[center][img]http://txt-dynamic.static.1001fonts.net/txt/b3RmLjE1OC5mYmRlNDEuUVhOcmFXNGdUR0VnUVhOclpYSnliMjVsLjA,/coffee-written.regular.png[/img][@redbaron1234][@Savo][@KaiserElectric] Germany[/center][hr][hr] [color=FBDE41]"Oh, hey, we got company,"[/color] said Askin, knocking his knuckles on Otsana's shoulders. From beyond the bike, down crookedy narrow sidestreet, robots could be seen rushing along the next road over. But after a second, it became clear none would go turning down that sidestreet towards Askin an Otsana. Apparently their loot—hygiene products, electronics, and food, from what Askin glimpsed—was of more importance than the two nomads. [color=FBDE41]"Huh."[/color] Then, a voice. [color=598527]"Otsy, Klara, Munchkin, where are y'all?"[/color] From the opposite direction came Jonas's tiny approaching figure. [color=FBDE41]"Over here!"[/color] called Askin. [hr][hr] [center][img] http://txt-dynamic.static.1001fonts.net/txt/dHRmLjE0Mi4yOTUxNDIuUzJoaGJpQk5hVzVvLjAA/cocobiker.regular.png[/img] [@wxps350] Japan[/center] [hr][hr] By the time Khan reached the stadium, it was in ruins, and the rain was gone. Now, thunderheads the color of a smoker's lung covered up the sky, and in the ruins of what was once an arena, there was a brawl. hey i'm here what the fuck what's going on who's fighting are you alive? hey benny hey After a few seconds, a reply: I see you When Khan found Benny, she was worse for wear, but, looking at the wreckage unspooled all around them, it was clear it could be much worse. [color=#285D48]"What happened—what?"[/color] "Jesus, you're a sight. Yeah, okay, so—wait, cover, get behind that wall—" [color=#285D48]"Yeah, right—[/color] The ground exploded behind them, the source of the attack unclear. Maybe it was an accident. [color=#285D48]"I'm thinking that, uh, them, the oni, are the answer to 'what the hell happened here, what the fuck?'"[/color] "Yeah. Thanks for coming." [color=#285D48]"You'd better get out of here, I think that street there looks clear—"[/color] Shuffling and crawling, Benny and Khan made their way to the edge of the blast radius. "Cowards!" Behind them, a mountain of a figure, a mountain of muscle and horns and tattoos, and he hefted a tetsubo rippling with metal studs. [color=#285D48]"Keep going, it's cool, keep going,"[/color] said Khan, as he turned on his butt to face the approaching oni. Benny kept going, after just the slightest hesitation. "Running is all your kind knows, isn't it? Your fellows are attacked, and you RUN!" Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Benny keep running. The oni spun the tetsubo overhead, and as his eyes moved from Khan to Benny, Khan pounced. Tackling the oni by the knees, something within his hands crackled with the noise of toy bricks and falling trees, and Khan's cirrhosis halo gouged into the oni's invisible life force. The demon stumbled, and he grabbed Khan in a vicious fist as they went tumbling to the ground. A single squeeze, and Khan felt his ribs go weak like jelly. Another squeeze, and one of them popped. Then, before the oni could crush Khan in his hands, Khan threw his bloody hands into the oni's face and, with a word of magic, his blood ignited with dark sorcery, hissing like fire into the attacker's eyes. They tumbled around some more as the oni screamed, and Khan screamed, because the sensation of the boiling eyes was awful and the burning of his own magic was awful and it was just an awful day, all around. [color=#285D48]"I'm having a much worse day than you!"[/color] Khan shouted, as he and the blinded oni went falling in separate directions. Khan checked his phone: two new messages. I'm safe Hurry and get out too. But now Khan was in the fray, and there were nomads and fighting and no sign of a clean escape. And the, just to make things worse, he looked to his left, and saw a very familiar little group almost right next to where he'd fallen/ [color=#285D48]"Oh god damnit,"[/color] he said, to Ivory and her procession. [hr][hr] [center][img] http://txt-dynamic.static.1001fonts.net/txt/dHRmLjEyOC40MzIyOTEuVm1WeVoyRWdTV3huY21GMlpXNCwuMAAA/wind-sans-serif.regular.png[/img] [@Surtr] Japan[/center][hr][hr] Faster than Verga would've thought possible, the Emperor spun on his heels and threw out a clothesline of a punch, wide and vicious. His fist and Verga's blue light met in middair, and the resulting blast sent her skidding backwards. She couldn't tell if her attack had hit. Before she could ground herself, before she could counterattack, the Emperor made a gesture, deafening winds came out from the air and surrounded Verga, pulling her off her feet in a screaming vortex of cutting and nicking and buffeting. [i]He's trying to pin me.[/i] As soon as the winds came in, the Emperor made a sign with his other hand, and with a drum-rolling rumble the sky spat out thunderbolt after thunderbolt towards Verga. The first one hit, as did the second one, and by the third Verga had ground her teeth and cleared a blank space in her head—the roar of the wind fought to occupy her every last thought—and a bulb that bent light and air and gravity swelled up around her. The lightning blasts were broken across the barrier into a melt of screaming hot sparks. The barrier wobbled and pulsed. It wouldn't hold for long. Verga's body was raw from the lightning strikes, like all her muscles had vanished, and her body was holding itself up by the strength of her bones, which felt distinctly like jello. [i]K-RAK. K-RAK. K-RAK. K-RAK[/i] The lens was going thinner. Finally, from inside the darkness there was a sound both contrabass-low and bullet-whistle high as the shield shattered, and as it did, as the leftover sparks went scarring over Verga's skin, she hurled out another blade of bright blue time, which emerged with a sudden moan from the heart of the tornado. The shattering of the shield and the force of the attack was enough to knock Verga free from the tornado on the opposite side, as the time warp went shooting towards the Emperor, mid-bolt. She hit the ground tumbling. Her exposed skin twanged and burned as the dark bruises and angry red tree-shapes scarred into her came in contact with the dusty earth. Digging her fingers into the ground, she forced herself back to her feet.