middleofsomewhere | The Will to Fight: Ongoing: Red and Purple

The Will to Fight: Ongoing: Red and Purple

Dawn Attack

It's been a busy few days of fighting demons, attacking keystones and fighting both on the demon and human planes. On the morning of day nine of the month of Kazoo a gate opens close to the base camp that the two teams have made.

It seems the demons have decided to focus on this unexpected threat, because it is a sizable force, with a number of the large demons. They march towards the camp with single-minded focus, the opportunity to stop these unwanted defenders taking precedence over their desire to destroy the city.

The advantage to the landscape being as ruined as it is, is that there isn't much to stop the lookouts from seeing this force headed towards them. A gate opening is not subtle. There should be enough time to make sure the defenders are ready.

Scouting Ahead

Once that skirmish is won those on the Red team will find their SCA's beeping, with an exclamation point far out to the east.

A group of demons is congregating at the location indicated. Investigate why, defeat the demons and close any gates nearby.

It will take a while to get there and there is plenty to do on the way for those that follow the exclamation point. Roaming packs of demons, gates to be closed. Exhausting work, especially for those going in and out of the demon gates.

Protecting the City

Once it is clear that these defenders are not going to be easy to wipe out, the attacks on the city itself get more frequent. The demons have changed tactics: rather than sending in large groups they open many small portals, sending small strike teams to harry and target individuals.

Some of the attacks are clearly meant as traps: they open the gates in or very close to the city, to lure the Voidtreckers in to where they will be affected by the spell. Ranged attacks may be useful here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Honestly, really and truly honestly, Demyx was having one hell of a time. He wasn't going to be the kind of guy who climbed towers and solved puzzles, that was never going to happen, and he'd come along with purple again to deal with something more his speed.

He was not at all counting on this.

Trust was an elusive thing in his life. He wouldn't say he trusted anyone - and for good reason, most of his so called comerades wanted him dead at one point or another - but he has fought with Reno before.

Crouched on a wave like he's surfing, this is not at all something he's practiced and he's getting some ideas now that he's more able to express himself creatively, he jumps off in time, landing wiht his back to Reno. He'd show him his back, but few others.

The water crashed in and knocked demons aside, giving them at least a moment or two's breathing space.

"Hey, miss me?" He quipped with a smirk. Reno looked rough didn't he? In his opinion anyway, and he reached back to gently clap Reno's arm, his hand green. He only had cura though, it was more like a regenerating effect over time, but it would help.

The sound of water flowing caught his attention first but his gaze was on the demons spread out before him. But then the wave passed him by, and Demyx leapt off it like a freaking surf board to land in front of him, and the wave crashed into the demons and Reno stared at it all. His mouth twitched.

"You really know how to make an entrance," he said instead of replying to Demyx's question directly. He looked caught between keeping up a demeanor appropriate for a sarcastic front and yet having a hard time not showing his amusement at the whole spectacle.

There might have been more--another quip, a full on smile, taking advantage of the wave scattering the enemies to get in another attack maybe--except Reno was suddenly assaulted by Demyx laying hands on him. The redhead wasn't offended, he didn't even draw away at all, but rather somewhat confused by the gesture at first. And then the first healing wave washed over him and he understood. A restorative spell.

His expression brightened, relieved and almost thankful. "Heh. Didn't take you for the caring type, Concerto."

Demyx responded to both quips by raising an arm out and sweeping it in as he bowed. "Thank you, thank you, here all week apparently." He snickered lightly.

He raised his sitar again, resting it over his leg where it belonged.

"Caring? Nah. It's only a concerto with accompaniment, after all." He grinned at Reno and started up the music.

"If you ask me there's too many demons around here." A series of geysters started knocking them into the air and letting them fall to the ground, about six in all, soaking them in the process.

"How about a duet?"

Reno shook his head from side to side in amusement, red hair swaying gently with the movement, lips slightly upturned. Hey, if that was how the blond wanted to play it then so be it. Reno wasn't gonna object to the special treatment--it would help him get back into the fight quicker.

And he absolutely was not going to think about it any deeper than that.

"Duets are my specialty. If you've got the beat, I'll pick up the rhythm."

Not gonna think about the implications of that, either. Missing his two-step partner was getting old anyway. He could ~~cry~~ feel guilty about it later.

As the demons began to pick themselves back up from the ground, Reno let an EM Triple Shot loose from his baton. The three balls of electricity struck three different demons and electrocuted them severely thanks to the added water covering them. Reno laughed at the sight of fried demon. He enjoyed a good fight.

“Oh, I’ve got the beat.” Demyx said, laughing to himself as he continued to play. It was probably the best way to get someone to appreciate his music when it came with magic and destruction. He had thoughts about that but not in the middle of battle.

This move sent a little wave, not unlike the one he’d rode in on, in the direction of several demons. They tried to scramble, tried to get under it but because it was controlled and unnatural, he just collapsed the water on them with a snicker.

“I don’t think these things can swim.” He remarked, with full on amusement. "You know, I bet we could figure out how to cause a proper storm."

Demyx kind of wished he could make it rain, but that wasn't in his skillset.

Reno considered that as he watched the demons scramble awkwardly in the water. These regular ones weren't so smart either. Which made them perfect fodder for trying out new movesets.

He craned his neck at Demyx.

"Oh, I can bring the lightning~."

Demyx wanted a storm? Reno could give him a storm.

The Turk dashed forward and leapt into the air. Only to slam back down into the ground with his baton and send a circular field of electricity out from around him. It was a fairly large radius of blue lightning in all directions.

"All we're missing is a little thunder."

Demyx couldn't provide that, but now that he's thought about it, he's always wanted to make it rain. There was no reason why couldn't at least in some way.

That was quite an impressive radius too.

"Okay." He smirked and changed his position slightly. "Watch me compose something on the spot!"

The notes were soft at first, and it's going to leave Reno to beat back the small fries while he gets ready. Each note first slow, then getting progressively louder and quicker, as though culminating in a crescendo.

A lot of people though, wouldn't notice the effect, but then again people didn't naturally look up. Above the area where Reno was, with the demons coming in was a very large collection of water that, okay, he was shaping like a cloud anyway. That was just for him.

The music stopped. Time for the bridge. He'd strike a chord, but that wasn't possible on the sitar. The best he could do was two notes at once and so he did.

Water poured down around Reno onto the demons, mimicking rainfall to the best of his abilities.

Reno didn't know what Demyx was up to but he didn't seem to mind the guard duty as he waited for the music to pick back up in volume. Maybe he thought it was going to lead up to a dramatic finish and he was interested in seeing the show.

He kept the demons at bay with rapid dashes and flurries of kicks and baton strikes that downed a few of the weakened foes. Left the others reeling from the speed and brutality of his attacks.

The Turk was a little disappointed in the finale. Not that the effort wasn't creating something amazing, but it wasn't much of an attack in his opinion. And they were on a battlefield.

However, that did leave a lot of soaking wet demons on the field. And continuous downpour of water that could use a little spark. Reno shook his wet bangs from his eyes before pulling out three grey orbs from his pockets. He threw them out onto the battlefield and watched them take up position, hovering in the air. The water might fry them but Reno could just fix them or order more later.

They sparked to life and a triangle of electricity formed an encompassing line around the remaining demons caught in the rain. Reno waited till the discharge stunned a handful of the demons before dashing in with his EMR sparking, and finishing off each of the demons with an electrical strike from his rod.

"Now that is a storm!" he crowed as he turned back towards Demyx, posing cockily with his baton on his shoulder and a wide grin on his face.

It might not have been the most impressive, and maybe it wasn't worth it, but Reno expecting him to have the grand finale was wrong in this case. He was doing his job to support Reno doing that electrical damage.

Man, did that ever work.

He grinned back. "I don't think we could've cleared them faster!"

They'd also bought themselves a reprieve, which was a bonus considering how terrible this mission had been so far.

He didn't know if that was worth doing again, but it had been fun to give it a try.

Reno flashed Demyx a thumbs up. The combination of water and electricity was definitely a fast way to clear the field. Reno enjoyed it even if he was a little wet for it.

Playing in the rain wasn't so bad.

He swiped his hair up and out of his face with his hand as he approached Demyx. "Neat party trick. You should do that when we get back to another beach sometime."

A cruel prank? Maybe. But one that Reno would approve of so long as he wasn't on the receiving end of it.

Demyx snickered a little bit. "You think so? If someone was really annoying sometimes they accidentally got a little bit splashed when they weren't looking." He singsonged.

He certainly had ways to annoy people, but they were very deserving.

"A smaller scale though, is all I'd need for someone."

"Nah, it's perfect." The redhead insisted. "You can hit a whole group of people with it. I'll bring an umbrella... you can make it rain on some pretty girls..."

He was kidding, maybe. It would have been an idea he'd genuinely sink his teeth into if they weren't stuck on the train and with only other passengers to annoy. If they ever got to stick around a place with pretty girls maybe he'd bring it back up. But how likely was that? Not very.

Still, it would be amusing. "Or a group of friends who deserve a little rain on their parade."

Reno could think of a certain group that he'd want to douse.

"I probably could." He snickered. "That was kinda easier than I thought, even with all the build up." He waved his hand. It wasn't impressive on its own, but with Reno? Fairly effective, he thought.

"I mean, water balls are easier you know." He grinned and held up his palm.

"And for just one or two, I don't even need the music. Then it's just like water balloon fight!"

It's not a fair fight if only one of them can create water balls! Don't get any ideas, Demyx, he's already soaked enough from all your raining attacks.

"I never understood how water spells hurt anything not weak to water," he said lightly. "But they do pack quite a punch with the right spellcaster."

Was that a compliment? That might have been an offhanded compliment.

"All I'm saying is...not a bad set-up. I'd dance to that tune again."

For a brief moment, he treated Reno with a gentle smile and a bit of a faraway look like Demyx was thinking of something as he spoke.

"When you look at water in a pond, it looks like nothing. Harmless, gentle, unassuming, but nothing is ever how it appears." He commented with a quirk of his lips. "Then you have the destructive force of rapids or tsunamis, you realize that water isn't so docile as that."

He blinked a few times and let out a sheepish laugh. "Ha! Sorry."

Demyx had gotten that question a lot. He'd been teased a lot. In the end though, he had had the last laugh, hadn't he?

"Don't worry, I bet I can think up a few numbers to dance to." He grinned. "You're a flashy dance partner."

"Yeah, tell me about it." Reno half groused in response to the water insight. "Waterfalls tend to be dangerous for a reason. But hey, I know a lot of water spells that heal, too. It's one of those things..."

That had a duplicity to it. He got it.

Reno laughed. "Yeah, I like being the brightest star on the field. It's where all the fun is at!"

"I've never had that skill, but really I just kinda learned whatever seemed to work and stuck with it. Wasn't really any room for finesse you know?" He hummed.

He wondered too, if healing was something attuned to his element.

"I'm not complaining, it totally worked!"

"No training, huh? That's not so bad for an amateur. Maybe you can tune it up a bit and find that finesse you're missing. Plenty of time on the train, yo."

With plenty of people to train with, too. Not that Reno was offering... but he found his way into the gym every so often to polish off his skills. He'd probably be willing to have another sparring partner.

"So then, does that make you the accompaniment, Concerto?" he said with a teasing grin.

"Not none at all, and I've had to...well they kinda made me fight at home." He wasn't inexperienced, not an amateur, but he also didn't really explore the scope of his powers. "I haven't really worked on it that much, like coming up with new things or anything." Demyx admitted.

He laughed at the teasing. "This time, maybe." He snickered. "Just wait until I come up wiht something good, you'll be able to see my star power."

"'They'?"

Reno was prepared for the prompting question to go nowhere. It sounded like a complicated subject to broach despite Demyx's casual reference to it in conversation. So, he had another quip ready for when it was shot down or ignored altogether.

"Well, you should. Don't let things get stale and boring, yo. If you come up with that star power you can always show it to me before you fail on the battlefield. I've got plenty of experience in telling rookies how not to ruin their day with dumb ideas."

He said it with a bit of a snicker at the end, all in good humor. He wasn't lying though, he did help rookies get their feet wet back in the day. He wouldn't object to doing something similar here oddly enough for one so supposedly lazy as him. Chores? Not on your life. Taking people under his wing and teaching them ~~bad habits~~ useful tricks? Sure, why not!

"The Organization." Demyx responded. "Organization XIII." He answered, although he wasn't sure exactly what he should say about what they'd done. Vexen had a habit of being honest about things.

"I'm not a very nice guy." He pressed his lips together before shrugging with a sheepish little smile.

"Never really thought about it. I kinda do a few things and that's it." He should explore his powers sometime.

He smirked though, at the offer. "I don't know, are you sure you can handle it?"

"That so?" Reno's eyes darted over Demyx's form with a hint of amusement as he reassessed the blond. He didn't really see it. Nothing about Demyx particularly screamed 'bad boy' to the Turk. Perhaps that was the point though. "Well, to each their own. Goody-two-shoes get on my nerves anyway."

The name was a little lacking in creativity but Reno couldn't say his interest wasn't piqued by the information. He wanted to know more but wondered if now was a good time for twenty questions. They should probably head elsewhere, get back to work, or at the least head back to camp and see what was going on there.

"Oh, I know what I'm doing~. I can handle whatever you throw at me, Waterworks. Just try to impress me."

"Ha!" Demyx exclaimed in amusement at that, he definitely wasn't the goody-two-shoes type.

It probably wasn't the time to talk about it, but he could ask another time. It wasn't that big of a secret, considering Vexen had no problem telling people.

He snickered. "Noted. Just you wait, Sparky, I'll show you something real cool later."

Now Demyx had a bit of a side project, how to come up with something to impress and beat Reno with. It was going to be fun.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The Will to Fight: Ongoing: Red and Purple

II

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject