Dragonball M, Chapter 1: Silent Menace Aproaches!

[Cyke]

They were laid bare, and they did not detect her coming.

Such was the way of the hunt.

The ground in several points around the circle erupted as maws burst forth, biting into the flesh of the cloaked men. This too however was but another distraction, and Erosa herself had taken the opening to slip up to the one that was holding the orb. With quick and fluid motion she spung forward, hand outstreched to grab the orb from the mans hands while bringing her claw down on the wrists that supported it.

Dodging the beam, Meagan visually traced it back to it's source. Turning on the speed, dodging all attacks, Meagan called her sword and beheaded the sniper with one swipe.

"Etrina, wait here. I'll need my staff back for just a quick moment."

Inspired by seeing Meagan take down a sniper and Erosa engaging another figure, and also recalling where he saw the barrage of shots come from, Zaofan turned on his own speed, and blasted off on foot.

He zig-zagged between walls, the sniper shots reliably tracking but unable to get a bead. In the middle of three passes, he spawned three Zanzoken copies of himself, and the gray beams passed right through. But it was enough for Zaofan to appear as a fourth copy, and... "RUBY TAIYOKEN!"

The red light piercing through some of the smoke, the shots had stopped. Zaofan sped through the smoke and saw a gray figure rubbing its eyes. By the time the figure could see Zaofan, it was too late -- "SCARLET X!" a mighty slash with the glowing bo staff slammed the figure across the chest, hurling him into a wall like a ragdoll. Another sniper went down.

Unsure of any other snipers, Zaofan made sure to run back at top speed back to Etrina, and he returned the staff for her support. "Thanks for waiting," he said, out of breath and leaning against the wall.

[MrSandman]

Seeing a shot coming at him from a distance, though, Zaofan dodged right; something he wasn't used to with the added weight of Etrina. "Hold on! We need to get to cover!" Zaofan saw a barrage of beams coming his way. He ceased his float and went into free fall, using his ki to push himself however he needed to dodge the blasts. He aimed his fall towards a tall, narrow building, so that he could use the tower as cover, and then used his air gallop to slow them down again. "Etrina, I saw them. There were more snipers. Maybe a half dozen or so. We're in trouble."

Zaofan peeked around the corner, with all the intense fire ahead. He could see Ishtar far in the distance; he reasoned that Meagan saw her too since she was ahead. And.. is that ... Erosa? He looked behind and saw Ochazuke and Jack far behind as well, covering the rear like they said, but relieved at the sight of two familiar figures. He and Etrina remained hidden behind the wall, but they were as good as pinned down. He waved at Ochazuke and Jack to alert them of their position.

Hopefully if they regroup, they could figure out their next steps to aid Erosa and Ishtar, and to take care of those snipers.

"Etrina, wait here. I'll need my staff back for just a quick moment."

Inspired by seeing Meagan take down a sniper, and recalling where he saw the barrage of shots come from, Zaofan turned on his own speed, and blasted off on foot.

He zig-zagged between walls, the sniper shots reliably tracking but unable to get a bead. In the middle of three passes, he spawned three Zanzoken copies of himself, and the gray beams passed right through. But it was enough for Zaofan to appear as a fourth copy, and... "RUBY TAIYOKEN!"

The red light piercing through some of the smoke, the shots had stopped. Zaofan sped through the smoke and saw a gray figure rubbing its eyes. By the time the figure could see Zaofan, it was too late -- "SCARLET X!" a mighty slash with the glowing bo staff slammed the figure across the chest, hurling him into a wall like a ragdoll. Another sniper went down.

Unsure of any other snipers, Zaofan made sure to run back at top speed back to Etrina, and he returned the staff for her support. "Thanks for waiting," he said, out of breath and leaning against the wall.

"....Your welcome." Etrina answered, sitting on the ground and in the midst of forming a large shield from ice shards compacted together. ".......Could you hand me some paper...?"

[Cyke]

Edit: Fer some housekeepin

OOC: oooh, I had imagined that Zaofan and Etrina landed behind the building, and were currently grounded, taking cover behind the tower.

And three or four groups so far:

1. Chou and Sarada in the sky
2. Ishtar and Erosa furthest ahead, with Meagan as the closest to them (but also in the sky)
3. Ochazuke and Jack furthest behind
4. Etrina and Zaofan virtually equidistant between groups 2 and 3.

[Cyke]

"....Your welcome." Etrina answered, sitting on the ground and in the midst of forming a large shield from ice shards compacted together. ".......Could you hand me some paper...?"

Zaofan took a seat next to Etrina, on top of the rubble. He dug into his pockets, and picked out a small piece of lined rough paper. "Will this suffice?"

[grampagen]

OOC: oooh, I had imagined that Zaofan and Etrina landed behind the building, and were currently grounded, taking cover behind the tower.

And three or four groups so far:

1. Chou and Sarada in the sky
2. Ishtar and Erosa furthest ahead, with Meagan as the closest to them (but also in the sky)
3. Ochazuke and Jack furthest behind
4. Etrina and Zaofan virtually equidistant between groups 2 and 3.

OOC: With the recent scramble situation with sniper shots at the flyers and Ishtar and Erosa springing into action and everyone moving, yeah that seems about right.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

As the snipers fall one by one through impressively clever moves, Erosa tries to grab the orb.

The robed man she tries to take it from utters one harsh arcane word and her entire body screams out in pain as she falls to the ground, unmoving but feeling like her nerve endings were on fire.

He points the orb towards where the majority of the group had been and another massive beam of energy fires off towards the group, only it splits apart halfway and seems to move towards indivials like heat seeking missiles.

[MrSandman]

OOC: oooh, I had imagined that Zaofan and Etrina landed behind the building, and were currently grounded, taking cover behind the tower.

And three or four groups so far:

1. Chou and Sarada in the sky
2. Ishtar and Erosa furthest ahead, with Meagan as the closest to them (but also in the sky)
3. Ochazuke and Jack furthest behind
4. Etrina and Zaofan virtually equidistant between groups 2 and 3.

OOC: Yeah, you got your latest post in before I put mine out so I made a little edit to account.

Now go get me some paper so you can bare witness to the true mastery of a mage

She'll write them a angry thesis that discredits their shooting to their peers, you'll have to deliver though.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Any with Earth based magical or arcane lore will recognize the grey robes as belonging to the Circle of the Grey Thorn, a coven of mages from about 700 hundred years ago that took over multiple kingdoms before being stopped.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

Those taking flight back towards Ishtar’s position are bombarded by more grey beams, at least seven snipers still remaining.

After the first beam struck her armor, Sarada curled into a tight ball to defend against the beams that followed, making sure to keep her head tucked in as deeply as possible. "Bastards!"

She dropped to the ground and dove behind a piece of rubble. "Assholes. I can't progress because these pricks keep camping." She hated campers with a passion. Her hand rose and fired multiple blasts, each one detonating at the base of a random building.

I can't stay still forever. I think I'm on the right track. With that in mind to bolster her resolve, she dashed out from behind the rubble to continue the way she had been going before. Every so often, she dove behind a piece of rubble and blew up more buildings. Eventually, she figured the snipers would run out of buildings to camp on.

[Ptrvc]

As the snipers fall one by one through impressively clever moves, Erosa tries to grab the orb.

The robed man she tries to take it from utters one harsh arcane word and her entire body screams out in pain as she falls to the ground, unmoving but feeling like her nerve endings were on fire.

He points the orb towards where the majority of the group had been and another massive beam of energy fires off towards the group, only it splits apart halfway and seems to move towards indivials like heat seeking missiles.

Jack takes a deep breath.

You wanna play that way let's play that way.

He breathes out a wide cloud of ki with his Hot Streak technique.

While it can't reach their opponent the cone encompasses most of the heat seeking blasts hoping to destroy them.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Two of the mages close to the lead one draw short ritualistic daggers and start moving to finish Erosa and Ishtar off. One stabs Erosa in the chest while another prepares to slit Ishtar’s throat.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Jack takes a deep breath.

You wanna play that way let's play that way.

He breathes out a wide cloud of ki with his Hot Streak technique.

While it can't reach their opponent the cone encompasses most of the heat seeking blasts hoping to destroy them.

Jack gets about half of them.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

As the snipers fall one by one through impressively clever moves, Erosa tries to grab the orb.

The robed man she tries to take it from utters one harsh arcane word and her entire body screams out in pain as she falls to the ground, unmoving but feeling like her nerve endings were on fire.

He points the orb towards where the majority of the group had been and another massive beam of energy fires off towards the group, only it splits apart halfway and seems to move towards indivials like heat seeking missiles.

Sarada noticed just in time the beam curling toward her position like some kind of ki seeking missile. "****!" She waited until the last possible moment, then dashed to her left so that the beam exploded where she had been just seconds earlier. "I must be getting closer."

She exploded into motion, keeping her eyes open for any other attacks.

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

Like a fragile egg, the barrier around the mages shatter and they scream as the Oni appears.

But Ishtar is almost immediately laid prone from the overwhelming dread now directly targeting her.

The barrier shatters, and the mages are set to screaming as Ishtar enters their throng. Yet no sooner had the Oni made landfall, was she laid low by a nearly all encompassing wall of fear and dread. No doubt from the leader who towered among his underlings.

Teeth grit as she tried to force her body into movement, she found herself slowly able to stand, and shakily she barked out, "Spənta Armaiti", a moment before the energy lance fired from the leader's orb struck her. Hardened skin blackening at the impact site.

Two of the mages close to the lead one draw short ritualistic daggers and start moving to finish Erosa and Ishtar off. One stabs Erosa in the chest while another prepares to slit Ishtar’s throat.

Still hindered by the wall of dread pressing against her, Ishtar could only slowly force her limbs into movement as she attempted to place hands on the cultist lashing out to stab her. The blade glancing off her hardened windpipe as she attempted to grab hold of the robed figure's neck to crush his windpipe.

[grampagen]

Jack takes a deep breath.

You wanna play that way let's play that way.

He breathes out a wide cloud of ki with his Hot Streak technique.

While it can't reach their opponent the cone encompasses most of the heat seeking blasts hoping to destroy them.

A small chuckle escaped Ochazuke as Jack turned and expelled a fire - of a surprising volume - from his lungs and immolated the blasts.

"Impeccable," he remarked, "the ki's not only dense, but it can't be clashed against, can it?"

Two of the mages close to the lead one draw short ritualistic daggers and start moving to finish Erosa and Ishtar off. One stabs Erosa in the chest while another prepares to slit Ishtar’s throat.

And as his comrade covered him, so Ochazuke returned the favour of sniper fire to the cultists. When the dagger fell on Erosa, a Dodonpa beam part the darkness without delay and punched through the magician's throat.