Mate Kata

[Kopaka]

The eerie silence of the Nexus was split apart by the shrill whine of two EPD issue swoop bikes rocketing across the flawless porcelain terrain. Kopaka was not fond of riding these mechanical contraptions, or even other creatures for that matter. If the Toa of Ice had to get somewhere he preferred to rely on the powers of his Kanohi, or in other words, himself.

Dawn, however, insisted that they procure some form of mount in order to traverse this trackless expanse. Her reasoning was sound enough; there was little sense in trying to maintain a low profile when a wary opponent would be able to see them coming from miles away. The two hunters stared straight ahead, trying to avoid the vertigo associated with Nexus travel. Fixing one's gaze on the ardent horizon was usually the best recourse, and the powers of the Akaku gave Kopaka an advantage in that regard. As the biomech readjusted his focus, a small notification pipped on to his heads-up display. After reading it, he pressed a finger on to his EPD datavice, sending a crackling message to Dawn's headset.

"We have a new target, in the Nexus at the Fountain. Adjust course thirteen degrees north." Kopaka said plainly. He glanced over at the woman riding next to him, and met her leering eyes through her thick goggles. She glanced down at her own datavice and made an impatient face.

"Can't be anyone on the bounty board, you'd have told me." she radioed in reply. Kopaka blinked slowly.

"It's a Prime that was reported attacking EPD troopers. I'm obligated to respond." he said in a tone that refused to be challenge. Dawn made another face.

"I'll tag along, but I'm not helping out. No freebies." the bounty hunter quipped. She dialed in the Fountain of Infinity into the swoop's nav computer, and the red-brown vehicle whined off sharply to the left. Kopaka turned his own bike to follow, and fixed his magnified gaze on their new destination. Considering the Fountain's current form, at least one of its current visitors was an absolute monster. As it so happened, slaying such monsters was hardwired into Kopaka's core functions.

Precisely two minutes later, Kopaka wrenched his swoop bike into a lateral slide and cut the engines. The Bionicle allowed the momentum to flow into his hefty bulk, launching him into the air. He skidded along the Nexus floor on ice-covered feet before coming to a halt a few meters from some sort of feral beast and a young human girl.

"H...help." Viola meeped as tears borne from an admixture of fear and throttling leaked down her face. Kopaka was not in a hurry. Servos in his neck slowly buzzed as he shifted his gaze from the blue-haired female to the costumed monstrosity.

"Hmph! Hmmmph! So many annoying little interruptions today!" Pennywise squealed, running a gore-spattered claw down the left side of his face. His grip on the child did not release. At least not until a sharp bang echoed across the blasted landscape. It was a potshot on Dawn's part, seeing as how the high-caliber round only grazed the rubbery fabric of the clown's arm. Still, it was enough to make It drop Viola in sheer surprise. A feral howl flew from the dancing demon's lips as Viola scrabbled away from the frightful predator. Before the gruesome thing could make chase, however, he found his path blocked by this clanking, buzzing thing that had come to ruin Its dinner.

"I thought you said you were not interested in free work." Kopaka droned, raising his shield against Pennywise. At first, the dimensional lurker genuinely had no idea what this was supposed to mean until It discerned that this chilly contraption had been speaking aloud to the gunwoman nearby. Dawn racked another shot as she crouched at the far side of The Fountain and chuckled slightly.

"Bounty board updated a minute ago. Guess who's fugly and has cash for brains?" Dawn chirped. She kept her eyes focused on the clown creep, but she was aware that Its lost dinner was currently crawling towards her. Deep down, the bounty huntress did feel some degree of pity for the blue-haired kid, but the Reaper knew a Prime when she saw one. For all she knew this 'kid' could be some mass-murdering psychopath in her home universe. As the drool covered girl moved towards her, the huntress shot Viola a glance that demanded the child to keep her ass put.

A moment of stillness came and went...

[Dawnika Snow]

Dawn looked upon the derranged clown and her face turned sour instantly. The huge children's-entertainer-dressed demon towered over her, but her sour expression was not in fear. It was in disgust.

"Ugh, Christ, why does everything kill either have to smell like shit, or look like a derranged lunatic?" She muttered loud enough for Kopaka to hear. The assassin reached for her rifle, just before the irony kicked in. The vigilante's head grew heavy and began coughing. The robot, clown and the onlooker all watched as purple flames erupted from her mouth and enveloped her body in the shape of a burning rose. Within a few seconds, a skimpy dressed half-human emerged from the flames with a wide grin on her face. Her cat-ears perked up at the sight of It.

"Ooh!" Her high-pitched, demented voice scratched like nails against a chalkboard. "Something to kill!"

Her arms erupted into glorious flames, burning around her shoulders down to her hands, seemingly unharmed. She could barely contain the excitement welled up inside her.

"Time to turn up the heat!"

[Pennywise]

How curious.

It stared at the luminous flames that swirled and flickered around the... shape-changer, focusing first on her tattooed midriff, then the tail wrapped loosely around her legs, and finally settling upon the white-furred feline ears pricking up from the top of her head, both of them perfectly real-looking and alert. The sinister brain inside Its skull worked furiously, one gangly, skeletal hand resting on the concrete edge of the Fountain of Infinity.

Of course, it wasn't the hand Viola had cut off. Or that whole arm— the little pest! Eyes slanting to the side, It regarded the shivering form of Viola strewn upon the ground with a cartoonishly sly look reminiscent of Wile E. Coyote. A trail of blood followed her to where she'd crawled to escape It, stark against the pristine smoothness of the Nexus ground, a Road Runner with her figurative legs cut out from under her.

Hmm. Hmmm!

Blinking owlishly, Pennywise abruptly became very, very still. Its coppery-yellow eyes flickered, pulsed, and then drifted apart so that Its pupils were aimed in totally opposite directions, causing the clown to appear spectacularly dimwitted. That is, until the creature's largely cartilaginous form gave a funny, lurching shudder, like a clockwork soldier come to life. Its painted grin broadened with malicious slowness, revealing row after row of downward-facing spines, each one at least seven inches in length. If one looked closely, they would see that those ugly teeth were glistening with traces of sickening red.

"Wh-wha—" A bubbling giggle tumbled out from Its lips along with a heavy flood of spittle, the sound clicking oddly in the back of Its throat.

The mechanical warrior (for what else could it possibly be?) stood between It and Its victim, shield glinting like the surface of a mirror, the sharp edges of his chassis belying zero weaknesses. Still It quivered with mirth, struggling to speak around the jagged hole in Its face, but when It did...

"What's new pussycat, whoah whoah-oh-oh?" Pennywise sing-songed, a twittering laugh chasing Its words. Its hideously-painted visage curled, the streaks of vibrant scarlet around Its mouth twisting up into a cat-like smile. "Well, would you look at that, Viola! A white knight and a... kitten, come all this way just for me? Don't I feel special!"

[Dawnika Snow]

The fire that sears across Alexus’ arms eat wildly desperate to leap about everywhere. She grins bemusedly at her new alias of ‘Kitten’. Very true that her physical form hardly seemed intimidating at this stage in a fight, but in a few minutes, everyone watching this glorious spectacular would know to fear the feline-woman whose beauty burned brighter than newly polished armor.

Kopaka stood a couple paces away from Dawnika, er, whatever she had become. The analysis he did of her did not show this form of her, but he had remembered that she was shapeshifter of some kind and it was hardly surprising to see her take on an unknown form at this point.

Unfaltered by the dementia-ridden psychopaths’ inane squabbling, the mechanical rose his shield and sword and began to move on his opponent. His aegis separated him and the clown from each other until he was close enough to use his weapon. Alexus meanwhile gathered the burning energy into the palm of her hand, circling down to her wrist, wrapping itself around her slim fingers, and watched as began to burn more intense as she held it.

It stood there for a moment before giving Its clownish grin to the hostility that was swooping upon It.

“Oh-ho-ho!” It chortled in excitement. “They want to play! This is going to be so much fun!”

The clown’s goofy glove-covered hand formed Omnilium, creating small bean in Its open palm.

“It would would hardly be fun if I wasn’t in peak condition, now would it?” It said, mashing the bean in Its terribly horrifying maw. The wounds Pennywise had suffered disappeared instantly. Its deadlights fluctuated oddly in Its eyes once It felt replenished again. “Ah, that’s much better! Now, shall we?”

Its bones somehow stayed in place as it aggressively ran towards the closest target, Its movements horribly hard to predict with the flailing way It flailed Its limbs. However, Kopaka held firm and braced his shield for the first attack. The aegis let out a cry of pain as Pennywise’s claws tore at the piece of metal. Over and over again, the sounds screeched in front of the Toa. Kopaka was still as stoic as ever, continuing to remain focused on his enemy’s movements and scanning for possible weaknesses that could be easily exploited.

Alexus, however, did not enjoy the waiting game. The flames that danced in her hand began to grow wild, signifying it was time to release the primal energy, which she did. The bolt of searing natural destruction flew past Kopaka and Pennywise, missing the mark and landing with a surprising halt just in front of the girl on the sidelines. She jumped back at the flame exploded in a small burst with a slight yelp. Although slightly annoyed, the half-feline pyromaniac focused the fire into her arms again, which soon began to take form around her mostly exposed and pale skin. The fire seemed not to burn her even as took a more direct form around her. It danced beautifully and brightly in a circle around her. She charged into battle as quickly as possible, drawing the three-foot-long sword from it’s home around her waist. The flames also began to eat against the steel the instant it was unsheathed.

The maniac’s mind was on death. Her crazed approach to battle may have even thrown Kopaka off, but it was probably from the intense flames that she bore like clothing. The biomech retreated momentarily as Alexus’ sword carved a path around him. Pennywise was dodgy, making odd, erratic and unpredictable movement. However, even though It found a way to dodge the’ Kitten’, avoiding her burning aura was too difficult to out maneuver.

“You know what they say,” her shrill voice crawled into the ears of anyone that could hear such a decibel. “If you can’t stand the heat, stay off the fucking battlefield!”

Her arm glowed intensely with spirals of flames that began to form in her hand again, but this time, they would erupt in a cone at the clown, setting the goofy, colorful clothes ablaze. Pennywise retaliated by opening Its gaping maw in a manner like that of snake, if that snake had seventeen rows of teeth and an orange glow feeding through it’s asouthagus. It leaped forward at her, effectively accomplishing in getting the girl to back off, even if for a moment. Quickly, It began to smack the base of the flames across Its shirt in attempt to snuff them out, which worked after a few seconds.

“Aw, now that wasn’t very funny!” It offered to that attack. Kopaka had not been standing still while this tussle was only going on between the two others, though. Soon enough, a snowy storm formed around the four(Viola included), completely eliminating the visual capabilities of those besides Alexus and Kopaka, who had put on his mask of Akaku.

Hmm. Hmm

This world was nothing like that of the world It had previously tarnished with Its presence. It was ripe with creatures of many interesting abilities and feats. However, this was nothing new for the inter-cosmological being, but just imagine the amazing things that could be done. Its power could grow limitless. This was no time for daydreaming, though, as the two tigers stalked through the grass towards It. Or, more fitting: The homicidally-insane sociopaths traversed the snowstorm. But that not-so-much-of-a-metaphor sucks.

901/1000 words used.

SP usage:
Alexus - 5/5
Kopaka - 6/6
Pennywise - 2/2

Kopaka used...
Hau te Kōpae
Hau te Hoari
Arai Hotoke

Alexus used...
Charged Flare(Bolt & Flamethrower)
Searing Aura
Moyashi

Pennywise used...
Claws
Vortex of Teeth

[Viola]

Follows off this post from the last thread and covers the fight so far from Viola's POV.

Weak fingers flicked against the alien white-clad hand closed around her neck, futilely trying to pry it away. Woozy blood loss, black patches filled her vision like pixels dying across a screen as the limited blood she had left struggled to reach her brain. The small beams of light that made it through were heavily distorted, yet oddly colourful, as the irregular droplets of tears bent and refracted them, making her sights shake and wobble. Was It speaking to her? She couldn't tell.

Viola didn't scream. Or even try to, although she doubted she could. Was she even breathing? A strange clarity swept through her mind, all burdens lifted from her shoulders. There was nothing she could do - why worry about it? Yet, as old as she was, there was so much she wanted to do. Here and back home, although she wasn't fussed about the latter providing she could regain her former strength. Had she been able to, she'd have cocked her head and stared straight into the clown's eyes. What was she to It? Food, or sport? She was hardly large enough to constitute a meal, and she'd certainly done a number on It. She gathered that It'd probably be dead by now if It had bloodloss to worry about.

Trust. Trust wasn't going to get her anywhere in this harsh world. That much was clear. And why would it? Reputation and respect were earned, friends were temporary until proven otherwise. Yet, as much as that had been her philosophy at many points in time, people always surprised her. Some were earnest, nice, selfish. A beautiful flower in a wild forest, standing out from a field of bluebells and orchids and thistles and weeds. Even roses had thorns. In short, people were complicated. People. Things. Sentient whatchamacallits. It. 

And hindsight was killer. Obviously now she was thinking about how everything would have gone perfectly had she never been injured. Or at least never shook Its hand. She fought well, but it was a loss from the start. 

It was odd. Soothing even. How long had the clown been strangling her? Minutes? Hours?

She wasn't breathing.

Oh.

A simple thought sprung from a very simple oversight.

Time had stopped. Or, at least, it was moving very, very, slowly.

Her own little eternity. Just before her demise. No pain. No vision. No senses. Just her and her mind.

What was the point? Even if she did turn her brain into a computer and try to mentally solve all the worlds problems, no one would ever know. If anything, she was a little too peaceful about all this. She didn't want to die! She was just powerless to stop the progression of events. This should be frustrating, terrifying. Like a little girl tossed in the dark.

She didn't want to go down with grace. She wanted to go down kicking and screaming, despite her magic not heeding her call. 

But Pennywise was so exposed. It would be so easy to make a sword appear right behind It and sever Its already wounded head.

...if she wasn't dying.

She couldn't see herself dead though. Normally she had an uncanny sense for those things. Little snippets of information from later in the timestream. Interesting.

Rambling.

Heh.

A habit of hers. 

Nothing would save her but herself. And, if she couldn't do that, it was time to move on. She wasn't sure how 'interesting' she was, but Omni had mentioned something about not fearing death.

She was scared.

Joking. Making a mockery of it. All distractions from her impending doom. As slow as she was verbally, her thoughts could jump a lot of hurdles very quickly even when not assisted by her manipulation of time.

It was time. Time. Time to...

...no.

She could stay like this forever. Unmoving. Trapped inside her own prison - but also keeping everyone else out. Immortal, yet alone. Just like always...

...well, almost always. A few token people caught her attention. All dead now though, as she'd waited for the next to inevitably push his or her way through her shell despite how much she'd refused to ever let anyone get that close ever again. Not to the point where their death would truly affect her.

Mauled by a monstrous clown. While it had already happened three - maybe four - times in the fight, this one felt a little more permanent. No redos. No take-backsies. This wasn't how she wanted to go, but from the looks of things, she didn't have a choice.

I don't want to.

It was almost indignant. Like a child refusing vegetables. 

Long and drawn out, but no one but her would even know. Yet, eventually, Viola finally found her magic relaxing.

A wave of sensations ran through her body once again. The pain, the pressure on her neck, the woozy spinning specs of her blurry vision. Almost immediately, she began thrashing with renewed vigour - or would have if her body would actually move. A moment later, a faint crackle met her ears and she actually felt the pressure release.

Untrusting, expecting it to simply be toying with her, Viola nonetheless tried to flail away, coughing and spluttering as air flowed through her burning throat. Unable to massage it, her only good hand cradled her stump as her single shoe went tippedy-tap against the Nexus floor while her other tights-covered leg skidded over the smooth ground, providing little traction.

So much blood.

But she was still alive... why? What? How? Where did It go?

Of course, she knew the answer to that last question, It was in front of her. But... why was It not closer?

Trying to seize the opportunity, a flood of mana ran through her near-empty veins, sending spasms down her spine. She coughed, hacking out a few specs of blood while the tears continued to roll down her cheeks.

Still hopeless.

A faint skidding noise woke her from her daze. Like the bristles of a paintbrush running over a canvass, although much smoother yet heavier at the same time. Turning her head towards the sound her heart missed a beat. People. Things. Maybe they could-

"H-help."

Pathetically, her dull, quiet, voice croaked out before she could even consider what to say. A loud crack rang out, causing both her to flinch and the clown to recoil further away. There were two of them, the woman and the ice-thing. Ice-golem, maybe.

Whatever their motives, Viola allowed them to take Its attention as the ice-person swiftly moved between them. With fuzzy vision, she could see little of any actual fight. Even the voices sounded distant to her ears. But, while it took time, she did manage to pry herself to her feet.

Sluggishly, Viola scrambled away, yelping and almost falling back off her feet. A fraction of a second later, a bolt of fire cracked into the ground beside her, leaving a trailing scorch of black embers as it broke up form the impact, skidding. Viola flinched again, this time from the actual attack rather than just her foresight, although neither hit. 

Pennywise would die to them both, she hoped, but at this rate, she'd be dead by then too, bleeding out on the ground. If anything, she was surprised to still be alive given how much blood she'd lost. She needed to get out of here. To somewhere safe. One of the gates on the horizon maybe - that was probably where the two monster hunters came from.

Before Viola could even think of acting on that choice, a wave of frost and snow filled her limited vision. She shivered, hugging her arm even more tightly. Dizzy, her head span. Where even was their fight? As much as it would have hidden her escape - if she couldn't see them they couldn't see her - travelling the wrong direction would just get her kill-

"Ooof."

Something small slammed into her legs. Gentle, but it still knocked her off balance and pushed the shaky air from her lungs. Strange limbs wrapped around her, swiftly hoisting her up and carrying her away at impossible speeds while resting her on something hard and sleek. Almost like a strange plastic, but it also felt a little bit hairy. With no energy to resist, Viola slumped. Anywhere was better than here.

Hopefully, whatever this thing was, it meant well.

I'm going to head off over to this thread with Kumoko. Viola has been 'saved' by the spider during Kopaka's snow storm thing. This was fun guys, but I'm out. Unless someone wants to chase me and the super speedy spider.

[Pennywise]

No! No no no!

Pennywise looked sharply around, frenzied and with saliva fizzing around Its gnashing teeth like a rabid dog. An impenetrable cloud of snow and icy air stung at Its eyes until they wept, the only thing It was able to discern being the bright orange buttons lining the front of Its costume. Snarling wordlessly, the clown stamped Its feet like a tantrum-having child, a frustrated display that was offset by the merry jingling of the bells attached to Its shoes. Both sounds were lost to the groaning of the miniature blizzard, the droning whine of snowfall crackling like static in the air.

Rendered almost completely sightless, the interdimensional entity was unable to pick out just where Its enemies might have gone, but It suspected that they were watching It, waiting for the perfect moment to strike…

An armored figure made of metal burst from the billowing fog with surprising speed, the glacier blue lenses of Kopaka’s mask glinting with caustic, insane fury. The space surrounding him was made too bitter, too sharp by his presence— the embodiment of a killing frost. The clown scarcely had time to react before an enormous sword sliced across Its midsection, the blindingly silver blade tearing through silk and sickly-colored flesh with ease.

It hurled Itself back with a wretched squeal, writhing like a snake across the Nexus floor.

Pain! Bright, freezing, searing pain, the sensation clotting around Its nerve endings until they were numb with cold! Wine-dark blood stained the beast’s belly, the carved flesh hanging off like thinly-sliced salami. Clawed hands carved deep grooves into the ground as It twisted away from Its attacker, limbs spasming with erratic desperation.

Shoulder joint rolling to prepare for another strike, the Toa of Ice advanced, swiftly crossing the chasm of distance It sought to put between them. At the sight of a fast-moving blur of golden fire, however, the biomech was content to slow his pace and observe his new companion in action. He assumed a guarded pose with his icy shield raised before him, the circular device spinning ceaselessly in preparation for any flying projectiles or spells.

Alexus had chosen the perfect moment to strike, the Imperial enforcer decided as he watched from afar. The clown was too occupied with hunching over Its stomach, squinting at the gash there as the wound quickly became iced-over with a splintery, painful film of frost.

Tiger stripes of vibrant heat swirled around Alexus as she assumed a wide stance, a plume of fiery energy manifesting in the palm of one hand. Her eyes burned bright like fire opals, a mischievous grin tugging at her lips as her spellwork was completed within a matter of seconds, the ambrosial magic tickling her fingertips. She unleashed the flare in Pennywise’s direction with an almost lazy flourish, the enchanted flames combusting in midair with a glorious, sizzling fwoosh!

In the blink of an eye, the clown’s entire form went from chilled to the bone to burning, brilliant orange flames lapping up over Its body as the silken costume lit up like a bonfire, the skeletal form of the creature contorting in obvious agony. A smell like sulfur and burnt popcorn permeated the air, stinking up everything. The screaming was the worst part, high and tortured, like a howling infant that has been placed inside a cradle of blisteringly hot coals. And oh, how It screamed and screamed and screamed.

Alexus stared, shocked. She was already somewhat aware that her spell wasn’t powerful enough to do this, but her suspicions were confirmed when the biomech appeared at her side, his chilly chassis leeching heat from her comparatively toasty flesh.

The lenses of Kopaka’s mask whined as he made good use of his Kanohi Akaku, surveying their enemy with a mostly unbothered air. His companion, on the other hand, winced in obvious discomfort, her sensitive feline ears flattened against her skull to counter the ungodly screeching.

“What the hell?! This fucker isn’t that weak, is it?” Alexus demanded, her teeth gritted.

The metal components between Kopaka’s head and neck shifted— the robotic equivalent of a shrug. “No. It would seem that the target intends to fool us into complacency by exaggerating his injuries.”

Deciding that this was his ‘I am motherfucking done with this motherfucker’ voice, Alexus shot the Toa a grin that was positively lethal, totally ready for action. “Alright, then let’s REALLY give this thing something to cry about!”

Leaping forward with boundless grace, Alexus called the fabled sword Moyashi to her hand. The mercurial blade of the katana flashed as she swung it straight for the demon clown’s neck, certain that it could rip through the mound of filthy collar ruffles there. Alexus bared her teeth in a ferocious smile, the ethereal aura surrounding her limbs flaring outward, hotter than the summer sun—

A deafening clang rang out, claws that were long like knives meant for skinning easily parrying the strike destined to sever Its head from Its shoulders. The young woman’s katana shrieked deafeningly over the ground as she slid into a low crouch, her knees just barely scraping the pristine white floor. Panting, Alexus glanced up just in time to see the disturbingly cheerful face of the clown mere centimetres from her nose.

The catgirl yelped as an enormous hand tightened around her wrist with a crushing grip, the delicate bones there grinding audibly together. Eyes widening and mouth agape, she gawked in alarm at the striking transformation the clown had undergone, neck craning all the way back to take in the entirety of Its form.

Pennywise the Dancing Clown had tripled— no, quadrupled in size!

Her mind raced as the extraterrestrial paused to breathe her scent in, sniffing at her curiously. Glancing down, she could see that she'd been lifted at least twenty feet above Kopaka’s miniature blizzard, probably because the clown was bigger, so much bigger than a whirling, furling snowball no larger than thirty feet in diameter. She could even see the gash Kopaka’s ice sword had left across Its stomach— the glistening, pulsating organs brought into spectacular focus by the creature’s immense size.

Perhaps to account for this sudden surge in proportions, Its skin had also burst in countless places. Acrid juices erupted from the rotten flesh and moistened the silk of Its costume with various pungent bodily fluids, all of them dripping like honey to the distant ground. Its lips were ashen, the vibrant red grin formed by Its face paint appearing chapped and smeared like a cracked doll. Worst of all, Its eyes seemed to have sunk deep into Its skull, their beady, void-like blackness piercing through to her very core.

The pervasive stench of rotting meat and sugary strawberries undulated over Alexus in waves, her stomach clenching from a sickening combination of fear and revulsion. She struggled against the long, spindly fingers wrapped around her wrist, noticing that Its crooked nails were limpid and off-colored. They tugged at her skin like meat hooks, the girl’s heart drumming so loudly in her ears that she almost didn’t notice that It had begun to speak.

“What a nice entrée you will make,” Pennywise purred, leering nastily down at the mouthwatering morsel It had caught. “So full of flavor, so full of spice. Tell me, will you hiss and claw all the way down if I swallow you whole? Little furballs like you always cause indigestion…”

“Kopaka!” Alexus yowled, her entire body rigid with rage, eyes wide, fangs bared. “Kopaka, don’t just stand there, you lousy sack of bolts! Help me!”

A mind-numbing bolt of agony struck Alexus like an electric shock to her system, her limbs convulsing from the pain. It was a fleeting flash of discomfort, but one that left her feeling somewhat drained all the same, hanging loosely from the beast’s grip by her one trapped limb.

She dully registered the slight dribble of dampness that oozed down her shoulder, the white bandages covering that arm becoming sticky with gore. Looking up, the feline warrior could see that the creature was lightly nibbling on her arm. Lightly, she supposed, because of her fiery magical defenses… or, perhaps, for a different reason altogether. The clown’s red-painted nose was wrinkled in distaste, almost as if It was trying to decide if It appreciated her flavor or not.

Teeth gritted, Alexus threw her head back and bellowed, “Kopaka, I swear to shit if you don’t get up here—!”

In a blur of movement, Kopaka flew on by at full fucking tilt, his ice sword cutting a clean line through three of Its gigantic fingers. The catgirl hardly had time to blink before the Toa had caught her arm in his deathly cold grip, dragging their combined weight down to the Nexus floor.

Black blood spewed everywhere as the two primes slammed to the ground, Alexus just barely managing to soften their landing with her flying magic. A cacophonous roar thundered from above them, the subzero blizzard only just beginning to wane…

1500 words - Microsoft Word.

No SP used.

Kopaka used: Hau te Hoari, Arai Hotoke (Still active from last post), Burst Movement/Master Super Jumping/Master Enhanced Senses.

Alexus used: Charged Flare (Bolt), Moyashi, Searing Aura, Flight.

Pennywise used: Claws, Shapeshifting to look all grody, Mega Mushroom Item (See below).

NEW STATS FROM MEGA MUSHROOM (Lasts one minute):
ATK: 6
DEF: 4
SPD: 3
TEC: 3

The clown is also pretty much 70 feet tall, now.

[Kopaka]

Kopaka unceremoniously dumped his partner to the ground, fully trusting her to be able to catch her own weight after the precipitous rescue. The Toa glared up at the towering aberration, looming above the pair like a mountain of gristle and malevolence. The universal witch light of the Nexus did wonders for highlighting the demon clown’s full terror; illuminated from all sides, Its bestial splendor was not diminished by any form of shadow or silhouette. Since cutting down that nameless wench bound for Camelot, Kopaka had been feeling a subtle smugness about being one of the Omniverse’s alpha predators. Now the frigid biomech bristled with resentment in the same manner as a Muaka standing against a Tarakava. But, like the Tarakava, Pennywise was every bit a dumb, toothy, fish out of water.

“I will preoccupy it until the beast returns to normal. Remain living until that time.” Kopaka muttered to Alexus as she flipped herself onto her feet. Before the frenetic caster could inquire into the Toa’s plans, he was dashing back towards Pennywise. The Kanohi’s countenance shifted back to the perennial grin of the Miru, and the Mask of Levitation sent Kopaka rocketing back into the sky to meet this undulating aberration head-on. Scything claws rippled through the air to catch the pesky mite, and at first, Kopaka would be sure that he would be faster than the hulking horror. As fate would have it, Pennywise hadn't lose one iota of alacrity in his expansion. Though the gigantic hand missed its first swipe, the spidery extremity simply snapped around on its wrist and snatched the Bionicle just as he had been approaching Its gaping maw.

Alexus watched in confounded horror as the ensnared Bionicle did not struggle, but in fact, seemed to change the grip on his ice sword as this insane foe gleefully shoved the entire biomech into Its inverted-hedgehog hell-mouth. As the grinding teeth and unspeakable flesh closed in around him, Kopaka breathed deep and bade his Kanohi Mask to change form once more. The Pakari sparked and popped into existence, and the Toa immediately felt his limbs surge with the strength and power to stand against the veritable avalanche of fangs. There came a lurching, undulating wave of motion as Pennywise tried to swallow his latest quarry but...something was wrong.

The cat-eared girl kept spell-wreathed hands at the ready as she watched the titanic jester's movements, but It seemed occupied. She was hesitant to compare its emotions to those of a human, but she might have even gone so far as to say the clown was confused. Deep rumblings and buzzings emanated from the carnivorous hillock, but no real motion occurred. Only when a bright, ice-polished blade burst out of Pennywise's flabby neck were her suspicions horribly realized. Kopaka had to have been completely insane to try and take It on from the inside. This was also the realization that Pennywise was arriving at; that something was very, very wrong indeed.

The inside of the clown's gullet was a maelstrom of bewildered deadlight and the metallic keening of a thousand razor teeth on metal. Kopaka grunted and bellowed as he clasped onto the ice sword, using his abysmally cold hands to adhere directly to the moist and warm flesh on every side. Normally this type of assault would have been impossible, but the outlandish might provided by the Kanohi Pakari made it possible. With another mighty roar, the Toa of Ice wrenched is weapon free from the throat wall pulled himself up against the tide of furious radulae before embedding the blade in the hellish chasm once more. Syrupy blood coated every surface, mixed with a considerable amount of Kopaka's own lavender ichor.

To say that this had been the optimal plan of attack would be an overstatement, but Kopaka had always known it would be his job to be in the line of fire while Dawn, Erika or whatever partner stayed back and took choice shots. If that meant keeping a behemoth monster at bay until its bizarre transformation passed, then so be it. But now that he had caused enough breaches in the throat tissue, it was time to force his own eviction. Holding on tightly to his erstwhile handholds, Kopaka closed his eyes and focused all of his elemental energy inwards. His protodermis hull became colder and more frigid until cobwebs of ice began to radiate outwards from his body and along the engorged, toothy throat around him.

Outside, Pennywise lost the remains of Its composure, caterwauling in a deafening roar that seemed to vibrate even the inert substrate of the Nexus. No more! No more! The demon harlequin stabbed into Its own throat, groping and reaching within its own flesh for the source of the agony. Kopaka was dragged out, sticky and flesh-covered, with only his shield attached to his arm. He did his best to call out to Alexus through his phlegm-choked vocalizer.

"Now!"

Alexus wasn't exactly sure what Kopaka had in mind, so she simply deferred to what she knew best. The huntress clenched a shaking fist and summoned a bolus of swirling flame into existence.

"Here's...dessert!" she cried, triumphantly flinging the blast of fire up into the rapidly closing throat wound. It managed to clear the opening just as Pennywise the Giant Clown flung Kopaka two dozen meters to Its left. The arcane firebomb detonated in this pocket of recently super-cooled flesh, and the resulting effect was to send meaty hunks of clown in several directions. For the first time, It was forced to Its knees as the pervasive screeching devolved into a cacophony of hacking and cyclopean retching.

Kopaka was not much better off. He had not managed to catch his landing and lay, still, on the unforgiving Nexus floor. The Kanohi had been knocked free from his face, and as Alexus rushed to his side, the morass of gore and mucus was enough to give even her demonic sensibilities pause.

"That was metal as fuck, dude."

Kopaka activated Kaha Rawa for this turn only.

ATK: 4
DEF: 6
SPD: 3
TEC: 2

5/6 SP Remaining

[Dawnika Snow]

Alexus’s eyes widen as she watches Kopaka allow himself to get consumed by the enormous children’s entertainer. He had told her not to die and then rushed into the beast shark-like maw like he was taking a stroll through the park. It was only until Pennywise tore at Its own throat to remove the frozen choking hazard that she had realized his plan. When she saw Kopaka fly from the beast’s flesh, her fire was already prepared to its maximum potential. With as much force as she could muster, she hurled the flame into the open hole of Its throat, setting Its insides ablaze. It howled in pain as Alexus raced to check on her temporarily downed ally.

“That was metal as fuck, dude.” Was all she could muster, dumbfoundedly. “You’ve got some mechanical balls, I’ll give you that. Yet, still the clown lives and we’re not dead. Let’s set some shit on fire.”

Kopaka merely offered a receptive nod as he took her hand and pulled himself back up. When the two had turned to confront the towering terror, all they were greeted with was the size 4000 sole of shoe above their heads. Alexus just grinned from ear to ear while Kopaka retreated. The giant food smashed on top of her, much to her masochistic enjoyment. The pain made her feel alive, but even though she felt it, the pain was still very dull.

Kopaka watched his ally get steamrolled, but after what he just did, calling her stupid might be a kick in his own rear end for jumping into Its throat. Though, the toa could have sworn he noticed something different about Alexus as the huge piece of rubber just flattened her. When the clown finally lifted his foot, Alexus was seen still standing covered in luminous white flames. There was a stagger in her voice as she called out to the demon before her.

“I am impenetrable! Your stupid shoes aren’t going to flatten me so easily!” Kopaka could see that, even still, that attack had certainly hurt. Alexus was hunched over and speaking with a few skips in her voice. “Come down here and fight me like a fucking man! Or, whatever the fuck you are!”

On que, the clown began to shrink. Its power-up seemingly finished. Once back to normal size, It stamped around in childish anger, squealing Its complaint like a child who had just had their toy taken from them.

“No! No! No! I wasn’t done having fun yet! Give it back to me!” It screamed loudly enough for everyone to hear.

“No second chances!” Alexus yelled out as she charged the enemy with her enhanced speed. The bright-white, luminescent flames blinded Pennywise as they approached. It thought it could see the fire wrapping around her arms, like before. Bracing for a projectile attack, It was ready to dodge. However, Alexus wasn’t shooting anymore projectiles, she was charging - With her fists.

The white blur of heat descended upon the bounty-given clown with a searing power, like that of a raging forest fire. It ate away at her arms, like the burning life fled from the trees as it was torched by flames. Pennywise dodged the first few hits, but sooner or later, It was going to feel the fire of Alexus’s fists. Granted they didn’t sting nearly as bad as Erika’s or Dawn’s, but they still hurt. Pennywise’s anguish was made extremely audible, but that only made Alexus’s heart beat even faster and harder.

The clown was not amused anymore. It was ready to get a little more serious, or at least that’s how it seemed to the white-haired vixen. Its claws tore through her punches, barely cutting her with every slash, but Alexus didn’t even try to dodge. The damage and bleeding had begun to show on her face.

“Agh! Dammit! My face!” She spit blood as she screamed in a barely hearable decibel. “You’re gonna pay, bastard!”

Kopaka split them up, jumping in between their fight. His sword slashed at Pennywise, who was just able to slip out of the blade’s frozen grasp. The mechanical continued his assault, slashing perfectly for his style. Pennywise’s horrific maw detached and sunk into the stalwart biomech’s shoulder, tearing through the metal as Its teeth clamped down. While the clown felt great about getting a good hit on Its enemy, before getting another fist full of blaze-laden knuckles directly into his nose. Its teeth went further into Kopaka’s body, spearing his body.

“I’m going to turn you into ash!” The enraged girl screamed, ignoring the safety of her own ally. Her fists burned heavily, and fire surrounded her body. Its mouth let go of the toa and It began to back up trying to prepare for any barrage of hits. Her hand glows with a black flame. “It’s time to die!!”

Three seconds later, a beam of black energy launched at Pennywise tearing through the contrast of Nexus to it’s target.

Alexus has used her demon form.
2/7/4/3 are her stats for this turn.
She is using the charged version of her demonic power.
Pennywise's mushroom has worn off now, putting Its stats back to normal.

[Pennywise]

Oops.

The eldritch shaft of pure darkness shrieked through the air and struck It with such concussive force that the creature was thrown backwards in the explosion, the vertebrae of Its spine giving a sickening crack as It collided with the Nexus floor. A whisper of black smoke trailed behind, curling innocently in mid-air above the monster’s dazed and twitching form.

Eyes rolling forward from where they’d been rocketed to the back of Its skull, It attempted to rise. The gaping wound in Its neck stung terribly, the splinters of ice left by Kopaka’s sword shifting with every putrid rattle of Its lungs. Residual magical debris clung to Its moldy costume, the faded splashes of color that decorated the fabric tainted by smears of charred black. With a rustle of movement, these burnt patches gently flaked off in a shower of ash, the alien’s shredded silk-skin fluttering even in the absence of a breeze, membranous flesh whiter than the belly of a shark.

Its silly clown shoes slipped in an unexpected patch of wetness on the ground. Over the course of their skirmish, the competing elements of fire and ice had made the air thick and heavy with condensation, heat and vapor simmering around the three primes akin to the tropical interior of a greenhouse. Additionally, as It was a creature accustomed to swimming like a fat crocodile through human detritus and waste, Alexus setting It on fire had the unintended result of making the surrounding area smell like a vat of sewage… a vat of sewage that had been, you guessed it, set on fire.

“Ugh,” Alexus complained, waving her hands around to ward off the foul stench. “This thing reeks, dude! Why couldn’t they have put that on the bounty board, huh?”

Rising onto Its forelimbs, Pennywise visibly struggled to remain upright, movements turned sluggish by Its injuries. The creature stumbled like a drunk, proceeding to utter a series of unintelligible grunts and hisses that sounded like a pack of gremlins running loose around Christmastime.

“Ond häxkvinna, branden brinner mig!” It spat, eyes glinting like two newly-minted quarters as they narrowed hatefully at the feline woman.

Alexus’ scarlet eyes flashed. While she couldn’t understand whatever alien tongue this… thing was gibbering in, she knew when she was being insulted!

“The hell did you just call me?!” she demanded, brandishing her sword threateningly.

“Not telling. Use that little pink walnut for once,” the clown croaked, gesturing loosely to Its own forehead. It was tickled to death at the wordless, angry hiss It got in response, an obnoxious chortle rumbling in Its chest.

The creature’s tongue rubbed in a long, contemplative sweep over Its protruding fangs, yellow gaze homing in on Kopaka. Regardless of the mirth the clown felt at Alexus’ expense, It was unsettled by the relative stoniness of her partner. Well, not unsettled— that was too close to fear, and It did not relish being something so contemptible as afraid. Rather, It was merely… wary of the biomech. The mechanical warrior’s body had been so smooth on Its tongue, colder than anything It had ever experienced before, and yet his almost insectoid exoskeleton was difficult to pierce with even Its bone-crushing strength!

A sour thought prickled within the depths of Its lizard brain, the bitter taste of it settling heavily over Its tongue. Like that club of loser children, these two buffoons could potentially defeat Pennywise! Through working together! How despicable! How disgusting! How utterly unacceptable! It would tear them into mincemeat before that happened!

The creature’s talons curled inward on reflex, itching for something to rip to shreds. Abruptly, Its eyes dropped to where the mangled corpse of the Stormtrooper lay only a short distance away, discarded and ignored like a broken child’s toy.

Well, he wouldn’t be ignored for much longer!

“Hey, pretty kitty,” It lilted, red grin stretching by unhallowed degrees when the woman’s glare immediately snapped to Its face. The creature’s eyes twinkled, playful and sinister all at once. “Wanna play ball?”

Alexus’ brow furrowed in confusion. Her lips parted as if to speak, body angling just slightly toward Kopaka. “What? What’s that supposed to—”

Moving quickly, It dove forward and grasped for the Stormtrooper's bucket-shaped helmet, claws scraping over the white plastoid in search of an opening. When It didn’t find one, the monstrous creature’s long, spindly fingers jammed into the helmet’s visor without much aplomb, the musical sound of breaking glass soon followed by a distinctly slick squelching noise. With a low, satisfied grunt and a mighty tug, Pennywise ripped the dead man’s head from his shoulders, the resultant spray of blood slathering over the clown’s nose and cheeks.

“Batter up!” Pennywise cackled, expertly pitching the severed head to the young bounty hunter.

Alexus, of course, caught the helmeted head with ease… and then promptly dropped it with a disgusted shout, her face a mask of revulsion. While she was preoccupied, Pennywise barreled forward with an astonishing lack of coordination, the monstrous creature stretching Its forelimbs to grasp at any part of the catgirl It could sink Its claws into. A gurgling peal of laughter was ripped from Its ruined throat, the beast’s dark red maw dripping with saliva and ferocious intent as It was nearly upon her.

Unfortunately, a solid barrier slammed into Its midsection before It could make contact, thoroughly knocking the wind out of the demented clown and thwarting any attempts It might have made to claw Alexus’ face off. The creature was reduced to making a weak swipe at her around Kopaka’s shield, wickedly sharp nails just barely managing to scrape her ribcage and leave one or two shallow scratches in their wake.

With an angry shriek, It mindlessly threw Itself back against the shield, the monster’s extended mandibles and metal clashing in a screech that reverberated throughout the Nexus. Its mouth gaped open so that It could snap Its jaws at the two primes sheltered behind the shield, clawed fingers slipping and sliding over the ice as they tried to tear their way in. The harsh lighting fiercely illuminated the points of every one of Its teeth as they clacked harshly together, from the imposing tusks of Its incisors to the less pronounced, arrowhead-like points of Its back molars.

Taking stock of his own battered state, Kopaka recognized the gravity of the situation they were in. The waggling of Its tongue sent acidic spittle raining down over their heads, the creature’s immense weight bearing down on the biomech’s limbs. His joints creaked audibly under this onslaught, the thin cracks in his carapace fracturing further and leaking blackberry-colored ichor. He needed to find some way to dislodge this demented clown…

Fwap! In a flash, Kopaka had brandished his Hau te Hoari and struck It in the face with the blade’s flat edge. While the force of the blow sent the beast staggering backwards like an overexcited terrier, the subzero coldness of the metal numbed the bruise almost instantly, ultimately mitigating the amount of damage dealt. Still, Pennywise blinked dazedly at the Toa, left completely at a loss as Its murderous haze faded into one of genuine bewilderment.

“Watch out, Ice-Man!” Alexus bellowed from somewhere behind It. The creature was momentarily confused at how she might have accomplished this, unable to comprehend the danger despite Its supposed intellectual superiority.

Whipping around, Pennywise was just in time to witness as the witch readied another one of her irritating spells. Sunbright voodoos zinged and churned impatiently around the woman in her demonically-charged form, the blisteringly hot embers whistling like a dozen fiery canaries as she ramped up the heat. A flamethrower-like blast burst from her palm, orange and yellow flames dancing vigorously before the extraterrestrial’s eyes.

Thinking fast, It contorted Its body into a frankly impossible bend to avoid being slow-roasted by the steady stream of fire, but even this wasn’t enough for It to escape a few minor burns across Its shoulder blades. Its red-painted mouth shaped into a startled O, lips babbling as It pranced clownishly away from the flickering tongues of flame. “Whoa, whoa, whoa!”

In Its haste to evade the shape-changer’s fiery magicks, Pennywise had fairly forgotten about the stone-cold biomech. Imagine Its surprise when, totally out of nowhere, a beam of ice shoomed past It, striking the smooth white of the Nexus floor and erupting into a burst of powdery flakes! Imagine the awed terror that swirled within the chaos of Its deadlights, the utter hatred simmering in Its eyes as It regarded the barrier of thorny ice that suddenly blocked Its route to safety! Imagine the nasty curl of Its upper lip as It turned to face the Imperial enforcer, needle-like teeth erupting out from every corner of Its ghastly, horrendous maw!

“Aw, you trying to keep me from leaving, Mr. Frosty? Sad to see me go?” Pennywise sing-songed, grinning an ugly grin.

The lenses of Kopaka’s mask glinted, the mechanical components of his arm clanking as he readied the ice sword. “Not especially.”

1,500 words according to Microsoft Word!

[Kopaka]

The staccato reports of claw on steel rang without echo across the wide stage of the Nexus. For each savage swipe of Its talons, the Toa of Ice was prepared to deflect and parry. Still, the ferocity of the clown's onslaught saw the biomech losing ground. Kopaka took measured steps backwards as Derry's demon threw Its entire weight into the whirring bastion of the ice shield. Alexus was doing her best to discourage the rubbery beast, but the arcane inferno she was weaving seemed only to egg It on. This extended, bloody segue was carried on until Pennywise had the fevered audacity to try and wrap a distended hand around the rim of the Kanohi.

A sound that was partly a snarl and partly a curse flew from Kopaka's vocalizer as he suddenly pushed forward into the harlequin's heaving bulk. Soft, latex flesh molded around his metallic joints and edges as the entire length of Kopaka's sword was rammed through the toothy abomination's torso. In much the same manner as all of Its previous injuries, this new hindrance did not seem to perturb Pennywise. In fact, It seemed to be pleasantly surprised to have an opportunity to get so close to this curious, chilly little morsel.

"You know...I think we're alike, you and me." It managed to choke out as raspberry goo splattered onto the Toa's corroded and pitted mask. Kopaka's diseased, yellow eyes narrowed. He tried to wrench the embedded blade free from the clown's quivering corpus, but Pennywise clasped his blood striped talons around the biomech's arm, and was not letting go. Small dribbles of Kopaka's lavender blood began to well up where the clasping claws had sliced his hull. The huntress was standing nearby, fire gathered in her hand as always, but withheld her scorching blast. Her spellwork may have indeed been powerful, but there was no way she could blast the clown without scouring her ally as well.

The scowling visage of the Kanohi Akaku was quickly replaced with the more muted countenance of the Kanohi Komau. Under normal circumstances, the Mask of Mind Control was a precision instrument that was used to delicately coax others into desired behaviors. In the hands of Kopaka's darkness-addled mind, it was only good as a weapon. The Kanohi shimmered with a crack of lightning as a psionic avalanche of misery and suffering poured out of Kopaka's face. Pennywise shrieked and howled, Its head snapping backwards at a fatal angle, but pain was an old friend. The mirthful marauder's deadly grasp was still not weakened throughout the blast, and Kopaka was forced to rescind the mental attack.

"My yes. We are the same! After all, you didn't come here to save darling Miss Blueberry, no! You came all the way here just to teach ol' Pennywise a lesson! You and the kitty are predators, just like me! Clear as day! Yessir!" Pennywise gloated, Its deadlights matching the festering yellow glow of Kopaka's own oculars. A moment passed before the Kanohi shimmered again, this time taking the fierce shape of the Mask of Shielding.

"Do it!" Kopaka barked as a veil of electric-blue radiance coated his fuselage.

"You know what they say about us cats! We go straight for the...juggler!" Alexus said, pitching her readied orb of hell at the entwined pair. It pulled away from Kopaka just in time to avoid being hit directly by the ball of flame, but the ensuing blast of heat and agony was more than enough to send Pennywise reeling. The Toa, however, was perfectly unharmed as the Hau lived up to its legendary status. The clown, coated in a patch of blackened goo, was almost the exact image of an oversized, burnt marshmallow. It uttered a long, slow groan that slowly evolved into a hateful, venomous laughter.

"Ouuuuoooooohohohohohohoooo! Oh! Tell me you're not enjoying this! You may be a bit tight-lipped, but they do say actions speak louder than words!" the recalcitrant monstrosity cackled, twisting its head back into place with a casual, yanking hand. Its deadlights slowly rolled around to acquire the cat-lady, and Alexus took an instinctive step back. Once again, it seemed as though the clown's attention had shifted, leaving Kopaka to stew in a steadily percolating cloud of rage. The darkened Toa's gleaming optics flickered as he impassively watched Alexus skirting backwards from Its advance. She was doing her best to keep the scuttling horror at bay, her ever-present fire flashing in and around a veritable storm of hooks and barbs.

For lack of a better term, Kopaka was taking a breather to ruminate on just how angry he should currently be. How dare this monster–this creature with barely a form–compare Itself to the likes of a sculpted and perfected warrior such as he? This, at least, was what Kopaka questioned on the surface...but deep within his blackened conscience, he knew that Pennywise was right. This was, in fact, all about satiating a need that had been awakened with the Toa. This was not out of loyalty to the Empire, nor out of a need for the wealth garnered by the bounty.

If Kopaka had possessed a proper mouth, he may have even tempted to partake in the wriggling nightmare's flesh. After all, turnabout is fair play. It wasn't until Alexus shouted a particularly vile curse at Kopaka that the Bionicle was snapped out of his internal dissonance. A new gleam illuminated his optics; a pure white instead of the usual, dirty lemon color. A rumble filled the otherwise stagnant air as Kopaka bade the forces and furies of winter to his side. Though the Nexus made the gathering mountain of snow difficult to discern, its chill could be felt quite easily. As he cast his hand forward, an avalanche blew past him in obliging fashion, filling the Toa's dark desire to simply see Pennywise hurt. Kopaka knew it was entirely possible that Alexus would also be caught up in the blast of wintry destruction, but he just...

Did.

Not.

Care.

[Pennywise]

An avalanche of ice swept over the cosmic devourer and the fiery sorceress, the amorphous mass of roaring, churning frost swallowing the two primes up and propelling them across the flat plane of the Nexus at breakneck speed.

For her part, Alexus cried out as her vision vanished down a tunnel of glacial blue, whatever sweat that had been clinging to her skin freezing within seconds. Even the warm pulse of her blood felt the chill of winter, the heat of battle replaced by a curtain of bitter cold that threatened to deaden her limbs and mind. Her ears, eyes, and mouth became clotted with thick flurries of shimmering white, only the occasional flash of light piercing through her momentary blindness. Infinitesimal motes of illumination sparkled like diamonds as they breached the walls of her icy tomb, the ethereal flames surrounding her body having been firmly snuffed out by the damp snow.

In a panic, the catgirl struck out with her arms and legs, desperately clambering for a way to escape the torrential wave and regain her fiery magicks. Thankfully, her numb fingers quickly latched onto something that was not made of densely-packed precipitation— something that almost felt… warm. Alive, at least in comparison to the coffin of stinging, raw cold encasing her body.

Alexus nearly sobbed in relief as she adjusted her grip, praying that it would be enough to wrench herself out of the heavy snowdrift layered over her body. It was only when the pads of her forefingers and thumb traced over the scratchy, almost burlap-like material that she realized her mistake, but by that time, another, much larger hand had clasped over hers, clawed fingers digging into the tendons of her wrist until it felt like the faintly green veins there might rupture and burst, excruciating pain flooding the narrow crawlspace under the surface of her skin.

A chance lungful of cold air seared through her lungs, particles of ice tearing at her windpipe and ultimately muffling her shriek of distress.

As the outpouring of elemental magic slowed to a standstill, Kopaka strode forward, the angular ridges of his bone-white breastplate glinting like the jagged teeth of a wild animal. Streaks of vibrant purple lifeblood had frozen in barbs between the gaps in his metallic chassis, any signs of weakness swiftly and deliberately transmuted into a gory facsimile of spiked body armor by the corrupted Toa of Ice.

With slow, achingly measured steps, the biomech arrived at the edge of the veritable mountain of rime and slush he had created. His gaze swept over the blanket of white like a navigator surveying the sea, the fingers of one hand resting over the pommel of his ice sword, twitching faintly.

A deafening screech pierced his auditory receptors as Pennywise erupted from the mound of ice in a riot of color and ruffles, powdered snow flying in all directions. The biomech scarcely had the time to register the fang-filled maw that yawned before him, cavernously wide and beckoning like the dankest, darkest pit of hell, before he reacted.

Calling upon the frozen debris scattered at his feet, Kopaka gestured sharply with one arm, a deadly icicle rising from the ground in all its dazzling glory, already glistening in anticipation of tasting the clown’s alien blood. The lance of ice speared through the air, missing Its belly by mere inches as the creature’s malleable spinal column snapped and warped to avoid certain impalement.

A breathy noise of frustration hissed out from Kopaka’s vocalizer. Another spear of sharpened ice violently burst from the ground several feet away from Pennywise’s striped circus shoes, flashing like a shard from a broken mirror. The translucent spike slashed through the thick blots of Its blood drifting about in casual defiance of gravity, tearing them into streams of veiny black as it hissed, meteoric, straight for the clown.

Kopaka needn’t have spared the energy to do this, however— with a rough jerk of Its arm, Pennywise wrenched a shivering, furious Alexus out from the snow by the roots of her hair, gnarled claws tangled within the silver strands. The icicle collided painfully with her hipbone, a scream of agony ripping past the bounty hunter’s lips as the force of it jarred her legs, and then promptly bounced off, fracturing into a million flakes of twinkling snow.

Satisfied, It dumped Its makeshift human shield unceremoniously onto the ground. A pained groan issued from Alexus as she struggled to move, her physical form not yet able to catch up with her broiling, raging mind.

“You complete and utter assclown,” the catgirl gritted through chattering teeth, blue lips slowly regaining the natural color they had lost. It was unclear to whom she was speaking, but truthfully, the moniker would have applied to any one of the persons present.

She flinched as boisterous, guffawing laughter reverberated across the interminably barren landscape, the harsh gurgling seeming as if it was right beside her ear. But, no— It was now crouched a small distance away, the dusty ruffles of Its costume frozen stiff, crackling like snow beneath heavy boots whenever It so much as budged an inch.

As she watched, the corners of Its mouth twisted up, up, up— up past Its eyelids, the crimson paint seeming like twin gashes carved deep into Its cheekbones. The creature’s visage was a grisly sight even from the awkward angle she was viewing it from, the false skin there peeled back and frayed like ugly scar tissue, but worst of all was the way It was obviously trying to reform Itself, the rubbery flesh pulsing, quivering, squirming like a bunch of worms…

“Well, would you look-y here,” the clown purred, the sound tinged with a discordant note that was impossibly ancient. “I was wrong! We’re not that similar at all, now are we? No, not at all… we’re… different somehow, you and me!”

Twin specks of fire blinked from within the furthest depths of Its eye sockets, flickering like orange torchlight at the end a long corridor. Those penetrating lights narrowed at Kopaka, the monstrous thing’s grin widening like the cat that got the cream. Like It was truly seeing him for the first time.

Schlink! A jutting spike of ice embedded itself in the clown’s leg, snapping that limb to the side so that Pennywise was forced to drop to Its knees and clamber on it at an odd angle, an agonized hiss slipping through the teeth crowding Its serrated maw. It swiftly adopted the movements of a quadruped, big, paw-like hands scrabbling for purchase against the Nexus floor.

“You could have done so well, little buddy!” It snarled, fangs glinting, tongue dripping, a savage gleam in Its flaming hellpit eyes. Straight at the biomech It launched Its massive body, whistling through the air in a blur of red hair and silver silk.

The two primes collided in a tangle of sharp edges and squishy meat, Kopaka’s armor sinking into Pennywise’s skin like it was a tender cut of beef. Jaws stretching wide, the clown-creature latched onto the space between the biomech’s neck and right shoulder, teeth beginning to churn in a saw-like fashion as they ground against the combination of machinery and organic material. Its rank breath fogged up the Bionicle’s optics, the smell of rotting corpses and burnt sugar simmering between them. The deadlights of Its eyes seemed to glow ever brighter, lighting up with obvious triumph.

Meanwhile, It continued to speak, letting go of the Toa’s shoulder with a howl as a particularly fierce barb of ice was embedded in Its abdominal region, right where Its intestines would be if It was human. “Yessss, a mistake… you should have listened to your instincts and kept the kitty by your side, you tiny thing! Scrawny hunters like you, always rummaging around where they don’t belong in packs. It’s cowardly. Spineless! You wouldn’t stand a chance without your little helper, and now look what you’ve done—”

At this juncture, a fiery burst of raging orange slammed into Its side and sent It careening through the air with a high-pitched scree of surprise. Alexus took Its place beside Kopaka, a little bit worse for wear, but mostly recovered from her totally not tubular time spent under the magically-strengthened ice.

“Is this guy for real? Giving advice in the middle of a battle?” Alexus sniffed, examining her flame-tipped fingernails nonchalantly. “That is so extra.”

As she said this, Pennywise was fairly occupied with trying to scrape Itself up from the floor. Its face contorted in a vicious sneer when It noticed her fiery aura. “You are both going to die.”

Snorting, the girl with feline ears shrugged. “Okay, uh-huh. Yeah, sure. You ready to turn this clown freak into a pile of ash, Kopaka? And don’t think I’ve forgiven you for icing me, either, you prick.”

1,473 words - Microsoft Word.

[Kopaka]

"You have DONE your part. Be bait or be gone!" Kopaka roared, whirling around towards the quipping girl. He bristled with palpable rage, and was almost completely ignorant of the looming mess of clown that was gathering cohesion. Kopaka stormed towards Alexus with his sword pointed straight ahead.

"I have tolerated your presence, vouchsafed your body, and indulged in your pedantic spell weaving, but I did not hire YOU. I hired Dawnika Snow!" the Toa barked, sweeping his sword around in rhythm with his frothing ire. Pennywise, having reformed some semblance of a human face, piqued Its eyebrows in faint surprise. Goodness gracious– the menu items were bickering.

"Who?" Alexus asked, screwing her face into a skeptical sneer. Despite having no mouth, Kopaka's vocalizer was perfectly capable of emulating words spoken through bared teeth. As the snarling Bionicle marched ever closer, the demonic fire-weaver leveled her potent hands at him.

"I was aware of your mind's proclivity for shifts in personality, but I hadn't predicted it would turn you into such a liability. I have no need for someone of such uncertain nature. You are dismissed, figment!" Kopaka said, brandishing his shield arm towards the incredibly distant Camelot gate.

"Uh, dude–"

"I KNOW!" Kopaka shouted, turning around just in time to bring his shield between himself and a cresting wave of teeth and cartilaginous malevolence. Amidst the screeching, grinding and wailing, there came a pall of shadowed laughter from within the clown's quivering mass.

"I do so hate to break up a good ol' domestic, but it's DEATH O'CLOCK." Pennywise hooted, taking great delight in grabbing the off-balance Toa by the legs. Kopaka was yanked onto his bottom with a solid clang and dragged for about a yard. Spindly arms with the strength of a bull pinned Kopaka to the ground, but in his haste to finally devour the pesky biomech, Pennywise failed to heed the solid wall of ice sprouting from the alabaster floor. It grew higher and higher into the depths of the demon clown's gut, forcing Its contemptible body to stretch to ever thinning limits before. The wriggling teeth within the terrible mouth barely managed to nibble the Toa's torso before It was force to pop back over the other side of the impromptu glaciation.

But It was a fast learner, and so Pennywise snapped Its spine in half just in time to duck an incoming stream of fire from the frosted and bitten witch. Thick as the shimmering wall was, the draconic torrent of flame made quick work of the icy construction. When the steam cleared, however, Kopaka was gone.

"Ohh, this is tremendous! A clown, a Houdini, and a fire breather! We're a regular circus!" Pennywise chortled, Its flickering deadlights searching frantically for any sign of the Toa. Derry's demon and Alexus spotted Kopaka shimmering back into view several dozen yards away as the Great Mask of Invisibility shifted into the streamlined visage of the Kanohi Kakama. There Kopaka stood, dripping blood and hatred as his body shuddered from both fatigue and rage. Sometimes, in a past life, he had envied his brother, Tahu. The Toa of Fire had always seemed to enjoy the ability so simply burn what he decided was undesirable. It was a simple, animal pleasure, but it took an intellect of Kopaka's magnitude to see the reality.

Fire was an anomaly. Fire filled the spaced between that which was cold and dark. True oblivion, true destruction, was not to burn, but to freeze. This, combined with a deep self-hatred and sense of pride, formed the basis for a misanthropic mirepoix within Kopaka's head. Perhaps he had been wrong. The bounties for the Empire brought only temporary relief to his more fundamental cravings. The exact shape of his true nature was still unknown, even to Kopaka. He did, however, feel that he could perhaps begin to visualize it, much like a sculptor seeing their art within a block of ice. Something along the lines of 'kill them all'.

Start with the clown.

Pale, unholy light began to pour from the Kakama, and Kopaka felt the Mask of Speed pouring frenetic energy into his veins. The ice sword was flipped and turned with its edge facing towards Pennywise. The Toa crouched, and Alexus took a step to the side. It was to the benefit of Pennywise that It did not need to blink. If it had, It may have missed the half-second in which the diseased Bionicle closed the distance and attempted to cut the saccharine abomination down the middle...

757 Words – Wordcounter

Kopaka used Puna Makariri targeting Pennywise – 2 SP

1/6 SP remaining

[Kopaka]

In a flash of silvery powder, it was all over.

Well, no. It could have been, but as the bisected halves of Pennywise slowly sank to the Nexus floor like a deflating bounce castle, the Toa of Ice wheeled around in his follow-through and skidded to a halt. Raw elemental energy whorled into a fury around the twin blades of the Hoari, still slick with the syrupy blood. There came a crackling whoosh as the cyclone of cryonic fury enveloped the remaining carnage. Whatever nightmare organ remained intact within the clown demon's head belted out a final, doleful yowl as Its entire body froze into a solid, misty hunk. Kopaka breathed heavily, his yellow eyes wavering, and extended a hand out towards the flash-frozen carcass. The biomech's shining hand curled into a cruel fist, and every ounce of Pennywise's solidified bulk shattered into countless pieces. Kopaka breathed deeply, and sank to one knee.

He became wary of a pair of legs standing in front of him, and through the haze of his weariness, found strength in anger. Another bolus of icy promise wrapped the Ice Sword like a swarm of hornets, and the Toa brandished the humming weapon at Alexus' face.

"You either prove you're valuable to me, here and now, or I will see to it that your remains are lost among the clown's rubble." Kopaka hissed, staggering to his feet with hateful intent.

[Dawnika Snow]

The fiery assassin took a step back seconds before the Toa rose his sword to her face. He went on to threaten her. She could only grin at his babbling.

“You can threaten me all you want, but I highly doubt that stupid ice sword of yours will be able to get through my fiery defenses.” She said chuckling at him.

“Shall we test that then?” Kopaka rose his sword ready to swing something ferocious at the catgirl just as her shadow manifested itself from the Nexus floor. His blade stopped in mid-swing. It took the shape of a human female in a hideous silhouette of goop-y sludge. Alexus was mortified as her own shadow spoke to her.

”That doesn’t belong to you! Give it back, you stupid bitch!” The voice raged as it came closer to the white haired vixen.

“What the hell are you on about?!” She retorted nervously. Kopaka heard fear in Alexus’ voice as the mess of blackness tackled her. The blackness covered her completely, screams could be heard throughout the entire Nexus until Dawn found herself in her body again. The first thing she did was throw up on the Nexus floor, disgracing the white-polished floor with whatever blackness she used while she was in that hideous shadow form.

“Fuck, that was rough.” She looked up at Kopaka. “What? You gonna kill me now? I have resumed control of my body.”

[Kopaka]

Kopaka was quiet for a long time. The only sound between them was the malevolent whirring of the ice sword, poised to unleash the Toa's judgement. The elemental power did not dissipate when he spoke again.

"It is not self-control over your body, that I desire, but control over your mind. When I took you on as a contractor, I was guaranteed that you would not choke in battle, and yet, evidence has proven otherwise." Kopaka seethed. Dawn stared into the pitiless yellow holes that passed for the biomech's eyes, and a burning sensation began to crawl up her face.

"How can you even blame me?! I didn't even know what was going on, I–"

"You are FIRED, Dawn. If, at some point in the future, you are able to prove that I can trust your sanity, then we may have an accord again. For now, take what money you have earned, and LEAVE." Kopaka barked, punctuating his indignation with a dangerous swipe of the ice blade. Flecks of ice splattered against the huntress's reddened cheeks as he did so. Despite her ambivalent nature, the command was too direct for Dawn to obey. She crossed her arms and stood her ground, however shakily. The Toa leered.

"If you do not leave my company at once, I will simply have to notify Kuzuru that one of his rabid dogs is a liability to his clientele. Do you think you can explain to him why you managed to single-handedly ruin any chance of prolonged bounty contracts between the Empire and the Ashen Blades? You may not fear my blade, Dawnika, but do not doubt my ability to destroy you in much more profound ways..." Kopaka said, recalling the wintry power back into his battered and bleeding chassis. He nodded his head over at the patiently hovering swoop bikes.

"Go."

[Dawnika Snow]

The Toa glared at her with gleaming, yet seemingly lifeless eyes. Any other being may have flinched at that threat, but Dawn felt nothing. Her only protection was being threatened by a stupid cyborg, fuckin’ over-glorified-garbage-can more like. Just as Kopaka thought the girl had conceded to his threat, she began to chuckle and lift herself back to her feet.

“Do you find something funny?” Kopaka asked threateningly. “Did you not hear m-?”

The biomech was interrupted as Dawn pulled out her pistol. He instinctively raised his shield to block the bullet, but it slid past his head. Just over the loud bang, he could hear the bullet whir, followed by an explosion and the smell of burning gas. Pieces of scorched metal flew up from a plume of red fire, scattering themselves around the white contrast of the Nexus.

“I’ll repeat myself Kopaka, cause apparently you didn’t hear me correctly. I’m. Not. Scared. Of. You.” She mocked him by slowing the tempo of her words. “Next time we meet, only one of us will be walking away.”

Her wings sprouted from her back and a heavy wind blew past the Toa of Ice and the Vigilante began to fly toward the Ashen Steppes Gateway.