[center][h3]Like Chimeras[/h3]
[b]Location:[/b] Home of Tears
Jesse’s [@Zoey Boey], Artorias’ [@Dark Cloud], Rubick’s [@Scarifar]
[b]Word Count:[/b] 7432 (+8)[/center]

Well the knight hadn't been [i]that[/i] far off in his observations, while these creatures weren't those that disguised themselves as a chest they had been hiding within them. "[color=376877]Save thy words for when thou arte in nary a sliver of danger.[/color]" Artorias cut off the feral tersely as he stood to his full height.

As the sound of their cries echoed in the dark, it filled the knight with anticipation. Now these were truly worthy opponents to test his mettle upon, he too responded to their frenzied call with a bloodthirsty roar of his own. Nadia gingerly stepped up alongside him to face off with the earthbound pair of beasts, her claws at the ready.

Though tempered now with a fiercer calmness, his instincts were much sharper now that he was freed. He became like a graceful dancer as he pirouetted slashing broadly at the shiny wolf and the twin-tailed feline, his strike intended to push the two back if they were smart enough to evade his swift and terrible onslaught, and cleave them in twain if they had no sense of self-preservation. They both nimbly leaped backward beyond the reach of his blade, growling and hissing respectively.

Either way he followed through swinging downward as he shifted on his feet to strike the wolf while the momentum of his swing carried him forward. Southpaw clenched his bright blue teeth and reacted quickly. Rather than try and block the massive, metal-rending slash, he dipped to the side with the speed and poise of an expert boxer. His fists shot out, a quick one-two aimed for the knight’s torso to soften him up. The legendary armor of Artorias might shrug off slashes, but Southpaw aimed to puncture it, with the force of his fists behind his nail-like claws to drive them in.

Fists met the knight's plate mail with a solid [i]thunk[/i], while the force of the swift one-two was somewhat dulled it still made Artorias grit his teeth and wince in pain "[color=376877]Ah the wolf then bares its fangs-RAH![/color]" the knight matched the wolf's punch with an equally forceful strike of his own when Southpaw got in close, aiming to strike the boxer square in the throat and follow through with a step forward to slam him away with an elbow. While Southpaw guarded the vital parts of its head with the tenacity one should expect of any skilled fistfighter, the sheer force of the knight’s close-quarters attack forced Southpaw out. Even after blocking, the canine found himself pushed back into the range Artorias wanted in order to use his sword. Narrowing his eyes, Southpaw planted his feet and entered into a low stance, flame sparked to life around his fist as he waited for his next chance to strike.

While he wasn't as swift on his feet or precise as Southpaw, Artorias instead was surprisingly tenacious. So he carried himself forward sword in one hand while his feet pirouetted to bring the blade around in a wide slash making certain that a forward assault would be folly if the wolf leapt at the opportunity to strike. Southpaw wasn’t about to hurl himself straight into a deadly cleave, but the reach of Finstertoter forced him to adjust his plans. He ducked backward, narrowly avoiding the huge blade as the flame around his fist died out. The advantage still belonged to Artorias, but Southpaw had a plan. Ceding more ground, he used Sharpen to boost his melee attack, and watched out for the next massive swing.

The knight thought for only but a second between bringing his blade around in a mighty swing forward shifted upon his feet almost as if he were preparing to close distance once more. Artorias' eyes narrowed beneath his helmet, then he wound his sword arm back, knees poised to leap forward. But that was far from what he did, his feint though simple was executed in brutal fashion swinging his blade forward but then leaping backwards in a flip landing on one knee and resting his blade on his shoulder. Southpaw fell for the feint, sacrificing a fifth of its life to use Metal Wall. A pillar of solid iron rose from the stone in front of it, as tall as Southpaw himself. The wolf glared at Artorias, an annoyed look on his face. Then he used Throw anyway, ripping the wall from the ground and hurling it at Artorias, a huge, heavy-weight projectile. Southpaw charged in behind it, its fists blazing with flame as he prepared to strike.

Artorias pivoted only a split second before the projectile came within a hair's width of him, a bead of sweat trickling down the knights forehead he tried to shift his weight to meet Southpaw only to be struck with a solid punch knocking the Abysswalker off his feet so to speak, flames licked his body as the blow struck but anger flared in the knight as well his wince of pain turning into a snarl bringing the brunt of his fury into slamming the pommel of his sword against the wolf's ribs in a forward motion that he followed through with another push this time with enough strength to throw Southpaw backwards. The beast was sent tumbling, but his parting gift remained–a Burn that would flare up after the knight’s next three techniques.

Cat-5, meanwhile, blitzed off the mark with Zoomies. Her sheer swiftness took Nadia by surprise, and the feral barely blocked the flurry of Beast-type blows in time. Her feline foe’s claws crackled with lightning as she moved to keep up the pressure with Double Smack, but it would take a lot more than this to earn Nadia’s respect this early into the match. She dashed backward with jets of blood, avoiding the electric scratches, then closed back in with El Gato. “Comin’ at nya!” With flashing claws Nadia sliced once, twice, then went low with Cat Slide and burst up with a backflip kick straight to Cat-5’s flat screen. It didn’t end there, though; her new tails raked across her foe’s face as they followed her loop, and once in the air Nadia [url=https://i.imgur.com/39cCzb6.png]spiked[/url] her own head downward like volleyball. “Heads up!”

However, the beast’s reflexes were quicker than she expected. Cat-5 managed to bat the head away, then dig in her heels as Nadia descended to the ground. She launched herself in an energized pounce, zooming forward in a lightning-fast blur. Her Charge passed straight through Nadia, and when the beast slid to a stop behind her the feral’s guard burst open in a giant discharge of electricity. ““Ohm-my goodness!” she groaned as the voltage coursed through her, reacting with her inherent Hydro. “That kinda hertz!” With her head detached and in front of her she couldn’t see Cat-5 clearly, so while still zapped she forced her body into a wild windmill kick to try and keep the beast at bay. The monster ducked beneath the haymaker and rose with a paw wreathed in flame to slug her right in the stomach with a Superheated Fist. When the fire mixed with her Hydro, the ensuing Vaporize reaction sent her body flying in an explosive outburst of steam.

“Urgh!” she cried, her head wincing as the rest of her tumbled overhead. Still, she managed to right herself and slide to a stop on her feet. Teeth gritted, she opened her eyes in a squint. “Hmph. Now’s it purr-sonal. So if it’s a cat fight you want…” Her body burst forward on all fours, running past the fight between Artorias and Southpaw. As it passed by Nadia’s head she scooped it up, then hurled it high into the air. Cat-5’s ‘s screen rose to track its flight, not noticing Nadia’s body as she pulled out and took aim with her Bait Launcher. “Then it’s a cat fight you’ll get!” A tiger poofed into existence beside Cat-5 and hammered it with a mighty clawed swat. She hurtled toward Nadia’s body, who met her head-on with [url=https://i.imgur.com/BgsNRbJ.png]Flying Screen Door[/url]. Cat-5 staggered backward right into Nadia’s head as it fell, which immediately set about biting the beast all over. “Omnomnomnomnomnom!” That kept Cat-5 in place long enough for Nadia’s body to get up, charge in, deal a handful of blows, and finish off with a [url=https://i.imgur.com/BJLL930.png]piercing corkscrew[/url] with her detached head. “You know the DRILL!” Clutching her torso, Cat-5 fell, but when Nadia rushed in for a meaty hit her opponent rose with Zoomies, resulting in a trade of blows. Sparks flew as Cat-5 surged forward with another Charge, but this time her claws connected with a Rapturous Cultist–Nadia’s Striker. Though she still felt the pain, her striker did not share her elemental weakness, and when Cat-5 slid to a stop she found herself ensnared in the seven tongues of Nadia’s other Striker, Idea. “I don’t always go for grabs,” the feral grinned. “But I couldn’t resistor!” The pulsating albino monstrosity lifted the beast into the air upside-down and held her still while Nadia batted her like a cat toy, but when the captive blasted Idea with an Energy Shot it turned and hurled her away before disappearing.

Naturally, Cat-5 landed on her feet, sliding to a stop. As she stood up straight she curled her paw and wiped a smudge off her screen, which honestly struck Nadia as pretty cool. She was breathing a little heavier than expected, but this was nothing she couldn’t handle. “Well? Watts the hold-up, kitty? Feelin’ the purr-essure?” Cat-5 said nothing, but strode up to stand alongside Southpaw as the panting wolf rose from the ground as well, licking his chops. Lightning arced around her paw as she lightly punched her counterpart’s shoulder, infusing Southpaw with Static contact damage. At the same time, the wolf used Jagged Edge. Now, whether someone hit or missed him with melee attacks, they’d take unavoidable damage. Southpaw grinned, exposing his sharp blue teeth, and clanged his fists together. Nadia found herself returning the smile as she drew her boxcutter, wielding her blade alongside Artorias. “Two on two, huh? Nyeow we’re talkin’!” 

Though his armor was pitted with holes, burnt in several places and his bones ached as if they were screaming in pain; Artorias stood his ground by the feral offering few words other than a curt and concise "[color=376877]Then let us not mince words, and fight![/color]" and so he did, lunging forward through seething pain as flames wreathed him burning his armor as he came to with a swift and mighty cleave.

Nadia rolled her eyes. “Don’t ya realize I’m a chatty catty?” When Artorias charged in, she jumped up onto the aqueduct’s rim and followed. Cat-5 got moving the minute the knight bore down on her, but Southpaw held his ground with narrowed eyes to dodge at the last moment. Just by evading the giant slash he gouged Artorias with Jagged Edge, and the free hit gave him the split second he needed to hop up and deliver a mean left hook to the knight’s helmet. Worse still, when Southpaw made contact his Static added an extra aftershock.

Figuring Artorias could use a hand, Nadia prepared to jump down, but first she laid eyes on Cat-5. Her adversary had climbed up onto the opposite rim of the aqueduct, meaning both cats were waiting for the other to make the first move. [i]Well then.[/i] Nadia crouched down and pounced in Southpaw’s direction. Immediately Cat-5 saw her opportunity and lunged–just as Nadia had been hoping. [i]Gotcha![/i] The two felines clashed explosively in the air above the aqueduct, driven together by lightning arcs and bloody streams. Her boxcutter’s plastic grip  insulated Nadia from the electricity, allowing her to push back with all the strength she could muster. After a brief moment they burst apart, sliding past one another to land on opposite sides again, and Cat-5 whipped around and fired off a rippling, laser-like Energy Shot. Nadia bent backward far enough to plant her free hand between her feet, peering cheekily at her foe in an impromptu handstand. “Hey now, don’t beam-ean!” When her foe raised her other paw to unleash a second blast, Nadia extended that arm to pop herself into the air with a backflip. At the apex of her jump she blasted out blood from her legs to dive straight at Cat-5 with her blade extended. Her foe leaped toward her, and they slammed together in another big, noisy clash. 

Beneath them, a battle of attrition ensued. Artorias gritted his teeth and stumbled back towards the wall, momentarily stunned by the electric shock of Southpaw's punch. Blood trickling from his nose and down to his chin the knight hadn't all but blinked to raise a hand to wipe the crimson from his face that he keeled over from another strike to the abdomen.

As he doubled over something just snapped, up until then he had been fighting a battle to simply wear his opponent down bit by bit methodically until the moment was right..Now he could only think about ripping the wolf limb from limb, cutting the cur to pieces. Artorias suddenly came at the wolf, dropping all semblance of poise in favor of swift and merciless swings.

Even if the flames bit his body the knight now enraged only bit his tongue to keep from wincing in pain. Even as Southpaw dodged the knight’s strikes, countering he found himself pushed back as Artorias stopped at nothing to carry on his assault as the full force of the Abysswalker's fury was focused on Southpaw and Southpaw alone. Quickly the boxer found himself overwhelmed, constantly pushed back and forced on the defensive. Even if taking a hit shocked Artorias in the process, Southpaw suffered far more from the knight’s unrelenting hacks. To make matters worse, Static and Jagged Edge were about to expire. When Southpaw dodged past a huge slash and attempted to use Dog Years to extend the timer, a deft spin slash from Artorias dealt the wolf his worst blow yet. Yelping, Southpaw skidded backwards, falling to one knee. His foe was coming–he needed to act. In a last ditch effort he threw caution to the wind and lunged forward, catching Artorias in the startup of an attack and grappling him in a close-quarters clinch. At this range the knight couldn’t fight back, but the wolf struggled against his armor.

Their contest came to a head as Nadia and Cat-5 clashed together in the air above them one final time, their tremendous impact turning into a frenzy of slashes, scratches, and shocks, three pointed tails against two plug-tipped ones, until the feral managed to pin Cat-5’s limbs with the almost tentacle-like tendons of her [url=https://i.imgur.com/vWsgEZU.png]airgrab[/url] and send both careening into the brawl beneath them. All four combatants disappeared in an eruption of blood, lightning, and steel.

Meanwhile, Rubick was engaging with Flapwoods. Rubick began with a Water Gun at Flapwoods, who shifted sideways to avoid it and counterattacked with Multi-Shot. Rubick would then Power Steal Jesse again, this time taking her Shield. He raised a wall of debris in front of him, which absorbed the attack and left Rubick unharmed. “Truly fascinating,” Rubick thought out loud. The abilities of other worlds piqued his curiosity like no other, but unfortunately there was no time for that right now, as Flapwoods would press the assault with a Shooting Star. The Shield still held, but it was mostly dust and pebbles at this point. 

Dropping the Shield, Rubick would return fire with Launch, grabbing a trio of rocks and firing them one by one. Flapwoods would zip around and dodge the first two, but get clipped by the third and momentarily lose control while in the air. Rubick would follow it up with a Fade Bolt, striking Flapwoods dead on. It was a solid blow, but Flapwoods recovered quickly. Rubick attempted to fire more rocks, but Flapwoods seemed to have learned from its mistake and moved more erratically in its attempts to dodge. At the same time, it would fire more Multi-Shots, circling around Rubick to get more angles to fire down on. Rubick already brought up another Shield, but he was struggling to keep up with Flapwood’s speed and was being peppered. 

“At this rate, you’ll be a proper parautilitarian in no time.” Jesse said, impressed by Rubick’s ability to yoink her power. As far as she was concerned, the two of them were a good match for that reason alone. Jesse was well aware of how versatile her power set was, so having it in the hands of another person seemed very useful. 

Producing her Service Weapon, Jesse began strafing to the sides and firing off her weapon at the floating alien stereo angel robot known as Decibelle. It was an elusive target, reminding Jesse of some of the more slippery members of the Hiss. She ripped a chunk of debris out of the bridge and Launched it at the Decibelle. It dodged and fired a big ring of sonic energy at Jesse’s feet. She jumped over it and began to Levitate off the ground, switching to Spin. Then she filled the air with bullets that the Decibelle would find a little harder to avoid, and the two began trading high speed, low damage projectiles.

“[color=limegreen]You flatter me,[/color]” Rubick chuckled, always willing to accept a compliment. Then his Shield crumbled away as the Flapwoods shot away the last of its health. Rubick would then use his Weaver’s Warp, disappearing in a flash of white webs and reappearing right above Flapwoods, and proceeded to use his Telekinesis to push it to the ground. Perplexed momentarily by the unseen force, the beast backpedaled in time to put itself above the pitch-black abyss rather than the aqueduct basin, allowing it to recover once its opponent lost line of sight.

While on the rise, it used Suit Up to boost its ranged and melee defenses, then sacrificed a fifth of its health to conjure an Astral Wall. When Flapwoods reappeared, it looked to Rubick as if a scar in reality had opened up in front of his enemy that bled the cosmos itself, aswirl with purple nebulae and speckled with glittering stars. This wall could absorb any three hits, except from Metal, Poison, or Plastic elements, which would shatter it instantly. Conversely, Air, Water, Earth, Fire, or Astral would all supercharge Flapwoods instead. Protected, the beast floated toward Rubick to deliver an Astral Beatdown. By this time, Decibelle had saved up enough energy to treat Jesse to something special. She breathed in deep and unleashed an angelic cry, whipping up a huge Hurricane that ripped toward the basin, eating up Spin Bullets on the way. The huge violent storm threatened to hit everyone in its path, including Flapwoods (supercharging it with Air in the process), and it boasted one other nasty quirk: the ability to destroy defensive walls in a single hit.

“Uhhh…” Jesse said, watching her spin bullets get scattered to the wind as she fired them. When she created a psychic wall in front of her, only to see it completely come apart, she said: “Uhhh…!” And cracked painfully against the structure beneath her, managing to Levitate mid air to not get thrown any further into the void. That blew them apart, and Jesse looked to where Rubick was being attacked. She aimed and began firing some well-aimed Grip shots at the Flapwoods, only for the Decibelle to Provoke and intercede, zipping in the way at high speed and deflecting her bullets. 

Easier said than done though, and an annoyed Jesse began taking well-aimed shots at the Decibelle instead, pacing out her pistol shots. While Decibelle was fast, Jesse’s Evasion made pinning her down hard as well. Jesse floated over to the platform and touched down to give all her Powers a bit of time to recharge, sprinting away to avoid Decibelle’s sonic attacks that cracked the concrete behind her. All the way she began charging up a Pierce shot. Jesse turned and aimed at Flapwoods, ironically provoking another Provoke from Decibelle who moved to force Jesse to attack her first. But this only worked in Jesse’s favor, as she knew exactly where Decibelle was going to be, and where Flapwoods would be too. The Pierce shot fired its bolt through them both, Jesse’s service weapon kicking up. That would strike Flapwoods and Decibelle, sending whatever their version of blood was spattering into the void. 

Confident, Jesse switched to Shatter and dashed forward, looking to blast Decibelle away with Shatter. That was when Nadia did her big airgrab explosion move, and Jesse decided that she probably shouldn’t run face first into it. 

In the aftermath of the spectacular blast in the bed of the aqueduct, the four melee fighters were thrown apart. It blew Nadia and Artorias back toward the basin, where they quickly regained their feet. Though short of breath from her face-off with Cat-5, and sparking with residual electricity, the feral knew she could go another couple of rounds, no problem. “Whew! It’ll take more than that to give me paws!” While contact with same lightning left the armor of Artorias Conductive, meaning he’d take an extra zap anytime more electric attacks were used, the formidable knight wouldn’t be so easily felled either. The same couldn’t be said for the beasts. After being hurled 9down the aqueduct by the explosion, Southpaw and Cat-5 struggled to rise, wounded and tired from their fights. Nadia snickered. “Now you’re startin’ to realize,” she said, planting one fist in her other palm. “Bad doggies and kitties get the pound!”

When the beasts finally got up, the pair seemed to exchange a poignant glance, then nodded. Both suddenly dissolved into static, taking Nadia by surprise, and as she watched the two buzzing masses joined together. It reformed a moment later, and in its place stood a single, larger monster combining the types, moves, and stats of both its constituents: [url=https://i.imgur.com/DMJP6iT.png]Catpaw[/url]. At the same time, Flapwoods and Decibelle recovered from Jesse’s collateral Pierce shot. A sudden gale whipped through the cavern as the two aerial aces merged to become [url=https://i.imgur.com/rqvdYK2.png]Deciwoods[/url], looming in the air above Rubick and Jesse with eyes ablaze. 

As their combined cry struck her, Nadia took an instinctive half-step back, but she did not lose her smile. “That’s your ace in the hole, huh? Thought it’d be taller…guess you’ve got a short fuse!” Laughing, she drew her second boxcutter and took a fighting stance with both blades at the ready. Standing this close to Artorias, she could really get a sense of their astonishing height difference. She grinned up at him. “Well, all pets are off now! You ready, Sir? Let’s make it rain cats and dogs!”

Wiping both the blood and a line of glowing essence from the Estus dribbling down his chin, Artorias heaved heavy ragged breaths. "[color=376877]Let's.[/color]" the knight replied through gritted teeth taking up arms next to the feral, the Abysswalker held his immense blade at the ready poised to strike.

“So…we’re not done yet.” Jesse asked with a good-natured frown, watching the monsters fuse together. “That’s a good trick…”

[center][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWyOSbcj9gM&ab_channel=LewieG[/youtube][/center]

Catpaw and Deciwoods went on the offense immediately, their combined speed giving them the initiative. With its spiked metal mitts upheld by its screen and clenched tight, the former swerved from side to side in a zigzag as it quickly closed the distance. Without hesitation Nadia unleashed her tensed muscles and sprang forward; she did not pause her gameplan to think about Artorias or how she might be blocking him. The cat burglar kicked things off by hurling one of her boxcutter’s blades at her fused foe’s face. Catpaw jerked its guard into position and deflected the razor skyward, then lunged at Nadia with a quick one-two. She dropped down low ready to strike, but at the last second instinctively rolled backward instead. Catpaw’s fist slammed into the ground a split second later in a burst of lightning. “Round of ap-paws!” With her ears embedded the feral whirled around with [url=https://i.imgur.com/R5flmeI.png]Wheel of Fortune[/url], then launched upward with an explosive [url=https://i.imgur.com/nictM28.png]Fiber Upper[/url]. “Pay a-tendon!” As if it barely felt the hits, Catpaw recovered and aimed an Energy Shot at Nadia’s head. She snapped up to her extended legs and came down on the fusion’s other side with a double crescent sword slash, only for Catpaw to come around with a superheated spinning hook. Nadia popped off her head in time to just avoid the knockout blow, which then forcefully lodged in the aqueduct wall beside her, just as she’d hoped. She did not, however, expect it to retract its claws and nail her with a revolving backfist punch on counterhit, sending her head spinning like a top. When she grabbed hold to stop her dizzy head spinning, she saw Catpaw’s fist grinding along the ground in a shower of sparks before blazing upward with a terrific uppercut. 

“Yikes!” She separated at the midsection and let her upper half fall backward as the uppercut careened past her. From the opening she blasted out a load of blood that coalesced into a Copycat, which launched into Catpaw in a multi-hit corkscrew dive. The whole exchange lasted only a couple seconds, but it ended with Nadia shocked, on the floor, and in need of assistance. And thus assistance came, the knight who had been poised to lunge had been forced to veer with the feral both getting in the range of his swings and making him need to stumble back as Southpaw counterattacked. Fortunately he had enough time to recover from the residual shock of electricity that had coursed through his pitted and beaten plate mail while the fusion splattered Nadia’s Copycat.

Breathing a ragged sigh, Artorias in his sorry state was too willful to let such superficial wounds to fell him, leaping towards Catpaw only seconds before it could turn as the knight roared, slashing the beast across the back. He did not wait for it to turn to follow through with a slash at its arm, slowly building up momentum in his swings. The fusion took a couple hits, but it couldn’t afford to take any more; while its constituents’ health had combined, not one bit had been restored. As Artorias continued to swing it pivoted, putting up a vertical guard by its head with its other hand clenched around its forearm for support. A massive [i]clang[/i] rang out as Finstertoter struck Catpaw’s defense, but the fusion did not break, even as the strength of Artorias behind his blade pushed it along the ground. After a moment the fusion brought its knee up, striking the flat of the greatsword from beneath. The blow threw the weapon upward and Catpaw couched its other hand, wreathed in flame, for a massive gut punch.

Instead Nadia grabbed it from behind, extruding a massive amount of muscle fiber to bind Catpaw up in a giant [url=https://i.imgur.com/tyXyMCx.png]’yarn’[/url] ball. The fusion’s struggles from within scorched her with electricity, but Nadia persisted, juggling the ball on her back for a moment before tossing the enemy out, soaked in Hydro-infused blood. Unbeknownst to her, the treatment made Catpaw Conducted, giving it free Multitarget. However, it also Corroded Southpaw’s metal, weakening its defenses. Most important of all, it laid the monster right at the knight’s feet.

Artorias' arms still shook from the blow to his weapon, shoulder dislocated. He could only double over and gasp for breath as the wind left his lungs as he received the hit to his lower half. Vision blurred he blinked several times, holding his shoulder tightly until with a snap he popped the joint back into place with a painful grunt, now wasn't the moment to stand idle.

It laid at his feet, struggling against its bindings that only increased as the knight drew closer resting on Finstertöter as he stood over the monster breathing heavily, armor blackened from fire and broken in some places.

With a pained grunt, he raised his greatsword in both hands and swung it downwards like an executioner's guillotine. No guttural cries, no long winded speech to give, no hesitation as he brought his blade down upon the monster's neck.

Faced with imminent death, Catpaw snarled, and activated Zoomies. The monster lunged out of the way on all fours, also dodging a followup slash from Nadia in the process. Instead of sinking into their foe’s flesh the Seekers’ blades clanged together, and with a loud snap the feral another blade. “Dammit!” She whirled around, but without time for any other option was forced to block the Zoomies punch. To her surprise, the attack -being Beast type- had no other effect, so rather than take another ounce of block pressure Nadia whipped out her dagger Athame and let it fly. 

Her Vantage counter knocked Catpaw back, worsening its defenses even further, but that wasn’t all Nadia had planned. It also slid to a stop in a pool of her own leftover blood, and with a simple command, her Copycat erupted from it to wrap her arms around Catpaw in a headlock. “It wasn’t in vein!” The feral instantly got blasted by an Energy Shot for her pun, but as she tumbled away she was laughing nevertheless; she wasn’t the one who’d be finishing things. “Now say good-knight!”

Sparks flew from Finstertöter, like the monster's claws had when they dragged across the rough stonework. His blade screeched as he launched himself at Catpaw wildly slashing it with a wicked upward cleave, sending the monster flying backwards down the bed of the aqueduct the force of the attack. The follow through left him slamming Finstertöter with a thunderous clang against the floor, next to him laid the feral and though he hesitated still driven by the will to fight he lifted Nadia to her feet locking eyes like both Cat-5 and Southpaw had. They'd end this together.

“Lemme at ‘em!” Nimbly Nadia climbed up on the knight’s sword, pointing downrange like a homerun star before a grand slam, and once he understood what the cat-eared lunatic wanted, he swung with all his might to send the feral flying. As she hurtled toward Southpaw, she kept her limbs clasped on Finstertoter, allowing her fibers to stretch to their greatest extent. Only after a moment did she snap her muscles tight like four giant rubber bands, slinging the greatsword through the air. It shot past her, with Artorias running behind it, and as she fell to the ground she didn’t watch it lodge in the fusion’s body.

The knight's joints burned, deft as his movements were following through the attack. Artorias launched himself forward into the air and grabbed Finstertöter by the hilt, pulling the weapon clean from the fusion and slamming it into the stone floor with such force where the monster stood that the ground cracked.

Even as his foe lay dissolved into ash he grunted, slamming the blade against the stone floor with a thunderous boom as metal struck stone he raised his sword again…

“H-hey, careful not to crush the spirits. We can use those…” Breathing heavily, Nadia got to her feet, an uneasy look on her face as she watched Artorias go nuts. “Feel like trash…” she groaned, thoroughly electrocuted but healing slowly. Still, they’d finished their foe off with style, and both of the beasts’ spirits lay on the aqueduct’s bed. [i]One down,[/i] Nadia thought, turning to see what had become of the other fusion. [i]One to go.[/i]

Unfortunately, things weren’t going as hot. Deciwoods had spent its initiative on Broadcast, giving itself Multitarget. Then it filled the gloom with the horrible discordant racket of Metal Riffs, assailing both Jesse and Rubick with a wall of gouging force as if the air itself were viciously saw-toothed. When it began to fire off Multi-shots, barrages of air bullets hurtled toward both opponents at once. While the fight against Catpaw had gone in the Seekers’ favor, Deciwoods had been dealing some serious damage, especially to Rubick. Rubick activated his Magic Wand, which granted him a sliver of health and mana, but it was still a far cry from his peak condition.

“You know,” Jesse said, Evading past the air bullets using Levitation. She landed on the narrow structure and sprinted back as the projectiles cut into the stone.

 “It just hit me. Why are we doing this again?” She asked. 

Rubick looked at Jesse quizzically. “[color=limegreen]Whatever do you mean? When it comes to solving puzzles, there’s nothing quite like complications,[/color]” he replied.

Nadia furrowed her brow. Normally she’d be happy to help, but after this battle on top of the deep-seated debilitation dealt by the fight with Consul P, she just didn’t have much gas left in the tank. The team needed a way out. She looked around, her eyes quickly settling on the battlefield itself. As she scoped out the aqueduct and basin the group had been fighting in, a fresh idea popped into her head, a certified Ms Fortune classic. “Brace yourself, ‘cause I’ve had a river-lation,” she announced to Artorias. Rather than run toward the battle, she dashed the other way, scooping up her boxcutter hilts and detached blades from where they’d fallen, as well as the beasts’ spirits. After a few seconds she reached the first basin, where she hauled herself up onto the platform by the pooled water and grabbed hold of the lever. “We’ll be leavin’...currently!”

She yanked the lever, and the gate slid down. Instantly the water flooded down the aqueduct, quickly sweeping Artorias up in its flow. Nadia jumped in herself, and when the wall of water bore down Rubick and Jesse, the feral was right there with them. “Watch me ‘sluice’ right in!” The wave swallowed them up and bore them onward from the second basin, where Nadia had already lowered the gate prior to the fight. The whole team streamed away from Deciwoods, quickly outpacing its parting shots, and after another few moments passed through the station’s loop to be dumped down right next to the waterwheel.

Nadia bobbed to the surface of the canal. “Whoo! How’s that for ex-stream?” Laughing weakly, she threw herself onto the canal’s edge before the flow could take her away again, and climbed up out of the water. Overhead, the turn of the waterwheel activated the hidden mechanisms, and the barred door opened up like a massive zipper. Magikrab stood nearby, watching in silence, and Nadia gave him a halfhearted wave as she lay by the channel, chest heaving.
Meanwhile as Artorias dragged himself onto the edge of the canal the knight shook his head "[color=376877]Verily thou arte quite the character.[/color]" the knight told her, following up with a metallic thump as he laid out on the ground with a grunt, hand still tightly grasping his somewhat battered and cracked sword. 

His armor was in a sorry state from their battle, pieces of it were missing or burnt black from fire, his helmet was dented in a few places. Artorias made a mental note to visit the skeletal blacksmith again on their way back if time allowed.

Jesse pulled herself out of the water. “Shit.” She tilted her head to the side and smacked the other side of her head. “Got water in my ear. Damn it.” 

Rubick appeared in the air, Blink Dagger in hand, and landed on the ground with a [i]splat![/i] He rolled onto his side and coughed violently, clearing his lungs of water. “[color=limegreen]Not my finest moment,[/color]” he croaked as he slowly got back up onto his feet.

After a moment Nadia got to her feet, wiping her wet hair from her face. “I guess we got away,” she muttered with a wary look at the pipe above the water wheel. That other fusion must have been too big to fit in. Making a conscious effort to avoid Jesse’s gaze out of guilt for unleashing the beasts in the first place, she withdrew the spirits of Southpaw and Cat-5 from her pouch. “Here,” she said to Artorias as she offered him the wolf’s spirit. “Seems like a good fit, and ya earned it. Crushin’ it’ll give ya some kind of loot, but if ya stick it in your heart or head you can get its powers or skills. Just don’t be surprised if ya come out of it with dog ears, nyeheh.” The feral then focused her attention on the feline spirit, thinking. Just yesterday she remembered fretting about slowly losing her cat-ness thanks to her other fusions. This seemed…well, purr-fect. Then again, she didn’t want any extra fur, and she did worry a little about that bizarre device Cat-5 had in place of a head.

He stared at the faintly glowing spirit in his hands for a moment, he knew that souls had the potential to make one stronger yet he never knew one could absorb the sum of one's being into oneself. His grip tightening around the spirit yet relaxed as he hesitated, what of the wolf's strengths? Such a worthy opponent had proven to be more than a match for him so his hand resolved to thrust the glowing orb into his helmet, he would take the sum of its strengths and make them his own.

[center][hider=For Artorias]Spirit absorbed:
[b][url=https://i.imgur.com/T9GLkQd.png]Southpaw[/url][/b]
The host is a bit shorter, now roughly 7 feet. His armor is smoother and light gray in color, and his helmet covers less of his face, more resembling boxing headgear. His eyes glow blue and his teeth are blue as well. His gauntlets are larger and heavier, suitable for punching, and he has both red-furred wolf ears and a tail. This spirit confers the Strength [b]Boxer[/b], making the host an adept fistfighter with a solid grasp of both offense and defense at very close range. This spirit also confers the Weakness [b]Metal Reaction[/b]. If hit by a fire-type attack the host will be Burned, taking a little damage after his next three moves, and if hit by an electric-type attack the host will be Conducted, taking a little damage whenever another electric attack is used in his vicinity for a little while[/hider][/center]

Seeing Artorias take the plunge, Nadia made her decision. “Oh, what the hell.”

[center][hider=For Nadia]Spirit absorbed:
[b][url=https://i.imgur.com/OGQHohy.png]Cat-5[/url][/b]
The host is a little sturdier-built, with black claws. Her hair has flipped colors, becoming black on the outside and white on the inside, as well as gotten fluffier, and her ears are a bit longer. Her tails are also fluffy. The mark on her forehead has become a large white minus sign, and her eyes are both white with sclera that are flatscreen-blue. Her legs below the knee have become digitigrade, black-furred cat legs complete with paws and blue spurs. Her jacket lost its hood and gained a yellow fur lining plus collar. This spirit confers the Power [b]Lightning Stickers[/b], granting the host access to the lightning-type moves Smack (normal hit), Charge (lightning dash attack), and Battery (flurry attack that crits if used after Charge). This spirit also confers the Weakness [b]Lightning Reaction[/b]. If hit by Earth, Plant, Glass, or Plastic-type attacks, the host will be Grounded, reducing her accuracy for a little while[/hider][/center]

When the light died down, Nadia quickly felt her face. Nose, cheeks, ears, everything in order. No weird screen, thank goodness! Disappointment flooded through her, however, when she found that her hair had changed colors. “Black!?” she groaned. [i]Just my luck.[/i] The loss of the white hair dye she purchased in Argentum really hurt right about now. That realization paled in comparison, however, to her surprise when she noticed her legs. “Holy mackerel!” she gasped, falling flat on her rear. In stunned surprise she held up her new paws and wiggled her toes. After a couple seconds she let out an uneasy laugh. “T-that’s new.” Slowly she got up, trying to get used to a new way of standing. “Well, not sure if it’s a paw-sitive, but I guess I’ll be dealin’ with it ‘til we see Peach again.”

Her eyes turned to the yawning darkness of the newly-opened tunnel on the other side of the rushing river. “Might as well see what we spent all that effort tryin’ to open, right?”

Jesse looked at the all new versions of Nadia and Artorias. She wasn’t sure if Fusion was for her. She didn’t want to distill her powers, or specialize too heavily in something. She was very happy with her alchemist Striker. 

“[color=limegreen]It never gets old no matter how many times I see it,[/color]” Rubick said, still curious about how Fusion worked. Taking another’s power by incorporating their being into yourself sounded like a simple concept, but being able to do so with so few downsides even without outside interference was an incredible ability. Unfortunately, as far as Rubick could tell, it seems to only work within this hodgepodge of a multiverse, as Rubick was sure he had never encountered Spirits back in his own world. He sighed, realizing the futility of this research topic.

“Yep.” Jesse said. “That quick thinking with the lever meant we got to skip the fight. I mean, I guess we already could have skipped the fight if we just decided not to open the chests, but… well, y’know, whatever, who cares, it’s all good.” Jesse said, trying not to make Nadia feel any worse in case for some reason she did. After a grateful look at Jesse, Nadia jumped over the gap and padded into the tunnel.

[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/YGWJJZE.png[/img][/center]

The light here was poor, but not prohibitive, especially for a cat. Within the tunnel lay a pair of creaky, rusty turnstyles, and beyond them a single train platform. No enemies could be seen, but the instant Nadia stepped into this final room, a chill ran down her spin. She arched her back, flattened her ears, and balked with wide eyes. Something was off about this place. It was shifting, subtly glitching, and a low droning sound like radio static echoed throughout it, even through the newcomers’ heads. The air here tasted acrid. Coppery. Like burned metal. It made the feral’s skin crawl. On either side of the solitary train track, the pitch blackness in the tunnels seemed to squirm. When she opened her mouth, she dared not speak above a whisper.

“This is bad. This feels…wrong. I gotta say…even if it’s anticlimactic, I’m fine just, y’know, leavin’. Like, right now, fast-as-we-can-type leavin’.” She shifted nervously side to side.

“Feel free.” Jesse said, looking around the place with great interest. Creepy. Off. [i]There might be something more to this place. Like peeling back a poster.[/i] 

Jesse walked to the turnstiles that sit in the center of the room, and the train tracks. “This place reminds me of an AWE. Not that you would know what that is, but…well, it’s pretty much my job to investigate places that give people the creeps.”

Jesse was going to try and activate these turnstiles somehow, maybe with a push, once the others had made their decision to stay or go. As much as she wanted to leave, the sight of Jesse forging onward made her hesitate. Though the almost eldritch atmosphere of this place injected dread deep into her very bones, her curiosity nagged at her. Just what was going to happen when the FBC director pushed past those decrepit machines…? She had to know.

Slowly, carefully, Jesse drew closer to the tracks. After a few moments, there came a familiar rumble, quickly building in strength. From the black abyss of the tunnels issued an old-fashioned locomotive, green in color, and it came to a stop at the platform with a screech that made Nadia’s hairs stand on end. The doors of its passenger car slammed open, and from within stepped its lone passenger.

Its arrival sent a fresh wave of anathema rippling through reality. Visual aberrations broke out on every available surface; the air twisted and writhed with a damnably insectoid quality. Slowly, the outsider stood to its full height, a staggering twenty feet. Milk-white skin…ivory crown…a yellow, leering grin. The [url=https://i.imgur.com/Er6RIu7.png]archangel[/url] turned to face the heroes, fixing them with its eyeless gaze. Its abominable giggle squirmed wetly in their minds, and the sight of it hurt their heads. 

[i][b]”I KNEW I FELT IT”[/b][/i]

Its voice was poison, a whisper, but tyrannically loud. 

[i][b]”AN EMPTINESS. A HOLE WHERE A HEART SHOULD BE”[/b][/i]

Rubick was no stranger to seeing abnormal entities, but it never got any easier to deal with them. Every inch of his skin crawled in its presence, but he forced himself to look at it anyway. He guessed that doing the alternative would be worse. “[color=limegreen]Who… or perhaps, what… are you?[/color]” Rubick struggled to ask.

“Uh, hi there.” Jesse greeted. “I’m Jesse. Is this your…train station?” 

[i][b]”YOUR KIND COULD LIVE SUCH RICH LIVES. BUT YOU TRADE IT FOR HOLLOW SYMBOLS AND ARTIFICE. YOU EXCHANGE SOMETHING MEANINGFUL FOR NOTHING. MY CASTLE IS FILLED WITH THE EMPTINESS YOU LEAVE BEHIND”[/b][/i]

From the ground, the walls, the air, striped tentacles began to emerge. Still stranger shapes began to appear, moving and bopping as if in a dance. Tentacles began to overgrow the exit. Gritting her teeth, Nadia sharpened her new claws and slashed at them, forcing them to recede. With everyone’s level of damage and fatigue, they couldn’t fight something like this. “We gotta go-!” she cried.

[i][b]”I AM THE KING OF NOTHING”[/b][/i] From beneath its crimson shawl the Nowhere Monarch stretched out its hands. Two, four, eight, sixteen, thirty-two. They reached out, grasping, accepting. [i][b]”COME, LET ME CONSUME YOUR EMPTINESS”[/b][/i]

Rubick had no argument. “[color=limegreen]Agreed, let us depart,[/color]” he said urgently, Fade Bolting a cluster of tentacles that was getting a little too close.

Jesse took a wide stance, gripping her Service Weapon in both hands. She cast a look over her shoulder though as Nadia began to retreat. [i]All right, fair enough. It doesn’t seem like the King is hurting anyone down here anyway.[/i] 

She glanced back at the King. “No, actually, we’re good.” She said, then evaded over to the entrance where she used Spin to carve a chunk out of the tentacles with Nadia using machine gun fire. They recoiled at the bullets’ touch, and together the three of them raced back down the tunnel they came from. Once reunited with Artorias, Nadia, Jesse, and Rubick made a mad dash out of King’s Station, hounded by the hideous laughter of the Nowhere Monarch. The archangel, and any pertinent knowledge possessed by the Magikrab, would have to wait until later.