnumbered!

And before the gaze of Breacher, Wukong, Silhouette, and Valkyrie, the nun smirked at them and wove another melody, threaded with false light.

But, as Jacqueline had previously surmised, she had no way of seeing it coming.

Her body readjusted to the new weight, legs bending down solidly as she maintained the straightness of her back as much as possible. As a weapon, Havoc had become unwieldy, but with proper form and the magical athleticism of her transformed state, she could lift it without injury, especially so as saw blades emerged within Havoc’s form, whirring with a vengeance as they ripped through the coagulated blood. It wasn’t enough to completely dispel the magical effect, but as chunks of blood slid off her axe, the weight decreased further and further. Her form was perfect. Her body was in alignment. Her mind had already visualized all the steps she would have to take.
Jacqueline executed.

Yet the pressurized beam of blood struck before she could deflect the wand.

A Powerful melody was a slow melody, and even as Havoc swung upwards on the inertia of the heavy weapon, knocking the wand upwards and causing the beam to slice rather than blast, Jacqueline could feel a sharp, hot pain run up her left shoulder. Her armor was rent where the blood beam had gone through, a deep but not mortal laceration scarring her pale skin. If it was a true spell, perhaps it would have been worse, but she was an Esper, naturally resistant to the effects that chaos wrought in the world, and besides, it was much easier to swing a weapon down than up.

“Oh, my apologies,” Arzendale laughed, even as his path to retreat was blocked by his own grandiose organ. “My lady friend is beckoning.”

Blacklight shone, near-blinding, and the vampire was gone, replaced by the nun. Her dark hair flowed, her carmine eye shone, and her own falchion was already in position, a swifter weapon than Jacqueline’s.

A Transplace melody, spawning upon a non-resisting target.

Havoc dropped, smashing the organ.

The Falchion sang, gliding through her side.

And as her intestines began to roll out of the gash, the lonesome knight turned around just in time to see Centrocius, the Harbinger of Mayhem, barreling down towards her with the speed of a possessed beast, frontal limbs raised in anticipation of goring her. What could she do to escape? What could she do to survive?

Where were her allies?

Her allies were stuck on a tower, watching the Sanguine Sovereign as he materialized past the center of the room, his expression a curated mixture of pity and bemusement. The nun had joined him again, her sword freshly stained with the blood of their ally, her eyes set, as always, upon Valkyrie. “Well, well, well,” Arzendale spoke, stretching his arms out to the side once more, four fingers extended on his free hand, “I would like, once more, to remind you all.”

Two heads fell on each pillar, bags rolling off to reveal the heads of the four slain humans. A construction worker, bearing the countenance of the ragged but determined mien of a high school drop out. A programmer, complete with curly hair and square-framed glasses. A cheerleader, her mascara running black streaks down her face. A child, so young as to not even have acne scarring her skin. Their paths in life were disparate, but their deaths wove them together, sanguine essence tying a cruel end and fashioning their existence into fuel for a monster’s magic.

“The blood would not be upon your hands, if you had simply stayed your hands.”

Crimson spheres the size of bowling balls orbited around Arzendale, and with a flick of his wand, he sent them flying towards the clustered GEMINI agents at curving trajectories.

No, not the agents.

Just Valkyrie.

After all, against fortifications, one used siege weaponry, and against a group, one targeted the most vulnerable link.

.

..

…

The emerald glow washed over the disposal room, coating everything in the sickly green pallor that night vision goggles would have. Unlike the ostentatious décor of the main entrance, this was a place that appeared almost entirely designed to be as miserable and disgusting as possible. Bumpy granite made up the floor and the walls, while the cramped corners had made the air itself suffused with the humidity of human odors. There was still no discernible doorway, but even through all the humidity, there had to be ventilation somewhere.

Orion had been studious before the mission. Had the opportunity to study not only vampires, but the thralls they could create as well. These thralls fell under the category of those granted Dark Blessings, and though they may be somewhat tougher than the normal human being, ones that remained humans were, by definition, still human. They still needed to breathe then. So there may still be a place for her to escape to.

But human will, faced against monstrous craving, could not hold back for long.

Orion’s shield caught the hands of the first thrall that lunged for her, their fingers cracking against the hardened light structure. Two more found themselves repelled her protective melody, their fanged faces mashing against the dome she had encapsulated herself within, and she smacked away the fourth after her barrier dropped. Then the fifth snatched at her ankles. The sixth caught her arm. Seventh. Eighth. Ninth. Tenth. A swarm, each individual weaker than her, collapsed upon Orion, forcing her to the ground with the sheer mass of their flesh. Her bolstered physical defenses helped prevent any immediately terrible injuries, but her bodysuit was designed to shield against the savagery of monsters, not humans. Broken fingernails tore her skin off her flesh. Chipped teeth too round to be called fangs left bloodied bruises that were lapped up to sate the frenzied hunger of the mob. Her bones and joints creaked with the effort of her struggle, but Espers were not titans of superhuman strength, and in the job she worked, there was a saying.

What killed Espers most were other human beings.

A weight squeezed down against her ribs. A green-lit form arced back. Rounded canines and cracked lips exposed themselves. Reddened eyes traced the pulsations of her throat.

And then traced her face.

A glimmer of recognition, an instance of self-loathing. The young boy froze, tears welling even as his body spasmed, rebelling against his hesitation.

“Save me.”

But the other thralls did not stop.

This was no respite, only opportunity.

For Pax Septimus was a city of blood, built upon the bones of the destitute and the labour of the oppressed. And in the reluctance of the weak-willed, the cold-blooded could begin their retaliation, could grasp at a viscera-stained victory.

For, above the head of the weeping, struggling teenager, stood the opening of a garbage chute.

This truly was a waste disposal room.

Now, did Orion have what it took to win?

Map

Floor 1

---

_{@OwO@mantou@ERode@Majoras End}

Finn was a swift esper. A single melody could let him run along walls and bypass the moat of burning kegs. That speed would carry him past Bob, who didn’t even pass him a glance. The pyromancers were unable to land a shot on him as they only caught a glimpse of his after image. Grandma sniper finished cutting the mana bindings off of her rifle when Finn breezed past her shoulder. By his swift actions, the enemy’s positioning, and dumb luck, he had cut all the way to the back of their lines.

Betty tipped her head up to meet Finn’s gaze. If there was any doubt she had been bitten, it could be put to rest. There were two black holes where fangs had met flesh. A blemish on what was otherwise perfect skin. Upon seeing Finn, her lips rolled back into a snarl before casting aside her bow. His first thought might have been that Betty was angry with him. Perhaps for leaving her when she needed him most. But there was no way she could recognize him now. He was running towards her as the Time Keeper, not Finn. Not even Fable. She lunged for the incoming boy. Her undead strength was on clear display as she glided through the air.

But the first thing to hit him wouldn’t be Betty, but a firebolt.

In his haste to get to Betty, he had neglected the entire pyromancer firing line. It was true that the two men had been unable to land a hit on such a swift target, but the red-head backed out of her cubby hole and fired from around the center wall, where she was able to score a direct hit. It wasn’t serious, it felt more like a stomach punch than a serious threat to his life. But it left him unable to defend himself from Betty’s follow up attack. She took hold of his head and dragged his body down to earth. He fell flat on his back, and suffered a concussion for his troubles. Betty screamed like a lunatic in an insane asylum before lifting his head and slamming him into the ground, over and over again.

Behind Finn, Bob was all revved up and ready to sprint. Klava held back her melody and waited for the right time to throw it down.

”IMITATION_IS_THE_GREATEST_FORM_OF_FLATTERY!”

Despite Bob’s size, there was virtually no acceleration time. He just started at max speed and charged through burning debris and whatever else impeded his path. Bob had almost reached her when Klava enacted her melody. Bob disappeared behind a ramp of ice. She could hear a crash, followed by the entire ice ramp cracking. It seemed that when Bob sprinted for Klava, it had slipped on the ramp and fell into it. More cracks were appearing as Bob pounded on the obstacle.

Behind Klava, Apollo was having a hell of a time putting up with fire. Well, he was performing well. Instruments were indestructible by nature, and he had little issue batting the incoming fireballs away from himself. The mancatcher cleft through the fire bolts like they weren’t even there, and he was fast enough to keep up with his opponents' attacks. Though eventually his emotions soared, and he shouted at the two-toned pyromancer.

”Wha-” two-tone was momentarily stunned by Apollo’s outburst. ”Setting things on fire is just what we do!”

But Apollo was too furious to listen. In a sudden shift of focus, he managed to crack the green-haired boy over the head. While Apollo's instrument wasn’t known for its high damage output, the blow was enough to draw blood. The boy clutched his head and sank to one knee. He was clearly in a state of vertigo.

Two-tone managed to get a shot on Apollo’s face. It burned and threw his head back, But some scorched skin wasn’t going to stop him from hitting his target. They only managed to get out a yelp before Apollo locked one of their arms right below their shoulder. Purple had stopped firing at Billy to deal with the new threat, but seemed unwilling to attack their partner. He too would be unable to escape before being pinned against the wall. Apollo moved to stand behind the wall of teenagers he had set up and, if his rage subsided enough, he might have realized two-tone was a girl. Though her face lacked certain feminine features, like a slender neckline, and long hair. The shape of the rest of her body made it clear what she was, if one could look past the male bartender’s outfit she was wearing.

Meanwhile, Luna was hoofin’ it to the ghost. Not that she knew what ghost Klava was talking about, but Luna figured she was referring to that “Handsome Gunther” fellow, who she had yet to see. But there were two pyromancers in the way that had to be dealt with.

Protector’s melody flew true. The sight of a soft, glowing white pellet was almost peaceful to behold. But the pyromancer it was aimed at knew better, and gasped as soon as she saw the white energy. She had just been shoved into a wall, and realized the spell was coming far too late to do anything about it. It slammed into her chest. She placed a hand over her wound, but it was just an empty cavity where her heart and part of her lung used to be. White sunk into a heap, her face frozen in terror.

Before Luna could even exclaim at the grizzly sight, Protector rushed down the green haired pyromancer and dropped their shield on top of their head, slamming them into the concrete floor. Tetrad fought at range when she could, so she was not used to things like watching people’s skulls getting cracked open mere feet away from her. When it did happen it was often to a cultist or ape she felt little pity for. But this was someone even younger than she was, just a child! Was killing them like that the only way? She shook her head and pushed forth, choosing not to think about it right now.

But then white flames rose out of their bodies. It wouldn’t be until Luna looked around the corner that she’d notice that the ghost, Handsome Gunther, also had a white flame floating around him.

”Mmmmm, mmmm! Those rock hard abs are just stunning on you, sweet cheeks! ” Gunther kept his arms folded across his lap. ”But men who hide behind children aren’t too strong in spirit.” His eyes moved onto Protector. ”Maybe you’d like to see what those kids can do when freed from their mortal vessels?”

The white flames sunk back into the ground, and it happened.

One of the kegs jumped off of the rack and fell towards Protector, while another one was flung directly at Apollo and the two remaining pyromancers. None of the barrels were moving especially fast, but 60 gallon kegs weighed enough to crush a man. Six hundred pounds, or two-hundred-and-seventy-two kilograms, was enough to even crush an esper at moderate speeds. So while the barrels were moving just a bit slower than a standard stone toss, they were best to avoid.

Another keg by Klava slid out and smashed into her side, throwing her against the opposing wall with a solid thump.This one was moving slower as it had to drag itself across the floor, but it was still a surprise. This happened moments before Bob broke through the ice ramp. Once thoroughly shattered, the magical ice melted into the nether as Bob surged forward. The front half of his chassis was all scratched up; he likely had fallen forward all along.

”CHICKEN,_FIGHT_LIKE_A_ROBOT!”

Bob reached for Klava with his dented hand. His moves were swift, and the hydraulic pistons in his fingers hissed before they prepared to coil around the esper’s exposed skull.

Things were looking hairy, so Luna decided to cast an extra potent melody. Hopefully it will work out. Hopefully.

Luna flicked a card through the air, and when it landed on the ground, a field of flying “suits” was created. Little hearts, diamonds, clubs, and spades filled the zone and attempted to stop anything that soared through. Despite her luck earlier, it seemed that her fortune had changed, and her magic was working much better this time.

”Jackpot!”

But even with Luna’s extra potent magic, the barrels were still moving through the zone she had created. Though when they came out the other side, they were only moving at half the speed they entered at.

While her allies dealt with the first volley of barrels, she trained Pit Boss on Gunther and fired. But by this point his spirits had returned and he was able to use three more barrels to block incoming fire. It wouldn’t be long before Gunther fired another salvo of barrels.

Tetrad

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

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

[Silver Touch][Zone][Extend][Suspend] = 240

Good spell! = Melody is a rank higher.

PHYSICAL: E | ARCANE: C | CHAOS: D | 488

---

_{@The World}

The zombie’s ears perked up when Marrie spoke. ”Well yes! We can convince them by punting them! I’m sure once they realize we can punt them further than they can punt us, they’ll be forced to let us by!” She stepped beside the sharken girl. ”I’ve never tried to talk to goblins about punting them before punting them. I imagine it’ll be hard to get their consent for something like that, just because of the language barrier!” After taking a few steps she added. ”I’m Stacy Stitches. If there’s a stunt to be done, I’m there!”

It was hard to tell when Marrie was further away, but the group of camping goblins were on alert. Not only were their weapons drawn, but they were looking in her direction. They hadn’t been tipped off by her light this time, as she had turned that off. Maybe their vision was so good they could spot the esper(s?) when they approached, Maybe they could pick up the sound of Stacy’s chainsaw idling in her chest. There was also the earth devouring snake thrashing behind them. They weren’t going to run off like the others had. They were prepared to defend the door, regardless of the approaching duo’s intent.

They assembled in a loose formation, putting plenty of space between each other. The front line was made up of three goblins armed with swords and shields. Only on closer inspection, one would soon discover they were wielding machetes and garbage can lids. Behind them were several goblins with slingshots, and one at the very back held a staff and barked out orders. They would be attacking shortly.

The scattered light from the campfire couldn’t fully illuminate the cave behind them, but the onyx eyes of Highway to Hell needed little light to properly shine. It twisted its body in the small space like a corkscrew working its way into a cork. The pacifist esper had a snake to her back, goblins to her front, and a punt-loving zombie at her side. Would any of them survive this encounter?

---

”Paddle faster, I hear banjos."

— Sofron

With the wine cellar and foyer erupting into chaos, Sofron scuffed his way into Justin’s office. It was the safest room in the entire place. None of the walls faced the outside, which meant that no one could just skip past security and enter through a window. There were also a number of security features. The building had been constructed during the red scare, and the office itself was just the top half of a fallout shelter. Its walls and roof were made extra durable so that they could provide a way out of the rubble in the event of nuclear disaster. While the room was rugged, it was also luxurious. The wallpaper was black with gold leaf lines, as were era appropriate for the art deco historic district. Several paintings and tapestries lined the room, with Justin’s desk located in the center. He didn’t “look” up from his paperwork when Sofron entered the room.

”They are attacking.” The vampire used a fountain pen to sign his name on a document.

”G.E.M.I.N.I.’s espers are attacking the foyer as we speak. They have Dr. Binky with them."

Justin turned over a document in his hand. ”Did some of them slip by?”

”No." Sofron folded his arms. ”Like we expected, Billy Black has rallied the freelancers. But they started an attack on the wine cellar just moments ago. "

The vampire “stared” at the document, frozen in place. He then swung his head towards Sofron. ”They’re attacking at the same time?”

The butler nodded. ”I assumed it would be best if I remained by your side."

”That is wise.” Justin set down the document and placed a finger on his chin. ”Something foul is afoot. G.e.M.I.N.I. and Maverick are unable to cooperate. Their ideas are fundamentally different. I would be surprised if they could decide on the color of their own refuse.”

”It is unusual to think that they have decided to work together now."

”This had to have been mastermind by an outside force.” Justin’s gloved hand slid over his chin. ”It has to be Oros the mad. Penny disappeared weeks after her arrival. I would not be surprised if she is going after the rest of us now.”

”With all due respect, master, I think you are giving Oros far more credit than she is due." Sofron approached the desk. ”She does know more than she should, but working with a cultist goes far beyond what G.E.M.I.N.I. and Maverick are willing to do. It would take them more than a week to accept assistance from their common enemy."

”What do you think is going on?.”

”If we think about it logically, only one side needs to know when the other is attacking." Sofron began to pace in front of the desk. ”G.E.M.I.N.I. made it quite evident they wanted to attack us themselves, which explains why they are attacking us so soon. If Maverick knew about the date of the assault, they could arrange for the freelancers to arrive in secret. Their chances of success are much higher if they attack us at the same time, and the attacks happened seconds apart."

Justin raised an eyebrow. ”Our own spies were unable to acquire the exact time of the G.E.M.I.N.I. assault. I doubt the freelancers or Maverick have the means to collect that kind of information. It seems far more likely that a freelancer was bought to relay Maverick’s arrival time to G.E.M.I.N.I..”

”But which freelancers would you buy out? " Sofron adjusted his tie. ”To my knowledge, Maverick never hosted a job on Shimr openly. Nor do any of Pax Septimus’s espers have any history of working with or sympathizing with Maverick, ergo there are no clear freelance espers who would jump at the chance to take the operation. Moreover, government influence in Pax Septimus is quite weak. I doubt G.E.M.I.N.I. has the manpower to look into that many freelance espers. Not in such a short period of time."

”We’re missing something, but it is of little concern.” The corners of Justin’s lips curled into a smile. ”Aristocrats come into power by spotting opportunities, and I am not about to squander the one that we have been provided.” He slammed the document onto his desk and hastily sketched his name across it. ”Finish preparations for our guests' arrival. I will join you shortly.”
””Of course, master Carnage."

Symphony of Espers

“Famished make this meme, but I make meme good!”

— Su Fang

_{@Crusader Lord@FamishedPants@Izurich@SilverPaw@ERode}

Su hadn’t ruled out the possibility that the vines were intended to pull, but she had also hoped that Ashley’s own spell would have been enough to destroy them. When that wasn’t the case, Su quickened her steps.

”Got…You!”

Su must have been crushing Ashley’s hand between her fingers and her gun. But it was the only thing she could do to save her squad mate. Her shield was braced against her shoulder, but each blow caused her to sink lower and lower, and Ashley in turn sank deeper and deeper into the portal. Su wasn’t any stronger than most espers, it was just her determination to not let go that kept her strong, but determination could only go as far as one's ability lets them.

But once Jacqueline sealed the portal, Ashley was pulled to the other side. Ashley’s warm hand had been replaced by the cold tile floor. Su probably would have ended up falling in herself, but Iitwas hard not to feel a little upset with this outcome. Ashley was a young woman. Some would even call her a girl. She couldn’t have been too much older than Mika. Facing death was something the agents did on every operation, but dying was one thing and disappearing was another. One of the things that kept Su up at night was the idea of her daughter just disappearing. Ashley wasn’t her daughter, but she was someone’s daughter. If it cost Su her life, she’d find Ashley. Maybe if they wrapped things up here fast enough, she might even be alive. Su pushed her distress back into the recess of her mind. Now was not the time to worry. She needed to help those that she still could.

There were plenty of people for Su to help, the question was who needed it more. She couldn’t quite make out what was happening over by Jaqueline, save for the fact that the vampire was still alive. But Su’s attention was immediately stolen away by a flash of movement. Samuel and Silmeria flew past her left flank into a statue, which sprayed them with gas as soon as it struck it. She didn’t need to see the lamp getting sliced in half to know something bad was going to happen soon. She trusted in Jaqueline's ability, believing she could hold her own without additional assistance. Her other allies were just moments away from getting burned alive. And even more of them were going to be poisoned. She ran towards Silmeria and Samuel.

Broken tile swirled around Su’s hand canon, but she was merely preparing her melody. Su swung her gun over towards the nun and fired a bullet. Though she was not aiming at the nun herself, but the statue she was standing next to. Su reasoned that something like statues filled with gasoline were not the sort of thing that someone could actively scatter among their non-petrol-loaded statues. It would take a tremendous amount of forethought to decide which statues should be loaded with gas. If Su was right, then the nun would also be bathed in gas shortly. If Su was wrong, well, at least she knew one of the statues wasn’t filled with gas. And with that one shot out of the way, she would swing her gun back towards her ally.

”Silhouette!”

The tile fragments flew towards Samuel and, much like the plant debris did with Ashley, expanded outwards and shoved him away from the puddle of petrol before it became a puddle of flames.

But that was hardly the only thing that was going to happen.

As soon as Samuel was pulled clear of the area, Su’s melody transformed into a whittling vortex. The ground under their feet was getting churned up and turned into even more debris. Broken tiles, statue fragments, even bits of carpet were rapidly entering the vortex before being blasted under everyone’s feet. The vortex continued to spin and churn, and the floating debris piled up underneath them. Breacher, Samuel, Silmeria, Lilliah, and even the nun would be lifted into the air by these debris. Because the debris were floating on swirling winds, the toxic cloud had plenty of room to fall between the fragments. Despite how arid the debris cluster was, everyone’s footing was remarkably stable.

Once they were over the poison fog, it stopped and grew several pillars with a fair bit of space between them, which reached to the ceiling. The human sized creatures would have little problem maneuvering between them. Though the giant multi-limbed monstrosity would have difficulty squeezing its massive body around the pillars. But the floor continued to rise. Even a railing emerged, which was just tall enough to reach Su’s waist. Once the structure had finished, the winds would subside and the structure would remain, with a stability that could only be granted by arcane means.

The playing field looked a bit more agreeable to Su. She kept her shield raised and her gun focused on the nun. As potent as Silmeria’s shot was, Su hardly noticed more than a flash from her muzzle. She was her team’s shield, and she had been more focused on keeping Samuel out of the proverbial fire to gawk at her squad mate's use of excessive force. Besides, you’re always supposed to double tap your targets.

Su

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

DAMAGE: D | SPEED: E | SENTINEL: C | 476

[Bronze Projectile][Pull][Construction]= 120

PHYSICAL: D | ARCANE: D | CHAOS: C | 356

Symphony of Espers

_{@Ponn@Crusader Lord@FamishedPants@Izurich@SilverPaw}
Tucked into a ball and arcing through the air, Orion was akin to the Sun itself, the light of the entire lobby dimming as they gathered around her wand, her arcane power manifesting into the purest form of destruction: a death ray made of solar energy. Prismatic power blasted out, vaporizing what vines were caught in the beam’s path, but before light could expose the innards of the rider’s skull, its steed acted. Twisting its six gangly limbs, the monster spun in the air, causing the beam to rip into the rider’s right shoulder instead, blasting off its bound arm and instantly cauterizing the wound. Not an instant kill. It was hard to even tell if it was a major one. What was one limb when one had a total of eight?

As the afterimage of her beam was blinked out of her vision, the Knight of Tomorrow found that her own shield was entangled by those vines that she had tried to block. Thorns meshed with each other, forming a link between individual vines, and with a snapping back of its head, Orion lurched forwards, downwards, towards the scything blade-limbs of the chimeric beast.

It wasn’t an attack, but a pull!

A shot sounded in that instant, echoing against her spine. Breacher’s melody struck moments before Orion could be turned into mincemeat, debris forming behind her and pushing her in a separate direction. Twinned pull spells accelerated vertical descent but reduced horizontal movement, sending the wand-bearing Esper past the monster she faced, and right onto the ledge of the portal. Her shield bounced against tiled ledge, absorbing most of the impact, yet was insufficient from stopping her from falling over the ledge into the portal. Moments before she could disappear completely, Orion had time to unfurl, reach out, and…

…Grasp Su’s hand.

Three-fourths of the way into the portal, and yet not wholly swallowed by it. There was a chance still, to pull her out. The Dragon Breacher’s muscles tautened, shield raised overhead to protect from any attack by the monster, while her other hand managed both a pistol and Orion, superhuman athleticism allowing her to keep the other woman from falling deeper, allowing her to pull the Knight of Tomorrow up higher and higher.

Then, they heard it. The whirring of a metal ball, the screeching of shrapnel, the humming of spell-slaying melodies reverberating through silvered spikes. Jacqueline’s melody, powerful as it was, was also slower by a single, decisive second. A half dozen what-ifs played out in that moment, a half dozen pathways. But the life of an esper was a one-way road, and melodies, once sung, could not be unheard.
The portal closed.

Orion’s hand slipped out of Su’s grasp, the newbie agent sucked into the other side of the portal.
Su’s hand pressed against a bare, concrete foundation, the original state of the mansion.
And above, hanging upside down on the ceiling, the rider opened its mouth once more and unleashed a cloud of toxic fumes upon those who remained below: Wukong, Valkyrie, Silhouette, Breacher.

“Thanks Jacky!” The armored nun called out, her voice chipper as a starling. “I’ll Paypal you the rest after this!”

A ringing clang resounded as steel met steel, Silhouette’s blade intercepting the nun’s as the shadowed assassin dove in to assist GEMINI’s sole sniper. Arcane sparks burst upon the encounter, but between a dagger held one-handed and a falchion held two-handed, the sheer difference in force caused Silhouette’s left arm to be blown off to the side, opening his entire body up to a second blow. If he was to survive, he would have to use Slash elsewhere or end up losing his head instead.

That, then, was the inherent weakness of a touch spell.

A mass of shadows thrust upwards instead of downwards, answering the beheading strike of a blade that gleamed with black light. Arcane restraints consumed the nun’s weapon in its entirety, yet that unholy light seared at it from within, dampening its effect while forcing Silhouette’s blade off-center once more. It was clear in two strikes who would hold the advantage, who would continue to maintain the advantage in this melee. In a one on one, he would doubtlessly be turned to minced meat over the course of multiple exchanges. But this wasn’t a one on one. Behind him, Valkyrie must be repositioning, must be aiming.

So why wasn’t she firing?

Silhouette noticed then, that this entire time, the nun’s eye was upon Valkyrie, gleaming that carmine sheen, and even though the steampunk sniper’s body shook with magically enhanced power, she couldn’t will her body to move back. A compulsion dominated her form, urging her to stand her ground or advance. She hadn’t moved an inch since Silhouette charged in, and subsequently, he himself had no room to retreat.

A foot planted itself upon his chest and forcefully kicked, sending both Silhouette and Valkyrie tumbling back. Together, they crashed into one of the gray statues, all three tumbling down as the statue broke to bits. A sticky, black fluid coated the two government esper’s bodies, a familiar acrid stench revealing exactly what it was.

Petroleum.

And Wukong, momentarily perplexed by how she could even go about fighting an invisible enemy, was summarily unable to respond when the unseen blade changed course and sliced one of the fire lamps in half. The object toppled. It’s contents spilled.

And the embers fell, glowing brighter as they neared the accelerant drenching the prone agents.

But whatever befell her allies were behind Jacqueline now. The Eternal Knight broke out from the toxic fog, sickly green trails slipping off her form as she hefted Havoc up. Upon the red carpet, between the different-colored statues, her sprint went unimpeded as she closed onto Arzendale. The vampire himself smiled wide at her, and only her advance, his left hand swinging out and snapping his fingers.

As Jacqueline crossed the spot of darkness in the center of the room, one head from each pillar dropped onto the floor. The bags fell off. The heads rolled. One an office lady in her early-twenties, freshly-graduated with unblemished skin. One a daycare volunteer in his teens, curly-haired and freckled. From the stumps of their necks, blood flowed smoothly, converging onto the tip of Arzendale’s wand to forming a shield of hot blood. Like that, two lives ended. Like that, Jacqueline advanced, her great axe curving through the air and smashing into the vampire mage’s barrier. A single blow sliced through the blood, but before the second could descend, the Eternal Knight felt her arms drop down, as if her Instrument had become immensely heavy.

This was no ‘as if’.

Her eyes flicked downwards, towards the sanguine mass that had coagulated upon the head of her axe, making it near-impossible for her to lift with the strength of a mere Esper. And Arzendale himself simply took a measured step back, his head tilting up to look down their nose onto Jacqueline, his wand extended still with a condensed ball of the remaining blood he had pilfered from those bound humans.

“Such impatience,” he chortled, leaning against the organ. It truly was a measured step. Too far for Jacqueline’s axe to reach, even on the off chance she could indeed lift her weapon back up for a swing. “The age of barbaric might and solitary heroics have long passed, child of man. Have you forgotten so swiftly, how it was that you survived the gauntlet within the gaol?”

The gem-studded tip of the Sovereign grew brighter, chaotic energies pulsating like a water cutter moments before unleashing its liquid blade, its raw power matching, perhaps even surpassing, Orion’s own beam.

Was there a melody Jacqueline could unleash to block the spell? Should she try to raise her weapon up anyways, irrespective of the damage she risked upon her joints, tendons, and muscles? Or was this time to forsake her Instrument and her transformation in order to save her life?
The seconds ticked. The seconds tocked.

.

..

…

Splat.

Orion struck some squishy, something wet. Her surroundings were pitch-black, the air smelling of rot and blood, feces and fear. It was comparable to her experience in the sewers, and yet there was something worse about it. The sewers, as much as they were in disarray, still had function, still had use. It transported garbage out of the city, into sewage treatment plants.

But this place? This dark place, suffocating and claustrophobic? What was the purpose of this place? Just to keep a monster before the time was right?

Chains clinked alongside the shuffling of rags. Coughs sounded alongside groans. Weak voices sounded, filled with desperation, filled with need.

“F-food?”

“It’s been so long…”

“God, not again, not again!”

“I can’t I can’t I can’t I can’t”

“Justin, please, you’re there, aren’t you! I’ll do it! Just let me out!”

“Leave! Run! I, we, T H I R S T!”

Flashing one by one by one, sets of glowing red eyes filled the sinister surroundings. Orion knew where she was now, knew what she was encountering.

Vampiric thralls, their humanity, their dignity, robbed by their starvation.

And, as a GEMINI agent, the path was obvious.

Kill. Them. All.

Map

Floor 1

---

_{@OwO@mantou@ERode@Majoras End}

”Oh.” Was Tetrad’s response to Klava sealing away the pyromancers. She wasn’t sure if she agreed with her choice to force everyone into a bottle neck, but denying the enemy room to advance couldn’t be a bad thing. Luna looked at Apollo. ”I guess we’ll just stick to the back then?” It was quite the change from her last operation. Regina was more focused on making the team conform to her fighting style, and Marrie struck Tetrad as more of a follower. But Klava may have been a true tactician. She was acting as a leader, but it was more that she was adapting to her allies strengths. This was probably not the first time they worked together.

While Luna was running up behind Klava, melodies, barrels, and jackets were flying. A saturated jacket would burn regardless of how much you patted it, so Finn made the wise choice to strip it off and cast it aside. The temptation to say something like “too bad you’re not older” did come to Luna’s mind, but she figured that would be best to say that later. She could only screw around so much in the middle of an operation.

Barrel and spark collided, and an explosion of splinters resulted. Fable had successfully intercepted the barrel, and the spirits contained within fell to the floor. Protector used the opening to fire an ensnaring melody at the hunter/butler power couple. Her projectile split off and spread around one of Bob’s legs and the gunner’s arm.

”I do say, it’s a good thing- Gah!”

The older woman looked up just in time to see a bare chested faceless man hurl a ball of light at her. Even with her legs free, she was sitting down and noticed far too late that such a spell was coming at her. Her eyes widened, her brow flicked up, and her pupils shrank. But Bob’s arm came up just in time to absorb the blow. Light and sound filled the small corridor, but when the light faded, the back of bob’s hand had been dented in. But he wiggled his fingers, demonstrating the attack’s limited impact..

”YOU_RUFFIANS_HAVE_MADE_ME_FEEL_A_GENUINE_EMOTION.” The shaken “lady Jane” stood up and ran around to Bob’s back. It became evident how much larger Bob was than Protector. While he was only a few feet taller, he was quite broad, and each of his limbs were as thick as tree trunks. He dropped onto his hands, digging his fingers into the stone floor and preparing his legs for a sprint. While Jane was still struggling to free her arm from the web-like bindings, Bob’s hydraulics easily overpowered such meager arcane restraints, and snapped them with the extension of its leg. ”I_FEEL_PITY_FOR_YOU…HA_HA_HA_HA_HA_HA!” His eyes glowed a brilliant azure, and his body arced with arcane electricity.

Bob hadn’t even finished laughing before an explosion shoved several barrels into the isle right in front of Protector. A few flaming barrels bounced into the wall at Protector and Finn’s right flank before slamming into them. While the espers had been pushed into the wall, Protector’s spell had saved them from taking any damage. The barrels hadn’t been touching them long enough to catch them on fire.Though the path ahead was littered with burning debris, and Bob’s power only surged as time went on.

The red haired pyromancer lowered her hands and took a deep breath. White smoke wafted off of her hands as she regained her composure. ”Black, Brown, shoot anything that moves!” The three pyromancers positioned themselves so that they could look through the newly made hole in the wall of barrels and fire.

Billy balled his hands into fists. Even if he was critical to this mission, there might be something he could do without wearing himself down before the fight with Justin. He was prepared to break off a chunk of the foundation and send it down the hall, but then the barrels at their end started to shake, and false lids fell to the ground. Then more pyromancers scrambled out of the barrels. There were four in total, with two in each path. They were quite young in appearance, and couldn’t have been a day over sixteen. The two behind the group of espers fighting Jane and Bob (white and green hair) took turns hurling fire balls at Klava and Tetrad in the back line, while the two in the iceberg lane (purple and blue) bombarded Apollo and Billy. Billy snapped a chunk of stone wall off and hid behind it. He could throw the flat stone, but Apollo was right there.

”Geez!” Luna placed her hand on a keg and cast a weightless melody, which made it much easier to pull off the wall. It did this in a most unusual way, removing all oxygen around the vicinity. This caused Luna’s face to turn blue as she held her breath. Man she hated her magic sometimes. She didn’t wait, and threw the keg at one of the pyromancers. The barrel was struck and caught fire, but it was moving so fast it collided with the white haired pyromancer before bouncing away. The pyromancer stumbled backwards, but the barrel was floating along the ceiling now.. Luna opened fire with Pit Boss, but it was apparent the superior arcane defense of her mystic opponents was reducing the effectiveness of her weapon. They’d need to do something fast if they wanted to get the pressure off of them.

And still, more dangers rolled in. Something was happening in the path Klava had closed off. A ghost in a tuxedo rose out of the floor and hovered in the air. He looked human in all aspects but his face, which looked like a white blob of cream with lips and eyes attached to it. ”Hello beauties!” He said with a notable amount of lisp. ”I had a brunchen to prepare, but now that I’m all done, Handsome Gunter is here to serve you!” Gunter drew a book from his vest and cracked it open, causing a single white flame to fly out of it and hover around his hand. ”Oh you guys are just gunna love love love what I do next!”

And with all of this going on, there was still more. Among the burning barrels and fireballs was a lone violin player. Hair as white as snow, complexion as pale as marble, And a steady hand on her violin’s bow. At the back of the wine cellar, Finn could see just a glimpse of the girl he spoke with a week ago. Betty was here.

Tetrad

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

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

[bronze touch][weightless] = 32

PHYSICAL: E | ARCANE: C | CHAOS: D | 728

---

_{@The World}

Marrie made the wise decision to not fight a powerful behemoth solo. While a bouncy projectile did allow her to blink much further than she normally would, it also meant she had to spend more time in front of the snake before she blinked to safety. Marrie had just enough time to run into one of the tunnels before Highway to Hell wedged its head inside of it. It hissed, sending droplets of acid down the tunnel. By this point Marrie’s melody had triggered, making her safe for the moment.

Or was she?

Now that she was closer to the noise, the sound was a bit more familiar to Marrie. It wasn’t just any two-stroke engine, it belonged to a chainsaw. And it was getting louder with every passing second, until she saw it.

”Ow! Owowowowowo!” a zombie cheerleader wandered out from behind a rock formation. She had a chainsaw run through her back, and seemed to be doing her best to hold her head on. The chainsaw itself didn’t seem to be causing her any harm, if the way she ignored it was any indication. ”I jumped off of that wagon just a little too early. Next time-” As soon as she noticed Marrie, her expression brightened up like the sun emerging from overcast clouds. ”Oh hey! A person!” She let go of her neck and and a circle or two around Marrie. ”Person person person person!” She stopped in front of Marrie, with the chainsaw in her chest hovering a few inches away from the esper. ”Are you here looking for that coin with everyone else? No matter! Wherever you’re trying to get, we gotta get access to the wagon system the goblins are building! Well, pretty sure they are just burrows, but you can ride wagons in them and build up a lot of speed! I’ll tell you more about it once we get inside! So we just need to punt the little green goofballs in order to get inside.”

The cave system had opened up into a giant cave, with two pillars and a pool of water between them. There was also a group of goblins huddled around a small campfire in the distance. Unlike the last group, these ones were armed with weapons and appeared to be standing guard. Behind them was a wooden door. It didn’t look especially durable, but it didn’t look like it was something a group of goblins could have made.

Regardless of how Marrie felt about helping the zombie, she could hear Highway to Hell coming closer. Perhaps the goblins were too good at avoiding it.

Symphony of Espers

Forgot to do tags so @Ponn@Crusader Lord@FamishedPants@Izurich@SilverPaw@ERode

Symphony of Espers

Su "Breacher" Fang

_{@Ponn@Crusader Lord@FamishedPants@Izurich@SilverPaw and that big mean @ERode}

"To expect the unexpected shows a thoroughly modern intellect." So went one of Oscar Wilde’s plays. It was a popular enough line that it was recited by those who never saw the play, frequently shortened to just “Expect the unexpected.” Su used to find the line tacky. Expecting something wasn’t being prepared for it. Even if you take the expected outcome off the table, there are an unlimited number of unexpected outcomes that remain. Though after she became an esper, she saw the wisdom in Oscar’s words. You couldn’t prepare for everything, and sometimes not getting surprised was the best you could do.

The left wardrobe, now at her back, was scaled by an assassin. Su groaned to herself as she realized this was likely a momentary diversion to catch the front line unaware. Though she barely had time to turn her head before the bone monster erupt out of the floor, stealing the rest of her attention. She was already beside Lillia, so it was a simple matter to step between her and the bone monster. She was able to deflect the attack, if with some difficulty.

An assassin nun at the back, a bladed bone/vine/human monster in the middle, and a vampire from afar, and an unknown number of other dangers that could still be hiding in the shadows. Su’s squad was getting hit from all sides. With little time to think, Su needed to decide what she was going to do about it.

The Vampire was a tempting target. Certainly the way he was trying to provoke them made him an attractive target. especially with his possible hostages. But Su would be ill equipped for that encounter.. G.E.M.I.N.I. may have been known for its monster slaying, but Su’s loadout was ill suited for fighting a monster directly. She didn’t have anything to threaten him with. This was also what made fighting the bone monster less than ideal. While her shield was useful against such a foe, her pistol or melodies wouldn’t do much damage to something so large. The nun may or may not be a monster. Her appearance was human enough that she could be an esper or a human under the effect of a dark blessing. It was possible that she would be more vulnerable to Su’s pistol fire, but then she ran the risk of shooting her allies who were also in close proximity.

But Su wasn’t thinking about what/who to shoot. She was thinking about who she could help, and few espers looked as in need of help as Ashley. While she was still airborne, she had invested all of her power into dealing a mighty blow against the monster below her. While Su could appreciate that kind of moxie, she didn’t think it was a good idea to let their medic fall atop a hostile monster.

”Orion!”

Su aimed over her shield and fired at Ashley, though no bullet came out of her gun. Instead, the crack of her pistol was followed by something hitting Ashley in the back. The fragments of tile and vine that filled the air after her attack had culminated behind her back and shoved her through the air towards Su. Since she was still in the air, the pull should have been pretty strong, she figured, and would pull her away from the monster and towards herself. Should Su’s move work, she’d try to catch Ashley in her gun arm before lowering her to the ground behind her shield.

Her allies could destroy the hostiles. She was just there to keep her squad alive.

Su

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

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

[Bronze Beam][Pull] = 24

PHYSICAL: D | ARCANE: D | CHAOS: C | 476

Symphony of Espers

_{@Ponn@Crusader Lord@FamishedPants@Izurich@SilverPaw}

The muscled vampire chuckled at juvenile responses of humanity’s most “professional” guardians. Naught more but a gaggle of illiterate children, they’ve proven to be. Just pets with teeth too small to match their bark, taking actions without understanding the consequences of such.

“To let thine blood flow in the presence of a nightwalker,” he said, his voice dripping with pity, “is tantamount to the relinquishment of thine head. Such ignorance befits thine lesser race though, and at times…could even be charming.”

Even at a distance, the espers could all see it: the yellow irises of the vampire burning with a crimson glow.

Veins bulged out from his neck, muscles growing taut beneath the suit. Sheer, unbridled force surged, his muscular arms raising up to the side as if in preparation for an embrace. And from within the sleeve of his right arm, something slim emerged. Only a meter in length and perfectly straight, the very end studded with a gem. A wand.

The vampire was a caster.

“I am Arzendale, the Sanguine Sovereign! Pledge thine flesh to the Court of Carnage, or thine remains shall feed the wanton desires of His blighted kin!”

And with the world-silencing gravity of a conductor on the cusp of greatness, he raised his wand.

If this bout doesn’t triple my heart rate I will be very cross

God forgive us all

FIRST RECEIPT

BEGIN

🩸

But neither vampire nor esper struck first.

BOOM!

A tremendous force shattered the purple-hemmed wardrobe to the right of the GEMINI agents, wooden chips scattering in the air, some blasting against them. From the wreckage of the furniture, something shot for the group, their steps silent, but the unseen blade they dragged against the ground carving a line through the tilework, between the statues, and straight for the one on the right flank: Wukong.

And in the umbra of that chaotic, invisible assault, another individual slipped into the fray, their movements practiced as they vaulted over the wardrobe. A carmine eye, a different hue from a vampire’s crimson, widened as the adrenaline of murder surged through her veins, the eye-patched nun in an armored habit dashing for the vulnerable backline. With a wicked hiss, her two-handed falchion swung in a vertical chop towards Silmeria, and perhaps only Samuel was in place to assist the sniper before she found herself in the worse possible position to be.

Not that things were simple for so long.

There was no rumbling of a subterranean creature. There was no possibility of an underground attack, when the blueprints of the building itself did not have any space beneath the floor of the entrance. And the carpet had covered any sign of displaced tilework.

Right in the middle of the group, Ashley felt it before she saw it, and in a moment later, found that she was flying upwards, the world spinning as she was sent flying by a monstrous fusion of man and steed, of bandaged flesh and animated bone. Six bladed limbs swung out erratically, lashing at all the espers around it, while the bound humanoid atop the skeletal steed let out a sharp yell, before vines burst out from his orifices and rushed for the still-airborne Ashley.

And as for how a creature twice the size of a horse could appear from beneath without a single sound? The gaping hole in the floor answered the question easily enough: a portal gate, leading only into a fathomless darkness.

But could Jacqueline and Su, the vanguard force of the GEMINI agents, truly afford to turn their backs on the vampire caster and reinforce the scattered formations of their allies? When Arzendale continued to move his conductor’s baton, his gem-studded wand, back and forth, weaving some foul art that none of them could make sense before it was completed?

His sharp-toothed smile locked onto the two of them, and his mouth formed unspoken sounds.

‘Tick tock.’

Map

Floor 1

---

_{@OwO@mantou@ERode@Majoras End}

Tetrad looked a little happier than normal to be talking with Apollo. But she became more serious once she realized what they were going up against. Due to her party girl nature, she wasn’t too concerned about the barrels of wine. Beer, wine, and spirits all had different alcohol content. And even the most flammable ones weren’t combustible. Most of the accidents you hear involving burning cocktails involve people spilling or splashing burning spirits. That wasn’t to say it wasn’t dangerous, but it wasn’t like someone could just light a match and set the wine cellar on fire. There was no doubt the pyromancers' open-carrying flames could probably set the stuff on fire, but it would take a truly powerful flame to make spirits combust like, say, gasoline. They just had to avoid getting splashed and they should be fiiiiiiine.

Tetrad thought Klava’s ideas sounded good, even if her assertive nature reminded her of another freelancer who also thought she was hot shit. Her smacking Apollo’s ass wasn’t even worth batting an eye at. Espers were pretty eccentric characters, and it wasn’t like she had planned on asking him out or anything so childish. As freelancers, their loyalty was to the dollar. But Marrie seemed like a good sort, and if Protector’s actions were anything to go by, he seemed like a cool guy too.

”Well.” She looked at Apollo. ”If the hashtag squad gets split up, I’ll hook up with the half you’re not looking after, okay?”

The older woman scoffed. ”Of course you’re a vagrant! What other sort of rabble would break into my employer’s home with the intent to kill him?" A grin spread across her face when Protector moved to stand beside Fable. ”But I’m glad ‘Bob’ has caught your fancy. Perhaps you’d like a demonstration?"

Steam blasted out of Bob’s shoulder joints. ”THE_LOW_BROW_FILTH_WILL_BE_DISPOSED_OF! EXTERMINATE!"

The Book of Souls is missing your names.

THE CLOCK SAYS 90 SECONDS

First Regret

LET THE MUSIC PLAY!

This happened while Bob pulled a keg off the rack beside himself and chucked it at Protector’s shield. Though just before it struck, the sniper fired a round straight through it. The entire Barrel caught fire, and when the barrel blew apart on impact, its contents were set ablaze.

The burning spirits splashed every which way around Protector’s shield, This included Fable, who Protector had chosen to stand beside. Protector would not be able to avoid getting burned, as some of the burning liquid made it over their shield and splashed against their arms. Unfortunately, the blessing did little to stop the effects of the magical flame from taking. Bob was already reaching for another keg to throw.

The other corridor was not idle though. The two men were not as strong as Bob was, but they united their efforts to pull a keg away from one of the walls.

”Hurry up!"The woman behind them snapped her fingers. ”He’s going to turn us into thralls if we aren’t ready for the 11:15 brunchen!"

Once they pulled the barrel out, they rolled it toward the espers at the other end. Eventually the barrel was moving faster than the men were, and seemed to be gaining even more speed as it continued to roll.They extended their hands, and the barrel was struck with two fireballs, setting it ablaze.The female pyromancer stood at the back, focusing her magic on a more intricate spell.

Tetrad

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

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

PHYSICAL: E | ARCANE: C | CHAOS: D | 750

---

_{@The World}

Before Marrie even approached the goblins, they became aware of her existence as soon as her clip light shined in their direction. They started screeching about half way through her question. An experienced esper might forgive Marrie for assuming some vaguely humanoid creature had the capacity and desire to speak with her. But goblins ultimately chose to live below ground so that they didn’t have to regularly deal with people. They were weaker than almost every other type of monster, and being discovered by humans just meant it was a matter of time before espers came to exterminate their nest. They shouted at each other before running from the scene, carrying whatever they could from the “camp site.”

The catacombs started to beat like a drum. Marrie could feel the vibration in her feet. It wasn’t strong enough to be considered an earthquake, but something was moving in the general vicinity of her area. That, or something far away was moving, and it was large.

Then she would see it. A massive snake as black as asphalt with segmented yellow stripes going down it’s back. Its head bobbed side to side as it worked its limbless body through the open cave system. The stalagmites crumbled in its path, being ground to dust under the behemoth’s weight. As noisy as the Bate twins were, it seemed that the cry of numerous goblins was a more appealing snack to the giant snake. It wasn’t long before it spotted Marrie with its single eye, which shined like a headlight. It lifted its head into the air and opened its mouth. Its body swelled, sealing the catacombs up behind itself, before a deep hiss rolled out of its body. This was punctuated by its cobra-like mast opening, which was filled with spikes. But none of them were as long as its fangs, which were dripping with venom that burned holes in the cave floor.

Highway to Hell had arrived.

It's Thursday, my dudes!

WHY DON'T YOU GIVE HER A CALL

First Engagement

MAKE IT HAPPEN!

Marrie couldn’t backtrack, as the giant snake had come from behind her. And it was only getting closer with every passing second. The path up ahead split in two smaller ones. The goblins could still be seen scrambling down the left tunnel, but Marrie could hear the sound of a two-stroke engine running down the right one.

Symphony of Espers

Su "Breacher" Fang

Su had been running G.E.M.I.N.I operations with Fritzi for a long time. At least, long enough that the little oddities didn’t stick out to her anymore. In the past, she might have questioned the ethics behind using a blood mage they recently acquired, She might have followed up by asking what kind of deal Fritzi made with them to make them cooperate. She might have further gone on to question the importance of getting to Justin when they could just sit back and let Maverick and the freelancers do the work for them. But Su’s experience told her that the answers to those questions were not important at the moment.

She ran through the blood tunnel like it was the most natural thing in the world.

It was not often that Su found herself comparing China to the USA, but if there was one thing her country did right, it was establishing their government in a clear position of power. The reason why they were trying to beat the Freelancers was because the government was partaking in these silly games. Were this China, there would be no reason to beat the freelance espers to Justin. The populace would already know and respect the government's authority, and they would have no reason to kautau to the public. But the citizens of this country were more rebellious. They had too much freedom to do what they wanted, even to openly mock the government that protects them. And because of this, they were throwing themselves into the den of a lion, too soon and ill prepared for the occasion. Regardless, Su worked for the USA instead of China. As burdensome as everyone’s freedom made her job, it was one of the things she enjoyed about living here. It was like Jaquiline had told her, she could do whatever she wanted here. That was a liberty she would gladly bleed for, much like her squadmates standing beside her.

Upon entering the mansion, it seemed the first guard was both ready for them, and a bit eccentric to boot. While Su had little problem following English conversations, the vampire's eccentric way of speaking was hard for her to follow. She got the gist of it, probably. But there was a lot more to be concerned with than her understanding of the vampire’s rehearsed lines.

Su’s eyes scanned her surroundings. Anyone could tell there was something very wrong with the foyer. The obvious things were the hostages/sacrifices, and the calm demeanor of their opponent. But the most insidious features were the things they couldn’t see. The hostages were standing over what looked to her like a magic circle. It was likely the agents were powerless to alter their fate. Then there was the darkness that obscured most of the room. The center of the room in particular looked quite ominous with the lack of light around it. There was also the curious placement of the wardrobes, which was probably the worst place to keep clothes, but they did create a barrier that made it harder for an entering party to observe their surroundings. The perfect place to host an ambush, if not a trap.

There wasn’t much reason for Su to respond to the others. Jaquiline was on top of things, and spoke better English anyway. Su nodded at Jacqueline when she mentioned protecting the hostages. In truth, Su wasn't sure if a wall would be of much use She also made some hand signs. Like most special forces, G.E.M.I.N.I. agents were taught hand signals to communicate ideas quickly and often without alerting the enemy, Su’s massive shield made it pretty easy to conceal her hand from their opponent in the event he could read their hand signs. She told her allies of a possible ambush/trap from behind the wardrobes. It was likely the more experienced espers were already aware of this, but Su would hate for something to happen to Ashley. It was hard for Su to look at someone so young without thinking about Mika.

Su allowed her shield to slam into the floor, pointing towards the left most wardrobe. Her gun was ready in her right hand. ”Go ahead.” Her eyes narrowed. ”See what happen to your head.”

Su

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

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

PHYSICAL: D | ARCANE: D | CHAOS: C | 500

Grimoiric Heart

Mmmmm, I think I'm gunna peace out of this RP guys. It was fun while it lasted, and I'm sure you'll all have fun obliterating the pageless in my absence.