York
Just a newbie...
"Still alive?" Arcade sighed and rolled his eyes. "Sure, they're alive... for now.... actually, you know what? That's the sorta behavior that adds more bees to a bee trap, you know? How about we double the number of bees going after Shion. No, wait. Let's triple that figure again. And for good measure, let's things up further. Let's add acid to Greg's death trap and.... maybe some flaming razor blades. Let's see how long they Daddy-Dearest lasts under those conditions..."
@Atomic Knight @Jeremi @Takumi @Gummi Bunnies @York @Hahli Nuva @Minerva @LakeTeam
"Oh, put that finger down before you take someone's eyes out" Arcade groaned, gliding across the river until he reached the shore. His feet planted themselves in the dirt with a crunch. "You all want your shot at me? Fine. Take it" He took a fish from the skewer, he took a large bite out of its flesh. To his surprise, it really was beautifully cooked. "See what happens. Prove to me that you're stronger than I think. Go on. I don't plan on spending my night out here..."
@Atomic Knight @Jeremi @Takumi @Gummi Bunnies @York @Hahli Nuva @Minerva
"Why so silent, good friends?" Arcade smiled, stretching his arms out wide. "Go on. I'm sure that the two of you would love to gut me like one of those beautiful bass. You can thank me for those, by the way. Its just like I told you all this morning; I'm a provider, aren't I? But of course--- join you 'allies'. Bite the hand that feeds you. Cut me down to size, just like you've been planning. Don't keep me waiting"
@Jeremi @Takumi @Gummi Bunnies @Atomic Knight @York @Hahli Nuva @Minerva
"That's it, Doll! Keep the morale of the camp up! They're rooting for you at home! They always love to see the nice ones die horribly. Or even better, become something even more horrible" A chuckle escaped his lips. "I can't wait. For the moment it finally happens. That evolve or die moment... and trust me when I tell you, it's coming... better prepare..."
@Jeremi @Takumi @Gummi Bunnies @Atomic Knight @York @Hahli Nuva @Minerva
"Oh CRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAPPPPPPPPPPPPPP"
Superboy's words trailed off the moment the blue wave struck him, its power searing through him. Magic had always packed a punch against his kind; it was one of the few things a couple of dozen gallons of sunlight couldn't account for. The strength of the stone, illusive as it was, sent Conner hurtling backwards through the jungle, striking down 4 large tree trunks before he could finally regain some composure.
"Ow. Just... Ow..."
Groaning and shaking the grogginess from his head, Superboy floated from the crater he had began to hammer into the 5th tree from the clearing .
"You broke my glasses! What the hell was that for, dirt-bag? You don't just rock up to another fella's party and break his glasses! Low blow dude, low blow!"
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"Those glasses were iconic! I-C-O-N-I-C!" The Kryptonian cried, charging up his heat vision to its very limit and closing the distance between the fighters as a red and black blur. "Mess with them, and you mess with the S! And when you mess with the S, you get torched.....Dude!!!!"
@York @Crow
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Superboy threw crossed his arm across his chest to parry Blue Beetle's attempted counter, the clashing titans sending an earth shaking shock-wave across the northern jungle. Shaken by the shockwave, the trees damaged by Beetle's counter finally tumbled to the ground around the three fighters.
"Urgh, there gonna have to start calling you the Blue Cockroach or something---- why won't you just curl up and die already? Why does this have to be so much work?"
Heat vision was off the table, and, with his powers still not fully developed, so was brute force. He had to use another one of the power the Old Superman had given him... or maybe one juice bonuses the bald fella gave him.
Stretching across their clashing fists, Superboy wrapped his free hand around Beetle's Scarab, closed his eyes, and used his telekinesis to rattle the alien machine from the inside out, hoping to knock something lose and trigger a system restart.
"Ya not the first machine-man-thing I've given the whammy to, yano! The last one was a machine-kryptonian-thing, and if this trick worked on his--- it should mess you up nicely too, FreakFace!!"
@York @Crow
"I guess that's what he wants" Scott muttered, poking at their humble fire with a stick. "He wants us to throw out our morals to stay alive... it starts with a bear and where does it end? With him? With the other teams? With each other? Getting swarmed by sharks... that was a horrible situation... but... that was a survival decision you made on your own. It was your own choice. But that bear? We were set up. Arcade knew that we would kill it... he's trying to groom us or play us... to make us play his game..."
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"But... Maybe you're right. Maybe we had to put it down. Maybe we do just have to knuckle down and soldier on. That's what we're gonna have to do... but I don't plan on liking it..."
@Takumi @Atomic Knight @Crow @RedTeam @Jeremi
"Told you so" Eli laughed, a smug look glued to his face. "Look at us. We've got thunder. We've got lightning. We've got bows, guns and knives. Noone can stop us. Nothing can stop us. We're gonna win this game. Anyone who's too weak to do what's needed what's needed for us to win? They'll be left for the dogs..."
@Sark @Takumi @Atomic Knight @Crow @RedTeam @Jeremi
As Vanitas made his way across the wasteland, he would note a flickering image in the distance. As he began to approached the ghostly mirage, it seemed to take on a similar appearance, one he would recognize from Arcade's clearing.
Hovering just outside the perimeter of the mountainside village hovered the Green Team's missing member, the boy known Tretij Rebenok. With a blank expression, he simply stared at the Masked Boy, unflinching and unshaken by the arrival of a potential new friend or foe. He simply breathed rhythmically, the cuffs of his straight jacket occasionally drifting from side to side in the wind.
@Gummi Bunnies
"I was trying to see if it was poisonous but of you insist, then I can't stop you." He chuckled. "Any other fruit we come across though, should be treated with caution." He added as a light warning.
"I have to agree with her, what way to get viewers than to make the deaths as gruesome and dramatic as possible? Poisoning isn't going to cut it, not now anyway." Nezumi said his piece on the matter. "We can expect one hell of a headache however." Arcade seemed to be just spending a lot of unnecessary amounts of money for this, and he had to wonder if any No. 6 officials were somehow still alive and had a hand in it...that or someone else.
"Home?" Nezumi responded, thinking for a moment. Only one person came to his mind when it came to home, but he wondered if it was alright to name it after someone special-this island was made to murder people after all.
"...Shion." He spoke up, and while the name was one of a flower, the fruit itself reminded him of his companion's cooking. With that he started eating his share.
Then Arcade showed up, and while Nezumi ignored him initially something he said caused him to stop moving, head jerking up almost immediately.
"Hey kid, you're wasting your breath on a man like him." Nezumi hissed sharply without even looking at Steven, his mind racing with jumbled thoughts the moment Arcade spoke about Shion being in a bee trap of all things. There was no use trying to even speak with a man like Arcade. Though the chance to attack him was something he'd jump on quick if he had the means to, he didn't know the extent of this man's weird powers, or what he might have up his sleeve. Didn't mean he didn't want to beat the shit out of him any less. No, something about this encounter felt wrong, but he was too angry to see it. He didn't move from where he sat, studying Arcade for a moment while he tried to calm himself down to think more clearly, eyes holding contempt.
If he wanted a rise out of them, he got one for a split second from Nezumi. Once calm enough, he didn't move and wouldn't until Arcade got out of his sight.
@Sark @Atomic Knight @Yun Lee @Minerva @Gummi Bunnies @Jeremi @York @Water Team
---
The moment the bear was finally dead Alice put her gun away. With Eli badmouthing Scott however is when she had enough of his shit. She brought her fist down on his head.
"Eli what the fucking hell?! Instead of risking your life like that you could of told us or something then you would of had someone watching your back a lot sooner! Your recklessness os going to get you killed and if it's someone like me telling you this then that's pretty fucking bad." She exclaimed. Sure they got meat and furs now but that didn't excuse the fact that things could of gotten real ugly and went wrong if they didn't realize he was gone as soon as they did.
She didn't pay too much attention to the little broadcasts of the day Arcade put up, too busy chewing Eli out to really care about that.
@Crow @Atomic Knight @Sark @Jeremi @Red Team
"Bzzzzt!"
The Scarab did not take kindly to the telekinetic intrusion, and before Superboy could hit any internal weak spot, the Scarab reversed the telekinetic waves, hitting Superboy with his own medicine, right in the mind! This also caused a creation of distance between the two parties.
"Whatever you're doing, I'm sure you'll be successful after ninety-nine or so times," Beetle taunts as the glowing slits on his suit changed from a sunny red to a very familiar radioactive green. "I think you already figured, but unlike the augmentations of that Cyborg Superman guy I think you're talking about, my friend here knows how to fight back."
Blue Beetle formed some kind of wave blaster in his hand. These glowing slits dimmed as the very same radiation that previously exuded from them, now in a more concentrated form, was aimed for Superboy!
@Sark @York @Crow
Number of Survivors: 31 Number of Dead: 1 Hours until Extinction: 90 Time: 6:20am
The Lake Party
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By 6:00am, the night's rain had worked its way straight through the ceilings of the Lake Team's shelters. Drips of cold water would slowly bring the team back into the land of the waking, ready for what little 'breakfast' remained after the night before. After a few fleeting moments of morning peace, their moods soothed by rain dancing on the canopy above them, they would begin to smell something unusual rising from the dirt. A closer inspection would reveal thin streams of orange smoke rising from the forest floor, ad seemingly, any other surface the rain touched. The rain seemed to take on a similar tone, appearing to look almost peach colored in the morning light.
"The hell..." Terry muttered, running his gloved fingers through a small pool of the strange rain forming along the river bed. "It smells like... melting plastic... or... animal sweat... my suit's not telling me anything new about this one... Anyone recognize this stuff?"
Despite their best guesses, only one of the Champions could tell of its nature, and yet she would find herself unable to speak. Weapon Hex had been exposed to a cursed variation of her Trigger Scent, and would find herself flung into an inescapable, murderous primal rage. Every Champion in the Jungle, Northern Clearing and Arcade's Clearing would find themselves marked for Weapon Hex's wrath.
"Hey... Laura?" Terry called out hesitantly. "You don't look so good... you alright?"
@Takumi @Atomic Knight @Jeremi @York @Gummi Bunnies @Lake Team
This felt different than the trigger spell that her father had conceived. "Run." But she felt herself Laura popped her claws as her attention turned towards Terry. Her instinct had told her to leave last night. She should have listened. "RUN!"
With that Laura was gone replaced by the murderous assassin her father had wanted her to be. The difference however was that Laura was cognitive during the rampage rather than blackout like she usually did. Tears falling down her cheek being the only thing she could do as the animal instinct took over. Now she could only watch hoping that they were fast and clever enough to get away from her.
@Takumi @Atomic Knight @Sark @York @Gummi Bunnies @Lake Team
"Sign me up for anything that will get us close to water," Loa responded. The Northern Clearing to her sounded like the best bet, but she wasn't going to argue if the others disagreed with her.
@Crow @Atomic Knight @Takumi @Red Team
Awakening to the sound of rain, Hyakkimaru got himself up on his feet, and examined the others with his senses. Of course, he was about to see the same amount of energy signatures that made up their alliance. However, he detected something wrong with Laura. At first, her aura was relatively normal, but the peaceful green was soon overtaken by a murderous red. This wasn't a normal change, as if she intended to kill them in the first place. Some sparks of green were still in her aura, but the red overpowered her.
Hyakkimaru knew that if he were to survive, he had to run, but it would become a goose chase... It may be a stupid idea, but if it bought time for others to run...
Just like yesterday, the boy went through his procedure to remove his prosthetic hands in a hasty manner. Unlike yesterday, he did not plan on using these blades to skewer fish. If he had to...
Holding his prosthetic arm with his mouth, Hyakkimaru rushed to face Laura, and in a moment's notice, he tossed his prosthetics aside with the jerk of his head to the side. Either for someone that was fleeing to take them, or for it to float its way down the river. Whichever was fine. If by a miracle like his own existence that he survives, he could follow his lingering aura stemming from those prosthetics. But now...
He swung his right arm blade in response to Laura's sudden frenzy. Whether or not they clashed, either of them miss, or someone gets hit, Hyakkimaru made a quick yell directed to those running from the scene.
❝ GO! GET AWAY! ❞ To the others, this was probably the first time they heard the usually quiet and reserved boy yell out of pure desperation. Not for his own life, but for everyone else. A part of him wasn't afraid to die, but another part of him wanted to live in order to continue his supposed miracle existence. As long as he did something worthwhile, he was going to commit to this, even if this went against Laura's demands for them to leave.
@Sark @Jeremi @Takumi @Atomic Knight @Yun Lee @York
Max Griffin
@Crow @Sark
Seeing the twin rays of searing hot light coming towards him... Max raised a hand, as if he had practiced this motion many times before, a sudden shield of blue, kinetic energy forming in front of him to repell Superboy's heat vision.
@Crow @Sark
Seeing the twin rays of searing hot light coming towards him... Max raised a hand, as if he had practiced this motion many times before, a sudden shield of blue, kinetic energy forming in front of him to repell Superboy's heat vision.
Of course, it strained Max a little, but he refused to let it show, instead... Preparing an counterattack of his own; a searing ray of magic from his stone, but he stopped short as he noticed something about the weapon Beetle was using.
It changed color, which seemed mundane enough, but despite his own attempts to fight the cyborg directly, that new colored ray was more than enough to take down Superboy just like that.
Who knew a being of such immense strength could be crippled by Stone Magic, and a little green light?
But now, seeing how helpless his opponent was before him, offering to be an ally, he realized how powerfull of an asset someone like him could be. Sure, he was confident in his abilities as a stonekeeper, but they could only carry him so far, as he learned.
While another Stonekeeper would be a most ideal asset to him, having allies, even temporarily had its perks.
At the very least, he had a soldier ant to take care of his competition, but he knew that by sparing Superboy for now, he was inviting another battle upon himself in the future.
Even so... Such a notion in itself intrigued him.
Without that Green light, how well would he have fared against his Stone magic?
A hedonistic smile crossed Max's face as he thought about it... And for just a moment, he felt his overzealous ambitions leave him, as he relished in the idea of fighting Superboy again, once the battlefield was... Cleansed a little.
"One chance. That's all you'll get. Cross me again... And you won't live to talk about it." He said.
In spite of his thoughts on the situation, Max retained the attitude he had adopted during his time in Gulfen. While avenging Layra was at the back of his mind right now, his determination to finish what he started would never leave him.
Though he was willing to accept allies for now, in his mind... There would only be one winner.
So this 'alliance' was but a temporary one. A means to an end, so to speak.
Kara In-Ze
@Sark @Jeremi @Takumi @Gummi Bunnies @Atomic Knight @Yun Lee
@Others?
Kara was fired up, and honestly... If she hadn't been raised by a good family, she very well could have snapped and tried to pummel Arcade into the ground here and now. But she refrained, a grimace on her face as she tried to keep her cool.
"There's always another way! That's what my Cousin used to say. And... ... That's what I choose to believe. I won't succumb to your mind games!" She shouted.
Her ferocity remained, but at least she was keeping a cool head, for now.
But in the end, Kara was simply trying to carry on the same ideals and beliefs her adoptive cousin had when he took up the mantle as Superman. He was after all, one of her greatest role models, but... It was hard to say how things might go if such a role model would one day fall from grace.
There was a growl of frustration as Arcade left them, with a few ominous warnings, or attempts to incite violence and doubt amongst them, Kara couldn't be sure. Some villains were predictable, but... Those that had some brains behind them, like Arcade for instance, were often not so easy to anticipate.
While she eventually lay down to rest with the others, she was wary of what might happen in the morning, and thus did not sleep soundly. After all, how could she, when there was the very real possibility of someone turning on them, or more likely... An impromptu 'disaster' that would push them to do something drastic.
...
When they awoke, Kara initially had begun to examine her surroundings with Terry, and though she did not know of what the strange liquid they had found near the riverbed, she had prepared to examine it closer with her supervision, hoping to find something workable about it.
Unfortunately, there was little time to do so, as Laura suddenly seemed to go berserk.
Was she under some kind of spell? Or had she lost her mind?
At first, she had been leaning towards the latter, but seeing Laura attempt to warn the others of the impending threat she posed, she realized quickly it was the former.
Seeing Hyakkimaru face off Laura, she prepared to back him up... But hesitated, as an explosion suddenly tore through the rocks down the river, washing away Terry and Jianyu, and... A pair of arms? What the-... Oh...
It was then that she realized that they probably belonged to Hyakkimaru, but at least he seemed fine for now, right?
For now, she had to concentrate on saving lives, and the one she could see that was immediately at risk was Hyakkimaru, alongside Terry and Jainyu, who were washed down the river.
Thinking fast, she tried to knock Laura back with a powerfull blow to the stomach. It wasn't intended to kill, simply to buy herself and Hyakkimaru some time, as she hoped to either talk Laura out of it, or flee.
"Laura! I don't know if you can still hear me... But... Please! Whatever is controlling you, you have to fight it!" She shouted.
But seeing as Laura had devolved into a murderous frenzy, she thought quickly, attempting to grab Hyakkimaru and fly downstream towards where she saw Terry and Jianyu being swept towards.
"We have to get out of here! We have to regroup! But... We'll find you again Laura...! I promise!" She called over her shoulder.
It was a risky maneuver on her part... But she hoped that by gaining some distance between the group and Laura, they could at least come up with a plan to help her... Or at least put an end to her rampage.
With any luck though... Assuming Hyakkimaru didn't complicate things, or some other rogue factor didn't get in the way, Kara hoped she had bought the others enough time to flee as well.
If not... There was no other choice but to just join Hyakkimaru in a stand against Laura.
This would all largely depend on how things played out from here on...
It changed color, which seemed mundane enough, but despite his own attempts to fight the cyborg directly, that new colored ray was more than enough to take down Superboy just like that.
Who knew a being of such immense strength could be crippled by Stone Magic, and a little green light?
But now, seeing how helpless his opponent was before him, offering to be an ally, he realized how powerfull of an asset someone like him could be. Sure, he was confident in his abilities as a stonekeeper, but they could only carry him so far, as he learned.
While another Stonekeeper would be a most ideal asset to him, having allies, even temporarily had its perks.
At the very least, he had a soldier ant to take care of his competition, but he knew that by sparing Superboy for now, he was inviting another battle upon himself in the future.
Even so... Such a notion in itself intrigued him.
Without that Green light, how well would he have fared against his Stone magic?
A hedonistic smile crossed Max's face as he thought about it... And for just a moment, he felt his overzealous ambitions leave him, as he relished in the idea of fighting Superboy again, once the battlefield was... Cleansed a little.
"One chance. That's all you'll get. Cross me again... And you won't live to talk about it." He said.
In spite of his thoughts on the situation, Max retained the attitude he had adopted during his time in Gulfen. While avenging Layra was at the back of his mind right now, his determination to finish what he started would never leave him.
Though he was willing to accept allies for now, in his mind... There would only be one winner.
So this 'alliance' was but a temporary one. A means to an end, so to speak.
Kara In-Ze
@Sark @Jeremi @Takumi @Gummi Bunnies @Atomic Knight @Yun Lee
@Others?
Kara was fired up, and honestly... If she hadn't been raised by a good family, she very well could have snapped and tried to pummel Arcade into the ground here and now. But she refrained, a grimace on her face as she tried to keep her cool.
"There's always another way! That's what my Cousin used to say. And... ... That's what I choose to believe. I won't succumb to your mind games!" She shouted.
Her ferocity remained, but at least she was keeping a cool head, for now.
But in the end, Kara was simply trying to carry on the same ideals and beliefs her adoptive cousin had when he took up the mantle as Superman. He was after all, one of her greatest role models, but... It was hard to say how things might go if such a role model would one day fall from grace.
There was a growl of frustration as Arcade left them, with a few ominous warnings, or attempts to incite violence and doubt amongst them, Kara couldn't be sure. Some villains were predictable, but... Those that had some brains behind them, like Arcade for instance, were often not so easy to anticipate.
While she eventually lay down to rest with the others, she was wary of what might happen in the morning, and thus did not sleep soundly. After all, how could she, when there was the very real possibility of someone turning on them, or more likely... An impromptu 'disaster' that would push them to do something drastic.
...
When they awoke, Kara initially had begun to examine her surroundings with Terry, and though she did not know of what the strange liquid they had found near the riverbed, she had prepared to examine it closer with her supervision, hoping to find something workable about it.
Unfortunately, there was little time to do so, as Laura suddenly seemed to go berserk.
Was she under some kind of spell? Or had she lost her mind?
At first, she had been leaning towards the latter, but seeing Laura attempt to warn the others of the impending threat she posed, she realized quickly it was the former.
Seeing Hyakkimaru face off Laura, she prepared to back him up... But hesitated, as an explosion suddenly tore through the rocks down the river, washing away Terry and Jianyu, and... A pair of arms? What the-... Oh...
It was then that she realized that they probably belonged to Hyakkimaru, but at least he seemed fine for now, right?
For now, she had to concentrate on saving lives, and the one she could see that was immediately at risk was Hyakkimaru, alongside Terry and Jainyu, who were washed down the river.
Thinking fast, she tried to knock Laura back with a powerfull blow to the stomach. It wasn't intended to kill, simply to buy herself and Hyakkimaru some time, as she hoped to either talk Laura out of it, or flee.
"Laura! I don't know if you can still hear me... But... Please! Whatever is controlling you, you have to fight it!" She shouted.
But seeing as Laura had devolved into a murderous frenzy, she thought quickly, attempting to grab Hyakkimaru and fly downstream towards where she saw Terry and Jianyu being swept towards.
"We have to get out of here! We have to regroup! But... We'll find you again Laura...! I promise!" She called over her shoulder.
It was a risky maneuver on her part... But she hoped that by gaining some distance between the group and Laura, they could at least come up with a plan to help her... Or at least put an end to her rampage.
With any luck though... Assuming Hyakkimaru didn't complicate things, or some other rogue factor didn't get in the way, Kara hoped she had bought the others enough time to flee as well.
If not... There was no other choice but to just join Hyakkimaru in a stand against Laura.
This would all largely depend on how things played out from here on...
