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Post by TimePuppy on Aug 2, 2019 22:04:19 GMT
"I'm feeling great," Love answered Elyssa, beaming with pride at being thanked by Ariana. She rubbed the brave seahorse's head as thanks, and to memorize how it felt to the touch. "We can go on on our own now, horsie."
"Don't worry, Riri. I'm sure you can find a better horse on the surface. Speaking of which, that's all five rooms," she said with disappointment in her voice. "It's a shame, I don't want it to end already. If we're going up though..." She lifted up Elyssa's swimsuit and dangled it in the water.
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Post by Vapovile on Aug 5, 2019 3:23:52 GMT
A small look of disappointment spread across Elyssa’s face when Ariana mentioned how she wanted to keep the seahorse. It was never fun to see a teammate sad about something. “Maybe we’ll find another one, right!” Elyssa beamed. It probably wasn’t nice to give false hope like this, but Ariana needs it now!
Looking toward Loveline, Elyssa looked on with surprise. “Ah, right! Thanks for hanging onto those! You guys are the best!” Swimming forward, Elyssa forcefully pulled Loveline into a hug, patting her back twice. Once she released Love, she took the swimsuit and swam back a few feet. “Just ooooooone sec…” She said, turning her back to the group and beginning to put the swimsuit on.
Once she finished, Elyssa held the seaweed and cape in her hands. “No real use for this anymore, so...maybe the hippocampus will notice it!” She exclaimed, grabbing a nearby pebble and tying it to the seaweed, letting it drop into the abyss below. She then held the cape over to Loveline. “I don’t know if you want this back or not, or if you can just destroy it with magic, sooooo…”
When they finally worked everything out, the group swam up to the main room one last time. A grin was plastered on Elyssa’s face, wanting to save a surprise for the group. Once they got there, they witnessed a strange sight.
Cosmina’s grouchy face was the first thing that came into view. Ariana smiled and waved, but got no response. It took a moment for her to realize that Cosmina couldn’t wave back, her limbs hog-tied behind her.
“Cosmina!? What happened!?” Ariana asked.
“Anna! She made me hand over our treasure and tied me up! Save meeeeeee!” Cosmina wailed, wiggling furiously.
“Easy!” Ariana grabbed the ropes and yanked them apart with a single sharp tug. Elyssa swam over to inspect her niece for injuries. “She what now?! You alright? What happened?” She asked with concern. “She just showed up and said if I didn’t hand over the treasure, she’d make me into a flag again! Then she hit me! Really hard!” Cosmina wailed, grabbing Elyssa tight. “She tied me up when I gave her the stuff!”
“That jerk! That was our treasure!” Ariana punched her open palm, rocking the watery cavern with the resultant shockwave. “Let’s get her! Then we’ll tie her up! Or just punch her, I guess. Let’s just punch her really hard!”
A frown descended across Elyssa’s face as she hugged Cosmina back. “So she has everything...that’s not good. But at least you’re safe, right?” She tried to reassure. “Now...there is something I should show you all.”
Smirking, Elyssa held the small trident she used in the void room. “I got this from that room I was sent to after being eaten twice, thank you very much.” Elyssa gave Jamie an annoyed glance, the slime creature sitting to the side. “Anyone want to guess what it does besides shoot light?”
“Uh… pokes monsters?” Ariana leaned in a little too close to inspect the trident. Elyssa tilted it down so it lightly poked her nose. “Yes, but it also opens the FINAL challenge! Yes, that room also showed me some hints on what to do with this thing. So...behold!” Turning confidently, Elyssa pointed the trident at the strange stone carving above the door that led to Scylla and Charybridis’s lair, and fired a beam of light at it.
Instantly, the two stone eyes lit up with a brilliant golden hue, the entrance shifting into a strange purple-hue portal that radiated ominous light through. Elyssa stood triumphantly and beckoned to the group. “Eh? Thought this was over, didn’t you?” She asked with a grin.
“Nope!” Ariana proudly puffed out her chest. “There’s always a final challenge in an adventure!”
“I was hoping it was… but I do want to kick Anna’s ass.” Cosmina sighed and tried her best to look as imposing as Ariana.
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Post by TimePuppy on Aug 9, 2019 18:37:27 GMT
Love turned around while Elyssa changed. She hummed a random tune until the adventurer said it was okay to turn around. She took the cape handed to her and it started glowing. The gem around her neck responded similarly and the cape vanished into it. They could finally go join Cosmina.
The greedy seamstress, it turned out, had quite an encounter of her own. Anna for some reason left the abyss before they did and tied her up after taking their loot. Dammit, Anna, you're nothing but a thief, so thought Loveline. Now the adventure was over and the group didn't even have any spoils to brag with. That is, until Elyssa pointed out there was still one more room.
"Oh, that's awesome! Jamie, why didn't you tell us about this?"
The slime girl shook her head. "I had no idea," she said. "Hehe, but I'm glad it's there. Now you can thank me for being the reason you stick around longer."
"Wait, what do you mean you had no idea this was here? It was in your room!"
"It's not 'my room'. I'm just a cube slime. I eat people who come in here and they disappear. You don't know what the inside of your stomach looks like either."
"Well, actually... But, I see your point."
"Alright then." Jamie swung her arm enthusiastically and pointed at the ominous purple entrance. "We're going in!" And she charged. Before she got to the portal though, Loveline overtook her
"Hehe, so that's a challenge?" Jamie's arm turned greenish and whipped out, wrapping around Love's leg and pulling her back. Leading the charge again, Jamie smirked. Until she got closer to the portal and a giant angler fish with slick eel-like skin and patches of fur popped out of it. Startled, Jamie paused long enough for Love to yank her back with a claw and dispel the illusion.
"You might be like Elyssa, but I'm clearly the better adventuress!" She was the first in the portal.
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Post by HungryHunter on Aug 10, 2019 2:48:20 GMT
“Aw man, now I kinda wish you had eaten me. I’d get to see a whole other room and get the trident with Elyssa!” Ariana scratched her cheek and grinned, but kept a healthy distance from the slime cube made human. “Woah! Cool, Love!” She sprang into action after her fellow gem girl. A small anchor appeared in her hands and she spun it in preparation for danger. Cosmina followed slower, slipping around Ariana to lean up to Love’s ear. “Hey… were you just doing that to impress Ariana? That’s not sustainable, you know.” She whispered, eyes on Ariana, still twirling her anchor away.
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Post by Vapovile on Aug 12, 2019 4:43:32 GMT
Elyssa looked on with amusement when Loveline and Jamie began to fight over who was going to be in the lead, folding her arms across her chest as a grin spread across her face. It was nice to see that Loveline was excited about the adventure now. Ariana was the next to take off, with Elyssa and Cosmina being the last people to go through the portal.
Before them was what could only be described as an underwater coliseum. Several old columns of stone held up what remained of the upper section, with a long hallway that ran the circumference of the structure. A small island floated above the water at the top of the area, several dozens of meters up. In the center of the room was a creature that dwarfed even Scylla in size.
The creature was a titan among the creatures they’d seen up to this point. Its body was long and whale-like, with several rows of light blue bioluminescent scales running the underside of its body. The top part of the creature was covered in thick white scales that shone brilliantly in the reflected sunlight from above, like a radiant god of the sea. Its tail was composed of two massive fins that radiated out in triangular shapes. The group couldn’t see its face currently, as it was turned to the side, monitoring...a single fast-moving figure that was speeding around on a covered circular platform, a clear dome above it.
“Hey, it’s Anna!” Elyssa yelled, noticing the shiny gold platform that Loveline won, and Anna subsequently stole from them. “Looks like those platforms can go underwater too...good to know I guess. Ok team, let me explain what I know.” She said hurriedly, glancing at the titan of a sea creature before them. “We have to get 3 things in order to beat this final challenge. I don’t have specifics, but I managed to figure out that one of them is on that island up there.” Elyssa pointed upward. “...one is in that long hallway that goes around the coliseum, and one...is somewhere on its body.” She motioned toward the massive creature. “...the Kirashi. It looks like we’re safe for now while it’s distracted with Anna...so we have two plans. Either we split into 3 groups and try to get them all at once, or we do two groups and meet up to get the last one off the Kirashi’s body. If we go with option 1, I suggest the solo group to be Jamie, since she’s the most mobile and durable one. What are your thoughts?” Elyssa asked the group.
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Post by TimePuppy on Aug 13, 2019 21:30:22 GMT
Loveline stopped not far after getting inside. "Whoa. That's a big boy," she said. Jamie swam in right after her, having to move at the last moment to avoid slamming into her.
"Hey, what're you- Whoa, that's big!"
Ariana, Cosmina, and Elyssa piled in soon after. Ariana praised Love's bravery, while Cos whispered an accusation that wasn't too far off the mark.
"It's not like I did it just for that," she muttered defensively. "I'm a quick healer so me running into a bad thing wouldn't have hurt us too much. And hey, flexing my adventuring spirit every once in a while is fun." Satisfied with her excuses, Love could pay attention to Elyssa who waited for the group to get ahold of their surroundings. Then she suggested they split up into groups. If it was a regular situation, Love would've voted for the safe 2-team option. But after they saw Anna was there...
"I think we should do 3 teams. Anna's going for the monster, so Jamie should go stop her and get our stuff back."
"Oh, gladly. I don't really know her, but I remember her being a pest. And after she took our stuff, she earned a free lesson in adventuring. Er, a painful lesson. Not an actual lesson. I mean I'll beat her up."
"So how are the rest of us gonna split up?" she glanced at Ariana, but didn't want to seem desperate. Plus, she wasn't sure that was the best tactical decision.
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Post by HungryHunter on Aug 14, 2019 3:30:40 GMT
“Well…” Ariana looked around, trying to pick somebody. “I’m the best underwater, and Cosmina’s a bad swimmer. So I can’t go with her.” “Hey!” Cosmina complained. “Sorry, it’s true!” Ariana waved her hands apologetically. “Elyssa, can you help Cosmina out if I take Love? The magical girls should stick together!” She gave Love a thumbs up, broad grin showing only excitement as she observed the sea monster above. “Oh alright, I get it.” Cosmina winked. “Huh?” Ariana blinked. “Oh, you- whatever! You two need to tell me how it goes later!” Cosmina yelled as she paddled up. “Wha- I’m not even thinking about that right now!” Ariana yelled back, blushing.
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Post by Vapovile on Aug 15, 2019 22:39:33 GMT
The smile on Elyssa's face only continued when she saw how invested the group was into this challenge. Ariana was no longer sad, Loveline went from a grumpy tagalog to actively excited about being here, Cosmina wasn't complaining about anything, and even Jamie decides to join their group! Ariana wanted to stay in the water, which was a smart move. Elyssa nodded her head to her request.
"Sure, you two can investigate the hallway! Cosmina and I can beat whatever is on that island, right?" She asked, putting her hand on Cosmina's shoulder and shaking lightly. "Jamie, you go after Anna and get our stuff back. Whatever you do, don't try to take on that thing by yourself. When you get our stuff, hand me one of those platforms and give the other two to Ariana and Cosmina. Stay out of its line of sight as much as possible." She instructed. Clapping her hands together, Elyssa glanced at the group.
"Final challenge! Meet up in the water when you're all done with your tasks, and we will find the last part together! Ready?" Elyssa flashed one last grin at the group. "Let's go!"
Darting off toward the top, Elyssa swam for several meters before turning back and firing her grappling hook at Cosmina. "Grab on, I can tow you up!" She called out. In the center of the room, the Kirashi shifted its massive body and attempted to bite Anna off her platform, but she luckily escaped its path. The sheer rush of water nearly threw her off balance though. "Whoa...feisty! I like that!" Anna declared. She sped along the soft glowing underside of its body, trying to find any kind of a weak spot. The Kirashi let out a loud whale-like cry, thrashing its tail against the wall, sending a cascade of rock crashing toward the ocean floor.
When Ariana and Loveline finally made it to the hallway entrance, they would find several broken pillars adorned with strange, worn carvings from a civilization long past. If they were paying particular attention to the sounds...they might hear a soft running water sound coming from directly in front of them.
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Post by TimePuppy on Aug 18, 2019 14:11:57 GMT
"Cos, not everything's related to, you know, that stuff," Love said, thoroughly embarrassed. She swam in silence, Ariana chose to break it. Dammit, Cosmina! You made this awkward now! Love had no idea what to say. That is, until they got closer to their target.
"Wait," she raised her hand. "Can you hear that? Running water, even though we're still underwater? That's not a good sign. Can you feel anything off about it with your magic?" --- Jamie swam toward the colossal fish as quickly as she could. Her target, Anna, apparently hadn't figured out what the challenge here was. She seemed to want to kill the creature rather than inspect it for parts. Realizing they were still ahead, the slime girl grinned. It wouldn't stop her from kicking the little thief's butt though.
Jamie waited for the sea titan to try and bite Anna again and then approached from the side it wasn't looking at. She'd try landing on it after that and grabbing on to whatever she could find. She wanted to stretch her arms and get ready to slingshot herself at Anna as soon as the adventurer wannabe came into view.
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Post by HungryHunter on Aug 18, 2019 18:55:46 GMT
“Yeah, that is weird.” Ariana paused, listening closely. She created an anchor bigger than her own body as she swam forward, ready to smash anything that attacked them. She tried to ignore what Cosmina had said, but it was building up worse and worse. Why did this have to be so confusing? She glanced back at Loveline. Ah, whatever! There were more important things to worry about now! She darted ahead to find the source of that mysterious sound.
Cosmina gripped the grappling hook and closed her eyes against the rush of water as she was yanked to Elyssa’s side. She gurgled with nausea, wobbling the rest of the way up. “How do you people handle going so fast all the time…” She grumbled. Her horns peeked through the surface first like little periscopes and vibrated. A few scouting clicks were sent out to bounce off of the island, seeking out information about what lay there.
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Post by Vapovile on Aug 26, 2019 0:51:53 GMT
The moment Ariana and Loveline entered, the sound of rushing water grew, building to a crescendo until a pale blur came rushing down the hallway, swerving to a stop a mere foot in front of the gem girls. The water around the figure was shoved aside with such force that a violent torrent swirled to fill the pocket of air created by the sheer speed it was charging at. Still now, its form became clear. Two writhing sea beasts thrashed in front, masses of paddled limbs and snapping jaws, slime pouring from sucker-like mouths.
They were tied by heavy black chains to a rusty chariot overgrown with coral and seaweed, in which a single figure stood. It was barely recognizable as formerly human. Clad in the last battered remnants of sea-greened armor, its flesh bulged, pale and bloated with water. It had no eyes, one half of its head crusted over with barnacles and the other shattered away to make way for a tiny garden of coral and anemones. Worms shaped like fuzzy pink intestines crawled in and out of its abdomen, crabs crawled over bare patches of the body, picking away at flesh not covered by barnacles or armor.
Ponderously, it turned, uncomfortably, it leaned, fingers popping with the movement, it beckoned. Only one thing was not repulsive about this being, and that was the spear it held. It was entirely shining silver, carved from a moonbeam, long as a tree is tall. The same could be said of the other chariot that came rolling up to rest in front of them, pulled by the same slavering beasts that drew the sea-corpse’s chariot in a stark contrast to its beautiful silver surface.
---
Anna raced around the sea titan, rapidly extending out her spear to see if there was any particular reaction to the hits. The tip completely bounced off the hard shell that protected the upper half, but there was slightly more of a reaction with the soft underbelly. From the corner of her eye, she could see someone slingshotting themselves at her platform. “What the fu-” Anna couldn’t finish before Jamie entered the air bubble around her platform.
“Who said YOU could get in here?!” Anna said with annoyance, thrusting the blunt end of her spear directly toward Jamie’s gut in an attempt to shove her back out of the air bubble. The platform continued to race through the water, the massive Kirashi’s luminous underbelly beginning to glow a sinister reddish color now.
---
“What can I say, it comes with experience.” Elyssa replied to Cosmina about the speed at which they were moving. Once both of them broke the surface, they both could see what was on the island.
The island itself was relatively plain. White sand coated the ground, with 2 palm trees located on the far side of the group. Under the palm trees was a singular wooden chair, with a shirtless man dressed in a pair of ripped blue pants sitting in the shade, head leaning against the arm rest and legs hanging off the other side. He lazily turned his head to see Elyssa climbing up onto the island.
“Heeeeey.” He lazily waved to them. Upon closer inspection, they were able to see his long brown hair that went down to his neck, and he wore a small silver armlet around his right shoulder. Leaning against the chair was a long pole with a strange, brilliant silver axe head that went out at a right angle. Finally getting out of his chair, the man met Elyssa in the center of the island.
“Hello to you too! My name’s Elyssa, and judging by that axe over there…” She motioned to the axe leaning against the chair. “We’ll be needing that!” The adventurer declared. The man glanced at the axe and shrugged his shoulders. “You want that thing? Sounds good to me. Buuuuuut you’re gonna have to beat me in a little game first.” Grabbing a nearby stick, he began to gesture.
“Ever play shiritori?” He asked. Elyssa placed her right hand on her chin. “That’s the Japanese game, right?” “Righto. Well this is going to be a variant of that. Here are the basic rules.”
He twirled the stick like a baton as he explained. “First, I will say a word, and you’ll have to say a word that begins with the last letter of the word I say. You only get 15 seconds to think of one, so be fast, ok?” He joked, Elyssa smirking with confidence.
“Rule two: Only nouns and adjectives. So no saying ‘walking’ or stuff like that. Rule three: no saying words that have already been said, or their singular or plural forms. So no saying ‘eyes’ if someone already said ‘eye’, and vice versa. Rule four…” The man’s face grew a faint smile. “No saying words that end in the letter ‘e’. And rule five: the winner is declared when someone runs out of time, says a word that ends with ‘e’ or a repeat word, or...becomes incapacitated.”
Elyssa raised her hand at this. “Hang on! Incapacitated?” She asked with confusion. The man waved her off casually. “Right, I should mention this. When you say a word, if that thing isn’t in this area, it will be summoned. If it is here, it will disappear. Don’t worry, this island exists in a little reality marble, so you’ll regain anything that disappears and won’t die either. Buuuuut it will be unpleasant. Ready to play?” He asked.
Elyssa crossed her arms across her chest, looking at the man with suspicion. “I must have missed it during our introduction. What did you say your name was?” She asked, the man leaning against his hands. “I didn’t.” He stated. Elyssa snapped her fingers in annoyance and looked to Cosmina. “You up for this? I won’t force you to participate if you don’t want to. But this does sound fun, right?”
“Oh, heck yeah! I’m glad we’re the ones who tackled this! Task like this could use some brains!” Cosmina rubbed her face and hopped a few times, warming herself up. “I’m ready!”
“You heard her! Let’s rock and roll!” Elyssa declared, pointing toward the man. He responded by nodding toward the adventurer. “Well, let’s begin. First word is: green.” On cue, the green leaves on the palm trees became a bland grey, which also extended to Cosmina’s hair, becoming the same shade of grey. Elyssa looked on with surprise. “So it works on colors too...interesting. I’ll start us off! Napalm!” The man’s eyes widened with shock when a thin layer of unlit napalm appeared 20 meters over half the island. “Manor!” He yelled.
On cue, the ground found themselves inside of a large, old wooden house with a strange lack of any furniture. The napalm above their heads now stuck to the roof. “Phew...scared me there. You didn’t imagine it being lit?” He asked, Elyssa shaking her head. “Just testing out the limits to this game. Ok we need a word that starts with r!” She said to Cosmina, deliberately not giving away Cosmina’s name.
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Post by TimePuppy on Aug 27, 2019 21:25:04 GMT
Loveline couldn't prevent a disgusted sneer at the sight of the colosseum's inhabitants. It's competitors? Love wasn't sure. If they were the cause of the rushing water, they were probably racing each other. But they also stopped for the girls instead of running them over or going around them.
One of the seacorpses beckoned them closer. Unsure of its intentions and consequentially the wiseness of approaching it, Loveline did so slowly with one hand turned into a clawed paw. Whether it wanted them to move out of the way, or if it wanted them to take the corpses' spots and race, or if it even wanted to be generous and hand over the silver pieces that they were clearly supposed to take from here, approaching it was the only way to find out what to do next. Hopefully, it didn't want to attack. Also hopefully, taking their place wouldn't cause the girls to transform into corpses themselves. --- Jamie hit her target, although that apparently wasn't enough to knock her off of the platform. Anna retaliated by shoving the blunt end of her spear toward Jamie, trying to knock her off. Even if she was an honorless thief masquerading as an adventurer, she at least wasn't a ruthless murderer.
But her attack wasn't going to be enough. Jamie's body stretched where the spear's end thrust into her. It pushed out like the surface of a balloon being pushed by a pencil until the weapon finally pushed through. She didn't pop, of course. It merely sent some green slime falling into the watery depths below. Some more slime coated the weapon's surface. But Jamie herself seemed mostly unaffected by it.
"Nice try, but I'm just a gel cube. Physical attacks against me aren't that effective! So now you're in for a treat!" She stuck her tongue out and tried wrapping her arms around the thief. Then she would sweep at her legs to knock them both down onto the edge of the platform. If it worked like the ones from the race, she'd hold Anna down and steer them onto the monster Anna had been circling until now. Fighting there would be easier than on the unbalanced platform.
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Post by HungryHunter on Aug 28, 2019 7:01:08 GMT
“Woah!” Ariana raised her anchor to attack, but the hideous corpse did not strike, only beckoning as the empty chariot came rolling up next to it. “...it’s a race?” She tilted her head, stepping into the empty chariot without a moment’s hesitation. She looked down at the writhing creatures at the front of the chariot, stunned by the fact she got to ride something pulled by monsters like this. “Oh, this is cool…” Ariana banished her anchor and rubbed her hands. “How do you steer a chariot?” She asked Loveline, taking the reigns.
“My hair!” Cosmina complained, but things got much worse the very next second as napalm rained. “Woah, be careful with that stuff! Dolls and fire don’t mix!” Cosmina yelled, quickly composing herself. “Rabbit!” She yelled, and a massive fuzzy rabbit appeared in her arms. “Oof!” Her knees buckled at the weight. “It’s a Flemish Giant!” She declared, showing off the oversized bunny to Elyssa and their opponent. Her idea of a rabbit veered towards the adorably massive, clearly.
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Post by Vapovile on Sept 2, 2019 2:53:25 GMT
The moment either Loveline or Ariana flicked the reigns, the strange sea creatures attached to their chariot would take off running, continually gaining speed until both girls found themselves in a pocket of air created by the incoming water being shoved aside by the front of the chariot. Strangely though, they could see through the roaring water that flew past them. The course they soon found themselves on was a wide stone racetrack, a large stone pillar sticking up in the middle of the other side of the track.
The figure from earlier raced across the track, glancing back at them with what seemed like amusement in his eyes. He reached to his side and pulled out the strange silver axe-like weapon, slamming it into the stone ground behind him and summoning a spinning pillar of water that rocketed toward the duo. He appeared to be concentrated upon the pillar as he rounded the corner of the course.
---
A glare descended down Anna’s face when her spear didn’t do anything to the imposter before her. “And here I thought you were Blondie. Guess I’ll have to-HEY!” The redhead cried in protest when she was grabbed and the platform directed toward the giant beast in the center of the arena. “Are you insane?!” Anna yelled in frustration.
The Kirashi watched them approach, its massive eyes trained upon them as it arched its back upwards, pointing its luminous lower body toward them. “You MORON!” Anna screamed, able to wrestle back control of the platform just in time to plunge both of them into a dive. The Kirashi let out a loud roar as the lights on its underside lit up more brilliant than before, before unleashing several cracks of electricity that arched throughout its body, vaporizing several portions of water into steam.
“See?! Now get the hell off my platform!” Anna yelled, grabbing Jamie’s leg and aiming to throw her off the platform. Regardless if it worked or not, Anna twirled her spear and attempted to decapitate the false Elyssa.
---
“Huh.” Elyssa said in confusion when she saw the giant rabbit in Cosmina’s arms. “Didn’t know rabbits got that big. But it is cute!” Jogging over, Elyssa gave it several pats on the head while the man across from them laughed.
“Hahahaha! Oh, that’s adorable. I like you two.” He said, wiping away a tear of laughter. Thinking for a few seconds, the man clapped his hands together. “Typhoon.”
Everything seemed to be still for a few seconds, but Elyssa’s eyes narrowed. “Get away from the windows!” The adventurer yelled, taking her position in the corner just in time for a nearby window to burst open. A gale of wind whipped through the opening as water rained on the stone floor they all stood on, a violent typhoon now whipping through the area around the manor.
“Great, thanks for that! How about...this! Neutralizer!”
Suddenly, the whipping gale ceased, the clouds swiftly dissipating as the normal sunny weather returned. The man looked on with annoyance at Elyssa. “Can’t have any fun, can we? Fine then...Rigid.”
On cue, the rocks beneath their feet began to crumble, the entire manor becoming the consistency of a sand castle. Elyssa grabbed Cosmina and leaped toward a wall, bursting through the sand and landing in the water below. Once they surfaced, they could see the man standing on the island, now filled with a grey sand that used to be the manor.
“Careful now, he seems to be a fan of changing huge things. What’s your word that starts with D?” Elyssa asked, pulling them both back onto the island.
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Post by TimePuppy on Sept 7, 2019 21:01:29 GMT
Loveline scooted over to Ariana on the chariot they were apparently supposed to be sharing. Ariana naturally jumped on first and grabbed the reigns. Then they were off. Their competition got an early advantage. The man with the silver ax turned around and swung the weapon. It didn't produce a slash or water projectile or things like that. No, it created a giant pillar of water. For a second, Love was distraught. She couldn't do anything about that! Water control was Ariana's thing! And Ariana was the one controlling the chariot. And a fat load of good illusions and body morphing would do here... Then she almost slapped herself for being a dumbdumb. Of course, it's been a while since she transformed. She had enough charge now. "Alright, Riri. I'm leaving the driving to you. Get us to the goal safely." Love grabbed her glowing gem and was engulfed by a bright red light. Gem of Garnet, release my power... Loveline's hair grew shorter So that I may fight for those who cannot... Colorful highlights appeared in it, turning the ends of her hair all the colors of the rainbow. For I... Am the shining warrior bringing peace! Her outfit turned into a short, black gothic lolita dress with red frills on the ends. I am the warrior of love! Her shoes turned into combat boots and a red cape appeared around her neck. I am... Garnet Rainbow!
The light surrounding her gathered in palm of her hand and exploded into a large scythe which she twirled behind her back and pointed at the rider who summoned the pillar. "I'm gonna make sure we get their first. Pattern 63: Boom Boom Dandelion!" Love fired a colorful bullet toward the underside of the chariot. Once it got there, it would separate into several smaller bullets which would all explode and, hopefully, knock the enemy off the chariot if not tear off the entire chariot. ---- "Oh, so that's what it does." Jamie commented, seeing the electricity vaporizing the water around it. "We better stay off that thing then. Woah!" Jamie yelled out when Anna grabbed her leg and threw her off. The fake adventurer twirled her spear and swung it. The spear extended, Jamie could see it coming for her neck. That's when Elyssa's experience kicked in. Jamie's arm extended and grabbed on to Anna's platform like a grappling hook. Jamie swung under the spear, then under the platform, popping up on the other side. She extended her arms again, past Anna this time, and grabbed the other end of the platform. Then she pulled herself in, trying to kick Anna off the platform. "It's not yours!" she said, "You just stole it from us!"
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Post by HungryHunter on Sept 8, 2019 21:16:16 GMT
Ariana stumbled when the chariot took off, grabbing the rim so hard it bent in her grip. “Woah!” Her face broke out in a crazy grin as she pulled herself upright. “Alright then! Looks like we just gotta win this!” Her heart raced all the faster when Loveline transformed. All systems were go and they were at max power! “Hold tiiiiiight!” She said, taking the reins. With a pull, she sent the scrabbling creatures veering out of the pillar’s path, letting it spin past. One hand let got and a small anchor appeared. One spin and it was thrown for the zombie driver’s chest, intent on smacking him right off of his ride.
Cosmina didn’t need to be told twice, diving beneath the couch when she heard the winds outside begin to whip. She hated storms! Every time there was thunder at her house she turned whatever she was listening to all the way up so she didn’t have to hear it! She whispered a silent murmur of thanks when Elyssa made it vanish, only for their enemy to set the manor to dissolve! She spat out sand and racked her mind. “Uh… Devilm… devil!” She changed her mind quickly. Who knew what the results of summoning a character from a TV series would be?
Instead of the copyright violation she first throught of, a wholly original demon sprang forth. Its body was normal, a muscular red humanoid, but its head was little more than a tangled mass of horns. It mindlessly roared and charged the nearest thing, the guardian of the island, attempting to batter him with its horny skull. Cosmina scratched her head. Why was that what she came up with when she thought of devils?
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Post by Vapovile on Sept 15, 2019 20:38:15 GMT
The strange opponent glanced back to see the colorful bullet approaching his chariot. Holding out his axe once more, he waved it horizontally and seemed to create a current that pushed the bullet to the side of the roadway, exploding into a brilliant array of light. However, the anchor was able to use the cover of the light to slam into the back of the chariot, shattering part of it and sending several rotten planks careening across the roadway.
The duo could now see that they were approaching his chariot. He was looking at a pedestal located in the middle of the upcoming track, housing a strange silver gauntlet the same color as his spear. He swung the weapon to send a wave of compressed water toward the duo as he attempted to grab the gauntlet with his other hand.
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The surprising way that Jamie was able to both duck under the spear strike and swing herself onto the other side of the platform caught Anna off guard enough for the strike to land. While tumbling through the water though, Anna glared toward Jamie and the platform, pulling back her spear and thrusting it forward. "And you idiots made the mistake of leaving it with that shrimp!" She yelled, hooking the other side of the platform with her spear and retracting it, yanking Anna back toward the platform.
"And now I am going to make sure a dumb little pile of goo like you won't mess with me again!" Once she was nearly on the platform, Anna attempted to yank it in directly to the right, where the Kirashi's head was currently charging, mouth agape to try and bite down upon the platform, Anna trailing far enough to the side to avoid the bite.
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"Hooo? What a bizarre creature." The island's gatekeeper remarked when the devil showed up. He grabbed the axe leaning against his chair and pointed it toward the approaching beast. Two tendrils of water came rushing out from the ocean behind him and proceeded to wrap around the beast. One tendril ensnared the devil’s legs, lifting it off the ground while the other encased the creature’s head, attempting to drown it.
“I should probably explain some stuff? Oh, right. I only have 5 seconds left. Uh…” The man stroked his chin. “Light!” And as if someone had flipped a switch, the area was encased in darkness. Elyssa inched closer to Cosmina and held onto her shoulder to make sure she knew where her niece was. “You see, I was kinda this place’s best warrior. Won the last gladiatorial games and got this guy as a prize.” He moved the axe back and forth, Elyssa not able to see. “But I shouldn’t talk over you, now should I?”
Elyssa mulled over what started with ‘t’. “Cosmina, go into your Kaspa and grab a pair of your heated coats and some warm pants for us. Tundra!” Instantly, the darkness around them gave way to frigidly cold temperatures, Elyssa moving around to retain as much heat as possible. The man opposite them yelped in shock.
“You’re crazy! I like it! Brrr…” The man could barely think in this frigid weather. “Agony!” Strangely, the pain caused by the cold began to diminish, though could still be felt, as if one was standing in front of an open fridge. “That just affects our perception of the cold, but it’s still here! Let’s see what you have with y!” He called over, getting more excited at the game.
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Post by TimePuppy on Sept 21, 2019 16:51:07 GMT
The charioteer was perceptive and fast enough knock Love's bullet away. The way he did that though gave Love ideas. Ideas she would have to apply later. Right now, she had a different task. He was reaching toward a silver gauntlet seated on a pedestal and while Love wasn't sure what power that would give him or if it would end the race, she knew he couldn't have it.
"Pattern 1: Base." The first bulletin Love's arsenal. The title is a bit misleading. This is the only bullet without an actual pattern, but it comes with the benefit of being both good at conserving mana and of being faster than her other bullets.
And now it was invisible. Love aimed to knock the gauntlet off the pedestal, hiding the whole event with her illusions, and even providing the charioteer with the sensation of holding the gauntlet when he reached it.
"Riri, can you hook the gauntlet with your anchor before he realizes what happened?" --- "Yeah, take that!" Jamie pumped her fist in celebration. She didn't get all of their stuff back, but it was better than nothing. Then her celebration was cut short. Anna's spear shot out and attached to the platform. She practically flew back toward it, then she yanked it toward the big monster's gaping mouth.
Jamie jumped off the other side, stretching her arm out to grab the edge again, hopefully yanking the platform back to avoid the monster. The swing should let her do a swinging kick much like the one Elyssa used on Love. If Anna let go of her spear or what knocked away in any way, Jamie would reach out to grab her with her other arm. This time she needed to try and get the rest of their stuff. Plus, for some reason she didn't really want Anna to die.
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Post by HungryHunter on Sept 22, 2019 1:38:28 GMT
“Uh… no.” Ariana responded. Her anchor toss was by no means a precision attack. Hell, Ariana was by no means a precision person. “Don’t worry though, I still got it!” She stretched out an arm and pulled on the water around the gauntlet. Focusing on that, she failed to account for the wave of water their opponent was sending their way. At the same moment, that struck and the gauntlet came flying in.
Ariana was jerked forward the impact, then smacked backwards when the gauntlet entered their bubble like a wrecking ball and struck her face. They spun wildly before Ariana finally slammed her foot down on the ground, scraping them to a halt. “Owwwww…” She whined. Her face had a big red handprint in the middle and her leg was screaming bloody murder, but they couldn’t afford to stop! “Mush, doggies!” She flicked the reigns and they were off again. “Figure out what the gauntlet is, kay?” She asked Loveline, trying to focus on the road this time.
The devil was thoroughly immobilized in a single moment. Apparently Cosmina’s imaginary monsters were pretty weak. She was almost offended. When Elyssa made their landscape a tundra, she actually was offended. “Hey! What’s the big idea!?” She shuddered immediately, wet swimsuit about as comfortable as an iron maiden. She popped open her kaspa, racking her mind. It was so cold… what started with a y… she had it! “Yeti!” She called out while grabbing herself the puffiest coat in her collection. Something rose up from the snow, a hairy mountain somewhere between bear and ape in shape. It rose up on stumpy hind legs and glared down its short snout at the tiny creatures before it. One swipe of its hand sent up a wave of snow over all parties. “Oh no!” Cosmina yelped, dodging into her kaspa and waving at Elyssa to do the same.
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Post by Vapovile on Oct 3, 2019 4:35:46 GMT
While the two chariots raced through the course, the strange opponent looked toward the gauntlet, extending his hand out to grab it. However, despite Loveline’s impressive illusion, the figure felt the rush of water that came with the gauntlet being knocked off the pedestal, followed by the rush of water that pushed it back toward the other two. He looked at the illusion in his hands, having weight to it. He then raised the false gauntlet up and smashed it against the side of his chariot, the object passing uselessly through like a ghost.
The gauntlet was significantly heavier than one would expect by just looking at it. The shiny silver frame sparkled in the light that ran through their air bubble, the gauntlet clearly having been kept in better shape than the coliseum around them. If Loveline tried to put it on her arm, the gauntlet would begin to light up, surging with blue electricity. If Loveline attempted to use her mana with it, the lightning would increase in intensity. As this was occurring, their opponent held out his spear and stabbed it into the ground behind his chariot, sending several geysers of boiling water blasting out of the ground to try and hit the duo.
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Despite Anna’s effort to get the gigantic Kirashi to eat the annoying cube slime, the platform tilted backwards enough for the bite to not reach them, though the displaced water whipped up a current that sent the duo and platform spiraling.
“Why are you so annoying?!” Anna yelled out in frustration, barely able to see Jamie swinging in to kick her off the platform. While she was flying away, Anna was able to keep the end of her spear hooked to the platform, trailing behind while hanging onto the end. The approaching hand made Anna attempt to swing herself to the right to avoid it, putting the bag she was carrying between herself and the hand.
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At the sound of Cosmina’s word, Elyssa saw the light of the kaspa and began to leap inside to join her, but found her leg caught by something. “Hey!” Elyssa protested, before being thrown several meters into the darkness. The resulting wave of snow swept over both Elyssa and the keeper of the now-frozen island. The entire area seemed silent for several seconds, until Elyssa popped out of the snow.
While she wasn’t experiencing nearly the pain she should, Elyssa could see early signs of frostbite beginning to set in across her body. The sound of the man erupting from the snow could also be heard, Elyssa facing his direction. The light from Cosmina’s Kaspa let the two see the vague images of each other, a smile plastered across Elyssa’s face.
“What’ll it be, smart guy? You got five seconds.” Elyssa commented, the man looking at his axe with annoyance. “How about...inversion.” At the end of his sentence, the entire world began to turn upside down, Elyssa falling upward toward the sky above. Cosmina, inside her kaspa and separated from Elyssa by snow, did not see her falling. However, she got the basic picture when the snow went rushing up before her and she slammed into the ceiling, driving the air right from her lung. Thoughts were spinning, most important what to say. Elyssa was out there, so she must be falling up right now! Nightingale, necking, nitrogen, nutcracker, negligee, nobody, nun, nudist, negative, Nostradamus, nonsense! Nothing helped Elyssa! Something came from the dark recesses of her pop-culture addled mind, sneaking to the forefront. “Ninjas!” She yelled, and the dark became full of them. Flailing as they fell into the air, a scant few had exactly what she was looking for. A few spiraled overhead, strapped to giant kites that kept them aloft. “Elyssa! Beneath you at 3 o’clock! Shoot your grappling hook!” She yelled, hoping Elyssa could hear her.
Hearing Cosmina over the torrent of snow flying upward, Elyssa fired her grappling hook at the ninjas attached to kites, hooking into its frame and keeping herself from flying upward. Snow battered her body as she tried to hang on. The man holding the axe flew upwards, unable to grab onto anything.
“How creative of you both! I just have one word left for you all!” A wide grin spread across his face. “SUPERNOVA!” He screamed at the top of his lungs. A blinding ball of white-hot material appeared below him. Cosmic waves of unbelievable heat began to explode from its center in wild patterns, heating up the frigid air with seemingly no resistance. Elyssa looked up with a blank look on her face at the approaching apocalypse.
“You’re insane! But…” Elyssa pointed upward toward the sky. “This is where we win! Abyss!” Instantly, an unbelievably long rift appeared between herself and the supernova, stretching as far across the sky as her and Cosmina could see. The blistering rays were sucked into the abyss between themselves and their opponent, leaving the ground beneath untouched. The sky above erupted into blinding white light as the supernova’s radiance vaporized the man’s body within seconds, a smile plastered across his face.
And like a light, everything was normal. The tundra had reverted back to the normal, pleasant tropical island in the middle of the lake. Everything that had been altered by the game was now back to the way it was. Elyssa looked at her body, not seeing any signs of frostbite that there was before. On the other side of the island was the man, laughing toward the sky.
“Ahahahaha! I can’t believe you actually pulled it off! You just looked at that supernova and turned it right around on me! Ahahahaha!” He slapped his leg with joy, wiping a tear from his left eye. “I assume that means we won, hm?” Elyssa asked, leaning forward. “Of course you did, you vaporized me! Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve had that much fun?” He asked. Walking over to the duo, the man raised his strange axe and held it out to Elyssa.
“My name is King Itanu, I was the king of this once great city before it was...lost to time. As you probably guessed from your tundra move…” He nodded to Elyssa. “...my authority over the ocean was channeled with my family’s silver trident. This right here?” He motioned toward the axe. “Is but a part of it. There are two others somewhere down there. If you assemble them all and wield the silver gauntlet, you will gain dominion over this sea, as I once had.” Elyssa excitedly took the axe, inspecting it. It did appear to be part of a trident’s staff, and the leftmost spike. Elyssa made a small bowing motion to the king. “Thank you, king Itanu! You sure you don’t want to come down there with us and help regain your authority?” She asked. The king shook his head. “No, I don’t think I should. The beastie down there isn’t too happy with me, you see. And without my powers, I can’t do much. So I will bid you all good luck.” And with that, he took his position back near the trees.
On cue, Elyssa pulled Cosmina into a hug. “We did it! Look!” She held the axe with her other hand. “Now all we need to do is help the others out. Who do you think most needs it right now?”
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