Fandom Soul Eater: F.A.T.E

[The Regal Rper]

Az | Death City - Vegas | Desert

Seeing it in real time- Az was certain of one thing- he would not be able to keep up for long in a front confrontation with Coil. Even as he watched the exchange, and kept his eyes out for any switch of moment, he could tell that Dane's electrical abilities wouldn't be something Frank could tank continuously or perpetually. He needed to figure out something to slow that-- madness suppression wouldn't do much, but if he could swap between techniques swiftly enough, it might be enough to give them the upper hand they needed.

Dane's reflexes and speed were higher than he had anticipated and watching, he knew for certain that he would need to make certain every strike he made would be lethal.

Then, he charged Wulf in retaliation after distancing himself from the follow up attack that landed on his coil. Out of all his shots however, only one landed. Shame. But information to keep in mind.

All these thoughts, especially the idea of switching between techniques rapidly, was something Az relayed back to Reiko through their link. The idea here was not to use Madness suppression or Madness suppressing attacks, what they wanted to do here, in Az's mind at least, was to inflict serious injury as quickly as possible, before swapping to a technique that utilized the Anti-Demon Wavelength.

He heard it-- a shift in Dane's tempo. Here, the sound of his soul did not bleed bloodlust as he made his move, throwing electricity up and shifting position to-- a feint, Az realized as the act was occuring in realtime.

By the time he had shot in his direction, Az was squatting- wavelength empowering not so much his muscles by strengthening his nervous system, an attempt to fine tune his reactions and reflexes, heighten them to make them just a bit faster. Nowhere on par with Coil himself or Franklin but still- it was something.

On the sand, where Franklin lost his balance, Az maintained it as he went sliding backwards along the ground, as if skating on ice. Reiko held in his grasp at a loose manner, but his body language guarded- ready to attack the second he was, yet at the same time not waiting for anything to come his way when Coil seemed so free to let loose his electrical attacks.

He span the polearm around his one hand and the whirr and hiss of Discord grew louder as his sliding disposition continued.

Even as the spear spun around his fingers, Az managed to fire five shots-- arrows of concentrated air in Dane's direction. Maintaining Reiko's spin in his right hand as he did, set and prepared to turn that into a defensive guard or use the momentum to create a slash with the humming buzz of her blade.

Mentions: n/a

Interactions: Sir Les Paul Merciless Medic EmperorsChosen

 

[EmperorsChosen]

Daniella Ethalyn - Nadia Semyonov
Death City Festival Grounds
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

With their soul spaces connected, Nadia has her attention focused on the battle and their nearby allies, it seemed the Dog was having a bit of problems with her leash… “Tck…” They needed to get more serious, more of the enemy needed to be destroyed and quickly before this brief weakness consumed them. To hesitate was to be death on the field of battle… And Death City was that battlefield.

“Dani. We must bring out our all, how are you holding up?”

“Pissed off,” She replied internally with a grumble, noting Sara and Eva’s situation. “...You wanna do that again?”

“...hmm.” Listening to the other, she gave a nod in kind. “We are of like mind. Neither of us are…” A hardening of Nadia’s face as she exhaled, reaching out to pat Dani on the head, ruffling her hair a little she stops, and continues her words. “Neither of us are as weak as we once were, back when this started, this hymn of madness. We can stop it this time. But even though part of me thinks we should leave the dog to her fate, you would not take kindly to me around if I just abandoned her to it, I saved her once already.”

Flexing her hand a bit the firepit in her soul space seemed to grow in size a little as she shrugged. “I am not one to save things, but we can save more things if we destroy these things, time is not on our side.”

Dani looked down a bit at the head patting, hands clenched into fists. “No. I don’t wanna leave anyone. I wanna break these things and butcher whoever thought this was a funny idea!” Exhaling to calm herself, Dani closed her eyes, then opened them shortly thereafter. “We’ll stop it this time…”

“Da. Let's get this over with, move as fast as we can, target to target, shatter them all before they get what they want. Let us resonate once more and break these things, it seems at least that..hmph… Thaddeus is being useful, though we best watch where his helpers fire.”

“Yeah, let’s break them all… Thaddeus, what the fuck…” Dani remarked to the unfitting name.

“Hmph its an actual name, unlike being named after a coilgun from fringe scifi novels. More so given his nature I do not call him Gauss out of spite, you may call him that, though if he does well enough in saving the Civilians I suppose I can relent on that and call him that name…though there is your, uh, date? He’s running a bit wild.. I should have just stayed at home. Though I guess maybe I can earn a shiny medal from this shit.”

With all of that said, she motions for Dani to join her, a hand open as she faces to the outside, where only seconds if that had passed. “Keep your emotions on check, we’ll burn through my wavelength to about the halfway mark, then we’ll allow yours to flow through me, like before. When you are halfway we stop and see what's left, I aim to dive right through them and into the center. I will likely take hits, but as long as it isn't a shotgun to the torso I’ll be fine.”

“Thaddeus is too dandy, though you’re not wrong…” Dani relented however froze a bit at the mention of her date. “W-What do you mean? It’s not a date!” She retorted before exhaling to calm herself. Nadia wasn’t wrong about Adrian, which had her a bit worried. She knew he had a collar, but MIBVI affected everyone differently. “Just… Don’t take unnecessary hits. You don’t really feel shit during the blood rage,” She warned from experience.

“Hmph, you think me so weak?” Snorting at that she held her hand out for Dani to accept. “Lets see who among us is the better killer.” With that she also adds on, “Heh, and your dance partner then. Though that looks to be on hold if not canceled.”

“We’ve been over this already you cocky amazon,” Dani remarked, taking the other’s hand with a deadpanned look. “You already lost that, I’m literally a fuckin’ sword… and I told you it ain’t like that! Let’s just kill the fuckin’ dolls!”

“Yeah, yeah.” Nadia says in short order as they enacted the plan, reaching resonance as Nadia snatches hold of one of the dolls and uses it as a flail against its closes compatriots, she would become more of a threat to them than allowing the brief instance of weakness from her allies to be an opening the constructs could exploit. “URRRRAAAAH!”

Sir Les Paul Merciless Medic Mook-LandStrider RedArmyShogun Peckinou

 

[Serei2477]

Sage Chauvelet
Location: Festival Grounds
Mentions: EmperorsChosen
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
​

The festival was, admittedly, a good distraction all things considered. Sage opted to help around with parts of the festival instead, since if he was left to explore all on his own, he would have been finished within an hour. Yes, he could have taken this opportunity to get to know others in the same position as him, buuut they seemed just as interested in talking to him as he was in them. Maybe next time~ For now, observing the people and the activities that took place had been a little more interesting. Peoplewatching helped him get a little more of an understanding of those that had walked by him, which was his own fun.

Unfortunately for the others, the peaceful moments ended as quickly as it began.

Before Sage could call out to Elly, the Jester girls implemented a paralysis magic that added a huge weight to the entirety of his body. He tried to will his body, or at least his mouth to move, but if he tried anymore he might end up damaging something.

Luckily for him, Elly was not only within earshot but capable of moving. Since verbally calling to her wasn't in the cards, he did the next best thing. He cleared his throat at her to get her attention. Sage didn't need to move to be a capable weapon, did he?

 

[Merciless Medic]

Fia Moretti​

April 1, 2067
Location: Nevada Desert
Interactions: Starwulf, Deathcoil, Az, Reiko
Mentions: N/A
Sir Les Paul The Regal Rper RedArmyShogun EmperorsChosen

Fia felt the reachings of Reiko’s wavelength, wanting a chain resonance. At the moment though, Starwulf was having a hard time keeping traction on the sand as he dodged Deathcoil’s lightning palm blast with the Speed Star technique. Not wanting to leave Reiko hanging however, she did try to establish some kind of chain resonance with her. While it wasn’t in her skillset, she could still be an anchor for Starwulf to eventually connect with Az.

It seemed most of Az’s projectiles were rather useless, which was rather upsetting. But she knew that it was keeping the pressure on Deathcoil and she’d rather that than have him run off and hide. But as Deathcoil proceeded to close in on Az, she realized he was trying to bait them into getting closer.

But it’s not like they had much of a choice, did they?

Az slid backwards to keep distance, but still on the defensive as they grew louder and fired off five shots towards him. Not wanting to risk getting hurt, she offered a quick solution to using Speed Star. ‘How about we smash the sand so hard it becomes sandstone? That’s what happened earlier and while it may also benefit Deathcoil, it’s better than being slow or tripping up. Oh, and Reiko is trying to get a chain resonance going.’ She added quickly in their soul space, readying for a possible chain resonance on Starwulf’s end.

 

[Mook-LandStrider]

Annika
Jesters Festival
EmperorsChosen Serei2477​

It had been an enjoyable afternoon, both Elly and Annika having spent their time moving about the festival. Annika caught on pretty early but noticed that Elly had been ‘cheating’ on the festival games. While funny and probably a little illegal, so were the small things that the stalls had to covertly inflate the difficulty of the game.

Her eyes were taken away from the stalls as the weird jester girls came out. They had been all over these last few weeks, handing out beads to just about everyone. They had tried to give them to her but the fact that they were scattered about sorta weirded her out, especially after they refused to take the first no as an answer.

Moving with Elly as she questioned the jesters she ended up coming to the same conclusion, she couldn’t get a read on them either, it made her feel uneasy. Taking a big bite from her chili dog she tried to bury the paranoia sparking in her mind, after all concealed chaos was the name of the game on april fools.

She had managed to put herself at ease before all hell broke loose, almost like a switch was flipped the jesters began to massacre the attendants. Mouth opening in a ‘O’ moment she ended up dropping her chili dog onto the ground as she pulled off her backpack. Rummaging around she heard a noise and in her hyper fixation hadn’t noticed that Elly was paralyzed.

“Annika, not aa nika neck.” Annika said jokingly before realizing what she was saying. Pursing her lips at her own daftness Annika looked her over “Neck?” She repeated before grabbing at the beads. Immediately she felt the sudden weight of magic as she ripped at them. She was pretty sure if she didn’t intend to rip them off and had kept her hand on them that she would be in the same boat Elly was.

Immediately going down to her bag she took out a long black box and tossed the bag away, the last few glitter mines being useless at this point. Opening the box up she gripped the two weapons inside and put them both on the ground. The two weapons, the right being phobos and the left Deimos had been built entirely with the help of Starwulf, the materials having come from him and his dojo. Putting her feet ontop of them she gripped the pull cords, one in each hand and tugged with all her might. The weapons sputtered, making her tug again before they sparked and began to spin.

Picking up the two chain blades she pulled the trigger of the right one causing it to whirr and spin the obsidian cutting edge. Doing the same to the left one she gave a small practice swing before a hail of fire came in their direction. Ducking down she heard someone calling Elly’s name. “That's your weapon? Go, I am going to fight.” Annika said before pulling her legs into her dress and running one of the chain blades across it, cutting her dress short and allowing her freedom of movement without worrying about tripping over herself. Pushing herself up she began moving towards a jester.

Pulling both triggers Annika came in quick and fast, the noise of the weapons heralding her arrival, the left close to her chest and the right low and ready. Swinging the right in from below she slingshot her soul wavelength down into the weapon causing the spinning obsidian blades to turn to a vibrant orange yellow. Obsidian teeth spinning she caught the jester girls weapon and immediately the blades passed through as if cutting through air. The swing continued up, its momentum unimpeded into the jesters girls upper torso.

Material began to fly as the teeth bit in, rending and tearing through the jesters core before passing through to the other side, the machine revving, clearing the teeth of leftover material. Bringing the left blade down in a slashing movement from up over her right shoulder she connected and cleaved from the jester's left shoulder down to its right. Finishing off the flurry she planted her left foot and kicked with her right, sending the pieces of the jester crumbling to the ground.

Taking a deep breath she risked a glance around at the chaos unfolding. Looking back to Elly she noticed the magitek stall she had seen awhile ago. Sprinting past Elly she went into the back and began to ransack the place, opening drawers, cabinets and anywhere that looked like it could conceal something of value. Grabbing up a few devices she left a bunch of money in the cash drawer and prepared to jump back over the counter.

Spoiler: Phobos and Deimos (Right Phobos, left Deimos.)

 

[EmperorsChosen]

Dane Markovic
Desert between Death City and Las Vegas
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

Deathcoil's gaze tilted back over to Starwulf, if only briefly. An icy glare, not out of surprise, but offense. It was one that challenged the audacity of the meister to out-speed his attacks, to try to fill his niche. Even if Dane didn't expect that electricity to be a kill-shot, the burst of speed in and of itself was akin to a statement of competition and challenge.

However, his eyes transitioned back to Az. The weapon's wavelength coursed through his body, coating his muscles and nerves to amplify his speed and reaction time. Az began to shoot arrows again, forcing Dane to take evasive action, using Starwulf's unsteady nature to his advantage.

Dane zipped and zagged, narrowly evading the arrows with scrapes and cuts. His timing was improving, that much Dane could see. Clearly, he was using a technique similar to his own. Another challenger. Was he so replaceable, Dane wondered.

Deathcoil came to a momentary pause as he reached the median point between the two pairs, Starwulf to his back. Then, with another burst of speed, Deathcoil darted for Az again. He intended to restrict what long-range attacks Az could use without risk of catching Starwulf with friendly fire. As drew closer, electricity skittered across his arm as his hands shifted into a partial transformation, then extended them outward for the electricity to jump from the coils to the meister-weapon pair.

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Francis Flynn​

"Starwulf"​

Species Human
Partner Fia
Rank Three-Star

Location Nevada Desert between Death City and Las Vegas
Mission Coils of Despair
Status Focused and excited

​

Tags: Merciless Medic RedArmyShogun EmperorsChosen The Regal Rper

'It's a bold move to try chain resonance without training,' Starwulf commented, addressing the elephant in the room when it came to the topic. Of course, he was only addressing Fia. Chain Resonance, as powerful as it was, happened to also be a highly personalized and sensitive technique that required the parties be fairly familiar with each other. It was not a skill one developed and could subsequently do with anyone. The relationship may not have been quite as refined as that of a Meister-Weapon dynamic, but to just match with another soul and share their power was something few could just do on a whim.

Starwulf already knew he was a bad candidate for the technique due to his unique wavelength. Sure, he could use it, but doing so was hardly something most could do right out of the gate.

On the other hand, this was the heat of the moment and they needed a split second decision. Fia could mitigate a lot of the difficulty with Chain Resonance by tempering his wavelength. It's literally what she did best. Starwulf wasn't entirely familiar with Az, but he was Reiko. Reiko was experienced and intelligent. If it was her expert opinion that Az could maintain the technique with her assistance, then there had to be something he didn't know. The other Meister had to have some trick up his sleeve to surprise him. Something that made the chances of success higher than average.

In short, Starwulf didn't really know Az. But, he trusted Weapons. Especially good weapons. Fia and Reiko respectfully happened to be some of the best he knew. He had faith--faith in those two--that this was a shot worth taking.

'I doubt we can make sandstone clean enough for me to blitz him with, so Chain Resonance it is,' Starwulf said, though his focus was now shifting. Not that he was unfocused before, but the intensity of Chain Resonance was on a different level than anything he had demonstrated in this fight prior. 'Keep a steady beat for me, Fia," Starwulf told her, 'If they're going to match us, we need to give them every advantage we can.'

Starwulf truly had a unique soul. A delayed wavelength. One that pulsed slow, but hard. One that didn't react immediately, but often violently. It was not as unstable as a Volatile Soul, but it was unwieldly nonetheless. Fia was perfectly suited for him in that regard. A rare Capacitor Soul. She could steady his wavelength, make it into an even flow of energy as long as he kept channeling it to her. Years of increasing his reserves and stamina made that feasible and her innate ability alongside her experience utilizing it to its fullest diminished the drawbacks either one of them had in other pairs. For Starwulf, most other weapons were a constant battle to remain paired with. For Fia, most other Meisters viewed her ability as pointless at best and a liability at worst.

Together, they were greater than the sum of their parts.

Az would hear and feel the tempo of their soul. Something to reach outward towards. It was not just his wavelength that made his soul unique. It was spirit. He was a warrior. His soul beat like a war drum. Despite his name, it was not a howl or feral. It was tempered and strong. It was Steady and thunderous. It was decades of a life within the dojo under one of the most intense warriors that existed. Starwulf was one of the star pupils of the Warrior God, after all.

Matching him meant matching the beat of his drum. Matching them meant that the drum had a perfectly even tempo. Fia took the raw power and intensity of his wavelength and cleansed it of its uneven spikes and delays. Like an army that needed a strong beat to march, she made sure that it was always in perfect order. Fia was the order to his chaos. His soul was thunder and lightning and she was the bottle for the storm.

Chain Resonance was a powerful thing. Blind faith was as powerful as it was dangerous. The risk Starwulf took in humoring this technique with no premeditated plan turned out to be worth it. Az and his unique skillset made him more than suitable to match Starwulf and his intensity, and thus the bond of Chain Resonance poured. Spiritual energy transferred between them, empowering each one of them like the the deft, cool water of an Ozark river on a Spring day. It not only allowed them to share their souls, but to push their own techniques a step further. The leap may not have been as potent as pure Resonance, but considered it could be combined with it, this was no force to be reckoned with.

Dane could not be ignorant to it, either. Chain Resonance, especially when successful, had a trademark air about it. It could almost electrify the atmosphere with the power being transferred between its users. Through sight or just feeling alone, its activation and use was a red flag of war that matched the beating drum that was their new, invigorated power.

Chain Resonance also had another benefit. Now, all four of them could communicate through it. Given that they had no means of doing so beforehand due the EMP effect of Dane, the advantage it gave them surpassed even what they might have gained in raw power.

'I will dodge whatever you throw at him with our link,' Starwulf informed them in a hurried tone. 'Hit him, don't worry about me,' he reiterated.

Meanwhile, he was still planning. A full frontal assault was normally his style, but he had to adapt. With more power and communication behind them, more opportunities were created. Beyond that, he was sure Dane would pick up on this technique. He speculated that Chain Resonance might infuriate the weapon. If he felt outnumbered before, this might only worsen that. Like cancer, he expected the insecurity of the weapon to grow exponentially. And, nothing was more dangerous than a cornered animal.

Besides that, he knew how Fia worked. With a new power ceiling, she would need a few moments to charge to match it. She was prepared to operate at their level of Resonance. Chain Resonance was a level above. She wouldn't be able to make immediate use of that increase, meaning that buying her some time was more akin to buying them both their maximum potential.

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Reiko Tanaka
Near Outskirts of Vegas​

Reaching out across the retaliative gap, there was little choice if they were going to stop Dane. As the soul wavelengths connected, Reiko grabbed hold. The intensity and tempo of resonance on Starwulf's side of the field. Reiko had many Meisters over the years, some who were snuffed out all too soon and some who had lasted many years. She had seen the fires of "war" twice now and had seen the worst days of the DWMA, so this did not disrupt her, as she reaches out to the resonance, informing Az of what she was doing earlier, it was time to put it in action.

Matching the beat in tempo she thinks of it as playing Taiko drums with some metal intermixed, matching the beat as near enough as she could, it would depend on Fia and Az if this worked, thankfully both had the experience or the ability to do so, keeping an eye on the battle she nods within her blade, or his mind's eye to Az. "Link is established, watch out for him... Even if he's went mad he seems rather reasoned to me..." Given the nature of Chain resonance, it could actual communication, or just battle instinct.


Interactions/mentions: Sir Les Paul Merciless Medic The Regal Rper EmperorsChosen

 

[Merciless Medic]

Gauss & Noah & Arkaysis​

The Wall of Fire & Werewolf Rescue​

​

April 1, 2067
Location: Spirit Park, Death City
Collab with Sir Les Paul and Peckinou
Interactions: Sara, Eva
Mentions: Adrian, Dani, Nadia
EmperorsChosen RedArmyShogun Mook-LandStrider

Gauss let out a bemused scoff. Noah over there decided to be a tryhard, attempting to fire the guns via the magnetism. Admittedly, the idea had passed through his mind as well, but he passed it over thinking the aiming and pulling of the trigger would be too fine of a control for them on this level. Especially given there were nearby civilians. Granted, Noah was far better at aiming; their scores on virtually any video game proved that.

After his first attempt, it seemed Noah forfeit that plan for the same reason Gauss never even tried it. Regardless, he thought the effort was commendable. It was a decent plan, just not within their scope of skill–yet. Something like that would probably take years of practice; he knew all too well how using these magnetic fields was like trying to drive with inverted controls.

It did give Gauss an idea, however. Once the giant steel cache boxes were all lined up creating a barricade through their half of the park, Gauss started ripping out the magazines from as many of the large weapons as he could and tossed the smaller arms to the side. Originally, he was quite concerned with stray bullet fire if he was to melt these containers, but with Noah having emptied one gun, the idea hit him that if there were no bullets inside them, they couldn’t misfire. And, as long as the weapons were on their side of the barricade, the dolls couldn’t get them.

That in and of itself was a short task. With everything in place, he stopped spinning Noah and switched his stance to focus on Arky. With the scythe now in the forefront, he wanted to execute the next part of his plan. Melting these containers so that nothing inside them could be used. ‘Arky, bud, it’s your turn. The goal is to melt everything in those containers. If the containers melt, too, it’s whatever,” Gauss told him. ‘After we finish this, we’re gonna go try and help Sara,’ Gauss explained to both of them now, ‘I think she did what we did in the tournament, and some healing might be in order.’

With that last comment, though, Gauss poured his wavelength into Arkysis, empowering the weapon even further. While they had practiced this, they had yet to truly achieve resonance. Even if they couldn’t resonate, however, Gauss could give his partner a whole extra supply of power for the current task. With his wavelength came the presence of his soul space.

Gauss’ soul was bright. An almost golden light emanating from it with him at its center, all things ranging from flashes of his memories in golden spheres to odd sets of clocks and gears circling him. He at its center on a marble platform and a faint pull towards him. It was for those connected to him, like Noah and Arkysis, an odd sensation not present with other Meisters. To be pulled towards something on a spiritual level was unique, to say the least. Given his wavelength and personality, this trait matched him nigh-perfect as annoying as it may be.

‘Take whatever power you need,’ Gauss instructed, his tone oddly relaxed and kind in and of itself. ‘This isn’t the time to practice resonating, so just blast the ever living Hell out of those containers,’ he explained, reassuring Arkysis that this was purely a gift of his energy, not some effort to match anyone else.

‘Haha, light ‘em up!’ Noah cheered, who was maybe a bit too hyped in seeing the fire show Arkayis was capable of giving.

Arkayis was more than happy to comply, taking the duos' demand, focusing their flames into one point, their tip. Allowing their tip to grow hotter, and hotter before releasing a torrent of Blue Concentrated Flames towards the containers. They then used the added boost Gauss provided them to steadily add more power behind their flames, allowing the stream of flames to grow bigger and hotter. It didn’t take long before the containers and the weapons that were in it transformed into nothing but a puddle of liquid mush. “I wouldn’t recommend stepping over there, for a while.”

Burning the weapons cache has left Arkayis is a better mood, as the he was taken aback, the ordeal reminded them of their time with their sister. Though the job was done, it wasn’t Arkayis best work, as they had done better with their sister in the past. But with a new Meister he supposed it was at least satisfactory enough especially with the fact they were doing it without resonating.

Gauss had vastly underestimated how hot Arkysis’ flames could be. The heat radiating off of the glowing, orange piles of metal could be felt from a decent distance away. At the very least, it incinerated anything that could have caught fire normally. A wildfire would have been worse, but his plan was to create a barricade. Now these caches stood at best only a few feet tall with most of their structural foundation gone. At the very least, a pile of scorching hot steel would provide some type of deterrence from crossing–or so he assumed.

‘Note to self,’ Gauss mentioned in their shared space, making the entire comment a bit of an oxymoron, ‘We need to work on controlling those flames.’ Though, there was a touch of humor in how he thought this. Even if one objective wasn’t met, they did achieve the fundamental goal of destroying the bulk of the weapons and the barrier was at least somewhat present. Even if it only slowed down a few dolls, that would give anyone fighting them on their side a better chance at cutting them down.

And, based on the work Nadia, Dani, and now this crazy bitch with what looked like chainsaws were accomplishing, that would be a benefit to plenty. Adrian meanwhile seemed to have just parted the red sea. His wavelength was entirely unstable, but he was surrounded by piles of white, mud-like puddles on any single side of him and no other corpses. If this was some intentional technique, it was terrifying.

‘Noah, after we help Sara, any chance you think we can calm him?’ Gauss asked before darting off in the direction of Sara. She wasn’t terribly far away, and time was of the essence, so this talk would need to remain short. ‘Worst case scenario, I could keep his spikes off us with my wavelength and Arky’s heat could dissuade him from touching us,’ he added, just in case the thread of a pissed off weapon was something Noah wasn’t a fan of.

The flames were absolutely brilliant to watch. Noah wasn’t a pyromaniac, but seeing the metal melt into a caustic, puddle of lava-like metal was fantastic. ‘That’s cool…’. Being told of Sara had his soul on alert. He searched for Sara and saw her struggling to hold her weapon. A brief memory of him and her going through the throes of rejection appeared for but a moment, of burning her hands despite her attempts to hold him, only for a terrible accident to happen, of which the memory didn’t delve into. Then, his eyes went to Adrian. ‘Hopefully. Otherwise, we’re kinda fucked. But I do think we can calm ‘em. The collars’re supposed to be filled with healin’ wavelength stuff, yeah? Just make sure I’m touchin’ ‘em.’ He told him, on the ready for it. Despite not wanting to be near a weapon when they were like that, he definitely didn’t want them becoming his father, even if briefly. His worry of Gauss getting hurt was only slightly outweighed by a compelling duty to help calm the raging beast that was Adrian.

Gauss ditched the Guy Fawkes mask on his way to Sara, though he was still donning the rest of his ridiculous yellow attire. Probably even more so given he was wielding a scythe in his left hand and a staff in the right. Regardless, his arrival was fairly recognizable even if absurd.

“I believe you two could benefit from a jolt from Noah,” Gauss said, making his intentions clear in regards to why he abruptly confronted them as opposed decimating more of the crowd like Nadia, Adrian, or the chainsaw fanatic.

​

“Jolt? Oh.” Sara quickly realized what he meant, and quickly snatched up Noah’s weapon form, but not pulling him from Gauss’s grasp. Noah’s healing wavelength surged, an odd feeling compared to the tingly lightning properties he held. The burning sensation between her and Eva was waning and Sara could now breathe easy, as their emotions and wavelength stabilized for a better connection between Sara and Eva. It wasn’t much, but now she didn’t have to worry about blisters forming nor how unwieldy Eva was from her now decreased weight. “Thanks.” She smiled.

“Anytime.” Noah responded. Sara down, now Adrian…

Oh dear.

 

[EmperorsChosen]

Eloise Keegan - DWMA Festival Grounds
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

Elly would've deadpanned if she could shift her face. Thankfully, Annika picked up the cue quickly after and freed her from the beaded necklace. The Irishwoman breathed a sigh of relief as she felt her body freed.

"Thank you dear," She breathed before turning to dash over toward Sage.

She ripped the beads from his neck and took hold of his hand in preparation of his form to shift to that of a spear. As the light shrank and lengthened in her grasp, she twirled the polearm with deft accuracy and turned, impaling a golem that had begun its advance on her. The tip of the spear ran through its cranium, Elly's wavelength amplified to give her strikes and thrusts more than enough force to pierce through the exterior of the jesters.

Dipping downward with the shaft, the movement pulled the decrepit faux corpse over her as a faux shield from gunfire. Pushing her wavelength into her feet, she shot forward with the golem toward another sever gun-toters. She pushed with the spear, lancing one of the assailants through the cadaver it was dragging around. Then she turned, thrusting the dull end of the spear into another golem's leg to snap it in a direction it shouldn't have postured. The polearm circled in a counter-clockwise motion, cutting the arm holding the firearm as it turned to point the gun at her before she finally executed it with a clean, horizontal strike to part its head from the rest of its body.

There was lots of ensuing panic, however, Elly could both see, hear, and feel others who were capable of moving and who were fighting. The golems were rather weak all things considered. Likely whatever manifested this event was counting on the beads to keep everyone unable to fight back. If she were alone, Elly likely would have retreated. However, this was certainly a fight they could win.

 

[Sir Les Paul]

The Siren Wails​

Tags: The Regal Rper Merciless Medic Peckinou RedArmyShogun EmperorsChosen Serei2477 Meredith Mook-LandStrider

April 1st, 2067 | 1646​

It was hardly five minutes or less into the chaos that the emergency sirens of the DWMA wailed. Authority figures knew what was going on and messages were being sent out to all agents within the City--retired or otherwise--for assistance. Not that those in the front lines were quick to check their phones and even fewer wore their communicators this day, but the efforts were put forth. At the moment, instructions were still simple to the degree of being obvious: eliminate the threats and protect the civilians. There had not yet been time to come up with any form of structured plan and no contingency plan they had was adequate for this.

Worse, and unbeknownst to the Agents in Spirit Park, was that various parts of the DWMA proper were under attack. It was not as if these dolls were the only or even primarily threat.

Fate Agents throughout Death City happened to be some of the first released from the paralytic spell. Their timely intervention likely did more to stem the bleeding from this assault than any other singular force, if only due to their raw number. The Fate Agents numbered nearly three hundred including those not yet ready for field work or whose teams had not yet been established. A good majority of the Fate Agents were present within the parade or even within Spirit Park. Being the problem children of the DWMA did not exclude from holiday festivities.

There immediate numbers did not mean they were the only individuals present to help. Many agents with gifts such as Noah and Nadia were simply naturally resistant to the spell, and others like the Spellbreakers--though far smaller in number--were resistant as well. The problem that would be only be uncovered later is that most agents of a high caliber like the mentors or more specifically those with any type of resistance were simply not present. There may have been a select few capable of being the defenders of the city, but they were hardly elites amongst their peers.

In this time of need and chaos, ranks and stars held little value. Elite or not, all hands could contribute to the protection of the DWMA.

Through the efforts of the agents present that decimated the dolls, created paths, and protected civilians, Spirit Park was all-but secured. Nadia and Dani proved capable of battlefield slaughter fueled by their shared disgust of this type of attack. Annika proved nearly as destructive as Adrian with the training Starwulf had put her through, and her new best friends Phobos and Demios. Elly and Sage alongside Gauss, Noah, and Ark were far more effective at providing back-up; Elly with her Super Soul Perception could help out more agile agents such as Sara track down more weaselly targets that Eva had no problems smashing to bits. The trio found themselves either healing their friends or using their abilities to keep safe zones free from threats.

The only wildcard still happened to be Adrian. With arguably the highest kill count in the moment and absolutely no regards to his own well-being, he had made it a persistent endeavor to Self-Resonate and make a mad dash into the waves of dolls to skewer as many as possible, still clearing out large swathes of them at a rate that painted the park white and would be difficult to match for anyone without a death wish.

Luckily, support would arrive from unlikely sources.

Guardian Golems from Davis' labs marched through the streets of the city, smashing through the dolls with relative ease. Many of these were similar models to the ones that the DWMA used for their One-Star test. Some were larger and more equipped, having thicker plating and melee weapons, but the most advanced kits that had ranged weaponry were removed before release. The possibility of friendly fire and wanton destruction would be too great with this force. These golems proved fairly effective at combating the dolls, though they were no real replacement for agents; a handful of these dolls could swarm and destroy a golem. Annika, Nadia, and Adrian all proved that it would require far greater numbers of them to take them down.

Though, they had one benefit that the Agents did not. Their bodies and destruction mattered little. They could shield civilians with their lives and would fight until their destruction. Even after that, they were programmed to throw the scraps of their golem brethren in alleyways and in other chokepoints to clog them up, preventing the dolls from using these avenues for their own nefarious purposes. That, and they could in real time provide instructions and information to civilians and fighting agents alike. Their attention could be split without any real cost to their efficacy. In a way, they acted more as glorified messengers than a true defense force.

These golems even made an appearance at Spirit Park, though there was far less for them to do given the amount of dolls the Agents had destroyed. Instead, they began to herd the civilians that could still walk to a designated triage area. Others carefully carried those that were wounded. Nothing was done for those that were lost or that the golems evaluated as too hurt to move. While the bulk of these golems worked on this particular endeavor, others ran up to the agents and in their own automated voices explained what the current plan was.

Clear the streets and get the civilians to a safeguarded spot where more highly equipped golems were setting up what would effectively be a base. The most nearby one was near the Fire Districts just south of them. It was suggested they come, too, once they cleared the area. Had anyone the time or thought to check their devices, each were broadcast with these same instructions.

There existed a different problem that many of them likely saw coming. Due to the Madness he was exuding, these golems deemed Adrian a threat. He had already destroyed two in a fit of rage after they attacked him and refused to listen to his attempts at reasoning with them. This ultimately only pushed him further to the edge. HIs Madness worsening, the wavelength he exuded transitioning from that normal anguished blue to a more violet as the red taints of Madness set in. Their goals instructions were clear, but even if they were to blindly follow them, doing so with Adrian as he was would be impossible.

More so, loud explosions echoed through the air. Exponentially louder than before, all hailing from the direction of the DWMA. These were not the fiery explosions one might expect from the destruction of a small store. They even eclipsed those one might expect from a gas leak. These shook the air from miles away and made the DWMA feel even more like a true war zone. Even in the combat Nadia had seen in Russia, bombings like these were incredibly rare. They only served one purpose: to destroy. One did not bomb a city they wanted to take over. One did not cause rampant destruction in places they wished to cause conquest. One did not salt the earth of land they wished to own.

There were far greater dangers out there, it appeared, than these dolls.

GM Note: The next major event will occur at the Fire District. Each individual player/pair will be able to decide if they want assist Adrian, move to the fire district, or fuck off and do their own thing. The main note is that the current area is mostly secured.

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Rand Mabason​

"Soundwave Sorcerer"​

Species Witch
Partner N/A
Rank Two Star

Location Dall Island, Spider War
Mission Excursion to Dall Island
Status Half-frantic, trying to concentrate

​

Tags: Meredith Merciless Medic The Regal Rper RedArmyShogun

It had to be done. He needed his eye. Not necessarily because of the thread of these spiders, but because of the circumstances of his team. Something was entirely wrong with Chanterelle. He could see it, a plague within her almost. More than anyone present, mana was a part of her. It literally coursed through her veins and in her lifetime turned her into something borderline inhuman, even for a Witch. Yet, in their current environment, she was at her weakest. Just hours ago, she was able to destroy these spiders effortlessly and now it seemed like the spark within her had died. Rand could only attribute this to the desolate amount of mana within the area.

Then of course, there was Maria. For whatever purpose, possibly the Pull she had experienced earlier, she opted to leave their battlefield entirely to target what had to have been the queen of these black spiders. Her leaving was not only a death sentence for her on her own, but it left the team that much weaker. Chanterelle and Maria were both key members of this team. Their loss within in the context of the fight crippled the team and lessened their chances of getting out of this alive.

It was an absolute. Rand needed to the power of his grandmother. So, off came him headband and more importantly, the flow of her ancient magic poured through him.

The mana from her eye was alien. It was not his own. It was something borrowed. More importantly, it was vastly greater than that of any witch there; it even exceeded the Blood Magic Chanterelle was so notable for. This was not a trait to boast about, it was one to be weary of. The use of this eye and its power subsequently only made the brown spider legion more fervent to consume it, causing the front lines within the war to fight the queen and her army of ebony soldiers that much harder. In the moment, that problem was something to be dealt with later.

Using Belldash to reach her at an absurdly fast pace, Rand scooped up Chanterelle and threw her over his shoulders into a fireman carry. She was weakening as he even carried her. He could feel what was going on inside of her now with his eye open and his senses sharpened. The small wounds she had incurred earlier were once healing fast, but were now heavily slowed down to the point it was a massive drain on her mana. She was so closely attuned to mana in her body that just a few minutes in the desolate forest in her condition was enough to leave her effectively anemic and weak. If that kept up, he speculated there was a good chance she could go entirely catatonic if not just die.

He was not terribly skilled at transferring his mana. That was an elite tier skill amongst all Witches. The Mabian Eye increased his power, not his skill. They needed to retreat as soon as possible, for her sake and the sake of the mission.

Ark and Raphael were in the process of trying to create a Magic Circle for a repeat of what they did to the crabs. That could work, but it wouldn't solve the problem of being absolutely surrounded. It would at the least buy them time.

In the meanwhile, he used that same Dash to catch up to Maria, still carrying Chanterelle across his shoulders. It was difficult. Extremely strenuous on his body. Belldash made him travel at the literal speed of sound, but the spell was truly only intended for his personal use. Doing so with double his weight--as Chanterelle was surprisingly heavy for her size--was enough to make his young bones feel old. Regardless, time was not something he could afford to waste.

"Maria, we cannot win this fight," he told her, the exasperation on his face obvious. Even Rand had lost his cool in this situation. "You will die fighting that queen and Chanterelle will die if we don't get her out of this dead zone," he explained to her, "If you want to live instead of dying like an idiot after one taste of the pull, you need to come back and help."

His eyes were fierce. Almost desperate, but focused. His Mabian eye was something else entirely. It did not have emotions or expressions. It was an abyss of pure, concentrated mana from the most renown Witch in the world. It was basically a tool of the flesh. In a way, it was likely the thing Maria hated most in this world. Yet, there was something entrancing about it. It was almost likely peering into a miniature ley line. Or, looking into a pensive that held memories of the past. That eye may have been a clone, but the original had seen centuries of Witchkind and magic pass. Somehow, despite only being a few years old, that mysticism still existed within it. The stark contrast between his own eyes and his third eye was almost stunning and potentially even distracting.

"The key to getting out alive is Ark," Rand told her. He then nodded over to the gloved Sorcerer, hoping to get her to look back. "I trust you can make a Magic Circle just like Raph's quicker than he learned it," he continued, "If you can make a small one, Raph can make one around it, then I make a third, we can make his spell level hundreds of feet of this forest. As long as we don't burn to death in the lava, we'll get out of here alive."

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Maria Mayer - Dall Island​

Advancing with her arm blade as the beast retreated, she cut down more foes that came against her, the medium doll and herself acting akin to a two person squad rather than a shield, every so often she would give it new instructions before detaching her wires to gain more distance, or even using her wires with the doll to bind and rip apart smaller spiders as she cursed, the queen further on the run.

Then she was stopped, Rand was yelling something at her, eyes narrowed she screamed "WHAT?! DIE? DEAD? ZONE? PULL? COME BACK?!" At him, unable to make heads or tails of what he was saying. Chanterelle was on his shoulders, being carried. Ending her pursuit, she peered at his third eye and tried to figure out what he was wanting, he then motioned towards Ark in the back and some of his words entered her head as the ringing broke a bit and some blood trickled from her right ear.

"What in the Deaths name are you saying... Getting alive, Ark... Circles... like Raph... quicker... learned... feet.. forest... level... Lava...?" Pondering what the broken message meant, she nods her head at least having a jist he wanted her to help in a ritual, it seemed he didn't want to pursue the queen. A shame. Nodding her head she motioned, screaming her words still as her internal volume was far off. "HELP ARK, SPIRIT CIRCLE RITUAL, I DON'T KNOW THIS MAGIC TOO WELL, BUT WILL TRY, SHOULD NOT BE UNLIKE ENGRAVING MANA ESSENCE INTO DOLLS, WILL MAKE SMALLEST!"

With this said she hurriedly jogs back toward his direction, with the presence of the Maba's eye bearing down on her, she seemed remarkably calm and willing to help, even if she did not know what with. Thinking back to hear earliest lessons in magic, magic circles were one of the most basic, in theory she should have no problem with this, the sigil of fire was likely needed, or the one for energy and support. What was that... Recalling what she seen of Ark, it took her a couple of tries, before she gave up trying to physically draw the circle and shifted her blade back into a grimoire, enchanting with it a red glow emanated from the book as she hoped to have Rands request correct. On the third attempt she forged a spell circle from her book into a holding pattern just above the ground, it glowed red and was of a basic connection to fire elemental magic that was left open ended for connections into joining another circle, roughly the size of a manhole. It was nothing special, but it would serve the purpose it was needed for, provided she was correct.

Merciless Medic The Regal Rper Meredith Sir Les Paul

 

[Merciless Medic]

Raphael Valerias​

March 28, 2067
Location: Dead Zone, Dall Island
Interactions: Ark, Rand, Maria, Chanterelle
Mentions: N/A
Sir Les Paul The Regal Rper Meredith RedArmyShogun

Raph realized that the increased weight of his chains did nothing to deter this spiders. However, the hot nature of his chains were burning them. While resistant to magic, like magical air, they weren’t resistant to the effects magic made. He knew his own heat was just a reaction, not something molded by magic, but made to happen to one thing. Indirect magic was the way to go, which was most of his spells. Problem was… Most magic wasn’t like that. The other ones who had such indirect magic were Ark’s lava and Maria’s dolls.

He broke a chain link from the spider, the hot links simmered around the spider still, even after the connection was severed. As soon as he did so, he blacked out.

Unsure of what was going on, he felt his hands tingling, then his numb face being pushed against something. No, he was laying on something. His arms then moved, pushing against something his face was up against. His vision had spots, his ears rang. Grass was in front of him. It was green with bits of webbing. He shook his head, trying to clear the mind fog, but there was now a drilling in his mind. A massive, pounding migraine. Did he get a concussion?

What was that?

He looked around, but his vision was blurry instead of spotty, having one eye really screwing him over right now. He couldn’t see clearly that wasn’t a few feet in front of him. He looked back down on the ground, and he saw most of the webbing was gone.

Wait… That’s right…

He needed to make a magic circle.

But there was still some webbing that prevented that from happening. Cursing, he finally stood up, but he was very unsteady, his legs awkwardly keeping him up as he stared around, the definition now coming back. Spiders. So many spiders…

He saw Maria charging with her dolls forward, towards the queen further away.

He looked around to find Ark, also affected by the blast. Remembering he was in a war zone before all this, he wondered what he was seeing. If he was okay. They needed him to get out of here. Raph staggered back towards him, feeling his body glow from something Ark was doing. Still very unsteady, he used Ark’s stature to keep him standing as the ground shook violently, a hand on Ark’s arm. The earth began clawing away at the very webbing that laid over it, then lava sputtering out.

He watched as Rand took off his headband and quickly grabbed Chanterelle, who wasn’t looking too good from the dead zone that sapped most of her energy, then ran off to get Maria back over to the group. He had to make that magic circle now.

With the space granted to him by Ark, he opened up his book, looked over his magic circle, then knelt down, placing his hand on the ground. Both him and his book glowed, the pages fluttering. But it took quite a bit of time to make it stamp on the ground. Maria had finally come back, yelling something, but Raphael’s ringing ears barely picked it up. Smallest? Circle? Were they making a set of circles?

Okay, he can make the middle one. He waited until Maria made her circle, then he made his around Maria’s.

Now, it was all on Rand and Ark. He was starting to get really, really tired, his body heaving.

Was that blood he was tasting?

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Nadia Semyonov - Death City - Festival Grounds
​

"Fuck." Nadia says when all is said and done. Looking all around her, the attack wave was finally destroyed. That Adrian fellow also seemed on verge of going off the deepend last she seen him and the Golems were focusing on him rather than the other threats around them. Some of the Civilians saved by the others seemed eager to get the hell out of here and she didn't blame them. Dropping the sword and waiting for Dani to transform, she motions with her left arm to bring it up and use the communicator to find her phone and back bag back at the original spot, as she took off the Valkyrie helmet and threw it to the side for the time being as she then motioned for Dani to run over to her, checking her phone as she finds a snack machine.

"Toropit'sya! Here, over here! Dani!" With two quick movements, she reached into her bag grabbed a 100 in 20's and rammed a fist right into the snack machine, forcing the money into the machine's collection box, before removing her hand and performing a third action as she lifted up her right foot and smashed the glass of the vending machine. "Dani! Eat whatever!" We need to regain calories from the lengthy fight they had just endured. Switching to a general DWMA emergency frequency she patched in to all Agents around her that could hear her.

"Nadia Semyonov to all DWMA forces, or to those of F.A.T.E., tovarishch process what is happening later, we have but a pause in this Urban battle. Time favors those who have a plan and base. DWMA or what is left of it is setting up civilian triage in Fire district to hold the line, what the golems say is the case. I'm heading there and taking whoever can with the Civilians, then when we know what is happening we plan next move. I broke open a vending machine, get whatever the fuck you want from it, I paid for it."

Then there was the small issue of the Lunatic. "Adrian, da? Yes, Adrian, the Ebanashka, I will not be bringing Dani to calm that mother fucker down. Madness will just jump from one to the other, but he's fucking up the Golems, some of you wish to try saving him, then do so, his form is an iron maiden with some crazy spikes otherwise. I will not spend time helping one like this. Leaving in ten minutes, out."

The Russian accent concludes, partially writing off Adrian from her own point of view, or showing a neutrality towards it. Adrian as far as she was concerned was not her problem. The Civilians however very much now were her problem.

Standing up on a concrete divider wall, to shout, Nadia's voice booms out, screaming into the air for those who were near enough to hear, "Follow us and stay together! The battle is won but war is on! Those who wish to return home do so of their own accord, but I can promise you, only struggle and death awaits! By coming with us, some more of you may yet live and have the protection of the Golem Sentries and DCPD! We leave in ten minutes! Those who can walk, help those that cannot, make use of whatever you can find to defend yourselves and aid moving of the wounded! We are the DWMA and this battle is not yet lost! Hold in your hearts vengence for who unleashed this and mourn your dead once we stand atop the enemy and have visited unto them retribution!

Vstavay, tovarishch! Davay, tovarishch!"

Perhaps a call back to her previous life in the slums and battlefield, Nadia seemed able to organize and was quick to react to a bad situation, to make the best of it and to serve as an anchoring point, if others would rally around that or not was another question as she jumped back down, letting the Golems get the message across. She snatched up handful of candy bars and took her vodka flask from her purse, taking out the most needed items from it as she tore into some chocolate bars, throwing the wrappers where they were as she then started lifting the shirt fabric around her neck, throwing the most important items down her shirt as she threw the purse and miscellaneous items of no worth to land among the battlefield. "Shit will rot my fucking teeth."

Sir Les Paul EmperorsChosen Merciless Medic Mook-LandStrider Peckinou The Regal Rper Serei2477

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Rand Mabason​

"Soundwave Sorcerer"​

Species Witch
Partner N/A
Rank Two Star

Location Dall Island, Spider War
Mission Excursion to Dall Island
Status Half-frantic, trying to concentrate

​

Tags: Meredith Merciless Medic The Regal Rper RedArmyShogun

Rand had entirely forgotten about the deafening affect of her explosion. The surge of energy within him that came with his Mabian Eye alongside the adrenaline of the current situation had pushed that to the back of his mind. Maria had already ran off, but letting her blindly try to create a Magic Circle might be cause for the concern given she at the very least required the correct runes to make it function. In fact, hers needed to be identical to Raphael's for his plan to work.

Luckily, Rand was known as the Witch with a Thousand Spells for a reason.

He outstretched his hands fairly wide, spacing them symmetrically in front of himself with his fingers curled and his focus clear. "Liber Cantus Magus," he incanted, empowering himself with rehearsed lines. Though, these words held power. Incantations were rare and inefficient. Verbal components to spells often slowed them down, normally only viable with rituals or outside of combat. However, this was Conjuration Magic. To create something from nothing. Many innate spells could conjure plenty of items, but they were natural to their owner. This spell was one Rand had to research and learn; it was outside of his normal repertoire of spells. The extra components were necessary.

A leather-bound book with various symbols, including that of the Mabian House, his own third eye, and various runes for sound and wind decorated the book. It floated in front of him, not requiring his touch. Though, he was still not done incanting. "Ostende Mihi Chorum Magiae Meae," he added, and with those words said the true spell was complete. The book flipped open almost violently, tearing through its pages as they filled with glowing green text that eventually settled into black ink. Even then, the text itself was almost alive. Shifting and swirling, forming Witch Runes and English, some Latin, not quite settling on one thing.

That didn't matter. Not for now. Another Belldash had Rand catch up with Maria and Raphael. They may not be able to hear, but they could most definitely read. The book floated in front of them while Rand sat down Chanterelle. With that, he firmly planted both of his hands onto the ground. Raph and Maria were already creating their Magic Circles, and for the most part, they were fine. However, there were some adaptations that needed to be made. For a Magic Circle to be chained to another, a very specific rune was needed. The book would tell them all they needed in time. For the moment, Rand had a different priority. Making sure the three of them could focus before he created the final Circle.

His third eye glowed, empowering his own magic. This time, at the very least, a spell he was familiar with. The wind picked up, and soon created a vicious typhoon that surrounded them. Though loud it may be, it was not likely to hurt their deafened ears any more than the explosion already had. More importantly, the wind created a barrier around them that repelled the spiders and provided them a temporary shelter. This type of magic would typically be just outside of his grasp to do on such a large area, but he was tapping into forces that weren't his own. Though, that came at a cost. his body could not sustain this long.

The book itself communicated what it needed to. The instructions for Maria and Raphael, confirming the plan that the two had already pieced together. More importantly, it drew the specific diagrams necessary for the circles to work in conjunction. Maria now knew the exact runes she needed for Ark and his magic to flow through her circle, then how to connect it to Raph's. Raph now knew which rune to add to connect to Maria's circle, and the rune to allow Rand to create another. Factually, if they could do this successfully, they were skipping ahead years in terms of training and mastering Magic Circles. He might have been proud if their lives didn't literally depend on it.

Lastly was Ark. Ark had no way of immediately knowing any of this plan, but with the book, he was given instructions. All he had to do was focus his strongest Lava Magic into the first circle Maria had created, and channel it until the spell was complete. Of course, that was after Rand would make his final one. More importantly, the moment the spell activated, he needed to stop channeling and immediately make a platform of stone for them so that they could float along what would likely be a field of lava that they were about to create. Without that crucial step, they would all prove victims to their own spell work.

Luckily, Maria and Raphael were highly capable mages. Raphael definitely had the trickier Circle as the runework was more complex. Whether it was his nature as a Chain Sorcerer and these Magic Circles effectively being chained together, or that mind of his actually demonstrating some positive genetics from his father, it didn't matter. The circle he made was stable enough. And, Maria was undoubtedly correct in that her handiwork creating mana traces in her workshops applied here. While her circle was simpler, only needing four runes, successfully creating it as well as chaining it to another in what he assumed was her first Magic Circle ever was no small feat.

The threat of death by arachnid was borderline miraculous in regards to progressing their spell work. Though, Rand was not one to tempt fate by repeating this endeavor just to teach them more.

Instead, once their circles were perfectly created, he released his wind spell to create his own circle. Or, more accurately, circles. The first he created was not unlike theirs, although it was most definitely larger with exponentially more runes. If anything, it demonstrated there was much more to learn about the craft. The second one he created was considerably different, though. Maria might be more familiar with the runework had she the time or patience to read it, but it was not at all a spell for empowering the lava. Instead, it was to give it shape. Rand was going to channel this spell into a massive cone that headed out westward with the only limitation on its distance being how powerful the spell actually was. Empowering three total times, then changing its shape meant that Rand was quite literal when he told them he intended on reshaping a part of the landscape to escape.

Now all they needed was Ark to remain calm and cast his spells.

 

[EmperorsChosen]

Daniella Ethalyn - Spirit Park, Death City
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

Dani felt herself drifting further and further into hyper-fixation, similar when they resonated in France. The anger and rage fueled her further and further until she was looking through a tunnel, entirely operating on the focus of destroying the damn clown dolls. That was, until, it was over. It took the Demon Sword a few moments to realize that they had ripped and tore all that were available to be.

She reverted back to her humanoid form instinctively as Nadia dropped her, though she still appeared to be in a daze. Her hands shook from adrenaline and rage, but it was different than usual. It wasn't this intoxicating. It was almost like... like...

"Toropit'sya! Here, over here! Dani!"

Dani attention dragged over to Nadia who called her. She blinked a few times and gave her head a brief shake before making her way over to the meister. Dani watched as Nadia vandalized the vending machine, but didn't really chastise her for it. Instead, the girl reached inside to grab a candy bar and bottled drink.

As she recuperated via nourishment, idly listening to Nadia as she watched the new golems create order within the nearby area, Dani only really perked up at the mention of ditching Adrian, as if even in her hyper-fixated state she could tell that which was said was wrong.

"W-Wait... what? What happened to..." Mumbling that, Dani seemed to try to think and recall something other than the blood rage before, and whether through thinking on it and/or through the use of context, she caught up. "Fuck that! I'm not ditching him! Especially if he's like that! ...He-He's not gone yet Nadia!" She snapped back.

Sir Les Paul RedArmyShogun Merciless Medic Mook-LandStrider Peckinou Serei2477
[/bg]

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Adrian Hackney​

"The Maiden"​

Species Human
Partner None
Rank Fate Agent

Location Death City, Spirit Park
Mission The Twisted Joke
Status Half-Mad

​

Tags: Merciless Medic EmperorsChosen RedArmyShogun Mook-LandStrider Peckinou

"...especially if he's like that!"

"He-He's not gone yet!"​

"Gone?" he asked. His tone was entirely different. Whereas his words normally seethed with anger or hid some form of insecurity, now they were almost theatric. His voice was a higher pitch. It carried more energy; it almost held an excitement. After his question, which was truly rhetoric in nature, he let out a laugh that was more like a howling chuckle.

This truly was hilarious. Oh, what a beautiful scenario it was. They thought he was gone. Him. What absurdity is that? How could these senseless pawns of the system expect him to go anywhere?

Didn't they know? They had to. It was obvious. He was a being meant to cause pain. He was a tool to inflict agony. He was the Iron Maiden. His only purpose in life to torture. How could he fit anywhere but the DWMA? He had no place else.

No, he wasn't like Zari. He didn't have some second home in a foreign country. He wasn't like Jarvis, either. He didn't have a whole secret world hidden behind whatever archaic magic created Bloodsuckers. He had nowhere else to go. How could he be gone?

It had to be a joke. There simply was no other option.

Adrian pressed his foot firmly against the metallic chassis of the golem he had most recently impaled. His spikes now were longer than they had ever been. Thicker. As he laughed, even, the crown of spikes that adorned his forehead not so long ago glowed red as they reformed. He wasn't addressing them directly with his words, still absently staring at the golem he had just executed. Sparks flew from it as the remnants of what was the magitech traces broke from the impact of his indestructible weapon-body. The illumination that came from the traces that surrounded its plating faded as he withdrew his spike and pushed it off of the length of the metallic cone, letting it fall lifeless to the ground.

Only then did he turn to the rest of the group, most of them a fair distance away as they had centralized in their efforts to protect civilians while he led the onslaught against the Dolls. Not that he was alone, he saw others partaking in the carnage, too. This new girl with the chain blades was incredibly fascinating in her ability and his new friend Dani was just as impressive being held by Nadia in the slaughter.

"Don't worry, I'm right here," he told them all with that same, almost unstable and still higher-pitch tone. Whether intentional or not, he was completely neglecting the underlying point Nadia and Dani had truly meant. He may have been their in body, but in spirit he was something different entirely.

"I don'--" he started to say, but was cut off by another Golem. These Golems were not just targeting him upon seeing him, but by the looks of it, were now trickling in from the entrance of the park that Adrian had personally carved out to hunt him down. Not that they stood much of a chance. As durable as they may be, and while a more formidable opponent than the dolls, truly neither were a threat to any of the Agents here. Adrian only proved this point, though in a fit of theatrics that were absolutely unnecessary.

Demonstrating yet another change to his physique and capabilities brought on by his Madness, Adrian shot one of his spikes directly into the ground only for it to reappear beneath the Golem to impale it from the ground up. The distance was far more than anything Adrian had ever done in the past, easily fifteen feet away from him. That was something a Weapon could only do under two circumstances: they had become a Death Scythe or Madness was taking root inside of him. The answer was obvious.

"As I was saying," he then started up again, withdrawing the spike back into his palm once this now lifeless golem clunked to the ground. His word choice odd, enunciating each s quite hard and speaking down to the golem as if it were a misbehaving animal. "I don't get to go anywhere," he told them, "the DWMA is the only place someone like me can exist."

The weapon stretched his neck to the side, extending the tense muscles he had and causing a series of cracks to echo out once it had reached its apex. Another loud explosion echoed through the air and his bright eyes looked up to watch it, as if the waves it created were visible and as beautiful as the Aurora Borealis itself. A half smile crept across his face as he contemplated the fact this was far from over. In that thought, however, he mulled over the other thing that Dani had said.

What did she mean? What could like this mean? Did she not see?

He was free. He was free of the sadness that overcame him when Zari and Jarvis left.

He was free of all the questions that plagued his life for so long. He had answers now. He was a being meant to cause pain, and that pain was meant for the enemies of the DWMA.

It was simple. He had a role. He didn't have to be anything else. He didn't need some fallback plan as a craftsman. He didn't need to make friends. He just needed to hurt those in opposition to the DWMA. That's how he protected people.

Didn't they see? He protected good people by hurting the bad ones. It was simple! It was beautiful! It was... freedom.

"What do you mean like this?" he asked, his tone only half-rhetoric this time. "I'm perfectly calm, ladies. In fact, I'm calmer than I've been in years..." he explained to them, his melodic tone truly ringing with a sense of serenity, though tainted with the foreboding realization that it was his Madness speaking.

"I killed the bad guys!" he exclaimed, still completely theatrical without a hint of anger or despair. "What's the problem?" he asked, unclear if he was sincerely asking or merely baiting them for the answer that everyone already knew. He left them with that question. His face was calm and serene, more so than any of them had ever seen it. While Madness may have radiated from his soul, the vibes that his behavior and body language provided was the total opposite. His arms and hands were open, no spikes on them like his head or the few still protruding from his body. It was almost a welcoming gesture, juxtaposed to the ruthless destruction he caused to the golem just moments ago.

He was waiting for an answer.

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Nadia Semyonov - Death City - Festival Grounds

​

As Dani offered protest, Nadia was considering relenting, and allowing it, if only to shut her up. She did not know why she cared so much for that one, they barely even knew him. Or at least Nadia herself had not known him. Watching his latest interactions as he came up to them, the boy acted as if all were right in the world. If he could see the Truth, he would know why the golems were attacking him. He was dangerous, much too dangerous to be allowed to run free.

While he may be normal for now, the fact the defense system was marking him as an enemy was telling. Still, he seemed open to reason. Nadia knew she would give him a hard talk, tell him that he was destroying more allies than enemies now, maybe that he was on the verge of losing himself, she would tell him to get his shit in order, before she put it in order for him. And considering how much he was like a lost puppy, and a prickly one at that, she couldn't decide if she wanted to pat him or kick some sense back into him. Her blue eyes narrowed in on him, as she stood up, holding a candy bar in her left hand, as her right lays upon Dani's left shoulder to give a soft squeeze and pat.

"Do what you must Dani." With that she started to build up her own wavelength, while she was willing to give Dani a chance, she would have a contingency should it all fail. Her hand remaining on Dani's left shoulder for the time being. Five minutes is all she could give. She would not leave Dani to face this alone, even if she would keep silent to his questions.

She hoped this all would blow over, the last thing they needed was infighting and allied losses. But hope alone did very little.

Sir Les Paul EmperorsChosen Merciless Medic Mook-LandStrider Peckinou The Regal Rper Serei2477

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Ulysses Stein​

"D-Stein"​

Species Human
Partner None
Rank One-Star

Location ???
Mission The Twisted Joke
Status Concerned

​

Tags: EmperorsChosen

The news spread like wildfire. It had only been minutes, but word of an attack on the DWMA was already across the globe. Such was the nature of a connected world. Ulysses had seen plenty already. Scraps of video footage recorded and uploaded to social media. No news outlet had broken the story quite yet, but it was sure to happen. This event was already being dubbed the April Fool's Massacre. Posts were being taken down for their graphic content left and right only to be replaced with new ones. Hundreds if not thousands dead based on what little the man could find. That happened to be the issue. There was no concrete information on this event yet.

And, it's not like his connections within the DWMA proper were going to be contacting an agent like him currently on tour in Europe. He was sure that he would be looped in eventually, but for the moment, he was as clueless and astonished as anyone.

He grit his teeth, staring at his phone in awe and disgust. It was no secret that Ulysses wasn't precisely patriotic when it came to the DWMA and their practices. Their existence as a world wide military force down to how they attempted to monopolize hunting the Corrupted created what he considered an unhealthy environment for protecting the world. It wasn't just that, though. Like many Chinese companies before them, the DWMA had their fingers in too many pies. Their influence was overwhelming and their crimes were swept under the rug. The path to Hell is paved with good intentions, but that doesn't excuse the injustice of their institution.

Regardless, he found himself fuming. At his core, Ulysses wanted less conflict. Less war. Better rights. He wanted restructure, not destruction. What he saw on his screens both infuriated and saddened him. He was an idealist in his heart, and his heart hurt seeing the loss. More so, it was broken knowing how far this would set back his efforts to better the world. An attack like this could easily be construed as an act of war.

And war? War was a terrible, evil thing. Nature was full of conflict and killing, but only man waged war. It was the most vile invention his species had claim to. It was peppered throughout all human history and was the reason behind some of the worst acts of humanity ever known. War... War never changes.

"Well dear, do tell me you're alive," Ulysses chimed in, reaching out to connect to Elly through their shared scarab pendant. He doubted she would die so easily, but given the chaos, it was entirely feasible she was hurt. It was much harder for him to hide his actual concern for her well-being at the moment. In actuality, him checking in was one of the only things he could do in general. His generalized upset at the events that unfolded were heavy enough, but it was with a hollow chest and sunken breaths that he considered the loss of those close to him. He had brothers and cousins, too, but none of them shared a direction connection with him.

Beyond that, he knew Fredrick and Astila wouldn't even be present for the attack. While the latter hardly concerned him, the former he kept him touch with often. If he had to count the friends he had from his youth within the DWMA, there was a harsh reality now hitting him that someone he knew was probably killed in this attack.

"Feeds on every app are showing the carnage. What the fuck happened?" he asked, half-frantic and hardly the composed wordsmith he so often was.

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Quelling the Maiden's Madness​

Tags: The Regal Rper Merciless Medic Peckinou RedArmyShogun EmperorsChosen Serei2477 Meredith Mook-LandStrider

April 1st, 2067 | 1658​

Dani's gaze turned to Adrian as he spoke. She didn't intend for anyone to hear what she said but Nadia, however she hadn't really made any conceivable effort to keep her voice low. The way he spoke, his tone, his mannerisms, it wasn't Adrian, and she didn't need to be able to read his soul to tell what was happening. She felt similarly susceptible to her rage if she wasn't making a conscious intent to restrain herself.

Feeling the hand on her shoulder, Dani pursed her lips apprehensively. Even if she wanted to help, she wasn't trained to talk someone down from this nor did she have anything special to her like a healing wavelength.

"That you did, dear, but I don't think we get bonuses for the last several robots you impaled~" Elly spoke as she made her way over to the group, Sage resting in a light grip of her hand and against her shoulder. Her tone was nothing accusatory, with a slightly humorous air in an attempt not to provoke him. Drawing closer to the giantess and angry sword, she leaned over subtly and spoke in a hushed tone so as for them to hear. "To say he's on the edge would be an understatement, and whatever all that seems to have inhibited your inhibitors," She warned before moving past them.

Listening to the brunette's words, it clicked and Dani reached for her collar in realization. No beeps, no poking, the damn thing wasn't working! Gritting her teeth a bit at that she stepped forward. "Adrian, the bad guys got killed a while ago. I didn't even notice it either cause our collars are fucked! Those things probably recognize madness or some shit, that's why they're messing with you!"

Even in conversation, Adrian remained perfectly calm. Uncharacteristically calm. His head tilted slightly at the idea elly provided. That was an interesting thought. These golems were in fact attacking only him, it seemed. How rude. He did the most work!

Then of course, there was Dani. She was right, too. It was quite the concerted effort tearing through those dolls. He knew he cleared a path through them in the beginning, but actually eliminating them was most definitely a team effort. It would have taken him far longer to do that alone–especially if they all had weapons. That trio might as well be a Witch for as far as Adrian was concerned, but he had to admit that disarming the dolls was a brilliant move.

He wasn’t a fan of being stabbed. That did hurt, after all.

”Well now that sounds like a design flaw, don’t you think?” Adrian proposed, putting into question how the golems were just assuming he was a threat based off what he was considering unreliable data. ”It’s not like I wanted to destroy them; they attacked me first!” he explained before releasing a light hearted chuckle.

With that, Adrian lifted his hands up and with them, he withdrew every spike on his body–with one exception. The spike covering his stab wound from earlier was still present, preventing it from bleeding out. He then proceeded to walk through Park, back to where he was when this whole mess started. It was gruesome. Corpses littered in some places, debris strewn across the once verdant field, a row of melted steel containers, and of course an ocean of white remains from the golems.

”I don’t want to hurt anyone that I don’t have to,” he added, emphasizing the last part of his comment. To him, he had to eliminate the threats. The golems attacked him, making them a threat. He hadn’t attacked anyone. In his mind, Mad or not, that made him the lesser of two evils. Or, not really evil. He was the hero in his own story.

He found it. His bag. It contained everything he had bought. It even seemed no one managed to trample his Batman game. He was elated. That wasn’t what he wanted out of his pack, though. He reached down it for something he knew he stashed in there from before, then threw it nonchalantly over his shoulder and proceeded to walk over to Dani.

”You’re all so upset, it seems,” he announced, though his smile was soft and he was notably relaxed. ”Inhibitors this, Madness that, but I haven’t done anything wrong–I haven’t hurt anyone,” he explained, offering up his perspective on the matter. It was a valid point, at least in his opinion.

As he neared, the mania from his Madness was more intense. Madness was a living thing, almost. An infection carried along a wavelength that crept into the mind and spread like cancer in the soul. Outwardly and even personally, Adrian was completely content. Admittedly, his was nowhere near the intensity of a true Corrupted Soul. It was no longer a seedling, true. It had sprouted. But, it was bearable.

He then extended that hand to Dani, unrolling it to show her something he had made back at the stalls while she was out with Noah riding that mechanical bull. Rose quartz carved into the shape of some flower. Not a rose, perhaps more generic. He wasn’t exactly a master at the craft yet, but it had obviously been tailored. The selection of stone was even more obvious: a brilliant, deep pink for the girl. All held together with a rawhide string from one of the leather boothers and set into a neat little metallic base. It wasn’t particularly fancy, but it was a purely custom piece of work.

”Is it so bad?” he asked her, more directly and more importantly, quite sincerely. ”I had gifts for some of you. Things I thought you’d like. Sara, too. But, this one is for you,” he told her, wondering how they could vilify him so for this Madness when he had such acts of kindness hidden away the whole time.

With this Nadia did speak up. As she left it to Dani to accept or deny the gift, to do whatever she wished, it was just that last bit that did set her off a little. Nadia “Of course it’s fucking bad! Did you fucking forget what madness does? It’s like a song from hell, you might be fine but what happens when it cascades and turns into a hotspot? Eh, what happens if Dani slips off the chain, what happens when being around you turns some of the rest into abominations? Debil! Look around you! All of this is aimed purely to reenact those days, and you act like its a fucking park stroll.”

Adrian looked over to Nadia, offering her the same gentle smile. His response was simple and eloquent. ”It was, actually, quite the nice stroll through the park,” he said, neglecting to address the vast majority of her comment.

Sara watched with sadness in her eyes. She’s been through something very similar: wondered why the doctors kept her family away, why she was too weak to prevent their efforts in poking and prodding her. She was, of course, very empathetic to what he was going through right now.

“I’m sorry, Eva.” Sara started, looking at the lantern flail before softly setting her aside, allowing her to transform back if need be. “I have to do something about this, and I don’t want you affected when we get closer to him.” She added in a hushed tone. She walked around behind Nadia and patted her shoulder. “Harshness gets us nowhere with things like this. Let Dani and the others handle it. What you say may accidentally set him off.”

She then approached Adrian, seemingly uncaring of the distance. Like she was unafraid of him. In fact, she just gave him a little smile. “You said you made a present for me. May I see?” She asked excitedly, playing into Adrian’s madness just a tiny bit, as that’s the only thing that’s doable for right now. Even as her own soul trembled in trepidation and tried to manage the madness that was trying to spark something within her.

Dani looked at the pink gem with surprise, slowly taking it from his hand and examining it within her own grasp. A frown came over her, then escalating to a scowl. "Chill the fuck out Nadia," Dani retorted coldly before looking up at Adrian. "She isn't wrong though. Adrian, you know how this shit works, we all do. You feel fine or think you're fine but you're not. I didn't notice we won until Nadia dropped me. I didn't think anything was fucking wrong then, either… Fuck's sake, I'm a ball of fucking anger that's only good for cutting shit up and the robots aren't seeing me as a threat!"

Anger began rising within her as she clutched the stone tighter. "I saw it with our neighbors, my parents, my brother, me. This is always what fucking happens! I'm tired of losing people to this shit, Adrian!"

”None of you…” Adrian finally uttered, having listened to each one of them. He would have gladly appeased Sara with his gift, but Dani… he struck a nerve. Perhaps the nerve at the root of everything.

”...understand.”

His face curled, dissolving that pleasant smile he had. Still, it was not anger. It was a deep sadness that stirred inside him. One that for a brief moment he had washed away with the muddy waters of a Madness brought on by his desire to protect. That’s what they all didn’t understand. Everything he was doing, he was doing to protect them. For now, it was these dolls. The golems were irrelevant. But ultimately, Adrian had no qualms eliminating anything that was a threat.

The Madness, the acceptance of who he was, the spiral he had fallen into after his friends left. It culminated in this. Dani had no idea how right she was. Adrian was tired of losing people, too. His brother, the first few friends he made in the DWMA, and most recently, their former teammates. All he wanted was to become someone that could protect them. Someone that would make sure they had to leave again.

”I’m not the one who leaves,” Adrian said, his voice louder, but now shaky. ”It’s everyone else who leaves. I have never left or been lost. Not once in my life have I even considered it,” he explained, his Madness spiking more and more as he did.

”All I do, I do so that you people won’t leave… I train night and day so that I’m strong enough to compete with you alone. I bite my tongue more times than I can count so that I don’t upset others. I watch my words as close as my spikes so that I never hurt another soul again,” he ranted, venting the frustrations he had built up for years, many of which already were aired out not so long ago with the mentor, Reiko.

It was at that moment, he opted to slide his hand into his bag and pull out a set of leather harnesses. Nothing special, nor were they full body. They meant for the hands. Sara’s hands. Something she could fit her claws through and hold her weapon, but still have some modicum of protection and style for her knuckles and wrists. Pointless, probably, for anyone but a werewolf, but that’s what he had in mind. The size and shape of her hands was fresh in his mind from the duel.

He tossed them to Sara. Then shook his head, partly confused from the arguments the others were making. His brief rant just didn’t do justice to how he felt. It never did. Nothing he ever did was enough.

”Y-You all look at me like I’m the one lost–that I’m gone… b-but fact is, if anyone’s going to leave, it’s you,” he continued. His eyes quickly darting over to Nadia, then to Elly who in the past he had threatened. ”Nadia would have. I heard her… you’ll all just leave me, no matter how hard I try,” he said, breaking down the facade he had earlier.

Having been watching from a distance Annika finally approached. Pocketing two egg-like glowing objects she decided that the freezing grenades would likely only make the situation infinitely worse. “It wasn’t long ago that I considered myself a borderline lost cause.” Annika began still holding her chain blades, not having a place to put them for the time being. “There was a situation where I nearly lost control and could have done something… ehh.. really bad. It isn’t so much about training I have realized in the last few months. But a mix of mindset and focusing on yourself. Sure, I would love to have confidence that those around me won’t just leave because I am destructive or because I would tear everything apart because of some deep seated compulsion.”

She sighed, the reality was she wanted to give into that desire but knew that in doing so it would only set her back. But, I don’t because I know at some point there will come a time that it could happen again. Still, despite knowing that I welcome the fact that there are those around me even if they could leave when things get tough.” She rubbed the back of her neck “I am really bad at this. But I get it, the feeling, the uncertainty and the deep seated distrust. You just need to pick up. Screw what others think, where are you right now and what do you need to do?” Annika asked, reflecting back on what managed to pull her out of a deep seated episode.

Looking at the rest, Nadia snorted dismissively as she looked at her watch and listened to Adrian, and why he was worried, there was much on her mind she could say then and there and the futility of what he wanted, but she glanced at them all one by one and though her team was changed yet again, not all Emmett and Zelda had accomplished was for nothing. Muttering to herself, Nadia decided to have another chocolate bar to let this show play out their way as she checked her stopwatch.

Dani’s eyes honed in at the sight of red on his person, where a partial transformation was keeping a wound from bleeding. As everyone talked, she stared, her words and the thoughts accompanying them playing back in her mind until he spoke again.

“I don’t fucking understa–This is the entire fucking reason I didn’t go anywhere near anyone after Mikey died!” Dani lashed, grabbing hold of his shirt and tugging on it aggressively as her own madness flared. “You’re fucking wounded in a graveyard acting as if everything’s okay! It fucking isn’t! This is just like when he died! Bleeding and bleeding and bleeding without noticing—without me noticing. You think I want to lose people—lose you? Or just bitch out?!”

Sara grabbed the leather glove set Adrian threw at her and looked at them with awe. These were so cool! She completely forgot where she was for a moment until she looked up, hearing Annika’s distant words and then Dani nearly losing her shit on Adrian, grabbing him by the shirt. Sara decided to also butt in. Maybe peer pressure would work? Or would he double down? She just hoped it wasn’t the latter.

“And you think I would just leave, as well? When MIBVI hit, I thought I lost everything. And even now, people still saw me as a liability they didn’t want to have around. I lost people, too. You think I’d just walk away? I know what it feels like - the urge to hold all those you could lose close to you so it won’t happen again. To let it infect you, so you would have the strength to prevent it from happening. But if I had let that continue inside of me, Adrian, I wouldn’t have lost my family. My family would have lost me. Because I wouldn’t be Sara anymore. Dani and I don’t want to lose what made you you, Adrian. While it may have been true in the past that it is always others, you are now one step out of a door you don’t even see because you are seeing everybody else get further away when it’s you who is leaving this time.” She walked over and put an arm on his shoulder. “This time, we haven’t even moved.”

There were arguments against him and his logic from all directions. Even Nadia, in her rigid silence, had her own argument. There was no single thread for him to follow. No one voice that rang out as the most true amongst those speaking. Instead, they wove together to show Adrian a greater picture. Everyone around him had fought their own battles, and many of them had lost as much if not more.

Whoever the fuck the girl with the chain blades was had nearly lost herself. He couldn’t exactly get on board with the idea that losing people should just be accepted. Perhaps that’s why Nadia was the way she was; she was just more radical in that ideology

Sara nearly lost herself, too, apparently. From what she described, even though she bounced back, she faced a prejudice Adrian knew all too well. The curse of being a liability.

Dani lost her brother. Her family. She lost all that she loved, and that made her terrified to feel again. Adrian realized he hadn’t even reached that point. He still truly wasn’t over being left by Zari and Jarvis, two friends that he honestly didn’t know that long. He hadn’t even considered that losing someone else might incur that same pain.

These girls surrounded him, offering their encouragement–or at least, containing their disapproval. Regardless, it wasn’t the positivity that finally reached Adrian. It was the realization that he was the one going Mad when each one of them had a far worse story than his own. He wanted to protect them. To protect everyone, really. He was willing to even forfeit his own identity to avoid pain that didn’t even compare to those around.

It truly was selfish.

That voice in the back of his mind, the one that said he had to protect them or lose them, the one that kept repeating over and over that he was a mere weapon… it faded. It was still there, but quiet. In that quiet, he could hear and feel what he was doing to the others. How his Madness that he fought so hard to ignore was seeping into them. He was no expert in how it worked, but if their Madness was like his–a gnawing voice that knew no exhaustion–then he refused to be the one that implanted it.

”I am not your brother,” he said, first to Dani. His hand reached up to wrap over hers where she held his shirt. His eyes focused in on hers closely. He could feel Madness coursing through her, and how some of it came from him. ”You will not lose me,” he told her. That Madness she was taking in. It was not hers. It was his. His responsibility, and she should have no part of it.

His soul reached out, wrestling with the tainted wavelength that he had emanated, and even to Sara, he began to demand it back. To will what he had released into the world back into himself. To force the genie back into the bottle. Those blue eyes of his closed and he took a moment to step into himself. Into his own soul. Into the dark, lonely void that was the interior of the Iron Maiden. It was not truly possible to control a Madness Wavelength. Not without already being corrupted.

But by Death, Adrian tried. Like a vacuum demanding every ounce of it he could find, he pulled it into himself. Ripping and tugging at it as if trying to pull the souls of Sara and Dani into himself if only to cleanse them of the filth that he let out into the world.

”I am not lost,” he declared. If this was directed at anyone, it might have been Nadia herself. The individual he perceived as the most cynical. His determination to prove that point may not have repaired what he had done, but it did do one thing. It quelled the Madness within him and silenced it, as if a wrecking ball knocked down a radio tower and killed the stations for everyone else.

”And, fuck anyone that says differently,” he announced. His voice had returned to its deeper, almost raspy tone. It was the first time he sounded like himself since this whole ordeal started. Given his return to cursing, it wasn’t just his voice that sounded like his old self, either.

“Hmph.” Nadia says with a snort as she looks at him. “You may survive after all. Though I will say this now, if you are lost, if you let your madness take you, any of you, here and tonight. I Will leave you for dead. Not as I hate you, but because the longer we fuck around the more people like us will be made. No, maybe worse, at least we have the power to stand against our nightmares.”

With a pause she walks over to where she had her Valkyrie helmet, deciding to put it back on as she motioned towards the vending machine she had busted open. “It’s going to be a long day and night. I will not share tales of what I have lost, for what is the point of it? I am a stranger in a strange land. From a burned and ruined city, to the refugee camps of Reno. Until recently, I thought those who were weaker were better off being left alone, they could not keep up and to make them run would only invite destruction. But now we are left with two options, to run away on our own or to run ahead of threats to them. I aim to get them moving. Five minutes. There will not be a second Generation of F.A.T.E if we can help it, or so I hope it is a We..”

And with that, Nadia went off in the style of a fool for this farce of a holiday to speak with what Policemen and Firemen from the parade to have survived, to be sure everyone who could be moved would be.

At this point, Gauss finally stepped in to voice his opinion. He had been waiting silently, much like Elly was, to see how this played out. Though, unlike her, he was waiting to pounce on Adrian at any moment should the need to restraint and debilitate him arise. With Nadia no longer wielding Dani and Sara doing the same with Eva, that only left Elly and he had no idea if she could resonate with her partner. In his mind, that meant left him and his partners the only ones that could have reliably put the dog down, if need be.

”I hate to break up this little harem,” he announced, ignoring the fact Nadia was walking away already. He questioned that decision; leaving without her weapon. But, she was capable enough. That, and his experience with her in Paris didn’t make him keen on outwardly questioning her tactical decisions if need not be. ”Trust me, you… three… or four are cute and all, buuut,” he went, teasing the group in what he considered a lighthearted shot.

”Madness is still radiating off of you like Chernobyl and my good buddy Noah here happens to have just the medicine for that,” he informed them all, lifting up Noah and of course pouring some of his own Wavelength into his beloved partner. Those that knew, like Sara, would remember his Healing Wavelength was a perfect fit for this situation. Anyone else probably just thought he was a pompous asshole, per normal.

Dani felt the anger slowly dissipate. Well, it was still there somewhat, but it was more of a normal kind of anger from the fear and adrenaline. A relieved smile swept over her face for a brief moment before she realized she was still yanking his collar, even if he had taken her hand. “...If I do, Nadia and I will kick your ass,” She warned, releasing his shirt before Gauss spoke next, turning her relieved smile to a flustered scowl. “Oh fuck off… Just heal me so we can move the fuck on!”

Gauss just couldn’t. A wide grin slid across his face followed by a low cackle. He didn’t respond immediately to her, but he looked over to Noah with a mischievous grin. ’Noah, buddy, pal, is there something we don’t know about our pink-haired friend and the spikeball?’ he asked, having never seen the damsel become flustered before in his entire time knowing her.

As Sara let go of Adrian’s shoulder, Noah piped up, clearly struggling to keep his laughter from making his words legible. ‘Hah, well, y’see… I have no idea, but I’m seein’ somethin’, too. How cuuuuuuuute~.’ He cooed, not daring to speak this out loud but using Gauss’s shared soul space to speak. He didn’t want to get a punch to the face when he turned back. ‘Alright, shall we?’ He focused his healing wavelength, getting ready to poke Adrian to calm him.

Sara, on the other hand, had to let go of Adrian. The weird pull had her feeling drawn in too much and it made her soul ache just a little. Rubbing her head, she smiled at how peaceful it smelled and felt now. Though, she was now wondering just how Adrian did that.

Dani’s eyes glared at Gauss before they turned to point daggers at Noah. “We wanna go over your trophy from the bull motherfucker?”

”Yes, yes we fucking do!” Gauss excitedly answered, cutting into whatever speech or threat Dani was about to give. Little did she realize, and despite the circumstances surrounding him, this type of drama made Gauss as excited as a kid in a candy store.

Meanwhile, Adrian watched this unfold absolutely confused as to what was ongoing, until he saw the flustered look that Dani was wearing. He hadn’t pieced together what it meant yet, but he didn’t need to. Adrian was already staggering back and turning red at the mention of him having a harem, having just realized he was in fact just being so kindly spoken to by his three female teammates.

With the situation having been mostly diffused and the madness wave all but diminished the yellow orange haired woman shifted slightly to the left. “While this was both touching and necessary I will be honest… I am kinda bored. By the sounds of it the rest of the city is just as screwed as we were a few minutes ago. Since we all seem to be in a better place and filled with good emotions I bet it's a good time for us to get back to it. Or… at least I should get back to it. That golem behind you, Adrian, is looking like it needs to be fixed. The nervous energy is building and while the itch to fix is gone, I still feel the after effects.” Annika quipped looking at the others. “So, it was nice meeting most of you but if you’ll excuse me, I have a deep seated energy to use up before I get myself into trouble.”

”Aw fine, hold on,” Gauss said, realizing that the chainsaw girl and probably everyone else wasn’t as interested in the drama between his partner and the others. ”You, miss, got hit with the Madness, too, so let’s cleanse that, then we can get on our way,” he told her, not sure if she realized that she was, in fact, also affected by Adrian and his little outburst.

Gauss lifted Noah above his head and started to spin the staff around with his magnetism, pouring his wavelength into his partner yet again and allowing Noah to take over with his unique skillset. ”Everyone gather ‘round, you’ll get a zap from Noah, but nothing more than a battery. In a minute or two, you’ll all feel a ton better,” he explained, giving them some expectations as to how this would work. Beyond that, actually purging them of the Madness was all up to Noah.

Noah chuckled, shaking his head internally at the little drama commotion. He focused his healing wavelength, sewing it into his lightning that was being generated, and then zapping everyone who was nearby and trying to reach Annika, sending them a clear dose of calmness and healing the soul- okay, not really that last part. If he were stronger, he could, but all he did was help aid in fighting back more of the madness.

Once Sara was zapped, she realized Eva was gone. Looking around concerned, she decided to walk up to Gauss and look at the staff in his hand, a tight grin on her face. “Was it that wolf plush-”

“SHUDDUP!” Noah yelled from his weapon form, wiggling slightly in discomfort and giving off warning crackling that didn’t faze Sara at all, only having Sara cackle as she left to retrieve Eva - wherever she went.

“SHUT UP! Don’t you fuck my leverage!” Dani chanted just behind Noah as her hands reached to cover the girl’s mouth, Sara ducking out of the way and cackling even more as she ran off.

As events continued to unfurl, Nadia grew more and more agitated in a manner that they would never stop the bickering, even if in good spirits till time was up. So she decided to give Dani a bit of a push, an out or just a, “Dani, stop fucking around and get over here!” She shouts out and waves.

“I-I’m fucking coming! For–Don’t you say shit, Noah!” Dani remarked, stomping over after Nadia with a face to match closer to her hair.

GM Note: Due to the positive outcome of this interaction and the Healing Wavelength from Noah, everyone is going to come out of it mentally stable and anyone in direct contact with Adrian only Madness sensitive again. Following this post, it is assumed everyone will be following Nadia and the golems to the Fire District with the civilians. Most agents are probably down by roughly 1/5th of their stamina, aside from Adrian who also now has a stab wound.

 

[EmperorsChosen]

Eloise Keegan - DWMA Festival Grounds
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

As the battle came to an end with support from the bots, Elly relaxed her posture, watching as certain members of her party were still ripping and tearing. She pushed Sage into the ground, leaning on him as she watched the rest. The pink sword seemed dazed, and Adrian was running amock. The madness touched in the group were a little bit more elevated than they should be, Adrian specifically. Her mind wandered to the memory of Annika being mostly unaffected by the beads. There seemed to be a trend there with who was able to move and who wasn't, with some outliers like the ice giant.

Everyone seemed to be converging on Adrian, who was very much at his tipping point.

"That you did, dear, but I don't think we get bonuses for the last several robots you impaled~" Elly spoke as she made her way over to the group, Sage resting in a light grip of her hand and against her shoulder. Her tone was nothing accusatory, with a slightly humorous air in an attempt not to provoke him. Drawing closer to the giantess and angry sword, she leaned over subtly and spoke in a hushed tone so as for them to hear. "To say he's on the edge would be an understatement, and whatever all that seems to have inhibited your inhibitors," She warned before moving past them.

Elly would pause after gaining some distance, both for her own safety and to be able to watch the situation unfold. However, as she spectated the drama, she heard the voice of another within her. It seemed as though word was spreading of these events.

'I am. For now,' Elly replied internally to Stein. 'Never trust a girl dressed like a jester.'

While ridiculously sounding, her tone was not that of a joke. Watching as the argument enflamed, and madness and wavelengths flared, she sighed. 'Some clown girls--actually golems--passed around a bunch of necklaces and beads. When we followed the parade to the park, they unveiled some kind of glyph or spell that froze us all to make us easy marks befor--What the fuck?' A rare moment of coarse, unplanned verbiage from the girl was let out as she watched what unfolded next.

Her eyes stared at Adrian and each of the girls that stood closest to them. More specifically, her eyes followed the traces of madness in each of them travel back out and to Adrian once again. It took her a few moments to process as the group seemed to transition into better spirits.

'...The park is under control. It seems like the worst may be behind us now... but of course there's still work to do.'

Sir Les Paul

 

[Mook-LandStrider]

Evangeline
Spirit park jesters fair
Merciless Medic
​

Eva transformed after being set down on the ground, her back aching and her shoulder taking on a steel sheen as she left it partially transformed. While hit with a calming wavelength the pains remained. She had been put through hell in the past few minutes and she didn’t entirely feel like herself. Looking over to Sara as she walked towards Adrian and the group Eva suddenly felt a familiar sensation, the desire to scavenge and procure.

While having been good the last while the stress of the whole situation had proved too much for her to easily manage. She didn’t suffer from madness in the same way many of the other fate agents did but she did have her own particular quirks. Slipping into the slinking mischievous mindset she suddenly took a more aloof posture and slipped away from the group a fair distance.

While chaos still erupted around her Eva seemed like an odd rock in a sea of panicking people. They had made the area safe but there was still an enormous amount of chaos erupting around them. And it was in this chaos that Eva began to pick things up. It began with a few shiny ornaments and quickly spiraled into her picking up a turned over box and filling it full of several different styles of objects.

Glancing back towards the group she picked up her pace, her drive to repurpose objects lying about quickly going into overdrive. She took books, pencils, medical supplies and even began to amass the clothing left in the stalls. She was like a well oiled machine, relentlessly efficient in her pilfering and gathering far more than one might consider possible for a single person. She used her partial transformation to push out chains that wrapped up bundles of clothing.

Coming to the startling revelation that she had gathered too much she began to fall back on an old habit of shoving things away like a chipmunk. Lifting up cloth shrouds and stall coverings she pushed and shoved things under them before settling on a box of junk that she had very rapidly separated from the rest of her hoard. It was a hodgepodge of supplies that she knew in the wake of the insanity people would need. Clean towels, some basic medical supplies, and a stash of money she had taken from some of the stalls that she was sure were no longer staffed by the living. She knew that they would no longer need it and the living right now would need the stuff far more.

Setting the box down on a stall table she shifted her shoulder from its metallic state. Immediately Eva felt the pain shoot through her, and quickly began to push pressure on it the best she could. Pushing her shoulder back into the frame of the stall she managed to get a bandage around her arm before tying it off. At this point her dress was far from its original style and color, having been tinged red from not only her own blood but from the spraying that had happened in the opening moments of the attack.

 

[Sir Les Paul]

No Rest for the Wicked​

Tags: The Regal Rper Merciless Medic Peckinou RedArmyShogun EmperorsChosen Serei2477 Meredith Mook-LandStrider

April 1st, 2067 | 1728​

Compared to the chaotic encounter in Spirit Park, escorting the civilians to the Fire District was almost anticlimactic. As it turned out, the combination of guardian golems, the few other DWMA agents that managed to get their shit together, and Fate Agents' own capabilities proved highly effective at quelling the chaos caused by the dolls. Only a handful were even seen on the brief march to the Fire District, none of which posed a challenge. In all reality, convincing Eva to leave behind her assortment of pilfered goods and convincing Anna not to raid places for parts and Magitech supplies were arguably the more arduous tasks. With the presence of these golems, the Civilians calmed down considerably, seemingly trusting them due to their close and iconic affiliation with the DWMA more so than any single agent they had encountered. While convenient, that was perhaps a disturbing thing to consider--people trusting machines more than trained professionals.

More surprising though was how competently equipped and setup the Fire District was upon their arrival. Thie location was the first and only one that had magitech golems equipped with some of the actual weaponry from Davis' arsenal of prototypes. The sentry golems were set atop makeshift platforms boasting a shielded front frame and modified rifles that fed directly into the main chassis, drawing off their same power supply and utilizing their more-refined targeting systems. Even if the dolls tried to get close, they would get shot down before they could make it to the road. Barricades and more standard golems marching in rotations created a huge safe space on the outside of the building, and even then many were still present standing guard inside in, likely as a contingency for any security failure. There were well over a hundred golems at this impromptu encampment. In fact, there were more in general than most people might even assume were ever produced, given how secretive Davis' labs normally were with the golems and their tech.

The entire Firehouse floor was emptied out to create space for the injured and civilians. Nearby buildings were commandeered to shelter those unhurt but still needing protection in the mean time. Whether the fire trucks were actually out doing their job or simply relocated was unclear, but the organization and setup of this place in such a short period of time was a demonstration that someone at the DWMA--apparently Davis, of all people--was capable and prepared in such an emergency. Without a doubt, this type of triage encampment had the potential to save dozens if not hundreds of lives.

Eva and Adrian were even afforded some effective care here. The stab and bullet wound being patched over fairly effectively, including some rudimentary stitching. Everyone else had a chance to get a hot meal and be fed in on some information. As it turned out, and was likely obvious, the entirety of Death City was attacked. Stalls were burned down, civilians shot and stabbed there, too. Despite all of that, the damage to Death City itself was relatively minimal. The death count could have been far, far higher. The destruction to Death City was considerably less than expected, given the sound of those bombs going off.

Death City wasn't truly the target. The DWMA was. More specifically, the Academy and expanded DWMA facilities around it. While exact details weren't all shared, the academy itself apparently had plenty of direct damage to it, some people were targeted, and even some buildings such as the Magitech Labs and Wiccan Embassy were hit by massive explosions, leveling the embassy entirely. That's what they knew for now. The more important part was that every high level Agent available had been called to the actual DWMA up the staircase while lower level ones were set to help secure Death City.

More information, including instructions, was on its way. That information would never reach them. The feed was cut out from the golem providing it. What was once a clear audio announcement from a DWMA intel specialist was now a garbled mess. The assortment of Agents, Fate and others now included, wouldn't have to wait long for an explanation. The magitech sentries at the door soon turned inward to unleash a storm of bullets at the agents and anyone nearby. The blue glow of Magitech now shifting to a tainted purple and the golems all around behaving erratically. There was little time to react or think. Golems were attacking not only the agents, but anyone and anything near them. The once-guardians of the district now its greatest threat.

It seemed even the defense forces from Davis that were once seemingly competent had been compromised. What little did these agents know that this was just the beginning of this new phase of terror.

GM Note: The golems are less agile, but much more durable than the dolls. While their guns are magitech, they fire high-mass projectiles not unlike bullets. The danger level has risen. Respond with your characters however you may like, but the incoming waves will become more intense and there are effectively defenseless civilians clustered in areas all around.

 

[Merciless Medic]

Sara Middleton​

April 1, 2067
Location: Spirit Park -> Encampment, Fire District, Death City
Interactions: Eva, Gauss, Arkayis, Noah
Mentions: Dani, Nadia, Elly, Sage, Annika, Adrian
Sir Les Paul Peckinou RedArmyShogun EmperorsChosen Serei2477 Mook-LandStrider

Once Sara was done saving Adrian from himself and the Madness that sparked within him (and dodging an irate Dani’s thrown hands), Sara found herself wandering about the decrepit area. The dead were piled - civilians and jester girls. Even a few DWMA agents. The stench of blood was something Sara was used to, but it always killed her on the inside when it was people she knew. She couldn’t help but stare at some of the familiar faces among the dead, burning in her mind their dead appearance despite how much her mind tried to replay good memories amidst her misty eyes in their current state’s stead.

There was one girl among the pile of bodies that caught Sara by surprise.

Red, curly hair. A headband with a skull, with the words “Cafe of Skulls” written on the headband.

Body going cold and numb, Sara - who was just giggling about taking Dani’s leverage and giddy over the fact that Noah had received a wolf plushie - felt like this wasn’t right. Couldn’t be right. What happened?

She ran over, pulling on the shoulders of the overturned girl so her head faced the sky.

Cold, green eyes, dress unlike the uniform for the Cafe of Skulls.

Allie...

Allie wasn’t really well known to those who didn’t go to the cafe, but Sara knew her very well. She saw something written on her arm. It was a tattoo - one of those temporary ones. “Bestest of friends”, and it had a little werewolf paw on it with Sara’s name underneath.

Memories of when she was still in Emmett’s and Zelda’s team resurfaced, of when she had that sweet, depressed bell as a weapon. Then even further back, of Allie’s grateful expression upon being given the tools necessary to get a job at the cafe, to turn her life around when Sara saw her rummaging into the dumpsters for food.

This was no walk in the park. It couldn’t be anymore.

Cradling Allie in her arms, Sara held the friend she saved years ago, tears falling from her cheeks and landing on Allie’s expressionless face.

“Allie, no… Not you, too… You can’t…” Sara spoke as if Allie could hear her and change what was already done, resting her forehead against the cold, blood-smeared head of her dear friend. She couldn’t have saved her. If she were closer! If she had focused on saving others instead of bashing those jester girls in… Allie could have been saved. Nearby explosions barely registered.

This was like MIBVI all over again, but this time… She actually was old enough - strong enough - to stop this… To prevent a death.

But, wasn’t death inevitable?

Sniffling, body wracking in a sob, Sara shuddered as she took in a sharp breath, laying Allie back into the bodies where she found her, even though her heart ached to take her with. “I’ll come back… To give you a-... Proper rest, Allie…” She said amidst her sobbing, trying desperately to wipe away her tears.

She heard rummaging and looked over to see Eva having gathered as much as she could, even getting a bandage on her shoulder. Looking back at Allie, she closed the girl's eyes with gentle touches, kissed her forehead - even though the cold skin hurt to feel - and ran towards Eva. Eyes puffy and cheeks splotched, Sara stood before Eva. She didn’t hold the carefree air anymore. The situation they were in finally settled in completely, and Sara had a somber seriousness within her features.

“You okay, Eva?” She asked, then noticed the others leaving with the golems from Davis. “Let’s go. Good job in getting this stuff. I’ll help.” She helped consolidate where she could, and picked up what she could carry and hauled it off with Eva towards the golems. “There’s nothing else to salvage here, and those people over there need it more.” She said it in hopes that Eva would take it and follow, Sara’s tone losing all warmth it had.

They had a job to do, and they weren’t done, yet.

The Fire District was thankfully well stocked, it seemed. Golems were everywhere in protecting the people, but now Sara was wary. She didn’t feel safe anymore. Death City has been attacked before, but this was different. This was a very planned attack. Nowhere was safe. The stress had started making her head itchy, and she consistently attacked her scalp with her fingers, scratching in short bursts that nearly caused bleeding.

A few hours went by in an utter pool of anxiety, even as Sara rested and ate, and made sure Eva and the rest of her Fate friends were well taken care of. She lost one of her best friends, Eva was hurt, Adrian was nearly lost to insanity, and so many people… So many people died. At least when MIBVI hit, she was so young. Now… She wished she didn’t even have the wherewithal to attempt to process what was going on. It felt surreal, like a nightmare.

The news that the Wiccan Embassy and Magitech Labs had been bombed - the Embassy completely leveled by explosions… No, nowhere was safe. It only proved to her that there might be another attack somewhere.

She just didn’t expect the golems to be hijacked.

As the sentries turned purple and other golems slowly lost control, Sara looked for Eva to have her turn into a weapon again, making sure she was quickly taken care of, so she didn’t get shot. She looked for those still injured, then looked around for Gauss. Upon finding him, she shouted. “Is there a way to create a shelter for the injured? I’ll cover you!” She stared at the sentries nearby, gunning down agents while the freshly turned golems attacked anyone nearby.

To Eva, she spoke aloud. “Let’s get their attention with some flames and do some parkour, okay?” Hopefully, she was fast enough to dodge the aiming. She knew she wasn’t even close to dodging whatever these bullets were.