[center][img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/019da7cb-a89b-72d1-9319-2f3dab5a65a1.webp[/img] [color=a4f4f9]"Another week of sharks! One more and we’ll have a month!"[/color] [color=888888]— Dan Daggernose[/color][/center] Questions were asked, questions were answered, if to an unsatisfactory level. Everyone seemed to want the same thing but had different ways of attaining it. Some drew attention away from the shark man, others wanted to talk amongst themselves, and more still asked different questions. Ashley was next up, with her questions about some of the people being spirited away by his magic. [color=a4f4f9]"It doesn’t work like that!"[/color] He practically shouted the words. [color=a4f4f9]"All my magic has done is turned Pax Septimus into a beach paradise. It prevents people from harming one another. This is performed in all sorts of different ways, like by turning weapons into more harmless versions of themselves. But there’s also protection from other forms of harm, such as falling. If you fall too fast or run into something too hard, it’ll stretch like a balloon!"[/color] To demonstrate, Dan snapped his fingers and an anvil appeared just a few feet over his head. It looked pretty convincing, but as soon as it landed on him it rippled like it was made of gelatin. It tumbled down his chest and landed in the sand, at which point it did so as a half ton anvil. Dan invited her to try and move it, but it was too heavy. It was only when someone tried to strike it in a way that would hurt themselves that it stretched to prevent harm. [color=a4f4f9]"Physical pain should not exist here!"[/color] [color=77bb99]"If it's all futile, then why do I need to be punished like this!?"[/color] Kidd pointed at his pants. Dan sighed. [color=a4f4f9]"Kidd? I didn’t do that to you because you tried to hurt her."[/color] [color=77bb99]"Which I didn’t!"[/color] The goat guy hissed. [color=a4f4f9]"I did it because you hurt her feelings!"[/color] Dan turned away from Ashley. [color=a4f4f9]"I can’t force anyone to behave one way or the other. Some disciplinary action is necessary to enforce good behavior. So, uh, if you’re good I’ll turn your trunks black tomorrow. You haven’t been too inflammatory today."[/color] Scypho continued to whisper, and sometimes state things in her normal voice. Things about Dan. Every time the shark was in earshot. [color=a4f4f9]"I uh, I can hear you, you know that right?"[/color] Dan whimpered a little at the shade that was being thrown his way. But that all changed when Marrie offered to play catch with Dan. He immediately turned to face the girl with a giant open mouth grin that showed every tooth in his massive face. He leaned on one knee and patted her shoulder. [color=a4f4f9]"I would love to! But wouldn’t you rather do that with a volleyball? Whatever, let’s do it!"[/color] He grabbed Marrie by the shoulders and hoisted her over his head before running down to where the volleyball nets were. It wasn’t so far away. If you really wanted to focus you could probably hear what was being discussed. But Dan did not look like he was paying much attention to anything. [color=a4f4f9]"Alright, you serve!"[/color] Despite the shark man’s apparent muscle, he was very gentle when he returned the ball. If there was any difficulty to be had from catching the ball, it was from the occasional gust of wind that blew across the beach. [center] [img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/019da7cc-b13f-7278-88b4-6ed3cffd3f54.webp[/img] [color=ff7f50]"Beach ball fights are like bar fights: It’s not a good idea to hit everyone at once."[/color] [color=888888]— Bionca Herrmann, Knight of Tonight[/color] [hider=Bionca] [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5656223]Bionca Herrmann[/url] Max MP: 30 Current MP: 30 Casting: N/A Gear: Goggles (Inactive) Kunai (5) Frying Pan (5/5 Durability) Food (5) Disguises (Inactive) Medical supplies (5) Smoke Bomb (5) Leveraging: N/A [/hider] [/center] Bionca pretty much had the entire beach under her control. She had become a ruthless despot, attacking anyone and anything that came too close to the beach. Many were defeated, retreating to the breakfast table or simply ignoring her presence. But while Bionca’s reign of terror had been long, it would be the few, the brave, that attempted to stand up to her. [color=ff7f50]"Ah!"[/color] Bionca turned her face sideways as a beach ball glanced off her shoulder. [color=ff7f50]"If you demand satisfaction, you shall have it!"[/color] Bionca had entirely overlooked Rika’s presence with Jack trying to deflect so many beach balls with her head. Not many of them got thrown back up to Bionca, but she did an admirable job of deflecting the projectiles with her head. [quote][h3][color=gold]J[/color]ack picks up something with their glasses....[/h3] [i]Your vision is darker with Illusion Begone working. Things at a distance are often too dark to see. Dan’s magic is no illusion however. Everything he conjures is real. Even the other esper’s weapons do not show signs of being illusions. They may have been transformed, but Illusion Begon cannot show if that is the case. It is only concerned if something is real or not. But you can see there is something hiding in Bionca’s ball fort. What is not yet clear. There are enough real beach balls to hide what is being revealed by Illusion Begone. But there’s no mistaking it; An illusion has been detected, something has been hidden.[/i][/quote] With the tyrant distracted, Rika was able to ascend the crate unchallenged. Bionca noticed Rika’s head pop up, and prepared to spike her face with a beach ball. But her opponent came prepared, and Rika was able to launch her attack first. Bionca turned her head sideways, but was still smacked in the head by the incoming beach ball and ended up stumbling backwards. She threw out her arms when she landed, and several more beach balls were cast out of the crate. Some of them fell around Bionca, but many more fell on the beach itself. [color=ff7f50]"Not bad, hero!"[/color] Bionca sat upright and slid a beach ball into her lap. [color=ff7f50]"You should join me. Together, we could surely hold this beach under our thumbs!"[/color] [center] [img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/019da7cc-5ed7-72bb-9463-d2dfe74dbd05.webp[/img] [color=a470fa]"When in doubt, shoot yourself."[/color] [color=888888]— Iris Silk[/color] [hider=Iris] [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5656223]Iris Silk[/url] Max MP: 60 Current MP: 60 - 4 = 56 Casting: [Self] 0 + [Pull B (attempt to throw arm off balance)] 2 + [Damage D] 2 = 4 mana Gear: Goggles (Inactive) Food (6) Grenade (6) Smoke Bomb (6) Leveraging: N/A [/hider][/center] After getting some questions out (and getting interrupted) Iris was content to let things run their course for a bit. Dan had said a few interesting things, and was now far enough away that he wouldn’t be eavesdropping on anyone. [color=a470fa]"An interesting discovery."[/color] She returned her attention to Scypho. She thought to comment on her antagonistic nature towards Dan, but thought better of it. Then her eyes traveled to Nukkelina, who was able to show emotions other than indifference after all. She thought to help her up, but it seemed someone else beat her to the punch. Nina, ever the free spirit, appeared to have distanced herself by the buffet table. With a groan, she turned to face Ashley. [color=a470fa]"Perhaps GEMINI is interested in another joint operation with Maverick Alternative?"[/color] It did not make sense for them to keep their distance here. Once Ashley joined them (Or declined, her choice) Iris began to speak. [color=a470fa]"I’m starting to believe that Dan might not be the reason why everyone is disappearing."[/color] Her eyes continued to move between everyone that was present. [color=a470fa]"While he is the reason why we are trapped here, I believe there may be a third party at play. But let me confirm something…"[/color] A blob of web appeared on the tips of her finger, and she pressed it against the bottom of her elbow. She braced herself, then the tiny blob of web shot up and splatted against her elbow. Water and sparkles showered down from the impact area and her arm was wrenched towards the heavens, nearly pulling her off of the ground. [color=a470fa]"Interesting."[/color] She examined her arm. [color=a470fa]"That spell should have wounded me, but it seems that Dan’s magic has transformed the harmful components of my spell to merely splash water and glitter on me. The rest worked as intended, however. I wonder if it would be possible to capture someone under these conditions."[/color] [center] [img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/019da7cd-0b25-72f8-8bb0-a15515b74f73.webp[/img] [color=77bb99]"My harem left me for a bimbo and a shark."[/color] [color=888888]— Book Kidd[/color] [hider=Kidd] [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5656223]Book Kidd[/url] Max MP: 50 Current MP: 50 Casting: N/A Gear: Clip Light (6) Disguise (6) Gift (6 Probiotic Supplements) Grenade (6) Molotov (6) Smoke Bomb (6) Handcuffs (6) Leveraging: N/A [/hider][/center] When Nukkelina had fallen down and scrambled towards her plush cat, it had been Kidd who first approached her. [color=77bb99]"When you said ‘pathetic’ you were talking about the pants thing right?"[/color] He reached for her shoulder and hoisted her to her feet. [color=77bb99]"I know! It’s incredibly mean spirited what Dan is doing to us! I bet he has some sick fetish or something! But don’t let him get inside your head, that’s exactly what people like him want. Feed him silence, and he’s sure to just go away."[/color] He patted her back. [color=77bb99]"Anyway, I think you’re cool, okay? So just because you did something extremely embarrassing by falling down in front of everyone, and no one is ever going to forget, at least you have nice looking swimwear."[/color] He jumped as he had just caught the tail end of Iris’s experiment. [color=77bb99]"A little warning next time!"[/color] [color=a470fa]"So the sacrifice that you were going to ‘free’ from her bonds. Did that happen on the beach? How did Dan find you?"[/color] [color=77bb99]"Oh, yea, so, I mean, everyone kinda knows you can’t kill anyone right? I mean, this spell we’ve been under has been doing its thing for a week now. But I found some really dumb, really stupid cultists that were trying to bring back their dark lord or something. But I came in there and they were all like ‘what the’ and things like that. And then I was like ‘you can’t do this anymore’ and I cut her free. Or I was going to but she was really nervous. It must have been because I was a goat guy. Kinda racist but I wasn’t thinking about that at the time. So while I was cutting her free, Dan appeared in a cloud of smoke and gave and did something humiliating to all of us. Most of the cultists were given clown noses, but he messed with my drip."[/color] [color=a470fa]"And where was this ritual taking place?"[/color] [color=77bb99]"Oh, uh, in a warehouse. It was pretty secluded, if that’s what you were asking. I’m kinda surprised Dan found it so fast. It’s not like she screamed or anything, since she was gagged."[/color] [color=a470fa]"Hmmm…"[/color] Iris tipped her chin into her fingers. [color=a470fa]"He said he punished Kidd because he upset someone. Then can he pick up on emotional distress?"[/color] [center] [img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/019da7cc-03c2-70ee-8932-299507f09069.webp[/img] [color=ff6347]"Look at you losers, having fun and figuring things out."[/color] [color=888888]— Mika Fang, Cerberus[/color] [hider=Mika] [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5656223]Mika Fang[/url] Max MP: 30 Current MP: 30 Casting: N/A Gear: Clip Light (3) Taser (3 shots) Handcuffs (3) Flash Bang (3) Leveraging: N/A [/hider][/center] Mika wasn’t too amused by the two girls that had just suddenly showed up and started gorging themselves. One had an outfit so revealing that it made Mika feel modest by comparison, and the other one talked like a moron. She had remembered her mother telling her that it was important to be able to pronounce words well. At the time, it was something that she hadn’t taken too seriously (given her foster mother’s own broken English) but this did not feel like a mere error. No, Mika got the impression that she didn’t speak this way because she was a foreigner, but that it was a willing choice she was making. Why did everyone put so much energy into being so eccentric? She saw no value in it, and didn’t see any value joining in a conversation with these airheads either. There wasn’t much going on elsewhere either. Marrie was playing with the shark, some other people were screwing around with balls, and another group was talking. Talking was good when it completed things, but too often did Mika see espers get bogged down with talking and nothing actually happening. With a huff, Mika turned away from the table and walked away from the beach. If everyone was going to do what they wanted, then that was what Mika was going to do too. It wasn’t like she didn’t have a phone. She could contact Ashley if she really needed her. Her phone hadn’t been able to connect with the rest of GEMINI, but that was likely because they didn’t have their phones on them. This probably was dangerous, but it wasn’t like anything bad had happened because Mika had left early before. To her knowledge, the only people who went missing were the ones that never arrived to start with. That wasn’t something she knew for sure, she hadn’t been documenting everyone, but it felt right. … Just in case, maybe Mika should stick around the general area. This seemed much more agreeable. She headed up the beach with the idea that she was going to observe the perimeter rather than getting lost in the city of blood.