Dragonball M, Chapter 1: Silent Menace Aproaches!

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Stepping through, each of the Tournament participants finds themselves somewhere in a forest, near a waterfall, or atop a rock outcropping, or something similar.

The game is on.


OT: Before the big guns come out to fight, you can all take a crack at various mooks or NPC’s you have in the tourney. I’ll let you free form it for a day or so before my NPC’s pop up. That way you can all whittle the field down on your own. You only get up to three or four, so don’t go overboard though.

[Tami]

Damask is torn apart, but due to his connection to the ground, he heals almost as fast as the girls have destroyed him.

Meanwhile, Held has found the vault and the building it is in. He even manages to get inside. The vault is a massive slab of dark metal with a combination lock and biometric scanning.

Before he can finish healing, Meagan flies at him at high speed, her body surrounded by a highly charged Aura, and smashes through the creatures head like an arrow through glass. As he shatters once again, she grabs up as many of the pieces as she can carry, then flies them up into the air and throws them far away, scattering them, before returning back to repeat the process.

[Miburo]

Damask is torn apart, but due to his connection to the ground, he heals almost as fast as the girls have destroyed him.

Meanwhile, Held has found the vault and the building it is in. He even manages to get inside. The vault is a massive slab of dark metal with a combination lock and biometric scanning.

The Nevadian breathed a sigh of relief as he entered the building. At the very least he had narrowed down the location of the Dragonball. Although, perhaps the massive vault that seemed to take up far more space than he would be comfortable devoting a room to.

"Jeez." He mumbled to himself, looking over the vault with a sense of appreciation, "Is this a symbol of their ambition, or was this the sort of investment brought up by necessity?"

It was all he could do to suppress the impulse to whistle in apparition of their drive.

If I was back home, I'd probably try and take their whole treasure as a matter of professional pride...But, reliving the past isn't why I accepted this mission.

"This is Held." He spoke into the comm once more, hailing all parties, "I've fault the vault housing the Dragonball."

He spoke again, before anyone could suggest that maybe he could focus more of his energy on getting said object, as opposed to taking about achieving it.

"It has some sort of biometric scanner, and combination lock. Hopefully someone other than Willia has that information, or I'll be forced to see if I can gather enough energy to try and pie--"

Held



Just short of entering the main base propwer, a whistle in the air heralds a falling grenade behind him which arcs and impacts before Held, followed by the pulse of energy fire behind him.

The Nevadian jumped back, retreating the room as a result of the Grenades sudden arrival. The sneak attack forced him to exit the room lest he be caught in yet another explosion that sought to unmake him.

Turning to face his attackers, he instinctively put his spear in front of him diagonally with both hands gripping the shaft, some sort of defensive measure against whatever came next.

Two figures head toward Held. On the left is the AT sniper that retreated earlier, discharging a propellant casing from a grenade launcher. On the right is the last armoured infantryman of the company taken apart by Sasheem and Chou.

His helmet destroyed, beneath the dull crackle of a repulsor field is a youthful face. He can't be any older than Totoma or Chou, but his visage looked like it was carved out of wood and his glassy eyes locked straight onto his target.

"WG bastard! Suck on this!"

His arm twisted within the Armour of his suit, he raises his rifle, grimaces and fires.

You're kidding me....I didn't start this path until I was a bit younger, but it's still surprising to see someone this young on a battlefield like this...Then again, Jinzi did say some of the raiders joined out of some sort of blood feud.

"WG?" Held was momentarily confused by the term through at him, practically dripping with hatred. Was it some sort of Nevadian slur? His people were not exactly common on this planet, certainly not enough that many people would have bothered to go through the trouble of--

"Oh! Right, World Government." Held mumbled to himself, managing to better make sense of the situation. The Raiders seemed to have assumed this was Government work, which made as much sense as anything else. The Dragonball was likely way above his pay grade, after all.

Had the youth been in better condition, perhaps he would have been able to fire his weapon with enough speed to surprise the Nevadian, getting off a shot before he managed to gather his wits about him, perhaps even hitting him.

With that mangled arm, however, racked with enough pain to cause the youth to flinch, however....Even a moments pause could lead to ones undoing on the battlefield.

The Nevadian jumped to the side, shifting his weight to avoid the shot, and Ki flowed through the shaft of his spear as he prepared his counter attack. The rear end of the spear shot towards the enemies attack, intent on meeting in and ricocheting it into his partner, the sniper.

The gunman was perhaps the easier target of the two. Young, angry, injured. He posed the least amount of threat, at the moment. Perhaps the easiest of the two to interrogate, once his partner, the sniper, was rendered unconscious.

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

Thanks to Ishtar using her gravity spell on Kevi, Asha’rah manages to gum her up and pour the concrete down her throat.

Again, the form explodes and dies, and for a brief moment, Asaha’rah senses a small spark of ki disappear and the reappear as Kevi emerges from the shadows under the main entrance. Instead of attacking them, she flies at speed into the lookout’s main building, seeking Eva.

With another explosion of blood and shadow, the Witch of the Moon vanishes.

The Oni knows that Kevi is still alive, her death- the fourth ... or fifth- is simply a temporary affliction while she has yet the energy to reform herself ... the Oni knows well that she needs to rise and seek the Stalker out.

For a moment however, Ishtar simply lays there.

Asha'rah had mended her wounds from the first encounter, but the golden-eyed Oni's own energy was waning. She was tired now, and with the wounds that she had suffered this iteration of the Witch taking their toll; Ishtar knew that even were she mended she would fall in time. Until such a time however, an attempt to keep her promise to Eva was the only recourse.

Flopping over onto her stomach then, Ishtar forced herself to her knees.

"Haaaaa."

A moment passed- enough for the pain her previous action ignited to subside slightly- and the Oni shakily rose to her feet and after a moment to simply catch her breath; Ishtar staggered off towards the main hall, as she attempted to contact Kai, and the unconscious Eva.

"We have lost the Stalker. I suspect now she is in search of the your hiding place ... In what condition is Eva, Kai ?"

[Cyke]

Stepping through, each of the Tournament participants finds themselves somewhere in a forest, near a waterfall, or atop a rock outcropping, or something similar.

The game is on.


OT: Before the big guns come out to fight, you can all take a crack at various mooks or NPC’s you have in the tourney. I’ll let you free form it for a day or so before my NPC’s pop up. That way you can all whittle the field down on your own. You only get up to three or four, so don’t go overboard though.

When we join Zaofan, he's already running through the rock outcroppings, but keeping an eye on his opponent, one speeding down a parallel path and keeping equal speed. Blazingly fast, both fighters manage to run straight without running into any stone pillars or boulders.

Just my luck. First guy I meet is a ninja. And he seems formidable in his own right.



The figure, clad in mostly black, wasn't even moving his legs to move. It was more as if he was almost landsurfing, with his toes just a couple inches off the ground, energy emanating in his aftermath to indicate his pure speed.

Zaofan leapt up, and so did the mysterious figure. They clashed in the air, exchanging rapid flurries of punches, parries, and blocks, before both flipping backwards and landing perfectly on their feet. Ki sense would tell Zaofan that, though his power was weaker, he was not one to be trifled with. Zaofan adjusted his fighting stance. The figure then sped at him again, air-dashing while charging the foot behind with yellow energy. Noticing the similarity to his own Pressure Kicker, Zaofan did not move, instead allowing his opponent to come at him. The figure then arched his kick, from low to high, back to front, which Zaofan expertly dodged simply by bending backwards. When Zaofan rubber-banded back to position, he delivered a right punch, left chop, and right palm strike, all to his enemy's chest. The rapidfire blows sent the figure flying back, but he recovered himself, reverse somersaulting to land on his feet. But as soon as his feet touched ground, he dashed straight at Zaofan again. They exchanged another flurry of attacks and defenses, but this time with a fury that, although Zaofan's hands and arms kept pace, he found himself taking a few steps back while maintaining his motions.

The figure then grabbed Zaofan's wrist, locking it in place and tossing him over his shoulder. Zaofan himself landed on one foot, but used the momentum to hold onto the figure, and then toss him over his own shoulder, slamming him to the ground. Zaofan leaped back by 10 feet, and assumed another fighting stance. Waiting for his opponent to get up, Zaofan spoke. "If we are to meet on the battlefield, we should at least know who we're fighting. My name is Dixon. Dixon Gordon Blue."

The dark figure got up, recovered his breath, and answered very simply, "Sandaru."

Another voice from behind then added, "And don't forget us!"

Zaofan looked behind, and saw a blond young man in jeans and a white shirt, a young woman in a red dress and, inexplicably, heels, another young man, more muscular, in black pants and a yellow shirt.



The three new fighters then split up. With Sandaru to Zaofan's front, the blonde man took Zaofan's right, with the woman to his left and the man in yellow on his back.

Zaofan sensed their powerlevels. On their own, they'd be no match. But together, things could get troublesome. "So, you forged alliances already? This soon into the tournament?"

The one in yellow answered, "Oh, we got here randomly, just like you. But seeing as how you're handling that ninja over there, it makes more sense to take out the stronger fighters first."

The woman then added, "Four on one doesn't sound like fair odds, but we're playing for keeps here."

The blonde man's right arm began to charge with energy, while the woman cupped her hands, forming a ball of ki inside. The man in yellow adjusted his gloves, and Sandaru tightened his headband. Zaofan, completely surrounded, readied his stance -- knees bent but loose, left arm in front with hand and fingers sharp and strong, his right arm stretched just a little wider than normal to cover more space.

Zaofan then grinned. "I'm flattered that you think I'm strong. But there's only one way to really find out. Come on."

[Cyke]

As soon as Sandaru charged, the other three followed suit. Blue Man's fiery arm came straight for Zaofan at the same time as Red Woman's ki blast and Man in Yellow's jump kick. Zaofan stretched his arms, appearing to welcome the onslaught.

Just then, he yelled out: "ZANZOKEN!" Suddenly four copies appeared, quick enough for all four enemies to halt dead in their tracks. Once the Blue Man saw Zaofan right in front of him, he fired his energy punch, only for it to pass right through. His confusion kept him so busy that he didn't see Red Woman's ki blast, hitting him straight in the nose. Meanwhile, Yellow Man's jump kick went straight through the copy, intercepting Sandaru's own energy kick, causing an explosion that knocked all four fighters back, but hurt Yellow Man and Sandaru most.

Zaofan then reappeared. "You're so caught up on making alliances so quickly that you haven't stopped to learn about team work with each other. Tsk."

The Yellow Man growled and charged first. "Come ON, let's get him!" All four came after Zaofan at quick speeds, with Zaofan holding them off but running backwards at the same time. Switching up his tactics, Zaofan concentrated less on blocking if he could help it, and more on dodging.



Though, admittedly, Sandaru and the Blue Man were starting to get too close for comfort. Sandaru charged his foot again, and Blue Man charged his fist, while Zaofan could sense the Yellow Man coming from behind. Zaofan raised up his arms, and Yellow Man wrapped his arms around Zaofan's waist. "Hah, GOTCHA!" yelled the Yellow Man. He went for a backwards suplex -- just what Zaofan had wanted -- for it meant that Blue Man and Sandaru hit each other with their full-on ki attacks, sending each other flying. Zaofan then extended his arms at the last second to catch himself and prevent his head from being slammed upside-down against the rocky ground, then pulled himself off of Yellow Man.

"Look at you all," said Zaofan, dusting himself off. "You keep getting in each other's way... I wonder if that's on purpose? And Sandaru -- weren't you doing better when your new friends weren't helping?"

Blue Man then turned to Red Woman. "You shot me! I demand an apology!"

She yelled back, "An apology?! This is a tournament! We're supposed to be fighting each other anyway!"

The Yellow Man interjected, "That wasn't the plan!"

Blue Man then responded, "You mean the plan you came up with 2 minutes ago?"

Sandaru, to his credit, simply scoffed while they continued to argue, and soon coming to blows and shoving matches. "Amateurs. We're not done here, Zaofan." Sandaru raised his hands in a claw stance, and air galloped his charge at Zaofan. The other three fighters soon joined in, but soon clearly tried to land a punch on each other just as much as they were aiming for Zaofan.

Good, I've got their attention divided between each other. Mopping this up should be easy now. Here comes the fun part...!

[Lord Falcon]

Thanks to Ishtar using her gravity spell on Kevi, Asha’rah manages to gum her up and pour the concrete down her throat.

Again, the form explodes and dies, and for a brief moment, Asaha’rah senses a small spark of ki disappear and the reappear as Kevi emerges from the shadows under the main entrance. Instead of attacking them, she flies at speed into the lookout’s main building, seeking Eva.

With another explosion of blood and shadow, the Witch of the Moon vanishes.

The Oni knows that Kevi is still alive, her death- the fourth ... or fifth- is simply a temporary affliction while she has yet the energy to reform herself ... the Oni knows well that she needs to rise and seek the Stalker out.

For a moment however, Ishtar simply lays there.

Asha'rah had mended her wounds from the first encounter, but the golden-eyed Oni's own energy was waning. She was tired now, and with the wounds that she had suffered this iteration of the Witch taking their toll; Ishtar knew that even were she mended she would fall in time. Until such a time however, an attempt to keep her promise to Eva was the only recourse.

Flopping over onto her stomach then, Ishtar forced herself to her knees.

"Haaaaa."

A moment passed- enough for the pain her previous action ignited to subside slightly- and the Oni shakily rose to her feet and after a moment to simply catch her breath; Ishtar staggered off towards the main hall, as she attempted to contact Kai, and the unconscious Eva.

"We have lost the Stalker. I suspect now she is in search of the your hiding place ... In what condition is Eva, Kai ?"

Kevi's form died once more, exploding and dropping a haphazard lump of cement crashing down onto the deck. But then...a hint of ki in movement! It was tiny, almost undetectable in the heat of battle. But having been looking for it in close quarters, the ki core was unmistakable. It managed to slip through the concrete trap, flitting to the shadows of the main building where she reformed and fled into the bowels of the lookout. Her objective was certainly neither Ishtar nor Asha'rah, but rather something in the lookout...or someone

Ishtar followed, relaying information to Kai in the process. Asha'rah sent half of her orbs to follow Ishtar down, providing an added layer of defense to the Oni who would find herself in close-quarters combat against a being with claws as long as arms.

"Ishtar, Kevi has a mote within each of her bodies that contains her true essence. You can probably guess where Evangeline will be - the Guardian Room. The room has only one entrance. Please keep Kevi out of there. If you can force her to stay still for a moment, I can utterly annihilate Kevi's body, and you'll be able to seize the mote and crush it.

By sensing Kevi's ki, Asha'rah could tell what she was up to within the lookout and estimate how long she would need to get to the Guardian Room. When the time was ripe, Asha'rah began gathering massive amounts of her aura into her palms, concentrating fervantly to bring forth her energies at their greatest potency.

"Ka." Had Kevi been born a psychopath?

"Mi." Or had she been raised in a toxic environment herself?

"Ha." How much was the fault of her circumstances and surroundings?

"Me." And how much was Asha'rah's fault?

She kept track carefully, never moving even when Kevi hunted below. In the end, there was only one point of entry to the Guardian Room. One point Kevi would have to pass through to reach Evangeline. And as Kevi approached the entrance, Asha'rah knew where to aim. She delayed as long as it took to get Kevi centered just outside the room.

"HAAAA!"

A column of gold and violet burst forth, creating and destroying a thousand materials in the blink of an eye as she blasted through. Ceiling after ceiling collapsed upon one another if they weren't outright annihilated, Asha'rah seeking to crush Kevi utterly under the weight of energy and rubble.

[Cyke]

What had previously been a four vs. one match had devolved into its own miniature five-person free-for-all, with all five combatants moving at rapid speeds trying to one up their neighbors.

Zaofan found himself caught between Yellow Man and Red Woman, blocking and parrying attacks from both sides, and Yellow Man scoring a solid kick behind Zaofan's knee, bringing him down to one leg. Regardless of the drop, Zaofan maintained his pace. Red Woman went for a kick, and Zaofan caught her foot, throwing her at Yellow Man. Her back hit him hard, but with her front still directed at Zaofan, she fired a bluish-white ball of ki, slamming Zaofan in the chest and knocking him into Blue Man and Sandaru, who themselves were engaged in their own swift and fluid exchange. The shove into Blue Man, in turn shoving into Sandaru, disoriented those three fighters.

Red and Yellow flew right at Zaofan, ducking at the last possible second so that they would intercept Sandaru, who snapped at the ready. Those three then engaged in a fiery, glowing storm of dust, fists, and kicks, with the occasional fiery streak and ki energy ball flying in the distance. To their credit, whenever Red or Yellow were knocked down, they flipped right back up, landing solid -- if not powerful - blows on Sandaru.

That left Zaofan against Blue Man, whose fists charged up with yellow ki until the energy seemed to take the shape of a dragon head on each hand. With his ki-dragon arms, Blue Man rushed Zaofan with a full onslaught, to which Zaofan had to rely on his arm bracers to help deflect.



Despite Blue Man's weaker powerlevel, the technique was effective in forcing back Zaofan against the rock wall, keeping him on the defensive. Still, despite Zaofan's speed, some blows landed solidly on his chest, and Zaofan couldn't stand against this pressure for long. Flipping the tables, Zaofan yelled out, RAKAN GEKI! Soon Zaofan started striking and blocking so quickly that his arms eventually disappeared from his torso, as his arms gradually outmaneuvered Blue Man's own barrage, finishing with a double-palm thrust to shove Blue Man back 20 feet, with both his feet dragging on the ground while still standing.

But standing was all he could do, for as he was recovering from the force of the push, Blue Man looked up and saw Zaofan jump kick flying right at him, nailing him again square in the chest, knocking him between Red and Yellow, who were fighting Sandaru. Dazed from the attack, Red punched Blue twice, with Blue blocking a third punch. Now in that circle, Red, Blue, and Sandaru fought each other, with Yellow taking a quick break before seeing Zaofan, landing from the kick. Yellow screamed at the chef, "YOU! You're the most annoying jerk here! I'll wipe that smirk off your face!" and then charged.

Keeping mind that Yellow had gone for grappling moves, Zaofan summoned his knowledge gained from Brutus. Yellow ran in with his arms stretched out, aiming to grab Zaofan's neck, but Zao ducked, flipped, and grabbed Yellow with his legs.



He then kept Yellow in an arm lock and used a free hand to punch Yellow thrice. Yellow struggled against the ground to get himself free, until Zaofan let go to dodge another errant ki blast from Red, who had aimed for Blue but missed the shot. Sandaru's charged foot and Blue's charged fist hit each other with Red ducking in between. She then glowed with her own silver-white split kicks, hitting both men simultaneously and gaining distance from them, but with the new opening, Yellow bullrushed Red, leaping at her, grabbing her neck with his legs this time, spinning and using that force to throw her at Red. Soon the three worst allies ever engaged in their own rumble, with upper cuts and energy punches, and contorting flips everywhere.

Zaofan started breathing heavier, taking a quick second to watch the three battle each other. It's too bad such talents are wasted on such petty ignorance.

Unfortunately, Zaofan let his guard down, and he didn't see the flying flurry of kicks aimed right for him, courtesy of Sandaru. Zaofan's speed protected him for only so much, until a kick impacted solidly on the poor chef.



Zaofan quickly snapped into fighting stance as he stared Sandaru, who was now gloating through his flawless form. This isn't good. This protracted battle is too much of a distraction! I need to end this soon to rejoin the others!

[Cyke]

Sandaru's amazing footwork was beginning to take its toll on Zaofan's arms, as for the past thirty seconds, Zaofan had been primarily on the defensive.



Still, when he glanced at the other three fighters, he could see that they, too, were gradually wearing each other out. Zaofan went for a foot sweep, which Sandaru dodged by jumping up. But even faster, Zaofan quickly stood up and raised his leg straight up, using an axe kick to slam Sandaru back to the ground, forcefully. Sandaru, enraged, charged with full fury. Zaofan, inhaling deeply and taking comfort in the fact that he had been trained by none other than Kami, stood there and comfortably received Sandaru's rush, pushing him back.



Now utterly outmatched, Sandaru charged up his Shiva Kick, coating his leg in yellow ki energy. In pure frustration, he jumped high up and right at Zaofan. In response, Zaofan coated his own leg with crimson ruby energy, the same technique he had used on "Fife" in the simulation. Jumping high up, he fired off, "PRESSURE KICK!", matching Sandaru's own attack. Their kicks collided, the energy exploded. They both emerged from the explosion, their legs crouched and their arms stretched. Then they both stood slowly. But while Zaofan stood in contentment, Sandaru collapsed to the ground, his body cackling with energy but fainting from the impact.

"The ninja is down!" Zaofan heard from behind. Red, Yellow, and Blue temporarily ceased hostilities, with Yellow leading the charge. He acrobatically leaped at Zaofan, grabbing his neck with his legs, and spun him at Red and Blue.

Except this time, Zaofan was ready, going with the flow and angling the throw so that his back slammed into Blue, allowing him to kick Red right next to them, and then kick Blue in one fluid motion.

Red, herself ticked off, charged and fired a bluish ki ball, only for Zaofan to fire a quick Ricochet Optic Blast to deflect the ball right at Yellow, who tanked the hit. With Red distracted, he fired another quick optic blast, nailing her in the head. With Blue reeling from the kick, Zaofan delivered a strong left cross to the head to knock him to the ground, then proceeded to pummel Blue into submission.

With Red still dazed from the optic blast, she charged one one more ki ball. Zaofan rushed at her at superspeed, with his arms out to ram her. She fired her blast, which hit him straight in the chest -- or so it seemed, as the blast went straight through and hit Yellow again. Thanks to the Before Image, Red was distracted by the image in front of her, and didn't see the man projecting that image, firing a flying corkscrew jump kick that slammed her hard, sending her flying into a rock wall.

All that was left was Yellow. With Yellow being physically the toughest of the three goons and favoring grappling, Zaofan instead stood and outmaneuvered his torso to stay out of reach, then retaliated by aiming for key points and striking with a powerful one inch punch, sending Yellow reeling in pain.



Finally, Zaofan yelled out, "Hokuto Nijyuretsu Dan!" A dozen and a half blindingly fast, almost invisible, strikes hit Yellow's torso, followed by three powerful strikes -- an elbow strike, a heavy punch to the gut, and a final uppercut, rocketing Yellow high into the air and crashing to the ground with a terribly thud.

Zaofan looked around, and saw four defeated, knocked-out enemies across the rocky terrain. Not a bad warm up. He dusted himself off, regained his breath, wiped his brow, and finally began his search for his colleagues.

[Yun Lao]

Stepping through, each of the Tournament participants finds themselves somewhere in a forest, near a waterfall, or atop a rock outcropping, or something similar.

The game is on.

Charco found himself in a valley upon exiting the portal, surrounded by lush hills of green grass and wildflowers. West of him, the valley descended into woodlands, while the eastern path ascended into rocky highlands and led to mountains. In the distance, another portal appeared and the deep roar of a motorcycle annihilated what serene peace one might have sought in such scenery. Landing at full throttle, the bike chewed through the grass and dirt, flinging clods of earth through clouds of black exhaust behind it as its rider gunned it towards him.

Was the biker planning to run him over? He wouldn't put it past some psychopath to get his kicks from chasing someone down on bike, but it seemed rather amateurish at this level. Charco would find his question answered as the approaching figure appeared to slow, only to come a complete stop a few yards away. Engine still running, the leather clad being dismounted, its figures obscured under a helmet depicting a skull.



"Ogatan Charco, power level of 165..." The figure said, its voice was deep, distorted, and synthesized, reminiscent of someone speaking through an electrolarynx. "I am Jäger of the Last Call, power level of 140." Turning his helmeted head, Jager jabbed his point towards the motorcycle behind him, "Eraser of the Last Call, power level of 175"

"Wait, what?"

At first, he thought Jager was kidding. He knew it was common thing for people to name their vehicles, but there was no way a motorcycle would have a power level; however, Charco realized that it was no joke. Both the bike and rider had ki signatures, although they were so heavily distorted, like someone had punched two holes in the natural order of things. By that point, Jager had already jumped back onto Eraser's saddle and gunned the engine once more. The pair flew by Charco, its rider planting a boot into the boy's chest with enough force to lob Charco into the distance by several yards.

Quickly getting to his feet, he spat out a few errant blades of grass, "So, it's two on one? That's fine by me. Hopefully that scooter can hit harder than that!"

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

With another explosion of blood and shadow, the Witch of the Moon vanishes.

The Oni knows that Kevi is still alive, her death- the fourth ... or fifth- is simply a temporary affliction while she has yet the energy to reform herself ... the Oni knows well that she needs to rise and seek the Stalker out.

For a moment however, Ishtar simply lays there.

Asha'rah had mended her wounds from the first encounter, but the golden-eyed Oni's own energy was waning. She was tired now, and with the wounds that she had suffered this iteration of the Witch taking their toll; Ishtar knew that even were she mended she would fall in time. Until such a time however, an attempt to keep her promise to Eva was the only recourse.

Flopping over onto her stomach then, Ishtar forced herself to her knees.

"Haaaaa."

A moment passed- enough for the pain her previous action ignited to subside slightly- and the Oni shakily rose to her feet and after a moment to simply catch her breath; Ishtar staggered off towards the main hall, as she attempted to contact Kai, and the unconscious Eva.

"We have lost the Stalker. I suspect now she is in search of the your hiding place ... In what condition is Eva, Kai ?"

“Almost.....there.....” comes a muffled reply.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Kevi's form died once more, exploding and dropping a haphazard lump of cement crashing down onto the deck. But then...a hint of ki in movement! It was tiny, almost undetectable in the heat of battle. But having been looking for it in close quarters, the ki core was unmistakable. It managed to slip through the concrete trap, flitting to the shadows of the main building where she reformed and fled into the bowels of the lookout. Her objective was certainly neither Ishtar nor Asha'rah, but rather something in the lookout...or someone

Ishtar followed, relaying information to Kai in the process. Asha'rah sent half of her orbs to follow Ishtar down, providing an added layer of defense to the Oni who would find herself in close-quarters combat against a being with claws as long as arms.

"Ishtar, Kevi has a mote within each of her bodies that contains her true essence. Ishtar, you can probably guess where Evangeline will be - the Guardian Room. The room has only one entrance. Please keep Kevi out of there. If you can force her to stay still for a moment, I can utterly annihilate Kevi's body, and you'll be able to seize the mote and crush it.

By sensing Kevi's ki, Asha'rah could tell what she was up to within the lookout and estimate how long she would need to get to the Guardian Room. When the time was ripe, Asha'rah began gathering massive amounts of her aura into her palms, concentrating fervantly to bring forth her energies at their greatest potency.

"Ka." Had Kevi been born a psychopath?

"Mi." Or had she been raised in a toxic environment herself?

"Ka." How much was the fault of her circumstances and surroundings?

"Mi." And how much was Asha'rah's fault?

She kept track carefully, never moving even when Kevi hunted below. In the end, there was only one point of entry to the Guardian Room. One point Kevi would have to pass through to reach Evangeline. And as Kevi approached the entrance, Asha'rah knew where to aim. She delayed as long as it took to get Kevi centered just outside the room.

"HAAAA!"

A column of gold and violet burst forth, creating and destroying a thousand materials in the blink of an eye as she blasted through. Ceilings collapsed if they weren't outright annihilated, Asha'rah sought to crush Kevi utterly under the weight of energy and rubble.

OT:

Holy crap.

IC:

Parts of the Lookout vanish as the beam punches through and, having timed it right, slams into Kevi.The witch screams, having to use her power to deflect some of it lest it destroy her. Parts of the rubble and ceiling do collapse atop her, pinning her momentariy as she tries to free herself.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Before he can finish healing, Meagan flies at him at high speed, her body surrounded by a highly charged Aura, and smashes through the creatures head like an arrow through glass. As he shatters once again, she grabs up as many of the pieces as she can carry, then flies them up into the air and throws them far away, scattering them, before returning back to repeat the process.

Damask is scattered. He won’t be able to regen for a few minutes at least.

[Tami]

Damask is scattered. He won’t be able to regen for a few minutes at least.

OOC: Need to PM you a question.

[MrSandman]

Stepping through, each of the Tournament participants finds themselves somewhere in a forest, near a waterfall, or atop a rock outcropping, or something similar.

The game is on.

Erosa landed with a soft thud on the other side of the portal, just on the edge of a waterfall basin. The Id immediately crouched down on all fours, putting her body low to the ground as she scanned she surroundings. So far the area she was in seemed empty, though it wouldn't remain that way for very long. Zaofan would be appearing somewhere else any minute so it was best if she started moving immediately. Staying down on all fours, Erosa took off into the treeline.

Somewhere above her, a figure watched quietly. Cloaked, the figure placed their finger on their temple...The soft electric hum being the only indication it had done anything. With a powerful leap, the figure dropped...cloak flapping in the wind on its way down revealing a feminine form almost with some....oddly misshapen joints. The figure never hit the ground, instead it stopped just short before propelling itself forward into the trees as well.

Zaofan looked around, and saw four defeated, knocked-out enemies across the rocky terrain. Not a bad warm up. He dusted himself off, regained his breath, wiped his brow, and finally began his search for his colleagues.

After only a few moments of travel, Zaofan would spot something ahead. A figure, walking slowly in his direction. It was a slow, methodical walk. He would recognize the figure as one of the three that had been appraising them before the start of the tournament. The figure was already returning his gaze, a neutral expression over her face as she strolled towards him. There was something, otherworldly of her demeanor....to say nothing of the general look of her.



If Zaofan had a gut feeling, it would be going off right about now.