MULTI_MEDIA_MAN

World of Light

Geralt of Rivia

Carcass Isle- Where All Things Must Come

Lvl 9 (20/90) -> Lvl 9 (24/90)

Word Count: 530 words

As Nadia flew towards the Orphan, Geralt drew his silver blade yet again and rushed in, circling around to a safe area once Blazermate put her Medaforce beam into action, launching an absolutely devastating blow against the Guardian that easily beat out any single shot even the Breaching Bastion could deliver. While he was unable to advance during the duration of the beam, it did give him a moment to re-cast Quen, shielding himself yet again.

As he closed in during the moment of vulnerability, he caught not only the bolt of lightning that slammed Blazermate into the beach like a fist from the heavens, but Link's own charging barrage. The Shipboy hero rode the goop that Junior had laid down as an obstacle for the Orphan, unloading his guns into the thing before engaging in melee with speed that was hard to believe. As his Ro Cestus counterattack slammed into the Orphan's face, Geralt's blade carved a bloody line through the back of its neck, failing to deliver the decapitating swing Geralt had hoped it would, but still managing a painful blow.

With a curse, he lifted his blade and deflected the blade which spun around at him, thankfully devoid of much of its momentum after Link's blow slightly stunned the creature. As the organic weapon crashed into the sand, Geralt sliced and diced at the monster in between the two Seekers, only barely reacting to the backhand he got in retaliation. As it hefted its blade and leapt away, taking a swing at him, Geralt moved through the attack, dodging forward and past the blade, closing the distance yet again as the Orphan landed and spun its blade about its body, centripetal force giving the incoming blow significantly greater power.

The clash of mysterious material on silver let out a shower of sparks and a hideous noise, and the shield granted by Quen flickered and shattered as Geralt full-on blocked the blow, his bones aching but unrelenting. As he pushed the blade back, he quickly spun his much lighter weapon in a practiced maneuver, scoring a trio of lighter but true cuts against the Guardian's upper and lower torso as well as its thigh, before rolling under and away from the follow-up blow that he didn't have the protective magic to tank.

Moving back in, Geralt swung again and again, the proverbial clock ticking towards Blazermate's destruction under the unstoppable waves of lightning spurring him to do his old job yet again and kill the monster. He tried to avoid blocking or deflecting attacks whenever possible, but this more aggressive style meant he was taking greater risks with the hope of ending the fight sooner rather than later.

With the support of the others, though, he knew this could very well be the end. This thing was bleeding, charred, smoking, just littered with wounds.

They could do this! Geralt grunted as he dodged another blow, his stamina finally starting to flag. His breaths were coming quicker and heavier, but he was still going. A little soreness never stopped him before. He'd get plenty of rest and meditation once this was over with and they were safe.

World of Light

Geralt of Rivia

Carcass Isle- Where All Things Must Come

Lvl 9 (16/90) -> Lvl 9 (20/90)

Word Count: 535 words

As the Orphan ripped out another placental grenade and detonated the beach in front of it, Geralt dove away from the front of the Orphan, rolling over his shoulder and forcing himself back to his feet in barely a moment, blade still at the ready. He avoided the follow-up cluster of grenades as well, though it forced him further away than he'd have liked, some of the more agile Seekers closing the distance as he was still making his way to the Guardian. Ironically, this helped him keep close when the Orphan leapt up and above those attacking it, throwing still more grenades that Geralt was forced to dodge.

This time, however, he was close enough to reach his opponent as Sakura, Peach, and one of Nadia's strange clones joined the attack. One of his swings managed to prompt the ATG Missile Launcher on his shoulder to activate, dealing a hefty blow to the Orphan on top of what he was already doing with his oversized sword.

As the Orphan continued its erratic, manic fighting, the Seekers continuously rushed it down, forcing the thing to constantly move about the area. The little hits it had gotten off on them over the course of the chase were starting to wear them down, slowly but surely, even with Blazermate's healing. They could go a while longer, especially after Geralt was feeling up to summoning the Judicator again for a quick boost of healing, but it wouldn't last forever.

Finally, the moment they'd been fighting for came, and Rika's whale reached where the Orphan touched down for a moment. In an admittedly disappointing exchange of blows, the Orphan destroyed the Abyssal creature while taking a massive chomp from the thing.

And the fight was back on, though only for a moment before being interrupted by the Orphan itself. The Guardian slammed its weapon into the sand, sending up waves of dirt and sand and staggering the incoming wave of fighters. Geralt was drawing circles with his blade to ward off a sneak attack while his other hand wiped the debris from his eyes. Getting the worst of it free just in time to watch the Orphan grab Sakura and slam her into the ground before striking her with a brutal overhead swing of its monstrous weapon.

Bella's sprint was the stuff of legends, the freed Abyssal spurred on by the same fear of loss that afflicted many of the Seekers, and Geralt could only nod in approval as she summoned a swarm of seaplanes to destroy the incoming grenades that had been thrown from on high. As he reached the pair, Geralt cursed when the Orphan landed not far from them. "Keep her safe," He grunted, charging after the Orphan and crossing paths with Nadia. "Nadia, I have an idea. Can you stretch yourself out to keep that thing held down for a minute, like a living rope?" Stowing his blade, Geralt readied himself to act.

With Nadia's flexible muscle fibers, he could throw her like a bolas and trip the Orphan up, buying the Seekers valuable time to heal Sakura, let Blazermate use her Medaforce beam, and otherwise keep putting the hurt on the clearly wounded Orphan.

Persona - Soldiers of Fortune

Nick Waller

---

Okay, so mirror dimension wasn't entirely correct, but he was close enough with the basic premise. This world was a reflection of the collective unconscious of humanity. "That explains why this place is a prison..." Nick mumbled. You came here, did your time, changed and grew, and were sent out into the world.

Saddled with debt, trauma, hopefully powerful or lucrative connections, and a better understanding of what people were really like when they weren't held back by parents or the shackles of youth. Not a one-to-one analogy, of course, but enough that it was a fair enough fit.

And the only reason they were here was because they snapped. Nick almost barked out a laugh at that. The straw that had broken the camel's back was tripping, getting some crap on one of his jackets, an argument with some guy he barely knew, and thinking about his ex.

That was it. That was the straw that broke the camel's back. Hell, he hadn't even had to ignore a call from his dad this entire week, let alone today, and that was usually more stressful than half this day had been. Pathetic, the treacherous part of his mind thought.

Outwardly, he tried to hide his frustrations with himself, but still let out a wince at the knowledge that coming here had, in fact, been because they'd finally snapped.

At least he didn't get brutally murdered by his own demons and replaced, becoming nothing more than a flesh sack for the ugliest parts of himself that he hated. He'd need to find a way to more constructively channel his anger than snide comebacks and punching walls.

Spindle's comments about a war, though, made Nick bristle a little. It had felt good to finally fight back, to do something besides bitch and moan and talk to a therapist for an hour every few days, but could he really dedicate his time to this? He still had to prepare for his gap year and his LSATs in June. This was already an extremely busy and important time in his life, and if he wanted to follow his dreams, he couldn't waste time gallivanting around and fighting flesh-wearing soul demons...could he?

No. No, he couldn't. He had to prioritize, and his career had to take priority. He needed to prove to himself (and to his parents, his thoughts interrupted) that he could do this. That he wasn't a waste of time and space. He could do good, make something of himself, the runt of the litter. He could be better than a debt-ridden, washed-up financier and a failed trophy wife.

Nick nodded along with the others in expressing his interest in getting out of here.

He didn't say anything, though. He couldn't bring himself to admit, with words, that he couldn't-that he wouldn't-help.

World of Light

Geralt of Rivia

Carcass Isle- Where All Things Must Come

Lvl 9 (10/90) -> Lvl 9 (16/90)

Word Count: 1512 words

(See post below for post-hoc collab with Zoey Boey)

Persona - Soldiers of Fortune

Nick Waller

---

The cold of the water wasn't all that bad, once Nick managed to get used to it. He wouldn't go so far as to call it refreshing or anything like that, but it had shocked some of the exhaustion out of him. Spindle had already gone and sent out safety lines for the group to hang onto, after saving their unfortunately unconscious allies, and Nick took full advantage of it to rest his weary bones as best he could.

Which wasn't all that much, to his chagrin. Looking upon the Sea of Souls (not that he knew what it actually was) unnerved him, and not only for the creepy castle sitting on the island in front of them. It felt wrong. The psychedelic ocean of tar freaked him out a bit. He wasn't sure what it was, if it was just an extension of his uneasiness with the ocean (Damn you, Subnautica!) or something deeper than that. Thankfully, he wasn't forced to contemplate it much longer, as Spindle pulled them along to what looked like a hotel with an extremely bougie water fountain in the lobby.

"Oh no, capitalists." He breathed out, finally comfortable enough to joke. "Alright, now that we're not about to die, holy shit we almost died." Now safe, Nick's mind immediately returned to its natural state: Anxious panic hidden by a thin veneer of snark. Hooray.

Taking a deep breath, he looked around the place to get a better look. Yeah. Definitely bougie. Getting up and climbing out of the fountain, Nick shook some of the water off of him like a dog before having the decency to look a little sheepish about it.

Still dripping wet, Nick took Spindle's advice about getting something from the vending machine. The adrenaline had hidden it pretty well, but he was exhausted and aching from when his Shadow had tried to squeeze the life out of him. That thing was strong. Which probably had some deep subconscious meaning about the stranglehold his past had on his life, but that was a matter for another time. Getting the hell out of the freaky mirror world was more important right now.

Finishing his snack and soda, Nick tossed the trash before turning to Lorenzo and Harriette. "I'd try to explain but honestly I'm still processing the whole mirror dimension thing so I'd probably just fuck it up. Spindle knows more about this stuff. Uh, I'm Nick. Glad we're not dead yet." He awkwardly added, shrugging.

He was really good at this whole "Meeting new people" thing. Yeah. So good.

World of Light

Geralt of Rivia

Carcass Isle- Where All Things Must Come

Lvl 8 (86/80) -> Lvl 9 (10/90)

Word Count: 712 words

New Strength- Unrelenting Stamina

Owing to his Mutations and training as a Witcher, Geralt's stamina regenerates at a markedly increased rate. Signs can be cast more often, and summons can be called upon more frequently without over-taxing Geralt.

Bowser's attack on the Guardian went off without a hitch, or so it seemed for a brief moment. The six Koopa Kings unleashed havoc upon the Orphan of Kos, tearing and pounding at it with their hands, feet, and claws as much as they could, with no regard for their own safety. The addition of other targets at least made this plan somewhat sensible, even if Bowser's seeming lack of regard for his safety was a key part of it.

Against lesser opponents, it might have even been enough. The Guardian, however, was no mere lackey, no plucky young hero who couldn't take as much as they could dish out. This was a creature chosen by the closest thing this place had to a god, and bestowed a fragment of its power.

And it showed that power by unleashing its own havoc, forcing the Bowsers off of it with a massive explosion, sending the remaining, real Koopa King flying through the air and crashing to the ground, consciousness already escaping him. Geralt didn't watch as the cats carted him away, or as Junior impotently reached out to take his father's hand.

No, Geralt was already moving, both hands clenched tightly around his blade, before a small voice inside his head told him to loosen his grip a bit, not to give into the anger coursing through his blood, buoyed a bit by the Spirit of the Harbor Demon.

He was only halted by the Orphan's eldritch, reality-bending bellow, calling a bolt of lighting down onto its mother's corpse, which sent out waves of lightning across the beach, which were then struck repeatedly by other bolts of lightning.

Following Nadia's example, Geralt jumped over one of the waves, only to half-stumble when a bolt of lightning struck a nearby wave, forcing him to stow his blade and focus on dodging, risking the Orphan's wrath should he be caught unarmed.

While the newly-grown Guardian chased after Nadia, Geralt started making his way towards the rocks where Junior and the others were pulling Peach up.

As Nadia convulsed, Geralt ran for safety, perhaps overly confident in her ability to protect herself.

Delsin, however, was evidently not, for he used his powers to absorb the electricity, and took the fight to the Orphan of Kos. Geralt turned to call out, to try and get the idiot to consider his own safety, but the explosion of the placental mine and dodging a pillar forced his attention away from Delsin.

And then he was gone. Naught but Spirit and Ash. A jolt of electricity burst through Geralt's leg, injuring him and forcing him to pause as his muscles locked for a moment.

Golden, catlike eyes narrowed.

The sound of a blade being drawn drowned out everything else for a moment.

Geralt moved, heart pumping, feet pounding against sand, body pivoting like the most flexible whores he'd seen on the streets of Novigrad, flowing between pillars of lightning to strike at the Orphan of Kos. Silver flashed, driven by righteous fury and the pain of watching somebody good die before his eyes. The same pain he'd felt a thousand times before, the same fury that he felt staring down Whoreson Junior. As he stepped back from his first slice to dodge the imminent follow-up, Geralt's hand raised and made the Sign of Igni, a plume of fire bursting forth and scorching the Orphan.

Geralt fought like a man possessed, silver carving through flesh and crashing against whatever substance made the blade of this monster's weapon. Quen shattered as Geralt forced aside a counterblow, and though he spun with the momentum and regained his footing, he was forced to clumsily dodge a wave of lightning as the Orphan bore down on him, forcing Geralt to abandon his frenzied attack in order to keep his head.

Almost as an afterthought, he summoned the Judicator nearby and mentally ordered it to keep him and his allies alive with its sickening flagellation. He was pulling out all the stops for this one. If the Striker went down like Fizz did (Though thankfully this one was more sturdy), he still had some doses of Swallow.

He just hoped this was enough for Kamek to do whatever it was (s)he(?) needed to do.

World of Light

Oh, by the way, I was thinking about doing something that our friend Zoey suggested in Discord. I hesitated at first because it seemed indulgent of me, but maybe it would be fun. Zoey mentioned that it might be a better way to celebrate 100 pages (rather than finding things that the RP isn't doing well) to mention what some of your favorite moments have been in the RP so far, during your time here. So if this seems like a good idea and you can think of anything, I would be all to happy to hear from you guys!

@Lugubrious

Geralt using Axii to make the Helmaroc King the biggest, baddest Roach anybody will ever see would have to be my pick. Just absolutely throwing any and all caution to the wind and jumping onto a giant bird to do a bombing run on the Harbor Demon. I still miss him. T.T

World of Light

Geralt of Rivia

Carcass Isle- Where All Things Must Come

Lvl 8 (82/80) -> Lvl 8 (86/80)

Word Count: 547 words

Silver carved through abominable flesh, Geralt's precisely-delivered cuts taking full advantage of the opportunity bought for the Seekers by Bowser and Link's combination. Why Bowser kept recklessly charging in, taking heavy blow after heavy blow and forcing those among them capable of healing to focus their attention on him he didn't know, but in this moment, what he did bought them a true moment of respite from the Guardian's wild attacks.

Which, of course, they used to deliver their own series of blows. Sakura and Nadia unleashed a brutal-looking pair of combination attacks, their blows flowing into the next with practiced ease. Ace drove his lance into the monster, drawing blood with each stab. Link donned a strange, Abyssal-themed gauntlet-like weapon and punched the Orphan in the face over and over.

And after what felt like only a moment, their opportunity died. The Orphan rallied, swinging its placental blade about its head in semi-circular motions. Geralt quickly back-stepped, the disgusting, visceral weapon missing him by a few inches. His cautious fighting style had thankfully bought his safety through this exchange.

As the weapon Link used to halt their enemy was launched into the sea, it slammed its placenta into the ground, kicking up the sand around it before launching itself at the Seekers who had remained at range, moving towards Junior only for the newest addition to their group, Delsin, to throw himself in front of the attack and suffer a grievous wound for it.

Geralt's vision tunneled for a moment on the creature before an intake of breath forced his mind back into focus, feet already moving to follow the thing. Once more, his body thrummed with energy, albeit lessened this time by the wounds he'd already taken. Even Swallow was imperfect, and the blow he'd taken through Fizz was quite substantial.

While he was moving, he felt the effects of Ace's lifepowder return just a bit of his vitality, and smirked. That world he came from had some useful gear.

He descended upon the Orphan alongside the others, still taking care to avoid harm, but moving just a bit quicker this go around, his blows doing just a bit more damage.

He'd noticed Link taking the time to force a Friend Heart onto Delsin, and silently thanked the boy hero for that. Really, he'd have expected that out of Sakura first, but if there was anything he'd learned about Links during his time in Lumbridge, it was that they were heroes first and foremost. Slaying the monster was secondary to protecting the people. It was a sentiment that had cost him quite a bit of gold whenever his conscience got the better of him.

After the Seekers got their next round of licks in, Geralt felt as much as heard Bowser's advance with his clones. He backpedaled rapidly, keeping his sword up as he made distance for the Koopa King, newly healed and multiplied, to execute another insane plan.

Apparently, as long as he didn't just outright get killed and Kamek was around, that was enough for him to keep going and going. As foolish as it was, Geralt couldn't help but appreciate his willingness to get his hands dirty and fight, even if it meant he was in for a world of hurt.

World of Light

Geralt of Rivia

Carcass Isle- Where All Things Must Come

Lvl 8 (80/80) -> Lvl 8 (82/80)

Word Count: 345 words

While Geralt was waiting for the effects of his potion to kick in, he pulled his crossbow from its holster and waited for a moment where the Orphan was free of friendly targets that he could accidentally hit. Loosing a pair of crossbow bolts in quick succession, Geralt stowed the weapon and drew silver once more, drawing the Sign of Quen in the air to protect himself. While he knew from a painful experience that it wouldn't protect him forever, or even from most of the effects of a single blow, any harm it could spare him from could very well be a life saver in this fight, be it his or another of the Seekers'.

Slowly, carefully, moving back in on the Orphan as the pain dulled into an acceptable light throb, Geralt spun his blade with a quick flourish in a very vain hope of distracting the thing. He had no idea what its mental capacity was, whether it had a fondness for shiny things, or could be easily distracted, but any moment of respite was welcome.

Speaking of, as he closed the gap, Bella and Nadia were holding the thing down for a moment to attack. His advance was too slow, however, to take advantage of that gap in its frenetic attacking. While this was for the best given that the Guardian broke free of their grapple, it was unfortunate that Nadia had to suffer for it. He'd seen what her Life Gem was capable of helping her survive, in some cases absolutely lethal blows, but the sheer force this thing was unleashing had to be dealing damage that was also harder to see.

As Geralt, Bowser, and Link all descended upon the Orphan of Kos, the Witcher kept his guard up, focusing on avoiding the thing's wild blows while trying to get in a few cuts where he could. At the moment, he'd take what he could get. If the others opened an opportunity for him to strike, he'd take it, but knowing how hard this thing hit kept him cautious.

World of Light

Geralt of Rivia

Carcass Isle

Lvl 8 (76/80) -> Lvl 8 (80/80)

Word Count: 725 words

"I see." Was all Geralt said in reply to Bowser, not for a moment believing the extremely half-assed excuse that the Koopa King gave. Not that it really bothered him, stopping the big, dumb, loveable idiot from going through with it in the first place was enough. With Link taking advantage of their quick conversation to put himself, the (relatively) tiny human, in between this thing and the Giant Turtle Monster Thing and the Giant Mutated Superhuman, Geralt had to suppress a chuckle. Typical hero behavior. Still, he'd seen Link take and deal some incredible damage, so it wasn't entirely crazy.

As the thing burst forward in a surge of speed that shocked even Geralt, the Witcher dodged to the side of the immense swing, even if he was a bit out of its range. The sheer speed with which the Guardian moved had prompted an instinctive abundance of caution, and Geralt cursed as he saw in his peripheral vision as Link was smacked away. Moving in to swing at the Orphan, Geralt was forced once more to dodge as it swung its placental weapon in a wide arc, unwilling to risk taking a blow like that head-on.

Transforming his momentum from the dodge into a pivot and slice, Geralt scored a shallow cut with the tip of his blade along the Orphan's side, which let out a small burst of blood, before he was forced to move once more. Each dodge was barely sufficient, with the wind force of the Guardian's blows pushing Geralt's hair out of the way. Without the Cadet's help, he likely would have been forced to take some of those blows with a parry or even block. While he was confident in his strength, especially with the boost from the Harbor Demon, that would be pushing it.

As he danced with the thing, however, his allies were less able to avoid its blows, being more willing to fight aggressively than he was. That resulted in the unfortunate effect of them being systematically and brutally being thrown from the fight with extreme violence. Bowser's shell got cracked, Nadia had to dismember herself to avoid it being done forcefully, and he was worried that Sakura had outright been killed for a split second before remembering that she had some sort of strange life force protecting her.

For a moment, his heart pounded in his chest as he moved to take the Guardian's attention off his allies, and his steps seemed to lighten as he moved. When he stepped in to attack, Geralt waited for the moment after one of the Orphan's more enthusiastic strikes landed before swinging his blade at the Guardian, carving a line through its torso before the placenta was suddenly spun around like a flail and coming directly for him.

Desperation brought his blade between them, catching the swinging weapon on the flat and forcing it to the side with a herculean effort as Geralt stepped past it. Momentum still bled through, though, and the sheer power behind the blow shattered Quen's shield. Ignoring the risk now present in taking another blow, Geralt quickly cast the Sign of Igni, unleashing a haphazard blast of fire at point-blank range into the Orphan.

Not risking the hesitation, Geralt's sword came down on the Orphan in a one-handed swing, rending another line through the Guardian and drawing blood. As the placenta was lifted in an overhead swing, Geralt quickly raised his blade again, both hands behind it, and forced the weapon off to the side again, though the force left a ringing in his bones and made his teeth clatter like mad.

By now, Link was returning to the fray, and Geralt was already feeling the effort of even parrying this thing's blows. Whatever power Galeem granted his Guardians, it was far beyond anything he'd ever seen in a man or an elf.

"Damn thing won't slow down!" He bit out, half-dodging a blow and being sent spinning into the sand for it. Forcing himself back up with fury in his eyes and an ache in his side, Geralt called upon Fizz to join Nadia in dealing quick, light blows to the enemy.

There was no reprieve for the Seekers of Light, and Geralt kept his other Strikers in mind, carefully conserving that resource for when the time was right.