IntSys

Astra vs. Supernova Months prior, he was the fearless champion of the ring, scraping his foes with his two fists without hesitation. Blades, bullets, or whatever, none of that could intimidate the star back then. Then... Why was it, that now, he was scared shitless by a mech that was no more impressive than the works of art he had destroyed before? Why was he... turning his back on an opponent in the ring? His heart throbbed as the stray bullets grazed past his armor, ripping paint and thinning armor along the way. His mech made touchdown with the surface, but his mind still lingered in the skies above. Before he realized it, he had already fled to the edge of the ring. He saw a boy, but he couldn't see his face clearly. Even then, he knew what he was seeing: A boy, bored by the sham of a fight taking place before him. It was himself. The boy from more than a decade ago. He would have never approved this. In the goose chase for power and responsibility, when did he lose himself? A man donning dreams from his childhood self, yet not believing in any of them. How could he face himself... let alone anyone else? I am responsible for my indecisiveness with picking a side in the war... But before all that, I am responsible for what got me this far in the first place! His opponent would see a brief flash of light coming from the sea of clouds beneath him. And then, with proper reflex, he would find his opponent again, right behind him. The heat was a forecast of the things to come. A flaming fist went right for Astra's jetpack - and his back by extension - with undeniable precision. The other fist waited patiently in the back, serving as the rear guard against a counterattack. Should it land, his aerial mobility would likely be considerably crippled. (6 Speed Teleportation Used)

"Sena and the others have gone after the Ghost Girl, Ray. We'll take it from here," Emmanuel said confidently as he pulled out Nicaea's ball from his pockets. With a click and a flash, Nicaea landed softly on the cooling sands. It's kind of hard to take them as threat aside from them 'being in the way,' so he decided to hold back for awhile, aiming to wipe out a larger chunk of the swarm in one go later. "Nicaea, use Growth!" The little walking plant plucked up her spirits, and her leaves began to glow a light green, absorbing shimmering light from the sky. Nicaea uses Growth. (+1 Atk / SpA)

"No. And I'm going nowhere. I'd still like to hope that Uno's conscience would persuade her to stop working with Alpha, knowing that I am still on the island, but regardless, I will take it upon myself to stop whatever they're using to sink it," Emmanuel made his point blunt and clear. "Sena, I believe in you. Go down there and snap her out of it, okay?" He smiled, having already made his decision.

Safe? Safe?! Pick out a few lucky people and sink the rest? As much as Emmanuel had longed for the past, the brighter times, sacrificing the present was not an acceptable way to recover the past. And the worst part is, Uno seemed to be fine with that plan. Emmanuel could not stand for this. "That is your decision, Uno," he said to the vanishing shadows, "but, I'm not going to abandon the present." Adamantly, he turned away from the starry sea. It was a display of resolve, but at the same time, a gamble. They hadn't met for very long, but... would she sacrifice him as well?

Everyone "Is that so?" The assassin took a back step as Eleanor lunged forward, and cut in from left to right with both of her claws in the most barbaric way possible - cutting through both possibilities. Her claws crashed into Eleanor's claymore, and with another clank, the two women recoiled away from the blow. "My turn!" She was about to leap toward Eleanor, with all four of her claws revealed like a life-sized shuriken, when a small hole opened up in the wall to the left with a long bang, and a tether flew out and struck into her. Caught off guard, the assassin was dragged to the ground forcibly. Well fuck, the tether clown had figured out her whereabouts. She probably shouldn't have tempted fate. With a grunt, she severed the tether before Julianne could drag her any further, but it was too late, for Nemesis had her within the line of fire. "Shit-" The first three bullets hit squarely into the assassin's chest, but her insurance - her armor - was finally starting to pay off. The force knocked her back again before she could flip herself back up, only to be met by three more bullets, punching in deep and making plasmic blood spill. Three again. The previous encounter made it clear that three was her limit. She was not about to die so young. The job didn't pay well anyway. Surely she could find a better boss and land in a job that's not extortion, right? "Fuck this shit, I'M OUT!" She flailed her claws toward Nemesis, prompting him to parry with his katana and get brushed aside. Then, she escaped through the shattered window she came in from. -- Bellos was not at all used to the fast pace of a battle. He offered his thanks to Richard, however, for giving him a chance to fight. He got back down to the ground floor through the gaping hole left by Henrietta's grenades. The Iron Titan was long gone, and what was left of his body had cooled down and hardened. His goons, or rather, the Monolith's goons, were long gone, either jumping off the train or hiding underneath some table in the cabins. Through the windows, they could see vast plains bordered by tall mountains. And of course, the Frontier Town, Kaagan. They were minutes away from their destination. "Good work." Bellos commented. He shot a glance at the corpses in the carriage Tohl was in, before continuing, "We should probably not stay in Meracus for too long. The news will spread like wildfire as soon as this train stops, and the Meracus Monolith will most certainly try to hunt us down. He wouldn't be able to do so should we make it out of his territory."

Alpha. A woman. Sinking the whole island. So, the Abravators were talking about Uno. Alpha would be the beginning... The sea? Who would be the land, then? All signs pointed toward danger. It was their luck that the Tree of Life was away from civilization. But not this time. This legend... was leading her offensive directly against humans and Pokemon! Then... what was her plan, exactly? Could it be that she was trying to get to the sea? Emmanuel had no choice but to leave the mystery to Sena. Perhaps firsthand experience with Alpha might've given him more to work with. Regardless, they had to intercept Alpha and rescue Uno. "Then we'll send Frogadier, Motor, and if you'd like to, Woobat, to hunt down Alpha. In any case, we should get going now."

The situation continued to deteriorate as Emmanuel learned that Uno was captured and that the Ghost Girl had easily leaped out of what was left of their trap. The stakes had just gotten higher than ever and no one here could afford another folly. And that meant they had to be more resourceful. He glanced over his A-Comm, checking the location of the Ghost Girl's signature, and then to Sena's new Pokemon - Frogadier, a Pokemon known for its 'unparalleled speed'. "We can't catch up with her like this... Our Pokemon will have to go ahead first." Emmanuel pointed out. "And Rita. Tell us everything you know about the Ghost Girl, okay?" Perhaps it was because he prioritized coming up with a plan that he was able to hold back his anger for Rita, and talk to her in a calm and calculated tone. In meantime, he called Ray, asking her to see if she could notify the remaining Cadets in the town to get ready for capture.

"Signal jamming... It must have been Rita's doing!" Emmanuel exclaimed, though he didn't seem to be particularly surprised. "We'll take the staircase. It should lead directly to the aquarium. Let's just hope that the Pokemon they gave him will give us enough time..." Not wasting anymore time, he ran for the staircase and hurried to the aquarium.

Chief's message did not sit well with Emmanuel at all, even though he knew this would have to be done for the safety of the entire nexus. Perhaps it was because he felt threatened, for the first time. Or perhaps it was because that he had to rely on Rita, who obviously had plans of her own - evident from the events that took place last night. But he wasn't exactly in a position to protest either. He didn't have a better plan. And so he sighed and nodded.

Eleanor and Co. A sharp and piercing screech rang through the hallway as the teeth on Eleanor's blade ground against the assassin's claws. "This is about as bad as it can get, lady!" With the confidence she pulled out of nowhere, the assassin shoved Eleanor a step away before she could saw through. With a moment of breather, Eleanor sidestepped toward the door in an attempt to move out of the way for Nemesis to score a clean shot, but the assassin one-upped her by throwing herself at her, parrying the claymore briefly as she tackled her into the cabin. "You certainly don't fight like a noble pansy! What's your deal?" The assassin crossed her claws, feeling even more confident now that she was no longer within Nemesis' line of fire, though the repeated fighting had begun to tire her out.

"Whaaat, is a bunch of JKs too scary for our CHALLENGER ONE?" Marina stressed the moniker again as she tilted her head slightly to the left. "I'm not sure how many of those American shooter games you've played, but I for one would prefer to be in an environment I'm familiar with. 'Debilitating Weaponry' you said? That could be anything, even the kind of pepper spray you can buy at 100-yen stores. So, I say we go to that high school."

Eleanor and Co. The assassin's slash missed as her target retreated backwards, with several bullets hitting her squarely in the chest, slowing her advance. A bullet passed right by Eleanor and the assassin's waist, and all the sudden the assassin was reminded of the presence of two more targets in the train. They were supposed to be handled by the Iron Giant, but clearly, without bioaugmentations, he was barely any more capable than the birdhead goons. "Tch," the assassin's eyes shifted toward the door for a moment. "Fine, allow me to introduce myself!" She lunged forward again, locking Eleanor's blade with her claws as the two's eyes met, "Kroza Nanayama! Remember it!"

Astra vs. Supernova Tai's heart thumped as his opponent reached his height. But then... he revealed his poor midair speed, as he inched toward him like a drifting cloud. His opponent didn't seem to be running a firepower build, either. An impulse burst out of the bottom of Tai's heart, urging him to fling himself into his opponent. Clearly, he had the edge in aerial combat. And clearly, he had nothing to fear about a machine that was both slower and weaker in melee, and likely not armed with notable firearms. As if. With all of his willpower, Tai curbed the seemingly irrational impulse and made a swift u-turn, blasting away from his opponent and descending down to the surface again. He had made this mistake enough times. The moments where he had thought he would win were the ones that signaled his defeat.

Richard "H-How aggressive," Bellos muttered, but he didn't actually make an attempt to resist. Richard sounded sufficiently tilted after the burn, after all. Richard grabbed Bellos with one hand and leapt out of the window, before launching him toward the back of the train. As per his suggestion, Bellos spread his wings and soared into the sky. Meanwhile, Richard propelled himself onto the roof of the carriage. Julianne and Co. As the two women stared down each other, two figures emerged from the periphery. To Julianne, they were helping hands that arrived just in time, but to the assassin... The assassin lunged forward as soon as she caught notice of Richard and Bellos, not willing to get cornered so easily, but Julianne was no easy prey. A diagonal slash came down, which Julianne then sidestepped. But against the Tokai Yasha Ken, there was little space for evasion in hand-to-hand combat. The assassin revealed the next trick in her book, the Demonic Corkscrew - she immediately propelled herself backwards with one foot, and followed up with two consecutive slashes, one from her other foot, and another from her other hand, all awhile landing with one hand. Julianne was able to parry away the first slash, while aiming for a kick to the legs. The second slash caught her off guard somewhat, but she managed to meet it with her bladed arm again, though this time she really felt the force. Her kick softened as she was knocked off balance, though the push seemed to have disrupted her assassin enough to prevent a counterattack. She teetered toward the edge of the carriage, just a step away from falling into the river. The assassin did a backflip with one hand as she recoiled from Julianne's attack. That went poorly, she thought. Her friends were probably heading for her right about now. She diverted her attention to tend to the big guy landing from behind, though she was immediately surprised again by how he was already within melee distance. The situation went from great to awful for her all the sudden, and she had to backstep away from Richard's flurry of punches amidst the peril. She knew the odds were terrible for her if she had to deal with three arms and four legs simultaneously, and so she had to break through one side as quickly as possible. As she was about to lunge at the guy with a scorched suit, he blinded her with bursts of steam, prompting her to practically breakdance to protect herself. With her body spinning and her limbs revolving, her claws formed a shredding wall that made direct contact extremely risky. She regained vision quickly and paused briefly to get a proper hold of the situation. The first thing she saw was Richard's right fist stretching right at her in an almost unimaginable way. Hell, the Master wasn't kidding when she said Gaea was full of monsters. She folded her arms right away, blocking the extended fist but pushing her closer to Julianne again. And just when she thought things couldn't get any worse, she remembered that there were two new enemies coming from the carriage. Where the fuck did the other one go- She turned her head slightly, and there he was! Was it a bird? A bird with a katana? Yes! Bellos dived right down toward the assassin, and frankly she was out of hands. She shoved Richard's fist back, and spared one hand to block Bellos' swooping cut. With a clank, the assassin was knocked backwards, and off the edge. Almost immediately, a series of explosions came from not too far behind Richard, rocking the carriage hard. -- Everyone Else First, Tohl saw Henrietta's shield break apart as he fired his shotgun one more time. Then, he saw her shifting toward the cabin next to her. A futile attempt, he thought. He was about to fire again, but a bullet hit the barrel of his shotgun. It came from Eleanor. He was annoyed, but he could mend it on the fly anyway given a bit more time. And then, he saw explosions, rending through his molten body violently. He didn't have the time after all. -- Nemesis was the first to jump back to the action, emerging from the cabin next to the one Henrietta got in. The damage was apparent. The grenades tore the floor and the walls before Tohl. Speaking of whom, he was laying low on the floor, his molten body presumably spread all over the floor like a splashed bottle of glue. The angle was still awkward, so Nemesis had to get closer to land the finishing blow. He saw what Tohl did with Richard, so he still kept a safe distance, just enough to get a clear shot. He made his way to the previous carriage, and stopped at the cabin they were in. There he was, lying on the floor. "The suffering ends for me... But not for my family." He muttered, though only Nemesis could hear it. And then, he went silent. A bullet punched through his exposed heart, and his body began to cool down, reverting back into lumps of iron. -- Eleanor watched from a distance, standing outside the cabin Nemesis was in. She thought she had heard the sound of someone walking along the outer walls of the carriage, and it was approaching fast. And then, a slender figure kicked right through a window just behind her using a clawed foot. The two made eye contact. Her dressing style was notably oriental, with a pink kimono wrapped up to serve as fighting clothes, and a brown bun on her head. The assassin could very well have just sneaked away after noticing that the Iron Titan had been killed, but hell if she was going to leave empty-handed. She took a deep breath, and went right for Eleanor, flashing the claws on her hands as she was about to attack.

Astra vs Supernova The mech's fists dropped like a sack of lead as soon as Tai called upon it. It had only been a few hours, but he barely felt any bit of familiarity with his mech. His hands were heavy, his legs were strained, and he felt like he was getting strangled by the dense fog of Envy's arena. His determination, just like his sportsmanship, was merely a silly concept before the reality of the arena, where power and skill were the only things that mattered. With those two things in hand, a fighter could reinforce their values upon another, or crush the other's values mercilessly. With that in mind, all the resolve he had would be moot if he were to fail here. He felt stupid, getting tricked so easily back into the arena. Nothing had actually changed about him aside from having something to fight for. He would still fight like how he had before, and he would be doomed to fail. He wished he could avoid the arena for the time being and instead attempt to snap Cardinal out of it directly, but his words held as much weight as a fowl's feather to Aries and Cardinal. Prove that she wasn't alone? Apparently even a man who had walked back from hell on foot just to get to talk with her again couldn't prove that. As much defiance and contempt he had toward the gods, he still found himself walking back into their control. Was this not as much of a game as the previous matches were? Through the seams of the thick, flowing fog, Tai could see his opponent. A humanoid mech with a spherical body. The finer details were obstructed to him, but it seemed to be vaguely lightweight. Of all that he knew, there could be an array of missile launchers ready to go off on a moment's notice behind the mech's back, and he would be toast once again, sent right back to where he had started, or even further down. Everything was on the line. A defeat, and it would be all over. Nothing he held would matter anymore, and he would not step into the arena ever again. He'd retire at the young age of 21 and live with the loss for his entire life. He could deny the prospect all he wanted, but it seemed inevitable, and so he didn't. This may very well be the grand finale of his career. At the very least, he wanted to walk out with a shred of dignity left. Perhaps the fog could help with that. Could the spectators even see anything clearly here? The jets on his back bellowed, and he took off into the foggy skies, soaring higher and higher until he reached the ceiling. Just by the noise along, his opponent would be able to pinpoint his position easily. It would get even easier once his heat-shield went online. But he had to try to stall anyway. He could say that he was just trying to force his opponent's hands - seeing if he had brought missiles or anything of the sort, but he was really just savoring the last minutes of his career, like the last few chips in a bag of chips.

Vepr-12 frowned slightly at the second orb's performance and turned away from the machine, simply disappointed. Almost immediately, she saw a table blasting off before her eyes and crashing into a wall. "Ambush!" She shouted, but instead of backing away, she cocked her shotgun and took one step forward toward the newly-arrived Taskmaster and its pet bells, as if she were ambushing them instead of the other way around. "Deploying Anti-Collapse Forcefield." She muttered into her comm link out of habit, but of course she was the only one in there. She took a guess and assumed that the bells would attack from afar given their flaring bodies. The Forcefield was for Collapse particles, but it might work for energy attacks in general. Onto business. She began her routine by pumping slugs into the bells mercilessly. [Perk] SG - Valkyrie of Belgrade: Counter with ASST-Bound Molot Vepr-12 (2d6+7+0 high velocity damage, lower target's damage by 20% for one turn). Action 1: Vepr-12 fires slugs from her shotgun, dealing 2d6+7+0 high velocity damage to the Maroon Dirge and lowering its damage by 20% for one turn. Action 2: Vepr-12 fires slugs from her shotgun, dealing 2d6+7+0 high velocity damage to the Violet Hymn and lowering its damage by 20% for one turn. Loadout

Vepr-12 instinctively reached for the spot where the orb had entered through, only to feel a warmth that didn't feel like her own. She couldn't figure out what had happened, only that it didn't seem to have caused any damage. Was it alive? What would happen if another got into her? Then again, they all looked alike. If the last orb didn't hurt her, would another be any different? And so, she operated the machine again, withdrawing the other orb.

"Oh. Withdrawal and Deposit," Vepr-12 muttered to herself. Having figured out how the machine worked, she decided to operate it so that she could get all the orbs out, by rotating the pillars holding the orbs to the front one by one and opening the hatch over and over.

Caph stood up and said his thanks as he put away the two balls and a potion in his bag. Meanwhile, he considered Aia's question as he kept one eye on the device in her hand. Liam? He sounded like he was about to push himself again by taking the responsibility. As much as Caph thought Liam should grab hold of every opportunity to overcome his shyness, the kind of pressure didn't seem to be appropriate when they were just about to head out. "We can always pass it around. But... I'd like to hold on to it for now if it's okay with everyone, since I might need a bit more time to get familiar with it," Caph said, withholding a reference to his slow learning speed. As for the second question, Caph gave a lighthearted laugh. "I'm not the only one who can't wait to start our journey, right?" Cheshire cheered, as if she was backing her trainer's words.

However dangerous it might've been, Marina brought her friend, Remi, with her to the trip. Apparently she had arranged a meeting with a supplier here of all places to get some of the more exotic materials extracted from the behemoth, but all that could've been an excuse to tag along with Marina as well. The two held hands together even in flight, showing how close the two were. As soon as the two got to the breach, Remi called forth a pair of mannequins, materializing out of thin air. They took the appearance of... maids, straight out of a maid cafe. Remi, in her purple, flower-patterned overcoat, looked incredibly out of place in between the maids. "I'll be going then! See you later, Marina!" Remi let go of Marina's hand and left with her "bodyguards" to meet her supplier. Marina waved her goodbye, before following the adults to see the contact. The contact being a giant snake. Marina reserved a safe distance between her and the contact, at which point she was more willing to talk with him. She gave the surroundings another glance. Lights dotted the camp as far as the eye could see, giving off the illusion of a festival. Or perhaps it felt more like Christmas? "Well, the lights are comfy." Marina offered a compliment and not much else, having decided to let the others handle the actual talk.

Julianne The clawed assassin tailed Julianne, closing the distance at an amazing speed. With one more leap forward, her prey was firmly within the reach of her claws. But then, Julianne turned back and threw her hat back at her pursuer. The hat broke into two clean halves, with fibers drifting in the air. The assassin gave herself a second boost with her right leg, and Julianne could see another set of claws coming out of her left foot. Almost immediately, she slung herself backwards, barely avoiding the assassin's spinning kick as it cut down a few strands of her hair, and sliding away from her. She couldn't get a good aim at the assassin's lower legs to go for a counterattack, unfortunately. The assassin landed first on her left, and then on her right, standing several feet away from Julianne, with the remains of the hat landing roughly around the midway point. They shook with the carriage, slowly rocking toward the edge. The claws on her foot seemed to have been retracted, but her hands remained armed. "Reels? This is a first, I admit! Who taught you to fight like that? A ringmaster?" The assassin mocked Julianne as she began to press toward her again. Everyone Else Richard seemed to have caught on to Nemesis' strategy. A thick burst of steam came out of his hands as he pulled a few steps away from the demon before him. But it didn't seem to have fazed him at all, as flames immediately burrowed through the steam clouds - a flamethrower - and went right for the tailor! "USELESS!" Tohl shouted at his opponent. The piece of roof Richard was about to bend and break ended up being a makeshift cover against the flames only, though most of the attack still went through, blowing him up and away, and tumbling down just outside the party's cabin. His chest was seared considerably, but more importantly, his suit was completely ruined. -- Meanwhile, Henrietta stubbed a birdhead's toes with her heel so hard that his grips softened for a moment, enough for her to aim again. Eleanor quickly came to the rescue, going for the goon trying to slit Henrietta's throat but in vain. He met the noblewoman's claymore with his scimitar, parrying it briefly before he watched it chew down his blade in disbelief. And then, its edge gave him a kiss to send him into eternal slumber. The goon trying to hold down Henrietta did not get to live much longer. Caught off guard, he was cleanly beheaded, finally relieving all the pressure on the nun. Nemesis got to her rear just in time, trying to pick down the floor holding Tohl bit by bit from afar. It seemed that Tohl had managed to counter Richard's approach, making things even stickier to deal with. Richard crawled up to face Tohl, only to see his shotgun emerging from his body. Instinctively, he rolled back into the cabin, barely evading a slug. The slug immediately set the floor behind him on fire. "Oh dear," Bellos looked at a ragged up Richard. "Might I suggest you take Julianne's recommendation?" He glanced at the broken window. "You're not going to be bringing down the old general head-on, after all. I'll be following you." He smiled and offered Richard a hand. Nemesis' bullets dug through the floor like termites on steroids, softening the wooden floor enough for Tohl's left leg to sink through somewhat. However, the metal layer on the bottom prevented him from sinking any further and gave him new support again. Getting a foot stuck in some planks was enough to impede Tohl's advance, though. Not that he needed to walk around to be able to fight back. He fired back with some more slugs, but Nemesis along with Eleanor took cover behind Henrietta. The slugs were not kind at all to the frontal shields, though, making significant dents all over it. With Richard out of the way, Henrietta pressed forward, and unleashed another hail of bullets at Tohl. His molten body almost completely negated the attack, aside from a few tiny bits of magma blown off after absorbing momentum, though they were immediately replenished by the molten shells. Tohl pointed his shotgun at the half-torn piece of roof, and fired three shots at its connected end, severing it and causing it to drop down on the floor. With the slab of metal in the way, Nemesis couldn't get a good aim at the floor Tohl was on anymore. He then continued to blast Henrietta's shields. Before long, they were at their limits. -- The train began to cross the bridge. Seeing two people standing on its roof was quite the spectacle for the noblemen and noblewomen relaxing on their boats and enjoying their little vacation.

Tai Tai's heart skipped a beat from hearing what Tejfidh had to say. His tongue shivered and his lips quivered, jammed with a deluge of thoughts. Was it relief, knowing that he had the chance to retrieve meaning to his power once again? Was it fear, knowing that with Cardinal still alive, the tournament would continue on as planned? Or, even worse, was it the dreadful confusion between two people who should've been dead? His steps became disorganized, faltering left and right, but he was still doing his best following Chronos' footsteps. What would he do? With him still effectively out of the picture, the gods were bound to clash with Cardinal sooner or later, and then... And then... No. He wouldn't let that happen. There would not need to be a war... If he could just see her again. But how? She was stuck in the Sphere. There was no way for him to "visit" her. It would have to be her noticing him again, a man who, to her, may as well as be someone sealed in permafrost under layers of thick snow. There was just one way to do that. He had to intervene the tournament. Easier said than done, unfortunately. He had kicked himself out, so it wasn't like they would appreciate him trying to get in again. He had not gotten on the good side of any of the gods, and so there was little chance of them granting him audience. The best thing he could do then seemed to be just trying to get into the spectators' seats. It was a start nonetheless. With his thoughts cleared up slightly, he began to get a hold of his mouth. "... We're going to Wrath," he told Tejifidh simply, "to fix a mistake."

"Oh. So, you don't actually know, him," Marina reeled back against her seat, slightly disappointed for whatever reason. "But hey! Your intuition seems to be working fine!" It was... a compliment? Let's go with that, a compliment. "Well these 'card emperors' had a bunch of mononoke guard that flying fortress, which happened to hold that card over theeeer-" Marina pointed to the epithet card, but hesitated halfway through when Chise just, assimilated it before everyone, and then turned into... the handsome cover person you'd see on CD albums? Damn was it cool. Maybe she should get everyone to try out the card too to see everyone's transformation, she thought.