[center][h3]Forbidden Kingdom - Moving On Up[/h3]
Lvl 15 Ms Fortune (132/150) Level 11 Big Band (32/110)
Junior, Rika & Amaterasu’s [@DracoLunaris] Roland’s [@Archmage MC] Zenkichi’s [@MULTI_MEDIA_MAN] Pit, Primrose & Therion’s [@Yankee] Sakura & Juri’s [@Zoey Boey] Captain Falcon’s [@Double] Harry and Kim’s [@Eviledd1984] Terry’s [@Terry Bogard]
[b]Word Count:[/b] 2101[/center]

While Nadia figured that there must logically be an official way to go up or down between the levels of the Tiered City, whether by elevator, train, or very long staircase, the fiercely independent feral saw no reason to abide by such pedestrian methods when she could blaze her own trail instead. And from where she now stood at the very edge of the Low Tier’s cramped slums, shading her eyes against the sun with one hand as she peered up the wall toward the next level, going her own way looked very doable indeed. After all, while the wall rose with clifflike perpendicularity to form a staunch, flat backdrop for the Low Tier, it didn’t confront her with an implacable sheer surface. Instead it appeared to be stone brick all the way up, with sufficient mortar seams and irregularities of depth that Nadia could identify a wealth of handholds and crevices where her claws could find purchase. It would be tough going, and dangerous if she lost her grip, but once the catgirl was set on something there wasn’t any room for second-guesses. With a grin of utterly self-sure determination, Nadia sharpened her claws and began to climb.

To her delight, the ascent proved neither too hard nor too easy, but an engaging challenge. While 2,700 Pounds of Justice worked against her, making each movement up the rock wall harder than it needed to be, her natural (and unnatural) abilities more than made up the difference. Being able to stretch out her limbs, dig her claws into stone, and push herself against the wall with a little directional bloodletting gave her every advantage. Nadia knew that she could airdash back onto the wall if she fell, too, but it never came to that. Instead she made steady progress, working up a light sweat as she scaled Esaka’s class divide. Finally, after only five minutes or so, she took a final leap of faith to latch onto the railing that crowned the wall with hyper-extended arms, then snap her muscle fibers together to send herself flying up and over into the second tier. “Aha!”

She took one look down while airborne and saw nothing but water. “Aha!?” 

[i]PLOOSH![/i]

Nadia belly-flopped into the cold water, sputtering and flailing as she tried to find her footing, much to the amusement of a couple surprised onlookers. The cat burglar didn’t hate water by any means, but a dunk straight away was quite the shock. After surfacing, she swam over to the narrow walkway that ran along the outer wall and pulled herself out. When she spotted a few locals chuckling at or concerned for her, she couldn’t suppress a good-natured laugh herself. “Hey there folks~!” she greeted them as she got to her feet, waving. “It’s all good! All in a day’s work as Ms. Fortune, the scrappiest up-and-coming superstar in Esaka. I’ll be here all week, so if you’re a fan of plucky underdogs (or undercats, for that matter), I hope that little pratfall ‘wets’ your appetite!”

As she stepped back onto the water’s surface, her rigging unfurled to keep her afloat atop the water’s surface, and Nadia gave a theatrical flourish before bowing to impress the spectators. Sure, the feral might be in Esaka on business, but Nadia was someone who knew how to have fun -and make friends- no matter what she was doing. “Keep an eye out for tomorrow’s headline: ‘Ms. Fortune makes a splash!’ Tata for now!” With that, she skated away.

So this was the Pools, huh? The name really didn’t do it justice. The entire tier was essentially one giant, donut-shaped pool a good twenty feet deep, littered by all kinds of bridges, catwalks, viewing stands, water features, and especially arenas. Nadia could see battlegrounds of all shapes and sizes practically everywhere she looked, all islands unto themselves with the water around them serving as a natural out-of-bounds. Some floated on the water, whether little more than [url=https://i.imgur.com/iHQTYZL.png]rafts[/url] or multi-floor [url=https://i.imgur.com/CrGOZZ7.png]ship decks[/url], or actual functional [url=https://i.imgur.com/pT0EbmC.png]boats[/url]. Other arenas were simple stone shapes either just above or high above the water’s surface, usually [url=https://i.imgur.com/G2nJbaJ.png]squares[/url] or [url=https://i.imgur.com/1YK5N9p.png]circles[/url], some with [url=https://i.imgur.com/ylkRef4.png]walls[/url]. A few looked like actual sports arenas, some rising [url=https://i.imgur.com/WpSjCrQ.jpeg]very high indeed[/url] above the water.

There were very few people actually fighting here right now, so the entire tier was mostly empty except for a couple city denizens treating the proving grounds like an actual water park, which seemed pretty fair to Nadia. With the wind in her hair, the feral happily skated around the tier, seeing the sights. She ducked under arches and bridges, leaped over walkways, and zipped through fountains, speeding wherever her whimsy took her. It was great fun, but after a couple minutes the annoying, rational part of Nadia’s mind (small and feeble though it was) reminded her that she was on a tight time limit. After making a mental note to drown that part of her in booze at the first opportunity, she begrudgingly reined it in and set off for her destination. This time, she had seen the way up (a very large, open-air elevator) so she wound down by riding it to the Middle Tier rather than climbing.

For Nadia, who’d spent most of her life in one or another of New Meridian's poorer districts, the Middle Tier seemed glitzy and glamorous–even though for all intents and purposes, it appeared to be a pretty normal urban Japanese city. Rather than a labyrinth of alleyways like the Low Tier, it had its own streets, meticulously named and organized in a feat of civil engineering. These streets all took foot traffic only, of course, with no vehicles in sight. As she walked around the blocks, gawking like some tourist, Nadia spotted all kinds of shops with strange and amusing names that sounded like puns she wasn’t savvy enough to get yet. Bread and Butter made sense as a grocery store, but Hood Perfect was apparently an apparel shop, with all kinds of stylish streetwear on display. Nadia caught the tantalizing savory smell of pizza and meatballs wafting from a restaurant called Double Luigi, but she would have to come back later to hear what kind of music got played in nightclubs like Deadly Rave.

Nadia also found fewer dojos, and not just because of the Middle Tier’s smaller surface area. Even the smallest and shabbiest one was bigger and nicer than the best dojo the Low Tier could dredge up, each boasting multiple stories and solid construction. They sported titles like Them’s Fightin Herds, Under Night In-Birth, Killer Instinct, Soul Calibur, and Rivals of Aether. With how approachable most of the locals were, it didn’t take too long to track down the one Nadia was looking for. The moment she laid eyes on the NMO headquarters, she realized that she’d come to the right place. Though she wasn’t well-versed in art enough to assign it a name, she recognized the Art Deco architectural style at a glance. With pep in her step, Nadia pushed inside to the sound of a ringing bell.

Across the lobby, the [url=https://i.imgur.com/BQ7a0Ie.png]main room[/url] of the dojo appeared to be a tall, two-story windowless gym with walls of what looked like loose leaf notebook paper. Its only features were a chalk blackboard, school desk, and accompanying chair, but it was occupied. Nadia spotted a teenage girl with dark, seemingly animate hair, doing some sort of drill under the instruction of a stern-looking, long-legged tutor, who held her pointer a little too much like one might a riding crop for comfort. Intrigued, Nadia let the front door swing closed and watched for a few moments, ears flicking, as the girl tried and failed to perform a long combo strong down, berated not just by the tutor but by a gruff male voice that emanating from an upside-down face back of her head. “Sheesh, I’m surprised teachers like that don’t go cross-eyed,” Nadia muttered to herself. “They just can’t control their pupils.”

“Hello?”

Nadia’s head twisted around to see a [url=https://i.imgur.com/dtgN1sd.png]young, one-eyed girl[/url] and a [url=https://i.imgur.com/JqNVnec.png]burly, hairy guy[/url] in a wolf pelt descending the stairs to see who’d entered the dojo. The feral’s eyes went wide as she pointed a finger at the two of them, sputtering. “Wait! I know you! Both you guys! You’re..! You’re..! Uh!” She turned her attention from the tired-looking kid to the washed-up wrestler. “And you! You’re that…that guy!” Unable to recall their names, she clamped her hands to her head. “You’re on TV!”

“It’s, Beowulf!” the man supplied, shaking his head incredulously. “C’mon, really? I’m only the biggest, baddest wolf in the whole New Meridian wrestling scene!” He puffed out his chest, striking a pose that might have been iconic if he was really as famous as he thought he was.

Nadia winced slightly. “Y-yeah, of course! It’s just, I don’t watch TV much, and, uh…” She scratched her head. “That’s beside the point! I’m from New Meridian too. Little Innsmouth! And I really need to sign up with a dojo today, before-”

The girl gave her a dubious look. “Oh, is that so? Looking for a way in, are you?” She crossed her arms. “You wouldn't be the first.”

“I really AM from New Meridian!” Nadia insisted. “Ever hear of Ms Fortune, the infamous phantom thief and the incredible Fishbone gang?”

The girl’s face didn’t budge an inch. “No.”

As Nadia wilted, Beowulf shot her a look as if to say [i]not a nice feeling, huh?[/i] “W-well, I mean, it’s not like thieves set out to become household names or anythin’...”

Luckily, Beowolf was a better sport than one would hope. “C’mon, Annie, give her a break. It’s not like people are chompin’ at the bit to join NMO anyhow. We haven’t had any new recruits in ages…we could get kicked down to the Low Tier any day now!”

“Annie, that’s it!” Nadia snapped her fingers. “Girl of the Stars! Right!?”

One glance from Annie shut Beowulf up. “Can it. She probably just heard about us and came to try our luck. Didn’t even know our names.” She rolled her eyes. “Couldn’t even be bothered to come up with one of her own, either.”

That puzzled Nadia. “Say what?”

“She’s saying you’re a [i]faker[/i],” a buzzy, artificial voice declared. Affronted, Nadia looked up just in time to see a familiar, albeit metallic, [url=https://i.imgur.com/NFrXZ3A.png]shape[/url] drop down. The floor shook when she landed, and when she stood up, Robo-fortune’s yellow eyes glared straight into Nadia’s soul. “So, this flea-ridden meatbag thinks she can cramp my style?”

Nadia bristled, grinning dangerously. “If anything, you’re the fake catgirl around here. Comparing yourself to me? Ha! In your dreams, tin cans! In all my ears, I’ve never metal-loser like you before!”

“Hey, let’s settle down, okay?” Beowulf held up his hands, his voice gruff. “No need to be rude, Robo!” He paused, squinting at the two. “Huh. They are kinda similar, though…”

Robo-fortune ignored him, instead shooting lasers from her eyes to perform a [url=https://i.imgur.com/Ww7fTcy.png]blazing sweep[/url]. Nadia detached at the thighs, her upper body popping up to slash at Robo’s head with sharpened claws. Instead Robo’s head [url=https://i.imgur.com/o1bmrvN.png]shot off[/url] like a missile, and after Nadia reunited, she dashed backward to evade its explosive divebomb. Both then charged forward in an electric clash, sparks flying as the two cats met [url=https://i.imgur.com/en9oofK.png]tail[/url]-to-[url=https://i.imgur.com/By3PkKo.jpeg]tail[/url].

“Copy-cat!” Nadia hissed.

“Obsolete,” Robo-fortune replied.

As they jumped spart, Annie raised an eyebrow. “I see what you mean. Hm…fine.” She looked between the two Fortunes. “Ms. Fortune, was it? I can see you’re a feral, and not anyone can namedrop Little Innsmouth. If you’ve got what it takes to beat your evil clone, you can stay. ‘Kay?”

“Got it!” Nadia grinned. “Don’t worry, circuitty! Once we’re done, I’ll scrape what’s left of you into the robot-tom tier!”

Robo-fortune squared up. “This is an inefficient use of cat.”

[center][h3]Frozen Highlands - the Midnight Walk[/h3]
Lvl 8 Sandalphon (61/80) Level 5 Heismay (25/50)
Edward’s [@DracoLunaris] Blazermate & Sectonia’s [@Archmage MC] Geralt’s [@MULTI_MEDIA_MAN] Ace Cadet’s [@Yankee] Roxas & Ganondorf’s [@Double], Ramattra’s [@XoXKieroBombXoX]
[b]Word Count:[/b] 1584

[b]Nameless Stagecoach[/b]
𖥞: 8/8 | 🛡️: 7/8 | [b]Equipment:[/b] Stewpot/Windchime/Lamps/(None)/(None)/(None) | [b]Companion[/b]: None[/center]

Even with the full team present and accounted for, travel through the reavers’ woods would have been stressful. Unnatural greenish lights shone from twisted trees in the distance, and hateful shapes of melded flesh and bone skulked in the shadows, their baleful eyes aglow and ever watchful. The trees that flanked the Midnight Walk were thick, at times bending over the road itself to create a rustling, whistling tunnel of bristling needles and boughs. Once most of White Team’s members broke off from the path to pursue various side objectives, though, the trip became downright terrifying. Ace, Geralt, Edward, Roxas, and Heismay split off to capture the much-needed Reindrix that promised to increase the team’s travel speed, while the restless Celica and Kit joined Ramattra to look further into the eerie sawmill to investigate Heismay’s claim of monstrous hoarders, intending to catch up with the rest once they finished.

That left Sandalphon alone inside the stagecoach, with no guarantee of safety but for the presence of Blazermate, Ganondorf, and Sectonia. When a pinecone fell from a stooped conifer and bounced off the coach’s roof, the once-unflappable archangel jumped. Though she didn’t dare to stick her head out of the vehicle, Sandalphon found herself unable to concentrate on her work, instead preoccupied with the conjurations of her fretful imagination. It was not a pleasant journey.

Eventually, the powderkeg of tension finally blew up. With most of the Seekers gone, several squads of reavers laying in wait burst from the haunted forest in a cacophony of frenzied, inhuman screams. Their arrows, axes, and bludgeons pummeled stagecoach and golem alike, and though they suffered damage, the coach’s armor held firm. Then, with Sandalphon and Blazermate on hand to support them, Ganondorf and Sectonia managed to turn the tables on the attackers, felling enough that the remainder withdrew. 

At length, however, the oppressive woodland finally began to thin. The return of the capture team provided enough manpower to ward off further assault, and when the stagecoach reached a clearing protected by natural ridges of rock, White Team stopped to substitute the Reindrix for Edward’s golems. It took almost half hour to get them properly hitched, but mercifully no monsters attacked them, despite the steady and ominous increase of furtive movements and staring eyes in the darkness. During this time Ramattra returned alone, separated from the other new recruits in the lumber mill Soon after the Reindrix were installed, it became apparent that the team couldn’t afford to wait for Kit and Celica any longer. Hopefully the two would know better than to brave this forest alone, and instead retrace their steps to Snowdin.

The Reindrix were every bit as capable draft animals as their appearance suggested. While wrangling them took a little getting used to, the difference in speed with them versus the golems could not be overstated. With little purchase against the buffeting wind atop the slick stagecoach, Heismay was forced to relinquish his perch and hang instead from the forward overhang, where he served as a second pair of eyes for the coach’s driver and helped to oversee the pals at work. Moving quite quickly now, White Team proceeded along the Midnight Walk as it wound around wooded hills and rocky ridges. After an extended uphill section, the snowy trail suddenly veered right around a corner and down a steep hillside, winding back and forth like a snake. That gave the Seekers ample time to see what lay ahead of them: a sprawling and elaborate complex of both semi-natural areas and large, majestic structures in the stunning Belle Époque architectural style. Slowly, inevitably, the Midnight Walk led them down the frosty hill, past a frozen river, and to the tall, wrought-iron front gates of Krat Zoo.

[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/pDUcDrr.png[/img]
[h3]The Tale of Colonel Little[/h3][/center]

From the outset, unfortunately, everyone could readily see that all was not well with Krat Zoo. Even before reaching the gates, the team’s outriders would be plagued by small packs of [url=https://i.imgur.com/fyyGAbf.png]strange wolves[/url] with oddly elongated jaws and a variety of horrible growths and protrusions, their bloodthirsty aggressions marked by frightfully unnatural behaviors. When the stagecoach slowed down at the gates, Sandalphon stepped out to survey the situation herself. “It seems that the Midnight Walk leads through this place,” she concluded. “Let’s proceed with caution. Given the aberrant fauna we’ve already encountered, I advise that we travel ahead of the stagecoach and clear the way for it. Let us be quick, thorough, and above all, wary.”

The archangel’s precautions proved well warranted. Between the gates and the main building lay the zoo plaza, littered with an abundance of corpses both human and animal, including the tragic cadaver of a once-amazing adult giraffe. Alongside various oxidized bronze animal statues, at least half a dozen cage wagons were scattered around the plaza, two of them overturned, and within struggled unidentifiable masses of berserk, animalistic fury. When the Seekers got near, the prisoners began to break free. They turned out to be [url=https://i.imgur.com/4weEwu7.png]mutated mandrills[/url], the apes’ muscular bodies twisted by some sort of biological corruption that animated them well past the point of expiration. These carcasses attacked not just with savage strength, but the cunning to backpedal when needed and throw debris from afar.

Once the team made contact with the enemy, Sandalphon put her new hexagun to the test. Guided by her expert hand, the magic rifle fired off pinpoint-accurate arcane rays that pierced her targets, and while the mandrill carcasses weren’t grouped up enough to cause collateral damage, they still packed a punch. Sandalphon quickly found that while shooting vitals did work, these horrors could suffer a lot more punishment than normal animals. “While I have no proof of any infectious pathogen at work, I advise everyone to avoid being bitten at all costs,” she called to the group.

“Noted,” Heismay grunted. As his allies attended to the mandrills, he’d attempted to skirt around the conflict in order to try and flank the monster from behind, only to run into two wolf carcasses. Relatively weak but very quick, and prone to circling around, the wolves attacked in a staggered manner, each lunging for Heismay just long enough after the other did that he couldn’t capitalize on one without risking a chomp from the second. “Hmph! Damnable things!” he hissed, leaping up onto the statue of a zebra. With a snarl he jumped down, his full weight driving his new longsaber into one wolf’s back. He then backflipped sideways, wrenching the blade out in an upward arc that severed the monster’s spine and cut it in half. The other carcass sprang over the remains of the first, its jaws snapping shut mere inches from Heismay’s wing as he jumped away. “Thief!” As the wolf approached, he transformed and blasted it in the face with dark magic, and its headless corpse slumped down. Only then did the eugief notice that the front half of the first wolf’s corpse was still coming toward him, which he put a stop to with a shiver.

A moment later, a huge, wretched [url=https://i.imgur.com/Hr3no0U.png]polar bear carcass[/url] burst through the building’s main door. The hulking thing charged across the plaza, straight toward the caravan. Heismay cast Mudo after Mudo, to no avail. “Incoming!” he yelled.

Sandalphon breathed in sharply, then opened fire. Without bothering to aim precisely, she squeezed the hexagun’s trigger as fast as possible, only ensuring that she hit the huge carcass somewhere. Each shot was a roll of the dice, and after a half-dozen shots, her number came up. The seventh ray transmogrified the incoming bear in a burst of white feathers, leaving a bulbous white chicken in its place. Her eyes lingered on the now harmless beast a moment longer before she relaxed. “Target neutralized.” Whether or not anyone smushed the chicken was up to them.

After dealing with the rest of the mandrills, the Seekers entered the [url=https://i.imgur.com/3umSkcY.png]Hall of Adventure[/url], as indicated by the damaged banner that hung over the immense woolly mammoth display inside. At least four stories high including the vaulted ceilings, and with sizable east and west wings, the Hall of Adventure was the biggest building in the zoo, but it had seen better days. Only carcasses walked its halls now, ignorant of the elaborate taxidermy displays arranged in every room with corresponding educational plaques. The Midnight Walk led around the mammoth and toward a set of huge, heavy metal doors that sat opposite the front door, but these durable doors proved to be locked, blocking the Seekers’ journey.

Sandalphon’s scan of the doors’ structural integrity turned up bad news. “It will take some time to break through,” Sandalphon judged, brushing the door with her hand. “It may be faster to find another exit from the Hall of Adventure and open the door from the other side. As for the zoo itself…it is clearly a dangerous blight on the Frozen Highlands. I recommend that we exterminate every monster we come across. We can also use this opportunity to search for useful items.”

As for what each Seeker should do, she left that to her teammates’ discretion. They could stay with the stagecoach to defend it or break through the door, as arduous and tedious as that would be, or explore the Hall of Adventure in search of loot or another way out.