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Post by Sprityo on Jan 31, 2017 7:50:41 GMT -8
"Sounds good enough to me, I'll be on standby for rescue duty."
Smoke loads a few Space Pellets into the sling of his slingshot. "Maybe I'll lend some damage too if needed. Controlling space is also a great way to be in combat, hehe."
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Post by raz on Feb 11, 2017 18:34:00 GMT -8
The wall that's formed up to oppose it converges, Lancers spearing Malice to apparent success. Solid strikes hit cleanly and it retreats from them, the rain of arrows riddling its dark form with them. Its hand thrown up, pierced by many of them as well.
It's expression is anything but panicked, though. Neutrality bordering on boredom, it almost seems to convey.
"So predictable. You think, it moves, it speaks. It has form, that even resembles our own! We can beat it, we can overwhelm it, and show it how wrong it's point of view is. You were thinking something cheesy like that, weren't you?"
Its flat mouth spreads wide in a smile.
"But even this was by design."
Malice lifts its hand and swings it to the side, a wave of destructive force sweeping out from its immediate radius. The shields of that front line crumple from the blast and splinter, followed shortly after by their bearers as the blast wipes a sizable chunk of the army out. Those arrows sticking out of it catch fire, kindling away from their roots as it swings its arm again and casts a series of explosions through the rest of the army, interupting the casters by severely thinning their ranks.
"I am not a man, not a wall to be surpassed. I am, every bit of sorrow and despair, every bit of hate, every negative sentiment spawned by this twisted reality. I am a flame, kindled by those things endlessly, quenched endlessly. Even the apathy you all felt, the hopeless resignation. And, so much more than that."
Red eyes shift to look at Raine.
"The betrayal and loneliness, that left you in such solitude that the only solace you could find was a mortal enemy."
To Clear, now.
"The restlessness of being a weapon eternally seeking a fight and meaning, only to be snuffed out. And the existence as just a sad replacement for that."
To Raz, who forces himself to stand with barred teeth and venom in his glaring eyes.
"The bitterness of a normal life, at your fingertips and ripped away. And that same old responsibility, your burden and inability to make a difference."
To Niki, afterward, as it thrusts a hand forward and triggers another series of explosions to decimate the army.
"The knowledge that you're not even the best version of yourself. That you're looked to for guidance, and can do nothing but come up short.
And all the rest. And all the strife among those 'friends' you left bearing the wishes of, strife even now. All of these are things you can't simply cast aside... even they're a part of me."
Its form flares up, or distorts, leaving any arrows stuck in it ash that swirls away in no time at all. And it lifts one hand to its head, body shuddering with laughter.
"You can't even begin to imagine the kind of power you're fucking with."
Malice cackles, as it moves its hand, a sphere of reddish energy gathering in its palm. And it throws it on a downward arc that ends with the ground, the ensuing blast' shockwave enough to wipe the illusions in its vicinity from view and send the actual people flying backwards, splash damage enough to leave them down a quarter health.
"I face you like this, on your level. But I'm not really on your level, you start to realize, there's a wide gap between us. The slowly dawning realization of exactly how royally fucked you stupid bastards are... This, is the form the despair I gift to you takes. It's too late to take it back and too late to go back. The only path you have left for your hope and hubris, is suffering, and dying, with the knowledge that you let everyone down. That you fought hard, but you died meaningless deaths, and nothing will have changed. Pretty fucking sad, really."
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SJmun
Eggministrator 
Posts: 1,445
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Post by SJmun on Feb 11, 2017 20:22:52 GMT -8
The illusions are easily destroyed by the smallest of impacts, leaving only the genuine articles to receive the oncoming pain.
Niki is stunned by this direct attack. Not the obvious sweep so much, but that stab at her core insecurity.
Even this thing knows she's not as good as shiny.
But then, if she's not as good as her, why is she the one fighting?
Why is it that so many people down there believed in her?
Do they still believe in her?
Does shiny believe in her?
...She does.
Niki stammers back up to her feet. It hurts everywhere, but they've only just started, and they can't give up now.
She takes a deep breath and stares at that bad-mouthing wildfire before her.
"You know what? YOU KNOW WHAT?! I don't care how hopeless you think our struggles may be! You're not going to stop us! You're not going to stop me! Maybe I'm not a masterful game developer who came back from the dead and has a boyfriend, but they still believe in me! And you know what? I believe in myself! If I can light up a rock in the middle of nowhere for 2 years, then I can conquer you!"
Niki throws up her hands and begins gathering light in a rather large sphere.
"NOW LEAVE MY FRIENDS ALONE!"
And with that, she chucks the light ball straight at Malice with all her might!
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Post by metreu on Feb 11, 2017 22:48:38 GMT -8
Clear raises her hands and lifts her troops in the air. She closes her hands together with the fingertips touching and the troops launch themselves directly at Malice, attemtping to cover it's entire mass with units.
"...It's useless right? But what other choices do we have? When creatures are assaulted by negative feelings they are prompted with either Dealing with them or become Consumed by them. You are presently being dealt with while the you spout nothing but negative thoughts to try and consume us. Your goal seems fairly clear to me."
She smirks a little.
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Post by frozenlake on Feb 12, 2017 10:52:13 GMT -8
The Lord flips through the air, before landing on the ground, one hand on the ground, while the other is splayed out to the side.
"Alright. That is assaulting an agent of the law and copyright infringement on your list of crimes, now. And don't play dumb with the second. We both know you are just a shitty rip off of Dark Matter from Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon, which in /itself/ was just a rehash of the Bittercold."
He laughs a little bit, before continuing.
"What are you going to do? Throw all of existence into the emerald void that was a sun? Freeze us all with our chilling despair? Lets face it, Malice. You are an unoriginal sack of shit."
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Post by raz on Feb 13, 2017 9:19:12 GMT -8
"..."
Red eyes narrow, as Malice swings its arm to the side. The instant the army converges, its form is swallowed by an explosion that spreads outward to repulse those attacks, the blast blowing back the few it doesn't outright destroy before fading to reveal Malice, intact and looking directly at Clear with what seems like a cold glare.
"You figured it out. The point of this whole song and dance is to shatter your bravado, to reaffirm what I've been saying all this time. Congratulations. You even know that its a pointless endeavor, trying to beat me. But... What good does knowing that do you? How long do you really think your valor will last? Longer than your lives? If I kill you all, and dump your bodies in front of the rest of your friends will that be your moral victory? Because you never gave up, not until the very end."
Malice smiles crookedly, a swing of the arm directing a trail of explosions toward Clear. It raises the other as if to follow up but Niki's words bring its attention to her, and it sneers.
"Is that all it takes? That's how it goes isn't it, if you just clap your hands and believe with all your heart you can do anything? But... What about me? What if I believe in myself? What if I believe in my ideals and my power so assuredly, and believe wholeheartedly that I'll have you losers broken at my feet, dead or alive? If each of us believe we can conquer the other..."
As it speaks those mocking words it gathers red power in its palm, thrusting toward the incoming ball of light and unleashing a beam of energy that meets it head-on, stalling her attack in a stalemate that ebs back and forth.
"...then that gives me the edge, doesn't it?"
Malice throws its head back in a cackle as it puts a little more into its attack and the blast surges, starting to slowly push back against Niki's attack. With its free hand it swings twice more in a flippant frenzy, marble-sized orbs of red energy appearing in front of both Clear and the Lord for just a moment before they expand outward in a powerful blast.
"It's really true what they say isn't it, everyone's a critic. But spare me your self-important, thinks-he's-witty-enough-for-internet-streaming commentary, would you? What kind of person has that to say on probably the last stage of their lives? At least the other losers have their drivel about bonds, and hopes, and dreams, and belief, and whatever other Saturday Morning Cartoon bullshit they were peddled. You? You're just boring and clueless.
And, for the record? You're completely off-base, obviously. That's what happens when you frame your understanding exclusively in references."
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lunarLunatic
DEATH EGG
All your moons are mine!!!!
Posts: 1,486
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Post by lunarLunatic on Feb 13, 2017 9:52:53 GMT -8
The blast sends Raine up in the air, flinging her a small distance before she plants into what is percieved as the ground.
That's definitely a pain she can't suppress.
But while it is definitely painful...She gets up with only a slight difficulty. Her determination runs brighter still, as her power grows from her rising rage.
"So what...So what if you're an embodiment of a concept well known to us? So what if you've managed to amass so much of it that you've become basically godlike? Maybe even something beyond that."
She spits on the ground, probably as an act of defiance.
"You think that we'll just accept that and lie down like dogs waiting to be put down? Like hell we are. We would rather die than grovel in misery over you. And if we die, we die fighting. Everyone down there would probably do the same. Because even then, they know they have to; because its that or letting you win, and they sure as hell don't want that...!"
She starts to walk closer, her steps heavy with purpose. She starts to look for something, anything to use to an advantage. They sure as hell need something of a boost.
And then she notices it.
Maybe...Maybe it'll work...! She knows she can't tell until she tries it.
"Do you know what's really sad? The fact that you think your words hold water now. The fact that you think you can convince us that we shouldn't even bother. To be honest, your lines are just as cheesy as ours! What are you gonna do when you're gonna run out of useless, demeaning things to say?!
We may regret those mistakes...But Time goes on. We move on. Those mistakes may be mistakes but they're part of the path we've cobbled up. You may be an undying part of everyone's lives..."
She breaks into a run, holding her mace tightly as if it was her lifeline. She's going to fight the impossible. Of course she might die but she won't let herself fall so easily. She's going to give it her all like she said.
"But in reality, You? Right here and right now? You're just another brick on our path!!!"
She makes a beeline to the clashing energies, attempting to avoid any and all interference that may deter her.
Raine then leaps up and slams her mace into Niki's ball of light with gusto, aiming to give it the power it needs to win against this clash!
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Post by frozenlake on Feb 13, 2017 10:53:05 GMT -8
FLord is blown back, crashing against the ground, sliding quite a bit. Tendrils pierce into the ground, in order to stop his slide... but then, his eyes /widen/, seeing the connections the realm has.
He pulls.
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Post by creeperpuncher on Feb 13, 2017 11:27:55 GMT -8
The Kalmaros (Kalmaroj?), real and illusory, brace for impact as the shockwave hits, the fakes splatting on impact and the real one being knocked for a loop.
"3Э Ugh... Whoo cares whether oor noot we "can" defeat yoou... 3Э" He slowly stands up, taking a note of the large chunk of Life Points that got knocked off by that hit. "3Э What matters is that we're dooing oour best... 3Э" Trying to stall for time, he continues. "3Э And yoou want too knoow soomething else? OOur friends' trust in us? That's oour strength, noot oour weakness. As loong as we keep believing in each oother... 3Э" A message pops up in the back of his mind: [Special Meter at 400%: Saturation Inkstrike Ready]. "3Э ...then we'll survive yoou. 3Э"
His backpack-mounted ink tank transforms into a larger-than-normal Inkstrike missile, with eight smaller missiles attached to the sides (basically think a standard Kerbal rocket design, with rocket boosters that detach, except in this case the boosters are themselves Inkstrike missiles).
"3Э I knoow this is proobably cliche at this pooint, but... as loong as we Stay Determined... 3Э" He fires the Saturation Inkstrike, targeted to explode on and around Malice. Interestingly, his main goal is not to seriously damage them, but to distract them so others can get hits in as well. "3Э ...then we will win this, and we will beat yoou. 3Э"
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Post by metreu on Feb 13, 2017 11:30:31 GMT -8
Clear waves her hand and her remaining Knights return to her in an instant. They create a shield that blocks the attacks but at the expense of the knights. Their forms crumble as the explosions fade, leaving only her.
"There's a word for what is happening here. It's War. It's Conflict. Two opposing ideals that are clashing to gain the same ground. You believe in your dogma just as much as we believe in ours. Two unstoppable forces... In this situation we are both in Check. It's a pointless endeavor because neither of us will budge. There will be no understanding or compromise. We can sit here as long as we have to in order to make sure you won't pass, and you won't let us do the same. There is an undeniable stalemate that will only conclude when one side receives an upper hand, or concedes."
Clear sits down in a chair that materializes behind her. She folds her hands on her lap and stares into Malice.
"I exist as benevolence. I am a kind gesture to those who seek help. Good will, so to speak."
She crosses her legs and leans back in the chair, sitting with an upright posture. The [Philosopher's Stone] drops into her hands.
"You exist to be the opposite as your namesake describes. You're the conglomeration of all the ill will in the universe. Perhaps this world wished itself to end and you're the end product. Maybe its the desire of everyone else too. We are a small force that fights against that kind of ending because there is so much time left in this world be good."
"So I repeat myself again... There is a stalemate here, until one side concedes,and it will not be me."
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Post by raz on Feb 13, 2017 11:37:11 GMT -8
Malice's eyes narrow at Raine's words, mouth curling into something resembling a disgusted scowl as she continues before eventually becoming something between a grimace and a smile. It's mouth is unnatural, a jagged line twisting odd ways as if its facsimile is crumbling. Her charge makes it laugh, twisted expression growing more twisted when her blow proves powerful enough to drive Niki's blast through, diffusing its own blast around it as it makes its way toward it and Malice tries to put on another burst of power but its too late, and her attack meets its hand, stalling for just a moment before obliterating it and blowing past. Reeled back like that, down an arm, it sputters, some kind of awful noise...
"...Ghnnnanhanahaha.....hahahahahahaha, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
...Laughter.
"I'm the END of your path you stupid girl! TheRE IS no mOre PATH, after me! Because you're going to die here! Ghnanaahahaaaaaa... You think it matters that you can hurt me? You think this matters!?"
Malice shudders, lifting one arm to its shoulder as flames eb outward, forming into a larger, misshapen arm that ends in claws.
"What will I do when I run out of demeaning things to say? I'll kill you. Each and every one of you. You absolute idiot. You really think your moral victory will mean anything? You think it will MEAN something if I slaughter you, and your friends, and every one of your friends waiting back there?! You think that belief in a tomorrow that you died clutching onto, that never comes, will mean a fucking thing when you're GONE?! That moral superiority in your belief is just more whitewashing when you get down to it! If you're not fighting to win you're just WAITING TO DIE!!!!!"
With a crazed sneer it swings its oversized arm up, bringing it down on the ground hard enough to cause a minor quake and knock the Lord's tendrils free. And a pillar of reddish energy erupts from below Raine, as red cracks appear all over the darkness approximating ground.
"That's your problem when you get down to it! THe world is a mess, and so your standards for happiness shift! YOU, shift Them! A loss becomes acceptable, a death, a sacrifice... even dyINg in pursuit of that stupid ideal is okay! You move the goalposts and give so much just so you can claim the small wins as a merit! When all you're REALLY doing is whitewashing!"
And it laughs. And laughs, and laughs, even harder when the ink missiles collide with it and the ground around it. Blows that splatter it in ink, framing its form and the ground around it with swaths of ink and every direct hit. And it looks to Clear over its shoulder, mouth spreading wide in a crazed smile.
"So whitewash away. Believe in yourselves. You think our existing as two sides of a coin makes this a stalemate but I've got the power to completely wipe you off the map. The difference between us, is I don't just have my words and belief but the power to back them up. If I can't crush your spirits first I'll settle for crushing your bodies. Disgusting... but it doesn't matter. No matter what breaks first its still my win. When you realize that... Heh. Hehe, hehehehehe... hahahahahahaha, ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!! When you realize that, I can't WAIT to see the looks on your faces!!!"
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Post by frozenlake on Feb 13, 2017 11:54:02 GMT -8
FLord, having had his tendrils torn out of the ground, reacts by... Driving them into the ground, deeper this time, before trying to pull control away.
You have to keep trying.
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Post by metreu on Feb 13, 2017 12:04:33 GMT -8
Clear's eyes narrow, looking at Malice.
"Then Break Me."
She says in an emotionless tone.
She does not move... she does nothing.
She waits for him to make the first move.
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Post by creeperpuncher on Feb 13, 2017 12:07:53 GMT -8
Kalmaro watches as the Saturation Inkstrike hits... only to be dumbfounded as Malice seems to literally not give a shit about their new paintjob.
"3Э Whale, soo much foor that idea. Anyoone else goot something? 3Э"
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SJmun
Eggministrator
Posts: 1,445
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Post by SJmun on Feb 13, 2017 12:28:54 GMT -8
Niki stands there, glaring at the purple-painted fiend.
It's very slight, but she can recognize a very important detail.
This thing is actually getting damaged. As much as it tries to hide it behind its displays of power, bluff or otherwise, she can see that they have found a way to push back against it.
"But that's the thing. We work together. Through our efforts in tandem, they become more than the sum of their parts. And with that, WE CAN DEFEAT YOU!"
She notices what Charles is doing and gets an idea. She walks to his side and summons an circle of crystals behind her, as she had much earlier in the fight against the Scourge. There is one for each of the members who stand with her, all glowing vibrantly in their colors. She places her hand on his shoulder and begins gathering light into the crystals. They revolve around the two of them like a carousel, and any who join them.
"You can try as much as you like, in trying to divide us, but we've been through too much for that to happen! TOGETHER WE FIGHT AGAINST YOU, MALICE!"
The ring of crystals continue gathering light as they float around them.
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