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Steve     The Flat Earth can be scenic, in its own way. The sun, a glowing, rectangular prism-shaped ball of gas that defies conventional logic and physics, is hanging just above the distant horizon of the rolling plains. With the darkening of dusk, Elites emerging from the prescribed warp gate (which is, from this side, seemingly little more than a frame of obsidian stone) would be greeted by the light of the innumerable torches which demarcate the perimeter of the base camp. Nothing out of the ordinary has come out, just yet, though there are sheep, cattle, and pigs that can be seen wandering the grassy expanse. Inside the camp, itself, several 'tents' for shelter have been provided, as well as beds set up and food and bottles of fresh water provided. The tents are a bit crude, seemingly little than thick wool stretched over wooden posts, but they do the job.

    And then there is Steve, hammering away at an anvil, and seeming to be preparing in his own way. There is a book on a crafting table next to him, that he appears to be referring to every so often. This isn't his usual piece of hapharzardly sharpened iron, either, as the blade seems to be created from some kind of dull, purplish alloy. Despite that, it seems to work about the same, responding to each strike of a forge hammer with sparks and a resounding ring. Eventually, after enough of this, the book Steve had been referring to, for lack of a better word, disintegrates. Whatever had granted it the prismatic glow around it has seemingly transferred itself into the sword, which now shimmers similarly. "Hah, glad that worked," he grins, wiping a bit of sweat from his forehead. "I've invested a lot into this." He seems in his own little world at the moment, to excuse the joke.

    A wooden crate is also set nearby to the other supplies. A sign has been planted on a wooden post immediately above it, with 'JERK HUNTING SUPPLIES' scrawled on as boldly as he could manage, with a charcoal nub. Those that investigate would find iron swords on offer, as well as, curiously, buckets already filled with water.
Lezard Valeth Lezard Valeth is here to support his ally in the Fangs. Of course, he was an associate of Steve's in the first place so he'd be here anyway, but this is an additional reason to do so. Unity is important.

Lezard is not paying attention to the crude supplies. He has everything he needs for this. More importantly, he's watching Steve work with that purple blade and the book. The way he hammers at it and how the book seems to lose cohesion gains a mixture of confusion, curiosity, and amusement from the Sorceror of Midgard. "Your techniques are unusual, Magus Steve." Lezard comments. "Perhaps we shall trade information in the future."
Kazuko Kawakami      So many warp gates. So many places full of potential things to see, places to go, strong people to fight, and food to eat. IT probably doesn't help matters much that Kazuko's gotten herself a little lost on the way back home, but... Well, she's not about to waste an excuse to do a little sightseeing! That's how she finds herself in Flat Earth today, a blank stare on the naginata-wielder's face at the sight of very... Boxy-looking animals.

     Pigs! Cows! Chickens! And.. Cube-shaped everything. Just where did she end up going to, anyway? Spotting movement from a bespectacled man that was distinctly non-rectangular, she makes a beeline for him and the tiny moving tree.... Wait, that's a person, too?! Well, at least she's not letting their appearances scare her off or anything.

     "Hi! Uh. Can either of you tell me where this place is? And... What all this is for?" She gestures at the anvil and the crate, pausing to read the words on the sign above it. "... Jerk hunting? Do you need help?"
Sarracenia      The energy in the portal shimmers as a lovely princess steps through. Long flowing dress and hair, perfectly groomed...and with a hammer bigger than she is slung over her shoulder. She steps out of the portal daintily, then blinks as she watches Steve finish up that new weapon. She makes her way over closer, curiousity tugging at her, then gasps as that book just...disappears and flows into the blade. "What just happened?" she asks, having never seen an enchanting before.

     She takes note of the crates, and raises an eyebrow. "Swords and water?" she asks, apparently not seeing the significance. "I do not need a sword, but I can at least understand why they would be here. But...why the water?" When Kazuko arrives, Sarracenia looks over. "We are going on a monster hunt, from what I understand!"
Kotone Yamakawa Kotone Yamakawa has come again to Flat Earth once more to see just what Steve needs help with this time. She's more than happy to come, she's still got the spawner in her matter Maniplator as she wanted to speak to Steve about it before she put it to use. She was also wearing her normal stealth suit in the event there might be trouble here. She seems pretty chipper though as she arrived. She'll give him a wave.

"Humm swords and water? You working on crafting osme things, Steve?"
Alexis Maaka     "It's a farm." Alexis Maaka explains in her smartassiest way possible to Kazuko, regarding the girl with amusement. This is the second night in a row they've crossed paths, but she's not the target of the cyborg. Tonight, that's Kotone. The younger cyborg gets a hug around her waist from behind, and Maaka gently presses her face to the back of Kotone's head. "Hey, Ko-chan." She whispers quietly, loud enough only for Kotone to hear, then nods to Steve and Sarracenia politely, regarding Lezard with an icy, "Valeth" directed his way before Maaka goes back to business.

    "Heard about the job offer, figured I'd poke my nose in again after last time." She says, a KSG shotgun slung across her back and her Kama 10mm holstered on her hip. Her helmet's unfolded for now, exposing her handsome, to use the old-timey meaning, features and golden eyes.
Steve     "That's how enchanting works around here," Steve remarks first to the princess that arrived, when he was distracted, though he raises his head after he's had a good luck at how the blade turned out. "Well...one of the ways. The thauminomicon gave me some promising leads on another way." This is also, in a way, a response to Lezard, a face and voice with which he is quite familiar by now. The mixture of puzzlement and a compliment earns the master magus a grin in return, "S'far as I can tell, books can act as a kind of intermediary between the enchantment and what you're puttin' it on. It's more costly, but more convenient and controllable that way." He glances at the ash where the book once was, and gives it a light brush of his hand, causing the last remains to dissipate into sparkles, "It's destroyed in the process, though. This one had a spell to make your stuff sharper." This, in a sense, is a way of answering another familiar visitor, Kotone's, question.

    He'd be more than happy to work with Lezard, and the others in the Fangs, on how to refine the process, though. Certainly there is room for improvement!

    There are other things to field, before things get started, too. Such as Sarracenia wondering what the other materials are for. That and another he doesn't know, Kazuko, arriving, gives Steve all the excuse he needs to get everyone gathered in the camp, and make a proper mission statement. "This, young lady," apparently pointed to Kazuko, "Is my base camp, and you're in the Flat Earth! This is my turf. You new folks, it's fine to call me Steve." In the background, a young woman with membranous devil wings on both her back, and on either side of her head, is seemingly taking inventory of everything, as well as preparing places for the 'drops' that are likely to result from tonight's operation. The miner is momentarily distracted as she shuffles around, then regains his focus.

    "The jerks in question are called endermen. They don't normally attack first, but if you make eye contact with them, they'll get pissed off. They can teleport around. They're really good at dodging anything ranged. Anyway, we need something they've got -- their pearls. Izumi, the diagram, if you please!" Pointedly, the winged girl in the background shuffles to the front, revealing on a piece of parchment, a paint-stakingly pixel-painted drawing of a tall, dark humanoid with glowing eyes, and 'PEARL' pointed out helpfully right about where the heart would be on most other things. "The water is just in case it gets too hairy out there. They can't stand the stuff, it's poisonous to them or something."

    With that out of the way, though, he seems to step off of his proverbial soap box, and visibly relaxes, fetching his thaumaturgist's robe from a chest nearby to the one with water. It gives him a chance to properly greet Alexis Maaka, as well, as he pulls the garment on with practiced ease, "Ah, good to see you around! The more people that are helping, the more pearls we can get tonight." The last could easily be interpreted as an invitation to Kazuko, as well, even if he doesn't know the first thing about her. After securing his robes, he gives the sleeves a few good flexes, and glances to the darkening horizon, pointedly. "You're just in time, too. The nasties will start coming out, soon. Let's not waste any time." With that, and after withdrawing his great oak staff alongside that thaumium sword from earlier, he sets out into the twilight.
Kazuko Kawakami      It looks like Kazuko's not the only person coming in out of the warp gates, and the mix of people here looks just as interesting as it did last night. Alexis in particular gets a bright grin and wave, and the martial artist in the yellow darts up to the two cyborgs. "Hi, Miss Alexis! And... Miss Ko?" She guesses at that, peering at the two to compare them both for a moment before letting her attention shift to look over the rest of the group coming for Steve's hunting trip. A princess and some kind of wizard?

     "This should be more than enough, then, Mister Steve. Are these endermen scared of water or something?" She starts snickering as she ponders potential combat strategies, waving at the rest of the group before hurrying to keep pace with him.

     "Bet I can get more than anyone else here!" She's eager, if nothing else. Plus, there's always that giant (blunt) naginata of hers to fall back on.
Sarracenia      Water is poisonous to some things? This seems highly unusual, but Sarracenia nods all the same and takes a buckt of water. "Well, with all of us around I am sure we can handle these endermen." she says, then hmms. "Wait, are these actual men like you, or are they more like the typical monsters of this area?" Although she hasn't been here before, Sarracenia took the liberty of at least familiarizing herself with the last few reports of this world. "As a princess, I cannot simply go around killing citizens from another kingdom just to steal their lovely blue-green pearl hearts"

     Sarracenia offers a friendly wave to Kotone and Alexis, even though she is unfamiliar with them.
Kotone Yamakawa Kotone Yamakawa was not expecting this, she looks more than a bit suprised the stealth hug. she pauses for a moment.

"Well hell to you as well Alexis, you seemed to have missed me."

Kotone's in good spirits from the sounds of things here. She does wonder though at what Alexis said to her. Still she's also distracted by Steve. Still she does seem to be in a very good mood today, things seem to be going better for her by how she's acting.

"Ah so your enchanting weapons and other gear? That makes sense but I have no talent for magic I'm afraid."

She also gives Lezard a polite nod, she does not want to ahem, insult Lezard, she still recalls the battleship after all.

"That's still very useful."

Kazuko gets a look over from Kotone and a grin.

"Koto, Ko, Yamakawa, whatever works for you."

She also greets Sarracenia as well.

"HEllo to you s well, I don't think we have met before."
Alexis Maaka     "A wee bit." Maaka grin a little, giving Kotone a friendly bump on the arm before she turns to listen to Steve. Normally, she's not a very huggy person in public, though in Kotone's case, she'll make an exception.

    Judging by Sarracenia's dress, she's not dissimilar in nature to Peach from last time. If Peach's handling herself against a hive of spiders was any indication, Sarra should be just fine in this mission. Steve will get a cocky smirk as Maaka motions to her shotgun, as well as a holstered and sheathed HF blade on her person. "I came prepped for close quarters combat. I wanna see these freaks dodge buckshot spread."

    In any case, she seems perfectly confident in herself tonight.
Lezard Valeth Lezard nods. "So much like runestones. Fascinating, just... different." He chuckles. "We will have to further your research, Magus Steve."

He steps away, and turns to look over the others present. He has nothing to say about their presence, nodding politely to each of them in turn in greeting. As everyone prepares for the operation, Lezard looks over to the buckets of water with an idle smile, and chuckles to himself, stepping along behind Steve as they move to the operations area.
Steve     Just a few more quick notes, on enchanting and the like. First, to Kotone, Steve gives a nod of his head, "That's about it, yeah. Without my gear, I'm just a guy that can punch pretty hard. Have to invest." Then to Lezard, he gives a light and thoughtful scratch of his beard stubble, as they begin to travel. "Runes, huh? Like those symbols I see carved in some of the artifacts and totems. We'll get started on that, once we have our new office space set up, Lezard."

    "They share about as much in common with me as the pigs do," Steve offers to Sarracenia, with a light laugh! Then more seriously, with a lowering of his tone, "Nah, they're just monsters. I guess they do jibber and jabber, but hell if the translation effect, I think you folks call it, can do anything about it. And, yeah. They avoid water as best as they can, it physically hurts them. Weird, right?" Kazuko's enthusiasm and Maaka's self-assuredness also earns a pumped, heavy raised fist from Steve, by means of salute, "That's the spirit!" He's got a really good feeling about this. Lezard and Maaka, he knows well to be more than a match for the common riff-raff of this world. Kotone has also been reliable. These relative newcomers, too, are asking the right questions and saying the right things.

The positive mood causes the miner to hum as he advances into the all-enveloping night, every so often pausing just briefly to plant torches along the way. A trail of metaphorical cookie crumbs, perhaps. Plus it's kind of dark, with only a crescent moon providing light. They weren't alone, though. Among the sounds of the distant, peaceful animals, there is a shuffling from a nearby bluff, as well as from behind a nearby tree. Whatever it is doesn't emerge immediately, and perhaps is just as scared of the Elites as they might be of them. Or perhaps, is stalking them. Steve casts a cautious but unalarmed glance in that direction, though he does raise a hand as though to pause everyone else, "Something's following us. Ain't no Enderman, though. They don't give a damn about being sneaky." And everything else it could be would be making a racket. That leaves only...

    Right on cue, a group of a half dozen creatures emerges. They are about as tall as Steve is, though shadowed as they are, details are initially difficult to come by. What is obvious is that they don't move like a person does, or any common animal, scurrying with purpose if not speed toward the visitors. As the torch light finally catches them, their moss-green, veiny bodies become obvious, as well as the tortured expressions frozen on their hollow faces. "Aw, hell," Steve curses, raising his staff and beginning to launch fireballs in their direction. "It's creepers," aptly named enough, "Don't let them even get close!" The unspoken consequences are a bit less annoying here out in the open than if it was closer to something he was working on, but likely unpleasant. Something else comes to mind, too, "--and if you've got an electric weapon or spell, probably best to use somethin' else!"
Kazuko Kawakami      Oh, right. She forgot to introduce herself. "Kazuko Kawakami, here to help!" She raises her naginata with a practiced flourish and spin at her side as she says that with a confident grin. She's learned from last night! Sarracenia gets a curious look once she's closer, though, and Kazuko even leans in past what would normally be considered appropriate personal space just to get a better look at what she's wearing. "... Yep! You're a real princess. The nose knows~"

     She even taps her nose for emphasis. Lezard the same treatment: Invasion of personal space without direct touching, close scrutiny of his clothes. "And... A real wizard! You kinda smell funny, though." She withdraws from him not too long after that, a skeptical look sent his way before continuing onwards.

     While the monsters haven't come out yet, Kazuko's doing some sightseeing already: Running along the outside edge of the lighted path, peering into weird holes, resisting the urge to poke a wild chicken. When Steve utters his warning, however, the girl's ready to spring into action as she comes face to face with...

     ... More weirdly blocky creatures. Obscene looking ones, even! "Wh-what kind of world is this?!" Grimacing at the sight of them, the martial artist gives her weapon a quick spin before charging forward to thrust it right into the nearest creeper. This is probably one of the few times she's glad the blade is blunted!
Alexis Maaka     Maaka takes off in a run when Steve leads the group along. Shotgun in hand, she's a pretty effective scout and tracker as she folds her helmet in place. She's been in one mine this week, but this can't be any worse than the last one. There's no bees she knows of in this world, the size of torsos that fire lasers anyways.

    THough she does pick up something on her motion tracker. "I see 'em. Everyone stay ready, no telling what's down here." She says calmly, tightening the choke on her shotgun as she hears creatures emerging from the shadows.

    Going to night-vision reveals the hellish visage of the Creepers, those green, mossy freaks with horrified expressions. "What the /fuck/-"

    Okay, this is already worse than last night. Maaka fires a shotgun blast at one of the creepers before they get too close, heeding Steve's advice. "Targets! Stay back, stay back!"
Lezard Valeth The approach of Kazuko gets a flat look from the Necromancer of Midgard. "... Hello." He states. When the martial artist gives her findings on him, he sighs. "I am Lezard Valeth, Sorceror of Midgard. Pleased to make your acquaintance." He states, his tone indicating he's less than impressed.

Regardless, the night draws in, and the monsters come. As Steve and the others declare the horror of Creepers (and Steve wisely advises against lightning), Lezard's face is lit by a purple flame that ignites in one hand. "Hah. Open the gates of Niflheim! More souls await!" With a gesture, he brings his hand back as if he was to pitch a baseball, and hurls part of that flame at the approaching Creepers, wherein it detonates in a large pyromantic explosion!
Kotone Yamakawa Kotone Yamakawa says "I understand that Steve. All to well, even if Magic doesn't do much for me. It can be pretty useful for those who can work it."

she seems to be in a very good mood and she's fquite confident about things. she's handled things for the most part as they head out but she pauses for a moment.

"Something's beening sneaky? Creepers? Wait like the people who creep out on me for being a 'doll'?"

That's quickly dispelled by Steve as she's warned to keep back, she's worked with XCOM after all. She looks to Kazuko.

":I don't know but you heard him don't let it get close!"

Kotone's already jacking her senses up to as high s she can go. She's got her weapon out and she's fires a few burst shots at the creepers.
Sarracenia      Princess Sarracenia blinks as she is looked at and apparently sniffed. "Uh..of course I am! I am Princess Sarracenia Sundew, Crown Princess of the Sundew Kingdom!" she says proudly as they start out. She keeps her hammer resting on her shoulder. She giggles a bit as Kazuko runs around before Steve raises the alarm.

     "Creepers?" Sarracenia says, somewhat offput by the name alone. When she sees them, though, that is when she yelps. "Wh-what are these creatures?!" she says, then quickly reaches into her small purse and pulls out...a strange glowing red and yellow flower with a set of cute eyes! She hugs it to her chest, then it disappears in a burst of sparkles that settle onto her and in a puff of smoke her dress changes colors to red and white! "Let us see what they thing of fire!" she exclaims, then points a finger at the creepers and fireballs start bouncing across the ground toward them. Similar to Lezard's fire shots, her explode when they impact a being or a vertical surface.
Steve     The Flat Earth is a land of immense beauty, certainly. But at night, its ugly side shows. There is probably a story behind some of the twisted creatures one might encounter out here, but for now all that matters is avoiding, or removing, the danger. The creepers seem unfazed by the combination of alarm and disgust they are met by, single-mindedly galloping forward on their four feet. Though it's hard to hear, a light hissing sound can be heard rising from somewhere inside their open maws. If only that was all there was to it.

    Of those attacking, Lezard opens up with an area burst among the creeper's rank and file, and wisely avoids lightning in the process. Lightning, that would be bad. Two of them in the center of the extremely loose 'formation' of them, which is more akin to a group of creatures just naturally congregating for an effective front, are completely consumed, their hideous bodies visible in the flames as they burn into ash. Though nothing happens except for them being burnt to a satisfying crisp, within the natural sounds of immolation, one can still hear a distinct series of pops, as something internal stops just short of activating.

    That still leaves a handful remaining, that received a lighter brazing, but are still whole enough to continue their advance. Almost simultaneously, and at closer range than the magical burst, one is struck by shot from Maaka's gun, and another from Kotone's. The two creepers recoil backward for a moment, those almost spongey-seeming bodies able to absorb a surprising amount of abuse. Subsequent shots fell them, however, causing them to collapse in a softly hissing heap, as a light trail of smoke seems to rise from their mouths.

    Two still to go, which have been dodging Steve's own fireballs pretty nimbly, for something with such an ungainly gate! Against Sarracenia's, however, they aren't as fortunate. One gets caught by a fireball right into that open, tortured scowl, and it catches on fire. That, disturbingly, doesn't stop it at first, but eventually enough of it burns that it stops short and collapses, like those others.

    The last one remaining has to deal with Kazuko. She attacks, from just beyond melee range! Unfortunately, she gets to be the one that gets to experience why ranged attacks were suggested. Its body is easily skewered or cut even by a blunt blade, it has the consistency of a moist sponge, and makes a similar kind of sound. Its hollow eye holes regard her, and then it begins to rapidly vibrate with the low-level hiss in its body intensifying in volume. "Get away from it," Steve calls! Regardless of her reaction time, it explodes, leaving a blast crater behind, with several cubic meter chunks of dirt knocked loose in the process.

    "Cripes," Steve grunts. "That's a complication I didn't need..." Of course, it's always the creeper you don't see that's the most dangerous one. Emerging from another tree nearby, the seventh creeper shuffles up to the miner from behind. "SSSSSS--" "...crap!" He jumps forward in the traditional action movie manner and dives to the ground, as a second crater opens up behind him. His robes are tattered, and he's a bit bloodied as a result, but the cloth of them begins to mend itself with its enchantments. "I hate those things," Steve grunts, picking himself up onto his arms, and coughing up a bit of dirt.

    Pre-occupied as he is, Steve doesn't notice a lean, dark shape with purple smoke drifting off it also approaching from behind. The creature seems passive and uninterested, though does help itself to one of the dirt chunks that was knocked loose, scooping it up into its long limbs to examine it closely with its glowing, purple eyes. "Quoop quoop?"
Steve DROPS:

    Also, the creepers that didn't die from immolation or self-detonation drop GUNPOWDER. Because go figure, right.
Alexis Maaka     Maaka pumps a shotshell from her KSG as she lowers her weapon. "Crap, they /explode/ too?" She definitely is glad shooting them don't cause that, but smacking them or getting too close does cause that. Approaching Steve to help him up, Maaka also makes note to pick up some samples of gunpowder along the way.

    "You okay-" She's interrupted by the sounds of quoop, and she looks up behind her helmet to see that shadowy figure. "...uhhhh."

    "Steve. What are these things?"
Kazuko Kawakami      Kazuko's putting her all into striking at the creeper, still looking mildly horrified by the creature even as she's 'ooh'ing and 'aah'ing at all the displays of pyrotechnics and martial skill from her allies on the field today. That hissing noise draws her attention back to the Creeper quickly, though, and Steve's warning is enough to get her to act on pure instinct in somersaulting away from the obscene green thing before it blows.

     Did she really need to somersault? Probably not, but it looks cooler that way. She lands a little clumsily with the force of the explosion sending her flying back further than expected, but she's mostly unharmed save for some singing of her legs. "What the...? Why would something like that even...?" She actually looks somewhat distressed as she says that, but doesn't get to finish as she picks up the sound of more hissing coming up behind Steve followed by another explosion.

     "Mister Steve! Are you okay?" She hurries over to him and Alexis, although she slowly turns to face the strange quooping noise and shadowy figure coming up even closer. She makes the mistake of looking directly at it and keeps her naginata ready at first, but holds her stance when it doesn't look quite so hostile.

     "...Hey. What's that thing?"
Sarracenia      Sarracenia gives her hair a toss as she finishes off a creeper, then flinches and covers her head as she hears and feels two explosions. "What sort of detestable creature explodes itself in an attempt to destroy others?" she says, then blinks as she hears that unusual sound.

     She is surprised to see such a tall, lanky creature holding the dirt chunk. She raises an eyebrow before moving closer. "Oh my! What lovely eyes! It is a shame that you are simply a monster." she says, looking at those eyes with a smile even as she prepares to swing her heavy hammer at the creature.
Kotone Yamakawa Kotone Yamakawa is able to help take them down but damn there's a lot of fire power going this way, but the last one is going for Kazuko and it explodes. She leaps back there's not much she can do. She only can stare at the hole it made.

"How does that even...no I don't want to even know how that works. Wait umm Steve what's that? There's something else here and it's black as midnight."
Lezard Valeth Lezard watches the proceedings and chuckles to himself at the explosive results. Still, this is nothing to worry too much about. "Magus Steve, are you all right?" he asks... but the arrival of the Enderman causes him to flick a hand, a twisted rod manifesting out of the darkness and gripped. The Manus Catalyst is pointed towards the Enderman, and Lezard wastes precisely zero time. "MYSTIC CROSS!" He calls out, a burning barrage of tiny stars of holy power raining down upon the Enderman's position.
Steve     "Creepers," Steve murmurs around his brief dust lounging, "Are the worst scum on Flat Earth. They always show up right when I'm almost finished building something, like they 'know'. They've got no self-preservation, they only destroy."

    He's not above accepting a little help up. The thaumaturgist's robes thankfully absorbed most of the blast, one that would have likely killed him without it. "Yeah," he grunts in response to Lezard, Maaka and Kazuko, voice still just a little bit raspy, but it's likely from that grit he's still trying to get out of his mouth. "Wish I could say otherwise, but that's hardly my first time, ha ha--augh," he coughs as he tries to laugh it off, rubbing at his ribs that 'cushioned' his landing. "The robes absorbed most of it -- hmm?" He refocuses in time to catch the purple smoke swirling, but also stops his head just short of looking directly, once he realizes. Being clobbered by this thing isn't something he needs in such short order.

    In the meanwhile, others of their kind seem to have gathered, perhaps answering some unheard call by the first to come investigate. With a pronounced 'zapping' kind of sound, which is almost funny in how stereotypically science-fiction it sounds, they simply materialize where they're suddenly standing, a slight after-image making it appear that they don't so much instantly move, as simply do so extremely quickly, and with no heed to physical barriers. "Quoo?" "Quoop quoop." There is perhaps, some kind of discussion going on, but just like Steve said, the translation effect apparently doesn't grok 'other-dimensional monster'. The others take cobbles and dirt blocks of their own.

    "That," Steve mentions in response to many, reaching to the end of his wooden staff to remove the wand focus there, and begin to screw on a different one, while also readying his sword anew, "Is a whole bunch of endermen, the exact thing we're hunting. Look at them," unfortunately worded, "Picking stuff up like they own the place." The very notion makes him forget his aching, and now he sounds just faintly angry. Despite that, it's up to Sarracenia and Kazuko to be the first to directly look at one with her own eyes; something about Maaka's helmet seems to cause her own glance to not register (perhaps similar enough to a pumpkin?). The enderman, from its three meter high vantage point, for a moment, returns the look. Then, the top of its entire head appears to hinge and ratchet upward, revealing an enormous, gaping mouth, that is suddenly screeching, as it twitches. They really DO hate being looked at.

    Then, through a combination of its own sudden aggression, and Lezard attempting to strike it from a distance, it vanishes in a shower of those purple motes of vapor, in a similar manner as the others had appeared. It appears again a short distance away from Sarracenia, striding forward on its long legs. Its long limbs are its primary weapons, it seems, and they are swung like long, blunt instruments of destruction. "Well, no sense in holding back, then," Steve's mood instantly improves. He charges at one of the other endermen, avoiding looking at it while swinging his sword at the most obvious target; those legs. Looking at the legs doesn't seem to prompt the same reaction that Sarracenia and Kazuko got, but soon after being struck, the enderman slings away the block of dirt it had been holding, and engages in melee with the miner. "If you're quick," Steve grunts between swings, "You can get `em before they warp away! Close-up and personal works best, but...if you can completely surround them with something, Lezard! Or, something with water." The one he had been attacking appears injured, with a purple ooze coming from one of its long legs, but manages to warp away before he can finish it off, "...damn, not fast enough." He's left to look around quickly for the vector of its re-appearance.
Sarracenia      Sarracenia was already swinging when the Enderman she looked at started shrieking. Her heavy hammer comes around with surprising speed, aiming at the heart of the dark creature. "Take this!" she exclaims as she swings. Whether she hits or not, she uses the momentum of her swing to send herself into a spin to follow up the first blow with a second.

     Then, she moves on to the next closest Ender! It too receives a few hammer blows before she continues on. She doesn't know how many blows it takes to bring one down, but she is sure that if she softens them up a bit, her comrades will be able to finish them off.

     But, after a few hammer attacks and several misses thanks to that teleportation, Sarracenia huffs. "Fine. Try this!" She reaches into her purse again, and pulls out...bob-ombs! The small, cute little bomb creatures are raised, then Sarracenia blinks. "Hmm. I suppose I have no right to be surprised at the antics of those Creepers." she says before she starts tossing incredibly explosive bob-ombs around. Their explosions are not as large as a creeper blast, but the explosion is quite intense. In her world, they can easily send someone flying off to the horizon.
Kazuko Kawakami      No holding back. Just what Kazuko wants to hear! Although she's looking a little bummed for a moment about something prior to that, she's looking rejuvenated and ready to go to town once those words come out. "Let's see who can take down the most, then!"

     Confidence and morale renewed, the martial artist focuses her ki into her limbs and weapon before charging forth, striking at the lanky creatures of shadow far faster than she did with the creeper and at ranges that don't even look like she should even be hitting them from! Sure, she might not be hitting nearly as hard as... Well, /anyone/ in the group, but if the first blow doesn't take down an enderman?

     There's always the ten more following right behind it.
Lezard Valeth This is where Lezard takes advantage of all that information that's been getting dropped. "Clever." He says, adjusting his glasses. "Come, one and all, let the harvest begin!" He laughs as light erupts beneath him... And it soon becomes a little unhinged. "Hahahahh.... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! BOW DOWN BEFORE ME!" He cries, as he thrusts the Catalyst out once more, and...

Ice shards begin raining down through the area like a hellish hailstorm, passing through allies harmlessly as he resorts to mass bombardment. Looks like he's using Water-elemental magic in order to strike now! As the shards rain down, pools of water begin spreading out from the melting shards, beginning to reduce the area that Endermen can teleport into safely without touching that clear, odorless poison.
Alexis Maaka     Also Alexis Maaka keeps hacking the monsters of Flat Earth. First the spiders assumed she was undead, now the helmet being a pumpkin analog. She doesn't even do this on purpose, honest! She doesn't seem to give it much thought, instead focusing on taking care of these creatures.

    There's a reason why shotguns have been brought to this mission. They can provide a wide spread of damaging projectiles at dangerous ranges. The shotgun barks another cone of fire as Maaka takes aim, racking a fresh shell in place before she fires upon the Endermen. After all, it's not exactly easy to evade buckshot when it's spread wide, and certainly when there's a lot of it being fired per target.

    She seems to go about this much calmer than Lezard, definitely. Boom, rechamber, boom, rechamber. It's like harvesting wheat with a scythe, the way she's so calm. Almost scary.
Kotone Yamakawa Kotone Yamakawa is keeping with Alexis for the most part in this mess, she does take note about the Creepers and can't argue with it. It's suicide bomber animal, how does that even work? She has no idea and she really deosn't want to know. Yet here are the ender men, she does pauses wondering about the nature of this hunt. She' pales back a bit but there's nothing she can do at this point. She's going to finish up the fight ans she's moving to take thes things down but she doesn't know what to think of these /things/.

"Alexis! I'm getting flash backs to Kingsmouth from thwese things!"
Steve     Like a carefully placed set of dominoes that are bumped by accident, it doesn't take long for things to collapse into complete chaos. That actually favors the Elites quite well! The endermen, despite having appeared as a group, are not organized in any sense, nor do they actively assist one another. Rather, they appear to focus on personal grievances and affronts, even when that is only 'someone looked at me.' Sarracenia weaves between their thin frames, striking them in turn with her hammer. A few, by chance or otherwise, audibly zip away either before it strikes, or in short order, but a few are struck solidly. Despite their lanky frames, they are built quite solidly, so they don't get taken down immediately. However, their purplish-black bodies seem to be 'bruising' with each physical strike, or at least, that's what one can guess those marks mean. It's enough to keep them distracted, though in this target rich environment, it's best to be careful of your aggro management! Those long limbs of theirs are surprisingly strong.

    Then come the Bob-ombs. The majority of them are, thankfully for their side, warping around so rapidly to avoid attacks from other Elites that they are missed by pure chance. However, one of the long-limbed creatures seems to drop out of its aggression just long enough to allow its natural curiosity take over, and it scoops up a Bob-omb that landed nearby to examine it more closely. >>BoMb!!<< Its arms spread wide as it goes flying backward, twitching a bit, almost comedically, before finally remaining still. Curiously, rather than remaining coherent, its body seems to slowly melt away into a thicker plume of that vapor they emit. The pearl inside, that Steve had diagrammed and mentioned, is what remains. Their 'core', or 'heart', or whatever metaphor one prefers, and the source of their abilities. A couple of others are caught in the blasts, and are crippled enough to not be able to continue -- they'll likely be finished off soon enough, if they don't die off on their own.

    Much like Sarracenia's hammering, Kazuko has likely faced a mix of solid strikes and near misses. The long-bodied creatures are tough, but also surprisingly nimble, on top of that teleporting strike. Nonetheless, their doggedness is also their undoing, as once they have been assaulted, they can think of little else besides vengeance. And so, though they can teleport, one can be absolutely certain that they will approach from some other direction shortly after, rather than trying to sneak up. In this battle of attrition, she soon has a trio of heavily wounded endermen at her feet, that twitch before beginning to fade away, like the one Sarracenia's Bob-omb felled. The pearls shimmer in the torch light as a result.

    Lezard would find a lot more efficiency in his change in tactics, and spell choice. The teleports, as he would have noticed, are all relatively short range, and always to re-converge on the same target. A concentrated area attack is the perfect response to such a strategem on the part of the creatures. Not only that, just as Steve had reasoned, the water -- even magical, frozen water -- does not do an enderbody good. It seems to slice more deeply into their bodies than usual, and that purple vapor boils up with even more volume, as their screeches raise in volume with each strike. Whatever little sentience they have eventually catches on, and a few do manage to teleport out before their route is sealed off by pooling water, but most in that zone don't make it. Another pile of bodies is soon the result, but you shouldn't feel bad: Endermen are jerks, after all. Thankfully, unlike the endermen, the pearls inside don't seem harmed by a little bit of hydrogen dioxide.
Steve     Alexis Maaka opts for systematic efficiency over flashiness, but it produces results, so there's no questioning it. The endermen that had remained passive, even with her glances, don't remain so when they begin to absorb shot into their thin bodies. That thin profile of theirs offers a reduced target area, but with how they just keep coming after their aggressor, just as with some of the others, it is something that can be easily exploited. So long as she remains on her toes for when they will reappear, she can keep increasing her own kill count, as well. The endermen, as ever, continue trying to club away with their arms when close enough, but for the most part, the shotgun does a good job of blasting them away -- whether physically, or because they zip away ahead of it. Amusingly, a few still get struck even after they teleported, simply because of the cone of fire. More bodies, more vapor, more pearls!

    Kotone is likely smart to keep with Maaka, so that they can watch each other's backs in this quagmire. The purple vapor is thick in the area now, carrying the death of almost countless endermen by this point, but not enough to really limit visibility. Similarly to the others, their bodies continue absorbing more strikes from her gun, on top of evasions, though a few even teleport in to where she had just been aiming at a different one. It is a real mess! But...after a while, things begin dying down, figuratively and literally. The screeches of enderdeath abate, and the vapor begins to fade, as the local region has basically run out of endermen it can produce. The ground is littered with ender pearls, at least, those that haven't already been scooped up.

    When the dust, or smoke, clears, Steve can be seen with his sword plunged deep into one such enderman, that is now fading. Seems like that was the last of them. "Haha," he laughs, then raises in volume, "Hahahaha! Oh man, I've never SEEN this many pearls in one place before." Bruised and bloodied from the grand melee, he staggers up to his feet, gathering up a few of the closest pearls into that nebulous 'inventory' of his. "Help yourselves, there's plenty for everyone. And thanks, everybody. This is the first step to finding the Stronghold."
Kazuko Kawakami      Panting heavily as that seemingly endless gauntlet comes to an end, Kazuko breathes a sigh of relief and satisfaction as she just drops flat on her back onto the grass below. It still feels a little too flat and weird, but it'll do to alleviate some of her fatigue. "That was great! So many strong fighters here..." She rolls over to scoop up the three pearls closest to her, eyeing Lezard and Steve in particular before propping herself up on her elbows.

     "So what's this Stronghold thing, anyway? Are there gonna be more of those endersmen?" The prospect of fighting more of those things isn't out of the question for her, especially after fighting them today. She does sound a little uncertain about something, though, but not enough to have her running away screaming or anything like that.

     Instead, the girl just hops back onto her feet and brushes her jacket off. "If there are... Yeah, count me in!"
Alexis Maaka     For once, Maaka is out of ammo. She ran out of shotgun rounds after the third or so wave, transitioning to her sidearm and HF blade midway through the fight. Even then, she went to the blade in the end. She's actually /befuddled/ that she's still standing given all the chaos, and her armor is scorched and battered as she stands there with Kotone at her back and vice versa.

    "...this hasn't happened to me before." She murmurs, glancing at all the spent shells and expended magazines littered amid her feet, sheathing her HF sword and checking behind her on Kotone. "So uh...I guess that's that."
Sarracenia      After all the Endersmoke clears, along with the bob-omb smoke and every other kind, Sarracenia brushes dust off of her dress before picking up a pearl. "It's so big!" she marvels, eyes shimmering. "...perhaps too big." she says after a moment, holding the large pearl in both hands. She giggles happily as she goes, looking the pearl over.

     "Thank you all for your assistance!" the princess calls happily over her shoulder as she heads back. Adventure and a giant pearl. What more could a girl ask for?
Kotone Yamakawa Kotone Yamakawa lowers her weapon and she's faily low on ammo she's just glad it's over and is very glad she stuck with Alexis in this entire brawl. She seem to relax now and shakes her head a little bit.

"What are those monsters, seriously what are these Endermen..."

She looks to Steve and then to Alexis for a moment.

"That is a new one alexis and ... I'm fine no one got close enough to be a problem, thanks!"

"So Steve will there be more of those things in what we're seeking?"

She grins to Sarracenia while she gets a few pearls of her own.

"No problem."