Lords of Creation (Story Thread 2)

[Tsubasa & Wen Tien]

A shield of darkness forms between Kagehana and the barrage as she moves to get a better aim on Aox. The shadows swirling around Kagenobara get thicker and start swirling faster than before.

(Total: 3 motes)

[Marvelous Miscreant]

This was the end game. It would all end here. But who would win? Aox threw whatever he had at Kagehana. Bombs, arrows, razor disks, knives, fire, mud, and scraps of metal.

[Tsubasa & Wen Tien]

It was ready. Time to end this.

Kagehana: "Walk upon the earth with speed, Give me all the strength I need. Stride!"

Kagehana swung Kagenobara while firing blasts f shadows to intercept all of the projectiles coming at her, as she cried, "Darkest Midnight Fang!" From Kagenobara's blade came a far more powerful crescent than before, more focused and precise heading towards Aox.

[Marvelous Miscreant]

Aox half tripped, half tackled the crescent of shadow. It sliced into his shoulder slightly before Aox's power pulled metal plates in to defend against it. Aox's body convulsed as he pushed against the attack. His eyes became blue star of intense light. A harsh glow encased his body as pushed harder and harder to survive.

Electric blue bolts crackled across his skin, cerulean flames erupted from his eyes and hands. Aox was burning through too much power to keep from being hurt. All at once he went critical. His body erupted with energy, sending a wave of azure flames rolling out in all directions. The ground cracked, the air began to smell of ozone and the sound of thunder echoed off the arena walls.

Then....silence.....and stillness.

Aox lay unconscious in the center of the arena. the ground compacted and charred in a perfect circle about him. his satchel was torn and its contents spilled out. His make-shift hand had fallen apart and begun to bleed again. Miraculously, the stick he had picked up was unharmed.

[Tsubasa & Wen Tien]

The end had come and was much more powerful than Kagehana had expected and now her opponent was on the ground, not moving. Was he dead or alive?

[Marvelous Miscreant]

As if to answer Kagehana's question Aox twitched and let out a shallow groan. He was alive, but barely.

[Tsubasa & Wen Tien]

Relieved, Kagehana walked over to Aox and put her hand on him, channeling healing magic through him to close up the wounds on his body that she could, but tied some cloth around the stump so that those better experienced than her could finish the healing. This was one opponent she'd honor forever.

[Philote]

"The match goes to Kagehana" Gilgamesh called "The next will begin after a short break."

As Gilgamesh spoke, Spirits of Healing entered the arena to treat and escort the heroes out. When he had finished speaking, Gilgamesh left his viewing box to take care of some matters.

[Tsubasa & Wen Tien]

With the Spirits of Healing having taken over the healing of Aox, Kagehana slips back to where Hikaru was with Wen Mai.

Kagehana: "So, what did you all think of that?"

Hikaru: "It felt like you were holding back on something. I wonder what it was."

Wen Mai: "She's got more matches, so maybe she just didn't want to show everything off?"

Hikaru: "No. It felt more like she couldn't fully control whatever it was she wanted to do."

Kagehana: "Maybe later, I'll show you two what it was, then you could help me work on it."

Hikaru & Wen Mai: "Absolutely!!!"

[Marvelous Miscreant]

Flashes of light, muffled murmurs, stabs of heat and pain. These came and went as Aox slipped in and out of semi-consciousness.  He was vaguely aware of the Spirits of Healing trying their best to stabilize him. He wasn't sure how much time had passed. A minute? An hour? A day? The only thing for certain was the ghostly feeling in his right hand. Somehow he knew it wasn't there anymore.

[Philote]

As Kagehana left the arena field, Gilgamesh revealed himself and towered over her.

"You should not take that which does not belong to you mortal" Gilgamesh snarled. Raising his armored hand, he pointed at Kagehana and Divine Energy ran through her and eventually through her artifact, the Clone-Blade, resetting the experience and knowledge it had collected and that she had gained to the state it held at creation (Inherent Smite).

When he was done, he turned to leave for other matters, leaving Kagehana dazed but unharmed. "You should be grateful that I want you to remain for the tournament" he says before vanishing.

[Zaleramancer]

"Think he's dead?" Said a light voice that seemed to stumble over words.

"Nah. He's breathin'. Doesn't look to good though." Answered a more mellow, accented voice.

"Should we take the stick?"

"What? Moron! We can't take the stick. He has the stick now. He'd have to give it back."

"Why didn't he use it? I thought he was supposed to be a egg-head."

"Didn't know how. Guess we'll have to keep pokin' him in the right direction 'til he gets it working."

"Oh yay! I'm sooo excited to be baby-sitting."

"Good to see you're takin' this well."

Silence spread across Aox's room as the voices drifted off in heated argument.

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

"Did you see that? What did he do, can you tell what he did?" Pessimal was talking quickly, "Anyone? Anyone?"

"No clue." Said Torbin, readjusting a few knobs. Pessimal stared at him.

"You got it?"
"Yep"
"You are so God damn talented. I am so glad I found you!"

Meanwhile, on the other side of the arena, non-eyes regarded the whole affair with with a mixture of horror and frustration.

"Damn it, Gil. Why did you have to go and open up this can of worms?" he said under his breath.

[Mik_Hael]

The effect was immediate, infinite darkness stretched forward, along with a feeling of encroaching numbness and cold, after what felt like several seconds of this a sensation of being thrust through a dense liquid was felt, beginning at the head and spreading to the feet until suddenly the entire body was subject to being back in open air, blaring light. they were all still in the grand hall, but things were different, the heroes were still standing in the exact locations they had been moments before, but were... hollow, almost like puppets copying movements instead of the actual being.

Dephos: (speaking in common) Alright, were in. This is a realm created by the memories of the artifact itself, currently we're possessing memories of ourselves in order to move through the environment as we please,  Mik Hael should be further in towards the actual processor...Be warned, originally, this feature was intended to allow for a neutral zone in which the god's could communicate, but it was abandoned after the creation of Spectral city...inside of here we are no more powerful than mortals, but memories of all of things in this land reside inside. Now, let us go forth.

[Tsubasa & Wen Tien]

Kagehana: "I'm going to do some training. Want to come along, Hikaru? Wen Mai?"

Hikaru: "I do, but aren't you worried about the others? And shouldn't you be worried about whatever happened just now?"

Kagehana: "No, I have a plan for what to do about that and as for the others, well Nayotake and Taro can take care of themselves."

Wen Mai: "I'll stay here. I want to listen to the fights a bit more."

Hikaru: "Ok, then. Mr. Pessimal, I leave Wen Mai in your care. Make sure you describe the fights to her."

Hikaru and Kagehana walk off to where the training will commence for Kagehana.

[Marvelous Miscreant]

Crav had left once Aox had been carried away for medical care. How could he have been so foolish. He had dropped an inventor into a warrior's contest and for what? To prove the power of Crafting? It had all been foolish. Now, Aox had lost his hand. Aox was an inventor, his hands were his livelihood.

Crav soon found himself sitting atop Castle von Trapt. He brooded, mulling over his poor decisions and the consequences of his action. In his deep thought, he let down his guard. Slowly, his divine power slipped out as he thought. The power seeped slowly into Castle von Trapt. And as Crav contemplated Aox's condition and his grievances towards it, Castle von Trapt began to change. It was absorbing Crav's divine power and his desperate thoughts.

Suddenly, Crav was snapped out of his deep thoughts as the Castle below him shifted on its own. It had come alive. It had become a god. (-12 motes. 15 left)

"What have I done?" Crav exclaimed as his floated down to the ground.

[Philote]

Motes Left: 1

Gilgamesh and Bahamut  took advantage of the break in the tournament to quickly return to their lands.

Bahamut returned to the site where he had been releasing new Myths into the world and strengthening them over several visits so that they could thrive without his interference. As his final act, he would create one more Mythical Creature to finish off his work and return to the tournament. This Mythical Creature would be known as the VoidWalker, a creature that would look like a living shadow but was truly the absence of all (Inherent Create Mythical Creature). Some of the VoidWalker's traits would be its incredibly high defenses and its hunger.

Gilgamesh flew once around his island and saw that everything was in order before turning and flying high into the sky. As he flew up he was greeted by a portal. Lore was releasing his creation into the world upon Gilgamesh's orders. A floating island covered in clouds (Inherent Create Terrain/Create Weather). The land would be so high in the sky, that even mortals with the ability to fly would have difficulty reaching it, not to mention finding it as it was hidden in the clouds. On top of the island, Gilgamesh placed a vault that would serve as the entrance to his newest plane. The Plane of Trials, which would also be known as the Vault of the Titans (-12 motes, Create Plane). This plane would would create a trial that mortals could test themselves against. To ensure that the trials would remain a challenge, Gilgamesh placed the spirit of a titan within the Plane (Create Life). Inside the Plane, Gilgamesh would place a Divine Artifact, the Chest of the Titans, that would create a reward for any mortal that could pass the trial, but that would otherwise be hidden by the Plane (-12, Create Divine Artifact). The reward would be an item of high quality or value that could also be sacrificed to gain favor with Gilgamesh's people.

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Balasar lead his men through the city on their raid. Several had already fallen to their blades and their bags were only half full with loot. The thought of the previous massacre on his group was no longer in his head.

Now it was time for the second phase of their plan. Balasar opened his mouth and breathed out his poisoned breath down into one of the town's many wells, polluting its water, and signalling that it was time for his men to do the same. As they finished looting a zone, they would breath out their poison, having it corrupt the food and water and cling to the very walls.
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When Gilgamesh and Bahamut had finished, they used a series of portals of the Genasi Plane again and returned back to the tournament. As he passed through Spectropolis, Gilgamesh uses his own Divine Power to place rumors of the Vault of the Titans in the citizen's heads.

When he finally returns to his viewing booth, Gilgamesh calls out "It is now time for the match between Tyran and an unnamed hero to begin."

[Marvelous Miscreant]

Aox awoke slowly. He groaned as a dull pain crushed his chest and again as a sharp stab of heat shot up his right arm. It took all his strength to turn his head to look down at his arm. He knew it wasn't there, but he was still shocked to see his hand missing. He lay still for a moment contemplating the stub that was the end of his arm.

"I've failed.......failed." Aox mummered. Then he thought for a moment. It didn't matter. Aox wasn't the same man he was before the tournament. He had faced death and lived. He could get stronger. He would get stronger. He vowed to train himself.

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

'Yes, of course. I'll do this work to the best of my ability." Pessimal said. "However, what exactly did happen just now?" he called after them.

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

"What have you done?" Said a voice, in a way that let you know exactly how hard the owner was smiling.