Critics who treat adult as a term of approval, instead of as a merely descriptive term, cannot be adult themselves. To be concerned about being grown up, to admire the grown up because it is grown up, to blush at the suspicion of being childish; these things are the marks of childhood and adolescence.
- C.S. Lewis
With Jinzi trapped, all that remained was to incapacitate the android that had showed up. Shooting a thumbs up and a grin to Zaofan, Chuan climbed down from his perch in order to seal the deal.
"Hey, keep the helper away! We can't let him get too close to Mr. Pantaloons!"
At the same time, he had his needles out as he rushed over to strike Jinzi's pressure points. Paralyzing Jinzi and keeping him down for extended periods of time would be a bonus, especially if it meant he couldn't intercede on his helper's behalf.
Ochazuke will detect that Koorimaru is correct. The control patch on Jinzi's neck is his direct connection to the arena. Severed, he has no power over the environs.
Black Knight of SO
Owner/Operator of SO’s Item/Weapon Shop
Claimer of the original Rumbles 2,000,000th post
CBR GM/DM
: Chou just hovers Mary Poppins style. Then slips. Falls. Not good with gravity as several things break, mainly his left arm as he lifts himself up, shirt torn, over his heart was a black orb with tubing within as he slowly edges his way. Braces self on a manifested hammer.:
Chuan strieks just a moment to late as Jinzi seems to 'melt' into the arena floor as if it were liquid, avoiding the needles and the flood of melted cheese that almost had him.
After a moment, about thirty feet away, Jinzi reemerges and the arena stays solid beneath him. He glances over towards the android and calls out.
"Remember, Adam, no real injuries here. This is just a training regiment."
He then waves his hands and gravity reasserts itself to it's proper norm. As he does so, he raises up on a light disc several feet into the air.
"Phase III: Maelstrom!"
Hundreds of small kinetic spheres appear around Jinzi, each about golfball sized. They move about him like planetary rings, protecting and defending him. He gestures.
"Come."
Black Knight of SO
Owner/Operator of SO’s Item/Weapon Shop
Claimer of the original Rumbles 2,000,000th post
CBR GM/DM
Ochazuke sank to one knee as Erosa fell on his shoulders. Slight as she was, the gravity's pull on her mass at 250% borne down on him in freefall was as if an anvil fell from the sky. The ki field project through his battle meditation allowed but a moment to brace himself.
The little one hadn't had enough, however, as Jack fell from his course through the air as he served as her second stepping stone and met the ground jaw-first and hurriedly went his own way.
Breathing through gritted teeth, he pushed himself to his feet. For a moment, he let leaden arms fall to his sides.
As he stood recovering from the human anvil that fell on him, Ochazuke looked up and found a familiar face. Far too close, and much too soon.
"Is this a conclusion of a battlefield veteran? Or merely the request of a blind man?"
"Heh."
He extended his left index finger, holding a Dodonpa at half charge at the tip. Then he raised his right hand before him and started to gather his ki through his battle meditation.
"I cannot reach him from where we stand, not with his mobility. But if you stop him for a moment with a covering attack, and you," he said to Koorimaru, "mark your path through the void, I can reach him. A moment's contact with Pantaloon's energy is all I'll need."
His fingertip sparked with energy, "then I'll mark the site of his control."
( Last post of evening.:
Even as he is broken and stood still. His body glows. With Will and tk he revarranges his broken body into place to heal properly, when time comes. As it was more than his arm, he held back scream of pain, real men do not scream. As eyes close he manifests as many blades as he can, forty in total that fly true and whirl around. As closed as they vat at barrier of balls so team mates have a shot.:
"You've really thought of everything...." Held murmured, looking on in bemusement at the preparations Jinzi had made. "I'd imagine if you managed to draw Willia here, you might have stood a pretty good chance...."
Held grunted for a moment, now fully on his feet.
Those spheres are everywhere....I don't know how I'd be able to avoid all of them like this.... I'll have to be patient and wait for an opening.
"OH!" Zaofan exclaimed. "Are you ... are you using a... Dodonpa?" Zaofan couldn't believe it. "Are you part of the Crane School?!"
Zaofan instantly felt relieved but unaccustomed to standard Earth gravity. He felt lighter than ever but had trouble keeping balance. "Damn! We almost had him!"
He sensed his own ki. Only enough for another optic blast, but that's it. His breathing heavy and labored, but his lungs no longer encumbered by the gravity, Zaofan tried to take every precious breath he could get.
Once he stabilized himself, he drew out Bojack again, taking a fighting stance once more. "I'm ready to play some pool. But let's stick to the plan! We need to do something about that transmitter!"
Flinching at the pain of the missed strike jarring his fingers, he retreats back a few steps as he returns the needles to his bracers. This wasn't good. Now that Jinzi had escaped, what would he do? That question was answered very quickly by the sudden shift in gravity. Now came time for the real hazard, for Jinzi would've learned from his earlier mistake and he had a lot more projectiles around him than before. Chuan had the thought that they'd be replaced very quickly if destroyed, but he wasn't going to consider the thought of trying to brute force their way past that barrier.
"We need to scoop them away."
They didn't have to be taken out of circulation permanently. They just had to be kept away long enough for Jinzi to have holes in his defences. So, who would be able to disrupt the formation long enough?
OOC: ...just according to keikaku?
IC:
Very swiftly he reported this finding to the others.
"Everything in the environs, the ground beneath our feet, the constructed life forms around him. It's like a giant eye, or nerve, that feeds right back to him. We are all of us dancing in the palm of his hand."
While they stood in Pantaloon's hand, he himself was a universe unto himself around which everything revolved.
Cursing to himself, he turned his energy sense towards this new threat, seeking to gain some insight. Any feedback in resonance against the grain of his ki, seeking to find patterns, or at least insight into an early warning..
His energy stretched forward slowly, without clashing, embracing the chaotic stream of the environs to discern the nature of the Jinzi's new defense system would be known to him.
"So... anyone have any plans for this stage?" Midori asked, not taking her eyes off the multitude of small kinetic spheres circling their opponent.
"Maybe Kai, Asha'rah, and I can use our barriers to create a path to Mr. Pantaloons so we can attack him directly." Shiro suggested.
Critics who treat adult as a term of approval, instead of as a merely descriptive term, cannot be adult themselves. To be concerned about being grown up, to admire the grown up because it is grown up, to blush at the suspicion of being childish; these things are the marks of childhood and adolescence.
- C.S. Lewis
Damn! He dodged the cheese! If not for Jinzi's odd magic, that'd snare him for certain...luckily Sasheem's plan had a secondary goal in mind. Stretching his arm, Sasheem managed to lower himself to the ground.
He approached the mozarella, some of it had not only melted, but had grown quite crispy. Sasheem pulled a chunk out of it and took a bite. His cheesy assault had left him quite tired. Every bite he took it seemed as if a puff of steam shot forth from his pores. Eating would help him replenish his energy, albeit slowly.
Sasheem didn't want to reenergize himself entirely however. Just enough so that he could help stop whatever Jinzi was planning next. And this next trick seemed fairly dangerous..
Sasheem finished munching on mozarella. He made a mental note to make the lake into marinara sauce once they were done. But for now....Sasheem grabbed ahold of two trees, in an attempt to make another majin slingshot.
As he pulled back he noticed the human(?) with the lizard tail making an effort to give the rest of them an opening. Using all his might he fling himself towards Jinzi at high speed, all the while charging his ki. Those small orbs...probably some new form of attack. But if Sasheem could make himself a target...then he could assist the lizard man in giving the others might have a chance to beat the human.
Sasheem continued to charge his ki until he neared Jinzi. "Hraaaagh!" Sasheem roared his voice growing deeper and lounder as did his body mass. For a moment the small majin became a hulking figure, although still one who's legs were trapped in a toilet which despite his increase in size, never shattered.
This was the form Sasheem had accessed before his untimely sealing into the toilet. It wouldn't last long, half a minute at best, but it would last long enough to make a big target for whatever those orbs were. Sasheem readied a clothesline as he flew towards Jinzi.
Stretching his energy sense out into Pantaloon's orbit, Ochazuke's sixth sense did not make him take leave of his others. Zaofan's exclamation awoke something dark within him.
For a moment, the radiant ki meditation around him flashed cold, and the starkest shock of icy dread filled his vicinity. A danger reflex.
Turning his head slowly, he stared straight into the vagabond thief's eyes and replied simply.
"Are you?"
The charge in his finger resumed, dangling as if its execution would hinge on this answer; but for the moment, he turned his attention back to Pantaloon's new defense.
"We will have words after this task is completed."
Last edited by grampagen; 01-24-2018 at 11:19 PM.