Beyond Frontiers: A Kingdom Rush Slaughter Thread

[Sinque Productions]

"Tsewang? How did you know I was here? Can the device communicate both ways? How many others are there and how powerful are they?" Z yells, looking at me with a shotgun pointed at the ground.
"I knew you were because I can break the fourth wall" I tell Z through the communications device. "I have no doubt you do not know what that does, but your forumer does. To help you, here is something you can press to find out, for I can share my fourth wall powers with all of you.
"And now there are more of us too. We vary in power so I can not answer that question so well."
And then I say to all with a charm "Everyone attached to this charm network can communicate with them to anyone they want also attached."
"So, if any need help right now, you can ask for my aid and I will come."

[Juice Box]

And so the three heroines (and hero thingie) continued on through the King's halls, silently greeted by the watching gazes of the Royal Guard and the gigantic pillars and statues that surround them. King Denas leads them to the meeting hall, where some of the other heroes, generals and grand warriors he had called--there were around forty or so in total--had gathered to meet this new, alien menace. This should have been a dark meeting for a time of war, but instead there was jolly laughter and a merry exchange of words rummaging around the room. The smell of fine drink and exquisite food filled their noses, and immediately, with no regard for the fact that they were beside a king, Kazak and the two female Superhumans ran forward and began feasting.

"Nyarmnyarmnyarm nyaheeheehee!" Juice Box loudly and proudly declares as she stuffs entire strands of expensive Kobe beef into her mouth. A few feet away from her, Kazak and Repeat had begun feasting on Wagyu steak, not once thinking of how much they're taking away from the King's (admittedly fat) wallet.

"You'll have to excuse my friends," Tristana states, embarrassed by her company. "They are... a little on the savage side."
"Oh, I have not invited them here today to make use of their courtly manners," King Denas replies. "I have invited them for their skill in war. And from what I hear, they are more than experienced in it. Regardless, every sword-wielding hand we can muster to our cause, human or otherwise, is welcome in my halls."
"Thank you," Tristana says. "You truly are a wise king."
"And besides, your friends are really hot."
"... What?"
"I don't mean the brute, of course," King Denas says, eyeing Juice and Repeat favorably. "But the two Superhumans you have brought with you... mmmhmm."
"Err, my king? Are you sure about this?"
"More than sure," King Denas replies, adjusting his huge potbelly. "There is no blessing in Elvish, Archonin or the tongues of men for such rambunctious beauty."
"Err... all right... I'll just, like, go on out, if you don't mind. My king. Sir."
"Oh, yes, do carry on."

Tristana walks on forward, hoping to catch up to her newfound friends, when she notices that they have left the food section completely.

"Huh... that's odd. Could've sworn they were--"
"Eeck!!" A familiar voice shrieks. "Get off of me, you dirty, strangely attractive woman!"
"What the... was that...?" Tristana runs in the direction of the voice, and sees Juice Box, Repeat and Kazak each with a small, humanoid being--other Yordles--wrapped tightly within their arms.
"I said get off!" The Yordle in Juice's grasp yelps once again. "I don't want your incredibly hot hands all over me!"
"But you're sho cyuuuuuute! I can't handwool eet I'm sowwwyyyyy!"

The little Yordle tumbles about, attempting to break free, when she sees Tristana. The two immediately recognize each other--it's Lulu! And over by Repeat and Kazak is Poppy and Veigar! Her friends!

"Heyyyy!" Tristana exclaims. "What's uuup?"
"Tristanaaa!" Lulu replies. "How's it OW LET GO OF ME how's it goiiiing?"
"Oh, just fine. I was just walking along on the way to the Citadel when I ran into these three. I'm sorry if they're causing you trouble, they're a bit rowdy."
"Oh that's fine, darling, I'm just I SAID LET GO OF ME I'm just happy you're here!"
"That's great! I'm happy you're here, too. The one that's hugging you right now, that one's Juice Box. The one hugging Veigar is Kazak, and the redhead is Repeat. I'll be sure to introduce you properly once they've... calmed down."
"All right, darling, but why don't you OH PLEASE GOD LET ME GO why don't you stay over here with us for a few moments? We'd love the OH MY GOD STOP we'd love the company!"
"All right, sure!" Tristana sets herself down on a nearby fluffly chair, Boomer right beside her.
"VEIGAR WILL END YOUUUUUU," Veigar vengefully declares nearby as Kazak continues hugging him. "Also hi, Tristana. VEIIGAAAAAAAAARRRRR."
"Hey, Veigar. We're not supposed to be talking, though, right? Aren't we still enemies?"
"Why, yes, indeed, but the real Juice Box doesn't know that because she hasn't done enough research on Yordle YOUR HEAD. IT WILL BE MOUNTED ON A SPIKE I DECREE IT research on Yordle society to know that we're enemies VEIGAAAAAARRRR."

Juice Box continues hugging Lulu, seemingly intent on maintaining this position for a couple more years or so, when a tall, slow-moving boy walking towards them catches her attention. Immediately, she drops the little Smurfordle, and she makes a slight thud on the ground as she lands on her butt.

"REPEAT!" Juice exclaims. "It's DM."
The redhead subsequently drops Poppy the Smurfordle, eyes wide, and walks alongside Juice towards the boy.

"Hey," DM says as he reaches the two women, his voice of course as raspy and full of mansexiness as usual.
"Bubby bebee," Juice says. "Where were you?"
"Had a rumble with a bunch of Reapers along the way. Was a little tough, but we got 'em. James had my back."
"Whoa, James is here, too?!" Repeat butts in. "Seriously?"
"Yeah, he's right over there. With a few of the others." DM acknowledges to the people behind him. "It's nice to see you, too, Repeat."
"What? Oh--I mean," Repeat panics for a second, then subtly strikes a pose, puffing her chest out and putting a hand on her hips. In a course voice, she continues, "Why, hello there, big boy."
DM laughs. "Good job, good job. Anyways, I just came to greet. It was nice seeing you, but there's business I have to take care of in the Council room." He gives Juice a quick kiss on the forehead. "I'll see you around. And take care of Repeat when you go out there, she's always been a good friend."

Repeat's face turns grim as DM slowly walks away. "What did he say?"
"I think he just said the F-word."
"Like... The F F-word?"
"Yeap."
"Eeyargh..." Repeat puts a hand on her chest, unbearable pain now flooding her body. "I... I..."
"He is taken, you know. By, like, the person you're talking to right now. Hey, you okay? You wanna go see James?"
"No, no, I think I'll just... sit in that corner over there and cry..."

Glumly, Repeat walks away to some discreet corner, pure blackness filling her heart.

Juice continues to walk forward towards the group of Superhumans, when the spirit of an ugly, bald and Chinese boy suddenly forms in the air around her. It takes her a while to recognize whose spirit this is--she's killed a lot of baddies in the past--but a second or so later she remembers who this boy is.

"Oh, hi, Mani," she says to the dead wizard.
"I have received information," Manijure begins. "That you, just recently, have been in the company of Yordles?"
"Oh, the little blue Smurf thingies? Yeah, yeah, there's a bunch of them in this room right now, actually. Tristana and Poppy and the likes."
"GEYUYURRRGRGH," Mani loudly groans. "Do you know, how LONG I have dreamed to see a Yordle with my own eyes? Much less the likes of TRISTANA??? FAR too long, Juice Box, FAR too long... and now you tell me... that you now reside in their company?"
"Hey, it's not my fault. We're in some world-saving mission right now, so we sort of have to hang out with them? I could have introduced you to them if you weren't dead."
"I'm dead right now because you killed me."
"I killed you because you're an evil wizard, duhh. That's what happens when we win Slaughter Threads."
"Urgh, you never even technically won! The game stopped before we could finish!"
"Yeaaah, but according to this headcanon, we won and survived. How else would I be here right now, with the real world in particularly tranquil peace? And why else would you be dead?"
"Urgh, I hate you sometimes."
"I sort of have to go and meet with my friends now."
"Yes, yes, the real Juice Box is getting tired and all, doesn't want to write more stuff, especially since there's no real fighting going on, bla bla. Farewell."
"What? I'm not tired, what do you--"
"FAREWELL."

Confuzzled and bemuzuwildered, Juice Box regathers her composure and shoves the conversation she just had with her dead foe to the back of her mind, then continues to walk forward to the other Superhumans.

Still in some discreet corner, Repeat continues crying at the painful Friendzoning she had just experienced, hoping for the next post to somehow bring her out of her misery...

[Minuet]

It now being night time, the carriage still presses onward, Minuet still seated at the helm holding the reins. He checks a map just to make sure they're on the right one of the two roads in Linirea, staring at it confusedly for a second he turns it sideways, still not sure if he's reading it properly, or if it's even a map at all. In the current light conditions he can't tell if what he's looking at is a road or a description of a delicious chicken ciao mein dish on a Chinese takeout menu. Sighing deeply, he just throws the map back, probably landing on someone, but he doesn't really care, it's too late for this shit.

Seemingly out of nowhere, something zooms in front of the carriage, crashing directly into the horse, knocking both over a dozen metres off the road and into the forest, the carriage tips over slightly, but then slams back down, upright.

"Phew, at least the carriage is sa- oh shit I jinxed it did-" before he can finish speaking and interrupting himself another figure slams into the carriage, throwing all the contents into the air and reducing it to wood chips and tinder. Minuet flies through the air, slamming into a tree, before falling and hitting several branches before landing on a particularly tender place and then slipping off to hit the ground.

"Ah... ow..." recovering from the ordeal, he looks up, focusing his vision to see a large, quadrupedal, pink figure looming over the remains of the carriage.

"What the... here?" he whispers to himself before, as quickly and silently as he can, slipping behind the tree he just fell from. "How are they all the way here too?"

He quickly tries to ascertain the locations of his companions, the priestess Dierdre is safe, knocked out, but that's probably for the better, the girl was still wrapped up in blankets, so she appears as a clump of cloths on the ground, good, good... Gl'bll... Minuet looks back over to the Reaper, finally noticing that it's tearing apart the remains of the goblin.

"Shit..." he murmurs to himself, before suddenly another Gl'bll leaps from somewhere above directly onto the Reaper, stabbing it in its back with his sword.
"Oh, right, he can do that" he says, as two more Gl'blls appear, all co-operating to take down the Reaper. Believing that the replicating goblin has that covered, Minuet goes to rummage through several supply crates before finally pulling out his bow.
"Yay now I can not die or something" he says, nocking an arrow. Aiming to fire at the Reaper, but it keels over and hits the ground, crushing one of the Gl'blls, before he can shoot. Lowering it slightly, a loud stampeding noise is heard, the first Reaper, presumably already done with the short-lived Fluffles the Horse, returns, charging straight for Minuet. In one quick action he fires the arrow, swirling blue energy gathering on it as its released, hitting the Reaper point-blank. It gradually slows down until one of its claws are inches away from his face, before it starts speeding up again, but moving back in time from where it came for several seconds. During this time, he fires several shots at it, quickly and poorly aimed, not hurting it very much, but who can you blame? He's just an average elf. Before it can nearly get to him again, a barrage of light burns several holes in its body, nearly instantly killing it. Meanwhile, Gl'bll finally realizes that his target is dead, his clones vanishing, before he marches back to the group.

"You're utterly useless" says Dierdre, still glowing with all that holy energy.
"Oh, come on, I did all that timey wimey stuff!" replies Minuet.
She shakes her head slightly, "where's the girl?"
Both Dierdre and Minuet look around for a moment, before seeing the impromptu cocoon of blankets, still oddly intact.
"T͘here͏ ͟ar͘e͝ m̨o̵re͞,͞ ̵y̢o̵u'd̵ ̨bett͞e̵r ̸r̢un.́" she whispers in her still coarse voice.
Gl'bll, there suddenly being four of him again, hoist the girl up funeral casket-style, the four (seven?) people then stand back to back, the loud noises of Reapers starting to come from all directions.

"Gather around me" says Dierdre, her staff glowing as she looks off into the distance, the Capital just barely visible on the horizon.
"Oh god we're fucked aren't we" says Minuet, constantly switching his facing direction, unable to see any Reapers just yet. "Please pull some deus ex machina shit Dierdre please please please."

Five Reapers appear from the trees, all charging to the group. Minuet fires arrows but they do little to assuage their advance. Seconds before they arrive, a pair of bright blue wings extend around the group and lift into the air, sending a bright light into the sky as they disappear. The Reapers continue charging and crash into each other, at least one of them getting seriously fucked up.

[Sinque Productions]

Fortunately for Repeat, the next post does bring her out of her misery. The blackness in her heart rushes out of her and fades away. She turns and looks at the gateway to see a little something like this.

Okay, maybe I am not a robot and I don't have magical balls, but I am at the door glowing like a everyone's favorite omnic monk. I drop to glowing effects, and my feet land on the floor. The blinding light dissipates and the silent hall can see Z walk up behind me, shotgun in his arm. Nobody can speak because the epic level is too high.

And then I look up at the crowd, and say in a voice that can be heard from miles around "Heroes. We have come here to protect Linirea from a powerful alien threat. That threat is closing in. It will attack soon enough. Not all of the great warriors have made it here yet. I personally will fetch them. We must act quick--"

A noise cuts me off. I turn around behind me. A long street filled with people, all staring at me, leads to the citadel. There, in front of a glowing light from Dierdre wings is massive reaper. Behind it are more and more and more reapers. They go as can far as can be seen.

The glowing wings blink to where I stand. Dierdre, Minuet, Gl'bll, and the girl, move out of fading light.

"I will seek to the girls medical attention" I say. Then I look up at the speechless heroes. Some look afraid. Some are observant. All are surprised.

I speak again with a great voice. "Warriors. You must push back the oncoming threat. Defend Linirea. The aliens have arrived."

The strangest, most mixed battle cry goes up in the room. The Warriors charge forward at the beast. It is a few hundred meters away and it sees them. The gate holding it back crumbles with a boom that shocks the city. This doesn't deter the warriors who still charge forward at it. They are only a hundred meters now. Dust blocks vision of the monster. They rush in and I can see them no longer.

I look back at the girl. I grab some herbs from my back, open her mouth and put them in. I pray to Aesculapius that she will be well. I place her on cotton bed. And walk to the gate.

"Aeris, could we get some air support?" I ask through my charm.

And I pray to Ares that the warriors will fight well.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Does that do well for a battle starter?

[magicmetal03]

The next day, Jaelyn and Alfred decided to visit Hushwood again to train. Before leaving the hotel, Jaelyn felt as if someone was following her. Alfred expressed that he felt it too, and they both tried to ignore it, but then, right as Jaelyn was going to step out of the hotel, she turned swiftly and kicked. She kicked Charlie, the ugly duckling. "Oh, sorry, Charlie," Jaelyn apologizes, "Wait, are you following us?"

Allgeria quickly made a clumsy lie. "No... Er... Um... Okay, we are." Allgeria said, embarassed. "We just want to follow you guys, hehe," Charlie said.

"But what are you guys doing here?" Allgeria asked.

For the next 5 minutes, Jaelyn and Alfred explained the things that happened days before now.

"Can't you just ask King Denas?" Charlie asked.

"But.." Alfred started to say, but stopped. There was an awkward silence, with embarrassing wafting through the air. Charlie solved it. "Well, let's go to the Citadel, then!" Charlie cheerfully said, and the rest just awkwardly followed.

[AerisDraco]

OOC: Jeez, a lot happened overnight.

The drone approaches its destination, slowing vía parachute before landing on a wall of the Capitol. An emissary is sent to the main hall, to meet the others.
---
"Given the nature of the threat, we need to send out patrols. Concordius, take a naval dispatch of Vindicators, Eradicators, and Reavers and set a course for Buccaneer's Den. Then, wait for further orders.", Aeris demands.
"Yes, sir."
"Casitatus, prepare a division of Battlesuits for landing on the southern shore. Five SABR units will provide cover bombardment from an offshore platform, while a platoon of Xeno Cavalry will be on standby for flanking maneuvers."
"Yes, sir."
"And, Imperius, send Shrike scouts to the prime locations of unknown activity, the Ruins of Nas'de and the Temple of Evil. Have Predator bombers and Seraph interceptors on hold for potential threat.
"Yes, sir."
"Time to command that drone.", Aeris says to himself.
"Why is this model so out of date? Only three articulated fingers, no retractable weaponry... Disappointing. I'll have to get the engineers on that."
He enters the Great Hall, and finds a large ruckus going on. Two human females chasing a bunch of little people around, a man covered in blood, and a guy with a single shotgun. Strange indeed.
"Well, at least it has this.", Aeris pushes a button, enabling cloaking, making the simple robot look more human-like. He then goes to speak with the king.
---
*after Sinque's post*
"Sir, we have an unidentified transmission on our comms.", reports Kintana.
"Patch it through."
"Aeris, could we get some air support?"
"What. First, how did that person access this secure communication line, and second, how do they know my name?"
"I have no idea sir, but we should consider their request."
"I'll ask Denas if aerial and siege bombardment is allowed, and Kintana, check and confirm the presence of alien hostiles."
...
"Denas has approved bombardment, and Kintana?"
"Hostile presence confirmed."
"Engage on my mark."
"Fire!"
---
The legs on the SABRs lock down, and each unit visibly hums and vibrates as their electromagnets are charged. A single shell is loaded in each chamber...
The Predators hover modes are disengaged, and they prepare to drop a massive payload of bombs and missiles...
---
The explosives are fired, the sheer change in weight rapidly shooting the jets into the sky. The bombs thud into the ground, blowing up some Reapers while pushing others flat on the ground.
...the shells are sucked up by extreme magnetic forces, and create sonic booms as they exit the barrels. They quickly reach their targets, and their superheated shells explode, vaporizing nearby Reapers and burning the ground.

[Filipuntik]

While Flippz may not have been trained in the art of engaging in close quarters combat, she knew precisely how to swing her mace in case she got attacked, a skill she was just putting to use with that ugly pink creature. As it jumped into the air towards her, she struck it from the left, knocking it sidewards onto the ground. What she saw on the bottom side of the creature's body unsettled her deeply, but not enough to prevent her from readying another attack, this time arcing the mace from above onto the creature, striking it hard with a satisfying mix of splat and crack. It tumbled down at Flippz's feet, shriveling in cramps.

Now that she seemed out of the water, Flippz looked around again, surveying her surroundings for more potential enemies, but eventually she realized that at least on this side of the city walls, she was alone. She turned back to the gate, then fixed her gaze on the turrets on the sides of the gate.

"Hello!?" she yelled at nobody in particular, hoping that there was someone who could hear her and open the gate. "I'm a courier, I'm delivering a message! There is no monster nearby any-"
"We can see you missy!" came the response from the turret, cutting her off. "We open the gate at this time anyway! Sheesh..."

Finally, the huge wooden door swung open and guards walked out of it, while Flippz made her way into the citadel. She walked into a rather busy street and her immediate conclusion was that she'd never be able to fall asleep in this noise, so she decided to deliver the letter first. She pulled the envelope out of the inside pocket of her coat, once more checking the adress to make sure she was headed to the right place after all.

She paid next to no attention to the business in the city and headed straight for the rich merchant's house to drop the letter in his mailbox. As she finished her task, she pondered if it was even worth looking for a place to sleep inside the capital. She could find a soft spot somewhere by the walls where not too many people would spend time, but her legs carried her to the centre. She stopped at the royal palace, leaned against a pillar at the palace's entrance, and looked around for any sign of an inn. Before she could find any, exhaustion took over and prompted her to sit down. After that, she could barely focus on two buildings before falling asleep.

[Ninja]

This time, it was different. It wasn't just shrieking and horrible noises and horrible colors flying about wildly. It wasn't just exploring other worlds where the inhabitant's language was the polar opposite of the Elven language. It wasn't dreaming of how the world looked. No, this dream was Evil. Not like his other dreams, though. This one showed him visions of terrible creatures with scythe-like arms and hideous maws. And somehow, he could sense that they were Real. And that they were from an Otherworldly Evil. And that they were ravaging the lands of the Elves' allies, Lineria. People were dying.

And then he saw a group of warriors gathered in a great hall of a great palace in a great city. He suspected that this was Lineria's capital, and that they were gathering forces to combat the Evil. His suspicions were confirmed when he saw Denas talking to some of the figures in his dream. Denas was old and fat now. Though perhaps Lazarus shouldn't have been so judgmental, as he is longer so young himself.

Then he saw strange, strange visions. In one, he was Awake and his eyes shone with a blindingly black light (don't ask me how that works). In another, he was again Awake, and he was battling some foreign, humanoid creature with immense power. Their blows and their magicks shook the Worlds and the Universes and the Multiverse. It would be an awesome sight to behold. He decided that these two visions were utterly inconsequential and not Real like his other dreams.

Then, it Ended. And his mind wandered back into the Blackness, its perpetual dwelling place.

----------

After perhaps a few hours, Lazarus got up, still asleep (as was his uncanny custom now that he could control his abilities more fully and no longer needed the aid of Otherworldly Creatures to move him about) and walked to the Queen's throne room. (You see, he lives in the Castle. After defeating great monsters and foes in the Elven war, he and many other brave heroes had been awarded with privileges. This was one of his. He became a direct adviser to the Queen, in fact.) She was sitting on her throne, watching a court fool jest. Upon seeing Lazarus, she dismissed him from the room.

"What is it, Lazarus? Do you need anything?" she inquired with a smile. (Though Lazarus couldn't see the smile, as he was asleep.)

He entered her mind and instantly communicated his thoughts to her. "Oh, dear! Horrible beasts have invaded Lineria and are ravaging the lands. Perhaps they will come here next!" I will go. "Oh? You suggest to go and stop them? I suppose you are likely capable, and you will have help from those warriors. All right, then. You will go and vanquish the threat from our ally's land, and stop it from coming here as well." Thank you, Queen. "You're welcome."

With this permission, Lazarus left the palace via teleportation through Otherworldly Portals.

----------

Almost instantly, a Portal opened up in the Capitol building of Lineria in the great hall that Lazarus had seen. It opened on the ceiling directly above King Denas and a mass of tentacles deposited Lazarus on the ground in front of Denas.

"Gah! Blast you, whoever you are! Guards!"

As the guards approached Lazarus, he telepathically spoke to Denas. Tell them to stop, Denas. I am here to aid you in your cause. I can leave just as easily as I came, however.

Shuddering at the sudden thoughts that were not his own, he inspected Lazarus, rather as though he were an Otherworldly Abomination. Surprised at what he observed, he instantly told the guards to stand down and return to their posts.

"Lazarus, is that you?! How did you ...? What ...?" I told you already. I am here to repel the coming Evil. Confused, Denas accepted Lazarus's "explanation" and adopted an informal tone.

"Can't you find some alternative to that infernal teleportation method you use?" No. "Then at least this creepy talking-in-your-head thing?" No again. Now, there is more important business to attend to, correct? "Well, yes. As a matter of fact, I was just about to ..."

He was interrupted and shocked into silence like everyone else in the room was as a magical floating monk walked through the city gates and began speaking in a positively booming voice. A mysterious man with a shotgun followed him.

[Zonoro13]

Z curses. The situation is spiraling rapidly out of control, and no one is in charge. The air strike has not destroyed every alien. Z takes action, and says through the charm:

"Soldiers! I do not know your names, but duty calls each of you to battle. You are here because you are best equipped to fight the alien threat. Protect the citizens of Linirea. Do not let them take the city!"

Z marches out with the king's troops to the edge of the city, where the reapers are approaching. They are scared.

"Men! We must protect Linirea! You will live if you follow me. Build a fire, and someone bring me a torch!"

Their commander nods hurriedly.

Z instructs them to fight with long pikes to keep the reapers at bay. A reaper is too much stronger than a normal man to fight at close quarters. But Z is not a normal man.

The reapers approach the entrance to the city, guarded by merely a score or so of Denas's soldiers.

Z holds a torch in his left hand, and a cylinder in his right. It's insecticide. He looks grimly at the first alien.

"Die."

He fires a burst of wasp killer through the flames, engulfing the pink creature. It rushes on only to be stopped by pikes.

Z charges into the alien throng.

[Juice Box]

OOC:

Might be a little boring to have only Parasites, Reapers and Reaper Lords to fight, so I took the liberty of adding just a few more enemy types to make things a little more interesting. Don't worry, Mani knows what's goin' on ^-^ .

IC:

"Why should we take orders from these... mortals?" Juice Box questions.
"I don't know with the rest of them," Repeat follows up. "But I'm not listening to that monk. He's done nothing to prove he's worthy of leading us--of leading them."

She points to the warriors who have followed the monk and the rational man outward. A group of them actually had the audacity to join them--how foolish it seems, to blindly follow a man they do not know. Surely, there were some of them who charged simply because of their honor-bound duty to protect Linirea, but no doubt there were the idiotic few who simply decided to follow what the monk said.

"We are with you, my lady," a group of knights bow in recognition of the two women. "We will fight for the defense of Linirea, but we shall do so by the command of the King."
"As shall we." Another group declares.
"Us as well!" Says yet another.
"Kazak fight!" Kazak says.

Juice Box scans the group she has in front of her--eighteen or so, less than half of the warriors originally in the room. But it's seventeen of the toughest, proudest warriors in all the realm--some stronger than even her. It's more than enough, she knows it.

"Then for the king we shall fight!" Juice Box declares. "RALLY TO THE KING!"
"HURRAH!"

Juice Box watches the rational man's squadron of heroes from afar, the ones who followed him outside--twenty-four men standing, she counts, but three already on the ground, dead. They are killing scores of the alien scum, but the fools ought not to last long against an onslaught such as this. She continues scanning and finds that there exists the following enemies to watch out for:

- First were the Parasites: small, pink, virulent blobs. Hardly a threat, but they're fast and can latch onto you, killing you fast and creating a Reaper out of the corpse.
- Then there were the Reapers: tall, incredibly powerful alien variants with four legs and sharp, sword-like hands.
- Next she observes the Ravagers: canine-like fleshlings who run at incredibly fast speeds, with claws and fangs capable of tearing through even thick armor.
- Then the Hornets: Fast, flying alien variants capable of inflicting their poison from afar, but are equally as deadly in close-combat.
- Last were the Juggernauts: Slow but huge, hulking masses of pink flesh, with virtually insurmountable strength.

She saw two other different types of Parasitic threats, though it was difficult to pinpoint what exactly they could do. Despite this, it was only clear that they were among the most powerful the Parasitic army had in their disposal. One of them seemed to be a Queen of some sorts--a fast attacker that could summon more of her Parasitic spawn. Not the Reaper Queen, but she seemed to serve a similar role. Then there appeared to be some sort of tacticians--giant Reaper Lords--not as big or as strong as the Juggernauts, but strangely enough, they appear to have some form of intellect, capable of fighting with skill and agility instead of just brute force, as well as commanding their allies and even motivating them to staggering levels of strength. These were the leaders, no doubt.

She takes in all of this information as they continue to fight through in approach of the king. He seems to be out in the courtyard himself, fighting alongside his royal guard, commanding scores of archers and catapults as they fire volley after volley of projectiles. But it's clear that it won't be enough. The fallen dead rise up and form twisted, Reaper versions of themselves to fight their former comrades. Parasites and Ravagers continue to infiltrate behind their lines and eliminate key points in their defenses, as well as spawning Reapers in critical areas. The gigantic Juggernauts don't seem to care what the humans throw at them--it takes an incredulous amount of effort to take one down, and once it has been done, it always seems as if two more take its place HAIL HYDRA.

"My king!" One of the knights shouts at Denas. "We have come to your aid!"
"What? Garreon, where are the rest of the men?"
"They are defending the front lines, my lord--they are led by an Outsider, a monk who prays to the gods and bears no allegiance with you."
"Why are you not with them?"
"We answer only to you, my Lord."

Denas retorts, but controls himself. The men need a proper banner, a rally point to ensure that they are commanded properly. He will have to look at the case of the monk later on, for a more troubling case is in front of them right at this moment.

"We are to fight as one!" The king declares. "One army, one alliance! Make this order known!"
"Yes, my king!" Garreon replies, readying and rallying the men. One of the warriors, Felix, sets down a banner and brandishes his own flag, waving it around the battlefield. Another warrior, Ariadne, sounds the Linirean horn, informing the scattered warriors where their king is.
"RALLY!" Garreon declares. "RALLY TO THE KING!"

All around, warriors run back in defense of their king, remembering the oaths they have sworn to fulfill--the defense of the king and of Linirea, no matter the cost.

But the other heroes would not be so easily convinced.

Gathering to the king would give the men adequate support in morale, and would allow them to fight as one, unified force, but they would be completely surrounded. It will be much harder to defend themselves when there are enemies converging on them all at once and from all sides.

But if they stay and choose not to rally, they wouldn't need to go through the painful trudge of retreating to the king's rendezvous point. They will have many unnecessary losses trying to reach the banner. And at least from this position, there are men fighting in all corners of the Citadel. As disorganized as they may be--they never had proper orders, after all, just blindly charged forward--it may still perhaps be better than being completely surrounded.

The Rational, the monk, the Smurfordles--they are now offered a choice.

Regardless of what they choose, the small force surrounding the king fight fervently on. Orders are smoother now that the men have someone to follow, and the troops are less vulnerable and surged with renewed strength at the presence of renowned war heroes fighting beside them. Juice fights onslaught after onslaught of Reaper, tearing through them in fiery surges of fire and lightning, while Repeat blasts through them with her giant sword, her skin taking on the form of cold metal. They are still in the losing position, falling back inch after inch by the sheer strength and number of the Parasite army, but so are the scattered forces around the Citadel.

Juice looks onwards at the gathered heroes. The Rational, the Monk, the other Superhumans and the other brave warriors King Denas had gathered. They all will have to make a choice now.

[magicmetal03]

The four heroes travelled with relative ease, since there's a lot of towers there, defending Linirea. They went into the Citadel, and explored.

After a hour, Jaelyn was worried. "I think we should talk to the king," She said, looking around.
"Yeah, we should," Alfred agreed.
"Whatever you guys say" Allgeria and Charlie said at once. They turned their heads, somehow embarrassed.
They continued to hike until they've found a group of people are around the courtyard, with King Denas.

"Excuse me," Alfred yelled out the King Denas, with the rest of the gang staring at them. "My group and I are only here because we think there's a rising evil here in the world!" Alfred turns his head. "And I could tell this is serious!"

[Manijure]

Running out of the hall to outside, Tristana saw one of the most fearsome creatures she had ever encountered as a Bandle gunner.

Quarter a mile directly in front of her, cutting down soldiers by the second, was a massive reaper half the size of the Citadel's castle. It had a similar body structure as a normal reaper, except the spikes on its back were more pronounced and sharper. There was also purple splotches on top of its head and hands, which were five times the size of a farmer's scythe. Even Godzilla would think twice before fighting this so-called "Reaper Lord" one-on-one.

Around Tristana, chaos ensued. Soldiers were running out of the barracks by the hundreds, dashing past rubble from numerous destroyed buildings. A man with a shotgun was directly engaging the giant reaper with a few men, kiting left and right to avoid getting diced into ribbons. Kazak, on the other hand, was handling the smaller reapers, ripping off heads and slashing torsos as quickly as he could.

"Well, here goes nothing," Tristana said calmly but with uncertainty, running towards the gargantuan behemoth.

A reaper tried to intercept her from the side, but received a massive buster shot that sent it crashing through the walls of a King Dena's Sybarite Saloon. A group of reapers near the giant reaper noticed the commotion, saw the yordle advancing towards their position, and scuttled forward, their hands sharp and ready. Tristana responded by propelling upwards with a well-aimed rocket jump. Soaring feet above the reapers, Tristana landed mere feet away from the Reaper Lord and the shotgun man.

The man with the shotgun immediately noticed Tristana's presence and lightly nodded to her while simultaneously evading a hand swipe by the large reaper. Tristana started firing towards its main body, boosting Boomer's attack speed. However, the shots hardly penetrated the reaper's skin, dealing no form of damage whatsoever. The Reaper Lord hissed with annoyance, but continued to focus attacking the man with the shotgun.

"My shots aren't doing anything to this freak show!" Tristana exclaimed. "So what can I do?"

Tristana looked down towards the Reaper Lord's legs, and noticed that they were very thin compared to the rest of its body, only about ten feet in diameter.

"This might work," Tristana said with optimism, a lightbulb turning on in her brain.

She quickly primed an explosive charge from her belt and threw it directly at one of the reaper's legs, latching perfectly at the middle. Tristana then focused her shots towards the charge, each cannonball somehow causing it to store more explosive energy.

"Just another second..." Tristana thought to herself as she rolled out of the way in time.

*KABOOM!!!"

The Reaper Lord shrieked in painful agony as the explosion blew most of its leg apart. It was still enough of a leg to keep the reaper upright, but green blood oozed from the destroyed flesh. Now, the Reaper Lord shifted its focus from the shotgun guy to the yordle. In addition, the smaller reapers that Tristana evaded before surrounded her. This was personal now...

***

Aligorn watched from his high-definition monitor the carnage of Linirea's capital, courtesy of a cloaked drone hovering above the capital's streets. He smiled every time the Reaper Lord gobbled up a soldier, and giggled when human blood splattered on his drone's camera. To him, it was like watching an extreme and violent gladiator match, but with aliens.

"My emperor Aligorn!"

A voice rang telepathically into Aligorn's mind, prompting him to avert his eyes away from the monitor.

"Ah yes, God King," Aligorn acknowledged his lieutenant. "What news of your desert armies?"

"Excellent, my emperor," the God King replied happily. "My forces are completely organized outside the Ruins of Nas'de and ready to assist the reapers in claiming the citadel. Shall I give them orders to advance?"

"Splendid, splendid! But I do not need your armies to take over the citadel. The Reaper Queen's children are doing their job perfectly without assistance. No, I want your men to journey to the Elven lands."

"The Elven lands?" the God King asked quizzically. "What is there of use in Elven territory?"

"Do you know of a mineral called Bloodsydian?"

"Yes, my emperor, I do, but I don't-."

"Excellent!" Aligorn interrupted the God King curtly. "I want you and your forces to take all the Bloodsydian you can get, and deliver all of them to my ship. Rip them from the Blood Ogres's bodies if you have to, just get the job done."

"... It will be done, emperor Aligorn." the God King said, cutting off telepathy communication.

Aligorn resumed staring at the monitor, reveling in the bloodshed of the men of Linirea. From the looks of it, over half of Linirea's forces were decimated, the remaining soldiers scattered and chased by numerous reapers. The Reaper Lord was engaging with a man with a gun and yordle, but they only seemed to wound one of its legs. Shouldn't be a problem for it to dispatch them soon. It seems like phase 2 of the takeover of the Citadel is ready...

"Reaper Queen! I call to thee!" Aligorn declared telepathically.

"Yes, my emperor? What order do you wish me to pass to my reapers?"

"The time for the next step is now. Have your children storm the castle and find King Denas. Do not kill him, but bring him to your temple. I will come down and see him myself."

"It will be done, emperor Aligorn."

***

As the remaining soldiers were running to a safe zone from the reapers, a loud shriek split the sky, echoing through the castle walls. The men put their hands to their ears, visibly affected by the massive increase in decibels.

All around, the reapers fixated their eyes towards the castle entrance, and started scuttling towards that direction. Only the Reaper Lord kept its position, continuing to fight Tristana and the man with the shotgun.

[Ninja]

OOC: You guys are leaving Lazarus out of the fight, you know. He's more than capable of doing battle.

[magicmetal03]

OOC: You guys are leaving Lazarus out of the fight, you know. He's more than capable of doing battle.

OOC: My characters just arrived to the courtyard. They know nothing about this war except there's evil in Linirea.

[Ninja]

OOC: I meant Manijure, JB, and Zonoro.

[Manijure]

OOC: I meant Manijure, JB, and Zonoro.

OOC: Sorry, I forgot to mention your character in the battle. But by all means, bring him into the fight. I have just been focusing on Tristana's role in the battle and Aligorn's master plans.

[xstargaming]

I realize that action is progressing swiftly in other parts of the world; even now, people prepare for war against a force which remains shrouded in mystery. I would prefer a plan, but when has a long-term plan ever really succeeded in a slaughter thread? I begin walking towards the west, in the direction of Linirea's capital, with each of my steps taking me the length of entish strides. There's little time to lose and the ensuing battles with benefit from what experience and magic I can offer. I exit Hushwood, continuing my rapid pace, somewhat disappointed in my present inability to teleport directly there but understanding that my powers are... out of practice. In any case, my crystal magic remains prominent and will have to suffice in the times ahead.

Suddenly, I stop on the outskirts of a small town.

What could those possibly be? I think staring onto pink, fleshy creatures moving towards the villagers.

Regardless, those people need protecting.

I race into the town, casting spells with equal haste. In a heartbeat, three of the larger creatures are enclosed in crystal prisons erupting from the ground. From my hands, I launch crystal spears, piercing the carapaces of the couple remaining aliens. I do a quick scan of the surrounding region, feeling through the air and the earth to find any more enemies. At first, I notice nothing, but tiny pinpricks of life jump out at my senses. Hostile life. I make my way towards the farmland only to find parasitic forms leeching on much of the wildlife, implanting eggs which I fear will soon hatch. I weave crystal magic through each of the parasites, tracing their... attachments through the animals. In a unpremeditated effort, I try to detach them from the hosts. The work, I find, is like surgery, taking time to carefully make the incisions necessary to rip the creatures away. I manage to separate each of them from their symbiosis, but fail to save the lives of the unfortunate beasts. At least none of them had time to experience the far worse fate of exploding into a hideous alien monster.

Time has been sacrificed for this, and while I would like to take the time to comfort some of the clearly terrified villagers and repair what I could of their homes, I press on to the capital. My pace increases as my powers slowly return. Finally, I manage to make it to the front gate, paying my respects to the Juggernaut -- who in all truth was an engineering marvel -- and making my way to the castle. I stop in horror to realize that the same aliens had already reached the capital itself and a fight was underway.

Then from the skies came a terrifying shriek.

[Zonoro13]

This battle cannot be won. Any strategy with the aim of destroying or routing the alien threat is futile. Unless another of the warriors has a useful resource, the only option is to barricade the walls of the city.

Z notices stones and arrows fired from within the citadel. Denas has taken control then. Remaining here stranded would be a waste of lives.

"Retreat!"

The soldiers scatter, running for the gate of the city. Z follows at a slower pace, incinerating the quicker ravagers. They will reach him soon. The soldiers are nearly at the gate, and Z whirls around to throw down the torch, the canister of highly flammable insecticide still half full. The aliens rampage past the fire, and the rational man hurls the can.

Z escapes into the city in the wake of the explosion, the gates already closing. He instructs the soldiers to reinforce Denas and join the fight. Z speaks directly to the heroes.

"This is Z. We have to clear the city of aliens and seal the gate. They can't be destroyed with our current forces; I believe that is our only op-" A roar shatters the air behind Z. He turns and sees the Reaper Lord, standing taller than the gate, almost half the height of the wall itself. Typical.

"Mayday!"

OOC: Ninja, I control only my own character. If you want Lazarus to fight, do so.

[magicmetal03]

"We should split up," Alfred said.
"But how in this chaos?" Jaelyn said.
"Charlie and Allgeria, go to that purple hero. She's getting surrounded! Jaelyn and I would stay with King Denas!" Alfred commanded.
"Okay, great plan!" Charlie appluads, and so Allgeria and he both sprints to the purple warrior.

When they got there, Charlie immediately takes off his paper bag hat. The reapers, including the reaper lord, were scared of his face, and they ran.
"Well, they won't be away for long, so yeah. By the way, what's your name?" Allgeria asked.

~~
"I TOLD YOU. I DON'T LIKE JUICE BOX." King Denas justified.
"BUT I SAW YOU CREEPILY STARRING AT HER, YOU PEDOPHILE." Jaelyn accused.
Alfred shook his head.
And so, the squabble lasted for a straight 10 minutes, before stopping and Denas and Jaelyn won't look at each other.
Aldred sighed. "Should have left Denas," Alfred thought.

[Ninja]

OOC: Ninja, I control only my own character. If you want Lazarus to fight, do so.

OOC: Alright, I just thought some of you guys might want to include Lazarus for some reason or another. JB made Kazak fight, after all. It's totally fine, though. I'll have him join the fight in a moment.