RoflsMazoy

Royal Rumble!

Call me… Old Fashioned.

Peculiar sounds could be heard in the forest. Those familiar with it however would know, the sound of a plasma blade clashing with a light blade created at a matching frequency.

"Wait, you're really going to do this in your uniform?" King said after a clash between their blades sent a shower of sparks flying over them. "On your day off?"

"Representing my school means representing its values," Alto replied coolly. "One of which is to always uphold the standard of St. Laurel's, including outside of school hours!"

He placed his strength into a heavier strike, which King parried with ease.

"What I'm hearing is you don't own any other clothes," He said, dodging Alto's next strike as King's machine came to life.

A 6 armed blocky robot. Holes opened on each arm and it started firing a barrage of tennis balls at Alto. He entered God Speed, slicing them out of the air by the dozen. Suddenly, King appeared through the storm as God Speed began to fade, and swung at Alto.

Finally, Alto fell back, panting, as King signalled his robot to stop.

"You're doing preeeeetty good," King said, helping him to his feet.

"It's not good enough," Alto said.

He had to get strong enough to prevent a disaster like that from happening again. Perhaps it was forgivable to fail in such circumstances, but Alto could only consider the lives lost as a disgrace.

"Well I gotta get the robot to vacuum up all the tennis balls you cut so we're not starting back any time soon. Gotta watch out for the environment."

The robot dutifully did as it was told. King was an enigma as always, even after the events of the tournament he never seemed to dwell on it.

"You've got that look where you want to swing at me, what've you got?"

And as always, he hadn't lost his touch when it came to talking in an annoying manner.

"…You never think of growing stronger, do you?" Alto said.

"Oh, me personally? No."

"Hmph, I was right." Alto said.

"Well… don't get me wrong, getting stronger is great and all, but at a certain point it's not going to matter." King said. "When the threat gets big enough there's only enough strength you can have. When that day comes, I need everybody to be ready."

Well, he did have a point. It seemed like he was satisfied with being as strong as he was and letting his tools make up for the difference.

"Looks like the bot's done, let's get back to training." He said.

Royal Rumble!

Tidings

Diana grimaced as she discarded the last piece of her everyday clothing. The latter part of the tournament had been quite a haze, despite her good showing. The vigilantes had tried to scout her, but the whole affair had proved to be quite confusing as her body had not been her own for a while. That... being had used her like a flesh puppet, making her dance to her merry tune. She was glad she admitted she had shown herself too much as she made herself scarce. Eyeing the frilled abomination that was the cosplay dress of the most popular magical girl show, she wondered if the Moira and the comic store boss were one and same.

Speaking of the devil, here he came, barging into the dressing room for no particular reason. Diana did not batter an eyelid until she saw what he was dangling on his hand. "Forget about Descartes-chan, Reddeadelle is the new fad." He said, beady eyes staring from his foggy glasses, and portly demeanor.

"Its nothing but a few straps of leather, that is no proper clothes." Diana droned, unimpressed at his antics.

"This is what boosts sales, Diane" He never got her name right. "And you will need to do it since someone wanted you badly now in the middle of your shift."
He dangled the letter menacingly, as Diana narrowed her eyes and began to dress again. "Some privacy, please." She finally said, ice in her words as her so called boss waddled out of the dressing room. A mysterious letter and a crossed idiotic boss. Nice start for a weekend.
She walked outside, stopping for a second to process the view before her. A fancy limousine welcomed her to go inside. "Well... either Lightbringer is pulling a prank or someone is kidnapping me to do perverted things." At least it was a bit more enticing that the comic store crusty antics, so she made her way inside the vehicle.

"I didn't imagine you were the type of person who entered a situation like this so… unguarded." Clara said, appearing from the shade of the inside of the limo. It looked like she had been there from the beginning. "Take a seat."

When Diana sat down, the limo would be on its way. It wasn't going anywhere in particular. Through the back streets. Somewhere inconspicuous. This discussion didn't need to be long, but it may not necessarily be quick.

"…I'm here to make you an offer." She finally said as she gazed at the buildings passing by.

"Things are seldom what they appear to be like, lady Clara." She added as she flexed her fingers, daintly illuminated lines of reinforcement being seen. Diana tilted her head as she took to the comfortable seat of the vehicle. "If you could coerce that idiot with a letter it means you are powerful, and if you could hire a limo to impress me it means you are resourceful. I am listening... my previous companion was not as amenable."

Powerful… for a comic shop owner? How amusing. It wasn't even worth watching someone like that squirm. There were so many here like Diana who didn't know their true value, or perhaps they just didn't try to reach it. People like that had always been… a target of interest, for her father, Mephisto. Clara had been the same, once upon a time.

"We can provide you with all the reagents you require for your spells. Name something, and we will provide it." She said. "But… I do have a condition for you."

"Good, because sometimes those involve human remains." Diana said as she drew a hand through her pure silver hair. "There is always one. Magic teaches you that. And it is good to know those."

Clara nodded.

"I suppose it's less of a condition and more of a pre-requisite," She continued. "Some rules of magic are more or less true for business as well. There's no deal without a condition, but rather than a deal, I wish this to be a continual trade."

She explained. In return for providing reagents, they could also offer her a facility for research, storage, or whatever she saw fit. In return, Clara would make certain requests of Diana. Diana could refuse, but Clara would make sure any tasks were within her limits. The conditions were she would be transferred from her previous school, and she would also have to keep up with lessons at her new school like a normal student, on top of whatever Clara requested.

"We'll give you these benefits if you agree to the trade, but with any trade comes the need for a show of trust. We've sent a package for you to your home, you should find some useful, hard to obtain regents inside." She said.

"Hm,it's a good offer... although there is something I do not quite understand." Diana said, folding her hands neatly on her lap. "The negotiator." He paused. "You must be aware of my past with Lightbringer, and that he might be a good choice to get me join your side. Not involving me means that you either did not truly know, which is highly unlikely... or the fact that you can't trust Lightbringer... as Mephisto's dog." Diana's expression remained neutral through the entire process. " So whose idea was this... Mephisto or yours?"

Clara's eyes glowed a dangerous red, but only for a moment.

"That… is not something you need to concern yourself about." She said coldly.

But then she caught herself, and sighed. It wasn't necessary for her to show that emotion either. Any amount of deception would do just fine.

"My father is jailed right now, if you haven't noticed. It more or less doesn't matter to him what I do even when he's around, and he's not even in a position where he can make a move, nor will he really need to." She replied. "Does that satisfy your curiosity?"

"It does. Glad to know who is cutting my paycheck." Diana tilted her head, unfazed by the display. "Helps when there are conflicts of interest." She added. "On another matter, continued cooperation is fine indeed, but concretion is even better... what do you need me to do and when, exactly?"

"I'll be in contact when you're needed. For now, you may return to your workplace if you so desire, or you can return home. The shop owner should allow you to take the day off, if not, I'll have a stern word with him later…" She said.

The limousine rolled to a stop outside of the store.

"I'll assume you'll want to change back into your regular clothes first." She said.

As Diana exited, Clara left some parting words.

"Before I would have you enter our employ, you'll be put to the test. You may not know when it will come. It's meant to be that way."

"I think i will pass. Someone who is not straightforward recruiting is not worth it."
Diana said to herself as she began to walk away towards home.

"Suit yourself," Clara said.

The door of the limousine slammed shut and it sped off. Losing one opportunity wasn't much of a loss if it only cost her a box of ingredients and some time. She'd see it bear some fruit one way or another. She wouldn't know what form it would take, but it would at the very least be interesting. The last rule of the trade, it doesn't end unless you let it end.

@AtomicNut

Warped Earth, Twisted Air (An Urban Fantasy Dungeon Crawler RP) — Now Open!

I dropped in to ask if there's any spots open for another character? I know it says full but I do wanna ask just in case

Demons In Space! (Sci-Fi/Fantasy Crossover)

Hey, this sounds cool, count me in, please! But I'd like to ask, do you have anything in mind for a first arc already yet? I'm curious what kind of scale we'll end up going for here.

L'Mordryn Academy

Clarence & Mort

"So that's the situation... Orewing." Clarence finished.

They'd moved to an empty table, which wasn't too hard to find this early in the morning. Mort had joined them in an official capacity and he could help grab extra books if need be.

Mort's true name was still something he kept secret. He generally avoided referring to him by his name. Even in the morning when he was weakest, he made sure to speak softer so he wouldn't be heard. It wasn't that strange in their situation though. Mort probably wasn't his name, but Clarence had gotten so used to calling him by it that it was odd to call him Orewing or to try and not call him at all.

Well, if it was Sazel he doubted she'd notice it anyway. Even if she did, she probably didn't know him well enough that it would be unusual for him.

...Unusual. Is it really? He thought.

"Alright," Mort replied in his usual, steady voice. "What am I going to do?"

"Uhhh, maybe you could find her? We have her picture, so...?" Clarence said, looking over at Sazel to make a confirmation.

@CelesteEste

L'Mordryn Academy

Arkadian & the Cat Gang!

The thing about L'Mordryn weirdness was that it was gone within the blink of an eye. Once everyone had room to breathe they just carried on like nothing even happened, which was probably good for Arkadian. His cheeks flushed with embarrassment when he thought back to why he'd done that just now.

It was a short story which took place a year or two ago when Arkadian was in normal schooling. There wasn't much of a story, just that when someone was as obsessed with cats as Arkadian used to be, a very specific two cats, who may or may not have existed in the first place, one could get bullied for it. The tales Arkadian read on a daily basis didn't help either.

And so, Arkadian and malice were thoroughly incompatible. He couldn't stand someone who did bad things intentionally.

Arkadian looked back to the cafeteria, and the mass of students now getting up to leave, and then he noticed something.

"Where'd Krampus go?" He said.

---

L'Mordryn was quite an amusing place. The realms tended to get a bit stale sometimes. Throughout the ages, when a new dominant force appeared it tended to color the landscape and leave it that way until the dominant force either died out, or another one appeared. But here at L'Mordryn the dominant forces came and went. Not that he'd been around to see it happen to much of an extent, but still.

L'Mordryn was full of potential, but not without its limitations. The act of teaching Summoning was, in essence, handing a child a power they didn't understand, but the more they came to understand, the stronger they became.

You need knowledge to summon, and knowledge to link, but when it came to trickster spirits, all the knowledge you need came with the name.

The sight of a black cat familiar was nothing uncommon to L'Mordryn, and neither was that of a black crow. The sight of a black cat turning into a black crow, well, that was only a little rare.

Did he have a true objective? Not really. The boy Arkadian's summoning of him had been nothing but a twist of fate. Luck, destiny, or whatever you wanted to call it. A boy so susceptible to being tricked, summoning a spirit who so enjoyed it. But as any good trickster knew, trickery had a very firm definition.

To trick someone is to be over someone else. To have them play in the palm of your hand, without realizing they're heading for their own demise. Trickery differs in method and intent, but the end result is always the same.

Repeat after me.

I want what he has. I want what he has.

He won't give it to me. He won't give it to me.

Stealing invites retribution. Stealing invites retribution.

So I'll make him give it to me. So I'll make him give it to me.

In Trickery, both parties are equally responsible for the events that take place, and thus, both parties are just as liable to be punished for it. What he performed on Arkadian wasn't Trickery. There was cause for it to be, for instance in the morning prank against the Witch Child. It could be seen as a prank on his master, and his equal responsibility to restrain his familiar before it did something to someone else. But to be a Trickster also requires the intent to be a trickster, and he was beholden to no such thing.

To steal without intent was simply malice, but that suited him just fine. It was in his nature to take without a care for retribution. In the days of old, all trickster spirits were like that. Pure chaos. There was no such thing as blood for blood, a ploy to make someone's life a living hell, could easily turn into a one-sided slaughter. Which side was the trickster on? Who knew.

"There you are, bagel boy!" He squawked from high above the school.

He made sure not to be heard, of course, but a new form meant new rules, so he just had to shout something with his new voice at least once. And of course, who else would he be tailing but Bagel boy. There were a lot of different types of people in L'Mordryn, but for the most part they were 'good' people. They'd return malice with righteous retribution, harmless trickery with either punishment or forgiveness. Bagel boy was the type of person to return malice for malice.

Bagel boy knew his limits, but if he started something, who knew when it would end? But for the mean time he'd stay close by. Sitting in the trees as a crow, or perhaps slithering through the undergrowth as a snake. Whatever struck his fancy, he guessed.

@Crazy Scion

L'Mordryn Academy

Clarence, and Mort returns!

Now that he thought about it he hadn't corrected the assumption that his name was Lawrence yet, and now it was too awkward to do it.

"S-sure, I guess..." It would be rude to not take the offer but Clarence sort of didn't want to have to do anything. Still, he could probably get by...

He took the Nidhogen's hand and ascended. It took a little to learn to control it but he got the hang of it quickly. He knew generally where to look, the current year's yearbook was fine to start with, but he knew Isobel had been here since at least the year before. She was rather familiar with the other students, he would estimate two years at least but he could be wrong. He picked up last year's yearbook since it was likely Sazel would choose the current, if it was there.

He flipped through it quickly since Isobel's appearance was rather distinctive, and he knew exactly what to look for.

"I found her," Clarence announced. Sazel's drawing was actually Isobel as it turned out. "Isobel... She's in one of my classes."

Since he wasn't lying at all here the line came out smoothly. Then Mort swung in with a covered plate. Their gaze(?) met and Mort immediately froze.

Is now a good time? He seemed to say.

Uhhh, maybe, maybe not? I don't know... Clarence seemed to say back.

Mort went away for a second. He came back without the plate. Presumably he placed it somewhere out of the way, maybe on top of a shelf or something. He came back and introduced himself.

"Hello Nidhogen, it's been a while." He said.

Clarence wasn't aware the two had ever met, but it was something of an inevitability that you'd run into Nidhogen one way or another. One of the unwritten rules of L'Mordryn.

Mort recognized the Nidhogen, because the foliage on the dragon and the new form it took were similar. He'd only ever had passing interactions with the summon however, they didn't 'know' each other too much.
@CelesteEste@ShwiggityShwah

L'Mordryn Academy

Clarence had no idea the library had secret sections. Why the hell did they even need to exist? Especially for the yearbooks, surely they should be publicly available? The whole situation reeked of fish, but when he looked at Sazel she couldn't possibly be the one who perpetrated it.

Chronicle Club... They're going to go on my avoid list...

He didn't feel like he wanted to get involved with whoever was behind all of this.

There were countless volumes, with basic info and a portrait of each and every student, no exceptions. "Someone help me up? The latest years are on the top."

@CelesteEste

There was no way Clarence would be able to lift her. He'd never tried lifting anyone, and he was pretty sure if he tried it would be so pathetic that Sazel would think badly of him. And if that happened he wasn't ever going to come to Lady Oravierre's class again.

He side-eyed the Nidhogen hoping, and begging for it in his mind to help her up without him asking. If he asked, then... actually wait why didn't they just lift her together? Yeah, that'd work.

"I probably can't lift you but Nidhogen could?" He said.

Wait, that didn't come out right.

@ShwiggityShwah

L'Mordryn Academy

Clarence's head was spinning a little bit from the way Sazel talked. She really was the type of person who didn't have a care in the world. If Clarence were to describe her then he'd probably call it a strong chaotic energy. Someone who enjoyed leaning into their role, but also decided what that role was themselves.

"…I suppose?" Clarence said in regards to the question of him joining them.

He would've liked to wait for Mort to come back but since he always headed to the library anyways, he was sure he'd end up finding him.

Although, he going by Sazel's description he was pretty sure he knew someone who ticked most of those boxes. Isobel Mulryan from Dracona, who he also had a class with and had never interacted with, although he knew well enough of her. She was very slightly shorter than he was.

The thing about it though was that she was very particular her appearance including her hair, which was long. It came down to her back even when she had it up in her usual drills. Otherwise she fit the bill, although Sazel's descriptions of the colours were very odd.

"I don't think I know who you're talking about…" Clarence said. "I'm headed to the library anyway for my first period so I'll follow you."

He was pretty sure he knew who she was talking about, but at the same time there was room for error and he also didn't want to have to do much to keep this going. He needed to go to the library and if he wasn't going to follow them now, it'd be awkward to run into them again.

Still though, he wondered how the Nidhogen was going to fit in the door.

@CelesteEste

L'Mordryn Academy

Arkadian Elesir is looking for trouble!

For the time being Arkadian was glad the Forest Witch was content with not cursing Arkadian and his familiar for generations to come, so he took the cue and bowed out, squeaking out a half-hearted thanks. Krampus caught the spare cube of meat easily as he whisked him away.

"Never do that again, Krampus," Arkadian muttered. He was stressed, but nevertheless managed to let out a sigh of relief.

"Hey, it didn't turn out that bad, right?" Krampus said, licking his paw.

"You almost gave me a heart attack," Arkadian said. "Maybe even a re-"

He didn't finish that statement out of consideration for Nettle. She seemed nice enough. It was probably unhealthy to assume the worst about people he'd never… well, only just met.

"Maybe even a real one, eh? Heh, you probably didn't even rate the attention she actually gave you, don't get ahead of yours-" Arkadian didn't let Krampus finish before he smacked him on the back of the head.

"Hahaha, maybe you should be paying attention to what's behind you, over there." The Black Cat chuckled.

Arkadian turned just in time to see Grarves, the land dragon barrel into the cafeteria, straight towards someone he didn't know. But then someone else he didn't know stepped up. Arkadian was worried for a second, the other person seemed to know what they were doing so the girl(?) was probably ok. Then he saw the look on his face, and he knew exactly what kind of person he was up against.

"Tohi! Lohi!" He shouted.

They came bounding to his side. There was a little trick to controlling both Tohi and Lohi. Normally they did whatever they wanted to, but Tohi generally wanted to help Arkadian, and Lohi only wanted to protect Arkadian. If Arkadian needed neither help nor protection, they didn't act.

Arkadian's life, despite the shape that it was now, was one shaped by the stories of Gods of old. No one knows who them now, but they know of their tales. They know of their cunning, their strength, their courage, and their bravery. And of all those tales, and even before those, Arkadian favoured the tales of Bravery.

Tohi and Lohi were well aware of who their master was. Tohi plucked him up from the ground by her teeth as Lohi vanished in a twinkle of light. They crossed the distance at lightning speed.

As Tohi let Arkadian down, Lohi had already appeared.

"Barrier!" Arkadian shouted.

An invisible wall appeared and braced the land dragon, preventing it from falling onto Albus. It was slightly angled, letting Grarves fall to the side. When the dust cleared, Arkadian glared at the new presence.

@Pyromania99@Rune_Alchemist@Crazy Scion