Rexcalibur

The Legend of Heroes: Tales of the World

Guh. I never want to GM ever again after this lol. Writing this many scenes and trying to be succinct while still trying to give everyone interesting stuff to respond to is a nightmare, idk how you do it Pacman hahaha. I guess in this sense my respect for you just kinda shot up, after you've been doing this for so long and kept it going :)

If there's anything I need to change or clarify, please let me know and I'll do my darnedest!

The Legend of Heroes: Tales of the World

Phillis Circus: Big Top - Onstage

Petra was down. Isabella was down. Poppy, Abram, the triplets, even Max and Olga - everyone was down. Toys and dolls scattered throughout the tent, many of which busted beyond repair, if not bursting with foam, fluff, and broken seams. Everyone who shared the circus with her was crippled by this team of ragtag guilders. Perhaps she had underestimated their power. Perhaps they all had.

Or, perhaps, she wasn't trying hard enough.

Guinevere screamed, loud enough to jar even her own brother for a moment, before the tuna slammed down on his face anyway. The teddy bear rose back up, roaring similarly to Lucien's own summon; like a feral bear with a disjointed face it lunged at the two girls. However it found itself landing on its side; Lute and Delilah had managed another attack just as Vance dropped his control. The virtuoso pounced on it with enough force to save them - though the teddy lashed back in time to send Lute back bouncing. It was dizzying if anything, but it kept him separated still from the duo.

"Fiends! You will not have this battle!"

---

"Invalids!" Vance cried out, kicking the fallen tuna back offstage. He had temporarily dropped his control on Syed and Lute now thanks to that witless summoner, and following that flub the bigger woman managed to constrain her own teammate. Just when he was having fun. "Have you guilders no sense of--"

He couldn't even finish his sentence. That blasted tuna - the fish of vengeance had suddenly flown back up and whacked him on his face, hard enough to push the puppeteer back. A loud slap echoed throughout the entire tent as the fish's body collided into Vance's cheek. And again. And again, until the man had fallen over.

Before it could go in for another round, Vance snatched it from the air and yanked it towards him - roughly pulling Amy on stage as well.



She had reached the pit amid the chaos and, thanks to Lucien's dumb warnings, followed up his distraction with a variant of her deadly slaps. Her light whip lashed forward and wrapped itself around the fish, allowing her to beat the man silly while he was still caught unawares. While not from her hand, they still hurt. Plus the bonus embarrassment factor was enough to get a chuckle out of Amy herself, until she was yanked onstage anyway.

Vance's lips twitched into a smile. "Amaranth. Of course. How pleasant of you to join me."

"Piss off."

"Ooh, grouchy! I don't quite remember you being so belligerent, dear."

With both Moira and Syed out of the way, Estelle was in free range of Vance, with Amy the only other person between them. Guinevere however caught sight of this and turned her fierce eyes to the swordswoman. She threw both arms skyward. Now the majority of toys and plushes that were free-roaming throughout the tent maneuvered toward the pit, where Estelle was. It wasn't enough that her previous battles with Xandra and Syed were taking their toll; neither of the siblings were letting up.

The remaining foam swords encircled around Estelle again, ready to dive right in - but they were shot down in an instant, thanks to Trixie from far off.

One of the swords however flipped midair back towards the stage - and Guinevere forced it in Amy's direction. She had used her staff as a clutch to stand herself back up during Vance's taunts, and she didn't quite expect herself to flop forward so soon. The hardened blade flying her way drove itself into her arm before dropping onto the stage.

Amy screamed.

Vance shook his head as he walked up to the writing cleric. "Gwee. That wasn't very nice." His sister gave him no response. To this he resumed scanning the battlefield, with Amy's wrist beneath his foot. She cried aloud again, dropping her staff instantly. "Now my dear, I believe we still had a game to play."

---

Phillis Circus: Big Top - Entrance

Baltimore nodded to Marcus and Eric; they were all in mutual understanding that both herself and her uncle were willing to fight alongside the guilders. Quickly the mime girl snatched the busted mallet from the ground and chucked it forward. She ran after it while deftly crafting something in front of her, as if she were molding invisible clay. In moments there was a booming sound of glass shattering, with chinks sounding off from beneath Baltimore's feet. She held her fists now over her shoulder as she ran in Lucien's direction.

But she was too late.



The dragon plush that soared in earlier, merely rebuffed by Marcus' gales but not dismantled, dove in after Lucien now that he was in vulnerable. Open and alone. Guinevere cried out in sync with the dragon's muffled roar: "Suffer, suffer!"

Its flat linen claws sharpened in an instant. As it descended upon Lucien, it raked its claws across his body - whatever it could nab - sending the summoner flying out from his spot and into another chair; the crash was severe enough to break the chair from its hinges as well. Before the reptile could take off after its prey, it found itself gurgling instead.

It collapsed onto its stomach and seemed to deflate, as its puffy white innards poured out from two holes punctured into its thorax. Baltimore stood behind it, huffing, her invisible weapon driven into the beast. She yanked it out with a kick and looked towards where Lucien had landed. She hadn't seen much of him since the battle started, but with all the mental and physical abuse being dealt to him...

What a brave soul, sacrificing himself so his friends could get the upper hand.

Baltimore shook her head and turned to the stage. Keeping an eye on the toys floating around and nearby, she began crafting something else with her diligent fingers.

---

Before Eric could follow up with his own moves, he suddenly found himself with the jitters. Like some bug or amphibian made its way into his trenchcoat with the sole intention to tickle him silly. A quick swat and tug up his sleeves revealed something different entirely, however.

Little porcelain dolls with skin as pure as snow, clothed in brilliant red silk and golden rayon locks. Two of the finger-sized monsters had crawled up his sleeves. Marcus found similar ones jumping after the staff in his hand. Curiously, some of them had bits of their dresses and hair singed off, while others had chunks of their glassy faces missing.



Others waddled (or crawled if their legs were missing) into the exit nearest to where Moira dragged Syed. If the sight of them didn't send tingles running down their spines, Moira suddenly felt one now. It was a mix of tingles and numbness running through her limbs, as she found her body suddenly not within her control - with poor helpless Syed in her grasp.

Now, who else was nearest to her?

---

Lovely Aria and Echo the Mighty save the day! Well Trixie's day. From being squished. By a giant teddy bear. She let out the biggest sigh of relief of her life as she shoved in her new ammo.

"I don't suppose you have any more smoke bombs to distract them with? We need to get to the fancy coat guy!"

"Smokes? Smokes?? Nooo Xanny told me to use them earlier!" She reached back into her pouch for something else instead. "But I still got this!" Between her fingers now was a shiny silver ball - a flashbang. She nodded to Aria with understanding, and the two averted their eyes as Trixie chucked it to the stage, towards Guinevere.

But it was seized from the air, in the beak of a flying stuffed duck. Trixie jumped and fired rapidly after the plush bird, but suddenly found her fingers locked. As well as her feet. "Uh. Guys this isn't supposed to--"

The duck flung the bang right back at them, with Trixie looking away just in time. Instantly both Aria and Lute were blinded from Trixie's flash - and she began following up on the duo with her own gunshots. "It's not me! Honest! I swear! Please get away - get away get away get away! Aaaah!"

"Humm. What's in here?"

"NO, STOP IT, THAT'S MY STUFF. BAD HAND." From her pouch Trixie flung another grenade out - this one being a splat bomb like her beloved mechanical Yam, with stuffing-like texture designed to hold someone in place. Way better than a dumb net.

As if things weren't chaotic enough, now those porcelain dressy blonde dolls were flinging themselves at people, making weird fairy-pixie noises like they were some baby girls with each jump. Like those by Marcus and Eric, many of them were scorched, zapped, or otherwise beaten up. They didn't hurt nearly as much as Guinevere's other plushes, even if they were loud and had glassy bodies already. Rather, Guinevere narrowed her eyes at the sight of this, but still kept them under her control anyway.

The Legend of Heroes: Tales of the World

Took a nap.
Set your alarm, Pacman said
Nah I'll be fine, I said

Four hours later--

Anyway, gonna get caught up then start on a post. I'll try not to take too long since I've got a couple of essays I need to finish by tomorrow haha. Depending on how much I knock down tonight, I might have to skip posting tomorrow. That or I'll post for one scene, idk. I'll letchu guys know before I work tomorrow :)

EDIT: Just updating so you know I'm still working on the post haha. Almost done. I've got 4/5 scenes atm, just need to wrap them up.

The Legend of Heroes: Tales of the World

Phillis Circus: Big Top

It was really cool watching the battle between the ladies unfold as Trixie drew nearer. They went back and forth after Lute's soundy attacks, before Aria finally got the upper hand and knocked miss ponytail down for good. That was fine and dandy, but that weirdo blondie from earlier was on the attack now! With swords! To make things worse, Lute started flipping out, which consumed Aria's attention too.

Ohhh oh no oh no oh no. She couldn't let Aria get hurt.

Trixie did her usual battlecry - "Yaaaa!" - while changing her bullets' target to Poppy. Granted her accuracy was spastic as she was running, but she fired enough to land several hits on Poppy. It was enough to jolt and jar her. Stray bullets flew amok, some crashing into the remaining poles and columns, others the walls and ceiling. Some ricocheted and retained enough power to knock down some of the weaker flying toys - including one of those floating swords.

She pocketed one of her guns and continued firing the other. From her peripherals she could tell that both Aria and Lute were turned away at this time while Poppy was turned to her. That only made things so much easier. As the acrobat prepared to counter in the incoming pipsqueak, Trixie reached into one of her belt pouches. "Say cheese!"

Trixie slammed her eyes shut as she cast out a tiny ball from her pouch. It exploded in an instant, blinding Poppy (and Lidya, who just got the ringing out of her ears) and disorienting her a second time. Both of their eyes and hearing had been toyed with almost back to back; considering the flood of toys and just how long the battle had been drawn out by this point, everything was utterly chaotic and fatiguing for both parties.

Just as the acrobat opened her eyes again, Trixie had already caught up to her. She was in the air now, jumping to get a better range. And, like Aria, she bashed the barrel of her tiny gun onto Poppy's head - knocking her to the ground instantly. Trixie skid on her feet as she landed, striking a triumphant pose.

"Guys! Guys! Oh my omelets did you guys see that!?"

Oh... right. Of course they didn't. Duh. But now it seemed like Lute was... attacking Aria!? It was just like the way Estelle and Xandra fought, though that resulted in something less than desired. Was this all of that redcoat's doing as well?

The virtuoso's warnings and pleas were genuine, despite the way his body moved. Trixie aimed her guns his way, but couldn't find it in her to pull the triggers - that was still very much the Lute they had fought side-by-side with moments ago. She ran her hands through her hair - ugh! What do, what do? As if that wasn't enough, electricity jolted in her direction, but crashed into the floor before it could catch her feet. Trixie jumped in response, instinctively turning her guns in the electromage's direction. "Eh!? Syed, you too?"

It was that redcoat guy, it was definitely him! She began firing after Vance, but her shots were immediately barricaded by a large, brown being. A teddy bear much too big for her comfort. From behind it, Guinevere shook her head with a tut - and the bear leapt at her. Trixie shrieked at this and collapsed onto her butt, narrowly avoiding the body slam. She poised her guns to shoot at it, but as luck would have it, her bullets ran dry. "Oh cheeseburgers..." Backing away, she fumbled through a belt pouch for ammunition.

The Legend of Heroes: Tales of the World

Hello hello, just writing for Trixie today. Should give everyone a nice break from my novel-sized posts, hahaha ;;;;;;

Pacman shared this earlier today and I just think it's the funniest thing, because despite this being UK-based, the same could be said for the majority of US congressfolks lolol



Lawdy Buns I can never figure out how I actually feel about that video lmao

The Legend of Heroes: Tales of the World

Kathi~ I hope you don't mind if I chucked mine up real quick. I wrote it up earlier after chatting to Pacman and Buns around the time you were starting yours too hehe. My post affects Lute and sends Trixie after Aria/Lute, but doesn't affect Aria (or Isabella, Poppy, Lidya, Guin's dolls) at all, so I think it should be safe.
EDIT: Just saw your post go up! I edited the end of mine so it doesn't interfere with yours at all, Kathi. ^^

yo yo ic spoils

Both Sy and Lute have become Vance's new puppets!



Buns, Kei, Vance's puppeting skill is advanced enough that he can use two bodies at once to fight, diligently haha. The head/mouth/eyes/mind are free from control so you could have your chars call out or scream or make weird faces or whatever as Vance controls their bodies. Basically, write them now as if they were enemies fighting other guilders (though their reactions/expressions remain genuine). :3 Unfortunately Vance doesn't hold back and intends to kill the other guilders, so writing them without holding back should be fun eh?

Like I explained a tad bit in my IC, he'd take a really brief moment to let the body-snatch sink in before he uses his puppets and their powers as if they were his own. So that would also include Lute's sound tactics and Sy's electricity. Kei, however Delilah reacts to this is totally up to you - have fun with it! XD

Trixie's coming their way too, so Aria isn't completely outnumbered hahaha. If using Trixie helps anyone out re: shooting toys or providing a distraction or whatever, feel free to maneuver her!

I hope you guys like this dumb twist ^___^

The Legend of Heroes: Tales of the World

Phillis Circus: Big Top - Audience Seating

"Ow... my head..."

Using a chair to stand herself, Trixie sloppily rose to her feet. Lucy's bear had saved her from certain bone-breaking, but judging from its various cries and the way it flew overhead, it had lost control. Once her blurry vision pieced back together, Trixie took off after the distraught summoner. Because of Vance's power over him, he couldn't even concentrate enough to will away the rampaging bear. Marcus had blown it away in time, but that only led to more pain for Lucien himself.

"Lucy!? Lucy, are you - are you okay? What's wrong?"

The summoner responded back in fragments, due to the strain of Vance's control along with his bear summon and the pain that came from basically everything. Trixie understood him well enough: that he couldn't control what was going on. Someone was doing this to him.

She didn't put two-and-two together that it would be the same person that caused Estelle and Xandra to fight earlier, but Lucien managed to point her in the right direction. The dude in the red coat on stage, looking all high and mighty and gross. Trixie pouted at him before whipping out her guns again and reloading them. "I'll avenge you, Lucy! Don't you worry!"

Trixie ran off towards the stage before Lucien could do anything to stop her. Instead of heading down where Moira, Syed, and Estelle were, she ran along the tent walls towards where Aria and Lute's battle carried on. Surrounded by a bunch of freak toys and a giant teddy bear and a real lion and another acrobat and Guinevere herself - if either guilder were knocked down, the other would be outnumbered easily! As she ran, she shot rapid-fire at whatever small toys were flying overhead.

---

Sammie had fallen back down in an instant. Caught completely unaware, she hadn't even cried out as the flying metal chair crashed right into her head. She simply toppled over from it and did not get back up.

Her sister shrieked at this, as her hand continued to flick into and out of her hat. But no more balls of flame came out - just smog as she tried to continue her fiery stunts. "No! No no no!" She shoved her hand in there further, digging for anything extra she had lying around. She plucked out a couple more rabbit plushes to add to the chaos, but grumbled and whimpered expletives as she continued fumbling.

Tammie cast her hat aside upon finally pulling something out - a metal thermos filled to the brim with boiling coffee. Poppy's name had been sloppily written on its surface. "Monsters! Y'all are monsters!" She quickly loosened its cap and was ready to chuck it at him... but instead ducked down as Trixie's stray bullets ricocheted in her direction, right overhead. Thankfully none of Poppy's coffee had spilled yet.

---

Onstage

"Oh Amaranth, this is so exciting. What of this woman?" Vance hummed.

He turned to the fallen Moira next, and moved a hand in her direction - but diverted his eyes upon hearing footsteps stampeding along his way. Crispin's feet no longer carried on, and Vance simply let him drop to the floor. He shook his head at the incoming Estelle, her blade blazing with indignation. "You guilders refuse to learn."

The puppeteer didn't even flinch as Estelle drew near. The hand he had held towards Moira shifted towards Estelle next, fingers outspread. Her feet tangled with one another in an instant, changing her course. Now she was charging offstage - but she wasn't going without a fight. She had her sword poised in a perfect enough position that she was able to swipe at close range, despite her once again losing control of her body.

Before Estelle flopped offstage and into the pit, she landed a direct hit on him. A perfect, sizzling slice along Vance's arm. His sleeve caught fire in an instant, small flames dancing around the newly slashed hole. Vance reeled back at this, grunting, as he clasped his hand atop his wound. They went out in an instant, but now blood coated his palm. A deep cut, but not deep enough.

Vance grimaced. "Mongrels." With a twitch, he returned his attention to Amy, and forced his lips back into a smile. His words were laced with impatience. "Now my dear, where were we? Oh - oh yes. Our little game. Hmm. How about... this man?"

Not too far from a stage were a man and woman, who fared off against the twin magician girls. The blue sparks that danced around the male's body were so... intriguing. What gifts guilders possessed. Oh, how he wanted them, how such lovely additions they would have made to his family of performers. But alas - his daydreams were as over as his reputation. Vance reached out towards Syed and curled his fingers into a slow but tight fist. "And how does this work?"

Vance's puppeteering had an extremely fast learning curb; with regards to elemental magic, it only took a second for him to manipulate the user's skills. Especially if they were not resilient to his control.



Syed's arms moved about unceremoniously, the electricity around his body alternating between still and haphazard. Fingers flicked, arms jerked about before slowing into a better flow. Once Vance's puppeteering had a solid grasp on Syed's ability, he turned the mage's attention to Estelle. He wasn't entirely sure the mage was as suited for combat as the other three he had toyed with, but Syed would prove something interesting no less.

Estelle's body was not too far from Syed and Moira. As the swordswoman worked her way back to her feet, Vance sent the mage after her - keeping the incoming Trixie in his sights. Nothing was more fun than watching people get electrocuted.



Amy only twitched in response to Vance's disgusting actions. She held her staff forward, in Moira's and Estelle's direction (with the light-whip still dangling from the gem). At once all three of the women's bodies glowed a brilliant golden hue. They were not going down that easily.

---

Entrance

Baltimore meanwhile threw her hands to her mouth once Eric came crashing down, and she ran to his aid. She knelt beside him, rubbing her dainty hands along his head in an effort to soothe at least one of multiple pains that were eating at his body. He made such a glamorous entrance - Baltimore expected no less - but he couldn't be downed. Not yet! The wall still remained between Amy and the others behind her, but Baltimore wanted to help her uncle up first before devoting attention to anything else.

The dolls flying around to and fro didn't help ease her in the slightest. And neither did the big badly-sewn green dragon that flew in. Its wings were outspread, nearly catching the beast-toy in the entrance's curtains before it managed its way inside. Baltimore bit her lip as she returned her attention to her poor uncle.

How much longer could this tent hold up under all this chaos?

---

Vance watched through his peripherals as Isabella lost her cool and went after Aria. With both Poppy and Lidya recovering from some sort of disorientation, that left the boy open to attack. At once Vance closed that possibility and extended his hand in Lute's direction, slowly closing his fist. Similarly to Syed and the others before, the virtuoso felt a strange sensation grip his body as it fell under Vance's control.

"What an odd power you have stored here..."

And also like Syed, he would send Lute charging after Aria as well.

The Legend of Heroes: Tales of the World

Phillis Circus: Big Top - Onstage (Stage Left)

Guinevere grimaced as Lute's voice exploded, but she quickly shook off the ringing in her ears. Aria and Lute were starting to draw in too close for comfort, but still the ringmaster was confident Isabella and Poppy could handle them deftly. Lidya was still there as well, but she stood off from the enemies, pawing uncomfortably at her own face and ears. More inanimate prizes flowed into that area, but rather than distancing herself or focusing on the two guilders, Guinevere allowed the nearest toys to do her bidding.

Five more foam swords hovered around the quad, a couple in Poppy's reach(es) with their blades pointed at Lute and Aria. Once more they hardened and sharpened themselves, ready to fling at their opponents once they had a clear shot. There still remained the giant waddling teddy bear as well. Other hovering dolls arranged themselves into a flying fluffy fence, blocking off the guilders from easily reaching Guinevere. Still her injured panda laid beside her feet as well.

Lute cried out about hypocrisy, which only prompted Guinevere to snap back. "You forget who barged into whose home first!! Nobody would be getting hurt had it not been..."



"Ohhh my gods," Crispin cried out, his body still fighting like a machine despite his attempts to override it. "Cut it with the 'innocent' game, will you!? I'm so sick of--ack!"

Estelle's leg knocked him down. She then used this opportunity to gain a headstart after Vance. As much as Crispin wanted to root for her, his body painfully jumped up and charged after her. Legs like noodles, he groaned with each step as he charged after her. "Ugh! To your left!"

With his one working hand, he punched forward, sending out a fiery projectile after Estelle. The flame was weak however, and even as Estelle shifted her direction to dodge it, it dissipated before it could even reach her. This only propelled Vance to move him faster, with as much agonizing speed as the brawler had left in him. Even then he had underestimated Estelle's versatility. Crispin continued to cry out as he ran after Estelle and sent more dying projectiles her way. He managed a jump, quickly gaining on the swordswoman, and attempted another punch at her face.

Of course, that punch missed entirely, and Vance forced him to follow up with his second hand. This hit landed; Crispin had loosely jabbed her shoulder... with his broken hand. While it did nothing more than harmlessly push the swordswoman away from him, Crispin began to howl in pain yet again. His entire body flooded in agony, begging him to stop, to cool off. His pyrokinesis was nowhere near trained enough to be used in prolonged battles like this, nor did he enjoy fighting with broken bones - but Vance pushed his limits regardless.

After that final jab, Crispin's movements became more erratic than normal. He staggered forward, after the fleeing swordswoman, but his legs wobbled with each step. The fire engulfing both of his hands flickered before going out.

Suddenly the brawler hunched over and fell onto his side. Trembling wildly, he cradled his busted hand and erratic fingers. Thin vapors emitted from his body but evaporated soon enough. "I'm gonna be sick..."

The Legend of Heroes: Tales of the World

Eeee the ICs were such a blast to read omg
I hope you guys are having as much fun as I am *A*

EDIT: Posted for Guin and Crispy! I had an idea re: Buns' (and Pacman's) characters for my other characters though, so I think I'm gonna wait a bit til they wake up so I can confirm ideas with them hehe.

The Legend of Heroes: Tales of the World

:)