Avatar of Lugubrious

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2 mos ago
Current Forgotten footfalls, engraved in ash
2 mos ago
Stalling falling blossoms in bloom
3 mos ago
Even if our words seem meaningless
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3 mos ago
Time turning on us always
4 mos ago
Fusing into the unknown

Bio

Current GM of World of Light. When it comes to writing, there's nothing I love more than imagination, engagement, and commitment. I'm always open to talk, suggestion, criticism, and collaboration. While I try to be as obliging, helpful, and courteous as possible, I have very little sympathy for ghosts, and anyone who'd like to string me along. Straightforwardness is all I ask for.

Looking for more personal details? I'm just some dude from the American south; software development is my job but games, writing, and trying to help others enjoy life are my passions. Been RPing for over a decade, starting waaaay back with humble beginnings on the Spore forum, so I know a thing or two, though I won't pretend to be an expert. If you're down for some fun, let's make something spectacular together.

Most Recent Posts

Kirby is with the group at the moment.

Also, I should take this chance to remind everyone (but especially @DracoLunaris) how Strikers work. Bonding with a spirit to make it a Striker creates a relationship where its spirit is linked to your main character's for sustenance. Strikers have a set amount of effort they can expend, whether attacking, healing, or whatever, before they have to de-manifest. Just being manifested slowly drains this energy, but actingtakes more. In combat they're meant to act like assists in team-based fighting games, popping in for a moment for an attack, support action, or string of attacks before vanishing again to recuperate. If you're not familiar with assists, thinking of them as temporary summons might help. In a noncombat situation they can manifest for longer, but regardless they can't be around all the time. In exchange, they can't take permanent damage, instead simply de-manifesting if hurt too much.
Tora & the Master of Masters

Level 3 – (5/20) EXP
Location: Scrapyard – Endzone
Word Count: 1817


Breathless, Tora watched as the Courier staggered his way over to the bright spirit left behind by Bastion. An awful lot of blood was pouring out of the guy for him to be moving so determinedly, but move he did. How was he withstanding those injuries? The Nopon's morbid fascination held him until the gunslinger released his hold on the pickaxe he'd tried to deck Bastion with, which released over him a flood of agony The noise that tore itself from the man's throat made Tora jump in surprise, crying out himself, but a few seconds later 6 seemed to get enough of a hold of himself to gasp out a few words to the spirits in his possession. However, his ensuing collapse prevented the bond from taking hold, leaving him at the mercy of his allies—though anyone interested in those particular spirits would need to pry them from his rigid, balled fists.

Fortunately, nobody else seemed quite so injured. Blazermate and Zer0 found their way toward the fallen Courier, one to offer him health and the other rather dubious condolences, though the former took a brief break from her patient to nab the other major spirit left behind by their battle. With her mind more fixated on her duties than what happened with Zer0 before, the Medabot did not prepare herself for the incredible surge of sensation that blasted through her systems the moment the Engineer spirit was internalized. Her metal body, gleaming with prismatic light, lost its texture and definition, the matter becoming clay for molding by ideas. No faint mote of a mindless machine, the culmination of unique being that was Dell Conagher, the Engineer, sculpted her essence anew. When the light faded and Blazermate regained form, a greater entity stood ready to work.



All the while, the Master of Masters hung not far away from Geno and Bowser's reunion. He watched with some curiosity as Din, prompted by Geno's willingness to explore her options, mentioned using a keyblade to free the mustache-bearing new arrival from Galeem's taint. When she mentioned him a moment later, he gave the behatted doll a cheery wave. “What's good?” An amused chuckle came not long after when the Dancer attempted to emulate Kirby's gesture from earlier. The young woman's forthright nature was a heartwarming thing to behold; it rather reminded him of Ava. To nobody in particular, he pontificated, “I'm sure it's gotta do with inner srength. Living, feeling, experiencing, forming bonds..all of these build up the heart, and if yours is big enough, it'll shine on those around you ...like a warm fireplace.”

He silenced himself to watch as Bowser made a spectacle of himself, pilfering Ratchet's weapon to set off some explosives in the moat. How exactly Bowser knew how to operate the thing, especially with such huge, inarticulate hands, baffled even the Master of Masters, but one could hardly argue with his results. The spirits of a few different kinds of fish floated to the surface, some of which Bowser seemed eager to grab. The rest, however, he left. The Master of Masters could only glance at Geno and Din, shrugging with his hands held up in amused befuddlement. Zer0, however, hurried to cash in on the Koopa King's catch.



Meanwhile, Tora had at last stopped staring at Blazermate in awe and found his way back to Linkle and Minako. Though still somewhat wounded, he seemed upbeat enough now that 6 was being cared for and Linkle's own injuries were alleviated. Poised to congratulate the girls on a job well done, he stopped short when Minako offered her ally not support but a stern reprimand. The distinct feeling that he was unwelcome came over Tora, but he swallowed and stood by to listen to what the redhead had to say. To be honest, everything she told Linkle made sense. Rushing out into the action without a plan, when one didn't have Tora's remarkable durability, was pretty much asking for a bad time. Her explanation confused him a touch, since entire armies being outclassed by one individual made no sense, but if true that did explain her rationale. When he looked back at Minako's face, Tora found less anger and more sadness than he expected. Was everyone hurting...?

Linkle seemed to regain some of her usual luster, and after promising to be more careful, moved to help Minako. The next moment, Tora pushed himself up under her other arm, his roundness perfect for leaning on. His wing fell across her other shoulder, where it lay on Linkle's arm. After a deep breath, he said, “Sorry you were hurt, friends. Tora is terrible, terrible tank without Poppi. Will be better next time.” Closing his eyes, he gave his most heartwarming smile. “But in mean time, am happy that friends still around! Even if have troubles, will get better together. That is Tora promise!” Together, the three marched toward their changed healer.

After helping Minako get help, however, Linkle broke away for a moment to head to the water's edge. There, she sifted through the currents with a certain spirit in mind. While it would have taken a massive amount of luck for the right mote to drift into her fingertips, luck wasn't the only thing at play. After only a couple seconds, a spirit popped out of the water to float before her. Within the rainbow light was the visage of Rabbid Luigi, downcast -no doubt due to his death- but clearly glad to see a familiar face. “Wahbwabwa?” came a whisper from it, far more cheerful than a newly-dead murmur should rightfully be.

Not everyone looked to be taking the situation well. Though he'd helped -arguably- in the battle moments ago, the portly masked man was now raising a ruckus. The Master of Masters fully understood confusion and anger given the situation, but continuing to threaten others, particularly when everyone else had been so obliging, was starting to grate on his nerves. Planting the tip of his keyblade in the ground, the Master of Masters leaned on it like a cane and told Roadhog, “Look, buddy. I know you want answers. Everyone does. And I get that you're a real tough guy and all, but are ya really gonna rattle the saber with more than a dozen heroes around ready to smack some sense into ya? I'll tell you what you wanna know, but if you don't pipe down, you'll be put down.” Perhaps intentionally, the ultimatum heavily contrasted his casual tone.

Din, however, stepped up to spare him the effort of an explanation, so he watched her attempt at pacification before she pointed at the seraphic entity far away, surrounded by a shimmering whirlpool of color in the sky, to begin her explanation. While looking at Galeem, the Master of Masters' eyes wandered to something else of interest in the heavens. “Huh. That's new.” As he watched, the two things began to grow closer and closer, until he came to the realization that they were headed his way. “Oh! Uh, everyone?” He picked up his voice. “Might wanna look out...?”

A moment later, the first of the two shapes became visible. Careening downward, leaving behind a thick trail of smoke, was some sort of spacecraft, but one would be off the mark in calling it a ship. More of an irregular, flying house than any sort of sensible vehicle, it barely avoided falling like a sack of potatoes as it dove toward Peach's Castle. Tora yelled out in alarm for his allies to get to cover as the ship drew closer and closer, until after a few more seconds the ship kissed one of the Castle's towers and hit the great moat with a gigantic splash. A miniature tsunami rolled across the shore and bridge, soaking anyone in the way, as the heavily-damaged spacecraft slowed to a halt. It bobbed up in the water, its glass front revealing a large room made a mess of by the descent. A door in the glass, just above the water line, swung open, and out fell an exhausted, battered little girl in a top hat, bearing an umbrella and bleary sunset-red eyes. She slumped over the edge, too hurt and tired to move.

Barely could anyone respond to the very sudden arrival before the fallen ship's tormentor appeared. From above, in a blaze of awesome orange, a familiar shape swooped down. His rock-hard muscles shone in the sunlight; his brutal fangs and horns gleamed with wickedness. Behind him, great crimson wings unfurled, and digital power flowed across his scales. The ground shook as he crashed down in front of he castle doors across the moat bridge from the heroes, and with baleful yellow eyes, he examined them.

Warning! Boss Discovered!


Megadragonbowser


After a second or two, his maw broke into a crooked grin, and his bellow echoed through the landscape.

”SO, THESE ARE THE 'INTRUDERS' KAMEK TOLD ME ABOUT.” His voice reverberated with an otherworldly power, shaking the bodies of those present. The heroes, however strong, could not find it in themselves to step forward, or to raise a weapon. Their undoubted enemy smirked, then continued ”HE MADE IT SOUND LIKE THERE WAS A PROBLEM. ALL I SEE IS A BUNCH OF RUNTS. WEAKLINGS. LOSERS! NO WAY YA SHRIMPS CAME HERE TO MAKE TROUBLE. OH, I KNOW: YOU MUSTA COME TO PAY TRIBUTE. WELL, SPIT IT OUT! WHATCHA GOT FOR THE KING?”

In a small voice and with an angry look, Tora muttered, “Have spiky drill for biggiepon stupid face when legs stop shaking.”
@Gentlemanvaultboy the Musou attack might be the best out of that bunch, but that doesn't preclude you from doing something with the Rabbid spirit, which would be separate from level-ups unless you wanted to use the level-up to increase whatever you get from it further, which is possible since Rabbid Luigi has a bunch of weapons and abilities. If you were to take Rabbid Luigi as a Strength, you'd get more battle prowess and a few skills, but you wouldn't get any of his distinctive abilities.
is the fight with bastion and the engineer over?


Yep! Whenever a Results hider appears, that signals the definitive end of an encounter.
Post incoming tomorrow. It isn't necessary to post before then, but if you want to address the current situation before anything else happens, the near future is the time!
There is no way I can take that standout bonus in good conscience after spending that entire fight doing nothing but find new and creative ways to almost die.


I suppose you don't have to, but keep in mind that completed actions in combat aren't the only reason why someone would receive a standout bonus.
To say that the sight of a gigantic demon, stitched together from the bodies of its smaller counterparts, did not give Souta chills would have been to lie. Still, that didn't mean he wouldn't give the aberration his best shot. A moment passed as the smith, fatigued from his battle with the beasts, caught his breath and composed himself. The others moved to engage the monster first, and when Souta's nerves re-steeled themselves, he followed.

While unable to target its more vulnerable bits, Souta knew exactly where to strike. He jogged forward, gradually building up speed while burdened by the weight of the Mountain Buster on his shoulder. Wrath and Gideon, powerful as they were swift, made their attacks. Leveraging his mighty weapon, the former cleft the ground itself to hinder the behemoth's movement before swinging at his arm. Gideon, meanwhile, met it with an onslaught of projectiles. With the chasm keeping the enormous Assault from moving too much, Souta wove between falling chunks of demon to bring the heavy, explosive head of the Mountain Buster down on his adversary's foot in a tremendous wallop. While it cut an imposing figure upright, it would be nothing more than a pile of weak demons if it came tumbling down.
@DracoLunaris To keep things from being too convenient, I'm going to say that heroes and junk falling in the moat scared away most of the aquatic life, and the Lakelurks and Toads remained near the bottom. Two blooper spirits, three bombfish spirits, and a biri spirit were all that came up.
VS the Engineer

Location: Scrapyard Endzone, right side


The Engineer's worries proved themselves well-founded with startling immediacy. When his gambit sent the junk-tower careening toward the heroes, they burst into action, and not all of them chose 'flight'. While Bowser, the more visible threat, paused to help his allies, a previously-unseen man sprinted through the chaos unscathed to mount his assault. Agoston, far more physically fit than his adversary, astonished the Engineer with how deftly he made his way up, and by the time he could get his gun into position the Centurion had its barrel in his grip. A tremendous blast exploded from the barrel, but its buckshot ricocheted against the scrap instead of ripping Agoston apart. Before the Engineer could do anything else, his foe's hefty shoulder bash struck him dead-on, staggering him.

“Gah!” He grunted before he stumbled back a few steps, realized he might fall off the arch, and struggled to keep himself steady. With his focus split, however, he could only throw up a desperate hand to try and intercept Agoston's gladius before it reached his body. The steel slid through his glove's rubber and caught halfway through the Engineer's robotic hand. A wild grin broke out on his face; all he had to do would be to yank his hand away, and the Centurion would be disarmed.

Agoston yanked first. With his blade caught in the Engineer's prosthetic, that meant yanking the southerner forward as well, straight into the Centurion's heavy left cross. Short range and the Engineer's lack of hand-to-hand experience meant little trouble in Agoston directing that punch right into his goggle-clad face. When his fist landed, pieces of the Engineer's eyewear flew in every direction and a growl of pain tore itself from his throat. For a moment it seemed like he might fall over backward, but the southerner clenched his jaw and kept standing. Who did this brute think he was? Dell Conagher wasn't some goon playing with toys, going down at the first sign of a challenge. He was mercenary.

With a bellow the Engineer wrenched his arm away from Agoston, pulling out his other hand from behind his back is he did. Clutched in his white-knuckled fist was a heavy-looking wrench. While a blade would barely scratch the Centurion's armor, this tool could pulverize his plate and any bones beneath it. Strengthened by anger and pain, the Engineer started to swing.

CLANG!

A few chips flew from the Engineer's hard hat where Ratchet's wrench struck it. “Uuuughh...dammit,” he groaned, and his own wrench his the wooden block beneath him with a thunk. Its owner fell a moment later, tumbling off the archway onto the bridge a few meters below.

To Agoston's right, the sentry turret spun about, its two barrels and rocket launch leveled straight at the nearest target. However, the Centurion proved as lucky as he was impetuous; another ally came to his aid from afar. Michael's bullet slammed into the machine, its impact - thoughless effective on the nonliving, armored sentry- strong enough to put its hardware out of commission even before the thing fell over on its side. It lay there for a moment, sparking, giving Agoston and Ratchet a split second to celebrate their victory before self-destructing, blowing up in a small burst of fire and shrapnel.

VS Bastion

Location: Scrapyard Endzone, left side


In no time at all, Bastion's enemies converged on him. Crawling from the river not too far from where the green-clothed Rabbid went up in smoke, a gruff-looking man scaled the arch's side to swing a pickaxe at him. The Omnic failed to react before the weaponized tool struck him, but its results suggested his inaction o be intentional rather than accidental. Even propelled by an empowered Courier 6, the Equalizer was just a twentieth-century pickaxe at the end of the day, and Bastion was made of sterner stuff.

A moment later, three shots echoed from afar, though none of them as robust as ones fired from Michael's rifle. The Courier could be forgiven for thinking the culprit Michael at first, though, given the shooter's lack of regard for allies in melee range, which constituted an even more lethal hazard now than before. Zer0 based his aim on the knowledge about Bastion's weak point imparted to him by Blazermate and his hope to pierce it through his body, not knowing that Configuration:Tank rearranged the Omnic's interior along with his exterior. His bullets did not strike Bastion's core. But penetrate him they did, their damage reduced by a fifth thanks to their target's passive Strength, Ironclad—and after exiting his chassis, the rounds proceeded to exit right into where the gunslinger stood, on Bastion's other side.

Aside from taking potent but sustainable damage, Bastion himself didn't notice, since another attack was inbound. Blazermate, emboldened by the lesser damage dealt by his shells after being Weakened, moved in to take a more active roll in bettering her team's position. She began to intercept his shells, which, combined with a surprise laser attack from the sky that scraped by his barrel, roused his fury once again. He aimed a shot at her feet, hoping it would get around that new weapon of hers, but with a cheeky laugh she dashed over his barrel and behind him. There, she prepared to continue the melee attack where the Courier left off. Bastion would be having none of it. Who does this tin doll think she is? his CPU screamed. I'll teach her not to underestimate me. The next second a girl in a rabbit hood with a live bomb appeared, but that was all for the better. He couldn't shoot them, but he could do far more than fire mindlessly.

Kicking his servos into overdrive, Bastion swung his upper half around. His barrel span around at force, clubbing the Courier in the side before rising to catch Blazermate and Linkle as well. After spinning a full circle, and sending the interlopers -and Linkle's bomb- flying down onto the bridge near the fallen Engineer, he pointed the barrel as low as he could and used his adjustable treads to jump before firing. The ensuing blast launched him into the air, spinning lazily until he started firing without cease. Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom! echoed his cannon, each blast causing him to spin more wildly in midair and sending him higher. His technique littered the battlefield with explosions, forcing those who'd shown up to gleefully take advantage of his moment of distraction to think twice or suffer the consequences.

Yet, after only a couple seconds, his onslaught came to an end. The eight-second timer on Configuration:Tank ran out, forcing him to return to Recon mode mid-air. Bastion struggled to straighten himself as he fell, hoping to land on his feet and shift back to Configuration:Sentry as soon as possible.

Tora, Minako, and the Master of Masters

Location: Scrapyard Endzone, backline


“Whoa!” The Master of Masters balked as the tower of junk began to fall and, more prominently to him, some chunks blown loose by the sentry's rockets plummeted his way. He could see and hear Bowser not far away, no doubt poised to rush up and spirit him away to safety from the toppling pillar, but for this one moment the Master was alone with his peril. “Stop!” he cried, pointing his keyblade upward, and a wave of black energy burst forth. The debris stopped in its tracks as it hit the spell, giving the Master of Masters the precious moment he needed for Bowser to swoop in for the rescue. Coolly accepting the less-than-dignified position, he played it off with a laugh. “Hahah! If I didn't know better, I'd say you were the hero of this story!”

A few seconds later he found himself deposited on the left side of the battlefield, behind the sizable pile of scrap by which a few other allies loitered. Tora, Minako, and Linkle were nearby, far enough away from the tower of junk that only the dust troubled them when it slammed into the ground. Bowser's strikers joined the group not long after, having managed to get away from the hazard with a little luck and a little ingenuity. Another moment, and a duo of strangers appeared: Geno and Mario, the latter of which appeared to astound the King Koopa. “Heck of a time for a reunion.” Peering around his cover, the Master of Masters spotted the Engineer taking a tumble onto the bridge, with his sentry joining him in defeat in short order. “Hehey, one down!” he noted, and for a moment it looked as though Bastion would be following them. However, the Omnic turned the tables, throwing off his nearest attackers before executing a crazy maneuver. “Sheesh. Overkill much?” He ducked back as one shell struck the ground nearby in a burst of flame. When he looked again, Tora was on the move. “Hey, where are you going?”

The Nopon blocked an incoming shell and continued forward. “Tora cannot stand back and let allies get beat! If cannot stand in front to protect, will help in other ways!”

Trying to coordinate this many allies at once was not a skill Minako possessed, as she handled smaller squads rather than larger, more populated teams. Not that she could, in any case - she wasn't exactly in the right state of mind, hyperventilating and stressed out as she was. The feeling of summoning a Persona for the first time in awhile invoked a familiar feeling, though. It helped remind her of the time when she first summoned a Persona over a year ago, and what came of it. 'Eurydice.' She thought to herself with clarity, a welcome surprise amidst her fractured mental state. However, that name would begin to blur as Thanatos' abused this lack of control, using it to charge ahead in a slow, powerful run.

Weird. Personas usually flew. It was pointless thinking on it, however, for Bastion's relent in his assault meant her Persona was free to close the gap. His lack of speed truly brought him down a peg, severely impeding his progress, and if he were to be shot it would surely mean a restart. Yet surprisingly, the God of Death had nothing to fear from the turrets, as they weren't intent on targeting him at all. The change in tactics put many near the Omnic in immediate danger, yet being a summoner meant Minako's danger came in the form of overexertion. It was difficult sustaining Thanatos while so far away, though certainly not impossible, and so long as nothing hit him he would be alright. At her command, death incarnate let out a mighty roar, his coffins opening at will. Glaring up at the flying tank, a different kind of blue wind flowed from the coffins and drifted towards their target, able to freeze the very air around him.

Being the weakest version of ice-based elemental attacks, bufu wasn't going to freeze him to death or anything, however it could disrupt his overheating servos with the temporary flash freeze. Only lasting but a couple seconds, bufu kept the pressure on Bastion when his allies could not, and with an impressive display of accuracy on top. Was it enough? No. Would it help? Hopefully.

Minako didn't want to wait for him to fall and recover himself, though - she had heard Roadhog's suggestion and was going to put it to the test. Thankfully Personas were often much better at perception than humans, so with her mental direction he could get near where Bastion would land on his own. What she didn't know was just how Thanatos would accomplish this, as he couldn't levitate like before. Using his natural strength, the Persona jumped high into the air, reaching a platform to further jump his way up the archway. It was a sight she had never seen before, but welcome considering how quickly he approached the Bastion.

As planned, her Persona's icy spell struck the unprotected Omnic before he reached the floor. Like Din's ice before it, the bufu surged through his alloy frame, solidifying joints and choking power flow. Though not frozen solid, he was frosted-over, and could not reconfigure midair.

When he finally did land, Thanatos wasted no time at all, slashing at the omnic with his blade. Despite the sharpness, the weapon was more suited to just hitting things really hard, cleaving into them if necessary, which was just what he aimed to do. Each attack had a different degree of power and damage to it, and the heavy slashes in close proximity left their mark. Not content with just mindlessly slashing, Thanatos lunged at Bastion to get a grip on him, sending the blade directly into his face to cut it in half.

"Ravage him!" Ordered the summoner to her Persona, looking visibly quite exhausted from the burst of attacks. Being sent to level 1 was brutal on her stamina.
She still wasn't looking out for her allies all that much, so Tora and Linkle rushing ahead didn't quite catch her as odd in the moment, especially with Blazermate nearby just before. Thankfully she was perceptive enough to know they had their medic, meaning it was safe to continue her assault and keep Bastion from transforming into his second form. While Thanatos wasn't very fast, his sword had a lot of reach, so the omnic had to be careful of any well-placed strikes and swings. Seeing as Bastion wasn't that fast either, Minako felt comfortable in predicting her advantage, though if she became too cocky he could transform and do a lot of damage.

Thanatos wiped away his master's doubts. His unrelenting flurry of attacks left Bastion's chassis deeply scarred, fatally so were he a living being, but the Persona's punishment didn't end there. The lunging grab left the compromised robot open to a brutal overhead chop. When it fell, it carved through Bastion's head and into his torso, leaving his neural center neatly bifurcated. A weak, high-pitched whine sounded out from him before he crumbled to ash.

At that moment, Tora reached the archway. Calling out “Big Boost!”, he hurled himself at the left-side stack. Midair, three small boosters deployed from his shield's back around the edges and flared to life. Their thrust propelled his weight into the tree-thick pillar, and the impact dislodged it enough to cause the entire archway to fall. The blocks making up the left stack tumbled into the river, bringing the long block that formed the arch's top with them. One piece, a compressed block of salvage, landed right on the Engineer's chest, dissipating him instantly. While a few bits of junk and blocks of wood lay on the bridge, the way to the castle was clear, and the battle was won.



Of course, Tora's contribution was tenuous at best considering both minibosses were already beaten before he got into the mix. Still, he looked awfully proud as he peered between the two large spirits left behind, taking their presence as confirmation. “Hooray!” He sang, dancing gleefully. “Annoying bullet team beaten at last!” Only after a moment did he notice the condition of some of his teammates and fall into worried silence.

Far above and far away, a bright, fiery glimmer twinkled in the sky, chasing an even more imperceptible dark spot on its downward trajectory.
@Lmpkio Bastion's head is not exposed in Configuration: Tank. Additionally, I had already written that Bastion hit Rabbid Luigi with a blast, so there's no saving him from being hit, especially unintentionally.
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