Fantasy Four Suits Volume 1.5

[SentinelSevn]

Location:
- Ariandel Market Square
Interactions:
- Lloyd Einstadt Coyote Hart
Ability: Mimicry
Proficiency Levels
- Fire-based: 0/100
- Water-based: 3/100
- Wind-based: 0/100
- Earth-based: 6/100
- Phys. Aug.: 2/100
- Telek. Aug.: 0/100
- Restoration: 0/100

Calum Wynhorne
21 || 3 || Hearts

The bustling streets of the Ariandel market square; the city streets were the absolute epitome of high class, with the ever-flowing population, and exchange of coin going hand in hand, giving rise to the definition of prosperity. Thus, explained the everyday lifestyle of a tradesman within the most economically rich cities within their entire kingdom, nay, perhaps within all the four kingdoms.

It was a bustling market place that consumed at least two city blocks, storming with people constantly trying to sell their wares and their products as the finest of the fine, to the most numerous amount of people willing to lend them an ear for just a second. There were those selling jewelry, which was more or less common fashion within the Diamond kingdom given its wealth in the industry, and those selling armor for the wandering traveler. There were marketeers selling pots and pans of the highest caliber, apparently imported from the dwarven mines from deep within the Spade territory, all the way across the continent. Hardly believable, anyone who knew anything about their dwarven economy, is that they hardly exported any metals that weren't already forged as weapons and armor, without special request. Reshaping and reforging the material lost it of all of its dwarven craftmanship.

And of course. No marketplace would be complete without the farmers desperately competing against each other to sell their produce. If anything, farmers had the most difficult time dealing with competition. There were so many of them, and of course, they were always being outsold for who could sell the finest products and at the cheapest price. For a lifestyle that depended on this income, the Ariandel square was a battlefield in and of itself..

"I'm taking five cabbages for a copper, boy." Barked a man, towering at what looked like twice as tall as the small figure in front of him, and three times his width. He held all five heads of cabbage in his one hand, as if he were some hulking beast of a human.

"B-but.. it's actually a copper for three heads, sir." Said the opposing figure, quite meekly. Calum hardly looked like he was prepared to confront this man about it, let alone stop himself get stepped on by all the people now swarming his wagon.

A wagon pulled by a single chestnut brown mare, finely cleaned and brushed, like it was given the utmost care. The wagon itself wasn't rather large, spanning a little under three meters in length, and a meter and a half in width. Its contents looked to be mainly filled to its absolute brim in cabbages, all of which looked fresh and at their absolute greenest of the season. Strapped to each post of the wagon were about three barrels on either side, each holding their own assortment of other produce like carrots, onions, potatoes, and other low growing vegetation.

"A copper for three?? Are you trying to rip me off, son? Look at this here head, it's already been bruised!" With his other massive hand, he reached for the top-most cabbage held within his arm, and pointed out a rather deep indentation within the bottom of the vegetable.

By what Calum was to immediately discern, was that the bruise had yet to even brown the leaves, meaning that it was given the mark recently, within the last few minutes recently. What Calum was also able to immediately identify, was that the man's thumb sat less than an inch from where the bruise was, and was clearly the same size, as if the man had just forces his finger into the cabbage and mage his own blemish.

But Calum was not one to prolong a debate. Firstly, because he knew he could not handle arguing against this hulk over a single copper. Secondly, because he already felt his eyes widening as he saw some thief vehemently rummaging through his barrel of potatoes, and pocketing as much as he could. "Ah-erm very well sir. One copper it is..!" Calum finished, not even waiting to take the copper coin from his last transaction before grabbing the shooing-broom from the top of his wagon.

The broom was fan shaped, with a wider tail and shorter handle, looking more like a decorative piece than a cleaning tool. He smacked the thief with it with rather soft blows, barely brushing his face and being more of an annoyance than anything else. "E-excuse me! You need to pay for those!" Calum exclaimed in an even louder voice, continuing to just accidentally caress the man's face with the broom.

The thief simply scoffed at the attempt to stop him, like this stick figure of a farmer was supposed to be able to stop him. "Shrug off, brat. I outrank you, you should be giving these to me as offerings!" The man rose his palm towards Calum, and like a sucker punch, a gust of wind flew out and struck Calum in his stomach.

Calim let out a pained wheeze as the wind was knocked out of him (no pun intended), and he was sent reeling a few steps backwards. He was doubled over and clenching his lower abdomen in pain, but when he looked up the thief was already completely out of sight. And Calum felt a sense if absolute ignorance from the crowd, because instead of stopping the thief or even helping Calum recover, they instead just turned away from his wagon to find another farmer to purchase from. It was as if they were just ignoring the trouble. As all things went, for the life of a low tier..

As soon as he recovered from the blow, he leaned up beside his horse and a hand along her neck. "Day's only just begun, girl.. We'll get through this." He gave her a small smile, and reached into the barrel full of carrots to offer to her. She happily took it from his hands, consuming the orange vegetable in mere moments. He patted her neck again, biting on his lips in consideration. "Maybe I should have just rented a stall for you today, so that you didn't have to wait out here with me this entire time. At least you would get a break, huh..?"

Calum soon went back to monitoring his produce. He immediately noticed that he was missing a handful from each barrel, and a few heads of cabbage from around the edge of his wagon. It wouldn't have been peculiar any other time of day, but the market hours had just begun a little less than an hour ago, and his coin purse was still pretty close to empty.

"Maybe I should start selling over at one of the smaller cities.. Ariandel's been too much of a headache.."" Calum began to think to himself, rubbing his head in frustration, and pitying himself for having forced himself to go through with this life. He had been selling at the same location for years, and every week when he comes back around to sell, its the same treatment. At this point, he was tired of it.

Suddenly, a familiar voice broke him out of his thoughts, calling out his name. He turned away from his wagon to see Lloyd, a regular customer who has done nothing but treat him kindly and be friendly with each subsequent week. Calum's face broke out into a forced smile, his salesman's attitude returning, to poorly cover up any harsh feelings he was currently having towards the crowd. Lloyd had been nothing but respectful towards him, there was no reason to treat him any less.

"Lloyd! N-Nice to see you again. Yes, of course, two cabbages.." Calum repeated, before turning back to his wagon and handpicking the finest of the leafy greens that he could find. "You're actually overpaying. So did you want me to get you another head, or did you want to just grab something else?" He peered over his shoulder towards the boy, almost in relief as he knew no other customer wouldn't dare cause Calum any trouble for the moment, when Lloyd had those two swords strapped to his hip and his full attention on the wagon.

 

[Goonfire]

Leolin Hravart III

The ruling over the grimoire brought a wide grin to the ace’s face. “Guin here is a brilliant legal mind, and a bright researcher of something as ‘dark’ as dysidia,” he boasted to Ethan in a pun-laced statement. “Perhaps you two can learn something from one another.” While tension among the kingdoms was thick, he was aiming to change that for the better through simple acts of kindness, guts, and trust.

After a while, Guineverre led the march through the portal, like the strong, graceful leader she was in Leo’s eyes. He was about to chase after her, only to remember he was forgetting something—or, more aptly, someone. ‘Eh...’ He would come back when he was certain it was safe to bring Aster home once more; he wouldn’t forgive himself if he led any person to his or her death needlessly. ‘Oh wait, one more thing, still...’’

“I’m sorry about the trouble regarding your king’s grimoire,” he confessed to the cold popcorn-shrimp of a man. “I hope we can work to put that and a few other past indiscretions behind us.” There were no advances made towards William, as Leolin had learned from his mistakes and valued the structural integrity of his phalanges and skull. Progress.

On the other side of the portal, near Atria...
The small team had returned to an absolute disaster. Standing on the scenic hilltop overlooking Atria, he shivered as a blast rocked the outer walls and razed the city gates. “A welcome party?” Leo echoed worriedly. “I hope no one was caught in that explosion...” His heart ached for those who may have been buried alive. Without another thought for his own safety, he bounded along the road for several meters, then cannon-jumped the rest of the way in a rush to confirm his fears.

. D O V E TPBx Kloudy Quinlan63

 

[Kloudy]

The Old Great One

(1500/1000)​

The Great Dryad drew back its mighty fist, realising its blow had not fully connected. It's head moved about slowly, not really following Sydren's fast movements properly. However, while the Great Dryad's movements didn't really keep up with the Nine of Clubs, it was not actually using the eyeholes in its face to detect its opponent. Indeed, the mythical giant was detecting Sydren's magical aura and was thus able to perceive his speedy movements without issue. It explained why it ignored the residents of Nalore and the adventurers sent to investigate it; their magical auras were too weak for it to take notice. However now, it seemed drawn to the hardy dwarf.

As Sydren unleashing a frantic barrage of blows to its feet, The Old Great One swiped a massive hand down at the ground in an attempt to bat the dwarf away with a powerful slap. Each strike from Sydren was indeed stripping away its wooden armour, the machine gun blows just keeping pace with the creature's indomitable regeneration and slowly chipping away at its ankles. In response, the Great Dryad lifted up the foot under threat and the large tree-like appendage seemed hang in the air for a moment, like it was suspended in stasis. The moment passed as wind pressure whipped about in a buffeted frenzy upon being forced out of the way by the massive foot crashing back down to earth. There was yet another titanic boom as a shockwave shook the surrounding countryside and the stomp connected to the ground, cracks immediately forming and then exploding upwards as a minor earthquake shattered the ground beneath Sydren's feet. Nearby trees were uprooted and thrown as the terrain crumbled, chunks of earth sent flying as a large crater formed at the point of impact. Having aimed to squash the dwarf underfoot, the Great Dryad sluggishly looked about; ready to swipe again with yet another mighty hand strike.

YungJazz

------

The Royal Flushe

"Oh? What could this curious presence be?"

One looked off into the distance from his vantage point above the administrative city hall, arms crossed yet eyes glinting at the possibility of newcomers finally arriving to thwart his troupe. A faint magical signature had popped up some ways to the south of the city, though he wasn't perceptive enough to discern who's it belonged to. Still, to have such a magic be this conspicuous from such a distance, the spell was likely from someone powerful. Waiting for a few breaths more, One's eyes widened in surprise as he detected more magical auras. One of them seemed to be fairly strong, likely slightly weaker than his own. But there was a certain aura... one he'd never forget. The aura of not just any ace, but one of the Hravart family. The accursed Ace of Hearts had arrived, and so soon! A mixture of anger and delight emanated from the hooded individual, fists clenching with anticipation. This was it, the main event he had gathered his friends for. Today was the day he could have his revenge.

"I'll go check it out!"

Two telepathically communicated his departure to One, an ability they did not have until recently but now possessed thanks to Three's support. Remaining silent as confirmation of his approval, One watched as Two's form streaked off into the distance. A fiery grin adorned Two's face as he bounded off from the rubble of the Southern Gate and took great leaps and strides towards the location of the immense auras. Truly, his motive in all this was to just have a blast revelling in the defeat of strong opponents, and he had sworn loyalty to One and his cause partially for that reason. Of course, he sympathised with the injustice behind the man's past, but truthfully he couldn't get enough of the thrill of fights to the death. Even if it meant he would be the loser.

Noticing the Ace approaching his location fast, Two came to halt, driving a deep groove into the earth with both feet to stop his momentum. Even without having shown off any combat moves and still being covered in the flowing black cloak and hood, it was clear he just oozed physical prowess from the great strides and stop he'd performed. Grinning all the more ferociously, Two stood legs apart in a mighty open stance and ready to greet the incoming Ace. If he wanted powerful opponents, an Ace was no better matchup for him.

"Hi there... Ace of Hearts, Leolin..."

Goonfire . D O V E​

 

[Goonfire]

Leolin Hravart III

A signature of immense power was closing in on Leo’s location quickly. Recalling there was nobody this strong from Atria, he drew Hot Poker and let his pyromancy surge into its magic-laced metal. Had the robed character not stopped, he would have been impaled by the fine, burning blade that had been launched from above and pierced the ground mere inches ahead. The mere power within the blade was enough to destroy a giant. Leolin glided down, landing gently before the quasireal angelic wings folded around his ankles and disappeared. The odor of blood permeated the air. Disgusting, tragic... The ace glanced down upon the aftermath of the brief battle with the city guards. “Rest, brave souls; I will finish this.”

The mention of his title and name prompted him to look up. Sure, his was a household name at this point, but... “Those who truly know me, know that I hate being addressed by my title,” Leolin informed the poised snake with his own dose of fiery venom. “Quite ill-mannered to have not introduced yourself by now. Won’t you make up for it by showing your lovely face, as well?” His eyes glowed like dancing flames, thermal vision allowing him to further acquaint himself with the heat signature of the immediate threat.

Kloudy

 

[Kloudy]

The Royal Flushe - Two

(250/2000)​

"Heheh... Thought you wouldn't."

Grasping his hood with a hand, the cloaked individual threw his robe high into the air to reveal his appearance; decently toned and even somewhat handsome, his stark blonde hair being his most notable feature in tandem to the dark open-chested suit he wore. He lowered his stance slightly, mindful the long thin sword pointed in his direction. The Ace had made quite the entrance of his own, but Two wasn't frightened in the slightest. If anything, his expression was that of a child being challenged to eat as much dessert as possible: determined and delighted. As always, it was more fun the stronger the enemy.

"Yeah, yeah. The name's Two. Now let's fight!"

Wasting no more time on introductions, Two rocketed forward with a powerful leap, leaving a small crater in the ground where his feet had been. Launching himself at Leolin, he drew so close that his face nearly impaled on the Ace's Hot Poker before darting off to the left in order to throw his opponent's tracking off. After performing the daring and erratic move, he dashed forward again so as to get inside Leolin's guard from the side and deliver a satisfying punch directly in the other man's face. This was combat, and nothing was more manly to Two than a pair of men slugging it out to the death. It was the main reason he'd chosen his particular fighting style!

Goonfire​

 

[Goonfire]

Leolin Hravart III

Was it luck or skill? Perhaps both... A column of fire spewed upwards from the ground, the extreme temperatures enough to reduce a numbered man to a mere pile of ash and vitrify the clay in the soil. The heat lingered in the vicinity, momentarily; it could blister the average man’s flesh.

Two was impressive, in the ace’s honest opinion; high speed and strength likely compensated for a lack of magical prowess, which could be pressed to Leolin’s advantage... if he could keep track of the swift brawler, who had just maneuvered around his light fire spray. His attempt to block was bypassed, and he was then punched square in the face, his head swiveling around as his legs spread to regain his balance... or so it appeared.

What appeared to be a direct hit was but a bluff. Leo simply whipped his head around, allowing Two’s arm to graze his cheek. Immediately, the ace’s hands and arms latched around the appendage. “I’ll oblige,” he then hissed. The ground below the men exploded, launching them upwards in a vertical cannon jump. What ensued would be best described as a flurry of aerial jabs and kicks at Two’s legs and gut. Leo was merciful; he didn’t drop his opponent, keeping one arm occupied holding the hot blonde. “I enjoy a little conversation while fighting. Now, why are you terrorizing my beloved people?” He didn’t miss a beat whilst blocking, dodging, and swinging in this brawl.

Kloudy

 

[Kloudy]

The Royal Flushe - Two

(250/2000)​

Two's eyes widened in adrenaline-fuelled surprise as Leolin grabbed his arm in a lock, he had been certain his punch was going to land. This guy was craftier than he looked! The Royal Flushe troupe member was thrown off-balance as The Ace of Hearts rocketed the two into the air with one of his cannon jumps. Air whistling past the two like loosed arrows to their ears, Two couldn't help but marvel at the far away world around them as they soared higher into the air.

"Eh, One has his reasons for all this. I'm just here for a fight to the death!"

The barrage of strikes from the Ace came swiftly, the melee was awkward seeing as the two were locked so tightly together while ascending higher and higher at such speed. But Two was an experienced fighter despite his ruggedly young yet beautiful features, and his body had all the capability to keep up with the skills he had some time to learn. Using his free hand, he did best to block and deflect the incoming blows so that they avoided hitting his torso, drawing his legs up to kick in synchronicity to Leolin so as to counter the attack with one of his own. Since Leo was grabbing his arm, it also tied his own down and limited him from striking with both hands. Thanks to this, he was able to strike back at Leo with his own attacks, although for the most part it was blocked in return.

"Hey, this isn't so hard. Shouldn't The Ace of Hearts be stronger than this?"

Two smirked, noticing the disparity between their strikes. They say you can learn a lot about a person merely by exchanging blows, and Two could definitely tell that right now, he had the upper hand. Swiftly and decisively, he wrenched his arm back with a big exertion of strength and managed to free his clinched arm from Leolin's hold. To stop his continued upward ascent now that the two were separated, Two used his core strength to twist his entire body midair to flip forwards, bringing his leg over into a spinning downward heel kick. His aim was to bring the kick down on Leo's head and send him flying back down to earth with force, the chances being low that he could outmanoeuvre such a quick repositioning considering all his momentum was already sending him fully upwards.

Goonfire​

 

[YungJazz]

Sydren (Nine of Clubs)
Location: Border Town-Battling a Living Forest
Mentions: The Old Great One ( Kloudy )
​

'This is definitely not one of my better days'

This was the most prevalent thought invading Sydren's mind as he continued to deliver strike after strike on The Old Great One, while simultaneously dodging the-OH HOLY DWARVEN KINGS OF OLD, WATCH OUT FOR THAT HAND!

"OH SHIT!" Sydren stopped his barrage to narrowly flip through the massive hand currently swiping at him. Sydren evaded the slap by a single hair, slipping between its fingers and landing behind the hand, safe from harm, but frantically breathing and sweating out of nervousness, "PANIC LATER. RAPID FIRE FISTS NOW!" Sydren regained his footing and immediately began sprinting again, resuming his rapid-fire attacks. Througout his chain combos, Sydren was able to see the Dryad's regeneration struggling to keep up with his assault. He was doing permanent damage and making progress! Sydren could do this, he could win!

And then the damn thing lifted its leg up.

Sydren skidded to a halt, causing a trench to form where his feet trailed along the ground. Sydren's eyes widened in realization as the enormous foot paused in the air for a few seconds, then began its a descent, foretelling Sydren's downfall. Sydren backpedaled for his life, running backwards to avoid his impeding doom, "BACK UP, BACK UP, BACK UP!". The appendage crashed into the ground, sending a resounding wave of destruction to flow outwards, earth upturning and cracks forming. Trees, rocks, and debris flying from the point of contact. Sydren was launched backwards, barely evading the thing's toes, into the air as he was pelted by the bark and stones sent flying with him.

"Ow. Fuck. DAMMIT!" Sydren guarded himself from the blows, punching and kicking away any of the bigger objects, side swiping a tree from impaling him and smashing a boulder that would have definitely hurt. Sydren felt his elevation increase, worried that he would be sent away from the battlefield, therefore leaving the people to this thing's whims. Sydren felt his back crash into something, quickly glancing to see a bigger piece of debris stopped him. An idea sprung into Sydren's head, aligning feet against the debris, Sydren used the force of his legs and the weight of the debris to launch himself off of it.

A feral grin etched itself onto Sydren's face as he flew towards another boulder flying through the air, kicking off of it to project himself forwards. Sydren began carving a path for himself in the air, ricocheting off of one object after another. Instead of flying away from the battlefield, Sydren had begun ascending vertically, keeping his position slightly above The Old Great One. Jumping off of his latest platform, Sydren looked down to see the distance between him and the beast. The damn thing was at least fifty feet tall, and Sydren was now looking at the top of its head.

A beastly smile stretched his mouth as Sydren flipped upside down as he feet lighted aflame. Sparks began to flicker from the bottom of his feet, then quickly evolving into bright flames, before blazing into an inferno that propelled Sydren downwards and towards the phantasmal tree. Sydren had just turned himself into a rocket as he dispelled the fires of Flame-Heart and focused all of Iron-Forged into his right fist, the metallic fist thrumming with mana. Sydren roared as he shot towards the Dyrad's scalp, his fist cocked back, "BETTER CLENCH THOSE ROTTED TEETH OF YOURS BASTARD!"

Sydren launched his fist downwards, his descent increasing the power of his strike, a shock of air exploding from the fist as Sydren's accelerated strike descended at the The Old Great One's head. It was as if Sydren had put all his fury, might, and honor towards the Clubs into this strike.

"CLUUUUUUB CRAAAAAAAASH!"

 

[Goonfire]

Leolin Hravart III

”Oof!” Leo grunted when the hold was broken. With the upward hurtle gradually slowing due to gravity, he was almost shocked by the swift kick that would send him plummeting back down. He blocked the blow with his forearms, though it cracked his ulnas and dismounted his infamous pink-feathered hat. “I was holding back out of respect!” he admitted, taking the jab as an invitation to unleash hell. After all, he couldn’t cause collateral damage if he was high above Atria.

Magnificent swirls and sprays of blue and white fire blanketed the sky between Leolin and Two as the feather-falling enchantments activated, the tiny Hermes-esque wings deploying in a golden glimmer. Unfortunately for Two, gravity did not seem to be on his side today, as a downward hurtle would lead him directly into an inferno.

Kloudy

 

[Kloudy]

The Old Great One

(1500/1000)​

Upon completing its destructive stomp, The Old Great One's head turned to follow Sydren's aura as it flew away but then approached again. Sensing through the debris, it noticed his magical energy beginning to build up. Reacting to this with more energetic fervor than a giant tree monster had any right to, the Great Dryad's own magical aura began to swell incredibly. Now dwarfing the small dwarf in both size and magic, fluorescent green energy began to shine through the creature's hollowed eyes and mouth as if it were charging something in anticipation for Sydren's attack.

As he reached his highest point and completed his repositioning, The Old Great One turned its head up as all the energy gathered in its head. It's massive arms splayed out down and to the sides to offer room for what was about to come next. As Sydren spiralled down from the sky in a furious leap of pent up destructive energy hellbent on obliterating his opponent, the the Great Dryad's attack had finished charging and released itself in a torrent of magical power spewing forth from its eyes and mouth, conjoining into a single eldritch laser beam of magic blasting off to slam Sydren from the air. Yet another shockwave shook the immediate vicinity so hard that the remaining villagers could feel their brains rattling in their skulls. Given the surface area of the Great Dryad's face, the laser beam had the circumference of a house and moved essentially at the speed of light. With enough destructive force to destroy a small village, the beam would likely strike Sydren and send him flying an incredible distance, if not outright obliterating the dwarf in his entirety.

YungJazz

------

The Royal Flushe - Two

(250/2000)​

Happy his kick had gone well, Two straightened up in the air and freefell back down to earth. Squinting into the distance, his eyebrows raised in surprise as he realised what was about to happen next. The massive swell in pure magical energy was unmistakable. Another rush of adrenaline, and this time a refreshing cold sweat as Two decided that this was definitely going to be a painful one. Definitely one to reference later when he returned to the others. Making any attempt to shield himself if at possible, he raised his arms in front of himself in an effort to somewhat block the swathes of flames that quickly erupted from the Ace below in explosive fury. His figure disappeared into the cloud of blue and white as fire enveloped his body and buffeted Two around as he continued to freefall.

The cloud of flames rose and began dissipating into the sky and a small streak disengaged from the bottom of the plume, Two's body falling in a trail of fire and smoke and apparently unmoving. Within a few moments, his body fell to the ground with a resounding thud, causing a decent crater in the ground where he'd landed. A few seconds passed before his hands twitched and he managed to twist his head up to look at Leolin. Pushing himself up from the ground slowly, it was clear that his body was badly hurt. His clothes were burnt in places and patches of stripped away flesh were rife. Yet despite this, the young Royal Flushe member did not stay down and defiantly yet slowly stood up to face Leolin once more.

"Hah... You got me good, huh? I suppose I also got one in up there... Heh... Heh..."

Strength clearly waning but not wanting to give up, Two crouched low and leaped forward again with still fairly impressive speed and power. Regardless of his injuries, the man seemed the ignore the pain and carry on; or perhaps he enjoyed it? Either way, the leap swiftly turned into a tackle as the brawler landed a foot on the ground and boosted forward once more with renewed determination to shoulder-charge directly into Leolin's torso and break his ribcage.

Goonfire​

 

[Goonfire]

Leolin Hravart III

Leo’s landing was nowhere near as graceful this time, as he fell to his knees for a moment. Was it over? He could only hope; sturdy as he was at this hour, it would take a solid minute for his ulnas to recover.

Nope, as if he was that lucky... He looked up to notice Two had risen from the crater, and so the ace rose to his feet to meet him. And what was this? A head-on tackle in progress? Leolin’s best idea in that split second was something utterly bizarre: he reached out and threw both legs outward, letting the brawler hit him head-on. With nothing anchoring him to the ground, he mitigated the impact, held on tightly, and gave a quick twist of his own torso. This shift in weight sent both men reeling, twirling around one another and finally tumbling in a heap.

Leo found himself in a position most awkward, on all fours and straddling Two. “You did a nice job, I’ll say. I’d gladly recruit you, if you weren’t trying to kill me,” he complimented softly, before sitting upright and firmly slapping at his opponent’s cheek. “Now, back to business, dirty boy,” he demanded cheekily while stumbling off him. The ace planned to at least give this straightforward fellow the maximum bang for his buck... er, gold piece?

Kloudy

 

[YungJazz]

Sydren (Nine of Clubs)
Location: Border Town-Battli- Oh wait. Nevermind, he's crashed into Strebeshti
Mentions: The Old Great One ( Kloudy ) and Sorta Lazarus ( SidTheSkid )
​

Sydren's rage and fury was at its max as he came closer and closer to this beasts head. One strike, just one good strike was all he needed. Sydren kept telling himself that, trying to convince himself that if he landed one good hook, he could put this sucker down. For the people in this town, for his Kingdom, for his best bud, and for the Clubs! JUST ONE. GOOD. STRIKE.

Sydren could feel the rush of wind, the surge of power, and just when he thought he could do it, the damn thing turned. Its eyes and mouth surged with green light as wave after wave of magical energy surged forth from The Old Great One. All that energy coalesced into a single direction, intent on obliteration of its main attacker. Which unfortunately for Sydren, so happened to be him. Shooting towards the Dwarf was a overwhelming stream of powerful mana, its path set and it target determined. There was nothing he could do to avoid it, nothing to jump off of and nothing to use to avoid it. So Sydren did the only thing he could do.

He said fuck it.

"Fuck it," Sydren applied Iron-Forged to his entire body, pushing his mana to its limits as his skin and even his hair turned a metallic black. Sydren pulled his arms up into a guard and curled into himself to make himself a smaller target and lessen the damage. As the beam approached, Sydren gave one last defiant look towards The Old Great One, "JUST WAIT FOR ROUND TWO YOU BASTARD! THIS AIN'T OVER!"

Sydren felt every atom in his body scream out in retched pain as he was hit with the full force of nature's energy. Sydren could feel the stinging cuts, the crushing weight, and the oppressive energy that invaded his very core. It took everything Sydren had to not just give in and die, but if there was one thing that Sydren was known for, it was being stubborn. So even through all the agony and the pain of his very core being ripped apart, he struggled through. Partly because he wanted to get back at this big ass bitch, but mostly for his people. Sydren would survive this and protect this kingdom that had taken him in when he was at his lowest. This kingdom that had given Sydren his best friend and made it so he always had a place to come back to.

Sydren would take this thing down, this he swore....of course he had to land first.

A bright green ball of light was seen over the sky of the Club kingdom, causing wonder in children who thought it was a shooting star, fear in the elderly who thought it was an omen, and complete awe in those of the Club Kingdom's Capital Strebeshti as they saw said green ball of light crash into one of the taller towers of the city, causing more than a few of the tower's stones and pillars to fall off, crashing into the ground below, causing mass hysteria and confusion. Smoke rose from the tower as guards, soldiers, and civilians alike rushed to the top of it, prepared to defend the city from this new threat.

When they finally reached the top, what they thought was a new attacker, was actually their beloved Nine of Clubs, who was currently battered and bruised. Sydren's right arm had been broken, blood was leaking out from under his armor, and there seemed to be lines of green static energy surging off of Sydren at frantic moments. Worry spread across the Club citizens as they gaped at their Nine, fear in their eyes. Fear was completely replaced by confusion as Sydren began to shake, his hair shadowing his eyes as his shaking slowly began reverberating into a low chuckle, before it rose to full blown laughter.

"heh, Heh Heh, HAHAHAHAHA!" Bloodied and beaten, Sydren was laughing jovially like he had just heard a rousing joke. Sydren's laughter only inspired further confusion in the masses, but not enough for one soldier to walk up to Sydren, concern on his face. With hesitation, the soldier knelled in front of Sydren and questioned the Nine.

"Uh, my lord. Not to alarm you, but you seem to be...quite heavily injured. Are you alright?"

Pausing in his laughter, Sydren settled down into a kind smile as he looked at his audience, "My dear soldier, i'm more than alright, i'm ecstatic. Now," Sydren looked off into the distance, his eyes set in the direction he had flown from, his mind focused on The Old Great One and the time he had before they would meet again, "Inform the Queen that we have a ancient Great Dryad heading our way and nothing is gonna stop it. Prep our defenses and get ready for a battle people," At the ensuing silence, Sydren glared back at his people, "Did I stutter? I SAID MOVE!"

The Club militia scattered to complete the orders Sydren had given, lest they face his wrath. Sydren chuckled to himself, before calling out to the last soldier about to leave the room, "Hey you, wait a second." The soldier turned around quickly to face Sydren, standing at attention and awaiting his orders. Sydren lifted his left arm up and using his thumb, pointed at his highly injured form, "Go to the Armory of Nine and tell my Forgehands to prep Surtr, Ifrit, and Behemoth. Oh and tell my smiths to start working on siege weapons with high-tier level fire magic applied. Catapults, Crossbows, Cannons, whatever we have, put fire runes on them." Finishing his list, Sydren shooed away the soldier. Just as the soldier was about to leave, he was stopped once more by Sydren.

A sheepish grin on his face, Sydren moved his right shoulder a bit, eliciting a few loud cracks and a groan of pain from the Dwarf, "Oh, and tell ALL the medical staff to get ready and come get me. Cause I think i'm damn near dead here."

With that, Sydren's eyes closed as he gave in to unconsciousness, the soldier already mid-stride when Sydren said medical staff. The Flameheart was determined to not fail next time, to beat that damn thing down, but first, he needed medical attention, cause Sydren was pretty sure his bones weren't supposed to bend like this.

 

[Kloudy]

The Royal Flushe - Two

(250/2000)​

Two could only stare in incomprehension as his tackle turned into more of an awkward tangled roll in the dirt. Finding himself being straddled by the enemy Ace, Two's cheeks actually turned somewhat red at Leo's words and his expression turned into a strange mix between embarrassed and angered. He tried to raised his fists to sock Leo one, but his arms were trapped under the other man's legs by chance of the tumble.

"Wha- I don't swing that way you freak!"

As Leolin finally rolled off him, a cunning smile instantly morphed onto the Royal Flushe member's face. Using his now-freed hand to propel his legs up into the air, Two twist his body into yet another vertical sideways spin so as to deliver a devastating spinning upside down roundhouse kick to the backside of Leo's head. Such a kick would have taken a normal person's head clean off, but he suspected this might not be enough and so tried to put what little extra strength into the attack that he could. Seeing as Leolin had stumbled off him unsteadily, his back turned, he would not see the kick that so swiftly came to deal a killer blow to the man. After all, this was still a duel to the death.

Goonfire​

 

[Goonfire]

Leolin Hravart III

”Hey! You said it, not me—AAAGH!” Leo was cut off by a kick that knocked him prone. Now that pissed him off enough to retaliate with all his might. Another scorching blast erupted around the furious and disoriented ace, likely flinging all nearby targets like delicate ragdolls.

“Now that... was rude. I would teach you some manners, if you weren’t clearly a lost cause.” Drawing his prized scimitar Amé, he made one final rush, like a hungry lion chasing down its prey, explosions ravaging the earth all around him with every step. “This ends now!” he asserted, working all his strength and momentum into one horizontal swing aimed for Two’s neck.

Kloudy

 

[. D O V E]

[class name=Guin] width:250px; height:250px; background:url('https://i.pinimg.com/736x/0c/61/69/0c6169f0357dbed6f43ec70f4336d289.jpg'); border:1px solid #ffcc00; background-size:120%; background-position: 50% 0%; display:block; margin:auto; center; transition:3s; [/class] [class name=Guin state=hover] width:250px; height:250px; background:url('https://66.media.tumblr.com/2c8679839e37ca960839a7d7f8845888/tumblr_pakhsfV1ww1vanbmao1_400.jpg'); border:1px solid #ffcc00; background-size:140%; background-position: 60% 0%; display:block; margin:auto; center; transition:3s; [/class] [class name=bg] background:#660000; border:1px solid #ffcc00 ; [/class] [class name=font] font-size:15px; line-height:20px; [/class] [class name=gname] font-size:30px; color: #ffcc00; font-weight: bold; [/class]

[div class=bg] [div class=Guin][/div]

[div class=gname] Queen of Hearts [/div]​

Location:

On top of a watchtower at Atria, Kingdom of Hearts
​

Interaction:

Come at me, bruh
​

Mentions:

Goonfire Kloudy
​

Spell(s) Used:

Psychic Projection​

[/div]

[div class=font] Along with the rising sun entered a figure who stood on top of the wreckage of Atria's Southern Gate. Calculating eyes gazed over the city's dismantled form as Guineverre took notice of the strange yet undeniably strong presences lingering inside the walls. This made her doubt the possibility of it being one of the Joker's attacks considering that they have no mages of such prowess within their ranks. As far as she knew, at least.

At the corner of her vision were Leolin and and an unknown character engaged in a fight. Guin has confidence in her Ace's abilities so she diverted her attention away from them and unto the helpless civilians screaming and pleading for a savior to come. It seemed like the debris of the broken walls and gates blocked their exits, successfully trapping them inside the battlefield. Meanwhile the guards proved to be as incompetent as ever as they uselessly ran around in panic.

The Queen of Hearts responded to the situation by cascading down to her people, the sight of her golden locks and crimson dress eliciting loud gasps from the onlookers. She landed with grace before facing them with strength and regal befitting a true queen.

"It's the Queen!"

Cries of relief poured out from the audience as the royalty's sheer presence revived their dying hope. Guineverre's eyes glowed a bright blue as she unleashed a considerable amount of mana to form a humongous and spectral-like image of a clenched fist on the air behind her. The fist swiftly barreled into the clot of rubble blocking the Southern exit and created a gaping hole which the civilians can use to flee for safety.

"Raise your heads, my people. Fret not for we shall not rest until this evil has been vanquished." Guineverre began while taking a step forward, "Take your children and flee in an orderly manner. Soldiers, compose yourselves and ensure the civilians' well-being. Communicate with the other teams and tell them to clear out the blockages for evacuation. Leave the rest to us." she ordered. Hopefully the numbered soldiers' combined magic would suffice to at least blast a hole through the wall.

The people erupted into cheers and praises for the Queen of Hearts before moving to follow her commands. Quite frankly, these people would be more useful to her as cadavers but she knew Leolin would limit himself to make sure that he won't cause any civilian damage. 'A man with a heart of gold', some would say. Guineverre preferred the term 'naive'.

With that settled, the female blinked towards the roof of a near watchtower. The sun has truly risen and she could now make out the silhouette of a robed man on top of Atria's central building. He seemed to be oddly motionless from his position even though one of his goons was being crushed by the Ace of Hearts. A minute later and she realized that there were three more scattered on top of each wrecked gates.

One, two, three, four... five of them?

Damn, she shouldn't have worn heels. [/div]

 

[vielpotato]

Lillith was pissed as any would be if you were to be thrown out of a room. That rude excuse of a person decided that her comments weren't truthful and helpful in the slightest. Realizing she was being flung back, Lillith cushioned her break to the opposite direction with a tiny bit of air which was almost too late. Grumbling under her breath, something about idiots and other people who don't realize the best time of the day, which happened to be battle time, Lillith stormed off out of the Diamond's home. Once outside, without a care of what her superiors may do whenever they pay attention to her, Lillith became her raven and flew the fastest she could in a random direction. This direction, would happen to intercept with her native town of Ishveil in the kingdom of the Spades. Arriving at what used to be her home, Lillith remembered her parents and what happened to them not that long ago. Not wishing to reflect at that time, Lillith returned to her normal form to take a more logical thought at what should be done right now. Thinking quickly, as Lillith wished for her superiors to finally notice her beings and act as if she was some sort of importance, Lillith went over to what was a known hangout for some local bullies and thieves of her town back when she was a youngster in this town.
Kloudy

Before the fighting were to be happening, Jake wished to learn a bit. Roaming around, he eventually stumbled upon a Joker learning the ropes of shooting one of these long distance weapons. Hiding not at all suspiciously, which happened to be inside of a haystack nearby, Jake listened in as he heard the teacher's descriptions on the basics of shooting along with the idea of scouting and how to properly win a battle against someone far and someone who is a little too close for most 'snipers'. When the Joker was about to shoot, Jake 'jumped' out of the hay to watch the shot and process the basic fundamentals fully. After that, Jake climbed up one of the churches in the town which provided a nice vantage point to scout out his surroundings. Finding a nice perch, which was a few stories smaller than the church but still provided a nice height along with a small shelter that would keep him hidden from most who look around. However, if the people wished too look hard enough a small shimmer can be found with Jake's mask however Jake would prefer not to remove his mask and risk being noticed later on. Once the Royals arrived, Jake hid behind cover for a decent while until her heard screaming from his new friends. He recognized a few people from his reports. The one with the staff is no problem, according to reports saying he was a support magician. No information on the one who was doing nothing, which made Jake think it had to do something with the mind as his friends would not just suddenly shoot random areas without them seeing something else as well. The woman, if Jake were to call her that, looked like a material in fine jewelry so he deduced it would be something with those materials. However, the person Jake was sure on was the one with the crazy mask on. That one was the source of all of the blood morphing birds, which is some bad taste in Jake's opinion. While the birds killed all other snipers, Jake was able to stay hidden in his perch as he was not in the open unlike the rest of his friends. Knowing he only had 1 real shot, Jake lined up to perhaps hit the blood man on the head but as he shot he accidentally put it farther down than he should have, sending the bullet to really hit the upper part of their chest.
SentinelSevn SidTheSkid TPBx Coyote Hart Diphylleia grayi

 

[YungJazz]

Sydren (Nine of Clubs)
Location: Strebesthi - The Infirmary/Heading to the Forge
Mentions: None
​

"Oh by the Four Suits! Lord Sydren again!?"

"Witnesses say he was sent rocketing into the fourth tower while surrounded by unknown energy. So par the normal for him."

"Would someone make sure to strap him down this time! We don't need another intern flung through a window."

The medical facility was abuzz with work and energy as staff hurried themselves back and forth between rooms. Doctors and nurses alike were seen conversing with one another, checking schedules, documenting symptoms, and checking on their patients. The Club kingdom's medical staff were some of the world's finest physicians and surgeons around, making sure that not even a single patient would go unattended. Their utmost desire was to cure the ailments and wounds of their patients, and that not matter what, the patient's needs and comfort would always be first priority.

Of course, that was for everyone besides Lord Forgemaster Sydren.

A constant in the wings of the hospitals, Sydren had become a regular face to most attending staff. Whether it was from testing new weaponry and equipment that would blow up in his face or battling against an opponent that was way out of his league, Sydren had become a regular visitor to the doctors of the Clubs. Not to say his visits were unpleasant, but instead they were rather tedious in the fact that the amount of work that had to be done to make sure the dwarf didn't die was often quite the arduous task. Plus when Sydren eventually woke up, his reactions were either comedic due to Sydren knowing how he got there or extremely violent due to the fact Sydren was still in fight mode.

CRASH

"OH GOD NOT AGAIN!"

"Whoops. Sorry brother, still in fight back mode! Send your bill to me and i'll pay it!'

Looks like we're going more violent this time. Several attending nurses were chuckling to themselves as the doctor dragged her hand across her face in irritation, before sending a scorching look at the aforementioned Nine of Clubs, who was currently laying in a rather comfy looking bed, bandages wrapped around him from head to toe, and a apologetic smile painted on his face. Glancing over to the now broken window, which Sydren had thrown yet another intern through, the doctor sighed to herself and walked over to Sydren, placing a hand on his chest. The doctor's hand glowed with a green light as she moved it from his chest, down to his abs, checking his overall status, "Once again Lord Sydren, we would like it if when you visit us, that you would try and refrain from throwing our staff through walls and windows."

Sydren chuckled to himself as he scratched the back of his head with his good arm, "Sorry about that love. Me mind knew I was safe and sound, but me dwarven blood said I was still under attack. Good news is that at least he gets medical compensation right?" Sydren tried to ease the mood with a quick joke, but was quickly shot down by the less than impressed look from his doctor. Laughing nervously Sydren calmed himself and gesture to his overall form, indicating his current status, "So I be good to go right doc? Cause Ole Sydren gots a tree ta smash and I ain't keen on being stuck in here while the fighting's going on."

The doctor sighed to herself as her nurses continued about their business, this situation a common occurrence. Sydren gets messed up, arrives in the hospital, causes collateral damage or starts a party, and then asks if he can leave even though they all knew he was NOT alright. Giving the most blankest stare at the smiling face of Sydren, the doctor sighed and pushed her glasses up, "Due to several doctors and mages working overtime and well beyond reason, your wounds and injuries, while not completely healed, have been reduced to a manageable level. So yes Lord Sydren, you can-"

WHOOSH

She couldn't even finish before Sydren had jumped out of bed, discarded his bandages, and rushed his way out of the infirmary, laughing all the way. Throughout the halls, the staff would pause mid-stride as Sydren zoomed pass, already used to his exit from their facility, then would resume their activities like it was nothing. Zooming to the front entrance, Sydren looked down at himself to examine his state of dress, noticing his lack of armor, instead it being replaced with with common pants and an open jacket, his bare chest revealed to the world. Sydren scratched his head, before looking down at his lack of footwear and general unarmed form.

"Huh, must've given my gear to the lads. Well, time to head towards the Forge. Gotta grab me gear and get ready to trounce that overgrown weed." Cracking his knuckles, Sydren sped off in the direction of the Forge, intent on arming himself to the brim and being completely prepared for the oncoming battle. Of course, he was speeding through the streets rather fast, so the citizens of Strebesthi were victim to the wild winds following after him and his sole intent to reach his destination:

"OH BY THE SUITS! LORD SYDREN IS OUT OF THE HOSPITAL AGAIN!"

"MOVE OUT THE WAY IF YOU DON'T WANNA GET FLUNG!"

"MY CABBAGES!"

Poor civilians, let's hope they react fast enough to move out of Sydren's path.

 

[VioletShadow]

Sheila Ivoren

Mood: Determined
Location: Arielle - Diamond Castle
Interactions: Anaxileah
Mentions: Balfnaught1 SentinelSevn Kisaki

The conference flew by, with chaotic, differing opinions being constantly thrown about and the tension between the kingdoms constantly rising and falling. This was a battlefield, one that Sheila did not deem herself a part of. She watched idly, whilst sipping the tea she was graciously served by the diamonds jack, as both her king and ace constantly argued and suggested new ideas. Before long, a taskforce was organized to retake Parma. It was concerning that their ace would be so far from their kingdom, but he seemed absolutely adamant in his decision to lead the force he suggested. Their king was also preoccupied, thrown into a battle with the diamonds king, in order to decide the combined armys commander. It was mildly concerning how the relations between the kingdoms seemed to be falling apart rather than being mended, but it was an expected situation. Hopefully, at the very least, they would not be driven to war.

Sheila grew concerned by the loss of her fellow royalty, especially in turbulent times like this. All in all, she aimed to return to her kingdom as soon as possible, a weeks travel away from her duties was far too great a distance. Unfortunately, it seemed her suspicions were correct, as sudden telepathic reports flowed into her mind. Closing her eyes to focus on the mental message rather than the bickering in the room, her heart skipped a beat as she realized the destruction her people had faced without any of their royalty for guidance. Luckily, as tensions escalated to their peak during the conference, the meeting was adjourned not long after.

"Mortemiah, I trust you have received the news?" She inquired suddenly, placing down her empty teacup and turning towards her queen. "We must go back immediately." She stated resolutely, her expression a degree of seriousness rarely seen. Leaving her seat, she promptly exited the room to find a servant to call the carriages.

​

 

[Kloudy]

The Royal Flushe - Two

(250/2000)​

As the horizontal sword slash came for his neck, a smug grin briefly crept onto Two's face before the wet sound of flesh and sinews being divided filled the air. Unable to react fast enough in his injured state, the second Royal Flushe member's head flew in the air as he was beheaded by the Ace of Hearts. Body immediately going limb with blood gushing from its now lacerated neck stump, the defeated Two crumpled back into the ground as his head hit the floor and rolled to a stop against his arm. Blood continued to pool on the ground and the telltale signs of mana leaving the body confirmed that Two had indeed been successfully killed.

And yet his severed head still had that smug smile as if he was the victor, despite his death.

What happened next could only be described as impossible at best, or inconceivable at that. Two's body and disconnected head began to float up off the ground as a visible stream of orange mana gathered in the air, emanating from the neck stump and flowing to the head almost as if it were pulling it back to its rightful place. Indeed, the head did return to its stump and connect grotesquely, rotating several times as if it were like screwing in a nail. All the wounds and seared flesh on his body began healing over in an orange afterglow and he slowly levitated back down to the ground good as new.

"I suppose I didn't really introduce myself properly earlier. My real name is Nasham the Nine-Lifed Cat, but Two works fine as well."

Grinning arrogantly at Leolin, Two held his hands together and seemed to mutter a short incantation under his breath. Upon drawing his hands apart again, his nails had grown by at least a foot, except they weren’t exactly nails anymore. They looked more like sharpened claws or talons, toughened bone that could probably rend regular steel. Transformation magic. It made sense, given that one didn't require much mana for such a small magical application but could capitalise on their powerful physicality to make the best of it. Thanks to his apparent revival, the now-living 'Nasham the Nine-Lifed Cat' had been cured of his wounds and fatigue, while his opponent would still be suffering from the attrition of their last clash. Staring Leolin down baring an anticipatory fanged smile of glee and flexing his claws for effect, Two began to walk towards the Ace menacingly.

"Well? Up for Round Two? There's at least seven more coming after this one!"

Goonfire​

 

[TPBx]

Marillys Argossia

Soldiers around Marillys were thrown into a frenzied state as they turned their weapons and fired into the open into the city air. A strong presence surrounded him as well, and it urged him to do the same. He saw the outlines of what seemingly were enemy soldiers appear in his vision, but clearly they were some kind of hallucination created by a mage with incredibly strong mental magic. If they were capable of subjugating the masses of the Imperial Army, and even almost break through the magical barrier given to Marillys through his uniform, it had to be an incredibly capable mage, no doubt a Royal.

He turned his eyes to the three mages standing next to the portal that had opened in the square. Siege tanks from the rear line opened fire on them, but they appeared to remain unscathed, now that he had witnessed their power, he had no doubts in his mind those three people were his targets. Marillys pulled out both of his pistols and began charging towards them, unfazed by the hail of bullets coming from behind him and the untold might of the mages before him. He had a single directive, and he wasn't going to let circumstance deter him.

SentinelSevn SidTheSkid Diphylleia grayi Coyote Hart ( parma squad )

 

[H3LLJUMPER_177]

Thruma and her blue guards

Thruma roamed the halls with her blue guards, which has grown since the incident. She was adding one-two of her own to important guard details, once martial law is lifted, they will be recalled to normal duties. She instructed that they are to follow orders from basic guard superiors. And keep anything related to the blue guards silent. Once she assigned waved her personal guards off to do their own thing as she headed for a garden she fancies. She needed to clear her head, and wanted to be normal for a bit.. The garden was beautiful, with native flowers and trees. Stone slab pathways and areas to sit and relax. She had a spot in a far corner of it, she turned her clothes into noble looking clothing when nobody was looking, almost nobody know what her face looked like. Only a choice few, mostly trusted nobles and the Royals of course. She sat under a tree, that was surrounded by flower bushes. She left a book in a lock box behind the tree, she found it and opened it, beginning to read to clear her head. This is thruma in her natural habitat, this is. The real Thruma, she then got bored and got back into there blue guard uniform and began to roam the halls of the castle..

So, the blue guards.. There is only a few things people can publicly know.. They are chosen from Honor guards and basic infantry within the kingdom. They first must cut ties with their family and basically fake their own deaths however they wish. Then they are tasked with running the border of the kingdom, from one end to the other. They have 4 days to complete it, if they fail they are presumed dead and are forgotten. Those that pass go onto the next part of training, 'the crucible'. Trainees are sent to a training camp and have to navigate obstacles, fight prisoners in military like combat, taught how to identify poisons, how to remove poison, medical training, how to fire a black powder weapon, and must swim through pigs blood. They are to follow any order without hesitation and kill without mercy. Everything they do must become their life, they have the most important job in the kingdom, defending the Royals. Though they are mostly normal humans, they are also taught how to combat up to level 3 magic users. Level 4-5 if they are lucky and the magic type isn't too advanced.. They also handle special matters that..cannot be elaborated upon.

​

 

[Goonfire]

Leolin Hravart III

Leo wiped his blade clean, the steel no longer virgin as he delivered justice for the fallen... or so he thought. He sheathed it and turned to grab Hot Poker, only to hear the sickening fleshy noise behind him. "Oh, lovely. Now I won't feel as though you handed me an easy victory," he scoffed before ripping the rapier from the scorched earth. "Now... allow me to show you how I defeated the previous ace, cruel bastard that he was." Little did this jackwagon know, Leo was a master of attrition, and that his power was only growing as the fight wore on.

In two quick motions, Leolin fired two blades of intense flames, both of which missed but kicked up dirt and left thick smoke. Of course, his silhouette wasn't in its original spot as said smoke cleared. Nor was he behind or to either side of Two. Which meant...

Leo, now wreathed in flames, hammered down upon his foe from above, with an explosive impact powerful enough to annihilate a lesser man. He left a crater of vitrified earth in a ten-foot radius. "Did you miss me?"

Kloudy

 

[vielpotato]

Fizz
Rank 5 Joker

The assassin knew this was an almost suicide mission. Infiltrating a prison? Would be impossible if one had to go in and out with the idea of going unnoticed. However, where would the fun in that be? At sundown, Fizz, his codename in the Jokers for the idea of fizzing in and out of objects, climbed onto a nearby building to get an idea of the paths the guards stationed at the prison took. Once understanding it overall, Fizz went down to the wall seperating the street and the path. Timing it so the guard would be in front of him, Fizz reached his hands through the wall and caught the guard so he could be snapped by the neck. An easy death, with little pain with Fizz’s immense strength. Walking through the wall, Fizz chuckled. This was the only guard in this area. There would be no way, on a normal day, that anyone would come through here until a change came to switch out and Fizz would be out already. The hard part was coming though, with going inside Fizz had little to know idea what was going to happen until it happened. Taking a deep breath, while checking his knives and his pistol to make sure they were ready if needed, Fizz walked in while crouching.
Kloudy

 

[Spoiled Bread]

Ace of Clubs, Remi Rumialin​

Location: Kingdom of Clubs, Strebeshti, The palace

Remi opened the door to her office. As she sat down on her chair, she let out a sigh of exhaustion. She really pushed the six-leggers to its absolute speed that she ended up arriving at her kingdom much faster than she initially thought, at the cost of her back throbbing like crazy. Those pillows couldn't absorb the shock entirely it seems, maybe she need something more fluffy for the interior of the six-leggers. Anyway, that problem was for another day to solve, she came straight to the palace because she wanted to read her weekly report first.

"Master Remi, welcome back." Laudia the senior maid walked into Remi'e office with some papers tucked under her arm. Her footsteps were eerily silent as usual, a habit from her past that she couldn't erase.

"Good seeing you, Laudia. I feel like passing out anytime soon. So I just want to hear my weekly report before heading home."

"As you wish, master. But, the king had asked me to inform you that his highness wants to talk with you in his office as soon as you arrive in the palace."

"Loman, huh?? I hope he has a good reason for being unavailable several days ago. I will meet him, hold your report for now." Remi dismissed the maid and made her way toward the king's office, which was not that far actually.

While the door to the king's office didn't seems that different from Remi's office, the inside of it was simply much bigger than her room. It almost as big as the throne room itself. The walls was lined with shelves, decorative weapons and portraits. But the most striking thing in the room was a robust wooden table in the middle of the room. The biggest map of the kingdom was strapped on top of it and several chairs was placed beside the tables. At the other side of the room, a huge desk and a huge chair were placed to accomodate the size of the Clubs' current king.

Speaking of which, the said king seemed to be buried in his paperwork. His gigantic body hunching over those documents, holding the quill that looks too small for his hand. His curved horns reminds everyone that he wasn't a normal human. Rather, he's a faunus, a race of humanoid race with a pair of horns that was said to be the reason for their great affinity for magic.

Remi watched the king silently, a bit amazed of his lack of awareness of her presence. Looking closely, she could saw some signs of exhaustion on his face.

She coughed gently to draw his attention. The king seemed to be startled, but he quickly regained his composure.

"R-remi?! I thought you would be away for a few more days... but thanks goodness you're here. Please sit down." He pointed at another massive chair at the other side of the table. Remi sat on the chair and immediately realized how small she's compared to the hulking giant in front of her.

"Good to see you're NOW idle enough to talk with me." Her emphasize with the word now and her sour expression gave away that she's still upset about the event before she went to the conference.

"Ahaha aha." Letting out a nervous laugh. Loman put a pair of glass on the desk and pour some drink into both of it. "I'm sorry for being unavailable before. That's one of the things that I want to talk. But before that... your drink, madame?" He served one of the glass to Remi, which gladly took it. Albeit with a still sour expression.

"Allright, go on. What do you want to talk?" Remi sipped her drink slowly while scrunitizing the figure of a king in front of her.

"I'm going to retire from my position as a king." Remi choked on her drink.

"W-what nonsense is this?" With enraged expression, Remi slammed her glass on the table. She stared sharply at the faunus' eyes, looking for any signs of lying. Averted gaze? Rapid blinks? Dilated pupil? No? Anything, please...?? With a defeated face, Remi slumped against the big chair behind her. "You're not lying." She concluded.

"I'm not, unfortunately. You know about my family's curse, right?"

"Every clubs' royals know about it. You spread your own weakness like candies." She remembers, ever since he was crowned as the king, he would tell every royals about his curse. Its a miracle nobody thought of backstabbing him in the eight years of him being a king.

"Well, my time has come." He took a breath before he started his explanation for his curse, again. Remi braced herself as the king explained his curse to her for the tenth time. Sometimes she wondered whether this man actually enjoys speading this curse story. "For generation, my family, the Mishtrals, has been cursed with a parasitic entity that latches into our very soul. It's there, inside me, inside my father, inside my daughter. It slowly eats our soul, bidding their time for the right moment to take over their host's body. Once they're ready. We can turn into these monster, anytime. Shadowy figures from the hell itself." He fell silent for a monent before entering a coughing fit, he immediately pulled a handkerchief from his drawer and covered his mouth with it. When the coughing stop, he showed the handkerchief to Remi.

"Black blood." Remi nodded solemnly at the disgusting substance on the handkerchief.

"It's my signal that my body is ready to be taken over. I know there's war in the horizon, but that's exactly why I want to retire now. It will be a very bad event if the king suddenly turned into a monster when he's leading a war." The king rose from his seat and took some documents from the nearby shelf before returning his attention to the ace.

"While you and the Jack were away in the conference, I make some preparation of the documents needed for my resignation. Here are my final decisions: Loman Mishtral will retire from the king position with 'incurable illness' as the official reason, a tournament will be held to decide the next king of clubs, Remi Rumialin will be the supervisor of said tournament, and Loman Mishtral will cover all the funds needed to make sure the event runs smoothly." The last statement took Remi by surprise.

"Wait, you will pay for the event? All of it?"

"Yes, I feel bad for retiring so suddenly. This is the last thing I can do."

"Very considerate of you. Money from the bottomless wallet of the owner of Metacrub corporation? Thank you very much."

"No, no. I'm the one who should be thanking you. I'm giving you a burden afterall." For a moment, silence befell the two. There's still one question Remi wanted to ask.

"Then... how about you?" Hearing Remi's question, the horned king just laughed.

"Me? I Will be a martyr, a savior that prevent another hellish monster to be released upon this very world. The coronation day will be the last time the public see me." That's enough answer for Remi. Although wealthy and powerful, the Mishtral family seems to have a foolish perspective about death. If she were to have the curse, there's no way she would just give up and kill herself. She would search a way to defeat it, even if it means she would spent eternity for it.

She excused herself and went back to her office. Now surrounded with the weekly reports and thought about her responsibilities, she could felt her head and her back throbbing harmoniously, as if mocking her from the inside.

Go away, Damn it!

 

[ChazGhost]

10 of Clubs, Maxwell

Maxwell had become a bit disappointed in himself as he had not helped the Clubs at the conference in the slightest and felt like he was only taking up space in the room. Once it was all over and it was time to go Maxwell was silent as he was during the conference. Once Maxwell returned to back to his kingdom he made his straight back to his home and when he entered it he saw he father at the door with a large bag on his back and many more suitcase behind him on a cart being handled by a butler. "Maxwell your back just in time. I know you just come back from some important business, which you'll have to tell me the story of soon my good boy but we must hurry... north westish I believe" Charles Jacob said looking to his compass before walking past Maxwell and followed by the butler.

Maxwell blinked in confusion for a second before shaking it off and following his father. "What are you in hurry for?" Maxwell asked following his father into a carriage.

"There have been reports of a huge Dryad coming this way and you what that means?! Some of that size and possible biology should have rare moss samples all over it! So, my boy, we are traveling to it... Well nearish to it and then waiting in a safe place for it either to rest or the kingdom's royals to take care of it." the old man said full of excitement of the possible finding to be gotten from the Dryad.

Maxwell's eyes widened as his father stated that a massive Dryad was coming this way and knowing that royal had much bigger... well more important problems to deal with Maxwell knew what he had to do. With a deep sigh Maxwell said "Once we can see the giant, I'll get out and fight it. My magic should give the edge in the battle"

Charles looked to his son with a large proud smile on his face "Jolly good my boy! You grow to his size and show him the old one-two." Charles said throwing some punches at the air.

Maxwell smiled and felt refreshed after hearing his father words. He then took laid back in the carriage as it road in the direction of the Dryad...

Sometime later

The carriage had made it's way to a small village, and from it you could see the Dryad walking its path. Maxwell readied himself for the fight to come, taking deep breaths and stretching. Once he was prepared Maxwell ran off into the nearby forest, the direction of the Dryad. Once he felt like he was a safe distance from the village, he took one final deep breath before unleashing his magic. Maxwell grew larger and larger until he was slightly larger than the Dryad (about 55ft). Maxwell pulled out his sword and charged forward at the Dryad before slashing downwards onto it.
Kloudy