Lugubrious

Persona - Soldiers of Fortune

Good to see you both. Excited to see what's in store!

Persona - Soldiers of Fortune

There are almost eight billion people on this planet, but though one sky hangs over them all, the world each person lives in is not the same. Each person’s world is small, but infinitely complex. It is built up by one’s nature, upbringing, principles, beliefs, and by those who give it joy and meaning. On the other hand, so too is it built by one’s needs, fears, responsibilities, scars, mistakes, and by those who, through malice or inaction, work to tear it down. Every action sends tremors through countless worlds, some so strong that it is all many can do to merely survive. How then could anyone, alone in their own small world, understand someone else’s? See their value? Know their true face? And who would be willing to fight to keep your one world alive, except you?

But you are not alone. Never have been. Fear and pain may weigh you down, and you may suffer under the unfairness of life, but despite everything you’re still human. Even at rock bottom you can still climb back up. Within you is the power to change--to fight, maybe not for the world, but for your one world.

Things cannot continue as they are. If you understand what needs to be done, then call my name.

Foreward

My goal is to make not just a Persona RP, but an excellent one, rallying together earnest writers to craft something special. The story’s central themes are suppression (suffering, confinement, the inability to act) versus liberation, the endowment of the freedom to enact one’s will and pursue one’s world.

To that end, everyone will play as characters whose are suffering to some degree, people whose lives are no longer their own. Not good or bad people, just people, trying (and maybe failing) to make the best of things. But things aren’t good. This could be due to poverty, illness, bad relationships, punishment, victimization, overworking, guilt, unbearable responsibility, you name it. Society has driven you into the prison of your mind, and the boiling point is not too far awy.

But there is hope. On a fateful day, the skyfall incident occurs. A handful of people find themselves thrust into the surreal, distorted world of the collective consciousness: the Metaverse. There they must confront the Shadows that are their suppressed inner selves, or perish. Those who are able to accept themselves and realize that things must change will gain a Persona--a mask with which they can face hardship and accomplish great things.

From there begins the campaign. These Soldiers of Fortune, freed from their shackles and armed with the power to change things, can then fight through the trenches of the human psyche to topple the depotism of the Warlords and restore the freedom of the masses.

This RP will take place in Barclay, Texas, in the United States. It is a sprawling metropolis near the Gulf of Mexico, a regional melting pot filled with just about everything humanity has to offer. The PCs must be 18 minimum, and will coalesce at the Barclay Waterfront University, although they can be employees or people there by chance. It is November 29th, and Thanksgiving Break just ended.

The Other Self

I am thou...Thou art I

Personas are spiritual manifestations of one’s personality, awakened by one’s resolution in the face of hardship. Awakenings can take two forms depending on what one encounters in the Metaverse, either their own Shadow or that of a tormentor.

If driven to the edge by a sufficient catalyst, be it danger or overwhelming emotion, in the face of a tormentor, a person might become wracked by pain and hear a voice from within. It will question their intentions, testing them. If they can withstand the pain and face the truth, accepting themselves and resolving to take control of their lives, the voice will seal the contract, and their Shadow will become a Persona.

If a person encounters his or her own Shadow, it will confront them and try to assert itself, eventually vying for control. If the people cannot face and accept the ugliness within themselves, the Shadow will go berserk and transform into a monstrosity that must be defeated and accepted before it becomes a Persona.

The collective hearts of humanity, known also as the sea of souls, houses the whole of civilization’s archetypal stories. Personas take the form of people, monsters, and in general beings from mythology, folklore, tradition, legend, and famous literary works. For this RP, I have a couple notes:

• The chosen Persona should have an obvious relation to the story of your character
• Your Persona will also have one of the Major Arcana of the tarot deck
• If you choose a literary character, it should be one of both age and cultural significance
• Your character’s Persona can’t start out as a god/goddess
• Persona evolution is an option later on down the line
• We won’t be going into stats, but your Persona will get attributes: a Specialty, an Element (against which it’ll also have a resistance), and a Weakness to allocate as you please that will affect performance
• Since Personas are a mask to face hardship, Persona users will change outfit while in the Metaverse after awakening

Personas are pretty necessary for fighting Personas are incorporeal and cannot carry the user or items or be ridden on, although they can attack physically. Using them tires you out. Awakening to one will exhaust you soon after the awakening. In this setting, your Persona can speak with you to give information, support, or just companionship.

All Personas can attack with physical or gun skills proved they have the weapons to do so, although ones with a melee or ranged specialty will enjoy stronger and more special attack skills. Essentially, your choice of both Specialty and Element affect what skills and magic your Persona both starts with and can gain. Skills hurt the user when performed, and spells cost mana; if your Persona is more physical or magical, you'll have more health or magic to work with. With most spell progression, you'll learn a spell followed by its wide-area version before the next strongest spell

Skill List

Element

• Fire: Agi -> Maragi -> Agilao -> Maragion -> Agidyne -> Maragidyne -> Inferno -> Blazing Hell
• Ice: Bufu -> Mabufu -> Bufula -> Mabufula -> Bufudyne -> Mabufudyne -> Diamond Dust -> Ice Age
• Elec: Zio -> Mazio -> Zionga -> Mazionga -> Ziodyne -> Maziodyne -> Thunder Reign -> Wild Thunder
• Wind: Garu -> Magaru -> Garula -> Magarula -> Garudyne -> Magarudyne -> Panta Rhei -> Vacuum Wave
• Nuclear: Frei -> Mafrei -> Freila -> Mafreila -> Freidyne -> Mafreidyne -> Atomic Flare -> Cosmic Flare
• Psychokinesis: Psi -> Mapsi -> Psio -> Mapsio -> Psiodyne -> Mapsiodyne -> Psycho Force -> Psycho Blast
• Bless: Kouha -> Makouha -> Kouga -> Makouga -> Kougaon -> Makougaon -> Shining Arrow -> Divine Judgement
• Curse: Eiha -> Maeiha -> Eiga -> Maeiga -> Eigaon -> Maeigaon -> Abyssal Rend -> Demonic Decree

Specialty

• Melee & Ranged: You have more health, and choose two modifers you can apply to your attack skills for added effects. Choices are Dormin (Sleep), Terror (Fear), Memory (Forget), Flash (Dizzy), Abysmal (Despair), Marin (Brainwash), Skull (Confuse), Taunt (Rage), Life (Lifedrain), Spirit (Spiritdrain), and Lucky (Critical)
• Magic: You have more spirit, and your spells can either inflict an ailment or deal extra damage to those inflicted by them, called a Tech. Fire inflicts Burn. Ice inflicts Freeze. Elec inflicts Shock. Wind Techs with Burn, Dizzy, and Sleep. Nuclear Techs with Burn, Shock, and Freeze. Psy Techs with Confuse, Fear, Despair, Rage, and Brainwash
• Support: Healing (Dia), cure (Amrita), and revival (Recarm) skills. Dia -> Amrita -> Media -> Recarm -> Diarama -> Meamrita -> Diarahan -> Samarecarm
• Protection: Spells of your own element heal you, gain Enduring Soul (avoid one fatal blow per fight) and defensive skills. Rakukaja (defense up) -> Fortify (increase ailment resistance) -> Wall (shield against one element) -> Dekaja (null enemy buffs) -> Marakukaja (party defense up) -> Makarakarn + Tetrakarn (spell and attack counters)

To Whom it May Concern

So, the elephant in the room. Most Persona RPs die before anything Persona actually happens, maybe because like some of the games, they take a bit to get going. However, I’m confident that should we get enough people who actually want to write to get off the ground, that won’t happen. If people wanted to write by themselves they wouldn’t need an RP to do it; the point of a GM is to take the players on an adventure. Here’s the plan.

How this works

• The general plan for posting is at least once a week. It’s not necessarily a requirement, but if you miss a couple weeks we’re probably going to be in contact. If anything happens that would stop you from posting for a time, just let me know and we’re right as rain. Communication is key
• If you can’t see yourself posting at least once a week (bar extenuating circumstances) for the foreseeable future (multiple years even) don’t apply. This is less of an OC show and tell and more of a commitment
• I’m not going to make the people who do want to play, write, and tell their stories wait on people who don’t post. When I post my weekly update, world progress will happen. Time will move forward even if some characters stand still. If your character is in a dangerous situation and doesn’t act, they may take damage or otherwise suffer for it. Not much, generally, but it’s still not a good idea to leave your character hanging
• ’He who desires but acts not breeds pestilence’ - ultimately, being in an RP means posting. Whether or not you give reassurances if your intention to post, if you can’t post with reasonable consistency, we’ll need to face reality sooner or later
• You have some creative freedom to make and influence the stuff around you. For instance, if you were to walk into a classroom, you could describe the students around you, their names and appearances and what they’re doing, maybe even make up some prior experiences or encounters your character remembers. You can describe portions of the world, be it a favorite coffee shop of your character’s out in the city somewhere, or an area of distortion in the Metaverse. Controlling notable enemies isn’t allowed without permission, but you can have some fun with fodder. Above all, just ask. I’m always glad to answer any questions about if or how you can do this or that
• If you’re going to put your character’s dialog in a color, please make it readable on the guild’s background
• I’m open to talking about most anything anytime. If it seems like I got something wrong or could do something better, or if it seems like I forgot something, please don’t hesitate to let me know

For the character sheet, something I think would be fun would be to keep our characters’ Personas hidden until they awaken IC. So, you’ll complete the entire sheet and PM the final version to me for approval, but when you post it in the Characters tab you’ll leave out the Metaverse section until your awakening, at which point you can edit it back in. Plan around which awakening you want as well, based on whether your character’s core conflict is more internal or external. Stuff is first come first served and will on be 'yours' when your character is accepted

Of course, you’re welcome to put your WIPs in the OOC and discuss Personas, attributes, and Arcana.

Contract

Humanity

Name:
Age: (18 minimum)
Arcana: (Find one thematically appropriate for your character. Discuss with others to avoid overlap)
Appearance: (Images in a hider alright. Accompanying text appreciated)
Personality:
Bio: (No need for every tiny detail. Include important events that made your character who he or she is now, and your character’s recent past leading up to the current (not good) situation)
Scars: (A summary of the source of your characters trauma/suffering, which will be the core conflict that plays into your awakening)

Shadow

(If your character’s conflict is more internal than external, their Awakening will involve facing their own Shadow, so keep this section. Otherwise, remove this section)

Appearance: (A Shadow’s appearance reflects its distortions. They clothe themselves in security and power, however that may manifest. When driven berserk by the person’s refused acceptance, Shadows transform monstrously, so include that appearance here, too)
Personality: (The Shadow is the dark parts of the psyche, the thoughts and feelings that people keep hidden from everyone, even themselves. Their traits are often exaggerated)
Territory: (The distortion of a powerful Shadow can warp the Metaverse in their vicinity. This domain is tailored to suit the Shadow’s aesthetic, which you can describe here)

Metaverse

Persona Identity:
Persona Appearance:
Specialty: (Melee, Ranged, Magic, Support, Protection)
Element: (Physical, Projectile, Fire, Ice, Elec, Wind, Nuclear, Psy, Bless, Curse)
Weakness:

Callsign: (The name under which your character will operate as a Soldier of Fortune)
Metaverse Appearance: (The new outfit is a manifestation of your character’s will to fight, so it is essentially battle attire. Minor appearance changes can accompany the outfit if you like. No mask required, but you will get a tailor-made Dog Tag listing your callsign and Persona)
Melee Weapon:
Ranged Weapon:

World of Light

Team Mao

Location: Al Mamoon Northeast - Rocket Inc.
Midna’s @DracoLunaris, Sectonia’s @Archmage MC, Mao’s @Potemking, Jesse’s @Zoey Boey, Laharl’s @Dark Cloud, Joker, Mona, Fox, Necronomicon, Braum

The echo of the Dragonborn’s shout took a moment to die down, but when the dust settled Braum and his shield still stood tall. Despite these people being his opponents, the Dragonborn couldn’t help give a nod of respect as he prepared himself for what promised to be a riotous melee fight. Sure enough Mao and Laharl leaped out from behind the shield to rush him down, and the Dragonborn met them with magics cycling through one hand and a magnific green-bladed war axe in the other.

Before Mao reached him he switched to Alteration magic to cast Stoneflesh, increasing his defense to make up for Marakunda, then back to Destruction magic to start things off with a blast of Chain Lightning. Undeterred, Mao dashed in and landed a good cut to his left arm, then pivoted to aim for his right. The Dragonborn did not let the pain distract him, but deflected Mao’s sword with his axe. He tried for a counterattack but the blockstun left the blow too slow to land, and as Mao moved to the left Laharl jumped in from the right, a blazing fist extended. A momentary panic galvanized the Dragonborn to action, but the skill of an adept guided his axe blade as he swung upward at Laharl’s incoming knuckles. A fiery explosion blossomed at the point of impact, pushing the demon off course and the Dragonborn a step closer to the corner.

He realized his situation immediately, and no doubt the more tactically minded Mao would too. Rather than wait for the demons to attack him at once again, the Dragonborn took the fight to the enemy. With a battlecry he charged forward, kicking the fallen barrel of a decimated water cooler at Mao for a momentary distraction, and lashed out at Laharl where he landed. Since he swung from the right and the kid had the wall to the left, he naturally dashed back to avoid blocking the blade with his exposed skin, but a momentary lack of situational awareness drove him straight into a computer desk in front of a still-intact cubicle divider. The Dragonborn’s next attack came before Laharl could get his bearings and forced him to block the axe with his bare forearms, cutting nearly to the bone as the force bent his upper body backward over the desk.

Without a moment’s delay the warrior kicked the desk itself to knock it over, not to further harm Laharl but to knock him down long enough to deal with Mao, who the Dragonborn now turned to face.

---

Clutching his electricity-burned arm and gritting his teeth, Shadow sped backward out of immediate attack range. Elemental magic, swords, teleportation, time magic, summons...was there anything this bug didn’t have? And that irremissible flying saucer, so difficult to target and so easy to lose track of, insisted on making Sectonia even stronger thanks to intermittent buffs, heals, and magic restores. None so potent as to turn the tide, but annoying as hell nonetheless. “Damn insect,” Shadow growled. He disappeared, and a moment later appeared above her, a packed trash can as big as he was held over his head. “Squash already!”

He hurled the trash can down like a fast ball, his strength giving it a lot more speed than gravity would be itself. Still, it was far from unmanageable for Sectonia; a small dodge would be enough to avoid it, or she could just strike it down before it reached her. Whether destroyed early or allowed to fly past her, however, the can soon revealed a devilish secret. With a final muffled beep the grenade planted inside by Shadow went off in a foul-smelling burst of flaming debris and metal shrapnel. A maelstrom of fire and garbage filled the air in a wide area, making it extremely tough to see anything

Wielding a light machine gun retrieved from inside the office, Shadow entered the trash storm. The minute he spotted Sectonia, visible through the mayhem thanks to her large size, he started unloading. He fired on the move, constantly circling and moving up or down as thirty rounds of punishment hurtled the big bug’s way one after another.

Fortunately for the insect queen, she had help that didn’t need eyes to see where in the chaos Shadow was lurking. “Locking on to his bio signature!” Necronomicon announced after about five seconds of being shot at, floating behind Sectonia to use her as a shield. She began to create holographic objective markers at Shadow’s approximate position every second or so, each one a red exclamation point in a black diamond. “I’m pinging him as fast as I can. Mess ‘em up!”

---

Return fire was something Fuse expected from the normal-looking woman with the weird pistol, not from that helmet-wearing elf lady. The Legend ducked as he continued to run, knowing that even if Midna was a total amateur when it came to firearms, all it would take was one well-placed shot to put him down for the count. Rather than chance returning fire with his pistol, he kept his head down and made for a better position. Once she ran out of bullets and the guns fell from her recoil-deadened hands he’d teach her a thing or two about gun etiquette.

A moment later he reached his second stash, sliding like a baseball player to home plate. On the desk lay his favorite Prowler, the endearingly funny-shaped SMG just begging to be fired. “Oh yeah, come to papa,” he muttered, but just as he reached for it it suddenly fell through the desk and vanished. “...What!?” he exclaimed, baffled beyond words. He nearly stood up to look over the desk to search for it, only to realize he might get his head taken off for such impulsiveness. “Tsk,” he clicked his tongue as he looked over toward his final stash, where his last hidden weapon, a long-range, high-power light machine gun lay shining in the light. “Guess its time to break out the big guns.”

Instead, Shadow warped in, grabbed the gun, and disappeared again. It happened so fast that Fuse blinked and missed it, leaving him stunned. “What the hell is this!?”

In reply, he received an explosion. Quadruple rockets breezed straight through his cover as though it wasn’t there and detonated against the floor. His world disappeared in a cacophony of noise, force, and bright blue light in a blast that put Jinx’s to shame. When the explosion faded a moment later, a fresh sheet of ice covered everything in the vicinity. Everything that remained, at least.

For the moment, that included Fuse. He was gravely wounded and chilled to the bone, but a combination of body armor, distance from the blast’s epicenter, and sheer fortitude saved him. As unpleasant as getting simultaneously blown up and frozen was, he got the feeling he should be grateful that the cold was numbing the pain. He cracked open one eye to see Midna and Jesse, who was not bleeding out of the floor but instead right as rain, on their way to finish the job. Damn. Though I got the redhead. Maybe they thought he was dead already? That couldn’t be good. But at least they wouldn’t be expecting one final trick.

With the only hand that worked Fuse pulled a fragment of magic bone from his pocket. He remembered the boss handing them out and the instructions she gave. Use in case of dire emergency. Well, this fit the bill. As his enemies approached Fuse squeezed the brittle bone until it broke, hoping for a full heal or superpowers. Instead he disappeared in a burst of magic and was gone without a trace.

---

“Come out, come out, wherever you are!” Jinx sang. She stalked between what was left of the rows of bullet-riddled cubicles, climbing over debris cast far and wide by Ciella, Shadow, and the Dragonborn’s destruction. Her rocket launcher dangled behind her on its harness. Every couple meters she summoned a Flame Chomper, a snare grenade with biting mechanical teeth, and tossed it down. “You’re starting to bore me. C’mon, my Flame Chompers wanna play! I have the best intentions…”

With a final flourish of magic from Zorro the last of Joker’s wounds closed up. Mona nodded. “There, all healed. That was a nasty surprise, alright. Sure hope Necronomicon’s doing okay up here.” Brief snippets of hushed radio chatter confirmed that the Persona was operational wherever Shadow took her, at least. Carefully Mona peered out from behind the fallen vending machine where he and Joker hid. “That just leaves this psycho. Any bright ideas, Joker?”

The Leader of the Phantom Thieves pondered the situation. “We can’t just swarm her,” he whispered. “She said ‘flame’ chompers, and I saw some kind of beefy stun gun on her. That means she has both your weaknesses.” As the others winced he considered his own arsenal. “Leena should be resistant to Gun attacks, but chances are I’d still be outgunned. I can try hitting her with a status. Ghul should do the trick.”

“Whatever we’re doing, we must do it fast,” Fox warned in an urgent murmur from his position in a ‘tent’ of cubical wreckage. He peered through a crack at Jinx. “She’s still placing bombs. We’ll have a hard time fighting if our eyes are on the ground.”

Joker understood. “Status it is then. I’ll fear, you freeze. Mona, stick to your slingshot and stay mobile. Let’s do this.”

As one the Phantom Thieves sprung from cover, splitting up in three different directions. Jinx’s eyes lit up as she spotted them running across the cubicle walls. “There you are! See, I told ya all along. No need to be scared--or alive!” She cackled as minigun bullets ripped forth, but not so fast that the Thieves could stay one step ahead, for the most part at least. Jinx quickly taught them to not be predictable by shooting where they were going to be, drawing blood from both boys in quick succession. Mona attacked first, charging his slingshot as he jumped around. When he let loose eight shots flew at once that slowly curved through the air to find their mark. Jinx didn’t flinch, unbothered by the minor damage, and laughed as she chased him with a storm of gunfire.

Noise to her left made her turn, and with uncanny speed she unholstered and fired her Zapper. The stun bolt narrowly missed Fox’s head as he veered sideways, and as Jinx unloaded the artist’s blade began its colorful dance. In his hands his rainbow-edged katana moved even faster than her yellow gunshots, and it painted a pretty picture in the air as it sliced through each and every one.

“Ugh, stay still! I’m trying to shoot you!” Annoyed, Jinx switched to her rocket launcher, Fishbones.

Fox finished the barrage of slashes with a flourish as his Persona appeared behind him. “Goemon, strike!”

A meteor of ice fell upon Jinx as her rocket blew Fox back, but though Goemon’s magic dealt a chunk of damage, it did not freeze her. The sounds of a Flame Chomper snapping shut and an accompanying yelp drew her attention to a freshly-caught Mona. She grinned and aimed her stun gun at him. “Zap!”

“Ghul!” came the yell from behind her, and Jinx spun on a dime to shock Joker instead. Rather than a masked teenager, however, she found a hideous creature mid-lunge, its desiccated skin peeled back from the mutated bone of its talons and nightmarish face. Jinx stood firm and fired, only for the shot of lightning to pass straight through the Persona and a few feet to the left of Joker. The thief reached out his hand. “Evil Touch!”

As the gaunt horror’s claws fell upon her, Jinx felt fear well up within her heart, a terror that she’d never known. Hands of freezing cold clutched at her spine and deadened her nerves. With her braids flapping behind her she turned tail to run, but Fox stood in her path. As his sword flashed from its sheath, Joker and Ghul attacked from behind. In a few seconds their double-bladed assault left Jinx on the floor, bleeding from a dozen wounds, her hair and bandoliers in pieces, and thanks to the slice to her hamstring she wouldn’t be moving any time soon, either. Breathing heavily, Joker clamped down on a bullet wound with his free hand. “Good thing they aren’t any stronger than the average Metaverse bullets.”

“Is that it?” Fox sounded surprised. “I was expecting this to take a lot longer.”

Joker thought about the fight and came to a realization. “Well, she wasn’t a boss or anything. Just about our level. High damage, low defense and mobility. She needed more help from her team than they gave her.” He noticed her hand close around something that had fallen on the ground behind her. It wasn’t a weapon, but as he looked closer Joker noticed the bone glowing with some sort of magical fire. His eyes widened. “Hang on, she’s got!”

“Yoink!” Freed from his bonds and greedy for treasure as ever, Mona hurtled by and slid the bone right out of Jinx’s grasp. He came to a stop and held up the macabre item for examination. “What’ve we got here? Your ace in the hole?” The anarchist growled into the carpet and said nothing. Mona expected as much. “Guess I’ll just...whoa!” As he looked for a way to use it, the bone turned to dust, and magic appeared around him. With a final cry of alarm he disappeared.

“Mona? Mona!” Joker put a hand to his mask. “What happened? Where are you!”

A tense moment of silence passed before the cat’s voice reached him in answer. “I’m fine, I’m fine! I’m back in the hospital! That stupid bone warped me here somehow!”

Fox sighed in relief. “I’m glad to hear you’re alright. But, hurry back.” His eyes landed on the fight unfolding in the conference chamber between Ciella and Amara. “We’ve got a lot more work to do.”

“Yeah, I’m coming. Don’t get yourselves hurt before I get there!”

A loud crash drew Joker’s attention to the Grimleal Lieutenant as well. From his perspective it appeared as though she’d summoned meteors of ice in the room, just as Fox did in his. He heard her cry, “Floor of Despair!” and a moment later a hard wall of water swept through the conference room and dealt Amara a heavy blow. Another followed on its heels, this one from the opposite direction, but the Siren evaded it by getting behind one of the ice chunks. She began moving between cover quickly, filling Ciella with lead as the rabbit lady tried to chase her down. Joker nodded, and the two Thieves moved out.

Tora and Poppi

Level 9 Tora (29/90) Level 8 Poppi (99/80)
Location: Al Mamoon Northwest - Obelisk Temple
Yoshitune's @Rockin Strings, Tora and Poppi, Kan-Ra, Panther, Skull
Word Count: 1222

The lull in the battle lasted only a moment, and the Witch Doctor started round two off with a bang. In a swirl of vomit-green necromantic devilry she brought forth a fetid zombie stuffed with volatile magic. It charged, gurgling violently as it flailed limp arms, and together Tora and Poppi stepped up to the challenge. Sword and shield side by side, two halves of a whole warrior, they readied themselves and waited patiently as the undead drew near. To their left, Dante sliced through Kan-Ra’s bandages and started swinging, forcing Kan-Ra on the defensive. Close quarters combat was clearly not the sorcerer’s forte. “Assist me!”

“Jump on Tora signal!” Tora told him. The Zombie Charger gave a wet, strangled cry and threw itself at him. “Now!”

Poppi Alpha swung her claymore in a sideways chop over Tora’s head, but his tuft of hair went unharmed by the flat of her blade. It smacked the zombie out of the air and sent it flying to the left as it swelled up to explode, and as Kan-Ra launched himself over it, the undead blew up right in Dante’s face. With a cry as disgusted as it was pained, the demon killer stumbled backward, allowing Kan-Ra to seize the opportunity. While still airborne he coughed up a swarm of cursed locusts that chased Dante down and struck multiple times. He landed in a burst of sand, creating another trap, and as Dante lashed out with a weapon transformed into a silver scythe an arm of sand pushed up from below Kan-Ra. The scythe blade cleaved harmlessly through the arm while Kan-Ra soared over and came down in a diving turn to start a new combo. Sand kick chained into bandage whirlwind into a summoned scorpion sting, but rather than deal with the slowing curse Dante just whipped out the Rebellion and shot forward in a Stinger of his own. His blade pierced Kan-Ra’s chest and carried him clear to the other side of the hall before sinking into the sandstone, but still the sorcerer grinned at him. Dante’s lip curled. “Why don’t you curl up and die already, asshole?!”

Bandages encircled his arms as Kan-Ra sneered. “I have evaded death since the time of the Babylonian empires of old, you mere, foul-mouthed upstart! The magic and experience of thousands of years is alive within me. The likes of you could never quash it.” He raised his arms above his head and crossed them, activating some sort of power. His rotting skin turned to sand, and with ease he simply pushed himself off Dante’s blade. “Your soul will be mine!”

At the same time Tora and Poppi contended with the Witch Doctor. With the better swordsman out of the picture Poppi could change back to her more offensive QT Pi mode, so Tora protected his partner from screeching firebats while she transformed again. Blade extended, he spun like top using the Speedy Sword art to swat the bats from the air like flies. He got dizzy fast and came to a stop in time to see another explosive zombie headed toward him, followed by a horde of spiders and toads. With a sharp inhale he brought the Variable Saber into position and unleashed a Swooshing Slash to catapult himself off the ground, the hapless undead along for the ride. In midair he twisted to deliver an upside-down horizontal swipe, cutting his foe in half before it could detonate. “Meheh, yes!” Tora celebrated as he fell, pumping his free wing.

The next moment he landed in Poppi QT Pi’s arms. She smiled down at him. “Good hit, masterpon! Not too dizzy, Poppi hope?”

“Not at all!” Tora boasted, putting on his tough guy act. “Tora ready for more!”

Poppi grinned and lifted him up, holding him like a bowling ball. “In that case, Poppi not need say ready-set-go!”

“What!? Meeh!”

Before he could protest further she launched him with all the strength she could muster and sent him rolling down the corridor at a breakneck pace. He bowled straight through the toads and spiders, knocking aside those he didn’t crush, until he struck the Witch Doctor right in the shins. She toppled with a cry and fell atop him in a heap. “Mehmehmeh!?” Tora gave a muffled squeak in surprise, pinned beneath her like an exercise ball. “H-hold on, magic lady, Tora not complain, but Poppi get wrong idea if see-!”

“Masterpon!” he heard from the direction he came, prompting him to start wiggling. “Get out of there RIGHT NOW!” Poppi jumped into the air and boosted forward, rocketing down the hall. As she came she prepared a mighty flying kick, which Tora could not entirely assume wasn’t meant for him, and with a last ditch effort the Nopon pushed off with his wings to throw the Witch Doctor into Poppi’s way. She took a direct hit right to the belly and flopped away, every bit of air driven from her lungs.

Tora jumped up to see Poppi standing with her hands on her hips. “Total defeat! Great job, Poppi!” he congratulated. Before she could say anything he pointed behind her. “Look look, Kan-Ra need help! Let’s go!”

He snatched the Variable Saber and ran off toward the other fight. Despite Kan-Ra’s boasts Dante was figuring out his tricks one by one and getting the better of him with his more varied arsenal, and once the sorcerer’s Instinct ran out he found himself with no room to breathe. Tora joined the battle with a Steady Beam that blasted Dante’s legs out from under him, then passed the sword to Poppi calling, “All power to weapons systems!”

Poppi caught the saber and blasted her thrusters. “Poppi laying down law!” She dropped onto the Demon Killer with an electric overhead slash into a flip kick to pop him up. The Variable Saber morphed into shotgun form, and with Tora cheering her on, the artificial blade hammered him with two near point-blank shots.

“Gah!” Dante snarled as he tumbled away. He immediately tried to stand again, only to fall to one knee. “You little shits! They’re gonna have to scrape you off the pave--huh?” He looked down to see a yellow magic circle forming beneath him. “Oh come on, dammit, I’ve got this! Just gimme half a sec to regener-”

In a flash of magic he was gone. Tora turned to see the same thing happen to the Witch Doctor. He crossed his wings, looking pleased with himself. “Got ‘em both! Meanypon talked big, but no match for Tora and friends!”

Kan-Ra stared at where the circle had been. “I doubt that will be the last we see of them. I suspect that they were forcibly withdrawn. If we are fortunate, they will not be fully healed next time.”

The Nopon shrugged. “Meh. Tora heal out of fight anyway, so fair fair. Next time we wallop even better! Let’s find way down.”

Poppi stopped him. “Hold on, Tora covered in frog and spider muck. Poppi switch to water core to wash off.”

Not content to wait, Kan-Ra stood up from where he’d been examining Red and headed down the hall. “Do not waste much time. Every moment spent might be an ally’s last, yes?” He spoke the truth, and before long a cleaned-up Tora and Poppi hurried after him.

Big Band

Level 3 Big Band (19/30)
Location: Al Mamoon Northwest - Obelisk Temple
Primrose’s @Yankee
Word Count: 773

In supportive silence Big Band watched his dance partner contemplate the ridiculous gauntlet of axes and spikes before them. When she worked up the courage he accepted the personal effects she shed while doing his best to stop his gaze from roaming. He heard her resolution and nodded. “You got this, girl. If anythin’ goes wrong, I’ll jump in right after ya. We’re in this together.” After that, it was go time, and Primrose stepped forward to strut her stuff.

She slipped past the first axe and paused. If the first step was a doozy, the first axe had to be a whole different beast. After that, however, she proceeded with speed and grace. Primrose ran like the wind between the blades, making it look easy, and any doubt Band might have harbored about her reaching the other side drained away. “You’re killin’ it, girl! Keep it up!”

Scarcely had the encouragement left his lips, however, before disaster struck. The final axe of the bunch clipped her, grazed her really, its fleeting touch no more cruel than a goodbye kiss. But it was enough. Without even a cry of pain Primrose parted ways with the bridge and embarked into the open air. “PRIMROSE!” Band bellowed, the force of his amplified cry shaking the room itself. He tensed his servos to jump, but before he could cast himself into the abyss after her, he realized a little something. She wasn’t falling. The dancer hung in the air, buoyed up by the magic of the scarf wound around her neck. Band let out a heavy sigh into his mouthpiece, which released a couple of off-key notes of relief from his instruments. “Mercy, mercy, mercy. If that ain’t a miracle I don’t know what is.”

Though maybe even more surprised than he was, Primrose managed to figure out what was going on. She didn’t need Band’s detective skills to realize that the scarf’s pattern was receding quickly, and made her way back to solid ground before gravity could reclaim her. Understandably she took a moment to compose herself. It wasn’t long before she sussed out a switch of some kind as pressed it. After a series of mechanical clanks and locks, every trap in the joint made itself scarce. Band wasted no time cruising straight down the bridge, through the former ring of spikes, and ahead of where Primrose waited. He returned her things, then doffed his hat. “My thanks.”

Ahead lay another staircase, and Band led the way down. “This must be the third floor,” he observed, and sure enough, when he listened closely he could hear the faint echoes of heavy combat somewhere nearby. Before he or Primrose could pay much attention to that, however, another delightful spectacle awaited them.

This time, the room opened up into a cavern of mammoth proportions. Light streamed down through an array of holes far above, possibly another grate in the city streets, to illuminate the vast space. At a certain distance from the surface the natural stone of the earth gave way to immense walls of masonry, pillars and arches and bricks all of stone. How much effort it took to make this, or why anyone would in the first place, Band couldn’t fathom. A much longer and wider bridge than the last spanned the whole space, seemingly sunken in the middle, but as Band went over to the edge he realized that along with greater safety came more danger. He gave a long whistle as he stared down, down, down. “Don’t look now. ‘Cause I hear this sorta thing looks back.”

He stepped away from the edge to look around, kicking at the corner of his trench coat that got a little too close to one of the piles of candles that seemed to be everywhere. It didn’t take the genius to notice the platform a short drop away from the bridge, about halfway down and to the right side. The sounds of fighting issued from there. “That’s gotta be it.” More noise turned his attention back to the bridge. To his displeasure he saw a gaggle of skeletons headed his way, both normal and fun-sized. They waltzed on up with all sorts of weapons, barring the way forward. Even without Primrose’s invaluable help, though, he would have felt pretty confident. “Hmph! Tough crowd, huh?” He deployed two giant fists and pounded his brass knuckles together. “But not as tough as us! Care to dance?” With standard enemies like these, he didn’t think it necessary for Primrose to stay back and stick to support. She could get a few licks in of her own.

Ms Fortune

Level 4 Nadia (71/40)
Location: The Maw - the Depths
Blazermate's @Archmage MC, Bowser's @DracoLunaris, Ace Cadet's @Yankee, Sakura's @Zoey Boey, Frog's @Dark Cloud, Mirage’s @Potemking
Word Count: 819

Although Nadia wasn’t about to admit it her heart had nearly leaped out of her chest when the transformed Moreau jumped for her. Even with all the desensitization built up after the butchery of her family and the casual self-dismemberment she employed while fighting, the primal fear of something horrible jumping at her never went away. Still, she needed to put on a brave face as she went about the business of distracting that monster. She might not be able to stop other people worrying, but she could keep them from worrying about her. Every day of her early childhood as a stray had been a battle for survival against starvation, the elements, and anyone who might look at a lost, raggedy kitten and see an opportunity. She couldn’t fight back then, but fear and hunger -her constant, faithful companions- spurred her on where they slowed others down. They could do so again today. She could get through this.

Plus, she had the ever-dependable Ace Cadet, and even Blazermate came up to lend a hand. The damage to her flight systems meant she could only fly in short bursts, which meant she had to be content with monitoring Moreau rather than helping directly, but the feral appreciated any companionship up here. With her allies’ help Nadia proceeded with her strategy. After one more chain-suspended section of catwalk went hurtling down toward the water, the trio reached the long bridge Nadia crossed earlier, the one with the missing grates in the middle. Enough grates still lay in place on either side to present an opportunity, and the strength of a couple four-year-olds proved enough to lift the grates from their housings and slide them out, no hazardous chain-cutting required. With every object that splashed into the water the monster fish made his presence known, bellowing awfully as he surfaced to take another shot at the kids disturbing his domain. Each time he came a little close for comfort but short of the mark, though once one of his tentacles actually brushed Nadia’s tail. She jumped, then in a feat of childish disrespect that felt very appropriate to the situation at hand stuck out her tongue to blow a raspberry at the horror. “Yeah, keep tryin’, freakshow! This cat ain’t gonna be fish food!”

Two grates into the bridge Nadia heard a whistle from afar, and looked down toward the submerged scaffolding by the Depths’ entrance to see Link standing alone, makeshift weapons in hand. His expression was serious, so despite how cute it was seeing a little kid so ready for war with a tennis racket and back scratcher, Nadia craned her cat ears to hear him over the noise of Moreau sloshing through the water. So, he wanted to try dropping some heavy metal, huh? The idea of attacking the monster directly never really occurred to Nadia, given the sheer luck it would take with her strategy. But if someone could guarantee the abomination’s position? That could work! By the looks of it Ace thought the same thing, which meant they were in agreement. “Yeah, let’s do it!” Nadia called back, getting ready to move.

After making it once she knew the path that lay before them was dangerous, but by no means impossible. “Okay, we’ve just gotta get back to where we started,” she then said aloud, as much for herself as her partner in crime. “I’ll show ya how I crossed this bridge in the first place. After that it’s easy thanks to my...fan.” Her little face scrunched up as she remembered who she entrusted it to. “Rats. Guess my way’s no good. Well, at least BJ’s got it for an emergency.” Once again she pictured the young Koopa using it like a propeller to get to safety, totally oblivious to the issues of using the device underwater.

Instead her mental power went to wondering how long it would take her and Ace to get through the aerial maze again. They needed to be dropping stuff at all times to keep the heat off Junior and the other divers. Her thought processes paused as Moreau breached once again, hurling himself in her general direction even though she and Ace hadn’t sent any more distractions. “Hopefully he’s mad enough at us he won’t notice the others while we’re movin’,” she remarked, a little more nervously than she would have liked. She did not expect Ace to take her hand, his touch full of warmth and reassurance. “Huh?” But there was no time for questions. He led her across an alternative route through the labyrinth, one that put them right where they needed to be. Ace positioned the cutters, and with renewed vigor Nadia seized the other side. “Ready!”

It came down to Link. He needed to get the monster’s attention from ground level without getting snapped up by those wretched jaws. “You got this, little hero!” she called down.

---

One by one the divers in the Command Center took the plunge, with the intrepid Bowser Junior leading the way. Although the resolute Mockingbird intended to follow the BULL down, it took long enough for Bella to maneuver the Universal Helper up, over, and down into the central pit that the diving suit had more than enough time to jump in itself. A few moments later the BULL splashed down behind it, and at Mirage’s direction its vortex motor kicked into gear to propel it through the water with respectable speed.

As the machine disappeared into the deep, with the eyes of all those who remained upon it, Bella took a deep breath and let herself down from the comm station’s chair. She didn’t know what to make of the goop-filled suit that called itself Duerage, but whatever it was, it represented one of three chances to access the controls that would get everyone out of this godforsaken place. But she knew they weren't equal. The Universal Helper was just remote-controlled metal, totally disposable and an ideal tool for the job. Whether human or not the Mockingbird couldn’t be killed like Junior and his faithful Mimikyu could. Being honest with herself, Bella was terrified for the two. “Good luck down there, guys,” she told them, hoping that the prayers of the Seekers would reach those brave few who faced the Depths.

Down below, the divers were greeted by oppressive darkness. Making any progress at all demanded that the onboard lights of all three crafts be switched on, especially for the Mockingbird if it were to have any idea of what lay beneath it as it drifted straight to the bottom. Once on, their lights shone through water mostly devoid of murkiness or organic contamination, revealing a flooded factory frozen in time. Rusty machines and structures provided a lot of clutter to carefully navigate around, but no sealife appeared to challenge them. From off to the left there issued intermittent grunts and bellows that reverberated through the deep, and the traces of movement in that direction suggested the presence of a single large creature near the surface--the hideous fish-monstrosity currently occupied by the efforts of Nadia and the Cadet. So long as the divers didn’t give off too much noise -or foolishly shine their lights Moreau’s way- they could focus on the descent. The plan was working.

Mirage saw something first. As he worked the BULL’s roving lights, scoping out the machinery and other obstacles he needed to guide the robot past, he happened to land his light on a corpse-white body afloat in the water, motionless except for the slow swirl of her incredibly long, pitch-black hair. Most eerily, though the body’s head pointed directly at him, she had no face whatsoever. Just a blank, featureless stretch of pale skin. When he continued his descent he kept his light on the body as long as he could, then moved it to make sure the BULL could navigate around a couple pipes. When he sent the light back up to check on the corpse, it was gone.

A few moments later, the light of Junior’s sub revealed an unrotted, raven-haired body in the water. This one floated close to the side of a large, cylindrical structure, sprawled as if swimming, but neither its limbs nor its disquietingly faceless head made a movement of any sort. A moment after Junior relocated the light, however, a sudden spike in anxiety directed him to move it back, just in case. It had been gone for just a moment, but when the beacon fell on the cadaver again, it wasn’t where it had been. It was closer. Much closer. Just a few meters away. And its hand was reaching out toward the glass.

The Mockingbird alighted softly on the factory’s bottom floor. Cluttered with tools, materials, structure gel growths, and products rendered inscrutable by their water damage and various states of completion, it offered tricky but workable terrain to an entrepreneuring diving suit. A right turn put the Mockingbird on course for the flow controls that lay somewhere on the flooded factory’s wall opposite the door the Seekers entered through. Were there nothing in its way the suit could mosey on over and beat the others to it by a long shot, but that didn’t appear to be the case. Through the gloom ahead the Mockingbird could see a pale pink glow that slid through the water, a lone light in the darkness. Behind it followed something unnatural, pulled along as if by a carrot on a stick, yet as it became aware of the diving suit’s headlamp it was drawn like a moth toward the stronger source of light.

Cold Monastery

Location: Frozen Highlands - Alpine Skyline
Linkle’s @Gentlemanvaultboy

With both Monastery visitors at something of a loss, a few seconds passed in silence before Skadi changed gears again and started lavishing her dog with attention, stroking his his, cupping his ears, and squeezing his cheeks. Still bewildered, Albedo could only look on and wildly speculate until Linkle took action. As she lowered herself and her hair changed color, he backed up to give her room to work her magic, curious what she intended to do with her ice. As she beckoned and molded her freezing power, giving it definition bit by bit, his weren’t the only eyes on her. Skadi herself seemed excited, bobbing back and forth with her eyes fixed on the wintry enchantment being built before her. It didn’t take long for her to recognize what Linkle was making, and her eyes sparkled with delight when they beheld the finished sculpture.

After giving her dog a final pat the vacant goddess scooted forward toward the Skullgirl’s offering. “Sooo kawaii!” she sang, a big smile on her face. She laid her hand on the glacious Shiba Inu’s head as if to pet it, only for her eyes to widen in surprise and fascination. “Such...cold…”

A cool mist issued from the point of contact. For a moment, Skadi was still, her breathing soft. A living, breathing, material goddess knelt before Linkle, just a handful of inches away, on the other side of her sculpture. She was close enough that the girl could see her eyes, and for a moment it looked as though a light glowed within, crisp and clear as a cloudless winter sky. From here she could also make out faint lines straight above and curved around the bottom of her right eye, like face paint. Had those always been there? Just as with her eyes, it was nearly impossible to tell, so dim were these traces. Unable to feel the cold, Linkle didn’t think to look down until Albedo whispered her name. “Linkle…” He directed her gaze down to the ice dog, the sight of which prompted an unexpected realization. At Skadi’s touch, it had grown larger, bolstered by fresh ice, the source of which could only be the goddess herself. This strange woman who looked so totally out of place in the Frozen Highlands retained some trace of winter inside her.

World of Light

@Dark Cloud it occurs to me I may not have mentioned this before, but there's a stipulation in this RP called prompt failure that applies to characters in actively dangerous situations. IC time is always moving forward after all, and since world progress for the people who post can't wait on those who might not, characters who don't act between two updates will not act IC, essentially failing a quick-time event. This prompt failure often leads to characters taking damage or getting into bad situations.

Infactorium: A New 4Xpansion (Overlord RP) [DISCONTINUED]

Mae's good mood carried her all the way back to the guttered remains of Infactorium, with the procession of Maneaters behind her sharing the general cheer for the most part. Though in the end their shared mission had been a minor assignment that necessitated neither a lot of skill or hard work, they relished a job well done, particularly one outside the rather limited wheelhouse of cooking; chance for the monstrous chefs to be anything other than food generators did not come every day. Besides, the task came directly from Faetalis herself, which made its completion both important and gratifying by default.

Of course, Mae's crew not alone in their trek. Gammaton accompanied the staff of the Gorging Trough on their way back, the captive Szilard kept close at hand, but their attention mostly centered on the scarecrow of a woman slung over Mae's shoulder. Rib, the unofficial second-in-command of the bunch with the sous chef Head otherwise occupied, took it upon herself to attend to Riny as she followed her boss back to base. "I'm sure this whole ordeal has been terribly confusing," the stolid chef was saying. "It might be best to put that whole thing behind you, as best you can. Luckily it looks like you didn't suffer a breakdown and go insane or anything. That's good, since otherwise you wouldn't be good for much. As it stands, you're going to be a guest at our restaurant, the fabulous Gorging Trough!"

Mae gave a guttural chuckle as she continued to stomp forward. "That's if Lady Faetalis ain't got other plans for ya. Couldn't keep ya if she did. Our place's seen better days, but I think ya gotta make do. Now that ya seen behind the curtain, we can't exactly letcha run away."

"Certainly," Rib nodded, her face serious. "Now that we have a captive, we have a duty to protect the knowledge of our guild's existence, and we cannot fail."

As she spoke Roast sauntered up beside her, her eyes bright as ever. "Dude, isn't this exciting? First we rout our enemies, and now we've got a freakin' captive!" She pounded one fist into the palm of her other hand. "We're finally living up to the guild's reputation!"

Behind the two, Tender ran her fingers through her hair anxiously. "Um...excuse me? If we're...you know, actually working on behalf of the guild, shouldn't we be more...well, monstrous? Cruel?" Pitch-black eyes with white sclera peered through her veil of hair at Riny. "Like at the camp."

Mae scratched at her chins thoughtfully with her free hand. "Huh...well, ya gotta point. But at the end o' the day, that's just actin', not the way we are. Not the way Lord Sugi made us. Maybe he thought we'd never go out 'n in'eract with enemies." She shrugged, causing Riny to flop up and down. "Maybe we oughta take lessons or somethin'. Whatcha think, human?"

Although incredibly overwhelmed by just about everything she'd heard and witnessed tonight, especially after the 'attack' ended, the huntress got a chance to settle down a little during the journey up the mountain. Being held captive by a group of heteromorphs working together was about as bad as it could get for an adventurer, but these monsters seemed oddly personable, earnest even. Though nightmarish in form they acted strangely normal, human even. The gears in Riny's head spun quickly. Maybe she could turn this to her advantage. If she could remain under the charge of these bizarre chefs and not anyone more nightmarish, she might be able to survive long enough to escape. Just try and get on their good sides, without seeming too obvious, she thought. Really starting to wish I spent more time with people now, rather than alone in the wilderness. Riny took a deep breath. "W-well. This wasn't really what I expected. At all. But, since you asked what I think, uh, I think you're just fine the way you are. It makes you unique." Her voice got more confident as an idea came to mind. "Plus, this Lord Sugi of yours must have made you this way for a reason. So, this is how he wanted you to be." She did her best to look reassuring. "Yourselves!"

"Hmm!" Mae rumbled. "That's a darn good way to look at it! No way a Supreme Bein' woulda just made us like this for no reason!" She gave a guttural laugh. "You ain't half bad, human. See, girls? We're already gettin' use from a fresh perspective!"

A couple minutes later the group arrived back at the Gorging Trough, where Head awaited them with his usual professional patience. As she approached Mae noticed the clipboard in his hand. "Enjoy yourselves?" her sous-chef deadpanned, eyes flickering over what he could see of Riny. "Ah, I see we have company. I'm afraid I do not have a room prepared at the moment--or a room at all, for that matter. On the other hand, I do have a report drafted that concerns Gammaton's menagerie and your proposed ranching efforts. After consulting the bestiary we have an idea of what creatures can provide meat, eggs, and so forth, as well as how we can house them. I must warn you that both the resource and labor demand is rather steep given the creatures' exotic nature."

Mae groaned. "Ugh, what else is new. Well, we ain't got a restaurant 'til we got supplies. Guess we'll focus on ranchin' for now 'n leave the Trough as it is, much as it hurts."

Head gave a solemn nod. "My apologies for heaping more on your plate, ma'am, but we must also consider conventional ingredients, especially while the kitchen isn't operational. Vegetables, wheat for flour, eggs, standard meats. We would need allocate our personnel to hunting, gathering, and farming. Or, since it seems there are humans around here, it may be possible to establish a front for trading with them, so we can get supplies that way. Of course, everything would need the approval of Lady Faetalis."

If Mae had temples she would have been rubbing them, but she settled for rubbing at the base of her neck instead. "Oof...stuck up the creek without a paddle, huh. Our people don't got the skills for any o' that crap. We'd be startin' from scratch. I gotta lot to think about. Anyway, thanks, Head. Great work as usual."

"Merely doing my duty, ma'am," Head allowed himself a thin smile as he bowed.

Mae pulled Riny from her shoulder and set her down right in the middle of the crowd of Maneaters, then plopped down by her cookfire. "Guh. Rib, mind findin' the boss and givin' a report? Tell 'er we drove the humans off no sweat but got two captives. I bet Gammaton's already got ate, but we wanna get this one's help." Her focus shifted to Riny as the headless horror began to pull from her meager ingredient pile and start work on a stew. "We can chat while I'm cookin'. What's your name, first off?"

Though stiff with apprehension, Riny realized she was supposed to take a seat, and sat opposite Mae by the fire. The remaining Maneaters followed suit, taking a chance to rest. "...Riny. Riny Verloren."

"Well, hello then, Riny." A hunk of salted beef splashed into the pubbling pot, followed by spices and minced carrots. "I know we prolly got off on the wrong foot, but I think this could be the start o' somethin' beautiful for both of us. As long as you're helpful, I bet the boss won't mind me treatin' ya like a guest. Hell, do right by the Guild 'n we could send ya off a whole lot better 'n ya came in. It all starts with a li'l give 'n take." In record time she finished her recipe. Mae filled a bowl full her steaming, tantalizingly aromatic stew and offered to the huntress. "Right now, I'm interested in knowin' the lay of the land. Towns an' farms an' such, anyone we might be able to trade with. Ya might be thinkin' I just wanna stomp over 'n kill 'em all, but I ain't some bloodthirsty warlord, Riny. I'm a chef, and I know the value o' renewable resources. Wanna spill the beans?"

Riny gulped, her eyes shifting between Mae and the Maneaters all around her. Mannerisms and human forms aside, these were all still monsters against whom the hunters and militia of the average village would stand no chance. Slaughter and destruction surely awaited any who fell afoul of them--herself included. As it stood, however, Riny felt no excess of love for her fellow man. She had neither friends nor family, just a lonesome existence spent sustaining herself day to day. People saw no value in her other than as a wife and mother, and ever since she forsook that path, pretty much nobody cared about her. She wasn't about to die for them. Gingerly the huntress reached out and took the bowl in hand. "Yeah. I'll tell you everything I know."

Infactorium: A New 4Xpansion (Overlord RP) [DISCONTINUED]

I just realized what happened with my status update. I'll chalk it up to typing on my phone being screwy. Anyway, post is imminent.

Infactorium: A New 4Xpansion (Overlord RP) [DISCONTINUED]

Work's been rough since I got back from vacation on Monday, but I'll be 📯 NG tomorrow morning.

World of Light

Team Mao

Location: Al Mamoon Northeast - Rocket Inc.
Midna’s @DracoLunaris, Sectonia’s @Archmage MC, Mao’s @Potemking, Jesse’s @Zoey Boey, Laharl’s @Dark Cloud, Joker, Mona, Fox, Necronomicon, Braum

Ciella’s radial riptide scattered the entrenched rebels and allowed her newfound allies to surge forth in her wake. To prevent her enemies from regaining their foothold enough to punish the newcomers’ collective headlong sprint into the action, Sectonia unleashed magic of her own to trap the Resistance fighters in a field that cut their speed in half and left them sitting ducks for the greater numbers of her own team. Their attempts to counterattack despite the slow found further impediment from the Vibrava’s Bulldoze and Bug Buzz, and the Seekers could proceed unchallenged. Mao and Laharl bore down on the Dragonborn while Midna charged at Jinx and Fuse to split them up, with Jesse’s super-sized office desk aimed to help put the minigunner down for the count.

At the same time the Phantom Thieves rushed the last two rebels down, with Braum at their front to absorb incoming fire and Necronomicon at their back to propel the whole group onward. “Support incoming!” the Persona called. “Speed up!” At her command the prayer spell Masukukaja took hold, increasing the speed of all four. Though the gunners opened fire and the Dragonborn produced a bow, the combined efforts of Ciella, Sectonia, and Necronomicon allowed their team to score free hits on the opposition. Mao’s thrown sword might have ripped the Dragonborn a new one if not for his bow, which took the hit from Mao's weapon and split on Dragonborn's behalf. Brash as his maneuver was, Laharl managed to land both blazing strikes right afterward, dealing a chunk of damage with each that the final Star strike from Mao turned into a boatload. The swordsman flew backward, as burned as he was battered, and a moment later Jinx joined him, smashed by a chair and then Jesse’s desk in quick succession.

At the same time, a hailstorm of pain from Mona’s slingshot as he rode on Braum’s shoulder culminated in a heavy shield slam from the man himself, followed by a blast of Zorro’s gale winds for good measure. Shadow struck out at Fox but only managed to trigger the swordsman's counterattack, receiving a flurry of cuts from his colorful new katana before Joker followed up. He came down with a spinning overhead slash and an unceremonious kick to send Shadow on his way. The rebels slid to a stop against the back wall to see a wall of enemies advancing toward them, with Sectonia’s minions filling out their ranks.

Amara’s fist struck the ground in slow-motion rage. “We’re toast if this damn slow keeps up!” she belted out as quickly as she could.

Beside her, Shadow rose to his feet, glowering like his life depended on it. “I’ll handle this.” As the dark hedgehog rose into the air the energies of chaos itself swirled and pulsed around him. After one revolution he faced the incoming Seekers in defiance, and growled, “Chaos...control!”

A wave of crackling power expanded outward, Shadow at its epicenter. Unblockable, undodgeable, it washed over the invaders and twisted their time without mercy. The inexorable distortion bogged the Seekers and their allies down to a crawl, making the half-speed Resistance fast by comparison.

With the tables turned, the rebels rose to see their enemies barely moving. Shadow floated above them all, his concentration vital to the time-field's sustenance. “Remember, stasis,” he snarled. “So just patch yourselves up. Then we'll break it together and finish this.” Dutifully the Dragonborn put away his weapons and conjured restorative magic from the palms of his hands to restore his whole team to full, while the rest reloaded their weapons. As infuriating as that was, Joker at least figured that meant the jack-of-all-trades Dragonborn would be deprived of magic, but his hopes were dashed as the warrior pulled out a blue potion and chugged it.

Guns at the ready, the rebels sauntered right up to the Seekers, full of confidence. “Heeheehee,” Jinx giggled, a minigun in one hand and a rocket launcher in the other. “Didja think you were the only ones with some tricks up your sleeves? You jokers musta had it easy 'til now. Shame you'll be too busy paintin' the walls to learn your lesson!”

Amara lowered her own weapon and spread her arms. Magic welled up at her back and took on the form of six tough-looking, primed and ready to let loose one hell of a beatdown. She squared up against Ciella, took in the rabbit lady's enraged expression, and gave the sort of grin only one about to deliver long-awaited comeuppance could muster.. “You've been ridin' our asses long enough, mega-bitch. 'Bout time you took a nap. But you can rest easy knowin' that Spirit of yours is gonna look good on me.”

With a shrug and cocky smile Fuse unshouldered his rifle, then took aim at Midna's head. From his current position, a shot straight through her head would score a collateral shot on Jesse. Evidently he hadn't taken kindly to their thrown furniture. “Sorry, cuties. Them's the breaks.”

“I'll squash the bugs.” Shadow extended his open hand, then clenched it. “Time, resume your flow!”

Chaos Control ended with a bang. Streams of lightning from the hands of the Dragonborn joined the fusillade of gunfire from Jinx and Fuse, while Amara pummeled Ciella with a flurry of blows. Only Shadow acted on his own, teleporting to Sectonia and Necronomicon in quick succession and bringing them with him. A moment later the three floated above the building itself, with the hedgehog dealing his collected enemies a kick to disperse them. He smirked at them, crossing his arms. “Shoulda been more careful. Bad things happen to those who mess with time.”

Necronomicon reeled, taken totally by surprise. “Yipes! I'm not a combat Persona! Sectonia, can you cover me while I get away?”

“It's no use trying to escape.” Shadow pulled out twin pistols, holding them akimbo. “You lost the moment you challenged me.”

The Persona reeled. “Gahhh! He's so edgyyy! Change of plan, let's take him down!”

Down in the office building, things weren't quite as dire as Joker first thought. Unlucky for the local Legend, Fuse's first shot struck Midna's Fused Shadow right in the eye and failed to penetrate. Then she was free from the grip of distorted time, allowing Midna to move enough to stop subsequent shots being lethal. Everyone got a taste of Jinx's minigun barrage, and though the individual shots were by no means show-stoppers, the damage racked up quickly. The Dragonborn's lightning hurt a whole lot, but he couldn't keep it up for long. Knowing that her team's onslaught would peter out, Jinx elected to finish on a strong note and fired her rocket launcher to blow the Seekers to kingdom come. Yet despite all the punishment coming their way, the invaders were far from beaten. Braum's unfaltering shield helped his team weather the storm, and together the Phantom Thieves shadow-dashed back out from cover, ready to help the Seekers fight back.

And fight back they did, starting with Ciella. In the midst of Amara's barrage she brought up a leg as if to knee her attacker in the jaw, which the brawler deftly swerved to avoid. Ciella then brought the leg down in a water-infused stomp that swept Amara's feet out from under her while they weren't planted. The skillful Siren caught herself before she could hit the ground, but a moment's reprieve was all Ciella needed. She swung her longbow like a club, forcing her foe to catch it with her summoned arms, then blasted forward on another riptide that drove Amara before her. She continued until her torrent slammed the Siren against the back wall, smashing through the area an earlier impact had cracked, and both disappeared into the conference room.

With two detachments gone, eight marauders stood against three rebels. As Mao and Laharl rallied to go another round with the Dragonborn, the warrior unleashed another Shout, but the Heart of the Freljord laughed in the face of unrelenting force and planted his shield. With unyielding fortitude Braum withstood the dragon's fury, giving the little Overlords the chance to get past their enemy's magic and go toe-to-toe. Even when backed into a corner, however, the Dragonborn wielded a vast array of talents and weapons that would demand everything his opponents had.

That left five against two, and the Phantom Thieves had no intention of letting anyone else do their work for them. “The crazy lady's ours!” Mona declared as he, Joker, and Fox raced forward through a torrent of gunfire.

His announcement seemed to amuse his prospective opponent. “You wish!” she derided. As the Thieves dashed between cover she reduced the desks and tables to splinters one at a time, eyes and smile wide with livewire energy. A trio of shots rang out from Joker's new pistol and narrowly missed her spindly frame, eliciting another laugh. “Gotta get closer than that, boys! C'mere 'n get Jinxed!”

Meanwhile, Fuse looked uneasily between Midna and Jesse, an ordinary-looking man matched up against two supernatural powerhouses. “Now hold on a second ladies, I think we mighta got off on the wrong foot here...!” He broke off and performed a hero dive behind a row of mostly intact cubical dividers, moving quickly so that Jesse couldn't just snatch his cover away. When he got to his feet he held a futuristic pistol in his hands, apparently tucked away there for later, and he ran he wasted no time opening fire to get his opponents' heads down. Several shots struck Jesse, inflicting more than enough damage to get her below the threshold for a Friend Heart. Midna could free her now, but if she did Fuse might make it to a better position, and who knew how many more guns he had hidden around.

Team Kan-Ra

Level 9 Tora (27/90) Level 8 Poppi (97/80) Level 3 Big Band (17/30)
Location: Al Mamoon Northwest - Obelisk Temple
Yoshitune's @Rockin Strings, Fox’s @Dawnrider, Primrose’s @Yankee, Tora and Poppi, Big Band, Kan-Ra, Panther, Skull
Word Count: 1124 (Band) 1284 (Tora and Poppi)

Scattered by a surprise explosion and assaulted on all sides, Kan-Ra's team needed to act fast to avoid getting crushed, but they had just the right people for the job. With the protection of Big Band to the north and Tora plus Poppi to the east, Primrose seized the opportunity to perform an empowering dance. Her new scarf fluttered behind her as she pivoted and swirled, filling with enchantment as she did, until every inch of the lovely dancer and her garb alike shone with mystic energy. At her touch Band nodded, readying himself, but even the storied detective didn't quite anticipate what the heroine behind him had in store. With a grace that belied her sheer power Primrose channeled her magnified magic through her pyromancy flame, and as she struck the ground a fount of primordial, oil-black flame burst forth. It lunged forward like a predator on the hunt, a riotous column of abyssal fire, and wound down the corridor toward the petrified rebels.

Understandably perhaps, the rebels wanted nothing to do with it, and as they felt the heat of the dark pyromancy they jolted into action. Daisy ceased fire and bolted through the hidden door, followed by Earthquake squeezing through as fast as his circumference allowed him to. Barely a second later the Stygian blaze careened by, like a subway train past the platform, and the Resistance fighters sighed in relief. Sickle in hand, Earthquake poked his head through the door, and for his troubles took a heaping portion of brass knuckles to the face. With a garbled cry and a bloody nose he tumbled backward, which in turn elicited a scream from the much smaller rebel behind him, and as the two rolled down the stairs Band in the doorway, silhouetted by the torchlight. As surprised as he'd been to see the team's unassuming dancer conjure such a terrifying spell, Band didn't let that opportunity go to waste, and he wouldn't allow this one to, either.

At the bottom of the stairs lay an open room on what must be the fourth floor, and there Earthquake's immense bulk came to a stop, his ally pinned beneath his weight. With a little mechanical arm Band straightened his hat, then stomped down the stairs to finish the job.

“Ughhhh...” the heavy ninja moaned, rubbing his head. As he shook the stars out he saw the trench-coated detective that decked him duck out of the stairway. “You...!”

Big Band deployed a giant pedal that flipped forward and smacked Earthquake right in the belly. “Getcho ass up,” he scolded, and with a growl his foe rolled over. Doing so revealed Daisy partially cratered in the masonry, as unconscious as one could get. Band shook his head. “Tsk, tsk, tsk. Little sister deserved a better shot than that.” He narrowed his eyes at Earthquake as the two giants squared off, a good old-fashioned showdown in the works. A grinding sound from behind him alerted him to a trick wall sliding shut to block the exit. “You gonna shoot yours?”

“Smug asshole!” the ninja growled. “I'll kill ya!” He hurled his chain-scythe at Band's legs, forcing a crouch-block, then jumped. With uncanny agility Earthquake took to the air, scraping up against the ceiling, then came down rear-first to squash Band the same way he'd done Daisy.

“Well, you needn't.” With Primrose powering him up as she planned, Band got ready to rumble. Earthquake's attack was so telegraphed that Band had no trouble parrying it for a little extra tension, but after hitting the ground the first time the ninja bounced back up for another slam, and if Primrose pelted him with magic she'd reveal a hidden trump card to Earthquake's ridiculous attack: normal attacks could not interrupt it. Armed with this new information along with his ally's buffs, Band opted to bide his time and parry the second butt-bounce. On his enemy's third and lowest bounce Band went in with Take the A Train anti-air command grabbed Earthquake right out of the air with a giant mechanical arm. Its trombone pounded twice for extra damage, then drove home a third impact like a pile bunker. The ninja bellowed in pain as he took another tumble, ripe for a follow-up attack from Primrose.

That extra punishment, however, pushed him over the edge, and with a shout of anger he threw down a smoke bomb. The next second he rolled forward from the smoke at high speed, a wrecking ball of destruction. Band raised his eyebrow, then stepped out of the way. Earthquake shot right by and into the solid stone wall behind him hard enough to send chunks of hieroglyphic-inscribed masonry flying. When the dust cleared he lay there, stunned, no extra work from either Band nor Primrose necessary. The detective sniffed and shook his head again. “Hmph. Jive-ass dude ain't got no brains, anyhow.”

He took a look around. This section of the temple's fourth floor didn’t seem adjacent to the central area, or very temple-like at all, for that matter. It was dark, undecorated, dingy even. It seemed a whole lot more like a dungeon, and since it could only be accessed by secret passageway, Band couldn’t help but wonder if this place harbored a dark history. His examination got interrupted by a sudden magic light and noise from Earthquake, and when he looked over he spotted a golden magic circle around the fallen man's body for a moment before both he and it disappeared. A second later Daisy followed suit. Band turned to the trick wall to go back, but it didn't budge, even when he punched it. “...Don't these usually open once the fight's over? Huh. Guess we'll get a move on and find some stairs deeper in.” He kept implicit his assumption that the other teams had things handled on their front as he turned back to head farther in.

What he found did not please him. The chamber’s solid construction gave way to a perilous bridge protected by nothing less than swinging axes. When he approached he discovered that the pit beneath went a long way down, though not so long that he couldn’t see the shine of mud at the bottom. He fixed the pit with an annoyed look, for all the good it did. “No way I'm gettin’ through that nonsense.” Even if his timpany boosters were working, he doubted he had enough room to rocket right over the hazards to the exit. To make matters worse, the only exit at the end of the bridge featured an honest-to-God spike ring, making the wall all but impassable to someone of his size and agility. He deployed a little arm to scratch his nose. “How'd those fools make it through...?”

---

While Band and Primrose attended to Earthquake and Daisy, the others had their own problems to deal with. After Yoshitsune's first attempt at a charge resulted in a sound pelting by red-hot rocks, Panther took the lead as she and Skull rushed down the west corridor, weathering Charnok's spells with ease thanks to her near-immunity to fire. Once Skull got in range he called forth his Persona to take over. “Captain Kidd! Run 'em over!” At his command the skeletal pirate hurtled the rest of the way atop his floating ship. Despite the rebels' best attempts to stop him Kidd dealt the pair a weighty slam. Charnok and Beast elected to retreat, hurried on their way by the rattle of Panther's new SMG. As their foes disappeared around the corner, the Phantom Thieves gave chase.

On the other side Tora and Poppi continued to mop up corpse spiders, smashing them to pulp one at a time. Kan-Ra lent them his aid by placing sand traps ahead of them, and when spiders scuttled by he called upon his sorcery to bring form scorpion tails and antlion jaws of sand from his traps. The magical constructs not only pierced and crushed the spiders but cursed them, making their jumps slower and floatier, which in turn made them easy pickings for Tora and Poppi. They made short work of the arachnid threat, but not short enough for someone's tastes.

A battle cry sounded out as Red leaped over Tora and Poppi's heads, landed on a spider, then jumped over Kan-Ra's sand traps to barrel down the corridor toward the rebels. Tora waved frantically to try and get her to stop, but the mercenary wasn't even looking his way. “ Meh, meh, meh! Wait, wait!” he implored her. “Didn't friend learn last time!? Let protectors go first!”

If Red heard she gave no sign, which Tora figured he should have expected. They'd worked together before, and it worked out well, but by now it was clear she didn't care much for his ideas of how teams should work—just the enemy before her. As she sprinted forward she fired her pistol again and again, her first shot putting a hole in the Witch Doctor's shoulder. The jar she held fell and cracked open at her feet, but before her spiders could cause any problems the young man behind her sliced through all four at once with a single sweep of his swordblade. “Step aside, old lady,” he told her as he brushed past. “This a job for Dante the Demon Killer.”

Beneath her mask the Witch Doctor must have looked affronted. “I am not so old, and don't you dare speak down to me! I know a thing or two that would leave you crying for mama, little boy.”

“Me?” Dante smirked. “Not in a million years.” As Red ran toward him he nonchalantly dodged out of the way of her shots, then squeezed off a few of his own. The twin handguns he manifested put out a boatload of bullets to soften Red up as she grew closer. He then switched back to his sword and swung it in a reverse grip, releasing waves of red energy that traveled across the ground. The mercenary dodged all three and came down on Dante with an overhead axe swing he only barely intercepted with his sword.

“Oooh,” he drawled, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Nearly got me with-!” A headbutt from Red both threw and pissed him off, and with sudden strength Dante pushed her back. As he spun his sword morphed into a demonic axe, just in time for the two weapons to clash in a tremendous impact. Dante’s sheer strength won out, flung Red’s axe away, and followed through with an overhead swing strong enough to throw him into the air. The blow split the floor as a blade of demon energy carved forward, but Red twisted out of the way and leaped over. She grabbed Dante’s head and brought her pistol around to deliver a point-blank shot. As blood flew her wide-open eye blazed with victory, until Dante -very much still alive- grabbed by the hood, punched her in the guts, and hurled her back down the corridor.

Tora and Poppi ran as fast as they could, but in addition to corpse spiders the Witch Doctor invoked Grasp of the Dead to summon zombie hands. Their clawing grip seized hold of the protector’s limps and clothes, stalling until they could tear the hands off. As they struggled Dante jumped up and let loose Flush, bodily flinging Arbiter after the thrown mercenary. The axe’s weight buried it in Red’s chest in a spray of murky blood, provoking an anguished cry from Tora. “MEEEH!”

“Red!” Poppi cried, reaching out as Dante transformed his weapons into twin shuriken. In a sparking blaze that burned away her captors she transformed to QT Pi mode and rocketed forward, Variable Saber in hand. Tora grabbed hold of her scarf as she zoomed past and got yanked free. In the nick of time the two flew over Red and intercepted Dante’s Aquila, returning the cyclone blades to sender.

As Poppi stood in front to defend against incoming shots Tora bent over Red, and to his relief found her still breathing. “Meeeeh...she okay!” Nopon Rescue Service pulled her back from the brink, but she remained down for the count, and as long as Dante kept gunning for her, she wouldn’t be safe. Tora turned to join his blade on the offensive. “Alright Poppi, time for big revenge!”

“Easier said than done!” his companion warned. In front of her the Witch Doctor had conjured an entire household of horrible things to keep them at bay. Corpse spiders crawled across the walls and ceilings, undead hands reached out amid swarms of poisonous toads, and fire bats fluttered through the air alongside Dante’s gunfire. To say getting to them was a tall order would be putting it lightly.

Behind them, Kan-Ra’s smile did not fade. “I suppose I shall lend a hand.” Swirls of sand and blue magic danced around his hands as he raised them. Shadow seemed to fill the hall. “Mah...SU!” As he threw his hands up a wave of sand spikes sprouted before him, and much like Primrose’s pyromancy his magic raced down the hall towards his foes. The spikes skewered spider, toad, and hand alike in their relentless advance, and together Tora and Poppi charged down the opening they created. Their variable saber’s vibrant hum filled the air as it slashed again and again, dicing the pests Kan-Ra’s Shadow Spike missed. With a final blast they broke through and charged at Dante, but they hadn’t yet come to grips with Poppi’s new power. The swordsman countered with a well-timed upward slash that struck and carried both into the air. He pelted them with three air slashes, then brought them down with a drop slash. A ebony shotgun appeared in his hand and unleashed a series of blasts like fireworks, followed by a rising slash that popped them up for another brick-splitting swing from Arbiter.

At that moment Kan-Ra rose from the sand trap his Shadow Spike left behind and snatched Dante from behind with his bandages. He threw the swearing Nephilim against the wall, then as he bounced kicked him back into it, creating another sand trap as he did. The Witch Doctor leaped from behind, surrounded by minions, but Kan-Ra exploded in a burst of sand that blasted them apart and reappeared from his new trap only a little worse for wear. “Now,” he grinned as Tora and Poppi readied themselves with a switch to the blade’s Alpha form. “Let’s try this again.”

World of Light

Ms Fortune

Level 4 Nadia (69/40)
Location: The Maw - the Depths
Blazermate's @Archmage MC, Bowser's @DracoLunaris, Ace Cadet's @Yankee, Sakura's @Zoey Boey, Frog's @Dark Cloud, Mirage’s @Potemking
Word Count: 1918

Like a cat at a mousehole, Nadia waited with bated breath. Seeing Sakura down in the dumps felt worse than nearly getting obliterated by the Abyssal onslaught out on Black Bay, and she hoped with all her heart that her wake-up call would jolt Sakura back to the irrepressible, never-say-die girl Nadia had come to know. Would that it were so easy.

The brave face Nadia put on for her friend fell as Sakura sputtered out more apologies. She wasn’t getting it. Maybe she wasn’t going to get it. Or maybe there wasn’t anything to get. “W-wait, hold on,” Nadia tried, “I’m sayin’ you didn’t kill him. It’s just a trick!” She let the weak declaration hang, unsupported. After all, she herself didn’t know for sure, other than the vague feeling that things couldn’t possibly be as messed up as they appeared. With no legs to stand on, how could she convince Sakura to accept such a different perspective? The Street Fighter probably saw right through her attempts to comfort her and explain things away, and shied away from the feral’s touch.

Nadia had failed, embarrassed herself probably, and in all likelihood made it worse. Her face burned and her guts twisted as she backed into the chain link fence. Stupid. Why’d I have to go and think I could help with stuff like this? She’d let this hero stuff go to her head. At the end of the day, all she was good for was fighting and stealing. She couldn’t be there for good people when bad things were happening to them. Dejected, the little feral looked away so that Geralt could do his thing.

Luckily, her inner turmoil got put on hold when she became aware of events unfolding over by the pilot seat. The diving suit that fell from the rack close by took on a life of its own, and as Sakura pointed out, not just any life, either. For a brief moment of near-absolute horror Nadia thought that Mirage’s soul had been sucked out by the machine and deposited into the diving suit, like an engine installed into another car. Worse still, that conclusion recontextualized the situation with Carl to be much worse than she desperately wanted it to be. Nadia stood, frozen, until she confirmed that it was Mirage’s voice still issuing from inside the techno-chair’s headcase, without any electronic interference. He hadn’t been soul-transferred; Mirage -the original Mirage- was still there.

She just about melted in relief, close to tearing up herself, but she managed to get a hold of herself. The team wasn’t out of the woods just yet. If Mirage still existed as a child, that meant somehow that this diving suit full of doodads and sludge was aping him with uncanny accuracy. It immediately started talking to the original, which Nadia realized in retrospect was probably a mistake, not that she or anyone else could have really stopped it. Made for a full-size human, the suit loomed larger than any of the heroes-turned-children, and as it grew more irate Nadia grew more uneasy.

At least Blazermate and Bowser diagnosed the problem quickly, the latter out of experience apparently and the first...because she was a robot? Nadia couldn’t say, but however the two managed to figure it out, she appreciated someone knowing what the heck was going on. It wasn’t the man she knew, but a machine mimicking him. Like a mockingbird. Somehow the chair copied Mirage’s mind and uploaded the copy into the nearest vessel, which would explain its behavior. Every response it gave made it clear that the suit thought itself the real deal, just like ‘Carl’ had. If it believed itself to be human to the point of seeing things that weren’t there, that dissonance could be a problem. Nadia remembered seeing enough sci-fi movies at the theater in Little Innsmouth to know that machines thinking for themselves was bad news for everyone.

At least this suit seemed to share Mirage’s helpful, obliging nature. If it had been Bowser in that chair they might have gotten an aggressive, assertive Mockingbird that wouldn’t cooperate to save its ‘life’, but luckily the pilot seat got one of the nicer bananas in the bunch. That gave Nadia a sliver of hope that the team could control or otherwise manage it somehow, but before they could do anything the real Mirage pulled himself out of the device to greet his Mockingbird face-to-face. Unfortunately they did not hit it off, and the subject of the real Mirage still being under Galeem’s influence came up instantly. “Aw, crud…” Nadia grimaced, rubbing her arm nervously. Maybe Junior had the right idea. Was puttering through the deep sea in a tin can surrounded by monsters and then drowning a horrible death really that bad compared to this?

Well, yes. Yes it was. But this wasn’t good either.

Behind her she heard the submarine hit the water, freed from the grasp of the ceiling arms, and though Nadia jumped she didn’t quite escape getting doused by the splash. “Yowch! That’s cold as hell!” she squealed as she dodged away, oblivious to the irony of her statement. As the submersible bobbed up and down she could see Junior inside, perfectly fine as he got the vehicle under control. Everything seemed pretty much operational on that front, but with nasty creatures on the prowl under there, would one manned vehicle really be enough?

Bella, meanwhile, had gone over to the console at the communications station that Junior used to maneuver the submarine into the water. As she examined it, Nadia watched her connect the dots. “Oh,” the teensy Abyssal observed. “We can use the arms to pick up the robot and put it into the water.” It seemed so obvious that Nadia might have beat herself up for not thinking of it sooner, if she were more self-conscious. Instead she felt a little more confident in the team’s odds. One more problem solved.

Her gaze diverted to Peach, who’d finished operating the conveyor belt to bring the BULL unit closer and followed in its footsteps(?) to rejoin everyone else in the Command Center. She arrived to find her group scattered and the walking, talking diving suit at the center of attention. “Eck-excuse me!?” she exclaimed, instantly on guard. Instinctively she raised her parasol like a sword. “What in the world is that thing!?”

The exclamation seemed to irritate the Mockingbird. ”Ugh, you too? You guys need to work on your comedic timing. Is this really the time for practical jokes?” In the silence that followed the red lights within its helmet swept over everyone present, their glow harsh. ”Hello? Did I forget to introduce myself? If so, then hi everyone, nice to meet ya, I’m Mirage. I like my Wingman, long walks on the beach, and not being called stuff like ‘copycat’ and ‘clone’ and ‘thing’. Again and again. Or being threatened all of a sudden. Is that too much to ask?”

Though wet and more than a little anxious, Nadia stepped up. “Hey, hey, hey, let’s take a deep breath here. I’m sure I speak for everyone when I say we’re sorry, alright? It’s just, the situation’s got us all a little, uh...frazzled. Its tough to tell what’s goin’ on exactly.”

”Yeah, I know.” The Mockingbird didn’t look convinced, although it didn’t look like much of anything, necessarily. ”Just...well, I know this is rich coming from me, but can we just take things a tiny bit more seriously?”

Bella cut the conversation short by activating the arm controls. It took her a little more experimentation than it did for Junior to make sense of it, but she managed to get the Universal Helper up and headed toward the drink, provided that Junior got the submarine out of the way and someone else got back behind the ‘wheel’ of the BULL. Considering their new company, however, Nadia wanted nothing to do with that contraption. She counted five more diving suits on the wall, and if that copying thing was a one-time deal, it would have ended with Carl. Then again, going down under with Junior sounded even worse.

Instead of moping, Nadia focused on what she could do to help. Something physical that made good use of her scrappy, alley-cat childhood. “So...since I’m sort of used to being hungry and I’m a good climber, I can go back up to the catwalks to try and distract the monsters and stuff.” She flicked her ears, the gears in her head turning. “There were some pinchers in the workshop I think. I might need some help to use them though. Ace, maybe?” The kitten implored her friend for aid.

Though still shaky, Peach focused on the task at hand rather than the Mockingbird. “Good idea. Once Junior gets going, we can put the robot in. The more stuff we have in the water, the better.” Her eyes landed on the life preserver stowed inside the submarine, in case of emergency, but she tried not to let them linger. “Then whoever gets clear can go for the controls. They’re at the very bottom, all the way to the right, going from the command center. Even someone walking along the bottom could get there.” This time she made a conscious effort not to look at either Blazermate or Mirage’s Mockingbird. She didn’t need to say anything about monsters, but everyone had good reason for not wanting to pile more lives into the submarine. “Good luck, Junior.”

Nadia knocked on the side of the submarine. “Here. Your biggest fan!” She offered Junior her precious tool. “If you have to get out of there, maybe it’ll work like a personal propeller.” With that, she made for the door, her own duty clear. After leaving the situation in the command center behind she made a quick detour back to Maintenance to grab a pair of bolt cutters from the table by the forge, then climbed back up the ladder to the web of hanging catwalks and bridges. Provided she got some help, she and her comrade could work the two handles of the cutters to shear right through the chain. One at a time they severed the chains, each snap echoing through the flooded factory and causing the weight of the attached bridge section to swing perilously. Once they separated the last one from the safety of a higher platform nearby, the whole thing plummeted downward. Its splash resounded through the whole area, but it was nothing compared to what came next.

From the water exploded a gigantic fish, more nightmarish even than the Megalodon from the open ocean, even if it wasn’t nearly as big. As it leaped toward the disturbance its mouth unfurled, a series of flaps studded with disgustingly human teeth, twisted and yellowed. More hideous by far was its back, covered in bulging, bloodshot eyeballs, with a handful of loose, wiggly tentacles poking out between them. Absolute terror possessed Nadia as the mutated monstrosity soared her way, and she turned tail to flee to the next platform, but the thing fell short and plunged back into the water. Its impact shook the Depths, and a few moments went by before Nadia dared to breathe again, but the first thing she did when she finally got her air moving was laugh. “Hah. Hah! Fishy bastard can’t reach us!” She turned to her partner in triumph. “As long as we don’t get too low, anyway. Let’s keep it up!” Bolt cutters in hand, she was ready for another round.

---

The stay-behinds’ new friend treated Kamek and Link to a look of mixed bewilderment and amusement as the Magikoopa explained Blue Team’s predicament, more as if he couldn’t believe that such a thing happened rather than how it happened. He didn’t spend too much time on exposition, though, and got down to business. Unfortunately, the Moogle wasn’t much help. “Agh, sorry, I can’t bring mucha anythin’ wit me. Just whatever li’l simple thing I got on hand.” After pausing to look at his back scratcher, the Moogle offered it to Kamek. “I got this though. Ya itchy or somethin’?”

When it came to the green-haired kid, the portly creature got a different request, along with a message to deliver. “Fiendlord...Magus?” he repeated. “Uh, sure thing pal, I’ll get right on that. Once I get back, I mean.” Warning an enemy that he was being pursued sounded like a bad idea, but hey, it wasn’t his place to ask questions.

Link then confronted the Moogle with another question, and he shook his head. “Nah, right before comin’ I scarfed down a whole bucket-a...uh, I mean, it ain’tcha business what I ate. But I’m good for a while.”

Cold Monastery

Location: Frozen Highlands - Alpine Skyline
Linkle’s @Gentlemanvaultboy

As one might expect, another flurry of questions flew from Linkle the moment Guerra went quiet. With a smile for the girl’s eager energy, he did his best to answer. “When he came, the Stranger was angry, rude, thuggish, even. It did not seem as though he were looking for a lost treasure or companion, no. More as if he was on the hunt. We didn’t anticipate his abilities, of course, and when our guards asked that he leave, he thrashed them. One he threw through a wall.” The Father’s features looked grim. Albedo felt no need to seek clarification on whether or not it had been an interior wall.

“The rest spent days in recovery, even with all the healers in this place,” Guerra continued. “Nobody could so much as scratch him. He could have taken this place apart plank by plank, sent it tumbling down into the misty valley, except he didn’t care to. Instead he combed the place, searching high and low for whoever it was he sought. Only the idols seemed to catch his attention. He intimidated them, but turned around and continued his search. Except for Skadi.” Rubbing his chin, Guerra looked out the window. “He questioned her, but even though she didn’t recognize him, something she said prompted him to attack anyway. The two fought, but he was much stronger, and afterward something broke in her. He never came back, but she changed. You’ll see for yourself what I mean,” he told Linkle.

Guerra sighed and clenched his fists. “I am no stranger to tyranny. To cruel people in power who treat the lives of good, ordinary folk like nothing. But until that day their power has been political, or that of numbers. To encounter a single, mighty being, whose raw strength there is no hope of opposing...a humbling, yet frustrating experience.”

He uncurled his hands and slapped his knees, getting to his feet. “Pardon me, you have no need for an old man’s complaining. I’d be happy to bring you to meet Skadi. It is good of you to concern yourself with respect, although if there is something this idol would like, I’m afraid I have no idea. She does not seem to have needs, other than followers perhaps, and she is not articulate enough to express wants. But it seems she busies herself with creating cryptic images and messages, so maybe she’d like drawing supplies.”

Albedo narrowed his eyes. “You keep saying things like that. Broken, changed, coherent. Do you mean to say she is mentally unwell?”

“It’s...difficult to describe,” Guerra admitted, the creases visible in his forehead. He rose. “Better to show you. This way.”

Guerra led his guests through the cozy halls of the third tower, exchanging greetings with other residents as he went. The sense of warmth in this place, Albedo realized, went well beyond its hearths and braziers. As he followed the Father he considered what the man said about gods and idols. In his home world, each nation dwelled under the auspice of an Archon, although the extent to which each Archon impacted day to day life differed. The Qixing of Liyue received intermittent guidance from their god, while the deity of Inazuma supposedly ruled the country as shogun. In Mondstadt, meanwhile, the God of Freedom never showed his face, and if he received the prayers of his church, never gave a sign. Seldom if ever did Mondstadt consider the Archons in his day to day life, not finding it a particularly interesting topic, but he guessed that if all a goddess did was stoke fires in a kitchen, he wouldn’t respect her much, either.

Shortly the trio descended some steps to enter the tower’s basement. Here the foundations mindled with the uneven surface of the mountain, so the area was neither ordlerly nor consistent, but what space was available appeared to be used for storage. Guerra strode past barrelled supplies and other goods toward an open area in the back. Neither lock nor key nor even door barred the way, so as soon as Linkle and Albedo followed the Father through the empty doorway, they could see the goddess for themselves.

Rendered speechless for a moment, Albedo could not in any sense say that what he saw was what he expected. Seated in the center of the floor was a woman in almost garishly colorful attire, striped pink and yellow and blue, with mint-green hair done up in pink-tipped pigtails, and a wealth of makeup and accessories. Seeing a grown woman decorated in a manner more fitting to a young child struck Albedo as more than a little strange. By her side lay a huge dog, but despite its size Albedo could not call the beast intimidating. It was pudgy and fluffy, with a chubby, comical face, giving him a look that the alchemist found resilient to classification. A creature more marshmallow than mongrel, he thought. The bizarre pair sat together in a mess of paper strewn across the floor, most of them bearing images of the dog along with a couple of inscriptions. Albedo couldn’t stop himself trying to read one, but the words didn’t make any sense, and the next few he attempted seemed no better.

Baffled, he looked to Father Guerra for explanation, but the priest could only shrug. Evidently this was what he’d been referring to earlier, and from the looks of it he could explain it about as well as the new arrivals. Guerra cleared his throat to get the attention of the goddess Skadi, who turned and brightened up to see her visitors. “Konnichiwa!” she sang. Her companion peered at Linkle and Albedo with a sidelong glance, and as Skadi realized she didn’t recognize either of them, she turned to her dog in excitement. “Here’s a treat: they are new! Oh, everyone is going to love you, Doge! You are just the cutest! Look at that silly face and them eyes!”

To Albedo’s further surprise her companion spoke, albeit in a dopey voice that sounded like someone pretending to be an idiot. “Much wow?”

“Yes, very much wow!” Skadi agreed. She glanced back at the newcomers, her eyes unfocused, then pulled out the picture she’d been working on and offered it to Linkle. Like the others it had a drawing of her dog, along with crayon scribblings that said very like such meme much laugh wow so doge. She beamed as she pushed it at the Skullgirl. “How kawaii is this?”

Guerra coughed. “Pardon us, miss Skadi. These two wanted to ask you something.” With the goddess more interested in sharing her images, however, his announcement received no response.

Infactorium: A New 4Xpansion (Overlord RP) [DISCONTINUED]

Sorry for the silence as of late. I've been trying to think about where I should go next. Unless I'm mistaken there hasn't been much progress on the repair of the Gorging Trough, so I'm not sure what else I can have Mae do. Perhaps I should send her to Faetalis to give a report of her mission with Gammaton?