[Coolshaymin]

In the emulated night of the Life Sphere, in the darkest corners of the Black Market was a brick like church. It looked old and sketchy from appearance alone... At least it would if this was not an apocalypse. It looked in it's natural habitat actually with how run down it was. Regardless it seemed like service hours were over with for now. The lights in the place appeared to be off.

However our trio still needed to investigate the place due to it's suspicious activity. The only signs of life were an aqua green glow shining through certain windows... Either they had odd lighting or weird tech. There was little sound from the outside however. The doors seemed to open at their approach for some odd reason as well. There was no sounds of life inside the Church of the Sword. Still, if this really was a base of the Order of Despair, it is best to exercise caution.

[Deleted]

    Squall slowly made his way down the path of overgrown grass and decrepit road. He made mental notes of any terrain landmarks and possible vantage points as he passed, just in case he might be able to make use of them later. Eventually, after traveling down the trail far enough, he had come upon the run down, mess-of-a-church that he had been hired to infiltrate. There seemed to be some sort of strange glow emanating from the windows of the building, which was never a good sign. Even though the doors opened themselves upon approach, he would have had to been an idiot to walk head-long into a trap like that. Maybe Squall would have made a mistake like that when he was younger, but years of memorizing military tactics and battle procedures had hardened his instincts.

    For a while, the SeeD Mercenary crept around the building's perimeter while taking note of possible openings in the structure and weak-points that could be exploited. Apparently the strange green light could only be seen through some windows, suggesting it's source was situated somewhere near the center of the building. Finally, after safely taking notice of the area the best he could, Squall walk a ways away in order to wait for the comrades that had also been hired to complete this mission. Sighing to himself before leaning against a brick wall a couple of meters away from the church, Squall did his best to review the mission objectives and also rearrange his junction setup for his spells and abilities. 

[Mari]

A short, young lady meandered her way up the the Order of Despair's spooky church. This looked like the place, which meant there were evil cultists inside just waiting to hear the good word! Now she just had to find whoever else had signed up for this explosive mission.

Arle has joined the mission!

She seemed to be a bit out of place with her beautiful golden staff and mini skirt in this place of doom, gloom and... fluffy leather jackets? Arle stopped where she was to observe Squall, just kind of giving him a funny look. ...Huh. Well, he looked like he belonged here. The mage meandered her way over to him, her gaze rising to meet his eyes. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were waiting to go bust into that church over there." Arle stated in a rather backhanded tone that suggested she knew exactly why Squall was there.

[Deleted]

Hood Sickle slowly made his way from the shadows of the market, making way from one of the many alleys and onto the roads. The idea of the church did amuse him somewhat. A holy place for worship. Laying down a place for others to practice their beliefs and spread joy in life. Everyone wants a happy afterlife after all. The reaper made his way up to the front of the church and looked upon the very top. No sign of what faith. Maybe they didn't care much about where they went after their time on this planet. It would make his job easier. Those naive individuals who wanted to defy the reaper's hand were always something to see. Thinking that their was not a place other than the great above. It wasn't his job to decide who went to what world. He was the one who manned the dark ferry.



The bringer of news assumed his usual posture, arms folded and standing tall. His scythe stayed floating in front of him straight up with what otherworldly power he had been able to hold on to. The red eyes closed as he began to read the area around him. The doors opening before him didn't make him move an inch. Someone's expecting them. The spirits of the two around him: one young with a feel of power and the other, experienced in combat. Surely they could be useful.



Hood Sickle opened his eyes back upon the building, feeling as if no time has passed. He grabbed his scythe and held it with both hands. Time to get to work.

[Coolshaymin]

Despite the old and decrepit look of the church there seemed to be no obvious flaws or weaknesses in the archetecture. There was not even a sign of another entrance to the place as well. The windows all seemed sealed shut and unreasonably durable. It seemed whoever built this church really wanted the front entrance used as the building looked surprisingly well managed in exploits.

The doors still laid open and there was no sign of activity... Well, except looking through the doors gave an obvious depiction of the main room of a church. The chairs leading up to an altar of some kind. Despite the outside not showing the symbol of worship, the back wall of the church showed more. It was a large pink, gold and white circle that looked stain glass in build with a pink lance crossed with a shield with a star symbol on it... Which happened to be the symbolic equipment of Galacta Knight, aka The Sword of Destruction.

Behind the pedestal was a tall man with a mask of some sort. His sleeves covered his hands completely. His exact appearance was shrouded by his garments. Those from Hyrule during the Twilight Era and the Twilight Realm would recogonize the tall spinning man as...

The Usurper King
Zant

[Deleted]

    

    After Squall had finished organizing his junctions, preferring to stick with his familiar spell layout and Ifrit GF, his attention was drawn towards the strangely clad girl that had appeared in front of him out of no where. According to the mission briefing, this was one of the people that had also been hired along with him to assassinate the leader of the church. "Tch. Can't believe people your age are already being hired as mercenaries. This world is just as messed up as my own apparently." Squall said, mostly to himself, while standing up from his leaning position. He nodded at Arle momentarily before walking towards the open doors to the church now. "Squall Leonhart. Now let's move out, our friend just blew our cover."

    All of the stealth tactics that he had been preparing for the past half an hour though had completely gone to waste the second some kind of executioner-dressed monster came through and walked right into the church. He looked to also match the description of Squall's other partner, but now wasn't the time to check for details. By the looks of the strange person inside, this wasn't any normal priest or holy man. Of course the assassination portion of the mission was really only if the opposition resisted... but one could only hope. Rushing past the Reaper with his gunblade drawn, Squall's SeeD instincts kicked in as he quickly surveyed the room before focusing on Zant.

   
    "GET YOUR HANDS BEHIND YOUR HEAD AND YOUR BODY AGAINST THE WALL NOW! You're under arrest for suspicion of Terrorism, Forceful Mental Manipulation of the Public, and Insurrection against the Governing Body of Li! Failure to cease and desist will result in your immediate termination." His voice suddenly rose to an overwhelmingly loud level as Squall shot several times into the ceiling to attract attention before pointing his gunblade directly at the armored Twili. If he even so much as moved funny, Squall would fire the Revolver right away to incapacitate him.

    Keeping his eyes firmly on Zant so he didn't try anything while still pointing his gunblade at the Twili, Squall waved his arm in a military signal towards the insides of the room. "You two, search the room for any others and stay on your gaurd. If any of them resort to violence, respond with lethal force." He shouted orders back at Hood Sickle and Arle. This was the environment that he had been trained i- no, raised in, and he wasn't going to make any stupid mistakes. Many a mission had been derailed before because a person had either had the chance to escape or their forces had been given enough time to prepare; the second they had entered the building, all preparation time was gone.

[Mari]

"I'm not a mercenary..!" Arle corrected light-hearted, gesturing with her thumb to her heart. "I... am a missionary~!" the young mage then went on to say, apparently taking pride in her truly terrible pun judging by the way she struck a pose and smirked after delivering the punchline.

The mage then proceeded to follow Squall into the room, seeming quite cheery about their mission up until the point that Squall started firing off his gun and scaring the everloving curry out of her. Why does his sword shoot bullets?! What even are bullets?! She had no idea. ...After her momentary startle, Arle began regaining her composure and turned to acknowledge Squall as he began barking out commands.

"...Sure thing, Mr. Leonheart." Arle replied somewhat awkwardly.

Why did he have to be so scary? She was decidedly not a fan of the sound of guns. As Arle began searching the area for anything ... I'unno, suspicious or useful looking, she decided to ask for some help from the voices in her head!
"Hey Viridi, can you tell me anything about my allies? ...Or bug eyes over there?" Arle asked, gesturing to Zant at that last part.

HuoZ_7cRp_1d20+4 (Arle's Search)1d20+4

[Deleted]

"Like I'm going to take commands from a mortal," he scoffed, dismissing the swordsman's words and following his own path. He crossed his arms and looked upon the strange being before him. Nothing he had came across during his time matched up with this... thing. The clothing didn't help much either as he was like any other masked man, hiding their appearance to distance themselves. Perhaps he would be getting a long-awaited challenge here. If not, well, another soul to collect.

The reaper kept a focused eye on the being. The raw sense of power, surging, was easy to detect. Hood Sickle took interest in that. Hopefully he could learn something here, while not pertaining to the usual elements he had encountered before it could still be of use.

"They wouldn't have willingly let their enemy approach them..." he thought. This didn't feel right.  Continuing his gaze, he attempted to size up his opponent,  scanning them for anything suspicious.

 rU3dK5lMp_1d20+2=14 (Wisdom)
1d20

[Coolshaymin]

Zant put his hands behind his head and walked backwards to the wall... Oddly enough he seemed to be co-operating with Squall's demands. It seemed impossible to tell what the guy was thinking exactly or why he seemed to surrender so easily. Despite that, Squall seemed to be in control of the situation.... Even if his allies did not seem too happy with being commanded by him. "Of course, Squall. Though might I add you seem a little overly bossy about it, but hey, that may just be us. Though it hurts you would imagine loyal servants to our beliefs like me to be of such things. I almost feel insulted," Zant replied... Though he was doing exactly what Squall requested, his words seemed the opposite... Could there be more going on or is the man just insane?

Meanwhile, while Arle searched, Viridi replied though only Arle could hear her. "I would be glad to, Arle. The bossy one is Squall Leonhart. He is a mercenary though I admit I do not know that much about his past. The other one is Hoodsickle. He is a sort of reaper and enemy of the Skylanders. Not sure you should put full trust in him honestly. I doubt he would go out of his way to help you. He is probably here for his own reasons."

"The Twili at the altar though you should be the most cautious of. His name is Zant, the Usurper King of the Twilight Realm. With powers granted to him by Ganondorf he is very powerful and even took over the Twilight Realm and became it's ruler. With that position he launched an attack on Hyrule and forced Zelda to surrender easily. Don't let his insanity fool you, Zant is very dangerous and unpredictable. He is not exactly known for being the most sane in terms of personality. Despite that he is also very skilled at planning out his moves and is deceptively intelligent," Viridi warned Arle.

At the end of Viridi's explanation, Arle and Hood Sickle would notice shadows at their feet. Hoodsickle might not be able to tell it well given the darkness but Arle is a bit more perceptive. She alone could notice the extremely faint aqua green glow hitting the floor. It blended in well with the darkness but that sign told Arle there was definitely something above her and something was about to drop down.

"Oh well, it does not really matter. I guess you caught me, Mr. Leonhart. I guess I have no choice but to tell you where the others are... Once we have you three too that is! Bye!" Zant faked before he gave a hop before disappearing as he seemed to fall through the floor. It seems he created a portal to drop into to escape just in case. At that, the doors slammed shut and locked with a large chain and lock. Immediately afterwards, 3 hands, one above each of the trio, fell from the ceiling out of portals that quickly closed and attempted to crash into and grab the trio.

(Squall! Your complete attention on Zant left you completely unaware of the Wall Masters. Roll a 17 or higher to dodge the hand. If you fail, you take 10% unblockable damage and grappled. You have to roll a 13 or higher to break free)

(Arle! You are the most prepared and aware of the Wall Masters. Roll a 11 or higher to dodge the hand. If you fail, you take 10% unblockable damage and grappled. You have to roll a 13 or higher to break free.)

(Hood Sickle! You are better prepared for the ambush than Squall. Roll a 14 or higher to evade the hand. If you fail, you take 10% unblockable damage and grappled. You have to roll a 13 or higher to break free.)

x3
HP:45% (15 HP each)
Status: Normal

[Deleted]

    "What?" Squall's eyes widened in disbelief as Zant somehow disappeared into the floor. "Damn it. He played me." He mentally chided himself while clenching his teeth in frustration, but didn't have any more time to react as something fell from the ceiling.

lINGe7A2p_1d20 Completely caught off guard, Squall was unable to react before the giant hand slammed into his body before encasing his entire form in its grips.

p_1d20 Squall tried his best to struggle against the enormous nightmare of a hand that was nearly crushing his bones in its grips, but his efforts were just barely not enough. His muscles tightened as he tried to fight off the rapidly closing palm. In his heavily constrained position, Squall attempted briefly to fire his revolver in hopes of the resulting blast and recoil possibly freeing him but the intense pressure could not allow him to do so sadly. How had he made such a rookie mistake to get himself in this situation?

Squall
Damage: 10%

Shield Damage: 0%

Status: Constrained

1d20·1d20

[Mari]

"Huh. Thanks, Vivi." Arle replied appreciatively, though a glimmer of mischief could be seen in her expression. "He's pretty cute for a soldier, huh~?" she went on to remark, loud enough to be overheard. It was unclear whether she was teasing Viridi or inviting the other to gossip with her. However, Arle wouldn't have time to keep this joke running as a presence overshadowed her.

som00qhUp_1d20 (Arle's Hand Aversion)

Arle seemed to take notice of the hand rather easily, cringing at the sight of a giant ugly hand coming right at her. A lame whine escaped her throat as she slipped away from the wall master, her flowing cape trailing dangerously close to the hand as it came down near her. "Nnnn... Why did it have to be hands?" she complained under her breath. "Hands off, creep!" Arle went on to shout, leaping into the air. A bracelet on her arm began to glow with power and she proceeded to perform a ground pound. Likely to everyone's surprise except Arle's and the voice in her head's, she hit the ground hard enough to send a large shockwave of energy out across the ground!

p_1d20+4 (Arle's Elephant King Bracelet @ Every Wallmaster; Does 26% Damage)1d20·1d20+4

[Deleted]

tLdSZm0Vp_1d20 -1=2

Hood Sickle failed to notice the hand that had been creeping up on him.  "What?"  He managed to mutter before it clasped down on him, crushing him while in its grasp.  His thoughts on the attack to come, correct.

p_1d20-1=18

His strength was helpful as he managed to overpower the hand and throw it off of him.  The reaper began to move backwards, a dark shade covering him as he teleported back a few times in order to gain some space.  A violet light began to seep up from the grounds of the church, surrounding him and forming a ring, rotating around him in unison.  These souls... it was strange to have them be summoned in such a place.  The form of them weren't exactly visible to the eye.  To others, they were viewed as simple balls of light.  To the reaper however, there was much more to see.  With a few now around him, he could cause some considerable damage.  With more...  He let out a grunt and pulled back his scythe, it now glowing bright with the flames of the Underworld.   With a quick swipe, he raked it along the floor in front of him.  Souls began to emerge from the burned ground in front of him, taking position around their summoner.  The girl seemed to be making the effort to knock them out.  Best to stay out of the way and let the dead come to him.

Hood Sickle
10%
"I'm going to need more than this."

1d20·1d20

[Coolshaymin]

The hand that tried to grab Arle failed and smacked the ground instead. In pain, the hand floated up and waved himself off from the impact. This left him and the ones gripping her allies open as the shockwave flew across the room and shook the building. The hand around Hood Sickle was already pried open but the one holding Squall opened in pain and glowed purple strangely. Oddly, they did not turn into trophies, nor did they die. They turned into purple light and dissipated into the air.

"Good job, Arle. Way to show your peers how it is done. I suppose he is cute if you are into the loner attitude thing. Not really a cliche I am into personally. Why? You think he's your type?" Viridi commented in response to Arle before teasing her.

The area looked cleared for now. The altar gave no sign to where he could of gone too. There did not look like there was any exit here at all. Perhaps he teleported somewhere? There was two paths on either side leading into restricted areas of the church. The place does not seem that big so maybe it won't be that hard to find him or the others. There was a right and left path.

[Deleted]

    Squall dropped to the ground with his teeth clenched as he was able to catch himself. As the hands disappeared, he slowly rose up from his crouched position before rolling his shoulders. "Thanks." He said to Arle after feeling his blood flow begin to regularize around his torso. "The cretin caught me off guard."

    Squall had made a rookie mistake, but now it was time to make up for it. Being more aware of his surroundings while slowly surveying the room, he discovered the only paths they had left to follow were a left and right path. That Zant character had completely disappeared, and there was no way to tell where he had teleported off to. The strangest thing that Squall still couldn't understand was how he even knew Squall's name... Questions for later. With luck, he would still be somewhere in this building, possibly with whatever was making this church so hazardous.

"Two directions, and no clue as to what lies on the other ends..." Squall pondered in his head while formulating the group's next course of action.

    Finally lifting his head, Squall broke the silence. "Okay, its more than likely that this person is still located somewhere in the building in hiding. The most logical course of action should be to check out these paths, however we don't want to split up in case they would decide to engage our parties separately."

    Pointing at Hood Sickle, Squall continued. "Hood Sickle, your going to be up front with me while we go down the left path. I want you covering me in case of an ambush. As our backup though..." Turning his finger towards Arle, he went on. "Your going to be following up on our rear at about 2 minutes. It will lull the enemy into thinking we have split up, thus giving us the upper hand. Should an instance occur where both of us are faced with too much, we'll require you to assist."

    With that, Squall motioned the stubborn Hood Sickle to follow closely while he made his way quietly down the left path with his Revolver drawn and his senses on high alert.

Squall Leonhart
Damage: 10%
Shield Damage: 0%
Status: Limit Break {|||||}

[Mari]

Arle had been told to keep a watch on the hooded dude, something she had little trouble with after taking notice of his dark magic. ...How... appropriate, she supposed? She was quickly distracted by Viridi's counter teasing. "Oh... Oh no." she quickly answered, waving a hand as if to brush the idea away. "I already have a hard enough time taking care of Schezo. I don't need any more of that." Arle continued rather flatly. Hopefully no one would question who exactly she was talking to. She was smiling rather smugly at her words however. If only Schezo had been here to hear that one. She could just imagine how flustered he would be. ...Perhaps it was for the best, though.

"One's enough. Now Cragalanche... He seems a little rough on the outside, but I bet he's actually a really good listener~!" Arle continued. What an asinine conversation, at least from the perspective of any given outsider who had no idea who she was talking about and therefore couldn't grasp the still awful wordplay involved.

Suddenly however, Squall started handing out orders. Now, if Arle had been any less arrogant she probably would have questioned the the plan that involved leaving the squishy mage by herself. However, she was clearly the best the life sphere had to offer, something that was clearly obvious to Squall which was why he put so much trust in her, and so she accepted this. "If you say so." she replied, a tad skeptical still. "You don't think he's still watching us from somewhere, do you?" she went on to ask, but was prepared to wait behind anyway. She had no idea what a video camera was anyway.