Outside 40: It's all downhill from here

[Solidarity]

[The Monster Marsh]

The woman winces as three of the zombies connect with solid blows, leaving deep gashes...Which instantly heal as she grins and growls, "Sorrry, boys. Nice trrry." Her eyes begin to glow yellow as she shifts into a wolf-woman and howls, but she would be open for a counter-attack if the zombies are feeling particularly frisky.

What can he say? The Mourning Hoplite had one goal in mind...slay the undead. His entrance into the Nexus was a rude one, indeed, and now vengeance would be his. As an added bonus, he's in his mid twenties and enjoying the prime of his youth, so he can maintain this fight for a bit longer.
Hawthorn, on the other hand, is no longer able to deliver killing blows. As the seemingly more intelligent skeletons bear down upon him, the wooden golem can only lash out at random limbs. Within minutes, he'll be buried by bodies.
Fortunately for the woman, our dark warrior can't see her, or he might have cause for alarm. He's still heading for the lights, making his way through the path carved by Hawthorn.

The undead that surround the she-wolf aren't startled by much of anything postmortem, but are still rather slow to react regardless. A good seven shuffling carcasses home in around the woman.

Hawthorn is now enjoying a bony dogpile, with the lights and explosions closing in just a few yards away now. The Hoplite might be able to make out the figure of a hooded humanoid in the distance lit up by the explosions just ahead of Hawthorn. Depending on how well he can see, he might be able to tell that the figure is swinging an object at the undead before each explosion. A faint, raspy voice can be heard from the direction of said figure.

"...Who goes there? Sentients?"

[Recaiden]

Peacefield Skull

Beyond the door is a large, luxurious room with an antique leather and ebony armchair opposite the door. There's a black marble sarcophagus resting on a double bed and a walnut wardrobe, with a door leading to an ensuite bathroom.

Sat in the armchair is a mummified figure wearing a large red miter and black silk robes. He's pointing a hunting shotgun a the door, and doesn't notice the ghost-girl's entrance through the wall. His flesh is grey, and his eyes are empty sockets lit by sickly green dots hovering in the centre.

A sarcophagus on top of a bed? How decadent. All in all, though, a nice room.

The ghost girl makes the most of his not having noticed her yet, and attempts to drift behind the armchair unseen. From there, she thinks for just a moment. Who knows how strong this undead is? Probably best to assume it has unholy strength beyond its frail frame, and not try to restrain it. Certainly has a mind, as it's most likely the lich-lord of this place.
The ghost girl recalls her staff to hand, and attempts to bring it crashing down on the thing's head, through the hat.

[happyturtle]

Melody's Island

Spoiler: stuff

Show

"I'm disappointing you, Tobias." Ouch. Right to the point, no humoring Tobias's dramatic entrance for even a moment. That's got to sting.

Melody's Island - On the Beach

It doesn't just sting, it cuts deep. What, this supervillain is so used to playing with all the Nexus big-leagues that he thinks the Druid is beneath him? Toby Scowls at Magtok before turning to see what the woman holding his wife hostage is yelling about. Who the hell are... wait, I know you. Uh, Jolly? Gay? Perky or Peppy? Merry? No, that's a hobbit. Sunny was that poor victim, think she was with Remnant... He takes a look around the beach and grudgingly accepts that this probably isn't a trap in the conventional, final showdown sense. Another glare for the cyborg and then Toby starts dispelling his magic as he runs to Quinn. Chirpy isn't it... ...Happy? Happy the shapeshifter! Haven't seen you in years. Explain what's going on. He takes another look at this whole scene. Crying woman and crying girl. His catatonic-looking wife with shredded apparel. A barbarian who used to be GLoG's president he thought was perma-deadtimed. And the famous supervillain, who called saying Quinn needed him. He divides his consciousness, reinforces the mental defenses on one, then opens the other up to try and make telepathic contact with the paladin. Quinn, did you go on an adventure without me?

Jezebelle helps Estia stand. Come, let's... go inside. And she startsd to pull Estia toward the cottage.

Though weakened, Estia stops her, and looks to Tobias. "Quinn and Reinholdt resqued me. They fought my grandfather, and sent him running." she looks to all those assembled. "Where is Reinholdt? Where's Melody?" she asks, remembering what Reinholdt said about Grandpa attacking Melody. "Miss Happy? Is Melody okay? Is she...." she can't bring herself to say the word she dreads.

Melody's Island - On the Beach

Quinn winces as Happy yells!

She's managed to collect herself JUST enough that being addressed by Tobias doesn't send her into a fresh round of bawling, so that's something, at least...

"I was called by Neirian," she whispers, her eyes closed and head bowed as she shivers. "Had to rescue her. But...psychically attacked," she murmurs. "Shown....everyone I love hating me."

Academically, she can recognise what happened.
She finds it really doesn't make it hurt less.

"Oh hon, Melody's in the barn. She's fine," Happy says to Estia. Then to Tobias, "Quinn went to rescue Estia. She came back just a few minutes ago... like this." She tries to hand Quinn over to Tobias.

[Earl of Purple]

Peacefield Skull

The bed's built in, and Thormoses has had better things to do than pull it out.

The mitre falls off with the blow from the staff, and Thormoses pulls the trigger on the shotgun reflexively, burning the door with the incendiary shell he had chambered. There's four more loaded into the weapon, however. His dessicated head is cracked open, dust spilling out from the hole in his brittle skull.

Unfortunately, liches bodies are expendable, merely a house for their consciosness whilst their soul is stored elsewhere. meaning it doesn't need its head intact to function. He lurches to his feet and turns around, trying to point his shotgun at the ghost-girl.

[Recaiden]

[Peacefield Skull]

The ghostly girl is fine with trashing Thormoses's house to start with. Seeing how resistant he is to having his skull caved in, the next priority is getting that weapon away from him. And not being shot with it, of course. The ghostly girl drops down through his chair, aiming to pass through it into the floor, then come up behind the lich and sweep his feet out from under him.

[Earl of Purple]

Peacefield Skull

Thormoses fires again, just after the ghost-girl disappears. His chair bursts aflame from the effect of the incendiary ammunition.

His feet are swept from under him, and he falls heavily to one side, his finger twitching and sending an incendiary shell into the wall as he goes down. The wall doesn't burn. There's two shells left before he has to reload.

[Recaiden]

[Peacefield Skull]

Liches don't feel pain; it won't be easy to knock it from his hands. Maybe if his eyes are damaged enough he won't be able to aim? Unlikely.
She attempts to take the time while he's on the ground to summon another shadow-beast, this one a large crocodilian, just between her half-aboveground form and the fallen lich.

[Earl of Purple]

Peacefield Skull

Whilst he's on the ground, Thormoses the Resplendent opens the tube magazine (I don't know enough about this manner of weapon to know how one does that) and pushes another shell into the chamber, clicking it shut and aiming at the ghost-girl before pulling the trigger, sending a burst of flames at her torso.

He has two shells left, as he's just loaded one and fired another.

[Recaiden]

[Peacefield Skull]

The ghostly girl is low, lurking behind the crocodile, which began to move as he rearmed his weapon, just a bit. A blast of flames hits the thing, melting(?!?) it slightly, the two unmelted limbs collapsing, uncoordinated. The ghostly girl rises up all the way into the room, spinning her staff before her to ward off the flames, as though that could work.

[Arkhosia]

[Field of Mock Battle]

"That would be nice, yes." Yuki walks over to Clyde and smiles at him, chuckling. "Not now though. I'm too tired to put up any sort of fight."

Sophia nods.
In the meantime, maybe we can just talk or something?
She offers, looking to see the sun beginning to set.
Maybe make a campfire too.

[ThirdEmperor]

[The Ebon Citadel]

Spoiler

Show

[Ebon Citadel]

Cyrus takes another sip of tea, taking a moment to stare at the drawing alongside its subject. He supposes he deserved that response, given the pun he'd made only a few seconds before.

"Well, I might have an answer to some of your questions. If you're having trouble making things work, it might not be you. It might just be that you don't have enough mana to draw upon. Now that I think about it, you looked fairly drained after summoning that beetle of yours. Are you drawing on your own life force as a source of green mana? Because that's not actually very good for you. In fact, it's the kind of thing that makes people die early deaths with chronic use, planeswalker lifespan boost notwithstanding."

A chuckle. How inappropriate for the situation.

"Like I said, consider relaxing in forests a bit more often. Get a feel for the world around you. I'm told the hunting grounds are flowing with Green, though they're a bit on the dangerous side. As for purpose, that's up to you. Magic is power, just like everything else. Green magic has two sides, split between community and ferocity. Whether you choose to bind yourself into preserving the nature of the world or to express yourself as civilization won't allow or simply to deny nature and do what you wish, it is ultimately your decision."

Was...was that actual, helpful advice from Cyrus? What's the world coming to?

"My life force?" The beetle dissolves rather abruptly, edges crumbling away into bright green motes that flood the air. They gutter out quickly in the hostile atmosphere, eaten up, blackness consuming them before they simply vanish. Not... Not the most reassuring sight, for someone who's just been told they've been burning up their own candle.

There were mages on his home plane who'd tried that. Never turned out well.

"And.. longevity, you said? That's part of it?" Always a silver lining. Or a straw to clutch at, trying not to think of all the ways that little beetle could've cost him. "Does unexpected mystical talent bring any other small things with it? Do I fly now? An allergy to kryptonite I should know about? I do hate to make myself a pest, but I'm afraid I never thought to prepare for waking up a magician. As it so happens, I was reassured that would never be a problem."

Inopportune moments of humor abound, a small smile forcing it's way in at the edges of Sebastian's grim expression. The photographer takes another doughnut, and a saucer, sans cup, to hold under it as he leans back and nibbles away. "It was, at one point, my dashed ambition to be a mage of some small station."


[The Silver Keep]

Spoiler

Show

That would be, well, reasonable of them. They're probably living in the time before this place was part of the Nexus. The traveler bets that dragons are about as strange as it gets here. Ashna nods, and takes her hands away the trigger of the gun, lowering it, re-engaging the safety, and strapping it away.
"Very well." She raises a hand, waiting for him to open the way in.
"When I will have come to this keep, it is the stronghold of a band of criminals. I had hoped to pass through it in a time when it was in better hands."

There's a visible relief in the guards as she tucks the weapon away, grips slackening around the trigger and a few lowering their crossbows entirely. But 'a few' still leaves too many arrows aimed her way.

"Ah ah." The soldier gives a nod of his head towards the lightning gun, holding out a hand. Just throwing the safety isn't going to fly here. In fact, being a medieval knight and all, the guard doesn't actually have a damn clue what she just did.
"We're no bandits, and you're a guest yet. You'll see every hospitality due. But you'll be an unarmed guest."

[Lord Magtok]

Melody's Island

"Oh hon, Melody's in the barn. She's fine," Happy says to Estia. Then to Tobias, "Quinn went to rescue Estia. She came back just a few minutes ago... like this." She tries to hand Quinn over to Tobias.

Magtok sighs, find something to lean against, and puts his phone away. The one and only time he hears that spiel from Tobias, from someone putting real effort into their dramatic entrance and monologue, he has nothing to match it. Oh well, back to waiting around while everyone frets over the mysteriously injured strangers, I suppose. Blargh.

[Earl of Purple]

Peacefield Skull

The flames are short-lived; it's a blast of flames rather than a spurt of them.

Thormoses will fire another shell as the ghost-girl approaches, fairly sure the crocodile is no longer a threat. This is his last shot; he has to reload before firing again.

[Morcleon]

Sophia nods.
In the meantime, maybe we can just talk or something?
She offers, looking to see the sun beginning to set.
Maybe make a campfire too.

[Field of Mock Battle]

"Sure!" Yuki sets about clearing a small patch of earth and setting up a pile of logs and tinder. He lights it carefully, then sits down on the ground, stretching his wings out.

"Mm... I'm pretty sore actually. Still, it was a good day."

[Arkhosia]

[Field of Mock Battle]

"Sure!" Yuki sets about clearing a small patch of earth and setting up a pile of logs and tinder. He lights it carefully, then sits down on the ground, stretching his wings out.

"Mm... I'm pretty sore actually. Still, it was a good day."

Sophia nods.
Agreed. Hmm... if you're too tired to make it home, I may have a few blankets in my bag.
Anyways, if you mind me asking, where did you come from?

[ImpSyndrome]

Danmaku in the Playground #1:
The Displaced Spirits Incident

Stage 1: Unnamed Field
How much trouble could anyone make in a non-descript grassland?

Not too far from Inside, a pair of human figures can be seen flying low to the ground in close formation, leading a single woman on horseback. These two are Sasha Graymolt and Midori Miyami, and their companion, Sophia Godlark, has volunteered to aid the two yokai in combatting a major threat to their new home of ReitaiSide. As they speed along, Midori elucidates the situation for Sophia, describing the threat that Noraware Chiaki's spirit poses to them, especially if she manages to revive her corporeal body.

"...So, as you can no doubt imagine," she concludes, "it's quite worrisome that she's just about declared war on ReitaiSide. That's why we've been looking for someone like you. Chiaki knows the kinds of powers we wield and will be sure to take steps to raise adequate defenses, but she's not familiar with other kinds of combatants in the Nexus, and that will give you a decisive edge. Of course, we still need to be sure that you have the skill to handle a danmaku fight..."

"Mimi-chan," Sasha chimes in, turning her head back as she leads the other two, "have we gone far enough yet? I don't think we'll cause any trouble way out here."

"Who said we needed to stop? Go ahead and attack, Sasha-chan."

"Huh?! Right now...?! But we're still flying so fast...I know we need to find Chiaki-san soon, but if we're not careful, one of us could end up really hurting the other..."

"Well then, just slow down a bit so you can manage flying and fighting at the same time. We haven't got the luxury of taking every possible precaution right now; the longer we take in finding Chiaki, the more time she has to regain all of her powers and strike ReitaiSide. It's not ideal, but we've got to handle this on the fly. Is this acceptable, Sophia-san?"

[MEANWHILE, DEPARTING FROM REITAISIDE...]

Sanji Genkiro blazes a trail (literally, even) from the opening in the otherwise-impassible mountains that surround ReitaiSide, hoping to locate Midori and join her in the search for a capable challenger who can defeat Chiaki. Traveling alongside him (or perhaps following shortly behind) should be Hiizumi Mitsuya, a fellow yokai who has agreed to provide aid in the pre-emptive strike. Sanji knows what kinds of places to check while looking for Midori, but unfortunately, he and his compatriot are nowhere near any such place, which means they could be flying for some time, even at top speed.

"Brrrr," Sanji gripes with a slight shiver. "It's always so cold out here in the open air...No wonder all the surface folks bundle up so much. Maybe I should think of making layered armor or something..."

((AAAAWWW YEEEEAAAAH!! Here it comes, rolling in like a runaway train: the first-ever ReitaiSide incident!! I've been aching - aching, I tell you! - to get this started ever since I brought Sasha and Sanji into the Nexus. Here's hoping it goes well!))

[Arkhosia]

Field of No Trouble Could Ever Happen!

Sophia nods.
Yes. Ready when you are, Sasha.
She replies, pulling the blade handles out of the holsters on the harness below her jacket with practiced swiftness and ease, smiling with an eager grin at the prospect of proving herself, and trying to see if there are any scattered trees nearby.

[Ionbound]

[Trailblazers]

Hiizumi laughs and says, "Perhaps. I find the cool air...Invigorating. Though, I can see why you wouldn't like it. Have you spoken with the Kappas about insulation of some sort?"

[Morcleon]

Sophia nods.
Agreed. Hmm... if you're too tired to make it home, I may have a few blankets in my bag.
Anyways, if you mind me asking, where did you come from?

[Fields of Mock Battle]

Yuki brightens. "Ah, that would be wonderful, thank you."

"Well, I came from a... rather odd world. It was a patchwork of different times and terrains, all mashed together with no thought about logic. You could be standing on a calm prairie and two feet away would be a howling tundra. I grew up within that chaos. We had to use everything we could to survive. For me, that meant grafting body parts of my fallen enemies onto myself. And then I fell into a portal and landed outside of WATCHTOWER."

[Arkhosia]

[Fields of Mock Battle]

Yuki brightens. "Ah, that would be wonderful, thank you."

"Well, I came from a... rather odd world. It was a patchwork of different times and terrains, all mashed together with no thought about logic. You could be standing on a calm prairie and two feet away would be a howling tundra. I grew up within that chaos. We had to use everything we could to survive. For me, that meant grafting body parts of my fallen enemies onto myself. And then I fell into a portal and landed outside of WATCHTOWER."

Interesting. Must've been a rough life.
Did I tell you about my homeland? I forget.
Sophia asks, opening the bag and grabbing a baked potato, then eating it.

[Morcleon]

Interesting. Must've been a rough life.
Did I tell you about my homeland? I forget.
Sophia asks, opening the bag and grabbing a baked potato, then eating it.

[Field of Mock Battle]

"It was. I lived though." Yuki chuckles. He leans forward a bit and shakes his head. "I don't believe you have..."

[Arkhosia]

[Field of Mock Battle]

"It was. I lived though." Yuki chuckles. He leans forward a bit and shakes his head. "I don't believe you have..."

Sophia smiles slightly.
In my homeland, all of the humans, after being nearly devoured to extinction by the Titans, live in the confines of a set of 3 enormous, 50 meter high walls; Wall Maria, Wall Rose, and Wall Sina. Wall Maria was the outer wall, with Wall Sina protecting the districts of the wealthy, the nobles and aristocrats. 5 years ago, a colossal, 60 meter tall titan appeared and demolished the gate of Wall Maria, causing titans to flood into the cities and towns protected by the wall. Many lives were lost, and 20% of the human population was sent on a suicide mission to reclaim wall Maria. They failed, but their sacrifice allowed the rest of humanity to survive and not suffer from starvation due to the population. Then, recently, at the town of Trost, the colossal titan appeared again. Although many soldiers died, a few of them martyrs, no civilians were killed, and thanks to a soldier named Eren Jaeger being able to transform into a titan himself, we succeeded at sealing the wall.
He, along with many others such as myself, joined a branch of the military known as the Recon Corps, who go out and into the wild to reclaim land for humanity, and hopefully reclaim Wall Maria and find the secret of how to defeat the titans for once and for all. I cannot remember how I got here, but I'm her now, and devoting all I can to protecting those who live here.

[Morcleon]

Sophia smiles slightly.
In my homeland, all of the humans, after being nearly devoured to extinction by the Titans, live in the confines of a set of 3 enormous, 50 meter high walls; Wall Maria, Wall Rose, and Wall Sina. Wall Maria was the outer wall, with Wall Sina protecting the districts of the wealthy, the nobles and aristocrats. 5 years ago, a colossal, 60 meter tall titan appeared and demolished the gate of Wall Maria, causing titans to flood into the cities and towns protected by the wall. Many lives were lost, and 20% of the human population was sent on a suicide mission to reclaim wall Maria. They failed, but their sacrifice allowed the rest of humanity to survive and not suffer from starvation due to the population. Then, recently, at the town of Trost, the colossal titan appeared again. Although many soldiers died, a few of them martyrs, no civilians were killed, and thanks to a soldier named Eren Jaeger being able to transform into a titan himself, we succeeded at sealing the wall.
He, along with many others such as myself, joined a branch of the military known as the Recon Corps, who go out and into the wild to reclaim land for humanity, and hopefully reclaim Wall Maria and find the secret of how to defeat the titans for once and for all. I cannot remember how I got here, but I'm her now, and devoting all I can to protecting those who live here.

[Field of Mock Battle]

"I see..." Yuki nods slowly. "That must have been difficult... I hope your allies back hope are faring well..."

[Arkhosia]

[Field of Mock Battle]

"I see..." Yuki nods slowly. "That must have been difficult... I hope your allies back hope are faring well..."

Sophia nods.
Knowing most of them, they should still be. All I know now is back home we are finally taking back the world from the titans.
Sophia replies proudly, finishing her potato.

[Morcleon]

Sophia nods.
Knowing most of them, they should still be. All I know now is back home we are finally taking back the world from the titans.
Sophia replies proudly, finishing her potato.

[Fields of Mock Battle]

"Good." Yuki smiles reassuringly at her. "I'm certain that they'll do fine. And maybe when its all over, you might be able to go visit them again?"

[Arkhosia]

[Fields of Mock Battle]

"Good." Yuki smiles reassuringly at her. "I'm certain that they'll do fine. And maybe when its all over, you might be able to go visit them again?"

i hope so. Wonder if they're all okay, and if any other shifters have been discovered.
Sophia replies, staring at the night sky.

((She comes from an AU where Marco is alive.
and a couple others are too.))

[ImpSyndrome]

[DISPLACED SPIRITS INCIDENT, STAGE 1: UNNAMED FIELD]

Sophia nods.
Yes. Ready when you are, Sasha.
She replies, pulling the blade handles out of the holsters on the harness below her jacket with practiced swiftness and ease, smiling with an eager grin at the prospect of proving herself, and trying to see if there are any scattered trees nearby.

"Umm...OK, here goes nothing!"

((Cue fight music! I know, I'm cheating because it's technically Touhou music, but I couldn't find anything better for this particular situation...))

Sasha slows down slightly and turns to face Sophia before firing off a small stream of guided bullets, which resemble tiny baubles of focused brown-ish light. The bullets travel slowly, even considering their current travel speed, so it should be a good start to give the challenger an idea of what kinds of attacks to expect. A short shift to the left or right should be more than enough to avoid the column of shots.

[MEANWHILE...]

[Trailblazers]

Hiizumi laughs and says, "Perhaps. I find the cool air...Invigorating. Though, I can see why you wouldn't like it. Have you spoken with the Kappas about insulation of some sort?"

"Very funny," Sanji growls. "Do I seem like the sociable kind to you? In case you hadn't picked up on it from before, I don't get out much." His response is cut short as something not too far away catches his eye. It appears to be little more than a small wooded area, but he appears to see something more in it. "There," he says, pointing it out to Hiizumi. "See that glade up ahead? It's not too thick, but the canopy's nice and lush, makes for great concealment from overhead, and the trees have sapped all the water and nutrients from the ground, so it's just bare dirt and dust. We agreed that if we ever needed a place to meet on the surface world, we'd try to find a place like that, where we could find some privacy without running the risk of serious damage to the surroundings if we were forced to use our yokai powers. Let's start looking there." He'll lead the way, picking up a bit of speed as he flies forward toward the treeline.

[Arkhosia]

Stage 1

Sophia shifts to avoid the bullets, and Sasha may find a grappling hook fire past herself and hit a nearby tree from Sophia's 3DMG, and Sophia quickly leaping off of Clyde and speedily soaring towards Sasha, aiming to backhand Sasha in the face and disorient her with the strong blow! Except by backhand, I mean "Hit her in the face with the bottom of her fist".

[Ionbound]

[Meanwhile...]

Hiizumi giggles at Sanji's formality, and says as she swoops towards the canopy, "You know, I actually have been worrying. If the incident solvers all died in Other-Gensokyo, us yokai could be in serious trouble...With nobody to reassure when we have a little fun, then they could get...Restless. And you and I both know why that would be bad."

[Morcleon]

i hope so. Wonder if they're all okay, and if any other shifters have been discovered.
Sophia replies, staring at the night sky.

((She comes from an AU where Marco is alive.
and a couple others are too.))

[Fields of Mock Battle]

Yuki smiles at her and lies down, staring up at the stars above. "I hope they're all doing well..."

"...wait, what's a shifter?"