Dragonball M, Chapter 5: Clarion’s Call! The Signal! The Fate of the Universes!

[grampagen]

A moment as three spears elongate and appear to be o e continuous line of blue power, striking and pinning through the Skull head of the behemoth like a butterfly pinned to a wall.

Then the skull mostly explodes, fragments going everywhere as the now exposed God of Reality, merged partially with the behemoth in the head, grunts and looks up at Held in startled fear.

Then Sasheem strikes. He quickly learns that the GodÂ’s biology is different than the norm, and most of the weak parts seem immune to his strikes. However, two blows aimed at the lungs are off the mark as the God jerks back where he is merged with the behemoth, the damaged earring being struck and destroyed under SasheemÂ’s fist.

The lightning of the Unicorn fell, and the serpent sprung up from the ground; and when the carapace split under the impalement and pieces of its morbid construction splintered, there Zaofan felt the fingers around its blade loosen just a bit, and found his cue to exit.

"Go! Do it!" His spiralling aura exploded now that the deadlock had eased, the course of his acceleration ramping up once more as he shouted again once more as he began to slide off to the side. "GOOOO!!!"

The entire behemoth shudders once, twice, then power ripples and throws Sasheem out as the god wails in pain. Held and Sasheem can see his skin ripple, a hand stretch through his stomach and attempt to breach his skin as if stuck from within. The God reaches down and pushes the hand back in, sweating, face contorting between Grinthorn and Sakin for several moments. Held, your eyes can clearly see the two energies within the fusion battling each other. Grinthorn and Sakin, each fighting the other. One to escape, the other for stable dominance.

It seems without both earrings on, the fusion has become unstable.

The behemoth body collapses, the focus to maintain it no longer possible, and two Reality Shards (of the small amount remaining) emerge from the ground and fly to the God. One strikes his back and merges with him, a cocoon of shifting energy surrounding him as he attempts to gain mastery over the fusion. The other simply implodes and creates two ten foot tall rifts in the air above the cocooned God, from wince an ominous black mist begins creeping in and surrounding the area, obscuring even HeldÂ’s angelic sight (which shouldnÂ’t be possible). Within moments hundreds of meters of the black mist has created a massive cloud surrounding the cocooned god and the area all around him, obscuring him from sight and sense.

For a moment, the energy of the fusion had risen, dangerously unstable as its components struggled within, and as he careened off, Zaofan though he could see a shape escaping from within the God of Reality.

Then suddenly the darkness flooded about the Forsworn World, and beyond the black curtain of mist bleeding from the schisms in reality, the shadow only seemed to grow.

What the hell? Risking a slow turn on the followthrough, Zaofan lift his head. Though he could the monolithic cocoon plainly before his eyes, and he knew it came from their enemy, beyond the form of the ancient being with all its twisted powers of True Magic, there was no prescence there. No ki, no residuals of magic as he'd known it, not even a spiritual pressure, only an absence behind that twisted shape, and an uncanny silence. How do we stop this thing?!

Ocahzuke pulls, the power comes to him, and it fills faster than ever before. Far faster, in fact.

He sees the blow Zaofan lands, sees Held preparing a shot, sees the ethereal essence of Jack and Excalibur high above. Sees the strange portal Efrideet has created not too far away. He see Praxat and Koorimaru and everyone.

He sees the battlefield, sees the confusion and even fear the new god has.

He sees and pulls the energy, Heka and even traces of reality itself as he holds his own shard close.

It might have been an impossible task to perceive reality, unfiltered, from the view of the divine. As far beyond a view of the spectral phenomena that animated the physical matter, to glimpse the very architecture of godly design, the liminal art of the cosmos itself was to be swallowed up the a tide of existential stimuli that threatened to wash away with it any conscious rationalization.

To master reality...to encompass the catalyst for change across the universe...

But as he tapped into the shards that animated the God of Reality's design, through the shifts it left in its wake, he became acutely aware the breadth of this creature's power, and along with this, the ties it held to this reality.

Though th Forsworn World held no animating force of its own, the Creation Energy that fed back to the gathering of Guardians had revealed that even the Angelic legacy Sakin had borne, the miraculous and awful powers of Eldfen, were linked, in some fashion, to the Cosmic Leyline; and across it, he could feel the force of Heka, the manifest hope, the living will of the Universe, in turn, bolster in of itself and expand throughout all things in this moment.

Reality, in of itself, rallying its resistance, and taking back that which they knew the God would take away from them. Their silence had fallen away, replaced by the valour of multitudes, put behind them right now, even when this creature began to pull apart a path between worlds.

The peoples of the Universe rebuffed his threats to return their fragment existence to One. Yet how ironic, all their eyes turn to us now in this moment.

When the blow was struck, the flicker of fear had amplified within the God of Reality.

Now, holding a portion of its own power within his hand, Ochazuke drew upon the Heka of the Universe behind them to take hold of it and distribute it amongst each member of their group.

No more tricks...

The cocoon obscured it from their perceptions, just as the shards stole their autonomy. Casting the iron wind of Kongosho upon the battlefield, he would attempt to nullify the god's attempt to hide, and bolster their group's resistence to its curses.

To action upon the power he'd gathered, however, would require something greater...

[Miburo]

A moment as three spears elongate and appear to be o e continuous line of blue power, striking and pinning through the Skull head of the behemoth like a butterfly pinned to a wall.

Then the skull mostly explodes, fragments going everywhere as the now exposed God of Reality, merged partially with the behemoth in the head, grunts and looks up at Held in startled fear.

Then Sasheem strikes. He quickly learns that the God’s biology is different than the norm, and most of the weak parts seem immune to his strikes. However, two blows aimed at the lungs are off the mark as the God jerks back where he is merged with the behemoth, the damaged earring being struck and destroyed under Sasheem’s fist.


The entire behemoth shudders once, twice, then power ripples and throws Sasheem out as the god wails in pain. Held and Sasheem can see his skin ripple, a hand stretch through his stomach and attempt to breach his skin as if stuck from within. The God reaches down and pushes the hand back in, sweating, face contorting between Grinthorn and Sakin for several moments. Held, your eyes can clearly see the two energies within the fusion battling each other. Grinthorn and Sakin, each fighting the other. One to escape, the other for stable dominance.

It seems without both earrings on, the fusion has become unstable.

The behemoth body collapses, the focus to maintain it no longer possible, and two Reality Shards (of the small amount remaining) emerge from the ground and fly to the God. One strikes his back and merges with him, a cocoon of shifting energy surrounding him as he attempts to gain mastery over the fusion. The other simply implodes and creates two ten foot tall rifts in the air above the cocooned God, from wince an ominous black mist begins creeping in and surrounding the area, obscuring even Held’s angelic sight (which shouldn’t be possible). Within moments hundreds of meters of the black mist has created a massive cloud surrounding the cocooned god and the area all around him, obscuring him from sight and sense.

The being had managed to bring about a frustration previously unknown in the heart of the Nevadian. He was as slippery as a serpent, able to mold and adapt to seemingly any circumstance. It was all they could do to scarcely interfere with his plan, only to find that several other contingencies existed.

In different circumstances, The Nevadian would have been impressed. As things were, all he could do was grit his teeth and carry on.

The barest hint of elation came about when Held managed to pierce the hide of the Behemoth, and when Sasheem prepared his kill-strike. He had came up just short, but things were hardly ever that easy, after all.

And their main goal had been accomplished. The God had been pried from his shell, and whats more, his hope of protecting his earring failing entirely thanks to the Majin.

It was almost grotesque, the way the Gods body contorted and morphed as one side of its being attempted to overwhelm the other, or perhaps even split apart entirely. For a moment, Held was hopeful that what remained of Grinthorn would be able to stun the God in place just long enough for this battle to be done.

Of course, Sakin had prepared eons for this moment, and with the combined wits and power of them both, this God seemingly had no limits to what it could endure.

Or to what it could accomplish.

Held stared at the massive cocoon in disbelief, as it came into being in mere moments. Or rather, he did. Almost instantly, a dense fog concealed it, somehow so potent that it was beyond his ability to perceive the inner workings within it.

It was this, that worried the Nevadian the most.

Damnit....Whatever he's up to, we can't afford to let him finish. He wouldn't go through all this trouble to establish his defenses if he weren't vulnerable in this moment.

A deep sigh escaped his lips, before he inhaled deeply.

With the slightest shift of his weight, Crazy Horn charged forth towards the mist, sensing his partners intentions.

If I can disperse the mist and weaken whatever that shell is, perhaps we can strike him while he's vulnerable.

The Lord of The Sunlit Planes galloped at a frantic pace towards the mist, his hooves thundering on the earth below, before he lunged upwards and into the mist towards where the Cocoon had once been.

An aura of glistening white energy enveloped both Nevadian and Steed as they plunged into the darkness, a white flame growing several times of size of both, as it enveloped them. Suddenly, it vanished, seemingly imploding in on the two.

Here we go....I hope this body can stand this...I haven't really gotten a chance to test my abilities outside of otherworld...And even there, it's a bit exhausting.

Purification Exclamination!

As was as if a bomb had been loosed from the Nevadians position, as a searing explosion of purifying energy suddenly manifested. A blinding sphere expanded outwards in an ever growing radius, with the Nevadian at it's epicenter. Between the strength of the explosion, and the technique being most effective against the wicked and depraved, Held gambled that he would be able to disperse the ebon mist, and perhaps crack the egg that the God was in, before it hatched of its own accord.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Bolstered by Ocahzuke, the group can feel that renewal as the iron winds of Kongosho and Held’s purification aura plunge into the ebon mists.

A chilling presence tries to cling to Held, but the aura pushes it away and between that and Ochazuke, the shrouding mists eventually give way and dissipate.

Or, actually, they instead condense and compile into three forms instead, surrounding the cocoon.

A shadow form of Ochazuke, Held, and what looks like a shadow unicorn stand in a trifecta around the cocoon. They lack facial features, save the barest hint of mouths and noses, but the body postures and stances are all scarily similar.

Held, Ochazuke, you realize had you all charged into the mists or sent any attacks or will against it, a shadow version of all of you would have been created in response. Instead, you vastly limited the number of shadow foes you would of had to face and indeed pushed the mists back into simply these three forms.

Shadow Held mounts the unicorn and three shadow spears appear all around them, rotating in a dangerous drill like pattern. The Shadow Ochazuke drops to one knee and places a hand against the planet, focuses, and a massive surge in energy surrounds the three as he bolsters their strength, drawing energy from Sakin’s world to amp themselves.

Shadow Ocahzuke stands and the faintest smirk traces his face as a shadow hammer appears in each of his hands, a copy of the Forger’s hammer with a shadow dragonball in each head. He raises them, then throws them at unbelievable speeds towards Zaofan and Sasheem.

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

One of the ten remaining shards shudders under her distant grasp. However, eventually, it ‘pops’ and reality around it sunders. A great yawning portal into nothing appears, before a long arm reaches out, grasping the edge of the portal. Another does the same to the other rim and a massive form begins to pull itself through.

Efrideet quirks an eyebrow at the emergent creature, and amid the cacophony of the battlefield, simply seeks to add to it. With a tugging motion, she seeks to prise the creature free from the maw in reality she'd created.

A moment as three spears elongate and appear to be o e continuous line of blue power, striking and pinning through the Skull head of the behemoth like a butterfly pinned to a wall.

Then the skull mostly explodes, fragments going everywhere as the now exposed God of Reality, merged partially with the behemoth in the head, grunts and looks up at Held in startled fear.

Then Sasheem strikes. He quickly learns that the God’s biology is different than the norm, and most of the weak parts seem immune to his strikes. However, two blows aimed at the lungs are off the mark as the God jerks back where he is merged with the behemoth, the damaged earring being struck and destroyed under Sasheem’s fist.


The entire behemoth shudders once, twice, then power ripples and throws Sasheem out as the god wails in pain. Held and Sasheem can see his skin ripple, a hand stretch through his stomach and attempt to breach his skin as if stuck from within. The God reaches down and pushes the hand back in, sweating, face contorting between Grinthorn and Sakin for several moments. Held, your eyes can clearly see the two energies within the fusion battling each other. Grinthorn and Sakin, each fighting the other. One to escape, the other for stable dominance.

It seems without both earrings on, the fusion has become unstable.

The behemoth body collapses, the focus to maintain it no longer possible, and two Reality Shards (of the small amount remaining) emerge from the ground and fly to the God. One strikes his back and merges with him, a cocoon of shifting energy surrounding him as he attempts to gain mastery over the fusion. The other simply implodes and creates two ten foot tall rifts in the air above the cocooned God, from wince an ominous black mist begins creeping in and surrounding the area, obscuring even Held’s angelic sight (which shouldn’t be possible). Within moments hundreds of meters of the black mist has created a massive cloud surrounding the cocooned god and the area all around him, obscuring him from sight and sense.

As this unfolds... there is a spark from the heavens; and then a second sun erupts on the battlefield, as Efrideet lashes out at the coccoon.

[Yun Lao]

It was in the winds of conflict that it would begin.

Stirred up and gathered in the swirling chaos were the bits and pieces that had once made up the veiling of reality, shattered by Sakin. Initially an occasional glint, enough had been collected for the winds to sparkle, and with that, those bits and pieces would reunite by chance. One would become two, two to four, until the growing mass became obvious. Twisting and contorting, forming smooth curves into sharpened angles, the wad of reality sought to find the proper shape to fit back into place. Success would bring the mass to slide into reality like the final missing piece of the puzzle, sending a ripple outward.

He had returned.

Like a defiant battle banner, the long robes of his changshan flapped in the wind, embroidered with silver thread a serpentine creature with two heads; the uppermost resembling that of the tyrannosaurus, and the lower end that of a dragon. The left sleeve had been drawn halfway up the upper arm and tied in place with a rope in a similar style of a pra jiad, revealing the flesh beneath to be heavily scaled and reptilian, ending with a trio of talons.

He was much leaner than before and more mature-appearing, perhaps suggesting why his hair now hung halfway down his back in a loose braid. A shock of white dyed his left temple's bangs, evidence of his struggles in life, framing the golden color of the reptilian slitted-pupil that now made up that eye. Aside from the eye and arm, the rest of him had remained human.

Bolstered by Ocahzuke, the group can feel that renewal as the iron winds of Kongosho and Held’s purification aura plunge into the ebon mists.

A chilling presence tries to cling to Held, but the aura pushes it away and between that and Ochazuke, the shrouding mists eventually give way and dissipate.

Or, actually, they instead condense and compile into three forms instead, surrounding the cocoon.

A shadow form of Ochazuke, Held, and what looks like a shadow unicorn stand in a trifecta around the cocoon. They lack facial features, save the barest hint of mouths and noses, but the body postures and stances are all scarily similar.

Held, Ochazuke, you realize had you all charged into the mists or sent any attacks or will against it, a shadow version of all of you would have been created in response. Instead, you vastly limited the number of shadow foes you would of had to face and indeed pushed the mists back into simply these three forms.

Shadow Held mounts the unicorn and three shadow spears appear all around them, rotating in a dangerous drill like pattern. The Shadow Ochazuke drops to one knee and places a hand against the planet, focuses, and a massive surge in energy surrounds the three as he bolsters their strength, drawing energy from Sakin’s world to amp themselves.

Shadow Ocahzuke stands and the faintest smirk traces his face as a shadow hammer appears in each of his hands, a copy of the Forger’s hammer with a shadow dragonball in each head. He raises them, then throws them at unbelievable speeds towards Zaofan and Sasheem.

Seeing little reason to hesitate, he engaged.

From the air around him, several fist-sized orbs of energy came into being, a faint chime sounding in a fanfare of their birth. His human hand gesturing forth, the orbs launched themselves toward the mounted shadow Held, although the orbs would not be the ones to reach it. Clashing in flight, the orbs paired up and dragon-like constructs formed, each seeking to rend the dark mimicries.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Efrideet quirks an eyebrow at the emergent creature, and amid the cacophony of the battlefield, simply seeks to add to it. With a tugging motion, she seeks to prise the creature free from the maw in reality she'd created.



As this unfolds... there is a spark from the heavens; and then a second sun erupts on the battlefield, as Efrideet lashes out at the coccoon.

The hole fills back in and this fifteen foot tall, slender, vaguely feminine form stands up, looming. In her hand is a strange eldritch staff, and an aura of nature and rot and life floats about her.


Meanwhile, the second sun burns against the cocoon and hairline fractures spider-web all over it under Efrideet’s attack.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

It was in the winds of conflict that it would begin.

Stirred up and gathered in the swirling chaos were the bits and pieces that had once made up the veiling of reality, shattered by Sakin. Initially an occasional glint, enough had been collected for the winds to sparkle, and with that, those bits and pieces would reunite by chance. One would become two, two to four, until the growing mass became obvious. Twisting and contorting, forming smooth curves into sharpened angles, the wad of reality sought to find the proper shape to fit back into place. Success would bring the mass to slide into reality like the final missing piece of the puzzle, sending a ripple outward.

He had returned.

Like a defiant battle banner, the long robes of his changshan flapped in the wind, embroidered with silver thread a serpentine creature with two heads; the uppermost resembling that of the tyrannosaurus, and the lower end that of a dragon. The left sleeve had been drawn halfway up the upper arm and tied in place with a rope in a similar style of a pra jiad, revealing the flesh beneath to be heavily scaled and reptilian, ending with a trio of talons.

He was much leaner than before and more mature-appearing, perhaps suggesting why his hair now hung halfway down his back in a loose braid. A shock of white dyed his left temple's bangs, evidence of his struggles in life, framing the golden color of the reptilian slitted-pupil that now made up that eye. Aside from the eye and arm, the rest of him had remained human.



Seeing little reason to hesitate, he engaged.

From the air around him, several fist-sized orbs of energy came into being, a faint chime sounding in a fanfare of their birth. His human hand gesturing forth, the orbs launched themselves toward the mounted shadow Held, although the orbs would not be the ones to reach it. Clashing in flight, the orbs paired up and dragon-like constructs formed, each seeking to rend the dark mimicries.

Where the smooth featureless Ares eyes would be, Shadow Held’s twisted Shingan appear. A bold gold against the shadow, the eyes flare and spin, leaking strange energies as the three spears launch out at incredible speeds to intercept the dragons, shattering them as the mounted Held turns and speeds towards Charco now, spears emerging from his back and circling him oneself more.

[Yun Lao]

Where the smooth featureless Ares eyes would be, Shadow Held’s twisted Shingan appear. A bold gold against the shadow, the eyes flare and spin, leaking strange energies as the three spears launch out at incredible speeds to intercept the dragons, shattering them as the mounted Held turns and speeds towards Charco now, spears emerging from his back and circling him oneself more.

"Good..."

This wouldn't be much of a test if that alone had harmed the mimicry.

His human had reached to the side and the remaining orbs responded in kind, gathering in his palm. Extending outward in both directions, the energy began to solidify in crystalline ki. Whereas his foe would approach in spear, his own weapon took on an odder shape as one end formed an upward crescent while the other ended in a wide convex. "Charco" had never heard of the yueyachan before this moment, nonetheless wielded one, but it didn't matter as he whirled the monk's spade about him in a brief crash-course practice before the shadow Held's approach.

Mere moments before the shadowcorn's hooves would have trampled him, he leapt upward, kicking off one of the very spears that encircled held to gain further height while batting a second one away with his spade. Now in position, he swiped his sauran hand ahead, launching a trio of vacuum blades toward the mounted rider.

[grampagen]

Bolstered by Ocahzuke, the group can feel that renewal as the iron winds of Kongosho and Held’s purification aura plunge into the ebon mists.

A chilling presence tries to cling to Held, but the aura pushes it away and between that and Ochazuke, the shrouding mists eventually give way and dissipate.

Or, actually, they instead condense and compile into three forms instead, surrounding the cocoon.

A shadow form of Ochazuke, Held, and what looks like a shadow unicorn stand in a trifecta around the cocoon. They lack facial features, save the barest hint of mouths and noses, but the body postures and stances are all scarily similar.

Held, Ochazuke, you realize had you all charged into the mists or sent any attacks or will against it, a shadow version of all of you would have been created in response. Instead, you vastly limited the number of shadow foes you would of had to face and indeed pushed the mists back into simply these three forms.

Shadow Held mounts the unicorn and three shadow spears appear all around them, rotating in a dangerous drill like pattern. The Shadow Ochazuke drops to one knee and places a hand against the planet, focuses, and a massive surge in energy surrounds the three as he bolsters their strength, drawing energy from Sakin’s world to amp themselves.

Shadow Ocahzuke stands and the faintest smirk traces his face as a shadow hammer appears in each of his hands, a copy of the Forger’s hammer with a shadow dragonball in each head. He raises them, then throws them at unbelievable speeds towards Zaofan and Sasheem.

By the narrowest of margins, despite the manifestation of these three shadowy forms, Ochazuke could only feel as if circumstances may have been worse where the dark mist was concerned.

Regardless, that left the issue of the God of Reality, veiled behind his newest cloister in the throes of some other sort of metamorphosis.

"Whether we've managed to mitigate the worst of it, we cannot know for certain," he said to Held, "Perhaps the creature seeks to add some measure of irony to its cruelty."

The moment he felt the current shift within the genius loci of the planet towards their shadowy counterparts, however, Ochazuke's face lowered, his expression hardened.

"But if he thinks its mastery of our lives goes deeper than we who have lived them, we'll swiftly provide our rebuttal."

So spoken, within the subliminal matters of the planet Ochazuke threw the span of his Battle Meditation against his counterpart, and though he was too late to affect the first salvo of actions, beyond the first surge of power it had redistributed from the planet, he held his stance. Having analyzed the Shards of Reality, he sought to choke them off from the source of their very manifestation.

Meanwhile, as the hammer sped towards Zaofan, after his expenditure, he couldn't do much but go limp and try to move with the blow as it came.

Oh, please...

Reading the motion was quite familiar to him, but through thousands of spars it wasn't quite so blatant in using the hammer in this manner. Thanks to the Sheep's Fortitude, however, he might match the hammer blow in part, his ki cushioning the strike, like falling into a heavy, soggy sweater.

The Wooly Woven Path!

As he blocked it with his body, Zaofan wrapped his limbs inward as he attempted to tackle the hammer, and the Shadow Dragonball within it, out of the air and pull himself back to the ground.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

By the narrowest of margins, despite the manifestation of these three shadowy forms, Ochazuke could only feel as if circumstances may have been worse where the dark mist was concerned.

Regardless, that left the issue of the God of Reality, veiled behind his newest cloister in the throes of some other sort of metamorphosis.

"Whether we've managed to mitigate the worst of it, we cannot know for certain," he said to Held, "Perhaps the creature seeks to add some measure of irony to its cruelty."

The moment he felt the current shift within the genius loci of the planet towards their shadowy counterparts, however, Ochazuke's face lowered, his expression hardened.

"But if he thinks its mastery of our lives goes deeper than we who have lived them, we'll swiftly provide our rebuttal."

So spoken, within the subliminal matters of the planet Ochazuke threw the span of his Battle Meditation against his counterpart, and though he was too late to affect the first salvo of actions, beyond the first surge of power it had redistributed from the planet, he held his stance. Having analyzed the Shards of Reality, he sought to choke them off from the source of their very manifestation.

Meanwhile, as the hammer sped towards Zaofan, after his expenditure, he couldn't do much but go limp and try to move with the blow as it came.

Oh, please...

Reading the motion was quite familiar to him, but through thousands of spars it wasn't quite so blatant in using the hammer in this manner. Thanks to the Sheep's Fortitude, however, he might match the hammer blow in part, his ki cushioning the strike, like falling into a heavy, soggy sweater.

The Wooly Woven Path!

As he blocked it with his body, Zaofan wrapped his limbs inward as he attempted to tackle the hammer, and the Shadow Dragonball within it, out of the air and pull himself back to the ground.

The hammer slows dramatically, Zaofan goes to catch it and when he does the hammer explodes out in a patch of sticky tar like substance that proceeds to stick to Zaofan’s body, wrapping around him not unlike Sasheem’s majin body might. The only thing of substance seems to be the shadow dragonball, nestled close to Zaofan’s hip as the misty mass wraps around him and slowly starts absorbing his energy away while also attempting to smother his face.


Ochazuke, you are met with a will as iron-clad as your own, and while you manage to halt the pull on the planet’s energy, you realize that this will be a stalemate for now. You also realize that another will blocks you from choking them off, some foreign power deep within the planet, newly manifested, that is keeping the shadow duplicates here so the God of Reality does not have to focus on them and can instead focus on mastering Grinthorn.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

"Good..."

This wouldn't be much of a test if that alone had harmed the mimicry.

His human had reached to the side and the remaining orbs responded in kind, gathering in his palm. Extending outward in both directions, the energy began to solidify in crystalline ki. Whereas his foe would approach in spear, his own weapon took on an odder shape as one end formed an upward crescent while the other ended in a wide convex. "Charco" had never heard of the yueyachan before this moment, nonetheless wielded one, but it didn't matter as he whirled the monk's spade about him in a brief crash-course practice before the shadow Held's approach.

Mere moments before the shadowcorn's hooves would have trampled him, he leapt upward, kicking off one of the very spears that encircled held to gain further height while batting a second one away with his spade. Now in position, he swiped his sauran hand ahead, launching a trio of vacuum blades toward the mounted rider.

Shadow Held ‘falls’ out of the saddle, so to speak, your vacuum blades passing just where his head once was, as he rights himself and pivots unnaturally quickly on the shadow unicorn to face you once more. The three spears emerging from his back launch out at speed in a counter clockwise spiral, three deadly darts menat to drill through where the pierce.

You also feel a flash of energy from his eyes and the eerie sensation he somehow saw your move before you did them.

[Yun Lao]

Shadow Held ‘falls’ out of the saddle, so to speak, your vacuum blades passing just where his head once was, as he rights himself and pivots unnaturally quickly on the shadow unicorn to face you once more. The three spears emerging from his back launch out at speed in a counter clockwise spiral, three deadly darts menat to drill through where the pierce.

You also feel a flash of energy from his eyes and the eerie sensation he somehow saw your move before you did them.

"Shingan..."

Always with the eyes, these Nevadians.

Slapping away one of the spears, he leapt back to gain some distance from the remaining ones and mull over his options. How does one deal with someone who can see ahead of you? The ability wasn't too far-fetched, but Charco was hardly the type with a mindset able to replicate it. His only answer was the simplest; there was no way to prevent the shadow Held from seeing ahead, but that did not mean his foe was immune to what was coming. Some fates were inevitable. The air around the three of them lit up as more and more of those orbs from before appeared, haunting them like will-of-the-wisps. The challenge to the mimics was clear: dodge this.

The orbs unloaded upon the two, leaving ghostly trails of energy that crystalized, creating a cage that was quickly encasing them. Not quite finished, Charco swept off the loose dirt from the ground before placing his sauran talons against it, pumping energy into the otherwise barren earth.

[grampagen]

The hammer slows dramatically, Zaofan goes to catch it and when he does the hammer explodes out in a patch of sticky tar like substance that proceeds to stick to Zaofan’s body, wrapping around him not unlike Sasheem’s majin body might. The only thing of substance seems to be the shadow dragonball, nestled close to Zaofan’s hip as the misty mass wraps around him and slowly starts absorbing his energy away while also attempting to smother his face.

Unbeknownst to the Martial Chef, when he'd reached to ensnare the hammer and the strange orb set within it, the one that would be entwined would be himself.

Oh boy...

The strangely viscous liquid shadow enveloped him as he fell and rolled in the dirt, stifling movement and holding to him fast. Yet this was a situation he'd found himself in far more often than he'd thought.

Thoughts racing, Zaofan shut his eyes tight, took in a large gulp of air, and with one hand on the Shadow Dragonball with the last of his strength, began to pull it out and away from the rest of the mass.

Ochazuke, you are met with a will as iron-clad as your own, and while you manage to halt the pull on the planet’s energy, you realize that this will be a stalemate for now. You also realize that another will blocks you from choking them off, some foreign power deep within the planet, newly manifested, that is keeping the shadow duplicates here so the God of Reality does not have to focus on them and can instead focus on mastering Grinthorn.

Even with the tide of Heka pressing forth, the collective will of the universe seemed to have its limits when it fell upon the dominion of the Angel. Peering within the heart of darkness, however, there was yet another consciousness.

"Whatever is happening within the Coccon," Ochazuke sounded over the communicators, his voice weary and filled with equal parts disgust and resolition, "The Sakin portion of the fusion seeks to subsume Grinthorn, and the longer this diversion persists..."

Efrideet quirks an eyebrow at the emergent creature, and amid the cacophony of the battlefield, simply seeks to add to it. With a tugging motion, she seeks to prise the creature free from the maw in reality she'd created.


As this unfolds... there is a spark from the heavens; and then a second sun erupts on the battlefield, as Efrideet lashes out at the coccoon.

"Shingan..."

Always with the eyes, these Nevadians.

Slapping away one of the spears, he leapt back to gain some distance from the remaining ones and mull over his options. How does one deal with someone who can see ahead of you? The ability wasn't too far-fetched, but Charco was hardly the type with a mindset able to replicate it. His only answer was the simplest; there was no way to prevent the shadow Held from seeing ahead, but that did not mean his foe was immune to what was coming. Some fates were inevitable. The air around the three of them lit up as more and more of those orbs from before appeared, haunting them like will-of-the-wisps. The challenge to the mimics was clear: dodge this.

The orbs unloaded upon the two, leaving ghostly trails of energy that crystalized, creating a cage that was quickly encasing them. Not quite finished, Charco swept off the loose dirt from the ground before placing his sauran talons against it, pumping energy into the otherwise barren earth.

Then in response to the shadows, heat and light bathed the surface of the Forsworn World. Upon the surface of the coccoon, Efrideet had thrown her might upon it and its veneer began to break.

Yet the technique of Koryuu-ryu fashioned by Charco traced through a presence that was foreign, though its method was familiar in its lethality.

Equivalent resolve...from a nonliving fascimile, perhaps that may be duplicated, in a fashion...however...

In an instand the Forger's Hammer manifest in Ochazuke's hand. Though his counterpart tossed it about crudely to leverage its power, long ago had he learned its true purpose.

Imitation will always pale next to an act of true Creation!

He had sighted the way the Shards shaped reality. Now he would turn it against whatever had conjured these phantom shapes in mockery.

Striking the earth, a causeway of True Magic sped across his meditation field to reinforce each of their party's efforts; however grandiose or small, in some manner he would attempt to temper some measure of their energy, and with a burst of refinement in their focus as he reached them with Kei'i-Ken.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

"Shingan..."

Always with the eyes, these Nevadians.

Slapping away one of the spears, he leapt back to gain some distance from the remaining ones and mull over his options. How does one deal with someone who can see ahead of you? The ability wasn't too far-fetched, but Charco was hardly the type with a mindset able to replicate it. His only answer was the simplest; there was no way to prevent the shadow Held from seeing ahead, but that did not mean his foe was immune to what was coming. Some fates were inevitable. The air around the three of them lit up as more and more of those orbs from before appeared, haunting them like will-of-the-wisps. The challenge to the mimics was clear: dodge this.

The orbs unloaded upon the two, leaving ghostly trails of energy that crystalized, creating a cage that was quickly encasing them. Not quite finished, Charco swept off the loose dirt from the ground before placing his sauran talons against it, pumping energy into the otherwise barren earth.

The Shadow unicorn and Shadow Held weaved and bobbed, getting closer to Charco, caring little apparently for the cage being made all around them.

More spears erupt from Shadow Held’s back and launch toward Charco, while every time the unicorn touches the earth, Charco can feel little charges of power being sent into it from the shadow unicorn.

The spears suddenly elongate and become lances, and Shadow Held attempts to skewer him from distance.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Unbeknownst to the Martial Chef, when he'd reached to ensnare the hammer and the strange orb set within it, the one that would be entwined would be himself.

Oh boy...

The strangely viscous liquid shadow enveloped him as he fell and rolled in the dirt, stifling movement and holding to him fast. Yet this was a situation he'd found himself in far more often than he'd thought.

Thoughts racing, Zaofan shut his eyes tight, took in a large gulp of air, and with one hand on the Shadow Dragonball with the last of his strength, began to pull it out and away from the rest of the mass.



Even with the tide of Heka pressing forth, the collective will of the universe seemed to have its limits when it fell upon the dominion of the Angel. Peering within the heart of darkness, however, there was yet another consciousness.

"Whatever is happening within the Coccon," Ochazuke sounded over the communicators, his voice weary and filled with equal parts disgust and resolition, "The Sakin portion of the fusion seeks to subsume Grinthorn, and the longer this diversion persists..."





Then in response to the shadows, heat and light bathed the surface of the Forsworn World. Upon the surface of the coccoon, Efrideet had thrown her might upon it and its veneer began to break.

Yet the technique of Koryuu-ryu fashioned by Charco traced through a presence that was foreign, though its method was familiar in its lethality.

Equivalent resolve...from a nonliving fascimile, perhaps that may be duplicated, in a fashion...however...

In an instand the Forger's Hammer manifest in Ochazuke's hand. Though his counterpart tossed it about crudely to leverage its power, long ago had he learned its true purpose.

Imitation will always pale next to an act of true Creation!

He had sighted the way the Shards shaped reality. Now he would turn it against whatever had conjured these phantom shapes in mockery.

Striking the earth, a causeway of True Magic sped across his meditation field to reinforce each of their party's efforts; however grandiose or small, in some manner he would attempt to temper some measure of their energy, and with a burst of refinement in their focus as he reached them with Kei'i-Ken.

Zaofan, you grip the shadow dragonball but are now incased entirely. You can feel the shadow tar squeezing, attempting to crush and suck all your energy away.

You do manage to pull the dragonball away somewhat, however. Now instead of pinned against your hip your arm is extended outward, ball grasped, still covered in the tar but straining against it.

Meanwhile, Ocahzuke your bolstering of efforts works for a moment, and Zaofan can feel some strength returning. However, a kick at high speeds meets your face as shadow Ochazuke has morphed partially into a shadow Zaofan, black crimson energy masquerading as a mockery to Zaofan’s own prodigious kick from earlier sends you flying.

But you have given Zaofan a chance to try one last attempt at escape, and made Charco that much more prepared in his attempts to deal with Shadow Held.