melodiesofeternity | The Final Loop

It all happened far too quickly after Selphie's spell missed its target. First Ramaa was there with a black crystal and then someone that she considered a friend was hit with a spell that the SeeD was familiar with, but not in its current form. She felt the power from the Eidolons filling her body with light just as a sickening lurch caused the brunette to stagger.

She heard Corrin speaking in a manner that was far from her usual character. Falling to one knee as the Draconic Hex hit her, Selphie felt the sensation of lightning running through her body. There were sparks flooding her vision briefly before she felt another presence before her. Looking up, the brunette saw someone blocking part of the attack as she shook her head in disbelief.

"You shouldn't have done that, Corrin..." Selphie muttered as she got back on her feet as fast as she could.

Staring blankly at Tyzias's back, Selphie gripped her staff tightly before readying Fire Mastery to retaliate against her friends' sudden betrayal.

> Fire Mastery (Corrin | Single Target)
Power to control the fire element and focus it into single-target attacks.

Well, this wasn't good. Not only did Ramaa cast spells much faster, but now three of their own had turned against them? And just when things were starting to look up, too.

Uendo didn't know the corrupted Heroes well enough to try talking them out of it. The best he could do was to grant everyone more protection against the incoming onslaught, as well as give an edge to their attacks. Hoisting the shamisen in his arms, he took a deep breath and began to sing.

> Aria of Narayana (All allies | AOE)
Mythical song that increases the stats of all allies by 50% when fighting an entity using a Spawn of the Calamity or an entity using its powers.

Adrien doesn't have much of a chance to yell because he knows what the purple aura is before he's affected too. He doesn't want to turn against... Turn against who now? He's properly serving his Lady Ramaa and his allies.

> Enchaned Counter (Adrien | Single Target)
Passive skill. Buffs potency of the next skill by 10% and automatically respond with a weak sword combo when hit by an attack.

> Eye for an Eye (Tyzias | Single Target)
Reply with a powerful sword combo whenever an ally is hit for a turn.

> Eye for an Eye (Klonoa | Single Target)
Reply with a powerful sword combo whenever an ally is hit for a turn.

> Eye for an Eye (Selphie | Single Target)
Reply with a powerful sword combo whenever an ally is hit for a turn.

He moved rapidly to retaliate against every single individual who attacked his Lady and allies, sword and body a blur until the assault finished. It's apparent to those too that his swordmaster style was different - that of a fencer using a blade, making sure to keep each strike precise before returning back to his friends' side. Green eyes swirling with purple haze, he grinned.

"Hahaha, wasn't that fun? Come at me..."

> Flurry (Uendo | Single Target)
Medium sword combo on a single-target, reduces their defense by 10%. Cannot be stacked with another Swordmaster's Flurry.

> Eye for an Eye (Adrien | Single Target)
Reply with a powerful sword combo whenever an ally is hit for a turn.

The changed look in their eyes is more than enough to give Red a halting pause-- a moment of hesitation in winding up what would otherwise have been an easy attack to make. But when that sickening violent hue struck them and took over their eyes, there was no such hestiation to be found from his former allies--

No. They were still his allies. His friends. Was he any different when he heard those blaring, mind-warping words in his head? They were just twisted by that foul magic. By Ramaa.

He had tired of seeing her fifty loops ago. But now? He was starting to hate her.

All the same, he knew what he had to do. He wasn't going to try and attack them-- they'd be hurting enough from what they were made to do. Red would simply have to hold his ground and choke down his anger through the attacks that Kuja threw his way-- he was never that good at talking to people at times like these. Not even Corrin.

But if he couldn't cut the strings, he'd go straight for the puppet master. And with his indignation mixing with the adrenaline of fifty deaths inside him, DAHAK was all but aglow with energy he was itching to release. Its hand was raised. A whine of energy and a flash of blue light swelled out from the palm.

He didn't have any words to speak he hadn't spoken a few dozen times already. •Magitek Judgment would be the only answer Ramaa would get out of him.

> Magitek Judgment (Ramaa | Single Target)
Inflicts powerful non-elemental damage to an enemy. (Under effects of Magitek Armor = 200% Damage)

Existing buff synopsis:

> Sentinel (Madhuri | Single Target, prior phase)
Raises defense by 10% (on Red) and takes all damage aimed at a single target (Madhuri)

> Magitek Armor (Red | Single Target, prior phase)
Transfers to a Magitek Armor and shields the user with it. Skills can be used either by the pilot or by the Magitek Armor's weaponry. Skills used by the Magitek Armor have doubled efficiency.

Edited 2019-04-20 19:24 (UTC)

Finn had already switched to Calamity Knight in anticipation of Ramaa showing up, but he hadn't expected all of this. He should have, though. They knew she had Calamity Knight mastered, and he knew this was one of the skills. They should have... prepared for it? Something! He should have done something!

It was a bit late now, though. "If she could control more, she would!" he tried to tell the others. "Subdue them! If we break one out, she'll take someone else!"

He didn't really know if that was true, seeing as how her abilities were different. Still, they needed to fix this as soon as possible. He sprinted forward and attacked with Hell Judgment, well aware that he likely needed to stay alive to keep Zodiark on the field.

> Hell Judgment (All Villains | AOE)
Summon dark energy and focuses it into a powerful blast hitting all targets.

It was hard to believe that before the loops even began (just four days ago, even), Ena had been so ready to die. She had accepted her fate. She was ready to go in that first battle with Bahamut, and she would have been satisfied in whatever afterlife she might have ended up in.

But they came back. Again, and again, and again.

And so when they rose again after that first attack, she found herself more ready than ever.

What didn't kill her just made her stronger.

When Ramaa appeared, Ena remembered how she felt when they first went to her palace and dined with her so many moons ago: impressed, admiration, understanding.

But that was gone now.

Instead, along with the strain and stress of reliving the same three days for cumulative months, she was disappointed. Ramaa would be a lesson for her - she must never follow in her footsteps, or allow anyone else to control her with absurd power.

And so, her newfound strength stamping out her instinct to flee, she decides to do what she can to free at least one of their companions from a similar fate. With her Draconic Sorcerer equipped, Ena casts Dispel Magic on Corrin. Considering how great of a foe they were up against, the chances of it working was slim, but if it worked, it would be a huge boon for them.

> Dispel Magic (Corrin | Single Target)
Remove source and effect of magic. Efficiency depends on level of spell being targeted and skill level of original caster.

Edited 2019-04-20 20:01 (UTC)

Marinette was tired of this. Of the fighting, of the looping, of just everything. Dying and being revived again was unnerving, but there were more important things to think about right now. There'd be plenty of time to worry about what all of this meant later.

The appearance of Ramaa and the purple energy enveloping their friends was certainly enough to snap her back to the present. And sure, she knew she should be trying to focus on Ramaa or Bahamut or whatever, but to be quite honest, none of those things mattered to her as much as Adrien did.

She'd come with Summoner equipped, and Egi-Titania hovered just behind her shoulder. Up until this point, she'd just been standing by to see what happened while everyone else did their thing.

Now, though, her focus was solely on the blonde. "Adrien, stop. This isn't you!"

[OOC: She's not actively attacking or using skills, so I didn't use the form, but I'll absolutely come back to edit this if it's necessary. c:]

They had everything in place. Even if Ramaa would turn some of their friends against them, they still had everything in check. It was time to hit, and hit hard.

With nothing holding him back, he focused on Ramaa and tapped into frustration that had been building over and over onto itself no less than fifty times. He sheathed his weapon and the cold died down. His eyes burned yellow as he gave a primal roar.

> Berserk
Gains the Berserk status but loses controls of oneself. Doubles attack power and gains resistance to status ailments, resulting in attacking the target mindlessly till the battle ends. Cannot use skills. Can be cleansed with Esuna.

> Spellblade (Elemental) Type: Ice (Used prior turn)
Imbues weapon with the power of one of the four elements.

> Martial Arts
Enables the use of basic martial arts when no weapon is equipped. Skills can be channeled through attacks using the basic martial arts.

Everything else bled into red. The tunnel vision was on Ramaa as he rushed forward with an icy punch, humanity gone.

> Skill? There is only FIST (Ramaa | Single Target)
He doesn't need fancy tricks to renovate your ass, lady.

Watching some of their own number turn against them almost immediately is... Disheartening, to say the least. Plague Knight doesn't even laugh once as he weathers Kuja's attack with everyone else, "Now would be the time to do what you all do." he says, simply, tossing a vial up into the sky where it shatters, raining healing light on the Heroes wounded by their own.

> Mega Potion | AOE
Expensive group hp restoration

"Thank you, dear," she called to Plague Knight with a nod, before she gave the staff a twirl and initiated a Job Change.

Job Swap: White Mage -> Spellbinder

"Preparing for inspiration! I thought you'd appreciate some backup." A smile to Uendo, and she quickly began tuning up...

"Oh..."

Shit. This was bad. What was he supposed to do if three people on their sided betrayed them. Or were they mind controlled? He had no clue. Who was doing this? Ramaa? Tiny Bahamut? Which one did he have to kill first?

Easy. Both of them. They gotta take down thie Empress and the dragon at the same time.

"Yo! Ugly lizard!" He taunted the Eidolon and ran at Bahamut to Tackle him. "Go back to where you came!"

Tackle (Bahamut | Single Target)
Deals low damage to a single target but closes the gap with them, up to 15 feet. Unlocks the first and second Chakras upon use.

The first thought that comes to Minimus is "I have to put myself between them and the others". The next is a retort that he is not wearing the Magnus suit and his tiny true self makes for a poor barrier of protection. Either way, they were against powerful foes, even though Bahamut was greatly reduced in strength.

He held his spear to the sky to enact Wrath of Heaven on their opponents, even to buy them a little bit of time. "Keep together, everyone! Don't get reckless!" The latter order was probably not going to be completely followed, but he hoped they all listened to the former.

> Wrath of Heaven (AOE)
Summons a blinding pillar of golden light that stuns and temporarily blinds foes. The effect is greater against demonic forces and those who use black and illusion magic, dealing moderate damage.

Naoto doesn't change jobs, but continues to observe and guide Asura. Damn Ramaa for doing that to Bahamut, and damn her for taking control of their allies. It's like Kunino-Sagiri all over again, but worse given the variety of attacks their opponents have. They needed to take Ramaa and Bahamut out, but attacking her or the others triggered Adrien to attack.

... Or, not every attack. He didn't respond at attacks that hit them all. He did attack Red and he was going for Kanji, but - what was that? He stopped? He still went at Okuyasu.

Her eyes flitted around and noticed Marinette. She had yelled at him...

"... Keep talking to him!"

Meanwhile, she raised her staff.

> Runic (Naoto Shirogane | Single Target)
Protects self and reduces damages from the next attack by 25%.

Edited 2019-04-20 22:45 (UTC)

> Enhanced Counter (Self | Single Target)
Passive skill. Buffs potency of the next skill by 10% and automatically respond with a weak sword combo when hit by an attack. (Applied last turn, in preparation)
> Eye for an Eye (Self | Single Target)
Reply with a powerful sword combo whenever an ally is hit for a turn. (Applied last turn, waiting to be proc-ed when next ally is hit)

As Ramaa appeared, Sephiroth couldn't help but begin to split a sardonic grin as he held his stance ready for the first attack. So it did work; all four legendary eidolons were out in the battle with Bahamut, now it was time to see if they were really all prepared for the final showdown. It had taken months; now or never.

Ever as three of their number immediately succumbed to Calamity corruption, Sephiroth's grin only wavered a touch, it makes no difference to him who the enemy is, only that he personally must be allowed to endure to see the World at the end of this battle. It's very much a case that he's spent already way too many months tolerating the Heroes of Light as a collective, where if a few sacrifices needed to be made, then so be it.

Sephiroth leaps into action against one of the corrupted heroes, with no intention of holding back.

> Shooting Star (Adrien | Single Target)
Medium sword combo on a single-target, reduces their attack power by 10%. Cannot be stacked with another Swordmaster's Shooting Star.

Prescience is very, very nice.

Look, it's not that he wasn't trusting him, or that he was expecting something else, it's just that

...Asriel did not need Prescience to know to dodge way the heck out of the way of Kuja's giant explosive death attack. He has been staying way the heck away from him, and to be honest, most people that he recognizes, ever since this thing started. Asriel recognizes the look of a musician trying to gear up, and to be perfectly honest, he's feeling the rock and roll magic right now. The rock and roll magic that literally causes effects on reality. That, and he's not close enough to Kuja to--help him, so he throws magic out onto Madhuri.

"HEY CAN YOU MAKE US NOT DIE A BIT MORE THANKS"

> Haste (Madhuri | Single Target)
Take an extra turn.

I am a conqueror. Let the battle be joined.

Serge emerges, just in time to watch as Corrin turns traitor. A million emotions, all warring at once- and then he notices it. The change in the eyes, the energy surrounding her. No, not betrayal. Possession.

Serge knows, in an instant, what to do. "-The hell you are!" He charges Corrin from the other side, eschewing his weapon in an attempt to grab hold and restrain hers. "Corrin, you were there when this shit took hold of me and I sure as hell don't see Ramaa looking confused, so I know you're in there! Fight it! You're better than her!"

Oh, is

Is Asriel okay

He's a little more extra than usual, but he can't look a gift barn animal in the mouth. She sprung back while leaving an odd after-image, feeling like she'd had a hell of a shot of espresso topped with essence of jackrabbit.

A quick guitar riff later...

> Spellblade (Divine) (Self | Applied to Weapon)
Imbues weapon with holy magic or healing magic. Weapons imbued with healing magic will regenerate health rather than cause damage upon hitting a target.
(Note from Healing Magic Mastery: Potency grows with experience, starting from 5% up to a maximum of 50% health healed per turn once all skills learned.)

> (Divine) Thunderwave (Allies | AOE)
Your voice is a thunderous force sweeping outward, ~~damaging foes~~ mending allies in your path with a 50% chance to push them back two yards. Unsecured objects are automatically pushed back. Potency, range and pushback grows with experience. [Following Healing Magic Mastery guideline for potency. Rolled a 33, no pushback.]

So much was happening all at once. Not only were some of their numbers turned against them, but Kuja's attack was devastating. If it wasn't for the extra defense, Tressa was sure she'd be dead right where she stands. Despite the pain though, nothing felt worse than the corruption of her friends. Especially Corrin, who they spoke with not even too long ago. The grasp on her bow tightened, as her shock expression grew into a more enraged one. She wanted to say so much, but couldn't find the words. So, she decided to let her actions speak for her.

"You're going down. Simple as that!"

> Barrage (Self | Single Target)
Enables to use two skills back to back next turn.

What did they think they were doing? "Well we aren't too crazy about all dying!" Then something took place, and Bowser quickly realized mind control was taking place. He'd have to figure out how do that himself sometime. Before he could do that, however, there were more pressing concerns.

Regardless of his interest in mind control, taking Bowsers allies from him through such a tactic infuriated him. He cast the Tenebres spell, firing it at Ramaa.

> Tenebres (Ramaa | Single Target)

"Does anyone have any non-lethal abilities?" Talking seemed to help, but S'reee knew that she didn't have that deep of a connection to any of the possessed Heroes. She tried her own spell.

> Demi (Ramaa | Single Target )
Inflicts damage equal to 25% of the enemy's current health. Inefficient on enemies immune to illusory magics.
.

There's a lot happening in a very short amount of time, but through dying and coming back and summons and calamity corruption taking place, Dante's about ready for a proper vacation. Might make a killing on seafood if everyone else is on board with the idea.

But they're gonna have to earn it first. The other heroes are far better at laying down the hurt, so he's gotta make sure they can keep doing exactly that. He only has so much time to [mix] two Mega Potions together, but the more he can buff out the dent from the explosion of magic ripping everyone to shreds, the better.

"How's this for non-lethal? Flex your job muscles, if you got 'em!"

> Mix [Mega Potion + Mega Potion] (Allies | AOE)
Lots and lots of healing.

> Job Lore (Allies | All)
Allows self or an ally to swap active, passive, and stored jobs in battle.

"I'll be retaining this one for now, thanks."

Though others might make use of Dante's Job Lore, Naomi's busy in her bag, compiling her mixture while everyone's already. Little Mog helped her, protected in the Pocket Space bag, little paws grabbing and wings flitting about, getting just what she needed: a bottle violently shaking from a reaction waiting to go off.

If the issue was going to be Ramaa corrupting others once the first three were cured somehow, she had to go. So, the unstable mixture was going to be thrown at the Empress.

> Unstable Reaction (Ramaa | Single Target)
Combined items into an unstable compound that will explode when thrown at a target.

"Corrin...Kuja..."

Somehow, Matilda isn't surprised Ramaa snagged some of the heroes for herself. Trying to tip the scales with the other great eidolons siding with the heroes of light...it may not be a surprise, but it doesn't hurt any less.

But it'll hurt a lot more if she just stands aside and does nothing.

A white aura surrounds the cavalier and her chocobo, Mileena, as opposed to the calamity purple through Pestilence Stance. Tilly expects the worst from defeating a calamity warped ally and figures it'd be best to slow them down while the others focus on Ramaa. Mileena's a Smart Mount and catches onto this plan, targeting the Nohrian princess with a Light Arrow as they approach, standing alongside Selphie.

"Don't hesitate like you used to, okay, Corrin? This isn't a mock battle..."

> Divine Stances: Pestilence (Self | Single Target)
The Pestilence Stance shrouds the cavalier and their mount in a white aura and adds special effects to all skills.

> Smart Mount (Self | Single Target)
Allows the mount to use skills on its own whilst the cavalier protects from oncoming attacks.

> Light Arrow (Corrin | Single Target)
Attacks enemy from a distance with a weak light-attack. Adds a blind effect in Pestilence Stance.

Edited 2019-04-21 02:30 (UTC)

Dying so suddenly only to find himself back on his feet, alive again almost immediately is still...disorienting. But they're still here, fighting Ramaa; it truly is now or never.

When the three Heroes end up going berserk, Megatron quickly determines he can't deal with that right now; if they can be talked back to their senses he's not the one to do it. He needs to focus on what he can do, and what he can do is help end this fight as quickly as possible.

With healing more or less looked after now, his book flips to a different page and he casts [Enlightenment], further increasing the attack power of himself and his allies. He expects Ramaa and her summoned, lesser Bahamut will be counter-attacking soon and they need as much of an edge as they can get.

> Enlightenment (All Allies | AOE)
Increases the attack power of all allies by 10%.

Edited 2019-04-21 02:34 (UTC)

While everyone else was busy doing what they did best, Pidge was working on... something else. Mostly, she was hoping Ramaa would be too distracted with everyone else to notice the short girl slowly creeping around behind her. Pidge liked to think she was good at avoiding the spotlight, and she was genuinely hoping that was true.

Finally, she was close enough, and once she was confident that she was as close as she could get, she aimed a Cat Burglar at the woman.

> Cat Burglar (Ramaa | Single Target
Chance to steal an item from the target.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject