Fandom Soul Eater: F.A.T.E

[RedArmyShogun]

Nadia Semyonov - Daniella Ethalyn - Death City - Fire Station

​

Walking along with the convoy, Nadia was constantly on edge, though she did not voice it, things were going well. Too well. Without incident, or at least major incident they arrived at the Fire station, Golems were on patrol, people were split off, there was food and a place to rest, to recharge. Still, Nadia hated this place, it was too exposed, to the security forces, the high-ground sentries, armed to the teeth. Well, the optical sensors. Flipping one of her 10-inch knives up and down in her right hand, she walks the floor, her gaze shifting about. Not having a book or being comfortable here, she listened to the information flow with a snarl.

Dani meanwhile just sat against some dilapidated stand as she watched Nadia pace back and forth. While the girl was happy they had helped Adrian, the mood of everything fell as they moved on. This was just like the camps and cities back then, between the scared and hurt people lingering around, to the dead, to the emergency comms chatter that did more to melt hope than instill it.

She stood up, eventually going over to Nadia who seemed about to pace herself into a rut. “Hey, you good?” She asked the question she already expected an answer to, though meaning more physically. No one was good otherwise.

“This place is a-” It was then that some of the units, the lights and sheen on them flickered and flashed, turning a purple, starting with the sentries at the entrances and up above on the makeshift platforms, the voice in the briefing became disrupted. Jamming? Almost at the same exact instant, Nadia started to shift, started to move, her right leg aiming to kick Dani’s own from under her as a magitech barrel leveled at her, as they leveled all around at everyone.

Hearing the garbled transmission and the flickering of the lights, Dani didn’t need to know what exactly was going on to know that it was a cause for concern. She turned to see if all the units were changing in appearance like that, only to spot one aiming its armament at her. She jerked suddenly as the unit fired a burst from its weapon, the first projectile of which cut into Dani’s right thigh. The rest of which, however, she evaded by way of transformation into Nadia’s hands. “Argghh—FUCK!” She cried out with a tone mixed with anger and pain. “Do whatever you have to do to not get shot!”

“Trap.. Fuck.” Muttering several strings of words in Russian, she quickly went to speed, catching Dani’s bladed form in her hands as a few rounds graze her, even the cheap metal mask she bought by sheer luck deflected a magical “bullet”. Taking in the situation as she kept moving, she took up a general yell, her wavelength pushing out to enhance her physical abilities.

She had felt uneasy about this situation, but to think the DWMA would be so easily taken out, that it’s own defenses would be turned against it, that there was no backup in place, no kill switch, no self-destruct. That these mechanically toys that were replacing the DWMA agents would be the death of it and the city itself, it all made her question one thing and one thing alone. There was also the fact Dani was shot, but now was not the time to stop.

Why should I be loyal to such a force, why should I stay? I do not wish to betray Dani, but this, all of this, the chase of wealth and arrogance, lack of even a basic inspection of those dolls that came rushing in, of those containers, it is a screw up that calls into question the very existence of the DWMA… No, I’ll think on this later, for now survival, I need to tend to Dani once we survive this, if we survive..

“Dani, we are going to try something, first to see if I can bring those down! And if not to see if I can unlock that final feature of yours!”

With that and constant movement, Nadia darts for one of the platforms, aiming to attack it’s base with all the cleaving power she could muster as she reached out for resonance once more. Shouting out to the rest; “The purple ones! Drop them!" Having no use for her other knife, she threw it at one of the flashing sentries on the ground level as she ran through her mind of where to go next, waiting to see if a Meister and weapons bond was strong enough to make the Sentries on the high ground feel the force of gravity. For now the lives of no one else in this building mattered, apart from her own and Dani’s, any hesitation, and pause was instant death.

“Their joints look pretty fucking breakable to me!” Dani remarked with a growl. So much for the drones not attacking the angry sword like she said earlier. How much else would go wrong today, she wondered. “Like I said, do what you have to. If you think you can do it, I’ll try with you.”

“Yes, the joints are breakable! But those fuckers on the platforms will turn us all into paper if we don’t take them out first.” If anything, they needed to get out of here. “How’s this shooting you shit work?” Jumping up to one of the platforms, taking the back route behind the armored front the whole edifice starts to crack as she slammed the blade and wavelength power into it, causing it to break and crumble around them.

“It’s complex resonance, like with a gun or bow. Instead of sending your wavelength straight to me, I send mine to you kind of like we did back then. Then you match it, stabilize it, and send it back for me to amplify when you want to do the shooting shit,” Dani explained. “Probably not the best time to practice, but what the fuck else are we gonna do?”

“We have no choice, unless all the rest pull their weight and then some…” Before she could finish, she rushed into one of the Golems attempting to right itself from the short fall, dived the blade into its armored chest with a bit of a grunt, then reached her left hand into a punch of the optical socket, turning the armed Sentry as she took Dani out, she allowed the machine of mechanical and magical design to unload its weapon, right into some of its own allies or the other platforms and far wall in general.

“We need to get out of here and head to the DWMA. So I have to try doing this, it’s like Paris with extra steps at the end.”

And with that Nadia would allow Dani’s wavelength to flow into her, balancing out the rage with her own will as best able, before attempting to send the energy right back, blade extended at another platform’s occupants… “Well, let’s see what happens…”

“Watch the kick–”

Sir Les Paul EmperorsChosen Merciless Medic Mook-LandStrider Peckinou The Regal Rper Serei2477

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Thaddeus Thales​

"Gauss"​

Species Human
Partner Noah Wiley, Arkayis Misonuka
Rank Fate Agent

Location Death City, Fire District
Mission The Twisted Joke
Status Anticipatory into on edge

​

Tags: The Regal Rper Merciless Medic Peckinou RedArmyShogun EmperorsChosen Serei2477 Mook-LandStrider

Reality sank in fairly quickly for Gauss that he was not going to be able to piece together the scale of this actual attack. The information garnered from the golems was so haphazard that the Meister couldn't stitch together an idea of what was actually happening. All he was sure of is that this was dangerous, and it was intended to send a message. It wasn't his role to figure out what that message was or why it was being sent. Their goal was to protect as many people as possible within Death City. It seemed agents of higher rapport were up there in the DWMA where things were apparently more dangerous.

But, that was fine. Everyone had a role. It might have hurt his ego to know he didn't have a defined niche there, but the entire situation was chaotic. Even if he let that slight upset be a problem, acting on it would only prove stupid and selfish. He understood that. That didn't mean he had to like it.

Decisions had to be split-second. Noah and Arkysis weren't transformed and the sentries were on them. Nadia was absolutely right: trap. The golems had been compromised. Gauss defaulted to his first plan of action involving any gunfire, magitech or not. He erupted a magnetic field around him with the full intensity of his wavelength. This didn't come without side-effects. Anything around him that was electrical within a few feet would be fried. Not just that, but metallic objects were pulled to a magnetic field. It's not like he could repulse them naturally. That is where his expertise with his particular wavelength set in.

He reached out to the golem that was broadcasting to them and channeled his wavelength through it, subsequently charging it to be the target for anything and everything nearby comprised of more metal. The golem itself was rendered immobile due to its own mechanical parts no longer responding, but more importantly, the incoming hail of projectiles were attracted to it. Without his weapons, this wasn't a large field of safety, but it confirmed two things: the incoming bullets still had metal casings, making the metal mask deflecting one from Nadia that much more serendipitous, and secondly, those immediately nearby him had a slim window to prepare for the oncoming assault.

For the first time in what felt like fucking ages, it felt like his wavelength was about to come in real clutch.

"Noah, Arky, transform now," he instructed them, almost demanding them really. Not only was his tone incredibly serious in contrast to Spirit Park, it left no room for debate. Not that it was logical for either one of them to deny that demand.

GM Note The projectiles are not bullets, but most comparable to small shotgun slugs. To clarify how those particular weapons work, they are fired via a Magitech propulsion system. They are not comprised of magic or any other energy. These projectiles are both tangible and finite.​

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Adrian Hackney​

"The Maiden"​

Species Human
Partner None
Rank Fate Agent

Location Death City, Fire District
Mission The Twisted Joke
Status Frustrated

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Tags: The Regal Rper Merciless Medic Peckinou RedArmyShogun EmperorsChosen Serei2477 Mook-LandStrider

If it wasn't one thing, it most fuckin' certainly was another.

Around every corner was another announcement of bad news.

The Fire District was actually well-put together given the timing and Adrian had his stab wound addressed. That would leave a nasty scar, especially given the stitch work was done in relative haste with field equipment. It didn't honestly hurt that bad until the paramedic cleaned it out, applied some form of brown disinfectant liquid, then stitched it shut. After that, it most certainly ached. Moments like were enough to make Adrian wish he could numb himself, but that unfortunately was out of the cards. Not that he was a pansy, either. According to Mr. Medic, it was astounding he was walking and mobile regardless of the fact nothing specifically vital was hit. Adrian didn't quite process it that way. It hurt, and it sucked. That's what he knew.

When it came to rations, he wasn't particularly hungry, either. In part due to the aching pain, but also in part due to his nerves catching up with him. The reality was hitting him that he had actually gone mad out there. In his whole life, he was always labeled dangerous due to his attitude and disregard for others with his spikes. It wasn't anything actually inherently dangerous about him, it was how he behaved. Now, that behavior resulted in something that was, in fact, truly dangerous. Something that there wasn't really any coming back from. Sure, he was stable now, but like an addict, it would be a fight he'd have for the rest of his life. That didn't sit well with him.

It was saltines and water for him.

While the prospect of Madness was still fresh in his mind, the news that apparently the DWMA and Death City were both in dire straights just compounded on it. Whole ass buildings were being destroyed and it didn't seem like there were enough agents to go around. In his mind, the DWMA and by extension Death City stood as this impregnable fortress that someone would have to be a fucking idiot to assault. Rushing in here was nothing less than a death sentence, even for the most mad of souls. He doubted Kishin Asura would want to fight on the hallowed ground that was Death City, even. Yet, here they stood on the receiving in of what seemed like a successful assault.

From bad to worse it went. The sanctuary turned slaughter with the new violet hue of the golems and Adrian had barely had time to do... anything. His first instinct was to transform his wound back into a spike, then upon the realization that there was gunfire, to transform his arms into the walls of his Maiden and hunker behind them. Not much got past that defense. Unfortunately, he encountered a problem with this plan. Fuckboy Gauss and his shenanigans was generating enough force to pull Adrian back and throw him off balance, something he didn't appreciate in the slightest and would have raged over if not for the immediate danger surrounding him.

"Death-damnit, man, some of us are fucking made of metal!" he shouted, clearly pissed off upon realizing that breaking free from that pull wasn't going to be in the cards as long as his walls were up. Not only that, but the chains on his pants were being ripped back, destroying those pricy name brand Tripp's and putting pressure on that wound of despite it being covered.

Clearly, he needed distance. New strategy it was.

At the very least, there was a clear path to several of the sentries immediately in front of him and the bullet fire was being redirected to the golem for whatever reason. The fuckery of that man knew no ends. What this allowed, at the least, was a window for Adrian to revert his hands back to their normal state and his spike away, then make a mad dash at the sentry with his Self-Resonance. It was sloppy. It wasn't clean. He wasn't even as fast as he was in the Park before he went Mad, but as long as he didn't get killed between himself and that sentry, he didn't need to be.

He could see Nadia was already on the attack. She favored the front lines as much as he did. He decided to try this teamwork shit out for once, given he wasn't exactly in his best shape. He made it to the golem and outside of the range of Gauss' fields, meaning that by the time the bullets were a problem, he could reform his door arm and block them again. Once in range, though, he didn't opt to smash the golems. Instead, he transformed entirely, taking on the full size of his Iron Maiden, and flung his doors wide open, creating a wall that blocked the fire of two of the sentries. Whatever they fired sure hurt, but it couldn't break an indestructible weapon form. And, he figured, if they couldn't shoot passed him, anyone immediately behind him would be safe unless the sentries moved from their little platforms.

His idea was to give Gauss, Sara, and Annika more time and more importantly no reason to keep using that stupid ass field that drug him to it if he got near.

Another rare and interesting feature of his Iron Maiden form debuted itself here. Twisting the head of the Maiden in a complete one-eighty, its mouth opened allowing him to shout at Nadia and Dani specifically, primarily given they were the closest ones to him. "SMASH THESE ONES FIRST, THESE THINGS HURT!" he shouted at them, in part because it was true, weapon form or not the pelting of gunfire didn't exactly feel good, but eliminating the threat so he could get back on the move made for a more effective strategy, in his opinion.

Of course, he didn't know a damned thing about what Nadia and Dani could do, so the fact this might just put a damper on their attempt at a ranged attack was completely lost on him. Dani was a sword, how the Hell was he supposed to know.

This was also a good moment to actually count how many sentries there were. Two in front of him, obviously, but knowing just how many of these bullet slinging bastards there were to take out was a priority. The other golems were little less than training dummies in his eyes.

Two... four...

Six total, counting the ones he was blocking. The other two were stationed quite a bit further away at the other entrance of the firehouse and then two more without platforms near the tents where the communications and medical supplies were off in the corner. Too far away for him to do jack shit about, but that was a problem for future Adrian. Present-Adrian just wished Nadia would smash or slash or stomp or whatever the fuck she did the sentries in front of him that decided to treat his interior like a mural and their steel shells like paintballs in hopes of making a masterpiece.

 

[Merciless Medic]

Noah Wiley​

April 1, 2067
Location: Temp Encampment, Fire District, Death City
Interactions: Gauss, Arkayis, Sara
Mentions: Adrian, Dani, Nadia, Sara, Eva, Elly, Sage
Sir Les Paul Peckinou RedArmyShogun EmperorsChosen Mook-LandStrider Serei2477

From the now blood-soaked Spirit Park to the temporary camp within the Fire District, Noah had the time to eat and think. And he didn’t like thinking.

The situation with Adrian was far too close for comfort. But like hell he wasn’t going to make that poor boy become a slave to madness like his own father. One of their own - a Fate member - so close to the edge like that…

And they saved him…

Sara, Dani, even the tough love from Nadia and the attempted help of Annika all compounded. He didn’t know what Adrian tried to accomplish with Sara and Dani, but he was just glad it was all over.

At least, that he wouldn’t have to worry about Adrian’s madness as he had mostly recovered. Sara went to go find Eva, who had gathered amazing materials, and he got used to seeing this Irish girl and her spear weapon. Still didn’t know their names, but that was fine.

So when they went to the Fire District and saw all these golems, Noah’s first reaction was tense up. It reminded him of the bunker during MIBVI. How they would all be safe… Until his father breached the wall.

Noah barely relaxed. Upon seeing Sara’s distraught face, expression held together with some vague optimism she tried instilling within herself, he almost cracked. Sara, the one who always charged ahead with a smile despite it being life threatening and no matter how bleak it was, wasn’t smiling. It scared him.

But he had Gauss and Arkayis. At least they weren’t alone.

Noah had been helping the injured, feeling too much pity to be lazy and sit around while everybody else did their thing. He had to help. So when the information that was supposed to come to them got garbled, he was quick to leave the injured. Not only did the Wiccan Embassy get completely obliterated and there were also attacks upon other important buildings around DWMA and within Death City, but now their encampment was being breached. He was about to ask ‘now what?’ when he realized the golems were turning against them.

This was a planned attack. He just knew it. But by who, he had not the information to figure that out.

He noticed Adrian was quick to head over to two sentries further away from Gauss, who was using his magnetism on the golems. Seems the bullets were made of metal. Dani and Nadia were quick to act themselves, leaping in on the few golems. Sara was looking for Eva, and having shouted a suggestion to Gauss that was … kinda ignored. He heard Gauss’s command, he just had to do one more thing.

He yelled at Sara. “Takes too much time, just destroy the golems!” With that, he was about to look for Arkayis, but opted to just rush headlong towards Gauss.

A stray bullet hit him in the arm. It grazed it, but he swore he felt his bone ache. Hopefully that wasn’t too bad. Not wasting another second, he continued his rush towards Gauss and transformed to aid in Gauss’s magnetism, hoping Arkayis was nearby.

“I'm here.”

 

[Mook-LandStrider]

Annika
Temp Encampment-Fire District
Merciless Medic Sir Les Paul EmperorsChosen RedArmyShogun Peckinou Serei2477​

They had managed to work Adrian back from the edge, something she wasn’t entirely sure they were capable of doing. He had seemed so close, and in his dive towards madness inadvertently drove Annika herself towards the cliff. While she ended up walking herself back she had been close, and even with the wash of relief she still felt the impulsiveness that came with her particular brand of madness. As they moved on she had picked up a few pieces of the golem that Adrian had wrecked.

Shoving them together and checking them out as they went Annika had tried to get an understanding of their creation. There were more unknowns here than obvious mechanical construction. Still, she had learned of their composition. Not that it seemed to matter in the coming minutes. Having arrived at the fire district Annika had taken the moment to shove half a muffin into her mouth. Chewing she felt an odd sensation run up her spine, she couldn’t put her finger on it and shoved the other half of the muffin into her mouth in an attempt to calm herself.

Continuing to mess with the jester golem bits she heard the noise of firing and sat up from her tinkering. Grabbing for her blades she had no time to react as a hail of ammunition was sprayed across the gathering. Being sprayed with impact shrapnel she tried to cover her eyes and ended up recoiling as the bits showered her.

Having limited time to gather herself she was able to focus on the firing noises, counting the increment down as each round was fired from the golems. Spinning herself, having gathered her weapons she tumbled artistically towards the nearest golem. The first shot from its weapon was not aimed at her. She had tried to reach it but its ammunition found its mark in the back of a civilian, then another as it continued to fire.

Sliding close she began to shift her body, using her arms to begin a spin and sort of dancing maneuver. It was one she had used in the past, relying entirely on the swing momentum and continued pivot of her body like a ballerina she kept herself in a sort of perpetual movement. She counted… one.. tw- and the first round aimed at her from the golems mounted weapon rang out. She was lucky, it passed just by the right of her hip as she shifted out of the way, the spin picking up speed. The second round shot at her flew past her ankle and impacted the ground, causing the ground to cave, shooting material up into the air.

By the third round fired at her she had locked in on the firing increment of the golem mounted weapon. Bringing the cutting blade of her right arm up from a downward spin swing she sliced just as the weapon fired again. She survived the maneuver by just a hair, had it been any longer she would have likely been struck in the head. By a mix mostly composed of luck rather than skill she had cut through the shell propelled out of the golem weapon, as well as the weapon itself. The shell, now sliced in two, shot out and just passed by Annika’s head. The two halves sliced through her hair and caused her ears to ring.

The spin continued as her left side swung around to face the golem. Phobos came up, the dual edged chain blade worked its magic here, relying on its double sided nature she spun the teeth with a trigger pull and cut through the chest of the golem before it had a chance to fire another shot at her point blank. A split second later, the mounted weapon fired once more, the gun firing harmlessly into the air as the upper part of the golem began to tumble backwards, its torso disconnected from the bottom and its gun now pointed towards the sky.

It wasn’t the first time she had her ears ringing from the sounds of weapons fire but it was the first she had experienced such a close call from both sides of her head. Running a quick hand through her hair she felt the fact that the two halves had taken a small bit of her hair off, leaving a clear line where it had passed by both sides.

 

[The Regal Rper]

Hoshi Homeland
Part I

• I

• 
  
  
  Should he bow too when Midori did or was he being disrespectful?
  
  A flight was the most difficult part of the journey. At least that was what she thought, but it had actually just been the beginning of a long one. Her frayed nerves kept from appearing on her face, but she was uncharacteristically silent and stand-offish the whole flight. She flat out refused to explain or acknowledge any issue, but deep down? The weapon, able to shift into a form nigh invincible to common attacks and incidents, was terrified of flying on planes. The weapon thankfully had restraints against her empath ability, as it might have gone off randomly revealing her fearful heart.
  
  So to say she was happy to hike was no understatement. She was practically a different woman when she got off the plane, so much so she almost seemed happy as she walked. The whip had a rather surprising stamina, her consistent routines of working out making her surprisingly full of stamina. The nut case had been training consistently even in the hospital when cleared, so a treacherous hike was more like a rare fun activity. Any excuse she could use she would to work out in that place, hating the stillness and suffocating safety the residential facility gave her. She craved adversity, and exercise always provided it. The resistance of the hike provided a healthy way to work out the energy they had pent up, keeping up with little difficulty. It also meant their tongue was rather held. For the most part at least, but even this rough work out would leave enough excess energy to make a remark aloud some rhetorical statements. “…. I feel like the elderly that live here don’t leave often with all these stairs~.”
  
  
  He knew Japanese customs vaguely. A single mission with KOJoe and Steel- being fluent in Japanese and its varying dialects had done all the talking- while he’d merely been for the ride and also to be pointed in the direction of the Corrupted souls they were to be hunting.
  
  So whenever Midori spoke with his relatives, distant cousins-- whatever they were on the massive family tree that was the Hoshi clan-- he remained terribly silent and neutral faced.
  
  Adra didn’t bother.She never studied language much ever, so skills as a translator would likely never blossom. Instead she just noted the height and enjoyed the sight of the bowing figures as an ego boost they did not need. It was all about Adrasteia, at least that is what she thought to herself on likely one too many occasions.
  
  Thankfully she was given time to cool off in the form of separation and isolation.
  
  Zosar however took all of this a bit differently.
  
  Being here in this place, being invited here by Midori, being allowed to come here at all by the DWMA with Adra- it was a treat. The Hoshi were infamous, even among the Enlighteners. Even Hiroshi, being a Hoshino, was to some degree revered by the new comers that went on to make up the bulk of the Enlightener Organization.
  
  To say he wasn’t excited despite the discipline he was showing, would be a lie. Every sight was taken into detail, an old habit that died hard.Yet like all those other times, he savored the views and the beauty of the hidden abode of the Hiroshi training grounds.
  
  By the time it had come for Midori to arrive and wake them he had already been up. He’d taken the advice seriously.
  
  The excitement died like a stomped out ember however when the elder before them addressed them with the scrutiny that reminded him, almost painfully so, too much of Hiroshi and Jose at the same time.
  
  While not exact, the manner in which spoken to, reminded him of Jose’ goading coaching methods-- and the look, the expression, reminded him far too much of Hiroshi’s nature of critically analyzing an individual with his eyes.
  
  The excitement died, but in its place a burning feeling, much like his childhood self- stubborn desire, had awoken.
  
  He would be damned, if he did not leave with some sort of improved impression by the time this was all over.
  
  Then again-- that rationale side of him advised-- he shouldn’t get his hopes up, that even if he gave it 110%, any viewpoints of the elder might change towards either him or his partner.
  
  It was almost pathetic. How easily words managed to wound both of them. This unfortunately was the thought of both Souta and Midori. It was not uncommon for assassins–especially for more difficult targets–to go to great lengths to not only prepare for but set up the circumstance for their assassination. Words just as much as blades could be weapons and in this case, they were highly effective.
  
  To Souta, this was only confirmation of what he believed. These two lacked focus. Their perception of the world was shallow. Their emotional recreations were plain as day through their souls. The Hoshi as a whole were famous for how difficult it was to even see their souls, let alone gauge how they felt through it. Even in the case of Midori, when it occurred–and it did, not that long ago when he escorted Zosar to the Enlighteners–it was of his own volition. It was this lack of direction and mental fortitude that were their greatest hurdles to overcome in his eyes, and it’s not as if they had years to do so on this mountaintop.
  
  To Midori, it was something different. Not reflected now in his intensely silent soul, his heart hurt for them. To be goaded by Souta–which he expected to some degree–and to fall for it almost entirely. To realize he had done so little to prepare them for this, as if he even could. To know that these two were in a metaphorical den of wolves that openly shamed those that behaved like these two did now. They may have been protected here. Safe in a way. But, they were hardly secure.
  
  ”I hate to tell you two, but Souta-sensei is right,” Midori told them, his voice eerily even and calm.
  
  Banishing thoughts of his two mentors, Zosar's mind focused on Midori once more as his eyes turned to stare at him. Something about him almost seemed fake. As if he were putting on a customer service voice at a drive-thru; it was just something that seemed incredibly uncharacteristic for the individual.
  
  Except… this is who he truly was. At least, partly.
  
  ”I–or more accurately, the original Midori–started training at age six. Meisters start sooner. You cannot hope to learn an artform that takes a lifetime in a few weeks,” he explained, still calm. He tried to give them some rational explanation for this. To diffuse the situation; to do anything to give them logic to the self-righteous arrogance of Souta. ”If you truly want to learn anything, start by realizing your anger is unfounded. An insult is only such if there is true disrespect behind it. From the perspective of Souta-sensei, how have either of you earned respect?” he told them, shifting his tone almost to what sounded like a more deriding one. Though, in reality, he only offered them what he felt was the cold, hard truth.
  
  From that moment onward, Midori was channeling his wavelength through his entire body–though even the keen eyes of Zosar wouldn’t notice it. That was the skill of the Hoshi. To suppress themselves until the absolute last moment. It wasn’t Zosar he was concerned about, though. If anyone was going to lash out, it was Adra. She was far more unstable than Zosar despite the current stress the man had been through. Zosar might see the logical side of this; if Hiroshi had successfully taught him anything about their culture, it should have been to see things clearly. Not to let anger or emotions blur your vision.
  
  ”I suggest you attack first. In unison, even if apart,” he told them with that same calm, cold tone. ”If not, Souta-sensei may not get a good evaluation of your skills,” he explained to them, his words spewing from his mouth as if matter-of-fact. As if scripture.
  
  "Adra" Zosar called to his partner, "let's show him what we can do." Adra didn’t look away from Midori as she was spoken to, the only difference was her facial expression souring further. Frustration on top of anger, seemingly directed at Midori instead of Elder Soutaz. After a long second or so of thought, they narrowed their eyes and clicked their tongue in that frustration. She made her decision, and this was just a road bump on the way to her goal.
  
  With a sharp single mild flash of light her arm transformed, her arm now mostly throned chain with the end being her handle. She shifted her weight and swung it, the swing offering the handle to Zosar, all while looking at Midori. “Put on that tough-boy upper lip and talk, I have been looking for an excuse to take you down a peg.”
  
  Catching the handle Zosar instantly began channeling his wavelength into Adra as she fully transformed. The chain hit the ground, spread out and like a snake being wielded by the tail.
  
  
  Thoughts might not make it fully through unless consciously decided- but at the very least they could now communicate and the feelings they shared could at some level, be felt.
  
  From what I remember, Zosar began, as he paced, not nearing Elder Souta but in fact increasing his distance from him. These sorts of tests are based on finding and exploiting the weaknesses of your opponent. I can tell you want to show him up.
  
  --He could feel it, like boiling water in a pot, bubbling under a lid that danced from the steam pressure underneath--
  
  So let’s tackle this like we’re hunting him and treat him like a serious threat. We need to make this fight short- end it as quickly as we can He explained calmly.
  
  Feelings didn’t really matter- in fact emotion and giving in to the first gut instinct of reaction was key to slipping up. But if he fed the idea of them tackling this like they were hunting a Corrupted or some target on the List, then perhaps this would go a lot smoother for Adra, by envisioning this whole thing as a mission and not an observation of her skills.
  
  He knew how she already felt about wanting to improve, it was the goading from Souta that would do them in and cause a misfire in their wavelengths if he didn’t get her in the right mindset early.
  
  At least, this is what Zosar liked to think at the very least. Her silent fuming and listening made it hard for Zosar to get a direct confession of how she was thinking.
  
  Keep that in mind, he’s our target. We’re hunting each other- he'll do every trick he can to get us to slip up further if it makes it easier for him. We need to make sure we end it before that. I’m going to be giving you a bit more of my wavelength than what we’re used to, so let's get ready to do this.
  
  Flaring his wavelength, Zosar crouched low, Adra trailing back in his weapon arm- then he took off.
  
  They were slow. Not only slow in terms of their abilities, but slow in keeping on the same pace. The two had not spent sufficient time together to become a duo that truly shared the same mind. Midori was well aware that in terms of raw power, Zosar alone eclipsed him due to his wavelength and together the two only overshadowed him that much more.
  
  Victory did not come from raw power alone. Especially when the delay between the two put them at an even greater disparity against an opponent that already had the edge in virtually every field of speed.
  
  It was only a brief spark of his wavelength that was observable. Zosar took off only to find the blurred speed of Midori still at absurd levels his eyes simply weren’t trained yet to keep up with. It was a struggle back at the DWMA, but now the weapon had shed the shackles of restraint he used when he was their mentor back in the states. This was the world of the Hoshi now. There was no room to hold back.
  
  Midori darted around Zosar, covering the bulk of the ground between them, and moving at such a pace within their close range that raw reaction times at his current state simply weren’t sufficient to keep up with Midori. Meanwhile, Midori transformed his right arm into his sword-blade to slam it down between the chain links of her whip form, pinning her in place. Though, uniquely, the wooden floor beneath them proved so hard that Midori was unable to pierce through it even with his blade-tip.
  
  Following that, his left arm lifted up, revealing it was in the form of his bolt shooter, the core part of his bow that he used for ranged attacks. From the side, he then simply unleashed a flurry of blasts with his wavelength to pelt Zosar. These would hurt, tearing clothing even, but not break the skin. Zosar with his wavelength flared subsequently had sufficient defense for these attacks to have their potency reduced significantly. Still, their impact would outweigh any of the metal ball-bearings Zosar became so familiar with back in the lots.
  
  ”Don’t waste time fucking around, you two,” Midori told them, still unleashing a flurry of blasts from his hand, having no remorse for what he was inflicting on his friend. ”Skip the bullshit, show Souta-sensei what your best actually is,” he demanded, knowing full-well that the duo could do better than the unrefined feat of amplification they had just demonstrated.
  
  It caught him completely off guard yet, his tempo with Adra, though not as in sync as it should have been for a true duo- did not falter even a little.
  
  Focus that! Zosar’s voice through their link echoed, the sense of astonishment he felt died like a smothered fire instantly as he spoke to her- in the same instant, being hit with the first bolt of Midori’s strikes which he followed up by upping his own defenses.
  
  Channel it towards our goal of taking out the Elder.
  
  His mismatched pair of eyes glanced briefly to where Midori had Adra pinned.
  
  This time, when she felt his wavelength it hit with what might have felt like a punch from a boxer. From the repressor to his suppressor lifting rapidly, if Adra were on a boat, Zosar’s Volatile Wavelength was like the ocean’s waves changing steadily and quickly. It came rushing forward rapidly, eagerly- desperately-- but not in the chaotic disarray that was its nature. Though it rushed to meet Adra, every wave jostling the boat, it came in a manner she would be able to navigate without being capsized. The shift was palpable but not entirely disorienting.
  
  Her response was all the same. As the wavelength crashed through her she was prevented from making any rash movements independent. Her ire now met something with energy, and it reeled her back in slightly. Just enough it seemed, as she let out a huff of frustration. An awkward acceptance, one less of telling a partner what to do and instead listening. A rare moment of personal growth, even if it is as small as that in growth.
  
  ….. Fine. We do it your way Zosar… you may have something going.
  
  A subtle curve of a smile entered Zosar’s expression. It was a success- she handled it well, as he expected of her given how she was- so he added just a bit more. Rolling waves rocked Adra’s metaphorical ‘boat’ now, no longer just tides that rocked it up and down. Now it was a game of balance as the ‘boat’ teetered from side to side- gliding along the uneven waves of his wavelength like surfers along the waves.
  
  With speed now doubled, Zosar twisted with his newfound agility, concentrating wavelength now into the location where the Bolts mainly focused- and moved as a blur of motion towards Midori as he brought his free arm up in a wind up to strike-- only to feint as he brought his trailing leg up to land a blow with wavelength concentrated more in that leg to land a hit strong enough to displace the arm pinning the blade down on Adra’s chain.
  
  ”Better,” was his only comment once he finally noted their wavelengths working in sync. Better was not best. Midori intended to force Zosar and Adra to take their partnership a step further–if they were going to show Souta-sensei what they had to offer.
  
  Midori leaned back and transformed the arm he was blasting Zosar with into another blade, then kicked off the ground to balance on it specifically. He unpinned the chain link holding Adra down, but in the process allowed himself to flip over to dodge the incoming kick. More importantly, he used this maneuver to wrap his legs around the arm Zosar had pulled back to feint with only to use that brief hold to throw Zosar over him and into the air. This type of movement, or martial art in general, would act as a complete surprise; Midori hadn’t debuted the ability or tendency to use such acrobatics in the past.
  
  Half the reason was surprise. The other half was to reset the fight so the two could try again with their newfound power. While Zosar sailed through the air, Midori recomposed himself waiting for his friend to do the same.
  
  ”Come at me like you want to kill me. Nothing else will do here,” he instructed them, lifting up his blade arm to point at them. ”You need to trust Adra to sustain and amplify your power. Otherwise, she’d be doing better alone,” he added, this time specifically taking a dig at Zosar. Though, there was truth to his words. Adra as an autonomous weapon could be incredibly dangerous due to her chains. Zosar needed to make the absolute best of her amplification to him to justify her not fighting alone.
  
  ”Adra has nothing to prove, Zosar. It’s all on you,” he goaded, making sure to hammer in the nail to his point.
  
  Souta meanwhile watched in silence. It was clear Midori was still guiding them even as they fought. In a way, it was a pity. The fact he even needed to do this left something to be said about the duo. However, the fact that he even could do this and it was working showed promise. Independence was a strong value within the Hoshi, but those two weren’t Hoshi. He couldn’t truly compare them to his kin.
  
  They both had a point and he knew it, even as he flipped through the air, caught off guard once more by one of Midori’s hidden moves, sent sailing backwards- Zosar took the second disorienting spin and wrestled control of his ascent by going with the twist and curling into himself to roll backwards just to break the spin cycle as he righted himself midair at about almost twenty or so feet, beginning his drop back to ground as he whipped out Adra towards the floor- using her blades to pull himself back down to earth.
  
  Perhaps it was clear in this brief instant, that somewhere deep down, Zosar feared the power of his own soul for its instability and the resulting effect it could cause. That feeling was buried so deep with the pride he harbored deep down, that Adra wouldn’t have sensed it, nor would it have shown in his soul as he opened that last door to let the waters act as they should.
  
  What she did feel was a brief warning. Longer for her through their link, though shorter in reality.
  
  The only warning she had was the keen sensation of trust and the feeling of intense focus that passed on through their link. Then the flip switched.
  
  
  
  Notice: RedArmyShogun EmperorsChosen @Prizzy Kriyze @Sybil Meredith Mook-LandStrider Serei2477 Merciless Medic
  
  Interaction: Elder Souta & Midori
  
  Participants: @Sybil Sir Les Paul
  
  

 

[The Regal Rper]

Ark | DWMA | Dall Island | Rings: 0/3

Raph's weight on his side was barely something that Ark in his current state even acknowledged. Though he did register his presence through the now un-webbed ground heated below him, he offered only a glance briefly at his ally to see if he would need to shift the land underneath him into an array of spikes that blossomed outward to kill what had touched him-- he didn't. Simply because he recognized Raphael as an ally and not a threat to his person at this time.

Even in his current state, he was aware enough that threat to him was not his allies this time, but the spiders surrounding them- and for that his focus remained solely on them alone.

Hearing Maria's relayed instruction through the chaos of the fight and watching as Rand added the necessary components to complete the Circle circuit to link them together, once he knew what was needed from him- Ark did exactly as he was told.

His gloves, glowed and the runes on them burned brightly- and in the same instant Maria's circle glowed like metal from the furnace. It blazed with light as he channeled magical energy through it and then followed up by channeling the same magical energy into Raphael's. He continued this process until it was complete- a flood of light decorating the circles afflicted and then a second after, Ark rose both his hands upwards- the earth shifted below him and them by extension as the spell activated and the ground shook.

With a stomp on the ground below him, and a swipe of his hand, the rectangular board of earth Ark had created sliced itself from the foundation it had risen from in the same instant lava erupted from the circle, added by the effect of the bubbling lines of lava he had created from his earlier attack.

Mentions: n/a

Interactions:: Merciless Medic Sir Les Paul RedArmyShogun Meredith

 

[The Regal Rper]

Az | Death City - Vegas | Desert

At Reiko's announcement, Az nodded. He could hear the steady war drum thump of Francis' soul in the same instant he felt it. Even as Dane zipped forwards towards him his arm transforming to a metal coil to release the electric attack, his own soul's gentle drumstick tapping which at first accompanied Dane's, switched to a faster rhythm that continued to merge seamlessly with their collective sound. And with Francis' confirmation on no longer needing to be worried about friendly fire, Az immediately switched his attack as his slide grinded to a halt, the perfect opportunity for Dane's upcoming attack as he darted forward. Catching Reiko's spinning form with his left hand on its next twirl, using that spin over his left hand to up the cutting power of Discord through their combined Chain Resonance, he moved forwards, focusing his improved Wavelength empowered by Chain Resonance, into his nerves, muscles, upping his reflex speed and reaction time also now to make it a better match for Dane.

Dane threw electricity outward, and he slashed in counter-clockwise motion with his right. It went upwards in a short arc at Dane's transformed arm, either making contact or releasing a blast of concussive air that would not only push him back, but also leave a line along the ground as he swept upwards from where the air blade would drag towards the Coil.

The burst of electricity hit the right arm and travelled- but Az was prepared for it as electricity attacked his arm and spread towards the rest of his body- as he focused on empowering his nerves he also upped his own nervous system's defenses. Powering through the attack he was hit with, Reiko in his right hand, muscles aching from the sting of electricity but not convulsing enough to destroy his mobility or control- Az jabbed Reiko towards Dane in the same instant- feinting. Then signaled to Reiko a second before the feint to switch to one an Anti-Demon technique, specifically Demon Slaying Blade.

He's trying to get us closer together, I'm going to put pressure on him. Watch for your chance.

At this instant, Az's rapid drumming gained an aggressive beat to it that meshed with the steady pounding of Francis' war drum, no longer as fast paced but now almost aggravating in its flow. Releasing, animosity towards Dane as he sent the Feint out to make him believe he was going in for a kill- and then keeping up that antagonistic aggression as he swapped to Demon Slaying Blade with Reiko to give him the sense that he was going in for a killing blow, when in actuality- he was stalling for time while looking for openings.

Mentions: n/a

Interactions: Sir Les Paul Merciless Medic EmperorsChosen

 

[Merciless Medic]

Fia Moretti​

April 1, 2067
Location: Nevada Desert
Interactions: Starwulf, Dane, Az, Reiko
Mentions: N/A
Sir Les Paul RedArmyShogun The Regal Rper EmperorsChosen

Fia finalized the chain resonance with the other’s help - keeping a steady beat for Starwulf for the others to connect to and tempering the beating of Az’s wavelength to make it a slightly better match for Starwulf to resonate with, sighing in relief for their collective hold. It was a wondrous feeling, being so connected - even if distantly - to her comrades. When he spoke of the sandstone, she realized that it wouldn’t be possible physics-wise.

She watched as Deathcoil’s refined attacks blasted towards Az with a powerful electrical blast. Az countered, even as the electricity hit his arm. She decided to quit watching then as she needed to store more energy for Starwulf. Making sure the chain resonance was stable, she began charging up with Starwulf’s wavelength so they may have a new power ceiling to reach for. It wasn’t something she was used to, but being as efficient as she was, it wouldn’t take long before she was ready. It was a bit difficult to maintain, but this was like working out an old muscle in a new way with more weight. She would just have to burden it some more.

Az’s change in wavelength made her concentration a bit harder, as she had to also filter out Az’s spikes in his wavelength to match Starwulf’s, despite their steady rhythm. Tempering wavelengths like this was an artform, something that required time and concentration. But like a painter, she made it work and got a little used to their new power ceiling.

‘I think I’m ready…’ She uttered her shared soul space to Starwulf. ‘But if you think I need more time, let me know and I’ll continue getting used to this. He is busy with Az after all.’ She added, not wanting to rush her situation and cause an issue.

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Rand Mabason​

"Soundwave Sorcerer"​

Species Witch
Partner N/A
Rank Two Star

Location Dall Island, Spider War heading West
Mission Excursion to Dall Island
Status Awestruck, relieved

​

Tags: Meredith Merciless Medic The Regal Rper RedArmyShogun

It might as well have been nuclear.

What unraveled in front of them was no mere spell. It was not merely the translation of mana into a manifestation that marred the material world. Even at this rudimentary level, it was the culmination of their combined efforts that exponentially increased the effect piece-by-piece until it was something far beyond what any of them could accomplish alone. To see what it did to the forest in front of them was the type of enticing ability that power-drunk Witches strived their whole lives to recreate.

Ark was their forge, pouring his orange, scorching mana from the mouth of his searing gloves into the first circle. Like blows from a blacksmiths hammer, the mana was refined and concentrated. Transforming iron into steel, enhancing its base properties far beyond their natural capabilities. Ark would be able to feel every single step in this process, how the power from circle-to-circle altered what was fundamentally his almost as if he offered them a limb and each gave it new shape. Maria was a virgin to this process, and this was a hell of a way to be introduced to it. It was not her mana that she sculpted with the runes and circle. Not only would her eyes be opened to the capability of this entirely new field of magic, but she would get to experience firsthand what it was like to alter the power of another.

It was a sacred thing among Witches and Sorcerers. Their mana. It was as close to them as their blood. For Chanterelle, in fact, it was their blood. Their mana was as personal as a fingerprint and as important to life as the very air they breathed. To shape the mana of another was an intrinsically intimate feat not unlike resonance between a Meister and Weapon. It was the closest, in truth, that Witches ever came to such spiritual connections.

Maria would not only feel the mana of Ark pour into her circle and how her strength sculpted and enhanced as if adding carbon to iron, she would get to feel what she refined flow into Raphael. He having experienced this before would see just how different was. He had once channeled the mana of Ark previously, but this was a different beast. If the mana was akin to flowing iron before, it shifted from a low-orange to a neon-bright glow with an intensity far eclipsed anything he felt before. It had traces of power from Maria that gave it a stronger, more concentrated flow and that very flow was stronger not just in its intensity but in its turbulence. It was easy to see now why Rand had them edit their circles; without those constraints, his original circle would have broken like weak chains bearing a heavy load.

Raph had the additional insight to see not just the first step that came with these circles, but the next beyond. Some Witches incorporated four of five of these circles on their own at the highest level. Maintaining even one now demanded intense concentration beyond just the knowledge behind it to make it work. If the raw, potent flow of mana now twice-sculpted was not enough to give insight as to the levels of magic that laid beyond them, the understanding that feats of both far superior skill and knowledge would. There was still so much yet to achieve in the world of magic.

Then Rand...

The circles he created were far beyond the other two, and the flow for the magic for those before him in the chain could only be compared to the wild and chaotic twist and turns of a roller coaster as flung through the air, changing course and direction, until each individual trying to even trace what was occurring could only get lost in the ride. Each rune did not simply do one thing. They worked together in unique ways. Some combinations were simple and straight forward, like a straight line and a turn becoming a curve. Some altered their function entirely when combined together. Some were combined not to change or alter anything, but to merge together to enhance the impact of the effect of just one rune. Rune magic truly was a whole, living language and mana was both the life blood that flowed through it and the when announced when spoken.

It sang. It shouted. It was a chorus, a reverb, and a symphony all at once. It did all but whisper... for there was no hiding the destruction it brought.

Immediately upon execution of the spell from the final circle, mana spewed forth from the apex of the final circle created by Rand. That mana itself dug itself into the very earth like ravenous earthworms consuming all their path. Snaking through hundreds of meters of the ground, far further than expected. Even Chanterelle added in her own way, dripping small drops of her own blood in a futile, half-conscious effort to aid in the endeavor. Like a supernova in space, the explosion of mana and its effects were nearly instant. The earth itself turned into deep puddles of hot, glowing lava as viscous as water and as hot as Hell on a summer day. The grass and foliage burst spontaneously, causing massive fires that began to incinerate the trees and flora around them. This was a death sentence for all those caught within it.

The cries of countless arachnids filled the air and not long after the putrid stench of the singed hairs and burning exoskeletons impregnated the searing, arid atmosphere created by the spell. There were no survivors in front of them. Bark peeled off trees from the raw heat along and was cinders before even reaching the lava. Trunks burst open like bombs from the moisture inside overheating. Thunderous cracks from trees exploding like kernels echoed through the forest and their plops into the lava created ripples through it like waves. And this destruction just went on and on...

Rand was right. Without the stone platform created and maintained by Ark and his magic, they would die here. Burned alive by their own magic. Creating that earth sanctuary would prove to be more than just creating it; he would need to channel his power to maintain it. Rand was quick to hop board and sit Chanterelle down in its center so he could again cast another spell. In just a few quick moments--and they had to be quick to endure this heat--a sphere of tame wind surrounded them that not only protected them from the burning cinders, but generated a safe atmosphere of sorts for them to breath and be comfortable. The stench of death was gone within this zone, and it created a dramatic juxtaposition between their safety on the inside and the annihilation that surrounded them.

Then it hit them. The exhaustion. As the source, Ark was not so terribly drained. Maria on the other hand would be left feeling like she tried to puppet a hundred puppets or more and following her was Raph as if he tried to conjure ten thousand chains. Each of them subsequently drained more and more by the exponential increase to their mana consumption. In truth, Rand felt it, too. His only saving grace being that the Mabian Eye supplied most of the mana for those rings, and it was not a source so easily exhausted. He and Ark together would maintain the sanctuary that the group floated upon Westward to safety, fleeing from the battlefield of spiders and the gear they left behind.

It would not be long before they reached the other side of this lava pond, but truthfully, all that laid in store for them next was a return to the shoreline and the safety inside it. What they needed more than anything was rest. Even re-evaluating the mission came second. Without some time to recuperating their energy--not just Chanterelle--maintaining their security and subsequently safety on the island would be next to impossible.

With half-sunken eyes and obviously drained look on his pallid face, Rand looked to his team and took a seat on the center of the platform beside Chanterelle. He could feel her mana at least stabilizing inside of her the further they got from that scar, and likely even absorbing some of the now-copious ambient mana around them. He let out an exasperated breath, finally taking a moment to relax within the relative safety of their bubble. Not that it was comfortable. Even through the insulative barrier, it was disturbingly warm. "So... hm... some scholars might say we just executed a sixth-tier spell..." he told them. He was trying to congratulate them. To give them the positive spin on this. To do what he thought a leader ought to. But, he was tired. So... so tired. It showed. Not only from the expenditure of mana, but from the toll exacted on his body from that unnatural eye of his.

"Even if it was just high fifth-tier, though..." he added, dragging on as if he had some point, "that's only the beginning of what you're capable of."

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Francis Flynn​

"Starwulf"​

Species Human
Partner Fia
Rank Three-Star

Location Nevada Desert between Death City and Las Vegas
Mission Coils of Despair
Status Focused and excited

​

Tags: Merciless Medic RedArmyShogun EmperorsChosen The Regal Rper

'I think it best to push his buttons,' Starwulf announced to the entire group. Fia proposed a valid question in how to proceed. Time would be valuable, but fact was, even Starwulf wasn't sure what their upper limits were with Chain Resonance. It was entirely dependent on how powerful the members were. Not just himself and Az, either, but the skill of Fia and Reiko. He knew Reiko was undoubtedly capable and had as much as if not more experience with her skills. Fia had a specialized set of skills that catered to his own fighting style absurdly well, but was less refined than Reiko. Still, she more than carried her weight. Az was surprising on all fronts, but admittedly remained the wild card.

Starwulf had one advantage over the majority of them, perhaps aside from Reiko. He had a deep understanding of just how this wavelength connection worked. Chain Resonance opened up so many doors for them that were otherwise sealed so tightly they might as well be considered impossible. It was those dynamics he intended to abuse.

'Reiko, I am giving you my power,' he told her. Then, he began to channel the bulk of his wavelength into her via the Chain Resonance. It was far less efficient than the direct connection he shared with Fia, but it was something he was certain the veteran could handle. And, it provided two keen advantages. It bought him more time for Fia to store his wavelength inside of her and it gave Reiko an absurd boost in her abilities. What she chose to do with it beyond that was up to her. He imagined she would feed it into Az to further enhance his physical defenses while dueling Dane directly, but that wasn't the only possibility.

Reiko was a crafty bitch. She had a reputation for ruthlessly slaughtering the vile and wicked. Those precisely like Dane. Those that would desecrate sacred lands and defy the sanctuaries of spirituality that Death established. With an abundance of raw power now twice-amplified through Fia and through Chain Resonance, she could become creative in how she opted to dispel that evil with her abilities. If she could even hurt Dane slightly, that would only make the battle that much easier in the long run.

Regardless, the point stood. Even for a warrior like Starwulf, there was a time to have faith in his allies. Not only that, if Dane caught on to what he was doing, Starwulf anticipated it enraging him--or at the very least, annoying him. With his Madness being so fixated on the unfairness of his status of being an Autonomous Weapon, making sure he was hyper-aware of how alone he really was would only make that worse. Or so, that was the theory. An angry enemy is one that makes mistakes.

 

[Merciless Medic]

Raphael Valerias​

March 28, 2067
Location: Dall Island, Forest -> Beach
Interactions: Rand, Ark, Chanterelle, Maria
Mentions: N/A
Sir Les Paul The Regal Rper Meredith RedArmyShogun

The ringing in Raphael’s ears were beginning to subside as Rand came over, and watching as the book nearby fluttered its pages wildly, only stopping as Rand stopped near them and watched as the book was telling them instructions. Instructions to chain together their magic circles. Waiting for Maria to finish, Raphael then finished his, copying the runes down exactly. The typhoon protecting them barely even registered in Raphael’s periphery.

So when it was Ark’s turn to actually channel his energy into the circles, Raphael realized just how much energy and concentration these circles needed for their respective creators. He felt his mana deplete upon empowering and chaining Ark’s magic from Maria’s to his own to then Rand’s third circle.

He watched with concerted awe that the simple lava spell became an inferno that seared the very landscape of Dall Island, burning all in its wake. So hot, that trees exploded from being too close to the fiery wrath of their combined effort. But it wasn’t the wake of destruction they made that put him in wonderment. It was the feeling of everyone’s mana being shared with one another and building one another up. He may not know either of them very well, but it was one hell of a way to get close with each other. Yet still, it was the potential of what could be waiting for them in the future. The very raw power and control of what any one of them could attain alone if they were at the power and concentration to make higher tier magic circles.

He needed to train more.

The level of runework by Rand had Raph in awe. With the minor awareness of his magic flowing through to Rand’s many runes and circles, Raph could barely even concentrate on one type of change let alone all of them, so he mainly focused on making sure he was the bridge between Maria’s and Rand’s circles. The energy to keep it up was immense, the heat around them near blistering until Rand protected them with his magical wind. It was as if they made Ark’s magic alive…

They were pulled away from their destruction, and Raph was left barely able to move from his crouched position. His book felt so heavy, the Demon Tool so rough that he wanted to let go of it. Raphael’s skin was pale as they landed beachside, his body collapsing on his back as they were now safe, relatively. His muscles ached as if he worked them out instead of his magic, and it took him too long to put his Demon Tool and book back in his bag, and even longer to pull the bag from around his shoulder and head to rest beside him. Rand spoke.

Raph’s seemingly gaunt face cracked a smirk. “You don’t say?” The mere idea they pulled off something like that together had him chuckling, then laughing with the bits of energy he had left. It died quickly because he soon found himself too tired to laugh, but he was still smiling. He peeked his good eye over at Rand, noticing how shit he looked.

“Maaaan, you look like shit. You need a nap.” He wheezed out another chuckle. The thought that he had just insulted his mentor when he didn’t look too hot either had tickled him rather funny. They survived, and that’s all that mattered.

“The rest of you okay?” He croaked out at Maria and Ark, wherever they were. Chanterelle didn't look like that she'd be able to speak, so that left him with some worry.

He felt so fucking tired, he just wanted to just sit there and sleep.

 

[EmperorsChosen]

Dane Markovic
Desert between Death City and Las Vegas
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

As Dane initiated his attack on Az, the meister responded in kind with a counter. The polearm spun counterclockwise toward him and clashed with his transformed limbs with a thud of metal against metal followed by the cackle of electricity extending through the contact made. The blow itself carried force to send Deathcoil gliding back in the sand. With a growl through grit teeth, Dane dug in his heels, drawing a clear indicator in the ground from his original position.

Then, came the follow-up. Dane could feel the aggression and change in Az's wavelength. However, there was something else as well. Starwulf hadn't moved in a while. Additionally, there was a greater amplification within the pair in front of him, more than what was simply brought on by the duo themselves.

Dane sent a deathly glare at Az and Reiko, seemingly realizing what was going on. They were all connected as it were, not just the duos and pairs, but all four of them. Outnumbered and alone, always, all because they drew a lucky bid and he didn't. They were born without the weapon gene or were an actual weapon that could be wielded. The thought pushed him further into the depths of his madness and angst, and his wavelength flared naturally in response.

His feet, which were submerged shallowly in the sand from the pushback of Az's parry, made a concealed transformation. One coil traveled underneath the sand to erect a wall in front of him to intercept Az's attack. However, the other did not contribute to entrapping him. Dane hadn't forgotten about Starwulf. Putting Az in a cage while Starwulf was behind him would be disadvantageous, and while angry Deathcoil wasn't going to utilize a technique that would render him immobile with his back was naked in defenses. Whether they were mocking him purposefully or not, if Starwulf of all people wasn't engaging, then he had to be waiting for an opening. Instead, the other limb readied a barrier at his own flank, in case the meathead decided to jump in.

Sir Les Paul The Regal Rper RedArmyShogun Merciless Medic

 

[EmperorsChosen]

Eloise Keegan - DWMA Festival Grounds
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

Elly let her eyes linger on the group for a short while longer, still unsure of if what she saw was accurate. Everything seemed under control now, but the metaphorical shit was so close to hitting the nonexistent fan, that for the crisis to have somehow been averted at the last second didn't sit well with her. Well, one crisis. They were still very much in the middle of another, which gave her cause to wonder how they were all able to engage in such levity. Did they think it was over, Elly wondered. She didn't buy that. More than her Soul Perception, her instincts were telling her otherwise.

As they made their way to one refuge, the party and surviving civilians spread out to mend their wounds or take a momentary rest. Elly aided a few people to the aid stations, otherwise staying somewhat off to the side and observing the whole scene. Her eyes trailed from person to person and soul to soul, perhaps searching for something to hone in on. Something unusual. Sitting around waiting for an all-clear while some menacing golems stood by as their protectorate did naught to put her at ease. She needed to be apart of the solution or oversee it in some way. She didn't trust its execution, otherwise.

It wasn't long after that her instincts proved accurate. The hue of the golems shifted, and Elly kept Sage close. Lo and behold, their guardians became executioners.

"Oh of bloody course-" Elly grumbled to herself.

Since she had been watching her surroundings, she was reactive when the machinations turned their weaponry on her. She dashed toward two that leveled their weapons at her, making a sudden pivot at the last second and using Sage to vault over one. She allowed the shots from the other to follow her, piercing into the body of the golem she maneuvered past. Then, digging Sage's blade into the knee socket of it, Elly forced it down while using it as cover while considering her next options.

"Unfortunately, these ones seem a tad higher quality than the others. Quite the coincidence, so many things going awry at once..." She mused to no one in particular, clearly insinuating that it was not such a chance of fate.

Sir Les Paul RedArmyShogun Serei2477 Merciless Medic Peckinou Mook-LandStrider

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Maria Mayer - Dall Island​

Being swept in the events around her, Maria found she needed to redo her seal in part, well she among most, if not all of them. Hurriedly making the needed changes, she could sense the magic of the rest, as bit by bit they interconnected. Such Co-operation was rare among witches, yet powerful when it could be acted upon. While the spell did inspire her for ideas on her next constructs or lessons, one other thing overwhelmed her.

Her creations were in danger, where they had fallen, connecting to her medium doll she sent it out at once, to scoop up the closest two, the only remaining two. How she hated them, these creatures, this place. It was then the fire started, the shifting ground and the sudden bubbling of Lava, the exhaustion. Standing her ground, Maria refused to give in, to allow the exhaustion to connect. Or rather for it to stop her, as she mentally presses in, sending her wires to the furthest extent possible, connecting to the Medium, as flame licked at the three and the platform stated to move, commanding the Medium to throw the other two and to jump, the cloak being burned away, showcasing the armor and battle damage and more than a few stains of what one could assume was blood, while the ringing in her ears had long since stopped, the blood did not, with even some running from her nose as the strain became too much, her eyes had an almost feral look to them, of desperation as the doll completed its mission, landing upon the platform as Maria caught the other two, blistering hot, though that did not seem to stop her as the thick fabric of her dress insulated herself.

Somewhat collapsing at this point she was winded and semi-lucid as she sat the weapons aside, dimly aware of Rand's words, the spell may have been an accomplishment, but as she looked at her battle-damaged creations, wiped the blood from her face and ears and seen Chanterelle, who was all but collapsed, the work they had done was on fire, the cages ablaze, growing more distant. While they had accomplished something grand, this was much too chaotic, nearly half of her resources were lost, and this tree seemed to be little more than a problem. She would be taking samples of her own, one way or another. But the massive headache and blurred vision kept her distracted even from this, other than the demand of payment.

But she remained silent, while she processed what was of use to this, what was incompetent and what was lost, and more importantly, recovered from the spent energy and physical wounds she had sustained from the blast and forcing herself to the limit to recover what could be...

As they returned to the sea-based landing and the shield that enveloped them with some protection offered, Raph was next to speak and his question received a simple answer. "No... but better than she is." She said of Chanterelle as her human sized doll had long since went into a stand-by mode, kneeling and empty of magic.

Merciless Medic The Regal Rper Meredith Sir Les Paul

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Reiko Tanaka
Near Outskirts of Vegas​

As the union between the four linked up, Starwulf was quick to open up communications with her, sending her his power, amplified as it was through the wavelength, from within her own soul space, linking to those of the others, she had a serious and as always hostile expression that seemed to run counter to what was being expressed. "I thank you kindly.. I.." Pausing at that, she noticed the flare-up as the madness grown, and the predicament they all were in. Quick action was needed, and given her own experience and the power she found to make use of, Reiko was quick to formulate something of a plan, communicating with all four.

"Az, draw out my weapon amplification, with it we can expand a shroud of my anti-demon wavelength, I'll be sending it through you and with half of what Starwulf sent, the other half will be split in turn, half to myself and the remaining quarter sent back to Starwulf. While using me, make use of our Chime of Harmony. He is far too gone to save for more than a brief instant, but we can still grant him salvation, and the succor of his Ancestors."

With those words said, she paused for a bit to let the first allotment of the power to reach the rest. "In effect, see if we can overpower his wavelength or strike him down. If we cannot, we will use my Anti-Demon wavelength to push back his own madness, to trip him up if even briefly. Then one of us must strike him down, in that instant of clarity should it show itself, and thus save what little remains of his soul as we send him off. A battle of attrition favors him, so we must upset this balance and strike swift and true. One decapitating strike."

"Are we of agreement or counter suggestion? If in agreement, carry it out, you need not more than my guidance to act, I trust the three of you."


Interactions/mentions: Sir Les Paul Merciless Medic The Regal Rper

 

[Mook-LandStrider]

Sara and Eva
Fire District
Merciless Medic Sir Les Paul EmperorsChosen RedArmyShogun Peckinou Serei2477
​

Seeing Sara approach Eva felt herself stiffening up, she wasn’t sure if Sara would try to drag her away from her hoard or if she would try to convince her to put it down. Watching her like a hawk one of Eva’s eyes shifted to a blue hue. She saw that Sara had been crying. “We have lost a lot so far, I can feel it. Much like those spirits in the Paris catacombs… There will be much to do later. You’ve lost someone.” Eva began focusing her eyes on Sara’s, her voice somewhat out of pitch from its normal tone. Sara noted this, but said nothing. Just nodding numbly.

Taking her box of materials she followed Sara into the fire district, the carnage while lighter than in the district they came from was still evident. Putting her box down she began to grab the innocent souls floating around. One by one she began to gather them up, knowing that in all the chaos they could be taken. “There are so many.” Eva began, her pace somewhat frantic. There was a strange compulsion to what she was doing, she felt obligated to keep them together, to keep them safe until they dissipated. It was odd, watching Eva do that. But Sara understood the sentiment, so she didn’t try to stop her, just kept a close eye on her to make sure she didn’t absorb any of them.

By the time she had gathered everything all hell broke loose again. The relative safety that they had found themselves in quickly crumbled to nothing as the golems that were among them suddenly turned on everything, even themselves. Seeing people being shot down just as she had finished her heart dropped hard. Tearing up she heard Sara’s voice and managed to break away from the events unfolding around herself. Seeing Sara’s hand come out Eva quickly turned into her weapon form, the souls she had gathered up slowly beginning to dissipate safely.

Pressure building up the sides of Eva’s lantern began to rattle. “Yes, get close to a group.” Eva spoke up as she tried to build up as much of a balefire burst as she was capable of.

Sara realized that Gauss was busy doing something else. Which was actually a better play than what she had thought previously, which was to keep the bullets busy. Adrian had moved away and was covering two golems, with Dani and Nadia. Annika was out destroying another one of the golems. She charged for a different group. Adrian was already dealing with two, Elly and Sage handled another two, and Annika was dealing with one or two, she couldn’t tell. Gauss was handling the rest that was within his range, so she went towards a golem being covered by Adrian.

Getting close enough where the sentry began turning its guns towards Sara, she spoke aloud. “Alright, Eva. Let’s give him a quick will-o-wisp and hopefully I can jump on it.” With that, she swung the lantern flail about, helping Eva in releasing the flames.

Lantern started to burst and spark, the bottom of it opened up and immediately released a very large torrent of soul fire. Like a wall of flame it crashed against the golem, enveloping it entirely and obscuring its vision and targeting systems. Sides opening, more fire erupted out, creating a large wall of spinning flames that obscured the area that Sara and Eva were in.

Just as the last of the fire was released a small ball of light flew out, growing larger and beginning to blink. Extending out of her weapon form for a moment Eva grabbed the ball and tossed it at the golem that Sara was standing near. Torso disappearing back into her weapon form the wisp began to dance around the golem, Eva attempting to distract it.

Now that the targeting system was likely janked, Sara dodged the shooting attempts from the golem and strafed around it, using the lantern to slam into one of the joints. Then, she hopped on top of the golem’s back, sitting on its head and wrapping her legs around the neck, using her thighs to block the sensors even further.

Just feeling this thing, she figured they were far more durable than she thought, so Sara had to amplify herself quite a bit in getting any damage done. Looking down at the head of the thing she was sitting on, she got back Eva’s handle and smashed its end into its face, denting metal and showing something underneath, to which she used her chain to pry the metal off itself and used the pommel of her handle to smash into the inner workings of the golem. Once that was done, she jumped off to avoid the other sentry shooting at her, wrapping the chain around the gun of the sentry she was on and pulling it back so it was pointing towards its chest to potentially fire at itself. She punched the weaker portions of the sentry’s torso in with Eva’s pommel, then yanked them apart like a bear getting that honey.

She didn’t know what she was seeing inside, so she simply went behind it and charged forwards, slamming into its back with a tackle so it would fall into Adrian’s spikes. She then smashed the other’s knee, before dodging a splash of bullet fire with a somersault roll, having lost her cover in the other golem and regained it as she rolled behind Adrian to get away.

Now that she was certain Nadia and Dani had that the other one covered, she needed to stop the other golems. She ran towards the center where all the injured were at, knowing there were a few golems there. “At least we don’t have to worry about guns from these guys.” She commented, looking down at her lantern. “You okay, Eva?” She asked, hoping she was.

“Mmmmmmmmmmm…… yeah, of course.” She responded, her voice overlapping with another within their shared soulspace. Kicking off the ground she floated aimlessly, spinning occasionally. “It's such a mess, it's going to take forever for everything to go back to normal. How many will leave? I imagine much will change.” Eva finished.

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Nadia Semyonov - Daniella Ethalyn - Death City - Fire Station

​

“Right!” Nadia says at the notion of recoil, how in the hell did this work, how often did she need to bounce it around? She didn’t have time, every single second, or nanosecond was closer to death of someone in here, letting it bounce a few times, she then unleashes the blast from the sword tip, at what seemed to be the last sentinel, opening fire on Adrian as it currently stood, Sara and Eve had been rather busy as well, so there was but one priority target.

A mix of pink and red energy radiated from off of Dani as Nadia unleashed the strike, and everything went to hell, with the “blade” exploding around them, a good chunk at least slammed into the golem, causing significant damage to it, if not outright destroying them, but Nadia kept her hold on the blade as the backblast sent her off the side of the platform, even in her empowered state. “Razvaluha! Sooksin!”

“I fucking told you!” Dani remarked as she was pulled with Nadia. She was used to adjusting to her brother’s wavelength in this manner, but utilizing Nadia’s in this was new ground. “Are you okay?!”

Getting back to her feet, Nadia snorts a bit dismissively as she peered down at the sword blade. “Da, I’m fine, though I think I’m going to dial us back a bit, that used up a bit of energy and those fuckers are yet to come in force.”

Ducking into the shared soul space she shrugs.

‘That hurt a little bit, but I can't have them worrying about us, we did the job, but I think we need to back out of Resonance for now. Hopefully we won’t need to do that again, but it is clear much training will be needed. I think the DWMA’s reputation is shot, but we need to somewhat keep these fuckers calm.’

It was telling of the trust that she held in Dani to even admit that.

’...I need more experience adjusting to your wavelength. Complex resonance is more on the weapon than the meister. So yeah, we shouldn’t unless we need range…’ Dani agreed somewhat meekly. ’Don’t push yourself.’

‘Heh, I can still go for a bit longer. Besides, I’m the one that brought these people here.. We need to get away from them once we know it is safe, or safe enough, we are wasting time here, but we cannot take on whatever, or whoever is doing this alone. This is too well done, there is a traitor or worse.’

’Big if for the group of delinquents to stop whatever the fuck nuked Death City,’ Dani replied solemnly. ’Is there even anywhere safe right now?’

’Was it ever safe? Hahaha. Still, it is odd we’ve not been in contact with the Mentors. Enough of this for now, our focus is survival, then to claw back some of our comforts.’

"We need to push them back and maybe out of here!" Nadia declares, it might be safer to stay in the station, for them, but if more of the gunners showed, those civilians were going to get massacred, and eventually them too, once overlapping fields of fire could be laid on this. "Least one of you is a gunner and can make use of all this shit."

Sir Les Paul EmperorsChosen Merciless Medic Mook-LandStrider Peckinou The Regal Rper Serei2477

 

[The Regal Rper]

Az | Death City - Vegas | Desert

The attack struck, knocked off by the erected coil Dane had thrown. In that instant Reiko's message was received. Switching to Chime of Harmony would provide some benefit especially since he could detect signs of Dane's sense of jealousy flaring.

We'll push back against his madness then. I can sense it flaring. We'll use it against him. Francis' wavelength will come in handy with what I have in mind.

Though outwardly, the animosity he was radiating towards Dane had not changed much if only dulled as his feint was knocked away.

He felt the beat of Francis' drum dull for a simple moment as he split his wavelength with Reiko, but it wasn't something that bothered him in the slightest. Hearing Reiko confirm how she planned on making use of it Az merely prepared himself to switch from Demon Slaying Blade to Chime of Harmony. With the spear knocked askew by the makeshift shield Dane had created to defend himself, the meister shifted himself backwards and with a shift of movement once again created distance between himself and Dane. With that coil up he couldn't exactly go charging in to attack anymore- even with his advanced amplification now bolstered by the Chain Resonance, pain was still pain-- Madness though self-harming, had its own advantages, and his body could only handle so much of the electrical attacks before it started naturally caving to the strain he would put it through. Even with that one deadly shock, his right arm and part of his body tingled with a sense of numbness that flared with every movement of dull pain as a reminder that had he not been amplifying his nerves to limit the effect it would have on his muscle fibers, he probably would've felt it much worse than the dose he had received.

There was another factor he had to keep in mind also. Shifting between techniques like this would tire him out if he was not careful. Discord took both of them to maintain it- Reiko creating the effect and his wavelength empowering the saw-- going from Blade to Chime of Harmony would provide Dane a second of opportunity-- and with his reflexes and speed, if he wasn't too caught up on his own defense now it was possible he could try for something.

Reiko's enlarged spiritual blade shrank back to its normal size as Az made the switch to Chime of Harmony. The sound started faint even as Demon Blade ended- but the bonus of Francis' delayed wavelength kicking in was that even as they swapped, the sound grew rapidly before the blade had even fully returned to its normal size. Az himself wasn't too far from Dane- he stood several feet now not far from where the coil had knocked away his attack, but it was the sound chiming out loud that Dane should have been more concerned about. It hammered in his head, pounding like a fist on a metal door. Trying to get through that steel trap of Madness he was locked into. And making use of Francis' Delayed wavelength's property, the sound shifted between loud and soft- each time it grew loud, it became just a bit stronger.

Mentions: n/a

Interactions: Sir Les Paul Merciless Medic EmperorsChosen

 

[Peckinou]

Arkayis Misonuka

Sir Les Paul Merciless Medic EmperorsChosen RedArmyShogun Mook-LandStrider

Since transferring over from Spirit Park to the Fire District, Arkayis was left in a Somber mood, probably because of how tiring this entire fiasco was, Arkayisis first action upon arriving at the Fire District was to get a drink and rest near a wall. With the group now being able to relax for a bit, Arkayis did nothing except sit on the ground upright with their eyes closed as if going to sleep. But Arkayis wasn't asleep, their ears were still on alert and they couldn't help but do a scan of the area every few minutes. He was a bit paranoid, not trusting himself to let his guard down completely, he was unsure of what was making him paranoid, perhaps because he was in an unsafe area, the golems, or maybe even their fellow Fate members. It was hard to say for sure, but he made sure to keep mostly to himself as he occasionally made glances at the other people in the area.

Though things have been a bit calm, since they took refuge in the fire district, the sudden shift with the Golems quickly made Arkayis look towards them in confusion. The Golem that was giving them information on what was going on no longer seemed to be doing so, instead, it seemed to have turned more hostile toward them. Arkayis kept calm though, getting up and trying to swiftly make their way towards Gauss, that was until Gauss gave them the command to transform immediately. Arkayis didn't question the order at all, as they quickly transformed into the weapon form, despite the fact they were still a bit of distance away from Gauss. They figured Gauss would just utilize his Magnetic Wavelength to get bring them to him. Though Arkayis was a bit concerned it didn't stop him from making a snide comment in an annoyed voice, "Should of just let coffin boy, destroy as many of the golems as he wanted."

Scanning the situation Arkayis knew that these Golems were going to be tougher and more deadly than the dolls were, and the better-equipped golems would be a headache to deal with. Though he was sure Gauss had a plan and was going to probably share it or just commence it. Either way it didn't matter, Arkayis was going to fully support it, any Command Gauss planned to give him, he would do without hesitation, especially since recalling the last time he hesitated. He didn't want to go through a event like that again, and was willing to do what it took to make sure that happened "Just give the Command Gauss." A comment made more so to themselves than Gauss.

 

[Merciless Medic]

Fia Moretti​

April 1, 2067
Location: Nevada Desert
Interactions: Starwulf, Dane, Az, Reiko
Mentions: N/A
Sir Les Paul RedArmyShogun The Regal Rper EmperorsChosen

Push his buttons? Alrighty, if he said so.

Whatever delay Az and Reiko would feel from Starwulf's wavelength was mitigated by Fia, and amplifying whatever energy they were giving to Reiko and Az so they could further amplify it again if they so wished. She could feel the anger radiating from Dane as he realized how connected they were and she smirked. She spoke to Starwulf in their soul space, whatever message she was sending to him also being heard by the other pair.

'If we throw up sand, he won't be able to intercept our flank so easily. I know that's not your way of doing things, but it doesn't seem like we'll get an opening anytime soon if he's so much on the defensive, anti-demon wavelength or no.' She then spoke to Reiko. 'Yes, sounds solid.'

Now feeling like her reserves were topped up and getting used to the new energy flow being brought back, she gave an affirmation to Starwulf. 'Whenever you're ready, I am.' This time, she sounded surer, as she watched Az switch up and use a very loud Anti-Demon Wavelength technique.

 

[The Regal Rper]

Ark | DWMA | Dall Island | Rings: 0/3

Surfing along a lake of lava as they returned to shoreline was...peaceful. Ark, by extension, relaxed- his stiff shoulders, tensed muscles, calming. With the targets of his stress gone and his desire to eliminate them quenched, the effect of his indifference of the Pull, faded.

He let out a long exhale, the danger finally passed and glanced at all the others. The good news was he hadn't acted rashly and no one was hurt. Though from the glance alone and a simple look at Rand, his peers were drained. More so than he felt if the fact he didn't feel sore from the level of mana needed to paint a field in lava was anything to speak of.

Hearing they had caused a high tier five spell however, did make Ark grin. It was impressive, truly. The idea his lava magic could create such destruction was certainly something he could not deny, appealed to a part of him. Especially if he learned to make it possible for him to resist that level of heat. Thoughts going down that line however, faded away at Raph's question.

He looked down at where he lay prone and smiled. "Yeah..." he nodded, looking back towards where lava still ate away at part of the land, albeit slower.

If Magic Circles could do something like this, with Rand's guidance and level of skill, it was a good thing few Witches could possess or attain a Mabaian Eye and use it to its full effect. Even more so that there were fewer magic users with Eibon's level of knowledge.

He was impressed, but his thoughts, they strayed back to the others as Maria gave her own reply, prompting him to look in Chant's direction.

He frowned. The effects of the zone really had taken a bit out of her. Even if she was going back to normal from what he could sense, she didn't look 100%. Ark, basically the only one still standing at this point excluding Maria's dolls cracked his neck and sighed.

"So, I guess I'm carrying everyone back?"

If he did it would be a somewhat bumpy ride. Though he didn't feel sore or drained, he did feel like he'd just come from running and needed a brief pause. Not exhausted, but definitely feeling something akin to a good workout like a burn that felt right. If carrying the others was something he needed to do, extending his magic wouldn't be hard. He could easily just shift the stone and sending them surfing along the ground. Depending on what the others wanted of course.

Mentions: n/a

Interactions:: Merciless Medic Sir Les Paul RedArmyShogun Meredith

 

[Sir Les Paul]

The B Team​

Tags: The Regal Rper Merciless Medic Peckinou RedArmyShogun EmperorsChosen Serei2477 Meredith Mook-LandStrider

April 1st, 2067​

While there were many lost, there were far more saved. The chaos inside the Firehouse was quelled only minutes after it even started. The quick thinking and deft actions of the agents inside were successful in minimizing the damage that the rogue sentries could have done. Both in killing civilians or unwitting agents, or simply to the infrastructure around the area. The souls of the lost that were protected were not tethered to this world and with the massacre halted, they were able to dissipate, moving on to the afterlife one-by-one. The attention Eva allotted them and Sara followed-through with assured that even those they could not save would not be damned even further.

With the sentries destroyed, the only remaining threat in the form of the golems soon too were eliminated. However, this was not accomplished by the Agents alone. Instead, the golems shut down entirely. They need not be destroyed or disarmed. Their glow faded. Their automation ceased, becoming lifeless hunks of metal and stonework. They may not have been a true danger to the agents inside, but the dozens of them that were there all dropped in one fell swoop. Whatever malfunction had occurred with them, it was entirely stopped in its tracks.

---

Shut Down Sequence...
▓ ▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌▌Complete▐▐▐▐▐▐▐▐▐ ▓​

"I've had right about enough of this nonsense," Davis exclaimed. Outside of the Firehouse while the Agents were taking care of the Sentries, soon after arrived a whole motley crew that were met by the Professor. Once his defense system was deployed, it was hacked. Cut off from the control system and given rudimentary commands to simply attack anything organic on site. Truly, it was not the golems that had malfunctioned, but the computers behind them. A forced shut down of the system thus required him and his assistants to arrive in person to force the shut down protocol.

While tedious and still costly in terms of the civilians, it wasn't difficult. At least, not at first. Davis soon found resistance in the form of various magical insects throughout the city. The dolls apparently didn't serve as enough fodder. He hadn't the time to reprogram the golems, so he had a new plan. Approach each group of agents he could find to save them, if needed, and ideally recruit them to take down the Witches that seemed to be behind the insect swarm.

The man stepped out of the heavily-plated vehicle he arrived in. The command sequence had already been sent out, so the golems should be disabled in mere moments. This was the third stop along his way through the City and now he was being targeted. It wasn't really a secret who was behind the attacks, either. The insects were highly specific. Swarming bees that absorbed the white goop left behind from the dolls to create massive, bee-shaped golems; waves of bullet ants that were inflicting pain and herding civilians away from areas; then waves of termites wreaking havoc by literally consuming the wood and infrastructure, leaving desolation in their wake.

That specific set of insects being summoned en masse pretty clearly spelled it out. It was the Gyne Coven. A group of Rogue Witches the Spellbreakers have been following for some time. Each defects from more powerful families that used the same magic and together capable of devastating collaboration magic. The group hadn't ever been seen in North America, making it quite the surprise even if it was clear. They were a problem for the South American Branch until now.

A wave of brown surrounded Davis as he exited his car. Stretching out his right arm, he released a blast of flames that set the ground afire and incinerated several of the insects. Then and only then did the first of the Witches show herself, flying in the air atop a broom and screeching out as she saw her termites burn.

"Well I've had enough of you burning my babies," she shouted back, clearly trying to mock the Professor. With that, she brought her hands together, forming a ball of orange glowing light inside of it, then launching said ball at Davis. "Termite Tunneller!" she casted, in doing so creating two floating circles that shattered like glass once the orange orb passed through them. In doing so, it shifted into the mandibles of a termite the size of a beach ball, now flying at Davis with incredible speed.

Davis simply lowered his goggles as the projectile flew at him. He analyzed it, both with his Soul Perception and the HUD inside his goggles. He wasn't impressed. He lifted his right arm and simply caught the termite head as it approached. The impact blew back his overcoat and even tore into the glove he had over his hand, revealing all of the metallic parts that comprised his right arm. Normally, even a Three Star Agent might have needed to deflect this, unless they had some type of resistance. But Davis? He was a machine.

"You know, dropping your trash on the ground is littering," he said, holding the giant insect head nonchalantly. He pulled a cannister from his belt and dropped it into the mouth of the termite head, then reeled back his arm to throw it back at the Witch. It was far from the same speed, but it was still headed right at her. "How about you take this back and put it in the rubbish bin where it belongs?" he suggested, still calmly slinging insults at her while literally throwing her own magic back in her direction.

The witch herself was dumbfounded by what she saw. They had encountered many Meisters, but shy of a handful in the world, none should be able to just catch that insect head. It's mandibles ripped through steel like paper. The impact force from it alone was comparable to a dozen or more cannon balls.

She couldn't have possibly known that was Davis, nor about the strength of his arm.

In that time, another Witch revealed herself, only now to rip the first Termite Witch from her location and drag her away. In her stupor and knowing her own magic wouldn't bite her, she hadn't considered it to be a threat. But, it was. Following the head reaching where she might have been, it exploded into a ball of fire and intense heat. An explosion that would have at least maimed her, if not killed her. That cannister Davis dropped in its mouth wasn't for nothing.

Those two began to bicker back and forth regarding paying attention and being stupid. In the mean time, the third Witch revealed herself. She sported longer hair and more stripes within her clothing, though otherwise looked quite similar to the others. It seemed they intentionally dressed alike, but truly they were not related. Not if his hunch was correct.

"You certainly aren't Herakles or Stein or Starwulf... no Ice Blood, either..." she mused, offering a quick almost flirty giggle with her comment. "Praytell, Mr. Strongman, who in Death City aside from Kidd himself can catch magic like that?" she asked, her tone almost complimenting his efforts. It sounded like she wanted to take him out for a drink more than merely ask him his name.

"I'm not keen on exchanging pleasantries with a bunch of B-rate Witches," Davis responded, scoffing at her efforts. He clearly was not amused. While the Witches were trying bickering with each other and this one interrogating him, he pulled out his phone, acting as if to ignore her completely. Seduction and sweet words were often the tools of these Witches, and that one in particular seemed to be trying more than just wordplay. He could smell it. He couldn't analyze it, but something was in the air. A pheromone, he speculated. Little did that Witch know nothing about her could replace his Laura. Nothing could. Regardless, he took that moment to send a message requesting back-up from all nearby Agents, specifically sending it via an encrypted air drop as opposed to their internal network. He was quite certain they had compromised that as well.

The Witch stared at him. She waited, even. Perhaps her magic hadn't had time to work. But, there he was, just playing on his phone. How could he resist her? How could he block the jaws of that termite? Why didn't she know his name--he wasn't same famous front line Meister. Slowly but surely, she became furious. A woman scorned, anger boiled up inside of her and her magic began to radiate out of her. The white golem bees she had created using the remains of the dolls began flying back to her, each the size of a small car, and zipping through the air effortlessly. Her black hair began to shift, its color fading until stripes of blond appeared through it. She was furious.

"How dare you call me B-rate... I am Pinia, the Bee Witc--" she said, starting to monologue. Davis was quick to stop her. He didn't really care.

"If you were part of the A-Team, you'd be up the stairs," he told her, quite matter-of-factly. His dull eyes looked up to her with a frustration. Not only out of the anger they all felt about the destruction to Death City, but about the audacity to try and utilize chemical seduction. She had no idea how much that would trigger him, but it did. Davis did not take kindly to the effort. It was low and it was pathetic. More so, it was an insult to the beloved memory of Laura. Her magic was nothing in the face of the love he had. Then and now.

Pinia was equally frustrated, and now more manic. She shot daggers over to the others, and they quickly fell in line. It was fairly clear that of the three, she likely was the ringleader. And, her fragile little ego was shattered by his deft words. To be written off so quickly, insulted like that. The air soon swarmed with well over a dozen of the alabaster bees. The termites nor ants could immediately breach his ring of flames, but they didn't need to. Each began tunneling with the goal of simply going under it. The ant witch flew down to the ground and began summoning even more of her army, this time several huge ants the size of small vans with massive mandibles and large protrusions from their abdomens similar to stingers. The termite which only enhanced these ants that much further, summoning waves of green termites that crawled over them, spitting on layers of some type of cement that soon hardened into rigid, uneven armor.

The battle would soon ensue.

---

The battle inside the Firehouse was over, but the commotion outside was only beginning. An unfamiliar soul sparked to life outside and soon enough not one, or two, but three powerful Witch Souls floated in the air, flowing to life with magic that seemed to dance together. There was no immediate indication of why the golems had shut down or even if it was for good, but it was evident to those paying attention that the golems would soon become the least of their worries.

Adrian had reverted back to his human form once the sentries were taken care of. It was regrettable that he couldn't do more. Between the pain and his current state of mind, he wasn't precisely fighting at maximum efficiency. With the sentries down, he ran up to Nadia and Dani. He took noticed the new signatures, but his Perception at that range wasn't terribly clear. He remained silent, for the moment, just going with the flow.

Gauss now had Arkysis and Noah in his hands. There was no need for the magnetic field, so he shut it down. The new soul signatures flying in the air drew his immediate attention. Witches. He had fought them plenty. He wasn't keen on them. And, each of these three seemed pretty powerful. Two of them reading off like the ones they fought in the tournament, but one of them felt much closer to Iris in its intensity. That was bad. Even worse, there was someone outside alone with them.

Not long after, the sound of the explosion from Davis' cannister shot through the air and the magic itself picked up dramatically. To someone like Sara, the air itself was flooded with it, drowning out other more finite smells. Not long after, she would be hyper-aware of the pheromones within the air. They were... strong. Strong enough to be concerned about Gauss, Noah, and Arkysis even if two of them were in weapon form. Sage might also be a consideration, if she remembered him. More so was Adrian. They held no risk to the women in the group, or at least a dramatically lesser one, but to the men? Sara might be anticipating a problem.

Annika would also be familiar with this type of magic. It was undoubtedly similar to that which her mother used, even down to the feel. Comparably, these Witches felt like distant cousins at an unwanted family reunion.

Soon enough, they all received an emergency message on their phones blaring like a siren in a hurricane.

04/01/67 1708
DAVIS: NORTH SIDE OF FIRE STATION. NEED BACK-UP ASAP. 3 KNOWN CRIMINALS, ALL WITCHES

That certainly explained, or at least confirmed, a lot of things. And, their group was slowly but surely looking worse for wear. It was evident when peering over them with Soul Perception that their spiritual reserves--while hardly depleted--were at least down by a good chunk. And now, an upcoming battle with some Witches. He had fought Witches on missions in the passed, and it could be quite dangerous. This wasn't the tournament anymore, either. These things couldn't be taken lightly. This might not be a fight he could sit back, assess, and support. Not if they were anything like what he encountered in the past.

His golden eyes darted over to Nadia and he gave her a quick stare. "Witches. Magic. Your thing. Take the lead, Ice Queen," he told her, though really less of an instruction and more a veiled admittance that this might be more up her alley than his. Beside that point, it was logical to allocate authority into one person given the situation. If he--the most outspoken against her methods historically--demonstrated support for her, he imagined it might cause the others to follow suit. In times of war, it was easiest to hear just one voice barking orders instead of deciphering a dozen to figure out what was best.

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Hoshi Homeland
Part II

• II

• 
  
  
  It was like being sucker punched by someone out of nowhere-- no, it was worse than that- something else entirely. Whatever Adra’s mind could attribute the effect of Zosar releasing his suppressor and no longer giving his full attention to how much she could handle or how much of his output he should feed to her, the effect of his release was not gradual or slow- it was instantaneous.
  
  Midori and the Elder detected it instantly in the span of a single second or less.
  
  Adra would have felt it nanoseconds by realistic standards though long enough to just barely prepare in her space.
  
  The shift, was automatic- from what had felt like one soul to what felt like almost double that or however best the feeling could be measured- the wavelength that picked Adra up, was a massive wave of water, not some meager wave jostling her board or shaky rapid tides, but the type of wave surfer lingo would call the Big Kahuna-- a behemoth that nearly blocked out the sky, it carried her to an incredible height, simulating the sensation of the high of what it felt like to have a dose of his wavelength unrestrained--
  
  --then it came crashing down atop her-- its shadow, its weight, its impending sense of doom, and this sense of callous indifference all moved down in the form of water, completely swallowing her with shadow alone as she rode the wave in a rapid attempt to safety through the steady but quickly closing tunnel that Zosar unconsciously kept open through years of discipline and training.
  
  FUCK SHIT… SHIT…. SHIT!
  
  It was too much at once as Adrasteia wrestled for balance already. Zosar would feel that it brought her down to her knees as she felt her body receive a pressure she had not handled before. Her soul form wheezed, eyes bulging slightly as she grit her teeth hard. She felt like she was being crushed, drowned in the weight. There was no amount of warning that could have been enough, her knees buried into the nonexistent ground to pit the very strength of her soul against the weight of the wavelength slamming her down. She almost collapsed, but she kept a hold as she could hear… waves… something like hearing a noise from across one’s home. It was something even her strained mind and soul perceived, though it was faint. Yet… it gave Adrasteia strength. It felt like something, something she could use. She growled under her breath, legs slowly pushing up as she began to push against the pressure, wrangling the manifestation of Zosar’s surge of power. It was stable… for as long as Adra could maintain focus.
  
  While she took the load, Zosar took the bottled up bloodlust and anger he’d kept locked down inside- and released some of it.
  
  Something rolled in the wave’s shadow as Adra zipped for freedom and thunder echoed, but for the observers it was as if a bomb had gone off, releasing wind, heat, and radiation into the atmosphere.
  
  Yet even as his anger exploded outwards for a brief second, it focused in the same instant Zosar took off towards Midori.
  
  That’s more like it. Zosar spent so long learning to control his wavelength in small increments that never truly learned how much of it he could use. It meant his strength only came in small spikes. But now, that raw power was an entire wave and Adra was like the moon, guiding its tidal force. This would actually be a challenge.
  
  Midori wasn’t honestly sure what was more impressive. The raw power of a volatile wavelength–especially given how little refined it truly was–or the fact Adra was managing to handle it. Midori knew both from resonance with himself and others that the difficulty of the technique directly correlated to the intensity and nature of the wavelength in question. In fact, even some elite agents could resonate with some weapons, but not others. Handling Zosar was no small feat.
  
  That wavelength was monstrous. Midori could see it radiate off the man with his perception. It wasn’t intense enough to be visible to the naked eye, but it was nothing less than a neon sign to even the most novice of spiritualist. It was an injustice to truly even call it a wavelength. It had no real dedicated frequency. It had no rhyme to it, no rhythm. It shot off in uneven spikes from every edge of Zosar, changing with every intermittent pulsation. Adra was the one managing to channel that. Without her, Zosar likely would have fallen to his own instability by this point.
  
  It was explosive. The moment Zosar shot off, that was. His speed was not refined like the Hoshi or even perfectly directed like Black Star style. It was wild and untamed, it coursed through his muscles and amplified each fiber far further than his base wavelength was before. Wild or not, the difference in speed meant Midori had to remain on guard.
  
  Zosar came in with what looked like a right hook, but stopped short of Midori before it landed to fling Adra forward, unleashing her three chain whips in front of him. Each lashed out in haphazard directions entirely unlike her normal movements, in no small part due to the chaotic wavelength coursing through them. It made reacting to them less of prediction and more about raw timing. With three of them combined, that was no simple task.
  
  Midori intended to intercept the chains with his blade arm, but Zosar was already on top of that reaction. The meister had poured his wavelength into his left hand with such fierce concentration that it was not merely his Soul Force, but that notorious Soul Strike ability that abused the higher intensity of his wavelength. He stopped playing with pure feints and instead opted for a two-pronged attack.
  
  Midori had to resort to entirely different measures. A quick shift of his weight to his right side and leaning into the strike Zosar was about to land in combination meant he would be hitting that Soul Strike head on. Even with his amplification, the force Zosar had behind him was going to have a solid impact. Midori diminished this slightly, but only by falling back with the force. Not only did he flow with it, he leaped into a mid-air flip for a rolling kick, which landed square on the shoulder of Zosar and pelted the Meister downward to the floor.
  
  Both were worse for wear regardless. Zosar only stumbled from the strike despite how much more mass and force were behind it due to the sheer intensity of the wavelength reinforcing him. Not that this helped his weapon partner, who was focusing this wavelength and nearly lost it once more. Midori still took the brunt of a strike that had that same wavelength intensity behind it regardless of its normal nature carrying less force.
  
  Zosar turned his stumble into a skid across the ground and Adra resumed control of her chains, avoiding Zosar getting tangled with them. Midori landed flat on the ground from the momentum of his flip, leaving both of them close to the ground for this next exchange.
  
  ”This is your best,” Midori announced to him. This time, not degrading him. It didn’t come across as a compliment, but he didn’t have time to explain the vast difference between the Meister just moments ago and now. A grin then crept along his face, realizing he could unleash more of his own potential with Zosar in this state. ”Let’s see how long you can maintain it,” he added.
  
  With that, the form of Midori on the ground had turned slightly transparent. Zosar knew this all too well; it was an after-image. It meant Midori was actually trying.
  
  Moments later, the Hoshi reappeared behind Zosar with his sword arm thrusting forward for a quick stab. Zosar now was fast enough to dodge that, which took a leap forward to get out of range. Just as the Meister drew back with Adra to retaliate, the form of Midori was back to its transparent stage. Another after image. Despite focusing on wavelength, Adrasteia began to scan the surroundings, her vision limited somewhat but the worry of now no longer having visuals. That was until her eyes spotted him right in front of them both.
  
  It became a back and forth dance of stabs, thrusts, and slashes from Midori–never once landing a hit. Zosar with Adra maintaining focus was able to keep up with this level of speed, if only as a reaction. It was strenuous. One poorly timed dodge or period where he wasn’t focused, and that blade would land. Just having the speed alone was not sufficient. Adra had to focus on maintaining his wavelength, so her typical tricks with her chains proved difficult to pull off in these brief windows. She was practically just a tougher whip at this point, no real fine control as she sunk down slightly in stature as she wrestled the balance into something hospitable if barely.
  
  The truth of the situation set in. Midori was wearing them down. His training lent to this type of stamina whereas Zosar could only go at this for so long, and the Meister knew that. Something had to break the cycle.
  
  Nearing twenty back and forth slashes and dodges, Zosar and Adra came up with an idea. Adra wrapped chains around Zosar’s hand and up his arm, encapsulating it like a steel casing. If she couldn’t use her prehensile nature to her advantage, then her indestructible status would have to do.
  
  And, it did. Zosar did not dodge the next incoming stab from Midori, instead deflecting it with his chain-wrapped hand. It was a blade on chain clash that allowed him to connect to Midori, meaning he could launch a counter attack. First a kick that Midori blocked with a raised thigh. Then a step into that same kick, getting in close to Midori and throwing his right arm as an elbow into his chest.
  
  He hit nothing as he intended to dodge with his raw speed, only to find he was tugged back by Adra with one of her chains wrapped around his blade. An idea she only came up with on the spot, not even informing Zosar until the Meister had seen it himself. This meant the two were tied together for the moment. And, with that window, Zosar didn’t let up, shifting his body over to try and pull Midori back in for another Soul Strike in the form of a straight jab.
  
  Zosar and Adra were adapting quickly to this new fighting style. Midori on the other hand was never meant for this type of brawl. He elected to remove himself from this confrontation. He leapt into the air for a somersault over Zosar, freeing himself by Adra by transforming his blade arm back into its normal state while his opposite hand returned to the bow-mouthed bolt launcher. To avoid Zosar pursuing him, he unleashed a volley mid-air over the Meister.
  
  It was a clean landing on the opposite side of him, but only to demonstrate another trait of Adra channeling his wavelength so effectively. The bolts that hit him even at this near-point blank range were more of a severe pelting of snowballs than stones whereas before they most definitely hurt. Midori didn’t need to feel this different as he saw it. His bolts were being dissipated by the rough edges of Zosar’s wavelength before they even reached the Meister, lessening their efficacy.
  
  Midori yet again had to do more. This is where the drawback of being an assassin came into play. He could go faster and even hit slightly harder, but his hits were generally intended to kill or maim. The Old Ways taught many ways to dispatch an opponent including non-lethally, but most opponents didn’t have a wavelength creating such a brutish barrier around them. Kicking it up a notch wouldn’t be sufficient.
  
  Midori had to kick it up two, dialing it up while refusing to use his blades. It wasn’t a style he was particularly fond of. Regardless, it was his only option aside from releasing the full breadth of his ability.
  
  Zosar didn’t need to have this level of intense thought. He knew his position, and attacking until he couldn’t was essentially his only option. In their last exchange, Adra caught Midori off-guard and created an opening. His best bet was to continue the assault and try that again. It was another mad dash of his enhanced speed to move forward, but this time without the intent to use Adra to create a distanced gap.
  
  Alas, it wouldn’t matter.
  
  Midori matched his speed and then some, creating a series of after-images as if chain linked together in the distance between them. The fourth and final one had already reached Zosar before the Meister could even span a single body length. Then, from the third after-image the true Midori lept out, landing a jab straight to the unguarded face of Zosar.
  
  Midori then reset the stage by leaping a fair distance away, and went on the offense again. Again, four more after images at a speed Zosar had no answer for, except this time he leapt out of the second. Even if Zosar wanted to, his ocular perception had no immediate ability to discern where Midori would strike from if he wasn’t consistently using the same image.
  
  Two punches became four. Four became six. Midori was certainly expending a lot of his energy doing this, but Zosar was being whittled down hit by hit until his head slowly became fuzzy. Even with all of his raw amplification, enough strikes to his cranium would put his consciousness into question.
  
  Not that Midori was doing much better with his bloodied knuckles from the strikes, but by the seventh and eight respective strike, he had done enough. Zosar began to falter with the wavelength he was exuding and Adra in her absolute frustration finally lost focus on the already-fading wavelength she was channeling. Like an old car engine, these unrelenting strikes caused that raw spike in volatile power to sputter out until the duo returned to their normal state.
  
  It was cheap. It was almost unfair, even. The disparity that still existed in their speed and technique even when the two leapt ahead leaps and bounds in terms of raw power. Hell, even demonstrating that power being able to nearly negate the base blasts from Midori. In reality, though, what did they expect from a family of assassins?
  
  ”I think we found your limit, Zose,” Midori told him, taking a stance a fair distance away and running his left hand over his right, rubbing the torn skin on the knuckles from where he was just landing blows on Zosar. They were sore. It hurt. He wasn’t accustomed to just punching something to begin with, let alone something that might as well have been a brick wall.
  
  Falling to a knee, Zosar shook his head as he blinked. Doubles and triples- things were slightly out of focus but slowly coming back together. He, however, chuckled. “Heh, yeah, note to self, Amplification doesn’t stop you from being a whack-a-mole” he chuckled in spite of the scenario. Meanwhile the whip just grumbled, irritated and likely weighing a bit heavier now due to the break in their synchronous wavelengths. That and she was not happy with losing, so she stayed silent as she transformed back in a small bright flash. She was a little roughed up with a red cheek and disheveled clothing, but ultimately not injured more than what will likely be bruises and abrasions.
  
  Elder Souta was not particularly impressed. The power level Zosar demonstrated did not justify his lack of refinement. Adra clearly hadn’t pushed her limits nearly hard enough. Given she was able to handle that sudden surge of power, she must have had much more potential even before it was trained. Midori demonstrated nothing he hadn’t seen before, aside from the tactics he used to goad out a more intense fight.
  
  The problems here were numerous. To him, it seemed the Meister lacked a certain dedication. Not necessarily ambition, but more so electing to focus on a select set of skills and sacrifice others for the sake of honing them. A jack of all trades wasn’t precisely a Japanese idiom, but it was perfectly applicable here. Zosar more so than most Meisters needed some level of specialization to bring out his inner potential.
  
  Zosar already had some of these skills. He was clearly trained with suppression and control. Souta could see it in how he restricted his initial flow. He could see the effortful actions with those keen eyes of his. The problem he saw was that those skills were so underdeveloped that they were still at a stage that they acted primarily like a restriction more than a gateway for him to utilize the entirety of his wavelength.
  
  Adra wouldn’t even begin to unravel her potential until her partner was able to meet her demands. That type of stagnation was hardly acceptable and the solution to it wasn’t in her hands. Souta speculated she was heavily unsatisfied with how things were as it was, and such only made sense.
  
  Power was often more a curse than a blessing. Zosar was a prime example.
  
  ”We have not years, so we have not the time to send you back to the academy as a pride of the Hoshi,” Souta said aloud, voicing his opinion of the matter. ”Your demonstration was sufficient,” he explained, ”and, you have two paths you may choose to walk if you wish to train here.” He went on, stepping forward and letting his narrow, pointed eyes stare down at Zosar.
  
  ”Your wavelength is untamed. It is obvious. Your control over it is novice at best and detrimental at worst. Your attempts to tame it starve your power until it is so gaunt that your weapon starves for more,” he told Zosar, explaining the dynamic that he saw from what had just occurred in front of him. His eyes quickly darted over to Adra like flies buzzing through the air, then back to Zosar. ”No weapon should require being convinced to hurt someone. They should know it is best done in the hands of an expert–of which you are not,” he added, only again painting the scenario as he saw it.
  
  ”Your wavelength can be restrained forcibly. When done, you shall have the potential of any man, but none of your current boons. You could elect to fight any way you wish, so long as the restraints hold,” Souta told him, though this method truly was the inferior option. It was, however, the easier option. And, he expected those of the outside world to always take the path of least resistance.
  
  ”The second is to dedicate more time here and to your training. We can train you as we would a true brother of the Hoshi. You will be and only be an assassin, but you will learn control and suppression those philistine idiots in those diluted imitations of dojos could ever provide,” he explained, offering the option to train Zosar as if he were a young Hoshi. All the rigorous and unforgiving brutality that came with their Clan.
  
  This was what he had always wanted. To attain a level of control that did not always feel like he was erecting walls to staunch the flow of his wavelength.
  
  The answer was obvious.
  
  “I’d rather take the second and be trained than remain as I am now with forceful restriction.”
  
  Besides, if he could fully exercise his control, he’d be a force to be reckoned with. And with Adra, they would be an incredible duo, if his capabilities with his own past partners were any example. He could only imagine how good they’d be if he fine tuned his control even further.
  
  
  
  
  Interaction: Elder Souta & Midori
  
  Participants: @Sybil Sir Les Paul
  
  

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Dall Island, Day II​

Tags: RedArmyShogun Merciless Medic The Regal Rper Meredith

March 28th, 2067 -> March 29th, 2067​

Exhaustion set in. Even Ark, the first in the chain and subsequently the least drained, was absolutely drained by the time the group had returned to the shoreline. None were more drained than Chanterelle, but that was an entirely different type of tired. Raphael, likely tied alongside Rand for the most literally drained, would have been little more than a walking zombie. Despite how truly disgruntled she was, this type of absolute exhaustion was enough to keep even Maria from at least immediately voicing her frustration. Ark might have had the most remaining endurance, but the margin at this point was honestly quite slim. He and Rand were the only ones even casting magic once the lava field was created.

Ark also had another disadvantage. While resting, there always needed to at least be on guard for any attacks. While true that there weren't any through the night, on a mission, this was still a necessity. The group would need to sleep in shifts. Ark would spend the first two hours away, followed by Rand, then Maria, then Raph. The disjointed sleep would most definitely interfere with their recuperation, but this was the reality of being an agent in the field. Chant was in no state to be awake even if she wanted to.

At the very least, sleep was comfortable. It was easy--if one could forget about the potential dangers that loomed outside. The fresh ocean air, the copious ambient magic along the coastline, the cooler air that provided respite from the hot, humid day. Aside from the arachnid threat that loomed outside, it wasn't far off a tropical, beachside retreat. Other than the fact it was essentially with coworkers, of course.

Just as day had turned to night, night turned to day.

The unspoken topic for the morning that Rand had been concerned over was the lack of significant recovery in Chanterelle. He had even used his eye to analyze her mana down to finite traces that flowed through any Witch and of course saw its now weakened presence in her blood. There was an academic interest here, of course. It seemed she had a type of hormone not unlike insulin that allowed her potent form of mana to permeate various cells in her bodies, nourishing them and giving them their magical properties. Rand couldn't really discern more without actual equipment, but it seemed that physiological trait was the basis for most of her actual anatomical anomalies. More importantly, it seemed that with the amount she needed to heal and the reliance her cells had on mana, her soul couldn't keep up with the demand. She just couldn't create enough mana to get herself stable.

And that... that was a problem. Not only because it put the mission at jeopardy, but because it would be days before they could get her any type of treatment. Had Rand been a more powerful Witch that could supply her with his own mana--or even that of his eye--fixing this might have been trivial. Such abilities were still far above his skill level. Only a few witches per generation had the innate ability to transform the personal mana of another into their own; fewer still learned how to master it.

What they needed was to get to the Ley Line. The font of overflowing mana that was entirely wild and pure. Honestly, all of them could use a touch of that. The problem that existed was the massive dead zone between them and the ley line. If it did that to Chanterelle in just a few minutes, it likely would do the same to any of them even quicker if they remained in it long enough. How these spiders managed to create such a field near a ley line was mind-boggling. The only other known type of anomaly this severe was at the South Pole, and that was a natural function of the Earth itself.

His mind wanted to figure out the cause for all of these mysteries, but he had to remain focused. They still had a mission and Chant still needed some type of treatment. Besides that, this was Dall Island. This time again in a few years and the entire landscape would be different. Learning why it was in this particular configuration was like trying to solve a fifty-sided Rubik's cube; as pointless as it was time-consuming.

For the majority of the morning, Rand was assessing Chanterelle. She wasn't entirely unconscious, but she wasn't consistently conscious, either. She seemed to do best in the presence of others, likely just because they were a concentrated mana source. In that time, Rand had convinced Raphael to cook--strictly by the instructions--their premade meals. Ark set the fires and collected the wood and water. Maria... Maria seemed best left to her own accord. Trying to repair what she could of her dolls and mourning their loss, it seemed. He wasn't sure if she could make more--or at least make them in a timely fashion--with the limited few hours they had.

Rand finally shot out a message to the group, informing them it was time to gather up not only for breakfast, but for their next plan of action. That, and he wanted to give them a chance to discuss the events in an open forum. A lot had happened. An arachnid war that nearly got them all killed alongside one of the most powerful feats of magic most of them had ever seen. He wanted them to all have a chance to discuss and bounce ideas off of each other. Also, to air and grievances they might have had.

Mostly, though, he wanted to prepare them for his plan. It was undoubtedly a little unorthodox and might require yet again learning more spells, but it was the only way he saw to circumvent the dead zone. It was something he had only pieced together over the last few hours. Something he only recalled from memory.

The dead zone stretched on for as far as the eye could see, but it only went up so high into the sky.