[quote=@Lucius Cypher] [center][h3][b]A STICKY SITUATION[/b][/h3][/center] The webbing gave way to the molten liquid that cascaded down into the darkness. Thousands of infantile broodlings died, and the more matures either shared their fate or barely escaped. But not the queen. The queen, despite her size, was too quick and too cunning to be caught by such an obvious attack. When the webbing gave away, there was nothing underneath it but an empty void. Team Canvas would see Taidan's flames go further into the abyss until it was swallowed up by the darkness, and with it, many of the broodlings. But what of the Ariadne they were hunting? They would have to go back into the bowels to investigate. Even for faunas with night vision or humans with an inexplicably good memory and eyes, the Ariadne was nowhere to be seen. More immediately, there were also large broodlings still climbing towards Taidan, a few who were already on the surface ready to catch him. When he flew out of the abyss, they fired webbing above him, careful to avoid his lava stream. [/quote] [@Onarax][@Savato][@Sho Minazuki][@Crimmy] [B]Shuai Taidan - Sticky Situation[/B] [b]napalm[/b] /ˈneɪpɑːm/ [i][b]noun[/b] 1. a highly flammable sticky jelly used in incendiary bombs and flame-throwers, consisting of petrol thickened with special soaps. [b]verb[/b] 1. attack with bombs containing napalm.[/i] [s]What is meant by the term [i]sovereignty[/i]? If you were to ask the average guy on the street what the word meant, you'd probably get some blank faces because most people don't run into that term a lot in their day-to-day lives. Most people, you see, don't deal with jurisprudence or political theory, nor do they consume fucktons of dictionaries each night. So really, doing such a thing is pointless in the first place, and a waste of the time you could've used to do something more meaningful, like write your resumé (or curriculum vitae, whatever) so you can finally find a fucking job. The average person knows jackshit, after all. If you wanted to know what sovereignty meant, you'd have cracked open a book or webpage. Indeed, according to a certain source, sovereignty is the "[i]legitimate or widely recognised ability to exercise effective control of a territory within recognised borders[/i]", which pretty much sums up the entire shebang pretty well. Stuff like this, you see, needs a pretty easy summary, because how else could it be understood by everyone? The Westphalian model of states, after all, runs on this principle. You got the power, you got the mojo to tell people what to do in the country. There's probably stuff involving "monopoly of force" and "utility of violence" and yadda yadda involved too, but it really boils down to the fact that you have the power. Power. Bam. Everyone loves the thing. [i]L'état, c'est moi.[/i] The Emperor's word is law. Anyway, so now you know what sovereignty means. Which brings us to the next part of this segment. How the fuck does sovereignty relate to Shuai Taidan, the prettiest twenty-one year old at Beacon Academy (and also his two fellow handsome fellows and female sidekick, but those aren't as important to the entire scheme of things because they aren't the ones flying in the air), and his current predicament? After all, how could a digression on the ability of a governing body to do their own thing without anyone else interfering have [i]any[/i] connection to escaping a hole full of spiders and avoiding their webs? Glad you asked. Let's talk about a metaphor. Have you watched Dragon Ball Z? Of course you have (or at least, heard of it), because you, the reader, are likely to be some fellow using an anime character as a faceclaim for your character in an RPG based on a show created by a gigantic weeb. Sovereignty, you see, is a lot like a Spirit Bomb. Still following? The legitimacy of one's sovereignty can derive from many things. For monarchies, it was because God said this bugger and his heirs were to be the top dog in this business (see: divine right of kings, mandate of heaven), while for say, republics, it's because the people have recognised the power of the top guys as the ones they want in charge. It's the latter then, that's most similar to the Spirit Bomb. When Goku asks for the people of Earth to lend him their energies, their decision to give power is essentially an acknowledgement of his superiority over them for that instance. They are choosing to put their faith in him to save the world, and with the help of Mr. Hercule Satan, the legitima- ****-1998^___^[/s] [URL=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeZ3EPQNsvU]In the skies, Shuai Taidan is king.[/URL] A king without a crown, he may be, but few can dispute the fact that flying comes naturally to KNVS' prettyboy extraordinaire. There are few who can match his prowess in the ether, and even fewer who can soar so high with so little fear. The endless azure is his home, his [i]domain[/i], and watching him dance gracefully with the wind, ducking and weaving past the webbed projectiles that sought to strike him and his accomplices down, it is truly difficult to claim any otherwise. He is sovereign over all. Taidan's rockets flare, and the huntsman ascends. The vault of heaven in its entirety is his for the taking. The spiders that skitter and crawl along the forest floor can try their best. They could shoot and shoot and shoot, but for such lowly surface lifeforms, the skies were not open to them. The creatures of the earth have always sought to fly, and these spiders were no different. They were like him once, before he first grasped the wind for himself. Before he became king. The remainder of KNVS are held safely within his six ethereal arms. [i]Santouliubi[/i] is the expression of his soul, the imposition of his own reality onto the cruelty of Remnant. It's a semblance of love, of a boy who wholeheartedly embraced all that life had to offer. The same way he's embraced all his teammates, his friends. Because he's their support, the guy who'll help make it easier for them to fight in their own ways. Is the duty of a king to their subjects, or the subjects to the king? For Taidan, none of that matters. Reciprocity does. The others help him, so he helps them. [i]Chongli[/i] glints in the sunlight. To the poetic, it is akin to a symbol of Taidan's authority over the skies, a representation of sovereignty and kingly power. A divine instrument to cast judgement upon the unworthy monsters that awaited below. Here in the firmament, the pretty boy makes his decision. Behind the gas mask, Shuai Taidan breathes. Napalm, hot and sticky, erupts from his spear. It rains down upon the forest, upon the spiders, upon the entrances to their nests. His decision has been made. Ariadne's fate, as a monster that threatens his people, the humanity he so loves, is the death sentence. He will scourge the world clear of its presence. He doesn't want to let any more innocents get hurt. A duty of a king, after all, is to protect his citizens. Except Shuai Taidan doesn't see himself as a king. The fish is not the king of the seas. Taidan is not the king of the skies. He is simply its, and it simply his. A king is one who can achieve true greatness. He cannot. He lacks the power to spread napalm across the entire forest. He is but one man, no matter how strongly he embraces the skies. Except he doesn't need to. One tree is enough. One tree is set ablaze. Another follows. And then another, and another, and another. Whipped up by the wind, the firestorm spreads. The forest has become a sacrifice, a tributary offering to the gods to ensure the annihilation of the hostile monsters that continue to threaten the land. The forest floor will no longer be safe for them, where the heat increasingly grows and the toxic smoke intensifies. Their nests will be filled with the monoxide and dripping napalm. Ariadne's children will die by the hundreds. The thousands. And in the end, Taidan too will see to Ariadne's fate. Why does he do this? Why is he so willing? He takes no pleasure in their deaths. They seek the complete destruction of humanity. To hurt more and more and more innocents. [b]It's been going on for far too long.[/b] The Marshal of the Central Altar takes action. So the world gets a little less Grimm.