Board Thread:Roleplay/@comment-34100315-20180826180401/@comment-26892768-20180828233921

"That thing in the sky-"

Valeena then makes contact, crashing into the street below and throwing up a cloud of dust.

"...which has now crashed into the road..."

It starts off with a chuckle, then a cackle, until Valeena hovers out of the crater she made, laughing like mad as purple energy runs through her form.

"...and is very clearly a supervillain." Mack's face turns into a grimace as he pulls his sword out. "Goddammit."

''"Greetings, people of this miserable world!" ''Valeena calls, subtly using her magic to amplify her voice. "I come to you from the great beyond, sent by power your feeble little minds couldn't possibly comprehend! But do not misunderstand; I was not the one wielding this power...for you see, I am simply a harbringer of someone far greater, someone with far greater power than I...Skeleton King!"

And with that, Valeena's amulet projects an image of the King himself - a menacing figure in black, his head merely a crystalline skull wearing a war-helmet.

''"Once a mere mortal like you an I, he evolved into something far greater, and now he wreaks his vengeance among the living!" ''As Valeena continues talking, her amulet starts to glow brightly, and two figures in ragged black robes fly out of it, their only discernable features being their withered, whitish-blue hands. "So, I say to you, rejoice! Today is the day you become part of a far greater legacy than yourself could ever achieve, as I will conquer this world in his na-"

Valeena then notices something - a burst of energy heading right for her. She throws up a shield to block the shot, and then turns wildly to her audience, glaring. "WHO DARES!?"

"That would be me." Mack steps forward. "So, ignoring the cliche 'I'm going to take over the world' routine - really, I only know one guy that's gotten close - gonna ask you a quick question...are you with the Syndicate of Malice?"

Mack then has to jump out of the way of a purple beam that Valeena sends his way.

"I'm going to take that as a no." Mack grunts. "So, in other words, anything I do here is completely justified..."

Mack charges towards Valeena. Valeena's response is to tilt her head back before whipping it forward, letting loose a swarm of flying skulls with bat wings from her mouth.

"Okay, that is-" Mack finds he doesn't have time to finish, as he has to cut through the swarm of bat-skulls swarming him.

Valeena looks over to the Wraiths she summoned, and nods. The two ghostly beings head towards the fleeing crowd, ready to start spreading...

"...ah. Well, good day, then!" Oren turns around to face Mitsuzane and Jonouchi. "Ima, sore wa anata nanidesu ka..."

Oren trails off as he finally notices the sign, Mitsuzane giving the grown man a deadpan stare.

Oren cries out in surprise and shock, clutches his chest, and falls over.

"Baka..." Mitsuzane shakes his head...and then he stops, noticing something.

Screaming. A crash. The sounds of a rampage.

''"Sore wa nanidesu ka!?" ''Jonouchi yells, pointing at the cause.

The cause is something monstrous. Some sort of muscular, humanoid creatue; it's held together by blue "stitches" that look suspiciously like fangs, and it's body parts alternate between yellow skin and brown scales. It's black and red eyes are filled with hatred and cunning, and rather than a convenional mouth, it's head simply splits open down the middle at one point, the hole in the stitches acting as a "mouth."

"Yes, run! Run for your miserable lives! I may not know how my powers returned, but now that I am fully restored, all will fear the wrath of 'Morphos!" 'The creature roars.

Mitsuzane turns to the others. "Go! Run!"

And then he runs towards the scene, putting on a belt of some kind and a lock with the image of a grape.

"Budou!"

Morphos turns towards Mitsuzane as the youth stands there, a rip in reality unzipping itself as what appears to be a giant metal bunch of grapes descends from it.

"Huh? What is this supposed to be?" Morphos asks.

Mitsuzane puts in the lock.

"Lock On!"

Then he presses down on the knife on the right side of the belt, causing it to split open the lock.

'"Hai~!" 'The metal grape bunch drops onto Mitsuzane's head, causing armor to materialize over his body as it unfolds into further armor for his chest and shoulders. "Budou Arms! Ryu! Hou! Ha ha ha!"

Morphos blinks, slightly surprised.

"Armored Rider Ryugen." Mitsuzane, or rather, Ryugen, answers, pointing a grape themed gun at Morphos.

"Armored rider..." Morphos trails off into laughter. "Is that what you call yourself? And what is your plan to defeat me, exactly? Use the power of grapes? Because I'm sure you'll be just as easy to crush as one!"

Morphos charges, roaring. Ryugen simply pulls back the handle on the back of the gun and blasts Morphos with purple spheres of energy, causing the creature to rear back and cry out in pain.

Morphos rubs his eyes, and when he looks, Ryugen is gone.

"Where-" Morphos hears the gunshot and blocks it with his arm; Ryugen fired at him, using some debree caused by Morphos' rampage as cover. While blocking it with the arm hurt, it isn't enough to send him reeling like last time, allowing Morphos to track Ryugen as he runs and then jump to his next hiding place.

''"Let's see how you like it!" Morphos grabs Ryugen, and his chest opens up to reveal a bright blue tentacle that latches onto Ryugen's belt and starts to do...something.''

Knowing it can't be any good, Ryugen tries to use his gun to pistol whip the tentacle, but to no avail. Desperate, Ryugen puts away the gun and pulls out a sword, using that to slice through the tentacle, causing Morphos to let go and roar in pain.

Ryugen grins under his helmet, thinking that he prevented Morphos from pulling off whatever it was he was trying to do...up until Morphos starts laughing.

"You were too late the moment I started..." Morphos then roars, the stitches in his right shoulder opening up and allowing blue tendrils to form something new, and at the same time, his right arm glows blue, breaking apart to reveal a horrid new form...

Ryugen gasps as the transformation finishes.

Morphos' right shoulder is now covered in armor resembling the unfolded Budou arms, and his right arm is now a twisted version of Ryugen's, ending in a dragon's head with a barrel that suspiciously resembles the one of Ryugen's gun sticking out of it's mouth.

"Hmmm...odd. It usually turns into a perfect replica..." Morphos remarks, inspecting the arm before looking back at Ryugen and...for lack of a better word, grins. "But I'm sure that won't change how effective it is!"

He aims at Ryugen, who manages to snap out of his shock fast enough to dodge the barrage of purple energy spheres Morphos fires at him. Thing is, Ryugen finds that he has to keep running, because Morphos doesn't relent; continuously firing at him as he laughs maniacally.

And Oren and Jonouchi just...watch.

Once upon a time, they might've joined the fight, but...

Oren sighs, pulling out a belt that looks similar to Ryugen - it even has a lock in it, this one with the image of a Durian...but the difference is glaringly obvious. Mainly, a large gash that runs through both the driver and the Lockseed, rendering both completely useless.

Shovel Knight and Shield Knight continue walking through the wilds, up until...

"This is peculiar..." Shovel Knight remarks, examining where Nepeta landed. "It looks like a traveler or some manner of adventurer fell here, but I am not sure how; there's no signs that anyone climbed these trees."

"It's the same over here." Shield Knight looks over where Roxy landed, before glancing at Nepeta's landing spot. "...although whoever landed over there was clearly conscious. I'm noticing a few broken branches in the nearby trees here, and combined with the impact..."

"Ah." Shovel Knight nods, heading over and looking at the trees. "And no sign of anyone climbing up here either...this is quite the mystery! One we'll have to solve later, unfortunately...let's move onward, shall-"

"Are those tracks?" Shield Knight asks, pointing to the ground.

Shovel Knight looks over. "...they are...good eye, my love! Should we follow?"

Shield Knight nods. "One of them could be injured - we could at least offer assistance."

"Very well, then! Onward!" And thus, the two knights proceed to follow the tracks.

And at Ten-Carat Hill, a rather different group has finished following a trail.

"The trail leads here, I know it..." A tall Egyptian - well, the equivalent in her world, anyway - woman in revealing, Egyptian-themed clothing mutters under her breath, looking around.

"Well, I hope it leads here! You've been dragging us all over this place just because you think you found some really good blood." One of the woman's two bodyguards - a tall man with black fur and a dog's head - grumbles, his white suit considerably more torn, dirtied, and charred than it was when he got here. "I mean, seriously, what is with the animals in this place! I mean, I'll follow you anywhere, boss, but this is kinda pushing it."

"Trust me...I'll make sure it's worth it." The woman, otherwise known as Eliza - or, in her past, Neferu, or the Crimson Scourge - smirks, before pinpointing exactly where the smell of the peculiar blood was coming from and pointing. "There. Her."

"Her? You mean it ain't one of them..." The dog-like bodyguard, Albus, trails off as he sees exactly who Eliza is pointing to - the Condesce. "...that is a big fish lady."

"If you think that is big, you haven't seen the Gigans in their heyday." Eliza remarks. "But that's besides the point. I know for a fact she's the source of that...delicious-smelling blood."

"Very interesting...but, forgive me for questioning you my lady; how, exactly, do you plan on getting the blood?" The other bodyguard, a falcon-like fellow named Horace, asks, adjusting his glasses. "I'm sure you can't just ask politely."

"Well, it's possible that I could...but my real plan is simply to get to know her." Eliza responds. "Strike up a conversation, act friendly...get close enough that I could get a taste of that blood."

"...so...strike up a conversation with the giant fish lady with the two-ended trident?" Albus echoes.

"Feel free to stay behind if you like - I'm perfectly fine with just having some girl talk." Eliza remarks. "But if you'll excuse me..."

And then Eliza just walks off, heading for the Condesce.

The two bodyguards look at each other after a moment.

"We should stop her." Albus states.

"Indeed." Horace nods in agreement.

Neither guard moves.

"...you're about as willing as I am to get close to the fish lady, aren't you?" Albus realizes.

"As willing as I am to protect mistress Eliza, my wish to protect her is conflicting with my self-preservation instincts." Horace sighs. "A shame. If this plan ends up in the death of the mistress, I will never-"

"Okay, so how about we just settle who goes after the boss the old fashioned way?" Albus proposes.

Horace looks at Albus' hands. "You can't be serious."

Albus' hands are in position - a fist over a flat palm. "Rock Paper Scissors. Three rounds. Loser has to go get the boss away from the probably murderous fish lady. You in?"

"Is there really no other, more...sophisticated method to settle this?" Horace asks.

"Does it look like I got a poker deck on me?" Albus retorts. "Besides, this is also the quickest way. You in?"

Horace thinks for a moment...and then sighs in defeat, holding a fist above an open palm. "Fine."

The two beat their fists against their palms.

"Rock, paper, scissors-"