Fandom Soul Eater: F.A.T.E

[Sir Les Paul]

Thaddeus Thales​

"Gauss"​

Species Human
Partner Noah Wiley, Arkayis Misonuka
Rank Fate Agent

Location Romania, Calimani Village
Mission A Bloody Investigation
Status Focused

​

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

Situational analysis.

His golden eyes peered through the streets of the village, creating a mental map of the area to the best of his current ability. Law enforcement were strung up. Civilians, enthralled or otherwise, were there as little more than a farcical barrier between them and the Baroness. Gauss with his view of magnetic fields could make out a myriad of weapons, but no apparent guns save one lone shotgun. This village must have been relatively law-abiding given the restrictions in the area. Granted, he hardly had the range in view to scope out the whole area. For all he knew, they had snipers positioned well outside of any reasonable range.

This is why Bloodhunters existed. His mind reeled over that fact. There were specialized corps in the DWMA for next to every situation. The Spellbreakers, the Bloodhunters, Reapers, the CIA, MIBVI Response Teams, so on and so forth. It didn't matter what branch they were working with, all of them had access to these resources in some way or another. Gauss was perturbed it was the four of them--given Elly and Midori were still MIA--against a Bloodsucker of his caliber. It also lead into question of Kidd and his assertion they could handle this threat included the entire team.

He hadn't the time to process distractions like that, but they still reared their ugly head. This country and its petty international squabbles allowed itself to become a veritable breeding ground for Bloodsuckers. It meant other countries likely had the same vulnerabilities.

His soul became silent. More still. More focused. Arkayis and Noah would be familiar with this. It was the mindset he had when they trained at their hardest. When his ambition became singular. When distractions like the form and figure of Annika or Ileana were irrelevant; all that mattered now was whatever objective was set in front of him. When they trained, it was the desire to get stronger. To have his brother acknowledge him. To shut his sister up. To impress their father. It was the desire to become better. Now, it was the desire to get to that bitch on the throne and fry her alive.

Gauss had to factor in all of his options. At this point, there was rampant destruction. There was no way the Romanian government could turn a blind eye. They may try to blame the agents or claim they were insufficient, but the fact of the matter was that the Baroness had already slaughter civil servants and began enslaving the masses. Casualties were far from ideal, but at this point, avoiding any seemed next to impossible, and more so a task that would put himself and Annika at great peril. Acceptable losses, even if they were lives, were something he felt justified here.

More importantly, so was collateral damage. Kidd told only warned them against burning down the castle. He didn't shit about the town.

It was time for Arkayis to shine. Or, more accurately, burn.

"Annika, follow me with a ten second delay. I'll carve us a path. Between your cloak and the flames, I doubt they'll even be able to make out out as much more than a blur," he told her, shooting her some of his calm instructions. Meanwhile, he was pouring his wavelength directly into Arkayis for this next bit while amplifying his body not to be fast or strong, but to take the brunt of what he was about to do.

Gauss then barreled down the streets of Calimani, veering off left and barging into the most nearby house like a human wrecking ball. He burst through the siding and support only to then swing Arkayis through the remainder of the house to light it afire, doing so in places he expected not to be immediately structurally important or load-bearing. Knowing Annika was soon to follow him, he set the new blaze a fair distance from here he made a path through, then just continued carving his way through. He continued this through the streets, scraping Arkayis through the ground and even at times using him to pull debris in to light afire.

His plan was to make a crescent-shaped pattern to the Baroness and light a ring of fire along the way, making his own type of barrier against them. He was enacting a chaotic path of destruction that ensured a safe distance while Annika could stealthily make her way through.

If he did manage to run into any back-alley thralls or inhabitants, he gave little mind, either bludgeoning them with Noah to continue his rampage on his way to the Baroness or ignoring them entirely if they were non-combatants. If they hadn't the common sense to leave a burning building he made extra holes in, that was on them. With the cover of the fire and houses, he assumed the shotgun which likely had spread pellets would be relatively harmless at this range even if it could hit, and that the largest majority of the thralls and civilians would be blocked out.

He moved quick. It was hardly long before he met the Baroness atop her lone chair. He had no intention of letting her ramble on, try to guilt trip them, use her magic, or instill some type of manipulative tactic. No, instead, he leapt right in using the same tactic as he did before. A blind rush that stopped just short of her followed by a release of the jet blue flames from Arkayis. He doubted this would secure a quick kill, but it was worth a shot anyway. With Annika around and hidden from sight, she could perhaps follow-up with her chainblades, and this dance could get started. If possible, he wanted her dead before the thralls got a chance to turn around en masse. Erecting a solid barrier of fire without debris to burn would be more taxing on his reserves than simply burning through what was already there.

He just wanted her fucking dead already. This shit show of a mission was wearing him down.

 

[Merciless Medic]

Sara Middleton​

Date: April 12, 2067
Location: Weeping Woods - Northeast Forest Line, Valaam, Republic of Karelia, Russia
Interactions: Eva, Dani, Nadia, Adrian, Irina
Mentions: N/A
Mook-LandStrider EmperorsChosen RedArmyShogun Sir Les Paul

The deeper they went through the Weeping Woods, the more ominous and dreary it felt. If it weren’t for Nadia here, Sara would have likely ran for the hills before they even left the area. The mushrooms that began to grow and the ooze that came from the trees were gross, but it also made Sara feel sad for the trees and the spirits within. Fungi were almost always parasitic in nature, if not completely, so Sara knew the fungi weren’t a part of the purification process, if they had any souls at all, which started being a thing as they continued deeper still.

It made her wonder if the trees here weren’t implanted with souls, or if they were sucked out…

Best not to think about that…

As they continued with Sara wondering if these spores were dangerous to inhale, that’s when they ran across something that had Sara’s blood running cold. It was huge, something akin to a golem with how it was made of bones, antlers, among other things. Was that flesh? Or wood?

All Sara could process were the vines that rushed them. Even if she had jumped back, she’d still get caught due to their heightened speed. Thankfully, Irina was there to freeze them as they wrapped around Sara’s legs, allowing her to smash them with a couple swings of Eva’s weapon form.

Hearing Nadia over the comms, Sara swung Eva’s form to hopefully spread that illusion dispelling fire to allow for hand communications. They were to make a line and head for that… huge fungus?

If there was a tree under that, Sara would be surprised.

Stepping behind Adrian to use him as a shield against the spikes that came, she waited for the onslaught to stop so she could step line beside Adrian like Nadia said, smashing the frozen vines under them to the best of her ability to free Adrian and allow them to leave as Nadia explained these were totems and to run.

Then, Nadia ran off. Sara wasn't so sure if they were even able to just get out of this themselves and hoped they could follow her to this fungus of a tree before they became mincemeat.

Just as she had disengaged and sprinted for Nadia, that was when she saw Nadia come back with... What happened to Dani??? She had fire on her and... was that a scorpion tail?

But she couldn't be too distracted, she just waited there and continued to protect Adrian and Irina as best she could.

 

[Sir Les Paul]

While Sara was quick to follow the orders of Nadia, Irina was more determined. She had no idea what the duo was doing and didn't intend on backing out here unless it was absolutely necessary. Adrian found himself doubling back to defend Irina had the situation came to it as keeping her safe took priority in his brain, unless they were told otherwise. It turned out she wasn't in great need of him as a guardian. Instead, Irina doubled down on her attempt to neutralize the threat and took advantage of the lack of allies in the area.

She leapt to the ground and soon enough, a single large magic circle formed around her feet, glowing a pale blue that could have easily been mistaken for a bright white. Directly after, she thrust forth her hands and debuted all the power a Void Witch like her could muster. Winter winds picked up in the entire surrounding area, dropping the temperature even more, and conjuring a blizzard in front of her that began coating the totems in snow and ice. It was far beyond anything she had demonstrated earlier.

Tier 4? Or 5? It was hard to tell what this type of spell would qualify as. Not that anyone in the group was an expert. For all they knew, it might have been a simple spell with a large amount of power behind it. Regardless, it was powerful.

The totems could barely defend themselves before being coated over in the ice. The spell would have worked, and demonstrated just how useful Irina could have been without worrying about collateral damage. Just as the totemic creatures seemed to be entirely cased in ice, the true king of the forest finally arrived.

Standing a solid twelve or thirteen foot tall, the creature--an amalgamation of man and tree--pushed aside the trees in the area, knocking off and even breaking their fungal cages, whilst making his way to the fight in the fastest pace he could muster. With a quick forward stomp of his foot, roots shot out from his foot and surged through the ground itself, breaking through the ice and penetrating up through the snow. They did not merely damage the frost she was creating, but instead began to drain the mana directly out of the area. They inched closer and closer, encroaching on her magic circle until it flickered out and faltered entirely, causing the spell to come to an abrupt end.

Irina was hit with backlash from this. Catastrophic spell failure was no joke and the feedback caused her own fingertips to ice over, nearly immediately being coated in a white frost and her hands turning a pale blue. She could only jump backwards and begin breathing on them, using a different spell that spat out heat to try and counteract the frost. Adrian meanwhile remained in front of her. Irina seemed to have no shame in hiding behind him just as Sara did.

Though, by this time, Nadia and Sara with their respective weapons would have been back in time to see the creature so effortlessly break through the powerful spell. All the while, more roots were springing up to entangle the frozen totems, squeezing them in an attempt to break them free of their icy prisons.

With its roots doing most of its work and the creature a fair distance away, it was able to finally speak to the group. It's voice was deep, lumbering, male in nature but not without the human traits one might have expected from it. It came across as forced and unnatural, something it likely rarely had to do. "This is my domain. My home," it said.

"What vermin you are to enter here... no gift, no greeting.. brandishing your weapons.." it continued, "I shall punish whatever servant failed to send you away."

RedArmyShogun Merciless Medic EmperorsChosen Mook-LandStrider​

 

[EmperorsChosen]

Nadia Semyonov - Daniella Ethalyn - Valaam Island, Russia​

With all that was happening, Nadia with Dani in hand felt the freezing cold, what little it bothered her, the work of the witch was unmistakable, the Witch was working her magic, as Nadia ran back, waving for Sara to follow. She had a million questions, but now wasn’t the time, this flame was unnatural, but hopefully it would burn away this infestation.

Suddenly there they were, face to face with the Leshy, who was talking all sorts of shit, but shit she expected nonetheless. With soul perception and general observation, it was clear he was corrupted and there was no such thing as purification wavelengths and spells, not here at least, and here he was trying to break out his own and utterly ignorant of his own predicament, what the woods had became and what he had been doing or causing up till now.

“Your reign is at an end my Lord of the Forest. Open your eyes and look at the decay and corruption you made! As to your underlings, those that stood in our way are no more.”

‘This fuck doesn’t even care…’ Dani murmured into a growl, the flame-like appendage flexing in expectation. ‘Worrying about fucking tribute. You’re wasting your breath.’

‘Dani, I won’t have it be said I didn’t try talking to him, now I guess I swing you at him and you do your thing. I honestly have no idea what to do with this, I’m just going to stick the pointy and burning ends into him.’

With that she waved at Sara to back her up, before charging in, slinging the burning blade at all vines and limbs that got in her way.

In response to that, Dani just let out a sigh. ‘Like he tried talking to us?’ She asked rhetorically. ‘I’m not sure how this shit works either… Just… Fight like normal. The fire should be a problem for them either way and I can control the tail.’

As Dani charged in, the stinger coiled before shooting out to impale one of the previously frozen golems.

Merciless Medic Sir Les Paul RedArmyShogun Mook-LandStrider

 

[Sir Les Paul]

"You are... an ignorant, petulant child..." bellowed from the creature before them. His unnatural voice was not only guttural and deep, but seething with his sense of superiority. His words now aimed particularly at Nadia as she was the one that spoke to him, and were a direct response to the comment she made. His insults were not mere insults. He meant to degrade her. Instead, from his perspective, they were mere observations.

He continued to observe. This flaming sword was new. An ability he had not yet seen on their trek here. He had hoped to bait out most of their abilities in their journey here if not just outright kill them before they arrived. He was greatly displeased in seeing something he had not accounted for. Not that he knew that the ability was neither spiritual or magical in nature, just that it was something he didn't know they were capable of in general.

His displeasure grew. The stinger that launched out from Dani did not simply impale the half-frozen totem. On impact, it shattered. The roots the creature had squeezed around it had drained the ice of its mana and were absorbing the water as best they could, the goal to free the totem without damaging it. The stinger was able to hit it with astonishing speed, and by extension, astonishing force. Should that stinger have been aimed at Nadia, Adrian, or Sara, none would have been agile enough to dodge it even if they knew it was incoming. The potency of the flames surrounding the tail seemed secondary to its speed and force at this point. Figuring that out would take more testing.

Regardless, a slush of ice, broken branches, shattered skulls, and smashed stones shot out like short-range bullet fire. That totem was no more. The rage from the creature only grew.

"I did not make this... foolish girl..." the creature told her, its voice booming louder and its arms stretching out to the forest around it. "I merely inherited it..." it added, throwing out points that were entirely valid. No lies came from this creature. Eva could confirm that, had she any inclination.

"You humans did this... and decay? Death and decay are just as natural as birth and life," it corrected them, almost scolding them like a disappointed instructor back at the DWMA. It seemed the comments Nadia made were not wasted. That, and Dani was wrong about how mindless this creature was.

"You dare blame me..." it told them, its voice lowing in volume but only temporarily. "yet you vermin destroyed the guardian of these woods... I did not create it; it existed here long before I did," it continued, informing them that the totemic creature that Dani just destroyed apparently pre-dated itself.

"Humans are the root of evil here... You destroy the homes of others to make room for your own. You live in the carcasses of what was once alive, most oft that you killed. You let not even grass grow where the black stones are poured, you rape the mountain for a glimpse at its beauty. You defy me, a King who only seeks to protect what you destroy," it shouted at them, its anger and even pain palpable. Corrupted or not, it served them entirely valid points.

RedArmyShogun Merciless Medic EmperorsChosen Mook-LandStrider​

 

[EmperorsChosen]

Katsushiro Hoshi | Daedolon Island
____________________________________________________________________________________________
​

Shiro searched the immediate surrounds as the ground began to tremble, eventually settling squinted eyes on the trio of dots in the horizon growing ever closer. As the rest of his group slowed, so did he to match, eyes the three creatures with mild interest before coming to a halt. As the beasts made a show of their differences from any animal the three knew of, Shiro was only slightly less perturbed than Astor.

"Well, we're three for four of things on this place looking fucked up," He mused with an idle hand resting on his hip.

As the alpha of the pack reared its horns and charged, Shiro's face gained a subtle smirk as if respecting the challenge of the beast. Though, Alek was quick to intervene. As the beast's legs were pulled out from under it, the Hoshi leaped over and onto thoracic area of its spine. As he stoop over the nape of the creature's neck, Shiro reeled a palm back.

"Whatever it is, it could with a nap!" He remarked with a grin before slamming the palm down atop the creature's skull.

The force, while amplified, was measured. These things, whatever they were, were hardy and the Hoshi wasn't trying to eliminate it, just give it a little concussion. His first choice would've been just to ignore it, but while Shiro was confident their speed couldn't match his, he wasn't sure about the others. Hitting snooze was the next best option.

Merciless Medic Sir Les Paul

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Yutu Tatigat​

"Astor"​

Species Meister (Werewolf)
Location Daedelon Island
Mission An Ancient Quarry


​

Tags: Merciless Medic EmperorsChosen

Astor mumbled another silent complaint under his breath.

The werewolf was only now shaking off the second sonic attack. It was the second experienced since arriving to the island, and both were essentially back-to-back. It seemed nothing on this island intended to respect his sensitive hearing. What Alek covered his ears for and commented on was a far worse detriment to Astor. The ringing that echoed in his ears had only really finally died out from the harpy earlier.

This lack of immediate action from Astor gave him a chance to perceive the conflict in front of him. Both Shiro and Alek had seemingly underestimated these beasts.

What were wild horses known for? What was the old cowboy trope? A bucking bronco? A wild stallion? Whatever that was, it was apparently applicable here, only with the added twist that the creatures were of mythical origin. The alpha of the group was not easily tamed. It's size and strength alone proved capable of overwhelming the white blood bandages Alek used in an attempt to restrain it. Even with his wavelength enhancing them, the raw brawn of this massive creature was enough to tear through them, stretching them to the point they were little more than rubber bands around solid steel posts.

The futility of that attempt only became more apparent when the elephant-sized demonic equine threw its weight back to throw Shiro off balance before leaping forward. It was as wild or chaotic of bucking as a regular horse, but the sheer mass behind the creature caused small tremors with each hop and more forceful momentum. Worse, a new trait of the creature emerged. It began belching flames from its mouth and trying to buck through them, as if to use the flames as a deterrent for Shiro.

Fire-breathing horses. Now, Astor knew that myth. He wondered if these creatures somehow crossbred, or if they were always the same creature.

He didn't have a lot of time to ponder it. The other two were incoming.

Hmph.

It was time to take this a bit more seriously. Astor sheathed his sword. He pushed his wavelength throughout his body and with it conjured two additional arms from over his shoulder, each comprised of the glistening, glossy white blood that made the three agents so unique. The werewolf then darted at one of the incoming horses only to leap up in the air and onto it. He grabbed it by the black hair on its head behind its spikes, and uses that to both rip the horse off course and to redirect himself so that, much like Shiro, he could straddle it close to the neck. It wasn't particularly comfortable, but Astor had an advantage with four arms.

He also had a plan. His white blood appendages dropped down and around the neck of the creature, locking their fingers and tightening around it in an attempt to choke it out. His actual hand stretched up to the horns of the creature and grabbed onto them to push its head down, only trying to make the chokehold worse and push it downward into the choke. This ultimately didn't stop it from spewing flames as well, though they were far less intense than the ones Shiro was facing. For this, he coated his final free arm in his white blood and used it to shield his face and hair. The bucking started, and all Astor could do was hang on for dear life.

That said, it was the intention. He always wanted to break a horse. There was an almost-romantic appeal to the cowboy western-idea of taming a wild horse. This likely wasn't what they had in mind, but a real horse likely wouldn't pose any challenge for the Meisters. At least this introduce some modicum of danger.

Meanwhile, the second of the smaller horses honed in on Alek. They were smart enough to know that Shiro and Alek against just one of them was hardly a fair match. Unlike the other two that simply performed a blind charge, this one stopped short of Alek and belched out a fireball in his general direction. This flaming blast proved not just to be flames dancing in the wind, but an actual tangible ball of some kind lit ablaze and aimed at Alek. It viscous, almost like mucous, but as hot as napalm and burning with that same orange glow.

 

[RedArmyShogun]

~~~Calimani Village~~~
​

As Gauss carried out his attack and got closer and closer, as the flames burned behind him and some buildings crackled and popped, in a few cases there were even after explosions from gas stoves and heaters, fuel storage or even just bedding catching aflame, something seemed off. Before him was indeed the Vampire, though she had donned a simple dress, she seemed so small and dainty. The dress overall gothic in design, in black with some leather armor she sat bemused.

Swirling around a glass with a twirl over her hand, reddish liquid that seemed to be wine with some other particles mixed in. She grinned and took a sip gingerly as the blazing inferno made a path towards her, the Maid next to her having not yet seen sight of it, noticed only in the last few feet. But curiously made only one and likely meager effort to halt the assault. She threw her body across her Master, the two women having crimson eyes, were sitting ducks. Till suddenly the maid glowed and shifted. This was not in the reports, somehow the Baroness had became a...

CRASH!

...meister. A Glass sword was in her hands, big as her own body, it was a massive great sword, green in color with inlays of gold. The crystalline structure of the weapon was akin to Obsidian, but being a weapon, it actually could withstand several blows, unlike its more fragile physical counterpart. Rolling with the blue flame the woman thuded into her chair as it flew backwards, the bottom, now facing Gauss, as she rolled away, the back baseboard of the chair coming with her, a square shield, with a handle connected to her arm as the wind glass shattered against her, the woman catches the remaining flame upon her sword and rises to her feet.

"My, my. Not even letting me talk." She said before going into the offensive, bashing out at Gauss with the sword as she grins. "Now where are the others... Ah..." Stretching out with her senses, the woman seemed amused as en masse villagers began to fall, some of whom were in the burning structures or next to them, as the few with free wills struggled to pull and drag them.

Merciless Medic Sir Les Paul Mook-LandStrider Peckinou
Concerned Parties: EmperorsChosen The Regal Rper

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Rand Mabason​

"Soundwave Sorcerer"​

Species Witch
Partner N/A
Rank Two Star

Location Nevada, Mojave Desert
Mission A Last-Minute Rescue
Status Focused

​

Tags: RedArmyShogun Merciless Medic The Regal Rper

April 12th, 2067​

"I don't know," Rand said, answering the question Raph had asked. Rand knew plenty, but he was not some magical entomologist or chemist. If Raph wanted to know something as precise as the composition of Morsipede goo, he would need to go find a Research Witch and stroke their ego for some answers.

Not like they had sufficient time for Rand to tell him that. Rand and Ark were extremely off with the amount of time his Earth Magic would buy them here. Maria might have had a point about the other agents, but fact was, they were all between this Morsipede and its food. Even if they could outrun it, chances are, it would be scouring the whole tunnel system for whatever it could eat. These things were voracious. They had to be to maintain their size. Such was the cost of Gigantism.

"And, it looks like we don't have time to learn new spells," Rand said, his comments coming in tandem with the rumbling of the solid stone wall Ark had erected to protect them from the wrath of this incoming insect. He squinted, his brain processing a million miles an hour trying to come up with a plan that wouldn't leave them all entombed. His brain immediately took him to one of the last suggestions made, also by Raph, and tried to find a way to make it work. That shortcut to an answer would get him somewhere far faster than brainstorming.

"Maria, you're about to be our MVP," Rand shouted. He looked over at her with a slight grin on his face.

"Ark, conjure your lava weapons. Give them to Maria's dolls," Rand followed up, giving more instructions to the entire team.

"Raphael, as soon as the Morsipede breaks through the wall, it'll be head first. I'll make a dozen of your runes. You don't need to restrain it, just open its jaws and keep its pincers apart," he instructed, raising his hands while harkening back to the specific pictures of Raphael's runes. He could try to make some that were compatible, but it was a lot safer going by memory. He had the majority of the spells his team frequently used memorizes for this exact purpose: synergy.

The rumbling intensified, the wall broke down. Crumbling through it were the brown mandibles of the Morsipede that were crushing solid stone with each bite. Unlike a regular centipede, it had three rows mandibles, likely aiding it in this digging process. It did so through sheer strength, only twisting its armored head to move the debris back out of its way. It was definitely a vile creature as its head emerged from the wall. Behind it's three rows of mandibles were two or three more sets of black-pronged pincer-like protrusions and hard folded shells surrounding the carapace of its mouth. It was hard to make out the more intricate details given how dark it was, but it was the type of thing that would have triggered anyone with a phobia of bugs or spiders; probably even plenty of people without.

Rand grasped his outstretch hands together, clenching them tightly with interwoven fingers and conjuring from a distance multiple runes around the entryway. This was no small feat. Conjuring a rune without touching the location was a high tier feat. It took a considerable amount of extremely fine control over mana to have them placed. Many a Sorcerer would consider this nigh-impossible to accomplish as it required significant on-the-fly adjustments that a single grimoire might not even contain. Not that it was impossible, just that it stood as a stark reminder that their instructor was in fact a Witch, not a Sorcerer despite his namesake.

"Go! Go! Go! Nowww!" Rand shouted at them with the most urgency his voice had ever carried since they met him. "Maria, aim for its mouth, tear it up from the inside," he told her, though he was sure she already figured out the plan. She was a smart girl. The soft insides beyond the thin carapace covering its mouth would make for a far easier place to penetrate. She had to wait for Ark and Raph regardless, but at this point, Rand was actually somewhat panicked and just trying to keep everything together.

He didn't want to resort to using his eye. Not here. He wouldn't live it down with his siblings of something as pathetic as a Morsipede forced him to use his grandmother's magic. He wouldn't let his students die over his ego, but he'd wish for it himself if he had to return to court and explain that.

 

[Mook-LandStrider]

Annika
RedArmyShogun Sir Les Paul The Regal Rper EmperorsChosen Peckinou Merciless Medic
​

Annika looked to Gauss as she worked out what he was going to do. “Wow, you give me a run for my money when it comes to destruction.” Annika said with a tilt of her head. With her face covered only her piercing golden eyes could be defined, the rest of her an odd blurr. “Alright, ten seconds?” Annika repeated before looking behind them. This whole place stunk and made her feel uncomfortable.

Despite her reservations she felt for those under the umbrella of domination. It made her remember her own former prison. Jumping up and down several times she got her blood moving once more, preparing herself for the coming run. Seeing Gauss take off she took off behind him. He carved a path through and it did leave an impression on Annika. She knew her shortcomings not having a weapon partner, part of her yearned for equally destructive capabilities. As she ran she moved her hands down to the lower parts of her outfit and fished around. She considered throwing grenades but decided to save them.

Bouncing, jumping and bounding over obstacles and debris Annika managed to keep a steady speed as she weaved through the chaos in Gauss’s wake. Coming up behind him as he made an entrance to where the Baroness was. She broke off and made for a flanking maneuver, using her agility to keep low to the ground. She had just begun to approach when Gauss lashed out, his movement into the room continuing immediately into his attack.

It was a meister, this made Annika’s life much more difficult. She had been working on an interesting application of her wavelength but she wasn’t sure she would be capable of using it just yet. Gritting her teeth she watched the bloodsucker roll towards her, a shield now in her hand as well. Slipping in like a snake in the underbrush Annika rose up in a quick movement, her chainblades kicking to life as she swung the left one out, following up with the right one she tried to seperate the bloodsuckers shield hand from the rest of her body

 

[Merciless Medic]

Alek​

Date: January 15, 2067
Location: Horse Forest, Daedolon Island
Interactions: Astor, Shiro
Mentions: N/A
Sir Les Paul EmperorsChosen

Shiro’s musings weren’t forgotten, and neither was Astor’s hate for the supersonic bellowing. Shiro attempting to jump on the horse was met with the horse trying to buck him off, and Alek’s attempts at trying to pull the horse’s leg to the side. He had accidentally grabbed multiple and it shredded the wraps, making him cringe from the tear. It didn’t hurt, but it definitely didn’t feel good.

The larger horse blew flames and hopped about, attempting to throw Shiro off his back. Alek didn’t know if Shiro managed to stay on, but the two other horses were now coming in, and Astor took this time to jump on one to attempt to break it, his now four arms wrapping around its head in a chokehold.

Huh, good idea.

As the second horse charged directly at him, he switched gears and charged straight for it as it belched flames of whatever flammable glop it held. Dropping down, he slid like a baseball batter and used his bandage wraps to wrap around the horse, using his momentum and a push off with his legs to swing himself onto the horse’s back, straddling it and using his wraps to wrap around its head like a head harness to control where it swung its head. His bandages then wrapped around a section just behind its snout to avoid the mouthline, allowing him to keep its mouth shut without burning away his bandages.

Scooting back, he squeezed his legs around the horse’s midsection and wrapped his arms around the horse’s neck, his head to the side to avoid the horse from hitting him with its neck or head, as well as keeping himself low enough to keep his grip intact.

 

[Merciless Medic]

Raphael Valerias​

Date: April 12, 2067
Location: Scorpion Cave, Mojave Desert, Nevada
Interactions: Rand, Ark, Maria
Mentions: N/A
Sir Les Paul The Regal Rper RedArmyShogun

Rand’s quick thinking thankfully saved them, and Raphael felt an immense surge of pride in having his ideas be used, even if they had to be tweaked. He knew he should probably rein himself in, but the idea he potentially saved them from becoming morsipede chow or squished, was a huge feeling that definitely wouldn’t be affecting him later. Totally not.

With Ark instructed to make armaments for Maria so Maria’s dolls may wreak havoc on its insides, Raph gave Rand a nod as he giddily giggled, lengthening his chains and whipping them about to get them attached and wrapped around the now emerging head of the Morsipede, going for its mandibles and pulling them apart. With each twinge of a mandible, the chains creaked, a few links breaking, but Raph used his repair spell to mend them and keep them intact, successfully keeping the maw of this thing open so Maria’s dolls can give it a good torching. Raph was sure that once it began to eat lava, the thing would retract back from the entrance, which would mean they needed to get out of here.

“This thing’s gonna retract once we give it a bit of heat~.” He partially sang, but more so to alert everyone that it might pull away and take Raph and the dolls with them if they’re not careful.

 

[The Regal Rper]

Ark | Mojave Desert | Rings: 0/3

Ark's grimoire illuminated with a burning orange-red glow.

Dust particles gathered, formed, hardened, and from these balls of dust, rapid weapons formed in the glow of Ark's grimoire rapidly as he flexed his the fingers of one hand. A Kukri, Jian, Kopis, Short Swords, Shashka. Blades either single or double-edged, specifically meant for slashing, thrusting, stabbing. In just a few seconds, they were done forming, suitable enough time given the short amount they had with the beast's head sticking out not far away, but in any actual fight, probably a complete waste of time to provide the opening for an enemy to dish out a potential damaging attack.

Luckily the enemy here didn't have that kind of luxury given its size or mind to temper any form of strategy. Ark, snapped his fingers, just as soon as the weapons finished crafting, and in the same instant their blades burned hot- turning orange from the intensity of their heat. The weapons floated in the air, influenced by his mana and then to Maria he said: "Here, let your children have their fun. It should make quick work of this thing and protect them in the process given your control." It should cleave through flesh like a blade on paper honestly with how he was focusing the ignition function of the weapons on their cutting edge. That was the real reason the weapons blades carried a glow at their edge, radiating heat in the process.

Mentions: n/a

Interactions:: Merciless Medic Sir Les Paul RedArmyShogun

 

[Merciless Medic]

Sara & Eva​

Date: April 12, 2067
Location: Weeping Woods, Valaam, Republic of Karelia, Russia
Collab with Mook-LandStrider
Interactions: Dani, Nadia, Adrian, Irina, Treebeard
Mentions: N/A
EmperorsChosen RedArmyShogun Sir Les Paul

Eva had been taking a backseat to the motion of the fight, observing and flaring up when needed. ‘Wow, that's big.’ She suddenly spoke up at the arrival of the creature. She felt an anger rise up from within herself. ‘Can I burn this thing down? I really wish my fire light did more than tickle illusions into submission.’ She grumbled, feeling somewhat useless in the combat department. ‘I mean, all you can do is whack me with stuff, nothing else useful. Just substanceless light.’

‘Your light is useful.’ While Sara felt useless in the combat department as well - sharing Eva’s sentiments and it was likely something Eva felt in their connection - they weren’t completely useless. ‘I know what you mean, but if we focus on fighting, we wouldn’t be able to get rid of all these illusions this Leshy is capable of and our entire team will suffer for it. Even if we did have more abilities at our disposal, we wouldn’t be able to use both, I don’t think. I know it doesn’t seem like it, but we would have all died if it weren’t for your ability to get rid of illusions. We just have to back Nadia up. Besides, look at Dani. Even if we can’t burn anything, she can now. I don’t know what happened to her in the brief moment they were gone, but I’m not complaining about it. We’ll work on ourselves after this mission anyway, and we can help get you more therapy and work on yourself so your soul can connect with mine easier, and then we can resonate better.’

‘Yeah, I guess.’ Eva said in reference to them breaking illusions. She perked up slightly and nodded. ‘Yeah, I guess it is useful.’ Eva continued on. Hearing Sara bring up additional therapy, her mood seemed to take a slight hit. ‘Yeah, I guess that would be good.’ Eva agreed, having already dealt with a good deal of it. ‘Let's get into a position to break whatever illusions it puts up. We haven’t done a whole lot so we should have a good battery to pull from.’ Eva began, formulating a plan and dropping her depressed attitude.

With their plan in place, Sara noted Irina’s state, the Leshy having caused her magic to backfire and freeze her hands, the roots that made up the Leshy’s feet trying to break the totems free from their icy prisons. He spoke, and it made Sara wince at how unnatural it sounded. Cringy, uncanny, she hated it.

Of course, Nadia and Dani were quick to speak back, and shattered one of the totems with their new addition. The force the scorpion tail dealt had Sara’s eyes widening. Lunging to the side and keeping a bit of distance from the Leshy while putting herself between Irina, Adrian, and the Leshy, she used his monologue to her advantage as she swiped Eva’s lantern in the air, letting her throw her fire every which way to prevent any illusions from popping up.

Eva’s lantern began to rumble, the fire inside flickering before turning into a conflagration. ‘Alright, I can sustain it for a short bit.’ she spoke to Sara. The bottom opened and the flame began to erupt from within, spreading the fire outwards to dispel illusions.

Of course, with the Leshy’s response to Nadia and noting Eva’s flames did not turn blue, Sara had to say something. “You may be right, the humans did make a forest like this and exploited nature, but you’re still using and destroying what they made to purify others for your own strength. It may have been given to you, but this is a trial for redemption and you corrupted it, stealing the lives of those who could’ve existed beyond this realm to a happier place. That doesn’t make you any better!”

‘Burning it made me happy, freeing the souls. This thing corrupted it, taking what possibility they had. Sara, I think I am going to take a piece of it back and carve it. I wonder what we could do with its tidbits and wood. Could also sell for a bunch? Letting it sit is too good for it.’ Eva’s tone darkened, her previous drive to burn the forest being entirely redirected to the true threat to the souls around them.

‘We’ll see if it’s something we can even carve, or if there’s anything left of it after Nadia and Dani deal with it. That new scorpion tail of funny flame is no joke.’ Sara sheepishly spoke within their soul space, chuckling outwardly which could’ve been misconstrued for chuckling at the Leshy.

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Maria Mayer - Scorpion Cavern​

"Worry not instructor. While I am no Meister, this is a task I can complete." Old habits died hard it seemed, while he preferred Rand the stress of the situation and the chaos of the plan was great enough to have her forget that little role, if but briefly. It would be a plan that counted on all of them, and herself, her penchant for melee combat seemed to be needed here as she thought over the plan that Rand had made on the fly. She was content with just misdirecting the beast, but once she attacked it she would have to see it through to kill it.

Morsipede were no simple dumb animal, well no, they were. It was more appropriate to say as Nadia would put it, ornery sons of bitches. Ones who would chase you from one end of the state to the other, were very territorial and while they preyed upon the Scorpions, they would take other meals of opportunity, even being know to attack cars and trains. It would not just turn and run from a little bit of fire, it would be pissed and out to destroy them as even the stars of the DWMA had been hunted and chased by the Morsipede.

Wounding the beast would also do little and while the harness gave her more reach, it was not so great that she would not be in any danger at all. Coupled with the limits on Raph's chains, the enclosed space, the Morsipede's likely reaction, she would have to utterly destroy it in as few moves as possible. One strike was impossible, five would have to do. Summoning up her courage, or perhaps her own inner insanity Maria steps forward cheerily as the chains took hold and forced the mandibles apart, Maria set in the medium doll first, with the flame infused weapons of Ark in hand, it slashed and stabbed, pinning the blades directly into the gapping maw, even as the outer material and even some of the inner of it was cracked and broken, before securing a hold upon one of the insect's pincers, keeping it pinned, stepping into action and even a bit too close for comfort, Maria carefully counted time and distance as one small Doll carried a superheated blade, aiming up into the roof of what made up the creatures mouth, her expression and mood became all the more depressing, or perhaps angry, as the doll bored through, the third then followed as she quickly started to imbued it with mana, causing the glowing effect that all those present had seen no less than twice now.

The mana bomb self-destruct. As she tried pulling the second doll back, she was unsure if she would be able to as the third implanted itself in the roof of the mouth and cleaved through with her commands, going up to where the eyes, antenna and brain would be, or what passed for it with giant insects. The IED or Improvised Explosive Doll in this case flashes and explodes taking a chunk out of the frontal lobe as it expanded outward, brimming with mana converted into force, sending chitlin and gooey bits of gore and strange colored blood all around them. Maria for her part did not escape some of the splash as she hurriedly gets closer to inspect and check on her creations.

Confident that the blast was more than enough to deal with the Morispede, ending its existence as casually as the Scorpions before it.

Merciless Medic The Regal Rper Sir Les Paul

 

[RedArmyShogun]

“I knew I smelled a rat!” She said with a snarl, moving as she did so to shift her focus between the two, there was still a third, but she already knew that one was not yet here. So much work and so little time. As the chainsword struck home, the Vampiric Meister yanked back hard, causing the blade to dig into the wood as she ripped and torn off to the side, throwing the wooden mass at the Weaponless Meister with wavelength enhanced strength behind the blow, she may have lost her shield, but now she had both of her enemies right out in the open. With trickery now lost, it would become a test of skill.

Gauss took this exchange as a new opening. One might have expected him to try and remain at a long or even medium range, but he was having none of that. She survived the blast of flame from Arkayis, she blocked the follow-up from Annika. She could only feasibly dance so long. Gauss dived in quickly, thrusting Arkayis forward with his scythe head aimed at her right shoulder. It might not have been the sharp end, but for his plan, it didn’t need to be. With Noah, he released his grip slightly only to choke up closer to the end of the staff, but only for the sake of better control. Noah was aimed at her sword hand for a quick, short-range jab, sparking to life with a current of electricity. He was, in short, being used as a close-range taser.

Chewing through the shield her weapon audibly slowed for a moment before spinning back up to full speed. Moving back towards the baroness Annika didn’t want to give the creature a moment's respite. Seeing Gauss doing the same thing she once again tried to get into a position where the Baroness stood between them, the two of them able to force her to deal with both at the same time or risk injury from one of them. Annika found the huge sword a bit goofy but at the same time kinda wanted it. Her previous weapon partner being a giant axe, she kinda got it. Refocusing, she saw Gauss going high and targeted the Baroness’s legs, pushing herself into both of her weapons at once, she swung one low before spinning and leveling the other in a large arc attack, targeting in an arc rather than in a precise location.

“Tck!” With the joint assault, the Baroness had one thing in her favor, the sheer bulk of the blade she held, with both hands now freed, and her own skill level being greater than estimated, she was able to catch just a bit of the pole shock as the blade spun in her hands to defend from the blows aimed at her legs. With options limited she did the one thing she still could, walking backwards with the large greatsword as an improvised shield, to gain time and maneuver. With a sadistic tone, she speaks, goading and prodding, ”A shame your offense is about as good as your ability in saving the people. What’s wrong DWMA, I’ve yet to kill one of you. But don’t worry, I’ll correct that.”

Gauss grinned. Smirked, even. He had a plan. The Baroness here seemed to be walking right into it. That, and he was fairly certain his knowledge of wavelength mechanics vastly outweighed her own. He released both of his weapons simultaneously. With Annika around, he had more options. Noah and Arky need not be the ones to deliver a blow. Besides, the thing about a sword–unlike a polearm–is that your hands were always in a predictable place: the hilt.

Gauss pursued the Baroness forward and in a deft motion wrapped his hands around her own, then began pouring his Wavelength into her and her weapon. True it may be that he did not know how to use Forced Rejection. However, he didn’t need to. She was Undead, and the Rejection was inevitable. More importantly, he was polarizing her the whole time, his intention to lock his hands with hers, preventing her from using that giant ass sword to her advantage in a tug of war, if need be. The difference was, he had Annika. She had fuckin’ no one.

It hurt. He could already feel it. The painful jolts of electricity as his living Wavelength was being rejected by hers. His fingers only curled tighter, his muscles contracting at this point partially without his demand. He was locked onto her and her weapon like a crocodile in a death spin. The only difference being he didn’t intend to drown her. He wanted Annika to slice the bitch into ribbons.

As soon as he was dropped, Noah immediately landed in his human form, his bo-staff form becoming a tonfa coming out of his left wrist. Dashing over to the side, he pulled his knife from his thigh sheath and not only went for a thrusting stab on the side Annika wasn’t on, but also jab his left arm’s tonfa into her side to fry her with electricity, his arm crackling and popping with arcing light.

Seeing her attacks getting blocked, Annika took a momentary step backwards before continuing to pursue her opponent. Tenacity and skill allowed her to stalk closer, using her speed to try to duck under the hole in the Baroness’s guard now created by her teammates. Annika dropped Phobos onto the ground and doubled up the death grip she had on her right chainblade, Deimos. The moment made her mind reference the training she had under Starwulf, of trying to break through his guard and lay just a hand on him. Now however, it wasn’t training and her opponent was a monster.

Gunning the engine, she crouched down, a foot movement allowing her in. Bringing the weapon down close to the ground the teeth scraped the floor sending chunks of concrete flying around the room, being shredded and propelled out at high speeds. Squeezing harder she jerked up, boosting her physical traits and trying to overpower the bloodsucker if she tried to block. If striking, the chain blade would sheer through her legs and continue up into her body. If contacting the weapon, the charged wavelength would strike at her weapon partner in the style of a small Soul Force.

With the combined attack and efforts against her from the trio, the Vampire quickly feels the pain and influences of Gauss, Noah and Annika, she was going to die here. But that was fine, afterall;

Headbutting Gauss to briefly intercept the chainblade with her weapon partner, the combination of rejection, electricity and soul force was too much for the weapon to bear, the pain, the distractions, the weapon dropped out of its weapon form, only to catch the blade of Annika as it tore through her at the torso and one of the legs of the Baroness, who then in only a minor wavelength enhanced state, takes the blade from Noah through her back, the tip of it just sticking out of the front of the petite girl, between a set of ribs, going though the back, nearly dead center. The heart was hit, with her black clothes growing all the more so, a trickle of blood comes out of her mouth as she falls having lost a foot, Gauss for his part no longer had anything to grab onto least he wanted to hold the arm of the transformed and dead weapon.

With a bemused expression she looked at some space beyond; ”It was… so artfully…done… Mis-” Her already pale face remained such, as the red of her eyes turned a dull gray, all life gone from them.

Gauss leapt back, not precisely trusting what he saw in front of him. It seemed too easy. He was confident, but not stupid. This Baroness was a Bloodsucker that had evaded the DWMA and lived centuries, apparently. The life fleeting from the bodies in front of him just didn’t resonate with him.

His golden eyes glared at the sight in front of him.

He gripped onto the shaft of Arkayis scythe form. His sore hands wrapped around it, he could feel the muscles burning with each minute contraction. Rejection wasn’t a feeling he was fond of. He could recall how severe it was with Kasper. As a Meister with a natural affinity for handling weapons, it was a rare feeling for him to begin with. While nowhere near as severe, it felt about as wrong as this death did.

He ripped the blade out of the back of the Baroness, extending it slightly only to dislodge it and having an absolute disregard for the blood that was flung and ultimately let gush out of the wound afterward. Even if her heart stopped beating, that wound was a gaping crater full of the precious crimson vitality.
Noah would have to heal his hands later. The rejection could likely be aided by his weapon, but Arkayis was in his hands now, and a more traditional scythe stance was being taken. He became observant. He watched not only her body, but a sense of paranoia crept over him. Victory simply couldn’t be this easy. He was expecting an intricate dance and exchange of blows requiring teamwork between himself and Annika. He was expecting to have to use every ounce of his reserves to deal with this threat. He expected this to be more difficult than the witch he lulled into a false sense of security and subsequently slaughtered. Yet, it truly wasn’t.

”Something…” he muttered, clearly unsure about himself, ”isn’t right.”
Noah took his dagger back from Gauss, eyeing the bodies before them. He shared the same sentiment with Gauss, his eyes narrowing at the lifeless bodies before them. “It isn’t. If she’s supposed ta be so good… Then this’s either really underwhelmin’, or this isn’t her.” He then looked over at Gauss, eyeing his hands before letting out a sigh. “We should regroup with Elly ‘n’ Midori. We can’t stay here.” He suggested tiredly, whipping his dagger abruptly towards the ground to fling off the bigger glops of blood, then wiped the blade against his leg with a grimace before sheathing it back on his thigh’s holster.

Annika gunned the engine of her remaining chainblade and pulled it free from the corpse. Holding it out and away from herself she pulled the trigger and spurred the engine. Bits and pieces flew off and the chain cleaned itself. Moving to the other weapon she picked it up and sheathed it. With her weapons now stowed she looked around. “Yeah, that was definitely uhhhh… anti-climactic. Good job either way, that was somewhat enjoyable. I’m ready to get back home. Romania hasn’t really grown on me. Let's find our wayward duo.” Annika finished.

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

 

[EmperorsChosen]

Katsushiro Hoshi | Daedolon Island
____________________________________________________________________________________________
​

Shiro's gaze turned confused for a moment as the strike had no effect, then to subtle surprise as the beast began to buck. Lowering his posture for better adaptation to the swaying and shaking, he latched onto the mane of the creature, turning his body in contrast to it in an attempt to stay on. He could stab out the thing's eyes or smash at joints, but such injuries would be problematic.

Then, the fire began to spew out, and the beast attempted to buck him into the path of the flames multiple times, requiring Shiro to lurch with extreme movements to avoid the heat. He glanced over to Astor and Alek, both of whom were now trying to choke out their respective stallion, and he deadpanned.

The Hoshi had never choked out a horse before, or something close enough to it.

Smirking a bit as he was bucked towards another spout of flame, Shiro slid down the opposing side of the beast, taking the fistful of mane with him until he hung underneath its neck and skull. Reaching up the other side, he grasped another fist of hair and tugged it down before slinging himself up onto the stallion's nape again. Reaching over, he grasped the dangling hair from around the creature's neck and pulled it back as he placed a heel against its spine.

This wasn't a rein as with Alek's incorporation. This was a garrote.

Merciless Medic Sir Les Paul

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Rand Mabason​

"Soundwave Sorcerer"​

Species Witch
Partner N/A
Rank Two Star

Location Nevada, Mojave Desert
Mission A Last-Minute Rescue
Status Focused

​

Tags: RedArmyShogun Merciless Medic The Regal Rper

April 12th, 2067​

Maria seemed to have a penchant for making things explode. On one hand, it was certainly impressive that she had developed a method for making her own mana explode so violently. On the other hand, it wasn't really spellcraft and it wasn't exactly a system that could scale up to become more powerful as she did. It was less of a spell and more of a intricate cascading effect of catastrophic failure within the equally intricate network of mana threads within the dolls. It took a considerable amount of knowledge and forethought for her designs to incorporate an explosion that relied entirely on her personal mana. Any other Sorceress might have simply created a killswitch spell inside the doll that acted as an explosion.

Rand, the constant scholar, saw pros and cons to that. The explosion could definitely be more powerful, but it could also be abused. An accidental activation could be used against her. The self-destruction relying on solely her mana prevented another Witch, creature, or external force from prematurely activating it. There also existed a psychological factor that Rand considered. Deliberately adding a self-destruct spell didn't fit how Rand was sure Maria viewed most of her dolls. She valued them highly. Her method, while more intricate and time consuming, was almost a labor of love.

Or, in this moment, a labor of death. The Morsipede had absolutely no hope of surviving that internal explosion.

Neither did the cave, it seemed. The exploding force was enough to make the surrounding cave infrastructure begin to crumble. It was exactly as Rand feared when they first encountered the Scorpions. Now was a time for action.

Rand didn't just wait around for responses. Communication became one way. Raph and Maria were tasked with retrieving the Meisters and doing their best to shield them from debris from the now quaking cave system. While parts of it were disintegrating into smaller and smaller pieces of sandstone, crumbling in on itself, others proved more stable for the moment. Just how much of this cave would collapse remained to be seen, but it wasn't a good time to be inside of it. Rand rushed forward with Ark to help the man clear out the corpse of the fallen Morsipede, though with it, they found that the caustic juices from its stomach were enough to begin eating through clothing.

Worse off, those very juices not only began eating into their regular clothes, but burning through the gloves Ark used for his spellcasting. It put them on a timer. There existed even less time to be methodical in their removal. The corpse of the Morsipede was blown back out of the hole like a shotgun blast and opened up. Rand personally had no hopes of assisting Ark with Earth Magic on this scale. Instead, he was replicating the spells from memory to write out in runes on various parts of the cave with Ark relying on his half-damaged gloves and these new runes to keep the structure intact long enough for the entire group to escape.

It was a mere two short turns to the mouth of the entrance, but that said entrance proved its own trap with its steep, sandy entrance only made worse by the Morsipede tunneling through it. This ultimately became a problem that Rand couldn't think his way through. There wasn't a solution that got them out in time. Not with their assortment of magic, not with Ark having his gloves damaged, not with six one-star agents--one injured to the point of being a cripple. There was no method to have them all escape.

Panic for many might have set in, but if they couldn't escape, they just needed to survive. Survive and have one person make their way out to get help. Amongst all the possibilities, only Maria made sense. She and her remaining dolls had the highest chance of getting help and surviving any encounters out there. Second only to Rand himself, but Rand had to stay behind. With the cave crumbling down around them, the plan wasn't to have Maria crawl up, or have her climb some chains from Raph. There wasn't time for that. Instead, she was ejected out alongside her dolls in a jetstream that Rand conjured, working in conjunction with the spell he taught her to bolster her speed--it reduced air resistance, and allowed for her entire assortment to escape.

Then came the collapse. To Maria on the outside, it would have appeared as if the ground sunk in on itself, consuming the entire team. The reality of the situation wasn't much different. The ground did in fact sink down around them. Rand had a spell up his sleeve, albeit an entirely unconventional use for it. He summoned a massive, concave metallic dish around the group and used it as a shield with them all in tight. It's true purpose was to focus supersonic soundwaves into a central point for highly-destructive results, but right now, it was nothing more than a barrier between the group and the falling debris around them. Hopefully, no one was claustrophobic, as this barrier was tight enough that it could have very easily been considered more like a tomb.

At the very least, they had a solid chance at survival if help was sent out fast enough. They were near the surface. Maria knew their exact location. They had Magelights. Rand could use his own magic to recycle the air to keep it breathable. The race against time was less for the mages and more for the other six agents. Dehydration would have been their greatest enemy, and those six had been out there hours longer with no supplies.

As it stood now, the fate of all those within that premature burial rested on Maria and the help she could recruit.

 

[The Regal Rper]

Ark | Mojave Desert | Rings: 0/3

Ark blinked as his senses picked on to the incoming vibrations emanating through the earth around them.

His body tensed at the spike of Maria's magic.

His left hand instantly reached out for her and he clenched it into a fist and pulled back. Maria, all her remaining standby dolls, slid like on a treadmill a few inches backwards, and with his right hand, he flicked his wrist upwards as the concussive force of the explosion did its job, launching visceral towards her.

A wall of hardened stone shot in a blur to her eyes, up.

There was the sound of chunks hitting the earthen wall and the immediate process of sizzling as the parts of the stone wall, fragments really, broke away at where the acid ate it.

Damn it.

A part of him was furious about the explosion, not just because it made his heart rate spike when 'he should have been used to it by now'- a derisive comment, to appear now-- but it was what followed that had him already moving before anyone else did.

Even as he approached he was weighing his options. How much can I move? How much can I shift? Does moving this part of the structure cause the collapse to happen faster? Does shifting this cause a bigger chain reaction that the others wouldn't be able to keep up with.

Right now it was drizzling. It was like the start of rain, not a downpour but a start of something small.

Bits of stone, dust, small and slightly bigger pieces no bigger than a coin, fell all around them- it was the larger pieces he had to worry about, but he couldn't give that his attention right now. The vibrations would warn him. If he only had more strength, it would have been so much more easier.

Falling stone from above settled on his skin like armor as he began digging and shoveling with his magic to move the dead creature out of their way. This was familiar. It was like a flood of energy that powered him to move anew. Where his movements before had been carefully regulated, now he moved with new energy.

Pieces of earth clapped onto the exposed areas of skin as he approached- for a brief moment he nearly did it for Rand also, but immediately second guessed it realizing that not only was that a waste of time but a waste of energy. Rand wasn't built like him, and wouldn't be used to the weight. It would only serve as a distraction to their real purpose. Moving that thing out of their way.

He gripped clumps of earth with magical aid, and rapidly shoveled them out of the way with Rand's support. It was only when he noticed the tingling sensation on his hands that Ark noticed with dismay that his gloves were being eaten alive.

"Shit!"

His speed, doubled. There was a manic energy to it now. It wasn't panic, it was concern. Without his gloves he couldn't freely control the earth, and with how difficult it was starting to become grabbing at the surrounding rubble to where he now needed to put more magic into it than he normally had to, it was a sign he was running out of time rapidly. If it hadn't been for Rand's quick thinking, he likely wouldn't have been much more help. Focusing on those runes in conjunction with his gloves he doubled his effort, until finally the path was clear-- but it wasn't clear enough to get all of them out.

His heart was pounding, but he had to keep it together. He never had a fear of tight spaces, but the explosion had shaken him and the time crunch was rattling, especially with his gloves ruined. Reflexively, without even realizing it as Rand said something to Maria- he didn't know what, Ark did the only thing he knew he might able to do with his gloves.

He reached for the crumbling sky, focused on the runes Rand had created, combined the influence of those with his gloves magic, and then put his magic into focus on the ceiling as it broke rapidly towards them.

He felt the weight of the cave pushing back against him, but even as he pushed back with his magic-- a furious desire to resist- it did not listen like it normally would. It's descent did not freeze like it would have at his command. It did not reverse its downward approach, but it slowed- and it slowed painfully. Rocks the size of a soccer ball, chunks of stone the size of a car, they froze mid air, then began to descend slowly as Ark felt the weight bearing down on him painfully.

In a way it was ironic really. He wondered, as he used the runes Rand had made and his gloves to try and do something, if this was what it was like for all those mercenaries he'd killed, all those Outlaws he'd helped hunt down and terminated, and all those hedge witches that had believed they could out-do a sorcerer and a team of DWMA Agents.

He felt friction as he was pushed backwards, down, but the weight was worth it as he sensed Rand doing something. Even if he tried to move the stone coming out all around them he knew with his gloves now, that he wouldn't be able to do much of anything. The burning in his muscles had reached a crescendo with how hard he was pushing himself to hold back the approaching collapse immediately around them. And when he finally could hold out no more, where he'd only held on for mere seconds, right as Rand was sending Maria out, he buckled under the weight.

And yet, it stopped.

The tension building inside of him, ready to explode- died like a fire deprived suddenly of oxygen.

Ark, already on his knees, his arms burning with the exhaustion of having lifted weights far more than he was used to, his shoulders and body sore from the exertion of pushing himself so hard just then, chuckled.

Sweat trickled off his chin, and the chipped, chewed up earthen armor he'd been using to protect his upper body against the acid, fell off him into a collection of pebbles.

"Nice...save..." He sighed.

That had been too close. Way too close for all of them.

Mentions: n/a

Interactions:: Merciless Medic Sir Les Paul RedArmyShogun

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Yutu Tatigat​

"Astor"​

Species Meister (Werewolf)
Location Daedelon Island
Mission An Ancient Quarry


​

Tags: Merciless Medic EmperorsChosen

Astor was the first to show any progress with the monstrous equine. After what felt like an eternity of holding onto it, it began to slow down. It did not calm down, merely slow down. He could still hear the very heartbeat of the creature pumping fast, and his natural intuition made him sure it was pumping full of raw adrenaline. That said, the bucking did come to an end. In its place, the horse dashed forward at the fastest speed any of them had thus far across the field, running around at speeds that might have been able to match his own unless he was truly trying. It still had some fight left in it.

Unlike Alek, he didn't design any type of system for steering, so he was at the mercy of this animal. And, once it neared the edge of the forest line where it thickened, it abruptly stopped on its front hooves with no small amount of momentum jutting up and through Astor. Staying attached to the back of this creature was no small feat of strength. Once the creature, now further tiring, realized its new friend was still attached, it turned around with a violent set of bucks and kicks until it made yet another dash for the group again.

There he saw the fates of his two companions. Alek was in a similar situation as him, although the harness he created gave him a different outcome. While Astor's beast ran itself in a straight line, Alek was going round and round in circles around Shiro and his beast. As for Shiro, it seemed he went with a wildly different approach that didn't pan out for him. He tried to use the mane of the creature, which made semblance of sense given how much larger his was, but there came a terrible truth to this.

The hair of its mane wasn't actually that strong. It tore and ripped from the force being exerted on it, and in some places even pulled right out of the pores on the back of the creatures neck, leaving small thin spots. The pain the creature felt only sent it into a further frenzy, having it buck and kick with enough force to cause small tremors with each stomp of its hooves. Flames still shot into the air, but not as frequently as now it was in a blind rage just trying to fling Shiro off of it. Worse off, it's size and strength meant that every single throw and buck seemed as bad as the one Astor encountered with the abrupt stop his beast came to.

He did not envy Shiro in this moment. Actually, he never envied Shiro. Ever. Astor felt he was superior in every way to that philistine.

Exhaustion hit his beast first. He could feel it gasping for breath, barely able to get in any air through the chokehold on it, and slowing down in its run, only halfway now to the group. Astor then elected to take a page from Alek's book, though he'd never admit it, and launch two more strips of White Blood not unlike the bandages Alek created, and use them to create a harness for the mouth of the creature. Between that and the exhaustion of the creature, he was now able to steer it.

He was arriving now actually sitting upright on the nape of the equine and steering it, in no small part due to the fact it was running on fumes. Astor had effectively starved the engine of the beast.

Not long after, Alek would find himself in a similar situation, although with the added caveat of likely being dizzy from the circles and a slightly slower rate of choking given his bandages exerted less force than Astor's arms. Shiro, however, was in one hell of an amusement ride, and it was all for Astor and Alek's amusement.

"I think things are tamable..." Astor mused upon nearing his teammates on his beast. Not yet in full control, but thus far the closest any of them had came. "It's a fine steed; I wonder if we could convince Aegis to let us take them..." he added on, his tone full of farce, but in reality only half facetious.

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Thaddeus Thales​

"Gauss"​

Species Human
Partner Noah Wiley, Arkayis Misonuka
Rank Fate Agent

Location Romania, Calimani Village
Mission A Bloody Investigation
Status Focused

​

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

Some time later...​

After the successful kill on the alleged Baroness and her Maid, the four agents found themselves in the middle of a village of confused villagers, many of whom were weak or injured. Reality sank in that they now needed to undo a lot of the damage they did, and set up some type of triage. Luckily, Noah knew a thing or two about basic triage due to his time after the April first incident. He was no medic, but something was better than nothing. Before that task, though, there was the quick decision about the two Corrupted Souls. Luckily, it was a simple decision. Two Souls, two weapons. One for each. Both Noah and Arkayis got to feast today. Granted, ever since the split from Elly and Midori, the two were just taking turns consuming the souls of the lesser vampires as time went on.

The group were on their toes expecting more, but ultimately, nothing seemed to come from it. Noah and Annika, the most resourceful of the bunch, did what they could to help the villagers. Gauss and Arkayis tried to dampen the fires and destruction they caused. Arkayis could at least control the flames from a distance so they could be more easily put out.

Then came the message from Elly. They were en route with important information. They would explain upon their arrival. Gauss was relieved, though unsurprised, the two were alive. Reporting either were hurt or dead would have been a bitch. Then again, he didn't expect Midori to allow the duo to get into any real danger. He didn't know much about Elly yet, but she seemed rational enough.

Once the entire group of six had reconvened, it was time for the debriefing. The castle hadn't been explored yet, and it was odd nothing came from it. Elly might need to scout it. More importantly, Elly had informed Gauss that they caught the Baroness fleeing westward. Gauss was a mix of frustrated and unfortunately unsurprised--yet again. Something was far too easy about their fight. There were plenty of unknown variables. Still, he was clearly irate about the realization, if only as a result of the compounding frustration this entire mission ultimately became.

Now near the center of the village beside it's primary well, which had been a central point for both triage and fire control, Gauss found himself with his arms crossed and temper getting at the best of them.

"The fuck do you mean you saw the Baroness leave West?" Gauss asked, though really he wanted Elly to expand upon her new information. There wasn't any aggression in his tone, and his frustration was clearly generalized, not aimed at her. Nonetheless, the Meister was clearly not in a good mental state at the time. He just wanted answers, but he was sure before Elly could even explain it to him that none would be good.

 

[EmperorsChosen]

Eloise Keegan - Romania
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

After the brief tour provided by their once enemy, Elly found herself detecting the presence of a Greater Vampire while the pair made their way to Deda. The soul grew steadily more powerful as time went on, which gave her cause to investigate a somewhat. She made a note not to pursue it too far, as she would still intended to reunite with the team in the village in time to act on this information. It was then she discovered a small barge in the distance, sailing along a river southwest. Elly could scarcely make out a coffin, and familiar blue-violet appearance exiting from it. There were several other signatures on board, more than a couple quite strong, so intercepting it herself was out of the question. No, now that she knew the route and direction, she could meet up with the rest at Deda Village and they may yet be able to salvage the mission.

Turning and making a b-line for the village, could see the wailing souls of the injured as they encroached. Though, it seemed not to bother her in the slightest. Elly scarcely skipped a beat, more observing the circumstances than feeling for them, and honed in on the familiar souls of Gauss and the rest as she entered the village.

Despite Gauss's temperament, Elly was in good spirits, in part because of the information she had and also in part because it was her decision, that Midori very much disagreed with, that resulted in the acquisition of said information. Her smile broadened as he finished his irritated question.

"Southwest, actually," She corrected. "I didn't get a good look, however the Frog Man as it were was willing to show us the Baroness's escape routes after a bit of persuasion. Near one such route, I caught wind of a few powerful souls, hers included, and spotted her on the bow of a boat sailing southwest down a river."

Shortening her intel to a few sentences, her tone carried a touch of pride, intentionally prodding her partner with it just a tad. "We could still intercept her. It didn't look like she was ready to sail the ocean with that vessel. Seemed more like an emergency vehicle sort-of-thing."

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

 

[EmperorsChosen]

Katsushiro Hoshi | Daedolon Island
____________________________________________________________________________________________
​

Shiro was aiming to choke the creature out rather than tame it, or to at the very least to educate it in the proverbial pecking order, particularly that he was significantly above it. Alas, its mane was weak, akin more to a normal horse, and it was dumber than one to opt to flee. Rather than anger or irritation, the Hoshi deadpanned.

"Aight, I'm over this," He commented plainly as he made use of his white blood.

White webbing shot from his forearms, wrapping around the beast's muzzle, skull, and neck. Performing a somersault over its head, Shiro pulled the monster-horse's head down with him as he landed. As he gained footing, with muscles tensing and spirit coursing through him, he pulled forward, lifting the beast over and tossing it a short distance until it crashed into the ground. The thing was hardy, though that display of power would certainly be enough to ward the beast.

Reaching a hand to rub the back of his neck as he rotated it, Shiro turned to the other two of his team. "If we can't kill'em, we probably can't poach'em either. So enjoy your ride while you can, Prince Charmings," He remarked apathetically.

Merciless Medic Sir Les Paul

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Maria Mayer - Scorpion Cavern - Mojave Desert​

"Oh no... Such devastation, such was not my intention..." The burning and stinging, partially guarded with the actions of Ark, were lesson enough, not only had her blast been much stronger than she planned, she also had the guilt of destroying one of her dolls and the tunnels as well. Was it because she could use more mana now? It was of small importance, she had to do the new orders given as she swept aside her shock and regret. So far, shot of that one time in Anger against the spiders, destroying her beloved creations only seemed to worsen situations, between theoretically almost killing Gauss to caving in all of this... Maybe it was time to reconsider converting obsolete dolls into explosives. With these thoughts in mind, she retrieves the Agents and ignores the stinging of skin and acid burns on portions of her clothing, bringing them back to Rand alongside Raph and her two surviving dolls, though both had heavy acid burns to the wood.

Bit by bit the whole thing was collapsing, here and there chunks of earth moved, but the entrance was within sight, they would all be out soon. Then the tunnel slope slid, this still could be overcame, they had Raph and his ch- "What..." Before she could finish her words, Maria found herself flying through the air opening, using her own studies with the magic to "fly" and balance as she hit the sand with her too creations with an; "Oof!"

Turning around assured that the rest would be right behind her, she was horrified to see the whole thing had collapsed, or as much as her limited facial expressions allowed. Hurriedly bending down, she digs at the earth with her hands. No, this was too little and would be too late. Biting into her thump, she ignored the scorpion stragglers coming about, as she bit into her right thumb hard enough to draw blood as she considered options in the face of no orders. She did not have the means or equipment to get them out.

"FUCK OFF!" She screamed uncharacteristically, and perhaps if not directly inspired by Dani as a she danced in the sand, deploying her mana blade to stab one, then two and a third, with her left hand she sent her human sized doll into action, all in all killing 7 of the beasts within the first couple minutes, her blood dripping on the sand.

Looking back at the desert traveling vehicle they took to reach out here, and its accompanying trailer, there was but one solution. Yelling down at the sand, she was not sure if any of them could hear her or not.

"I'm heading back for the nearest place with a radio or phone, if that fails where we got the truck! Don't make me make more gifts for the missing! I shall return!" With that she hurriedly went to the vehicle and disconnected the slid, dragging the later to where she came out, she digs it into the sand as best as she could, to leave it as a marker, before calling her creations to her and slammed the pedal to the metal, traveling at speeds that made her shake and rock.

~~~~
True to her word Maria rode fast and hard, reaching a desert ranger station, set up with the national park services that she found by chance from following a well tracked part of the sands, however finding them was not all that was needed to be done, it was not like they had or even needed diggers there, equipment would need time to be gathered and be moved, then to travel across the sands and then to start the digging operation.

Traveling had taken thirty minutes, after realizing her phone was left behind in that mess, she spent time running around in circles, to get a call send down the line and ultimately to Cirus himself, as she informed them of what they would need and why. Heavy equipment she considered out of the option, as finding a truck that could carry it and drive away from Death City would take time, a faster option would be to airlift portable diggers, the small ones that had a crew and motor cabin that comfortably sat one man. They had a location and she could defend the work crews, the problem came to be, the DWMA didn't exactly have a mining corporation, neither exactly did Death City. Bit by bit calls were placed and volunteers found, with the DWMA providing the air assets to move them and about a dozen men to man them. This would be no large opration, as that took time, 6 airmobile diggers and 2 dump trucks from a construction site, driving of their own power with a couple fuel and water trucks would join in on the effort, with Maria taking up position at the front with a couple rangers willing to watch her back as she watched all of theirs.

Ninety minutes later the convoy was directed with road flares as were the transport helicopters as the ground crews braved the heat and occasional scorpion attacks with hand tools and the excavation equipment, Maria watching their backs and killing about a dozen more scorpions, hoping not another giant bug would show up as considerable amounts of sand and stone were dredged from the worksite and dumped. Bit by bit, they had reached two and a half hours total from when Maria had ran off for help, fortunately the team wasn't too far down as finally the gleam of a metalic dome was just uncovered.

Calling for Maria, she gave a nod, confirming that had to be them, as more sand was cleared, as dismissing the barrier right now would put them right back where they were. Eventually something of a "cap" was cleared as one of the workmen hands Maria a sledgehammer. Slamming atop it with all her might, she hoped they would get the intention of what was happening, provided the work and constant shoveling and maneuvering didn't alert them.

"Come on... The longer we stay here the greater the risk even more people go below the sands... We do not need yet more to make a band."

Merciless Medic The Regal Rper Sir Les Paul

 

[Merciless Medic]

Raphael Valerias​

Date: April 12, 2067
Location: Scorpion Caves, Mojave Desert, Nevada
Interaction: Rand, Ark, Maria
Mentions: N/A
Sir Les Paul The Regal Rper RedArmyShogun

Everything was going according to plan. Ark granted Maria’s dolls things to burn the beast’s maw with, and Maria’s dolls went in to burn the beast’s mouth. It struggled and Raph was worried his chains were going to break in keeping the mandibles apart. Then, there was a bright light - a flash.

Raph hid his face with his arm. Then came the sting. He hissed, breaking off the added chains from the last link of his demon tool and stared at his arm in horror. Acid from the thing was burning him. He glared daggers at Maria, but saw the look on her face. Despite her usually stoic facade, he saw regret.

Still, it was outrageous! How dare she??? She could’ve gotten all of them killed! Did she just forget??? The ceiling began to cave in as well, and he mentally cursed the impulsivity of the sorceress beside him. Quick in taking off his jacket and dragging it through the already crumbling sand and dirt to neutralize the acid before tying the sleeves around his waist, he quickly aided the one-stars through the pathway Ark cleared away. They ran as quickly as they could, and saw their exit begin to shrink. For some reason, Rand threw Maria and her dolls up to safety, while Ark did his best to keep the sand from crushing them until Rand was able to shield themselves with a metal dome. Ark collapsed and Raph was left to stew in his thoughts in the darkness.

Summoning his magic light, he took stock of the faces and possible accrued injuries of the others. All he saw was fear, exhaustion, and confusion. Maybe a bit of anger.

He shut his eyes, quelling the stir of his bruised pride - that one of their own tried to get them killed - with the fact that they still had more to do. They had plenty of air from what left Rand could make, but they desperately needed water. Raph had none left, and even if he had some, it wouldn’t be enough for all of them.

He also didn’t know how long it would take for Maria to get back with help - that bloody, explosion-happy bitch - but he needed to at least look like he knew what he was doing and stay calm, or else everyone would end up panicking and that would surely hit his pride more. He was supposed to be their hero, not crumble like some silly bitch. And he certainly didn’t want Rand to feel even more like shit that he trained shit-tier students who couldn’t handle a little bit of danger. He patted Ark’s shoulder, seeing if he was okay before looking back at Rand.

“While I know it might only be a couple hours for her to come back with help, but while we’re in here, I still have a little bit of juice left. Not much, but knowing the runes required for water and - more specifically - moisture absorption and pool it in a sphere right above the ground with a magic circle would be fantastic right now. A little bit of water can help tie us over.” He had an idea, he wanted to show off, but it also gave everyone a distraction so as to avoid having to wait what would feel like forever.

Of course, whether they were able to do so or not, Raph pooled his anger at the situation into making jokes and making idle chit-chat. He even got one of the girls to smile, so that was good. That was when he heard something moving the sand around, and then the sound of metal being hit. The sound reverberated through him and he cringed.

“Ach… That’s Maria, I think…” Her usual senseless behavior, dense basement-dwelling rat… Groaning and massaging his temples, he banged the metal with his chain to let her know they were still alive, and awaited for Rand to get rid of the shield.