r/whowouldwin • u/Proletlariet ​ • May 22 '23

Event Character Scramble Season 17 Round 1A: Crimson Butterfly

Round 1A is finished and the thread is locked! Please use this form to vote. Voting ends 48 hours after it began. You MUST vote if you are competing!

Round 1A includes Matches 1 through 8 on the bracket. Check to see if you're in before you write.

The Character Scramble is a long-running writing prompt tournament in which participants submit characters from fiction to a specified tier and guideline. After the submission period ends, the submitted characters are "scrambled" and randomly distributed to each writer, forming their team for the season. Writers will then be entered into a single-elimination bracket, where they write a story that features their team fighting against their opponent's team. Victors are decided based on reader votes; in other words, if you want people to vote for you, write some good content. The winner by votes of each match-up moves on to the next round. The pattern continues until only one participant remains: the new Character Scramble champion, who gets to choose the theme, tier, and rules of the next Scramble!

The theme of Character Scramble 17 is Silent Hill. Round prompts will be based on scenarios and setpieces from classic survival horror games, which participants’ characters will be forced to endure all the while avoiding the terrifying Slasher characters also submitted this season.

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Round 1A: Crimson Butterfly

Fleeing from their encounter with their Slasher in R0, your team find themselves in the oldest part of Scramble Hill where the roots of its curse run deepest.

Their presence disturbs more than just the rotting timbers of the old fashioned buildings. The dead of Scramble Hill begin to stir. Their baleful spirits have been consigned to linger there for all eternity by the town’s curse, and over their long years stuck in this purgatory they have grown more and more desperate for an escape.

One of the oldest and most powerful of their number--your opponent’s Slasher--has whipped the restless bunch into a fervour with the promise of a solution; they believe the only way to bring their souls to rest is to reenact a ritual of sacrifice that once kept the curse at bay. Unfortunately for you, they require a living vessel to complete it. And they won’t take no for an answer.

Your team’s Slasher has other ideas. Whether the ritual works or not, they’re not taking any chances. They will stop at nothing to interrupt it before it can be completed. They might even go as far as to protect your Survivors from the restless spirits. Or just as easily decide to preemptively kill the would-be sacrifice themselves.

Round Rules:

  • Key Points: Your team is being haunted by the ghosts of people who’ve died in Scramble Hill, including your Opponent’s Slasher. They want to force your team to complete a sacrificial ritual to end the town’s curse and put their spirits to rest. Your Slasher doesn’t want the curse to be broken, so they’re dead set on interrupting the ritual. For more details about the setting and circumstances, keep reading.

  • Beyond the Spirit Gate: The barrier between the human and spirit worlds is blurred in Scramble Hill, but it is still not easily breached. Ghosts are out of step with mortals---you can’t fend them off with fists and bullets. Normal people need a tool just to see and interact with them; a special flashlight lens, an occult symbol, a camera obscura. Ghosts, on the other hand, can touch you just fine. Your team will need to find something to ward them off if they hope to survive.

  • Crimson Sacrifice: The rite the spirits wish to perform requires two living participants, one of whom is forced to ritually sacrifice the other. The ghosts will possess the living bodies of Survivors (yours, your opponent’s, up to you!) and use them as their pawns to carry out the ritual.

  • Master of Ceremonies: Your opponent's slasher is the one officiating the Crimson Sacrifice. Who are they? A priest? A cultist? A former victim of the ritual? Are they a ghost themselves, or merely being possessed to do the bidding of one?

  • Over YOUR Dead Body!: Regardless of if it could truly break the curse, your team’s Slasher won’t allow the ritual to be completed. They’ll do whatever it takes to interrupt it. Whether that means protecting your team members from the restless spirits, or preemptively killing the would-be sacrifice themselves.

Normal Rules:

  • There was a hole here. It’s gone now: The environment of Scramble Hill is disorientating and hostile: creeping industrial rust, out of place landmarks, stairs and corridors to nowhere. As much as Slashers might pose a threat to your characters, the town itself should feel like an antagonist.

  • Fear of Blood creates Fear for the Flesh: This is a horror themed Scramble. You don’t have to try to scare the reader with your stories, but they should include spooky elements. Scramble Hill is full of things that would make a normal person shudder. How do your characters react when they encounter them?

  • We're safe... for now: This is the story of your characters’ survival against terrifying forces. This means that however scarred and broken they emerge, they’re going to make it out alive. Even if your characters have only a small chance of victory, write that small chance happening!

  • If I kept it, I'm not sure what I might do…: Survival Horror is all about scavenging for something, anything you can use to stave off the monsters in the dark. You are absolutely encouraged to write your characters gaining or losing equipment/abilities/injuries/sanity. However, your opponents are not expected to keep track of these in-story changes and vice versa.

  • The only me is me. Are you sure the only you is you?: Give a brief summary to introduce your characters at the start of your post. Be sure to mention things like powers, personality, history, just stuff that the average reader should know before reading.

R1A Dread Pool

This round, you may draw your opponent's Slasher from either the character they adopted in R0 or one of the following Dread Pool picks:

Round 1A will run from Monday May 22nd to Friday June 9th Thursday June 15th and end at 11:59 PM Central Daylight Time on the dot.

In recognition of confusion over previous deadlines, we're switching to a compromise time zone that works better for most Scramblers. For reference, that is 12:59 AM on the 16th EST or 5:59 AM BST.

To make things even easier, check out this site to convert the deadline to your timezone.

The universal code is - 1686286740

Copy this and paste it into the "Epoch to human time" slot.

Character limit is 5 full length Reddit comments, or 50k characters.

While it is fine to go a little bit over, anything that far surpasses this limit will be disqualified. This limit does not include intro posts, or analysis of the matchup.

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u/CalicoLime ​ May 26 '23 edited Jun 01 '23

She’d found her target - a man wearing a horned cowl. Batman stood with his back facing her. She rushed forward, grabbing onto him before he could escape deeper into the murky abyss of the sewers. He shifted out of her grip, slamming her down into the sludge underfoot. She avoided his follow-up stomp and got to her feet, immediately throwing an overhand chop that would split a normal man down the middle.

He caught her wrist in a tight grip, snapping it as soon as he had a hold of it. She yelped in pain but didn’t back up, instead using his grasp of her wrist against him to yank him in close. She draped her arms over him, interlocking her hands behind his back to lock him into a massive bear hug.

“Won’t sit still then I’ll squeeze the life out of you!” She shouted, her voice running down the corridors in a harsh echo.

As soon as she pulled Batman close she felt a surge of pain. The blood behind her eyes was boiling and every synapse in her brain was screaming for her to get away. Her vision washed red for a moment. She released the bear hug and pushed Batman back with a big boot, skidding him down the cramped passageway.

She reached for her mask, undoing the zipper with a quick yank. Black smoke billowed from her mouth, wafting over her until she was completely surrounded.

For the first time she could remember, Noi’s smoke was not healing her. The pain continued and grew stronger. She could feel the meat of her arms and legs being cut away from the bone under her leather jumpsuit and could hear her heartbeat clearly.

Batman gathered himself from the kick and untucked a book from under his cape. He held it up in front of her as he stepped forward. The last thing Noi thought of before succumbing was the pretty shade of red that was consuming her. It reminded her of happier times.

The tour of the facility would have been a lot more impressive if there weren’t so many empty cages. Only about one in every ten rooms still had an occupant, and even if they did it was something mostly harmless like a ring that cured tinnitus or a centipede that was marginally bigger than the next largest one on record. They did have a unicorn though which Cassandra thought was pretty neat. Batgirl or not, seeing a unicorn was a nice way to spend an afternoon.

Their guides, Hadley and Sitterson, gave Mr. Knight and Cassandra the same rundown they had presumably given Medaka.

“All those cells used to have every manner of beast, ghost, or boogeyman a fourth grader with an overactive imagination and unrestricted internet access could come up with,” Sitterson explained, taking another drag off of his cigarette. The Facility had had a long time No Smoking policy but it was basically the end of days now so he was willing to risk a write up. “Seven days ago, everything went to hell.”

“Somebody hit the wrong button and let them all loose?” Mr. Knight asked, leaning in for a closer look at the cell which previously housed something called an “Angry Molesting Tree”.

“More like the folks in charge got tired of the show we ran for them and decided they'd rather take their spot in the director’s chair for a little while.”

Hadley picked up the explanation. “Have you ever seen the old movies where the island tribe flings a couple of virgins into the volcano to appease the angry gods? It’s like that. Before any of this there were the Ancient Ones. Bunch of surly cunts who bopped around for a while until humanity sprang up. Rather than just stamp out their new neighbors, the gods figured they could use them for a bit of entertainment, gave ‘em some rules, and set them on their merry little way to start building up this society we know and love that is now a couple days from getting reset.”

“Ritual sacrifice. Previously we’d select some folks that fit a few pre-dispositioned guidelines, put them through a trial, and the gods left us alone for another year. This year though, they decided to flip the script on us and hold their own trial.” Sitterson explained, motioning to all the empty cages. “They put every entity and artifact we’d taken years to collect back on the board just to see what would happen. Which is exactly how the Necronomicon ended up in Jersey.”

“So…” Mr. Knight started, “how do we play into all this?”

“First off, we need to get the book back. That thing is bad news. The Ancient Ones probably don’t even know everything about it aside from it makes people raving lunatics. Even if they decided to stop all this shit and go back to the way things were, the world is not safe without that thing under lock and key.”

“Even if we do get it back,” Batgirl started, “couldn’t the Ancient Ones just poof it out of here again?”

“Our working theory is that if we give them enough of a show in the process of saving our world they might back off and let us do our thing as a species for a few more years.” Hadley explained.

“And if they don’t?” Batgirl asked.

“Well then we had better hope that the Japanese girl in the other room can fist fight a few pissed off gods.” Sitterson nodded.

“So your best plan is based on a ‘maybe’”? Mr. Knight asked.

“Yep.” Sitterson and Hadley said in unison.

Mr. Knight respected their honesty. “Well then, where are we off to first?”

Edward Elric clapped his hands together before placing them on the sidewalk. A row of spiked walls raised up from the ground, connecting one side of the alley to the other with a makeshift partition. Mere seconds passed before the Deadites were crashing their bodies against it, using impaled hunks of flesh as stepping stones to clamber up the wall.

Ed had to keep moving. These things weren’t stopping when they were impaled and fighting at close quarters wasn’t an option; getting close to one of them meant getting close to five of them with how they were spilling out of buildings into the streets.

He took a hard left down onto what had just an hour ago been a bustling avenue now turned into a mass grave. The copious amount of abandoned vehicles did give him a few new toys to play with however.

The pursuing group of Deadites rounded the corner to be greeted by a lightpost made flexible by the powers of Alchemy wrapping around them. A fender liberated from an idling sedan turned into a massive saw blade flew from Edward’s hand into their necks, lopping them all off clean.

He didn’t have time to celebrate his minor success before he felt a tug on his arm, right where his automail connected at the shoulder.

Having his automail broken was one thing; his arm routinely got shattered when he neglected his maintenance or got into a fight above his punching weight but it rarely took the joint attached to his shoulder that a new arm could be fitted into.

Rotting fingers pried their way in between metal and flesh and snatched his arm off in one jerking pull. The nerves in his shoulder were on fire but he had to keep moving. He gritted his teeth so hard he could feel them buckling as he booted the Deadite back, snatching his arm back in the process with his flesh and blood one.

Defense was no longer viable. These streets were gone. With oil and blood dripping from his shoulder, Edward Elric made his choice. Now his only option was survival.

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u/CalicoLime ​ May 27 '23 edited Jun 10 '23

Cassandra Cain lifted a panel on her armored gauntlet and retrieved a small USB drive from inside. After plugging it into the Organization’s computers, a map of the world appeared on the monitors in Hadley and Sitterson’s control room.

“You managed to get a tracker on him without him noticing?” Sitterson asked.

Batgirl shook her head. “There’s no way he hasn’t seen it yet. He knows it's there.” Batman taught her how to use the Bat Tracers and what were the most advantageous times to attach them to an unsuspecting mark. If he left himself open, even for a moment, it was done purposefully.

“Which leaves us with two options…” Mr. Knight started.

“His former persona is still in there and is allowing us to track him or he is leading us into a trap.” Medaka’s voice boomed as she entered the control room. “What do you think is the most likely scenario?” She looked to Cassandra.

“I…I don’t know. I didn’t think something could overpower him like this. He had a Lantern Corp ring once. His willpower should be unshakeable.”

“A testament to how powerful the book is. You’ll need to be careful if you come into direct contact with him or the artifact.” Hadley said.

As far Mr. Knight knew himself and Cassandra were both under Khonshu’s protection from the book. The same Khonshu who had went radio silent on him and threw him away like trash the last time he tried to make a report. Real solid safety net.

“The tracker is showing its last location in Europe. Specifically Paris.” Hadley said, enlarging the Organization's live feed from The City of Lights onto the main screen. “I know for a fact there’s at least one T-Rex still roaming those streets.”

“I’m sorry…?” Mr. Knight asked.

“There were two of them yesterday.”

“Well, at least that’s something.” Mr. Knight decided this was probably not the craziest thing that would happen today so there wasn’t any point in being surprised that The Fashion Capital had Cretaceous Era monsters running around.

“We have a bigger problem. The book was only in Jersey for a short time and didn’t have time to spread its infection.” Sitterson started.

“Meaning if he’s there now and will be there until we arrive then we’re going into a potential Deadite hotbed.” Mr. Knight finished.

“Right. The good part is we’ve already got a team in Paris that was adminning one of this year’s trials. They’re good and should have some semblance of order established but we haven’t been able to make contact with them. Evil and modern day electronics tend to not mix well.” Sitterson pulled an unmarked manilla folder from the desk behind him and tossed it to Mr. Knight. “Here’s their info. We normally use code words and call signs but it should be easy to pick out the only other people in Paris that aren’t ripping everyone in sight limb from limb. The jet’s waiting on you, head out once you’re prepped.”

Wasting time wasn’t on the table. The trio loaded onto the jet and set off for The City of the Deadites.

The jet to Paris would take about 3 hours and give them a chance to go over their game plan before diving into the mouth of hell.

“If we are able to make an attempt on the book, leave the actual capture to me.” Medaka confidently said.

“If Batman was swallowed up, I’m not sure anyone can…” Batgirl was silenced by Medaka’s hand on her shoulder.

“I would never lose my humanity to something so cowardly!” She smiled. Her positivity was almost infectious and made Cassandra want to smile as well under her mask.

Batgirl could see through the facade, however. Medaka was smiling but under it she was furious. Merely remembering how that book twisted and preyed on the weak woke a slumbering rage in the depths of Medaka’s soul. If she got her hands on that book she fully intended to tear out each and every page with her bare hands.

Mr. Knight, Medaka, and Batgirl landed on a rooftop after their descent into Paris. It wasn’t the tallest but provided a decent amount of cover and had ample room for a safe landing.

Mr. Knight adjusted the communicator the Organization had provided them beneath his mask, turning it on as he did. It was about the size of a typical bluetooth but fit into his ear comfortably and didn’t make his mask protrude, which was a real selling point. He made a note to look into how lucrative this market could be if he made it out of this alive.

They’d hoped the darkness and their relatively noiseless descent would have given them a moment to plan. It did not.

The Deadites were waiting on them; filling the streets with shoulder-to-shoulder shocktroopers coordinated by the machinations of a horror beyond human comprehension, they clawed their way up from ground level, thirsting for the blood of those unaffected by the Book’s hold.

“The tracker is pointing at the Eiffel Tower so odds are it's at the top.” Batgirl checked the small screen on the device the tracker was linked to.

“Makes sense to put it up high and get the widest area of effect.” Mr. Knight said, casually booting a Deadite in the jaw as it clambered onto the rooftop.

Medaka was pretty jazzed. She had been denied sightseeing on her first trip to the U.S. but now she was getting a free, and mandatory, trip to the Eiffel Tower. “How far are we from the signal?”

“About ¼ of a mile southwest.”

Traveling at street level wasn’t an option - too many hiding spots for Deadites to pop out of and the bulk of them were hanging out down there. They could use the sewers but then there was equal chance of getting lost or getting hemmed up and cornered. This left the rooftops as their only real choice.

Mr. Knight pressed the button on the side of his truncheon, causing the tip to separate from the base with a wire trail. Batgirl used a grappling hook in similar fashion. Medaka just jumped.

The Deadites pursued them doggedly, but didn’t have the tools or ability to easily traverse the rooftops, leaving them shouting what the group could only assume were disparaging words about their mothers in French.

Atop the tallest building in the area, their goal was much easier to spot but they couldn’t really take time to soak in the sights. They’d walked into the end of a one-sided battle.

Of the three, Blake had chosen the obvious solution when it came to what the safest route through the city was. She couldn’t fault Edward for wanting to defend as many people as he could, she just wasn’t that altruistic when the writing was on the walls like this. She could fault Noi though. Going into the sewers was a death sentence.

Oh well. She was a hardy girl and normally found her way out of situations, for better or worse.

Their job had been simple - admin a trial for The Organization and in the event of any interlopers, take care of them. She’d never seen, or really even heard, of anybody trying to interfere with the Organization's work but Sitterson and Hadley insisted it had happened before and could happen again. Did they not understand the work the Organization was trying to do? Who would willingly call for the end of the world like that?

The trial was going alright from the jump. The opposition was the Vastosaurus Rex; a massive dinosaur from some island where even the gnats were as big as city buses. The first couple went down without too much issue - they got chomped up while they were about to fuck in a bistro.

The second got got when he tried to shoot the dinosaur with a handgun thinking there wouldn't be consequences.

Things went sideways before the final sacrifices were finished off. Someone - or something - descended into the city and landed on top of the Eiffel Tower. The skies darkened and a storm immediately whipped up right above the monument. The wind started blowing and everyone just started killing each other.

The masses of Paris, including the remaining sacrifices, leapt onto the Vastosaurus, swarming it like a hive of ants bringing down a larger predator.

It didn’t stay dead for long but at least it had wandered off to another area.

Her sword and sheath were perfect for fighting off the Deadites. They settled down once their arms, legs, and heads were hacked off and posting up high made them easy pickings when they reached the finish line that was climbing up onto the roof.

Her radio wasn’t working so contacting the Organization for a pickup was out of the question. Blake realized her options were limited and her chance for a clean escape was all but gone. She whirled herself around when she heard a crash behind her.

A gloved fist punched itself through the roof she was on. In one motion, Noi pulled herself topside.

Blake was relieved; Noi’s healing magic would make their escape way easier. “So I guess the sewers weren’t such a bad choice after all.” Blake turned back to look out over the streets. “Whatever this is, it's getting worse. If we’re going to make a break for it, we need to go no-” Her words caught in her throat. Noi had a fist wrapped around her neck.

Deadites were easy to spot due to their pointed teeth, yellowed eyes, and long claws. They were easy to spot if they were not completely covered up by a leather jumpsuit and mask.

Blake didn’t have time to regret not noticing something was wrong. With a quick twist and yank Noi tore the girl’s head from her body, dumping both unceremoniously over the edge of the roof.

“If we’re interrupting something, we can come back.” Mr. Knight said as they landed on the rooftop, too late to do anything for the backstabbed Blake.

As soon as she heard the voice, Noi wheeled around. Eyes full of bloodlust, she threw herself at the group.

3

u/CalicoLime ​ Jun 10 '23

Edward Elric’s breathing was ragged. He hadn’t stopped running for the last hour and was still stubbornly pursued by the undead. Using his automail arm as an improvised sword swung by his flesh and blood arm had proven effective in keeping them at bay, but any prolonged combat would be a death sentence.

His alchemy had provided temporary bastions that dotted a small portion of the city near the Eiffel Tower. They were quickly stormed and overrun, crumbling under the weight of the possessed population. Now with his arm detached, he was unable to perform the quick alchemy that had garnered him fame as a State Alchemist.

He was not completely neutered, however. He was still a highly accomplished alchemist that knew the art of transmutation circles. He rounded a corner, wetting his finger with the viscous mixture dripping from where his arm had been torn free. A palm placed on the quickly designed circle caused the wall to jut out, forming an extension on the building that could pass the glance check.

Edward plopped down to catch his breath. The dead passed by, their single-minded persistence blinding them to the hastily crafted addition. As soon as their footsteps faded, Edward opened the door, peaking through the crack to survey his surroundings.

The street was empty. He’d finally shook off his pursuers. Standing near the base of the Eiffel Tower and determined to find a way out, Edward started to run again when he felt the ground begin to shake.

Strikes like hammers battered Cassandra’s guard as she kept her arms firmly locked to block her torso. The bruises from her fight with Nightwing and Robin were still sore and this was doing little to help them as Noi hit harder than both of them combined. Cassandra threw quick kicks from behind her guard at Noi’s legs but they hardly made an impact.

Mr. Knight's truncheon bounced off its target, forcing Noi’s head to one side. She looked as annoyed by a broken neck as a normal person would from a cramped muscle. With a yank she forced her neck back into place.

Medaka took a boxing stance, throwing long-ranged punches by flickering her arm forward to stay outside of Noi’s range. With her face obstructed, Cassandra was forced to read her body language to surmise if she was even feeling any of this; from what she could tell - she wasn’t.

The three attacked when they could, using openings created by one another to avoid being immediately misted by one of her clubbing blows. The growing problem with this plan was the encroaching dead from below. Noi was not a quiet fighter and her yells of frustration from missed attacks were drawing in all varieties of Deadite.

The truncheon fired from its handle, dinking a couple in the head and loosening their grip on the wall. As it retracted and snapped back into the handle, it was becoming alarmingly obvious they would soon be overrun. “We need a plan or we’re going to have a lot of company in a minute!”

The light on her feet Medaka stepped beside Cassandra as she was thrown by another punch from Noi - fortunately blocked which was the only thing that kept her sternum from being punched through her back.

“You’re hesitating.” Medaka said flatly, ducking a punch from Noi. “She isn’t. You won’t last long if you try to stay on the defensive like this.”

“She doesn’t know what she’s doing. She’s being controlled by that book.” Cassandra thought of her brothers. They were strong and they had been taken over as easily as Bruce. None of them deserved this fate and especially didn’t deserve to die from it. She still held out hope there was a way to save them.

“It is truly regretful that this happened to them but altruism will only get you killed. You defeating this opponent will save her very humanity. Your family would want the exact same. Not to live on as a passenger in their own body but to be given peace!”

Batgirl felt a surge through her body. She crossed her arms to intercept another strike, pressing forward as it hit her forearms. She shifted the weight downward, throwing Noi off balance as she stumbled forward.

A turn on her heel brought the back of Cassandra’s boot to Noi’s temple with a quick roundhouse. The hulking Deadite was staggered, a tuft of platinum blonde hair spilling out from the newly formed cut in her leather mask. Cassandra decided to not pass on this chance to pile on the damage.

Several batarangs pulled from her belt flew towards Noi, forcing her to raise her arms to defend. The metal projectiles carved deep trenches into Noi’s hands, arms, and body, slicing through her jumpsuit which offered little in the way of protection.

Noi yanked the zipper on her mask open, letting out a dissatisfied scream as she did. Smoke billowed from her mouth, covering her fresh wounds in an acrid haze. The wounds sealed instantly as if they’d never happened, healing so quickly and thoroughly the skin was devoid of any scarring.

Medaka raised an eyebrow.

Not phased by her opponent's regeneration, Cassandra stepped forward to meet her, ducking under an oncoming right straight as she approached. She used the wayward punch as an opportunity to temporarily disable her attacks by thrusting the spines on her gauntlet upward, pressing them into the meaty flesh of Noi’s forearm.

A thrust palm to the jaw sent Noi’s face skyward and the follow-up kick to the chest brought her back down. A snap kick to the joint of Noi’s right knee buckled it out from under her. Batgirl’s speed allowed her to deliver a vicious flurry to Noi which left her bloody, but still on one knee.

Medaka stepped forward, raising a hand. “Allow me.” She took a deep breath and spewed the same smoke Noi had earlier, wrapping the Deadite in a similarly sized cloud as the one she had produced.

Batgirl was confused but remained silent, trusting the confident aura that radiated from Medaka.

Her wounds healed again, Noi stood straight. She raised her fists and reached behind her mask, unsnapping it from the back. She pulled it off, releasing the impressively long head of hair that was held underneath.

Her face was back to normal. Her eyes changed from the sickening, puss yellow of a Deadite to a bright red.

“That was a nice punch!” She said with a smile.

Hunger.

Pain.

Death.

The Vastosaurus stomped through the streets, stopping periodically to clamp its jaws around a stray Deadite or ten for a snack. Its instincts were telling it that its hunger was sated, but he kept eating.

The hunger was pointing towards something. The tower in the distance. The Vastosaurus could see it in the distance over the smaller buildings. The pounding sound in its head boomed like a war drum, forcing it forward towards a preordained destination.

The Vastosaurus did not know what it would find at the tower but it had a suspicion. It smelt fresh blood.

A meal was waiting.

“Oh no, I’m still pretty much dead. I think my smoke is just temporarily restoring my sanity which is weird because it didn’t work when I did it, but did when you did it.” Noi pointed a finger at Medaka.

“I can still hear the voices and feel whatever was in that book moving around in me. I’ll be trying to punch your heads off in about…oh…2 minutes? So whatever you guys want to know, now would be the time to ask.” Noi was incredibly nonchalant about her situation, given the fact she had gone from alive to dead then back to alive and likely back to dead in a matter of minutes. What was this woman’s life?

Cassandra spoke up first. “Is there a way to cure the possession?”

Before Noi could give an explanation, the building began to rock. Cars on the streets bounced and everyone struggled to keep their footing. Deadites fell from the buildings like mountaineers that had lost their grip. A man was running on the streets, hotly pursued by a small legion of Deadites and the massive head of the Vastosaurus Rex.

Blue flashes of light summoned by the man were all that served to illuminate the beast, providing fleeting glimpses that made it seem like it was receding into the darkness and reappearing.

Its scales were pitch black, dark enough to blend in with the night sky if not for the buildings behind him. Each step crunched the asphalt streets underfoot, causing a potential headache for any future infrastructure projects the Paris Department of Transportation would try to undertake.

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u/CalicoLime ​ Jun 10 '23

"Oh, right. We never dealt with that..." Noi rubbed her chin. "The smoke thing would probably work on it too, but it's not like a regular T-Rex is any more reasonable." Her voice was already starting to change, taking on the eerie warbling that came with Deadite possession. "There's the other member of my squad; Edward."

Mr. Knight, still playing zone defense to keep the roof clear, offered a suggestion. "Someone's gotta go get him. I've already filled the 'fight a dinosaur' square on my bingo card so I'm nominating one of you."

Mr. Knight had been to The Savage Lands once and it was one too many times.

Cassandra started to volunteer but looked at Medaka - she had stars in her eyes.

Kurokami Medaka had never been to a zoo in her life. Well, she had been to zoos but had never seen an animal in their enclosure; they all hid from her the moment she arrived. She projected an aura like the fiercest predator in nature, causing any and all manner of beast to cower in fear.

This creature was different.

This would be a meeting of two apex predators on neutral ground; a meeting that would end with a breaking of wills. Before even being asked Medaka spouted a loud "I accept your challenge!" while pointing in the general direction of where they'd last seen the Vastosaurus.

She took a running start and leapt off the rooftop, hopping off the tops of cars, food carts, and low buildings in a dramatic charge towards The Eiffel Tower.

One of Noi’s eyes was already turning yellow. “Well, that’s it for me I guess.” Noi sighed. “I’ve got a tendency to throw an overhand chop if you block too many of my punches so watch out for that. I’ll see you guys on the other side.” The woman was smiling when she transformed back into a Deadite. Her teeth formed into fangs in real-time and her eyes yellowed out. She roared at Cassandra, throwing her mask to the side.

With Noi now fully succumbed to the Necronomicon the battles were joined again.

Edward Elric could feel his stamina coming to a tired end. He stood under the base of the Tower, ready to make whatever of a last stand he could muster.

Like a flash of light, Kurokami Medaka landed beside him. She stood with her arms folded as their mutual opponent approached. "You have fought excellently up until now, Edward Elric!" She declared.

He did not know this woman and he did not know how she knew his name but he didn't mind the little bit of praise after everything he'd been through.

"That thing isn't normal." Ed wheezed, "It's been amped by some kind of -"

"I know, it has been boosted by the Book of the Dead and is now a Deadite T-Rex."

"Great, but what you need to know is -"

"That this whole situation is a failed attempt to quell the Old Gods by the Organization by offering them sacrifices in the way of dramatic rituals using monsters and creatures from the Old World."

"Glad you're up to speed, I'm going to go sit over there." Edward limped off to the side where he drew a quick transmutation circle. A comfy chair appeared from the ground that he quickly plopped into.

The Vastosaurus kept moving forward, opening its maw as it charged. The smell of rotten meat filled the air as gobbets of Deadite fell out of its teeth. With a chomping bite the Vastosaurus closed its jaw around Kurkoami Medaka, or it would have if she had now dashed forward to the relative safety underneath the beast.

More focused on trying to reattach his arm than watching a human fight a dinosaur, Edward Elric’s attention was only pulled to the scuffle when he heard a clap. He saw a familiar blue light. A stone fist raised out of the ground underneath the Vastosaurus, seizing it around the torso as if it were a child’s toy.

Kurokami Medaka had added another skill to her repertoire - the power of Alchemy.

“I have a plan to subdue this thing for good but I’ll need your help Edward Elric!”

Well, it was a longer rest than the ones he got when working for the State.

Noi’s clasped hands were like a wrecking ball whose operator had fallen asleep at the stick. There was no way Cassandra could stop it so she was forced to dodge, ducking under and around the strikes while delivering her own quick punches and kicks to Noi’s body. The Deadite’s thick bodysuit and hardened muscles underneath were showing little give from the strikes and even after repeated blows to the same spot there was little to no positive feedback from Cassandra’s fists. It was like fighting a brick wall that really wanted her dead.

The Batarangs, which had found their target earlier, were of little use now that Noi expected them. Anytime Cassandra went for her belt to draw more, Noi would rush her, stealing her time to aim and throw. With the bulk of their utility removed, Cassandra gripped a pair of them between her fingers on each hand to form a pair of makeshift claws.

The claws slashed through Noi’s suit and into her arms, making her wild strikes more costly as her blood spilled on the rooftop. Any meaningful damage was being healed almost immediately by Noi’s ability, making this fight equal parts frustrating and pointless. Cassandra tried to focus; she needed something different.

A loud roar snapped her back to attention.

“When life hands you a dinosaur…”

The Vastosaurus did not stay hemmed up for long; it thrashed its way free of the concrete grip, smashing the fingers into rubble that hit the ground with a harsh thump. Back on its feet, it turned quickly, smashing what was left of the hand with its tail in an act of defiance.

Medaka, not satisfied with the test run of her new ability, clapped her hands together again. Placing a palm on the ground, a pair of mounted machine guns raised from the ground on either side of her. Medaka pointed a commanding finger. “Fire!”

A hail of pointed stone bullets pelted the Vastosaurus’s scales, unable to pierce them but definitely causing it a considerable amount of pain if the roar it let out was anything to go by. As it had with the stone arm, the Vastosaurus rotated quickly, dragging its tail across the ground to swipe the summoned sentries and destroy them. He had missed Medaka, however, who had leapt to the lowest rung of the tower itself.

She barely heard the buzz of her communicator above the Vastosaurus yelling at her. It was Batgirl’s voice on the other end.

“Heading your way.”

“Were you able to take care of the Deadite?” Medaka asked.

“Not exactly. I’ll explain when I get there. I’d ask how things are on your end but I can hear it.”

“Take your time. We’re having a nice evening over here. The Tower truly is beautiful.”

Batgirl shut off her communicator.

“We gotta move. There’s a big enough pile of these jerks that they’re hardly having to climb anymore.” Mr. Knight chimed in as he thwacked another Deadite off a ledge.

Cassandra cracked Noi across the jaw one more time to make sure she had her attention. With a beckoning finger, she hopped off the roof, hotly pursued by the roaring Deadite.

Medaka stayed on her perch until she saw Batgirl and Mr. Knight coming. Both of their grappling hooks snagged the same beam Medaka was on, allowing them to reel themselves in to stand beside their squad mate. Medaka made a mental note to request a grappling hook for herself.

“Your plan?” Medaka asked.

“You got any of that smoke left over?”

Medaka hit her chest with a closed fist. “A little bit. Probably enough to change someone back one more time.”

Batgirl nodded. “Use it on the dinosaur and let's watch them fight.”

Noi landed beside her Deadite companion, patting it on the side. “Don’t worry boy, we’ll get you something to snack on.”

Mr. Knight pointed down at Edward Elric, who was moving from pillar to pillar at the base of the Tower, avoiding the gaze of the Vastosaurus. “What’s he doing?”

“Helping me with an errand. If we give him another few minutes he should be done. Meanwhile, let’s do what we can in order to keep the attention of our friends down there off of him.” Medaka explained.

“On your mark.” Batgirl gave Medaka the signal.

Medaka took a deep breath, drawing up the remaining smoke in her lungs into her mouth. From up on high she poured it down onto the Vastosaurus, engulfing it in a thick cloud of the magic smoke.

Once it cleared, the beast looked mostly the same - gigantic fangs, thick scales, and a generally bad attitude. It roared up at the three for a moment before it was interrupted by its head getting rocked to one side, sending it stumbling into one of the Tower’s supports.

Noi’s eyes were red again and she was raring to go.

Confused by the sudden silence in its head and the fact it had just been decked by an appetizer, the Vastosaurus let out a frustrated roar. It charged forward, scooping Noi up in its mouth in one motion.

The former Deadite blocked the Vastosaurus’s jaw from closing, gripping its teeth with her hands while she planted her feet on its gums.

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u/CalicoLime ​ Jun 10 '23

The Vastosaurus thrashed, not amused by having its meals put up such a fight. It shook its head violently trying to shake loose the annoying morsel stuck in its teeth.

Feeling her grip on the teeth and her grip on her own sanity beginning to give, Noi let out a bellowing shout. “Make sure you figure out a way to get me out of here once this is all over and tell Hadley I’m going to punch his stupid dinosaur in the spleen!”

Before they could ask her to elaborate, Noi let go, diving into the Vastosaurus’s mouth. It swallowed her with a dramatic gulp. For a moment, all of Paris stood still. Except for Edward Elric.

The light of Alchemy flashed for a moment before the Tower began to move. Several transmutation circles glowed on each of the Towers four legs and the iron bars of the Eiffel Tower attacked the dinosaur like living vines, wrapping it up like a legion of steel boa constrictors.

The Vastosaurus snapped and snarled, chomping down on one of the steel vines that got too close but was summarily overwhelmed. The metal twisted itself around the giant dinosaur, wrapping it up like a great steel mummy that fell over with a giant rumble. All that was visible once the beams stopped moving was a pair of eyes full of hatred and a pair of nostrils snorting angrily.

His job completed, Edward Elric gave a thumbs up to Kurokami Medaka. The Organization would probably have something to say about them using one of the world wonders as a weapon but hey - results were results.

“Were you able to find it?” Mr. Knight asked as Batgirl rejoined them.

She held up the tracker she had placed on Batman. “Yep, with no Batman attached. .”

“So do you think this means he’s gone for good now? That last little bit got snuffed out by the book?”

“I don’t know what to think, at least not yet. ” Batgirl sighed.

“I know the feeling. Let’s just get out of here and get some rest. Getting real tired of gay Paris.”

Medaka nodded along. It wasn’t until they got back to the Facility that anyone bothered to ask where she’d picked up the “I <3 Paris” shirt she was wearing.

“Hear me my avatar. Hear the voice of Khonshu.”

Khonshu sat in his chair in his finest white suit. His shoes were freshly shined and his pants were pressed. His gloves were immaculate and his tie was straight. Even the cobwebs seemed a little more in order than usual.

The air was stale and tasted like metal. The only light in the room seemed to be coming from the skeletal sentinel sitting in the armchair, giving his bones a vibrant glow. He opened his mouth and moved his hand in a greeting.

There were no words.

His skeletal beak was opening and closing but the only sound was only the creak of his ivory-colored joints. He motioned his hand dismissively and everything went dark.

Cassandra Cain woke up with a start.