‘No time to think…’ Dani thought to herself as everything around her turned from good to bad. She was familiar with the station of awakening, sure, but this…was different. She witnessed the tendrils come from everywhere on the platform and she was just trying to understand all of them. She somehow managed to dodge the storm but was not prepared for the next attack, considering she was in the center of the group. She was hit by the twister letting out a small gasp and trying to brace herself against the sharp gust of wind. While it did do quite a bit of damage to her, she remained standing. Then without warning she felt a liquid that she was not familiar with hit her shoulder and burned her like acid. To her though, that was only a small sting in comparison to the first thing she was hit by. She dodged the cannon as well breathing heavily as usually she was not thing quick. When she looked over to Chaos appearing she was not happy to say the least.
‘One of the people who I teamed up with in this is now gone,’ Dani thought ‘Isn’t this fantas-‘ her thought cut off by feeling the stomp on the platform. Using her strength, she braced and managed to somehow stand on her feet, a small platform of water pooling below her feet as a reaction.
‘I have had ENOUGH of this!’ Dani shouted to herself to get herself psyched up before using her small water platform as springboard to jump into the air. Finding a tendril that suited her, the one to the left of the platform slightly behind the group, and threw both of her chakrams at this tendril. These chakrams however, had some of her experiment status effects on them. One of the chakrams had been charged with Oblivion while the other had been charged with Wither .
[ Oblivion – Can cause the Addle effect on the tendril specified Wither – Can cause the Sap effect on the tendril specified ]
Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2016 4:22 pm
[ Matthew, Melisandre, Sora, Jenny, Kyle : Louis' Heart : Station of Awakening ]
Matthew was getting very, very tired of being terrified.
The entire evening had been one constant, endless twisting of his anxieties, and as his instincts kicked in and the world seemed to fall apart around him, he reached a heretofore unheard of zen.
I'm going to die.
Yep.
He was left slightly gashed by the twister as he jumped sideways, and though the black rain burned at his wounds, it was the black ninja star that struck his chest that hurt most, with its burning sensation searing away at his flesh. But with all that was going on, he kept his eye on Joe, saw what he did, saw how he succeeded, and decided to run with it.
Lifting his scimitar high above, he charged it with fuchsia-colored energy, as one might recognize from Beatrix, and brought it cleaving down, unleashing Climhazzard--multiple waves of potent, gashing energy that rushed toward the tendrils closest to him: the one Bobbi and Nanaki struck, the second one Bobbi struck, and the one Dani struck.
Yep.
Melisandre grimaced as the chaos erupted around her, even as the tendrils burst near and far. She summoned a staff to her hands, and the air around her seemed to charge itself with violet static.
The blood burned, but did little; the circle of explosions from the nearest tendril did knock her off her feet, but she braced herself in time to block one of the black stars outright with her dagger. The quake didn't dissuade her, and the accompanying gust simply pushed her into motion.
She growled for a few seconds, the energy building around her, before three large orbs of raw lightning spread out from her staff, each the size of basketballs, and rushed out to three separate targets--the second two that the the blue mage had just struck (the first looked to keel over any second), and a third, near the middle of the station, that the archer had also struck. Each orb exploded with with terrible, thunderous booms.
Sora trembled, if only momentarily, as the Darkness surged into existence, but--whether because of his training, or because of his foolhardiness--he was able to mostly ignore the instinctive fear of his body and mind, trying to decide how best to deal with the battlefield.
The shock to his head did little to help, nor did the searing rain of darkness. When the antiform appeared and swung at his back, he'd about had it.
"This is ridiculous!" he growled, slashing at the Antiform--and noting that it died easily in one hit.
With another charged moment, he threw his Keyblade, enveloped in shining light, at the tendril just outside their reach, behind them to the right. On contact, the keyblade exploded in white energy, returning to his hand, as three more energy blades flew out to strike at nearby targets.
The first simply curved back around and struck the same tendril. The second and third converged on the one toward the middle-outside, that had writhed yet done nothing.
Jenny only managed to get back to her feet after being smash by the tendril that went after Zell, groaning, as the blood burned her neck and the quake made her hold her ground. The gust nearly pushed her off, but she managed to hold her ground.
She tried to play her Haste, but found her playing half-hearted, the magic powering her song seeming blocked by her own instinctive fear. Instead, she grumbled, found a tendril--the one in the center, it had shrieked and hurt her ears--and played a single, powerful, high-pitched note--opening a Banish rift within its essence.
Again, there were certain advantages to feeling nothing.
This was just too maudlin for him to make a small comment. For once dropping his persona for a while he just stared emotionless at it all.
Axel was doing fairly well keeping out of trouble, dipping around, using his agility to keep ahead of the attacks.
Sticking to the middle at first, Axel at the very least tried to keep moving while keeping an eye on their precious healer. Things were not looking good- he swore as the Black blood hit him. It stung like a moth-r-ffker!
It was distracting enough he got smacked by the Tendril Canon. It threw Axel into a spinning toss. His body skid across the platform when he landed, sliding off the left area of the station, past Amy – he stopped his journey by digging his chakrams into the platform.
“..ugh..jeeez…..”
The nobody rolled over and pushed himself up again. A quick look around the place let him establish where most people were. He stood now adjacent to Amy looking around for the nearest Tendril.
Might as well flank the white mage and take out any chances of her being taken out. He aimed and Using his Enflamed Chakrams he tossed them.
Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2016 1:30 am
[ McDoodles # Louis' Heart # Endgame ]
Chaos didn't even flinch as the battlefield rocked and shook, the fallen god chuckling as his opponents- nay, his prey- toppled this way and that. He reached towards his new face, pulling off the goggles that had held tight. The areas around his eyes was now widely cracked, as if his face was nothing more than porcelain that had begun to shatter. Darkness seemed to radiate from the streaks across his face, but the only constant were the glowing green eyes staring through the battlefield, observing the madness of war. It brought him immense satisfaction to watch the futile struggle of the so called 'heroes', but he knew the Dark Ones had plans that had to continue. With a bored wave of his hand, each of the blades on his pedestal rose out of their resting place and flew off into different directions, aiming for certain party members.
The blade of flame, glowing a scorching red, flew towards Auron with a blast of crimson trailing behind it.
The blade of water, with a shade of blue, made its way towards Zell and Yuffie, pulsing with cerulean energy as it approached the two.
The blade of lightning, flashing a bright yellow, sped its way across the battlefield towards Riku with a streak of gold hot on its trail.
The blade of wind, the last of the four, shimmered with a faded gray, moved towards Melisandre with a ferocity the other three seemed to lack. It swerved this way and that, erratic and capricious as it moved ever closer to its target.
"Now, peasants!" Chaos bellowed in a guttural tone, flicking his wrist and cracking his whipblade against the floor of the Station. "Who dares challenge the King in his home!? Face me, children of men, and see true madness!"
ArcanaFate
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Gentleman Knives
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Posted: Fri Mar 25, 2016 9:30 pm
[ Joe : Louis' Heart : Endgame ]
At this point, Joe was just numb to the goings on between Mateus and Louis. Maybe with some time he could look back on the situation and muster up more pity for the guy, but the night had sapped his well of patience and empathy dry. All he wanted to do was get this done with.
Then the darkness was unleashed and Joe had some second thought.
He could only gawk at the creature that emerged from the boy's heart. It felt wrong, looked wrong, and sounded wrong. Everything about it just screamed that it was something that should not ever, ever exist but did.
The things Louis had thrown at them, all of those spells and illusions and toy soldiers were child's play. That's what Louis was in the end; a scared, broken child playing around with something he didn't ever really understand.
He wasn't this. Whatever this thing, this walking, screaming void actually was, Joe was damned certain that it knew exactly what it was doing and what power it had. It was darkness embodied and it was going to crush them.
Joe froze in place, the anxieties and frustrations of the night boiling over into a complete shutdown. He didn't even notice the lightning until it was already ripping through his body. 'Awake now?'
'Yeah' Joe wheezed, knees buckled 'Pain makes for a good stimulant.' 'Excellent. This fight is just getting started and you need to be awake for it. I have a lot to live for yet.'
The battlefield around him was quickly descending into abject chaos, tendrils everywhere and people doing what they could to fight back. It was madness. If they were going to have a chance in hell, they needed to clear the field.
Seeing one of the tendrils descend on him, Joe decided to take a bit more of an unorthodox approach. Quickly unleashing a Mana mist, he did not move away to dodge but instead moved forward to meet the thing directly, jumping up and casting a reflective barrier of distortion around himself. With the amount of tendrils on the field, he could hopefully catch more than a few of them in the refracted blast.
"So, does anyone have a plan? Something tells me just beating on this thing won't cut it."
[[ Note:Mist of Mana gives Faith, but due to the battle effect, the boost only applies +3 MAG and RES at most. ]]
Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2016 9:21 pm
[ Even Stars Burn Out : Louis' Heart : Station of Awakening ]
Dani’s outrage surged through her attack, and the tendril cringed as each whirling blade passed through it. As it recoiled, it seemed lethargic, swaying left and right as if it had become intoxicated.
Matthew’s numbed casting unleashed many crescents of energy, crashing into the three separate tendrils—and destroying the one Bobbi and Nanaki had converged on first, which burst into black, rising vapor like the rest.
The sorceress’ orbs of lightning crashed upon three tendrils, as well, destroying the remaining two that Matthew had struck—one Bobbi had attacked, and one Dani had attacked. The third was left standing after her and Bobbi’s attacks, but weak and agitated.
Sora destroyed his Antiform and, in a surge of Light, destroyed his targeted tendril. The last remaining light-blade homed in on a third, swaying tendril, which writhed in frustration.
Jenny unleashed her Banish spell, and the tendril seemed to panic, writhing back and forth quickly. Any reaction, however, would have come too late; whether by luck, frustration, or talent, the sound of rushing air that accompanies vacuums could be heard, and the shadowy appendage was pulled into a slit in reality, even yanked up from the station like a drawstring. With its absence, all that could be seen from the hole in the mosaic was dull, blue-grey concrete.
Axel unleashed his chakrams, ensnared with spiraling flames, upon one of the nearby tendrils, and the spiked hoops twisted and flew around, unleashing burning gashes left and right into the tendril, which writhed in frustration.
In the midst of their assault, one of the far tendrils curled up, its tip pointed toward the group. The spike seemed to twist this way and that, as if rotating around itself, before finally unleashing three tiny, black needles—one at James, one at Amy, and one at Yuffie. These needles were as fast as bullets, unseen, unheard, and as such… were unavoidable. Fortunately, the damage they would do was trivial—they would feel no more than pinpricks against some spot of exposed flesh. Unfortunately, those spots were where the dark poisons infiltrated their bodies.
The first was filled with corruption that threatened to unleash the dark scars in James’ heart, evoking the darkness that birthed his replica and turning him once more against his allies. His heart, however, managed to resist the attempt; though he felt his mind wander to rage and fury, he would have found the strength—just barely—to resist the veil of shadow.
The second contained a condensed toxin that would attack Amy’s source of magic, blocking her access and preventing her from being of any use to her faltering allies. The toxin succeeded, and the white mage found herself without any mana, completely unable to heal her wounded party.
The third, however, was the deadliest. As the malicious energy rushed through Yuffie’s body, it went straight for her heart and lungs, attempting to flood them with dark power and knock her unconscious. The darkness prevailed—the ninja found her chest grow instantly, painfully heavy, and with one final, unsuccessful gasp for breath, she would have collapsed where she stood.
Another tendril seemed to bend itself back too far before thrusting its end skyward, unleashing a thunderclap—which summoned down a small, potent bolt of black electricity on Dani. This tendril, though, was the one soon assaulted by Axel’s chakrams.
One tendril, struck by both Bobbi and Melisandre’s attacks, towered high before trying to slam down on Joe—
Except Joe activated his Reflect, and in the consequent explosion of light, not only were the small tendrils at Joe’s feet destroyed before they could strike him, but this large one was blown to black mist, evaporating skyward—destroyed.
One of the tendrils on the other side—it was hard to see where, precisely, in the swarm of attacks and motion—unleashed a Dark Gravira spell toward the group; specifically, the large dome of black, starry space surrounded Kyle and began to compress, damaging Riku and Joe as well for one-half of their total life force.
Axel was blown aside by the earlier attacks, but the dark Antiform hunted him down, sneaking up behind his distracted back to swipe with gashing claws.
As this was happening, another tendril—unseen, unnoticed in the distance—swayed back and forth as if to remain on its toes before stretching outward. The effect unleashed a Dark Fire Pillar directly under Bobbi, which erupted like a hellish inferno of black and purple flame.
Finally, another tendril in the distance fluttered to and fro, and James found himself surrounded by a sudden, spiraling fog that sank into his skin. Though his mind tried to resist, it faltered—and James found all knowledge and memory of his abilities fading away, leaving him with nothing more than his body and his gun.
[[ Tendril Toxins – James resistedCharm, Amy becameSilenced, and Yuffie fell to Auto-KO.(I am so, so sorry.)
Tendril Electrocute – 7 MAG on Dani.
Tendril Slam – 10 STR on Joe Whoops.
Tendril Gravira – ½ Max HP from Kyle, Riku, Zeiq.
Tendril Dance (Encore) – 9 STR on Axel, unavoidable; the Antiform came hunting you down.
[ Kyle, Amy, Jenny, John, Sayrike, Riku : Louis' Heart : Station of Awakening ]
Kyle stared at the monstrous events, his heart wavering between various emotions. This wasn’t his first time facing the Darkness. He even knew, consciously, that it wouldn’t be his last—these were but manifestations, instances of possession, not the real deal.
But that didn’t stop the voice in the back of his head, didn’t stop his fear from saying it would be the last time, because he was going to die, no doubt about it. Even Ultima, typically a voice of reason when he’d lost his own, was unnaturally chilly within him; he could hear her, the memories rushing to the fore of her own mind, playing in his own head, over and over.
I’m going to die. I’ve upset them. They’re going to kill me. Don’t bring me back there, not again…
In the end, it was only their own miseries that broke each other out of it: Ultima trying to reassure him that he would be fine; Kyle trying to reassure her that she was safe, that she was never going to be under their thrall again. In their union, they found strength—and a drive for retribution. Kyle, for his loved ones and his world, and Ultima, for the pain of her host and the sins of her past.
They have the truth we need. I’m going to burn it out of them.
The black lightning struck him and he felt his badassery slip away.
After I survive.
He tried to formulate a plan, but with every half-second it became increasingly more difficult. The rain seared his flesh, the projectiles flew by him, the cacophony grew louder and more dissonant, and despite everything, he couldn’t stop the headache creeping into his mind. He felt Nanaki’s boost give him physical power, but as Nicholas spoke up, and Kyla’s message came through…
Time slowed.
It’s all a play.
His peripherals caught the dark cloud haunting their sky.
They have all this power, and its overwhelming us, causing absolute chaos…
Time came back, and Kyle stabilized himself in the quake, staring at Ni—at Chaos. He snarled, even as Joe’s Mist came over him. He noticed that both this and Nanaki’s enhancements weren’t as potent as before, weren’t pushing his strength like they usually did. Things just kept getting worse.
“So, does anyone have a plan? Something tells me just beating on this thing won’t cut it.”
No sooner had Kyle tried to speak than he felt the weight of the atmosphere grow around him, crushing him, pressing him down into the mosaic, and as it lifted, he gasped to catch his breath.
Christ I might legit die ******** this guy.
He quickened his pace, calling on his Dragon Force, and began strafing to the side, keeping his eye on N—Chaos.
“Everyone needs to scatter! John, Antimage Joe, whoever can take some hits—focus on Chaos-Nich-douche. He needs to be kept busy. Damagers, on the tendrils, focus your attacks and take them down as fast as possible, they’re what’s taking us down. Jenny, if you’re holding off on Haste because it’s not as potent, don’t—we’ll need as much speed as we can possibly get.”
He noticed Yuffie fall, and cursed under his breath. Before he could even say a word—
“I’m Silenced!” Amy shouted, destroying the Antiform behind Axel with one shot while turning her guns to some of the far tendrils, firing off two more shots. Even in the chaos, her frustration was clear. “I repeat, healer silenced!”
He cursed again, gauged his mana, and unleashed a burst of magic toward Jenny, quickening her as well. “Jenny!”
The time mage felt and recognized the slowdown of time, her own body suddenly energetic and ready to act at a moment’s notice. Without hesitation, she began to play her Esuna Waltz, cleansing Amy of her Esuna, before immediately transitioning into her Haste Allegro—and though its boost was less than usual, some still might have accelerated enough to make a difference.
Pushing his own timeline to the limit with another quickening, Kyle kept on the move, strafing around the edge of the station. Enhancing his spear with an aura of En-Light, he leapt at one of the tendrils near the edge with a Lancet Strike, cleaving its base and draining a significant portion of life force and mana back into his form. The refresher nearly made him sigh in relief—especially after the magic spree he just went on.
John had been taking some hits in the midst of all the chatter; the cannon struck him, blasting him into the radius of the circle of small explosions, which knocked him back in the other direction. As he stood, he took one of the serrated stars to his back, and felt the acid burn at his flesh.
But he simply growled—and easily blocked the Antiform, crushing it with a maul blow that sent its black, vaporized mist far to the other side.
Joe called for a plan, and Kyle mentioned John by name—and his growl turned into a smirk. He called upon his Thick Skin and replied, “Yeah, time to tank this b***h!”
John didn’t take the subtle approach, or even the cautious approach—he gave a mighty shout as he charged straight ahead, hoping to get Chaos’ attention.
Sayrike groaned as she took the twister and the shuriken, but seemed otherwise to remain standing—but she noticed that Riku, who had been caught off-guard by the twister, was ensnared by a Gravira—just as one of the four swords was coming to cleave him in two. With a quick dash, she slid between the Keyblade Master and blade, threw her hand up—
—and used Mirror’s Grasp, absorbing the blade entirely in her mirror to be held for her own return assault. It had been a blade made by magic, controlled by magic—so while it might have cut Riku as surely as any sword, it was mystic in nature. With a wave of her hand, she also cast Cura, replenishing a good portion of the health Riku had lost.
“Thanks,” he managed to say with a heavy breath, nodding toward the mirror mage. The twister, the blood, the quake, and then the Gravira—the Mana Mist could have helped, but by the time it took effect, it was the Gravira that struck him, which cared little for defenses. Still, with the Cura, he was going strong once again, and he grit his teeth. He could take a hit—better than Sora, at least—but before he charged in, he wanted to make sure the enemy was distracted.
Lifting his blade up with both hands, he charged up his enhanced magic, and with a deep shout, he swung it downward, pointing it at Chaos—unleashing a giant Meteor, which formed in mid-air above him and crashed down with a powerful, brilliant explosion.
"Stay on the move!" he warned Sayrike under his breath, and began strafing around on the opposite side of Kyle, his blade ready to block or counter as necessary. The blue mage, he noticed, took his warning and followed him.
[[ Oh man more tendrils tomorrow x-x
Kyle - Dragon Force, En-Light, Lancet Strike Amy - Bullet Bullet Bullet Jenny - Esuna (Amy), Haste-All (+3 SKL/SPD) John - Thick Skin and shouting/running at Chaos Sayrike - Mirror Grasp'd the Lightning Sword, Cura'd Riku Riku - Meteor'd Chaos for 14 MAG.
HERE IS HOW HASTE WILL WORK:
Since there is an effect that lowers buff strength, even though Haste multiplies by 1.5x, it can increase your Skill and Speed by no more +3. So if for some reason it should give you more, sorry, no more than 3.
To find out how many actions you now have:
Stat = 1-6? You have one action. Stat = 7-10? You have two actions. Stat = 11-14? You have three actions. Stat = 15-18? You have four actions.
And for every group of 4, it increases by 1.
For this battle, I don't care if you use Skill or Speed--pick the highest one. It's going to be simplified to one stat in the rework anyway.
No this is not Round 2 I'll get to that tomorrow.]]
Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2016 6:06 pm
[ Abandon Your Hearts : Louis’ Heart : Station of Awakening ]
Kyle lashed at a tendril as he passed, causing it to writhe in frustration. It remained standing, if aggravated.
Amy’s two other shots hit different tendrils on the far side, striking each but doing little else.
Riku’s Meteor, whatever Chaos did, caused an area-based explosion, damaging two more tendrils near the possessed-human, though both remained standing.
It seemed as if, in retribution, the tendril Kyle struck wound up to act, and with frightening prediction, it unleashed two quick lashes, letting forth dual waves of dark force—one at James and the other at Kyla. The waves were practically unseen in the darkness of their vision, but were made even harder to detect by their sheer speed, nearly as fast as bullets themselves.
Each wave would have felt as if the two had been struck by a bus, and worse, their bodies would have felt momentarily numbed for a brief second or two, Delaying them from one of their reactions.
One of the tendrils Amy struck flicked back and forth before pointing toward John—and he found himself in the middle of three circling, black triangles of energy. Before he could stop himself, he ran into one, and the other two closed in on him shortly thereafter.
Another tendril, lost in the sea of chaos, unleashed two grand Dark Firagas into the sky, like artillery shells—one which would descend on Axel, and the other which would crash on James shortly after the previous force-attack.
[[ Tendril Flux – 15 MAG (and crazy momentum), unavoidable, on James and Kyla; Delayed, losing 1 action from next post.
Tendril Trine – 13 MAG, unavoidable, on John.
Tendril Firaga – 14 MAG for James, 11 MAG for Axel. ]]
The eyes but watched, dancing this way and that across the battlefield. Each stared at scenes, at moments, at people, but most particularly at their hearts. The air was filled with pressure, their souls brimming with tension and terror betwixt, and the collective seemed only all the more pleased, drawing black mists from the scene below with every action, every shout, every assault. Its appendages slain returned its essence, but with so, so much more.
So, so much more.
“O, stranger souls,” the collective whispered, the choir as omnipresent as the darkness ensnaring them even now—could those children of another realm hear the voices of loved ones forever lost? Were those not…? “So close to starlight stepp’d—so grand your reaching umbra, stride by stride.”
The murmurs were just as quickly overpowered by yet more pervasive laughter. The voices grew loud, roaring, disorienting, and as they did so, the tendrils all retreated back into the station, completely vanishing, leaving blank spots of concrete beneath the shatter mosaic. The station, scarred and broken though it now was, made for a clear and open battleground between Chaos and his prey.
The tendrils’ absence was much too short to be celebrated, however; with a terrible quake, the horrendous shrieking, and the unnerving sensation that the platform was shifting off its foundation, the black appendages quickly returned, all fifteen bursting out and around the outside of the station’s circumference with perfect spacing, rising up like a ring of black, fog-formed columns trapping them within. Those hoping to catch on as they fell, though, would find their hands slipping through as if passing a cloud.
The laughter continued—and yet, for some, this may have been a blessing.
Hearing the terrified screams of their allies, should they have done so, could have destroyed what little morale they had; small, imperceptibly fast vine-like tendrils, thorns and all, erupted from the ground under Riku, Dani, Zell, Joe, and Leon, grabbing them before they could resist and yanking them down into some unseen shadows, much like what had happened to Nicholas when the battle began.
To these five, the vast oblivion that consumed them went on for eternity, searing at their flesh, gnawing at their consciousness. For Dani and Joe, specifically, however, there was something more… something farther, deeper, at the edge of understanding, like the haze of some other reality that briefly enraptures those waking from heavy slumber.
“Wake up.”
Both heard it, just as with the screaming infinite crowd with which the Darkness spoke, but here it was clear, isolated, alone—distant, but unmistakably known, loved—
—and then ripped away by consciousness.
In the outside world, not even a half-second had passed. Unlike Nicholas, these five weren’t simply thrown around. In a blur, they dropped down from the eldritch façade of Darkness, standing in the center of the station attached to thin, barbed black twine that connected them to the swirling malevolence above. The thorned tendrils seemed to ensnare every muscle of their bodies, coiling round and round their arms, legs, and necks—and digging into their flesh, drawing on their power and control. Though they maintained conscious awareness, they were trapped within their own minds, spectators without agency.
There was no time to react as each acted simultaneously, naturally, deftly.
Riku pulled his Keyblade back in his signature stance, but the air around him grew black, dark energies forming a fiery aura—
Dani curled her arms around her form, calling on the great depths of Leviathan’s power, harnessing a grand surge—
Zell hunched over, his body surging with darkness as a terrible wind began to twist around him—
Joe held his blade in front of him, blade skyward, and ran a hand along its edge, drawing on his baneful might—
Leon held his gunblade forward, encasing the weapon with obsidian and crimson energies, causing it to grow in size and power—
—and all unleashed.
Riku and Leon rushed with blinding speed along the battlefield, individually attacking people’s flanks before slipping into corridors instantly, popping back out to attack someone else and repeat the process. Their blades seared like acid and flame, and they moved like black lightning—of those targeted, only the lucky few already on the move would be able to avoid their strikes.
Dani spread her arms and called forth a terrible storm above the station, summoning piercing, needle-like rain via pressurized water on a grand scale; it was like a tempest of a million needles, endless and painful, and it coupled with the black lightning for immense effect.
Zell leapt skyward and collected all of the amassed power in a single opaque sphere of black, crackling energy around his primary fist; then, in a blur, he descended, crashing down with concrete shattering strength, sending a shockwave of searing power across the station that would burn all it crossed. In the wake of this strike, what little remained of the mosaic would be gone, with shattered glass shards littering the battlefield like sand and dust. Everything was blue-gray concrete below.
And finally, Joe stabbed his blade into ground beneath him, unleashing a pulse of black and indigo magic that washed over the battlefield like a chill of hopelessness. Little seemed to occur, they would find their regenerative effects lessened, their healing weakened, their greatest lifelines cursed.
All had transpired quickly, and just as simultaneously as their assault, the pseudo-strings snapped off these human marionettes, dissolving entirely, leaving the five combatants standing once more in the middle of the battlefield.
And, of course—the lightning storm continued as the laughter faded away.
[[Riku used Dark Aura! Dani used Pressure Storm! Zell used Meteor Barret! Zeiq used Bar-Heal! Leon used Rough Divide!
For the Riku+Leon Dark Divide Combo: Those targeted are Nanaki, Kyle, Bobbi, Sora (twice!), Dawn, Demyx, and Jenny. If any of you are already on the move, you can choose to have dodged completely or just been grazed; if any of you are going to say that you have been knocked off, these attacks still hit—even if it means they flew to strike you in the abyss between portals.
For Dani’s Pressure Tempest:Everyone takes 9 MAG per turn until otherwise mentioned. This is not water-elemental.
For Zell’s Meteor Barret:Everyone takes 10 STRto the face. If your character was off the platform at the time, however, the shockwave doesn’t hit you.
For Zeiq’s Bar-Healza:Everyone has healing reduced by one level. Curagas become Curas, Curas become Cures, etc. This is a world-effect and lasts for three turns or until otherwise mentioned.
NO, these do not take away from any of your actions this turn, nor do they drain your energy.
Black Storm – This is still a thing, but this time, everyone roll 1-3 instead; if 1, you’re hit for 5 MAG, but if 2-3, you luck out and don’t get hit. Also, this round, if you've been knocked off, you don't need to roll.
Commence Round Two!
Also, for clarity about the Station Size:
The following are all vaguely rounded estimates for ease. The station is roughly 60 meters (200 feet) wide. It is roughly 190 meters (620 feet) around. That means the tendrils are roughly 13 meters (40 feet) apart.
And they're also a few feet away from the ledge itself, so melee attacks are mostly out of the question.
Keep these distances in mind when determining how large you want your area of effect attacks to be. For reference: the average area of effect attack is only 2-4 meters wide. ]]
Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2016 2:44 pm
{James : Louis’ Heart : Station of Awakening}
So much chaos and discord, too many attacks from all angles. James felt the painful sting of the blood as it rained down after his attack on the main body. While he was sure it had been a good idea perhaps not at that time. A quake shook the field and the corsair managed to brace himself and that had been imperative as a blast of wind rushed across the field and would have likely knocked him off as close to the edge as he was still was. He made to take a few more steps forward away from the edge of the abyss below. However, he was stopped as he felt the slightest of pinpricks in his chest.
His chest burned as if drenched in acid as his mind was filled with rage and hatred. His fists clenched as he felt the darkness course through his body, what had taken Ajora a great amount of focus and power to instill upon the corsair this abomination did effortlessly. He could feel it in his mind, his control slipping. His free will receding to the dark madness.
’Not again….’ He thought his will clashing with the dark thoughts that once again tried to cloud his heart and mind. His light against his darkness as the light slowly faded in his heart.
”NOT AGAIN!!!!” He bellowed verbally and mentally as his light barely managed to fight it back. His control maintained if only barely.
James gave a huge sigh of relief as he realized he was able to resist turning against his friends once again and took a few steps more forward as he prepared for his next attack, trying to figure out his next move as others continued to get hit by multiple attacks. Before he could act again though he found himself surrounded by a dense, dark fog. It spiraled around him and much like the toxin from the last attempt sank into his skin. Once again he could feel his mind slowly lose grasp. However, this time it wasn’t an attack on his will, but his memory. His ability to focus and call forth any of his magic was lost, his mind mired in the deep fog.
’Something is wrong… I can’t think of any of my attacks. It’s like amnesia… Help if you can!’ He called out over the charms to get their attention.
Another attack came soon after and this one was by far the worst yet for the corsair in the current fight. A sudden massive, unavoidable blast of force struck James dead in the chest. His breath knocked out of him in a pained wheeze as the steel wall of force knocked the gunner back and airborne. All progress that he had made away from the platform’s edge was lost and then some. James learned first-hand what the victims of a full powered “Fus-Ro-Dah” must have felt before plummeting to their deaths from a cliff. The Lunar Gunner had no chance to save himself, no access to his abilities to Dash or anything of the sort and no real breath to call out for help.
’Guys! I’m falling off! Help!’ He called out over the charms hoping to get their attention.
What little breath the corsair had gained back was lost in an agonizing yell as the Dark Firaga that had been fired at him collided as he began his descent into the abyss, adding insult to injury.
Joe was moving...somewhat. His state was still bad, so he wasn't as mobile as normal. In fact, his 'dodging' was more like swaying around, but he was managing to evade to a point. Some things he couldn't sway around, though.
The black rain was mostly whipped away by his heavy wind, the small bits getting through barely hurting him.
The rain caused by Dani, though, wasn't as easily pushed away. The liquid pierced passed the wind, here and there, the wind no where near good enough to block all of it, but did lessen the degree of it to a point where it was still semi-bearable for the male.
Not so much Zell's attack, though. He wasn't jumpy, and as the energy hit him, he let out a yell of pain.
The male panted, slouched over for but a moment before collecting himself. Bringing himself back up to standing, he started swaying around again, dodging the lightning from above as he looked at the new placement of the tendrils.
He spotted one that seemed extremely agitated to his right, and he threw his staff pieces at it, encasing them with light once again. They hit, and with a shudder it exploded into dark mist.
Joe moved 'down the line' attacking the one next to it with his staff pieces. The light shone off of them like small discs as they flew at the tendril not once, but twice, causing that one as well to explode into a dark mist.
So, once more, he targeted the next one, and threw his weapon at it. The light shined bright in the darkness as the pieces whizzed through the air, striking at the tendril.
[note; Discussed with Kyle, Joseph did kill two tendrils and attacked a third, thanks to his four actions with haste]
Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2016 8:13 pm
{Bobbi, Demyx,Zell,Red XIII, Yuffie .:. Louis's Heart .:. Station of Awakening}
Bobbi screamed in pain as the serrated disc hit her square between the shoulder blades. She staggered a bit, gasping for breath, before she brought Taulmaril up to shoot.
By virtue of the stance she took when aiming her bow, she inadvertently braced herself against the quake, though she had to let off her aiming in order to keep her balance. She wasn’t given any time at all to regain her bearings and bring Taulmaril up again before a column of fire erupted beneath her feet. She screamed again, and collapsed to her knees, huddling in on herself as pain shrilled along every nerve.
"Ow…"
She got to her feet again, grimacing against the lingering pain, and the ringing laughter that echoed from everywhere. It reminded her too much of the maniacal laughter Louis had belted out in her heart, and she really wished it would stop.
As the tendrils disappeared, Bobbi once again brought Taulmaril to hand, prepared to shoot Nick—no, Chaos—directly in his stupid face, but she was again interrupted by the quaking of the platform as it started to shift. She dropped to one knee again until the tremors stopped, but as she tried to stand, she found herself struck by both Leon and Riku’s blades, followed by the hit from Zell’s attack. The needle-like rain pouring down from the "sky" added to the fire along her nerves, and Bobbi felt tears streaming down her face as she huddled in on herself.
Casting Frost Balm to cover her wounds and numb them, though the spell couldn’t heal, Bobbi turned as Kuro announced that he was falling. She called out his name, and flung out a hand as if to catch him as she summoned a Crystal Spire out from the side of the platform. She manipulated the shape of the spire to be wide enough to stand on, and long enough to (hopefully) catch Kuro before he was lost forever in the abyss.
With a roar, she turned her attention back to Chaos and the Darkness-monster-thing, and fired off a Blizzard Blast, the string of bullet-like icicles aimed directly for Chaos as the most direct threat. She didn’t flinch as another black thunderbolt struck mere feet away.
Still on his knees, Demyx hunkered down further as the quake hit, and somehow managed not to get knocked off the edge of the platform by the subsequent shockwave. Immediately, he ran forward, away from the edge. He doubted that falling off would be good, and getting away from that was probably a good idea.
He was not prepared for Riku and Leon popping up and slashing at him, but fortunately for Demyx, he was already on the move and was well out of the way before they emerged from their portals. He was, however, knocked sprawling onto his back by Zell’s attack, and took no few of Dani’s rain needle things directly to the face—and up his nose.
He snorted—the burning sensation like inhaling chlorine didn’t go away—and got to his feet. He was struck by a bolt of the black lightning, but still managed to bring up Arpeggio. He sent one wave of water clones to take on Nick, or Chaos, or whatever his name was, and he sent a second wave of water clones to take on several of the dark tendrils, one clone for each.
Zell managed to climb to his feet from where the tendril had flattened him, just in time to catch one of the serrated discs full in the chest. With a grunt, he collapsed to one knee, bracing himself against the platform as the quake and gust hit. Just in time, he looked up to see the Water Blade sent by Chaos, and rolled to one side to dodge it.
He was just coming out of his roll as the station shook again and the tendrils returned, lining the edge of the platform. He barely had time to stand when he found himself wrapped in blackness that burned and ate at him like acid. He screamed—or he thought he screamed—as the pain was unlike anything he had ever experienced before. The torment seamed to stretch on for eternity, but eventually he found himself back in the midst of his friends.
Except he wasn’t in control anymore.
Zell could only watch, helplessly, a spectator in his own body, as he attacked his comrades with brutal force, shattering the stained glass mosaic of the station below their feet completely. To Zell’s relief, the tendrils controlling him dissolved soon after, and he found himself standing in the center of the group, once again piloting his own body.
"Crap, it can control us," he warned, both vocally and over charms, just in case no one had caught on to that fact. "Sorry, guys, that wasn’t me!" He jumped to the side just as another bolt of lightning tried to strike him, and instead the bolt struck the ground, scorching the concrete.
He really did not want anything more to do with the tendrils, and considering how close they were to the edge, he figured someone who didn’t have to get up close and personal to hit should take care of them. Instead, he ran to close with Nicholas—no, Chaos. The monk proceeded to dart in and out around Chaos, throwing punches and kicks before retreating to move in at a different angle.
Nanaki was off like a shot, aiming for another tendril, when one of the disks caught him in the shoulder, burning into his flesh. He roared in pain, but shook it off. The quake barely phased him, and he was rocketing off again. He skidded to a halt as the tendrils disappeared, looking around for a newer, nearby target. When the tendrils reemerged, and he saw they were at the edge of the platform, he readied a Fira spell—only to be interrupted by the puppeted Riku and Leon slashing into his hide. The wounds burned like acid and fire, and before he could recover from the attack, the shockwave from Zell’s Meteor Barret hit, and sent Nanaki skidding towards the edge of the platform. He dug in his claws to save himself, shook his head to clear it from the haze of pain, and with a snarl launched his aborted Fire spell at the nearest tendril to him.
He didn’t look to see if it had hit, and instead sped off to launch a second Fire spell at the next tendril.
Yuffie dodged the disc coming in from her left—which flew by her and caught Zell in the chest. She was off-balance when the quake hit, and went tumbling towards the edge of the platform. She again stabbed her shuriken into the stained glass and stone beneath to prevent herself from falling off, and got steadily to her feet.
She batted the water-blade sent by Chaos with her shuriken, barely deflecting it. She didn’t notice the pinprick in the back of her neck where the needle struck, but when she could no longer breathe, and she felt like her heart was giving out, she knew something was wrong—
She was gone before she hit the floor. When the shockwave from Zell’s attack struck, her limp body was sent flying off the edge of the platform.
Bobbi: Frost Balm on herself, Crystal Spire to catch Kuro, Blizzard Blast at Nichaos Demyx: Water Clones at Nichaos and tendrils, three on Nichaos, three on tendrils Zell: attacking Nichaos Nanaki: Fire on two tendrils in a row Yuffie: She ded. Also, she fall.
Dani did not have time to celebrate as she was hit by dark electricity, as she braced for what she could only assume what was going to knock her out, it was only darkness. While the darkness was still painful it was not as painful as she thought it was going to be.
She gasped as tendrils suddenly pulled her into the shadows and started to scream as she felt something like acid attacking her flesh. As this happened however, she heard a voice to what she could only ascertain as somewhere near but far at the same time.
“Wake up.”
In that moment she thought she could recognize the voice but she was suddenly unconscious. When she regained consciousness she could not do anything but just watched herself just her pressure storm on the party. In that moment, rage started to eat away at her, watching her friends get hit by her own move. The worse part was, while she dodged everything else, she felt her own storm hit her as she regained control of her body.
In that instant, she could not handle the rage anymore and she let out very loud roar, not unlike leviathan roaring. The two of their roars started to mix before Dani’s right chakram turned completely into water and hit the ground with a splash. This only happened for an instant before the water reformed the chakram into something more deadly. It was a chakram that was a pure blade on the edges that glowed blue and the handles on the inside were black.
Dani immediately ran forward, starting to spread from the group, and activated the new chakram, as she threw this one as hard as she could towards the front tendrils of the arena. As this one flew water was spilling onto the arena with more than usual water with the intent to Drown anything it touched . With her left chakram she threw this one just as hard towards the Dark Abomination that had been mocking them. This one though, had a light fog trailing from it.
After her hands were free, she put her hands together in a familiar way that had just happened to the earthlings before and let her own Pressure storm intending to send her needles to as many tendrils as she could.
After the chakrams did what they could, they returned to Dani. One of which was still a darker blade dripping with water as it continued to glow blue at the tip of the blade.
[Authors Note: Drown on Tron blade: – has a chance to cause Auto-KO on anything it touches in this case Tendrils Aphonia – has a chance to cause Fog on the Dark Abomination Pressure Storm – used on as many tendrils as she can reach in the field ]
Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2016 12:45 am
[ Embrace Us : Louis’ Heart : Station of Awakening ]
Joseph's rampage continued; he destroyed the first, then the second--and then, though it shrieked in fury, the third was destroyed as well. All three burst into vapor that coagulated skyward.
Demyx's clones struck at three of the tendrils, though as divided as the magic was, no visible effect could be seen except for one of in the corner, which was beginning to look particularly agitated.
Unbeknownst to Dani, every drop of excess water she made sank into the station, as if into dry ground; her magic, literally pouring out of control, was being funneled... somewhere.
Her Drowning Chakram struck the tendril, it shivered, writhing, throbbing with energy--and then exploded into black, rising mist.
Her second chakram rose toward the growing mass above them, and though it struck, it seemed to do little, sinking into the black abomination...and never returning to her.
Her Pressure Storm erupted from just above her, throwing needles out in an arc, but due to the sheer distance between the tendrils--growing greater with each one destroyed--she only managed to strike two with the full brunt of the attack.
The tendrils began to react more subtly, and as a result, none could tell which was doing what.
The lightning and piercing rain was suddenly joined by sharp, dagger-like icicles that fell across the battlefield, as if from a momentary hailstorm.
Suddenly, from the wreckage, the shadows moved--and James, Auron, Sora, and Bobbi would feel a hard, sweeping assault on the vulnerable backs of their legs, right at the knees--as if they had been kicked--where shadows had lashed out from nowhere to strike; the assault threatened to knock them off their feet--or, in at least one case, worse--while the shadows merely vanished back into the fragmentary debris.
In the midst of the pressurized tempest, three targets would have felt pinpricks in their necks, or wherever skin was most exposed, though they might have attributed these stings to the stab of rain: Bobbi, Auron, and Joe.
As the darkness entered his body unnoticed throughout the barrage of rain, he could feel it sapping away at his perseverance. The endurance he'd built over a lifetime, the thickness of skin, his ability to shrug off the pain of physical toil... diminished. He felt as though his bones were as feeble as twigs, as though his skin were thin as paper; he felt no pain, but he knew that even a novice could grievously wound him now.
Auron could feel something strange attacking the manifestation of his form, as if trying to taint the pyreflies that made his body into forming something else entirely... fortunately, his body resisted.
The needle that struck Bobbi was filled with the whispers of corruption, a seductive poison that struck at her heart and sought to draw her own black designs to the fore... and as she tried to recompose herself from the earlier strike, it succeeded. The scars of her own past, the anger, the frustration, any negativity that might have fueled her to act out--all of this bubbled to the surface, and she found her mind snared with such a sense of rage and betrayal that for her, in this moment, at this second, there was only one course of action.
She could hear the whispers even now, and for once, they seemed right, they seemed true, she believed that this darkness was the way... so she would do as they asked.
"Stand with us... kill them all."
[[ Tendril Barrage - 8 MAG on everyone on the station.
Tendril Sucker-Kick - 12 STR for James, Auron, Sora, Bobbi; hits behind the knees, so less about "damage" and more about knocking you down, like a combat maneuver or a physical version of a status effect.
Tendril Toxins - Deprotect on Zeiq (-4 DEF for 3 turns), Charm on Bobbi... whoops.
Note: Unless you're actively using Scan on her specifically to begin with, there is no way to know Bobbi has been Charmed until she acts.
Yeah, I keep rolling and I swear it doesn't like certain people, even after I reorganize... ]]
Quickly following her attempt to protect Zell, everything continued to erupt into chaos around her. Dawn felt powerless to act as she tried to brace herself in the as a massive gust erupted paired with the blood rain that seethed like acid on her skin. Just as she stood back up she was hit with the dark energy cannon. She staggered backwards, only to loose the fraction of balance she had when the platform shook... her foot slipped off the side.
Dawn barely managed to get a grip of the edge to keep from falling into the darkness. Fear gripped at her heart as tears formed in the corners of her eyes as she held on for dear life.
"Someone! Help!" she cried helplessly in the midst of the battle that someone could aid her.
The dancer's cries were rewarded. However, in the opposite effect she prayed for. Dawn was defenseless against the double attack by Riku and Leon. She lost her grip on the edge as a clash of black thunder struck where she once stood. Dawn fell down to the dark abyss with an echoing scream.
'I am going to die...'
~'Not if I can help it! Believe in yourself. In me! In us!~'
"Garuda" Dawn whispered as she felt Garuda's power flow through her. Garuda's summoning circle circled around Dawn's hips as she glowed with a lime green light. With a pair of white wings, the dancer stopped her falling. She flew back up to the platform in time to catch Yuffie from falling off the side. As she made it back topside, the light that was around her faded. Dawn was changed to an angelic form holding the unconcious Yuffie in her arms.
While floating in the air near Amy and Jenny, Dawn let Yuffie go onto the ground on a soft bed of wind. After the ninja girl was on the ground Dawn flutted her wings, in a dancing motion, as she cast her raise on the fallen ninja.
~"She should be fine for now."~ Dawn said with Garuda's voice laced with hers then her eyes flashed in the direction of the tendrils that had now surrounded the platform, ~'There seems to be no end to these things...'~ she thought out loud as her wings continued to flutter in their dance.
[[OoC action recap:
Dawn/Garuda Drive Catch and place Yuffie to safety. Raise Yuffie
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