DELETED jdl3932

Target Earth! [A Monster Marathon]

CS time. Power specifics can be worked out.

Target Earth! [A Monster Marathon]

This premise intrigues me, and not just because the magificent Gentlemanvaultboy is here. I may or may not go the paranormal investigator route, but I'm still deciding.

World of Light

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Level: 3 (18/30)
Word Count: 831
Location: Edge of the Blue - Atlantis Temple
EXP: +2

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It had taken approximately three more infuriating tries for her to get the coveted Sand Dollar, as the first two had been outright failures thanks both to her lack of dexterity and having to juggle the actions and movements of the other participants. On the third and final try however, she'd finally managed to nab it, arising from the pool a victor. Handing it over and promptly having her card stamped, she made her way onto the next attraction, a twisting series of multicolored slides by the looks of things. The walk there was much more enjoyable since it provided a moment of peace in which her adrenaline could die down, though the surrounding humans ruined it somewhat, not to mention the squid people and their water gun fight. There was also the strangely overweight fuzzy creature whose body didn't seem like it should have fit in the center of the inflatable inner tube at all despite its well-measured size, although she didn't pay it more than a cursory glance as it floated about in its pool, passing swiftly by. It was at this point that she also noticed the girl in the basketball cap who was currently poised to dive, to say nothing of the strange look she gave, but the former SOLDIER chalked it up to just another bodily gawk in the long line of ones she'd gotten over the course of her stay here. Moving on, she spared naught but the briefest glance back at the girl as she plummeted from the board to land in the clear waters below, eventually arriving at her destination.

It seemed as though she had quite the climb ahead of her by the looks of things, and a choice between a rock wall or set of stairs. Deciding she'd had enough of clambering over objects for the time being, Sephiroth made her way up the stairs, her pace a light jog that saw her standing proudly at the top within a matter of seconds. Approaching the rather board looking snail, she handed over her stamp card as she requested to use the slides, reading the sign standing nearby as he processed it. Once she'd committed the rules to memory, Sephiroth turned her attention back to the snail just in time for him to motion for her to start her descent down the nearest slide. Striding towards it while doing her best to not get annoyed at the near-constant Sand Dollar retrieval requirements - seriously, how many of those damn things would she have to collect? - Sephiroth situated herself at the mouth of the blue tube. Inhaling ever-so-slightly, she pushed herself down before letting gravity take care of the rest. In all honesty, Sephiroth couldn't deny the fact that she was enjoying herself, the time trial aside. For not only was she making good time so far as the slides went, having already exceeded the minimum count by leaps and bounds, she was also enjoying the sheer lack of fellow competitors. As reluctant as she was to admit it, going down various plastic tubes in a surprisingly controllable manner was actually a lot of fun. What wasn't so fun, however, was the final portion of the challenge...

Finding the Sand Dollar, a task that was proving to be easier said than done.

As a matter of fact, she'd been at it so long that she'd begun to worry she would run out of time, each dive to the bottom of the pool in which the slides released their riders proving more fruitless than the last. And then, much to her infinite chagrin, Sephiroth saw her. The purple haired woman with horns, and general thorn in her side from the last game. She was looking for a Sand Dollar too it seemed, and so close to where Sephiroth herself was too. Close enough that, if she wanted to, she could just reach out and hold her underwater until she stopped moving. She didn't, of course. Wasn't worth the trouble or time, especially given her last defeat, but it was a tempting idea nonetheless. Turning her attention back to the task at hand, Sephiroth increased the speed at which she searched, eliminating the most unviable or obvious spots first before delving into the more obscure ones next. It was in one of these out of the way alcoves that she finally stumbled across it. Grasping it tightly within the palm of her hand, she breached the surface of the relatively crowded pool and began treading water until she reached the side. Pulling herself up and out of the pool, she returned to the snail as quickly as she could, practically sprinting to ensure she remained within the established time limit. At length she made it however, and apparently with time to spare, almost slamming the Sand Dollar down on the startled snail's desk.

Taking a moment to compose herself, she addressed the ride manager in a blunt tone.

"There's your coin. Now give me my stamp."

World of Light

Considering the update is tomorrow,, it may be a little late to start a new collab, but by all means have Frog talk to whoever you feel like and the targets can respond in their next posts.

@Lugubrious

Remind me to get a proper amount of sleep for that.

World of Light

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Level: 3 (16/30)
Word Count: 823
Location: Edge of the Blue - Atlantis Temple
EXP: +2

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Sephiroth glanced over at the ride as she slipped on her floaties and handed the snail her card alongside everyone else to ensure it didn't get wet. With that done, she made her way over to the pool, still a bit uncertain about the whole endeavor. She couldn't simply eliminate any obstacles in her path this time, and she still wasn't entirely sure her depth perception and peripheral awareness was up to the task. Still, there wasn't much room for second thoughts at this point. Besides, she was at her core a SOLDIER First Class, and therefore more than capable of performing a bit of acrobatic avoidance. Once again she spared naught but the briefest of glances on her opponents, some of whom she would have considered quite strange back on Gaia, but had grown more than used to by now. Turning her attention back to the ride at long last, Sephiroth readied herself to jump as the clubs began to spin. The one closest to her left began its approach, moving relatively fast but not enough to be completely unavoidable, which allowed her to vault over it without much trouble alongside the other guests. Although one of them, the burly dwarf, she could have sworn got clipped just the tiniest bit on his way over. In any case the first "round" had been passed, though that didn't mean things were about to get any easier for them. If anything, the difficulty saw a sharp increase as the foam clubs gradually began to spin faster and faster which each revolution, with the next three spins practically obliterating the four blocky individuals from earlier. The lot of them letting out a comically loud OOF! in the process.

In all honesty, Sephiroth was surprised they had managed to last this long.

In the end, however, only her and five other participants were left. The burly dwarf, who'd avoided being knocked off through a combination of sheer determination and timing, the dragon flanked girl, the white-haired man from the previous game, and the horned woman with purple hair who was subtly jostling with the silver-haired swordswoman over space. The worst part about it was that, no matter how much Sephiroth and the other two personalities within her mind may have wanted to, she couldn't just deck the annoying bitch and send her hurtling right off the platform. She could plant her feet and shove back ever-so-slightly at most when bumped into, but no more than that, especially since the horned woman wasn't being obvious about her ploy.

"Sorry hun," the horned woman cooed, leaning in close after ducking another club. "But I'm afraid only one of us is going to win this game, and sadly that won't be you."

Sephiroth extended her arm, using it to push the other woman back a bit so she had enough space to leap over the next club, which was approaching rapidly. Across the way she heard the dwarf utter a curse as he was conked right in the head and sent sprawling off into the water below with a splash, being followed shortly thereafter by the girl and her pet dragons along with the white-haired man, all of which had been sent flying in one merciless foam-filled swoop. Hopping the club swinging round her own side, Sephiroth shot a cocky yet assured smirk at her remaining opponent, but stayed silent otherwise. She did not need to boast about her abilities after all, for those were far beyond anything the fool standing beside her could possibly comprehend. So it was when the next club came that the former SOLDIER danced close, feigning a stumble, only to hook her foot round the back of the horned woman's ankle in the handful of seconds before the club's impact. Sweeping forward just the tiniest bit to ensure she was fully off balance, Sephiroth dove up and over as the beam closed in, jumping to her feet just in time to watch as her final opponent fell into the waters below with an ear-piercing shriek. A few seconds later and the ride was stopped. Leaping off the platform, Sephiroth swam back to the main area, pulling herself up onto dry land and flicking a few strands of waterlogged hair from her face. Striding back over to the snail she took her place alongside the other guests, not failing to notice the downright venomous glare the horned woman gave as she made her way there. Sephiroth did have the smallest flicker of doubt cross her mind as she took her place in line, concerned that perhaps her maneuver had been caught somehow, though she quickly dismissed it. She'd been too careful for anything, least of all a snail, to have noticed what she had done.

Standing with her hands clasped behind her back and a grumbling dwarf off to her right, Sephiroth calmly awaited the results, confident that she had secured yet another win.

World of Light

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Level: 3 (14/30)
Word Count: 2,205
Location: Edge of the Blue - Atlantis Temple
EXP: +3

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Sephiroth listened to the challenge's rules and specifications intently, while pointedly ignoring the others there with her, beyond the most momentary of glances of course. Some might consider it unwise not to examine one's own opposition, but the former SOLDIER knew that these creatures were no match for her. As for the game itself, it seemed to provide just the difficulty she was looking for, and she quickly set her mind toward the making of a plan in the seconds following the snail's signal for them to begin. First she would collect ten chests, the ones simply lying about followed by those locked behind puzzles, as the former would be snapped up rather quickly by the other participants. After that would come the frogs, as she would've naturally made it to the bottom of the tank by this point in her search for chests. To ensure that these water moose didn't hinder her progress however, she would also tie her bag around her wrist upon retrieving her final chest, then deal with sending the frogs back up while deftly avoiding the grasping appendages of those hole-bound creatures.

Finally, when all was said and done, she would descend into the hole itself to claim the waiting Sand Dollars. One would do, which meant she didn't have to spend too much time fumbling around down there. Additionally, since there was no mention of whether or not the use of magic was prohibited, Sephiroth figured she could use a few spells to clear out any interfering moose while she was there. They weren't other divers after all, and thus didn't fall under the non-interference rule the snail had just mentioned. Granted, there might still be consequences for such an act, so Sephiroth decided it would be best to use such powers sparingly to avoid arousing suspicion. In any case her plan was made, and Sephiroth herself on her way into the tank, as she secured her mask and leapt in head first without so much as a care in the world.

Checking briefly to ensure she still had her bag, she did, Sephiroth swiftly kicked her way down towards the bottom. Her body, while shorter and considerably less muscular, was still more than capable of performing in an adequate manner. Physically speaking anyway. This advantage was only bolstered thanks to the detachment of her rigging a few minutes before starting the game, which she'd left in the changing room from before. Making her way down and to the left, Sephiroth began her collection of chests, the first five of which came fairly easy as they were just lying about on or under ledges, though a few had been snatched up here and there by some of the other participants. The most annoying of which proved to be the redhead, who kept giving her flirty winks every time their paths crossed, before swimming away with yet another chest. At length however, the first five had been collected, which only left another five for the taking. These were a tad more difficult than the ones that had come before though, given the fact they were locked behind puzzles. Simple puzzles as far as she was concerned, but puzzles nonetheless, and time consuming ones at that.

A bad thing as it turned out, for the longer she and the others spent on these inane puzzles, the more frogs got dragged away by those accursed water moose. At last, however, she'd gotten the final chest she'd needed. Tucking it into her bag, she quickly tied it shut before fastening it securely to her wrist. From here she swam further down, passing through a few air bubbles on the way just to be sure she had enough, and began her collecting of frogs. A task that was much harder than she originally thought, as when she wasn't focused on the moose they would charge her at high speed, forcing her to dodge lest she be knocked aside or lose air. The other divers swooping in to take advantage of this also didn't help, as a few of them like the annoying redhead managed to float their three frogs, while Sephiroth herself was still stuck trying to get her first. After a few more tries and tactical retreats back to air back to air bubbles, Sephiroth had managed to nab two, sending them back up before quickly snatching a third.

All that left was the Sand Dollars lurking in the darkness of the hole below, and for a moment Sephiroth considered simply leaving with what she already had, for between the frogs and chests she had more than enough to pass the challenge. But passing was not what she came here for. Victory on the other hand, was, and she could not achieve that without the treasures housed in the abyss below. So, diving downwards, she made her way past the moose and into the hole. Having eliminated more than a few of them by leading them into the air bubbles floating about, the impact of which saw them rupture into ribbons like popped balloons. More than a few of the other guests were disturbed by this it seemed, as they quickly retreated back to the surface, kicking furiously to put as much distance between themselves and the rising crimson mist. The only one who remained was the infuriating redhead she'd run into so many times before, although he too only made it so far before the surviving moose had stolen too much of his air, forcing him to return to the surface. Moving down further, Sephiroth passed through the hole, and for a moment floated in sheer darkness.

Then her eyes adjusted, and to her surprise she found herself in a space far, far larger than the pool above. It extended as far as the column of light allowed her to see, a murky void interspersed with thin pillars that branched in odd ways, coated in places by softly waving fronds. That they were plants was obvious; that they were actually trees took a moment to discern. Beneath the pool lay an entire flooded forest, surreal in its placement, its stygian recesses indiscernible. In the bizarre abyss she could make out more moose in copious quantities, as well as unsettling polyps stuck to the trees in varying stages of growth. It was the same in every direction she looked save one--straight down. A ways down there was some sort of brownish mass, and it was from there that the oxygen bubbles rose.

Glancing at the moose briefly, Sephiroth made her way deeper into the forest, partially curious as to what the strange brown mass beneath her was but mostly focused on examining the floor for any sign of these Sand Dollars she was after. Noticing her descent, more than a few of the moose charged, some hitting and others missing as she managed to swim out of the way fast enough to avoid being struck. Summoning up discs of darkness in either hand, she sent them spiralling towards the creatures, not really expecting them to hit. Rather she hoped they would serve to ward off the annoying things long enough for her to finish her search, which thankfully seemed to be coming to an end. For as she moved deeper into the forest, she spotted an odd circular object lying on the rocky ground below. Many as a matter of fact, although this was the nearest one. Unfortunately for her, however, it also happened to be right next to the ominous brown mass currently expelling large quantities of air into the water. Deciding it was far too late for her to turn back now, Sephiroth swam down to the mass, taking in a few air bubbles along the way.

As she drew near she realized that the discolored splotch she witnessed from above wasn’t just sediment, but a gnarly heap of organic matter. She could see a number of moose both with and without heads, though those without looked a lot more like brown jellyfish, and worse still she could see the detached heads and realize what they were for the first time--the bodies of drowned frogs. At the center of it all lay an ovoid membrane, anchored to the earth with segmented limbs, inside of which bubbled the very oxygen that the guests all breathed, released through the mouths of the frogs fused to its body. And all around this central body were scattered the Sand Dollars, seldom disturbed.

Suppressing her disgust at the sight, Sephiroth did her best to avoid the moose that loitered near the bottom, even going so far as to blast some of them with spheres of darkness and shadow in an attempt to keep them at bay. Moving in as quickly as she could, she picked one of the dollars up, which looked quite similar to a coin, just larger and more misshapen. Clenching it tightly in her palm, she turned round and began to ascend, kicking her way towards the hole above even as the shadowy forms of moose passed in front of and beyond it, not to mention circle menacingly on all sides.

It took a lot of doing, a good deal of her remaining air, and a lot of careful avoidance, but at last she emerged back into the cylinder proper with her victory in tow. Surfacing a few minutes later, she climbed over the edge and untied her bag. Dropping the assumed Sand Dollar inside, she handed it off to the snail before removing her mask and taking her place next to the other participants. Each of whom were eagerly awaiting the results. While she didn't feel in the mood for chitchat at the moment, especially given what she’d seen below, it appeared as though one of the other contestants did. If she had been hoping that someone other than the redhead would be taking the stage, she ended up disappointed.

“Aw, no need to sell yourself short,” he was telling the bald man. “I’ve seen you run the lily course, sailing over the water with those kicks of yours. You’re better than loads of people who can see could ever hope to be.”

His friend gave a polite laugh and sipped his coconut. “Ah, you give me too much credit. All I want while here is to relax, just like anyone else. There is no meaning in takin these diversions too seriously.”

The redhead shrugged. “Hey, fair enough. Now…” Like a beauty-seeking missile he locked right onto Sephiroth’s dripping-wet form. He sauntered over and offered her a fresh towel. “You, are something else. First then you show up like, whoa, then you show us all up diving all the way to the bottom. I was so dazzled I couldn’t do anything but watch, heheh.” He wore a good-natured smile, showing off his own charms as much as he could. “Anything interesting down there?”

Sephiroth took the towel from him with a blank stare.

“A lot of moose, dead frogs, and some sort of brownish flesh mass.”

She ran the towel across her hair quickly, before dabbing the water from her face.

“Oh, and sand dollars I suppose. A lot of them as a matter of fact.”

Her lips curled upward into the slightest of smirks.

”It’s a shame you couldn’t find any.”

Unfortunately, her attitude only seemed to interest him more, as he got a trace of insight into her character. He did not seem disturbed by his report. Beneath his sunglasses there was a hardness to his eyes alongside the twinkle, rather like diamonds, forged under pressure. “Oh? Perhaps. Although, I think I got just about everything I need.” He winked, then extended his hand. “Sylvain’s the name. Might I ask for yours?”

Sephiroth draped the towel over her shoulders, having dried off for the most part in the meantime.

“Sephiroth,” she said, though she did not take his outstretched hand, opting to cross her arms over her chest and regard him with a cold stare instead.

Her admirer took the hint and casually pulled his hand away to adjust his hair. “Fascinating.” His gaze drifted to the snail, who’d just finished tallying up everyone’s scores and gotten back onto his pedestal. “Well, Sephiroth. I hope to see more of you going forward.”

The snail attendant cleared his throat. “Aaaalrighty! Everyone did well, and it was actually very close, but there’s only one first place. Our winner is the lady in red!” He singled out Sephiroth with a flourish, and held up his stamp with his other hand. “Gather up and I’ll stamp you off. Thank you all for playing.”

After he finished, the quiet man with white hair took off at a leisurely pace, while the bald man went the other direction. A few new guests arrived, so the last two paired off to find something else to do. “I swear, if you’re scoring low on purpose just to hang around and chat up the girls…” the blonde girl warned, but as ever Sylvain seemed quite at ease.

Sephiroth made her way over to the snail, handing him her card as she did so. After getting it stamped she strode off, once again in search of something else to do.

Crossover Town

@ZAVAZggg

Jesse looked around he room. The symbols were unlike anything he had ever seen.

"I have never known a ritual to bear any fruit." He said to Zyx, remembering how he dodged bullets "But it seems there is always more for me to see."

"As for a massive ritual sight, do you mean human sacrifices?" Jesse had a deal going back in Culrud with a tribe of cannibals that performed ritualistic cannibalism on their enemies.

@MikkishtheLeprechaun

"Not quite," Zyx said, wiping his blade free of blood before sliding it back into its scabbard with a soft click. "More so a 'break the boundaries of reality and let things in,' kind."

He turned away, the ring on his finger shifting back into its human form.

"Duma, if you will?"

Duma nodded, snapping her fingers and washing the entire room clean in a simple flash of honey-colored light. With that done she morphed back and floated onto the back of his hand in the form of a tattoo. With that done, Zyx examined the room, eyes peeled for potential clues. A couple of seconds later and he saw it, a small yellow sticky note listing a single phone number. One belonging to a local pizza place by the looks of it, though knowing the cult, Zyx didn't outright dismiss it and took the note instead before leaving. Shutting the door behind him as he went, he paused just as he reached Jesse.

"I know this sounds strange, but I believe they're operating out of a pizza place. Or at least using it to some degree."

He paused briefly, sratching the side of his head.

"That or they just wanted some food. Either way it's worth looking into."

Divinus: The Deity Roleplay, Mk. V

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@Double Capybara, @WrongEndoftheRainbow, @Zurajai, @Crispy Octopus

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A loud crack tore through the surrounding air, not exactly startling Xem but giving him more than enough cause to turn his gaze skyward once again. Although this time he saw nothing save for the same dark and shadowy sky, along with the faint glow of some magical rift lying several miles east. He hoped the other gods, whatever or whoever they may be, were working on fixing it as it would be a terribly inconvenient thing to have to deal with later on. In any case, the lord of plague shifted his gaze northward just in time to see numerous cerulean streams burst forth from the mountain's summit, before pouring down in uproarious currents to water the dry fissure ridden plains below. Beside these were the other telltale trails of gods, one of whom had an aura a tad more detectable than the rest oddly enough. They had fixed some manner of wellspring it seemed, which was good, as it would doubtless help in cooling the rest of the drifting continent down. Not to mention add new forms of life and growth, the decay and rotting of which would see his own hunger swiftly satiated. Manipulating the miasma's movement, Xem pushed himself upward until at last he was equidistant to the mountain's peak, the lip of a massive crater as it turned out. Its center was dominated by a deep aquifer of crystalline purity, the other gods and some manner of rock creature standing around its edge.

Floating forward on a noxious cloud, one that reeked of a carcass several weeks old, Xem ever-so-slightly inclined his head.

"Greetings."

His voice was naught more than a deep gurgle. The rancid hiss of an ancient cesspit churning with roaches and maggots.

"I am Xem."

Summary

Xem finally arrives at Mons Divinus, taking note of several other events along the way; the arrival of An-Clastaphon, the clearing of the wellspring, and the great magical rift in the far east just to name a few. Floating up to the mountain's peak, he introduces himself to his fellow gods.

Divinus: The Deity Roleplay, Mk. V

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Something shifted on the edges of Xem's perception, and he could feel the atmosphere around the storm become far tamer. More ordered and easier to control. The localized storm on the other hand, remained as stubborn as ever thanks to its divine instigation, and the Pestilent King finally gave up to refocus his efforts back to his original task. He would find the god responsible for this interruption later be that by accident or intent, of that much Xem was certain, but for the time being he would resign himself to his original task. That being fixing the bleeding sky. Turning away, tattered cloak fluttering in the scalding winds, Xem raised his puss ridden hands on high as he extended his will to the heavens at large once more. He found the process of altering the stormy chambers above much easier this time around, almost as if the magical energies that had run rampant before had been calmed, for the weather offered very little in the way of pushback or chaos in response to his changes. Granted, for all the wisdom that should accompany one who is divine, Xem could not tell if it was the maelstrom of magical energy suddenly subsiding or his own increase in skill when it came to manipulating the aerial flows that was the actual cause.

Although, to be fair, it's not as if it really mattered. While the covering of darkness remained due to the lack of a sun or other luminous source, and clouds speckled the umbral expanse above, the climate had finally been tamed. The air was still hot of course, it would take longer than mere moments to cool to a more temperate state, but at least it was far more bearable than before. As for the blizzards and storms, most had been quelled, though those few that did remain were steadily driven into the deeps of the north, where they eventually settled over what looked to be the outermost edge of the sea. And there was still that storm raging caused by that oh so mysterious god, but there was nothing he could do about it short of tracking them down. Something he wasn't too keen on doing, especially with his still festering annoyance in regards to the anomaly. Lastly, there was what the Exarch considered to be the next most pressing matter after the sky, that being the land itself.

What was left of it anyway.

Turning his gaze toward the darkness above, Xem observed the burning glow that streaked downwards with a critical socket. He could see, from what his senses told him anyway, that this was yet another god like himself given its trail, but beyond that he was mostly dismissive concerning its arrival. For if it deigned to walk upon this broken devastated shard it would satiate his hunger all the same, inorganic construction or not. Returning his attention back to the scarred and barren earth, Xem brought forth his miasma once more, riding the noxious fumes directly to the mountain that served as the metaphysical focal point of this fragmented new world...

Summary

Thanks to the unexpected intervention of the Explorer and the jettisoning of magical energies from the air, Xem finds his efforts to fix the sky largely successful, with the only two shortcomings being the anomaly created by Paratiri and the large snow-flecked thunderstorm that was driven into the depths of the northern sea as a result of the atmospheric change. Taking brief note of this new arrival - which he surmised was a fellow god - and declaring it just another future casualty of his own hunger, the god of corruption is quickly on his way, riding to the mountain at the very heart of the floating continent. Carried upon the back of yet another noxious miasma, his goal to find some means of ending the near-constant earthquakes so the landmass doesn't tear itself apart.

Hellscape: A Metropolitan Nightmare

This gives me so many meme and rage comic based vibes, it's ridiculous. You have my tentative interest.