[Elias]

The Bird of Hermes is    my name                       Eat  My   WINGS   TO   KEEP   ME   TAME Hojirozame Mako Freja Helt Matsu

It was something like a car crash minus the seatbelt. When the beast suddenly stopped, courtesy of Freja's smokescreen, Elias's momentum carried him forward. He shot straight out of the giant eel's maw and toward the hand reaching for him. He took Freja's hand, then was launched again, when Mako pulled them away. 

"Much appreciated, ladies," he offered, eyeing the cavern below that Freja now suggested they descend. 

Hesitance gripped him like a fist of solid stone. Should they not rise rather than fall? Screw the fish, if they rose high enough their attacker might not be able to follow due to a differing pressure or oxygen tolerance. But, then again, the three of them were breathing underwater somehow. Physics and biology had clearly checked out. 

So, when the others dove, Elias followed. Freja kept the beast at bay with more smoke. The Wish-Maker didn't skip a beat. He plummeted into the cavern, Atlantis in view before him. An old arena buried beneath water and stone. He took to one of the columns. A moment's reprieve could do wonders. 

"Quirks are the only reason we're alive," he muttered to himself.

There was no time to argue. But neither would Elias waste his time with pointless conflict. He would do his part to keep the other two distractions alive a little longer, but no more than that. 

The man whipped one hand forward and lashed at the monster with a dozen threads. They slashed high and low, probing for weakness. Elias wouldn't afford the monster too much attention, though. His eyes wandered in search of their illusive gem, whether it took the form of one of the fish or something else entirely. From what he had seen of the two girls, they had plenty of utility between their three quirks, but not much in the damage department... and he was not being swallowed again to try attack from within. No. Better to accomplish their objective if this orange gem did, in fact, see them freed.  

---

tldr: Elias dove below with the others and took cover behind one of the stone columns in the arena. When Freja and Mako made their move, he lashed at the eel with his threads, probing for a weak point, but his attention is more strongly fixed on searching their surroundings for the orange gem / fish.  

OWL

[Matsu]

✧ The Dream World ✧

The Lair of the Leviathan

With their teamwork unparalleled, despite having just met not long ago, the trio was slowly wearing down the Leviathan eel. As it recharged its supply of aquatic projectiles, it was put into the same disadvantages as before ingesting multiple of the smoke baseballs and stopping it's assault entirely. With its senses deprived it howled, loud enough to shake the cavern as it desperately tried to spit out the smoke and flailed around wildly.

It would have no way to see Mako-kero coming until she was touching its face. Her tactic began to slow the movement of the creature, but at the moment, it would normally be paralyzed, and it would roar and charge forward blindly. With Mako already being on the move it would continue on its war path...

Elias' efforts wouldn't fail him, getting eyes on the three orange fish that had previously eluded the group. Two were nearly at eye level a distance away and another was swimming farther above. For the time being they would swim aimlessly, not worried about the humans (and frog) that had entered their territory. He was close enough that surely some strings would be able to grab the two.

...That would be if the leviathan eel's charge didn't rocket it into the fish floating further up, smashing it to pieces and slamming its face against the cave walls. This would reverberate and cause debris to fall down towards Elias, the fish scattering with the two remaining orange ones going in opposite directions, one to the left and the other to the right.

While the impact caused some major damage to the eel it also shook off the paralyzing effect and let it finally cough up the rest of the smoke. Not going to fall for that a third time it would instead get its barings and lock onto the scent of Mak-kero who had a much stronger scent than the others due to her new frog mutation and it charged full speed at her.

Uh oh.

tl;dr
- Eel eats smoke, chokes.
- Almost falls under Mako's spell but shakes it off at the last second and charges blindly past her.
- Slams into the wall killing one of the last remaining two fish, who split up.
- Debris rains down on Elias
- Eel recovers and goes after Mako

—---------------------------------------------------------------------------

OOC: Round 2 begins! Going forward, you are more than welcome to post more than once per round, but you are by no means obligated to do so! Just remember to make the required one post per week before the deadline!

Remember to include a TL;DR at the end of your post! <3

Additionally, if you want to plan a cool character moment ahead of time, like making a heroic sacrifice or setting up a team attack, but want to keep it a surprise to the other people in the thread until it happens, feel free to sneak into my DMs so we can plan out the details! This is not mandatory, but I want to make sure every character shines and looks their best during this thread!

tag: Hojirozame Mako, Freja Helt, Elias

[Freja Helt]

She still couldn't believe how dangerously close they had just been to being eaten. If it wasn't for Mako, her and Elias would probably have been dead by now. She would have stopped to thank her if only they were given a moment to breathe, but the leviathan seemed hellbent on ending their lives in this nightmare sea. ''Beat it up? Have you seen the size of that thing?'' Her voice was still a bit shaky with fear. She was so scared of dying here and yet, moments later she found herself trying to distract the beast with smoke balls to buy more time.

She was starting to lose faith in her attacks, but kept lobbing balls at the monster when she saw Elias and Mako join in. She wasn't entirely sure what Mako was doing, but once the leviathan eel roared and charged forward, Freja immediately ceased her attack and dove for cover. ''How can we defeat something that big?'' She winced when she felt sudden pain shoot through her hands as they cramped from quirk overuse. ''Ow, ow, ow!'' She cried, snapping out of her whining when the cave shook and loose debris hurdled down towards Elias.

Maybe it was an innate desire to be a hero. Maybe it was the fact that they were all in this together, or maybe it was just because they shared the same name, but she sprung into action in an instant. ''Look out!!'' She jumped up and blew out even more smoke, as much as her lungs would let her, to try and create a shield above Elias. All the while her arms shook and cramped, feeling as if they had been lit aflame and was burning up all at once. She couldn't let Mako and Elias die here, she didn't choose this life to end up as a failure.

Matsu
Hojirozame Mako
Elias

TL;DR: Freja continues to pelt the leviathan with smoke balls, but is hit by strong cramps in her hands due to quirk overuse. When debris is shook loose from the ceiling she fights through the pain to try and protect Elias by creating a smoke shield above him.

[Elias]

The Bird of Hermes is    my name                       Eat  My   WINGS   TO   KEEP   ME   TAME Hojirozame Mako , Freja Helt , Matsu

Red threads brushed against the eel like bristles against the canvas. No red paint this time. The attack was meant to probe for weakness and failed. But Elias knew what he was... and what he wasn't. He was no powerhouse. Had the others not acted so, the Wish-Maker would certainly have crossed the veil into whatever came next. And yet, the monster merited little attention. It chased Mako or whatever she chose to call herself. 

Instead, the orange fish anchored Elias's icy focus. One was reduced to shreds of meat, blood, and bone. The others split up and fled. How were they going to defeat the beast? That was simple. They wouldn't. And that was Elias's strong suit. he didn't need to be the strongest, just the most cunning, the most able to garner and use all available information. Why fight f**king monstrosity when they only needed the orange jewel? 

Elias' fingers danced, manipulating his threads and weaving them around each of the fish. One hand per target. 

"Look out!!" 

Okay. Mistakes were made, not that he would admit it. But maybe even Elias was susceptible to tunnel vision. And, therefore, not quite taking the available information he should have. Namely, the debris falling his way. The Wish-Maker looked up to find Freja's smoke barrier holding back some of the debris. Large chunks of stone rested atop the smoky blanket. It was the smaller bits, however, that made it through. 

Elias swam aside. His right arm was pelted with the debris that bypassed the defense, and the threaded snare that just nearly latched onto the fish fleeing further right collapsed. Elias grit his teeth and drew the fingers of his left hand together, still grabbing at the fist fleeing left with his threads. Hopefully, that was the one they needed.  

---

tldr: Elias tried to grab at both of the two orange fish. He was caught off guard though by the falling the debris. While Freja protected him from the worst of it, he was still pelted by some of the stones. He leaped aside and still made a move to grab the orange glowing fish that fled to his left with his threads.  

OWL

[Hojirozame Mako]

"Shit-fuck-gyaahhh-kero!"

Mako was swept aside as her attempt to placate the beast had failed. She could only watch as the sea monster slammed itself against some ruins, almost getting some of it toppling on top of the posh fellow! Who seemed too oblivious to his surroundings, eager to catch the fish instead! 'I need to distract it from them...' - Mako thought. 

And, fortunately, she didn't have to wait long!

The eel turned around and decided to pick her as a target! Which was all fine and good, but... now Mako had to fend for herself. She frowned, her hands balled into fists. 

"Fine... No more miss nice girl-kero..." - she grumbled before... making a run for it! Being the better swimmer, Mako actually had a chance to not be immediately caught by the eel, unlike her teammates. As she did so, she frantically looked for something, anything that could help her defeat the big fish! 'God I miss having shark teeth... Maybe there's a harpoon or something lying around here or... Oh! Idea-kero!'

In front of herself, Mako saw a few columns supporting the remains of a heavy stone slab on top of it. She swam there, and landed with her feet on the ground, before turning around and facing the monster! Taking a fighting stance as though the girl was gonna face it head-on! But that was a ploy! And should the big eel charge her and try swallow her whole, at the very last moment Mako would release all the force in her legs and propel herself up, away from the big fish! And hope that inertia from the charge would lead it to hitting those pillars, and collapsing the slab on top of itself!

"Did you catch the fish yet? Any time now!" - Mako yelled to the rest of her squad.

He-he, Dream-team.

Kero.

__________

TLDR: Mako lures the big fish to a part of the ruins with some columns and a roof and jumps away at the very last moment, using the power of Froggeh to leap far away. If successful, the eel will hopefully collapse some of the ruins and a big slab of stone on top of itself! Kero. 

[Matsu]

✧ The Dream World ✧

The Lair of the Leviathan

The orange fish that escaped Elias' grasp swam away as fast as possible. If he...no, if the group were collectively unlucky, things were about to get much harder with one of their potential targets becoming more evasive. As for the other fish, it struggled against the threads but ultimately resigned itself as it was reeled in, managing to avoid getting pelted by debris thanks to Freja's quick thinking.

When Elias was able to approach it, it would spit up an orange gem! This was what they needed! Clearly, they had luck on their side, as it was a 50/50 shot. The gem illuminated the cavern in an orange glow, purging the dark shadows and causing any other sea creatures in the area to flee, heading back up the hole towards the surface.

Right on cue, a voice would ring out that the trio could all hear. "Wonderful, you three, take that gem up to the surface, and I'll be able to pull you out." Just as quickly as the voice rang out, it fell silent. The informed would be able to recognize this as the distinct voice of Starling Soul, but ultimately, the details of who this was didn't matter. There was now something more pressing to deal with.

Elias's retrieval of the gem didn't go unnoticed as the Leviathan Eel immediately stopped its assault on Mako and turned to face Elias (and Freja). Its instincts were overwritten with an immediate drive to retrieve the gem. It would roar and head towards Elias, who was likely still holding the gem, and attempt to swallow it whole.

Would they fight? Would they flee? Would they survive? Not if the Leviathan Eel had anything to say about it.


tl;dr
- Elias is the luckiest s.o.b and get the right fish! Orange Gem achieved!
- The rest of the fish flee to the surface, the group gets a telepathic call telling them to do the same WITH the gem
- Leviathan Eel changes targets, not fixated on getting that gem back.
- We're in the final stretches!

—---------------------------------------------------------------------------

OOC: Round 2 begins! Going forward, you are more than welcome to post more than once per round, but you are by no means obligated to do so! Just remember to make the required one post per week before the deadline!

Remember to include a TL;DR at the end of your post! <3

Additionally, if you want to plan a cool character moment ahead of time, like making a heroic sacrifice or setting up a team attack, but want to keep it a surprise to the other people in the thread until it happens, feel free to sneak into my DMs so we can plan out the details! This is not mandatory, but I want to make sure every character shines and looks their best during this thread!

tag: Hojirozame Mako,Freja Helt,Elias

[Freja Helt]

As quickly as she had manifested a smoke barrier to protect Elias it vanished into thin air, or water in this case. Afterwards she immediately fell to her knees and screamed in agony, feeling as if her arms were on fire even though they weren't. ''Hot, hot, hot, hot!'' She kicked her feet as she tried to regain her composure, only to find no matter how hard she tried to move them, her arms weren't responding. Looking over at Mako she shouted back. ''We did! D-Didn't we?'' She looked at Elias expectantly, hoping that this nightmare would end soon, and end with their escape.

Thankfully the disembodied voice spoke to them again, although it said something she didn't like to hear. ''Up to the surface? Are you insane?! That wasn't the deal we got the gem pull us out now!'' She shouted at no one in particular, only moments later realizing she knew the voice. ''...Starling Soul?'' She was about to share this revelation with the others when she looked back at the eel and saw that it was turning towards her and Elias. ''We need to get out of here, we need to get out!'' It hurt like hell to pick up and hold onto her bat, but she'd rather hurt now and regret it later than become sea monster food. She couldn't even feel what she was trying to do as the pain was numbing out everything else. She just had to trust her instincts and that her arms would move as she wanted them to.

''Elias, throw the gem!'' They didn't have long, the eel was about to come for them. To further accentuate what she was saying she took a stance like she was about to strike a homerun with her bat. If Elias complied, Freja would attempt to swing the gem towards Mako just as the eel started charging at them, giving her enough time to dodge and maybe, just maybe make a break for the surface herself too.

''Mako, catch! Surface!!''

TL;DR: Freja is in a lot of pain after using her quirk. Once the leviathan eel turns towards her and Elias she tries to bat the gem over to Mako, telling her to make for the surface.

Hojirozame Mako
Elias
Matsu

[Elias]

The Bird of Hermes is    my name                       Eat  My   WINGS   TO   KEEP   ME   TAME Hojirozame Mako , Freja Helt , Matsu

And informed Elias was. With the voice cleared up, he could immediately identify it as one of Japan's most renowned heroes. Starling Soul. Fortunately, the Wish-Maker's name was one traded in whispers. He was rarely utilized as a field operative for his organization and wouldn't likely be recognized by the heroine, assuming they made it out. 

Speaking of which, he did plan on making it out alive, which meant throwing the damn stone in his hand. Normally, underwater density would slow such a throw, but this place didn't play by normal rules.

"As you wish," he answered.

Elias drew the glowing stone back, then pitched it Freja's way to the best of his ability. He was no professional baseball player, but he was at least  decently strong. If the thing was a lure for the giant eel, he wanted to be nowhere near the thing. Let the others take that risk. 

Instead, once he parted with the rock playing key to their freedom, Elias threw his hand up and launched his threads toward the top of a stone column, then drew himself upward. He wasn't the fastest swimmer, but his quirk was fairly versatile. He continued the maneuver, grabbing onto any piece of jutting stone or coral and pulling himself up until he was clear of the crevice entrance to the arena. Once in open waters, he swam upward, only daring to glance behind him every so often. While he was fine letting the others take the risk, he needed the stone to reach the surface. 

---

tldr: Eleis tossed the stone to Freja, then beelined it upward. He uses his threads to latch onto rocks and coral, then pulls himself up. Once in more open waters, he's just darting for the surface, looking back occasionally to the others in case he needs to step in.  

OWL

[Hojirozame Mako]

'Dammit!'

The fish turned tail, at the very last moment, instead going after the fancy-suit and the jewel. The glowy thing attracted it, like bait a fish! They had to get it to the surface, but... 'There's no way those guys would make it past... They just can't swim... Which means...!!!'

Freja had the same idea! She tossed the jewel across the arena with the skill and posture of a professional baseball player. And Mako was pretty trash at catching, so she got the shiny rock square to the face, leaving a lump on her forehead, before it dropped into her hands.

"Gyah-kero! I mean... Eeek!"

Mako saw the fish turn around to go after her again. Oh yeah, she was definitely a target now! The girl pushed away from the bottom, with her strong legs, channeling the essence of Frogge, and started swimming right for the surface! The fear of being eaten felt so palpable, Mako forgot this was even a dream! She was giving it her own, batting her webbed feet and rowing with her arms like never before! She didn't need to carry the jewel in them - it was held in her mouth, with sticky tongue glued to it for good measure! 

It all came down to speed now. At the top of the glade, she could see something like a blinding light! And a voice calling to them! Telling to bring the jewel. So Mako did her best, and then some. 

This was the most intense dream ever!

[Matsu]

✧ The Dream World ✧

The Lair of the Leviathan

With the instinct driving the Eel it continued its charge, unable to tell that Freja and Elias were planning on giving it the run around. It opened its maw as it charged, this time not using any projectiles so as not to knock the gem out of its reach. Instead, it would only attempt to swallow the duo whole, focusing on Elias, given that he was holding the gem. It may have been blind but it had a very keen sense of where the gem was now that it was fully exposed and in the hands of intruders.

When Freja got a home run, the Eel would spin around as the gem was in flight, and with an impressive speed, it would rocket forward towards Mako, just narrowly missing her and instead crashing into the wall. While one might expect the result to be the same as when it did that to Elias the resulting damage was...static? The rock formation would start sputtering and becoming discolored with the Leviathan Eel experiencing the same thing to parts of its body. In fact all around the trio they would see the lair start to disappear returning to white nothingness and slowly creeping upwards towards the ceiling.

It let out an ear-piercing scream as it writhed in pain. As the trio made their escape it would give chance, speeding up as it continued through the tunnels to the service. When the trio ended up back where they had started, the entire seascape changed, patches of white nothingness intertwined with the vibrant ocean.

The Eel was desperate at this point it opened its jaw and attempted to swallow Mako as she breached the surface. Just as it was about to consume her, the eel would fade into nothingness, and the sea around them also receded into nothingness. The trio would find themselves floating in an empty void; the silence was palpable.

After about a minute or so a voice echoed "Below you all. I've managed to construct a gateway to bring you back to our reality." a swirling blue mass would opened up below the trio. "Make haste and be prepared for whats to come. The dream you've all collectively experienced is nothing...nothing compared to the nightmare that awaits you back home." and with that the voice of Starling Soul went silent.

They had survived.
tl;dr
- Ya'll did it
- I'm so proud of you
- Thanks for participating
- Once you guys do your last posts you're free to submit it!

—---------------------------------------------------------------------------

OOC: Round 2 begins! Going forward, you are more than welcome to post more than once per round, but you are by no means obligated to do so! Just remember to make the required one post per week before the deadline!

Remember to include a TL;DR at the end of your post! <3

Additionally, if you want to plan a cool character moment ahead of time, like making a heroic sacrifice or setting up a team attack, but want to keep it a surprise to the other people in the thread until it happens, feel free to sneak into my DMs so we can plan out the details! This is not mandatory, but I want to make sure every character shines and looks their best during this thread!

tag: Hojirozame Mako, Freja Helt, Elias

[Freja Helt]

Elias' pitch was rough, but she couldn't say her swing was much better. She had absolutely reached her limit, but more importantly...

She had never played baseball.

At least she was a prolific 'roundball' player back in the day.

She was relieved to see Mako catch the gem and make for the surface, but scared when she saw how fast Elias was leaving too. She really needed to get a move on and fast! Her body was screaming out for a break, but there was no time. She swam as fast as she could, tearing up, gasping, fighting to get to the surface in time.

---

''Why do I have to learn to swim? I hate the water!''

''Because we live by the ocean, Freja. Once you learn how to swim you will never forget it, just like riding your bike.''

''I hate it. It's cold.''

''Just try to have fun, look at Elias.''

---

If her parents were here right now she would hug them and break down crying, thanking them endlessly for starting her swimming lessons when she was just a kid. She flinched for a moment when the eel screamed, looking around at the collapsing ocean in distress. What as all that white nothingness? She had no time to stop and think. She was still behind and at this rate she wasn't going to break the surface.

She swam as fast as she could, summoned all the strength she could muster and then...

Then she was floating in a silent, empty void alongside the others. She looked around for the leviathan eel, adrenaline still pumping through her body. ''..Did we? Did we do it?'' Could it be that the eel had killed them and this was the afterlife? No, she would know surely, she had died before. Even if she couldn't access any memories of her death, there was a feeling there, but the feeling was nothing like this empty void. This was something entirely new. ''I um... Thank you. Both of you, if I had ended up in that ocean all alone I don't think I could have made it this far. I know we're not out of the dream but-'' Just then Starling Soul's voice called out to them again. A gateway? They could go back to reality! She eagerly 'swam' through the void to get to the gate, but the pro hero's words left her feeling anxious. Just what had happened in the waking world while they had been asleep?

Sumi. She had to find her and check that she was okay.

Matsu
Elias
Hojirozame Mako

TL;DR: Freja panics heading for the surface, but makes it alongside the others. She thanks Mako and Elias for their help before following Starling Soul's voice to head back to the waking world.

[Elias]

The Bird of Hermes is    my name                       Eat  My   WINGS   TO   KEEP   ME   TAME Hojirozame Mako , Freja Helt , Matsu

Should he turn and snatch up his allies? The thought had crossed his mind, if only for a fleeting moment. Mako was, understandably, speeding ahead, but Freja appeared to be struggling. The sight quite nearly tugged at what remained of his fragmented conscience. But, ultimately, she made it without his help. 

She toughed it out through the watercolor world as every intricate detail and building block of the prodigious fabrication congealed and then dissipated. It was the moment of truth. They would find themselves back home. Or die in this ethereal forgery. 

Whatever Sterling Soul's words implied about the state of the world, he would take the cold, hard truth of reality over some world where only half the rules applied. He had resources back home, resources to keep himself safe- tucked away in the Nirvana. 

"I'd say it was a pleasure, but I would be lying. Still, I do appreciate the steadfast resolve you both displayed," he said, turning to Mako, "now wakey-wakey, little frog, time to leave this dream behind us." And with that said, Elias dove into the portal. 

---

tldr: Elias swam to the surface, offered his farewell, and then dove into the portal!  

OWL

[Jinx]

☆ MISSION SUCCESS ☆

Under the sea~
Great thread all of you!

+ 100 Tokens!!

Elias: 325 // 425
Freja: 350 // 450
Mako: 0 // 100

tag: Matsu,Freja Helt,Elias,Hojirozame Mako,