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Rayo
Exalted Player
Posts: 485
Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2003 7:21 pm

Post by Rayo » Thu Jun 21, 2007 2:10 am

Without knowing it, the mage’s thoughts echoed the sentiments expressed by Senna. The majority of what they were doing was useless, and not even in the typical way. Trial and error wasn’t producing results, no pattern to take advantage of or weakness most could exploit. It seemed that in the previous chambers from which over half of the party was excluded, there existed items that were designed specifically to handle Marionette’s Devil. For those who hadn’t acquired them, there seemed to be little of a role for them to play. Offensive magic was brushed off like nothing, holding true for water, fire, thunder, and earth alike. Stat affecting magic was unreliable, and binding the jester proved ineffective as well. The wave master felt like he was being given a message; sit back and conserve your items and regenerate your mana. The boss did so little against them that as quickly as it was dealt out, it was also nullified. Then again, perhaps this was more of a mini-boss for them to waste time on. If the team had been provided the proper tools directly before the fight, maybe the matter was being thought over too deeply. It hadn’t even been capable of killing Phoenix, who seemed like a favorite for boss murders just a day ago.

That’s right, bosses all seemed to possess one hit KO type techniques. Something players were denied in this game, even the death effect generally didn’t act as the finishing blow. …Or did they? The blue mage was noticing the reversals occurring. Dark was light, water was fire, down was up. What the reverse of a one hit KO? Revival, which happened to be one of Rayo’s natural abilities. Costing but 40 SP, it was less of a loss than any level of beast or upper level magic art.

Possible regret set aside, the wizard mentally selected his spell as he targeted the boss with a move he never had and probably would never get a chance to use like this again.


“Rip Maen!”

Oversized heavenly angel feathers dropped down around the clownish figure, prepared to grant it’s unique effect. Rip Maen was a one of a kind spell, with no variations to it. Yet, it landed. Normally if there wasn’t a valid target, it’d either refuse to even be used, or else it should just pop up with <miss>. In this case, it display either of the above failure signs. Furthermore, no second copy of the boss seemed to be materializing, or even an increase to it’s health meter, either the extinguishable bar or the upper limit possible. Yay?

If the spell did work, the pattern of revenge warned that very bad things were going to happen to him very soon. The mage moved away from any of his teammates he was close to in order to avoid catching them in any explosions intended for him. A speed or defense boost to allow running away or surviving didn’t seem possible at the moment, so the magician was banking on being able to take whatever was thrown at him. If he was fortunate, the player would learn it too so he could dish it out to less peculiar enemies later on.

Senna had resurrected Sekai, so the girl would probably take care of him if he dropped dead like a bug too. Wavemasters weren’t built to survival physical onslaughts, and the creator of the boss should have been wise enough to incorporate those logical ideas into the monster they faced. If his luck held with him, the blademaster’s light show would be far more of an attention getter than his own trick.
Rayo
Lv.47 Archer 745HP/311SP
Bell, the Silver Grunty of Thunder
Skills/Spells-Shocking Arrow of Voltage(30), Arrow of the Burning Stars(10), MeRai Rom(40), Rai Kruz(10), La Repth(20), Rip Maen(40), MeRai Kruz(20), GiVak Kruz(20), MeRai Don(20), Rig Saem(15)
Weapon/Armor/Book-Golden Royal Bow/Thunder Torque, Thunder Cloak, Able Ring, Ivory Greaves/Thunder Magic
Wishlist: YL Fukuoka, Stormlore, Winter Stone, Silver Grunty

Zan
Exalted Player
Posts: 206
Joined: Sat Jan 22, 2005 10:28 pm
Contact:

Post by Zan » Thu Jun 21, 2007 4:25 pm

Zan couldn't help but frown at the blatant mockery and ineffectiveness of both his and Nulus' attacks. The Marionette Devil didn't even try to seem phased, its almost constant chuckles or not-so-subtle laughter mounting the agitation spurred from the Heavy Blade's continued failure. More than just his pride had been hurt, however. The fact that almost every attack, save some special shit being launched by Sekai and the others, was doing absolutely nothing (though they hit) was a fairly large cause for concern. The lycanthrope didn't want to risk using his own bizarre item yet, so that was temporarily out of the question. What did it leave? Well, it left absolutely freaking nothing. Maybe the answer lay in how the two teams (if there was indeed the others in a world where the colors weren't flip flopped) worked together, how they fought and relayed attacks. Thing was, how could any such thing be accomplished? Any attempt to flashmail them only bounced the message back and left Zan scratching his head that much more. It was an enigma, no doubt, but there had to be something. If there was one thing consistent about Elite fields, it was a weakness in a boss (even if such a weakness was using constant, brutal force).

That was when Zan decided it was time to hang back and use his powers of casual observation to decide his next tactical move. Perhaps something in the way his teammates affected the boss would pop out at him as the solution to all of it, as the key to the proverbial lock. Other than the unique powers given to them by the special Fae items they had managed to collect, nothing stood out to Zan as a...normal attack. Spells and regular physical assaults seemed to only make the son of a bitch laugh. Well, maybe they were doing damage to him with actual attacks and he just wasn't showing what they induced? If that was it, the little bastard was clever; the Lycan running in circles for nothing. That would be too simple an answer for him, however, and it'd only give him an excuse to go mindless in his physical assaults. Something told Zan, if only falsely, that this particular situation would need to be handled a lot more gracefully than he was used to. No one exactly knew the Heavy Blade for grace, that was true, but it didn't mean he lacked it. No, rather...Zan often found such a quality to be a luxury in a fight that he just couldn't afford. People often seemed to count on him to be the heavy-hitter, if only as a prime distraction while they formulated the real plan. He didn't mind.

Though his observational skills proved useless, it was his recollection and his wandering mind that gave him what he needed. The Devil seemed to have a particular dislike for the new Twilight ability that Phoenix had acquired and properly demonstrated. So...was that the answer? Was this little shit weak to powers piggybacking on Twilight? Zan had a few of those to toss around and he felt a knot in his stomach finally loosen. Finally, he could help. Before he could do anything of the sort, however, Nulus interrupted him with a thought, nudging his own towards the prospect of a Merge. No doubt this Hub guardian would be taking on multiple forms, much like the last, and it'd retain a weakness for Twilight (if that was indeed what it had). In which case the Heavy Blade wanted to be able to hit it as hard and as fast as he could and, since Nulus didn't have any Twilight abilities of his own, he'd prove more useful by fusing with Zan. Alright, so that particular summary of the situation brought a growl from the Shade, but it was what it came down to, after all. Was this it? Was it finally time for Zan to demonstrate to the others what he had only recently learned he was capable of himself?

Hell, why not?

The Merge was mildly hard to describe, should Zan ever be asked to put it into words. It wasn't willing something to happen, oh no, but rather the opposite. It was like giving up, giving in to a pressure that he was only aware of on a subconscious level. The fact that Nulus and his data were so closely related, almost identical save a few discrepancies, had caused their Patterns, their character datas to grow a metaphorical magnetic pull towards one another. Zan let the resistance go that kept them apart, like letting out a breath he was only vaguely aware he had been holding this whole time. There was a note of reluctance as he did so, a passive fear that the Merged entity wouldn't want to separate once more. The act of Merging with Nulus created one mind, one body that was both of them...and yet neither of them at the same time; its own being. When this being came to be in the faux haunted mansion, it was like coming up to breathe after days underwater without an oxygen tank. He had been asleep - deleted - since the last fusion and now...now he was alive. It was not without its bumps, however, the transformation proving to lack any real...smoothness.

One moment the Zan everyone knew (and loved, certainly) was simply blinking at them with a new, alien intelligence and the next he was gritting his teeth, fighting back screams that rumbled through his throat as coarse growls, hands snapping up to clutch at his temples as his arms tremored and shook. If they had been a world where the color was right, the visuals would have fallen under a particular spectrum. All the veins on his body began to fill with a black, viscous hue, the most notable standing out on his hands and his face, scar tissue on the left side of his face growing a black, throbbing pulse like some kind of sentient tumor. Every inch of his eyes would fill with that same darkness, that void of color that would only be interrupted by the green-flame glow of his irises. The roar the fell from his lips as every tooth, every last collection of enamel grew pointed and wickedly sharp had more bass than a wolf, coming across more akin to a lion doing the same thing than anything else. Spittle dripped from the mouthful of razor-sharp fangs, a temporary, bestial madness filling his face before he suddenly grew...calm. Standing upright, mind ignoring the transformation of his fingers into black, foot-long claws, the Merged looked upon Marionette Devil with new eyes...and a new mind.

There was a tilt to his head as he stared, like an owl watching a mouse squirm below, face completely void of any real expression. The combination of Zan's Beast and Nulus' ice-cold sociopathic mind gave the Merged thought processes that couldn't be spoken, couldn't be put into words - only flashes of gore, of flesh and blood and flayed nerve endings mingled with the darkest of joys and the deepest of sorrows. Even then the depth of the Merged, of its psyche wouldn't be understood, couldn't be understood unless one dwelled within. Should Armina be there, be able to pry into it, she'd find only chaos and alien concepts waiting for her. Though Zan approached the Devil with something that was close to boredom (all human, all cool and collected in a way that only the maddest of serial killers seemed to be), the look that burned in the green infernos of his eyes was all violence and savagery in a way that only animals could manage; truly a complimenting combination. Just as soon as he was standing still but feet from the boss, he was suddenly a blur launching at the Devil with a strength and a speed that closely rivaled that of even his Garou form. That thought brought a curiosity to the mind of the Merged, a wondering of just what kind of power he'd hold if he allowed himself that transformation to his War Form. Something to consider...later. The energy contained in being what was more less his 'human' form (though one might look upon it and disagree) was intoxicating enough.

The Merged was an eerily-jointed, monstrously lithesome and dexterous harbinger of deadly claws that lashed out, that sought flesh and sought to end. The desire for such a thing was pure and untainted by any other motivation. He didn't do it for his "friends", for the so-called Freedom Fighters. They were Zan's concern, not his own. All he wanted was damage and the end of this guardian's current form, greedily seeking out the next with each tactical rake of foot-long claws that aimed for damage as much as they aimed to disable and maim. Any time (if such an event were to occur at all) his hands would be blocked, his foot would come to slam up and seek out the body of the Devil with a force that could crack and crumble concrete. There was no doubt in the mind of the Merged that Marionette Devil was stronger, that he probably wouldn't just simply overcome him - and that made it better. He thrived at the challenge, on the knowledge he could be gutted and left and die just as he sought to do the same to his opponent. Sadomasochism at its best and brightest. Self-preservation would keep him dodging, would keep his preternaturally fast healing going, but damage done unto him would not be minded, but reveled in.

This was power and bloodshed. This was the Merged.
Lv. 50 Heavy Blade
Wishlist
Special: Levels, GR Sendai, PL Sakai, Darklore.
W: Tonosama Sword, Mineuchi, Jundachi.
A: Samurai Helm, Able Hands, Rare Greaves.
I: Holy Sap, Treebane, Cooked Bile, Nightbane.
EX: Elemental Summon (Lv. 2), Overdrive (Lv.1), Elemental Attacks (Lv. 2), Enhance Dark, Elemental Breath (Lv. 2).

User avatar
Nighthand
Master of Games
Posts: 1265
Joined: Mon Mar 31, 2003 9:23 pm
Class: Bladesmage
Location: ...Tracking...please wait...

Post by Nighthand » Thu Jun 21, 2007 8:39 pm

Events in the Normal room were somewhat… stale. Devil was largely focusing on the Reverse room, because more was happening there than in the original area. While his plan had been to divide the players in half so they couldn’t work as well together, it seemed as though that didn’t matter so much. They didn’t work as a team so much as they all attacked at once and tried to time things to strike in an order that dealt the most damage.

Lighteria’s attack went largely ignored, as Devil surveyed the scene in both rooms. He wasn’t really in pain, but it wasn’t pleasant being attacked so much. This group was so… resilient. Senna managed to successfully revive Sekai, despite being in the opposite-themed room. Devil, or Marionette, whoever was responsible for coding the mechanics of the reverse room was kind enough to allow the resurrect to work.

The reverse room, then, was plunged into darkness. Not darkness, as in the element, but a severe and total blackness for the space of a couple seconds. When light reappeared, all was back to normal… at least as normal as the reverse room ever was. Devil reeled, swaying. The effect was the same as the Light Dome that Phoenix had cast before, his gift from the Fae. While the cosmetics had changed, the light turning to blackness, the damage was still Light elemental.

While the Devil was reeling, Hacorie took his chance to attack. Despite not knowing the cause of the boss’s stun, he used his special blade to attack. The custom skill toppled the boss, the following MeRue Rom sending him rising into the air.

Perhaps with one of the most interesting tactics of all, Rayo now took action. His own spell, Rip Maen, landed on the boss, now once more prone on the ground. Not knowing whether it was a good or bad idea, Rayo could only hope that its effect, too, was reversed in this strange room.

Once the first feather of the spell touched Devil, it was like an electric shock in a normal person of flesh and blood. With a speed and accompanying snapping sound that couldn’t have been pleasant, the devil’s back arched. A burst of holy light shot out from the figure’s form. When the light cleared, Devil was on his feet again… but that wasn’t all. The two rooms had merged once more. Everyone was back among each other.

Devil was hunching himself over, preparing for a counterattack, when Zan – The Merged – or whatever name he went by in that form, dove in. Fists with massive claws met gloved hands with a force that could shatter bones; and, in fact, did. Devil’s arm, striking to block rather than attack, took the force directly to the bone and shattered. Screaming in anger, rather than pain, Devil went into a mental state that could only be described as a bestial frenzy. The so-far calm and collected monster made true on its name, becoming a Devil of combat.

The second attack proved that Devil’s force was unmatched. His whole arm met Zan’s incoming fist with a grip that brought the snarling Merged to his knees. Twisting, another sickening pop wrenched the werewolf’s arm from its socket and snapped it. Already, the lycan healing was taking effect, but not fast enough. The Merged itself wasn’t done, not by a long shot. It’s good arm grabbed hold of Devil’s bad one, a foot stomping down on one of the boss’s feet. Twisting and wrenching upwards, the arm was removed, along with the upper half of Devil’s torso. The damage wasn’t enough for him. Tossing the top half of Devil to the ground, he proceeded to tear apart the once-impervious flesh. Legs were removed shortly after the silly looking tail, a knife-like claw deboweling the boss clean through. Only then did he refocus, Picking up the half still ‘armed’, and tearing the head from its shoulders.

Only then did Zan, the Merged, pause in his assault. Pieces of Devil were scattered around the room… and yet, the door was still closed. The boss was, by a number of different definitions, dead… and yet their progress was still impeded. What was there left to do?

”AAAAHA HA HA HA HAAAA” Laughter rang out. A glance down showed the head of the Devil laughing. Its grin widened. ”Very nice, very nice. I see I need to get serious now.” Serious? Wasn’t he serious before?

Black and red energy, like looking deep into a volcano’s caldera through a layer of thick smoke, shot throughout the room. It laced together each piece of the boss, dragging them into a whirling tornado of flesh and power in the center of the room. Abruptly, each piece slammed into the center, reforming the boss once more. There were SOME lasting effects from the dismemberment; the circular tip of the tail was broken, the clothing was gone. Where there had been wounds before, were now lines of deep purple. Revealed where clothing had covered it, jagged razor-edged metal covered both wrists and the upper torso.

Another blast of power shook the room, as large… protrusions shot from the shoulderblades of the boss. They continued to extend until they were large enough to cover the boss’s neck and shoulders, a large formation of whatever the boss was made of. In the center, protruding from the back of the creature’s neck, was a large spike-tipped extra limb. It seemed like an arm, or maybe some kind of stiff tentacle.

”Oh, I’m sorry. Had you thought I was done?” The boss laughed again. Clearly, such wasn’t the case.

Raising a hand to the sky, yet another blast of energy shocked the room. All of the floorboards were ripped up and torn to splinters, the façade of the wall ripped to shreds. The haunted house ambiance was replaced by cold stone, rough as sandpaper and as unfinished as a natural cave. As the shockwave hit everyone, it tossed them to one of the far walls, away from Devil’s position. The attack, powerful as it was… wasn’t designed to kill them, apparently.

It simply left each of them with a single HP.

------------------ooc:
Image
Marionette Devil – Boost
HP: 5,000

Uhm… yeah, that’s about it. More revealed as the fight progresses.

Phoenix512
Exalted Player
Posts: 304
Joined: Thu Nov 13, 2003 10:42 pm

Post by Phoenix512 » Wed Jun 27, 2007 3:20 am

After the black dome of light, Phoenix finally understood the mirror room as the Devil mysteriously rose up into the air in an unnatural fashion. Usually an attack would cause this rise from the ground but there was no attack that occurred in the room after the black dome of light. The blademaster realized that the others were here in the room but no here in the same time. The Marionette Devil was acting as a two-way mirror between the two rooms: able to interact both rooms but everyone could not interact between the two rooms.

Phoenix had a nice thought to the situation: It’s time to break the mirror. Before he could do try to break the “mirror”, Rayo managed to bring the two rooms together with an interesting tactic which Phoenix loved how he used the room’s mechanics to use the life-giving spell as a near-death spell. Once the two rooms were merged together, another merging took place as Zan and his new pet combined together into a savage beast. The Merged attacked the Marionette Devil with great ferocity which made Phoenix’s non-sword hand shake in fear. With the enemies Phoenix had faced in the past, none had ever made him succumbed to shaking like the Merged just now. Even Primal did not make him react in this way.

All seemed won for the Freedom Fighters as the Marionette Devil was torn into pieces by the Merged even though it managed to deal some damage to Zan but it was not. Just like Primal, the Marionette Devil had another form as it managed to reassemble itself into a more deadly form. Once the Marionette Devil was done speaking, it demonstrated its new ability on the group as everyone was knocked back to a wall with only a single HP left.

For some reason, it did not want to kill everyone but if Phoenix was right, its purpose was not to kill but instill hopelessness to the group as it could everyone all at once if it wanted too. The blademaster quickly cast La Repth twice to heal mostly or fully the Freedom Fighters’ very much depleted HP. Now it was time for a very hard decision to make. Someone needs to be a guinea pig to figure out the Devil’s true power. Somehow Phoenix raised his hand in his mind as he figures that it has been too long into the fight that he has not died yet.

Taking a page from the Marionette Devil’s book (or Hijinx’s book), Phoenix decided to play a game with the Devil. The blademaster ran around the Devil in a circle and began to taunt it.

“So, are you truly serious now? Or are you still playing us like fools? Why depleted everyone’s HP to one? If you were serious, you should have killed us all right there but you didn’t? Now I will have some fun. Let’s see what attack should I use against you? How about a random regular attack or spell? Nah… Or maybe my special attack? I don’t think so. How about the fae power? That one seems like the most fun to me.”

Phoenix finally stopped running around in circles and extended his right fist towards the Devil that contain the fae diamond ring. He stood there for a second before swinging his sword with his other hand that initialized the Wind Blade attack. After the Wind Blade attack, the blademaster was not done. He continued to assault the Devil with an Ani Revolver attack. While the Ani Revolver attack was in motion, Phoenix gave a quick command to Suzaku to attack the Devil with BiVak Rom. After the Ani Revolver attack was finished, Phoenix quickly jumped backwards to avoid the full blunt of the BiVak Rom.

As the blademaster looked upon the Devil, he thought to himself the following. I can see why Hijinx like to play these mind games on us. It’s so much damn fun but at the same time, I’m probably going to get a reckoning from the Devil himself.
Phoenix
Level 48 Blademaster
Equipped Skills: Vak Revolver, Gan Revolver, Dek Vorv, La Repth, Juk Kruz, Rue Kruz, BiVak Rom, GiGan Zot
Other Skills: Rue Kruz, Rip Synk, Rip Saem, Crack Beat, Rue Slash, Ani Slash, Gan Crack, Gan Revolver

Wish List: Phoenix's Fire, Gold Necklace
EX-Spheres: LV 3 - Overdrive, LV 3 - Curative, LV 3 - Elemental Breath

Rayo
Exalted Player
Posts: 485
Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2003 7:21 pm

Post by Rayo » Wed Jun 27, 2007 4:15 pm

Ferocious. Zan’s slaughter of the boss took the wave master by surprise. A certain degree of power had been witnessed before, but this was beyond that. After his own spell had brought the rest of the team back into view the mage had expected they would at least have more luck than before, but the results were superb. His rejoicing was halted rather rapidly though, as Marionette’s Devil reformed itself. The shape seemed rather misshapen, with the lingering scars and jutting blades all across the body.

Phoenix recovered a sizeable portion of the wizard’s health with his magic, but not enough so. The mage, Silverblade, and a few of the others wouldn’t be covered enough by that. If Devil abused his energy technique, then single uses of La Repth were the most efficient choice. However, if the boss indulged in single stronger strikes as well, then they would remain a hit away from death, making the initial recovery pointless. Raising his own hand over his head, the caster finished the process with Ola Repth. His own HP would be exactly filled by it, and anyone who wasn’t wouldn’t be complaining now at least.

Moving on to phase two, Rayo chose to simply absorb a Warrior’s Blood through his skin, planning on limiting items to single uses only to avoid running out for later. Immediately after, a handful of targets were picked to also gain the same effect from his repeated castings. Zan, Senna, Phoenix. Hacorie, and Silk. The first two did keep the magical combat arts in mind, but for the moment the strength boost seemed more worthwhile. Zan’s previous move seemed to make a physical approach more likely, and the long arm could really take advantage of either style at any time really. The blademaster’s sword seemed to be effective thus far, and the remaining two players were physically based enough that they came in contact with Ap Corv before SP conservation went into effect.

Satisfied that the rest of the team would be set for the moment, Auth took the chance to limit the Devil’s own actions.


“Weaken the body, Knight’s Bane! Limit lightning’s flow, Dek Raio!”

Given that their opponent was rather changed from the heavy blade’s attacks and the amount of time passed thus far, it was rather likely the deks and aps that were in effect before no longer continued to function. The player could only hope effects wouldn’t get reversed again, or else all of his support would not only be for naught, but would put a damper on close range brawling.

As Phoenix was already engaging the enemy by this time, a pair of scrolls dropped down into the sorcerer’s hands. His energy was running on the low side at the moment, and he wanted to save his big guns for after some sort of weakness might be discerned, or at least once a few possibilities were eliminated. His spells would be starting up right as the fiery blast from Suzaku ended, the idea of keeping the boss under continuous attacks wasn’t a bad way to start.


“Ice Floe! Meteor Swarm!”

ooc:

Blue: Ap Corv
Rayo
Lv.47 Archer 745HP/311SP
Bell, the Silver Grunty of Thunder
Skills/Spells-Shocking Arrow of Voltage(30), Arrow of the Burning Stars(10), MeRai Rom(40), Rai Kruz(10), La Repth(20), Rip Maen(40), MeRai Kruz(20), GiVak Kruz(20), MeRai Don(20), Rig Saem(15)
Weapon/Armor/Book-Golden Royal Bow/Thunder Torque, Thunder Cloak, Able Ring, Ivory Greaves/Thunder Magic
Wishlist: YL Fukuoka, Stormlore, Winter Stone, Silver Grunty

Lord Canti
Exalted Player
Posts: 300
Joined: Sat May 13, 2006 3:58 pm
Location: In da' plains of hell, natch.

Post by Lord Canti » Wed Jun 27, 2007 5:37 pm

(It wasn't that he wanted to be lax in his attacks, not doing anything. It was that...the Marionette Devil didn't appear to be in this world at all, paying no attention to what was being flung at him, and probably not taking any damage either. What that meant, exactly, was anybody's guess. Of course, then the guy up and suddenly mentioned something about the power of the Fae being used against him. This was all beginning to sound like a storybook legend if nothing else, which may've been the point of a guy who pulls the strings all the time. It was kind of like...or dear god NO. Canti facepalmed at the realization that Marionette was pulling them into some kind of demented LARP game for their very lives. That was...ewww... Canti didn't even wanna think about the idea of being stuck in something like that. MMPORGs were kind of the same, but not taken to the extremes like this. Besides, it was a fricken' video game!)

Canti: I wish reality would do me a favor and stop throwing this shit into my face.

Hey, Canti. You alright? Your anxiety just hit the roof.

Canti: I'm fine, really. I was just thinking this was alot like LARP.

Ewww... Yeah, that's a fair point.

Canti: Heh. Told ya.

(Suddenly, and without any warning, the Devil's body began to spark madly from unseen damages. Canti didn't know about a mirror world or about how his comrades were facing this guy at the same time. He could only guess at that, and have basically...no idea what the fuck just happened here. Except now, so many things were happening at once that it was hard to keep track. His friends were all back from...wherever, Senna's message came through, and...something that looked like Zan...or seemed like him in a certain sense...was heavily-attacking the boss-character, who ended up torn to many pieces by the attacks aimed at him.)

Canti: Whoa... Did the PVM mature or something? Where do I get power like that?

(What Canti didn't know, of course, was that he'd exhibited high energy traces before without realizing it. He hadn't fully-awakened yet. There was a sleeping giant, a horrible monster inside... The demon inside wanted out...and he didn't even know about it.)

*BLING!*

Canti: Huh? What the...?

TO: Canti
FROM: Senna
SUBJECT: <none>

Hey. You guys okay?


Canti: I don't believe this...

(Since there was a pause in the action - one lacking in their ability to leave this room, one might add - Canti took this time to compose a reply.)

TO: Senna
FROM: Canti
SUBJECT: Are we okay?!

You and everybody else vanished, leaving me with psycho gender-bender and a bunch of people - besides Zhao - that I don't even know! What did he do? And what happened? We could barely put a scratch on this guy, but something hurt him.


(That being done, the winged Twin Blade looked around, wondering what the hell was going on NOW. There were pieces of evil bastard lying around, and the guy was apparently talking from beyond the grave. Canti sighed, knowing what was coming next. Like a cliche' anime character, the guy spouted off something about getting serious, which made Canti think of DBZ and People showing their true forms. HOW long did it take Frieza to get to his maximum strength?)

Canti: Oh, god-dammit. This is like the pissing contest from hell.

(Soon, a wholey necromantic and evil effect not unlike Canti's own self-resurrection into his current state took place, spooky...if it were not expected. Canti knew this was gonna happen, so he found the effect only graphically-splendorous, and not freaky. It was kind of like watching John Carpenter's The Thing. Even if it didn't freak you out, you gotta love it for how it looks. Canti, however, felt no love for the rejuvinating puppet-boss. Also, the dark aura of the guy was giving him another DBZ flashback, and he didn't plan to be one of those gaping idiots who just stood there while the hero went after the bad guy.)

"Oh, I’m sorry. Had you thought I was done?"

Canti: No, not re-

(BAM! Another shockwave of power, this one more offensive than the last one. He decked them all and changed their surroundings. Canti's offhand comment was lost in this sudden blast, leaving him to hit the floor of something more cave-like now. Okay... His HP was at one. One? THAT'S IT?! Ugh... Fucking scripted gameplay... He began to repair his body with Repth spells as others got into action. It was his intention to join them shortly, though he felt a certain rage boiling once again. He'd had about enough of this...)

Fssssshhh.....

(Black smoke rose up off of the Twin Blade's shoulders as he stood up, still holding onto his Fuse Blades - his deadly claws - and looked upon his enemy, who Rayo and Phoenix were now acting against. The Marionette Devil was alot stronger, but he wondered...had his overall stats changed? Element and whatnot? Time to find out. Now that whatever bizarre effect that had been working before was gone, Canti was now thinking that his earlier tactic would work now. No sense not trying, right? The dark Twin Blade was a black blur in flight, moving sort of sideways in battle to avoid a frontal assault. This twisted jaggers on its arms and chest looked nasty, like they were meant to harm an attacker automatically. Canti, instead, leapt down from above and behind to see if he could use rapid lightning-charged stabbing and slashing to its backside, especially to that weird extra appendage it had in its back. That thing...might've been important.)

OOC: For the record, Jagger is a Pittsburgh-ism. It refers to the thorns of thorn bushes.
I'll have a doozy of a sig later, I swear. It'll reflect ".hack//CODE" an' everything.

Hey look! A profile! It's got items and stats and things! Cool! If it isn't fully up to date, it will be, so don't worry 'bout it.

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Senna
Awakened Player
Posts: 150
Joined: Sat Jul 01, 2006 10:28 pm

Post by Senna » Wed Jun 27, 2007 8:56 pm

A flurry of activity left the boss… well, not reeling. No. It left him in pieces, quite literally. Phoenix’s assault, Rayo’s, Zan’s… the three of them had poured it on, and the result was a scattering of devil parts. It would have been amusing had it not seemed so anticlimactic. Therefore, it was without any surprise at all that she watched the devil come right back to life with its absurd line about getting serious.

Let’s get dangerous. Senna contained a giggle, but just barely. This wasn’t the time to amuse herself with comparisons to old cartoon characters.

Before that, of course, there had been the ineffable happiness at the rooms being reunited. She didn’t get that it was precisely a reuniting of rooms, not at this point, but she DID see that the colors went all normal again and everyone was back again – not gone, obliterated as she’d feared since they first vanished from sight. It was a bit of a relief. Well, a LOT of a relief.

A moment later, she got a Floashmail, and was confused by the contents for a moment, until she remembered the brief and previously unanswered one she had sent Canti when they were in that negative space. Had it just gone through now?
TO: Senna
FROM: Canti
SUBJECT: Are we okay?!

You and everybody else vanished, leaving me with psycho gender-bender and a bunch of people - besides Zhao - that I don't even know! What did he do? And what happened? We could barely put a scratch on this guy, but something hurt him.
As usual, her reply was keyed in as quickly as possible, facilitated by terseness of wording.
To: Canti
From: Senna
Subject: Re: Are we okay?!

The fae’s items and Rayo using a… spell dealt him damage where we were. Seems they broke whatever splitting spell the devil used.
She didn’t add in there that she was exceedingly glad to see more friendly faced, however much they might be set in a grimace of battle. It was a truth, and she didn’t feel it needed to be set into writing to be understood.

From somewhere – she had a good idea where, as most of the people in the party were not big on casting single-shot enchantments on the others, herself included – an Ap Corv descended over her, leaving her feeling a good deal more powerful. Even without the Wavemaster saying anything, she got the idea that there was a bit of a plan implied by the spell’s casting. You don’t Ap Corv someone who’s not going to use their weapon, after all.

Momentarily, there was a mental war. Her desire to be a somewhat useful pawn on the field meant plans should be followed. But… but getting close to creatures like that one had bad results. Even as this mental conversation was being held though, she was already casting – Ap Do, followed by Ap Torv. And then she was on the move, reveling at the back of her mind in the way the world seemed to cut its speed for her passage. Several people were converging on the monster already. Phoenix was playing the clown, to some amount of amusement, and letting fly with both physical and magical attacks. She could also see Canti moving in, and imagined Zan might not be far behind – he seemed to have magnetic attraction to their opponents. Deciding she did not want to be there when that happened, she charged ahead, holding her Dhampier Lance.

Charged, she charged, she was running toward the enemy with its giant appendages of stabbity death ohGodohGodohGodohGodoh…

Canti was coming in from high and to one side, so Senna made her move low and to the other side, coming in low to the ground and swinging at the creature’s legs with her first strike, timing her attack to land just after Canti’s. She had no real idea that it would work, but if this were a normal being, then a good strong slice to the back of the leg could cause some damage. Even assuming there was no cutting if important back-of-the-leg muscles, the force on the back of a knee should cause it to buckle, availing the attacker of a moment’s disorientation and inaction from their target.

This was more thought than the situation warranted. The thing probably wasn’t even using its legs for standing for all she knew. A swipe to the legs might just knock one forward and kick someone else, or her. The power of positive thinking.

Still thinking ohGodohGodohGod she completed the strike and ended up in a low crouch. Light, and something to make some kind of wall, she thought. She wanted something. Something…

Rai Wipe,” she whispered,, and a moment later electricity ran down the length of her weapon and up into her arms like blood through veins, pulsing quickly along. She was surprised that it didn’t bite her – it wasn’t the most stable of elements, after all – but just gathered brightly at the point of her spear, a good five feet away. The weapon barely stopped moving from one attack to the next. Ahh, the blessings of being a Long Arm. She didn’t know, but would have thanked her stars if she did, that she’d chosen her element right.

She let the skill have its way. That was smarter than fighting it, she’d found. And once it was done with her, she had every intention of using her speed to bid a hasty retreat.
Senna, level 33 Long Arm (710 HP/180 SP)
Most common kit: Ichigou, Racoon Earcaps, Air Bracer, Snow Panther, Winter Coat, Graceful Book
Spells/Skills: (Critical Hit/Death) Repulse Cage, Ap Corv, Ap Vorv, Rai Rom, Rue Zot, La Repth
Click for full equipment and items
14300 (1/23)

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Zhao Xun
Elevated Player
Posts: 63
Joined: Fri May 12, 2006 3:09 am
Location: Wherever I'm needed.

Post by Zhao Xun » Wed Jun 27, 2007 11:25 pm

Damn, are those two even paying attention to this fight? Or are they just zoning out, hoping the rest of us will take care of it for them?

I had yet to receive a response to my flashmail from either Lighteria or Silk, and that left me with one option for fighting this boss: attack. I began to plot, to think about what I could do to actually lay some hurt on this thing, but came up with nothing... without someone to defend with my Fae power, I was really little more than a distraction....

My planning was cut short by a change of sorts, as I saw figures begin to materialize before my eyes... Rayo? Zan? They were back from... from wherever they had gone, along with the others who had disappeared. Our whole team was reunited, and I felt far more confident about our level of firepower than I had before. Our true heavy hitters had returned, giving us a far better chance than I felt we had had only moments ago. And Zan quickly began to confirm that new view with a heavy assault on the Devil, fighting with a ferocity I had never seen from anyone before. He, despite heavy injuries, began to literally tear the Devil apart, tossing pieces of our enemy about the room. But even when this dismemberment was complete... we were still trapped? Why? Hadn't Zan finished everything for us?

It soon became apparent to me that no, he hadn't, as the next thing I heard was a booming laugh from the Devil. “AAAAHA HA HA HA HAAAA !Very nice, very nice. I see I need to get serious now.” Get serious now? That didn't bode well... even with the return of the other half of the group, if the Devil had been merely playing with us before, how could we defeat him if he was truly serious about slaying us?

It didn't take long for the Devil to make it apparent that he wasn't lying about getting serious. A giant shockwave, knocking us all back to the wall and cutting me down to a single HP... was I lucky, or was the spell designed to do that? A quick check of the group's HP showed me that the latter was true, as everyone seemed to be in the same situation. Luckily, it appeared Phoenix was prepared to deal with the situation, as he let off several La Repth spells to bring the group back to full. I looked at him and nodded my thanks, but was unsure if he noticed. However, it seemed he had a plan.

“So, are you truly serious now?” he said, “Or are you still playing us like fools? Why depleted everyone’s HP to one? If you were serious, you should have killed us all right there but you didn’t? Now I will have some fun. Let’s see what attack should I use against you? How about a random regular attack or spell? Nah… Or maybe my special attack? I don’t think so. How about the fae power? That one seems like the most fun to me.”

And in his words, I saw my chance. I ran towards him, thanking myself for the speed inherent to my class, and waited for him to unleash his Fae power. And it appeared that the Fae power wasn't all he was going to use. He quickly followed it up with... some new special attack of his, I assumed, and then struck again with an Ani Revolver, at which point I made my move. Having moved in right next to him, I activated my Topaz Armband, which proceeded to erect a shield around us. I stood up and looked at Phoenix, nodding to him again, and hoped that the shield would save us both from the Devil's wrath.
Zhao's Profile

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Levels
Slayers
Other level 16+ Twin Blade Weapons
Cougar Bandanna
Snow Panther
Level 16+ Twin Blade Armor

Miakita hazu no tasogare ga
Konna ni kirei dato naita

Zan
Exalted Player
Posts: 206
Joined: Sat Jan 22, 2005 10:28 pm
Contact:

Post by Zan » Thu Jun 28, 2007 4:32 am

The Merged was more or less satisfied with the initial collision that occurred, the quick SNAP of his arm twitching his lips with enjoyment in turn. It was the resulting carnage of his strength, of an onslaught that the man knew the Marionette Devil was simply allowing to happen at all, however, that brought his lips to a full split. While the previous smile showed his personal ability so savor pain, this new one showed how much he reveled in the gore spilt around him. The bloodthirst contained in this creature, what some would undoubtedly think to call an abomination if they enjoyed such cliché and overused words, was not inherited from only one of its contributing halves, but both. The weight of it, the need to drink his fill of the ruby-red nudged him towards an edge that plenty would dare to call vampiric. It was the equally double craving to wolf down (pun completely intended, of course) his weight in foreign flesh that separated him from that category of supernatural entities and placed him in a bracket of an entirely different sort. Werewolf, was it? Indeed, that same word mingled around in Zan's memories, in those dispersed between the self-inflicted death of his mother and the shameless, animal coupling with a girl that now lay butchered and stitched in a place the Heavy Blade couldn't reach.

Beautifully tragic, wonderfully carnal.

Blood was splashed over him in delicious collections, a good number of the vitae dripping from his foot-long, blade-like claws. Feeling no need to ignore his hunger like Zan so often did, the Merged slid his claws slowly along his extended tongue, making a show of it for any who would indulge the dark performer. Each tasting, each drag of his claws down that tongue would slice it open, spilling his blood to mingle with that of the one he had so rigorously taken down. The cocktail was intoxicating, drawing a low growl of satisfaction from the 'man's' throat before, with the last drop taken from his fingers, the wound sealed. The delight of his raping of Zan's memories, the recent demise brought to the Devil at his own hands, and the fresh copper taste in his mouth were paused at the burst of energy that drew the boss together into something...new (though only near the end of it, as its beginnings had been ignored in lieu of his...feeding). The tilt of his head that followed was no longer that of the hungry owl, but rather one characteristic of a dog hearing a new sound. Curiosity. Who was this new play thing? Would it be the wonderfully cooperative rag doll of yesteryear? Oooh, the Merged did hope so. That or something better, stronger.

Soon to be discovered, of course, was that the Marionette Devil was not one to disappoint. An explosion of energy that the man couldn't hope to identify crashed into his chest, shattered every bone in his torso in an instant as it tossed him against the newly peeled walls like the hoped-for doll. Organs were punctured and perforated with the splintered masses of calcium and marrow, drawing out a vomiting of blood the moment the Merged had landed. It felt like his stomach had been forced to ingest a giant, torturous blender. Nothing seemed to be where it should be, not underneath the surface. While others struggled and the odd player, Phoenix (someone Zan seemed to loath, though the Merged couldn't particularly see why), made the first moves, the Merged lay contently slumped and broken against the wall. Inflicting so much devastation upon the boss, however subtly permitted it may have been, gave him just as much indulgence as the pain of his own form brought him now. Masochism held him in a thrall; the slowing pit-pat of his weak heart beat as his hit points dropped to a singular figure, the thinning adrenaline from the assault, and the torn fatigue of his body as a whole only serving to bring him some sort of perverse pleasure.

This same pleasure brought him laughing (something that only drove the pain harder and filled such laughs with choked coughs and more expelled blood), useless and unmoving until the volume of it mingled almost equally with the sounds of violence erupting around him. The healing previously brought to him by the Blademaster didn't bring gratitude, but disappoint as his health rose. It wasn't enough to fully heal the Merged, but his own preternatural recovery abilities would finish the job. Such a shame. Such a waste. The Merged grew his own dislike of Phoenix then, but for entirely different reasons than those owned up to by the Heavy Blade, by Zan. No one healed him. What he perceived as an annoying weakness, his body's ability to reconstruct itself naturally, was dissatisfying on its own. He didn't need help, thank you very much. In decent shape as he was now, the Merged still felt no reason to move. No, now he found himself taken by a brand of lethargy humans and animals alike felt after a generous meal - the Merged happening to have gained his in the consumption of pain, inflicting of just that, and the potent sampling of the Marionette Devil's blood. Exquisite dining, truly.

It was almost amusing to think how the others would perceive him sitting there, now reclined against the wall where he had sunk into it before. One leg stretched fully out along the ground, the other was drawn towards him, a single arm reclining along the closely lofted knee as he watched the battle craze whirl before him. Would this lead the Freedom Fighters to look down upon Zan, not knowing that he was an entity all his own? Or would Zan's ability to become such a thing be the root of their distrust? Certainly at least a few would appreciate his handy contributions in combat, but he was proving now that such things came with a draw back. The Merged, while it retained a sense of loyalty from both its parts that wouldn't bring it to betray the group in any real sense (not yet, anyway), felt no particular drive to be any active part of the fight. There were more weaknesses to be exploited, there always were, but why dwell on those? It would be much more tantalizing to have them used against him on accident and discovered in that fashion. Small things, quirks, but enough for any real veteran to realize that a physical power wasn't always one to fear. It was no worse than a magical one, no better, but like its brother (the previously mentioned magic)...it was not perfect.

When the Devil had finally grown bored (or whatever possible reason its approach had), it turned to face the Merged with something akin to vengeance in its eyes. Sure, the man couldn't be entirely certain that was what he was seeing, but it hardly mattered. That look, that promise of more pain, of challenge rose the stubborn alpha wolfs it had fused into one (thanks to Zan and the Shade) from its cave. Like the glow of animal eyes in the darkness, the Beast rose within him, bringing a full-show of the several razor fangs in his mouth with a coupled snarl to into view. It was still just as much a game as it had always been for the Merged, but the desire to feel pain had given way for the craving to inflict. So, even as the Marionette Devil rose in the air, body coming to pose like a man on a cross, arms stretched out, the Merged wasn't moved with fear. It brought only an excited anticipation that wet his palette and drew a wicked, pink-black mottled tongue to run along his lips (ignoring the cut of his own teeth into its underside). The spike on the Devil's back, or tentacle as the case may be, stretched back, firing some sort of charged blast into the barbed wire that launched at him with a rather notable prejudice. The combination brought the barbs red hot as they flew; a true threat indeed.

It was only then, fractions of time from what would certainly be his doom, that the Merged remembered his own special item. Not of the Fae, but of Marionette himself, the object remained in his pocket where it was called upon just the same. Instead of colliding with him, the attack found itself absorbed into the visage of a large, floating coin with a strong 'M' embroiled on its surface. Zan might have feared that the display would bring unwanted attention from his comrades, but the Merged did not. They could, as Zan might say, go fuck themselves. The sensation that found the Merged was peculiar then, but he did not fight it. No, rather, he drank it down, giving in as his own body floated up and mimicked the crucified pose the boss monster had held before. Though he had no tentacle or barbs to speak of, ink-black metal mimed the formation of the thick barbed wire along his arms, the image of the Devil's own tentacle appearing on his back comprised of nothing more than a roaring green flame that matched the burn of his irises. The rest of his body beginning to plume with a black mist that was all his own, an aura that licked raven tendrils and ashy fog along his form, the barbed wires 'fired' in a mirror assault, flame from his borrowed tentacle turning them into a hot emerald shade that seemed to tailor to tempered steel in much the same way the Devil's own had before them.

The voice that came forth was both Zan's and the low bass of Nulus, a reverberation of twin noises that seemed almost wrong with the limp hang of the man's body and the psychotic smile that had taken over the lips of the Merged.

Image

--------

((OOC: That attack was coordinated with Nighthand, if anyone wondered.))
Last edited by Zan on Thu Jun 28, 2007 6:20 am, edited 11 times in total.
Lv. 50 Heavy Blade
Wishlist
Special: Levels, GR Sendai, PL Sakai, Darklore.
W: Tonosama Sword, Mineuchi, Jundachi.
A: Samurai Helm, Able Hands, Rare Greaves.
I: Holy Sap, Treebane, Cooked Bile, Nightbane.
EX: Elemental Summon (Lv. 2), Overdrive (Lv.1), Elemental Attacks (Lv. 2), Enhance Dark, Elemental Breath (Lv. 2).

Hacorie
Ikkitousen
Posts: 105
Joined: Thu Sep 30, 2004 11:30 pm
Location: Here and there.
Contact:

Post by Hacorie » Thu Jun 28, 2007 5:18 am

After his successful and massive attack, Hacorie watched as the eventful circumstances unfolded right before his very eyes. The disappeared players reemerged from the blank spaces which were left in their absence and everything seemed as if it were as it started: many players, one boss with immense power, and an out-of-control werewolf. Continuing to stare on, the Heavy Blade noticed Zan quickly dash toward the boss while unleashing a fury of attacks on the boss. As the furry player ripped the boss limb from limb, literally, Hacorie noticed something strange.

The path is still blocked. Was all of this a futile attempt at escape?

”AAAAHA HA HA HA HAAAA.” This was the sound the group heard as the Devil lay on the ground motionless, save the head which had a bright grin. “This does not bode well for us...” Hacorie obviously stated as his hands quickly gripped the hilt of the Oceanic Aura once again. Knowing the real battle had yet to come, Hacorie waited for the obvious declaration that would soon come from the Marionette Devil.

Wait for it....Wait for it....Here it comes....THERE!

“Very nice, very nice. I see I need to get serious now.”

Serious...all right. How much more serious can you get? After all, you were just ripped apart by a fucking monster. It will just happen again if that ample power is unlimited.

If it was unlimited, do you think he would need allies? He could easily tear everyone and thing apart. He could rule this world. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Damn, you always have to take me seriously...I was just playing around with thoughts. I wish sometimes you would stay out of my mind...

A mixture of black and red lights shot throughout the room as the Devil finished speaking to the party. With each passing moment, the lights slung the fallen flesh of the Marionette Devil toward the center of the room where it began to reform like clay being smashed into clay. With a brisk motion, the boss was once again in front of the group with a few minor changes in appearance. The most notable would have to be the new neck ornament he somehow managed to acquire after reforming.

”Oh, I’m sorry. Had you thought I was done?”

Not really. After all, so far you have been really cliche. I bet now you will use some attack that effects all of us to show us your power.

Just as predicted, the boss tossed one of his hands in the air. The room quickly began to change in a violent and destructive manner. The floor and walls ripped away from the surface they were plastered on to reveal the hard, dank, and concrete walls. As the wave reached the body of the Heavy Blade, he was sent backwards and hit the wall with a loud thump which seemed to echo within his mind. Feeling the loss of energy, Hac noticed that his health bar had dropped to a minute amount.

One Hit Point left. That is so gay....I would rather die...

Two white circles quickly appeared beneath the feet of the Heavy Blade. Looking around as the white aura shot up from the circular glyph, Hacorie noticed the Blademaster Phoenix as the caster. The Blademaster was quick to adapt to the new situation and reacted with ease. Right after, Phoenix was seen by most rushing into battle. Before he could react, Hacorie noticed another circle shooting toward him. This one had a pale tint of green; it was another healing spell. This one from the mage known as Rayo.

The familiar Long Arm Senna was the next that Hac saw. She was running toward the boss as her spear began to illuminate with the power of electric power. “Rai Wipe” she yelled as the attack began. “I cannot just sit by. It is my turn to keep up this massive assault.” Hacorie stated to himself as he clutched his great blade. Hacorie now found himself running in to help Senna and the group.

Right as her attack finished, Hacorie inserted his own, hoping his opponent would not be attacking at the same moment.

“Rukimi!”

If the assault from earlier worked once, it should work again!

Unless he learned how to counter it...I think after this attack, it would be considered ‘time’. I think you understand.

As he felt his body move with the water based attack, Hac just hoped the massive assault from the Freedom Fighters dented the Devil’s hit points.
Hacorie
Level 36 Heavy Blade
Gold: 21237

Equips
Oceanic Aura/Sharktooth-Ice Helm-Winter Coat-
Shiva's Rings-Bondage Pants
---Water Magic, BL Yokohama

Wishlist:
Level Meh Up
Weapons: Sakabatou/Rock n Roll/Peace Blade
Body: Knight's Armor
Other: Earthlore/Feng Shui
--------Water/Earth Scrolls

Fuzzhead
Elevated Player
Posts: 37
Joined: Fri Apr 08, 2005 1:27 am

Post by Fuzzhead » Thu Jun 28, 2007 7:19 pm

I saw a particularly interesting typo in someone else’s (Senna’s) post. “Floashmail,” it read. Hahahaha, that’s pretty funny I guess, and what’s pretty funny is that I now use Divergence as the testing grounds for the mad experimentation of my writing. If any of you have bothered to read the insanity that spews from my fingertips, you’ve realized by now that I in no way intend to write in the traditional roleplayer’s fashion. Once again, here, I’ve decided to write something in whatever way struck my fancy, and so far I haven’t been yelled at about it too much.

Now I must ponder the consequences of what I am doing. Writing in rhyme, exclusively fragments, and the many other things I’ve tried so far poses a particular problem for those I am roleplaying with. Primarily, it doesn’t leave much room for interaction of any sort; in no way have I provided a specific visual for other writers to build on, which is probably why I have been rarely if ever mentioned in others’ posts.

On the other hand, everyone is mentioning each other in passing anyways, preferring to focus on the inner dialogue of his or her own various characters in order to fill in the bulk of his or her posts. Therefore, I’m led to believe that I’m not really hurting anyone with my tomfoolery, if that’s what it is. Creative drivel, perhaps, but this is certainly the best forum for doing so. If I tried this in English class, I’d probably get my ass beat (which has happened to me more than once).

So I don’t doubt that Silk the Fist Fighter will perform some kind of attack (hint hint) directing at the Devil. Before that, though, he’ll heal himself – he only has one hp, right? – and then he’ll rush in and punch and kick and stuff after the fabulously vivid moves executed by Phoenix, Senna, Rayo, Canti, Zan, and Hac, Zhao Xun.

I think now that my doing this (and by this, I mean this) is my own version of writing with all the colors that some of the other writers here employ. The various bolds, colors, and other forms of font usage are certainly a more obvious and physical way of adding a little pizzazz to each and every post, and my dizzying array of angles is my personal, custom-made with fluorescent headlights stamp for my own posts.

At some point I must have gotten bored with writing the same old, run-of-the-mill, attack, heal, etc. posts that are pretty much identical (although some people [and I can’t imagine why] think that they are great) and decided to start creating these outside of the box psycho posts. I hope this doesn’t inconvenience anyone or (I don’t know how it could) offend anyone. Hooray!
Level 25 Fist Fighter
Boxing Gloves | Nny Scales | Dice Gloves | Iron Anklet | Time Headband

Skills: Ap Corv, Ap Torv, GiVak Don, Ap Torma, Ap Do, Repth, Kiwami, Double Mortal Scorcher

Wishlist:
1.) Rare Foot Armor
2.) FF Belief
3.) Any stat-altering items

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Lighteria
Well-Oiled Machine
Posts: 176
Joined: Fri Oct 01, 2004 12:59 am
Location: :noitacoL

Post by Lighteria » Thu Jun 28, 2007 9:30 pm

It is, in fact, rather crowded around the devil at the time of the fireworks. Lighteria himself iss essentially in the thing's face when The Merged, or whatever that gigantic, furred whirling dervish of claws and bloodlust is, literally rips the devil apart. With the twin blade essentially winding down off of his staccato attack, he can only blink at the spectacle before the devil pulls his newest trick out of his annoying book... reforming and kicking even more ass. Now ANY good gamer knows that when a large, scary boss starts taunting you it can mean 1 of 3 things:
1) He's about to unleash a special attack
2) The fight reached a mile marker.
3) There's about to be a cut scene with songs and dramatic sword swinging.

...Frankly, Lighteria would have preferred number three, cause he damn sure wasn't ready for number one. Flung from the shockwave like a rag doll, the player and his kitten hurtle towards the opposite end of the room in a chaotic mess of splinters and lightning bolts. Kit, being the slightly more nimble of the two, manage to get her feet in front of the wall before slamming into it. She lets out a heart-breaking wail as she painfully hits the ground, left with minimal HP. ...She fares a bit better than her counterpart though. Normally, Lighteria would do a similar mid-air flip to soften the blow, or use some similar acrobatic feat to save himself. For example, he could have attempted to slow his speed by latching out at something with his blade, or perhaps tuck his body so it flips in a more controlled manner. ...Today however, the twin blade has a merry old time taking a head-first top spin into a rock wall.

Crack. Thump. The impact is more than enough to leave him sprawled out on the floor in a rather unflattering position. If you look close enough you can practically SEE the little cartoon birds circling his head. Out of natural concern, Kit rushes to his side and starts casting Repth on the two of them... fortunately, a team mate is thoughtful enough to cast some group heals as well, leaving recovery time pleasantly minimal.

Still, HP isn't always the standard "Anything over 1 and I'm ready to go baby!". The impact left Lighteria reeling and dizzy, the equivalent of a concussion in real life. And as much as he'd like to bounce back and make the devil pay so, so dearly for that, the twin blade finds it hard enough to rise to his feet and sway in what's probably a less intimidating manner than he hoped. Back and forth, back and forth he says like a wind chime in a soft breeze... only the pleasant chiming sounds are replaced with incoherent mutterings and death threats. Such is anger I suppose.

UGH. That felt like getting hit with a Mac truck that was itself carrying a Mac truck. I am... so... VERY ticked off now.

Through hazed vision and grit teeth, the twin blade suddenly points at the devil. "You big-mouthed, clown-faced, haunted house reject!!" He suddenly screams at him, his left fist clenched in rage. "I've had it up to HERE with your pumpkin head face and lame comeback lines!! You're TRASH!! A bump in the road!!" His left arm twitches as it extracts the blade from his belt and whips it into the air. "GET OUT OF MY WAY!!!" ...That said, the blade flings from his arm in a buzz-saw like spin, hurtling through the air straight for the devil's chest.
Lv. 37 Twin Blade (180 SP)
Weapon: Rashou (Thunder Coil- 30, Suvi Lei- 20, Mumyn Lei- 30) (Life Drain)
Armor: Holy Tree Mail (Juk Kruz- 20) - Scarab Earring (La Repth- 20, Rip Maen- 40) - Time Sandals (Ap Do- 15) - Forest Gloves (Juk Kruz- 20)
GP: 14384

Wish list (In order of priority): Angel halo accessory, chibi angel wings, Bone Armor, Professional

Lighteria: "Obsessively updating my profile since Fri Oct 01, 2004 7:10 pm"

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Nighthand
Master of Games
Posts: 1265
Joined: Mon Mar 31, 2003 9:23 pm
Class: Bladesmage
Location: ...Tracking...please wait...

Post by Nighthand » Thu Jun 28, 2007 10:17 pm

Devil stood, watching as the party began to recover itself from his attack. He liked to see the ants struggle against powers so much greater. He was the kind of kid who would pull the wings off flies, focus the magnifying glass on ants, and drop the firecracker in the anthill. He was the kind of guy that would keep spiders as pets, and mice so he could feed his snakes. This is, of course, all assuming he was actually human, somewhere deep down inside.

“So, are you truly serious now? Or are you still playing us like fools? Why depleted everyone’s HP to one? If you were serious, you should have killed us all right there but you didn’t? Now I will have some fun. Let’s see what attack should I use against you? How about a random regular attack or spell? Nah… Or maybe my special attack? I don’t think so. How about the fae power? That one seems like the most fun to me.”

Phoenix tore a page from Devil’s own book, crumpling it and tossing it right in his face. As if such a level of dialogue would be truly enough to distract him. Really, the blademaster had flat-out announced what attack he would be using! (ooc: Though, I read the post as that being a diversion; saying the fae, using the wind. However, in case I’m wrong, I’m having the light dome go off anyways. If you didn’t actually cast the fae power, consider this a free use of it, not subtracting from your charges.)

By now the effects of the dome of light had been experienced twice, and the Devil wasn’t particularly happy at being the target of the spell again. The thing is, the spell was fast. Casting time was almost null. Activation, BAM. It’s not like there was even any sort of explosion of light, or convergence of damage. It was just there one second, gone the next. It was, effectively, too fast for the Devil to dodge, despite trying.

Luckily for the Devil, the attack wasn’t as damaging in his second form as it was in his first. Luckily for Phoenix, it still caused the stunning effect that sent the boss reeling. He clapped an arm to his head, oblivious to the spikes, a murmured groan all that was emitted from the boss. As it was, he was off-balance and unawares when the Wind Blade attack struck him. The force of the blow knocked him back, and while it wasn’t enough to deal much in the way of significant damage, it didn’t break him out of his stun either. Somehow, against the call of gravity, he stayed upright. It was the third attack, the Ani Revolver, which snapped him from his stupor. He shook his head, clearing it of the daze, in time for the attack to finish and the bird to swoop in with the BiVak Rom.

”So you have your bird attack me while I’m stunned, do you? Well, it shall pay the price itself!” The BiVak Rom went off, but did little damage, if any at all. Certainly it wasn’t enough to stop what happened next.

Devil leapt into the air and performed an awkward mid-air flip. The surprised phoenix was caught from above, as the Devil landed on the creature’s back. This bird wouldn’t be able to support Devil’s weight, even had it been prepared for the sudden impact, and Devil’s momentum carried them both into the floor. After such an impact, Suzaku would need a resurrect if Phoenix planned for him to fight any longer in this battle.

”See how it happens, when you mess wit-“ Devil began, but was cut off by a pair of negative effects. He turned his baleful eyes, hidden deep within his mask, on the offending Blue Mage. Both the Dek Raio and the Dek Torv took effect; it seemed that, unlike most bosses, this one was vulnerable to at least those two status effects. ”Oh little mage, why do you bother with such things? It’s not lik-“ And again he was cut off, as Rayo unleashed a pair of scrolls to follow his Deks.

Ice Floe and Meteor Swarm were both level 1 spells, but they served the purpose wished them to have; that being keeping the boss under constant attack. The trouble was, as soon as the pair of spells ended, Rayo was more than vulnerable for attack. So, attack Devil did.

The crest on the back of his neck and shoulders pulsed brilliantly, colors rippling across its surface. Red, black, green, each taking its turn in the silent play. Finally, the spike-like appendage jutting from the back of the boss’s neck stuck up into the air, the colors swirling around it furiously. A beam of tricolored light shot upwards, and a half a breath passed. Just long enough to wonder when the attack would strike, and what form it would take.

Its form, when it came, was less powerful than its lead-in implied. Three beams of light, little larger than a person’s wrist, lanced from upwardly diagonal angles into Rayo. Each was tipped with a piece of something solid, causing three consecutive hits of elemental damage. Wood, Fire, and Darkness were the represented elements, each causing significant damage to the mage. A smug look, if a mask could look smug, would follow from the boss.

That is, for the few seconds between the culmination of the attack and Canti’s assault on the crest and stinger-like arm. The electrically-tinted strikes of the metal claws raked deep holes in the crest, but seemed to do nothing to the stinger. The holes themselves closed up after mere seconds, but they clearly were doing some kind of damage. Devil turned to swat at the Twinblade, but immediately felt the pain of Senna’s spear in his side. More electrical damage was dealt, though with less visible results.

Reaching out one arm, Canti was snagged in a clawed hand. With a powerful throw, the twinblade was sent crashing into Senna, the pair of them bowled over and skidding across the floor.

Now that the attacks had seemed to slow down, it was time for some just retribution. What came to mind immediately was the owner of the crushed Phoenix, the blademaster who was still standing nearby. Standing with a twinblade who had done little in the battle thus far. Just… standing. What did they expect to happen? Standing next to him, a boss of a dungeon, doing nothing? Oh well, oh well. It was time for them both to die.

Raising his tail into the air, the broken pattern was displayed for all to see for a moment, while it pulsed with darkness energy. Then it plunged into the ground. Around Phoe and Zhao, a thick circle of darkness energy welled up from the ground, surrounding them. It was only broken in one small spot, representing the fragment missing from the broken tail tip. Beams of blackness shot between edges of the circle, mimicking the crisscross pattern on the tail. Abruptly, it all blew upwards, a column of ferocious energy reaching high into the air.

From inside the shield, Zhao and Phoe would see a milky film surrounding them. The Devil plainly couldn’t see it, for whatever reason. It flashed from white to black to clear, as the attack commenced. They came out the other end unscathed, though the shield itself was gone.

By the time the attack was fading, Devil had already satisfied himself with the pair’s destruction and had turned to his most powerful foe. Zan, The Merged, looked on as Devil rose in the air, body coming to pose like a man on a cross, arms stretched out. The arms shot forwards, aiming for the werewolf, and the razor metal around them flew. Simultaneously, the energy-spouting tentacle shot a beam of fire at the wire, forcing it to glow red hot.

Instead of colliding with him, the attack found itself absorbed into the visage of a large, floating coin with a strong 'M' embroiled on its surface. A moment passed, before The Merged began to mimic the pose Devil had just taken, Devil himself looking on with curiosity. He noted out of the corner of his eye than both Phoenix and Zhao had made it through the attack without a scratch. This was an instant before the Merged-mimicked attack slammed home.

The Devil was caught in the force of his own power, returned to him with only cosmetic changes. The power that would have annihilated the werewolf was more than sufficient to blow the Devil itself across the room, slamming the boss into the far wall with sufficient force to crack the stone.

Before he could even recover, Hacorie had lunged in, assaulting the form with his own custom skill. The attack resolved without a move from the Devil himself, only the stone around him slowly falling to the ground with a clatter. Silk too joined in on the fun, with the one time his regular attacks might do some real damage. Only then did the boss twitch and find his feet once more, the pair in close proximity diving in different directions. Raven, in Lighteria’s body, tossed in a blade for good measure…

Devil’s clawed hand reached across and grabbed the knife, holding it like he would a fork at a dinner.

”Hah… Well…. This was better than I had anticipated you all to be. You haven’t finished me off though, not yet!”

Tossing the knife to the ground, Devil held up his hands. A pair of darkness-elemental twinblades formed, and he looked on them with a cock of his head. No. That wasn’t enough. They changed into blademaster swords, then elongated into spears. The spears widened into heavyblades, then seemed to stretch and elongate into a pair of massive battleaxes.

With a speed that rivaled the greatest of their party, though far from the fastest they had seen, Devil dashed for Lighteria. The axes, raised above his head, crashed down at the same time. A dome of blackness of similar size to that of Phoenix’s fae blast rose up, an explosion of darkness engulfing the twinblade. If he could survive through that, Devil would be surprised.

To the astonishment of the group, the axes didn’t disappear like the other weapons he had used had before. Instead, the barbed wire stretched and writhed up Devil’s arms, wrapping around his wrists, the haft of the axe, and rising up to form a sharper blade on each axe.

”Like them? They’re my specialty. Prepare, for this will be your last moment!” An overly dramatic speech, perhaps, but the power of those blades was untested. What would the group do now?

Devil HP 2400, Dek Raio, Dek Vorv still in effect
Immune to Fire, Immune to Darkness (though not fire or darkness based physical, as it still has an aspect of physical damage in it.)

Rayo
Exalted Player
Posts: 485
Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2003 7:21 pm

Post by Rayo » Fri Jun 29, 2007 3:27 am

Spear swipes, throwing blades, and the like seemed to keep stacking on as player after player lunged at the boss without any fear, as if the last blast had instilled none at all. More likely however, none of them wanted to give the Devil the chance to try it for a second time. His responses were vicious, only kept in check with the items from the fae. Items of fae… didn’t Zan use something too? Had he encountered another sprite before being captured? It was certainly possible, though the magical counter might be something to do with his improved combat form.

Being an observer wasn’t sitting well with him, but it wasn’t as if his body had argued a strong enough case. The first blow left him limp, being made a ghost by the second, with the third pointlessly striking his falling form. Who was the healer on duty? Phoenix had partaken in that role a bit, but it seemed anything more was unlikely. Senna probably had a resurrect or two on her, as would Zan. Now just to compose a flash mail or simply shout out that he needed to be reborn. The raising ended up coming from a very different person, from the twin blade Canti. The twin blade was one he knew no better than any of the more recent newcomers, but the help wasn’t taken without thanks. His situation actually being noticed had a pleasant feel, like the group was coming together more to look out for each other. The twin blade mentioned something about the effectiveness of the thunder element, but the wizard put that thought on hold for a moment. The Dek Raio might have made a sizeable part of that supposed weakness, but even if that was true, juicing up those revealing electric attacks was welcome.

Pulling open a free mental window as he gulped down a Mage’s Soul and a Sport‘s Drink, the caster didn’t bother checking Canti or Senna. Both had revealing electric capabilities already, so it was just a matter of finding another one or two who could benefit from the effects of Ap Raio. Phoenix had too little of the element, but the twin blade standing near him did. The wave master snapped to it, granting the electrical boost to the pair of Senna and Canti who were close enough together, and then a separate dose of the same magic spell for Phoenix and Zhao. If lightning really would make a difference, that would do for now.

The rest of his SP reserves were focused on recovering. The bird Suzaku and Lighteria had both been taken out, and while neither were exactly major players, they were part of the unit.


“Rip Maen, Rip Maen!”

With that, there weren’t any other corpses on their side of the field. There were the scattered injuries, but the level of damage the enraged jester was dealing was beyond the comprehension of their HP bars for the most part. No more energy would be wasted on Repths until a greater number of smaller blows went through. Given the weapons cycled through and taken to wielding, that seemed less and less likely, especially now that Devil was resorting to oversized axes.

If the caster didn’t draw any further attention to himself, perhaps he’d live long enough to act as the team’s primary healer. Certainly with the power of light would they be able to slay the monster. The element and fae items shared that component in their nature, and seemed to be the most effective methods of attack to date.
Last edited by Rayo on Sun Jul 08, 2007 9:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Rayo
Lv.47 Archer 745HP/311SP
Bell, the Silver Grunty of Thunder
Skills/Spells-Shocking Arrow of Voltage(30), Arrow of the Burning Stars(10), MeRai Rom(40), Rai Kruz(10), La Repth(20), Rip Maen(40), MeRai Kruz(20), GiVak Kruz(20), MeRai Don(20), Rig Saem(15)
Weapon/Armor/Book-Golden Royal Bow/Thunder Torque, Thunder Cloak, Able Ring, Ivory Greaves/Thunder Magic
Wishlist: YL Fukuoka, Stormlore, Winter Stone, Silver Grunty

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Lighteria
Well-Oiled Machine
Posts: 176
Joined: Fri Oct 01, 2004 12:59 am
Location: :noitacoL

Post by Lighteria » Sun Jul 01, 2007 8:17 am

He... caught it?!

You don't have to be a mind-reader to figure out what Lighteria... no, Raven is thinking. Even with all his strength, all that unbridled rage, he couldn't even hit the thing. The frustration on his face is plain as day, left eye twitching, eye brows furrowed in anger, fist clenched tight enough to leave fingernail marks in his palm.

"You bastard..." He mutters quietly, the devil grinning and beginning to form darkness weapons in his hands. "Causing me this much pain... You're nothing... bits of data... some hacker's random daydream-!" His head lifts up slowly, staring at the devil's eyes. "You're meaningless! Just a damned road bump! How dare you-!"

It is just as the last word leaves his mouth does the devil lean in and charge forward with mind boggling speed. When his eyes meet the thing's sinister grin, Raven's thoughts race wildly, the dark axes shimmering in the corner of his gaze.

N...no! Is he going to kill me?! I can't die-! Not in a game! What will happen to me?!...

...! NO!!! I CAN'T DIE LIKE THAT!! NOT IN THIS DARKNESSDARKNESS!!!


*Swish* The axes descend against the twin blade's torso, dark power swelling and flooding the area in a horrible dome of death, blackness flooding his vision. The blades connect... and the instant blood is drawn, Lighteria's eyes widen in fear and horror, his mouth betraying a breathless gasp of weakness.

But he's not dead.

"NO!" A tiny voice screams, Kit watching from only a little ways away. The blades cleave through the boy's torso effortlessly. Though the cloud of black hides the view, the blood and the ease of the swing is enough to convince the devil the player is down for the count. With a confident grin it turns back to the group. "Like them? They’re my specialty. Prepare, for this will be your last moment!"

The devil might have been even more confident if it'd bothered to look behind him again. Rayo will be the first to notice the oddity with his Rai magic suddenly a little harder to cast and his Rip Maen fizzling, having lacked a target. The reason becomes clear soon as the dark sphere begins to dissipate, revealing not a flickering corpse, but a giant slew of tiny orbs... all of them pulsing a sinister, dark purple light. Like smoke pouring from a firework, the orbs waft from the ground and begin to spread over the small area. With the element of darkness almost entirely in control due to Raven's lack of experience, the orbs quickly spread themselves through the room like a veil of the night sky, with warped, tainted stars. An unfortunate side effect, of course, is the pulsing of the devil's brand new blades. The darkness aura spreading through the room quickly seeks out the Ani energy of the boss and heightens its power... as it does with ANYthing darkness-based inside the room. Lighteria's hack had backfired, splitting Raven the instant death was upon her into the one element that was on her mind.

Things just got worse.


((OCC: Dark weapons pulse subtly as the orbs do, dark magic is infused with extra power as well. All Rai spells and abilities are weaker as well. Anyone with less than 1/5 of lighteria's magic power (doesn't apply here, but worth mentioning) will have Rai abilities simply dissipate. Orbs can be killed by physical attacks or any magic OTHER than Ani or Rai. They're hard to hit though, spread out, and there's 60 of them.))
Lv. 37 Twin Blade (180 SP)
Weapon: Rashou (Thunder Coil- 30, Suvi Lei- 20, Mumyn Lei- 30) (Life Drain)
Armor: Holy Tree Mail (Juk Kruz- 20) - Scarab Earring (La Repth- 20, Rip Maen- 40) - Time Sandals (Ap Do- 15) - Forest Gloves (Juk Kruz- 20)
GP: 14384

Wish list (In order of priority): Angel halo accessory, chibi angel wings, Bone Armor, Professional

Lighteria: "Obsessively updating my profile since Fri Oct 01, 2004 7:10 pm"

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