Sweet Delicious Demon - Sugar Rush Baby!

[Storm Sheppard]

Keywords: Sweet Delicious Demon
Area Level: Medium - High
Area Type: Field
description: Four Islands surrounded on all sides by cream soda oceans and icing sugar snow falling softly from the sky.
weather: Bright and snowy
Area Mission: Defeat the Boss

Storm Sheppard waited on the edge of a grand and terrifying quest wrought with danger and peril. He knew he didn’t have a chance on his own of walking these murder fields, that he would fall without question if he had no aide at his back, a blade aside his own to keep the demons before him at bay. He could feel a tremor rattle through Blitzkrieg as he stood next to the warp gate, hoping against hope that his post on the Boards yielded a companion to face these dreaded challenges with.

He had come here to Sweet Delicious Demon on a quest, an interesting monster challenge that he had heard about when floating around the forums and it chilled him to the bones with anticipation and fear. The field in front of him was covered in monsters, the shear volume was intense and the cause of his concern. There was at least twenty monsters on this field alone, and it was the starting area with four more fields to go!

The thing that made this particular field very interesting is that these were all standard monster, but they had been ‘cursed’ by the Candy Queen Witch which was the final boss to the level. She had cast a blanket of magic over the field that had changed the normal, familiar monster that Sheppard was used to into confectionous, sweet looking candy creatures! Goblins with gumdrop eyes and candy cane sabres, whirring and clicking machine golems made from gingerbread and rock candy, the odd cotton candy wisp floating through the field as a malicious ghost monster, ready to sink its candy corn teeth into the unsuspecting.

Storm Sheppard had placed a request on the boards for somebody, anybody, and all bodies that could come to help him fight off this wave of creatures!

I hope somebody arrives soon, it would be bad if my limited attention span accidentally made me wander off from this gate and into a horde of… Hey is that a giant cookie?! Awesome! Storm Sheppard thought, his mind drifting away from the fact that he was meandering toward a Gun Giant made of chocolate chips and cookies.

[Nigen]

Storm Sheppard wasn't the only one to visit this magical land of high calorie doom and sugary horror. Pluton was logging in as well, along with someone who looked more than a bit wet behind the ears. One would think this would be a less than ideal place to have a new-ish player, but due to a combined interest from said individual and Pluton's belief in a good strong challenge, the leader of Scope and his new recruit had set out to see just how the young woman would react. The enormous scythe she had over her shoulder marked her as an obvious flick reaper, which played into Pluton's strategy. As a Steam Gunner, his range was considerable and his level much closer to the overall design of the area, so he could whittle monsters down to more manageable bites (appropriately enough, given the tasty theme of the level).

Alright, here we are. Sweet Delicious Demon, our aptly named region. Let's start with the basics: what do you see?

High density monsters, atypical designs, and one player, sir! Pluton looked over at the already-present Storm Sheppard, smiling at the newbie's considerable enthusiasm. Scope's guild design was military (or, more accurately, what the average civilian THOUGHT the military was), so this type of attitude wasn't foreign to Pluton. She was right, of course. There were a few more monsters here than one would have expected. Which made his sniping job all the more critical.

So, superior numbers and of sufficient strength that I won't be able to do all the legwork. Tactics, beyond what we discussed? Getting your recruits into the right state of mind had worked wonders, as far as the orange haired steam gunner was concerned, and it was good to have them come up with ideas themselves where possible. More sense of accomplishment that way, and it was good for the mind.

Ally with the other player, at least for the time being?

Just so. Let's ask, shall we? The two of them approached Storm Sheppard, Pluton casually, his ward with considerable half-restrained energy.

Hello there! Don't suppose you'd be interested in a bit of co-op? XO Private and I were about to head in and the more the merrier.

[Eclipse]

Eclipse had made quite a name for himself since he first started [The World] months ago. In a short time he'd become a medium-high level player and had gained quite a reputation as a solo player. Tribal Grapplers were more rare in [The World] and as a result he stood out more than the average Blade Brandier or Twin Blade that most people often chose. Standing in front of the Chaos Gate he entered the area word, Sweet Delicious Demon and was warped to the field.

Eclipse stood examining his gear to make sure he was ready to fight. His long wavy brown hair fluttered in the wind. Fair skin radiated in the sunlight, his vivid green eyes shined brightly as they scanned the area. Dark purple wave tattoos below his right eye and left shoulder glistened. His primarily black, sleeveless shirt with a white cross emblazoned all across the top and sides, contrasted the bright colors around him immensely. His loose black hakama, with strings tied around the ankles and white triangles that stretched to his knees fluttered in the wind as well. He could feel the ground beneath his bare feet, as they were only wrapped in linen bandages.

He'd seen the quest and decided to take it solo. All around him were candy monsters, the ocean seemed to be made of soda. Must be a special area, it's quite unique. Think I'll have a good time here. There were numerous monsters on the first island, far more than usual. There's a chance that this quest may not be able to be completed as a solo player. With this amount of monsters on the field I may need to find help.

He didn't have time to search before a goblin attacked with a candy cane sword. Eclipse held his gauntlets up to repel the attack at his head. He pushed forward and caused the goblin to stumble. Quickly going on the offensive, he punched with his right and left gauntlets and then brought a high kick to its head, felling the creature.

As it disappeared into black mist he noticed three other people not far from where he was. With monsters all around the area he called out, "Hey! You all want to form a party!?"

[Storm Sheppard]

Storm Sheppard was a meagre five feet away from the colossal cookie monster, chocolate chip rivets on crispy crème cookie armour, when he noted the familiar ‘vwum woob woob woob’ sound from the warp crystal. He was filled with glee, knowing for certain that this was the additional troops needed to flit through the field of scrumptious sociopathic sweets. He turned to see a lovely young lady with a scythe of impressive measure and some dude was there too. Storm Sheppard skipped merrily and in a most manly manner over to the cutie-patootie (a technical term of course) and the guy who was obviously her subordinate. He hopped up and held onto his scythe with his feet, squatting on the shaft as it balanced on its tip, chill’n for a minute while the guy said words at him and he examined the scythe wielding hottie.

Hey beautiful, I suggest we party up and rock the field like only a couple of scythe wielding nut jobs can. You can bring him along too if you want, I’m sure a strong young thing like you can keep him safe. He said, leaning in a little… close while speaking. He was about to suggest that the fella stay back and take care of stragglers while they turn candy to crumbs and sweet memories, but he was flattened by the cookie colossus that he had gotten close to earlier. It had taken its time in meandering over, but apparently still had Storm Sheppard targeted from a while back. A cloud of cocoa and icing sugar lifted into the air with the impact of the massive crispy fist on the relatively squishy flick reaper. For a moment there was silence, but if one listened closely they could hear the muffled announcement of ‘THUN-DER’ at which point a dark storm cloud quickly formed in the sky and a lightening bolt about four feet in diameter enveloped the clockwork cookie cretin. The crashing boom and strikingly bright light leaving little enough but powdered chocolate and burnt toffee grass in a circle around where Storm Sheppard was standing.

Anyway, like I was saying, how’s about you and I- Storm Sheppard was cut off when he heard somebody shouting over to them from the warp gate, requesting a party be made. Storm Sheppard looked up with his crackling eyes and saw a fellow with a set of gauntlets and mostly black attire. He pointed straight at the man with a serious look on his face, lightening sparking from the corners of his eyes as he stared at the new face. That, my friend, is a GREAT idea! Storm Sheppard proclaimed, throwing his arms in the air with genuine glee. Party invites for EVERYBODY! Yes, even you. He announced, pointing at the guy accompanying the prettiest thing on the field. He sent off party requests to everyone present and decided that introductions should be made. I’m Storm Sheppard by the way, pleasure to meet all y’all. Especially you… He said, winking at Puton with a coy smile before looking again and moving his hands around his head for a second as if adjusting a hat. Sorry, headset was a bit off there. NOW it’s a pleasure to meet all y’all. Especially you… He said, winking at the scythe wielding young lady with a coy smile on his face.

[Nigen]

Actually, he's.... Private began, before she was politely interrupted by the well timed blow of a confectionary monster. She'd seen it coming, but for some reason hadn't felt terribly compelled to inform Shepard of just what was coming his way. She hefted her weapon and took a step back to defend herself from the oncoming doom, but despite the fact that he probably should have been flatter than a pancake (probably with a dolop of ice cream on top), Shepard demonstrated the “Storm” part of his name, calling lightning from the sky to defeat his oppressor handily. Pluton turned slightly to the side to avoid a particularly hefty chunk of sugary shrapnel. He said nothing about the flirtatous advances to follow either, as his junior member seemed to be handling herself perfectly well in that department. The sardonic smile on her face indicated that she had probably seen the type before.

I bet you say that to all the girls who wander around confectionary themed servers armed with comically oversized scythes. Still, since I DID suggest a minute ago that partying up would be the smart thing...

Eyes on the prize. Good trait to have Thought Pluton as he watched the encounter with less of a smirk but more of a gleam in his eye. Both of them accepted the party invite that the new individual joining up had suggested. Well, this was shaping up to be a bit easier than he'd expected. He hoped the challenge of the region would be high enough regardless of the addition of a few more bodies.

I'm XO Private, or just XO. This is my Guildmaster. She said, as introductions were going around.

Pluton. He said, finally breaking his silence. He decided to keep his mouth shut for a while after that, though. Shepard was focusing more on his subordinate, and it was fun to watch the attempt. He wondered how long it would take before XO decided that their guild's usual MO would be appropriate. Somehow Pluton doubted Shepard would hold a friendly PK against her. Probably him though.

[Eclipse]

Eclipse watched as he was running over as the man with lightning for eyes and a white mohawk was flattened by the gingerbread Gun Giant. He held out his arm and tried to warn up but his words were futile. Amazingly he seemed to recover and used a type of magic he'd never seen before. Stormclouds drew close and a lightning bolt electrocuted the the cookie monster and disintegrated it completely, save for a large piece that almost hit the Steam Gunner. Eclipse walked slowly forward in awe as the man who'd flattened seemed completely fine and seemed to be making a move on the Flick Reaper girl.

Eclipse began to speak up again. Touching his left shoulder with his other arm. "A-anyway, nice to meet all of you. I'm Eclipse, the Tribal Grappler." Looking closer at his new party members, the HUD popped up with their usernames. Storm Sheppard, the lightning Flick Reaper. Pluton, the silent Steam Gunner. And XO Private was it? Odd name, anyway those two appear to have to be a part of the same guild.

Speaking of guilds, Eclipse hadn't even given a second of thought into joining one. It just seemed...tiresome, to have to do so many tasks to keep the guild running. He preferred to just do his own thing and not have to worry about other duties.

Looking up suddenly, he saw more confectionary monsters closing in from the distance. Two goblins with candy cane swords and gumdrop eyes, and a pink cloud monster were the closest. Preparing mentally for battle, he raised his gauntlets and began shuffling his feet. Many months of playing [The World] had helped him hone his martial arts and given him his own unique fighting style.

[Storm Sheppard]

Crazy enough, I do actually say that to all the girls that wonder around confecitonary themed areas with comically oversized scythes. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have sincerity in every last word. He beamed, looking up to the Tribal grappler that had joined the group. The guy seemed nice enough, especially if hair had anything to do with it. He wondered briefly if his normally well treated Mohawk had withstood the attack from the monster earlier, but felt confident it had after he remembered it was spiky hair, and spiky hair was indestructible if anime was to be believed. Pleasure to meet you peeps Eclipse, Pluton, and lady Hugs and Kisses! He said, expanding on what he thought XO referred to. Let’s go and fight nom some monster candy!

Storm Sheppard was ecstatic to have so many new friends joining him on this little crusade to the big sugary prize. Still, the smack from the calorie laden mechanoid did a number on his HP even if he was showing it well. He decided for the time being that he’d do his usual number of just not getting hit. With that in mind he swung his scythe around and took a gander to see what kind of threats were forth coming. A few goblins and cotton candy ghosts were ponderously making their way over, and Storm Sheppard decided to put the ‘Sheppard’ part of his name to use. He ran head long for the goblins, vaulting over the sweet little critters and coming to a stop just behind them, raising his scythe over his shoulder like an over-sized golf club.

Candy Gram! He shouted, swinging low and smacking the goblin with the taser end of his scythe. The goblin went flying with not-inconsiderable speed toward Eclipse. Storm Sheppard hopped up to avoid getting ankle bitten by a candy cane blade, and came down to a knee, his scythe balance over his leg with one end positioned squarely between the goblins legs. Heads up! He brought both hands down on his scythe, levering the goblin up in to the air as his scythe made a sort of impromptu catapult. The goblins’ trajectory was aimed to put him more or less at the feet of Private XO, where she should be able to handle the thing quickly enough. Storm Sheppard decided to take on the Cotton Candy Phantasm himself, slicing at it with his scythe, aiming to cut it in half across its mid section. He was met with mixed success as his blade bit into the cottony goodness, but he was subsequently met with an explosion of pink sugar that made a sort of mist around him. He couldn’t see a darned thing except for pink clouds wafting around, even his party members could only be found via his mini-map. The air tasted fantastic though. He narrowly side stepped the incoming candy corn laced bite aimed for his right shoulder as the ghost came whizzing from the cloud of pink-ness before vanishing again into its depths. He swung his scythe around in great swooping arcs, trying to blow away the mist a touch so he could get a better view of the monster that beleaguered him so. The ghost came rushing once again from the obscuring sugar cloud, but Sheppard’s efforts in clearing the air a bit had made this attack a little easier to see coming. He brought his scythe out and cloths-lined the ghost creature, spinning his scythe around and stabbing the pointed tip of his blade into the cottony goodness of this scrumptious spectre. The thing vanished shortly after the strike, and its fog of pinkness soon left as well, revealing that the commotion had drawn the attention of about a dozen other monsters that were presently coming up the hill that very second. Oh baby, I hope everybody’s hungry, ‘cause I think I just brought the buffet to the table! He cackled manically. He did so love crowds of monsters to swing his scythe around in.

[Nigen]

Hungry Void! XO swung the onyx-black scythe down into the candy goblin Shepard had so kindly weakened, spliting it open (while most monsters in the game didn't have blood, this one did had a bit of syrup leaking out before it vanished). Dark green energy spiraled up the weapon and into the newbie, a product of her weapon. An attentive eye would have noticed her motions were ever so slightly faster for it, but she had little time to prove that point thanks to the obscuring cloud. To ensure security, she swung wildly, in front and in back, creating a wall of spinning metal to disuade any creature foolish enough to come close (and very nearly giving Pluton an impromptu buzz cut). The officer, less worried about the mist's contents, switched over to Seek and Destroy while backing up a bit. While it was a tad disorienting using it when there were targets nearby, it did provide a means of ignoring the mist, which helped point out exactly what was in there. Truth be told, he needn't have bothered. Storm Shepard (and Eclipse? He hadn't gotten a good look in that direction) seem to have delt with them. Instead, Pluton got an early glimpse of the oncoming enemies from the relatively nearby hill, which suited him just fine. He lined up a shot, held the trigger down, and listened to that wonderful buildup noise (long enough to make an impact on the ears, short enough to be practical) before releasing the stream of ulta focused light on the first one.

And that's the way the first cookie crumbled. While these things didn't seem to have conventional anatomy, the system still kept its hitboxes in order, and the headshot registered just fine as it sent cinnamon shards flying every which way. Adjusting his position, he let off another round, and another. Satisfyingly, two of the three were instant take downs, and he was able to hobble the third: a giant Cotton Cannon's operator. The device looked just like a cotton candy machine some rambunctious child had knocked over in a sugar high, spinning new threads of delicious pink DOOM. Of course, the fact that it was aimed at them was likely a bad sign, so down went the gumdrop guardian adjusting his position. By that stage, the other monsters were getting much closer. Disabling Seek and Destroy to return to normal vision, Pluton began setting his sights on the tougher targets, softening them up for the others (mostly XO. He figured that Shepard and Eclipse were strong enough to handle themselves from the Bittersweet Legions.

[Eclipse]

"Wait, what are you- ack!" Eclipse had barely had time to speak before an angry, candy goblin was sent flying to him. He'd only had time to guard with his fists. Unfortunately even this wasn't enough, as both were knocked to the ground, slightly tangled. Embarrassed by the situation, Eclipse quickly scrambled free. The goblin had just sat up when the Tribal Grappler decided to begin his assault. He punched it directly in the gut, causing it to lean forward. He then punched with his left to its jaw. In an attempt of retaliation, the goblin brought its candy cane sword up to deflect his gauntlets.

The speed of his attacks eventually made it past the sword and he scored a direct punch to the collarbone. Quickly sidestepping around he kicked it in the ribs and went in for a punch to the back of the head, ending the goblins life with sweet syrup leaking from it for everyone.

Eclipse had just looked up to see how Storm, Pluton and the XO were doing when his sights were blinded by clouds of pink sugar. Unfortunately he'd had his mouth open and had inhaled the sugar directly. While it tasted great, it didn't exactly do well when sucked down the windpipe. Coughing for a moment as he tried to assess the situation. Can't see (cough, hack) ugh this is truly a one of a kind field.

The mist cleared shortly after. When he could see again more monsters had appeared. "This may take a while." He ran past Pluton, who was providing support for XO mostly. Seeing as how there were at least a dozen goblins and pink, cotton candy clouds he activated his weapon ability. [Light Mode Activated] The wave like blades from his gauntlets extended out to 12 feet. A silvery white, evanescent aura surrounded his body. Closer to resembling an Edge Punisher with the amount of range he had, minus the slow sword swings; he ran up the hill. He would have to have range to combat multiple enemies at once. He was met by two goblins at once, one on each side as he began battling out.

[Storm Sheppard]

In his standard fashion, he rushed toward the enemies with reckless abandon with full intent on getting himself more or less buried in sugar. His usual plans went along this path, find the most massive cluster of bad guys, jump in to wail on them, and have Camax break the ones he softened up in half like dried spines. If Camax wasn't around, he usually had one of the many Harvest Clerics he knew keep him in decent enough shape to continue to rock the field like a hurricane. Right this moment, he was hoping that his new found friends would take up the task of punching, shooting and scything into the baddies he gave a good thump to.

Bonzai! He shouted as he jumped into the fray, literally taking a great leap to land on another cookie construct. He did a forward flip from the shoulders of the giant, sawing into it's back with his scythe before running forward and striking at a tiger like beast that looked strawberry flavoured. It had begun casting something or another, but that was interrupted most promptly with a taser strike to the chin that sent it flying into the air. He twirled Blitzkrieg in the air like a baton, jumping onto his back to grab the stormy weapon with his feet, spinning it around with his toes with surprising dexterity. The swooping arcs took gouges and scored divots into the surrounding beasts, keeping all but the slipperiest at bay. One of these slippery little confections was a skeletal warrior made of licorice, wielding a grand lolly pop like an axe. Storm Sheppard managed to roll out of the way just as the swirled candy bit into the gummy grass and delicious dirt. He jumped to his feet and cut the arm from the shoulder of the sweet skeleton before noting a drop in his HP and a pang of discomfort from his back. He looked behind him to see a gumball gunner standing ten feet away, his flintlock pistol still smoking with sweet smoke. Storm Sheppard swung his scythe as if to hit the creature that was far to far away from him to hit when the blade of his scythe came loose and flung straight for his shooter with a chain of crackling lightning leading back to the scythe body. The bade hit true, scaring the creature up the body before returning promptly to where he liked having it. He rolled forward and hobbled a cookie construct at the knee, side stepping away from a strike before pole vaulting onto its back like he was taking a seat for a rest. He waved happily at a gumball gunner which took aim and fired just in time for Sheppard to slip away and allow the gumballs to crack against back of the construct. He hadn't touched the ground quite yet when a cotton candy ghost bit into his arm with a goblin soon behind it to skewer him. Storm Sheppard managed to move the cotton candy ghost like an improvised shield, absorbing the candy cane blade with its soft pink body. He finished the thing off with a hearty smack with his blade, the pink cloud of sugar erupting like before. In the confusion, he managed to squirm away from the swarm of beasts, landing on his bum fairly unceremoniously just outside of the obscuring mists of candy.

Okay, ow, ha ha ha! he said, getting to his feet and dusting himself off. His HP was only at a mere 25% of its full mighty glory. It was the sad fact of having a glass jaw like he did, but he knew he had done a number on the enemies as well. Okay, guys, I softened'm up for ya. Let's rock these clowns and move to the next island like a bunch of bosses! he said, wondering if now was a good time to pull out a potion or two to get himself back up to steam. He decided to let it be until he was certain he'd need it, at the moment he felt confident that he'd be good for a bit unless he jumped into the middle of a dog pile again. By the way, anybody up for some bubble gum? he asked, popping a cherry red ball of gum into his mouth, holding out a couple more of different colours. He neglected to mention he had pulled them from his back after being shot with them, but that didn't really matter too much he thought.

[sera]

Izaya had been working last minute on something. Just another program for just another client. But, this one didn't have a set of manner on him and demanded that the program be done three days before Izaya's first scheduled opening. Alas, people were so tedious. But the money was good and the money was quick. However, it had meant that he had left [The World] running in the background of this work. As such, the sarcastic snowflake known as Unko was standing in an area alone. He had been for a good long while.

Putting his goggles back on, Izaya began to see [The World] through Unko's eyes. It appeared that a group of people had started on the quest that his PC was just sitting in the area for. He had read about the quest in the forum and decided to take it from the quest shop. After all, why the hell not? It wasn't like he had to go anywhere else. Unko had no guild, no arena team, not even people to party with regularly. For just a while, he watched them. It seemed that the female Flick Reaper and the male Steam Gunner were together as some part of guild. The male Flick Reaper and Tribal Grappler were solo it seemed. However, the four of them certainly seemed to be cooperating on this quest. That was probably a wise move.

He watched as the male Flick Reaper began to swing around and hit a lot of them. It was a common Flick Reaper strategy. You were supposed to swing around and whittle down the health bars of the mobs then the DPS finished them off with some burst. But, that Flick Reaper was a bit out of position for that to happen quickly. The Steam Gunner wasn't aiming his way; the Tribal Grappler wasn't near him at all. It was about this time that the white-haired Flick Reaper decided that he might as well help them clear the area. After all, completing this quest would benefit all of them.

Summoning his scythe, Death's Calling, Unko began running towards the group that the male Flick Reaper had whittled down. Holding up Death's Calling, he then slammed it down quickly to pole-vault himself over the male Flick Reaper and landed in the center area of a handful of them. Their HPs were all relatively low. He could finish this quick enough.

"Death's Grasp!" he exclaimed as he extended his scythe out in front of him. The silver bandage-like strings shot out in front of him and pierced five candy-themed monsters. Some looked like the usual goblins that he fought all the time. Others looked harder to distinguish. Regardless, two of them turned grey and dissipating from that.

Exhaling, Unko stood upright and then proceeded to leap over towards one of the goblins that was left and smacked him over the head with the pommel. The goblin's hair was sticky and Unko had to tug to get it off. To aid in this he kicked the goblin right in the jaw which caused him to dissipate. Looking over to the male Flick Reaper, he leaned back as he put his scythe into the ground. He continued leaning until his back touched the scythe's shaft.

"Sorry, it looked like you needed to take a breather for a while."

[Nigen]

I'm going to assume Unko finished things up there, as leaning back would be odd otherwise.

Storm Shepard's bold strategy and lack of anything resembling a sense of self preservation had set things up nicely. Weakened as they were, the targets were all lined up for a Photon Stream, which he began charging. Sadly (?), he didn't have the chance to unleash it as yet another individual popped seemingly out of nowhere to start sweeping things up. Releasing the build up harmlessly, Pluton lowered Solar Flare to his side. XO Private was breathing a bit heavily, but actually had maximum health thanks to smart movements, heavy support from the others and the life siphon effect of her scythe. With the inclusion of yet another Flick Reaper to keep things at bay, Pluton wondered if any enemy that wasn't ranged would be able to touch them? Worked for him, he supposed, but perhaps less so for the Tribal Grapler of the team.

And so our private little army grows again... He smiled a bit, in a good natured way. The only thing they had to worry about now was either the sheer grind of this level or, like, a candy comet coming from the skies to crush them, their hopes, their dreams, and perhaps their neighbors for good measure. Worried about tempting fate, Pluton shot a glance up. Nope, no incoming fiery death, just sunshine and skies as blue as...now that he thought of it, Pluton wasn't sure he could think up a distinctly blue candy (at least one that couldn't be any other color and loose anything). A question for his next grocery trip, which was likely to be sooner rather than later. All this delicious destruction was giving him a sweet tooth urge. Now that they seemed to have a little breathing room, Pluton let the others talk while he re-activated Seek and Destroy, scanning the next island. Odd...Where were the targets? Loading error? No, there were one or two there, and the terrain textures were still there...So where were...

Looking up, it appeared that his early belief that they wouldn't be bombarded by flaming candy from on high was premature. He spotted a set of set of catapults (candypults, really) and even a trebuche made out of...toothbrushes? Some level designer's idea of a joke, likely. More to the point, they were being loaded and fired from the second island to their current position.

Incoming! Dash to the second island before they aim for the bridge! He took off, XO not even hesitating, although she noticed the jawbreakers (how appropriately named) a few seconds after she let her reflexes take over, and that only pushed harder. Pluton didn't look back; the others would either follow quickly or take a nasty hit, if his guess on the size of those things was right. Too many to shoot out of the air too...Well, forward retreat it was.

[Eclipse]

Before he'd realized what had happened, the group had run out of monsters to fight. Eclipse finished off the last goblin he'd been fighting with an uppercut to the jaw. He looked over at a newcomer who'd joined the fray. Now leaning coolly on his scythe, Show off.

Eclipse was about to walk over and introduce himself when Pluton shouted something about going to the second island quickly. Eclipse whirled his head and noticed the catapult toothbrushes launching flaming candy towards their location. Adrenaline pumping, Eclipse began sprinting quickly. His speed and agility were superior, and he hand-springed twice, across the bridge that connected the two islands.

Spotting the catapults he began rushing forward, forgetting to look behind him to see how the others had done. He'd never been good at being a team player, especially with how long he'd been soloing in [The World.]

Multiple tooth brush catapults now loomed over. Their attacks now useless at such a close range. Eclipse realized these tooth brush catapults were deceptively more resistant than one would have thought. Closing his eyes momentarily, he activated another weapon ability. [Dark Mode Activated] the 12 ft blades that had been on his gauntlets shrunk down again back to their normal state. A dark aura enveloped both Eclipse and the gauntlets, giving them both a more sinister hue.

I can't keep this ability active as long as Light Mode, gotta make this quick. His strength now doubled, he launched into an Art, "Rapid Attack!" Quickly hitting the the catapult in a flurry of 6 punches and kicks. The toothbrush cracked in half and fell to the ground. The loaded candies rolling in the grass, now harmless. One catapult down.

[Storm Sheppard]

Hey, I'll happily take a breather! Storm Sheppard said, blowing a bubble with his gum as most of the rest of the monsters flitted away into nothingness. It looked like his job of weakening the little guys into submission had been at least sorta useful. He took a moment to asses the group, see who was in what condition. Pluton and Private XO seemed to be in fair condition, the gunner utilizing his range effectively while Private XO only took on stragglers and the ones that hadn't been focusing on Storm Sheppard. Eclipse seemed pretty decently well off too, finishing off a goblin with a good smack. Hey my fellow scyther, I'm Storm Sheppard! I'm gonna send you a thing... uh... hold on... Party Request sent! Bam! Welcome to team Ultra Kitten and the Super Fine Rock Awesomes! Storm Sheppard said happily, naming the group just that second assuming everybody would be okay with what was obviously the best party name ever.

It was at roughly that moment that he saw Pluton and Private XO run past him in what would appear to be some sort of hurry. He figured they were just in a hurry to keep going, which was respectable in Storm Sheppard's eyes as he wasn't really the kind to chill and smell the flowers when things needed doing. Eclipse seemed likewise interested in getting to the next field as quickly as was physically possible.

Woo, those guys can really move when they wanna. He said with a whistle, admiring the great speed with which his allies could move their rear ends. Now, Storm Sheppard was known at least a little bit for being quick on his feet and was never one to let a race go unrun! He brought his scythe up with a twirl, bringing it down like a guitar upon which he began tearing a solid riff. Here I am! He proclaimed loudly, a storm cloud forming in and instant above him. A bolt of lightening come crashing down on him in the second that followed, the burst of energy crashing through a jaw breaker on its way down like it weren't no thang. In the cloud of dust that followed on the ground stood a Storm Sheppard crafted from raw energy, bolts of energy crackling from his body to the scorched ground. Boom Baby! He cackled, running after his compatriots like a streak of light across the field, though he ran in a jagged path like a bolt of lightening. When he got to the bridge, a jaw breaker the size of a wrecking ball was nearly on his head. The jaw breaker fell to either side of the bridge as it was cut in half with a swift motion as Storm Sheppard continued running for the catapults, one of which already fallen to the hands of Eclipse. The storm clad flick reaper dashed and jumped in front of Private XO for a moment, cartwheeling in mid air to blow her an upside-down kiss before he speedily made tracks for the next closest catapult. The goblins trying to arm and set the catapult came forward to try and protect their delicious war machine, but they proved little resistance to Storm Sheppard's new form, crackling booms of energy erupting with every strike, leaving seared and burning candy in his wake. With the final goblin dispatched, he turned his attention toward the catapult, which he found swinging a massive cup like arm toward him. Storm Sheppard jumped up and grabbed hold of the would be fist as the catapult seemed to transform, the legs that held it to the ground becoming actual legs and it's long swinging arms turning to grand punching arms. From his lofty perch upon the hand of this candied giant, he could see that the other three toothbrush candypults were similarly stretching their legs to come after their slowly growing group. AHA HA HA HA HA HA! Storm Sheppard laughed hysterically, having wondered what sort of challenge this field would have provided them when they had rendered the goblins nothing more than piles of highly refined death! This is more like it! Who wants to stand on the shoulders of giants?! He was starting to genuinly enjoy himself at this point, running up the length of the arm of the grand creature that was attacking him, trying to swat the lightening bug off it's arm. Every step he took left burnt plastic on the toothbrush arm, and each strike he made left great gouges in the beast, the battle sounding like a very localized thunderstorm.

[sera]

Hey, I'll happily take a breather!

His companion seemed more than happy to call it quits as the last two candy creatures in front of the two of them bled out. Errr...they "icing'd out". Yeah, that would be the better term. Those bandages that wrapped around his scythe were pretty sharp when they hit things. Or perhaps it had been the low density of candy that had allowed for such devastating effects? Oh well...it didn't matter now really. Looking around, the other members of his new party seemed to be finishing up quite nicely. So, perhaps he'd have a moment to introduce himself and have a small breather.

Hey my fellow scyther, I'm Storm Sheppard! I'm gonna send you a thing... uh... hold on... Party Request sent! Bam! Welcome to team Ultra Kitten and the Super Fine Rock Awesomes!

Chuckling a bit, Unko dismissed his scythe and stood up straight. Was this guy for real? Seriously? Accepting the party request, he sincerely hoped they would never be referred to by that name ever again. It was almost like they were a superhero team on a children's variety hour. At least, that's what that kind of name implied. "What are we? Some kind of crime-fighting superhero brigade? Oh," he began, dropping his sarcastic tone. "I'm Unko."

Suddenly, everything changed. Everyone in the party started running towards the second island with great vigor. It was...strange. After clearing a wave of them, it would make sense to slow down and restore one's SP and HP. That is, unless a catapult was firing at you. Unko recognized this fact a little after everyone else. He saw the problem that a catapult could cause for them. If they took out the bridge the party was sunk. And that couldn't happen.

With his scythe dismissed, he was able to devote his energy to running. However, he was still the last one to reach the bridge. There was a close call as the giant piece of candy got sliced by Storm Sheppard's lightning-mohawk. That was good. If that thing had hit his companion it would've spelled the end. So, coming in last, Unko made it across the bridge without bodily harm. He looked back at the still standing bridge and hoped that it would stay that way for a while. If they needed to retreat, that bridge would be crucial.

Then the Flick Reaper focused on the task at hand. The catapults were...coming to life. This was...problematic. Luckily, that was all the small army had to focus on at this point. Picking out one of them for his own, Unko was reminded of an Art almost perfect for dealing with "larger-than-life" opponents. Summoning Death's Calling, he ran towards the far catapult as he hammered down on his skill trigger.

"LOTUS FLOWER!" he exclaimed. Slashing the catapult both at its legs and in its midsection. The cuts in the legs were wobbling it a bit as he landed. Using his scythe like a hook, he grabbed at the back of the leg nearest him and pulled himself towards it. Then he began to wail away on it with a series of left jabs and knees. It was whittling away at the cut in its leg. In a small amount of time the thing would come crashing down. Soon.