[Bliss Stage IC] It's Only Teenage Wasteland

[Kuma Da]

Thomas Winters

There's a soft whumph, like someone tossing a firecracker made of pillows into the air, and Thomas snaps into being. Naked, of course.

The boy frowns, pulls his arms tight around himself, and concentrates. The space around him ripples and shudders as something strains through.

Thomas' carapace is a box, woven from hides, stitched together with sinews, and braced with long, even sticks. Enormous animal furs have been draped over the box, or sewn into the hides. Patches of it are bear or lion or wolf. Teeth hang, suspended from little leather cords, off of random points on the box, and they clatter like the rain when he moves.

"Chassis is extant. Integration seems nominal." He runs through a checklist, half-mental exercise and half-mantra, as he flexes his mind--as he reaches out and draws more parts into himself, like a katydid building it's shell.

"Propulsion invoked. Defenses initializing. Weapons free."

Cogwork arms extend from the chassis, carrying between them a massive, high caliber rifle built from interlocking pieces of scrap. There is a dangerous-looking pressurized tank at the end closest to the body, and a brace of bright brass shells embedded in the side.

At the same time, roots descend from the bottom of the chassis, twining and interknotting into thick, gnarled trunks. Some of them penetrate the pavement, forcing riotous cracks across its surface. Two vines crawl up the back of the chassis and weave thick, organic wings that hang folded, drying in the sun like some nightmare butterfly.

Thomas rolls the creature's shoulders, getting a feel for the movement of the ANIMa. He flexes his wings. And then a gigantic templar's shield thuds into place on his left shoulder. It's shaped so that if he crouches just right, his entire ANIMa can collapse itself behind it, leaving nothing but the shining steel and red cross exposed to the light.

"All systems engaged. Ready on your mark, Tanya."

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Tanya Dupree is the chassis. 3/3

Riley White is the weapon. 3/2

Logan White is the defensive screen. 2/5

James Marshall is the propulsion systems. 2/3

[Bliss Authority]

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Tichondrious: But who was sword? I want to know who these people are and what your Relationships are to them.

Senrath: Yikes. It might be worth putting a botch into both Mission and Safety so you can get a Flashback Interlude- and possibly a Theme Music Power Up if your Flashback is an Intimacy Building one.

Kuma Da: You're good, just roll.

[Jade_Tarem]

Christina

"You bet. Stay sharp, Toby."

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Not sure what else an anchor does, play-wise. Is she supposed to be describing things to him? Radar?

Logan White

Logan finds himself suddenly thrust into the dream world. He's been here before, but it still takes him a moment to get oriented. He does, and begins to concentrate on his relationships and the state of his mech - Logan grimaces. Stay focused.

Kate... The body of his ANIMa appears - first as a greenish wireframe, but then filling in, showing the body of a sleek robot - it has the rough appearance of an armored man, but the hands, forearms, feet, calves, and torso are all rounded out, and a bit bigger than they should be. The head is faceless, but featuring glowing blue eyes and a helmet with somewhat swept-back contours. From the back of the head extends a long tail that looks remarkably like hair. The thick parts of the machine are a dark red, but the rest is an off-grey color. (4/2)

Thomas... A shimmering, translucent ball crackles to life around the machine. Thomas's quiet certainty that Logan would not fail was a bit creepy on the ground, but a solid confidence booster that, interestingly, made it less likely that Logan would fail. (2/5)

James... The bloodthirsty kid, eager for battle, forms the exhaust jets that pop out of the lower legs, allowing for boosts of speed to help with attacks. (3/2)

Tobias... The reliable one, fighting for his love, transforms the robot's left arm into a dangerous-looking cannon. (2/3)

Riley... ...

No. I won't risk her on this fight. I can do this with what I've got!

"Logan here. I'm in. Let's get to work! Do you read me, Kate?"

[Kensington]

Julius Jacbos

"Engage." Julius says sarcastically, as the world around becomes filled with his ANIMa. The body seemed to become wider until it formed a very broad chest and a shiny head with glowing eyes that had a mane of "hair" made out of fire. The arms were also very large and bulging and the tradition followed with his legs making quite a.. heavy looking robot built for defense. It's armor was as thick and as big as Julius and Molly's combined ego.

"This one goes out to those two twins from the other night. Thanks for all the memories." He said, imitating the voice of a radio DJ.

The right arm started to twist and change the entire arm eventually becoming a very large machine gun. "Xavier Callahan, stay classy." He remarked, remembering all the trouble they've caused. All the hot steamy nights. Lot's of little things made his relationship with Xavier great. And he'd fire those little things out of a machine gun.

The left arm began to twist and reshape itself as well becoming what appeared to some kind of giant Rocket Launcher- but with a sniper scope. "I blow 'em apart, you put 'em back to together, Diana." He said mirthfully to himself. He remembered them meeting for the first time after he got his ass kicked in the Dream. That was kinda their big moment of passion and it reflected in his weapon- capable of firing a single well placed shot.

Suddenly, the Mecha turned silvery then disappeared from sight completely. It was a cloaking feature installed on his machine that kept him safe. "Rebecca, you make me want to hide from the world." He mocked, brushing a lock of his beautiful long hair out of his face.

Figuring he was ready he pointed his Rocket Sniper at one of the Gryphon Riders. With meticulous aiming he locked onto the head and fired his Rocket.

"Take this! My teenage problems, hormones, and ALL OF MY ANGST!"

[Bliss Authority]

The creatures break off into wings of two, and attack, pelting you with slings and arrows. Only both the slings and arrows are moving at impossible speeds, and made of energy, besides. Those of you with shields are thankful for them: those without must seek cover or dodge.

[Kuma Da]

Molly Evans

Her fingers flicker across the keyboard. They blur. She is In The Zone, and everything else just falls away.

The way those heels pinch her feet. Gone.

The way her legs feel, cold and exposed, even though she has them crossed. Gone.

The ring of Julius' voice in her mind, igniting microsecond fantasies. Kissing by the stairs. Dancing in the gym. Holding hands as they walk down the halls.

That's gone too.

But only mostly.

She's a wedge of pure focus being driven into the stuff of dreams, and she can afford no distractions.

"Clean shot, Julius. Fox two. Watch your flank. Two more moving to engage."

Thomas Winters

The wings unfurl, spreading wide in sable filigree. He hurls himself into the air.

"Tanya, I'm taking point. Keep me safe?"

Gears grind and roll in his arms as he pulls free a shell and ratchets it into the rifle. Dormant mechanisms beneath the surface begin to roar, and a thin trickle of steam starts leaking out of the tank at the end. Little pressure gauges flutter, their needles wavering back and forth. Right now they're close to the empty mark, but they're filling steadily.

Thomas raises his shield, braces his rifle against the side, and takes aim. A gryphon heaves into his sights.

OOC:

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Alright, everyone. I'm trying something out here. I figure that if we all move each other's adversaries, this will feel like an organic combat instead of each person describing their own awesome. To this end, I'm sending some gryphon riders after Julius.

BA, if this approach actually catches on in the future, can we work with non-number-specific groups of enemies? With ten riders, we have to carefully parcel them out between pilots so that everyone gets a chunk of the action.

[Jade_Tarem]

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Following Kuma Da's suggestion...

Christina Freeman

"Incoming Toby, move!" Christina watches her monitor touching and moving the images, never letting the riders out of sight for a moment, never forgetting her friendship to Tobias and how important it is to both of them now. "They're behind the near billboard. Yes, that one. Get ready for them to come under it, low..."

Logan White

One of the shots spangs off his shield, ripples spreading out across the bubble from the point of impact, but the shield holds easily. Logan tumbles out of the way of the worst of the barrage, and then ignites the thrusters in his ANIMa's boots to give chase to one of the wing pairs, literally skating on jets of bluish fire. He waits for the perfect shot, aims, and fires his arm cannon - a sizzling blue bolt of power flies out and strikes one of the gryphons cleanly. As the gryphon explodes, he loses track of the other rider team for a moment, and reality flickers as the dream is stressed. The dream world remains intact, but he still can't see the second rider. "Kate, did I get the second one or not?"

He looks down at his arm cannon - it's still functional, but it's venting some kind of noxious-looking blue gas. Did it overheat? I guess I overdid it.

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Not sure if each rider requires a seperate attack, or if one mission success takes out both of the guys I was supposed to handle.

[Kuma Da]

Thomas Winters

Stay put. Stay put right there, you beautiful bastard. Lie flat in my sights and let the bullet take you.

Thomas focuses his frustration, his helplessness, his hate, down to one little pinprick of intent. This is the side he doesn't let anyone see. The killer.

Maybe it's a little scary, but if he wants to protect everyone, he has to be ruthless sometimes.

The gryphon flits indecisively back and forth, refusing to engage. It must be a commander of some sort. Maybe if he rips it from the sky, the rest of them will break.

Thomas breathes out, emptying his mind of everything but the target. And the gun.

He doesn't notice when a volley of arrows rattles off his shield, leaving scattered dents. His finger tightens on the trigger.

In every shot--in every thunderclap of sulfur and smoke--is the banshee crying your name.

His peripheral vision narrows. The gryphon goes for another loop. He knows its pattern now. Knows right down to the tendons in its wing where it's going to be next. All he has to do is---

Thomas blinks. There's a rider right behind Logan. Closing in.

"Logan, break left! Break left!"

He abruptly wheels and fires.

[Jade_Tarem]

Logan White

Logan obligingly boosts left, spinning a couple of times to slow himself while trying to track the new target as he wonders where this new rider came from. "No way! I thought they were all accounted for! Who didn't... James!"

He looks over, seeing the trouble that James is in even as Thomas smokes the new arrival. "Thomas, stay on the leader. I'm going to help James."

Logan dashes off at top speed. Oh man, don't let it be too late... Logan doesn't even particularly like James, but every single pilot is important to Logan, not to mention the survivors. He holds out his free arm - a thin cylinder appears in it, from which springs a bright blue energy sword to rival Tobias's in intensity. At the same time, Large mechanical wings sprout from his back, matching the red-grey theme of the rest of the ANIMa. Sorry Riley, but I need you now! "Hang on, James! Kate, help me with the timing, here..."