Side One, Ep.2 "Double Dog Dare"

[Legendary Sidekick]

Athaliah answers Vincent's attack with both fists. Vincent manages to keep his footing, so she answers his question as well.

"If you must know, the surface is getting rather crowded. You under-worlders are a bore, and your dead gods want to keep you that way."

She strikes Vincent a third time. His ribs, her knee.

"Oh, just fall and die already. Or let us take the dead goddess' head and we'll spare you. It's no good to her now."

She dodges Vincent's attack with a tilt of her head.

"Really?"

 

[Noma Galway]

I blink as I am revived and Cindy sets me on Fenella's shoulder again. "Thanks!"

I sing for my lightning. Beatrice was right, the children need protecting, but I also see Vincent struggling against the woman.
((If it is possible, I want to hit her, but then I wouldn't get the stun radius on any of the hooded men, right? If that's true just in the middle of the crowd of hooded men.))

 

[SeverinR]

Shan Mai


My attack is weak, but its the first time I used the 3 opponent attack. Sanpogiri

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

As the brawlers fail to slow the enemies behind them, Riff stops them dead in their tracks with her magic. Shan Mai's attack is not quite enough to drop the trio on his side, but there's not much fight left in them—though two of them each manage to strike a samurai.

As Reaver takes a blow to the jaw, he gets a glimpse of the dark alley, from which more three-eyed hobos approach. A lot more.

The children are led to safety by the older nuns, while Hanako fights along side Fenella. Hanako's attack is weak, but Fenella knocks her opponent dead in a single blow. Mariya finishes off Hanako's opponent, and stuns the other, giving herself and her fellow maidens a chance to heal.

Vincent takes another three hits from Athaliah. Diana fails to block a strong attack from a hooded man. The second attack strikes her as well, but the club bounces harmlessly off of her gown. The third strike, unfortunately, is not so harmless.

There are four other men who now have room to get into the action, but all are distracted by Addison's battle cry. They move to meet the Huntress as she charges down the hill.

Jeisera patiently takes aim with her phœnix arrow…

 

[Ireth]

Vincent

I stumble back under the demoness' onslaught, but keep my footing and brace myself for a returning blow of my own.

"You've got it backwards and upside-down," I tell her as I aim a punch for her ribs. "You're the one who has to die. You chose the wrong family to harm children in front of!"

Diana

Pain sears through me as a blow from one of my attackers finally hits. I clench my teeth against it, ignoring another blow that bounces harmlessly off my enchanted gown, and lash out at the nearest foe with my blade.

My pain must be affecting my aim. I do my best to shove it back. I can handle it later, when this is over.

 

[Noma Galway]

I must help protect the children. My voice rises even higher than last time as I call on my mother's power once more for another round of lightning.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

​Athaliah licks black blood from her split lip. "I won't fall so easily, mor—"

Her words are cut off by a very large bolt of lightning.

"—d-d-d-dyaaaah!"

Athaliah is blasted off of the shrine. She tumbles downhill into the field of flowers, trailing smoke.

 

[Ireth]

Vincent

I shield my eyes from the blaze of Mariya's lightning, and watch with satisfaction as Athaliah tumbles earthward, smoke trailing from her body. "Thank you, Mariya!" And thank You, Voice!

Well, no point in staying up here. I brace myself and jump down from the shrine, hoping I'll land on an enemy so there's one less to deal with. More importantly, I hope I don't break my neck!

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Diana sees a blinding flash. When her eyes adjust she sees that the enemy she struck has indeed fallen by her blade. The other two have fallen as well, and some of those heading in Addison's direction remain in place, cringing. From what, Diana does not know.

As Hanako's opponent starts to snap out of his daze, the nun fails to hit her. She curses her string of bad luck—"Fornicating male offspring of female dog, father unknown!"—then turns to Fenella. "I have distracted enemy. Kindly remove head with large expensive blade, Warrior Princess."

Addison shoots at the enemy.

Her cursing is less nunlike. "What the f—"



Er…meanwhile, Jaundiced Jackal takes advantage of Riff's fairy magic.

"Huh, looks like you three-eyed freaks messed with the wrong fairy. Now she's going to make you dress like her." He bangs their heads together.

Both skulls crack from the impact.

 

[Reaver]

REAVER

I try to attack again, but apparently the blow to my jaw has done more damage than I realized.

PALE JACKAL


My first attempt sucked and it really pissed me off. "I'm really pissed off!" I say to the three-eyed bum I'm punching.

Apparently these guys are blessed by the god of rotten luck.

((Two shitty rolls in a row? Are you f**king kidding me?))

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Garden Clear!!

After Vincent jumps, there is a teetering sound followed by a crash.

Addy calls out to Jei, "I think you have a clear shot now, kid."



((@JRF, feel free to have Jei shoot or RP frustration if it takes several rolls to roll an 8+. Since there are no enemies, you can roll several times until you get a good roll.))

 

[Ireth]

Vincent

I cringe as the broken, flaming shrine crumbles in my wake. On the upside, it crushes our enemies -- on the downside, I didn't exactly mean to damage something so sacred. I hope I can make up for it somehow. But later. Right now, I wait for a shot from Jei to Bee. Gods bless those phoenix-feather arrows!

 

[JRFLynn]

Jei

"Whoa..." Pretty colors. Huh? Oh look, all the bozos are dead! Blinking, scratching my head, what the heck happened? Blanked out like a spooked buffadillo...Er, guess I really wanted to make sure this arrow didn't go to waste. It costs a bloody fortune! More importantly, though, I've got only one shot to revive the goddess.

Yes! The arrow flies as sparks spiral around in a glorious array of rejuvenating light, taking the form of a fiery phoenix. Its wings wrap around Little Bee on the throne, bringing The Maiden back to the world of the living!

Riff

These pesky, possessed bums! Does it look like we have spare change?! If I did, I would give it gladly. So scary! I swivel and turn behind me, tossing a handful of tangle seeds at the advancing throng of drooling crazies!

Hopefully that will slow them down!


(Sorry for delay, folks x.x)

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

((No worries... you're not slowing the game down. I just pushed the turn ahead since the boss was defeated. I meant to have the shrine fall on the enemies when she went down. I can't view YouTube from work, but there's a scene from O Brother Where Art Thou that inspired this part a little. There's the O Death song, hooded men--KKK members--and once the shrine caught fire, I knew exactly what to do with it. Google "O Brother Where Art Thou O Death," and you'll see what I mean... I think. I can't actually see the video, so I'm not sure where it begins and ends.))




Garden

Beatrice, Diana and Vincent are all engulfed in pink flames. Diana and Vincent feel their wounds heal as the see the child-goddess rise up in her throne. She rushes over to Father Ben, and places Her hands on him.

"Wake up," she says. "You serve two goddesses, but I need you here."

The flames consume the leaves covering Father Ben. A glow under his skin suggest that the plants have wormed their way through his body. Father Ben drops to his knees, but not in reverence. He is much weaker than the others were when revived.

Father Ben accepts a helping hand from Beatrice (and anyone else who rushes to his aid). "I suppose the mysteries of the afterlife can wait... though I suspect the wait will not be long."

"I know you're in pain," says Beatrice.

Before she can finish, Father replies, "I know you need me."

"Not me," says Beatrice, gesturing toward the crowd. "Them. It would be a real downer if you died at my birthday party."

 

[SeverinR]

I will attempt Sanpogiri again, but only strike the two in front of me, leaving the third for the other person to attack. (unless I can safely attack the third without getting in the way of (I don't remember who that is).
Drawing the wakizashi he strikes.


As he strikes he bellows a kiai. The strikes feels strong.

(edited)

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

((You can only use sanpogiri when drawing the blade. However, you can draw the wakizashi and hit two targets on this turn, as well as any other turn when you roll 10 or better.))

 

[Ireth]

Diana

Bee awakens in a blaze of pink fire. I drop my sword and pull her into a tight hug, and Vincent joins us not long after. When we draw apart, Bee moves to revive Father Ben, and I follow to help him.

Vincent

"I think we should clear the area," I say, offering a hand to the priest. I look around for Mariya -- she can help us put the fire out. I don't want to leave it burning and risk doing more collateral damage. Who would I ask about paying for it, I wonder?

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Garden

Beatrice says to Vincent, "Don't worry about the shrine. It was a pretty wooden structure, but the only way to desecrate this place is with innocent blood."

Cindy and Sandy run up to The Maiden. They curtsy to her (though Cindy isn't nearly as good as Sandy), then turn to Father Ben. Cindy says, "Is She really…?"

Beatrice takes each girl by the hand. "I'm a child of The Father and The Mother. But you don't have to bow or curtsey or anything. I liked it when you thought of me as a playmate."

Sandy says, "But… goddesses don't play."

Vincent senses an emotional response from Beatrice. If she's hurt, she doesn't let it show. Only for a small fraction of a second, Vincent thought he felt a crushing blow to Her heart.

Beatrice replies, "Are you sure goddesses don't play? You don't know my sister, Belle."

"You have a sister?" Sandy asks.

"Two."

Cindy asks, "What are they like?"

As the girls chatter on like three regular kids, Father Ben steps up beside Vincent. "She's persuasive. I thought I'd be rid of my fat, old body. I guess I need to help the nuns clean up this mess." He looks at the dead. "I thought I could trust… hmm…" He removes a hood, revealing a yellow eye on the dead man's forehead.

 

[Ireth]

Vincent

When one of Bee's new friends claims that goddesses don't play, I feel a brief rush of pain from Bee -- emotional pain, not physical. It's only a little less disheartening. Bee doesn't let it show in Her face, however, and the girls' chatter continues like it never happened.

I listen to the priest, nodding as he mentions cleaning up the broken shrine. "If you need help, don't hesitate to ask me. It's only fair I help deal with the mess I made."

I follow his gaze to the dead man, and let out my breath in a hiss at the sight of the yellow eye. Rage coils in my stomach like a snake. I thought these were supposed to be devotees of Lady Death! It seems few if any are safe from Holst.

Chewing the inside of my cheek, I look around again. Maybe I'll find out more if I search the body of the demoness Athaliah... if that is her real name. I move to where I saw her fall, searching among the flowers.

Diana

I retrieve my sword, then clean and sheathe it. Father Ben pulls back the hood of one of the dead men, and I scowl at the sight of the yellow eye. Maybe it's too soon to say everything's fine. I hope the rest of our company, wherever they are, haven't run into trouble of their own.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Vincent sees ink black smoke rising from where Athaliah landed. There is something unnatural about the smoke, not only in appearance—it lacks a burning smell. Bent and broken flowers mark where the woman landed, but there isn't a body or shred of clothing or a trail. Within seconds, the smoke is gone as well.