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At first, Akira did not consider stopping long in the clearing when he arrived - The mule (which Akira mistook for a horse at first) and covered wagon nearby didn't really interest him, and he was about to continue trudging through all the snow, when Anakin spoke to him.
“You feel that?”
Akira returned the Jedi's look towards him for a moment with a puzzled expression, before Anakin had closed his eyes and done...something, Akira wasn't sure. Felt big.
"Someone's here." Skywalker had added, which caused Akira's confusion to change to concern.
"Shit." The teen finally looked to the ground, catching sight of the footprints now as well. But they couldn't stop for long surely, so getting this done quickly was important. He was tempted to go straight for flushing them out, but this might not be an enemy - Even he wasn't reckless enough to potentially attack a possible random person just hiding from conflicts. Akira closed his own eyes for a moment - If Anakin had not informed him of someone hiding nearby, this wouldn't even be an option - and searched for a mind to latch onto, to read, nearby (Well, a mind he didn't recognize, anyway) - If he was lucky, the hidden one might not protect their mind enough to keep their location aand motives hidden, but it was tough work...
"We gotta finish up here quick," He told Anakin while doing so, though also believed if push came to shove, and one of them had to stay back to hold off a possible enemy, Akira was better suited to handling a large crowd of bandits.
Nikki Prez
“Hup! Cook US!? If anyone’s cooked, it’s your crab, you trashy weirdo!” Nikki huffed, watching as Shay dove off of Gazpacho’s back so he could take to the ground. That was fine by her, since it meant better maneuverability in response to these incoming rockets, but she really hoped the guy knew what he was doing down there. For all her insults, Nikki could tell that these were dangerous people, especially blondie and his creepy Steel-type there…
“Hold on tight, Miss Fjorm!”
She pulled backward, causing Gazpacho to come to a screeching halt in the air, the bird shifting its weight back and squawking. His one brain cell rattling around in his skull, he was able to reach the conclusion that incoming fiery explosive equaled BAD, flapping wildly to create distance.
Fortunately, Nikki wasn’t planning on allowing herself, Fjorm, and Gazpacho to be bombarded- while it was true her team was pretty lacking in defensive maneuvers, a good offense could also serve as a perfect defense. Throwing a ball forward, Nikki deemed it time to call upon another of her airborne Pokemon.
“Discharge, Pierogi! Fry ‘em up!”
The sniveling Rupther emerged in the air in front of Gazpacho, the newly appearing Dragon Pokemon levitating there and letting out a booming whimper that reverberated through the forest, followed by a large and scattering burst of electricity from the whale-like creature aiming to intercept the missiles with its widespread (and noisy) electric shock.
Team Brain Blasters - Akira and Anakin Semperviren Forest, Northeast Road
Anakin and Akira reached out with their mental powers, scanning the nearby area. In the quiet, only the sounds of the mule's movements could be heard. Finally, Akira sensed something. A mind, hidden nearby, thinking. "C'mon you jerks. Just a liiiiittle bit closer, and those ankles are MINE. Bandits or Muspell, I'm gonna make you regret trying to steal from me! So stop standing there like a couple of loons, and start moving closer!"
Bennett - Bueno Luck Benny? Nevicare Village - Northeast
The old man's eyes narrowed as he listened to Bennett. He seemed to think for a moment, before realizing what exactly Bennett was trying to tell him.
"I see. Come with me." The old man gestured for Bennett to follow him, and walked into the village. He lead Bennett around the houses, bringing him to a small hut near one of the walls. The pouring rain was quickly turning the ground to slush and mud, but the old man seemed to be used to the terrain. The hut was rather uninteresting, but there windows were dark, and there was smoke coming from the chimney. The old man pointed to the door.
"In there is one who has been working as our village's guardian. His appearance may be strange, but he is a good man." The old man said. "Tell him what you have seen, and I am sure he will help you." @Psymallard
Shovel Knight - Digging it! Salju Village - Northwest
The young boy's face paled at Shovel Knight's warning, and he lowered his spear.
"O-oh. Oh my gosh." The boy said. He stepped back into the village, and began ringing a bell. Villagers could be seen running about within the village, hiding in their homes. A few armed with lances began making their way to the walls surrounding the village, closing it off. One of these, an older man, approached Shovel Knight.
"I heard what you said. You and your allies, fighting against the bandits." The village elder said to Shovel Knight. "It is most courageous of you. Please, accept this gift. May it help on your quest."
The old man handed Shovel Knight a necklace adorned with a small shield charm made of blue crystal.
"It is a rare item, a Dracoshield. Good luck, brave knight." The village elder.
The gates of Salju Village closed, with the villagers alert and ready for any threats coming their way.
Item Obtained!
Dracoshield: A single use item that permanently increases the Defense of a unit slightly.
Team "It's Time to D-D-D-DUEL!" - Nikki, Shay, and Fjorm Semperviren Forest, Northeast
As Shay parkoured across the trees to get closer to the bandits, his worry that he had been spotted was not unfounded.
"There!" One of the thieves called out, pointing out Shay in the trees. The pair of thieves nodded to each other, before each quickly climbing a tree to be on Shay's level. Meanwhile, a pair of the ax fighters began to moves closer on the ground in Shay's direction.
The first thief held his ground in the tree, throwing a dagger at Shay! The second began to jump from branch to branch, dagger in hand as he moved to confront Shay in melee combat!
Nikki pulled back on Gazpacho, causing the large Windrome to rapidly stop in mid-air. Fjorm, gasped, holding on tightly at the sudden moves. The Pokemon trainer sent out her Rupther, and in a blast of an electric shockwave, detonated the missiles before they could reach Nikki or her Pokemon.
"Electrical attacks? Please. My machines will eat that for breakfast!" Bandit Keith called up to Nikki. He drew a card from his duel disk, and grinned. "Or maybe, I'll show off some of the cool new cards I got from this world! Let's see how your dumb bird and whale deal with this, Seiyaryu!"
In a flash of light, a draconic roar rang out. A massive pink dragon emerged from the snow next to Bandit Keith, shaking itself off and roaring again. It glittered and shimmered with a bright rainbow aura.
Bandit Keith pointed up at the Pokemon Trainer and Princess.
"Launcher Spider, keep up the pressure on that bird! Seiyaryu, Mystic Fire Breath Attack on that whale!" Bandit Keith ordered. The Launcher Spider fired another barrage of missiles towards Gazpacho, while Seiyaryu took to the skies! It flew towards Pierogi, and once it was close enough, fire a blast of glowing, multicolor flames from its mouth!
The bandits continued to cheer on Bandit Keith's monsters, while the three bandit archers took aim at Gazpacho. They each fired an arrow at the flying type, continuing to pressure the aerial group!
Nikki Prez
Nikki grinned as the Discharge attack intercepted the missiles, causing an early detonation and keeping herself, Pacho, and Miss Fjorm safe. Of course, they couldn’t celebrate just yet, as neither side had surrendered any ground… but with two Pokemon out, Nikki felt like she had the advantage- briefly, at least, as Bandit Keith proceeded to send out another of his own monsters to battle with. Rather than contained within Pokeballs, his were contained in… cards? How the heck did THAT make any sense?
Nikki stared blankly as Keith dished out some trash talk of his own, before leaning forward on Gazpacho with her fist pumped forward, a fire in her eyes as she grew even more determined to send these no-good ruffians packing.
“EH!? Then why don’t I give ‘em their dinner too, then!? Pierogi, Dragon Pulse!”
The Dragon-type Pierogi let out a hissing noise as a rival appeared in the sky before it, another dragon with jaws like the blades of a mighty Haxorus. A fiery attack came forward, with the Dragon Pulse not far behind it- perhaps the attacks would cancel each other out, but if not, Nikki was confident Pierogi would come away from the exchange better off if they traded blows- with Pierogi's natural resistance to fiery attacks, and not to mention, Dragons were weak to Dragon-type moves! Hopefully, her theory and the logic of her own world would apply here… but either way, with the other enemy creature in mind, she was NOT wanting to eat those incoming missiles... or those arrows, for that matter. The Launcher Spider was relentless, and its barrage of ranged explosives wasn’t a matchup that favored the close-quarters-combat of a mighty Windrome. At Nikki’s guidance, Gazpacho continued to ascend a bit further and swooped forward, out from behind Pierogi and aiming to evade those nasty projectiles.
“I’ll give your dumb crab something to really feast on, eh! How about a Focus Punch, go!”
As the command was called out, though, Gazpacho didn’t seem to close in any further on Keith or the Launcher Spider… his beady eyes blinking a few times, almost cluelessly, as he continued to soar through the air above the Heavy Metal Raiders with the goal of spider-rocket evasion, for now.
It seemed like a blunder, as if Gazpacho didn't even know a move like that...
Shay Semperviren Forest, Northeast
Enemies moving to fight him among the trees. Good. This was where he excelled. One dagger was thrown at the Templar, who swung around a tree's trunk to avoid it before pressing onward, right into the other thief. Surprised, Shay stumbled a little, before brandishing his own dagger. Primarily used to using it defensively in combination with a sword, the Grandmaster was briefly on the back foot...
Or was he? Keeping close to the thief, Shay worked to get his free hand close to his opponents neck. If he can get it there for even a moment, he can stab it with his Hidden Blade, instantly killing his opponent. If this succeeds, he will attempt to fall-assassinate one of the Ax Fighters, before pulling out his sword to engage in combat with the remaining one!
His boots slicked against the moist slushy ground as they were guided towards the inconspicuous hut in the village. After they were given instructions by the kind old man, Bennett nodded his head in understanding.
"Okay, that shouldn't be a problem. Thanks old man!" Stepping towards the door, he knocked, announcing his presence to whomever was inside. "Hello? Anyone in there? I was told you may be able to help me? There's a bunch of bandit guys on their way here, and they got a big mechanical spider thing! ...Can you hear me in there??"
Bennett would knock a few more times, time being of the essence.
??? -Nevicare Village-
Bennett would not get a reply for a few moments. Then, just as it seemed that no one would be coming to the door, it opened with a creak. Peeking through the crack was not a man, but it was close. Most of his body was obscured by a large, thick cloak, which he held tight- obviously not a fan of the cold. The upper half of his face was obscured with a skull he used as a mask, behind which his red-orange eyes burned. His shoulders were broad, and smoke drifted from under his cloak. Through the door, the only light in the humble house came from the fireplace.
"..."
The beast-man was slightly irritated at the boy's lack of manners, even if he couldn't exactly fault the human. Especially since he seemed a newcomer. Anyway, the subject of this visit was the priority. The protector analyzed Bennett for a moment. He eyed the boy's blade, an indicator of his ability to fight.
"It's not Muspell or Bandits, it's just an asshole." Akira spat out as soon as he was done catching the mind out. He still didn't know the mystery person's location, but it was clear that the psyker waas annoyed when mistaken for either group - The former's usage of soldiers who were practically mind controlled went against a lot of what Akira stood for, and he'd been mistaken a lot of times throughout his life for common crooks and criminals.
"Hey, dumbass, we're not muspell or thugs - I got armor on from Nifl for a reason." Akira called out, his distaste hardly hidden. "You might as well get moving to a nearby village if you can't fight them, for safety." He added, just barely holding back the urge to shout out in annoyance at the guy's thoughts. "If you don't believe me, sure, but I'm going to go fight those bandits you're hiding from."
Promptly, Akira turned to leave the clearing. He didn't give two shits about the hiding person at this point, given how the person mistook him for a thug or bandit (Though, admitidly, given Akira's rough appearance he had to admit that wasn't entirely that guy's fault. Teenage rage isn't exactly rational, however.), but if the person were to reveal themselves or apologise, Akira figured it was fine to leave that to Anakin anyway.
Shovel Knight
Shovel Knight blinked as the boy retreated into the village, soon followed by the sound of a bell ringing. The village came to life, the villagers scuffling about as soldiers came from the walls, blocking them off. Among them was older man, steadily approaching the blue burrower. Shovel knight was initially surprised an elder wouldn't be evacuated first, until the man gave his thanks, and a gift.
Shovel Knight kneeled, taking the charm with humility.
"Many thanks, sir. I swear I we will drive these ruffians from your village!"
With the Dracoshield securely in his inventory, Shovel Knight took off on his Mobile Gear, masking a hasty return to the battlefield!
Seiyaryu's Mystic Flame and Pierogi's Dragon Pulse attack clashed mid air. The beams shifted, back and forth, but the two attacks seemed to be equally matched. A massive explosion rang out, sending a shockwave that would knock the two dragon monsters back. Nikki called out another move, and Bandit Keith paused. The duelist looked around in confusion for any sign of a punch, before throwing back his head and laughing.
"Nice try, dweeb! Focus Punch? None of your monsters even have fists!" Bandit Keith called out. The duelist placed two more cards on his duel disk. "You can't keep dodging forever! Launcher Spider, Seiyaryu, keep it up!"
Launcher Spider continued its missile barrage, firing again and again. By now, Nikki would likely notice that absurd amount of missiles that this monster was capable of firing. It was clearly not a normal robot or machine, and showed no signs of running out of ammunition. Seiyaryu let out another roar, and unleashed another multi-colored flame breath attack towards Pierogi. The archers continued to fire up at Gazpacho. Fjorm swung her lance, quickly knocking away an arrow that had flown too close.
"Shay! The archers!" Fjorm called out to the templar. Gazpacho was tough, but Fjorm had seen how a well-placed arrow could bring down even the toughest Pegasus or Wyvern.
As Shay stumbled back, the thief lunged forward with a glint in his eye. But to his utter surprise, it had been a feint! Shay sidestepped the thief's slash, and in a decisive motion, stabbed the thief in the neck with his hidden blade. The thief's eyes went wide, and he stumbled back. The thief clutched at his neck, before his eyes rolled back into his head, and he fell from the tree, limp.
The pair of ax fighters slid to a stop in the snow, but Shay's target was unable to protect himself. The Templar landed on the first Ax Fighter, plunging both of his hidden blades into the bandit's back and neck. The second Ax Fighter froze for a moment, before letting out an angry roar and swinging his ax at Shay! In the tree, the second thief watched it all.
"Hey! Hey! We need some back up here!" The thief called out, before jumping to a closer tree and throwing another dagger at Shay. A Mercenary and Myrmidon noticed the cry for support, and began to run towards Shay with their swords drawn!
The A-Team - Akira and Anakin
"..."
With a small 'poof', a figure dropped from the underside of the cart. A small head poked out from beneath the cart. It belonged to a young girl. Her long red hair had been pulled back into a ponytail, and she wore red and white clothes. A brown scarf was around her neck, and large, double-headed battleax was slung across her back. She looked from Akira to Anakin suspiciously.
"I'd like to." She said. "But my cart's axel just broke."
She paused, her expression shifting to one of incredulousness.
"Are you really going to fight those bandits? Just the two of you?" She asked.
In the distance to their south, Anakin and Akira would be able to hear the hooting and hollering of people. The bandits seemed to be getting closer!
..That's a kid. Better not have picked up on my words.
To say Akira was a little surprised that the hidden threat was just a little girl, something he could pick out as soon as he heard the voice - He turned on his heels, and took a quick glance; The kid looked no older than 10, maybe even younger. What the hell was a kid doing out here, apparently alone?
"It's not just us, but we've split up from some others to beat up a couple different groups, and I don't think this side of the bandits will need more than the 2 of us." He finally told her, before his ears caught wind of the sounds of the bandits getting closer, stomping his feet into the snow and turning again, to the south. "Hey, oldie, I'm no good with protection 'cept for healing, you good to focus on keepin' the kid safe for now, since her vehicle is broke?" He shot a question to Anakin - Once things calmed down, Akira would consider taking a look at the axle. Sure, he'd only had to fix up his motorbike a couple times, but surely there was some kind of cross there... Hopefully someone else knew a little more about this stuff in the team, he thought to himself.
"Bandits are getting stupid close, and I'll be damned if..." He didn't finish the sentence, but the remainder was clear - 'I'll be damned if I let them hurt a kid.'
It was time to step forward, Akira knew that. He was almost tempted to spew some boast for the moment, something clever about facing demons and other beings far more threatening than bandits, but it didn't seem worth it at that time - No, it was time to fight.
The enemies sounded excited, with their hollering, they could catch them off guard maybe, so Akira would walk to get in front of them - And, as he originally planned, use Sleep in Heaven against the bandits.
—North Semperviren Forest (Merchant Road), Day 2 Afternoon—
A child. Anakin lowered his arm, focused on the cart when she emerged from it. Akira was having none of it - until the girl revealed herself. She doubted that they could beat the bandits. How did she know about them...? The team had come out here to warn the unsuspecting villages...
The bandits’ hoots and hollers echoed through the woods.
Fair point. But he’d keep that in the back of his mind, still.
Akira answered the question, iterating that handling the bandits would probably only take the both of them. “If that,” Anakin agreed, highly doubting either of them alone could handle it. “Just one of us would be more than enough.”
“Hey, oldie,” Akia looked toward the jedi, who raised an eyebrow at this. Oldie? They were at least four years apart... he probably looked a bit older than he was thanks to all that wartime experience. Not to mention the scar he’d been given by Asajj. He was lucky to still have his eye.
Akira asked if Anakin could watch after the girl while he handled the bandits. Anakin gave a short chuckle as he folded his arms casually. “And leave all the fun to you? Well... okay, just one time. Go ahead.”
With the go-ahead, Akira was on the move. Anakin refocused his attention back to the girl. She was carrying an axe on her back, and a lookover of her cart and what came with it implied she was a merchant. Or her parents were. Had the bandits already attacked her and killed them? Is that why she was aware who they were and what they were doing in these woods?
The goods didn’t seem damaged. The girl didn’t seem hurt. Her mount was unharmed as well.
It was just as she said, the axel of her wagon. Pretty primitive stuff, even the backwater farms of his galaxy used hovercraft. Wheels had been nonexistent in even the most remote corners for... thousands of years.
Archaic stuff, but he was up for the challenge. Couldn’t be difficult - he was accustomed to constructing complex mechanisms and droids.
“You’re a merchant,” Anakin said to the girl as he approached the axel, dropping to a knee to look any of the damage over. “My guess is that axe isn’t just for show... meaning you work alone. Has it always been like that?”
Just one axe fighter and one thief left, although they've called for backup. Leaping back to avoid the axe, Shay drew his sword and began to fight, attempting to weave around the axe fighter and slice him up with the sword. He was partway through this- having already dodged the other throwing knife- when he heard Fjorm call out and ask him to deal with the archers.
The Templar continued to stall the ax fighter and dodge daggers- though he pulled up some kind of cloth over his face as he did so. The moment the mercenary and Myrmidon were close enough, he pulled out the air rifle and launched a berserk grenade... directly downwards! The cloth over his face- a gas mask- prevented it from affecting him.
Leaving his foes to fight eachother, Shay left the cloud and looked towards the archers. He took off at a run towards them, sword and dagger sheathed, before jumping an attempting to assassinate one of the archers! If he is noticed, then the assassination fails- but the blades still hit the archer in whatever is used to deflect the attack.
Keith was correct- dodging these missiles wasn’t something she and Gazpacho would be able to do forever. He was especially fast and agile for a bulky Windrome, but even then, as she guided and weaved and spiraled away from rocket after rocket after rocket, the attacks were quickly ramping up in quantity and becoming more difficult to avoid...
“Agh- Pierogi, use Chilling Water on that dragon!”
Nikki observed as neither of the Pokemon she had in the air carried out the Focus Punch attack she’d called out- clearly, neither of them even knew such a move. As Bandit Keith laughed, Nikki even grit her teeth momentarily… selling a facade. The Pokemon weren't carrying out the command, because the command hadn't been for either of them. She couldn’t resist her lips curling into a grin, watching as the air just above and behind the Launcher Spider began to ripple ever so slightly.
“None of them? Or just the ones you can see?” she fired back at the duelist, thrusting her palm forward as she called for the execution of the attack, as the ‘Focus’ part of the blow had been complete- now, it was time for the dismantling. “Go, turn it into scrap metal!”
A creature manifested at the Launcher Spider’s position, much smaller than the two that Nikki had flying around in the air, but one that packed an absolutely monstrous hook- it was none other than Skyr, the shy Lininth- Nikki had never actually recalled the Ghost-type to its Pokeball after having it out earlier, a tactical decision. The Pokemon’s shyness and innate ghostly ability to fade out of sight made it a perfect candidate for sneakily carrying out ground-shattering Focus Punches, a risky, yet devastating move that had scored the Alolan plenty of victories in the past. With a soft humming sound, the boxer-like ghost’s reeled-back fist came flying down toward the metallic foe, aiming to punch it in two.
Meanwhile, Pierogi, at the command of his trainer, employed a different move this time in order to counteract Seiyaryu’s flames- Chilling Water would be a more favorable matchup into a heated attack, and if it made contact, the move even had the effect of decreasing an opponent’s strength. There was a momentary swishing sound as the Dragon-type closed its mouth, before a rush of near-frozen fluid came shooting out to clash with Seiyaryu's fire once more.
The red haired girl watched with worry as Akira walked towards the sounds of the bandits. Anakin walked around the cart, inspecting it, and the girl followed with him. While it was clear to her that Anakin wasn't about to attack her, she was still a little on guard. She crouched down next to Anakin, looking at the broken axel while occasionally looking over her shoulder in the direction of the sounds of the bandits. Anakin spoke to the girl, and she thought for a moment before shaking her head.
"Well..." Anna said, then continued. "Only since I woke up in this strange world. I've been trying to find the Divine Dragon, but there's been no sign of them. I'm able to handle myself, and sell some wares, but I just hope the Divine Dragon and everyone else at the Somniel is okay..."
The sound of fighting began to ring out through the woods, and Anna looked back in the direction of the bandits.
"Um, mister. Are you sure you and your friend know what they're getting into? I've seen my fair share of bandits, and these ones aren't normal! Their boss conjures massive metal beasts to fight for him!" Anna said.
The group of bandits stomped through the woods, laughing and yelling. Their carousing was put on pause, however, when they caught sight of Akira. The teen would be able to see they were a rather motley crew. Ten bandits overall, armed with a variety of weapons. Their leader, a particular tough-looking bandit with an eye patch, grinned and pointed his ax at Akira.
"Well, well, well, look at what-"
Akira did not waste time with introductions. The teen unleased his powerful mental attack. Psychic energy sparkled through the air, and half of the bandits went down. Of the bandits that had fallen unconscious, three of them were ax fighters, one of them was an archer, and another was a cloaked thief. The remaining stared at their fallen companions in surprise, before the tough bandit yelled at them.
"Don't just stand there, you idiots! GET HIM!" The leader roared. The second archer moved for cover behind a tree, firing an arrow towards Akira as well. The leader moved for cover by another tree, watching his troops move in. The two sword-wielding bandits rushed towards Akira, and would slash at him if they got close enough. Meanwhile, the thief attempted to move around the fight, attempt to get past Akira and continue heading towards the village!
Locking S-Foils in Attack Position - Nikki, Shay, and Fjorm
Shay danced around the Ax Fighter as the bandit swung his ax viciously, but the bandit just wasn't able to pin down the templar. The other two bandits rushed in to help, when Shay fired his berserk gas grenade! The three bandits staggered back, coughing and allowing Shay to make a quick getaway. Their coughing quickly changed to screams. Screams of rage. The bandits clutched their weapons, and immediately turned on each other! The Ax Fighter swung at the Myrmidon, who evaded by quickly dancing out of the way. The Mercenary slashed at the Ax Fighter, scoring a deep cut across the bandit's chest, but that only seemed to enrage the fighter even further!
The archers prepared another volley. One of them spotted movement out of the corner of their eye, and raised their bow just as Shay reached them. The templar plunged his hidden blades into the archer's chest as he tackled the bandit, the archer letting out a wheezing gasp as he went limp. The other two archers turned towards Shay, and opened fire with their arrows, loosing two arrows towards the templar!
Meanwhile, the thief in the tree continued to follow after Shay at a distance.
"Here! He's over here! Damn it, he's taking us all out!" The thief called out, alerting even more bandits to Shay's position before throwing another dagger at Shay. The desperation of the thief seemed to finally catch the attention of the remaining bandits, and they began to rush towards Shay. The three remaining Ax Fighters were the ones leading the charge, with the pair of Mercenaries on their tail!
To Bandit Keith's surprise, another monster had appeared! A small little Zombie monster, one that resembled a ghost.
"What?!" Bandit Keith exclaimed as the Pokemon unleashed an incredibly powerful fighting type move. Despite its small size, the Lininth's punch struck Launcher Spider with a thunderous explosion, and in a shockwave, the massive monster was reduced to pixels. Bandit Keith was knocked back a few feet, falling into the snow, but quickly picked himself back up.
In the air, Pierogi and Seiyaryu's attacks clashed again. While Chilling Water was a weaker move, it countered the Mystic Flame Breath attack quite well. Some of the water managed to splash onto the pink dragon, weakening it slightly.
"Cocky dweeb." Bandit Keith growled. "There's more where that came from."
The duelist drew a card, before glancing at it and grinning.
"How about even more rare and special cards. Like this one, Graceful Charity!" Bandit Keith exclaimed, placing a card on his duel disk. A beam of heavenly light appeared next to Keith, and an angel floated down within it. Three cards appeared in her hand, which she exchanged for two of Keith's cards in is hand. With the new cards, Keith placed one on the duel disk.
"I summon Ryu-Kishen Powered!" Bandit Keith exclaimed.
A new monster appeared before Keith. It was a massive gargoyle-like monster, close to 8 feet tall and clad in thick pink armor. It claws and talons were long and sharp, and it let out a low growl.
"Ryu-Kishen Powered, attack that ghost! Seiyaryu, show that whale your strength!" Bandit Keith ordered. Jets on the back of Ryu-Kishen Powered roared to life, and the large Fiend monster rushed towards Skyr. Dark energy swirled around its claws, and it slashed towards the Pokemon with a shadowy claw attack! Meanwhile, in the sky Seiyaryu beat its feathered wings. It vanished in a multi-colored blur, flying towards Pierogi! It attempted to slash at the whale with its bladed head, claws, tail, and talons, screeching loudly the whole time.
Bandit Keith smirked, and revealed another card in his hand. It was a green card, depicting a mummy wrapping a body in fresh bandages.
"That's not all. Just because my Launcher Spider is out of the picture for the moment doesn't mean I'm done with you dweebs flying around! Check out this other rare spell, Tribute to the Doomed!" Bandit Keith exclaimed. The duelist placed the card on his duel disk, and discarded a card from his hand.
"By discarding a card, I can destroy one monster on the field! And I think I'll destroy that bird you're flying around on!" Bandit Keith said.
A ghostly moan rang out around Gazpacho, and long strands of bandages suddenly appeared in the air around Gazpacho! They quickly wrapped themselves around the bird Pokemon, somehow not touching or effecting either of the riders, binding up Gazpacho and draining away his energy! The bird Pokemon was quickly knocked unconscious with his riders still mid-air! Despite Bandit Keith's assertation that the spell would destroy Gazpacho, it seemed as though it had only knocked out the Pokemon instead...
Hand: 1
Field: Seiyaryu, Ryu-Kishen Powered, 1 Set card
Spell/Trap Card Zone: 1 set card
Graveyard: 6 cards
Enemies Attacking Nikki and Fjorm:
Bandit Keith (Ryu-Kishen Powered, Seiyaryu)
Enemies Attacking Shay:
Thief
Archers x2
Enemies moving towards Shay
Ax Fighters x3
Mercenaries x2
Semperviren Forest The thief had darted around the fight, seemingly with a clear path to the village. That's when, out of nowhere, a cloud of smoke blocked their path and whelmed them. A smoke that even the extrasensory abilities of the Force and Akira's psyche would struggle to permeate. The smoke stung their eyes, obscured their surroundings, and made it difficult to breath. The bandit was trapped in the smog for a few moments when it began to dissipate. An entity in a fur cloak inhaled the dark gas completely. He shrugged off his cloak, revealing a muscular, hunched frame covered in dark grey fur and a fiery orange mane. He was draped in a grey cape that seemed to emit small wisps of smoke at all times. His only other articles were the aforementioned skull mask and a belted loincloth.
Forsburn; the Exiled Flame
The hyena drew his blade of bone from his cape with one hand, while his other raised an index finger and silently waggled it at the thief. Then, Forsburn split into two, generating extra mass from smoke. One had grey fur like the original, while the other was brown-haired. The grey one quickly rushed the thief. First, it feinted a high slash, and then quickly readjusted with a low stab.
The brown-haired one wrapped himself in his cape before disappearing in a puff of smoke. He appeared several feet behind the bandit leader, brandishing his sword.
"Why are you hiding while your men fight? You do not want to die a coward."
“Hah! How do you like that? Your monster may look like a big toaster, but he’s the one who got cooked! Robo-crab legs are on the menu tonight, Miss Fjorm!” Nikki cackled in celebration, pumping her fist in the air as Launcher Spider was pummeled into nothingness- the creatures that Bandit Keith summoned seemed to disappear rather than fainting when defeated. His method of utilizing these powerful creatures was so similar, yet different to hers…
She was about to have Gazpacho close in- if they could get that piece of tech off of his arm, the battle would probably be over then and there- but he was already messing around with the cards in his hand. Nikki briefly leered at the angel that Keith summoned, and considered having Skyr begin an attack, but the card proved that its purpose was to help Keith amass resources before quickly disappearing.
Something that Nikki guessed was similar between their two worlds- and between most worlds, really, was that an opponent getting nice and set up was really, really bad. The theory was proven to be correct when Keith proceeded to summon a new monster- a real big, real nasty looking one, towering over its commander and quickly going after the smaller Skyr. The Ghost-type Pokemon watched with big, round, empty eyes as Ryu-Kishin charged forward, aiming a wicked-looking slash at the Lininth. The Pokemon floated backward, her fabric-like ‘hair’ drifting about in the wind, before she let out an echoey huffing sound, swinging her small, but powerful fist toward the massive enemy’s attacking hand, forearm becoming cloaked in a flowing purple aura- a forceful Shadow Punch attack.
That wasn’t the end of Keith’s assault, though- his Seiyaryu rapidly moved to target down Pierogi, and, the most surprising development of the current battle- as it turned out, that Duel Disk wasn’t just for commanding creatures, but Bandit Keith could make some pretty nasty attacks of his own!
“Destroy!?” she shouted, eyes turning into saucers.
Did that mean Gazpacho was going to suffer the same fate as Launcher Spider? Nikki’s eyes trembled, her heart sinking down into her feet as her avian friend was wrapped up tightly… but this time, her theory was fortunately wrong, and Gazpacho merely fainted. What luck… if that disk on his arm had forced Gazpacho to play by its rules, and vaporized him to the point there was nothing left to recall into the Pokeball…? That would have been utterly devastating to the Alolan.
“You loser! I’m gonna break that thing over my knee and feed it to ya, I really will!” she shouted down toward Keith. Now, this had ramped up into personal territory- what the heck kinda maneuver even was that!? Like a Cofagrigus using a cracked-out Destiny Bond… without the necessary Cofagrigus!
She was relieved Gazpacho wasn’t doomed, but also, she and Fjorm were on the back of an unconscious Bird, and the plummet was about to begin. As Gazpacho made one last beat of his wings, Nikki began to loudly panic to get the attention of her other flying friend.
“Oy, oy, oy, oy!!” she grabbed Fjorm tightly by the wrist and clung to Gazpacho with all her strength.
Pierogi had shut his mouth tightly, forcing Seiyaryu’s strikes to clash with the powerful, scaled outer layer of ‘teeth’ on the Dragon-type’s mouth, a rising, guttural, unhappy noise in the Rupther’s throat as he was struck. Fortunately, the blows were reduced in strength thanks to the Chilling Water, but Pierogi was still far from enthused.
Finally, his mouth opened just slightly, and a heavy burst of draconic energy spilled free- a Dragon Pulse attack like before, but this one’s buildup was much less dramatic and good to look at. If anything, the motion that came with this eruption more closely resembled the Rupther letting out the world’s most powerful sneeze, point-blank toward Seiyaryu.
But Pierogi’s work was far from finished- his whaleish figure turned about quickly to pinpoint his trainer, having heard the Alolan’s noisiness. The Rupther wasted no time in soaring downward, showcasing more speed than ever before- at his fastest, it didn’t seem like a contest, he was significantly faster than Gazpacho, who he took into his big mouth along with Nikki and Fjorm, saving them from splattering against the ground. The Dragon-type’s path veered downward, to deliver those inside down to ground level- without a second flying Pokemon to fall back on, fighting from the air was too risky if Keith were to pull out some more shenanigans like that.
The inside of Pierogi’s mouth was… unpleasant, but it beat the alternative. It smelled heavily of iron, and the two people inside could feel their hair rapidly stand on end, Nikki recalling a croaking, unconscious Gazpacho back into his ball.
“Um… sorry about this, Miss Fjorm!” Nikki cleared her throat, turning her phone’s flashlight on so they could see. "Oh, hey, I'm gaining battery percentage in here!"
—North Semperviren Forest (Merchant Road), Day 2 Afternoon—
Divine Dragon...? Sounded tough. Made him think of a Krayt Dragon, and it very well could be related tangentially... but for some reason, he got a feeling it was more like a Zillo Beast.
Those things were worrying.
The girl got worried over the bandits. Anakin glanced at her. “Yeah, I saw,” he replied nonchalantly, clearly not concerned. He tapped his chin with his gloved hand for a moment. It was ironic - this was so primitive in design that he was struggling to figure out a good solution.
The axle was just completely busted, and when it broke, the wheel had clearly dislodged. The cart then collapsed on its lacking corner, doing more damage to what was left of the axel. No way could this thing be so simple as to...
Oh... it actually was.
Anakin stood up, visualizing the dimensions of the axle. He’d just replace it.
Walking around the cart, Anakin approached the nearest tree as he grabbed his lightsaber handle. It would be rough, lightsabers weren’t exactly made for woodworking, but he could strip off additional layers with the force. The new axle wouldn’t be perfect, but it would be enough to get this girl back on the road and somewhere she could get a proper repair.
As the axe fighters approached Akira, a distant crackle was heard. A white haired boy leaped into action, kicking off the ground, they twirled in the air. Flames built up around their blade, so when they landed, a crescent shaped slash of fire was generated, flying through to blindside the axe fighters approaching them. It would wash over and hit them all like waves washing against a coast. With a whistle, Bennett wiped his brow, giving a thumbs up to Akira.
Enemies distracted, and one archer down. The other 2 turned to Shay, who rolled to the right to dodge the arrows they fired, the thief's dagger hitting him as he did so. Due to wearing thick cloth, the dagger didn't hurt Shay much, but it wasn't helpful to have one sticking out of the back of your cloak. Removing the dagger quickly, the Templar got up and threw it at the closest archer, aiming for the chest area.
Drawing his sword, Shay rushed the Archer, hoping to kill him as quickly as possible before reinforcements arrived. He heard the footsteps of the arriving enemies, and turned to see 3 men with axes, and 2 mercenaries behind them. Shay prepared to dodge and weave, bringing his sword and dagger up in a defensive stance.
Several enemies went down quick, but a few still remained. An arrow that was launched at the teen quickly embedded itself in Akira's armor, causing him to grunt in surprised pain before he quickly focused - He had to stop that thief, surely, but those sword-fighters-
With good timing for Akira, though, Bennett and his new...ally, Forsburn, showed up, the hyena arriving with a cloud of smoke that Akira initially thought was caused by the thief. Once Forsburn revealed himself after this group's leader, though, Akira assumed it was his doing - And Bennett had stepped in to assist as well, something that, had they known each other longer, Akira likely would have joked about his rescue blowing up.
"I don't need the help, but whatever," Akira huffed at Bennett's statement, but pulled his body back up straight. "Can't complain - Takes some of the weight off... Thanks, I guess." With the arrival of Bennett and Forsburn, it almost seemed pointless for Akira to use his most powerful move right now...
Fuck it - Get this done quickly, I got a bad feeling.
So, Akira kept his hands to his sides - Charging. It took a moment, just long enough to where the sleeping bandits might begin to stir and Bennett might need to keep him safe, but it still charged.
"Tired of their bullshit already." Judgement Day
Akira put one hand out forward, waving it in some kind of motion that indicated a magical-type attack even for those not clear on his powerset, before raising both hands upwards while a golden glow surrounded his body. In a sudden motion, he pulled both hands down to his side, fists clenched, as the glow transformed into 4 copies of Akira that moved out diagonally with speed quick enough to form afterimages, before those copies changed form again into motes of light that went up into the sky - Where clouds were forming. Not a lot of clouds, and lower than any that had already been in the area, but still...
And then, those clouds parted, as Akira's guardian angel descended from them like those clouds were the heavens themselves - Before she unleashed a bright flash of light, a blast shaped like the outer rings of an atom in cartoons before quickly changing to something more widespread.
This attack, afflicting a wide area, did not affect Bennett nor Forsburn, even if they were caught by it. But any bandits struck by it, as it almost seeped around corners, had a very different measure enter their brain.
Those that suffered Judgement Day's effects would see a reality switching between the now and the End. Not merely apocalyptic, but an end to all things. Whatever they viewed as most likely to be the end of all existance, was what they saw - Played up to a degree enough to induce such pain in it's victim, that one would think it was reality when a voice that didn't exist spoke.
"Beg." Was what that voice, impossible as it were, said.
Even after the attack would fade, those hit would suffer little more pain than, say, a light explosion to the face, but that was only direct pain - The attack did so much than merely inflict pain. It could poison one's very veins, it could put them into a nightmare fueled sleep, it could disable their limbs, it could completely stun or electrically paralyse them, strike fear or adoration into their brains, or, at most extreme, turn one to stone. Though, the majority of the effects on any individual enemy would be drops to their stats, their speeds, their attacking power, and similar changes, and it was a slight tossup which effects struck.
Akira might have had a strange definition of making it quick.
Shovel Knight
The sounds of battle grew louder as Shovel Knight reentered the forest, though the dense foliage made it hard to see where everyone had went. The knight could see Nikki and Fjorm, high above the trees on Gazpacho. They were doing well, up until some sorcery assaulted their steed, knocking it out and sending both girls plummeting down.
"No!"
Shovel knight urged his Mobile Gear to move faster, sharply turning towards where the duo where falling. As he got closer, he witnessed another beast-one that faintly reminded him of the Troupple King-thankfully(?) gulp the three down, keeping them safe in it's mouth as it flew to ground level. Shovel Knight drove his mobile gear parallel to it and, once he got close enough, called out.
"Are you alright?" Shovel Knight asked, though he was unsure if they could even hear him from within the whale's mouth.
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