The Battle for Asber

Wouldn't it be +6 from life orb, then, considering you used it twice?

I miscalculated the STAB boosts for those; you get 2% more damage, then.

more damage is good.

Tsk! So much squabbling for such a minimal effect. But I suppose that characterises you humans, doesn't it? Take your 2% damage, then. It is of little concern to us. We have far, far greater plans than that.

this from the same source as "boo 2 damage"?

Bunches of little things

make big things

...

Yeah that didn't come out as I hoped

Kusarigamaitachi said:

Tsk! So much squabbling for such a minimal effect. But I suppose that characterises you humans, doesn't it? Take your 2% damage, then. It is of little concern to us. We have far, far greater plans than that.

Click to expand...

That's fine; your plans are your plans. Not like it's going to matter, but you just keep on planning your "wittle" plan. :)



So; Whoo, go Asber? :\

I'm a he. [/not very important post]

Sorry about that. I made some edits to fix that, add your sableye's muscle band, and make the DQ Monday the 9th, because the 8th is Sunday.

DQ warning for... about half of you guys. 22.5 hours.

Mewtwo's feeling tricksy once again and almost immediately decides it'll go and greet the newcomer. The legend floats down to meet Lurline with a broad and toothy grin that only grows wider as the stoic sableye begins to show signs of discomfort. No doubt she'd hoped to avoid the legends' attention for at least a little while longer. Mewtwo spreads empty hands and says, Welcome to the battlefield, little one. Such a shame that I'm going to have to end your life today.

Lurline hisses but shrinks back a bit, wobbling slightly as she works to keep her new levitation under control. Mewtwo shakes its head sadly and says, It doesn't have to be that way, you know. In fact, what do you say we make a deal? You just agree not to use that nasty little expert belt of yours, and I'll pretend you aren't even here. What do you say? A fair trade, isn't it?

Lurline shakes her head and chatters angrily at the legend, but Metwo won't be deterred. A flourish of its hand and a scroll unrolls from nowhere. Mewtwo casually presses a three-fingered hand against it. There. I've already signed. Won't you do the same? The scroll floats down to float in front of Lurline, who tries to evade it but finds it quite persistent in following her around.

Come now. All I'm asking for is that you not bring any unfair advantage to this battle. The three of us are fighting empty-handed; why shouldn't you? And think of what you earn--one fewer legend to worry about. I am a mon of my word, little one. Think of your trainer; shouldn't you be doing everything you can to protect him?

Lurline glances down at Skylark, who is unfortunately prevented from giving his opinion on the matter by a subtle psychic hold from Mewtwo but is wearing a rather strained smile, if nothing else. The sableye glances back at the scroll, its close-fitting ranks of unown and, below, the three circles that mark Mewtwo's signature. Next to them... is an empty space.

The sableye tries reading the text of the document, but she knows she doesn't really have time. It seems too good to be true; she knows she shouldn't trust one of the legends. All the same, if there's a chance she might be able to avoid Mewtwo's attention, shouldn't she take it? Agreeing not to use her item--well, it's not great, but it's no blood sacrifice. Hesitantly, the sableye reaches out and presses a hand against the scroll. It turns black where her ectoplasm touches, and a sudden jolt of dark energy races up her arm to her brain, where it silences the expert knowledge imparted on her by her belt. And, as the scroll rolls itself up with a snap and vanishes in a puff of purple smoke, Lurline realizes she's missing something else, too. Just how did she get up here, anyway? Sableye can't fly!

Mewtwo chuckles to itself as sableye and trainer plummet from sight, then turns back to the battle proper and floats up to join its legendary comrades. Darkrai, which had been watching the exchange with intense interest, joins in Mewtwo's laughter and raises its claws towards the sky, a tiny ember forming between them. It soars up higher into the atmosphere, and within moments the sun beating down on the arena intensifies, growing almost oppressively bright and warm. The legends stretch luxuriously beneath it as it warms their frosted limbs, rapidly undoing the work of Monopole's icy winds.

Aries' demeanor brightens with the sun, and the sun stone buried somewhere in his fluff grows warm, slowly starting to feed him energy, but he can't afford to stop and enjoy the situation now. Ventus is waiting on him, and the swellow's impatient circling suggests that the delay is grating on the swift pokémon's nerves. Aries clears his throat, then begins singing in an uncertain voice, thin and lonesome in such a huge battlefield. Ventus joins in almost immediately, though, the swellow's voice loud and confident if not overly melodious, and Aries takes heart, raising his voice and letting its strength join with Ventus'. The magical song redoubles and batters at the legends' eardrums. Mewtwo, only just rejoining its companions, isn't able to resist covering its ears, its wicked grin turning to a snarl. Darkrai is even worse affected, shuddering with the force of the song, its angry howl drowned out by the defenders' continued singing. Giratina, on the other hand, merely looks annoyed by the distasteful noise.

The blaring duet would be enough to rouse the dead, and it's certainly enough to wake the two fitful dreamers remaining on Team Asber. Ptah returns to the waking world with a gasp, still shivering with the lingering effects his nightmare, and Chief Zackrai rouses as well. The disoriented trainer doesn't even have a chance to get his bearings before Ptah, recognizing the urgency of the situation, makes a sudden dive, fading as he goes as he melts over into reality's shadow. As he did before, he soars on through the perpetually shifting plane and rematerializes inside Giratina's stomach, ramming a black-edged claw into the flesh in front of him.

He's not the only one bound for the dragon's stomach, either. Once Lurline gets over the immediate panic of her fall, she reaches out to grab Skylark, then turns her downward momentum to her advantage, using it to give her the energy to plunge through into the dark plane. Here, she is not bound by the laws of physics that govern reality, and so is unhindered in her flight towards what she recognizes as the form of Giratina projected through into the shadow world. She breaks into reality next to Ptah, pitifully thankful feel something solid beneath her feet and not at all bothered by the dankness of the beast's stomach. She reaches out to punch the same place that Ptah did, and Giratina cringes, then lashes its body bad-temperedly. Well, it can't be sure exactly who's hanging out in its insides, but it can only see three of its opponents, and the sableye isn't one of them. It's a reasonable bet that Lurline's one of the unwelcome guests, and in any case the dragon is eager to lose its lunch. It swears it must be getting one heck of an ulcer.

Giratina twists into a barrel roll, fading from view as it rotates and the cells of its undead body disperse. As sunlight encroaches on the dragon's stomach, Lurline leaps at Ptah, jabbering with fear, and throws her arms around the gliscor's neck. Skylark grabs his torso, heedless of Chief Zackrai's yells not to, and as Giratina dissolves into the air, Ptah suddenly finds himself supporting over double the burden he was earlier. The gliscor lurches in the air, fighting to keep his flight stable; as a glider more than anything, he was having enough difficulty with just Chief Zackrai to deal with. Still, he can't on good conscience dislodge his two new, plainly terrified hangers-on, and so he's forced to undergo a grim struggle against gravity, cursing his ephemeral foe all the while.

Only Mr. Wonderful has yet to act now. The spiritomb, awake at last, moves doggedly, if very, very slowly, towards his target. He had been hoping to take refuge in Giratina's stomach as well, but his fellow ghost has thwarted that plan for now. Instead, he soars towards Darkrai. He doesn't even glance back when the yells of the humans indicate that the telekinesis holding Monopole aloft has given way and metagross and riders are now accelerating towards the earth. Mr. Wonderful rises above Darkrai, gathering energy as he goes. The ghost's keystone glows white-hot, a whirling vortex of orange energy appearing around hi as he readies his attack. Then Mr. Wonderful pulls his head back into his keystone and lets it drop. The heavy rock plummets onto Dakrai's head with spectacular force and a blast of energy, and the legend, which had been trying without luck to dispel the high-pitched whining in its ears, is slammed downwards by the incredible impact.

Team Legend
Safeguard in play: 2 more actions

Kratos Aurion (O)

Giratina (X) <Prankster>
Health: 827
Energy: 953
Used: Phase Out
- Comfortably insubstantial. Phased out. -1 Speed

Pathos (O)

Darkrai (X) <Bad Dreams>
Health: 796
Energy: 947
Used: Sunny Day
- Deafened. -1 Speed

Kusarigamaitachi (O)

Mewtwo (X) <Prankster>
Health: 964
Energy: 941
Used: Embargo @ Lurline
- Pleasure doing business with you! -1 Speed

Team Asber
Safeguard in play: 2 more actions

Derpy (O)

Aries (M) <Pressure> @ Sun Stone
Health: 86%
Energy: 72%
Used: Round
- Singing with gusto. +3 Defense

Chief Zackrai (O)

Ptah (M) <Hyper Cutter> @ Life Orb
Health: 90%
Energy: 78%
Used: Faint Attack @ Giratina
- Gaaaah, get off!

blazheirio889 (O)

Ventus (F) <Guts> @ Life Orb
Health: 94%
Energy: 79%
Used: Round
- I hate singing.

Wargle (O)

Mr. Wonderful (M) <Pressure> @ Expert Belt
Health: 91%
Energy: 98%
Used: Giga Impact @ Darkrai
- Geronimooo!

Skylark (O)

Lurline (F) <Keen Eye> @ Expert Belt
Health: 100%
Energy: 97%
- Don't let me fall! Embargoed (4 more actions).

What's wrong, little one? I told you, did I not, that I won't touch you. There is no need to cling to your fear. Just let go...

foolish god. what comes you cannot unsee. we can conclude only that you do not see.

Mewtwo clasps its hands together, then slowly pulls them apart, a glowing band of energy stretching between them. As Mewtwo continues to draw it out, it thickens and warps, bubbling out into the shape of a smaller Mewtwo, a glowing phantasm made of pure psychic power. As Mewtwo bestows part of its life energy on the construct, it stirs and floats out from between its creator's hands, tail swishing lazily. Although well less than half the size of its master, the substitute is more than ready to intercept attacks aimed its way.

Meanwhile, Darkrai leaves off rubbing its head and muttering and turns its attention to Lurline. It looks as though someone isn't quite as dead as might be hoped. It isn't easy for Darkrai to summon psychic energy, especially given that its head is throbbing, but Darkrai isn't trying to do anything fancy with it. Lurline feels a sudden tug as an invisible hand clamps down around its midriff and starts doing its best to rip the sableye from her perch. Ptah is dragged down through the air, spitting curses, while Lurline wails, tightening her grip around the gliscor's neck. Darkrai frowns and redoubles its efforts, and Lurline's grip starts to slip. Ventus swoops towards Darkrai at top speed, glowing orange as she powers up a sky attack in the hopes of interrupting the legendary's attack. Unfortunately, she is too late. Though the sky attack strikes true, knocking Darkrai sideways, Lurline's already lost her grip. Skylark calls out to his sableye and tries to get an arm out to catch her, but she's already spinning out into empty space, quite out of reach and growing more distant by the second. Lurline curls into a ball and covers her gemstone eyes with her arms. It's a long, long way down, and she's going to have plenty of time to contemplate the coming impact.

Darkrai winces as it touches the wide gash running down its side, courtesy of Ventus' latest attack. The swellow has shot up well overhead by now, the last embers of the energy she collected falling away from her feathers. The swellow isn't about to get away with another sky attack scot-free, though. Unbeknownst to Ventus, one of her former targets has decided it's time to clip the proud bird's wings. Lightning fizzes for a moment in a patch of empty sky, and then a thunderbolt arcs out from Giratina's phased body to strike Ventus. The swellow squawks and drops for a moment, her body fizzing with charge, but manages to right herself soon enough. Her disgruntled glare around the battlefield reveals no immediately obvious source for the bolt, but as soon as she figures out where it came from, that pokémon is going to have hell to pay.

Ptah fights to gain altitude and stability, his load only slightly lightened by Lurline's removal. It's hard for him to move with Skylark still clinging to his torso, and he can't do much with his tail at all, but fortunately he doesn't really need to. Although Giratina's phased out, its position is still clearly marked by the green glow of safeguard that pulses between its diffuse cells, and a dark pulse will cut it as keenly now as it ever would. The gliscor manages to raise a heavy crab-claw, blackness sizzling around its edges, and brings it down sharply, sending a blade of darkness slicing cleanly through Giratina's insubstantial body. He gets no visual confirmation of his strike, but the ghost's body stirs and eddies fitfully as it works to close the gap opened by the attack.

Rather to his surprise, Aries finds that he's not going to have any luck sowing seeds on either of his opponents; there's no way one will take root in Giratina now, and Mewtwo's substitute will surely block his best attempt. He finds himself, once again, reluctantly pushed into an offensive role. At least charging a solarbeam is a pleasure in this weather, the abundant sunlight coalescing swiftly and easily into a searing golden beam. And, really, it never gets old to watch Darkrai recoil and curse as the light burns into it. Aries has to admit, he could get used to this aggression thing, he really could.

Mr. Wonderful has, through all of this, been slowly making his way up. After bouncing off Darkrai's head, the spiritomb fell for quite a while before managing to brake, and his pokey pace is making the climb a drag. But at last he's within range of his opponent, and once again manages to hoist himself above Darkrai's head. He drops like a draco meteor, his keystone blazing with golden-orange light, and deals his foe another mighty konk on the noggin.

Team Legend
Safeguard in play: 1 more action

Kratos Aurion (O)

Giratina (X) <Prankster>
Health: 817
Energy: 948
Used: Thunderbolt @ Ventus
- Regrouping from the dark pulse. Phased out.

Pathos (O)

Darkrai (X) <Bad Dreams>
Health: 754
Energy: 942
Used: Psychic @ Lurline
- Oh, that is it.

Kusarigamaitachi (O)

Mewtwo (X) <Prankster>
Health: 944
Energy: 931
Used: Substitute (20%)
- Admiring its handiwork. Has a substitute with 20% health.

Team Asber
Safeguard in play: 1 more action

Derpy (O)

Aries (M) <Pressure> @ Sun Stone
Health: 87%
Energy: 69%
Used: Solarbeam @ Darkrai
- Energized. +3 Defense

Chief Zackrai (O)

Ptah (M) <Hyper Cutter> @ Life Orb
Health: 89%
Energy: 73%
Used: Dark Pulse @ Giratina
- Still struggling.

blazheirio889 (O)

Ventus (F) <Guts> @ Life Orb
Health: 77%
Energy: 71%
Used: Sky Attack @ Darkrai
- Disgruntled.

Wargle (O)

Mr. Wonderful (M) <Pressure> @ Expert Belt
Health: 91%
Energy: 89%
Used: Giga Impact @ Darkrai
- Cackling with delight.

Skylark (O)

Lurline (F) <Keen Eye> @ Expert Belt
Health: 100%
Energy: 97%
Used: Nothing
- Plummeting.

Wonderful. It's not quite as beautiful as it could have been, but surely you can admire my work. It is so much more efficient when our opponents fall with minimal aid.

Farewell, little one. You will be missed!

decidedly not our first choice to replace, but as long as it keeps you occupied.

The green glow around the legends flickers, then cuts out abruptly. A moment later it's restored, as strong as ever, as Giratina lays another safeguard in place--perhaps a bit reluctantly, given the fact that it clearly outlines its location by doing so.

Mewtwo's thoughts, on the other hand, are far more aggressive. It's had enough messing around for now. Even a newly-anointed prankster can't keep the lighthearted trickery going all day. Sometimes, you just really want to unleash some pain.

Ice crusts on Mewtwo's fingers and condensation fogs the air around its hand as a blinding orb of blue light grows in its palm. Mewtwo takes careful aim, then blasts an ice beam straight into Ventus. The swellow spirals downward again, shedding ice-crusted feathers. She does her best to shake the attack off, unnerved by the sudden interest the legends have taken in her but determined not to let it show. There's no time to worry about it now, anyway; she has another load of fiery flying energy to deliver to a certain nightmare-creature at the moment.

Darkrai has had about all it can take of its opponents' attentions, though. Its ears are still ringing, and after two solid giga impacts, it's acquired a headache of legendary proportions. The nightmare pokémon clutches its throbbing skull, letting out a low, steady growl. Its eyes glow red as its anger starts to boil over, and its claws begin to tremble with rage. So you would trifle with gods, pitiful creatures? Then witness the true power of the immortals! Darkrai's prolonged snarls rise to a keening screech that causes the rest of the battle to grind to a halt, the combatants transfixed by the alien sound. Darkrai's yell cuts right through reality, warping time and space in one very localized area: right around Mr. Wonderful, its tormentor of late. The spiritomb shrinks back into its keystone as it is buffeted by the tides of time gone wild, Ancient entities, the spirits of dragons that once ruled the pokémon world, reach forward through the ages to tear at the spiritomb's essence, their malice undiminished by the span of centuries lying between them and their target. The rift in time can remain open only briefly, but it's long enough that Mr. Wonderful is left rattled and in pain, his souls in disarray as they fight to recover from the mindbending experience.

Ventus recovers before her companions. Darkrai is panting and twitching in the wake of its attack; she's not going to get a better opportunity than this. The swellow wings up and away, calling up another sky attack before plummeting into a dive that connects solidly with Darkrai. The dark legend is once again shoved aside by the force of the swellow's passage, and another deep wound is opened along its side, but for the moment, it seems too tired to care much, for which Ventus is infinitely grateful. She's a bit weary herself, and starting to ache besides, but she's not out of the game yet.

Ptah and his two passengers are frozen with shock by the ferocity (and volume) of Darkrai's attack. The gliscor does his best to pull himself together, though; if he hopes to see fewer terrifying displays of power in the future, he needs to do his part to take one of the legends out of the battle. Blackness fizzes around his claw as he sends another dark pulse scything through Giratina's diffuse form. Aries, meanwhile, is grateful that he didn't have to be the first to provoke his clearly-unstable target. Another solarbeam strikes the tired legend, and Aries watches nervously to see whether Darkrai will respond.

Of course, Mr. Wonderful's feeling worst of all. Still, the spiritomb is far from out of the fight yet; he regains his composure and once more labors upward, another giga impact at the ready. The roar of time has really ruined his concentration, though, and when the spiritomb starts another dive bomb towards Darkrai, he ends up missing the legend entirely. Mewtwo smirks as the spiritomb hurtles through empty air, narrowly missing the teammate climbing to take its place on the battlefield. Death Canyon the porygon-z brings with it not only its own trainer, but also Derpy and blazheirio889, rescued from Monopole's falling form somewhere below. The porygon-z appears to have no trouble at all keeping three humans aloft; with all the experience it has managing its own floating body parts, perhaps doing so comes naturally. Aries lets out a delighted cry at the sight of its trainer, and Ventus makes a quick swoop around blazheirio889 by way of greeting.

The reunion is cut short when the lot of them are nearly incinerated by a fly-through meteor; it manages to miss them by a hair, but goes plowing on into Ptah, setting pokémon and humans ablaze in blue-purple flame and causing Skylark to lose his grip on the outsized scorpion. Chief Zackrai is too busy beating flames out of his clothes to notice immediately, but Ptah makes a dive after the falling trainer, pincers outstretched. He doesn't manage to catch him, though, and pulls up with reluctance. He can't help but feel a bit guilty about his irritation of having the trainer hanging onto him; certainly he never meant for their parting to be so violent.

Team Legend
Safeguard in play: 5 more action

Kratos Aurion (O)

Giratina (X) <Prankster>
Health: 807
Energy: 947
Used: Safeguard
- Regrouping from the dark pulse. Phased out.

Pathos (O)

Darkrai (X) <Bad Dreams>
Health: 724
Energy: 931
Used: Roar of Time @ Mr. Wonderful
- SCREEEEECH!!

Kusarigamaitachi (O)

Mewtwo (X) <Prankster>
Health: 944
Energy: 931
Used: Ice Beam @ Ventus
- Amused by Mr. Wonderful's failure. Has a substitute with 20% health.

Team Asber

Derpy (O)

Aries (M) <Pressure> @ Sun Stone
Health: 87%
Energy: 65%
Used: Solarbeam @ Darkrai
- Okay. +3 Defense

Chief Zackrai (O)

Ptah (M) <Hyper Cutter> @ Life Orb
Health: 73%
Energy: 68%
Used: Dark Pulse @ Giratina
- Holding up the best he can.

blazheirio889 (O)

Ventus (F) <Guts> @ Life Orb
Health: 55%
Energy: 63%
Used: Sky Attack @ Darkrai
- Worried.

Wargle (O)

Mr. Wonderful (M) <Pressure> @ Expert Belt
Health: 73%
Energy: 80%
Used: Giga Impact @ Darkrai
- Disoriented.

Up Next Round

Crazy Linoone (O)

Death Canyon (M) <Download> @ Chesto Berry
Health: 100%
Energy: 100%
- Analyzing targets; please wait...

Terrain Notes
The sun is shining brightly (6 more actions).

Final Notes
- Aries' round was a critical hit on both Darkrai and Mewtwo. Ventus' round was a critical hit on Darkrai.
- Next DQ is Sunday, January 22nd, at midnight.

squee, another non-disposable minion!

Going by the descriptions, I'm pretty sure Mewtwo used Ice Beam last action instead of Substitute (20%)?

On the second round it made a sub. :)