No More Monkeys Jumping On the Bed [Open]

[revenancenpcs]

Characters: An unwanted guest...and you
Content: BOSS BATTLE
Location: Fifth District Greenhouse
Time: Evening
Warnings: Violence. It’s a boss battle, guys. C’mon.

My, the Fifth District is nice this evening, isn’t it? Whether you’re just passing through or going Nightmare-hunting, you can’t deny that that greenhouse is a lovely feat of architecture. It might even distract you from the fact that you haven’t been attacked by Nightmares at all since you entered the district; an oddity, given that this area is usually very Nightmare-prone.

The peace and quiet doesn’t last long, however. There’s a rattle and an unholy screech undercut by the cacophony of shattering glass, and the greenhouse roof explodes outwards. You cover your face and turn away, waiting for the glass to settle before heading towards it. No matter whether you jump down from the broken roof or head in via the doorway, you’re greeted with the same sight: the upper half of a giant multicolored monkey. It screeches again; obviously it’s not happy to see you, and it’s about to make that known. Rearing back, it takes a swing at you with one massive paw.

Good luck.

[OOC: Welcome to your first boss fight! This is Hockomonkey and he doesn’t like you. Hockomonkey will be controlled by the mods, who will also determine (via dice roll - we’re kicking it D&D style) whether attacks land and how much damage they’ll do. We’ll keep the technical stuff on the back end - just write like you normally would. There is no tag order in this thread; however, we do ask that you keep up a relatively quick tagging pace, especially if your character teams up with any others for joint attacks or strategies.]

Comments

[trademark_skull]

What was making all that racket? What the hell was going on over.... there.

Oh.

Emizel stood in the doorway in bewilderment while Moxie used him as a shield as normal. Man that thing really was huge. Bigger than anything else he seen so far. This one might actually be pretty tough.

Err, maybe now wasn't the best time to gawk though. He had better do something before the Nightmare saw him too.

[shadearchivist]

Ienzo had thought to see if there was anything of use in the Fifth District; other than the garden and large numbers of dream eaters, there didn't seem to be anything of import there. He didn't mind using his time to try to find clues to what was going on.

When the large dream eater appeared, Lea jumped in front of Ienzo, barking. Ienzo, however, had no intention of staying; he could alert people more qualified to be - and interested in - fighting to deal with the threat. He pulled up his communicator to send a voice message out. "Everyone, there's a very large and very dangerous dream eater in the Fifth District. Assistance would be appreciated."

[dork_of_keys]

Sora didn't need the message to know there was an issue considering that he and his Spirits were on the roof when the monkey crashed through. Not on the glass, thankfully, but on one of shingled parts on either side of the glass. That was still close enough for a few little nicks from flying glass, but he was hardly concerned with that. Was that... Hockomonkey? The head looked familiar, but the rest of it...

There wasn't really any time to ponder it. There was only one reason Sora could think of that the damned thing was even there. He still didn't know what needed to be done with the Keyhole, but he was pretty sure they wouldn't be able to do it with one of the nastier Nightmares hanging around. Sora didn't give any further thought as he followed the Nightmare down, landing on the balcony near the ramp leading down to the ground floor. Jelly Bean bounced to a clumsy landing beside him as Bruce dove down behind them both.

This was probably going to suck...

[raisethemoon]

As the greenhouse shattered, there was a sudden blue glow from nearby. When the dust settled, Luna withdrew her head from behind her wing and dropped her shield. "An attack!" She had thought it strange that no Nightmares were about, especially on her first attempt to gauge Ursa's battle ability. "Come! Let us join the battle!" The alicorn leapt into the air, followed quickly by Noctis. Ursa blinked slowly after them, then began to lumber in that general direction.

"What is that?" Luna hovered over the broken roof for a second, taking in the sight of the...legless primate...thing. She only moved in for the attack once she saw it taking a swipe at Agent Washington; swooping down, she fired several bright bolts of magic at the Nightmare. "LOOKEST THOU HERE, FELL BEAST!"

[usedrapidspin]

Tails had been in the fourth district when the greenhouse roof shattered. Concerned when he saw the message, he ran through the door to the fifth district to see if he could help. Darting into the greenhouse, he stopped and stared. This Nightmare was...a lot meaner looking that the others.

[earthshatter]

Much like Ienzo, Aeleus had been taking a moment to explore some of the less-commonly visited districts. The Nightmares that had a tendency to show up were admittedly something of a nuisance, but not so much so as to really be any trouble. He hadn't quite made it out to to the Fifth District, but he wasn't too far away when Ienzo's message went out.

This time, there wasn't anyone to insist his duty was to castle first, and though even now he didn't exactly hurry towards the Fifth District, he did pick up the pace. It didn't take too long before arrived, coming up behind Ienzo as he did.

"Do you know what sort of Nightmare it is?"

[shadearchivist]

"It isn't one we've encountered before. It appears to be at least as large as a behemoth." Ienzo reluctantly let go of the idea of leaving; he was obliged to support Aeleus. "I don't know what sorts of magical attacks it will use, it seems to be fighting physically for now."

Ienzo trotted towards the steps, Lea at his side. At least they could get a better vantage point.

[dork_of_keys]

Unfortunately, the only question Sora would be able to answer about this Nightmare was, maybe, its name. The monkey he had fought was a lot more physical and a lot less floaty... and had a bizarro attack that involved turning into a hammer. This other one seemed to have detachable hands.

This was really going to suck. Especially since he and his Spirits weren't the only ones here. Fighting a horde of smaller Nightmares with a small army wasn't so bad. One large and powerful Nightmare was a different story.

Experimentally, Sora aimed a Fire spell at its head. How it responded to that would hopefully give him some idea of what to do next...

[buymedumplings]

BOOM.

Bolin looked up from his dinner, Ping and Mako Jr. tensing up as well. Whatever had made that sound probably wasn't a good thing. Bolin wondered if maybe a magic spell had gone wrong or some Nightmare action had gotten out of hand. He stuffed the rest of his sandwich into his mouth and jumped out of his chair with a muffled, "Come on."

Ping wiggled up to his feet and Mako Jr was quick to slide up Bolin's body and to his customary spot around Bolin's neck. The Junior Fire Ferrets assembled, Bolin headed down the backstreets towards the source. He wasn't even feet from the fifth district when his communicator went off and Ienzo appeared on the screen with news of a large and dangerous dream eater.

That...didn't sound good. Bolin almost slowed but, well, what else had he been training for but to fight more of these dream eater things? And, who knew, maybe they would need his help. Bolin wasn't going to back out of helping his new friends!

With renewed determination Bolin ran for the fifth district. The Greenhouse was already a chaotic mess of battle. The large dream eater (apparently some kind of giant boxed monkey) was in an out rage and swinging at people already. Bolin didn't hesitate, swinging his arms forward in a scooping motion as the earth around him pulled up and shaped itself into two large boulders the size of motorcycles. Bolin grunted with effort and sent them flying at the monkey.

[defrostedpride]

Even took one step into the Fifth District, got a good look at the brightly-colored who-knew-what wreaking impressive quantities of havoc, and nearly turned right back around and left on the spot.

What stopped him was a glimpse of Aeleus and, next to him, Ienzo. He was moving toward the thing, of course, instead of staying well back like a sensible magic user. Even facepalmed with one hand while summoning his shield with the other.

His Pricklemane bounced up to Aeleus, squeaking in greeting. Even followed somewhat more slowly.

[skysmirror]

Out on a Nightmare hunt of her own, Xion hadn't been close enough to hear the crash, but she'd caught Ienzo's message. Finishing off the last couple of Nightmares in the group she was fighting, she hurried over to the Fifth District, Axel and Barkley close behind. Hopefully she wouldn't be too late--she knew Ienzo wasn't the best at hand-to-hand combat, and if he didn't have any help...

She almost breathed a sigh of relief when she arrived and saw that a whole group had formed to take on the unwelcome visitor. Well, it shouldn't be much more trouble than a giant Heartless, but it looked like everyone was keeping their distance. Probably best to do so herself, and not get in the way of their attacks.

Axel looked like he had other ideas, though. He was ready to charge in, and Xion had to snatch him up before he could. Once he was secure, she decided Luna had a good idea and hit the Hockomonkey with a Thundaga.

[usedrapidspin]

Spinning his tails rapidly as Blaze darted into the fray without a thought, Tails lifted off and hovered near the broken ceiling. He couldn't attack that monster head on without a plan, but maybe he could spot a weakness or help if someone got hurt.

He frowned a bit. If only he had his dummy rings here.

But he spotted Xion nearby and quickly moved over to her. "Xion!"

I WALK AWAY FOR TEN MINUTES, JEEZ

[revenancenpcs]

Looks like the Hockomonkey is spot on with its first attack; the hand slams into Wash, bowling him over backwards. Luckily for everyone else, that's all it manages to do before a slew of counterattacks head its way. It screeches again as Luna's magic strikes its side, listing to the right. It recovers well enough to see Bolin's boulders coming and dodges those, only to put itself right in the way of both Sora's Fire spell and Xion's Thundaga. It screams as the two spells hit and falters for a moment, shaking itself off and taking in all the newcomers to the battle.

Unluckily for everyone else, now it's angry.

Those two floating hands detach entirely and multiply until there's more than enough hands to go around. Some slash at the combatants with claws; some go for heavy openhanded blows; a few even tear palm trees and large rocks from the ground and float over to hover over the fighters, attempting to smush them into the ground with their newfound weaponry.

TEN MINUTES IS ALL THAT'S EVER NEEDED FOR MAYHEM

[dork_of_keys]

Of course Sora would get one of the hands swinging a tree around like a club. Did Riku really end up fighting this thing before?

He'd have to ask later. Right now, he had to avoid being a splat on a tree sized club. This called for no small amount of acrobatics as he seriously doubted he could block or deflect such a strike. Jelly Bean and Bruce were similarly occupied, at least until Jelly Bean cast Vanish on them both. Sora waved Jelly Bean off when it went to cast the spell on him. With its targets disappearing on it, the hand might go after someone else. Since everyone had a hand to deal with already, that wasn't a good thing. And where the hell had the body gone?

"Crap." Spacious as the garden was, it was a little two cramped for giant hands plus the people they were trying to crush to move around it. Sora considered trying to lure the hand he was fighting with outside, but somehow he doubted that would get him anywhere. Attempting to get it to hit another hand might not be out of the question, but he'd have to make sure the target hand's opponent didn't get hit too. Crazy, but possibly worth a try. And he had an idea as to how to protect whichever ally he dragged into this screwed up scheme.

The nearest person to him at the moment was Wash. This would be insane. Sora dashed over to the other hand, stopping underneath it and tossing a Fire spell at his own opponent to get its attention. When it swung at him again, he dodged as best he could while also tossing a Reflect in Wash's direction to hopefully mitigate any damage if the agent couldn't completely avoid the attack.

[raisethemoon]

Well, whatever Luna had expected, it certainly wasn't a disappearing body and a seeming multitude of independently floating hands. The alicorn banked sharply as one zoomed up towards her, but her larger wingspan made her rather less nimble than an ordinary pegasus; she wasn't sure she could turn quickly or sharply enough to evade the blow. Shooing Noctis away, she beat her wings furiously to gain altitude instead, directing a small storm of lightning bolts towards the approaching hand in an effort to deter it.

[shadearchivist]

Ienzo took stock of the situation and tossed a cure spell at Wash before casting reflect to dissuade the hand that was following him. Luckily it was not one of the ones that had taken up a tree, but he'd clearly have to destroy it if he wanted to make any progress. Judging by the number of hands, perhaps having more people present wasn't a real advantage.

[buymedumplings]

Apparently the elemental onslaught had not been as effective as Bolin had hoped. He cursed under his breath as soon as he saw the boulders miss.

Of course, then he had an even better reason to curse as the hand suddenly came at him out of nowhere. "Woah!" Bolin pulled up a rock wall to block with while Mako Jr leaped forward to shoot out bursts of fire at the attacking hand.

[earthshatter]

From what little Aeleus could make of the battle, it wasn't necessarily an advantage to have more people. It simply made the battlefield more cluttered. Everyone else, however, would need to deal with their own problems; ensuring Ienzo's safety in the long run was far more important.

A single swipe of his blade was enough to dissuade the hand that was following him long enough for his Spirits to grab its attention. It wouldn't keep it away for long, of that he was certain, but it gave him just enough time to move in on the hand that had been menacing Ienzo. If the Reflect hadn't been enough to dissuade it fully, no doubt the following blow from Skysplitter would help ensure that Ienzo had the space he needed to work effectively.

[bumbling_baku]

Tumble hadn't gotten the message, but had simply wandered into the area and heard the ruckus. Concerned, because he had met so many nice creatures and people here already, he bounded into the garden to see what had happened.

Slamming into the railing as he came to a stop, he tried to make sense of the chaos. Hands...slapping, swinging things around, generally hurting people. Not good.

Running for the closest person, he tried to dash attack the hand.

[skysmirror]

Fortunately Xion had gotten her spell cast before Tails could get caught by it. Then again, Thundaga was hard not to notice and her version of it was pretty localized. At least he knew enough not to go rushing in when he didn't know an enemy.

The help wasn't unwelcome, either, and she managed a smile. "I'm okay, Tails. Axel just wanted to jump in before he should."

Any further conversation was cut off by the Nightmares next attack. "Watch out!"

She jumped to doge, summoning her Keyblade. Fortunately this hand didn't have anything in, but she narrowly missed getting slammed into the ground. Axel jumped from where she was holding him in the crook of her arm, spewing fireballs at the new attacker, and Barkley huddled behind her, avoiding the fire and ready to Vanish them if needed.

[usedrapidspin]

Tails was faster than the hand swinging a tree at him and managed to keep out of its way, though he currently had to way to attack it unless he could get close. And he wasn't reckless enough to try without good reason. What he needed was to make it drop the tree. Maybe if he could make it swing too close to the wall...

Blaze came running back, spitting his own fireballs to help the fox out.

[defrostedpride]

Even seldom had occasion to regret his choice of weapon. This was not one of those occasions. He appreciated the ability to block the incoming hand that seemed determined to slap him into a wall. Unfortunately, turning to face it properly kept him from reaching Aeleus and Ienzo.

His Pricklemane leapt at the hand, worrying at it fiercely. Even focused his magic on the air above the hand, and a hail of icicles poured down on it. That should give it second thoughts, if it had thoughts.

[colorbymemory]

Namine had seen the warning on the communicator. If it really was dangerous, then she should stay home. None of the others would blame her if she did. They all knew she wasn't much of a fighter, and wouldn't want her to get hurt. She knew all this, and so logically should have settled for waiting until it was safe.

The less logical side of her (and possibly the side that proved Sora's assertion about Nobody's developing hearts) worried about the others. She knew that Aeleus wouldn't be far behind Ienzo and would help, and all the others could take care of themselves, but...Deciding not to let logic rule in this case, she picked up a few potions she'd bought and hurried out the door, Batty and Spot hot on her heels.

It didn't take her long to reach the Fifth District, and then she followed the sound of the fight to the others, ignoring the smaller Nightmares as they appeared. Batty and Spot took care of those that bothered them. Once in the greenhouse, she almost immediately had to dodge a flying hand.

Unfortunately it kept coming back, and while she could dodge and Spot helped with Vanish, they couldn't keep it up forever.

[unrecovered]

It looked like Wash's luck was going to hold. Unfortunately for him, his luck with this sort of thing was extremely terrible, and that being the luck that held meant that he hadn't managed to dodge fast enough and the hand hit him full in the chest, knocking the wind out of him and leaving him to impact hard on the ground near the door. He gasped and forced himself to roll, trying to regain his breath, his vision, his feet, anything to keep from suffering another hit like that.

Several things happened at once after that: his vision cleared and his breath returned quickly, almost as though he'd never been hit in the first place; the monkey-thing screamed; and he found himself looking at a separated hand over him with a large rock clutched in its grasp. He rolled again, this time to his feet, only to see Sora luring another hand towards him. What- Why- "What the fuck!" he gasped, throwing himself out of the path of the approaching hands. Eventually, he'd get to draw his gun and actually get into this fight. He just wasn't going to have that opportunity when people kept attracting goddamn extra monkey hands towards him.

That opportunity came sooner than he'd imagined when a quick glance around while he recovered from his latest dodge told him that Namine was here. It took a split second to process that - why the hell was she in the middle of a combat zone? She could be hurt! Something in his stomach twisted unpleasantly at that. No. That was not happening with him around. He sprinted the few short feet to where she was, pulling the rifle off his back. "Find cover!" he called, skidding to a stop and firing a short burst at the hand that was coming after her.