#And his tentacles can restrain Killer until he comes back to his senses

[somegrumpynerd]

Rough doodles of the gang having to deal with Killer's stage 3 when Nightmare isn't around

I might finish these but right now it's late so here's the sketchy versions anyway

[helenarlett-rex]

Want to use an eldritch horror in your D&D game? Why not Cthylla?

So like I’ve mentioned in my previous posts on this topic, eldritch horrors are a common part of D&D. One of the three pacts given for Warlocks right there in the Player’s Handbook is all about dealing with eldritch horrors... But there don’t seem to be many, or any... eldritch horrors listed in the Monster Manuel for you to actually use. This leaves you having to resort to homebrew but who to homebrew is the question? Naturally most people just jump right to Cthulhu but come on... You don’t want to be like everyone else, do you? Where’s the variety? How about this...? Instead of Cthulhu, have you considered Cthylla?

Cthylla, also known as The Kraken or The Secret One, is the youngest offspring of Cthulhu and his mate, Idh-yaa. Cthylla, like her parents, is a Great Old One. She came from the star Xoth, but now dwells on Earth in Yhe, where she is guarded by Cthulhu's minions. Namely, a great number of Deep Ones and Yuggya.

Cthylla has the appearance of a gigantic, red-bodied, black-ringed, and six-eyed octopus with small wings. Like her father, she is able to alter her body-proportions at will, such as by enlarging her wings to enable her to fly, or give herself a killer beach bod... don’t look at me like that... she could if she wanted to... In fact she has actually been seen to have given herself a humanoid form on at least one occasion. So who’s to say it couldn’t happen?

While she normally has eight arms like any octopus, she can extrude or retract additional ones at will and has been known to sport as many as twelve arms at a time. Each arm is equipped with dozens of razor-sharp claws, each about five inches in length. Picture trying to fight a giant octopus but instead of suction cups, each of its tentacles are lined with claws in their place. That’s not really something I personally would want to fight...

Cthylla may be the youngest of Cthulhu‘s children, and probably considered the least powerful, but she is by no means the least important. If anything, Cthylla is the most important of Cthulhu‘s children. This is because poor Cthylla is little more than an insurance policy for her father. You see, Cthulhu, in his great power, has foreseen that one day in the distant future he will be destroyed. And when that happens, Cthylla is destined to mate with Cthulhu‘s half-brother, Hastur, and give birth to Cthulhu once more.

This makes Cthylla critical to Cthulhu‘s plans. Insuring that she stays alive is the only thing that insures Cthulhu himself will be reborn after his death. This is why she is known as The Secret One. She’s so important that the members of Cthulhu‘s cult will go to any means necessary to insure her existence remains a secret, hiding all information about the goddess. Even going as far as defacing the Columns of Geph in order to remove any reference to her.

Should any harm towards Cthylla even be so much as attempted, Cthulhu himself will take action, unleashing the full fury of his wrath against those who would harm his daughter.

But Cthylla herself is not invulnerable, which is probably why she is so fiercely protected. In fiction we have seen that she can be wounded. She was wounded by a subterranean atomic bomb. She was also captured by simple researchers once who mistook her for a rare species of octopus and tried to breed her.

Cthylla has two other names she is known by. One of those is The Kraken. To which you may be asking, do you mean... The Kraken? Like, the monster in the Monster Manuel? Release The Kraken! That Kraken?

Yeah, that’s what I mean... And if you aren’t convinced, the other name she is known by is Scylla. As in the sea monster spoken of in Greek Mythology. We already know Cthylla can alter her shape, so it shouldn’t be much of a surprise if she goes around looking like other horrible sea monsters, especially considering she is supposed to be keeping her identity a secret.

So how would you use Cthylla in your game? As a patron for a Pact of the Great Old One warlock I would play her up as being very grumpy but also extremely willing to act as a patron and lend her power. Remember, she’s Cthulhu‘s youngest child and still rather physically weak. In Great Old One terms, she’s pretty much still a teenager. A teenager who is a Goddess but isn’t worshiped by anyone because her father’s worshipers have covered up her existence and removed her name and likeness from her own temples. In addition to that she’s essentially been grounded for life, placed under heavy guard, and told that her only purpose is to one day have sex with her uncle and give birth to her own father. You show me one teenager who is going to be okay with any of that...

Cthylla is going to be an extremely grumpy and ill tempered girl. But that would also make her very eager to lend her power to any warlock who actually manages to find out about her and go to her for a pact. Name me one reason she wouldn’t be thrilled to actually have followers who recognize her for who she is after centuries of being forgotten and kept a secret... Depending on what kind of game you are running, you may even want to play Cthylla as rebellious, ordering her warlock to work against her father’s plans. I mean, if I was an all powerful octopus goddess who had been locked in my room under heavy guard and told I couldn’t come out until I gave birth to my own father I’d probably be like, fuck you Dad! I’m going to give all my power to this warlock here and order him to kill my uncle so there is no possible way for him to impregnate me with you!

Just a thought...

But if you did want to go for that angle it would make for a rather interesting character. You could actually play Cthylla as an ally to the party instead of an adversary or some great cosmic being who is just indifferent to their existence the way most eldritch beings are. Or if that’s not your cup of tea, you could always make her completely onboard with her father’s plans and just play her as an evil cosmic monster happy to play her part in the destruction of humanity.

As for using Cthylla in combat, you don’t actually have to do all that much work to homebrew her. Most of the work is already done for you. Remember how I said one of her other names is The Kraken? I would actually just take the Kraken from the Monster Manuel and use it for Cthylla‘s stats. It’s already a CR 23 monster, which is about right for Cthylla. Although I would add a few things to it just to make it a little more on point.

The Build

As I said, start with Kraken base stats.

Next, change the monster type from Gargantuan monstrosity (titan), chaotic evil to Gargantuan aberration (great old one), chaotic neutral, unless of course you don’t plan to play her as the rebellious type, in which case you can keep the chaotic evil alignment.

Step 2, add a fly speed of fly 80 ft. (hover). She does have those wings after all...

Step 3, bump up her Dex to 22 (+6).

Step 4, Give her Damage Resistance to all spell attacks and all attacks from magical weapons. After all... if an atomic bomb only left her wounded, then she should be able to shrug off spells like Fireball.

Step 5, change her languages to Deep Speech; telepathy 300 ft. 

Step 6, add darkvision 120 ft.

Step 7, add Innate Spellcasting. Cthylla’s innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 24; spell attack +16). She can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components: At will: dispel magic, dream, 3/day: suggestion, feeblemind, 

Step 8, add Frightful Presence. Each creature of Cthylla’s choice that is within 120 feet of her and aware of her must succeed on a DC 24 Wisdom saving throw or become frightened for 1 minute. A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. If a creature’s saving throw is successful or the effect ends for it, the creature is immune to Cthylla’s Frightful Presence for the next minute.

Step 9, add Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If Cthylla fails a saving throw, she can choose to succeed instead.

Step 10, add Change Shape. Cthylla magically polymorphs into a humanoid or beast that has a challenge rating no higher than its own, or back into it’s true form. It reverts to its true form if it dies. Any equipment it is wearing or carrying is absorbed or borne by the new form (Cthylla’s choice). In a new form, Cthylla retains her alignment, hit points, Hit Dice, ability to speak, proficiencies, Legendary Resistance, and Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores.

Step 11, remove Lightning Storm.

And that should sufficiently turn your Kraken into Cthylla. And just so you can see what it all looks like when it’s finished so you don’t have to spend the time writing it all down yourself, here it is...

Cthylla

Gargantuan aberration (great old one), chaotic neutral 

Armor Class 18 (natural armor) Hit Points 427 (27d20+189) Speed 20 ft., swim 60 ft., fly 80 ft. (hover)

STR ​ 30 (+10)​ DEX ​ 22 (+6)​ CON​  25 (+7)​ INT​  22 (+6)​ WIS ​ 18 (+4)​ CHA​  20 (+5)​

Saving Throws Str +18, Dex +15, Con +15, Int +14, Wis +12 Damage Resistances All spell attacks, bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from magical weapons. Damage Immunities lightning; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical weapons. Condition Immunities frightened, paralyzed Senses darkvision 120 ft., truesight 120 ft., passive Perception 14 Languages Deep Speech; telepathy 300 ft. Challenge 25 (50,000 XP)

Amphibious. Cthylla can breath air and water.

Freedom of Movement. Cthylla ignores difficult terrain, and magical effects can’t reduce her her speed or cause her to be restrained. She can spend 5 feet of movement to escape from nonmagical restraints or being grappled.

Siege Monster. Cthylla deals double damage to objects and structures.

Frightful Presence. Each creature of Cthylla’s choice that is within 120 feet of her and aware of her must succeed on a DC 24 Wisdom saving throw or become frightened for 1 minute. A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. If a creature’s saving throw is successful or the effect ends for it, the creature is immune to Cthylla’s Frightful Presence for the next minute. 

Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If Cthylla fails a saving throw, she can choose to succeed instead. 

Change Shape. Cthylla magically polymorphs into a humanoid or beast that has a challenge rating no higher than its own, or back into it’s true form. It reverts to its true form if it dies. Any equipment it is wearing or carrying is absorbed or borne by the new form (Cthylla’s choice). In a new form, Cthylla retains her alignment, hit points, Hit Dice, ability to speak, proficiencies, Legendary Resistance, and Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores. 

Innate Spellcasting. Cthylla’s innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 24; spell attack +16). She can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components: At will: dispel magic, dream, 3/day: suggestion, feeblemind, 

Actions

Multiattack. Cthylla makes three tentacle attacks, each of which she can replace with one use of Fling.

Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +18 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 23 (3d8 +10) piercing damage. If the target is a large or small creature grappled by Cthylla, that creature is swallowed, and the grapple ends. While swallowed, the creature is blinded and restrained, it has total cover against attacks and other effects outside Cthylla, and it takes 42 (12d6) acid damage at the start of each of Cthylla’s turns. If Cthylla takes 50 or more damage on a single turn from a creature inside her, Cthylla must succeed on a DC 25 Constitution saving throw at the end of that turn or regurgitate all swallowed creatures, which fall prone in a space within 10 feet of Cthylla. If Cthylla dies, a swallowed creature is no longer restrained by it and can escape from the corpse using 15 feet of movement, exiting prone.

Tentacle. Melee Weapon Attack: +18 to hit, reach 30 ft., one target. Hit: 20 (3d6 +10) bludgeoning damage, and the target is grappled (escape DC 18). Until this grapple ends, the target is restrained. Cthylla has 12 tentacles, each of which can grapple one target.

Fling. One large or smaller object held or creature grappled by Cthylla is thrown up to 60 feet in a random direction and knocked prone. If a thrown target strikes a solid surface, the target takes 3 (1d6) bludgeoning damage for every 10 feet it was thrown. If a target is thrown at another creature, that creature must succeed on a DC 18 Dexterity Saving throw or take the same damage and be knocked prone.

Legendary Actions

Cthylla can take three Legendary Actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature’s turn. Cthylla regains spent legendary actions at the start of her turn.

Tentacle Attack or Fling. Cthylla makes one tentacle attack or uses her fling.

Bite (Costs 2 Actions). Cthylla makes one bite attack.

Ink Cloud (Costs 3 actions). While underwater, Cthylla expels an ink cloud in a 60-foot radius. The cloud spreads around corners, and that area is heavily obscured to creatures other than Cthylla. Each creature other than Cthylla that ends its turn there must succeed on a DC 23 Constitution saving throw, taking 16 (3d10) poison damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. A strong current disperses the cloud, which otherwise disappears at the end of Cthylla’s next turn.

[ankyouweek]

Second Time Around

6 - Who We Are

It was cold in their classroom. Karma didn’t think it was just the weather or the hour of the night making him feel that way.

“Well, we’ll start with you, Kayano. Why were you siding with the Reaper?”

Irina kept to the back of the room, but it was clear that even though the air had been cleared between her and the class, she was still ashamed of her actions. Kayano felt no such shame.

“Because a monster’s only duty is to die.”

The rest of the class gasped and squealed as she showed her trump card while Karma was torn between being thankful for getting a reprieve from everyone’s grilling and being irritated that he was going to lose another set of tentacles. 

He ignored Kayano’s (Aguri’s) sob story. People often took him, Nagisa and Kayano as a trio, but that was simply because they both hung around Nagisa. There wasn’t bad blood between them, but they weren’t incredibly friendly towards each other either. They had an irreplaceable bond thanks to this classroom, but the same could be said for most of the class. He’d heard this before, didn’t need a repeat of the theatrics again.

She disappeared shortly after, demanding a life or death match the next day.

“I know some weird shit just went down, but do you have a minute?”

Itona shrugged. Their teacher had switched sides, as had a classmate, they’d fought against the world’s best assassin and then been imprisoned, their other teacher had gotten shot but was still intent on grilling them, previously mentioned classmate grew tentacles - and it was barely 10pm. “Today can’t get much crazier. Spill.”

Karma dragged him away from the class. Mostly everyone was leaving, though the teachers were hanging about to discuss Kayano, and a few students were comforting each other and try to make sense of what had happened. Nobody would listen to them, but better safe than sorry. 

“Alright, this is gonna sound crazy but I’m actually from the future and my world is fucked because of shit that happened in this world after we graduate and I was sent back to fix everything. Yanagisawa’s research is important. I need to talk to you about it and get as much information as possible.”

Itona blinked at him. Once, twice, three times. Stony faced as usual. The smaller boy sat down, ignoring the dewy grass. “Are we friends because we’re both weird?” The redhead made a strangled sound and shrugged. “I still think I’m stronger than you, but you’re definitely weirder.”

“That’s great and all, but will you tell me about his research?”

“Sure. He screwed me over. I don’t care about the jerk one way or the other.”

Relieved, Karma sat down next to Itona. It was honestly irrelevant whether Itona believed him or not, as long as the information was right.

— 

They’d stayed up until the sun rose. 

Karma’s head was racing, the words on the notebook in front of him blurring, tired eyes straining. “Why didn’t you tell anyone about this stuff earlier?”

“Isn’t that the problem in your time? People knowing?”

Karma didn’t have a comeback. Itona was right; this type of knowledge was what screwed his time over. With knowledge came power, and those with power were meant to be responsible, but reality and expectations were clearly different. 

Itona had told him about all of Yanagisawa’s ideas. Karma doubted they were all of them, but Itona was sure it was, so he’d have to take his word on it. Karma learnt about the tentacle serum, about the process of making someone a real monster (apparently Nidaime was not the first attempt outside of Sensei, explaining his near perfect abilities and control), truth serums and everything else that caused issues in his time. And more that he hadn’t wanted to know about.

“Can you blame me for not wanting to talk about it?”

Karma shook his head. Itona hadn’t said as much, but the way he spoke of Yanagisawa made him think that the tentacles hadn’t been the only experiment Itona had been used for. Even if he was wrong, seeing and knowing about all this stuff would be hard for anyone to stomach.

“What are you gonna do now?”

Chewing the end of his pencil, Karma mumbled, an unintelligible train of thought to anyone but the two of them, who knew the consequences of science and it’s uses. Unable to think of anything good, quiet, that wouldn’t make a scene, he threw caution to the wind. Even small changes had some type of ripple effect in his time. And without being able to contact the Karasuma of the future, he was left guessing.

Go big or go home, right?

“D’you reckon Terasaka’s up for burning the lab down?”

—

Obviously, Terasaka was in. 

(“Hell yeah!”

“Aren’t you even gonna ask why?”

“Nah, this dude’s an ass and tried to use me! I wanna get my revenge!”

Karma shrugged while Itona called him stupid. Once the job was done, perhaps he’d tell him. Or perhaps getting away with such a large crime would be enough for him.)

The rest of his group was going to come along, mainly to make sure the three of them didn’t do anything more stupid than burning down a laboratory worth billions of dollars. Karma said that wasn’t possible. Muramatsu said he clearly didn’t know Terasaka very well. But that was going to have to wait. Karma figured that as long as it was wreckage by graduation and Yanagisawa didn’t have backups, he could avoid, or at least strongly delay, this shit that happens in his timeline. Other things needed to be prioritised.

Like Kayano’s and Sensei’s fight.

It had started just before sundown. He and Itona still hadn’t slept, though Itona was interested and alert, curious to see an untrained tentacle user, giving scathing and concerned commentary as he saw fit. Karma was barely awake enough to keep his eyes open. He was glad, because Nagisa chose to use his killer move against Kayano instead of kissing her, though he would have enjoyed getting more material to tease the boy with (he was nicer to Nagisa in his time, but honestly, when someone was going batshit and you were asked to distract them, kissing wasn’t often the first thing to come to mind, and Karma would never let the smaller boy live that down). He would have been far too tired to get the photos, however, and wondered if something as simple as a kiss could change the future.

If it could, he’d have kissed everyone in Tokyo by now.

She was tentacle-less before she could blink, though still incredibly pissed and needed to be restrained. Megu confiscated her Sensei killing items, though Karma thought that was stupid. 

“I’m sure she doesn’t want to kill in blind anger.”

“I’m pretty sure you’re wrong and you’re making us waste an excellent chance, but do what you need to, class rep.”

Yanagisawa made his appearance, introducing himself properly. Karma knew the speech that was coming, but he felt sick, now knowing the extent of inhuman experiments this man would perform in the name of science. He could see Itona tense slightly in front of him. Shifting, Karma moved his way to the front of the group. Itona didn’t need protecting, even without tentacles, but Karma didn’t want anyone near this guy. These were his friends, but he’d had an extra ten years of life than they had. If something was to happen to him, it would suck, but he’d made all his goals into realities in his time, so it was better than someone else getting harmed or scarred.

Maehara and Terasaka came to stand next to him, quietly creating a wall between the class and the monsters in the field. 

Karma very much doubted the Reaper would be set free now, but he’d been wrong about how things would play out before, and nobody had expected Kayano’s impaling in his first time around. Taking chances was something he’d done too much of, especially when the little information he had changed so often. 

Better safe than sorry.

Karma wondered, if tentacles could really help you become strong, or get revenge, or become weaker, whether he should just inject himself and ask them if he could become a hero.

Then he thought of the pain Itona had been in, and watched Kayano spit up more blood, and the mindless roars of the monsterised Reaper and thought better of it. 

Better safe than sorry.

—

The class was dismissed, leaving them to their own devices. They walked down the mountain silently, not bothering to say goodbye as they went in their various directions. Kayano was taken to the hospital, still bitter and full of rage, thought Irina was trying to bring her around. 

(“He literally said your sister changed him from being a monster to a decent person and you still want him dead?”

“Yes! He’s still a monster! It’s still his fault!”

“And Yanagisawa!”

“I’ll kill him too!”)

Karma didn’t envy her in the slightest.

Kayano and Irina both returned to class on Monday morning, and while the girl wasn’t spitting insults and death threats, she wasn’t the ball of sunshine everyone knew her as. Sensei took it as an improvement and continued class as normal, while reminding them of their career meetings.

“Karma-kun, how are things going?”

“I already know what I want to be in the future, can I go?”

Sensei shook his head, and Karma was reminded of one of those dumb bobble head things. “We have other things to discuss.”

“Weren’t we doing that as a class?”

Sensei chuckled, “Oh, we’ll still do that, but perhaps a private talk is best first?”

It dawned on Karma that Sensei hadn’t talked to Karasuma about this - Karma would have been told if that was the case. This really was just between the two of them. 

He gave in. The tiredness he’d felt earlier in the year was nothing compared to this. The redhead felt older than he ever had been, more exhausted than he’d ever felt before. He felt more like a kid than he ever had. He couldn’t do this alone, wasn’t meant to, but without anyone to talk to, he was stuck, and this Karasuma was wary and knew too little. He needed help.

“What do you want to know?”

“Just start at the beginning, and we’ll go from there.”

Karma had noticed that his meeting time had been scheduled to the end of the day, despite being first on the roll. Now the changed time slot made sense. Taking the offered strawberry au lait, he began with a brief explanation of the end of the year, before getting more in depth as things got worse and detailing Yanagisawa’s research. 

Sensei didn’t say anything for a long time after that. 

“That’s… not really what I was expecting.”

Karma shrugged. “You and me both.”

Karasuma was out for the day, business in his real office to attend to, and Irina had been putting in more effort so she could leave early. The office was theirs and time felt like it was travelling both fast and slow, Karma just wanting to discuss what to do, but waiting in worry about what Sensei would say.

Light pressure on his forehead startled him slightly. A tentacle rested there, gently, a subtle support.

Sensei was smiling at him. “You’ve done well to get this far, Karma-kun.”

When Sensei had died, he’d tried to be strong, stifling his tears and sobs. This time he was honest, letting himself bawl, as uncool and as childish as it was. 

Golden eyes were blotchy afterwards, and he couldn’t remember how long he cried for or when was the last time he’d had a good cry. Sensei passed him tissues and gave him some tea.

Nodding to himself, as though this was a good development, Sensei whipped out a notebook. Titling it ‘how to save the future’, he opened the first page. “Let’s get to work, shall we?”

—

Karasuma wasn’t impressed that he’d discussed the future with Itona and Sensei, but he couldn’t do anything about it now. Sensei, as much of a goof he pretended to be/actually was, wasn’t stupid, and Itona wasn’t the gossiping type. Plus, the class was far too busy preparing for the school festival than to grill them (Karma wondered how long his luck would last, but he’d have to cross that bridge when he came to it).

Unlike last time, they did poorly. Nagisa hadn’t met Yuuji, after all, and that influence had saved them. Of course, they still had their assassin friends and Karma grilled them on techniques instead of working. (He hadn’t worked much originally, and he believed being stronger was more likely to help him in the coming days than foraging for mushrooms or whatever the hell his assigned job was).

Hiromi came and went, without a shouting match this time, so Karma was glad to see that he hadn’t managed to screw Nagisa over in that regard. Of course, he’d never like the woman, nor would anyone else in their class, but Nagisa thought she deserved a second chance, so Karma could only hope things went well for them. Gakushuu bragged about his class’ results while the class seethed at their own lack of ability, though neither had much time to do so with end of term exams coming up. 

Karma got his perfect score, and many others in his class had risen through the ranks thanks to his tutoring and study guide. Sensei was proud of him, and Karma wanted him to live, wanted him to be there to continually be proud and stupid and just there in their lives. 

Sure, perhaps him being in their class was out of some weird dedication or respect for Yukimura Sensei, but a year can change a person, and Karma wanted to think that Sensei would want to stay with them, even after their forced year together was over. Looking at him protecting Gakuhou, he wanted nothing more to believe that. Watching him play an ugly peach in their bizarre version of Momotarou, he wanted to make sure Sensei was around for many years to come.

He doubted the world felt the same.

—

The Civil War had begun.

Karma had been pondering what to do for weeks. Obviously, Sensei’s death (or the act of murdering him in such a public fashion and his existence becoming public knowledge) was the catalyst to hell in his world. He doubted simply saving Sensei would fix things, hence the plan for Yanagisawa’s lab (they’d decided the burning would take place after they returned from space). 

But simply taking Nagisa’s side wasn’t going to help anyone. This whole event had allowed for people to be honest with their feelings, show of their skills, learn more about how each other thought. If he agreed with Nagisa, he wouldn’t be surprised if it swayed a few people. After all, he was smart, and Terasaka and Itona both knew that he knew more than he let on. He could ruin everyone’s growth just because of his feelings. That wasn’t really fair.

So he played the part, just like his first day.

Snarling at Nagisa and watching him being pitifully restrained by Sugino, while it took three people to hold him back, Sensei gave them their supplies. He would play the leader and give everyone a chance to show their mettle. This time, Nagisa had already awakened, and Karma was prepared. Karma and some of the others were still up for sparring matches in his time, but Nagisa refrained.

Karma grinned. It’d be nice to kick his ass again.

—

For the most part, things played out similarly to last time, though Kayano got in more shots than before, as had Itona. Terasaka was much calmer than last time, due to partial exhaustion as Karma kept grilling his team about their arson attack. Unfortunately, Hazama had stepped on a twig, alerting others to her presence. She was going to wear that paintball bruise for at least a week, it was already ugly and welting on the side of her neck. For the other team, Okuda and Takebayashi weren’t as useful as last time, and Hara’s bait tactic hadn’t worked. 

When he and Nagisa were left, Karma kept his weapons. He still went out into the open. He had the advantage out here, compared to Nagisa who fought well in the trees and darkness,  and Nagisa would look shitty if he attacked him in the open like this. Everyone knew that, though it didn’t stop some of them from encouraging the action.  

Karma was stronger, faster, smarter. But Nagisa was a stubborn little shit who desperately wanted to save Sensei’s life, at any cost. Karma didn’t think that meant biting, but alright, all’s fair in love and war. (Karasuma wasn’t impressed - they’d trained them to be assassins and assassins didn’t bite; Irina begged to differ, but someone mentioned her type of assassin was different to most peoples.) Karma was tempted to bite back, partly to be petty and partly because it hurt, but opted for an elbow in the gut. The other spluttered, wheezing, while Karma took the chance to put some distance between them.

Nagisa’s face was bruised and swelling. Karma was glad he’d gotten used to his body. It felt familiar and normal again, instead of being too small and cramped. He was confident of winning this time. Even if Nagisa got him in a chokehold again, the redhead had picked up a few knives from his fallen comrades, and made sure his team knew to drop their weapons near the forest if they were about to be beaten, or on their way to the ‘out’ area. 

This Nagisa had awakened early, and favoured extreme measures. He recovered quickly too. Darting across the space Karma had made (too small, he realised bitterly), the smaller boy landed a kick to his previously injured knee. Karma swore, grabbing a handful of dirt as he hit the ground and throwing it in Nagisa’s face.

There were no rules against playing dirty.

Rolling away, he picked himself up, Nagisa already recovering. Karma leapt toward him, favouring his uninjured leg and watched as Nagisa prepared to use his signature move, even though his eyes watered. The taste of copper flooded his mouth and Nagisa’s eyes widened at his evasiveness. He heard an impressed murmur from the class and tucked it away for later, a happy boost for his ego. Another smack to the face and Karma darted away, his hand stinging from the blow. 

Nagisa’s right eye was quickly swelling and Karma knew it wouldn’t be long before the other couldn’t use it at all. His left eye was red from the dirt Karma had thrown earlier, and Karma could see the other was moving more gingerly, keeping his left arm away from Karma. Must have been when I threw him to the ground earlier. Neither of them were going to last longer.

For himself, his knee still throbbed, his speed taken a huge blow, and constantly pummelling Nagisa in his defence gear wasn’t doing much for his hands. He’d taken all that stuff off earlier. It wasn’t heavy or hot, but he fought better without it, freer to move. It did give Nagisa an easier way of seeing his movements, which the uniform hid, and it didn’t shield him from the other’s blows (though Nagisa’s strength wasn’t in his physical strength, but his sneak attacks). Of course, since he wasn’t wearing the gear, Nagisa didn’t need to pummel him as hard to get through it, conserving energy and not damaging his hands as much.

Back and forth, back and forth. They traded blows evenly, Nagisa relying on his drive to save Sensei to keep going, while Karma wanted to make a difference for an entire planet. Karma’s nose was bleeding, his black shirt covered in dirt. Nagisa had clearly broken a finger, it was twisted at a painful looking angle and it made Karma sick to look at it. He wondered if the adrenaline running through Nagisa prevented him from realising it, and wondered if he’d ended up with any similar injuries.

Finally, it came.

A chokehold, Nagisa’s last resort. 

Karma was ready, however, and didn’t throw in the towel like last time. 

The paint splattered, Nagisa’s uniform stained with red, though it still took three people to remove the boy’s grip on the winner. Karma wheezed, body working overtime to get oxygen back to his brain, Okuda handing him water and Nagisa was forced to calm down halfway across the field. 

Karma offered to hear Nagisa’s team out, though his own team wasn’t impressed with the notion.

“We won!”

“We don’t need to listen to them!”

“We’re the winners, it’s our choice what path we take, right?”

Karma agreed with them all, but the blue team had never given them this option. Karma would lead his team, this class, to the path he thought was right, the path they’d rightfully earned, but hearing out the class wouldn’t hurt. Much like letting Isogai lead despite being more talented in more fields, this could bring more people to his side. 

So he listened. 

Unsurprisingly, their arguments were weak, based on not wanting to be killers (“you realise what class this is, right?”) and sentimentality. Karma was irritated, hoping that some of the more level headed classmates had thought with a bit more depth, but had to remind himself that they were kids. Feelings ran their actions and beliefs. They weren’t used to mind matches with government officials on a daily basis, hadn’t honed their debate skills in high school yet even. 

He shook his head. “If that’s all you’ve got, we can’t agree to saving him.” The redhead could feel his team’s pride and could see the blue team deflate. “We’ll go forward with our plan and kill him.”