TrollMan's Twisted Beachside Citadel

Rachna thought it over as they walked. It was clear that each of these had a significant weakness that made them so...'low-tier', as it were. That would have been something that could be fixed if she had the chance do to something of her own with them, but she doubted she would be able to. It was supposed to be a tournament based around controlling them as a summoner, after all. She would more than likely have to make the best of what she had. Still, something to keep in mind if she got the chance.

For that purpose, it seemed like the inventor, which Rachna was going to assume was a gremlin, was almost the best bet. Good offense and the brains to use them in creative ways was always a plus...but there was also the obvious downside of destroying herself with them. Rachna had a mental image of a certain cartoon coyote always chasing after a flightless bird, never able to catch it and always having his clever traps backfire on him. That coyote never won. Maybe with someone else at the reins, Grimlyn could do better, but....Rachna decided to save that as a plan B.

Conversely, Tortura presented the problem of very limited options. A turtle, good with defense but poor with what was more than likely everything else, was probably only good for hiding in her shell. Sure, it was probably a good shell, but if it was capable of lasting forever she wouldn't have such a poor record. Calabasher, though...claws were good for attacking, as Myrmaidon said, but they were also good for holding things, crushing things, prying things off of other things, throwing things...Rachna could work with that.

"I think so," Rachna answered. "Why don't we go see Calabasher, then."

"You want Calabasher, then? I think this will be a surprise to everyone," Myrmaidon chuckled. "I hope you are as witty as you seem, milady, or this will end up embarrassing for everyone~"

The maid did not change her direction, but rather, continued down the staircase as she had been, leading her guest along. They'd nearly reached the bottom now. "Calabasher should be somewhere down here. While I go and fetch her, I would recommend that you do not stray too far, lest you run into the esteemed head of the castle," she suggested, vanishing into the darkness, turning on her heels to face Rachna and giving another amused smile. With amazing speed, she dissolved into shadows, moving between the rails and then vanishing completely beneath the staircase.

At the bottom of the stairs, a massive amount of various monsters sat around in what looked like bleacher seats. It turned out that the pit she'd seen from the outside, dug into the cliff, was not the stage for the tournament, but rather, a theater. The theater looked outside, onto the ocean. Where was the arena, exactly? Would the monsters be flying, or perhaps some terrain would be projected out for them? If they were going to fight in the sea, it would explain all of the sea-based monsters, at least...

In the distance, Rachna spotted a robed figure. The figure seemed similar to TrollMan, but with better posture and armed with a tall broom. A female knight, clad from head to toe in black armor and carrying its severed head by the plumed tail extending up from the helmet, stood next to the robed navi.

Further off to the left, Octopressure was standing by herself. Rachna didn't see the troll in question himself, however, nor did she see anyone that looked like a soft-shelled crab.

And that would be that, for the moment. The maid disappeared into the darkness, which wasn't a terribly surprising feat when there was so much darkness around to disappear into. And that left Rachna at the bottom of the staircase, where a number of monstrous navis were sitting in bleachers. Sadly, none of them looked like the one she was supposed to be working with, but that was what the cute maid navi had disappeared for, right?

She took up a spot leaning against the railing, where she could get a good lock at most of the theater's occupants. Most of them probably would not be taking part, although the troll-ish one almost certainly would, as another competitor. And if the simple logic of proximity and similar names was to be believed, the headless navi next to her was probably Dullaharm. And then there was Octopressure, standing off by herself. Rachna wanted to start thinking of strategies for each of them other than what she had already come up with, but she knew that she would have to see what she was working with first.

Until then, though, she simply stayed where she was and waited for Myrmaidon to return. She took the maid's recommendation very seriously. Not as any kind of warning, but because running into TrollMan at this point was definitely not something she wanted.

"So first you get a virus as an adopted 'daughter', then I find you in a den full of monster girls? Just what are you getting up to when I'm not paying attention?" Ellen asked, breaking the silence.

"Oh, nothing terribly unusual. To me, at least," Rachna answered.

"I would hate to see what is unusual for you then."

Rachna decided to keep a low profile, in order to avoid getting wrapped up in another confusing game of "try to make TrollMan realize that he's being insulted." Thankfully, she fit into a crowd of women who all looked like they were dressed for Halloween pretty nicely, and thus was not bothered. With surprising speed, Myrmaidon returned with the monster she'd promised to introduce Rachna to. "Hello again, Miss Rachna. I've brought Calabasher, as you requested. Calabasher, this is our esteemed guest and your master for the evening," the maid announced, keeping a polite smile.

The navi who'd shown up with Myrmaidon was a slightly taller girl with a body that looked very similar to Myrmaidon's own in build, only slightly more toned and with darker skin. Her armor seemed vaguely reminiscent of Octopressure's, except that hers was closer fitting, had a much less distracting helmet, and had giant blue crab claws instead of tentacles. "This is great! I didn't think there was a chance I was getting to take part in the tournament, but here I am! Who do I have to thank, huh?" the navi chuckled, her grin widening beneath her bizarre, crab-shaped helmet. Like with Octopressure, the helmet obscured her eyes to the point where it was hard to imagine what her face looked like. Her claws clapped mechanically with a quiet noise, but snapped especially hard at certain words.

"Do you remember when I said that Calabasher is based off of a soft-shelled crab?" Myrmaidon asked, giving Rachna a cryptic stare.

"Soft-shelled? Just cause don't like to wear armor doesn't mean I'm ready for the pot!" the monster griped, snapping her claws irritably. "I even dressed up for the occassion!"

"Calabasher's weakness is exactly opposite of Tortura: she refuses to wear armor. As such, she has a difficult time defending herself. I wish you luck in devising a strategy that compensates for her foolhardy behavior," the maid chuckled, bowing and backing away. "I am off to attend to other guests; please ask Calabasher here if you have any more questions before we prepare to begin the competition."

The crab-like navi watched the maid leave, then turned back to Rachna. "What's there to strategize, am I right? See these big, pinchy snappers? They'll take care of anything! Doesn't matter how much armor the other girl wears, these things'll go right through it!" she commented, clacking the scissor-like hands together menacingly to emphasize her point while grinning deviously. She seemed to have a lot of confidence for someone with such a poor record.

Already, Rachna could tell that this was going to be a very...interesting tournament. The crab navi that she had chosen for for her entrant was about what she had expected from Myrmaidon's description, but even listening her Rachna had to chuckle inwardly at her attitude. Rather headstrong, despite her record. At least she had confidence. Now Rachna just had to mold that into something useful.

"Yes, those are certainly some impressive claws," Rachna answered, trying to ignore the way Calabasher snapped them with every few words. "And they do look like they can go through anything. But if that's all you needed then I'm sure you'd have a better record, hmm?"

"Hrk! I was hoping you didn't already know so much about my record...!" Calabasher sighed, crossing her claws in front of her. "But look! I actually wore most of my armor this time! It's hot, but I'm wearing it anyway! I'm sure to win this time!" she declared triumphantly, pressing one claw to her chest and cackling evilly.

"Attention everyone!" the robed figure from earlier shouted. Thankfully, the voice was female, and thus could not belong to TrollMan. As Rachna got a better look at the announcer, however, she realized that the robed figure and the dreaded TrollMan might very well be siblings; although not deformed and lumpy, the sister's face had green skin, white eyes, and sharp fangs just like the original troll's. "The fights will begin soon! Prepare for the first matchup: Octopressure, coached by myself, versus Calabasher, coached by the newly arrived Rachna!"

"Octopressure! We aquatic monsters kinda look up to her," Calabasher whispered, covering the side of her face with one of her tremendous claws in humorous mimicry of speaking through one's hand. "She's not so tough normally, but once Mistress Trik uses her magic...!"

"Monsters, approach the cauldron launcher and prepare to transform!" the troll woman commanded. With that, Calabasher nodded and bounded away towards a cauldron at the center of the room. Octopressure stepped towards it at the same time, dragging her tentacles behind her unenthusiastically. Apparently she wasn't in a very good mood.

"Remember: you can communicate with me using the magic orb near the window looking out at the sea!" Calabasher informed her master. Apparently, she was going to be transported somewhere else...? Both monsters climbed into the cauldron together, which entertainingly was barely big enough for the two of them, making it look like they were sharing a very intimate jacuzzi. "I won't hold back just cause you're another aquatic monster!"

"You should not hold back in a fight. But know that I won't go easy. I have something to gain from this. And I must beat you to progress," Octopressure informed her opponent. A plume of purple fire erupted from the cauldron then, consuming them both and leaving no-one. At that point, everyone began to move towards the window, leaving enough space for Rachna to take up a floating orb at the left side.

Amazingly, the purple fire which had been in the cauldron moments ago now erupted across the sea itself, visible from the window carved into the side of the cliff. The flames expanded outward into a ring, then two figures began to grow up from the water. Rachna was quickly able to identify them as increasingly giant versions of the two monsters who had occupied the cauldron moments ago. After reaching an immense size, Calabasher snapped her claws menacingly while Octopressure whipped her appendages against the sea floor.

The troll woman smiled at Rachna, revealing rows of sharp teeth. "You're the one my idiot brother's been going on about! Too bad he dragged you into this, because I'm not going to lose at my own tournament in the first round," she cackled, crossing both sleeves of her robe confidently. "You chose poorly. Calabasher doesn't stand a chance against Octopressure! You can instruct her by speaking into that orb there, but I wouldn't bother if I were you; this will be over in just a second!"

"Alright, Boss! What do you want me to do? Should I just pinch her reeeal good?" Calabasher's voice boomed. It didn't sound like she had much of a plan...

Rachna smirked. She could certainly see why Calabasher had such a poor record. The crab girl was cocky, overconfident, unbalanced for one on one combat, and content to leave armor behind because it was uncomfortable. Having her work cut out for was one thing, but this crab was something else. But that just meant it would be sweeter for her, and all the more embarrassing for TrollMan if she actually succeeded in coming out on top. The only downfall to this plan was that it would probably do nothing to deter his bizarre, irrational worship of her as some kind of evil goddess of magic. But she would just have to deal with that some other way.

"Octopressure, huh," she said as the fight was announced and Calabasher mentioned looking up to her. "I remember beating her with a bit of sand awhile back. Shouldn't be too hard for you."

Nonetheless, she couldn't help but be impressed when both monster navis were transported out to sea and materialized in it, now positively massive. So that was how the arena was going to work: with both combatants so large that the ocean was little more than a hindrance, if even that much. Rachna made a mental note to ask later about what kind of magic the one called Trik used to do it.

Just in case she felt like creating a kaiju battle scenario of her own, of course.

Rachna turned toward Trik while approaching the magic orb she was supposed to talk through, smirking and answering "Well, at least we both recognize that he's an idiot. Do you think you can take away his evil button in the future? Last time I was unfortunate enough to run into him he kept mashing it like a lunatic."

Before saying anything into the magic orb, she shot one more remark at her opponent. "Yeah, maybe I did choose poorly. What can I say, I'm new to this and clearly don't have any idea what I'm doing yet."

Rachna grinned, then turned her gaze back out to sea. "Okay, here's what you do," she said in a hushed voice into the orb. "You can grab things well enough with those claws, right? So go for her tentacles. Clamp down on them as hard as you can so she can't use them well. Then if you can manage it try and throw her around a bit."

"At the very least, it is comforting to see my brother's affections for you are one-sided. The last thing he needs is for anyone to encourage that behavior of his," Trik sighed. "Go, Octopressure! Anticipate a frontal attack; Calabasher always goes straight for the vitals!"

The defense would have been a sound strategy, based on past experience, but this time, Calabasher had fresh tactics. As the giant octopus navi extended her tentacles to catch the crab navi moving in, Calabasher took the opportunity to snatch them up in her claws, grabbing two tentacles with each massive claw. On the upside, this seemed to disable Octopressure's greatest weapons. On the downside, the cutting power of the claws must not be what it looked like; Octopressure's armored tentacles withstood their pinch.

"I faced such strategies before," Trik's combatant boomed. "Enemies often think to attack those. That's why I have them armored now."

"Yeah? Well you haven't faced anyone like me before!" Calabasher boasted. "I'll just keep pinching in harder and harder until they tear off! What'll you do then!?"

As if answering the question, Octopressure began to walk towards her opponent. Although Calabasher didn't seem to perceive it, Rachna could clearly see that the strategy had left her monster with two free limbs and the opponent with four... While it was possible Calabasher's strategy might eventually work, time was not on her side.

"Well if that's the case, maybe you should stop making monsters that suck up to him," Rachna said, shrugging. "Even for being the sensible one Octopressure out there certainly wasn't doing much else. 'Your way is right, evil lights our path'...or whatever it was in her strange octameter."

She turned her attention back to the fight, quickly noticing that while Calabasher had indeed managed to grab the octopus navi's tentacles, she had not managed to cut through them. Armored tentacles, was it? That seemed almost cheap...although now that she thought of it, Rachna did remember Octopressure using them to block some of her own magic. She'd gotten around it by attacking from behind, but Calabasher didn't have that option. Nor, for that matter, did she have the option for going for the body, unless she wanted to let go of the tentacles. Not a good idea.

"Okay, I think I got it," she said in a hushed voice. "Wait until she gets to you, then let go of one side, just one side, and go for her body with it. Actually, no, wait, go for her dress. That'll get her off-guard." Rachna grinned. She had no idea if that strategy would work, but she couldn't think of any options that didn't involve taking a chance letting go of those tentacles. And if they were going to take risks, they were going to do it in style.

"A fellow witch, but ignorant in the ways of witches!" Trik scoffed, showing her fangs. "Evil is both our path and our goal!" Still, despite her acting, Trik really didn't have that same spit and venom in her voice that TrollMan did. In fact, once her head was turned and her attention was on the fight again, she looked downright bored with everything. "I can't help it if Octopressure has the ridiculous notion that she needs to win the affections of that pea-brained dog."

In the mean time, Octopressure continued acting on her own and moving in towards Calabasher. "I hope this doesn't send the wrong message about me to the other girls," the giant crab navi muttered, waiting for Octopressure to move into range. "Hey! Let's see if the armor on your body is as tough as on your tentacles!" With that, she released her grip and snapped at the octopus navi's clothes furiously.

Not quite catching the intent, Octopressure assumed Calabasher must be frantically trying to cut her apart, which ordinarily would have been a safe bet. She flailed her own tentacles in a flurry of clubs, hitting Calabasher with across the right side of her body with several wet smacks. Judging by how the tentacles were apparently armored, it couldn't be a pleasant feeling; at that size, anything but a giant target would have been smashed. It would have been better for Calabasher, certainly, if she'd only wear more armor...

While she took damage, the crab navi managed to accomplish her purpose, tearing apart Octopressure's armor until all that remained was the silver-colored, close-fitting bikini she wore beneath it. Several monsters gasped in surprise (and admiration?) as she displaced both tentacles to cross them across her chest protectively. "Calabasher, what is your plan? Did you lure me in just for that? You took many attacks just now," she inquired in loud yet unexpressive monotone.

"What, you don't understand my plan? My great and mysterious plan?" Calabasher snickered menacingly, laughing in time with her claws snapping. "That great and mysterious plan, that I'm going to narrate in just a second once I gather my thoughts..."