Current
Wash away the sorrow all the stains of time
3 mos ago
Fusing into the unknown
3 mos ago
Looks like from here it, it only gets better
2
likes
8 mos ago
Forgotten footfalls, engraved in ash
9 mos ago
Stalling falling blossoms in bloom
Bio
Current GM of World of Light. When it comes to writing, there's nothing I love more than imagination, engagement, and commitment. I'm always open to talk, suggestion, criticism, and collaboration. While I try to be as obliging, helpful, and courteous as possible, I have very little sympathy for ghosts, and anyone who'd like to string me along. Straightforwardness is all I ask for.
Looking for more personal details? I'm just some dude from the American south; software development is my job but games, writing, and trying to help others enjoy life are my passions. Been RPing for over a decade, starting waaaay back with humble beginnings on the Spore forum, so I know a thing or two, though I won't pretend to be an expert. If you're down for some fun, let's make something spectacular together.
Fire Soul:Due to Laharl's inate affinity to the elemental power of fire, he has gained the ability to use the element to summon balls of fire in the palm of his hands instead of simply channelling the fire into his punches he can now use that fire instead to throw fireballs at enemies dealing an average amount of fire damage to a target.
Sound good? I think it would be a Sub-Power to his Blazing Knuckles power. The wording could be better though. Oh and he'll have gained the second Draugr striker that he saved.
Sure, that works for me.
So I wont be on the discord server for a few days. Since I requested a refund of those hacked gifts I linked you guys, they have disabled the account until that all goes through. (If they'll even re-enable it after its all fixed, this is discord, they're terrible with customer service.) So I'll let you all know if I have to make a new account or not.
Sampling a Wendigo’s cunning savagery firsthand, and nearly being butchered in the process, made Tora and Poppi keenly aware of just how much their allied needed their help, but before they could have any hope of helping the others they needed to attend to their own wounds first. If not for Tora’s incredible constitution, with his proverbial boatloads of health, the monster that dragged him below would have eviscerated him in the darkness, and the experience shook him. Even as his out-of-combat healing kicked in, closing the deep gashes opened in his flesh by cruel claws, he couldn’t stop himself shaking from fear as much as the cold. All his spilled blood quickly cooled, coagulating and then freezing despite his best attempts to wipe it off. Even once restored to full, the end result was a thoroughly miserable Nopon. His attempts to form words dissolved into incoherent mumbling as he shivered, his wide eyes reflecting the other heroes’ distant firelight.
Poppi, able to hold her severed arm to the stump and reforge the connection with only a modest expenditure of ether, fared a lot better. Once her internal diagnostics turned up no major problems, she turned to her Masterpon to offer him what comfort she could. As nice as it would have been to wash off all the blood in a spray of water, she knew that Tora would catch his death of cold a minute later, so she switched to her Fire Core instead. “Hold tight, Masterpon. Poppi set you right.” Glowing like a space heater, Poppi picked her Masterpon up in her arms and held him close so that her heat might flow into him. With their friends still fighting for their lives this wasn’t a tender moment by any stretch of the imagination, but at the Inner-Mountain’s absolute cold relinquished its grip on Tora, both driver and artificial blade felt a lot better.
“Meeh,” the Nopon breathed after a few moments. “Okay, Tora feel roasty-toasty enough for now. Thank you, Poppi. Now, let’s hurry and help friends!” He wriggled out of Poppi’s grasp, landed on the wooden platform with a wince, and grabbed the shield that had slipped out of his numbed grasp. The two took off at a run, clattering across the boards to vault over the rail, but a sudden noise from behind made them turn on a dime. As they whipped around, their hearts filled with dread to see the very Wendigo that they thought they dispatched moments ago with Laharl’s help. Even with a caved-in skull, a hole in its chest Tora could see clear through to the other side, and a head that dangled sickeningly on a nearly-severed neck, it was still moving. Still coming. An awful croaking noise issued from its devastated throat, and it prepared to pounce.
Despite everything, Tora’s reaction was immediate. “MEEEEEH!” he bellowed as he brought up his shield and slammed the trigger, launching a Boom Biter from its center that pounded the Wendigo like a cannonball. The explosion slammed it into the cavern wall behind it, where it hung for a moment, its nigh-impenetrable skin ablaze. “Poppi!” he commanded, passing his companion the shield. “Burn it, burn it, burn it now!”
The moment the weapon hit Poppi’s hand its drill bit extended, revving up as she filled it to the brim with fiery ether. “Gladly!” She braced herself, and the next instant a cyclone of flame ripped forward. “Noponic STOOOORM!” It smashed into the Wendigo like a massive punch, and though it tried to fight through the firestorm, it could not hold out for long. As its body was incinerated, a howling ghost burst up from the chaos, not the kind of spirit that Tora and Poppi knew but a nightmarish specter of the monster’s face. It shrieked through the air and back down into the tunnel from whence the horror first came.
As the scorching whirlwind faded, Tora accepted the shield, breathing heavily. Without a word he took off, and Poppi ran behind.
Luckily, the pair reached their allies as the fight was winding down in their favor. The return of those who’d split off down the tunnel only sealed the deal. Once the Phantom Thieves corralled the last Wendigo, Primrose unleashed her pyromancy to turn it to ash. As it died everyone else got a front-row seat for the release of its spirit, terrifying not just for its sudden and startling appearance but also the implications of its continued existence. A jump scare like that, however, wouldn’t leave heroes like these quaking in their boots. As Panther healed up Laharl and Mona brought Yoshitsune back from the brink, the Dancer’s Warmth soothed the wounds of whoever else needed it, including Sora and Fox.
That left just one fight, even if it too was in its final act. After getting frozen by Kelvin’s Sublimate, Sectonia backed off to chunk the golem with Void Globules from afar. As she fell back, however, Midna closed in. Therion’s empowered plunge staggered the creature, paving the way for not just Big Band, but the Twilight Princess to get in and do some damage as well. Midna called out for a duet performance, but with oodles of tension and victory close at hand, the detective had a mind to steal the spotlight. “This thing’s in for a sound beatin’!” As Midna started punching, Band charged in with Brass Knuckles, socking Kelvin in the face. His dance partner dutifully pushed his foe back toward him, and up popped his shiny brass trumpet. When he put his lips to the mouthpiece, something strange happened. Time itself ground to a stop, and in that stolen moment, the big man played Kelvin a special song.
Time resumed, and the monster didn’t so much as get a chance to register what happened before a brass knuckle beatdown befell him at mach speed. “TUBATUBATUBATUBATUBATUBATUBATUBA-!” Band yelled, each giant punch reducing his already-broken victim to smaller and smaller pieces, until with a final mighty “TUBAAA!” he scattered the golem’s remnants in an explosion of ashes. The battle was over.
Party: Tora, Poppi, Big Band, Midna, Sectonia’s, Primrose, Therion, Laharl, Raz Encounter Reward: +8 EXP
In typical fashion, the team got together in the aftermath of the fight to mend leftover wounds and take stock of the situation. Not everyone sustained injury in the course of the brief but brutal struggle, but those who did suffered quite a bit. The wounds left by the Wendigo didn’t heal quite right, and though Tora insisted that he could continue and Joker hadn’t gotten it too bad to begin with, Yoshitsune’s debilition could not be ignored. Add to that the fatigue and exposure incurred by the fight, and the ground the Seekers stood on seemed a little shakier. “I don’t care how much of a big shot ya are,” Band told the samurai. “You ain’t on your game today. Turn your behind back around, or I’ll turn it ‘round for ya.”
Yoshitsune tried to protest, but in his anger he overreached himself and nearly stumbled. Sora moved in to keep him from falling over. “Take it easy, big guy,” the boy said, patting him on the shoulder. “Everyone has bad days sometimes. Just like everyone has a little darkness inside them. But don’t worry, ‘cause everyone has light in them, too! You’ll get your day soon, I know it!” He turned to the others, offering a smile. “I’ll help him back to that temple thing with all the old guys. Hopefully he’ll feel better soon.”
As Band nodded his assent, Poppi spoke up. “Not to interrupt, but we may be on timer. The scary ones did not die as usual, but turn into ghosts and fly away. We should fix lift as soon as possible.” She put a hand on her chest. “Poppi superstrength enough to work controls. That way claws come down and grab platform.”
Braum’s eyes went wide in admiration as he looked at the two massive, pendulous counterweights that promised to drag the lift upward, even with all the Seekers atop it. “Can you truly raise those up by yourself, leetle girl!?”
“That right, heh heh!” Tora grinned proudly, his stubby little arms on his hips. “Poppi power almost as flabbergasty as Tora smartiness, meh! Of course, Poppi have Tora to help!”
“Bloimey.” the Scout shook his head, rubbing his bald spot with one hand. “Well, we got the cart. Clear o’ rocks, too. Just gotta slide it over.”
“Right then, let’s get it done, double-time.” Band led his portion of the team back down the tunnel as the team dispersed. Those who didn’t head over to help push the cart or assist Tora and Poppi with the lift controls could either keep a look out or help to clear the way as Fox and Goemon continued to ice over the stone path. This time the Scout stayed behind to make sure new flares went up whenever the old ones died out, though his stores began to run low quickly. With every eye and ear at attention for any sign of more monsters, nobody could afford to exchange words until the cart finally slid into view. It moved slowly but steadily across the cavern floor until it lay directly beneath the giant pincers that the operators helped to lower. From there, a little guidance and coordination lowered the claws into position, and with a final loud CLACK the mechanism locked into position. From this point on the weight of the big box -and everyone in it- would only serve to make the pincer grip tighter, so as long as the wood and metal didn’t give, everything would be dandy.
“Good to go,” Mona confirmed from on top of Necronomicon. The Persona hovered over the cart, scanning the whole cave every few seconds for any sign of trouble. “All aboard!” From up high he watched Joker, Skull, Panther, Fox, Fox, Primrose, Therion, Raz, Laharl, Braum, and the Scout climb in. Tora and Poppi remained at the control mechanism, ready to fly up under their own power once the lift got underway, and neither Midna nor Sectonia needed any help to ascend either. The abstinence of Big Band, however, left Mona confused. “Aren’t you getting in, Mister Band?”
The detective chuckled. “If ya gonna call me ‘mister’ an’ make me feel old, might as well call me ‘Mister Birdland.” Otherwise Band is jus’ fine.” He then shook his head. “And no. For this Armstrong, even the sky ain’t the limit.”
He jumped into the air, and in a frenzy of activity his lower chassis reconfigured into a genuine rocket, its main thruster and seven afterburners ablaze with flame. He hovered there long enough to send off all the wide eyes pointed his way with a cheeky salute. “I must go now. My planet needs me.” Then he blasted off, soaring up into the cavern’s frosty upper reaches.
After receiving confirmation that everyone was on, Poppi began the countdown. “Okay, everyone brace selves! Three! Two! One!” She released the controls, and the counterweights began to work their magic. The lift groaned and creaked, but against all odds it lifted off the ground. It rocked and span a little, but it continued to rise, neither too fast nor too slow. The ground fell away beneath them, and before too long the Seekers left the scaffolding and stone behind, on their way up through the vast emptiness of the icebound upper cavern. After a few moments Poppi appeared alongside the lift in her QT Pi form for easy flying, Tora held tight in her arms. “Everything look good so far. How friends holding up?”
“Tora have nightmares for weeks, meh,” her Masterpon supplied.
Brief as it was, just about everyone got a chance to get a few good hits in while the creature reeled, confounded by the magic-bound obstacle in its path. Even an opportunist like Nadia didn’t want to push her luck, however, and rather than risk a repeat of the blow that decked her earlier, she got out while the going was good. When the going gets tough, and all that, she reasoned, and after another moment she was grateful she did. Sakura getting hurt made Nadia wince, but the way the feral saw it, there was no way a stray hit like that kept her fellow fighter down. For now she had bigger concerns, for the belligerent Orphan didn’t take kindly to all the punishment the heroes lavished upon it, and it wanted to make very sure they knew.
It unleashed a flurry of widespread attacks, its assault even more unhinged than before, if that was possible. Rather than abandon her allies and flee to a safe distance, Nadia made her best effort to stay in, ducking, dodging, and detaching past the meaty placental blade that seemed to be everywhere and nowhere at once. Since Sakura was getting her bearings, Bowser had grudgingly stepped back for some healing from Kamek, and Geralt kept his distance for now, it was up to her, Ace, and Link to weather the storm as best they could. Like the cat burglar, Link relied upon his agility in order to keep himself alive as he added a few more of the thousand cuts that would be the Orphan’s death, but Ace took a different tact. In a feat of dogged perseverance and incredible moxie, he stuck to the Orphan however it lurched around, landing thrust after steadfast thrust. With a quick sigh Nadia tabled her praise for later and focused on the much less appealing Orphan. Just when she thought she’d finally navigated the gauntlet of attacks and could land a full-force ankle slice with her tail axe, however, an attack not even meant for her swooped around and scored a headshot just as she darted in.
Though a glancing blow, it left Nadia’s head literally spinning, whirling around so fast that as she staggered backward she had to reach up and physically stop it. It was as she clapped her hands against her head that the bottom of her right palm felt something wet, and when she pulled it away she found her hand soaked in bright blue blood. Her cheek had been sliced open, enough so that she accidentally put her tongue through the opening when she tried to assess the damage, which made her shudder in horror. “Eugh! That’s gonna leave a mark.” Hoping that her Life Gem would close that up as soon as possible, she turned her attention back toward the Orphan, only to see it fly out of the melee and toward another part of the beach entirely–a part where only a scant few heroes stood, unprepared for such a dire threat. “Uh oh.” Galvanized into action by the urgency of the situation, Nadia took off on all fours, kicking up sand as she sprinted toward the brief but bloody struggle that was Delsin’s heroic stand. As she ran she got a good dose of Ace’s lifepowder, smiling as her fresh wound into just another storied scar. “Heal yeah!”
Thanks to his intercession, and a little cleverness from the Koopa prince, Junior and Rika managed to escape the Orphan’s deadly clutches while scoring a few hits in the process. Immersed in electrified slime, it tensed itself for a massive leap that would see it hurl its placenta down at the duo from on high before landing on them, but it was then -with no allies in the monster’s immediate vicinity- that Peach made her move. “Get away from them!” the princess yelled as she leaped from the rocks nearby. As she fell her axe kick slammed down on the Orphan’s weapon arm, sticking its visceral armament in Junior’s goop, and without delay Peach jammed her scatterboom into the monster’s chest. A conical inferno erupted from its barrel, filling such a wide area that the princess’s lack of participation so far suddenly made sense. The shrieking Orphan teetered backward as if falling over, but before it could pass the point of return its head locked onto Peach. It planted its other foot and surged back toward her, its weapon pulled free, coated in the same shocking gunk that the princess floated atop, and careening toward her in a ruthless diagonal. Peach, however, was already in motion. She span around with Chao Ho’s fan extended, and in a jaw-dropped display managed to turn the Orphan’s strike, sending it past her while she carried on. “Seen through that!” she growled, and with a torpedo deployed on the bottom of her shoe she came around with a high crescent kick to the Orphan’s jaw.
Supremely angry, the Orphan let go of its heavy weapon to continue on its course, and brought its right hand back around in a bone-cracking backhand to Peach’s head. The unprecedented blow lifted her off the ground, stunned and spinning like a top, to fly a few feet and hit a rock, where she crumpled to the ground barely conscious. The whole exchange took only a handful of seconds, and it was only after a second more that the other Seekers arrived. Link, Sakura, Geralt, Bella, and Nadia closed in, paused long enough to not run straight into a giant horizontal as the Orphan retracted its weapon, then went about their business. Before attending the Orphan, however, Link slid to a stop by Delsin like a batter at home base. No stranger to thinking on his feet, the hero resuscitated the Conduit with a Friend Heart, then joined the others in their assault.
Junior’s goop bolstered several Seekers’ mobility, allowing them to get in and out of the danger zone. Tired of mending injuries in the backlines, Blazermate followed suit with an Ubercharge, shielding her allies as they went at it in quick succession. Meanwhile, Ace punctured it with greatarrows from afar, though the Orphan seemed weirdly resistant to paralysis. It was a hit-and-run strategy that nullified the risk out of the hit, and even if Nadia couldn’t get a word in edgewise -foiled by bad terrain and a keen desire to not get in the way- it was a solid strategy. Until the allure of massive damage pulled Blazermate into melee range in hopes of frying the Orphan with her shield. Instantly recognizing the source of the agony that now tormented it, the monster leaped through the barrier and straight into Blazermate herself. Thanks to her Ubercharge the medabot couldn’t be damaged, but she could be struck and carried backward by the thing’s momentum, and the together the two sailed a short distance before the Orphan came down on top of Blazermate hard enough to half-bury her invincible chassis in the wet sand. It whacked her once before a shout from behind it drew its attention.
The Orphan turned to see six Bowsers barreling toward it, four shadowy, one shadowy and small, and one vanilla. Screeching its acceptance, it released its placenta for a massive disjointed swing that swept across all of them, then came around again for another, and though those strikes must have hurt, not one Bowser broke formation. Before the Orphan could attack again Bowser jumped and came down in a belly-flop, which his doppelgangers were only too happy to pile onto. Nadia and the others approached at a respectable difference, relieved and even amused as the big lug got his time to shine. Beneath all that weight even the barbaric strength of the Orphan could only amount to so much, and though it struggled and struggled, it couldn’t force the Koopa King Troop off.
Not, at least, until it exploded.
The entire beach shook as the pile of Bowsers evaporated in a massive eruption of cherry-pink fluid. Kamek’s shadow-clones turned into a dark deluge as they rained all over, with Mimi’s mimicry doing no better. Even the real Bowser went flying, his giant body so limp that Nadia’s heart just about stopped. Had he really been defeated, just like that!? “No way…” she breathed, not even daring to wonder how Junior and Kamek must be feeling. It was only when a familiar quartet of Felynes hurtled out of the mouth of the cave to catch Bowser in their cart that the Feral realized that he’d be okay, but that in itself invited a far worse realization. The team’s safety net was gone. Whatever came next, those who remained would have to face it not just without Bowser, but with the knowledge that the next fall would be fatal. And as the pink mist cleared, they got a good look at exactly what came next.
For a moment, the Orphan stood at its full height, which seemed a few feet taller than before, as if its first growth spurt had arrived way ahead of schedule. Otherwise it looked the same, except for a few minor details. First, its placental blade was enormous, a fleshy curved maul with a grip that reached the nightmare’s waist while its head still dragged along the ground. Second was the birthing sac that before clung to its shoulders, nothing more than a rudimentary mantle. Now it extended outward in two great lengths, pale, gossamer, and billowing behind it as though in underwater currents. Like the wings of an angel–an angel of death.
Nadia swallowed, her muscles tense. The Orphan just stood there, its sunken eyes glinting in the moonlight. Then, it tiled its head back, and to the heavens raised a bloodcurdling howl. The very air around its head undulated, warped by its plaintive cry. In reply, a pillar of lightning dropped from the storm onto the body of its mother Kos, and across the black beach rolled waves of electricity like the crashing tide.
“Watt the hell!?” Nadia called out in alarm, her pun reflexive. The suddenness of the magic, as well as the blinding brilliance of the lightning, was shocking enough even from afar. But while smaller lightning strikes arced down to hit the crest of the wave at intervals, the cat burglar could see a path through. “Gotta time it right…” she breathed, then ran forward as the lightning rolled in. She just had to hope that the others could handle this on her own, and especially that someone could help out Peach, because Nadia sure couldn’t. With catlike agility she hopped up and over the wave, flipping between the pillars, to land on her feet on the other side. Of course, that put her closest to the Orphan, and the monster accepted the invitation. It dug its hand into the meat of its placenta and leaped high into the air. Well before it could come down on top of her and split her in half, Nadia sprinted the opposite way–only to run headlong into the wave of lightning as it rebounded off the rock face and rolled back towards Kos. The second it touched her, Nadia’s permanent Hydro status reacted to leave her Electro-charged, turning her into a living lightning rod as she fell to the ground burning and paralyzed. “O-o-ohm…my-y-y…go-o-od!” she rattled out amidst her spasms.
Where she suffered, however, Delsin embraced the lightning. Buoyed by confidence that his allies could fully restore him at the drop of a hat, he ran forward into the electricity and proceeded to soak it up, adding the new power to her repertoire. From there he blinked forward, turning to electricity to arc through the air toward the Orphan as Nadia fled from it. He smashed it with his chains, once, twice, then as it wrenched out a bundle of flesh to plunge into the sand, dashed away to a safe distance. The move was not, however, quite as he remembered it. Instead of a small burst around the Orphan, the flesh exploded in a huge area in front of it, and with a cry Delsin flew into the air. He landed as the Orphan bore down on him, holding its placental cleaver with both hands to run on, and with reckless abandon the nightmare brought the guillotine up and down, again and again, until the Conduit was no more.
The Chalk Prince, the Fallen Child, the Skeleton, and the Skullgirl
With their investigation already happily concluded, Frisk turned to lead the way out of the rabbitfolk’s little patch of eternal springtime, into Snowdin’s wintry thoroughfare, and toward the eerie ascent that stood between them and the inhospitable Beneviento manor. Albedo lagged behind a few paces though, and not just to don his new overcoat. Speaking to one or two people did not make an accurate picture of public opinion, and whenever one’s character got called into doubt, things got trickier still. Even omitting the possibility of outright falsehood, there ought to be a lot more to the story. More pieces to the puzzle that would gradually slide into place the deeper the team got into the culture of the Warrens.
But if the trail stopped here, then so be it. If he were to try to address Treat’s situation, Albedo preferred a different tact: the wolfgirl to embrace the good that most of Snowdin wanted to extend her rather than dwell on the enmity of the few. You couldn’t please everybody, no matter how hard you tried; to be loved and acceptance was an unrealistic, even impossible dream. Nor were those who didn’t like you problems to be fixed, their goodwill to be mined out of them like nuggets of gold from so much stone, their reasons extracted like confessions. Do not wallow in darkness, but seek out and hold fast to the light. At least, that was Albedo’s hypothesis. Maybe, for someone like Linkle with a natural heart for humanity, there was another way.
In the end, Albedo’s job on this venture was just to make sure that Frisk didn’t get into any scuffles. It occurred to him, ruminating on this task, that Treat and the rabbits’ continued existence meant that there had been no physical altercations between them, which was good. Unless of course, the rumor about Treat the Shapeshifter was true and she’d destroyed all comers, but if that was the case Albedo felt like there would be more than just passive animosity for the girl. Trying to move on, the alchemist proceeded through the tangled copse and up the snow-dusted steps toward Treat’s abode.
As soon as the trio arrived, however, they were greeted by trouble. Treat herself appeared in such a panic that she hurt herself, barely holding herself together long enough to blabber out the key points of her and Linkle’s foray into the haunted basement. Albedo knelt by the girl as she spoke, examining her ankle as he took in the details. While he meant to offer whatever relief he could, his Corgi did him one better. The little dog’s natural empathy led him right into Treat’s arms, where he could snuggle up against Treat’s head and chest to provide both warmth and comfort as he whined his sympathies. Albedo’s brows turned upward in pity. Realizing that she’d been watched in secret by a monstrous puppeteer for weeks on end -if not longer- probably chilled the poor girl a lot worse than the cold. But now they had a chance to turn her situation around, to free her not just of this lurking menace but of her misery in general. And unlike with the rabbits, the obstacle in her way was a tangible one, a villain that could be defeated.
Papyrus and Frisk shared his resolve, and prepared themselves to hasten to Linkle’s aid. Knowing firsthand at least a portion of the Skullgirl’s incredible power, Albedo doubted that she really needed the help. If she found herself facing an enemy that even her strength and bevy of elemental abilities couldn’t defeat, the alchemist doubted he, a child, and a skeleton would be of much use, unless these two boasted very hidden depths. Still, even if Linkle would be fine, Albedo didn’t want to leave her alone. At the very least, they could return her precious crossbows.
He stood. “Just a sprained ankle,” he told Treat, offering his best diagnosis. “Not mild, but not serious, either. So long as you rest up and don’t walk on it, the inflammation should go down relatively quickly.” Albedo stopped by Linkle’s sled to get her weapons before jogging after Frisk. “Just hold on to my dog, and we’ll be back before you know it.”
Despite Frisk’s determination, Albedo outpaced the shield-bearer in only a moment, on account of both longer strides and a lot more confidence in Linkle’s ability. He went as fast as the descent would allow, even jumping if given the chance, since he knew that falls of this scale would not damage him. The screams that issued from the depths of the manor, hollow and harrowing, did not phase him. Very soon, Albedo stood in the darkness of the basement, peering at the commotion that stirred in the gloom. He announced his presence by calling a Solar Isotoma into existence in a burst of golden light, saying, “Burst Forth!”
The momentary radiance revealed both his new friend and his new enemy. Although not even startled, let alone stricken by fear, Albedo realized that he’d underestimated just how big this dollmaster was. Even hunched over, he utterly towered over Linkle, suspended atop freakishly elongated arms and legs. For a brief instant the alchemist beheld bloodshot, maniacal eyes that bulged from a bulbous, froglike face. Albedo understood in that instant that there wasn’t a moment to lose. With limbs like that, this creature could close the distance in a heartbeat, and even if those wounds suggested an imminent victory for the Skullgirl, Albedo wanted to take zero risks. He manifested his sword, the Cinnabar Spindle, and readied himself for a fight.
Oh, by the way, I was thinking about doing something that our friend Zoey suggested in Discord. I hesitated at first because it seemed indulgent of me, but maybe it would be fun. Zoey mentioned that it might be a better way to celebrate 100 pages (rather than finding things that the RP isn't doing well) to mention what some of your favorite moments have been in the RP so far, during your time here. So if this seems like a good idea and you can think of anything, I would be all to happy to hear from you guys!
While Tora and Poppi licked their wounds, left behind by Laharl as he ran off to aid in Primrose’s rescue, the rest of their allies mounted their comeback. Instrumental to turning the tides was Sectonia, who stepped off the proverbial sidelines with a serious opening act. Her Time Dilation slowed down the rampages of both the ice golem Kelvin and the last remaining Wendigo, and though by no means the herald of an instant win, its effect was significant, as the dancer and the half-demon quickly found out.
The two rushed to the aid of Yoshitsune, where the samurai fought for dear life on the ground. His armor, and especially his helmet, proved to be his saving grace against the Wendigo’s feral onslaught until backup arrived. Primrose’s Black Serpent drove the monster back, and as the two ran in to take over for him Yoshitsune passed out, exhausted from fatigue and blood loss. The rest was up to his allies.
Laharl sicced his undead strikers on the beast, but after taking one slash the Wendigo proved as wily as it was fast. Even if its hideously stretched hide could foil any conventional blade, it had no intention of just standing there and getting hit. Instead it dodged backward, backpedaling until it came upon an outcrop of stone, and when the draugr’s overswing carried it off-balance the flesh-eater used the solid surface as a springboard to shoot forward. Its claw separated the dead Nord’s head from its shoulders before its summoner could so much as blink, although its lunge left it close enough that a pounce of Laharl’s own could land a Lion-empowered blow on it. If, of course, he could overcome the nasty cut that opened on his own throat as a result of the damage done to his striker.
Of course, without fire, the Wendigo could not be put down for good. Luckily, Laharl and Primrose were not alone. Panther and Joker appeared to help, each calling upon the scorching flames of the Lamia to help in their own way. Both Phantom Thieves moved in arcs on their respective sides, along which they set ablaze every piece of wood in their paths to create walls of flame in an effort to box the Wendigo in. When the creature, intent on the bloody murder of Laharl and Primrose, finally realized the threat, it broke off to hide the darkness. A burning shipwreck let off a lot of light, however, and Joker moved to intercept. “This is for earlier!” he declared, switching Personas in a flourish of azure flame that gave the monster pause. “Jinx, Riot Gun!”
A torrent of bullets from the gunslinging madwoman, accompanied by her hyena laughter, overcame the strength of the Wendigo’s jump and sent it flying back. It scrabbled to its feet and ran the other way, but Panther had already cracked her whip, infusing it with her element of choice. Faced with the lash of a tongue of flame, a smoking gatling gun, and an inferno of mining equipment, the Wendigo had nowhere to go but toward Laharl and Primrose. “Torch it!” Panther yelled to her friend. If Laharl gave her the shot, she could incinerate the menace with one good Pyromancy.
Meanwhile, Kelvin found himself under a different sort of duress. As he tore through the wreckage of the scaffold tower in search of Fox, scattering shrapnel with one mighty swing after another, Sectonia began her assault. Though potent, her attacks encountered some difficulty thanks to Kelvin’s Ice Form, until the golem felt the curious sensation of a liquid splash on his back. Then the corrosive started to burn, melting through its protective coating of ice and into its body–or, more accurately, bodies. This hulking brute was no artificial construct, with a core buried somewhere inside impregnable armor; it was a colossal mass of microorganisms, billions if not trillions strong, united under a single shared consciousness, and now that consciousness rumbled in pain. It rounded on Therion, the holes in its skull-face ablaze with thermal fury, but with the golem only about eight feet tall and its head in its middle that meant it had to look up at the thief to do so. The two launched into combat, with Kelvin constantly pressing forward in an attempt to punch Therion while he landed slice after slice. Every few attacks he would pound the ground, unleashing a small shockwave. None hurt too much, and Sectonia’s slow made it manageable, but even with lower defense he had enough durability to last a while, and if allowed to pull off a Chomp the damage would be severe.
At least, until third parties got involved. Though far from done with her Wendigo problem, Primrose spared some attention from her friend. Makami slapped Kelvin with yet another debuff, this time to his offense, alleviating some of Therion’s worry. Fox burst from the debris, having used a charge shot to forcibly relocate himself, but as he readied himself to lend the thief a hand he heard a chorus of yells from behind. A quick look over his shoulder revealed Big Band, Braum, and all the rest who’d gone down the tunnel, ready to help however they could. The three Phantom Thieves joined the pair who stayed behind, leaving the surrounded Wendigo one-on-seven, and with Mona’s wind to fan the flames its fate was all but sealed. Meanwhile, the brawn closed in on Kelvin.
Sensing the danger, the golem emptied his bag of tricks. As his enemies closed in, he activated Sublimate, becoming a heavy cloud of frigid air. The cold front blew through Therion, Fox, and the new arrivals in turn, freezing each for a solid two seconds, and as Kelvin’s run ended it conjured its Ice Wall. A slab of impassable ice arose in the group’s midst, freezing them on contact. Its size left Braum, the Scout, and Fox on the far side, with only Therion and Big Band with Kelvin.
“Guh!” Band gasped as he shrugged off the frost. “It’s cold enough as is, freezie-pop!” When Kelvin moved in without a word, Band deployed an enormous drum pedal to do his talking for him. “Giant Step!” The tremor knocked Kelvin off his feet, giving Therion a big opening, but the one-man band wouldn’t be far behind.
For a good moment Nadia just laid there, plastered against the muck like any of the other sorry carcasses littering this accursed beach, her limbs and fibers strewn about in weird ways, beneath a stormy sky that spun as though she were three sheets to the wind. A normal person might have been lucky enough to pass out, but not Nadia Fortune; the Orphan’s punishment missed her head completely, and though nothing to shake a stick at the pain wasn’t enough to overload her. Not after everything she’d been through. Still, it wasn’t every day that she took an impact akin to a runaway vehicle, and though her healing factor was already at work buffing out the dents, her sluggish muscles weren’t cooperating. Adrenaline pumped through her, perpetuating this fateful instant, and yet she could make no use of it. Drat. She could only stare in fear at the leering Orphan as it hunched over her, silhouetted against those turbulent heavens by the unwholesome light of that melty-eye moon. In both hands it held its placenta, one on the hilt and the other buried in the throbbing watermelon flesh on its head, raised like a guillotine over her midsection to deal the death blow that Rika had been so fortunate to escape. Maybe it was just her dazed delirium talking, but didn’t that weapon look sort of like a big shrimp? Karmic justice, perhaps, for all the shrimp that met their end in her belly over the years. In the middle of her attempts to play her imminent suffering off, however, memories flooded back to her–memories of being carved into pieces, of that unfathomable agony, second only to the horror of watching her family suffer it first. Nadia grit her teeth and, silently crying out to her allies for salvation, squeezed her eyes shut.
At the eleventh hour, her hero appeared. Bowser stepped over her to wrap the Orphan of Kos in his massive mitts. Though the monster put up a brutal struggle, cracking its captor’s armor enough to draw blood, the Koopa King did not relent. In what was, to be frank, an awesome display of strength and sturdiness, the rock-solid ruler powered through the Orphan’s punishment and hucked the flailing infant through the air. It hurtled a couple hundred feet and burst into the gooey, gristly, gas-swollen guts of a beached whale corpse, where it disappeared with a sickening BLORK into the depths of the body’s putrefied embrace. Knowing that the carrion would hold his foe for long, however, Bowser built up and released a ray of radiant light, brilliant enough to inundate the whole beach with its splendor. Its sheer intensity caused the volatile whale carcass to erupt, and the ensuing vile deluge splattered the cove with slabs of steamy, sludgy meat. For a suspenseful handful of seconds, no trace of the Orphan could be seen amidst the haze.
Behind Bowser, Nadia sprang to her feet. Fine, dandy, and fighting-fit thanks to Kamek’s ministration, she couldn’t help but let out a long, low whistle of admiration at Bowser’s feat. “Man, you go, big guy!” Her eyes flitted between him and Kamek. “...Thank you both, for real.” The soreness would linger for a while, and the wave of nausea that followed the whale’s detonation made her glad she hadn’t eaten anything since lunch, but for the most part she was fine. Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said for her appearance. I must look like a complete mess, she bemoaned. Hopefully Ace didn’t end up worrying about her unduly. She’d been hoping to get some revenge for him, in fact, before the Orphan floored her. The whole thing pissed her off, not least that the nightmare seemed content to put itself at a disadvantageous position just to spite her. Did it just hate her that much? Nadia bared her teeth. Although nothing would make her happier than seeing the nightmare dead to rights after Bowser’s giga-beam, she wasn’t about to get her hopes up.
Sure enough, and all too soon, the Orphan showed its ghastly face again. Its torso sported visible damage, but a lot less than the feral would have liked, and with barely any delay the freak started charging toward the heroes once more. This time, however, it bare down on not just one or two challengers, but a whole bevy of Seekers rallied and ready for action. Nadia, Bowser, Kamek, Geralt, Ace, Sakura, and Link all fanned, steeling themselves for its offensive, but the latter had a clever idea too. He threw his brandistock, but not in an effort to pierce the Orphan’s sallow flesh. Instead, Nadia watched as he used a little tablet to freeze his upright weapon mid-air, and when the nightmare swung, the impossible happened. The ordinary-looking polearm somehow took the full force of the abomination’s armor-busting bludgeon, not deflecting it, but absorbing it. Placental blade and Orphan alike stopped in their tracks.
Naturally, just about everyone wanted a piece of that, and the more of them that stepped up to bat, the better a chance they had at locking it down. Geralt’s big stride brought him in the quickest, where he carved across the Orphan’s limbs with the safe, professional slices that would win his team this fight over the big, risky plays that ended in downtime. Sakura, meanwhile, went to town. A bone-crunching elbow led into a twin-fist wallop, then an extra-spicy special cancel to pummel the Orphan’s blindspot with a hurricane kick. Not about to let her fellow fighter have all the fun, Nadia joined in, delaying only long enough to summon another copycat with a flourish. As the gruesome twosome delivered a Flip-flop they removed their heads, which then thrust forward in corkscrew-powered Facepalm. The sight of Ace fighting alongside her, stabbing the Orphan with all he had, filled both Nadias with determination. Amidst the thing’s feculent bloodshed they hopped up to hurl their heads down with Cat Spike. Rather than go for an aerial, however, Nadia made the split-second choice to airdash backward. In a spray of vital fluid she and her copycat flew out of harm’s way. A second later, Orphan lashed out with a distended sweep, carving a spiral furrow in the sand. Sakura’s roll got her clear of the initial pass, and though the second clipped her painfully on wakeup, she could still celebrate landing a solid combo thanks to her strategic use of Link’s stasis-bound brandistock.
The fresh cuts, bruises, and bite marks -courtesy of Bella- made the monster howl in outrage, and it got back into the swing of things with a vengeance, swinging high and wide one direction after another in an effort to eviscerate the whole group without singling anyone out. After a little more give and take, during which the polearm flashed faster and faster before hurling away into the surf, the Orphan switched it up. With a scream it pounded the ground, hard enough to send out a ripple of force, then performed a sudden long jump. It zoomed between Bowser and Geralt, not to mention over Hat Kid, and landed a good way off. The nightmare skidded to a stop not too far from the entrance, which meant it was near Junior, Rika, and Delsin as well. With a yell of alarm, the Abyssal opened fire, but a few bullets wouldn’t stop the Orphan finishing what it started. Before it could get too close, however, Delsin jumped in front. Having broken out of his stupor with an intent to make up for lost time, he unleashed his chains and flames with a bellow, but the Orphan blew through them all. Before the Conduit could change tactics, he took a heavy blow across the chest that cracked his ribs, then an uppercut slice to the armpit that nearly took off his right arm. He fell to the wayside with a chilling yell, broken and bloodied, but his efforts bought the Seekers enough time to catch up to the Orphan once more.
Inspired a bit by both Blasphemous and the work of Mike Franchina, I was thinking about creating the legacy of a Strigiforme cleric who liked worldbuilding: the Apogean See. Essentially, a factory that's a cathedral with four main subsections, each providing some utility (such as the Scriptorium of the High One's Wisdom, which acted as an in-game repository for lore notes as well as data so that the guild members don't have to dive through external wikis and such) and overseen by an archangel. The basic idea of the place is that it revolves around a faith where heaven is a physical place above the atmosphere, and where one can attain the wings to fly there through prayer, meditation, communion, and transfiguration--a literal enlightenment. So everything has a bunch of added bird-themed horror, wings and feathers and skulls and nests and eggs and such, since birds are naturally the most holy of creatures on account of their ability to fly above the tainted world. So, sort of a twist on ascension and angels and all that. Figured it'd be neat.
While I enjoy playing Mae of course, I've thought of a new (and probably much better) idea for a Factory sort of thing with its own NPCs and such that I'm a big fan of. Hopefully I'll get a chance to use it some time in the future.
Mae would probably be the last one to offer her opinion on the matter, but since cooking is her passion she would be more in favor of good relations with the neighbors. Not only would it mean less bloodshed and potentially better markets for her food, but anyone coming after Infactorium would have to get through the the vassals first.
What began as a straightforward fight with a lone ice golem quickly turned to pandemonium when the lurkers in the dark made their presence very known. The gaunt predators split up and went ahead of their lumbering counterpart, leaping from point to point among the scaffolding, mining equipment, and rubble as they closed in on their next meals. A sense of urgency tantamount to panic filled the air after Poppi got disarmed in a single stroke from one of the monsters’ surprise attack, setting the tone for what the others could expect. With precious few seconds to spare they scrambled to gather and ready themselves against the savage might of the Wendigo.
Sensibly, Laharl made a beeline for Poppi’s beacon. He landed just before Poppi did, scouring the area for any sign of her attacker in the radiant glow of her light-attuned Variable Saber. In its glow he and Tora both spotted an ash-gray blur as it sped through the air and latched onto a rocky crag, where it remained just long enough for them to get their first good look at the thing. It was a wretched thing, so emaciated as to be near-skeletal, and mistakable for a corpse if not a human. It looked so horribly stretched, its limbs and fingers all of uncanny length. Its glassy, soulless eyes held such cruelty that Tora gasped as much from fear as from the pain of his bloody wound, but worst of all were its teeth–grisly, crooked, and enormous, many of them missing, and all of them visible thanks to the tattered, bloody, suppurate remnants of its lips. It bunched its loathsome legs for a fatal lunge at the two youngsters, and possessed of nothing but Beast’s hammer to defend himself with, Tora prepared himself for the worst. Laharl, however, had other plans. He called upon his newest Striker to answer the Wendigo’s would-be assassination with a grand bellow of unrelenting force.
The dragonshout struck the ghoulish thing mid-flight and stopped it in its tracks. It hit the stone just in front of the mechanism platform with a shriek, twisting like a cat to get up on all fours, but a vengeful Poppi rushed to capitalize. Her Variable Saber’s blade retracted as it reconfigured, and without skipping a beat Poppi opened fire. A shotgun blast of dazzling lightrays burst forth, piercing her attacker’s leathery flesh in a half-dozen places. She continued to hammer her weapon’s trigger with mechanical precision, blasting again and again even as the Wendigo scrabbled to its feet. Its sprays of searing light hounded its steps, chasing it until it disappeared into the shelter of the shadows and out of sight, wounded but very much alive. Frustrated but focused, she switched her weapon back to blade mode as she alighted between Tora and Laharl, showering the area in its glow once more. “Good work!” Tora quavered, but as his companion knelt to assess his condition he waved her off. “Don’t worry about me. Once we win, Tora heal back to full in seconds. For now we need go full defense!”
Poppi nodded. “Roger roger.” She began to transform, reverting from Poppi QT Pi to Poppi Alpha. In the light of the sparks that flew from the ensuing maelstrom of ribbon and steel, Tora swept his surroundings for any sign of the Wendigo, but found nothing. Not until a gaunt arm burst up between the planks platform behind him, and with vicious claws raked straight through his overalls and shirt and into his back.
“MEGH!” Tora wailed in pain and surprise, whirling around on the spot with his bludgeon upheld. The Wendigo’s limb retracted beneath the platform just before the head of the Nopon’s hammer smashed through a couple boards. “It under us!” Not even a second later both arms came up beneath Laharl, slashing wildly at his legs in an attempt to cripple him. Tora ran over to help, but again his strike fell short. The overswing put him off balance, and before he could recover both arms grabbed hold of the planks directly beneath him. In a single, mighty wrench they splintered the boards, and with his footing destroyed Tora could do little but yelp as he plunged into darkness. “POPPIIIIIIII!”
In the space beneath the mechanism platform, the Wendigo began its onslaught. It ravaged him with bestial fury, filling the shadows with blood. If not for the Drill Shield that manifested in Tora’s wing, constructed from ambient ether, it might have mauled the hapless Nopon to death. Instead its eyes, so used to stygian blackness, filled with the light of Alrest’s energy, and its wicked talons clanged off solid steel. As it floundered, Poppi Alpha smashed through the platform above, pancaking the beast with the weight of her armor just before the blade of her claymore plunged through its back and into solid stone. Coldly expressionless, she channeled the light of her core through the weapon, and as its flesh sizzled the sordid hunter’s shrieking turned from anger to agony. No matter how much it struggled, it couldn’t break free without practically bisecting itself, and instead broke its own bones in an effort to bend its limbs far enough to attack Poppi once more. In that moment, however, those lifeless eyes beheld Tora, badly hurt but not dead yet. “Tora VERY mad now!” he announced, raising his hammer overhead with both hands. “MEH!” he howled, bringing it down on the monster’s head with all he was worth. With the Wendigo pinned, Laharl could join in the beatdown too, and lend his strength to the Nopon’s retribution. “MEH!” Tora bellowed, cracking his would-be murderer’s skull. “MEH!” he screamed, and with a final blow the horror’s cranium blew apart. With a final effort, Poppi pushed her servos into overdrive and carved free of the nightmarish body. Even still it continued to writhe, but without its faculties and in so many pieces, the horror could threaten the team no more.
As bloody as their struggle had been, some of their fellows had it still worse. Sectonia’s flight, size, and ability to blink around kept her out of harm’s way long enough for her to beat back the encroaching darkness with rings of light. While her casts provided some illumination, however, they proved too slow to hit the two rampant Wendigo, and too slow to protect her allies. As Sora raised his keyblade to cast a spell, one of the monsters pounced on him, claws extended. The boy might have died there and then if he hadn’t, in a stroke of either miraculous luck or remarkable foresight, chosen to use Aero. The shield of air deflected the lunge just enough to turn a decapitating slice into a glancing blow to the forehead, and after the Wendigo raked through the boy’s spiky brown hair, it was gone into the shadows once more. Concurrently, the other monster descended on Yoshitsune, only to balk at the samurai’s flaming swords. Sensing a weakness, Yoshitsune charged after the monster in an attempt to chase it down, only for his prey to turn the tables. It flew at him from the side and went low, where its talons sliced cut his left calf to the bone. The samurai went down, with only his fiery katana between himself and a gruesome end.
Primrose had prepared herself for a fight as best she could, but even a seasoned fighter couldn’t have prepared for this. This threat was hard enough to see, let alone fight, and without any protection out in the open it was only a matter of time before trouble found her. Barely a moment after narrowly missing Sora, the naked Wendigo lunged at her, hurling itself down from a scaffolding tower at a high angle. “Look out!” At the last moment, Panther manifested Carmen to slam one of her chained suitors into the monster, and though not a physically gifted Persona, she managed to knock it off-balance. Rather than rip through the dancer’s midsection, the Wendigo bodily slammed into her, sending both to the ground. The monster regained its feet with a snarl, but a spray of fire from Panther’s submachine gun chased it away, its muzzle flash providing snapshots of its escape into the darkness. Fearing for her new friend’s life, Panther looked back toward her. “Primrose! Please be okay!”
“Eyes in front!” Using Lamia, Joker laid down a carpet of fire on the cavern floor, and though some mining equipment caught the rest wouldn’t stay for long. The Wendigo came around again, leaping straight over the flames even as Joker shot it again and and again with his pistol. “Gah!’ he yelled as it landed on top of him, knocking him into the ground hard enough to give him a concussion. It raised its arm to turn his head to pulp, but Arsene manifested to deliver a weighty kick to the ribs.
“Joker!” Panther cried as the Wendigo tumbled. Her fear turned to anger in a heartbeat, and Carmen appeared behind her aglow with her user’s rage. “Dormina!” The spell struck its mark as the monster got up, and like a puppet with its strings cut it slumped back down. Gritting her teeth, Panther let out all her terror and rage in a fiery scream that bathed the sleeping ghoul in flame. It woke up with a blood-curdling shriek, thrashing around in an attempt to put itself out until Carmen followed up with Agilao to turn the wretched thing to cinders.
As it burnt to ash, Necronomicon descended nearby. “Joker’s stunned, but it looks like those things are weak to fire!” she observed. “Lucky us, but the last one’s attacking Yoshi! He needs help!”
The third wendigo, however, wasn’t all that the scattered heroes had to worry about. As they tried to deal with the Wendigo, the golem Kelvin trundled through the cavern toward the first hero he saw, who just so happened to be on overwatch above the rest: Fox. The brute picked up speed and rammed right into the scaffolding the pilot perched upon, sending the whole thing crashing down in a terrific ruckus, Fox included. Wasting no time, Kelvin began to smash through the wreckage, hoping to obliterate Fox beneath his icy fists.
It was into this chaos that Raz, Midna, and Therion descended. As the shipwreck-turned-inferno slammed into the cavern floor, sending burning debris in every direction, it gave them a good look at the current situation. The Phantom Thieves, Tora and Poppi, Laharl, and Primrose were okay for now, but one Wendigo remained at large, and the sturdiest opponent present -Kelvin- had yet to be touched. Fox and Yoshitsune both desperately needed a hand, and though the light down the mineshaft tunnel indicated that the cart-pushers were alert to the danger and on their way, they would arrive too late to save their friends.
As the chunky, cherry-pink geyser of the Orphan blossomed behind her, Nadia caught a fleeting glimpse of a bright blue figure’s final moment, then hit the beach on her front in a spray of sand. As she came to a stop, heart racing and the wind knocked out of her lungs, she felt like a volleyball player who’d dived for a save, except in this case she’d saved her own skin. Her chest heaved from a potent mixture of exertion and panic, and as she picked herself up she wondered if every hit-and-run in this fight was going to end in a harrowing near miss. Twice she’d risked life and limb punching well above her weight class, and twice she’d only barely escaped intact. Sure, this was her specialty and all, and it sure beat getting her lung punctured by a rusty anchor, but all this stress couldn’t be good for her heart. Of course, all the punishment her allies kept taking wasn’t good for them either, so she needed to pull herself together and get back in there.
One thing was bugging her, though. How had she gotten out of that last one? One moment she’d been right in the splash zone, and the next sailing away. Nadia’s eyes fell on the globules of bright blue blood that littered the black sand, which she recognized as her new vital fluid, scattered by the blast. It took only a moment to will it back toward her for recollection, but that was enough time to put two and two together. “I did get that thing’s power after all,” she murmured. The savior that flung her out of harm’s way had been herself, or more accurately, a double made of vital fluid, just like the animals that the Oceanid used against her. And why not? If the flying fish could copy the ‘shapes of the living’ she coveted, it made sense that the feral could copy what she knew best: herself. Despite the severity of the situation, a giddy excitement lanced through Nadia’s body. If her copycats could do everything she could, this fight was about to get a whole lot more interesting.
Before charging back into the fray, Nadia took another second to take stock of the situation. As the battle moved elsewhere, Geralt elected to remain where he’d fallen for a few moments and speed up his recovery with a big vial of Swallow. The fact that the potions he’d already made scaled with him as a result of his fusion with the decidedly plus-size Harbor Demon came as a blessing, although any future concoctions would no doubt demand greater quantities of ingredients. Since Blazermate did not single him out for dedicated treatment, instead continuing to heal everyone as best she could despite the additional injury visited upon him, the Swallow helped mend the gaps, easing in particular the pain and disorientation his head wound left him with. It would be another moment at least before he could return to the fight in earnest, but his place on the frontlines did not go unoccupied.
Once he made sure that his son fared no worse for wear despite the havoc wreaked upon his clown car, Bowser stomped back toward the Orphan to pay it back with a papa bear’s fury. Still, his earlier pummeling had taught him that he couldn’t afford to be reckless–not against an eldritch abomination that could crack and crumble even a Koopa King’s shell. He joined the Ace Cadet, and together monster and monster hunter moved in to take the Orphan head-on. As the pink mist cleared, the heroes found Bella safe and sound, saved once again by the wonderful Sakura, and just in the nick of time, too. Her look of shiny-eyed adoration would have to suffice as thanks for how, however, since there was no time to spare. Just as Ace and Bowser reconvened, Nadia watched Hatty fall from the sky as a weighty ice sculpture. The fact that the sweet move didn’t squash the Orphan flat left her incredibly disappointed, and even more worried about what could happen next.
Sure enough, the outrageous infant retaliated. It hurled Hatty into the air and leaped after her to smack the living popsicle back down. It happened so fast, and for an awful second Nadia thought that the monster might smash her little friend into a million frozen pieces. Instead its withering blow just destroyed her icy armor, and Hatty tumbled down to the ground, more or less fine. Nadia was beyond relieved to see that the kid stood without issue and proceeded to keep a safe distance from the melee. The second the Orphan touched down after attacking Hatty, it set off a quartet of dark magic mines, and for a brief moment staggered in their nebulous explosion That gave Bowser and Ace all the time they needed to get in and start swinging with gusto. Both got a couple strikes in before the Orphan righted itself, and with a scream the aberration struck back. Its hideous weapon struck at Bowser before it came down on Ace’s shield once more, but rather than pound on it the Orphan swerved to the left, dodging a blow from Bowser in the process and putting the Cadet between the two. As it did it unleashed a wheeling horizontal strike that hit the side of the monster hunter’s shield, blowing his guard wide open. From there the best Ace could do was shove his sharq forward with all his strength, hoping to deal as much damage as he could in the exchange.
A tangible shockwave expanded as the Orphan and hunter traded blows. The former took a sharq attack toits left shoulder, just above the heart, and the latter paid for it with a disjointed uppercut slice that launched Ace right into Bowser, if the Koopa King hadn’t already gotten out of the way. Heedless of any lack of target, it followed up with a second just like it, which ended in an eruption of earth behind it as its placenta looped around. At that point, with no friendlies in its way, Blazermate’s level two sentry opened fire. The Orphan turned its way with a snarl and charged, running straight into the torrent of bullets as it rushed the turret down. Once in range it distended its placenta and swung overhead to clobber the sentry across the top from a good distance away. Whether pushed back by the gunfire or just poorly judged, however, the nightmare’s efforts amounted to no more than a glancing blow, and though bent downward by the force to the point where it could no longer aim, the turret was far from destroyed. Unfortunately, the Engineer got clipped in the thigh by the slam, which both dispelled him before he could repair the sentry and opened a sparking gash in Blazermate’s own leg.
Nadia came running in while the Orphan was still isolated. She cast her arm to her side in a flourish, summoning a copycat to run alongside her. Both Ms Fortunes struck with Cat Scratch, raking their nails across its arm with the opener of their signature rekka, and as it turned her way with a wheeling horizontal reprisal, both launched into a different follow-up. The fake flew up and over the counterattack with a pounce to deliver a full-force El Gato axe kick that bopped the Orphan right on its wrinkly forehead and left a couple scratches behind, while the real Nadia went low. As her Cat Slide breezed under the monster’s placenta her legs spun like twin drills, tearing into shaky calves. “Wreck-a yo shins!” Just as she hoped, the Orphan paid attention to the Ms Fortune in his face despite the pun from below, and as its weapon followed her arc overhead Nadia turned over. After a brief charge both legs rocketed upward in a water-propelled Fiber Upper. Although she aimed for its head she hit its back again instead, but eh. Good enough. Of course, the freak used the extra force to help obliterate her copycat, but by that time the genuine article had gotten away scot-free. The maneuver, successful beyond her wildest dreams, made her smile ear to ear. “I’m doin’ purr-etty darn good!”
Just then one of Sakura’s hadoukens then struck it right in the ribs, and as it turned toward her with thoughts of annihilation, a railgun blast from Bella’s wounded tail exploded against its abdomen. It flew from the explosion in a rage, aiming an overhead slam at Sakura -the furthest forward of the two- that seemed liable to turn her into a red smear on counterhit. It had one more surprise, too: a wild follow-up swing, meant to pulverize any cheeky attempts to capitalize on a perceived opening. But if that strike got dodged, or wholly deflected, the momentum of the slash put the Orphan at a disadvantage.
It was then that Nadia caught up, just as Bella made her move. The Seaplane Tender sent out her tail to clamp down on the Orphan’s right shin. With the creature already off-balance, a sharp tug forced it to plant its right arm to avoid falling, and that arm was the one with its weapon. In other words, even if just for a split second, it couldn’t attack. Nadia smirked and repeated her assault from earlier, this time splitting off two copycats to perform the mid and high follow-ups to her rekka, while she went low again. It was that choice that saved her from an otherwise fatal miscalculation as the Orphan attacked anyway, twisting the opposite way with an overhead that blew through both copycats before slamming into Nadia herself. If not for the sacrifice of her doppelgangers, the blow might have split her from sternum to pelvis; instead, it left her half-conscious and half-buried in wet sand for her hubris, too dazed to move. As the stars cleared she saw Bowser and Link arrive to help, and not a moment too soon.
The Chalk Prince, the Fallen Child, and the Skeleton
Frisk’s tease met with a veritable rock wall (or perhaps more accurately, chalk wall) of indifference. Albedo simply didn’t regard the act of following the child with any significance, since coming to the Warrens would naturally form the first step in any rabbit-based investigations. He merely listened to Frisk’s report, on the off chance that the kid managed to learn anything already, and to his surprise, they had.
He listened at rapt attention, his chin couched thoughtfully in the crook of his hand. If the testimony of ‘a couple people’ was to be believed, the painfully harmless Treat was in actuality a skinchanger, capable of terrifying transformation. Although such creatures did not exist in his world, he cast his mind toward the enigmatic wolflike monsters known as Rifthounds that stalked Teyvat’s forsaken corners, as well as the lupine entity that the wild boy Razor conjured when forced to do battle, and for ordinary folk both must seem pretty fearsome. Add to that the possibility that Treat couldn’t control her bestial reversion, and the result was a rabbit-devouring fiend who could arise to terrorize the hapless villagers of the Warrens at any time–if, of course, what Frisk heard was true.
Albedo had his doubts, even after shelving the possibility that the whole story was an out-and-out lie. To start with, he’d never so much as heard the word ‘Wolfskin’ before today. Neither had he heard about any form changes on Treat’s part. He couldn’t discount the possibility that either event simply occurred out of his wheelhouse behind closed doors, since his own anecdotal evidence wasn’t all there was in life, but with no proof the alchemist found such a thing difficult to believe. There would have to be proof, too, if Treat couldn’t control her supposed shapeshifting. While she did sequester herself pretty often, it was by no means rare to see her hanging around rabbit-devoid parts of the town, reading or sipping hot chocolate in the backdrop. Besides, Treat did not seem to Albedo to be the forthcoming type. If she was a Wolfskin but couldn’t transform without this ‘beast stone’, how would the rabbits know about it?
Based on his own line of thinking, Albedo wondered if Frisk’s contacts were merely describing a phenomenon from their own world, then applying that knowledge to someone who seemed to fit a pattern. The difference between this world and one’s own was lost on a Gleaming individual, which meant that fears and prejudices could bleed through despite a complete change in circumstances. A few questions sprang to mind that the alchemist would not mind asking, if he got a chance to question the pertinent rabbitfolk himself.
That would have to wait, though. Frisk was already leaving, apparently satisfied with their new information as the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. The kid gave no announcement of their destination, instead introducing Papyrus and Albedo. Looking over the goofy-looking skeleton, Albedo gave a polite nod. “Hello.”
All around, the Prison of Indictment surged with the chaos of a sudden war. Beams of light, plumes of shadow, weapons and spells of every kind filled the air as the thralls of the Warlords fought to the death. Whatever this symbolized could be pondered later; for now, the young adults pushed themselves into action. Despite enervation and injury, the ragged band of escapees clung to the one ray of hope that shone upon them, and one after another put their bet their lives on Spindle’s promise by hurling themselves from the top of the cliff toward the water that churned below. As they fell, their hair and clothes whipping in the wind, their screams of fear, desperation, and uncertainty joined the cacophonic chorus above them. Adrenaline made the moment seem like an age, but in reality only a few seconds passed before all ten splashed down and sped away, borne by the current.
The water was cold, not frigid, but bracing enough to shock the sense of all who immersed themselves within. To most it provided an extra jolt of energy, temporarily washing over the fatigue that clung to their limbs like so much dried mud. Not everyone who bobbed to the surface, however, did so with wide eyes and a loud gasp. It was Dakota who first caught a glimpse of Jin as their senseless body floundered in the water, and he didn’t think twice before putting his weary bones to work. Luckily for him, and indeed the whole group, the current that swept them downstream was mercifully gentle, more like a large-scale lazy river than the raging rapids one might see a daredevil hero contend with in an action flick. Dakota paddled his way over and grabbed hold, helping to buoy Jin above the surface so that no water would enter their lungs. An executive decision was made, and with the last of his spirit energy Dakota called upon Thamyris to save new acquaintance with Dia. As the healing magic flowed through Jin, pulling them back from the brink, Dakota breathed a sigh of relief. Then his body went limp, and he began to sink himself.
A spool of silvery thread looped around his arm, tightening harmlessly against the jacket, and kept him from going under. Spindle, having alighted upon the back of Odradek rather than plunge into the drink with the others, wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead with the back of her gloved hand. “Whoo-wie! Talk about a close shave!” Drifting above the water, she extended lifelines to each of the others in turn. With the extra help keeping them afloat, Barney and the others could afford to relax for perhaps the first time since their arrival in this absurd netherworld, watching the high walls of Pondwater’s dreadful jail recede into the distance as they floated on their backs. As he got used to the water’s temperature, Barney let his eyes slide shut, and as the echoes of battle gave way to silence he could let go of the stress that knotted his sore muscles, bit by bit. Despite the danger and the unknown, he could do little more than continue to trust in the little group’s guardian angel, who’d brought them this far and surely wouldn’t lead them astray.
From her position atop her kitelike Persona, Spindle directed the group through the waterways. No pursuers appeared to give chase, and no dangers arose from the depths, so the escapees could enjoy a peaceful ride down the river’s twists and turns. All too soon, however, the moment of tranquility came to an end. After rounding a bend Barney found himself confronted by a view of the open ocean, where the river ended in a small waterfall that emptied into the kaleidoscopic, gelatinous expanse of tar that was the Sea of Souls. Walls of buildings ringed the bay, and in the middle stood a lonesome, towering island, upon which he could see an imposing citadel. The flashing red and blue lights atop the marble of classical architecture made him almost as uneasy as the prospect of being dumped into the illimitable tar pit that gleaming and bubbled only a few hundred feet away, but Spindle took a right turn down an alternate path toward a megalithic hotel, and pulled all her charges along after her. The channel led into the building, where the water grew shallower until Barney’s feet touched the bottom. After releasing the police girl’s thread he stood to find himself in a circular fountain pool, the fancy central water feature of the hotel lobby. More of a ring than a solid structure, the hotel featured a central atrium that extended from the bottom floor all the way to the glass roof of its twentieth story, with rings and rings of rooms in between. Through it Barney could see the turmoil of the smoke-gray sky, alight with the hellish light of eternal war. He shivered and climbed out of the fountain.
“Everyone alright?” Spindle’s Persona vanished as she hopped off, leaving the ten alone. “I reckon this place is safe, safe as it gets here anyhow, so we got a few if y’all wanna catch your breath.” She jabbed her thumb over her shoulder at the couches and coffee machines that littered the lobby. “All y’all oughta grab somethin’, ‘specially whoever’s got a Persona.”
Barney, massaging his wound, shook his head. “Thanks, but I’m not really hungry.”
The police girl grinned. “Lucky you, food ain’t just for fillin’ yer belly if yer in the Metaverse. It’ll patch ya right up, and drinks like coffee will give yer Persona more juice, too!” Her face turned serious once more as she crossed her arms, staring at the door that led back out to the city. “There’s a place nearby we can use to getcha home. But it ain’t gonna be easy–not with other Warlords sniffin around. You can bet yer behinds we’re gonna run into more trouble, so fill up while ya can.”
Current GM of World of Light. When it comes to writing, there's nothing I love more than imagination, engagement, and commitment. I'm always open to talk, suggestion, criticism, and collaboration. While I try to be as obliging, helpful, and courteous as possible, I have very little sympathy for ghosts, and anyone who'd like to string me along. Straightforwardness is all I ask for.
Looking for more personal details? I'm just some dude from the American south; software development is my job but games, writing, and trying to help others enjoy life are my passions. Been RPing for over a decade, starting waaaay back with humble beginnings on the Spore forum, so I know a thing or two, though I won't pretend to be an expert. If you're down for some fun, let's make something spectacular together.
<div style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Current GM of World of Light. When it comes to writing, there's nothing I love more than imagination, engagement, and commitment. I'm always open to talk, suggestion, criticism, and collaboration. While I try to be as obliging, helpful, and courteous as possible, I have very little sympathy for ghosts, and anyone who'd like to string me along. Straightforwardness is all I ask for.<br><br>Looking for more personal details? I'm just some dude from the American south; software development is my job but games, writing, and trying to help others enjoy life are my passions. Been RPing for over a decade, starting waaaay back with humble beginnings on the Spore forum, so I know a thing or two, though I won't pretend to be an expert. If you're down for some fun, let's make something spectacular together.</div>
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