WQ - Law and Order - Operation Witch Strike

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• Current Members Only
• In this thread, Witch Ops will deploy against bandits in Western Astorea
• Teams: Majolica/Janet, Haru/Corvella, Ivan/Bradwynne
• Roleplay attacking your area however you want.
• Let's shoot for finishing this in a few days if possible.
• Let's also have some fun!

Majolica's Witch Cottage, Brisshal—

A Witch Frog enters Majolica's cottage as she sits at her desk drawing fun pictures writing out important plans and filling out paperwork.

Majolica turns to the Witch Frog.

"Hehehe, what do you have for me?"

The Witch Frog hands Majolica a paper, bows, then leaves. Setting down her crayon, Majolica reads over the document.

"Hehehe, so criminals have begun to amass in the west, hehe, and since Astorea's working against the dummy rebelling nobles, they don't have the manpower to send out soldiers to enforce the area. Hehehe, well I don't really care about all that, but we can't let all of those criminals run around on the loose! Hehehe, they might rob or hurt someone! Or worse yet, hehehe, start up a giant bandit gang that preys on people! Hehehehe, I guess we'll have to do something!"

Majolica focused her magic and called out to the other Witch Ops members through their Sticky Stickers.

"Hehehe, everyone! We have work to do! Bandits are grouping up in Western Astorea! Hehehe, we can't allow them to join up into a big group! Also, hehe, having all of those bad guys out there is dangerous for normal people living out there! Hehehe, therefore, we're going to have to go in and take care of the problem! Hehehe, normally Astorea would probably send an army or something, hehe, but the dummies are so caught up in their civil war that they can't. Which means it's up to us! Hehehe, as protectors of the world, The Witch Ops will deploy as peace-keepers in the area! But first, hehehe, I already have the location of several criminal camps in the area! Hehehe, we'll be raiding these camps immediately! This is our duty as The Witch Ops Battalion! Unless you have a very serious reason why you can't show up, hehehe, you better show up!"

Because this is an operation, hehehe, we'll be using our code names during the raid. I, hehe, of course, will be going by Commander. Everyone else know's everyone else's code name. According to my intel, hehe, the camps have been set up in the three areas. West, Central, and East. We're going to need to strike all three areas at the same time to make sure few, hehe if any, get away.

I'll be taking center with Janet. Bradwynne and Ivan will take East. Corvella and Haru will take west. Travel alone or with your partner, hehehe, we don't want anyone catching on, and like I said, you better have a good reason if you can't show up! Hehehehe, if you don't show up and don't have a good reason, you're getting a penalty! Hehehe!

Commander out!"

Western Astorea—

Hmm... now where's a good spot to set up? Hehehe.

As she traveled from Brisshal to Western Astorea, Majolica took heed of the landscape and eventually noticed a large hill overlooking the area.

Hehehe! That will be perfect.

Diverting towards the hill, Majolica quickly raced up the hill atop her broom. Finally reaching the top, she looked towards the sun which was just beginning to set.

Hehehe, looks like we made it with some time to spare.

Majolica hopped off her broom and watched as slowly but surely, campfires began to sprout up all around the hill. According to reports, this area had become a hotbed of criminal actives, and a sort of hideaway for those attempting to free the law.

Hehehehe, these dummies think they can do whatever they want just because we're going to be having a civil war! Hehehe, well they're wrong! Hehe, even if we are at civil war, The Witch Ops will still be acting as enforcers of justice! Hehehe, bad guys preying on the weak will not be tolerated! Hehehe, and besides, like I said before, if they all come together into a big group, that will make things much more difficult! Hehe, best to stomp out the problem before it gets any bigger. Hehe, but the real question is... what should I name this operation! Hmm... hehehe, it's our biggest one as a team yet, and kind of our first against a bunch of people so... oh! I know, Hehehe, Operation Witch Strike! That sounds fun and cool!

Majolica contacted the Witch Ops members through the stickers.

"Hehehehe, Commander in position, where is everyone else? The sun is just setting so we still have some time to prepare before we launch the operation! Hehehe, use your own discretion when decided how to deal with the bandits! You don't have to kill them all, especially if they're not that bad, hehe, but if they leave us no choice, then they leave us no choice! Hehehehe, oh and the name of this operation, hehehe, our first Witch Ops only operation, is 'Operation: Witch Strike'! Hehehe!"


@Haru @Bradwynne @Corvella @Iván Carl @Janet Reilly

 

"You're just a little peepee boy, you know that punk?" Iván deadpanned, towering over a bound and gagged bandit on the floor, mere inches from where he was standing, his arms crossed like an angry mother to her stubborn child, except the masked illusionist wore an aura of dark intention. The bandit felt it, saw it, and started whimpering. He knew that whoever this masked man was, he wasn't here to have fun with him, though to be fair, Iván did find in all this a little fun. "Those were your last words to the acolyte, right? Before you took him down with a backhanded slap?"

Iván began chanting something inaudibly, and from out of nowhere, Snowy the Snow-Quilled Guardian appeared. The magical familiar had taken on the form of one of the Spire's monsters, the porcupine-looking one that guarded the hot springs down there, the same monster whose face Iván had taken and was currently wearing. The mask was perfect for intimidating weak-minded and weak-willed bandits like the one he had captured, the so-called leader of two others who were now sleeping, thanks to a hammer to their heads. It was a fate that the bandit leader would have wanted for himself. At least instead of this.

Snowy let out a guttural noise that send shivers down his spine. He was sweating like a European man lost in the Saharan desert, even though it was a fair day. Iván smirked from behind his mask, delighted that he was getting the response he wanted, needed, craved, "You know what I really hate? Bullies. That acolyte came to this village to help people see the light, to enlighten the villagers. But you come to this village to do the exact opposite. If your paths had been left uncrossed, there would have been balance. The light and the dark. But you crossed the light's path, my friend. And for that---"

Iván's monologue was cut off he received the @Grand Witch Majolica's summons through his Sticky Sticker. "Ohoho! Looks like something else needs my utmost attention. You're lucky, boy," he turned to the bandit leader, gloating, before realizing something else. "Or maybe not. You see, my partner, my friend, my lover... She likes to be physical. More than I would even dare. Looking at her, that might not be such a bad thing, but don't get the wrong idea, punk. She's gon' eat you alive, and not in a fun way."

Sniffing loudly, Iván walked away from the bound and gagged bandit leader, passing by the woman he was talking about. He stopped beside him, her facing the bandit while him facing away from the same bandit. "I trust you can take it from here?" The woman only smirked. Iván winced at the smell of ammonia that had just emanated from the bandit. Gross. He proceeded to call Snowy to him, and riding her, was off to heed the call of his commander.

Eastern Astorea.

A mask-less Bound Prince stood hidden between trees, underneath their shadow, looking out into the camp that the Grand Witch had assigned to him and @Bradwynne. Or was it Haru? They looked so alike, telling them apart was too much work for him now. Thankfully, Iván has had ample experience working with Brad outside the Witch Ops.

Even before they found each other under the Grand Witch's command, the two had gone on an expedition together, along with several others, mostly the late Temperance, Brad's then-love interest Destiny Divebird, and Iván's oldest friend, Portia Ahrens. It was, then, a little safe to say that Bound Prince knew Guillotine Priest more than he'd care to admit, which was a good thing, considering they'd be partnering up for this one. Brad was responsible and trustworthy. Iván knew he'd be able to count on him. But where exactly was he?

"Roger, Commander," Iván responded to the Grand Witch's message. "Bound Prince is in position. Just waiting for Guillotine Priest."

With their pair of chronomancer and pure magician, killing all the bandits was probably not going to happen. At the very least, one or two, depending on how much they wanted to live, could survive, as long as they would vow to reform themselves, however. Despite how he presented himself, Iván wasn't that big of a fan of killing. It just wasn't the first thing that came to his mind when handling these sorts of things. He's been doing a lot of bandit quests lately, and truth be told, he's always had more fun with them whenever he could capture them and play tricks with their sanity through his illusion magic. That might be a bit worse, though.

Iván took out his bottle of ant juice from within his coat. Ignoring its smell, he took a quick sip, refreshing himself. He wondered when Guillotine Priest would arrive. Maybe he was already somewhere close by, also staking out this camp. Hopefully they'd cross paths before anything happens. They were supposed to stay hidden. The trees were the best place to stake the camp out. Where else could he be?

 

If any of the brigands had noticed the encroaching forest on the northern side of their camp, they hadn’t mentioned it. It seemed to happen overnight, as if the woods had nipped forward just slightly to take a bite out of the clearing. The trees were just a little closer together than they used to be. The brush a little denser. The moss a little thicker, lichen hanging discreetly from low tree branches.

Save for one startling and unpleasant encounter with a couple who’d tried to sneak into the leafy blind for some “alone time,” the person within had gone undiscovered. Leading his partner by one hand, needless to say the giggling bandits had been surprised to find a stout, brown-haired girl waiting for them within, arms crossed over her chest with an extremely disapproving expression.

The pair were now bound like caterpillars in a cocoon of plant matter, alone together at last. She'd had to move locations after that, and she and @Grand Witch Majolica were now just waiting for the others to confirm their locations. The teenage girl touched the purple sticker on her arm, the smell of bananas indicating it was primed for her response. “Rated R, in position,” Janet said clearly for the benefit of the other members, gazing out at the encampment with her brows furrowed and her lips pursed.

Under cover of darkness, the Witch Ops operation was set to begin.

“I’m set to incapacitate as many as possible. I’m ready to restrain anyone who goes down before deadly force is needed,” she whispered to Majolica, the corners of her lips tugging down. I don’t see why we have to be the ones to take care of this, she’d thought (and maybe complained aloud to a few choice members). Shouldn’t we just call the police?

She’d finally come around to the idea after she was shown the facts—there was simply too much chaos in wake of King Astor’s announcement for law enforcement to take care of it all. Nobles rebelling. Bandits attacking. Plant wolves harassing farmers. It’s all so out of control, the girl thought in frustration, but little by little, we can put it all back in order. Overstepping their authority as Janet privately thought they were, eliminating wrongdoers was never a bad thing.

Especially when she was working together with her friends and fellow Witch Ops members to do it! “Is everyone here yet? Wait for the Commander's signal, everyone. Over.” She’d heard people say that on walkie-talkies in the movies and quite enjoyed saying it now—it made her feel very official. She hoped would be able to freeze or bind most of the criminals before things got too violent or gorey. Things could really get so unpleasant so quickly in this game!

 

"What do you mean it's not done yet, Will?" Corvella asked in disbelief. The young blacksmith in front of her continued his work. "I never said it was not done, I just needed the material to put it together. The rough shapes are done, unless..." He gazed at Corvella "... You want to glue the pieces to your clothes yourself, don't you? Anyway, about the payment..." The word 'payment' signaled Corvella's defeat, as she sighed and took out the gold coins from her bag. "Right, here's two-third of the price. Last portion of the payment should come the other day." Examining the gold coins, Will the blacksmith grinned to the leaving Corvella "You're still my worst customer."

Meanwhile, she's still in her leather coat, armorless but not powerless. She took down several criminal activities in Western Astorea with Comet some day before, so it would be safe to say that Corvella is still able to hold her own even without the armor. Making her way back to one of the inns in Astorea to slack off and rest, the glowing Witch Ops sticker notified her of Majolica's mission. She placed her hand on it, like a secret agent pushing the button on their sci-fi watch.

Really? Western Astorea again? It seems that place has gone into chaos like the wild west recently, even after Corvella herself had done some clean-up like the other day. Exhaling deeply, she turned around to make her way towards west after tapping the sticker to inform Majolica. "Titan on its way, thirty minutes to destination." Checking the map and coordinates pointed her to the westmost position of the Western Astorea. There's a bandit camp set up here? No wonder she missed it on her last patrol.

Long story short, because no way in hell I'm going to describe how poor Corvella walked all the way from the capital to western Astorea all by herself, she arrived at what she designated as a meeting spot for her supposed partner, @Haru. She haven't had the chance to work alongside him, so this might be a good experience to get along and know him better. He though seemed like a no-violence kind of guy, like Batman?

Meanwhile, she took the initiative to scout the camp first. Majolica was right, the camp is quite packed with dangerous bandits. Although she didn't like it, and she didn't certainly prefer it due to how lacking in equipment she is right now, they must be prepared for combat. "Titan is in position, waiting for Guide to join in." Corvella reported. There's too many of them to be individually bound by Illusion Magic, so how would they deal with the bandits? She'll have to wait on her partner.

 

Hidden: Thread Info

1. Everyone needs to post 3 times for us to finish this.
2. I'm not sure if we'll finish in time, but let's give it a shot.
3. Do cool action sequence things!

"Hehehe, well this is troublesome. Time's ticking away, hehe, and I can't get a hold of Guillotine Priest or Guide. We can't waste anymore time, hehehe, so it looks like we're just going to have to run the operation without them. I guess if they do show up, hehehe, they can just be late to the party. But if they're late and they don't make a cool entrance or something, hehehe, they're going to get a punishment!"

Majolica grinned devilishly.

"Hehehe, okay! This is what we trained for! Each member of Witch Ops is an army onto themselves and together, we're a bunch of unstoppable armies! If you need help, use the sticky sticker. Witch Ops, Operation: Witch Strike, LAUNCHING! HEHEHEH!"

Hidden: THEME

Majolica turned towards Janet.

"Hehehe, okay Rated R! You're our only healer right now, so if someone gets in trouble be sure to go help them! Hehehehe, I'll take the lead! Hehehe! One over Festive times seven!"

Witch Clone

Seven Majolica clones poofed into existence, each of them giggling and atop a broomstick.

"Hehehe, actually. I've got an idea! There's something I want to try. I'll send my clones down so you go down with them and help. I'm going to try out a bit of magic I invented. Hehehe, it's going to take a long time to cast though, so I'm relying on you and the others... hehe, and all of you clones."

The clones looked back at Majolica and gave a thumbs up. Then flew down towards the central camps. Majolica herself hopped off her broomstick facing towards the camps. Crossing her arms, she began to float upwards a little.

"Hehehe, Broomstick, let's begin!"

Immediately, The broomstick began etching a magical circle around Majolica into the dirt. Each stroke of the broom lit up in a dark purple line as if the broom was painting. All in all, very witchy looking. As the broomstick worked, dark energies began to gather around the Grand Witch.

"Hehehe, this time it will work! Compared to last time, hehehe, this is nothing!"

By now, the clones were already reaching the camps. As they rushed by the Bandits looked at the scene with mouths agape. One unlucky bandit charged the rushing Witch clones. As he did, he was blindsided by a clothesline attack from another clone that also happened to be flying by. The Majolica clone shouted at the bandits.

"Hehehehe, this is an announcement! As of now, all The Witch Ops Battalion will be taking over as law enforcement area. Hehehehe, I suggest all of you surrender... hehe, Witch Ops doesn't play nice..."

Several bandits threw themselves at the talking clones in a rage.

"Hehehe, guess we'll just do it the hardway then!"

The clones began flying through the encampment like angry wasps. They flew through tents, tipped over barrels, and generally made a ruckus as they flew through the area destroying the encampment. Majolica grinned as she watched from atop the hill, more and more black magic pooling into her.


@Iván Carl @Corvella @Janet Reilly

 

Majolica’s incantations would never fail to confuse her. “Pardon?” It seemed like a pointless question as the Witch Commander’s magic activated. Janet could feel her scalp prickling as the pink-haired girl summoned dark forces to aid the battalion of dark heroes. “Yes, Commander!” she called, raising a hand to hold down her hair as the ominous winds increased. Her heart beat faster. Oh my goodness, it’s really time. She couldn’t help feeling frantic—were they really starting without Bradwynne and Haru? Admittedly they were both notoriously tardy, so they really should have expected this, but still—are we really prepared?

Well, a surplus of Majolica duplicates rounded out their less-than-full team, Janet supposed. I’ll just have to be ready to heal.

As their leader gave the signal, Janet squatted, letting her fingers brush the earth. Earlier when they’d been scouting out the perimeter (during which she’d caught that silly couple) she’d been planting pods of nature magic around the bandits’ campsite. I think I can use what Ashiore and Haru taught me. Fortunately, they’d had quite some time to prepare—on the journey here, Janet had been able to suffuse them with enough of her power to work without directly draining her energy.

Operation Witch Strike began with a bang, or should we say, a cackle. A chorus of cackles, hehehe reverberating through the criminal hideout. Janet stood up as the clones zoomed forward. Utter chaos exploded in the encampment as teenage witches upturned the bandits’ haven, pillaging it as they had the innocent villages of Astorea. “Witch Ops!” Janet cried and stomped her foot, activating her barrier.

Wall of Thorns

Thorny vegetation suddenly burst all around the camp perimeter, stretching high. Blackberry vines crawled and twisted over one another like serpents, knotting into a bramble wall. It took just enough time for the other Witch Ops members to safely enter or reach their assigned positions before the creepers became too thick for their allies to pass. Some of those bandits who’d started running when they saw Majolica’s clones were unfortunately caught by the vines. Their screams disturbed Janet a little bit as the plants twisted around them, thorns stabbing cruelly through the creases in their armor.

“Oh, stop trying to run from your crimes!” she called to make herself feel a little better as the more unfortunate were borne down under the weight of the briars, howling. “That’s what you get for breaking the law!” It was a little satisfying, though a bit gruesome. On the bright side, they would probably be safe tangled in the wall (albeit wounded) until the operation was over. It’s not like I could do anything anyway, even if I wanted to. Apart from the initial pod placement, these blackberry vines were out of her control.

The perimeter secured, Janet began to grow broccoli, ready to heal any of her wounded comrades.

 

Iván narrowed his eyes as the gears in his head started turning, slowly, carefully, making him realize that he might be on his own with this one. At least on this side of the fence, anyway, that was the operation. He simply sighed as he came to terms with the fact that @Bradwynne was nowhere to be found. So much for Guillotine Priest. Still, in his heart of hearts, Iván hoped the guy was just late. Like that time when they were just getting initiated to the Witch Ops. You better make that grand entrance, Brad… You don’t want to get turned into a Witch Frog. Probably.

As the @Grand Witch Majolica and @Janet Reilly did their respective things, Iván able to hear and somewhat see all that commotion, he started channeling his magic so he could do his thing, whipping out his stinky red mask for added awesomeness, “By this offering of my magic, of my energy, I bid thee, come forth and aid me… MAGICAL FAMILIAR!!!”

In a matter of minutes, seconds even, Iván’s magical familiar heeded his call and took on the form of the Snow-Quilled Guardian, one of the monsters Iván had encountered during that failed expedition down in the Inverted Spire. The original creature had been guarding some sort of hot springs down in that hellish realm, only to get accosted by their expedition, laid waste to, its life and its face taken by the adventurers and Iván, respectively, particularly.

This familiar was not, technically, the Snow-Quilled Guardian, but through the Guardian’s Red Mask, the original creature’s face, that Iván was in possession of, along with Iván’s own memories of the original creature, it had chosen to take the form of one. Iván had also affectionately given his familiar the name Snowy. Real creative.

Summon: Snow-Quilled Guardian

Snowy the Snow-Quilled Guardian let out a guttural noise as a way to greet her summoner, her master, and in turn, Iván put a hand on the side of her face. It was a pretty cute exchange, if you didn’t mind the creepy, horrific noise that the creature made. “You ready, girl? It’s time to wallop some bad dudes again,” he grinned, and in response, Snowy made the same noise. Iván took it as his cue to mount the creature, holding on to two separate quills near her head, “Atta girl! But before that, let’s do something else first.”

Iván channeled his magic once more, with the sole intention of imbuing Snowy the Snow-Quilled Guardian with his aeromancy. It should be able to make her faster than normal, faster than average, faster than ever, as well as allow her to shoot lightning quills in place of her regular quills. That should be quite shocking for anyone unfortunate enough to get skewered. “Air and lightning bless my steed! Heed my call, grace our speed! ELECTRIFY!!!”

Snowy the Snow-Quilled Guardian roared, or at least let out a louder, fiercer, more aggressive version of her usual guttural noise, as she felt Iván’s aeromancy cursing through her, body and soul, if familiars even had a soul. Lightning, electricity, illuminated their aura, circled around them, for a moment or two, before it dissipated inside Snowy, occasionally flickering here and there. Iván grinned, ready to mess some people up, “Time to unfurl, my girl.”

The summoner and his familiar made a mad dash through the brambles, inside the camp, before that wall of thorns could officially, finally, truly trap everyone else in, before Janet could secure the perimeter. As chaos ensued, Iván and Snowy rode through anyone and everyone who opposed the Witch Ops, thundering in, shocking those who deserved it, taking them out without really ending them. Iván could do nothing else, what with all his energy focused on his magic, keeping the familiar in this world, keeping Snowy electric.

“Looks like we’ve shocked the system.”

 

Her restlessness grew as she realized that Haru might won't be able to make it here soon. With no armor and proper battle equipment, Corvella will probably get promptly speared as she entered the bandit encampment. So far, there's no trap spotted in the bandit camp, and the patrols routine are pretty predictable. This calls for a stealth-based approach.

"At least when I don't bring my heavy armor, I can cast spells much better now." She muttered while making motions with her hands, and purple glowing writings began to appear in the air as she focused on the watchtower in front of her. Then, the energy from the spell was condensed into the spell ring in her left hand, before she snapped her left hand fingers. "Titan is infiltrating the camp." She whispered through the witch stickers.

Hidden: Theme

Corvella was no more. The two bandits on the lookout above the watchtower never saw her, and certainly never see her coming. One was punched unconscious, the other one still oblivious as if there's nothing wrong thanks to the illusion magic, it put him into a time loop inside his mind where everything was okay. Several second was enough to put a bandit trapped in illusion to sleep, through chokehold, of course. Titan's not good enough in Illusion Magic yet to put someone to sleep through illusion.

Yet, Corvella felt sweat running on the side of her face. An illusion of this scale, used twice was able to drain a considerable portion of her energy. It enabled her to scale up into the watchtower safely though, where it serves as a vantage point to look at the camp more clearly. After making sure that the bandits are tightly tied, she continued to draw in the air and making the same motion with her hands as before, but this time she focused not only on individual bandits, but a specific point at the camp. You see, like a videogame, at certain period the patrols will converge at the middle of the camp. The illusory knight visualized a cube in her head, that will help with casting an area-of-effect spells.

Holding the spell ready in her left-hand ring as it glows faint purple, waiting for the bandit guards to meet in the specific envisioned area, the opportunity finally came. Quickly snapping her fingers once again, the spell was cast and hit precisely eight bandits. Wasting no time, she leaped off the watchtower with her acrobatic skill, landing right on one of the bandits, kicking him to gain more air momentum before driving her fist into another unsuspecting one. The bodies hit the floor at the same time, and as she dispatched the third one, the glow on her spell ring suddenly fades.

"Uh oh." It was quite a feat to cast an area illusion, but apparently maintaining while kicking butts is too taxing even for her. With five bandits now able to see and hear what's actually going on, they quickly surrounded unarmed Corvella in a sword-and-spear formation. "Guys, come on, I'm unarmed." She raised both arms in the air, hoping to distract them for a while. It took a while before the berserk kicked in, sending her blood veins all over her skin glowing blue.

"That means I'll have to hold back to not crush your skulls."

 

The bandits were having hell keeping up with the Majolica Clones until some of them starting getting wise. Seeing that the clones would remain close to the ground, some of the smarter bandits used rope to set up wires making flying through the area much more difficult.

As one of the clones lowered herself to make a dive run between some tents, the bandits pulled up on a wire catching her in the chest and knocking her down. As the clone hit the ground, she vanished with a poof.

"They ain't real! They're just magi—"

As she spoke, another clone leapt from her broom and slam-tackled the bandit. He hit the ground hard and fell unconscious.

"Hehehehe, we're just magic! Think again! We're Grand Witch Magic! Heheheh, it's much better! Majolicas round up!"

With giggles coming from all directions, all of the Majolica clones flew down and formed a circle backs facing the center.

"Hehehehe, want to make a bet to see who can take down the most!"

"Hehehehehe! Only if you want to lose!"

As the Majolicas quipped back and forth, the bandits, now very angry, began to close in around them.

"Hehe, so what's the plan? Same as usual?"

"Hehehe, how about we go with the Naryu Canyon shuffle? We just have to hold out until Domina finishes her spell right?"

"Hehehe, sounds good to me! On three!"

"1...hehe"

"hehehe...2"

"3! hehe!"

The Majolicas surged towards the bandits fist raised. The first caught one by surprise with a gut punch, followed by...

"Grand Witch's uppercut! Hehehehe!"

Jumping upwards she caught the bandits chin with her first. The blow lifted the bandit off the ground.

"Hehehehehe!"

As another bandit ran towards the uppercutting Majolica, a different Majolica spotted the cowardly attack.

"Hehehe! Not on my watch!"

Rushing ahead, this Majolica caught the bandit as he ran with a vicious drop kick.

"Hehe, just like the movies!"

As the battle went on, the Majolicas seemed to be making short work of the bandits. Honestly, not bad for some illusions made with a black magic backbone.

Atop the hill, the real Majolica was still channeling immense dark forces to shape her spell. Though a master of black magic, Majolica still hadn't had the opportunity to cast many of curses on a grand scale. Most of the time they weren't needed anyway as these spells were typically used for taking down large groups of people. There was also an issue of power. With enough power, a grand curse could technically slowly melt away all the enemies in the area. Thanks to Majolica's passive ability, these people wouldn't die, but they would still undergo immense pain which didn't sit right with The Grand Witch. So instead, she would need to control the output of the curse more to make sure she got the desired effect. Something that would force the bandits to stop fighting without turning them slowly into goo.

"Hehehe, okay, this should be enough to start the incantation."

Majolica closed her eyes and focused.

"Tanuki Halloween Optometrist Ultra Silly Halloween Apple Licorice Tanuki Bats Error Festive Radical Error Error Apple Silly Mage Optometrist Ultra Never Tanuki Apple Invocate Never Witchy Invocate Never Donut Silly Bats Ultra Tanuki Tanuki Halloween Error Never Error Xray Apple Cake Tanuki Licorice Yellowish Donut Optometrist Apple Licorice Licorice Plumpy Opotmetrist Invocate Never Tanuki Silly Optometrist Festive Mage Yellowish Cake Optometrist Mage Mage Apple Never Donut!"

As she spoke the words quickly but precisely the magic began churn and take shape.

"Hehehe, this is working! Now I just need to hold it still and let it get a big bigger, then I'll release it and end this in one fell swoop! Hehehehe, just hold on! A little longer! Hehehe, just be careful so they don't turn into goo... heheheh."

@Iván Carl @Corvella @Janet Reilly

 

At the sight of a giant porcupine monster, electricity surging through and around it, there were really only two reactions the bandits from the Eastern side of the camp could make: One was the smarter reaction, running away, with their lives and their bodies in tact, left unscathed by both monster and element. The other one? The other one was the stupider reaction. It was to pick up your weapon, scream at the top of your lungs, and charge at a monster bigger than you, more powerful than you, imbued with magic your second-hand sword may not even get close enough to scratch. Surprising, a lot of the bandits went with the stupider reaction, though that might actually explain a lot about them.

"Oh, nice!" Iván found the challenge somewhat admirable if not exhilarating. There was something to be said for such valiance, defiance, when you, despite all reason, decide to charge, head-first, against a seemingly insurmountable obstacle, all logic screaming at you to do something else instead, take the smarter path, live to fight another day. But to be fair, were they even going to allow any single one of these bandits to do just that? Live to fight another day? Iván doubted it. "Stomp, stomp, thunder stomp, Snowy!"

The familiar let out a guttural noise and rose up, balancing itself on his two hind legs, its two front legs scratching in the air, as if it was a horse in those movies where the knight in shining armor, in this case Iván, needed to pose against lightning in the night. Except it wasn't night, at least not yet, and they were the ones bringing the lightning.

With that mere action, thunder boomed around the monster and its master, sending the charging fools backwards, forcing them to fly away from the two. Those that managed to stand their ground were then taken care of by electricity, lightning basically, emanating from Snowy the Snow-Quilled Guardian herself. The bandits who didn't get sent flying away by the thunder were shocked unconscious, dropping to the ground as soon as Iván's aeromancy made contact with their bodies. The then-masked illusionist made sure to keep his lightning bolts as NOT deadly as he could, only serving to shock these guys into passing out. Who knows? They might need some of them for questioning. They might have a cook who knows a pretty great curry recipe or two.

As Iván and Snowy finished up with most of the bandits in the Eastern camp, somewhat, they began charging around, elsewhere, trying to take out more of the bandits than they were supposed to. From the corner of his eyes, as he charged on top of Snowy, Iván spotted @Corvella and gave his wife (that one time) a friendly wave. But onwards and forwards, monster and master charged, either blowing away or shocking those that opposed their path. Iván couldn't remember the last time he had this much fun.

 

For each bandit which fled Snowy’s wrath, a wall of sharp-spined creepers awaited. That didn’t stop them from trying. The serrated leaves, the thorn-studded vines—with a sword in hand, as many of these bandits had, the wall did not seem insurmountable. All around the Eastern side men began to chop and hack at the thorns, seeking escape. Oh, drat. Bradwynne’s not there to cover that quadrant, Janet realized belatedly and stood up. It meant leaving her post unguarded, but right now it was her job to keep the perimeter locked down, and if there was an Eastern breach she had to be there!

It took but a whistle to her mount and a few seconds to pull herself into the saddle before the chestnut mare was off, trotting rapidly along the hissing, crackling barrier to the place where Janet could hear shouts and vines snapping. In several places here the bandits were attempting to breach the wall—she saw an axe crash through, flattening blackberry vines, and two men struggle out.

What they found was Janet on her brown horse, arriving on the scene. What they wanted was the mount—to escape this place they needed speed, and on horseback the clones and the monster which had harried them could be outrun. They drew their weapons and advanced on Janet, shouting.

“Eeeeek!” Her scream filtered through the encampment like morning sunlight. She’d never fought from horseback. Janet wheeled Rebel around, her greatshield drawn and attempting to protect that side of the horse from her assailants. Thankfully, the crudely hewn block of oak was strong against blades—the axes and blade-edges hardly flaked off the bark, never mind sundering the defensive weapon. “Get back!” Here, in melee range without her own two feet on the ground, Janet had no way to defend herself. She could only hold the men at bay as more crashed through her vines and surged towards her, grabbing at the reins, drawing blood along Rebel’s flanks.

“Get away!” Janet shrilled, tightening her grip on the shield desperately. Despite her power and potential, the girl’s inexperience in battle was showing. Without her team close around her, she had little to no offensive abilities, and there were now too many of them for strangleweed-pods to be effective against. Six men now clustered around her. Janet screamed again as the saddle jerked and Rebel kicked out, but the bandits shouted a warning to one another and jumped back.

Her nature magic spread in her hands. Branches burst from the crown of her shield like a tentacle eruption, their leaves as black as the wood was stained red. The limbs extended and Janet swung the shield like a broom, sweeping up the bandits on Rebel’s right side like crumpled paper balls. With a loud scrape and scream, the men harassing her were laid out prone. “Back where you came from!” Janet cried as they went sprawling, and the one unfortunate still tangled in the tree limbs went flying into the air. He crashed back down in the wall of thorns.

Given room to move finally, Janet nudged Rebel and the horse took off, charging back down the line. The men went running as the naturamancer came flying down the wall to the rhythm of horse-hooves, shield held out at an angle. "Faster, Rebel!” she called, bouncing her heels on her mount's sides. The chestnut mare whinnied in joy, putting on the speed. Each bandit who cut his way free of the vines was scooped up and hurled back into the camp like weeds from a garden spade as Janet made her loop, red-faced from exertion. “Per...perimeter secure,” she messaged the others via sticky sticker, a little short of breath.

 

One bandit was suddenly sent flying into the earlier watchtower, unable to hold against the monstrous power of the rampaging Titan. Enraged Corvella fights like a street brawler; no martial arts or technique; just raw raging power. Knowing well that the power-up won't last long, she decided to take on the enemies head-on, using the element of surprise to catch the bandits in a bad position. As long as she's in berserk state, any of their movement should be slow enough for her to react.

Evading the strikes from their spears, Corvella kicked the tips into the ground, burying the blade deep and disabling their weapon completely. Using the momentum she leaped above to send a roundhouse kick into one of the bandit's head toward the other one, knocking out both of them. She was going for a following attack before realizing her power is quickly fading. Under slow-mo anime close-up, she thought 'Oh no, I don't have much time left.'

The remaining two bandit scouts were quite taken aback, giving Corvella the much-needed opening to cast a simple illusion trick on them to immobilize them, before sweeping both of their legs with a single low kick and delivered the finishing punch. Just in time as the bluish glow faded from Corvella's skin.

"Phew." She sat on the unconscious bandit's back, noticing @Iván Carl giving her a wave while charging around on Snowy's back, wrecking bandits on the background. Yep, was totally going to take on them after the scouts but he finished it sooo... a job well done? She gave him a thumbs up as he passed.

"This is Titan, the west camp is clear. It's up to you, Commander."

 

"Hehehehehe, it's ready! Now to just move the magic forward... bit by bit... hehehehe and.... GO! HEHEHE!"

From the hilltop Majolica had begun casting from an explosion of black magic erupted towards the cap sites. What seemed like millions of lines of purple glowing shadow slithered along the ground like snakes racing through grass, over rock, and around tree.

The first curse reached it's bandit climbing up his boot then swirling itself around his leg and up his body. When the curse reached his chest the shadow pooled itself into a point of his heart, began to glow a bright purple, then popped and vanished. Where the curse had pooled, a small tattoo-like purple crown appeared.

"Hehehehe, it's working!"

As Majolica watched from her vantage point, the curse surged through the camp like a tidal wave. Shouts began to ring out from the camp as purple bursts signifying the curse had taken hold of someone sparked through the encampments like miniature fireworks. After a few minutes, the spell was over. Every bandit in the area had now been marked.

"Hehehehehe! Now for the fun part! "Licorice Invocate Silly Tanuki Error Never Tanuki Optometrist Mage Error!"

Grand Witch's Command

Majolica cleared her throat.

"By the Command of The Grand Witch, hehehehe, GIVE UP!"

The crown curse marks on all the bandits began to glow sightly, then nothing happened. Back at the ground level, the Majolicas continued to engage the bandits, but now something was different. After the initial shock of the curses, the bandits felt fine and were ready to get back into the fight.

"Hah! Don't know what the hell that was but I feel ready to take your bloody head off girl!"

As he finished the sentence, his eyes grew big. Suddenly, arcs of purple electricity shot through his entire body. In shock and pain, he hit the ground writhing.

"AHHHH! AHH! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!"

The pain was severe, and fear began to grip the group. One of the clones looked to the other bandits and grinned.

"Hehehehe, the Grand Witch has commanded you to give up! There's a price for not following a command... hehehehe!"

As she spoke, the Majolica clone pointed her finger toward's one of the bandit's curse marks. After several excruciating seconds, the first bandit managed to squeal out a surrender. As he did, the lightning stopped and the pain was gone. He remained on the ground sweating profusely and beating hard.

The clone, giggled and turned to the rest of the bandits.

"Hehehehehe, surrender or face the consequences of disobeying the command of The Grand Witch! Hehehehe!"

The bandits set down their weapons. Any bandit that chose to ignore the command faced untold agony until they surrendered. As the bandits one by one set down their arms, the battle was over. Operation Witch Strike was complete, and the bandit's fates were now left to The Witch Ops.