#putting them in an arena and throwing random weapons at them

[tohwitchesduels]

REQUEST BATTLES OF WITCHES DUELS - Battle 20: Willow Park vs Boscha

Disclaimer: This is not a popularity contest or which character you prefer, in this tournament, you decide who is stronger/better/smarter/etc. opponent. And by the love of the titan, I know we all want Willow to take down Boscha, it is our prime fantasy but at least let's be realistic here, would Willow defeat Boscha in a fair fight?

information for both opponents under the cut to those who don't know what they can do in their battle:

Boscha:

Boscha specializes in Potions magic, but she did showcase the capacity to cast the spells of beast-keeping and illusion tracks (granted very briefly)

Boscha is an absolutely ruthless warrior who will stop at nothing to win this competition. She does not show mercy towards her opponents. Boscha is also considered by Hexside to be the strongest as proven by her ending up being the leader of the survivors in For The Future. She's also the most popular girl in the school as the captain of the grudgby team, proving she has enough skill both physically and magic-wise, only to be rivaled by the Hexsquad. She did succeed in breaking Amity's leg though.

Willow is Boscha's number one victim and essentially her sworn enemy. Boscha is sick and tired of taking Ls this tournament. She had a hard time winning her battle with Gavin, she lost to "random" Viney and is getting clapped hard by her former friend Amity who abandoned her for the very girl who was weak her entire life and puked on her face probably the first time they met. And somehow she got to the finals. Boscha thinks it's not fair so she's willing to put half-a-witch in her place during this request battle hoping it will help her win the tournament in the end.

Boscha does possess a Palisman. It's not however specified how good of a flyer she is, but she's capable of using Maya in combat as proven when she knocked disguised Amity with her staff capabilities.

One of the tools Boscha can use independently of whether or not the other character also possesses are flying boots. She can use them for transportation and aerial attacks even when she doesn't possess a palisman during the battle and she can use them to save herself from fall damage if she ever is knocked out midair.

Telekinesis - Boscha can move objects with ease using it, granted the objects usually were small and not the size and weight of the person so she can use them directly on her opponent, but she can pick up random stuff from the arena to use them as projectiles high speed. Boscha proved in WILW that she can throw multiple objects at once or just one object.

Fire Ball - her trademark ability. She will usually pull out a Grudgby ball and set it on fire only to throw it at her opponents. She can use telekinesis to direct the ball at her opponents and the force the ball can hit is strong enough to create holes in the trees. It's a very strong offensive move. She can also spread the fire further.

Fire Blast - an improved version of Fire Ball which does not require a grudgby ball to use. It was demonstrated briefly in Follies at the Coven Day Parade when she attacked Luz with it. The fire blast appears to be also bigger than the average fireball.

Multiple Fire Balls - Boscha can throw multiple fireballs at her opponents with this ability and control the trajectory of her throws using magic. Also improved the version of her trademark fireball.

Fire Claw - as demonstrated in UW, Boscha can transform her nails into fire claws. I'm weaponizing this ability so Boscha can scratch and claw her opponents while also burning them.

Rabid Claw - as demonstrated in UW, Boscha can transform her nails into rabid claws she could use to attack her opponents.

Tentacle Claw - as demonstrated in UW, Boscha is capable of transforming her nails into tentacles. I adapt this ability to let Boscha use those tentacles to grab objects and perhaps even people from long distances with them. Granted the tentacles are not particularly strong so there are limits to how much weight they can pull and how durable they are.

Acid Throw - in FTF Boscha demonstrated she's capable of brewing an acid potion that can melt through abomination goo and possibly not only that. She will usually throw one at a time though instead of rapid firing them.

Sleeping Potion - in FTF Boscha demonstrated knowledge in brewing sleeping potion with sleeping nettles. Boscha can pull out this potion during the battle, letting the smell spread all across the area, knocking down her opponents. Boscha is also immune to the defects of sleeping gas by having a facemask with her at all times. The only people that would be remotely immune to this potion during the tournament are Luz and Hunter as they also have knowledge of brewing this potion and have facemasks with them too.

Ratworm Companion - in Once Upon A Swap, Boscha demonstrated racing capabilities with ratworms. I'll allow her for the purposes of this tournament to be able to summon one to aid her in transport and possibly offenses. Boscha showed to be quite quick and skilled in riding her ratworm covered in scars.

Link to more of Boscha's capabilities here

Willow Park:

Willow Park is a prodigy in plant magic. Only a few can match her talent and raw power when it comes to her command over plant life. She's also very knowledgeable when it comes to Botanics and is very promising when it comes to them (she knows how to tame various plants and what are they capable of). However, her capabilities only extend to plant magic and not other types of magic.

Willow Park is also very strong, athletic, and sporty. She's the Captain of Flyer Derby Emeral Entrails and managed to defeat the captain of Grudgby team Boscha while playing Grudgby for the first time. It is known that Willow works out and shows a lot of physical strength. The girl knows how to pack a punch.

Boscha is Willow's long-time bully and the bane of her existence. She was always the main initiator when it came to ruining Willow's life pretty much her entire life. To say Willow loathes Boscha is...fitting actually, I'd like to say it's an understatement but the loathe word seems to be fitting. Nonetheless, a lot of rages is hidden in Willow when it comes to Boscha and now this jerk has the audacity to say she didn't earn her spot in the finale despite facing Edric who had perfect counters against her and her childhood friend turned bully turned friend again and defeated both of them fair and square. In the same vein, Willow is actually excited to get a chance to put Boscha in her place and prove to her once and for all who's the boss and who's the real loser between the two of them. Willow is glad Viney won but lowkey wishes she could've destroyed Boscha in the semi-finals to make the vengeance sweeter, but a request battle works perfectly as well so Willow will take it.

Willow possesses a palisman and is quite capable when it comes to staff wielding. Also as captain of flyer derby, she's a very proficient and quite skilled flyer. Being capable of flying traditionally and switching midair to surfing. She is also capable of using her staff to enhance her already very potent magic.

Willow's magic is enhanced by her emotional state. If she's confident in herself she's most in control, however, if she's bottling up her feelings or feeling insecure, her magic can turn against her. Her magic also gets stronger once she uses anger and determination to power it.

Water Magic - Willow showed in Something Ventured, Someone Framed that she's capable of summoning water, however, she only uses it to water her plants meaning that during her battle she could only use it to enhance her plants.

Healing Plants - as demonstrated in her debut, Willow can use her magic to directly heal plants. This could be quite useful in case her plants are damaged.

Bush disguise - Willow can briefly camouflage herself using bushes as demonstrated in Hooty's Moving Hassle. Willow during the battle would grow bushes all across the battlefield to hide in them to recover or do sneak attacks without leaving herself wide open.

Plant Pillow - Willow is capable of creating plants to break her fall, so in case she gets hit in midair, she can quickly recover and receive no fall damage whatsoever.

Plant Teleport - Willow can use her plants to transport herself across the battlefield. Can be quite effective for escaping.

Grass Trap - in the same vein of teleporting herself, Willow can also use her magic to transport others. During the combat she would utilise said abilities to make grass devour her opponents. Willow can choose whether or not she can spit out her opponents by either putting them in a different location or keeping them underground. However, the opponent can break away if they know how (using plant magic too as demonstrated by Hunter in HM when Belos also devoured him but he managed to escape).

Plant Tie - Willow can discreetly grow vines over her opponents' feet to keep them still or make them trip the moment they try to move as demonstrated with Boscha in WILW. She can also grow those even around herself if she loses composure.

Tree Block - Willow can create a singular tree to use to block attacks from her opponents. She demonstrated it in WILW against Boscha. Willow can use this ability to even block objects thrown with great force or fireballs.

Vine Whips - Willow is capable of creating two large and strong vine whips that could be used to catch or harm her opponents. Demonstrated this in LR and ASIAS, fusing both her physical strength with the strength of her plant magic. She can also create a singular one as well.

Vine Dome - Willow can grow a dome of vines to use as a shield from protection as demonstrated in ASIAS against Darius. The dome can still be cut with enough force.

Vine Grab - a stronger version of Plant Tie, in which Willow is capable of creating bigger and multiple vines to catch her opponents even from greater distances (like midair for example)

Plant Monster - Willow is capable of creating a Flower-like monster to use as a beast to fight for her. She demonstrated it on the First Day.

Vine Octopus - Willow is capable of surrounding herself with multiple crazy and moving vines that can grab her opponents, block attacks, or directly attack. She demonstrated it in her debut episode.

Giant Plant Monster - Willow is capable of creating a gigantic Plant-like monster to attack multiple opponents (but not only). It's a stronger version of Plant Monster. She demonstrated it in Hooty's Moving Hassle.

Vine block - utilising multiple vines at once, Willow can create a shield that can block her opponents as demonstrated in her debut.

Tree Arm - With the help of Green Thumb Gauntlet, Willow is capable of creating a giant tree arm that she can use to attack her opponents.

Tree Golem - With the help of Green Thumb Gauntlet, Willow is capable of creating a tree-like golem that can be used to aid Willow in her battles. The Golem has enough strength to break through barriers even created by Belos and the arms of the Golem can extend to very long distances while not losing any strength.

Vine Attack - Willow can grow multiple vines from the ground to use to attack her opponents. As of WaD, it's potent enough to grow an entire forest of such vines.

Plant Surf - As demonstrated in FTF, Willow can use her plant magic for transportation. She can also use it to create a bigger platform to stand for herself as seen when battling Kikimora.

Tree Movement - Willow is capable of moving the trees with her magic as demonstrated in FTF

Ultimate Vine Octopus - as demonstrated in COTH against Kikimora, Willow can create an even enhanced version of Vine Octopus in which she gains the high ground and uses even bigger and stronger vines to attack her opponents.

Multiple Vine Whips - Willow is capable of creating from her hands multiple little vine whips that can be used to hold down her enemies as demonstrated in KT against Belos.

Endless Vine Trap - Willow is capable of releasing a great amount of vines that can grow across large spaces as demonstrated in both her debut and FTF. The trap also has quite offensive capabilities.

Intangibility - as proven in Understanding Willow, when Willow was a child she knew a spell that could make any physical construct disappear for a short second before reappearing. Nowadays she can still use it for the purposes of this tournament to quickly dispel any physical defenses of her opponents.

Link to more of Willow's capabilities here

Return to Masterpost

[epicpopsiclez53]

Regretevator Boss Idea: Jeremy

Beginning cutscene: Jeremy captures a random player (NPC if the player is playing solo) and puts the captured player (or NPC) in a cage on top of the elevator. Jeremy turns the captured player (or NPC, captured NPC doesn’t turn into a pretty princess) into a pretty princess. Jeremy then summons the Roblox Ban Hammer and wields it. The boss fight then begins.

Arena: Monochrome version of the Slap Battles arena

Jeremy Attacks:

Spin Attack - Jeremy does a spin attack with the Ban Hammer, dealing 25 damage to players (the player if playing solo).

Smash - Jeremy smashes a random player (the player if playing solo) with the Ban Hammer, which is an instant-kill. The player has to dodge the hammer.

Grasp: Jeremy grabs a random player (the player if playing solo) and throws them onto the arena, giving the Ragdolled! effect (5 seconds) and dealing 10 damage.

Player Weapons:

Slap Battles default glove - This deals 5 damage to Jeremy. It is a slap hand.

Cutscene when Jeremy is defeated: Jeremy gives a frown and places the cage down onto the arena. The first player (the player if playing solo) to click on the button on the cage frees the princess player (or captured NPC) and Jeremy disappears. All the players (including the princess player or captured NPC if playing solo) are then teleported into the elevator.

Death messages:

(Username) got banned by Jeremy

(Username) got hit with the ban hammer

Death messages if player dies from Smash attack:

(Username) didn’t dodge

(Username) got smashed by the Ban Hammer

Jeremy smashed (Username)’s body with the Ban Hammer

Death messages if player dies from Grasp attack:

Jeremy threw (Username) on the ground too hard

(Username) was doomed to ragdoll by Jeremy

Achievement for beating Jeremy for the first time: So Long, Banner Jeremy!

This boss battle was based on a Discord roleplay me and my friend Grand had, so that’s why Jeremy has the Roblox Ban Hammer and the arena is monochrome Slap Battles arena.

I’d like some feedback, like what I can change, what I can add, what I can nerf or buff, etc

The cage 👇

[raging-tackeydios]

shitty idea time: monster hunter monsters if they had personalities/characters and bantered with the hunter mid-fight instead of being mindless animals

for context the variant, deviant, subspecies, etc. monsters would have the same lines as the vanilla species but with different VAs, paralleling how their hunting horns are the same melody with different instruments

i didn't do all of them because i couldn't really think of personalities for all of them

okay go

———

"great/drome" monsters: somewhere between the soldier and charlie from pikmin 3: military commanders ordering about their pack members in battle with...less than effective results

(blue) yian kut ku: nervous wreck that's literally a tutorial monster. knows that a lot of hunters go after him as their first real test of skill, so he's devoted himself to the role, telling you what to do and telegraphing his attacks very blatantly. sometimes accidentally gives you helpful information trying to think out loud.

(scarred, deadeye) yian garuga: basically imagine scratch from adventures of sonic the hedgehog if he wanted sonic ground into a bloody paste instead of merely hurt or captured: he even has the voice too. throws huge temper tantrums when you get knocked out of the arena or another monster intrudes because it means he can't fight you any more

cephadrome: constantly taunting the player about how he's so hard to hit under the sand, but the moment he gets dragged out he starts begging for mercy and running away

(ruby) basarios: too fat and stupid to even realize you're trying to attack him, or that he's attacking you...kinda like louie from pikmin honestly

(black) gravios: lazy, almost depressed, even, and doesn't really care about the fact that you're trying to beat the snot out of him: if you win, he dies, and if your weapons bounce off of his carapace he gets to wallow and be miserable more, so it's a win-win situation

(purple) gypceros: adhd personified. hyperactive as hell and constantly getting distracted during the fight, only to circle back and get super pissed at you: when he "dies" the first time he gets sad that his prank didn't work if you don't fall for it

(red) khezu: weird scrimbly bimbly thing that only talks in short sentence fragments, is constantly sniffing around to get a read on you, and sounds garbled like he's underwater. also the screaming. he's constantly screaming seemingly at random. kinda like a much more gooey hyness

(gold, pink) rathian: more down to earth than rathalos (because she stays on the ground.) she gets tired of having to basically babysit rathalos sometimes but she still loves him with all her heart. constantly trying to rein him in and get him to take you seriously during the fight when they're fighting together: regardless of whether he's killed or captured she breaks down sobbing and trying to avenge him

(silver, azure) rathalos: imagine a flying version of bowser from the mario RPGs. dumb as bricks, and he's not really treating the fight as life or death, but more like just a thing he does every tuesday: he's happy to see you, but he still has to act like the bad guy. you can hear him trying to practice his evil laugh as he's flying away, then berating himself for it not being good enough. if he's fighting with rathian he gets a lot more meek when she's captured and almost goes dead silent for the rest of the fight when she's killed

diablos: has a potty mouth that would put a sailor to shame. during his turf war with black diablos they both get off on the fact they're beating the crap out of each other

bloodbath diablos: basically a fusion between kai yan and tartarus from dragalia. believes that the philosophy of "might makes right" is the ultimate creed, and wipes out any monsters near him because he believes they're weak and unfit of fighting to live. meanwhile he kills humans for the slight they inflicted on him in the past. gets more desperate as the fight wears on because he cannot be anything less than the perfect being, and when he dies/gets captured he's not mad because he lost, he's mad because he lost to you.

black diablos: horny. angry and very very horny. does not care about the fact that you're a fraction of her size: she's getting off on the fact that you're dealing intense bodily harm to her and thus she wants you inside her. basically the embodiment of this meme here:

(white) monoblos: a friendly rival to diablos, and treats the entire fight as a huge pissing contest between them, even when the former is nowhere to be found. very proud of his horn. like yian kut-ku, knows hunters are always after him as a rite of passage, so he's sort of fallen into a mentor-like role, and he's always proud when he gets slain or captured

(plum, stonefist) daimyo hermitaur: scared and is constantly hiding behind his claws, prioritizing keeping you the hell away at all times. very antisocial.

(terra) shogun ceanataur: extremely proud of his claws, yelling about keeping your hands off "the merchandise" once he gets enraged, and both figuratively and literally starts foaming at the mouth once they get broken. gets really embarrassed once his shell is broken, and stays meek like that for the rest of the fight

rustrazor ceanataur: acts like a drug addict, only with the drug references replaced with references to sharpening his claws on glavenus' skull

(green, lucent, silverwind) nargacuga: wants to act like a ninja. ends up acting more like something out of naruto. also he recites his own version of darkwing duck's "i am the terror that flaps in the night" thing at the beginning of the fight

(molten, grimclaw) tigrex: dim, but a really nice guy, kind of like a large dog, and actually doesn't mind you fighting to the death that much: the problem is that he's CONSTANTLY FUCKING SCREAMING EVERYTHING HE SAYS AT THE TOP OF HIS LUNGS. his violent charges aren't actually charges he's just trying to give you a big hug. with his mouth.

(furious) rajang: imagine goku but like a minimum of ten times as violent and with the battle-obsessed stalker-ish qualities of nemona. can be sometimes heard humming parts of the DK Rap when calm. his fight is as much him showboating as he is trying to maul you

(flaming) espinas: talks in his sleep. starts off asleep and mutters stuff like "just five more minutes mom" as you hit him, then gradually starts groggily walking around. then when you hit him enough he loses his shit and starts swearing up a storm while beating the tar out of you...and then eventually the adrenaline wears off and he reverts to the passive half-asleep version of himself.

akantor/ukanlos: acts like a JRPG villain's monstrous final form, with parallels to each other's lines

arzuros: expy of banjo. one of the few monsters that actually gets along with qurupeco

(snowbaron) lagombi: sort of like a skier. less focused on fighting you and just happily slip-sliding around on the ice.

volvidon: constantly warning you to keep your distance mid-fight: since the Soiled gas is actually just flatulence, he's worried he's going to have a bit of stress-induced incontinence

(crimson) qurupeco: you know how squidward believes he has lots of talent with the clarinet but he actually plays like ass? yeah imagine that but replace the clarinet but with monster roars. all the other monsters only come to his "aid" just to shut him the hell up, and he's gleefully unaware of this even as he's being ripped to shreds

barroth: has a couple pebbles rattling around in his crown in lieu of a brain, and thus goes nuts like a dog seeing a mailman with a single minded pursuit to run you over

nibelsnarf: obsessed with food. will eat any bombs you put down and deem them delicious, even after they explode in his gullet and he calls them "a bit spicy."

(steel) uragaan: basically a goron in all but name: loud, boisterous, rolls to get around, and loves eating rocks

(rust) duramboros: basically an old miner that mostly just wants some peace and quiet. has to put a considerable amount of effort into all of his attacks, especially the one where he throws himself into the air like a shot put, and starts complaining about his back after he lands

(thunderlord) zinogre: a breakdancer. constantly boasting about his moves in battle and treats his fulgurbug tenants as "special effects."

brachydios: acts like a hammy heel wrestler such as rawk hawk or incineroar...even though he's supposed to be a boxer instead of a wrestler. sometimes he acts like he's sparring with you instead.

raging brachydios: the same heel persona from before, but now all washed up and depressed, desperately grasping at his former fame. near the end where he traps you in his lair he gets his old passion back as he goes completely apeshit for one last fight

(savage) deviljho: not really much different from his canon incarnation, except now he just moans or roars "STILL...SO...HUNGRY..." at times

(ash) kecha wacha: somewhere between a class clown and a memelord. hangs on branches and canopies specifically to cackle at you.

(desert) seltas: speaks like a stereotypical robot. not much to him unless he's being used as a puppet by the seltas queen: he is a drone, after all

(berserk) tetsucabra: somewhere between big the cat and big man. the rocks he pulls up are supposed to be for him to hide behind, but he's so dim he thinks you're gone too.

(tidal) najarala: a stereotypical snake character that speakssss like thissss. sometimes he accentuates the hissing noises by rattling his tail along with them. gets pissed off when you escape his "ring of doom" attack, as he has to spend a lot of time positioning himself to circle around you and enact it.

(shrouded) nerscylla: looks intimidating but is actually really shy and timid (sorta reflects real tarantulas tbh). her gypceros pelt is like a beloved hoodie to her and she gets really sad when it's destroyed

(tigerstripe) zamtrios: actually a really nice guy. the problem is, like real sharks, he figures out whether something is food or not by biting it. obviously most hunters don't let him nibble them and just whack him, so he ends up fighting most people he meets. also he makes the "dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun" from Jaws while he's swimming through ice. his voice lines get pitched up super high when he's inflated.

(desert) seltas queen: speaks much like A Certain Other Queen (The One Who Is: At The Very Least Kinda Sorta Famous) and treats her seltas underlings like garbage. once she fully takes control of the seltas they speak in unison

seregios: imagine jaleel white's sonic if he could shoot his spines. and also fly. spins the fact that he's basically a refugee by saying he's spreading freedom wherever he goes, much like the real sonic. deep down, he isn't buying it.

(boltreaver) astalos: crackheaded hyperactive maniac. makes a lot of references to monster energy: this is because his electric powers don't come from his special muscles, but from him guzzling down a potent cocktail of stimulants and cans of monster by the truckload. explains the crackheadedness i guess. repeatedly denies that he's crazy to the rest of the fated four

(violet) mizutsune: huge bitch. he wants to be looked at and for everything to be about him all the time, and he throws temper tantrums sometimes when it isn't. also he's horny. very horny. he sounds snooty and effeminate like Juno Songs' portrayal of rubber band from Paper Mario: The Origami King

soulseer mizutsune: f u c k i n g sans undertale

(acidic, hellblade) glavenus: acts like a noble knight and will lay down his life to protect other members of the fated four. gets into quarrels with gammoth who is of a similar mindset. despite being a protector, his real love is cooking, which he does with his heated tailblade.

(elderfrost) gammoth: also a protector, but in a more motherly sort of way i guess. big enough to encompass the entire rest of the fated four so she just uses herself as a shield.

(nightcloak) malfestio: somewhere between a jester and a magician. constantly talks a big game about gaining sleight of hand on you, and gets flustered when you can outgambit his dirty tricks

ahtal-ka: imagine peridot's voice and personality crossbred with the mechanical ingenuity, scientific passion, and sheer psychopathic bloodlust that TotK's version of link is known for. basically treats the entire fight as a giant experiment and actively takes notes each time you defeat her ahtal-neset, so she can get rid of the weak spots you target.

(fulgur) anjanath: basically the jerk jock trope personified, fitting how it's known as the "relentless ruffian." talks a big game in battle but is quick to fold when something bigger, like a rathalos, enters the scene

(ebony) odogaron: you know that scene from gumball where it's shown from the Evil Turtle's perspective and it's like "BITE BITE BITE EAT FOOD FOR STRENGTH TO BITE BITE BITE MAKE LITTLE TURTLES TO BITE EVEN MORE" ...yeah that's basically how this guy operates

tzitzi-ya-ku: basically a paparazzi/photographer. flees peacefully once he gets good "shots" of monsters (read: blinds them) and when he's fighting you he's more concerned about getting your good side and putting you in the right light than he is about self preservation

(seething) bazelgeuse: basically a much angrier version of the soldier. barely even knows why he's in this locale or that: all he knows is that he's not going home until something dies. flies into battle screaming at the top of his lungs.

aknosom: an acrobat and a performer. more concerned with stomping on your face like a goomba than actually doing anything effective. tries to lick you once you're close to its head while it's downed.

tetranadon: another wrestler-inspired character like brachydios, but this time he's a face instead of the heel. very self absorbed and is convinced all of the small monsters watching from the sidelines are there to cheer him on and boo you.

(blood orange) bishaten: an even bigger shitlord than kecha wacha. could not care less about whether he lives or dies because he had fun and he got to see you get pissed while doing it.

(magma) almudron: a cantankerous old dude. he's less interested in actually protecting his territory and more so just chasing you off it. constantly complaining and bellyaching regardless.

somnacanth: a parody of an idol. her singing voice is actually really good but she gets so passionate that she releases her signature narcotic dust, which puts any prospective audience to sleep. still, she tries to put on the best performance she can even mid-fight

auroracanth: the idol from before but now jaded and disillusioned with life.

(pyre) rakna-kadaki: a wicked witch-archetype character that cares really deeply about her rachnoid minions. gets really distraught when you kill them or knock over the sac she's using to incubate them. this does not stop her from eating the rachnoids that are males. basically imagine Magica deSpell (2017) if she had an entire army of lenas instead of just one

(scorned) magnamalo: a mirror to the fierce flame, constantly spouting out cheesy puns and one liners with almost all of his attacks. starts laughing like a maniac once he does that move where he runs around like crazy.

garangolm: very peaceful, even to the point that he's willing to forgive you up to a certain HP threshold or if captured. but this guy hates anyone who would disturb the peace or bully others, and eventually lose his shit and decry you going "YOU! ARE NOT! A NICE! PERSON!!!" or something like that

lunagaron: tries to put on a sonic.exe-esque vibe to seem more intimidating, contrary to what his werewolf-like design would suggest. he's very terrible at it and ends up flubbing his "lines" often.

(ashen) lao-shan lung: basically that hobo who sits on the street holding the "The End Is Near" sign. only this time the end is actually near because the only reason he's there is because he's fleeing from fatalis.

kirin: h o n s e

chameleos: basically scampton from deltarune chapter rewritten if he was a magician as well as a jester. his entire fight is, from his perspective, mostly a bunch of cool magic tricks, but he's also screwing with you a bit too. the problem is that he's not satisfied until you're having as much "fun" as he is, and he's insane and his desire for fun is insatiable. kinda like caine from the amazing digital circus

teostra: basically @darbycupit's portrayal of king leongar, but as a good guy. he's revered and treated by a noble king by all the other monsters.

lunastra: violently protective of teostra. will go apeshit on anything that so much as looks at him funny and he often sheepishly has to reel her back in. basically the opposite of rathian.

yama tsukami: basically a super-sized supernatural patrick star. doesn't really care about what he's doing or where he ends up as long as he gets to eat stuff.

alatreon: kinda like a mixture of Jevil and Barnaby from billy bust-up. isolated for eons, and has gone so insane that he treats the fight as a massive party. unfortunately for you he thinks the end-goal of said party is for the guests do die so that they can party forever. gets disappointed when you topple him and when you cart prematurely bc he thinks you "don't want to see his grand finale."

amatsu: believes it is his divine right to take territory he wants, blowing out all others with mighty storms, and treats the fierce flame (and other animals in general really) with nothing but contempt. gets more desperate and rageful as the fight goes on because he doesn't want to be killed by what's basically an ant to him

gore magala: acts aloof and ominous in an attempt to appear cool. however, he's basically still just a kid on the inside, and as such his true childish personality often slips through the cracks

chaotic gore: incapable of making any speech other than pained howls. when killed he thanks you for ending his suffering.

shagaru magala: basically @stelyos' portrayal of fecto elfilis: a YHWH-like warlord god who sees all life as beneath him and worthy only of subjugation

nakarkos: starts the fight trying to keep up the facade that he's a two headed bone abomination, using his tentacles like puppets to keep up the con. however, as the fight rolls on and the tentacles get uncovered, he half-heartedly tries to keep up appearances before going "fuck it" to pop out and reveal his true form, and with it his true personality: a very gluttonous and boisterous pirate

(crimson glow) valstrax: the fastest thing alive, more concerned with showing off his incredible speed than actually fighting you. once he realizes he might actually be in trouble, he just doubles down and starts showboating harder instead of making an effort.

(blackveil) vaal hazaak: a mysterious necromancer-like character. what he actually wants is friends due to being holed up in the bottom layers of the vale and being too hazardous to approach, and when killed, he'll lament that he could really only have friends through effluvium necromancy.

(ruiner) nergigante: yet another bowser expy, this time of juno songs' portrayal of the character

velkhana: actually pretty chill. however, she has to keep up appearances, namely those from the frozen corpses she leaves around, and acts like a supervillainess while fighting you

namielle: dumb as a rock and only really cares about looking cool in battle and looking cool in general. basically an inkling in all but form and name.

malzeno: despite his elegant appearance he's actually a huge chuunibyou. he's really new to this whole "bad guy" schtick after becoming the qurio's host to protect everybody, so he's putting all the effort in all the wrong places of his performance.

primordial malzeno: a noble hero that willingly accepts the fact that he needs to die for the sake of everyone else at the beginning of the fight. as the infection progresses further he becomes less and less coherent and at the end he's basically only making pained screeches, begging for the fierce flame to end his misery during his brief periods of lucidity

zorah magdaros: the entire fight dialogue is basically a never ending long winded rambling old man monologue

shara ishvalda: basically imagine that thing about monika knowingly shutting down any streams she detects at her part of the story in DDLC, except different. shara ishvalda's banter isn't directed at the hunter. it's directed at you specifically. if you have an xbox kinect maybe the game would turn it on to look at you and better fit said banter.

safi'jiiva: similar to the other part of @stelyos' portrayal of fecto elfilis: a world-shaping godlike being that firmly believes that survival of the fittest is the only way the world can work, and since he is by definition the fittest, he's the only one that deserves to survive

ibushi: no thoughts only horny

narwa: constantly talking smack to you through the twins

gaismagorm: sounds like a massive mishmash of voices sort of like @darbycupit's portrayal of fecto forgo. it's not actually anything supernatural the voices just echo around in his weird flower mouth thing and they all sound different

all of the fatalises: somewhere between tartarus from dragalia lost on steroids and calamity ganon: a being that was so consumed by its hatred it turned into a nearly mindless shade of its former self

[blackjackkent]

Good news, everyone! There are TWO Spectators in the House of Hope dungeon, not just one.

No sign of Raphael yet but probably only a matter of time.

First order of business is to get Hope out of her chains.

The chains are anchored on giant crystals on each side of the arena, which possibly we could also destroy, but the hammer comes with a unique attack, "Unshackling Strike", which says "Smite the magical bonds keeping a a creature restrained, paralyzed, or stunned, freeing it." So we just need to get into melee with Hope and smack her with it.

I loaded Jaheira up with the hammer since she's the one of us least dependent on weapon attacks; unfortunately she's also the slowest of us so it took two turns during which I had everyone else start clearing the room.

The spectators, as usual, are scary as fuck and have 3 billion attacks; the most concerning bit was that one of them managed to land a paralyzing ray on Jaheira, which puts her out of commission temporarily. Unclear if this was deliberate because she had the hammer or just unlucky.

However! Hector has a freedom of movement potion, and we have Magic Pockets(tm) meaning Minsc could throw it on Jaheira before her turn. TEAMWORK! STRATEGY! I'm SO GOOD at this VIDEO GAME!

(Not really, but I try. XD Throwing the potion apparently doesn't work if you're ALREADY paralyzed, which is fucked up. >:( )

I think their target must not have been random, because they KEPT doing this to Jaheira, forcing us to kill them before we could cut Hope free. A surprisingly scary bit of this ended up being maneuvering everyone so they wouldn't get yeeted into the abyss by the knockback on the imps' eldritch blasts. (I did have to do a reload for this because Karlach got knocked off; I considered a feelsy drabble about it but it didn't really feel like it served any greater character point beyond "oh, whoops, shouldn't have stood there." XD )

The reload went much better; I was able to get Jaheira over to Hope and hit her, at which point absolutely nothing happened. >:( So I guess we were supposed to go for the crystals after all.

At this point I just got annoyed and beat everything up before trying to continue. XD This had the added benefit of letting us short rest and heal up before actually cutting Hope free.

Strike one.

Strike two. And she's out!

"FREE! I never thought I would be, believed I could be, hoped I might be. HEADS WILL ROLL!" she crows, waving her arms around. Then her face falls sharply and along with it, her voice.

"But we must address the hollyphant in the room. I can see how you avoid looking at me. I must be so terribly mutilated after all these decades of torture. Don't hold back. Tell me how bad it is."

Her head bows, her shoulders hunch.

Hector looks at her with some bemusement. "You look perfectly normal," he says, because she does - really more normal than one would expect under the circumstances.

She smiles weakly. "We both know that's not true, but thank you for being so kind."

He blinks. "No, really... you look fine."

The smile strengthens, but turns all the sadder for it. "You truly are the kindest fool I've ever met..." she murmurs. A pause, and then she turns away sharply. "We'll carve our way to the entrance hall and chop Raphael into messes! That's the hopeful version of course. The likely version is that WE ARE THE MESSES AND HE IS THE CHOPPER! ONWARD!"

-----

Hector and the others watch her leap back to the platform where they came in, and all of them look more than a little troubled.

"What's she talking about, Hec?" Karlach asks in a low voice. "She looks fine."

"I don't know," Hector answers grimly. "I'm more than a little concerned that perhaps she doesn't at all. It wouldn't be the first thing we encountered here disguised under a glamour."

The deep red of her face pales slightly. "Oh. Oh gods..."

"I hope I'm wrong. Gods, I hope I'm wrong."

[miracleweaponhunt]

Miracle Weapon Hunt Chapter 54: Plan B

The high ranking Legion members stood stunned as Cheng struggled to get up. Zawadi swapped him with a random legion member behind him, who took a metallic punch from Zach straight into the face.

"Ignore him, he's not important!" Cheng yelled, trying to cover up his bloody nose. "Kill the others!"

As soon as he gave the order, the fifty or so Legion members and their five top ranked commanders rushed out to attack everyone left in the arena. They passed Zach, who knocked three out as they tried to pass him.

Cassandra put her fists up as soon as five people rushed to attack her, alongside Serafina.

"She can heal herself! So remember to go crazy!"

The five people all began brandishing weapons. Two wielding daggers, one with an axe, one with a sword, and one sticking with their fists. Besides the axe, none of the weapons were in good condition. All rusted, with the axe looking especially bad. She quickly landed a punch towards the fist fighter, grabbing them and using them as a human shield towards one of the dagger user. The screams rang out as the pugilist got a knife in their midsection, only stopping when Cassandra kicked them in the back and left them to bleed on their stomach above the first dagger user. She ducked down below the swing of the second dagger, kicking it out of the users hands. The axe user unleashed a clumsy swing, which any decent axe user could see past. She got behind them and issued an elbow strike to their back, causing them to drop the axe. She picked the axe up, slicing the rusty sword in half with a single mediocre cleave. As more surrounded her, Luca and Willow both got behind her.

"Okay, you got this?"

Luca didn't respond, merely leaping forward in an upwards arc with one sword, effortlessly cutting through Serafina, who jumped over the shoulders of two Legion members to get to them. She turned to dust, only for six more clones to attack. Two each, but Jade's clones all dove in and tackled the real one to the ground, dissolving the rest of them into a trail of dust that led to her. Two Jade clones hoisted her into the air, while two more hoisted the real Jade upwards to land an airborne uppercut directly into Serafina's stomach. But she was quickly swapped with a random Legion member before she could hit the ground. Einer quickly dove in and froze them to the wall, effortlessly dodging the spear being thrusted behind him, hoisting the now terrified holder to match eyes, and quickly adding them to the wall. He and Hikaru then faced Zawadi, who clapped his hands together in excitement. Hikaru drew a ring in the air, which quickly surged into a ring of electricity in front of them, they pushed it towards Zawadi with one mighty push, and he quickly clapped his hands to swap with Einer. Einer already ducked, touching the ground to create a trail of ice for Ziwadi, who barely managed to escape it. He looked at Einer. He looked more aggressive then he did a moment ago, diving towards Einer and throwing a punch. Einer coated his left arm in ice and blocked the attack, giving Hikaru the time to draw another above him and shove it downwards, causing Ziwadi to seize up, letting Einer trap him in a wave of ice.

The new girl, Daciana, was effortlessly facing off against Fiorella, Adrianna, and Capri. She summoned a two handed double sided blade, similar to the ceremonial blades used in ShiShi performances, only she was using it to it's full potential. She weaved through the two of them with ease, dancing with her blade through the crowds as they all got more and more frustrated. Adrianna tried her best to weave her own path to her face, but she'd quickly throw her off balance and throw them to the hungry yet scared Legion members. They'd try to fight her, but she'd viscously leave them with broken noses.

"Girls, step down." Fiorella requested. "Make sure I'm not hit."

The girls did as asked, with Fiorella swinging her axe in a circle around her until it clashed against Daciana's sword. The two of them exchanged blows without any side managing to land a solid hit. But Fiorella de-summoned her weapon, getting into a handstand and barely managing to scrape past a swipe from Daciana's weapon. She leapt up off her hands, narrowly avoiding a panicked swipe from the blade that only managed to graze her leg. She stomped her head, quickly snapping her finger towards the others. Adrianna came in with her arms already covered, throwing a series of punches to a disoriented Daciana, which she was forced to block with a succession of rapid strikes. So by the time she saw her Legion soldiers running away, all she could do was look on in horror as the shadow on Capri's mallet slowly got smaller. She was quickly crushed underneath it, and her weapon was de-summoned. She stood up with desperate fists raised, and Adrianna landed a fully crystalized punch to her face. When the mallet was shrunk down to it's original size and Capri was ready to go back on the offensive, she quickly commanded the ten or so men surrounding her to attack them as she scrambled back on her feet to get back to Cheng.

"Adya!" Cheng yelled. "How are you doing?"

Adya was trying her best to dodge everything Ryland was throwing at her. She was quickly avoiding all manner of punches, each one getting more ferocious and erratic. Her only option was to unfreeze Rodrick and Siena, but neither of them sounded like good options. Rodrick would pull out something extremely useful, and Siena would boost Ryland and make the situation even worse. As Ryland grabbed the head of a random Legion soldier and threw them full force at her head, she came to the conclusion to clench her left fist, unfreezing Siena and setting a vortex just in front of her face. Ryland's fist got caught in it and stuck him in place, with three Legion soldiers getting behind him and kicking for good measure.

Cheng looked around at everything that was happening. No! The surprise attack was supposed to work better! We had a fifth of the Legion's forces working on it! He looked at Daciana, trying to keep the blood in her nose and quickly losing energy, Adya desperately trying to fight off her opponents, Ziwadi having to keep swapping out Legion members to save himself from the weapons attacks, and Serafina was doing the same with her clones, only she was looking much worse for wear.

"Okay, plan B!" He screamed.

Instantly, the vibe around the arena changed. Hordes of Legion members started scrambling towards the remaining ships, which Zach immediately jumped on and began tearing apart. Several of them started running towards the ships furthest away. The heroes all gave chase, tackling and taking down several remaining Legion members. But all the top fighters in the Legion managed to get onto one ship, which was quickly trying to take off. The three girls got into the living areas while the men watched outside. And just as nobody could reach them, a Legion grunt was swapped out with Cassandra.

"Wait, where am I-"

Cassandra could barely let out a confused sentence before four Legion members tackled her to the ground. Cheng smirked above her as he held out a pair of handcuffs and carefully applied them.

"Careful now." He said calmly, observing the other airships getting airborne around him. "As long as she's in one piece, we'll face no penalties for our mistakes."

Cassandra forced herself on her feet, headbutting the soldier who was trying to hold her down, running to the edge as the ship left the arena, and she stood before crowds of horrified onlookers. And the most horrified looking was Julian, who locked eyes with her as she was carried off.

"Cassandra!" He screamed at the top of his lungs, running underneath the airship, hoping a sudden surge of genius would explode into his mind. But the airship left his view before he could do anything.

He fell to his knees, the world beginning to spin as he lost the sensation from his legs and he hit the ground, defeated. The only thing his body still knew how to do was scream.

"Cassandra!"

Cheng looked over the deck of the ship, seeing a sole ship approaching Fightston. It looked important. A lone woman stood at the front of the ship, unsheathing a sword.

Mia Burri. Her gaze was coming into view, cutting through him. And he didn't feel like seeing what other cutting she was capable of. Cheng got everyone into the living area except Cassandra, who he pushed over in plain view of Mia.

"Everyone, get this going as fast as possible!"

Mia locked eyes with a desperate Cassandra, tearfully shouting something she couldn't hear over the wind. The ship was off limits. But she slowly pressed a hand on her sword, and with one hand wave, she had five astral copies of the swords ready to go. She sent the swords forwards with pinpoint precision, with each one hitting the engine of the ships it was aiming at, and each one fell below the clouds to the world below. The other ships all sped up at this sight, all blitzing past and attempting to ram her ship. She had to hold onto the railings for dear life, but she did make it out alive.

In the arena, everyone was checking up on each other. The gatekeepers were convening with their groups, and the Maximos were also seeing what was up. Arden and Roxanne exited the hotel to see for themselves what had happened.

"Hey, is everyone okay?" Samuel asked.

"They got Cassandra." Willow whispered, trying to suppress the maelstrom of emotion building up inside her.

"Wait, what?!" Roxanne asked, taking a panicked look around the arena. "Where's Julian?"

"He tried running after them." Willow said. "I don't know where he went."

Roxanne tried calling Julian. He answered, struggling to say anything through a haze of raspy noises. She eventually got his rough location, and Fiorella ran out of the arena to get him.

"So is everyone gone?" Adebayo asked.

"Think so." Caoimhe nodded.

"Anyone check the halls to the hotel?"

"For what, some straggler to get info from?"

Adebayo nodded calmly, going to the hallway he walked to get from the arena to the hotel. There was a figure approaching him. He couldn't make the figure out as they sauntered towards him. Adebayo casually rubbed his hands together, just in case. The figure raised their hand, emitting a blinding light. Adebayo put his hands to his chest to guard the attack, calling out for help. He forced himself to face the light, with one getting brighter in the middle for a brief second, before a beam of light shot straight through his heart. He let out one last scream for help as his consciousness faded.

Caoimhe and Capri ran into the room, seeing Adebayo's dead body.

And when they looked ahead, it was nothing but an empty hallway.

[morkaischosen]

blorbingo: hornet from silksong

HORNET MY BELOVED

it is my endless vigil to await the release of Silksong; until then I will pose dramatically in the rain and dash ahead of people to indicate the path onwards and foreshadow their next mobility upgrade.

I loved her already but my appreciation gained a LOT from that Prokopetz post pointing out that the giggle in her fight sound-effects makes very clear that she's enjoying throwing down (despite and around all the melancholy duty and frail hope).

ALSO SINCE YOU GAVE ME AN EXCUSE it's a good time to remind you all how much I LOVE the design of her bossfight! it's beautifully put together as a contrast with many of the enemies you fight in Hollow Knight - most of them are big and strong and you have to learn to read their patterns, dance around them and exploit their weak spots, but because of a couple of clever little sleights of hand, even though she's just running the same "perform one of your half-dozen patterns" tech as the others, it feels like a battle of two similar fighters - I learned one of her abilities, worked out that dashing across the arena away from my old position where she aimed, and then got repeatedly totalled by the fact that she has another move that looks almost identical for the first half-second of the pattern, which slapped me with her spidersilk right where my strat for the other move put me. it's just random move choice but it feels like being read and yomi'd out, and I love it.

character of all time. likely cosplay target, I just need to put the mask together and maybe get a huge needle.

(it is very funny that she's a tall elegant faintly melancholy princess type with a fetching red outfit and a long swordlike weapon who's best known for having a complicated enemy/rival/bestie thing with a tiny genderless void bug with a knife. hi robin.)

[m4tthewmurd0ck]

𝐇𝐔𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐑 𝐆𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐒: 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐕𝐄𝐋 𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍!

u guys i genuinely had tears from laughing so much. found a hunger games simulator, i randomly chose 24 characters from within the mcu and paired them up and ran the ‘game’, and sad;lfkajsg;lasdfhasdf i’ll show you below the cut after the tributes.

𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐭 𝟏: 𝐘𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐚 + 𝐑𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐭

𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐭 𝟐: 𝐏𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐨 + 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢

𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐭 𝟑: 𝐂𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐭 + 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐲

𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐭 𝟒: 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞 + 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐥

𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐭 𝟓: 𝐓’𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐚 + 𝐒𝐜𝐨𝐭𝐭

𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐭 𝟔: 𝐍𝐚𝐭 + 𝐏𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐏.

𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐭 𝟕: 𝐁𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐲 + 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐫

𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐭 𝟖: 𝐁𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐞 + 𝐆𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐚

𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐭 𝟗: 𝐈𝐤𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐬 + 𝐑𝐡𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐲

𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐭 𝟏𝟎: 𝐋𝐨𝐤𝐢 + 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞

𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐭 𝟏𝟏: 𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐱 + 𝐖𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚

𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐭 𝟏𝟐: 𝐕𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 + 𝐏𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐐.

𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐎𝐍𝐄:

Once the horn sounds, Gamora finds Ikaris hiding in the cornucopia. She attempts to eliminate him, but he quickly kills her. Gamora is the first to die.

Sersi gathers as much food as she can carry, before fleeing.

Vision, Strange, and Carol call a temporary truce and work together to get as many supplies before fleeing.

T’Challa, Clint, Bruce, Peter P., Rocket, Wanda, Scott, run away from the cornucopia with no supplies.

Pietro, Yelena, and Drax each take a handful of throwing knives before fleeing in separate directions.

Bucky sets off an explosive in the cornucopia, immediately killing Steve and Tony.

Thor scares Rhodey away, then turns and runs away himself.

Peter Q. takes a bow, some arrows, and a quiver before fleeing.

Loki retrieves a scepter before fleeing.

Nat finds a lighter and rope before turning and running in a random direction.

Acidic rain pours down on the arena

Sersi quickly injures Bruce, leaving him to die in the rain.

Peter P., Drax, Nat, Clint, Rocket, Yelena, Scott, Loki, and Vision all manage to escape the rain and survive unharmed.

T’Challa injures Strange and leaves him to die.

Peter Q. shoves Wanda into a pond of acidic rain. Wanda quickly pulls him in, effectively killing them both.

Rhodey injures Carol and leaves her to die.

Bucky is unable to find shelter quick enough, and he also dies.

𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐒: Gamora / Steve / Tony / Thor / Pietro / Ikaris / Bruce / Strange / Peter Q. / Wanda / Carol / Bucky

𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐎𝐍𝐄:

Sersi climbs up a tree to sleep for the night.

Loki cooks his food, puts out his fire, eats, then goes to sleep.

Vision manages to sing himself to sleep.

T’Challa kills Scott while he is sleeping.

Nat and Rocket call a temporary truce and huddle together for warmth.

Drax receives fresh food from an unknown sponsor.

Clint climbs up a tree to sleep for the night.

Rhodey destroys Yelena’s supplies while she is asleep.

Peter P. treats his infection before going to sleep for the night.

𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐒: Scott

𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐓𝐖𝐎:

Clint shoots a poisonous blow dart into Yelena’s neck, slowly killing her.

Drax quietly snaps Loki’s neck (FDFJLSKGHAS:DHWRG:DSJF)

Peter P. manages to further injur himself.

Vision camouflages into the bushes and hides for most of the day.

Rhodey, Nat, T’Challa, and Sersi call a temporary truce to hunt other tributes.

Rocket receives fresh food from an unknown sponsor.

𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐓𝐖𝐎 𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐒: Yelena / Loki

𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐓𝐖𝐎:

Rocket attempts to start a fire, but is ultimately unsuccessful.

Sersi and Clint call a temporary truce and huddle together for warmth.

Nat and Peter P. run into each other again and huddle together for warmth.

Vision, T’Challa, and Drax call a temporary truce and huddle together as they discuss what might happen in the morning.

Rhodey wanders around, losing sight of where he is.

𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄 / 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐓:

The cornucopia is replenished with food, supplies, weapons, and memoirs from tributes’ families.

Drax, Clint, Vision, Rocket, and Peter P. skip out on the feast.

Rhodey sets off an explosive, which kills Sersi.

T’Challa quietly strangles Nat with a rope.

After the fest, Vision attempts to spear fish with a trident.

Clint explores the arena, sticking to the trees.

Peter P. finds a secluded area and practices archery.

Rocket, Rhodey, and T’Challa call a temporary truce to hunt tributes.

Drax tries to find a water source.

𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄 𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐒: Sersi / Nat

𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄:

Rocket makes a fire and has to fend off T’Challa, Drax, and Clint. He chooses to spare their lives.

Vision finds a tree to sleep in for the night, and thinks about home.

Peter P. and Rhodey call a temporary truce, trading stories about themselves as they fall asleep.

𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑:

Drax tries to spear fish with a trident.

Rocket takes a break from hunting tributes, and finds a field to pick flowers.

When Peter P. isn’t looking, Vision steals from his food supply.

Rhodey discovers a river and fills his bottle up with water.

Clint makes a slingshot.

T’Challa spends the day hunting other tributes, but is unsuccessful.

𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐒: 0

𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑: 

Vision and Rhodey call a temporary truce, and sleep in shifts.

Clint convinces T’Challa not to kill him. But when T’Challa turns his back, Clint ends up killing him instead.

Rocket receives food from an unknown sponsor.

Peter P. and Drax find trees to sleep in for the night.

𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐒: T’Challa

𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄:

Peter P. receives clean water from an unknown sponsor.

Drax, Vision, Clint, and Rhodey are unable to take this any longer. They form a pact, ending their lives at the same time.

Rocket dies from thirst.

𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐒: Drax / Vision / Clint / Rhodey / Rocket

𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐍𝐄𝐑: 𝐏𝐄𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐓 𝟔!!

this was actually so fucking funny ashdfals;dfkjsadf not loki getting his neck snapped and also bucky killing tony AND steve!

[werelosingdaylight]

IT’S A GAME?

Shuntaro Chishiya x Fem!OC

Requested? Yes • [No]

Word Count: 1,336

Summary| Bree Denlyn, A transfer student from Georgia, was transported into a game that is much more serious than it seems to an outsider's eyes. She is forced to choose between herself and an innocent woman in her first game, What happens after?

Bree’s Journey In Borderland Masterlist

The game was a heart game. The woman had quickly picked up on the fact that it was a game in which you needed to be the last survivor no matter the consequences or who you needed to sacrifice. The game in question was hide and seek. A seeker will be chosen at random and their life is automatically saved when they kill all the players. They will hold no memory of the people playing. If you kill the seeker you will be passed on the seekers' role. Your goal? Hide until the timer runs out.

She watched as the timer began ticking down on the large screen in front of them and glanced between her friends. Bonnie and Bree, were the friends that were best at physical games. Rose, was the best at mental games. Jason was good at both. Jason was chosen as the seeker. Bree grabbed a knife off of the table, ignoring her friend's looks of worry as she glared at her phone screen that shined with a four of hearts card.

She thought back to the male they first ran into, he died during their first game and Bree could still smell the copper scent in the air and could almost taste the metallic, blood taste in her mouth. He had explained the games to the group of four and at first, they didn't believe him. Not until he laid dead in front of them.

'Heart cards, They're considered the worst. They're games of betrayal, so, I wouldn't recommend getting close to anyone.' She huffed a laugh that made them look at her like she was crazy. "What's funny?" Bonnie questioned as she stared at the blonde woman who turned and looked rather intimidating with the weapon in her hand and a smile on her face as if she was saying goodbye through the smile alone.

"That we're all just standing here when we should be running and trying to hide." She spoke in a whisper before running off with her mind made up. She was going to be selfish. She would win this game. She was tired of being the selfless person for her friends when they did nothing in return. In a way, she's getting her payback by leaving them there to die. She might regret it later but right now she wants to win.

She could hear her friends yelling after her as she sprinted through the rubble and ran through houses in the abandoned town that was their arena, her heart was in her throat giving her the feeling that she might throw up as she ran into one of the buildings. She could guess that the seeker would be kept in the center of the arena until time ran out and everyone was hiding. Then he will be released and full of blood lust.

She came to a stop in the center of an abandoned hotel. She ran up the stairs and checked through all of the rooms as the same monotonous voice echoed through the arena '1 minute and 30 seconds until the seeker is released.' She felt her heart banging against her chest as she came across a room that looked almost fully collapsed in on itself and nearly impossible to get into.

'1-minute remains' she let out a growl of frustration and put the handle of the knife in her mouth and began climbing into the room. She was too pumped on adrenaline to feel the nails slicing across the palms of her hands and her knees. She crawled until she found a hole just big enough for her to squeeze into it. She slipped her legs through the hole and shimmer her way into the hiding spot.

'The seeker has been released, good luck participants.' Bree pulled the knife out of her mouth and held it in a position that she could stab someone if needed. She leaned her head against the hollowed-out dresser that she was inside and calmed her breathing.

As she was calming down she thought back to three weeks ago when she and her friends had arrived in this hell of a game.

She was breathing heavily as she ran down the corridors of the mall. Her heart trying to beat its way out of her chest as she tried to avoid the person after them. She held no idea what was going on, one minute she's in a study group with her friends, and the next all of Tokyo had disappeared.

She ran and ran until she found a room with a woman standing on a ladder with a rope around her neck. That's when Brees mind flashed back to the name of the game 'Hang-Man.'

If she gets it right the woman dies but if she gets it wrong they all die and the person trying to kill them wins the game.

There we're two words and eleven empty spaces. She began to rack her brain as her phone updated her on the time 'Three minutes remaining' her heart leaped up into her throat. She needs to decide if she wants to die and the last time she checked the answer was no.

She looked around the room hoping for something to help her when it clicked in her mind, it would fit in the spaces and it's what everyone is hoping to do. Shakily she picked up her hand and began typing in the letters before they spelled out 'Game Cleared'

She heard rapid beeping and turned her head to the woman who was walking towards the edge of the ladder and jumped off the end. The woman's blood-covered hands came up to grasp at the rope as if she had just realized what happened.

She was brought out of the memory by the woman's voice 'Three players remaining. Time, 4-minutes' She made her way out of her hiding space. She put the knife back in between her teeth and crawled back out of the room.

She could hear footsteps in the building and had two options. Die or Go Feral. She went with the latter. Ripping the knife from her mouth as her friend's scream sounded from down the hall and the woman's voice echoed 'Two players remaining, 3-minutes left.'

She pushed down away her nerves and let that little bottle of anger explode and take over her body. She began storming towards the direction her friend's scream came from. She was getting out of this hell, no matter what the cost.

She saw Jason walking away from Roses body and the scene made her fume with rage. The next thing she remembers is jumping on Jasons' back, her scratched-up knee coming down on his spine making him let out a yelp of pain and surprise. She held the knife in her hand as she wrestled his weapon away from him.

She let out growls as they fell to the ground and his gun flew a few inches out of his reach. He went to grab it but Bree quickly stood and grabbed him by his legs, dragging him away from the weapon before effectively flipping him onto his back "So, This is where our story ends." The blonde spoke to herself as she came to a straddle over the male's stomach.

'30 seconds remaining.' The voice echoed as Bree lifted the knife and brought it down into his chest repeatedly until there was a puddle of blood in its place.

She stood up. Her hair was messy, her knees and hands were bleeding and she was breathing heavily. She made her way out of the hotel and towards the center of the arena, waiting there for her was a four of hearts card as the screen showed her face with 'Game Cleared' on the side.

She snatched up the card and made her way out of the town back towards the city. She knew she would be sore tomorrow but she had four days to relax.

[shyrose57]

Brothers anon, sorry its been like 2 days since I last submitted something! I've been busy and whenever I finally had time to sit down and write this all its like 1 in the morning. I hope its still ok for me to send these.

🌹 anon ima respond to you first, your The Deal au could be the reason why and how Ranboos and Dreams soul got mixed and linked together. But then a problem is how did it pass to Ranbob? In my au, each person has their own soul basically. And while certain attributes like DNA can be passed through bloodlines, souls can't, as their unique to their person. 

What left Ranbob vulnerable to Dream is that he was seen as the star student. The apprentice everyone wanted. He always got perfect grades and was seen as the smartest in the City. This did not go well. As Ranbob was put under a ton of pressure to always stay perfect and get everything right. When his grades started to slip and his chosen mentor started to put even more work on him, his mentality started to suffer. With him losing sleep and starting to not care for himself or do the basic necessities like eating or drinking, all in an effort to be "perfect". Its through this need, and weakened state over all, Dream's presence was able to slip in and convince him to let him help.

Benjamin is 30, Isaac 29, Cletus is 24, and Charles is 27. 

When Ranbob first told Ran about the Dream mask and how he wasnt himself, Ran did not believe him at all. And kept saying that he needs to stop lying and fess up to what he did and pay for it. Others tried to convince him that his brother really wasn't in control of himself, but was met with strong skepticism, scoffs, and disbelief. With Ran not beliving that was the truth at all.

Watson was very shocked but quickly reorganized himself cause he had to calm Jackie, and its only after Jackie fell asleep he was like "Oh fuck. I really am the dad huh?" Jackie was embarrassed at first but after some prodding did say how he truly saw Watson as a dad figure in his life. And everyone had different reactions to Watson suddenly accepting and fitting into the dad role. Jackie was excited and immediately started calling him dad and asking him awkward dad questions "Dad whats puberty?" "Uhhh-" "Dad where do babies come from?" "Ask your dad about that!" "But you are my dad!" Ran seemed indifferent about it but Watson can tell he's revealed to have someone to talk too, and someone to go to if things get to much. Grievous keeps sating he doesn't need a dad but he's the one that goes to Watson the most for things like hugs, comfort, and advice. 

Jackie and Grievous do everything. They rig the battle field so if someone steps in a certain area water will shoot up into their face, Grievous usually taunts and distracts opponents so Jackie can sneak up behind them and just latch onto them and cover their eyes while giggling like a madman as the opponent screams and runs around trying to get him off. Jackie regularly pulls peoples seat out from under them, while Grievous scares them and makes them choke or drop something. But they do know peoples limits. Like for Ran, no water related pranks (there was an incident where Grievous spilled a whole bucket of water on him and Ran got severe burns and had to stay in the hospital ward for a few days), for Watson don't mess with his bow or arrows, he will stab you. And for eachother, Jackie, no pranks that leave him alone for extended periods of time or makes it seems like everyone is gone/left. For Grievous no pranks centered around food or drinks (like putting toothpaste in his sandwich or putting pepper in his beer). 

Ran and Jackie have a 50/50 win if that makes sense. They both win and lose pretty often. They play games like Spoons, Go Fish, Dart Throwing (Watson needs to be present for this one), something similar to Cards Against Humanity, Poker (everyone plays during this one), and Tic Tac Toe. 

Sometimes Jackie loves being the smallest and other times hates it. He hates it when Ran steals something of his and holds it above his head, he sometimes resorts to aggressively climbing Ran to get it but Ran tends to just pluck him off, and people make fun of him in a mean natured way (he's fine with light teasing). But he loves it when he rides Ran's shoulders or can duck under peoples legs and trip em. Because he's also small and fast he's hard to catch and that definitely comes in handy during fights. No ones particularly protective of eachother (excluding Ran who's protective of everyone), because they know none of them like being babied and they can all hold their own, though they will quickly flock to help eachother if they need it. Ran definitely flaunts it whenever their in a agurement. 

There is a area under the fighting arena of the pit where they stay. Theres separate rooms for everyone, training areas, dinning areas, and just chilling areas. Theres even extra rooms meant for often visiting friends (Like Genevieve) and some for storage of weapons which also holds things to sharpen them or get new ones. The Pit itself is in the middle of a gaint city, so there are tons of stores and food areas around. And because of a high salary the King gives them they go out quite often, often eating out and browsing stores when their not training or sleeping. 

If by other combinations you mean like Ran-Jackie, Ran-Grievous, Watson-Jackie, and Watson-Grievous then it highly varies. Watson and Jackie are by far the worst team, their styles just don't match and constantly but heads during battles. Watson and Grievous are probably the best out of the 4 teams because Grievous can be serious and works well with Watson as he's much more willing to change his fighting style to accommodate whats needed. Ran and Jackie are like Jackie and Grievous, but they aren't nearly as insane. Rather Ran provides distractions while fighting to give Jackie time to sneak up behind them. Ran also is the only one able to actually throw Jackie, which they sometimes do during battles. And Ran and Grievous work well together, but not as much as Watson and Grievous, its just a few things of both their styles don't match or could potentially cause problems.

He's clumsy flat out, he isn't used to having full control and needs to get used to certain things like walking or talking again. He is also severely dehydrated and malnutritished because Dream didn't care enough to drink or eat. He's also incredibly skittish and scared easily. He and Cletus's relationship isn't solved fast at all, it takes months and the work of everyone to get the two comfortable around eachother. They start by putting Cletus on watching duty, where he watches over Ranbob to make sure he's eating and drinking and resting while not tiring himself out. Then after a month or 2 Isaac, Benjamin, and Charles start purposely leaving the two in a room alone toghere to get them to talk stuff out. It takes 3 months until their comfortable enough with eachother to willingly talk and hang out. Oh the house building attempts went aboustely awful. They sometimes fell on Ranbob! And when they didn't they just collapsed or got blown away by the wind, but Isaac did ofter help a few times and showed him multiple different ways to make sure the walls stay up and keep the cold out. 

Ran is very unhappy with Ranbobs haunting, he thinks their kind of like Ranbob in which they've all killed people and considers them a threat at first, but when he sees how his haunting likes and interacts with Ranbob's, he losens up a bit, his group trusts them, so he has to trust them a little bit. But he doesn't trust them or like them nearly as much as he trusts and likes his haunting. 

Im guessing you mean who from the two groups get along the easiest. Most of them take a while to get to know eachother, like a few hours. But after that their all really close. Charles and Jackie, Cletus and Grievous, and Benjamin, Isaac, and Watson are the groups that get along really well really fast. 

Im honestly probably am going to go for them adventuring outside the City to try to get the brothers to get along again. Mostly cause I thought of the idea that what if Watson, Jackie, and Grievous all lie to Ran, and while they are actually going on an adventure, they lie to him that his brother and his group isn't coming. Then when its much to late for Ran to back out, Watson just goes "Oh yeah! Your brother and his group are traveling with us. And you can't do anything about it." And Ran just sits there shocked. 

Ran and Ranbob are both subtle protective of their group. With Ranbob never really getting aggressive or going into overbearing. But for Ran, if someone in his group is injured badly enough or if there's a big enough threat he does get overbearing and extremely aggressive towards whatever/whoever the threat is *cough cough Ranbob cough*. Ranbob tends to be very physical, listening more to a certain instincts that tell him to constantly have a view on or hold his family, as if he doesnt see or touch them for a long time he gets very anxious and panicky, thinking his family is dead and that he's all alone again. His group understands this and so tends to not stray to far away from Ranbob. He will also follow his group like a lost puppy at times. Ran while listens more to the instinct that tells him at random times to make sure his family is ok and to bond with them. The bonding leads to him randomly grabbing them and just sitting down with them, most likely playing games. While the random urge to check on them has led to him waking them up during the middle of the night or interrupting his own conversation or others conversations just to ask if their ok. His took a while to understand why he does it, but now if he wakes them up or drags them somewhere, they know to go along with it and comfort him during those times. 

Hybrids are rare! Especially aggressive or netural type mobs like Ran, Ranbob, and Porkius are. Their actually seen as monsters and are chased out or hunted in other city's because people aren't accepting of them. Theres very few city's like Subbin that fully welcome and are even led by hybrids. So there are more hybrids in Subbin, than there is anywhere else. 

Sorry this is so long ':)

Asks are always welcome here, and don’t worry about taking a bit or anything. The questions aren’t going anywhere, there’s plenty of time. 

Here’s that for you,🌹anon.

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1: Wow, Ranbob’s really going through it, huh? Does he ever start to fall back on that need to be ‘perfect’ while with the others? If so, how do they deal with that? And how is he with others offering to help him? If he even can really recall falling under Dream’s thrall, by accepting such an offer, how does he react to others doing the same, even if their intentions are far different?

2: So we’ve settled all the ages down, nice. You figure out anything for their backstory yet? And how do their ages affect their relationships with one another? Does Benjamin take the lead a lot? Or is he more of a follower that still has a lot of say? Who met who first?

3: So Ran’s obviously going to be awhile before he believes what went down. Still, I can’t imagine he’d have been as willing to go along with his hauntings little roadtrip plan if he wasn’t swayed at least a bit, since I can’t imagine he wouldn’t have put his foot down if he truly though Ranbob had done what he did. Why exactly does he go along with it? Does some small part of him want to give his brother a chance? Is he just confident he can overpower him, and looking for an opportunity to settle the score? Does he see something that makes him hope a bit? What’s going down there, anon?

4: On one hand, very adorable. One the other hand, poor Watson. Does Jackie actually not know that stuff, or does he do that just to mess with his new father figure? It seems like they all take to it pretty well overall though.

5: I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Two people to truly fear. How many people straight up forfeit when faced with this combination? It seems like they’ve had some interesting times, good and bad. How’d those play out? As for those last two, I’m sensing a bit of a backstory. Why does Grievous not like stuff being put into his food? And why’s Jackie not good with being left?

6: So it’s fifty/fifty, huh? Who wins the most at what games? And uh, Watson has to be present for Dart Throwing. What happened there? How’s everyone’s poker faces? Who’s got the best luck in games of chance?

7: A love/hate relationship with height. I feel ya, Jackie. Very funny to imagine though, Jackie just, physically climbing up Ran. How tall even is this guy?? How do they deal with meaner teasing, not just from the gladiators, but from general bullies? Not everybody’s as friendly as some of the Pit fighters, after all. And how do the fishermen react with their fighting skills? Obviously, they must know how to fight somewhat, to have entered the Pit, but the gladiators do this for a living. How much is the difference in skill level? And does the gang ever get to show off just how skilled they are? 

8: Their home sounds very nice, honestly, I wished I could live there, minus the people. What’s everyone’s rooms look like? How have they personalized them? Which brings up another question-what kind of interests and hobbies do they have? What kind of things do they do that aren’t fighting and related to such? And they must be pretty well known, to have such high pay. Any of them have an arena title, or some sort of stage name? How many people can recognize the city’s top gladiators on sight? And how do they get around that, when they don’t want to be seen? How do people feel about them in general?

9: All these team ups sound terrifying, and I wouldn’t want to be facing them. How do they deal with it when they get a bad match up? Do they just stay out of each other’s way? Try to take their opponents out quick? Make it one on one? Ran and Jackie have to be my favorite team up, solely for the fact that you’ve said Ran straight up throws him. Like?? Imagine coming to the King’s Pit, a well known, popular place, hoping to prove yourself, and then getting taking out by a flying midget, just tossed at you by a ridiculously tall endermen hybrid. How would you feel?? 

10: Ranbob is just really going through the ringer here. How many times does he just drop stuff, or trip over his feet? Does he ever get better, or does he still retain a clumsy streak? If so, how does Ran react to that? It’s very good he and Cletus bond! Are they just as close as the others, or is there still a bit of distance? How often does Ranbob forget to eat or drink, or really just take a break? How long does it take to get him to start remembering to do that stuff again? 

Does he ever slip up while with the gladiators? Also, in a room? Do the fisherman expand their house more, or do they just leave them in the house? Does Ranbob ever get his own house up? If so, does he use it at all, or is it more for storage? And how many times did he fall asleep out there, get injured, or not realize it was about to rain? How long did it take before Benjamin or Charles put their foot down and make him stay in for a bit?

Has Ranbob ever even dealt with rain before, or a storm above water? If not, how’d he react to it? 

11: Oh, boy, Ran. Your concerns are understandable, but definitely going to lead to some angst. Is he just on edge the whole time? How many times does he just glare at them, or straight up steal one of his haunting back a few feet away from Ranbob’s? Are the fishermen ever worried he might hurt them?

12: How do both hybrids deal with their groups bonding? I imagine Ranbob’s pretty happy with it, but how about Ran? As you said, he doesn’t seem to be the biggest fan of these guys. 

13: Roadtrip! Gotta love a roadtrip! What kind of places do they head? Any transportation, or is it just walking, enjoying nature? Do they go on an adventure to look for something cool? What’re they getting up to?

14: So Ran and Ranbob both act on their instincts in different ways. How do they feel about seeing how the other acts? What happens if any of the fishermen stray too far, or get separated from Ranbob? Same question to Ran. Ran just...like...picks up members of his haunting? Do people just see him walk around with them dangling in his arms? He must be pretty strong. How often does he do this? How else do their instincts lead to them acting? Cuddle piles, picking up blocks, keeping their groups close together, ect?

15: So Subbin’s pretty much a safe space for hybrids? Interesting. But since the groups are heading out, does this mean they run into some trouble outside of the city? And is there ever trouble within it? 

Other questions: Does Karl play any further part in this, or has he already played his role for good? Does the gang ever end up back at Mizu? Do any of the group have a pet or something similar? With there be any sort of connection to other Tales, even if only slightly, or will they be solely focused on these two? Does Ranbob pick up his studies of Ranboo as best he can once he’s free, or does he leave it all behind entirely?

Thanks for the ask, this AU’s become quite interesting. I can’t wait to see where it goes!

[gemstone-gynoid]

some basic things i can remember (source for this: way too much time put into terraria)

- The guide is very useful. Ignore the internet on this, he tells you how to craft items and what items to use, as well as general info you should know. Consult him from time to time!

- Theres a few classes in terraria, the main 4 being Melee, Ranged, Magic, and Summoning. While there is a few more (Throwing) and some sub categories (Yoyos, Flails, Guns, Bows), you should only focus on the broader categories, since it allows you to specialize your equipment around it.

- Terraria is similar but very different to minecraft, with a higher emphasis on combat. When you're prepared for your first boss, make an arena with campfires and heart lanterns (Im fairly sure you can get them before boss #1). Use platforms and make 3-4 layers, and get any potions you can find (potions are very good and overlooked due to the difficulty of getting them). Finally, grappling hooks are very useful, since you can hook a platform and jump to go through the platform and gain a bit of speed.

- Terraria is HUGE. The wiki will be a good friend to have if youre not bothered by going on there.

- Dont enter the dungeon. Youll be locked out of it and die.

- Put your money in a safe chest, since you drop them on death.

- ORGANIZE!!! Its HELL trying to find the item you need in a horrible mess of chests.

- Piggy banks are like ender chests. Most new people dont realize this.

- Caves are trapped with, well, traps! they can easily kill you early on, so when you find one pick it up and hold it in your hand. Youll be able to see other traps nearby like this.

- Theres a biome at the bottom of the world thats like the nether, with lava and such. When you have the time, find a spot near base and dig down to make a long hole to quickly get down there.

- Early game, your goals should be: Get health and mana, get armor, get a magic mirror, get weapons, and get Hermes boots (make you run faster). Depending on your luck the last two might come a lot slower than the others.

These are just some random things that came to mind, i can add more if youd like tho! im open to answer any questions too!!

Thank you! I'm playing mediumcore regular world. I'm getting the hang of the controls and have built a nice base for guide and me so far. And I see the benefit to using platforms for a ladder mineshaft. Looking forward to having tons of npcs in my fortress.

[write-like-you-mean-it]

A Hunter’s Prey: Loving a Monster

Illumi stayed at her apartment for three more days after she had left. Truly, he didn’t know where to go. Going home meant he had to tell father that he had failed; a statement he’d never told his father before. The promise of never having another love clung to his mind like a death grip. He had failed.

Every inch of the apartment reminded Illumi of her walking through the door. Her last words of criticism about not saying sorry for what he did inch its way into her brain. Why hadn’t he apologized for what he’d done? He’d meant to remove the needle after Heaven’s Arena, but it all changed when he had received Chrollo’s call. He’d forgotten in leu of a new job. If only he knew the mess he’d be in when he returned.

Her apartment always seemed too dirty for his taste. There was random clothing thrown to the ground, shoes lined the wall near the door, and old wrappers lay on the kitchen table. It seemed like a dirty mess but then he remembers she hasn’t been back since he took her. No. She had returned but only for a short while.

The only mess that wasn’t hers was the broken glass that scattered the livingroom floor. A mess that Illumi had made for himself when he realized she was actually gone. He picked up a mug and threw it in a fit of rage.

While anger always boiled under his skin, he’d never acted in such a violent manner. Throwing things was always too immature for him. It always had been. Father made sure to strongly enforce that lesson when he was young.

Illumi could only stare at the broken pieces of glass that scattered across the room after he'd done it. The glass all around shimmered in the fading sun; lightening up the room in a cascade of brilliantly vibrant rainbows. It would’ve been considered, by most people, to be beautiful, but not to Illumi.

Rainbows brought back the time he first told his parents he loved them. He was young, around 5-6. Milluki was receiving the brute force of training at this point, and Illumi was left to his own. He was grateful for the time alone as it gave him time for his studies in between the cries from his brothers in agony. The butlers would run out every few days to get him a new book to read.

It was in these books that he found the relationship of parents and children to be fascinating. Mothers reading to their kids and fathers building forts. Children were cunning and brave. The perfect family.

The ones that caught Illumi’s attention the most were parents telling their kids how much they loved them. He didn’t know what love was. It sounded so forgein; yet, these families would repeat it to each other so often that it seemed like a code. Soon, Illumi noticed the word appearing in more and more stories. If all these perfect families said this code word to each other, then he must try it with the rest of his family.

It had rained the morning Illumi decided to try. Mother’s daily walk had been postponed to a time Illumi could join her. Normally, Illumi stayed silent for their walk so as not to disturb the peace. Today was different. His eyes were glued to the bright rainbow draped across the sky as he said those three little words: “I love you, mom.”

It was followed by a swift hit on the top of his head with her fan. “Now, Illumi. You should know better than to say such silly things. Do we need to have a talk with your father about upping your training. It seems like you’ve been reading too much fantasy and that is not good for a growing boy. If you do become head of this house, like your father, you’re going to have to stop daydreaming and practice.”

Illumi’s scolding was enough for him to not try it with his father. Love must be something earned. His mother’s telling off only made him more interested in reading about these perfect families. How do they get to say the forbidden phrase and not his family?

A crash of thunder from outside brought Illumi out of his thoughts. He’d sat so long that a rainstorm had rolled in without Illumi realizing it. He felt a deep twisting in his heart as he hoped she was alright.

She was right. He could go find her and forcefully take her back with him. It would be so easy even with her Nen growing stronger. No. He has already done too much. Instead of cleaning up the broken glass, he decided to sleep on the old, worn couch. He was, after all, paying to keep this apartment.

Illumi had always known he'd be a father. It was his only goal in life to continue on the Zoldyck family legacy even if Killua refused. Now that there was a child, Illumi finally understood the fear associated with a baby. He’d already messed up with giving this child the perfect home and perfect family. Now, he was gripped with the fear of treating the baby the same way he was treated.

He had yet to fall asleep on the couch. His mind was occupied with thoughts of his own childhood. The constant beatings if he did not perform everything perfectly. The consistent yelling and anger that filled not only his father but mother. The death that he’d become so numb to.

Illumi had lost fear so long ago. Now that it has appeared once again, fear feels like a stranger’s touch. Fear gripped his chest so desperately that he could feel each and every breath was like gasping underwater. He was afraid he’d lost her for good. He was afraid that someone could hurt her. He was afraid for his future child.

This emotion was what led him to taking her in the first place. She was as beautiful as the brightest sunrise or the clear blue of the sea on a sunny day. Her smile sent his heart on a race. When he looked into her eyes, Illumi felt a pure innocence that he craved more than life itself. An innocence about the depravity the world had to offer. An innocence again his own life. If Illumi was honest, he knew she’d never fall for a man like him.

When Illumi went to that bar the night he took her, he didn’t intend to do it. Illumi only wanted to watch her, to observe her. Illumi had taken to the table in the very back with a perfect view of her and her friend’s table. As she talked, Illumi had become more infatuated with her. Every happy look left my knot deep within the pit of his stomach.

She and her friends went to a club with her friends, and Illumi had to follow close behind. Years of sleth training made it so easy to follow her without being seen. Illumi could've watched her dance all night. She was too gorgeous to be out on the floor and no one else took her mind. Many guys had approached her but all of them were quickly turned away.

Ilumi wanted to approach her. He craved the thought of shooting his shot. But he knew exactly how he looked and what he was. He was a monster. No one was put together and confident would ever fall for him.

It was when she took a break at the bar that he decided to spike her drink. Illumi still regrets it until the day he told her. He had to get her home. It was the only way he had a shot. It was the only way she might like him if there was no one else.

Kalluto tried to convince him to let her go but he couldn’t. It wasn’t until the constant screams and cries that he realized his mistake. It was the same cries Milluki and Kalluto and Killua, and himself had cried at the hands of our parents. Once he heard her screams of terror, he wanted to let her go.

It should have been easy to let her go. She was pleading and begging for her life. On her third night, Illumi’s mind was set to let her go. Or it was until his father convinced him otherwise. She could never be let go because she knew too much. She knew his face and Kalluto’s face. This could be dire for the both of them or for her. People could torture her if she ever went to the press. It was too risky.

That was why she stayed. Illumi had to keep her safe until she trusted him.

Illumi didn’t know when he fell asleep on the couch. The old fluff was stiff and dry which played havoc on his back. How did she ever live like this? Waking up in the room only brought back deeper and hurt filled feelings that an unrestful and lumpy night’s sleep could never fix.

He’d always known that their relationship was rocky. He forced her into a life that she did not need to be a part of joining. He did this just so he could be selfish for once. Killua was right. He would always be a monster.

However, as time continued, Illumi fell so deeply in love with her that he's convinced himself that everything was for the better. He knew he loved her when watching her on the plane ride. Her fiery attitude and bite made his heart stop.

As Illumi sat up on the couch, a few tears rolled down his cheek. Heartache was normal for him but this was different. This feeling was like a festering wound that never seemed to patch over. He should have let go of her after he knew she’d be alright. Yet, she came back.

He’d always been so distant and angry towards her that he never knew she fell for him too. Illumi knew that his needles could only do so much. They were a powerful weapon; however, they couldn’t have someone fall in love. The command he had used was dedication and not love.

So every “I love you” that drips from her lips was genuine. Illumi knew she would never believe him. She had said them 5 times. He kept count in the journal he bought to wite emotions about her that he couldn’t process. Every “I love you” meant more to him than the world itself. He found someone to love him.

Now sitting in this room, all Illumi wanted was to hear her say it again. He wanted her to fall in love with him again. He would do anything and everything for her to sleep in his arms or smile at him. Illumi wanted a life for them but he messed up. He knows that he will never find the same love again. No one can love a monster.

Next Chapter

Previous Chapter

Full Masterlist

[explorerspack]

POLYCULE PVP PLAY BY PLAY

the premise is the God King trapped a six-person level 20 polycule and a random wizard in an arena to make them fight to the death. i’m Misty Step and i had a 28 initiative :D

level 20 combat is fucking insane.

ROUND 1: Misty Step the druid, in her air elemental form, flies to the cornucopia of items and components, grabs her circlet, and Shapechanges into an Ancient Brass Dragon. Ska, the paladin, runs to the cornucopia, grabs his sword, armor, and a cursed belt of giant strength. Enaia Lator, the sorcerer/rogue/barbarian, also runs to the cornucopia and grabs her weapons. Wizzo the wizard casts Prismatic Wall over the cornucopia, trapping the dragon Misty and Enaia in a multicolored sphere called the Wizzone and locking everyone else outside. Vermin the bardlock pops out of the Tiny Hut they cast before the battle and casts a sixth-level Magic Missile at Wizzo, getting rid of all of his mirror images and dealing 19 damage. Dr. Paul Polycule, the warlock, Eldritch Blasts Wizzo with 58 total damage, pushing and pulling him around the arena until he slams into the wall of the arena. Blaze of Glory, the cleric/monk, casts Guiding Bolt on Wizzo for 25 damage. The entire arena shakes, shaking up the ground and knocking Wizzo prone.

ROUND 2: Misty exhales her sleep breath, knocking Enaia unconscious, and grabs her arcane focus from the cornucopia. Ska flies at Wizzo on his pegasus, hitting him with his sword and knocking Wizzo unconscious, and then flies over to Dr. Paul Polycule and hits for 52 damage. Enaia takes a nice nap. Wizzo fails a death save. Vermin studies the Wizzone and, upon realizing they’ve encountered this spell before, summons some Ice Mephits and sends them toward the Wizzone to deal some cold damage, and then winks at Blaze and ducks back into their Tiny Hut. Dr. Paul Polycule makes a quick deal with Ska, attempts to Wish away the God King’s magic, and then dunks his spirit form down into the ground. Blaze, seeing the writing on the wall, casts Death Ward on herself. 

ROUND 3: Misty chucks a random lance and armor out of the Wizzone, then Shapechanges into an Ice Elemental, using her movement to deal a small amount of cold damage to both the Wizzone and Enaia, waking her up and taking down the red layer of the zone. The God King blasts Dr. Paul Polycule with magic, and then attacks the entire polycule with magic falling from the sky, causing Wizzo to fail another death saving throw and damaging everyone else, breaking concentration on Misty’s Shapechange and Paul’s spirit form. Ska activates his Elder Champion form and heals Wizzo to get him back in the fight, though we establish he’s not in the polycule. Enaia throws a few items out of the Wizzone. The God King attacks Ska, and as Ska is being attacked, Wizzo sprints into the Wizzone, grabs his robe, and then throws a random shield out. Vermin steps out of the Hut and Faerie Fire’s the God King, burning a legendary resistance, and then goes back in. Dr. Polycule, having lost his spirit form, staggers out of the tunnel and Eldritch Blasts the God King, who attempts to throw up a shield but is counterspelled by Vermin, taking 60 necrotic damage. The God King attacks Blaze, and then promptly is attacked by Blaze with a Flame Strike for 23 damage. 

ROUND 4: Misty casts Control Winds and blows all of the items out of the Wizzone, taking down the Orange layer as she does so, and then wildshapes into an earth elemental. The God King puts Ska in a maze, where Ska fails to break out and heals his pegasus instead. The God King attacks both Misty and Wizzo through the weakened Wizzone, knocking Wizzo out. Enaia holds an action. Wizzo succeeds a death save. Vermin grabs their best items from the ground, and then Hexes the God King. Misty and Enaia take some damage from a lair action, and Wizzo fails a death save. Dr. Paul Polycule casts Demiplane, opens a door to the Maze, and pulls Ska and Punk Rock out. Blaze gets attacked by the God King, picks up her best items, takes the Dodge action. 

ROUND 5: Misty Heals Wizzo and Enaia uses her held action to Dimension Door them out of the Wizzone. The God King hits Enaia and Misty with a Cone of Cold, though Misty Absorbs Elements to take half. Ska flies up to the God King and does a ridiculous amount of damage because paladins. The God King strikes back at Ska for 37 damage. Enaia casts Otherworldly Form, flies up, and does 27 damage with Chill Touch. The God King blasts Enaia and takes a sentinel attack from Ska. Wizzo runs out of the Wizzone and Mazes the God King. Vermin holds an action. Blaze, Wizzo, and Ska take damage from lightning as a lair action.  Dr. Polycule uses his second Wish sword to wish that the God King’s maze is cut off from all demiplanar travel, dying in the process, Blaze True Resurrections him immediately and the entire polycule and their new acquaintance Wizzo go out to lunch. 

[pocketramblr]

YES I WANT TO READ

OK GOOD

Someone else also asked so. I'll put Kurogiri here and Oboro in theirs uwu

Uhh blood and death content warnings:

There was no way Tomura could have made it out any of the main entrances before running into the army. Unfortunately, he knew of the tunnels out as he raced down to the chapel, a black bag with the Diamond clutched in one hand, sword in the other.

"Dabi's powerful, but he's too slow, better at the entrance where he is. Where're Jin, Toga?" He demanded.

"Toga was meant to have ambushed Toshinori earlier tonight." Kurogiri revealed. "She failed. I don't think we have time to track down Jin in this chaos."

"You're right," the prince grumbles, and so snags the first people he can find- a random guard, and one of Dabi's younger brothers. The quiet one, thankfully, who just nods and follows him out to the tunnel.

Once they climb into the night air, it's a rush North, away from the city, to the tree line.

His party gets about halfway there before someone else's at steps out from the woods. A tall, thin blond. Behind him are the two brats from Rithmere, without their cool minder. And a bit further, his own Grandmother, and that runway fighter from the Arena opposite her.

"Tomura," the man rumbles, his voice deep, low. There's dried blood on his chin, and he's practically skeletal, could blow away in the wind. Yet, that doesn't seem to affect the man, his uncle, as blue eyes take him in, as he stands strong with a sword and the Belt around his waist.

"So you're Uncle Toshi. The pretender king." He draws his sword, ready to fight. He hears the bicolored brat behind him shuffle, and ignores it.

While his sword is out, the older man doesn't raise it against him even as the teenagers look nervous, glance at each other.

"So, you mean to flee the castle as I once had to?" Toshinori asks. "It won't be easy out there, lacking the support that we had."

"I have all the support I need." Tomura wants to rip those sorrowful, judging, pitying eyes out.

"Not in Deltora." Toshinori's voice is firm on that. "People will search out the Diamond, and should you discard it then it will be available for anyone to bring home. The Diamond won't allow you to take it with you to the Shadowlands."

Tomura grinds his teeth, he'd scratch his neck if both his hands weren't full.

"You can't steal it." He repeats Hana's idea. "But I can take it, and I'll destroy it before I leave."

"You could hardly destroy it, nephew."

"Sensei will find a way." Tomura nods to the side, Kurogiri moving that way to clear his way, so they can leave. They get a few steps, wary, the other group matching but not getting closer.

And then the one from behind him, the little brother, tackles him, full weight on his shoulders.

He drops his sword so he doesn't fall on it, clutching the sack to his chest.

There's surprise from both parties; Tomura rolling with the traitorous little brat. His guard hesitates, unable to choose allegiance, but Kurogiri moves in to smite the teenager as soon as Tomura throws him off.

The green brat gets there first, blade raised to block Kurogiri's own. Right, speed had been his whole schtick at the Games in Rithmere, good enough to get him facing Toga in the later rounds. Golden eyes narrow. "Little prince, this will be our last meeting."

The traitorous noble darts in, intercepts the knife coming from Kurogiri's off hand. Only a moment to flash a smile at the boy, then the three separate with the man's blade falling between the teenagers.

The blond from Rithmere joins that fight too, determination on his face and leaving the adults to deal with Tomura.

The escaped Arena fighter- he wracked for a name, Sensei hated him, right: Mirai- had grabbed Tomura's sword before he could get to it, the three blocking off easy escape. "If the Shadowlord could destroy the Gems, he'd have done so. Instead, he relied on those he had cursed to keep the gems out of reach."

"Tomura," Nana's voice is tired, weary from over a decade of arguing with her grandson. "The Shadowlord cares nothing about family, about taking care of anyone but himself. He made me the guardian of the Diamond. He made his own brother guardian of the Topaz."

"Because his brother was weak, and a traitor- like my father and uncle." Tomura spits, clutching the bag to his chest. "He'd be long dead now if Sensei hadn't, it was a mercy."

Nana almost laughs at that, almost cries. She just sighs, instead.

"And you? Will he show you mercy when you're forced to drop the Diamond at the border for us to pick up? Please, Tomura, don't go. Please, stay."

Tomura does start scratching his neck with his free hand now. No, Sensei must have another plan, but he can't take the Diamond, that's true. So what is his plan? He left Hana to listen. He must have other plots. Tomura wouldn't be able to help, if he gives up here. Sensei will see that. So he just needs to get somewhere else, and then get word from Sensei. Garaki would know a place, where had he gone? What was the advisor doing?

The answer to that came in but a few moments, with a scream from the battle in the city proper that was repeated, panicked:

"Ak- baba!"

Toshinori whirls at that, probably remembers the sight of the monstrous birds that shattered the Belt, that scattered the gems. A pair of them, circling, and the sight made Toshinori curse.

Tomura cackles, backing up and away from the distracted adults. There was little hope of getting his sword back, but he didn't need to now.

Sensei had a plan, Sensei would- he turns to the other fight just in time to see Kurogiri thrust himself upon the green brat's sword.

In shock, the boy's grip loosens and Kurogiri drops his own weapon. With all the strength that had been granted to him, Kurogiri grabs the young prince and throws him straight upwards, towards one of the incoming horrors of wings and claws and teeth.

"No!!" Toshinori's voice breaks, thin, shaking arm reaching uselessly up.

Tomura's guard shakes his shoulder, jolting him from where he stares at Kurogiri, fallen to the grass. The guard points to the way out with his sword, indicating they should go. Tomura only takes a step when the man moves, tears the bag from his hand, and throws it to Toshinori's feet with a shout.

Tomura's world goes red at that, and he blinks to find himself driving the guard's own sword into the man's chest.

There's a blinding flash of white light, and when Tomura can finally see again, he sees the Belt, complete and shimmering, on his uncle's waist.

He looks to, follows the man's gaze to see his the green brat now plummeting down.

Tomura spits on the dead guard under him, and runs into the trees while the others are distracted.

[miracleweaponhunt]

Miracle Weapon Hunt Chapter 48: Semifinals

"So then, what's happened here?"

The worst came to pass, and a guard was dead. Found inside the building in the early morning hours. A large scar on his neck, looked like it was from a sword, or at least a machete of some kind. But despite that, there wasn't any blood to be seen. The guard had a sword, and it was chipped in a few areas to indicate he was in a fight, but there was very little blood on either the blade or his clothes. Especially odd considering just how gory the neck was.

"So then, Arden. What do you make of this?" Rodrick looked at the corpse as he applied his gloves to his hands. Arden tried to play it cool around the body, but he wasn't certain if it was working.

"Well, I was asleep. Didn't hear anything, so maybe he got shoved out the window?"

"Well, nobody seems to have tampered with the window." Rodrick approached the window and looked outside it. Nothing out of the ordinary there, either. No blood on the floor below, and while it was high up, there didn't appear to be evidence of a fight occurring.

"Wielders. Only option." Rodrick said calmly, taking out his notebook. "And I think I figured it out."

"Already?"

"There was a man who had the power to switch people's places, remember? He got kicked out during the qualifying rounds, but that was probably to keep a low profile. Okay, tell your men to get the information on every participant, and if you can, their current location. Because if one leaks information, they all do."

Rodrick scouted the top floor. Sure enough, the fake gauntlet was still where he left it, in a random hotel room on a pedestal, practically begging to be stolen. He pulled up a photo he had printed of the fake. Sure enough again, the gauntlet was now at a slightly different angle. Someone took the bait, and it was time to figure out who.

Cassandra woke up, barely able to hold her head with how heavy it was with thoughts of yesterday. Julian was still asleep, so she didn't think to disturb him. She just went down to the kitchen, got herself some toast to fill herself, and began eating. The other three remaining were in the room. Cheng politely waved to her, and she waved back at a safe distance. Capri and Willow were discussing something amongst themselves. What exactly? Didn't really matter. She was halfway through her toast pile when she realized she didn't put anything on it. Whatever, the bread here was probably grown for optimal muscle gain and tasted good enough as is. When that was done, her and Cheng were called into the arena.

Cassandra brought a spear and a axe with her. Keep this guy at a distance. And if that fails, cut him up.

"And welcome to the semi-finals of the Fightston Games!" The announcer rang out to the cheering crowds. "We got the one girl army out for vengeance, Cassandra Torres!"

The crowds cheered as Cassandra stepped into the arena. They were practically in a frenzy, wanting bloodshed. Her or Cheng? To them it probably didn't matter.

"And her opponent, the king of mutilation with no history except the bodies in his wake, mister Cheng Tse!"

The crowd was stirred up into another frenzy, but one of pure unfiltered hatred. The arena started throwing out curses and boos, but Cheng stood still to it all. He just shrugged casually to Cassandra, who didn't feel like reciprocating.

"And… begin!"

Cassandra brandished her spear and pointed it towards Cheng. Cheng looked at the point, and then back at Cassandra. Cassandra ran and swung the spear horizontally, which Cheng ducked under. Cassandra followed with a kick to his shins, and Cheng tripped. Cassandra threw the spear over him, causing him to panic a little. Cassandra grabbed him by the legs. Pretty simple plan here. Get him out without actually hurting him. Once they were at the edge of the arena, he was thrown out of bounds. In less than half a minute, he was dealt with.

"Oh, there's no blood this time?" The announcer whispered from his booth, not realizing his mic was still on. "I mean, Cassandra takes a quick victory! And now, Capri against Willow!"

Nobody was considering the fight ending this quick, so Cassandra shuffled through the entryway on her own. She wasn't Legion. Cheng was probably Legion, and she didn't know him. She didn't like him. She had no memories of him or anything else relating to the Legion, other than the ones she killed. Which felt bad. But it shouldn't. Except it should. They're brainwashed children grown into a weird cult. But was she also in a weird cult? Cheng said divine birthrights and monarchies were bad, and like…probably? Willow was cool, but all it took was one unprepared asshat with power and the skyspace would crumble. Because if Willow was to be believed, that almost happened with Fightston once? Her head was quickly filling with thoughts, and some of them leaked out when she bumped into the wall.

"You okay?" Willow asked from in front of her.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. Good luck with your fight."

Willow gave Cassandra a side-eye, which she didn't respond too. Probably thinking about saving whatever Legion members were scheming around here. She stepped out into the arena, and Capri was already waving to the fans.

"And now for the second fight! The jovial princess vs the queen of clowns! Willow vs Capri! Now, begin!"

Willow charged towards Capri, spear in hand. She thrust it forward, and Capri ducked underneath, getting behind Willow and landing a kick, sending her forwards. Willow clutched her spear, spinning it around as soon as she regained her footing. Capri calmly jumped, landing like a cat on the edge of her spear, gazing into Willow's eyes before she flicked the spear upwards. Airborne, Capri quickly changed her mallet to the size of a person and slammed it downwards. Willow got away, grabbing the mallet as the size changed enough to fit in her hands. She snatched it out of Capri's hands, throwing it at her head and following that up with a punch to her stomach. 

Capri tumbled away dramatically, which eventually turned into cartwheeling around Willow, managing to evade every swing of her spear and responding with kicks to her legs. Willow was always able to stand, but her breathing was feeling heavier. She was quickly losing steam, so she had to end this, and end it quickly. 

She held her spear upwards, spinning it above herself with one hand. When she was almost certain Capri was in front of her, she spun it slightly slower so that the point was behind her when Capri approached. As she predicted, Capri appeared in front with a devilish grin and a fist coiled and ready. Willow barely managed to retaliate, their fists colliding, and Willow hopped over the sweep she knew Capri would pull, moving her fist to an overhead swing. Capri took the hit, sticking her tongue out and falling to her back like a cartoon. Willow hesitated to react, and Capri sprung up regardless. Willow swiped the air in front of her, and Capri put her fingers on the tip of the spear. Willow then swung her spear behind her slamming them both on the floor and diving to meet Capri on the ground. She landed successfully, and Capri was unable to move. Her arms were free, so she quickly scrambled to get her hammer out of her pockets, which Willow allowed with no resistance. She was just applying pressure to not let her up. Now she was suspicious, but this was her only option. 

She got the mallet out, trying to hit her hands with it, but Willow wouldn't budge. Out of options, she increased the size, and yet Willow didn't move. She threw the mallet upwards, and Willow still wasn't moving. Surely she wasn't trying to force a tie, right? But as the mallet reached it's apex, Willow quickly flipped Capri to the top, kicking her in the stomach before crawling out from underneath her as the mallet made it's impact. Willow quickly climbed to the top and sat on the enlarged mallet as Capri struggled to breath underneath the weight. The mallet shrunk, and Willow calmly pushed Capri's head to the ground as she tried to get up.

"Well, Capri. As fun as this has been, I think we both know you got outplayed."

"Well, I guess so." Capri sighed, slightly moodily. "I quit."

"And Willow makes it to the finals!" The announcer yelled. "Be sure to tune in tomorrow for the grand finale!"

[howlingday]

REAPING OF ATLAS 2/3

RWBY Characters Are Created And Owned By Rooster Teeth And Monty Oum.

Team REAPS And All Original Characters In It's Universe Are Created And Owned By @dark-chocolate-fudge-sweetracer

"Are you sure they're okay? Acacia may have recovered physically, but emotionally and mentally-"

"They're fine, Professor Goodwitch," Arishna said in an irritable tone, "I know you love those kids, but I honestly think you're spoiling them too much. If you need someone to spoil-"

"Enough!" Glynda barked. Arishna loved it when she got stern and professional. It made her feel... What's the word? "I will not put those children into harm's way while they are still recovering. As for you, I suggest you take a cold shower every morning if you're going to be speaking so casually on the phone while in Atlas Academy. James may be strict, but he's even more so with inappropriate behavior under his guidance."

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind. It might be fun."

"Arishna..."

"Glynda, listen, if something does happen to those kids, you will be the first to hear it from me. I promise." A sigh on the other end was all Glynda could muster. "I love you."

"...I love you, too, Arishna. And if you need to tell someone before me, I understand. But I refuse to hear it from anyone else. Good day, Professor Dawn."

"And good night, Glynda." Arishna blew a kiss into the screen and hung up. She then heaved a heavy sigh. "I'm really sorry, Glyndie."

Arishna dialed another number into her scroll, and when it was answered, she spoke first. "Hey, it's me."

Prism took a deep breath as she entered the arena. It reminded her of Beacon, but with a few slight differences. Instead of Professor Goodwitch monitoring the sparring matches, it was a tall cyborg with a beard. Instead of numerous random classmates in the bleachers, it was her friends. Instead of Yang Xiao Long taunting and teasing her as she stood at side of the arena, it was an excessively boasting dog-faunus.

"Feel free to drop out at any time. I know I can be a handful from what my opponents tell me." Martow gloated with a sneer.

"What? The training dummies?" Marrow growled at her remark. Okay, scratch that. This will be the exact same as fighting Xiao Long.

"Are you ready?" Headmaster Ironwood called from above. When he saw neither competitor raise their hand, he nodded. "Begin!"

Marrow made the first move, throwing his boomerang, Fetch, at Prism. Prism reached into her bag and pulled out a few spheres. Once she had them in hand, she summoned a hardlight shield with her free hand. The boomerang bounced back into Marrow's hands, but the specialist had already closed the gap. He began swinging Fetch at the barrier, hoping his sword could cut through.

Prism ran around the barrier and threw a sphere at Marrow. Marrow blocked the ball with Fetch, but found himself soaked in water.

"What? Did you think it was a stink-bomb?" Prism asked. "How childish do you think I am?"

Marrow responded by shifting Fetch into a rifle and began firing on Prism. She dove to the side, summoning a hardlight barrier, then rolled another sphere towards Marrow. The specialist jumped away as it rolled towards him, and blasted it with Fetch. He then gripped his nose at the foul odor exploding from the globe.

"Yeah, that's right! I do have a stink-bomb!" Prism gloated as she closed the gap between them. She began swinging at him with her chakram, and he was forced to go on the defensive with Fetch in it's rifle form, as he needed both hands to shift it into a boomerang and one hand was preoccupied covering his nose.

Marrow kicked Prism away and pointed at her with Fetch. "Stay!"

Prism was stuck in place as Marrow lowered his weapon and walked over and snatched the remaining orb from her hand. "Too bad, kid! I warned you guys I was on another level, but you didn't listen." He tossed the ball into the air and caught it. "You got some fancy tech, but it won't always save you. Maybe if spent less time hiding behind these toys, you might learn that-!"

"Unidentified print has been detected and scanned for 1-0 seconds."

Marrow looked around confused. "Who said that?"

"Initiating self-destruct sequence of cryo-core."

The little orb in Marrow's palm hissed as it released a super cold gas into the air, freezing itself to his palm. As Marrow shook it around, Prism slowly regained her movement. His clothes, soaked from the splash of her first device, iced over until he was trapped in his own clothing.

Prism reached over and pressed a finger to the globe. "Prometheus." The gas ceased and the orb shut itself once more.

"Self-destruct sequence deactivated."

"Next time," Prism reeled back and allowed her gauntlet to build up power, "don't touch my things!" She launched her fist forward and punched Marrow in his mouth. The dog was sent crashing to the ground.

Headmaster Ironwood raised his hand. "I've seen enough. I declare Prism Asagiri the victor in this bout. However, don't let Marrow's advice fall on deaf ears. You may one day find yourself in a position where your technology may fail you."

"Says the guy whose pet Paladin almost killed us." Prism scoffed and muttered under her breath.

"And Marrow, once again, your boastful attitude and underestimation of your opponent led to your loss in this round. Perhaps I should have Specialist Bree take you under her wing in how a specialist should act?"

"Damn it, Wags!" Harriet cursed, "Once again, you lost and I have to pay for it!"

Prism climbed the steps and found her seat next to Acacia. As Sandy passed her on her way down, they high-fived and Prism wished her good luck. Prism decided now was a good time to gloat.

"Did you see my babies and I out there? We kicked some serious butt!"

A chuckle behind her caught her off-guard. Specialist Bree sat behind her with her arms crossed. "Don't get so cocky, kid. Marrow may be a specialist, but he only just joined us. He's more bark than bite. Honestly, I should be thanking you for knocking him down a peg. He's been getting too big for his britches, if you ask me."

"And if you ask me, you should treat your teammates with a little more respect." Elm scolded. "Especially someone more junior than yourself!"

"Besides, if I remember correctly, there was a rather skittish Harriet Bree once who was so excited for her first day, she forgot to wear pants to her briefing!" Clover laughed with Elm as Harriet blushed and avoided looking at her teammates. "But enough about that. Besides, it looks like Vine's match is about to begin.

Vine stood perfectly still with his eyes closed and his palms touching in meditation. Sandy didn't know how to wake him up, or whatever it is you do to get someone out of meditation. Was he waiting for Ironwood? What was she supposed to do?

"So-"

"You are quick to act and quite impatient." Sandy nearly jumped as her opponent finally spoke. "The outcome of a battle can be determined by only the first move. If you move first, you declare your strategy to your opponent, making it easy to counter. But if you choose to counter, your opponent may be too fast for you to react."

"Uh, I guess." Sandy replied. Did he want to chat before the fight started? Why?

"And what do you think will happen if you win?"

"Well, I guess I just go back to my seat and wait for everyone to be done."

"What if that's not the case? What if you only manage to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat? What if you must be sent to the medical wing?" When Sandy had no answer, Vine continued. "Tell me," Vine offered his hand as he spoke, "what is the purpose of Huntsmen and Huntresses?"

"Uh, to kill Grimm, right?"

"Why is that?"

"Uh, well, if we don't, the Grimm will kill everyone and destroy everything."

"And if we kill the Grimm, and eradicate them for good, what then?"

"What do you mean?"

"Are we no longer Huntsmen? Do we disband now that the threat of Grimm is eradicated?"

"Well, no-" Sandy paused. "I mean-" She paused again. As she pondered, Vine turned around and walked back up the steps. "Hey!" Sandy chased after him. "Where are you going?!"

"I see no reason for us to fight." Vine explained. "Therefore, I forfeit."

"But-"

"Vine Zeki has forfeited the match. Therefore, Sandy Mithril is the victor!" Headmaster Ironwood boomed from above. "All contestants, please return to your seats!"

Sandy was left standing dumbstruck, then slunked her way back up to her seat, where she slumped into her chair.

"Hey, you okay?" Reizo asked. No response.

"Look on the bright side," Echidna smiled, "at least you won without breaking a sweat!" Unfortunately, her words of encouragement only yielded a groan of disapproval.

"Don't beat yourself up, kid." Elm said "Vine isn't the kind of guy to fight for the sake of fighting. He'd rather talk things out than duke it out." Her gaze shifted from Sandy to Acacia. "Don't go thinking I'm the same, though. You'll actually be giving it your all against me!" She then made her way down the stairs toward the arena.

Acacia gulped.

Acacia made her way down the steps to the arena. She stopped on the final step and took a deep breath to calm herself down. "You're gonna be fine," she told herself, "it's just a practice round. They just want to see where you are in your training. It's not going to be like last time with the Paladin." After one last calming breath, Acacia stepped into the arena.

"There you are!" Elm exclaimed. "I was worried you got cold feet. You good to fight?"

Acacia gave a cocky smile as she scoffed. "You kidding? I'm good as good gets!"

Elm smiled at that. "That's great to hear! Now let's see you back it up!"

"Are you ready?" General Ironwood called from above.

"Always ready, sir!" Elm called back, tightening her grip on Timber.

"Then let us..." General Ironwood kept the long pause for dramatic effect, then exclaimed, "Begin!"

Acacia rushed forward with her tonfas and swung at Elm, who blocked with Timber's shaft. Acacia swung three more times, then ducked and weaved to Elm's side, getting in a good few hits, before jumping back to avoid a retaliating swing.

Acacia jumped forward to continue her assault, but Elm was dodging this time, instead of blocking. Was she trying to put space between them? Acacia didn't let up on her swings, but was so focused on Elm's front that she wasn't paying attention to behind her, as Elm moved Timber to her other hand behind her back. Elm swung low and tripped Acacia, causing her to fall on her back.

Acacia was a little dazed, but still too slow to recover. Elm planted a boot on Acacia's stomach and used Roots to pin her down. Elm shifted Timber to it's rocket launcher mode and pointed down at the trapped girl. She'd probably struggle a little before giving up and calling the match.

But she didn't.

When Elm looked down, she was shocked by what she saw. Acacia was struggling, yes, but less like, "Oh no, I'm pinned," and more like a rabbit caught in a rope trap. Acacia was scrambling, tears flowing out of her eyes and down her cheeks like a river. She began punching Elm's as hard as she could, grunting in desperation. She was helpless.

"Hey, kid?" Acacia looked up to see her opponent wearing a look of concern on her face. "You good?"

Acacia calmed down a little bit, realizing the boot wasn't as heavy as the Paladin's. Her breathing became less rapid, and finally gave a calming breath. She then chuckled. "I guess I lose, huh?"

Elm chuckled with her. "Yeah, I guess so!" Elm removed Roots and stepped off of Acacia and offered her a hand. "You wanna try again?"

Acacia sighed. "No. Not yet." She walked back towards the steps, up to her seat. "You win."

"Acacia Evergreen has forfeited the match! The victor is Elm Ederne!" General Ironwood roared from above. "Both contestants, please return to your seats."

Acacia sighed as she sat next to Prism. That was disappointing. Nothing quite like a panic attack during a sparring match to kill your shot at graduating early.

"Hey, you okay?" Acacia opened her eyes to see her entire team swarmed around her. Echidna was holding her left hand, while Prism held her right, with Sandy standing in front of her and Reizo kneeling next to her. Acacia's face flushed at all this attention she was getting.

"Uh, I-!"

"Children, please! Give Acacia some space!" Everyone stepped away as Reizo's mother glared at her new students. Acacia shivered. She hadn't seen a glare like hers since Professor Goodwitch. This professor, however, softened her expression to one fitting for a mother such as hers as she spoke gently. "Are you okay, dear?"

"Uh, yeah, I just-"

"Oh, will you quit coddling them!" Acacia almost got whiplash after turning her head so quickly. Specialist Ederne sat down next to Acacia where Echidna once was. When did that happen? "The kid's fine; just had a little scare, that's all. Right, kid?" She finished with a wink towards her.

"Yeah, I'm, uh... I'm good."

"See? She's fine. Besides, if she wasn't, Vine would be more than happy to do some meditating with her after her classes. Ain't that right, Vine?" Vine wasn't paying attention. In fact, he looked like he was meditating just so he didn't have to respond. "See?"

Acacia cleared her throat. "Yeah. I'll, uh, I'll hold you guys to it."

"Great! Now it's time for Harriet's match! You're gonna love this. She might be the most hot-headed, but she's also the most talented of us, too." Specialist Ederne leaned down to whisper. "Uh, but don't tell her I said that."

Echidna and Harriet made it to their places in the arena at the same time. They didn't take their eyes off of each other once they saw their opponent at the bottom of their stairs.

"Feel free to drop out at any time, princess." Specialist Bree teased. Echidna knew her foe wouldn't hold anything back, so neither should she. "I can tell you're scared. I bet your heart is thumping in that dainty little chest of yours."

Echidna scoffed at the claim. Talking back to her would just distract her. She simply took her stance with her staff in front of her.

"Not gonna talk, huh? Alright! I can respect that." Specialist Bree donned Fast Knuckles and took a boxing stance, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. "I'm ready when you are!"

Ironwood waited a moment, seeing the combatants were already taking stances. "Begin!"

Specialist Bree launched herself at Echidna, and kicked at her staff. Echidna gripped her staff tightly and used the force of the kick to spin herself, using her momentum to swing her staff as she spun and attempted to strike her opponent's head. Specialist Bree ducked with a cocky smirk, however, and swung her legs out to catch Echidna in the legs. Echidna jumped, however, with a cocky smirk of her own, as a wave of water crashed into Specialist Bree, sending her rolling along the floor.

"Where the hell-?!" Specialist Bree saw Echidna removing her gloves to reveal fins.

"I can use my aura to create water and manipulate it." Echidna explained as water rolled off her fins in small droplets. "I was waiting for a chance to show this off to my team before starting school, so I guess now is as good a time as any." Echidna then put her hand up to her lips. "Oh! But I'm getting ahead of myself! Do you need a towel?"

Specialist Bree growled and punched the floor, cracking it a little. "No, but you're gonna need an ice pack when I'm done with you!"

Echidna split her staff in two as she readied herself for another frontal assault. She must have blinked because Specialist Bree was suddenly gone!

"Heads up, kid!" Echidna jumped back and looked up as Specialist Bree came down like a comet, shattering the flooring of the arena. But there was no time for her to rest as Specialist Bree disappeared again. A blur out of the corner of her left eye forced her to spin to left, just in time to catch Specialist Bree launching at her again. Echidna tried to dodge, but was caught in the shoulder by a foot from the specialist. This victory for the specialist was short lived as Echidna was able to grip her ankle with a claw from one end on her baton.

Echidna yanked on the chain attached and forced Specialist Bree to the ground with a splash. She looked around and noticed the space they were fighting in had become a large puddle of water. Echidna held out her hands in front of her and flattened her palms upwards, then slowly raised her hands up.

Specialist Bree kicked her leg back, but found there was enough slack in the chain to not bother Echidna. "Damn it!"

"Enough!" Ironwood barked from above. "Harriet Bree is the victor of this bout." With those words, Echidna gasped as she fell to her knees. "I feel I don't need to explain the importance of aura conservation, do I, Miss Bluewaters?" Echidna breathed heavily, feeling drained from her trick. Her plan was sound, she thought, but she had no idea how much aura it required.

"Hey, you need a hand?" Echidna looked up to see Specialist Bree offering her hand. She took it, but found it uneasy to stand. "Woah! Easy now!" Specialist Bree moved Echidna's hand over her shoulders as they walked up the steps. "Not bad, kid! But try not to burn yourself out next time."

Echidna sighed. "Thanks."

Echidna yawned as she settled into her seat. She hadn't expended that much aura since that Beringel mission. She looked to her left and saw Reizo's mother watching the arena with intensity. It made sense to Echidna, since her son (currently daughter) was now up to bat. Reizo was their leader, and for good reason as she understood. He wasn't as smart as Prism, nor as spirited as Sandy, or as tough as Acacia, and certainly wasn't as socially graceful as herself, but Reizo had something that made him different from the others.

"Up next is Clover. Ten Lien says the kid won't last a minute!" Specialist Amin boasted.

"I'll take you on that bet!" Specialist Bree exclaimed. "No way Clover will lose against someone so green!"

"50 Lien that the kid makes it to 10 minutes." Specialist Ederne pitched in.

"I'm certain Clover wouldn't approve of wanton gambling." Specialist Zeku opined.

"Come on, Reizo," Echidna wearily thought as she closed her eyes, "prove them wrong."

"It's not too late to back out, you know." Specialist Ebi reasoned. "We can just have you start all over again. There's no shame in going back to square one."

"Will my friends be with me?" Reizo asked as she gripped her katana's pommel.

"Well, we can't guarantee anything. I've seen at least one of them ready for the next level."

"Then my answer is no." Reizo drew her sword from it's sheath. "It's either all of us, or none of us."

"Okay, but I tried." Specialist Ebi submitted with a shrug. He then waved to above them. "Hey, we're ready down here!"

General Ironwood nodded. "Then let the final battle begin!"

Reizo wasted no time as she charged with her blade up and at her side. She swung with one hand, but missed entirely as Specialist Ebi leaned back. Reizo recovered by swinging back the other way at a diagonal angle, but the specialist leader simply stepped back. Reizo decided on a new approach and thrusted her katana into her opponent.

Her mother gasped at the direct hit to his chest. Reizo pressed forward and pushed him back. Specialist Ebi laughed as he flicked his badge.

"Not bad, kid," he exclaimed, "if I weren't so lucky, I'd have to get an early retirement!" He then reached for his weapon at his side. "But now that I know you're going for the kill," Specialist Ebi extended Kingfisher, "I don't need to hold back, do I?"

Reizo began her charge again, but the specialist leader launched the hook from Kingfisher out and snagged her sleeve. He reeled in the hook with a tug, forcing Reizo into a spin. After steadying herself, Reizo looked forward in time to see Specialist Ebi throwing a punch at her. She twisted her body to avoid him and swung up at his exposed arm, but Kingfisher's rod had caught the blow and knocked the sword to the side.

'Time for a new plan.' Reizo thought as she sheathed her katana, inserting a lightning and a fire dust coin into the blade's coin slots before it was fully in. She then attempted to goad her opponent closer with a taunting of her free hand. He just smiled and obliged by walking forward, unafraid of her. When he was within feet of her, Reizo drew her blade as quickly as she could, catching Kingfisher in her path. Flames roared and electricity crackled as she pressed forward into her foe. Specialist Ebi simply pushed her back and tugged on his reel. Was it upside down?

Reizo was sent to the ground on her back. She tried to get up, but the specialist leader was already on top of her, with a boot on her wrist and forcing her to let go of her katana.

"You done?" Specialist Ebi asked. Reizo blew her hair out of her face.

"Yeah. I'm done."

"You have all performed admirably. You have proven that your skills have not diminished since the Fall." Ironwood paced before the students with the Ace-Ops standing behind him. "However, it should be noted that you all still have a ways to go before you can become fully licensed Huntsmen. As such, I have decided, if you will allow me, to enroll all of you into Atlas Academy as third year students."

The five glanced at each other, each taking their time to silently judge the expressions of the other. Once Reizo recieved a nod from the other girls, she stood up and cleared her throat. "All of us, headmaster?"

"Yes." Ironwood answered immediately. "I feel you children have more that proved yourselves beyond the capabilities of first year students of Beacon, and with only one more year of proper education, I see no issue with you five becoming Huntsmen."

Reizo looked back to her team, whom all smiled back at her. Reizo nodded and faced the Headmaster once more. "Yes, Headmaster Ironwood. We'll do you proud!"

"Excellent!" Ironwood smiled. "Then allow me to once again welcome you to Atlas." He then turned to speak with Reizo's mother. "Professor Yamato. If you would be so kind, please escort our new students to their dorms."

"Of course, Headmaster." Reizo's mother extended her arm towards the exit as she spoke to her new students. "If you will follow me, I will escort you to your dorm rooms, where you can all get settled in."

Ironwood smiled as he watched his new students leave, taking their first steps towards serving their community, and making humanity better as a whole. A buzz on his scroll interrupted his thoughts. He reached down and looked at the screen, sighing as he read the contact. What did Cordovin want this time?

"Ah! Sweet comfort!" Prism sighed as she sunk into the bliss of her new mattress, sighing contentedly after a three hour "detour" to the dorm room, in which Reizo's mother took the liberty of explaining not only the hundreds of different rooms and their uses, but the history of Atlas Academy as well. This heaven was interrupted by Echidna grabbing her leg.

"Hey! We were going to vote on who slept in what bed!"

"And I vote for this bed. All in favor? Aye! All oppose?"

"Nay!" Echidna shouted.

"The motion remains unchanged. It's my bed." Prism heaved a sigh of delight. "I love democracy."

As the two argued, Acacia and Sandy looked over the new uniforms, already in their closets. Acacia felt the interior, the wool scratching against her palm, and then the surface, which felt like cotton. Acacia smiled, glad to know Atlas was mindful of both it's freezing temperatures and high altitude, neither of which made the pit viper poltergeist feel comfortable. Damn her reptilian traits!

"Ugh! Do they only have steel gray?" Sandy complained. "At least Beacon's uniforms had style."

"I'm sure they have smoke gray in stock if you'd like," Acacia joked, "or if you'd prefer, I'm sure they can get you a very, very, very light black, or a very, very, very, very, very, very dark white." Sandy and Acacia giggled at the jest.

Reizo steeped out of the bathroom, wearing a towel around her torso. She stood for a moment, watching her team. Prism was annoying Echidna, Acacia and Sandy were laughing and making jokes, and she felt left out. It really was just like Beacon.

Reizo walked to her bag, which she assumed were brought up by Atlas staff while she was fighting for the amusement of her new, stoic overlord. She hummed in thought as she got dressed. Third year students, but not graduates?

Was he not entertained?

A knock on the door broke her thoughts. "Just a second!" Reizo called as she put on her new uniform. Wool? What kind of sadist makes a scratchy wool uniform?!

Another knock followed. Once Reizo was dressed, Acacia answered the door, as she was the closest. Behind the door was Professor Yamato stood in the doorway, smiling and waving.

"Good afternoon, everyone! I hope you have all settled in now." The in-fighting over one of the bunks informed her of the contrary. "Ah, I see. Is there a problem I can resolve?"

Before Reizo could speak, a new, yet familiar voice spoke on her behalf.

"Ah, it's fine, Mrs. Y! These kids are just that close, y'know?" The infighting stopped as all five students rushed into the hallway to meet the voice of their former professor, Arishna Dawn. "Yo! Remember me?"

"It's Professor Goodwitch's girlfriend!" Sandy cried. An icy chill ran through Professor Dawn as her fellow professor gave her a wary glance.

"Oh, really?" Professor Mom inquired. "So you had faculty romantically involved with one another at Beacon, eh?"

"Well, I mean, it started before-"

"No, she was a Teacher's Assistant when we started." Echidna explained. "She only became a professor just before the Vytal Festival."

"Oh, so not only was it a romantic relationship, but a case of fraternization as well?" Professor Dawn scrambled for an explanation as she squirmed in place under the judging eyes of her superior. "My, my! The things Beacon got away with when I'm not watching."

"No, you got it all wrong!" Professor Dawn shouted with eyes shut. It became silent. That wasn't a good sign. She opened an eye and was petrified by the steely gaze of her senior.

"Oh? Then please, do explain how your relationship with a supervisory faculty member began."

"Well,not now, here, in front of the students!" Professor Dawn excused.

"Very well." Professor Dawn sighed in relief at her senior's decision. "Students, please excuse us. I must speak with Professor Dawn in private. Reizo, I expect to see your team in class at 7 AM tomorrow!"

"Yes, mom! Er, I mean, Ma'am!"

"Just Professor is fine." She then turned and walked away, dragging Professor Dawn by the collar. "Now, about this fraternization..."

"Help me!" Professor Dawn cried.

Reizo almost felt bad for her. Almost, but not enough to save her from her mother.

A week had passed for Team REAPS much like Beacon. The first two days crawled, but by the third day, they finally got the hang of it. The fourth day couldn't have ended fast enough because it was Friday.

Prism practically blasted from one class to the other like she was shot out of a cannon (and in one class, she did), and she inhaled her lunch. Literally. She had a vacuum device connected between her mouth and her plate, and she had the blades pull her food into them and sent the slush and mush of food products into her mouth.

Acacia and Sandy said it was the most amazing thing they'd ever seen.

Echidna held back the urge to vomit by a hair.

Reizo just sat there.

The day winded down from there, and at the final bell, Prism ran to her room and packed her bag for an overnight trip. Juice, snacks, a change of clothes, a spare lug nut and wrench set, oil. Y'know, the essentials.

"You have your scroll?" Acacia asked.

"Yup!" Prism answered.

"Is it charged?" Sandy inquired.

"Mhm!"

"Did you call ahead to the... Polyester guy?" Reizo asked, half for comfort, half for clarity.

"Doctor Pietro Polendina, and yes!" Prism huffed. "He sent me his address and told me he would be expecting me."

"You aren't going to cause trouble?" Echidna interrogated.

"Guys, I said I would be fine! You're just being worrywarts for nothing!" Prism whined, then followed up with a hug. "But thanks, guys. I appreciate it."

"Call us when you're on your way back, okay?" Reizo said.

"Or if you get into trouble." Echidna added.

Prism smiled. "I will. Don't be a stranger!" Prism left, shaking at the thought of meeting a brilliant mind like Doctor Polendina. How lucky was she?

'What a dump!' Prism thought as she stood before a run-down building. She checked her scroll again to make sure this was indeed the right place. Yeah, it matched. It also matched a public service amount she watched at Beginner school about walking home alone.

Prism cautiously approached the door and rapped her knuckle against it twice, then jumped a few feet back. A television screen flared to life, but the feed was scrambled and all Prism could see was static.

"Yes?" A voice inquired. It didn't sound like the doctor, but then again, the screen has a bad case of static. Was it age or weather? Since Mantle relied on subterranean dust lines running under buildings and street curbs, Prism thought the former was more likely. "And you are?"

Prism cleared her throat. "Prism Asagiri, from Atlas? I spoke earlier this week to Doctor Polendina and I was told to come to this address by him. Is he there?"

"Oh, yes. Give me a moment." The screen went dead and Prism took another step back. If it was a creep, she'd run. If it was some Grim in disguise, she'd kill it, then run. She made more plans in her head as the door unlocked. The doors opened, revealing a silhouette of something large, but not tall, standing on four, inhuman legs. "Ms. Asagiri?" A familiar voice called.

Prism gulped. "Yes?" The creature stepped out of the doors, the street lights revealing not a Grimm, but a dark-skinned, heavy-set, elderly man with a gray, bushy beard in a green sweater-vest. He was sitting in a large, iron seat with spider legs. "Doctor Polendina?"

"Please, call me Pietro." He said. "Come in, I don't want you catching your death of cold out here!"

Never judge a book by it's cover. That was a lesson Prism was taught time and time again. What's that; a shiny ball? Nope, it's a sub-sonic shotgun! Let me guess; a Grimm with fins? Nope, they're glider wings! Okay, I got it, it's an abandoned building with deviants of every variety inside, right? Three strikes, bud, because this is actually a super-science lab!

Prism walked around in awe as Doct- Pietro gave her a tour of his lab. Well, not so much a tour as him trying to explain things like funding, research grants, and doctoral dissertations, only for Prism to interrupt by gasping shouting, "What's that?!" every ten minutes. She would then apologize and ask that he continue.

But a new voice interrupted them this time.

"Doctor? Are you well? Sporadic gasping is often a symptom of illnesses such as-"

"Whoa!" Prism jumped. "What was that?!"

"Oh, that's that little passion project I was telling you about." Pietro answered. "You remember the Fall of Beacon, correct?"

"I tend to have recurring nightmares of it now and then, yes." Prism said plainly.

Pietro was silent for a moment. "...Yes. Er, apologies for bringing up bad memories."

"Oh, it's no problem! Go on!"

"Well, of the many casualties, including civilians, Huntsmen, students, White Fang, and so on, one of my creations was also grievously damaged."

"Which one was it? Was it the Atlesian flagship? The Knights? The Paladins?"

"No, no. Nothing so violent. In fact, quite the contrary: she was my greatest creation because of her learning ability, not her combat capabilities."

"Wait, you don't mean-" Pietro pressed a button a nearby shelf, and a prototype for a new car seat belt, and the counter it was sitting on, spun into the wall, and out came a red-haired girl's head, surrounded by other body parts. "Penny?!"

"Sal-u-tations, Friend Prism!" Penny cheered. "I hope you are finding Atlas well!"

"Oh, good! You know each other." Pietro sighed in relief. "That will save some time."

"But, how?! I saw-! We all saw-!" With each failed sentence, Prism gestured wildly with her arms at Penny. Pietro chuckled.

"Allow me to explain."

"So, that's it, huh? Penny is stuck as a head until she gets a new source of aura?" Prism summed up. "Not surprising, since she barely had aura left from her pieces."

"Not exactly. It's not a new source she needs, but a conduit and a new body to contain it. Unfortunately, Ironwood and his researchers need all the funding they can get, and I can forget about asking the SDC. Too may questions and too few morals to understand my answers."

"So she needs a new body, huh?" Prism asked with a smile. "Say, I never got to show you my babies, huh?"

"Your babies?" Pietro eyed her warily as he asked.

"Yup, like this!" Prism proceeded to pull out six massive, in-tact blueprints for her new weapon designs. She then pulled out two, massive swords, then an obscenely large hammer. "Uh, do you get it, or should I stop and actually explain?"

"Uh, I feel an explanation would suffice. Is this your semblance?"

"Oh, no! This is my semblance!" Prism clapped her hands together, then pulled them apart, creating and expanding a small barrier of hard-light between her palms. "I can create flat, hard-light structures with my semblance. Once I started developing my semblance, I decided to figure out the physics of it and started inventing devices powered by it."

"I see. So, you intend to create a conduit and body using hard-light technology?"

"Something like that, but first, I have to ask you something." Prism shot him a smile. "Do you mind if I build something in here? Just to make it easier for us to work together."

Pietro smiled. That was all the answer she needed.

Reizo laid back in her bed, reading over the new strategies she came up with. Her match against the Specialist Leader was sobering, to say the least. She had bested opponents without Copy before, but never one of this caliber. She needed to get stronger.

She closed her eyes and thought back to the day before, and the lesson the professor was giving. "A chain is only as strong as it's weakest link." Who was the weakest link? She felt like garbage for even thinking it, but it was a thought every leader had. Or, that's the excuse she gave herself.

Prism was the first fight, and the best result yet. But, like the General Headmaster said, it was less her own skill and more so the incompetence of her opponent. Either way, Prism still performed admirably.

Sandy's "fight" was also an interesting event. Sandy "fought" without lifting a finger. She "fought" an opponent with more combat experience. In the end, she lost her "fight". One thing that was clear, though, was that a Huntsman was more than just a warrior. A Huntsman was also a negotiator and, at times, a political tool, an ideal or standard to be upheld, idolized, and viewed by non-Huntsmen. Reizo sighed.

She hated politics.

Speaking of politics, though, Echidna, the daughter of "the better White Fang" (her words), crossed her mind. Her fight was incredible. An excellent use of her semblance and weapon. She really gave Specialist Bree a run for her money. But she still lost because of her using too much aura. Aura training was important, as well as physical training. If only there were a way to use her semblance without expending so much aura. Maybe if she already had water around her, instead of creating it from her body?

Reizo then thought of her final teammate, Acacia. She fought hard, but the battle was over the second she was pinned. Acacia was still recovering, it seems. Not surprising, since you don't just get over almost dying under six tons of heavy metal in a single night. It still presented a problem, since being pinned is not an anomaly in a fight.

Reizo sighed and shook her head. She got up and walked into the bathroom. She shut the door and made her way to do her business. Business? Ha! That was a good one. Like this would fly in an office job. She chuckled at the idea.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing, really." Reizo answered. "I was just thinking about-" Reizo's words died on her lips. Standing in front of her, just ten feet away, was Prism, with grease on her face and a smile on her lips. She looked up to see the teleporter attached to the ceiling.

"About what?" Prism asked, walking over to the sink to wash her hands of the grime accumulated on them.

"How did you get in here?!" Reizo screeched.

"Teleporter. Duh! Remember?" Prism answered as she turned towards the towels.

"Why in the bathroom?!" Reizo was red in the face earlier before, but now it felt like it was on fire with rage.

"Because," Prism began, turning towards her throne-bound leader, "there wasn't any... room... in our..." Prism's face became red, and she turned away covering her eyes. "Damn it, not again!"

Reizo looked down and saw she, or now he, had changed once again. He sighed as he stood up, pulled up his skirt, flushed, and made his way to wash his hands. "Feel free to leave when ever you'd like."

Prism didn't need to be told twice as she bolted from the room. Reizo dried his hands and stepped out next, seeing Echidna, Sandy, and Acacia staring at him wide-eyed.

"What?"

Acacia whistled. "Nice legs!"