[Nexus] NO XIII: Do Clockwork Penguins Dream of Mechanical Fish?

[Shadowcaller]

[Date Time]

"She didn't say exactly but she did tell me you were much older then her and she was like eighty but still looked like twenty. I found it strange. I can't imagine how a society where everyone live forever would work." The beast master says thoughtfully. "I was always taught that death and life must be in balance for a society to work, there was no other way. That was before I learned that some beings life forever of course."

[Gullara]

[Date Time]

Kirk raises an eyebrow. "I can't speak for Dena, but elves where I come from definitely don't live forever. The oldest ones get to three hundred usually. Long compared to humans, but definitely not forever." Kirk neglects to mention he's older than even that, however. "I am a good bit older than Dena, but I think we've gotten a little off track. You said you wanted to know more about my life? Something about me being fascinating?" The drow's lips turn up in a smile.

[Shadowcaller]

[Date Time]

"To a person that live where the average age is like twenty, three hundred sure feels like forever." Shalyn replies. "But yes, I do find your lifestyle interesting. Just being able to do whatever you want, just traveling around meeting new people. It's almost the complete opposite to how I grew up. Except the traveling around bit of course. I have always been bound by duty for as long as I can remember. So such a free life-style have always fascinated me."

[Gullara]

[Date Time]

"I have to say that i enjoy it myself. Life never gets dull. Especially after the point where you figure out how to hop between different worlds." Kirk says. "Are there any particular questions you have?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Date Time]

"Well, what made you decide to pick that lifestyle? I imagine it can't have been easy to begin with. Leaving what you knew for something completely unknown." Shalyn replies.

[Gullara]

[Date Time]

"Not as hard as you may think. I didn't live under the most pleasant conditions, so picking up and leaving wasn't very hard. After that it wasn't hard to want to see more." Kirk says.

[Shadowcaller]

[Date Time]

"So you just packed your things and left one day? What about your family? idn't you have duties and so fourth? Or was that what made you leave?" Shalyn asks while looking curiously at the drow.

[Gullara]

[Date Time]

"More or less. I wouldn't say I had the most loving family." Or not at all, but Kirk doesn't want to delve into that at all. "As far as I was concerned, my only duties were to myself."

[Shadowcaller]

[Date Time]

"Sounds like you didn't have much of an family at all." Shalyn comments with a shake of her head. It didn't exactly sound like the idea of a family she had. "Do you still think like that though? That your only duty is for yourself?"

[Gullara]

[Date Time]

"Well, I have other responsibilities, friends, and that sort of thing. It tends to change a person's perspective. Everybody has to keep themselves in mind, though." The drow says.

[Shadowcaller]

[Date Time]

"Of course." Shalyn says with faint smile. "So you're never planning to settle down even after all these years huh? I mean, as you pointed out, you won't live forever even if it can feel that way to me."

[Gullara]

[Date Time]

Kirk shrugs. "I've never had any reason to. I'm content to see where life leads me. Like how it lead me to sitting in a hot spring with an absolutely ravishing woman. That was a pleasant surprise." He gives her a sly smile.

[5a Violista]

[Training Room - Getting Hotter]



Bianca gives the whip a hard tug, attempting to pull Shanaya to her. If successful, Shanaya may find a fist waiting to hit her pretty face.

Training Room - Getting Hotter

The attempt is a complete success! Super-effective in jerking her forward.

Shanaya's pretty face is a hit!
She found that fist, and it hurt.

Fortunately for the girl, though, she finishes the Transformation Button Sequence before Bianca can bring that hit combo up to x3. A bright light erupts, and something like a Sailor-Moon-style transformation cutscene happens, with lots and lots of spinning around and soft guitar music and white flowers in the background and all that jazz.

Shanaya grows taller! "Battle Transformation!" Two huge white wings burst out of her back, and her clothes change into shiny white battle armor. The sword is no longer on the ground, but in her hand. It's also no longer on fire, but is overflowing with a kind of holy frost. "Angel Guard, Activate!"

There's also light gleaming in every which direction, as if Shanaya glows in the same way that the girl glows in Stardust.

Projected on the wall, one bar is now depleted and another bar, suddenly full, starts draining at a rate fast enough that it'll be empty in fourteen-and-a-half seconds. Her Magic bar and her Psych bar are fuller, though.

Whether or not the whip is still around the neck is, of course, your choice. If it's still there, though, then that means Shanaya and Bianca are in perfect Combo Attack Melee Range.

[Lex-Kat]

{Training- Heated Combat}

We'll just assume it's still there then.

Bianca shades her eyes from the bright light and looks a little stunned. This was completely unexpected.

But the stunned look goes away quickly enough. Okay. Time for you to go. She gives the whip a flip, and it releases Shanaya's neck.

She then begins to once again circle the now-angel girl.

[Murkus]

Training - Heated Combat

The girls will hear a low whistle from the right. If they look that way - bad idea in a fight, of course - they might see a flicker of motion near the ceiling. Something almost invisible is hanging there, humanoid, likely clinging by its feet. For now, it just watches, thoroughly entertained.

[5a Violista]

Training - Heated Combat

The girls will hear a low whistle from the right. If they look that way - bad idea in a fight, of course - they might see a flicker of motion near the ceiling. Something almost invisible is hanging there, humanoid, likely clinging by its feet. For now, it just watches, thoroughly entertained.

Training - Heated Combat Good idea!

Shanaya only looks briefly. Just a single peek, or a glance, or something, but she doesn't bother to see invisible stuff.

She only has 14...no wait, 10 seconds left. Better make this count! She needs to fill up her star power so she can use a Superawesome Move. Good thing that, in this Angel form, she can use her wings to speed up her movement and give her more control. This way, she can get up to Bianca faster!

She turns, to face Bianca.
Before attacking, she gives a cute smile to Bianca.
Then, her wings cut through the air as she leaps towards her training combatant! "Snow Angel!" she shouts as she swings her sword at Bianca (Magic bar goes all the way down).

This move is actually twofold: The first strike is with the frosty sword, just a normal sword strike that just might give frostbite. After that, the frigid air blows (even though they're inside...), and little ice spirits which look like angels will dive down from the sky at Bianca to chill her a bit and do Icy damage!

Shanaya mentally keeps track of her time left.
...8...7...6...

[Shadowcaller]

[Date Time]

Shalyn laughs loudly, "I'm quite sure you say that to every women you're interested in. Then again, I assume you're only intrested in ravishing women." She tells him once she calms down, watching him at the edge of her vision. Totally stealing his lines too.

[Gullara]

[Date Time]

"Shalyn, you wound me." His wry smile tells another tale, however. "I worked hard to tailor that compliment to you specifically. I can't even remember the last time I used the word ravishing." He says amusedly.

[Lex-Kat]

Training - Heated Combat

Good idea!

Shanaya only looks briefly. Just a single peek, or a glance, or something, but she doesn't bother to see invisible stuff.

She only has 14...no wait, 10 seconds left. Better make this count! She needs to fill up her star power so she can use a Superawesome Move. Good thing that, in this Angel form, she can use her wings to speed up her movement and give her more control. This way, she can get up to Bianca faster!

She turns, to face Bianca.
Before attacking, she gives a cute smile to Bianca.
Then, her wings cut through the air as she leaps towards her training combatant! "Snow Angel!" she shouts as she swings her sword at Bianca (Magic bar goes all the way down).

This move is actually twofold: The first strike is with the frosty sword, just a normal sword strike that just might give frostbite. After that, the frigid air blows (even though they're inside...), and little ice spirits which look like angels will dive down from the sky at Bianca to chill her a bit and do Icy damage!

Shanaya mentally keeps track of her time left.
...8...7...6...

Bianca confidently blocks the sword attack with the whip. The whip is tougher than it may seem, and the sword won't cut through it, unless it can cut through metal.

And the magic of the whip absorbs the frostbite, though Bianca does feel the chill. She smiles, getting ready to launch her next attack, until she notices the ice angels coming at her. She tries to disengage and push away, but it's too little, too late.

The Icy Angels do chill Bianca and do their ice damage. When Bianca stands back up, she's not pleased.

She reaches inside her shirt, and when she pulls it back out, there is a spray of black throwing knives heading toward the false angel, mid-height.

She'll then anticipate Shanaya possibly leaping up to avoid the dagger spray. She'll snap her whip at the girl's head again. There is a flash of silver at the tip this time. A silver dagger is there to do extra damage.

[5a Violista]

Warning: It's a really really long post.

Training - Heated Combat

The sword fails to sunder the whip! It's because the sword is just a normal, frosty sword. Only good for beating on stuff and piercing armor, not for cutting through stuff.

Snow Angel hits, though, and that raises her Star Power. Not as much as she would like, but it's good enough. It's not like Shanaya Evilene will drag out this battle just to get enough star power to do a finishing blow. She has enough to use a single Star Power attack, so...

...5...4...

Bianca, however, anticipated wrong. Shanaya knows that she only has 4 more seconds before the transformation ends, and dodging won't give her enough time to retaliate before losing.

The black daggers strike Angelic Shanaya in the chest. Obviously, some will glance off her armor, but with a spray of them, at least one or two will find their way in. She bleeds!

...3...

As Bianca's assumption was wrong, the whip probably strikes too high - if so, it just grazes Shanaya's forehead. (Of course she's not wearing a helmet. Helmets are for bad guys and unnamed monsters!)

Her white wings outstretch to their whole majestic 7 1/2 feet wingspan, and she slashes her sword at nothing, in a downwards motion.
"Star power..." she shouts. The transformed girl then swings her sword vertically, pointed at the sky.

...2...

"Heaven's Wrath!"

For the next three or four seconds, nothing happens, and the transformation ends. The wings turn to light and disappear. Shanaya returns to normal 14-year old girl height, and the sword is no longer frosty. The armor, like the wings, turned to light and disappeared. Her health bar is at a third of its max, her magic bar and psych bar and transform bar and [...] bar and [...] bar and [...] bar and star bar are drained.
And she's pretty exhausted. After all, she's only level 2! Level 2 people shouldn't be fighting so much. They should be going on lots of side-quests and battling little tiny monsters.

[During those three or four seconds, Bianca, who obviously has fast reflexes, has time to react/throw in another attack/whatever]

Regardless of happened, though, a large pillar of holy fire falls from the skies, centered on Shanaya, and burns for another three or four seconds. It's not a finishing move, so it won't kill anyone, but it is pretty cool-looking.

((Apologies for the long post.))

[Lex-Kat]

{Training- Heated Combat}

Bianca steps back, her whip up ready to block the incoming blast. She waits, and nothing happens. Then the girl's loses her supernatural armor and glow. Bianca smiles a knowing smile. Whatever she just "unleashed" had failed, and now she was defenseless.

Bianca charges in and attempts to tackles Shanaya to the ground. If successful, she'll strandle her chest and push a dagger up to the girl's throat.

Of course, this is when the power finally kicks in and the pillar of holy fire begins to burn Bianca. Her dagger falls from her hand, and she rolls off and away from the girl.

[5a Violista]

Training Room - Heated Combat

The girl, who is now a completely ordinary girl who lost her grip on her too-large-for-her sword once again, is now on the ground. She was tackled, said, "Oof," as she hit the ground, and didn't react as she was waiting for the Holy Pillar of Fire to hit.

When it strikes, she's a little disappointed. It wasn't quite so awesome as she had hoped it would be, and she was hoping to save her strength for the fight against this vile Vincent and his naughty Girlfriend.

Still lying on the ground exactly as she was tackled, Shanaya sighs. She stares at the ceiling and the cool patterns up there. "Okay. You won," she says. "If I had a white flag, I'd wave it."

[Lex-Kat]

{Training Room - Heated Combat}

Bianca takes a deep breathe and falls off of Shanaya. Okay, spill. What was that angel thing you did? She doesn't sound angry anymore.

[5a Violista]

[Training - Post-Combat]

"It's a transformation," she says, taking deep breaths as she tries to recover her Stamina.

"The Dragon Goddess blessed me with the ability to transform into stuff once in a while. I can turn into a full-grown woman, a hairy man with an horned hat, a black cat, a mermaid, a baby dragon, and an angel." She stops staring at the ceiling as she sits herself up. "Some last longer than others, and some cost more than others. The angel costs 3, so I can't do it again before resting."

Shanaya reaches out to grab her sword again, which is definitely no longer on fire.

[Devixer]

[Outside Entryway]

Cassidy, a woman dressed in a trenchcoat and jeans, is walking towards the front doors of NO. She's carrying a couple of firearms on slings, but doesn't look like she's about to take out either of them.

[Morty]

[Entrance]

The door will slide open for the newcomer, as always.

[Devixer]

[Entrance]

Cass glances arounds the inside as the door slides open before stepping in.

[Morty]

[Entrance]

She will find Dipsnig standing behind the entrance.
"Welcome to NO. How may I help you?" he asks.

[Devixer]

[Entrance]

"Depends. You're a fixer, right?" Cassidy begins, before despising Dipsnig might not know her slang. "You help runners like me find work?"

[Morty]

[Entrance]

"I try to," Dipsnig says with honesty, apparently unbothered by Cassidy's slang. "Whether or not there's work to be had is another matter, one out of my hands for the most part. I assume you look for work."