VIGIL 3: Uh... can we get a mulligan?

[Cyber Punk]

[VIGIL Ruins]

"Many thanks for getting rid of that thing for me." A deep and tinny voice bellows, and a ghostly white tiger appears before The Portal and Oaks, wearing a bowtie. It appears to be made of air, and there's an ethereal quality to it's appearance. Being around him, the two should feel empowered, as if his presence was serving to bolster their own powers.

It is the ghost of Dao Feng, searching for his body. Neither of them should know that, though.

"VIGIL, razed to the ground. My body buried beneath the rubble." He says, almost sadly as he paws at the ground. "I am unable to retrieve it. Hence, here I am, stuck wandering the base until I find a way. An existence in which I can not touch anything."

[Zefir]

[Field]

Blocked and Mia got hit. She was a bit to slow, if she had seen it coming better she would have made it. "Ouch"
She then makes a few steps back rubbing over the hitted spot. After a few moments it seems to be all right and Mia makes herself ready. "I guess it's a matter of time?" she asks and goes for another attack. This time she tries to jab out at his right shoulder.

[Morty]

[Field]

"It is," Wenomir says, as he blocks the thrust and makes a slow cut from below at her hip. "It comes only with enough practice. It was different for me, since I was already a soldier when I started learning the longsword."

[RyanKoopa]

[VIGIL Ruins]
"Ah" The Portal pants, the faintest traces of a smirk appearing on his face, "I see how it is." Gathering his remaining strength, he teleports on top of the monster, and whacks it as hard as he can with his iron staff. "This thing is worth more to us alive then dead! We could extract all kinds of information from this monster back at the base!" he says to Oaks, attempting to keep the demon pinned to the ground. Just when he thinks he has a handle on the situation, a third voice announces its presence. The Portal turns startled, only to find himself face to face with an incorporeal tiger. Fortunately the strange being seems to be on their side. As energy flows back into him, he backs up and another dimensional field forms around the demon, this time freezing him solid in time. "Many thanks!" he says, turning toward Dao. He wipes the sweat from his brow, relieved that monster appears to be safely contained. It takes a few moments for his words to register. "So wait, you're body's trapped beneath the rubble?! Oh my god, you're one of the old VIGIL members aren't you?" At least, he hopes that's the case. The thought crosses his mind that the ghost might have been an innocent bystander caught in the blast, but he suppresses the thought. "We will try to get you back to your body as soon as we can, but for now I need to send this thing to Wenomir. Maybe the more knowledgble members of VIGIL could find out potential weaknesses of the demons from it."

[Shadowcaller]

[VIGIL Ruins]

The creature is pinned and unmoving. It doesn't seem to have the energy to resist. Oaks turn to the newcomer, raising an eyebrow. "A ghost? Hah! I doubt there is anything left of your old body. It was probably vaporized by the explosion. You will only find ash here."

But all of sudden the Portal can probably feel a massive amount of planar activity around them, something is incoming...

Makeshift Conference Room

"Of course, things have been quiet for quite some time now but it might just be the calm before the storm. The creatures that destroyed our last base are probably up to something if I may speculate." Cessie replies as she gets off her seat as well and offers her hand to shake. She isn't really sure how ponies handled this considering hoofs but she wasn't sure what else to do.

[Cyber Punk]

[VIGIL Ruins]

"Indeed I am. My name was Dao Feng, though a new name might be appriopriate, given my state. I had the ability to manipulate matter by touch. I can feel the ability, but I know not how to use it in this state." Dao responds, nodding at The Portal.

Before he can respond to hearing Wenomir's name, Oaks speaks, causing him to turn to the other person. "I see. I had hoped to see it one last time. Oh well. Might I join you on your way back to VIGIL?"

Then he perks up. "Something approaches."

[RyanKoopa]

[VIGIL Ruins]
The Portal frowns. How could Oaks be so callous? He's just about to give her an earful about her lack of tact, when something causes the hair on the back of his neck to stand up straight. The Portal can not normally detect planar energy, but he can definitely tell something is wrong. He quickly takes on a defensive posture, gripping his weapon tightly. He braces himself, whatever was coming their way was big and probably not good.

[Zefir]

[Field]

Mia got hit once more, this time she guessed the hit comes from the other side. "Ouch" she says again and backs up for a moment. She doesn't say anything now and tries again to hit him now again with an attack from the side at his hip.

[Morty]

[Field]

Wenomir blocks the attack again, but hesitates. He doesn't attack and instead acts as if he was knocked off-balance and left himself open. He's curious if Mia will take the opportunity.

[Shadowcaller]

[VIGIL Ruins]

"Where the is one blackblood, there is always more of em'." Oaks remarks as she looks around in anticipation.

And sure enough after a few minutes of waiting a horde of metallic creatures blinks into existence around them. But even Dao who was in the bases final stand won't recognize these metal monstrosities. They have eight limbs each, some clawed, others with faintly glowing weapons of some sort. They look more like spiders than anything humanoid, though their upper bodies seem to have a spine, making them more akin to spidertaurs (or driders) even if they have no clear head.

There are about a dozen surrounding them but the planar activity is far from over so there might be more incoming.

The next moment they start to fire beams of pale blue energy at the group. "capture." A metallic voice orders. If they would be hit by any of the beams they might experience a cold sensation before whatever body part hit is stunned.

[Zefir]

[Field]

She doesn't. Mia started to block, but holds back after she saw Wenomir off-balance. It might be wrong, but she is a bit confused. She didn't hit harder then before. Maybe there is an old wound that hurts again.
"Are you all right?"

[Cyber Punk]

[VIGIL Ruins]

Dao decides the best thing to do right now is flee, so he follows the two. If they split up, he'll follow Oaks. Both Portal and Oaks should notice that there's a sort of empowering field around Dao that'll temporarily strengthen their abilities.

"The bird. That explains quite a bit."

[Morty]

[Field]

Wenomir shakes his head.

"No. I left myself open to see what you'd do. Let's continue, but try to notice it when I do something like that, and take advantage."

[RyanKoopa]

[VIGIL Ruins]
When more demons inevitably arrive, The Portal is ready. He weaves and bobs around the energy beams effortlessly, looking for any weaknesses in their design. Still determining the most efficient place to strike, he notices out of the corner of his eye that Dao has begun to retreat. This catches him momentarily off guard, he doesn't want to fight these things without Dao's power boost unless he has to. He quickly catches up with Dao, the ball of frozen time containing the first demon following behind him like it is tethered to his body. "Are you sure you want to flee?" he asks Dao while doing his best to keep pace, his eyes still focused on the metallic monstrosities behind them. "If you truly think this is our best course of action, I can get all 3 of us out of here in an instance, but I'd much rather take out these demons here and now. I'm afraid they might leave the crater if we escape, and hurt innocent people."

[Zefir]

[Field]

Wenomir shakes his head.

"No. I left myself open to see what you'd do. Let's continue, but try to notice it when I do something like that, and take advantage."

[Field]

"I'm sorry." she says. "I wasn't aware that I should take advantage of this situation. I thought this is to improve my defense."
She then makes herself ready for another attack. She doesn't assume Wenomir will give her the same situation soon, since she failed it. So she prepares for defensce after another strike.

[Morty]

[Field]

"It's fine," Wenomir says. "I shouldn't improvise when I'm training someone. Now you know what to expect, so let's continue."

He'll continue the exercise for a while. After a number of strikes, he once more leaves himself open for a moment.

[Zefir]

[Field]

The chances for Mia to block right are still low. It needs more time to foresee things. When he opens up, hshe reacts. trying to hit him. Still she is holding back which will cause the hit just feel like a poke.

[Lost_Deep]

Makeshift Conference Room

"Of course, things have been quiet for quite some time now but it might just be the calm before the storm. The creatures that destroyed our last base are probably up to something if I may speculate." Cessie replies as she gets off her seat as well and offers her hand to shake. She isn't really sure how ponies handled this considering hoofs but she wasn't sure what else to do.

"We will see!" Caravan says. Turns out hoofshakes work fine; pony joints are quite different from normal horse ones.

Well, unless Cessie has something more to say, Caravan will head out.

[Morty]

[Field]

Wenomir is poked with the training sword and nods approvingly.

"That's better. With enough training, you'll learn to spot openings and exploit them. You need to be constantly aware during a fight. Most people don't know that. They think being a warrior is just about being strong and quick."

[Zefir]

[Field]

"I can't say I knew it, but it sounds resonable. When the enemy outnumbers you, you need to watch all enemies at the same time." she replies. The training exhausts her. She got more Stamina then in the beginning, but she sweats already. Wenomir might be still top fit.

[Morty]

[Field]

Wenomir notices it, and stops the training to give her a break.

"Indeed, although it also applies if you're fighting only one enemy. You need to pay attention to what they're doing, and predict what they will do. This way, instead of swinging your weapon around, you hit once, where you need to. And that's often enough."

[Zefir]

[Field]

Mia lets the sword down and takes a deeps breath.

"I guess your right. I'm barly at your level and I doubt I will meet anyone out there that I surpass with my sword skills." she says. "I'm just happy to have the time for training now. The demons seem to be quiet and my other duties don't interfere."

[Morty]

[Field]

"You won't be winning any fights against experienced sword fighters any time soon, no," Wenomir says. "But it's already another tool at your disposal, and you'll have an advantage against enemies who can't fight in melee at all. In time you'll be able to hold your own against other warriors."

[Shadowcaller]

[VIGIL Ruins]

As the demons appear out of nowhere "Oaks" smiles broadly and floats up into the air and gestures at the closest demon, striking it with a massive bolt of lighting that then bounces between the monstrous contraptions. The lighting blackens their exterior but it doesn't stop the creatures who suddenly stops firing and starts moving towards the Portal. "What the ****?! Why aren't they dying?!" Oaks exclaims angrily.

The portal can't see any obvious weakness to these constructs, but as they move closer towards him he might note they really look more like centipedes than spiders. The reason they seem to be focusing him is that oaks appear to be outside their reach and Dao is well, a ghost. They quickly follow him, moving much faster than your average human and attempts to slash at his appendages with their claws with surgical precision. It doesn't seem they want to kill him, they want to immobilize him. They're also attempting to cut off any escape paths, using their long bodies to curl up around him like hideous black walls.

[Cyber Punk]

[VIGIL Ruins]

"I am unable to attack. What would you have me do?" Dao asks slowing down a bit for the Portal. "They might not be able to harm me, but I don't want to take that chance!"

He tries to run away but squints as he notices how the demons are going for The Portal, instead. On instinct, he runs up to the Portal and blows on him, inadvertently giving him a burst of energy. "Teleport them into a volcano or something! Leave one if you wish to question, just do something!"

[Zefir]

[Field]

"You won't be winning any fights against experienced sword fighters any time soon, no," Wenomir says. "But it's already another tool at your disposal, and you'll have an advantage against enemies who can't fight in melee at all. In time you'll be able to hold your own against other warriors."

[Field]

"It's my only tool, now." Mia replies. "I didn't had any experience with weapons so far. Even id it looked like I'm in controll, I was just the one giving direction, not the one taking aim."

[The Alexandrian]

[Felandria's/VIGIL's Front Door]

*Ding-dong!* *Ding-dong!*

Well now, VIGIL hasn't had any visitors in... a very short span of time, admittedly. That tension effacing fact notwithstanding, I wonder who that could be? Given that whoever (or whatever) it is is relentlessly hammering the doorbell as though there is no tomorrow, it wouldn't be too presumptuous to claim that he or she (or it) is about as patient as a bank robber with the police hot on his/her heels waiting in a seemingly endless line of cars at a toll booth.

That said, whoever (or whatever) dares ring VIGIL's doorbell at this ungodly (early) hour probably doesn't want to murder/grievously injure/set fire to everyone currently residing in Felandria's house. If that was the case, he/she/it would have breached the door and dynamically entered VIGIL with guns ablaze by now.

Probably.

[Morty]

[Field]

"I thought you still had your magic," Wenomir says.

[Felandria's/VIGIL's Front Door]

The door is opened by one tired-looking Wenomir.

"How may we help you?"

[Common Room]

And at another time, Wenomir calls Cessie there. He has something important to discuss.

[The Alexandrian]

[Felandria's/VIGIL's Front Door]

And who should Wenomir find on VIGIL's doorstep, clothed in a half zipped up black leather jacket, a partially obscured black v-neck t-shirt with a fully functional pentagram traced onto its front, tight black jeans, a plain leather belt with a cold iron buckle, and a pair of black steel-toed boots, but the dread villainess, Nicole. A motorcycle helmet is tucked in the crook of one of her arms, and a handwoven picnic basket and a lovely bouquet of fresh roses still speckled in dew rest at her feet. Dangling from her belt are two empty pistol holsters sporting accurate, painstakingly detailed illustrations of several types of eldritch abominations. An equally ornate (and equally empty) katana sheath is strapped across her back. In the distance, Wenomir may spot a well-maintained motorcycle with several not quite street legal modifications such as a front mounted flamethrower and what appear to be miniature, side-mounted miniguns.

Nicole examines the groggy warrior standing before her with an ever-growing grin. While a toothy grin is typically a sign of good-will or happiness among humans, bearing of one's teeth signals quite the opposite among the vast majority of creatures in the animal kingdom, so it's difficult to interpret what exactly Nicole intends to convey by confidently grinning at Wenomir like that.

"Good morning. I'm here to visit a friend of mine. She probably isn't awake yet, but I've been away for awhile, so I don't think she'll mind if I deprive her of an hour or two of sleep."

"May I come in?"

I should probably mention that, even if Wenomir has no clue as to who Nicole is or what she does for a living, he might be able to guess that she's the offspring of Becky and Clarissa from her looks and aura alone.

[Zefir]

[Field]

"I still got the 'magic', as you call it." she starts. "But it's not like I can shoot fireballs around. I'm able to manipulate machines, but only in a way to improve them. I still need to shoot alone. MDM was doing that for me. He is far better in it then me." she says, getting a bit sad by thinking about MDM.