[center][h3]Euden[/h3] [b]Location:[/b] Adventurers' Guild, the Land of Adventure [@Gentlemanvaultboy][/center] The adrupt arrival of Linkle marked the end of Euden's conversation with Curly Brace, but neither the prince nor the robot seemed to mind much as the rabbit-eared archer whisked Euden away after a brisk explanation. As he stumbled off, clutched by the hand, the helplessly smiling boy waved goodbye to Curly before turning to regain his footing and follow his new friend to wherever she might be heading. Once inside the adjunct room selected by Linkle, Euden turned his full attention to her, eager to get in on the secret she'd withheld earlier. He examined the spirits she presented curiously, remembering them from earlier, and similar sprites from his previous endeavors in the Land of Adventure. While pretty, they evidenced no obvious use, and always vanished after a while even if collected, so he wondered what Linkle had in mind. She confirmed what he'd caught a distant glimpse of in the main room, that breaking them would yield equipment. The relevation provoked a sagacious nod as he thought about how useful that could be for the town. However, Linkle went on to describe some other use, one linked to those furry ears atop her head. Euden's face grew serious as his friend recounted a story of another friend of hers, since passed. Yet, he couldn't help but to raise an eyebrow. She didn't mention exactly how, but apparently this rabbit, as well as a metal machine, gave Linkle and Din respectively new skills and changes to their appearance. Her story about a spirit-hunter were worrisome but shed no further light on the subject, even when Linkle produced a unique sword to show him. Thoroughly baffled, he dumbly accepted the fish spirits from her. “In...my heart?” He watched as she did literally that with the last spirit, completely unprepared for the dazzling light that followed. “Whoa!” Unable to watch, the prince shielded his eyes. “Linkle, what's happening?” He reached out but could get no closer to the splendid display before him, until after a few seconds the light started to recede. What he saw was undeniably Linkle, but a little different. She had much longer hair, slightly different clothes, and stood a little taller—a fact she seemed pretty happy about. Euden continued to look, doing nothing but blinking, until with a start he turned away, blushing. “Incredible.” It was sort of like when he shapeshifted into a dragon, but into a different person, and stopped halfway through. When she finished figuring out the extent of her changes as well, she suggested that he share the knowledge with those he trusted before turning to go. Just like that, she was gone, skipping away back to the guild. Euden looked back at the spirits crushed in his hands, those beastly fishmen. “Er...” After briefly considering the possibilities, he put them down. What Linkle said about slaying a monster interested him more. He owed her and her friends a debt, and it was his duty to help out people wherever he could anyway. Mulling over his thoughts over the next few minutes, he exited the side room and waited for her group to head out. When they did, he followed, right up to the giant, scary-looking machine they'd come in on. Euden hesitated, but only for a moment; the answer was clear. He crushed the fish spirits, receiving a [url=https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/vikingclan/images/d/db/Elite_Black_Scale_Shield.png/revision/latest?cb=20140920041613]scale shield[/url] and a [url=https://i.etsystatic.com/11540054/r/il/77d7c6/1778859207/il_570xN.1778859207_830t.jpg]fish hat[/url], and hurried to put them on. By the time he did the truck was already starting, so he took a running jump and grabbed on to the chassis. He would be paying these heroes back. [center][h3]Tora & Poppi[/h3] [b]Level 5 Tora[/b] - (27/50) EXP and [b]Level 4 Poppi[/b] - (25/40) EXP [b]Location:[/b] Adventurers' Guild, the Land of Adventure [b]Word Count:[/b] 1898[/center] Tora scrunched together his eyebrows. “So....” he murmured, mulling over what Phoenix said. “Mr. Wright fight for justice by studying evidence, asking many questions, and uncovering truth, meh? But not actually 'fight' fight?” That explained why the experience he described of nearly getting killed by marauding fish monsters weighed so heavily with him. This guy was a civilian, and not the tough sort of civilian like Tora, but an honest-to-goodness normal person. Not that the Nopon held anything against him, but he had better things to do that chat with some random person with little to offer by way of his overarching goal. Besides, all this talk and listening left him feeling hungry again. Phoenix started talking again, but Tora bulldozed right over it. “Well, okay then! Stay safe, and goodbye!” After giving a wave, he spun about and marched right off, leaving the lawyer to sort through his own problems. He got back to his chair at about the same time as Poppi, who looked more than a little crestfallen. Noticing as she hopped up onto her stool, Tora leaned over. “Is Poppi okay? Joints working, furnace alright?” His gaze grew a touch worried as a few seconds passed, his companion not making eye contact, before she finally replied. “Parts fine, but Poppi not okay. Din has quit adventure. Eyes turned red.” Dumbfounded, Tora looked over himself to witness in the truth in her words. Just like that?! “Losing friend to enemies bad enough, but losing friend this way hurt too.” She leaned onto the table, propped up on her arms, and stared at the fireplace cheerily burning on one side of the hall. Tora took a deep breath. “Meeeeh...so that means Tora and friends cannot lose heart, because no getting back on own.” He stared into the fire for a moment as well before Bowser's call to arms resounded through the adventurer's guild. The bellow jolted him into action, reminding him of his appetite. “Meh meh meh! Cannot go and leave food to waste!” With that loose justification given, the gluttonous Nopon started shoveling food in, though he lasted only a few more seconds before he reached his limit once again. This time he hit in a powerful way, and for a moment was sent reeling. “Muh...bury Tora...at Torigoth,” he wheezed before falling backward off his chair. He hit the ground with a mighty wallop and lay there dazed. Poppi sighed, smiling. She pushed herself from the table, picked Tora up, and carried him toward the gathering ground. On the way she passed by the diminished loot pile, which gave Tora the chance to reveal he wasn't as senseless as he let on, as he scooped up the shiny stone with a wing. [center][hider=For Tora]He has acquired: [url=https://gamepedia.cursecdn.com/darkestdungeon_gamepedia/d/db/Inv_trinket-seer_stone.png?version=7807b76b1a603647457828548376f1a3][b]Seer Stone[/b][/url] Confers to its carrier increased perception, allowing more clear and thorough discernment of one's surroundings, though the time this takes hinders speed just a touch.[/hider][/center] The pair arrived just after the Ace Cadet, to whom Poppi waved after tucking Tora under one arm. One by one, the other heroes joined the team preparing to depart. The Koopa King exchanged a few words with the Courier, and while they conversed a young woman appeared that caught Tora's eye. It took only a moment for him to recognize her, despite the changes to her outfit and hair. “Linky-Linky!” he exclaimed, wiggling out of Poppi's grasp. “You look even better than before! Tora was worried when saw Linky-Linky with ugly fishies, but it look like there never reason to fear.” Poppi gave her friend a smile, taking in her new appearance. After this fusion, she and Linkle stood at about the same height, thanks to her QT mode. The archer must have lucked out, getting a spirit that didn't change much about her while also assumedly granting some new power. She made a note to keep an eye out for spirits that might do the same her her and Tora, though she figured it'd be harder for her Masterpon to stay himself given how nonexistent Nopon appeared to be in this new world. A few more moments passed while more heroes gathered, with Bowser using his rabbid striker to heal anyone who needed it. The final preparations came to an abrupt end when the guild doors opened and none other than Peach leaned in. “I brought that truck close,” she stated, the flatness of her voice a far cry from Linkle's bubbliness. “We should load up and get moving. East, right?” Tora waddled forward. “Tora and Poppi call shotgun! Went that way earlier, so can guide no problem.” Nodding, Peach turned to leave. “Alright. Let's go.” Everyone followed her out the door and down the road to the waiting Brother Grimm. It took only a short while to load up, with the gigantic monster truck's expansive bed providing most of the space for whoever wasn't eager to cram up front with Tora, Poppi, and Peach. A turn of the ignition and a mechanical roar later, and the consolidated caravan was in motion. With Tora's (but mostly Poppi's) help, the Brother Grimm navigated eastward, away from Lumbridge and across the plain. The uneven offroad made it a less-than-serene trip, but if any vehicle could handle unusual terrain, this monster truck could. It wasn't long before its enormous tires started pulverizing through a field of wheat, gently waving in the evening breeze. To the left, a large dark mass signified the forest where Bowser and his crew did much of their gathering during the day. After another five minutes or so rumbling through the crops the Brother Grimm emerged onto tree-speckled prairie once more. Wild [url=https://middle.hipng.com/20190905/so/dont-starve-together-rabbit-fc6c7c984a8eef27.jpg]rabbits[/url] with glowing yellow eyes shrieked before sprinting to their holes, and [url=https://thelegendofzeldablog1.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/botw_keese_model.png?w=748]keese[/url] flocked close, but no explicit dangers presented themselves. Eventually lights presented themselves in the darkness ahead, illuminating the tall, thin buildings of the Hamlet. Pig Guards, asleep at their posts, snorted to attention, and brandished their axes with as much ponderous menace as they could muster, but the titanic vehicle passed them by. Anyone wanting to entertain the Mayor's request as mentioned by those who visited the Hamlet earlier could request a stop and get off at their convenience, but Tora and Poppi didn't think twice about it. The target of their hunt constituted the most pressing concern, and demanded both the most personnel and the most attention. After all, it could very well be the Champion of this region, the strongest being in the Land of Adventure, chosen by Galeem to take on one of its many colors and the responsibility of keeping it safe. The heroes could mop up pig quests later. With the Hamlet firmly in Brother Grimm's rear-view mirrors, Peach guided her team out onto the Ancestral Steppe. The land trended upward, evidencing oddly angular rock formations here and there, and the wind carried a slight chill—and something else. After passing between a few stone slabs, a new smell drifted across the area, something old and bizarre. Above them, the night sky was not right. Constellations, nebulae, and planetary bodies could be glimpsed where none existed before. With the help of the Ace Cadet, however, the heroes found something more important: tracks. Huge and clawed, they led deeper into the step. Following them proved troublesome in the dark until the Cadet's scoutflies got up to speed, and after that it was smooth sailing. The trail led the Brother Grimm through gulches and by small cliffs, and even in the night its passengers could see something wrong with the terrain. Here and there were plots of farmland and accompanying shacks, plants and ground alike fossilized in blasted, colorless gray, as though aged uncountable years in the middle of harvest season. Petrified grass crumbled under the monster truck's tires, and worryingly human shapes stood stock-still among the ruined crops as the heroes proceeded through the wasteland. After driving around a giant boulder, the monster truck came to a stop at the bottom of a large hill with a few tiers of farmland ringing it. Atop it stood a roughly circular fortification, with wooden walls and towers. The route, defined by stony ridges and edges, led up to and through it. Peach's expression changed as her eyes moved between the fort and Cadet's scoutflies. “We must be getting close. Sshh....” A moment's silence allowed the keen-of-hearing to detect a low groaning on the breeze, drifting down from the hilltop. Once informed, Peach nodded, and put the Brother Grimm in park. “On foot. We'll attract less attention.” Tora nodded, and leaped from the passenger door with Poppi. They hit the ground one after another, crunching the grass as though it were frozen by winter. After looking at one another and exchanging shrugs, Tora and Poppi equipped the Mech Arms in preparation for combat. At the back of the group, Euden dislodged himself from the truck's chassis and walked up, a hand on his sword. When everyone was ready, the troop began its ascent. As they climbed higher, the silence became deafening. Everything was still, save for the stars wheeling overhead. After reaching a certain height, the heroes found that their ascent enjoyed more than the illumination of the moon. They began to see odd crystals growing from the petrified husks of vegetables and other once-loving things, not terribly remarkable save for their [i]color[/i]. It defied exact description, maybe something akin to a bluish-pinkish-green, but wholly unpleasant to consider and even look at. One brief moment of curious staring was more than enough for Tora, who averted his gaze as he felt a sort of weird headache come over him. Shaking it off, he continued upward, his role as a tank demanding his position at the head of the pack. It seemed like longer, but the heroes arrived at the top after only a minute or two. Upon entering the ring of wooden walls and farm buildings, they spotted their target immediately. In the middle of the clearing huddled a monster. It was enormous, with tough scales gleaming a gorgeous blue in the moonlight. With ridges all over, and muscle to spare, it cut a terrifying figure even while asleep. A small number of crystal shards stuck to its scales like barnacles, but their otherworldly glow at least paled in comparison to the lime-green sheen of the noxious goo coating its enormous arms and horn. There could be no doubt that this was what the heroes were here to hunt. [center][h3][color=red]Warning! Midboss discovered![/color][/h3] [img]https://i.pinimg.com/originals/2f/7f/da/2f7fda7fdc4672cb5cdef852a2091e96.png[/img] [h3][color=red]BRACHYDIOS[/color][/h3][/center] But it wasn't alone. There was movement among the houses and atop. Fossilized [url=https://gamepedia.cursecdn.com/darkestdungeon_gamepedia/thumb/2/23/Farmhand.png/150px-Farmhand.png?version=de00cc88174be7ff29b02ea14078c3d9]husks[/url] in the shape of farmhands, aglow with an alien radiance from within, shuffled out to stare without eyes. Banging, crashing sounds echoed from within the mill at the zenith of the hill. Something hit the door with a slam, allowing otherworldly light to spill from between the cracks in the wood. A moment of pure silence followed before the horror struck again. This time splinters flew, and the heroes could spot for a fleeting instant a side of unholy flesh. Then it broke through, the [url=https://gamepedia.cursecdn.com/darkestdungeon_gamepedia/thumb/a/a9/The_Thing.png/1200px-The_Thing.png]Thing from the Stars[/url], and its cry split the night. Terror, primal and true, pierced the hearts of the heroes, and their stress began to rise. Awoken by the ungodly noise, the Brachydios rose with a snarl. It beat the earth with its hammer-arms, and roared in defiance of its foes. [center][h3]A horrible encounter begins:[/h3] [i]Everyone present has gained a Stress meter. Witnessing or hearing something horrific or otherwise stress-inducing, including the despair of allies, will cause it to rise by 15. Taking a critical hit, or being close to an ally taking one, will make it rise by 35. Drugs can reduce stress by 25, and stress-relieving activities by 15. At 100 Stress, a character will become either Afflicted or Virtuous. At 200 Stress, a character will suffer a heart attack that leaves it at death's door or, if it's already there, kill it.[/i][/center] [center][h3]Nero and V[/h3] [b]Location:[/b] RCPD, Dead Zone [@Archmage MC] [@DracoLunaris] [@ProPro] [@Dawnrider] [@Simple Unicycle] [@Genon][/center] As Nero expected, his allies leaped into the fight with gusto. Daxter in particular leaped with force and landed with a shockwave reminiscent of the treant he'd absorbed, its impact rattling the nearby tombstones and shaking loose chunks. For as bulky as they looked, the monuments did not seem especially sturdy. When Blazermate's zombie fell across them, swinging and slamming wildly with whatever they had on hands, the structures practically melted. Each blow left behind cracks, and each second blow broke off chunks in a shower of dust. Try as the Flood might to invade the outermost ranks of the medabot's horde, they slowed down the destruction not at all, and in no time Daxter and Blazermate's efforts rendered the enemy spawners into piles of inert masonry. Still, the bulk of the enemy force remained. The Lost attacked with the full faculties of living humans empowered by some sort of overwhelming violent urge, not bothering to do any biting or eating as they attempted to rip apart anyone in their way. They, at least, fell like chaff to Nero and V, and to the police station's defenders. The Riots did not. Pivoting away from the Lost, Spawn, and Flood, Nero and V addressed the issue personally. After receiving some healing from Blazermate, Nero began his onslaught, using wide-ranging spinning attacks to strike and stagger as many of the demons as possible before taking two to the air in an upward slash. He swung once, twice, then switched directions to rise upward in a double spinning cleave. Screeching, the demons swung at him, but Nero executed a Payline, diving forward with the Red Queen extended. “Down you go!” He shrugged off their slashes as they plummeted down, and upon hitting the ground Nero revved his sword to full. After starting to charge Gerbera, he unleashed a flame-boosted triple spin into the air, where he hung for a moment. “Got a little something for ya...” Once it sparked, he thrust Gerbera downward, which unfolded in a brilliant pink flash. “Petal Ray!” A half dozen pink beams shot down in a spread formation, burning through all enemies in their way and bouncing off the terrain. They flew around in a dazzling, chaotic display, ricocheting in every direction. Under the cover the Petal Ray provided, V went to work. He sent Shadow to attack, turning its body into various weapons to attack monsters again and again. Griffon lent his aid with column lightning attacks, coordinating with his fellow demon. Griffon dropped an orb of electricity that sent out two lightning streams in a V, which started closing after a moment. It dragged together all nearby enemies into a single pile right on top of Shadow, who promptly exploded into a spiked ball to skewer every one of them. Every monster except the Riots perished, who instead turned white, awash with purple vapor. Seeing this, V disappeared, teleporting into the air to unleash a hailstorm of summoned canes that finished the whole group off at once. With the main threats eliminated, gunfire from both the police station and Blazermate's sentry ate through the monsters not decimated by the devil hunter or his comrade. At an unheard signal, the shooting stopped. The three close-range fighters from the police station approached, killing Lost as they did. Beckoning, the shotgunner called, “C'mon! Let's get inside 'fore more show up!” After a brief look at each other, Nero and V ran his way. Meanwhile, the group bound for the roof was locked in a bitter struggle against the angels. The bear and bird arrived first, assailing a pair of Compassions with a rapid-fire series of moves to soften them up. Jak landed and opened with a volley of gunfire, drawing the Laguna off Olivia. Jak plus Banjo and Kazooie represented a far greater threat than the tiring catgirl, so with a final drill attack to Ms Fortune's belly to drop her in a pool of blood the Catchet commanded its Compassions to line up in formation. At that moment Donnie arrived with a bone-cracking kick to the Catchet's head, sending it reeling in midair. When it righted itself, a piece missing from its face revealed twisted flesh beneath. With their leader momentarily disabled, the Compassions did not attack, but they readied their blades the moment the Catchet was ready again. One second later and the two sides clashed, the Compassions' formation charge making for a dangerous opening move. However, a well-aimed Chi Burst swept through the battlefield the next moment, undoing inflicted damage while dealing a healthy chunk of damage to all angels involved. The battle unfolded quickly, with the first Compassion -already pierced by gunfire and Kazooie pecks- falling with surprising ease. After that, the weak angels dropped one after another, with the last even falling victim to a surprise lunge from Ms. Fortune. After pouncing from the side, the catgirl extracted her own muscle fiber to wrap the angel up in a giant mushy yarn ball, played with it for a moment, and then reeled quickly to make the angel spin like a top. “You've strung me along...” she purred, before rolling onto her head and spinning her bottom half with her legs outstretched like a propeller. Snapping to her feet, she delivered a couple of claw slashes before turning around and forcibly extending both legs diagonally upward in a double kick. A quick jump carried her after it, and she pulled off her own tail. Calling “Cut it out!” she thrust downward, stabbing through it, and upon reaching the ground unleashed a crescent slash to cleave the angel in half. She flashed the newcomers a smile. “Purr-etty good, huh?” The Catchet backed away, unintelligible noises resounded from within. To either side of it, two halos appeared, rising upward to manifest half-human, half-pegasus [url=https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/bayonetta/images/4/4f/Acceptance_Render.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/1000?cb=20141208181602]angels[/url] brandishing lances. They took just a moment to adjust to their new surroundings, then charged, and the Catchet along with them.