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Ari almost had a heart attack at seeing the large sphere of power headed toward him. Which was then redirected by Jabari. "You are young, guiltless, I won't let you be harmed," the Zebstrika said as he turned back towards the Godslayer. But Ari had seen him hesitate. "...Thanks," he muttered. He was grateful for the other preventing the attack, but he almost hadn't. Not that he owed it to Ari or anything--well, he kind of did, as a citizen of Pride Rock, but they weren't even in Pride Rock, and he was pretty sure Jabari wasn't a citizen anymore if he had become a Godslayer. Anyway, the point was, the Litleo had no idea what to think. So he decided to take a leaf from Kazo's book and say nothing more. Sometimes it was better to keep your mouth shut if you didn't know what to say, after all. "Hey Ari!" Mac called out after then. "How about we show him that?" "Huh? Already?" the Litleo asked, but took the opportunity while the Lucario was distracted by Jabari, and then that darker blue-haired girl, to get ready. Relax. I can do it. Just like Zekrom told me. As if sensing what was going to happen, the Godslayer turned toward him, firing off a Flash Cannon. But Ari had learned from before, so he was already in mid-jump when the attack came. The lighter blue-haired girl had shot out an attack of her own as well, a quick jet of water that reached the Godslayer before his own attack reached Ari. As the Godslayer turned slightly to deal with her, the Litleo had landed safely out of range. Focus. Gazing up at the sky, Ari breathed out a large flaming orb with a second layer of flame around it in a cross shape. He kept adding more fire to it until it was almost too much for him to handle. -- Ankou looked sadly between the two of them. "You enjoy this fighting don't you? I can feel it, your desire for battle, crawling in my mind. It makes my heart heavy to know there are those who want such a chaotic and violent world...Soon, soon we'll escape. Soon I'll be free." Before Easter could react to that, she closed her eyes and vanished from view, leaving behind an ominous "And so will you." Right after she attacked Nine with a familiar move that Easter had used himself multiple times--it had been quite fun to literally kiss the life from his opponent's. An extra dose of humiliation to their defeat at his hands. He had eventually replaced it with Moonblast, which he found did far more damage, but its ability to restore some health to him had been quite a boon when he had been younger and weaker. But that also meant that they couldn't spend too long trying to take this woman down. She was, like him, made to last. So while he knew that he himself had the endurance for a long, drawn-out battle, he wasn't sure about Nine. Did he also have healing moves on him? He could have the Flash Fire ability, though he was just as likely to have Early Bird or Unnerve. But even if he did, Easter didn't have any fire-type moves on him. Almost, he thought. He had almost decided to learn one, but now wasn't the time to be crying over spilled milk. Either way, both of them were screwed, since she had used Taunt. Which put the two of them on a countdown. The pressure was on. And I wouldn't have it any other way. And then a shock. He had been so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't manage to avoid the Thunderbolt in time. Gritting his teeth at the power of the attack--this woman is no slouch--he was about to retaliate, and then paused when he saw Nine next to her. He didn't want to cause any friendly fire. The two attacked each other at point-blank in a mixture of elemental energies. Impressed, Easter waited impatiently as he charged up a Moonblast. Steady, steady, now! he thought, releasing the attack as soon as he saw the first shimmer of green from her arrival. She probably didn't expect to be hit just after arriving from a Teleport, after all, though Nine had pulled that same move just moments earlier. So perhaps Ankou would've avoided it, but she had gotten distracted by Nine's words--which were pretty amusing if he said so himself. "I am used to dealing with brutes, do not worry. A mad dog like you will surely be put down." It was right as she finished speaking that the attack hit. The Gardevoir took the move in graceful silence, but he could tell that it had done some damage. Those words of hers...many gijinka had said things along similar lines to him, but they were the ones eating dirt in the end. Not him. And not Nine either, probably. "I think you're the one who needs to worry about being put down," Easter said. He rushed up toward the Gardevoir then, aiming a kick at her. When she teleported away, he released a Swift which shot toward her unerringly, though he wasn't fast enough this time to avoid the Psyshock she sent his way in return. "And there's nothing wrong with being mad...all the best gijinka are, after all," he grinned. He really shouldn't be enjoying this as much as he was, but it had been so long since he had gotten to let himself loose like this. -- Now I know what it's like to fight me, Keanu thought with some annoyance. This wahine kept moving around it was hard to pin her down, even harder now that she had gotten a Tailwind behind her. Shooting off an Electro Ball, and clicking his tongue when it missed, he glanced at the others--who still hadn't introduced themselves, though Veronica had addressed one of them by name. Guess these two are all business, he thought. Then again, I guess it's not that important to get to know one another. Not like this is a luau or anything. "You might as well give up," Veronica said. "It's not like any of you are going to hit me." "Oh, kulikuli!" Keanu shouted. "Shut up!" he explained at seeing her quizzical look. "You might as well give up on making us give up. We're not giving up, and neither are you. I get it! Let's just scrap already!" he focused then, eyes turning bluer than normal as a wave of dark purple psychic energy appeared around the Crobat, enveloping her and slamming her to the ground. The Godslayer cried out in surprise then. "Psychic? From a Raichu?!" she muttered, before gazing at the group. "You might have caught me off guard just now with your commoner tricks, but you won't do so again!" "Eh, there's still loads of so-called commoner tricks up my sleeve," the electric type smirked. "Though I'm not wearing any sleeves right now..." The Crobat ignored his words to swoop down at him in Flight. Jumping back to avoid the move, he sent off an Electro Ball at her soaring figure but missed once again when she tilted to the side just so, the crackling ball of electricity crashing into one of the wooden pillars instead, the current redirected into the ground harmlessly. Before he could send off another attack, Veronica had already turned her attention to the Sharpedo--Taiga, he thought she had said. A large pair of fangs materialized and looked ready to sink right into the water type.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EN6KdaOLiRwJoKeBcOCTQ1CeSQTP1NAy/view Vic's lawyers have filed for an extension so that their response to the reply briefs can also have the May 20 deadline. James Bullock has also left the firm representing Vic.

As Nine watched the opponent, his eyes went wide with surprise as she teleported away from Easter's attack. Settling back on Ankou as she reappeared, Nine watched her intently, focused on her and seeming to wait for something. As Easter sent out yet another attack, Nine watched as the woman teleported yet again. His eyes snapping back over to the girl as she appeared, watching the exchange between both her and Easter again. As Easter managed to score a hit, the woman retaliated before finally disappearing and reappearing in front of Nine. Surprised both by her appearance and the nature of her attack, Nine couldn't get away from her. Wincing as the pain radiated across his face, Nine stepped forward to get closer to the girl, charging his arm with darkness. Assess. His opponent was a godslayer. Her body was more of a lithe build. All but one of her attacks she had used so far had been ones from a distance. She teleported to avoid when she could. With that, Nine figured she would be confident in her strength, but not arrogant. She was stronger than them, but didn't think herself invincible, so she would likely try to avoid being hit then just take it. Threaten. Darkness continuing to course across his arm, Nine swung it forward towards the woman, the Gardevoir teleporting away from his attack before he could complete it. Planting his foot into the ground, Nine stopped his forward momentum. There was no scream. There were no piercing red eyes. But space was normal. Reality would not change. And her timing was far easier to read. So, if she was going to run like that, Nine would make her know that near him was no where safe. Continuing the swing of his arm, Nine pivoted on his foot as the woman reappeared behind him. After her attack at Easter, he sent a dark pulse into her back, causing the woman to lurch forward. Planting his foot in the ground, facing Ankou now, the woman turned to face him in kind. Charging her hand with electricity, Nine ignited his arm with flame and the two launched their attacks at each other point blank. Naturally, Ankou's attack had struck true through Nine's flames, the Houndoom reeling his arm back in pain as the thunderbolt had greatly shocked it. Yet still, she was not unscathed herself, being so close to the flames that they managed to to strike her arm, albeit to a lesser effect then her own attack. Clenching his fist, getting the feeling back in his shocked arm, Nine was ready to strike again only for Ankou to teleport away. As she created some distance between herself and the two chasers, Nine couldn't help but grin. "Well, he might be a fighter, but I assure I'm far more a conversationalist then my Sylveon companion." Joking, he said, "it's just a shame for you that my first language is Trailsau." Marie continued to watch the battle from where she was standing, waiting for her next attack opportunity. She also felt somewhat energized by the site of both the electric girl and the other godslayer seeming to manage to land two attacks of their own against the Godslayer, even if only barely, making the girl think she was doing the right thing. As the Lucario kicked the girl, Mac, Marie called out, "Arms Girl! Let's go!" Taking a deep breath, the girl let out a stream of bubbles towards the Lucario as his attention snapped towards her. As he easily side-stepped the attack, Dora had come attacking from behind, leaping towards the Lucario and swinging her arm at him. The Godslayer reached back without looking at the girl, and in one fluid motion grabbed her arm and tossed her to the ground in front of him. Jabari, having just deflected the attack from Ari charged electricity around himself before sending it out in a shockwave towards the Lucario. Channeling his aura through his hands, the Lucario pivoted towards the man. Raising his arms up, a sphere of aura formed to block the electricity, though Jabari wasn't deterred by this in the slightest. Already beginning his charge forward, electricity coursing across his arms, and began to unleash a flurry of punches towards the Lucario. Taking a deep breath, the Lucario brought up both of his arms as he began to focus on his foe. With each punch, the Godslayer took a slight back step while parrying one of Jabari's arms with his palm. In spite of the speed at which Jabari continued to advance and the speed at which he punched, the Lucario always seemed to be one step ahead of him, deflecting each and everyone one of his attack. As Jabari reeled back his arm for the final punch of the attack, the Lucario's posture changed, now looking to counter. Charging both of his palms with aura, the man seemed ready to strike back only to suddenly seem to notice something. Bringing one of his arms back, the Lucario's footing suddenly shifted and he turned to have his side facing Jabari. His other side now was facing the Wooper he had tossed to the ground, the girl in question now launching a mud shot from her prone position. Thrusting out both of his palms at once, the Lucario's attack met both of his assailants at once. The aura alone from his palm was enough to bat away the mud, with his other palm clashing with Jabari's fist. Once again, the Lucario proved to be the stronger of the two Godslayers as Jabari was forced back, his feet skidding across the ground as the Lucario had managed to push him back. As both of the palm thrusts of the Lucario had gone out, though, he was assailed by yet another chilling wind. Quite like the last one, the attack had done relatively no damage to the man, yet it left behind another layer of frost that seemed to weigh down on the man and hamper him. Marie had been energized yet again by yet another attack of hers landing. She knew that she was doing well, and even if her attacks weren't going to deal much damage all she had to do was slow the Lucario. She didn't know what it would do, and she knew that it wouldn't make her stand any more of a chance against him. But maybe, just maybe, if she could keep slowing him, then the other Godslayer might be able to do something about him. Marie continued to focus on the Lucario, waiting for her next chance to strike. As the girl blinked, though, her field of vision was suddenly filled with a different sight. The Lucario. He was close. How did he get so close? Was he actually this fast? Marie couldn't process the speed at which the man had just moved and could she, her body was far too slow to react to do anything about the swift kick striking into her side. Breathless, the wind being knocked out of her from the sudden attack, Marie was sent flying from her position and into the wall. Sliding off the wall and falling to the ground, Marie grit her teeth, wincing in pain as this familiar sensation of pain radiated across her. Taking deep breath after deep breath, trying to pick herself up, Marie slowly pushed off the ground to get back to her feet.

May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed. May we shout for joy over your victory and lift up our banners in the name of our God. May the Lord grant all your requests. -Psalm 20:4-5 (NIV)”It is done!” Gabby said. And it was! People were coming in from all around. Most of the people who’d braved the outdoors were not people Melissa recognized, and the people she did were largely out of happenstance. Over here was a classmate. Over here was someone who lived on the same floor as her. Over here was - “Melissa!” Over here was Connor. “Hey, you’re okay!” he said. “Saw these messages, uh, that was you who started that, right? Do you know what’s going on?” Melissa shook her head no. No, she didn’t know what was going on. She’d never figured that part out. But that wasn’t the point behind the messages. The point was she was trying to keep people safe until someone did find out. She searched Connor’s face for any sort of indication that he understood, and, finding none, was about to verbalize it to him when her phone’s alarm went off. Thirty minutes was up, and she left Connor with a simple “I know what I’m doing, though,” before finding Jun and Gabby again. “Duel disks on,” she told them. “Ready?” Souji, too. His disk was already on, Melissa assumed, but she still waved him back to the safety of the Skull Servants. “Thank you. We need you here now,” she said. She’d kept mum on exact details of the plan so far, mostly out of fear that it wouldn’t work and not wanting to inspire any sort of false hope, but also because, well, telling a crowd of people her plan was the end result of the plan itself. This was the final step: convincing everyone that things were going to be okay. Under normal circumstances, it was a terrible plan. After all, its culmination lied in her -- of all people, Melissa Ashforth’s! -- ability to give a speech. But these weren’t normal circumstances, and as she walked back to the center of the area, instead of a yawning pit opening up in her gut, she actually felt confident. Or, if not confidence, at least a sort of serenity she’d hardly ever felt before. There wasn’t any stalling or double- and triple-checking of the circumstances. When Melissa reached the spot, she simply took a breath and began to speak. “Hello, everyone. My name is Melissa Ashforth. “I know things are scary right now, so I wanted to thank you all for putting your trust into some random text messages and avoiding all these duel space-generated monsters to get here. As you can see, we’ve cleared the area, and these Skull Servants and Vampire Familiars are going to keep it that way. You can thank Souji Kazuraba and Gabb- Gabriela Von Draculesti for that.” Melissa motioned in their direction when she said their names, and a few of the audience gave a halfhearted applause. “The final step in making this a safe place to be is to believe it so. That was why you might have noticed Jun going around checking in on everybody, making sure you were thinking ‘good thoughts.’ I know that sounds silly, but this is duel space. It’s will made manifest. That’s how Gabriela’s been controlling the perimeter, and I’ve seen other phenomena happen besides. “Duel disks help -- if you have yours, I encourage you to turn it on -- but really, I imagine manipulating duel space might be like finding out you’re in a dream and, because you’re in a dream, doing whatever you want. That doesn’t mean you can do anything in duel space, but if enough people think it, it might just happen.” Melissa brought her hand over to her duel disk and turned it on. Its hum provided an additional comfort, and already her duel field was spreading beyond where it’d gone back in her room. “I got this idea because I saw these things happening, and wondered if there was a way for me to do the same. But I don’t have especially exciting dreams. I don’t think I’m a superhero or anything like that. I can’t even say all my dreams are good. “But my best dreams, the ones I’m asking for your help in realizing now, are the ones where everything turns out alright.”