Return of the Emblem Chapter Ten: Converging Destinies

[roymbrog]

Really, the last thing he had expected was clones. That taught Valter a lesson in suspicion I guess. Or something. Not sure where I was going with this.

ANYWAY, various things happened, including lots of people getting attacked, more clones, and Arietta getting hit by a spell and disappearing. He had conflicted feelings about that last one. On the one hand he didn’t have to deal with her now, on the other that was kind of his teammate. There were much more important things to worry about at the moment though, like shooting Morpheus. Based on the previous attempts Valter had witnessed physical attacks were starting to actually damage it. So, feathering it was the plan. He nocked and fired two arrows, piercing vulnerable areas around the jaw and below the eye.

Novice ring +4 str

Roll: 4,4,6

13+4= oh who am I kidding, it’s a hit

7+4+4+1(bard)=16-5= 11 DMG

Ranged, no counter

Valter doubles!

Roll: 1,4,6

Hit yeah it’s a hit

7+4+4+1(bard)=16-5= 11 DMG (omg déjà vu)

DH HP: 10/111

Valter HP: 15/15

Novice ring ½ uses left

---

“I’m not going anywhere, copycat! I have more of a right to be here than you do, I’m the original,” Katrina replied. “And, why are you listening to him anyway? He’s a jerk!” she continued, gesturing to the Dragon Head with her axe. “I mean, is he paying you or anything? I’d never do a job for free, it’s bad business. That just goes to show that I’m the better one, doesn’t it?”

Kat’s ramblings may have been a clumsy attempt to get the other to back down. She wasn’t quite sure herself, but the more time other!Kat spent here arguing with her the less time she was beating on the others with that axe. She would have attacked already, but the armor on the other’s wyvern was recognized as an upgraded version of her own. So yes, this was the better idea at the moment.

[Ether]

"...w-what?!" Faatina choked out, her face immediately turning a rather vivid shade of red. She was going to question the man further, but he had made his way over and assessed her leg.

"Yeah... it's not the first time this bone has broken... I'm ready." She noted, instinctively looking away from the broken limb so Axel could do his work.

[Snike]

"Alright," Axel said, taking the offending leg. With one swift motion, the lancer set the limb in place. "There." Cue the yelling.

[Ether]

"Tch..." Faatina scowled as the limb was snapped back into place. It was still a far from pleasant experience, but she managed to stifle any sort of pained exclamation.

[Snike]

Huh, apparently she had grit after all. The paladin didn't let much out of a reaction, so not anyone and their grandmother could find the group's camp based on someone screaming into the night. Axel stepped back, picking up the lance he had set down before setting the leg, and then turned to the Rexian herself.

"I can grab you an elixir, or knock you out so you don't have to endure the pain. That's as much I can do before morning," Axel said, "when one of the healers can look at the leg. Any preferences?"

[Ether]

"I'll take the elixir I guess." Faatina replied, settling her back against the tree trunk.

[Snike]

"Noted," Axel said, before returning to his spot near the center of the campsite. After a few minutes of searching through his supplies, he retrieved the elixir he kept for emergencies and returned to the fallen woman. "Here you go."

[Ether]

"Thanks." Faatina replied, taking a swig of the elixir.

[Phoenix]

That Person In the Mirror

"Hah, probabla won't be interestin' after I beat ye." replied Gytha's dark double. "But...now that ye mention it..." she stopped and her hand wandered from her pistol. "Can't remember anathin' b'fore comin' 'ere. Guess I'll have t' ask th' Captain about it after I beat ye. Now, then, are ye reada?!" And that hand went right back to the pistol in preparation to draw.

"He is not a jerk; you're the jerk ... running around calling people names like that! I've had just about enough of you, 'original Kat'. It's time to send you back to your own world and out of this one! Come on Volga! If we don't get rid of that so called 'original', she'll probably eat all of your food!" The dark Volga's head rose up. What was going on? Who was eating what now?

I Got Nothin' and So Does She

"I've got no idea how to deal with these bastards anymore," Gabbie replied. "He just keeps spawning them and there's no telling how much more we'll have to smash shit over his head before he goes down or gives up. And some people just aren't getting back up eoither ..."

[GoD]

The battle seemed to go relatively well, until the phoenix girl decided to take a change in wardrobe and appearance as she burned Grant. And then some of the party started attacking the phoenix girl and brought her down, to which Chelsea shouted "NO! SHE'S NOT DOING IT ON PUR-"- but her cry to stop the beating was not reached in time, as the phoenix girl fell from a barrage of the attacks. The troubadour winced as the cute one was brought down, that must have been unpleasant.

And then shadow Mirrors of the party came into being, courtesy of the dragon. In particular, there was a particularly annoying troub, a shadow version of herself, healing the dragon. That one was toast before she could cause any more trouble. With all of the shit going down, Chelsea stayed put in place, both fear and caution overtaking her as the Dragon started to become a tad bit dangerous. Once the battle winded down, the blonde made her way over to Zach and began the slow process of healing him.

"Hey-" the healer approached Zach, then kneeled down to inspect the wound. "So I'm gonna heal the wound while pulling out the arrow quickly. You need to calm down and talk to me."- she pointed her staff at the wound at Zach's gut and began healing it whilist grasping the arrow and holding it tightly.

"Maybe it's better if we talk some. So how's the little one? I wasn't able to check up on her, so could you tell me anything about her?"- she asked the mage, presumably the target in question was the cute phoenix girl.

[Eail]

Zach was tired.... really tired, oh hey the cute healer girl was here. Oh she was gonna fix it? That's nice....~

"Name's Phee.... she's a good girl. Shouldn't cry over me... not worth it." He slurred, patting the Phoenix on her leg. "Can you fix it? This, really hurts like a bitch." The sage asked, in a slightly more lucid state.

[Mercakete]

"Tch! I'm not worried about that. There's someone I've never been able to truly beat and I've never given up against her, so why should I give up against anyone else?" Norbert rhetorically asked before continuing, "Yeah, it's tough, but once I get going I don't give up until my body gives out. Everyone was trying to hurry up into this fight, so they'd better be seriously unable to fight if they're going to give up!"

Frustrated, Norbert decided on a course of action himself. "That's it! I'm taking this to their boss!" With that, he and Rizen raced back towards the front lines. Rizen's hoofbeats were rapid and her head was lowered while Norbert held a mace ready. Once they'd closed enough of the distance, Norbert had Rizen pull up into the air, then, like when they attacked the left hand the first time, dove straight down to maximize the impact of the mace to the enemy.

+1mt from the bard boost

(6+3)-5 = 4 = hit!

((8+1)+2)-5 = 6 damage!

Norbert's mace connected and though he could tell he did some sort of damage, it wasn't enough to down the dragon head. For half a second, Norbert wondered if the dragon head took the attack on purpose, as he saw a mischievous glint in his eye, like a child who had performed something he wasn't supposed to do and knew the parent was going to find out in a matter of moments. As Rizen pulled away from the dragon head what with the attack having been landed, the head turned its face upwards towards the duo. Then, it opened its mouth.

What's he doing? Oh no, we're too close!! And then he found out the source of the dragon head's mischief.

(10+4)-7 = 7 = hit!

(5+6)-3 = 8 CRITICAL! 16 damage!

Dragon Head 4/111

Norbert 2/18

The shockwave that followed caused all other sound to cease momentarily as he and Rizen were thrown forwards an impressive ways by the force of the blast. Rizen's wings had caught it, so the distance was quite a bit longer than it would have been had Norbert been on his feet. Just before they would have landed, sound returned and Rizen righted herself, managing to fly further up into the air and spend the momentum.

"Urgh... Blast it..." Norbert groaned and mumbled as he shook his head. to try to clear it. That has been a powerful wave of magic and it'd tired him out. He knew he could still fight, though, and so turned Rizen back towards the fray.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ah, that's too bad," Gytha replied with some disappointment, "Guess we don't have as much t' talk about as I'd hoped. Still..." She indicated she was ready to draw. "I'm sorry about this."

Then, as quickly as she was able to, the mariner drew her pistol, diving out of the way of the shot she anticipated the other to take, and aimed at the dragon head who had just finished blasting an ally, leaving himself open. Then, she fired.

+1mt due to bard

(7+6)-5 = 8 = hit!

((14+1)+6)-5 = 16 damage!

Dragon Head 0/111

Gytha 17/24

[Phoenix]

Founder

Gabbie was nothing short of amazed to see Bert take on the dragon himself. He had no way of knowing how much damage he could do and could even end up getting killed in response. He somehow survived the encounter, and then she heard two gunshots. Her gaze shot to the source, Gytha and her doppleganger had gotten into a standoff and Gytha had won in the most roundabout way possible. Instead of shooting her dark counterpart, she took the chance to instead shoot the dragon. The bullet had slipped in between the dragon's attack on Bert and the dragon itself, flying right into its mouth and that seemed to have done it as the dragon let out a tremendous eyes-wide roar that left a glowing white crack across the sky above them. What's more, the nothing spewed out of its mouth to challenge them. "Well that was cheap ..." Gabbie said, eventually grinning. Then she looked at the sky wondering if something else was wrong as well. I'm not surprised that the sky can crack here, but I am surprised it's happening now ... what's going on?

Reign was close to the other half of the mystery, noticing that Hypnos while having done nothing the entire fight was now noticeably fatigued, as if he'd fought harder and longer than anyone. "You alright?"

"It's almost over," Hypnos replied, sounding exhausted.

"Hey, what's wrong?!" Reign hauled himself up and came closer to help keep Hypnos standing.

"The burden of maintaining this world has fallen to me and Discovery. Discovery cannot sustain such a complex construction ... she is only human after all ... and I've only just woken up. The dragon's world is beginning to collapse," Hypnos explained, accepting Reign's shoulder for the time being.

"With us ... still in it ...?"

"There's still time ... to finish this~" Hypnos suddenly got himself loose from Reign and began backing up, past Raquel and away from the confrontation with the dragon in general. Meanwhile the numerous hands in the stands slowly froze as if chilled to the core, and then all began to melt as numerous cries echoed in the distance.

Reign glanced at the dragon wondering if they had to keep attacking it, but that was when the head finally stopped floating and crashed onto the ground, sending out tremors. Looking back to Hypnos he said, "Looks like we won."

"... almost."

"Almo-oh shit ..." Reign backed away from Hypnos and readied his tome. "Why you?!"

"That's just the way my mind works," Hypnos said with a pitying smile. His fatigue seemed to wear off after a moment and two new dopplegangers stepped out from behind him as if they had been there the entire time. One resembled Veronika, and the other Blake. Hypnos finally opened his eyes, revealing them to be the same as the dragon's, a bright and fierce inhuman red. At the same time, the dragon head began to evaporate from the bottom up. And just to make certain the others would catch on to what was happening, Hypnos spread his legs just enough to have a secure footing and then unleashed a roar identical to the dragon's. It shook the entire arena, nearly sent Reign sprawling backward, and left a second crack in the sky that overlapped the first. The clouds falling down around the arena had begun to slow down and various areas around the outer walls were beginning to crumble. "Do you think you can defeat me as well? Or was Morpheus too much? Did he whittle away the rest of your spirit or can you press on just a little longer ...?"

"Urrrrgh ... we're gonna need help here ..."

OBJECTIVE(UPDATED): Defeat Hypnos

Hypnos

Class: Unknown

Raw Stats

HP: 37 STR: 10 MAG: 10 SKL: 10 SPD: 10 LCK: 0 DEF: 5 RES: 5

Simplified Stats

HP: 111 MT: 10 Hit: 10 Evade: 10 AS: 10 Defense: 5 Resistance: 5

Weapon 1: Distortion Blast (Dark Magic Attack)

Special Item: Iron Rune

Book: Nihil III

Overall Stats

HP: 111 MT: 10 Hit: 10 Evade: 10 AS: 10 Defense: 5 Resistance: 5

(Distortion Blast: After attacking or countering, any two of the enemy's stats except for hp are chosen and swapped with each other, taking effect once the combat round ends. The effect lasts for one turn and stacks any number of times.)

(Nihil Vol.III: Skills and Books are both nullified against this unit.)

Traits: Immune to all status ailments.

Hypnos' Veronika

Class: Level 2 Sword Master

Raw Stats

HP: 5 STR: 8 MAG: 0 SKL: 10 SPD: 12 LCK: 2 DEF: 1 RES: 1

Simplified Stats

HP: 15 MT: 8 Hit: 10 Evade: 14 AS: 12 Defense: 1 Resistance: 1

Weapon 1: Sacred Sword

Item: Elixir

Book: Skill (Astra)

Book: Dual

Overall Stats

HP: 15 MT: 8(14-SS) Hit: 10 Evade: 14 AS: 12 Defense: 1 Resistance: 1

Hypnos' Blake

Class: Level 1 Hero

Raw Stats

HP: 5 STR: 9 MAG: 0 SKL: 9 SPD: 8 LCK: 2 DEF: 2 RES: 1

Simplified Stats

HP: 15 MT: 9 Hit: 9 Evade: 10 AS: 8 Defense: 2 Resistance: 1

Weapon 1: Guardian Sword

Special Weapon: Battle Staff

Special Item: Shining Armor

Book: Skill (Mt/Hit/AS/Def+25%)

Book: Dual

Overall Stats

HP: 15 MT: 9 Hit: 9(15-BS) Evade: 10 AS: 8 Defense: 2(+9-GS) Resistance: 1

ENEMIES

Hypnos-111/111 (Erratic) Distortion Blast

DH's Veronika-15/15 (Defending Hypnos)

DH's Blake-15/15 (Defending Hypnos)

---

Morpheus-0/111 (Erratic) Rex Barrier(Dark)

R!Hand-0/24

L!Hand-0/24

---

Nadya-0/21

Zachary-0/15

Marella-16/24 (Erratic)

---

Chelsea-0/15

Shadrak-0/18

Katrina-21/21 (Erratic)(Defending Robin)

---

Robin-15/15 (Erratic)(Defended)

Gar-9/9 (Erratic)

Gytha-13/21 (Erratic)

NPCs

Phoenix-24/24

PCS

Valter-15/15

Chelsea-15/15

Arietta-[File Not Found]

Reign-13/24

Tia-15/18

Veronika-12/15

Grant-0/21

Sinbad-24/24

Synthia-12/12

Gytha-17/24

Nadya-15/21

Robin-0/15

Aneda-13/18

Gar-2/9

Katrina-20/24

Gabriella-21/21

Norbert-2/18

Faatina-[File Not Found]

Marella-14/24

Rook-24/24

Zach-1/15

Luka-15/15

Mushirah-15/24

Shadrak-0/18

Blake-6/15

ENEMY PHASE(#5)

As much as Reign wanted to backtrack even further after that roar, Raquel was still too close to Hypnos for him to do that in good conscience. He had to stand his ground for now and hope neither of Hypnos' guards decided to cut him to ribbons. Unfortunately that was too much to hope for as they both rushed him. "DAMN," he quickly said as he prepared to defend himself with a counterspell. Instead of a true confrontation however, both of the dopplegangers found themselves slowed to a halt when they came within striking distance of Reign. What stopped them was a flash of golden light coming from their own chests. This same occurrence repeated itself whenever one of the many dark counterparts would attempt an attack.

"Hmm?" Hypnos glanced over curiously. "She's still trying to help, but I imagine the strain of helping me maintain this world isn't making it easy on her. What's worse, she doesn't know that the strain is from sustaining this realm and not what she's trying to do."

"Well why don't you tell her?" Reign angrily suggested.

...

"Hypnos! Hypnos! What's going on?! I feel like my head's about to explode! Urgh!"

"... the fighting is almost over. Remember what I told you? The dragon and I come from the same place?"

"Y-yeah ..."

"The dragon was sustaining this world and now the task falls to us. As long as you have a share of the burden you will feel a great strain on your psyche," He explained.

"You're ... you're stronger than me. You maintain it ... there's nothing I can do ..." she struggled to reason.

"But if I maintain it, it will give your friends an unfair advantage~" Hypnos teased.

"I ... I DON'T CARE! Just ... MAKE IT STOP HURTING! ARRRRRRRRRGH!"

"Ohhh dear ..."

From the arena, anyone willing to look up could see more and more cracks forming over the previous ones. Soon everything fell away. The black sky shattered like glass and fell away to reveal a massive Ursian landscape under a dawning sun. While they appeared a mere ten feet above ground level, the sheer scale of the world they had just been exposed to was massive. The entire coliseum and the crumbling island it sat on couldn't have been any larger than an ant by comparisonand now, the entire thing appeared to be plummeting toward the ground, relatively slow speed compared to the world they were now in, and at an awkward tilt no less. All the while, the coliseum and its island crumbled from the outside in.

"Hrg! Uuuugh ... well ... that was surprising. I suppose the burden is mine alone then," Hypnos replied, his fatigue surfacing again. He motioned for his servants to return to him. "Steel yourselves. I won't let her prevent them from striking a second time~"

Hypnos assumes full control of the world! -74 hp

Hypnos' Nika defends Hypnos!

Hypnos' Blake defends Hypnos!

DH's Katrina attacks Katrina! Fails.

DH's Robin attacks Zachary! Fails.

DH's Gytha attacks Gytha! Fails.

DH's Gar attacks Aneda! Fails.

DH's Marella attacks Bert! Fails.

Plague ticks. Blake -4 hp

ENEMIES

Hypnos-37/111 (Erratic)

DH's Veronika-15/15 (Defending Hypnos)

DH's Blake-15/15 (Defending Hypnos)

---

Morpheus-0/111 (Erratic) Rex Barrier(Dark)

R!Hand-0/24

L!Hand-0/24

---

Nadya-0/21

Zachary-0/15

Marella-16/24 (Erratic)

---

Chelsea-0/15

Shadrak-0/18

Katrina-21/21 (Erratic)

---

Robin-15/15 (Erratic)

Gar-9/9 (Erratic)

Gytha-13/21 (Erratic)

NPCs

Phoenix-24/24

PCS

Valter-15/15

Chelsea-15/15

Arietta-[File Not Found]

Reign-13/24

Tia-15/18

Veronika-12/15

Grant-0/21

Sinbad-24/24

Synthia-12/12

Gytha-17/24

Nadya-15/21

Robin-0/15

Aneda-13/18

Gar-2/9

Katrina-20/24

Gabriella-21/21

Norbert-2/18

Faatina-[File Not Found]

Marella-14/24

Rook-24/24

Zach-1/15

Luka-15/15

Mushirah-15/24

Shadrak-0/18

Blake-2/15

PLAYER PHASE(#5)

Edited March 30, 2013 by Phoenix

[-Cynthia-]

Veronika

After the hand struck her, Veronika felt a terrible weakness overcome her and dropped her sword. Her allies seemed to be doing well enough, dispatching the dragon head. Is this over yet? she wondered. It was not...she saw a version of herself appear. When will this all end? she thought, feeling rather helpless at the moment, her sword still too heavy for her to hold. She decided to quaff a vulnerary...maybe that would help restore her strength.

Veronika 12/15-->15/15

Nadya

Surveying the battlefield after the dragon head went down was not a good sight- a number of their allies were down, others looked to be in bad shape, some clones were still around, and the whole place was falling apart. Not good. She decided to trot Luca over to Reign and heal him. He looked like he could use it. "Try not to wake up," she suggested to him.

Reign 13/24-->24/24

Edited March 30, 2013 by -Cynthia-

[Phoenix]

The Other Dragon

"Thanks, Nadya," Reign replied. That healing gave him a better chance of withstanding Hypnos' attack. Reign launched his attack on Hypnos and his guards and only Veronika's double avoided it much to Reign's amusement, but he couldn't smirk at that for long before Hypnos retaliated. Reign didn't hit the floor but he certainly didn't feel normal after Hypnos' distortion blast hit him.

Enough standing around, Gabbie figured. She knew there wasn't a chance in hell she could take out Hypnos her self or even knock down one of the guards, but getting one busy fighting her would leave Hypnos open on one side and then they would have a better chance at ending this. Gabbie rushed in and attacked Veronika's double, hoping to at least strike a hit so as to draw her away proper, and for once she accomplished exactly what she set out to do. She didn't get off lightly though. The fake Veronika struck back and hard, but Gabbie remained standing. She had to if she was going to keep the woman distracted.

Reign attacks Hypnos' team! Rolls 3,1,6

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3999364/

HIT!

-6 hp

miss

-10 hp

Hypnos counters! Rolls 4,1,5

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3999366/

HIT!

-9 hp

Reign hp 15/24

Hypnos hp 31/111

H!Nika hp 15/15

H!Blake hp 5/15

STAT CHANGE:

HP: 8 STR: 0 MAG: 10 SKL: 8 SPD: 8 LCK: 1 DEF: 2 RES: 2

HP: 8 STR: 0 MAG: 10 SKL: 8 SPD: 2 LCK: 1 DEF: 2 RES: 8

HP: 24 MT: 10 Hit: 8 Evade: 9 AS: 8 Defense: 2 Resistance: 2

HP: 24 MT: 10 Hit: 8 Evade: 3 AS: 2 Defense: 2 Resistance: 8

Gabbie attacks Hypnos! H!Nika defends! H!Nika uses vantage and rolls 5,3,4

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3999368/

HIT!

-12 hp

Gabbie rolls 6,5,1

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3999367/

HIT!

-9 hp

Gabbie hp 9/21

H!Nika hp 6/15

Edited March 30, 2013 by Phoenix

[roymbrog]

Things were just getting worse and worse, weren’t they? When it looked like they had won Hypnos suddenly became a new enemy and the world started falling apart… just great. As far as Synthia was concerned, the battle was on a time limit now. Their apparently tiny parcel of land was falling to the ground and she wasn’t quite sure what would happen when they landed. Best not to find out.

A few people had already attacked the new arrivals, but it was clear they weren’t going to get to their real target until the two new copies were distracted or done away with. After Reign’s flame attack Gabbie had the Veronika double distracted, and the Blake one appeared weakened enough to take on. “Alright, sorry about this, whatever you are,” the mage said before rushing in, and when within range using a wind slam to send the copy skidding off away from Hypnos. While her only goal had been to get him out of the way, the attack had been strong enough to exhaust the rest of his stamina and he didn’t get back up.

Synthia attacks DH!Blake!

Roll: 2,3,2

Autohit!

8+3=11-1= 10 DMG

DH!Blake KO

Synthia’s HP:12/12

---

Stuff happened, then Valter shot arrows. Pew Pew.

Novice ring, +4 str, +8 in total from this and last phase, aka 15MT

Valter attacks Hypnos!

Roll: 3,4,5

13+3=16-10= Hit

7+4+4+4=19-5= 14DMG

Ranged, no counter

Hypnos HP: 17/111

Valter HP: 15/15

Edited March 31, 2013 by roymbrog

[Eail]

Zach could tell even in his own beautifully fucked up state that the battle wasnt over yet. Was Hypnos their enemy now? Seemed so, well Zachary Fairweather wasn't out of the game just yet, holding out his hand past the girls he started to charge. A grin forming across his face as the pathway formed. A little dramatic to the attack never hurt did it?

*snap*

"Bang..."

http://invisiblecast...r/view/3999824/

Zach deals 8 damage

Zach 1/15

Hypnos 9/111

Edited March 31, 2013 by Eail

[scorri]

Marella gasped as the heavily injured Zach attacked Hypnos. As Hypnos attacked Zach, she threw herself in the way of the attack, and was thrown to the ground in front of Zach. "Heh, guess I'm not getting an attack off. But hey. At least you're still alive." She grinned at him, feeling slightly fuzzy. Something wasn't quite right, but Zach wasn't hurt. That's what mattered.

HP:24 MT: 8 Hit: 5 AS: 4 Avo: 5 Def: 9 Res: 7

http://invisiblecast...r/view/3999831/

Hit/Def switch

HP:24 MT: 8 Hit: 9 AS: 4 Avo: 5 Def: 5 Res: 7

Edited March 30, 2013 by scorri

[GoD]

Heal Trigger; Recovering 9 Damage- Wait this isn't Vanguard!

Chelsea facepalmed at Zach's current state of well-being. He looked like a drunk man who clearly had no idea what the hell was going on. Grumbling that he was "Once again, a useless man.".

The blonde was surprised when he took a shot at the new enemy standing before them. When the new enemy attacked them, Marella guarded Zach and the troub. Chelsea started healing the spot where the arrow was, and once she deemed it was already filled to the brim with healing magic, yanked the arrow out of his gut, with a force the troubadour never knew she possessed.

Chelsea also healed Marella as thanks for guarding her.

Chelsea Heals with Mend Staff

Marella HP is now: 18/24

[scorri]

Marella smiled at the woman who had come and healed her. "Thank you. And now... to deal with that thing. Standing up, she took a breath and then looked at Zach. "Stay here. Don't follow me, ok?" She charged at Hypnos and slashed him across his stomach. As she finished the swing, Hypnos smirked and hit her solidly with another one of his distortion blasts. She grimaced, but turned back towards Zach. "See, it'll be o--" She was cut off as Hypnos slammed her once again with one of his blasts. She collapsed to the ground, stunned, and barely able to move. "... Ow."

[spoiler=roll/stat stuff]

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3999882/ (damage rolls)

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3999891/ (stat shift rolls)

Marella:

4,3,4

autohit

(8+3)-5=6 damage

Hypnos:

5,2,4

10+5-4=hit

10+2-7=5 damage

Hit/Def switch again

double

1,3,2

10+1-4=hit

10+3-7=6 damage

Mt/AS switch

HP:24 MT: 4 Hit: 5 AS: 8 Avo: 5 Def:9 Res: 7

Mar: 7/24 HP

Hypnos: 3/111 HP

[Snike]

Blake had only reached his sword when Gytha's shot hit the inside of the dragon head's mouth, and a roar and a whole lot of nothing came spewing out in response. It began to fade, and Blake picked up his sword, glad that this was finally over.

Of course, then the second great, terrible roar came, Hypnos revealed himself as the true enemy, and the sky exploded to reveal dawn, in an oddly familiar, yet foreign land. But that took backseat to the fact that yet alongside the real foe, two more clones had spawned: This time, it was Veronika and himself, respectively. They proceeded to attack Reign...

And were stopped, by a golden light. All of the clones were. Judging by what Hypnos had said, that was because of Raquel. Blake made a mental note to thank her for that after this battle, but for now it was time to take stock of the situation.

The clones 'summoned' by the dragon were still around, along with the new pair. The swordsman, despite the pain from his burns and the severity of the situation had to chuckle at the newcomers, especially his own clone. The other side must be getting desperate if HE was the best they could whip up. On top of that Hypnos himself seemed to be tired, so if they pushed him a bit more, he'd be down in no time. Others evidently had the same idea, as Reign hit the whole team with fire, while Gabbie stabbed at the clone Veronika with her lance, and the combination of Synthia and Valter took out his clone and shot Hypnos, respectively. Lastly, Zach had apparently gotten fixed up and shocked the man in black. His defender, the new female knight -Marella, was it?- swung again and might've landed a blow - he couldn't tell from where he was standing- ,and now it seemed like the foe was wide open. Blake began to close in on Hypnos, albeit at a slower pace than normal.

"Looks like you should've brought more guards, Hypnos," Blake said, addressing his foe once he was within near striking distance. "So, what happens when we defeat you?"

Edited March 31, 2013 by Snike

[Phoenix]

It Takes A Stronger Mind

"Complete control falls to Discovery, and with that, the dream ends, as does this world," Hypnos answered. "She is not capable of sustaining it on her own. You needn't worry about what follows."

Well I'm still worried. Will Raquel be alright or ... Reign wondered. That was when he noticed something new in the distance. The backdrop beyond the coliseum walls, that ursian landscape; it wasn't just any place in Ursium. It was their campsite. Everything below them was so blurry that it appeared to be dark colored elongated bulges, but he could have sworn he saw the top of the Dauntless off in the distance beyond the wall on the high end of the tilt. That likely meant all of the other blurred out bulges along the ground that were slowly coming into view as they fell were their sleeping bodies. And to think they were plummeting toward them as the coliseum crumbled. This is one seriously fitting collapse if that's what it really is, he mused.

[Script]

Gar Gets His Move On

The replacement to the Dragon Head was certainly sorta familiar looking. Well whatever. It didn't seem to have nearly as much vitality as the head, being damn near on the ropes already. Sword-guy knew this, moving at a leisurely gait towards finishing it off. Or as finished off as a metaphysical entity could be. Or chatting it off as he didn't seem quite leaning towards the killy yet. Still, Gar really should try to prove he was somewhat deserving of a private chat with the nice Dragon Head. Gar slipped around to the side while the back-and-forth went on.

[Snike]

"No problem. Just try not to get drunk before a mission again," Axel replied, before turning away. "I'll come back a few times for the check, but, I do have to keep guard."

***

"You're wrong about that," Blake said, lowering his weapon for a moment. "Since she can't sustain it, what's going to happen to her? It's my job to protect my employer. If it's harmful, there must be a way for me to take some if not all of the burden."

All of a sudden, a familiar head of white caught his eye. The man smiled, but continued. "Though, I can't expect some help from your end on that, can I?"

[Ether]

"I don't even remember getting drunk... I don't even drink... why was I in a tree? ...well I guess if I was drunk that might explain the last one..." Faatina questioned, not really to either Axel or herself, but to the world itself, not really expecting an answer.

"What's going on...?"