guiltrip | Week 3 Mini-Event

Week 3 Mini-Event

MINI-EVENT

Congratulations, you've won the lottery this fine execution day!

Though, perhaps it really isn't an execution day, given the kittybots don't seem to be rousing people to go to the sandbar yet again -- but you're given no peace, because four of you will be beset by an absolutely infernal beeping noise. It would be familiar, if anyone but Zelkov and Haruka had heard it before, but no one has.

And now you're the proud successors of auditory cue hell: the insistent noise will lead you all the way to Kingfisher's Retreat, pointing you towards the waterfall side of the island. As you get closer to the crystal pool, you may start noticing disturbed sand and dirt, foliage... Almost like something large and not particularly delicate crashed its way through the growth and the footpaths, shoving everything out of its way...

Hmm. Surely there's nothing amiss here! But you may want to make sure you have your weapons on hand and your eyes and ears peeled.

Locations Profiles Main Nav

code

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Also, was anyone looking up as they walked in?

That said, the waterfall is pretty darn high, populated with all kinds of crags and crannies; between that and the noise and the midday sun, it's easy to miss one more thing. Even if that thing is--

Something huge and bulky, something that pretty much blocks out all light of day and the entire entrance of the waterfall laboratory-slash-office, drops down behind them with an almighty crash. In the ringing silence after, there's the sound of heavy breaths -- or are those grunts? Or are they, perhaps, low growls...?

Welcome to your boss fight, folks.]

[It's just as Temenos is about to mention the glob that the tip of his shoe squished into that their company in question makes itself known.]

Oh, dear. So much for more time, hm?

[He quickly throws his staff arm forward.]

Holy light, illuminate the darkness!

[A flash of light emits from the staff, both providing a better view of the situation and their attacker, as well as...whatever could be above them. This is a damaging spell too, so the boss better be ready.]

[THIS IS FINE.JPG

Shuda isn't even waiting to see what this thing is-- the moment it drops down, there are six pink gridded spheres enveloping as much of the creature as he can with his Dark Bring's now-limited power; then, after a second or so, they'll all detonate simultaneously.]

Get behind me!

Of course it can't be that easy.

[ Well, just from a cursory glance, this is a less than ideal matchup for him, so Ibuki carefully but quickly steps behind Shuda. Right now, his focus is looking for another area for them to retreat to, and looking around to see if this new friend of theirs brought backup. He can leave the muscle to their other capable members! ]

[ Can't believe they missed the goopening 2: deuce biggass monstalow. Also thank you, bestie for lighting up the room. ]

Not fair hiding up there like that! [ Like whatever the spawn is would understand. Anyways, he's going to run his hand against the flat of his blade to power it up with energy as he moves to stand by Shuda. You were saying? ]

Do you even have a weapon?

[There's a roar as the creature is presumably both blinded and struck by Temenos' light spell -- though it seemingly is shaking its head in an attempt to save its eyes (apparently it has eyes!), the spell doesn't quite stagger it. It does buy them time, though!

Especially since Shuda attacks as well, bringing in the bombs; they detonate, and there's a roar that sounds more like a squeal; but when the smoke clears, they'll be able to see that the creature has moved backwards in what seems to be a split second. So it's a little hard to tell how much damage was done. That said, there is a little more daylight shining in and a little more clearance, so that helps.

Ibuki's look around the back will tell him one thing: there's only one way into and out of this laboratory-office-hopefully-not-literal-dead-end, and that's in front of them. They may want to get Temenos unstuck from the floor.]

[Trying to get behind Shuda only got Temenos further stuck, so. Whoops. As their attacks make way for a possible escape, he goes to move and finds himself glued to the floor.]

Ah... Mind these puddles on your way out, I suppose! And don't leave me behind, please.

[He could stand to be a little more concerned.]

We need to get outside! We can't fight this thing in here.

[Damn, it's fast. That's going to make targeting a problem when his spheres can't immobilize his targets the way they usually can. And without an actual weapon--

-- and then Wang Lu steps up, and he turns, shaking his head.]

Just my Dark Bring. My sword didn't make the trip with me, unfortunately.

[... wait Temenos isn't following them why isn't he following them-- oh. Darting back over and wrapping his arms around Temenos' waist (sorry to his wife), he'll just plant himself as firmly as he can and then PULL.]

Ibuki! Might wanna lend a hand here!

[ And from his observations, that's definitely the only way out. Great. And considering Temenos and Shuda have an obvious advantage here, time for a little prioritization. ]

Right, you all need to get out of here now. Don't bite your tongue now!

[ Unfortunately, they're not going to receive the same tender loving care the boulder did. With his powers, he pulls at them with even more force than before, only trying to hold back enough to cause a worrisome injury.

He's absolutely aiming to throw them out of the room as soon as Temenos is unstuck, hoping that Wang Lu will try to attract the boss's attention. ]

Leave you? Wouldn't dream of even entertaining the idea.

[ He doesn't need to be told what to do. He's going to use Winding Steps and run at the monster in a blur of color. He'll stop once he's in range to slash at the creature to get it's attention. ]

Keep your eyes on me! [ Whatever the heck he's even looking at ]

[Well, now that he's out in the light of day, Wang Lu will be able to see this terrible thing in all its glory -- it also has some of those strange dark globules, revealed to be a glistening purple, stuck on the sides of its head like a bizarre haircut.

And he'll also be able to see that Shuda's bombs did damage it, but the damage is infinitesimally small, some furrows along its torso... Actually, if he has the time to look closely enough, he'll see them healing in real time. So it's possible there was more damage. But also the healing is fast.

Wang Lu's own slash gains the creature's attention, but it doesn't bother to move away. Instead, it tanks the sword full on; the sword sinks into it....... but doesn't appear to do too much damage, definitely less than a cut like that should. In the meantime, the creature brings both its arms down -- aiming to grab the sword.

Luckily, this means that its focus is on the singular combatant rather than the waterfall cavern. Hope y'all managed to pop Temenos out of his shoe.]

Many thanks, Shuda-aah!

[Having his stuck foot pulled on so tightly is a bit painful, to say the least. But with enough effort, there's a pop as his foot escapes the shoe completely. And the fun doesn't stop there! Just as quickly, the two of them are uprooted from the spot by Ibuki and go sailing out of the now-open cave.

To make their landing a little safer, he applies one of his defensive spells to the both of them.]

[IT'S FINE, SHUDA'S USED TO BEING THE MEAT SHIELD what's it happening one more time--

He'll just sort of try to curl himself around Temenos to take most of the force of the impact when they land, since squishy healer and all that. Between the defensive spell and the water it's not nearly as bad as it could be, but it still jars his shoulder hard enough to send a sharp pain radiating down his arm despite the healing he'd received from the Green Race.]

Damn it--!

Edited 2023-06-04 21:28 (UTC)

[ Sorry Shudamenos! Time was of the essence!

And once they're out of immediate harm's way, Ibuki doesn't waste any time in trying to plan the rest of the group's getaway. While he can jump around, he's planning on floating himself out, using a nearby surface like a table or chair if available. Just because he can float himself doesn't mean he prefers to use up more energy than necessary. Something tells him he'll need to start watching his power usage soon.

But before that, he's more concerned about getting Wang Lu out. He has enough movement tricks up his sleeve, but that doesn't mean Wang Lu does, from what he knows. ]

Thanks, they're out! Need a flight as well?

Edited 2023-06-04 21:42 (UTC)

[ Sorry Grape of Wrath, he isn't going to let you have his sword. He would never live it down later. He does back up away from the monster. ]

What kind of horror movie did you crawl out of? [ It's so weird looking.

And then there goes what looks like his wife in the arms of another sailing past. His focus is away for a moment before it's back on the creature. ]

Don't worry about me! Just go, I'll follow after!

[ He's going to try to leap back away further from the opening to keep it's attention on him and allow the others to escape. Charging up his sword again to send a medium strength energy at. ]

[The Nomu doesn't reply in so many words, but another weird squeal emerges from its jaws, which split in a ghastly grin. Who knows if it understood Wang Lu or just thought it was funny that its prey was talking to it. Whatever the case, since he's playing keep-away with the sword... it's going to move in closer to try and grab for Wang Lu himself.

That said, there is a limited amount of space around the waterfall cavern where the water is shallow and you can reach the bottom. It drops down pretty precipitously once you get to the pool proper. There is a bit of a path at the edges, though, which is likely what they used to get in here in the first place.

So there they are, dancing in this itty-bitty space, surrounded by half-broken bits of crystal and the others rolling around like bowling balls. Go faito win, Bowler Ibuki.]

Edited 2023-06-04 21:59 (UTC)

[Temenos coughs as he and Shuda hit the pool. Thanks to Shuda, he's pretty much unscathed, but...]

I'll heal you, Shuda. Here--

[He helps Shuda up and is about to cast a healing spell, but he catches the creature reaching for Wang Lu out of the corner of his eye. Sorry Shuda, he needs to pivot for a moment--]

Wang Lu!

[As quickly as he can, he raises his staff to send another ray of light down on the Nomu's arm.]

We need to get the upper hand or it's just going to keep healing off what we throw at it...!

Edited 2023-06-04 22:05 (UTC)

It's an old injury-- don't worry about me!

[He's grateful for the assistance getting back on his feet, though. And as he does so, he spots all of those broken bits of crystal lying around... they may not be a sword, but they'll do in a pinch. Lunging for one, he grabs it with his metal hand-- this way, even if it shatters, it won't hurt his hand.]

We need to focus our energy on taking this thing down first.

[Now that he can actually see its eyes, he's going to try to target them with some small explosions. If nothing else, hopefully it will temporarily impair the creature's vision enough to let him or Wang Lu in for a few strikes.]

How cool!

[ Now that the shock of the grapes of wrath has passed, Ibuki grins and— ]

Edited 2023-06-04 22:20 (UTC)

But don't get too ahead of yourself?

[ —shifts to Moravia with a shower of sparkles. After another moment of thought, she decided that the extra energy expenditure was worth lessening the chances of touching any stray goop. Executing Plan Self-yeet (with a lighter form)! Unlike Plan Shudamenotoss, she has much better control over the trajectory and landing. Moravia weaves between obstacles before letting herself touch down on a shallow part of the water. ]

I see what you mean. Let's get them here so we can all have a heart-to-heart.

[ And by heart-to-heart, she means kicking their new buddy in the ~~nuts~~ guts. ]

Edited 2023-06-04 22:19 (UTC)

Are you enjoying that I'm talking to you or are you perhaps mocking me? [ He'll raise his left hand to block that grab. Go ahead and try to grab his arm as a tweat.

He hears his name, and takes it as a cue to power up his sword again. He's going to send a much stronger energy wave at the arm of the creature while Temenos and Shuda work to strike it as well with their own abilities.

What a shame he missed the magical girl transformation. ]

[The Nomu snarls as its aim is thrown off by Temenos' strike -- as before, the hit doesn't actually affect it that much, but it does throw off its aim and divert its focus... right over to the two who just emerged from the waterfall. That is, however, when Shuda's attack strikes once again: the Shudamenos combo really is taking this Nomu for a ride. With Wang Lu's energy sword added to it, the creature does get staggered just a bit... sliding down a little on the shallow incline, debris falling into the deeper water. But it stops itself in time.

There's an angry squeal as it then does its best to dodge the bombs, which doesn't take out an eye but at least gouges its face and neck to some extent. More importantly, it does give them a little time to regroup from their scattered formation, and it allows Ibuki-now-Moravia free rein. The Nomu swipes at its own face to get out of all the smoke and stinging; even so, they can already see the hits healing.

It's probably a good idea to keep stringing combos and think of an all-out attack of some kind, or they could be here all day.]

[Phew, okay, they bought themselves some time to regroup. Temenos calls everyone over.]

We cannot allow this thing to roam free, so we best take it down now.

With regeneration this powerful, we ought to concentrate our strongest attacks in a central location- ideally the head.

Looks like a pretty good spot to aim to me. Assuming that really is its brain that's exposed, hitting it there might affect its ability to fight more than damaging it somewhere else.

If I can get up there, I can stab it directly, but that will mean trying to keep it in one place long enough for that to happen.

Hmm, I want to save that boulder for now, so I'm going to play catch with them. Good luck!

[ With a wave, she jumps over closer to their rather ugly friend. ]

I hope you passed your hand-eye coordination exam.

[ Thanks for the free crystals and rocks, whoever broke it off earlier! She'll levitate a few simultaneously and send some flying towards the head of whatever fresh hell it is. Her plan is mostly just to keep its attention on her by harassing it with debris to keep it from moving away too much. She can keep them moving pretty quickly, so hopefully that's confusing enough for now. ]

2/2

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

1/2

2/2

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject