Member
Lemons
Noctis
Carlyle
angelsgrief
ErosSense
Veilsight
Candelabra
LanaStorm
puddingpunter
op2024
The Final Hollow - Vs Consul D
Lvl 14 Ms Fortune (167/140), Geralt, Roxas, Captain Falcon, Therion
Word Count: 2781 (+3x2)
A whole lot more chaos ensued. The most pressing thing Roxas had to deal with was when D cast another Dominus Hatred. But this time, the Nobody knew what to expect - and he even had an answer for it. Using his Phantom Ruby, Roxas quickly generated three layers of virtual cubes above his head arranged in 3x3 patterns. They would absorb the incoming rays of green that fell down from the sky onto him. He was unable to provide similar shielding to his allies, but he was able to use that moment’s reprieve to renew his own Tailwind buff as well as provide one for Geralt and Nadia - but was unable to do so for anyone else due to D swiftly taking action following his spell.
During these moments, D engaged with Roland and then with Nadia. Roxas had to fight the urge to teleport with his StepSword, knowing the Consul’s wolves could still strike at him if he tried that. And before Roxas could jump in himself, the ground started to rumble. From elsewhere in the Final Hollow, the Guardian was undergoing its transformation, the effects of which were being felt even here. So Roxas generated a new set of virtual cubes that he could launch himself along using Flow Motion to avoid touching the trembling ground. But as he was about to be within striking distance, D unleashed another spell. This one created a spherical blast of fire around him that kept the Keybearer from striking as well as pushed him back.
”Again?” Roxas exclaimed in frustration, ”Gimme a break!”
Meanwhile, Captain Falcon had spent a chunk of the fight against A stunned and in not-so-good shape. He along with Ganondorf had taken the brunt of a nasty attack. And as a result he was not only hurting, but stressed as all hell thanks to the Consul’s abilities. He heard Sandalphon’s voice coming from a glyph over Ganondorf’s ear, recommending that he and the others in this fight switch opponents to relieve themselves of the stress being inflicted on them.
She didn’t have to tell him twice.
With determination, Cap staggered back to his feet and began to unevenly run toward one of the other Consuls, D to be precise. Behind him he could hear Ganondorf's roars of fury and found himself feeling glad he was not in the shoes of whoever was going to have to face him next. The trembling ground did not do the Captain any favors, and by the time he was close enough to actually join the fighting, it looked like D was already making his moves.
Geralt nodded at the bounty hunter as he approached, barely taking his eye off of D. Losing the Hateful Flesh had made him incredibly angry, but for the moment he was managing to avoid completely losing his mind. However, between that and the rapid-fire loss of their allies, with Ace as the pinnacle, Geralt was very close to the edge of his rope. D’s speed, strength, and variety of magical abilities didn’t help much, either. Without the Orphan’s eldritch cleaver, he was forced to resort to using his silver sword, though the familiarity of the weapon was a welcome change.
As the Consul swung on Nadia, Geralt stepped in to deflect the blow, sending it upwards and over the feral as he ducked low, lashing out with a kick to D’s knee before stepping back with a wide slash. While the joint didn’t buckle beneath Geralt’s blow, it did halt the Consul’s advance, and when he raised his scythe to deflect the ensuing swing the loud clang signalled the return of both men to neutral.
Roxas, now more injured after being blasted back by D’s Demonic Meggido spell, pushed himself back to his feet - refusing to give up. By now he’d noticed the injured Captain Falcon coming to join them, and the beating some of the other Seekers had been taking from D as well. And so after only a moment’s consideration, a tactical decision was made.
”Heal!”
With a raised Keyblade, the remainder of his MP was fully spent and the Curaga spell was cast. It had a slightly extended range now thanks to the Supernova boon he had earlier received from Apollo. As long as he positioned himself right, Roxas could ensure all his nearby allies would be within the spell’s radius giving them a much-needed heal and hopefully getting them all back in shape for what would inevitably be Round 2 against the vampiric Consul. And then? Roxas vanished.
He no longer cared about the wolves flanking D. He’d try to take him from behind in spite of that risk. Roxas teleported to D’s back and attempted to once again slash at him with his ignited energy sword. But he wasn’t attacking alone. After the much-appreciated heal courtesy of the Keyblade Wielder, Falcon sprinted into action toward the Consul at the same time that Roxas vanished. The bounty hunter leaped and came flying back down at the Consul head-on. ”Falcon Kick!”
Though the destructive power of Demonic Meggido had annihilated his own minions, D was by no means defenseless against Roxas’ StepSword. The boy had already given the game away by abusing his teleportation technique to catch D off guard, so by now the Consul was keeping one eye on Roxas at all times. When he disappeared in a flash, D knew what was coming. He intercepted the blazing blade with style by not even turning around, but catching it with his scythe slung over his shoulder, his left hand behind his back to support the weapon just beneath the head.
If D had planned to enact some sophisticated counterattack, however, he never got the chance. Instead his smirk transformed into a look of surprise as the Captain ignited his flames above him, in the very moment where his focus had been diverted behind him. D attempted to pivot, but in an excess of confidence he’d overcommitted to dealing with Roxas, and now could not respond to the Falcon Kick in time. It slammed into his cheek with a meaty impact, leaving his pallid flesh bruised and seared, but the Consul did not go sprawling. Instead he planted his foot, teeth gritted and growling in anger, to try and power through the blow, as if to make up for the indignity of a hit to the head by showing Falcon how inconsequential it was.
Before Falcon’s balance could make him vulnerable as his momentum petered out, however, Nadia happily took advantage of the Consul’s obstinance. The Captain’s kick was a clean hit, maybe the first one the Seekers landed since the battle began, and one good turn deserves another. “Hell nyeah!” She darted in for a right-hand inward slice to D’s belly with Athame, held in a reverse grip, then came around the other way for a giant left-hand slash made savage by Fluffy Soft. With D’s defense double reduced, she kept up the combo with Tailspin, launched him with Limber Up, kept him airborne with a rotary Wheel of Fortune kick, then slammed him down with a jumping backflip kick. It was a short and sweet combo since D was heavy and liable to drop out easily, but it still got the feral fired up. “Know de-feet!”
With a snarl, D swept himself up from the floor as a swarm of bats, appearing a dozen feet away the next instant. “Finally working together, are you? Pathetic!” His cape fluttered, then split apart, becoming giant bat wings. When he gripped his scythe, the flames around it surged, and the next swing launched a volley of whirling fire sickles at the Seekers. “Die!”
Glad to know that she was being an annoyance, Nadia got moving. Running on all fours, she circled around the fiery onslaught. As bad as things had been going so far, even a little triumph amidst the adversity filled the feral with energy, and not just figuratively. Sparks of lightning danced in her eyes and around her bloody scars, telling her that she was fully stocked up on AP. “I’m fully charged!” she called to the others after narrowly avoiding a fire sickle. “Stagger him, and I’ll follow you up!”
Geralt pivoted around a flaming sickle, now in his Molar Boatworks Fixer Identity. All he needed in this form was a moment of distraction and he knew he could put Nadia in a position to follow up. He summoned Monsoon to attack with his metallic corkscrew technique, timing his Striker’s attack landing and punctuating it with a use of Axii. He knew the spell wouldn’t do much to the Consul, but if it bought him even a second, he’d use that time to launch a charged explosive attack from his pile bunker. If not…hopefully one of the others could use the distraction to get Nadia the stagger she needed.
Just when he thought he was about to get a nasty cut from the scythe, Roxas was actually saved from punishment by Falcon’s kick and Nadia’s follow up. And with Geralt engaging the count after that, he used the moment to establish a Tailwind on the Captain. Sure, he was already blisteringly fast, but now he could be even faster. The Nobody had also been utilizing his silver jackal mask to pay close attention to the cooldowns of his abilities that had them, namely his MP. Right now it ticked to 20 seconds exactly, still a bit longer before he could cast again.
But that wasn’t the only cooldown that was ticking, and Roxas noticed that Poltergeist’s cooldown had now worn off. So he figured it was time to let her shine again. He summoned the Striker, only this time it wasn’t to buff himself. Instead the bedsheet ghost girl played a little Prank on the vampire lord - conjuring a bucket of ice water that she proceeded to dunk over his head for a burst of moderate mental damage that could somewhat penetrate resistances as well. If D wasn’t annoyed by Roxas before? Then he definitely was now. And it turned out that someone else was trying to take advantage of Poltergeist’s distracting Prank.
Captain Falcon was nearby and reigniting his flames. Not in his leg this time, but in his fist. With his speed further boosted by Tailwind he was circling around the Consul’s flank in a blaze of blistering speed as he wound up for his infamous signature technique. ”Let’s turn up the heat! Falcon… PUNCH!” Maybe D could block the explosive punch, or dodge it considering the wind up. Or maybe, just maybe, it could give Nadia the stagger she needed.
For focusing a little too much on his various cooldowns and not enough on his opponent, Roxas took a direct hit from one of the Consul’s conjured flame sickles. It whirled into him repeatedly to slash and burn him, but at the same time, his Poltergeist’s prank took D by surprise, as well. He had used his scythe to try and parry Monsoon’s corkscrew, and while Axii had no apparent effect on him, the attempted mental assault was enough to reduce his riposte to an unremarkable glancing blow. The bucket of ice water that followed was a shock to the system, though, especially with his helmet gone. His long, somewhat foppish hair stuck to his face, D leaving D astonished, eyes alight with indignant rage. That moment was just the opening that Geralt had been looking for. He and Falcon arrived at about the same time, both with powerful short-range impacts that took just a split second too long to wind up. A devilish idea popped into D’s head in the nick of time, and without hesitation he transformed into a swarm of bats. Both strikes passed harmlessly through what had a moment ago been his body, and collided with one another.
In his haste to counter them both, though, D had not considered the ensuing explosion. The blast not only staggered Geralt and Roxas, but sent bats flying in all directions, smoking and charred. When D reappeared amidst the chaos, he was reeling and disoriented, and Nadia struck like lightning. Already bowed down and tensed up on all fours, she wiggled her tail, then burst forward with Charge. The yellow bolt blasted clean through D, and the moment the feral rematerialized she spent her AP on a second Charge that carried her back the way she came. Five times in total she blitzed through him, creating a star pattern of lingering lightning, before finally leaping into the air. “Zappy BIRTHDAY!” She hurled both daggers into his armored chest.
“Hmph!” Though hit in rapid succession, D had not been downed. Somehow he stayed standing, his jaw clenched as he ripped one Athame out and threw it on the ground. Now on the back foot, he knew he had to retake control. He lifted his arm to cast his infernal magic, meteors taking shape overhead.
It was then that Therion struck, the oft-forgotten second thief on the Seekers' roster. He had decided to abandon the battle with A even before Sandalphon's suggestion in order to save himself from ending up like Edward had. The stress that A had put him under was still there, simmering, but his physical state was alright - made even better by Roxas' heal, even if the boy himself hadn't even seen him. Therion had taken a back seat and let everyone else fight, waiting for his opportunity like he normally did, and that opportunity was now.
He took a cue from Nadia and struck with both of his own daggers in hand, one powerful and one laced with poison, as he came up in D's blind spot. He used his Battle Boost only at the very last moment, as the swirl of color would give him away otherwise. The Boost powered him up and boosted his critical damage as Therion sunk the blades one each into both of D's sides, newly exposed thanks to his casting position. With his target’s defenses reduced by Athame, it was guaranteed to do some damage. At the same time Therion used his Energy Thief to sap away as much of D's own mana as he could, siphoning it into himself.
“Hrrrgh!” This was no mere indignation; the pain D felt was very real. Though the Consul would survive what would normally be an excruciatingly lethal attack, Therion’s assassination attempt exacted a heavy price from him, both in terms of life and magic. Nevertheless, D had plenty to spare. Powering through the pain and poison, he began to cast a flame pillar at his own location to burn Therion off, before twisting it into a blood rain around himself. With the Seekers no doubt held at bay by such a perilous hazard, he would concoct even stronger sorcery to spell their doom once and for all.
That may have been the case for Captain Falcon, who was still shaking off his accidental clash with Geralt earlier. But Roxas, who was now recovered for the most part from the flame sickle he’d been punished with? Not so much. ”That won’t stop me!” He shouted as he hurled his Keyblades in arcs that circled around to try and flank D from both sides. And meanwhile Roxas aimed and charged up his RockGun, looking to close in on D with a three-pronged ranged attack coming from different angles. And just for good measure he threw in a cluster of virtual cubes to make it harder for D to dodge without coming into contact with them.
Though he considered taking the time to debuff the Consul while he was close enough, ultimately Therion's self preservation was the stronger instinct. He wrenched his blades out from D and backed off quickly, disengaging as the fire spell fell upon the vampire. It came fast, and Therion could feel the heat scorch at him even though he'd avoided the flames themselves. He kept moving as the blood rain swirled up, making sure he was out of range before he flipped the daggers in his hands, stowing one. He narrowed his eyes at D, his tail flicking. He wasn't the least bit shocked that his surprise attack hadn't spelled the end for the man, but now that he'd gone through with it he knew he wouldn't be able to pull it off again.
