Counter Strike (Go)

"I knew letting that girl live would be a mistake," Arnaluuk said, scolding the Zodiac.

Scorpio merely shrugged. "Can't help it. Whenever I see a pretty girl, I can't just kill her off then and there, right? Honestly, I shouldn't kill them at all, to be fair. Seems like a waste of a perfectly good date. That said..."

Arnaluuk sighed. "No. I'm not going on a date with you, Scorpio."

The Zodiac sighed. "I say you're missing out, babe. Not many Spirits out there that can say that they've gone on a date with a Zodiac Spirit."

Arnaluuk raised an eyebrow and scoffed. "Most don't want to, considering you."

Scorpio laughed, wrapping an arm around the Frozen Sea Spirit. Odhran listened to their banter in dramatic silence, willing his imagination to forcibly blow a dramatic wind, blowing his coat and scarf back into the winds. He had initially planned for the meeting with his comrade for this mission to be one that instill awe into their eyes, though it perhaps did not go as planned with the argument between Arnaluuk and Scorpio. Odhran gave a hearty, dramatic laugh, spinning on his heel to address his comrade. "It is certainly a pleasure to meet you, and you must feel truly honored to be working alongside such a handsome, fearless, brilliant, and powerful man such as myself. I am Odhran Aegisbane, the God of the Celestial Spirit Realm! The one who binds the world of the stars and the world of man into one! While few know my name as of yet, I shall ensure that they gain true knowledge and true fear of my glorious visage! Down in the valleys below lies a camp. Within the camp lie people, people that I have had a previous run-in with! Those fiends were foolish enough to mock the great name of my guild, Elysium, and thus they paid the price! However, one valiantly managed to escape from my righteous and heavenly wrath, and informed their crew and their ilk of my being. While, without a doubt, I appreciate their fear of me, I must further prove that I am a force to be reckoned with! Merely slaying five members of their unfortunate band is not enough. Nay, I must strike down the head of the serpent! I must show that I am a merciless man, ending the lives of all who would dare step in my path in the throes of opposition! And thus, comes your involvement. Some would find it in ill faith to raid an entire camp by their lonesome, especially in the case that it is a camp led by those who have accosted others! Now come! Let us away!"

Odhran was prepared to jump off the cliff in flight when Arnaluuk stopped him, grabbing him by the scarf. "I apologize about my keybearer. He's a dunce, as you can see. Please, if you have any strategies for this assault, inform us. I doubt the dunce has thought anything through at all.

---

WC: 505

Dubhar scratched his cheek watching the party in front of him. They were nearly as crazy as he was. His dark blue lips spread rapidly into a grin. Pointed teeth caught the light. Sire, the parameters of this mission may fluctuate. Permission to adjust time as Dubhar? Persephone asked. The assassin chuckled softly. As one of them launched into a massive speech, Dubhar laughed heartily. "Excellent! Simply marvelous!" He said clapping his hands. Dubhar reached forward to bop Scorpio on the nose. "Who needs strategy? We'll slaughter them all! Paint the sands red with their blood! Strew their limbs about, make a masterpiece of macabre delight!" Dubhar skipped to the edge of the cliff. "Adieu!" He doffed his hat to the group. Then Dubhar let himself fall backward off the cliff.

Dubhar's casual black suit rippled open in the wind. His partially opened red shirt flapped about. The assassin laughed into the wind. Would his pointed nose be smashed flat if he did a belly flop? Rotate 85 degrees, bend knees, implants will absorb 70% of the shock Dubhar would have spit if he was able. Persephone took all the fun out of it. Still, he did as she advised. It was for the good of the body after all. Dubhar landed with a thud, one knee down. The guards jumped. They scrambled for their weapons. The assassin lunged. His teeth latched onto the throat of one. A jerk tore the flesh. Dubhar chewed as he turned on the other guard. The other guard was sitting upon the ground. The man had wet himself.

"Really?" Dubhar asked around the chunk of flesh. It hit the ground a moment later. This pathetic sight had ruined his appetite. A growl emanated from his chest. "Ruining my appetite. I can't stand when people ruin my meals!" Dubhar grabbed the man's leg. He squealed as the assassin ripped free long lengths of flesh. Dubhar growled again. This pig angered him. He would take his time with this one. Perhaps...Dubhar wrapped a hand around the man's neck. He'd knock him unconscious, then dismember him later. "Hey!" Dubhar jerked, ripping out his prey's throat. The assassin sighed. Pity. "You ruined my fun" A spark flew out of his hand. When it reached the interrupter, fire exploded outward. The female's charred corpse fell to the ground. Dubhar began laughing once again. This would be quite fun.

WC: 400

As their companion leaped off the cliff, Arnaluuk merely had the expression of wanting to die on her face. She had always hoped that her companions would be normal, like Silvia was. This one, on the other hand, was arguably stranger than Odhran. Arnaluuk glared at Odhran before closing her own gate, leaving the Celestial Spirit God a bit miffed. Nonetheless, he had a chance to see some of his newer Spirits in action. "Scorpio! We must away! We cannot allow our companion to steal all of our glory!"

Scorpio smirked at his Keybearer's words, and the two leaped off the cliff to follow the companion. Scorpio had little to worry about in terms of landing, being a Celestial Spirit, but Odhran needed to sprout his wings to float above the ground as Scorpio crashed beside him. Their companion had landed at the other end of the camp, leaving Odhran with a squadron of his own to deal with. Odhran smirked as the squadron encroached on his position. "Spirits! I call upon you! Strike down my enemies before me! Let the masses see what a great and powerful god I am!"

Having made his boisterous remark, Odhran willed the very earth around him to crack and shape, the cliff and ground melding and merging into a throne as Odhran summoned his Spirits. Standing in a row, left to right, was the majority of the menagerie of majestic magical monsters that Odhran had as his allies. Lupa the Wolf. Sweetie the Sugardrop. Scorpio the Scorpion. Noel the Anti-Saint. Sir Pudley Tafferton the Royal Guard. With a snap of his fingers, the five set out into combat against the host of enemies approaching.


"D'aww the puppy's so cute~" a man said as Lupa stepped forward to engage them.

One of the others bandits looked at his cohort in confusion before telling him and his five other companions to strike at the winged wolf. Lupa stamped her paw into the ground, sending a wave of earth pulsing through the ground. It unbalanced the five for a moment, allowing Lupa to dash in, striking the admirer in the face with an un-imbued paw. He went tumbling to the ground as the other four regained their footing. The one wielding a sword came in to strike first, swinging wildly at the wolf, who easily dodged, guiding his blade into the waiting arms of the hammer-wielder, who fell to the ground bleeding. The four that remained conscious began to argue as Lupa took flight above them, preparing elements in each of her paws. Taking a spiral dive, she plummeted into the center of the group, striking the swordsman with a paw of fire, the archer with a paw of ice, the axe-wielder with a paw of earth, and the bleeding hammer-wielder with a paw of air. The four fell simultaneously as Lupa proudly marched down to the admirer, licking his face in hopes that he would play with her.


The ten that surrounded the giant reaper were intimidated, to say the least. Noel towered over the petty soldiers, and he was a skeletal being to boot.

"You seem rather afraid. Do not fear. I am just a harbinger of the holidays." He let out his laugh.

The ten, enraged, charged at the Winter Reaper, who looked around at all of them, his vacant eyes holding fires of malice. He slowly set down his burlap sack, letting it open up to the world as he opened his arms. A haze of soot encircled the arena that had been seemingly set up for the Spirit to duel in. Noel laughed once more as the storm slowly began to close in, all ten of the soldiers feebly trying in a panic to strike down Noel. Boredly, Noel grabbed one of them by the head, slowly extending his arm into the storm of soot and coal and snow. When he dragged the body back into view, it was naught more than a skull itself. This caused the nine to struggle even more, swinging desperately at the Reaper, who still remained motionless. "You have been naughty, and you must be punished." Noel's call marked the closing of the storm, its galeforce retreating into the bag and leaving a pile of skeletons only remaining. Noel laughed as he looked around to see how the remaining fights were going.


"Ooooh! I get to get in a real fight now!"

Sweetie seemed ecstatic that she was able to show off her own personal prowess in combat. She had rightful cause to believe she was the second strongest of Odhrna's keys, only behind the Zodiac, and she was not going to let that sentiment be proven false. As twelve enemies surrounded her, she blew a bubble. It was one of the perks of being made of candy. She could always seem cool with a blown bubble without having to chew on bubble gum all the time. She set Gumdrop on the ground, arranging herself in a fighting stance, ready to use her skills in Jeet Kune Do. The twelve rushed at her, completely surrounding her. She quickly spun around, sending specks of sugar skywards. It all clung to the attackers, causing them to be motionless for a moment. Sweetie then rushed over towards the nearest one to her, delivering a swift jab to his neck, causing him to crumble to the ground. The rest of the soldiers began to move once more, each trying desperately to hit her. She blocked their strikes with her hardened arms, countering each attack possible with a palm strike or a low kick to the calf or shin. As a minute and a half passed, the attackers progressively fell, each one as if merely resting, though it would be a rest they would never wake from. Finally, one remained, and it was the most difficult one to fight, as she bore claw-like weapons. Sweetie taunted her over, the clawwoman obliging. Sweetie ducked underneath the slash of the claws, planting a palm strike to her abdomen as her left arm formed a ball of pink cotton candy. She rammed it into the clawwoman's mouth before it rapidly expanded, causing the head to burst like the blown bubble just mere moments ago.

"Yes! Score twelve for Sweetie! Oh! And Gumdrop didn't even get hurt? Awesome!"

Swettie combat rolled to pick up Gumdrop, petting him atop the head as he dopily panted.


"By order of Queen Lolly, Fourth of her name, Queen of Candyland, Lady of the Licorice Lagoon, Matron of the Macaroon Mesa, and of Odhran Aegisbane, God of the Celestial Spirit Realm, I, Sir Pudley Tafferton, Captain of the Third Royal Guard, order you to lay down your arms!"

The six that surrounded Sir Pudley were dumbfounded, to say the least, but they refused to lay down their arms. Rather, they seemed to arm themselves even further, charging at the Royal Knight. Sir Pudley sighed, quickly bashing away one of the sword strikes with his shield, swiftly delivering a blow with his candy cane mace to the swordsman's gut. The gunman delivered a hail of bullets, all of which plinked helplessly off the shield, his mace hand fending off the ferocious strikes of the dagger wielder and the spearman. Sir Pudley hooked his mace's deflection of the spearman's strike to smash the arms of the dagger wielder, who roared in pain. Sir Pudley then swung his shield around, bashing the spearman's face with his shield as the gunner reloaded. He pointed his mace at the gunman, as a boulder of cookies flew and struck him down, causing him to woozily lay, stuck in the ground. He quickly smashed his mace down on the heads of the two discombobulated soldiers, incapacitating them for good. Looking at the last one, who fire off bolts of fire, Sir Pudley merely pointed his mace again, causing yet another cookie boulder to smash into him. Stepping on the head of the swordsman, he looked proudly at his victory.

"A marvelous display, worthy of Her Grace, Queen Lolly, Fourth of Her Name, Queen of Candyland, Grevine of the Gummy Gulch, Proregina of the Polkagris Polje!"


"You guys all took too long," Scorpio said as the four others neared him, stepping over and between the thirty bodies lying around the Zodiac.

"Sooooorrryyy! I just got a bit carried away with some fun there!"

"Hey, don't worry about it, baby. We'll just see what our companion does and go on from there."

The five agreed, each taking a look at the progress the strange companion made.

---

WC: 1432
TWC: 1937

Cetus sat on one of the corpses to watch Odhran's crew work. It was quite entertaining. He pulled a leg off the burnt corpse and started nomming on it. A good snack to go with a good show! It was a little overdone though. Next time, he'd roast over a spit. Cetus laughed heartily at the antics. Quite the entertaining show this all was. Unfortunately, his entertainment was interrupted yet again.

A guard came up behind Cetus. They must have thought he couldn't pay attention behind his back. They wound up with their weapon. The shark man let them roll their wrist a few times. Winding up before the hit was so cliche. It let your opponent know what you were planning. They always had too much time to react. Cetus took another bite out of the leg. Without warning, he rolled backward off the corpse. The leg swung out catching the guard in the side. "Why do you all-" He sprang to his feet. The beating of the guard continued with the charred leg. "-insist-" Cetus tossed the leg aside. He put a foot on the man's chest. His hands clasped the man's right arm. "-on ruining-" The shark man yanked roughly. The guard screamed loudly. "-my fun!" The arm separated with a squelch. Blood spurted out onto the ground. Cetus tossed away the offending limb. He left the guard bleeding out.

"Odhran! Spirit King! Get down here! We're going into the cave!" He noticed the spirits gathered around. Cetus snapped his fingers at them. "Dance around the fire, kiddies. Daddy's going cleaning!" He chuckled softly to himself. Cetus skipped as he entered the cave. Time to clean house. Daddy was grabbing the sweeper. The moment he stepped into the cave, two mages rose from the stone. Cetus didn't hesitate. He stepped past them both. He reached back, wrapping an arm around a neck. Down on one knee, forcing the mage onto his shoulder. There was an audible snap. One down.

The other mage sprang into action. Stones leaped onto her body. It created a plating most would find intimidating. Cetus chuckled as he got to his feet. "That outfit is cute, baby. It goes with your eyes." Fire gathered in his hands. Giggles tumbled from his mouth. "Let me make you smokin' hot." There was fear in the woman's eyes. Delicious. He couldn't wait to sink his teeth into her. Ah, wait... his stomach was complaining about being full. No more room for munchies. "bye, bye!" Black fire shot from his hands. The sparks ate into the stone covering. The woman screamed as the fire ate her flesh. Cetus clapped delightedly. Such fun watching people die.

"Alright, my lovelies! More entertainment awaits us inside!" He called back to the spirits and Odhran. Happiness filled his chest. It was such a thrill!

WC: 474
TWC: 874

Dubhar skipped into the cave, kicking rocks along the way. They clattered lovingly about the entrance. The sound echoed down the tunnel. It probably alerted everyone within but he couldn't care less. The more the merrier for a party after all. Dubhar giggled to himself. Party was such a funny word.

The guards popped up soon after. Dubhar threw his hands wide. "My brothers!" They appeared confused, but readied themselves for battle. Dubhar let fire erupt from his hands. Not at the guards but rather into the air. They took a step back. "I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me!" More guards had run forward. With the numbers, the previous two steeled themselves. Dubhar let a small smirk light upon his lips. "A day may come when the courage of Men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship -" A foolish man stepped forward hands raised. Lightning crackled between his fingers. A thin bar of black flame pierced his chest as Dubhar said "but it is not this day." The guards were effectively cowed once more. Even with nine as their number, they swayed with fear and indecision. Dubhar would have laughed if not for his very important speech. "An hour of wolves and shattered shields when the Age of Men comes crashing down, -" Wolves of fire stepped from behind Dubhar. Their muzzles snarled at the guards. The nine took a collective step back. "But it is not this day!" the rest of the guards, he hoped, had rushed forward. With a battle cry, the guard contingent attacked the madman. Dubhar let loose his dogs of war. "This day we fight!" He dashed forward with his wolves. A lashing hand ripped the flesh from a woman's face. Her screaming form collapsed to be consumed by one of his wolves. Dubhar's foot flicked out, crushing a guard's throat. "By all that you hold dear on this good earth, -" A flame of black blossomed like a flower. It consumed three more of the guards. Dunhar flowed through their ranks. His presence was death. When he stood over their corpses, Dubhar raised a sword of fire. "I bid you, Stand! Men of the West!"

The madman bowed to his captive audience. The dead still had ears. They simply couldn't protest anymore. A gasp drew his attention. A tiny guard held onto life. Burns covered ninety percent of his or her body. He couldn't tell which it was. Dubhar fell to his knees next to the person. "Oh, Mr. Frodo. We're so close, Mr. Frodo!" He crooned, cradling the head. The gasp must be one of joy, not pain. "I can't carry it for you, but I can carry you! Come on!" Dubhar picked up the guard and slung them over his shoulders. As if he was carrying a great weight, he stomped deeper into the cave.

When they came to an antechamber, Dubhar dumped the corpse on the floor. Gold filled the room. The odd gem poked from the pile. Dubhar dropped down on all fours and scurried to the treasure. "It's mine. My own. My precious." the bluette muttered to himself. He cast shifty eyes around the room. "It's ours! Ours!" Dubhar snarled as he pet the gold. "And the hobbitses are dead!" He broke into insane laughter, heedless of whatever their mission was supposed to be.

WC: 570
TWC: 1444