Fandom Soul Eater: F.A.T.E

[Sir Les Paul]

Midori☆Hoshi​

"Dark Star"​

Species Death Golem
Partner Various / Autonomous Weapon
Rank Two-Star

Location Japan, Hoshi Homeland
Mission A Touch of Culture
Status Relieved, refocusing

​

Tags: Sybil The Regal Rper

While a wave of relief washed over Midori as Elder Souta showed at least some acceptance to Zosar, Midori was also absolutely certain of one thing: the man had no idea what he was in for. Proper training in the Old Ways started nearly as soon as a child could walk. In truth, catching up was virtually impossible. It wasn't just about skill, either. This was about conditioning. His body and soul had to be ready to undergo the training. Zosar couldn't just leap into it and expect it to be fine. He could only imagine Zosar was going to regret his choice long before seeing the fruits of his labour.

Elder Souta began barking some instructions at Midori, all in Japanese and none in a tone that made them sound pleasant, regardless of the language barrier. His instructions were quick, as evidenced by the fact Midori bowed and turned away from him within mere seconds of their conversation starting. With that, Midori walked up beside Zosar and Adra and whispered, "Bow, too," before continuing to walk on. A few paces later, he announced, "Follow me," as if they weren't separate instructions.

Once the two had began to follow him, Midori began to explain precisely what they were doing. "You'll be chopping trees," Midori told them. It was simple. It was flat. Technically, it was even honest. It did not, however, shed any light as to how that tied into Hoshi training.

"Not just any trees, though. Sukaiebonī, native only to these mountains. The bark of the tree alone is hard as iron and it's core doesn't get any softer, really. More importantly, it absorbs spiritual energy. Typically, it absorbs the energy that radiates from the sun and moon and purifies it, but it's not picky. The path you walked up used to be called the shi no kiseki--the trail of death. Thousands of years ago, one would die before they got through it. Souls sucked right out of them. My ancestors cleared the very specific path I took you through, so if you get lost, you'll probably die before you reach the stairway," he went on explaining, leading them now through the rest of the town as the sun rose and the cobbled path continued on.

The deeper they walked into the village, the more they saw just how truly traditional it was. Sure, there were satellites and TV's. Even the occasional cell phone and a handheld gaming console. But, their garb and the architecture was ancient. The people were polite. Kind. Quiet, but not standoffish. There was a livelihood to the village and a lot of different chores and tasks being done at any given time. It was a well-oiled machine, reflected of what the Hoshi truly were.

"Your goal is to cut down five in one day and bring them back to the lumber yard for processing. Problem is, if you try to cut it down using amplification, you'll be drained before you even get through one. You can use suppression to avoid having yourself drained, but then you'll never get through five," Midori explained to them both, looking back over his shoulder to make sure they were keeping up. "I think you see the problem. It'll probably take you a few days... or weeks... to get to five... but you do it by balancing amplification and suppression--the trademark Hoshi skill. I gave you a leg up by explaining it, but that won't make it any easier," he told them.

"Apparently, Adra is to do this today as well--but only so that she understands firsthand what Zosar is doing. After that, you'll come train with me... Elder Souta didn't quite inform me what we'll be doing," he tacked on, giving an update as to the fate of Adra as well.

With that, it actually wasn't a terribly long walk to the grove of trees. Unfortunately, though, they did have to walk through plenty of young, thin trees that would have been so much easier to walk through. It was almost tantalizing. Not only that, reality sunk in as they walked through that without Wavelength Suppression, even these young trees actively drained their Wavelengths. Hundreds of feet through the grove were the larger ebony trees. Their bark black as coal, the trees thirty to forty feet high, all well over a foot thick, and most of them perfectly straight with little to no small limbs. They created a type of layered canopy with their few limbs shooting out their star-leafed pattern at different heights.

The three arrived and Midori stretched out his arms before announcing, "You got the axes, your pick. I'll be around to drag Adra back when she passes out since she can't suppress herself. But you, Zosar, need to know your limits and stop when you get too weak. Else... you die." Midori then leaned over a large, white stump and smiled at the two. "Have fun!" he told them.

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Spoiler: Preliminary Discussion, Mega Collab

As events started to escalate and then just as bizarrely calm down, they had kept losses to what Nadia considered acceptable. Course she did not voice this, chiefly out of not wanting to deal with anyone’s shit. Just as she was about to release Dani and the battle outside ending suddenly, a new one, or the sounds of conflict picked off again, with the tell-tale signs of activity elsewhere.

Suddenly a new mission, or rather a request was sent in, reading the message, she internally wished to scream and say several curse words in a row, however, her status aside, this mission was of the utmost importance. Davis was the second most important man in the city, the most important was Lord Death himself.

Witches. Nothing she had not killed before, but still something that killed a lot of Agents. One misstep would be met with grievous consequences. “You!” Pointing at one of the uniformed survivors, she motions towards one of the downed Sentries. “Block the door with this lot and if you can make the guns work again, use them on anything not us or a survivor. We must leave.” Not waiting for any backtalk, she was surprised to an extent that Gauss would back her.

Looking down at Dani she sighs a little. “We are not in the best of shape, but we are the only in some form of shape. We must save Davis. Rest of you have anything to say?”

”Seriously?” Dani grumbled internally, however logically speaking they were the most optimal choice. Nadia’s entire person was anti-witch. Still, the Demon Sword certainly wasn’t eager to go jump into a fight involving three witches.

Moving out and around the corner, insects could be seen at once. Giving a huff she formulates what little of a plan they could, waiting for any other information the rest may have.

Sara rested against a wall, trying to breathe easy and focus on easing herself. It took way too much energy just to beat one golem by herself. Thankfully, the rest of the golems have shut down. From what, Sara had no idea, but she didn’t want to think about it. Getting herself something small for her and Eva to eat, her nose was suddenly assaulted by smells. Magic. So much magic.

She looked around for the smell, then felt the buzz in her pocket. Looking at her phone, it was Davis. That’s when her ears picked up on some commotion up ahead. Not only was she able to smell the magic, but something else was weaved into this magical smell. Very much like pheromones.

Actually… It smelled very familiar, and it prickled her nose. While it didn’t affect her, she knew partially what it could do if the guys smelled it. They may not be able to pick up on its scent, but they didn’t need to for it to be affected by it.

“Guys, before we go, I have to warn you. The magic in the air, it kinda smells like pheromones. I’m…” She paused briefly, chuckling sheepishly. “Not going to explain how I know what it is, but it could have an effect on you males. Be careful, keep a clear head, and don’t fall for it. Just because you can’t smell it doesn’t mean it’s not there. Don’t trust what any of the witches tell you.” Being a werewolf based on tracking really had its perks. It also meant that smelling anything remotely close to what could be like an aphrodisiac would lead to hilarious and really embarrassing results in the right circumstances, and become lethal via distraction in the wrong ones. She followed Nadia, making sure Eva was nearby or in her hand before heading to see… Bugs. “The bugs smell like magic… I think, it’s hard to smell through the goddamn pheromone cloud.” She grumbled, finding it actually irritating and making her scowl.

Pheromones. Interesting. Gauss was no stranger to virtually anything that could be used as an aphrodisiac. Furthermore, he was well-aware of the tricks and deception Witches were prone to using. They were savvy and dangerous, part of why he was so quick to delegate any authority he had to Nadia. That didn’t mean he still didn’t have a few tricks up his sleeve. ”You guys go on ahead, I have a way to deal with the pheromones–I think.,” he announced. It wouldn’t take him long, but it would at least be a moment. That, and he was absolutely sure there would be judgment from all sides if they knew what he was doing.

Carrying his weapons with him, Gauss ran off to one of the platforms holding up the sentries–or what was left of it after Nadia and Dani blasted it–and leaned Noah against it. In just a moment, he produced a plastic baggy from inside the folds of the thin overshirt he was wearing under the considerable amount of ridiculous clothing that had managed to remain intact. ’If Daddy-Thaddy teaches you boys anything, it’s don’t stick your dick in crazy,’ he shared internally, only to Noah and Arky. He then poured the baggy out on the flattest surface he could find on the platform and use the blade-edge of Arkysis to scoop it into a straight-ish line. Curved scythes made for bad straight razors.

’And, they don’t make’m crazier than Witches,’ he added as an explanation before leaning over to snort the white powder, once for each nostril. Was this a good idea? Maybe. Vasoconstriction of the nasal passages and blocking the nose would definitely prevent pheromones from seeping in. On the other hand, he was in fact about to fly into combat while speeding off pure Columbian cocaine. He hadn’t done that in a few years.

Noah watched with a deadpanned expression as Gauss used Arkayis as a straight razor to make a line and snort the snow. He transformed back to his human form, biting his inner lip. “Ya’know… I hate that ya have a point. Yo, Ark, uhhh… Not sure if it’s a good idea for all three of us to be coked up. Then again… Why not be wild cards?” Hearing this, Gauss had already started pouring out more lines. Noah shrugged, sighing as he pulled out a piece of cardstalk he was trying to fold into some failed origami shape to pass the time earlier, using it to make a line, then snorting a very short line for each nostril.

This was his first time, and he was afraid of it going too deep, so he didn’t snort too hard. It achieved the effect he wanted, but he coughed and felt like he was going to sneeze if the prep for the sneeze felt like he just jabbed a hot rod into his nose. He held the bridge of his nose as he winced in pain, groaning. “Th’hell… How do ya do it so easily? How often did ya do this? Fuck’n hell…” He groaned, shaking his head as he felt his inner nostril walls stiffen. Then his head felt… Weird, but fun, and okay. A bit more than okay. Actually wonderful. He didn’t know how to feel about it, and he was uncontrollably giggling and smiling. “Okay, that’s pretty cool, but I dun wanna keep doin’ that. Ow…” He then looked over at Arky, eyes widening from the slight burn.

“Now, I have an idea, ‘n’ it’s gonna be really stupid.” He held out his hands, smiling a bit oddly. “Now, what if all three of us got doped up on coke ‘n’ attacked the witches? I know the whole sound soul in sound body and mind f’r resonance, but what if we could pull somethin’ off like that, yeah? Oh, but only if ya want to. Stuff’s harsh on the nose. Don’t snort too hard if ya wanna try it. It’s gonna burn, ‘n’ then ya feel like ya can do all yer year’s worth of schoolwork in one day. But uh, don’t snort all of it, please. Ya only need a little.”

”To answer your first question: a lot,” Gauss chimed in, realizing that Noah was formulating a plan he hadn’t considered. Gauss wasn’t even sure if the weapons would need their nasal passages blocked for the pheromones, but who was he to complain. He had plenty. That said, he did know a little about coked up resonance. Because, of course he did.

”So let Daddy-Thaddy tell you a little secret…” he said, leaning in close and almost flamboyantly. ”A touch of coke makes it easier to use any weapon… good drugs can even let some people hold weapons they can’t normally. It’s like the coke is a temporary bridge for the soul–it’s fuckin’ great,” Gauss explained to them in an almost musical enthusiasm.

”And if we can resonate with it, gentlemen, it’ll be like seeing the sun after a lifetime of only knowing the moon… or like… seeing color for the first time when you’ve only ever known black and white,” he continued to explain, wholeheartedly informing them of the wonders of drugs and spirituality.

Noah looked at Gauss with the widest eyes probably either of them had ever seen - except for a video game. Then he chuckled, his body way looser and he even adopted some of Gauss’s more flamboyant movements, having a bit of hidden flair to himself, as well. “Really???” He looked back at Arkayis, a manic grin on his face as he hooked Gauss’s neck with an arm. “Aite, it’s been decided. Jus’ don’t snort too much, please. Else, I’ll have ta pull yer head back. We can always get some later… And uh… Hope we don’t get too addicted to this shit.”

Arkayis mood had shifted upon seeing the witches one of anger and hate, he really wanted to burn the witches to a crisp. But Gauss’s plan was honestly enough to snap Arkayis out of his hate filled trance in favor of being utterly confused. Arkayis had transformed out of his weapon form after Gauss was done using them as a makeshift Razor. He wasn’t exactly all too familiar with drugs, but he had heard enough about them to know that they were bad for you. Arkayis slumped down a bit, unsure if they really wanted to go through with this, but after a bit of beckoning from Noah, he reluctantly followed Noah’s directive. He stopped in front of the white powder before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath in and out, and then snorting some of the stuff, Arkayis took a quick step back and looked at the ground almost as if his brain was trying to process what just happened. It actually felt nice, the burning sensation that Noah spoke of was lost on them instead it just felt warm. Arkayis honestly wanted more but Noah had told them to only take a little of it. Arkayis couldn’t help but smile a bit before letting out a laugh ”ahHAHAHAHA, I can - I can take more of it if you guys would let me, HA!”

Arkayis going along with it had Noah chuckling, but he shook his head at Arkayis wanting more, so Noah wrapped an arm around his shoulders to tug him away all friendly-like. “Hah, glad ya like it, but to be safe, don’t.”

Arkayis frowned and leaned toward Noah, ”Awwww booo,oh well.” then pushing off of Noah they laughed and said ”LETS BURN THE LAND AND SCORCH THE AIR!”

“HELL YEAH!” Noah joined in on Arkayis’s declaration to burn everything, transforming into a weapon form so he could get carried by Gauss.

“Yes… what could possibly go wrong…” Elly murmured to herself with a sigh. “It may very well be better that the boys take a break then. All this magic and spirit is like a flashbang, but I can make out the witches. They don’t appear to be pushovers, to say the least, and if the pheromones affect half of us… Well, that just creates more problems…” She added, glancing over to the trio of suspects. “I’m skeptical to bring Sage along to be honest… Is the best counter for these pheromones really just don’t fall for it? And the trio’s plan—Well, that’s likely to backfire in an entirely different way.”

“I heard that! It’s gonna be perfect!” Noah yelled at Elly, giggling a little. Sara simply shook her head in disbelief and sighed at what they were doing, but she sure as ain’t gonna stop them.

“Aaand, it’s already begun. Grand,” Elly remarked with a roll of her eyes and a knowing sigh.

“What’s begun?” Dani spoke for the first time in a while, her image appearing in the sheen of the blade. A moment passed before it suddenly clicked. “Oh my fucking Death, you are not...”

“They are,” Elly remarked in turn.

“Hmm…” Feeling out with her own senses, she had the feeling that she called the stench of magic, it made something just a little different with her blood, or her presence, though they were right, she was the one that had to face Witches often. With all that was said in the here and now, a form of Melancholy descended over her, as if everything was in slow motion, listening to the rest, she processed what they had to say, and watched what Gauss was doing of note.

“Fucking hell, well whatever, if it helps it helps, if it fucks you over, don’t be in the way.” Then she turned her attention to Elly. “Nyet, I am not so dumb as to make all my tools hammers, though mostly they are.” Sighing a bit, she just then noticed she was still wearing the costume helmet, but fuck it, she would make use of it in this battle, reaching into her dress, she procured her Vodka flash and unscrewed it, taking a drink, before showing it off towards Elly. “Have some courage, Irish, or stimulation, whatever.”

Studying the distant and ever closer growing bugs, she could tell they were magic, as thinking back to Sara she goes; “No shit, you don’t say? Of course they are magic! Still… Hmm, three of the Baba Yaga’s own… And one has pheromones. Then it is simple, Elly, you take Sage and the other boys and work on thinning the herd. Some of those bees seem to be making larger ones, so this is Enchantment Magic, summoning, till the materials run out we will face an endless swarm limited only by the mana of the caster, we cannot either ignore or fight them all. So it is simple, we prune them back, breakthrough and break the Witch. Sara, I want you to use that nose and figure out the exact one that is doing that. She dies over the rest, then hopefully the boys can join in on killing the other two. Bear in mind what I just said… Dies.” With that, even behind the armored visor one could get some idea of her cold hard stare, from her voice alone.

“And this is to all of you, Witches when beaten will always do one of two things, and normally both, they will cry, they will beg, they will plead for mercy and go on with how they surrender or will turn from their evil ways. Or they will throw all of their energy into a single effort to destroy you, with themselves or not. Kill them. Do not listen, do not show mercy. Least their hands and legs are broken or you have them incapacitated for sure, never assume they are safe.”

Letting that sink in she decided to go over the brief tactics of beating them. And of surprises that likely awaited. “Most witches or casters in general know more than one magic, you will have no idea what it is till they do, but it normally is thematic, based upon the soul. Do not assume these bugs are the be all, end all, but assume them and destruction to be to theme.

If we can drive them off, accept that victory. In addition always remember the Witch will try and get away from you, if you can sustain a hit or can get in close, do it. Space is victory for them, not us, unless one of us is ranged, shit talk them or be fanatical on the offense, they are human at heart and vain little shits. That is all I have for you.”

Sara smiled, though it was a bit less cheery than earlier. She had that look of a monster, ready for her first lick of blood. “I’ll make sure she’s taken care of.” When she spoke, there was a hint of a growl, her ears curling back to look more like horns with how they were. Then she looked back at the Gauss trio and sighed, ears falling to the side. “I don’t think they’ll listen to your plan, if they’re going to be taking drugs. We can try steering them, or we can use them as our distraction if they don’t end up taking our plan and just… What does Noah say…? What’s that meme… Leeroy Jenkin’s it, there we go. Yeah, let’s just work around them. Not ideal, but what can you do with coked up teammates?” She smiled, happy to have remembered.

”Ice Queen, that’s really good fuckin’ advice,” Gauss said, finally reappearing from their shadowy and now powdery corner. It was hard to tell from his tone if he meant that genuinely or was mocking her. His golden eyes then scanned over the room, looking over Sara, Elly, and Annika. He was really curious as to why they hadn’t left yet, but it did seem he was slightly less than subtle. Apparently, that was enough to start a whole discussion about what was going on.

”I do have some facts to add, though,” he continued, his voice much faster, higher pitch and even theatrical than normal. ”First, I have used coke and completed missions before–so calm your shit. It’s not that bad and I assure you, I am most definitely accustomed to it,” he explained with raised eyebrows and a sincere attempt to ease their concerns.

”Secondly, you completely overlooked my absolute, tip-top favorite way to fight a Witch,” he explained to them all, announcing his input on the matter since apparently, they had the time. ”Witches are fuckin’ slow most the time and we’re not. If you run at them really fast with a sharp object, you can lop off their heads before they offer to suck your dick–which is another lie they’ll tell to avoid getting killed, too,” he told them, speaking from his own personal experiences.

”Innit that right, Ice Queen?” Gauss asked, oddly looking to her for some confirmation in his claims.

Elly eyed the flask before raising a palm politely in declination. “The gesture is appreciated, but I prefer to keep my mind clear,” She explained before the lead for the Motley Crue decided to return to interact with the group, answering with a chuckle. “Ah yes, accustomed to it I’m sure, because your demeanor hasn’t already changed from before. Surely there’s no chance of any of the other of the myriad of effects to occur, rendering you a non issue at best, or a liability at worst,” She said with a bemused huff. “Good advice all around, otherwise. Now let’s hope we all can follow through on it.”

Dani for her part, scoffed. “Right, because fights with witches let alone three are that fucking simple,” She remarked. Adrian nodded like the simp he was, making Sara snort (air, thankfully).

”Real simple, honestly,” Gauss responded, carrying an air of whimsical condescension. ”Cut off their heads, how is that hard?” he asked, only half-rhetorically.

After transforming back, Noah stumbled in from behind and lazily wrapped an arm around Gauss’s shoulder to help keep him upright as all this intense focusing attempt of his mind left him a little light-headed. “So simple, just a simple stroke ‘n’-” He made a clicking noise with his tongue to the roof of his mouth. “Like golfin’. I’ve never golfed outside of VR.” He sported a silly grin, staring off into space before regaining his focus. “But yeah, just distract ‘em ‘n’ hit hard enough, it’s fiiine.” He waved his hand nonchalantly, then transformed back, the stick leaning against Gauss’s side.

Gauss deftly slipped Noah into his hand, then twirled him effortlessly over his neck and to his opposite hand, the one he most commonly held Noah in. ”See, Noah gets it, miss raging ball of cute pink… stuff. You just swoosh,” Gauss said as he swiped Noah through the air, pretending he was Arky. ”And, off with their head!”

“Right, cause your fight with Maria looked real fucking simple and that wasn’t even for real…” Dani said with an increasingly tiresome sigh.

Gauss cocked his head and just stared at Dani for a moment. The gears were turning in his brain. She was right. ”Yeah, I wasn’t allowed to kill her and I didn’t have a sharp weapon yet… that is so true, Dani…” Gauss said, enthusiastically agreeing with her.

”With Arky here, it’ll be no problem! I’m so glad I have him by my side,” Gauss announced, smiling over to Arky in appreciation for his existence.

At the mention of his nickname, Arkayis turned their attention towards Gauss for a moment ”Huh? Oh, YEAH! AHAHA!” Arks attention was soon brought back to the witches as they giggled, a bit maniacally to say the least before speaking in their native language as the proceeded to transform into their weapon form ”Flieg, flieg, flieg deinen Besen sanft über den Himmel! Fröhlich, fröhlich, fröhlich, fröhlich, DIE HEXEN WERDEN ALLE VERBRENNEN UND STERBEN!”

Noah piped up from his weapon form, laughing. “It’s not like she w’s able to kill us either. She was just as handicapped as we were then. Bet we could’a turned her dolls into a game of whack-a-mole.” Noah chuckled, finding that mental image hilarious.

“Indeed. We have Speed, but they have flight. And don’t worry so much about him, hmm… Elly wasn’t it? If he performs poorly we can just use his corpse as a shield or his falling as an opening to rush. I will not lie, odds do not favor us, but we cannot fail, for failure will be absolute. In other words Dani, this is the frontline, there is nowhere else to run.” Nadia says sharply as she lets the rest joke and carry on.

“Thanks for having a highly positive combat outlook, even in the midst of our passing.” Noah piped up yet again, sounding actually genuine.

”Aaaand, just so you ladies know, if you do poorly, I will not use your corpses as shields,” Gauss chimed in, now a little hurt by the sheer notion that he wasn’t going to rock these Witch’s worlds. ”I’ll make sure you all can have open casket funerals with those pretty faces of yours–cause if you do in fact die, then that confirms that’s all you were really good for anyway,” he said, firing shots right back at them. Noah let out an ‘oooo’ sound in the back.

“Hmph. You talk a lot for a drugged up rich boy. Not much different from when you are sober.” Nadia says in counterfire. “Though, you misunderstand, our backs are to the wall, these are the things that become song. Glory awaits, should all live to see it depends on how well you can take it. And I won’t die, afterall, have you not seen my costume? I’m the one that brings Warriors to the halls of heroes. So die if you like, I’ll make sure your casket looks nice.” Nadia snorts at that.

“We should hurry on.”

”So, I take coke and I’m the liability, but this bitch puts on a costume and thinks she’s an actual valkyrie? I think you all have your priorities fucked,” Gauss chimed in yet again. Though now, he could feel his heart racing and mind sharpening. He was getting near the peak of his ride. ”Arky-boi, let’s go. We gotta go kill some Witches. It’s no big deal. If I was aiming for real glory, I’d try to bed the Ice Queen. That’s gotta be a Platinum Achievement; Witches be nothing in comparison,” he announced, instructing his weapon to rain hell and still sliding in a snide comment.
“Mm, yeah we should go. Let’s go kill some witch bitches.” Noah did not comment on the Ice Queen remark. His mind went to something else and he honestly didn’t want to think about it right now, especially since he was still connected to Gauss mentally. Sara nodded along, gripping Eva’s handle tighter as she readied herself to charge.

“Po hooy, potselui mou zhopy.” Nadia said of Gauss, (Don’t care, kiss my ass) “And ha, at least you know what would happen for the attempt.” With that she paused for a bit and turned to look at them all one by one. “Other than the witches, Davis gets out alive, no matter the cost. He is the ultimate objective, killing the witches comes secondary, though knowing that crafty little bastard, he’ll be wanting to fight.”

Having been focused on the downed golems and sentries for the last while Annika perked up and finally dropped the gun she had been pouring over. “Definitely going to be an interesting fight. If one of them gets ‘persuaded’ and doesn't follow through I will make sure the witch dies.” she spoke up moving over to the others as they prepared to head towards Davis.

Words slipped out of her mouth. Nadia tried to explain that the priority was defending Davis. To Gauss, each syllable that slipped through her lips felt like an eternity. The seconds stretched out longer and longer. He felt his heart beat faster and faster, its drumming pattern drowning out whatever Nadia had to say. He needed to escape the thumping of his own heart and the boredom of her last speech.

Gauss did not merely pour out his wavelength. He did not lend it to Noah and Arky. He did not have to. His soul was bounding as hard as his heart was pumping, and each spike of his wavelength was shooting out to his partners. Restraint was not in his dictionary. Caution was truly thrown to the wind. With Noah and Arky on that same coked up surge of energy, they could afford this luxury. For a brief window, it just worked.

Gauss was but a yellow blur of ridiculous clothing and surging spiritual energy, having forfeit all desire to remain standing there, speaking to the other agents. Electricity crackled out from his eyes, fire erupted from his footprints–not his energy, but his partners, all radiating off of him in their frenzied state of manic destruction.

Fuck target assessment. He went after the first one he saw. The unlucky target of his frantic attack being the ant witch that had grounded herself to summon her oversized underlings. ”IT’S TIME TO BURN THE WITCHES, BOYS!!!” Gauss shouted out in a blind tirade, leaping through the air into a completely unnecessary spin, in doing so coating himself with the blue frames from Arky and burning away the nearby lesser insects only to be followed up with thrusting Noah directly forward, sending out a crack of electricity at the ant witch–solely because he just couldn’t wait any longer to hit one of them.

Nadia Semyonov - Death City

​

"Fucking idiot." Nadia says with contempt, watching as Gauss in his drug fueled state, leaping right into the conflict and breaking apart the plan. Unfortunately for him, Nadia was indeed an Ice Queen. Deviation from the plan did not warrant backup. If he had a death wish, then far be it removed from herself to stand in his way.

"Well with that, disregard the previous plan, least we intend to have Elly here fight the Swam all alone, we'll have to make one of our own help her." As they closed in, Nadia took Dani in hand, via her sword form, and charged ahead, using the communicator to speak. "Sara, Elly, watch out for the boys in case drugs and Apathy aren't enough. Our goal is, well, you know what it is. Do as you see fit." Catching sight of Davis and going full throttle, Nadia was not too behind Gauss as she chose a separate target, the witch who seemed to have a thing for bees.

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

 

[Merciless Medic]

Raphael Valerias​

March 29, 2067
Location: Dall Island, Beach
Interactions: Rand, Ark, Chanterelle, Maria
Mentions: N/A
Sir Les Paul The Regal Rper Meredith RedArmyShogun

Hearing a resounding 'no' from Maria, he was expecting that because some of her dolls were harmed and maybe lost one or two. The reminder of Chanterelle's condition had him souring from his cheery demeanor, though. Once Maria worked on her dolls, she might get better, or so though Raphael. Hearing that Ark was okay though had him smiling, though. At least Ark wasn't as drained as everyone else, and he seemed to be mentally okay after that ordeal. He wasn't shutting down, and even offered to give them a ride even further away.

Raphael's attempts to get up had him feeling like he was trying to lift his suddenly 200-pound body up. Groaning, he just laid there until he had help getting up to move.

The night was rife with anxiety. If Raphael didn't need to worry about getting up in two hours to then stare out at nothing in the darkness for another two hours, he would have slept like a rock. But no, he barely got any sleep. The most he did was rested, which did help a little bit, but his anxiety about Chanterelle's condition and if they were going to be set upon had taken a toll on him. Maybe he had a few hours of sleep, but it was all interspersed and he really didn't feel like he slept any. Thankfully, despite the exhaustion from yesterday, sleep-deprivation fumes were fun to be on and it made him very silly for the rest of the day, if not constantly winded or slow in infrequent bursts to process anything. In fact, he was the first to be up and about among the group, having tried to get everything organized.

Of course, his new silliness only had him worrying like some parent or sibling. He watched Chanterelle the most - or what he liked to think - mainly because he wanted to make sure she was okay and eating at least something, and he noticed she seemed to be better amongst the presence of the rest of them. His priority right now was to make sure everyone was okay, and cooking was actually fun while you were out camping - even if he had to do it what it said on the package. It allowed him to put his pride into something rather than worrying about Chanterelle's condition.

Once he was done, he heard Rand's message, and gave him a silly look that meant 'I'm right here', just to tease him. But it was all to get a plan of action and to just... Talk.

Huh... He wasn't sure if anybody wanted to hear him talk right now. Yeah, he had something to say about everything, but his mind wasn't exactly the most stable right now. In his book earlier, he had written down some ideas, mainly involving the magic circles, and expanding upon those runes he saw on those chains holding the anchor on that boat-ship(?), and then another spell he was thinking about for turning the end of his chain into spikes that can be easily broken off.

Putting everything together so that everyone had their portion to eat (and even giving a small something for Chanterelle), he sat beside her, eyes going into his food and sighing. The silly part of him wanted to stay, but it was quickly being overshadowed by the solemn realization that they only had a few more days here until the storm came overhead.

"What happens if these creatures on these islands get out? Would they even be able to?" He looked up at Rand, concern on his features as he was thinking about a possible 'what if'. He wanted to make sure these things stayed on these islands.

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Maria Mayer - Dall Island​

As the day went on and into night, Maria forced herself to move upon arrival, all things considered there wasn't much in the way of creature comforts or decent sleeping areas. Being without major tools or a workshop of any sort, Maria went to the sleep, or as best as she was able to in the situation. It was not the most comfortable thing, she missed the smell of her workshop, the tools and privacy. Then there was the surf, the lack of any natural sounds, well natural for anything not Dall Island at least. As a result her sleep was light and she eventually welcomed her own turn at watch.

She had very little to do, a handful of hours and no suitable sources of lumber was not enough to build what was lost. Then there was Chanterelle's condition. Maria did not seem to visit her like Raph did, chiefly as she had nothing to add and felt any asking to get her out of here would be met with a no, or the unsurprising explanation that no such arrangements were made. There was no point beating her head into the wall, or sand any more than needed.

With the call to assemble they had a breakfast of the morning rations, not that Maria overly cared. Food was food, though she made use of her constructs to make something of a civilized attempt of dining, with her smaller dolls holding some of the food items. Glancing at Chanterelle, she says nothing for a bit, but with the words of Raph, she decided to add her own in as well.

"What was even the purpose of all of that? We lost a lot of resources, and I cannot make dolls upon command. I need at least a couple of days, unless I skip a lot of my art and just infuse them with mana into the wood grain. And I do not make mass-produced trash, it offends my sensibilities. I already know the answer as to why we aren't getting Chanterelle out of here, but what will we do with her from here? And the only way the spiders will leave here is if we brought them with us... Which we were about to do."

With a pause she reflects on how they survived. "In spite of that spell, as impressive as it were, it was a reckless act that was made out of desperation. We cannot continue to rely on such. The only actual witch here with mana reserves upon command is no longer a factor in this mission. With exception of instructor Rand. We have but a limited time and capacity for learning new things, much less making them operational in such short order. And unless we all suddenly plan to fly, that area is a graveyard that cost me half of what I brought... Or near such. Why did they not have drones scout the island or even a flyby..." Some darker thoughts came to mind, in regard to them being expendable, but she did not voice them yet.

"How do we move on from here? And for what?"

Merciless Medic The Regal Rper Meredith Sir Les Paul

 

[The Regal Rper]

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

It was ironic. The first hour of his two was merely done mostly on autopilot. Ark at this point felt stiffness in his joints, a tired drain that sapped at his energy when he moved. Reaching the base had been honestly a breathe of relief, but he knew it would be short lived.

Someone needed to guard while the others got what little rest they could. And with Chant still out of commission, something that now was starting to concern him a lot more than it had initially- Ark wondered what exactly they should do about her condition while they were out here. The magically evolved and hungry animals of this location were not going to care if easy targets were injured. It only made the hunt easier and less energy draining for them.

He spent the first hour watching for any changes in their immediate area. Seismic Sense was good for this. It was an easy spell, made easier by the Magic Tool Gem he had stuck to his forehead. The second hour trickled off into boredom and submission to exhaustion, then his mind wandered off into the problems and made tallies of them. That dead zone being the biggest one, the spiders being another problem. He wondered if there was another Spider Queen around here like the one they had nearly died to destroy. Or if there were things just as bad as it or worse.

His thoughts were troubled, but he decided to tackle them when he was not as exhausted and more lucid. Switching out with Rand, Ark passed out quite literally like a rock, and awoke later to continue the necessary duties of securing their perimeter.

Rand handing out tasks for each of them gave them purpose. Gathering wood and water was not going to be as taxing. Bringing logs of wood with a slab of levitated stone, Ark set to creating fires and setting out a stockpile of firewood, creating a makeshift container out of the earth for it nearby. Before going off to collect water. Pausing only enough to get something to eat once he’d brought enough water for Raphael to cook, before he headed off to gather more water and more wood.Doing a detour on his way to do that, Ark did a perimeter check before he officially took off again to gather more of the necessities.

It was only Rand’s message reaching him that had him decide he could stop on the supply restocking for now. As he was walking back up to base he caught Raphael’s question.

“I doubt that would happen.” He said in response to Raphael’s question. And he believed it too. It was unlikely to happen, anytime soon at least. “I doubt a vast majority of creatures would make it to land on another country. Rand did say that this period of time that allowed us to come here, is not a common occurrence after all.”

Which brought Maria’s following commentary to light shortly after. He couldn’t blame her for being so upset. Though she hadn’t suffered the same physical drainage as Chant, she had suffered losses of her own even if he had tried to help minimize that as best he could.

The comments she made about not making trash did make him smile slightly though.

Had to say, he was starting to like that dedication to her craftsmanship.

Her last question though was exactly what Ark had been thinking about on his way back. As he’d been gathering materials he’d been half tempted to return to the place of wreckage- but going alone was a fool’s errand and he had enough sensibilities to know doing that would endanger all of them again when they were still recovering from yesterday. No telling what he’d find or face on his own.

How did they move on from here? Was it worth it with Chant’s current state even and in their own states in general? Rest would be needed, in his personal opinion- obviously in the agreement of the others, before they went venturing out past their beach resort once more.

“ was thinking” Ark began, “if we did intend on going past the Dead Zone, is there a way we could move around it? Sure we encountered it in the path we crossed but the dead zone itself can’t be spread out across the entirety of the island. If I could use my Seismic sense along with your eye, we could find a possible way to navigate around it” he glanced at Chant and then at Maria as she worked, “perhaps after we are more prepared of course. I assume you have a plan for us to aid Chant given that calling for backup now would take time for them to even reach us.” He said to Rand. “What is it? Is there some kind of fruit or something else around here that will restore her past the Dead Zone or around its general location that we can find and use as a source to revive her?”

Mentions: n/a

Interactions:: Merciless Medic Sir Les Paul RedArmyShogun Meredith
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[The Regal Rper]

Zosar | Japan | Hoshi Homeland

He'd never had access to Soul draining water so getting access to what was essentially an entire forest of spiritual draining trees, left him if anything, excited. Learning that this was once a deadly trail that had been carved by Midori's ancestors was something humbling, but he could not help but think about how he would fare against these very same trees. Even with the explanation though, something he was appreciative of at least, there was a part of the Meister that wanted to see what would happen if he went full out- if his wavelength would let him tumble a tree even if it was harder than iron with his strength at full.

Yet the warning Midori gave as they made their way through civil zone, was like a nagging itch in his head that he could not ignore. It would be foolish of him to make a literal fool of himself, common sense informed him. If he did go all out and did fall critically ill, he would have no one but to blame but his own foolishness when he'd already been warned- and if anything, that would just be in its own way, making light of the honor he was being given to do this at all.

To say he expected more modernism to be filled in this hub the Hoshi had made for themselves, would have been a lie. Yet to be here at all, and walk in a place very few were freely offered to visit, made the experience all the more enjoyable.

Stepping into the vicinity of the grooves felt like being hit with...something. He didn't know how to describe. It felt like...being pulled at, like something had grabbed and yanked at him in a way that brought discomfort from the suddenness- and then kept doing it. Glancing at the small group of trees still budding, Zosar's sense of initial confidence in plowing through a single tree, faded.

Underestimating these things really would be his own end. Instinctively, he began suppressing himself- not because he felt any sense of exhaustion, but because feeling this strange pull- this chilling cold tingle along his skin even with the clothes he was wearing- it left him more alert and cautious.

With the awareness that Adra would probably be off to do her own thing at some point, Zosar merely nodded at Midori once he said they could begin. The meister switched the axe to his left hand, and twirled it in the air with a light throw before he caught the handle again. Spinning the weapon in his fingers as he began eyeballing the variety of trees.

Let's try something easy for now. He moved towards one of the lesser trees. One that wasn't as thick as he was as a person. This one was about nine, maybe ten inches thick. That was just from eyeballing it though. Could've been slightly less but when he compared it to the larger, more opposing ones, this group of trees didn't compare.

Suppressing fully won't do me any again- but going all out will leave me exhausted in just a few minutes also. Zosar weighed his options as he approached his target. Managing suppression, for someone like him, wouldn't be hard- he'd been groomed to suppress himself- taught to maintain control to a point it was painfully annoying. Even if Elder Souta's comments about his level of control had been- on some level, kind of demeaning despite the fact, he had to be careful here.

Even as he neared the tree he could feel the tug- that pulling sensation that made the atmosphere around him feel unreasonably cool as if it had rained and the temperature had dropped slightly.

His eyes narrowed. He suppressed himself entirely.

The tug was still there, but its pull was not as present. If he wanted to, he wouldn't even notice it. This was probably what it had been like for those without the ability to perceive the spiritual or supernatural. Something so faint wouldn't even register in the mind because it wouldn't know what was grabbing at it in the first place.

Steadily, like turning a dial up for volume, he removed the suppression.

There was no countdown when he struck. And as he did- as he moved, he spiked his wavelength- building it up instead of using it at its max like he normally would when he struck. His speed, his strength- it rose rapidly. The build up peaked at the point of impact and the second he felt the blade go in- Zosar immediately suppressed himself right after the blade had connected to avoid having his wavelength drained incredibly.

Mentions: N/A

Interactions: Sir Les Paul Sybil

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Rand Mabason​

"Soundwave Sorcerer"​

Species Witch
Partner N/A
Rank Two Star

Location Dall Island, Westward Camp
Mission Excursion to Dall Island
Status Interested

​

Tags: Meredith Merciless Medic The Regal Rper RedArmyShogun

It was such a wonderful thing to see ideas come from their heads. These moments probably weren't their favorite. To them, he was sure they were dull. Senseless dialogue on a senseless mission that amounted to nothing. But, to Rand? It was more. It was insight. Something Maria specifically seemed to lose out on was the value of things when they did not align with her inherent interests. It made sense why her mentor wanted her to be thrust out into the world. She stood to lose the most with such a narrow viewpoint.

Regardless, Rand had answers, and it was time to get to deliberation.

"Ark, I do need to correct you," Rand replied, though he didn't answer the immediate question Ark had presented. He would get to, eventually, but the discussion here proved too opportune of a chance to impart some wisdom. Not that he was really old enough to be wise, but regardless.

"While it's rare, sometimes creates do make it to shores. When I researched the island, I found out a few years back that a colony of ants opted for a survival strategy of making themselves into a raft to protect their queen and workers and survived the intense storms and magical surges that surround this place normally. They made it Puerto Rico and caused all sorts of havoc there. It even inspired a famous manga author," Rand explained, giving Raph an answer and some clarity on the incorrect speculation that Ark had provided. He had valid points, but he tended to forget one of the most fundamental aspects of biology: life finds a way.

"Point being, this place is an ever-changing ecosystem of magic. Expect the unexpected," he added, then looked directly over to Maria with a set of stern eyes. Beady as always, but he had a point to make. "Which leads me to the next point. The goal was to try the shortest path between two points: a direct one. We couldn't have known just what laid ahead of us until we tried, so we tried. That was the purpose. There are infinite possibilities on this island and we can't plan for each one. That's what means to be outside of a controlled environment like your workshop," Rand explained to her, still pretty stern, but more so trying to emphasize his point. She wasn't in a laboratory or a workshop anymore. Perceiving events like what had transpired as pure failure was in fact the greatest failure of all.

"That said, Maria, you did hit the nail on the head with the solution. Flight. The dead zone only goes so high. From what I saw, Ark and I could scour for a thin spot for the next two days and likely find nothing. I also don't want to bank on some dues ex machina McGuffin to solve our problems," he followed up, changing his tone in what seemed like semi-sarcastic praise. Granted, Maria was being sarcastic when she suggest flight, so him taking it seriously was damned to sound insincere one way or another.

"We have the Wind Element and the Fire Element of Magic. Hot Air. Raph has proven himself a quick study and his chains can help with construction of next to anything," Rand went on, actually pointing out how a form of flight was a legitimate possibility. "So I think the question about how to move forward really is: Maria, can you make hot pair balloons to transport us and some supplies? I see plenty of wood and fibers. If need be, I think I can teach the Chain Sorcerer how to weave objects that aren't chains," he explained, truly cementing in his thought that making some impromptu hot hair balloons was the answer to their current dilemma.

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Maria Mayer - Dall Island​

Listening to what Rang had to say, Maria's own thoughts on the matter was a mixed bag. Though Rand's tone to her was stern, Maria seemed to pay it little mind, short of the occasional glare, or a twitch of her mouth as if to be mulling it over. Then there was mention of the hot air balloon. Blinking at that, she chuckled and met his gaze directly.

"A hot air balloon? You're joking right?" When there was no laughter, she looked at him and blinked, crossing her right arm under her bust, hooked on the upper half of her left arm as she gestured wildly with the free hand, as if to round calculations. "You're bleeding serious, by death."

One Balloon for them all, plus some supplies. "We would be better off making an Airship, provided we had a hangar, resources, and mechanical engineering. Hot air balloons aren't used in cargo or people transportation for a reason, the surface area must be made greater. I am no aviation expert, so this will be a risk. The less people it has to carry the smaller it can be, or by limiting the altitude. Though if we are talking such theoretics, I could just build a glider and we combine our powers in a manner to "launch" it. Though in both cases the landing will be difficult, then leaving once more. In both cases we are extremely vulnerable should anything be airborne or there are some ranged attacks."

Looking at Raph, her jaw clenches a bit as she mulls how best to say what was next. "I rather not have his aid in the actual construction. For shaping, cutting and gathering material, Raph and Ark both have uses. But to integrate metal in either construct prompts more issues than it solves. In the case of a balloon, I'll need rubber, mud or tar, to coat and harden the fabric of the balloon and mighty fine stich work. Should one seam be careless the whole thing will quickly come apart, sending us to our demise.

In the case of the glider, I envision needing just wood paneling, some wood beams and thick fiber. We could use Ark to construct a skip ramp. The problem then becomes keeping lift under the wings and getting it up to speed. In principle they've only been used in such a capacity via the aid of a towing aircraft. The landing will be the hard part and I am no aeronautical engineer."

Thinking on the time and materials for both projects she sighs. "I will need at least eight to twenty-four hours for either project. If you think of any other means to teach us to fly or to get over there, by all means. But let me stress, I will not rush this. Even with the best of my efforts a crash or accident is not out of the question."

Merciless Medic The Regal Rper Meredith Sir Les Paul

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Rand Mabason​

"Soundwave Sorcerer"​

Species Witch
Partner N/A
Rank Two Star

Location Dall Island, Westward Camp
Mission Excursion to Dall Island
Status Competitive, determined

​

Tags: Meredith Merciless Medic The Regal Rper RedArmyShogun

A day to build it. Rand mulled that over as Maria explained her goals. If they had to dedicate the entire day to construction, that made their deadline for exit next to impossible to reach. Reality was, Rand alone could fly. It was one of his many spells. Flight was a staple ability for much of Witchkind. Many utilizes enchanted brooms to do so, but such were made from unique trees within the Witch Realm. Admittedly, similar trees may exist near the Lake, but that wasn't something he could be sure of. It also didn't alleviate the dilemma that existed in transporting Chanterelle. While he could fly perhaps short distances with her, the expanse of the dead zone was too great.

His brain was churning through options. Had the vertical space necessary, gliders would have been a viable option. Then Maria went over the real world requirements of those, going over launch pads and aircraft carriers. An air ship would have been nice, sure, if it were all analogue. Any system that used electrical components wouldn't have made it to the island intact and the electromagnetic interference here made most navigational tools useless. There were reasons that the agents weren't just dropped off at the island with their own helicopters or grander equipment to get to the Lake or great tree.

Something inside him stirred. When he first considered the idea, he didn't think it would be that difficult to construct a bunch of flying balloons that only needed used once or twice for a short distance. Perhaps he wasn't being realistic with his consideration or perhaps Maria wasn't truly factoring in the extent she could rely on those around her. Not just to make them, but to cut corners. These didn't need to be perfect creations.

What stirred inside him became more turbulent. He couldn't just demand things work out better. From experience, he couldn't just force her to work faster or cut her quality. There had to be something else. Something he was missing.

...or, something they were missing.

There was.

"We don't have a day to dedicate to fabricating these, and more importantly, it is time you all learned something," Rand replied, deciding that another truth to this particular mission was necessary to come to light. Like the very balloons he was wanting to make, he hoped lighting a fire under them would make them soar.

"The task we were given is actually incredibly important. The DWMA did not just send us to search and retrieve something," he told them, "They sent two other groups--all Witches. I signed us up as a third to push us out of your comfort zones and with a tighter deadline. It was approved and the goal was to prove just how valuable you four are."

"This mission isn't just a set of objectives. It's a race against other Witches much your senior that are well-respected in the DWMA already," he told them, gazing over all of them. They had already come so far and learned so much. The mission had value in and of that. But, it wasn't enough. For him, it wasn't enough. "There is more on the line here than just some notch under your belt for another mission. One of the other Witches is an engineer from the Greenworks lab that shares contracts with Mirai. Some of the other Witches are straight out of combat, just like Ark. I don't have an analogue for Raph or Chant, but the point stands regardless. Here stands an opportunity to outshine the rank the DWMA gave you," he told them all, emphasizing yet again the importance of this mission he was hiding from them.

"I was in Paean. I've been on this island before. Three years later, people still look at that like a stain on my record. Like I'm just a dog on a leash from the Witch Realm wasting time before I get sent back to breed in a kennel," Rand told them, pouring some of his anger into this explanation. "I don't want that for you. I don't think you do either. I don't think you want to go on being seen as the crazy chain sorcerer with half-useless spells. I don't think you, Maria, just want to be considered the inferior version of your mentor, stuck in her shadow for centuries. I don't think Ark wants to be labeled as some broken sorcerer with PTSD his whole life. And, Chant needs to get to that ley line, but I doubt she wants to be known as the Meister-killing Witch her whole life, either," he told them, throwing their baggage all out on the line.

"We don't have a day to spend on this. If that's our only option, we might as well stay on the beach with our thumbs up our asses. I can teach Raph how to make a suitable fabric out of the fibers in the reeds along the beach. I can also help him, so we have two hands on. Ark can harvest the reeds and whatever else you may need. If we can't make one big balloon basket, then let's make a band of balloons go from there. Raph can chain them together, I can make sure we stay en route, and Ark can use his fire to keep things heated--no need to overcomplicate it. I don't care if we have to hang onto twigs and branches to get there as long as we do. All we need is enough to get us four across there, plus a few dolls and maybe a backpack worth of supplies," Rand told them all, trying to explain how each of them could be useful in this scenario if they worked together. If they used their spellcraft as synergistically as they did with the circles.

"It's not a perfect solution, but unless there's a better option in a shorter time frame I'm missing, it's what we have. That's fieldwork. No one witch can do it alone," he told them. He then realized he was becoming quite fervent. It was just dolling out instructions. He was just trying to demand more than may be possible. He didn't want that, not exactly. So he sighed, shaking his head at the realization of where he was going.

"But, we don't have to. We could stay here and collect some samples, I guess. Count our victory being that we didn't have to have a rescue team come get us. Scour the area for a place where mana is a bit concentrated and hope that's enough for Chant," he said, giving them a way out. Chant was the primary concern here in terms of just sitting around, but there might be an answer to that. It was doubtful she would die, but it certainly wouldn't be pleasant just sitting around like a Bloodsucker victim low on valuable life energy. Still, he wasn't about to force them.

 

[Sir Les Paul]

How's This For Creative?​

Annika could tell as they got closer what type of magic was being thrown about. It had the same style and vibe as her mothers magic. Walking up to Elly she gave the woman a slight nudge “You want to team up and double team one of the witches?” Annika asked with a sly smile. “Considering what they are, expect them to try to work together in some capacity. Though I guarantee there is some sort of hierarchy.” Annika said to Elly as they came into view of the unfolding fight.

“I don’t know who these witches are. But they are probably my cousins in some regard.” Annika admitted before pulling her chainblades from the holster she had rigged in their short downtime. Tightening her grip she hopped up and down a few times as she worked her body up once again. “Termite witch, we should support Davis. Be careful of where their summons are in relation to one another. One thing I learned is my family and others like them really compliment each other. If you are a witch…” Annika explained to Elly, her voice turning to a hiss towards the end.

Feeling the nudge, Elly turned her gaze over to Annika. Feigning an expression of confliction, she sighed. “Oh, but I was so looking forward to try working in synch with the trio of kites,” She replied with a soft chuckle. “Yes, hierarchy is a large part of Witch culture, isn’t it?” Elly hummed in response to Annika’s note.

Bringing a hand up to grasp her own chin, Elly stared up at the spirits ahead, taking a moment to analyze them. “Cousins… Well, that explains the little hints in your soul… Perhaps we show them how well we complement each other, or how well those chainswords compliment their necks, Mm?” She proposed, taking note of the spite in the girl’s words. Obviously, family life wasn’t very familial. “I’m sure we can get them to slip up. I’m no witch hunter, but I do hear witches usually have quite the ego.”

“Yeah…. could be cousins… and I do hope it finds at least one of their throats.” Annika said with a sigh. Arching her back she let out a deep breath before pivoting forward. “I am going to get up close, she may be able to fly a bit but I think we can work together with Davis to corner her or get her to hover in one area for a short bit.” Annika said coming up with a rough plan. “Once this thing starts grabbing organic flesh in particular its going to pull down on its own. I just need to catch her and I should be able to do some serious damage.”

Gripping the weapons she ignited them causing the engines to rev up to speed in a flurry of noise and movement. Pulling the triggers on both weapons they spun up to running before she began to move forward and towards Davis. “She may be focused on Davis. Ill go right if you want to go left.” Annika said to Elly as they moved up to support Davis. Coming up to him she gave him a nod “We will break to the flanks, you can probably hold her attention better. If we eliminate her we can limit the other two and then deliver the killing blow.”

“Deal,” Elly chimed back, agreeing to Annika’s plan. “We can make that happen.”

Flanking Davis on the other side, Elly gave a smile as she rested Sage’s neck against her shoulder. “We came as fast as we could, but I didn’t expect ye’ would be having that much trouble with these teensy witches. I’m not even sure I can feed Sage here with their souls.” Elly remarked with an exaggerated yawn. It seemed the meister was already getting started on attacking those aforementioned egos.

Noting that back-up was finally arriving, Davis reached his hand behind his hood to pull up and over his head what appeared to be a folding visor. It was relatively thin and obviously not for protection. Given he had to shrug off the collar of his jacket to have it extend up, it seemed built into some garment or harness he wore under his clothing instead of directly attached to it. Once it was in place in front of his eyes, a type of HUD illuminated the screen, creating an augmented reality projection of sorts overlaying the battle field.

In just moments, he had every agent in the field scanned alongside databases being accessed for the targeted Witches. He sighed internally at the realization he was being assisted by FATE Agents. At that moment, he considered it better than no one, but only barely. He was even more against the program than Cyrus was. They exemplified wasted resources that could have gone into better golems or system security.

Regardless, he knew better than to voice that opinion or even let it jade him during this fight. He was not the time to let his overarching opinions color his opinion of individuals. Not only was that simply ignorant in general, it could be a detriment to fight at hand.

”Do not expect to land a killing blow on the Witches easily,” Davis told them, his voice stern but not hateful. In a way, it was reminiscent of Starwulf. ”Reports show they have survived forty-three encounters with Agents in South America, including killing one Three-Star team and two teams comprised of Two-Star Agents,” he explained to them, giving credence to his previous statement.

Information regarding both the Witches and the Agents in question was being fed to him via his HUD and even now, he was channeling his wavelength through his body to amplify himself. He was Agent in another lifetime, and those skills don’t ever fade completely away even if they do dull down over time.

Their focus on the termite witch would prove to be problematic given the first actual attack from the Witches they had incoming would come from four SUV-sized bees jetting in at absurd speeds for their size. The constructs themselves didn’t have any apparent weapons or magical affinity, making them more of massive projectiles than the unique types of magic present at the tournament.

Given they were surrounded by a ring of fire, there weren’t many directions to go other than for Davis to leap backwards to dodge the initial impact.

“Forty three, that's pretty impressive. I wonder what I would have done if I was a witch like my mother. Part of me always wanted to live out that fantasy… but I know better now.” Annika said, gripping her blades tightly. “Alright, I think a flanking maneuver can work. Once the flames die down we could flank the oncoming bees. Unless you think you could disperse them yourself.” Annika asked Davis as they formulated a pattern of attack.

Just as she was preparing to make a move to try and outflank the witch and her constructs she felt the ground rumble beneath her. Backing up she was knocked slightly off balance as one of the ants suddenly rose from the ground and rebalanced itself. Now coated in a concrete mixture it slowed the ant but definitely made it much more of a threat. Dodging a mandible she lashed out in a counter, catching part of its mandibles in an arc of her attack. The left chainblade caught the mixture and chewed through it, lobbing off a small bit of the ant's jaws.

“Hopefully you would’ve come up with something more creative than gigantic bees,” Elly chimed back. Pushing her wavelength through her body to be able to react, the meister narrowly evaded one by dashing to the side, then the next with a vault using Sage. “Or ants…”

Waiting for the flames would likely take too long, and unfortunately even were Elly capable of resonating with her weapon, Sage’s wavelength was that of flora–not exactly compatible or a counter to fire. “I don’t think we can wait for it to dissipate. That leaves getting someone over it or smothering it, unless either of you has a water or ice based wavelength I don’t know about.”

Thinking about it Annika wasn’t sure what her magic could have been. “Uhhhhh…. Dragonflies would be awesome. Nature's homing missiles, it's insane how they function to be honest. I am considering a sorta flying backpack using the motion of dragonfly wings.” Shivering slightly at that thought Annika pivoted, swinging her body weight like a pendulum before throwing herself back into towards the ant. “Watch out for the holes they came up from, don't trip. But uh.. could you imagine dragonflies the size of small minivans. I think the world would be screwed.” Annika finished.

Annika didn’t finish what she was thinking, one of the ants quickly challenging her defense. Being relatively unable to block attacks Annika did the only thing she could, push into the ants defense. Jaws snapping shut Annika barely managed to move her upper torso out of the way, swinging herself backwards she fell to her knees, the speed of her movement carrying her under the Ant, her left and right chainblades reaching out in an attempt to cut off the ants legs at their joins.

The unprotected ants emerging from the ground provided little resistance to the chainblades. The hours spent regulating her wavelength through the candles, maintaining the flames, and branching out from there showed real-world results in this moment as the oscillations coursing through the obsidian teeth through the network of spiritually conductive components in her weapons carved through their exoskeletons like a hot knife through softened butter.

All of that mind-numbing training and dedication to honing her focus was coming to fruition into a real world skill. Dangerous though these ants may be, they alone hardly added extra strain to her swings.

Davis had a fast mind. He was hardly the most brilliant battlefield tactician and his time in the labs cut short his experience in combat, but how his brain parsed information was a cut above even the elites he was often compared to. He took a mental note of the chainblades being used by the singular Meister. Crude in his eyes, but otherwise impressive work. He could appreciate how they filled a niche. In that time, he also deduced that Elly must have been merely goading the Witch. Whether she was taking a note from his book or relying on their stereotypical pride, he was uncertain.

While those two dealt with the immediate frontline, Davis ran back to the vehicle he arrived in and popped open the back, sorting through it while he had this small opening. He was determined to retrieve a few items from inside it. Items that he was sure the girls could use and that he would need. With the prodding Elly was dishing out, he doubted that these Witches would take long to break out the real magic.

He was right.

The Bee Witch was only more visibly frustrated by Elly. If the Meister was an ignorant little twerp, she intended to make her a dead one soon enough. Dragonflies? Fucking Dragonflies? Obviously she had never heard of the Apistoria family. Their hive in the Witch Realm being considered one of the most impregnable fortresses on the Southern Continent. Not that she would get a chance to learn.

Raising her hands high, the Witch poured her mana into a new spell. Green energy trickled down around her until it formed into gales of wind that created a vortex below her. Wind Magic in addition to her bees, though it did make sense. If that wasn’t formidable enough, however, the vortex that touched down formed what could only be described as an emerald tornado that sucked the very flames from the ground where Davis had created a burning barrier, now only making her creation more dangerous.

And, now, it was headed directly for Elly and Sage.

”How’s a flaming tornado for creative, you stupid bitch!” she shouted, enraged and distinctively targeting the loud mouth of Elly.



Merciless Medic Peckinou RedArmyShogun EmperorsChosen Serei2477 Mook-LandStrider

 

[Merciless Medic]

Sara & Eva​

April 1, 2067
Location: Behind the Firehouse
Collab with Mook-LandStrider
Interactions: Termite Witch
Mentions: Gauss, Noah, Arkayis, Adrian, Nadia, Dani, Elly, Sage, Annika, Ant Witch, Bee Witch, Davis
Sir Les Paul Peckinou Serei2477 EmperorsChosen RedArmyShogun

Witches, it made Eva’s blood run cold but in the end she knew it was a necessity that they would have to fight. She had half expected to run into one by now and was sorta amazed they hadn’t. Still, despite the overwhelming feeling of wanting to flee she stayed in her weapon form, watching as the others prepped for what they were running into. ‘I can't believe they just did coke.’ Eva said within her and Sara’s soul space. Sara sighed, nodding in disappointment.

Coming into view of the witches she let out a sigh as Gauss ditched the overarching plan and charged the witch on the ground. ‘Well, at least he will keep that one busy.’ Eva commented. ‘I’m doing better than I expected.’ she continued, her eyes locking onto the bee witch as they began to throw a fit, their pride pushing them to focus on their heckler. ‘I think we should back Dani and Nadia, Gauss should be able to handle himself for a bit, or at least I think he can.’

‘Yeah, if we try to help Gauss right now, we’ll only be in the way. We’ll help Dani and Nadia. Let them get the bee witch angry, then we jump up from behind and get her.’

The bee witch was still floating. Using Nadia and Elly as a distraction, she used some cover to get closer to the bee witch, then powered her wavelength in her legs as she prepped to lunge and jump at her once her guard was down. Only to realize there was a huge fiery tornado that erupted. Eyes widening, she looked between the other witches. The coked up trio was going after the ant witch, and there was that termite witch that was nearby the ant witch. Deciding to just bite the bullet, she set her direction towards the termite witch. ‘Change of plans, not a good idea right now. Hopefully Adrian helps with these summons.’ Since all but one witch was being dealt with, Sara used that pent-up energy to lunge towards the termite witch, raising her weapon up and back, then swinging to aim at her head. If she missed the bash and overshot it, she can always have the lantern wrap around one of her appendages and allow her to swing around to knee the witch somewhere.

That is, if the termite witch didn’t see her coming.

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Is it Magic or just Good Drugs?​

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

April 1st, 2067​

This battle did not just start. It exploded.

The flaming tornado created by Pinia aimed at tearing into Elly to the North was not the only wake of destruction left in the prologue to this conflict.

The Ant Witch proved to be absolutely no pushover herself. With a quick slam of her heeled boot into the ground, a large metallic rod launched up and drew the lightning from Noah away by simply grounding it. Unlike spiritual energy taking physical form, the elements made by elemental affinities answered to the natural laws of the universe. Electricity could be guided, but it could also be redirected to a shorter route to ground. This Ant Witch knew her stuff, as this particular rod was comprised of just the correct conductive material to do so.

This minor setback didn't even register to Gauss. If anything, it only extended his playtime. The Meister was as feral as Sara and as brutal as Nadia as he leapt through the hordes of termites and ants. Arkysis proved capable of cleaving through those that were unarmored with easy, leaving behind their burning bodies and exoskeletons in beautiful displays of blue flames. Though, he hardly stopped there. Upon his first encounter with an armor ant, he realized that even with the intense heat of his wonderful scythe, breaking through that cement armor took several swings. This, he was not a fan of.

The Ant Witch found herself absolutely appalled by the brutal onslaught of her precious majors. Gauss couldn't have known, but those ants were special. Not just summons, but creatures she had to nurture herself. She guided their massive evolution before they were even born, and seeing them cut down and incinerated was upsetting beyond belief. That upset would become a new type of horror, however, when she realized that the metallic slugs she conjured to blast at Gauss like bullets would be entirely deflected from him, or more accurately, pulled away from him in a benign direction due to his metallic wavelength.

Gauss was an absolute monster. Two elements and magnetism? The Ant Witch had no direct answer for that and Gauss smelled that fear like a shark after blood. A wicked grin crept across his face before he launched a chain lightning attack with Noah, specifically targeting the termites that were puking cement onto the majors. He wanted to eliminate the support, though this admittedly proved to only stall them for a moment. It seemed a burst of electricity did little to them. Fine enough, he would save it for the witch.

"You're a cute one, miss Witch," he announced, now darting forward after the Witch in his frenzy. She was not about that life, attempting to board her broom and fly away. Gauss decided this was the perfect time to secure at least one kill for himself, and in doing so, perhaps even take all the beautiful credit. Her soul would be his. A manic chuckle escaped his lips as he poured his wavelength into Arky, then slammed his scythe head into the ground and guided the blue flames with Arky through the pavement itself to create a massive wall of blue fire, cutting himself and more importantly the Witch off from the others. Unless of course they were to fly over, but unless both of the Witches did that, he was sure that would make it a death sentence for the Witch that remained.

It honestly wasn't the best logic, but it was certainly what was going through his head right this second.

"Aw, now don't just run away," he shouted, playfully. "I cut off all my allies just to talk to you, do be kind and lend me your ear," he told her. Internally, he was already forewarning his weapons about his plan. If Sara and her deduction of the pheromones was correct, then she might just fall into a trap if she thought they were working on him. Thanks to that line of coke, however, Gauss couldn't smell a damn thing.

"They call me Gauss and I'm just... so curious as to why clearly the best-looking of your little trio answers to that blonde bitch up there," he told her, and with those words, the fleeing Ant Witch halted her flight with the exact thought that Gauss had anticipated.

With a wry smile and thinking she had already won this game as she had so many others, she turned around to finally introduce herself. "Well, if that's how it is, sir, why didn't you say so... they call me Lizzy, but it's actually Isabella," she said, announcing her name and contemplating if she should try to turn this Meister on the others or just kill him here.

---

The Termite Witch was just as quick to respond to Sara as the Ant Witch was to Gauss. These Witches clearly had plenty of experience fighting Meisters, not just sacking villages. An orange glow emanated from her arm, soon forming an exoskeleton over it which she used solely to block the incoming attack from Sara. Witches fighting within melee range was rare, more so one that did anything other than dodge. The reason for this particular trick from the Termite Witch would become relatively obvious, however, as directly upon contact, that exoskeleton piece shattered and exploded into a spew of a sticky, gooey substance that would soon start to harden. It wasn't quite the same as the cement she was pouring on the ant majors. In fact, this one would never truly harden, instead becoming thick and viscous--intended to slow Sara and her weapon down.

Directly after, she leapt backwards and closed her hands together in a quick clasping motion. Immediately following, two large walls of rock erupted through the pavement that wasn't already scorched by Gauss and came closing in on Sara in an attempt to crush her. There was no downtime here and without the speed benefits from actual Resonance, Sara didn't have the same advantage as Nadia or Gauss over these Witches.

All the while, the sea of termites that had been burned away only replaced itself as the flood of brown insects sprung through the dirt that the termite witch had cleared away with her stone doors, pouring out into the streets if only for the sake of having them there. Unlike the Ant Witch whom specialized in her oversized creatures, these termites were fast and small, no larger than one would expect one to be in their home.

Battlefield control seemed to be there theme, but at this time, the wall of blue flames Gauss had erupted in his chase of the Ant Witch had sparked up, causing immediate concern from the Termite Witch. Whether or not Sara survived became her secondary concern as she started running over to the wall of fire, scooping up her broomstick as she made her way to the fiery barricade.

---

Pinia, the Bee Witch, had to be surrounded by thousands or more bees, although only a dozen or so were coated in the white remains of the dolls. Her focus was entirely on the flaming tornado that she was channeling with her aerial advantage at the moment and field of vision due to her bees convincing her of her immediate safety. In that regard, she was more than correct. She had no immediate threat as of now and while she couldn't pull in the intense blue flames created by Arkaysis, she could at least continue to use the flames made by whatever substance Davis had thrown on the ground.

Davis meanwhile had completed his raid of the truck and darted specifically over to Annika, the closest and the one he was sure could make the most of what he had available. On his organic arm was what appeared to be a small buckler of sorts, though made entirely of some type of composite metal with various runes traced all around it and the typical microrune lines indicating there were magitech traces inside. It was far less complete and polished than anything she might have ever seen out of his labs, but that was for a reason. These were prototypes. He held it out in front of them and soon after, the lights of the device glowed to emit a large forcefield covering their front half that blocked the incoming flame and wind from the tornado with debris bouncing off it just as easily. Unfortunately, this device required an uplink to a power source, of which he only had his own. That was not true for all of his goodies, at the least.

Davis quickly shoved a folded over blue piece of fabric attached to some type of ornate mantle into the hands of Annika, ignoring the fact she had her own chainblades and termite fluids from the one she had just carved apart on her. "It's a light refraction cloak. It's not perfect invisibility, but if you can sneak in a hit, so be it. I doubt the bees have 20/20 vision anyway," he told her. He was entrusting this particular piece of gear to her after having reviewed more of her file and concluding she must have, in fact, made her own blades. If she was a Meister without a weapon, she would need every trick in the book.

Afterwards, he held out a harness equipped with eight total grenades with two of four colors. "Get it on, then take these. Blue is ice. Red is fire. White is a flashbang. Green is concussive. Much more powerful than your typical grenades. Colleague of mine was working on them. Two methods of detonation. Twist the top up to five times--you'll feel a tick--and that sets a delay for up to six seconds. Alternatively, there's a pin on the side. Pull it and it'll detonate upon impact after a three second delay," he explained to her, speaking quickly and deliberately. He was hoping he wouldn't have to repeat himself. In fact, he probably wouldn't. If she blew off her limb, he'd just report it back to Emmett--when or if he ever saw that nonchalant fuck again.

Elly was not without her own defenses, although they were not from a famous professor. Instead, they came in the form of one such Adrian. She may not have been to keen on helping him before, but the Autonomous Weapon would prove his loyalty regardless. In the absurd speed attained from his Self-Resonance, he was there in enough time to catch her before the flaming tornado had a chance to scorch that silken hair of hers. He was no knight in shining armor, though. No Prince Charming to sweep her off her feat and take her to safety.

Adrian was the safety. Upon reaching her, he transformed into his full maiden form against the gale forces of the wind that was incoming. From the voice atop the maiden, he quickly told her, "Get in, nothing that Witch can throw at you can hurt you from inside me. I'll protect you." With that, he awaited her entry with Sage with open doors. He could keep her safe as long as the tornado was present. It technically removed both of them from the fight until the Bee Witch was dealt with, which wasn't ideal in the slightest, but he saw no other options given he had no immediate methods of either ascending twenty five feet or getting out of the path of the tornado quick enough to avoid injury.

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Nadia Semyonov - Daniella Ethalyn - Death City - Fire Station

​

As Nadia closed in on the target, the Irish girl seemed intent on provoking her, causing the witch to bring down a fire tornado before flying up into the air 25 feet away, Sara had also broken off to fight the termite looking one, sighing at that, Nadia had no for sure way of engaging the bee, and her ice blood could not contend with that attack. If she got just a little more careless, then Nadia could throw her survival knives and attempt to stab her with a throw. With enough force it may bring her closer or straight up heavily wound her.

‘Change of plans Dani, we’ll help the boys out, till she floats down a bit closer, or work as a mobile reserve to thin out their numbers.’

’Oh boy…’ Dani replied sarcastically. Though, as much of a pain in the ass as the kite trio were in this state, she was admittedly more worried about their well-being than anyone else’s. ’We should make sure they don’t get killed though…’

’Never mind...’ Nadia said with an internal sigh as Guass deployed some sort of literal fire wall and went into the fray with recklessness. While she could have gotten inside, she did spy another opportunity to be useful. Darting off and around some of the bugs, and slashing, bashing, stomping or muddling with the control in them, Nadia made use of what she could and picked up one of her knives and hurled it right at the termite witch yelling; “SUKA BLYAT!”

’Dani, we’ll make an opening for Sara and pile on them all in turn. I may want to make use of your own wavelength when we go back through that horde. Here we need not worry much about friendlies getting caught up in it… For now at least.’

’Cause shit wasn’t on fire enough already!’ Dani complained with irritation. Nonetheless, she began channeling her wavelength into Nadia for the battle ahead. ’Works for me. One of them’s dealing with those crackheads and the other’s pissed at the Scottish bitch. Take the distraction, I guess.’

’Irish point of fact, never call her Scottish lest you want a fight, or the reverse for a Scotsman.’ Nadia said in response as she started to channel Dani’s own wavelength, registering what needed to be torn to shreds and what did not. ’Heh and here you wanted me to help them at first…still, we have a job to do, and fun as well.’

’What-fucking-ever. We can’t follow those fuckers and Adrian’s covering the others… They’ll be okay… More okay if we kill these fucks fast,’ Dani replied with a roll of her eyes. It wasn’t her fun, but she wasn’t going to deny it for Nadia, especially if it put an end to all this faster.

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

 

[EmperorsChosen]

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

The meister smirked as she saw that her words struck nerve after nerve in the witch, slowly grinding down the mage's composure. She wasn't a witch hunter or a specialist, but she did know they had their own hierarchy and class structure, with a lot of ego. It wasn't the first time nor would it be the last that Elly poked and prodded an opponent to open them up, though it was quite atypical for her to play the part of a distraction. That did require a certain level of trust in Davis, or Annika more likely, to eliminate her assailant.

When the witch shouted, Elly snickered a bit, though she was surprised when Adrian appeared for shelter. Taking a brief moment to consider it, she eyed the witch.

"...Not very considerin' nature can make those happen without a witch, dear! Maybe put some bees in it. You'd still be ripping off a terrible movie but I don't think many know about it, so you can fake it at least!" Elly chimed back one last time before hopping in the maiden and pulling the doors shut.

With a sigh, she glanced around the interior of Adrian with mild curiosity, tapping the end of Sage against the walls. "You're surprisingly spacious, aren't you?" A poorly timed, sarcastic joke perhaps. This wasn't the best situation to be in for Elly, hiding in a living bunker to wait out the storm. However, she couldn't help but feel a sense of confinement with the shelter provided, given the nature of it. That may also be why she kept talking. "Well, Prince Charming, feeling anything from those pheromones' yet? I don't believe I saw you partake in the rich boy's candy."

@Team NotTheBees

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Dancing with Dane​

Tags: The Regal Rper Merciless Medic RedArmyShogun EmperorsChosen

---

April 1st, 2067​

Dane watched as Az was repelled, believing that to be a momentary victory as he glanced back to gaze at Starwulf who seemed to still be complacent. However, then he heard it. It picked up gradually, from subtle to unbearable, earning eyes of ire to be directed back to Az. Dane’s face noticeably twisted as the sound grew.

“...how long are you going to keep up WITH ALL THAT RACKET!?” He finally spoke, progressing from a low growl into an angry shout.

The plan had worked perfectly, just as Reiko had suggested.

Retracting the barriers from the coils, Dane regained control of his limbs to close the distance on Az, going for a point-blank discharge whilst giving up on his previous plan of watching out for Starwulf. Perhaps he thought he could land a hit on Az first, or in his anger just disregarded that plan.

He was prepared for it, but what stopped Az from taking the shot, was the fluctuation in Fia and Wulf’s wavelength.

Fia seemed to be growing impatient and quite honestly, so was Starwulf. He wasn’t one to let the iron cool. If anything, now that Az was using Reiko’s wavelength to prod at Dane, it was the perfect time to let down the hammer. ’No holding back now, Fia. Full power,’ he told her while shifting his wavelength from Reiko right back to Fia. He wanted his weapon in her true form. Her most powerful Weapon Amplification. The pinnacle of their Resonance.

It was time to show Dane why a weapon with a Meister would always be his better.

‘Right.’ Taking in the energy offered, her form shined a bright blue. Her form got longer, and the head of her hammer grew exponentially larger. The spike at its very tip transformed over into the head of a wolf while the claw on its back split into three offshoots of visible wavelength resembling claws. The massive blunt hammer shifting into the rounded over design of a capacitor. Fia was absolutely filled to the brim with spiritual energy, and the capacitor on the blunt edge of her hammer glowed like a wellspring of raw energy from Starwulf.

Fia was amplifying his wavelength to the maximum. When Starwulf blasted out after Dane, it was absurd. The spike in his wavelength was impossible to ignore. Lightning Rope would be an absolute necessity for the Autonomous Weapon at this point and Starwulf knew that. In fact, it excited him. He had dueled with Hoshi and Stein. He knew what the pinnacle of speed looked like. The prospect of getting to push his limit or find that of someone using such a rare technique only added to his adrenaline rush.

What Starwulf was doing could only be considered a blitz. It also demonstrated his new reverse grip on Fia. While true that he could use either side of her normally, in this form, she was intended to be used to swipe those deadly claws at their target. Against Dane, that’s exactly what he intended to do.

As Dane charged at Az, sparks skidded across his person. It was different than when simply preparing to discharge a blast. The electricity covered him, moving across and throughout his body, from his skin to his flesh, bone, and even his nerves. Starwulf was making his move, and Dane could feel it.

The autonomous weapon turned as his other opponent encroached on his flank, just as Starwulf levied the bladed claws of the hammer at him. He weaved his body, sucking in his stomach instinctively to minimize as much surface area as possible to avoid the strike. The talons of the weapon still tore through the body of his shirt. Not waiting a moment for Starwulf to recover or continue into a combo, Dane turned his transformed limb at Starwulf, blitzing forward and striking at him whilst electricity conducted across it.

Dane surprised him. Starwulf expected him to try some technique or another burst of electricity to avoid the brunt of the attack. Taking it dead on was… a circumvention of that expectation. Dane had the possibility of blocking a good majority of the damage that might have been lethal with a partial weapon transformation. Still, he wouldn’t come out of it unscathed.

Then he followed it up with an attack of his own. Bold. In his approach to Dane as a Mad Soul, he had forgotten the man truly was a warrior. Now, despite the circumstances, that shined through.

It only excited Starwulf further. A fervent grin illuminated his face as he realized just how he intended to handle this.

He was going to double down on his attack. ‘It’s time, Fia,’ he told her before shifting his wavelength around to his upper abdomen where it seemed Dane was aiming. He had to defend himself internally, else that electricity might fry him. Much like Dane, he intended to tank the attack. More importantly, he also intended to use his trump card, albeit a bit early.

With a wicked grin, he shouted, “CAP… POP!” Simple though it may be, it was one of their most devastating techniques. Fia surged the capacitor at the end of her hammer with energy it can no longer handle, the capacitor shone brightly for just a moment, almost becoming a flashbang if it had the force of an artillery bomb. The capacitor blew apart, the wellspring of dense energy inside shot out violently, creating a shockwave of wavelength energy that was visible to the naked eye. Disturbed sand flew up and out in a cloud, surrounding all five of them and beyond. If Dane were a regular human, his insides would become soup at this range.

Dane saw it, but too late. As the talons of the hammer glowed, there was little time to pull back his strike and clear the range. He lurched forward as he felt the impact to his body, the force of the explosion kicking him back through the sand with a tumble. Even with his clothing frayed and visible skin scorched, he recovered into a crouched position rather quickly, ready for a follow-up of some kind. He breathed out heavily as the uplifted sand died down. Even as a Death Scythe, that hurt.

It was about to hurt even more as Az switched from the Chime to the Demon Blade, moving at Dane’s back only the glow of wavelength empowering Reiko’s blade- a signal enough for Dane to clue in that Az was moving in to strike.

Reiko!

It was his signal to prepare- Demon Slaying Blade burned a pale whitish blue as Az moved in for the attack.

As the group of four coordinated efforts to strike, Reiko in her weapon form unleashed a final chime before her form briefly glowed, shifting to become larger and more ornate, a prow like head slams forward, energy from the union flowed forth as the anti-armor, anti-demon and anti-barrier of the Death Scythe. Empowering her Meister and now herself, she sent forth a surge of wavelength power, perhaps enough to shock Dane enough in remaining still, to crawl back some of the soul that was his, least it were too far gone. A purging, purifying blade, at least a chance to let him die as a weapon rather than a monster.

“Go! Strike him down! Pour forth everything! In the name of Death do we confine your soul and expunge your crimes and liberate those who you have taken!” If the words remained only on the inside of the union, or could be heard out loud, it didn’t much matter.

The onslaught of aura from Az and Reiko stunned Dane momentarily. Hands buried in the sand, he seemed to snap out of it as Reiko spoke. Everything she said was so pretentiously righteous. It spurred a reaction from the Mad Weapon.

Using the sand for cover again, Danes' hands transformed and charged a large capacity of electricity before expelling it toward Az. Whatever extent it would damage Az, it also kicked up a great amount of sand, which he used for cover to zip out of Reiko’s cleaving path.

 

[Merciless Medic]

Sara Middleton​

April 1, 2067
Location: Fire District, behind Fire House
Interactions: Termite Witch, Eva, Dani, Nadia
Mentions: Gauss, Noah, Arkayis, Adrian, Elly, Sage, Annika, Davis, Bee Witch, Ant Witch
Sir Les Paul Peckinou Serei2477 EmperorsChosen RedArmyShogun Mook-LandStrider

Ah, shit.

Without resonance, Sara wasn’t fast enough.

The witch had blocked her bash, and the exoskeleton exploded to make what Sara could only equate to contact cement but more for slowing down rather than making hardened shards.

She watched as the girl jumped back and clasped her hands together and all she thought was she was going to get crushed like a god damned bug. She only had three ways to get out and that was either bash a hole in the solid rock which wasn’t exactly doable, or lunge forwards or backwards and maybe use Eva’s elongating chain to hook onto something and pull herself out of harm’s way. But that chain would take too long to execute.

She didn’t have time to sit there, she charged forward, surging wavelength into her legs as she did so to zip out of harm’s way. Once she got out, she saw Nadia and Dani closing in, having thrown a dagger at the termite witch. Not wasting time, she continued her charge, swinging the lantern about and jumping onto pieces of stony rubble to avoid the sea of termites encroaching upon her position as much as she possibly could. Instead of using the lantern to bash, she sent a command to Eva in the soul space, swinging the lantern at the fleeing witch once she got close with the full intent of using the chain to capture her broom or breaking it, even if the chain length wasn't like Adra's.

‘Elongate.’​

 

[Merciless Medic]

Noah Wiley​

April 1, 2067
Location: Fire District, behind Fire House
Interactions: Ant Witch, Gauss, Arkayis
Mentions: Sara, Eva, Adrian, Elly, Sage, Annika, Davis, Bee Witch, Termite Witch
Sir Les Paul Peckinou Serei2477 EmperorsChosen RedArmyShogun Mook-LandStrider

Noah smirked as they were able to catch up to the Ant Witch and trap her. Not with fire, but with words. Did she really think she was even smart enough to realize they could even be manipulated? Her abilities were all but useless, and the only thing she had were words.

Hah, okay then.

Following Gauss’s lead, he sent out a compliment, words oozing with the tone that sounded like honey as he definitely sounded like he was awestruck with Lizzy’s appearance. And maybe sounding like he thought he could strike lucky. “Hey, Lizzy’s a cute nickname. Isabella’s a beautiful name, too.” However, he stayed in his weapon form, channeling wavelength energy for Gauss to use in whatever attack he may need. He even started generating some electricity without being spun so he may be used quickly without the need to telegraph an electrical attack thanks to prior training. While it wasn’t as strong as it would be if he were being spun, he’d rather not have something ready when they needed it.

 

[Merciless Medic]

Fia Moretti​

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

Fia watched as Az and Reiko did their own weapon amplification. Seeing Dane look on at their striking power stunned, Fia chuckled. But as soon as she saw a shift in Dane, she called to Starwulf quickly. ‘We need to keep him from leaving that attack’s range. We should block his escape route. We can’t get too close or else he’ll try to jump over us or send us in the way of the attack. We can also sandwich him between my swing and their attack.’ Thoughts in soul spaces did move quicker, so she hoped that was fast enough to convey what she wanted done.

With that idea thrown out there, she watched Dane’s attempt at blocking the hit with his lightning blast with bated breath, wondering if Starwulf would take up on that offer. Those suggestions were also relayed to Az and Reiko, so they at least knew they were planning on getting close.

 

[Merciless Medic]

Raphael Valerias​

March 29, 2067
Location: Dall Island, Beach
Interactions: Rand, Ark, Chanterelle, Maria
Mentions: N/A
Sir Les Paul The Regal Rper Meredith RedArmyShogun

Raphael tensed upon hearing from Maria that they could have brought those things out of Dall Island if that’s indeed what those cages were for. That thought didn’t sit well with him. He did sympathize with Maria’s shortsightedness on what they had lost. Granted, it was a lot, but they had to make do, otherwise they wouldn’t get anywhere in life if they had all they wanted in a space that was comfortable for them. There would be no growth, no nothing, and he knew that too well from all those talks his therapist had.

Maria was also correct in that those magic circles - while impressive - would be a fool’s errand to rely on. However, Maria’s assumption that they couldn’t learn new things quickly had him furrowing his brow. He looked down at his finished food, jaws tense.

Ark’s attempt at trying to tell him these creatures wouldn’t leave only for Rand to ruin that little bit of comfort had Raphael worrying his bottom lip between his teeth. Then again, that thought expanded. If ants had the intelligence to make rafts to float from one piece of land to the next, why didn’t these spiders? Was there something here they needed to survive? Was it this leyline?

Either way, if they had wanted to, they had plenty of time to evolve and adapt to flee the conditions, and yet they chose not to leave. Something was here, keeping them here or otherwise they chose to stay. He set away his utensils, worrying even more as his hand scratched at his head.

Hearing that they’d be flying, the thought of those chains holding that anchor on that boat had his eyes widening. That’s right! They could do that!

Of course, any sense of excitement and positivity immediately soured. Even with Rand’s compliments, Maria still had to be a debbie-downer. While she did have her points, she was thinking they had to make something super big and grandiose. No no, they didn’t even need to do that. But then hearing that she didn’t want his help… It made him feel raw inside. Whatever was inside of him bubbled, his madness flared at the worst time but only a little bit. But it still left his head hanging and his eyes wide as he tried to wrestle with the thing inside of him.

And hearing her needing to take so long to make… That was ridiculous! They had no such time!

He was about to stand up, his gaze hard on Maria, but then it cooled as Rand spoke. Something about a secret?

They were sent here because the other groups were sent here. Rand wanted to prove something to them all. And ohhh, boy did Raph hate the majority of witches. Rand’s passion only cooled Raph’s jets further, but his hands still shook, and his mind was on fire. Hearing Rand was able to teach him aided in cooling himself down even further, but he still felt like he couldn’t just let what she said slide!

He didn’t stand, but he did sit straighter, his eyes locked on Maria’s and there was a hint of something rotten in his eyes. “If we have wind magic, we don’t need any of that fancy shit. We’re fucking sorcerers with a god damned witch by our side, we aren’t some damned children who can’t fend for themselves nor create! You write me off as if I can’t help, but I know stitchwork from my father who can enchant clothes and has rivalries with his father! Of course I can fucking weave, it’s in my god damn soul!” He pointed to Ark, eyes alight with a maddening flame from having been insulted. He stood up now, his body tensing. “And I can lighten the weight of all my bloody chains.” He glared, taking out his grimoire and opening up the page that showed that he wasn’t joking. He can make them as light as a feather or at least half a ton. He then put his grimoire away, angrily stashing it in his bag.

And then he pointed to Rand and Ark again. “And these two motherfuckers can protect us while we’re out there! Just because what you see now or then doesn’t mean that’s the extent of what we can do! Hell, I can control the chains via telekinesis and trap people in chains. If we don’t go simple and if we think too hard on this, then we are all what those other witches call us as! And I am NOT going to give them anymore ammo to use against us just because we were born different than they are!” After getting it out, that maddening light in his eyes cooled to a slow-burning ember, and his ragged breathing became deeper, focused, and more measured.

“Don’t write us off as if we’re incapable. Don’t become like those other prissy bitches who think they’re better than us just because we were unfortunately stuck with the echo of a curse some centuries ago. And even though us males got it rough, I know female sorcerers have it even worse.” He was talking about how the sorcerers were created. How the witches were cursed with not being able to make male witches to cull their numbers due to their magical influence over the world for those who weren’t witches inhabited.

He then considered a possibility that Maria would try to waste his time trying to prove that, so he held up a finger. “And before you make me do something to prove that I can, we don’t have time for that either. You need our help. Is it going to be perfect? No, I wish it were, but we don’t have the time. But it’s going to be functional and that coating stuff can be done with magic.” He then gestured towards Rand, feeling his mind coming back to him now after venting like that. “Rand here is super versatile and you’re just going to write him off because we can’t rely on him later? We can rely on him now and that’s what we need right now. That’s why he’s here. Going about it without help is bloody folly.” He paused, then sighed. His muscles stopped tensing, but he didn’t sit back down. Now, he was too antsy and he was starting to hear that growl that they no longer needed him. That they no longer considered him good enough and that he was worthless. All these horrid thoughts echoing in his head, and then the sweet, sweet promise that it would be better if he dipped right into the madness… But he couldn’t, he stayed obstinately away. Mainly to prove to himself and his group that he wasn’t going to turn into a monster.

Those tricks from his therapist were working wonders.

 

[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

It certainly was easy for Fia to be barking orders. She wasn't the one that took the hit to the gut. She also wasn't the one actively feeling the rapid drop in power that came following Cap Pop. While they could still Resonate, Fia was no longer moderating his wavelength. Her filter effect on his delay was gone. These effects were compounding. Starwulf was hardly out of the fight, but he wouldn't be the raw force of nature he was a moment ago.

Still, there was no damn way Dane got out of that unscathed. Weapon form or not, Starwulf expected him to be hurt. Not only that, he was doubtful of it Dane could keep maintaining Lightning Rope. That type of spiritual explosion was bound to cause the same type of micro-rejection effect as Soul Menace, and if that were the case, Az most definitely could catch him. As it stood, Az was likely the fastest person in the fight now so long as he and Reiko remained in good shape.

Regardless of the change to the battlefield situation, Starwulf was hardly out of options. He didn't want to use his last trump card with Fia if he didn't have to. They already blew Cap Pop. If they burnt through their remaining reserves too early, then this fight would genuinely be down to Az and Reiko. No, what Starwulf had was his good, ole reliable. The move that earned him his moniker. The move that predated Fia, even.

Pouring his wavelength into his hand, it began to concentrate into a tiny spark that jumped between his fingertips. Before his wavelength even had a chance to reach its maturity, he was already darting forward to pursue Dane. However, he made an intentional effort to follow-up with Az. He wouldn't be the one to strike first this time. Az had every natural advantage for the moment and they needed to keep their positioning specific to avoid another trap or strategical technique from Dane. Like a wounded animal, he was expecting the weapon to lash out worse than ever.

Awaiting an opening created either by Az or a misstep from Dane, Starwulf continued forward though a good distance away from Az and Reiko with Fia in one hand and the crackling electricity of his signature attack in his other.

If Dane wasn't careful, he would get bit by the wolf.

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Thaddeus Thales​

"Gauss"​

Species Human
Partner Noah Wiley, Arkayis Misonuka
Rank Fate Agent

Location Death City, Outside the Fire District
Mission Recessing the Genes
Status Coked up, excited

​

Tags: Peckinou Merciless Medic

This Ant Witch liked what she saw, and Gauss could tell. Izzy, as she called herself, apparently suffered some amount of hubris. This tactic must have worked for her several times in the passed. It really must have, honestly. Gauss personally didn't find her that attractive. A plain, pallid face. No real bust or curves to speak of. Sure, she was a little tone, but that hardly accounted for the feminine qualities she seemingly lacked. In fact, his general lack of attraction to her would have been so significant that Noah and Arky might have even picked up on it from his soul.

While Izzy was testing her luck, now hovering slightly closer to them and making her pathetic attempt at seduction by crossing her legs over her broomstick near them, Gauss was having an internal dialogue with his partners.

'Now Arky, I know you wanna burn the Witch, but let's draw her in... I wanna shock, bludgeon, slash, and stab her just as much as you, but just follow in the footsteps of Noah,' he told him, trying to keep the overwhelming urge to burn and destroy he felt radiating outward at bay. Noah, on the other hand, just seemed to be riding the high. It really was a beautiful thing.

"I think I prefer Isabella; it has such a nice ring to it..." Gauss responded to her aloud, almost in tandem with his thoughts. It was almost impressive how well he could speak and think separately. It wasn't clear if that was the cocaine or a natural skill of his; his reputation for double-talking and quick wit was pretty well known. "Besides, I don't know who they are, but uh... perhaps we could get a little closer than average man you meet," he suggested to her, laying it on thick with absolutely no shame in his game.

Except, really, there was a touch of shame. He wasn't exactly enthralled about hitting on a Witch that wasn't terribly attractive. He didn't really get a good look at the others, but Izzy just wasn't doing it for him.

'We need to figure out how we want to play this. She may want to disarm me. If so, I have a knife in my boot pocket, but it's sheath isn't magnetic,' he explained to both of them, pointing out the flaw in that plan. 'If you two have to transform, did you bring your knives? I could nab one of them and try to stab her. If not, we may need to play this by ear,' he asked them. It was a bit of a crapshoot. All of them were given knives. But then, they were weapons. Did they even bother carrying them? If not, he was going to be real pissy later. But then, they were just going to a festival and had a costume change. Regardless, he wasn't going to let them transform if he didn't have immediate access to a weapon.

At the very least, he was relatively clear-headed. Sure, he was coked up and making moderately irrational decisions like blocking off his allies, but when it came down to a crucial moment like this, he could at least formulate a plan. His tolerance to cocaine was proving to be at least somewhat useful. Now whether or not Noah and Arky were in the same boat remained unclear. Noah perhaps had some sense left in him, but he wasn't sure if Arky had the composure not to try and incinerate the Witch the moment he felt the first compulsion.

In the end, he was prepared for the worst. If this became an all out brawl, so be it. Bitch was gonna die regardless. All that this really accounted for was just how loose of cannons were they.

 

[Mook-LandStrider]

Annika
Outside of the fire district.
Sir Les Paul Merciless Medic Peckinou EmperorsChosen RedArmyShogun Serei2477​

Listening as Elly berrated the witches Annika couldn’t contain her smile. The woman was seemed gifted in her ability to get under someones skin, or perahps it was the prideful nature of the witches they faced. Either way, the result indicated that Elly was getting somewhere. Hearing someone coming up to her Annika turned quickly, prepared to strike out but was immediately met by Davis who began shoving things into her hands.

With both chain blades in her hands she looked down at the cloak before quickly putting it on. Next came the harness full of grenades. Eyes going wide at being handed a bundle of explosives she couldn’t help but smirk. After a moment she had the harness on and was about to turn and face the group of witches but considered her approach and looked to Davis. “Alright, lets think about this for a split second. The bee witch is surrounded by a swarm and with this cloak, if it as useful as you say it is could be useful in getting me close. A one two punch of concusion to clear the swarm followed by a frost grenade to disrupt her casting could be what we need right now. I am going to need a distraction.” Annika spoke up. Twisting in place somewhat unnaturally she swung out at a termite that had gotten to close for comfort.

“This cloak is abit unwieldy. But neat that I can see through it from the inside. OKAY! Enough talking, time for slicing.” Annika called out throwing her arms up in the air. Pulling them back down she disappeared under the cloak and more or less vanished. Quickly making her way past the swarm of insects she wanted nothing more than to reach out and dice them up but had a specific manuever in mind. Coming up within chucking distacne of the bee witch Annika primed the first of two grenades under the cloak. Priming the second she threw the cloak up like some random dude flashing a group of people.

In a flash she hurled the concussion grenade up and towards the bee witch set to detonate on contact with the swarm protecting her. Expoloding violently a hole was torn open wide enough for Annika to get the second grenade through. This time it was a frost grenade set to explode within four seconds of being tossed. Having run through the distance in her head the grenade passed through the gap in her defenses and exploded just a few inches from the side of her face.

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Maria Mayer - Dall Island​

For the longest time Maria just stood their silently, her doll like features disturbed by the occasional blink, as she listened to all that was said. First there was Rand. The revelations to why they were here, who else was here and the why's of it all. So, this was a game, or rather a race. One that Rand wished to achieve because of lost honor. However, being trapped under the shadow of her mentor... Would that bother her? Thinking on it, she did not desire to eclipse her mentor, but to achieve an equal standing with her. Just as she was about to speak, Raph joined in the conversation with a fire of his own.

Meeting his gaze, her calm yellow eyes affix to his, there was no fear there, but a sense of evaluation. As if to study him and to rip into, every single word. And yet even then she remained silent, a slight smile to her face. Hanging on to each word, towards the end and at the mention of them being inferior, she bit into her left thumb, and stopped once a trickle of blood started to flow.

"I have nothing to prove to them. For all my life has the workshop been my abode and naught for little did I seek the helping hands of another. Nor have hands readily been offered to me. I am Maria "The Marionette" Mayer, the girl who plays with the shapes of man and she who has dolls as her closest friends. The prized Pupil of Mirai, head witch of the black workshop."

Wiping the bloody thumb across her face, then kneeling down to get a fine coating of dust to clot the small wound, she stands back up in quick order. "Very well. If only to put the Green Workshop in its place, I shall take you all as my workmen. But my orders shall be exact. To be clear, Pride comes before the fall. Your work must be done with diligence and exactly. One small mistake can chain react and kill us all. Or at least break bones."

Reaching into her belt, she rapidly starts to draw diagrams and blueprints, simplistic, yet exacting in measurements. "We shall not use reeds in the construction of the base. Between us, my dolls, basic equipment and laying space for Chanterelle, as well as hopefully materials to return with, it will not do. We will need to construct a base out of wood. I shall be handling that, minus one or two tasks. Those being, I need rope to tie the pieces off, three thick strands and four thin of 15 to 20 feet in length, and some U Nails or Simpson connectors." Drawing out diagrams for those, she then shows the final construct. What they were standing on, or would be, was more like a raft, 12 feet long and six across, it could not carry very much, but it was way beyond what a simple basket could do, around the sides was a safety rail made of smaller sticks and the like, with a few central pillars interlocking the main beams.

Next was the Balloon, rather large and elongated to account for the lift needed, and what seemed to be Three close together openings that opened akin to shoots into each section of the balloon. "I'll make the platform myself, Ark, Raph and Rand, you three will do the balloon, I'll draw out the diagrams for construction." Doing so, Maria had several pages with rough estimates and what they could get from materials on hand, "I don't care what you do, but join the pieces as so, and make sure it is water tight, as then it should be air tight, a little draft should be alright, but if this starts to fail we all fall."

With that, Maria connected it to her human sized doll and headed for the nearby tree line. "This goes against my principles and aesthetics, I'll never admit to building this trash heap, but the faster you all get to work, the sooner we can be done. This will be a couple hours at least."

With nothing more to say she walked off to find suitable candidates for the base platform, leaving the detailed guide for the balloon segments.

Merciless Medic The Regal Rper Meredith Sir Les Paul

 

[Sybil]

Adrasteia Chandrice

• Arrival to Hoshi (Past)
• Present
• Mentions/Interactions

• 
  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 would flat-out refuse 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 that she almost seemed happy as she walked. The whip had 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 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 workout 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~.”
  
  Once finally at the top of the plateau, the whip weapon could only remark mentally at the height, simply acknowledging it as they waited for the conversation between Midori and this other individual. 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. Adra simply remained in their room once bedding down, only to wake up a bit earlier than she expected even despite the warnings. She had planned on being up at 6 am like usual! The earlier rise threw her off a little, but refusing to just cave to something she could overcome she got up and was ready swiftly if not for anything more than spite. Succeeding in being quickly ready fed her ego once more, the back straightening a bit more as if the whole woman was being inflated with her ego.
  
  All that ego boosting was not going to matter however, that exact seemingly fragile concept was going to be attacked, the individual in question being the Elder named Souta. He looked both her and her partner up and down, remarking low potential and skill much to her irritation. Of course, the insults to her skill and potential were all she cared about at this moment, a slight against her ego being personal. They would have attempted to hit the man if it wasn’t for the fact Adra knew his body was no indicator of how lethal Souta may be. In fact, it was because he was so old that she knew to be careful. No regular old guy can survive even just the thinner air up here without being more than they seem. Her uneasiness was of course obviously right once observed afar, but the anger was making it a needed argument to have with herself lest she lashed out. Her veins would bulge in her neck and temples, pinching the bridge of her nose as Souta laid further into the duo and Midori. Anger grew for the slights against her, but insulting the others with her only brought her down further. That, and maybe she had a heart and didn’t like someone putting down the people she spent time with that some might even call friends. Either way, the weapon bit her lip as he goaded for someone to speak, her tongue as eager to fly as her blades. What was worse? She was given an outlet, Midori. Someone who had not spoken up, and that seemed to piss her off almost as much as Souta had. She probably didn’t need to take such a serious stance, but she widened her foot stance, ignoring the elder and glaring at Midori with a lasting snarl, arms loose in their sockets. A more level-headed weapon might have transformed immediately. The control of her madness clearly had no effect on her impulsivity. It landed her squarely where the Elder likely wanted, an emotional outburst in a way. The response from Midori did not help.
  
  “I hate to tell you two, but Souta-sensei is right, 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. 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?”
  
  Adra’s lip curled back showing the sharp teeth locked together, the more she internalized his words the more she internally hit back at the ideas. Her natural response to bark back at authority did not help her, but she clenched her teeth to behave. Despite what she wanted, she had something more important to accomplish. Get reinstated and put all her effort to use. That and some small part of her reminded the weapon she had a partner, one who seemed in comparison to her to be calm. She could tell he had some uncomfortably with this process, but she could not and did not analyze it. She had more pressing issues. The assassin in front of her was just one more hurdle. Her mind was narrowing, only for a voice to speak up. Zosar’s voice was less offended maybe than she would have wanted, but it did not mean she could ignore his suggestion.
  
  "Adra" Zosar called to his partner, "let's show him what we can do." His words floated in her head, her brain chewing on them as her impulses fought to throw caution to the wind and not transform. She could control her movements better and act on her own if she was separate, a boon in that regard….and yet after a long second or so of thought, she narrowed her eyes and clicked her tongue in 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.”
  
  Once grasped firmly she transformed, her body filtering into light and metal before her chains clinked against the ground link by link. Laid out and winding, her length like some large anaconda covered in her metal thorns. Her soul began to vibrate, reaching out to connect to Zosar not out of affection but out of duty. He was a tool to show off herself, at least her irritation categorized him of such. Her feelings of spite and anger now flowed through the channel they both opened, but it was probably expected. Adra was surprised, however, now feeling Zosar’s silent frustration and determination. He was trying to be the bigger person between herself and them, but she didn’t expect to feel this. It was deeper, something most other partners would warn was not productive for a bond. Anger and its subsidiaries of it were unstable, and usually short lasting. It required both to control it and feel similarly, lest it begins to fracture their syncing wavelengths. It was one of the grocery lists of reasons Adrasteia had issues forming partnerships, she didn’t care to curb her anger.
  
  And yet as she felt the anger, she felt something similar. Big crybaby terrorists had some pride, and that was something she could relate to. The two of them were not some heaven-sent pair, but as she connected and felt the anger like warm sand through her fingers she couldn’t help but put herself all into Zosar’s first strike.
  
  At least she had hoped to, but amidst her preparation she lost track of the ninja mentor of theirs, only to feel pinned with a grunt. The culprit she found had put her in a bad spot, but as her Meister got peppered she just got more frustrated. Her thoughts of cohesiveness were fraying, already about to abandon it for what she perceived as a better option. She knew she couldn’t fully transform now, especially having links pinned, but Midori’s play demanded he is close to keeping her pinned. Her mind went to the only way she could do the work for her Meister, thinking to partially transform and grab onto him to throw him off and maybe help pay back the disabled Midori was enacting. Her mind was set on the plan she made in mere moments, not even thinking for a moment to communicate properly or actually confer. Thankfully, however, Zosar surprised her again.
  
  As she tenses up knowing what she felt she had to do, energy began to well up between the Meister and Weapon. The feeling was like anger, with more focus, and strength. Her mind paused at the feeling, taking a mildly longer breath as her body began to unwind slightly. The power was not uncontrollable for her, but at first, she stumbled. It was not graceful, but as she felt it surge again she grabbed it like a writhing animal trying to attack her. The energy was like a snake or vine, sizing her up and daring to knock her completely into uselessness if she dared. To her, it wasn’t balanced. It was a challenge. A show of strength that enticed the weapon to do more than try to do it all. It goaded her to focus on their bond, and let someone else shine. A bitter pill, but for once someone was showing her what she needed. Strength was shown when she needed it.
  
  ….. Fine. We do it your way Zosar… you may have something going.
  
  She grabbed onto the serpent-like apparition her mind showed it as and wrestled it, synchronizing at a higher rate than recorded from her for a long time. For a brief moment, someone might have even mistaken them both as functioning normal partners. The way it fought back and demanded a push and shove almost made it feel like a ship. Her mind pondered it as she kept up her own fight of focus and spite into maintaining their limited bond.
  
  Of course, to obtain even a bit of ego back from the stripping down they received and are receiving, the partners both knew they needed more. From themselves and each other. Adra had begun to focus for such a short time before Zosar took the first step, almost too short of a time between this and her most recent achievement with syncing. She got a warning, and that was all right before it hit.
  
  Adrasteia’s representation of Zosar’s input wavelength as a tendril-like beast had been manageable. Her mistake was thinking it could always be, which she was proven wrong when Zosar stopped constraining his wavelength. The surge of power widened the whip’s eyes, all as she felt the serpent of energy get heavier. It was increasing in weight rapidly, the more power the more pressure Adra felt under. Her breathing stopped as she tried to stay standing, not wanting to collapse at this new height… but for the life of her, she couldn’t take the sudden shift. Her legs buckled, knees hitting the ground harshly as she was rooted on her knees by the weight, her body crumpling more and more as the constrictor beast began to lay on top and attempt to squeeze and crush the weapon. The pressure made her curse, her legs refusing to move as it all got worse suddenly.
  
  FUCK SHIT… SHIT…. SHIT!
  
  She pushed and leaned on her knees, trying to stop the issue not trying to smother her. It was hopeless seemingly, and the struggles for nothing began to make the weapon question what they should do. Should she give in, letting it win and disrupting their bond? That would be defeat, a shameful one at that. Spite alone kept them from doing that. No, she knew she needed to get up. There was no stepping down in a fight here or on real missions, but she was unable to move.
  
  At these moments the time seemed to slow, the ears of the weapon picking up on something distant. In the abyssal void, she had been in, somehow there were sounds from the outside. Not the real, but another world of a soul. She listened, hoping for anything useful as she fought from being forced out.
  
  Water. Sounds of water seemingly, and thunder? It was distant, but nonetheless there. It felt so alien to her, but in that alienation, she felt it. It had to be Zosar’s… but she had little time to analyze it. Instead, she was being smothered, this large serpent fully submerging her in the energy body it held. She was engulfed, surrounded, and entombed inside.
  
  But after hearing a glimpse of another soul so close to seeing that reality, she couldn’t give in. She growled, gritting her sharp teeth, and let out a yell from the growl, raising a leg to plant the foot down. With only one knee down she began to push up, slowly but steadily moving up as she kept pushing harder and harder even as her soul aches for freedom from the pressure. As she finally stood on two feet, the serpent was back to wrestling her. The new strength the energy had was overwhelming, but Adrasteia always seemed to find herself fighting the uneven odds. It was something she had sought even, so in the face of this strength? She responded by performing her duty, focusing Zosar’s efforts by taking the wavelength given to him and turning it into something productive. It was lucky she did so, as the next minute would prove hellish.
  
  The efforts however would not bear a victory, but rather a measured defeat. It was not pretty, but as the exchange took its predictable turn soon the wavelength became untenable. The fight ended, and the weapon couldn't help but feel somewhere torn between pride and shame. Pride at accomplishing more, but then to immediately feel such a decisive loss. They had only done their best to make it as hard-fought as it could have been. Transforming back and next to her partner, Adra just watched, her tongue running behind her carnivorous teeth to temper her frustration. She lost, and now she had to listen as Zosar was spoken to first.
  
  If only the pill didn't come from Elder Souta. "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," his words caused her to take a huff as she kept her jaws shut. Especially since Zosar was getting his input. Her partner had provided something, and she paid it back by following his lead even in this conversation. For now. His determination at least provided some pride back to her.
• 
  The next moments happened swiftly, soon now moving after a quick bow. She might have resisted, but she was less snappy after having a taste of a real fight again. That peaceful feeling would be interrupted by the simplicity of their apparent assignment at face value. Tree chopping?
  
  "Not just any trees, though. Sukaiebonī, native only to these mountains. The bark of the tree alone is hard as iron and it's core doesn't get any softer, really. More importantly, it absorbs spiritual energy. Typically, it absorbs the energy that radiates from the sun and moon and purifies it, but it's not picky. The path you walked up used to be called the shi no kiseki--the trail of death. Thousands of years ago, one would die before they got through it. Souls sucked right out of them. My ancestors cleared the very specific path I took you through, so if you get lost, you'll probably die before you reach the stairway," Midori went on explaining, leading Adra and her partner now through the rest of the town as the sun rose and the cobbled path continued on.
  
  The calmness of the people was almost eery, but it was something she has to just adjust to after the business around Death City. The explanation of their task helped, now understanding a little more.
  
  "Apparently, Adra is to do this today as well--but only so that she understands firsthand what Zosar is doing. After that, you'll come train with me... Elder Souta didn't quite inform me what we'll be doing," Midori tacked on, giving an update as to the fate of the whip as well.
  
  "Fine by me." Unlike her partner who approached a reasonable tree to start, the weapon approached one of the larger trees. The altitude truly seemed to not inhibit the dark wood, making her size it up before placing a hand on the tree. The effect was something slightly worse than just the walk-up, the uneasy feeling of almost doom looming out of the senses. Not surprising people could die out here. The weapon transformed her hand into a blade, and with a deep inhale she would stab, the body pushing the blade in a little over an inch with pure strength. Wisdom was not her forte, so she needed to confirm the sturdiness. Pulling the blade out would prove more difficult, but with a grunt, she pulled it out. Transforming her hand back however would prove more insightful, as they finally noticed the increased moment of draining during her minor transforming.
  
  ....wow okay fuck this type of tree. Death be damned... fuck it this soul shit can always be brute forced right?
  
  With a huff she transformed partially once more, shifting the lower half of her arm to get a length of chain. She had not taken an axe, her mind trying to just think outside the norm this time. Her arm of spiked chain ended not in her blades, but instead in her untransformed hand. She stepped back a step, winding up before whipping her chain out and around the tree trunk, locking her hands together and pulling the chain taught. Now it was pure brute force, the weapon attempting to begin to cut using her arm like a saw-toothed chain, save for her thorns not being made for stripping the wood.
  
  
  
• 
  Sir Les Paul The Regal Rper
  

 

[Peckinou]

Arkayis Misonuka

Sir Les Paul Merciless Medic EmperorsChosen RedArmyShogun Mook-LandStrider

Arkayis was a bit deviously happy to have a witch within their grasp, he was never fond of witches a trait that was instilled into him due to his sister and was likely not to leave anytime soon. The look of fear in the witches eyes, as she was cut off from the others was something that Arkayis couldn't help but derive a bit of pleasure from it. Though that soon turned into a annoyance when Gauss decided to take on with flirting with the witch, Arkayis was more use to head on and direct approaches, with tactics being occasionally utilized when needed. This sorta thing wasn't exactly in their play book and even if the witch was cute, Arkayis probably wouldn't of been able to get past his hatred for witches to think too much about how attractive they were. Though with the drugs stimulating their head, Arkayis replied to Gauss with a annoyed tone "Mhmmm, fine." , though the urge to burn was still present Arkayis was a bit content at the moment giggling to themselves. Before adding on to what Noah said in a bemused tone, "Oh yes, very Beautiful indeed." though Arkayis was talking more about the wall of fire rather than the actual witch. He figured if he focused more on the beauty of the flames around them, he would be able to tolerate the witch drawing breath in their presence.

Though they kept their focus on their lovely blue flames, Gausses question about if they brought knives made Arkayis chuckle before confidently saying "Noooooope." Arkayis rarely kept conventional weapons on his person, figuring it wouldn't really do him any good anyways, his sister had usually been the to protect him and if she wasn't all he had to do was last long enough for her to show up. Still though, presently Arkayis wasn't sure what the witches intentions were, though they could make a wild guess, they were already prepared to lash out flames if needed, as they fully wanted to add more lovely blue flames into the area, though a witch getting burned to dust would be even more of a pleasing sight, barely restrained Arkayis kept chuckling madly to himself, their desire to to burn the witch to a crisp, was temporary restrained for now, though for how long was another question in of itself.