Description: Eadni's actions in the midst of her battle upon Metro Bridge have summoned forth the leviathan lurking under the River of Blood. The unholy union of souls thirsts for vengeance against its creator, and the collective doesn't care what stands in its way -- even the high-rises of Metro City itself!
The broken fragments of bridge plop down into the viscous flow, the consistency of the blood river beginning to resemble oatmeal more than the "river" name might suggest. The ancient limestone, cement, and granite should have sunk instantly...
But a colossal form is -beneath- them. Initially visible as just a shadow, the true form begins to emerge from the sea as the current changes direction -- blood flows upstream on the northward side of the massive form as it breaks the surface.
At a distance, the Leviathan seems to be comprised of thick slabs of corded muscle, in the rough shape of a blue whale. Its long upturned jaw appears to be merely an extrapolation of its massively flat back. But on closer inspection, it would be possible to see the corpses of those who were once human, rigor mortis having frozen each person's face into a state of unimaginable fear. In Majigen, there is no embalmer to halt the putrefaction process, no artisan to make the corpse look good for final viewing -- the bodies have simply been taken to the river and dumped in as fuel for the unholy process. The vulgar process is quite literally the least glamorous process ever, as each lifetime of material is transformed into little more than a lego block for this unholy amalgamation.
As the lower lip of the Leviathan rises above the surface, it will be a bit more obvious what's causing these dead bodies to move -- a faint purple aura suffuses throughout the unholy creature, animating its movements.
As refugees succumb to the decaying state of the river, some may find themselves in the path of the Leviathan's gaping maw. Blood, collapsed bridge segments, and victims alike flow into the cavernous jaws, as the amalgamation consumes in slow, plodding movements...
Yeah, about that. The entire "blue whale" mass lurches out of the water with one abrupt motion, sending blood splattering all across the bridge and the surface of the river -- and severing the central section of the bridge entirely. It would appear to defy all physics and logic -- until the massive hind legs evidence themselves. "Dinosaur" becomes a more apt descriptor, now, as the emerged Leviathan contorts itself around, its relatively tiny purple eyes pulsing as it becomes acclimated to the light. Why has the Leviathan chose -now- to arise from the depths? It might have to do with the sharpened strands of bare, twisted metal from the bridge fragments that have fallen into the creature; protrusions of concrete and metal now line its sides, resembling the dorsal spikes of a monstrous long-dead creature.
And then it turns its attention, and its its jaws -- three lanes of traffic wide -- onto the bridge fragments. It holds its maw at the lower extent of the torn-apart bridge, gripping two short and stubby forelimbs onto the trusses and shaking violently.
Those still on the bridge are holding on for dear life, as the terrifying monster begins to shake the remnants of the bridge. Many refugees cannot hold on. Some, like Argo and Azumi, would be able to hold on. But the massive, treelike form of Eadni...
Perhaps not.
The tree is not enough to sate the monster. And people will -definitely- need a rescue of some form -- grip will not hold out forever...!
COMBATSYS: Amalgamation has started a fight here as a boss!
AMALGAMATION
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0|---------------|---------------
Zach Glenn was herding people towards the bridge. It was /supposed/ to be a landing zone for the evacuation craft. He doesn't /like/ this place. It feels... like Majigen at an eleven, and it grates at his mind.
The dinosaur... there's no other word for it really... takes out what is left of the bridge, and Zach lets out a sulfurous curse. The psion brings the claymore free from its sheath and starts to wak toward the monster. The Marine then pulls his service pistol from his holster.
"Get those people off of the bridge!" Zach yells at some of the others, before snapping off several shots as he closes with the dinosaur...
COMBATSYS: Zach Glenn has joined the fight here.
AMALGAMATION
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Zach Glenn 0/-------/-------|
The Bell-Boeing MV-22 Osprey is a cross between a helicopter and a fixed airplane. It's also the US Marines' weapon platform of choice for the moment, due to its rapid deployment and impressive lift capability. And MARSOC had a brigade of three aircraft flying standby just outside the portal to Majigen -- not foolish enough to attempt an invasion without a clear and present danger.
It's a good thing Captain Glenn put the warning in early -- there's almost no way the aircraft would have been able to make it in time otherwise. Though one would certainly be excused for not noticing -- the buzz of the tiltrotors' rotors could easily be mistaken for that of the locust squadrons buzzing, and what's more, the roar of the abomination is probably loud enough to drown out damn near -anything-. Suffice to say, though -- one of the aircraft has agreed to brave the wind currents wafting off the enormous amalgamation. The back hatch of the air vehicle pops open, and a half-dozen well-trained Marines descend on droplines, ready to retrieve the more frail of the citizens, while several more droplines descend to allow Argo and Azumi to ascend to safer ground. Because, let's face it, the bridge ain't safe at -all-.
Huge as hell, monstrous as... well, more than any monster imaginable. That's one huge creature and would send a lot of people running for cover. Especially those who are refugees forced into the streets for some reason or other. But not Maki Genryuusai, the heroine of Metro City. She's protected her city before and she's going to protect it again at any cost!
Even though she's on foot and armed with only a tonfa, Maki isn't afraid to make her presence well known. She glares at the creature and says, "You won't get away with this!" Before turning to the people trying to escape, helping them get off as quickly as possible. Right now she wants to make sure everyone is safe before attempting to attack.
COMBATSYS: Maki has joined the fight here.
AMALGAMATION
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0|---------------|---------------
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Zach Glenn 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Maki
In the face of something so incredibly immense, unspeakable, and horrifying - no mean feat given everything everyone here in Metro has had to see, deal with, and otherwise narrowly survive - the Leviathan is one of those reminders to the common human being how small they must be in the big picture.
...One can wax poetic about this when they aren't facing something like this in person...
"Wow," or maybe they can, if they're an idiot - like one Howard Rust, Jr. - who for some reason came back to the bridge later with an impeccable grip on one of the decaying cables.
No amount of sheer idiocy can block out the overpowering stench of death that permeates the air, intermixed with such sheer instinctual terror that pierces just about any human soul - the fear of death - and most of his profound observations are instead replaced with coughing, gagging, and losing his grip as the cable snaps.
It's so loud out here that he probably couldn't hear his own thoughts, anyway. Maybe he doesn't listen to better thoughts to begin with, so there's not much of a net loss.
He starts to slide a ways down until he thinks to draw and stab a pipe so deeply into already damanged, deteriorating steel until he comes to an eventual halt beside Captain Glenn.
"That's a real big one, right there!" He states the obvious as his feet prove less than capable of getting traction. Maybe he's trying to stand up on one of the still slippery parts from the experiment.
The tone of his voice is so vague that it's absolutely unclear if he's screaming in excitement or fear. It could be both!
COMBATSYS: Rust has joined the fight here.
AMALGAMATION
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0|---------------|---------------
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Zach Glenn 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Rust
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Maki 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Rust takes no action.
AMALGAMATION
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0|---------------|---------------
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Zach Glenn 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Rust
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Maki 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Amalgamation blocks Zach Glenn's Large Thrown Object.
AMALGAMATION
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Zach Glenn 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Rust
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Maki 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Azumi has joined the fight here.
AMALGAMATION
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0|---------------|---------------
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Zach Glenn 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Rust
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Maki 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Azumi
The wrecking of the bridge sent humans screaming and running, those who were far enough away to manage that--and, well, Argo almost fled too. There's bravery and there's foolhardiness. Argo didn't survive as long as he has by being foolhardy. But unlike these fleeing humans--the ones that made it, at least--Argo's a little more... hardy. He was too close to get out of the way--he had to make a long jump and grab a support, and from there, to a dropline from the chopper.
There are words he doesn't often say--words that truly are sacrilege passing through his mouth, in his current situation--but this... this sight... draws two of them out as he turns to face the Leviathan. "Jesus Christ..." Not that the Christian savior has -anything- to do with this... thing.
He isn't... isn't even sure where to start on this thing. There are werewolves, demons, succubi, vampires... all sorts and manners of supernatural creatures. Argo has fought many of them. Some bigger than himself, hulking oozes and conglomerated -things- that can't really be described to a mundane. But this is beyond his knowledge and experience. He's sure of one thing--whatever's holding it together needs to be... severed.
Alighting on higher ground, Argo narrows his eyes. <<Never seen anything like this before, have you?>> he says, to the voice in his head. For once... it doesn't have anything to say back to him. Argo's demon is a powerful one but, as always, there's always something bigger around the corner...
COMBATSYS: Argo has joined the fight here.
AMALGAMATION
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0|---------------|---------------
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Argo 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Rust
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Zach Glenn 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Azumi
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Maki 0/-------/-------|
The werewolf pauses for a few seconds in the smoke cloud, waiting to see if an attack came. When none did she smiles, continuing to focus on her chi. A radiant blue aura starts to build around her body as she did, but it was hard to ignore the various stab wounds and the fungal assaults on her sensitive nose. Now more than ever, she wanted nothing more than to let that nagging beast of hers take over and just rip this woman to shreds.
But a Ninja does not forget their training. Persist through the pain.
As she finishes charging, a maelstrom of wind is emitted directly from her, pushing her smoke cloud away from her and clearing the air. Her fur stands on end, her body just about filled with as much energy as she can hold. As she does that, she notes the...crazy..rooted abomination that the hag turned into..and also takes stock of just how..awkward that body must be to move in. Azumi holds her hands out in front of her in a rather standard ninja pose.
A ninja attacks when their opponent least expects it. Use your surroundings.
Just as she starts to input the signs though, the massively rumbling catches her attention, throwing her attack plans completely out of the window. A ninja also knows when to get the crap out of dodge. This is definitely one of those cases. Using her built up chi all at once, she pushes it directly into the ground, throwing her away from it in a slow moving somersault. From this position she had a good idea of what this creature was...and why it was summoned. She lands on top of one of the suspension beams and starts to gather her chi again.
"As if my conscious wasn't stained enough...."
COMBATSYS: Azumi gathers her will.
AMALGAMATION
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0|---------------|---------------
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Argo 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Rust
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Zach Glenn 0/-------/-------|====---\-------\0 Azumi
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Maki 0/-------/-------|
The hideous amalgamation's cavernous maw shudders as the branches of the terrifying tree scrape across the inner lining of its throat. It seems to be spending a great deal more effort digesting -that- monstrous morsel than it is reacting to the shots ringing out from a service pistol, though. The corpes twitch slightly, the thick hide of dead meat shifting about to provide a more durable surface to accept the bullets, accompanied by a pale purple glow. The thousands of souls of the creature appear to be working in concert...
The loud reports -have- drawn the creature's attention. The monstrous creature turns his head slightly, allowing the poorly-positioned eye on the left side of its head to take in the scene: Captain Glenn with a raised pistol, and Captain Obvious standing next to him. People fleeing the carnage from tiltrotors, aided by Maki and presumably some folks who seem to have come to their senses. And now... the two curious fighters who had been on the bridge with the tree woman.
But, among all those fighters, Zach earned its ire the most. And even though its forelimbs are comparatively short for its body mass, one clawed limb is still long enough to rake out a strike across the Captain, and possibly knock him onto the ramped remains of the bridge.
The roar it lets out in the process is enough to be heard from the Square.
COMBATSYS: Zach Glenn blocks Amalgamation's Medium Claw.
AMALGAMATION
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0|---------------|--------------=
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Argo 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Rust
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Zach Glenn 0/-------/------=|====---\-------\0 Azumi
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Maki 0/-------/-------|
Zach holsters the pistol as the claw comes screaming in. The psion winces as much at the psychic presence of the amalgamation as at the force of the strike as Zach catches it on the blade of his sword. He catches a glimpse of something achingly familiar. A man with a pipe. Zach fights down the surge of irrational hope that the site inspires.
A quick look over his shoulder informs the Marine that the civilians are being loaded up. Good. Zach digs his heels in, and brings the claymore around in a swift crushing arc down on the monsterous claw!
Once Maki's done all she can to evacuate everyone off of the bridge, her attention turns to that huge-ass monster. Yeah, it's mighty huge, but is Maki scared? Not in the least bit. Even if it puts her life at risk, Maki's willing to fight to take down that evil beast. She may be small in comparison to that beast, but they say big things come in small packages. Not to mention, the bigger they are, the harder they fall. Clutching her tonfa tightly, Maki narrows her eyes and then makes her advance.
"I don't know what you are or where you came from," Maki yells as she makes her advance. "But I won't have you destroying Metro City! I will be one of the many who send you back to where you belong!" She grits her teeth and takes a deep breath. As she exhales, she lets out a martial arts cry and swings her tonfa with all her might at the beast. It might be like an ant taking on an anteater alone, but Maki is still determined to fight like an underdog.
"WhaaaaaaHOOOAAAAAAAAAAHH!! Ha... ha... haaaa," a scream gives way to laughter as the shade cast by the gigantic clawed limb comes short of striking the strange man with the pipe standing (well, gripping for dear life) next to the Captain.
The surge of irrational hope comes in the form of a man who seems half-way dressed as either a car mechanic or a tourist out on the beach. Well, no, three-way, he has a toolbelt full of... tools. Probably some other things that typically shouldn't be on a toolbelt.
Four-way, because that hair of his - black? purple? Hard to tell under this light - is in a beehive style that is not the sort of hairstyle a man his age typically wears his hair. It's an odd sight.
"All right. That was... exciting," he comments, his voice probably lost to the ambient noises of HORRIBLE HULKING PILE OF CORPSE MONSTER as he staggers along up to something resembling standing, taking a deep breath.
It takes a special kind of crazy to come this close to certain death, squint, and size up with narrowed eyes as Maki comes along by him. This paragraph is... not ostensibly talking about her.
"Sorry, don't mean to interrupt there," he waves to Zach as he seems to take off to climb up the supports of the bridge with a bit of a running start, crawling up, up, up...
Where Azumi is.
"Oh! Hello," he makes with casual conversation in the FACE OF ABSOLUTE MORTAL TERROR, maybe helped by the fact he's not looking at the thing currently, "hope you don't mind me coming on up here," he says to her. Is he aware that he's talking to a...
"Lots of folks that look like you have had a bit of a kerfluffle lately, like this... this one rhino guy, right? Earlier on, we talked 'bout some theoretical physics," is he really qualified to speak on that subject, "then lately I must've made him upset, 'cause he chased me a good four blocks. So, hope I'm not making you upset by being here," he clears his throat as his feet drop from the large support pillar he just scaled up with a truncated, quickly handwaved set of unlikely acrobatics for his build, clutching on another piece of crumbling bridge architecture.
"Let's see what I can do about this," 'this' being a GINORMOUS THING OF WHICH HE PROBABLY IS FAR SMALLER THAN ONE OF THEIR TEETH as he seems to size up the architecture more than the actual threat.
What on earth could he be thinking?
Is he thinking?
COMBATSYS: Rust focuses on his next action.
AMALGAMATION
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0|---------------|--------------=
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Argo 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Rust
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Zach Glenn 0/-------/-------|====---\-------\0 Azumi
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Maki 0/-------/-------|
Argo studies the monster for a few more seconds... then nods to himself. He turns... and walks away. Maybe thirty yards. Then he turns... and starts running, his booted feet pounding ground until he reaches top speed. Just as he reaches what would be the edge of a very steep drop--he leaps. The Leviathan is -huge-, to be sure, but that works for him as well as working for the Leviathan.
Argo lands -on- the Leviathan--on one of its massive limbs--and snags one of those embedded chunks of metal as he steadies himself. This... This is going to be a long climb up. And he's sure that whoever built this thing didn't build it without some sort of defensive capabilities. So... he'll have to be careful. Argo looks up, gauging his path, then makes his way up. He can't just -ignore- the thing, of course, while it's wrecking house and face. It needs to be dismantled systematically.
So he doesn't go for the head. He goes for the closest -joint-, using balance and handholds as he leaps up--and attempts to smash the joint by slamming his feet into it as if he were landing from a two-story drop. In fact, he might have to stomp a few times.
Azumi spots the humans fighting to take that thing down...and for now, keeps her distance. Now that it was no longer rattling the bridge, she could slip a hand into her pocket for the last of her supplies...a small canteen of water. She'd been out here fighting longer than almost anyone, so a little bit of a breather could get her back on her feet. She's still bleeding pretty decently from earlier, blood staining the fur around her abdomen and the side of her head, but she was far from out of it now. She upturns the canteen and drinks it's contents, feeling better now than she had been a few moments ago.
She continues building up her chi, her body glowing with a dominant blue light.
COMBATSYS: Azumi gathers her will.
AMALGAMATION
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0|---------------|--------------=
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Argo 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Rust
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Zach Glenn 0/-------/-------|=======\-------\1 Azumi
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Maki 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Amalgamation blocks Zach Glenn's Heavy Strike.
AMALGAMATION
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0|---------------|--------------=
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Argo 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Rust
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Zach Glenn 0/-------/-------|=======\-------\1 Azumi
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Maki 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Amalgamation auto-guards Maki's Genkou.
AMALGAMATION
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0|---------------|--------------=
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Argo 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Rust
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Zach Glenn 0/-------/-------|=======\-------\1 Azumi
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Maki 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Amalgamation blocks Argo's Strong Kick.
AMALGAMATION
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0|---------------|--------------=
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Argo 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Rust
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Zach Glenn 0/-------/-------|=======\-------\1 Azumi
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Maki 0/-------/-------|
The first MV-22 is full of hostages now, so it hovers off towards land, keeping the refugees at a safe distance from the ramplike bridge in case they just can't cling on any longer. As the second MV-22 swings in, its downdraft causing its share of problems, the monster's attack continues unabated.
The beast doesn't fully comprehend what Maki speaks -- as a collective, there are -entirely- too many conflicting thoughts for an appropriate appraisal of her words.
That said. The souls belong in Majigen: Metro City and the living beings attacking it now are the outsiders, for Majigen's River of Blood is the amalgamation's home. These little noisy insects are the ones who need to be devoured and/or purged -- them, and the foul unholy tree infesting its stomach. It does not know, and does not care.
Of the insects, two are less of a threat -- as they are not making overt actions against it. It is a bit more frustrating to ignore the worm that had blocked its strike and then counterattacked. The chitinous mass of hardened skeletal matter that comprises its foreclaw raises to make a sick crunching sound as the blade strikes it, but aside from some light jarring, it could've hurt worse.
Argo seems to be taking the initiative from the attack, running up its arm and heading for its neck. There is not... really a "joint" per se so much as a place where the neck is slightly narrower, to allow for the massive jaw to bend away from the back -- but that sounds like as logical a place as any -- and it seems to be a -bit- more sensitive to attack. But blunt impacts from a boot -will- see a tough experience in penetrating the meaty hide -- heck, Argo might even get his feet stuck within the pulpy mass.
The tonfa strike from Maki, though -- the creature has a quick reaction to deal with that. The chitinous claw scrapes across the bridge, kicking up sparks as it carves a canyon through the asphalt road surface. But when the tonfa strikes, it doesn't hit clean, glancing off the hide.
The Leviathan -can- tell that, of the two insects perstering it, one is clearly a bit more of a threat than the others, from the singularly powerful form of chi amassing there. The amalgamation has a way to deal with that: expunging a bloody pore from beneath the werewolf girl with the hopes of interrupting it. The flow is powerful enough to knock her away and quite possibly cause her to lose her focus... And once again, it'd be likely to stir the ungodly mass of hair atop Howard Rust Jr's head without actually harming him. How rude!
COMBATSYS: Azumi blocks Amalgamation's Blood Spurt.
AMALGAMATION
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0|---------------|-----------====
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Argo 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Rust
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Zach Glenn 0/-------/-------|=======\===----\1 Azumi
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Maki 0/-------/-------|
Zach lets out a low growl as the blade fails to do anything significant. The Marine considers for a moment before sweeping his hand in a wide arc in front of him, summoning several small spheres of golden soul power front of him.
The psion eyes the monster breifly before sweeping the blade of his sword through the globes in a single stroke of the sword, causing them to shatter into many smaller spheres that scream towards the dinomonster at high speed!
Azumi's still building chi pretty casually out in the further reaches of the fight, taking another moment to catch her breath. To her immediate surprise though, the beast not only notices her, but attacks her with..blood? Gross. Ew-ew-ew-ew. It's about at the last second where she realizes that the attack comes from below, and just as the explosion hits, she vanishes from sight. She trades places with the only thing she could find at the time; a rusted car door.
As for Azumi herself, she reappears near the car that she stole the door from, growling at the blood dinosaur for it's actions and continuing to build her chi in defiance.
"Come on you stupid thing, focus on the people kicking you in the shins. Just a little bit more."
COMBATSYS: Azumi gathers her will.
AMALGAMATION
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|-----------====
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Argo 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Rust
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Zach Glenn 0/-------/-------|=======\=======\1 Azumi
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Maki 0/-------/-------|
Maki growls in frustration as her tonfa does little to no good. "What am I doing?!" She thinks to herself, realizing that she might be in over her head here. Still, she refuses to give up easily. Instead, she backs away slowly, keeping an eye on things from a distance as she tries to ponder what to do next. "There's got to be a way I can actually make an impact here!" No, that wasn't a pun, ladies and gentlemen.
Starting to grow frustrated, Maki closes her eyes and grips her tonfa. She begins to focus on gathering her mental power, trying to get herself more into tune for this fight... lopsided as it might be.
COMBATSYS: Maki gathers her will.
AMALGAMATION
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0|---------------|-----------====
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Argo 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Rust
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Zach Glenn 0/-------/-------|=======\=======\1 Azumi
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Maki 0/-------/---====|
The squish of his boot sinking into the pulpy mass is pretty sickening; he yanks it out to another sickening *splutch*, and frowns at his boot a little. He's not sure that'll ever come clean. That... didn't really work. To say the least. None of the fighters here reasonably stand a chance against this thing on their own. They may not be a -team- but they're working together for this... and Argo senses a surge of power.
He crests the top of the thing's head to glance at Azumi, his gaze intent, intense, and serious as he feels the surge of power from her. She thinks she has something to do here... might as well give her the time she needs to do that.
It's pretty sick to do, but Argo drops to his knees--and plunges his hands down into the thing's head.
The intent? To send a surge of his borrowed demonic power through the contact into the thing's head. Try and shake it loose, jar it, make it... take notice? Maybe that isn't the best idea so to speak, but he's already getting the idea that this thing isn't simply going to be pounded into submission.
If only he could wield his holy sword... but he got rid of that a long time ago, and with good reason.
COMBATSYS: Amalgamation auto-guards Argo's Demon Drain.
AMALGAMATION
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0|---------------|-----------====
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Argo 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Rust
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Zach Glenn 0/-------/-------|=======\=======\1 Azumi
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Maki 0/-------/---====|
COMBATSYS: Amalgamation fails to interrupt Scatter Barrage from Zach Glenn with Snap Lash.
- Power fail! -
AMALGAMATION
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|-------------==
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Argo 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Rust
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Zach Glenn 0/-------/------=|=======\=======\1 Azumi
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Maki 0/-------/---====|
The tyrannosaur-like monstrosity's shins are deeply immersed in the River of Blood. It can't really give them the time of day right now -- and Azumi's chi is starting to -burn- it. Despite the fighters it had swatted with its claw, the creature's hemispherical eye is attempting to get a better look, and frustrated as hell that it can't catch sight of the werewolf.
Splorch. The body contorts. And the eye -moves- topside, to get a better view of her. It also happens to see Argo surging its demonic power through its head. It was -created- with demonic power.
This is unwelcome. The experience that led to this creature's unholy genesis is very, very unpleasant. And it really makes the creature mad. When Argo moves to strike, some sort of mucus bubbles up from below the cadaverous husks. It's red like blood, but more gelatinous --
And then it hardens, somewhat, providing a thicker skin for the area beneath Azumi, Rust, and Argo. When the demonic energy strikes, it... deflects, bouncing off, amidst a guttural groan from the mass of souls.
Below, though, it would seem that Maki and Zach have better luck, for the creature's attention is now thoroughly divided. Zach's troublesome buildup of an entirely -different- kind of energy was enough to trigger a reflexive strike from the forelimb that's -not- gripping the bridge.
And it lands true, forcing the forelimb back from its multiple exploding globes. The limb misses entirely, and the scattershot of psionic energy sears into the open maw of the beast.
The -bad- news is -- every one of the humans engaged in the fight gets to feel it when the beast staggers, the bridge surface dropping a few feet. It's enough to cause two refugees to lose grip and slip precariously close to the edge, as they were unable to grab the drop cables in time...
Huh, Zach thinks, that actually /worked/. The psion watches the monster for another long moment, trying to think of a good plan. He's got exactly one, but Zach needs time to get ready to do it.
Zach draws in his will, his body taking on a gentle golden glow as he starts to build this working. He draws his pistol, aiming it at the dinosaur just in case...
COMBATSYS: Zach Glenn gathers his will.
AMALGAMATION
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|-------------==
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Argo 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Rust
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Zach Glenn 0/-------/--=====|=======\=======\1 Azumi
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Maki 0/-------/---====|
Maki has finished charging herself up, and she opens her eyes, feeling more energized than before. "All right, I'm more prepared now!" She says with a scowl. "You may think you've got it made, but I was merely warming up when I hit you with my tonfa just now." She steps forwards a few times. "But now that I'm prepared, you'll see what I'm truly capable of!"
Maki jumps onto a nearby railing on the side of the bridge. It may seem like a foolish stunt, but Maki knows what she's doing. With a yell, she rebounds off of the railing, does a somersault, then attempts to literally fly at the creature with her leg outstretched.
Azumi's aura is so strong now that it was illuminating the area around her. A small tempest of wind swirls around at her feet, ruffling her fur and her blood stained clothing. It's almost time. At the second rumbling of the bridge she stands her ground, halting her focus long enough to take another good look at the creature and to start planning out her plan of attack.
COMBATSYS: Azumi focuses on her next action.
AMALGAMATION
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0|---------------|-------------==
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Argo 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Rust
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Zach Glenn 0/-------/--=====|=======\=======\1 Azumi
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Maki 0/-------/---====|
Argo's attack is repelled by the gelatinous red mass--absorbed? He isn't sure which. But he knows that demons aren't immune to demonic attacks. He's had plenty of experience with -that-. Still... it was draining to even try. The residual pain is still echoing up his arms as he wrenches himself free of the gelatinous stuff. Time to take a different tactic. It's... too big and too solid to beat through. But it still has soft parts to hit.
Like that -eye-. Argo practically just steps off the head, turning in midair--and whirling his body into a kick right into that eye that's staring at Azumi. This is a two-fold operation--one to see if the eye serves any purpose, that is, if it can be damaged, or cause the Leviathan pain, and secondly, to alter his trajectory--because he doesn't want to land in the River of Blood, especially not in front of the Leviathan.
An impact would let him redirect his fall over towards another limb, to snag an outcropping and swing himself back onto more solid footing. So to speak.
Rust Jr. disappears off the radar for a while with that near-miss from some time ago.
That's because it's hard to call such a powerful expulsion of blood that displaces enough air to make one lose their grip a 'near-miss.'
...What exactly happened to him?
Oh, there he is.
Currently, he dangles from a ruptured piece of support structure by his pants in what is probably the most embarrassing time to have a wedgie. The bulging eyes and frantically waving limbs would be hilarious were he not within reach of almost certain death that threatens to turn him into a mere statistic.
Actually... no, that is probably hilarious, in an especially dark sort of way.
This is the visage that seemed to inspire a fleeting hope in Zach Glenn, somehow?!
...We can worry about him later. He'll probably be okay, given his track record.
Probably.
(OOC for log readers: internet connection became way too unstable to keep going on my end. Sorry to disappoint!)
COMBATSYS: Rust has left the fight here.
AMALGAMATION
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|-------------==
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Zach Glenn 0/-------/--=====|-------\-------\0 Argo
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Azumi 1/=======/=======|====---\-------\0 Maki
COMBATSYS: Amalgamation blocks Maki's Hassou Kyaku.
AMALGAMATION
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|-------------==
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Zach Glenn 0/-------/--=====|-------\-------\0 Argo
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Azumi 1/=======/=======|====---\-------\0 Maki
COMBATSYS: Amalgamation endures Argo's Medium Kick.
AMALGAMATION
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|------------===
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Zach Glenn 0/-------/--=====|-------\-------\0 Argo
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Azumi 1/=======/=======|====---\-------\0 Maki
The bloody leviathan shudders from the aftershocks of the attack -- but maybe it can share the pain with the tree in its belly. Maybe.
Maki has left the bridge -- and delivered a powerful soliloquy, and an even more powerful kick to the forelimb it brings up to defend against her strike. The skull of a cadaver detaches from the blow, crunching as it impacts against a railing, before falling into the bloody river below. It's close enough to hear the splashdown, at this point.
Argo's attack earns him a bit more ire. He's forced the amalgamation to deploy some of its defensive measures, and now... well, he's attacking a weak point.
The amalgamation does not blink -- it has no eyelids, just one solid mass of pulp. The strike pierces through the clear film, coating the demon hunter in a dense, gloppy spray of the ichorous fluid within.
The rancor of the beast has been aroused, and it begins to see no further point in holding up the bridge. Only Zach and a handful of refugees are still on the bridge -- no more morsels will be slip-and-sliding to their doom within the cavernous maw.
So the beast drops what's left of the bridge -- and without the foul energies of Majigen to support it, the suspending cables cannot hold. With nothing left to hold it in place, the bridge falls.
For the moment, Azumi and Rust have escaped the monster's wrath -- mostly because the man is getting wedgied, and the lady is doing little to deter it. So as the beast surges forward... it lets its head get shoved down by the fierce strike of Argo.
And lets its the roof of its -jaw- snap down onto Maki as it lumbers about, beginning to take long, plodding strides towards Metro City.
COMBATSYS: Amalgamation knocks away Maki with Cavernous Maw.
AMALGAMATION
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|----------=====
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////////// ]
Zach Glenn 0/-------/--=====|-------\-------\0 Argo
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Azumi 1/=======/=======|=======\===----\1 Maki
Zach leaps clear almost on reflex as the bridge goes out from under him. The MV-22 swings by, a rope dangling just with Zach's reach. In a blur of motion, Zach holsters the pistol and grabs the rope. One of the Marines on board starts to haul him up as the gunner inside works the controls of the small turret attached to the craft's underbelly.
The small half-dome spins and levels a pair of .50 caliber machine guns at the Leviathan, as the gunner depresses the trigger on his controls. A storm of bullets spray at the titanic monster!
Azumi is ready to take down some giant lizard...thing. Just being near her is going to be difficult, as she's putting out some fairly powerful winds. She leans down now, placing her hands on the floor to take a runner's starting position. She knew exactly what she was going to do now and she had more than enough energy to do it. It's time to go. Just need a little countdown.
3.
Her fur riles up and her ears lower themselves flat against her head.
2.
Her tail straightens out as much as it can go and her muscles tense, ready for action.
1.
She digs her foot-claws into the ground, getting a solid grip.
0!
With the snap of an explosion, the werewolf leaps from the ground, rocketing high into the air at a speed she'd never thought she had. Once she's gotten enough altitude, she cracks the wind behind her again, changing directions to hit the top of the demon's eye, her whole body eminating with chi and a torrent of wind following her. She shoulder charges the hell out of the Amalgamation, diving it with amazing speed.
Maki gets hit hard and goes flying across the area. She lands in a crumpled heap, bleeding and bruised from that attack. Yet, she refuses to go down without a true fight. She stares at the creature and points her tonfa at it. "You have made me mad. Now you will see what the Genryuusai clan is truly capable of!" She begins to rush at the monster again, but doesn't attack directly. Instead she drops down onto the ground! Is she break-dancing now?
No, she's pushing herself up with her tonfa, and then launching into a whirlwind as she spins around with her leg outstretched. It's her signature attack, who knows what might happen?
Argo is still getting used to fighting a beast this size. He's been identifying some weak spots, but he doesn't have the tools to really effectively fight like this. He's much more... visceral, in-your-face. It makes it... difficult, to say the least. But he's determined.
Riding the undulating movements of the Leviathan, the demon hunter holds his position for a moment and concentrates. Into his free hand, he draws demonic power, which appears as swirling purple, shot through with black and red, and he concentrates it into a spherical mass.
It burns, a hissing pain that he tamps down as he draws the hand back--then throws that mass of power for that already-injured eye. They say, after all, that the eyes are the window to the soul--and the souls that are bound into this thing are crying to be freed...
COMBATSYS: Maki successfully hits Amalgamation with Bushin Senpuu Kyaku.
AMALGAMATION
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|---------======
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Zach Glenn 0/-------/--=====|-------\-------\0 Argo
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Azumi 1/=======/=======|=======\====---\1 Maki
COMBATSYS: Amalgamation blocks Argo's Demon Bullet.
AMALGAMATION
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|---------======
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Zach Glenn 0/-------/--=====|-------\-------\0 Argo
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Azumi 1/=======/=======|=======\====---\1 Maki
COMBATSYS: Amalgamation auto-guards Zach Glenn's Huge Thrown Object.
AMALGAMATION
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|---------======
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Zach Glenn 0/-------/--=====|-------\-------\0 Argo
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Azumi 1/=======/=======|=======\====---\1 Maki
COMBATSYS: Amalgamation interrupts Tempest Cannon from Azumi with Combo Mauling.
*KNOCKED AWAY*
AMALGAMATION
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0|---------------|----------=====
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Zach Glenn 0/-------/--=====|-------\-------\0 Argo
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Azumi 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\====---\1 Maki
The leviathan is at a marked disadvantage here, now that all the fighters are -off- the bridge. There's... nothing that it can scrub the fighters off onto! Sure, it could flop itself back into the bloody river, but these fleas are tenacious enough that they'd probably just cling on for dear life and continue hammering attacks into it. Bothersome!
But no... the leviathan has one, unabiding goal, and in the absence of anyone hurting it--
Well... There is Maki. The nimble Genryuusai is able to springboard off of a fallen fragment of bridge, one that had yet to sink into the bloody depths. And her spinning, flaming kick is able to tear a fairly-sized chunk out of the amalgamation's midsection, roughly the side of five corpses or so -- causing the abomination to list to the side abruptly. This... angered it, and the beast makes a wild, but ineffective swipe of its arm at Maki -- it's only able to kick up enough wind to put out the fire.
As the MV-22 soars overhead, the amalgamation can sense -some- kind of activity from above. But what's more annoying are the fighters hammering their shots into it. Its eye... well, it's just one part of its body, but it's filled with the equivalent of nerve endings. The creature drops its head low in agonizing pain...
Which interposes one of the bridge fragments embedded within its back to absorb the damage from the shot. Concrete explodes in a cloud of dust...
But then the creature senses that even with its wild shifting around, Azumi's feet are embedded into its flesh, and she's finally unleashed her all-or-nothing strike.
But then the creature snaps backwards sharply, obscuring Azumi in concrete dust and fragments as she hurtles off her intended target. The glossy, hardened mucus upon the beast's back has become slippery, and the rapid movements of the beast slamming her into what's left of one of the broken fragments of bridge, which also absorbs the remnants of the golden-tinged shock. Another sharp twist of the creature's head is enough to fling the werewolf lady away -- sending Azumi hurtling towards the open bay door of the tiltrotor aircraft. Better that than the spinning blades, or the blood river itself: at least here, she has the opportunity to leap back into the fray.
Argo's all but destroyed the creature's eye, but at this point, dealing with the insects is a known quantity.
Metro City looms in the distance, and the creature marches onward with a destructive glint in its remaining good eye.
While Rust... may find that his flight gets a bit safer, as the hands of a corpse reach out to support him -- courtesy of the foul magic which animates this beast to begin with.
"God-damn-cheap-son-of-a-bitch!"
The werewolf is beaten against the bridge itself and sent flying away in rapid order, flying backewards head first. She's rather easy to see against the sky, her blue chi causing her to stand out quite a bit. Blood's seeping from the back of her head and one of the wounds that had started to close up over her temple had re-opened, blinding her in one eye. Even still, she had plenty of fight still left in her. Azumi wasn't just mad now...
She was livid.
She looks towards the helicopter she was heading towards and decides that landing in it was not a good idea for the time being. She twists and orients herself so that she passes through the double sided open doors, starting her downward descent on the other side and likely shocking anyone who'd seen her for a split second. Once that's cleared, she flips around and puts her feet underneath her again and summons that wind chi one more time. She detonates a large portion of it behind her with a loud *CRACK!*, rocketing her forward again ad a pretty high speed. She speeds for the Amalgamation's head now, performing a quick series of hand gestures as she flies. She gets the last one a few seconds before slams into it, but holds her hands out towards it...aiming specifically for it's mouth.
"Let's see how you tough you are from the inside asshole!"
She fires off nearly everything she had, a violent maelstrom of wind being sent directly into it's throat and down into who knows what. The winds are so explosive that she can barely keep the thing aimed straight, some of it spilling off to the sides, the winds hopefully strong enough to at least put a dent in it.
Zach hauls himself into the titlrotor craft with the help of the crew, where he takes a moment to catch his breath and load a fresh clip into the pistol. He considers for another agonizing moment about the people in the river before making a decision. He walks toward the front of the craft and talks to the pilot.
"Can you guys fish them out," Captain Glenn asks. "We can try, sir," the pilot says, the slightest trace of uncertainty in his voice. "Do it, if you can," Glenn says, "But the people on board are priority. We clear?" The pilot nods once. "Start your move after I jump off," Glenn says, stalking towards the back hatch, steeling himself before taking a flying leap from the MV-22 and spreading his arms wide. Hand and arm movements, along with subtle bursts of soul power, serve to direct Zach's descent towards the dinobeast's back as Zach gathers more power to himself. The psion starts to glow like a falling star as he descends!
COMBATSYS: Zach Glenn gathers his will.
AMALGAMATION
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|----------=====
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Zach Glenn 1/------=/=======|-------\-------\0 Argo
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Azumi 0/-------/---<<<<|=======\====---\1 Maki
If Argo were willing to open himself up to his demon, he'd likely have an easier time destroying this thing. Finding the soft spots on this thing... Even if he could find them all, destroying them would be almost impossible. He's proven that the eye is a vulnerable spot, and he has to think that whatever's behind it is also vulnerable. Does this thing conform to the same anatomical principles as humans? He doesn't know.
But, he muses, he supposes he'll find out. Through what his high school chem teacher would have called 'empirical study'. Gathering himself, he leaps, in a long arc, and... hauls in a deep breath as he goes. Because his goal? It's to plunge right into the eye socket of that ruined eye and find out what's beneath. For as long as he can hold his breath, at least.
Maki doesn't know how this has happened, but she's now finding herself trying to hold on for dear life to the creature's torso. All of a sudden, she's feeling more like an ant than before. Yet, that determined blonde haired ninja woman refuses to give up all the same. She grunts a little as she tries to keep herself steady. "No, this isn't over!" Maki grunts a little.
Despite having to keep herself steady and feeling like she might fall at any moment, Maki once again closes her eyes and focuses, hoping that some extra mental clarity can help.
COMBATSYS: Maki gathers her will.
AMALGAMATION
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|----------=====
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////// ]
Zach Glenn 1/------=/=======|-------\-------\0 Argo
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Azumi 0/-------/---<<<<|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Maki
COMBATSYS: Amalgamation blocks Azumi's Zephyr's Domain.
AMALGAMATION
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|----------=====
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////// ]
Zach Glenn 1/------=/=======|-------\-------\0 Argo
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Azumi 0/-------/---<<<<|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Maki
COMBATSYS: Amalgamation dodges Argo's Medium Punch.
AMALGAMATION
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|----------=====
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////// ]
Zach Glenn 1/------=/=======|-------\-------\0 Argo
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Azumi 0/-------/---<<<<|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Maki
The Leviathan lumbers on towards the coast, leaving the bridge behind. Sure, the -quickest- way would be to follow the bridge itself to the banks of the River of Blood, but the limited intelligence of the amalgamation of souls prevents it from considering the most -logical- course of action.
Maki's gathering of chi and mental faculties allows her to hold onto her precarious grip -- the bodies down there are a bit more flexible, so it's less like climbing a moving mountain and more like climbing up the side of an amusement park bouncy-house.
Azumi is able to leap off the MV-22 while it's still in front of the beast. This... arouses its attention, naturally -- it's not able to -see- as well, but it's well familiar with the energies Azumi has been channeling all throughout the fracas. Its response?
It snaps its mouth shut. Azumi's powerful wind attacks are powerful enough to kick the creature's head violently to the side, though...
Which presents a very pressing problem for Argo, who's stuck within the creature's eye. The violent gesture actually causes the entire series of corpses that comprised the eye socket to -detach- from the amalgamation, totally throwing off Argo's aim -- and what's more, putting him in the precarious position of hanging on by a cadaverous leg, the eye socket's gumminess being the only thing saving him from a fall into the River of Blood.
While Zach leaps off the MV-22 onto the beast's back, it continues plodding on, churning up blood and creating some really nauseating smells. Zach's techniques sear black scorch marks into the corpses as he lands, but by and large, the creature seems unaffected.
As the MV-22 swoops down to rescue people that had fallen into the River of Blood, the pressing concerns become Argo and Azumi, the two people fighting around its mouth. Its right forelimb was able to provide a second foothold for the werewolf, but it's left...
Well, it knows -exactly- where Argo is. And it's taking a swing at its the mostly-disembodied eye socket. Monster is trying to punch itself in the eye, yep -- and Argo with it.
COMBATSYS: Argo blocks Amalgamation's Strong Claw.
AMALGAMATION
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|--------=======
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Zach Glenn 1/------=/=======|==-----\-------\0 Argo
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Azumi 0/-------/---<<<<|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Maki
Zach lands with a squishy impact, and the Marine turns a little green around the gills. He shouldn't have gotten this close; the psion can feel the amalgamation of souls scraping inside his skull. Zach's response is fairly clear-cut.
Zach yanks the claymore clear and reverses his grip, levelling the tip at a point just behind the monster's skull. The blade shines with a golden light as Zach takes aim and drives the weapon down hard, putting his weight behind the thrust!
Azumi is happy that her attack did damage.
She is not happy that her attack didn't do more damage.
Then again, given how huge this creature was, it's a little hard to measure just how much it'd take to bring it low. Her wind tunnel didn't toss her back like one might have expected, but she no longer had the momentum to do that wind-dash thing she'd been doing before...but maybe one more time. Just once more. She lands on the monster's right claw..hand..thing and leaps up into the air, bursting a bit more chi to achieve a second jump, just enough to crest over the Amalgamation's head.
She pulls out her last Kunai from her now empty pockets and crest's down over the back of the creature. She adjusts her positioning so that she's about parallel with the slope of it's back and digs the Kunai in behind her with an outstretched hand. She slides down with it, hoping to cut a deep gnash into it's back that was as wide as she could get away with.
Shit. Well, this... didn't go as planned. Apparently it didn't need the eyesocket--Argo riding the thing down as it starts to fall, until--that claw comes swinging in. The demon hunter has only a moment to prepare, wrenching himself out of the eyesocket and bracing for the impact. Which is pretty bad, but also gives him momentum, which is important to keep him from falling into the river of blood.
He uses the impact of the claw to propel himself--with a little bit of redirection--back up onto the head of the creature. Maybe he can taunt it into hitting itself again. Tearing itself apart physically might be the best way to stop it. Or slow it down.
He doesn't get a sense of -intelligence- from the the thing... It's aware of him now, so he's got to keep its attention on him. The werewolf is throwing bigger attacks--but she needs time to prepare them. Fine. He'll try and provide that time.
Once again, he starts stomping on the head, giving his all in attempting to beat through the mass of flesh and find something weak or painful to hit.
Once Maki has regained her power, she looks at the creature and narrows her eyes. "I've waited long enough. I've held back enough. Now I'm going to show you the true power of the Bushin-Ryu style!" She grasps her tonfa tightly, not letting go of it at all. "You may be big, but can you stand up to the power of my martial arts? Let's see if you can!"
Maki lets out a yell of power as she launches into a flurry of attacks, one after the other. They usually work well on her human opponents, but in a case like this, who knows what will happen?
COMBATSYS: Zach Glenn successfully hit Amalgamation with Deep Strike.
AMALGAMATION
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|-------========
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Zach Glenn 1/-----==/=======|==-----\-------\0 Argo
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Azumi 1/-------/=======|>>>>---\-------\0 Maki
COMBATSYS: Amalgamation blocks Azumi's Fang Over Fist.
AMALGAMATION
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|-------========
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Zach Glenn 1/-----==/=======|==-----\-------\0 Argo
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Azumi 1/-------/=======|>>>>---\-------\0 Maki
COMBATSYS: Amalgamation blocks Argo's Strong Kick.
AMALGAMATION
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|------=========
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Zach Glenn 1/-----==/=======|==-----\-------\0 Argo
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Azumi 1/-------/=======|>>>>---\-------\0 Maki
COMBATSYS: Amalgamation Toughs Out Maki's Bushin Gou Rai Ha!!
AMALGAMATION
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|----===========
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Zach Glenn 1/-----==/=======|==-----\-------\0 Argo
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Azumi 1/-------/=======|>>>>---\-------\0 Maki
Something on its face, something on its front, and two somethings on its back... the amalgamation has more than its fair share of bothersome insects to deal with -now-. But the simple-minded beast only knows one thing -- it wants revenge. And these people are keeping it from exacting justice...
Maki is a curious problem, because there's nothing that the creature has to really defend against her at that angle. The only real mitigation is the fact that Maki had already torn away part of the creature's torso, baring the inner strata of stinky corpses to view. But when Maki strikes -- it seems that -part- of the creature actually falls away at her strike, her successful attack whittling away part of it. The creature lurches unsteadily for a moment, but as the whittled away corpses fly off of the body...
The unsteadiness has caused a convulsion in the creature's back. It's enough to cause its "muscles", such as they were, to spasm uncontrollably. For Azumi, this means that her eager intentions at carving a gash in its side -are- successful in raking a canyon across its form, but the toughened hide is remarkably resilient just the same.
For Zach, though, the sudden spasm meant that one area of the beast was lain more vulnerable than the rest, the surface area stretched too thin. Three corpses explode in a shower of sticky yellwo ichor, revealing a... sticky yellow mass beneath. It's not human -- in fact, it bears more resemblance to the blue whale whose form it shares. But the spray is quite intense -- it seems Zach has hit a sore spot. If that weren't -terribly- obvious, the amalgamation groans its misery for all to hear...
Blue whales are typically much -smaller- than this though...
Argo, as well, will be able to break through and see some of the form beneath. The view isn't as clear, mostly because he keeps jamming his boots into the thing and spattering ichorous fluid everywhere. But it will be clear that the beast -has- some basis in biology, without being -entirely- a macabre construct of a depraved mind.
COMBATSYS: Zach Glenn blocks Amalgamation's Acidic Bile.
AMALGAMATION
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|-==============
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Zach Glenn 1/-----==/=======|==-----\-------\0 Argo
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Azumi 1/-------/=======|>>>>---\-------\0 Maki
Zach yanks the sword free, and barely has time to spin up a thin barrier of psychic energy to intercept the worst of the attack. It is, however, enough to send Zach sliding back enough to prevent a follow-up strike. The psion grits his teeth as some of the bile burns at skin and cloth.
Zach lets out an almost primal roar, this thing... it's just /wrong/, as he attempts leap back to where he first struck. He brings his left hand back as he spins up a gauntlet of violet psychic energy around the fist. The Marine drives his fist into the back of the amalgamation's skull-space, and the psychic energy explodes on impact!
Azumi tears into the Amalgamation about as best as she could with such a small knife, but it wasn't enough. She could do that a hundred times but it wouldn't bring this monster down any faster. But what else could she do, given her relative size? She didn't have the energy to do more of the semi-flying thing she'd been doing before, and it'd take time to be able to toss out another huge attack like that. Maybe it was time to think about more direct approaches...maybe through it?
As she loses momentum from the sliding cut, she pushes herself back up on to her feet and runs back up it's spine, stopping when it was at the small of it's back. From here, it's stupid little nabby-slashy-claw hands couldn't reach her.
Counter to pretty much the entirity of her training (which did not include gigantic zombie dinosaurs) she leans down and starts punching the monster repeatedly, focusing her chi-enhanced blows directly in one spot.
Up atop the thing's head might be the most steady place right now. But Argo? He intends to make it -un-stable. The chaos of battle joined is raging all around him--but he takes a moment to concentrate. And he raises his right arm.
It flares with that power again, and the only sign of the pain it causes him is a grimace that twists his mouth as the power surges around his arm. It builds... and builds, over short moments that feel long as a day to Argo, and then...
Then he releases his own primal, guttural shout, and begins slamming his right hand into the surface he's standing on, again and again, each impact empowered by and releasing a blast of that hell-borne power.
Once Maki has recovered from her combination technique, she scowls again. Apparently, that did very little to affect the monster. She shakes her head in disbelief, feeling like she's going nowhere fast. "I have to do something about this," Maki says as she sees the creature is heading towards the shore. With a yell, she uses her Hassou Kyaku to launch herself onto the ground and rolls as she lands. She looks around, trying to find something, anything she can use to try to slow that thing down, no matter how small she is in comparison.
Then Maki spots some nearby drums. Whether they have oil or are empty doesn't matter. Maki tries to lift one, grunting a little as she does so. "What's in this? A dead Mad Gear member?" She asks sarcastically as she rushes towards the creature. With a yell, she hurls the drum at it!
COMBATSYS: Argo successfully hits Amalgamation with Hell's Fury EX.
AMALGAMATION
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|-==============
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Zach Glenn 1/---====/=======|=------\-------\0 Argo
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Azumi 0/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Maki
COMBATSYS: Azumi successfully hits Amalgamation with Charged Combo.
AMALGAMATION
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|===============
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Zach Glenn 1/---====/=======|=------\-------\0 Argo
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Azumi 0/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Maki
COMBATSYS: Amalgamation blocks Maki's Large Thrown Object.
AMALGAMATION
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|===============
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Zach Glenn 1/---====/=======|=------\-------\0 Argo
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Azumi 0/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Maki
COMBATSYS: Amalgamation interrupts Dynamite Punch from Zach Glenn with Power Toss.
AMALGAMATION
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
1|-------------==|===============
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Zach Glenn 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=------\-------\0 Argo
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Azumi 0/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Maki
Bit by bloody bit, the heroes seem to be whittling the amalgamation down. Its intense pain at the beating its receiving is only magnified by the sound of ... death, echoing from the direction of Metro Square, the creatures' goal. The Marines aboard the tiltrotor would hear what's going on, but they're a bit too far to really -share-.
Azumi and Argo are making headway with their relentless onslaught -- focus-firing on one -specific- point seems to be the key. The organism beneath the "armor" of corpses is long dead, but its soul endures on, animating the creature to its unceasing goal. Azumi's repeated attacks plow through to the more tender meat below, spattering her with a fine mist of black ichorous fluid, that's likely to flare bright yellow from the intensity of her attacks. Argo, too, is making progress, though he's progressing a bit further: he's able to work his way down to the massive skull of the beast, forcing it to stagger sideways as it's shaken down to the core.
Maki's innovative technique means that she's off the beast's radar for a few moments, but when she hurls a drum of... something at the amalgamation, the massive forelimb is enough to brush off the attack, crushing the drum utterly before it falls into the bloody surf. But still, the leviathan plods on towards shore...
Zach Glenn, though, is attracting the lion's share of the creature's attention at the moment. As with Argo, he's attacking the skull, but unlike Argo, he's attacking at the -base- of the skull. But there's one curious difference: Captain Glenn -leaps-. And it's that leap that allows the beast to rock sharply to the side. The blade bites down, but it ends up being the fulcrum for a hard twist to the side -- enough to make Argo and Azumi question their footholds, but enough to completely toss Zach free of the beast, as his precarious foothold isn't anywhere -near- where he expects it to be.
Beating his way to the skull itself, Argo is... not exactly -pleased-, but it's progress. He hasn't looked at how far the Leviathan's progressed. It's... almost immaterial. If they can't stop it, they can't slow it, and they can't divert it. So stopping it is the only choice they have.
It doesn't have a -brain- per se, at least, nothing like that, but it -can- be affected. Zach probably has the power to take the head off--Argo just needs to buy the time for him to do it. To distract the thing. So once again, he brings a booted foot into play, stomping down, trying to rock this thing's senses and give the others the time they need to do what they can to take the Leviathan down.
Maybe he'll crack the skull, maybe not, but if he can even make it -pause- for a moment then he'll count it as a win.
Maki takes a moment to think over her strategy as she watches the barrel barely faze the creature. She knows time is running out and she has to formulate a plan of action. But what to do? She watches the creature carefully, trying to think of a new idea.
COMBATSYS: Maki focuses on her next action.
AMALGAMATION
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
1|-------------==|===============
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Zach Glenn 2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=------\-------\0 Argo
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Azumi 0/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Maki
Azumi isn't about to lose her balance just yet. The werewolf's footclaws extend, digging into the creature's flesh and anchoring her to the spot. At this rate, she's going to be absolutely filthy; blood from this thing, from earlier, the spore attacks from before, not to mention sneaking around here throughout the time this entire event was going on. They may not make a bar of soap that strong.
Even so, she's still got a job to do. She continues digging into the creature, switching from using her fists to using her claws. She drives herself faster and harder, really trying to put as big of a dent in this thing's back as she can.
Zach slams into the side of a ruined building with cratering impact. He slides downward for a moment before straight falling to the ground. The stars in his vision clear on his way down, and Zach lands on a fire escape, watching the creature make its way toward the street. The monster cannot be allowed to make the square. There are still people there. Still Marines there, carrying out the evacuation.
Something... /happens/. Like thousands of voices crying out in pain and fear before being silenced. It staggers Glenn, forcing the Marine to one knee to try and shake the cobwebs loose, shake the numbness loose. Zach puzzles out what just happened, and something in the young man simply snaps.
Gold and violet lights give way to scarlet red as Zach lets out a scream of anger and grief. Zach leaps skyward, jumping onto a roof and charging towards the monster one more time. Zach leaps high as he reaches for the sword.
"DRYNWYN!" Zach yells as his mind reaches for the weapon still sticking in the skull of the amalgamtion. The sword glows in the exact shade of crimson red that frames Zach's body as it /launches/ towards the psion, rotating so that the hilt meets Zach's open palm.
More of that red energy flares, extending along the length of the blade as Zach turns a single flip. The blazing energy lengthens and tears a furrow in the ground, and slashing through a couple of buildings, before looping around once to attempt to simply decapitate the massive beast in a single stroke of the sword.
COMBATSYS: Amalgamation blocks Argo's Strong Kick.
AMALGAMATION
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
1|-------------==|===============
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Zach Glenn 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Argo
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Azumi 0/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Maki
COMBATSYS: Amalgamation endures Azumi's Charged Combo.
AMALGAMATION
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
1|------------===|===============
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Zach Glenn 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Argo
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Azumi 0/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Maki
COMBATSYS: Amalgamation interrupts #Drynwyn EX+# from Zach Glenn with Cavernous Maw.
-* WILD HIT! *-
AMALGAMATION
[ ||||||||||||||||||||| ]
1|--------=======|===============
[ \\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Zach Glenn 0/-------/<<<<<<<|=------\-------\0 Argo
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Azumi 0/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Maki
The beast has made landfall, its corpse-laden feet smashing down onto the sandy banks of the river, sending glops of blood splashing every which way. It looks on towards Metro Square, and looses an unholy roar, shuddering the buildings, and quite possibly unnerving the fighting spirit of Maki!
Azumi's attacks are bearing more and more fruit, landing clean as the beast's defenses are utterly worn down in the spot she's chosen to hammer through. Argo will find that the skull is a bit more resilient than expected -- the calcified bone is a bit tougher to crack than he may have hoped.
But Argo's attempt at distracting the amalgamation is completely upended by Zach's yelling -- always a pitfall of those who insist on shouting their attack names whenever they throw them out.
Indeed -- now that it's on the shore, the beast is able to stretch its legs a bit more, no longer encumbered by the mass of blood at its feet. It sees the attack. And it charges towards the psion, its cavernous maw opening wide.
The ruined building shudders from collision with the leviathan's massive jaws; bits and pieces of rebar and concrete crumble to the ground. Its mouth envelops Zach whole, the anguished souls of the dead surrounding him from all over, as his psychic sword projects through to the back of the skull -- missing Argo by mere inches. But it should be patently obvious to Zach now that their pain, their anguish is what's driving the beast -- a sense of redemption, as they seek to channel their potent rage onto... something. Someone. Metro City? Or something else...
The jaws clamp down. The teeth of the beast are not corpses like the rest, rather sharpened blades of calcified bone -- and they're enough to puncture the flesh. But the vicelike grip of the beast will not hold Zach for long, as the beast jerks sharply to the right, throwing him against another building -- and quite possibly forcing Azumi and Argo to reconsider their positioning.
Zach screams again, not in rage, but in pain as the teeth slash into Zach's midsection. He's not /quite/ bit in half, but it's a close thing. Zach's power, which had been spilling forth with his emotion, sputters as Zach's mental disciple wobbles and stops flowing to attend to the massive injuries the Marine has sustained.
He twists, screaming again as he sweeps his free hand and summons one last spurt of psychic power to slash his way clear of the teeth!
Landfall is, paradoxically, good for Argo and Azumi, at least. The whipping around of that head makes it hard--if not impossible--for Argo to remain on his perch. He uses some of that momentum to leap across to a nearby building, one already damaged--not by Majigen, but by simple human neglect. He glances around, then seizes a rooftop airconditioning unit...
And, with muscles corded, bulging, and straining, rips it off its rusted mountings. He can't carry it easily, or very far, but he manages to take a few steps to add some momentum, and then he lifts it above his head--and whips it down, hurling the now-wrecked unit down towards the beast. Head, torso, arm--he isn't sure what he'll hit, with the way this thing is thrashing around. But as long as he hits, that'll be fine.
Azumi's overcome with a beastial fury she'd never felt before. She's digging into this creature, visibly hurting it more than she seemed to before. Her chi is naturally restoring fairly well and things seemed to be working in her favor...until she looks behind her. That building is a bit too close and the last thing she needed was to become a fuzzy pancake. When did this thing make it to shore? No matter. Using her claws, she manuvers herself to the side of the amalgamation and similarly to a cat shearing curtains, she slides down, cutting through the flesh to slow her descent to the ground.
Meanwhile, Maki is running out of options quickly. She desparately searches for something, anything to use as a weapon. Unfortunately, aside from the oil drums and crates, there's nothing she can use. She doesn't want to give up, but without any sort of weapon to use against the monster, it looks like she's stalemated. In frustration, Maki takes one of those crates and lifts it. It's a bit heavier than the drums, but she'll do whatever she can. She hurls the crate, hoping that she's doing some good.
COMBATSYS: Azumi successfully hits Amalgamation with Fierce Punch.
AMALGAMATION
[ |||||||||||||||||| ]
1|-------========|===============
[ \\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Zach Glenn 0/-------/=======|=------\-------\0 Argo
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Azumi 0/-------/-======|====---\-------\0 Maki
COMBATSYS: Amalgamation auto-guards Maki's Large Thrown Object.
AMALGAMATION
[ |||||||||||||||||| ]
1|-------========|===============
[ \\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Zach Glenn 0/-------/=======|=------\-------\0 Argo
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Azumi 0/-------/-======|====---\-------\0 Maki
COMBATSYS: Amalgamation blocks Argo's Large Thrown Object.
COMBATSYS: Amalgamation refuses to stay down!
AMALGAMATION
[ ||||||||||||||||| ]
1|------=========|===============
[ \\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Zach Glenn 0/-------/=======|=------\-------\0 Argo
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Azumi 0/-------/-======|====---\-------\0 Maki
COMBATSYS: Amalgamation blocks Zach Glenn's Claw Flare.
AMALGAMATION
[ ||||||||||||||| ]
1|------=========|===============
[ \\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Zach Glenn 0/-------/=======|=------\-------\0 Argo
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Azumi 0/-------/-======|====---\-------\0 Maki
The Amalgamation is over 25 stories tall. It should not be concerned with the plight of the insects hammering into it. But each of the fighters seems to be making their own indelible mark on the beast -- its eye is missing, the corpse "armor" is lain bare in several places, and the very beast is shuddering, about to collapse from sheer exhaustion. That number Maki had done on its torso is proving evident, as the creature is having trouble bending at the waist...
Zach's attack from the -inside- of its maw seems to be troubling -- the creature's mucus-like fluid is probably the only thing keeping it from taking more damage from the psychic attack. Well, unless you count the -sheer intensity- of emotions from the many souls which comprise the beast -- that would allow some resistance, of course.
Argo's innovative use of an air conditioning unit seems to gain some measure of attention from the beast, as it raises an arm to ward off the blow. But responding to -that- attack just means that Azumi's can land true, her shredding carving a swath of corpses away from the beast. It's rather effective in that regard, and the monstrosity lists to the side in anguish.
When Maki slams a crate at the beast, though, it seems to take special exception to that -- it slams its tail into the crate, effortlessly shattering it into driftwood.
What's that? It had a tail, yes, and it's a rather =large= tail at that. And its tail swipe continues, as the beast lumbers around, aiming to thwack its tail into Maki, blasting her into a building -- though, it's likely to continue the assault by stomping forward after Maki, stomp-stomp-stomping her into said building, if it's allowed!
COMBATSYS: Maki blocks Amalgamation's Berserk Rage.
AMALGAMATION
[ |||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|------=========
[ \\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Zach Glenn 0/-------/=======|=------\-------\0 Argo
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Azumi 0/-------/-======|======-\-------\0 Maki
Zach slides loose from the monster's jaws, his head screaming in as much agony from the lost souls screaming at him as his side does from the near mauling. Zach slides, and then falls to the ground with a thud. The psion is slow to rise, wobbling from pain, shock, and disorientation. Zach blinks slowly at the amalgamation, trying to come up with some kind of plan, some path of action as he sheathes the claymore.
The only thing the man's sluggish mind can come up with is another burst of psychic energy. Zach waves a hand, haphazardly, and a much smaller blast is sent at the soulasaurus.
Argo is... weary. This is as much a marathon of endurance as it is a battle against a titan. He hasn't fought an extended fight like this in god knows how long; he hunts solitary creatures, generally. And while this -is- just one thing, at least nominally, fighting it is like fighting an army's worth of tanks--endless and seemingly unstoppable.
Heaving a sigh, Argo backs up again, getting the distance he needs to throw himself into a run. Once again, he attacks the head, concentrating his efforts where he's had the most success, leaping high and simply aiming to come down upon the thing's head. He probably doesn't have the weight or force to bring it crashing down, but it's a nice image. Or maybe he can rip the head -off-, surely it's been weakened by Zach's attacks.
In any case, Argo will come down like approximately two hundred thirty pounds of bricks on the thing's head--if its thrashing doesn't spoil his aim.
Azumi lands on the ground, seeing the fruits of her labor. It's not dead yet and she's not done yet. She's been pushing herself pretty hard but it does seem lik ethis thing is really hurting...just a little bit more. Just need to position herself first...and this could go to plan.
She backflips a few times in rapid succession, standing a good distance on the ground from this beast and directly in it's walking path. Far enough away so it would have to take a few steps to stomp on her, but not far enough to dimish her attacks. She takes a ragged deep breath and focuses her chi for the final time, that blue aura she had before starting to rekindle and grow in strength.
COMBATSYS: Azumi gathers her will.
AMALGAMATION
[ |||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|------=========
[ \\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Zach Glenn 0/-------/-======|=------\-------\0 Argo
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Azumi 1/-----==/=======|======-\-------\0 Maki
Maki tries to protect herself, but unfortunately it's not good enough. She gets thrown through the wall, and while she manages to roll out of the way of the stompings, the impact from hitting the wall is too much for her. Dragging herself to a nearby corner out of sight (hopefully,) she drops down and passes out. Feeling ashamed of herself for not doing more to help out, Maki's eyes close with a scowl on her face.
COMBATSYS: Maki has left the fight here.
AMALGAMATION
[ |||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|------=========
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Argo 0/-------/------=|=======\==-----\1 Azumi
[ \\\\\\\ <
Zach Glenn 0/-------/-======|
COMBATSYS: Argo successfully hits Amalgamation with Strong Punch.
AMALGAMATION
[ ||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|-----==========
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Argo 0/-------/------=|=======\==-----\1 Azumi
[ \\\\\\\ <
Zach Glenn 0/-------/-======|
COMBATSYS: Zach Glenn successfully hit Amalgamation with Blast Punch EX.
AMALGAMATION
[ |||||||||| ]
0|---------------|----===========
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Argo 0/-------/------=|=======\==-----\1 Azumi
[ \\\\\\\ <
Zach Glenn 0/-------/-======|
The amalgamation has taken way, way too much damage. Now that the bloody mucus is starting to dry, it's beginning to lose cohesion, and corpses begin to fall off of it.
With Maki pounded thusly into the building, the creature turns to its other opponents. It doesn't have far to look -- as Argo's suicidal, all-or-nothing blow to the skull is enough to pound the 300-foot-tall monstrosity's head down, forcing its jaw into the building. The corpses from the top of the skull flake off, twisting as they fall to the ground in sick piles. It's enough force to break Zach free -- but the psychic blast is -also- enough to blast a hole clear through the creature, the energies severing the lower jaw from the monstrosity.
As it begins to fall, though, there's a very curious thing that happens. The violet energy that had been binding the creature together dissipates.
And individual souls can be made out, adopting the form of humans of Italian lineage. Their faces appear in front of Zach, in front of Azumi, in front of Argo, in front of the compromised Maki.
"Stop... him." All the ethereal voices speak with a single voice, linked as they were by the lifeforce of the soul construct, and now -freed- by the unified efforts of the heroes gathered here. "That is all we wanted... to do..."
The construct collapses entirely, whatever unholy forces had animated it dissipating entirely, with the sick sound of corpses hitting the riverbank. There is no final roar -- just an unabiding feeling of melancholy as the black ichor of death spatters across the ground, across the people gathered here.
A certain strange-haired being rises from the pile of the corpses rises up from the pile, dusting themselves off. Is this the 'him' that they speak of?! Sound rustles around an innumerable number of unidentifiable items due to the disgusting air of stench, smog of ichor, everything. For a moment, their form appears entirely indistinguishable from the silhouette of the man - the monster - responsible for bringing Metro City into the yawning abyss of horror.
Color slowly starts to return. Mostly a light blue, aside from hair that isn't clear if it's supposed to be black or some sort of inhuman jet-purple. Their right hand brushes at their scalp desperately, as though the shape of their hair were a priority.
"Whoo!" That voice does not sound like... him.
That visage, no, it's not Jedah, it's...
Howard Rust, Jr., that... guy.
He holds up a bloodied newspaper triumphantly. "Wouldn't believe how chatty they were in there! Honestly, I... well, it was a lot to take in so I didn't understand a word they said..."
He looks to either side, among the ruin, among all the dead bodies.
"...Eh? Where'd they all go...?"
...
...
...
The less questions asked, the better, probably...
Zach's eyes go wide as he realizes the scope of what just happened. What the monster had intended to do. He stops, and drops to his knees before vomiting on the pavement in front of him. The energies running through Zach serve to get him functional; walking wounded as opposed to urgent care. He takes in air in deep gulps, getting himself as collected as he can manage before getting back on his feet.
"Rest," he says to the spirits as they depart for... whatever end awaits them. "I'll fight in your place." With that, Zach pulls a radio from a miraculously undamaged pocket. A moment later, another MV-22 sweeps in and stops. Zach looks up in the direction of Argo and Azumi. "I'm heading for the square to end the bastard behind this," Zach calls out, "Want a lift?"
Azumi was preparing to land the coup de grace on this...pile of corpses, but just as she seems she's about to, the others finish the job. She restrains herself and calms her mind, which only brings back just how much pain she was in currently. She sinks to her knees almost instantly and starts to breath raspily, looking up to see just what the overall fate of the creature was...only for..a man..to come out of it? What? Someone was alive in there?
She slowly pushes herself up to her feet again, the right side of her body feeling numb for some reason. She inspects the wounds there and welp, what do you know, blood loss not a good thing. She makes her way towards the few fighters that are still around and ignores the Rust-gamation for the time being.
"...Yes. End this...put the city back to normal...and then maybe sleep...for a few years."
'Him'. The architect of the construct... Argo rides the head down, then leaps off as it slams into the building, landing on his feet in a cloud of dust. He's wounded, weary, and sickened by what's gone on here... And he turns to look deeper into Metro City.
Then he looks at Zach, and merely nods. Yeah. He'll see this through to the end. He starts walking towards the MV-22 and jumps into the copter, not bothering to sit, just hanging on to the edge of the doorframe.
"Let's go," he growls, his voice rough with emotion and fatigue.
The citizens of Celle Ligure bow their heads in thanks, before fading away. They do plan to help... but they will not be able to do so in the -manner- they wanted. Though perhaps their vengeance was a bit too raw, a bit too destructive -- in exacting their revenge, Metro City could be destroyed. And perhaps that cost was too great. It's something they can understand, now that their souls have been severed from the unholy monstrosity that was binding them all together.
The heroes might not be able to notice what was in the belly of the beast. The tree it had eaten at the beginning of the fight -- the original opponent for Azumi and Argo. But perhaps it is for the better. It's kind of smelly now.
Log created on 20:54:42 05/02/2015 by Amalgamation, and last modified on 20:37:26 05/04/2015.