The Nightmare of SIDE

[Quellian-dyrae]

Round 4

The Ilessian spy satellite that was hovering over the fortress wasn't zoomed in enough to make out many of the details of the fight. But when Kenta's knee struck Korokke, it definitely registered the wave-like sway of the larger bamboo forest as the shockwave of the impact rolled over them, and the sudden cloud of dust that was kicked up from the ground, briefly obscuring the two fighters.

When the cloud settled, though, Korokke still stood, his arms crossed in an X before his face. In the last instant, he had managed to block Kenta's knee, and stood unharmed by his devastating blow.

And yet...

Up atop the drawbridge, Hirekatsu's eyes narrowed, his grip tightened on his teacup. He drew in a long breath from his nose, and took a short sip.

Korokke's dragons wavered, and then suddenly dispersed, the flames spraying out into uncontrolled sparks. Korokke fell back a step, into a balanced fighting stance, but wavered. Swayed. Letting out a short, surprised breath, his eyes wide, he dropped to his knees as his legs failed to support his weight.

"How...!?" he gasped out, before collapsing face-first to the ground, unconscious. Though physically unharmed by the blow, his chi had been utterly spent to absorb it.

Across the way, Aidan continued dancing circles around Karaage, scoring another perfectly-timed strike that sent his hammer flying away again. Karaage, though, weirdly wore a smile, giving an approving nod to the disintegrator. Apparently, whatever injury to his pride (not to mention straight up injury) Aidan had inflicted on him was secondary to enjoyment of having an actual challenge for a change.

Avery's tremendous chi blast rolled over the enemy forces. Blossom brought her sword up in a hard slash just before it reached her, and the energy wave split around the sword, rolling past her harmlessly. Karaage just shrugged it off.

But the defenders in the area...they didn't take it so well. One ninja managed to leap back from the blast, one hand coming up before his face in what may or may not have been some sort of mystical or focusing gesture, and escaped unharmed. But his compatriots, as well as all of the soldiers, were hammered to the ground, struck down by instantly by the Heaven Blast of the Dragon.

Wraith and Aidan struck together, and while taking a powerhouse's legs out from under him wasn't easy, it helped when you could literally take his legs out from under him if he didn't fold. Down went Karaage, dropping to the ground with another hand-shaped hole in his flesh. It was perhaps not perfectly timed - the next instant, one of Kate's portals sailed over Karaage's head - but several others still hit him, and frankly, it didn't matter how tough you were when it came to weaponized portals. They were holes in space - no matter could exist where they did, and Karaage's blood flowed freely.

Nonetheless, the powerhouse hurled himself forward, not just kipping up, but launching himself back over to where his hammer had again fallen, snatching it up and leaping back towards the fray, though not quite right into the midst of the heroes, settling into a ready stance. "Come then, warriors! If you think you can take me! Show me what you've got!"

More ninja leaped into the fray, coming at Avery, Aidan, and Prophet with distracting strikes.

Blossom leaped forward, into the midst of her opponents, and lashed out in a rapid spinning strike. Her sword split the air, a razor-sharp air slash rushing out from it around her at the enemies remaining nearby.

Lotus continued stalking through the trees, seeking the sniper, unaware that Hayseed was even then drawing a bead on her...

The bushi assembled on the wall, wary of further area strikes, and took aim, ready to provide supportive fire as needed.

Spoiler

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Karaage:
Free: Mobility to Instant Stand rolled in the OOC.
Move 1: Dazed.
Standard 1: Move to hammer.
Move 2: Staggered.
Standard 2: Pick up hammer.
Extra Effort 2 - Additional Standard Action: Recover Staggered.
Move-by Action: Into AE12.
End of Turn: Karaage 1 Regenerates a Bruise.

Ninja:
Move: Into the square if not already there.
Standard: Each one will attempt a Distracting Attack, one each on Avery, Prophet, and Aidan. On a hit, Toughness DC 19 vs. Damage, Will DC 14 vs. Vulnerable/Defenseless.
Avery: (1d20+8)[26]. Hit
Prophet: (1d20+8)[11], Deflected at (1d10+20)[28]. The Dream protects him. Aidan helps.
Aidan: (1d20+8)[22], Deflected at (1d10+20)[24]. Deflected
End of Turn: (1d6)[2] more join the fray.

Blossom:
Move+Standard: Whirlwind Attack on Avery, Prophet, and Aidan. Dodge DC 20 for half, Toughness DC 25/20 vs. Damage.
End of Turn: Deflect's Secondary Effect triggers.

Lotus:
Move: Fail to find Hayseed.
Standard: Fail to find Hayseed.

Bushi:
Move: Some of it, yeah.
Standard: Ready actions to Aid when a melee attack is made. The next five melee attacks made will have an Aid applied to them by two bushi at 1d20+11 (boosting defense against hero attacks, or the attack rolls of enemy attacks).

Map

All PCs are on turn