milkisgross | Overflow (Prismatica)

continued from here

It was probably for the best that Mikasa didn't ask for more detail about alchemy. Ed was usually pretty good about keeping from going on and on about it, but if given the chance he would talk in detail about it whether the listening party was able to follow along with him or not.

Standard issue? So those things were common where she was from? Cool. "I might be able to make you more fuel for it if you'd like. All I need to know is what kind of gas it is." It shouldn't be a difficult transmutation.

"You can?" It's not too much of a surprise, after seeing him weaponize buildings with a clap of his hands. Mikasa looks down from the edge to glance down at the spikes still dripping with sap and a few twitching plant remains. It's easy enough to explain the specifics ~~since the wiki doesn't name which gases they specifically use~~

"...and pressurizing this propels the grappling hooks and aids with steering. The gear is good for little else without it."

Ed shrugs. "Yeah. It shouldn't be too hard."

He listens to her explain and puts his hand to his chin while he ponders what he could transmute. "We could always try to experiment with different fuels. It might damage your equipment, but I'd also be able to use alchemy to repair anything that gets wrecked if we use the wrong kind." He frowns. That won't help them right now though. "Do you have enough fuel to take on any more of those things?"

"For now, yes. They'll need to be dealt with even if I run out." And hey, it wouldn't be the first time she worked without it. You cut a vine anywhere and it's still cut. You can't kill a titan by slicing its ankles.

Still, if...Ed is right about this, then she'll be able to keep her gear intact and throughout her time here. Mikasa expects an incident like this to occur again; she'll need it. She'd hate to fall out of practice with it, anyway. If these things keep up as much as the once again encroaching vines, then maybe she'll be alright after all.

She frowns. "...It may not last long if they keep attacking this fervently."

Ed nods as confirmation. He already likes her attitude, at least when it comes to something like this.

"I can always use my alchemy to give you a boost somewhere, given I have the time to transmute. From the last batch though, it doesn't seem like they're very good at dealing with more than one target. So long as we're watching each other's backs, we probably won't have that much trouble."

There are quite a lot of them left, but it wasn't anything like fighting a homunculus or another alchemist. Ed was pretty confident.

"I'm ready to jump back in if you are."

She nods. "The sooner they're dealt with, the less likely they'll learn how to deal with multiple targets."

Could they learn like that? The plants can tell there are two targets at least, but doing much against them seems like more they can handle. Ideally, she and Ed will keep it that way.

Mikasa leans forward, off the edge of the building to get right back into the action. Her rapid movement can keep the plants struggling to keep up with her and lunging towards the building itself while Ed can continue weaponizing it.

With him handling the building, it's ~~the greatest game of Dwarf Fortress ever played~~ unlikely the vines will make it past them.

The buildings were close enough for Ed to jump from one to the other for the most part, and those that were wider apart he easily transmuted himself platforms to extend from the roofs.

Once they get to the next tangle of vines, Ed transmutes more spikes to both draw attention away from Mikasa and try to give her a path to make her way through. So far, so good.

The vines could double as platforms and grapple points after eviscerating a few more vines, a fact Mikasa readily welcomes. If anything, they help her reposition and counterattack whenever they decide to focus on Edward instead.

There's little saving how much sap the streets and the buildings are gonna be covered in, but that's a concern left for the clean-up.

The ones on the front lines have their own cleaning up to do in the meantime. The plant has to eventually realize this place isn't worth it, right? Heavy losses on its side with only minimal losses on Ed's and Mikasa's at best. It'd suck if they asked any questions about all the spikes, but oh well. The fact that the vines keep coming is troubling, so after another pass, she perches back atop the building alongside Ed.

"We might need something more to truly drive them back. Can you make anything to set them aflame?"

It really didn't seem like the plants were capable of tactics. With how much they were cutting through, it would have made more sense for them to fall back and regroup, but they just kept pushing at them.

Ed gives Mikasa a scowl. She would have no way of knowing of course, but still, does he look anything like Mustang? If he had a means of doing it he'd have tried it already. "Not easily. I'd need to transmute something flammable and then we'd have to figure out how to light it." Actually...

"There's plenty of sap everywhere. It should be full of carbon, so I could try transmuting it into some kind of fossil fuel to burn. The problem is lighting it." He looks over Mikasa's equipment. "Unless you've got something on you we can use for that."

"Nothing practical, but..."

She stops to look at her swords. Perhaps if she were to drag them against the buildings with enough intensity, it could create a spark, but she'd have to get really close to the sap to pull it off. Getting the momentum to pull it off would be easy with her Maneuvering Gear...

"...If I can strike against the building fast enough, it could create a spark to ignite the fuel. Like a match."

Ed tilted his head as he considered it. Mikasa'a swords were longer than his automail so she'd have more distance between her and the fuel when she made those sparks, thus lower the chance of anyone getting burned along with the plants. He nodded.

"Aright. Let's do it."

Ed hopped down and raced along first, clapping his hands and transmuting the sap around them into gasoline. Mikasa should be able to follow right behind him to ignite it.

continued from here

Ed perked up at the mention of the library. "I've actually been meaning to check it out. It's just all this got in the way!" He waved his arm in a large arc around him to draw attention to the scraps of dead plant matter strewn everywhere from their fight.

"Oh, the alchemy doesn't come from my arm, it's-"

He was cut off when another mass of vines crept over the nearest building they were passing by and dropped to the ground directly in front of them. There was a large mass behind, which had taken the chance to advance while their guard was down and was closing in. Edward quickly clapped his hands together to transmute the forearm of his automail into a blade that extended over his hand.

"Damnit. I'll explain later."

You know what. That's fine.

Engineer grins and unholsters his pistol again.

"Fine by me. You're gonna have to explain that arm to me later, though!"

The vines are dealt with swiftly. Neither Ed nor Engineer had much to worry about with having each other to watch their backs. Once these vines had been turned into diced vegetables, Ed continued from where he had been interrupted.

"Right, where was I," he asked himself as he wiped the sap off of his automail. "Oh, so the energy for the transmutations doesn't come from my arm. It comes from the tectonic energy from the earth's-" Oh wait. They weren't on earth anymore, were they? "Well, in this case, the moon's crust. You also need a circle, since that directs the flow of that energy. I make a circle with my arms when I clap my hands together." There was quite a bit more to it than that, but hopefully that was enough to correct any misconceptions about his automail. "My arm probably doesn't function too differently from yours."

[OoC: Kind of went into god-modding here due to not knowing how to handwave this better. If you have a problem with it just let me know and I'll edit it. Sorry about that.]

[ooc: you're good!]really know were they were going yet, but. It's the thought that counts.

"Huh," Engineer starts with genuine amazement as he looks over Ed's arm.

"I'll be damned. So works right with your arm, then?"

continued from here

"WHAT?!"

This game was stupid so far, but it hadn't been that bad. It had crossed the fucking line on this one though. Ed takes a deep breath in an effort to try to reel in the seething anger he had about this whole situation. Luckily for Zelda, none of that anger was directed at her, though it might not be hard for her to think otherwise.

"Just answer the damn question," he said through gritted teeth. The sooner she did, the sooner he could deck the asshole who dragged him into this.

Zelda inhales. They have got to get out of here, and it's all up to her. She studies Ed carefully. He is short. Shorter than her, even. But what if that's a trick answer? She needs to make a decision, so finally she goes with her gut.

"Height! I guess height!" Please don't be mad at her.

Unfortunately for Zelda, it wouldn't be Ed if he wasn't at least a little bit mad with her. The good news is that any frustration he does have with her is very much drowned out by the frustration he has towards the octopus-man and his stupid game.

Instead of the loud buzzer, a cheerful DING went off as Ed stared daggers at the octopus guy who shifted uncomfortably.

Player 2 would be happiest on a date to

A. A fancy restaurant and a movie
B. The beach at sunset
C. Staying at their partner's place for cuddles

Ed's cheeks turned a shade pinker. It was still innocent enough for now, but he didn't like the direction this game was going. He looked over to Zelda, the anger very suddenly replaced with a bit of embarrassment. His eyes are begging for a hint.

If they answer incorrectly, the game won't end. If they do answer correctly, the questions start to... hmm. This is going to get bad, but if they want any chance of getting out of this mess, they'll have to press on.

She considers the options, and silently brings her hands up to her face again. Then, glancing at the ever-watchful Octorok, bends one hand into the shape of a C. Hopefully their captor doesn't notice.

Thankfully, Ed is able to notice while Octo-jerk doesn't. At least, for this instance.

"....Cuddles."

DING~

How many questions were they going to have to answer before they were let out?

Player 1 prefers what in a partner?

A. Strong and hard working.
B. Someone who laughs atall of his jokes.
C. Anyone shorter than himself.

That octopus was not escaping this without a punch to the face.

Zelda lets out a sigh of relief as the tone dings for the correct answer... and immediately groans as another question appears.

"Oh for Hylia's sake, does this ever end?" She laments before looking at her choices. Oh no, she has a decent idea of which one is the correct answer, but she knows it's not going to help Ed's mood any.

"I'm sorry," She cringes. "It's, um, someone shorter?"

The buzzer went off again. Instead of another question, a scoreboard popped up. They...didn't do very well. The octopus man approached them both and whipped his tentacles across their wrists.

"OW!! What was that for?!"

He's not given an answer. Instead, the panel's lights go out and a song begins to play. Loudly. The octopus finally speaks up. "You're free to leave after the song's finished playing."

"This is so stupid," the teenager yells to no one in particular.

"I beg your pardon!" But Zelda's complaints are also ignored as the Octorok man leaves them to their failure. She huffs and crosses her arms. This had not been a fun puzzle.

"I'm so sorry about all of this." She says to her fellow captive. "I didn't think it would be so humiliating. Perhaps we should start over. My name is Zelda."

Ed raises a brow at her apology. "You're not the one who needs to be sorry." He was pretty sure he saw her dragged off the street just like he had been. He glares at the octo-man's back before returning his attention to Zelda.

"Edward Elric." He extends a hand to shake, trying his best to ignore the song blaring overhead. How long is this thing going to go on for?

"I take it you've been dragged here from another world then?" He could tell by the dress.

continued from here

[It was a strange feeling, that of gratitude and irritation somehow rolled into one. The save was welcome. The method she used in doing so wasn't, but that's because his pride hadn't completely healed over their little squabble from the other day. It was one thing to put him in his place. It was another to add that whatever she did to the plants was fucking cool on top of it.

He booked it out of there toward her.]

GAH!

[He was not going to get used to that any time soon.]

Warn me before you're gonna turn me into a lightbulb, damnit!

[Now that he was free from the vines and Ziva had bought him time to do so, Ed clapped his hands to transmute the ground underneath the paralyzed killer plants into his go-to stony spikes and they ripped them apart with the gooey sap splattering in every direction.]

Fight now, bitch and moan later!

[ She grins toothily, throwing on a spell of protection while she's at it- more glowing, but this time he'll see a flash of blue and white light in the shape of an encircling grid of plain shield shapes, one for each of them. ]

I've given you a bit of protection as well. It won't block all the damage either, but it should absorb some of it for a time. I'll heal, you attack. Sound like a fair trade?

[ She asks, even as she draws a card from the sleeve at her waist and holds it for later. That Balance will likely come in handy a bit later, but she'll find a card to bolster its effects, first.

Though judging by the way that he handles those vines, he might not even need it. She can definitely be caught gaping a little in surprise because seven hells, what kind of "alchemy" is THAT?!

Giving a long, low whistle of appreciation she regards the blond again in a slightly new light. ]

Impressive.

Edited (You know honestly at this point I just give up. I'll be finding errors all day.) 2019-04-07 14:31 (UTC)

[Ed was very much planning on bitching and moaning later, Ziva.

Goddamnit she DID IT AGAIN! It's not that he didn't appreciate the help. It's that he never asked for it and he didn't like people using something he had little to no understanding over on his body. It's beneficial effects were irrelevant.]

Fine! Just don't get yourself caught!

[Well, at least that attack from him did some good damage. Any remaining vines retreated a bit for now, having at least some sense of self-preservation. Flicking as much sap as could from his automail and clothes, Ed flashes Ziva a cocky grin.]

You can praise me all you want when we're done with these things.

[Oh shit, were those vines regrouping? It looks like they're regrouping. Ed lets out a tired moan. He's been using his alchemy a lot today and it's effecting his Chroma levels. He's not falling over yet, but the fatigue is there.]

[ Thanks, Ed. She definitely wanted to have to shower off not!Morbol slime later today.

And yeah, yeah, yeah. He's welcome to complain her ear off when they AREN'T reliving the Little Shop of Horrors nightmare.

Laughing, shortly, she clearly appreciates the cocky attitude rather than finding it annoying. She's reminded a little of herself, truth be told. ]

We'll see who's praising whom when we're done.

[ She teases right back, smirking and drawing on a second card. The Bole. THIS one she burns away, and since he'd asked so kindly to be warned- ]

Incoming Balance!

[ Not that he'll know what that means, but she uses it on him regardless. He won't be (and she could even understand his reasons once he takes a moment to actually explain them) but should be grateful that the effect will bolster his attacks for a short time, giving his alchemy more punch for less Chroma. ]

Careful you don't overdo it, now. [ She warns, before she begins to hover a few inches from the ground, gathering energy for a more potent magic through the astrometer in hand, which is glowing. Behind them she can hear more vines gathering, either acting on a hive mind or coming to the defense of the rest of the plant. How does it even "see" them without eyes? Ah, well. ]

["Don't overdo it?" You're not his brother, Ziva. And even if you were, he still wouldn't listen.

He does notice the boost though, which he wasn't expecting. Transmuting was easier and he got more bang for his buck.]

Woah!

[Ok, he takes it back about the spells. The added boost is pretty amazing. Please don't stop.

It was like finding out how much faster he had gotten with his cold climate automail all over again. A mischievous grin spread over his face as he pushed forward and cut through the plants with the spikes he kept transmuting from the ground.]

HAHAHAHAHA!!!

[The remaining vines are taken care of fairly quickly and it looks like the area is clear, at least for now. Ed dusts his hands off looking mighty pleased with himself before the drop in his Chroma levels becomes apparent. He wobbles a bit on his feet and shakes his head to try to get rid of some of the fatigue.]

[ . . . Ed, you're making it very difficult not to get the distinct impression she's created a monster, but okay, go off. ]

... And naturally the first thing you do is overdo it, regardless. [ She sighs, fastening her astrometer back in place and hurrying over to his side, reaching out to steady him. ]

Mayhaps you should take it easy for a bit, catch your breath? I'll see to setting the remains ablaze.

[Well, she kind of did create a monster to be perfectly fair.

Ed didn't get it. He had gotten in plenty of fights, lots of them way more dangerous and he had never come out of them like this. He swipes her hand away and scoffs.]

I'm fine!

[He's only kind of fine.]

Don't tell me you could have set all this on fire from the start!

[He takes a couple steps, wobbles again, and stops before he starts to fall over. He's just going to shuffle over an casually lean on this streetlamp over here. Nope, totally nothing wrong with him.]

[ He's definitely not fine. She's not buying it for a second, but he also isn't coughing or spewing up blood, so for the moment she'll chalk it up to battle fatigue.

She does still get an irritated look on her face. Twelve preserve, this boy is testing her patience. ]

Oh yes, of course! I just thought it would be fun to watch you run yourself into the ground fighting them off! Of course I couldn't! My magic doesn't work like that!

[ "Dumbass." is implied. ]

And besides, they needed to be dealt with, first. I don't know about you, but I'm certainly not PARTIAL to the idea of giant angry vines whipping about on fire.

[ She concentrates for a moment, and a second later she's sporting a much darker outfit, black leggings and a blouse in a mix of dark crimson and muted grayish reds. She draws a rapier from her side, a bobble floating above her free hand as flames lick up the length of the pointed blade. They're only there for show, nothing that they touch will actually set fire to anything, though he'd likely have no way of knowing that. ]

T'would be easier if they hadn't all been blown to hell and back. [ Instead, it'll take longer, unless he has enough chroma left to do some fancy hand clapping and bring them all back to one spot. ]

Edited (WORDS.) 2019-04-09 21:51 (UTC)

[Ed frowned. Was this what it was like to deal with him on a daily basis? Her blunt sarcasm was on another level than what he was used to, but her attitude still reminded him of Colonel Mustang.

He pays close attention when he sees her trick with the rapier. He has no idea exactly what she's planning on doing with that but he was sure he was going to find out.]

If you wanted me to deal with them differently then you should have said something!

[You know, before he was having trouble standing. He clapped and transmuted, bringing most of the carnage closer together. He slides down the pole he's leaning against and takes a seat on the ground. He hates to ask, but...]

Are you able to shoot me one of your healing spells at all?

[ There's not a chance for her to tell him to save his energy. Before Ziva can utter a word or even so much as double take, she hears him clapping his hands together again and after, everything is essentially wrapped up in a nice, neat little bow for them. Grateful though she is, it doesn't stop the admonishment. ]

What- Save your energy, cub! You're already damn near about to pass out where you stand!

[ With a quiet sigh, shaking her head just so, Ziva returns her attention to her magicks. Luckily for Ed she CAN still cast cure like this, and as she prepares the chain of spells and abilities (vercure, acceleration, verthunder, and then verfire- all linked together in a seemingly seamless flow of magic) she casts the first on him, not as potent as the last, but it would have to do.

UNluckily for Ed, health isn't his primary problem so much as chroma is, but Ziva doesn't know that either, and she'll need a moment to realize the spell didn't do as intended. ]

There. That should take care of that. [ She says with an exhale, turning away and ignoring the stench of burning plant as she sheathes her rapier once more. ]

[Ed looks down at himself as he glows from the spells...

...but doesn't feel any different. He raises his head up to give Ziva a flat expression.]

It didn't work!

[He wrinkles his nose from the stench of the burning vines. He's not going to complain. They're dead and he's experienced far worse smells. At least all he'd have to do here is walk away from it.

Too bad he couldn't.]

[ Ziva does not look impressed either, sighing. That's a tell. Approaching, she stoops down in front of him and gives him a look. ]

So then that leaves only one explanation.

[ Squinting, reaching out, she flicked him in the forehead, but then followed it up with a kiss in the same spot. ]

You overextended yourself. What did they tell us when we arrived, cub? This world runs on chroma, and it's a finite supply. Now then... give me your hand.

[ She orders, while holding out her own, sitting down and getting comfortable in a cross legged position. ]

Edited 2019-05-28 01:06 (UTC)

[ Ed's face blushed a bright pink and he waved his hand up to shove Ziva away. At the same time, the little boost in Chroma from that little kiss gave him a tiny spurt of energy, but not enough to do much with it.

Still pink in the face, Ed frowns at Ziva for a long moment before averting his gaze to the ground and reluctantly holding his left hand to her. ]

If you kiss me again I'm going to punch you.

[ Through Ed's reaction Ziva maintains her amused smirk, but once he finally relents and offers up his hand and threatens her the response is a heartfelt laugh. He looks properly flustered, but at least he's seeing reason.

She gives him her hand, holding it and letting him recover a bit of energy. ]

So blustery... This is the way of it here, sweetling. Better get used to it sooner than later.

I don't have to get used to it if I don't want to!

[ Technically he was right, though he had no idea how much he might come to regret that decision in the future.

For now, he was going to awkwardly sit there and hold Ziva's hand as his Chroma recharged. As flustered as he was, the feeling of the intense fatigue slowly going away was worth it. Once he feels like he can function well enough again, he yanks his hand back and pushes himself up.

His face is still a tad on the pink side. ]

You think there are any more left?

Then you'll be right back to where you started the first time we met. Tsk. Don't let your stubborn streak be your undoing, cub.

[ She won't rehash the actual argument, she's sure that simply referencing it is enough. He could get used to it or not, but just like magic existing on this world and others he'd find it to be his new reality completely heedless of his ability or inability to cope.

She looks about, thoughtful, then tilts her head, ears twitching and swiveling as she listened. ]

Probably, but it seems the worst of the commotion has died down. I'm certain that other Moonblessed are out and about handling things as well. I can attest for at least one of them being more than capable.

[ She meant Alisaie, a good friend from her own world, albeit one with no memory of their companionship. ]

So don't even think about running off to play hero again before you've had some proper rest.

[ That tone is all too knowing, or presumptuous if he'd prefer, as though coming from someone speaking from personal experience. Strange to be the one warning against such recklessness instead of being the one warned. ]

[ Ed just responded with a low grumble. Accepting that magic was a legitimate thing might have damaged his pride a bit, but it hadn't put him in any uncomfortable positions. Moonlacing was another thing entirely and if he could find a way to avoid it, by God was he going to.

Just not now, apparently. ]

That's good to know.

[ Ziva might be too flirtatious for his liking, but it had nothing to do with her judgement of other people. He'd take her word for it. It's not like he had much choice in the matter at the moment.

Ed shot Ziva another glare. ]

I know what my limits are!

[ Says the guy who just about collapsed because he didn't know his limits. ]

Geez, you're like mother hen! Lay off!

I see, so then you collapsed on purpose. Right, then.

[ She arches an eyebrow, moving to stand.

Ed sees it as flirtatious, Ziva sees it as good natured teasing. In truth Edward carries himself as someone much too young for her to see as someone to really flirt with, thankfully for him, or he'd REALLY be blushing. She has, in fact, already begun to compartmentalize him into something of a younger brother position- that just won't stop her from teasing him from time to time. She will draw the line somewhere nearby, though.

She actually has to laugh at being called a mother hen, because WOW that's an absolute first. ]

Hmph. Not likely, cub. I'm no one's mother, but I have been doing this long enough to recognize a hot head when I see one. If you know your limits so well, stop bloody ignoring them.

SHUT UP!

[ Surely his response wasn't helping his case at all, but that was Ed for you. He started walking off in a direction away from the epicenter of the vines. As much as he wanted to prove Ziva wrong, he knew he'd just end right back up needing a Chroma boost and he didn't want another lecture from her that would probably come with it. ]

Overflow (Prismatica)

Mikasa ▶ ARRIVAL .001

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Let me know if you'd like a bit more to jump from

This works!

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Engineer ▶ ARRIVAL .001

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Zelda ▶ ARRIVAL .001

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Ziva ▶ ARRIVAL .001

Sorry I'm late! I lied I'm more sorry for all these edits.

I'm giggling with each edit I find pop up in my inbox. It's fine! <3

I swear I know how to write.......... some times!

English is hard. <3

The hardest

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