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

Aqua and Ven (and Luna?)

[wavesinherheart]

For all that Aqua had most definitely felt better in the aftermath of a heated fight, it didn't take her too terribly long to get to Ven all the same. Longer than she would have liked, maybe, but once she finally arrived she wasted no time in casting Curaga on both Ven and herself (as well as any of their dream eaters that happened to be close enough).

She couldn't say for certain whether or not it would be enough to bring Ven back to consciousness, but it would at least take care of any actual injuries he had.

[raisethemoon]

Luna, for her part, had no healing magic of her own. All she could do was stand aside while Aqua worked on Ventus, occupying herself with getting a potion down Ursa's throat and then stroking her coat - the poor beast really hadn't looked well. The stroking got rather forceful as Luna looked over her unconscious charge, ears flat with distress and guilt, but the panda hardly seemed to mind.

Jumping in too

[hiptobe_eraqus]

In all the mess of the destroyed greenhouse, there was almost no telling where he should begin trying to help. But it was impossible to miss Luna's great blue mane, and then nearby, the injured forms of two of his students. He immediately made his way over to them, all three of his Spirits close behind.

For a moment, all he could do was stand there, feeling baffled as to how this had happened and guilty that he hadn't been there to prevent it.

First things first...Eraqus summoned his Keyblade, and cast curaga. That area-wide spell should at least help the injured Spirits not fixed with Aqua's first spell, if not Ven and Aqua themselves. If not...well, he didn't want to think about that just now.

[salvagedlight]

Aqua and Eraqus could probably both be thankful that Ven had hurt himself enough during training (and his journey) to have needed healing magic cast on him relatively often before - it meant his body was more or less used to it, and he could absorb all that magic pouring down on him without his body getting more or less confused and going into overload. His own magic affinity was likely a help too, slthough really, he probably did need it all, considering how close to the edge he was.

Wheeler and Linka were both scrambling around first Aqua, then Luna, and then Eraqus as they approached, cheeping worriedly as the healing magics were also cast over them and their motions only becoming more energized as the magic took affect on them. Wheeler, recognizing his other major guardian, slithered up Luna's flank and onto her back, while Linka tried to perch on Eraqus' head but missed her landing the first two times. They seemed to be urging the adults to do something about their daddy, but both Spirits went still as Ven stirred, groaning a little, the head wound sealing and the blood disappearing as the magic took affect. It didn't make him perfect, no, but it woke him up - he turned over after a few seconds, blinking his eyes slowly as the magic took more and more of an effect.

Then he smiled up at Aqua, the only one he could see immediately, since she was right next to him. "I've... been in worse shape."

[wavesinherheart]

Aqua couldn't deny that what Ven had said was more or less the truth. That didn't mean that she precisely enjoyed seeing him knocked clear across the greenhouse. Or knocked out, for that matter. It had been like she'd seen him sleeping again, and even though she knew that logically he couldn't have been that hadn't made it any easier to see him lying still and silent like he had been.

(Honestly, she was debating another Curaga, but the fact that Ven was awake and aware was enough for now.)

"That doesn't make it better," she answered, with perhaps more irritation than the situation really demanded. "We were all worried about you."

[raisethemoon]

From what Luna had seen, she didn't doubt that Ventus had indeed been wounded worse. That didn't exactly make it any better. The alicorn suppressed a shudder as Wheeler slid up onto her back, shifting her wings to better accommodate the Spirit as she leaned forward to peer over Aqua's shoulder.

"How dost thou feel, Ventus? How many feathers are we holding up?" She extended two primaries, after the usual Pegasus fashion.

[hiptobe_eraqus]

Linka trying to land on his head left Eraqus a little bit frazzled...while another time he might have tried to shoo the Spirit away, it wasn't worth the worry now, and he just let her perch.

Eraqus breathed a sigh of relief once Ven awoke again. Although he also definitely was glad that he had not seen worse, and did not want to imagine it right now. Luna's question about feathers almost seemed comical after everything else.

"What happened here?" His question was directed primarily at Aqua, since she seemed more awake and mobile than Ven at the moment. Aqua and Luna would be able to determine how Ven was.

[salvagedlight]

Maybe it didn't make it better, but really, Ven didn't mind. Better him than Aqua, after all - always better him than Aqua, and Luna. Linka kept fluttering and bobbing on Eraqus' head and Wheeler started bouncing up and down a little on Luna's back, both cheeping happily at hearing Ven's face, but he was pretty much only concerned with getting his Keyblade back. The weapon had disappeared into the otherspace it inhabited when he was thrown across the room; fortunately he only needed to be even half-conscious to summon it, and it appeared in his hand quickly as he pushed himself into a sitting position.

"Sorry, Aqua - but it's okay now. Luna, you've got too many feathers." And how were they able to move independently like that? "But if you just mean the big ones, then two." Looking around, he could tell everyone was battered, even their Spirits still - poor Ursa especially was looking worn around the edges, and he could tell his two didn't have their usual level of energy. That meant another Faith was in order, and he cast it quick. Since no one around was an antagonist, only the healing properties would activate, and they were strong.

[wavesinherheart]

It might have been okay, but that didn't make it right. Sure, there hadn't been any way to tell that things would end up quite so explosive until the very end, but that didn't change the fact that Aqua had been less than pleased that it had exploded in the first place. That Ven had been caught up in had only made things worse.

Still, she could say that the Faith didn't help. There would need to be some manner of discussion about the fact that they'd made more of an explosion than they'd intended to. The point of a battle was never to end up injuring yourself nearly as much as whatever you'd defeated, and they'd done rather terribly at that.

"It's better. I'm not sure it's okay, though."

[raisethemoon]

Luna folded her wing again, not quite as satisfied as she'd hoped by his correct answer. "There was a very large Nightmare," she said, choosing to answer Eraqus, "followed by an explosion of similar size. We admit the latter was partially our fault." She was a little angry at herself for that. Admittedly, it had been millenia since she'd fought alongside any more ponies than just her sister, but she still ought to have known better.

The alicorn gave a little shudder as Venus's healing spell passed over her, conscious of Ursa giving a sigh of relief somewhere behind her. "For that, we apologize deeply. Canst thou forgive us?"

[hiptobe_eraqus]

Considering last time he'd seen faith he'd been on the receiving end of its damage-causing properties, Eraqus couldn't help but flinch a bit when Ven cast it again. Luckily, this time it was just using its healing abilities. This should hopefully get at least all of their Spirits back to full energy. To that end, he gave up on the Komory Bat that was still bouncing on head.

So it hadn't been the Nightmare that caused this, but a combination of combative magic. This was almost worse to hear, because it meant it was preventable...and that people were not thinking about the consequences of their actions.

"...Yes." He sighed. Luna couldn't be blamed too much; the magic she used likely wasn't as much for combat. However, he knew that at least Aqua should know better, considering he had trained them all to recognize potential problems like this. "But it seems there is a hard-earned lesson here in coordinating large magical attacks."

At least it seemed like everyone had come out of it alive.