In Ravia, destruction is imminent. Many lives are being taken by the minute out in the streets, and doubly were those attempting evacuation. In the hotel where the conference was held, Princess Shiva shocked everyone by making an impact on the grandest stage imaginable in her display of wisdom for someone so young-selling an achievable future to audience fatigued by war and the constant tension between most of the super powers. Her chin raised with a furrowed expression, she's carrying the lives of the top percent in her hands like a super hero entrusted with the lives of the very future. Octorb in hand with beads of sweat rolling down her fingertips, she stares down the helmet-wearing Rogue who huffs and puffs in exhaustion. Rogue found out firsthand just how hard that orb hit, finding it difficult to endure the punishment with each hit. He attributed the strange development of such a dragged fight to Shiva's amazing combination of speed and strength as well as her precision, although he was able to dodge most of her attacks, he could feel the force from the air that bounced off the cut-like throws. Her coordinating and comprehension of the orb and ability to throw bullet-like strikes, and recall the orb with amazing control, he had to concede that he underestimated her greatly. He found it unlikely to maintain the same style he showed earlier on in the battle with dangerously close Shiva got towards having a breakthrough with the way she was nearly landing critical hits on him with each attempt. It's impossible for her to keep this up, the way she's been pressuring me means that she must also be running out of energy. All I have to do is outlast her and continually pile on the damage and she'll break...Rogue thought, clinging onto any hope for victory.
From Pharaoh Nefertina, Tsar Nikola and Sultan Ruhtab to the many other leaders of the world, all were in awe of the resolve the adolescent carried, their doubts washed away by her dazzling performance with her family relic. The octorb is the heirloom of the Octavio family, a thousands times more priceless than golden salmonid eggs that are seen as a delicacy around the world-despite being monopolized by some strange bear. What makes this strange orb such a devastating weapon? For starters, the orb appears to be perfectly spherical but upon further inspection that isn't the case as there are actually 8 different grooves engraved all over the orb to give it a rough texture. Those grooves are responsible for why the orb is able to break so aggressively on its spin and magically return to its user on command. Normally, an object launches wherever a person aims it and will travel in a linear path until it loses power or speed unless the user makes the effort to change its trajectory. Add in other forces like upwind and down-force and many others and that influences how a person aims, but with the octorb it is much trickier. With 8 different grooves, the orb is extremely sensitive to the slight air pressure and wind and will spin based on those circumstances. So, if it was to be thrown with Groove #1 at a clockwise spin of 20 mph, if the wind works against it, it can slow down the orb, whereas on Groove #2, that same wind would accelerate the speed of the orb. Also to take into consideration would be the orb's spin, and the angle at which it was thrown. As the successor to the Octarian crown, she had a natural affinity for both relics, but she knew from very young that the weapon she was meant to inherit was the tougher one, while her little sister had a greater affinity with the much easier gauntlets, hence why they trained to master them respectively.
Based on how dull his movements have gotten versus earlier when he seemed to be holding back, I think he's gone so long without much effort that he's worn himself down without going full power He underestimated me and ran himself into a corner and now he's looking to deal continuous damage to compensate for the inability to land a finishing blow. I'm the opposite...
While those two were focused on each other, that bought time for Dr. Sinclair to arrive on the scene and assist everyone. The doctor expressed her thanks to the efforts of everyone who fought to protect all the lives at stake, and went to work on helping the injured. Miraculously, there were no casualties for the "victims" of this attack, rather it was the attackers that saw casualties and severe injuries in contrast to the minor ones of the defense. After witnessing the disparity, Dr. Sinclair decided to split the staff and dedicated her efforts to tending to the severely wounded while the other half worked on the minor injuries. Even though they were the enemy and they caused such a ruckus, Dr. Sinclair's heart each time they gave her a teary smile with a nod of gratitude-much different from the jeers her colleagues received from the world leaders who were disgusted that a doctor of such caliber would lend her services to such unworthy patients. It's an overwhelming presence in the conference room as many turned of Dr. Sinclair and cursed her for her decision, but she continued her efforts-which those being treated offered their apologies and showed her due respect. To her, it didn't matter whether they were good or bad, people are people in her eyes, and no life should be forced to suffer for the mistakes made such as blindly following the wrong leader.
Only one fight remains and it laid in the middle of the conference room, all eyes turned to the princess who was still standing. A glance over to her exhausted retainers and the confident looks on their faces gave her a sense of relief, glad to see them pull through; all that is left is for her to finish business. At the next tick of the clock, Shiva and Rogue approach each other yet again for what may be the final time. Shiva sprints at him with orb in hand, treating it like an extension of herself as she throws it like she's throwing her set with the orb returning to her with each block her throws in response. Shiva bobs and weaves all the same as he returns with the same one-two combo. Tired of her showmanship, Rogue pulls out his gun and fires at point-blank range. Shiva cleverly flicks her orb in front of her to deflect the bullet, creating space immediately. Several shots are fired that all miss their mark, but not by his error. Each time he fired, Shiva did something more impressive than the last: using the orb as a shield, using the orb to knock something else in the way of the bullet, or simply dodge it acrobatically like only she could with twirls and flips while juggling. Luckily for her, no one was affected by the stray shots thanks to them all hitting something prior to slow them down. Unlike before where she had to worry about the other people in the room, now that everyone had been escorted to the farthest wall away from the windows and the center of the room, she could focus entirely on him. Dodging several shots in succession, she outlasts his clip and he's forced to reload. In that brief space of a few seconds, Shiva pounced on the opportunity and swooped in for a dunk. A drop from nearly out of nowhere, Shiva is a mere breath away from crushing Rogue with her one-hand slam, the blunt force of air that followed an indicator to him that if he was a moment slower on the reload, he'd be dead. Shiva might've missed on the dunk, but she wasn't done. As the orb slams the ground, she landed on her legs and free hand and did a corkscrew spin, using the strength in her hand to lift the orb and fire it at Rogue in mid-spin with the force of a rocket; the orb launches out her palms and slams Rogue in the midsection so hard he coughs up more than just air. Right away Shiva knew that was a critical hit as she crashes to the floor. Rogue drops his gun in shock and crouches on the floor, which gives Shiva a chance to end it. Rogue's instincts shout for him to evade, and without a moment spared, he extends the distance-just like Shiva anticipated. When he thinks he's gotten away, he looks to see Shiva punted the gun outside the building. Amazed, Rogue didn't process what she did, mostly because the pain in his stomach grew more intense by the second.
"That's one down." Shiva glared while spinning her octorb on her finger, warning Rogue that it'll only get worse the longer this drags on. She exerts an unbelievable pressure that Rogue compared to that of a queen, from her divine glow to her absolute air paired with her sharp movements. He didn't know much about royalty nor did he care for such politics, but after seeing how she fought, he felt the sensation to bow down to her and show respect, though he knew that would never happen. Shiva's suspicion grows while watching Rogue take too long in resuming the fight, and taking a couple steps forward, she narrows her eyes with anticipation. She knew that Rogue was armed with a trio of weapons, one of which she just disposed of. All that remained was his sword and dagger, and even then he was skilled in hand-to-hand combat so this fight could take longer.
The distance between them isn't gigantic, but there was considerable space for both to weigh the next move heavily as one miscalculation could spell death. Shiva glances over to her audience, spotting her patched up retainers and Pharaoh Nefertina with Handan as well; they all gave her positive looks encouraging her to bring the fight to Rogue. This is only the first fight of many fights to come in her future as a champion for change they said with supportive gazes, depending on her to finish the job. The only person cut out to beat this opponent and make a statement on the world stage is her, not another single soul can influence the world at this moment like she can. With hundreds of journalists in this very room witnessing this fight, everything recorded would become a tale to be told for years to come if she could somehow pull this off. All the pressure is on her to defeat Rogue now that his force was obliterated and he knew as well. Rogue has nothing to lose now that he's the last one standing in what would be a losing situation regardless. Even though there was a possibility that he could defeat the princess, he'd have to answer to a legion of arms that would all surely pile on him for the kill. In fact, the only reason nobody dared to interfere was because Shiva earned their respect and convinced them with her skills to entrust this lone kill to her; if she was serious about changing the world, she needed to demonstrate her resolve in a way that was worthy of conviction from the rest of the world.
The weight of such a declaration…
"Will be tested!" Rogue shouts unsheathing his blade and approaching her at an alarming speed, as though to get the jump on her while her guard is down. A horizontal swing that goes upward after initially getting dodged by the octoling, the sword collided with her octorb that acts as a shield; his sudden outburst left her so surprised that the only thing she could've done in that moment was defend. A quick succession of strikes are futile for Rogue, as Shiva acrobatically blocks every attack backing away with each try. The sound of the blade clashing against the orb echoes throughout the room, sending waves that vibrate through the ears of the audience and force some to cover their ears; even Rogue's movements dulled with each clash, working against him as Shiva's eyes shined a light. Swiftly in the blink of an eye, the sword in his hand twirled away from Rogue. The blade flies toward Shiva, and winding up her arm, she launches her orb into the sword, smashing it in midair and successfully disarming him of yet another weapon. This time, Rogue's stunned to retreat and creates a gaping space between them-cautious of a follow up move as he watches his blade crash onto the ground in halves.
"Two down." she announces, holding up her index and middle finger with a smug look.
Rogue shakes his head and holds up his fists in a battle stance, aware that it's too late to turn tail and run. If he could at least cause more distress by killing the princess then it was a mission accomplished. Both sides are careful staring each other down with their knees bent and their gazes sharp, chins lowered and their breathes in tune to their pulsing heart rates. Only a few seconds passed, but with the overwhelming pressure filling the room it felt like hours. Finally, the two cross arms again once their bodies shifted to action. Shiva's immediately on the defense this time around, deflecting every fist, elbow, knee, and kick thrown at her-all while dodging with her octorb still in hand; Rogue knew that with that pesky orb in her hand she'd be a nightmare to defeat, so before she could go on the attack again, he'd rush her in hopes that she'd slip up and show vulnerability. However with a quick breakaway, Shiva flings her octorb in the air, preparing for another unreal volley shot at Rogue, but his body grew accustomed to her antics and seamlessly does he evade the shot that leaves her open. A risky move she was aware of, Shiva wanted to take a gamble now that it was crunch time. She needed a victory, a convincing win that'd rally the world to her side, but she was also aware that there were other conflicts occurring at the same time. The sooner she could wrap this up and announce the good news, the better the morale booster. Rogue closes the distance in a mere heartbeat and with beady eyes now that the moment he'd awaited arrived, he unleashed. Shiva braces herself for the defensive battle and puts her arms up, using her elbow to guard her face after instinctively sensing bloodlust from Rogue and noticing his eyes targeting her head. Rogue lands a sharp strike to the kidney of Shiva only to be returned with a kick to the gut, but he catches it despite the stinging pain. That's no problem for Shiva though as she gets to show off her athleticism and twists her body to kick him in the back of the head-powerful enough that he drops her leg and she lands on her hands, doing a backwards double heel kick that hits the bullseye, but in that time that she lands the kick a flash of light crosses her vision that also has her stumbling. Rogue's reeling for a bit as once again, his helmet is knocked off cleanly. On one knee looking over at the exposed face, Shiva could only get a second's worth of a glance before grimacing in terrible pain as a gash forms with blood squirting from the exposed cut along her face. Rogue once again puts on his helmet, now most of the visor cracked and showing only his right eye; Everyone gasps at the blood the princess just spilled, and her retainers spring to their feet in a fit of rage, swearing to kill Rogue. After disarming him of two weapons and defending against him when he used no other weapons, it was frustrating that he waited until such a moment to bring out that knife. Shiva's calm however, holding up her hand to quell them; she saw the knife in his hands that dripped with her blood and could only shake her head that she allowed this to happen.
"This fight will only last a few more seconds." she declared, lifting her head high and wearing the slash on her face with pride. Rogue falls to his knees, blood leaking like a trail from under his helmet where his mouth would be; Shiva relaxes, realizing she finally had him where she wanted. "Internal bleeding." she analyzed, standing up straight holding her octorb and nearly out of breath. "Accept your fate and take this loss. Live to retire-no need to fight to your death." empathetic to the mysterious opponent who had such resolve to willingly make the world his enemy and gall to attack her, more than anything, she hoped that he could have a change of heart and preferred to spare his life-aware that one of the rules a monarch must learn is the value of life. Rogue looks up to Shiva and holds up his middle finger; Shiva shakes her head in disappointment and winds up to throw the octorb again, raising her left high and putting all her weight on the right, her eyes lift up for only a second as she makes one final pitch, "Eat this!" she utters, launching the octorb at Rogue. Rogue jumps to his feet and hops over the sinking octorb, making a full sprint for Shiva all while bleeding out-knife in hand for one last ditch effort to take her down. Shiva crosses her arms and leaves herself open, much to the cries of displeasure by the others, who were all unaware of what she was planning. Rogue could see the target on her chest, the place he needed to stab to kill her immediately. Everyone's mouths dropped, as the next seconds play in slow motion. The octorb bounces off the ground and ceiling several times to create a spin, one so strong that the trajectory reverses with the orb speeding back to its owner like a bullet. Rogue's arm raises ready to pierce her heart. Shiva closes her eyes and opens her palm, receiving the bloodied orb. Rogue's stunned, looking at her with a blank expression as he recognizes the blood on the orb. Shiva opens her eyes and immediately looks at the spot where he's wounded. Rogue's head lowered, his body staggering and his hands twitching as he reached for the spot where he's wounded. Missing from his body was a chunk of his torso, that splattered on contact with the orb. He falls over into the bits of flesh left behind by the octorb, a pool of blood forming. The princess of Octo Valley breathes a sigh of relief and nearly fell to her knees, only supporting herself with her orb. Everyone cheered at the top of their lungs and rushed over, the first to embrace her being her retainers followed by the pharaoh. A day that would forever be remembered as a historic moment in history, many leaders-Nefertina included-regarded this day as the day Inkland was saved by a lone princess.
Where one fight has drawn to a conclusion, another is only beginning. Down under in Octaria where the Resistance are fending off the second wave of Candice Octavio's army, bodies and ammo fly from left to right, explosions detonating simultaneously followed by the anguished cries of the recipients. At the moment, the 8 Legs and company were in the thick of battles against the powerful royal guards and their squads. At the front of the defensive attempt by the resistance, the trio of Denise, Roujou, and Ayumi are currently handling Darwin and his forces; Darwin is trying to unclog the blockade but it's proving difficult to do under his command alone. With the likes of Roujou and Ayumi taking down dozens of soldiers seamlessly, Darwin's forced to have the abundance of his available troopers abandon using the machines and help out the poor lads getting mopped by a pair of ninja. Darwin himself has his hands full with Denise as well, as despite her careful and friendly nature, she was ruthless in her attacks. Denise laughs the entire time she's dishing out attacks, more attributed to the madness that so many people are dying as they clashed and she couldn't rush to their aid, or maybe she was just plain crazy, either way, Darwin struggles to find any breathing space from her onslaught of attacks. Up ahead closer to where most of the queen's forces are the other battles, and at the moment the resistance had the upper hand thanks to breaking their formation and scattering everywhere like a virus. Weapons spark as the duo of Sigmund and Faye work in sync against the might of Finn, who did well in holding them off despite the rest of his forces concentrated on containing the abundance of resistance members filing in. Midst the discord, Finn's accuracy left the pair on their toes-his swiftness and sharpness on the lunge an issue for them, even with all the distractions set up; if he ever got more room to maneuver, they could face danger far beyond imagination. Now they understood why they were hand picked by the queen to serve her personally, for they seem to defy expectations. The third and most perilous of the battles fought on the march to Inkopolis is the showdown between Gnarby of the Elite force and the joint efforts of Porter, Veronica and Pastelle. Several tactics were switched in a matter of seconds going up against the powerful Gnarby, from the trio attacking him in succession without a moment to rest to simultaneously attacking him, to even joining together with combo attacks. Everything they threw at him, he had an answer for. Evasion and heavy hitting, Gnarby lashed at them with hard hits that showed them down time and time again, and surely, after each hit, he found room to plan a counterattack that would take them down in one fell swoop. Aware of what Gnarby might be up to, Porter switched up their plan and assumed a role at the forefront, prepared to meet Gnarby head-on. Much like the 8 Legs are facing the Royal Guards with the strongest of resolve, so does their leader.
The corridor that leads to the Queen's throne felt endless, their footsteps echoing the deeper they go and their hearts pumping louder; almost at their final objective, they all had butterflies in their stomachs now that the big moment was upon them. Up ahead are a pair of golden doors with diamonds encrusted and initials of Queen Octavio, leading the crew with his shoulder, Jonah smashes through the doors and into a throne room where the queen and her personal guards await. A surprising development, the trio of grand elites protect their queen and her advisor, their weapons pointed at the intruders. There's a chill in the air as both sides stare down the other. Candice has several questions buzzing in her mind now that she's been confronted by the leader of the resistance, a thorn in her side for many years. In her mind, she screamed "Why now" at the situation presented. Why is it that they chose this moment to pick a fight with her? Wasn't this morning already enough of a reason to quit? Why do they keep pursuing her? And why is her husband with them? Disturbed by the sight before her, she looks over at Sky and raises her eyebrows in surprise, "You..! What are you doing here!?" he shouts in shock, recognizing the inkling as one of Shiva's personal friends; Sky's bloodshot eyes terrified her majesty. For a second she nearly let down her guard because of the familiarity she had with the girl, but after such an intense glare, she knew that Sky didn't come for a friendly greeting.
Steam surges from Sky's grinding teeth that she bared like fangs, gripping her spear tighter. Now that her targets were before her, she wanted to kill them immediately. Glowing a bright sky blue, she channels midnight and sprints for them before Jonah can give any orders. Right away, Anzi responds and charges at the ferocious child. Sky roars pointing her spear ready for a lunge with piercing eyes, interrupted the moment she's about to fight Anzi. Pulled by the back of her shirt and tossed aside, Sky saw someone's arm sliced off cleanly followed by Anzi getting sent back to the queen.
"Captain Jonah...!?" Sky screamed in horror as the man lost his right arm; immediately Sky regretted her loss of composure.
Jonah sighed and flexed his arm to stop the bleeding, "There's nothing wrong being upset, but you can't lose you head now of all times, kid." he said walking over and patting her on the head; "Your time to die isn't now. Remember that, okay?" he said softly with a smile.
Anzi held forearms, "He's still as strong as I remember…" she muttered under her breath loud enough for Weiden to pick it up.
Weiden narrows his gaze with disgust at Jonah, "To think the heretic who once served has returned to the mother's nest. Are you looking to meet the same fate as Hatu?"
Jonah and Sky clenched their teeth at the same time, but it was Jonah who answered. "I've come to save this nation from destruction."
"And your idea of safety is by taking my husband's side? He's the one who started this!"
DJ Octavio is a changed man who found a vision for the future of Octaria and knows how to achieve it in a way you could never hope to. He might be the catalyst for all the problems faced, but he's pivotal to turning this country around." Hachigo declares, stepping forward with a high head; the queen is astonished that the warning her guards gave were true-before her stood the legendary soldier who ran away from home.
Queen Candice's lips quiver in shock, "Au-"
"Don't you dare address me by that name!" Hachigo shouts with spite, pointing her finger at the queen.
Weiden and Anzi step forward with a glare, "How dare you show such disrespect to her highness!"
"At ease, our traitor here has her reasons." May shrugs her shoulders, aware of the legends of Hachigo.
DJ Octavio glares at the man standing beside his wife, feeling his blood boil all the more while watching how closely he stood next to the queen. No valor, no confidence, what is it that Candice saw in such a puny man? While away, what is that such a coward did to charm his wife? How in the world did someone like that arrive at such a position with such influence? The more he analyzed the situation and the cards at play, he noticed that the throne room looked rather empty. Where were her trusty members of the government? "What has become of this place? Where are the others? And more importantly, how could you allow such a weak man to stand beside you? Did he prompt you to do this? Is he the reason you've become a mad woman ready to drive her people to destruction?" his hateful tone exasperates the more questions he asked, his intense gaze simmering as he awaited a response from the queen. But all he got in return was a smug expression from her; Jonah, Hachigo, Sky, and Han all assumed a battle stance in anticipation for the queen's response.
Candice Octavio takes a side glance at her trembling man who was nothing more than a tool to be used by her. DJ Octavio was right that Charles was nothing more than an outlet for pleasure and frustration, a proxy to handle her responsibilities and a body to listen to every word and thought she had to say. He couldn't fight, he couldn't lead, and most certainly he couldn't manipulate anybody, especially a woman of a superior standing. "Pinning all your mistakes on him? Are you angry that I found someone while you rotted in prison for your failures? Men will never change. Jealousy is all that fuels you. When you lost your first ever war to the inklings on the surface, you swore to take revenge. War and conflict, one by one, you failed yet again. You take me to be your wife, hoping to continue your bloodline, and still fail in only producing daughters!" Sky felt her blood boil with that comment, knowing well that Candice had a strained relationship with her daughters; "And now, after coming back to a thriving nation that grew in your absence, you try to take your frustrations out on poor Charles over here? Goodness, how pathetic!"
"You call this thriving?" Han came forward; "I listened to all you had to say in those meetings, and the entire time I felt disgusted! Kidnapping your own people and turning them into fuel for weapons, continuously brainwashing civilians to hate and become soldiers-something that should've ended with this man!" Han points to DJ Octavio; "You say your nation is thriving, and yet you're so greedy to yearn for more? You speak of the king's jealousy of the inklings yet you follow in his path and hold such a grudge. At least he changed! He's working alongside those he once despised all for the sake of rebuilding this society."
"Ah, the ninja. You were very helpful in your role as a scout. If it wasn't for you, maybe Hatu would still be alive. Maybe poor Abraham wouldn't have died the way he did. Such a futile plan you all had, it was so easy to get the jump on you with how predictable you are. Your elders were fools to send someone like you."
All of their faces darkened with that low blow thrown. The group knew how much it hurt Han and squad to feel responsible for the deaths of such comrades, and to hear it from the mouth of the culprit made it all the more insulting to their names. Han clenches his fist, "I believe enough has been said, right captain?"
Jonah looks at his missing right arm and then gives a nod, "Let's raise hell."
"Attack them!" Candice shouts, noticing the air around them change immediately and on command, the trio are on the job to protect her majesty; Charles wants to run, but Candice grabs him by the shoulder and makes him stand at her side, for she wanted him to witness their defeat and understand that this would be the first of many on their journey to the surface, their journey to ruling the world.
As planned, Jonah and the others picked their poison and began their battle against the Grand Elite guards. May finds herself with Han as her opponent, knowing from his intense glare that he is prepared to face death on this very death-a passionate gaze that the indifferent May couldn't help but respect as a warrior and willing to face him in battle, she assumes her battle stance. Anzi's surprised by the opponent who cuts off her path to Jonah, disgusted that the person who stands before her willing to shed blood is a fellow octoling; the hollow gaze of Hachigo is the opposite to the sharp glare of Anzi. Lastly is Weiden, who is met by one-armed Jonah and the spear wielding Sky Royale who both have a grudge against him that he could feel from the air they gave off. Split into their assigned groups, Team Octaria are prepared for their final battle!