Evil Ghost Note

World Warriors: The Nomadic Fist (Quirky Fighting Game Influenced Roleplay)

@Oddsbod8 I went over Khan again and I have determined he is acceptable.

World Warriors: The Nomadic Fist (Quirky Fighting Game Influenced Roleplay)

@Holy Soldier Alright, keep us posted.

World Warriors: The Nomadic Fist (Quirky Fighting Game Influenced Roleplay)

After taking too much damn time, we finally moved on to the first official chapter of the storyline. We'll be moving away from the tournaments for a bit, and to other story arcs. So you can either have your characters arrive in the (currently unnamed) town in Germany and witness the dargon, or be a contestant in the Japanese tournament.

Also, let's stop with collabs for a bit, yeah? Because every time we do a collab, we have a huge stall.

World Warriors: The Nomadic Fist (Quirky Fighting Game Influenced Roleplay)

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One slash of his blade, and the clone was destroyed in one swing of Jaden's katana. But, yet. No money. A few of the others had money, but they were few and in between. Jaden rolled his eyes as he put his katana away.

Looked like Mr. Raldo got burned.

But... no matter. Paper comes to Jaden one way or another, baby! He just needed to be patient. He did the pose, and focused. Before he teleported away from the stupidity of the tournament. Even though it didn't go as planned...

... At least Jaden didn't get eliminated.

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On the outskirts of Rio, Jaden sat on gigantic and fabulous motorcycle that had bag upon bag on the back of it. He was carefully observing some bounty posters.

"Oh..." Jaden said to himself.

JUSTIN HAGGAR: WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE.

77: WANTED ALIVE.

ONE TRILLION DOLLAR BOUNTY!

"Oooooh, boy!" Jaden said as he recognized the two on the poster. The same two people he helped the night he arrived in Rio for the tournament. Damn, it made the tournament winnings look like pocket change. Jaden should had kept his ear to the bounties, rather than the tournament! He threw the two bounty posters int the wind, and cut them both in hand with one swing of his blade.

But, there was one more bounty poster to look at...

JONAS LANGER. WANTED ALIVE ONLY. ONE TRILLION DOLLARS!

"More like Jonas Fagner..." It was the piece of shit motherfucker that robbed Jaden of the prize money! Maybe Jaden should had went for him, and got that sexy trillion! Well, Jaden was just ignorant. He was a bounty hunter to his core, baby! Killing other jackasses for money and fame was the way Jaden lived his life! He threw the bounty poster up into the air, and stabbed Jonas right through his big stupid face as he laughed like a maniac.

Until a letter literally fell onto his lap. "The fuck?" Jaden asked as he looked around. He couldn't sense a ki-signature. Did they use a goddamn robot or something? Well, might as well open up the letter and see what's inside. It better not be a summon for another Child Support Hearing.

Hello, I'm Xue Lei, champion martial artist of China.

I've heard great things from her, being the best student under the late Sensei Hirokazu, and me and my father wished to see your training in action. We are willing to give you another chance at fame and success at our tournament in Hong Kong. Simply arrive and you'll receive further instruction.

Jaden read it closely, before raising an eyebrow.

"... The fuck?" Jaden knew Xue Lei very well - you'd had to be underneath a rock not to! - but something didn't seem right about this. It just screamed, too good to be true for our little Ninja Superstar. "It's an obvious trap."

Jaden said to himself as he discarded the letter. He quickly started his motorcycle.

"Besides..." Jaden hit the pedal as he sped off. "... Soon, I'll be hosting my own tournaments!"

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_{@Surtr, @Savo, [@redbaron123], @Crosswire, @Oddsbod, & [@Kaiser Ele]}

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When Askin came to, he wondered if he'd been abducted. The walls were cracked and stained, and looked like they could use a long nap. A too-small window overhead let in some starved, white-yellow light. If someone told you to imagine a hostage, tied up and bloody, you would imagine that hostage inside this room. Where's the money? a sleek, villainous thug might ask, sleeves rolled up. Go to hell, a defiant hostage might spit. You could practically hear the sound of a hero getting the air punched out of them.

That was when Askin realized this was ridiculous, and, slowly, the memories came leaking back in, one by one. Robots attacking, nomads defending, Brown on the verge of death, there was an angel there too, wasn't there? and all the bombs going off at once—the last thing he remembered was dozing peacefully on Otsana's warm shoulder, and the snatches of words that filtered through the exhaustion:

"..."I just wonder where the rest of MAVERICK was..." and "...stop whoever did this before it happens again... That's right. It had been them, the nomads, them alone fighting off the onslaught. Askin wondered if he and the others might get a reward.

...Well we just got through a horrible terrorist attack, so there's that..." This was Otsana's voice, he thought. 'Terrorist attack.' He hadn't thought of it like that. Terrorists for who? What sort of statement do you make attacking a bunch of brawling superheroes?

..."We need to find this girl a doctor, quick." Familiar, but Askin couldn't put a name to it. He remembered Brown, unconscious and broken. Then, one last voice, this one accompanied with a clear face in Askin's head, dark and serious: "I'll take her off your hands. We have a damned good doctor."

Askin looked to his left. In the bed next to him, a catheter connecting her wrist to a clear bag of fluids, was Brown, apparently alive. Must've been one damn good doctor, he thought. Behind her, in a plush, defeated-looking armchair, was the woman who had just sprung to mind, her voice the last thing he could remember hearing before passing out. I still don't know her name, do I?

"Morning," Askin said.

Sounds came in from a nearby street, children laughing, adults swearing, honking horns, but it was all muffled, like they were filtered in from another universe. Askin could almost hear the sound of Brown's breathing. Now, on second glance, that white-yellow light looked peaceful and warm. Askin thought about taking the moment to ask the other woman's name, but decided against it. Speaking suddenly seemed like a lot of effort. He folded his hands and settled into a patient, dozing silence. That felt more natural.

Brown lay splayed out on a cheap folding table not far from where Askin had been set down. The pale skinned girl had been stripped down to her undergarments but the new coverings made it clear why. White strips of gauze encircled her rib cage and back, hiding plate sized bruises where spinal disks had been popped back into place and snapped muscles reconnected. Her arms and legs were barely visible beneath the lengths of reddened bandaging left to soak up the blood from her burst blood vessels and dislocated bones that had penetrated her skin. Plastic rings with short lengths of wood rounded her hands like crude jewelery as several of her fingers were put into splints.

Countless other patches, band aids, and other medical cures seemed to dot ever square inch of her exposed body from the top of her head all the way to her feet and toes. So much covered her that she was no longer naked as if her very wounds had replaced her clothing.

For a time the girl didn't move. Her breathing barely audible as she lay, eyelids shifting under what seemed like a peaceful slumber. Occasionally a small, mumbled utterance would escape her lip like "Birthday", and "Presents", and "Momma" and "Papa". Despite her state of her body a weak smile rested on her lips as she slept.

Then her eyes began to flutter, her lips twisted downwards and she began to squirm. The abused muscles and bones of her body screamed out, pulling Brown from her sleep.

"Ghuahh..." Her eyes slowly opened and Brown grimacing hard as dozens of sharp points of pain and the foggy comfort of medicinal grade pain killers hit her.

Gritting her teeth she leaned upwards, bracing the palms of her hands against the table as the bones in her back and the muscles in her limbs aching unresponsively. After a few moments she managed to lean upwards into a sitting position and looked down at herself.

"I'm alive." Brown said, her voice weak and her enthusiasm muted. Experimentally she began to move her limbs and flex her body on the table, wincing as she was met with nasty pulls and shooting pains.

"This is the first time I've ever done two Full Releases in a row." Brown seemed to speak her mind, eyes unfocused as the painkillers clouded her thoughts. "Just one is enough to break me, but never to the point I couldn't mend by injuries and break things back into place. This time though it seems bad, badder then normal. So how did I do this? Or...did someone else do it? Who would help me?"

Brown grasped the sides of her hand, or at least tried before her broken fingers made it clear that wasn't happening. She closed her eyes and focused, trying desperately to remember.

A giant machine.

A painful blow.

The sudden loss of pain.

Blistering anger.

Mechanical screaming followed by the satisfying crushing of steel...

The girl's eyes snapped open in remembrance. The stadium, the missed tournament, the thugs, Brenda, Mr. Doctor, Wolf Lady, the Not-Genie, bombs, and robots.

Blinking Brown looked as her drug addled mind finally recognized she wasn't where she last remembered being.

"Where-where am I?"

"Not dead," said Askin, "Which is a relief, believe me. You had it almost as rough as the robot."

"Ro-bot? What happened to it?" Brown's eyes narrowed at the recollection. She remembered the weight and strain of swinging the robot's leg as she fell through the air, but what happened when she hit remained fuzzy in her mind. As soon as she hit the ground all she recalled was pain and a loss of vision...

"... Everyone teamed up, and trashed it," Brenda walked in with her gruff voice, and crossed her arms and leaned up against the wall. "I gotta say... if it wasn't for you, we would have been blown to bits in that stadium."

"R-really?" Brown turned her head, the tendons in her neck feeling like melted rubber bands as she looked to Brenda. A look crossed Brown's face, one of suspicion and disbelief. It was as if she'd been told she had won the lottery or that cakes really did rain from the sky and she was simply never around to see it. Seeing Brenda's face and hearing the tone in her voice however withered Brown's disbelief.

Her eyes seemed to go wide and she looked back into her lap, at her own battered hands.

"I-I really helped everyone? I managed to beat that robot enough that it got destroyed?" Brown's voice became low, her wording uncertain as if she was totally unfamiliar with the line of thought presented to her. A subtle look of fear crept across the injured girl's face as she wondered if she was simply sitting in a dream and lying dead back at the stadium...

"Beat is a bit too gentle-sounding," said Askin, splaying his hands and miming a little cartoon explosion with his mouth. "Boosh. I mean, damn, you almost felt bad for the thing." He laughed a little. "What do you think? Should we send it's owner a condolence letter? Maybe a wine bottle? It's a relief you're on our side, Brown, that's the truth."

"And just as much as y'beat that mechanical monstrosity, you gotten beaten down hard as well," Jonas stifled a yawn, stretching as he entered into the motel room. He was half-dressed, missing his undershirt as he walked in with his usually duds, save for his green undershirt. Flicking a finger towards Brown, Jonas shook his head as he stepped forward.

"And you shouldn't be moving that much, y'still need time to recover, missy," Jonas snapped at the young girl. Jonas headed over to her bedside and looked over the young lady, putting a hand on his hip. "... so settle down and get comfy as it's gonna take you six more days to fully recover." As the doctor looked her over, he noticed a small tear as it crept down her face.

For someone so childlike in regards to destroying things, she seemed to be... scared. It just baffled the doctor as he rubbed the back of his neck. Mosquito tit's might of not been a kid, but still... ugh.

"Look, whatever happened back there is over... those robot's ain't comin' to get you, alright? Just get lotsa' rest and I'll be sure t'treat ya to a lollipop when you've fully recovered, alright?" Jonas gave the girl a huge smile as he gingerly put his hand on her head.

Askin's comment brought a brief smirk to Brown's face but Jonas's words killed that bit of happiness quickly. She didn't look to the doctor as he entered the room and just continued staring down at her broken, battered hands.

He was right. Even though she had beaten that robot, she had been beaten as well. Her best move. Her absolutely best effort still left her the loser...even when she won.

Biting back the pain and a new found sense of failure Brown's eyes were beginning to war when the mention of a lolipop reached her ears. Her eyes lit up like Christmas lights and she looked to Jonas so quickly the bones in her neck seemed to threaten to pop out of place again "Really?!? Yaaa-"

The girl's cheerful cry was cut short as she sharply coughed, flecks of blood and spittle finding their way onto the table and her bandages. Brown was sure she would be able to recover sooner then Jonas predicted...but resting for a week sounded nice.

Leaning back Brown laid back down on the table.

Brenda shook her head. That Jonas, he was underselling Brown. Still, just because she's useful in a fight... Brenda narrowed her eyes at Brown briefly. It definitely doesn't mean there wasn't something wrong with her. For now, Brenda was going to ease up for a little while. They had too much work ahead of them....

"So, the so-called damned good doctor, right?" Askin asked the half-dressed man. One of the others had mentioned his name earlier, but it slipped his mind now.

Jonas kept his... smile up as the woman acted like she saw Santa Claus for the first, Jonas gestured to her to lie down and asked her to "calm down," all that jazz... ugh, maybe encouraging her was a bad idea? That could of set her back an hour or two. Rubbing the back of his neck, he helped Brown lie down, gingerly placing his hand onto her back, slowly lowering her down.

He breathed a sigh of relief once she was fully down, putting a hand onto his hip, shaking his head.

Now, to address the midget.

Pivoting to face the boy who was adjacent to Brown, Jonas took a few steps forward, bobbing his head up and down like a buoy. "Iiiii guess you could say that, Frodo," Jonas spoke with some fervor in his voice, scratching his chin. Now this boy was an interesting one...

"... to be frank, I wasted my time with you, takin' a lot into consideration..." Jonas tilted his head, taking a deep breath as he focused solely on Askin, sensing his ki reserves... and the lamp.

"If I took th' whole groups ki an' combined it int' one, we would barely be able to equal you in that sense," Jonas spoke, opening his eyes as he put a hand to his temple. Honestly, he thought both himself and Klara, for some odd reason, had a whole lotta' ki in them... but holy hell, this kid had a lot of it.

"... and 'long with that, y'seem to have some sorta' symbiosis with this here lamp over here," Jonas jabbed his index finger at the lamp Askin had, sitting on the nightstand. "And like California's problems with wildfire, you healed really, really friggin' fast."

"I eat a lot of kale," said Askin. "High in fiber."

Jonas crossed his his arms and pressed his hand against his chin. "Hmn, makes me wond-"

"So," Brenda trailed off as she stepped off the wall, and looked at Jonas. "I think we should plan our next move soon as possible."

"Oooh. A plan sounds neat. What are you, um, we doing now? Are we gonna find and beat up more of those robots, or are we going to do something else?" Brown smiled cheerfully, but a degree of uncertainty crept into her voice. Was she part of the group they had now? Were they...her friends?

... right. They all had their own goals. Jonas to his... revenge, Otsana being a merc, Brenda seeking her brother, Klara with her fighting, Brown with her... something, and... Askin, was it? Honestly he had no clue what their deal was, but he was going to find out during this meeting.

"Agreed; lotsa things t'be discussed; we'll get t'it soon Brown, patience," Jonas calmly spoke, raising his hand up and begun using the other to flick each task off. "First, I gotta get everyone's pay ready, make sure we have our goals straight, searchin' for things t'do until Brown fully recovers, and some mercenary work that takes us around the globe."

His right hand displayed four of his fingers in the upright position as the doctor eyed his partner.

"Don't forget my lolipop, please" Brown called trying and failing to raise an arm. Not realizing that 'everyone' getting paid included her.

"... alright then Brenda, you keep'n eye on these two, and I'll try'n find Otsana..." Jonas cracked his neck, stretching his arms as his head moved from one side to the other as he walked towards the door of the shabby motel.

"Yeah, yeah, boss," Brenda kept her arms crossed and stayed leaned up against the wall. She phased out the droning conversation that the two kids were having, and focused on the things that happened at the arena.

The air hung heavy in the dirty room once it was only Brown and Askin occupying it. Brown did her best to try and rest, but she couldn't sleep. Couldn't even close her eyes. It wasn't the pain or the drugs that were the issue, though they certainly added to it. No a question weighed on her mind and the unpleasant bitterness of her dream loomed over her. Turning her head she stared over to the other table where Askin lay, staring peacefully out the window, and after a few moments of thought, she spoke.

"Did you...did you do something to me back at that stadium?"

"Hm? Oh, sorry, what was that, Brown? I, uh, I thought I saw a bird outside. I've always liked birds."

"At the stadium." Brown said, her voice suddenly growing firm. "After I used Full Release and got smashed away by the robot, my injuries healed. I didn't do that and while I'm glad it gave me a second chance, it's been bugging me. Did you have anything to do with that?"

"That was me, yep. You were in a bad spot, so I took away your injuries, bottled them up for as long as I could." He dug through his clothes, bundled up in a small heap at the foot of his bed. From some hidden pocket, he produced a tiny gold bottle, smaller than a thumbnail, which Askin admired in the morning sunlight. "Some things stay bottled for a long, long time. Injuries are harder, not so easy to hold in, not for long. But hell if you didn't make the most of it."

"Why did you do it?" Brown stared at him, trying to look Askin in the eyes even though her head wouldn't entirely cooperate with her desire.

"Couldn't just leave you there, could I? I'm not so great at playing hero, but injuries, sure, I can help with that."

The only reason I won was because of you." The bandaged girl laying on the table spoke in a flat tone yet her eyes had narrowed into slits. "Because of you I got to use Full Release for a second time, without it I would have lost. There was a second there I thought I had actually accomplished something for once..."

Brown's voice grew bitter and she looked away from Askin, or as much as she could given her condition.

"Thank you for healing me. But don't ever interfere with another one of my fights again. Or I'll make you suffer beyond words."

I guess it's that kind of bull-headedness that lets you rip legs off giants, Askin thought. And Brown had looked so peaceful, just earlier. Again, Askin found he didn't know quite how to feel about her. Violent and crude and uncertain, and good at keeping an arm out if anyone came close. "Well," Askin said, "No promises. I have a high pain tolerance anyways." Among the many heroic things Askin was never quite good at, motivational speeches were high on the list. He thought of a handful of phrases, with catchy little bits inside: not like you, and no one else, and accomplishment, and hero. They all died, somewhere between his throat and his mouth. He had to say something though, right? "You know," Askin told Brown. "I never got to be the hero. Not like you. Knocking out a giant robot, bare handed—that's an accomplishment if I ever saw one."

Before Brown could respond, there was a commotion at the front of the house as the door was was literally kicked open. Everyone there turned to see Otsana and Jonas standing in the doorway, a barely concious Klara carried between the two. "Careful, she's already in pretty bad shape ," Otsana called out, and she certainly wasn't kidding. The ice giantess looked like she had been mauled by an especially large bear, which for someone her size was saying something. Her clothing and hair were disheveled and mottled, her arms were flecked with gashes and cuts that looked frosted over, and her coat, sopping wet, had been tied around her chest to stifle what had to have been a deep chest wound.

Jonas scoured the room, trying to decide whether or not to coat the only other available bed with blood, or get her a seat... and honestly, having her sit up was probably not the best idea. "Put 'er on the bed," Jonas jutted his chin out, gesturing her towards the mattress."Room-service can clean up the sheets once we're done here."

"... They ain't gonna be happy, though," Brenda said as she remembered the ice giant from when she met them after her fights. Funny how quickly she got wrapped up in all this nonsense. She went from boxing in an arena, to joining a despot and his band of misfits. How funny.

Otsana looked around the room, barely saying a word to Brenda as she moved the giant over to the bed. "Certainly going to have to tip them well for this," she muttered, "Klara, you need anything?"

"Anything cold...would be helpful..." Klara said weakly, hanging her head over her chest as she moved to sit up. "Glad you...found me. Was afraid... I would miss fighting more of those...machines." The ice giantess chuckled, her usually joviality hidden behind her injured state.

"Alright, something cold, something cold..." Standing up, she looked around the room, and spotted the ice bucket. She grabbed it, only to grumble as she saw it was empty. "Hold tight, I'll be right back with ice." She sprinted down the hallway, returning a minute later with a full bucket of ice in a plastic bag.

"By the Gods, thank you," Klara said, eagerly accepting the ice and placing it over her chest with a sigh of relief. "Ahhh....I am feeling better already...thank you again." Feeling her strength returning, Klara propped herself a little higher on the bed and brushed her hair past her ears, revealing another unpleasant gash just under her right eye.

Askin didn't know what he was expecting, but the seven plus foot tall titan who must've just walked out of a warzone was definitely low on the list. She had taken a seat on the empty bed to his right, which somehow survived the weight. Askin gave a small wave of hello.

Otsana winced at the sight, moving to give Jonas room to work. "Glad we found you when we did. What happened to you back there?"

"I wish I knew. I was out fighting those metal monstrosities when this woman approached me. She said something about daggers and attacked me." Klara grunted slightly as she adjusted her position, trying to recall the details of the fight. [color=00aeef"It was very strange. One of the best fights I ever had, but she was definitely a dangerous opponent once she sprouted wings..."[/color]

The mercenary grumbled, trying to think of anyone that matched that description. "Dang, they gave you a good thrashing too. Glad you got away with your life, from the looks of it."

"Just attacked? For no reason?" Brenda said to herself as she tried to make sense out of it. She wondered if Klara was telling the full story. Who knows, maybe she owes someone some money, or picked the wrong fight. That was the reason behind half the fights here in good ol' Brazil.

"I've examined Klara, and so far none of her vitals have been hit," the doctor sighed a breath of relief, taking an even closer look at the Jotuun's gash under her eye. He hummed a little, looking it over for a few seconds before checking her ki levels. They were at very similar levels to his, and despite the wounds. Strangely, he didn't feel a heightened amount of ki in the certain areas where she had been struck.

"Alright, I jus' need to disinfect the wounds, wrap them up, and wait for her to recover," Jonas said as he began digging into his bag to procure some rubbing alcohol and gauze. "I will say it'll take a while for ya to recover... or at least a day or so with those levels of ki... unless...

"No need, Doctor," Klara said with another laugh, sounding more and more like her usual self. "Jotunn heal slowly, but we heal best on our own. See how the wounds frost over?" Klara pointed out a gash on her arm that had started to freeze up. "I think I may be unable to fight for a few days, depending on whatever that insectoid assassin did, but I will be healed and ready to fight soon enough. Thank you for offering to help though, Doctor." Klara smirked before leaning back down on the bed. "Perhaps when we finish our fight I may go easy on you!"

Jonas blankly stared at the frost giant, frowning as he raised one of his eyebrows. Slowly, but surely, he let go of the rubbing alcohol, letting it fall back into place amongst the mess of needles and other instruments. "... honestly, I would jus' ignore a patient if they said that... but considerin' I don't know much about Jotuun physiology, I'll trust you on that matter," the doctor said, sighing as he eyed one of the wounds constantly.

"So, other than a future investment into pesticides and me actually trying to beat y'Klara, lets move onto th' meeting."

Otsana cleared her throat and nodded. "Well, I think I found our next job." She pulled out a tablet, and brought up a classified advertisement. "So, I was perusing some of my contacts when I found this. Turns out there's a town in Germany that's been attacked by robots several times in the last few weeks. Nothing as big as here, but the pictures look very similar to what we dealt with. The local government's been trying to track them down, but they've put out a contract to whoever can stop the attacks."

Our next job. Was Askin included in that our? None of the others seemed to say otherwise. It seemed strange to be suddenly throwing in his lot with a band of strangers, Askin could find no compelling reason to do anything different. And I guess I do owe Otsana a solid one.

"Is there anything the robots are trying to accomplish? Askin asked. "Are they stealing anything from the town, going after natural resources, or is it just random violence?"

Then, after a second of thought, he added, "Also, so sorry, but would anyone object to going back a few half-steps? I don't actually know what's going on, and I think I only know about half of your names. Ah, let me think: Otsana—thanks again for carrying me, by the way, you're a real blessing—Brown, woman of the hour—Klara, right? Has anyone ever told you you're very tall?—and, uh, sorry, that's all I got."

"You seem to be quite observant," Klara chuckled.

"It's my winning quality. Though, most people are pretty tall from down here."

"Brenda," She told the boy her name. "Andrade."

She crossed her arms at Askin, before saying, "We're a group of Nomads trying to accomplish... whatever. I know as much as you do, really." She shrugged. "Either way... either you're out or you're in. Now's a good time to make the decision whether or not you're sticking with us."

"You must be fine warriors to be associated with one another," Klara announced. "After that attack yesterday, I can think of no one better to call my allies!"

Brenda was caught off guard by how jovial the woman was. She didn't know whether or not to be flattered, or worried. Either way, she's with an ally - and after what happened at the stadium, she was going to need allies. "Yeah, I have to say the same." Brenda said.

"I'm liking THE positivity," Askin said, beaming at Brenda and Klara. "Sure, I'm with you."

"Please, yer jus' flattering us, Jonas chuckled a little as he eyed the large woman, crossing his arms as he gave her another look over. "... but even so, I would honestly be damned if anyone would call y'all less than competent. They did manage to take down that giant ass mech he saw, via working together from what he sensed and saw... they would go far... hopefully.

"That's...good to hear, I suppose?" Klara said with a faint smile, unsure what exactly to make of the doctor's statement before returning her focus to the wolf girl again. "So, you mentioned something about these robots, yes? Have they been attacking people like they did here or something else?"

"So far they haven't been targeting people outright, though they don't seem to be avoiding them either. Mainly they are stealing things like food and fuel before running back into the mountains. The Alps being what they are, nobody's really sure where they go." She flicked through some of the images on the posting, showing semi trucks torn open like paper, and charred wrecks of police cruisers. Her ears flattened agianst her head as she skipped a few of the more grisly pictures. "It's becoming a major detriment to the area, when you have to worry about robots just taking all your stuff. They want them cleared out before the ski-season starts."

"So we fInd the source of th' problem, nip it at the bud, get paid. Essentially search and destroy as an ol' friend of mine put it." Simple missions like these always seemed to have a catch... and from the way she described it...

"... nice job on findin' out about this Otsana, we'll take the mission." Jonas walked over and leaned on a wall, setting both of his hands onto the top of his head. "An' maybe once this is all over, we could go skiing ourselves" Jonas mused, chuckling a little to himself.

"Sounds like an easy job for us." Brenda said. "But, we shouldn't get cocky... we don't know all the details here."

"They must be taking the supplies somewhere." said Askin. "We could end up in the lap of whoever attacked the arena."

"Maybe, maybe not, but speakin' of th' arena, I need t'get everyone's share of the prize distributed," Jonas showed of a toothy smile at most of the goods he stole. The doctor also recalled something else he nabbed in the process as he stuck his hand into the needle infested bag.

"Aaaand I managed to grab what I presume is th' trophy, " Jonas popped the weird item out of his bag. Honestly, it made him ponder if this belonged to some ancient puzzle piece or something, because it looked like nothing he had seen before. "I dunno how ya do things In Brazil Brenda, but this looks more like it would fit better In a museum, " Jonas hummed, showing the different angles of the piece, humming a little as he studied the item.

"... so, you guys know anyone we could pawn this off to? A little extra cash wouldn't hurt."

Brenda leaned over, and gave it a look with a raised eyebrow. "... Yeah, that doesn't look Brazilian at all." She looked at the woman engraved on it. "Looks like something European? I don't got a clue."

"Looks old and valuable. Surprised they didnt mention that as part of the pot."

"Pawn?" Klara interjected. "You mean to sell? It does not even look like you have all of it."

"Eh, if it gets us money, boss," Brenda shrugged. "I'd rather not carry around old junk longer than we have to."

"Can any of us can sense ki, or magic? If anything's magic, then that thing is," said Askin, subconsciously wrapping his fingers around the lamp nestled on the side of his bed. "Might want to check it out, sixth sense-wise."

"Well, for starters, I have no friggin' idea, second we might as well try to liquidize it, and third, I'm way ahead of ya on that Askin," Jonas took in a breath of fresh air, scratching the side of his neck. "I got nothin' off of it, even as I was taking the money," Jonas shrugged, shaking his head.

Take? So he stole it? Askin thought. Oh, well, I'm sure he had a reason. It was hard to feel too negative with Klara positively radiating confidence and positivity on the bed beside him.

"Doctor, do you think I could get a look at it?" the ice giantess asked suddenly. "Sure, knock yourself out, " Jonas said, holdIng it out to the bed ridden giant. Taking the odd piece from the doctor, she turned it around slowly, running her fingers across the engravings on the side, seeming oddly distant as she looked over it.

[So did you get anything?, someone asks]

"What? Oh, yes," Klara said, snapping out of her concentration. "I'm...not sure. There's definitely some sort of energy in this, but it feels...weak... no, fragmented..."

"... And what does that mean?" Brenda asked.

"It's in fragments?" Askin offered. "Maybe we should break out the super glue."

"Well...yes, that is my guess..." Klara responded, giving Askin an odd look. "I am not certain, but this could be one of a set of similar objects." She handed the piece back to Jonas, mouthing the word 'superglue' to herself in confusion.

"Ooh," said Askin, sitting upright. Multiple pieces? Mystical powers? That sounded like a quest. Askin didn't know much about this strange new world, but he knew quests. "You know what that means? Dungeon-diving. There's always a dungeon."

"Hmmm..." Brenda thought about it. "I'd rather not go dungeon crawling anytime soon... but... that just means we get a bigger paycheck if we get 'em all."

"Yeah, it would be neat to collect them all, but I don't know where to start looking. This Germany thing, on the other hand, seems like a sure thing."

"Watch yourself though," Askin warned. "You took the piece. You started something. Running away from quests never turns out well, for anyone. The myth has to play out."

"... y'do realize 'quests' aren't all that linear," Jonas grumbled, eyeing the piece in his hand. Jonas focused, attempting to double check to see if he missed anything... and yet, he still got nothing. He raised an eyebrow up, listening to the whole cacophony of excited agreements on fInding the rest of the pieces.

Otsana was already adding another line to her Quest Log to-do list, muttering under her breath. "Find the rest... of the peices... of the ancient puzzle... of Blehblahblah...."

"Eh, before we start chasing pieces of some ancient puzzle," Brenda started off, before she quickly added on. "That we don't know anything about, by the way - let's focus on the job that's right in front of us."

"Ooh, I am interested in seeing these Alps!" Klara interjected happily.

"Hey, me too! I've never been to Germany before." Askin settled back into his bed. Unhappy memories mucked around in his head, but at this point keeping them at arms-length was practically a feat of muscle memory. "This should be a real trip—fight some robots, save the day, maybe catch some international terrorists..."

He trailed off, frowning. "But, um. Take it from me, it's—well, bad things happen if you think you can start something and leave it unfinished. Quests and prophecy and all that are very good at shitting on you. Don't sell the puzzle piece. I can guarantee you'll regret it, somewhere down the line."

"Riiiiiiiiiight. "Brenda said to Askin with a raised eyebrow, before she asked the group. "So, we'll saddle up and head out in a few weeks?"

"I'll start readyin' our plane tickets," Jonas muttered, crossing his arms as he set the piece down into his bag. He didn't like where this was going with the piece, hell, it was shattered for a reason...

... then again, it wasn't lIke they were going to find the rest of the pieces.

"... anywho, movin' onto the next topic - distributin' the prize money amongst our selves..."

---

---

---

Somewhere in the darkest, most lonely place of the world, there was a chair. Reclined backwards so the sole occupant could get a great view of the holographic screens that floated in front of her. She typed away at the holographic keyboards, before swiping them away, and replacing them with another. Continuing the cycle mindlessly in this dark room. The screens provided the only light.

"Pariah..." Abel's robotic voice broke the monotony of the electronic screens as he stepped in. His red eyes piercing through the darkness as he stepped into the light. His black armor was barely illuminated by the light. "How did the operation go?"

"Hmph," Pariah's lip turned upwards as she swiped away all the holographic screens, and brought up one image of the stadium being destroyed. "I failed to recover the piece of the Kallistei..." She let the words hang in the air for a moment. "... Some Nomad acquired it, I believe."

"You should have sent me to recover it," Abel said, as his body barely moved an inch. "I would have it in our possession."

"There was a reason why I preferred to send my machines," Pariah swiped away the image as she turned towards Abel in the chair. "You're far too... known. Every Nomad in there would have been on top of you... and even you cannot handle that many at once."

"Hmph." Abel said. "Do you even know who has the piece?"

"No, I have an idea of whom, but," Pariah said as she manifested a holographic projection of Jonas, the very image from the perspective of the robot that shot her. "But, don't you think I haven't planned for this?" She asked, and Abel stood there for a moment.

"If he doesn't know it's a piece we are looking for, he will most likely sell it," Pariah started off as she began typing on the holographic keyboards. "Which means we can simply buy it from him, or in the case he sells it to someone else... we can kill them, and take it from them."

"... And if he knows about the true power of Demeter's piece?" Abel asked as he crossed his arms.

"Then it's simple," Pariah shrugged as she raised a hand in the air and it was surrounded with a yellow glow of ki. Three other pieces of the Kallistei floated up into the air. Each with the image of Zeus, Hera, and Apollo. "Individually, they are worthless. He needs all of them, or it doesn't matter how many he has. And I implore him to come to me..." Pariah grinned from underneath her helmet.

"They'll be ours one way or another."

"Orders, then?" Abel asked.

"Find that robot already," Pariah said. "The faster you recover her, the faster I can get to work."

"I believe they are tracking our friend Edward Gallo..." Abel mused out loud and Pariah paused. Smiling yet again.

"Then head towards Germany... even if they aren't after Gallo, he has a piece." Pariah said.

"I'll deal with it" a low voice spoke from one of the shadows, taking a step forward to reveal the gunslinger Voyt, he drew one of his revolvers and held it up to his eyes, inspecting perhaps though he already knew he'd brought it up to the highest quality it could be.

"They barely escaped Rio, they won't be doing so this time." His eyes narrowed before he holstered his gun yet again and stared at Pariah with his typical stare of indifference. "The robot'll be subdued, might take some damage but you'll get it back well enough." He nodded to Pariah.

"As my contract agreed." The gunslinger then took a step back into the shadows where the sounds of his boots meeting the cold floor slowly faded away as he left.

'If the robot is insufficiently damaged," Pariah hissed out the words. "You'll wish that I had killed you."

"Yep." Voyt said barely audible as his figure was suddenly lit up by a door opening up before plunging the room into darkness once more as it closed.

"... As I was saying..." Pariah shook her head as she focused on the titan clad in black armor. "Be the person who gets the girl."

"Affirmative," Abel said as he stepped backwards into the darkness.

"Oh, and Abel," Pariah said. "I am currently assessing the combat data I've recovered from the stadium." She grinned.

"... I'll have a new line of stronger machines ready shortly."

---

Inside a dark stadium, a sole spotlight shined, and a woman fell from the sky into the center of the light.

"I've delivered all the notes, father," the woman said. "But, I'm curious...."

The man turned towards her, a mere silhouette in the shadow.

"They're our only hope..." He trailed off, before another light shined on the wall. Revealing a fancy decoration, but none of that was of any real note.

Except for the piece Hestia.

"... If we are to defeat that madwoman."

---

---

---

---

---

---

Two figures in hoods walked down a dirt-road, which was lined with the corpses of robots. The closer they got to their destination, the more robots there seemed to be. Some seemed to be rusted for months. One was observing a piece of paper with robotic hands.

ROBOTIC CRISIS IN ALTACH! ROBOTS TERRORIZE SMALL TOWN! OFFERING HUGE REWARD TO WHOEVER BRINGS PEACE TO THIS TOWN!

Above these words was the picture of a old timey-looking robot.

"Hmph," Justin said as he showed the piece of paper to Seven-Seven. "This one of your cousins?" He asked with a half grin. Before he got playfully pushed away by Seven-Seven.

"Oh, shut up." Seven-Seven said, chuckling.

"Was I racist against machines or something?" Justin chuckled.

"Very." Seven-Seven's eyes began to glow for a moment.

Before long, the two reached the top of the cliff... and caught sight of the village. A massive place that had a picture-esque, old timey, kind of look. It had street lights that were active given the nightfall rapidly approaching. Justin almost smiled at the place.

"Isn't this place great?" Justin asked.

"Yes..." Seven-Seven trailed off, before she turned her head towards Justin. "... Almost romantic."

Justin was immediately made flustered. His face blushed. "Uh, y-yeah!" Justin turned away. "Let's just go do-"

Suddenly a loud roar shook the ground the ground they stood on. They both whipped their head around towards the source, and flying through the air was some... strange robotic dragon. It had a jet was propelled it forward, it dove down towards the cliff they were on.

"Run!" Justin shouted as they both jumped off the cliff, and slid down the side of the cliff. The dragon came down and swiped at the cliff and turned it into chunks that flew into the distance. The robotic dragon reached peak height yet again, and breathed a jet of fire as it circled the city.

Seven-Seven's right arm transformed into a rocket launcher, and fired a rocket at the robot - only for Justin to run up, and put her arm down.

"Seven, don't!" He said, worried they blow their cover.

The rocket collided with the machine, and harmlessly exploded. Only for the machine to casually continue it's rampage. Shooting fire at the city.

---

Justin and Seven-Seven weren't the only two to show up.

Riding up on a massive motorcycle was Jaden Raldo. All of his gear, including his swords, were on the back of it. It made a ton of noise, and shook the very road he drove upon. A giant shadow was cast upon the ninja, and he looked up.

"The fuck?" He asked as a motherfucking dragon flew above him. He pointed, and said, "... That's a motherfucking dragon! Except made of bolts n' shit!" Then realized he was talking to no one. This must have been the robots he heard so much about. He slammed his foot on the gas to catch up with the robot.

He came to a skidding stop right before the cliff ended... and saw a rocket hit the robot and do nothing! Bitch, this looked like a job for Jaden Raldo. He stepped off the motorcycle, and pulled out his katanas and put them on. He'll just have to check in with someone after he murks this robot.

He grinned at the robot in the sky.

---

---

---

The Annual Japanese Championship was a roaring tournament.

Unlike the other tournament, the stadium for the tournament wasn't as gigantic as the Brazilian Fighting Cup. It had a large white marble floor, that was surrounded by elevated walls. On top of these walls were the people sitting cheering on the side lines. There was currently a match ongoing. A Japanese woman in a white gi and black belt sparing with a man dressed like a super Sentai super hero. The woman threw a kick that hit the man square in the gut, he took a few steps back.

Before he grabbed onto her leg with lighting speed, hopped up into the air and did a mid-air spin and slammed them both into the ground. He rolled away and did a pose... only for the woman to flying kick him square in the
head and follow it up with a red fireball. She threw a kick that was parried with a low sweep of her supporting leg, before she was sent flying by a ki-infused palm strike.

The man did another pose, before the fight continued.

Brooke walked up to the edge of the stadium with her gym bag slung over her shoulder, and leaned up against the railing. She had a cocky grin on her face as she looked at it. She played on her phone for a moment, before she wondered how long this match was going to take. The Japanese tournament was smaller, more selective, than the Rio cup. Thus, they could get away with having one fight at a time. Brooke was amazed they even let her in!

The Sentai fighter was sent flying through the air, and launched out into the crowds. Brooke instinctively ducked, then looked behind her as arena staff quickly went to work. Damn, they really need to up their safety standards.

"That's it for the first fight, folks!" The announcer shouted. "The next fight will begin very shortly."

Brooke shook her fists like a child. Though, a black cloud interrupted the normally sunny day, and it was followed by rain. Brooke looked up, "Huh?"

She quickly looked at her phone, and noticed that rain wasn't in the forecast.

Baybridge: Halcyon Days [Superpowers/Semi-Sandbox]

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_{@Surtr, & @Zombiedude101}

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Courtbridge, Prince Ed-Field_

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---

`So far, the mall had been going excellently.

Getting Lijuan to calm her was easy enough with some ice cream. The girl was licking away at a chocolate ice cream cone, as Meifeng held her hand, and Jen walked at their side. She casually swung the little girl's hand. Jennifer also had a cone of vanilla ice cream... she said that she hated chocolate. Heh. Meifeng smiled. For a moment, the two almost looked like a [/i]couple[/i]. She laughed at the thought, before she continued, and her little sister looked up at her. Lijuan suddenly broke her grip from Meifeng and paused. Which caused both Meifeng and Jennifer a bit of confusion as she just stood there.

"Li, what's wrong?" Meifeng asked with a raised eyebrow, her hand quickly reached for the power suppressant collar that hung off her hip. "Is your power acting up?"

Lijuan sighed for a moment, before she continued, "It's nothing... I was just reminded of something...." She continued walking, Meifeng tried to grab her hand again, but then she swiped it away.

The eldest Zhao was floored by her little sister's sudden aloofness... but, then it hit her. I get it, I know just what Lijuan means... Meifeng thought to herself, as she remembered that Lijuan was still grieving. She just needed to give her a little bit of space.

A large boom from the distance made Meifeng jolt, followed by frantic screaming. Meifeng quickly reached for her pistol as she whipped around to see... a bloody abomination of a person. It's body was seemingly made out of... organs. From intestines, to livers... It was spewing blood everywhere. It's torso was bloated, and it's right arm was oversized. She couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman... or even a person. It's humanoid body told her that it was somewhat rooted in humanity.

Meifeng had no idea what was going on, but she quickly drew her gun on it. "Stay right there! Don't get any closer!" It took several steps closer, and Meifeng fired a shot that went into it's body... only for it to miraculously heal the wound. She raised an eyebrow, and realized that it had to possess Metahuman abilities to some extent or another.

Lijuan was frozen in fear as the only motions that came from the girl was shaking. Her draw dropped, and eyes were wide - but Jennifer quickly slid in and covered her eyes.

"It's okay," Jennifer said as she tried to pull Lijuan away... but she loudly yelled when her hand was badly burned, and she snatched it away. She grabbed her wrist... before she looked and Lijuan was giving off so much heat. She quickly turned to Meifeng, and said, "Mei, we got a problem - another one!"

At this point, Lijuan's body had burst into flames, almost like a massive torch. She cried out in fear, and flames came out of her mouth. The sprinkler system came on to extinguish the flames, but it barely cooled down her overheated body.

Meifeng turned between Lijuan and the monster... this was going to suck.

---

True to form, the crystalline woman lumbered further towards Rowan, a low rasp erupting from her mouth. She could see him, clear enough it was - and he had become the target of her animalistic savagery as any objects she could reach were punted towards him, shards of the growths breaking off from her flesh and scattering towards him. "Oh shit, shit, shit-" He murmured, backpedalling still as he tried to draw her away from the other shoppers. Further and further he moved, tossing pieces of metallic debris her way just enough so that he could keep antagonising her and luring her away. He could've really used Wendy at this point just to back him up, but that what could have been and what was were two different things - he had to deal with it now, he could talk shit about it later.

This was a stupid idea.

Common sense and his gut would've told him to hightail out of there, instead he was still pulling further inside to lure this crazy bitch - if only because he'd committed at this point and wasn't in a position to do anything else. Experience taught him that he had to try and end this fast because if it got drawn out it would have gone the same way the fights with Blake and the Hound had, all screwed up. Remember Ezekiel, he reminded himself, get it over and done with.

Then overhead, Rowan spotted it - a heavy looking display piece suspended from the ceiling, held in place by a chainlink and metal frame. Rowan gave pause as he ducked down again from another one of the shards being cast his way, then tore at the frame with all the might he could, bringing the full weight of it down upon her body with an ear-splitting clatter. What remained was a warped metal frame, the original advertisement that had been plastered across it now ruined. The body wasn't in sight, concealed under the mess - which was probably for the best. The implication of what he'd just done were... they were fucked up, to say the least, so instead he put the gruesome thought of what he'd done to what remained of that woman's body and turned towards what he thought would've been the easiest exit point.

Yet a short trip down one of the corridors made him realise that this woman wasn't the only mutant asshole lurking in the mall today.

"Oh, fuck."

---

A wave of water swept underneath the joy mutant's feet, and quickly froze. It barely did anything, as the mutant stomped on it, but Meifeng had her arms back as if she was willing water along. She slammed it into the creature that sent it skidding backwards. It slammed it's disgusting, fleshy, hand into the ground and it pulled out tiles on the ground. Which told Meifeng that, if it was tough enough to take that, then there was little she could throw at it.

She looked around her shoulder at Lijuan losing control of her power.... That was something that her talents were better suited for...

"Jenny!" Meifeng shouted behind her. "Switch!" Before she broke off into a sprint right towards Lijuan, gathering as much spare water as she could. While Jennifer shook her head and two bone spears erupted from her wrists in a bloody display as she ran towards the monster as it recovered. She leaped up into the air just before the ice began. It threw it's monstrous arm up, before Jennifer slashed at it's arms and created a huge gap in it's flesh. It screamed before Jen went under it's arm and rammed both of her spears into it.

Meanwhile Meifeng was using all the water she could and pouring it on Lijuan... this wasn't right! Lijuan's power was fire, but she was going supernova here. She felt the heat radiate off of Lijuan's body, and she sweat profusely. It was just a sensation, as Meifeng was determined to die before she let Lijuan ash. She merely used the sweat to hose Lijuan down, but couldn't hold off the flames for long. She needed something more than water.

It thunderously roared in pain, but quickly whipped its arm around and sent Jennifer flying. She hit the ground rolling, and grit her teeth as pain was sent throughout her body. Briefly, there were bruises on her arms that quickly disappeared. She got back up as the monster kept running towards Meifeng and Lijuan. She rammed those spears right into it's back, but then the creature's hellish regeneration kicked in and it began to heal over the spears. Jennifer tried to pull it out, but they were stuck. She had one choice; she detached the spears. They snapped off halfway so she can quickly remake them, but the beast whipped around and hit her hard as it could. There was the sickening sound of her rib cage breaking as she coughed up blood as she hit the ground behind her.

Her vision was blurry and she saw the hulking beast stand over top of her. "No..." She whispered as she put her hand up. The beast did the same as it primed to slam its own gnarled fist down upon her.

A grating metallic groan rattled across the section of the mall, followed by the sight and sound of a hefty metal frame smashing into the grotesque mutant's frame from its flank, jagged pieces of the sheared display tearing into the viscera that enveloped it, throwing the creature off balance and to the floor.

As Jen lay there, badly wounded, a bearded youth wearing a hoodie rushed over to her, hooked an arm under her shoulder and tried to pull her to her feet. "C'mon, move!" Rowan urged, his other arm being used to keep the mutant pinned under the metal frame.

Jennifer hissed in pain as the boy pulled her up. "... It's hard when your rib cage collapsed." Jennifer hissed in between her lips at the boy. She didn't even look up at him, but she was focused on repairing her rib-cage over her organs. Long as her backup organs were functioning, she was fine. She stood on her feet, and grasped her ribs as they snapped back into place.

The mutant, pinned beneath the metal, quickly healed much like Jennifer did. But it healed over the metal, and it seemingly became apart of the mutant. It lifted itself up with all of it's strength, then quickly began to march towards Rowan and Jennifer. During its march, it drove its hand into the ground and dragged it along, before whipping it forward and sending chunks of broken tile towards the two.

Narrowly avoiding a chunk which soared overhead while another shard which rippled past his shoulder, gashing his sleeve, Rowan sucked in his breath and yanked Jennifer as far out of the lumbering mutant's path as he could, then twisted in place and reached out with his palm, clenching his fingers into a fist and twisting upwards, causing it to it writhe and gurgle as the metal embedded within its monstrous form was moved against it, stemming its mobility.

Or so he'd thought - a grisly sight ensued as the mutant tore free of the twisted metal embedded within, which disturbingly remained in place, still coated in a mass of gore, all whilst the thing continued dragging itself forwards, thrashing away at anything in sight, its ruined legs yet to reform.

How was this thing still alive?

Rowan was about to drop the existing metal frame on it one more time, but his concentration was thrown when a wooden bench swiped at by the creature erupted into a volley of splintered chunks which slammed against him, this time throwing him off his footing and causing the frame to clatter against the ruined tile floor.

Jennifer's ribs were finally in one piece, and she smiled as she reached it was time to exploit a little weakness that she saw in the mutant. When the bench hit the beast, Jennifer sprung into action, and created one large bone spear about the length and width of her arm. She ran towards it, and rammed it deep as it could go into the creature's leg - but, she quickly detached it, and left it stuck in the creature's leg. The beast roared as it regenerated over the spear embedded within and tried to walk on it, but it couldn't keep its footing.

But, there was another problem. Jennifer could feel the heat that Lijuan was giving off from all the way over her. The mousy-girl whipped her head around at light-speed, and saw that Meifeng was still doing the best she could to extinguish Lijuan. But, she was shaking, and her body was sweating like no other.

Mei wouldn't survive at this rate.

"Keep the monster down!" Jennifer shouted as she ran over to Meifeng. Getting close burned her skin, but she grabbed Meifeng by the shoulder and arm. "You're gonna die! You have to get away!"

Now alone, Rowan was left with the writhing, crawling mass and had little other option - he tugged at the nearest object again and smashed it into the creature, but all that achieved was a spatter of viscera across the ruined tile floor. In the heat of the moment it was fight or flight and he'd chosen the first of those two, desperately tossing whatever he could, ducking and dodging debris scattered towards him by the creature's swipes, until an unlucky shot from a stray object hamstrung him and caused him to lose his footing once more. With the mutant looming over him, Rowan's gaze desperately darted from left to right, searching for the nearest object within reach - but he found none, his heart pounding away.

But he was stubborn enough to fight on, regardless, instead drawing both hands inwards, fingers clenched as though he was grasping at a rope with all his might, concentrating as he had practiced in his sessions with Wendy. Something came within his senses as he reached out, then came a brittle cracking sound - one of the concrete pillars just ahead seemed to crumble at the top, a thin cloud of dust forming overhead, then he saw the fissures forming across. After a moment's hesitation at the idea that he might bring the ceiling down upon the both of them, Rowan took a hold and pulled.

This time the concrete gave way as the steel beam within was torn from its place and pulled down onto the grotesque mutant and along with it came about half a ton's worth of scattered concrete and other debris, the ceiling above it giving way. Rowan scrabbled across the floor, narrowly pulling himself to safety before he could be caught underneath the architectural avalanche, but the creature it was left completely covered, with any view of the scene obscured by a growing cloud of dust.

"Holy fuck..." He murmured. It had been intense, the last time he'd used his powers like this had been during the fight with Ezekiel. An occasional practice session in-between had kept him on his toes but there had been nothing to prepare him for it as the real thing. Then the heat hit him and his gaze became fixated on the girl wreathed in fire.

Jennifer managed to pull the weakened Meifeng away, but only because the heat exhaustion had almost gotten to her. This was a battle no one was going to win... but, Jennifer felt that collar hit her in the thigh, before a lightbulb went off in her head. She didn't know what this kid's power was, but he was the only thing that could save them. Jenny yanked it off hard as she could, and threw it at Rowan's feet. Before pointing at Lijuan.

"Put that on her, please!" Jennifer said. "There's no time!"

"W-what?!" Rowan almost stuttered, before hesitantly picking up the collar and glancing towards the girl once more time.

"You need to put it on the little girl on fire!" Jennifer commanded again, trying to make her point clear as day.

If what he'd just done hadn't been stupid, then this sure was - but she had a point, that girl was burning up quick and they were going to burn with her. Sweat trickled down his forehead, not just from the fight but from the sheer heat. Rowan took a step towards the girl for a moment, almost hesitating as he glanced back towards Jen, then started to make the approach, slowly edging closer to the whirling inferno with an arm raised to shield his face from the intense heat, the sobering taste of smoke filling his mouth as he grew closer, trying to withstand the flames.

Rowan reached out towards the girl, collar in the other hand as he hoped to steady himself, but then a column of fire seemed to widen around the girl and he recoiled, almost falling flat. It was too much, he couldn't...

[jen or mei says something to try and encourage him? idk]

He had to try. They couldn't just die like this, not here. Not the girl, either. Wendy wouldn't have wanted that. He'd held it together before and he could've done it again.

Concentrating with all his might, Rowan tore at one of the shutters covering a storefront close by, bending what he drew in around himself it around himself as a makeshift shield against the flames. It wouldn't have done much, but he could only hope that it would've been enough. Just as things had quickly heated up with Blake, the flames licking at the shutters did the same, the heat enveloping him so that the air almost burned to the touch of his skin. It was like being inside a furnace, but he pushed on, edging closer to Lijuan, now almost entirely wreathed in frame.

At this point he was just a few feet away from her, within what could've been arm's reach - it was now or never. Tearing a viewport in his shield, Rowan could make out the girl's form through the tendrils of fire that surrounded her and reached out, using his magnetism to push the collar through the fire and fasten it around her neck. Relief washed over him, prompting him to drop the shield in the wake of a lucky success.

But just before the collar had fully activated, a final burst of flame erupted from where Lijuan stood and threw her would-be savior to the floor, his left sleeve wreathed in flame. "Gyragh! F-fuck!" Rowan howled, beating away at the burning section of his hoodie in a blind panic, frantically trying to put out the flames.

Thinking fast, Jennifer quickly formed a blade out of bone and grabbed onto the sleeve, then hastily began to cut away the still-smouldering fabric. Soon enough, the sleeve sloughed off, Jennifer's protruding bone having made short work of it. But now it was exposed, the extent of the damage was clear - Rowan's outer forearm was an unsightly mess of red-raw blotches running from elbow to wrist where the impromptu scorching had left it burnt. By all means, it wasn't a third and probably wasn't a second degree burn, but right now? It hurt like hell, like something Rowan hadn't felt in a long time. Exposing it to the open air had only converted his frantic yelp into a stifled hiss, his left fist and jaw both clenched alike.

"Are you okay?" Jennifer asked, looking at Rowan's red skin. "I don't think you need a doctor... but, you might need some ointment."

"Tss," Rowan sucked in his breath, then snapped back at her. "You think?"

"Yeah." Jennifer sarcastically replied, before her eyes landed on the two.

Wth the collar now slipped on, Lijuan had felt relief, but she quickly fell unconscious and hit the ground with a thud. Her body pushed to its literal limits as she was on the verge of ashing before being saved by Rowan's intervention. There was a faint smile on her face before she hit the ground. Meifeng also smiled, letting out a quiet, "Thank you." Before passing out from the heat, as well.

"Mei!" Jennifer shouted as she ran over to her, and checked her vital signs. She's okay... but burned. Shit. This wasn't good. But, she went over to Lijuan who was also in a poor shape, but didn't have a burn on her thanks to her heat resistance. They're alive... but with everything that was going on... could Jen get them out of here? She couldn't. Not without help. "Hey," She said, looking up at Rowan. "I'm sorry that it's a lot to ask of you since you got hurt helping us - but, can you me get them out of here?"

There was a part of him that wanted nothing more than to beat it out of here and find some ointment or other shit to slap on these burns, like she'd said, but his conscience got the better of him again, particularly when he saw the little girl slumped on the floor, barely conscious if at all. It hit a raw note on him and, well... like he'd just told himself a few moments before, Wendy would've probably wanted it.

"Fine, sure." He answered, sourly.

"Thank you." Jennifer said - sweetly as she could - as she got up and lifted Meifeng's unconscious frame onto her shoulders. She left Lijuan to the stranger, but the thought never occurred to her to ask for his name. Maybe later. They had to focus on surviving first.

Whatever the case, there was no way Rowan could've carried the girl out with his arm in the state it was. Knowing himself, he'd probably have dropped at her the moment he felt the raw skin's irritation, so instead he restorted to an alternative means, if somewhat unorthodox. With his unburnt arm, he reached out towards a discarded segment of the steel shutters he'd used a shield and set it across the ground, flattening it where he could. Then, for good measure, he moved over to where Lijuan was curled up on the ground, fatigued but otherwise unharmed, and began to shift the girl's weight towards the flattened shutters as best as he could, laying her out on top of the surface, making sure she was tucked in neat.

Next was the scary part.

Rowan reached out again towards the shutters, this time with Lijuan set on top of them. Slowly, they rose up - then partially curled inwards with a shrill metallic groan, forming a makeshift stretcher which was now shaped in a manner to make it a little easier to move her without her slipping out. He'd done something similar before, like with the bands of metal around his limbs, but unlike this it was for his own movement, for his own body where he was in full control - this was someone else, someone who, if he made the slightly wrong move, could get crushed or slip out and end up even worse off. Yet again, he made a mental note reminding himself that someone like Wendy would've probably handled this better.

Whatever the case, both Jennifer and Rowan set off on the move - each bearing their unconscious cargo. Jennifer wondered how a simple day at the mall had escalated so fast, at literally the worst possible time - but, she was going to survive it either way.

World Warriors: The Nomadic Fist (Quirky Fighting Game Influenced Roleplay)

Also on Friday I'm posting the timeskip no matter what

Baybridge: Halcyon Days [Superpowers/Semi-Sandbox]

BIG DUMB GUN.

@Maxx

The knives are on the back so it's locked in place.

Baybridge: Halcyon Days [Superpowers/Semi-Sandbox]

This is reference for Johnny's gun.

_{Maxx incorporated a shitpost into the post. That bloody madman.}

Palladium Academy (Another Superpowered Highschool)

Hate to say this guys, but I'm gonna have to step down as Co-GM, and drop out of the RP. I got a job a few days ago, and I don't think I'll be able to run two RPs on top of this.

I really did want to RP in this (I even had a cool subplot planned out with Savo), but maybe another time.

Palladium Academy (Another Superpowered Highschool)

I'm going to try to get my other students up tonight before I get left behind.