Dealbreaker [Payn Speed Quest]

[NiNeLiVeS]

Okay, seriously?

"What." Payn muttered, cursing at the empty air in front of him. Teleport. She knew how to teleport. He looked wildly around - hoping to catch a glimpse of either of the aggressors.

Oh great, more black - ARRGH! - matter from the sky.

You seriously tried to pull the 'I'm innocent' shtick?

"We are innocent."

Payn-Payn, it doesn't work when you're the one who shot first. And are in charge of a five-story monstrosity whose only purpose is to kill things.

Payn frowned. That didn't seem very fair. It wasn't the five story tall monstrosity's fault that it did what it did.

Probably.

Still he had shot first-

Ugh. Look. It's like bandits and bodyguards. Everyone knows their role. The odds of you scoring an existential crisis are pretty much nil.

Payn blinked. "Exis... exist... crisis?"

Ugh. There came a sound curiously like that of someone banging their head against a wall. Payn was slightly concerned that it was occuring within his headspace. I cannot believe- you mean that wasn't you trying to be cute?

"No. Not a bit."

Please tell me you had a plan. Hostages. Divide and conquer. Destroy destroy destroy?

"I like the sound of the last one." Payn admitted.

UGH. Why are we stupidly evil?

"Not sure," Payn admittedly placidly. And because it seemed like a good idea at the time he teleported too.

Just next to the sword that was still embedded in the darkside. He'd use the (likely very temporary) chance to observe and take the sword out.

Oh my.

Were there more?

[/size]

[hp=73/90]

[Rocket!]

[ Did you avoid the 4 damage thing flying through the air at you at the end of the last round? If so, it's a little vague, just letting you know! ]

TURN 6

From his position atop the Darkside's shoulder, Payn could see the two heroes-in-training regrouping and-- good lord, the archer had been out picking up Potions from somewhere or another. Probably should've gone looking for the "support" one of the two heroes first, huh? Both of the heroes had downed one of the potions, by the sights of it, and-- oh. Oh, that was pleasant.

Both of them had just gotten knocked off their feet by the aforementioned dark blast. Kind of scrambling now, at least Payn had gotten the sword out of the beastie--

Oh.

They just saw Payn.

...

Um--

FWOOM went another-- hopefully final-- wave of darkness from the sky, slamming into everyone in sight, knocking said everyone off their feet--

And Payn was five stories up as he was knocked off his feet--

And now he's falling--

[/size]

Darkside
[hp=105/124]

Unknown Man
[hp=48/56]

Prell
[hp=32/60]

[NiNeLiVeS]

[OOC: Yes, he teleported before the thing hit. tbh there was a post before the current one that was rather longer. It was unfortunately eaten. Niner was a wee bit heartbroken. He totally had an epic conversation involving multiple personalities where he totally called the potion thingy

Also, I'm assuming average damage from the fall. It seems mildly reasonable.]

Pride comes before a fall

-WHUMPF-

Payn grunted and stood up. His arm was bent at an unhealthy angle. Humans had endorphins and adrenaline and so on to blunt trauma and grievious injury. Payn had none of that.

His eyes glowed red.

Haha. HAHAHA. He stood up. Pushed his arm back into place. That was it. His parents had been demons of the battlefield. He had killed his brothers and sisters before he had learned to walk. He had let a village go and because of it they had killed little Asala. Mercy was for the weak. MERCY WAS FOR THE WEAK.

It was a harsh and croaking laugh that exited from his larynx.

Enough with this ridiculous attempt to play at Guardian. He had tried to protect but that wasn't his role, was it? He was a destroyer. Always a destroyer. He could 'protect' things by killing and killing and killing until nothing was left. And that was what he was going to do now he was going to kill them all. He grabbed the discarded sword and made an incision in the ground.

Darkness hit him head on. He laughed.

Payn... don't...

The demon continued to laugh as he finished the summoning. Perdition appeared - a little girl on the battlefield between light and dark. She looked frightened.

Payn...? Payn, this isn't worth-

As quickly as it had come the laughter vanished.

"LET US DANCE." Payn roared casting fire. "LET US DANCE AND WEEP THE TEARS OF BLOOD!" Payn laughed, casting ice. "COME MY WORTHY ADVERSARIES! WE WILL DANCE AND DIE!" He said casting lightning.

"Payn, Payn, listen to me, you have to stop and think-" She cast an errant ball of darkness at the 'good guys', giving them more things to think about as she tried to calm down her boss.

"NO AND NO AND NO," Payn said, wagging his fingers. His eyes wandered about the battlefied like they weren't entirely sure what they were for.

"REMEMBER THE AGREEMENT. MY POWER FOR YOURS AND YOURS FOR MINE."

"TODAY WE DINE IN -"

_________________________________

It was a little known fact, but even demons had hearts.

And with so much Darkness saturating the air...
_______________________________________

Perdition wetted her lip.

Agreed.

What was a little death on her conscience? She was already planning to damn the world...

Intoned a spell that would shift the tides of battle.

Three more Payns appeared.

Each had his strength of body if not his strength of mind. Each was a power to be reckoned with.

Each smiled and lifted broken arms to weave and protective and destructive magics.

Perdition smiled sadly as she raised a wall and cut them off in front of her.

Then she shifted her mighty powers of the mind and created another Darkside and another and another that rose out of the earth like some damned and doomed creation.

-------------------------

Payn:
Superior Summon "PERDITION"
Fire Lv3 @unknown Man
Lightning Lv3 @unknown Man
Ice Lv3 @unknown Man

[hp=66/90]

Perdition
-Dark Burst Lv3 @both
-Superior Clone
-Stone Wall
-Superior Illusion (however many darksides would be considered reasonable. I think two is pushing it, personally)

[hp=40/40]

PAYN CLONES
Protect - The Original Payn, their Creator Perdition, the Darkside
Barrier - The Original Payn, their Creator Perdition, the Darkside
Fireball lv2 - The archer
Lightning Bolt lv2 - The archer

[hp=66/90]

[/size]

[Rocket!]

[ ...*pulls out calculator* ]

TURN 7[/center]

And so it was that, with a heavy heart, we must hold a moment of silence for our beloved, mysterious archer-man who, under the face of such a magnanimous barrage of magic, did fall to the ground beside his dear friend Prell, damaged perhaps to a point beyond repair.

Ah. Such is life.

The man coughed, a measly 4 health points to his name left, struggling to keep his wits about him.

Prell was suffering from the Dark Burst, trying to shake off her shaking nerves with a shake of her shoulders, to little visible effect--

And the Darkside raised his fist high into the air.

"Hooooooooooooooooocr--" went the nigh defeated man, his knees bleeding in his scramble to get in front of the downed Prell.

And bam.

The Darkside's fist his with an impossibly strong power, going through the building the heroes-in-training were on.

Screams could be heard.

In the wake of the blast, a shockwave kicked out from the building, sending one story buildings skyward with the force of the aftershock. It ran right through Payn & Co., sending 1.5 damage through to their cores. It would have been 3, had it not been for some well planned spellcasting from the clones.

And then the Darkside flinched.

It gasped backwards at a half second, pulling back its fist in--

--in pain.

And as the dust cleared, the unknown man's shining Reflect spell could be seen through the wake of demolished building.

The Darkside's fist was powerful. Unlike the shockwave, it had the power of an Average Specialty Ability.

3 damage to the Heartless.

Support guy is support.

And then the fellow raised his hand for the Darkside, sending out a wave of black and red magic.

The magic swarmed across the Darkside's face, blinding it with an unseen effect. All the while, the mystery man grabbed Prell by the shoulder and promptly started dragging her away.

Were they fleeing?

Payn and Perdition wouldn't get the chance to find out that turn.

Boom went the broad side of the Darkside's fist as it slammed into a Payn clone.

Looking deep into the eyes of the Darkside, it was clear what had happened.

In a bid to buy time, the unknown man had cast Berserk on the Darkside.

For the next three turns, with double the strength, the Heartless would be intent solely on Payn and Co.

Unless the heroes could be found, so that it might attack them instead.

Darkside
[hp=102/124]

Unknown Man
[hp=4/56]

Prell
[hp=26/60]

[NiNeLiVeS]

[ooc: I was hoping to get this question answered, actually. ^^;;]

It had hurt him. It had hurt one of him and that meant the same thing. It had defied him. That mean he would, no he had to hurt it in turn. No, more than that, he would rip through its dark, dusky flesh and feast on its innards, on whatever powered it, on whatever Heart drove it to consume. Payn could do that too. It wanted to play, it wanted to play itwantedtoplay. Payn could oblige, Payn could burn the world down-

Through the haze of fire and madness something reached in and grabbed his arm.

"NO. PAYN-PAYN."

Payn replied with a fireball. Whoever it was growled through the fire and then reached out and slapped him. Hard.

He roared-

She slapped him again. His eyes regained their focus. He stared down at a burnt angel. No... no, it was just Perdition, with her ridiculous fake wings. Half her face was burnt and blackened although it didn't diminish her visceral anger in the least.

That wound....

He swallowed thickly.

"Did I-?"

"Oh good," she sneered at him, "you're back."

Payn put his hand to his head. Something... something here was... very...

When the mage had put a berserk on the creature he himself had started-

"It's doing something to your head," Perdition needlessly explained as she dragged Payn away from the dark beast. "You need to kill the heroes and then move on. We can't stay here. You're going to go nuts."

"You should... you should leave-" Payn tried to say. Perdy tut-tutted.

"Right. And then tomorrow I'll wake up and discover oh - ! Payn-Payn got himself killed fighting Hercules." She shook her head. "No, we're in this together. Your clones are moving into the big freaking city. The Illusions are sticking next to Mr. Mean and Lean, hopefully they'll distract him. If not, well, whatever. Maybe the heroes can't distinguish between magics. I've ordered the clones to send out a few magic missiles if they spot anyone suspicious."

She frowned. "Anyway, that's the plan. You up for it?"

"..."

She sighed at his lack of response. "Whatever. You'll have to manage."

_______________

Payn and Perdy (moving South)
Fireball @perdition
Slap @ Payn
Slap @ Payn

[hp=62.5/90]
[hp=32.5/40]

Payn Clone 1 (Moving into city)
[hp=55/90]
Used Teleport

Payn Clone 2 (Moving into city)
[hp=63/90]
Used Teleport

Payn Clone 3 (Moving into city)
[hp=63/90]
Used Teleport

[Rocket!]

TURN 8

The Darkside was not to oblige.

With its fist.

The Darkside, from its great height, blinded by fury, hefted the gigantic fist down for the ground before Payn and Perdition.

Boom.

The shockwave that followed sent six damage towards the perhaps expecting duo of Payn and Perdition.

The Heartless knew what others of its own kind were. Perdition's illusions had no darkness about them. It found no reason to be interested in them.

It raised the other fist.

And stopped.

In the distance, a series of magic missles could be seen, from where the first of the clones had teleported.

...

The Darkside, however, found Payn and Perdition to be its closest targets, sooooooo...

It turned back to continue the attack.

[/size]

Darkside
[hp=102/124]

Mystery Man
[hp=20/56]

Prell
[hp=42/60]

[/i]

[NiNeLiVeS]

Shockwave hit. And hurt.

But then... in the distance...

"Ha-ha," Perdition whooped. "I am a genius. Now, let's go-"

The maddened Heartless turned towards them, its impressive stare fixed on their position. The earth wall had the rather bad timing to crumble exactly at that moment. The young girl had a perfect moment of clarity that more or less could be summarized by the word: oh crud.

She gulped.

"Um, Payn-Payn? I'm gonna have to leave. You, ah, you catch up with the clones. They'll follow your orders, alright? Just keep your cool. Don't kill the stupid Heartless."

She paused for a second.

"Wait, what am I saying, go kill it, whatever. You're trying to help your dorky god, aren't you? Pfah."

Then she was gone.

Payn took a look at the Heartless, waiting until the last possible second...

Before vanishing.

_____________


He re-appeared, about ten or so feet away from the clone that had sent out the magic missiles and saw...

Well, regardless of what he saw: "Kill them," he ordered the clone.

_______________

Actions:

Perdition - un-summoned.
[26/40]
Illusion spell: canceled by unsummon

Payn - Teleport
[hp=60/90]

Payn Clone 1 : Next to the heroes.
-Magic Missile Barrage (4*3*2 = 24 damage) @ whoever is visible
[hp=55/90]

Payn Clone 2: Idling
[hp=63/90]

Payn Clone 3: Idling
[hp=63/90]

[Rocket!]

TURN 9

The Darkside didn't have much say in what to do.

It stomped through a building in its attempt to reach the next Heart in relative view.

The heroes in question turned to look at the harsh, murderous voice that echoed behind them.

The man seemed to mutter something under his breath, turning and starting a run. He certainly got better quicker.

Prell had this funny kind of enraged look on her face involving serious abuse of her eyebrows. It changed very rapidly to something far more serious as the Magic Missles homed in.

And hit! Prell was practically thrown backwards at the impact, sending her flying past the unknown man.

"Prell!" the unknown man shouted, lurching faster in the process.

Prell landed on her back and, hero-in-training that she was, quickly rolled into a half-standing position. Hurt as she was, she seemed keen on making tracks!

The man seemed to be of the same mind. The two kept their run up, turning into a nearby alley.

They winced at the sound of the Darkside walking through a building, though.

They were having a hard time prioritizing.

Darkside
[hp=102/124]

Unknown Man
[hp=20/56]

Prell
[hp=18/60]

[NiNeLiVeS]

Payn and the clone were already running towards them, one waiting for the energies from instant transference of matter to subside so that he could remove these interlopers, the other just... following.

There was a mental command issued.

Another flash.

The clone teleported in front of the heroes who seemed to be supernaturally quick - but not faster than the speed of light. The other two clones teleported their way towards Payn, lagging behind due to the distance but still coming closer and closer.

He'd given them a chance. Really, he had.

But now... well.

This was a battle. One did not run from a battle. They were warriors. Heroes. They were supposed to fight. Face to face, and man to man. Warriors did not hide, they did not give up, they-

These were not heroes.

A roar of primal fury tore itself from Payn's throat.

The alleyway exploded.

________________


Payn
-Ice3 @ Both
-Fire3 @ Both
-Lightning3 @ Both
-Stone Spike Lv3 @ Both

[hp=60/90]

Payn Clone1
-Teleport
[hp=23/90]

Payn Clone2&3
-Teleport
[hp=63/90]

[Rocket!]

TURN 10

Thunderous, blazing elemental magics strewed the alleyway at Payn's call, lacing the yellow stones with black scars and blood.

The man died.

His blood dripped freely from his mouth, shuddering in a fair bit more than a spat as powers beyond his beck and call sliced through him as easily as a piano key falls down.

He gave no words, for those to remember him by. His eyes, rolling upwards, were no special from any other man who died at the hand of a monster.

His body hit the floor.

And what little air remaining in his lungs jolted out through his mouth from the pressure.

A final, solitary, posthumous sigh.

And then he disappeared, with faint Light draining his body away form sight to, presumably, Lord Hades.

Who was chuckling to himself just then.

But the girl...

...

"AAAAAAAAAAUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH--

[/i][/size]"

The girl had either made it around the corner in the alley before Payn's magic hit. To go right past the clone, though... she must have teleported again, at the sight of the clone.

By the sounds of it, she was having a good long cry into that blue robe of hers. In mourning, no doubt.

And then meteors began to fall from the sky, sending everyone to their feet as 3 damage-heavy Dark Meteors blasted into the Thebian outskirts. That shut Prell up right fast.

The sky was a sea of darkness once more, a product of the Darkside's powerful might. It looks like the Berserk wore off...[/size][/blockquote]

[ Reminder! This is the last round the clones have! ]

Darkside
[hp=102/124]

Unknown Man
[hp=0/56]

Prell
[hp=15/60]

[NiNeLiVeS]

One had fallen but it was not enough. Not by half.

It was probably at the upper limit of the clone's range but it was the longest range spell they knew. Pity the one that was closest to the action couldn't get more than one shot out.

A barrage of magic missiles centered in on Prell.

____________


Payn

[hp=57/90]

Clone1,2,3:

1*3*2 = 6 dmg
4*3*2 = 24 dmg
4*3*2 = 24 dmg

[Rocket!]

TURN 11

The clones were mistaken-- Magic Missle was a horribly simple spell, not taking the time to weave through obstacles or focus on little more than their target.

The clones at Payn's side found their marks missing entirely, blasting into the buildings that saddled the alleyway in an attempt to make a beeline for the fleeing Prell.

The clone closest to Prell-- the only one able to peek into the fleeing hero-in-training's fleeing alleyway-- found a far more rewardable success.

Three missles slammed into Prell's fleeing backside, to be met further by the falling darkness of the darkness. [ 9 damage total! ]

Prell goes head over heels rolling, quickly taking advantage of the roll to escape into the street not a corner away from Payn.

She gritted her teeth, crunching her last Potion in her hands, sending a wave of green over her.

This just got personal!

Darkside
[hp=102/124]

Prell
[hp=28/60]

[NiNeLiVeS]

"Always fleeing," Payn rumbled. Around him, his clones dissolved into wisps of dust and ash, dispersing in the wind, much like the man had. He probably could not match the woman's speed - already she had turned another corner - but he had to try.

And his spells had more range than hers, he was fairly certain. Little else would explain why these bizarre tactics, meant to elude rather than confront.

Longshot - the moment he turned the corner he slicked the ground beneath her feet into solid ice and then tried to fry her with another barrage of elemental magic.

__________

Payn
[hp=57/90]

Ice3 = froze the ground 40 feet centered on Prell
Lightning3 @ Prell 8 dmg
Stone Spike3 @ Prell
Running towards Prell.

[Rocket!]

TURN 12

Prell went heels over head as she lost solid footing. Out of sheer fear-- no way was tall and gruesome going to throw only one spell at her-- she threw up her Reflect spell.

Payn's Lightning flickered back through the air for the demon himself.

The stone spikes blew right through, though. [ Stone Spikes has a lot of different ways to use it-- one big spike, a lot of little ones. Lacking particular note, I'm slapping 8 damage on Prell! ]

But her eyes-- still on fire-- showed she had no intention of letting this slow her down any!

The ice below her feet was rubbled from the impact of the stone spikes. It took some fancy footwork, but Prell was able to get through the mess without too much trouble!

A final wave of darkness descended from the sky. The Darkside-- still hulking forward through the town, was getting closer. [ 3 damage to all! Don't forget to have the second round's 3 damage tacked on! ]

Prell's target was in sight!

Darkside
[hp=102/124]

Prell
[hp=17/60]

[NiNeLiVeS]

OOC: So... that means that Payn's down six points of health due to the darkness? Or-? >_>

IC:

Lightning that would have shocked most into unconsciousness or extreme pain washed over Payn in a mighty sheet - but he weathered the entire blast, coming through it smoking but intact.

He wasn't anywhere close to dead but there really was only so much damage he could take. He should probably-

Payn blinked and nearly laughed. He was worried? What idiodicy.

Magical ice only lasted for so long, he was already traveling through slush by the time he had reached the epicenter of the spell. The stone spikes were only slightly more troublesome. Resistance to magic, reflect, maddening the giant heartless-

Were both of these heroes nominally in support roles?

Frowning, Payn decided to ignore that particular revelation in favor of charbroiling the heroine. She was - she was ignoring him. Him. This could not be allowed to stand! Not for a moment longer!

__________

[hp=41/90]

Fire Lv3 @prell
Lightning Bolt Lv2 @ Prell
Ice Arrow Lv2 @ Prell