Open - Cosmic meltdown

_____Kaede’s wake up was far from subtle, rather she woke with a serious issue as the light beamed down n her eyes from the sun above. It was one thing if she woke early morning, but since it was noon, well Noon on a Monday to be exact was the issue as Kaede tried her UI to log out. No result, another attempt, no result AGAIN. While sometimes Kaede would react with a subtle, exhale… that was not the case when she was missing history 101.

_____Cosmic energy wrapping her frame in in instant as she screamed one word and the sheer energy driven from her emotion ripping across the field in a powerful torrent breaking earth and anything in its path. The words from her shout carried with the wave of cosmic energy to the farthest edges of the clearing before yet another wave raptured the upturned earth. This time the wave altering the gravity of the broken chunks of earth to start rising rapidly around her and carrying a second shout with it.

”GAME MASTER!!!! WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON!!!!”

_____Kaede’s hands holding together connecting her palms as she slowly moved them apart turning the space between into a black hole as she growled and tossed it into the air. Hands moving part fully as the black hole tore open wider and sucked the loose earth into it as she turned rapidly to see if anyone who looked like a GM would show up when something of this scale was just tossed up for no reason.

_____Without result Kaede took her anger a step further, hand thrusting forward as a beam of cosmic energy struck the ground and exploded more chunks of the area into her black hole. She was missing a class, rather she already missed two before it, if she did not get it fixed her grade would drop next and she REFUSED to let that happen. She was going to get a GM to react, or someone to explain what the hell was going on.

WARNING: Kaede is enraged and not thinking clearly, she may attack you at first if you sneak up or try to stop her.​

 

Sean was taking a stroll through Brisshal, the thought of not having an interface still in his mind. What the hell is going on? He sighed, hoping he could get some answer-

He heard an explosion a small bit off. Is that what I think it is...? He broke out into a sprint towards the source of the sound.

As Sean arrived at the source of the sound, he instinctively facepalmed. There was a girl, blowing up grass. Without thinking, he began to run to her. "Hey! Can you explain to me what's going on!?"

 

”What is wrong?! WHAT IS WRONG?!?! I CAN’T LOG OUT AND I ALREADY MISSED TWO FUCKING CLASSES GOING ON THREE NOW!!!”

_____Kaede spun around as she moved her hands out, two large orbs of energy crackling with her anger driven state before she threw them past @Sean Poteitoku and watched another chunk of the area explode and the rest of it get sucked into the black hole above them. To be honest Kaede was slightly shocked someone who was not using Cosmic retribution wasn’t sucked up into it. Writing it off as yet another issue she was having Kaede shouted again likely sending a wave of energy to push Sean some distance away from her.

”IF THIS HAPPEN ON A FRIDAY I’D BE FINE, THATS JUST MY CLUB HOURS IM MISSING BUT HISTORY 101? CHEMISTRY 201, LAW 342? HELL NO!!!!!”

_____Hands waving as they shifted from purple to black and Kaede slammed the ground send another shockwave to rapture the earth more around her. Surely if she caused enough damage a game master would show up, since she could not try and call one with her UI as it was. Growling as her cosmic form started to flicker, her energy starting to drop more rapidly with the serious strain but little concern from the woman who wanted OUT OF THE GAME!

 

Sean could feel the energy of the shots fired past him. What the hell is wrong with this girl!? He suddenly realized that she was in the same situation as him. "WAIT, CALM DOWN! I'M IN THE SAME SITUATION!" He held out his hand and performed the normal interface opening animations, but nothing happened. "IF WE WANT TO GET THIS FIXED, WE NEED TO WORK TOGETHER AND ASK AROUND!"

 

​

Darkness. All around him, there was nothing else but darkness. Iván felt like he was floating in space, all of his body moving but not of his own accord. There was no rush for movement from him, no motivation to do anything, at least not at that moment. He was hazy, everything was hazy, and all that filled his mind were thoughts of the vision he had from down in that Spire along with the purple god, the otherworldly being, that has been the fixture of his life in this game ever since they crossed paths. Absolver… You must find him, Bound Prince… You must, you must, you must.

“Where are you, my god?” Iván slowly, carefully, turned his head to one side, and then to another, looking for someone, something, that wasn’t there. The first time he died, it was enlightening. He was on an expedition with an old friend, @Portia Ahrens , an unplanned, unexpected turn of events, and a couple of others that soon became old friends. “@Destiny Divebird ? @Bradwynne ? Where are you? You’re going to miss him…”

He was not there. Again, he was nowhere to be found, not where he had been when Iván first die. The masked illusionist had expected his second death to be their second meeting, almost joyful that he had perished at the hands, rather claws, of the crystal wolves in the Crystallized Zalra. He had met someone there, someone afflicted with what now afflicts him, but his curiosity got the better of him.

Iván ignored the man’s plea for salvation, allowed him to die, to become enlightened, and made him bait for the talking crystal wolves. Iván’s plan succeeded. He saw them with his very eyes, but they saw him, too, and the numbers game was too much for the masked illusionist. He fought back but went down, ripped to shreds by the abominations, though he went with a smile on his face, contented, excited, looking forward to the prospect of once again reuniting with his god, the purple god from down in the Spire.

“You weren’t there…” There was sorrow in Iván’s voice before it was replaced by anger. He could not believe he was abandoned yet again. That’s twice now he’s died for him, twice he’s ignored him… Does he not want him? Does he not seek another audience with his most loyal servant, his Bound Prince? “WHY AREN’T YOU HERE?!”

His scream was followed by a cry of pain as crystal spikes burst from under his skin. He had been blessed with Zalrisis by those talking crystal wolves when they put him down, his only souvenir in his first failed attempt to seek his god. It had been a reminder of his failure. Was it now going to be a reminder of how his god had abandoned him? That very thought only served to make Iván angrier, which only served to make his Zalrisis stronger, more powerful. Despite the pain, his fury could not be contained. Uncontrollable tears, fueled by anger, streaked down his face as he slowly, carefully, became a crystallized version of himself, fully covered in those crystal spikes, a testament to his anger and despair.

The next thing Iván knew, he was opening his eyes, his head muddled, him a little bit confused as to where he was, what just happened, why he was there. This time, there was solid ground beneath him. He looked around but there was no one else, just his things littered on the ground.

“What’s this? Where am I?” Iván slowly, carefully, sat upright, scratching his head. It took him a few seconds but he did remember going down to Titanius, with his familiar beside him, after most of the Witch Ops fell to that ancient beast. “Commander?” he looked around him again, this time with haste, with a sense of urgency, but found no trace of the @Grand Witch Majolica or any other member of Witch Ops.

“I died? Shouldn’t there be a Soul Healer? Why are my things on the ground?” The masked illusionist, as quickly as he could, opened his interface, rather he tried to, but it didn’t work. His palm menu wasn’t responding, even though he tried it thrice. Nothing was working. He tried again and again and again. Even his investigation mode had abandoned him. He went back to scratching his head, a little disturbed, “What is happening?”



“What is happening?” From behind his red mask, once the face of a deadly predator from down in the Spire, and behind suitable foliage, Iván narrowed his eyes to observe the ruckus he had heard while going down this hidden path in Brisshal, a path he found by accident when he, well, got lost. With his UI down for the time being, he had to rely in his sense of direction, which wasn’t as reliable as he had hoped. Thankfully, this ruckus, whatever it is, could help. Or kill him again. Whatever worked. “Are they fighting?”

From what he could gather from the all the yelling, these two were having problems with their UIs as well. One seemed just as confused as Iván while the other was going on some sort of murderous rampage. Should the masked illusionist intervene? He probably shouldn’t. He didn’t want to get in the middle of this…lovers’ quarrel. Or did he?

“Hello,” Iván deadpanned, appearing right next to the Felis (@Sean Poteitoku ) after making sure there wasn’t any energy balls heading straight for his face, err, mask. He wasn’t even looking at the crimson-maned cat person, rather at the Yladian (@Kaede Hoshi ) who was Hulking out at the moment. She was no bald navigator. She was most definitely a warrior, bred to fight and kill stuff. Iván wasn’t going to fight or get killed, thanks primarily to his newfound Felis meat shield. “You guys having problems with your UIs, too? I heard you guys mention it a couple of times. I guess I’m part of this club.”

 

_____He did not just say what she thought he had said. Eyes moving to focus on @Sean Poteitoku with pure rage. Cosmic form flickering out to show the almost distorted rage on her face as she began to twitch trying to remain calm, keyword TRYING. He had said it, no matter how many times she doubled over her memory he did say ‘calm down’, and OH was that not gonna happen as she moved her arms out and began charging two orbs to grow larger than the ones already leaving large holes in the ground.

”Calm… down? Ha… HA-HA… HAHAHAHA! YOUR JOKING RIGHT?!?! YOU HAVE TO BE…. HA-HA… YOU THINK I CAN CALM! ...THE FUCK… DOWN!!!!”

_____Each of the two orbs growing to Kaede’s size before splitting and the now four orbs growing larger. Kaede’s full body seemed to be twitching as the air around her started to crackle with cosmic energy. A MALE was telling Kaede to calm down after all the shit she was dealing with? She never missed a day of class her whole life, an all A’s student, the girly nerd who took notes about everything and organized them by color, class, and down to minute records of everything about the lesson in detail.

_____Four orbs breaking into eight and growing as she just seemed to keep using her anger to make up for the energy drain. The ground around her breaking at the sheer force she was keeping held close as Kaede kept her eyes locked on Sean. She had a fully paid scholarship for all of her hard work, she had so many schools asking her to join them and she could pick only one of them. The most prestiges for its success and difficult course work.

_____She was working on seven majors in her first year there, she was the student they expected the most from. She had a part time job even, but now she was trapped in a game and this MALE who did not know jack shit about her was saying to calm THE HELL DOWN!? Eight breaking into thirty-two orbs the same as normal size as Kaede began moving her hand. The energy shifting and if bloodlust in bolk could paint a target it was aimed directly on Sean.

”YOU DON’T KNOW SHIT ABOUT MY SITUATION! YOU THINK WE ARE IN THE SAME DAMN BOAT BECAUSE WE BOTH LOCKED IN?!?! I HAVE CLASS WORK, A PART TIME JOB, MORE HOMEWORK THAN MY HEIGHT IN PAPERWORK DAILY AND YOU’RE TELLING ME TO CALM DOWN!!!”

_____Kaede’s right hand swung out, the first orb sailing at startling speed towards the male, soon Kaede waved her left hand to send another orb, then her right again, and back to her left. Slowly but surely swarming the male and the masked person with him in numerous, very dangerous threats. Kaede’s form flickering out in all but her hands to sustain the assault as she started marching forward to close the range and time to react. Her voice resounding between the explosions.

”MY DAD IS LIKELY GOING TO FIND ME PASSED OUT, OR WORSE MY ROOMMATE AND I CAN’T SUDDEN LOG OFF TO STOP HER FROM TRYING ANYTHING TO WAKE ME UP!!!”

@Iván Carl

 

Sean definitely didn't expect to be attacked.

”Calm… down? Ha… HA-HA… HAHAHAHA! YOUR JOKING RIGHT?!?! YOU HAVE TO BE…. HA-HA… YOU THINK I CAN CALM! ...THE FUCK… DOWN!!!!”

As the girl suddenly started unleashing energy balls at Sean, he shrieked in fright. Who knows how many hits I could take...? Let's not try it! He began to run as fast as he could, the shots landing almost dangerously close to him.

Key word almost.

After around five seconds of running, Sean was growing tired. Curse me being inathletic! Quickly thinking, he dived onto the ground.

The shots landed all around him, but didn't hit him. Deep inside, an anger started to swell up. "DO YOU THINK YOUR GRADES EVEN MATTER IF YOU CAN'T GET OUT OF THIS HELLHOLE AT ALL!?"

 

Hmm... This one has a temper.

Iván wasn't wrong in thinking the Yladian warrior had a temper, but considering her strong argument regarding her other life, it was understandable. If Iván had similar concerns, he could probably relate. He probably wouldn't have had the urge to destroy everything around him, not as blatantly and perhaps not as destructive as this show of violence, but he would still feel some sort of rage bubbling deep within him. It would only be a matter of time then until he would succumb to it, perhaps even driven insane by it. Thankfully, he had no such concerns with his other life. He should probably fix that. If he ever gets the chance to.

"All this rage... What can it accomplish?" Iván deadpanned, seemingly not as concerned as @Sean Poteitoku with regards to the powerful energy balls @Kaede Hoshi was summoning out of thin air. If the Yladian hadn't been too consumed by her rage to pay close attention, she would've noticed that the Felis didn't notice the masked illusionist. Keyword: Illusionist.

Perhaps, if both of them had paid close attention, they would've also noticed that Iván's voice didn't come from where Iván was supposedly standing. The masked illusionist, at least something that resembled like him in the Yladian's eye, or more appropriately mind, continued to drone on until he was cut off when one of those balls went straight for him, turning where he stood into an explosion of dust and undergrowth, "Perhaps if we took the time to come together, sit down, think things through---"

Iván's eyes widened in horror as the smoke from that explosion reached the shrubbery he was hiding in, barely and instinctively closing them in time to prevent being blinded by miniscule debris. Thankfully, no sharp or heavy object went flying directly in his hiding spot. He wasn't in the mood for dying today. Swallowing air, Iván realized the Felis had the right idea of running and ducking the energy balls. She really is that powerful. Should he run? Or should he stay where he was safely hidden?

He decided to let another barrage of energy balls choose his fate. If a stray one or two came at him, he would most definitely run. If not? He hoped the Felis, or anyone else really, could get through to the Yladian. At least for enough time so he could make his escape. Who knew what could happen if he died again, especially now since his UI was unresponsive? True death, maybe? Yikes.

 

_____Kaede was starting to get annoyed with how despite her attacks this person just seemed to have luck on his side. Growling lightly as the last orb was burnt and her Cosmic form fully vanished, her memory of her total energy now in critical causing her to dial it back but still annoyed as the black hole above the group seemed to slowly close up. Kaede still looked enraged as she pulled her dagger free from her belt and pointing it at Sean, then where Ivan hid as her eyes turned black.

”What i was trying to do was get a GM to show up from destroying a larger area. Now if you'll excuse me I have to wait for my energy to return so I can go back to attacking the area. Unless you all have something else that might solve this issue.”

______Eyes returning to blue as she spun her dagger in her hand and sat down in the torn up ground of her attacks. Eyes closing as she focused on the energy in the area and tried to pull some back to help speed up her recovery, slow clam breaths to also aid her attempts. The two here had good points, but what they seemed to lack was the idea maybe having different reactions was helpful here to explore the most routes to solve the problem at once.

”Beside, why should I trust either of you. When you use your UI others can't see it, for all I know you previous attempt worked and your simply trying to distract me!”

_____Kaede, despite all her faults and bad habits saw herself as someone who thought when she needed to, considered her options, and above all refused to take the route with the most risk along its path. The two did not bring up enough of a sound argument for her to follow them, and after she followed a group of males by herself last time she refused to let herself be so easily convinced by any of them.
@Sean Poteitoku | @Iván Carl

 

Sean was starting to get impatient. Wow, she's stubborn. "Look." He bent forward. "You can choose not to believe me, but the matter is the same, I can't use my UI, just like you. If you want, I can just stab you now, or set you ablaze?" He turned his usual energy into a piercing stare, no signs of weakness in it. "Instead of looking for a game master, we have to find a way to get somebody to unplug you. Then, you can make some form of power timer that shuts off power supply to your headset after a certain amount of time, instantly logging you out. I've been through this before, myself."

 

Hmm... Iván furrowed his brows from behind the foliage that served as his hiding place. The Yladian (@Kaede Hoshi)'s concerns were understandable. Her methods, however, were perhaps only her own.

He has never heard of a GM showing up just because someone destroyed a large area. He has witnessed destruction of large areas before, and even if those were because of NPCs or monsters, a GM surely wouldn't bother to show up just because a Player decided to blow up one teeny tiny corner of the game. They could simply just program, code, its rebirth from a safe distance. This was all a waste of her time, their time.

Thankfully, she seemed to have gotten low on energy, a welcomed respite from her murderous rage. Iván had no idea who these two were, so using an illusion to assess the situation was the smartest, and safest, thing he could've done. He wondered if it was the time to come out now, considering that the warrior was no longer in some sort of berserker mode. Should he risk his own safety?

Without his UI, though, it would perhaps be the worst idea to come out of his head. He didn't know what could happen should he die with an unresponsive UI. He wasn't even sure he was still alive outside of the game. "Why would anyone distract you? And distract you from what exactly?"

Iván could understand the rage and the distrust, but the latter as means of distraction? It didn't make that much sense to him. Why would other Players distract a Player from solving a specific problem that not a lot of them have encountered so far? Iván himself had never heard of any issue with UIs getting locked for Players, though to be fair he hasn't been playing the game that long.

Has there already been instances of UIs getting locked for Players that he wasn't privy to? But why would other Players who could potentially find themselves locked out of their UIs "distract" Players who were already locked out of their UIs instead of finding out a way to solve the problem? Surely they'd be more to gain with solving such a problem and so little with "distracting" others from the solution? What was the latter going to accomplish?

The Felis (@Sean Poteitoku) had a pretty sound idea at his disposal but how exactly were they going to contact someone from outside the game to help them? Unless they already have friends playing the same game who didn't get locked out of their UIs, it wouldn't really work...would it?

Sighing, Iván came out of his hiding place with hands before him, a gesture to show the two people that he wasn't there to fight anyone. There was no point in fighting anyone, not in this situation where nothing had to be gained. He addressed the Felis plainly, "You've been through this before? Getting your UI locked? How did you manage to fix it?"

 

_____The male threatening to stab or attack Kaede was likely the one step backwards that would lead to his day going from not so good to worse. Kaede had no need for a large amount of energy, no need for her cosmic form as she rose from her spot and glared at the male. She did not even need her UI to tell he was a rank or two below her in just about everything. It would even be safe to say she could finish a skirmish against him in a single flow of attacks. Moving to face him Kaede gave him one last set of words.

”I’d love to see you try and land a hit on me boy. Honestly i think you're far denser than most. Any sane person would have noticed you lived by sheer luck alone thus far against me, but to have the damn gull to say you could hit me removes that shred of luck…”

_____Kaede stopped speaking for a single moment, Cosmic power returning in one simple burst behind her to project her forward, just close enough to make sure she could take the kid by surprise and prove to him that magic was not her only strong suit. Frame gliding across the ground, low and around the boy at rapid speed. Despite that however Kaede’s control of every variable, every fine movement was near flawless.

_____Her body moving like liquid as she rose from her half circle slide behind her target, eyes blinking for the first time since her words stopped. Her dagger quickly moved to nearly lodge itself in Sean’s spine only stopping a cm from the targeted spot as Kaede clicked her tongue in light disapproval. She did not only use her magic because she lacked strength with her dagger, but rather the fact she hated such easy work.

_____Her mind worked so much differently from others, her ability to account every detail, every possible reaction and a counter to them before she gained foresight or slight enhances from her mastieres was her greatest strength. This fight was over in a thousand ways before she even used the burst to close the gap, his every move already given a probability, and a swift reaction already thought up. Moving her dagger away slowly Kaede sighed.

”Sixteen million four hundred thirty-two thousand and seven possible ways this battle could go from start to finish… three hundred twenty two possible endings with your death without a single strike against me… one possible way you win… is this really the odds you wish to risk by further testing my temper for your gender and actions boy?”

_____Sure there could be more ways it could go down if Kaede bothered to use her astral magic to see them, but the fact remained she could see that many routes without it would hopefully teach the kid a lesson. Do not… enrage… a woman who is already pissed off, and another lesson… The difference in combat ability, was simply unmatched. His only route to victory Kaede could even see was if she misjudged him, and in her mind that was highly unlikely.
@Sean Poteitoku | @Iván Carl

 

As the woman moved quickly behind Sean, his face didn't change.

”Sixteen million four hundred thirty-two thousand and seven possible ways this battle could go from start to finish… three hundred twenty two possible endings with your death without a single strike against me… one possible way you win… is this really the odds you wish to risk by further testing my temper for your gender and actions boy?”

Sean let a small smirk out. Wow, this will be fun. He didn't even turn to the woman pointing her dagger at his spine.

"Well, yes, there's one possible way for me to win..."

He suddenly dashed away, making a 180 degree turn to face the woman, his sword out.

"...but there's more than one way for me to even the playing field!"

 

Iván narrowed his eyes from behind his red mask. Well, there goes diplomacy. It seemed that both of them, the Yladian girl and the Felis boy, were blinded by their own interests, which, considering their shared predicament independent of their respective reactions, were completely understandable. You keep people in the dark, people tend to riot in the dark. It wasn’t a civilized or intellectual reaction but it was an understandable reaction.

The masked illusionist was, thankfully, still kept some distance between himself and either of the two. Resigned to the fact that these two were probably going to duke it out until only one of them survived, Iván decided to stay and watch on, wondering which of them could actually survive this fight. Both of them seemed capable, but as his mentor once revealed to him, you can’t always rely on what seems.

Iván was most definitely intrigued when the Yladian mentioned something about numbers and possibilities. Can she really see the future? Or is she just exaggerating? There was only one way to find out. It was then interesting, though, at least for Iván, to meet someone who can see the future but not the resolution to their current predicament. Or perhaps, it just didn’t work that way, however her abilities manifested.

The boy seems to have speed on his side while the girl has power on her side. If she doesn’t find herself lacking energy, she could probably just waste him. On the other hand, should she lose energy, she might get wasted by the boy. This is certainly an interesting turn of events.

Iván simply stood there, an escape from the corner of his eyes should he need it but fully intending to see this skirmish through. If anything, maybe he can gain some sort of knowledge with this clash. He’ll just have to postpone finding answers for his condition for a short while.

 

_____The boy had officially lost his three strikes with Kaede now that he dared claim to have the possible chance to even the odds. She disliked the prideful youth, it was always a foresight of reckless actions and bad choices, and as someone who once allowed such to rule her life she knew all too well the worst or one of the worst results to such a lifestyle. There was only one way for Kaede to deal with this sort of person in her knowledge, break the pride down entirely and let them rebuild knowing the cost of a heavy ego.

_____This time Kaede’s moved her dagger slowly, the blade moving as she held it with a reverse grip and slowly crouched down. The blade glowing blue as she charged her focus into the weapon and overlooked Sean, her eyes darting around as they turned from blue to pure black. She was no longer going to hold back, she would show the boy just how wrong his Pride had cost him by showing her full combat strength in close quarters. This would be her first time seriously fighting, even vs the boss she was drunk after all.

_____As her eyes blinked and reopened she saw everything, each possible attack option, each possible reaction the boy could even think of and others that would be long shots for him. No route was unseen, no route would prove useful for him. She knew what to do and what he would do in reply before it even crossed his egocentric mind. Now she just had to place all the knowledge into her actions as Kaede sprinted strait forward.

_____Her speed boosted as she minimized wind drag, moved with the wind pushing her forward and stayed in the most optimal strike zone for her. Eyes darkening around quickly, however due to the pure black it would be unseen and as such her attack choice would have no given clues. Her attack would come with thunderous speed, weapon thrusting for his right Tibialis anterior. If he tried to step away Kaede would quickly pursue, if he tried to use fire Kaede’s leg would move up to kick his jaw to stop the incantation before even the first word could be muttered.

_____If he tried to slash at any point he would find himself swinging at air, Kaede already long since moving out of his strike path forcing him to either attempt an unplanned awkward swing or force him on the retreat. This was what his ego had cost him, the undamped aggression of the only mastered Astral mage in the game. The aggression of someone who spent enough time in her own head before to think of so many plans before she made her first move and able to adjust at any time to any variable. Someone who knew Sean’s limits despite only just finding out he even existed.
@Sean Poteitoku | @Iván Carl