Mack attack: Fayren invasion! [Action]

[evilsanta]

It was just another ordinary, peaceful day on the cobbled streets of Fayren. Fantastic races greeted each other amicably, merchants hawked their handmade wares, and so on.

Everything changed when the shysters attacked.

It happened too fast for sense. Mysterious, red-robed figures in white masks came bounding from seemingly all directions. Their sudden omnipresence masked their origins, hailing largely from the north of the city. Yet some poured from residences, while others seemed like they had always been there, waiting for a chance to spring.

And spring they did! A jiggling sproing sproing heralded their presence as they jumped everywhere on their dagger-shaped pogo sticks. Knights and magical dolls engaged many, but their were many more, who terrorized the citizenry at once.

"Woohoo!" they'd shout. Their delight was the city's dread; they enjoyed bouncing after and on whomever they could, taking special animus for any who did not love to hop up and down as much as they did.

"Flee! Run for your lives! Go to your homes and board all entrances! Save yours--". The town crier's words were cut short as a shyster threatened to bounce on his skull, sending him screaming away while the metallic menace followed in pogo-pursuit.

The king and queen were safe, for now, and no casualties were mentioned. Yet a dark pallor hung over the city, as though the sun itself were afraid. Who would save the city from this masked menace?

[OOC: Here's Smithy's big debut! Or Mack's, specifically. Feel free to pick a prompt and bop some bad guys. You can also put your own character out there to be terrorized and rescued, in that order. NOTE: Mack, the boss, can only be engaged by three people at most. Get with me in mail or Plurk (JudgeCF) to make sure. Other than that, have fun.]

A: City Streets
These shysters weren't very shy, eschewing subtlety in favor of public menace. Most of them were bouncing around in full view of the city streets, openly defiant of authority. If they're not harassing a pedestrian and hounding their every step with a pogo-stick, they're hopping up and down in front of a terrified onlooker, too scared to move. Some love the chase; others love a captive audience. Deprive them of either, and you'll have a scrap on your hands.

B: Homewrecker
One house in particular was forced to reluctantly entertain a naughty shyster, breaking all their dishes as he hopped up and down on a table. It was fun and it didn't look to be stopping any time soon. The mother, father, and daughter could only tremble in terror as they watched their furniture suffer abuse from the creature. This is, however, a family of four. Where's their only son? Why do they hear bouncing upstairs? Good heavens!

 C: The barn, the barn, the barn is on fire
Bouncing wasn't all the Shyster menace was capable of. They also had a little bit of sorcery up their sleeves. When they came across a stable, they weren't impressed. To them, horses seemed ponderous, dull-witted creatures with not an ounce of pep in their step. The beasts were spooked easily, giving in to panic and creating chaos in their escape. It didn't help matters when one Shyster cast 'Drain', sending a fireball into the hay bales with predictable results. In moments, an inferno built, putting the horses and the citizenry in danger. Not like the shysters cared, bouncing in plain view of the pyrotechnics. Horses were scared out of their wits while flames threatened to consume the stable. 

D: House arrest
"If I could just...could you please stop! Agh!"
A shyster bounced back and forth off the door of one unlucky homeowner. He tried to find escape, only to have the door smacked into his face as the shyster enjoyed his unending rebound.

"No way! I could do this ALL day!" With machine-like endurance, that's exactly what he did. The man resolved to wait out his imprisonment, feeling the walls shake with every jump. He couldn't tell what trembled harder, his house, or himself? 

E: Fawn's Forge Mack's new hangout!
The enemy had a particular animus for Fawn's Forge, for Smithy was proud and didn't much like competition. Who better to demonstrate the true purpose of weapon than a bunch of weapons themselves? Fawn, the rumored giantess, put up a valiant fight, but eventually faltered under the assault of so many shysters. Once she were good and unconscious, Mack and his merry band of machines had their way with the place.

Anyone brave enough to wander near would hear jumping and vibration enough to register on a seismograph. Mack himself, the leader and the largest of their group, contributed the most noise.

"PAR-TAY! I like this place, gang! Let's show these serfs that WE'RE in charge now! Let's bounce the day away!"

A resounding cascade of cheers followed, before they wrecked the place, scattering all the tools and trappings of a blacksmith to who knows where.

F. Damsel in Distress (Sonico)

Before the invasion properly got underway and the shysters were just beginning their advance, one spotted a pink-haired girl minding her own business. That's bad enough, but she was walking. Are these people insane? Oh, they'll fix her. "Hey!" A shyster approaches. "Bounce with me!" Helpfully, he pogo sticked in place to show her how it was done. There's an implied threat there, but hey, maybe she was one of the good ones.

Comments

A.

[megabond]

[He doesn't know what to believe anymore. First is the strange phenomenon involving people being split into two and now, he sees red-robed figures in white masks are bouncing on strange knife vehicles around the streets of Fayren as he tries to visit the fantasy-filled city in his free time.

Usually, he would try to run away and hide from all of this chaos, but he rather tries to risk his safety to save these citizens than to hide like a coward.

Without any second thoughts to this, he quickly steps up behind some Fayren citizens to confront one of the strange monsters.]

Terrorizing these innocent people without any remorse is wrong. I don't like that.

[If the strange creatures try to attack him, they will wish they haven't as Sycamore pulls out his Poke Ball.]

Garchomp, Dragon Claw!

[With him throwing the ball in the air, it pops open and reveals his Mach Pokemon as her claws glow green and attempts to slash the creatures in half.]

Re: A.

[evilsanta]

The group of shysters, three in total, spin in mid-air to face their would-be party pooper.

"Oh YEAH? These losers don't even bounce! Maybe you need a crash course, haircut!" The trio converge on the protesting Professor, only for one to meet its end at Garchomp's might. Once the claws made contact, it completely poofed, so destroyed that not a trace was left. Smithy's machines were very tidy that way.

That didn't deter the other two. "I bet this lizard doesn't bounce either! TAKE THIS!" It wiggled its head back and forth, then shot a melon-sized fireball at Garchomp.

The other had something more direct in mind for Sycamore, bouncing on its stick and flying right for his skull.

Re: A.

[megabond]

[With her attack destroyed one of the creatures, one of them shot a fireball to Garchomp. However, Sycamore has something else in mind for it.]

Dodge and use Dragon Rage!

[Once she heard her trainer's command, Garchomp jumps away from the fireball and shoots out a blast of blue energy to the creature.

But once it's done, she notices her trainer is about to get hit by another one. Not wanting to let them hurt Sycamore, she pushes him out of the way and tries to take the hit. The Pokemon Professor on the other hand, became horrified that she tries to sacrifice herself for him once more.]

Garchomp!

A

[dreamingartist]

[Jeb was on his way back from the store buying some groceries when he caught sight of so many innocent people being harassed by those...creatures. At first, the sight of them was almost comical, but that quickly faded away when he realized how shocked and terrified these people were. For such small, bouncy creatures, those things sure were cruel...

And Jeb isn't going to stand for it. He won't attack them, but he will try to get them to stop!]

H-hey! Knock that off!

Re: A

[evilsanta]

A lone shyster jumps in place in front of a quivering, stout woman with bags of produce in each arm. Each one looked at the impetuous Jeb; one out of faint hope, the other of mounting fury.

"No way! Maybe I should knock you down, tough guy!"

Anger redirected, the shyster speeds towards Jeb to show him the joys of bouncing in the msot visceral way possible. BOING BOING BOING

Re: A

[dreamingartist]

A-ah! [and he drops the groceries, shattering a jar of spaghetti sauce in the process.] Oh, no...! That was the one thing we needed... [gives the creatures a cranky look] T-that wasn't very nice! Why are you doing this in the first place?!

A.

[liorafae]

Well, things were definitely not normal in Fayren today. As Liora crawled on all fours, traversing the streets, she saw all these shysters bouncing around on their pogo sticks. And they were causing quite a bit of damage.

"What...what's going on...?"

Re: A.

[evilsanta]

Sproing, sproing. Bouncing is apparently the latest craze in Fayren, and boy are its pioneers enthusiastic. Why, they think everyone should do it! Whether they like it or not.

One of them spots a crawling dragon and is, for that reason, cross.

"Hey you!" It bounced menacingly. "Make with the bouncing, pronto!"

[liorafae]

"Bouncing? But you're ruining everything!" the little dragon cried out.

Maybe she could bounce as well and not hurt anything, but she sure didn't want to.

E

[notquitedracula]

[It's been a month or two since he got it, but Soma has a ticket for a free blade sharpening at Fawn's Forge, and he has a blade that needs such a treatment. Of course, he could manage it himself - but he was no professional smith, and besides, one tampers with a magic sword at his own risk.]

[Thus, he's made arrangements for a day off from Cassian's shop to take care of this errand. As he approaches the Forge, it quickly becomes apparent that something is badly, badly wrong. What the hell are all the red-robed, white-masked things bouncing around on pogo sticks? And why pogo sticks? He's had to trounce a couple of them that mistook him for a convenient target. The craters where they used to be are slightly impressive.]

Let's have Tony converge once he makes it to the forge proper

[evilsanta]

[Craters, Soma? Really? Have a heart.

Alternatively, have a bounce! The shysters are at their thickest when it comes to protecting their boss. The jiggling of their many springs reveals their sudden, almost inexplicable presence. Three came out of nearby bushes, ready to pounce on an unwelcome intruder.]

"Better scram, buddy, unless you wanna get bounced on out of here!"

[A nonsense threat since they were just going to attack anyway. Hopping into the air, they angled their sticks towards Soma's skull.]

Sounds good to me

[notquitedracula]

[It's hard not to leave craters when you're throwing meteors around, but okay - he'll queue up chain lightning instead. That's less cratery, right?]

Do none of you lot ever pay attention?

[He sighs, and carelessly flicks a hand at the inbound pogo fiends. SparkZAP, and then the bolt starts jumping. By the time it's spent, it's hit all three of the attacking shysters at least twice. And if that's not enough... well, he is carrying a rather large sword.]

A.

[superficially_busy]

[Having a connection to her magical security dolls, Alice was alerted to a development that too many have been activated at once, and this troubles her. She made out for Fayren, flying out from the Chireiden subarchway and over the fantasy city of Fayren.

Alice accompanied by two helper dolls that don't look like the usual ones, descended slowly to get a better look at what was waking her dolls. Lo and behold, strange creatures that look like fairies, but many times more bland and dumb-looking.

Despite looking like dolls themselves, Alice's unique magic sight can see there is more these things than meets the eye. Attempting to control them herself is out of the question, so observation may be required.

Hopefully the shysters will be wise enough to not provoke the Seven-coloured Puppeteer.]

Re: A.

[evilsanta]

[Oh, Alice. You hope for the silliest things. The shysters were many and mad, hopping around the city with hardly a care in the world, save for chasing people around and showing them the joys of bouncing first hand. A good time is being had by...half, maybe.

One of them spies Alice with its two hollow eyes and sees that she's flying. Flying! That is decidedly not bouncing. The nerve of her. It and a few others launch a volley of the most adorably sized fireballs in an effort to shoot her out of the sky. How else could she know the happiness that only pogo sticks can provide?]

A.

[superficially_busy]

[Thinking they can just shoot her down? It is very difficult to knock a resident of Gensokyo out of the sky. Alice simply grazes around the fireballs as she comes in for attack. Her two dolls extend their arms and fire spread shots of rainbow magic pellets over the mob of shysters.]

A

[anewhero]

[Being a terminator has its annoyances. But also has its pluses. ]

Marcus already had a gun in his hands and frowned "What the hell?!

"Heh.. Well then."

[The formal criminal cracked his knuckles in his hand]

Re: A

[evilsanta]

[What the heck indeed, Marcus? These red-robed rapscallions were having the time of their artificial lives. They might even prove that being a machine is no obstacle to having a good time.

One shyster's merry path led him behind Marcus in an alleway. He saw his serious demeanor, and oh-so bouncable head, and decided to see just how like a trampoline the Terminator's skull was. *Boing!*]

Re: A

[anewhero]

[ A bouncing noise was heard right behind the terminator as Marcus turned to see the creature bounce, er try to bounce upon his head. ]

[Sad, but the small reddish creature trying to jump on his head, got a ugly surprise. The reddish machine was grabbed and ripped off his device and slammed headfirst into the ground.]

The Damsel Has Arrived!

[sonicosuper]

Sonico really was just minding her own business after finally gathering enough courage to go and explore Fayren some more.

"B-bounce?" Sonico couldn't help but looked surorised at the creature suddenly demanding things from her. It seemed like such an odd request too. "I don't..understand.. Would you just..like me to..bounce?"

[evilsanta]

"Is there an echo in here? Yes! Bounce!" [It hopped up and down with pointed impatience. Not that it would be a very comfortable experience, given the hard, cobblestone road they were standing on. But if some people aren't fun enough to get their own pogo sticks, that's on them.]

[sonicosuper]

Oh dear...this thing seemed pretty angry. Sonico watched it for a moment more on its pogo stick then, with an awkward blush, jumped very lightly on the balls of her feet once or twice. "Like this?"

[blackparagon]

[Attacking Fayren while the Guardian happened to be the crown prince of Nohr?

Clearly these creatures had no value for their own lives.

Office work could wait. There was an emergency on hand, and Xander is taking care of it himself. He immediately leaves his HQ, untethers his horse, and takes to the streets. Because damn, these things were everywhere He'd have to capture one or at least force them to divulge information, but the rest? Xander didn't particularly care what their fates were.]

BEGONE, WRETCHES!

[At the moment, Xander is charging down one of the side streets, aiming for any Shysters he can see. His steed is fast, and his sword arm is strong; they alone would prove Xander to be more than a match for these critters. But that wasn't enough, as Xander was wielding his divine blade, Siegfried. That brings things into overkill territory.]

[gunnerbrat]

[ Billy is sporting a few cuts,bruises and burns from the bouncing machines. He's had worse. Fawn's apprentice is trying to fight off them with a sword and custom made grenades. He's cursing rather creatively at the shysters surrounding him, and expressing his desire to take them apart nut by bolt.

Once he notices the City Guardian close by, he calls out.]

Fawn needs help!

[ He's not sure if Xander hears him, but the shysters are starting to overwhelm him.]

D

[lunarlegionnaire]

One minute into the invasion and Marc Spector--- Jake Lockley right that minute--- figured his god must be inundated with prayers for retribution. It wasn't hard to duck out of the pandemonium and find an alley, trading his street clothes for his priestly vestments.

Thus garbed, Moon Knight had every intent of joining the larger fight on the open streets. But a persistent banging from somewhere close by turned his head the second he stepped out of that alley. A single shyster was bouncing against its wooden door, not unlike a bored child using a wall to test that fancy move he'd learned in a videogame. It was a wonder he hadn't tried a window yet.

Sighing, the Fist of Khonshu made his way over and stopped just behind where the masked invader landed every time the door thwarted him. He was making such a racket that he was completely oblivious to the masked man's presence. And deaf to the crackle of electricity from his truncheon.

Boing. Tap. Boing. Tap. BOING--- ZAP

By the time the little invader hit a far wall and vanished in a puff of smoke, Moon Knight was already rapping on the door in a much more human tempo. "You're safe in there. Stay put until this blows over."

[evilsanta]

The man had grown so used to the constant, unvarying rhythms of his besotted door, he was positively shocked himself at the electric interruption. He was beside himself in gratitude.

"Oh, thank you! I thought he'd never leave. Actually I've somewhere I have to be so if it's all right could I...oh."

He deflated at the prospect that he was doomed to be a shut-in for an indeterminate amount of time anyway.

"If you think that's best...do you hear something?" That 'something' was the springy sound of another shyster that had taken to the rooftop of his second-story abode. His was level, and thus, perfect for bouncing. One it spied Marcus on the ground level, the mechanical creature just had to get a literal drop on him and see what it would be like to rebound off the Moon Knight's head from so far up. There's only room for one kind of masked menace in this town!