[Blade Unlimited]

"As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I take a look at my life and realize there's nothin' left-" Shiya's voice happily rapped along with the song blaring quite loudly from the boom-box tucked under his arm. After rendezvousing with the mission's attendees outside of the life sphere, it was a lengthy and quite uneventful trek across the land towards the base of Icicle Peaks. Thankfully the map didn't state any specific directions prior to getting to the mountains, and outside of the odd infected enemy or two, that left a lot of awkward free time until they reached their destination.

And what better way to fill in awkward middle-time but with a friendly sing-along?! "Been spending most their lives, Livin' in a ganster's paradise! Been spendin' most their lives livin in a gangster's paradise--Shulk!" Spinning on his heel, Shiya enthusiastically pointed towards the monado wielder to finish the verse.

Whether he'd complete or not, the Shiya Squad's merry song would be quite rudely interrupted as, seemingly from nowhere, a clawed hand whipped out and smacked the music devise out of the teen's arm. "Wha-Oh come on dude. That thing cost me like 5 coin...sss...." Shiya began to complain, thinking it was one of his teammates that'd rudely inturrupted the song... before coming face to face with-

"HROAAAAAAAAAAAAAOR!!!"

-A behemoth.

"-aand I immediately regret everything." Shiya shrugged a pair of sharpened sticks from his sleeves just as the beast bore down on the group with a bloodthirsty gleam in its eye. Well, looks like playtime was over!

MISSION START!

((The Behemoth attacks the whole group with it's massive Cursed Claws! It does 50% damage and has a 40% chance to inflict mortal wound! Roll a 14+ to dodge or else suffer!))

Y4T1yAE9p_1d20+1 (Shiya's dodge)

Unfortunately, Shiya's reaction was a bit too slow to keep up with the aggro-ed beast. "ACK-" He gasped, chest blossoming with scarlet as the monster's sharp claws practically cleaved through his clothing like it was butter as it smashed through the stick fighter. Shiya slid back several meters through the dirt from the force of the blow alone... yet despite his injury, rushed back into the fray just as quickly. No way he was going to let a seriously injuring cut oh god it hurts minor flesh wound like that knock him out right off the bat! "That wasn't very cash money of you!" Shiya teased the belligerent beast before launching himself at it with an adrenaline-powered punch!

p_1d20+2 (Shiya's Electric Boogaloo: DMG 26%, 50% paralyze, inflicts stun; 3 turn cooldown)

"Shiya Squad & Prospectives -- ATTACK!"

Behemoth 124 HP Status: Stunned

Shiya Damage: 54%/180% Shield Durability: 65%/65% Status: Mortal Wound (4%/turn)

1d20+1·1d20+2

[Maverick Hunter Zero]

The sounds of feet meeting snow could be heard as what appeared to be a Viking of sorts came trudging up the mountain, his mind focused on nothing more than to deny King Knight his gloating and smugness, sure his alliance with the gold armored knight was tenuous at best, it was better described as a vitriolic alliance due to the fact that King Knight knew nothing about martial strength, bravado only gets you killed in this world, not medals or trophies.

As he mulled these things over, he instinctively noticed something wrong and proceeded to dodge.
DEX ROLL: 19-3=16(not today!)

"Now that is a monster for the ages, a Behemoth up here..." a brisk voice said as the Stalwart Polar Knight surveyed the immediate area, almost immediately drawing out his 2-handed snow shovel blade, to help out someone in need.

With his eyes glinting from the shadowed section of his face that none could see, he came in with a ferocious charge, delivering an exceedingly painful Shoulder charge to the side of the Behemoth's head, in a bid to put one of it's eyes out and keep the beast off of Shiya for the time being!
STR ROLL A: 20+5=25(Critical Dashing Shoulder Bash of Eye Gouging @ Behemoth, 30% dmg if it connects!)

"Hmph... Pass the salt!" Polar Knight added as he put his shovel blade to a mound of fluffy snow, and then upheaved it launching a big Snowball at the behemoth to ensnare it in a frigid block of ice!
STR ROLL B: 18+5=23(Big Dig of rediculous snowball physics @ Behemoth, 100% freeze chance if it lands, acts as a grapple on contact with the snowball, damaging spikes now appear where Polar Knight had used this move)

"I hope you are alright..." Polar Knight said as he turned his helmet covered gaze to Shiya, and hoped someone would be able to heal his wounds before he bled out.

---

Polar Knight
HP: 200/200
Shield: 75/75
Status: in his element!
Cooldowns:
DSB(2)

[heirtothemonado]

Shulk was.....not in a good mood, to say the least. He didn't know why they had to walk all the way to Icicle Peak. Articuno could have just flown then there in an eighth of the time. Even with the four of them, it would have been faster then going on foot. But nooo, Shiya had insisted that they'd walk all the way to the mountain. Well, whatever, at least he came with a bit more of a warmer outfit this time. 

Shulk didn't reply to Shiya's singing prompt, instead looking up at Icicle Peak in the distance. He remembered climbing that thing. And what had been waiting at the top...Hopefully they could avoid something like that this time around. He had Articuno's Pokeball in his jacket pocket in case things got too out of hand but he hoped he wouldn't need to call him so soon.

…..And of course there's no such luck. A loud roar interrupted Shiya's singing ("Thank Bionis" Shulk thought) and out of seemingly nowhere, a gigantic....thing rushed them and swiped at the group with a gigantic claw!

KWcc7VYmp_1d20+2 (Shulk's CRIT Cursed Claw Dodge: Success!)

Shulk dove away from the claws reach, pulling out the Monado as he did so. Getting to his feet, Shulk raised the laser blade, the Monado's light flickering yellow. Shulk waved the sword toward Shiya, and in an instant, a yellow barrier formed around him, protecting him from harm....hopefully

(Shiya! Shulk has given you Monado Shield! The next time the Behemoth attacks, roll CON. If successful, the attack is blocked. Failure means forfeiting your chance to dodge, and taking the full hit)

Now that Shiya was taken care of, Shulk charged the beast, jumping into the air and carving a vertical slice into the beast's side

p_1d20 (Shulk's Air Slash! DMG 15%)

Followed by a second slash to the legs. Hopefully this would stun it for a bit

p_1d20 (Shulk's Shaker Edge! DMG 19%)

---

Shulk
Health: 140/140
Shield: 45/45
Cooldowns: Monado Arts (4)

1d20+2·1d20·1d20

[Coolshaymin]

Chell followed the gang... not really saying outside the glance at the singing attempts of Shiya... That was a bit lost on her. She was more focused on being observant of their surroundings however as she kept her head comparably low, under her blue and orange hood, hands in her pocket. Just avoiding attention to avoid being picked as she remained completely quiet, not much to note although she wished the trip was not so lengthy. "...!" She raised her head at the claw of a giant monster that came a bit out of nowhere as it slashed at Shiya's sound device... Which was a sigh of relief but only momentarily as the next swipe came.

__QBkStYp_1d20+2

With the claw swipe, Chell threw her body back, her hood falling off her head as she landed on her hands and pushed herself into a leap onto her feet... Or that would of seemed to be the case if there was not suddenly a hole under her and a connected one on the wall she used to fling herself at the Behemoth in an improvised dropkick.

p_1d20+2(Play Rough Dropkick, 18%)

She then used the hopeful distraction to try and aim a kick at it's forelegs in an attempt to unsteady it and slow it's movments... Although she is not sure how effective that would be on a thing of this scale. She wasn't done however as she made a leap to get onto it's back and made a move to slam all her weight onto it's head with a jumping stomp and converting the force into a means to jump back to Shiya's position.

p_1d20+2(Crippling Blow, 15% damage, 50% chance to paralyze)

p_1d20+2(Full Force Stomp, 26% damage)

"You sure have a way of finding trouble, don't you? This thing is massive. Is your wound alright?" she asked as she looked back to Shiya. Idiot, that claw hit pretty deep, it'd take a miracle to heal something like that and she was not exactly a medical expert...

Chell

HP: 165

Shield HP: 55

Status: Normal

1d20+2·1d20+2·1d20+2·1d20+2

[Blade Unlimited]

As soon as the battle cry left Shiya's lips, something about the Behemoth's demeanor seemed to almost... shift. The menacing scarlet gleam in the creature's eye faded, leaving the beast bearing down on the group, snarling in an almost confused manner. Especially weird considering it had been the one to attack them in the first place! Whatever it was, the Behemoth soon found itself reinvigorated with ferocity as the group set upon it with merciless savagery. 

"GAOOOOOOOOOO!!!" It cried in anguish, snapping it's teeth in futility after being slapped in the face with the frost knight's spade-like blade; slicing clean through it's right eye and blinding the overwhelmed creature. Before it could even think about reacting it's abdomen was carved into like a thanksgiving turkey by another sword, this one coming from it's blind spot, before the same blade swept the beast's legs out from under it. Despite it's terrifying power display only seconds prior, the group was making quick and short work of the behemoth. With a struggling whine, the creature raised it's head in one final desperate attempt to defend itself before the defiant teleporting boot of Chell came crashing down onto it.

As ice surrounded the weakened creature, it let out one last gurgle of a whimper before becoming fully encased in the damning block; completely and utterly motionless.

....

Shiya meanwhile kinda stumbled to a stop, just barely managing to lightly bump into Chell's back while he surveyed the team's quick handiwork... kinda impressed, honestly! "Wow... You guys kicked that thing's ass!" The stick warrior exclaimed, grinning ear-to-ear. He experimentally rapped his knuckle against the solid ice containing the beast, as if to check it's structural integrity, before pumping a victorious fist into the air. "Nice! At this rate we'll get that Excalibur in no time."

"Tis merely a flesh wound, hehehe~ Now onward, Shiya Squad 0.5!" Paying no mind to the fact that he'd nearly been murdered, nor the literal mortal wound of gashes in his torso to attest to such, Shiya pointed one of his sticks up towards the summit of the mountain before continuing to march onward.

Behemoth 0/150 HP Status: Iced

Shiya Damage: 58%/180% Shield Durability: 65%/65% Status: Mortal Wound (4%/turn); Monado Shielded

[Maverick Hunter Zero]

"No problem... This place reminds me of the icy area in my Homeland." Polar Knight would say with his usual stoic demeanor, looking forward to doing what get finally wanted to do in climbing the mountain.

"You will need to get that wound mended soon..." Polar Knight added, taking a sideways glance at the wounds that Shiya had incurred by the Behemoth. Since his eyes were obscured by his helmet, Nobody in the group could see the eyes of the stalwart Knight.

---

The Stalwart; Polar Knight
HP: 200/200
Shield: 75/75
Status: content
Cooldowns:
N/A

[Chell]

"... As long as your nostalgia doesn't get in the way," Chell replied with a quirked brow... He did look like he lived in some winter areas all his life... From the viking aesthetic and giant snow shovel he used as a weapon. So it made some sense but it wasn't really important right now. It was hard to see the big lug's face anyway.

"... Yeah, I'm surprised that went so well. We shouldn't let our guard down because the first obstacle was a pushover though," she chastised the two aside from Shulk, looking back to the frozen Behemoth... Was it weak to the cold? If only she had some ways to use elements naturally.

"... Mended where? I doubt this mountain has a hospital in the middle of nowhere and we've come too far to turn back now. While it does look bad, we should at least make sure this wasn't a hoax," she replied to Polar Knight as she fliped her hood back over her head and put her hands back in her pocket after storing her Portal Gun and following their brave leader... She wished she could help him but... she was not relying on her to do it.

HP: 160

Shield HP: 55

Status: Normal

[heirtothemonado]

"We got through that pretty good." Shulk remarked as the beast fell to their assault. For how destructive that thing turned out to be, it certainly went down easily. Reminded him of some of the monsters back on Bionis. Shulk couldn't reminiscence for too long, however. They still had a job to do, and Shiya didn't look in very good shape. The Monado's shield still shimmered around him, so that would give him a bit of breathing room, but that gash that the Behemoth left looked nasty, and it was only going to get worse. Unfortunately, Shulk didn't have the medical experience Sharla did, so there wasn't anything that he could do for him right now.

"Let's get a move on. The sooner we get to the top of this mountain, the better." Shulk seemed just as eager to get going as Chell was, but once they were moving, he kept pace with Shiya, making sure he was doing okay. "You're sure that wound will be alright? The last thing we need is you collapsing from blood loss."

---

Shulk

Health: 140/140

Shield: 45/45

Cooldowns: Monado Arts (3)

Status: Normal

[Blade Unlimited]

((ATTENTION: Now that everyone has had time to get re-situated and posting again, I will be reinstating the 1-week posting time limit. This means that after 1 week from my posts, anyone who does not post will be skipped. All thread rules previously stated in the original mission post still apply, so be sure to re-read them if you're unsure.))

"Seriously guys, I mean it, don't even trip! I said I'm fine, so I'm fine."

Despite his wounds, Shiya found no difficulty at all with leading the group closer towards their destination up the mountain trail. Every so often he'd stop to refer back to the scruffy, yellowed map in his hands for guidance before continuing onward with renewed fervor. "I don't know why you're so doubtful Chell. I mean, is it so hard to believe that a legendary sword is hidden away in a rarely explored mountain? Besides, the map only cost me a few coins anyway! It was a steal!" Yeah, maybe a steal for your coins.

It wasn't until a few minutes of walking later where another obstacle emerged once more to block their progress. This time the culprit was... a row of overgrown trees in the middle of the road. Shiya, busy referring to the map held in front of his face, didn't quite notice what lay in front until it was too late. "GAH!" He cried, falling back after smacking face-first into a tree-trunk. "What th-Who plants a bunch of trees in the middle of the path?!" Shiya's outraged yells managed to scare off a couple of birds resting in the foliage, but otherwise didn't prove very helpful to their situation.

"Did we take a wrong turn? ...No, the map definitely says this is the way..." A look left and right would only show that there was no getting past these trees. They'd long since grown over any semblance of a path through this area up the mountain-side, and the steep slopes to it's sides prevented trying to circumvent the overgrowth very easily.

Shiya took a step back, folding his arms over his chest in deep thought. There had to be some way to keep moving forward...

((EVERYONE! As the old pokemon adage goes, some inconvenient trees are blocking the road! Make a 14+ INT roll to investigate the odd outcropping of vegetation, or alternatively you could get to the point and try to clear the road more violently with an attack. You can also try to navigate around them, but must make an 18+ DEX roll to do so safely!))

"DIE TREES!" Shiya, deciding to take the direct approach, drew his sharpest stick before beginning his attempts hacking away at the trees.

kuGNugVnp_1d20+2 (Stick Assault: DMG 18%)

....this was gonna take a while.

Shiya Kirigaya Damage: 62%/180% Shield Durability: 65%/65% Status: Mortal Wound (4%/turn); Monado Shielded

1d20+2

[Chell]

".... People like you are why scammers still exist, so yes. I am very doubtful," Chell put rather bluntly to Shiya's reassurance as she kept pace. Just then they came across the next obstacle in this path. One even more terrifying than the last. The very menace of a modern society. Nature.... Okay, might be a bit overdramatic there. "... You do realize most trees grow from being spread by eaten seeds and other forms of transport not just being 'planted', right?" she pointed out before looking at the grove... Still, something was off to her about this sudden infestation.

"... There is no walking around it..." she quickly noticed. Even if there was something felt off. This place... did not seem the natural place for trees to  grow like this. This almost seemed intentional... Still, they had to go around this mess if they wanted to find out if this map was a deal or a steal. "... Yeah, you keep doing that. I'm going to check the perimeter," Chell said before stepping back and analyzing the sides of the mountain. Too steep to climb but this is why she had a Portal Gun. Still, to find a safe place to put it, she's going to need to know the distance of which to shoot. Walking over to the trees she took a closer look to determine how much consequence there was to messing the shot up... And also because she had a strong feeling something was wrong about this growth of plantlife.

qY3ak71wp_1d20+2(Chell's observation check)

1d20+2

[heirtothemonado]

"If you say so...." Shulk trailed off as Shiya reaffirmed that he was alright. Shulk didn't really believe him, especially with how nasty that wound looked, but there wasn't anything that he could do to fix it, so he was forced to drop the issue for now. Chell looked like she was keeping an eye on him, so he focused more on the task at hand

Which took an oddly botanical turn, as they found that the path forward was covered in plants, trees, and shrubbery. Which struck him as very odd, since the rest of the mountain looked rather bare of vegetation. Not to mention trees don't tend to spring up in the middle of a well-worn path like this. While Chell attempted to explain the appearance of the trees logically, Shulk conceded that Shiya had a point. There was something off about these trees, and Shulk attempted to examine the trees closely, to see if there was anything strange he'd be able to notice.

1BOKv|l3p_1d20+3 (Shulk's INT Check: Success!)

"I think I found something, guys...." Shulk called to his other comrades. He wasn't sure what this was, but something looked off her....

---

Shulk

Health: 140/140

Shield: 45/45

Cooldowns: Monado Arts (2)

Status: Investigative

1d20+3

[Maverick Hunter Zero]

Polar Knight continued to trudge with the group until they came to some inconvenient plant growth blocking the way, Polar Knight however chose not to let himself do much save for pondering how to get past the trees.
INT ROLL: qTdhHmSOp_1d20+2=18 (Eureka!)

At least until Shulk found a solution to their predicament. "This will be good information, let us know, for whatever you found is definitely the same thing I was thinking of." the Stalwart Knight of the stranded ship said calmly, stroking his beard in a thinking manner.

---

The Stalwart; Polar Knight
HP: 200/200
Shield: 75/75
Status: Thinking...
Cooldowns:
DSB(armed and ready)
1d20

[Blade Unlimited]

While Chell and Polar Knight did their best inspecting the trees, they'd find something odd about the placement of the trees blocking their path. Normally, as vegetation grows up from the ground, the landscape directly around the plants become uneven and slanted to make way as their roots grow in. That oddly enough wasn't the case with the ground around these trees though. It was perfectly level with the surface of the path they'd been following prior, as if the trees had simply popped into existence within those parts of the ground.

Shulk on the other hand, with his highly inquisitive gaze, would be treated to quite the revelation. As the warrior no doubt filtered out Shiya's pitiful attempts to hack through the mess of herbivory, an odd thing would pop out to him. The texture of the tree's bark was... unusual. Where typically the bark around trees form in naturally random patterns depending on the external and internal growth conditions for that tree, those found on the trees blocking them were uncharacteristically smooth. Even further inspection revealed a slight, abnormal pattern of right angles permeating throughout the surface of each arbor in the outcropping!

"Alright! Everybody stand back!" Shiya announced after cooling down from his stick-y rage and seeing his plan had gone to no avail. The ex-mage dug into his pockets, rummagingabout a bit before pulling out... EXPLOSIVE PUTTY ON A TIMER!? "NOW BOOK IT!"

Throwing caution to the wind, Shiya yeeted the bomb over and into the gathering of trees before turning around and high-tailing it several meters back.

((EVERYONE! SHIYA IS SOLVING THE PROBLEM IN HIS OWN SPECIAL WAY! Roll a 13+ DEX to get out of the explosion's perimeter in time, otherwise meet a similar painful fate as the roadblock being destroyed and take 35% damage! Shulk though, since he were examining the tree so deeply, will have to roll a 15+DEX to get out in time though.))

Once the smoke had cleared, Shiya poked his head out from the large rock he'd hidden behind. A grin spreading across the scarlet fighter's face to the sight of nothing left where the disruptive trees had been before. Well, nothing but a couple of charred, wooden scraps and a once, more open trail. "See? Toldja I had it covered. Everyone alright?" He asked, dusting off his hands in a proud and cocky manner while strutting back onto the path.

"Over and onward, troops!"

Shiya Kirigaya Damage: 66%/180% Shield Durability: 65%/65% Status: Mortal Wound (4%/turn); Monado Shielded

[Chell]

"... Hm...." Yep, the area definitely did look unusual. There is no way this plant formation is natural... It was like something or someone was blocking their path, intentional or not. "... Unless it's a way pass or a threat, don't bother me," Chell stated bluntly as she stepped back to look at the walls again... They may just need to take a risk and move around it-... Shiya was about to do something overwheamingly stupid wasn't he?

AdxQFp_zp_1d20+2

Seeing the sticky bomb fly by, Chell immediately backed away into a run away from the mass of unusual trees. The explosion not being able to reach her as she stopped but didn't turn around yet, looking to Shiya. "You idiot! You should of waited until we were out of range BEFORE tossing the bomb! We can't protect you if you end up murdering your own team!" Chell lectured in.... extreme annoyance. She sighed after a moment. "... There may be something or someone that made those to block people from this route. Keep an eye out," she stated, mainly to the others as she followed Shiya.

Chell HP: 165 Shield HP: 55 Status: Normal but also downright furious

1d20+2

[Maverick Hunter Zero]

Polar Knight kept thinking about why there were trees blocking the path, his mind mulling over what info he could think on that could be useful for removing such a blockade...

The moment he heard the word run come from Shiya's mouth, When that was uttered, Polar Knight simply did the exact opposite by blocking the blast with his bubble shield, showing the group that his tanky nature wasn't just for Show.
Polar Knight bubble shields the explosion! 75-10(activation penalty)-35(Sticky bomb)=30

"......HMPH! I would agree with Chell on this, you would have brought about an avalanche." Polar Knight said, his helmet had been knocked to where the back obscured his face and Shiya could see the hair on the back of his head since the front was now in the back.

Undeterred, Polar Knight would take his helmet off, turn it around, and place it back on his head, then took his two-handed snow shovel Blade and shoveled the remains of what was left of the trees out of the way to clear the path and make it visible for all to pass through. "Let's press on, before our 'leader' tries to kill us through something else more dumb than that bomb..."

---

The Stalwart; Polar Knight
HP: 200/200
Shield: 30/75(regenerating...)
Status: is a freaking TANK! Also slightly miffed...
Cooldowns:
N/A