An Intrigued Imp Initiates Yuletide Rescue

[CertifiedRobotLover]

It was a cold night. Not to say that most nights weren't cold, but this one was particularly chilling bringing with it the deep, heaving sigh of Lady Winter. Ice crept up the trunk of the tree, clinging to low hanging needles, whispering sweet nothings into the boughs of the evergreen. Tomorrow there'd be snow blown about the forest, and with the rays of the early morning sun there'd come Gaians in droves, with laughter and songs, all to get their trees to celebrate the days of modmas and Christmas soon after that. Holidays were quite large in Gaia. However, the chill of the night spoke of other things than the merriment to come with the morning. It consorted with the shadows that sat beneath the tree, inky blackness that laughed an ominous warning to the world. Few could hear it, the old whispering of older spirits. But the one perched in the tree was a creature quite willing to listen to that which could not be heard, and did not like what she got from it.

A devil imp, strange ungainly creature with wings sprouting from her head. Beautifully elegant yet horrifyingly dark all at the same time. This imp was named Lunar Shinobi, for the two that ruled the night. She emerged that night to converse with the natural magics, an imp shaman who spent most of her days running a bar in Durem. As conflicting as it was, she didn't mind either of her jobs. One taught her a great amount of magic and the other allowed her to get drunk off her rocker on a daily basis. She was a devil imp after all, and as all devil imps, she followed a core motto. There are good times to be had, so get out of the house and have them. Also, legality may possibly be for suckers. But that's a debate between her and Leon, and it's for another time.

Tonight she was hill at ease, perched atop the fir tree, her wings pinned close to her back. She crossed her arms in front of her and stared in the direction of the Isle de Gambino. There was no good to come from that island on this frigid night. A black shape rushed from the direction of the island, hurling itself straight for her. She sighed and reached her hand out, catching another imp, this one in it's adorable doll like ball form. It grinned at her, and she frowned back. "Ah, Lu, dun give meh tha look. I did mah job and wentta lookin' for ye on the islan. There be da little green beans a comin' for mainland. Me thinks there-a just headin' for modmas."

She stared at him, her frown deepening. " Green Beans? What are you talking about?" The imp floated into the air and pointed down with his tail. Grunnies were quickly hopping through the forest, moving with meaning and purpose. "See? Da green beans! They-a come from da islan! To modmas they go!" Lunar sighed deeply and shook her head. She reached into her head, pulling a few circles from her hair, lightly tapping their razor sharp edge. " My good little friend, they are grunnies, not green beans. And while they are heading for modmas, I doubt that it's a good thing. Let's just kill them now, and ask questions later."

"I'm always up for-a good killin! Lets get 'em yeah!" Lunar flung her circular weapons towards the grunnies while her impish buddy flew down attempting to spear the grunnies with his tail. There were probably better ways to kill grunnies, but we're not here to suggest ways to kill grunnies. That's for a later occasion. For now, it was effective, as the imp had a pair of grunny heads that it dragged behind it on its tail. Lunar was unimpressed by the grunnies taken down by her circles. More moved forward to replace the ones she just killed, and these were angry at the site of their fallen comrades.

(( Enemy: Grunny
AC: 10
HP: 40 - 10 = 30 ))  

[CertifiedRobotLover]

" Woo hooo! I be killin and a throwin and a runnin' bout with da devil bunnehs on mah tail! The little imp cheered, yelping as one of the grunnies nipped at his tail. He screamed, flying over to Lunar, who was now on the ground, exhausting her supply of hair decour based weapony, in which she had an alarmingly large amount of. He rammed into her side, causing her to narrowly miss beheading a pair of grunny. She glared at the little imp, who grinned sheepishly. " Ah Lu dunnah be lookin' at me with da angreh eyes of angreh. I nah be meanin' to have made ye missed a chance to behead da bunneh. But lookeh mah tail! Da bunny wen a head and a nom nomd mah tail! Amma gonna be a bunneh!" He screamed, proceeding to freak out, flying in rapid circles around Lunar, who grabbed him and jumped into the air, hovering as the grunnies below growled at her.

" Calm down. Gambino changed the formula on these things, remember? Now the only way to become a zombie, grombie, or any such creature is by drinking an accursed potion from Skin Tight. Or, well, by going to Gambino himself. So, you're not going to stop being an imp any time soon." Lunar said steadily. The imp calmed down, and glanced from Lunar's now loose hair to the hoardes of imps below. "Well, if ah not gonna be undergoin any changins, then I still has regular ways a dyin' to beh worried bout. What do you suggest we do about da green beans? Lunar shrugged, and then a huge grin split her previously stoic face. The imp stared at her, then slowly scooted out of her eyes, content with not being close to a devil imp shaman with a grin on its face.

" What do you mean, what do are we going to do about the grunnies? When it down, smoke it out!" Lunar sang, stretching her arms. The devil imp stared at her, wondering if she had a good sip of her stock before she left her bar that night. Lunar adjusted her dress before landing in a spot relatively clear of grunnies. They turned and hissed at her, their crimson eyes made more menacing as they reflected the mystical light of the large moon that loomed overhead. The light bounded off their mucky jade colored fur, casting the entire area in a dark green glow, making everything appear pale and sickly, a moving force of plague that was, for some reason, determined to rip apart the gleeful gaians attending Modmas.

Lunar quietly murmured the old words of the imps, the ancient language rolling off her tongue, swirling through the air around her, charging the air with an electric spark that glowed, fighting off the ill green and restoring the pristine of the snow and natural forest. Runes floated at her hands, and then the grin that had highlighted her face grew, and fire errupted at her fingertips. She lunged forward, grabbing a grunny and setting it aflame. The hoarde shuddered and the fight resumed, flame and sparks against decayed fang and claw. Lunar coughed, jumping into the air to clear herself of the smoke created by her attack. The grunnies moved as a solid mob, a green wave that promised death if she fell into it again with out better plan of attack.  

[CertifiedRobotLover]

The two imps wove through the trees, a hoard of grunnies chasing after them, eager to tear them to pieces. The imps paused at a large boulder, landing on top of it as the grunnies chased after them. They looked at eachother, and then down at the somewhat demonic rabbits. They weren't particularly difficult enemies, fighting them was like swinging a mace through a room of balloons. Singly, they went down pretty easily, but there were so many of them, it was like trying to stop a snow stop by melting snow flakes one at time. Fun, but in the long run, just sort of stupid.

There had to be some better ways to kill mass amounts of small, semi cuddly creatures. The calvary arrived around this time, with a second pair of imps flying in, one of them carrying a large white fan curled within its tail. Lunar caught it as the fan as hurled through the air to her, smiling as the trio of imps now floated around her shoulders. "What's the plan for tackling the grunnies?" One of the new imps asked, yawning and stretching her wings. An imp squeaked as a grunny managed to leap into the air, grabbing it's tail and hanging in the air. Lunar moved forward, slashing the grunny in two and prying the head off the imp's tail. " We oughta be goin' at 'em with a bang ana pop ana wooosh!" The first imp announced, puffing his chest up and growling at the grunnies.

Lunar rolled her eyes and chuckled, unfolding the fan. "Straight magic is all well and good, but let's try amplifying it with a tool shall we?" She remarked, runes sliding down her arm and imprinting themselves upon the fan. The second imp stared at her, scooting back a few inches. "How about you play with magic while I just move over here." She said, and then flew down, wrapping her tail around a grunny's neck and pulling up into the air, squeezing its tail as tightly as she could. Lunar pulled her arm back and flung a swirl of winds down towards the grunnies, slicing apart a large group of grunnies that were close to the boulder. Lunar beamed, having finally found a suitable method of attack.

"Can we not be doing this whilst I am in the way?" The still damanged imp complained, a grunny head still clinging to his tail. Lunar rolled her eyes, and took to the air, leaving the imp to find for himself. She flew over the hoarde of grunnies, flinging her wind blades at them whenever she thought she could hit a large enough group without getting herself within their range of attack. Behind her, the other three were dive bombing the grunnies, rising with pierced bodies attached to their tails.

(( Enemy: Grunny
AC: 10
HP: 30-11=19 ))  

[CertifiedRobotLover]

A sharp pair of screams drew Lunar's attention. The "calvary" were currently desperately hovering over the grunnies, trying not to get bitten. The female imps wing had been bitten and torn, and the male imp had a large gash on the side of his face. Plainly these two were not as skilled in battle as her heavily accented ally was. Both she and he swerved back to join the injured imps, pulling them up into the sky. "Ye both be unfit fuh battle with-a da green beans. I thinks ye need to be gettin' outta here." He said, throwing down a pinecone at a grunny that jumped too close. Lunar nodded, and snapped the fan close, drawing runes in the air. A portal shimmered into view. "Don't close it yet, we'll send someone else to help." The female imp choked as the two flew into the portal. Lunar and the remaining imp looked at eachother and shrugged, diving down and returning to battle while the imps fetched whatever they needed to grab.

Lunar threw another wind at the grunnies and yelped as one lept up and bit her in the arm, shocking her into dropping her fan. The green beasts swarmed upon the weapon, tearing it to pieces. Lunar stared with a mixture of shock, surprise, and respect. The creatures had enough presence of mind to not just go after her, but to attack her weapon and in doing so cut her threat to them significantly. "Careful! Ugly things can strategize!" Lunar announced, leaping into the air and flinging fireballs down at the creatures again.

"Shinobi!" A shout echoed from the portal. Lunar flew up towards it, catching a large crescent shaped blade that flung itself from the portal. She grinned, lightly running her fingers over it, and waved to the portal. She opened her mouth to thank the imps within the portal for her blade, when another shape came tumbling out. A small wyvern flew in a circle around the imp shaman, causing a string of untranslatable words to fly from her mouth. The portal snapped shut, elicting more angry phrases gushing from Lunar.

The wyven stared at it's master, shocked and somewhat displeased. ".... Sorry Arcayn. Alright then, get the grunnies boy! Get 'em!" She ordered. Arcayn nodded, diving down to get ahold of a tasty looking grunny while Lunar flung the blade like a boomerang, slashing through the hoard that was, luckily, seeming to get smaller as the trio fought against them. Arcayn suddenly stretched his wings as far as he could and arched his head back. The wings provided the balance the little wyvern needed to unleash a massive fire cloud, which both Lunar and her imp associate avoided with a quick leap into the air. The fire cleared and only a few grunnies remained alive. Lunar grinned at patted Arcayn. "Good boy. Now let's finish this."

(( Enemy: Grunny
AC: 10
HP: 19-18= 1 ))  

[CertifiedRobotLover]

Lunar had learned a valuable lesson. Baby wyverns may be small, cute, and completely huggable, but the little things could certainly fight. She reclined on a singed tree branch, all leaves having been wiped from the nearby trees by the wyvern's fireball, and was wiping the residue of grunny guts and blood off her crescent shaped blade. The clearing was encircled by a magic barrier, glowing a delicate lavender color with impish runes running through it. The remaining few grunnies ran frantically around the barrier, trying to avoid the baby wyvern that was now currently playing with them, occasionally pouncing one and killing it before returning to the "hunt."

The impling ball hovered near Lunar, yawning as he watched the wyvern. " Aint that a little mean ta be keepin' the green beans in da cage jush so that they a die when Arcayn catches 'em?" He asked, turning his attention to Lunar, who was slowly tracing runes along with blade with her finger. She shrugged, and looked down at one particularly unhappy grunny, who was sitting at the edge of the barrier hissing, growling, and trying to break it. " Just one grunny can make modmas very unpleasant. I don't think we should let any of them go free." Lunar said, carefully attacking the circular blade to a backstrap.

"Besides, Arcayn is having fun." Lunar said, watching the little wyvern exciting blow a small fireball at a grunny, setting a pile of leaves on fire. She took a deep breath, and began to meditate, communing with the spirits once more to see their thoughts on the grunny invasion. The imp looked at her, and then curled onto a branch, waiting for the vision to be over. It was never a good idea to bug an imp shaman when they were talking with the spirits. Even Angel imp shamans, goody two shoes as they were, got viscious if they were disturbed during a trance. It was important that they get all the information the spirits were willing to give, and most spirits were tight lipped so every little thing was valued. If you stopped an imp shaman before they heard everything... well.... being turned into a frog is the best case scenario.

Lunar sighed. The spirits were saying nothing pleasant. Warnings rippled through the trees in steady waves, each of them mentioning a similar phrase. Modmas. They also mentioned Gambino, which confused Lunar slightly. Ever since the rejected olympics, most devil imps served the Gambino family quite loyally, scurrying through the air to do little tasks. Having met him a few times herself, Lunar found Johnny Gambino strange, eccentric, and perhaps egotistical, but she had never quite seen him as the type of man to go after something so well meant as modmas with such dark and evil creatures.  

[CertifiedRobotLover]

Lunar sighed, standing up and stretching her wings. The spirits had given her all the information she cared to listen to. Much of what they said involved a lot of fighting and a great deal of trouble involving Gambino and Modmas. There was hope, in that most of the places were grunnies were being released had other Gaians fighting them as well. It was a wide spread battle that would probably only go down in the history ledgers of the imps and newspaper tabloids. Lunar glanced over at her imp friend and sighed. " This battle is almost done, but more are beginning. Go back to my house and recover for me more weapons and other objects of impish magic. If I can channel runes on it I can fight with it." She ordered.

The imp nodded and flew off as quickly as he could, heading straight for Durem. Most devil imps had made their homes on the Isle de Gambino, but Lunar was a special case, living happily in Durem. She even had a profitable business there, even if it was soon to be in the middle of being renovated. The imp soared over the lush lands of Gaia, smiling at the snow fall that was barely beginning to grace the towns and fields.

Lunar sighed, landing neatly on the ground. She watched Arcayn chase the last grunny around, smiling a little at the amusing site of the ungainly wyvern managing to keep up with the fleet little zombified rabbit. She rubbed the back of her neck, realizing she probably should've worn something a bit less... dressy. It was too late to tell her imp friend to bring her back some clothes. She was neither going to fight in what she was wearing or she was going to have to use imp magic to bring herself some more suitable attire.

" Arcayn, stop playing. It's time you went home." Lunar said calmly, motioning for the wyvern to finish off it's prey. Arcayn made some strange little grumbling sound in response, and then bounce the grunny, taking it out with a breath of fire. Once it finished killing the final grunny, it took off into the air, in the same direction as the imp flew earlier. Lunar took to the air herself, flying slower in search of a sign of disturbance.

((Enemy: Grunny
AC: 10
HP: 1-8=0
DEFEATED ))  

[CertifiedRobotLover]

Lunar landed neatly in a small meadow, folding her wings in and leaning on a tree stump. She sighed, producing her hair weaponry and pulling her hair up, sliding the deceptive decorations into her hair. She slowly pulled her hair into loops, carefully getting most of it piled on top of her head. She sighed, stretching. The grunnies had been a long and rather exhausting battle. And yet the spirits were telling her that there was more battle to come. Lunar took a deep breath, and realized that it would be better to take precautions now and defend herself against injury than it would be to wait until she was hurt and heal herself.

She quietly stood in the middle of the meadow, her head bowed and her hands clapsed in front of her. She murmured a strange and melodic language, runes appearing and disappearing in wisps of air. She slowly raised her arms into the air, and took slow steps forward, before a carefully timed spin. She danced lightly across the meadow, drawing the runes after her. She moved in a circular motion, with large runes appearing on the ground every so often. Finally she returned to the center of the gove, the runes forming a circle around her. Lunar raised her arms again and welcomed the magic of the stars to bind with the magic of the imps. Small bubbles began to circle around her, and steadily Lunar lost her physical body, standing as a spectre formed purely of the binding of two magics.

"There we go, I love when spells from different peoples bind together. I was so worried that it wasn't going to mesh well... Lunar remarked before a hand rushed through her torso. She stood still for a few moments, glaring rather angrily at the hand. "Excuse me, but some people ask before shoving their hand in a woman's torso." She said, turning and and hitting the individual as hard as she could, pushing them back. She stared in surprise as the lab tech rose from the ground, slightly roughed from the hit but basically fine. She winced and stepped back. "Oh lovely. Round two I presume."

(Enemy: Labtechs
AC - 12
HP 60-3 57 )  

[CertifiedRobotLover]

The labtech was not happy about being hit. No, Lunar figured there was a huge list of things that would've been better to do. She could've, invited him to tea, or randomly started dancing, or even casting a spell to cover him in enough cream cheese to satisfy the entire city of Barton for years to come would've been a better idea than hitting him. He would've been far less ma.d Or, at least, he would've been equally bad, but buried in that much cheese would've given lunar the chance to get away and strategize. As Lunar contemplated her actions, the lab tech turned around, and hugged a tree trunk. "um... Go green?" Lunar asked, and then squeaked as the labtech lifted the tree from the ground, swinging it at her.

The imp quickly jumped into the air, gasping in discomfort as the tree swung through her legs. Just because it didn't leave damage or hamper her any didn't mean that it didn't hurt. She flew higher, watching as the labtech moved to another tree and pulled it from the ground, throwing it at her. How the hell did Labtechs get that strong? From what she had learned, most labtechs were just scientists that lurked about in G-corp all day. She thought they did experiments that created things like the grunnies, but had no idea that the labtechs gave themselves superstrength. She disappearing from site, taking advantage of her currently spirit status.

She had to hurry and get more weaponry in order to take this guy out. An ally would be great. Lunar opened a small portal, and peered into it. She could clearly see her little imp friend in her home, picking up weapons and tossing them into a bag. "Hey, grab my gimpi potion, won't you?" She whispered into the portal. The imp jumped and swirled around. Lunar quickly raised a finger to her lips, signaling for him to keep quiet. It didn't work very well. "Luna! Where ya? I see a little itteh bitteh porta but I dunnah see ya." The labtech threw the tree stump through lunar, narrowly missing the portal. Lunar made herself visible again and twitched. " Just bring it!" She said, closing the portal and diving down.
(Enemy: Labtechs
AC - 12
HP 57 )  

[CertifiedRobotLover]

Lunar weaved through the air, avoiding the trees. It seems that the labtech didn't enjoy her disappearing act either. She blinked, realizing that a great chance lay before her. She climbed up into the sky, before spiraling down towards the ground, tucking in her wings and picking up speed. She opened her wings again before she hit the ground, lifting herself up slightly and slamming into the labtech, throwing him several yards were a couple of trees stopped his movement. She lunged forward again, throwing impish magics at the labtech, shadows jumping from the ground and winding themselves around the now struggling and angry scientist. Lunar landed in front of him, tilting her head.

"Hey, stop! I just want to talk for a moment, before you resume attempting to rip my head off." Lunar said, which only earned her another glare from the labtech. " Don't get your panties in a bunch Mr. Labtech. Why is Gambino sending his hapless creatures and employees to stop Modmas? What did the mods ever do to Gambino?" She asked, crossing her arms and glaring down at the labtech, who just started laughing. She took a step back, staring at the Labtech with surprise. She had expected him to get mad again, not to laugh. If he had gotten mad, then he was just a fury fueled genetically enhanced super soldier. With him laughing like that, he was just an industrial sized barrel of crazy sauce that was somehow molded into the shape of a super soldier.

Sensing her magic weakening slightly, the labtech burst from her bindings and ran at her, preparing to attack her. Lunar snapped from her stupor and bulled her ring blade from her back, and went to fling it at the labtech like a frisbee. However, before the labtech managed to get a hold of her a large grey shape fell from the sky and threw the labtech back into the meadow. A Gimpi imp smiled at Lunar, saluting half heartedly. "Hey, Shaman." The gimpi then ran into the field, hitting the labtech with a speedy kick to the face.

(Enemy: Labtechs
AC: 12
HP: 57-9=48 )  

[CertifiedRobotLover]

Lunar beamed, excited to see the gimpi. " I thought I told Riley to bring the potion, not to open it and send you here." The gimpi shrugged, jumping away from the labtech. "Can't expect much from Riley mum." Lunar giggled and swung her blade around, watching the labtech slowly get up. "Arthur, I'll keep his attention on me. You concentrate on getting in there real quick and hitting him, then moving away, mmkay?" Lunar said. Without waiting for any agreement from the gimpi, she ran forward, moving her curved blade in a downward slash. The labtech blocked the blade, and then threw a couple of punches of his own, all of them sliding through Lunar's body, causing her minor pain.

Arthur took flight, circling the meadow as quickly as he could, and then swerving quickly into the fray, slamming his fist into the labtech's face and then leaping straight up into the sky to avoid any repercussions for the attack. Lunar smirked as she saw the labtech's shock, taking advantage of this herself to move forward with her blade again, hitting the labtech on the side of the head with the flat of her blade. The labtech shouted in anger, grabbing the blade and tearing it from Lunar's ghostly hands, flinging it across the meadow. Lunar yeeped, and then watched Arthur diving in again, this time knocking the labtech down with a hit from behind.

The labtech was still for a moment, before lunging forward, catching Lunar's ankle while it was solid and pulling her to the ground. Lunar yelped and then glared, shouting something back in the impish language, a large plume of fire leaping from the ground and striking the lab tech across the face. The scientist howled in pain, stepping away from the half present imp and trying to recover from the burn that seared into his face.
(Enemy: Labtechs
AC: 12
HP: 48-7=41 )  

[CertifiedRobotLover]

The labtech was getting angrier as the fight continued. Clearly they were doing damage, but it didn't seem to be enough damage to take the labtech out. They needed to do something else, to add a little omph to their attacks. Lunar ducked under another tree being swung at her, and pulled her moon shaped blade out of the ground from where it had been flung earlier. She turned and slashed into the tree, knocking it from the labtech's hands. Arthur flew in again, aiming another well timed kick at the labtech. This time however, the labtech managed to spin around and grab Arthur's ankle and flung him into a tree. Lunar gasped and used her wings to whip up the snow, clouding the labtech's vision. She flew over to Arthur and pulled him from the tree. "Are you okay Arthur?" She asked, checking him over.

"I'm fine mum, let's just try to take down this weirdo. Just kicking him hasn't been working very well. We need something with more damage." Arthur said, glaring at the labtech that slowly stepped towards them. The labtech suddenly took off running towards them, pulling his fist back and getting ready to strike them. The imps waiting patiently, before jumping out to the sides as soon as he got close enough. Lunar called to the spirits of the tree, causing the branches to wrap around the labtech, constraining him. Arthur then moved in, rapidly kicking at the restrained labtech.

It didn't take long for the main to break free, throwing the broken branches across the meadow. The imps jumped high to the air, avoiding the labtech's suddenly spin and flailing strike. The labtech looked up at them and suddenly smiled. Lunar and Arthur shared a look of dismay, both of them realizing that the labtech's smile was absolutely anything but a good thing. The labtech flung needles into the air, and then pulled a large syringe out of his pocket, brandishing it like a weapon. "Careful Art! I don't like the look of that needle. The least it could do is turn is into glombies, and that's the least it can do." Lunar said, blocking the labtech's needles with her blade. She spoke to the spirits again, and the labtech found himself being flung across the meadow by a tree. He stood up, rubbing his arm while still clutching to the syringe.

(Enemy: Labtechs
AC: 12
HP: 41-10= 31 )  

[CertifiedRobotLover]

The imps were starting to have some serious trouble. The labtech had impressive speed and was now armed with a syringe filled with who knows what. Both imps had by now realized that if that syringe pierced their skin then they'd both be done for. In the best case scenario whatever was in that vial would just transform the individual struck into some sort of g-corp creature, in which Arthur would have no real worries, being that Gimpi couldn't be affected by transformation items like other species of imp could. Something about the combination of angel and devil imp dna protected the individual from transformation. Lunar however, had recently broken a curse that bound her into human form, and she could very easily be transformed.

Arthur suddenly dove down, grabbing the labtech from behind and hosting him into the sky. The labtech began to squirm, angrily shouting at Arthur. His words were blurred together, a gargly, broken collection of sounds that no one could possibly understand. Lunar listened to the gibberish pouring from this man's mouth, and felt a bit of sympathy for him. The poor man had clearly been destroyed by whatever experiments he had worked on. However, Lunar could not have Arthur let this man go. Clearly he had horrible things planned for Modmas, and with his strength and speed, the event couldn't last very long.

Lunar flew closer, grabbing the syringe from his hand and throwing it to the ground, speaking to the spirits once more, having them rise up and swallow the syringe. The labtech elbowed Arthur, falling to the ground as the gimpi dropped him. He pulled out a scapel and flung it, grazing Lunar's arm. "Hey! It's not polite to fling sharp things at people! Hasn't anyone taught you proper manners?" Lunar snapped. She reached back into her hair and pulled out a few razor discs, flinging them at the labtech. He howled as they pierced his skin, knocking him down.

(Enemy: Labtechs
AC: 12
HP: 31-5 26 )  

[CertifiedRobotLover]

( I roll then post)  

[CertifiedRobotLover]

((rolling, may not post the rp today))

(Enemy: Labtechs
AC: 12
HP:26-8=18 )