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Post by othus on Jun 11, 2021 17:00:32 GMT
"No, even if we took the island from them by force, it would only become a battle of attrition...however, if you so badly want the seal...maybe we could strike a deal."
Ai looked back at the frozen mountain
"There's an Ice Dragon in that mountain. If it dies, the winter season will stop on this side of the island. We would kill it ourselves, but it sealed itself using a frost spell, so we cannot get through. So? what will it be?"
Ann looked back at the group and smiled nervously
"So, uh...I guess we really dont have much of a choice, do we?"
"It shouldn't take long, granted you can get through the blizzard"
The group moved out of the village into the mountain. It was just as Ai said, a blizzard spell was blocking the entrance to the interior of the mountain.
"well, my flamethrower is not gonna cut it. Maybe my plasma beam would....anyone here wanna deal with it?"
"Oh I'm totally down to chase some, but only if you ride with me"-Akabane told Caroline with a cheeky grin. At this point in her life, perhaps being a bit more carefree wasn't a bad idea.
-
"Friendship huh...If you are all willing to die for so little, who am I to interfere"-Tenjin said as he moved completely out of the way and walked towards the forest.
Akabane signaled the group and they all moved into the mine. there was but one path, clearly there weren't all that many minerals inside.
"Well, at least we won't get lost inside the mine, looks like a smallish one compared to the ones in Valstand"- She said as she jumped down, following the energy source.
"It kinda looks abandoned...there's even spiderwebs all over the place"-Akabane noted swiping them out of her face left and right, she tried to shove yet another web when her hand got stuck.
"whoa, are you kidding me? this thing is tough"-she pulled at it only to be sprung further into the web, she now was fully immobilized, a sound in the back could be heard
"Um, guys? no hurries but, please get me out of here, I think there might be something around here"
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Post by Vapovile on Jun 12, 2021 5:08:46 GMT
"Ice dragon...?" Amelia wondered out loud when Ai described it. "Good thing I wound up on this team after all, huh?" She said to nobody. Fire was perfect for dealing with ice beings. When they got to the blizzard spell, Amelia stepped forward and flared her fiery aura out further, raising her saber.
"Alright everyone, stand back. It's going to get real warm real quick." Amelia said with a grin on her face. Furrowing her brow, Amelia began to channel her mana into her sword, turning it red hot. "So much easier when it's a static target like this, ya know?" Amelia said out loud to nobody in particular, continuing to charge her sword. The blade was now white-hot and melting the snow around Amelia. Turning her full attention to the blizzard, Amelia stepped forward.
"Immolate!" With a thrust of her blade, Amelia sent a roaring torrent of fire directly at the blizzard before them. It scorched the ground below with its ferocity, leaving a trail of melted snow in its wake. The fire would hopefully vaporize the blizzard spell and change the air currents enough that they could safely pass through. Amelia stood by and readied her saber, breathing harder at the amount of mana used just now, ready for anything that might emerge.
---
"Well well well, I hope that's a real offer. I do plenty of riding, you see." Caroline left that ambiguous thought with a flirty smile and turned to the task at hand. The group made their way into the mine, Haruko perking up when she heard Valstand. "Oh, you know Valstand? I get some of my materials from there. Lovely people up there in the great white North." She commented. While Haruko hadn't spent a ton of time in that area, anytime she did was pleasant.
When Akabane got herself stuck, Caroline stepped forward with her knife. "Arty, would you be a dear and assist me with freeing our damsel? Haruko, can you make sure we won't be eaten by spiders please?" Caroline asked, being careful and near-slithering through the webs. Haruko tentatively followed.
"S-sure...right." Haruko drew 4 of her rocket knives and kept a watchful eye around the area, especially above. Her skill working with tiny threads meant her eyesight was particularly keen in spotting objects. Caroline meanwhile made it to Akabane and flashed a long silver knife. "Now just hold still..." Caroline giggled to herself and brought the blade down on some of the threads, hoping her strength and the blade's sharpness would sever them. She took the right side, hoping Arty would work on the left. If they managed to get Akabane down, Caroline would attempt to catch her and shift the hold into a bridal carry. But if anyone sensed danger, she'd immediately put Akabane back down.
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Post by TimePuppy on Jun 13, 2021 20:26:39 GMT
Katsuo hadn't thought to bring a thick jacket with him on this trip. It hadn't even crossed his mind. Perhaps he could use his virtual machine to stay warm? He never really thought about that, not that he ever had a reason to.
Luckily, he didn't need to experiment today either. In an impressive display of fire proficiency, Amelia melted the blizzard itself.
"That was a stunning display," he said. "I didn't believe something like that was possible. Oh, but it seems to have taken quite a lot out of you. Rest. We will handle the dragon until you can fight confidently again." That was his offer at least. he believed Amelia ragged breathing was a sign she'd spent too much energy on the blizzard itself. If she fought a dragon now... --- ""Smallish and hopefully not as lava-filled... I had to deal with those, like, a day ago. I had my fill for the week, thank you very much. Arthur said bitterly. The spiderwebs were a good sign, relatively speaking. Spiders probably didn't much enjoy living next to burning death either. Though wait, if whatever seal Ainu placed is inside the cave yet there are webs covering the entrance...
"Akabane, wa-" he started, a moment too late. Akabane touched the web already, getting stuck in it. Trying to free herself only made it worse. "If Ainu messed with the cave only recently and there are big webs like these, then they're probably not old. Just made by big nasty spiders. And big nasty spiders need tougher webs," he concluded. Two ice swords appeared in his hands and he approached with Caroline, keeping an eye out for any movement. He did say the webs were tougher than regular, but he hoped that didn't mean regular swords couldn't cut through them.
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Post by HungryHunter on Jun 16, 2021 1:06:27 GMT
“Aw. I have no beef with a big lizard.” Shi mumbled, disappointed that Katsuo didn’t back her up. Her fog wrapped around Katsuo, forming a puffy coat of clouds. “Stay waaaaaarm.” She purred. Jun stepped away from the couple. Were they a couple? Or was the sword just weird? Either way, it made her uncomfortable. She stayed clear of Amelia too until she stopped releasing her unstoppable fire blast. Only when it was clear did she walk up to her. “Are you alright? I am not sure that we have time to rest, but I can support you if needed.” She offered a hand.
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Post by othus on Jun 18, 2021 4:11:16 GMT
"Do you now? might as well confirm those um, skills after this, huh?"-Akabane told Caroline, winking back at her
"Yeah, not just the people, the place is beautiful!"-She said in response to Haruko's comment.
"Yes, keep hacking just like THAAAT?!"-Akabane saw 3 spiders the size of a large dog each approach her through the web, two came out first, shooting webbing at Arthur and Caroline, looking to tangle them up. In the meantime, another one closed in on Akabane and began rolling her into a cocoon.
"Holy shit, Guuuuuys!!!" -the spider bit into Akabane, but its fangs were repelled by her ironskin
"Yeah! you cant eat me, so you might as well-"the spider stopped Akabane from talking further as her fangs dented her armor, Musashi's eyes widened as she shook her body back and forth, hoping the spider didn't bite her on the same location twice.
"Ruko! any help here?!"
A roar was heard inside the cave as Amelia's blast poured inside.
The mountain was evidently a hollow iceberg, Ann moved with the group and immediately found the target.
A massive sky blue dragon, Amelia's blast had impacted right onto its left eye.
"Humans? you challenge Fulkoor?!"- Ann used her level scan on the creature and the Virtual Machine set the Dragon's threat level between Oni 1-2
-Virtual Machine no.3 online-
Ann equipped her Power Armor, Orange plates and helmet with a hand canon on her right arm.
"Incoming!"-Ann grappled beam out of the way onto the roof of the structure as the creature used a frost breath on the group, it trashed wildly at Katsuo and Jun with its right claw, while his other claw went towards Amelia
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Post by Vapovile on Jun 21, 2021 15:37:00 GMT
Amelia looked on with confidence when both Jun and Katsuo praised her display of power, taking Jun's hand and pulling herself back on her feet. "Thanks, I might need a few seconds after that one..." Her voice trailed off when a voice rang out from inside the cave. They moved in to investigate, and found the dragon they were looking for, one of its eyes closed.
"Crap, scatter!" Amelia called out, teleporting out of the way of the frost breath but only able to dash back in time to just be grazed by the claw. "Uuuuugh, why did I have to use mana on that...?" She complained. If the dragon was able to tank an attack that large, minor spells were a waste of time. There needed to be a weak spot.
"If I didn't just use all my mana on that blast...I could have summoned Slifer..." Amelia grumbled.
Giving herself time for mana to recover, Amelia perched herself on a platform above, scanning the dragon for thinner parts of his armor, or the ceiling above for possible debris to bring down upon the dragon.
---
Just as everyone had predicted, the group was attacked by several spiders the size of dogs. Caroline whipped her body back to avoid the webbing, but felt a thread press against her upper back. "Oh, lovely." Caroline commented, pulling on it.
Meanwhile, Haruko immediately sprung into action. She primed the rocket knives and sent them blasting toward the spider that was attacking Akabane. "Don't worry, I got you!" She called out. Her aim was to knock the spider off Akabane and allow her enough clearance to draw one of her longer knives and start to hack away at the threads holding Akabane.
Nearby, Caroline saw the approaching spider and ducked down, leaving her green and black checkered top and revealing the black bra beneath. She whipped her body across the area and aimed to drive her venom-tipped knife directly into the spider's eyes. "Lovely work over there, Haruko!" Caroline called out, Haruko giving a thumbs up and continuing to hack away at the binds holding Akane, but not having nearly enough surface area as Arthur would with his swords. "Hey Frosty, think you could freeze some of these threads, and break them all at once to free our friend here?" Haruko asked, still focused on the task at hand.
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Post by TimePuppy on Jun 21, 2021 22:22:24 GMT
Katsuo relaxed when Shi wrapped herself around him, a gentle warm wind against the chill of the mountain. "Thank you, Shi." He smiled at her foggy visage, only to tense back up when the roar echoed.
-Virtual Machine no. 07 online-
Katsuo armor materialized around him, a bright red futuristic samurai armor with the Musashi logo plastered on his forehead from which antler-like decoration protruded. He stood, Shi drawn, as the dragon came out. Despite the bulk of the armor, Katsuo managed to mostly get out of the frost breath's path, though parts of the armor were gripped by a white chill. The swipe of the claw was even more dangerous and Katsuo had to roll out of the way to barely avoid being squished.
This wasn't an ideal fight for Katsuo. His fighting style focused on minimal movements around a single point, a rather defensive style perhaps most reminiscent of bullfighting. It was best suited for opponents roughly as big as Katsuo himself. A giant dragon with tremendous strength made the style's low mobility more of a hindrance. Now he would have to improvise.
Before the dragon could move the claw that came crashing down, Katsuo jumped on top of it, trying to drive Shi into it, carried by the strength and weight of his armor. --- Arthur jumped back and made a shield of ice to block the webbing sprayed at him, then fired shards of the shield back at the spider. Haruko rushed in to help Akabane, but decided she wasn't equipped for the job.
"Right, I'll help out Akabane, you and Caroline can keep the spiders away from us." He did like Haruko suggested, placing both hands on the webbing around Akabane and freeing it so he could make it rip itself apart.
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Post by HungryHunter on Jun 22, 2021 1:15:02 GMT
Jun shoved Amelia aside when the blast of cold came, realizing only a moment later that she could teleport anyway. She was mostly scaled when it hit her, keeping her from being immediately frozen. Scaled lips curled into a smile. Finally, it was cool. She was worried she would be killed by the jungle’s heat when she got around to fighting. She didn’t draw her sword, just ducking to let the claws slice the air over her head. As she charged close, she extended her hand and the bloodslaked blade fell into it. She put her full weight into a single swing, trying to crack its scales with the oversized blade so that she could empower it with draconic blood.
Shi absorbed some of the cold, keeping it off of Katsuo. Much of her fog was lost, instantly freezing. She shed it immediately, keeping the ice from clinging to Katsuo. Shi kept producing mist to keep up the protection, adding wings to help Katsuo jump higher and then fly back down all the harder to strike with her point.
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Post by othus on Jun 22, 2021 4:17:42 GMT
Both Katsuo and Jun managed to pierce through the scales of the dragon, while highly resistant to magic, the dragon seemed far weaker against physical attacks. As the creature trashed around the cave in pain, Ann scanned the area and found her target.
"Amelia!"-Ann shouted to grab her attention, Parker pointed at a massive ice formation at the top, she charged her beam and fired at the structure, clearly weakening it. Just as she was ready to fire a second shot, she was tagged by a tail swipe of the creature, which promptly sent Ann crashing againt the ice walls of the cave.
The dragon noticing Katsuo and Jun were now on top of him fired its breath attack onto them, looking to get them off him. In the same move, the creature casted an Ice spell that generated spikes off the ground. the first set of spikes grew right in front of Amelia, threatening to impale her, while the second set was aimed at Ann.
As Arthur froze the threads, Akabane was finally able to shatter them.
"I'm free!"-She replied as she began shooting at the remaining spiders to finish them off. Caroline's venom seemed to work perfectly fine against these type of creatures too, and Arthur had also made short work of the one attacking him
"Into the mine!"-Akabane moved now fully aware of the webbing in front of her, she readied both guns and hacked away as she jumped down into the abyss.
Going down they would soon notice the cave's minerals emmited a light of their own, Akabane examined some of the rocks as she picked a couple off the ground.
"Man, thanks everyone for the assist. That was a bit embarrassing. Anyway...these must be the so called soul stones...wait what happened to your clothes?!"-Akabane looked at Caroline, who was now down to her bra.
"You know what? That's actually fine...more than fine. come, let's find that seal"-She cheekily smiled as she grabbed her hand.
"You two coming?? bonus points to whoever destroys that seal first"-Akabane told both Arthur and Haruko.
It didn't take long for the group to finally catch a glimpse of the seal, which was stuck to a small pillar in the middle. Akabane pointed at it excitedly as she took out her guns.
"Oh HEY! there it is!, now, who's gonna do the honors?"
Just as Akabane had finished her sentence, noises in the background began to accumulate. There were dozens of spiders lurking around, and the presence of the group had set their alert off. a whole army of them came down, looking to devour the entire group.
"Someone get the seal and let's get out of here!"-She repleid as she began firing at the creatures in a futile attempt to fend them off.
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Post by TimePuppy on Jun 24, 2021 21:06:07 GMT
Shi's warmth was appreciated, but it had its limits. In this case, it stopped at taking a full blast of freezing breath.
-Modular Pauldrons activated-
The pauldron's on Katsuo armor rose up and transformed, splitting up into smaller straighter pieces and combining again into the shape of samurai pauldron's attached to the rest of the armor viat metal arms. The rose up above Katsuo, shielding him from the direct blast, through frost was quickly covering them and turning into spreading ice. But Katsuo didn't budge from its claw. It was his duty to keep the beast in place for the others to slay. He would not submit so easily.
---
Arthur rolled his eyes at yet another victim of Caroline's charms, then froze the webbing her shirt was stuck to. He shattered it, leaving only a few bits of frozen web stuck to it. A better result than trying to tear the shirt off would have provided and Haruko didn't need to patch anything up.
"Uh-ah-ah, no staring," Arthur said, throwing the shirt over Akabane's head for Caroline to take and chuckling to himself.
Not long after, they reached the seal. But they'd walked into an ambush. A horde of spiders descended upon them. Arthur rushed toward the seal and tried to pry it off the pillar. If successful, he'd use ice shards to help clear the path toward safety.
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Post by HungryHunter on Jun 25, 2021 23:08:19 GMT
Jun’s greatsword hummed as it drank draconic ichor. Innumerable magical gears and sliding parts moved within it, and the clunky triangular blade extended into a proper weapon longer than she was tall. She seemed lighter than usual when she dashed away from the icy blast, practically floating ahead of it. As soon as it stopped, she sprang back forwards, thrusting for the dragon’s neck with all her might. The only disadvantage of this weapon was that she needed to keep striking and taking blood or it would return to a nearly useless state.
“Kaaaaaat!” Shi cried out. “You can’t stay here!” The ice was overwhelming her, freezing her fog solid faster than she could produce it. Even the shields weren’t enough, and she could feel Katsuo’s gauntlets betting colder. She needed to do something or he would really get hurt! She dissolved her coat, reluctantly peeling away from Katsuo. She needed the material. Her fog spiraled away from his body, extending outwards in an arc towards the dragon’s face. From both sides, it pounced, wrapping around the dragon’s jaws. She sought to clamp its mouth shut tight and hold it there.
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Post by Vapovile on Jun 26, 2021 4:03:36 GMT
Amelia looked up when Ann pointed to the large formation on the ceiling, perfect to drop onto the dragon. The shot weakened the structure, but not enough to bring it down. "Alright Amelia, here we go..." She said to pep herself up. As she stepped forward to start building fire once more, the ice spikes shot out trying to impale the fire mage.
"Waaah!" Amelia cried out in surprise, stumbling backwards and only having one spike impale her thigh, leaving a thin red trail. Amelia winced in pain, but flared her aura to melt the spike off her body.
"Ok, so you can cast spells too. Let's see how you like this, tough guy." Amelia grinned and fired a large red fireball directly from her sword toward the structure. Amelia then lowered her saber a little, breathing harder once more. "Can't catch a break, huh?" Amelia rolled her eyes, then looked on with concern at Katsuo fending off the dragon. She had to admit; that armor did look amazing. Ann was also blasted into a wall, but appeared to be fine.
---
Caroline caught her shirt from Arthur, quickly slipping it back on and sticking her tongue out at the ice mage. "I'll have you know I give permission for cuties to stare all they want, Farty." Caroline commented, a snort coming from Haruko trying to contain a laugh. A smirk appeared on Caroline's face when she glanced at Haruko, taking note of the reaction.
When they got to the seal, they were quickly being surrounded by spiders. Haruko drew an entire handful of rocket knives from her coat and stared the arachnids down. Caroline looked on with confusion at Arthur.
"I don't mean to criticize, but why are you trying to lug that around?" Caroline asked, cocking her head. She then deftly pulled an explosive knife out of Haruko's pants pocket and walked toward Arthur. "Haruko, please release all your knives." "What are y-" "Please." Caroline interrupted. Haruko sighed and launched her explosive knives at the spiders, attempting to disorient them long enough for them to get away. Caroline would then attempt to take the seal from Arthur and drive the explosive knife into the center, whipping her body away and break into a sprint with the momentum.
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Post by othus on Jun 26, 2021 5:01:27 GMT
With the dragon held in place by everyone’s attacks, the ice structure came down crushing the creature right in the middle. The mountain began to crumble as the ice spell that set the village on ice was broken. “Let’s move out!”-Ann shouted, quickly getting back on her feet, Ai, noticing the mountain had crumbled and the snowing stopped sighed. “I guess they did their part of the deal, those Ono-Ha assholes can go fuck themselves”-She said as she took out the seal from her pocket and ripped it to pieces.
Akabane nearly lost it upon hearing Carolines comment, she laughed almost rolling on the ground, when she finally recovered her breath, she waved her hand dismissively at Arthur “T-that’s right farty! If she says I’m allowed then that’s what it is!”
Haruko’s explosive knives made enough chaos for them to escape, Akabane turned her gun into an RPG and shut down the exit of the cave. “Alright!, looks like the other guys also managed to break the seal on their side, let’s go give Akane a surprise!”
Both teams went back to the place where they originally had split. Ann gave the guys in the other team the thumbs up and Akabane nodded. Walking into the ceremonial site, it was clear the ancient oni had built the place with sacrifices in mind. on top of one of the pyramids, Akane and Ainu stood. A whole technological array much akin to a lab had been set up, Musashi’s complete body was inside a pod, while a large black cage was also present, it’s contents yet to be revealed.
“Oh, look. They are here. Just in time for the reveal! Let’s see..Yes, I recognize most people here”-Akane commented.
“Musashi! whatever you are planning to do with Akane, it’s over! surrender now!”-Ann demanded.
“tch,tch,tch. You seem to think you have the advantage in this. but do you really?!”-Musashi released two teleport scrolls and both Nara and Sara appeared.
“To think you would go as far as murdering your friend for the sake of stopping Musashi...I’m sorry Haruko, but I will stop you here, even if I have to kill you”
“ARTHURRRR!! to think I would get my revenge so shortly after-”- Musashi stopped Ainu from talking further.
“No. The red haired woman. You will deal with her”
“Now, You might think You still hold an advantage over us, which is why I went ahead and prepared something special for you, Parker”-Musashi unsheathed his blade and sliced open the door of the cage. A black creature, two meters tall with a white mask crawled out.
“Z?!”-Ann used the level scan on the creature, it was stronger than the ice dragon they had just fought, in fact, Almost everyone there was?!
“Destroy her”-As Musashi commanded, Z rushed and tackled Ann, dragging her into the forest.
“Sara, The green haired doll”- The succubus grew wings and chased after Caroline, drawing her rifle and shooting explosive rounds, looking to dismember her entirely
"You are dancing with me"-Ainu whispered at Amelia right as she teleported next to her and released a dark magic blast, looking to pulverize her down to dust.
Nara slid down the stairs of the pyramid and chased after Haruko, first aiming a kick to her solar plexus, then using knives attached to strings meant to immobilize her. Akabane looked at the situation and quickly made her decision.
“Kat! Arthur! Help Ann and Haruko! Jun, with me! we will take Musashi down!”
Akabane climbed up the pyramid, shooting at Musashi, which he easily deflected with his blade. “Now,who might you be?!”-Musashi smiled amused. He drew his sacred blade and sliced twice, both blades appearing out of nowhere right in front of both Akabane and Jun.
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Post by Vapovile on Jun 26, 2021 9:16:33 GMT
The teams all made their way back to the center, the barrier now gone. Amelia had recovered much of her mana on the trek back, thankfully. She was welcomed by a hug from Caroline when they arrived, careful not to apply pressure on the scar. “It’s wonderful to see you again, my dear assistant.” Caroline said as she hugged, before breaking off. Amelia smiled and nodded her head. “I’m happy you’re safe too! I guess this is it…” She said slowly. As they walked up the steps, Caroline sided up to Amelia and began to whisper. “Hey...no matter what happens here, I want you to follow this order. If your life is in danger, please teleport away. I don’t want you to die…” Caroline said in an uncharacteristically serious manner. This gave Amelia pause. “But...I’m your bodyguard. I can’t just run away! I’m your knight, Caroline.” Amelia protested. Caroline looked over and gave a warm smile. “And that’s why I adore having you in my life. You’re loyal to a fault, Amelia. But you have other things to live for...your family, mending your broken relationships...and Armand. So please, follow my order and survive this selfish mission of mine.” Leaning over, Caroline quickly pecked Amelia on the cheek and skipped up 2 steps. “Of course, I don’t plan on going anywhere. You can’t get rid of me that easily.” She said confidently, adjusting the hair out of her face and winking. Amelia let out a relaxed sigh and continued on, a small pit now in her stomach. --- The team soon met with Musashi, and were promptly ambushed by his teammates. Haruko’s eyes widened with horror when she saw the monster from the Shirokumo crawled out and attacked Ann. She barely had time to react before Nara was upon her. Haruko gripped her gem tightly. The seamstress emitted a small aura of light, and reappeared as a taller woman wearing an outfit fit for an idol. Opal Song had emerged. With the different body height, Haruko was able to twist her body to take the kick on her side, pushing her backwards and allowing Haruko to skate across the air. “I wasn’t planning on killing anyone, Nara! Didn’t you get the note I left? We’re here to help Akane! She’s not herself, as you can see!” Haruko called out, forming two neon pink blocks to deflect Nara’s knives. So Nara fought like herself in base...but far more power behind her attacks. Waving her hand, Haruko attempted to summon 10 large neon pink spears in a ring around Nara and send them downward, attempting to pin her legs. She didn’t want to kill Nara...but couldn’t stand around to talk either. --- Amelia prepared to go after the agent assigned to Caroline, but Ainu’s sudden appearance in front of her made Amelia’s eyes widen with fright as she managed to teleport away in panic. She breathed hard for a few seconds at the shock. “Ok...you’re also a mage. Good to know.” Something about Ainu seemed...familiar to Amelia. The faintly arrogant aura, the darkness emitting from her body...and just like that, a memory flooded back to Amelia. She was laying on the ground, her body impaled by spikes of darkness from an insane Alexis. Her devilish eyes seared into Amelia’s body as the whip came down upon her, the loser of the fight. Loser to the one whose life she could have had. Glaring at Ainu, Amelia flared her sword and stepped forward. “Dancing? No, the only waltzing you’re going to do is straight into prison.” Amelia’s aura flared up more, her eyes now far more serious. Sweeping her sword in a circular motion, Amelia summoned a twister of flame around both herself and Ainu. She stood with her back close to the flame wall. “Let’s see how well you can handle the heat, you pale witch!” Clutching her fist, Amelia commanded the twister to implode from the sides, erupting when it closed in on a single point. Amelia wanted to see how extensive Ainu’s teleportation was. If she could teleport outside the tornado, she didn’t need line of sight to use it. --- Caroline immediately used her quick reflexes to launch herself across the battlefield, dodging out of the way of Sara’s bullets. “Of course I’m stuck with the succubus…” Caroline complained. Her foe could fly, and she could not. Drawing her knife, Caroline looked up at Sara, practically slithering across the landscape. “Heeeeeey! You sure we can’t talk about this?! You seem like a lovely, beautiful lady. If you liked Arthur, I do happen to know of plenty of other handsome men if you’re...interested.” Caroline offered. Depending on the response, Caroline would dart into the woods and begin to dart across the tree branches, knife now in her right hand and dripping with a sap-like purple venom.
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Post by TimePuppy on Jun 26, 2021 20:20:03 GMT
The path was clear. The trek short. Arthur was almost surprised by how quickly and easily they reached Musashi. But sadly, it wasn't just Musashi. Nara and Sara from before showed up and even Ainu was with him. And as if that wasn't enough... "Z!?" Arthur didn't expect to see him again. Especially not siding with Akane, possessed or not. Maybe he was being mind-controlled too?
The clash erupted with the enemy throwing the first punches. As fun as a rematch with Ainu would have been, Haruko probably needed his help more right now. Except she was trying to be diplomatic. Dammit, let's try and get Nara on side, Arthur thought. If they can focus on other enemies quickly and without having exhausted themselves, that's all the better.
"Haruko's right. We'll expunge Musashi, or we'll beat him so deep into her he'll never be able to climb his way back into her consciousness again, but we're not here to kill a friend." But she wasn't just attacking them because they were a threat to their own friend. Arthur didn't know what made Nara tick, but they'd need an offer if they wanted her on side. "Listen, I don't know what Musashi offered you to get you on his side, but surely you understand having the long-dead spirit of a jackass taking over someone else's body isn't the best way to get it. We might be able to help you find a better way." --- Katsuo ran to Ann's side before Akabane had even said a thing. He read the Z reports. He was aware of just what a powerful opponent he was, so his armor materialized around him as quickly as he pulled out Shi. But Katsuo didn't rush in to engage right away. He instead sized up his opponent. They stood, armor against armor, while Katsuo looked for openings, for chinks in the armor. Finally, he decided.
"Shi, cover." He waited a second for Shi's mist, then ran toward Z's side. Once he was close enough to swing, he instead took a single step in a different direction, closer to Z's front and tried to stab under his bone mask.
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Post by HungryHunter on Jun 26, 2021 21:25:47 GMT
Jun sighed and withdrew her greatsword. She wouldn’t be able to keep it active all the way back to the shielded area. It was released back to its pocket dimension. She was shaking as they moved out. It was right ahead of her now. A second showdown with Akane. This time, AKane would really be trying to kill her. She felt cold in a way that had nothing to do with the snow they marched through, and that chill clung to her all the way back through the jungle. Now she saw her, standing atop the pinnacle of a great pyramid. She didn’t need to be told to go for Akane. Before Akabane even spoke, she was running for her.
Then she was struck. Musashi swung his sword and before she knew it, it was upon her. Only the Shattered One’s reflexes had saved her, scaling her front preemptively when Musashi drew his sword back. Cloth tore away and her scales cracked as the force knocked her off her feet, sending her tumbling down. She caught herself on one foot, righted herself, and took off again. “Shattered One. Keep focusing on defense. Minimal scales. Only when and where I need them.” She mumbled under her breath. She grabbed the tiara off of her head and threw it like a discus. It spun faster and faster on its own power, becoming a glowing silver disk as it rose up at Musashi. She didn’t expect to land the hit, she just needed to distract him long enough to climb.
“That thing… Akane was defeated by it, wasn’t she?” Shi peeped when she saw Z. And now he was standing before them, bearing down on her Kat. “No Kat! Please, we can’t fight him!” She begged, but she knew there was no dissuading him. All she could do was make sure he survived. Her fog burst forward in a wave, gathering thickly around Z and nowhere else. She added to the illusion, yelling out a kiai from the direction opposite to Katsuo’s actual attack.
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Post by othus on Jun 26, 2021 23:44:17 GMT
Sara Boss Battle
"R-really?! I mean, I won't fall for something like that, you and Arthur are both liars! Yoru told us so!"- Sara landed on top of a tree and kept shooting at Caroline, aiming at her legs in an attempt to immobilize her, when she saw her run for the woods, she kept the pace, flying right behind her.
"You can't outrun me, no matter how fast you are, I hope you know that!"
Ainu Boss Battle-
"A Mage? A witch? Kukuku...I no longer go by those terms, I am death incarnate!"
-Virtual Machine no.9 online-
Ainu overpowered the collapsing tornado with a dark force field of her own, her virtual machine opened up what appeared to be air vents on its shoulder plates and dark energy began to gather around her. She laughed when she noticed a considerable ammount of that energy came from Amelia herself.
"I am the worst possible opponent for you, child. I am a direct student of Kuromi Iris! know that you never stood a chance!"
Ainu waved signs in the air and chanted a fire protection spell, she then summoned a myriad of dark spikes which promptly shot at her target, looking to impale Amelia completely.
Nara Boss Battle-
For a moment Nara's eyes shone at Haruko's transformation, but she shook her head and went back to her serious aura the moment she began talking.
"I got the letter...I too did not want things to go like this, but i won't betray my clan for someone who betrayed my trust first"
when Arthur spoke, Nara stared at him with dead eyes. Whatever shred of humanity she displayed when talking to Haruko was completely gone.
"Hey...won't you shut up for a second?"
Haruko's constructs were shot at Nara, but she slid between them as she jumped at Arthur, she took a small ring with a hook and set it on her hand as she swiped at Arthur, if she managed to so much as scratch him, he would lose all movement on the area she struck.
Z Boss Battle
Katsuo's attack struck Z cleanly under the mask due to Shi's distraction, pushing the collector back, but the samurai would inevitably notice there was nothing but more armor under it.
Ann, who had been originally sent flying by Z attack came back, this time bombarding the creature with her pulse beam until she sent it crashing against the woods
"Thanks for the assist! That armor has no weak spots, Katsuo. We need to overload him! give him no time to rest! as long as we don't let him use the energy he absorbs, he will overheat!"
Ann switched to a missile launcher and shot directly at Z, who was just getting up from the previous attack, she rushed the creature and stood right on top of him as she bombarded the alien with her plasma beam, the collector however pulled through Ann's attack as he grabbed her by the helmet and threw her right towards Katsuo.
Musashi Boss Battle
Musashi dodged the tiara attack by bending backwards, Jun had now also managed to reach Akane
"Jun! Long time no see! heh, it's kind of ironic that you are here! After all you have done to this woman..."
Akabane rushed Musashi but he quickly dealt with her by striking her stomach. and tossing her aside.
"She resents you deeply, you know that? Wonders why she had to pay a price so high for what was essentially a childish tantrum of yours. All the times she saved your life, and that's how you repay her?"
"Don't listen to her, Jun! none of that is true!"
Musashi turned and soccer kicked Akabane at least five meters in the air, he was overwhelmingly stronger.
"Now, let us close this chapter of her life. I'll be the one to give Akane retribution!"
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Post by TimePuppy on Jun 29, 2021 22:30:17 GMT
Katsuo stepped to one side and focused his ki into one leg and his arms. Using his empowered limbs and the strength of his armor, he grabbed Ann's arm as she rushed past him and used his strengthened leg as leverage to spin around while slowing her down. He held on to her arm so she wouldn't stumble onto her back from the momentum. Hopefully Shi did not lash out too much at the touch.
"I am afraid I cannot channel my ki into him to speed up the process. I will instead attempt to keep him occupied. Shi, cover! Retreat is unacceptable! The monster falls today!" He charged toward Z, Shi held at his side. Getting close, he would lunge to the side and try to strike the side of Z's knee with his pommel, before stepping back. He intended to position so Z would open his flank for Ann's energy barrage. --- "Maybe if you'd asked nicely," Arthur said as Nara jumped toward him. Rather than stepping back, he opted to step forward with a straight aimed at her chest, using the momentum of her own leap to produce a powerful counter punch. He used his other arm to block the hook swipe, a move he'd only come to regret a few moments later when the tip scraped against his forearm and he lost all sensation in it.
"I don't think she's feeling very diplomatic, Ruko!"
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Post by HungryHunter on Jun 30, 2021 0:24:00 GMT
Jun peaked the pyramid, and before her was Akane and only Akane. Or Musashi, wearing her body. Her scales couldn’t defend her from his first assault. Musashi spoke her own thoughts with Akane’s lips. She had thought about that a thousand times. “I am here… to mend errors I have made.” She readied her sword. She couldn’t let Musashi defeat her before they even fought. Attack, and worry about feeling after! She rushed in, blade leaving a blue trail in the air as she shifted positions. An instant before she swung at Akane’s flank, her entire chest erupted into a pincushion of spines. One or the other, that was all she needed!
“Don’t get any funny ideas.” Shi mumbled to Ann when Katsuo caught her. She made more fog, keeping visibility low. She wasn’t sure how well Ann would deal with it, but this was Katsuo’s ideal. They had trained in her fog endlessly. The more fog there was, the more she could do to help him. Hands formed from the fog and grabbed onto her blade, adding their force to his hammer strike at Z’s knee. She regretted it a little when the attack landed. “Please don’t do that again. I’m not some western blade made for such things.” She had enough fog now to really play. The hands around her own blade vanished and melded with more fog to form a great fist in the sky, falling straight down at Z’s head. “Instead, let me handle the blunt force and you just hack away like usual, okay?” Ice cold lips kissed Katsuo’s cheek.
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Post by Vapovile on Jul 2, 2021 1:21:45 GMT
The situation had broken down, and Haruko saw that Nara wasn’t going to listen to anyone besides her. “Let me handle the talking, Arthur!” Haruko said, the serious situation made her use his real name.
“I am simply trying to help Akane, Nara! I meant everything I said to you, that’s for certain.” Haruko called over. But she still decided to fight, holding out her arm and forming a massive neon pink gauntlet that dwarfed her body. She then swung forward, attempting to punch Nara back to the ground after Arthur’s counter punch got him away from her.
---
Amelia couldn’t stop herself from rolling her eyes at Ainu’s statement. Again something that reminded her of Alexis. But the Iris part made her pause. “Wait, you were a Gateway student?! And she personally taught you?! Come on, and I thought she was one of the fun teachers…” She felt the bitter rage rising within her once more...but then remembered a moment she had with Caroline.
---
They both sat in Caroline’s living room, Caroline sprawled across the couch while Amelia sat upright and watched the movie playing. Amelia shifted slightly as the climax played out, with two old friends brutally fighting with swords to the backdrop of a huge waterfall. Caroline noticed this and sat upright.
“Are you ok with this movie, Amelia?” The doll asked. Amelia looked over and chuckled, waving her hands dismissively. “Me? No no, I’m fiiiiiine.” She said awkwardly, sulking when Caroline narrowed her eyes at her.
“You can tell me anything, you know. I am one of your best friends. At least, I would hope.” Caroline winked at Amelia, causing the fire mage to relax a little more.
“I...guess I can tell you. A few years ago I kind of...had a similar thing with Alexis.” She motioned toward the paused movie. “It was all a misunderstanding. She was whipping this person on the ground, and I told her to get off. But then she attacked me in a rage I had never seen...but it turns out those people had attacked Ashlea.” Amelia explained.
“But when she attacked me...all my resentment against her came out. How I wanted her life, and was stuck with this scar, with no money either. We nearly killed each other out there…” She slowed down at the end. Caroline stood up and sat herself next to the fire mage, stroking her hair.
“Do you think it helped at all?” She asked. Amelia balked at this question, but shook her head. “I felt like a total jerk for hurting someone, but I was able to get some of that rage out...now Alexis and I are at least on speaking terms.”
Caroline clapped her hands together. “Now, would you say that stress was worth hurting someone in a blind rage?” The doll asked. Amelia opened her mouth to respond, then closed it. “...probably not. We both got some permanent damage because of it…”
“So here is something I’m going to suggest. When you feel like that rage is starting to take over, just…” Caroline sucked in air slowly through her mouth, held it, and released it back out. “Do that a few times. Fight with a clear head. You’re a talented mage, Amelia, you shouldn’t let rage erase that skill.” Leaning over, Caroline pecked Amelia on the lips and jumped back to her seat.
“If you ever want to talk about that more in detail, my door is always open. Especially to you, since you could just teleport right through.” Caroline stuck her tongue out at Amelia, then smiled. Amelia could just laugh.
“Thank you, Caroline. I’ll try to remember that sage advice of yours.”
---
Sucking in a deep breath, Amelia held it for several seconds and released it. Several muscles in her body relaxed with the extra oxygen provided. She teleported away from the dark spikes, and reappeared far above in the sky. She then began to fall at a rapid rate, sword aimed at Ainu with a burning aura coming off it.
Just as she was about to crash into the ground, Amelia vanished and reappeared directly to Ainu’s right. The teleport had conserved her momentum though, so she sped at terminal velocity out of the teleport and aimed to stab her burning blade directly into Ainu’s stomach.
Nearby, a woman who looked to be about 11 years old floated a foot off the ground, watching the fight between Ainu and Amelia. She wore a simple blue and black cheerleading uniform, with two yellow pom poms in her hands.
“Go go Ainu go.” She said in a near monotone, shaking the pom poms. A thought then dawned upon her. “Wait a minute...Amelia was also my student...shame we got interrupted so near the end…” Iris puffed out her cheek in a pout, and laid back to continue watching without the cheering.
---
Seeing that her offer was enticing, but not enough to stop Sara’s assault, Caroline continued to dodge around the blasts. Being in an enclosed environment like this was far better for dodging Sara’s shots. She looked back at Sara and gave a peace sign.
“Oh dear, what have I been doing this whole time? Not that I like running from cute girls, you s-” Widening her eyes, Caroline saw the rifle aimed at one of the branches she was on and fire, causing it to give way. But unbeknownst to Sara, Caroline meant to fall with this blow, disappearing into the shrubbery below with a ‘thud’. Visibility was low below the treeline.
Caroline had quietly dashed away and hid inside of a bush, ready to spring forth and attack Sara with her venomous knife if she came down, aiming for the back.
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