Word Count: 388 Level 5 Roxas: 20/50 Exp: 1 NEW EXP Balance--- 21/50
Most of the machine-talk went over Roxas's head, but he managed to get a vague notion of what they were looking for. It effectively amounted to looking for the toughest-looking people they could find - as they would likely be the kind of salvage crew they were looking for. That part he understood well enough. Seemed like the Slum had no shortage of scrappy-looking people. But unfortunately Roxas couldn't really tell who would be the most likely people to as for help. Eventually they figured that the person they really needed to look for was someone named Isaac Clark. Well, that would narrow the search down at least.
That was about when Roxas heard Tora mention sightseeing. Roxas couldn't imagine what would be worth sightseeing in a place like this, but he tried looking over at where the little mechanic had been staring. There... didn't seem to be anything particularly nice over there. But it wasn't long before Roxas spotted a familiar head of spikey-hair, "Is that really...? I've gotta find out!" Roxas blurted out as he suddenly took off in the direction of the building that the spikey-haired mercenary disappeared into.
Roxas picked up the pace, going into a full sprint in time to burst through the doors of the Beginner's Hall. He looked around - panting and out of breath, "Come on... where'd you go...?" He glanced around and eventually spotted who he was looking for.
"Cloud! Tifa!" Roxas called out to them. He jogged over and looked up at them. And it was only then that he realized that these two never actually officially met him before. In fact he only knew of them thanks to having been in Sora's Heart for a portion of the latter's interactions with them, "You've... never met me face-to-face before, but... I'm Roxas." He told them, but got little in the way of a reaction. "Um... Sora's Nobody?" He finally said after an awkward pause, maybe hoping Sora's name would ring some bells. And suddenly he was beginning to feel really foolish right now.
Word Count: 511 Level 5 Roxas: 19/50 Exp: 1 NEW EXP Balance--- 20/50
Well, that went well Roxas thought to himself during the train ride. His idea hadn't exactly gone over well. Maybe he didn't get the idea across clearly? Maybe it was his age? Or maybe this machine attack was simply more urgent. Either way, he wasn't gonna get to do what he wanted, at least not yet. One thing he was insistent on was that he didn't want to go back to Sector 5. He'd rather not have to put up with Psych-OSF today if he could help it. And so he switched teams, as it were, and was now with Giovanna's half of the Seekers. Roxas wasn't the only one. Pit, Blazermate, Benedict, and Geralt had all elected to do the same.
Now that he was thinking about it, Roxas realized he hadn't really gotten a chance to get to know this half of the team that much yet. So maybe this was a good chance to do that, at least in between all the machine fighting they would be doing. And when they eventually arrived in the slums... well it definitely earned its moniker. The was a dump... literally in a lot of places. How anyone could stand to live like this without starting riots was beyond him. Maybe the Shinra was just that powerful? Either way, this place was just plain depressing to look at. At least Suoh had been clean, if a bit rigid in its ways. Here, well garbage and junk littered the ground everywhere you look. Some of that junk had been repurposed into shanty town shacks and whatnot, while the rest of it remained piled up like what one would see in a junkyard.
"...Just when you think this city can't get much more depressing." he muttered aloud. Honestly it was almost impressive how consistently terrible and oppressive Midgar as a whole was proving to be. Would defeating the guardian and freeing everyone from Galeem's influence even clean the city up that much? The more he saw of it, the more Roxas was convinced that this place was dirty and rotten to its core.
The Seekers talked about whether to wait or to seek out the machines. The consensus so far seemed to be to looking for them, "Works for me." he said, casting his vote for the seek-them-out plan. That plan would potentially allow them to wrap things up quicker than if they just waited. And Roxas doubted any of them wanted to spend any more time here than they had to. Just looking at this place made Roxas even more convinced that something had to be done about Shinra if there was ever going to be any real change in this city, though how exactly one could go about that was a mystery to him for now.
Word Count: 950 Level 4 Ganondorf: 11/40 Exp: 2 NEW EXP Balance--- 13/30
After he left the smith's shop, Ganondorf began to wander without much aim. Now he needed lodging, and he didn't exactly know where to start looking. And then he remembered something else that he had nearly forgotten about. He fished for and retrieved the Blastocyst Spirit from his belongings. He'd been holding onto this spirit since just before the battle against It Lives and Ganondorf was certain he didn't much time remaining before it would fade away, "You and your kind gave me no end of headaches in that Basement dungeon. So you'd better be ready to do the same to my enemies in the future." he muttered to the spirit, almost as though he were threatening it.
New Striker spiritbound: Blastocyst An embryo encased in a large blob of gelatinous slime. Its cooldown is on the shorter side, but its strength and options are limited, and it's an easy target for attack. When summoned, depending on the distance of the target, it will either jump and crash down in place, or jump and after a brief delay splat down on top of the target. When hitting the ground (but not landing on top of an enemy) it will release eight bloody tears in the cardinal and ordinal directions
"Hey!" shouted a strange voice from somewhere behind Ganondorf, "You! Big guy!" whoever this was they were obviously addressing Ganondorf, which made him wonder if he'd done something against this city's law or maybe something else.
He turned around and saw what looked like some kind of blue-scaled fish woman. She had dark red hair tied into a ponytail, wore dark metallic armor, and also appeared to missing her eye. Must have been some kind of warrior or soldier, "Did I do something... wrong?"
"What? Nah, nah, nothing like that." she said, "You're a new face around here, and that cat-lady person asked me tell any new people I see that 'Misfortune awaits them at the Habbo Hotel'. Heh, not sure why anybody'd wanna go where bad lucks waits for 'em, but whatever! Message delivered, so stay outta trouble, or next time you see me I won't be so pleasant." and then she stormed off to look for other newcomers.
"'Misfortune', eh?" Ganondorf muttered to himself. Well, she was obviously talking about Nadia, that much was clear to him. So Nadia had managed to secure lodging for everyone? Well that was at least one thing the Gerudo wouldn't have to worry about then. He continued to wander a bit, but this time he at least had a destination he was looking for. And eventually he did find it and checked himself in. He didn't stay awake much that night, instead electing to get some much needed sleep in an actual bed.
The Next Morning
Breakfast that morning looked especially appetizing. Not that the food Toriel cooked was bad or anything, but she did tend to use abnormal ingredients. Usually meat such as bugs and snails, or something similar. This was probably the first "normal" meal Ganondorf had had in a long time. And he enjoyed it. A generous serving of eggs, some breakfast meat on the side, and a dark black drink that someone called 'coffee'. The drink had a bitter flavor, but was surprisingly good.
Also in the area was the man in red suit from yesterday. Shoveling food in his mouth and even pocketing some of it for later. The telltale signs of someone who was poor and not always used to eating well. At least in Ganondorf's experience anyway. But the King of Evil passed no judgment on the man, after all he himself was born into a race of desert bandits so who was he to cast the first stone?
Not long after, Ganondorf could hear the sound of familiar voices rumbling in the lobby. Ah, so the overgrown lizard was still alive after all? Pity. Then again, Bowser was the kind of fool who was too stupid to die so easily. With a shrug, the Gerudo finished off the last bits of his breakfast and made for the lobby. By that point the Koopa Troop was no longer in the hotel, having left with Sectonia - not that Ganondorf himself was actually aware of that.
"Hmph. Time to go see a skeleton about a sword."
About fifteen or twenty minutes, Ganondorf found himself entering the shop of Vamos again. The skeleton looked up from his hammering when he heard his door open, "Ah, there you are. You're weapons are right over there, finished and ready for you as agreed." the skeleton pointed to a nearby rack where both of the Gerudo's weapons were propped up on. Ganondorf couldn't really tell much difference just by looking at them, but he could certainly tell once he picked them up. They felt quite a bit weightier, apparently heavier now due to the infusions. Not too heavy for him, but other people would probably have a very hard time swinging them if they picked them up.
Sword w/ Heavy Infusion Sword of Six Sages w/ Heavy Infusion
With this business completed, it was time to meet back up with the rest of the Seekers. Ganondorf decided it was best to look for Sectonia or Bowser, since either one of them would stick out the most and be the easiest to spot compared to anyone else.
Power/Skills: Very skilled rider on his motorcycle. Also quite an expert at wielding his primary weapons of choice. Beyond that, not much beyond a seemingly ghostly or phantom-like aura about him.
Equipment: Mauser C96 Ithaca 37 Side-Bar Police Baton Harley-Davidson Flathead motorcycle Bowie Knife with a strange symbol engraved on the blade
Brief Bio: Hector DiLorenzo was an officer with a promising career in the SCPD. He was a motor unit, and thus issued a standard flathead motorcycle to serve as his primary transportation for patrols and pursuits. But he was also known for carrying a couple of personal weapons as a preference, namely his Mauser C96 which he first used when fighting in the trenches of The Great War. But he also carried a bowie knife with a unique engraving on the blade, a keepsake and family heirloom that just so happens to also serve as a suitable backup weapon.
But all that changed after a few short years on the force. DiLorenzo accidentally discovered corruption within his own motorcycle division. Apparently they were sharing a cut of the profits from a local mob boss's bootleg operation. But because DiLorenzo wouldn't let himself be paid off, he was marked for assassination. His own former partners sabotaged his bike in order to arrange an accident, then shot him for good measure. By all accounts, he should have died.
Instead, he heard what sounded like the call of a woman's voice. Telling him to awaken, to rise and take his vengeance on those who had betrayed him. He awoke, alive against all odds. He'd been found and nursed back to health by a man who owned a dairy farm not far from the site of DiLorenzo's "accident". The ex-cop remained there for a brief time, enough to heal and to repair his wrecked motorcycle. After that he rode off into the night, becoming the spirit of vengeance known only as "Lawman". And while his ex-partners were his primary targets, he decided there was no harm in dishing out some retribution to other criminals along the way.
Notes: The bowie knife he carries once belonged to Nathan H. Bedford - Hector's grandfather on his mother's side. Nathan had fought against the forces of General Sherman during the Meridian Campaign of the Civil War. He, too, was shot and left for dead only to miraculously survive and live to fight another day. He was carrying the bowie knife when it happened, and the knife has remained in the family as an heirloom ever since.
Word Count: 4,214 Level 4 Ganondorf: 6/40 Exp: 5 NEW EXP Balance--- 11/30
With a lack of funds, there wasn't all that much the King of Evil really do. As such, he eventually wandered out of the marketplace and found himself exploring the amusement park district. He did vaguely recall someone mentioning something about a circus but that held nothing of interest for Ganondorf. Instead the sight of a few signs that advertised a fighting competition caught his eye. In particular the part about winning prize money for performing well enough. When he followed them, the Gerudo eventually found an open manhole cover. Above that was a wooden structure holding signs on each side. In large red letters, they read 'The Thorn' and even had arrows pointing straight down.
"A fighting arena... in the sewer?" Ganondorf asked himself aloud. It was only after that he realized he wasn't alone.
"Indeed, stranger." spoke a sultry voice. It came from a red-haired woman, clad in brown leather clothes and an unfamiliar-looking weapon strapped to her back, "Not everyone in the City of Tears condones fighting for sport in the way that the The Thorn does. Some bars have attractions for sparring, but it always with blunted weapons and padded safety gear. Here in the Thorn, we prefer battles that are fought in the way they were intended to be. With blood spilled. So tell me, stranger, does The Thorn interest you?" she was coming on slightly strong, but only because she could tell how good of a competitor the man would be based on his size and physique.
"And the prize for winning?"
"Money, of course. Some fight for the fortune, others for the glory. The Thorn offers both. Win your matches and you will build up an ever increasing payout for yourself. Before any round, you're given an opportunity to retire and keep your winnings, or continue and try to increase it. But if you are knocked out at any time, you will walk away with only half of the winnings you accrued, or none of it at all if you lose early enough."
Ganondorf didn't say anything, but he didn't have to. The smile forming in his lips told the woman all she needed to hear.
...
"Good people of the City of Tears, WELCOME, to The Thorn!" The enthusiastic announcer declared. Down in the pit, Ganondorf was waiting on the other side of his gate, "We've got an interesting first match up for tonight's King Of The Pit event: some fresh meat! Two newcomers to The Thorn looking to make a name for themselves. For those who joining us for the first time, the rules are simple. The winner of this wound will have the option to continue fighting more opponents in order to increase his prize. Killing is strictly not allowed, but the clerics on standby with their Rescue Staves to prevent any accidental deaths. Now, who will prevail? Let's find out! Lower the gates!"
The gates lowered and Ganondorf took a single step out into the pit from his starting position. He'd been sizing up his first opponent and it was easy to tell that they were practically nothing compared to him. They looked like a penguin, or at least someone in a penguin costume. Thy bounded forward on their peg legs, looking drunk and like they really had no business being here. But no matter what this person's story was, the fact of the matter was they were Ganondorf's opponent, and he had no intention of taking it easy on them.
The Prinny pulled a machete out of his pack, "Who's gun'na be keeng, [hic] THIS DOOD!" he took several drunken swings at Ganondorf, who frankly barely even needed to move in order to avoid them. Eventually the Prinny was caught by wrist, and yelped when Ganondorf squeezed just tight enough to cause some pain and force them to drop the machete, and was then promptly flung aside.
"Hmph! What a poor excuse for an opponent." and then he briefly turned his attention to the spectators, "Am I a joke to you? Is this the best your city can produce?" that netted him a mixture of boos and cheers. Mostly boos because he just insulted the city, but there were some who were enjoying the show and cheering regardless. Meanwhile, the Prinny had pulled a bomb out of nowhere and tried to chuck it at Ganondorf. But the King of Evil just kicked it back in the direction of his opponent. It was a good thing those rescue staves were on standby, because if they hadn't teleported the Prinny out of there he probably would have been killed by his own bomb going off in his face.
"Good people, we have a winner!" declared the announcer, "All hail Ganondorf! But will he continue to fight on?"
Ganondorf lifted his hand and offered a thumbs up. He'd been told earlier that a thumbs up meant he would fight another round, and that a thumbs down meant that he was going to retire. An opponent like that wasn't even remotely satisfying enough for him, so he was going to continue on.
For Ganondorf: 50 Geo
...
As Ganondorf waited for the next round to begin, he started sizing up his next opponent. He looked to be a purple-skinned sorcerer of some kind. Likely weak in physical combat but probably able to wield powerful magics that would prove dangerous if he wasn't swiftly dealt with. But perhaps if he became overwhelmed by numbers? A strategy formed in the Gerudo's mind as he returned his attention to the announcer's voice.
"Might vs Magic, who will prevail? Lower... the gates!"
Neither combatant wasted any time. The Dark Seer stepped forward already channeling a spell. As for Ganondorf, he maintained a distance and cast a spell of his own. Turned out he wasn't just all muscle, as this Dark Seer was about to learn. Before the Dark Seer could fathom what kind of magic Ganondorf possessed, a squad of Moblins appeared out of a brief puff of dark clouds and smoke. They carried spears and ran forward in unison with their weapons pointed forward.
While the mage wasn't expecting to deal with a small infantry charge, he wasn't caught completely off guard. He simply aimed his spell at the charging Moblins, using it to push them aside and send them crashing into the nearby pit wall. One of them disappeared in a puff of smoke, but the rest re-oriented themselves and started closing in on the mage. Ganondorf, meanwhile, chose to watch for now and didn't appear to take any action just yet. But the Dark Seer was not helpless. He was able to use his vacuuming magic to rearrange the positions of the Moblins, resulting in two of them being skewered by the spears of their compatriots and similarly vanishing in a puff of smoke. Then the Dark Seer used magic to fling the remaining two back into the wall and defeating them.
But he wasn't out of the woods yet. He turned and saw his actual opponent lunging toward him with the white sword drawn and poised to outright skewer him. The Dark Seer used his magic to try and push back Ganondorf, and this appeared to even work for a few moments. But the King of Evil kept pushing, the triangle on his right hand giving him more strength as he eventually began pushing through the Dark Seer's magic. When close enough he shot out a leg and kicked the mage to knock him off balance. And then without any hint of hesitation he brought his blade down with a strike that absolutely would have lopped the mage's head off. But it nothing but air, due to the clerics on standby with their rescue staves.
"Good people, we have a winner. All hail GANONDORF!"
Ganondorf flourished the white sword in victory and then offered another thumbs up to signal his desire to continue forward, "Ha ha ha! Come now, City of Tears, give me a REAL challenge!"
For Ganondorf: 150 Geo
...
Like previously, Ganondorf used the moments behind the gate to try to size up his next opponent. He was a centaur in green armor and carried a mighty-looking bow. Ganondorf was somewhat reminded of the centaur-like Lionels that were spoken of in the stories and legends of his own home world. Perhaps this Chiron would finally be the one to give the King of Evil a challenge?
"Who will prevail? Lower... the gates!"
The centaur didn't dawdle. He galloped out into the pit and around it's outer edge, seemingly hugging the wall. It seemed his strategy was to force Ganondorf to the center where he could circle around and pelt him with arrow after arrow. Surprisingly enough, Ganondorf indulged the centaur briefly. He made a dodge roll forward and positioned himself close to the pit's center. With one hand he used the white sword deflect an incoming arrow from Chiron. And with his free hand, Ganondorf prepared a spell.
It had already been more than a minute and so Ganondorf was able to conjure himself another squad of Moblins. Unlike the first group these were archers, readying their bows and fire arrows, "Form up and fire on my command!" immediately the Moblins scrambled into a line and aimed their bows. Naturally, Chiron wasn't about to just wait for them to take their shots and was already aiming an arrow to take out one of the Moblins. But when the centaur fired his shot, the arrow itself was met only by Ganondorf's blade, him having lunged into position to deflect the shot and protect the Moblin Archer. Then he held his sword straight up as a signal for the Moblins to take aim.
After his shot was deflected, the centaur scrambled to ready another. But he also had to interrupt himself when he himself came under fire. He could avoid shots by speeding up his gallop to throw off the timing of the shots, or by hitting breaks and rearing himself back to try and avoid running right into a volley. In one case he even used his bow itself to bat away an enemy fire arrow from striking him. This... kinda left the two combatants at a stalemate of sorts. The moblins loosening their volleys on command, combined with Ganondorf himself deflecting incoming shots from Chiron's bow left the two at a kind of impasse.
Ganondorf had to admit that this centaur was indeed finally giving him a challenge. The sorcerer from the previous round might have had it not been for Moblins giving Ganondorf a numbers advantage. And that penguin thing? Hardly even worth mentioning. This opponent, however, he clearly knew what he was doing. Of course the King of Evil had no intention of saying so aloud.
For Chiron's part, he too had to admit that his opponent was quite competent. The man was clearly a warrior, but could also dabble in spells and was, even now, showing that he was also a capable commander. Chiron surmised that this man, whoever he was, had likely fought on many bloody battlefields in the past, "I must say, Ganondorf: your prowess in the art of war is impressive, indeed!" he called out, not afraid to compliment the skills of his opponent, "I've trained many soldiers and commanders in my time, but I don't believe any of them compare to the likes of you."
"Ha! Your compliment is appreciated, but hardly necessary!" the Gerudo called back in response, "Flattery will get you nowhere in this battle, centaur! Fire!" as soon as he commanded, his moblin archers loosed another volley. As soon as they did, Ganondorf went on the move. Unlike all the previous exchanges, the King of Evil used this momentary distraction to make a dash for the galloping centaur's path and used the strength of his legs to leap up on the back of his horse-half.
Chiron immediately knew something was amiss when he noticed Ganondorf no longer among the archers he commanded. Before he knew it he felt something heavy press down his back and instantly knew he'd been mounted by his opponent. He galloped as fast as he could, even charging through the line of moblin archers and trampling right over them. He even tried to purposefully slam his body into the walls of the pit, trying everything to throw the Gerudo man from his back.
But Ganondorf's strength was second to none. He held firm, refusing to be thrown. Soon he wrapped his around the centaur's human neck for an arm-lock, even channeling the Triforce to strengthen his hold. The centaur slammed and bucked and kicked with all his might, but slowly began to weaken from the lack of oxygen. Before long, he was teleported away to save him from passing out entirely.
"Good people, we have a winner! All hail... GANONDORF!"
As before, Ganondorf offered another thumbs up. He would keep going still.
For Ganondorf: 300 Geo
...
When Ganondorf sized up his next opponent, well... he had to admit that this one was definitely strange. It was some kind of... lizard? A lizalfos, maybe? Ganondorf doubted that, since this looked too different to be a Lizalfos, and even if it was... it would never have the courage to attack the man its tribe had sworn loyalty to. So whatever this creature was, it was likely not from Ganondorf's world. Well, whether person or beast, no opponent would frighten the King of Evil.
"Man vs Beast! Who will prevail? Lower... the gate!"
Riptor was fast, incredibly fast. She darted out from her starting position with inhuman speed. Ganondorf tried to keep an eye on her, but she darted back forth and proved difficult to keep track of. When she finally attacked, she leaped up and brought her tail crashing down on Ganondorf with a forward somersault. The segmented armor allowed the tail to be used as a powerful blunt weapon.
Ganondorf, being of a bulkier build, could not move out of the way of the incoming tail. It slapped him pretty hard, staggering him back a step. He had to think fast and use the white sword to swing at the creature before she could lunge at him with her mouth full of razor sharp teeth. She also made swift forward kicks with her glowing claws that also proved difficult to deal with. She managed a few nasty slashes on Ganondorf's arms and shoulder. But he did manage to get lucky and caught her by the throat in one of her lunges, and was able to hurl her away from him to give himself a moment of breathing room.
But he had to think fast. She was already on the move again and would be all over him in seconds unless he did something fast. Since it had been a full minute, Ganondorf hurriedly cast his spell to summon the Moblins. These were spearmen who likely wouldn't stand much of a chance against this half-beast/half-machine creature, but they would at least keep her busy for a bit. While the beast tore apart the moblins, Ganondorf watched her movements. He saw her spit a gout of fire on one of his minions, so that was something he'd have to watch out for. He also saw her use her tail like a drill of sorts, watching her run it through a moblin like a spinning skewer. Just what was thing, exactly? It looked and used fire breath like a dinalfos, but it was clearly something different altogether.
Soon enough the moblins were gone. Ganondorf's breather was over and he'd have to get back into the fight himself. But at least he was able to see a few of this creature's tricks and could watch out for them. Riptor made a fast dash for Ganondorf and attempted a powerful pounce. But the King of Evil had a trick or two of his own. Instead of using his weapon, he made a fist and attacked with an uppercut motion, managing to cut off Riptor's attempted attack with his Gerudo Dragon technique. The uppercut slammed into the creature's lower jaw and briefly sent her sprawling. But she was quick to scramble back to her feet and go on the attack.
This time she tried to spear Ganondorf with her tail-drill. But she did not count on the unmatched strength of Ganondorf's arms. He actually managed to catch the drill in his arms with the power of the Triforce. Then he spun himself around and hurled the beast, sending her slamming hard into the wall of the pit's edge. That seemed to briefly knock the wind out of her. And so Ganondorf used the chance to charge forward and slide at her with his Warlock Kick. That also connected and of course hammered the creature back into the wall again. Ganondorf held up his white sword and with a warcry thrust it forward toward the creature. But he instead hit nothing but air. The rescue staves had pulled the beast out of the pit before a deathblow could be dealt.
"Good people, we have a winner! All hail... GANONDORF!"
Ganondorf breathed a bit heavier. That creature, whatever she was, had nearly caught him off guard. It was a pity he didn't have such a creature to serve him, in fact. But after only a moment more of thought, Ganondorf thrust his arm up and offered yet another thumbs up.
For Ganondorf: 650 Geo
...
It wasn't hard to size up Ganondorf's next opponent. The octopus woman in question was quite large in stature, mostly due to her massive tentacles, but even without those she would probably still be a match for the Gerudo's own height.
"It seems Ganondorf has has the unfortunate luck of drawing the attention of our very own Barbary! The self-proclaimed Queen of the Thorn has famously gone twenty whole rounds without losing! Does the newcomer stand even a ghost of a chance at dethroning her? Let's find out! Lower... the gate!"
Neither combatant wasted time. Ganondorf went charging out with the white sword drawn. Meanwhile Barbary made her entrance by leaping high up and then crashing back down to the floor. The Gerudo had to dive back out of the way to avoid getting crushed under weight. She lashed at the King of Evil with her massive tentacles, but their size made them sluggish and easy to deflect with the white sword.
But then Barbary started throwing bombs, and Ganondorf had to repeatedly dive out of the way to avoid getting caught by the blasts, "Hehehe, not so fun when yer opponent is bigger'n ye are, is it, matey?" taunted the large octopus lady, her thick pirate accent making her sound even scrappier than she already looked.
"Grr..." Ganondorf was beginning to get frustrated. She was leaving him very little room to strike back. And her throwing of bombs was beginning to remind of a certain Hero who was known for doing very much the same thing. And that just made his blood boil even more. After their cat-and-mouse game went on for a few moments longer, Ganondorf suddenly drew his other sword and began to dual-wield his weapons. This allowed him to more easily deflect multiple blows, and could perhaps also grant him a much-needed opening to attack so long as he didn't let up.
When it looked like he finally had a chance, Ganondorf went on the offensive. He jumped up and then pushed himself off of a tentacle after avoiding it's attack. With a short series of jumps from her attacking tentacles after deflecting them with his heavy blades, it finally looked as if Ganondorf could get an attack at her main body. But then she went into a rapid spin, causing her tentacles to whirl around like some kind of protective shield that knocked the Gerudo back and tumbling back down to the ground.
But before he landed, she nabbed him out of the air with one of her tentacles. This caused him to drop his weapons. Then, Barbary held him up close to get a good look at his face... and began to squeeze, "Ye best yield, matey. Before yer bones end up breakin'!" she said with a mean grin on her face.
Ganondorf grimaced, so far managing to not show the pain he was currently feeling. But if he didn't do something he'd get pulled out of the pit by those blasted clerics and then lose the prize he'd been fighting so hard to build up, "Grr... argh!" the Gerudo began to struggle, resulting in Barbary squeezing tighter. No. No, he was not going to lose here. He refused! Ganondorf roared in a mixture of pain and wrath. And his Triforce began to glow with more power. Somehow, despite her larger size, Barbary began to feel her grip on the Gerudo wane. He was actually managing to overpower her tentacle.
And with a mighty cry of anger, the King of Evil finally broke free. He seemingly exploded from her grip, and was now in a perfect position to strike back thanks to her earlier arrogance in holding him up to her face. He dropped down on her with an aerial Warlock Kick that struck her across the face and staggered her. Then after landing, The King of Evil clenched his fist and charged in with a powerful Warlock Punch while she was still recovering from the stagger. That slammed her into the wall of the pit, even doing a bit of structural damage to it. Ganondorf leaped with the intention of hitting her with another Warlock Punch, but she was teleported out of the pit before she could be hit by it.
"Good people! It seems Barbary has finally been dethroned! All! Hail! GANONDORF!"
Ganondorf was quite winded himself. Between this and the claw attacks he took from Riptor, he wasn't certain he could continue on without it becoming a liability. So, he made his decision and offered the crowd a thumbs down. He was done for the night.
For Ganondorf: 1200 Geo
...
A bit later, Ganondorf was exiting the Amusement Park District. Thankfully the clerics in the Thorn healed him up before he left, so he was back to being no worse for wear. Now he was counting up his payout, which he found was a total of 2,350 geo. A nice prize, indeed, and now he could surely buy himself some upgrades.
He made his way back to the marketplace, hurrying along because the evening was beginning to become late. He found a blacksmith shop and entered it. Inside was a stout-looking skeleton.
"Just so you know, this ain't some library. If you're not here to do any business, then begone with you. I'm here to smith, not to chitchat."
With a smirk, Ganondorf dropped his bag of geo onto the smith's table, "Business is exactly why I'm here. What kind of work can you do on my weapons for that amount?" he asked, also placing both of his swords on the counter next to the bag of geo.
"Ah, well now..." said the skeleton, moving to examine the swords, "Not bad, not bad... but definitely room for some improvement." then he inspected the bag of geo, as if mentally counting how much was there, "Hmm, well it's not exactly cheap, but for this much I could maybe give these weapons an infusion, perhaps. A man your size could certainly benefit from a heavy infusion."
"And what does this 'heavy infusion' do?" asked Ganondorf, his curiosity piqued.
"It adds a certain... weight to the weapon. Make 'em hit harder so long as you got the muscle to do it. And you certainly look like you could benefit from that."
"Hmm... I see." Ganondorf rubbed his chin, considering the option. Then he made his decision, "Yes, very well. Give my weapons this heavy infusion, then. I trust that payment is enough for you?"
"Looks that way, yes." said the smith, snatching the geo and then grabbing both swords to take them back to his workshop, "This'll take me some time. I suggest you come back for your swords in the morning, should be ready by then. I'm Vamos, by the way."
"And I am Ganondorf. Very well then, Vamos, I'll leave them to you then." Ganondorf responded, "I'll return first thing in the morning."
Spent: 2,350 geo Purchased: Heavy Infusions for both swords.
Word Count: 496 Level 5 Roxas: 18/50 Exp: 1 NEW EXP Balance--- 19/50
The morning finally came. Roxas was groggy for the first bit of it. But the smell of breakfast had a way of energizing just about anyone. So by the time Roxas was eating a doughnut and drinking a glass of OJ, he was pretty well awake and feeling better. He listened for a little bit as others conversed around him. They were also introduced to Vernon, who was the person that was absent from yesterday's meeting. Which meant that everyone was here, exactly what Roxas was hoping for.
Goldlewis and Vernon were getting caught up on events, with Benedict joining in the conversation as well. And Midna offered some suggestions of her own, but ones that weren't the same as the ones she had yesterday. It was here that Roxas figured he should probably interject. He gulped down the last bit of his OJ and cleared his throat, "Personally, I think you had the right idea yesterday, Midna." he told her in reference to her Mercenary suggestion from the last meeting.
"It gives me an idea of my own, actually." he said, clearing his throat a bit louder to make himself heard, "Benedict is right, we have to walk on eggshells around Psych-OSF and others. That's why..." he considered his words, "That's why instead of trying to find a foothold, we should just make one ourselves." he hoped the comparison made sense, and then looked over in Midna's direction.
"Remember what you said yesterday? I say we go with that plan. Instead of trying to stress ourselves over allying with the factions, we should just become one of our own. That way we can do things our way and not have to restrict ourselves to whatever red tape the other factions would likely weigh us down with." after a brief pause he continued, "Though maybe calling ourselves mercenaries would be a bit much. Instead what if we become like those genius detectives in mystery novels? The kind who can take down the criminal organization because he isn't weighed down by the restrictions or regulations that the police operate under?"
He rubbed his chin in thought, "Huh, you know a 'detective' might be easier for people to trust than a 'mercenary'. Since a detective can be someone who will help you out with your case no matter how big or small it is. People might, I dunno, relate to it?" and as he spoke another idea came to him, "And helping people would help us establish relations and connections we could potentially tap too, right?" He glanced around to gauge reactions or responses.
As the fight against Enceladus wore on, Roxas couldn't help but start to feel... dragged down in some way. Some invisible weight on his mind or in his heart. Maybe it was just stress and fatigue, but the Keybearer couldn't shake feeling like it had to do with the place they were in. Maybe this was what the redshift felt like? If so, then he couldn't let this be drawn out for much longer. But after having popped a Curaga to get Goldlewis back on his feet, Roxas was effectively on fumes until his MP finished recharging.
As such, he took a slightly more cautious approach. Rather than charge in, he elected to stay with Goldlewis. Both to give himself a safe moment to recharge, but also to help guard the unarmed Goldlewis from being targeted by attacks. With Flowmotion he was almost always quick enough on the draw to swoop in and guard or parry an attack that would have hit more vulnerable Goldlewis. But after a few moments he saw a chance go in for a finisher alongside his allies and took it without a second thought.
It was tough, but the Seekers eventually managed to beat the thing down. Or at least it looked that way, but apparently not. The chimera was back up and seemingly ready for another round. But that was when the officers of Neuron showed up. They could summon powerful looking armored beings to help them fight, which only bolstered their numbers. Roxas was getting exhausted by this point, but his MP did finish recharging. So rather than directly join in for the attack he cast another Curaga so that the other Seekers could get back some strength before joining in on the final assault.
Roxas felt like he was going to conk out at any moment. And the next several minutes were honestly a blur. They were brought out the Astral Plan and back into the city, and Roxas was pretty sure they were being flown at one point. Honestly he was too busy fighting his drowsiness to really register it any of it. That and he was beginning to think of something else.
Throughout the trip back and right up to the point when Roxas finally fell asleep, an idea had begun forming in the Keybearer's mind. Whether this was a good idea or not, he wasn't sure. But at least now he was finally starting to grasp how things worked around here, and maybe this plan of his was the way he could actually help them gain some kind of foothold in this Ever Crisis problem? He'd have to bring it up with the others, but right now he was too tired - and most likely so was everyone else. His idea could wait until morning.
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