Mini-Grand 5111 [Round 3: Menagerie]

Originally posted on MSPA by Sanzh.

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Loading Mini-Grand Framework... Done.

Generating Administration Personality... Done.

"I see my predecessors have neglected their duties. I will need to rectify this."

Generating Characters... Done.

Six beings suddenly found themselves nowhere, able to see one another but nothing else. A synthesized voice came out of the nothing surrounding them.

"Right, I suppose we should get started on this. You’ll be participating in an experiment of sorts. We-- after all, science is a collaborative enterprise, and without your help this experiment would be impossible-- will be examining how well individuals fare in a fight to the death. I’m afraid your agreement in this arrangement wasn’t necessary, but know that your deaths will be going towards the cause of progress."

"Our first specimen calls himself Batman-- he knows no other name, thanks to radiation affecting his mind. While he is not particularly well-equipped, his tenacity and dedication to the pursuit of justice compensates for that weakness. He’s worth keeping an eye on, no doubt."

"On the topic of justice, here we have two Bird Police officers. They were expecting they would be on a fairly normal beat, but this was not to be the case. They will not stand for obstruction of justice, and have a camera man along with them-- should they survive, they will have an interesting story to share."

"Kay has already died once, but that was not enough to stop her. She now only exists to pursue vengeance, and her transition to un-death has only helped her in this regard. Were I unfortunate enough to be in your collective situation, I would be cautious about provoking her, and would not bother to attempt escaping."

"Our final subject is Archmage Rannus. If you gave him enough time, he could bring the walls of reality crashing down. Unfortunately, time is not on his side right now. He has already adapted to one catastrophe, we will see how well he does with this one."

Generating Setting... Done.

The six generated characters suddenly found themselves moved, scattered in various locations on-board a passenger airplane, the cabin noticeably futuristic. Many of the seats are unoccupied, giving the contestants more room to fight in the otherwise-cramped interior.

"As of now, you are all flying thirty thousand feet above sea level, in one of Pan Asia Airways' newest additions to their fleet of aircraft. For those too poor to afford passage on an orbital shuttle, this is the preferred method of transit, capable of crossing the Pacific in four hours. A marvelous example of the progress humans can make, I would say."

Just as the characters are beginning to re-orient themselves, the air-frame begins to shake and rumble. A loud explosion is heard from outside.

"Unfortunately, this particular aircraft suffered a catastrophic engine failure during flight and crashed into the ocean. I would say you have an hour, perhaps two, before the aircraft crashes and you all cease to live. As soon as one of you expires, we can proceed further in this experiment. So, get to it then."

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SpoilerI don’t know if it was apparent from the description, but your characters are on an airplane from a cyber-punk period world. Think like a modern passenger plane and then increase the size enough to have multiple floors and sufficient room to fight and such. In addition to slightly futuristic stuff, here’s some airplane staff, passengers, and so on. I’ll probably give this a month or so, and the word limit is 500 words (though I won’t care too much if you go over).

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Spoiler

By request of TimeothyHour.

Name: Batman
Gender: Male
Font color: [color=#JUSTICE]#JUSTICE[/color]
Race: Human
Weapons/Abilities: BATMAN REQUIRES NOTHING BUT HIS FISTS.

Description:

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Spoiler

Batman wears a red retro-style spacesuit, complete with a fishbowl-esque helmet. However, it is not actually a spacesuit, but a set of novelty clothes, so it does not function very well as a spacesuit. He has greasy black hair and equally dark sideburns, and wears a pair of polarized sunglasses underneath his fishbowl helmet.

Batman's real name isn't actually Batman, but he doesn't even realize this, much less know his actual name. He is mildly insane, having accidentally subjected himself to radiation which adversely affected his brain, wiping clean most of his memories. He stumbled out of the cave he'd slept in with no idea of who he was and no realization that he had ever known. Surprisingly, his skills remained intact, and he quickly discovered that he was an excellent hand-to-hand fighter. After finding a stash of aged Batman comic books, he quickly gained a childish obsession with the titular character, naming himself after him and following his ideals, so long as they coincided with his own.

Where he got that bizarre astronaut outfit, on the other hand, is a complete mystery.

Biography:

[color=#JUSTICE]"Say my name!" Batman screeched at the villain, twisting his head painfully to the side. "Say it! SAY MY NAME! SAY MY NAME!"

"I don't know your fucking name!" the villain shouted back desperately, struggling in vain to free himself. "You weren't nice enough to tell me it when you busted in here to beat me up!"

"BATMAN WILL SNAP YOUR NECK IF YOU DON'T SAY HIS NAME!"

"Batman! Batman! Your name's Batman! Please don't kill me!"

Batman snapped his neck anyway. Partly because he was a villain, but also partly because Batman hadn't had any fun at all getting up there to him.[/color]

Username: Soular Power
Name: Avus Par and Cordave Haro, Bird Police Department
Gender: Male Duo
Race: Avus is a blue feathered "bird-man" from a place similar to where Sarika is from. Cordave is similarly like a bird except that he has arms independent of his wings and he can actually fly. Also he's red.
Colour: Purple-y, #8F00FF
Biography: "So yea, we met ages ago, back in the Bird Police Academy."
"We had all kinds of insane adventures, like when we blew up the girls bathroom."
"Wait, we never got caught for that... and you just told everyone..."
"ANYWAY, yea, after that, being the BEST BRO'S, we became partners."
"Yea, we get all the regular kinds of crime, defending parrots who only want a cracker, and stopping scum from murdering defenseless Giant Crested Iblis's."
"You know, normal stuff."
"So, ready to go on patrol with us?"

The camera man nods. Today, he will go on patrol with these two Bird Police Officers for the hit show COPS. As always, he is slightly worried, but still hopeful that nothing horrible will happen.

He's pretty wrong.

Description: Avus is more down to earth and is a bit of a whiner. He doesn't really try to make things into a big deal and he hides his feelings a lot. He's sort of short at just 5 feet tall so he's a bit insecure about that. He still loves his job and the feeling of doing right.

Cordave is a little bit more of a prick, and he is much more confident. He was much more well to do so all his life he had that sort of confidant air about him. He lets things out in the open and sometimes lets things get a mite personal. He's at 5 feet and ten inches and he is much more physically tough than Avus.

Both are wearing their Black Bird Police uniforms over their feathered bodies, hat and sunglasses included.
Items/Abilities: Badge with BPD plastered on, their gun, and various policing tools in the back of their police cruiser. They have been on the force for about five years now and can work splendidly as a duo, when they aren't at each others throats. They are obviously in their Police Car, why wouldn't they be?

Also, there is a camera man in the back because they were filming for COPS. This may give the misconception that the whole thing is staged, as camera men are all mute and can't say "Oh shit, that is bad, oh god oh man oh god oh man."

Username: Pharmacy

Name: Kay

Gender: Female

Race: Ghost

Colour: #FF0000

Biography:

Violent deaths are an especially traumatic experience and most ghosts do not exactly remember what happened when they are alive. They remember only bits and pieces, especially scenes that stand out the most. Kay is no different from these other ghosts. Like other newly formed spirits, she could only recall partial scenes, floating memories that seemed almost like dreams. She remembered bitterness. She remembered hate. She also remembered…acceptance?

What?

How could such a soothing feeling be with her, especially she’s a bloody ghost with a sword stuck in her chest. That simply could not do. Ghosts are here for a reason and Kay was no different. She needed to figure out why, not that she needed to that to go to eternal rest, more like. She needed to know. Luckily, she found herself in a strange, unfamiliar place. Another battle, perhaps another duel?

She smiled.

Description:

Kay looks like a complete mess. After all, her current state does not exactly match up with her appearance when she is actually, you know, alive. She wears a coat, which is well kept despite the fact there is a freaking saber stuck straight in her chest and a large ceremonial mask, which casts a distinct silhouette. She also has incredibly bad posture, which gives her an animalistic “I’m gonna rip your freaking throat” vibe. This description is reinforced by her noticeable claws and spurs, which perfectly suits her fine.

She’s always on her toes, always running. Although she does understand the concept of stealth, she is not the most subtle person on the universe. She gets excited pretty easily, really easily. She just loves the concept of singling out a target, focusing all her attention on that person. Finally, their finish at her hands – so beautiful, so romantic. As you can see, she enjoys her duels (perhaps a little too much) and actively seeks them.

Kay is not exactly a pleasant person. After all, when she was alive, she enjoys arbitrarily challenging people to duels and murdering their face off. However, she is not completely heartless, but rather a proud romantic. She loves such virtues such as honor and justice and is caught up in the beauty of self-sacrifice and love. She strives to be the ultimate – the most eloquent – the person with the best manners in the world. She may be a borderline-psychopathic nutjob, but she does have her good side. She could be polite, kind, and even charitable. However, that’s kind of rare –most of the time, she is challenging and murdering people for no particular reason.

Despite her pompous demeanor, there is this air of sadness around her. When she walks, she stumbles, like a wounded person struggling to get away. This description is apt considering the parts of her that are bright red leave significant bloodstains everywhere. Although smelling and feeling like blood, the liquid eventually fades away, as though she never existed in the first place.

Items/Abilities:

Kay is a corporeal ghost. Though she is not exactly human (and alive) anymore, she does not have super strength, speed or anything like that. In fact, her physical health right now is the same as when she was alive, boring old human. However, she does have excellent skills in the way of the gun and the sword, which are supplemented by the fact she carries around two ornate pistols and a saber (in her chest).

Despite her notable skill in duelist weaponry, her true strength lies within two abilities she had somehow gained post-death. One, her presence makes people feel unnaturally uneasy. Lesser mortals will flip out. People with stronger wills can tolerate her presence (although they would still feel somewhat iffy about her, depending on their trust). However, the strength of this incorporeal aura scales in power with the number of people nearby her. The larger the crowd, the more possessing this ability is. Unfortunately, Kay barely has control over this aura and if she even slightly flips out, she could cause a stampede.

Her second ability is a little more terrifying. If she chooses a target (one or many, alive or dead, robot or cat, does not matter), the target could never escape her – literally. No matter what the circumstances, no matter the situation, Kay would always find that person, even if he is hiding in a room, or ten thousand feet underground. For some reason, all the wounds she inflict on her target seem more lethal, grievous…this supernatural ability may be essentially her trump card.

Name: Archmage Rannus Adderan
Gender: Male
Race: Venephim.

Venephim are a crystalline race hailing from a plane of existence that is saturated with mana. While individually the appearance of Venephim can vary massively they are generally tall with spindly limbs. They have no natural form of reproduction, new Venephim are formed through a particularly complex magical ritual.

At one point magic came as naturally to the Venephim as breathing does to a creature with lungs in a world with air. In fact that metaphor is very apt, at that point in time the plane of Kaiy was filled with mana in the same way our world is filled with air.

Unfortunately this came to an end with an event known only as The Crisis. It remains unclear the precise series of events but suddenly, within the space of one day mana drained and dwindled to the point where it suddenly became a precious resource.

This had a profound effect upon the Venephim. As everyone clamoured for the precious dregs of mana their civilisation all but broke down. Previously nobody had given a thought to the supplies of mana, but one short day later a venephim would fight his best friend to the death for the slightest scrap of the substance. It was in short anarchy. Only the toughest, and those who had through sheer dumb luck found themselves with the most plentiful supplies of mana survived.

Life continued and slowly the Venephim began to adapt to this new state of affairs. Magic was proved to still be possible, even with just the trace amounts of mana that remained. However the downside was that such magic required intense preparation; incredibly specific magical reagents, complex runes and diagrams that have to be drawn out before time, complex magical gestures which if not performed correctly can have massively unpredictable results, long winded magical incantations which must be intoned word perfectly and in some cases to a precise rhythm and the use of specialised totems (referred to as wands) which can directly influence the trace mana in the air.

If any one of these factors is wrong the spell is likely to blow up in your face, sometimes literally.

Color: Some blue colour

Items/Abilities: There is very little that Archmage Rannus is not capable of. His magic can alter summon forth powerful beings to do his bidding, bind the power of the elements to his will, subjugate his enemies’ will (either physically or mentally) or alter the very fabric of the world itself.

The problem is that to do any of these things is very very very difficult (as outlined in the race section). Archmage Rannus carries with him at all times, packs filled with a slew of magical reagents, magical wands for every occasion, tomes filled with diagrams and incantations, paints and chalks and the like for inscribing runes on whatever surface he finds himself on, and of course a reference tome just to make sure that he doesn’t forget any of the necessary rituals.

Description: As a Venephim Archmage Rannus is a crystalline figure, approximately human shaped. He has an extra pair of arms and his all of his limbs are long and spindly, including his fingers (two fingers and a thumb upon each hand). His skin is smooth and speckled like titanium drusy.

Biography: The title of Archmage harkens back to the time before the Crisis, before the collapse of Venephim society. He was at that point a highly respected mage who spent most of his time teaching others how to get the utmost from their innate abilities.

When the Crisis occurred Rannus survived by not owning anything with enough mana to make him a target for others, and not being foolish enough to go after those who still had a slim scrap of mana.

It was actually Rannus who began the pioneering research into magic without mana, something that did not make him popular with those who had mana, most of whom had seized upon the imbalance of power to declare themselves the de facto rulers of the Venephim.

Archmage Rannus had to go into hiding until he had perfected his techniques, a task that took him a long time. While his magic without mana is a cumbersome thing, and not very useful in any situation where you don’t have a lot of planning and preparation time beforehand, it is better than being without magic entirely.

He eventually managed to spread the knowledge of how to work magic with little to no mana throughout the remaining Venephim population, by way of an information ritual which took days to set up. Shortly afterwards he was taken to be part of a grand battle.

Originally posted on MSPA by Pharmacy.

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Chaos aboard the Pan Asia Airway continued to accelerate, especially with the four contestants on board of this particular futuristic air transport. Kay had not really place much thought on how dangerous her current situation was. This particular duelist was reputed to be a loose cannon, and she was just as suicidal now as when she was alive. Regardless, she was more annoyed at the fact that her selection of opponents was horrible than how the plane was accelerating down at a frightening pace.

“ANYONE DARE TO CHALLENGE ME?” Kay yelled out, punctuating each violent word with a dramatic swerve of her head, spraying blood over the trembling people. However, the frightened passengers were too busy in their own business of taking in what happened. “ANYONE?” The duelist screamed out again, nearly knocking down a running flight attendant with her massive mask. “ANYONE?!”

This was ridiculous! She herself was ridiculous. Kay was extremely disappointed at herself. These people are unworthy opponents, with their disgusting quailing. Ugh, so unromantic. How could she think of them as anything remotely even fightable? In a fit of emotions, Kay kicked a nearby chair, tearing the stuffing out with her wicked spurs. Her annoyance was rapidly evolving into pure anger and Kay herself was at the threshold of self-control. She really needed her fix, but it was not happening!

The passengers could feel her anger, almost too well for their own comfort. They were fed the uneasiness of her unpleasant aura, her horrible supernatural ability. Like agitated cattle in amidst of the upcoming storm, the men and women, the young and old, the tourists and the employees in her nearby vicinity grew increasing restless. However, soon the crippling uncertainty exploded into storm of chaos. People started to jump out of their own chairs, screaming their lungs out and bumping to each other.

Kay simply just stood there. She was not exactly angry anymore, but she was still pretty angry. Why does these sort of things happen around her? She cannot pick out a worthy target if they just ran around and waved around her arms. No use in calming them down, they were all garbage anyway. She needed to get to greener pastures.

She sheathed her bloody saber back into the gaping wound of her chest, spraying even more blood on people around her. With a light to her steps, she sprinted, wedging away errant with a wet shove of her elbow. Kay sighed to herself. Why does it always have to be her who has to find her opponents, not the other way around? Well, it’s not like that fact bothers me, she thought to herself as she advanced, leaving behind bloody footprints.

Originally posted on MSPA by Ixcalibur.

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The plane upon which the battlers had been placed was titanic in scale. It had several floors of increasing opulence, not to mention cost. Upon the lowest level there was baggage class, where a section of the baggage hold was dedicated to customers willing to forego comfort, entertainment and having any room to move whatsoever in exchange for the cheapest tickets you could possibly imagine. Next up from that is standard class, pretty closely resembling plane travel as you would know it today. Upon the next floor is first class; more legroom, comfier seats, drinks upon demand. The floor above is the gold class suite which more closely resembles a trendy bar than anything you would expect to find upon an aeroplane. It was the floor above that Archmage Rannus found himself upon; diamond class. Individual suites, the most comfortable seats with built in massagers, an entire fridge full of personally optimised foodstuffs, a flat screen 3D HD TV with surround sound, full internet access and although it's not listed upon Pan Asia Airways features list, licensed prostitutes are just one click away.

The Archmage barely paid any heed to his surroundings, except perhaps to ascertain that there were no immediate threats in his vicinity. The suite in which he found himself was mercifully empty. His mind was already busy with other things. 'Problem: I find myself aboard an 'aircraft', an engine has failed and if I am to understand correctly the plane is to fall from the sky and crash. Possible solutions: fix the engine, the aircraft resumes flight. Issues with this solution: I do not know how these engines work. A minor informational ritual could be viable should I locate the engine in question, but this would severely cut into reparation time, and because of multitude of unknown variables the engine may not be repairable.'

Archmage Rannus had a lump of chalk in each hand and was already inscribing intricate runes upon the walls of the suite. 'Alternate solution: Open a portal, send everyone through to safety. Issues with this solution: I do not have a local reference point to which to open a portal, a portal back home would likely require a ritual which would on its own exceed the given time frame, not to mention the dangers of opening a portal within a moving structure.'

The Archmage began to chant something, his words archaic and loaded with power. 'Alternate solution: use a ritual to negate gravity. Issues with this solution: impermanence as effects only felt while I maintain them, required reagents difficult to obtain. Benefits of this solution: delays crash, gives those with expertise time to repair engine. Will implement this solution until better solution is found'. He began to make a series of complex gestures with his hands, barely noticing as the door burst open and plane security burst in on him, their weapons drawn.

"What the fuck?" One particularly astute security officer said, upon sighting the crystalline mage in the midst of his ritual.

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SpoilerMinor clarification here: Rannus isn't doing the antigravity ritual at the moment. He started doing another ritual, which hasn't activated yet and which I'll make clearer in the next post and intends to perform an antigravity ritual at first opportunity. #114EAA is Rannus' colour to save you to quoting posts or whatever.

Originally posted on MSPA by Solaris.

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The following takes place starting on October 8th, 2XXX IRD Time.

The events depicted, as unbelievable as they may be, did in fact take place.

The methods through which this tape was recovered will be kept secret to keep suspense and to protect the identities of the innocent.

"Bad Boys Bad Boys, Watcha gunna do, Whatcha gunna do when they come for youuuuuuu."


"......."

"What... the.... fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck!"

Upon the end of the introduction and their placement on to the large aircraft, the two best friends were in a state of panic and shock. After spending a good ten minutes of just awkward silence they began to just shout obscenities.

"WHAT THE F**K DO WE DO?" began the panicked Avus.
"I DON'T F**KING KNOW," replied his pal Cordave.
"OH MY GOD WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?"
"IS THIS EVEN LEGAL?"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAH."
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAH."

So far, the camera man had done a good job of not flipping the fuck out and he had held the camera still and not spoken at all. The two Bird Police Officers continued their panic until they heard a banging at their window, and the accompanying voice.

"EY, quit it wit da noise over there! Some of us are tryin to get on wit things." said the voice with an extremely thick Italian accent.

He was immediately ignored.
"OKAY OKAY. WE JUST GOTTA KEEP CALM COR. KEEP CALM."
"OKAY... Okay. Avs... I don't wanna die man." He began to tear up.
Avus had as well, sobbing in his reply. "Don't worry man, wa... WAIT." Avus turned his head to the camera man silently filming. "WAIT. We... we're on COPS. WE ARE ON COPS." He started cackling and Cordave followed suit.
"So... this is probably fake... ha ha ha Oh man, I was scared."
"Oh yea... we're gunna make it."
"We totaly are."
"YEA."
"YEA!"
After their heartfelt bout of panic and fear and sobbing, the partners proceeded to Bro Hug the shit out of each other. They wiped the tears off and began to get a bearing on their surroundings. This meant that they weren't moving or responding to the Italian at all.

"I said, get da fuck out of my suite." After a few moments he got exasperated, and ran into his bathroom with his suitcase in tow. If these invasive avians weren't going to get out of his room the nice way, he was going to have to use force.

"Alright."
"Aww yea!"
"Are we ready?"
"Let's go."

Starting their car and revving up the engine, the BPD Officers drove out of the suite and into the majestic hallway outside, giving absolutely no heed to doors or walls, and ready to go and make everyone else cease and desist.
"Heh, that's actually clever." Cordave said as he drove around a stewardess' truck.
"I know right?" After a moment he turned to to cameraman, "Hey, you are going to cut out the part where we cried right?"

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Spoileri realize the profile intended them to not believe this was real but having them [img]images/smilies/weasel.gif[/img] was more fun

EDIT: AND THEN I HAD BOTH

Originally posted on MSPA by Pick Yer Poison.

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[color=#JUSTICE]The baggage section, filled to the brim with Pan Asia Airway's poorest customers, normally saw little to no movement, given the space provided. A nodding head as someone managed to fall asleep, a shaken head as someone else failed to, a general exodus from the vicinity of a particularly gassy traveler. These were all normal, expected movements, unlike the one occurring right now.

The baggage section travelers parted in Batman's wake like the Red Sea around Moses. If any had been asked why they did so, they would've mumbled something about a fire in his eyes, or the purposeful way he walked. Truthfully, it was just that no one wanted to get close to somebody with that much dried blood on their fists.

Batman hardly cared what their real reasons were. As usual, he was narrating his story in his mind. The dark knight walks purposefully down the aisle. The people, seeing his fearsome stature and the way he holds himself, allow him to pass. He strode down the aisle at a steady clip, slow enough for the baggage section travelers to shuffle out of his way, but fast enough that when one grabbed his ankle, he nearly pulled her along with him. His train of thought interrupted, he looked down with an expression of mild surprise.

"E-Excuse me," she asked quietly with a slight stutter, casting her eyes down so as not to have to meet his. "Are you...do you work on the airplane?" When Batman said nothing, she stole a quick glance up to make sure he was still there and then looked back down. Apparently taking his silence for an affirmation, she continued. "I...we heard a loud noise, an explosion or something, a few minutes ago. D-Do you know what it was?" At her question, the host's words trickled back to Batman.

<font color="slategrey">"I would say you have an hour, perhaps two, before the aircraft crashes and you all cease to live."[/color]

Batman refuses to let the rest of their lives be lived in terror! "One of the richer customers threw a firecracker out of a window," he hastily improvised.

A man further down the row decided to pipe up just then. "That was an awful big explosion for a firecracker." To Batman's dismay, his skeptical response was all it took to open the floor.

"Rocked the ship too, it did!"

"What the hell kind of firecrackers to they give out here?"

"ALIENS! ALIENS DID IT! THEY'RE COMING FOR US ALL!"

"Shut the fuck up, Larry."

"It was a large bundle of firecrackers!" Batman shouted frantically, but he could no longer be heard over the mass of conversations sprouting up in the usually silent baggage section.

He looked down again as he felt another tug on his pants. The woman beckoned for him to squat down so he could hear her, and she obliged. "Is it...is it bad?" she asked, meeting his eyes for the first time, fear and concern evident in hers.

Batman hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "You have more than an hour but less than two. Make it count." He stood up and found the crowd was longer parting for him. He forced his way down the rest of the baggage section until he reached the stairs, leaving the woman sitting there quietly with a blank stare on her face.</font>

Originally posted on MSPA by Pharmacy.

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Kay continued prowling. Well, she could have been prowling if it were not for the fact that the Pan Asia airplane was incredibly packed – with so people, but so many unworthy opponents! Not exactly paying attention to the dead duelist’s gruesome appearance, people continued to panic in combination of sudden engine failure and her supernatural fear aura, bumping into her and especially annoying her. Her attitude was not exactly pleasant and it was again, at the tipping point to pure incandescent rage.

Her attempts to go against the direction of the crowd proved futile, until a shrill whistle blared over the atmosphere. Suddenly, the crowd dispersed and Kay found it easier to move. In front of the passenger mob, there were two flight attendants, whistles in their mouths, parting the calming men and women with their noise. Kay was quite perplexed, how could they manage to silent the crowd so easily, ESPECIALLY WITH HER AROUND. THIS WAS PREPOSTEROUS.

The duelist wedged her way through the loosening crowd and soon found her way to the two flight attendants, their mouths slightly agape at her macabre appearance. Kay cocked her head at the duo as though she was an eyeing hawk. Without a warning, she lurched forward, knocking one of them down. "WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT IS YOUR PURPOSE." Kay bellowed, her pointy head of her bloody mask nearly putting an eye out. "AND WHAT SORT OF SORCERY IS THIS?" She grabbed the whistle to prove her point.

The standing flight attendant was shrilly blowing at her whistle, making sure the crowd, now chaotic due to Kay’s demands, did not crush the three under their feet. The prone woman’s lip trembled for a few seconds before giving Kay the information we are. <font color="green">"I’m Marisa and she’s Jane. Our whistles are just regular whistles. And –"

“WHAT IS YOUR PURPOSE?” Kay interrupted.

"Ohgodpleasedontkillme!" The flight attendant below flinched in instinct. "We are just investigating this strange guy –"

Strange guy? Kay lifted her head up in thought. This could be interesting. Kay demanded more information.

"He looks like a strange astronaut and he’s going around interrupting passengers," Marisa noted. "And for some reason, he’s wearing a fishbowl over his head. Come to think of it, it was really weird-looking…"

That was enough information. This man was a strange man with strange clothes. That must be RESERVE PSYCHOLOGY. He’s actually a strong, competent fighter with a cunning mind! No wonder he was dressed like a complete idiot! That was to fool people! BRILLIANT. Kay felt so clever at her path of logic. Her childhood tutor would be proud.

Without a warning, Kay attempted to bolt away, but bumped into the crowd again. Getting hold of her marbles, Kay climbed up on an irate passenger and then, walked on the crowd, poking many passengers with her unwieldy spears. She was going to get this stranger and challenge him to a duel of the lifetime. It would be GLORIOUS!

Meanwhile, Marisa was just confused.
</font>

Originally posted on MSPA by Solaris.

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The view was definitively something to be amazed by. The tip top deck of Flight 1727 was both spacious and clean, almost as if it was a different place altogether. Although it was getting a bit messy due to the sudden appearance of a police car that not only decided to crash through a wall but was also messing up the carpet and cruising through without much regard for others.

"Alright, so as fun as this is, I'd really like it if we could like, get back to work?"
"Oh come on Avus, we are on some sort of simulated resort, this is freaking awesome, and you want to go back to work?"
"Well like, I don't know, do you have any better ideas? I mean, what is there even to do here?"
"Uh, not much I guess..."
For a moment, the two just continued their cruise. They scratched their heads for a bit and yawned.
"Oh yea the plane's going to go down." Cordave said as calmly as possible.
"What?"
"Yea you weren't freaking out about it so I just assumed that you didn't care."
"DIDN’T CARE? I CAN'T FL-"

*THUMP*

Looking in to the rearview mirror and aiming to regain control of his vehicle, Avus saw a man who had a head that was as red as a tomato, dressed in a suit with a weird arm thing and yelling obscenities in some weird language.

However, that was not the only thing that the duo should have been looking out for, as right as Avus turned his attention off of the road, Cordave leaped over to move the wheel. The vehicle swerved to the side, crashing the car through a wall and on to an unsuspecting pair of security guards.

There were a few moments of silence before Avus turned to his friend and whacked him.
"What was that for? We could have gotten hurt!"
"Don't you see???" Cordave grabbed his partners head and turned it to the part of the vehicle that saw outside the room. Over right where they had turned, lay a large ceramic statue of a Dove.
"Oh my god. I... I can't thank you enough Cor. I'm sorry I ever doubted you."
"It's alright Avs. It's alright."

Despite almost being accosted by a group of security guards and having a car crash through a wall behind him, Rannus was still hard at work, ever oblivious to the Bird Officers. And honestly, it was probably better that way, as they were in each other's embrace, hugging in an almost disgusting display. Again.

Originally posted on MSPA by Ixcalibur.

---

The rite being performed was not a complicated one and as such it was quickly complete. The best efforts of the security team had been for nought, they were unable to make any impression upon the Venephim. The rite had necessitated the construction of a device, a magical gewgaw which housed the power of the spell. It was composed of a series of springs, which had been quickly extracted from a now ruined leather recliner, and bottlecaps taken from a selection of bottled drinks in the suite's minifridge. It dangled like a dreamcatcher, and if one was to watch it closely they would see that it seemed to adhere to a gravity different from what could be felt upon the plane itself.

The spell itself was a simple one, only slightly more substantial than an illusion. Rannus had, upon arrival, quickly noted that the plane was beginning to slant, struggling to balance the weight of its hotel sized cabin on an uneven number of engines. Almost without conscious thought he had constructed this spell to stabilise the cabin, or at least give the impression of stability. Though the plane continued to slant, everyone within the vicinity of the device perceived it as though the plane was perfectly stable and level. It didn't mean the plane was actually stable, but Rannus figured it would be easier to deal with whatever problems might arise in a seemingly stable and calm environment. It would also likely help to calm passengers and prevent an unhelpful outbreak of panic.

With the device hanging from his fingers Rannus turned to face the gathered crowd of security officers and regarded them critically. Their attention had in the last few moments been hijacked by the dramatic arrival of the Bird Police. "Your vehicle has rather unfortunately become host to a battle to the death. I am one of the participants, though I believe my temperament to have been misjudged. I do not wish to cause harm to anyone. In fact I believe I can do something to delay the imminent crash of this vehicle long enough to give whatever mechanically inclined personnel you have on board time to fix the engine and rescue this vehicle from almost assured destruction."

There was a silent pause in which the gathered group of security personnel attempted to process the information they had just been given. "Those in the vehicle behind you are known to me as the 'Bird Police'. I have been told that they, and an individual who calls himself 'Batman', stand for justice and as such I would imagine are likely to help us in our efforts to repair this vehicle. The 'contestant' who you should be wary of is a... ghost (?) named Kay. I am informed she seeks vengeance, which makes me severely less confident in assuring her cooperation." The Archmage turned his attention to the police car, wherein the bird police had puffed up their chests in an attempt to out-macho one another. He strode through the crowd of confused security guards and tapped politely upon the window of the police car.

After a moment spent staring at one another in silence, Cordave reached over his partner and wound down the window. “’Sup?” He asked casually.

“We should investigate the locality of the engine.” Archmage Rannus said simply. “If you see any orbs along the way it would be advisable to slow down so I can collect them. I believe they will come in handy for a spell I intend to carry out.” And without any further discussion he opened the back door of the car and climbed inside.

Show Content

SpoilerI'm thinking Rannus is way to big for the car and ends up all sort of cramped up like in cartoons. With regard to the spell I think I explained it okay, but if you want any further clarification just ask.

Originally posted on MSPA by Pharmacy.

---

Kay continued to trudge her way through the crowd, unintentionally smearing blood on nearby passengers. She had a task, to look for that garishly-dressed opponent and give him a worthy challenge. However, she had to admit: she was not making any progress in her searching. She was getting frustrated. How could she miss such a man dressed in a ridiculous outfit? With that realization, Kay’s frustrations intensified even more.

Before she decided to blow up again, fortune smiled upon and lo, and behold. There was her opponent and boy, was he unmistakable (hard to miss an astronaut with a fishbowl helmet)! With Batman’s appearance in her unseen eyes, Kay balked. He looked too crazy. Well, Kay was pretty crazy too However, that man, he was a particular kind of crazy, a sort of off-putting crazy. Suddenly, Kay was not so sure if she should really fight that, uh, guy.

However, a DUEL IS A STILL A DUEL. It had been a while since she had a proper fight. She was going to take any chances that fate decided for her. With a dramatic swing of her arm, she pulled out her saber. The combination of the brandished blade and the wet noise of her withdrawing weapon convinced the (disgusted) crowd to make a two-foot radius around her. "YOU!" Kay belted out, intending to gather attention of Batman, "PREPARE TO –"

Somewhere in the Pan Asia cockpit, the advanced monitor beeped rapidly, signaling that the front of Airway was dipping yet another degree down, accelerating the turbulence on the plane. People started to lose their footing. The floor began to slant steeper. Most of all, there was luggage, luggage everywhere – scattering like marbles on a linoleum floor. An errant cart, filled to the brim with cases and souvenirs was rushing down the lane and unfortunately, Kay was at the end and –

<font color="DarkRed">SLAM</font>

Reeling from the force, Kay tumbled through the air like an injured bird. Though her hands managed an iron grip on her saber and her ornate pistol, her head, though protected by the massive mask, was not clear. With a heavy splat, Kay landed on front of the police car, slathering the entire vehicle with her blood much to the consternation of the profanity-spewing bird cop duo. Archmage Rannus, however, was understandably concerned about her rude but accidental entrance.

Amidst the "oh shit," "oh man," and other inventive phrases of the two, Avus Par had enough hold of himself to flick on the windshield wipers. After all, their front window irritatingly covered with disgusting and opaque blood. A stream of cleaning fluid sprayed out, diluting some of the thick liquid. Finally, the wipers moved, whacking on Kay’s face while they were at their cleaning duties.

If Kay was conscious, she would be understandably pissed.

Originally posted on MSPA by Solaris.

---

*Swish, Swish.*
*Swish, Swish.*

"Uh... that isn't working."
The two members of the BPD looked at each other in a startled and ruffled state. With the ghostly Kay's body unmoving from their vehicle, they knew that one of them would have to go and remove the body manually. There was a silent tension as each of them knew what would come.
"NOT IT."
With the silence broken, the game was afoot.
"You said it first!"
"I said it first? No, you did!"
"Stop saying everything I say!"
"No, seriously, stop!"

<font color="#114EAA">Idiot in stereo may be enough for the cameras and for the audience at home, but it certainly isn't for Rannus. As the two increased their bickering and he noticed that Kay was begging to stir, he began with an *ahem*. "Officers, may I remind you that we are pressed for time?"

The two promptly ceased and slouched back into their chairs.
"So I guess I'll just go take Kay off I guess..." Cordave mumbled.

The winged officer stepped out of the car and began to push off the ghostly woman. He struggled a little but was able to do it, giving a thumbs up after his success. As she dropped to the floor, Kay let off an ethereal groan, leading to Cordave only being half in the car when Avus hit it.</font>

As the Bird Police and company rushed away, the go-kart riding Italian puttered along, turning into the scene of his target riding off with an unconscious dame on the ground...

Originally posted on MSPA by Pharmacy.

---

Conditions in the Pan Asia Airway were getting increasingly dangerous. Despite the best abilities of the artificial intelligence and the pilots, the worst of all has happened: cabin pressure was decreasing at an alarmingly fatal rate.

Earsplitting screech roared overhead as the ominous creaking of plastic and metal continued ominously. People attempted to stay on their feet. Hi-tech oxygen masks burst out of the ceilings. Despite these safety measures, it was all for naught. Passengers started to get woozy. Some of them even slumped, clocked into unconscious despite the plush carpet floor. Some suffered seizures, babbling nonsense as clotted blood spilled from every available orifice. Some of them did not even move.

SNAP. Turbulence! Pressure! Chaos! A good chunk of the plane crumbled away, uneven pressure creating a vacuum that sucked out passengers unlucky enough to be nearby. Amidst the screams and cries, the bird cop vehicle continued to roar away to their destination. The passengers of this car were understandably shocked.

The avian security duo continued to shout expletives over each other, as though they were contesting on who could shout the most inventive swear word. On the other hand, Archmage Rannus stood still in his seat, shaken. Well, mostly shaken (hard to ignore an open hole on the plane after all). He was kind of annoyed by the feathery bro-couple.

***

Unaware of the imminent chaos surrounding her, Kay stirred back to consciousness. There was obviously pain, but there was anger. How could she lose such a (somewhat) worthy opponent (Batman)? Oh, she was angry alright. Never in her entire nonexistence did she ever lose an opponent. It was all so simple back then: stalk, stab, perhaps shoot. That was all. However, this? It seems like this environment was striving to pervert her every plan, to frustrate her!

That might only be chance, she reasoned. It was a flimsy reason, but good enough for her. For now, all her attention was to meet Batman and Batman only. No one could stop her. NO ONE – at least she earnestly hoped. Regardless, how would she get to her opponent? God knows how long she had been knocked cold. He could be too far away right now! How could she follow him?
The ghost looked around and saw an out of place figure. There was a man, Italian maybe, sitting on a puttering go-kart.

She had an idea.

"Oy!" Kay lifted up the man and tossed him aside with a heavy force. Immediately, the duelist placed herself on her ill-gotten vehicle. This was the perfect plan! She always had the perfect plans. Her childhood tutor would be proud of this. It did not take her long to figure out the pedal and wheel and immediately she drove off in search of that one particular person.

Somewhere in another universe, a criminal rating expanded into a five-star rating – for some reason.

Originally posted on MSPA by Pick Yer Poison.

---

Show Content

SpoilerDOUBLE LENGTH POST GOGOGO

[color=#JUSTICE]Batman strode confidently towards the end of the plane, where he suspected the mechanics were controlled. He had no actual evidence to base this idea on; in fact, he'd never been in a plane before, and if he had, he would have more likely been heading for the front, where the cockpit was. The only thing he had to compare the plane to was a simply boat; in his mind, it seemed most logical to head to where the rudder would be.

An out of breath attendant stepped in front of him as he reached the elevator to the luxury decks. "I'm sorry...sir," he panted, "but these decks are off...off limits." He had no idea who this weirdo in the red suit was, and even though he was oddly out of breath and had a very nasty sinking feeling in his stomach, he still remembered one of the first Pan-Asia Airway training lessons - "Any appearance of danger is merely a device designed to enhance your work experience."

In case it wasn't evident, this particular attendant wasn't very bright to start with, and the lack of oxygen wasn't helping matters very much.

Batman calmly and patiently counted to seven before he became bored of counting, and then he punched the attendant in the gut, knocking the wind out of him and knocking him to his knees. Batman looked down at him coldly. "Batman goes where he wants." The attendant was too busy trying to regain his breath to say much in response, so Batman shrugged and walked into the elevator.[/color]

---

Rannus resisted the urge to ask if they had reached their destination yet. He did not enjoy being folded up into the tiny police car the way he was, and he was already savoring the idea of being able to leave it. The only reason he was still in it was because it was faster than walking across the massive plane.

"I hate to tell you this, guys," Avus said from the front, "but I think it might be faster for us to just walk. I mean, just look at this! We're never getting the car through here!" He slammed his hand on the horn and gestured in front of the car angrily. A horde of people in various stages of panicking were flocking in front of it, completely unaware of the police mission they were blocking.

Rannus had the door open and was unfolding himself before Avus had even finished speaking, needing no excuse to stretch his cramped legs. He considered for a moment a spell that would cause the civilians to instinctively avoid the car, but dismissed it. While the materials required for it were already in evidence, the words easy to recall, and the setup simple, it could only end with him collapsed in the back of that vehicle like some crystalline folding chair. He forged onwards, pushing people aside when they failed to move of their own accord.

The bird cops and the cameraman followed suit after only a few moment's hesitation, Avus gazing longingly at his beloved car. "I'll be back, baby," he whispered to it before running off. He imagined he could hear the car whispering back, and a single tear dripped down his cheek. Cordave, on the other hand, just tried to imagine that his partner wasn't talking to their car.

---

[color=#JUSTICE]The elevator doors whooshed open, and just in time; Batman had been moments away from trying to break the door open on his own. The longer he stayed in that tiny room the more panicked he became, making the twenty second ride seem to take twenty minutes. A set of double doors greeted him. In a fit of temporary nervousness, he delayed for a few moments by shooing some imaginary dust particles off of his spacesuit. It took just long enough for him to regain his composure, and he strode towards the pair of doors.[/color]

---

The lower observation deck was crowded with terrified patrons. Miraculously, the group lay silent, untouched by the chaos that had claimed the upper decks. All eyes were on the clouds, which were getting closer and closer. Nobody could explain why their feet were still planted on the floor of the plane, and no one particularly cared to. The serenity was one rarely found in times of peace, much less times of crisis. It was reminiscent of the solace found in a good book and a warm cup of--

[color=#JUSTICE]The doors burst open and Batman jumped through. "HAVE NO FEAR, CITIZENS!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. "BATMAN IS HERE TO--"[/color]

The spell was broken. Some began screaming and shouting, others began crying and holding each other, and many began pounding on the glass in a desperate attempt to throw themselves out of the window, as if they might fare better against the water on their own terms. Many fled past Batman towards the elevator, the crowd parting around him like a stream around a rock.

[color=#JUSTICE]"...to save...you..." he finished quietly, no one able to hear him over the fearful din.[/color]

Originally posted on MSPA by Solaris.

---

Kay was mad. While the vehicle had served her well, the mass of running people had definitively made progress worse. She needed to find him. Find her worthy opponent. While normally, her aura would prevent the masses from running so close to her, their being in a state of hysteria lessened the effect. Suffice to say, she was not having an easy time of finding her soon to be prey. That's why, in a roundabout way, it was a good thing that the go-kart exploded, opening a hole and causing her to fly out of the plane.


""OH MY GOD WHAT WAS THAT."
Still on the floor, the avian officers and their crystalline companion were able to hear the explosion. People were running in circles, away from the back engine room, and away from the new hole in the plane, panicking in increasingly absurd ways.
<font color="#114EAA">"It seems that we have a situation here that is slightly more important than the larger problem of the falling plane. I should be able to cast something that can solve it, but in these conditions with all the panicking it would be difficult, could you distract, entertain, or block off these people somehow?"
After a pause, Avus chimed up. "Oh, there's some police tape in the car, we could just seal you off so you can go cast that whatever, yea!"
"Just start doing your thing and we'll be back, sound good?"
Rannus nodded and began his preparations.

As it turned out, going back to the car wasn't the best choice. Reaching their beloved vehicle, they duo noticed that something was odd, as if they had a slight trouble breathing. Ignoring the panicking peoples, struggling to move around, the two Bird Police made it to the car. However, when Avus took out his keys, someone unfortunately bumped in to him. The two looked terrified as the key was kicked across farther away. Wasting no time, except to tell the camera man to stay with the car, the two scrambled to the ever farther moving keys.

Without noticing, the two tripped their way very close to the newly made hole, and as soon as they realized their blunder, it was too late.


[color=#JUSTICE]As the ghost and the birds were falling out of the plane, a man of JUSTICE was busy with his own dilemma. For one reason or another, the explosion higher up was not the only one. In the rush to escape away from the plane, windows were broken, and innocent people of all kinds were panicking and at risk of getting hurt. Whether they liked it or not, BATMAN had every intention to make sure that they kept in the plane, that had to be safer than falling down. As he stopped a woman from jumping out, he saw a little boy clinging on very close to a newly broken window. Taking no chances, he jumped over, literally over the boy, and out of the window. "Whoops."[/color]


Outside the plane, Kay was falling. She accepted this. As mad as she was, there was nothing she could do. So she had no intention of doing it. That is, until she saw the arbiter of justice himself leaping out below her. Scowling at the sight of her prey, the ghostly huntress attempted to guide herself at the falling Batman. Accelerating down, she was just about to grab at the so-called hero when up above...

The two Officers of the Bird Police Department were lamenting their fate. Grabbing together, and falling much to fast to be saved by Cordave's wings, they just embraced each other as true brothers. While they had hopes to somehow survive the fall, they knew it was only wishful thinking.
"It was awesome serving with you Avus!"
"Same for you, I couldn't have wished for a better partner!"
Starting to sniffle, Avus held back tears.
"Well, this is it! We're gunna die now! I just... never thought it would be like this!"
"I know man! I know! I just..." Cordave held back tears of his own. "I don't know."
The two of them were at a loss for words. At the face of death, there isn't really much to say.

The two collided with the plane's wings and with a quick splat, they were gone...</font>

Originally posted on MSPA by Sanzh.

---

Kay, Rannus, and Batman were whisked away just as the plane reached the conclusion of its flight. For a brief moment, the contestants are shunted into a void of nothingness.

"Well, I must say that you have all proven to be able participants in this study. Despite some understandable reluctance, you all more or less all accepted your role as participants in this experiment. You should find that you’ll be moved to another location shortly."

The remaining contestants found themselves in a small township, smelling of fisheries and wharfs. A few ships, none of them sinking, steam around in the nearby water of the bay. Despite citizens ambling about and industries working and nothing to indicate anything unusual, there is still a pervasive air of ominousness. As the contestants reorient themselves, they hear one more message.

"I’m afraid I can’t be more clear about this last bit of advice, but you’ll find that the stars are right. You should learn what I mean soon enough."

With that, the contestants are left to fight.

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SpoilerOkay so hopefully this won’t be as much of a clusterfuck as the last round and I apologize for that. Premise is a sleepy New England town about to get hit by a heavy load of creatures from the deep or abominations from the stars or whatever. Everything’s cyclopean, some of the citizenry might be fishmen, there’s more than a couple bands of cultists. Round ends in a month to two months, depending on what sort of things happen. Word limit is up to 750 words but I’m not going to hold you to that particularly tightly.

Originally posted on MSPA by Ixcalibur.

---

It was a peaceful evening in the small fishing town. The citizenry was, mostly, enjoying the sticky heat brought by this Indian summer.

Rising high above the town was a speck of blue in the golden sunset sky.

It grew and grew.

If you looked through it you could see clouds that had not been there before.

And suddenly high in the skies above the town was a flaming hunk of metal the size of a hotel. At one time it may have resembled a plane; you would be hard pressed to tell.

--------

Rannus' arrival in the town, a minute or so earlier, had been perhaps slightly more dramatic than intended. He’d appeared in the middle of a crowded bar to the confusion of the patrons within. His charm he had constructed on board the plane fumbled with the adjustment to the non-slanting environment and everyone in the bar was thrown backwards, causing drinks to be spilled, glasses to be smashed and tables to be tipped over. Rannus himself stumbled forwards but managed to find his footing before falling. He spun around to the spot where he had been appeared and began to trace shapes in the air, numbling magical incantations under his breath.

At this precise moment he was fixated upon the plane, upon the lives of the innocent people still trapped upon that metal contraption. He had little to no interest in this place for the time being. Though he had not had time to gauge the situation the voice that had forced him here had not mentioned anything about any impending doom that would be visited upon wherever it was that he was now located. But quickly his train of thought was derailed and his focus pulled away. Here in this world he had rediscovered something that had been missing for such a long time; mana.

While it was true it was not available in the high quantities that it had been in his homeworld pre-Crisis, it was more than he was used to. His fingertips tingled as the mana ran through his body. For a moment the giddy thrill of the mana almost tempted him to conjure some illusions; something big and showy but ultimately pointless. He had been quite adept at illusion shows back in his homeworld. He had to remind himself that there were more important things at stake and that he could not frivolously throw mana around like it was the good old days again. He forced himself back into that serious mindset and quickly completed the ritual he had began. It was a trivial matter now that the mana was flowing.

The ritual complete he turned on his heel until he found the nearest door, pushed through the crowd of confused drunks and stepped out into the street. The ritual had been a relatively simple one, one designed to give him information about where he had so recently been; what amounted to a set of magical co-ordinates that he could use. A couple of steps out of the bar and he was performing another ritual. A speck of blue opened high in the sky above.

--------

"Darn." Rannus said as the wreckage of Pan Asia Airways Flight 1727 plummeted towards the town.

Originally posted on MSPA by Pharmacy.

---

Brontes the innkeeper stood in his place, a look of perpetual boredom painted on his face.

Another sleepy day in Greenport. Another bloody sleepy day.

Not that he had any reason to complain about. Greenport was a rather nice town, despite the otherworldly disadvantages. Clean, good food, nice neighbors (well, most of them. let’s not talk about the cults, shall we). It was just that this day was so, well, nothing. Nada. Zilch. Ennui dressed up in a pretty bow of monotony. Ugh, so boring.

While Brontes was entertaining his thoughts, a man stumbled forward and slammed an empty beer mug on the table. Oh lord, it was the local vagrant. Although Brontes liked customers, this man was a public nuisance. Judging from his gaping grin and bloodshot eyes, it was pretty obvious that he was plastered.

<font color="navy">"Hut me upb," slurred his customer. Then, he cackled, as though what he said absolutely freaking hilarious.

Brontes sighed, rubbing his temples. He was an innkeeper, not a bartender! It’s almost like the booze rotted away the concept of difference from this man. Suddenly, a large CRUNCH jolted them from any potential rhetoric they had to pass around.</font>

It was not hard to figure out where the source of the noise was thanks to the falling splinters. Of course, Brontes and the drunk did not expect a head up in the ceiling. There it was. A red bird mask stuck halfway through. If those painted eyes could express an emotion, it would be extreme annoyance. Brontes was not so sure how the mask felt, but the contempt oozing from that intruder made that a rather good guess.

More and more wood splinters rained down and with a heavy slam, the triangle, along with the rest of the body went on the floor, splattering red everywhere. Although the macabre scene stifled a few gasps from the few guests here, the stranger seemed to be fine as she managed to pick herself up and walk to the counter.

***

Today (at least that felt to her) has been a long, horrible, turbulent day of suck for her. She was minding her own business and suddenly she lost track of her own prey. Stupid luck, or more like. Stupid dirigible. Metal. Thing. Eh, whatever. Both can take the blame.

Ugh, she was so tired. Well, at least this place was an inn, or looked like an inn at least. Maybe she could rent a room and sleep it off. Kat reached into her pocket and scattered some pocket change onto the table.
<font color="Blue">
“Excuse me, miss. One thing to note.” The innkeeper reminded her. "We do not take this sort of change around these parts." He held up one of her coins to show.

Kay stood up and violently grabbed the poor Bronte’s collar towards her. "Listen." She breathed, haphazardly jabbing her pointy end of the mask near the poor innkeeper’s face. "I died. My car exploded. My quarry had escaped. I am sore all over the place and my head is throbbing. NOW WOULD YOU GIVE ME A GODDAMN BED." Sobbing uncontrollably, the duelist histrionically shook at the innkeeper.

Another noise interrupted the two from any arguing. It was a peculiar noise: a thud, then another thud and another –heavy, ponderous sounds against the ceiling. The drumming of the roof encouraged everyone, including the innkeeper and the duelist, in the inn to investigate.
</font>
Oh lord, bodies! Many of them! Charred corpses splayed spread-eagle on the dirt ground. Any effigy of their tortured visage had been burned away by some great flame. Apparently, they fell from a great level, as some of the parts had been separated, that would have explain the many arms, jaws, and bits laying about.

A sickly sweet smell of metal and meat permeated the atmosphere, causing some of the onlookers to feel a little queasy. Brontes vomited a little in his mouth. Where did such a hellish spectacle come from? Why was there so many strange things raining from the skies? First, the woman. Then, the bodies. What was next? Brontes began to mull his thoughts over.

Of course, there was not much to think about. He saw this falling star, a bright plume of metal and flames above in the skies. Though he was not exactly an expert, he could see the falling star was actually falling wreckage of some sort. With another thud, another charred corpse landed at the talons of Kay, reinforcing the withering realization of the pondering Brontes.

"D-demons!" The vagrant sputtered. "Da-damned demons!"

Originally posted on MSPA by Pick Yer Poison.

---

High above the town, the massive plane floated, hovering expectantly as it waited for gravity to remember it was there. It would be waiting for a while.

---

[color=#JUSTICE]Batman crouched behind a bush, peeking out beyond the edge. Had he not been wearing a fishbowl helmet, this effort might have proven successful in not revealing his location, but as it was, within moments everyone in the immediate vicinity was gawking at him. He was in a very delicate situation, and he knew of only one way to turn it back in his favor.

He leaped out of the bushes, rolling when he hit the ground, to end up roughly in the middle of most of the gawkers. He stood up quickly and brushed off a few leaves that had decided to hitch a ride. "Fear not, citizens, I am here to help!" He turned to an old lady sitting on a swinging bench on her porch and not really making much progress on her knitting. "You there! Able-bodied bystander!" It came to him that maybe that wasn't the best descriptor, but he carried on regardless. "Have you any crimes to report?"

She looked around lazily, making sure he was really pointing to her, then turned back to him. "Well," she stated in a slow, unmistakeably English voice, "I recall that Jimmy stole one of my pies yesterday. He's the little boy next door, you see, about seven years old. He's quite charming, but don't let that fool you, the boy's a born thief!"

A much younger voice piped up from across the cobbled street. "I dint steal nuttin'!" Batman looked over and saw a very young boy, who he presumed was Jimmy, clutching a lady's hand, who he assumed was his mother. "Yer a liar! Liar, liar, pants on fire!"

His mother tried to quiet him down in vain. "Hush, Jimmy! Don't talk to Mrs. Manning that way!" Jimmy refused quite creatively, letting go of his mother's hand and running right up to Mrs. Manning, where he continued to call her a liar.

"Yeah, you keep acting like you didn't do it, you little rat! You'll get yours tonight, I say!" Mrs. Manning shook her knitting needles at the irate youngster. Groaning erupted from the crowd, but Mrs. Manning ignored it. "The stars foretell it! You'll all meet your ends when the fog comes! All of you! Each and every bloody one of you!" With that, she stood up creakily and shuffled indoors.

Batman thumbed towards the door once it had slammed shut. "She always like that?" A couple of people nodded, and the crowd began to disperse, none of them wanting to have anything to do with the weirdo. Or with Mrs. Manning, for that matter. Batman dispersed with them, but found himself alone. He sighed and began to wander. Batman was used to not being appreciated. Batman did things because they were right and for the greater good, not because they'd make him famous or well-liked. That was just how Batman was.

The sun set as Batman wandered around the town, and a thick mist began to gather along the ground, growing thicker with every passing minute. Withdrawn in thought as he was, Batman didn't realize it was gathering until he found he couldn't see more than ten feet in front of him, a fact he found worrisome.

But not half as worrisome as the thing that promptly emerged from it.[/color]

Originally posted on MSPA by Pharmacy.

---

"Well, that is certainly something." Brontes murmured, raising a questionable eyebrow.

<font color="Red">Kay hated to admit that, but what was happening right now was certainly something. The descent of the debris, which she now recognized as the flaming remainders of previous round, was taking longer than it was expected. Kay was dead, not a scientist. However, she was pretty sure gravity accelerated faster than that.

The slow fall was not the only peculiar thing that caught Kay's unseen eye. The area was incredibly foggy. Not the normal kind of fog, she remembered in her childhood. There was thick, odious vibe that seems to engulf where the seemly supernatural fog seems to go. Kay found that especially unnerving.

But of course! The weather would not stall her pursuit. Batman might be there somewhere. Batman, the quarry. Batman, the prey. Batman, the goal. For this moment of time, Batman was everything to her and as a consequence, she must get him. She was a hunter, after all and a hunter never lets go of her victims.

"A hunter never lets go of her victims," Kay repeated audibly, unknowingly getting a good amount of wary glances from the crowd. With the ominous fog and the feeling of dread growing stronger in the atmosphere, what the duelist had said was not exactly helping the mood of the crowd.

Without further adieu, Kay started to strut her way into the fog. Just when she managed two feet in distance, she was rudely interrupted with a <font color="Blue">"Hey, lady!" Ugh, so annoying. The duelist served her head in the direction of the innkeeper, focusing all the rage of one painted eye against the man.</font>

"Hey lady!" Brontes yelled, "I do not exactly recommend going in there." Although Brontes did not care much for strangers, safety was an incredibly important issue for him. After all, he had the reputation of the inn to uphold and disappearing visitors, even those already dead, do not exactly pay for maintenance costs.

"A lot of nasty things in there," the Innkeeper continued. "Some even ungodly indescribable."

Kay looked back at the direction she was traveling in, haughtily backhanding the warning Brontes. Why should he be so concerned about her status? The rush of the long-gone adrenaline, the delicate thread of life near the razor edge of risk. Danger was the core of her character in life, and she intended to keep it that way, even in death. Plus, warnings were so unromantic.

Still, she could not afford time to mince words with this unimportant man. However, she would spare him the politeness. A true lady always was respectful, even to brutes and slobs. “Sorry to say, but I must go. It is of utmost importance to me to pursue my quarry.”

To the duelist's surprise, the innkeeper’s face screwed up into a visage of shock and confusion."Quarry?" Brontes sputtered. "What quarry? Most importantly, do you have any idea where your 'quarry' is?"

Where? That single word hit Kay like a sack of bricks. Where? That was a very good question, especially since, much to her horror, she did not remember something! She knew his face (fishbowl). She knew his combat tactics (punching and screaming out his name). However, for some reason, she forgot that one meddling fact, the smallest, yet the most important. She did not remember where Batman was! How could she.

If Kay had a face, her mouth would be slightly agape and her eyes would be zoned out like a dead fish. Her emotional state usually consisted of unhealthy obsession with a single individual and rage. However, for the first time, she felt dumbfounded. Kay just stood there, swerving oh-so-slightly as she attempted to work around the fact that she did not have many advantages as she knew she had.

"Hello?" Brontes asked.

No talk! Nevermind that! Words are just words! She would decide whatever she wanted to do. Without trepidation, Kay trampled her way into the fog. Despite the exaggerated pomp in her taloned feet and her ornate wardrobe, there was this aura of uneasiness oozing from her. With some quick thinking, Brontes realized. The bird-lady did not have much confidence.

"Are you okay?" the innkeeper questioned with a tone of concern.

"I’M FINE. I’M FINE." Kay yelled without looking back.

“May I ask why you are risking pursuit, then?”

Kay stopped. That was also a very good question,

but not the type of question she was comfortable answering on the spot.

“None of your business.”

And so, Kay disappeared into the fog, leaving only blood footprints to betray her presence. </font>

Originally posted on MSPA by Ixcalibur.

---

The bewildered inhabitants of the tavern Rannus had arrived in, stood at the doorway and watched the crystalline figure as he chanted ominously, as he drew complex runes in the air and fashioned some kind of charm out of a cobblestone he prised up from the ground. His full attention was focused upon the flaming wreckage of the plane, and how to stop it from crashing down into the town, killing yet more innocent people. Even with the low level of mana that pervaded this world, the best he could do was slow the plane's descent, and though this had been accomplished it was far from problem solved.

While part of his mind was dilligently working to find a solution to this problem, another, more vocal part was cursing himself for his lack of foresight in bringing the plane through in the first place. It seemed extremely unlikely that anybody was still alive in the slow-falling inferno, an assumption that was confirmed with a detection of life ritual, all he had managed to do was endanger the lives of people who were otherwise safe. Though, a third part of his mind argued, perhaps he wasn't as responsible for this disaster as those who had designed a mechanical building that flew through the air in the first place. Such a vehicle was doomed to failure from the moment of its conception. The Archmage was pretty sure that in the world from which such a deathtrap had originated, this kind of thing probably happened all the time, and his action, though yes it had worsened the situation, was far from atypical. He would simply destroy the plane, obliterate it so thoroughly as to crush it's component parts into dust. After that he would see about collecting the two remaining competitors in this foul competition and with them returning them to their homeworlds. On the way he would pay a visit to Pan Asia Airways and have a serious word with them about their flawed concept.

Throughout this mental diatribe the archmage had failed to notice the arrival of the preternatural fog that now encloaked the town. He glanced around at the tavern to find that the people therein had closed and locked the doors, and bolted the windows. This was of no consequence, he would not need the cooperation of the townsfolk in this particular resolution to the plane problem. On the other hand this sudden change in the weather was frustrating in its untimeliness, but it was a problem easily solved. Most problems were, with just the right application of mana. He began to chant as he strode in the direction of the flaming wreckage (the brightness of the flames were just about visible through the eerie cloak of fog), and as he did so gusts of wind blew through the town. Around Rannus the fog was pushed away, but the moment that he ceased his incantations and the gusts subsided, the fog began to creep back, faster than one would expect such a thing to occur.

Rannus suddenly realized something that should have occurred to him before. In his haste to rescue the doomed aircraft he had not even considered the implications of finding mana in this world. Mana was the lifeblood of the supernatural. It should have been obvious from the get-go that if a world contained it, there would be some magician somewhere who had found a way to harness it, or creatures borne from it. Mana did not exist without those who would use or abuse it.

Rannu couldn't help but observe as it crept back over him that this fog felt like one of those things.

Rannus wished he had used the mana he found more sparingly.

Originally posted on MSPA by Pick Yer Poison.

---

The monster had only two purposes - kill and eat. It usually followed the impulses in that order, too. It had never known what hunger was because it had always been pretty darn good at that first step. Two lethal claws, which rested comfortably at about human head level on the monster's torso, made just getting near it difficult. And for those who did manage to slip past them, a hard coating of natural armor made just getting an effective hit in nearly impossible.

[color=#JUSTICE]Thwak! The monster let out a noise similar to a whale's call as Batman scored an effective hit on its face, connecting neatly with its left eye. He dodged back as the half-blind monster swung at him with a claw. He couldn't explain why, but somehow he just knew the face was the only weak spot. It was almost as if he had fought creatures like this before; in fact, the only thing that had really surprised him was the size of it. He had needed to reach up to hit the face, although miraculously he had still managed to land a solid hit. He was going to need some help if he wanted to take this thing out - he might be able to pound its face in, but something told him that wasn't going to stop it flailing around until it fell on him or something.[/color]

As if on cue, Kay sprinted out of the fog, drawing her sword from her chest and yelling. "BATMAAAAAAAAAAAN!" Both Batman and the monster were caught off guard for a moment. Batman recovered quickly and jumped back, but the monster, confused and presented by two foes, chose to target the louder one, and started stomping towards Kay.

The monster stepping in her path was what it took to finally bring Kay's attention to it. How dare it interrupt her duel with Batman? It had to be one-on-one or it couldn't be considered an honorable duel. She slashed horizontally at the creature to deter it; to her surprise, her sword only managed to scratch the outer layer. She was forced to draw back as the monster swung at her with a claw the size of her head.

[color=#JUSTICE]Batman chewed his lip. He could leave the two to duke it out here, but...he narrowed his eyes. No. Batman would never run from a fight, and would never leave a fellow combatant behind. He lined himself up behind the monster and took a running leap, jumping on its back and gripping the edges of its shell to keep from falling off. The monster roared as Batman felt around blindly for its face, then proceeded to start jabbing at its eyes. He shouted down at a surprised Kay as he did. "Go for the face! It doesn't have any armor there!" Whether or not she heard him over the monster's bellows was anyone's guess, but she seemed to get the message.[/color]

Batman was able to hold his grip long enough to fully blind the monster, but at the loss of its second eye its thrashing grew more intense. With only one hand gripping the shell Batman was unable to hold on, and went flying off to land a few feet
away. Kay darted past the monster's blind flailing and thrust her sword into its face. Kay felt it hit the shell on the other side of the head, but it took the monster's body several seconds to realize it was dead. Kay yanked her sword out viscerally and turned around to look at Batman. "Batman, I challenge you to--"

[color=#JUSTICE]Batman cut her off with a wave of his hand. "That was amazing! Batman had it under control, of course, but your assistance is greatly appreciated nonetheless." He put an arm around the increasingly confused Kay's shoulder. "In fact, how would you like to be Batman's partner in crimefighting?" He waved his hand in front of them. "Imagine - all the evil we could defeat if we combined forces!"[/color]

Kay stared at him blankly. "What nonsense is this? I have no interest in fighting crime."

[color=#JUSTICE]"Oh, but just imagine it! The legions of evil, helpless before us! We could save anyone!"[/color]

Kay pushed herself away from Batman. "Who cares? I only want to challenge you to a--"

[color=#JUSTICE]Batman plowed right on ahead, starting to box with imaginary enemies. "Normally Batman can get by easily enough on his own. Biff! One down! Bam! Two down! Pow! Three down!" He stopped and shrugged. "But these enemies have natural armor, and while I can blind them easily enough, taking one down would be much more difficult." He mimed stabbing something so exaggeratedly it made Kay want to wince. "Slash! Hack! Slice!"[/color]

Kay sighed. "You're not even listening to me, are you?"

[color=#JUSTICE]Batman stopped and turned to her quizzically. "Huh? Sorry, what was that?"[/color]

Kay thought carefully, an idea occurring to her. "I'll ally myself with you if you promise to do me a favor in return."

[color=#JUSTICE]"What kind of favor?"[/color]

"I'll decide later," Kay said. "But I want the favor, or no deal."

[color=#JUSTICE]Batman nodded slowly. "Batman accepts." A creature bellowed somewhere, and he looked around solemnly. "We should move. That wasn't the last of those things, and Batman doesn't want to fight a horde."[/color]

Kay nodded in agreement, and the two walked carefully into the fog.

Originally posted on MSPA by Pharmacy.

---

The fog continued its supernatural grip over the quiet town. Though this unnatural phenomenon stirred supernatural fear among the residing populace, the daring heroes trudged forth (if a somewhat delusional post-apocalyptic survivor and an undead sociopath could be considered heroes)! Kay would never admit it, but the hastily placed together partnership seemed to reinforce their minds against the dreadful uneasiness that seemed to plague this place.

Regardless of their legitimacy in heroism, the two continued their expedition just as determined – and just as aimless. Seriously, the white carpet of water vapor never seemed to end. It was like whiteness all the way, an infinite sheet of cloudy cottons stretching to each corners of Greenport. Kay wondered why her incorporeal brain was leaning toward the more poetic mood. However, she did not want that mind-wandering to stop.

She was afraid.

No no no, she was not really afraid. If she had been truly afraid, she would be screaming her ghostly lungs out and that would be embarrassing. She was sort-of afraid. The fog, though contributable to her emotional pile called “afraid,” was not the main reason. She was incredibly edgy about Batman the confidante. He was a veteran combatant, yes. He had the brains (though partially fried by radioactivity) to be a wily fighter. It was just that the heroic partnership was sudden. Too sudden.

Perhaps, the duel was still going on. Perhaps, Batman was using trickery! His apparent stupidity and idiosyncrasies was merely a ruse. If she let her guard down, Batman would ambush her, wrapping his gloved hands around her neck as a hidden smile crept up behind his dumb-looking fishbowl helmet. As he snapped her neck and her vision clouded by death and pain, he would say –

[color=#JUSTICE]Meanwhile, Batman was slightly perturbed at his fellow combatant. She was just standing…there. That was a serious problem, especially since they were on the run from creatures with variable levels of indescribable horror. What had gotten into her anyway? Perhaps, Kay was possessed by a ghost – or an alien. Was it possible for a ghost to be possessed by a ghost? Only Batman knows. Regardless of the hidden trenches of Bat-knowledge he was sure to have, Batman decided it was prudent to gently tap Kay on the shoulder.
[/color]
“GAH.”

[color=#justice]<font color="Red">Kay jumped a good couple feet into the air, reminding Batman of a Deathclaw before he caved its face in. After realizing that it was Batman who startled her, Kay’s exaggerated panic sputtered to a stewing anger (and a noticeable hint of embarrassment).

“Why did you do that?” Kay demanded, clacking her triangular mask into Batman’s helmet.[/color]

To the surprise of his combatant competitor, Batman immediately clasped both of his hands on Kay’s shoulders. As irradiated gears clacking within the survivor’s addled brain, Batman attempted to figure out what to say. Batman always had some words of wisdom to say. After all, Batman was not only just a crime fighter. He was a father, a teacher, and a saint if he needed. Not surprisingly, he was the Dark Knight, champion of light in the cruel darkness. Now, if he could glean some words to say…

“Fear is nothing!”</font>

“What?” Kay looked a little confused.

[color=#justice]“Fear IS nothing.” Batman repeated with strong confidence. As an adviser, he must make sure the words drill into her head.[/color]

“What the fuck was that supposed to mean?”

[color=#justice]“FEAR IS NOTHING.” He shouted.

Batman was feeling rather confident. The advice he imparted was short, curt, but full to the brim with priceless wisdom. Of course, he knew the meaning behind these sacred words. All he needed to do was figure out what the meaning was exactly. He knew it! He just needed a little time, just a little more time. Wait, wait, he almost got it –
[/color]
"NO."

[color=#justice]Suddenly Kay jumped back and drew the sword out of her chest. Batman was extremely disappointed. Just like his superhero compatriot, he had no choice but to use a little tough love. Perhaps, a little slapping around and some choice words (maybe involving the state of his supposedly late parents) could press the lesson into her triangle head. However, there was something emerging from the mists.[/color]

One, two, no, countless figures slowly appeared in their vision, horrible humanoids shambling closer and closer. They wore thick layers of garb, decadently decked in ornate jewelry and unspeakable embroideries. Though their clothes cover every inch of their body, their attire could not hide their deformed bodies. They walked, no, hopped combatant-wards, their unblinking watery eyes gleaming with clever cruelty. Although Kay and Batman did not know now, the atrocious mob in front of them was one of main local cults, the Recondite Sect of Greenport.

Although they were horribly decorated with intrinsic accessories, one of the figures stood out amongst all of them. He was the largest and most bejeweled, pretty impressive considering everyone else was also rather large and over-decorated. His malevolent eyes, bugged out in impossible directions, surveyed the standing two. These two were magnificent specimens, plenty of meat on their bones. Yes, yes, they would be worthy for sacrifice.

With a wave of his hand, the cult leader commanded his followers to get them.

Originally posted on MSPA by Ixcalibur.

---

It was the back of a local shop, though you would have a hard time recognising it as such. The air was thick with smoke from the selection of dribbly black and blood red candles which were perched upon every flat surface available. Dotted around the place here and there, were bones. Most of them were animal bones and kind of obviously so, though on the black velvet draped table/altar there was unmistakably a human skull.

A couple of tables had been upturned by the single most noticeable things inside the room. A pair of massive monsters, leathery skin stretched taut over bulging muscle, awful twisted horns, sickly yellow teeth; ragged but sharp as razors and mostly prominently a pair of huge twisted claws that could probably slice through metal. They flanked a man in a bloodstained black robe. His head was bald, his face scarred, his expression dour.

At the doorway a pair of initiates, only recently inducted into the esoteric brotherhood of the ebon night, nervously stared at their leader, and the beasts that flanked him; the monstrosities under his complete control.

“Go.” The Grand Master instructed his students. “More must be sacrificed. We are so close. So near to our end goal, but before we get there this dull little town will run red with blood.”

--------

Rannus had quickly established that the most mana-efficient way to dispose of the monsters which were assailing him was through the use of a propulsion spell; specifically to propel an uprooted cobblestone through the vulnerable heads of the creatures. As soon as they dropped to the ground, they dissolved back into the mists that they had formed from.

The streetlights did little to illuminate the foggy streets. The houses which Rannus passed, those that he could see, he could not help but notice were barricaded, almost as though the residents here were used this and had been expecting it. Old scratches in brickwork and on doors testified to this. To an observer, not that anyone would be able to observe through this thick mist, it might have appeared that he was moving at random. In truth he had come up with a spell to detect traces of other worlds and was using it to move towards Batman and Kay. This situation was getting worse and worse, and he needed as much help as he could get if he was going to save the people of this town from two simultaneous disasters.

As he approached his fellow combatants location he could sense salt in the air, hear the sound of the ocean, and not to mention the sound of combat. As he approached the pair he readied a series of spells to aid his potential allies, but he found that he did not need them and let them disperse. Despite their otherworldly inclinations the cultists that Batman and Kay were up against were still just humans and they went down to a sword stabbed through their chest, or several heavy blows from Batman. The street on which they stood was lined with bodies, and in the distance Rannus could sense others retreating, clearly they had not been expecting a pair of experienced warriors. Their leader had ordered them back, and planned to strike again, perhaps the next time in a manner neither of the warriors would see coming.

Kay and Batman, having run out of foes, high-fived one another triumphantly. It was an action initiated by Batman, and Kay for a second thought her new ally had turned on her. Rannus strode up to the pair; Kay’s hand was quickly on her sword, ready to draw on the being she remembered being introduced to as an adversary.

“We have a problem.” Rannus said flatly. “You may have noticed that before the mist enveloped this town the remains of the vehicle from our previous location hanging above the town. This can only be maintained for a limited amount of time, and though it is clear that the magical mists, the monsters that emerge from them and of course these sickly people who you were in the midst of combating are all threats, I believe that the plane may be a more urgent threat and I would like to request your assistance in dealing with it.” The wastelander and the ghost stared at Rannus as though he had been speaking a different language. While it was true he had been speaking quickly he had merely been trying to get across the facts in the absolute bare minimum amount of time that was necessary to do so. He opted to try again.

“People are in danger.” He said. “I need your help.”

Originally posted on MSPA by Pharmacy.

---

The Grand Master hunched over in his seat, his gnarled fingers looped underneath his scarred chin. News had been around that the Recondite Sect of Greenport had suffered heavy causalities from a skirmish - and he could not help but smile. The town was significantly populated but there could only be so many sacrifices - cattle to feed their incoming God.

Now that the other cult was crippled, there was more bounty for him to harvest - he had to act fast - for the cults were like ravenous wolves. As the hooded figures - the elite of the elite - looked on with passive interest, the Grand Master took out an artifact - a tome whose cover was lovingly crafted from the skins of the ritualized corpses. Thumbing through the pages, he finally found the notes he was looking for...

***

[color=#JUSTICE]Batman's eye lit up as his fishbowl helmet fogged up from his excited breathing. This iridescent wiseman had said everything. How, as the Caped Crusader. could he resist the call of duty? The endangered innocents needed his help and as the savior of the night, he would do his best to save these helpless lives. He was Batman, after all, and as Batman, he would beat that wreck down. He started to blurt out, "BATMAN WOULD--"[/color]

The duelist interrupted Batman's declaration with a clawed hand. Kay was shocked (and extremely irritated) at Rannus's proposal. The magic ston man's plan was ludricious - impossible! Probably all that magic middling his brain or whatever equivalent he has. Needless to say, his operation was a no-go for the bloody spirit. "How you expect us to deal with that?" Kay swung her saber at the burning wreck for emphasis. "It's dangerous. It's on fire. Plus, it's about ten thousand feet in the air."

Rannus frowned a bit. The ghostly fighter was not understanding or perhaps, pretending not to understand at all! "No. No. No." The Archmage waved his spindly hand to reinforce his expression. "I do not expect you to deal with the wreck now. Safety of the citizens is a bigger priority. Could you" Rannus paused for a second as he collected his thoughts "evacuate the locals?"

Kay's annoyance evolved into positive fury- because she hated to mince words, because her duel with Batman was again interrupted, but mostly because she did not like the idea of a crystal stranger ordering her around. In a short iota of time, the duelist swung her saber at Rannus's chin, causing a bit of a finch from the Archmage and raised fists from the on-duty Batman.

Rannus wringed his crystalline hands in apprehension. So long, his good intentions had burned strong. Yet, his plans and actions, all operations dashed into dust. Bueno Aires, his home world, there was an alarming amount of setbacks as far as he could remember. This was almost...frustrating,

but he had to salvage it. "Think of lives," Rannus whispered.

Kay cocked her head, the sword danced to the Archmage's neck. The emotionless eyes of her masks boring a hole into Rannus. "Explain."

Rannus sighed. "Yes, it would be conversatively safe to abandon this place, run off to the horizon of the rising sun. Yet, remember, when you walk away, your consciousness will be painted guilty with the blood of the slain innocents, innocents you fail to save."

Kay twitched a little, a sign of arguments bypassing her stubborn mind. Rannus knew the tables had turn in such a short periodof time, but he had to keep going. "What is the color of new blood? Red, red as guilt can be. Oh Kay, why do you dress in red. Is the damp guilt weighing you down in this earthly realm as blood weighs down fine gossamer?"

The wreckage was still falling. The townpeople were still looking. The seconds that flew seemed like hours, perhaps even days. Kay did not want to do this job. Yet, the wizard really did hit a spot in her mind. There was something so...correct about what he had say. The rightness was crippling. Redemption? Knowledge of her death? The reasons were unknow, but she, she had to save the townsfolk.

"Fine." Kay's words were brief, but somewhat defeated. "Let's go evacuate the townsfolk."

The ghost walked off to the wary but confused citizens of the town. Batman followed afterward, his fists readied and his suspicions heightened - after all that masked lady did attempt to harm Rannus, who was clearly a good guy. As for Rannus, he just continued to mull his plans. However, the Archmage could not help but feel a sense of accomplishment, however small.

Originally posted on MSPA by Pick Yer Poison.

---

"It would most likely result in the highest probability of success for us to divide our focus. Someone must determine a safe haven and the others must gather the citizens and bring them to it." Now that he was confident he had the cooperation of both the opposing contestants, Rannus' confidence had grown, to the point where he felt as if he were actually in charge. "I think I will search for this safe area, as you are both more suited to gathering others." The problem was that he had no idea where to look, but he would figure out a way around that.

[color=#JUSTICE]If Batman hadn't been wearing a helmet, he'd probably have been scratching his head quizzically right about now. "Why don't you make the town the safe area?"[/color]

Rannus' ideas ground to a halt. "Why don't I...what? I think it's perfectly obvious this town is not safe at all."

[color=#JUSTICE]Batman shrugged. "Well, sure, it isn't now, but this is just fog, right? Can't you just...summon a whirlwind or something? And blow it all away? I remember once in..." He paused, hastily reconsidering his story; Batman had probably never had to deal with irradiated dust filling a room. "...in Gotham City, when the Scarecrow tried to flood a building with fear gas, I was able to shut down his operation with the ventilation system." Close enough.[/color]

Rannus paused, staring blankly at Batman, not fully comprehending what he'd said until he'd taken a minute to process it. "That...that is actually a good idea." He questioned why such a thought hadn't occurred to him. With the abundance of mana in the area, he wasn't as limited as he normally was in what spells he could cast. Wait...that was it! He had simply not yet gotten into the mindset of having so many spellcasting options available to him. That explained how this dumb muscle had come up with the idea first. His composure recovered, he added on to his initial response. "I will prepare the spell. Meanwhile, I will be unable to defend myself without aborting the process, so help in that regard will be rather necessary."

About ten minutes and two monster attacks later, Rannus had the spell ready. A light breeze blew through the town; the mist shifted, but did not vanish. Rannus increased the strength of the wind, and it went from a breeze to a gust. Still there was no change in the mist, although there was clear movement. Rannus furrowed his brow, irritated at the fog's persistence, and brought the spell's full strength to bear. As he did, he had the strangest feeling - it was as if had crossed over a line of some sort. He had the most disturbing feeling that it was a point of no return.

Just as he felt this, the wind picked up yet again, this time leaping, not from a breeze to a gust, but a gust to a gale. Rannus stumbled back, as did Kay. Batman dug his heels in and bared his teeth, the wind pressing against him but not making any real headway. [color=#JUSTICE]"What did you do, sorcerer?"[/color]

"I don't know! I think I may have overestimated the force required to clear this fog!" Rannus' calm response betrayed none of his inner turmoil. He'd messed up again, and now the spell seemed to be out of his control. The gales were growing stronger, and while he could feel the spell drawing a small amount of mana from him to sustain itself, most of the power was coming from the environment, and he no longer held it in his sway. "It may be prudent to retreat! I can no longer control the spell!"

Yet as wild as it was, at least the spell performed its function. The mist began making a clear movement towards the same point, thinning rapidly until it no longer covered the town. Unfortunately, this only revealed that Rannus' spell had mutated into a hurricane, into which all the mist was being sucked.

Kay looked up as the last of the mist was pulled into the wind funnel. "Well that doesn't look good." Just as she was about to add more, she picked out a distant object fly out of the hurricane, heading straight for the group. She dived to the side; Batman, noticing it too, shoved Rannus out of the way, knocking them both to the ground.

A pair of feet, each the size of a person, crashed down onto the ground, cracking it and bending it downwards. The feet led up to a similarly thick pair of legs, which met and formed a torso and arms which were built in much the same way, all leading to a head with a single massive eye on it. The only clothing it had on was a large, dirty white diaper-like piece of cloth on its lower torso. It gave the three a toothy grin. Purple lightning lit up the sky as excess mana bled out of the hurricane and discharged in the cloud cover.

***

The Grand Master raised his eyebrow as a panting runner relayed this new turn of events. He waved his hand dismissively. "No matter. Let this one be on their heads." He lowered his eyebrows, grinning nastily. "Perhaps if we are lucky, the Eye of the Storm will deal with them for us."

Show Content

SpoilerBOSS BATTLE: THE EYE OF THE STORM

[04:49] <PickYerPoison> eye of the storm should just be a giant cyclops guy
[04:49] <PickYerPoison> then we need to get pharms to draw it
[04:49] <PickYerPoison> kay, batman, and rannus
[04:49] <PickYerPoison> facing off against a giant cyclops
[04:49] <PickYerPoison> with a hurricane and a storm in the background
[04:49] <PickYerPoison> is that not
[04:50] <PickYerPoison> kickass

Originally posted on MSPA by Ixcalibur.

---

I'm gonna post a thing.