Between the mysteries of last weekend, the increasing number of visions and unexplained phenomena, and the attack on Vakama yesterday, everyone is likely on edge. When Tails calls you into his lab around noon, you all are likely already aware of how this is going to go.
Once again, a surge of Chaos Energy in the city is what draws you in, though this time it is a much larger burst than before. Sonic and Knuckles are here with you as usual, with Tails remaining behind to look after Vakama and the base. Unlike before, you aren't met with robots or destruction. In fact, this city block looks remarkably peaceful, aside from where Eggman's chroma has overtaken most of the buildings.
"So good of you all to finally arrive."
The voice comes from up above. You recognize it as the one you heard last week, through that gemstone the Tails Doll had. Perched on one of the buildings is a... fox? No, he's larger than Tails, and wearing a large silver mask that obscures most of his features. In one hand he holds Vakama's missing mask; his other is extended with six gemstones floating around it, a soft teal glow from beneath his black glove marking the seventh. There's a different gemstone on the center of his chest as well, though it doesn't look like the fake Chaos Emeralds you've seen before.
"You all have the pleasure of fighting me, Infinite. I am the Doctor's trusted ally... and I have been watching you all. Your struggles with my nightmares and illusions were so... delicious. You have my thanks for the show."
He kicks off the building, floating towards you all and the ground, though stopping high enough up, still out of reach. And for those of you getting any bright ideas, a deep red begins to fill your vision, tinting the corners of it as the very world itself begins to warp around you - this isn't exactly Chicago anymore, you see. The buildings still exist, wrapped in white chroma, though they bend and twist in ways they shouldn't, making it hard to tell what's real and what isn't.
"I'll snuff out your lives here and now for the Doctor's ambitions! Let's see what you're made of!"
[This time Mafuyu manages to freeze Chaos. This time he's unable to get free. The ice travels up from his legs, across his chest and out through his arms, then up to the core in his head, freezing him completely solid. There's a brief moment where he shakes violently, as though trying to free himself, before he falls still.
And then (because this is Shardbond and I am nothing if not predictable), Chaos explodes in that red, glitchy energy. Everyone roll to see how well you're dodging that watery explosion!
The hits on Shadow are also enough to take him out and while he does explode into the same glitchy effects, he does not actually cause explosion damage. Thank god.
That leaves Metal Sonic and Zavok, and while the latter is definitely looking worse for the wear and glitching all the hell over, he's still standing. And still ready to punch! In fact, he's going to go back to everyone's favorite attack - throwing rocks. Yeah. Everyone roll for rocks again, because what else would you expect from me.
At least Metal Sonic is actually attacking? Look out for a drive-by slash of his claws, Percy, Dorothy, and More! Oh yeah, and Infinite exists too. I almost forgot about him. Look at the time, it's nightmare o'clock for More, Viktor, and Lucifer, have fun!
Your current enemies are: Metal Sonic and Zavok. You may dodge and attack this turn, even if you fail your dodge roll(s).]
( her sin of Swearing gets cut off as the watery explosion knocks her back (5). but she at least manages to stabilize enough to get out of the way of the rocks (19)-
... rocks.
more's luck-
almost immediately, she touches the soaked ground and urges the water, forming a shield around more (14). )
[ Okay, so he has to unfortunately let go of Ashley and get on his hoverboard. He manages to dodge Chaos (12) but unfortunately gets knocked off by Rock Hell (9).
And then, like it's happening a second time, he sees a Sonic robot launching itself at him, going for an attack, and like a scared animal Percy immediately rolls out of Metal Sonic's way (14). ]
Thanks! At least you're leaving my girlfriend alone this time!
[ HE'S SO TIRED.
Speaking of girlfriend, he calls over to Ashley and, with a smile, extends a hand towards her. ]
[ Wednesday rolls a 6 for the explosion and an 18 for the rocks, which I choose to believe means that the explosion pushes her back out of the way of all the concrete. ]
You could just give up, you know.
[ It's time for another shot at Zavok, which is what she's been doing the whole fight but also? It works. ]
[Okay, thankfully, Dorothy manages to dodge that explosion with grace. (19) The same cannot be said for the rock (5), which manages to hit her hard in the arm and cause a piece of it to fall off, and it's even worse for the slash (1!), which'll expose even more wiring and blood on the ground. Great! Fantastic! Lovely!
Dorothy is done fucking around.]
Viktor, the laser; max power!
[Dorothy will rush over to him and aim with her finger guns and aim the laser at Metal Sonic and Zavok. She may try to hit Infinite with it too but I doubt it'll actually happen, so ignore that part, Dorothy's just being petty--]
[Whether on adrenaline or a growing ability to see the pattern within the chaos, Viktor managed to avoid the water and rocks both (14, 12). If he could get another clear shot at Zavok, then-]
[But it was so unforgivable to design weapons, right? said a voice in his head. I told you the undercity was dangerous. What makes you so dif-]
That is enough. [Not spoken to Dorothy; prismatic eyes shifting rapidly as he shook off a nightmare (15).]
You will not use him against me again.
[The Hexclaw sparked electric blue, matching laser of water pressure sweeping across Metal Sonic and Zavok with an attempt to catch Infinite as well.]
[Despite all his threats last round, Fukuda had already been hit by the rocks and water combo once, and now he's doing so again (2, 7). He is bleeding. Badly.
Still on his feet, he tries to go make another hole in Zavok, but collapses before he can make it and instead just makes a hole in the ground that's accomplishing nothing (8). Wasted.]
[ Thanks to being terastalized, More is able to shrug off whatever explosion damage could have reached him even as he tried to evade (19).
Unfortunately, the evasive movement has once more left him just in path of the rocks... and there is one flying straight at his battered head (1). For a moment, he's staring certain doom in the eye, but then Mafuyu's shield goes up and deflects the rock effortlessly. This also has the side effect of diverting Metal Sonic's slash attack completely (15).
He turns to her to thank her but--- There are no shields against nightmares (7). True to form, More collapses like a house of cards. He's clutching his head and no longer capable of perceiving anything that is happening around him.
[YIKES. By the grace of...idk Vesperia doesn't have gods so let's go with Mata Nui, Raven has found his stride again. He dodges both the explosion and the rocks (14, 19).
Two enemies down, two to go before it's just Infinite left.
He's about to go on the offensive in retaliation for Metal Sonic's attacks, but he sees More go down to the nightmare.]
Shoot. [He still owes More for his kindness with the lilies. He drops down and shakes his shoulders.] C'mon, More, get up!
[Unfortunately, he won't be able to break More free this round (6).]
[Oscar is definitely not having any better luck on this day with that explosion (1) and those rocks (2) both catching him full-on. It's only the fact that he can't feel the pain from them that allows him to keep standing.
He's moving towards Lark, intent on trying to protect him again, so he'll reach his hand right out to grab Lark's without needing any further incentive.]
[ Damn they can't dodge everything so they get caught up in a watery explosion (2), but they are stubborn as fuck enough to not get caught up in rocks (15)
They pause, though, noticing two people still caught up in nightmares...
It doesn't matter because they completely whiff their attempt there on nightmare saves (1) ]
[You know, old dogs can learn new tricks! ...jrpg old. Do not call him old he'll kill you.
Anyway, he's been looking for the perfect opportunity... because he's definitely not in his own shadow this time. He's gonna pop out of More's shadow when Metal Sonic cruises by to try and get an ambush going on!]
[ Ooof. That watery explosion hurts (8), but it's weirdly grounding. It reminds him he's alive - and while he has a lot to think on after this is all over, they have to get there first.
The concrete's dodged with finesse (20), as he then reaches out to- ] - Rio!
[Joker manages to dodge out of the way of the explosion and the rocks this time, thankfully, so he’s able to turn those dodges into an odd sort of acrobatics (he’s really going to need to thank Viktor for the nicer leg…), end with a flourish that heals More, Dorothy, and Wednesday for medium damage!]
[ i don't know how this works given wolfwood's injuries but he'll have some sick dodges ( 19,16 ) avoiding both the water and the rocks. though, again, it's probably due to this happening so many times before? sometimes your body knows how to react without thinking. ]
More explosions.
I'm startin' to think that we should be bringin' more stuff with us than just what these shards give us.
[ of course, not everyone has it easy compared to him (somehow) AND SURELY HE WON'T DRAW AGGRO FOR THIS but he'll make his way to oscar, fukuda, and lucifer for some moderate heals. the man is slowly become heal bot fr fr. ]
[ Explosion and rocks dodged (15 &12), Yves does not want to get hit today. He will try to trap Metal Sonic again with vines! For being a pointy metal menace. ]
[Eat shit Zavok, not only does he miss but he gets a laser counter attack for his trouble. (20) And, now that she and Gyles have activated their shards together...]
You can't keep doing the same old thing and expect to win ♪
[Three more Rios appear, all of them firing at Metal Sonic, Zavok, and even attempting to fire at Infinite. Despite being ranged attackers, the copies actually rush into melee range of both of them.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
ROUND 5
And then (because this is Shardbond and I am nothing if not predictable), Chaos explodes in that red, glitchy energy. Everyone roll to see how well you're dodging that watery explosion!
The hits on Shadow are also enough to take him out and while he does explode into the same glitchy effects, he does not actually cause explosion damage. Thank god.
That leaves Metal Sonic and Zavok, and while the latter is definitely looking worse for the wear and glitching all the hell over, he's still standing. And still ready to punch! In fact, he's going to go back to everyone's favorite attack - throwing rocks. Yeah. Everyone roll for rocks again, because what else would you expect from me.
At least Metal Sonic is actually attacking? Look out for a drive-by slash of his claws, Percy, Dorothy, and More! Oh yeah, and Infinite exists too. I almost forgot about him. Look at the time, it's nightmare o'clock for More, Viktor, and Lucifer, have fun!
Your current enemies are: Metal Sonic and Zavok. You may dodge and attack this turn, even if you fail your dodge roll(s).]
no subject
( her sin of Swearing gets cut off as the watery explosion knocks her back (5). but she at least manages to stabilize enough to get out of the way of the rocks (19)-
... rocks.
more's luck-
almost immediately, she touches the soaked ground and urges the water, forming a shield around more (14). )
no subject
And then, like it's happening a second time, he sees a Sonic robot launching itself at him, going for an attack, and like a scared animal Percy immediately rolls out of Metal Sonic's way (14). ]
Thanks! At least you're leaving my girlfriend alone this time!
[ HE'S SO TIRED.
Speaking of girlfriend, he calls over to Ashley and, with a smile, extends a hand towards her. ]
Trust me?
no subject
When Percy calls out, Ashley can't help but give him a stupidly sappy smile in return, reaching her hand out in return. ]
I do.
(no subject)
(no subject)
no subject
You could just give up, you know.
[ It's time for another shot at Zavok, which is what she's been doing the whole fight but also? It works. ]
no subject
Dorothy is done fucking around.]
Viktor, the laser; max power!
[Dorothy will rush over to him and aim with her finger guns and aim the laser at Metal Sonic and Zavok. She may try to hit Infinite with it too but I doubt it'll actually happen, so ignore that part, Dorothy's just being petty--]
no subject
[But it was so unforgivable to design weapons, right? said a voice in his head. I told you the undercity was dangerous. What makes you so dif-]
That is enough. [Not spoken to Dorothy; prismatic eyes shifting rapidly as he shook off a nightmare (15).]
You will not use him against me again.[The Hexclaw sparked electric blue, matching laser of water pressure sweeping across Metal Sonic and Zavok with an attempt to catch Infinite as well.]
no subject
Still on his feet, he tries to go make another hole in Zavok, but collapses before he can make it and instead just makes a hole in the ground that's accomplishing nothing (8). Wasted.]
no subject
implied metaphor spoilers
Unfortunately, the evasive movement has once more left him just in path of the rocks... and there is one flying straight at his battered head (1). For a moment, he's staring certain doom in the eye, but then Mafuyu's shield goes up and deflects the rock effortlessly. This also has the side effect of diverting Metal Sonic's slash attack completely (15).
He turns to her to thank her but--- There are no shields against nightmares (7). True to form, More collapses like a house of cards. He's clutching his head and no longer capable of perceiving anything that is happening around him.
It's burning. It's all burning, she's burning-- ]
no subject
Two enemies down, two to go before it's just Infinite left.
He's about to go on the offensive in retaliation for Metal Sonic's attacks, but he sees More go down to the nightmare.]
Shoot. [He still owes More for his kindness with the lilies. He drops down and shakes his shoulders.] C'mon, More, get up!
[Unfortunately, he won't be able to break More free this round (6).]
(no subject)
no subject
... although it sends him right into rocks, rip (5) because you win some and you lose some, clearly.
anyway, once he's gotten on his feet he's going for another stab on zavok, mostly because metal on metal probably isn't a good idea. ]
no subject
Explosions suck (7). Rocks also suck (4).
Which is why he's also going to reach for the man who's constantly trying to protect him this whole fight— ]
Big bro!
no subject
He's moving towards Lark, intent on trying to protect him again, so he'll reach his hand right out to grab Lark's without needing any further incentive.]
Big bro's got you!
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
no subject
They pause, though, noticing two people still caught up in nightmares...
It doesn't matter because they completely whiff their attempt there on nightmare saves (1) ]
no subject
Anyway, he's been looking for the perfect opportunity... because he's definitely not in his own shadow this time. He's gonna pop out of More's shadow when Metal Sonic cruises by to try and get an ambush going on!]
no subject
The concrete's dodged with finesse (20), as he then reaches out to- ] - Rio!
[ shard bond power time baybee. ]
no subject
This is her ally. She reminds herself of that with a grim smile, reaching out to him in turn.]
Let's show them what they get for using the same tired old tricks, shall we?
(no subject)
no subject
[Joker manages to dodge out of the way of the explosion and the rocks this time, thankfully, so he’s able to turn those dodges into an odd sort of acrobatics (he’s really going to need to thank Viktor for the nicer leg…), end with a flourish that heals More, Dorothy, and Wednesday for medium damage!]
(no subject)
no subject
W-w-w-watch -
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
no subject
More explosions.
I'm startin' to think that we should be bringin' more stuff with us than just what these shards give us.
[ of course, not everyone has it easy compared to him (somehow) AND SURELY HE WON'T DRAW AGGRO FOR THIS but he'll make his way to oscar, fukuda, and lucifer for some moderate heals. the man is slowly become heal bot fr fr. ]
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
no subject
(no subject)
no subject
But he does narrowly dodge rocks this time...! Wow!]
no subject
You can't keep doing the same old thing and expect to win ♪
[Three more Rios appear, all of them firing at Metal Sonic, Zavok, and even attempting to fire at Infinite. Despite being ranged attackers, the copies actually rush into melee range of both of them.
Go on, hit them. See what that gets you.]
no subject
Namely, launching himself at Metal Sonic with a vicious sword slash because he's sick and tired of this shit.]
HURRY UP AND FUCKING DIE ALREADY!