Sethera

Manuela is amazing and not a trash goblin at all!

As Ellie started saying something and laughing, either to herself or Cory maybe, Lachlan was focusing on the frog. And was disappointed when it just croaked. "Oh...hehe, I'd thought you'd be able to talk, not that not talking is bad. You know, I've heard that humans don't like a lot of blabber. True gentlemen avoid it when they can, and all." He wasn't really sure what he was talking about anymore. "Oh, but I guess that means I'm not a gentleman either. Well, I'm a Jaeger, but you know, uhh, well, the point is, it's not bad to not be talking...yeah." Beside him, Ellie sighed. “King of Frogs, huh? Okay, you can come too, I guess.” Wait, the frog wasn't hers? And was actually a king? Oh shite, he'd really messed up, hadn't he? "Ah, sorry uhh, Your Majesty? I had no clue you were a king, umm, forgive me, I just, couldn't tell. Not that you don't radiate an aura of uhh kingliness. Now that I look more closely, I think you do, but, well, forgive me. I didn't mean any uhh disrespect? Is that the word? Yes. I didn't mean anything like that." Corbin interrupted then. “You know, if that cat woman keeps bothering him,” he said, “he might just throw her instead of that beast.” "E-eh? Cat woman? You mean h-h-her?" Lachlan glanced over at where the woman was currently...was she flirting? With the Dragon Slayer? He felt both impressed at the woman's audacity and sorry for the man's situation. After all, he had been in a similar one not too long ago, and it had ended very badly. Thankfully, he hadn't received the worst sort of ending, but it came close. That was one Jaeger he would steer clear of in the future. These others were strong but she was scary in a different, more ruthless way. At that moment Lachlan felt himself being seized by the collar and dragged through the door. He let out an "Ach!" but wasn't able to say anything more as the pressure of fabric pulling up against his throat blocked out further words. Choking slightly, the boy attempted to breathe anyway, but found it impossible. As his vision began to darken, the constriction around his throat lessened. Gasping for air, the boy coughed a couple times before recovering slightly from what had been an unintentional strangulation. “Sorry! Sorry, Lach!” Ellie said, hopping off her broom to check on him. “Oh, Hecate, that- yeah, sorry.” She turned to the frog. “You too. I mean, you probably, I don’t know, you probably weren’t expecting a bumpy ride like that.“ The frog gave a dissatisfied ribbit in response. "It's all good, all good," Lachlan felt his head spinning slightly. "Just give me...a minute." “If you’re really hurt, um, the medical ward’s this way, I think, and we can go there. If you’re not, um, wow, but I was going to go see Jekyll, ‘cause he’ll probably be watching this all with a scrying orb or something and it minimizes the crossfire. Unless,” -- she looked back at the frog, -- “you had some other idea? Or were you just hitching a ride out of there like we were?” It looked like the frog did have an idea what to do, hopping off the broom toward somewhere. Where that was, he wasn't sure. Lachlan shook his head, ignoring the residual spinning. "I'm fine, or at least, I think I'm fine?" That impromptu drag away from everything had not helped, but he still felt better than he did a minute ago, so that was something. "And I want to go see Professor Jekyll too. Er, if that's okay with you, that is. Well, from what you said, you want to go see him too? So, in that case, we both want the same thing, which means that, unless you think otherwise, maybe we should go find him? Or maybe look for the frog? I'm not sure where it--er, he, went, unless he also went to find the professor."

"How can you be too tired to battle? Did you get all your Pokemon knocked out or something?" "No, I'm just too tired," Belle replied flatly. The girl wasn't surprised that Ivan had decided to fight instead of sit it out too. Like Jacklyn, he seemed to have an endless well of stamina and motivation. Where he got that, she wasn't sure. Or why, for that matter. What was the point in getting all worked up in this heat? She purposefully ignored the fact that earlier, she had been getting a little worked up too. This and that were different. She had her own pride as a top couch potato-er and gamer. Losing against people was fine, but losing against her own Pokémon brought with it a special sense of shame. Jacklyn was cheering Ivan on beside her. Really, Belle just couldn't understand how that girl could be so energetic in this heat. Waving lazily at Ivan, she yawned. That was all the effort she could muster right now. The purple-haired girl turned to her then, "so, what did you get up to? Anything fun? See anything cool?" "Ehh, maybe." Belle fluttered her hand in the air in a so-so manner. "Was tryinta house train m'rat. Went al'right, s'pose." She yawned again. "Oh, an' Ivan caught a Vulpix." She paused. "Not the web browser," she clarified. "Actual Vulpix." She preferred using Zebstrika herself, but from what she had heard, Mozilla Vulpix was more popular overseas.

The story was fascinating to hear. Especially the part about her capitalizing on the village's love for the spirits to sell spirit-related merchandise. It seemed that there was nothing sacred to Anne, nothing except money, anyway. She was able to see that the next day as the red-haired girl talked the group out of getting arrested at the gate with her own brand of reasoning. Yue couldn't help but be slightly impressed. If only she could talk half so well as that girl. But that also required having the courage to meet new people and get to know them, something that she sorely lacked. "T-Thank you for helping us Anne!" Yue waved the girl off, smiling shyly. Once everybody had split off from the merchant, Edda moved to walk in front. She looked nervous, but she always did. Not that Yue was one to talk there. "Well, um...we're here." "Mm. Yes, as we promised, nothing can stand in our way of completing a mission. I suppose we'll take you to wherever you're heading and then we'll be on our way." "Well, actually...it's not so simple. Dunno if you have thought much about it but given the, er, events before getting here you might not want to stick around for long. Some of you probably could set out and stay out of trouble but I kind of doubt you'd go for that." "H-Huh? Trouble?" Yue looked around wildly, her heart beginning to pitter-patter in her chest. "Th-That's not going to happen, right? A-Anne said that Enta is different from Rastaarn." She had been here before herself, so she knew just how different it was. The vast number of people of all different nationalities had intimidated her, and she had fled quickly after arriving.

Shaymin let out a sigh, relieved that Giratina had finally fallen. She didn't have time to think about that too much, though, as soon the ceiling started to cave in. While Nine picked up Gwen, Shaymin went for Kayla. She wasn't that strong, but Kayla wasn't that heavy either, so it was doable. It would be a lot easier if Lok pitched in, but regardless, the woman managed to make it out before the entrance collapsed. Outside, the legendary breathed in the fresh air. It finally hit her--her task was done. Now...she could...do what? She had been guarding Giratina for so long, what was she supposed to do now that it was all over? Feeling slightly lost, the legendary stared at the rocks in front of the entrance, closing her eyes and bowing her head in prayer. "This was a necessary evil," she murmured, "but the loss of any one of the guardians of Adarid is always a tragedy." As if summoned by her words, an angry presence made itself known. Opening her eyes, Shaymin stared at the being reproachfully. She was afraid, of course, but nothing was quite so terrifying as Giratina. Darkrai came close, though. As Nine debated with the other legendary, Shaymin kept quiet, face troubled. She couldn't bring herself to understand the dark type's motives--after all, she had been charged with protecting the stability of the world by guarding Giratina, while Darkrai sought to undo all her hard work. Had Gwen gone along with her "master," then he and the others might have succeeded in sacrificing them all, including a fellow legendary like her, in his bid for more power. Yet, Gwen had came through for them, as she knew she would in the end. After all, Darkrai was not the only influence on her heart. She glanced at Nine and Lok both, her expression relaxing. One thing was a little confusing though. "Um...who are these 'Godslayers' they keep bringing up?" She was mostly directing the question at Lok, since the other two looked a little occupied, but she would appreciate an answer regardless of who supplied it.

So I decided to use the same BGM across a single fight because that's what the Fire Emblem games do... Perhaps, had she been a regular noble, Catriona would've been embarrassed at being lifted by an unmarried man as an unmarried woman. But this wasn't the first time she had been handled thus. Carrying wounded soldiers away from battle was one of the duties of an able-bodied soldier, so she was instead embarrassed for a different reason. That she had to be lifted at all. She wasn't the best fighter out there. She knew that. There were plenty of people that were stronger than her. But those people were all older and more experienced. Every swing of their sword was made with the weight of the extra years they had spent training. Among her age group, Catriona was one of the best. But lately, she had been missing her swings. Had been fumbling where once she would've followed through. She could try to pass it off as a result of her worsening condition, of the state of blind fear and panic her mind had been left in recently. But those would just be excuses. And she was never one to grant herself a way out, not when she could see the truth of it herself. She was lacking. In training, in skill, and in discipline. And what had happened here was the final straw. “You’ll be safe here for now, your majesty. Leave the rest to us.” Link saluted and quickly turned to head back to the battle. Each word that came from his mouth, every soft-spoken, raspy word, hit her like a hammer to the chest. Safe. Leave to us. As if she were a frail maiden to be saved instead of the strong soldier she had trained for so long to be. This was unacceptable. She couldn't walk, but she could still crawl. There had to be something that she could do, in this state. And then she saw a blue light from the corner of her eyes. There, coming from the mass congregation of bouquets. A blue glow, much like the glow from the other room. "What...?" she murmured. -- In the main room of the town hall, most everybody had been knocked down by the shock wave created from the statue. Adel was one of those most affected, being flung into the other room, though on the other side of where Catriona was. She knocked her skull against the corner of one of the wooden crates there and fell unconscious. Cora, another of those who had fallen over, crawled toward Acantha who currently sat underneath one of the long benches. The beaver had been knocked off the ground, hitting the surface of the bench above her. Groaning in pain, the animal shook its head to the girl's question. Above, the blue glow surrounding Alois's axe had finally faded, but by now the boy had stepped forward to attack with his other axe. With him and Penelope shouting orders, and Edrick providing distraction, most everybody's attacks managed to hit the statue consecutively, rather than all at once. As soon as Shiro lunged forward from the right, aiming for the symbol, the head rotated, so that the symbol faced Sienna. The Protean threw a fireball at the statue, but once again, the head rotated, facing Tsetseg this time. It was then that Tsetseg fired an arrow, but the statue once again rotated its head, the symbol facing Penelope now, who fired off a Wind spell. By now, the statue had moved toward the nuisance in front of it, slicing down at Edrick with its sharp front talons. Its tail swept from left to right, Sienna to Shiro, this time avoiding Penelope, though it did hit the base she stood on, causing it to glow bright blue from where it had made contact, quickly spreading across the base and toward where Penelope sat. The effigy paused its attack as the Wind spell came at it, but rather than rotate its head, this time it crouched down and flapped its wings before launching itself into the air. The head had, by now, shattered into multiple fragments from the force of everybody's blows, each piece connected by glowing blue light. While difficult to tell up close, from a distance it would be obvious that the fragments came together, like a mosaic in three dimensions, to form its original figure, that of a reptilian-shaped head. One piece in particular stood out--the one holding the strange symbol. While the piece itself was small, the symbol was still intact. The statue roared then, whether as a response to Peaches or something else, and dove for the wyvern and her rider, its tendril-tail whipping about at a blinding speed. Literally. The onlookers would be hard-pressed to resist becoming dizzy and disoriented from the fast movements of the blue light. Meanwhile, the effigy looked as if it would crash right into Citron, pieces of its head moving to form what looked like an open mouth, with crackling blue energy darting from fragment to fragment. -- Outside, Ciela had hit her head against the hard cobbles of the path, falling unconscious in the process. While this had not been immediately noticeable, both Gunther and Abdul would realize this as she fell over slightly from the vibration in the ground, face tilted up and eyes closed. OOC

I wondered about that. But hmm, I'll have to pay more attention to the chalkboard it seems when I read/watch it.

I'm trying to figure out what you mean by the eraser on a chalkboard thing, because the only things I can think of are those rectangular erasers that are also sometimes used on dry-erase boards. From what I remember, they don't really make much of a sound, more of a soft, sliding kind of sound if anything, which I don't find annoying at all. Then again, I might be confusing it with the sound it makes on a dry-erase board. Also, that alarm clock noise sounded like torture to me, just saying. Everybody I know that's heard Baby Shark hates it, but I listened to it just now and didn't find it that annoying. Maybe if I heard it over and over again... Also the Salt and Pepper Diner comedy routine was comedy gold. I didn't think about it, but it makes sense you wouldn't remember too many of the boring songs. I do recognize one of the "boring songs," or at least I recognized the picture they used in the youtube video from when I was going through my video-watching binge. I'm like you, too, where I like listening to music that's good for doing other things to. And yeah, classical is full of really long songs, but what I like about them is that they're not usually "boring" songs. They're the kind of thing you can just listen to as is and let it soak in, and suddenly you realize a couple hours have passed. But what I'm getting from this, is, just like a radio, you can tune into all different kinds of music. That's pretty cool.

I read a little bit of the manga that inspired this, and I found it pretty funny. The only issue I had is it was kind of the same plot, over and over and over again, but I didn't get far enough to find out that ended up changing or not. Going from your review, it sounds like they added a couple things to spice it up, but otherwise yeah. Most of the charm seems to lie in that the formula itself is charming, even if they repeat it a lot. Which, fair. I remember having a lot of fun reading it. I didn't consider the Freudian aspect, but that does make things more interesting--if it's true and not a Wikipedia coincidence. lol I might try and see if I can spot any underlying themes/psychological references myself while I read/watch it. This review makes me want to pick up Tonari no Seki-kun again, so I might do that sometime. And watch the anime too. I'm not a huge anime watcher, but I'd probably be able to handle this series considering how short the episodes are. Also: "I don’t want to give Tonari no Seki-kun a score, because, as an English major, I don’t believe in numbers" This is gold right here.

Oh god the Mimikyu is giving me memories...and that Krookodile looks terrible. Anyway.

Welp, I lost my entire list when I was switching to Gen VIII only mode. rip But I remember Sylveon was #1. Pikachu, Shaymin, Lapras, and Litleo were other top ones, as well as some of the Gen VIII Pokemon like Sirfetch'd and Frosmoth.

Pretty much my actual endgame team to a T if you replace Snom with Pincurchin, which is also way up there.

I look a little nervous after hearing what Berserker said, and while everybody else is looking at the building, I'm looking around, making sure nobody decides to sneak up on us. "Sneaking around always goes south in the movies. What's to say the same won't happen here?" I mutter.

Since you're radio, and all about music, I was curious. What's the most annoying noise for you? And on that line, the most annoying song? And while we're still on the same line, what was the most boring song for you to listen through? Did you listen through it the whole way, and if so, why? To extend the line a bit, what was the longest song you've listened to? It may or may not also be the most boring song you've listened to.

I do actually. I'm pretty decent at it too. My keen sense of taste and ability to follow a recipe coupled with experience watching my father cook gave me a bit of a leg up there. I don't do it too often, though, because I'm naturally lazy, and that generally wins out over my hunger. Some days, though, I feel a sprinkle of ambition, and that's just enough to get me going and cooking. For food, I prefer Italian food over all others. Chinese is good sometimes, I sparingly crave Mexican, and I'm always up for a good old American cheeseburger or macaroni and cheese, but Italian food is what really gets my mouth watering. So since I don't cook often...when I do cook, it's usually for events like potlucks or just I'm really, really craving a certain thing. Or it's something simple. For a while, I was on a ramen binge, where I'd make tons of ramen, adding in beef broth/soy sauce, chicken/pork/beef, baby bok choi, shiitake mushrooms, minced green onions, eggs, and optionally cheese and mayonnaise. I usually leave out the broth and sauce if I add the last two, though. They're actually really good in ramen, but definitely not the healthiest of options. Ramen is also good with frozen vegetables instead of freshly-prepared ones if you want to be lazy, and also with just an egg if you want to be even lazier. It's amazing how just a little goes a long way there to really add depth to plain old ramen. I also make a mean chili, if I do say so myself. I generally only make it for the family though and not myself, since it's the kind of thing best eaten with others. One person eating a whole batch of chili is...not the best combination. I generally like to put in plenty of garlic and maybe a bit of pepper to give it a stronger flavor. Most of it cooks out though, so it's never overpowering. I remember going to a chili contest once and the chilis there were all amazing. My father's chili was always really good too, so I've gotten a bit spoiled there. I can't stand eating some of the bland chilis I've had at potlucks or chili in a can. If you make chili, you have to make it right, in my opinion. Anyway, something I made because I was craving it was a cajun shrimp and sausage stir fry with vegetables. I accidentally picked out the wrong kind of sausage, but it still tasted really good. The only downside is that it's one of those things that has to be eaten right then and there. It doesn't keep very well, unfortunately. Recently, I made a breakfast casserole with tater tots, eggs, Italian sausage, and of course plenty of cheese over it. That's one thing I love is cheese. I can't get enough of it. If I'm feeling lazy for casseroles though I'll go with the old green bean staple, though I usually only make that in the fall. It's super easy to make and pretty fast compared to a lot of casseroles, so I definitely recommend it if you're looking to get into cooking and don't know where to start. I also made ham, pickle, and cream cheese roll-ups recently, which are a good, fast, no-cook snack. Normally, though, I'll just be lazy and heat up a TV dinner, canned soup, sandwich, or snack on various things throughout the day. Maybe eat out too. I've snacked a whole lot less recently for various reasons though, which really makes me realize just how much food I normally go through in a day. Unfortunately, I'm a better baker than I am a cook. I'm not a huge fan of sweets or pastries normally--there are a couple of exceptions. Sugar cookies, cookie dough, and cookies and cream-related items are amazing. I also tried these half-brownies, half-madeleines recently, and they're pretty good. Even better with whipped cream on top though. Strawberry shortcakes are also good, especially if the strawberries are set in a syrupy glaze. But anyway, I prefer savory to the sweet, so it's a bit troubling that way. I never bake unless it's for others, actually. I've baked bread, cakes, cookies, cupcakes, muffins, pies, and recently blueberry pie bars, but each time, they've been for other people to enjoy. I've probably baked other stuff too but I can't think of them at the moment. Oh yeah, I've also made krumkake, but that's really simple to make. Oh, and caramel rolls too. Those are good. I actually prefer those to cinnamon rolls, but you have to make them right. Too often, people make it so that it's too soggy on the bottom and too dry on the top, and too much sugar here and not enough sugar there. It's quite frustrating, but if you do it right, then it's well worth it. tl;dr: I like food.

Lachlan glanced around the room. It looked like the Dragon Slayer was locked in place fighting against some hulking, slavering beast. Definitely not his idea of a good time. That kind of fight looked way too physical. Too much potential for skin contact. Aye, fighting at a distance with his spear was what he preferred. But he really needed to find somebody, warn them about what was happening, that there was a traitor, possibly two, amongst them. While he didn't like the idea of making the cat lady mad, he liked the idea of lying and keeping things mum even less, especially for something that involved others' lives. Almost as if she had read his thoughts--and maybe she could--Ellie and Cory arrived on a broom like a messenger sent from heaven, bearing with her salvation from his current plight. “Hey, you okay?” she said, “I fought Tricky earlier and I think I saw what I wanted, so I was gonna head out. You looked pretty spent so I figured-” she cut herself off, seeming to have heard something. Lachlan thought he heard something too. Something about a cave-in and a pearl? Maybe? His ears were still ringing from that earlier explosion of light. "I'm okay, sure as sure aye," he nodded, then stopped as that made the ringing worse. "I think...well, I don't know for sure, maybe. But, well, I certainly hope so?" “Yeah, I’m not really into getting huge monsters thrown at me, so now seems like a good time. Can you walk or do you need me to fly you out of here?” "Me neither," Lachlan nodded eagerly, stars shining in his eyes. This was his chance! His chance to tell somebody about what was going on. He felt like he could trust Ellie and Cory--mainly Cory. That raven was a truly magnificent and forgiving bird. But if he was traveling around with Ellie, it meant that Ellie was trustworthy too. And she had seemed nice enough earlier. "I'm so glad you two are here, really I am. Thank you so much! There's just too much excitement going on in here right now. Err...not that I have anything against excitement. I just...you know. Well, there are some things that aren't for everybody, and this is one of them. For me, anyway." It was then he registered Ellie's second question. "I can walk..." he took one wobbly step, and almost fell over. "Um...give me a second. Sorry, I don't mean to bog us down or anything, I just...need to regain my bearings, is all." He winced as he took one hirplin step, and then another. "Thank you kindly though Ellie. Again, sorry if I'm trailing behind, I just--" he stopped his ramble at seeing...was that a frog on the broom? So Ellie had a frog too? "Oh...um...h-hi there." While he hadn't met any talking frogs before, he hadn't met any talking ravens before either. And if this frog was with Ellie, then it could probably talk too. "It's a, uhh, pleasure to meet you." There, that was a good human thing to say right? He still hadn't totally grasped all the humanisms out there. Though ah'm nae dealin' wiv a human aither.

Belle didn't wait too long for Ivan to reply before she shrugged and began walking back anyway. As she arrived, she noticed that Jacklyn seemed to have lost...and it was because she didn't have enough Pokémon. Normally she'd have been too far away to catch that, but Jacklyn had a rather loud voice. Oh boy, did she have one. Still...did that mean that having more Pokémon made one a better trainer? Thinking about it, Sabrina also had a full team of Pokémon, but she didn't often use them all against challengers. So limiting the number of Pokémon you had was limiting your power then? So this meant...Belle needed to get more Pokémon if she wanted to complete this journey, get rich, and go home right? Which meant catching Pokémon, which meant, ugh, she'd have to battle more in this heat. She still wasn't sure if she'd be able to catch a fire Pokémon, though. With her only real usable Pokémon being Moo, a grass type. Her Rattata just wasn't obedient at all. Jacklyn noticed their approach then, bowing in a really weird, dramatic way. Was she gaining lessons from that waiter or something? Was that why she had been crushing on him? She liked that kind of stuff? Belle filed that away for later, brushing off the girl's plea for revenge. "Nah, too tired and hot," she replied, then glanced at Ivan. "You too tired too?"

Shaymin had been fighting strong before. Giratina was strong, but he was also strong. That was just how it was. It was because of how strong he was--and his ability to form barriers--that he was chosen to be the one to watch over They Who Lurk in the Distortion World. Though he had to admit that his other self had a certain strength as well...just not the useful kind. Not the awesome kind, like his was. But for all his strength, it was like a puff of wind trying to match up to a gale. A gale that was Giratina. And now, he couldn't even move! His speed, one of his strengths, was nothing now, his body stiffened from the paralyzing effect of the legendary's breath. Not to mention that blow to the head earlier was making it hard to focus. He had to admit, that, here and now, he was probably done for. This was one of the things his other self had, that he didn't. Hope. For some reason, she never gave up. Even when things looked dark, she could still stand strong somehow. But he couldn't do that. He was the flower that only bloomed for short periods of time. Bursting with vitality before the petals wilted and fell to the ground. When his energy ran out, he was as good as gone. But the gijinka beside him hadn't given up. Plasma Rider and Solarfire both continued to fight, against these hopeless odds. It really...got his Gogoat. I underestimated these two...I knew they were strong, but they're also strong of heart. And...they're making me look bad too! And then somebody else came and made him look bad. Hat Lady. He had known she had been up to something--had sensed the presence of the one she said she was working with. But, somehow, I don't think it's quite that equal of a relationship. Unfortunately, before he could do anything, like confront the girl, he had shifted forms. And his other self had left it alone for some reason. She's timid, but not that timid. She had probably sensed something that he had missed--except now, watching her dance, he had a feeling he knew what it was. As the girl staggered from the claw attack through her body, Shaymin's face distorted in righteous anger. "No!" he gritted out, struggling to rise. As a messenger of gratitude and goodness, he couldn't bear watching good people die in front of him. Because he could sense it. Her gratitude. She was grateful for the happy memories she had shared with the other two. Such pure gratitude...I can't let that fall for nothing. And, as if answering his call, energy flowed through his body, cleansing it of the paralysis and closing his wounds. The legendary jumped up then, the wind creating a cushion beneath his feet. There was nothing he could do for Hat Lady right now save fight the good fight. "Ha! It's time for round two!" he shouted, running toward Giratina. Solarfire got there first, but Shaymin followed after, sending an Air Slash toward the legendary as she hurtled toward a different platform. Even in midair as she was, the legendary was able to mitigate some of the damage with a Dragonbreath, but this time the flying type was ready for it, swerving to the side. "I'm not gonna get paralyzed again!" The gratitude gijinka released an Energy Ball then, and then, quickly swooping right, released another one, and then another one from a different angle. Giratina, who had landed on the platform by now, was able to avoid the first Energy Ball, but she wasn't able to avoid the subsequent ones. With a pained roar, she jumped into the air herself, diving toward her fellow legendary with shadowy claws extended. Shaymin winced as the attack scored a bloody trail down his side, but the wounds were already starting to close with the power of the earlier Leech Seed. "Ha! It was worth it letting you get this close," he grinned, ignoring the blood as he took his hands from behind his back. They were glowing green and pale white. Giratina's eyes widened, but it was too late. With her reduced speed, she wasn't able to dodge or jump to another dimension in time as the Seed Flare hit her at point-blank. Shaymin fell back, panting with exertion. "Those always take so much out of me..." He always tried to avoid them, since it meant accelerating the clock toward his transformation back, but it would be worth it here if they could take Giratina out. And it looked like that was actually possible now. The Seed Flare had definitely done a number on Giratina. The gijinka looked positively feral now, her ragged form reflecting her tattered sanity. Perhaps, if he attacked again, then... Except then his body started to glow a bright white. "I knew it..." he muttered as the glow enveloped him, his form changing to that of the young woman from before. "O-oh no," she murmured. She was really no good at fighting, and to transform back during this key moment? That was the worst sort of timing. She glanced at the others. I can only rely on them now.

Yue had faded into the background as the others talked. She really wasn't good at this talking thing. She tried, she really did, but it was so much easier to just talk with animals. They didn't talk like normal people did, so it was easier. And they were so much more expressive than people do. It was obvious if an animal was upset, but less so with people. They could pretend to be fine with something, and then plot against her later. Why they did that instead of being honest she really didn't know. She had been told that she was too honest, but her sifu had seemed to appreciate that. Hearing Anne mention Yon'lou's variety of magic users made the girl wince. She had firsthand experience on how many kinds of magic users they had. Hearing the horse was gone was the final nail in the coffin for her. Now thoroughly depressed, the girl settled down in the back as Anne seemed set on telling a story to everybody, with Alexis playing a song to go along with it. That sounded nice. Yue really loved music. She didn't consider herself a music expert, but she wasn't too shabby either. The girl sat up a little straighter, some cheer returning to her face...and then frowned. Stories often meant... "Just...nothing too scary, please," she requested. It was then that the archer noticed that Rona had drifted off. She wanted to get closer, but Cormag was pretty protective of his rider at times like these, so she doubted she'd get very far there. Still, she couldn't stop herself from glancing over at the other girl from time to time. Rona's so strong...it's so weird to see her tired out. She seems so...normal right now. She had a hard time accepting it, but she couldn't deny what she was seeing either.

Virion (Awakening) Tiki (Awakening) Alfonse (Heroes) Dimitri (Three Houses) Dedue (Three Houses) Felix (Three Houses) Annette (Three Houses) Manuela (Three Houses)

The same BGM as always The town hall was a mess of marble dust and cracked stone with people scattered in various positions around the center of the chaos--a reptilian statue with a large glowing blue tendril extending from its tail. As it swept over the group, most of them managed to avoid its numbing touch. Link, who had ducked underneath it while running toward Catriona. Shiro, who had jumped over it, but in the process, crashed into the ceiling. Sienna, whose quick foxlike reflexes had helped her evade the attack. And Tsetseg, who had been lifted into a bridal carry briefly by Cora while backpedaling out of range. Alois and Penelope would feel their arms that had been hit growing numb and useless, yet they still maintained feeling in their dominant arm, thankfully. Adel, on the other hand, would have one of her legs hit and lose all feeling within, much like what had happened to Catriona. As Alois and Penelope both aimed for the mark on the back of the statue, their attacks cutting through the air, the half of the statue with the mark rotated, so that the side with the mark was now facing Edrick as the statue leaned closer toward the boy. It was too late for the lancer to redirect his attack, however, and so his weapon was lodged firmly between the two sides of the head. Immediately afterward, the blue current quickly traveled up his lance but stopped with an angry crackle as soon as it hit the icon. The icon vibrated in place as it forced back the blue light from reaching its bearer. With this, the two sides of the statue had been separated even more. Unfortunately, the place where Alois and Penelope had been originally aiming for was now where the divide was. While Penelope's cutting Wind sailed harmlessly overhead, Alois's hand axe managed to clip part of the lance tip, knocking it out from between the two halves of the head toward Edrick. However, the axe was now glowing a bright blue as it arrowed back toward Alois's waiting hand. Even after the lance had been removed from the divide, the two halves stayed the way they had now become--even more separated. The left side swiveled back so that the front was now facing Edrick, the back with the mark facing the altar again. The statue let out another roar, the sound like gravel crunching against each other as it stomped the ground with heavy footsteps, creating shock waves that would knock anybody standing on the stone floor off their feet. Even Gunther would struggle to stay upright where he was, though the two in front of him would retain their balance. Those on the raised, wooden portion of the ground would have an easier time of it, and Penelope would have it the easiest from her position atop the stone base. At the same time, the tendril whipped around behind the statue, knocking the chalice and bouquet of flowers off the altar, where they landed with heavy clunks. It then lashed out toward various people around the room close at hand--Sienna, Penelope, Citron, and Link. Unlike before where it moved in a sweep, this time it moved like a whip, rearing back and targeting one person before repeating the motion with the next. Catriona had attempted to stand, but collapsed gracelessly to the ground immediately afterward. "Unfortunately...I cannot," she replied to Link's question. It was impossible to use her legs to support her if she couldn't even feel them, couldn't even bend or straighten them. It was almost as if they didn't exist, but for the fact that her eyes could see them trailing uselessly in front of her and her brain knew they were there. The woman gritted her teeth. There wasn't anything she could do to help the others in this situation. She was nothing but dead weight until the numbing wore off. If it didn't--well, that wasn't something she would think about right now. No, it was better to focus on what she could do at the moment, which was get back so that the others who still had use of their appendages, like Link, wouldn't worry about her. She was momentarily distracted from her thoughts at the sight of Shiro crashing into the ceiling before falling back down. The woman blinked. I suppose even frogs have a hard time handling their jumps. Her expression returned to its grim cast though as she spotted the tendril heading toward the fox Protean, her sister, the merchant, and the mercenary in front of her in turn. "Look out!" OOC

BGM's not going to change, guys With Tsetseg rolling out of the way, kicking Acantha--who protested this action noisily--to the side for good measure, there was nothing to cushion the statue's fall. With a rumble that shook the area around them, the effigy crashed to the ground. The fall had damaged the statue much more than the group's weapons, as they would be able to see large cracks running down the front and sides of the figure. Oddly enough, the inside of the cracks glowed even more brightly with that same blue light from before. However, cracked as it was, the statue was still moving around like normal, struggling on the floor of the town hall as it attempted to right itself from the floor. Shiro had landed with it, and appeared none the worse for wear, having had the quick thinking to use his long tongue and limbs to keep himself from falling off. If it were a living being, those cracks would be enough to keep it down. Then again, if it were a living being, it wouldn't have cracked like this in the first place. It'd be bleeding all over instead. Catriona remembered then what Shiro had said. So there's a symbol on the back of its head? Does that mean, unless we hit it, this thing will keep on moving, even if we shattered it to pieces? She had a hard time comprehending that, but looking at how the statue was still moving even with large cracks running through its body, it might be true. That thought in mind, Catriona placed a hand on her sword handle to draw it and attack the statue, but stopped when she saw Cora strike down at the effigy with her own blade. The lord could tell from her nearby vantage point that the attack would miss the symbol, just like Adel's had earlier, though, with the way the effigy had been twisting around then trying to get the frog off, it wasn't that surprising. But the statue is still enough now. Cora should be able to aim for the mark, the lord thought with some puzzlement. Unless she decided to miss on purpose? While she felt that her earlier suspicions on them being goddess-worshippers were probably wrong, the thought couldn't leave her mind. Even if these people weren't secretly goddess-worshippers, they were still secretly something, and she would find out just what that was. Movements to the side caught Catriona's attention. Penelope was clambering on top of the base, where the stone statue had previously stood, for some reason, but she was far enough back from the action that the lord didn't worry too much over her. What was more puzzling was Citron, astride Peaches, flying high over the others toward the corner of the room. There, Alois stood waving a bronze-colored axe. Where the wyvern had come from when it had been in the mayor's yard, and why exactly it was wounded, were questions the lord would have to mull over at a later time, preferably when things had settled down. Fortunately for the pair, the ceiling was high enough up that they were able to do fly without crashing into things. Still, the red liquid trickling down the wyvern's normally peach-colored hide was alarming. Are there foes at the exit as well? Catriona wondered, turning her gaze from the duo and toward the main door, where she could see Gunther's silhouette outlined against the bright light of the outdoors. She thought she could see somebody behind him, too, but it was hard to tell, with Gunther being so tall and stout in his armor. She could, however, see what looked like Ciela atop...was that Licorice? Why was the girl trying to ride her, why was the fox in her beast form, and why were they all the way out there? Perhaps they, too, are fighting out there. Still, I don't have time to worry about them. I must concentrate on the foe before me, the white-haired woman thought, turning back toward the statue. By now, Cora's attack had hit, and as Catriona predicted, it had missed its mark. However, it did hit one of the cracks running down the head, widening it further. She's stronger than I thought, the lord thought, impressed. However, she didn't have time to think further on that, as immediately afterward, the head of the statue split into two pieces. What was eerie, however, was that not only was the effigy still moving, but the pieces themselves were floating, connected to the rest of the body by what looked like a glowing blue current. It was then that the blue glow surrounding the statue intensified to a point where it became hard to bear. At the same time, Shiro, who had been straddling the statue, was blasted off by a strong force akin to a gale. It wasn't just him, however. Everybody around the statue would be blown away. Shiro, Sienna, and Adel would be thrown back to the raised elevation of the chancel. Catriona as well, almost crashing into Alois in the process. Link and Cora were thrown back normally, but Tsetseg ended up falling on top of the seat of one of the front row pews, knocking her head against the wooden back. Edrick hit the corner of the other pew at the front, and Acantha ended up rolling underneath that same one. Citron and Peaches were blown off course as well, thrown against the wall of the town hall, barely avoiding hitting one of the stained glass windows. Dresogon the badger had begun to plod forward then, an expression of horror on his striped face as he took in the damage done to the statue, the town hall, and the group. However, he quickly retreated behind a pew as the statue began to move, finally righting itself, its head still split in two and floating above the neck area. Those behind it and to the side--Link, Adel, Sienna, Shiro, Penelope, and Catriona, would be able to see that the symbol on the back remained intact, stamped upon the head's left partition. As the lord picked herself up from her prone position on the floor, however, she paused as the symbol on the statue began to glow with that same eerie blue light. Even now, the woman couldn't help but feel that she had seen a blue light like this before, but she couldn't remember where, and with everything going on, she didn't have the leisure to mull it over. The blue glow surrounding the statue faded back to its prior level, save for the current connecting the pieces of its head, and an area at the tip of its tail. As the glow brightened on its tail, the white-haired woman watched as the light formed itself into a long tendril that appeared to act as an extension of the tail, lashing the ground aggressively. Before Catriona could blink, the tendril lashed right toward where she was attempting to rise. Unfortunately, she wasn't fast enough to get out of the way in time, and before she knew it, she felt a cold sting on her legs, where the tendril had hit. The woman fell over, knees buckling underneath her. The cold feeling seemed to spread slowly from the area on her legs to their entirety, and wherever it went, all feeling was lost with it. This isn't good. As the woman looked up, she saw that the tendril was sweeping past her in an arc, where it would soon hit Alois, Penelope, Shiro, Sienna, Adel, Link, and Tsetseg, in that order. "Watch out!" she warned. "If you get hit by that, you'll lose all feeling in that limb." -- After the tendril had formed on the statue inside, Licorice had become wilder and harder to control than ever. Even Ciela, with her experience with Remy, would find it hard to hang on, and in the end, she was shaken off. Free at last, the fox gave one last shake and bounded away from the town hall at a speed that even a horse would have trouble keeping up with, let alone somebody on foot. The Protean hared away down the street, turned the corner, and was gone. OOC

After holding my breath for a bit after being forcibly ducked, I whisper to Caster, "I think you'd be better at stealth than Berserker here because...well you can probably guess why. Hopefully, none of us have to fight. I'd rather we get this done as quietly as possible since it's..." I hold back from humming, "Mission: Impossible." I then glance over to where Berserker is looking. "Something over there?"

This day had just not started off well at all. First that godforsaken alarm clock, then learning that he has to work together with a bunch of other Jaegers, which meant possible skin contact, which was a no-no. Then almost getting killed by a crazy lady with knives and explosions, and then actually getting blasted by an explosion! And he may or may not have to pay for any damages his head made to the wall, never mind the damage his head took. "It looked pretty nasty," the dog girl acknowledged as she checked him for further injuries. "It was," Lachlan sighed, rubbing the back of his head. Weel, if'n there's wan guid thing aboot aw this, it's tha' ah have a guid excuse tae avoid a ficht. Or, at least, that's what he had thought, but the dog girl had other plans. After she had waved him toward herself and Wada, she had then proceeded to not only do stretches, but also bring up some sort of battle plan...or sparring plan. Whatever the word was for whatever the heck this was supposed to be. "So how this'll go is, I want both of you to come at me with everything you've got. I'm a tough girl, so don't worry about hurting me too bad. And if I win, you can say you ganged up on a girl and still lost! Ahahaha!" "Err...begging your pardon and all, but, uhh, did you say...you still want us to fight?" Lachlan reeeaaally really hoped that that wasn't the case. After all, that giant light blast had hurt like the dickens. So, if he had a choice, he would rather say that, aye, he really should sit this one out. "Puppies acting tough is always adorable." The cat lady said from the side. "Maybe I'll tag in when things get too tough." she added with a crooked smile. "Oh, hehe, tag in? Haha, what a joke, hahaha..." Lachlan's laugh trailed off as he realized that she was serious. "Oh, nae, no, I don't think that's a verra, I mean, very good idea. No, not at all." If'n that biddy joins, then ah may'swell say mah prayers naow. Tho ah dinnae ken if'n t'wairds o'a Jaeger wuid be heard. He really wasn't too keen on dealing with another explosion. As he backed away from the cat lady nervously--making sure he wouldn't bump into anybody while doing so, he got an idea. And was just as quick to act on it too. "Wait, I know! I'm injured," he rubbed his head with a bit more exaggerated care than he actually felt. "Way too injured to fight, so very sorry about that. But I'm not the only Jaeger here, no, we have this one too," he waved his hands toward the Mom lady. "I know I said it was a bad idea, but that was only because I'm so very injured, aye." He nodded eagerly. "Too injured to fight," he repeated. "Way too injured. Again, sorry about that, nothing against you, I'm sure you'd be a tough opponent, but at least you have this one here...err, what was your name again?" he asked, turning toward the cat woman. "Sorry about that. Not saying you have a forgettable name or anything, err, I probably just misheard, or didn't catch it, yes. Unless it's actually Mommy, in which case, I'm sorry, uhh, Mommy? But, just in case it isn't, that's all. Unless you don't want to say it, then that's my bad, I don't mean to, err, put you on the spot." He laughed nervously. "Anyway," Lachlan turned back to the dog girl and Wada, "I uhh, just think that, you know, plenty of fish in the lake and all, there are a lot of other Jaegers you can fight, and I think Mommy here is probably, no definitely, really really strong." He rubbed his throat for a second. It almost felt as if the knives were back, resting against his skin. Then he winced, remembering just then he'd said he'd keep his gob shut about what happened. Well, he didn't actually say what happened, but he'd implied she was dangerous? Which was the same as saying it, right? Which meant he was in trouble. Shite. "So uhh, yeah, look no further." Maybe, if Lachlan was lucky, the other two could keep this dangerous one distracted, while he went to look for either Dr. Jekyll or somebody who might be able to handle an explosives expert. Maybe the Dragon Slayer. Aye, that was an idea. He didn't know where Dr. Jekyll was, but he was sure he'd caught a glimpse of the Dragon Slayer. He might be able to help against that accomplice too, the one that had fired off that large beam of power.

This reminds me that I really need to get farther in Super Mario Odyssey. I pretty much went to the water kingdom place and stopped there. The one right after the desert, which is right after the first kingdom. One day I'll get back to it...one day. OTZ So yeah, I actually haven't gotten that far, but I have played other Mario games, so...Bowser maybe? I really like Bowser, and think he's kind of hilarious, especially after Sunshine and the handheld RPG games. If bosses don't count, though, then I'd say...either a chain chomp or a boo. Chain chomp because they're basically invincible and also really cool, and boos because I'd also be invincible...kind of. And I'd get to fly around. That sounds pretty cool. Though flying koopas also sound cool. Actually, no, scratch that. There's another enemy that flies too. Lakitu. You get to fly around on a cloud, and you get to watch Mario and company play tennis, race, and run around...and probably get paid to do it too. And you're usually invincible because of your role unless your role is that of an enemy. So yeah. It sounds not only fun but also safe and lucrative. So if I get to be a boss, Bowser. If not, Lakitu. And I might choose Lakitu over Bowser anyway because Bowser usually gets beat up in the end.