[Deleted]

Ludwig jumped down to the ground with grace and snickered. "As I said, genius on the battlefield," he taunted the monster as it struggled in Krexix's hand, "It was hardly a challenge getting your attention. Try to learn from your mistake, will you? That was a perfect assault," the turtle gave a thankful nod towards Krexix. He looked up at the sky and frowned, feeling the ever-growing heaviness in the air. "Indeed, we need to find our target now." He kept pace with Robin as they continued onward.

[Cielmira]

Krexix wrestled on the ground with the struggling skeleton, obtaining a good solid hold near its middle as it desperately flailed around. The alien hissed angrily as he attempted to keep said hold on such a large awkward stick figure. When he was given orders by the human Krexix's four eyes snapped onto the blond's figure, barely glancing at the small spiked turtle. Living as an effective foot soldier for most of his life he should feel inclined to go along as instructed, just drop the skeleton and follow behind the two. But the tenacity of Robin's continued attempts to remain as their captain just irked the oerix; he had done nothing to prove himself worthy of commanding.

Cont. Grapple: oWkg5OEhp_1d20+3
The writhing figure in his grasp would be the one to pay the price. Krexix adjusted his position to stuck his talons into the eye sockets and rivets of what tiny neck bone there was on the arch-like being. "You die," his voice rumbled in a harsh whisper. A flicker of enjoyment rippled through his body in the second before Krexix made to rip the skeleton's head off, each arm pulling away from each other as he used his legs to minimize how much the stick of bone could move around. He wasn't even concerned with any drops this poor creature may have, though would gladly take them before chasing after his allies down the slide.

12%

1d20+3

[Coolshaymin]

Upon snapping the twig, it exploded in a nonharmful explosion of light. Onto the floor dropped a Full Heal and a Key with a crescent moon on the end. Perhaps this key opens something. It may just be a good thing Krexix is violent. Down the sand slide came a branching path of two doors. One had a shape of a full moon on it and the other had the symbol of water on it.

(Krexix obtained Crescent Key)

Upon seeing these doors, Arlon buzzed in to answer Robin's question. "I am really sorry, Master Robin but I seem to have lost track of them. You are going to have to take one of these doors and hope either him or Phosphora is that way. I advise you hurry, time is of the essence," Arlon answered.

*Choice Time! The Full Moon Door or the Reflection Door*

[Deleted]

Robin immediately stopped, his face deathly pale as he stopped in the middle of the two doors.

Two doors... he thought. I could be going face- to- face with a monster who has a history of devouring souls. I could watch as said monster robs a goddess's life. I could be stuck in an endless void of nothingness. Success or failure hinges on this one final choice.

Robin slowly licked his lips, studying the two doors. This mission hinged on luck, and as shown throughout the mission, luck was not on Robin's side. From Fate giving Robin pitiful attack strength, to both of Robin's fellow soldiers not preferring him, as shown by Ludwig's arrogance earlier or Krexix disobeying Robin's direct orders.

But this, this is make or break time.

A full moon door, or a reflection door.

Without saying any words, Robin slowly stepped toward the reflection door.

[Deleted]

Ludwig glared at the doors as they appeared, irritated by this new obstacle. He looked to Robin, wondering what kind of answer he'd found thus far. The fear in his team-mate's eyes, like a child asked to go into a dark basement, it almost made the koopa shiver.

"Hey," Ludwig said as he placed a hand on Robin's shoulder before he would finalize his choice. "Don't be daunted by the weight of this choice, you're not making it alone. Whatever lies beyond that door, I have the strongest faith we can overcome it and all else thrown at us." He made his choice hen and there.

But briefly he checked behind himself, nodding at Krexix and making a small motion with his claw, indicating the Moon door. Yes, the weight of the diverging paths here was immense, but something in Ludwig's gut led him to believe that neither of these doors truly held the end for this group. Again he turned to Robin. "You and I, it seems we've gotten some rotten luck on this outing, but working together, who knows," he shrugged, "Perhaps our efforts can tip the scales. Besides, I'd say our combined might would be equal enough to Krexix, maybe even give the powerhouse a run for his money." He laughed, brave as ever. Ludwig was not going to let any part of his team fall prey to fear.

Ludwig stepped towards the Reflection door.

[Cielmira]

The slide carried the heavy spiny beast to his allies after acquiring the two items, Krexix slowing himself to stand behind the two as they contemplated the choice of paths before them. Ludwig's nod and gesture drew the alien's eyes up toward the full moon door, of which he then moved them to gaze at the water symbol on the other door. With a light grumble his eyes fell to the crescent key he had just found. Grouping phases of the moon seemed like a good idea, though perhaps a little simple. But he was never one for puzzles.

With the other two approaching the Reflection door Krexix backed and moved up to the Moon door. There was a light hesitation, unsure if splitting up was the best of their options should one side find themselves facing anything powerful. They didn't have any way to communicate with one another through this either; unless by chance there is something beyond the doors that would. It was better to find this thing than miss it because they chose the wrong door, however, and Krexix was confident in his ability to handle anything passed this threshold. He made a quick side glance toward the other two as they proceeded to the Reflection door together, then attempted to go through the Moon door.

12%

[Coolshaymin]

Upon them standing in the directions of the doors, the Full Moon one's had bars shoot down that sealed the entrance off. "Oh... that is not good... It would appear I lost access to the security system... Looks like you will need to take the Reflection Door," Arlon said before the reflective door lifted up. It would seem they were forced to go the same way. The door led to a room full of mirrors. On the other side was a door with a crescent lock on it.

"Oh no... How did these get here? You better be ready for a fight to get to that door. I need to prepare something in case the mainframe goes down. I am leaving," Arlon said.

At that ominous message, the reflections directly next to Robin, Ludwig and Krexix began to move until they came out of the mirror. In the room with them was now 3 identical clones to the trio. They quickly showed their powers to be the same as Ludwig shot a fireball at Robin... well, fake Ludwig shot a fireball at Robin anyway.

xRD0XAIGp_1d20+3(Blue Fire Blast on Robin)

Dopplegangers appeared.
Krexix Doppleganger
0% Normal
Robin Doppleganger
0% Normal
Ludwig Doppleganger
0% Normal
1d20+3

[Deleted]

Upon hearing Ludwig's kind words, Robin smiled. He didn't say anything, but he smiled. Just as he was about to step through the door though, he stopped, turning his head to face the scaly Krexix, who was barred access to the Full Moon door. Robin blinked, not knowing Krexix had planned to split up once they got to the doors. However, they had to stay together now.

As soon as Robin led the way into the Reflection door, a door with a crescent moon symbol greeted him on the other side. The walls were tons upon tons of, well, mirrors. The trio's reflections shone brightly on the wall as Robin slowly stepped forward, his feet clacking on the metal floor.

All of  a sudden, Arlon's voice pierced through. Apparently, Arlon needed to protect the mainframe, and so he had to go, leaving the trio to themselves.

"Wait, Arlon, what's going on?!" Robin cried. "Arlon?!"

Still nothing. Once more, Robin tried again.

"Arlon? Viridi? Anyone?!" This time, Robin acknowledged something- they were alone, without help. And they still had to go save the goddess.

"Drat," Robin spat. "Be on your guard guys, anything can come flying at us."

All of a sudden, reflections burst out of the window. Clones. Perfect clones at that. Robin's eyes narrowed, then quickly widened again once he noticed that Ludwig was firing an attack at Robin.

(Dex Roll: 0b_gjG71p_1d20-1: Easily dodges the attack)

Robin sidestepped the attack immediately as it was fired. The attack sailed past Robin, leaving the ex- tactician to think about strategy. Of course, he had to contend with his two comrades on the mission.

"Alright, Krexix, Ludwig. I realize we may have had our troubles earlier in the mission. I'm trying too hard to commander this mission, and I'm looking like a fool for it. But, we do need to work together if we are to defeat the clones. As such, we need to follow a plan."

Robin slowly thought for a second. They needed to stick together. If they went off in one- on- one combat, then the others could easily confuse one of the comrades for a clone, or vice versa. Robin knew that shouldn't need to happen, as such, he figured that they needed to stand together.

"Alright," Robin said, having finally come up with a plan. "I have a simple strategy. We need to become a wall, hard, impenetrable. Most of all, we need to stand together. If you notice that one of us are about to get blasted by an attack, don't hesitate in blocking the shot with one of your own attacks, or even pushing each other out of the way. We need to be a team, if we are to defeat this team."

Robin began to form up on his side of the three- person 'wall.' Quickly, he charged up and fired an Arcfire at the false Krexix to keep him busy, as Robin knew the false and the real Krexix's would be the heaviest hitters in this duel.

(Wis Roll: p_1d20+3: Critical Arcfire!)

The attack was fired with excruciating force. No doubt Krexix would be feeling the burn from that attack.

...

Pun not intended.1d20-1·1d20+3

[Deleted]

Yet another setback. Ludwig was hardly surprised by this now, every step they take being turned into some sort of cruel trick.

But, he had to admit to himself, he was a devilishly handsome koopa.

"And I think it goes without saying that we do not fight ourselves. Our doppelgangers here will likely know our attacks well, we can't risk getting locked in an equal battle!"

Ludwig stood strong beside the real Robin, accepting the plan. Impenetrable walls were pretty simple, especially for a turtle of a kind. This event could also prove to be a sufficient anger-venting brawl, as one could take advantage of the copies. He drew back his hand with a trail of ethereal blue, eyeing the mimic Robin for a blast of magic.

(Wis roll: YZp_uU6Zp_1d20+3)

He cursed under his breath at the meager blast that left his claws. "And so my luck keeps dwindling..." But maybe the best strategy here would take some showing off, and the Koopa decided to one up his clone at this game, taking in a breath deeply and lacing the air with magic.

(Wis roll: p_1d20+3)

A burst of Blue fire shot from his beak, moving towards the foe Robin. No hard feelings!

But, he reminded himself that using the same two attacks over and over like this was not going to bode well for him here soon. The koopa stood his ground and awaited his next opportunity to strike, planning for it to be a glorious assault...1d20+3·1d20+3

[Cielmira]

Krexix snorted angrily at the barring of the door. That was either a good thing, only having one direction they could go, or a bad thing, the Chaos Kin shutting them down from further inside. His quiet grumble ceased however when they all entered the Reflection door and a crescent was spotted across the way. The tips of his taloned fingers tingled and he stepped forward. Unfortunately he didn't get too far before Arlon's words sent a chill down his spine. The oerix half turned back to his allies, his onyx eyes unable to ignore the mass of reflections staring back at him as he glanced over them on the way to the duo beside him. But then, a movement in his peripheral drew his attention back closer to himself. His gaze settled on one of his reflections, but it wasn't just a simple mirrored image; it was climbing out.

The spines lining Krexix's back bristled as he hunched into an aggressive stance, Robin and Ludwig conversing with one another. Admittedly the human had a decent plan and it would be foolish to engage in a one-on-one brawl with his copy. Krexix released a loud roar, spittle flying from his mouth as he adjusted his footing to make it look like he was going to follow up with a charge. The oerix brought a claw up to his right arm and gashed it by the shoulder, dark red streams trailing down his flesh just as Robin's arcfire flew through the air at Krexix's duplicate. Taking the opportunity of the double being distracted with either what he just saw or the attack, or both, Krexix really did charge. His steps pounded forward, but he didn't go for the duplicate. Pushing the fake aside Krexix rammed into the mirror in an attempt to break it.

17%

[Coolshaymin]

KE8fudXJp_1d20+3
p_1d20-1
p_1d20-1
p_1d20-2

The duplicate Oerix put it's arms up to defend against the fire and still burned somewhat but not nearly as bad as if he did not try to block. He was not paying attention enough to stop the other Oerix as it charged past. Fake Robin sidestepped away from the first fireblast much like the original but got hit by the second and quite badly as well. The robes ended up a bit singed after that burn and he will be feeling that later.. if not for being a clone.

Krexix's charge into the mirror did in fact break it but the dopplegangers still remained. At least no more fakers will be coming out after this batch. The fake Krexix, angry, shot the special alien saliva at the original Krexix. The fake Ludwig and Robin looked at eachother and nodded. The Fake Robin put down an Arcfire in the direction of Ludwig and Robin but did not far enough to hit them. Fake Von Koopa then fired a Blue Fire Blast through the Arcfire and it doubled in size, fusing with the Arcfire, and threatening to hit both Ludwig and Robin.

p_1d20(Critical Fail Spit on Krexix...)
p_1d20+3
p_1d20+3(These two rolls combined equal the power of the combination attack. The Arcfire Fusion Blast has a 50% chance to burn instead of 25%)

The Blue and Red Fireball was moving extremely slowly...

Robin Doppleganger
17% Normal
Ludwig Doppleganger
0% Normal
Krexix Doppleganger
5% Normal
1d20+3·1d20-1·1d20-1·1d20-2·1d20·1d20+3·1d20+3

[Deleted]

Robin sighed as Krexix rushed ahead, disregarding Robin's plan. He wasn't surprised, but that didn't make him any less shaken. He wasn't used to people disregarding orders. People believed Robin's strategy, they followed his lead, and that was that. But Krexix, Krexix was a whole 'nother beast all together. Robin tried not to comprehend the beast, and instead focused on the COMBO ATTACK THAT WAS HEADING STRAIGHT FOR ROBIN AND LUDWIG!

(Dex Roll: 3kngXHHnp_1d20-1: BARELY dodging!)

Robin rolled over on his shoulder, barely dodging the combination attack thrown by the fake Ludwig and Robin. He could have sworn a part of the attack might have singed his hairs a bit.

But, Robin disregarded that and turned to Ludwig. Combo attacks were a sound strategy the cloned Robin had come up with. Perhaps if he could use that. . .

Robin turned to Ludwig and held up his Levin Sword, before using it to point to Ludwig's mouth. Hopefully, he'd get the message that Robin was going to throw his Levin Sword like a boomerang, leaving Ludwig to blast it with a Magic Blast, which would give it more speed and strength. Unfortunately, Robin saw no way as to how the blinding effect could still go to the clones.

However, Robin still pressed on with his plan, and chucked the Levin Sword  towards the cloned Robin and Ludwig, hoping that the real Ludwig would combo the Levin Sword.

(Str Roll: p_1d20+1: Amazing Levin Sword throw)

(Wis Roll: p_1d20+3: Below average electricity)

Even though the electricity wouldn't be packing that much of a punch, the actual throw of the sword itself was beautiful. No doubt it would be doing some damage, especially with Ludwig hopefully comboing.1d20-1·1d20+1·1d20+3

[Deleted]

Ludwig stared at the clones in utter disbelief. "... That is complete-"

(Dex roll: T3QuPamsp_1d20) Ludwig stumbled out of the way of the blast. "Robin and I would never-"

And then the real Robin seemed to get some bright idea, but Ludwig first imagined it to be an attack rather than a call for aid. Thankfully the turtle saw the true opportunity at hand, charging up yet another magic blast at his claw tips.

(Wis roll: p_1d20+3)

His blast launched with great speed, hitting the sword to give it more momentum as the magical glow encased it.1d20·1d20+3

[Cielmira]

He was hoping that the mirrors were just the instrument of a trick instead of actually spawning duplicates. Granted it wasn't like he had a lot of experience on the matter of magic and trickery. Maybe he just had to break more? The other two didn't seem to think there was anything more to this than straight up combat though, so perhaps he'd just fall into the flow of battle. The ill aimed saliva shot splattered against the shattered remains of the mirror as Krexix spun himself around. He let out a low grumble as he glared at the inadequate copy of himself. It may be a visual replicate but it didn't possess any of the proper ferocity that a true oerix proudly displayed. It was dull, a mockery. Krexix snorted. The light ebb of pain radiating from his self-inflicted wound.

With a grin Krexix reached behind into a small pack attached to his belt and withdrew a Super Spicy Curry, immediately throwing the entire thing into his wide open maw. Gulping it down the fiery effects began swiftly. While the alien was well accustomed to heat, the intensity of the food was surprising. His entire being felt like he was on fire. Within seconds he had a look to match. Flicks of fire radiating off of his person and a red tint coming over his skin, darkening his natural body armor. Krexix roared, balls of fire spilling out toward the duplicate in a random assortment and with such speeds it was hard to count how many were erupting into the air.

Perception to Keep in Close Range of Duplicate: GWoNUeEtp_1d20
The oerix then charged in. While he was unable to coordinate himself into any particular attacks his goal was to keep close and allow the curry to do its thing. He was familiar enough with his own moves and tactics that even should the doppelganger camouflage himself he could just listen for the heavy pounding footsteps. A cackle of laughter sounded from Krexix as he mused himself with the idea that he would be mirroring his own mirror image.

17%

1d20