[center][h3]The Under - Pizza Tower[/h3]
Level 10 Nadia (221/100)
The Koopa Troop’s [@DracoLunaris], Primrose and Therion’s [@Yankee], Sectonia’s [@Archmage MC], Jesse’s [@Zoey Boey], Ganondorf’s [@Double], Rubick’s [@Scarifar], Ichiban’s [@Truthhurts22], Artorias’ [@Dark Cloud]
[b]Word Count:[/b] 1851[/center]

With the tension that typically accompanied a boss fight thoroughly broken by a hearty round of laughter, jeers, and mockery, everyone was ready to get down to business. Pizza Face’s choice to start the fight by barfing out a bevy of minions sort of set the tone for the whole fracas, since any chance it had of being a serious trial by combat the instant Sectonia, Kamek (as well as Rubick by extension), and Junior summoned an absolute horde of underlings in reply, blanketing what had been an imposing arena with a throng of silly-looking critters slapping each other around.

Out of all the peons she only recognized the Water Workers, but if the rest were comparable in terms of strength, they’d be nothing to write home about either. The crowd sort of blocked Nadia, so rather than beeline straight for the big bad like usual, she hung back for a moment at the edge of the mook brawl, her bemused enjoyment writ plain on her face. [i]Guess I can sit back and relax.[/i] Somehow, the goofiness of this throwdown felt oddly appropriate for the bizarre Pizza Tower’s climactic battle. The others -at least those with a shred of humor in their hearts- clearly felt it too. Artorias even took a moment to critique her mouthiness, and after dispatching an airborne refrigerator he followed up with something she didn’t quite understand. [i]Huh? What does that have to do with anything?[/i] His crazed grin implied something funny, though, so she placated him with a tentative laugh. “Haha…yeah!” Satisfied, he ran off to join the fray, smashing through the melee two or even three minions at a time.

He wasn’t the only one, either; Ganondorf made his displeasure known through a remarkable display of violence, his frenzied bladework carving a trail of carnage across the arena, made all the more fearsome by Sectonia’s Haste. Ichiban joined the fray in slick new formal wear with an equally sophisticated-looking curved sword in hand, and Nadia’s surprise quickly turned to excitement. “Heck yeah, Ichi! Mess ‘em up! Just don’t cut the cheese!” Of course, by the time she said that, he’d already done it. “...Gouda grief.”

While some of the Seekers’ heaviest hitters pulverized the small fry, the others focused on Pizza Face himself. Artorias reached him first, and gave the greasy entity ample reason to stay as far off the ground as possible. Leveraging his brand-new boxing skills, the knight practically pounded the pizza’s face in. When the flurry ended the oversized pie quickly hovered out of range, his cheesy features covered with welts and bruises. He even had a black eye and bandages, somehow. Things didn’t go much better, though. While the steak Nadia fired from her Bait Launcher bounced off its head to splat down on the arena, where the tiger appeared with only minions within mauling distance, Bowser’s ‘projectile’ worked a lot better. Flung into the air by royal strength, Rika cleaved through Pizza face’s crust and a foot or two of cheese-topped red sauce better than any pizza cutter. She then redirected her aerial momentum with a burst of speed, latched on, and whipped all the way around to lay into the oven-baked boss with everything that cool-ass lance of hers had to offer. The impressive display ended with a perfect dismount that sent her right back to her new dad, and Nadia felt like clapping–she couldn’t have done better herself.

Of course, that was no reason not to try! When Therion and Primrose made their moves, so did she. Saving her boxcutters for later, Nadia charged into the chaos with her claws out. First up, a familiar Water Worker. It went down to a good old Cat Scratch rekka, sliced up by the first two hits and popped like a water balloon when she drove her hardened ears in. “Water you even doin’ here?” Two Forknights charged in, and she went low to trip one well before it reached her with a hyper-extended leg. “Armor, huh?” She turned into lightning blitzed through the other with Charge, electrocuting it. As she rematerialized behind it, she jammed her elbow into its back, then launched it overhead with Limber Up. “You’ve hel-met your match!” Her head blasted off to hit it mid-air, keeping it juggled long enough for Nadia to extend her arms, snatch it, and slam it headfirst into the floor. As the other Forknight tottered to its feet the feral grabbed it by the mouth and pulled the cheese-creature out of its armor, which clanked down on the ground. A Piglin squad bore down on her, and while she kicked her head into one to daze him the others managed to smack her. “Ow, hey!” In return she jammed the cheese-thing into one’s face like a cream pie, blinding it. “How’s that for head cheese?” She promptly took another swing to the shin. “Agh, you little stinker!” The next, however went over her head as she went low to take out their legs with [url=https://i.pinimg.com/originals/7c/5c/d6/7c5cd6cc51a859e6de7f53d980fd7406.gif]Kitt n’ Spin[/url]. “Sorry, piggies…” She flipped into the air and hurled a Purrge of Vengeance straight down to blow away all three in a rippling eruption of pure Hydro. “This one’s a wash!”

A cheeseslime sludged toward her, but an upward claw slash unstuck it with a [i]shlorp[/i] and she jammed her other hand straight into its face only to find that it wouldn’t come off. “Eugh. Stick around, why dontcha?” An idea struck her, and she lifted its gooey mass above her head. When [url=https://www.fightersgeneration.com/nz4/char/skullgirls/msfortune-uhh-gross.gif]span her arm up[/url] like a drill, the cheeseslime quickly flattened out and then flew apart, its globules scattered far and wide. “What a spread!”

By that time, Therion had sunk a whole handful of throwing knives into Pizza Face’s ugly mug, and Primrose’s dark magic scored an explosive direct hit. Barnabee had joined the fray too, pelting Pizza Face with bees before he dashed up to deliver some choice cuts with his saw-toothed sword. Nadia watched as Jesse perforated the boss with Spin bullets, quickly depleting the last of its health. “Oh crap, I’m gonna miss my chance!” She scooped up her head and took off, running toward the spit where her allies were polishing off the last few mooks. [i]Wait a second.[/i] Grinning wildly, she jumped into the air, springboarding off Ichiban, Artorias, and finally Ganondorf in ascending order. “Thanks for the lift, fellas!” she laughed, sailing into the air. With a final burst of blood she shot straight up to Pizza Face. Nadia shot off her forearms, sinking them into Pizza Face’s cheesy cheeks, then snapped back her muscle fibers to drive her best dropkick of all time straight into his fungal nose. “Call this gratuitous,” she quipped, face-to-face with the big pizza. “But I don’t leave mush-room for error!” With that, she unleashed the blood pressure in her legs in a terrific shotgun-like blast, kicking off him in the process. As he [url=https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/pizzatower/images/6/67/Spr_pizzaface_hurt_0.gif]reeled[/url], she plummeted back to earth, twisting around to land -as always- on her feet.

Of course, immediately after landing, Nadia let out a long-overdue breath, hyperventilating with wide eyes. “Holy frijoles! Can’t believe that worked.” After a moment though she quickly straightened up, clearing her throat. “I mean…can you believe that worked? I surprise myself sometimes~”

As she said this, a beat-up looking [url=https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/pizzatower/images/2/26/Spr_pizzahead_intro1_0.gif]Pizza Face[/url] descended to the ground, seemingly inert. Then he suddenly began to vibrate, scrunching down until finally, it [url=https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/pizzatower/images/3/32/Pizzaheadintro2.gif]popped open[/url] to reveal a strange man, sitting on a toilet and reading the newspaper, a man with blue overalls, a red bowtie, and a white shirt plus gloves. As Nadia and the others gaped, the paper slowly lowered, revealing that the man had a slice of pizza for a head. He laughed nervously, slowly crunching up and setting aside the paper, then cracked a wide smile as [url=https://i.imgur.com/LTx8UKt.png]he[/url] climbed out of the Pizza Face machine.

[center][i][b]”Hello, hello”[/b][/i][/center]

The moment his foot touched the ground, everything began to change. In the distance the light turned a soft [url=https://i.imgur.com/QkJyNfe.png]orange[/url], surreal and dreamlike as strange shapes, pizza toppings, and TV sets depicting Pizza Head began to float about. The rock surrounding Pizza Tower and the vegetation transformed, becoming meatballs and green peppers, with flowers and fungi taking on the likeness of Pizza Face. Over Pizza Head, eight [url=https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/pizzatower/images/3/35/Spr_bossfight_pizzaheadHP_0.gif]likenesses[/url] of his own ahead appeared, arranged in two rows of four, and the next moment something similar happened to Nadia. Over her head appeared eight round bells, just like the one she wore on her collar, and the rest of the Seekers experienced a similar phenomenon with iconography of their own. Then the symbols faded, leaving Nadia to wonder just what the hell was going on. The feeling coming off this guy…it felt like the Nowhere Monarch, back in King’s Station. And the Orphan of Kos, the day before that. She could never forget that crawling, pervading sensation of wrongness. Her eyes widened as Pizza Head [url=https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/pizzatower/images/1/13/Totinoidle.gif]grinned[/url] at them, a pipe in his hand. “Another one. Somethin’ that shouldn’t be!” she hissed, sharpening her claws. “And won’t be for much longer!”

As if in reply, Pizza Head [url=https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/pizzatower/images/a/ab/Pizzaheadgiddy.gif]ran[/url] over to the far side of the arena, and reached down over the edge to stretch and plunge his arm through solid stone. When he pulled his arm back up, it came with a [url=https://i.imgur.com/bNV3VBa.png]Brooding Mawlek[/url] several times bigger than himself, which he nonchalantly tossed onto the stage. In quick succession Pizza Head dredged up four more minibosses: a [url=https://i.imgur.com/J7YknH9.png]Dark Quartz Ogre[/url], [url=https://i.imgur.com/G0GXna8.png]Big Dog[/url], an [url=https://i.imgur.com/bXxs5CZ.png]Eyebrute[/url], and [url=https://i.imgur.com/qjAmDhY.png]Grovetender[/url]. Once all five were on the scene, Pizza Head stood idly by, ready for more tomfoolery.

Nadia forced a smile as she drew her boxcutters. Everyone present would need to divide their attention between the boss and the uninvited guests to pull through this. “Guess we’ve got our work cut out for us.” Still, compared to the Mom fight this really wasn’t that bad. She whistled to try and get the three-headed hound’s attention so she could lead him toward one side of the arena. “Here, doggy! Let’s play!”

[center][i]Until Pizza Head is defeated, all characters take 1/8 of their max health (a 'pip') in damage from every hit they receive. When hit a character flashes invincible for the next second afterward. Healing is disabled[/i][/center]

[center][h3]Edinburgh MagikaPolis - Dead of Night[/h3]
Level 8 Big Band (102/80)
Ace Cadet’s [@Yankee], Red’s [@TruthHurts22], Mewtwo’s [@Double], Frisk’s [@Majoras End]
[b]Word Count:[/b] 1291[/center]

When two more serious threats showed their ghastly faces, the Seekers quickly regrouped. They didn’t plan to just sit around and wait for the Darkbeast to come to them, but Paarl was even more aggressive than they predicted. First off the block, Ace charged in with a speed and tenacity that belied the clanking weight of his kit, his blades glinting in the arcane lamplight as he carved at the emaciated horror’s fleshless leg-bones. He landed a clean couple hits as Paarl tensed up, chipping rather than breaking the bones, before the monster let out a shrill scream. Arcs of electricity burst off it in a wave of concussive force to knock the hunter down in the middle of his pre-emptive strike, and Paarl began to attack.

As it moved, its bones ground together horribly, the sound enough to make Band’s skin crawl. He steeled himself and charged in to give Ace a hand. He bulled forward with Brass Knuckles, but Paarl ignored the cracks it left in its bones to slash at him with lightning-infused claws. Gritting his teeth, Band blocked both, then performed a backstep to avoid a downward slam and set up for another Brass Knuckles. Instead he accidentally backed right into a trash can and toppled over backwards. “Gyat, damn!” 

At the same time, Lucia chased down the Revenant, knowing that it couldn’t be allowed to sit back and wreak havoc with those rocket launchers from afar. Pumping her arms, she ran in a zigzag pattern as the demon blew chunks from the roadway with its missiles. It ended its salvo by firing its last two rockets both simultaneously and right at her, aiming to take her out in one deadly blast, but this cop was made of sterner stuff. She pivoted and performed Flipper Shot, a fiery backward scoop-up kick to intercept the missiles and flip them upward. With a daredevil grin she let fly the follow-up turning roundhouse to smack the rockets right back. They blew up against the surprised Revenant’s body and broke its poise long enough for her to close the distance with EX Tornado Spinner, launching diagonally upward to blast it with three fiery kicks. Unfortunately for her, this hellspawn knew fire all too well. When she landed it lashed out with a headbutt, bopping Lucia’s skull with its own, then kicked her backward. She slid to a stop on one knee and looked up to see the Revenant wrench a streetlight out of the ground, then swing it like a bat. “Sonuva-!” Lucia blocked, but the enormous bludgeon shattered her guard and sent her flying with the explosion of its luminous magic crystal.

While those three got started, Albedo had elevated himself to a second-story balcony with a Solar Isotoma. He ran along a section of window ledges and leaped to deliver a downward plunging attack, landing on Paarl’s back. Unfortunately, his swordblade found no real flesh to pierce, and it simply grated along the monster’s spinal column and ribs before lodging in the gristle. Still, Paarl bucked to get the alchemist off, hurling its body into the nearby building. The wind-knocking blow left him stunned and crumpled against the window where Paarl bashed him, and while Albedo’s defense could take it, he felt less confident when the Revenant turned its attention his way. Grunting in exertion, he leaped down from the second story to the ground just as the rockets blew the window -and surrounding section of wall- to smithereens. Several voices could be heard screaming from inside.

Band rose from where he’d fallen with a groan, more angry that he’d tripped himself up than hurt, and found Paarl coming straight toward him. He blocked its toothy lunge and reeled back, from the close-up view of its grotesque, weirdly-human face almost as much as the force. As he slid he grabbed the trash can that tripped him and slammed it against Paarl’s face like a beer bottle in a bar brawl. It recoiled, and Band risked a glance in the direction his fellow officer had flown. “Lucia!?” She’d smacked into another street lamp and bent it from the impact, and while she was on her feet again he saw her clutching her back in pain. That impact broke the street lamp, too, and to make matters worse, a mob of skeletons seemed to be coming up behind her.  [i]This street is too narrow,[/i] Band realized. There wasn’t enough room to maneuver around these monsters, there was too much stuff in the way, and with two lights out the dark of night was beginning to retake it, too.

The bad news didn’t stop there. A [url=https://i.imgur.com/yG53Snb.png]blonde man[/url] appeared in the destroyed section of wall, and though in his nightclothes he wielded a [url=https://i.imgur.com/482qqrF.png]fire staff[/url] and the determination to protect his family. “Fireball!” he yelled, aiming at Paarl.

“Wait!” Band reached out his hand.

Too late. Aren’s fireball burst against the monster’s dried-out hide, and while it did some damage it also triggered Paarl’s enmity. The monster lunged upward at him and snatched him from the window by the arm with its jaws, hurling him into the ground. He barely got the chance to howl in pain before Paarl dragged his claws through him. Immediately, the poor soul began to resurrect as a skeleton, his staff held tight in his deathgrip.

Band growled in anger, but he knew he couldn’t let it go to his head. “We have to move!” he yelled to the others. “We can’t fight here, there’s too much collateral!”

He spent the meter on another Super Sonic Jazz, clipping both Paarl and the Revenant as he blasted past them . Once the blaze of glory ended he slid to a stop, looking over his shoulder just long enough to confirm that he’d gotten the monsters’ attention. The Revenant bellowed in anger, and with a screech Paarl launched after him, smashing through whatever clutter happened to be in its way as it chased him down. “Hoo, boy,” Band sighed in resignation. Too late to back out now.

“That’s right, follow me!” Turning back to the road ahead, he leaned forward and began to play. Sound streamed from his back and his legs to propel him down the street, allowing him to pick up speed as he ground across the cobblestones and even up stairs, somehow. Paarl rampaged along behind him, growing ever closer, but the twists and turns in Band’s path made it smash into the walls a few times on the turns. Explosions went off behind him as the Revenant shot its rockets, but Band buckled down and forged ahead. The further he went in this somber borough, the darker and more foreboding the architecture seemed to get, and the more skeletons he found. Band made sure to choose the path with more undead each time, plowing straight through them when necessary, until the chase brought him up a couple flights of stairs and through a fancy wrought-iron gate. In front of him lay a [url=https://i.imgur.com/qFSBDOz.png]circular monument plaza[/url] surrounded by the tall, grim buildings of Edinburgh Magicapolis. The clouds had parted, and that old devil moon shone down on the sinuous, sparking bones of Darkbeast Paarl as it crashed through the gates behind him, followed shortly by the Revenant. “Plenty of room to dance.” As Band turned around, he spotted Albedo and Lucia dropping down into the plaza on a different side, having taken to the rooftops to bypass the labyrinth as they followed the commotion. Then ran over, and the Seekers faced the monsters together. “Let’s see ‘em off.”

[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/Qyp8cKc.png[/img][/center]