[ The mass of tentacles around them can shield most of the damage of Riot Gun, but there's nothing that can be done about the flash of metal in the pale winter sunlight before Maruki feels the shock of pierced flesh, muscle, soft tissue, organ–
Maybe a gasp rattles through him. Maybe a scream. Maybe Akechi's name, or nothing at all– impossible to tell as his vision goes white with the shock of it, as his cognition is pulled in too many different directions at once. Regeneration first, to get the Tentacle of Healing back while Akechi is distracted, then–
A twisting blade. Blood coating over his tongue as he forces the words out between copper-stained teeth. ]
I don't think I'm stronger than this world. I don't think you are, either.
[ The lesser tentacles try to grapple Akechi away until they're recalled to Azathoth to bolster a growing attack, and Maruki is left to defend himself, hands scrabbling to clutch any part of Akechi that he can, nails digging into skin, fingers grasping and yanking hair. ]
We are. Together. Together.
[ If Akechi kills him, Maruki will make sure he goes down too. If one of them leaves, the other follows. The torn fabric of this reality will be their doing, and that has never once been in question.
His body is being shredded, carved, his hands already begin to feel numb where they fight, but–
Two claw-handed tentacles, more massive than any others Azathoth has manifested before, rise up from the ground on either side of them, a concentrated Nuclear Crush aimed straight at Akechi as the ground splinters beneath them. ]
cw gore
Maybe a gasp rattles through him. Maybe a scream. Maybe Akechi's name, or nothing at all– impossible to tell as his vision goes white with the shock of it, as his cognition is pulled in too many different directions at once. Regeneration first, to get the Tentacle of Healing back while Akechi is distracted, then–
A twisting blade. Blood coating over his tongue as he forces the words out between copper-stained teeth. ]
I don't think I'm stronger than this world. I don't think you are, either.
[ The lesser tentacles try to grapple Akechi away until they're recalled to Azathoth to bolster a growing attack, and Maruki is left to defend himself, hands scrabbling to clutch any part of Akechi that he can, nails digging into skin, fingers grasping and yanking hair. ]
We are. Together. Together.
[ If Akechi kills him, Maruki will make sure he goes down too. If one of them leaves, the other follows. The torn fabric of this reality will be their doing, and that has never once been in question.
His body is being shredded, carved, his hands already begin to feel numb where they fight, but–
Two claw-handed tentacles, more massive than any others Azathoth has manifested before, rise up from the ground on either side of them, a concentrated Nuclear Crush aimed straight at Akechi as the ground splinters beneath them. ]