Fandom Soul Eater: F.A.T.E

[Peckinou]

Arkayis Misonuka - Egypt
Mentions: Gauss Sir Les Paul , Noah/ Sara Merciless Medic , Meredith The Regal Rper , Wes Shotgunpenguin , Mook-LandStrider , Aki EmperorsChosen , Feng RedArmyShogun
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The little fiasco event at Hawaii had hardly had much effect on Arkayis, he hadn't really tried to ponder too much on the whole strange event though he had to admit he wasn't really fond of how it played out for him. Though he was ultimately rescued by Annika before things got too bad, still though after the whole thing calmed down, Arkayis was honestly expecting people to pretend that it never happened or that they had no memory of it, he didn't really think he would be getting an apology for it, it almost felt a bit strange to say the least. Though Arkayis was also a bit surprised by the fact that Gauss went through an extensive effort to make sure a repeat of that event didn't happen again, the number of collars he now wore was, what Arkayis believed to be, a bit extensive, though he never really voice his concern about it. But Arkayis noticed that he now had more free time than usual as Gauss began working on himself, Arkayis had mostly used his free time following Noah around and occasionally just aimlessly exploring the city.

But now that their break was over, they were heading out for another mission, this time in Egypt, while the series of flights to Egypt were quite the nuisance, it atleast wasn't too long. They were better accommodated than when it came to their trip to Romania, plus Arkayis just overall liked the weather better, more practically the day than the night, the intense heat while unbearable to some, felt nice to Arkayis. He could practically skip across the desert all day if he wanted, but the Nights were another matter, cold and miserable. Like Noah, they had joined in riding the Vehicle with Gauss and it wasn't too long before they had stopped and their guide had begun to brief them on their mission. Arkayis listened intensively before joining Noah in exiting the Vehicle when it came to a halt, and following closely behind Noah as they made their way to the campsite, it wasn't in ideal condition, to say the least. Arkayis listened to all the different, Questions and opinions that were being said, he had to admit that he was curious on if burning them to ashes would be a viable option, though like a few others that were here, he didn't think that the zombies were that bad of a threat, though the Anbis did seem to be moderately threatening.

As he listened Arkayis was soon reminded of the existence of Ark when he spoke, Arkayis had mostly chosen to ignore his existence since the start of the trip, though as he spoke to give information on the Anbis Arkayis facial expression went cold as they listened but didn't look towards him. Despite what was said coming from a creature like him, it might of been decent information at the very least, though it still didn't stop Arkayis from letting out a mild sneer as he finished speaking, opting to go back to ignoring him. Instead, he went on to focus on keeping close to Noah, giving a lowly voiced comment "Maybe we could find a single undead or an area where there aren't many of them to get an idea of what we are dealing with." He figured that it was better than rushing in and the idea would give them insight to what type of undead they had to handle.

 

[EmperorsChosen]

Eloise Keegan - Hallerbos Forest, Belgium
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

'And you think it's Ao...' An internal sigh escaped Elly, a subtle one, but one than nonetheless displayed her displeasure to him, both in terms of his justification as well as his attitude. Just then, his hypothesis was proven correct, another reason for Elly to be irked. This was a full three star pair, Elly could tell, plus an anti-magic wavelength from what she could see. 'Blades.' Elly commanded tersely. At the very least, her partner seemed to have followed her advice of focusing as she could feel the strength of their resonance and amplification boost.

There were many thoughts running through her head, but as usual Elly's temperament was a well-kept secret of hers. In all honesty, the simple fact that Elly had gone along with this in the first place was a sign she had changed somewhat. The old her would have said no flat-out. She knew it was suspect. This was Astilla Stein, someone Elly wasn't sure her current team could handle without significant losses, and she was fleeing. This was a suicide mission. Stupid. Utterly stupid. She knew there was something he wasn't telling them. Honestly, the one person the meister was more irritated at than Midori was herself.

There was a time and place for that, though. Regardless of what happened and why they were here, they were here.

"We'll deal with that later. This will require our full attention. We need to try chain resonance," Elly spoke on the comms to Zosar as she batted the air slash directed to her.

As the witch hunter attacked Maria and Maria subsequently roasted and hit her with a blast of air, Elly blitzed forward, seeking to use Maria's counter as an opportunity to strike with one of the swords whilst keeping the other ready to parry, deflect, or otherwise react to the woman's reaction. Elly wasn't arrogant, and while she had greatly improved since joining the program and working with Midori, she knew that she couldn't keep up with the woman head to head. Based of the initial charge from the witch hunter, Elly surmised Amelia was probably faster that Midori even, and the Irishwoman certainly was not.

"Maria, keep back and provide support. Retreat is no longer an option. Hit and run tactics, play off each other, cover each other's openings. We can't take her directly as is," Elly remarked through the comms again.

RedArmyShogun Sir Les Paul The Regal Rper Haze-

 

[The Regal Rper]

Zosar | Hallerbos Forest, Belgium

It didn't surprise him there was back up for the enemy. Any smart crook or conductor of crime that matched up to the ones he had the opportunity to gain experience off of, would have done exactly the same.

The Plague Doctors were famous, was this their doing? No, no. He brushed the thought aside.

Wren could feel the tone shift in him the second he heard the 'Oh' from their welcoming committee. The relaxed strum shifted immediately to a more serious tone. Soul Perception wasn't even fully useful here and he wished it had been, for him to pick up on what he knew was coming up next-- the attack, it's direction.

Then he sensed the briefest hint of wicked delight, the sort of feeling that reminded him of a soul aching to commit an assault-- the flurry came from slightly above.

Wind slashes, blades made of air-- 'Great' it dripped with sarcasm through their link. 'A damn Elemental type too.'

The blades were still whirling, still feeding off his wavelength. The idea of even cutting through was completely tossed aside. He knew this attack would do him more damage facing head on.

The first wind slash sliced through tree bark like it was paper, the second sliced directly through the ground like it was wet cement. Zosar flared his wavelength hard, breaking the limiters he set on himself, doing that increased the flow with an intense rush as he cranked down on the lever of well power in his soul to send another surge of his wavelength through their link into the spiritual channel Wren would absorb, amplify and send back.

All his life it had been about fine control, focus and restraint, tempering his emotions, avoiding losing himself in the moment of conflict, exercising himself like right now; it wasn't about holding back but giving more, a different approach under the same overall principle. And he did, he pushed just as he had seconds ago to feed Wren's blade but it was moments after, he realized he had made a mistake. He threw too much.

Unlike Elly and Midori who had months to practice, time to familiarize, he and Wren had only engaged over the span of days, a week, and some of that had been interrupted by his own desire to maintain distance from the others of the latest trip without informing Wren of why he was avoiding engaging any of their fellow Agents. There simply wasn't all the time in the world to get totally used to each other to be in tip top shape like the others for this mission, he knew that would put him-- them, at a slight disadvantage.

It was too late to worry about it now. Wren would have to manage his slip up for them while he focused on blocking the incoming attack with whatever she sent back to increase his reflexes.

'Keep those pretty blades whirling, Silver, use whatever excess of mine you can to do it.' Was his instruction through the link as the onslaught came rushing forward.

All he had to do to meet them was turn Wren's blade flat like a makeshift shield, turning his body in a manner that made it so Wren's wider form blocked the majority of the attack while using the saw's spinning action to extend the width even further and act as a buffer. Then with the same hand swinging the blade up like a baseball bat to transition to his right hand as their villain made their appearance.

Midori may not have cared about what stranger danger was saying but Zosar did. There was vital information there.

Lady Piper being one of the attackers after Astila, told him nada. There was nothing to go off of there. Knowing that she was a construct of the revered 'Lord Eros' however, confirmed exactly what Midori had been considering with Elly, that Eros was behind this.

What really caught his attention and actually made him feel a sense of disgust was what 'Royal-Pain', had said in a morbid compliment to her fair lady.

She was a creation of Eros. One of his finest creations. His mind was already deciphering that. The Enlighteners had rarely if ever had run-ins, as far as he knew, with members of DWMA's Top Threat List. Eros, dealt in magic, Eros who was capable of one of the most difficult forms of magic to pull off, shapeshifting, as far as he understood it.

Had he created a living magic being that was following his every command?

Again, not delving deeper into magical studies was proving to be his downfall. At the same time it was the only realistic solution he could come up with based on the information they had and what he knew. Witness report had described the pursuers as women, not monsters.

A wellspring of disgust appeared in the link between Zosar and Wren, kept under wraps as he rationalized everything.

She had said someone among them was an outdated model.

That was more than just disturbing. It made him remember a detail he had heard once about Midori. Back when he still had very few sympathizers willing to talk to him, not long after he had fought and lost to Midori, thinking he was his Executioner. There had been rumor that Midori had betrayed DWMA not of his own will but under the same influence that had brought out the worst of people in Outrigger. He already knew that detail before their first day in that lot. He had managed, even with a shattered reputation, to get some information on him. Nothing of which he could have used or even intended to, but it had given him knowledge. Stuff that had said he had been a sleeper agent, rumors that had called him a privileged punk that got away with what most would have been excommunicated for and instead given a second chance, others that said he had been under powerful mental magic that pushed him into the role of a spy that broke when he had been near death before his life had been spared by Kidd as rumors had it.

There had been plenty of hearsay all of it tied into the idea he had been manipulated.

He didn't have time to dwell on this. Not as Maria talked the sort of smack he would have never expected her to use against their opponent, whom Zosar immediately knew just from the impact of her earlier attack against one of Maria's dolls, that she was confirming everything he had thought might happen. And with what Maria just said, it was time to get moving.

"Of all the things she could rub off on you of course it would be swearing." He muttered under his breath.

'Bear with me here Wren, you're about to get what you wanted' came his warning.

He sank Wren into the ground using her Chain saw state to surge himself slightly forward then just as Maria both creatively and foolishly (not that HE could judge) set off a blast he had not been anticipating but did the job she had aimed for, taking advantage of her gust to widen the space. In the same moment he yanked Wren out, using whatever pull her saw might have given him in the ground to take off.

It was easy to tell neither of them would be up to speed with this woman. Gauging strength differences was key to every mission he had ever been on as a merc. They needed to pull something quick if they were to get the slightest upperhand. Elly, who had taken off a moment after he was, seemed to be capitalizing on Midori's exceptional skill, already peeling off with slightly greater speed than him. It was obvious Royal was going to be a pain in the A to land anything on, which made him again, overshoot the surge of wavelength he threw at Wren in an effort to increase his speed, reflexes and power in order to keep up with Elly and Midori.

He was keenly aware of the warning he had been given prior by their mentors, if he overshot it too much, exhaustion would hit hard. Wren was also his priority to be wary of, she had some Calm Mind Training but she didn't have that first seal. There was also the sheer fact no matter how limitless his reserves felt, he wasn't infinite, and he didn't need comparisons to know exactly what that Spiritual Exhaustion felt like. When the rush of wavelength came this time it was the same amount as the previous overshot but this time at a continuous flow, three times of what a Meister could produce for all it did him with what he meant to throw at a slightly lower rate.

It was right then, Elly's voice whispered in his ear her idea at how to get the upper hand.

It was a gamble, and had it not been for the buzz of Wren's blade reminding him of her specific capability indirectly, he would have considered it a dangerous gamble.

Chain Resonance with him was a horrible idea. The only ones he had been able to pull Chain Resonance off aside from his trainers, who had used Regulation to support him at the start when they had been helping him learn it was with Becky, Markus, Marigold and Dash. And even then it had never been for long periods of time. A few seconds, with max being a full two minutes. Right now it was do or die, so with a degree of chagrin at being forced into this while so ill prepared he sent word to Wren to prepare herself, he would be attempting Chain Resonance with Elly and Midori.

With Maria distancing, they moved on as Elly gave further instructions.

They both ran roughly at similar speeds. Elly was only slightly further ahead than he was, the current surge of wavelength he was sending to Wren reduced slightly but maintained its flow.

Pure focus, raw concentration. Chain Resonance required mental fortitude that was key, the first most important rule was a willingness to be open. It was similar to how Resonance worked. You couldn't resonate if you mentally closed yourself off and even if you did, it wouldn't be strong no matter how perfect a pair you were on the resonance chart. There had to be an acceptance of the people involved first. Any misgivings or negative feelings being suppressed towards one individual in the process would block that attempt at resonating, preventing one from synchronizing with the rest, and cause a micro-rejection that would cancel out the Chain, and could potentially misalign the Resonance of all involved if strong enough.

The second most important rule was exceptional control over one's wavelength. Years of fine control and learning how to precisely control his own discordant wavelength and channel it through his anatomy in precise ways proved invaluable here, with Wren stabilizing it, the act was far smoother and the intensity itself wouldn't be a factor he needed to be concerned about affecting either Elly or Midori. The fact Wren didn't need time to adjust to his intensity because of her unique wavelength skipped a week, maybe even a half or a quarter of month of work that would have required a normal Weapon to be able to manage his Volatile Wavelength long enough for Chain Resonance to be possible for an extremely short period of time.

Every time he had done this, there was that feeling of trepidation- but Zosar let that go as they moved. They needed an out. In Zosar's mind he focused on Elly and Midori's haze of a soul signature and his wavelength externalized, reaching out.

Once Elly did the same and his wavelength made contact with hers it linked all four of them immediately. For a moment, there was a sensation akin to a rush running through his body, a normal feeling of Chain Resonance that came with a successful resonance between parties into the new spiritual link. It was just as likely Elly and Midori had felt the same. The briefest sensation of the Volatile soul tempered by Wren's Tuned Wavelength made the normal overbearing sensation his soul would have felt like as normal as anyone else's but it still carried a subtle feel to it that was strong. Taking the familiar burst of energy the Chain Resonance gave, Zosar used the link and newfound connection, to inform Elly and Midori: 'I'll get you an opening. Watch out for those wind moves.'

There were too many ways Royal could attack. He saw the glint of blades at the end of that Japanese style fan. She proved she could attack close and long or even possibly Mid-range. That made her versatile and deadly, if she swung the fang the right way she could parry and follow up with another wind scythe or easily use those blades for an attack.

It was just a matter of how she attacked as they closed in.

Mentions: RedArmyShogun

Interactions: Haze- EmperorsChosen
Sir Les Paul

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Downtown LA​

Sara would soon find that tracking this potential cultist was hardly difficult. Unlike agents like themselves or even Raph, they didn't possess any innate ability to increase their mobility beyond regular human athleticism. In all reality, Sara likely didn't even need her olfactory senses amplified to pick up the blood trail. He wasn't far and it was fresh. By the time she and the rest of the group made their way through the warehouse building of Stemar Repair, the culprit had only managed to get through the small alley between the warehouse and the neighboring restaurant and cross the seven lanes that comprised South Central Avenue.

It was night and there were few people out. There factually was little reason for anyone to be behind the small mall that he was fleeing westward to. It made it pretty obvious that the guy scaling the wall to get to the top of the mall building was more than likely their culprit. There were few things more conspicuous than hauling yourself up a tree on a mostly-dead street only to parkour over to the edge of a wall and onto a roof.

At this point, the close proximity of the agents likely negated the need for a flare. Sara could have just shouted back or used her communicator to tell them she found their suspect. At the rate they were going, too, catching them wouldn't prove difficult. A burst of wavelength would have allowed any of the agents present the agility to accomplish what the culprit did in just a few moments.

What happened to be more concerning was the fact that Sara could pick up more than just one scent of blood. Blood and pancakes, actually. That smell of fresh iron intermingled with the overly sweet essence of syrup and fluffy batter within the air. While Sara didn't know the exact layout of the city or have the ocular abilities to see through the entire Mall building, something on the other side of it was intense enough to give her that odd scent of blood and syrup from over a block away. Yet, their culprit had only now successfully scaled the wall of the mall he was trying to flee over.

The oddity of the scenario only created more questions than it did answers, and Sara was the one leading the pack as decided by Nadia.

The Regal Rper RedArmyShogun EmperorsChosen Merciless Medic Mook-LandStrider​

 

[Mook-LandStrider]

Annika
Egypt
Shotgunpenguin Sir Les Paul Merciless Medic RedArmyShogun Peckinou The Regal Rper
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From one flight to another, one layer to another long flight before arriving in Egypt. It was exhausting to say the least but luckily Annika slept like a corpse on all of the longer end flights. She had woken up stiff and needed to stretch for a prolonged period of time to loosen herself back up again but was quick to get herself moving. Next came the meetings, they were people she honestly could care less about, but they played their vital parts.

After driving for some time Wes took over and Annika was out like a light once more. Missing a majority of what was said she suddenly sat up as she felt the jeep slow considerably. "I'm awake." She said almost robotically. Blinking a few times she rubbed her eyes and got out of the vehicle when Wes stopped it. Seeing him go off to search she turned her attention to the cargo on the back of the vehicle.

Rooting around for a short time Annika managed to get to the items she bought for herself. Opening up her long box she removed one of two weapons and a gem within before closing it and putting the items securely back where they were. Locking the weapon onto her right hip she hopped off the vehicle and looked around at the abandoned camp.

Overhearing Feng speaking to Gauss she decided to toss in her own ideas. "Well, consider all the thousands that had perished in the sands over the thousands of years we lived in the area." Annika mused before thinking on the zombie tropes "Can they turn people if bitten? If that's the case I need to armor up abit." Annika exclaimed, not wanting to become some sort of undead. Hearing Ark's explanation did help somewhat.

Placing the gem into its socket on her necklace her outfit flashed once before its color returned "Its been awhile since I was in a truly close combat situation. I am glad I didn't bring the long two handed version" Annika said, looking down at the weapon on her side. "Wes can slashy slash as well but… I am smitten with these weapons." Annika continued on, gushing over her chain weapon.

 

[Merciless Medic]

Sara Middleton​

Date: September 19, 2067
Location: South Central Avenue, Downtown Los Angeles, California
Interactions: Eva, Nadia, Dani, Raph, Adrian
Mentions: N/A
Mook-LandStrider RedArmyShogun EmperorsChosen Sir Les Paul

Sara followed, caught glimpses of the owner of this scent, and she took chase, keeping her body low to the ground and keeping to the shadows in the night as she continued. It was when she neared a mall did she smell something completely off.

Pancakes?

Her prior tracking training within her biome kept her trained on the individual who just scaled the mall’s wall, but she spoke within her communication’s device to her group. “I found him, he’s on the mall’s roof. On the other side of the mall, I smell more blood and sweet pancake batter. Don’t ask why, but I would prefer we get someone there to determine what is causing that smell. Nadia, tell one of us to charge and we will catch that guy.” With that done, she continued her pace towards the mall, her crouch turning into more of a run, but without the boost in wavelength. She figured Adrian might cover it, if Nadia went ahead to order him.

 

[Merciless Medic]

Michael M. Moreau​

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Mission: Disturbance in Qena w/ RedArmyShogun

Sir Les Paul Peckinou Mook-LandStrider Shotgunpenguin EmperorsChosen The Regal Rper

Date: September 20th, 2067
Location: Campsite near Eastern Shrine, Qena, Egypt

---

Moreau left the vehicle once Gauss parked it and stretched, his old man bones creaked and popped before he began rotating his shoulder to keep it unstuck. He listened to the questions posed as his eyes scanned the campsite. At the moment, the campsite looked deserted. Not much activity, aside from the breeze blowing the flaps of abandoned tents.

The campsite itself was silent, ominously so. Wes could hear no souls present nearby other than the group he came in with. The smell of decaying flesh was in the air, giving Moreau a curled lip in response. Some parts of the campsite were practically untouched, organized and orderly, while the other parts were completely destroyed, rended beyond recognition with one tent just having a few scraps strewn about in the sand and stuck on nearby items.

In the sand, if anyone cared to look, there’d be three sets of footprints. Shuffling, aimless. Then measured steps with a purpose. Then a series of tracks that looked like large dog tracks. The latter two seem to be heading to the same place, with another of the third set walking with the shambling footprints. The tracks were in states of slightly preserved to disappearing within the shifting sands.

Moreau began answering questions, walking towards the campsite and making sure everybody can hear him. “My best guess to the young lass’s question is that they don’t actually turn people. We have had our people get attacked and they haven’t turned, so it’s safe to say that’s a no. As for the leader man’s question, they do burn well, and I can only imagine electricity would fry them just fine, but not as effective as fire. I do warn you to try not to burn down the shrines. Too hot and the walls will become glass and crack, causing a cave in. From some reports, some of these zombies have anti-magic talismans and they may be wearing armor. As for the Anpu, we have no idea. We haven’t seen heads or tails of them in centuries. They used to work hand in hand with pharaohs and priests, but that was long ago. We just know they were skilled in magic. This is why we need to learn of the campsite first before we take a jaunt into the shrine.” He looks at Gauss then the others in a sweeping gaze.

“Never underestimate the knowledge you can gather from any site of a conflict, you might be able to get the jump on your enemy and know where they are, and that’s not just the Monster Hunter experience talking. And don’t underestimate them either.” He said as a warning to those who thought the zombies were simple, throwing a finger at those few. “Some reports say there are variations of them that are extremely dangerous, even to meister-weapon duos and mages. What’s more, they are probably just as dangerous as the traps we might end up seeing in this shrine, if they aren’t already tripped. Anybody who comes into Egypt to search for anything with that attitude ends up becoming cursed more often than not.” He let that sink in with his tone shifting to more sour ire before focusing more on the campsite, finding slight offense that they are not taking this seriously.

“Another answer for the red-haired lady: They come from wherever the dead lay. Considering Egypt has had a bloody past, that could be anywhere. For her weapon’s answer: Anpu are the servants of Anubis, the god of death. He guarded the gate to the afterlife and sent the dead to wherever they would go depending on how good they were in life, and Anpu are said to have something to do with the dead. We don’t know what they’re doing here, but some reports have stated that they found the Anpu around the zombies, so whatever they’re doing, it’s probably not good.”

His eyes scanned the campsite. To him, it was plain there was a struggle, but whatever happened was quick. He hummed, already not liking the feel of this place. “As for another answer, most shrines have rooms and corridors that are wide enough for double-weapon fighting and long-weapon fighting, but there are a few areas that are a bit cramped.”

Moreau walked forward, scratching his forehead as he looked about the campsite.

Nothing, yet. No movement, no sound beside those being made by his group.

“I see tracks…” He said lowly, eyes glued to the imprinted sand and he went over to get a closer look.

 

[Merciless Medic]

Noah Wiley​

Date: September 18-20, 2067
Location: The Eastern Shrine, Qena, Egypt
Interactions: Moreau, Gauss, Arkayis, Annika, Wes, Ark, Feng, Aki
Mentions: N/A
Sir Les Paul RedArmyShogun Peckinou Mook-LandStrider EmperorsChosen Shotgunpenguin The Regal Rper

Unluckily for Arkayis, Noah saw the sneer as Ark spoke. He just slowly turned his head towards Arkayis and gave him a very unamused frown. When he spoke softly, he nodded. “Good idea. Though…” He looked out at the campsite. “If we’re lucky, we can figure that out now.”

Annika’s words had Noah snickering, though he quickly shut up when Moreau got on the others about not taking this seriously and underestimating the danger. He listened to the answers Moreau gave, thankful that he knew so much but also hoping he could get the tl;dr version of it. As Moreau went to look at tracks and the others were already searching around the camp, Noah went about searching some of the tents.

He found some books relating to archaeology, what he thought was a journal, and some torn up clothes. He also saw some stains that looked like blood, but he wasn’t so sure.

One tent had collapsed and was covering something, so he walked up and grabbed the cloth, trying to pull it off of whatever was there.

 

[EmperorsChosen]

Katsushiro Hoshi | Daedelon Island
____________________________________________________________________________________________
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This was an interesting turn of events. Instead of a fight or avoidance, the centaurs approached and invited them, evidently acknowledging their abilities. However, Shiro presumed their distaste of the DWMA probably also had something to do with it in addition for the tribe's hopes to use them. As they were fed and treated as guests, the Hoshi wasted little time digging in, eating as the other two spoke amongst themselves before taking a drink.

"Nah. That defeats the purpose of them keeping quiet. They don't like the DWMA, but if we piss'em off, they may be vindictive enough to snitch just as a fuck you to us," He commented to the suggestion of sneaking in. "Plus, they seem like they have some sense of honor. Paired with not liking the DWMA, I think they'll hold their end of the bargain... not like those ants are gonna be a threat, either."

Setting the goblet down, Shiro stretched with a satisfied smile. "If they're dormant like they say, who knows. May be as easy as running in and out. Even if we have to kill a few, I don't even think it'll be noticed with the population levels of a colony like that. So, that's my vote," He expressed his train of thought. Going after the ants was the easiest and most long-term beneficial option.

Merciless Medic Sir Les Paul

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Thaddeus Thales​

"Gauss"​

Species Human
Partner Noah Wiley, Arkayis Misonuka
Rank Fate Agent

Location En route to new temple, Egypt
Mission TBD
Status Focused

​

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

Gauss was not above listening to the opinion of their guide. He had no intention on wasting time with unnecessary searches, but given they had already commit to this search, he was in the mindset of conducting it cautiously and thoroughly. With that in mind, and taking into account the suggestions of the others alongside the guide, he was already preparing for problems. Before he even opted to conduct his own search, he was running through all the scenarios that could occur had this not been conducted carefully.

"Listen up, we're not just going to search this place blindly," Gauss half-shouted, not quite straining his voice, yet still elevating it above his natural, monotonous volume.

"Ark, survey area and the area surrounding with your magic. Your search will be the quickest and give is any information about the ground. I see Moreau is already investigating footprints. Stick with him and use your abilities to survey areas he selects. Also, look for any significant disturbances or anomalies, Gauss instructed, "We will trust his expertise in finding anything out of the ordinary."

"As for the rest of us, there three Meisters capable of Soul Perception. I suggest we make sure to investigate everything for any traces of spiritual residue first, then actually look into the camp site. Avoid disturbing anything that might have been touched or altered, be it footprints or evidence. Partners should always remain nearby each other. Work in cells. As the majority of the camp is destroyed, Feng and I will search those areas. Annika and Wes will search through the undisturbed portion of the camp. I trust her eye for technology and outliers. Furthermore, if you stumble onto a closed container of any kind, do not immediately open it. If you find anything that appears to be valuable or out of the ordinary, do not move it. Instead, call on Annika. If there is a chance for traps, let her assess it first," Gauss continued on, throwing out instructions to his team.

"Lastly, for and books or items that either feel or seem magical, also wait for Ark to assess them. The Anpu are ancient, and from what research I could conduct, equal parts intelligent and devious. Even if Ark cannot detect anything, having him or Annika assess something first with our modern knowledge is better than toying with it blindly," he told them, making sure each member of this diverse party had a role to play.

With that all said, Gauss was quick to pull his head back, trying to make a notion for Noah and Arkayis to join in him his search over their half of the damaged campsite. Afterwards, his first step was a quick walk-through of his area with his Soul Perception active, simply looking for anything that might have had any spiritual energy remaining. Chances were low given natural spiritual energy and wavelengths dispersed quickly, but if did trudge up something, it was likely an important outlier. Afterwards, he did the same thing, but instead with his ability to sense magnetic fields. Most importantly, this would give him an idea of anything that was ferromagnetic. Gauss had found historically that unless an object was truly 24 karat gold, it likely was an alloy containing another metal to harden it. Silver was more tricky as it was often mixed at ninety-two percent silver with the rest being copper, also not magnetic. However, in a desert area like this, if jewelry or important items had some type of chain, it was likely a corrosion-resistant steel, which would give him some idea it was present.

Steel alloys, cast iron, and harder metals meant to withstand the heat and sand. That is what he was looking for. If there was absolute lack of them, then it might have been safe to assume this campsite was already hit by scavengers looking for items of value. If there were guns or weapons, he would pick up on it. Trap mechanisms or bombs would likely trigger this as well, unless they were made of purely ceramic components. In any case, it didn't hurt to at least look beforehand.

"Arkayis," Gauss said, mentioning the name of his partner in a more serious tone, "you will likely be paramount to this mission as undead are inherently weak to fire. That said, try to not burn through your reserves quickly. Use your red flames if you can keep it in mind," Gauss told him, "and, like it or not, Ark will also be valuable. His magic is well-suited for this mission. I don't expect you to like him. I have been allowed to read some of the information about the other agents due to my leadership position, so I am trusting you with what I tell you. He has seen some horrendous things and has PTSD. Nightmares, flashbacks, aversions to loud sounds and explosions. I know you can make explosions, so please avoid doing so on a whim."

Gauss turned around, pausing for a moment to shift his attention to Arkayis. His golden eyes fell upon his partner and his facial expression shifted, no longer appearing entirely like the statuesque figure he had been for the duration of the mission thus far and annoying flight hopping they had taken beforehand. Instead, he had a sullen look on his face, drained and bare. The mask he was wearing had been removed. "I can only say it so many times, Arky, but I am sorry for Hawaii. I am not trying to harp on you or be harsh..."

Gauss sighed, not knowing if he could really level with Arkayis and his altruistic intentions come through, or if he was just making it worse.

"I am... thinking through possibilities. Trying to prevent problems before they happen," he explained, "and, trying to help you succeed. I don't want a scenario to happen where someone blames you for a freak-out or an accident."

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Yutu Tatigat​

"Astor"​

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


​

Tags: Merciless Medic EmperorsChosen

With the decision made to embark on their new quest for the golden idols, all that was left was to finish their meal and make their way South. This is where the act of befriending the centaurs proved valuable already. With the map they were given, there were several paths that could have been taken to reach the mines. The centaurs gave them the kindness of offering them a count-intuitive route that would allow them to bypass multiple encounters that could have presented a significant challenge, especially with their limitation on killing these creatures.

Had the group made their way directly South through the forest, they would have encountered the dryads of the forest. While many dryads still in fact existed off this island, the majority of them were located here and had taken the southern half of the forest as their domain. The area was littered with hills and even plains where they resided. And, dryads were intelligent creatures, much like the centaurs. However, their rapport with the DWMA surveyors was far better.

Directly to East, had they went in that direction, would have been fine, except that hills at the foot of the mountain were the hunting grounds of the formidable griffins that roosted in the cliffs of the mountain. Griffins were creatures of pride and highly territorial. Aside from a select few dryads, few could roam those hills without being attacked, in droves. The griffins might have lacked the magical capabilities of the harpies, but the greatest among them were large and powerful. In general, something to avoid.

The best option was to venture back West and remain in the west end of the forest and continue south until they reached the grassy flatland. As long as they did not go so far south as to reach the Den of Scales, which was its whole own ecosystem full of the different reptiles of Greek mythos, they would be fine. The only threat they would encounter there were the roaming Catoblepas of the area, whose breath was a vile poison that could paralyze even the centaurs. Luckily for the trio, their mutations and White Blood mask prevented that from being a problem.

While lengthy, it was a simple venture. The least exciting thus far of all of their traversing on this island. It led to the sun unfortunately waning in the sky. There was no inherent time limit on this mission, so that didn't prove a problem. However, it did put into perspective the annoying commute these three would be taking on to trek through this island safely. A set of boons and curses. The help of the centaur's knowledge, but the curse of traveling the less beaten path.

If there was any form of solace, it was that on the west side of the forest, they did see many more regular animals. Deer, squirrels, birds of all kinds. Considering the west side was described as the hunting grounds of the Centaurs, it likely gave some relief regarding the stew they ingested.

Once beyond the plains with the Catoblepas, it was a shorter, simple walk around the edge of the forest and up to the mountain terrain. It wasn't difficult to begin tracking down the mines. This was thus far the only place on the island with any semblance of human civilization. Crude railways and beaten paths led through the plains to what appeared to be old, decrepit campsites or perhaps a small town that had all but weathered away with age. From there, new paths of a different pattern were scattered all over, more haphazardly, but in some semblance of organization. Astor insisted these must have been trails left by the ants, and based on their size, the centaurs were hardly exaggerating just how absurdly large these insects would be.

Following them took the group to the entrance of the mines, which itself was within a cut out section of the mountain that had a cliffside ravine to the north and mounds of dirt and stone creating an odd, unnatural terrain to the South. Astor couldn't even explain that one, though the truth was that area simply happened to be where the ants drug out the remains of the mine to make room for their nest.

By now, the sun was mostly set and the dark was encroaching in. The trio had little to go on and hadn't set up camp, but were at least at the seemingly correct location.

"Well... I will admit that I did not consider the act of actually going into the mine. I would presume that it is pitch black," Astor said, pointing out the slight flaw in this retrieval plan.

"I doubt the network of tunnels is as complex as normal ants... given their size, they can't feasibly bore so deeply into the Earth... but still, finding anything in an underground maze with limited light, assuming we use torches, might be a fool's errand," Astor said, trying to think through solutions to the problem they faced in front of them. Though really, despite how refined the werewolf was previously, his questions and answers only painted the current situation as a potential mistake on their end.

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Qena Dig Site, Egypt
September - 20th​

With the clear division of labor set up by Gauss, the investigation of all parties would have immediate results. Perhaps not the results they wanted, but results none-the-less. Firstly, the areas of the camp which were destroyed, and those that were not, had a common feature. The damages worked their way from the outside in... And in an area that seemed to be set aside for relics from the inside out. Though there was not much in the way of seemingly malicious destruction outside of one key location, the ramparts leading from the diggers quarters and the jury-rigged defenses that had been set up and broken into.

For their part, Moreau and Ark would have a largely uneventful time, minus the mystery around the tracks and what Ark could sense would only muddle the situation more. On his initial sweeps of the area with his three-hundred-foot detection range, Ark would pick up the scattered signs and signatures of undead. Weaker sorts, they carried no arcana that would pronounce them as a threat. And the prints for Moreau would be even more confusing. The human prints were a mix of normal strides, bared feet, sandles, modern shows, staggered walks, drags, and the Anpu came to the location from the exterior rather than the interior of the dig site, all of the tracks seemed independent at points and combined at others. Curiously upon expanding the search area, while there were less details, there was far more activity in the town of Qena, it's outskirts, and of course the dig site.

For his part Noah would have the most eventful initial search, finding a dead body clutching at something that once laid in their right hand, an older well-dressed man in khakis, consulting with Moreau would reveal this was one Professor Manu Mubarak. The head of the expedition. Curiously he was stabbed in the back with a shocked expression to his face, who or whatever did this was either trusted or very stealthy, though curiously and for the detections of Ark, a burned magic circle was located around the body. The purpose of this ritual was vague, though it was a ritual circle for sure, tell-tell traces of magic remained.

For the three Meisters assorted finds were made. Firstly, the most devastated area seemed to center around the secure zone for relics removed from the Tomb and more than a few archeological finds were left, and secondly from the workers section of the camps. It seemed some sort of last stand was mounted, but there were no weapons to be seen, minus improvised ones in the forms of shovels and pickaxes, more troubling across the camp more of the sigils were found, the burned-out spell circles, with bodies much akin to the professor. And there was the occasional straggler undead. Unable to converse, hostile if you got near them, but otherwise seemed, well, lost. They had only but a fragment of a soul, held in place with magic, little more than puppets. They uniformly were the workers from before, though curious cases of walking corpses or wearing more civilian attire unique to egypt and the Arab world were among the numbers. Those could be dispatched without issue. Though among them were bodies that either had split skulls or gaping holes in the chest, truly fallen for the last time. Or so one would hope.

Among other finds, however, were some scattered pages from journals detailing the days leading up to the find and thereafter, jewelry from the site and bodies were recovered and a curious bronze scimitar. Though outdated by modern materials, the nonmagnetic metal seemed to gleam like it was brand new. Likely the effects of some form of enchantment to preserve it. While Annika and are were called for several times, none of the valuable items were trapped, and neither were any found to have magics. If there were any odd trends, it was that there had clearly been Anpu foot traffic from the secure site, back to the temple. Purpose unknown.

With the group back together it was time to shared the passages from destroyed or mauled journals, a PDA and a manifest from the workers camp. The Majority of the first one(s) was in Arabic, the PDA was in English and the shipping manifest contained a bit of Arabic and English script. Necessitating that Moreau and Ark would translate them.

"Day 1 - "I was a bit suspicious at how the information about this place was in a tome that Ismael had found in some rundown tourist trap antiques shop. Though it is not unheard of. Evans is putting the workers to good use, we should strike stone in short order. Provided all of this is right. But historic sites like this are-" The rest of the page was deteriorated, to far gone to read, burned, or blood smeared, found upon the body of the professor. Further Journal Entries were found upon the man;

"Day 3 - I can't believe we actually found it! A whole temple complex! It even has a royal chamber, or at least those for the old faiths, it has not been disturbed by robbers or thieves either! The excavators should have a portion cleared today; we can wait to clear it all once the job is done. Hopefully the Locals don't rob us. I must send word to Cairo at once!"

"Day 5 - I need to find Ismael, Evans, Sadat, I don't care who... I'm afraid, so afraid, we have disturbed that which Anubis had buried... The key three relics I've had split among us, but the hieroglyphics are so damaged to read. I need to read that book... In the name of-" The message ends as this is when the outbreak of the problems began.

Then on the PDA in perfect English, if not the user typing with the spirit of Irony.

"Ah what a joyous time, to uncover history before another or the British Museum can take it. The professor and his assistant have been most remarkable, though I don't care much for that Evans fellow, rough around the edges, that horrid drawl, he is the quintessential American. Wasn't surprised when he was twirling a revolver, shooting at the feet of some townspeople that made it to the camp site. Still, I digress, my memoirs don't need that account. However, to the history, this temple was designed for three figures, high priestess of some sort, mention of a great struggle, repeated mentions of Anubis, of man and the magical side by side... But it is like a children's tale, the damage is so extensive, someone purposely damaged the monument, and it was quickly buried. What struck me as the greatest finds were the three empty sarcophagi which each had a present treasure laid within. Likely to deal with those three... I'm not sure why I've not heard tell of them till now, but Thoth-htep, Seker, Nofret-Kau. Why the high priests were set to be buried in a tomb dedicated to Anubis, that I must learn.... There is so much to learn here, ah, of additional note, we may have a book on the site with more information. Also remind the workers to not take anything from the honor guard we found at site. I'll let the American frighten them with speeches on curses. Though Magic is here, I don't believe in such things as curses. Only those made by men."

Then there was the manifest, several barrels of diesel, shipping crates, tools, and other essentials were listed, enough for some 30 people, though the shipping crates were a to be requested item. What happened here seemed to have happened before the sheet could be finished, though this one did have a blood stain and was found in the hand of a "zombie" with a hardhat on. Curiously their addition in English has a large EVANS written on it and demanded an assortment of weapons with munitions and scrawled appendixes stappled to it of justifications and incidents leading up to the days after the ruin had been cleared, including interlopers not from the Village being on the outskirts of the site, towards the vast desert to the East. Though there were also requests for equipment and tools, complaining that not all of the temple was yet cleared of traps and some muttering about needing professional workmen with a few choice racial slurs and complaints about the workers in chicken scratch.

EmperorsChosen (Aki) Sir Les Paul (Gauss) The Regal Rper (Ark) Merciless Medic (Moreau - Noah) Shotgunpenguin (Wes) Peckinou (Arky) Mook-LandStrider (Annika)

 

[Haze-]

Wren
Hallerbos Forest, Belgium​

“I sure as hell ain't bum rushing nobody even with cover fire, Silver.”

“Heh.” — If her current set of teeth weren’t all angled, inanimate steel, Wren would’ve hit him with a shit-eating grin; though, one could surmise that slight jolt speeding the teeth on the chainblade to be akin to her smiling

“C’mon, don’t be so boring…” — She jabbed at his buttons through their link, though she made herself transparent-feeling enough for Zosar to know that she wasn’t being anything but ironic. She had been feeling that fog of uncertainty getting between them, shared on their link— and it wasn’t a bother to her at all. Hell, she was glad that Zosar was level-headed enough to recognize a lump in the throat for what it meant.

They were gazelles treading on murky waters now, no telling on what could jump out at them. A blood starved land-shark lurking in the bluebells, maybe.

Or maybe she just had to stop thinking up analogies of their situation, focus on their mission. Eyes on the ‘Now,’ as they say…

Wren made a click with her tongue through their link, just as Zosar had turned off his comms. Half-playful, half-mockingly— trying to see if it’d make him think that he hadn’t turned off his comms — “Any theories on wh…—" — Just as she was about to add onto his question, as if the world itself had answered preemptively, she felt a ghoulish chill crash and claw down her spine. Then she heard the wind blades chirring on thin air.

Her eyes followed the disembodied voice, feeling bloodlust pinching the air tight. ‘Killing intent,’ ‘Pressure,’ something esoteric and meaningless like that.

“Shit.” — Wren’s tone shifted just as Zosar’s did, she felt him plant feet and shift, then something else hit her— something intense. Like a sucker punch straight to the gut, it snapped her awake

ガ brrr—m… ガ
​

As if a knee-jerk reaction, the chainblade immediately roared a decibel louder as she took in Zosar’s wavelength. Whatever he’d just sent, he’d overshot it for what seemed to be miles when compared to what he’d given up until now. Zosar pushed and for once she felt herself buckle, even if an inch. Didn’t take long for the explosive energy to stabilize, Wren sent back a surge of what she had stored, enough output to heighten Zosar’s performance for the incoming strikes

Their inexperience was showing, and that faint slip she felt just now wasn’t something that should’ve caught her by surprise, not one bit. Annoying, maybe, but nothing she hadn’t been warned about prior.

Every pro dancer had twisted their ankle nasty at least one time in their life, it was part of the job to seesaw your balance and fall ass flat on the ground on an oversight. Their form was damn near perfect when paired together, that’s the one thing she knew to heart from the first time she met him, but you can’t get perfect just out of a good match-up.

Only time and effort could press a diamond out of the raw, the rough; and, as they were, it was rough. Not as rough as it should be, given they’d only been doing it for about a week, but they weren’t on tip-top performance yet.

She was thinking up analogies again, wasn’t she? — “Tch…” — Eyes on the ‘Now.’

“You got me all juiced up already, don’t even worry about ‘em stopping anytime soon.” — She replied through their link, feeling that quiet pang of disgust ringing throughout, she looked on at their newest problem, her blue head of hair rounding the shape of a tree. It didn’t take soul perception, nay a keen eye to figure out she was a — “Royal pain in the ass…” — She didn’t feel the need to share that thought through their link, figured Zosar could already tell by himself.

As they were blocking raging winds, Wren’s focus on the golem was immediately broken by Maria’s words, just now noticing that their witch had been rushed— her thoughts awkwardly shifted from a concerned ‘Damn, she’s fast.’ to having to hold herself from laughing as she processed what had come out of Maria’s mouth.

“I haven’t even heard the lowlifes speak like that out in the streets…” — She added onto Zosar’s comment, feeling that— as a lowlife herself— she had learned something new.

The were-weapon didn’t dwell on that newfound feeling for long, Zosar’s warning came, she kicked back into focus. Her mind was set on Zosar’s words before he charged forward, ‘You’re about to get what you wanted.’ As ominous as it should have been, she felt… oddly excited. And that was an immediate problem. Wren got to projecting what little she’d been conditioned about Calm Mind before Zosar even got to throw wavelength into her, already knowing what her reaction would be— a spike in madness.

‘Untethering the mind from the soul.’ she focused on that concept.

ガ ー brr—RRRRRRR…! ガ ー​

There was that jolt of lightning again. Bordering on painful. Energizing. First hit made the teeth grind faster than ever.

ガガガー BRRM—BRRM-B-rRRRRRR!!! ガガガー
​

The roar of the chainblade sounded off, reverberating, the nightmare of any and all trees around the world— and she was feeling like she could timber down half-a-dozen trees on one good swing, with how much Zosar had given her. But that initial, eye-rolling feel of delight was just that. Hollow adrenaline, a meaningless rush. She huffed a sigh through their link, the roar of the chainblade lessening as she managed the energy, sent some out back to Zosar — “Try to focus up, Z. Can’t be messin’ up now...”

It was then that he shared another thought with her, Wren gave him an almost defeated, doubtful chuckle on instinct — “Chain resonance?” — She wasn’t sure she had it in her to do it, not without messing up. But there wasn’t any other out from the mess they were in. Wren hissed on their link, psyching herself up — “Let’s do it then.”

This whole trip was about learning experiences, she’d figured by now.

Once wavelengths reached across, connections formed and tightened, that sudden, refreshing feeling made her feel airheaded— floaty. There wasn’t any time to voice through their quad-link and ask Midori, the far more experienced weapon, for pointers this far into it. She settled for shadowing him, to what her own extents allowed.

Mentions: RedArmyShogun
Interactions: The Regal Rper Sir Les Paul EmperorsChosen

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Nadia Semyonov - Daniella Ethalyn - Streets of LA
​

Upon getting the information from Sara, Nadia motioned for the rest to continue. Those who could not talk and walk, or walk and do what was required, or in this case run, weren’t worth keeping around at all. If they fell behind, what good were they when it came to an actual fight? Still, there was the mage to worry about, bastard he was aside, his magic may be useful.

Repeating what was told and adding her own commentary, Nadia knew Dani at least couldn’t hear the comm transmission in her current state and did not bother to see if the rest had selective comms or were all open as well.

“He got on the roof of a mall and you picked up the smell of blood and pancakes around the area?”

“The fuck you mean pancakes?” Dani cut in sharply, honing in on that particular detail. Then again, they were cult, so part of her wasn’t surprised. “Are they fuckin’ eating people?”

“I don’t know, it's what Sara says it smells like. She’s a werewolf, I trust her instincts. More importantly he either climbed or jumped up a building. And she wants to give chase, or send someone to the smell. We won't be doing that as I'm pretty sure that is what they are doing.”

“I am not so sure they are unrelated.” She added tersely.

“They’re definitely fuckin’ not!” Dani replied exasperated. “Unless after killing some dude they think ‘I could really go for some pancakes right now’. Can’t believe the cannibal group thinks I’m the freak…”

“I don’t mind being thought of as a Demon for the likes of them with you, or the harbinger of it with those ilk… Still,” A pause as she used the communicator.

“Negative. Continue to shadow him, if my hunch is right he’ll be headed right there, and I won’t split our numbers unless I must. We will be picking up our pace, if he diverges from the scent tell us immediately. We will group up on him or that scent all together. There is more than one cultist killer out there after all, I will not tolerate the escape of the enemy. We shall crush them into dust! Adrian, if you don’t mind it, pick up the Mage if he falls behind. We are going to catch up with Sara now.”

“It’s not like I’m offended. Guess I’m just trying to look for logic in idiots,” Dani murmured from the blade. “I’m all for beating the hell out of’em though.”

“Da. Sara, if the smell and he starts to part, we will go with the smell, but as I said I am very doubtful they are not unrelated, likely more killings. With the failure of the police, they have victory disease. They grow overconfident. We will not be beating the hell out of them. Minus the ones most eager to talk, I plan to see to it most of them resisted too vigorously.”

"Alright team, we converge upon the scene and charge in. I would say investigate or some infiltration, but let's face it, none of us are suited. So, let's find where the little bastard is going, or the pancake party, we go in, start hitting people in the face. See where it takes us."

Interactions: EmperorsChosen (Dani) Sir Les Paul (Adrian) Merciless Medic (Sara - Raph) Mook-LandStrider (Eva)

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Amelia Misonuka​

"Royal-Pain"​

Species Human (Golem)
Partner Nikka (Razor Fan)
Rank Three Star-Star

Location Hallerbos Forest, Belgium
Mission ???
Status Excited

​

Tags: The Regal Rper RedArmyShogun EmperorsChosen Haze-

"Aw, that might have been cute..." Roya said aloud, realizing the tactic Maria had employed. A secondhand explosion of wind, a byproduct of her magic. Something that couldn't be negated with an Anti-Magic Wavelength alone.

"IF IT DIDN'T COME FROM A VULGAR, GRUBBY, GRIMY, SQUALID WITCH WHORE!"​

Roya met the explosive power of the wind with a tempest of her own. This shift in tactic did cause her to stop. That wind enchantment and the fast reflexes of Maria were problematic. Of course, such was the nature of things when closing the gap to a magic caster. Maria had been taught well, not just how to counter the tactics of a Meister, but given the techniques to do so. Roya was not without countermeasures of her own. Roya and her unnamed weapon partner now began to resonate, and in doing so, unleashed a tremendous and terrifying amount of spiritual energy. It was fairly obvious the group was outmatched before, but seeing their Resonance in action only cemented that fact further.

A sphere of wind encapsulated Roya, protecting her from the backlash of the spell Maria had cast. From it, both Zosar and Elly could see how stable and thorough their resonance was. The weapon was amplifying the raw spiritual energy Roya possessed far beyond what Wren or Midori could do for their respective partners. It was a testament of skill, but more so, an inherent bond both Roya and her weapon shared as golems. They were, in fact, built for each other. Or, at least, altered slightly to have an incredibly powerful, but stable resonance. Such was rare within the DWMA as stability and raw potency were typically on opposite ends of the spectrum, but that natural correlation hardly mattered when their bond was synthetic.

Roya wasn't finished with just this defensive bubble, either. Meisters--good Meisters--were always chaining attacks. Never relenting on their unending barrage of attacks. Some might stop to think of a strategy, but even that required time and time wasted would only result in getting yourself killed. No, instead, hundreds of those wind scythes from earlier shot out from her sphere in all directions, truly omni-directional, and in fact not even guided by Roya herself. It was a blind torrent of attacks with the difference being each were smaller, but sharper. Slicing through the trees surrounding her and carving into the ground effortlessly, devastating the beautiful forest and azure carpet of flowers around her--or at least what was left after Maria caused her explosion.

Both Zosar and Elly would have to contend with that torrent of wind slashes. It acted both offensively and defensively insofar that the closer either would get to her, if they even had the might to move forward from a distance, the more concentrated the slashes became in both their own volatility and the space between them, creating a net of slashes.

Worse, Roya was not done with Maria. Flight or not, the girl was her target. Until now, Roya hadn't used a name technique. It was time, and she wasn't letting the expenditure of her previous two techniques slow her down. She was a machine of destruction.

"Winds of the Four Cardinal Directions..." Roya shouted from within the eye of her tempest, followed immediately after by a surge in their resonating wavelengths; a surge that was absurd given how violent and intense their combined spiritual energy already was.

Roya and her weapon worked together for this with Roya pointing her fan in the direction of Maria, sending out four blades comprised entirely of spiritual energy that were modeled after four the blades that comprised her fan. These blades did not target Maria, however. Instead, they flew through the air at incredible speeds far beyond and around Maria. As their name implied, each aligned with one of the four primary directions: North, South, East, and West. Once in place, a funnel of wind connected them, creating a barrier that possessed the Anti-Magic properties of Roya herself. This truly designated how dangerous the two were. It was Wavelength-Enhanced Resonance. A skill even Midori in his prime had not mastered.

The funnel was restrictive, but not dangerous unless one neared it, and quite large, roughly thirty feet in diameter. While even the time-space bending broom created by Maba could not phase through the wind funnel, it acted as little more than a cage. No, in fact, Maria inside the funnel was probably the safest of the group. As right after, a new feature of this Resonance technique became known. It could move once it was established. Roya gestured the funnel to near her, and it did, but in doing so, created a turbulent wall of razor winds that forced Elly and Zosar to react both to the ongoing torrent of slashes from their front and the wall closing in on them from the back.

"Don't worry, guys... I'll kill her before she gets to see your mangled corpses," Roya boasted, now maintaining both of these techniques with the intent on passively slashing the Meisters to death first.

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Midori☆Hoshi​

"Dark Star"​

Species Death Golem
Partner Eloise Keegan
Rank Two-Star

Location Hallerbos Forest, Belgium
Mission Belgium Blues
Status Focused, intense

​

Tags: The Regal Rper RedArmyShogun EmperorsChosen Haze-

'This is the death-damn problem with elemental affinities...' Midori noted, commenting on the fighting style Roya was demonstrating in the moments after her failed initial assault on Maria. 'At a certain point, you might as well just fighting a Witch,' he added, though at the moment, only conversing with Elly through their mental link.

Midori took a moment to assess the situation. He remained cool and calm. Collected, even. The stress of battle only cleared his mind of the concerns he had regarding tracking down Ao. There was a tinge of frustration at the current situation, but that stemmed primarily from Roya herself, not the danger they were actually in. She possessed this intense hatred of Witches, yet her fighting style at the moment was little different functionally from a Witch.

At core, Midori knew that wasn't exactly the case. No elemental affinity user could ever hope to compare to the wide range of applications a real Witch would have with their magic. But, when you're facing a torrent of wind slashes from the front and effectively a razor tornado from the back, the differences felt dissolved. What was more impressive is the sheer quality of her Resonance and the skill required to pull off that resonance technique to begin with. All while channeling that sphere. The split focus was something few Meisters could achieve. Something Midori heard earlier, however, had him piecing together what was going on. Roya called this yet unmet Lady Piper his finest creation. That implied she was also a golem. Which made it fair to assume Roya was a golem.

Midori had researched everything the DWMA knew about Eros. A little known fact is that he could impart the skills and knowledge of one Meister onto another through their memories. It meant this skill probably was deserved. Not earned or trained for, at least not entirely. He was just loading presets into the brains of his soul-captured puppets. It made these foes dangerous, sure, but it explained everything about their current situation. Death only knew what other tricks Eros had been working on since Midori was created.

A reality hit him in this moment of contemplation. These attacks Roya was using weren't even that powerful. They were utility. That tornado behind them, while dangerous in its own right, lacked the raw potency of what a comparable Meister could do at their level. Her sphere itself and the fact she could maintain it simultaneously was impressive, but at core, her attacks didn't grow stronger; they just changed in form and volume. Roya wasn't using her full power. She was toying with them. She seemed to have a hate boner for Witches, and knowing Eros that made sense, so this situation equated to a cat toying with a mouse.

This infuriated Midori. Not that just that he would ever be a mouse to be toyed with; Cyrus made the gap between them obvious hundreds of times. No. He respected Cyrus. He was infuriated because this random ass bitch decided they were nothing more than rodents for her to see with as she saw fit.

It was time to step things up a notch.

With Chain Resonance established, though unsteady as it may be, it did allow now for a telepathic communication between the four of them. An instant, shared space where they could commune faster than what was going on in their surroundings. It was a known fact that the spiritual planes of the souls moved faster than the physical planes with the bodies, and Midori was about to abuse the ever living Hell out of that.

'Elly, Wren, Zosar, we need even more than this. You will need to trust me,' he told them all, bearing in mind the exact considerations that Zosar was worried about earlier. With Chain Resonance, the souls all of those involved needed to wash themselves of their concerns and distrust of the others involved, at least for the moment. They needed a shared cause or an intense bond to accomplish this. Resonance in general was built upon bonds, strengthened or weakened by them, and Chain Resonance was little different.

Midori was fairly certain Elly would be on board with anything that assured her survival. She might not have been happy his insistence on pursuing the targets got them here, but he was pretty certain she would trust him to make it right. Zosar was his former pupil, someone he had saved many times, someone he had taken to his ancient homelands. Zosar had seen Midori at his most raw and bare when they met the Enlighteners and Zosar had the option to return, but didn't. Zosar was his friend, and stayed.

Those two, he had no concerns about.

But, Wren? He hardly knew her. He could only hope that her history of doing what it took to survive and falling into line for that survival would be sufficient here.

Midori demonstrated his own skill. The same type of niche-elite Wavelength Regulation he used to push Elly to her limits could now extend to Zosar. This technique had its limits. Someone like Wes could have done it far better and synced their wavelengths to even further heights without the risk of failure. Wes, however, would have done through sound-based regulation, a default skill of his due to his own abilities. Midori only had his raw skill and training as a Hoshi.

Regardless, he willed his way through their Resonance network to Wren and Zosar. There was little he could do to help Wren aside from pull some of the excess Wavelength that Zosar had fed her back into Zosar. His connection--his bond with her--was not sufficient to truly help her. Beyond that, she had the Capacitor Soul. He couldn't regulate what was self-regulating. Instead, he had to focus on Zosar. To extend his very soul and presence through that of his friend to open up and streamline his spiritual pathways. Zosar was struggling immensely to restrain the intensity of his wavelength yet push more volume to Wren. This had his entire spiritual network from his soul to the tips of his fingers misaligned. Midori could align that. He could help with the regulation. Make it easier for Zosar to keep his intensity down and his volume up. That was the boon he could gift his friend through Chain Resonance.

And with Elly, there was a different approach. Wren with her Capacitor Soul created a Tuned Wavelength. There was little she could do to help match it to the rest of the group. Thus, it fell on Elly and Midori try and match her. Midori was the one responsible for amplifying the Wavelength Elly fed to him, and in that process of amplification, he could slightly shift the newly amplified Wavelength closer to the Tuned Wavelength Wren possessed. This in turn made both the end results of his own and Elly's Resonance closer to that of Zosar and Wren, which in turn, created a stronger Chain.

By the end of his endeavors, Midori did little for Wren but reset her back to before she was overloaded by Zosar, but that alone would make amplifying what Zosar provided easier to manage. Zosar would have had an easier time giving Wren consistent wavelength. Over all, that made Resonating for them easier. Now with Elly and himself more closely matching them, the bolster in raw power the two duos was noticeable, not just invigorating, but a level of power that three of the four had never felt before. This was their new pinnacle. This was current peak.

This was Chain Resonance and with it, two Two-Star duos standing before a Three-Star duo could feel their own spiritual energy compete with that which moments ago felt overbearing, possibly even intimidating.

'I can't maintain this forever, so we need to end her soon... or at least free Maria,' Midori told the other three, admitting just how straining this was on him. He was spread thin. He was no Wes, or a sound engineer, or an elite. He was at the limit of his raw skill here. 'Someone, default your communicator to radio UHF. Her anti-magic wavelength can't disrupt that. See if Maria can just fly straight up and out of that funnel--or figure something out to free her,' he instructed them in their four way communication.

Then he transformed. Into the blades that Elly requested so long ago.

He also returned to speaking to Elly in their shared soul space alone. 'You have the power to beat her, Elly, so just fucking cut the bitch,' he told her, only letting how frayed he was from spreading himself so thin come out in his tone now. He didn't want Zosar and Wren to know, but he couldn't hide it from Elly. Midori was walking a tightrope and it put them on a timer.

GM Note: In terms of scaling, both duos with this Chain Resonance will have more raw power than Roya even with her superior Resonance. They will not completely eclipse her, something closer to being about twenty or thirty percent more powerful in raw intensity. They should be able to easily cut through her wind slashes and resist the cutting power of that barrier, so direct attacks are on the table. All their base physical attributes are buffed, too, so speed, strength, etc., and they may not know how to use them perfectly. So think sloppy, but powerful attacks. Be creative.

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Maria Mayer - Hallerbos Forest, Belgium

​

Analyzing the situation, this woman seemed to have a specific interest in her and her alone. And it wasn't like she couldn't kill her quickly if she applied herself, but there was one thing very clear in her brief interactions. She was much too given to emotions. While Maria wanted to be friends with more people than not, and had been held victim to her own emotions, she had recalled being told by her master that this was the best way to kill a Meister. The Weapon was invincible for only as long as they could hold form, but the Meister very much was mortal, even if this one was made of stone or whatever sort of composite. And her funnel had a weakness that only Maria could exploit.

This Meister wanted her broken and defeated, to take pleasure in killing her. She sounded a lot like that Arkayis boy who wanted to burn her for existing. The question was how to play with this bull in such a manner that they survived the encounter. With her calm and emotionless face, it was a wide net to cast given she didn't know this psychopath at all, but their hope was in forcing her to stay out long enough that the woman they were after proved more able to escape one pursuer. There was a curious pull from this wind vortex, but it pulled at her clothing, rather than herself and while she had anti-magic, Maria had learned first hand that the woman could not stop the after effects of a spell or ones the doll maker used upon herself.

"How many of those words you just said do you really understand? You remind me of one named Arkayis, your hatred will only get you so far... But ah, you're a golem, you've already learned that lesson in the only meaningful way. That of death, Corpse Doll. Though it begs the question on why you would serve one so steeped in Magic and Chaos."

Whoever she was, she didn't deserve the dignity of a name. Corpse Doll suited her just well. At least Midori wasn't hostile to her, even if he seemed to avoid her in the days after Hawaii, something she didn't mind. However, this woman had power, but for what? Narrow minded fool. She deserved nothing than taunting contempt, for no matter how strong she may truly be, she was but a small child that never outgrew a tantrum. Stagnation.

With that Maria could indeed not go out the sides of the Vortex, but she knew with the displacement this broom used she could not and was not in fact being pulled downward. She could not let the other catch on to this. For no matter what Maria did, her efforts were to shave at the girl, to keep her distracted for the two Meisters and their Weapons. This was a time trial in all likelihood. Or so she hoped.

Flying up and out of the Tornado, or rather displacing herself in flight, Maria eventually escaped and dived down in the span of breaths, more falling than landing till the last moment, before she opened her Grimoire while sitting upon the broom as a spell circle formed behind her seemingly out of her own mana, when the blood she had left behind on the ground leading from Roya to Maria herself, the blood shifted under the effects of Alchemy as a number of strands formed into runes upon the ground, making a gateway for her demon tool control wires. These would not last long, and nor did she need them to, from her bleeding wounds, Maria could only hope she could outthink the Meister and that her allies would as well.

Connecting to the Medium doll Alicia, she commanded it with three simple orders, keeping the lines intact, she wanted Roya to think the wires were contingent upon commanding it, first, it kicked the smaller dolls back towards their master, an unseemly "technique" but one that served its purpose, the second command was to advance at speed, and the third was to swipe it's double blades at the back of the Meister, while she made use of her spools to connect to the other four dolls, while brief she would attempt attacks from the flanks with the two Melee, while her two "caster" dolls would expend runes to try dumping their spells as quickly as possible.

Interactions: EmperorsChosen (Elly) Sir Les Paul (Midori, Enemy) The Regal Rper (Zosar) Haze- (Wren)

 

[EmperorsChosen]

Eloise Keegan - Hallerbos Forest, Belgium
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

There were a great many concerns if chain resonance was possible. There were many reasons. The requirement for a connection of trust was one. Elly wasn't particularly trusting and, on top of that, those involved were already irked. Then there was Wren who had hardly been with Zosar, let alone Elly and Midori. Then there was the aspect of wavelengths, namely Elly's and Zosar's that inherently carried a difficulty spike when it came to resonance.

That said, Midori could bridge the gap of her soul by this point, and Elly despite her grievances had many a time swallowed it. This left the question of the other two. She believed Zosar could as well, though again the question laid with the werewolf. However, Midori's gambit did indeed bear fruit, and Elly could feel it. The presence of the witch was originally overwhelming. Yet, now, Elly fully intended to skin the woman.

'I intend to,' Elly replied to Midori within their space before tapping into the shared space with Zosar and Wren. 'Maria's creating the opening for us. She's arrogant and hates witches, so she'll take at least some bait. We have a power advantage now. Blitz her and go for kill-shots right away. If I don't kill her with one of my swings, I don't plan to stop attacking or give her a chance to breathe. In which case, one good hit from you two will do her in, I'm sure.'

Levying her train of thought, she could tell of Midori's strain. The blitzkrieg strategy was both am effective tactic as she saw it as well as a necessity. Put the golem on the backpedal and don't let her recover.

And so Elly began in her assault, kicking off the ground in a charge toward the witch hunter, weaving around the air slices or batting them away before invading Amelia's personal space. She quickly brought one of the short swords down on Amelia's weapon, clashing with it first to disrupt any attempt at a parry or block with it, all the while the other blade was brought in a swift swiping motion at her neck. Elly continued with a flurry of attacks, each swing compounding off the last. Intercept, heart, intercept, throat, intercept, eye, intercept, kidney.

RedArmyShogun Sir Les Paul The Regal Rper Haze-

 

[Sir Les Paul]

QUICK RESPONSE: Maria​

The control wires created by Maria would, in fact, not last long.

Their short lifespans, however, were not entirely due to the current environmental limitations or the impromptu medium used for the runes.

No, instead, it would be a forgotten trait of blood when used in the context of Magic. It was doubtful Maria did not know how potent blood could be, more likely that it was overlooked or underestimated. A painful mistake.

Alicia, the Medium Doll, would in fact be given the three commands sent by Maria, but the other dolls would remain lifeless. Not due to any fault of their own, but because of an intense magical feedback their owner would be facing. The moment blood was used in the runes for those control wires, it only allowed a brief window for Maria before they completely overloaded the magical circuit. Too much raw power causing catastrophic spell failure, the personal mana Maria utilized flaring up and burning at all conjunctions. Alicia for the most part would be fine from this mana flare. Functional and robust were the dolls, though her internal network of mana threads would need repaired at a later date. The only real damage to Alicia being that there were a few less places where Maria could attach a wire, but with the hyper redundancy and through nature of their designs, there still existed and abundance of places to attach wires and utilize the doll.

Roya would still have to contend with the swipes from Alicia, but the melee and caster dolls were merely kicked by their older sister.

Maria on the other hand would find herself less lucky than Alicia. The feedback from catastrophic spell failure was no small joke. It was comparable to and at times more severe than even the worst spiritual rejection that Meisters and Demon Weapons faced. The saving grace for Maria was that the feedback she felt was at least only caused by her own mana; just far too much of it inside the network of her spell. It would be painful, like electric shocks going through her body, from her fingertips to her toes, but hardly an unbearable pain. Worse was the fact this feedback briefly interrupted all of her current spellcasting, and would continue to for at least a few moments.

This resulted in her magic circle faltering and even a failure of her magic broom as she could no longer sufficiently channel mana into it. For a second to two, Maria made herself a sitting duck with her misuse of blood magic. There were several fundamental issues here that Maria could later learn from, or would have been educated on had Rand been around. First, none of her spells were designed to incorporate the use of blood. That would have required different Witch Script. Secondly, her spells were not written to account for the over abundant amount of mana in her blood--the concentration being upwards of tenfold what she could muster without it. Lastly, she had no affinity for either nature or healing magic, so even if she could have written blood into her spellcraft, it may not have been successful without sufficient practice or skill.

It was a mistake most Witches and Sorcerers made at some point regardless. Had Raph or Ark tried the same thing, they would have been bitten just as hard. The use of blood and its power was tempting, but the ability to actually do so was rare. Blood Magic was tied to both the Nature or Healing Schools of Magic depending on the means, and even then, it wasn't common to find amongst the ranks of those specialists. Rand, in fact, had yet to find a way with his new model of magic to utilize the raw power of blood, despite such being a goal of his.

This was a Hell of a situation to draw a learning experience from, but that was exactly what this was. A lesson learned. Blood is powerful, complex, and volatile. It is not a magic to be tried on the fly.

RedArmyShogun​

 

[Shotgunpenguin]

Wes Kraven
Qena Campsite, Egypt

Mentions: Sir Les Paul (Gauss), RedArmyShogun (Feng), EmperorsChosen (Aki), The Regal Rper (Ark), Merciless Medic (Noah, Micheal), Peckinou (Arkayis), Mook-LandStrider (Annika)
​

Wes couldn’t help but let out a groan as their guide went into detail on the undead, explaining that they weren’t going to be dealing with movie-tier zombies like he had thought. No, apparently who or whatever was behind these undead were taking steps to make them much harder to deal with. Add onto that they’d be dealing with magic wielding creatures and it was beginning to make a lot more sense why they had been called in.

If it were just a case of mindless shambling corpses like he had thought, any half-competent military probably could have handled it. Hell if this were to have happened back in the states, they’d probably have thousands of people from all across the country lining up for a chance to shoot actual, factual zombies. Sighing, he knelt down and brushed some sand off of a footlocker, pausing as he noted the simple lock keeping it shut. It would have been easy to just snap the lock right off and take a look at the contents, but Gauss had told them to be cautious.

“Who knows.“ Wes called out, hefting the metal footlocker onto his shoulder. The contents rattled around the inside as he walked over and deposited it at his partner’s feet. He doubted that there would be any surprises left for them, but he wasn’t going to argue with Gauss about it. Nodding his head slightly at the weapon strapped against her hip, he continued. “Maybe you won’t even need me for this one.”

It may have sounded like a joke, but Wes knew that there was a possibility that she wouldn’t need him to transform. Annika was headstrong and comfortable enough to throw herself into battle with or without him. The fact that she had one of her chainsaws strapped to her hip only made it much more apparent. And honestly, he was more than okay with being on standby. If she could take care of the situation without needing him to transform and put in the effort, it was no sweat off his back.

The two of them worked on their area, never straying too far from each other just in case. Every so often he would call out for his partner to come and check a closed container that he found, snapping off locks and checking its contents once it was considered safe. Most of it was just personal belongings, spare changes of clothes and tools that were left where they had found them. That’s not to say all of was useless, as every so often they would come across notes and letters written in a language that he didn’t understand. Hopefully their guide would be able to translate them.

It was as he was half bent over an open wooden crate that he heard it, a sickly sound tickling his ears and causing him to pause. It felt wrong, that was the only way he could think to describe it as he focused his soul perception, tuning out the other members of their group. Whatever it was, it sounded incredibly weak, as if it was barely clinging onto it’s life.

The sound was slowly approaching the camp at a pace a little faster than a stumble. Stepping back from the box, he called out to Annika to let her know where he was going before walking towards the source of the sound. Shambling around aimlessly, the undead in question didn’t notice Wes at first. It wasn’t until he began to approach that the creature reacted, it’s eyes empty and glazed over as it let out a hoarse hiss before shambling towards the weapon.

Whatever was left of the man’s soul was muted and strained, as if someone were only playing every fifth or so note from a piece of sheet music. He expected half-shambling corpses that would burst into sand when killed, or bandage wrapped mummies that were obviously long-dead. But as he stared at the gaunt and empty body of what used to be a person, he felt a wave of revulsion rise up in his stomach.

Wes didn’t take any pleasure in dispatching the undead with a pilfered digging shovel, quickly severing it’s head from it’s body with a single strike. It was the least he could do for what was left of the man.

Eventually, their group reconvened in the center of the camp, laying out everything they had collectively discovered in their searches. Wes's usual tired expression having become one of barely subdued disgust and anger, although it was clear that it wasn't directed towards any of his companions. It only deepened as the details surrounding the death of the site head, as well as multiple other victims, were revealed.

“So we’re dealing with ancient deities that are pissed that their artifacts were taken?” He asked Moreau, more to make sure he was understanding everything than anything else. “Any idea who the three people they talked about were?”

 

[Peckinou]

Arkayis Misonuka - Egypt
Mentions: Gauss Sir Les Paul , Noah/ Sara Merciless Medic , Meredith The Regal Rper , Shotgunpenguin , Mook-LandStrider , EmperorsChosen
​

Noahs disapproving look towards Arkayis when he sneered primarily to himself at the fact that Ark was alive, causing Arkayis to deflate a little before returning back to listening to what was being said by the others. With the new information given Gauss gave out his take on how they would now be proceeding, splitting the group apart in order to search for information, before then beckoning him and Noah to follow. Arkayis didn't think too much of it and soon began following Gauss with nothing more than a light shrug, but was sure to keep to Noahs side as they began to scour the area. Arkayis had mostly remained silent until Gauss opted to speak up to him in particular, Arkayis had tensed up slightly when he noted the serious tone in his voice, thinking he may have done something wrong that was until Gauss continued on. Arkayis listened intently but kept his eyes on the ground nodding as they hung on to Gausses words before giving confirmation "Fine, Red flames for the most part then.". It wasn't until Gauss started speaking of Ark that Arkayis facial expression visibly degraded to a scowl, but they continued to listen to what Gauss had to say. He honestly wasn't surprised that Gauss had spent some of his time looking up the files of weather that be of curiosity of strategic importance, though more than likely both answers could of been the case.

Arkayis eyes darted towards Gauss when he started speaking about the magic wielder's mental dilemmas, Arkayis really didn't understand why Gauss would tell him that, he really didn't like Ark, his life was barely even tolerated at best and Gauss was telling him about his woos. Still, the fact he was giving them information meant that he was placing his trust in Arkayis, and as much as he hated the magic user, he didn't want to break the trust that Gauss was placing in him either. So albeit Reluctantly, he gave another nod of affirmation to Gauss muttering out "Fine, just keep that filthy magic user away from me. " Arkayis didn't mince his words all that much when talking with Gauss. With him telling Arkayis that information about Ark he figured that not mincing his words was a good exchange for holding back on explosions. Still being in the company of a mage, useful or not was not exactly something Arkayis ever wanted to do in life, yet here he was, it almost felt like a disgrace in a way, something that left a bad taste in his mouth.

Nonetheless, Arkayis went back to focusing on their surroundings as a moment of silence passed by, their attention going back to Gauss when they mentioned the Hawaii events once again. The genuine sorrow in his voice gained Arkayis attention but his expression was more placid, Arkayis hadn't really dwelled too much on the event though seeing the genuine remorse Gauss was feeling and the admittance of his concerns caused Arkayis to soften up a bit. He really didn't have any words to say and didn't know how to properly respond, he didn't know if he should even believe in what they were saying. Anyone could give out a few words and maybe even tip them with a lie, though Arkayis doubted that was the case right now. A deep breath in and out, was what he needed, recollecting himself for a fleeting moment "I-I'm fine, W-We should just go back to focusing on the mission." a poor attempt to deflect or even delay this type of talk, he wasn't sure if he was ready to deal with this sorta thing yet, and thinking too much on it seemed like the best way to destabilize his mess of a head, something he really didn't feel like doing at the moment.

 

[The Regal Rper]

Ark | Egypt | Rings: 0/1

Cannon fodder. That's all they really found when he began using Seismic Sense. That's all he surmised. Obstacles to delay or slow them down. Which it would barely do much of when they could dispatch a few measly walking dead without even tapping into a fraction of significant resources.

What concerned him more were the findings of the others. Noah's discovery of Professor Mubarak and the magic circles around his corpse and other dead bodies signified the likelihood of Ritual Magic. A disconcerting fact, for the case of Necromancy. He wasn't an expert on the art form but his grandmother studied it. There were applications of Necromancy that merged with branches of Alchemy and Healing along with Magical Anatomy and the ways different magical anatomy responded to magic.

With everything deciphered and read, Ark sighed, trying to make something of what they had found. “
I can't make heads or tails of the Anpu’s presence here. Were they linked to these undead and the spell circles?” he was thinking out loud.

“The magic around the late professor and the other bodies we found, those undead that held spirit signatures, maybe they were trying to perform a ritual to revive stronger undead.I doubt the plan was to use every single body, the ones we found weren't difficult to exterminate. So what was the point of some of those rituals? There has to be more than just those we found…” he mused.

In response to Wes he added, “Those three names…” he was staring off, trying to think of he had ever read something that might bring a memory into the clear. Shaking his head he sighed. “Nothing. I don't know. What I do know is it's clear that the PDA mentioned some sort of tale relating to magic being linked to these priests, I know in Egypt, just like in some of the western parts of Africa there were stories about early mages, people who found ways to tap into magic just like many Greek, Persian, Sumerian and Roman tales speak of, but what sort of relevance did they have to be buried within the Temple like this? Especially in relation to Anubis. And these artifacts, what relation does each have with them? Is there any information you might have on them, any details since it seems they were clearly divided amongst the team members by what the Professor’s notes state?” he turned to Guide Moreau.

Mentions: Merciless Medic

Interactions: RedArmyShogun Shotgunpenguin Mook-LandStrider EmperorsChosen

 

[The Regal Rper]

Zosar & Wren | Belgium | Duo Trouble

Wren’s issued advice to focus was like the hammer on his sense of stability for what it implied in her strained voice. It could have distracted him, if in that moment he had allowed it. He couldn't, not when Chain Resonance was about to happen, he wouldn't.

He believed she could manage, even as he felt her shake in his iron grip, the sound of her blades whirling unnaturally so, and felt himself lagging further behind Elly, as her concentration split, her redoubling, him trying to keep up--

--That was when their link connected.

It was like coming up for a breath of air after holding it for so long underwater.

The radio signal was switched per Midori's suggestion.

The atmospheric pressure from contending spiritual forces clued Zosar on the same thought process Midori was coming through.

She wasn't trying to kill them as she was trying to Maria. It stuck out like a game. The raw amount of spiritual energy she was wasting alone made it seem more like a deliberate act to flex the muscles and end them without true precision or care like one would in a serious fight, and he knew well what it meant or how it looked when someone was toying with you. She wasn’t serious about them, and for him that was just fine.

It was a mistake he intended on making her regret.

Midori's guidance and support helped in leaps. Resetting Wren from before the brief overload to allowing greater stability and flow of his wavelength made the return feel even greater and with the Chain, he felt a growing strength he had only ever dreamed of controlling.

Power wasn't something he had ever wanted more of, what he wanted, desperately so, selfishly craved, was the ability to harness that power in any way he wanted. To use his gift how he saw fit. And this, THIS, this moment right now was exactly that.

Something stirred in him for a fraction of a second as he felt the sheer energy running through his body and could see how they compared by extension to their opponent, but he subconsciously suppressed that elated sensation.

Restraint. Control. Don't let yourself get lost in the whimsy.

Zosar answered Elly with a simple word through their link: 'Roger'

The bloodlust released like an ancient gate unveiling the deepest depths of a pit in which there was only a roar, powered by the awareness that he needed to keep things steady without allowing himself to get swept in the pent up fury to accelerate their wavelength in a manner that would force Midori and Elly to further match the pace, Zosar streamlined what he tapped into, channeling it through his wavelength in flow as wind scythes of air were batted aside by the raw energy their Chain Resonance generated like a makeshift shield.

“Maria, be ready for anything she directs at you” he spoke through comms. He was certain she would capitalize on the gap she had created with the dolls.

Lightly touching Wren’s blade into the ground and using the propulsion the force of her friction would create to push himself even faster while securing her as an anchor by extension.

This time, with his intensity less of a focus with Midori's support, Zosar sent Wren a suitable volume of wavelength that she could actually manage without any sense of pain, with the potency it brought at not a single push but a steady rushing flow linked to his bubbling anger and burning disgust and contempt for their target, which by itself was strong.

If there was one thing Zosar and Wren shared, it was the bloodlust between their link. A tunnel-focused, blood red rage. Manageable anger, with a clear purpose.

She shifted gears the moment the weight of Zosar’s wavelength was shrugged off her shoulders, even if Midori had only evened out the lift to make it bearable, it’d felt as though a lingering mist had been pulled from her eyes. Wren took in a deep, steady breath, feeling the strain ebb away.

She was back at full-throttle now, as if they’d never slipped up in the first place.
Watching Midori at work so up close made the distance in experience between both weapons tangible, as if she were staring at the depths of an ever-growing chasm, measuring the steps it’d take from her end to the other. It wasn’t as demoralizing as she thought it’d be. She’d been feeling like a kid scratching in pot-shots at a test, eyes darting madly, looking for answers. Midori was the answer.

He was seamless, collected— he’d been the one who’d dropped them into this mess, but he was fighting tooth and nail, pulling out all stops to fix it. He was, as a Demon Weapon, exactly what she needed to be for Zosar. It had her amped up in a sense. She knew she couldn’t just stand still and let him take all the work between the two, there was something she could do that no-one else in the group could.

Put the sheer intensity of Zosar’s soul out to the world, explosive as it was.

“Roger, roger.” There was a low, beastly growl that came right after those words. Her aloof tone went deep and gloomy, snappy. Total focus. She hurled back a piece of what Zosar had given her then, repurposed the energy to further amplify his speed. Used another bit to keep the rev up on her chainblade going.

Midori and Elly were already rushing forward, they had to keep up.

“Zosar.” She spoke through their closed link, shutting off Midori and Elly from her mind “What’s the play? That bitch is getting cocky. She’s got it written all over her face. Playin’ us for damn cannon fodder.” Wren grumbled as she stared off into the swirling wind surrounding Royal Pain. “You think it’s time to go for that other thing Miss Fia’s taught me?” Wren made a pop sound in their mind, a plain and simple explanation of what exactly she had in mind “I feel like I could cut her clean in half if she slips up and lets you get a good hit in.” She knew exactly about the strain Pop-Cap would put on her right after using it. One whole day of rest, possibly hindering their resonance in this mission. But the word ‘Future’ wasn’t on her mind right now, she was focused on the witch hunter standing loud and proud right in front of them.

She at least wanted to hear Zosar’s thought on it before gambling it all on a reckless move.

‘No’ was his flat reply, dousing that fire. And he didn't elaborate more than that. Instead he changed gears as he dodged a particularly lethal looking scythe by using Wren to dive through it.

‘We’re going to try a different Soul Resonance without relying on that move’ he spoke to her solely. ‘I'm not wasting that on mage lyncher over here’

And he didn't let this escape his partner. The immediate thought that followed:
More importantly to me, I'm not wasting your energy on this bitch and putting us both in danger.

It was almost a scold except he hadn't phrased it in the way it would be one. The idea itself wasn't bad but it failed to acknowledge so much.

There was no telling what using Pop Cap would do to their stability in the Chain Resonance. It would be flooding his natural chaotic wavelength with the present one they were using for the Chain and that recklessness for a one time big move was useless if it got missed or Pain decided to be a bigger pain by upping her game and taking them seriously when he pulled that magnified move. He was certain it would overpower anything she could throw, bolstered by Midori and Elly with the Chain it certainly would, but was it worth it?

No. Not for her.

“Figured you’d say that…” Wren didn’t find it scolding at all, she merely sighed. It was a huff of relief, knowing Zosar was still cool-headed atop the shoulders, unlike her. The heat of the adrenaline building up didn’t let up for clear thoughts to come through. No. Not for her, not right now. He was right. She could at least be conscious of that fact.

“What’d I tell you about being so boring…?” She didn’t let that thought slip her mind, she caught it and had it hang on the back of her mind, as if an aureate pledge that she’d be back to making insipid jokes after they tore Royal apart. She didn’t hang the thought with unease or fear that they wouldn’t be making it out in one piece. No, it was as simple as palming it quiet for the sake of not shattering her current focus.
Right now, fear and uncertainty didn’t famine her greater than the hunger for wiping that smile off of blue-head’s face.

“Pop-cap or not,” Her voice rang out one last time on their link, already amplifying more of Zosar’s constant current of wavelength as she spoke “Y’ already heard Elly. Swing like you’ve got arms for spare, Z.” Like a damn child with a stick they found on the ground, she wanted to add, as if Zosar didn’t know that already. With those last few words, Wren fell quiet, knowing there wasn’t much else to be said— though bridging through Zosar, she jumped channels to give Midori and Elly a quick and simple reminder.

“Mind the chainsaw.” Her blade was still gigantic, and they’d be trading hits with their target at the same time. No matter how surgically precise Zosar could be. Last thing she wanted was for one of the revolving teeth to catch Elly while they struck.

He grunted his approval through the link as Wren gave her warning.

‘I want you to focus your wavelength into your teeth while I push more to strengthen your spin.'

It wasn't just his wavelength fueling Wren’s whirling blades and her amplifying his energy to continue the process, this time, it was fueling that and channeling some of that power into the blades itself, hers and his together. The teeth, with every cycle, every rapid rotation, began to flicker with light and with a push stabilized by Midori's support and Zosar's trust in him to hold firm, he upped his volume, enough to make both Rev Up and this new technique they were creating together possible. The blades flickered with light until they were glowing like a neon sign, energy crackling off each and every tooth as it magnified the blade.

Air whisked and pulled split between the whirring teeth. Their usual, booming mechanical sound evened out to a soft whistle as both of their energy burned on the teeth and the blade. The flickering lightshow thinned as the blades kept whirling, back and forth until it was a straight line, like the hair off a cello’s fiddlestick— an eye-searing neon shape going laps around the guide bar.

If Demon Weapons and Meisters were nothing but amps and six-strings, then this here was the long, over-held guitar riff that either made the crowd go wild or squinch their eyes at the noise.

“This feels…new.” Something they hadn’t figured out even under Fia and Starwulf’s mentoring. She had only followed Zosar out of impulse, in a flow-state, just barely catching his orders and throwing out a response. It wasn’t a half-assed response either, they were in sync, Wren was putting her all into it just to hold it together. It wasn’t the same brute-forced revolving on the teeth they’d do with rev-up, it felt more sophisticated in a way.

This thing felt like it could shred, she couldn’t pin any other words on the feeling. Still, she could feel it was only power on a timer. Slowly fading. ”One shot, eh...” Wren didn’t know if she was grinning right now or if the tension was starting to pull on her face. Didn’t matter either way. Not like anyone else could tell if she was.

She was ready to put in the extra and amp up Zosar’s physical output as they rushed into the crowd of wind blades. Even then, she didn’t doubt they could cut through the heavier ones shooting out from the eye of the storm.

He was reminded of Eustice. That block head, wore his heart on his sleeve in ways he never truly could, Wren in the moment reminded him of that as he felt her excitement, the elation she felt transitioning to him through their link and the way her teeth sparked, the way energy crackled off sporadically on each rotation, it reminded him for a second of his friend-- former friend-- how Eustice’s spear heads would glow and crackle with energy just as the segments of his staff in an electric manner of spiritual form and how excited he would get when they succeeded-- this, wasn't like that.

It was far stronger than any pair could manage after only a week, barely even that of mentoring to pull this off. Like Wren, this was his first too.

She had never had someone resonate with her this well, even if they were opposites in ways and opposites were to attract, this, wasn't something most pairs could do. Performing Weapon Amplification Resonance on the second week was improbable for new pairs, not unless you had the odds in your favors. Even with Wren's unique wavelength though, it still shouldn't have been so smooth, so easy. Even with Midori's aid the way her blades charged up was incredibly fast.

He didn't believe in fate. Didn't believe in the spiritual mumbo jumbo of meeting your match, platonic or otherwise. Everything in life came with advantages or disadvantages, and capitalizing on the best was what paved the path.

What he did believe, with this, was that he had been right.

Wren was a gem that opportunity had brought to him, and he would capitalize on it with her, now more than ever- and take satisfaction in what was about to come.

Elly and Midori made it through first. The two, though briefly weakened in resonance, were amazing together now. He was following up the rear, angling Wren now in front of him on his right side, held now by his left hand. The wind scythes weren't ignored, he didn't need to block most but he did if anything he considered too much came through.

It wasn't the time to be admiring, it never was, but mercenary lifestyles always had you admiring the strangest things at the most random times when you were good and had survived more than most in the business could say they did and keep going still.

Elly really was beautiful when she was out for blood, Midori really sparkled when with someone that helped him be better even if he had slipped up by not talking earlier. And Maria, sharp tongued as she had been, her assist with Alicia despite sensing the flare of pain from her soul that warned him Royal Pain might take advantage, was beautifully skilled.

Before he swung he signalled to Midori and Elly to prepare through their link, keeping Maria's doll in mind as he followed after Elly and Alicia's attacks immediately after.

The bloodlust he channeled came in a sweeping low arc, not all the way up but so Wren's blade pointed slightly forward at a downward angle. When he swung Wren’s whirling neon form, she emitted a spray of spiritual sparks, on contact, it would be like a firecracker going off with every rotating blade emanating a charged burst of energy, spraying sparks. With the sheer amount he was pouring into her blades, this technique wouldn't last long, not if he wanted to preserve himself for what might lay ahead but there was nothing in his soul that showed the awareness or desperation that would even hint at it. His mismatched eyes glittered in shades of purple and blue as spinning spiritual light of Wren’s whirling blades bounced off his eyes, with a bloodlust reflecting, rivaling Adrian's.

The difference was his wasn't about to leach out towards impatience with the others. His attack was timed, carefully so that he didn't catch Wren up with either Maria’s Alicia or Elly’s follow up attack after her first flurry swipe. He didn't make big massive swings like one would with a buster sword on video games or movies, it was a stable, controlled swing, tempered on patience but fueled with a savage burst of speed and agility and aggression as he made that low upwards slash, following through once the others did make a move, acting as both the assist and also keeping his senses focused on any shift in the Pain’s resonance.

The attack he made followed with a jabbing swipe, transitioning into an angled slash. Pressing his advantage, swapping hands from left to right as he did. This time, the next attack moving with a form of aggression as he slashed downwards. Each attack wasn't just aimed at brutally harming her, the first aimed at slowing her down, for the legs, one or both with Wren's blade and their current Resonance technique it hardly mattered which as long as contact of any kind was made. The spiritual sparks would burst, like embers if they made contact, like a spiritual discharge. The others aimed at other points, her weapon carrying arm for instance, it wasn't just a simple savage sweep of force or a heavy attack, he alternated between what might have been heavy or light.

Collabers: Haze-

Interactions: RedArmyShogun EmperorsChosen Sir Les Paul

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Amelia Misonuka​

"Royal-Pain"​

Species Human (Golem)
Partner Nikka (Razor Fan)
Rank Three Star-Star

Location Hallerbos Forest, Belgium
Mission ???
Status Excited

​

Tags: The Regal Rper RedArmyShogun EmperorsChosen Haze-

"You annoying little fucks..." Roya mumbled, her voice slightly cracked. She was put on the backfoot for the first time in the fight. Actually forced to use the extent of her raw power.

The realization hit her that these four were more dangerous than she had initially thought. Not the whore witch atop her broom. She made a rookie mistake that Roya would have gladly mocked had she the time. But, she didn't.

The girl with her prototype brother proved to be far faster, even graceful, than she anticipated. She may have lacked raw power in her technique, but she more than made up for it in its application as a swift, precise blow.

The boy and his weapon were quite the opposite. Slower by more than a large margin, but with raw power that she knew to be wary of even with her golem body. Inefficient with their wavelength usage, sure, but deadly if properly executed.

Worse, Roya saw how their Chain Resonance became stable. She was seasoned enough to know that its boost stacked on top of the already-present Resonance was enough to give them the edge on her. The four in front of her wouldn't know it, but she was highly skilled in her own regard. A former applicant for the Spellbreakers. She had highly refined Soul Perception. She saw how their pathetic attempt at Chain Resonance quickly became stable and strong after Midori spread himself thin and far to adjust it.

In a way, Midori was an older brother just like Lady Crimson was her older sister. They were siblings under Eros. This was only another annoying thought, realizing an older sibling pulled out such an impressive card just to stall her out.

It meant Roya had to do exactly the same.

That blade fan of hers shifted, growing exponentially until it just shy of five feet in length and eight inches thick. It became a massive folding fan which she used solely to block the incoming attack from Zosar. It was her only option. Wren was dangerous and no defense she had aside from her indestructible partner would have been sufficient to block it. Luckily for her, her Demon Weapon was no mere Demon Weapon. She was a Death Scythe that had consumed hundreds of souls. She was powerful. Dangerous in her own right with newly developed skills these undeveloped weapons could not compare to. One such ability was this shift of her form. More would follow.

In the meantime, Roya had other attacks to contend with. With her own skill alone, she might have taken a hit from at least one of them. Just as Midori held out a trick of his own to stabilize their Chain Resonance, she held a trick that could swing things back in her favor. A gift from their Lord Eros. An ability from their mad, adoptive father that only those golems created without regard to hiding their presence could use.

The next attack she blocked was that from the doll, Alicia. In the brief moments that the three attacks took to converge on her, Roya began to transform her very own body. Scales of a dark cerulean hue and marine green coated her skin and out from her back under that white oversized coat she wore launched out a thick, reptilian tail. With that tail, she side-swept Alicia, completely throwing the doll off-course, preventing its attack from even reaching.

And, with her new, scaled hand complete with slender claws, she was able to parry the incoming slash from Elly by redirecting its momentum, allowing the blade edge of Midori to ride down her hardened scales. Some were broke and flung off, skinning her forearm in the process, but it was enough to prevent a larger sum of damage.

By the time Elly and Zosar were close, they would see the total transformation of Roya. All of her bare skin was coated in those scales, her belly with a specific bright yellow pattern that continued under her shirt and up to her neck. Only her face and hairline were spared from the transformation, though her face was now outlined in scales that encroached upward. Those eyes of hers had transformed into yellow pearls with thin slits, completing her new reptilian chic.

Then came the next instant, when a true counter-attack was sprung.

Wren would have been the first impacted by it, though only a millisecond before Zosar realized it, too. The fan that had stopped their blatantly powerful slash in its tracks, causing a shower of spirituals sparks to spray everywhere on their side as a result, flung itself open, not only increasing its size to well over eight feet in length, but with sufficient force it could knock both of them back, little different than a spring-loaded gun shooting a nerf dart.

Now came the problem of Elly. She was fast. Dangerous. Likely already loaded up for a follow-up attack. Just because one slash failed didn't mean you wouldn't continue with another. Roya had a myriad of abilities this new form granted her, but none would work quick enough to stop an incoming attack. It mattered very little if a miasmic cloud began calcifying their skin if Elly had clove her in twain before it had completed. No, instead, she needed a more direct approach. Yet again, she had to rely on her partner.

Wavelength coursed through her to the massive fan and the follow up was simple. A wave of this fan that caused a gust of wind to all in front of her, including Elly on the far in, to blow them back with tremendous force. Catastrophic force, even. If the winds that Roya and Maria had conjured earlier were devastating to their battlefield, this one would leave a landmark clearing on the whole forest. Trees were uprooted with their force, thrown with enough force that any single one of them could have impaled an unwitting Meister or Witch. An immediate blunt force from the wind that could only be compared to a Soul Force Strike right to the gut. Worse was the area of which it covered. A football field or more torn asunder by this maelstrom caused by just one swing.

That was the power Midori was worried about. She was toying with them before, but with raw force like this, she was acting more appropriately for a death battle.

With both her opponents blown significant out of range and the area now a mess of chaos following her absurd gust, Roya finally had an opportunity to catch her breath--and talk more shit.

"Now look what made me do..." she said, heaving her fan back to its original opposition, ready to make another swipe at any time.

"Destroy all these pretty flowers and trees just to keep your dunce Witch friend alive a little longer?" she said, still slinging her insults at Maria.

"At least you do get to witness the brilliance of our Lord Eros..." she said, trailing off to admire her own form. "Isn't it perfect? Parts taken from Lamia, Naga, Gorgon--all to help me kill Witches. You can't drown me or poison me--or any sad little trick those witch bitches try to use," she continued on, "I can see in the dark, strike with my tail, claw your eyes out--and these beautiful scales of mine are just so tough."

"It's a beautiful body!" she went on, grinning wide in her fit of self-imposed grandiosity. "Mister Hoshi over there is obsolete by comparison..." she said, now slinging her shade at Midori. He had nothing that compared to this.

By this time, the trees, flowers, rocks, and stones that were all upheaved by her swing of the fan had settled. The chaos from that attack was over. She could still sense the presence of the five of them alive in front of her, meaning they had at least managed to survive the fallout of that attack. It did seem it was sufficient, at least, to break their chain and even end their resonance. It made sense. Too much was going on to focus. That was the name of the game here.

For all her talk, she was aware of her limits. This form of hers granted her a lot of utility and defenses, but didn't increase her strength or speed. That meant if those four were able to use Chain Resonance again, they had the potential to harm her. She escaped that last series of attacks with the element of surprise. Zosar and Wren couldn't have anticipated her weapon partner could grow into something substantially larger and more defensive. Elly nor Midori could have feasibly predicted she would have a type of full-body armor that could deflected the edges of a blade. Maria, well, she was of no consequence in the eyes of Roya.

For all her arrogant talk, she would not neglect that she couldn't withstand an attack from Zosar or Wren if she couldn't block it with her fan or dodge it in general. Or, if Elly were to stab instead of slice.

She needed to keep them unstable. Unable to focus. Preoccupied. She did have a plan for exactly that. Inhaling deeply only to spew out a thick, black cloud of miasma in front of her, she then swept her fan over it to begin dispersing it widely in the area in front of her. The goal simple. If any of them came into into contact with the gorgon breath, their skin would begin petrifying. It was essentially an instant win condition. By covering the field in it, every single one of them would have to immediately run or disperse where she could pick them off one by one. She didn't intend on giving them the time to resume resonating or establish a chain again.

Maria was no longer her priority. Elly and Zosar needed to die first, and die fast.

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Feng Long - Qena Campsite, Egypt
​

Having used Aki's gun form to dispatch of undead near her, Feng was not told to be stealth and if she were brutally honest, the enemy already likely knew they were here and if they did not, she preferred a straight up fight. Aki for her part also seemed to agree as she did the actual firing after all. Gathering the manifest and bringing it to the others. Letting the two that actually understood Arabic to read the damn thing, having shot five zombies, she had plenty of fuel left in the tank. Sitting back and listening

"Right, so what I'm hearing is we need to find a couple dead people that we haven't seen yet. And things are still happening at the Temple, that wasn't fully cleared, though you know, could be more papers, just not here. Though if we bother with the crates ordered, find the most secure ones, that may give some ideas on the sizes of the items. How we used to look through manifests for black goods or theft in the Triads when dealing with warehouses."

With those words said, Feng rolled her shoulders a bit, hearing the rest of the opinions so far. "And dunno, Anpu might not be connected with the seals, after all that dead man looked a bit surprised. Though on the history note, hell if I know, they are more Ancient than China, or so it's said and even we Chinese have bits of lost history, as defaced as the monument was claimed to be, could have been they were hated by the population. Or it could be they were hated by a new power that wanted to erase them. Not unheard of. Still, ideas Boss man, Aki, Mister Tomb Raider?"


Interactions: EmperorsChosen (Aki) Sir Les Paul (Gauss) The Regal Rper (Ark) Merciless Medic (Moreau - Noah) Shotgunpenguin (Wes) Peckinou (Arky) Mook-LandStrider (Annika)