Fandom Soul Eater: F.A.T.E

[RedArmyShogun]

The Missing of the Giant Mountains
Investigative Mission
Local Time: 0615 (6:35 AM) - Date: 09/27/67
Location: Zelezny Brod - Liberec Region - Czech Republic​

With things being sorted, or at least, settled for the time being the decision on what to do next was left to Elly to decide, as the train reached the station. Unlike their time in Romanian, while it was clear at least someone was watching by the senses of Elly, the mood of the Town was much different, people went about their day as if nothing important or threatening was taking place, with a lazy Security Guard propped up in a booth as a ticket counter was hard at work letting a couple people on in the place of those that got off. With the DWMA car no longer in need, it was more effort than it was worth to separate it in the here and now at any rate.

Elly took note of the feeling, but otherwise didn’t react physically. Her eyes drifted a bit, concealing her search by spinning to look back at the group. “Alright. Constable first. We can get information and also ask him where to find the lumberjack,” She stated simply as they exited the train car, presuming it would be relatively easy to find the police station as opposed to a lumber yard. “Let me do the talking, at least at first.”

With that, they checked off the station and made their way to the local police department, Elly periodically peering around in an attempt to hone in on that signature she noted before. As they arrived, Elly entered and dug her badge out of her pocket. Since this wasn’t Romania, it should pose much less of an issue. Even if they couldn’t really understand her, they would see the badge and find someone who could. “<Good day. English?>” She said, having looked up at least that much earlier, though Elly was sure her pronunciation wasn’t airtight.

A man roughly in his mid 50’s squinted his eyes, feet kicked up on a desk among several that overlooked the main entrance and receptionist office. Given they had been let in it must have been for a good reason, and her Czech was terrible as he lowered a magazine of one sort or another, his eyes focusing on the badge. At least it wasn’t a tourist. Still, it was not unusual for many policemen around the world to know a little of the five main languages.

“Little, yes, can get a translator. What do you want? …D, W, M, A…. People that are missing, here for that?” His own English wasn’t all that good but depending on what Elly wanted to know, he might have been able to get her started in the right direction.

Elly gave him a pleasant smile and nod as she stuffed away the badge. “Yes. We are,” She said with a nod. “Can we speak to the man in charge? <Constable?>” She added, using simpler English terms and throwing in more Czech to keep things less complicated.

“Ano.” the man said in short order, Czech for yes at the question, though he didn’t seem to know some of what she said before. “What can I do for you? Er…” Pondering what to say next, to clarify the limits of his help, “Not many men to go looking through mountains, asked Prague for help, protect city, you find people. I help you, help yourself.”

“Thank you. Translator?” Elly asked, giving him a moment to call whomever the source of translation was. “We’d like to ask about three things. First, what do you know of a villa or town to the northeast toward the mountains? Second, a previous team spoke with a lumberjack named Harbert, a man with giant’s blood. Do you know of him or can point us to any lumber yards where he’d work? Lastly, have you discerned anything of interest from the abductions? When they began? Trends in who is disappearing? Etcetera…”

Getting another officer and having Elly repeat the questions as the man, named a Kurbin Maric, his brow only furrowed at the translation, as he repeated in Czech, to then be turned into English, the following;

“The area’s outside of town are not in my jurisdiction, that is the State Police, the Militia and, of course, your DWMA. There are plenty of houses and properties in the woods and mountains in that direction, or old fortifications from the Great Wars and Cold War. As to that…” The police man paused, pondering how what seemed to be a difficult, or maybe not well-mannered response into order.

“Uh… That Giant, there are a few of them in the city, go to the local bars or sawmills and you’ll see doors up to 10 feet tall and floors up to 15 by Imperial standards. We know of him well enough. Though it is not possible to know everyone here. He stands 9 feet tall, is rather direct in his speech and has a red beard from the sides of his face to the nape of his neck. At this time if he’s not already in the woods, you should check Oto Jílek’s business, it's a lumber mill on the western side of the town, though why do you want to speak to that…err…that oaf?

As to the disappearances, as I said, my job is dealing with thieves and petty crimes, though there has been a bit of smuggling at the railyard, I’m no Sherlock Holmes. I only have what we know when we run the plates and ID imprints on the cars. When I heard of this happening and the frequency I just called the Regional Capital city in Liberec. We were just asked questions by them about any odd happenings here.”

Elly hummed at that and nodded. Not too much information, but apparently it wasn’t unusual for villas or the like to be out there. They would have to check in with the lumberjack and see what it was that made the last group head out there. A least they had some direction to find him.

“I see… Well, thank you. Then, if there’s nothing else, we’ll go see him.” Elly extended her gratitude to them before answering his question. “Oh, our friends who passed through here before spoke with him. We just wanted to get what information he imparted on them as well.”

Giving a slight wave, Elly led the group out and West. True to what the man had said, Elly did notice several large doors and entryways as they walked. Eventually, they did locate the lumber mill mentioned, and eventually, Herbert. Tall man, beard across the sides of his face.

“Herbert, is it?” Elly asked, not hesitating much in approaching him. “May I take a moment of your time?” This one was supposed to speak English at least.

True to form a giant red beard and haired man was standing over a pile of logs, preparing to drag the next off into the mechanical saw to his right as he paused with some annoyance as one eye twitched, looking at head level with himself before locking in on Elly then sweeping over all those who accompanied her, two werewolves from the looks of it, a shifty asian man, one taller hothead, and another shifty, he wasn’t exactly sure what ethnicity, the whole thing however stunk of trouble.

“The Circus is over in the next town. The hell are you doing here? I got work to do, be quick about it. If you’re some sort of prostitute, you are too short for my liking…and I don’t do group sessions. You all smell like trouble.”

Elly’s eyes narrowed a bit in response to that, but otherwise her expression didn’t shift. “No circus and I don’t offer those kinds of services,” She stated simply, taking her badge out to briefly flash it at him. “The last group you spoke with disappeared. We’re picking up after them and, hopefully, stopping the trouble. What information did you pass to them when they spoke with you?”

Releasing the log, he sighed a bit and stood straight to look down at her and all the rest, before crouching down to be eye level with Elly he looked at the badge then her. “I can tell you what I told them, if you are here after them, then they messed up, or they got a little too close. I warned them about the woods and mountains.”

“Close to?” Elly asked, not beating around the bush as he had requested.

“They were looking into the missing people. People do not go missing without reason, no?”

With that he gestured back towards town. “I am but a lumberjack, I stay in the cutting areas, but I also do trade with the hill folk, these happenings are known around town, and while not to us, they worry, however, they know. The Mountain Gnomes have seen tell of the strangers, have known the mountain and mine her ore from the time my people were barbarians. They do not give secrets freely, and I am no hero to ask them what happened. If you wish to gain their accounts of what has happened, then you should not be cheap and bring them pipe tobacco, preserved meat, cheese, things that are worth trade, and ask them, I can tell you where their nearest village is, they are a no-nonsense people, though eccentric to say the least. That was where I last sent them, so at the very least they’ll know where they went.”

Elly internally deflated a bit at that. More bloody Fae. Good thing she spent time learning to see the Green. “Mountain Gnomes to the North, bring something to trade with..” At least from his suggestions they would respond better than the Fae they dealt with in Wales. “Near a villa?”

“I cannot say for sure, as I said, the Mountain Folk know what happens in the Mountains. Though I do warn you, well, you are DWMA, you are likely stronger than me with my ax and a bit of drink. However, dangerous things can lurk in those woods and hills, always be alert. Now if that's all from yah, If you got a map or something else to mark it on, I can show you where it is and tell you the landmarks to follow.”


“Fair enough,” Elly said, digging out a paper map they got along the way given they were expecting some kind of interference closer toward the mountains. “If you would, that would be wonderful~.”

“Also, the name isn’t Herbet, it’s Harbert. My last isn’t for strange folk with troubles following them like your DWMA lot.” Taking the map in hand, he didn't exactly have something to write with now that he thought of it, though he could show them and they did it. “First you want to leave the city and….” It ended up being a six-step process that would take them past some interesting trees, an old, abandoned cottage under a rocky arch, by a stream and finally a village built into trees, and the mountainside would await them, though the houses were much smaller than anything the others were used to or knew about. It all was very gnome or dwarf sized in nature, most of these multi-story structures were just a little taller than the members and the toiling of life could be heard. From this range Elly could tell they were indeed Fae, but how they lived seemed to differ drastically from those in Wales, they had a very human quality to them... Even Maria may have likely rethought matters if she had seen this... Though, the eccentricies were still yet to be seen as a bell rang out from the tallest structure in the town, a moss and bush covered... Church? It didn't seem to exactly be a church, maybe a community center or town hall?

While no monsters had attacked this large group, the occasional eyes and soul signatures of beasts abruptly stopped and went away from the area, it seemed there was something to be feared here at least.

~~

Local Time: 0615 (9:25 AM) - Date: 09/27/67
Location: Village of the Mountain Gnomes - Liberec Region - Czech Republic​

The sound of hammers and pickaxes that were echoing throughout the landscape suddenly stopped, nearly as suddenly as the bell had started ringing, dozens of what could be said to be roughly, well, gnome looking figures, as in Garden Gnomes came running from the forges and mountains, a commotion rising that was in a language all of their own with some loan words that sounded German and Czech to be heard, even men armed with what looked to be magic staffs and bladed weapons were gathering, some accusatory, some amused with a "Hehehoho!" or "Hohohehe!" passed between them as they pointed and laughed at the tall folk.

Curiously all the examples here were male, either there were no females, or the females simply did not join in to meet a threat, curious, and perhaps most dangerous of all was a cannon, more of a handgun or musket really, on wagon wheels being rolled into the town square on the western clearing. All men without exception had pointy ears, round noses, large hats, and beards that went from around the neck to their knees, Heads nearly as large as their torsos, comically out of place and yet fierce looking, or hidden behind beards. Dressed in robes, plate armor, or even workmen's aprons and pointed hats, the tallest of them stood a little over two and a half feet tall. It was almost like looking at a garden gnome collection, as a male with a well kempt appearance and a magic staff came forward with a horn, motioning for the humans to come closer, calling out, to be so small his voice was rather powerful and loud, likely the effect of some Fae Magic, surprisingly learned, there was no telling how old he was, as he tried three languages, calling to them;

"Děti člověka, proč jste zde v takovém počtu?!
Menschenkinder, warum seid ihr so zahlreich hier?!
Children of man, why are you here in such numbers?!"
​

Waiting for the first hints of a reaction from them in which language to continue in, he was no doubt some sort of ruler, given all the rest seemed to stay put, waiting for his command, well, as well as any magical demi human being could at least. Just by looking at the souls, while the reason they would live like this was not known, their souls and presence were that of the classification of Fae. How the team would react, after the hours of traveling and being on edge, at the sight of all of this would be anyone's guess.

Interactions/Mentions: EmperorsChosen (Elly) Sir Les Paul (Kisei) Merciless Medic (Sara) Pumpkid (Dante) The Regal Rper (Zosar) Haze- (Wren)

 

[Sir Les Paul]

North of JFK Airport, New York City, New York
GM Post​

1153 | September 26th, 2067​

"The insolence..." he muttered. It was all he muttered.

It was true that this blue-haired man was a man of faith. A hand of God, even. He was also a man of action.

His wavelength spiked as one did when it was used and doing so would be a revelation to virtually everyone present. At rest, he may have been comparable to Starwulf. Slightly weaker, probably a low-to-mid three star equivalent. When actually using his wavelength in unison with the hundred-plus subordinates around him, the raw intensity of his spiritual pressure became more comparable to Starwulf when resonating with one of his skilled partners. It was not an even or sensical change in power, either. Resonance was fairly easy to perceive. It was one wavelength being enhanced by another, like a step-up transformer in an amplifier or power grid. The power that was unleashed now was singular. This man was only amplifying himself and his base, but in doing that, it was like cranking up the volume from 1 to 10.

In a way, he had been hiding this power from the beginning. Which made even more sense when one considering that the amplification of his power in turn made the burning sensation from the spiritual fog that much greater. It was now a very unpleasant experience.

Next came the shattering realization that this man did not merely possess this raw spiritual power, but the ability to weaponize it. He made a mad blitz at Nadia. The type of speed that was tiers above her. At this point, comparisons to others duos and elites was pointless as a raw linear speed of those within the top echelon of skill in the DWMA was so far beyond anyone in this group that they could not categorize them. There was effectively no difference between Stein, Herakles, Starwulf, Anya, Crimson Rouge, or even Lord Kidd himself because it could not perceived accurately enough to measure. Worry not, it did exist.

Though, there were greater things to worry about.

This paladin closed the distance between himself in Nadia in genuinely enough time for Dani to have sparked to life some level of resonance or for her own very muscles to budge an inch. In short, he was never bluffing. Even with chain resonance via Wes, this likely wasn't something the five of them or even six if Adrian was present could handle at their peak.

"Be purged," he told her coldly, "in the name of my God." It was serious, but it was also a direct attempt to mock her by twisting her own words.

What came next was a feat that one truly would only expect from the elite. The Paladin gently grabbed at the wrist of Nadia holding Dani, then poured an immense amount of his own enhanced wavelength into her. What came next was Forced Rejection. One so potent that it destabilized the resonance Dani was working on, causing a painful an abrupt backlash of spiritual energy to effectively explode from inside her. Rejection combined with that type of pain; it wouldn't be a surprise if she transformed from the agony. Nadia would be no better off. She too would taste that backlash, but more so, taste the righteous wavelength being poured into her.

Sparks came to life, shooting out like an electrical discharge in the singular place he touched. He too felt the pain, but only grinned through it. In his own masochistic way, he even enjoyed the burning sensation of his spiritual pathways being lit afire through his arm. He was certain whatever he felt, Nadia felt multiple times over. Perhaps it was sadomasochism, not the former.

That was until a literal blue flame of spiritual energy shot to life where he held Nadia, as if the wires finally gave way and lit afire. It was rare for spiritual energy to take a physical form at all like this, and generally when it did, it was electric. The fact blue fire burned so whimsically between them was a testament to the intensity of the rejection.

"I suggest each of you filthy weapons return to your prior form. Should you hurt a single member of my clergy, I will kill you," he threatened, never once turning his attention from Nadia. He knew all too well what a cornered rat would do, especially if he split his attention. It was likely she had some hidden weapon she would turn on him if she had the willpower to endure the agony that was this rejection.

He considered more insults. He considered informing them that they could have left at any time. His mind raced, considering the countless ways he could have demeaned them. Made them lesser than he. Made them realize how much lower they were than he as he stood upon the pedestal of God. He delivered the justice of Archangel Michael. The righteous fury he sought sparked his soul afire... but alas, it was quelled. He knew full-well that this whole situation was being monitored.

EmperorsChosen RedArmyShogun Shotgunpenguin

 

[EmperorsChosen]

Feng Long - Aki Kiyoko

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

Watching with some interest as the man lashed out lightning fast, there was little point in having a deterrent if the cultist didn’t respect the force behind it. Though maybe there was another way out of this situation, or something he would fear. Either way any sort of cooperation between the two was well and truly fucked. Not that Feng mind, these men gave her the creeps and made her want to remove the damn dog collar, well broach now, though demanding the weapons detransform, well that was another topic altogether as she pondered what to do now…

The street smarts of her Triad days were all she had to fall upon. Wes wouldn’t be of any help with his crisis, wasn’t even sure why the Church guy was doing what he was, Nadia would have faced the backlash from the earlier attempt.

Dani for her part was surprised to say the least. She hardly had time to process before the man was in front of them, nor did she have time to get angrier. Instead, she felt the hit of his wavelength, disrupting theirs and causing rejection. With a scream, Dani fell out of sword form and collapsed onto the ground, clutching her stomach and curling inward as she grit her teeth to stifle her pains.

Aki from her position, blinking. Shocked, she definitely was, but being raised through more chaotic circumstances prevented her from panicking. Instead, she hummed as if in thought. After a few moments, her gun form turned to light and shot out from Feng’s hand. She landed feet-first, bouncing a bit in her step toward. “Are you guys really sure you want to do that?” She asked quite neutrally given everything that had occurred. “Usually groups like yours only last as long as you don’t get eyes on you… If you killed DWMA agents on a relief mission, that’d give them plenty of reason to kill you all,” She remarked as if it were obvious.

Aki wasn’t some cult expert, but she did travel through Asia and some of South America as part of mercenary companies. Occasionally, they would encounter cults or such groups. While she usually didn’t understand them, there seemed to be a trend. The problematic ones were usually those that steered clear of upsetting the local DWMA branch or other power. The lunatics that just did what they wanted often didn’t last all that long.

With a soft sigh, Feng followed after her partner and looked at the situation around them, there wasn’t much point in playing diplomacy, there was no point in pretending to be what she wasn’t.

Going alongside Nadia, it seemed she was in a bit of pain but already fighting through it, going for a knife at her side, till Feng caught her hand, given the reaction, or lack their off on the other, she was clearly operating on autopilot. “That’s enough. And you don’t listen well, do you cosplayer? When I said it would be something we all will be sorry for, the violence and deaths won’t stop just here. The DWMA tries to be all prim and proper, as do you, but we all are just a bunch of killers here, and that's all we’ll ever be asides for the reasons we tell one another and ourselves. I’m sorry for the actions the Boss has taken, but you’ve had your fun and taught your lesson, leave it here and we won’t have to revisit it later. We got places to be.”

With stern features, Feng was not the least be cowed by this event, waiting to see if he would accept this.

Sir Les Paul RedArmyShogun Shotgunpenguin

 

[Shotgunpenguin]

Wes Kraven
Streets of New York
September 26th
Mentions: EmperorsChosen RedArmyShogun Sir Les Paul ​

---

It was over before Wes even had a chance to try and perform chain resonance. The spiteful sound of the blue haired man’s soul spiking was the only indicator he had before he surged forward. In an instant, he had grabbed onto Nadia’s wrist, a faint blue glow emanating from his hands before Wes felt his connection to the white haired meister collapse.

The connection was forcefully severed, but not before Wes got a brief and painful taste of the forced rejection. It ran through his system like a jolt of lightning, immediately severing the connection he also formed with his partners.

Following Aki’s lead, Wes undid his own transformation, coming off of Feng’s arm and reforming with his hands held palms out in front of him. The muscles in his body twitched from the brief feedback he received, leaving him to worry about Nadia and her partner, who was curled up on the ground with a look of gritted pain. “Alright. Alright, you made your point.”

He chose to stay back as Feng and Aki stepped forward, instead moving slightly to the pink haired weapon and crouching slightly. He couldn’t even begin to imagine how much pain she was in, being on the receiving end of the blue haired man’s onslaught.

'I knew it. Why did I even try? Look at what happened, I couldn’t do shit.' The thought slammed into him, sending a wave of loathing crashing through his body. 'Can’t even do one simple thing. Why am I even here?' An uncomfortable feeling began to build in the pit of his stomach, his expression a cross between panic and disgust as he tried to shove the discomfort down.

He shook his head, trying to dismiss his self-depreciation before returning his attention to Dani. “Hey. Are you alright?” He spoke in a hushed tone, hands hovering in front of him, unsure of what exactly to do. He really wished that Gauss had been here, specifically so that Noah could use his wavelength to try and ease her pain. Unfortunately, he was assigned to another mission, meaning that all Wes could do was stand there and be useless while his partners tried to talk the man down.

 

[Merciless Medic]

Sara Middleton​

Date: September 27, 2067
Location: Zelezny Brod > Village of the Mountain Gnomes, Liberec Region, Czech Republic
Interactions: Dante, Elly, Kisei, Zosar, Wren
Mentions: Harbert, Gnomes
Pumpkid EmperorsChosen Sir Les Paul The Regal Rper Haze- RedArmyShogun

Sara’s mood improved only slightly since the talk with Kisei. She felt bad for going against instructions, but she had her reasons. Still, she felt like it wasn’t enough. She knew Kisei’s words earlier when talking to their client was Kisei being passive-aggressive, but she didn’t care. In fact, she didn’t have much of a reaction.

So, it was very difficult to try and act like none of that bothered her. At least this wasn’t Nadia. She’d take Kisei scolding her over Nadia any day.

Her mood was at least improving slightly when she got back with Dante, looking at the sights of the town, listening to Elly speak to some guards, being led to Harbert, and then speaking to the giant - who she thought was really cool. Seeing a different kind of giant that wasn’t an ice giant? Awesome.

But now, they were heading into the wildlife, Sara’s ears were perked up and swiveling as she carefully traversed, keeping an ear out for anything, getting used to the natural sounds of the forest as they followed the meandering path Harbert showed them on the map.

It was then that they met some gnomes…

Honestly, they were so adorable, she gave them all a heartwarming smile. She had no idea of Fae, or if gnomes were even classified as them. Of course, she kept her comments to herself, lest she offended them. She did give a glance up at Dante, tapping his arm with her elbow to establish a sort of connection.

‘Look at how tiny they are! They’re so cuuuute. If my people saw them, they’d probably try to make villages in their gardens and put them there.’ A humorous thought, if she weren’t talking about the straight abduction and subsequent relocation of Fae.

She was paying attention to any answers they could glean from them and she wasn’t woefully so distracted that she wouldn’t pick up anything potentially threatening.

 

[Merciless Medic]

Noah Wiley​

Date: September 26, 2067
Location: Steel Pier, Atlantic City, New Jersey
Interactions: Gauss, Arkayis, Chanterelle, Maria, Ark, Raphael
Mentions: N/A
Sir Les Paul Peckinou Meredith RedArmyShogun The Regal Rper

Noah did not like that Ark butted in, but it already happened. Not much he could do and it looked like Raph lightly rebuked him for it. The problem wasn’t just others getting involved, but what Gauss would take it as. It felt like he was with the same Gauss back when they met at Lot C. He was honestly getting concerned that he might revert.

But, he would have faith that Gauss wouldn’t do that.

Noah looked at Arkayis, assessing to see if he was alright. It looked like he was, thankfully. Well, physically he was, but given the heart attack and harsh scolding that was Gauss’s treatment, he was sure Arkayis’s cooperation would be quite minimal at best. Noah predicted that the bridge between Arkayis and Gauss would be super thin now, so he was sure that Arkayis would weigh heavier once Gauss wielded him again.

At least Maria and Chanterelle were thinking more about the birds and fish rather than getting involved like Ark had, even if Ark went ahead asking how to deal with those animals.

Gauss’s tone had set what it’ll be like concerning Arkayis at the very least. He likely didn’t help matters as he saw Gauss’s words in his actions, but he chose not to say anything about it. He wasn’t sure if Gauss minded that Noah did say his piece, given Arkayis was as much his partner as he was Gauss’s.

Either way, he put the incident behind him and began thinking about how best to deal with animals. That was when Chanterelle gave some advice - about using Noah’s electricity on her magic.

Huh. Not a bad idea, but he didn’t really know how things were going to react.

Still, he transformed - as Gauss bidded him to - his soul crackling with latent electricity as he readied himself.

Once connected with Gauss, he spoke. ‘Do ya know what'd happen if I electrified Chanterelle’s magic? I’m unsure..’ Not that they can even ask her now, as she was already halfway there to the beach by the time he asked. He kind of felt bad for Maria though, she didn't seem like her skillset was good for this, but she was trying her best.

 

[Merciless Medic]

Raphael Valerias​

Date: September 26, 2067
Location: Steel Pier, Atlantic City, New Jersey
Interactions: Chanterelle, Maria, Ark, Gauss, Arkayis, Noah
Mentions: N/A
Meredith RedArmyShogun The Regal Rper Sir Les Paul Peckinou

Raphael sighed. Chanterelle’s absence on his arm had him finally gearing up to take on the animals. Gauss’s words were well said, even if harsh. He gave Ark a glance before watching Chanterelle run off. Maria also ran off to find a place to do what she could to help. Raphael jogged down the bridge, elongating his demon tool to grab any fish that came his way, and then whip them towards the birds.

Once he made it to a spot that was near enough to Chanterelle’s thorny powdery creation to help, but far enough away not to get hit by the powder. Spreading his fingers over the ground as he crouched, he created a Magic Circle around him. Chains flew out from the ground, grabbing more fish and throwing them at the birds, whipping at the birds to try and scare them off. Some of them even came down to help untrap people from their cars, allowing them to open their doors now if they so wished, while the chains sort of guarded the populace stuck on the bridge to the best of their ability.

At least it wasn’t several Magic Circles, as this one was just a few meters in diameter and surrounded him. Thankfully, being crouched helped him avoid getting bit by fish and he wouldn’t fly away from a harsh wind caused by the albatrosses.

 

[The Regal Rper]

Ark | Atlanta | Rings: 0/1

Both notices towards his input were duly noted, no comments to add to either, Ark merely followed suit as the group transitioned their attention to dealing with the swarm.

He hadn't really seen much reason for lethality against the swarm anyway, it didn't seem like they're actions were actively targeting the civies. With what Chanterelle said, Ark inserted what he would be doing, which was, “I'll follow up on the west then, if you're trying to push them back to the ocean then I'll just use their location against them to push them back. Shouldn't be too hard to block them with our magic working together.”

Where Maria opted to her broom or Raph, Gauss, and Chant may have moved on foot, a single spell that created mud on ground beneath his feat converting asphalt to mushy dirt was all he needed. Nothing large, in radius six feet around, and that alone was enough to suffice. Where Chant and Gauss, Maria and Raph probably were the first to take off, Ark followed behind them. First at a run only of several booted steps, then the mud he had created slid smoothly under his leading foot, letting him slide forward, skating on it and shifting to a surf, the conjured mud coalescing where he intended to be.

Doing this sent Ark forward at a greater speed and with less physical exertion than running. Though he could have simply ran, this was also an opportunity for him to test out his control.

Where each had their own transportations suited to them, he had taken a somewhat peculiar approach in surfing on conjured mud. The semi-solid surface worked entirely like a board, but also maintained the flexibility of a liquid as Ark used this ever moving mud wave to be his locomotion.

His surfing came to an end once he reached the edge of the beach and neared the shore, perhaps a second or two before some of the others or perhaps dead last since he hadn't tried to take this in the sportsmanship of a race given the gravity of the environment.

The moment he stopped, he signalled to Chanterelle he would be off west.

While Maria literally worked her magic and Chant began her spell weaving, with Raph multitasking, Ark stomped on his side of the beach, distanced from others as Chant was, searching for any possible civies that might get caught up in what he was about to do so he could at least communicate to Raph over comms. His plan here was to take as much of the shore in his magical hold that would be necessary and also wouldn't endanger any structural surroundings. If he could do that without any issues, his plan as Chant released her spells, was to take particles of sand and send it towards the swarm to then raise a massive enclosure, a wall made of balls of sand the size of marbles and texture as rough as igneous, coalesced into one massive flexible obstacle that he would use along with Chant’s magic, to push and shove the creatures back also.

Altering the structure of the wall would be easy and especially when that wall was made of balls he could shape to take on different form simultaneously as he wished.

Mentions: Merciless Medic

Interactions: RedArmyShogun
Peckinou Meredith Sir Les Paul

 

[EmperorsChosen]

Eloise Keegan - Zelezny Brod, Czech Republic
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

Elly had activated her Soul Perception upon approaching the gnomes' territory, mainly for more experience and acclimation with The Green. Pausing as the gnomes gathered to meet them, she allowed them to speak first before giving a small smile in turn. Here's hoping this went better than in Wales, however she recalled what Stein told her. Fae could see the intent of others much like she could with her Soul Perception. The first step was to stow away any prejudice.

"English, perfect. Good day to you all! We actually come to trade," Elly stated, nudging Kisei to drop the pack they brought after a brief shopping trip in the town, which she naturally gave to him to carry. After he did so, she dug inside and pulled out a couple of samples to show what kind of items were within. For the most part, it was as the giant had suggested, pipe tobacco, preserved meats, cheeses, bread, pastries. "We don't need much, just answers to our questions. In exchange, you can take all the things in this bag."

They appeared like hardworking sorts of folk, like the giant's type. Elly surmised they would appreciate an upfront offer rather than a lot of verbiage. A clear give and take would be most successful. However, that was presuming the giant didn't give them wrong information like that damned Welsh Not-cat.

RedArmyShogun Sir Les Paul Merciless Medic Pumpkid The Regal Rper Haze-

 

[Pumpkid]

Dante Holiday

Location: Village of the Mountain Gnomes-Liberec Region, Czech Republic

Interactions: Sara Merciless Medic / Mentions: EmperorsChosen Sir Les Paul Haze- The Regal Rper RedArmyShogun

​

There were a myriad of thoughts swirling through Dante’s head. Everyone was tired, and on edge. He got out easily from his outburst, thankfully, though he was threatened lightly regarding the mask he harbors. Two women knew of his true identity, and it was jarring. He supposed it was obvious because Kisei was another factor. He lets out a sigh of resignation, and throws on his shades as the group is led to various points while Elly does the work.

Dante admires his surroundings. He has forgotten how invigorating it is to be on an adventure. The experience to explore different cultures despite the mission. This is what he signed up for, a chance to get back on track, and travel the world rather than be stuck in one place. A comeback as a weapon with an opportunity given so long ago should not be given up so easily. Especially when the person who encouraged him still pushes him forward. The image of Max pops up. The only person who has faith in him to change despite his inability to do so himself. It’s ironic the way he scolds him, but he refuses to give up his delinquent lifestyle. Good old Max.

Dante shakes his head, and scoffs as the investigation leads them to a giant who gives out rude claims. A tick mark appears above Dante’s temple, his mint eyes hidden behind his shades scowling at the towering male.

’Circus? Group session? God damn pea brained, degenerate.’

He grits his teeth wanting to kick the guy’s ass to kingdom come, however, Elly responded for everyone in a calm manner. In return, the giant cooperated. At least he wasn't a total asshole? It was enough for Dante to back down.

The next stop was a mountain filled with gnomes who then greeted the group with laughter directed at them. Clearly they were insulting them is what Dante assumed. He grumbles at the small creatures, ”midgets.” Dante jolts at the sudden touch as well as the voice in his head. Sara had made contact with him. Did no one know the meaning of privacy or a heads up? He was pressed about the constant touching made in the past few hours. He wasn't used to it.

’Gah, shit! What the hell? Why are you touching me? Gross, gross, groooossss.’

Dante pushes her elbow away, but holds it as he realizes what she just said. They were in a village of gnomes. They were so small and cute. In that moment, his walls drop as he scans the area noticing the small homes and armored gnomes. His soul sparked with glee, smiling at the fact that they were tiny and cute. Most importantly, small! If Sara could see. She would notice his eyes light up in the shape of stars as if he’s made it to paradise. His mouth parted into the shape of an ‘o’ while his shades dropped to reveal his brilliant eyes in awe.

 

[Sir Les Paul]

North of JFK Airport, New York City, New York
GM Post​

1155 | September 26th, 2067​

Laughter. Beginning as a light chuckle and evolving into a manic cacophony of rapid roars and howls. The source was the man holding Nadia, though he did not do so long. He also did not merely release her, instead shoving her arm back with an obscene amount of force; enough not to toss her like a skipped rock, but enough to even make the giantess fall to her half-frozen bottom.

"Yes, accost your demonic congregation, she-of-stained-hands," he shouted, excitement pouring from his very body while his words conveyed how dearly he wished to jump for joy. Not that he completely let his guard down to Nadia, but more so, he was certain that without resonance, she with some petty blade would be no actual threat to him. It might have bordered into arrogance, but he was absolutely sure that she alone could not act with such haste that she could harm him even with his back turned to her.

"Admit to the public which shall see all that has transpired that your DWMA is exactly what you claim: a bunch of killers pretending to prim and proper. Wolves but in sheeps clothing, I say, guiding man further and further down the path of the Devil and convincing them of the sin that is following a false god," he continued, jubilee highlighting his face as a wicked grin conveyed just what he had done here. Weaponized their own words and actions.

He looked back. Not at Nadia. No, at Dani. Her murderous soul was vile and putrid to him. She perhaps had the strongest scent of madness here; an odor this man had associated with the very Devil himself. His cold, blue eyes - though familiar - were filled with hatred. Disgust. Judgement. In her, he saw a beast. One beast that was but a child of the beast. Surely, she was some offspring of the antichrist. Surely, she was some true demon in disguise. Surely, in another life, she was a denizen of Hell itself. Surely, he would be praised for sending her back. Alas, he could not.

Even still, in that moment, his eyes were that of a predator and she the prey.

"If I cannot convince you," he said, chilling his voice as he reigned himself in to a more diplomatic tone, "to leave this battle, then I do warn you: the Paladins of Man have been tasked with maintaining peace amongst the field of triage and combat while our forces come in droves to help retrieve casualties and minimize the victims of this tragedy, if possible. There are many sinners and miscreants here in the veil of fighting that creature. Some have already resorted to armed conflict amongst each other without our very involvement; only a testament to the volatility of you faithless lot. We shall be policing these grounds and even then, we cannot assure your safety if you are so dull and dimwitted as to pick a fight so far out of your league. Consider my only kindness to be the warning that your idiotic bluffs will be called for bloodlust does not fear the unknown. That, and I would rather purge your sin myself than let some petty, unwashed hand do so."

The blue haired man then took a step back, though not without his own sinister, condescending sneer. "You are free to leave and always have been. Pick any direction you like and the path shall not be obstructed by me or my men. Consider that when later the tale of the idiotic Meister who took up arms against her better is told. Direct not your anger at me when you hear of the story ending in your surrender below me," he told them, informing them that they could, in fact, just leave, but also that he fully intended to distribute what happened here as a bard's tale for the Christians.

Wes was quite deafened at the moment, but only for a moment. Rejection through means of incomplete Chain Resonance was nowhere near as potent as the direct means. Nadia would likely suffer from a numb and weakened arm the rest of the mission and Dani may struggle to multi-task with her own spiritual network fried, but with time, this would improve. Comparatively, Wes stuck his tongue to a battery while those two touched a live wire. The same could apply to Feng and Aki, though likely both encountered even less pain. Only enough to know that Nadia and Dani were in turn sent reeling. Regardless of the outcome, Wes could return to his duty of picking up on the soul of this Paladin and some level of empathy for it.

Reading a soul was not a hard science - at least, not for Wes at this point - but there existed all reason to believe that this Paladin, while quite sadistic with a dangerous religious zealotry, was being truthful. His excitement for the words that Feng released seemed genuine. His murderous hatred for Dani was even something Wes could pick up on, if he so deemed it. Irony of irony was that Wes could hear that murderous cacophony in the soul of the Paladin as was in Dani, though only when he laid his eyes upon her. A true sign of his hatred for the degenerate masses. Most of all, though, was that the warning given by the paladin and his words of a peaceful retreat were just authentic as his joy and hatred. Insights Wes knew better than any of the other four.

EmperorsChosen RedArmyShogun Shotgunpenguin

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Thaddeus Thales​

"Gauss"​

Species Human
Partner Noah Wiley, Arkayis Misonuka
Rank Fate Agent

Location Atlantic City, New Jersey
Mission Kaiju Cleanup
Status Focused

​

Tags: Peckinou Merciless Medic RedArmyShogun The Regal Rper Meredith

'I've read up a fair bit on elemental affinities in Soul Studies. For intents and purposes, the lightning you make is just that: electricity. Same with Arky; the flames he makes are just fire. Generally, most demon weapons with an element can control the element even if they didn't make it. Obviously, that's especially important for water, earth, or metal. There also rarer elements, like light, nature, so on and so forth. Sometimes nature elements can only control a specific kind of plant. Sometimes light is only a certain kind of light. There's a lot of odd phenomenon, but it all comes around to this: you shouldn't have any additional synergy with magic. There is an incredibly rare wavelength, though, that actually empowers magic, but not a lot is known about it. Aside from being rare, it runs in witch-human families, which as you might guess, leads to them staying in the Witch Realm,' Gauss explained internally, using the question as a method of passing time as he rushed toward the beach.

He didn't even need to generate his arms. Nor did he need the parkour skills of Chanterelle. No, instead, he his natural athleticism combined with a spark of spiritual energy was enough to let them get through the urban terrain with ease. The sand, however, was a bitch. If one was not careful, slipping and sliding would have been beyond easy. This sand was also considerably different than that of Hawaii. The island an almost crunch sand. It was truly a mix that included a lot more salt and stability due to its inherit structure. This bullshit by the pier was much finer and more like silt; he half expected someone like Raphael to fall and bust his ass.

A realization hit him. He could feel that Arkayis was inching away from the situation, still reclusive. He was quiet and cold in his weapon form. Cold in a unique way. Normally, Arkayis burned hot. His soul was a foreign place Gauss had barely explored, but it burned like a furnace. Now, it was like furnace had far less fuel. Meanwhile, Noah was in better condition, but somewhat less suitable for the current combat.

Then again, Gauss saw a few things on the beach front that concerned him. Things that he was sure might affect Noah to some degree, leaving him with two potentially lame weapons.

The efforts of Raph specifically to dig through the debris to find any survivors were bittersweet. He found bodies, yes, but they lacked any life in them. Worse was that there were bodies clearly already consumed by the cloud of fish and given that down the beachline were dozens if not over a hundred foot of shoreline that had been gnawed clean, it only meant that there were likely even more consumed victims. Even Maria would not be able to salvage a dental imprint with her best of forensic efforts. Likely, each of them were just flecks of bone inside the bellies of some flying fish.

Ultimately, Gauss decided it would be in his best interest to test out the theory that Chanterelle was interested in. With a little effort from Arky, he could generate a semi-fiery barrier around him. It wasn't much, but it would combust any of those spores that got near him. It was actually a technique taught by Roya as it was something she had learned to do from another flame-user in the field. It was simple, but effective utility for flame-based Demon Weapons. It also meant Arkayis could be engaged without demanding actual, heavy input from him. That was likely their best bet with him for now regardless. Surely, he would at least get some level of enjoyment from the faint pops the spores made when they lit aflame.

It also meant Gauss could near Chanterelle, but unfortunately, he didn't a chance to discuss with her how to test her plan.

The battlefield took an odd turn. What appeared to be a wave of massive mudskippers hopped out from the water. While the crew was doing in fact doing well at pushing back the cloud of flying fish, they hadn't forcefully pushed it back to the ocean quite yet nor had they killed enough of them to begin quelling the swarm. Maria had done well with her wind explosions, but what truly amounted to was bullying these incredibly stubborn and stupid fish. She however was likely one of the two greater factors in preventing the cloud from getting dangerously close to the steel pier where people were still more actively being evacuated. Chanterelle did well with this, too, but mostly as a physical barrier. Her plan with the spores potentially suffocating them or at least forcing them into the water would require more time.

Ark in this case elected to provide mostly structural support and Raph was spread thin across the field. They had new tricks, but not sufficient time to refine them.

These mudskippers at first seemed to be more of a boon than a burden. While the low, loud sound that echoed from their mouths when they opened was in fact annoying, the fact they launched their massive, frog-like tongue out like a net to catch the flying fish meant they were eating them by the loads. Of course, only one load at a time, then the mudskipper would make its way back into the ocean as digestive juices began to fill its mouth, but it was an odd boon.

These mudskippers were also notably quite large. Twenty feet in length and easily taller than a man. Not quite a whale, but enough to reshape the sand of the beach as the crawled onto it. The next new fish were not so large, but far faster and more aggressive. In fact, some of the mudskippers were their first victims. Mermaid like fish with the upper bodies and powerful, but webbed arms of a monkey rushed into shore. In fact, they each had the face of mandrill baboon and two sets of arms alongside their tails with torn fins and bruised scales. They shrieked and howled on land and began tearing into the first things they encountered. In this case, the mudskippers.

First two then four then six of these large amphibians fell prey to the monkey fish. There was some fight going on. The mudskippers had venomous spines and a powerful tail they could fight off the monkeys with and in fact could even eat one at a time. The problem was that they were large and slow while the monkey fish were fast, small and, numbered in the hundreds. In fact, these crazed simian-amphibian-fish monstrosities ignored the battles with the mudskippers even while their brethren fought and in many cases died. They ran right past them, using one of their sets of hands as impromptu legs to rush forward and begin grabbing the flying fish, somehow immune to their razor edge fins, and biting into them, spitting their heads onto the ground and throwing down their bodies as they continued to pluck them from the storm.

Still, even the dent made by the mudskippers and the monkey fish was relatively small. The new problem was that the monkey had specifically ran over to Ark and Raph to try and make them new prey, crossing at an impressive rate for fish hybrids on the beach. Unlike the flying fish, these creatures were distinctly intelligent though enraged, much larger, much stronger, and arguably more dangerous. The fish seemed to have issues biting through their wetted fur which laid down like armor. The same fish could crush stone stone and gnaw bones.

Gauss pressed his fingertips to his earbud so that his next set of orders could definitively come through clear despite the chaos on the battlefield. "New protocol: kill them." he informed, wasting no time in removing the request he had earlier given the new sense of danger.

He then looked over to Chanterelle, his golden eyes more focused than they were earlier with less defeat and frustration being obvious. He wasn't his normal self, but he was far less of fried and frayed Meister he was a moment ago. He didn't smile or not, but he did shout to try and get the Witch's attention. As far as he knew, he was still on good terms with her. "Chant!" boomed from him.

"What was this lightning plan you had in mind?" he asked, hoping she could in fact synergistically use his generated lightning in such a way it made more efficient use of it than he would simply blasting it.

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Kisei☆Hoshi​

Deadsoul​

Species Death Golem
Partner Eloise Keegan
Rank Two-Star

Location Zelezny Brod, Liberec Region, Czech Republic
Mission The Missing of the Giant Mountains
Status Disappointed

​

Tags: EmperorsChosen The Regal Rper Haze- Merciless Medic Pumpkid

More than anything, Kisei was interested to see what Elly would think of these particular Fae. These were one of the few that Kisei was aware of and more so were in line with the benign Fae he was accustomed to from Japan.

An oddity for sure, but there were plenty of Fae tied closely to nature that were more Looney Toon than magical creature.

He was curious for Zosar and Wren, too, but much less so. They didn't seem to possess the same burning hatred that Elly had.

That was all the thoughts until he saw how Dante reacted. The visibly cringed at the Demon Weapon responding with the the arguably derogatory term. All he could think of was that this was another fucking Maria incident all over again. One wrong word was al it took to burn bridges with these guys sometimes. Of course, gnomes were typically more jovial. Tricksters sometimes, but never malevolent unless they were stolen from. They could take a good laugh and didn't mind being pranked, but he wasn't sure how well an actual insult would go.

He grumbled, both frustrated and disappointed. Yet, unlike his counterpart, he had that tact not to release the sting of vile words such as 'idiot' or explain just how stupid he thought the man was.

No, instead, Kisei just waited. He hoped the natural curiosity of gnomes would get the better of them. He also didn't intend to call out the other weapon right this second; they were in important company.

Alas, he just waited. Silently, respectfully, yearning for the day he could teach that carrot-topped moron a thing or two via pure brute force.

 

[The Regal Rper]

Zosar | Czech Republic

The shift after discussion was easily noticeable.

Sara had clearly simmered down in her earlier energy and Wren in her own way felt different too. No peeking was really necessary to pick up on it. He got the gist that they’d both received a talking to.

Dante, clearly had gotten his own private exchange with Elly but regardless of that state of inner contemplation and turmoil he saw within upon gazing at him under a spiritual lense, the AW let it go as the situation changed, ane the scenery changed with it.

Elly did the talking and in a lot of ways it brought back to his guppy days with the old squad, in his times of shadowing. Those feelings didn't disappear or distract him from the situation at hand, not with the constable and not with the giant.

The only brief passing of amusement he had shared with Wren at least, because he could, was that this guy made every other person he had met with insane height look like a child.

Then again towering over someone at a range of two to four feet would do that to anyone.

What had him really laser in, was Dante. Dante’s indignation was quite palpable, moreso in a spiritual sense as much as it was in his eyes when he felt that pang of irritation having been called part of a circus act. The good thing was, as much as he had detected a possibility in rebellion within the Weapon, he also hadn't spoken, that had been the good thing about this situation. He had actually acted his age and managed to keep commentary quiet for once since they had met.

Though in all honesty his hopes were not high for the next encounter. Dante had already displayed a failure in filtering himself with not only his unnecessary and uncalled for remark to his Weapon partner, but his outburst with Kisei showed a clear ‘jump first, think second' approach. Of course all of this was hypothesis as he mentally built a profile for the guy that was Sara's partner.

The fact they would be meeting gnomes shortly was a prospect he looked forward to though. Elly’s distrust of the Fae was fairly understandable, but if things continued to go as smoothly as they were, as Elly displayed the gifts they had retrieved, well then--

--“Midgets” the AW grumbled--
.

All the excitement he had felt in the moment of meeting the gnomes, died. Like a warm happy feeling that had sparked upon meeting these folks and the prospect of having a possible amicable exchange- Dante's utterance threw ice cold water on Zosar's elation at the potential of that one insult possibly throwing all of this awry.

For a moment Aki flashed to mind, and even he couldn't fathom Aki acting like this.


It sparked a very well controlled sense of agitation that, only due to proximity with how he stood in the group close to the others, would have struck senses immediately. Elly, Wren, and Sara's more than anyone else. If only because their heightened senses and Wren's present spiritual status with Zosar gave her a slightly higher sensitivity to the presence of his Volatile soul when it became more active outside of the stable state he always set it to.

Even the minor spike that came with his immediate annoyance with Dante was palpable, if only for a moment before gone.

His eyes locked on Dante for a
glance and there was a powerful urge to say something, do something-- it had been a while since he felt like something good was being robbed from him.

The last mission he had in EAT had been his last mission in EAT, and that mission had taken just a few words from someone in the team to make him come close to getting physical.

Then again, reason reminded, Dante is in F.A.T.E after all, and good boys and girls, don't join this program if life is looking pristine.


On the other hand, if Dante fucked around enough and they found out That would not be two missions that had erred but three. And having all three go horribly wrong was not something he wanted.

He refrained though, for multiple reasons. The most obvious being: this wasn't the time or place to address the situation. Even if he wanted to.

The real important one though, was the fact that Dante was not his to reprimand in the moment just yet. Elly and Kisei as leaders had a right to call them out, but unless things went south quickly he would let the others handle him. Sara after all had handled it earlier, she could again.

The glance he gave Dante was gone as quick as it came and his attention was back on the midge-- Gnomes, hoping that at the very least, much like Kisei, they wouldn't be like the Gwyll.

With his luck on life lately though, he hardly doubted such outcomes were guaranteed.

Mentions: RedArmyShogun EmperorsChosen Sir Les Paul Merciless Medic Pumpkid Haze-

Interactions: n/a

 

[Haze-]

Wren
Železný Brod; Czech Republic​

Wren had come out of the girl’s cabin with zipped lips.

Not a word. Not even after they’d hopped out of the train. Not even after the vulgarly blunt, giant lumberjack (almost) matched up to their own giant, red-head asshole. Wren just kept shadowing behind the group, trailing off in the background— like she were grounded. She was the chatty type, after all; it was an uncanny sight not to see her making menial small talk on the way or pointing out restaurants the moment her nose picked up on the scent.

It had been an honest mistake, and she’d gotten her ear yanked for it. It wasn’t serious enough for her demeanor to switch. Wren was, simply put, being petty. Staying annoyingly true to what she’d told Kisei back in the cabin — “Ya’ won’t hear from me again, promise.”

It was both sad to see that none of them had seemed to miss her presence, not even bothering to ask what had gotten into her, and hilarious at the same time.

Still, her begrudging demeanor on the outside wouldn’t save Zosar from her terrorizing him on the inside — ‘That weirdo corrected us on his name like we're ever gonna go back and ask him somethin’ else…group sessions...tch.’ — She scoffed — ‘How hard do you think they’ll scold me if I assaulted a civilian? Hypothetically, of course. Just like, a lil’ check on the cheek— maybe a kick on the ribs. Nothing too hard. He’ll be fine.’

It was hard to tell from her monotone whether it was a serious question or if she was just joking.

The sounds of the forest as they walked, the chirp of birds and the crunch of branches, slowly pulled her guard down. Had her releasing tension from her tight shoulders. It wasn’t the bog. There weren’t any lake monsters or hellhounds.

There was a crystal-clear distinction between the land of the Fae from the here and now, compared to the Fae she knew from then and there. She was making up comparisons with each thudding step through the forest. Whimsical would’ve been one word to put it. Warm. Mossy. Green. Nice. Easy on the lungs, at least compared to the damp, asphyxiating mist from back then.

Juxtaposed with her memories of Wales— that damned country filled with pretentious monkey cats, heart piercing women, unmarried crones, and lying monster cats— the Czech had it much better. Wales was a grim, gray fairy tale lacking substance, only the meanness. Here, however it was almost…too silly for her brain to fully process things. She couldn’t even begin to take things seriously.

She watched the gnomes rush out of their tiny abodes, circling them like a pack of miniature lions, her chin propped on Zosar’s shoulder. One of her eyes twitched, her mouth pressed into a thin line. It was getting harder and harder not to burst out laughing. She set her eyes on the cannon rolled up to them, pulling a herculean effort to keep the straightest face she could muster.

‘Y’think the recoil sends one a’ them flyin’ back every time they fire that thing?’

Just as Zosar’s excitement from seeing the gnomes was starting to carry over onto her, Wren was hit with the recoil of Dante’s voice sharp on her ear. That relaxed expression tensed, both at the feel of Zosar’s soul flaring and at the sudden Maria flashbacks she had, turning to a gapped mouthed stare of disbelief directed at Dante.

Unlike Maria, a shut-in her whole life, unknowing of social norms, this was a grown ass man. She could only brush the comment aside and hope the gnome’s hearing range was as large as their stature.

Wren sighed, swung her backpack to her chest just as Elly showed them their gifts. She rummaged about for a bit, taking out a few bags and slinging them over her shoulder, before nodding and setting it down on the grass. Unzipped wide open for the smell of over a dozen treats from all around the globe (or from a random gas station in Death City, if you’d like to be boring about it) to waft across the forest.

Just as she’d promised Kisei, Wren didn’t open her mouth to speak, she instead raised her hands up to chest-level, clawed fingers moving to throw up the basic ASL she remembered — ‘Hello, friends.’ — She signed at the rows of little men, giving them a big, fanged grin. Insultingly big.

She was being, as her uncle would've called her, ‘a whole ass’.

‘Gifts.’ — She signed, stopping to squat and rustle through her backpack to see if there’d be anything specific the gnomes could potentially like.

RedArmyShogun The Regal Rper Merciless Medic Pumpkid Sir Les Paul

 

[RedArmyShogun]

The Missing of the Giant Mountains
Investigation Mission
Date: 09/27/67
Location: Village of Gwylafal, - Liberec Region - Czech Republic



​

Glancing at the taller man the gnome seemingly picked up on that but was biding his time as he gazed at each one of them in turn, then the offerings they brought, so all they wanted was information. It was scantly a few moons ago that others came with such a request and offerings of gifts. Stroking his mustache whiskers along the left side the gnome seemed to consider the offer. And English seemed to be their choice of language.

"Ah, Midgets are we? Tis better than being a Mountain Troll like you who must hit his head into door frames and cabinets time to time. How's the air smell up there? Getting thin headed?" He indeed had heard what was said, though his reaction wasn't hostile as he gazed at Elly and the two werewolves, then to the other two men. Raising a single hand he spoke up in the unique language of the gnomes, indecipherable from the most, apart from it being eerily akin to the languages of the ancient Slavic and Germanic peoples, dead languages by all rights. With that the cannon crew wheeled the weapon away and most of the others went back to their homes or made for them, with only a few curious folks staying behind as he called out, walking towards them till he was in conversational rang, looking with his head turned upwards as he properly introduced himself.

"I am Heimdall, headman of the Village Gwylafal, I welcome you for the purpose of trade. Your trade items are not enough as we already have some goods from only a few days ago. And your mini giant saw fit to insult us. We Gnomes are an exacting people, greedy some may say. What else do you have to offer? If no items of trade we'll borrow your labor and put him and some of the rest to work moving ore, crystals and gems from the mines to the warehouse, it shan't be a long labor, just enough to teach some respect... If half an hour to an hour is too much to be rid of him then that depends on what else you have to offer."

Stroking his beard this time the elder Gnome turns about, pointing his crystal staff to the big structure of uncertain origins, confirming what it was in short order. "Our Grand Hall, you all will join me there, the structure is big enough to hold some humans, not giants though, faster we sort this out the sooner you can be about your way. It is unusual we have so many humans coming here twice for information, and before them was a witch."

Interactions/Mentions: EmperorsChosen (Elly) Sir Les Paul (Kisei) Merciless Medic (Sara) Pumpkid (Dante) The Regal Rper (Zosar) Haze-

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Kisei☆Hoshi​

Deadsoul​

Species Death Golem
Partner Eloise Keegan
Rank Two-Star

Location Zelezny Brod, Liberec Region, Czech Republic
Mission The Missing of the Giant Mountains
Status Disappointed

​

Tags: EmperorsChosen The Regal Rper Haze- Merciless Medic Pumpkid

"Oh, I like these guys," Kisei remarked gleefully. "I like these guys a lot," he added, only emphasizing his excitement over the attitude of the gnomes.

He grinned with excitement, but his soul had flared up the moment that the gnome spat back at Dante with those vicious words. There a was special type of joy that came from this moment. These gnomes were some type of Fae, which meant they were defying the expectations of Elly. Care for her though he did, he also took great joy from seeing her world view stretched a little wider. Elly unfortunately had a poor run in with Fae for her first encounter. Not all Fae were the malevolent witches or tricksters that the others were. Many were fine, fair folk that took to activities in Earth that they simply could not do in the Otherworld. Mining was one such example. For whatever reason, large excavations were forbidden in the Otherworld. Many species came to mine on Earth and many others came to rebuild and replenish the sites that were dug out, creating an ever-lasting cycle.

Now Elly got a chance to see the more natural cycles of the Fae. And, Kisei got the chance to see some comeuppance to their excessively blunt new teammate. He was more a hammer than an axe, at least socially.

"T'is a pleasure to meet you, sir Heimdall," Kisei continued. He did not kneel down to address the gnome. His knowledge of Fae was that they often found such to be more insulting than it was practical. Of course, the Fae of the east were considerably different than those of the West and even more different than those found in the Americas, but this sentiment was all he had go with.

"I am Kisei☆Hoshi and the fair maiden that first offered trade is our dear Elly Keegan," he said, offering a polite introduction to the group.

His smile let loose touch of his mischievous soul. It would clear as day to Elly that he was up to something, but the gnomes with their innate ability to pick up on intention would feel something similar. The man was genuinely elated to offer the services of his allies.

"The carrot-top and the two werewolves are in need a of lesson that I think a little hard labor would be suitable for," he said, "so there's no need to go easy on them if it is but a mere half-hour or so of work."

What a dick.

"If someone could escort them to the mines and show them where to take that heavy ore, good fellow, the rest of us would gladly meet you in city hall - lest my friend Zosar over there would care to help his partner," Kisei suggested. His eyes never left the gnome as he did not wish to appear as rude, but he did so wish to see the look on the faces of others. Perhaps even a bit far as Zosar had done nothing wrong recently, but putting him on the spot as to whether or not to help was undoubtedly a conniving move as it gave the poor Meister no good choice.

 

[The Regal Rper]

Zosar | Czech Republic

He was already working on maintaining a calm composure before Heimdall had spoken up, what with Wren putting that image of the cannon recoil effect on gnomes in his head- so what came next when the leader of the village spoke was, well, something.

Kisei's verbal response at liking the gnomes, nearly appeared in a verbal reaction from Zosar.

He felt the twitch hit his lips and the start of a smug snicker before immediately forcing what was happening into something more akin to a small smile as an expression that refused to go in Dante's direction at the very least.

He had to momentarily clear his throat to disperse the upcoming laugh and even then that wasn't enough. That alone was probably going to exacerbate Dante a lot, but there was no helping it. Still was better than openly laughing at the comment sent the Weapon’s way.

While Kisei went with a greeting and introductions, Zosar kept his attention partially on Dante, given Wren had decided to stick with the mime role.

It was glancing at Kisei however that had him narrow his eyes slightly as he caught that smile.

He didn't like that smile at all. It meant some idea had just hit him, and if he knew Kisei well after all this time, considering it had been the first expression he made when a young ex-merc had erroneously assumed Death had sent a frontal assault to gather his soul-- well-

"The carrot-top and the two werewolves are in need of a lesson that--”​

I Fucking knew it, he sighed as soon as he heard it. Can't trust anyone here, damn.

And as it went on, about not even needing to go easy on the trio, Zosar couldn't help but smile just a little as his brows went up slightly in mild amusement.

Dick move, not gonna lie, funny regardless though.

He had wanted Dante to handle this, or at least see the reaction the Weapon had to doing some work for the gnomes first, given the shared excitement it was a given Sara may have gone so he wouldn't have really been as against it anyway since that was more her choice, if Wren had somehow decided the miming career was getting old and tagged in, totally fine- but assuring Heimdall this was perfect for lesson time, wasn't exactly something he had wanted to hear.

For Dante, sure, he didn't really care right now if the gnomes worked him a bit- if things had gone south and after they handled it, he probably would have slapped the guy regardless of his own relationship to Sara or the baked in etiquette of following the chain. Adding Sara and Wren to this though, did not so much sit as well unless it had been something they chose.

There was no anger or irritation but he certainly wasn't that pleased two of three were getting roped in, even in good humor.

Hypocritical though since he was kind of smiling.

Ironically, it did remind him of old times so that was the other thing that kept a bit more of the slight irritation at bay.

The amusement sputtered when the implication drew him into the conversation.

Aw, you asshole. His eyes said when the brow quirked up and his smile shifted into confusion. Arms crossing at waist level as one held the other.

He didn't want to do any of that to be honest, in spite of his contemplative look as he considered his decision.

Wren certainly might not find it as funny if he tipped his hat to her and said: Godspeed, Brute Tooth, Silver Fang, you got this.

He could, and a part of him wanted to- but, should he?

Wren, as much as he was really coming to like and appreciate her, had enough diva in her to take things at her own stride and certainly dabbled in the art of drama queen in her comedy. Gal would never let him forget this if he left her to deal with this alone- Sara also, was another thing to consider.

“Bonding together in a mine” he said aimlessly out loud, but was in fact thinking more about Wren, Sara and Dante bonding together in the mines while he stayed out here with Elly and Kisei.

Death, that sounded awful in his own head.

Internally he winced. Even in good humor and as a meager task, that thought alone felt selfish, dismissive and rude, even if he was already leaning away from it.

How it would look by extension to Elly and Kisei, as well as Sara and Wren, even Dante, for some reason, mattered to him also. Years of being on the odd end, did make one slightly more wary about how their actions were viewed in a different lense.

The few seconds of silence and his stalling probably wasn't helping his case here either. With his look, he was passing for dramatic pause, the projected amusement in his soul wasn't fake either, the situation Kisei had thrown him into was, equal parts grating and amusing but in reality it wasn’t that complicated.

The answer was a sigh.

Somehow he felt Elly was to blame slightly for this. This kind of play was up her avenue and though he knew Kisei to be mischievous in his own surprising ways, he couldn't help but wonder if there was an influence being shared here.

The big question was if he wanted Wren to hold this against him in the future, not out of anger, but like she had her drink. And if her dedication to the vow of silence was any indication, he felt with some sense of reason his Pelusa was most definitely the type that would. Sara being a factor also required him to be quick.

A full twelve seconds had passed and he still hadn't said anything.

All of this stalling was ammo Elly could use against him in the future, he realized, and he hated that.

“I…certainly am not against helping” he said slowly.

Mentions: RedArmyShogun EmperorsChosen Sir Les Paul Merciless Medic Pumpkid Haze-

Interactions: n/a

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Feng Long - Aki Kiyoko - Nadia Semyonov - Daniella Ethalyn
New York City
September 26th​

While willing to let it go, the man has said too much, far too much. And he was more than a bit too arrogant for her liking. Nadia had made a mistake, that was true, but this man was blind.

“The Public to see what we are? Really? Surrounding people are grounds in more than a few places to be considered a threat. And do not preach about purity, where was your purity during the witch hunts, or when your people willingly enabled and aided the British in spreading Opium and the Civil Wars you caused in the name of your faith across China and East Asia? Will you truly save the people of this city, or Grant your God’s peace to those who are stained with Sin?

This is only a suggestion, but you may be better served picking up other books than your bible. And I leave you with these three phrases;

"What the superior man seeks is in himself; what the small man seeks is in others."

"Fine words and an insinuating appearance are seldom associated with true virtue."

"Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire.”

Good day Paladin, I earnestly hope we do not meet one another again.”

With that said, Feng grabbed Nadia, between rejection and whatever the man had done before, she shook her head and sighed letting Nadia lean off of her.

Aki simply watched the man with little interest, a slight narrowing of the eyes as if the man imposed on her. <”It’s pointless, he’s one of those…”> She commented in Chinese. It turns out he was indeed not stupid enough to attack them as she thought, but he sure was arrogant for someone who knew what would happen.

Dani for her part was still grinding her teeth on the ground, though by now had curled somewhat as she pushed herself to her knees. The pain still coursed through her, though as it gave way to the natural rage of her wavelength, she stared daggers back at the man and his followers, contemplating ripping him apart in several different ways despite still being debilitated. “Fucking—Pedophile-looking-ass bastard…!” She growled out, hardly processing that Wes had come to her side. “F-Fine… Fucking peachy…”

As, Reaching down to rest Dani against her other shoulder the group limped off, Feng suddenly stopped once they were. Now away from the Church Nadia’s rage could be felt as pure hatred shown from her glare….

No, they very much wouldn’t be working with the Church likely as Nadia pushed herself off of Feng a bit and offered to take Dani, finally speaking;

”They…had us surrounded, were causing pain through their wavelength…” Wincing at her partially numb arm, she glanced back at Wes, she could have blamed him, but there was no point in it. The mistake was her own, she gambled in the realm of power and lost. She would pay him back for this, someday, somewhere, somehow. But more importantly there was one other.

”Dani… How are you? We need to find Adrian.”

”<Aki, keep your eyes open till those two can walk without aid, I’ll be alert too, I don’t care what assurances that zealot offers.>” Turning her attention back to Nadia and letting her take the weight of Dani, she would keep nearby to help her team leader continue onwards as she spoke.

”Confucious says, "Be not ashamed of mistakes and thus make them crimes.” You did nothing I would have not, it was not the best of choices, but it was not a wrong one. Whoever says an armed or militant group surrounding them is not a threat, is either with the police or has never been in a real fight, much less lived a rough life. I shall defend your actions when questioned. Still, who figured meeting them in hand with our own weapons after they pressed down on us would go like that. That Paladin has a few screws loose as they say.”

Dani begrudgingly accepted the arm before being traded off to Nadia. “Fine… fine—Fuck, Adrian. What if those pricks found him too…!?” Dani wondered, shifting her focus from her anger to concern, though the rage wasn’t entirely gone. If they had done anything to him, she’d make it her mission to melt the blue-haired priest.

Aki kept her hands clasped behind her back as she walked alongside Feng, watching the interaction of Dani and Nadia. “<Roger, roger.>” She replied simply to Feng, though she seemed less concerned than the others. “Mm… They probably did that on purpose. You can’t see wavelength through a camera,” She pointed out simply. The smartest of those types of groups Aki recalled played very nice while in public. It was a matter of if they could get away with something. Still, it seemed kind of weird that they were so intent on waging a PR battle against the DWMA. Then again, Aki was hardly the type to dwell on matters of subterfuge.

“Did we pass out communicators before we dropped? Can just give him a call then,” Aki suggested before a smile crawled its way across her face. “Aaaand, if we kill that monster and save the day, then that’ll counter whatever those weirdos do!”

”That…is not a bad idea.” She said in regard to the communicators, then frowned a bit at what was said. ”He parially disabled my right arm, it will be back to normal, but with what they did to Dani as well, it's going to be very hard to fight that monster thanks to those Govniuk Pidaras… But as you said, they may have set it up with the recordings. I’m going to get even with that bastard, sooner or later… But mission comes first.

I need some time to think about what we do next, not that this all wasn’t a suicide mission from the start. A wildcard and last hope, and yet they throw us in risky wise, and if that fuck told the truth, not even an agreement was sent for us to be here. Just the DWMA playing politics, I’m sure they’ll say some bullshit about Deescalation when they called us subhuman, in need of being sent to hell, Cyrus even told us they considered none of us, minus Feng, to be human. What am I to do, take all the abuse and ask the maniac to not genocide us for now? Ha. They can fuck right off. ”

Feng for her part gave Aki another pat on the head, she was full of good ideas and reasoning this time around…. Which honestly, worried Feng. Likely meant more trouble was to come as she watched the buildings around them, opening her communicator, she would save Nadia and Dani from the problem. ”Feng here, Adrian if you got this, avoid the Church, head directly west along the streets, we’ll meet up at the next avenue, just keep your distance and watch out for any dirty business. Wes, you alright now?”

Interactions: EmperorsChosen (Aki) Sir Les Paul (Adrian/NPC's) Shotgunpenguin (Wes)

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Adrian Hackney​

"The Maiden"​

Species Human
Partner None
Rank Fate Agent

Location JFK International Airport, New York City, NY
Mission Colossal Combat
Status Confused

​

Tags: RedArmyShogun EmperorsChosen Shotgunpenguin

Adrian, confused, replied with a simple message to Feng:

"Uh... are you sure? I'm with one right now. Paladin he said, like the class in DnD. His name is Simon. He said you were supposed to meet his partner and offered me brunch with his men while we waited for you all to catch up. We're in the middle of eating, actually."​

It was an open comm. Everyone could hear.

 

[Meredith]

Chanterelle Dubois

Through the Winds

The pressure was on.

Everyone worked effectively in their positions, at least from Chanterelle's perspective. The moment of respite between casting and sudden chaos saw her gaze creeping over the field: Raphael, attempting to pursue the aid of civilians, though she could not ascertain his level of success without her attention leaving the battle; Ark, now all business, his sand moving forward far more fluidly than her tall brambles, which were fighting a veritable war of attrition in their growth towards the water. Maria's air blasts seemed to be working well for her, though Chanterelle hadn't been so sure at first with all the existing wind. She was initially aggravated by Gauss' decision to approach. Although Arkayis' fire adequately dispersed the spores--which she did not object to--there were many other hazards she created on the field. She eased this thought, reasoning that he'd been warned. That she was slightly less culpable for any potential consequences. That he would not have scorned her warning without earnest intent. Her work continued.

Her assault only intensified as the amount of enemies on the field increased. Here the undergrowth became truly hazardous. Thick rods of scouring rush burst through the brambles, and though not all of them grew even remotely vertically, their emerging shoots were spear-sharp. Perhaps more importantly, these rushes in particular shared the bramble's attribute of thorns, though these were somewhat larger and unhooked. These were a reflexive deterrent. Much less durable than the impeding wooden tangles of the walls she now stood on, but wholly intended as weapons. She wasn't quite close enough to target either of their new enemies yet, though her focus naturally shifted towards the monkeys approaching Raphael. The mudskippers had not gotten within her range, but these... primate-amphibians?.. were closer now.

Not a one of these animals, nor their unhybridized cousins, belonged in New Jersey.

She turned at her name. Listened intently through the storm, signaled for him to wait a second. It occurred to her that this might be rude sometime after her spell had set. This was a simple propagation of the rushes, an extra reserve of mana given to the wave of plants before her that allowed them to spread as the brambles had before. This gave her a clear moment to turn to Gauss.

She stepped back to the edge of the brambles, knit to act as a surface at the peak of their height. They could be unstable, but only when trapping objects underneath. Compression from above was antithetical to their purpose of entrapment. It would be no feat of effort for Gauss (or anyone else, for that matter) to walk across the top of this kind of barrier, especially as its stability increased with additional inward growth--unless movement from below was an issue.

At this point, the fish were sufficiently spaced from her walkway. She crossed to the trio quickly, crouching at the edge of the hedge. She wasn't more than about a foot from Arkayis' barrier, by the time she leaned over the group. This was not information easily shouted, but she would still have to raise her voice.

"It might be hard to pull off."

This was the first disclaimer. If she'd felt like she'd had time, there might have been more to follow. Instead she spoke quickly. Clearly. Loudly. "I can draw a ground for natural lightning."

"What matters to you is that the spores that erupt from this ground will conduct energy: first in a sort of disorganized flash through their body, and then to the ground, burning through the spores and hitting with an impact like a--well, like a lightning strike. They will hit a charge of concentrated mana. It will probably explode."

A deep breath. "But even if it doesn't, it should release mana for use. My plants-- think 'Overgrowth'." It seemed easier to reference common game jargon than to try to explain the complexity of enhanced magical effects.

A thought seemed to occur to her. She touched her earpiece, spoke into it. "Maria, might you be able to still air?" This wasn't requisite, but it would make her life easier.

Her attention returned to Gauss. A heavy sigh, likely lost in the wind. This was another, simpler thought, but she was loathe to entertain it. "Or you can start a forest fire." The idea of foregoing an impressive feat of magic in favour of the destruction of her conjurations pained her at a fundamental level. Her grimace was not hidden, but she forced through. It was best to provide several effective suggestions... but that didn't make her like it any more. "Efficacy guaranteed, lower power potential. Your call."

The Garden Witch​

Species Witch​

Rank: Fate Agent​

​

Location: The Steel Pier, Atlantic City, NJ.​

Mission: Kaiju Cleanup​

Status: Strategizing​

​

Merciless Medic The Regal Rper
Peckinou RedArmyShogun Sir Les Paul

 

[Shotgunpenguin]

Wes Kraven
Streets of New York
September 26th
Mentions: RedArmyShogun EmperorsChosen Sir Les Paul ​

---

Wes stood, hands hovering in place just shy of Dani, as the man began to laugh. Softly at first, before growing into a mad cackle the likes of which sent chills down his spine. Listening to the blue haired man’s rant, attacking not only them, but the DWMA as a whole, decrying them as nothing more than a haven for killers and the unclean. He would have rolled his eyes at it, but considering the man had them at swordpoint he held off.

‘Just leave already.’ He had already made his point, this was just gloating and stroking his own ego. Or maybe it was a bit of grandstanding for the men and women around him, a way to inflame their already fever pitched faith.

And then, just as suddenly as he began, he ended his rant, dismissing the group as a whole as if he were a mall cop telling off a bunch of teens. Well, most of them anyways, for whatever reason whenever his gaze fell towards him and Dani, his soul spiked with bloodlust.

Sure, the man made no attempts to hide or disguise his disdain for the group, but the way his soul flared in pure animosity when he regarded Dani was different. If he thought of them as singers and demons, then it was like he regarded Dani as the devil himself. It had the same ear piercingly screech that he experienced when he tried to connect his soul to hers, the only difference being the man apparently had a better handle on it.

Still, despite the utter dressing down and outright murderous sensation that he felt whenever he glanced at Dani, Wes couldn’t find a hint of deceit in his soul. He genuinely meant every word that he was saying, from letting them go to his plan to immortalize this encounter into the church.

Although he doubted that the others would accept his words, even if Wes did try and cover for the man. Not that he would, he wanted absolutely nothing to do with that man, nor the church that he represented. He closed his eyes and breathed a sigh of relief, visibly relaxing before opening them, just barely catching Nadia as she glanced at him.

He withered slightly under her gaze, despite the lack of accusatory words. Briefly, he thought about apologizing for what had happened. ‘Why should I apologize.’ The thought slowly creeped into his mind as he glanced at the meister. ‘I tried to stop it. Not my fault.’

If push came to shove, he would offer an apology, if only to get it over with and avoid further argument. For now though, he breathed a sigh as he moved with the group as they discussed what had just happened as well as what they should do now. The obvious answer was thrown out, regroup with Adrian and continue on with the mission. If the church had found them soon after they landed, it was likely that he’d run into them too.

Wes listened as Feng’s communicator flared to life, reaching out to both check on Adrian and inform him to avoid contact with the church. “I’m fine.” He answered his partner, giving her a slight shrug of his shoulders. “It was more the shock than anything else.” In a way he was almost thankful that his connection to the duo was so fragile. Saved him a good dosage of pain.

There was a short period of silence before her communicator crackled as Adrian responded, revealing that while they had just narrowly avoided a potential execution via righteous jackass, he was having a pleasant time getting brunch with a man who likely belonged to that same group.

Faced with this information, Wes said the only thing that came to his mind at that moment.

“.....What the fuck.”

 

[Haze-]

Wren & Zosar
Železný Brod; Czech Republic​

Wren was still rummaging through her wares with a self-pleased smile still cracking her face in half, shifting at the feel of pebbles dug on her knees. It wasn’t until she heard Kisei’s voice behind her, her ears pinning back to listen, that she tipped a look over her shoulder, still smiling wide. Her brain failing to fully process, she sat there just looking at the Hoshi with a waning smile, eyes drifting around orbit, brow slowly furrowing when she rewinded her mental tape and heard what Kisei said again.

Her smile dropped. One of her eyes twitched, brows knitting together before she jabbed a finger in his direction and opened her mouth as if to speak— only managing to croak out a muted grunt before she reconsidered, balling that same accusatory finger to a fist and dropping it. At the end, she looked completely and utterly defeated, dead behind the eyes.

“‘Bisogno di una lezione’ il mio culo, pezzo di mer-…” — A miracle, the once mute girl was now grumbling tongues under her breath. Like she had just found her voice through sheer force of irritation. Wren harrumphed, yanked the zipped on her backpack, losing all interest in sharing gifts of her own with their new friends.

She didn’t say anything about him not hearing from her in Italian.

Was it unfair? Demeaning? Was he trying to start something? Did she have to push Kisei down a flight of stairs when the opportunity arised? All these thoughts and more, blurred past her, and she had no idea. The one thing she knew irked her down to the core, in a primal, inexplicable way, was being thrown together in the same boat with Dante.

If it was just Sara and her alone in that mine, she would’ve carried that ore hopping and skipping like a good errand gal. But the thought of Dante being there, and the possible things that could come out of that guy’s mouth, already had her clutching at the stinging pain sizzling on her temple.

Even if they ordered her to pick roses at a calm, peaceful prairie with him— she figured it would somehow, someway, only get annoying at the end. She could only bite her tongue and hope that playing lamppost would allow her to tune out his existence, live in a peaceful, ignorant delusion.

“Hrmn…!” — Her hands found their way to her pockets, nose crinkling to a frown. She simply grunted at Dante and Sara like a cavewoman, gesturing a chin at the expecting gnomes. Her tail was stiff between her legs, ears pinned down. She knew, not even crocodile tears or hitting Elly with the puppy dog eyes would get her out of this.

Just as she was about to start taking the walk of shame down to the mines, something caught her ear. A hesitant voice, one that made the corners of her mouth turn up to a loosely controlled smirk. She turned on her heel, bringing up a fist to bump it against Zosar’s shoulder, waving a finger in his face with a smug grin finally taking over her face.

‘Nah, I think you’re against it, big guy. Don’t play hero now, y’know it’ll be Death awful as shit down there.’ — She scoffed, blew out through the nose; her entire expression would’ve been all teeth if a smile could take over one’s face. Wren turned away from him, dramatically placing a hand over her chest — ‘I do appreciate the concern, though. It’s heart-warmin’, really~’

Finally, dropping the playful act, she showed him an honest, utterly tired expression — ‘Meh, I’ll be fine. Don’t go torturing yourself like that. Take a pic for me if the gnomes do somethin’ funny while I ain’t looking.’

Well with words like that, could he really say no? In that moment alone he saw how annoyed Wren was, could he really just look at that and turn a blind eye?

The answer to that was yes, it's just in Wren's and Sara's case he wouldn't.

Hand caught her wrist and then the same arm wrapped around her shoulders in a playful tug. ‘Well then expect some gushy bonding then amigo, cause I'm still coming anyway.’ As much as he didn't want to, he knew Sara alone wasn't going to be enough from stopping Wren’s sour feelings towards Dante. And while he couldn't blame this turn of events on him, he certainly didn't want to give an opportunity for Wren's patience to erode while in the caves even if Dante and Sara were more willing to go with the objective. A light squeeze, and then a pat on the shoulder was all the comforting sign he gave her outside of link that he would be with her.

“You and Sara are gonna owe me later for this though, for the record.” Even though they weren't asking him to come anyway, he had to slip that in. It was customary. And the lack of tease even with the slight smile made it hard to tell even with link how serious he was about that.

“Just saying Pelusa.” Bopping her with a finger on the nose as he separated himself in turn.

Something grumbled low at her throat when she winced and swiped her nose at the touch. Wren crossed her arms, threw out her hip. Just letting her head hang, sighing — “No, I don’t think that’s how it works…” — Another miraculous instance of voice recovery.

There really was no way of convincing him not to go. Something about that made her cough out a chuckle for a second, hide away a smile. With Zosar there with them, she figured things would even out. Wouldn’t be nearly as annoying.

No use in arguing about things then. She got to walking right beside Zosar — “Alright, carrot-top,” — The wereweapon twisted her lip to whistle at Dante, clicking her tongue and snapping fingers in his face like he were a dog — “C’mon, let’s go teach ya’ some manners. Your parents must' a' fed ya’ some plutonium while you were growin’ up— given how tall ya’ are— so you can carry twice the load as us, no? Yer’ big and strong, aren’t you?” — She sneered, cutting eyes at him.

What an asshole.

To Sara, whom she was 99.9% sure would’ve been fine with being dog called by her, Wren simply gestured her to follow along like a regular human being.

RedArmyShogun The Regal Rper Sir Les Paul EmperorsChosen Pumpkid Merciless Medic

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Maria Mayer - Atlantic City - New Jersey​

In quick order did things become all the more chaotic, the birds were still here, her teammates were trying everything from chaining and throwing the fish to setting up a wall, Chant was trying to coat the area, or a portion of it with her spores. From her own birds eye view of the situation, her features took on a blank expression. Raph was just wasting his time, there simply were not any survivors on the beach where the monster had come through, or on the beach in general, what was a bit sickening were the scant signs of human remains, the fish had done their job well.

And all the more for that she sought a reason to destroy them. The real chaos was yet to start as yet more abominations found their way out of the sea, fish with spear tongues, far too large and after the feast of flying fish monstrosities, then yet more creatures a mermaid type beast that was all the more dangerous than what had come before, seemingly intent on running down Ark and Raph. Flying in to provide some close support, she readied a Wind Explosion. Going in low and fast, or rather, seemingly doing so as the broom displaced her into the open space, so far to her own luck the Albatross had ignored her. Extending one hand and forming the spell near the head of the Merm... Merm-boons, yes that would do for a name, she thought to herself as the spell detonated in their midst. A deafening WHUMF would resound as being an explosive rather than relying on cutting or maiming, more than a few at the center had their aquatic bodies overwhelmed them, throwing some high into the air or outright pulverizing bones and limbs, or knocking the wind from their lungs.

It was immediately as this happened that she got the order to switch to killing, or near simultaneously that Gauss's own commands would reach her.

"Opps..." She said aloud to herself, at least it coincided enough with his order that she wasn't about to bring it up if he wasn't. Still, the sudden request from Chanterelle, if she could make the air still. She was not yet that powerful. Though... "Eh? Let me think, I'll go about it quickly. In the meantime, do make sure nothing jumps up to or tries to ensnare me."

Ending the communication there, Maria went into her belt pouches and pulled out materials she needed to write a new spell, time allotted could not be all that long and while it would be nice to make a new attack spell, or something that would feed into one, she simply did not have the time. Though fortunately there was a trick to easily get what she wanted that would have uses far after the fact, though a bit draining to use for a long time. Or so she figured. Reworking her Air Resistance spell, Maria reword the conditions into what amounted to an active area spell, in effect, rather than placing the spell on individuals, she could place it on a given area, nullifying the effects of wind-based attributes and elemental effects. The problem was ceasing airflow all together, for various reasons this was not possible and would make the spell a lot more demanding on mana use and more akin to a physical barrier.

However, it should more or less suit their current purposes, it was not a perfect neutralization of wind, but would heavily restrict the flow of the materials to allow for whatever the two were planning, to up the effectiveness of her aethereal barrier she would launch her own strikes upon it and attempt to bait the attacks of the Albatross upon it. Taking note of where the telltale markings of the fungus and its gas was attempting to gather down below her, she would center her spell upon the greatest concentration to produce a 10 meter dome once she had finalized her spell and the exact details in it. Satisfied she finished inking the page and adding the spell to her Grimoire, turning her attention back to the battle around them, she communicated quickly;

"Chanterelle, I am ready, I shall enact the spell circle and bombard the outer area with Wind Blasts, hopefully that will drive more of the enemy to your center. And do let me know when you aim to enact it, I'll be withing thirty feet of it, I rather not be caught up in it if you mean to explode it. Our timing must be exact. Once this is over, I shall leave the field briefly to collect Alicia and then to rejoin the battle. I trust that is fine, Gauss?"

Interactions: Merciless Medic (Raph-Noah) Meredith (Chanterelle) Sir Les Paul (Gauss) Peckinou (Arkayis) The Regal Rper (Ark)

 

[EmperorsChosen]

Eloise Keegan - Zelezny Brod, Czech Republic
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

Elly's lips turned downward as the gnome replied to Dante's mumbling. However, thankfully, it didn't seem as though the Fae took offense. Rather they retorted to him in turn before replying to her. It made sense in hindsight that they wouldn't have need of such offerings given the prior group moving through here. They even offered an alternative. A half-hour's worth of work? That's it? These little men were saints compared to Carys.

Elly's eyelids dropped slightly as her expression turned somewhat stoic. She didn't even have to turn her head to look at him nor his soul, she could hear excitement in Kisei's voice alone. She tilted her head as he continued to speak, looking at him from the corner of her eyes. He was enjoying himself plenty. Though, at the least, it was in a way that was beneficial to them in the long run. The gnomes get what they want, and they get information. Honestly, it was something she would have done.

Elly paused at that, her expression turning thoughtful for but a moment. It was something she would do. Perhaps she was rubbing off on him as well.

Changing her expression to one of glee, Elly clasped her hands together excitedly. "Why, thank you for the invitation. I am so very happy we could come to a mutually beneficial arrangement."

What a bitch.

But, anything to stay out of Fae hell nonsense. Besides, Wren and Sara were werewolves, Zosar was plenty strong, and Dante didn't look like a slob. They could carry a few tiny rocks. At least, Elly assumed they would be.

"Yes... Well, the last group of humans--and witch--you met have disappeared, hence why you have so much company as of late," Elly replied, turning briefly to the others. "We'll reconvene after... Oh, I'm sure Dante will behave himself, but if it looks like he's going to turn this into a Carys situation, please do muzzle him," She said, mostly to Wren and Zosar as they were the only ones that understood that reference.

Elly would also have to make it clear to not do anything to piss off Fae once they regrouped as well.

RedArmyShogun Sir Les Paul The Regal Rper Haze- Pumpkid Merciless Medic