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"Is it that time already?" Lopt sat up as he heard the gentle melody at the beginning of the alarm. As always, it would be quickly followed by what the shifter could only describe as the sounds of Helheim itself. Every morning, the same routine. At least he didn't have to wake up to that dreadful noise, unlike the others. Well, maybe they also rarely slept. Or never slept. All the same, his heart went out to whoever had to endure that cruel joke. Slithering out of bed, his lower half was revealed to be that of a snake as he stretched, shifting back to more humanoid legs. Kicking them a little as if to get used to wearing shoes, he looked himself over, shifting a simple suit onto his body. Nothing too fancy, but enough to make him look like a well-off merchant or so. Fashion changed so much over time, so he had to keep up with looks if he wanted to blend in. But blending in alone was too ordinary. You still had to stand out a bit if you wanted to enjoy life, no? He turned his right hand into a mirror so that he could see the top of his head, adjusting the ears just so, before turning his hand back to normal with a whistle. Perfect. Though, wouldn't it be rather boring if he simply arrived on time? What was that phrase that had come into vogue fairly recently... "Fashionably late"? Yes, that would be it. He would be fashionably late. After all, he was here of his own accord. Why did he need to show up when he was told to? ----- "My, my, we have quite the group, don't we? However did he keep us all separated for so long?" Lopt made his presence known as he entered the room, speaking with a slightly posh accent. While he was mostly giving lip service, there was quite a diversity. Another sharply dressed man with a gag who floated above his seat, a large being in a cloak, a short girl and a raven, a shy boy with a thick accent, another boy with horns, and a pair of animal jaeger. By the looks of it... A cat and a wolf? What a curious pairing that was. Maybe he would start with them. But first... "I am Lopt Solbjorg. I imagine that few, if any of you, have introduced yourselves yet out of fear... So allow me to be the first to extend a hand of camaraderie." As Lopt bowed with a pleasant smile on his face, he was barely suppressing the urge to laugh. What a farce. He had no problems making partnerships as needed, but did these people expect to become true allies? Friends? No, humans and Jaeger alike were too given to backstabbing for their own personal gain. However, it seemed like fun to play along, if not lead the notion by the nose, for now. "I was recruited a few months back by our dear benefactor, and I'm quite looking forward to learning whatever it is we've been gathered for." He continued before taking a seat next to Lucine, extending a hand to her for a shake, like a good dog. "Nice to meet you. As well as you, Miss Cat."

With Ari and Kazo both attacking Zekrom at once, hopefully one of the two would hit. It was probably too much to ask that both of them would hit, but if they did then that'd be even better. Thankfully, the Litleo actually managed to hit, though he didn't draw much more than a grunt from the legendary. Which was...not surprising, but still. If only I were stronger. "That's right, keep going, you three are doing perfect!" Zekrom, on the other hand, seemed to think he was doing pretty well. As he turned to attack Kazo, sending him flying to the side, Mac came in with her own combo of attacks, causing Zekrom to praise them again. Ari wasn't sure how to feel about this, their opponent praising them instead of trashtalking them, but...it felt good. Mac seemed to be uncomfortable with it though. "Better than trashtalking!" Ari said as he raced forward, choosing to use a different attack this time: Return. He felt like, he had grown strong enough that maybe, he could actually use this move right. -- "I'm attackin you, stupid broad." The Huntail said, though his following words were cut off by the Moonblast "Yes, but you were originally attacking--" Easter found his own words cut off by his surprise at seeing Dora's Water Gun hit the other gijinka in the face. He seemed rather frustrated by that, diving forward, jaws opening wide in an annoyingly familiar move. "Oh, not this again," the Sylveon sighed, choosing to draw on his more physical repertoire of moves. Basic attacks. Crouching down, he jumped up, extending his leg to kick the gijinka in the side of the face. Watching the man crash into the bottom of the bubble, like a true gentleman, he waited for the gijinka to look up. And see the Moonblast he had finished charging while the other recovered. "Say goodnight," he grinned. A minute later, Easter had just finished throwing the Huntail's prone form outside the bubble to join the rest of the trash. "Oh, you got one thing wrong," he called out. "I'm not a broad. And I'm not broad at all, either. I'd say I'm rather thin, actually." He turned to the others, still bleeding from a dozen places, creating a ghastly figure. "All in a day's work, hmm?" -- It was amusing listening to Zapdos call Randy crazy, and honestly, he probably would have agreed a while back. Actually I might still agree with this. The legendary herself seemed pretty chill. His type of wahine, if it weren't for the fact, that, well, she was a legendary. That was aiming a bit above his level. Or more than a bit. Still, it wasn't the time to think about that kind of stuff anyway. The gijinka approached her fellow legendary, crushing the berries to a pulp in her hand and dripping the juice into the other's mouth. Thankfully, this seemed to do the trick, as her eyes fluttered open with a slight whimper. Zapdos looked back at Keanu. "Wish I had something to thank y-." She paused and snapped her finger. "I got it." She held her hand out. In it was a greenish-yellow stone with a lightning bolt shape etched into it. "If you wanna get stronger this thing can help." Keanu stared down at the stone with mixed feelings. For so long, he had fought against the idea that Pikachu had to evolve if they wanted to get anywhere. "Pikachu can't surf," he'd been told over and over. "You should just evolve if you want to surf." But he had found a mentor in Puka, and learned to surf without relying on evolution. Not to mention, as a Pikachu, I'll still be growing, learning new moves, growing faster and faster. But as a Raichu, that's it. You reach your peak and then stop. Before, he would never have even considered evolving. Now, however. Now, he had people he had to protect, and evolving...it might just give him the edge he needed. I used to think speed was the end all, be all, but now I understand what Kai meant earlier. You can run forever, and live, but is that truly living? I don't think so, not anymore. He smiled. I don't need to run away anymore. "Yeah, this will definitely make me stronger," he said, stretching out his hand and grasping the stone and sending Zapdos a smile and a wink. "Thank you very much." BGM As soon as the Pikachu touched the stone, he began to glow. Brighter and brighter, so bright it was hard to watch. At the center of it all, Keanu wasn't quite sure how he felt. It reminded him of the last time he evolved. His body ached all over, and as the light faded he realized he had changed. The ground was a little further away than it was before, and his feet felt a little heavier on the ground. As he stood there in thought he felt something unfamiliar brush against his back. Turning around, the gijinka saw that his tail, which was formerly more like a some sort of serrated flag than anything else, had changed as well. It started as a long, whip-like cord ending in a giant lightning bolt shape. The balance felt off, and it seemed to take twice, no three times the effort to move it around. How in the Tapu did any Raichu handle lugging around such big tails? Immediately afterward, there was a sort of...flicker in his mind? That was the best way to describe it. As if he had glimpsed an idea, an answer, to this very question. Except as soon as he focused on that idea, the thought slipped away like a fish. Groaning, the Pikachu--no, Raichu now, looked himself over. There were a lot of emotions running through his head, such as shock, awe, slight disappointment at how heavy his tail was, and some nostalgia. The last time he had seen a Raichu was...his mother. Now, it felt like he was living for her, becoming a fighter just like her, and evolving, just like her. Though he knew he wasn't. He wasn't anybody but himself, after all. "Auē," he said shortly, revealing nothing of the churning feelings beneath. "Wow. Huh, I evolved. Pretty neat." He ran a hand through his hair, pausing when he realized even his hair felt different. The spikes were still there, but there were also a pair of soft, bouncy curls as well. This will take a while to get used to.

It was early in the morning, as Wada stood at the outskirts of his forest. He leaned forward on his giant mallet, taking in the view of the orange sky lighting up the valley. He could see the old cottage that he once called his home off in the distance - to think, it wasn't all that long ago that he was there chasing the odd mouse that appeared. Sometimes he thought about going back there, but he knew his future was out in the world. He had lives to protect, and that would be difficult to do in the middle of nowhere. He let out a sigh, leaning more into the mallet. He had just learned about his new home, and it hurt to leave it behind just as soon as he had left his old home. But he remembered what that Jekyll fellow told him. "You know, that mallet of yours is a sign. A sign of your destiny." His words rang in Wada's head, the boy grinning as he turned towards the sun. This was his destiny. He stood up straight, tossing his hammer on his shoulder with some effort. Today was the day he was suppose to go to A.R.C.H. Truth be told, he was nervous. He hadn't really talked to many people or Jaeger alike, and one of those persons he beat up. "Well, it's like 'pa always said - there ain't no time like the present." He said, taking his first steps forwards, before sliding down the hill. The future was now. Wada was nervous, almost as nervous as he was on the day he left home. Apparently, he had not been the only one recruited by Mr. Jekyll. On one hand, it was rather exciting to be part of a team like this, but it was also nerve wrecking. He wasn't even sure if the others would know who he was - what if the humans got angry at him for being a Peach Fae? The other fairies had warned him about humans, but Mr. Jekyl seemed nice. He remembered the big ugly red man that had attacked his forest, however, and his doubts came creeping back. "Cmon Wada, snap out of it!" He said, shaking his head. "Everythin's gon be fine." He told himself, taking a deep breath. "Everythin's gon be fine..." Wada entered the room, seeing he was the last one to come in, as someone was in the middle of introducing themselves. A rather posh sounding fellow by the name of Lopt, who seemed nice enough. He noticed that there were some people, but they had some animals parts on them. Wada froze for a second - were the two of them hunters? He knew the humans liked to hunt, but he never thought they'd wear their prey like clothing - let alone their ears. But it looked like the parts were coming off of them... maybe they were part beast!? "Woah..." He said, before realizing that he had been staring at the two for a bit too long. "A-Ah! I should introduce m'self!" He said, placing his hammer on the ground and leaning on it. "The name's Wada. That Jekyl fella brought me here to join A.R.C.H. and protect people!" He said, taking a look around the room. He wasn't sure what else to say so, awkwardly, he took the nearest empty seat.

You can post it in the regular CC section IMO. Ritual Pendulums may not have precedence but it's not that much of an unrealistic concept, IMO. The only weird thing I see here is the "Ritual Summon itself" effect, but that can be solved with a more proper wording. I would go for something like: Tribute monsters from your hand or field whose total Levels equal 7 or more, then Ritual Summon 1 "Performance of the Garma Sword" from your Pendulum Zone. You can even make the effect more flexible by including the hand. As for the monster effect, the protection seems too strong because it gives the monster so many lives depending on how many Ritual Spells/Monsters you run, also the first effect is unclear and I see different interpretations: 1. All monsters Special Summoned between the activation of this effect and the opponent's next EP have their effects negated, permanently. 2. All monsters Special Summoned after this effect's activation have their effects negated, but the negation wears off at the opponent's next EP. Inherently, monsters Special Summoned after that EP won't be affected by the negation. 3. Maybe you intended for a combination of both, where it negates all monster Special Summoned between the effect's activation and the opponent's next EP, and for the negation to only last until said opponent's EP. Depending on your intent, I can suggest a text fix for the effect. Those issues aside, the effects look fine to me. Not sure what you mean with not knowing what to do with the effect. If you mean looking for a more flavorful effect, well that's tough since neither Performance nor Garma have effects to tie them with.

Elsie had spent the night dreaming of clear skies and gentle breezes. Because that was what happened when you had a raven familiar. If it wasn’t a dream with ominous and foreboding portents of the future, it was a dream about flying. Corbin, of course, had the same dream, and if Elsie rotated her little subconscious point of view a little to the left, she could even see him soaring alongside her. When the wake-up alarm went off, of course, everything came crashing back. Not literally, of course -- they always managed to wake up just before impact -- but they simultaneously snapped awake. Elsie even lifted herself straight out of bed and Corbin nearly fluttered right off of his perch. Still, Corbin at least managed to be chipper. “Good morning, Elsie! You want to, uh, you want to come down from there?” “Guh,” Elsie said. What was good about mornings? Corbin- sure, ravens weren’t traditionally creatures of the night, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t too. They called the witching hour the witching hour for a reason, after all, and that wasn’t because the sun was in the sky when it happened. Still, she complied, lowering herself back down into her bed before sitting up and, you know, actually opening up her eyes. “Good morning, Corbin.” Elsie’s waking-up process post-those initial moments was a little more involved than that, though it had much less that was worth recounting. That was the thing about routines -- the point of them was that they weren’t special. Corbin went through the process of preening himself while Elsie washed up and that was all that really needed to be said about that. The most involved moment was when they argued just how much she needed that little extra glamour. “You’re fine,” Corbin said. “I mean, obviously I’m fine, Corbin. That’s not the problem,” Elsie said. “But Jekyll said, ‘Jaegers’. As in plural. A plurality of jaegers. And if we’re meeting new people today, I need something that inspires that little extra awe, you know?” Could ravens roll their eyes? Elsie wasn’t sure if they actually could, but occasionally out of the corner of her eye, she’d spot something from Corbin that looked not unlike an eye roll and then was one of those times. “Do you think they were recruited like us? Or were they ‘recruited’?” Elsie mimed the extra quotes while cycling through potential options, finally settling on one that made her look just like herself, only, you know, better. A classic choice, if she did say so herself, and a good first impression. “There was a rigorous application process, I’m sure. With only one or two flashes of violence,” Corbin said. “Mm. Well, nobody we can’t handle,” Elsie said. “Not like we can’t handle just about anybody. Shoulder or broom handle?” “Shoulder today, I think.” Elsie offered her shoulder to her familiar and Corbin hopped right up her arm to perch right next to her face. She did a little twirl and a pose in the mirror, then nodded, confirming for the final time that everything was just so, and, with broomstick in hand, finally headed off. Inwardly, Elsie hoped Jekyll was serving breakfast at this announcement meeting, or at the very least, she didn’t want to show up at the kitchen later and find out somebody had poached all the rolls. When Elsie reached the conference room door, she paused, not quite sure what to do. Or rather, she knew she had to cross the threshold, but she wasn't quite sure how to do it. How she should do it. She pondered aloud, “I was thinking some smoke leaking through the bottom crack and then the door creaks open to our silhouette and I say-” Corbin quickly cut her off. “If I remember correctly, the last time you tried pyro we both agreed to never do pyro for our introduction again. And yes -- I see that look -- smoke still counts as pyro.” Elsie pouted, though even she knew it wasn't a serious pout. “Alright, classic plan B then, huh?” “Or you could open the door like a normal -” But Corbin's protests came too late. She conjured up a little extra wind for dramatic effect and aimed her heel right beneath the doorknob… ...whereupon she bounced right off and collapsed in a heap, the door still stubbornly closed. “I think it’s a pull door, actually,” Corbin said. “It’d be hazardous otherwise, right? Plus, I mean, the hinges are on this side.” Elsie so wished that she could smite her own familiar. She wondered if she’d also feel the pain or if he’d just broadcast his feelings to her of being in eternal torment. It would certainly be a step up from either two steps away from busting a gut laughing or a simple smug superiority. She settled for a “Hmph,” and readied herself for another go, this time throwing back the door and using the wind to carry it into the wall with as loud a BANG! as she could manage. “Tremble, mortals! You are in the presence of an avatar of Hecate herself. Gaze in awe at her majesty! She, one-hundred-and-eighth -” Elsie opened her eyes to an almost empty room. “Oh,” she said. Then, to Corbin, she said, “Do you think maybe you could tell me next time? You know I work better with a better audience. There’s barely enough people here to call it a crowd.” Ravens couldn't shrug either, but Elsie was pretty sure she felt the essence of one coming from her shoulder. “You seemed pretty into it, and I didn't want to spoil your fun.” Elsie suddenly realized that they’d probably heard her first attempt as well. She felt a blush on her cheeks but soldiered on anyway, even if soldiering on meant hurriedly walking over to a chair and sitting down. Corbin, for his part, hopped down off her shoulder and onto the table. Elsie manged an, “It’s nice to meet you all,” and that was that.