(o ×)

What are your thoughts on being called Starchibald?

I'm disappointed you don't know. This machine kills fascists and runs on tea

so when you say high power level, how high were you thinking..? To be clear, this is an expression of interest.

"The fuck-" Kess barely had the time to say before the room exploded around her. In particular, the blood exploding on her front sent her flying backwards, her bat swiping down a solid foot away from Leo’s face, and Kess went spiraling out through the collapsing wall and into the light of day. She had been channeling most of her inner energy into her arms, and when she went through the crumbling walls she took the majority of the physical brunt of the impact through her body. Not enough to break anything, but certainly enough to discombobulate her until she was almost at the ground. "Shit! Shit!" She pivoted in midair, swinging Leo’s stolen bat wildly. She found purchase on a piece of debris, knocking herself sideways onto a large piece of fractured wall. She managed to get her feet under her and leapt off, landing on the street below, forced to run pell-mell to avoid falling over and gouging off all the skin from her body by sliding several hundred feet over hard street. She waved her arms, trying desperately to regain her balance and slow down. Fortunately, she found something to cushion her impact among the broken streets. She swerved hard at the last second, feeling herself impact against something soft before the both of them came to a bone-jarring impact against the street. A strangled and furious moan of pain came from beneath her. "Awww, thanks, babe," she said carelessly, slowly pulling herself up from where she’d fallen on top of Ryo, ‘accidentally’ elbowing her in the face while she stood for good measure. "Couldn’t have done it without ya’." "Kessandra?? What are you doing back down here, did you ki-" Ryo's chastising was cut abruptly short when she saw the condition Kess was in. Despite Kess’s seemingly cavalier attitude, her shoulders were rising and falling swiftly, and she was leaning on the bat for some support. Her clothes and skin had all manner of abrasions and tears to them, but most of all she was glaring up at the Titan, and the blown-out portion of its body that was even now slowly starting to heal over, with a hard, narrow gaze. "Kessandra, is… Are you okay? What the hell happened in there?" Kess whipped her head back around to glare at Ryo, hackles raised instantly. "Don’t fucking ask if I’m okay like you give two shits about it, I didn’t ask for your damn sympathy!" She lifted up the baseball bat, tossing it up to rotate in the air before catching it by the handle again. "The Brit with the hot dog cart thought he was hot shit." "Did he knock you out of there? I suppose that makes two people here who you're 0 for 1 against." Kess’s elbow didn’t drive back with the bone-breaking force she had wanted it to. She was too tired from the fight with Leo and being knocked out of the building. But it certainly still hurt. "You smug little bitch," she seethed at the doubled-over, gasping Ryo. "You sat here and did NOTHING while I had to fuck around in a building that’s trying to kill everything around it and inside it." She threw the bat down the street in anger. "You don’t get to comment on SHIT, so go slither back to your little snow queen and bury your nose up her ass, don’t come acting like YOU’RE better than ME." She stormed past Ryo, and began stalking back down the street towards the Colossus, reaching down to angrily scoop up the bat again, smacking the end into her palm again and again, growling under her breath. Before she had a chance to conclude whether she was dying or not, Elita hit the ground. As much as the impact hurt, she didn't seem to have any kind of visible injury from it. While the ground was as black and unobservable as the space around her, she could feel water, only a few inches deep, covering what she could only assume by texture to be tile flooring. She wasn’t enthused by the sensation of water around her, but that was second to the fact that she had the wind knocked out of her from the rough landing. If anyone else had been nearby, it was likely they would have felt a spike of annoyance as her emotions projected from her, a rare display of her losing her composure. She brushed her fingers against the floor underneath the water, before pushing herself to her feet to, her hands reaching into the darkness to try and feel for any walls she could use to guide herself forwards, "Perhaps death would be better than whatever this is…" While her blind wandering did not lead to any sort of wall, after what felt like an endless moment of aimlessness she suddenly saw the figure of Mayor Stratford standing before her. His clothing was neat and clean, and there were no signs on him of the battle that he had been involved in. He did not acknowledge Elita's presence, or seem to notice her whatsoever, as his eyes were locked upon something behind her, something that had his face contorted in absolute horror. A small sigh escaped her, she knew she likely needed to turn around and see whatever it was he was looking at, but it was never a pleasant realization. With her hands neatly folded in front of her, she turned herself around swiftly, seeing six enormous silhouettes looming over them in the void. Her brows furrowed as she took the moment to try and memorize the shape of the silhouettes, even if it was unclear if she would remember this once she… Awoke, she supposed. She took what notes she could about them, three in the back, their eyes were the stand out features on the majority of them, although one’s were covered. Height, she would have to hope that the white hair on one was accurate, she wanted as much information to work with once she was able to proceed… Finally, she turned her attention back to the frozen Stratford. She took a few steps towards him once more, "As I said before, I wish to help. At this stage, I don’t believe I can save you… But I can at least allow you to pass without this much fear and pain in your heart." She put her hand on Stratford’s shoulder, focusing herself as she prepared for the inevitable rush of pain that was sure to come from this, "Mr. Stratford, my mother often spoke highly of you, and the city’s belief in you was strong, it is a shame it had to end like this. I wish I could have done more." Suddenly, the mayor's eyes turned downward to meet Elita's. The two held eye contact for a few seconds, before he spoke, "I have made a horrible mistake, haven't I?" "Quite possibly." Elita gave him a soft, sad smile as she shook her head, "But most mistakes can be fixed. If you can tell me whatever you know, I will see what I can do in your stead. I do not believe you deserve to have your reputation destroyed over what occurred today." "I expect the damage to be far greater than what can be undone. But I will do what I can, with what I have left." Stratford closed his eyes, and Elita opened her own. At ground level, things had escalated to a head. The founts gathered were facing down what had become an enormous dragon, flying hundreds of feet in the air. While it had been damaged by the assault from Kiyoko’s otherworldly co-conspirators, it bit back with laser breath fitting for a century old monster movie. Despite the insurmountable foe, the young magician Kaede had constructed a rudimentary plan, involving a rune placed on the bag she carried. Of course, she was far from athletic, so delivering that payload was an issue its own… "... if she can, I can always chuck it," Diana offered, "I'm pretty accurate, so it should definitely be where we need it to go." There was only a second's hesitation before Kaede handed the bag off. "Get some rocks in it," she said quickly, reaching down to grab at pieces of debris. "It's light, won't get high without weight. Jeremy, Ibuz! Give us a really, REALLY great wind to help it blast off, okay?" Turning around to the debris, the hero dug around for a moment, before producing a piece around the size of her fist. After placing it in the bag, she pulled her arm back and began to spin it, taking aim, before... "Go!" In a flash, the bag was rocketing towards the serpent, a small burst of air around Diana as she grinned, followed by a surrounding gust caused by the fount and his kami companion. The bag impacted the dragon in the center of its mass, breaking through its armor and disappearing within the depths of its large body. "PSHSHNEH!" she shouted in ancient Egyptian, holding out both her splayed hands and swiping them through the air, crossing her arms so the hands pointed in opposite directions. In a flash of triangular prisms, the knight woman who had slain one of the serpents disappeared, replaced by the bag that had been thrown, which fell limply to the ground. Several seconds passed without any development, and the group began to wonder if something had gone wrong. However, before anyone had a chance to voice these concerns, the screeching sounds of tearing metal could be heard from above. Despite the distance and level of general chaos surrounding, it was still incredibly loud to those on the ground. The dragon coiled and contorted in apparent pain, struggling to remain aloft as it writhed about. This continued for a moment, before the knight errant burst forth from the chest like an alien larva in a classic film. The dragon let forth a final blast from its maw into the sky, before tumbling backward and collapsing atop a tower that remarkably managed to bear the weight without collapsing. In a flash, Diana had kicked off the ground and used the serpent's falling rubble to jump higher still. After hundreds of feet were covered in mere moments, a single mighty leap propelled the hero towards Sarashina's falling form, catching the knight in her arms and holding her close as they sailed towards one of the tall buildings in the area. Glass flew through the air as they crashed into a window, Diana shielding Sarashina and seemingly handling the shards with ease. "You alright?" The last few minutes were hell on Earth for Sei. Avoiding the mayor's attacks had been easy enough for her up to this point, but doing so with her new acquaintance slung over her shoulder was an entirely different challenge. She was bleeding from several spots, at least two of which she knew could spell real danger if untreated. There was even a portion of her left arm that has been badly scorched - she didn't expect the hearth to jump into the fray. By this point, she had been backed into a corner, with her opponent looming over her for the finishing blow. She knew she wouldn't be able to get away in time, at least not while also protecting the vulnerable Elita. Luckily, this was not the day the two of them met their end. Elita suddenly began stirring back awake, as what appeared to be an expression of horrified realization appeared on Stratford's face. He was lowered to the floor by the spears that carried him, and dropped unceremoniously to his knees. As the spines withdrew from his body, blood and viscera poured freely from the openings they left. "Thank you, child," his voice was ragged, filled with anguish both physical and mental, "I don't think I have much time left." As Elita returned to the physical world, there was a small groan of discomfort. Her hand reached not for the ground, but for her purse, dragging it towards her as she started to sit up. There was a moment of fiddling inside of the bag, before retrieving a small bottle that rattled as she popped it open, and a cloth that she quietly wiped her face with, "...No, I can’t imagine that you do. Perhaps if I had managed to get here much, much sooner, we could have helped more, found someone who could heal you properly. I apologize for that." "He isn’t dead yet," Sei groaned, slouching down against the nearest wall now that she could stop to breathe for a moment. "There’s at least, what, five other Founts down at street level? Surely one of them can heal our good mayor up, now that he’s come to his senses." Elita frowned for a moment, "...Perhaps, but it isn’t likely that we can actually get him there in time. And we need answers. If you wish to try and bring one here, I won’t stop you, but… Mr. Stratford, it’s important that you give us any information you have." "It would be faster to bring him down to ground level." Nodding toward the mayor, Sei added "With your permission, of course, Mr. Mayor." "No. I don't believe I would last long enough to get down there. I am ready to pay the price for my actions." He turned toward Elita, the pain fading from his face as his expression turned serious, "I'm afraid the information I have for you is scarce. I heard a voice over my shoulder, and just like that was overtaken by unending paranoia. It was like a waking nightmare." With a grunt of pain, he leaned toward the pair, "I have failed in my goal to protect this city from those who put it in danger. I need the two of you-" as he looked up, tears were visible cutting lines through the blood on his face, "-I need you to save M... save these people. Please, promise me." Elita let out a tiny sigh, "I expected little, but this is unfortunate…" She folded the cloth in her hand, taking a moment to brush the blood from Stratford’s face as she nodded her head, "I will… Do what I can. With this little direction, it will be tough, but perhaps someone on the ground… Gleaned something. Rest, Mr. Stratford, I’m sure the goddess will gaze favorably on you, despite today." "I’ll protect the people with all I’ve got. I’d be unfit to call myself a Fount if I didn’t. We’ll get to the bottom of this, and bring whoever’s behind it to justice. You’re more than welcome to haunt me for the rest of my life if I don’t." ED:Winding Road - Man With A Mission Megalopolis 6th District, 12:41 PM Before the eyes of all on the ground, the Samsara Titan halted in its destructive march. Its mass lowered slowly, carefully onto the ground. While having the tower placed in the center of the road was far from convenient from a civil engineering perspective, it was far from the hazard it had been for nearly the past hour. The sun was directly above it in the sky, and if only for a second, it appeared as if the tower cast no shadow at all, glowing from every angle. Megalopolis 6th District, 3:00 PM The destructive rampage of the tower turned titan had been halted for a few hours by this point, and while emergency workers (assisted by a certain blonde fount with strength of half a dozen athletes) worked on recovering those trapped or injured in the incident, a fair number of those who had fought to put a stop to it were congregated at a bar a few blocks away - or at least, what remained of a bar. Perhaps if it reopened they would be able to capitalize on the open-air arrangement as the roof (and apartments that were once above it) had been completely wiped out. In any case, Leo stood behind the bar, pouring a series of shots from an unlabeled bottle for whoever would take them. He had a few new scars visible on his arms, matching his injuries from his bout with Kess. "So, as extra exciting as all that was, I gotta ask what the bloody fuck it all was about."

Listen to your friend, @radio414

Savage Face-Off! ”SLEDGE IMPACT!” Kess’s head darted up to see Leo falling towards her. She pushed off with her back foot, continuing to rush straight under him, barely avoiding the falling bat as it missed her heel and slammed into the floor. Upon impact, the pink energy of Leo's ability burst downward, tearing the floor out from beneath them and dropping them down to the floor below. Leo landed on his feet and a single hand in a crouching position, looking back over his shoulder at Kess, "You'd best not underestimate me." This was immediately met with Kess diving forward to jam her knee into the small of his back as hard as she could, leaping forward like a pouncing animal with a single, harsh laugh. “Big fuckin’ deal,” she spat back at him, ducking back to avoid a counterswing of the bat, grabbing a chair and waving it at him like a circus performer. “So you hit hard. You have to manage to hit me ONCE first.” Leo had barely managed to lower himself, taking the blow on the back of his shoulder instead of having his spine snapped in two. Even so, the impact had rocked him. Rising to his feet, he grinned at Kess, blood visible in his teeth. Leaning forward, he spit a mouthful of blood at her, splattering it on her clothes. "Got me good there. So are the sparks just so you look extra fancy when you practice kickboxing?" Leo tossed his bat aside, grabbing a piece of rebar from the rubble that was about as long as he was tall, spinning it a few times in his hands, "This oughta do fine. Think you can pummel the other lung, or are you leaving the first one extra lonesome?" “And shut up all this great conversation?” Kess grinned with a wide, savage row of teeth across her face, slowly beginning to stalk to the side, Leo mirroring her pace as the two circled each other in the dimly-lit employee cafeteria they had fallen into. “Maybe I should, though. Like I said. I’m busy. Not busy enough to kick you right back out this place. You wanna be a good boy and blow open another wall for me, or am I gonna have to start doing my own legwork around here for once?” "Trust me, there are few things I'd like to do more than bust down some walls. Gotta say you got me bare disappointed you'd delegate it." Leo frowned emphatically, though his smile was more than visible in his eyes, "thought I'd found me a right wrecking ball of a bird." “HA!” Kess spat the laugh at him. “Dumbass! I’m the whole crew.” She slammed her leg up, kicking the underside of the long table in front of her. It spun through the air towards Leo, lifting several feet off the ground. Holding his makeshift staff behind his back, he raised a single gloved hand in front of him, shattering the table in a burst of light once it contacted him. Wooden splinters shot off in every direction, embedding themselves in the walls around them. Miraculously, two of the enormous serpents were felled within only a few seconds, one by the knight-errant, and another by the hero who had dove in to help. The individuals on the ground regrouped for a second, beginning to make plans on how to stop the last one, but before they had a chance to act upon them the ground began to shake. The carcass-like wreckages of the destroyed pair of snakes lifted off the ground, and floated inward until they met the one that remained. Cars and bikes, street lights and trash cans all were pulled in to give the serpent an enormous pair of wings, and a hood on either side of its head. With a mighty flap, the now-winged serpent lifted off the ground, looking down at those that had only a moment ago been a credible threat. Its toothy maw opened, letting out a screeching roar that sounded like a revving and misfiring engine. With no further warning, the winged serpent dragged its spiked tail across the ground, hurling a storm of debris toward the founts collected before it. "You don't understand, do you?" Stratford sighed, as debris swirled up through the air into the hand of the golem he was encased in, forming a sword with a blade of at least ten feet. "My strength is that of the belief from everyone who lives here. The belief that, should anyone step out of line, I can set them straight." By this point, his attention upon Elita was lost, as he lumbered toward Sei, "Nobody in this city is strong enough to defeat me in battle. What are four kami against the will of tens of millions?" Elita took a few, tentative steps forward once more as Stratford spoke to Sei, her eyes closing as she put her hand forwards. Her own fear had to be shoved down in the shadow of what was in front of her, instead pushing forward her desire to calm Stratford as she promptly lunged forward. Her hand might not be able to come directly in contact with him through the constructed armor, but she forced her emotions towards him all the same, hoping to create a gap in the golem. “Be still, Mr. Stratford. I would prefer no more murder today.” Though it may not have been quite what she had hoped for, her contact with the golem did manage to have some effect, albeit on herself rather than Stratford. With a momentary spray of blood from both of her eyes, Elita’s body went limp, collapsing onto the floor beside the mayor.

Fuck this forum.

what the fuck is this upset I assumed it would be a wash in favor of smolive

Confrontation Within The Titan!! It wasn't long before the pair had made their way to an enormous pair of mahogany doors, only seeming a bit worse for wear due to Sei's protective abilities and Elita's method of pacifying the animated objects. It was more than clear that this room was the source of the feelings of terror that the Fount of Devotion was picking up on, and the wood had warped to form an enormous pair of faces, contorted in agony. Elita shivered for a moment, taking a look around the twisted floor as she collected herself, "...This is hideous. Whatever power caused this... Do not take it lightly. I don't know what to expect here." She turned her head to Sei briefly, before entering the room. The door creaked open, revealing the office of Mayor Richard Stratford. It was in absolute disarray, probably as could be expected, with spikes jutting out of the ceiling, walls, and floor in every which direction. At the center of the room, suspended by dozens of the spikes stretched out to pierce him in several spots, was Stratford. He raised an arm toward the two intruders, and the spikes rose to attention like the heads of adders. "Why... Are you here..?" "By the authority of the kami, and in accordance with my pact with Byakko, Guardian Beast of the East, I've come to arrest you," Sei replied, preemptively raising a barrier between the girls and the mayor before them. "I would like it if we could settle this peacefully, but I won't lose any sleep over direct combat with the city's mayor if it comes to that." Elita frowned as Sei immediately began to speak, before taking a small breath. She brought her hands in front of her, "...I simply wished to ask why the tower was rampaging. It did not strike me as something you would do." Her face was devoid of emotion, though there was a bit of a rise in her voice as she spoke, "I can clearly see there is something... Very wrong, if you would like to talk about it." Stratford's eyes were bloodshot, and upon closer inspection it was clear that multiple tufts of hair had been pulled out from his scalp, "Peace..? No... peace. You two here are assassins... Sent from another district to kill me, to take control of the city..." Blood dripped down from his body, striking the floor of the otherwise silent room. He began laughing quietly, but it was clear that it was labored, there was no telling how compromised his body was by what he had done to himself, "you all thought you could surprise me, but I knew. I knew!" Tiny golden particles began to glow in the air around him, as the room stirred to life, poised to attack. "What are your last words, traitors?" With a small step forward, Elita set her bag on the ground as she looked towards Stratford. Fear pulsated around her as she took a deep breath, imagining her own emotions projecting outwards. It had taken everything in her to not succumb to the pressure from everything around her, the calmness likely unable to bring Stratford down fully from his frenzied state... But perhaps it could do something, "Please, calm down, Mr. Stratford. I am unarmed, and I will ensure she won't harm you while I am here. You knew there was... An assassination attempt, I presume?" He scowled down at her, blood leaking from the downturned corners of his mouth. "We both know that being unarmed in this city is meaningless, child. No. I managed to mobilize my tower before you assassins arrived, as you can see. I knew this was coming." "With all due respect, Mr. Mayor, if we had come here to kill you, I don't believe we would have stopped to have this conversation in the first place. While I'm honestly really impressed by the power at your disposal, my only job is to stop the tower's apparent rampage and the path of collateral damage it's carving through the city you're in charge of. I would very much like to do that without using violence. May I suggest a ceasefire, at least in this office? You disarm these spikes, and I'll lower my barrier." With a crash, the heavy doors shut behind the pair. "You seek to fool me, to make me lower my guard. Your masters taught you subterfuge, but I refuse to fall prey to it. Your treacherous lives end now!" With a roar, the mayor brought forward both of his hands, and the enormous spikes hurtled toward his guests. "Life saved," The occult girl seemed unreasonably cheery, given her extra violent surroundings. "Not many people get to experience that, either! Lucky you." While he didn't feel particularly lucky, Leo struggled to argue with the results. With a subtle glow, the eldritch saliva that now coated his body crackled and fizzled away. "Not quite what I had in mind, but it works. You see if the girl got in?" "Yes, she was able to break in through a window with the help of another girl." Leo looked back and forth, stretching his shoulders as he bounced on his toes, "How about the red haired one with the sparks? Don't see her makin a mess out here no more." "Her too, yes. You left an excellent path for her to break in through, you and that friend of hers." "What you bet she's up to in there?" "Nothing peaceful, I'd imagine. It doesn't seem like her sort of approach, based on the way she carries herself. I do hope her methods don't conflict too hard with the other girl's, what with them being very much in the belly of the beast. For a generous definition of beast." "Yeah," Leo's focus turned his focus up to the titan, a glow appearing where his feet met the pavement, "think you can watch out fi the people down here? Things looking like they gonna get extra bad." "Certainly." Already opening the Necronomicon once again, Kiyoko smiled "I wish you the best of luck in there. Should things go wrong, just jump out of a window and I'll be sure to catch you again." "Don't hold your breath." With a flash of light, Leo launched himself into the air, away from Kiyoko. Incoming! The titanic metal snake barreled through the streets of the sixth district, seemingly unaware of the captive passenger dangling atop it. The monstrous locomotive slithered back toward the rest of the animated objects, and the group that had congregated among them. Turning from one last rescue, there the knightly Sarashina turned to behold out of the serpent’s metal maw cushions of grey smog and dust, screeching and vomiting a wicked bile of steel and flesh into ugly monstrous shapes which provoked her sense of justice. She charged toward the razed ground at the sight of a helpless Lady attached to one of the viper’s small children, grey as ash, and evaded its smoldering spawn which obstructed the train with seeming easy, commanding Braichmor to leap onto the train. Tenacious through the many weak stings of the snakes’ cumbersome breath, landed finally besides the girl, and descended to cut the strap from the bag that captured her, carrying with shocking gentleness the two of them up onto her steed, and spoke to her, “This hateful monster, treacherous to men, we fly from now! Hold tight, weary sprite.” Picking up much of the burdensome bag, Braichmor coursed down the monster’s length with uncompromised steadiness, and jumped onto the ground besides, escaping its whipping tail and storming gibbet of plastics, metals, and leathers by the nearest bend back to the safe route she created earlier, stepping off of her horse and offering her hand to the girl should she need it, and letting her speak first should she desire to, to give her the mental room to process everything going on. Kaede blinked woozily, shaking her head to clear it of all the noise that had filled it over the last minute and not entirely succeeding. She looked up with bleary, dust-clouded eyes to the one who had yanked her from the train. "Whoozat?" she asked dumbly, moving her mouth and spitting weakly to clear it of all the particles it had picked up. However, before Kaede could fully orient herself, the snake was upon them, coiling and raising its head to loom above the group of founts. The ground rumbled, and two more matching serpents erupted from beneath the street, shaking enormous metal rattles at the ends of their tails. Stretching out to demonstrate their enormous length, the serpent's moved to surround the group of founts, forcing them all back to back, before the first one made its attack, diving into the center of the fray. Confrontation Within The Titan?! Kess was making short work of the inner workings of the Samsara Titan. While she was vastly outnumbered, her martial prowess and overwhelming speed made the blind furniture no match against her. She had no real way of knowing where she was going, but what she did know was that she was going there fast. She would sprint through every hall of this building if it meant she could find the fight she was promised. Suddenly, she felt the floor beneath her shake as she heard a blast behind her. Whipping around on her heel, she saw a cloud of dust, and through it, sunlight. The Fount of Blitzkrieg steeled herself, and approached. Electricity crackled along her skin as her muscles tensed up, and the lightbulb above her flickered, increasing in brightness until it burst. “I’m your huckleberry.” Emerging from the dust cloud was the guy with the bat whom Kess had seen earlier. “Dunno what it was about em, but Mum always loved those old cowboy flicks. Guess something about them rebel heroes lit a fire in me, ya know?” Leo tilted his neck back and forth, eliciting a series of pops. “If Mum knew I was here, she’d go mad.” Tossing his bat up into the air, he let it spin a few times before catching it, the entire length of aluminum letting off a subtle pink glow. “What I’m getting at is, this is one of them scenes where you think you’re in for one fight, but instead you’re facing off against a wasteman like me.” Kess immediately relaxed, raising an eyebrow as she appraised Leo, hands on her hips. "You're a Brit? Was hard to tell when you were shouting like that. Nice work distracting this glorified DMV earlier, saved me the trouble of relying on the useless lesbian with the peashooters outside to be good at anything." "In another life I was." His eyes narrowed, the bat falling slack at his side, "How do you know she swings that way..?" Kess rolled her eyes. "We go back a ways, unfortunately. Hey are you here to kick Stratford's ass too or shoot shit, I'm kinda busy." She turned to let out a scything kick that knocked away a sneaking telephone that had been trying to unobtrusively loop its cord around her neck. It slammed into the wall, shattering into dozens of pieces. "This is my kinda Disney flick," she chuckled, grinning. Bending down, Leo picked up a small fragment of the wall that he had busted through. It began to glow with power as he straightened back up, tossing it a few times in this hand. "See, I met an extra peng girl out there a few minutes ago, she's got some crazy plan to take care of this without any ass-kicking." His attention turned toward Kess as he dug his heel into the ground, "As much as I'd love a good fisticuffs with him, I'd hate to make the bird cry. So now I'm making sure nobody gets in the way while she's singing kumbaya." Leo flicked at the edge of his wall fragment, sending a piece rocketing past Kess's head, "So like I said, I'm your huckleberry." Kess's eyes narrowed, and a sneer crept into her expression and her voice. "Ooooh... is that how it is, then?" Already she was slowly turning sideways, into a fighter's pose that exposed less of her body to Leo. "'Fraid ass-kicking is the only way I take care of anything." Several long, arching sparks lanced off of her, reaching out to play along the walls. "I was gonna take on Peashooter today after I took care of Stratford... but if you don't get the hell out my way I can stand to move you up the list." Leo grinned, crushing the piece of wall in his hand and raising the bat up to point at his opponent. "Sounds like an extra-fun list to be on. Let's see what you can do, sparky!" Kess surged forward, pulling a fist back for a haymaker. "And what the FUCK is a huckleberry?!?" she screamed.

this 3d rendering makes me feel weird

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=3TDRcr1VInI&feature=share

Crobat Toxtricity Shedinja Porygon-Z Roserade Dragapult Poiple Flygon

Two Sides Leo watched as the girl who climbed up from the rat-tunnels turned one of the incoming objects back into, well, nothing more than an object, as the car crashed and skidded across the pavement. Well that was extra-lame. "...I can neutralize the smaller ones. I don't know if they will stay down. In order to stop the rampage..." The girl looked to the tower, contemplating her options, "I need to get inside. If I can calm whatever is causing this, perhaps we can stop any more senseless destruction. Do any of you have any ideas on how we can get inside?" Leo ground away at his teeth. How dare she try to take this from him? The destruction was the best part of all this, and she wanted to sit down with the one controlling this thing and talk about their feelings. "Ah no. No no no NO." He took a step toward the girl, his bat leaving a wake of indentations in the already-wrecked concrete as he dragged in behind him. "In case you forgot, today's a fuckin holiday. Which means all the people in that stuffy joint are out of it, aside from our extra-hard-working king on high. If you think you're convincing him of shit, you're wasting your time." A brief scowl appeared on her face, "Stratford, for his faults, is unlikely to have ordered a straight assault on the city." She glanced towards the fallen constructs near her, before turning back to Leo, "I care about making sure there aren't too many injuries. I may not be able to talk him down... But I can force his emotions down and find answers." "Uh huh, uh huh, wouldn't go for an assault on the city..." Leo nodded, his hand to his chin in apparent contemplation. "AND FUCKING YET-" Leaning forward to shout directly in Elita's face, he pointed his bat up at the hulking structure, seemingly stalled for a moment by the brief loss of a finger. "GOT AN EXPLANATION FOR THAT ONE, HOLMES?" Elita looked unfazed from the shout, but when she spoke, her voice was a bit softer, "...Fear is emanating from the tower, terror. Whoever is inside fears for their life. If it is Stratford, it's more likely to be him in danger rather than him attacking the city, which could mean there's an unknown assailant. I will follow my gut feeling, all the same." "Oh so he's SCARED, now?" Leo's eyes glowed brightly, illuminating Elita's face in neon pink, "Well fuck me, I forgot to bring a blankie and cocoa! How's about we ask REAL fuckin nice, and he'll let us onto the lift, so we can pleasant little soiree and figure out what he's so worried about!" Looking back and forth to see if anyone else was buying this girl's pacifistic nonsense, he continued, "what?? A hostile party inside the building? The more the merrier, that's what Mum always said! So, Fount of Sods, what's your plan when you make a new friend up there?" "Someone is terrified... And I didn't say anything about asking. We will likely have to break in." Elita turned towards more of the approaching creations, watching as they fell to the ground in front of her as she stepped away from Leo. "I don't have time, or the patience, to continue this right now when people are in danger. If you aren't, I'll find someone more willing to help." Leo turned away from her, taking a few steps toward the enormous enemy. "Tell you what. I try and knock this castle down, and you try and make it walk back home to make friendship bracelets. Drinks on the loser." "If we all survive, I'm sure drinks can be arranged." She waved her hand as she walked off, pausing to turn back to Leo briefly, "...Good luck." Resting his bat up on his shoulder, Leo looked back at her with a grin. "It wouldn't be a fair competition if only one of us had luck on our side." Sighing, he turned back toward their collective enemy and slammed hit bat down onto the concrete, holding it out in front of himself like a cane. "I've gotta watch out, else you might sneak in there while I keep it occupied." Common Ground "Don't tell me that pyromaniac sent you here." Though the source of the voice was behind her, Kess would recognize it anywhere. Kess didn't even think about it. Her body turned, her leg rose, and her heel punched out at about neck level. "Kessandra, just because you're taller than me doesn't mean your legs can reach ten feet away." Though her words sounded humourous, it was clear she was more annoyed than anything. "Don't call me that," she snapped, slamming her leg back down on the ground to reclaim her balance as she glared at the newcomer. If looks could kill, the Samsara Titan was the 2nd most murderous thing in the District. "Ryo..." The name was a snarl, a low, drawn-out growl. "Of all the times you show up to bother me? Get lost, I'm busy." She jerked her thumb back up towards the Titan. "Well I'm not going to call you Kessy." The girl's expression was as cold as Kess's was ferocious. "I'm here for work. As annoying as it is, our goals are aligned for now." "Like hell they are," was the vehement retort. "Can't say I remember last time they were. Go make snow angels while the big girls take care of things, rich girl." She leaned forward threateningly, taking up the sprinter's pose again as she smiled like a shark. "Unless you think I'm actually slow enough for ten feet to matter." Ryo frowned, as a cloud of small glowing orbs, ranging in color from deep red to indigo, appeared around her. Ignoring what Kess had to say, she walked to the edge of the roof, looking up at the titan. "The number one goal is to stop its movement. My Bullet Hell could probably catch its attention at the very least if I strike at its back." Turning her head, she made eye contact with the other girl, "You will get in there and assassinate Stratford. Considering what you have done to someone you loved, I'm sure that would be manageable against a stranger." That caught Kess' attention. She cocked an eyebrow, looking back up at the colossus as it punted a fountain into a wet bundle of rubble. "Stratford's the one doing this?" she asked, blatantly ignoring the slight at the end. "Isn't he King Goody Two-Shoes?" "That's the queen's theory." Ryo, walked away from Kess toward the back of the monster, carefully studying it, "we suspect he is headed toward the 8th to quash her regime before it becomes a threat. Barbaric, but..." Sighing again, she looked back to Kess, "it doesn't particularly matter who is in there. You'll take care of it, right Kessandra?" Before she received an answer, she had hopped off the roof of the building, approaching the titan from behind as she amassed more and more of her projectiles around her. Kess kept her eye on the colossus, frowning in a rare moment of thought. It wasn't until Ryo was off the roof that she noticed her departure. "HEY! IT'S KESS! Four letters, you dumb bitch! And fuck you, I didn't agree to shit! Aaaaah, goddammit," she cursed as her shouting drew the attention of a skittering flock of garbage cans, inspiring her to cartwheel off the roof as they flew upward in an attempt to dogpile her. "'That's the queen's theory,'" she said in a mocking faux-British accent as she landed on the street below, feeling power coursing through her legs as she took off to shake the pursuers. "Can't believe such a fuckin' simp thinks she can order me around." Her eyes trailed up towards the face of the Colossus once again. Stratford, huh? Inside? Fuck. Now I kinda WANNA do that. 97 Paying no mind to the angry girl she left behind, Ryo Kataki stood behind the Samsara Titan. Pretty much all of its minions were ahead of it, so she was actually in a startlingly safe position. For now. Ryo sighed, her arms falling limp by her sides as she glanced back toward Kess. Her gaze lingered for a second then was brought back up to the Titan with razor focus. "Fount of Barrage: Bullet Hell." In a storm of fractal patterns, Ryo's orbs of light scattered through the air toward the giant, colliding with its back in a cloud of dust. While each one dealt minimal damage, the volume of hundreds upon thousands of strikes began to pulverize its masonry and glass exterior. Sure enough, the entire structure haltingly turned toward her, turning its menacing gaze downward at her small figure. Despite the danger, Ryo's face remained stoic, though the slightest hint of a tremble was visible at the very tips of her fingers. The Titan took a lumbering step toward, and reached forward with its enormous hand, aiming to crush her. Ryo took a half-step back reflexively, another round of projectiles materializing around her and hurtling forward to intercept the attack. The hand was hardly visible with the incredible number of times it was being struck, but it continued toward her nonetheless. Once again, Ryo looked toward the spot where she had spoken to Kess. There is no way I'm going to let that girl see me die. "EXTRA-SPECIAL MOVE: JAVELIIIIIIIIIIIIN IMPACT!" Mass Destruction Flying through the air before Ryo's eyes, was what she could only assume to be a food truck, given the enormous fake hotdog attached to its roof. Such decorations were uncommon to see in this day and age, but the undoubtedly more unusual feature of the truck was that it was being propelled through the air by a flare of bright pink energy bursting from its tail-end. With a crash, it collided with the concrete hand, bursting into a flash of pink light that briefly engulfed the city street. After a few seconds of falling rubble, the dust cleared, revealing The Fount of Destruction at the point of the truck's origin, wearing a wicked grin. The beast looked down at him and roared, releasing a blast of wind that shattered every nearby window that had survived the tremors it caused by walking. Clenching its remaining fist, it strained for a few seconds and toar free of the clutch of otherworldly tentacles, eliciting a screech of pain from the void whence they came. The Titan swung downward at Leo with its now-free arm, as the one that had just been impacted started the process of reassembling itself, but he jumped up above the point of impact with a burst of energy from his trainers. Landing atop one of the enormous knuckles, Leo took a quick breath before starting a sprint up the monster's arm. Each step he took left behind a glowing shoeprint, almost as if he had walked through fluorescent paint, but once he had covered a decent distance the trail began exploding, about five paces behind him. The Samsara Titan groaned in apparent pain, waving its arm like a person would trying to shake off a bug, and when that worked about as well as it would for a person (that is to say, not at all), it brought its arm up toward its face. The enormous maw opened with a cacophony of metallic screeching, as the deepest pit of its makeshift throat began to glow a sinister gold. "No way in hell you're getting me with that Gojira bosh!" Leo roared in defiance, throwing his baseball bat at the Titan's face like a tomahawk. It struck directly on the tip of the tower's snout, exploding in bright pink as it launched itself back to be caught once again by its owner. The Samsara Titan shook from the shock of the impact, stumbling a step back toward the west, and this last shock managed to knock Leo off his perch atop its arm. Plummeting toward the ground, he caught sight of the simple-looking girl who he noticed conjuring tentacles from empty space earlier, "AY LOVECRAFT, MIND SAVING THE ROAD CLEANERS SOME WORK AND SAVING MY LIFE??"

OOC - CHARACTER VAULT Megalopolis 1st District, 11:59 AM, 01/01/2100 An otherwise unassuming young woman, seemingly in her mid-twenties, stood near the edge of the roof of a building deep in the city’s heart, taking in the view. After a few seconds, she directed her attention down to a small device in her hand, and brushing the tip of her finger against its side brought up the holographic screen. A few swipes, and the typing of a short and to the point message later, and she turned it back off, dropping it into her purse. She knew she wouldn’t receive a reply to the message for a few hours. She stared pensively at the city that she grew up in, only taking a break for a split second to glance at the old-fashioned wristwatch on her arm. With a deep breath, she turned on her heel, and made her way to the door so she could make her way back down to the ground. Though a tear fell down her face, she refused to look out upon the streets as the dust clouds spread and the carnage began. Scoundrel Megalopolis 6th District, 12:31 PM The magtrain was arriving ever-so-slightly late, which was an unusual occurrence considering how tightly monitored and computerized it all was. In fact, it had been automated to the point that a significant disaster could be rolling through the city, and the train would continue on nonetheless. It always left and arrived on time, and this efficiency was valued by the people of Megalopolis, no matter how many limbs were chopped off by the automatic doors in the process. Designed in the ninth, built in the third, based in the sixth, to go everywhere else still. However, none of these calculations could hold true if there were something increasing the wind resistance of the craft, no matter how slightly. Atop the passenger car stood Leo Nolastnamegiven, the Fount of Destruction. With a bit of forceful coaxing, he managed to pull the tip of his aluminum baseball bat, as well as the soles of his sneakers, out of the glove-tight indentations they resided in within the metal roof. He hopped off the edge of the train, plummeting some 20 meters to the ground below, where he landed in a pulse of hot pink that left a small crater in the pavement. ”Welcome home.” Anyone who heard him speaking to himself would perhaps be somewhat misled, as a vagrant like Leo didn’t really have any sort of conclusive home, but as he tended to end each day in a different one than he started, the mess of rail lines and streets that formed the sixth district was a common denominator in many of his travels. Leo made his way down the street with a spring in his step. He couldn’t quite place it, but he knew today was going to be an extra-splendid day. Grabbing a loaded hot dog from the hand of a random bystander who had just purchased it, he tapped his heels together twice, and the rubber soles of his sneaker glowed pink for a split second before the energy was released, launching him up and away from any consequences for his casual theft, landing safely atop a double-decker bus that was navigating the streets perhaps a little more quickly than was safe, as was tradition in the sixth district. This hustle and bustle was Leo’s favorite part, as the entire area refused to stay still for but a second of the day. Sitting atop the bus with crossed legs, Leo rested his bat upon his lap as he took a bite from his pilfered meal. It was pretty good, for such an opportunistic instance of take-out! ”Now then…” Leo spoke to himself between bites, wondering silently who the hell orders a hot dog with tabasco sauce, ”I could find some kind of public monument to knock down, this extra-ancient place has tons of that shit. Or…” tossing aside the hot dog onto a poster with the mayor’s likeness that the bus passed, he brought his hand to his chin, finding himself excited by the potential today had for revelry, ”I could head over to the tenth. Those big old stained glass windows have potential, for sure. And it might even piss off someone with some real passions. It’s a lot more fun breaking shit with friends. Ha!” Of course, in a city with as many moving parts as Megalopolis, planning one’s day is notoriously difficult. As much destruction as the Fount of Such could be planning, more still would find him soon enough. It happened as the bus he sat upon was crossing an intersection, and honestly he would have seen it coming if he had bothered listening at all. But nonetheless, his only warning was seeing it in his peripheral vision, an incredibly massive object tearing its way through the wide main street of the district. Before he had a chance to even turn his head, it made impact, launching the bus into the air. Leo grabbed his bat instinctively, and with a burst of his Explosive impact, launched himself up into the air off of it before it hit the ground again, tumbling about like a toy kicked by an angry child. It was then that he looked up at what had very nearly killed him. SAMSARA TITAN Leo had a habit of staying out of the first district, since he knew his brand of creativity was extra-prohibited there, but even he could recognize Megalopolis’s capitol. It looked more like something that would fit in a fantasy book than the year 2100, but Leo supposed it fit considering how the people of the city worshiped that Fount of Tossers Stratford like he was a king. And now, that throne was tearing the city apart, having found a way to come to life and charging right through the thick of it, with what appeared to be an army of animated architecture charging with it at its feet. Cars, statues, holophone booths, all had sprouted legs of twisted metal and concrete and were hell-bent on carving a path through this city. Honestly, Leo couldn’t help but admire it. But even more so, he felt that typical itch. The desire that drove him forward, breaking him out of his past and propelling him into his future. Megalopolis’s number one landmark is delivering itself right to my doorstep. I can’t just ignore the call of destiny. A motorcycle that more closely resembled a scurrying lizard by this point charged toward Leo, dipping back and forth like a predator trying to confuse its prey. But Leo was no prey. His eyes lit up as he stomped his right foot forward into the ground, forming a web of cracks in the pavement, radiating away from him, grabbing hold of his bat with both hands. Leo clenched his teeth, and his knuckles turned white as the motorcycle pounced at him. ”PISS OFF! Leo swung, and his bat met metal with a ping that was instantly drowned out by the FWOOOM of his Explosive Impact, a blinding pink light filling the street as the cycle was launched up through the air, impacting the enormous monstrosity in what Leo could only assume was the face. Following through with his swing, Leo now held the bat in only one hand, pointing it up to point at the titanic beast. Leo knew that whatever was in there wouldn’t have a chance at hearing his next words, but he didn’t care. ”HEY CUNT, DON’T THINK YOU ARE GETTING A DAMN STEP PAST ME, BECAUSE I AM BRINGING YOUR TOWER DOWN TO RUBBLE!” OP:OMEGA RHYTHM - UPLIFT SPICE OOC:

While you could go the ET route and having the creature in danger from those who would seek to catch it, I think Radio's on the money here. While comparing and contrasting internal and external stakes can do quite a lot for a story, they are not a necessity. Your concept already has a conflict, and could be complete with it alone.

whether concurrent posts merge, to see if i would have had to wait between posts in the fount npc database

District 13 40: Alice Solari, the Fount of Precipitation

District 12 52: Kagayaku Kagami, the Fount of Duality

District 11

District 10 19: Eos, the Fount of Radiance 93: Primrose Goitea, the Fount of Triskelion

District 9

District 8

District 7

DISTRICT 6 11: Ayane Tohito, the Fount of Decibels 21: Danny Hitchcock, the Fount of Spectacle 72: Genevieve "Genny" Mireille, the Fount of Muse 113: Limstella "Stella" Dumitru, the Fount of Threnody

DISTRICT 5 56: John Spencer, the Fount of Evidence 61: Charon, the Fount of Aphelion