Fandom Soul Eater: F.A.T.E

[Sir Les Paul]

Ulysses Stein​

"D-Stein"​

Species Human
Partner None
Rank One-Star

Location Death City, Central Main Street, Death-Nova
Mission None
Status Aloof

​

Mentions: EmperorsChosen

While the box was hardly ornate, what it held inside most definitely was. A set of four pieces of jewelry snuggled together, two of which were simple yet unique and the two others being an intricately set necklace with small hinges on either side. The other, a ring. Both were made with a stunning white gold, a gloss so perfect that one could see their own reflection in the gilded edges of the metal. The necklace was embedded as most were within these types of boxes, the chain hidden beneath the box. Both the ring and necklace held a slightly odd shape to them, ovular with recesses, but still small, no larger than a half inch at best. Upon looking at the other two pieces within the box, it seemed clear what they were for--both this ring and necklace.

To the left and right of the centerpieces were two small golden scarabs. Beautiful in that despite being entirely gold, they appeared almost lifelike in structure. The tiny eyes of each adorned with what appeared to be different gems--blue or sapphires for one, red like rubies the other. Each small enough to fit into the recesses of the ring and necklace, making it clear that these little golden baubles were meant to be set inside each of the other two pieces. These four items, in total, made a single set. And, as beautiful as they were, at first glance, finding why they might be worth more than the blood diamonds of Africa might be hard to discern.

Ulysses was ever-observant. His eyes and his knowledge of people were all he had in his arsenal here. Her slip up in mannerisms when he mentioned the desire to survive. Her gaze as sharp as razors upon his words after. He struck a nerve. He wondered how he ought to tell that he knew. He wondered if telling her his faith was vested in her despite her intense criminal nature would give her any consolation. This curiosity also was evident in his soul. It never wavered with this empathy or kindness, but it became a larger factor.

The irony was not lost when on him when she brought up the topic of a ring. What she didn't know, is said ring was for him. Granted, that might not be something she would be opposed to, either, but that wasn't its intention. More so, it was interesting to see how smooth and soft her voice could be through that accent. She had her own skills in theatrics, it seemed. Or, perhaps, that simply was naturally how she was. In any case, UIysses and his own gaze were fixed flatly upon her as she opened the box and all the way through seeing what was inside. He didn't quite expect her to touch it, let alone flip it open. This did bring a slight jar to the tempo he had for the conversation, but nothing he couldn't overcome.

"Jaeran Hatuwr," he announced lowly, using a slight tinge of an Arabic dialect as he did. "More commonly known as the Lover's Scarab. A well-guarded secret of the African Branch. Those golden husks are their shells, and no worries, they have been thoroughly cleaned. An interesting little insect with an even more interesting life cycle. They mate every ten years or so when the River Nile floods. They live for exactly one night to find each other, mount, and unlike any other creature I know of, their souls merge. These golden bodies die and they create a new, black beetle that digs back into the fertile grounds and further fertilizes them as it dies in the process of creating more eggs. Their souls literally become one, and no one is quite sure how," he explained to her, now going over why these were so rare.

"These are because not many get to mate, and if they don't, their bodies wither and die. Try to remove from their nests, they die. These beetles basically exist only for each other, and only for their one night together. You could see that as beautiful or tragic, and be correct in both senses. It is not only that trait that makes them so valuable, though. These scarabs were highly sought after before the age of technology because of what they can do when worn," he continued. "The first person they come in contact with for anything more than a few minutes will have a tiny bit of their soul absorbed into the scarab. Then, it only works for them. From then on, they will be tethered to the other scarab, so long as they have it close by. They can sense the general location of each other. They can be used to listen in on conversations and sense what is around. With enough time, you can even use them to communicate freely with the other," he explained, and in doing so, illuminating the true value of these items.

"I hope you don't mind that I took the liberty of making the set white gold. I thought it matched you better," he told her, smirking as he did. Even now, some of his wry, flirtatious humor poured through. "The DWMA has poured hundreds of millions into this project, it's no secret. I have for the last decade advocated for better care for the veterans of the DWMA, mental health, check-ins, so on and so forth. All I want is to make sure that they provide the people that cannot or do not want to ruin to combat the same opportunities they provide you, that can. It's no secret, either, that I am a voice of a peace, against unnecessary violence, and I take it upon myself to make sure there is equality amongst those who served and are serving," he told her, revealing his actual intent.

His soul did not waver. In fact, if anything, it grew more intense. The music of his soul, the soothing tempo it had. It hastened. It grew that much louder. These notions of peace and equality--they genuinely meant something to the man in front of her. These ideas likely so different than the greed and cut throat nature of the world she was from. These ideals that probably seemed so frivolous that they could be farce. These were what sparked this man's soul. Altruism, arguably, in a form as pure as one could get within this Stein. This is what radiated from his soul as he spoke to her.

"I do know what I could reward you with. Money, I have plenty. Shows, you can visit any front row at any place in the world. Fame, if you want it. Many options on the table, but I do not know what you could want from me to make it worth it to you," he told her, in all seriousness. "But your soul can hide this scarab, our connection, while I get to see what your treatments and your team is really about. All I ask would be that you wear it, and chime in to listen to anything you think is worth hearing. It does not matter where you are in this world, it will work," he finished, explaining in full precisely what he wanted, and more so, the lack of what he thought he could offer her in return.

 

[Sir Les Paul]

March 9th, 2067 | 1406

Shuumie was hardly a natural predator in any other state. She tried to intimidate her prey, but to no avail. If anything, she had merely poked the bear and she could see the fire that burned inside of Zari as if he was a beast himself. This was a battle of apex predators in her eyes, no longer a hunt for prey. This reality sank into her feral mind and her approach thus would have to change. One might not consider a beast too intelligent. Many consider them highly intelligent and human like. Their brains were smaller, but different. It was not her raw intellect that demanded this change, but her instincts. And, those instincts were powerful.

The stripes down her back glowed again brightly, in fact her whole soul started to glow a radiant light, and just a moment later shot out a flash that could have blinded the stars. Yet another flag for his teammates if they were nearing, but more importantly, a tactic against a target she was sure would fight back. She became a living flashbang.

And, in that brief moment of slightly green tinged explosive light, she pounced again. Swift as an arrow, vicious as a chain saw. A quick leap at Zari to his side opposite the spear with both of her claws outstretched to maim him if they made contact, and follow up with a ferocious bite to his torso had he fell into her trap. She was arguably more competent than low-level Agents insofar that she synergized these tactics together, but that was the raw power of nature. She did not think through what she did, she simply acted on her impulse, and that made her decisions both quick and rash.

​

Tags: QuirkyAngel Prizzy Kriyze Sybil The Regal Rper

 

[The Regal Rper]

Collab

Adra & Zosar

Huh, guess I’d sorta assumed it would be somewhat similar. Then again, Adrian was one of the few Autonomous Weapons he currently knew personally.

He’d been interested in hearing more, at least whatever more the Autonomous Weapon would have been willing to share till they all got the notification that Adrian played aloud. Zosar inclined his head in the direction of following roar, and before he’d entirely realized it- though he had detected the spike in Adrian’s wavelength, the AW had called out a race.

The meister merely chuckled. “Shall we?” he asked Adra.

Her eyes rolled at his response to the race declared. This was nothing but flavor text for Adra, the girl likely to have a granola bar and just that over the course of the next half a day. Regardless of that, being caught way behind all the others in a mission? That would not only reflect badly on her performance, but it made her skin crawl. What better motivation to play along than her own push for improvement?

Sure enough she would set off, clicking her tongue with aggravation as the weapon’s arm shifted, the whip swung and dug into a fire escape as she tried to run and pull herself to increase her arrival any way she could. After all, she had to not embarrass herself.

“I was hoping for more of a response there!” He called after her. Sighing, shoulder slumped Zosar just chuckled. “She’ll warm up to me eventually”, he snickered as he charged up his own wavelength.

At least, he hoped she did. It was hard to tell at certain points if he was making any cover. But it had only been what? A day at best. It would take time, he just had to regain some of that patience.

A single flare on the precise moment he moved, revving his wavelength like one revved an engine, and Zosar shot out like a launched arrow when he made what would to a normal person have been a hop, he shot down and glided over the ground, one leg up, body angled forward, foot inches from the pavement. Where the second he saw a corner approaching he curled into himself, rolled in the air like a fired human cannonball, and with a flip and wavelength concentrated into his legs at the precise moment, he landed and shot himself off the street lamp post, metal denting under the force of his kick off, a sound he heard but didn’t care much for. The force behind the push hadn't bent the lamp post nor was it enough to make it tip over like a chopped tree. He pinged off that lamp post, catching up to Adra in the span of seconds, then concentrating his wavelength again like a blanket around his body he angled himself towards the ground, hit it and rolled to reduce the feeling and damage of friction and force, then shot off the ground using the carried momentum to further his progress.

He spotted Adrian just as the AW made another sharp turn to the next corner ahead, and with a glance to where Adra was located as they both turned into the same corner, Zosar called out to her to be prepared as they neared the location. Yet it was the growing light and Zosar's own sense of awareness at being able to feel the rising activity in the beast's soul that made him slow down and raise an arm, a sign to Adra for preparation and to be ready as a minor light emitted down their direction. Just as they cleared it to be in the same path as Zari though meters behind, Zosar caught sight of the increasingly glowing stripes-- and he was reminded of the cat mage's flashbang.

He already had an idea of what was about to happen- and by then, he'd already called to Adra to transform. By the time the flash had went off, Zosar had whipped switched to relying on his senses. The inner eye. Where he may not have been able to see, he could feel the soul's around and at the range he was, easily within his coverage, he could tell easily which was which and who was where.

Even through his raised arm, he could still feel the sting of the light behind his eyelids- but that's what Hiroshi had trained him for. To not rely on his eyes alone but to be able to expand his senses.

Lifting Adra was like carrying a weight. These were the variables to factor in. He'd been worried about this, that in this current state his reaction time would be slowed when it was most needed. Adrian could intercept sure, but would he make it in time and would he be able to react to the counteract the Shuumei returned quickly enough. Even as he moved she slowed what should have been a smooth, fluid and swift movement, but Zosar knew in the moment that being slow wasn't what he needed- so he used Amplification to cut the normal time of drag down to nothing. His wavelength released spikes, and his body soaked up the power greedily. The muscles in his left arm gave him power they needed to lift and curl back his arm at a supernatural speed, even as he strengthened his body to keep up with the action subconsciously- Zosar could still feel this minor sense of heaviness in his palm even if he'd cut it down to being nigh-insensible, it was still there, still a problem--

but it utlimately meant nothing in the moment.

Supernatural speed and he moved, Adra's thong went flying the whip latched on to a hind leg right as the beast moved, Zosar felt her connect through their shaky connection, and in that moment, a small twitch came to his lips the second she latched on either to the leg or some other body part.

He pulled, keeping track of not just Shuumei's soul but the soul's of his respective peers- their positions at best from what he could detect by the feel of their individual wavelength's where they were moving and where they were going, and as he pulled he flared his wavelength again to not only yank Shuumei off balance but to provide his teammates a possible opening to land something submissive on the beast, or at the very least give it reason to think twice on attacking again. All while using Adra's voice as guidance.

Mentioned: N/A
Interacted: Sir Les Paul (Adrian) Prizzy Kriyze Sybil QuirkyAngel @Kyuubey

 

[QuirkyAngel]

Jarvis Briseis

Location: Death City (South District...a couple blocks from South Oak Street
Date: March 9th, 2067​

Loud…

That one thought echoed across their shared link–a thin, tightrope bridge connecting their two respective souls–from Jarvis’s end as the feline below them let out a fearsome roar. There wasn’t much time to respond to Zari’s assessment of their current situation, so the demon weapon didn’t. It simply focused on doing its job. Zari called for a shield, so the- demon gauntlet Jarvis manipulated the 1.5 gallon of blood in its container to become a shield, based on what it could vaguely sense of its meister’s thoughts. A good call too, considering the physical damage the sound wave was able to cause; Shockwave, really.

Still…it wasn’t enough to crack Jarvis’s hardened blood…which meant it wasn't likely to damage his armored demon weapon skin either.

You alright?

Unlike his meister, Jarvis, in his weapon form, had no sensory organs to protect. He could “hear” the noise, but it didn’t cause him pain. Only something loud enough to rattle the soul–like Suzu’s bloody bell–could make him flinch in his weapon form. However, even through their weak link, Jarvis was able to sense his meister’s pain. The demon gauntlet could feel the ever so slight tensing of the palm it encased as Zari fought a mental battle to remain conscious amidst the powerful roar.

It seems his meister was quite the sensitive one when it came to noise…yet that didn’t stop the boy from moving as soon as Jarvis retracted the blood shield.

'I don't think we have to worry whether they know we found it anymore.'

Despite himself, Jarvis found himself chuckling. Or rather, his soul did. No, we just have to worry about it trying to kill us.

Blood had only just fully retreated back to its container–the gemstone–when Zari called for his next weapon–a spear. Why a spear? Jarvis could only guess. Zari didn’t intend to skewer the creature, did he? Bloody up the pretty white fur of the magical animal they were supposed to bring back? The demon gauntlet hoped not, despite the slight mouth-watering sensation the mental image produced. Yet it didn’t question Zari’s choice either. Perhaps spears were Zari’s preferred weapon. Perhaps it was for the range. Perhaps Zari had a plan of some sort by goading Shuumie to attack. Either way, Zari knew more about Shummie than Jarvis did, so the demon gauntlet assumed its meister knew what he was doing. Hopefully. All it had to do, as a demon weapon, was shape blood based on what it could sense of the meister’s intentions…or, at least, whatever it could draw from the thin link they shared. Should their souls become one in resonance, there would be less guessing on Jarvis’s part about what Zari wanted. Less lag time between the meister’s desires and the weapon’s blood constructions. In fact, if Zari could step into his soul space, Jarvis had little problems with letting the meister take over the reins of blood manipulation themselves. Less work on Jarvis’s part, after all…though maintaining resonance was an arduous task by its own right.

Jarvis’s soul sighed.

'Let's enjoy ourselves 'til the other's get here.'

You’ve got a demented view of what it means to enjoy oneself, Kid.

Jarvis, for the life of him, couldn’t figure out what was so fun about beating up an overgrown, African cat. Fighting in general, really. He just wanted to get their task over with. They waited for Shuumie to attack…and she didn’t fail to disappoint.

Once again the aquatic feline showed off its intelligence by trying to take out another of their senses–this time their vision with an unexpected, brilliant flash before pouncing. Its stripes, and even its soul, glowed in an overly luminescent manner that would be painful to look at…for anyone with eyes that is. Demon gauntlets did not have eyes. If anyone were to ask Jarvis how he, in his weapon form, could perceive the world around him Jarvis wouldn’t be able to answer…because he’d never really thought about it. He simply did. Regardless, unlike in the case of the monster cat, Jarvis didn’t feel the need to close or avert the eyes he didn’t possess while encasing Zari’s right hand.

She's coming from 10 o'clock. The demon gauntlet mentally informed its meister. Whether Zari's visual organs were impaired or not, Jarvis felt it necessary to inform his meister all the same. The gauntlet encased hand, the one gripping the winged blood spear, twitched in warning as Shuumie drew near. Should Zari be unable to react in time, Jarvis would do so for him. Or, at least, his hand would. If Zari couldn’t use his eyes, Jarvis would act as such and inform the meister of what he needed to know. They were partners, after all, and though they’d only met a couple days ago, he wasn’t about to let his meister get hurt while he was on the clock–least of all a boy that reminded him, vaguely, of Atli.

Shuumie’s trick would’ve probably been more effective if it took into account the fact that Zari wasn’t fighting alone. If you find it necessary, relax your hand and I’ll…nevermind. The others are here.

Shuumie’s claws didn’t even reach them before Adra (in her chain form) grabbed a hold of Shuumie’s hind leg and, with Zosar pulling, stopped it in its tracks…providing them with a brief window of opportunity. Emphasis on brief. The large feline didn't look very happy with the current situation.

There’s your chance. Knocking it out is one option. A leash is another. If you're certain it’s got a liter to protect, perhaps searching out the kittens would make her more cooperative…

Jarvis wasn’t exactly the nicests of bloodsucking demon weapons, but separating a mother from her children didn’t really sit well with him either.

Whichever the case, I’ll abide by your call so long as it isn’t stupid.

Prizzy Kriyze Sir Les Paul The Regal Rper Sybil

 

[Prizzy Kriyze]

Azariah "Zari" Vasher

Are you worried? Zari asked. Sure, it might be his ears ringing, his flesh on the line if the Shuumie attacked, but not for a moment did he feel concerned. This was his natural habitat, the only thing he lived for and the only time he felt comfortable in his skin.

The Shuumie's body lit up again, and Zari let his head hang and closed his eyes. He wouldn't have much use for vision in a second anyway. Cautiously, he waited for the flash to arrive, seeing whether it would be accompanied by another roar; yet as the light washed through the street, the world remained silent. Silent, save for the movement far behind him, and Jarvis' heads-up. He'd been given an opportunity.

He focused, reached out with his hearing, and time seemed to slow. Something whistled through the air behind him. Adra's chain form. Offset to his front, he could hear the Shuumie's violent approach, even visualize its outstretched claws inching ever loser. He'd imagined he might've had to take a hit or two for this, but it seemed his luck was changing. Still, his lip curled downward since he no longer had the fun to himself. He'd be able to claim the honor for himself no longer - but he'd show his competence plenty.

Split-decision, Zari slipped half a step backwards and took his left hand from the spear, simultaneously retracting his right arm. Zosar's attack would hit first, just in time to hold the Shuumie an inch too far to land its attack. Zari hadn't forgotten about its powers though, especially not its ability to extend its claws. They'd have to be taken care of first. With the tiny extra distance, he lined the spear up and drove it forward, in through the Shuumie's left paw and into the pavement, nailing it a safe distance away. Now, with his right foot leading, he used the spear as leverage to kick up sharply with his left foot, less attacking, more placing the sole of his steel toed boot against the Shuumie's right front leg and keeping it a respectable distance away.

Zari was parallel to the ground with only his right foot on the cobblestone by this point, with the Shuumie's powerful jaws dangerously close to his torso - but it was just as he wanted it. His left arm was pulled back and ready, as he further amplified his body with wavelength. He pushed back against the spear, the ground, and the Shuumie as he twisted his torso and threw a powerful overhand punch down towards the Shuumie's skull - and unintentionally drew energy from Jarvis as a sparkle danced up his fist and he activated his soul force, with compounded energy from himself, his weapon, and the Shuumie itself.

The punch connected with enough force to kill an ordinary person, but the Shuumie was far tougher than that. Its head was sent on a collision course for the ground - but Zari had noticed how his lacking attention on his resonance with Jarvis had caused the gauntlet to gently singe at his hand. The spear retracted into the gemstone as he quickly hopped a couple paces backwards away from the beast, and refocused on the balance of their souls. "Sorry." He whispered, as the tightrope of their souls stopped swinging, and the meagre resonance stabilized. I was thinking we let them show what they're worth. With the connection stable, he once again communicated telepathically rather than use words.

"It's dazed. Adrian! Your turn!" He called out, hoping he'd bought enough time for them to restrain it.

Interacted: Sir Les Paul QuirkyAngel Sybil The Regal Rper

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Adrian Hackney​

"The Maiden"​

Species Human
Partner None
Rank Fate Agent

Location Death City, near Oak Street South
Mission First Mission: Finding Shuumie
Status Alert, manic

​

Mentions: Prizzy Kriyze QuirkyAngel The Regal Rper @Kyuubey Sybil

A lot was happening at once. A giant glowing fucking tiger lunging at Zari. Zari fighting it off, and seemingly winning? Zosar attempting to use Adra to catch it. Yes, Adrian was there, but for a second, he questioned why. Why this team? Why a team at all? The blue haired boy stopped for a moment, watching the fight unfold, wondering what to do. Everything, everyone was so close. So close together. So much happening. This was a moment he didn't expect.

A part of him wanted to completely unleash himself, follow-up on that manic energy from earlier. Hell, he could nearly feel the spikes shooting out of his back now. It was a unique feeling. A partial weapon transformation like his with so many components, changing the way his body flowed through the air, the drag it created. But, that, in part, was the problem. All of those components to keep tabs on. That was the worry of the other half. The part of him that knew he had hurt allies in the past not paying attention to his abilities.

By the time Zari had called out to him, the moment had passed. Shuumie was struck by Zari with no small amount of force. In that moment, Adrian wasn't even paying attention to tell where that energy came from. Shuumie, on the other hand, felt that force in full, and she did not like it. The pain coursed through her, and the realization that she was outnumbered was coming in full. Her entire body as it was exploded into water, all the force Zari had previously exerted now being entirely and jarringly uplifted while Shuumie was now a gush of water retreating backwards into the street, poised now on some poor soul's car, cracking its windshield and denting it virtually wherever she stood.

Adrian pieced together what had happened. Zari was right. She was dazed for a moment and he missed a chance, but he was unsure if he could have captured her like that anyway. Soon enough, he became angry. Angry with himself. Action, inaction, it was all bad for the team. The anger that sparked in him manifested as a newfound vigor as he started channeling his own wavelength inside of him. Sure, he couldn't use every single one of his spikes, but if Zari could hurt the beast, then all Adrian needed to do was land one strike to impart his unbridled Wavelength into her, and then they would have a window where even the slightest strike would cause her immense pain. He didn't need a dozen spikes. Just one.

With his charged wavelength, Adrian started resonating with himself, feeding his wavelength back into his own soul and amplifying it on the spot, all while withdrawing his left most spike to keep himself down to one. One to attack, and if he tracked that, no one else would get hurt.

Meanwhile, Shuumie was hardly out of the fight yet. A beast she was, instincts taking over. What Zari didn't read in books was that this slightly-domesticated creature could adapt to her environment. In the South African jungles where she was from, she had lakes and rivers to draw from, to hide in, to become invulnerable. Here, she had none of that, but what did have was small pools of water all around them. In her home, she would never waste such a valuable resource; fleeing and attacks of surprise was their tactic. With that out the window and her desire to fight still present, she body willed her to try one other thing.

The stripes she had all across her lit up again, as with her roar and her flash, but this was neither of those. Instead, all of that energy trailed down to her tail which she let drape off the car and into the crevice between the street and sidewalk where there were ample pools of water. Then, they glowed, too, and just a few moments later began blasting out droplets of the glowing water at Zari and Jarvis infused with her energy. This continued to spread outward as well, going down the streets inch by inch and taking new targets in the form of Zosar and Adra, then eventually Adrian, until the curb they were on simply ran out of water for her to use.

"Does anyone know what this thing can actually fucking do because this was not what I read," Adrian shouted, his voice gritty and his attitude clearly more aggressive than his usual tone. Watching the water inch closer, he decided to back away, not sure of what it actually did, and more so trying to keep his focus on his resonance like a spring to be unleashed at the right moment. He had missed his opportunity once, he didn't intend to again.

 

[EmperorsChosen]

Eloise Keegan - Death Nova
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

Though the girl was measured in what emotions she displayed, for the most part anyway, it was plain that she didn't expect what was actually in the box. Not quite a proposal ring, but a set. Her stared blankly at it in obvious surprise, seemingly taken aback that she had guessed correctly in a sense. Glancing up at him, he wasn't on a knee, which may have successfully stunned her out of her mask for a while. Though, as he spoke, it became more clear what his angle was.

"Of course," She said as he stated its name. Eloise didn't need to attempt to know that she wouldn't be able to replicate its pronunciation and as such, wouldn't try to.

It was an interesting little insect, one which explained the accessory's value, but hardly why he was presenting it to her or why it would get her in trouble. Though as he explained their more practical uses, it became clear. In a nutshell, they were very lowkey communication devices and, with her wavelength, it would be undetectable if she didn't flash the actual necklace in the face of someone who may know of it.

She held it up to the light and rotated the box to view the pieces from various angles, all without actually touching the items within. Hearing the compliment, Elly turned her gaze from the box to him and smirked a bit back.

"I don't mind expensive jewelry or trouble," She said, setting the box back on the table with care.

Afterwards, Eloise retracted her hand to cross with the other, leaning back in her seat as she sorted through the information. She had a thoughtful expression on her face at least, paired with a considerate hum. Though, whether that was legitimate or all part of the act could not be told for sure. It presented a danger to her if found. Even if, true to his soul thus far, he was altruistic enough to take the heat or attempt to cover for her, she wouldn't be let off the hook. She didn't particularly care about the resources provided in the program or the betterment of others, so long as she could pass and be free of the leash. Eloise certainly wouldn't mind have ties to the Stein family or an I.O.U. from one either. She needed new "friends" here, after all.

"We can take a raincheck on the reward, so long as you don't mind having a debt with me," Eloise finally replied a bit smugly. "Though, what are the limitations with its communication? Surely you weren't hoping to just peep in my room and private conversations as you wish..."

He had been very genuine thus far, or at least his soul was. However, that wasn't enough to be believed for harmlessness. Just because he wanted to audit the F.A.T.E. program didn't mean the Stein didn't have any other ulterior motives. While perving in her room likely wasn't one of them, with direct questions like these, she could give herself some security. It was easier to tell a lie than an omission.

Interactions: Sir Les Paul

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Ulysses Stein​

"D-Stein"​

Species Human
Partner None
Rank One-Star

Location Death City, Central Main Street, Death-Nova
Mission None
Status Elated, interested

​

Mentions: EmperorsChosen

A debt? What a curious idea. Ulysses hadn't considered the idea of simply owing her. He wasn't sure what type of favor she could call on in the future, or what he could even offer. He had little political sway within the DWMA, although he did have a massive media influence. Money itself seemed no issue. And, she seemed far too shallow for what his fans would have requested, which she could honestly have had without any strings attached anyway. Just as in his mind, his soul reflected this curiosity. The idea of being indebted. It stirred a little fear alongside that interest; he wasn't sure about the idea of owing someone.

But, he wasn't entirely against it and it was far from a deal breaker.

He was overall more relieved that it seemed she, at least for now, erred on the side of agreement. Elation, even, perhaps. He did quite like it when things went his way, even more so when it was with someone like Eloise in front of him.

"As I've been told, their power grows over time. They continue to siphon tiny bits of our souls. The ring would go on my finger, the necklace your neck as I had intended, although I suppose we could swap. The ring is fitted to me, but that's a small matter. Mind you, what I've been told is secondhand, but to for actual communication, it does require some level of skill to activate it. To quote what I was told in Egypt, 'one must call out to their beloved to hear their voice, not unlike ringing a phone', although it clearly works without the romantic intention--I believe. Not that I'm opposed, but it would certainly limit the item if so," he explained to her, going over what he knew in earnest.

"It will take its first taste of your soul the moment you first touch it. From what I have gathered, at first, you can simply hear the others' voice, similar to how you would hold a weapon. As it grows, it can start to transmit your feelings. What hear, see, smell, taste, touch. If you wear it daily, that should take but a week or two. The next stages take months, as I've been told. When it matures a little, you can use it to sense where the other is from anywhere in the world. I've only spoke to one person with it, but they call it an uncanny sense of divination. It starts out like an internal compass, but can grow into an actual sense of where one is. Anything they call 'divination' admittedly makes me question its reliability, but neither of us need to track each other. It would take years of wear before we could establish a connection without the consent of the other, but that is possible. I figure, though, if you're wearing jewelry from me in a few years, either I must have some impeccable taste, or it'll be accompanied by few additional pieces, so that shouldn't be much of a problem," he explained to her, again, making it very clear that the instructions given for these scarabs are second hand.

"However, should you be worried about any of that, the scarab simply doesn't work if you remove it. So should your showers be too steamy for me, or you find someone whose intimacy is best kept to yourself, just take it off. The same goes for me as well," he told her, knowing full well she wanted to know what type of privacy this endeavor would offer, and that there was a simple method of securing said privacy. "One side benefit, if it is any additional consolation, is that unlike radios and magitech, this scarab isn't so easily blocked. It would need to be directly damaged. So, if in your adventures in Fate, you find your other methods of communication blocked, you can always contact me in case of emergency. I may not do much myself, but I can call the DWMA at any time, or request a favor from my dear cousin Franklin to have even the elite sent to your aid," he added, at least trying to pitch another use of the scarab beyond its normal use.

"I suppose, also, if you're ever just a little lonely or curious, you can always chime in to see what's going on in my world. I don't think I'd mind hearing that pretty accent of yours in my head," he told her, perhaps offering her what he would consider the least enticing of benefits, but who knows. It was an option.

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Nadia Semyonov - Death City, The Colosseum​

"Hmm.. I think I'll pass on your offer of food." She said, looking at the assorted collection. "Rather not run the risk of vomiting it up for the crowd, plus hunger can push you forward, enough to kill something just to survive. As to the armor, no offense but it clashes with my style. Besides, what is that expression?" Pondering it for a bit she smiles and tilts her head. "Ah yes, the Good die young. But yes, if you see something you want, by all means." She said looking Dani and sweeping her hands out to the spread.

As she listened to the strategy meeting, Thaddeus and his team seemed the most vocal, though all the teams were unanimous that the chain man would come for them. Did the rest have nothing dark about them or did they just expect the two of them were the worst? Well, it was likely true. It wasn't like either had hid that... Or could hide it.

The wolf was quick to take her leave, seemingly uninterested in all that was happening, and Thaddeus had seemed to waste his money on the food he had brought. Which in turn soured her mood and made her angry in a way that could not be explained, or at least in a calm fashion. It amazed her that so much food could be gotten and then just casually discarded, wasted, thrown away. It was not like the months in Vladivostok when the city consumed itself, it was not like the struggle in the camps to get whatever the Americans and the Humanitarian missions decided to send.

​

In reflection, the hunger she felt, though minor, was akin to a religious experience, a fast. She was stronger for it. While it was true the virus was global, she wondered if many, or any in this room could understand it, to fight and claw their way for even a tin can of food. They called the virus Madness, then what was this? Briefly having forgot about Dani's transgressions her attention was taken in by the list of fights. So, it was all parties guessed, the chain man was coming for them, he and another. And Maria was going up against the trio with the toadstool witch.

"Hmm, so you know how to laugh even now. Good, it means you will know how to survive. We can talk about what I mentioned earlier while we find a nice place nearby to watch the fights." With that she gave a wave of the hand, a quick raise of the arm and a horizontal movement of the hand, saying goodbye. The rest could do whatever, she had a fight to watch.

Interactions: EmperorsChosen others in general as they filter out.

 

[Sir Les Paul]

The Trio vs. the Marionette, pt. 1​

Even with their names called to the arena, there were still steps. He had no idea how this seemed to the audience, but to him the wait was agonizing. He wanted this rush to begin. First, outfitted with the help of Zelda with the harness for the White Witch. It fit over his suit fine, although it did need let loose slightly. Then to approach Cyrus with all of his uncharacteristic showmanship and glee. He wasn’t sure when Noah and Prudence were intended to transform, but there were no objections to the three of them in the arena yet.

Cyrus, meanwhile, saw the suit and internally winced. Of course the Thales agent would come in a suit. As long as it bore no magitech, not against the rules, but not exactly the demonstration of sportsmanship he wanted. Nor was it something he preferred himself; his experience with MIBVI suits soured him to the notion of combat apparatus. His internal thoughts were completely hidden, however, as his face was lit up with that ringmaster glow. A clean fight, he demanded, and a good show for the audience.

He then directed Gauss specifically to the White Witch for the imbuement of his harness. He had to pass over Riley and Tabitha to reach her, likely being inspected as he did. He had no actual idea who they were, but made a note to find out after. He arrived at this White Witch. If he weren’t so focused on his current fight, he might have made an internal mark about how she was an impressive individual despite not being his normal ‘type’, but this was one of the few moments where those thoughts had no hopes of clouding his mind.. [Whatever she does]

Thirty paces and ten seconds. Plenty of space, plenty of time. If anything, Gauss considered that an advantage for the Mages. In the name of fair play, so be it. Putting one of them within five feet of a Meister may not be nearly as fun–for him or the audience. Each step felt like an eternity. He was ready to start. It wasn’t clear whether or not weapons were to transform before or after entering the arena, but Noah and Prudence followed him with Zelda the entire time and there were no objections. That said, once they reached their paces, Gauss knew precisely what he wanted them to do.

”Transform immediately. Noah to my left hand. Prudence, we shall fly immediately. We can sacrifice the surprise of flight to test the capabilities of her dolls,” Gauss told them. Prior to this, he had discussed the option of withholding their magnetic flight to use as a surprise tactic, but that idea went out the window when he realized he was up against the mushroom witch should he win against this one. Preserving his suit became a priority, and maneuverability was extremely valuable for that.

Noah nodded and transformed, his body cloaked in light and appearing as a bo-staff in Gauss’ left hand. Immediately, he tried for resonance and was surprised to not only feel the pull, but to see the ego in his star. Well, while he wasn’t one to like the pull towards the light and getting sucked in wasn’t the best of feelings, he made do with it. They were going to show what they were capable of, and Noah was intending on doing so. So with that, his soul, a fog that crackled with latent lightning and hid something far more peaceful and happy in the deepest recesses of his being, wormed his way closer to Gauss’ soul, feeling more aligned than the last time as Gauss could likely feel the respect pouring from the depressing fog.

A bit disappointed that she had to immediately go to the ring, she had hoped for time to tend to her dolls one last time, or to attempt to paint over some of her metal weapons with an anti-magnetic coating. Anyone that felt the witches had an overwhelming advantage had little idea of what they were talking about. Fortunately along the way she learned she merely had to voice the notion of tagging in to make it so. The question was what to do and how. Looking back at Rand one last time, Maria taps him on the right shoulder and smiles, her usual seemingly forced smile.

“Err, Rand, if you don’t mind, could you send someone or yourself to find a Witch by name of Mirai, Mirai of the Black Workshop to be more precise. She should be with the senior Witches. Tends to favor purple. Though if the fight is going on, maybe best to leave her where she is till after..” Pausing to think on that she clears her thoughts and proceeds to the inspection area where Riley, Tabitha and the white witch were located, letting them go through her things and over her person, she was not a big fan of the harness. Yet rules were rules. Unpacking her two suitcases and snapping her fingers, strands connected to four dolls, a slight red glow as she moved them with a gesture of the hand, the wires fading as the climb up onto the arena, the larger doll stands passively behind Maria as she enters with the two opened suitcases in hand, getting a good look at the three, or very quickly, two combatants that could be seen. The Meister, or rather, Thaddeus wasn’t it? He had on a combat suit of some sort that sealed him off from the environment to some degree, she would have to damage it sufficiently if Chanterelle had any sort of chance of finishing this battle.

Rand nodded to her after she set off. Everyone in the audience was registered to be there, so contacting one of them wasn’t overly difficult. He shot a quick message for the request made by Maria to one of the agents handling the backend of the arena, requesting Mirai once the fight with Maria had concluded. What was more worrisome was seeing the field actually become populated. A Meister in a combat suit with two weapons, and something ached within his Mabian Eye upon seeing this Meister. He wasn’t given a reason why he was in the program, but Rand immediately took a dislike to him. Something in him stirred, something nefarious and dark. This type of tournament was far too soon for these students.

The boy had quickly vanished, turning into a staff, leaving the monotone girl to be viewed by herself… She was a shield wasn’t she? Still, she had one job to do, even if the odds were against her, dropping the suitcases from her hand, Maria lifted the sides of her skirt partially and gave a curtsy bow towards Gauss and the people in the stands, as she spun around, standing in place she wove her hands and the constructs came to life and reached into the dropped suitcases, arming themselves and spinning around, the wires seemingly lifting or empowering them into a floating pattern around Maria. Two rose up with a shield and lance, oversized for either but this seemed to not bother the constructs, a third would hold a nail and hammer, or to be more spot on a miniature sledge or war hammer, with an iron spike in its other hand and the fourth came away with a middle ages looking hand ax that looked to be a polearm in it’s small hands.

The mysterious 5th Doll continued to stand passively behind the Sorcerer, unmoving, as Maria giggled, staring at the Trio, before slowly turning her head alone to look at the judges and others gathered outside the battle premises. “I, Maria "The Marionette" Mayer stand ready to battle.” Whipping her head back towards Gauss she knew this match up did not particularly favor herself, but she had a plan of sorts in the works.

Stepping outside, and then into the heart of the arena, Prudence had not mentally made any preparation. All the same when all the eager eyes were like that of soulless cameras merely registering the acts and could never affect her, get to her, change her. But reality could not be so simple. Now within the ground, fully conscious of the attention making her the focal point, watching, perhaps analyzing her every move. And here and there, a mistake if made could put her in jeopardy, then reveal and condemn her true intention and dark secrets to the cruel, spectacle-seeking crowd. But she had been ordered to the stage, and here she was. And there was no use voicing her objection now. It did not matter.

As all such useless, awful thoughts ran through her mind she staggered and for a moment went blank. There was a lag. And when she came to, she was the last on the battlefield who was not fully prepared. Following Noah, she nodded, and immediately took on her Weapon form. Which was a slab of crude steel, nothing more. Like a lifeless, insignificant object. Observe all you want, analyze all you want, there will never be a thing to learn from it. And here transformed, she felt safe. When the resonance occurred, she welcomed the wave characteristic of Gauss to overcome her, and let it sweep her, so that she was safe in a tiny but solid bubble she reserved for her retreat. And here only one pair of eyes, perhaps two could sense her anxiousness. It was easier to deal with only a few people at a time after all.

As lifeless as Prudence thought herself to be, little brought Gauss more glee than the act of making her levitate, then taking his stance on top of her, floating above the air with his feet magnetized to stay attached. This much they had practiced consistently, and this was a feeling he had taken to far more than he anticipated. Noah in his right hand now as a staff being held in a downward facing grip with just the one hand–for now. Thirty paces it was, and thirty paces they had taken before they became the floating opponent that Maria saw before her.

”My teammates, Nadia and Dani, spoke of you like a friend, Maria. They did not wish to fight you, I believe,” he said aloud, directly at her. His voice not quite as clear as it might be without the mask, but enough that with a raise to his tone it would be audible to both her and the referees in attendance. ”While I have no qualms with this fight, I do not wish to upset the balance of my team. Tag out now before the fight starts, and I won’t have to hurt you or that balance,” he told her with absolutely no reservations or shame in his tone. Every word that echoed from him seemed like he believed it as if an absolute truth.

With that, the countdown to the fight had begun. Cyrus was already announcing it, the count down to eight at this point. Gauss himself continued with his demonstration, now swirling Noah through the air in a circular pattern with both hands, leaving trails of visible static as he did, if only to display what he could do. ”I have already seen a fair haired maiden this week in a hospital bed, I do not wish to see another,” he added, not technically untrue based on the events that happened on Lot C. Meanwhile, Cyrus still counted. Down to four.

“Hmm.” Listening to his words and the countdown, she smiles thinly. “You could always just fall down, you know, I’ll even use my strings to pick you up again. It’s fine for you to lose.” Seemingly unphased by his words, she did however take note of the seemingly charged and changed air around her, he was taking this pretty seriously wasn’t he?

“Plus, we are not friends yet. Maybe I’ll make a plushie of you.” As the countdown reaches zero, the witch launches off of her feet, a red aura that seemed to bleed formed around her she lifted up the Grimoire in one hand, pages flipping wildly by themselves, the power of magic flowing and channeling, to levels even some of the witches would be impressed by, questioning if she really was a sorcerer. And her next actions was all the more surprising and highly aggressive, She pulled in as fast and as far as she could, a wave of her hand attaching and detaching wires to her creations as she sent two to the far flanks and two dead on along her path, the shielders to the front and the axe and hammer to the sides. “Heheheheheheh!” She giggled as her face took on the unnatural and malicious grin from before. “Zero.”

Gauss made her an offer, she refused. Upon her first words, even, that Gauss could just forfeit, he understood the futility of his offer. He was not upset by this. Not perplexed. Hell, he didn’t even expect it to work, and if it did, that might have an actual impact on him–unlike now. Now, he saw this half-frantic witch preparing her magic and his mind turned into a combat simulator. Every doll on the field, every outcome. He considered what they could do, what he might prepare for, but time was of the essence.

His wavelength, empowered now by Noah and Prudence in contact with him, surged through him. Like an engine turning, it ignited within and made his magnetic fields that much more powerful. The countdown ended, and immediately Gauss launched himself in a perfect diagonal line from Maria. Thirty paces from each of them meant somewhere between forty to fifty feet was likely between them and in his mind there was absolutely no way she could get in range before he got the altitude he needed to start gauging hers.

To that end, he was correct. Maria was fast, perhaps not quite as much so as the Meisters he had seen in the sports game, but speed was rarely on the side of a magic user in combat–at least not against a Meister and Weapon. By the time Maria might have found herself where Gauss was, he was already forty feet in the air and another twenty back, and still climbing, his goal being to reach fifty feet, thinking that even if she had a ranged attack to reach him, he would have sufficient time to dodge.

The problem is that the field was too full. Too many variables. Too much he didn’t know. While he could attack blindly, that wasn’t his style. In fact, he was more prone to counter attack than attack, so this concept of aerial combat was somewhat new to him. He charged his Wavelength through Noah, merging the electricity that coursed through the staff with his own magnetic field, then made a horizontal swipe aimed downward. It let loose a fairly powerful blast of a magnetic field, although it would only be relevant to objects that could be affected by it. This was his goal. With his ability to perceive magnetic fields, he wanted to see what all was at his disposal below him. Anything even remotely affected by that field would show up to him.

”I hope you brought a broom because you won’t be reaching me that easily,” he shouted at her, the first words said since her last cackle. ”Though would a plushie of me make you yet another fangirl, or is that weird fetish of yours?” he asked, in this case initially trying to mock her.

From within their shared soul space, Noah saw that frenzy in the sorcerer’s gaze and he was starting to wonder if antagonizing her was a good idea. She seemed rather strange as a person, her cackling and remark earlier held a somewhat interesting possibility that she wasn’t completely all there, or maybe she was just nuts but without the madness. Feeling the wavelength course through him, he started to generate electricity, his soul buzzing and crackling as the fog turned dark and his soul jittered unlike the lazy movements it held before. He wondered if whatever Gauss had wanted did anything. He saw those shields, saw how high they were getting, and let out a tired sigh. “Thaddeus, if we get up any higher, most of our abilities’ll become useless. I know ya have ball bearin’s, but her dolls’ve shields. She can just as easily take up a defensive position to protect herself from yer metal rain.”

Glancing up at the other, she stopped her assault but seems to keep her book open, with a smile still fixed to her face she calls up to him with a yell.

“Hmm, I was told to never chase a man that runs away as they are just no good. Withdrawing as so and here I thought Meisters were the heroic face of the DWMA, all I see is a cur.. A shame two weapons have you for a Meister, no wonder we Magus are so pressed into service!” A bit cutting in her remark, her facial expressions remain unchanged as her hands begin to intertwine, the strands of wire glow briefly, some magic at work as the grimoire floated in her hand, attaching by it’s aura to her belt, as much a part of her as her hair or skin, the subtle imprints of her wavelength but more importantly her Mana engulfing it and her magics.

“If you won’t come down here, then I guess I’ll send my lovely children up there!” With that her strands concentrate upon one doll, a single strong strand splitting off behind it, the axe doll held its weapon high as a magical boost fired behind it coupled with a physical throw from the sorceress.

“But hmm..a plushie of you? Maybe your hair has some worth! But the Axeman cometh! Teehee!”

’You’re correct, Noah, but just dodging her abilities is not why I brought us up here.’ Gauss meanwhile concentrated on the witch in front of him. She had some more dialogue to throw at him, but his time for conversation was coming to an end. Wires flew and soon enough, so did one doll with an axe. This is the type of reaction he was waiting for. Something his reactive fighting style could use.

He pumped his wavelength into Noah as the doll approached, focusing on getting it just enough in range that he could reach it with Noah’s lightning reliably–a skill they had yet to master. ”We’re going to shock that doll, Noah. Aim for it. I want to hit the axe head, then take control of it. I don’t know how much damage your lightning can do, but it should weaken any magical control she may have over it briefly–and perhaps give her a shock at the end of her wires.” With that and another circular twirl of Noah, Gauss aimed the head of the staff forward and channeled what he could of his Wavelength through Noah for that extra boost.

It was like trying to force peeing. Painful. He took Gauss’ wavelength and generated the electricity he needed for the doll. He didn’t need to think, just do as he was told or else the opportunity would be gone. The staff became surrounded in lightning, the resonation with Gauss and, by proxy through him, Prudence, were safe from his lightning. However, he was able to pull through with a bit of pain on his end. It was like trying to force a fat man to run longer than intended. He felt winded, yet he managed to create a bolt of lightning that separated into a few smaller electrical lines that cut through the air and aimed for the axe head. He made sure to take Gauss’ wavelength with it, as he just got what Thaddeus had intended for the metal falling to the floor of the stadium, becoming essentially traps, as well as commandeering the dolls themselves.

Noah wished Gauss had spun him around more, as constant motion helped generate his electricity faster and made it more potent, but given the time window they were working with, he did what he could.

Gazing at the pair, Maria seems to slow down time within the confines of her own mind, there was a tug at her control, were they really attempting to override mana with wavelength? She could feel it, her own connection with her creations and the fact wood was an organic material allowed it.

How. Very. Interesting. And misguided, still she had other things to deal with as the offending party then sent a line of electricity down her wire. Given the speed of said electricity it would have been a hard task to disconnect and reconnect her wires in such a case, even faster than she could think or blink. Killing the connection with the other doll, her wires stayed deployed as the lightning struck her, for a brief instant connections to her other constructs were seemingly lost as she took a knee, wires still flared about her, connecting to one another in some sort of mass, though no response was given for that instant.

Merciless Medic Sir Les Paul EmperorsChosen RedArmyShogun @Mqueserasera QuirkyAngel Sybil Prizzy Kriyze The Regal Rper

 

[The Regal Rper]

Ark | DWMA | Colosseum

Ark merely smirked at Raphael's proclamation. "I'd expect nothing less." He said in good humor.

With Cyrus' announcement and the two mages of their group being led out to the arena, Ark merely watched in silence from the screen of their disposition as the first round began. To see Gauss was capable of utilizing a form of minor flight on his Weapon partner was certainly something he hadn't expected. Seeing him covered in a metallic suit was something he figured the Meister would do to upgrade his chances of success. After all, unlike the Meisters and Weapons, the mage team had the higher advantage. They didn't need to build up their link or connection to fight, they were solo fighters individually working together as a team- with Meisters and Weapons, it was different so there was a very miniscule advantage they had since all these partnerships were still fresh and new.

As the fight continued though it was clear that underestimating anyone from the other team, would be its own fault.

Maria played a smart move using the wires for her dolls the way she had. Initially it hadn't occurred to him that the wires might be something Gauss could use against her, but seeing how he hadn't jumped to use it against her as she sent her doll upwards towards him, it became clear as to why. The lightning that he and Noah generated, was going to be used as a conductor when it struck the doll to feed it back to the doll operator. And his hunch was right, they struck and lightning raced to meet the Doll Maker.

Ark tensed watching it with narrowed eyes and a set jaw as Maria took the hit and took a knee for it.

"Mm, that's going to be hard to recover from." He would know. He'd been hit with the conjuration of lightning magic from a small band of Witches they'd been hunting back in Nigeria. Ram types that could generate electricity from the cotton that popped from their necks and release from their horns.

His foot tapped impatiently. A sense of nerves, but a tingle of excitement.

Mentions: N/A

Interactions: Prizzy Kriyze Merciless Medic Sir Les Paul RedArmyShogun Meredith

 

[Meredith]

Chanterelle Fuir

In the Standby Bench, interactions RedArmyShogun (Maria), Sir Les Paul (Rand), Merciless Medic (Raph), The Regal Rper (Ark), open.​

Chanterelle’s forced smile faltered. There was a tearing in her chest at the denouncement of her work; it felt heavy and suffocating like breathing in the acrid smell of burning flesh. Hot tears threatened at the edge of her eyes. She wiped them away with the back of her hand hastily, keeping the feeling private. She made the conscious decision to exercise diplomacy.

“I like to think we could get along, Maria. I am more than rot alone; I wind vine for the whittler and weave flax for the clothier.”

The toadstool witch stood from her chair as Rand explained their situation. She looked around to the others, and though she was at a loss for words at what to say, she settled it in her mind by the time she’d sorted her bag (shoving her hat into it, of course) and taken off her sweater. “I’ll see you in the stands.”

She followed Rand closely, but couldn’t quite make herself greet Maria again, instead nodding along to his explanation just to prove she was paying attention. Her skin crackled with irritation. The witch couldn’t quite place it; what was bothering her so very much about that slight? Was it the assumption that she was dangerous? Destructive?

Maria interrupted their tense silence to ask Rand a question that was probably important to her. Chanterelle did her best to forget it immediately; Maria’s business was clearly none of hers. She licked her lips. The opening speech concluded as they made it through the halls with Rand. There was so much excitement in the announcer’s voice. Were these FATE agents as unstable as those also in the library? It was so insulting that at least one of her classmates thought she was a larger problem than this impending bracket-

“Hey. Maria.” Chanterelle’s gaze tilted from the note crumpled in her hand; the short blurb wasn’t enough to help her that much (except for the matchmaking) but it provided some sort of comfort on the walk. Her hesitation hung in the air at the gate. “Good luck. I have your back if you need me.”

So they dropped Maria off to be fitted with a harness and prepped for battle. Chanterelle followed him after to the standby bench; by the time she made it to her position the two weapons and Gauss were already the arena across from Maria. The harness was not something she looked forward too, either. At the standby station, Chanterelle handed over her bag, and let the group fit a harness tightly against her skin. She thought she’d have marks from the straps on her bare arms. When she was finally ready for the bench, the toadstool witch took a position on her tip-toes, listening to their words transmitted through the microphone in the countdown. Threats, she thought, might not really be in the overall spirit of sportsmanship. The armour was intimidating. “Rand, why is he in full arm-“

But the manoeuvring that had started the march couldn’t match forever. A thunderous crack echoed across the arena as the discharge went off. Her ears popped. The witch shrunk back in horror, grimacing as the lightening struck, a feeling of dread washing over her body out of concern for Maria. It surprised her, but past the gasp that escaped her lips, she could only watch with wild eyes. There was a seed of resentment sowing in her chest on her classmate’s behalf. The aggravation, directed at Maria before, might have been too hasty indeed…

Do Not Touch!

 

[Prizzy Kriyze]

Emmett James

Sir Les Paul Merciless Medic @Mqueserasera RedArmyShogun​

He lagged behind Zelda and the students. They'd have to get suited up and presented before the crowd in preparation for the match anyway, so he didn't have to hurry. Instead, he took the last few steps before meeting the light of the arena in peace - but hardly alone. From his mind's eye he perceived familiar and unfamiliar souls alike, and could almost sense some of their eyes back on him. A handful Russian veterans he felt some comfort in having around, the Mr. Thales himself, whose presence certainly wouldn't come without consequence, and a group of werewolves, no less. No presence compared to that of Lord Kidd, however, whose soul could not be perceived from here, but certainly felt.

As he stepped into the sun, his eyes lingered on the Lord for a bit. He didn't know the leader of the DWMA to be a weak man, who'd bend to poor ideas for the satisfaction of others. Then, he stepped into the duggout. It wasn't his place to judge.

He slouched back in a seat and produced a Zippo lighter out of his pocket just to fiddle with, but soon found his attention getting stolen by someone else. His eyes briefly wandere the crowd before they set themselves on Mr. Davis himself, an a smirk played at his lips. What are you doing here, old man? Worried I can't jury-rig some functional magitech for a couple of kids? Or, did he actually have a vested interest in the future of F.A.T.E? Regardless of his intentions, it was good to see him, and Emmett gave him a small wave whether or not he'd noticed it.

Then, the fight was starting. Prudence and Noah transformed, and unsurprisingly Gauss proved to be able to maintain both resonances at once. It was good, at least, to have a single member of the team that had no difficulties with that. Still, Emmett was pleasantly surprised by his inventiveness as he soared into the air using Prudence as a hoverboard - but the attention was quickly stolen by his opponent.

The Marionette, he thought. He was familiar with the stage name, but had maintained his focus within his own group. His curiosity peake as he leaned forward in his seat and inspected her dolls from afar. Magitech? No way, he'd know as soon as they came in. Demon Tools, she's not a witch. What was the comparable energy efficiency between complex runes and electronics versus Demon Tool manufacture, he wondered? He had little experience in such things, aside from the help he had in designing his portable extra-dimensional coffee-storing pocket - but nothing quelled his curiosity for new avenues of approaching Magitech. How did she fuel them? How did she use the wires to communicate complex commands without the use of computer chips or runes? He'd have to investigate later, maybe even offer some tips or tricks if he could. Making golems was, after all, one of his favorite hobbies.

Then they commenced. Emmett only cocked his head and stared with interest as they exchanged banter. It couldn't be helped in a group like this, but luckily Maria was unfazed. Had Gauss' intimidation worked, it wouldn't have done much good for the image of the project. Emmett gave a short whistle when she brought her mana to bear, and made her approach. There was certainly nothing wrong with her reserves, it only depended on how well she used her powers - and she'd certainly gotten a hard match to show that off. He wondered how she'd choose to counter his flight.

Gauss' soul swelled - but not nearly as much as it should from simultaneous resonance like that. It was an amateur's attempt, driven by compliance and overriding will rather than cooperation and aligned goals - but it might do the trick. Gauss was handed a ridiculously good hand in life, it was up to him to display whether or not he'd play it. They traded more harsh words, but action was only forced when the Sorceress launched one of her dolls up towards him. Emmett could almost tangibly sense the power and control she used to manufacture the ability, but it seemed Gauss had only waited for a chance to retaliate - a bad habit he needed to shake in this business.

Emmett could not hear the conversation they shared, but he cringed at the disparity in soul activity when Gauss raised Noah and forced a bolt of lightning against his enemy - yet he could not dismiss its potency. He found his mouth hang open and his lighter hanging open with a meagre flame licking at the air as he witnessed the bolt travel down her marionette strings and lead the lightning directly into her body. As a knee jerk reaction he stood from his seat and vainly attempted to get a closer look. Maria was hit, definitely, but it was far from life-threatening. Sighing, he relaxed his stance again.

"Don't overdo it, Thaddeus."
​

 

[QuirkyAngel]

Jarvis Briseis

Location: Death City (South District...a couple blocks from South Oak Street
Date: March 9th, 2067​

If you’re sorry, how about a heads up next time? Jarvis grumbled, though he wasn’t particularly angry. More surprised…and really just complaining for the sake of complaining. Frankly, he’d almost forgotten about the parasitic nature of Zari’s wavelength…until it started to leach at his own in order to power Zari’s soul force attack. His soul’s instinctive nature was to resist, hence the minor rejection as the thin link between their respective souls shattered.

However, upon realizing his meister’s intentions, Jarvis relaxed and let the boy take what he needed. Having his wavelength taken from him made Jarvis a bit more tired, of course, but seeing as he was always tired, the demon gauntlet hardly felt the difference.

Once Zari successfully dealt Shuumie a ‘soul force’ punch, the meister returned his attention to taming his uncouth wavelength, matching rhythm with Jarvis’s, and the link reestablished itself. This wasn’t anywhere close to the technique that is soul resonance. It was the basics of the basics. To successfully wield a demon weapon, two souls had to be compatible. In balance. With Atli, there’d been no need to think about it. They simply clicked. Differing personalities aside, they were—literally and metaphorically—‘on the same wavelength’ in most cases. However, his partnership with Zari was different. Newer. To top it all off, one soul was parasitic and the other undead.

Effort would be needed.

The fact that Zari had to keep his attention on their wavelengths just to keep the link from shattering was proof that it had yet to become instinctual. Not all the blame could be put on Zari either. It took two to match wavelengths, after all. While Meisters were traditionally the masters of wavelength control, the age where weapons depended on the meister to do all the heavy lifting had long since passed—a fact that seemed to be emphasized as Jarvis watched Maiden resonate with himself.

Well…he’s certainly showing off…

The autonomous weapon had failed to strike at the opportunity Zari provided, but it wasn’t like the blue-haired boy could be faulted given no plans had been discussed beforehand. They weren’t in team resonance so expecting Maiden to read Zari’s mind and react in time–when he’d only just gotten a grasp of the situation–was probably a bit much. Shuumie seemed to have fairly quick recovery time as well. Along with a shockwave-inducing roar, glowing stripes, hydromorphing, and water manipulation capabilities, the magical feline wasn’t proving itself an easy catch.

Once again, the demon gauntlet sighed.

Blood slithered back into the gemstone embedded in Jarvis’s weapon form as Zari hopped backwards, creating space between them and the creature that had just exploded into water. In one quick move, it had freed itself from Adra’s grip and gushed down the street, stopping atop a nearby car. Still, that brief contact with the feline’s blood, when Zari stabbed its paw with the blood spear, gave Jarvis a taste of why his undead ‘brethren’ in Africa preyed upon the Felis Milagua. Definitely a delectable scent. More importantly, Jarvis was now confident he could track down Shuumie—via her blood—should she choose to escape.

Yeah, I was worried. Your reckless fighting style would make anyone worried. But he wouldn’t deny it was impressive, given Zari’s lack of sight, either. Jarvis couldn’t say he expected Zari to stab the creature’s paw in place, use him as a leverage to block the other, then land an overhand punch to the skull with an ungloved hand, but, even if the exchange hadn’t knocked the feline out, it wasn’t without benefits. It gave Jarvis a taste of her blood. It gave him a clearer idea of the sort of fighter Zari was as well. But as I said, you’re the meister, and you’re the one in most danger in the current situation, so fight however you feel the most comfortable.

As droplets of glowing water shot towards them, blood instinctively re-emerged from the gemstone, spreading out to form a hardened, yet malleable, umbrella for Zari to use…not use..or re-shape…as he desired. I just wanted to remind you that, even after being reshaped, blood is still fluid and malleable so long as I’m in physical contact with it. Any blood. Jarvis couldn’t help but notice Zari recalling the blood back into the gemstone after each weapon construction, which wasn’t exactly necessary. Then again, there were no issues with doing so either. It could even prove to be advantageous in certain scenarios. He just wanted to make sure the meister had a full understanding of how the weapon he wielded worked. Also, Shuumie doesn’t seem to like your fiery wavelength very much…

Refocusing his attention on Shuumie, Jarvis soul–or perhaps the reflection of his soul–rubbed the back of its head in thought. If he were dealing with Blackie, he’d pull out the catnip he always kept in his pockets for her. Alas, Shuumie seemed to be a different creature altogether…and Zari’s punch seemed to make it angrier. Not that it wasn’t already angry to begin with. Quite aggressive for a feline that’s supposed to be easily frightened, but fear turning into aggression was nothing new especially if, as Zari said, it had something to protect.

If we’re going to catch water, we’ll need a container of some sort.

Alas, 1.5 gallons wasn’t enough blood to make anything big enough to hold a tiger. Even if he drained from Zari they’d have 3 gallons max…and he’d just end up with a shriveled up meister. Maiden was probably their best bet in that regard considering his weapon form…though the shape would be awkward. Was it even big enough? Jarvis had never actually seen Maiden’s full transformation, after all. Glancing at the other members of Team Arrow, who were probably either avoiding or blocking the glowing water bullets that emerged from the street’s crevices, Jarvis’s metaphorical eyes rolled as his voice echoed from the clawed gauntlet on Zari’s right hand.

“Beats me. Thus far we’ve seen it can glow, produce shockwaves, transform into water, and manipulate water. I’m told it’s in its maternal phase and, according to the files we were given, it also levitates and becomes intangible in water.”

Of course, the mission files also told them that Shuumie had been imported from South America while whatever book Zari managed to get his hands on–during the time Jarvis had been napping–placed the Felis Milagua’s origins in Africa…where the undead were its natural predators. Apparently. Perhaps he ought to be asking them how they hunted the Felis Milagua, but Jarvis was about as sociable with his kind as he was with other humans. That is, not very. Still, communication would be needed if they were to complete the mission, get paid, and go home. Whether with his partner or his fellow FATE agents, it wasn’t something he could avoid.

Prizzy Kriyze Sir Les Paul The Regal Rper Sybil

 

[EmperorsChosen]

Eloise Keegan - Death Nova
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

Regardless of the potential for any manipulation, the man's soul was quite honest. Every jitter and hitch, Eloise took note of. Though it was always helpful to be able to monitor one's soul, she would be a liar if she said she felt no jubilation from the feeling of having one dance to her tune. It appeared as though this Stein wasn't so naive after all. He knew exactly the risk of taking a lien with her. Even if she had gained somewhat of a conscience during this transitional period, Elly was not so good as he.

"You believe? You are sure having them siphon our souls won't curse you to associate with me for the rest of eternity?" Eloise pondered aloud, shrugging. "I mean, not exactly a loss for me, though I'm not sure you're ready for the baggage."

How nice it would be to have a rich celebrity to take care of her. It would be quite cushy for her, though the woman was unsure if all the spare time wouldn't drive her mad. For all her chimes and sing-song demeanor, she was anything if laid back. Though, the worry of side effects was there in all seriousness. It was clear that few if any research on such items existed and most his intel came from another user, and it was unknown if the same effects would arise in the two of them.

The potential for tracking could also prove problematic in the future. Mind you, Eloise wasn't planning to start a drug ring here in the U.S... but, then again, she also never planned to sell out The Loch and flee here. Who was to say how wrong the future could go right now?

The shower bit did elicit a bit of a giggle, though. "I'm afraid you'll need to do a tad more to get a show like that," She teased in turn.

While loneliness was the least of her worries, it was a fruitful option. Despite not really being with the DWMA, he knew of her somehow. Obviously, he had intel of some variety. Who was to say if he could give her more in the future. The only remaining concern that Eloise could think of was the correlation to the connection of a meister and weapon. She knew full well that her wavelength made it difficult for others to read her, however her partners could eventually gain a familiarity to her wavelength to achieve resonance. This made her wonder if with enough exposure to the scarab, would Ulysses too be able to see through the static?

He didn't seem the type to use that to her detriment, but Eloise was nonetheless averse to the idea of being "read".

"You say that, until I ruin one of your concerts suddenly popping in," Elly chimed back smugly. It was a wonder if such a thing would be unfortunate timing or a menial plot of hers. "Either way, it seems fair for the most part... Though I do wonder what you'll do with the information I give you, and what you safeguard you have in the case one or both of us are made?"

Interactions: Sir Les Paul

 

[EmperorsChosen]

Daniella Ethalyn - The Colosseum
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

Well, the teams were set, and it seemed the Russian and her were going last. That was the absolute worst. Now they had to sit here, waiting while the damn crowd cheered and jeered at this circus. It was like getting to an appointment or an interview early and then just having to--wait. Though, it was semi amusing to see that dandy with a pole up his ass act like the damn ringmaster of it all. After that speech, even someone like Dani could tell the whole thing reeked of politics. Why else would they all be here?

She wouldn't, certainly. Dani wasn't even special enough to be called out with the other headliners. Was she chopped liver? Though, she supposed angry sword with angry wavelength didn't sell as many tickets. Nonetheless, she huffed in annoyance.

Dani idly listened to Zelda and Emmett's warnings, the warnings that she felt were mostly directed at Nadia and herself, which was partly fair. Though the Demon Sword didn't really think these random mages could do a better job at pissing her off than her own damn pod.

Grumbling internally, Dani only took note of the trio on the tail-end of their departure. Mostly, it was the fact that Gauss had a fucking matching helmet that caught her attention. She had just hid a tinge of amusement from before, and she once again had to feign a cough.

"..D-Don't need it," She replied curtly to Nadia's offer of the spread. She didn't need her damn partner adding to the temptation. She was trying to stick to her morals, damn it! "Who's laughing! Oi!"

Growling a bit, Dani followed the giantess out and to the stands in time to view the first fight as it got started. Maria was up first and--she and her dolls were still creepy. Dani knew she was a good girl, but even she was a bit put off by the marionette's facial expressions and those horror game abominations. Even still, she couldn't help but want her to win. Perhaps that would be seen as a slight betrayal by some, but it was a no-brainer to her. The triplets pissed Dani off and the doll was nice to her, if not awkward. Hell, just watching them skate around in the sky was irking her, and she wasn't even fighting.

Zoner types were the absolute worst. She hated fighting them. They were one of the big reasons she and her brother bothered learning complex resonance.

The verbal back-and-forth didn't help Dani stay impartial either. Though, whether she was rooting for Maria or against the three remained to be seen.

He doesn't deserve a plush... C'mon Maria. Fuck'em up!

Interactions: RedArmyShogun
Mentions: Emmett, Zelda, Nadia, Gauss, Noah, Prudence, Maria

 

[Merciless Medic]

​

Zelda Zemo
The Colosseum | March 11th, 2067 | 1030

After ensuring that Gauss, Noah, and Prudence were put in harnesses, Zelda waited in the cover of the arena's tunnel that led out into the arena. She watched as the trio walked out, taking a moment to watch them stand where they should before retreating back to the stands, where Emmett awaited. Besides Death the Kidd and Cyrus, she didn't care if there was anyone else here. Maybe those of her parents were here to watch the spectacle and to see what kinds of "cases" she was dealing with.

When she approached Emmett's seat to sit beside him, she had noticed him waving at someone. A quick scan of the crowd had landed on Professor Davis. She smiled, knowing he was likely here for the tournament. Unless it had something to do with keeping Emmett in line, which she wouldn't doubt. She noticed the zippo lighter Emmett was playing with and was now wondering if she should have brought her book-

No, she needed to pay attention.

From the monitors displaying audio and video of the arena, a smirk played upon her face as she saw how expertly Maria handled Gauss' taunts. Or maybe she was just socially not aware of what he wanted. Either way, it played in her favors.

Almost immediately, Gauss flew on Prudence, using her like some kind of magnetic surfboard riding on his wavelength. Meanwhile, Maria set up her dolls like soldiers on a battlefield, getting an impressed nod from her. It was not unlike chess, or how a general would move their men in position. She didn't need soul perception to know what the meisters and weapons were doing. It was instinctual to just look and assess. Not what they're talking about or knowing exactly when they're communicating, but to know there was some connection, doing something to bring themselves together to create an attack.

Considering Noah also had an element he can generate, she also understood that the beginning stages of learning how to use it can be rather painful if pushed or forced without prior "stretching" as she called it as an analogy. Stretching your soul and elemental generation was just the same as stretching one's body, getting it ready for elemental use unless one trained so much they didn't have to worry about forcing it, like her. She cringed slightly as she saw the lack of buildup as he attempted a jolt of lightning. In fact, she stood up before Emmett as worry spread across her features. What was this? Something wasn't right and she looked over to see Emmett was indeed staring with concern and that cringe look on his face, having stood up when Maria got hit. A lightning strike like that, while hurtful, wasn't enough to send a sorcerer on the ground with a single hit, especially from a weapon who likely hadn't trained much in the practical use of his own elemental generation, despite the conductivity of the wires.

Zelda watched the meister and weapon pair carefully. She wasn't so concerned with Prudence. Right now, she was hoping Noah had it in him to put Gauss in his place as the shock sent Maria on her knee. She didn't look at Emmett, but spoke to him all the same. "You're sensing what I'm seeing, right?"

"Don't become a doormat, Noah."​

Interactions: Emmett
Mentions: Gauss, Noah, Prudence, Maria, Cyrus, Davis
Prizzy Kriyze

 

[Merciless Medic]

Sara Middleton​

March 11, 2067
Location: Colosseum
Interactions: Dani ( EmperorsChosen ), Nadia ( RedArmyShogun )
Mentions: Gauss, Noah, Prudence, Maria, Cyrus

Sara worked her way through to the stands after getting out of the briefing room, using her nose to sniff out the scent of her family. Which was pretty easy, considering her oldest brother was here. God, he stunk of pheromones. She didn’t know how any female werewolves found him interesting.

As she found her way over to the nearest seats she could find that sat just above the arena, she saw a line of thirteen people. Seven were sitting up front while six were sitting in the back above the smaller children. Of the seven sitting up front, two of them looked strikingly similar and they all sat in descending order of height, with the two youngest looking and the seeming twins having a different appearance from the rest of the family. The seemingly biological children all had blue and/or red hair, fair skin, and a mixture between amber eyes, green eyes, blue eyes, or a mixture of two or three colors from the heterochromia. The ones who seem to be adopted have darker skin, black or brown hair, and black or hazel eyes.

Of the six sitting above them, they were older and taller. The one who looked very similar to Sara had short blue and red hair that fanned out from his head, and a long braid that ran down the back of his seat. He wore a hat and seemed to wear robes. He had large tinted glasses, golden eyes, and he was waving a fan towards his face. Next to him was a woman with red hair, green eyes, fair skin, and she wore what looked to be a uniform she wore from her past escapades as a meister. Next to her and even towering her seated was a wide-set man with large muscles that were kept at bay in his black shirt and old faded jeans. His eyes shone with a golden amber brilliance and his hair was a dark blue and fell in wild, yet tamed tufts down to his upper back. He had a smile on his face bordered with a nicely trimmed beard and mustache that climbed up his jawline and connected to his sideburns, showing off his sharp canines in his grin as he watched the kids in front of him talk nonsense about their sister.

Sara walked to the second row, smiling as the man looked over. His amused, narrowed eyes widened as soon as he laid eyes on Sara and he immediately stood up, reaching a height of six-foot-nine and towering over them even further. Sara ran into the awaiting burly arms of her father, who laughed heartily and curled over her like a protective father figure. The woman from behind peeked around the bear of a man and got nearly tackled by Sara, who giggled and held her mother in a hard embrace.

“Mom, dad, how are you? It’s been so long!”

“Awww, we’re doing well, hun.” Maya, the mother, soothingly cooed to her daughter, who seemed to calm down immediately. To avoid angering the crowd he’s blocking the view of, William, the father, knelt down on one knee.

“Ah, it’s nice to see you again, pup.” His voice boomed, yet it felt like the comfortable kind of rumbling that came from a man’s chest.

The man with the tinted glasses stood behind their parents, a cheeky smile on his face as he rested an elbow on his father’s shoulder, much to William’s chagrin. “Hey, kid. Thought you’d get away without saying hi to me?” His shit-eating grin and smooth voice caught the attention of the rest of their ten siblings, who all snapped to attention and immediately swarmed Sara in a hug, beating their oldest brother, Mason, to the punch. Who held a grimace, despite how sweet the familial reunion was. “Heyyyy, can’t the big kid get a hug from his sis, too?” The swarm of kids started to pull Mason into the embraces as well, tickling him in the process and using him as a jungle gym due to his height. “He-e-eyyy, wait, Selena, stop it. No, wait, Miles, that tickles. Agh! Romulus, Remus, knock it off! Death dah-ang, Grayson! Summer, Liam, no, don’t trample Zuri. Melody, Hunter, quit it!” The parents laughed as their oldest struggled against the mischievous and ecstatic kids, all ranging between nineteen and four. William also cracked up laughing at Mason’s attempt at not swearing in front of the rest of his younger siblings, who stuck their tongues at their eldest.

Chuckling, Sara got out of the ten embraces and hugged her oldest brother, Mason giving her a sweet hug back and the exchange was enough to get the kids to stop using Mason as a jungle gym. Once Cyrus began speaking, the children all gasped before getting back to their seats, having brought popcorn and drinks with them. Mason ruffled Sara’s hair and chuckled. “Have fun out there when you get the chance. And if not, remember the werewolf cage matches are always at home for ya.” With a cheeky grin and a turn of his heel, he was about to get back to his seat when he winced from getting flicked on the forehead by his mother, who gave him a stern look before giving Sara a sweet smile.

“Don’t worry about fighting, just enjoy yourself.” With a parting hug to her parents, Sara waved goodbye before going back to the briefing room just in time to see Nadia and Dani leaving for the stands. She made her rounds to all the food, getting a good plateful of food before she took to the stands once again.

This time, she wanted to see if she could get in the good graces of Nadia and Dani. She didn’t want to get on their bad side and she was genuinely curious about who they were. As she sat a seat away from Nadia, she offered the giantess and her weapon a smile. “Heyyy.” She cheekily waved as she ate a doughnut, swallowing it before speaking again. “I know prospects may not seem good about your fight, but I think you two got this. Mages are kinda squishy unless they have magic that hardens their body, so pretty sure you got this just as long as you think on your feet. You got anything for that and have you thought of reserving your stamina and strength?”

While Cyrus’ speech was cool, she didn’t really waste time listening to it. She was too busy making comments with Nadia and looking out at the field than to bother. However, her gaze caught the monitor and the words spoken between Maria and Gauss. She furrowed her brow in worry upon hearing the taunts and mocks between the two. While she didn’t mind doing that, she liked to uplift her opponents, not make them feel like shit unless she felt like she needed to give them a hard truth. As Gauss flew, Sara got a good look at that helmet and she deadpanned upon seeing it. She looked at Cyrus, who still had a smile upon his face, but she knew that it likely wasn’t good seeing that. However, as the match continued, Maria threw her doll at him, and she saw… No, something didn’t smell right.

She sniffed the air, turning on her olfactory soul perception. While it was muddled, she set her food on her seat and ran up to the railing, leaning over and sniffing the air. The smell of ozone, lightning, yet it smelled sour. She looked and narrowed her eyes at the floating meister, watching as there were too few spins and Noah fired off lightning.

No, that didn’t look right. The lightning Noah was able to create by himself was small, only covering his staff in a thin layer. Not this. Not this attempt at trying for a mid-range fight. Sara didn’t know how much training Noah had before, but she knew that must have hurt. She can start smelling sour blood in the soul, as if there was a tear. She didn’t care if Maria got shocked, but…

Oh no…

 

[Merciless Medic]

Raphael Valerias​

March 11, 2067
Location: Colosseum
Interactions: Ark ( The Regal Rper )
Mentions: Nadia, Dani, Gauss, Prudence, Noah, Maria, Chanterelle, Rand

While Raphael would have helped Chanterelle and hugged her to aid in keeping her calm, he knew firsthand why that would be a bad idea and that it wasn’t easy given her blood caused street-drug-like symptoms. Stuff that Raphael wouldn’t mind using any other time of the week, but for right now, he couldn’t. He’ll suffer fighting against Nadia and Dani, and he needed to be in his best shape.

He also held a bit of a sheepish, yet sweet smile upon Chanterelle’s expression of concern of having him go alone to fight Nadia and Dani. Magic fatigue was something Raphael hadn’t put much thought into and she was right. Not like he’d ever admit, but she could probably see a goofy smile, one she’d seen before where he realized she was right but refused to acknowledge this. Ark was a good fit, and he was glad she agreed. Though, he did think it was an interesting matchup, having Ark against Sara. Ark had an idea of being against Sara yesterday, however they can always do that later. For right now, Raphael - as much as he didn’t want to admit - needed would like to have Ark be his bruiser in a sense. Tire out Nadia and Dani enough for his grand finale.

Still, the brackets were still the same and he felt a surge of pride seeing that most people had agreed with the matchups. It made the lion within his chest purr in content. Maria made a good point, that Ark couldn’t win too quickly nor could he fall. But that was the brilliance of the ‘tag’ system anyhow, wasn’t it? Raphael didn’t think he needed to worry, always thinking he’d have it in the bag and that everything would go to plan. If it doesn't, he’ll adapt, but not without the cost of his mental faculties. As she said not to forget her, or himself, or the voices of those watching, or the pull, or those lost and joined FATE… At least, that’s what he thought she meant. Still, it was a sweet sentiment. Don’t forget. Always remember what’s around, lest the Pull would cause more issues.

Yes, in the moment, but not tunnel vision.

Devil of Words though. Interesting. He smirked. He wanted people to be in an uproar, to see what he’s capable of. Dog’s chain though, that had him narrowing his eyes for the moment. Did she mean she knew what he may do? Her words towards Chanterelle bothered him, as well. She didn’t need to say all of that and he could tell how that affected Chant as she tried her best not to show how much that hurt. Especially when his father failed to match up to Ark’s father, any criticism of his work, no matter how light the passing comment was, hurt so much. For a person who didn’t create as much as he destroyed, Raphael couldn’t understand to a personal degree, but could at least sympathize. Raphael just looked at Maria’s head of hair, boring his gaze into her skull, before listening to what Rand had to say once Maria was done talking.

Once everything was said and done with how the matches worked, Rand sent the brackets to the other team. Soon after, Cyrus began speaking, breaking Raphael from what Ark had said - how he wouldn’t doubt that he’d make a show.

Once deemed unfit? That seemed a bit underwhelming, considering Raphael was deemed unfit several times. However, as he went onto explain the students after hyping up the crowd, Raphael couldn’t help but feel just as hyped. ‘Less conventional spellcasting’ had him grinning from ear to ear. He spoke of Professor James and Zelda Zemo, mentors Raphael had never met before and now wanted to know. As Cyrus spoke of Rand, he felt second-hand pride upon hearing Rand’s title and how he’s helping his students. Mainly because it indirectly affected him.

More names popped up, however. He felt an insatiable need to search for them later. Riley Brant. Tabitha Bernard. Hm… Who were they? As Cyrus began to explain the arena and ending his speech, Raphael stood by Ark and watched the same monitor he did. Considering they were to be fighting the same opponent, he didn’t want to leave his side. However, he was getting hungry.

Now, Raphael can see this infamous Thales kid. He didn’t care what Maria was doing, but he did find her doll work intriguing. No, his focus laid on the man with two weapons. One of those weapons looked like he just woke up, but still held that same determination the Thales boy had, while the monochrome woman wasn’t very… Expressive? She looked empty, dead inside. He watched as this ‘Noah’ transformed into a bo-staff, and the girl into a shield. Which he… Stood on?

Wasn’t that considered bad? Or rude? He didn’t know much about meisters and weapons, but he did recall that weapons tended to be seen as tools or held a sort of stigma considering they transformed into items.

Regardless, as the match started after some exchange of words, Raphael watched how the man magnetically used Prudence for flight and began gaining air. Hm… Raph narrowed his eyes at the screen and took a step closer. From what his therapist had mentioned about Raph’s own behavior, he was seeing some similarities in how Gauss had spoken. Much more refined, yes, but with a hidden meaning.

That similarity had the dark beast within him growl, as if he was being contested. He was aware Maria was friends with Nadia and Dani, that much was certain. However, the way he spoke. Tag out now? Won’t have to hurt you or that balance? Was he white knighting her friendship with them? Or did he just not want to get hurt if he beat Maria? Was he being a coward? Seeing a fair haired maiden in a hospital bed and his words about not seeing another, sounded like an excuse. Who cared if there was a woman in a hospital bed? There were plenty of hurt people on hospital beds, that hardly didn’t matter. Especially in their line of work.

“What a sack of shite…” Raphael growled, glaring daggers at Gauss.

Everything Gauss was, Raphael felt a polarizing repulsion of kinship and he hated every single feeling. His mocking of Maria as he flew, despite what she had said to Chanterelle earlier, made his blood boil. If they could, his eyes would have flames in his eyes.

He had to be better. He had to be if he wanted to beat him. The similarities he saw in himself from his therapist’s (admittedly good) attempt in breaking it to him had opened his eyes to people like him and his mental attempts at not projecting his own personality flaws on Gauss didn’t work this time. No, due to being too similar, Gauss was the prime candidate of whatever hatred Raphael wanted to throw his way; it was borderline obsessive. No, no, he wanted to get stronger, learn how to galvanize his chains or heat them up to such a degree that he didn’t have to worry about his magnetism. Would he be able to deal with chain whip fighting from a distance? Chain trap? What about if he burned the chains as he was trapped? He so wanted to beat him for reminding Raphael of his own shortcomings, as beating Thaddeus would be like beating the personality flaws Raphael had.

He was starting to get ideas, very sadistic ideas, and he completely missed what Maria had said. However, ‘cur’ snapped him out of it, and he held a sadistic expression as his eyes were glued to the monitor on Gauss’ visage. Chasing a man that ran away was no good- haha, good one.

That was when he saw lightning coming forth from Gauss’ bo-staff. Raphael’s eyes widened and he glared at the powers he possessed. Not only was Prudence’s shield with spiritual defenses able to hold kinetic energy and expel it, but he had a weapon with a healing wavelength and electrical generation on top of his magnetic wavelength and fighting style?

He wanted to pummel this man’s face so hard. His hands were clenched as he saw Maria get shocked. He was beyond angry, the wrath palpable from his body. He took a deep breath, sighed heavily, put his fingers to his scalp and scratched them back, pushing his hair back as he did so. Closing his eyes, he focused on the monster within him, how it was practically begging to hurt him. He put a hand on his chest, rubbing it in soothing motions and shushing it - or what seemed like at himself.

With a reserved expression, he went back into his grimoire and started jotting an idea of a spell he had earlier. Sapping Chains. Plus, he needed to learn how to use magic circles, so he can augment his chain trap easier. He first started with the diagram of how his future Sapping Chain spell would work, the basic description of what it did, and he’ll figure out how to do that later. He left the directions empty, his jaw unnaturally tensed as his eyes were focused primarily on his book to avoid any problems.

As for another spell he had been working on for the past week, he didn’t know if he'd want to use it. It just depended on how confident he was as it was still fairly new.

He then had an idea and looked up to Ark, his gaze lacking that smile and his voice serious. “Hey, I’ll need to see your father later. I need to get a gauntlet made so I can set my grimoire upon it.” He also had the issue of the magic cuff on his wrist cutting out his magic if he used too much in quick succession or too strong of magic for too long. He sighed, gripping the three chain links in his hand as he glared at the monitors.

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Ulysses Stein​

"D-Stein"​

Species Human
Partner None
Rank One-Star

Location Death City, Central Main Street, Death-Nova
Mission None
Status Elated, interested

​

Mentions: EmperorsChosen

"It's a risk I'm willing to take," he responded with a fairly warm smile. His soul was shifting a little, not from honesty, but almost more playful. More mischievous. Such nature hadn't yet bled into his words, but it was there. "These beetles have been used for centuries or more, and I haven't heard of any curses. Jealous husbands, perhaps. Sha's that demanded their harems all wear them for fidelity, but not a curse," he explained to her, reinforcing his assurance in their abilities.

For the first time since she appeared, he also stood up. He was quite the tall fellow. Well-built, although hardly the he-man many agents became through their years of training. His hand reached over the table to the black box that he had presented her earlier. His fingertips were quite nimble, dodging everything else in the box to pull out the necklace and using his pinky to hold it down while he slowly drug the chain through the hole the pendant was lodged into.

This is where that shift in his soul picked up again. Confidence, not quite enough to be arrogant, but enough to add a different layer to the altruism he was speaking with earlier. It wasn't necessarily a dark side to a soul suddenly being shone as much as it was like a the wild side of a jungle being seen as you ventured deeper. In this case, that venture was less of peering deeper, and more of simply prolonging the conversation.

"I can't imagine any show would be ruined with you up on stage..." he murmured, glossing over that point to get to the next. "It all depends on what I find out," he explained, "I'm not an enemy of the DWMA, but I do know which allies they have to apply pressure, and absolutely no one wants me of all people on stage ranting about mistreatment of veterans..." he told her, still somewhat vague, but at least telling her any action he would make would be relatively benign. His weapon was internal politics.

"In the event someone does find out... I have that covered," he told her. What came from his soul was almost imp-like. Dubious, perhaps, but not evil. Not destructive, but definitely intrusive. He saw himself as voice for those without one. One that would cause a stir for the greater good, or his idea thereof. He was an idealist, and his ideals weren't dangerous or malicious. Men like him could be dangerous, but men like him also led revolutions. Ghandi, Martin Luther King, and so on. To fight for peace and equality without the use of raw force or violence. He meant no harm, but had no problems in making life a little harder for those at the top. "Would you lift your hair?" he asked, having walked around her and now wishing to put the necklace onto her himself. He didn't ask directly, but he also didn't touch her without mention. Lifting her hair was almost his request for permission.

"Should that occur, love, simply tell them you were coerced by my charm and pervasive personality. Star-struck, even. I do hate to lean into that image, but should you need to, you can refuge in the shadow it casts. I would accept all fault for being caught in that rouse and explain that I didn't exactly ask nicely for you to do this. They will blame me, sure, but they won't tarnish my image to the public because it's a useful tool for them, and they won't take it out on you as clearly their renegade rock star was to fault," he explained to her. This was deceitful, of course, and it was why his soul started to spark with that dubious, mischievous side. It was clear now that Ulysses had no qualms with lying, it was merely to whom he lied that mattered. Not once had he lied to her before, but now he was offering to do so to the whole of the DWMA if need be.

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Nadia Semyonov - Death City, The Colosseum​

Grunting at Cyrus's speech it suddenly made sense why the public held him in such high regard, he was two faced and a showman. Oh, how the public would have loved the first speech he had given them all on the program. Not that she cared for or wanted the Sympathy of the Public, after all they were just as two faced. As soon as the danger was passed they went to pointing fingers and demanding compensation, the whole lot of them were worthy of nothing more than contempt.

"Heh." Tuning out the speech she kept her eyes peeled upon the arena, for that was where her interests lay. Crossing her arms as she took a space at a walkway landing, she doubted anyone would dare to make her move, or more likely than not would not get up and miss the fight, not till an intermission at least. Looking at Dani the other seemed in a sour mood, then again when had she not? Scoffing a bit as Gauss came out in his fully suit and matching helmet she laughed. "BlackStar may have a thing or two to say about that. For me hmm.." As she searched for her words the pair on the grounds below had an exchange of words, was Maria dense to his moves or was she skillfully batting them away? She had said she was no good with people and if such hostile words mixed with laughter was common in sparrs she could understand why.

It was then that Gauss flew into the air. "How in the actual fuck? Sooka sin!" Shaking her head and snorting as the doll's opening move was evaded, she turned to speak to Dani. "She named the price on her works and I accepted. If she felt so lowly about it, I was happy to go along." Shaking her head in disappointment she grunts. "How does this prove fuck all, he's just-"

It was then that the wolf girl made her presence known, Nadia listened and then chuckled. "Prospects not good? If they want to play mind games that is just all the worse, I will beat them. Stamina? Strength? Nyet, no, no, you are misunderstanding. I cannot Resonate with Dani least this battle unites us. I must strike them at once, Attrition only works if numbers are equal or on your side. Weak as they may be, Magic still hurts..." It was then that the lightning and sudden peel away from the girl caught her attention, as a two star Meister she had seen and worked with her fair share of Meisters, Weapons and Mages and only chuckled at the site.

"He's forcing too much in his keep away game, though it'll shield him from the Axe, our dear comrade in arms is suffering a bit of pain, but no way in hell Maria is already down, she was a 4th Tier in her craft, this is maskirovka, a trick, deception, the energy has not dissipated from her.. Now my dear friend, are you worthy of that bill you sent to me? Let's see." Talking to herself she had an amused smirk on her face, she was curious what else this fight would contain.

Interactions: EmperorsChosen Merciless Medic

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Rand Mabason​

"Soundwave Sorcerer"​

Species Witch
Partner N/A
Rank Two Star

Location Death City, The Colosseum, Left Dugout
Mission The Exhibition Tournament
Status Observant, inflective

​

Mentions: RedArmyShogun @Kyuubey Merciless Medic The Regal Rper Meredith Prizzy Kriyze

Rand watched closely. Not just with his own eyes, but his Mabian Eye. He cared less about what the opposing Meister did and more about what Maria did. Her constructs, specifically. He could tell plainly the dedication that went into these little dolls. They were far more complex than the standard golems he had seen others make, especially for her age. Her mentor, Mirai, must have really been something to have her making such things at such a young age. It was not infeasible, but it was absolutely nothing short of impressive. He was unsure if these were original designs for these mana networks and internal mechanisms or if she skipped a few steps in tinkering due to her tutelage, but nonetheless, craftsmanship of this caliber was outside of his general skillset. He could follow it, sure, understand it mostly, but to create it was an entirely different story.

That said, he questioned the efficiency of this system. As it stood, the most advanced golems out there forsook complicated networks like these to instead use one of two systems: either a central controller hub for their master that broadcast to individual points in the unit, or simply to flood the entire unit with mana that could be controlled as a whole. Granted, Maria was a sorceress. Perhaps this type of network was necessary for her type of control. What she did would be less based on feel and more based on complex spells written in her grimoire and fundamentally backed by complex magical theory behind it all. In a way, this was more impressive. It didn't matter if a Witch could do the same thing without these caveats, the raw magical theory behind this was nothing to scoff at--and few people in the DWMA currently knew more magical theory than Rand.

The Meister took to the air. Not a common occurrence for warriors of his type, but not precisely unwise. His attempt to have Maria stand down fit the profile he was given to a tee, and the fact he opted to stand on his shield said something about himself. It was difficult to discern if this was a type of creativity in using a weapon--which if so was notable factor here--or if this was his personality finding a way to further elevate or separate himself from his peers and opponents. Disregarding how he could protect himself so he could be 'above' others. There was also the potential that it was a a combination of both, in which case Rand didn't have the desire to internally debate if that was either good, bad, or some mix of in-between. He was a Fate Agent nonetheless.

Maria went on the offense immediately. This was a curious course as Rand had expected and even himself in her shoes would have taken a more defensive route. He noted the small shifts in mana, the flares in her technique. Her grimoire must have been loaded with countless utility oriented spells for each occasion, no doubt due to her understanding of the theory behind it all. Those were coming into play here. Then again, so was the unique attributes of her opponent. The burst of lightning hit her airborne doll, and subsequent herself. That... had to hurt. And it seemed to have traced back to her, likely due to the wires.

This notably was the only time Rand took a look at trio with any type of appreciation. In under a week, the three had somehow garnered the ability to fly, and to at least somewhat effectively use an elemental wavelength. He was no master of plasmology, but he was aware that was not an easy task. He had seen the potential in his agents. Maria right this second had the potential to continue learning and eventually even surpass her mentor; that is what it meant to pass on the torch. Maria may also have the potential to take the gifts Mirai kept locked in her workshop and use them in the world, finding inspiration for advancement in places other than trial, error, and experimentation. Cyrus had a point that there was a lot of potential in the DWMA that could be put to good use should this program succeed.

This would have been a moment of nostalgia for Rand if not for the fight still ongoing. He was part of Paean. He was considered a problem agent just like them, and now he was tutoring them. Had he lived up to his potential? Just three years ago, he was essentially in their same shoes. Was he actually so much better than them that he could be considered a mentor? Emmett and Zelda made sense. They were tried and tested. This moment was the first that perhaps put an inkling of doubt in the mind of Rand, but as they say... the show must go on.

 

[Sir Les Paul]

The Trio vs. the Marionette, pt. 2​

Gauss knew two things. The lightning struck, and because of that, she dropped. Either she was an extremely good actress putting up a front, or something in the system connecting the dolls was able to give her a shock. He considered attempting to abuse this, but opted against it, instead sticking to his original plan. He lowered Noah and outstretched his free hand to create a simple field a few feet short of the doll. It had a simple purpose. A strong magnetic pull. If he could, he’d disarm the doll and anything else metallic it might have, and that happened to be his only goal.

Afterwards, Gauss had a simple goal in mind. He could feel Noah earlier, his desire for those circular motions to be longer-lasting and faster. The difficulty he had generating electricity on such short notice. Gauss used this brief interim to do exactly that, swirling Noah around in a circular rhythmic motion while pouring his wavelength into him, attempting to assist with the process. Over and under each hand creating ovals in the air on either side of him as he did, swirling the weapon like a baton.

He wasn’t sure what the Witch below him was doing with those threads she wove, but if she was going to spend her time preparing, so was he.

Thankfully, Gauss had answered his wish. The feeling was akin to stretching your body after a good nap. His soul buzzed and crackled with the assistance, the electricity now arcing around him as the air around the meister became charged. Even bits of electrical arcs landed on Gauss’ hands and suit, doing nothing to him yet showing just how livelier the staff was with his elemental generation. Now, whatever Gauss needed him for, he’ll surely not disappoint.

“Oh my.” With that she glances up at them with a smile as the built up electricity from her wires spits back at the pair. “Here I was hoping you would feel that.”

It seemed she had both been harmed but had then closed off the electrical attack in a closed loop system via her wires, aiming to electrocute the pair when and if they came near. With a wave of her hand she connects her few wire strands to all of her dolls and hums to herself bit by bit. Looking as he took claim of the ax, she reconnected to her doll and motioned for it to take up position a few feet below him.

“What a terrible man you are, not even bothering to check on the fair maiden in distress! Eheheheh! Now give me back what is mine!”

With that there was the small matter of reaching up to him, which Maria solved in a rather haphazard way that was equally as absurd. First the big doll moved up, as it scooped it’s twin swords beneath the puppeteer, throwing her into the air, then switch to standby, then another smaller doll took to the front, shoving it’s shield behind her left foot as she stepped off, the wired connection pulling the other two dolls up and ahead, a foot boost off of the other shield with her right, disconnecting from them she reconnected to the final two dolls and slingshots off of the leading one, grabbing her grimoire she summons forth her blade and exerts her momentum off of the final doll with the hammer… How far up was she, was it enough? She wasn’t sure, but she would not just let him sit, doing as he pleased, getting back down, well that could be thought of when it was time as she switched her wires to the other doll and stepped off of it again before twirling the other into place. With each boot mark she left upon them, something seemed to darken upon her face as she swung her hammer-armed doll around towards the pair as the ax-less one started to fall, lunging forward with her magical bayonet. If they flew up more then she would just try something else.

What was a complex series of steps to reach him for Maria was precious time for Gauss. Time to try a strategy he was absolutely unsure, but in this moment, felt appropriate. He took a deep breath in, and while maintaining his movements with Noah, looked inward. Right now, this back and forth motion with Noah and his direct contact with Prudence, it was the closest the three had ever really been in their training. Wavelengths flowed through them easily enough. Prudence didn’t seem enthused with this fight, but at the very least, Noah was there with him.

He poured his wavelength into Noah far more than earlier. He sought not just to empower him, but to reach out to his soul. To communicate with him in a way they had not since they first met. In a way that no words alone could truly describe. In that moment, he did not just tell Noah something, he showed him something. He showed him his sister, the elder one in the audience, Thea.

He showed him the memories he had when he first entered the DWMA. His first week there trying to catch up to his older sister only for her to rebuke him. Gauss was young then. Not a child, but hardly a man. This sibling of his, he remembered her in his youth as kind to him, excited for a new little brother, and while their parents fought after their divorce, she doted on him all the same. But, once he entered the DWMA, that changed. She blamed him and his mother for the divorce. She degraded their father, Viraj, who had thus far been kind enough to Noah and offered him the suite below him.

His father who before this treated Gauss and like the light of his world now degraded as a womanizer. A control freak. A demon of a man that exploited workers across the world for profit.

His mother a whore that came in to destroy a family. A homewrecker. A new pretty face to replace another.

Himself, this shining star that joined the DWMA just like they did, but had their father’s love? His adulation, his money, his name? She told him he would be better off a bastard. That he was no brother of hers.

She told him that her father resented weapons and their filthy genes because they ruined his family. His name. His legacy. She told him how many times she heard him say he would have never married her mother if he knew. She told him in their arguments that he called her a mistake. Yet, when little Thaddeus does the same thing, it’s perfectly fine? Why shouldn’t she hate him for that?

Gauss showed Noah these memories because the same face was in the audience. The same person that broke him down as soon as he entered the DWMA was here watching him, and he could not ignore it. Inside his very soul was a bubbling energy unlike his normal pull. This was some combination of anger and resentment, but more so insecurity. This Gauss at his core. The man was torn in every direction by his family. The man whose heart was shattered by his siblings, who he thought would guide him in his journey in the DWMA, but who ultimately became the ones that made him feel like he was a villain just for stepping into the academy. Gauss showed him this because he felt Noah could understand the pain he felt. To be in the wrong from moment one and just stay there.

And while the memories faded, the new sparks within his soul did not. ”We cannot lose, Noah. I will lose a hundred fights alone before I do one with her watching. I need your power. We need to resonate. If there is a sliver of you that understands why, then give it your all.” For Noah, those memories slipped by in but a fleeting second, but they were an eternity to the boy behind the mask. The boy whose tears, at least, were hidden behind a helmet.

Noah felt the wavelength pouring into him. He felt like he could breathe and he was finally being accepted in full by the meister. Without protest, he took it in, his fog practically orbiting around Gauss’ star-like soul before wanting to do the same. “The hell?” Before he could, memories flowed in. It was quick, yet the memories poured in as if he had gone through them personally, but this was Thaddeus. He could feel his soul in full now. The resentment and anger he had gone through from suffering from the hatred by those for what he was and the actions of another. What was arguably worse than losing a parent or a sibling was losing the support and love from one you thought you were privy to by virtue of being their sibling or kid and being constantly berated.

Noah wouldn’t know how he would feel if his own parents did such a thing to him. Sometimes, his mother was harsh, but it was to instill discipline and send a lite version of her Japanese upbringing to him. But this… He could feel the pain. He couldn’t see the tears flowing from Gauss, but he could feel them all the same. Yet, Viraj stuck around despite the odd wavelength. That was better than any child could have asked for, considering Noah didn’t have his father anymore. While the news of Viraj hating weapons would have riled him up, he knew where his father stood. It was pride and control. Outside of his own family, Noah knew fully well that weapons were seen as tools, like how Prudence sees herself, and weren’t given the respect her mother thought they deserved. There was a stigma, one that he knew very well. Weapons, truly, didn’t have much control over the situation. Gauss listened though. He proved that. Gauss treated his form with respect and even did training to learn how to better use him. Yeah, he was just a stick, but that level of devotion was noted.

“Ah, she’s just upset ‘n’ once negativity colors the lenses green ‘n’ red, it’s impossible to see people ‘n’ the way they do things ‘n’ any they associate with in any other light.” Noah’s soul became more open, more accepting as he saw Gauss’ true self. He wanted to strengthen Gauss as much the same as Gauss wanted to strengthen him at this moment. “What ya showed me…” His soul seemed to smirk. “Let’s show her ya ain’t daddy’s boy, yeah?” With that, Gauss was able to see through a proverbial window to Noah’s own core. The fog became clouds as if they were high in the air and not hovering over a depressing sidewalk; the fog encircling Gauss’ soul became clouds, as well. His soul space, the harsh high altitude winds that encircled the clouds and the sky where serenity and cool could intermingle. Some were black and crackled with lightning, others were white and fluffy. There was a brightness to his own soul in his core, his own ambition that was metaphorically kept under the depressing fog, yet it was a generic light source. No sun.

In his soul, Gauss could see that the pain of losing his parents had taken him from an ambitious child brought up to reach the sky’s limit from his parents down to a ne’er-do-well who stalked the lonely streets on dark, foggy, rainy nights. That he felt nothing; numb. Yet, he clung onto the little bit of hope that he would make it somewhere someday. Gauss had inspired him. The second person to do so without forcing him. He didn’t know if Gauss could feel that shared sentiment in that brief window of time when he showed a glimpse of his inner soul like Gauss had, but he wanted to share his strengths and pain to empower the man he thought he’d struggle liking.

With this, he took Gauss’ wavelength, his soul space becoming blinding as the sky now had a sun instead of a generic, invisible light source, peeking down onto the bit of sky that Noah held as if he truly were looking from above in a top-down style video game. This was more than just a simple wavelength handshake, this was as if Noah was trying to become one like how he did with Sara for their resonance attacks. Maybe one day, Gauss may enter Noah’s soul space, but not now. While this wasn’t perfect, Noah worked on strengthening that bridge between himself and Gauss as Gauss did the same. The Healing Wavelength bounced between them, feeling like a high.

The crackling got louder as electricity surged throughout the staff via the swinging motions, becoming bright as if they were turning into a lite version of a star on their own. With Gauss’ own soul resonating with his own, he wanted to showcase that he, too, had learned from his past mistakes and didn’t have to cling onto Sara. Gauss- no, Thaddeus needed him and by virtue Noah knew Thaddeus would be there for him, too.

For the first time, Noah realized he had enough to send a much larger jolt of electricity. Nay, a bolt. But for what Gauss needed him for, he didn’t know, yet he was there for him all the same.

As she neared the trio, Maria could feel something different in the air, not that she had to feel much as she could see and hear the electricity, in an instant that seemed significantly longer she was finally in range to do what she had set about. With a swing of her other hand the nail and hammer doll was thrown at the pair along the left side behind her path and started to glow, alchemic energy building up in it as a nail driven into its head gleamed, gathering a portion of the static electricity that was being generated. It was clear what was happening, or at least it would be pretty obvious to most as Maria immediately stabbed towards the ground, trailing wires gathering above her body as she sought to evade the blast, awaiting its outcome as she preemptively takes preparations to absorb or at least partially shield from any above attacks, waiting for what her attack had accomplished as the doll exploded in a puff of light with wooden shrapnel echoing away from it in all directions, losing mass and speed the further out they went. It was the equivalent to having an Anti-Tank mine or satchel charge going off right next to them as the enchantment paths swelled and turned 18 pounds of the doll into a high explosive fragmentation burst.

Resonance was intended to be a beautiful thing. Two souls working in tandem, wavelengths synchronized, power amplified. What Gauss asked of Noah wasn’t that. It was a ploy for more power due to his insecurities, and while Noah felt that plight, too, it was not the basis of healthy resonance, and the next set of events showed that. What Noah felt as a bolt quickly escalated further into surges of power neither him nor Gauss could control. The electricity arcing around him, creating an intense light show that started screaming through the air as control was entirely lost.

Gauss could not let go of Noah. He could not control his own magnetism. It was a vicious cycle, not unlike what happened with Kasper. The electricity he was immune to earlier was now being shot into him from the metallic portions of his suit and beyond that started arcing outward to every single metallic object in the arena, in some cases only being blocked by the barrier around them. It was far more intense than prior, the voltage increasing at potent and irregular rates, and ultimately causing not only self-damage.

For a few brief moments, the inside of the arena was akin to plasma ball lamps with the electricity hitting the force fields and illuminating everything around. Even Cyrus and the other referees were not entirely safe from these arcs, requiring a backstep into another more portable force field they carried in the event something like this occurred. This was the backlash of failed Resonance. Close to the cusp of success, but built on ruinous foundations. Gauss was not of sound mind, so of course his soul was not sound for this attempt.

How long this cycle would have continued before ending is unknown. A few more moments, maybe, or until the two literally fried each other. The explosion caused by the alchemic doll brought it all to an end, knocking the trio flying through the arena, shredding the back half of his suit, causing his helmet to be broken at its back-end attachments and scattered in pieces through the arena, and no small amount of pain, all combined with his entire body absolutely in agony from the explosion.

For a moment, Gauss’ world went black, and he came back only to find himself sailing through the air still attached to Prudence and Noah nowhere to be found. He could not quite piece together what happened, nor did he mean to. He was sent through the air, and he needed to bring that to an end. His wavelength at this point wasn’t entirely responsive to him, so the best he could manage was an attempt to stay upright and land with Prudence facing downward in an attempt to skate across the arena.

This was somewhat effective, in that he managed to hit the ground with some force reduced and on top of Prudence, but the raw friction sent him into a roll across the ground, tumbling forward with no dignity left in sight. With his bruised and beaten body, he stood up, blood pouring from cuts on his head down to his face. Prudence had since been removed from his feet and instead picked up to his left arm, still unsure of where the Hell Noah went.

”You.. are a lot more dangerous than the last blond I fought, an-and I feel like I won’t be getting a kiss after my win,” he said, wobbling slightly, his words slightly slurred, but true to his nature, not forfeiting his ego. Meanwhile, internally, he whispered to Prudence, ”I hope you’re feeling better than me… ‘cause I’m pretty sure you’re all that’s keeping us in this right now.”

Noah’s soul, that tried to take in Gauss’ wavelength, felt like it was tortured. It felt like his soul was being sucked in by the gravity of Gauss’ core, similarly to Zari’s soulfire but more like it was being pulled apart from Gauss’ greedy soul. Was this what Kasper felt like? When they had such a rejection that it caused a madness spike? Noah tried his best to rein in his own wavelength, pushing Gauss’ out to maintain the balance, but the explosion jarred him.

He hadn’t realized how much of his electricity Gauss had stolen from him, but he felt himself completely drained. The explosion didn’t hurt him as much as it did startle him from concentrating on not causing another rejection episode like he’s had with his two other long-term meisters in the past. As the staff landed, he was stuck upright into the earth. Thankfully, even if he was spun around so much that he felt dizzy, the impact wasn’t too bad as a weapon. He transformed back to normal, falling to his knees and scrambling to stay upright so they didn’t lose.

He realized the problem now, as he held his head and groaned. There was no resonance attack capable. They couldn’t do that, as Gauss… To put it bluntly, his mind was the problem. He should have realized that. All that classwork and he had forgotten about the one rule about resonance. A sound mind and a sound body makes a sound soul. His mind wasn’t sound, and he realized after the fact. He should have denied him, told him it was no use.

Looking at the field, he noticed the ground was littered in wood from Maria’s dolls and metal chunks from the suit Thaddeus wore. He looked around for Gauss, ignoring where Maria and her dolls were to find the meister he had a bone to pick with now. At last, as his eyes refocused and he could see clearly, he saw him holding Prudence’s shield. He must not have the power in his wavelength anymore. Even the ground and arena walls were scorched in their light show and he felt a twinge of guilt and shame. Still, even with a limp as the toll in his soul had reflected onto his body’s wellbeing, he jogged around the arena, heading towards Gauss.

During her dive she was zapped with a bolt of electricity, far larger than the previous, but the same problems stood from the last, while she near the start of the map had temporarily sacrificed some of her wire strands to turn them to silver, in order to get around Gauss’s magnetism, it was also true that silver was three times more conductive to electrical currents than steel was. As she began her descent she didn’t exactly have the luxury of dismissing her wires fully, or the time allotted to do such.

With a casual glance back she twirled in the air and spread her arms wide to the side, providing more wind resistance, in time enough to see the other falling as she felt the jolt enter her body, causing her to spasm a bit, though her face typically showed no emotion that didn’t mean she was free from the effects of pain, however as the current bounced around her wires and entered the atmosphere around them or herself, the pain subsided, more of a numbness took hold as her hair bristled and likely stuck up in parts as her clothing smoldered elsewhere. “GAAAAAH!”

With a loud and sudden UMPF Maria crashes back first into the arms of her human sized doll that had set it’s swords aside, the smaller ones, well those she wasn’t sure where they landed after use, in confusion and with her vision blurred the wind rushed out of her body as she spat out, chiefly mucus with a little blood as she rolled over in a fit, out of the arms of her doll and to the ground below. With unsteady feet, she rises up, leaning against the magical blade attached to her right arm like a crutch before it dissipates, leaving her in a wide footed stance as she leaned partially forward. Hearing the words of Gauss she was in little mood to talk but did so anyway as she looked at the state he was in; “Hmm.. M-maybe I went too far.. And no, I’m not much given to kisses, and you- hahaha.. You have yet to win… Though…I have lost.”

”Victory is a mindset,” Gauss muttered, although realistically it was doubtful that she could hear him at the volume he was speaking. He let out a sigh, just wishing this to be over. He hurt, body and soul. But, she was right. He had not won yet. If he had to fight, he still would. He had no idea where Noah was and the interim, he just had a shield. He knelt down, which while not excruciating was no simple task, and unbuckled the sheath on his leg to pull out his combat knife. Ten inches of steel. Until Noah returned, it was all he had, so there he was, this ridiculous man in a shredded combat suit bearing a knife and shield.

Gauss could see Noah jogging for him, realizing he had just unsheathed that knife for no reason. How inefficient. His fighting had become so inefficient. A part of him wanted to attack her with the knife regardless, but he knew better. Instead, he swapped to the hand holding Prudence and started walking in the direction of Noah, all while keeping an eye on Maria. He had no idea what she had left, but he knew he wanted to end this quickly. Problem was, he was basically out of his typical cheap tricks and surprise tactics.

’I don’t suppose you absorbed any kinetic energy for that thing you do, did you, Prudence? Gauss asked her, trying to reach out to her if that was even still an option at this point. It appeared she was not quick to answer, but the sapphire within her did glow enough to inform him that there was something there. A last ditch effort if ever there was one.

Taking notice of the trio and allowing them to gather, she runs wires to her middle doll but then smirks a bit, looking at his state. “..I may be beaten, but I think so are you. My goal is complete.”

Straightening up even as smoke drifted from her in places, she smiles, holding up her left hand and says one word. “Tag.” And with that a break was called in the match as she made use of her medium doll to carry her off the field the two shield bearers being close enough to call as well, the ax wielding doll being farther off and not worth the trouble in the here and now to retrieve by her own opinion, she was a bit fatigued and hurting. She however had done her job and made use of her magic to the best of her ability, further fighting would just destroy her creations for little gain.

“Good luck, mushroom witch.”

Gauss sighed, in part relieved, but in part frustrated she opted to wait to call it. He thought he’d have to fight tooth and nail just for this victory. Either way, she was right. The match was called. Cyrus announced the first tag of the match, telling each group to retreat back to their wings. In a brief announcement, he informed the audience that they would take a slight intermission to handle a situation in the stands before returning to the second half of this match. With that, the trio were able to return to their wing, and assistants from the edges of the arena leapt up to assist Maria with gathering her assorted items to do the same.

Merciless Medic Sir Les Paul EmperorsChosen RedArmyShogun @Mqueserasera QuirkyAngel Sybil Prizzy Kriyze The Regal Rper

 

[EmperorsChosen]

Eloise Keegan - Death Nova
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"Perhaps the curse buried all the evidence~" She suggested in an exaggerated "spooky" tone, leaning forward to lay her chin atop the back of her hand.

Eloise watched him closely as he stood up. Her posture wasn't guarded by any visible means, though she was determined to keep him and his soul in her sights for as long as possible. Stein appeared quite vertically gifted, which made it stand out even more being next to herself. She studied him as he fiddled with the artifacts, his focus drifting more to that than his responses, though they were hardly thoughtless.

She wondered if she was really the outsider here or if he was. Truly, nothing here was going to be like when she was in The Loch, but she was sure the internal politics of the DWMA could be cutthroat as well, yet the man in front of her wanted to talk. His manner of "leaning on them" differed greatly from hers, but she wondered if that was an outlier even here.

"Do you now?" She hummed expectantly as the man revealed his backup plan, though it wasn't much of a plot.

The "plan" was throwing himself under the bus. Honestly, it sounded more fitting to be her backup plan than his, yet he was encouraging it. Elly almost felt the urge to laugh, but she was listening to his soul as accompanied by his words. He was as honest as he had been. It was peculiar--stupid even. He was quite confident in his status keeping him from punishment. Of course, Eloise was once confident in her own position as well. If you believe that someone couldn't possibly be so stupid, or petty, or greedy or blind--Well, that was just asking for them to prove you wrong.

Still, the other problem was that, even if she fooled everyone, those that knew of her past and how she came to be here surely knew better. She wasn't some young, starry-eyed girl who could be so easily coerced into doing the bidding of some man. No matter how pretty or easy on the eyes, or boorish for that matter. Eloise O'Quinn, if anything, was the manipulator.

Waiting till he finished speaking, Elly finally answered. Straightening her posture, she swept her hair to one shoulder before lifting it to allow for Stein to put the necklace around her. If worse came to worse, she was determined to deal with it then. For now, she needed at least one bridge built, and this was a sturdy one.

"Quite the optimist, you are. Seems to be a tad contagious too," Elly remarked with a smirk. "How much about me did you say you knew again?"

Interactions: Sir Les Paul

 

[EmperorsChosen]

Daniella Ethalyn - The Colosseum
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As the fight progressed, Dani hear a chime from the peanut gallery, that being Sara. The wolf-girl had sniffed them out and was asking them about their fight. Dani didn't really have a plan, and she was sure Nadia's amounted to "smash". The Demon Weapon let out a light huff and shrugged as she turned back to look out at the battle.

"Hell if I know. Like she said, we can't resonate... Not that either of us is the type to reserve," Dani replied in a murmur before suddenly switching topics back to the doll. "She also don't know what a hustle is! She's dense as shit, but you ain't."

However, after spitting that back, the fight seemed to turn into more of a shit show and Dani's gaze was dragged back to it. It looked like Gauss and Noah were trying to resonate--but something was off with it. Meanwhile, Maria made her way up to them with her own counterattack. There was a clash, or a trade, and both sides were blasted back to the earth. Dani's features tensed and her hands clenched to fists. It wasn't worry, so much as agitation.

"Sparring my fucking ass..."

Her tone was venomous as she watched the exchange. Both were battered, bloody, and beaten, and while she was more so upset that Maria was than Gauss, her ire wasn't centered on him but every part of this. Maria could tag out, and she did, sparing Dani getting anymore aggravated by ensuing injuries to her, but meanwhile Gauss was wobbling around. She couldn't say she liked him, but it gave her a clear idea of how they were viewed. The first day they were basically called trash; now they were "brimming with potential", but only because they could give the DWMA some good rep and bleed to amuse some suits.

Interactions: RedArmyShogun Merciless Medic