[hr][center][b][u][h3][Undercity - Forges Region, Near Iron Town][/h3][/u][/b][/center] [center][A Fate0013 / XianaEvermor collaboration][/center][hr] Having been thrown to the ground by the clever Hydra. Aegis had expected to be used as a chew toy only to instead hear the Apex roaring and screaming in pain. Getting back to his feet, he found Yue standing before the monster, and what a sight it was. Silver Fang all suited up in her new armor and Justice arcing in her hands menacingly. Something about her Stance caused a part of his brain to click, old memories of hours spent in Final Odyssey rushing back. [i]Holy shit. I'm not the only one that just tried to copy what I do in real life.[/i] Righting himself and reapplying his spiked shell, He was struck with an idea. Really it had been a hot minute so there was a chance it wouldn't work, but still… [i]I wonder if she remembers the Guild’s old callouts?[/i] Just then the charred skin on the Hydra's stumped neck began to bubble and roil. Dead cells sloughing off before an entire new head and neck regenerated out of the wound in a wet burst. Unlike its previous head, this one resembled some sort of hellish deformed leopard with too many eyes. The saliva that dripped from its hissing mouth burnt and melted the ground beneath the beast. The situation had changed and it was about to turn bad real fast. The Cat's head began to real back while it's neck swelled. Alex could only assume it was going to spit up something . . . and if Fang was going to imitate Godspeed . . . Shit that's not good. Thinking fast, Aegis charged forward almost on instinct. His fists slamming together in front of him as a large, heavily layered barrier quickly formed in front of him. [color=deepskyblue][b]"Kasha! Bait and Switch!!"[/b][/color] [b][color=#CE2B95]"Wh-??"[/color][/b] Yue flinched. Alex had just been on the ground, incapacitated... [i]or so she thought.[/i] Her rear facing display showed Alex charging up behind her, and she reacted without thinking. Yue drew the Sword of Justice, slashing upwards and sending a bolt of lightning up into the air to blind the creature momentarily. In a blast of coarse metallic dust, Yue disappeared, just as Alex was about to barrel into her. Yue slid to a halt a few dozen meters to Alex's side. As Silver Fang disappeared from the Hydra's sight, the beast was met with a glowing wall of force with a very pissed off brute behind it. The mutated cat head discharged a stream of acidic fluid from its mouth that splashed harmlessly against the hardlight. A flawless [Bait and Switch], which was then followed by what looked suspiciously like the Warden's [Battering Charge]. Aegis Slammed into the Hydra with the force of a Freight train, Knocking the beast back before catapulting himself away. He landed heavily not far from Yue's position. [color=deepskyblue][b]"So then, Fluffy here looks close enough to the Infinite labyrinth's boss on floor seven."[/b][/color] More blue light began to manifest and visually enlarge Aegis's silhouette. he was really riding in the hope that she would get the reference to that boss’ stupid adaptive mechanic if you hit anything but the main body. [b][color=#CE2B95]"Floor seven... Th-the [i]Lindwyrm??[/i]"[/color][/b] She stammered, still wrestling with the fact that he was standing. Yue was pretty confident she'd seen him take a direct hit in the ribs from that spiked tail. Armor or no, that would have left [i]her[/i] with some serious bruises if not fractured or broken bones, which is why she rushed over to intervene as soon as she saw him go down. He slammed his fists in anticipation as the beast coiled itself back together and glared the two armored heroes down. [color=deepskyblue][b]"You take point and I follow your lead? I'll keep up long as you make your callouts."[/b][/color] [b][color=#CE2B95]"R-right uh,"[/color][/b] she paused, trying to quickly collect herself and adapt what were normally strategies for an 8 player encounter into a duo act. [b][color=#CE2B95]"Uh... uh, L-lockdown Launch to Elemental Discharge!"[/color][/b] L.L. was a solid one. If the enemy could be interacted with physically you would pin them down in the most disadvantageous way possible or send them into the air to be picked off. In F.O. That would require at [i]least[/i] three well-coordinated players. [color=deepskyblue][b]"Jeez, I'll see what I can do!"[/b][/color] He crouched low and waited for her to move first. Yue darted away several steps as one of the Hydra's heads focused on her, taking a breath. She drew the sword with a flourish to build up a charge as she ran, and as the torrent of spikes and acid a [Flash Step] instantly slid her into position on the creature's flank. She took a breath, sword in high guard as the charge rode the flow of [Crimson] and wreathed her body in lightning. There was a short-lived flash of blue, as Alex catapulted himself off a temporary launchpad for extra forward momentum. The effect was like he had been fired from a cannon, gaining the same general effect of a [Gallant Charge] but lacking the pretty particle effects. The Hydra's remaining head tried to snap down at him, only to be met with a solid ball of condensed force to crack its teeth against, like a glowing jawbreaker from hell. He skidded into the ground in a three-point landing just below the beast’s large frame, cocked back a gauntleted fist, and launched himself upwards at the Apex's chest. Executing a mostly perfect [Rising Iron], Alex wasn't done just yet, and neither was the beast. With The Hydra seemingly not even winded and already trying to right itself. Thinking quickly, Alex threw his arms out and launched a dozen U shaped constructs that looped the creature’s necks, limbs, and length of its body to keep it from moving. He forced it violently onto its back, wincing as the constructs we're already breaking: they weren’t even close to being fortified enough in such a short amount of time, and only buying the two maybe a handful of seconds. That's all the famous "Godspeed" would need. Alex bubbled himself as he hit the ground. [color=deepskyblue][b]"Light Him Up!!"[/b][/color]