Lords of Creation (Story Thread 2)

[Zaleramancer]

"Junior. Nice to meet you, this is an awesome city." Hazet Jr said as he excitedly shook the Watchman's hand.

[Zaleramancer]

The angry crow continued to wait for the annoying gods to leave..

And wait.. and wait..

It lost it's patience. The angry crow dived towards the crystals.

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

"Ah, thank you. You should cone back when it's actually inhabited. I have great plans for this city."

The Watchman took a good look at the boy.

"You look familiar, are you sure we've never met?" he asked junior

[Mik_Hael]

Grace: I guess someone has to hold down the fort, so to speak..yes, I'll stay behind and watch over things.

Dephos: "Very well, I was going to propose the same thing myself, Juggler, Archiver, Gardenery, and Acrobat you shall come with us, the ability that you have in controlling the elements in tanddem with your creation as spirit races should allow for the greatest advantage in the chas. 1,2,3,4, Ace, and Merna, you all shall stay behind."

1: Wait! Why can't we come along and help?

2: I conccur, our abilites should provide more than a siginficant advantage.

Ace: The gargoyles right, you need someone in the group that can handle themselves in a.......

Dephos: A short blast of creation energy followed by more flaming letters, "You shall remain behind because other than the four you have little training in the realms of spirit and memory, and in case we are lost in the chaos, we will require a beacon, you all do remember the first time that Mik Hael "Tested" this artifact's capabilities, do you not?

Group silence:....

Dephos: "I shall derive that as confirmation. Now come, we do not have time to waste."

[Zaleramancer]

Junior stared at the Watchman, then squinted for a moment.

"I.. don't think so. I think I'd remember a guy in a mask like that."

[Marvelous Miscreant]

Aox acted fast. I pulled another pot from his bag, this one was painted white. He pitched it with precision into the oncoming attack. As soon as it left his hands Aox slipped a pair of polarized lenses into his goggles.

The two attacks collided, the blast ignited the white pot and the phosphorus inside. The resulting blast of white hot light was so intense it blinded a few of the onlookers and turned the field into a white canvas of brilliance as every shadow was banished. Aox used this cover of light too dash forward, his hook blade at the ready. He approached Kagehana and attacked, wincing in pain as his leg wound shot slivers of pain up his nerves.

[Tsubasa & Wen Tien]

Kagehana winced as the light blinded her temporarily, but blindly fighting wasn't as hard as most people would think... It just took a lot of training and she'd often made it so that it was completely dark for that reason when everyone had trained in the underground training area, though the Twin Heroes had made the ground very slippery with ice to knock everyone unconscious from hitting their heads on the ground, so they'd learned quickly to keep their balance when blinded. Thus when Aox dashed forward (not too quietly) to attack with the hook-blade, Kagehana had already hardened her armor of shadows that she'd maintained throughout the battle to make any attck that he made less effective and countered, slashing out with the Clone-Blade in the direction of Aox's attack.

[Marvelous Miscreant]

Aox just managed to parry the Clone-blade as it arched towards him. The sound of metal on metal screeched harshly as the blades moved down each others' lengths. As the Clone-Blade reached the hooked end of Aox's blade, Aox pulled as hard as he could then came in with a right hook, His hand closed in an awkward fist.

[Tsubasa & Wen Tien]

Kagehana held on to the Clone-Blade creating a string of darkness to keep it from flying out of her grip. As she does so, she starts to draws from its sheath, Kagenobara. At that point, Aox's fist hits her and her head flies back as she moves fast to grab Aox's hand and kick him simultaneously.

[Marvelous Miscreant]

Aox lets go completely, going completely limp. He had done his part and took the kick with a grimace. He tried to manage a swipe at Kagehana with his blade.

[Tsubasa & Wen Tien]

Kagehana finally regains her sight and blocks the hook-blade with the Clone-Blade while pulling out Kagenobara and using it to keep Aox from moving his other arm, saying "Do you yield, Aox?"

[Marvelous Miscreant]

Aox starts to chuckle, through pained breaths. He reached into his pocket and pulls out a match, he strikes it quickly. As it blooms into life, he tosses it at Kagehana. That last punch hadn't been intended to do any damage by itself. Aox's fist had been clumsy for a reason. He had grabbed a handful of explosive gel and smeared on Kagehana as he struck her.

Now, as the match flipped through the air, Aox grinned. He knew he didn't have much of a chance at winning in the first place. At least he'd go out with a bang. The match struck the gel, and ignited.

"Boom..." whispered Aox as he leaned back.

[Tsubasa & Wen Tien]

As she saw the match fly through the air, Kagehana covered her whole body with the shadow armor, solidifying it to withstand the fire, not expecting the explosion, but the explosion wasn't enough to destroy the armor fully, blasting away part of it. The explosion burnt part of Kagehana's face, but she continued standing as she channelled mana to the wound to heal it as the Tanuki had taught her. She repeated her question as her face healed and she put Kagenobara his hand to pin it, "Do you yield, Aox?"

[Marvelous Miscreant]

Aox did no answer. The blast had thrown him into the ground where he lay motionless. He was breathing, but just barely. He moaned and shifted slightly. It was clear he had been severely injured. His hand had been coated in the the gel as well, and had not fared well after the blast. His hand was gone, and a bloody stump was all that remained.

(I've still got a trick up my sleeve.)

[Marvelous Miscreant]

Crav watched the match with intensity. To any one else it would seem Aox had all but lost, but Crav knew better.

"C'mon Aox, dig deep. Use my gift. Use it...." Crav muttered under his breath.

[Tsubasa & Wen Tien]

Kagehana: "No answer? I see. I'll repeat once more: Do you yield?"

She reforms the shadow armor once more around her body as the shadows swirl around both Kagenobara and the Clone-Blade.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

(Zero [0] motes + three [3] X seven [7] or twenty-one [21], due to seven daily allotments, leaves me with twenty-one [21] motes)

The end of the day seemed nowhere in sight, despite the actual time. Acrobats, athletes, comedians, poets, singers, dancers, artists and many more entertainers made the stage an amazing sight. Not to mention, those who had been closest to Uburra-Namall's effects were inspired first, and had time to practice longer, and may even have been affected by the goddess's power more, and so the very last talents to come up were absolutely amazing.

The latest act to come up? A stage magician, by the name Fandas. He had found ways to make people levitate, disappear and more. Graceful, charismatic, and quite the looker, the purple-skinned, blue-haired master of illusion kept the crowds in awe of his quite entertaining skills.

"And now," He said, in a smooth, sultry voice, "I would like to call up an assistant."

The crowd cheered wildly for him, and all volunteered excitedly. From their ranks, he called up a pretty girl with lime-green skin and deep-red hair. He handed her a pad and a small pencil.

"Write on this."

"Wh-what do I put?" The girl blushed at Fandas' winning smile.

"Anything", he narrowed his gaze amorously, "Anything at all that comes to your mind..."

The girl looked at him, and when she could take her eyes off his well-toned body, she finally thought of her message, scribbling it down with a girlish giggle. She took her paper, and handed him back the pad when she was done. Fandas turned away from the girl dramatically, putting on his forehead the back of the hand that held the pad.

To the crowd he spoke dramatically, "Now, don't say a word, folks. With help from the very realms of the divine, I shall attempt to work my psychic powers, and divulge from this pretty girl the answer as to what is on this here piece of paper."

He was silent, and his closed eyes made his face seem meditative. The crowd, too, fell silent. What psychic insight would he glean from the beyond? Perhaps she had written down a piece of lyric, a rhyme. Maybe a small doodle. Maybe a recipe for some food? A childhood memory? Some steamy fantasy about Fandas?

As though to grant some psychic wish, to quell their curiosity, a voice came out of the crowd's nowheres.

"MONSTER!" the crowd gasped, shocked mainly because the voice did not come from Fandas or the girl who had volunteered to help him. Curious murmuring began.

"Um..." Fandas took down the pad from his forehead, when he had made out the faint impression the girl had left on the pad, "A-actually, it was a heart-shape. Like a symbol of love?"

"No! I mean there's a monster in town!"

"How do you know?" came another voice; Draias pushed his way through politely, to the source of the voice, a young brown teenaged boy.

"It...it killed my father!"

The townspeople became collectively worried, and he asked the boy to lead him to the scene.

Fandas' act was over.

[Tsubasa & Wen Tien]

Hikaru watched from the stands, describing the battle as fast as she could to Wen Mai. The battle looked to be going in Kagehana's favor, but she felt like there was something Kagehana hadn't used yet, because she couldn't use it well and her opponent hadn't used something either for some reason. The question on both was: What were they not using?

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

"So we just, touch it, right?" The Babysitter says, walking cautiously up to the crystal.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

Draias immediately rallied his crew together to make way to the house of the young boy, who was inconsolable. A part of the crowd, that hadn't been paralyzed with worry, followed Draias to see what all the fuss was about.

And when they arrived, there would be only more questions.

A pair of red and blue twins rushed out of the brown boy's house, still bereaved at the sight they had found. Draias made his way through them, to take a look at the crime scene. What he found made his blood run cold.

The victim had a large hole where his heart used to be, and had nearly bled out on the floor. The room had not been roughed up to the point of irreparable chaos, but it was obvious that it had been disturbed. Draias knelt down, patted the children on their heads compassionately, and sent them to stay with their aunt for now. Their mother had gone away on family business, and so she would be notified as soon as possible.

The crowd was stunned at the scene, and accompanied him eagerly as he returned to his home lab. But, before he got the chance to go inside, and get started with his investigation, there came yet more dismayed cries.

Draias rushed out and caught a glimpse, though the crowd, of a panicked teenager. From the torso up, he was blue; from the waist down, he was red. He hurried and ducked into the crowd to make his way to Draias. No time for politeness.

"PLEASE, help, somebody, quick! My friends! They're all...HELP!"

And after him, as Draias' crew continued to pack, came a trio of friends; Linessa, Rox and Gosso.

"We just came from a neighbor's house." Rox frowned, stifling back tears.

Gosso said, his voice shaky, "They...were killed. Robbed, too. And the house next door to them."

The crowd became yet more afraid. It seemed that all chaos was breaking loose. They would have to do something. But...Draias couldn't do it all at once. And his crew seemed a bit short-staffed for the situation at hand. He would need help.

And he would get no shortage of volunteers. Among those chosen, Rox, Linessa, Gosso, a few stronger men to help with physical labor, a few who would lend their dogs to the investigation, a few who would provide food and refreshments, a few who would scout and help spread the word to neighboring towns...and Fandas, whose winning charisma and seeming knack for the supernatural assured the crowd (despite Draias' constant protest) that he would be one of the best assets to the team.

The team was ragtag, the investigator had to admit, but it would have to do for now. Zai the Thinker and his comrades had yet to return from their ambassador mission to Spectropolis. And so, with that...they were out to track down whoever had resolved to scare up (or do in) their quaint little town.