Yankee

Nocturnal Memoirs: An Urban-Fantasy Mafia Epic

OKAY FOR REAL last thing from me before time skip

Nocturnal Memoirs: An Urban-Fantasy Mafia Epic

The Boundary of Silverside and Brewery

_{Mentions: Antonio, Vincent, Ezra, Matthias, Antonia (in passing) || Interactions: Khor (in collaboration with @flux)}

---

In the morning, so early it might as well still have been night, Adel awoke with a start.

There was a plain off white ceiling above him, a twin mattress beneath him. There were Egyptian cotton sheets wrapped around his legs. There were plush pillows pushed onto the floor and a sleek alarm clock on the bedside table. The time was 4:18 AM. He was in his bedroom.

He slowly brought one hand up to wipe at his face. He was sweating. Had he been having a nightmare? He didn't remember it, but he wouldn't be surprised.

He didn't even really remember coming home last night, but with how heightened his surveillance of his surroundings had been following the day's revelations, he was fairly confident he wouldn't have been followed. Frankly he was surprised he'd even fallen asleep at all. Exhaustion must have caught up to him. Actually... was he still in his day clothes? Holy hell, he really must have just passed out as soon as he'd gotten in.

Thirst caught up to him as well. His throat hurt and his head was pounding. Probably dehydration considering all he'd done last night was talk and smoke. And throw up once. Adel closed his eyes, sighing heavily. He didn't really feel any better today, but he did feel more in control of himself. He was fine. He was alive. He could figure out his next steps from here.

His headache tried its best to keep him in bed but he forced himself up. He sat on the edge of the mattress, blinking at the floor where a buzzing noise was coming from. His phone. He riffled through the pillows and blankets that had abandoned ship from the bed and extracted it. As usual there were plenty of messages. A lot more from Griffon than usual, going back and forth on angry messages and concerned ones. He answered those first, and felt only a little bad when she immediately responded, meaning she was awake.

im fine 🐦👍

🐣🫵

🖕

😁

He closed that conversation with her, eyes flicking through the other messages. He paused at one that stuck out, reading the words over a few times. He didn't normally save contact names into his phone, but the number was familiar enough to him even if it had been a while since he'd gotten a text from it. Vincent Accardo.

"..." he glanced at the alarm clock again. He had time.

He swapped over to the browser to make an appointment to meet with Nocturnia's police commissioner. Usually he didn't bother, just dropping in on Antonia unannounced whenever he felt like it. Now, he figured, if he made an appointment and happened to miss it, maybe she'd know something was wrong and get a head start on investigating his murder.

He then all but staggered out to his kitchen, pulling his sweater and undershirt off of him as he went and chucking them behind him. It was still dark, and would be for a few more hours, but he could navigate his own home just fine. He opened the fridge and fished out a pale blue sports drink while he forced his brain to pull two lists of numbers and compare them. The crossed out numbers beside Khor's name in the journal Matthias had showed him last night, and the crumpled note of numbers she had given him herself after their first meeting. He discarded any that matched, and by the time he'd downed half of the drink he was left with only a few phone numbers to try.

He dialed the first one and waited for the ring.

The phone picked up almost immediately. “A bit busy birdy. What's up?”

Adel was more glad than he would admit that the line connected just like that and it was Khor on the other side. He did not want to handle suspense at the moment.

"Khor," he said, then paused and pinched the bridge of his nose. Fuck, she'd never used her name with him. He must have still been out of sorts. He wrenched one of the kitchen drawers open roughly to get himself breakfast (which surprising no one was just another smoke) and moved on quickly. "I looked you up. Sorry. Eel. Where are you?"

A smirk from Khor. “Figured you would. Not exactly a secret, don’t stress.” An engine revved over the line. “Cruising along the Silverside Brewery border. Checking out some bad omens. Why?”

So she was safe, out and about - that was perfect. Some good fucking news for once. "I'd rather tell you in person. How soon can you make it to..." he brought up a mental map, picking a spot near the border he could get to relatively quickly. "...67th and Ingleside?"

His tone was deceptively calm, but he spoke in a way that made it sound insistent, rather than like a favor.

A pause before Khor replied. “Yeah I’ll head there now. You ok? Fine with being on the back of a bike while we chat?”

As usual he sidestepped the question of if he was okay, although it was really the second question that gave him pause. He had never, to his recollection, even been on a motorcycle. Of course he'd seen them, in person and in movies. If they could talk while riding, then it was just a question if he trusted Khor's driving.

"That's fine," he decided. "See you there."

He hung up. Tossed his phone onto the table and shed the rest of his clothes on the way to the bathroom. His eyes were starting to sting because of course his fucking contacts were still in. With a murmur the door closed while he popped them out; he was then freshened up in record time. He pulled on a dark turtleneck and a pair of honest to god jeans, snatching his glasses and other essentials, stuffing them into the pockets of a corduroy jacket. Kicked on his shoes and was out the door. He could change again before his meeting later, he had a wardrobe at the office - right now, he was more concerned with letting Khor in on everything that had happened.

When he did arrive, he found that she was already there waiting.

Khor’s bike hummed, idling at an obnoxious volume, the rider scanning her mirrors with a hand in her jacket. “Trouble?” Scanning Adel’s face she eased up, hand unfurling from the sawn off shotgun in her jacket, foot kicking the bike into neutral and other hand releasing the clutch. She swung off the machine to pop a compartment open on the side toward the back to retrieve a spare helmet.

She tapped the side where someone's ear would be. “Spin that for volume. Take the strap, feed it through both hoops, back through one. Hold onto the bars on the back or arms around me, whatevers more comfortable I’m not going to think anything of it. You get stressed out, just start slapping my shoulder and we’ll pull over somewhere quiet.”

Khor mounted up while Adel fiddled with the helmet (very awkwardly, clearly totally unfamiliar with it) then climbed aboard as well. His helmet buzzed to life with Khor’s voice. “So what’s going on birdy, whatcha want to talk about.” The bike took off calm and easy back toward the Brewery District.

It was kind of a shame that Adel couldn't properly appreciate how cool her gear was. The occasion just wasn't right. He had carefully taken hold of the bar at the back of the bike, squashing all of his discomfort, and didn't relax any once they got rolling. He just had to recontextualize this experience less like he was putting his life into the biker's hands by getting on the back of her ride, and more like this was just a casual drive like it would be in a car with his chauffeur.

There was also how to start this conversation. 'Hey, did you know you had a fucking monster living in Brewery under the Jolly Jalopy?' He could just imagine how that would go over.

...actually, from what he'd gleaned about Khor, it might go over better than expected.

"First, I'm about to tell you some messed up stuff, so don't... crash us, or anything," he said. "Your rogue captain... did you know he has a fucking monster under his bar."

A jitter in the throttle, nothing violent, just enough to be noticeable. “What like, a big ol’ boogieman or something?” She chuckled. “I honestly didn’t expect superstition from you birdy. You’re going to have to explain that one to me. If you’re just being creative I know my captain, Antonio, is trying to take forceful command of the Akula’s. Given our nature I doubt it’d work, cells are too spread out, disconnected and independant.”

She huffed. “Only way that’d work is if he had some way of literally spreading like an infection in the mind. You know, like zombies.” She laughed. “God, could you imagine. In all seriousness though I’m still trying to ascertain the level of betrayal he’s cooked up. Does that have to do with that metaphorical monster you mentioned?”

Adel could have laughed. After sleep had come and gone, it all sounded so ridiculous to his ears. And of course, in reality this was all hearsay. He hadn't been at the Jalopy, he'd only been told of what had happened by Matthias. But honestly for someone without a face, Adel found he could still tell when the Lodestar tried deceiving him. He hadn't yesterday.

"Yeah," he said, his grip tightening. "I have it on good information he does have a way. Spreading influence. Through something he makes, apparently."

He paused as some of the panic from last night threatened to creep up again, but he took in a breath to quell it. "And he's got some of your men already. He's got outside allies. You wanted to try and sabotage a connection with Vincent, but it might already be too late for that. You needed to know."

Khor weighed the words in her mind, addressing the logical first. “If he’s made contact with Vincent already then it's even more important to hit him sooner rather than later. Put serious doubt on the reliability of the Akula’s to him. We can’t let that relationship solidify.”

Khor’s voice dropped when trying to address the unknown Adel mentioned. “What allies, and what do you mean by ‘yeah’ to zombies? I expected he had some Akula’s deceived but you're suggesting something far more sinister. I need details birdy.”

"I mean yeah, he can link people up to his monster and probably make zombies. I know how it sounds."

He didn't argue with her about Vincent. If she was set on the heist then that was her choice, even if he said he'd be there to try and mitigate anything really bad happening. But as for the other allies that Antonio allegedly had, "I don't have all the details yet. He was hosting some cabal in the Jalopy last night. The leader of the Dark Aces among them."

Which was a whole other issue that he was not looking forward to explaining. Wasn't even sure if he would, if it came down to it. Even if Khor wouldn't see it, he fought off a grimace.

"I'm telling you all this crazy shit because I'd rather not have you taken over by some mind virus than make a quick buck." He was downplaying his concern, but also to be fair who would pay for an outlandish conspiracy like this in the first place?

Khor let the words digest. Vincent and Erza. Mind virus. Before holding the silence for too long Khor spoke up. “I believe you, you’re not someone who gets lost in superstitious crap, I'm just. Processing.”

It dripped through her mind like a sludge, slowly glugging through to make sense. The rumours and legends from deep below. Antonio’s suggestions. That warm feeling she’d get drinking at the bar. She eventually found words. “Alright, this might fill in some blanks. If it’s what you say it is, that explains some things. That night we had dinner. I was at the bar before. Antonio was trying to persuade me to walk up and murder you, and after having a drink.”

She paused involuntarily, cutting back to speaking to avoid concerning Adel. “Well it felt like the best idea in the world. We both know how it went down though. We had a chat, got along well enough, here we are. If I was going to kill you, that was the best time, and I didn’t, so I’m still me.” Though she was trying to reassure Adel she felt like she was trying to assure herself as well.

She continued. “I think that’s how it spreads. Akula’s would talk about others getting weird after drinking certain drinks or waters, but it’s not absolute. Maybe it’s a build up, the more you take in the more you lose yourself. Maybe I got lucky, didn’t drink too much, spread out over enough time.” She found herself more lost in her thoughts and silence returned.

She thought of the distance between herself and Nep and Akir. Was that Antonio nudging her away from them? Otto’s distance from everyone. He drank Antonio’s packaged alcohol almost daily, was he completely compromised as well? Words failed, all she could do was focus moving the motorcycle upward onto the ramps leading to the bridges between towers known as Highrise Raceway for a vantage point, somewhere to stop and think.

It was fortunate that she was already on her way to such a place, because eventually Adel broke the silence by tapping her shoulder. It was a feather light touch, almost as if he was nervous to do it in the first place. "Stop. Can we- stop."

Khor meant well in confessing that she might have murdered him, Adel knew, but it didn't stop his heart from stuttering in his chest. Attacking Silverside, attempting to take it over was one thing. It was a coveted area in Nocturnia and he understood that. But coming after his life, specifically? This close together Khor could probably feel how hard her neighbor's heart was beating. It was one of the few kinds of reaction he couldn't control. He had until they pulled over to calm down.

Khor rested the bike with her foot on the ground, hand on the clutch, other hand open to suggest concern for his well being.

Once the bike was stopped Adel extracted himself from it, putting several paces between himself and Khor. He didn't think she was lying, she probably was still herself, but being able to see her properly would let him tell for sure. Then again, if she was a sleeper agent or something, now that they were alone in her district with no one having a clue that Adel was even here with her - well, this would be the perfect time to kill him.

He almost wished she hadn't told him that. How well would a helmet protect him from buckshot? He took more than a few moments before he continued their conversation, though he was more on edge now than when they had started.

"If it takes a while for the... link to happen, then there's still time to make sure no more of your crews are affected. The leader of the Order of Enlightenment says he has a cure, but I'm not sure what to make of that." A cure for whatever Antonio was feeding them could just as easily be another kind of influence. The man did run a cult, after all, and their kool-aid must come from somewhere.

Khor listened and allowed a chuckle. “One mystery cult for another doesn’t sound great, but that sounds like a promising lead. More importantly, and please, don’t panic, I’ll move open and slow ok?” She opened her jacket so the sawn off could be seen.

Hands gently wrapping around the barrel she slowly handed the handle to Adel. “I know how that would’ve sounded before, and… we don’t know how it works, so.” She took a deep breath. “I do something stupid, well, it’s in your hands ok?” Her eyes suggested a sheepish grin. “Just try to confirm the case first, don’t panic and take the shot. That’d suck.” She held the weapon for him to take.

He stared at it, having ceased even minute movements as soon as she revealed the weapon. It was hard to tell his expression through the visor.

He left like she was treating him like a kid, or a cornered animal. Honestly though, he kind of felt like the latter since last night, so he couldn't really blame her. He continued to stare until his eyes slid up to her face, and he breathed out. He wanted to tell her I don't need that, but maybe she was right and there was a delay in Antonio's control. Maybe he shouldn't have ever trusted her in the first place.

He took the gun, eyes flickering to check the safety as he let its muzzle droop toward the ground. Unlike motorcycles, he was at least acquainted with firearms. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that," he said.

He tried relaxing but pretty much failed. His brain buzzed with what else he should warn her about.

"I'll let you know what else I find out, if you're not a zombie by then." It was a weak, poor joke, and Adel didn't even smile at it. "You know more about your own captain than I do, but since he's working with Ezra, just... be careful. He's dangerous, and he's getting too close."

Khor managed a weak giggle. “Yeah. If I start groaning and moaning ‘brraaiinnz…’” She lifted her free hand in pose before her eyes fell on the gun. “Yeah. You know.” A shaky breath fell from her. Not yet. At least get to the vantage point. “And Erza. Jesus that’s grim. I’ve heard rumours enough not to fuck around.” She threw her head to the side as a gesture to Adel. “We’re almost there, we can get a proper lay of the land and visualise what the hell we’re going to do from a vantage point.” Her eyes flicked back for a moment. “Just try not to dig that thing into my back too much, it’s enough to make even me nervous.”

Was he really about to get back on the bike with her? She was unarmed now, and she wouldn't take herself out just to kill him by crashing, would she? Surely not. Right? ...surely not. He'd read her body language and could tell that at least at the moment, she wasn't zombified.

"Fine," he said after another moment's hesitation, straddling the seat behind her with one hand gripped tight to her shoulder, the other keeping a close hold on the gun.

Khor made sure the rest of the trip was as gentle as it could possibly be, half out of respect, half out of self preservation. Soon the bike stopped and the engine flicked off next to what looked like a fire pit surrounded by some makeshift plank benches low to the ground in the middle of the bridge. Khor threw her head to the side, indicating for Adel to get off. Once he did she kicked the stand down and dismounted herself, hands fiddling with her helmet as she spoke. “I’d usually come up here for more pleasant occasions, but it’s still the best view we’ll get.”

Through the support struts laid Silverside and Brewery, the glass monolith of light beaming activity into the shroud of the district they were in. The light almost seemed to dance across the border, swirling in Silversides buildings and waters before dispersing amongst the maze of highrise structures within Brewery, god rays spilling through. Khor slid the helmet off revealing dark eyes, her usual smile absent as she sat next to the pit and began piling some ruined wood instinctively. “Gets a bit chilly up here. I’ll just light this quickly. It’s no Peccatore, but it’s got charm.”

She looked out beyond before nudging toward the cooler. “Should be something in there if you need it too.” A weak chuckle. “God knows I will tonight.”

Whatever she might have in there, cheap beer or wine coolers or bottles of high proof vodka, any of it sounded great right about now. But Adel shook his head lightly, pulling the borrowed helmet off with only a little difficulty. "Need as clear a head as possible for later."

The fire began with relative ease. She sat back with eyes blank before hands dragged down her face slapping down onto her thighs. “I know we’ve got a lot to discuss. I just-.” Her bottom teeth bit her top lip. Words. Use your words. She nodded and looked at Adel. “I might need a minute. Vincent, Erza, Mind virus. It’s a lot.”

"Believe me, I know," he answered her. The gun was laid carefully in his lap as he idly filled with a cigarette carton in his coat pocket. It was still kind of a miracle that Khor accepted what he'd told her at face value, but it was probably because she was Khor that she did.

Her eyes occasionally darted to a new direction as she thought, it didn’t take long for her to start rambling aloud. “Then even if the attack on Vincent works, there’s still mind fuck virus. If the attack doesn’t work I get handed between Vincent and Erza like a piece of meat. If I do nothing Antonio eventually fucking lobotomises me anyway.” She went quiet again for a bit, eyes shooting around a little quicker.

Khor’s head eventually fell to her knees. “This isn’t even a fight, it’s a fucking execution isn’t?” Head rested back, real strain in her face, eyes closed, eventual nodding. “Alright. You have Silverside. As far as I know, that’s safe right now, yeah?” She looked at Adel.

He looked back at her, not sure what to even say. Both 'yes' and 'no' seemed wrong.

If he wanted to he could shut the whole district down with a word, the citizens stirred into action at the thought of their posh lifestyle being destroyed. But there were also already spies there, and he didn't know how many. He had Vincent and Ezra on two sides, but both Antonio and Khor on one. His stalling was probably telling in and of itself, but eventually he settled on, "I'll find out soon."

It didn't feel good to see Khor this torn up, no matter if they had only met days ago, especially because she seemed to be feeling the same dread he had earlier. Unfortunately Adel was poor company, and wasn't the type to offer any comfort more than his presence.

His eyes shifted to the landscape in front of them. "...bet you didn't think any of this was what I'd be calling about."

Khor started scrunching her hands open and closed, trying to ground herself to action and feeling. “No, I had a feeling it’d be bad but this is…” She took a moment. “It’s not every day someone tells you that you probably have something in your head looking forward to scooping you out to fill the void in with itself.” She just shook her head gently. “That is fucked. This is fucked. The worst part though?”

She looked up. “It doesn’t change a fucking thing. The best I’ve still got is to murder as many of Vincent’s boys as I can, burn down some resources and hope it’s enough to tilt some invisible balance. But now even if I do survive that, am I just-.” She stopped herself. Spiraling would help no one. The plan remained the same. She could still fight. That’s what mattered. That’s all that mattered now.

She took a breath. “Ok. It’s still a plan. Hit Vincent. Slow him down. Sow some distrust toward Antonio. It’s not a bad plan. Might even steal some resources to bolster us both. Then depending on whoever is still alive tomorrow, go from there.”

She allowed herself a moment to reflect on the short time she’d known Adel, leading to an amused huff. “You could have sold me out to get into Vincent’s good books at any point, but you didn’t. Instead you called me right before the ass crack of dawn to warn me about all of this.” She let out something more resembling a chuckle. “You didn’t even try to make a quick buck in telling me any of this, just laid it all out on the table.” She started to relax a bit, that wry, obnoxious smile beginning to form again. “I’m starting to think you might like me birdy~.”

And maybe he was. Khor was crass, chaotic, and much too friendly, but she was also kind and genuine in a place where that was hard to come by. Adel only glanced at her though.

She waved her hand. “I’m just teasing, but thank you. Learning all that this way, it’s making the difference of going in prepared rather than just going down screaming.” Her light smile held. “I won’t lie though, having a handler will make all the more difference while I’m getting it done, if you’re still in, I can’t think of anyone I’d prefer right now.” She shrugged. “That’s if you didn’t want to come with me, I just assumed you wanted nothing to do with being on the front line.”

She looked down. “If you're done, I understand. You've shown more generosity than I've ever deserved, especially to someone who's only dragged you into the shit. Just…” She rested her head low to look at Adel properly, finding the words, settling on whatever fell out of herself. “Thank you. For being kind. You're a good person Adel. It's people like you that keep idiots like me hopeful there's still something worth fighting for.”

In contrast Adel very purposefully did not look back at her, this time keeping his eyes fixed in the distance. Her words sparked guilt old and new in him.

"No one's really a good person in this city," he argued. "It's just self preservation. Pennystakes got swallowed up, if you go down who do you think is next?"

Adel leaned a little closer to the small fire, unbothered when a stray wind pushed the smoke their way.

"I already agreed to help you; I don't really like going back on a deal. I don't know whose really at the top of this fucked up pyramid, but maybe you're right and some destabilization will help knock it down."

Wishful thinking, his mind supplied.

"I'll... think about it. Being on the front line. If I'm still-" If I'm still alive after meeting with Vincent. It's what he'd said to Matthias last night. He figured, in reality, it was more like if he was still himself after meeting with Vincent, but he couldn't exactly say either of those things to her in case she decided to do something way, way more stupid than she was already planning on doing. "-able to. Got something important to do first."

He turned his wrist, glancing down at his watch. It was still dark, but he could read it in the firelight. Not much more time left now.

Khor tilted her head looking into the fire. “You’re just trying to survive instead of ruining lives for fun. That’s as good as good gets in this city-.” She caught herself. “Wait, able to? Night has been ominous enough without a cliffhanger. What do you mean by that?”

Adel let out a noise that was partway between a snort and a sigh. Yeah, a cliffhanger would suck, huh.

"...I'll give you back your gun when you drop me off," he started somewhat dismally. "But don't... kill me if I turn into a zombie. Just don't kill me at all."

He still didn't look at Khor, instead trying to see beyond the boundaries of their respective districts.

"I have a little meeting at Arakasa Tower that I can't get out of." There was all kinds of other crap he was worried about, namely Ezra's scheming, but since the Midnight Man was kind of wrapped up together with everything else he had to try and take things one small step at a time. He had to deal with Vincent first.

Adel sat back, resting on his hands and shifting his stare into the flames instead. He thought that Khor would probably be glad to know that he did intend to try and help someone by way of meeting with Vincent, but he didn't mention it. "I know, considering everything I just told you, that it's a dumb idea, so save that. But he doesn't know that we know."

Khor’s lips went tight. Everything inside of her wanted to pull the man up by his collar so she could shake some sense into him, to rant and rave as to why that was, as he said, a dumb idea. He’d given her the courtesy of trusting her mad gambles though, so she’d return the respect. So instead of immediately raising her voice, she just nodded and spoke softly. “Brazen. I really hope you have a plan.” A smirk flicked up her lips. “Just know I’ll kick the door down if you take too long in there. I think we’d both prefer it if it didn’t turn into my kind of mess.”

That went without saying. He actually believed Khor would try and assault the tower by her lonesome if she had to, so he finally looked back at her before he responded. His expression was as placid as he could make it at the moment, though there was a hint of gratitude in his eyes when he found hers. Then it faded away.

"You have your own to look out for right now. Don't worry about me."

That was the kicker really. She had Antonio and her compromised Akulas to deal with. If she knew just how much trouble he was in it would be a dangerous distraction for her while she fought back against her captain.

Adel shrugged off all further attempts from Khor to offer help and the two of them lapsed into uneasy silence until departing.

New to RPG

Welcome, it sounds like you may want to check out the 1x1 section. You can look at what other people are interested in and message them if your interests match up. Good luck in your search!

Nocturnal Memoirs: An Urban-Fantasy Mafia Epic

@Qia I really liked how you wrote Matthieu's memories in your collab with Esty. Would you mind if I borrowed your format?

Hello Everyone!

Welcome~! Check out the 1x1 Section if you haven't already, I'd say that's the busiest section here so hopefully you don't have any issues finding a partner!

Nocturnal Memoirs: An Urban-Fantasy Mafia Epic

@Yankee Ah, but Lana has two industrial districts she can upgrade at any time. Maybe I can make a note... ^^

@Estylwen

Ooooh I see. Got it now.

Nocturnal Memoirs: An Urban-Fantasy Mafia Epic

I think because under the Actions = Cost hider in the first post it mentioned Comfortable -> Industrial -> Rich, that is where the confusion comes from. Maybe Industrial is not meant to be there, and it is only Comfortable -> Rich?

Henlo

Welcome to RPG!

World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate Videogame Crossover)

Word Count: 532 (+1 expx2)
Level: 11 - Total EXP: 227/110
Location: Inside the Qliphoth, The Dead Zone
𝙱𝙿 ●●●●●

Primrose had dismounted the wolfos as soon as it brought he close to the Guardian. The creature returned to Midna, and the dancer followed up their combination attack with individual spells of her own. Darkness was most familiar to her, and she relied on that even as sparks of flame burst against the Gravemind with every spell she cast. She joined in with lighting it up, pumping magic into her finger tips and conjuring swirling shadows, and glittering moons.

The Gravemind's response was one that Primrose would describe as throwing a tantrum. Still, that suited a monster whose fate was death just fine. As it sloughed more creatures from its body, and changed its shape to repel its attackers, Primrose backed off. She had to be smart about her mana reserves if she was going to be fighting for the long haul.

Daringly, she chanced another performance of Sealticge's Seduction. The Guardian saw through her before she was even half way done, raising a tentacle and cracking it down like a whip towards her. Primrose's eyes widened - she quickly began to cast a spell even as she abandoned the dance and attempted to get out of the way. She avoided a direct hit, and was spared from a more substantial sideswipe due to her Baldur Shell. The tentacle had smashed through it though, shattering the last protective ward she had. She could no longer rely on its protection for the remainder of the foreseeable future.

Undaunted Primrose completed casting her hasty spell, unleashing a multitude of magic moons that erupted in flashes of light and fire against the horde and their master.

Alright then, she thought to herself. Even if her Seduction was too elaborate to perform while the Gravemind was wise to it, she still had other dances up her proverbial sleeve.

Primrose wove her dances in between casts of her wide range Night Ode, encircling the minions the Gravemind summoned in volatile darkness. For her fellow dancer Grimm, the Peacock Strut, making his own magic even stronger. For her regular dance partner Zenkichi, the Panther Dance, speeding the man up so that his continued destruction of the Flood was even swifter. For her most recent partner Midna, the Mole Dance, to help the reckless woman take less damage than she dealt.

After the most recent round of masking her dances within her spellcasting, Primrose paused to catch her breath. She was burning through mana quickly like this, and opening herself up to stray monsters she or Zenkichi weren't able to put down fast enough, but so long as it worked.

When one of the Consuls managed to bring down Sectonia, Primrose turned her glare on O's floating eyes. She'd seen the cats and heard the Ace Cadet's call out, so at the very least the queen bee was still alive, but that news did nothing to quell the frustration she was beginning to feel. She took it out on the Gravemind, knowing that was where she could contribute the most. Energy encircled her body, her aura flaring white as she Boosted her next spell. She empowered her Moonlight Waltz, a pillar of purest darkness crashing into the Guardian from below.

Word Count: 857 (+2 exp x2)
Level: 9 - Total EXP: 293/90
Location: Inside the Qliphoth, The Dead Zone

With his hunter art Devouring Demon active, the Cadet's attack power was much increased from his already high baseline. Each cut he made with his sword was wide, deep, and expertly delivered. Though massive, the Gravemind's body was soft and fleshy compared to the hard scaled monsters Ace's technique was used for, and so he cleaved into it fairly easily when he had his openings.

The trade off for the power boost was that his vitality was constantly draining. He could regain it so long as he kept his combos up, but it was getting harder to as the Gravemind flailed and spawned more horrors, and his allies' magic ramped up. Every time its body morphed and spit at him, clawed at him, bit at him, or struck out at him it undid the health he restored, meaning that he was headed for a net loss. The hunter knew his limits though, and he kept track of how his body was holding up as he continued to fight.

After splitting into groups the Seekers were holding their own well all things considered, but each of their opponents was powerful and deadly; eventually something had to give.

When the first of the Seekers fell and a pair of furry felynes burrowed their way up from beneath the hollow, throwing the queen of Floralia onto a makeshift cart and hurrying her away from danger before disappearing, Ace knew better than any of them what that meant.

"That's one! We get three!" He shouted out, making sure that the group's morale wouldn't suffer if they thought that Sectonia had been kidnapped, or that she'd died if they hadn't seen the palicos. Hopefully they wouldn't need to use all three of those carts, but the longer things dragged on the more intense they would get.

The Cadet focused most of his offense on assisting with the severing of the Guardian's remaining arms. Cutting through them would take work and coordination for those of them that didn't have a big finisher to pull out, and with the less arms it had or more time it took to regenerate them, the better off they'd all be. While the Gravemind's body burned, Grimm struck out at the monster's head, and Zenkichi and Primrose kept most of the floodfested away, Ace fought beside Edelgard and -when she wasn't airborne- Midna, sucking up his discomfort with their spells so that they had the best chance to cut through the tentacles together.

Though he wasn't near the group doing battle with A, his ears picked up the all too familiar yowling of more palicos as they scooped up another fallen friend. That's two.

One of the Gravemind's tentacles came slamming down towards him, sending Ace backward as he back-stepped with a wide flick of his blade across the Gravemind's skin. When the arm hit the ground he held his own, bracing himself through the shock wave and driving forward with a thrust. He connected, and he prepared for a jumping strike as the tentacle rose back up to keep up the pressure, but to his surprise it didn't lift.

The Guardian was not a mindless beast. It shifted and rolled its arm, slamming into Ace laterally. It kept moving its limb until the hunter was trapped, pressed hard between it and the Gravemind's trunk. Only barely managing not to have the wind knocked out of him, Ace grit his teeth and attempted to maneuver his sword in front of him to cut himself free. It was much easier said than done, especially when the master of the Flood's body shifted, and suddenly he was surrounded on all sides by mouths with hooked fangs.

As the teeth bit into him, piercing and crushing both, Ace let his hunter art go with a harsh exhale. Like the flick of a switch in his head he dropped out of the Devouring Demon state. He'd put good damage in with it, but he hadn't been able to keep up with healing himself - and now he was being eaten alive. The canon's on Ace's rigging began to fire where they were stuck, and he forced the metal extensions to shift so that their blades would cut. He pressed one arm against the Gravemind's tentacle and with pure force made a small gap, enough to get his sword in a better position. He ripped himself free from the predicament with a fast spiral slash from the longsword and his bladed rigging, literally, as teeth were torn out of the Gravemind's body as their sharp parts were still embedded in the hunter's armor.

Ace grabbed at the fangs that were attached to him and yanked them out with small sprays of blood. Ah, yeah, he did seem to be bleeding a lot now. He could have healed himself, taken the time to pause and drink a potion or throw another lifepowder, but outside sources of healing began to filter in as people abandoned the battle with O. If he entrusted his health to his teammates, he could finish the job and get another tentacle separated from the Guardian's body.

And he did trust them.

World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate Videogame Crossover)

The Final Hollow - vs Moebius A

Goldlewis, Therion, Edward
Word Count: 3461 (+4x2)

Edward grasped his chest as the darkness wrapped around them, and the unnatural stress built further. He groaned, but rather complain, he steeled himself and continued what he had been doing while the others had been wailing on the copies, which was, of all things, donning a Sousaphone he’d retrieved from the armory.

It had been something of a gamble to retrieve it, but A pushing all the melee fighters back opened up a perfect firing line for Edward to make use of the instrument he had received from the spirit of a false angel. Still, it never hurt to improve the odds, and so the Dreadnaught Designated target on this new form of A, marking it and briefly increasing its variability, before placing his lips to the mouthpiece of the bass instrument and blowing.

Rather than music, a beam of faux heavenly light lanced out of the instrument, blazing brilliant and bright in the darkness, and continued to blaze until the weapon was spent and it was reduced to being a mere implement of music making.

As for the man's comrades around him, Therion had not even tried stepping into those rings. It didn't matter if they were actually harmless and just looked dark and ominous, he wasn't going to test it. Instead he was glad to swap back to fighting at range. Even though the battle seemed to be going decently well for the Seekers, there was a persistent dread that made his heart beat harder and his brain pulse, and though the stress didn't diminish whatsoever even with some distance between himself and the Consul, it still had to be safer than being right up close. Therion lit his darts up in silver for a little extra power and threw them at A, along with a pair of magic knives that formed in the air and flew directly forward.

Just as leery of the distorted space as his allies, Goldlewis opted to keep his distance as well. He opened with another thundering salvo from his Skyfish minigun, then passed the baton to his most heavily-armed striker. After manifesting, Marduk hefted the Rage Serpent, then bombarded A with concussive blasts. As his Security Level refilled, Goldlewis considered which weapon to use next, and ultimately settled on Yowie. If sound energy, knives, and bullets could get through those strange zones, it couldn’t hurt to try this. With ease his burly arms lifted the ship-mounted harpoon gun into firing position. “Get a load of this!”

Much like the Junicorn’s horn did earlier, the harpoon pierced A’s body clean through. Thanks to its barbed tip, however, it caught on the Consul’s eldritch flesh as Goldlewis reeled it in, and to his surprise he managed to drag A into the Absolute Nothingness around him. When he moved into one of the dark rings, it switched to the area he’d been in before. Unfortunately the harpoon dislodged after hauling A just one ring from the center, but already Goldlewis had a plan. “Keep ‘im busy, folks! I’ll reel ‘im fast as I can!” It would take a few seconds for his Security Level to refill between each shot, but it wouldn’t be long before Goldlewis dragged the aberrant overlord into melee range.

A would not stand idly by, however. Still quite healthy thanks to the Seekers’ damage debuff, he stirred vile magicks into being. ”Witness the wondrous fury of the stars!” He held out one hand with two curled fingers raised. Then he turned his hand as he might a key, and the blood in his challengers’ bodies burst from them in crimson spikes. Ganondorf and Falcon, being the closest, got the worst of it, left bleeding and stressed. Specters crawled at the edges of their vision, and for a moment a five-pointed crown of shadows seemed to adorn them.

Edward stumbled in the middle of trying to remove the spent Sousaphone as his blood impaled outwards from his body, preventing him from switching weapons fast enough to play a part in the distraction tactics.

Still, that was what minions were for.

With its incredibly short cooldown, Edward’s Pyrobat was resummoned only a few seconds after it had last been used. This time, rather than swooping forth, it flew up, and then began to spew a beam of fire down at the ground, charging up its attack before sweeping the beam forwards, slicing it up and across A’s enlarged form.

His Bronze Golems meanwhile, lacking blood to burst forth from them, marched forwards into position next to Goldlewis, such that they could stab their long spears into either side of A once he was dragged close enough, and to then assist in reeling him in by backing up and pulling him between them. If they should ignite and armor sunder him in the process before the heavy hitters got to lay the smack down, then all the better for it.

Therion didn't know how they could 'keep 'im busy' when the Consul had no need to turn his focus onto any one of his adversaries, able to do harm to all of them at once with only a wave of his hand. Regardless, the thief kept up what pressure he could put on A. Within a moment he called on his wraith blade, reaver bolts fired from the weapon's tip joining everything else he could throw at the Consul. And when the retaliation he expected came he grit his teeth and fought through it.

He called on one of his strikers to mitigate the area's lack of healer somewhat. A warmly dressed girl appeared, and she seemed to pray for a moment before a ring of her own spread out from her summoning point, overlapping with A's Absolute Nothingness and encompassing all five men fighting him within a spirit water well. Though the spirit infused waters would slow A down, Therion had summoned Nayan for her healing ability. So long as the Seekers were standing within the zone of her Calling Spirits their wounds would begin to repair themselves over time. It would heal their bodies just fine, but could do nothing about the stress that continued to compound.

The soothing spirit water elicited a sigh of relief from Goldlewis as it worked to counteract the blood loss inflicted by Consul A. With how dangerous the battles in the Qliphoth had been, those with restorative abilities of any kind were very much in demand. If this was going to be a battle of attrition, and his Security Level needed to be saved for Yawie rather than spent on his other longer-range options, he figured he had better shore up the team’s defenses. Since A’s visceral eldritch magic seemed to ravage them indiscriminately, he opted for a simple Shield Burst rather than a single-target Shield Charge. Once he slammed his coffin on the ground, a pulse of energy expanded to cover his team, shrouding them in bright blue hexes. These barriers wouldn’t hold for long, but between them and what healing this motley crew did have, hopefully they’d be in it for the long haul.

A wasted no time in testing the new shields’ mettle. He thrust his hand forward in another arcane sign. It blew through the barrier and into the Seekers’ bodies, with Falcon, Ganondorf, Edward most affected. Their flesh seemed to shrink away from his touch, peeling back from their bones to expose the skeletons beneath. The golems seemed to soak up the rest of the spell, and even their metallic shells were stripped away. For a split second there was nothing but exquisite pain, and then it was gone. The heroes’ bodies were back to normal, the damage of A’s curse mitigated by the veteran’s barrier, but blood seeped from inexplicable seams. The bleeding was now stronger than the regeneration from Calling Spirits, and the knowledge of the Seekers’ own mortality loomed over them like a dark cloud.

Goldlewis groaned, his head spinning. His nerves were on fire from the brief but terrible sensation he’d experienced. He didn’t know how much more damage his mind could take, but he did know that he had to act, while the 20% damage boost from Hypereutectoid was active. He could see that the feedback damage from hammering the Seekers’ shields all at once had A reeling, a perfect target for Yawie’s harpoon. “Pucker up!” He fired, pierced the Consul’s body, and dragged him into the Absolute Nothingness one step closer. One more ring to go.

The flesh ripping spell struck just after Edward had managed to toss the Sousaphone from his shoulders, causing him to double over from the pain.

His golems didn’t react as graphically, but they certainly were struck hard by the magic against which they had limited resistance, metal forms warping and buckling, the energy holding them together periodically flickering. It could have been worse, however, as unable to hit A as they were, they had locked themselves into defence mode, letting them endure the spell just that little bit better.

Their creator recovered a moment later, pushing himself up as the healing aura somewhat dulled the pain of the damage, even if it wasn’t enough to revert it faster than he was bleeding out.

Gritting his teeth and sticking to the plan of keeping A busy, he re-marked the Consul with a cast of designated target, and then quickly hip firing his pistol at the foe, relying on that make (and the foe’s prodigious size) to see the shot land true. The time he could have spent aiming better he instead used accessing the armory and retrieving the Charr Pirate Musket stored within.

There were probably better firearms to use available, but without time to analyze them, he had gone for what was familiar. With practiced efficiency he raised the musket, sighting down the barrel, and aiming for the Consul’s center of mass as a precaution that turned out to be well considered, as the smooth bore rifle’s shot went wide of where he was aiming, enough that had he aimed at the head he would have missed entirely.

Then, holding the rifle by the barrel, he quick-drew his maglock pistol again (the magical firearm having reloaded itself in the time he had spent fetching and using the rifle) and fired off a third slug at their foe’s center of mass, aiming for debuff applying rate of fire over his own damage in anticipation of the final reel in.

With every one of A's attack, Therion's breath came heavier and his muscles tightened. His heart beat harder, which really didn't help the bleeding either. He was really starting to question whether they could take this guy down before their bodies just gave out. Once the spectral shredding A was dishing out hurt them more than Nayan could heal them, there wasn't anything else Therion could do to help keep his allies healthy - that was the only group healing he had access to. The others were on their own for now until some of their strikers regenerated. For his own well being Therion reached into his bag to squeeze the Constrained Heart, giving himself a little more healing and defense once Goldlewis' shields went down.

Then it was back to trying to deal as much damage to A as possible. He didn't have an inexhaustible supply of throwing knives, and though the ones he could summon from his glyph wouldn't eat too much of his mana to cast, he couldn't swap completely over to them if he wanted to save his supply of magic for his own debuffs, or for donation to an actual mage that may need more energy to cast. He still had the reaver bolts at the very least, but it would hardly do much on their own.

The hand that wasn't holding his wraith blade ghosted over the items he had access to, searching for something helpful. The dwindling supply of blades and darts, a couple of potions he'd held onto, his thieves tools and-

Ah, right. He'd almost completely forgotten about the power he'd gotten from one of those spirits from the big top. Instant body and ability changes on top of the chaotic violence they regularly faced could make it easy to lose track of what even one's self could do.

"I got it from here," Therion said, tapping Goldlewis to let the man know to prepare for melee early. With his grappling hook in hand the tool flashed briefly as he prepared to use it for his Chain Hook. And what the hell, he spent a Battle Boost to ensure this would actually work.

With his aura flaring from the Boost, Therion let the Chain Hook fly. It wrapped around A, the sharp edges of the empowered hook's head digging into him. The thief yanked it back hard as soon as it was attached. Now matter how large, heavy, or dug in the Consul was, he would move.

When Edward’s barrage came to a close, Goldlewis was ready to pull the Yawie from his coffin for the third (and hopefully, the last) time, but he paused when Therion stepped in to take over. Though he couldn’t imagine what the little man had up his sleeve that could replace his harpoon gun when it came to reeling the Consul in, he wasn’t about to second-guess or underestimate his comrade. He watched, nerves and muscles tense, as Therion unleashed his Chain Hook. It flew through the black-and-crimson haze of Absolute Nothingness to ensnare and embed into A’s body, leaving him stricken and susceptible to the thief’s strength. A single, impressive tug dragged A through the final protective ring and to the forefront of his makeshift formation, where the melee fighters could reach him at last.

Goldlewis had been waiting for this moment, and he was ready. Given a moment to prepare by Therion’s efforts, he stepped in and crouched down to unleash Piston Gun Assault with his shotgauntlets, which acted as a Heat Engager that left him powered up. As A reeled from the blast, he bulled forward to unleash a withering combo that incorporated both immense coffin slams and destructive shotgun punches. Seconds later it came to an end with his Heat Smash, Meteor Raid, a grounding wallop followed by a divebomb from the veteran’s Mothman railcannon, powered up to max by Security Level 3.

At either side of goldlewis, the Bronze golems also struck, and though they lacked flair, the now larger A was exactly the size of target they were built to take down. With all the grace of mechanical pistons, the halberds were thrust forwards, drawn back, and then thrust again, all four spear tips striking at the same moment.

Knowing that A was about to be piled on by all their fighters who wanted to lay the smack down, Edward didn’t bother preparing more shots. Instead he rushed in as well, briefly igniting in flames, before skidding to a halt parallel to the building brawl. There, he waited for the right moment, and then when they were aligned, summoned his Feather Staff striker once more, who cast a healing spell on all of the fighters in the front ranks which would, at that point, be everyone.

And all the while as the others went to town in order to lay A low, Therion kept a tight hold on his chain. He used his Armor Corrosive again as soon as A was close enough, counteracting their own damage debuff with a defensive one on the Consul and making sure that everything his allies were throwing at A did as much damage as possible.

In the midst of the Seekers’ assault, the wounded and irate Consul unleashed Embrace Futility once more. His dark arts’ arcane force shuffled the Seekers’ positions, hauling Goldlewis, Therion, and Falcon to the front while sending Ganondorf and several golems to the back, while Edward moved up just a little. Having gotten lucky with Therion, A used the extra slack to retreat behind one ring of Absolute Nothingness. His challengers all suffered a reduction in strength and speed, but worse was the sensation of dreadful hopelessness, pushing the Seekers ever closer to the brink.

For Edward, though, this extra mental duress pushed him past the precipice and into the dark beyond. Overcome by all the stress, he suffered a meltdown, his mind screaming and his body seizing. ”The human mind–fragile, like a robin’s egg,” A observed dispassionately, raising his hand. ”And now the true test: hold fast, or expire?”

When he brought down his hand, the Gravemind tore its attention from the fight before it to respond in kind. An unsevered tentacle descended, massive and mighty, to fall upon the squad of Seekers fighting A. It moved just slowly enough that most could save themselves with a timely dodge, but Edward was not among them. Goldlewis recognized the Consul’s finishing blow for what it was and threw himself at the strategist in a bid to save him with a tackle, but the deplorable limb was simply too vast. It slammed down on both of them hard enough to shake the floor, yet when it withdrew for use against the Gravemind’s own attackers, neither of the men were gone. Though bruised and broken, Goldlewis could still fight, and against all odds Edward endured, albeit on his last legs amidst the shattered parts of his golems.

A narrowed his eyes. ”A trifling victory, but a victory nonetheless. Still…” The next moment, Edward’s unabated bleeding dealt him the deferred deathblow, and palicos appeared from the ether to whisk him away to safety. ”Great is the weapon that cuts on its own!”

When Therion came up from where he'd dove to avoid the wayward tentacle, it was just in time to see it crush two of his allies. He cursed, heart beating with uncertainty, and it didn't slow down any even when it was revealed neither man had turned into a pile of ashes. Especially when their dreadnought succumbed to his wounds not a moment later.

The thief cursed again, darting forward to retake to the fight. He passed the inexplicable cat cart before they disappeared with their charge, not bothering to try and puzzle that one out but understanding that it clearly meant the man was out of the fight.

He had dropped the Chain Hook to avoid the Gravemind's arm but now he threw it again, catching the Consul once more and forcefully dragging him back into range. With the toll this fight was taking on their minds and bodies, especially in the wake of Edward's defeat, none of them could last much longer. But hopefully the same was true for A. With that in mind Therion burned through his BP instead of saving it for his divine skill, the aura around him flaring bright gold with two Boosts as A was hauled closer. This time, with his own power heightened, Therion let the chain go once A was in striking distance. In its place his wraith blade reappeared instantly, and just as quickly the spectral weapon sunk into the distorted Consul's flesh. Therion tore through him as much as he could, his bladework rough but quicker and deadlier than ever.

Feeling in his gut that this was a pivotal moment, Goldlewis gritted his teeth and mustered up the strength to follow Therion’s example. Just after the thief carved through the Consul’s armor to rip open his torso, the veteran airdashed with a tremendous Behemoth Typhoon, his coffin’s spiked end planted directly in the squirming wound. “RAAAAAAAAAAAGH!” he roared, his great strength amplified even further by his lust for revenge. He twisted in the air, spending his Security Levels, to pummel A with two more brutal Behemoth Typhoons before Goldlewis finally hit the ground.

On impact he sank to his knees, his mind and muscles afire, his chest heaving from exertion and his breath ragged in his throat, but through his weary eyes he could see that A had been brought to his knees once more. The warped space around him was gone, and even the Consul was breathing heavily. ”As the fiend falls, a faint hope blossoms…” he muttered, as if narrating the battle from the Seekers’ point of view. A attempted to rise, then sank back down, and snorted in derision. ”A moment of respite, then. Steel yourselves…against the coming horrors.”

Goldlewis glowered as he fought to catch his breath. Just as he thought–this wasn’t over yet.