Day 2

[Gildarts]

Time was a flickering light bulb sporadically buzzing in the man’s head. It was no surprise that he looked up from the echo of Mickey Mouse’s face and saw a new shade of forestry along with a new torch in the sky. Gil was not just a compass-licking wizard of destruction, he was simply a man lost in the woods of his mind. Searching for destiny and waiting for clarity. He knew not which would come first.

Thorn shaped flames revolved around Kayleigh’s crushed tree and airborne embers. There was a gentle hiss that came with dance of the two elements coming together. The auburn-haired mage looked straight into her eyes and said, “You’re like me, Natsu.”

Kayleigh tossed her head to one side and the man’s gaze did not follow her own. She scoffed slightly. “Did my words fall on deaf ears? Command thee, get lost. I will not say it again.”

This man was berserk on some level she absolutely wasn’t on. Maybe she should put him out of his misery. But before she could coil her fist into a focused ball of power, the stranger said something that made her stop. He was continuing his words to this Natsu. He’d said, “You’re delicate, much like the world around you. But for some reason, fate chose you to share the glory-less burden of destruction.” The mage took a breath and his eyes grew rich with concern, “I hold it too.”

She paused with bated breath. Blinked once, to somehow reflect on her emotions. The man was still there holding the same expression. Kayleigh wasn’t sure what type of trick he was playing but there was nothing to lose from inquiring more to the incoherent fool. “What do you mean?”

But alas, the war-torn mage didn’t reply with words. He was in sync with a far off place, a memory, she deduced. His gestures narrated between the lines of a world- no, a moment- that she couldn’t see. Several motions that appeared to be fatherly as a hand raised and Kayleigh took a defensive stance, but then fell stopping at the height of where a small child’s shoulders would’ve grown to.

Gildarts’ metallic foot was on a collision course for the scorched broken limb. It would’ve tripped him. But with a mere nudge of her foot, she pushed it from his path. She couldn’t figure out quite why she’d done this for a crazy stranger. But for some reason, she felt like he understood.

Suddenly, the mage’s stance changed. Power began to surge before faltering under the force of their favorite accessories. Her eyes had narrowed, locked on to the very hairs of his forearms. The inferno warrior had been ready to pounce. Unexpectedly the man’s eyes looked down and he started to bubble with laughter. “When was the last time I wore a shirt?!”

Kayleigh gave him a look of perplexity. Then she remembered her expression wouldn’t be regarded by the delusional man. “Are you a... Deluded psychopath?”

Perking up, Gil glanced over at the woman. He found her startling which was conveyed in his over exaggerated scrunched up nose and raised eyebrows. “Huh? Who’re you? Where’re the dragons?”

“Dragons?” Kayleigh tried one more time to level with him before the thought occurred to her, “You’ve been concussed, have you not?”

Her tone had been flat, she remained unamused by his now playful demeanor. The look in his eyes just an instant before…

“Huh. I for some reason I thought you’d be bigger. Hold up to the whole ‘Dragon of Death’ legend.” Gildarts stated and out of the corner of his bloodshot eyes he caught the gleam of his metallic arm. He started to move it, like a child fascinated with a new toy. The fingers flexed and unflexed. He tilted his head. “Whoa! Are you seeing this?”

Gildarts continued to look at the shiny but his words seemed unhindered by the distraction, “You know, a lot of people don’t like Natsu, because he breathes fire too. It scares them.... But you can’t treat a kid that way. If you do, you’ll have created a monster, by choosing yourself to become inhuman.” Somehow despite his far off mind he seemed to have a small amount of awareness of Kayleigh’s fire.

Deluded, barely glancing at her, barely sharing more than a moment yet he'd managed to see her. The concussion made a little less sense now. Maybe the old man was having a stroke? She was wordless. Options flipped in her mind. So far she had three simple options, she could leave him be, kill him, or see what more the mysterious man had to say.

“Natsu, the only reason I’m not here for you more is because I can’t control my burden as much as you can control yours. But despite this, your destiny is something you’ll always have a choice in.”

 

[Remilia Scarlet]

The return back to the hills left me with a jarring sense of vertigo, my legs growing weak when I attempted to stand. I was left without an answer to such a jarring weakness, fear clenched my heart as I thought that the walking refrigerator's cheap shot to my head had left me with my mind concussed. Or worse. But it was a noticed lack of something that eased that worry: A dead zone of sound to my side showed I had lost my ear to one side, and the nausea and disorientation was only furthered the same from the sudden teleportation.

The far more grievous wound was my armor. The ice maker had dent and punctured most of it in it’s wave of icicles. I sat there on my knees as I ran my hand over the broken edges of the chest piece, an old set that had served me well. A solemn moment to me, perhaps childish to others. But when I felt a gentle hand on my shoulders, I almost tore way from the woman in expectation of some sort of mockery. But it never came. Did she care, or was it just that she as winded by the battle as me?

“Come on” I finally got to my feet. I left the armor on, I wasn't about to abandon it. I'm a sentimental sod. “We still got a long way to go. There might be some of them attempting to salvage the fight. I know a shortcut in…”

 

[Karl Jak]

Face to Face
#08 Ellie Vaughan & #12 Toga vs #23 The Hulk​

The two women were one of those strange pairings that likely would have never happened under normal pretenses. Karl had watched the pair of them briefly over the last day and quickly understood the subtle nuances that betrayed their partnership as one of the many ‘business arrangements’ that formed during the course of Dante’s Abyss. At some point, those pretenses would fade, and it was a given that one of them would betray the other. When would that happen?

Well even Karl didn’t know everything.

With the rain still pattering down across the island, the pair was about to run into their first hurdle in the form of a ten-ish foot tall monster.

After a fitful period of sleep in which the younger woman had continued to implore Ellie to let her use the armor for one reason or another, the twosome had continued south. Eventually, they found themselves emerging from the dense South Native Forest and standing on a clifface that overlooked what had to be ‘the ocean.’

“We’re still on a meteor,” Ellie remarked. “How do you think this was all built? That’s pretty interesting… I wonder if this is even real.”

“Yea, uh huh,” Toga muttered as she took to fiddling with the Power Pole.

“Are you listening? Did you hear me?” Ellie asked without looking up from the cliff. Down below, waves crashed lazily against the rocks below.

“Yea, totally. Got’cha,” the teenager quipped as she glanced up from the ground to see the massive green rage monster growling from just a few paces behind them. “Oh fuck everything!”

Ellie turned and recoiled at the sight of the humanoid monster.

The Hulk swung down and missed Toga, who somehow managed to slip free from the oncoming fist. Stepping forward, the beast that was once Bruce Banner swung a second time and struck Ellie with enough force to splinter her armor and knock her backwards. The older of the two women fell onto her metal-encased behind and was able to stop herself before she went tumbling off the cliff.

“Hulk smash!” The monster roared as it jumped—its fists laced above its head to deliver a crushing blow to the dazed Ellie.

An extended Power Pole smacked the Hulk in the side of the head, knocking him off his initial trajectory.

Rolling, Ellie scrambled to a vertical position as the Hulk crashed down to the cliff. By the time she had safely made it back to the treeline, the adventurer turned to see that the cliff and the Hulk had both gone crashing into the foamy rocks below.

A few yards away, a wide-eyed Toga was trying to catch her breath as she leaned against a tree.

“Well that was close,” Ellie spoke.

“You don’t say?” Came the sarcasm-laced response.

Results

24 Contestants Remain​

Ellie’s Praetor Armor absorbed one Minor Injury
The Hulk is fucking weird to damage because he’s the Hulk but for the purpose of tracking how long until he’s rendered useless/defeated, he has suffered a ‘major injury’

Toga was pressured into using one application of Focus

Toga, Ellie, and Hulk are on cooldown until the next phase begins or until they leave their current square. They may waive this F2F protection via PMs.

 

[Sigmund Vrell]

Sigmund listened to the little goddess intently, turning over her speech in his mind. He agreed that a noble soul could commit some of the darkest acts when the things they loved were stripped away from them, but he couldn't find himself agreeing with the sentiment that they should hope the cowboy’s ally was selfish. Rather, the notion of a man with nothing to lose and a very large gun sent his heart racing. The cultist could hardly suppress the thrill he felt at the thought of what the robot may do, assuming they weren’t on the receiving end.

Glancing down, the high priest smiled briefly at his ichor-stained claws as they marched across the island. Whatever the thing that he had slashed was, it's violet lifeblood captivated the inquisitive man. He wondered what it was doing right now, how it was reacting to the wounds in its back and the earrings they had robbed from it. After a moment, Sigmund hoped that the creature wasn't aware that the prize of the battle was a pair of earrings. The uncertainty of what had slipped through its fingers would undoubtedly bother it more than the knowledge that it had lost some jewellery, just as the thought of winning them in a battle bothered the scholar.

The psion scowled slightly as he looked over at the earrings, his head throbbing and his mood souring as he thought about the battle. He knew that he should be thankful that he only suffered a rather minor injury, but a blow to the head wasn't something the psychic could take lightly and the fact that he had taken one over a mere trinket was rather upsetting.

Deep in thought, Sigmund gazed absent-mindedly into the distance before noticing something twitching in the distance. The priest did a double-take, blinking a couple of times and finding nothing. A few unblinking moments later, it was apparent that either it had vanished or he was simply seeing things. Maybe that blow to the head was worse than he thought.

Regardless, the possibility of another competitor watching the pair wormed its way into Sigmund’s mind. The cultist glanced around the area nervously before looking towards Suwako. She could clearly take care of herself, but the high priest found himself dreading the idea of another competitor ambushing the small woman, particularly with her injuries. He wasn't sure how well he could protect her with his claws and he wasn't desperate to find out. Sighing, the psion longed for a simpler time when all he had to worry about was eviscerating people and driving them mad. Oh well.

 

[Karl Jak]

Face to Face
#01 Arthur Morgan vs #16 Aku vs #05 Gilgamesh vs #28 Deadpool​

He was free from the corrupting influence of the Malefactor. Unlike the mouse, Gilgamesh had managed to overcome the foul abomination.

“I am the King of Kings.”

He was the King of Kings.

Regrettably, sometimes the very immediate past can come back to haunt you. As Gilgamesh triumphantly traversed the wide canyon, a booming threat rained down from a nearby overlook.

Fresh from a… ‘reinvigorating’ sabbatical in the island’s cave networks, a demonic warrior had risen again from darkness to DEFILE, desecrate, and destroy everything he could find.

“WE REUNITE AT LAST.”

Gilgamesh turned into a diving tackle from Aku, who immediately drew a breath of air. A grimy hand got up under the demon’s chin and smacked his head upward as the burst of fire sprayed harmlessly into the oncoming spattering of rain. Before Aku could try a second time, the King of Heroes smacked the terrifying nightmare creature in the side of the face and slid backwards away from him.

“I remember you, too.” Gilgamesh replied as he grabbed the handle of the flamethrower and swung the weapon forward. “You’ve made a costly mistake.”

“WE SHALL SEE.” Aku sneered as he belched a second burst of flames.

Without skipping a beat, the once king of Nippur depressed the mechanism on the flamethrower and retaliated. The two streams of fire coalesced in one awe-inspiring mass of writing flames that gave off enough heat to prevent any of the rain from reaching either of the two combatants. Unfortunately, Aku knew that he was losing this particular exchange, and the demonic warlord snapped his jaw shut and jumped free. He landed and quickly retaliated, and this time Gilgamesh found himself stumbling and losing his balance.

But before he crashed onto his back, gentle yet supple hands wrapped around the teetering king. “I got’cha!”

“That…” Gilgamesh glanced over to see Deadpool standing next to him. “…you.”

“Mostly.” Deadpool replied as he put a protective hand across the king before stepping forward to thrust his other toward the sneering Aku. “J’accuse! Gilly is only countered by mice, painkillers, and…” Deadpool turned and tilted his head at Gilgamesh. “Me, actually. That’s what happened before the show went on hiatus, right? Little schnickity snick?” Deadpool dramatically traced a hand across his own throat.

“I do not need a court jester.”

“C’mon, old times? Let’s kill this guy and then do something vintage… like go find the mouse! He’s here, right? Let’s go murder him with his friend’s severed hand. That shit writes itself. Content for DAYS, buddy ole pal ole friend ole amigo ol-”

“FINE, just cease your incessant word vomit.”

“Can I have a pew pew?” Deadpool asked. “It’ll go faster.”

“Can I trust you?”

“I mean, I tried to bend space-time to come save you that one time instead of just running away with my shiny things, right? Right?”

“I already hate myself,” Gilgamesh muttered as he handed over the lightsaber. Shrugging off his duffel bag, the king turned to Aku, who had watched the exchange with something halfway between amusement and disdain.

“YOU WILL BOTH MAKE EXCELLENT TROPHIES.”

“He’s going to lose his voice yelling so much,” Deadpool replied with an overdone chuckle as he smacked Gilgamesh on the shoulder. “Am I right, Pal? This is where you 'hyuck', I'm pretty sure.”

The king’s eye twitched as he fired the flamethrower at Aku. “Get this over with.”

“You want to deprive ‘that guy’ of extended scenes of dialog while the villain looms and scowls? Maybe you are the villain,” even having said that, Deadpool sprung forward.

For his part, Aku avoid the somewhat lazy lightsaber swings and the flamethrower bursts for a few seconds before a shimmering blade punched through his leg.

“Sorry, Male Jynx. That looks like it hurts,”

The demon craned his neck and screamed a torrent of flames, but before Deadpool slinked away, he snatched the screaming Pokemon’s supplies.

Returning to Gilgamesh, Deadpool patted him on the back. “Great job, Kid. I always thought we had great chemistry, but I gotta tell ya...” Gilgamesh frowned as he smelled the sizzle of something burning at his side. He turned to see that the mercenary had cut the strap for his bag. “After everything, you should probably be less trusting.”

With a kiss, Deadpool smacked the controls on the jetpack and sent and irate Gilgamesh rocketing toward Aku.

Two sets of supplies in hand, the mercenary turned off the lightsaber and ran.

Even after he had regained control of the jetpack, Gilgamesh had Aku lunging at him. The warlord had spent the last ten seconds ranting and screaming, but at least for the moment, much of the fight had left the once immortal monster. Gilgamesh, in what was almost a drunken scuffle, managed to get the upper hand and deliver a paralyzing blow to Aku’s already wounded leg, but by the time the king could take to the air to scout for Deadpool, the mercenary had already slinked away.

“Why is that fucking buffoon ALWAYS here!”

***​

Arthur Morgan lay dying. The cowboy, having left behind his belongings (albeit unintentionally) and given his gun to his ally, found himself lying on the floor of a shallow cave. If not for the gentle rise and fall of his chest, he could have already passed for a corpse.

“Well what do we have here? I didn’t know Brokeback Mountain had deleted scenes!”

The cowboy, delirious from fever yet chilled to the bone by the drop in temperature since the rain had come, turned to see that… something wrapped in red had laid down next to him.

“Hi, I’m Wade Wilson. People who love me call my Deadpool. People who hate me call me Deadpool,” the man in red replied as he extended a hand. “I’m what you folks might call an ‘NPC’. Y’know what I mean, cow-poke?”

Dying, yes. He was finally slippin’ free from this mortal coil, and this was his final delusions. Well, if this was the end… Arthur extended a trembling hand and managed to momentarily grip onto the rubbery material for a few moments before losing his strength.

“Anyway, some people think I’m crazy. They say ‘Wade, you’re just hearing voice’ or ‘Wade, no one know what the Baltimore Ravens are’ or even ‘Wade, why are you making references to sports on a science-fiction roleplaying forum?’ Ain’t that a hoot?”

Arthur grimaced, more out of physical pain than anything else.

“So anyway, I got called up, as you know. Karl Jak and I go way back. He was like ‘Listen, Wade, I don’t know where your friend may be, but you know the show just can’t go on unless you’re there to die in the early stages of the Finale. Also, we think you’ll be brilliant, because thematically this place feels much more MCU than DC.” As he spoke, Deadpool used his hands as makeshift talking puppets.

“So I’m like ‘But, Karl, I can’t do your island thing all by my lonesome! How will I create nefarious webs of deceit and treachery?! How can I find the best meat shields to protect me and my bois? Will I even have any bois? So many questions, duck-lady,” Deadpool patted the dying Arthur on the shoulder after that comment.

“Okay so then Karl was like ‘Well I’ll just make you an NPC,’ and I was like ‘Oh, gross… I can do one cool thing where I either fuck someone over or get my limbs cut off in some frivolous example of body humor?!’ Can you believe it, duck-lady? He just wanted me to sit around or serve as a supporting plot device for that one guy. Outrageous.”

It was here that Arthur managed to croak out words. “I… I think I’ll die now, partner. You can… just take me where I need to go.”

“That’s just it,” Deadpool chuckled, patting Arthur on the chest. “You see, I just ran into my friend from California… he’s doing SO well for himself. Afterwards I had to drop a deuce.” Deadpool took this moment to hold up a thin metal tube. “You see, duck-lady, I might be an NPC, but I’m still Deadpool. Unlike those other guys who can’t speak or can only utter monosyllabic phrases, I can read. I read real well… and y’know what? You might be a corpse, but you’re still enough to scare ‘em away.

“You and me, Duck-Lady, are going to become best friends. We’re gonna get ourselves to that Finale… I’mma die in like fourth or third place, and you can probably get killed by someone who has treated this whole thing like a camping trip. But we’re gonna give it that old Spartan try, because you need me as much as I probably need you. And sure, you might wanna stab me eventually, but you’ll also figure that I probably still have one more trick that’s enough to really make sure you get completely dead. If you focus hard enough, I’m sure you’ll understand me.”

Arthur, who had just started to coherently follow the madman’s ramblings, shook his head before gesturing at the wound on his chest. “Dyin’.”

“Oh that?” Deadpool chuckled as rolled over and straddled Arthur. “Those never actually work, just ask the space marines.”

Deadpool plunged the needle into the cowboy’s chest.

A beat later, a gasping Arthur Morgan lurched into an upright position and found himself staring into the mask face of a very (unfortunately) real Deadpool.

“Quack quack.” Deadpool pushed something hard into Arthur’s chest. “Here, peace offerin’, Duck-Lady.” Eyes still wide from the chemicals cascading through his system, the cowboy glanced down at the metal cylinder and clicked the button. A crackling red energy sword erupted into existence, nearly missing Deadpool’s face. “It’s okay. I have that effect on most people.”

Results

24 Contestants Remain​

The fractured leg Aku sustained earlier is now broken and needs to be splinted in some manner if he intends to walk normally (his one Minor Injury is now Upgraded into a Major Injury)
Arthur’s Mortal Injury is now a Major Injury

Deadpool used one application of stimpacks

Deadpool has stolen both Aku and Gilgamesh’s supplies/stuff
Deadpool has stolen the lightsaber, which he has given to Arthur (for clarity and so no one things I genuinely have it out for him, Gilgamesh had been on the square to give this to Arthur -- I just co-opted that into something more amusing)
(Gilgamesh still has the Jetpack and Flamethrower, for clarity's sake)

Gilgamesh, Arthur, Aku, and Deadpool are on cooldown until the next phase begins or until they leave their current square. They may waive this F2F protection via PMs.

 

[Kayleigh Eudora]

The peculiar situation had Kayleigh's mind filled with doubt. Was the man a danger to her? To himself? His words, like arrows, may have been directed at his own delusions though they struck true targets within Kayleigh as well. Her heart was telling her this person was not a threat to her, the warrior trained mind kept vigilant. "Are you aware of where you are?" She snapped her fingers near his face, attempting to get his attention as if that of a pet.

"We are here, you and I, enjoying the smell of fresh rain in the morning forest." Gildart's eyes closed as he looked up. His rugged face caught the drops descending from the heavens. Eudora allowed her flames to disappear, clearly this man had fallen victim to either poison or a smack on the head. Whichever it was, it was of no concern to her. "I wish you good fortune in this competition, fighting you would hold no honour." Even though the man intrigued her, there was no point in sticking around when his mind was this far gone. With the second step Kayleigh took to resume her path, the mage snapped out of his rain-embrasing dream, "Where are you going? We haven't talked in ages Natsu!" A warm, fatherly hug was imminent.

The warrior training reacted, a non-flaming slap connected with the bold mage's cheek, "Know your place, grab hold of your senses before lack of them kills you. You hav-.." Kayleigh's heated words halted when the prosthetic limb was gently placed upon her cheek, their eyes connecting in a deep gaze. It was the first time someone was actually able to touch her skin without screams of agony. The metal was heating up but did not harm Gildarts, who's soft smile was like a reassuring embrace. Time felt lucid as an avalanche of emotions tumbled down upon her.

Unable to act she allowed the moment to pass. The man then shook his head, followed up with several blinks, "Oh, hello there." His personality seemed to have shifted at the worst possible time. He leaned forward, closing his eyes. Kayleigh's reflexes kicked in, no longer was an open hand weapon of choice. A balled fist forced its way between the Mage's eyes.

THUD A knockout! Well not much a knockout but more of a nap. The grown man was stretched out on the ground, snoring loud enough to let the whole island know where they are. One part of her was convinced to leave the stranger right here on the ground, the other, more softer part which Gildarts managed to strike with his words, couldn't leave him out here to potentially die.

Dragging Gildarts incapacitated body behind her, Kayleigh found a secluded bit in the forest. A small cave providing just enough shelter for both of em. The Mage snored as the fire maiden collected some wood for a fire, which was eventually lit with ease.

Time passed through morning as their clothes started to dry. Eudora was finishing off one of her rations when she noticed Gildarts getting more restless. It seems like he was about to wake up.

"Have you regained sense or do you remain the fool?" Kayleigh asked, towering above the floored man who's eyes just opened.

 

[Karl Jak]

Afternoon
(1200-1800)​

“Welcome to the afternoon, all my lovely little competitors. I’m sure that by now many of you are starting to feel the genuine ‘grind’ as the reality sets in that you still have so much hurt ahead of you. Don’t fret. Push forward.

“Let us remember the fallen:

#25 Pecan

“Now these are the squares that will become head-poppin’ zones in six hours. If you’re in one, you’ll want to be gone by sundown:

J5
I3
I4
I5
I6
A7

“Enjoy the rain. There look to be some dark clouds rolling in. Just don’t let those dark clouds roll into your mind. That’s when this whole things become much more cumbersome.”[/b]

Out-of-Karl Bulletins

• Honestly? I don’t got much to report. Y’all are killin it.
• If it isn't clear, I usually wait until 20 minutes after the phase begins to process all movements (including preloads) -- this just saves me having to do a lot of back-and-forth with writing and people sending messages.
• The next and (potentially) last Easter Egg will be different from the first two. Details on that tomorrow.
• Weather – The rain will become a thunderstorm for most of the next six hours

 

[Victor Wolfe]

The drizzle from earlier had turned harsher, the grey clouds turning black as a flash of lightning, a rustling in the bushes alerted the pair to someone closing in on their presence, Cho stood ready with his nail gun as Victor aimed to throw his shield only for a spark of lightning to illuminate a friendly face.

“Sigmund!” Victor exclaimed, joyous glee filling his face. The trio lowered their weapons as Victor stood up and attempted to embrace his comrade, who merely looked awkward at the display of affection from the emperor.

“So how has your first DA been?” Victor asked casually.

“It's an experience, at least! Did my dad ever participate in one of these?” Sigmund questioned struggling to believe that Erik would participate in such an event.

“He did great! Got top five a few years back, real pride and joy to all of us in New Babylon. I entered too, it was extremely entertaining.” Victor said with a warm smile

“What position did you finish that year?” Sigmund turned his head a little as he ever so innocently impaled Victor's pride on a stake.

“Moving on from the past, anything good happened recently?” Victor quickly blurted out, trying to change the subject.

“We successfully completed the trial set by the host yesterday, a so-called goddess and I managed to obtain the reward that everyone was aiming for.”

Victor's grin turned sadistic.

“So what new instrument of malice has Mr Jak seen fit to bestow upon us?” Victor said in violent glee.

“That's the interesting thing, it was just a pair of earrings, I left them with Suwako and attempted to find you, thought you might have more of a hint on what to do with them.” Victor seemed to be in a trance. His eyes darted from Sigmund, to where he came from, and back to the high priest.

“Earrings you say…” Without a second word, Victor dashed off in search of the so-called goddess.

Eventually finding the camp Victors leg felt like it was on fire, the burns still causing pain every time his foot touched the ground.

Eventually arriving by following the priests now mostly washed out footprints Victor spotted the girl, he reached for his weapon… that he had left with Sigmund and Cho.
“Well guess I just need to put on my best diplomat act and charm the pants off her! Should be easy.”

Approaching the blonde with the weird hat he gently tapped her shoulder.

“Excuse me, miss?” he said in a kind tone as he leaned over her.

Turning she pointed a terrifying sight at the assassin, the barrel of the golden gun, scurrying backwards he raised his hands in defence, the back of his pants now soaked in mud as he saw the end of the event.

“Wait!!!!! I am a friend of Sigmund!” he begged.

“Hm, Ok. Well then, tell me, kiddo, what exactly does a ‘friend of Sigmund's’ want?” Suwako kept the gun aimed at Victor as he felt a cold sweat drip down his forehead.

“I need to see the earrings you won. Sigmund told me about it, and if I am right, then I think that our little gathering of misfit murderers might just have gotten a new trump card.” Victor said pleadingly, not willing to move a muscle until that barrel was aimed somewhere else.

“Fine” Suwako threw one of the earrings to Victor who caught the shiny orb, his eyes lighting up as he got a good look at the object that had caused him so much heartache in the past. A slow, menacing chuckle built in Victor's chest. Turning his head to the sky he laughed straight from the diaphragm.

“Oh Karl you shouldn’t have, the potara earrings! The iconic tool of my mortal foe, how ironic.”

“Oh, so you do know what they are human, any idea how to actually use them?” Victor stood up almost dancing on the spot with glee forgetting the gun aimed at him.

“Why yes, all we need to do is find Sigmund and then we can fuse! all you need to do is clip them into opposite ears like this!” Victor clipped an earring into his left ear. He would get to be one with his sweet culty boy and share a body and power. They would be unstoppable.

“You mean like this?” Victor starred in terror, the frog girl had clipped the other earring into her right ear. Pressing down on his phone Victor let out a sigh.

“Siri, play Day of fate”

 

[Kopaka]

As the sun peaked over its zenith, the sky was already a grave shade of dusky slate. Irritable rumblings of thunder rode from horizon to horizon as the trees silently shrieked their dread of the coming storm. The wind blew bits of dirt and foliage across the sheer bluffs of Mt. Infinity. It was quite unwise for anyone to be traveling high in the slippery, windward crags of a mountain during a thunderstorm.

This precisely why Kopaka and Nico Cinder were there. Another rumble blasted across the landscape, with a green explosion of light heralding a violent rockslide. Kopaka lowered the steaming BFG from his shoulder and watched the tumble of boulders crash into the path in front of them. Normally, this path would have been impossible, but given that he and his...

...Kopaka leered back at Nico Cinder, who was trying to keep his hoodie drawn tight. Partner was not the right word. The Toa and the Human had quickly learned that they deeply, deeply disliked one-another. Still, that did not forestall the fact that he had agreed to work with Nico on the mutual interest of killing and maiming as many contestants as possible. It seemed as though the human had also lost a close and trusted ally on the island. Murdered by some blonde, smug twink, as the youth had so eloquently stated. Kopaka had been on the verge of leaving the wretched boy alone, but relented to his deep, burning anger.

It also gave him a new duty, and new objective. Kill the people that had wronged them. The violent simplicity of the pact appealed to some dark inside the bionicle that he preferred not to think about.

"I dunno dude, that still looks pretty sketchy!" Nico shouted over the gale. Kopaka wheeled around to glare at the boy, and rivulets of half-frozen rain dribbled down his head.

"We agreed! Destroy everything in our path, and if there is no path, we make one!" the android snapped. Nico complained loudly, but it was lost in a sudden thrum of stormy winds. A ripple of lightning arced overhead, and struck some shrouded part of the mountain.

"Fuck! Fine!" Nico howled. Kopaka nodded, and summoned power to his hands. Glimmering blue ice crackled over the recent rockslide, bridging the chasm nicely. Kopaka strode across with confident footfalls, and turned at the far landing. Nico shook his head, adjusted his pack, and began to sidle his way over the steep drop.

A large cracking sound issued from below him.

"Fuck!" he cursed again, and turned to sprint at Kopaka. The footing gave out just as he reached the far side, and crumbled into the lush valley below with distant, crackling frenzy. Nico clung to the side of the cliff, trying to hoist the bulk of himself, his rocket launcher, and his bag up with him. The Toa impassively watched the boy struggle for a moment before plucking him up like a kitten, and dumping him on solid ground.

Nico plucked petulantly at his muddy, torn clothes for a moment before looking up. His eyes widened, and he quickly scrambled to shoulder the rocket launcher.

"Behind you!" he shouted. Kopaka turned around just in time to see a lone figure silhouetted against the granite sky. A dark, billowing cape rolled with the constant wind, and another crack of lightning illuminated gleaming metal limbs. Kopaka readied an icey blast, but paused. He held up a hand to Nico.

"Wait." he commanded. Nico gave Kopaka a bewildered sneer, and scrambled to his feet.

"Wait? We're supposed to be killing-wha?" Nico started, but cut himself off as Kopaka waved a shining hand in front of the man's face. Contestant number seventeen, Gildarts, was standing alone on a mountain, in a thunderstorm...

...and he was fast asleep. Nico and Kopaka stalked around the slumbering wizard as if he were a Hellenistic sculpture, looking him up and down with slight awe. He spoke, and weapons were raised.

"I don't...have any!" Gildarts snapped. His eyes remained shut. Kopaka and Nico stared at eachother.

"What...do you lack?" Kopaka asked slowly. Nico's eyes went wide, and he gestured angrily at Gildarts. The young hellion pantomimed blowing the sleepwalker to oblivion. The Toa of Ice nodded dismissively.

"Why would I know, it's your guild." Gildarts said in a matter-of-fact tone. He was not taking any guff at all. The Fairy Tail wizard bent down and snatched a small rock off of the ground. He put it to his lips, and tilted his head back, as if drinking from it, before pitching it off the mountainside. Nico stared in dawning glee.

"This guy...is high as balls." he chuckled. He backed up a few more steps and pointed the rocket launcher at Gildarts.

"Let's kill him and take his drugs. And stuff."

Kopaka shook his head and held his hand up.

"No. This is an omen." the Toa responded. Nico looked as if someone had spit in his face.

"An...omen? What? Let's just dust this guy and get on with more ganking!" Nico sputtered. Kopaka shook his head a tad more vehemently, and lowered the BFG. Despite the fresh rage, anger, and sorrow he felt for Arthur, he still felt a pull towards the unknown. A sleeping man on a mountain who spoke in riddles, while frustrating, did not strike Kopaka as a valid 'target' for his rage. No. This was his new bonfire in the desert. A beacon that needed to be listened to and followed.

Was it likely that Gildarts was utterly inebriated and spouting complete nonsense? Of course, Kopaka knew that. But the happenstance struck him as something that was fated. As a Toa, he was obligated to answer the call of Destiny...even if it was an unshaven lout. The wizard's eyes fluttered open, and he turned around on his heel, walking in the direction they had been heading anyway. As he passed them, Gildarts offered each of them a warm smile.

"Good to have you home." he hummed. Kopaka, in turn, followed in the wizard's footsteps. Nico scoffed, but followed a moment later.

"I'm still taking his drugs." Nico objected.

"So be it. We protect Gildarts, and follow his wanderings." Kopaka said solemnly. He pointed the BFG at a nearby, scraggy tree and blew it into splinters.

"In the meantime, we resume the path of vengeance and destruction. The Gildarts-human provides as good a direction as any." Kopaka said. His tone was final, and Nico understood that this was not open for debate. The wizard grabbed a burning, smoking branch from the tree that had lodged itself in a nearby crack in the cliff face. Small snakes of scintillating color whisped off of the doomed limb, and tied themselves around his feet, hands, and neck. Gildarts became a willing puppet, following the heartbeat of the mountain to a promised Shagri La. Whisping whispers and puppet strings now guided the trio as they crunched down the path, looking for the next object of interest to either worship or destroy...

...well at least that was what was going on with Kopaka and the scruffy dude. Nico just hoped he could make some good lyrics out of it.

 

[Jester Lavorre]

Mugen wasn't certain if he'd been alone with these guys for a day or a month, at this point. One of his companions spoke strictly in bewildering screeching noises, and the other one was a Saibamen.

In the time since they'd come together the ronin had come to think of his squad as the Creamy, Steamy, Screamy Dream Team. Screamsicle was, of course, Screamy - though there was a period of time shortly after they'd returned from the clusterfuck in Factorial Town that Kefka had taken a shot at the title. Kefka, Mugen had decided, was Creamy. This was in part due to his sheet white face paint (was that face paint, even?) and in part because Mugen had run out of words that rhymed with 'Dream Team'. And lastly, he had deemed himself Steamy...because, c'mon. You know?

Coming up with a clever team name had taken his mind off of some of the pain his arm was flooding his senses with. Some, but not all. If he lived to be a hundred he would never forget the sound of his bones splintering to bits in his forearm. CRACK! What a fucking abominable sound that had been. Abominable as the Toa that had delivered the blow - his leering blue eyes pierced the samurai's own whenever he closed his eyes. The duo of cowboy and murder-bot was something the Creamy, Steamy, Screamy Dream Team could've lived without. Though Steamy was not quite as vocal as Creamy about it (and neither of them was quite as vocal as Screamy), he was feeling the loss too. It was fucking demoralizing.

Yanked from his reverie, the ronin realized suddenly that his GPS was a-beeping up a storm from where it lay between his pack and Kefka. Mugen's beady eyes met the Divine Kefka's one remaining good eye, and then they both shifted their gazes to the device. This bit of gadgetry, gained through murder, gave them their only real advantage in this competition - unless you counted Screamsicle, who had proved himself the Dream Team's MVP in their last confrontation.

The mismatched trio crowded around the GPS like an old time family to their favorite radio show - aside from meeting other teams in Karl Jak's abattoir, this was the closest thing they got to entertainment.

"...looks like there's some lone wolves here and here," Mugen pointed out, the bony index finger on his good right arm singling out the locations nearest theirs. "If we want a weapon, those are probably the rubes we should mug."


Kefka's blue eye flashed dangerously, and he bit his lower lip in anticipation. The ronin had noticed some unnerving tendencies in the Divine Kefka, and this one was one of his least favorite.

"Perhaps that worm that took the eye of a god," Kefka intoned. He let out an unsettling shrill growl, and his eye was a ferocious ocean deep with wrath.

This set Screamsicle all a-twitter; the Saibamen sprung from side to side and danced an odd dance, claws in the air.

"That's right, you wretched little pissant," Kefka continued, giving a cringing look of begrudging approval unto ol' Screamy.

The ronin had dismissed himself from the conversation as he'd grown accustomed to doing when they both got like that. And they got like that often.

Instead, he fished around in his bag and made a game of figuring out how to gain access to his MRE - some sort of Teriyaki protein of questionable origin - with one functional hand. Opening and closing his other hand sent a wave of punishment up his left arm that was difficult to fight through, to say the least.

"I think we should try and get the jump on the jackass to the south of us," Mugen had managed to wrestle open his teriyaki meal and was now gnawing on the meat (some kind of chicken he surmised) between words. "It could be our last rendezvous, or it could be the beginning of a win streak for the Creamy, Steamy, Screamy Dream Team."

"The..."

This had given even Kefka pause, it seemed, and ceased most activity in the camp. All eyes were on him.

He shifted gears quickly.

"What have we got to lose? I've posted up in this same spot for the better part of two days and gotten almost nowhere. We can't hide forever," the samurai stated, trying to yank attention away from his team naming.

Nice, saved it.

Giving up on the meal, he tossed the meat towards Screamsicle who blinked in confusion as it bounced off of his bulging green noggin.

 

[Fenix]

Suwako stared in confusion, blinking a few times as she heard the undercurrent in Victor’s voice. “...What? Something wrong with-”

A blinding light popped out of Victor’s earring as Suwako’s own answered in response, and she suddenly had a feeling she really needed to listen to the full explanation.

A tugging sensation hit her in the chest, and Suwako was being pulled forward. “What’s going on?!”

The strange assassin opened his mouth to say something, but then gave a smile as they were pulled together. “Trust me, you’ll know everything I do in a second.”

“I don’t-” Suwako managed to blurt, before her body slammed straight into the assassin’s, and the two vanished into white light. As a being of spiritual essence and embodiment, the little frog goddess had the very brief clarity to feel her body disappear, her essence warp and the very fiber of herself as a concept… mix. Fuse. change.

But that was only for an instant.

A blindingly white dome of energy illuminated the area. The mountains nearby were enveloped in a brilliant white flash as the two’s fusion rained light across the mountains. It took a moment for the light to die down, as a lithe form was visible through the light, and the flash subsided.

“Let’s see…” two voices said as one, as the light died down, slim but toned arms stretched out, then forward, as the new entity flexed their fingers in and out of fists experimentally. “All’s good up here.”

A quick hop followed, the leg injury from Suwako still visible but far less. “...not totally okay down here, but I can certainly manage.”

And with hands exploring down the torso, a grin popped up on the new entities face. “...and everything down here is even better than could be expected…”

Before reaching a certain position and sighing. “...Well, guess the boobs had to come from somewhere.”

The fused pair blinked, opening their mouth to expose a froggy tongue to the world. “...This is going to be amazing for messing with Cho!”

“...And with this, I’m a god-empress now! I think I just made Okor turn in his mold-ridden grave!” The girl joked with a laugh. “And not to mention…”

A smile came across the being as they threw a blinding light from their hands. The blast struck a nearby man-sized boulder. The Blast left it in pieces.

“...For an accidental fusion, I think I hit the jackpot. This is perfect! Now, let’s see, what do I call me now?” the God-empress asked with a playful grin.

“Suwako Moriya… Victor Wolfe… Sutor Woriya?” She questioned. “...Yeah, that sounds about right. Probably sounds a lot more intimidating in one of my native languages than the other.” She admitted.

A vicious grin filled her face as Sutor summoned a pair of daggers to her hands. They were not the pair that Vic usually carried - these were made of stone, ancient ritual daggers used since man had first learned of the tenets of animal sacrifice… and perfect for disemboweling her competitors, too. “So how about we go find that mouse and show him what a cool fusion looks like?”

 

[Cho]

The Emperor’s words stuck with the boy as he trailed away from where he’d been left, yet again.

“You knew this when you signed up.” He’d said, as if Victor had actually explained what he was signing up for in the first place.

“You didn’t tell me shit.” Cho grumbled to himself, “A little heads up like ‘Oh, by the way, you might actually die. Probably by my own hand.’ wouldn’t have gone amiss.”

Cho huffed, skulking in no particular direction, hands jammed into his pockets. Twice in as many days his supposed superiors had abandoned him in the pursuit of blood, or so he believed.

‘I wonder if I could take him in a fight.’ Cho snorted derisively.

“Clearly doesn’t know me at all. This game fucking sucks. Really fucking sucks.” Cho called out, his voice echoing out around him to any who might be listening, “Karl whatever-his-fucking-name-is can suck a dick for all I care. Yeah, maybe I will take him on in a fight. Melt his smug-ass face. Maybe get him to take me seriously.”

His features contorted into an uncharacteristic sneer and he threw a fist out in front of him, launching a chunk rock from the ground into a nearby tree, splintering the bark and shattering the rock into innumerable pieces around the base of the tree itself.

“Patronising prick.”

 

[Jak]

The thunderstorm and the rain starting to fall startled the eco warrior awake. The former dynamite “kid’s dreams were anything from pleasant.

He felt the pitter patter of the heavy raindrops begin to drip over his coat, hiding the thick protection he wore underneath. Dreams of the wastelands of his past, present and future.

He wouldn’t be hamstrung by his past failures, which he thought he avoided years ago.

Music clouded his past..

I am the shadow of the world, I’ll be the one to save us all..”

The hero of his past three times. What was a hero to Karl’s death game, anyway?”

Mar saw his dreams and past hopes flash before his eyes as one gristley scene past his mind that made his anger boast and bubble. The eco warrior felt his headache grow and the crack of the familiar eco-rage induced static energy come out of his body.

He didn’t care to hear the name again:. He and Daxter had proven themselves worthless to the “Empire” of the golden king himself.

“I bow to no king.” Mar sneered through his mouth.

The eco warrior sat near the ground as his eyes were now a darker shade of purple.

It was then the Dark King once appeared much stronger in Mar’s head as the temptations rose. Light grasped his host’s body and held him back “Easy, Jak. Listen to yourself. Your memories are working up your anger.”

“I’m not worthless…” The wet wastelander could feel his headache worsen.

The Dark King looked at his host in worry and then at Light “DO SOMETHING!”

Light frowned “WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK I’M DOING?”

His present stirred the pot. Here he was in Karl’s death game. How low does a hero have to go in order to survive here?

He’d find out.

Light picked up his host “Listen, if you don’t calm down right now. Things will happen. You want the others to conquer your mind? If not, what the HELL did you save the world for?”
Mar stepped back, taking a breath. “Think about who you are, Mar. Please for our sake.”

The man lifted his weapon and sighed, placing it away.

“I refuse to be controlled again..”

 

[Aku]

Screaming and grumbling come out of Aku’s mouth in frustration of how his foes won’t accept their fate and getting hit by a full force of mortal pain. His eyes light up with fury to release his laser beams full of hatred at the flying “King of Kings.” He moves his head back and forth, trying to hit his target, but the golden fool is hard to bullseye in the air, flying and zipping around. The eye beams trace in the air, seconds away from coming into contact. The encounter didn’t last long, and his opponents fled from the scene, leaving him a cauterized blackened flesh wound in his once fractured leg.

“YOU WON’T SEE THE LAST OF ME, FOOOOOLS! I WILL HUNT YOU DOWN AND LEAVE NO REMAINS OF YOUR FILTHY WEAKLING BODIES!” the tyrannical demon booms with a vengeance and echoing toward the valleys below for everyone to hear his diabolical words, piercing the ears of Gilgamesh and Deadpool to hear.

The flesh and bone burnt upon the impact of the kyber crystal powered sword. A mortal-made weapon that can-do harm to him in this world. Everything now can kill him after getting forced to have this pathetic collar. This pain reminds him of the old days when that foolish samurai would run his holy blade through Aku’s skin. He grabs his wounded leg while lying down after being struck by the saber.

The mortal of darkness examines the injury, witnessing the damage already done. Extreme amounts of suffrage surge all over his body part and leave an agony facial expression, curving his lips into a huge frown.

The unlucky demon grumbles out in pain and annoyance of how his fight turned out.

His collar goes off with Karl Jak announcing one more death to add to the list this afternoon. Earlier while encountering the savage goblins, he heard a couple of fatalities that happened to make the competition a little easier early this morning. Excellent, less inferior mortals to deal while playing, but it also means others are growing strong by the minute, just like the golden fool and red fool he met seven minutes ago. The rain continues to pour out upon this doomed island, leaving Aku’s appearance completely soaked. He tries to rise and stand on both of his feet but instantly fell back on a large rock when the broken leg made contact to the ground, landing in a massive pile of mud.

His leg refuses to work in these conditions, making it difficult to continue his journey to win. In a temper tantrum fit, he reaches for his collar to attempt getting it off, anxious to release his immortality from this imprisonment. Far back in his mind, a voice is telling him not to do it because Aku nearly forgot he had a bomb strapped to his neck. The demon’s hands fall and hit the rocky ground in utter defeat. Nothing in this mountain environment could help the suffering demon to craft a splint.

He must reach a forest or jungle that flourishes with the possible resources to use.

“I will continue my decimation upon these worthless worms,” Aku utters in a soft-spoken tone while determination dwells in him.

The shogun of sorrow turns for his bag to look inside the dry interior, remembering earlier that red-colored ninja mortal stole something from him. All the food and water were there in return gave him relief, but the peculiar item that he received at the start of the game was missing.

That was the last straw.

No one steals from Aku and gets away with it.

They deserve the pit of hate for the rest of eternity.

A vessel nearly pops within Aku as he boils in anger and vengeance while dealing with his injury. His sharp curved teeth show as he angrily mumbles. Releasing the stress, he exhales a fiery breath outward from his long bloodcurdling scream. The rain droplets around him disappear because of the extreme heat that the fire gives off. No more bickering and hollering, time to proceed forward with only victory remaining his mind.

Aku shuts his mouth and crawls away onto the trail that leads down the mountain, toward a fauna of life.

If anyone crosses his path, he is going to make sure that they fear the name that belongs to the shapeshifting master of darkness, Aku.

 

[Mickey Mouse]

The meadows were peaceful. Not much else on this island was, but here, in the middle of the tall grass, under the cacophonous gaze of an artificial thunderstorm, Mickey Mouse found a strange sense of calm.

He sat criss-cross applesauce in the wavy blades, thunder and lightning dancing a strange ballet above his head. He was pretty sure it was the afternoon, but the stormy clouds were so dark and blocked out the sun so completely he could hardly tell. Rain pelted his fur, dampening his coat so thoroughly that he felt himself almost weighed down to the ground. The grass blades tickled him in the side; he giggled openly, the relative flatness of the meadows giving him confidence that he was, for once, alone.

He never liked being alone.

“Meow!”

His ears perked up and his spine straightened. The whines of a cat creeping up was never a welcome sound for a mouse, and Mickey bolted to his knees, hand going to the freeze ray’s handle out of instinct. Then he saw it: the teeny tiny kitten, her gray coat matted to her body from the rain, her wide blue eyes peeking through the tall blades of grass up at him.

His gloved fingers slipped from the ray gun and immediately reached out and opened up to her. He may have jumped to the mouse’s instincts, but they weren’t the only things essentially coded in Mickey’s DNA. More tightly woven in those little double helixes were the instincts of a friend, and it was with those that he reached out to this tiny, wet baby.

She didn’t hesitate to crawl towards him. Without a single ounce of reluctance, she clambered onto his four-fingered hand and curled up in his palm. Mickey Mouse was a small being, but this tiny creature still fit inside his hand; she was no predator, no scary beast.

What was she doing on this island? Mickey knew it was possible she was just a figment of the comet’s machinations, but in his fingers, she felt real, and permanent; was she destined to doom like everyone else here? Why in the world would anyone wish such pain on such a poor, defenseless creature, imagined or not? She was no Nemesis or Arthur the Cowboy; heck, she wasn’t even a Mickey Mouse. She was a true innocent, and had done nothing to deserve the horrors this island undoubtedly had in store for all of them.

A weird concoction of sadness, fury, and love boiled in the cauldron of Mickey Mouse’s heart. He felt the deepest feelings he could muster for this pure, innocent creature, thrown as a stray into a world she didn’t ask to be thrown into and then swiftly beaten down by it.

Saving things was what he did, but when would he realize the universe had maybe conspired against them all from the start? And what would he do when that finally dawned upon him?

Would he keep fighting anyway?

Would he go out and find the next poor, innocent kitten that needed someone — anyone — to take care of it?

Did that mean he’d be abandoning this one to a predestined doom? What would she want him to do? Should he ask? Should he take time to mourn? Or would others go unhelped while he let his failures as a hero and as a friend wash over him? What would others think? Would they think less of him for molding his grief into the most positive motivation he could fashion out of it?

He stared at the tiny thing, smaller than anything he’d ever seen in any of the many worlds he’d been in. She pawed at the wet fur of his arm and tried to climb up to his shoulder.

“You’ve got a friend in me, pal,” he whispered as she reached her perch. She looked at him with sweet, unknowing eyes. Visions of the life she could lead, the life he could lead, the life everyone could lead if evil could just be stamped out once and for all, flashed through the mouse’s head. She pawed at him with her sharp claws. It stung when they touched his cheek, but not too much.

He closed his eyes and laughed, and when he opened them, she was gone. He scrambled suddenly around the grassy knoll, searching for her between every blade of grass. But it was to no avail.

...he’d already lost her.

Dedicated to Moira the Kitten
2020-2020
RIP, sweet girl

 

[Karl Jak]

Face to Face
#04 Kopaka, #26 Nico Cinder, & #17 Gildarts vs #X Sutor Woriya​

The man had a plush toy between his legs and seemed to be pretending that he was a cowboy riding a mighty stallion. Gildarts neared the edge and heard a commotion rain up from further down the slopes.

The High Priest had just departed on a mission down the slopes to rendezvous with another associate of the Emperor, leaving Sutor alone along the rain-soaked ledges of Mount Infinity. The gestalt, still enjoying the ‘new car smell’ of its body, was simply trying to enjoy the pattered of the rain on the formerly sun-bleached stone. In the distance, thunderclouds were rolling steadily over the island, and the first lances of lightning could be spotted amongst those ominous squalls.

“Hello, Killer.”

Speaking in the layered voices of both Victor and Suwako, the fusion turned to see that the rainstorm had become a snowstorm in the vicinity around Kopaka. Spreading her hands, Sutor did a little dance before her frog-like tongue flickered through the rain. “The sad, cold robot. We could see you during your ascent… you weren’t as clever or as quiet as you thought you were.”

“A feint.” Kopaka declared.

The gestalt furrowed her brow. “Excuse me?”

A hand tapped Sutor’s shoulder.

“Hey, Victor?”

Sutor turned straight into the oncoming guitar, which struck the fused entity square on the side of the head before exploding apart.

Glancing at the handle before discarding it, Nico smirked. “This is for Pecan.”

From almost melee range—a Pecan-move, if ever such a thing existed—the rocket slammed into Sutor. The concussive wave from the explosion sent Nico flailing backwards like a ragdoll. Thrown into the air, the fusion managed to adjust herself and land calmly onto her heels. Despite the display of aerial grace, she felt her knees wobble on landing, and there was a faint ringing in her ear. Before she could dwell on how dulled the rain around her sounded, Sutor had to spin and awkwardly sidestep a BFG burst.

“I don’t have a gun for you, but I have other tricks.”

Sutor threw out her palm and fired a burst of golden ki at the toa. Kopaka leapt over the projectile, landed, and fired once more.

“All business?” The gestalt shouted as it fired a counter blast that struck the BFG burst. The two attacks slammed into one another and detonated into a spattering of green and golden energy. “That’s no fun.”

“So sorry to hear that,” Nico screamed through the growing din of the rainstorm. Now on the far end of the platform, the young man dropped to a knee and fired a rocket.

“Fine,” Sutor spat as she leapfrogged the oncoming rocket. “You first,” the gestalt rushed across the plateau, knocking one rocket from the sky with a ki attack and dodging its successor. When she got within range, she had barely managed to bat aside the rocket launcher and close her palms around the young man’s throat when the metal fist struck her above the eye.

Seeing stars, the gestalt lost her grip on Nico’s throat as she stumbled away from the handsome man with the drunken eyes.

“You look… familiar,” Gildarts slurred as his eyes narrowed. “Did I punch you in a past life?”

Sutor scowled as she lashed out with her tongue, catching the mage off guard and slashing clean through his clothes and down across his chest. Without skipping a beat, Gildarts took a pair of steps and delivered an uppercut that nearly tore Sutor up and out of her shoes. Midair, the fusion soaked a blast from the BFG and screamed as she was redirected into the sheer cliff that at early in the afternoon was supposed to be her only obstacle. Instead, she was staring at three fools… did they not understand the power that coursed through her veins? She was a goddess and an emperor!

“I am a Goddess-Empress!”

Nico, who was still trying to catch his breath after the near-throttling, snickered. “That’s the dumbest shit I’ve heard since you nailed Pecan and he stopped singing and waxing philosophical.”

“Speak up!” Sutor growled as she snapped her attention from the toa to the two men.

Gildarts came charging at the fusion, who stood her ground until the mage suddenly dove away to reveal that he had been a screen for a crouched Nico.

“Let this talk for me.”

The rocket missed its mark thanks to the fusion’s awareness, but a twisted piece of shrapnel caught her in the eye, drowning half of her world in utter darkness as the thunder and lightning drew closer to the mountain.

Kopaka, knowing that the end was near, kept the BFG steady on the smoldering fusion as he moved to close the gap.

Nico, however, was not one to wait out the retaliatory onslaught. Slinging the rocket launcher over his shoulder, he stepped passed Gildarts and took a nail out of his pocket. He didn’t know how, but at some point, he’d ‘removed’ it from his ‘friend’. That was shortly after he’d started to gradually lose his already tenuous grasp on reality. With the nail jutting out from between two of his knuckles, he cracked a smile as he moved in to finish off the fusion. He only hoped that he managed to kill the Victor part of the creature first.

“You… you scarred me,” Sutor growled as she dropped her palms to reveal a gruesome hole where her left eye had been.

“You nailed my friend-slash-almost-killer.”

“You will suffer,”

“Try me, bi—”

Nico flinched as Sutor sprung up from the ground, snapped her hands forward, and fired a glittering burst of ki. That smug, one-eyed sneer was the last thing he saw before the darkness.

The young man went limp, and a swift kick sent his corpse rolling off and down into one of the ravines that made the ascent of Mount Infinity so dangerous. Turning to Gildarts, Sutor ducked a haymaker and fired a burst of energy into the mage’s gut. As he fell, the gestalt reeled back a leg and delivered a kick that sent him crashing down to his face.

A BFG blast slammed into Sutor’s back, and the fused woman had a fleeting instant of pure, undiluted horror at the reality of dying then and there. Yet, the moment abated, drowned by a sea of churning adrenaline as she turned and released a hailstorm of miniature ki blasts at the robotic warrior. As Kopaka wove his way forward, Sutor cupped her palms and sneered.

“Kamehameha!”

Kopaka, fresh after popping over a ki blast and rolling seamlessly into an upright position, realized his error as the beam of energy smashed into his chest and carried him off the mountainside and into the early darkness brought by the sun-smothering storm clouds.

“I… I reign,” Sutor groaned as her knees buckled.

At the sound of footsteps, the fusion cut her loses and made for the higher cliffs.

Results

24 Contestants Remain​

‘Cornered Tiger’ Sutor is blind in one eye (Major Injury) and partially deaf/has a banged up head (a Minor Injury at this juncture)
Kopaka is experiencing the toa equivalent of gradual, system-wide system failure (mechanical parts and biological parts) due to both the tumble down the jagged slopes and the fight. This is, at this stage, a (Major Injury)
Yes, Edgelord Nico Cinder lives. Thunderstorms have imbued him with enough ambient edginess to endure a little longer. Along with having the cuts and scrapes and bruises associated with falling down several jagged hillsides, is blind (Insane Injury)
Gildarts has a deep laceration across his chest (Minor Injury) and some other bruises and scrapes

Suwako has used one application of Focus
Victor Wolfe was pressured into using one application of Focus
Gildarts has used one application of Focus

Everyone in this F2F is on cooldown for 8 hours or until they leave their current square. They may waive this F2F protection via PMs.

 

[Karl Jak]

Face to Face
#16 Aku vs #2 Kefka & #09 Mugen​

Aku had been having a bad day. Rage boiled within every inch of his battered, fallible human form.

Even in the growing storm, he saw the three approaching down the road. He attacked.

Fire scarred the gray skies of the island as the demon scattered his pursuers like the INSIGNIFICANT ants that they were.

Despite his rage and bluster, Aku found himself surrounded. He found himself forced toward a cave on the mountainside. His breath came hoarse and erratic as he tried to burn away the sneering clown and his allies. He toppled backwards into the mouth of the cave and thought for a moment that the closed quarters could be worked to his advantage.

The sneering green midget then fired one of its hellish beams above Aku’s head. The demonic warlord thought for a fleeting second that he had an opening…

And that was when the roof of the cave collapsed.

Mugen and even Kefka winced as Aku vanished beneath the collapsing ceiling of the cave. Only one of his trembling hands could be spotted in the rubble, and Screamsicle wasted little time in firing a blast of ki that caused the exposed limb to literally melt apart.

Results

24 Contestants Remain​

Aku’s right arm is melted beneath the elbow (Insane Injury) and he will die from his crush-related injuries in 12 IC hours (Mortal Injury)

Aku, Kefka, and Mugen are on cooldown for 8 hours or until they leave their current square. They may waive this F2F protection via PMs.

 

[Gilgamesh]

Gilgamesh held the flamethrower’s nozzle in his hands, scanning the dense forest around him. It was only the second day, but Karl insisted on making the island more dense and crowded. It was bad luck that he had run into the foul-mouthed mercenary and even worse decision making when he had decided to trust him. With his supplies and map gone, he would have to forage for his own food. As much as Gilgamesh despised the MREs, at least they were quick and simple. His face was now frozen in a permanent scowl; he did not appreciate petty thieves. Thinking back on it, the malefactor might not have been the worst ally on this island.

He heard a rustle in the nearby brush. The King quickly turned to face the direction of the noise and clicked the trigger of the flamethrower, warming it up and spouting small flames. He scanned the brush carefully and took a few steps closer, looking to see if it was a foe or a potentially nice, roasted deer.

“Oh my gosh, Gilgamesh,” he heard a tiny voice squeak from behind him. The Golden King spun around and had his finger on the trigger before he saw a familiar sight. The small, friendly Mickey Mouse was sprinting up to him, with outstretched arms. Gilgamesh sighed a breath of relief and lowered the nozzle.

“It isn’t the smartest move to ambush your ally, Mouse,” Gilgamesh growled, bitter at being spooked by such a diminutive creature. Mickey Mouse ignored the King’s criticism and continued to rush in for a hug.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m so happy to see you,” he cried out, his eyes watery.

But before he could wrap his little mouse arms around Gilgamesh’s leg, he was stopped. Gil had placed his palm on Mickey’s forehead, keeping him at an arm’s reach. “What on earth do you think you are doing, rodent?” Gilgamesh condescended. The Mouse King deflated a bit, and his initial enthusiasm died for just a second.

“I wanted a hug,” he pouted, breaking even Gilgamesh’s hardened heart. However, within a few seconds, his excitement quickly returned. “Nevermind that,” he cheered, “How did you get that gross thingy off?!” he exclaimed, looking at Gilgamesh with awestruck eyes.

“I can see how that being gave you trouble,” Gilgamesh said. “However, both you and that thing underestimate the will of a true King!” he decreed, pumping his fist in the air. Mickey just gave Gil a smile and pulled on his arm.

“Guess you can tell me later, pal,” he urged, tugging at the King’s golden gauntlet. “We can find a place to sit for a moment, pal!” he chimed before Gilgamesh’s stomach let out a loud grumble. “We can also crack open one of those MREs you love,” Mickey teased before he stopped in his tracks. “Wait, where is your baggie?” he asked.

“That bastard, Deadpool, stole it from me. That petty thief,” he hissed, shaking his fist in the air. While Mickey cringed, he wasn’t entirely pleased that Deadpool of all people was here as well. However, he wouldn’t let that fact sour his happy little reunion.

“Well, that’s okay! You can share one of mine!” he grinned before continuing to pull on Gilgamesh’s arm. Gil looked down at the small mouse and pulled him in closer, giving Mickey a side hug before letting him go.

“I’d appreciate that, Mouse.”

 

[Aku]

The cave shatters and topples down above the wounded shogun of sorrow. He lets out a scream of realizing what is happening, but it was too late for him to react. The master of darkness becomes trapped in the cave, which has become his dying tomb. Pain, absolute pain surrounds the entirety of his human form worse than before. Horrific Screaming continues underneath the rumble that encases him. Screamsicle melts his arm off, and instantly, Aku revolts with fury as his eyes light up to release his laser beams that hit the rubble, protecting his opponents from the outside.

"BLEEEEEEEEEEEEH GRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

The demon warlord roars with anger and craziness, still releasing his powers to escape this confinement. Luck is completely dry for this embodiment of darkness. His laser beams begin to power down and weaken after getting his senses back together. He could not move as the weight of the rocks weighed tons.

It was no use.

Getting a good glimpse of these fools before, Aku has his final words for these opponents that destroyed his victory path.

"WAIT UNTIL YOU GET OUT OF THIS FOOLISH GAME! ONCE YOU HAVE STEPPED INTO MY DOMAIN, YOUR MORTAL SOULS WILL RECEIVE PUNISHMENT FROM THE PIT OF HATE WHERE YOU WILL SPEND ETERNITY FEELING TORTURE AND PAIN! NO MORTAL CAN DEFEAT ME! I AM AKU, AND I AM YOUR NEW MASTER OF EVERYTHING! GRAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" the words spell out of the demon's mouth along with blood.

The psychotic cackling spears through their inner souls, recognizing who is the crossroads' pure evil. Energy depletes away by the second, and Aku soon experiences the dying state. His body is wholly battered, shattering his strength completely. If this is his true ending, he will return.

He always returns.

The power of Aku is forever.

 

[Fenix]

“Shit! Shit, shit, shit!” Sutor muttered to herself as she kept speeding down the cliffs, ignoring the pain in her leg. Luckily, the pain in the useless eye she was clutching was an incredibly good distraction from that as she kept moving. “I just fused and transcended, and here I am down an eye.” Sutor growled, looking for the nearest hiding place she could. The God-empress quickly found what she was looking for - a cave to find shelter in. Not exactly glamorous, but even as a god-empress, in DA you deal with what you get, and at least one of her sides was enough of a veteran not to turn her nose up at safety.

“Come on, come on…” Sutor repeated like a mantra, getting closer and trying to find some shelter within this cave system. She quickly found herself a decent ways in - just enough light for her to see, but barely, and finally rested her back against a rock.

“...Okay. time for step one of my plan.” The fused girl said, frowning as her hands touched the remains of her once beautiful eye. It was a little ugly, but not too bad…

Sutor grinned, as an image came to mind. Something fitting for the god-empress. A Jet-black eyepatch formed as she focused her omni-given right to reshape atoms however she damn well felt like. Black leather embossed with a silver wolf’s head emblazoned over a tentacle-covered moon. Covered with an attractive, sleek strap. There… that was better.

With that out of the way…

Sutor sighed in relief. “If they’d done anything more to me… this might not have even been worth it.” The fusion groaned, as she layed down gently, letting her jacket fall halfway off as she opened up her phone.

And like that, all of the stress and tiredness Sutor had fell away as she focused on one thing: Posing for the camera as she took a few pictures from different angles.

“Hell yes! Even if I split, I’m making damn sure I have this for the spank-bank!” The God-empress decreed with a grin of triumph, before moving onto the next pose. She started off with ‘lazily cute’, and quickly moved on to ‘absolutely seductive’, with a few ‘intimidating warrior’ poses just to make sure she didn’t forgot how much of a powerhouse she was right now.

With a smile, the Assassin looked lovingly to the contact lists on Victor’s phone. “...yeah, sending this to… all of them.” She said after a moment, highlighting the other members of new new babylon’s communicator numbers along with her own computer, before hitting ‘send.’

The thought of Cho’s embarrassed face when he saw these pin-up pics was more than enough to give Sutor a quick chuckle, and even with the damage she’d sustained, the being that used to be Suwako Moriya and Victor Wolfe couldn’t help but be happy. Apart, neither of them were exactly the worst off, but together? She felt amazing with every breath she took, every look at herself in a reflection. She was perfect, or as perfect as she could possibly get. She only wished that that guy she saw, her king…

Sutor’s face mixed itself up in confusion, as the realization flowed through her, two sets of memories flying through her head…

“You can have it, just save this man!” a golden-armoured figure yelled, cradling the body of Jon Snow…

“I did actually enjoy your presence. I pray we do not meet again in the Abyss,” the Golden demi-god remarked with a sly smirk.“

Memories reconstructed as the fusion’s brain put pieces together and came to an undeniable, joyous conclusion. “...My king! My king is alive! And he’s here! And…”

The fusion gave an elated smile. “And he’s here to win. Well, not that I needed extra motivation to off the rest of the competition. First, I’m going to give him a hug. Then, I’m going to ask him why I didn’t see him in the preshow. Well… half-didn’t.” Sutor muttered, thinking about it. “...Thinking about my past lives is going to get confusing.”