D6 - Ring
Harsh spotlights fall upon a fighting arena barely some 18 films wide, surrounded on all sides by a massive cage. A massive crowd cheers with the force of a dragon’s roar; each voice indistinct in the excited collective.
Cutting through the chaotic cacophony, is the amplified cries of an announcer; through some means of magic or magitek yet out of sight.
“LADIES, GENTLEMEN, AND EVERYBODY BEYOND! WELCOME ONE AND ALL TO TONIGHT’S RUMBLE! DON’T BE FOOLED BY OUR NAME, BECAUSE THESE FIGHTERS ARE ITCHING TO GO, AND WON’T GET ANY RESPITE UNTIL ONE OF THEM FALLS, OR THE BELL TOLLS!”
As the announcer gives their long-winded introductions, Izayoi examines herself. No sign of injury or dizziness, and no sign of aetherial memory tampering either. So then, how did the slender raen wind up here without remembering, if it wasn’t due to a head injury or magic? However troublesome, she knows what to expect; she’s been here before, and she seems to have swapped out her usual golden kimono for an equally flashy iridescent outfit and fox mask. A match then.
Before Izayoi can even check her pockets for her Ōfuda, they spring to life around her, the aether imbued beforehand all but confirming her preparations, even if she didn’t quite recall doing so. Well, not specifically for this, anyway.
With a wave of her hand, she makes herself vanish from sight with a glamour, running to the nearest door to the cage, and forming an illusory double to make it look like she blinked from one spot to another, and distract her opponent before the match even begins. As per the rules of this particular arena of course, the real me will have to go in too, as usual.
Izayoi grumbles as she realises the closest door is marked red; which with the blue accents on this prismatic white outfit, didn’t really match. As she’s about to switch to the other side, the announcer gives her reason to stay;
“IN THE RED CORNER! THE MISTRESS OF MYSTERY HERSELF, IIIIIIIIIIZAYOOOOOIIIIIIIIIIII!”
Izayoi scowls, and yells back.
“That’s not my stage name, asshole! Read the signup sheet!”
The announcer ignores her complaints, and continues.
“AAAAAAAND IN THE BLUE CORNERRRRR! THE BLADE OF GESAR, GANST- GANT- KANSEGSE! Is that how you-“
The inane ramblings of the announcer die out to Izayoi’s horns as she takes measure of her opponent. Rather than a hulking and brooding man, the likes of which fancies himself a mirror of the Oronir’s Khagan, Izayoi finds her gaze going far lower… to a woman shorter than she, but with several times as much muscle. In particular, what draws Izayoi’s gaze - and scowl - was the wool or fur lining to the other woman’s black lacquer armour. Was that fabric dyed gold? Was this burly idiot seriously stealing her thing? Or don’t tell me. She’s just wearing gold because it’s Oroniri yellow but extra.
While Izayoi was fuming to herself, the bell rings to start the match. She calms herself down, reasoning that this was a bit of an irrational reaction; afterall, there’s an idiot whom I KNOW is doing the gold outfit thing independently of me. Perhaps it’s just a big coincidence, and- WAITWHYISN’TSHECHARGINGATMYBODYDOUBLE.
The little blue-haired gym-and-war rat seemed to be entirely ignoring Izayoi’s carefully-woven illusion. It’s almost as if it wasn’t even there, and that the Raen wasn’t, in fact, hidden by those same magicks.
An axe to the side was all the confirmation Izayoi needed. The blow sends her careening a good few fulms to the side. Izayoi thanked the stars and seas, as well as this arena’s organisers, for the injury-dampening magicks woven into the arena; else she’d be in a lot of pain right now; and likely worse.
Though tumbling on the ground, Izayoi thinks quickly. She rights herself, and before she’s even on her feet, she’s pinning down her foe’s movements, and the Xaela’s position and direction. Easy pickings.
Izayoi focuses and unleashes magical covering fire to limit her opponent’s safe movements.
She channels aether through her fists to augment what would be a paltry and pathetic punch into an explosion of force. All she had to do was wind back right as the Xaela gets within… How the Hell did she get right up in my face? She was going half as fast as needed to get over here-
The Xaela’s boot collides with Izayoi’s gut. While she doesn’t get winded - much to her own surprise - she really feels the blow and the bruising that it’d leave.
That’s funny… She thinks. Isn’t that where I got shot by a rubber bullet by that big, hammer-wielding-
Izayoi hadn’t even blinked. The gold-clothes Xaela was immediately upon her once more, carrying an oversized hammer, midway through an overhead arc.
This is it. Izayoi winces. If I’m not concussed already, this’ll be how.
Izayoi shuts her eyes and braces for the blow, so tightly that her horns start ringing…
…the blow never comes, but the ringing becomes only louder and louder, even as she relaxes her eyes and opens them.
Tinnitus. From her previous fight in that same arena. One where while the rest of her head was spared, her horns took a beating, one she expected the rest of the moon to heal.
Izayoi groans as she wakes up in full from the incessant perceived noise. This was going to be a long day…
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James, running late to class: Sorry, professor, I'm late. My alarm clock didn't go off.
Everyone in the classroom staring at him:
Professor Flitwick: Nice of you to join us, Mr. Potter.
James, walking to his seat next to Sirius:
Sirius, staring holes at the back of James' head:
Professor Flitwick, turning around to resume his lesson, but just before he adds: I'd advise you you don't mistake your uniform with someone else's next time you're running late.
James, clueless: What? *then, whispering to Sirius* What?
Sirius, shooting daggers at him: Prongs. Who's Slytherin tie is this?
James, blinking, and slowly looking down at the green tie he's wearing, before looking up sheepishly: Haha, you're not going to belive this—
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DP x DC Constantine Jr: Father Son Bonding
So John Constantine is more than a bit of a hoe. He’s a disaster bisexual who’s taste in men is “Big and strong enough to fold him like a folding chair” and his taste in women is “competent and could probably kick his ass”
Both describe Doctors Jack and Maddie Fenton
So, I propose that Constantine had a fling with both of them and the resulting threesome resulted in Danny. And I don’t just mean that only one of them is his father, I’m talking more Greek Mythology where the mother slept with both a god and a mortal and both were the resulting child’s father. Danny is the son of both Jack and Maddie Fenton, AND John Constantine.
Probably due to some meddling from Clockwork
So, cut to years later. and Danny is starting to awaken some magical abilities. And thus, John finds out he has a son with the wacky ghost hunter couple he hooked up with years ago. Now Danny is dealing with the fact he has another dad that’s just a disaster of a person, as well as his uncontrolled magical abilities awakening. John is just trying to figure out how to be a functional adult while Danny stays with him for the summer, and if the kid could not mess with his many dangerous magical trinkets that would be great
Aka, Danny spends the summer with his estranged magic dad to learn how to handle his sudden magic powers and causes chaos.
Danny also seems to have inherited John’s resistance to omniscience, much to the displeasure of the Observants. He was bad enough when they could tell what he was going to do...
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The Literal Phantom of the Opera (DpxDc prompt)
When Cassandra Cain first began taking ballet, her fellow dancers quickly warned her about the ghost haunting the theater.
"He likes to watch us. I see him looking down at the stage from the catwalk all the time."
"It looks like he stole one of the Phantom of the Opera masks last time a tour came through, but its been covered in stars!"
"I heard him when I was acting in Wicked. I was alone in the green room doing some last minute practice and I swear he was humming along while I was singing!"
"It was the phantom who stole my makeup from my dressing room I just know it!"
"Haley from front of house didn't believe he existed until they came backstage to grab supplies for seat repairs. I don't know what they saw, but now they refuse to go backstage."
"That ghost is evil. It pushed me down the stairs to the office and I tore my suit on the railing. Do you know how hard it is to find an all white suit on short notice? I'm lucky it didn't break my ankle!"
"We used to have balconies before the renovations. Sometimes it sounds like someone is moving inside the walls where they used to be."
"I'm not sure that the ghost is fully aware we're performers. A few years ago when Heathers was here, the actress for McNamara said that it felt like someone was hugging her after Lifeboat."
"I've seen him without the mask. His face looks like it was just... shredded. I only saw it once, but I'll never forget that face."
"I heard that he likes to mess with the equipment in the control booth."
Cass isn't sure that the ghost is real, but she is sure that the other dancers think he's real. They often gossip about the theater ghost in hushed whispers, knocking on wood at the very mention of him. Her teachers prefer not to talk about the ghost at all, but they don't deny its existence.
It's not until she is practicing alone on stage and feels eyes on her that she thinks there might be something to the ghost rumors.
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