Yankee

Nocturnal Memoirs: An Urban-Fantasy Mafia Epic

By the way @LanaStorm, did you want to catch one of the Canary NPCs in Smoke Risers? I'll leave it up to you whether the Blue Bloods might find them and take issue.

Also @SporkoBug didn't forget you, will give lil Webb his mission asap.

hello :)

Welcome!

Mesah RPa

Welcome!

I'm Nobody! Who are You?

Welcome to RPG!

Hell on Earth: Supernatural & Demonic Detectives

@Yankee Barbatos and Dezzie's relationship is going to be...a lot. I can't wait.

@Lemons

We'll get her out of her shell yet!

Hell on Earth: Supernatural & Demonic Detectives

Repostin' from intcheck.

Barbatos

"Uh, no, I will not be losing the mullet. Or the goatee. It's funny."
_______________________________________________________________________________________________

Name (Translated to English):

Barbarous Dark Bane of Magicians, Junior

AKA:

Barbatos the Younger

Age (in human years):

68 (appears in his 30s)

Gender:

Male

Race:

Demon

Description:

Tall, broad shouldered, and thickly built, with shiny maroon scales stretching across his limbs, back, neck, and ears. A pair of horns with interlocking scales of the same kind rise up from his temples, and a large, thick, matching scaled tail not unlike a crocodile's protrudes from his lower back, long enough to drag slightly on the ground behind him. In addition to those features he sports a few sharpened teeth and slit pupils in vibrant red-orange eyes that smolder like fire. The rest of his body is humanoid. He has thick black hair worn in a mullet and a patchy beard growing over a goatee in the shape of an arrow ("it's a forked tail, haha!"), and his once pale skin has gotten a healthy color since moving to New Helle and soaking in the sun.

Though he's lived in the city for quite some time now, he still dresses like a tourist. His wardrobe consists of loose, comfortable clothes: tees, tank tops, Hawaiian shirts, cargo and board shorts with flip flops. On occasion he can be wrestled into more formal attire (sometimes quite literally), and though (to the surprise of many) he can clean up extremely well and cut a striking figure, he much prefers the look and feel of casual outfits. When at work he'll normally wear a more appropriate outfit whenever the assignment calls for it, namely swapping out his jorts for joggers and his sandals for sneakers.

Barbatos is a jovial demon who has become smitten with the human world ever since arriving. He loves nothing more than relaxing on the beach with some friends, and spends most of his free time pursuing simple pleasures. And not so simple ones, too. He isn't shy with his affections and tends to get physical with others, both friend and foe. His fellow investigators know to avoid him if they aren't in a touchy feely mood, otherwise they'll have to endure his arm being slung around their shoulders, or a tail curled around their leg, or even Barbatos' whole weight draped over them.

He takes an interest in people's lives and easily gets invested in others. He enjoys helping people, having no ulterior motives while doing so. In that way he differs a lot from his family back home. He comes across as what some humans might call a 'himbo' because of his stature and good nature, though he isn't actually as dumb as he looks. He is shrewd, perhaps even wise - but he's also sort of young for a demon of his bloodline. Basically he just enjoys goofing off and taking things easy. A grown man acting like that comes off as pathetic to some, but he doesn't care.

Despite his easygoing nature, he does take his work seriously... for the most part. He's still the same person at work that he is at home, after all. He tries his best. He looks after his team and can get protective of them, preferring to put himself (who he sees as tougher than the other investigators) in harm's way when shit goes down rather than risk a friend. Woe to whoever may manage to piss him off for real.

And yes, he considers every single other member of Section 7 to be a friend. He likes to think they see him as a friend in return, or at least like a cool, caring older brother. He does kind of give off deadbeat dad trying to reconnect with his kids energy instead though.

Background:

Barbatos (or Barbie, Barb, Barbs, Dark Bane, Junior, Dude, Himbo, That Guy, Lizard, Demonic Garbage Disposal, really any nickname is fine with him) did not have any background in public safety or service before being drafted into the affairs of Section 7. In fact he was normally on the opposite side of the law, getting slapped with infractions for unlawful contracts with humans. Listen, it was on the humans to get the permits - why did he have to get punished just because he didn't bother asking questions? He just liked helping all those people get cool magic! ...and he really needed money to recoup his gambling losses!

He came to New Helle almost two decades ago, eager to soak in island living and human culture. For the most part he's succeeded, and has been happy with his life in the city. Of course when he arrived he was near penniless, and with little actual work experience he had to find someway to fund his cool new lifestyle. Piña coladas and boogie boards didn't buy themselves after all. The easiest way to do that was getting paid to form contracts with humans, then doubling his money at the card tables.

And, you know, sometimes it didn't work out. After one too many final warnings about his 'illegal power gifting' (seriously, what was the issue with letting a little dude get stronger?), he turned to other avenues of money making. Tough and built, he frequented fighting rings for chunks of quick cash. He took easy work as a doorman or hired muscle for various groups, most frequently Gehenna whom he had some passing familiarity with. And, alright, fine - he still drew contracts up because it was neat seeing a human breathe fire. Sometimes they completely burnt out their esophagus which wasn't cool, but that didn't happen most of the time.

So how did he find himself working for the Bureau of Public Safety? What reason did they have to induct him into their ranks besides his very lovable personality and his special talent in benching four hundred pounds with just his tail. It could have something to do with his heritage. Barbatos comes from a long line of powerful demons, and his father is a particularly notorious figure back in Hell, an affluent businessman with huge influence: Barbatos the Older.

His father's influence extends to New Helle as well, if the rumors that he has some involvement with Gehenna from the other side of the veil are to be believed. As far as Barbatos Jr. knows they aren't rumors at all, and investing in the smuggling field has been very lucrative for his old man. Naturally the run of the business, both the criminal and legitimate sides, were expected to fall to Barbatos the Younger in the future.

...but he kinda, like, didn't want to do any of that shit?

So he left Hell for the human world and became a beach bum.

His is the classic story of a multi-millionaire's son inviting his family's scorn by not fitting the mold, getting cut off from the fortune and having to learn to live in the real world after being raised in luxury and decorum. Though there have been some rough patches, the majority of his life in New Helle has been pretty damn sweet so far - even the fighting ring was fun, and good exercise too. The worst part about it had been how sick he felt after those curses were slapped on him, those sucked. Oh, and the infractions he had to keep paying from the illegal contract work.

Which brings things back around to his involvement with the BPS.

Barbatos was picked up and held in jail after those final warnings actually ran out, and paying yet another ticket wasn't going to cut it. He expected a public defender, but instead he got a visit from an agent in the BPS' Section 7 whom took him back to their crappy hideout. They were looking into Gehenna and had sniffed out his connection to them, but unfortunately he had nothing useful to tell them. Yes he'd met with members of the organization before, afforded them the same cordialness that they did to him (which he assumed was due to his family ties), and had even worked for them a number of times as what basically amounted to a temporary goon, but he didn't have any information that the BPS didn't already have too.

They must have felt he could still have a possible connection that would help them, or maybe they thought his abilities and general eagerness to help might be a benefit to them. Either way, they kept Barbatos around. He wasn't really a criminal anyway, he was basically your average citizen, so being told he was now a cop was sort of an upgrade. He's been an investigator with Section 7 for a few years now, and he likes it well enough. The work is... interesting to say the least, and the paycheck is steady.

Abilities:

In his role as an investigator, Barbatos usually plays the "good cop" and sometimes acts as a negotiator. He has a way about him that generally lets him meet people halfway and level with them, so if any situation needs a chill person on site to calm people down he's there - before the more intense members have their chance to ruin things.

When things inevitably do go tits up he relies on his physical capabilities, which are well beyond a standard human being's. His skin is tough even where his scales don't reach, increasing his resilience. His strength is great enough that he can dent steel and lift cars. His tail especially is quite strong, and one clean blow with it can shatter bones and damage internal organs. He isn't built for speed, but he does have a slight advantage in reaction time over the average man. His stamina is also higher, more so if he has a reserve of extra energy in the tank.

As a demon, Barbatos possesses inherent magic as well. He generally wields heat and fire, able to heat his body up to extreme temperatures hot enough to melt through some materials, and vent flames from between his scales or spit fire from the pit of his stomach. He's an adept contract writer and happily lends said power out. He's also quite skilled in prestidigitation.

More uncommonly, Barbatos has what is referred to as an "Infernal Incinerator" in his body. Anything that goes in swiftly gets reduced to ash in the flames of his stomach and absorbed as energy, from physical matter to magic. Indeed, he can consume spells and artifacts somewhat safely. Excess energy gets stored in his body (and can be seen in how bright the thin gaps in between his scales glow or how hot his skin is to the touch), which can be burned off the usual way or used to power his own magic. If the store of energy swells too heavy, or the power level of one source of magic is too much, it could begin to leak out and adversely affect Barbatos and those around him... but he wouldn't know until he tried eating it.

Lastly Barbatos has an affinity for animals that may as well be magical. Though he can't assume command of an animal's mind like his old man, he likes animals and they like him - so he's basically a Disney princess in that if he asks nicely, they might help him out.

Artifacts:

None at this time.

Connections:

• Barbatos the Older
  • Barbatos' father, also known as "yes, THAT Barbatos." A ruthless dark lord who made his cruel fortune on the backs of others - aka a CEO. He's cut his son off from the family bank account but hasn't disowned him yet. Both of them still hope to reconcile within the next hundred years. Resides in Hell.

Misc:

• Color code is #CF4A64
• He's adopted dozens of animals and they come and go regularly from his domicile

Nocturnal Memoirs: An Urban-Fantasy Mafia Epic

@Estylwen I'll reach out to you soon ^^

@Yankee Guessing it'd be fair to presume that it'd be next round (or the round after) that Adel contacts Matthias about anything spicy?

@ERode

Yup, will have to see how this predicament goes first lol

Hell on Earth - Detectives in a Supernatural and Demonic City

Postin' my first concept here as well for reference.

Barbatos

"Uh, no, I will not be losing the mullet. Or the goatee. It's funny."
_______________________________________________________________________________________________

Name (Translated to English):

Barbarous Dark Bane of Magicians, Junior

AKA:

Barbatos the Younger

Age:

68

Gender:

Male

Race:

Demon

Description:

Tall, broad shouldered, and thickly built, with shiny maroon scales stretching across his limbs, back, neck, and ears. A pair of horns with interlocking scales of the same kind rise up from his temples, and a large, thick, matching scaled tail not unlike a crocodile's protrudes from his lower back, long enough to drag slightly on the ground behind him. In addition to those features he sports a few sharpened teeth and slit pupils in vibrant red-orange eyes that smolder like fire. The rest of his body is humanoid. He has thick black hair worn in a mullet and a patchy beard growing over a goatee in the shape of an arrow ("it's a forked tail, haha!"), and his once pale skin has gotten a healthy color since moving to New Helle and soaking in the sun.

Though he's lived in the city for quite some time now, he still dresses like a tourist. His wardrobe consists of loose, comfortable clothes: tees, tank tops, Hawaiian shirts, cargo and board shorts with flip flops. On occasion he can be wrestled into more formal attire (sometimes quite literally), and though (to the surprise of many) he can clean up extremely well and cut a striking figure, he much prefers the look and feel of casual outfits. When at work he'll normally wear a more appropriate outfit whenever the assignment calls for it, namely swapping out his jorts for joggers and his sandals for sneakers.

Barbatos is a jovial demon who has become smitten with the human world ever since arriving. He loves nothing more than relaxing on the beach with some friends, and spends most of his free time pursuing simple pleasures. And not so simple ones, too. He isn't shy with his affections and tends to get physical with others, both friend and foe. His fellow investigators know to avoid him if they aren't in a touchy feely mood, otherwise they'll have to endure his arm being slung around their shoulders, or a tail curled around their leg, or even Barbatos' whole weight draped over them.

He takes an interest in people's lives and easily gets invested in others. He enjoys helping people, having no ulterior motives while doing so. In that way he differs a lot from his family back home. He comes across as what some humans might call a 'himbo' because of his stature and good nature, though he isn't actually as dumb as he looks. He is shrewd, perhaps even wise - but he's also sort of young for a demon of his bloodline. Basically he just enjoys goofing off and taking things easy. A grown man acting like that comes off as pathetic to some, but he doesn't care.

Despite his easygoing nature, he does take his work seriously... for the most part. He's still the same person at work that he is at home, after all. He tries his best. He looks after his team and can get protective of them, preferring to put himself (who he sees as tougher than the other investigators) in harm's way when shit goes down rather than risk a friend. Woe to whoever may manage to piss him off for real.

And yes, he considers every single other member of Section 7 to be a friend. He likes to think they see him as a friend in return, or at least like a cool, caring older brother. He does kind of give off deadbeat dad trying to reconnect with his kids energy instead though.

Background:

Barbatos (or Barbie, Barb, Barbs, Dark Bane, Junior, Dude, Himbo, That Guy, Lizard, Demonic Garbage Disposal, really any nickname is fine with him) did not have any background in public safety or service before being drafted into the affairs of Section 7. In fact he was normally on the opposite side of the law, getting slapped with infractions for unlawful contracts with humans. Listen, it was on the humans to get the permits - why did he have to get punished just because he didn't bother asking questions? He just liked helping all those people get cool magic! ...and he really needed money to recoup his gambling losses!

He came to New Helle almost two decades ago, eager to soak in island living and human culture. For the most part he's succeeded, and has been happy with his life in the city. Of course when he arrived he was near penniless, and with little actual work experience he had to find someway to fund his cool new lifestyle. Piña coladas and boogie boards didn't buy themselves after all. The easiest way to do that was getting paid to form contracts with humans, then doubling his money at the card tables.

And, you know, sometimes it didn't work out. After one too many final warnings about his 'illegal power gifting' (seriously, what was the issue with letting a little dude get stronger?), he turned to other avenues of money making. Tough and built, he frequented fighting rings for chunks of quick cash. He took easy work as a doorman or hired muscle for various groups, most frequently Gehenna whom he had some passing familiarity with. And, alright, fine - he still drew contracts up because it was neat seeing a human breathe fire. Sometimes they completely burnt out their esophagus which wasn't cool, but that didn't happen most of the time.

So how did he find himself working for the Bureau of Public Safety? What reason did they have to induct him into their ranks besides his very lovable personality and his special talent in benching four hundred pounds with just his tail. It could have something to do with his heritage. Barbatos comes from a long line of powerful demons, and his father is a particularly notorious figure back in Hell, an affluent businessman with huge influence: Barbatos the Older.

His father's influence extends to New Helle as well, if the rumors that he has some involvement with Gehenna from the other side of the veil are to be believed. As far as Barbatos Jr. knows they aren't rumors at all, and investing in the smuggling field has been very lucrative for his old man. Naturally the run of the business, both the criminal and legitimate sides, were expected to fall to Barbatos the Younger in the future.

...but he kinda, like, didn't want to do any of that shit?

So he left Hell for the human world and became a beach bum.

His is the classic story of a multi-millionaire's son inviting his family's scorn by not fitting the mold, getting cut off from the fortune and having to learn to live in the real world after being raised in luxury and decorum. Though there have been some rough patches, the majority of his life in New Helle has been pretty damn sweet so far - even the fighting ring was fun, and good exercise too. The worst part about it had been how sick he felt after those curses were slapped on him, those sucked. Oh, and the infractions he had to keep paying from the illegal contract work.

Which brings things back around to his involvement with the BPS.

Barbatos was picked up and held in jail after those final warnings actually ran out, and paying yet another ticket wasn't going to cut it. He expected a public defender, but instead he got a visit from an agent in the BPS' Section 7 whom took him back to their crappy hideout. They were looking into Gehenna and had sniffed out his connection to them, but unfortunately he had nothing useful to tell them. Yes he'd met with members of the organization before, afforded them the same cordialness that they did to him (which he assumed was due to his family ties), and had even worked for them a number of times as what basically amounted to a temporary goon, but he didn't have any information that the BPS didn't already have too.

They must have felt he could still have a possible connection that would help them, or maybe they thought his abilities and general eagerness to help might be a benefit to them. Either way, they kept Barbatos around. He wasn't really a criminal anyway, he was basically your average citizen, so being told he was now a cop was sort of an upgrade. He's been an investigator with Section 7 for a few years now, and he likes it well enough. The work is... interesting to say the least, and the paycheck is steady.

Abilities:

In his role as an investigator, Barbatos usually plays the "good cop" and sometimes acts as a negotiator. He has a way about him that generally lets him meet people halfway and level with them, so if any situation needs a chill person on site to calm people down he's there - before the more intense members have their chance to ruin things.

When things inevitably do go tits up he relies on his physical capabilities, which are well beyond a standard human being's. His skin is tough even where his scales don't reach, increasing his resilience. His strength is great enough that he can dent steel and lift cars. His tail especially is quite strong, and one clean blow with it can shatter bones and damage internal organs. He isn't built for speed, but he does have a slight advantage in reaction time over the average man. His stamina is also higher, more so if he has a reserve of extra energy in the tank.

As a demon, Barbatos possesses inherent magic as well. He generally wields heat and fire, able to heat his body up to extreme temperatures hot enough to melt through some materials, and vent flames from between his scales or spit fire from the pit of his stomach. He's an adept contract writer and happily lends said power out. He's also quite skilled in prestidigitation.

More uncommonly, Barbatos has what is referred to as an "Infernal Incinerator" in his body. Anything that goes in swiftly gets reduced to ash in the flames of his stomach and absorbed as energy, from physical matter to magic. Indeed, he can consume spells and artifacts somewhat safely. Excess energy gets stored in his body (and can be seen in how bright the thin gaps in between his scales glow or how hot his skin is to the touch), which can be burned off the usual way or used to power his own magic. If the store of energy swells too heavy, or the power level of one source of magic is too much, it could begin to leak out and adversely affect Barbatos and those around him... but he wouldn't know until he tried eating it.

Lastly Barbatos has an affinity for animals that may as well be magical. Though he can't assume command of an animal's mind like his old man, he likes animals and they like him - so he's basically a Disney princess in that if he asks nicely, they might help him out.

Artifacts:

None at this time.

Connections:

• Barbatos the Older
  • Barbatos' father, also known as "yes, THAT Barbatos." A ruthless dark lord who made his cruel fortune on the backs of others - aka a CEO. He's cut his son off from the family bank account but hasn't disowned him yet. Both of them still hope to reconcile within the next hundred years. Resides in Hell.

Misc:

• Color code is #CF4A64
• He's adopted dozens of animals and they come and go regularly from his domicile

World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate Smash Bros Crossover)

wordcount: 2331 (+3 x2)
Midna: level 10 EXP: ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (125/110) (+4)
Edward Portsmith: Level 4 (12 cells) ///////////////////////////////// (36/40) (+4) (+4) (+3) (+3) (+8)
Primrose Level: 11 - Total EXP: 219/110 ------ Therion Level: 10 - Total EXP: 229/100
𝙱𝙿 ●●●●● ---------------------------- 𝙱𝙿 ●●●●●
Location: The Dead Zone

Edward ducked back behind one of his 4 deployed Bronze Golems, who’s blades shimmered with both of the enchantments that he had granted to the seekers, as a swarm of pyrobats that had burst from a tunnel they’d been investigating unleashed gouts of flame from their fan like snouts.

Cruising silent as they cut through the defensive aura he was granting, he dropped his guard and popped back round his defence mode holding golems to pop one of the bats with his magelock pistol, but he wasn’t exactly equipped for dealing with arial swarms. Hence him requesting ”Princess Midna, if you please” to the lady he had been traveling alongside and getting the dreadful reply of ”I’ve been wanting to try this” as she retrieved and let rip with a weapon she’d found laying around somewhere

for Midna

Irradiating Hivemined SMG: A scoped smg with good accuracy and fire rate that launches radioactive energy orbs that fly at a moderate speed and can bounce once off of a surface. Each shot has a 15% chance to irradiate a target, causing damage over time to both them and surrounding foes, and also causing them to explode into a radiation nova on death that has a chance to irradiate those struck by it in turn. Inconceivably it uses conventional smg ammo, but expends 2 rounds for each shot fired.

The grotesquely barreled gun sprayed a volley of sickly glowing shots into the swarm, clipping several, missing many, and then much of it promptly bouncing off the wall behind the swarm and back towards both it and them. One of these shots dommed a pyrobat, causing it to briefly emit a radioactive glow before it exploded and took out most of its fellows.

Neither the princess nor the commander saw any of this except for the afterglow, as they were too busy ducking behind a golem again to avoid the ricochets. These, at least, the golems endured just fine.

”You, I’ll be frank, have no idea how to use that thing, do you?” Edward said as he popped back out to pick off a straggler, to which the princess replied ”Not really. But it worked” and also ”Better to see how it works now than against the guardian. Speaking of, you should really stop dithering and just grab something for that other striker slot. Power is power and you can ditch whatever gross thing you take once we get to the avenger again anyway”

”If you insist, then I suppose these will do” he replied, before adding ”and remind me to give you some actual training on firearm usage once we get back to the Avenger as well” and then striding out to retrieve one of the fallen spirits for just such a purpose.

for Edward

Pyrobat: A large demonic bat about as tall as a human if measured from tail tip to snout. Can be summoned every 5 seconds to unleash various flame attacks, such as a single target fireball, cone shaped flame breath, or a beam attack that it shoots at the ground and then slashes upwards, all shot from a maw that opens in the center of its chest. Evasive, but fragile, and prone to getting knocked out of the air when struck.

As it turned out, he had been very much out of time, and so Midna’s teasing about ”Really, that?” were put to an end as they gathered up with the rest of the group now that they were on the trail of a retreating floodfested.

In doing so they ended up alongside Primrose and Therion, specifically due to Midna wanting to catch up with the former, and Edward seeing it as tactically sound to position himself and his golems close to people he knew how to work with.

Therion's one visible eye glanced over to note the two of them falling in close by, but otherwise he didn't try and strike up a conversation or anything. The whole climb he'd been perfectly content to hang back and let everyone else do all of the puzzle and fighting work, though he'd kept an eye out for anything that looked out of place... which was easier said than done, considering how strange the Qliphoth's interior was. He'd spoken a little with Primrose as the two of them filled the other in on the trials they'd each faced, but that was it; and as for the dancer she was glad to chat with Midna when the princess approached. Sharing even a few words helped to soften the tension that surrounded everyone.

As it turned out, however, there would be no time for the two of them to have much of a casual conversation, because almost just as they linked up they all stepped into the gateway chamber, and the oppressive air and reveal of the awaiting, motionless, horde within that opened the way rather than attack made it clear that this was it.

This did not stop Midna from leaning and engaging in a whispered conversation about a plan she’d thought up to give them an edge in the coming battle. Likewise Primrose dipped her head towards the shorter woman as they continued on. She whispered back, and from her other side Therion’s feline ears flicked as he overheard their impromptu plan.

As it turned out, they were going to need it, because not only were they up against the guardian, but three whole Consuls as well. Far, far more of a threat than any of them had faced so far, and quite the trial by fire for the newbies, should they survive at all.

”At least the master hand didn’t show up as well” Midna muttered loudly, tempting fate. It really was bad enough as it was, the buffeting of the swarm charging through them giving the Consuls and Guardian all the time they needed to empower and position themselves for the coming battle, while the seekers only had from the word go to do the same.

”D’s a caster, everything he can do he can do from there if he wants!” Midna called to Nadia even as she turned away from the man who had once killed her, and instead to Primrose, who she asked if she’d ”Care for a dance?”

"I would be delighted," the woman replied with a dangerous purr. Entrusting the front line of Seekers with keeping attention away from the dance partners as they set up, Primrose began her performance in earnest. She flowed into the steps of Sealticge's Seduction, twisting and bending as her legs moved and her arms drew sultry lines across her body. As the dance took effect on the Twilight Princess, Primrose extended her arm towards Midna with her hand out, palm up, to invite the next part of the performance.

Having been strumming her lyre in accompaniment, the princess now twirled into her own dance. The claws on her heels withdrew from the ground, and allowed her to move as if she was on ice, or floating on the air. Her tail flowed behind her as she flowed and glided across the ground, pace quickly increasing before she launched herself up into a rapid pirouette to complete the move. Accompanied by a strum along all of the lyre’s chords, the purple energy that had been building around her pulsing out to empower the rest of the party.

This included her darknut, which she had summoned while awaiting her turn to dance. The towering undead knight’s slow steps suddenly quickened as the power took hold, as did those of the 4 bronze golems flanking it, and those of Edward himself. With his buckler raised, he was projecting a hexagonal armor boosting aura around himself, further bolstering the defences of the bulwark of minions who were advancing towards the four Consul As, placing a wall of metal in between them and the dancers, aiming to secure that flank of the battlefield.

Therion's own summon joined the wall, unsurprisingly for those that had fought with him through the Under. Since adopting the rather macabre monster as a striker, the junicorn had been the thief's stalwart crutch in battle. The creature's iron orb came into existence and it rolled forward, its limbs popping out and its thin weapon in hand while its huge horn extended from its forehead.

The thief himself had backed up, muscles tense and stance low with his stinging dagger in his hand. He was deadly serious - because the situation could hardly get any worse for the Seekers. It took, what, ten or more people to take down Consul P and the Under's Guardian individually? They had just over twenty now, and four enemies ahead of them just as strong - if not even stronger. If they were going to survive they needed to be smart about this. Therion let the others take the Consuls' attentions, slipping into the background to get a sense of what their adversaries could do before he even thought about taking a shot at one of them. As he did the junicorn tested the waters for him, firing its lance-like horn at the group of A and his copies to preempt any movement towards the supporters.

The lance pierced one of the Consul’s doppelgangers, lodging in his chest. He flinched a little, but not as much as he should have, and he gave no sound of pain. Something seeped from around the horn it began to slide out, but it wasn’t blood, and what it left behind was no ordinary wound. It looked like something between mulch and ground beef, the eldritch flesh moving of its own volition as it attempted to knit itself back together and preserve the illusion, without much success. All four of him looked over at the Junicorn in eerie unison, then once it disappeared, directly at Therion. It set the thief’s fur to stand on end.

Edward summoned his own strikers as well, the hellbat he had just acquired charging and launching a fireball while using the defence wall as cover, while his feather staff appeared to cast its defensive buff, though not, notably, on the constructs but on the mortals they were protecting, namely himself, Therion, and anyone who happened to join their ‘row’ while approaching Consul A.

All the while Primrose's own performance had continued, the break in her dancing only a scant few seconds long. She and Midna only had so much time before the chaos of battle would make their paired empowerment much more difficult to synchronize, so they had to make this count. Her encore pushed her to move faster, the sparkling gold of her outfit breaking up her twirling red silhouette.

"With the grace of Sealticge," she breathed, this time extending both of her hands towards her dance partner as the dance's effect was bestowed on Midna once more. The princess, having just completed her first set of steps, launched right into the second, the pair entering a pattern that threatened to keep empowering them over and over till something tried to stop them.

Unfortunately, she wouldn’t get the chance. All four copies of A extended an accusatory finger at Midna, and in an instant the Gravemind was stirred to action. With an alarming, otherworldly rumbling noise, it stretched its left-side tentacles into the air, then brought all that dead weight down like toppled redwood trees. The Seekers might be able to evade the tremendous blows if they gave up on their encore performances, but the shockwaves alone were enough to unsteady all but the heartiest heavyweights, and that wasn’t all. On impact, the tentacles sloughed off at least a dozen half-formed monstrosities, blighted and infectious, that would hound the heroes as long as they lived.

Midna hadn’t been expecting the tentacle, but she had been expecting something to try and interrupt them once it became clear what they were doing (namely a barrage of spellcasting from Consul D). Thus, she had an escape plan nice and ready, declaring it was ”Time to go” while grabbing Primorse with two hands (still holding the lyre in the third) before then yanking on her astral chain with the fourth, pulling both ladies off to the side where her Beast Legion had been prowling near Edward and Therion.

They skidded to a halt, and once released Primrose didn't waste any time before conjuring an offensive spell in hand. She and Midna had managed two performances -more than expected but less than they'd hoped- and though the Dragon Dance wouldn't boost her magic, the speed increase would still work in her favor.

"And time to put these empowerments to work," she said, as the newly created monsters found their footing and rushed forward to devour them.

Beside her, Midna sliced her Nightsky ripper and Royal War Fan out of the twilight realm, both blades igniting and coming aglow as Edward’s enchantments took hold of them, before pointing the sword at the floodfested and shouting ”You want to dance too? Then come on, let's see what you’ve got!” at them as together the two ladies prepared to hold the backline of the quartet’s ad hoc formation.

Ooh

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