Zoey Boey

World of Light

Sakura Level 10: 24/100
Location: Suoh
Word Count: shorb
Points Gained: 1
New EXP Balance--- Sakura Level 10: 25/100

Sakura was excited. It was time for a dangerous mission into the heart of the city to find the Guardian. Finally, the Seekers had waded through all the muck and confusion and had cleared the way to get to the big bad at the center of it all! No way Sakura would miss out on this.

Her agility and dexterity more than permitted it, but stealth wasn’t exactly her forte. Still, with Mental Connection and Teleport, she was a nimble and agile sneaky little Street Fighter. As long as she didn’t get too close to any guards so they could hear her footsteps.

A lot of these people she recognized. They were once her allies in the tunnels, but they would no doubt turn on her because of their orders just like the others. If only she could just waltz up to them!

”Stupid face, plastered all over the city…why am I even wearing this crummy uniform if it isn’t even a disguise?!” She muttered to herself. Though she looked down at her cool cropped body armor and combat boots, and tilted her head with acknowledgement. It was pretty cool. But she was going to change out of it again soon enough.

Teleporting was loud, as Luka demonstrated. Sakura used Teleport and Mental Connection to keep up with Luka, mostly following in his footsteps given their similar ability. She hopped from building to building, staying in a low crouch. She didn’t want to risk any close contact with the defenders and preferred to stay as far away as possible. Eventually Sakura found her way to the gate. She scaled its height with a hop and grabbed onto the edge, peaking over and scanning the area on the other side. Seeing some crates and some rubble to hide behind, and seeing how far away everyone was, she teleported to that spot and officially made it to the other side of the checkpoint.

”Hoooaah…watchaa…” Sakura made quiet, sneaky ninja noises to herself under her breathe proud of her stealthy accomplishment. She would follow the general direction of the Seekers, coordinating with Luka using Brain Talk to make sure the team didn’t get too separated.

World of Light

Karin Level 6: 57/60
Location: Quarantine Valley
Word Count: short
Points Gained: 1
New EXP Balance---

Karin Level 6: 58/60

---

Karin didn’t mean to steal any limelight, but her relatively tiny fists weren’t good for much other than capitalizing on weak points that she created with brute force, or that her teammates provided for her. ”Ah. Splendid. Another easy victory for the Seekers.” Karin clapped her hands together quietly.

When Giovanna showed up and invited them to pursue Jena, Karin cast a reluctant look over her shoulder at Quarantine Valley. Neuron was to be handling this, yes? That was the plan. In that case it made sense, she supposed, to go where the Seekers could do the most good by eliminating the most evil. Even with all her skill, she was only one woman, and the Seekers seemed to want to pursue their foe.

It didn’t quite sit right with her, even if she could easily rationalize the decision. Though she knew if Sakura was here, she would follow her heart without question. Karin stepped onto the nostalgic craft and followed the rest of the Seekers to their destination.
It was a two-for-one special. Neuron and Reunion tyrants, all worthy of a proper thrashing. Their allies had been turned against them, however, revealing the presence of a Consul member among them. Even better!

”Next time let’s abandon anyone who hasn’t been Friend Hearted, shall we?! They tend to be more trouble than they’re worth!” Karin shouted, rushing to Geralt’s side to help him deal with the powerful Penance. She had a shield that was protecting her, and it would extract its tax in blood and pain before it was broken.

Karin did her part, suffering the recoil damage and striking the shield with her palms and legs, and then jumping and dashing backward to try and avoid as much damage from Penance as possible. When Geralt took the lead again, Karin fired her grappling hook to a nearby metal plating on the railing and wrenched it free, pulling it towards her and then flinging it towards Penance in a single smooth motion.

World of Light

Karin Level 6: 56/60
Location: Quarantine Valley
Word Count: short
Points Gained: 596
New EXP Balance---

Karin Level 6: 57/60

---

Karin was caught off guard when Sandalphon decided they did not, in fact, have anything better to do, and fired away at Jena. ”Oh, wow!” And here she thought her beration was a big enough time waste already. She was, Karin supposed, a threat. But to be honest, she thought that Jena and Neuron and whoever else deserved each other.

Regardless, Karin prepared to act, only for a much, much bigger problem to make itself apparent. The massive Homunculus shattered the earth and made itself known.

”Ah, yes…this is something more along the lines that I had in mind. But…” Karin took a few steps backwards. She would need to think of something a little more clever. Engaging these abominations in CQC would be unwise, even if she could outmaneuver it, damaging it is more of a matter of timing.

For her, anyway! Her teammates got right to work, no timing needed. The thing was big and tanky but completely without support, and the Seekers were shredding it to pieces. Easier said than done, but Karin watched them lay on the damage from a safe distance, trying to find her moment to strike. And her strike would be made possible by how much the beast was softened up. Karin had difficulty with monsters in the past but she was starting to piece together what her role should be when facing them.

Karin avoided stray beams and shockwaves, grappling around the arena for a positional advantage. Geralt and Zenkichi faced it head on, Blazermate and Susie were support and damage. Everyone had a part to play. The legs were somewhat damaged at that point, maybe the heiress could work with that.

She ran her hand along a wall, feeling for its support point. As a student of architecture she had a feeling for such a thing- not the bricks that could be pulled apart but the metal beams that made up the ribs and skeleton of a building. When she found it, she punched into it and fired her grappling hook into the steel. ”Goldlewis!” Karin called out. She was standing across the way, the beast in front of and in between them.

She fired her line across, aiming at his coffin. ”Hold fast!” She shouted. Then she ascended to the top of the building with a quick series of pulls using her grappling hook.

Assuming Goldlewis and the building head fast as the beast was brought to stumble and charge towards the taut line held across the street. When it reached it, Karin hoped it would fall over, trip, or at least lose a single step so she could strike.

When the time was right Karin leapt from the roof, spun, and rotated, coming down like a falling knife, slicing through the air. She shot out her arm and attached a grapple line to the beast itself, and began to reel herself in at high speed, the wind whipping through her hair. She front flipped, grit her teeth, and then flung her body down feet first, arms crossed over herself, to puncture the top of the skull of the beast. It was unfortunate for such a refined noblewoman as herself to be stuck right into the viscera, but that was the cost of fighting with ones body and not with a weapon.

”Yaaah!” Karin yelled, coming down with her flying drill kick from above. It she had too, she could pull herself out and do a similar attack again, but she was hoping the beast would be weakened enough that this would seal the deal. At least stun it enough so that her teammates could do so.

World of Light

Karin Level 6: 55/60
Location: Quarantine Valley
Word Count: short
Points Gained: 1
New EXP Balance---

Karin Level 6: 56/60

---

Karin watched the screen and listened to Jena prattle on, her lip curling indignantly the longer she was forced to endure it. Finally she could suffer it in contemplative silence no longer. Especially when she said she was the only one who could stay afloat, as if she was not the one who brought the flood waters in the first place.

Treacherous snake! How dare she?! Anyone standing close enough to Karin would hear her whisper these words through clenched teeth. She had no idea she even said them.

”Join you? You must be delusional. You have poisoned the commoners you claim to protect for your own gain! Revolution. Hah!” Karin was a woman of immense privilege herself. And for a long time she abused that power for her own gain, and treated the people beneath her like garbage. It took a long time to crawl out of that hole and she hadn’t done it by herself, and in many ways she still had a long way to go. But if there was one advantage of her shaded past, it was knowing corruption when she saw it.

”As if Karen Travers and Seiran and yourself aren't of the same ilk that tyrannize this city. This is little but a glorified military coup. Despots clawing at despots while the innocent suffer. The people of Midgar will only be truly free when they hang the lot of you!” She shouted, impassioned. ”If we didn’t have better things to attend to, and if I wasn’t so sure you were plunging headlong into your timely demise already, I’d come up there and destroy you all myself.”

Jena’s callous, desperate arrogance had annoyed Karin greatly. She let out a breath and straightened up her posture, clearing her throat. Regathering her composure, she turned the next part of her words towards the Seekers. ”We shall remain here, and do what needs to be done; protect the people.” She said to them with a nod, knowing without a doubt her assertion about the Seekers intentions were true. Never would her noble cohorts align themselves with such a villain. It was a shame that as far as Karin knew, no one with power in the city had good intentions at heart. A great deal of suffering would be yet to come before the citizens reclaimed their agency and took back Midgar for themselves. In order to do that, they needed to be alive, and the Seekers had the strength and skill to do their part in making sure the community survived.

World of Light

Sakura Level 10: 15/100
Location: Suoh
Word Count: 1,277
Points Gained: 2
New EXP Balance--- Sakura Level 10: 24/100 +7

Sakura’s mouth had fallen open as she watched the message being played on the screen. It was a succinct call to action. ”Seems that way, Midna-san.I guess it’s up to the people.” Sakura said, eyes wide. ”But, wait, forget all that for a second. Raz-kun… what the heck happened with the guy and the knife and all that? Please?”

Still a little nervous about getting framed and almost killed for the murder, Raz was happy to oblige. "Uh, yeah, yeah, sure. I was...well, basically, we all got a proximity chat through Brain Talk from the Otherlobe. It was Zanotto, so we couldn't, you know, ignore it. Most of the Others were gone, and the fighting moved closer to the Shinra Building, but there were still some stragglers here and there. And those Septentrions made things even trickier. So we got split up, and I decided to rush to help Zanotto. I reached this courtyard just as he rushed out of this, like, side door? He saw me and ran over, carrying this heavy box he had cuffed to his wrist. He was super panicked, said he needed help getting out of here fast, and that someone was after him. The next second..."

Raz pantomimed a knife being driven into a back. "Shink. Blood everywhere. I couldn't see anyone, so I thought I thought someone shot him at first. I tripped in a panic, only to get grabbed by someone I couldn't see, then lifted onto my feet. Then he appeared. Tall, blonde, one eye red and one eye yellow. Black and red clothes, a Psych-OSF soldier. I swear I've seen him before, but I don't remember his name." Raz rubbed his head ruefully. "Joke's on me for not bothering to memorize everyone's names, I guess. Anyway, he said something like 'hate to do this to ya, but I've got places to be'. He pushed the knife into my hand, grabbed the box Zanotto was carrying, and ran away, turning invisible." The boy sighed. "Then you all showed up the next second. It all happened so fast, I was kind of in shock. Didn't even realize what it looked like at first."

Sakura took in the story with a sigh, rubbing the back of her head. So, it wasn't Raz, and if they ever see the murderer she'll have some very punchy questions to ask. "Seems like some spy stuff. I have no idea who that is.”

"Um...sorry about all that, by the way." Lili looked very embarassed as she walked over from where Zanotto's body had lain. "I really flew off the handle. I guess...you know, it'd been a really bad day already, I just snapped." She glanced at the orange cables encircling her clothes. "Maybe they shouldn't have picked me for BIAS after all. A Brain Field is way too much power. And it's an incredible rush. That stuff's dangerous."

Sakura nodded at Lili. "It's okay. I mean for me getting blown up, if that's what you meant. You thought your dad just died so...I can't even imagine." Sakura said sympathetically.

But she looked over at Raz out the corner of your eye. "A quick 'I didn't do it' couldn't have hurt, though."

"I know, I know! You were in shock. Sorry."

"...but still. Couldn't have hurt."

Raz looked defensive. "I did say I didn't do it!" In fact, he'd been in such a hurry to get that out as fast as possible that he'd tripped over his own tongue trying to say it. He crossed his arms. "Since we're, uh, apologizing though. I should say I'm sorry for running off and leaving you guys in that creepy hospital with that ghost. What the heck happened down there?"

"I didn't hear that. I heard 'oh gimme a second, oh, wait, hold on, just wait.'" Sakura opened up and closed her hand like it was a mouth, and made her voice more higher pitched.

"Oh, uh, the creepy hospital? There was a really bad guy down there who was stealing brains somehow. And I met two of my old squadmates who got freaking brainwashed. And the whole thing is like, on purpose, being done by Psych-OSF. So now we're wanted criminals because the bad guys are in charge." Sakura explained.

Letting the mimicry slide for now, Raz stared at Sakura with his mouth ajar. Lili seemed a little more composed, but she didn't quite manage to hide her horror, either. "You're not kidding? That's crazy!" Raz shook his head in disbelief. "Sounds like something Dr. Lobato would do. I guess you didn't find out how they're stealing them, or why?"

Sakura looked between the both of them and their horror. She got most of her horror out at the place itself, though.

"Uhh..." She scratched her head, recalling the details. "Something about a psychic pool, the psynet...the Brainframe? Just hundreds of brains all hooked up like a big computer. The scientist there was using them like batteries, I guess. More power." Sakura said.

"And the leftover bodies were turned into monsters, so...yeah." Sakura finished with a frown, puffing out her cheeks as she exhaled. "P-pretty bad. Pretty bad."

The two former Psychonauts couldn't help but concur. Without knowing more details about Brain Drain's lab, its nature was going to remain a mystery unless the group paid a visit, and the encounter with Anima by itself had been too much for Raz already.

In the silence that followed, Lili held up the spirit she'd taken from her father's body for a closer look. "I swear this guy looks familiar," she muttered, squinting at the individual pictured within the spirit. "Maybe I saw him somewhere around the Otherlobe? But he doesn't look like a soldier. What was this random spirit doing in my dad's body?" Her face scrunched up with discomfort, tears welling up in her eyes despite her fierce attempt to control them. "And what about my dad? Does this mean...he's..."

Sakura looked thoughtfully on at the spirit, wondering what he was up to, what his schemes were. Her face fell as Lili began to fear the worst.

"H-hey, y'know it- it doesn't mean anything." Sakura said. She tried to think of the advice Geralt gave to her.

"It just means people like and trust him so he'd be a good disguise. I'm sure he'll turn up if you don't find him first." Sakura said, trying to cheer her up.

Her vague assurances weren't all that effective, but it wasn't like Raz could offer much better. To her credit, Lili didn't break down blubbering, instead taking a deep breath and keeping as stiff an upper lip as she could manage. After all, she was a soldier. "That box you mentioned," she said to Raz. "Must be why that guy killed him. Or some personal vendetta, maybe. If dad, or...whoever that was, really was involved in all that shady stuff. Maybe he had it coming." She carefully withdrew a small hard case from her belt and placed the spirit inside. "Still. I won't rest until I get my answers."

"Well, good." Sakura said with a serious nod.

Sakura tuned back into the main conversation. "In the meantime, it looks like we’re heading to Arahabaki to find the Guardian."

"Arahabaki...it sounds japanese, but I have no idea what it means." Sakura mused.

"But if there’s nothing standing in our way anymore, we should get right too it." Sakura was ready to keep moving. "Probably gonna be a long trip though and I don’t know if we’re going to be able to easily rest in all the fighting…" Sakura thought aloud. "But there’s nothing for it. We have to try."

World of Light

Psychonauts’ Two - Sasha

Sakura’s @Zoey Boey, Pit’s @Yankee, Luka, Yuito, Hanabi
Word Count: 6,945
EXP + 7

Sakura took in everything she had seen while hunkering down against a projectile storm. Sasha could turn off Sclerokinesis, meaning relying on the ability was a non-starter. Sakura looked at Pit, they nodded to each other, and then they rushed at Sasha from the sides. She curved her run to come at him from a different angle from Pit. If she managed to reach, she leapt forward with a spinning kick to try and knock him forward, closer to the wall of fire.

On his opposite side, Pit closed in with the floating shields orbiting in a circle directly in front of him. Both orbitars fired bolts of energy at Sasha. The shots could hardly be compared to the man's wind bullets, but they were meant to provide some cover while he and the street fighter got within melee range.

When the new foes approached, Sasha promptly opened fire. Though he himself targeted Sakura, triple-shots hammering her in quick succession, Prism Break meant that a refracted barrage flew toward Hanabi and Pit as well. Those shots proved to be too much for the pyrokinetic’s fire wall and blew it out just as Hanabi partially Luka with a persimmon-flavored Medium Jelly. Sasha did not anticipate that the angel approaching in his peripheral vision would come packing something special. His wind bullets reflected off Pit’s orbitars and bounced right back to deal some damage. He stumbled briefly but collected himself to face the angel, not sure what had happened. As the orbitar bolts flew in he dodged away, then put his fingers to his head to nail Pit with a flurry of powerful psi-blasts.

Sakura had tried to dodge the shots aimed towards her, but getting clipped all she could do was try and find her footing and grimace as the triple-shots battered against her guard. In between shots she dashed and tried to move further to the side to continue to divide Sasha’s focus. When he turned to fire upon Pit, she figured this was as good a time as any. Sakura leapt forward, moving fast and bringing her arms up, and tried to slam Sasha from behind to knock him into the ground with a ranged Sakura Drop. Unfortunately for her, she hadn’t quite grasped the nature of his Prism Break ability. Even when he seemed to target Pit, Sasha’s refracted body fired toward her and Hanabi as well. Mid-attack, she got counterhit by the first refracted psi-blast and juggled by the rest. ”Bwah!” Hanabi only avoided a similar fate by forfeiting any attempt at offense and running sideways the moment she got Luka to his feet. Right now, it was Pit’s time to shine.

A boost of confidence from catching Sasha off guard brought a small grin to the angel's face. He continued forward in doggedly pursuing Sasha, knowing that so long as he could see the Septentrion's attacks he could dodge, block, or reflect them. But because the Orbitars were so highly defense oriented, once he did get in close he'd have to assume some risk and quick swap to another weapon for the best chance to actually deal some damage and leave him open for their close range specialist to move in too. Even if the man fought with his mind, Pit doubted Sasha would go down that easily under a physical assault from just the Orbitars - after all he was slinging around those two big weapons.

Pit evaded the first couple psi-blasts, waiting until he was a little closer to reflect the psychic beams back to their originator. Staggering the man again would be great, but if he could just make him think twice about firing due to the bounce back it would be enough for Pit to close the gap with a burst of speed. His trusty Upperdash Arm would be able to give Sasha a taste of his own medicine and pop him into the air for follow up attacks while simultaneously giving Pit a moment's worth of protection, so long as he didn't miss.

As Pit approached, he narrowly evaded a few psi-blasts, and while Sasha’s excellent aim meant that the angel took a couple as well, those were hardly enough to stop him. This time, Sasha got the full scoop on how exactly Pit managed to shoot him, not to mention a faceful of his own psychic bolts when the orbitars returned them to sender. He stopped shooting, momentarily at a loss while Pit closed the gap. For a brief moment he thought he saw an opening as his foe sped through the final stretch, but when he leveled the barrel of his manacaster at Pit, his target armored straight through the spread shot to launch him off his feet and into the air. “Ugh!”

Seeing the chance, Hanabi skidded to a stop near Sakura in a cloud of flame rather than dust, her eyes landing on the spot where Yuito had fallen. Back on his feet, Luka blinked over to take hold of Yuito and teleport him to safety, but using Brain Talk the injured psionic sent a message Hanabi’s way. ”Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. Seize this opportunity!”

Hanabi nodded, her face serious and determined. “Let’s go!” she cried, charging forth alongside the street fighter to join her for a tag-team combo on Sasha.

”Iku yo!” Sakura shouted, her headband trailing behind her. I’ll go high and send him down! She informed the pyrokinetic Hanabi.

Sakura leapt high into the air to meet Sasha before he could recover. She delivered a swift barrage of punches and kicks to various parts of Sasha’s body, each one causing them to almost float in the air just a bit longer. When she felt gravity begin to take purchase after a few strikes, she flipped and slammed Sasha down towards Hanabi, hoping she had something special waiting for him down there. The psionic did not disappoint, whirling around in a miniature hurricane of flame to deliver a home-run slam that didn’t just ignite Sasha, but also throw him dozens of feet down the street.

The Upperdash Arm had faded away by the time Pit came to join the girls, letting out an excited "Yes!"

As Sasha’s momentum petered out he recovered in the air to land on his feet with the help of Levitation. It would take more than one big combo to knock him out, but this was a good start. Hanabi realized the bigger problem when her focus shifted from the Septentrion to the war machine behind him.

By now, the Sectopod had more than enough time to turn back around. Narrow lateral vents had opened along its hull to give off steam as its internals cooled down from using its Wrath Cannon, but it was still very much in action. While the Seekers scrambled to catch Sasha, it adopted a high stance, towering almost twice as high and boosting its aim. The moment it had a shot, it opened fire with three crimson plasma bursts from its top-mounted blaster, one for each of the three. In the heat of the moment, Hanabi hadn’t noticed the threat until it was too late and wasn’t ready to dodge - but nearby, her angelic ally was just quick enough to pick up the slack. He had the means to prevent another vicious volley like the one that had downed Roxas and nearly himself earlier, so with a beat of his wings he pushed just ahead of Sakura and Hanabi. "Not this time!"

The Guardian Orbitars glowed brightly and projected the giant winged shield of their charge shot. This one couldn't reflect, only protect, but it was wide enough to cover both girls and Pit himself. The plasma shots broke apart against the shimmering energy wall, rocking the projection but unable to shatter it. A few seconds later the shield dropped, and Pit's arms along with them when he'd thrust them forward with the Orbitars. He was sweating from the exertion so soon after the wounds he'd so recently taken, but the three of them were unharmed from the assault and could continue after their target.

Hanabi swallowed. Her heart was pounding, and she’d be lying if she said her knees weren’t a little weak. With the damage she’d already taken, she might have been toast. But for the moment, she was safe. “Th-thank you!” she squeaked before clearing her throat, trying to regain her composure.

Sakura lowered her arms, the oncoming plasma beams having caught her by surprise as well. ”Ah! Thank you, Pit-kun!” She said, grabbing his shoulder reassuringly. The magic must have been taking its toll on him. ”Do you think you can keep that up?” It was a question worth considering.

"Not constantly," he replied, giving the girl a quick smile to let her know he was alright. "but I've got a couple more in me!"

Sakura nodded, turning her back on the Sectopod to focus on Sasha. Charging up a more powerful but slower hadoken, she launched it towards the psychonaut and followed behind it. It would block some shots thrown her way and hopefully give her some free space. If he moved to get around it, she could just readjust accordingly. Then she afforded a glance over her shoulder to keep an eye on the Sectopod and what it was aiming at. A dangerous game, splitting her attention like this. It made her sweat.

Sasha used SAS to activate Levitation. He flew up into the air, well out of the hadoken’s range. Prism Break had timed out at some point, so the refractory effect around him was gone, which he naturally knew better than anyone. While he had all the stacks of Enemy Insight he needed to make Dirge Shot a pulverizing deathblow, he needed to land some more attacks to charge that skill again. His manacaster floated out of his hands and took the place of his giant crossbow on his back, which itself floated into his hands. Done with close quarters for now and ready to snipe, he activated his second skill, Sunpiercer. His new weapon began to refract, and when he fired the harpoon-like bolt at Sakura, a second one shot at Pit.

Sakura was ready for it, watching the magic weapon aim at her. When he let the bolt loose, she sidestepped it and preemptively blocked any area of effect while its twin struck one of Pit's sturdy orbitars, falling to the ground. She looked up at him, tilting her head back, mouth falling open as she worked her brain to think of a way to get up to him. He just started to reload.

Of course, part of what enabled Sasha to assume a less aggressive fighting style was the threat of the Sectopod. After only a few seconds, it was ready to fire again. That was when Luka’s voice cut through the chaos of the battlefield to enter Sakura and Hanabi’s minds with Brain Talk. ”Watch closely.” The captain teleported across the street in a series of blinks, his final jump putting himself right next to one of the Sectopod’s legs. He transferred his momentum into a huge smash into the walker’s armored ankle, then ignited his Weight Hammer in Hanabi’s flames and brought it down on the huge metal foot. Whipping around, he dealt one final blow to the Sectopod’s other leg before teleporting away again, and a second later the Sectopod unleashed a flash of lightning in a circular field around its legs. With that out of the way, it began targeting the Seekers again, only for Luka to reappear and stub its toes once more. He promptly fled before the war machine could shock him, disappearing into a hiding spot to recharge his Teleportation while he helped the others fill in the blanks.

”I’ve fought alongside Sectopods before. They’re designed to electrocute anything that gets into the blind spot directly beneath it. However, they can only execute three attack commands in quick succession, so each shock is a shot it can’t take.” He paused for a moment while the Sectopod used its last action, firing at the car he was hiding behind. With it primed to explode, Luka started running, but he continued transmitting as he did. ”I have one other idea. We can try teleporting above it to take out its blaster. We’ll need to coordinate it though, and we’ll get shot if we try it while Sasha’s on overwatch.”

”Okay!” Hanabi replied back.

’That sounds like a plan!’ Sakura chimed in. They needed Sasha distracted, and Sakura was right underneath him. But she wasn’t sure she was best for the job of air-to-air combat. With a frustrated little sigh as she ran around the battlefield, she turned and ran back towards the Sectopod. She sped along the street, the big robot growing in her field of vision. With a leaping spin kick, she aimed to slam into one of its knees with both her feet. ”Hiyah!”] She yelled. Bending her knees from the impact she pushed away, back flipped, and looked to see if that had successfully triggered a shock from the robot. Her success was confirmed when her hair began to float and get staticky, the electricity gathering beneath the bot before it shocked the entire area. Sakura circled around it, keeping it having to circle, dashed in, kicked at its knee joint and then dashed back out. While she worked at this important but repetitive task, avoiding the occasional deadly stomp, she kept an eye on the battle with Sasha to see when he was distracted so she could target the cannons with the others.

”Alright, I’m babysitting this big ugly robot, go get him!” She reported over Brain Talk.

Though not quite privy to the plan, Pit was aware enough to recognize what his allies were doing. If they had something in mind to deal with the robot, then he would keep his focus on the Septentrion. So it was that while the Sectopod was being engaged, Pit took the fight to Sasha once again. "Here we go!"

He couldn't fly, but at least he could use his wings to get up high. He leapt up, beat his wings and kept going up in what amounted to a triple jump. The Orbitars still circled around him, firing at their target while ready to protect their user. This time his goal was to get a hand on Sasha, bring him down onto a more even playing ground, and surged towards the man with that in mind.

Sasha instinctively aimed the tip of his newly-loaded crossbow bolt at Pit when the angel rose up to meet him, but he didn’t fire. Instead he focused on evasion, dashing through the air. Those orbitars were a big issue. One might say the only issue. The spectacular aim and overabundant output of Psych-OSF’s Septentrion Third Class could spell the end for almost anyone, but a projectile reflector was a hard counter. Oh well–maybe it would be fun to put in some real effort for once.

Simultaneously, he used SAS to activate Sabrina’s Psycho-ergokinesis and Will’s Precognition. He began by using Future Sight, foretelling an attack that would befall Pit in twenty seconds on the dot. Then he let go of his crossbow with one hand and thrust his palm forward, emitting a heavy force wave with Psychic. This wasn’t a projectile; just raw motive force. He was interested to see how this experiment would turn out.

In response the Orbitars ceased their fire and came together in front of Pit. They didn't bounce the psychic wave back, but their divine protection blocked Pit from damage and even from being pushed. It also slowed his own momentum considerably, resulting in the angel falling short. He grabbed onto a light post on his way back down, swinging himself up on top of it and getting ready to try again. He couldn't let up lest the man interfere with Luka's plans to take down the Sectopod. And... if Sasha was playing defense, then he might be able to get away with switching to something a little more offensive. Maybe even take the man by surprise again by quick-summoning the Orbitars into being this time.

It could work, but it could also fail spectacularly. Without Lady Palutena's risk assessment, Pit quickly made his choice. Nothing ventured, nothing gained!

He felt he had to take the chance that the Septentrion would try and focus on the opponent in front of him rather than those battling the Sectopod. Pit fired off a few more shots from the Orbitars at Sasha for a little cover, then switched over completely to his bow. As one weapon faded away and the other faded into existence, Pit leapt towards Sasha again. The bow should work - its arrows faster and stronger, its reach longer, and since he wouldn't be caught in the slow effect he could still use angel ring for some last ditch defense if he really needed to. Pit drew the drawstring back and fired, the arrow of light already tracking its target. The angel himself followed soon behind, ready to bring the man to ground.

Sasha hung in the air while Pit broke his fall and gathered himself up for another go. If he wasn’t moving, his stock of borrowed Levitation power decreased at a negligible rate, so he calmly loomed above the battlefield to take stock of his experiments’ results. As expected, the orbitars couldn’t reflect a wall of force, but it looked like those wings of Pit’s weren’t much good for actually flying. The Septentrion cataloged that factoid and readied himself for round two. When more shots flew up toward him he kept moving, steadily hovering just fast enough to outpace the divine volley. When his opponent changed weapons, Sasha found himself intrigued. Why would Pit trade out the orbitars that had already proved themselves rather effective against his own abilities? Once fired the arrow homed in on Sasha tightly, and while he didn’t manage to dodge it, it dealt low enough damage that he could focus on cutting short Pit’s ascent. What a novel concept. He took hold of his crossbow with both hands and fired–not a crossbow bolt, but a single psi-blast from his forehead, fast enough that Pit might not notice the difference until it was too late.

A veteran despite his youthful looks, Pit reacted swiftly and simply. He saw something headed his way and flicked the bow in his hands to deflect it. Whether it was a physical, elemental, or psychic attack, Pit was sure that heavenly material could handle it. The psi-blast in flight curved slightly to miss his weapon, not unlike his own arrow, and strike Pit instead. A brief moment later, Future Sight took effect, dropping a payload of psychic energy directly on top of the angel like a huge sack of flour.

"Guh!" The psi-blast he could have powered through, and fully intended to, but the mysterious sudden force sent Pit plummeting to the ground again. He bounced when he hit the pavement face first, that impact snapping him back into action. He was on his feet again faster than one could blink, wiping the blood that dripped from his nose while his face burned hot with embarrassment.

That was a cheap shot! He thought, having fallen for the invisible, unknown sucker punch of an attack completely. But more than that, the sight of the Septentrion just floating up there... Stupid PK levitation... If I could fly on my own, this would be a totally different fight!

But he couldn't just stand there and seethe. He was fine sticking to the role of defending if he had to, really he was. He'd learned a little while fighting together with Giovanna, so he knew he didn't have to try and handle the bulk of a fight on his own. Still, he'd wanted to at least try and soften Sasha up more for when the others were done with the Sectopod. To keep him busy but also deal damage... Pit needed a totally new kind of weapon.

Pit Level Up

New Power: Violet Breaking Palm.
Another divine weapon initially appearing as a whirling rainbow orb, the palm allows its user to harness their own life energy in the palm of their hand, conjuring projectiles with the best homing and rapid fire capabilities of any of Pit's arsenal. When summoned it replaces Pit's currently equipped weapon and the orb is absorbed into his skin, appearing as a colorful glowing tattoo on his right arm and hand. It has the ability to fire near constant barrages of homing shots like arcs of light, limited only by Pit's stamina as it draws on his vitality to do so. The shots don't do much damage individually, relying on quantity of hits, but they do more damage the closer they are to the target and the energy can be combined into one much larger, stronger shot by charging or dashing. It also boosts the power of Pit's melee attacks, particularly palm strikes.

The Palutena Bow in his hand disappeared, gold sparkles falling to the ground. In its place a bright, shimmery rainbow orb of energy, the Violet Palm, was willed into being. Pit raised his right arm, hand open as the orb was absorbed into the center of his own palm. The rainbow aura wrapped around his entire limb, staining his skin from fingertips to shoulder with colorful, glowing ribbons.

This was a pleasant surprise. How much of his old divine arsenal could he summon if he just wished really hard? Regardless, Pit grinned and took aim.

"Just what I needed!" The colors of the tattoos surged, and from the center of Pit's palm a fusillade of prismatic energy shot out, converging toward Sasha all at once with speed rivaling that of his light arrows.

Just as Sasha geared up to take Pit down with a psychic barrage, the angel pulled out something new from his bag of tricks. Rather than be impetuous he paused to see exactly what form the weapon would take, and what Pit unveiled did not disappoint. “Hm.” The Septentrion began to move, dashing through the air to avoid the barrage. This was quite the bullet storm, but the sky was vast; he knew he’d be able to avoid it as long as his Levitation held. Which wasn’t much longer. He could see the SAS gears for his entire squad in his mind’s eye, and Milla’s Levitation was almost out from all his aerial maneuvers. Precognition and Psycho-ergokinesis were dwindling too, so Sasha switched them all off so they’d start recovering faster. Of course, the moment he hit the ground, this fight was on for real.

Once he switched back to his manacaster and engaged Prism Break, the dance began, filling the street with divine rays and roaring winds. Pit and Sasha ducked, dodged, and swerved like hummingbirds in flight just above the ground, belting out an absurd amount of shots that polluted the area with magic. Neither could avoid them all, and nor could they really tell how much it was working on one another, so they both kept at it, confident they could wear their opponents down before they themselves succumbed. While their shootout couldn’t be called ‘tame’ from the get-go, the party got even crazier as both gradually moved closer and closer, as both their weapons grew stronger at close range.

It was an intimidating display, a veritable tornado of fireworks almost impossible to get into, but Hanabi knew she needed to help. As hard as it was to tell, it looked like Prism Break might be giving Sasha the advantage. With only one opponent in range, each triple-shot turned into nine all aimed at Pit, and since they could hit no other targets they all received a damage boost on hit. She couldn’t just sit on the sidelines, and despite the danger, she had an idea. Borrowing Yuito’s Psychokinesis, she seized a large street sign and brought it to the ground. Once she jumped on, she tried lifting the sign beneath her to fly into the air, but in her haste and unfamiliarity she couldn’t get the thing off the ground. “Urgh, come on!” she grumbled, stomping the sign.

“Here, let me help.” A certain hand fell on Hanabi’s shoulder, her face reddening as she realized who it was. She turned to see her childhood friend climbing onto the sign behind her. “You can’t force it. Why don’t we work together.”

“Yuito!” Hanabi couldn’t help but smile, though she also looked a little worried. “Aren’t you still hurt?”

He shook his head. “I’m fine. Besides, if we can’t help our friends through this, it won’t matter if I spent a few more seconds resting. Let’s do this!”

“Let’s!” Applying their Psychokinesis together, the two floated into the air atop their street sign. It began to fly through the air like Gisu’s hoverboard, the weighty object quickly picking up speed. After a moment it soared into the divine windstorm, soaking up stray projectiles with the sign’s underside. Sasha was so laser-focused on solidifying his victory in the firefight that he didn’t notice the soldiers flying in until it was too late–and it smacked him right in the shoulder, bowling him over with a grunt.

With the projectile storm on pause, Pit's allies could get a more clear view of him. He was littered with the evidence of Sasha's Wind Bullets and their effectiveness; his chiton torn near to shreds, leathers scuffed, and body wind scorched. Raw, red wounds dotted his form. There was a particularly painful throbbing in his wings where he'd been hit, unable to keep them completely protected, and he was so out of breath that it looked like he might double over at any moment. Stubbornly he stayed upright.

"Nice going!" he gasped, sucking in a breath of air at the same time. Pit let the energy in his Palm coalesce and moved in. "I've got him!"

Pit wasn't a master martial artist, he much preferred his ranged weaponry to anything else, but he was a soldier and he knew his basics. Not to mention the Violet Palm was uniquely suited to this kind of "unarmed" combat. First, an angled strike, not unlike a beast attacking with its claws. A quick follow up with the back of his knuckles let him pull his arm back only to thrust forward again in an open palm attack that poured the divine weapon's gathered power into it.

Sakura dodged a stomp and rolled through the legs of the Sectopod and stood behind it. ”Are we ready to take this thing out?!” She asked in Brain Talk.

“It’s now or never!” Luka replied.

Sakura leapt on top of the Sectopod, there being a long half-second as she pinwheeled her arms as she ascended. But she managed to land, grabbing onto the top with an exhale. She eyed the troublesome cannon from the side. Clambering up, she grabbed onto the top of the cannon for balance and began slamming her fist into the futuristic steel. There was a dent and a few resounding bongs, but Sakura pulled her fist away and shook her wrist, wincing.

In a flash Luka had teleported up beside her. Rather than try to push his small frame against the blaster, he ignited his Weight Hamer with Hanabi’s Pyrokinesis and attacked the weapon itself. “Just hit the stupid thing!” The weapon itself was a lot more delicate than its mount. Unfortunately, they’d made less-than-stellar use of precious seconds. Recognizing the atypical behavior at last, the Sectopod began to withdraw its blaster to seal it in its compartment, preventing further attack. With a grunt of frustration Luka made the call, jamming his hammer into the mechanism to halt its movement–at least until his weapon broke. He activated Psychokinesis to reach for anything he could use to strike the blaster with, but right now it was on Sakura to make this moment count.

”I’m gonna try something!” Sakura yelled. The problem was she didn’t have the leverage or balance to really lay into this thing like she normally would. Sakura had enough stored power for an EX-move or two. Time to put it to use. She crouched and eyed a small gap between the cannon itself and the chassis. Grabbing onto the gun with one hand, she pulled her other fist back. ”Midare Zakura!” Modifying her uppercut she slammed her fist into that gap and then wrenched it upwards. For a moment she almost vibrated as she pulled against the cannon. Then she flew up into the air as she pried it off, the cannon flying high into the sky. Flailing in mid-air, she used Mental Connection to attach herself to Luka and pull herself back onto the top of the Sectopod.

Thanks to the pair’s combined efforts, but especially Sakura’s flashy finale, sparks flew and the Sectopod staggered as if in pain. ”...Critical damage to secondary weapon. Secondary weapon inoperable,” its deep mechanical voice confirmed. Of course, that was only the beginning of the walker’s problems while multiple bogeys remained perched atop its chassis. The Sectopod wasn’t built to emulate a bucking bronco, but there were ways that its artificial intelligence could try and salvage a situation like this. Turning ninety degrees, the Sectopod started moving toward the nearest building. It quickly covered the distance thanks to the huge stride of its high stance and showed no signs of stopping.

“Time to bail!” Loathe as he was to abandon his weapon, Luka wanted to get smashed through a solid wall even less. After a final fruitless tug of his hammer’s exposed shaft, he teleported away.

”Crap crap crap! Sakura yelled, and joined him, leaping away into the air before teleporting herself down far away from the ground. The next moment the Sectopod banked and slid into the brick facade of a three-story craft brewery, hard enough to send anyone still standing on it into the wall. Of course, the Sectopod could easily just walk through the building if it wanted, but the Septentrions’ directive had been clear: property damage at an absolute minimum.

Meanwhile, Sasha had picked himself up off the ground. It had been a while since he’d hit the pavement like this; Pit’s assault following his allies’ interference wounded his pride as much as it did his body. Still, a Septentrion could take much more than that, and Sasha wasn’t about to lose his cool. He had five foes to work through here, and couldn’t spend any more time on this one. “Hmph.” Letting go of his manacaster, he activated Brain Drive, and as his hood popped up to veil his face in shadow he put both index fingers to his head. Immediately a psi-bolt surged forth, split into three by Prism Break. Two of them shot in the direction of Hanabi and Yuito, who were in the middle of recovering after their shared spill, but Sasha assumed direct control. All three curved toward Pit, snaking through the air at high speed. Tuckered out and with Palm still equipped, it was all Pit could do to try and avoid them, but it was no use. They chased down his dodges, confounded his blocks, and bypassed his attempt to reflect by curving around the quick-summoned orbitars. After an all-too-brief moment they converged and hit home, each boosted by 225% percent and converted to physical damage. Pit got launched and comboed in the air by subsequent hits, and just when it seemed to be over Sasha sealed the deal with a bolt from his crossbow. Prism Break had just run out, but Sasha was still armed and dangerous.

Yuito and Hanabi ran in, their weapons ready to beat Sasha down before he could shoot them first. The Septentrion seemed to read their mind, however, and practically the second they both activated Sclerokinesis, Sasha dispelled it. “Karmic Quietus!” The next instant a psi-blast shot out Yuito’s leg from under him, bringing him down hard.

“Yuito!” Hanabi cried, turning to look at him. Almost immediately she took a psi-blast to the gut, doubling her over, followed by one the jaw. She went slack-jawed and saw stars, barely even feeling it when she hit the ground beside her friend. The air behind Sasha distorted, and Luka teleported in to grapple him from behind. He grabbed hold and strained with all his strength, but to his dismay the strength he’d spent so long trying to cultivate in his tiny body wasn’t enough. Sasha held firm and fired two psi-blasts that arced around and struck Luka in the back, prompting him to release his hold with a gasp. The Septentrion whirled around with a backfist, then calmly reloaded his crossbow and fired it point-blank. Luka hurtled backward, struck a trash can that bowled him over, and did not rise.

By that time Yuito had picked himself up to one knee, cradling Hanabi in his arms. She just groaned, completely dazed. Without a word, Sasha levitated his manacaster again and took it in his left hand, the crossbow in his right as he used his mind to put a new bolt in its place. Just one foe left standing.

At that moment, however, he heard one word that shattered his composure. Sasha. Letting go of his weapons, he whipped around and fixed his gaze on the fallen woman down the street, over whom Midna and her flygon were looming. An ice-cold hand gripped his heart. He and Milla were unstoppable together, but they’d fought separately, their trust in one another complete. Now, though, he realized he’d made a critical mistake. “MILLA!” he bellowed, breaking into a headlong sprint. His weapons floated after him as he sped away, his speed boosted by Levitation–the one thing that told him that his beloved Milla was still alive.

That left just the Sectopod against Sakura, Pit, and the Psych-O soldiers. It also realized what was going on, and ran to position itself in between Sasha and his opponents to make sure that he could make it to Milla safely. ”Assuming point position,” it said, shifting to low stance. Its Wrath Cannon, the only ranged weapon it had left, began to charge. ”Hurry, commander.”

Sakura’s jaw dropped, watching several of Luka’s platoon including Luka himself be down for the count. Sasha was distracted, though, after that. Breathing elevated, Sakura stared down what was still her primary target- the Sectopod. It began to charge up its big one, the one it already fired. ”There’s nothing for it, Pit-kun! We gotta!”

The street fighter ran straight on. She used Teleport to cover the rest of the distance, and then slammed her foot into the knee joint of the Sectopod. Dropping onto one leg she spun, flashing orange and blue as she did a low, sliding spin kick into the very same joint, before punishing it even more with a final straight kick. In her desire to interrupt its cannon, she didn’t relent, kicking and punching and trying to break this thing's leg to get it to cancel its Wrath Cannon. ”Can we knock it onto its back?! Watch for the zappy!” She exclaimed. If they could get it pointed skyward the blast would do nothing!

After Pit picked himself back up, he let out a vague little noise of agreement. With no real support or healing to offer, getting back into action as quickly as possible was the only thing he could do to help. The tattoos on his arm faded away, though for a moment nothing replaced them. Pit blinked, refocusing - it just took an extra second or two. Right now he determined the best thing he could do was to bring the Guardian Orbitars back into play. If they couldn't disable the Sectopod, at the very least he could stop its cannon fire... assuming his shield held.

It will hold, he told himself, and then launched himself forward to join Sakura's attempts to topple the machine. If she, Luka, Yuito, and Hanabi destabilized it, he might be able to give it the final push to knock it over using the same heavy uppercut that he had when first breaking through Sasha's attacks. Until the chance came up the orbitars fired upon any of the Sectopod’s perceived weak spots, ready to defend against its cannon if their gambit failed.

Despite its damage and its lack of options, the Sectopod held off against the nimble fighters as best it could. By pre-charging its electric pulse and then bringing a foot down with a stomp, it could take its shockwaves to its opponents, but it met with only limited success. Sakura (who could take more hits) fought offensively, while the rest (who could not) helped out more conservatively, spread out enough so that even if a giant laser blazed their way, it couldn’t erase them all. This was a dangerous game, after all, and it had reached its final round. Between Sakura’s attacks and the psionics’ thrown objects, damage to the walkers’ legs mounted, their armor weakened. Its Wrath Cannon was its last chance. It stepped back, its targeting lasers locking on to Sakura, and braced itself.

”Firing main cannon.”

”Oops.”

The huge beam illuminated the street once more, breaking the fog of war with a crimson dawn.

Sakura’s form was completely consumed by the light as she stuck out her hands and turned her head away, squeezing her eyes shut.

"Sakura!" Seeing the Sectopod focus on her, Pit banked in her direction with the orbitars stretched as far from his body towards her as they would go. He hadn't expected it to fire on someone so close to itself, so he was farther away from the girl than he should have been. Now it looked like his shields wouldn't make it in time to cover her.

When the light cleared, she was laying on her back much farther away from the Sectopod than she was before. She opened one eye and rolled onto her side with a groan. Her whole body was stinging. It was hard to breathe, and she certainly couldn’t take another hit like that. But on the whole… ”That’s…not even the biggest giant laser I’ve been hit by.” Sakura said, genuinely surprised she was still conscious. She was thinking it would be worse than Ryu’s Shinku Hadoken, but in reality it wasn’t even as powerful. If she had the meter for it she probably could have clashed with it with a Shinku Hadoken of her own and tied, or even come out on top.

”I-I’m okay! I really thought that would be a lot worse!” She exclaimed with a nervous laugh. ”Just gimme a second.” She began to push herself to her feet. If she had just face tanked it, she’d probably be down until Round Two as it were. Instead, though, she had used her defensive ki to block it.

It was a surprise, and a huge relief, to see that the street fighter was alright. Well, maybe not a total surprise; she was one tough cookie after all. Still, her laugh broke the tension, and so Pit turned back to the Sectopod. "Okay then," the angel said, taking a deep breath. "Let's finish this thing off already!"

He led the charge while Sakura recovered, moving in with the Upperdash Arm and ready to smash the thing apart. With its limited arsenal, the Sectopod couldn’t do much to stop it. The Upperdash Arm crashed into its leg strong enough to momentarily destabilize the walker, proving the the damage levied against it earlier was adding up. It then went for an electric shock to try and capture the angel in a defensive blast of lightning. It was only the fact that he knew what was coming thanks to Luka's earlier demonstrations that Pit could avoid the electricity in his fatigued state. He hopped back twice, getting out of the lightning's range. With the Sectopod standing in one place and unsteady, he didn't have to worry much about missing with his Arm either - so once the electric field petered out he repeated the motion, this time dashing in and jumping up to smash the robot's main chassis, where he hoped some control center would be close to frying.

Sakura re-emerged from behind and spun forward with an EX-Tatsu, slashing three times into the back of the bot's leg before slamming into it with a mighty straight kick. ”Seyah!”

Thanks to their combined efforts, the two managed to close it out. Impaired motor functions meant that the Sectopod couldn’t mitigate the damage to its legs for long, and after a little more punishment, the walker’s limbs buckled beneath the weight of the chassis. It hit the ground hard, cracking the asphalt of the street. For a brief moment it just lay there. The fight was over, as it could no longer mount an assault. There was only one thing left it could do.

”Forgive me, commander.”

The Sectopod’s red lights began to blink as its five-second self-destruction sequence began.

“Get away from it, now!” Luka yelled hoarsely, his voice uncharacteristically panicked.

”Yup!” Blinking red lights always meant a bomb. Sakura promptly booked it and then dove away, covering the back of her head. Letting the Arm fade from his own, Pit also retreated. He turned to watch the explosion from a safe distance, shading his eyes with one hand as the force pushed hot air out around it.

Now that they were both clear of the explosion, Sakura sat up. ”Phew!” She rose to standing, and then lifted her hand to Pit for a high-five which the angel enthusiastically obliged.

Before moving onto rejoin the others, Sakura scratched her head and looked upon the ruins of the Sectopod. She didn't expect for it to talk to itself... Sakura looked away and moved on.

World of Light

Karin Level 6: 54/60
Location: Quarantine Valley
Word Count: short
Points Gained: 1
New EXP Balance---

Karin Level 6: 55/60

---

”A redshift cascade..? Oh, no.” Karin shut her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. ”Disaster all around us, set in motion long before we ever got here. We’ll have to keep moving.” Karin said to herself, before following the others in their pursuit of Iron.

Karin’s grapple hook meant she could traverse the city easily and fluidly enough, swinging and zipping herself from point A to point B. This gave more room for the others to move through. Unfortunately it was all for not, as they discovered Iron’s corpse instead of her living self. Karin lowered her eyes and looked away.

”All that effort, and for what? Only more questions.” She said, as a camera led allowed them the briefest glimpse of what was going on behind the scene.

”Corruption indeed.” Karin said. Quietly pleased with herself at that one.
With that, the disaster unfolded further, and the Seekers were drawn into conflict once again. This time, against odd looking monstrosities from the Astral Plane, and coming to the aid of two members of the authority. ”A Kanzuki never falters.” She reminded herself as she hopped into yet another battle in rapid succession.

”I possess the fortitude for ninety-seven more battles succeeding this one before my fighting abilities begin to degrade. Barely have we even scratched the surface!” Karin boasted before jumping into battle.

Karin found herself taking up a role of distracting and engaging the enemy directly while her allies supported and finished them off. She fought alongside Geralt (but not too closely) and snap kicked the knees of her enemy to slow them down. The enemies were powerful and in sufficient number and stature to begin to pose a threat.

”No match for us! Mindless beasts.” Karin taunted, and knew that a reaffirmation from a powerful warrior such as herself would boost the spirits of her allies as well. She dodged another lunge and knocked the protolegion onto its back for her allies to finish off while she parried another clawed strike with her forearm. This one was already damaged, so Karin dispatched of it herself with a series of flashy EX-Palm Strikes to send it scattering across the battlefield.

”Now,” She sought to answer Geralt’s question. ”We must continue to pursue this elusive white rabbit.” But before she spoke further, she eyed Penance and Vigil. It was unsafe to talk strategy with them nearby.

”Well, the battle has passed, for now. Does this mean it is time to resume petty politics?” She asked sarcastically.

World of Light

Karin Level 6: 53/60
Location: Astral Plane -> Midgar
Word Count: short
Points Gained: 1
New EXP Balance---

Karin Level 6: 54/60

---

Karin finished off the last Voidranger, and her allies succeeded in their respective battles, though not without some minor drama between Geralt and Goldlewis. Sakura had mentioned it in their travels- the trouble of absorbing a powerful boss spirit. ”My understanding is that someone had to do it, lest the monster revive at a later date. Fusing with it grants power, but it’s also a sacrifice.” Karin said. She was far too attached to her charming good looks to ever lose them to a fusion.

Regardless, it was time to fetch Iron. They found her, and an exit, and a very large monster with no reason, or means, to fight it. ”Toodles!” They hopped through the door.

Karin looked at Iron, like she was going to start talking, but when Iron spoke the heiress seemed unamused. ”I suppose her time in the astral sea was quite traumatic. To be perfectly honest I expected someone a little more coherent.”
Karin was even less impressed by Kyle’s logic. ”You cannot be serious. You intend to kill us? If you’re so eager for a second beating, then by all means I shall oblige-” Karin was cut off and surprised like the others when many of the hermits began to redshift.

”Oh, my.” Karin watched, suppressing her horror to get into a fighting position as Geralt chased after Iron.

Bernavas came at her once more, but it was not the swordsman she just defeated. He moved with greater speed and strength than before, catching Karin off guard and slashing her across the torso. With a cry she flew backwards and back rolled to her feet. Bernavas came at her again, and she jumped over the swing, kicking him in the back of the head as she did. While she expected him to try something different, he just lunged at her, swinging as hard and as fast as he could. Over and over and over again. There was no grace, no strategy, no thought. A mindless beast, ravaged by the redshift.

Karin’s face darkened as she became accustomed to Bernavas’ new pattern, countering and punishing his strikes every time. Her palms smashed him away and he came screaming in only to be countered and smashed away. The fight would have been boring if it wasn’t for the pit of dread in her stomach.

Karin parried a follow-up strike, sent his sword flying, and delivered a swift barrage of EX-palm strikes. Bernavas crumpled against the wall and she delivered the finishing blow, a cracking kick to the neck. Steely-eyed, she watched as he turned to dust and ash.

It was a mercy. And he was too dangerous to be left alive- innocent civilians were only a block away. Her only regret was, ironically, giving him a Friend Heart too early. In that way, she had accidentally condemned him to his death. Countenance grim, she turned to battle the remaining aberrations and protect her allies.

Nomadic Odyssey: Find Your Heart

Beatriz vs Selena

_{The One where Lesbians are Punching Each Other}

---

Bea was still in her fighting gear from the last bout. She was nervous, and not doing a very good job of hiding it. Her face was stern but her breathing was elevated and she was nearly bouncing on her feet. Doubt had crept into her and she was doing everything to hold it at bay. Logically speaking she knew this opponent would be much more difficult than her previous one, and she had barely won that fight. On the other hand, she was probably stronger than she was before, right? She had to tell herself that. She let out a breath, sighing, and stood in the arena, making sure her gloves were secure.

Selena was the very definition of confidence when she walked out into the arena. Her head was held high, she walked with perfect serenity, and she could not help but look at the cute, scruffy opponent as though she had already won the match. Most of Selena’s body was concealed by a long, dark blue cloak. This would be easy. Everything was easy for Selena, after all the hard work she had put in.

She approached Bea curiously, feeling unbothered by all the spectators on them. Selena fixed her otherworldly eyes upon Bea. ”Beatriz Barro, yes? I saw your last match. You are quite talented.” It wasn’t a particularly warm or friendly greeting, so much as an observation made by Selena.

Selena made Beatriz feel a little underdressed.”Yeah, that’s me.” She said. ”Sorry, uh, I missed yours. Thanks! Thank you, though.” She smiled and nodded.

”Selena Phoenix.” Selena’s expression was neither smiley nor downtrodden. She seemed to be very businesslike, and respectful of her opponent’s capabilities. Selena might’ve said that it made her appear more competent, but she was just being passive aggressive in reality.

”Hi, Selena.” Bea waved. ”So, uh. Good luck, have fun, right?” She said with a smile and shrug.

”Perhaps I will.”

"FIIIIIGHTERS! GET RRRREADY FOR ROUND TWO!"

"THE SCRAPPY BEATRIZ BARRO, VERSUS THE WHIIIMSICAL SELENA PHOENIX!!"

The bell sounded, signaling that the fight had begun, and Selena instantly sprung backwards, making two fists which erupted into a pale, milky glow. Selena flung both of the glowing orbs at Beatriz, and they shot forth like a pair of fireballs.
Immediately, Beatriz got a sense of how this fight was going to go. Basically the exact opposite of her fight against Brenda. ”Ah, filho de puta.” Bea said as the glowing orbs surged towards her. She dashed to the right and caught herself by putting all her weight on her right leg and then springing forward on it, sprinting towards Selena.

The orbs went clean over Beatriz’s head, and Selena quickly conjured up another ball of magic, energy, but this one was thrown at the ground in front of Beatriz, which then became a wall of jagged, crystalline rocks blocking the girl’s dash. Either she’d run face-first into them or go around. Just to be sure, Selena ran towards the wall, using it as cover, and readied another spell to surprise the girl.

Bea watched the ball hit the ground in front of her and really had no idea what to expect. It could be an explosion, a spike, it could bounce right at her, it could do nothing at all, it could flash and blind her. She crossed her arms in front of her and lowered her center of gravity, squeezing one eye shut and just preparing to take the brunt of whatever it was Selena was doing. When the wall formed, she looked up at it and blinked, not sure what to make of it.

Selena crept around the wall, and caught Beatriz while she was distracted. She thrusted her hand out in front of her, and the magic energy in her hand exploded outwards like a shotgun blast, sending Beatriz flying back.

Bea managed a sloppy block, her arms absorbing some of the blow. ”Bwah!” Nonetheless, she went flying backwards and landed with a thud. She converted her tumble into a roll and popped back to her feet, right back where she started. Trying to keep a cool head, Beatriz changed up her approach. Performing toe tap, she summoned a green flaming ball of energy and then launched it towards Selena and her wall where it would create a small explosion on impact. That was just cover for Beatriz to start running forward again, which she did.

Selena quickly ducked behind the wall again, only to find it shattering into a million, slowly-dissolving shards of hardened energy. In an “oh shit” moment, Selena looked up past Beatriz, and exploded into a flash of white light. When the light faded, Selena was no longer in front of her, but roughly 20 feet behind Beatriz.

She quickly readied another shooting star, and fired it.

Bea stopped running when she saw the wall had fallen but Selena wasn’t behind it. ”Huh?” She looked side to side and the shooting star thumped into her back. With a grunt Bea turned around, seeing Selena behind her. Bea grit her teeth and began sprinting at Selena again.

Suddenly, there was not one Selena, but two. Magic distorted the air, and an imposter of the magician appeared beside the real deal. They spaced out, and began hurling shooting stars at Bea once again.
Bea tilted her head. ”What the- how many fucking-” She cut herself off and got into a defensive position. She used Quick Step to avoid the first barrage of shooting stars, and when she instinctively swatted one away with her hands she discovered it was possible. Still, from two different sources? It wasn’t great. Beatriz jumped a clean ten feet into the air over and forward the shooting stars, and ran towards one of the Selena’s. Quick-Step offered her quick, short-range bursts of mobility, leaving behind a faint, shimmering trail of after-images that lasted only as long as the half-second of speed she acquired from the move.

Both Selenas followed Beatriz into the sky, keeping track of her as she fell back down. The clone readied another arcane pulse, while the real one threw another rock wall down in front of them. The clone blasted the wall, causing rocks and splinters to fly forward like a shotgun blast.

Bea ran forward as the wall appeared, not going to be intimidated by it anymore. She leapt forward and clean over the wall, a choice that also protected her from the shotgun blast. ”Yaaah!” She landed on the other side with a roll and glanced between the two Selenas. Taking a blind guess, she lashed out with a long-ranged Sidewinder kick, a trail of dangerous ki whipping out from her bare foot to knock into one of the mages.

One of the Selenas is hit, but rather than being ragdolled, the clone explodes into a shower of glittering light. The other Selena backpedaled, and hurled a pair of shooting stars at Beatriz immediately after.

”Shit!” Beatriz shouted in frustration. She pivoted on her heel and swung her foot again into another Sidewinder kick in the opposite direction, nullifying the shooting stars. Bea began running forward again, failing to come up with an alternate strategy quick enough to do anything else.

Selena quickly made another orb, one in each hand. She tossed one straight up, and then disappeared into a burst of light once again. The orb hit the ground just as she vanished, turning into a rock wall.

Selena was behind her now, and about to shove the second orb straight into her shoulders.

Bea was getting ready to jump over this next wall when there was a pulse behind her. ”Wah!” She flew forward with all her speed and slammed face first into the wall, splatting against it. Momentum pinned her there before she began to fall backwards.

Selena didn’t give her time to get to her feet. Instead, she brought both hands together, and conjured a much larger variation of the shooter star spell: The falling comet. It was the size of a basketball, and Selena flung it at the girl while she was dazed.

Beatriz was blasted from behind and flew through the wall, shattering it. Eyes squeezed shut she tumbled like a ragdoll across the arena floor before managing to bring her arms up to defend her head from the ground.

As if to kick someone while they were lying down (literally), Selena summoned more shooting stars, and started blasting with one hand. In the other she prepared a spell she hadn’t used just yet. The moonlight spell. When she officially cast the spell, her next attack would hit harder. To Beatriz, it could’ve been anything else she had thrown at her so far.

The blasts struck into Bea before she finished tumbling. ”Urk-” With a strained grunt she managed to get onto her hands and knees, raising one arm as a shield as the stars battered against it. It was painful, and of course some bursts hit her in the side or the legs. Breathing heavily and sweating, Bea glared at Selena as kept casting spells. This wasn’t working. There was a hot spike of anger digging into Bea’s spine that she would have to swallow down if she was to think clearly.

Bea used Quick-Step on the ground, suddenly rolling to the side to get out from under the projectiles and rose to her feet. Parts of her body were scuffed and red, signs that the ki that made her body strong had faltered under the magic pressure. But she was still strong enough to fight.

Selena used her moonlight spell. She then tossed a crystal wall down at her feet like a softball. It was much larger now, and at an angle. Selena ran up the side of it, and stared down at Beatriz.

”Still able to fight?” Selena didn’t look like she was even winded.

Call her naive, but Bea assumed this was Selena genuinely asking if she was hurt or ready to give up as a courtesy. ”N-no, I’m good! Don’t hold back!” She insisted, holding her fists and looking ready to run.

”…As you wish.”

Selena raised her hands into the air, and… The sky fell apart. Dozens upon dozens of circular shapes manifested high above the stadium, and they spilled open like portals. What fell out was the meteor shower spell. Like a hailstorm, crystalline orbs rained down, littering the battlefield and turning it into a glorified maze of walls, rocks and jagged magic. Every inch of the arena was under fire. If any of these orbs struck Beatriz directly, they would simply explode.

”Holy shit!” Beatriz shouted in alarm. She glanced up and stared in shock, dodging away from where she saw them get near her, but there were too many to keep track off. Walls erupted and spikes did too, and she fell over and one landed on her shoulder and sent her spinning to the floor. ”Oof!”

Thumping up against a wall, she kicked its bottom and cracked it, causing it to fall over onto her. She rolled over and got into a squat. She caught the wall wholesale and then lifted it over her head with a strained grunt, planning to use the chunk like an umbrella. What would happen if the magic touched itself? Probably nothing, right!

Selena couldn’t help but feel slightly impressed. No one had ever tried to use her spell against her in such a way yet. More rocks fell from the sky, slowly and steadily boxing Beatriz’s surroundings in. One landed over her head, and her umbrella grew extra magical… Stone? Over it, growing a bit heavier.

Perhaps out of curiosity first and tactical soundness second, Selena generated another falling comet, and lobbed it over the battlefield into Beatriz’s general direction.direction.

”Phew, agh, shit!” Bea strained as her ceiling got heavier and heavier and a box formed around her. Bea heard the big spell come in- the one that had blasted her through a wall. Muscles flexing, she tossed the wall shield in front of her, almost creating a rocky ramp as it landed against the environment. She Quick-Stepped backwards, letting the comet explode between her and her ramp. Then she sprinted up the ramp, clambering over the uneven surface like it was nothing, and jumped from the top. From the myriad maze and falling projectiles nad erupting walls, Beatriz shot up like a bat out of hell.

In mid air she flipped, spun, turned upside down and away, and brought her leg in a full vertical 360 kick to send a riotous blazing green fireball towards Selena. ”YAAAAH!” It was her Bicycle Kick super. The ball would blow through any falling projectiles in its way.

Selena watched the glittering hailstorm explode all around the girl while she fell from the sky. And she had absolutely no idea how the girl launched herself that high up. Momentarily, it caught Selena off guard. She didn’t choose to teleport away, since that would’ve gotten her stuck in the wall maze below. Instead, she tried to leap backwards. This worked, enough she could make some distance between herself and Beatriz, but ultimately, she was caught up with.

Selena was slammed clean off her platform by Beatriz’s fireball, down into the dirt below.

Beatriz landed unsteadily, extending her hands out to catch her fall and landing on all fours. ”Phew! God fucking damn!” She let out a breath. Super moves took a lot out of her, but she still had plenty in the tank. With the barrage stopped for now she jumped over a wall, saw Selena in the dirt, and began to run over to her to keep up the pressure. Beatriz was looking to hit Selena as fast as possible before she had a chance to get her bearings.

The fireball had dazed Selena. It hurt like shit and left her staggering. She saw Beatriz running towards her, and knew she had to start playing more conservatively. Simply teleporting around the arena wouldn’t be enough, since then it would just be attrition. But the spell she cast earlier turned the arena into a game of corner camping, and so Selena did just that. She sprung to her feet, and ducked down low behind a crystal, reading a shooting star.

She waited until Beatriz would round the corner, and proceeded to shove the shooting star straight into the girl’s face.

But the girl was fast. She was already looking in Selena’s direction when she rounded the corner, her lips parted, gaze focused. Beatriz Barro tilted her head to the side, the shooting star blowing her hair back and nearly catching her ear, casting shadows across her face and making manifest the fire in her eyes.

The moment passed, the shooting star missed, and Bea shot a snap kick towards Selena’s knee and threw a jab into her nose.

Selena wasn’t prepared for that, and the kick blasts her leg out from underneath her. As a result of this, the nose jab knocks her flat on her back… And blood begins to run out.

Bea grinned, breathless, her heart racing. The witch was made of tissue paper! Desperately, she descended upon Selena, falling on top of her in a full mount. She began to punch down towards her chest and head, swinging her fists in from the side to get around any warding hands.

Thud, thud, thud.

The hits just kept coming, and Selena tried to get up. But Beatriz had a mean swing, and so blood was spat up instead. It was hard to really do anything in this situation. Two orbs of light appeared in her hands, but quickly dissipated into nothing. Was that a spell that just failed?
Beatriz wasn’t going to hold back- Selena had proved herself too dangerous. Beatriz aimed to grab Selena’s wrists, pull them out, and then slam her head into Selena’s in a vicious back alley headbutt.

Alas, Selena didn’t need her hands to cast magic.

Something behind Beatriz lit up, like a floodlight. She made a clone with one of the orbs she just consumed, and that clone was about to shove a falling comet straight into the back of Beatriz’ skull.

The other one went towards the second falling comet, which appeared between Selena’s trapped wrists. Blood went everywhere upon being slammed by her head, but Selena knew what she was intent on doing. Weakly, she flicked her hand up towards Beatriz, in time with the clone’s attack. Beatriz was caught between two explosions.

Bea’s eyes widened as the light was cast upon her. She used Quick-Step, leaving a faint after image behind her as she tried to dive out of the way. The noise and light was blinding.

Crystal walls shattered around them in clouds of glittering dust.

Bea opened her eyes, blood trickling down her face. Some of it was hers, some of it was Selena’s. ”...Crazy bitch..!” She muttered, coughing. Beatriz had been flung into a tumble in the resulting explosion. But she clambered into a crouch, supporting herself by pushing against one knee. Going by the look on her face, she was genuinely worried Selena might have killed herself. She searched the cloud dust for any sign of her wizard opponent.

It was stupid to think she could walk away from an explosion at point blank. Beatriz seemed to half walked it off just fine. Selena, however, was done for. The blood that dripped from her face now dropped from several other places. Bits of shrapnel cluttered down, and didn’t help. She wasted everything she just did.

She could’ve pushed Beatriz off with a pulse. She could’ve strained to blink away again and hope she had enough left. But instead, Selena got careless, and panicked. And so she thought she could risk that.

She would no doubt be dreaming about her failure in her sleep. Selena was unconscious now, taken out by her own attack.

Beatriz has won.

"THAT’S IT! IT’S OVER! BEATRIZ BARROOOOO!"

The crowd erupted into cheers after the explosion had shocked them into silence.

Beatriz was happy about it, really really happy, but she was also a bit angry and fearful for Selena. ”Heeey!” She shouted, and then grunted, holding her side where the explosion had gone off. Beatriz spit some blood out onto the arena floor.

”Gonna need a medic over here! Urk.” After waving her hand she sat back down on the ground. What the hell was that? Beatriz was really worried about Selena getting away or getting her off. But she didn’t expect her to do a slow-ass move that would blow herself up. Even if it had hit Bea directly, wouldn’t the outcome have been the same?

Well, whatever personal hangups Selena might have had, as the medic attended to Selena, Bea lowered her face into her hands and grinned, exhausted and beaten up but thrilled beyond measure.

”WOOHOO!” Throwing her hands up she landed on the arena floor like a starfish, her chest rising and falling with each labored breath. The blue sky of Brazil met her stare, and Bea was happy.

World of Light

Karin Level 6: 50/60
Location: Astral Plane
Word Count: 1,423
Points Gained: 3
New EXP Balance---

Karin Level 6: 53/60

---

The scouting party was over. The Seekers had found what they were looking for. Shockingly (not), it was on the other side of a portal into the Astral Plane. The last time Karin entered such a place, it didn’t go well. The Kanzuki was determined to redeem herself and put on a better showing.

Navigating the Astral Plane was just as easy as it was last time, being: mostly easy. While the fall into the infinite abyss was not a welcoming sight, as long as Karin had access to her arms, a missed jump could always be recovered by just firing her grappling hook above her and latching onto the solid bottoms of the floating islands. The safety blanket made Karin navigate with confidence, and her previous experience aided her in this endeavor. Their goal? Find Iron, this VIP, and figure out what she knows. She’ll probably ‘owe them one’ after all this is over, anyway.

Soon they stumbled into, as it was aptly put, a ‘turf war.’ ”Not chimeras indeed. Mindless killing machines of flesh and steel alike, it seems. Dispensing of them shall always be a public service.”

As the battle commenced, one of the cannon wielders was left unattended too. As it fired its strange projectile, Karin grappled hooked onto a nearby floating isle to get a better angle on it. At this point, she attracted its attention, and it began to fire upon her. The stone exploded behind her as she cartwheeled away. It fired upon her in the air, but she used her grapple hook to yank herself to the ground. Dodging each subsequent blast, she got closer and closer. Finally, when she was too close to dodge, she grit her teeth. ”Say-yah!” Pushing forward, her palm met the blast head on and blasted straight through it. The voidranger had backed up to the edge at this point, and Karin kicked the gun out of its hand, spun, and snap kicked it into the abyss.

Karin turned her attention to the rest of the battle. Showered with projectiles, the centaur, the mighty mechanical-like Trampler, was going to wreak some havoc on the field. Karin narrowed her eyes, thinking of her battle against the monstrous enemy she battled in the Astral Plane. And the mechanical monster and its insipid bully of a pilot she felled not long ago. Karin would challenge the centaur warrior, with the aid of her allies.

She fired a hook past its head, causing it to turn and look. Karin latched onto a island and zipped forward, crashing across its face with a slam. She landed on the side of the floating island and looked back at the Trampler.

Deciding it was her current biggest threat, a massive bow shimmered into its hands. The arrow was tipped with a rotating diamond construct that swirled with similar shapes.”Tch!”

Karin leapt out of the way as the Trampler's arrow pierced the island and went out the other side. Certainly she didn’t want to get hit by that. Sailing through the air she landed with a role and sped towards the Trampler, her profile low. It moved with impressive speed and met her much faster than she expected. With her dash she could change direction on a dime, however, and shifted out of the way as it slammed its spike-like hooves into the ground.

Karin zipped back and slammed her palm up into its joint. The Trampler was a little over twice her size, but big or small the knee was always a prime target. Thankfully, she felt her hand push into its strange metal skin, instead of bouncing straight off like it did against the scorpion.

Already being struck by her teammates, she also spotted some literal cracks in the armor that she made sure to exploit.

But it was quick to retaliate. Karin had to make sure not to get pinned under its hooves. But since it couldn’t stab her, it settled on much easier, wider swings.

Caught mid-dodge, Karin braced for impact and was knocked away. ”Ah!” She landed quickly and rolled back to her feet, getting back into the fight. Or, at least, she planned too. A whole rift in reality appeared in the air in front of her, blocking her path as the Trampler prepared its ability. Karin was flattened against the ground by a glowing block of energy. It dissipated quickly, leaving Karin in a starfish position on the floor. Her eyebrow twitched as she deadpanned at the sky above. Another rift opened, and she rolled out of the way this time. Another, and another, it kept trying to predict where she was going to go. And when it thought it had her eager to get closer, it surged forward with a stomping of its hooves. But Karin jumped clean over the rift, the polyhedron smashing into the ground well below her, and as it reared back she slammed into it, almost causing it to lose balance. She dropped and rolled, kicking out at its hind legs. It stepped forward and then kicked back at her, its legs like a piston.

Karin absorbed the blow with a spark of defensive ki, but she slid backwards with a trail of dust, and the pain in her arm was a dull, booming ache.

”Hmph.” The Trampler had its arms crossed, its emotions unreadable other than a vague aura of superiority and evil as it rotated to face her. Karin hoped to wipe that smug aura away by nailing it between the eyes with her grapple hook. It went to snatch the hook off immediately. Karin disconnected her hook in the next instant, dashing forward and focusing more palm strikes on its already damaged knee. It bucked and kicked wildly when it had the chance, and Karin rolled away to prevent being squashed. She had to stay close, but not too close. Too far, it’ll use the bow. Too close, it’ll step on her. As always, Karin dances in and around her enemies' most ineffective range.

Before it can get a bead on her, she is back in. Strike, strike, strike, Karin yells, her palms turning red from the impact on steel. ”Pardon~” She smiles, getting out of range just as quickly.

Trampler charged after her, and the smile faded as she barely avoided getting rammed into. It stopped, turned, and aimed to, well, trample her once again. This time it kept running, skidded to a stop, and summoned its bow at her. Karin needed to close the gap quickly.

She dashed, latched her grappling hook to the floor in front of her, and then pulled herself along. The arrow tip grew in intensity. She wasn’t going to make it. Karin had to retreat- she looked around for cover.

A familiar feeling passed over her- a heart pounding surge of adrenaline. Blazermate had swept in from her duties attending to the entire field and had seen fit to grant Karin a dosage of invulnerability.

”Thank you, Miss Blazermate!” Karin shouted and ran forward. ”Leave the rest to me!” The arrow was fired, and its tremendous force came to nothing when Karin met it with two palms. It slowed her for a moment, but she fired a hook at its forehead again, and then pulled herself forward, leaving the uber.

It swept at her but Karin pivoted turned, and then retracted the hook when she was behind the Tramplers upper body. Now she was on its back, her hook pulling its head backward.

”R-R-RESSEN HA!” Leaving behind a trail of after images, Karin spent a super meter to turn into a vertically spinning blade. She erupted forward and cleaved into its head from behind. Its damaged legs buckled. On the final strike she stopped her spin momentum dead and turned it around into a devastating palm strike downward, slamming the Trampler face first into the ground. Karin let gravity carry her downward, where she impaled the back of its head with her feet.

Karin’s boots sunk lower as the thing dissolved into ash, her eyes closed and her smile delicate and refined, like she had just drunk some fine tea. ”Mmhm~. Splendid.”

Opening her eyes, she regarded the spirit of the Trampler thoughtfully. Its arrow ability, in particular, would be quite useful for Karins problem of limited range. She picked the spirit up and held it in her hands. Karin would hold onto it until a better time for speaking to it arrived. They had a mission to uphold, after all. Time was of the essence.