ERode

Deep Ground Online (Hiatus)

<Snipped quote by ERode>

mind if I grab her then?

@Lord of Evil

Sure. Move Action + Grab Action, right?

—(••[ 𝕎𝕀𝕊ℍ𝔼𝔸𝕋𝔼ℝ ]••)—

What…what the hell?

Offensive Support was certainly doing work on an individual basis, decimating even more canines, but as Brent watched from a safe distance, his Overclock on the scope finally dissipating, all the arbiter could see was his teammates getting into each other’s ways constantly. Hazel getting knocked out of the sky by Angelic’s scream, Emma’s tulpa getting swatted by Grant’s chunks of dirt, Siena basically…


“SHIT.”

The scope locked back onto the desert eagle, Brent ensuring the safety was switched off as he held the hand cannon in both hands. Amethyst eyes aligned with the scope as silver veins traced down his arms into the weapon, reassembling the weapon into something that gleamed white, neon purple lines tracing down the side. ‘N0 NAME’ was engraved on the side of the barrel, and looking down through the scope, Brent centered the red dot of the scope onto the clockwork canine that was much too close to mauling her.

The bullet would definitely land where the red dot was, but he didn’t have a good enough angle. It’d end up punching through its head and shooting Siena as well, and he couldn’t risk that. His finger pressed against the side of the warm gun, flesh white as breath hissed between clenched teeth. He couldn’t do anything to giant centipedes or fast moving canines or spiders, but at the very least…

A chorus of shouts drove the clockwork canine back, Angelic’s sonic blasts being more than enough to knock the mangled dog away, and as it laid there, Brent aligned the targeting display and fired. With nary a sound, a purple beam crossed a distance of 200 meters in less than a second, aimed to pierce through the skull of the clockwork monster. It may have been overkill, but ensuring things were dead was his job. Immediately afterwards, he lowered his gun and brought out the phone once more, scanning over the rapidly developing battlefield.

The spiders had finally launched their attack, a skywards net-dropping maneuver that prompted Hazel to pull everyone else close to her while another one of her ‘hands’ formed a roof. Emma was once again pulling out her squad of monsters, issuing orders. Grant seemed to have given up on all smart thinking and just continued on with tossing chunks of dirt, but if nothing else, it was working.

They would be fine.

They would be fine?

Even Experimental Unit A wasn’t fine. After all, now that they were all grouped up, wasn’t it an ideal scenario for the centipedes?

“Hazel!” Brent shouted into the phone, “Lift everyone up! The centipedes are going to surround and crush you!”

The x-mark’s anti-matter ability was powerful, but considering how a sonic blast was enough to destabilize it, how much protective power would it provide against those massive metal worms, constructed from the magic of a subnatural that was singlehandedly taking on all of them? Should he go for another Overclock? Try to increase destructive force this time?

He suppressed that urge. If Hazel could react in time, if Emma could slow down the horde in time, they would still be fine. The rumbling of the giant clockworks could be heard coming closer, alongside Gregory’s warning, but at five stories up, behind a grill, Brent remained where he was.

He needed to calm down. He already fumbled with his directions to Gregory. He may have just wasted a bullet and made himself known to the enemy. His directions, his orders, may not even be making full use of Hazel’s own offensive potential, as he was more or less relegating an x-mark to a supportive task.

Brent let out a breath.

He calmed down.

“Copy that, Grego. Siena, are you alright?”

Cliffnotes

Desert Eagle + Scope: 2ish minutes
First - Accuracy

Remaining in position.

Deep Ground Online (Hiatus)

@Lord of Evil
Dunno how superhuman a lvl 3 is, but seeing how she's just dive-rolling from where her original position was...5-8 meters?

Deep Ground Online (Hiatus)

Oh! So the spiky-haired berserker also had the trait of ‘improvised weapons user’! Was he an abusive boyfriend or an angry drunk in real life as well, or was he just table-flipping in DGO because the stress of being in a top-tier academy was too much for him to simply repress.

“So salty!” Mauve Night shouted back, watching his own form approach from the shadow of the concrete mass. “Guess that’s why no one wants to party with you!”

Diving pre-emptively to one side, Mauve Night attained an angle where his cover could no longer protect him as her gun flashed out once again. Another flurry of bullets spiralled through the air towards Blue Nova, but the purple-haired avatar didn’t have time to admire her shots. Her dive transitioned into an awkward roll, before she managed to spring up onto her feet again.

Martial Arts training, sadly, didn’t apply too well to Max Payne maneuvers.
@Lord of Evil

Deep Ground Online (Hiatus)

@Lord of Evil
Did a bit of puppeting regarding Blue Nova in my post. Mainly assumed that he had a follow up in case his one pawnch missed, and that he wouldn't be dropping his abilities within the first five seconds of their date. If you want to veto that, I'll edit.

Deep Ground Online (Hiatus)

“Five seconds,” Mauve Night repeated, purple twintails swaying from side to side. “Feel free to psych yourself all you have to before then, porcupine boy!”

Raising up her hand, all fingers splayed out, the Level 3 Ranger flashed her teeth in a way that could either be a smile or a snarl. “Fi-”

Blue Nova rushed in, the Berserker’s agility stats being put to work as the distance was closed.

“-ve.”

A powerful haymaker rushed in, one that would have been debilitating in real life and would no doubt hurt like a bitch if it landed. But there was too much of a windup, too much of a telegraph, and Mauve Night’s thumb bent inwards, the ‘five’ becoming a ‘four’ as she stepped in, ducking under Blue Nova’s swing. Side-by-side, the Ranger pivoted on her front foot, turning to face the Berserker as her index finger crooked. The second blow was evaded as well, a backstep to barely get out of range of the backhanded slap before she closed the distance once more. The close proximity made that dashing ability pointless as a gap-closer, and while it was mildly uncomfortable…

Mauve Night’s grin widened, finally feeling something other than irritation.

…it was the danger that made this fun.

Flipping backwards, she sprung on one hand before landing three meters away, her ring finger pressed against her thumb.

“Finished warming up?” the gunslinger said, “Feel free to start pulling out your special moves now. I’ll begin reciprocating as well, ok?”

Her pinky folded, left hand clenching into a fist. Like a cowboy from an old-time western, Mauve Night shot from the hip, spraying six bullets into the general area of Blue Nova, unconcerned about whether or not they would actually hit.

Just a greeting, after all.
@Lord of Evil

Deep Ground Online (Hiatus)

Uwah, that was one hell of an edgy bastard. Horribly out of place in the Faded City’s cyberpunk aesthetic was some cartoonish humanoid monster in garishly yellow armor, featuring a single cyclopean eye and hair so spiky that it HAD to be something that was weaponizable. Pink hair and blue skin as well, made him look more like some mid-boss in a JRPG rather than a player, and after watching his salty rampage through a bunch of weakling dissolutions, Mauve Night nodded to herself.

Yup, this guy was good to fight. Same level, from a different guild, and didn’t look like a filthy mage or a cheap-ass speed-spammer. That dash maneuver looked like he may be the bitchy type who’d dash away if things got rough for him, but hey, that was fine! As long as she could land in a couple hits early on, it wouldn’t be difficult at all to land in more hits later, even if he decided to turn and run!

“Yo, porcupine head,” she called out from above, “Grinding for levels? Or are you just salty that the Bruisers got wiped?”

Dropping from two stories above, Mauve Night landed on the dissipating remnants of one of the Dissolutions he had onepunched, and grinned at one-eyed demonic dark elf thing.

“Cause I want to get a fun win, and you look better than the mage-types and speedsters that are popping up these days. So let’s do it! I’ll say…countdown of five seconds before I splatter you in four minutes?”

Was she being a bit aggressive? Probably. But he looked like he was on rageroids already. Surely a light jab like this wasn't going to make him any grouchier than he already was, right?
@Lord of Evil

—(••[ 𝕎𝕀𝕊ℍ𝔼𝔸𝕋𝔼ℝ ]••)—

Four out of six. For such an explosive attack, Brent was surprised that it didn’t do nearly as much as expected. Past the veil of smoke, five other dogs were charging into the fray as well, their centipede brethren joining in on the fight.

That was enough information.

“Offensive Support, listen up,” he began, pressing against the radio, “Five are charging in from the distance, forwards through the smokescreen. Someone needs to drag Hazel out or clear away the dust.”

Brent chewed on the inside of his mouth. Could any of them even hear him in such a violently loud environment?

“Spiders are spinning a web. Don’t know what for, but might want to stop them soon.”

He scanned over the rest of the area with his scope, but nothing else of note popped up. The overclocked scope felt warm within the palm of his hands, and the arbiter turned his attention to the constantly updating map once more. Holding the phone still, he rearranged himself into a more comfortable position, watching the movements of the larger beings and gulped.

Gods, they were all converging upon Gregory’s point. Some sort of radio-based communication between all four of them? Brent narrowed his eyes, trying to imagine how fast Gregory could move over the rubble-filled terrain. Could he outpace the speed that those behemoths moved? If Gregory moved east, he’d be leading the giants towards him. If he went north, they’d pick up Offensive Support, no doubt. If he went south, he’d be running into them.

“Angelic,” Brent said, “Can you all take on four of those giant things we heard?”

“Are you fucking kidding me?!” came the stressed reply.

A deep breath expelled from the amethyst-eyed youth’s body. Sounded like a no.

“Grego, head west, on the main road. There’s enough rubble to keep you out of eyesight, and maybe deter them. Pay attention to where your feet are going. The giant dots are all converging on your location. Probably got a lock on you or something. Lead them away from everyone else.”

Fuck, this wasn’t really winning at all, but if a lost battle brought forth a won war…

“You’re on your own for now. Chris may be able to assist soon.”

Who supports the supporters?

No one.

He tasted a bit of blood in his mouth, as Brent resumed observations, eyes flickering from the map to the battlegrounds and back again.

Cliffnotes

Scope: First Clock (5 minutes)
Buffed towards improving visibility. Infrared light used to filter out visual obscurants.

Remaining in position.

—(••[ 𝕎𝕀𝕊ℍ𝔼𝔸𝕋𝔼ℝ ]••)—

Ah, there she was, missing the point again.

Brent suppressed a chuckle as Angelic let out a scream, the sonic blast smacking one of the birds right out of the air. He had intended on her using her superhuman voice to say something encouraging or badass, but…this was probably a better use of her power anyways. They were doing well, if nothing else. With the support of the Remnants of the Main Team, not a single clockwork monster had made it past their offense. Things were going down, and now, up in the sky, Brent could see the dark form of Chris, catapulting through the air towards the birds that he hid from. Good, he could breathe a little more ea-

The sky burned red, a searing beam remaining in his vision long after it had faded.

He could feel the sudden burst of heat even at a distance, and immediately, Angelic’s voice crackled through the radio, filled with worry, even as she had her own problems to deal with. Brent’s jaw tightened, swallowing the bile that had crept up his throat. The raven-haired x-marked was kind, but she had her own things to worry about. Sander was invulnerable, and Callan was strong. If they were done in before even reaching Factory, that wouldn’t even be funny as a joke. They were alive.

He forced himself to believe that, and soon, it turned out that his beliefs were correct.

His gas mask hissed again, taking in the filtered, rubbery air that he had now become accustomed to.

Angelic, Siena, Emma, Grant, and Hazel were all handling things well. Chris had just tore apart a flock of birds by himself. Sander and Callan, judging by the map on the phone, were both going strong after all, reaching Factory. Healer teams weren’t close to any of the giant fatties that were lumbering around. Evacuation team was just cruising on by, hopefully with the ability to run over any clockwork mooks that were in their way. But…

“Grego,” Brent said, bringing up the phone closer, “Giant thing is real close. How th- Can you escape? Need any help?”

One thing that was problematic with these radio phones: no messaging capabilities. If the clockwork giant had the ability to hear, Gregory would be pretty screwed if he tried to respond. But on the other hand…how did that thing get so close without the blond x-marked noticing anyways? The Arbiter bit his lower lip, before balancing his phone on his knee. The map was useful. He really shouldn’t be keeping it in his pockets, lest he end up like Gregory.

Turning his attention back to Offensive Support, the youth clicked his tongue at the rising smoke that obstructed his vision. Hazel had launched another one of her explosive attacks, and now, it looked like the Aberration was shrouded in dust, blinded by her own attack. It was thin enough that he could make out the shadow of her form, standing at the edges of the smokescreen, but Brent unattached the scope from his gun anyways.

The function was improving visibility. The improvement was adding infrared capabilities. The inspiration was in the equipment firefighters used to see through smoke.

Silver circuits ran beneath his skin, dimmed slightly by the wishalloy before touching scope, filling it with a fluorescence. It disassembled and reassembled within an instant, noticeably bulkier, with the lenses a shade of red instead of clear. He brought it up to his right eye, peered through, and breathed. The smoke and any other obscurant was gone, replaced by a light shade of grey that indicated where it still was. Though reduced to black and white, he could clearly see Hazel’s form, as well as that of the clockwork dogs within.

If they were still alive, if they were still moving, if they were using this dust cloud as cover to attack unseen angles, Brent would be ready to alert Offensive Support.

His gun was in his right hand, but it lingered, close to the radio, ready to snatch it up immediately if those monsters had survived Hazel’s second destructive wave.

Cliffnotes

Scope: First Clock (0 minutes)
Buffed towards improving visibility. Infrared light used to filter out visual obscurants.

Remaining in position.

Deep Ground Online (Hiatus)

“I’m home.”

No, she wasn’t.

A small suite with a living room, a kitchen, and a bathroom wasn’t a home. It was just a temporary abode for Moe to crash in. Discarding her raincoat, she shook the water off it outside, before hanging it on a coatrack. Spare droplets still dripped down onto the linoleum floor, but the pink-haired girl didn’t pay much attention to that. Her barefeet slapped against the wooden boards as she strode over to the refrigerator. Power drinks and ingredients for sandwiches welcomed her, as well as a bag of frozen mandarins.

The girl closed her eyes, imagining how tasty last week’s ramen was, before shaking those delusions away. Food was tasty. She needed to stop dawdling about and learn how to cook for herself. Ramen wasn’t even that hard to make. Just the soup base and then noodles, at the very base.

Still, Moe didn’t feel like trying anything today, and the rain hadn’t let up at all from her trip back home. Twisting open the cap of a fruity power drink, she guzzled down the entire bottle before pulling a few pieces of ham to jam in her mouth. Settling down on her comfy bed, Moe closed her eyes. She’d get fat from this, eating and then sleeping, but…

…she still had steam to release.

Stepping into the other side of the world, where datastreams were made visible and everything was controlled by ones and zeroes, Mauve Night stared up at the dark skies, feeling the abnormal sensation of simulated wind. The Faded City was as gloomy and cyberpunk-esque as ever, and as she closed her eyes, she could hear scraps of combat throughout the expansive landscape. Her buddies from the Reds had been rather needy recently, always wanting to drag her along for Dissolution-hunting missions like a bunch of White wannabes, and thus, she found herself looking at the neon lights of the Faded Spires more often.

Goddamn weaklings. If they wanted to git gud and crack open masked heads, they should be fighting people, not monsters.

Another unpleasant memory replayed in her head, and the red-eyed Avatar’s grip tightened. There was combat somewhere, and she was particularly interested in stress relief.

Time to go a-hunting.