.hack//DIVERGENCE Main

[Nighthand]

Yamiyo scrolls pulled their weight, that's for sure. The buffs that came from Unity sped everyone up, made them all stronger and more resistant to damage, more evasive, more resistant -- and powerful -- with the elements, the whole nine yards and a yard extra. With ten players present on the team -- twelve if the buff counted Shadow and Vesica, or thirteen if Higure counted even while merged with Baron -- the buff was... significant. Unfortunately, it was hard to quantify; it didn't show on the player stats screen for those who could access it. Only Demorian, presumably, had the data access to see at a glance.

One thing was certainly true; Shadow's claws had significantly less issues ripping through the hardened wood of the Willowman's armor.

Next up: Maoh

[Bane]

When the beeping sounded from his wrist after he attack, at first he didn't think much of it given the tendency of it doing that in the past. But when it persisted, and became more frantic, the person the thing was attached to followed suit. Maoh caught a glimpse of the machine on his wrist before it exploded, but was unable to register anything specific about what it said on the screen. The purple smoke covered him, and he felt himself choke but no choking sounds came out of his thoat. His body felt wierd, and with a clang his blades fell to the floor as he hunched over, causing them to slide away from him and out of his line of sight. His coat felt baggy, his pants lo longer fit and fell off after parts of it tore away at the back.

As the smoke cleared, and the vines forced him to stand in his spot, the only thought going through his mind was "Don't meow. I'm not a cat. I'm not..." As the others had their turn at moving and making actions, Maoh's eyes looked between the daggers laying on the floor away from him, and the paws he now had instead of hands. He gulped, shooting a sidewards glance at the others, hoping there wasn't going to be anything snide to add to his day of "Welcome to The World!". That said, the vine around his ankle eased up, meaning it was his turn. He couldn't fight as a Twin Blade without those weapons, but whatever had changed him into a cat seemed to see to that as well, offering him up the capacity to his his own body as a weapon. He didn't want to think about it. The faster they got this talk on with that lady on the throne, and beat up this tree guy, they could get out and he could deal with his new life as some kind of cat pugilist in a video game as opposed to a regular guy with a day job.

He flexed his paws, shifting his weight before pushing off and making a run at the Willow Man. He bore his claws just as he closed in, embers falling from the sharp points before he tore into the Willow Man with a series of jabs and swipes that seemed to leave a trail of Vak Fire in their wake. When his skill had died down, he figured the vine would do it's job and take him back to his spot so he didn't have to consciously look at anyone. At least not for now.

[Nighthand]

Somehow, Maoh's brain adapted to his new body quickly enough to avoid any long-term adjustments and wasted turns. Fist Fighter skills came naturally, though they were understandably adapted to the feline form rather than forcing the non-humanoid body into difficult contortions. Fire seemed as effective as ever against the Willowman, so it's exactly what the cat used. As an added bonus, the skill took on an extra level of rage from Canti's Unity buff.

Next up: Canti and Shadow, again.

[Lord Canti]

(Canti watched as Maoh attacked the Willowman - Maoh... Heh heh, funny. - and then it was HIS turn again. ...the hell?! Again?! What about their hasted powerhouse? Shouldn't she be getting some of this? Well, never-never-nevermind, because Evil Plan Alpha-Doom-36 was starting to get good on the Twin Blade, like sneaky villain good. He was practically rubbing his hands together with a big grin on his face, and then he reached down into his pockets once more and used a Vital Target on Sheena! Yes, that's right! She was faster, more powerful, AND statted the hell up in a manner that would make a GM cry "Munchkin!", but so what? It was all above board, all totally legit.)

Canti: Mwa ha ha ha haaa... Go forth and destroy! Destroy! DESTROY!!

Shadow: Who? Me?

Canti: Yeah.

Shadow: Alright, but don't laugh like that...

(The Bogie ran in and sampled the ruffage again with teeth and claws, returning when he was done. Canti eagerly waited for the payoff to his grand master plans.)

[Nighthand]

Canti's plan to buff up Sheena was certainly working without a hitch. She didn't resist friendly buffs, at least. When her next turn rolled around, she would be buffed in raw stats -- if her stats weren't already maxed -- given automatic crits and hastened to attack more frequently. Unfortunately, her native speed as calculated for the turn gimmick was low enough even Ap Do couldn't do much. Shadow, of course, enjoyed the stat up while he could.

Next up: Sheena

Sheena was ostensibly a fist fighter, though she didn't fit the usual mold. How long had she been a fist fighter? Was she using the weaponless fighting styles before they had supposedly been created, all those years ago? Her past, like the past of so many of Nall's old friends, was shrouded in mystery. Certainly, none of them had ever seen her using a fist fighter weapon or calling out a fist fighter skill. She simply used ferocious strength to demolish anything in front of her.

Strength that, as the vine loosened, was higher than it had been in a long, long time. Sheena, whose punches were capable of lagging the game servers when she went all out, was ready to do just that.

Well, almost.

Sheena crouched in place, taking up something of a sprinter's ready pose. Then she charged. She wasn't faster than the eye could see, no; the party was used to that with Nall. Sheena was merely fast. This time, unlike her last attack, she didn't aim for center mass. Her dash led her to the side of the Willowman and her punch caught him on the upper bicep. Her momentum, coupled with her ferocious strength, fought against the Willowman's inability to move. SOMETHING had to give, and with a dull crack, the Willowman's arm gave way. With a cry of triumph, she carried forward, ripping the arm from its socket entirely and tossing it aside. Then, with a glance and a brief thumbs up to Canti for the buffs, she returned to her place in line.

Next up: Nighthand

Nighthand was particularly interested in Canti's Unity buff; the elemental effects were quite potent, and they would allow him to tap into even more power... if he was ever allowed free of this accursed vine! He strained against it, but ineffectually. There was nothing he could do but glare for the moment.

Next up: Nall

Nall, meanwhile, smiled faintly to himself. There was something viscerally satisfying about seeing Sheena levy her power against his foes. He didn't try to struggle, focusing instead on his internal healing. His data was a long way from sound, but he was much better off than he was when they rescued him.

Next up: The Shrubwolf

Suddenly freed from restrictions, the elemental wolf sprang immediately into action. With each leap and bound towards the party line, it grew and expanded, losing wolf shape and becoming more of a dust devil of leaves and thorns. When it reached the line, it swept through them like a tornado, piercing and tearing and lashing with natural power. The storm lasted mere moments, but the damage was done; a flat percentage damage, oddly, removing 30% of the HP of everyone in the party.

The wolf re-formed, or coalesced, at the side of the Willowman once more.

Next up: Baron and Higure. Barigure.

[Locke]

The reproach in Sekai's flashmail stung, even in the polite way it came from the Archer, and Baron did his best not to sulk afterward. At least it wasn't Kira; she would have been blunt and make him feel even more like an idiot, all while beating him down in text. Sekai's message, while still scolding him and warning him to be on his best behavior, was far preferable. Admittedly yes, he was still angry at Xenobia, and wanted nothing more than to remind her of just how she had put him in a coma. There were some very brutal fantasies in his head, enough to make even Higure send a wave of concerned confusion, but Baron pushed the thoughts aside; he would behave for now, as the team's goals were far more important than his childish concept of revenge. How did he plan on taking down an Elite on his own, anyway? Not happening.

Instead, he composed a quick flashmail, sending it back to Sekai. Oddly enough, she'd find a duplicate sitting in her inbox too, with the same sender name and subject line. The body was different, however.

To: Sekai
From: Baron
Subject: Re: Plan

Don't worry, don't worry... I'll behave. I understand how important this is. I'm angry, but I'm just going to let you guys do the talking. I'm sure I'd mess something up. Just... ugh.

To: Sekai
From: Baron
Subject: Re: Plan

Don't worry, don't worry... I'll behave. I understand how important this is. I'm angry, but I'm just going to let you guys do the talking. I'm sure I'd mess something up. Just... ugh.

This kid has some pretty violent images in his head... particularly something about stabbing his blades through that woman's eyes. I don't really know enough about your history to see the exact reason for it, but there's some pretty serious hatred boiling beneath the surface. Keep an eye on him.

P.S. This is Higure. We met briefly in town. I don't have the ability to access individual messages, so I'll just be hopping aboard Baron's Flashmails. He's none the wiser, and I'd prefer if it stayed that way. If you get a duplicate from him, assume it's from me. Don't reply, it'd just go back to him, and I'd rather that not happen for the moment.

Messages sent along, with Baron unknowingly sending along an unexpected piggybacker, the Twin Blade observed the actions his companions were making in combat. Talal was... doing something? The male Twin Blade had not learned about his companion's developing powers, and had no idea what she was doing, but her turn came and went nonetheless. Takua was a bit more proactive, from Baron's point of view, sending an enormous spell combined with his feline companion's attack. Canti continued to buff everyone to an amazing degree of effectiveness, Sheena kicked ass and removed one of the tree-man's limbs, and the cat... well, scratched the hell out of the tree-man. With fire.

When Baron's turn came up, he surveyed the buffs that were applied to him, all stacking. Three stacks of speed and attack, two of darkness resistance—not particularly effective in this situation—and one of every other stat boost was not a minor array of augments. Sheena was a powerhouse, a natural disaster with every motion, but Baron was still lightning in a bottle with all of the high-potency buffs empowering him. He only had one action, for now, to make them count; what was he going to do with it? Did he have a specific Skill he wanted to use, or did he want to take Sheena's example and try to rip something apart? So many decisions, so much power to abuse.

In the end, as the vine loosened on Baron and allowed him to move again—how he hated those vines! He remembered Xenobia controlling them when he was forced into a coma—the Twin Blade decided that the tree-man looked a little off-balance with only one arm; perhaps removing the other would fix that. Using his Twin Blade speed, along with his tripled buff, the boy was incredibly fast as he closed the distance. His Prepare to Fall customized blades were switched in, and even as he drew close, Baron began to spin, flames wreathing his weapons and body in a growing cyclone of fire that radiated an immense heat thanks to all of the powerful buffs that he possessed. The cat and Takua had both proven how effective Vak was against the Willowman; Baron took that principle and applied it to the creature's arm, attempting to rip it off through several repeated elemental hits compared to Sheena's single blow; hopefully, it would be enough.

[Nighthand]

Lashing and slashing, ripping and tearing, Baron applied all his fire-augmented might against the Willowman's other arm, attempting to replicate Sheena's feat. Unfortunately, even triple-buffed, he was still a few large steps below the punchy powerhouse, whose stats were very likely maxed or higher before the buffs. Try as he might -- and try he did -- Baron was only able to slash the wooden flesh of the Willowman's arm, and didn't come close to such a dramatic alteration of the character model itself. Like it or not, there was something special behind Sheena's attacks, something her long years of interacting with Twilight gave her.

Even one-armed, the Willowman did not look happy.

He looked even less happy when, with the final sputtering flame slash, Baron's attack kicked him past the threshold for hiding the crystals. Enough damage had been dealt to break that particular gimmick barrier, and as Baron felt the vine tighten and his control over his body disappear, he was forced to walk back to his place in like without getting a strike in.

As before, the Willowman dropped to a knee, a shield forming over his body and the interior filling with healing gas. Whether it would regenerate a lost limb or not was a mystery, but it would certainly restore his health. The crystals temporarily stopped their motion, as well. There were three large crystals and three small. Three crystals forming armor for the Willowman, and three binding their powerhouse party members. If previous events held true, the party could only break one, short of Talal's intervention; which one would they target?

Next up: Sekai

[Sekai]

Sheena once again proved herself to be a terrifying force to be reckoned with.

Sekai cringed visibly, sympathy for the Willowman flickering within her eyes and expression even as the Fist Fighter tossed the arm aside as if it hadn't mattered in the long run anyways. One might have even expected the perky woman to offer a middle finger and a cheesy grin in their enemy's direction. Sheena, however, had manners, and Sekai was beyond thankful that she did in comparison to some of the others she could think of.

Shoulda beat him with his own arm for extra hilarity- or throw it right up in that bitch's face. Kira complained.

Their newcomer scowled. Hate I'mma bout to do this, but agreed. Shoulda long distance backhanded her.

Sekai could feel December's disapproval as clearly as her own and quietly thanked the gods that there were those out there who still retained common sense.

Double alerts pinged, startling her as she skimmed their contents... and frowned. She didn't like the implications of any of it, giving a brief nod of acknowledgement to Baron to let him know she'd received the messages... both of them, despite the one being rather unknown to the man himself. Having squatters, as Kira would call them, was taxing and a little exasperating on the best of days.

And that was knowing they were there.

The vine loosened its grip upon her leg, granting her the ability to act as she so pleased. Her hand lifted from its place at her side, palm extended outward as brown eyes narrowed and targeted the cluster of crystals located just behind the Willowman's back. The smaller ones, when broken, released one of their bound players to participate. Sheena had been released, it was time to get the others in on it.

Flashmail!
To: Freedom Fighters
From: Sekai
Subject: Crystals

Those who can attack before they vanish, please target the smaller crystals!

Hopefully everyone would follow through, no matter how tempting the larger targets would be.

"BiVak Rom!" Her voice filled the silence of before, eyes temporarily flashing to jade green as December surged beneath the surface of her skin, relishing the use of her dominant element in use.

It'd been the first time Sekai had gone on the offensive, and as the vine tightened, forcing her arm to drop back down to a docile position at her side, the snowy haired Archer hoped she hadn't just made a mistake.

[Nighthand]

Sekai's flame tornado enveloped all of the crystals, dealing roughly equal amounts of damage to them all, so she had little control over which one actually broke. When one did, it was at least one of the crystals she had targeted; one of the smaller ally bind crystals. When one crystal cracked and shattered, the others abruptly vanished, and the dome covering the Willowman broke and let his healing gas escape. The result? One more free ally. Demorian's vines fell away, leaving him free to act when his next turn rolled around.

Next up: Canti and Shadow

[Lord Canti]

(At last, Sheena's turn came up again and she proceeded to remove the Willowman's arm! Holy shit! And yet... Excellent! Canti would've even done the finger motions, had he been able to move right then. But he did grin, because it was what he'd been hoping for. The cycle shifted over to people who could not move, and then they hit Baron... Baron was attempting to drop the other arm, but it didn't quite work out. However, he DID appear to hit the point where again their enemy was trying to heal This was the perfect opportunity to try something he'd been planning, but no! He wasn't next. Sekai was. Sekai hit the crystals with an area spell and managed to break one, which was fine...but Canti wanted to be next and see about coordinating simultaneous attacks on TWO with Shadow to speed things up a little. Pity... Even still, they got Demorian, who now had significantly less vines on him, but still could not move...yet.)

Canti: Okay then, NOW it's my turn.

(The Willowman's bubble had burst, and they wwere growing stronger, themselves. Canti grinned...and then tossed a Speed Charm on Demorian, giving yet another of their heavy hitters a boost. Oh, Canti knew that he himself was tough, and his speed had clearly been a boon here, but now it was time to give the older members a chance to catch up and kick ass. Havng done that, the Twin Blade then ordered Shadow to lunge at Shrubby, and the Bogie proceeded to maul him like crazy. He then trotted back into formation and-)

Shadow: Buuurp!

Canti: Hungry? o_o

Shadow: A bit.

[Nighthand]

Demorian, free, was already receiving buffs from his teammates; Canti's Unity and his speed charm doubled up the speed boosting effect, so when he finally managed to get a good turn, the next would come that much quicker. Meanwhile, Shadow did what he did best; tore into his opponents with satisfaction. The shrub was looking a little worse for wear, but was far from down and out just yet.

Next up: Talal

[Talal]

The twin blade continued to watch as everyone did their part, some like Canti getting released more often than others thanks to the extra buffs. Talal felt like an idiot when she received Sekai's flashmail and then saw the crystal shatter and Demorian's subsequent release. She should have been targeting the smaller crystals all along. They could have had more free members by now. The young woman sighed as her limited and somehow allowed motions continued within her bonds. Her only hope that she would get to release another shot before getting hit by the Willowman. Although perhaps, she could turn the tides if he got his turn first. By then she should have enough sonic waves gathered to shield the whole party in such a small room just before he attacks. Keeping the backup plan alive for now, she felt her vines loosen. The sound in the room was all but extinct as she gathered it around her. Arms, hands and body danced to a silent song as they pulled the waves into a giant sonic ball in front of her. She looked at her companions, the look of 'what the hell is she doing' on Baron's face and then at the area where the crystals should be. Hesitating, she felt the vines tighten once again and so her choice had been made for her. She had one more round to gather and hope that her efforts would be used for plan A but, at least she had a plan B too. The real question was if either of them would work the way she hoped.

[Nighthand]

Talal's accumulation of sound was one of the more unusual abilities in The World. The whole sound hacking powerset was rare as it was, and the way Talal put it to use was even more unique. Still, it took her time, leading to what looked like missed turns.

Next up: Demorian

Demorian felt the loosening of his control vine and, for the first time in the battle, was free to act. He drew his sword, the icy blade shrouded in a thin layer of mist as humidity cooled and condensed around it. When he moved, it was with purpose, not running but not strolling, towards the shrub elemental. It very likely had no backup healing or secondary defense; indeed, it was nearly feral. Demorian stabbed his blade deep into the core of the creature and the sound of flash-freezing filled the room. A burst like crystal shattering followed, and icy shards tore through the creature. It was left in shambles, not dead, but a lot closer than it had been before. His attack finished, the blademaster returned to his place in line.

Next up: Baron

[Locke]

Baron was a little disappointed that his attack had failed, admittedly, though he was happy to see that he had done enough damage to visibly weaken the Willowman. The tree-being fell to one knee, summoning a dome around it that concealed it; a shield perhaps? The Twin Blade had missed the first round of weakness, and had little idea of what had happened. Rather than worrying about what he didn't know, Baron decided to work with what he did, and that was RPGs. When the Willowman's shield went up, several crystals of varying sizes. Weak point! That's what they screamed. Break a crystal, any crystal, but only for a limited grace period. Baron imagined that the Willowman's shield would go down the moment the grace period ended; the question was, how long did they have?

The question was quickly answered as Sekai released a spell that shattered one of the crystals, causing the rest to vanish and the shield to disappear. So that was the trick to this; Baron could put two and two together, and determined how the system worked. They had to hurt the Willowman enough that he would retreat into his shield, revealing the crystals. From there, one crystal could be broken, releasing the shield, and the process would begin again. Simple enough. It seemed breaking them even had an effect, as the one shattered released Demorian from his prison. So the crystals were linked to their allies? But there were only two more trapped companions—Nall and Nighthand—and five crystals remaining. So what did the other three do? For now, Baron decided to wait and see; after being scolded for asking for battle strategies earlier, he was fine just figuring it out for himself.

Demorian's freedom came with a powerful assault on the Shrubwolf, leaving it torn up by blades of ice that formed from the Blademaster's strike. Seeing as the creature was heavily damaged and it was now his turn, Baron drew upon one of the many rules he had for RPGs: take out the grunts ASAP, as that was one less turn for the enemy's side, and one less enemy to harm them. So seeing as the Shrubwolf was in rather pitiful condition, the Twin Blade decided to put it out of its misery, switching to his Prepare to Fall blades once more. The low-level version of the powerful Prepare to Die blades may have lacked the deadly Vulcan Rf spell, one of the highest-level summons available to the Twin Blade class, but these hacked blades had a lesser version, one that was still potent... especially given the bonuses they had gained from Canti's Unity item.

“Vulcan Ch!”

A blaze of heat filled the room as an enormous draconic form appeared behind Baron, summoned by the spell that he had cast. Suddenly a blast of roaring flame exploded forward, targeting the room in front of Baron. Though the spell was focused on the Shrubwolf in an attempt to burn the damaged creature away, it would hopefully be wide enough in radius to do a severe amount of damage to the Willowman as well. Baron may not have been a caster class, but as one that was evenly balanced between sorcery and steel, backed with the Magic Attack boost from the Unity item and channeled through a Level Two Summon, there was still quite the bite to this spell. Even Baron felt the backlash of the heat, the sudden increase of temperature that accompanied his summon, and breathed a sigh of relief as cool air flooded back in with its disappearance.

His turn done, the Twin Blade returned to his place in line; he didn't feel like waiting for the vine to tug him back there. That didn't stop him from giving a cocky smile, though.

[Nighthand]

Powered up in several ways, the Vulcan spell was certainly large enough and ferocious enough to damage both enemies. The wave of heat temporarily filled the room, centered around the elemental, reaching the Willowman and nearly to Xenobia's feet. She was unconcerned, at least, so there would not be retaliation for a near miss.

As his turn ended, Baron could feel a faint stretching, a tug at his core, the indication that his time merged with Higure was almost up. He had, at best, one more turn in the merged form.

Next up: Canti and Shadow