GreenGoat

.:: ℤ𝕖𝕝𝕕𝕒 - 𝕎𝕙𝕚𝕤𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕤 𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 ℕ𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 ::.

Asmodeus

As if by a switch, she turned from stoic, slightly oblivious woman contemplating that sleek succulent back, to an intensely focused warrior as soon as she noticed the unknown person appear.

The voice mentioned something about entering that hole there, what she assumed to be the entrance of the Temple, but that was not as important as what she perceived as a immediate threat. There was nothing but her and that person in her mind now, as Asmodeus focused solely on that person. Her breathing slowed as she started to regulate her breathing, and unsheathed her sword.

But, instead of attacking them, the figure simply jumped over them and ran away.

She stared after it for a moment, before going into the entrance as well.

"Stand back, Sir Cal. It would be prudent to let those with better armaments go first, lest ye be struck down by an unseen blade."

Pushing past him without waiting for his response, she held out her sword in front of her, walking slowly as she looked about warily for any sort of ambush.

—(••[ 𝕎𝕀𝕊ℍ𝔼𝔸𝕋𝔼ℝ ]••)—

Hazel has an upgrade. Her range is now doubled, and the material disintergration thing can be turned on and off now.

—(••[ 𝕎𝕀𝕊ℍ𝔼𝔸𝕋𝔼ℝ ]••)—

Hazel Baker

She could hear Angel attacking one of those monsters behind her. It was pointless. They have already finished their job here. Anything else was just unnecessary.

Without warning however, she stumbled.

***

"Who... are you?"

Even on their little island of existence, with only a garden and a table overladen with sweets, Hazel could feel the struggle around them. It was as if there were monstrous creatures clashing onto each other in furious battle. Unseen, unheard, but with undeniable pressure exerted onto reality. Like stars crashing angrily onto one another. Had she been pressed to describe them, she could only think of one word.

Gods.

Beyond both her imagination and senses, but affecting the world regardless. A huge pressure threatening to pop them and the island on the mirror like infinite sea to dust. But the island stayed. It was not the house from before, but it stayed. A bubble of safety that defied the pressure outside.

"Who... am I?"

That girl laughed merrily, seemingly unaffected by that tremendous pressure. "Oh? I'd have thought you of all people would recognize me immediately. Perhaps this will help.

Still smiling, that girl brushed away her hair, causing long swathes of her hair to fall out on the ground. Like flicking a light on, the girl immediately transformed. There was no flashy lights, visible morphing, or even any sort of smoke or object obscuring the change. Just a blink, like a high speed shutter, and she was different. Different but familiar. That form was certainly familiar, especially because that scene was burned into Hazel's mind.

"S..Sar.."

That girl smiled as Hazel tried to form a complete word. Thin red lines started to form across her face, blood started seeping before gushing as the wounds deepened. Blood soaked the girl's clothing, caused by what Hazel knew to be multiple lacerations as well as one stab wound that still left her feeling nauseated and sick at just how easy it was to stab there. Red lines started to form all over her limbs as well, cutting deeper and deeper, the sweets and table started to turn red from all the blood spurting about.

Snapping out of her shock, Hazel took a step forwards, hand outstretched, mouth open to finally call her name. Instead, she fell into the mirror like sea, sinking deeper and deeper. Thrashing about in a desperate attempt to resurface, her panicked mind noticed a string, or something like a string, just above her. A single sparkling drop, dark but still shining bravely, dropped onto her flailing hands.

***

Hazel woke from that dream screaming, rivaling Angel's in sheer volume.

The memories did not cease. Again and again that event played in her mind, and no amount of screaming helped. Her fingernails dug deep enough into her own head to scrape bone, as if she was trying to claw out the images in her mind. Not even the sharp pain and blood streaming down her face was enough to stop it. It was obvious by now that the drugs had already worn off, and though she did remember to carry some in her pocket, she wasn't in any state of mind to think coherently.

Seeking solace from the only way she knew, Hazel swung her hand with all her might against a building. There was a meaty crack as her fingers cracked and her skin split open from the sheer strength she had put behind her swing, as she forgot to activate her ability. Swinging her left, she projected an arm, toppling what was left of the ruined building entirely.

It was then that she noticed the collector moving very close to her. A monster, still moving, one one part of her still sane mind recognized as acceptable targets. Projecting a hand with her left, she lobbed herself over the ruined buildings, and gave a long wide swing at it with a projection with her right arm.

—(••[ 𝕎𝕀𝕊ℍ𝔼𝔸𝕋𝔼ℝ ]••)—

Hazel Baker

---

Without a doubt, the mission had been finished. Her main directive was to face the brunt of Factory's army to lessen the load off those who would strike directly at the leader itself. That person on that other team confirmed it. What was his name? Was she even told his name?

"You guys can head back to the drop-off point. ...Good work."

That was what he said. The sight of Angel's torn up face was somehow more unpleasant to her than all the bodies around; she was loathe to stay anywhere near her for the moment. As for the rest, she heard the frightened pleas over the cuff, she heard the commotion, she heard the call for help. She even heard what Angel said. But it was simply not something for 'Hazel Baker' to do.

"They should be able to handle it by themselves." What are you scared of?

"It is unnecessary to go beyond orders." We are stronger than this.

"Their incompetence is their own shortcoming." We have the power to help.

That was right. They live and die by their own doing. She had nothing to do with this. Hazel Baker had nothing to do with this. Her role was finished.

Wordlessly, Hazel walked back towards the extraction point.

The Crucible - Winner Take All

She gave a small laugh as the man appeared, seemingly nervous for no real reason about him having to treat her.

"Oh? Then pardon the intrusion."

Juniper sat on the gurney, which creaked under her weight. He didn't seem like a man who would like conversation. A pity, he looked like he came from her world, disfigured as he was. She was taught long ago the shrine was neutral and treats everyone the same; even one of those gang members would be welcome in her shrine as long as they sought nothing but guidance and help from the shrine.

Seeing that she wasn't about to lie down, the man hurried over to her side, inspecting the makeshift bandage. Grunting, he motioned for her to lie down, before he took out a few tools and started on treating the wound.

***

A loud explosion and subsequent shaking woke her up from the gurney immediately, as she dashed outside reflexively to counter any enemies. Expecting some sort of large monster from the shaking and explosion, instead her phylactery blared from inside her clothing.

“Good morning! Your friendly, neighborhood announcer here! Before you ask, lemme just say: we don't know what the hell that explosion was for sure. Honestly, a lot of weird stuff is going on, and the grand old Inquisitional College has let me know that we're not standing idly by. Starting today, roving College teams are gonna by going around the city, trying to get a lead on everything that's going on. If you see's 'em, feel free to say hi, but play nice. Furthermore! There have been a few discoveries that the College has seen fit to share. For a while, the top nerds have been studying these things called 'Echoes', which appear to be places that don't belong 'phasing in', so to speak. As far as they know, it's places only, but who knows what's going on? There are also what we're calling 'Factions'. All we have are photos and radar data, but there are new movements all throughout the city, especially the sky. So, keep an eye out for anything weird, and feel free to report to me or any College teams you find. If you help out the nerds, the nerds will help you with artifacts. You know those things you got from my boxes last night? Well, the College has loads of them, and they're sharing with anyone who's caring.”

She had no idea what some of what he was saying meant, but she did understand that the rosary she was wearing wrapped around her wrist was some sort of artifact. That, and three calls for help for anything. Speaking of help...

"Doctor."

Dr. Bill, in the middle of trying to clean up all his fallen equipment, froze at the sound, before relaxing when he realized it was Juniper.

"Y-yes? Did the wound reopen?"

"No it's not that." She bowed deeply. "Thank you for your help, Doctor. Without your help, I would have perished."

He looked back, most of his features obscured by his hat, before nodding and started picking up his tools, slightly faster than before. Oh? It would seem that the doctor was shy. Beneath that exterior it seems, a pure heart lies within. A rare sight for her, especially where she came from.

Smiling to herself, Juniper started on another ritual, controlling her breathing as she called upon the kami around her, asking for guidance on her next destination. Surely the local kami would know where to find some sort of clue about this wish granting machine.

.:: ℤ𝕖𝕝𝕕𝕒 - 𝕎𝕙𝕚𝕤𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕤 𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 ℕ𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 ::.

Asmodeus

---

Calanon, a small person, like her but unlike her.

Kuma, that large rocky looking creature.

And Kean, the delectable smooth skinned person. Without a doubt he was one that attracted her attention most. If she was to describe it, it was akin to seeing a lot of skinny brown desert lizard and seeing a lone fat green lizard sitting nonchalantly among them. Perhaps it was due to him exposing a lot more of his flesh, or his flashy introduction.

Before she could do much —or even start to answer Calanon's question— her grumbling stomach had attracted the attention of both the large rugged Kuma, and the slimmer sleeker Kean, with both offering her food, or what seemed to be food. Odd, she wasn't sure rocks can be eaten, but she certainly haven't tried. Perhaps there were certain kinds of rocks that was edible? The one Kean offered was unlike anything she had ever seen before as well, and without anyone telling her what it was, she could put no name to the object offered.

Asmodeus took the smallest pebble from the Goron's hand first, pushing her helm up slightly to pop it into her mouth. Amplified and distorted through the helm's construct, the sound of stone crunching under immense force was disconcerting, as she chewed it effortlessly by virtue of her immense strength. If she was unsure before, she was very sure by now.

Stones weren't good eating, no matter what strange giant beasts might say.

Having already been once offered strange 'food' that wasn't actually food, she was understandably wary of accepting another strange thing. Regardless, she accepted a piece from the slick man, raising her helm slightly higher to bite on the piece. It was, to put it simply, unlike anything she had ever tasted. Sweet and soft. It was tasty, but she preferred something she could really sink her teeth in. Something she could tear apart and hear crunch under her teeth.

"You have my gratitude for the food, though I will admit, the taste of rocks does not suit my palate." Readjusting her helm, she continued. "I see naught here save for yon entrance. Perhaps we were meant to enter it, or perhaps to wait for something to exit."

—(••[ 𝕎𝕀𝕊ℍ𝔼𝔸𝕋𝔼ℝ ]••)—

Hazel Baker

Being on the elevated position that she was in, it was easy to see the cloud of dust and shield herself from any fast moving bits coming her way.

Was the main target taken down already? If so, it would not be too long before new orders came in. Then that just leaves these small fries wallowing in the mud to deal with. Speaking of which, she had realized it was idiotic to even try manifesting weapons with these sort of monsters; a mere touch would disintegrate them as readily as any projected weapon would.

Facing the other direction of where Angel was screaming, she simply swept a giant projected hand across the ring of enemies, disintegrating completely the rest of the surviving spiders.

The Crucible - Winner Take All

Internet is finally abck for me. So post from me coming soonish. Also a guest char soon too maybe.

The Crucible - Winner Take All

hmm, that last update post left me in a bit of an awkward situation.

@Lugubrious, would it be fine if i wrote in a bit about sitting down and all that rot, then skip to the morning? Or would it be perhaps possible for a collab to do all the doctor interaction thing before i write that morning part?

—(••[ 𝕎𝕀𝕊ℍ𝔼𝔸𝕋𝔼ℝ ]••)—

Hazel Baker

---

She wasn't sure if she could pull it off, but it would seem she had managed to somehow.

Through the hole torn in the net, the team seemed to have escaped relatively unharmed. What more, the monsters had brought themselves into her range, something she was quick to notice. Angel however seemed to be angry at something.

“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING!? KEEP YOUR GODDAMNED HANDS ON THE ENEMY!”

She did not understand why Angelique was angry, nor the rest of the others for that matter. Emma seemed to be the only one she could understand at least a little. Lawrence too. Angel was neither one of those assigned to her or someone Hazel recognized as having authority however, thus only an automatic response came from her.

"I see. I'll keep that in mind." the monsters kill them kill them kill them survive

Once again, she jumped onto one of her projected hands. Twisting her body as far as it could go, she projected another massive sword, jamming it into a point on the circling monsters, before turning her entire body and arm to cut a wide circle around the group, slicing through any unfortunate spiders and centipedes that the blade hits.