for Power of the Elements: Recharge9/4 c21 
6Viewer27Man
Our fire hero does introductions with the shadow girl via video call. He had to take the bathroom transporter to get here. He first asks about the weather but realizes that was a dumb idea. After name clarifications the shadow girl claims she and another can't leave the country because of incident with the handler's artifact and a resulting wall-like barrier to them. They can't find him so the fire hero wants to know when she's ready, not because they're a team per say, but to be friends. He likes her dual-colored eyes. She's anxious about going into a new world, and to reassure he says they'll be there, and wants to see her art, but gets a no to that. We cut away to just her alone at her house when the doorbell rings. The man at the door says the handler expected her and a woman. She backs off getting darkness ready while he gives a date and time for a truce and leaves. The fact the handler knows where she lives is concerning so she contacts the other one who's trapped. They might be free from the deal, but specifically them. They have a bad feeling so they decide to have invite 2 heroes, including the fire one. They all meet up in some woods. After handshakes our the shadow girl grabs fire hero's face to look at his mole. It's important because of imposter stuff. The count wants them to bring a crystal box and the shadow girl says 3 of them need to touch the artifact, found under a cathedral, to be set free. The count's known history is getting his power and then being locked away 1000 years ago. It might be like the mastermind lady, but how is an explanation for later. The town they've been spying on is oddly beautiful and the mana is sporadically aggressive, which is bad. The fire hero tries a chant confusing the shadow girl at first. They transform and get in the vehicle that flies off. At the destination they compare the mana to a slow heartbeat and feel something is off. The driver knocks on the tower door and the team questions this action and her stealth. With no answer the fire hero suggests busting the door down, but it's historic property, so the damage should be kept to a minimum. They don't have to go in, as the earth guy clarifies; they follow him around the castle instead. They find the count standing like a statue and a vampire. He comments on the radiants' youth then the driver being commoner-like that she doesn't deny. They request a truce for freedom while the earth and fire guys watch. A mirror rubs the earth guy the wrong way. The 3 touch the artifact, special effects go off, a barrier breaks, and the curse is lifted. The count thanks them, but they know there's a ploy in this town so he's under arrest. The count talks about mirrors and a replica of him comes out of the mirror. He brags about the tool he got from the last villain, and his monologue goes into the legends that got him to come here, replica replacement rules, and wanting to rule England from a mirror dimension. The people? They're fuel for the replicas. As his replica melts down to become his armor the count proposes to the driver. Our heroes argue on this before he jumps in the mirror daring them to join him. The driver warns against doing so, and after a warning they dodge glass hands. They run out and freak out on seeing the entire population of replicas. The driver double checks her contact can hear her when the glass hands yank them into the mirror.
This chapter truly begins the conflict with the count. He, through the described incident, has Blair, Selena-ja, and himself trapped here.
The trap explanation is very claim-reliant, but it explains a lot well. It explains why they couldn't do anything in other incidents earlier. The barrier effects reasonably and undoubtedly prevent dimensional travel like Jake's wardrobe too. They only affect those afflicted so the outside world wouldn't notice. Of course what exactly would happen if they tried to fly out on a plane could be an off-topic discussion topic of our heroes... It also gives the 3 motive to meet up, but obviously the count waited until he had an advantage with his mirrors.
The count seems to operate with his own view point that puts him in a 'high class', and he did comply with the deal itself. He just applies his threat after he gets what he wants.
The anticipated meeting with Blair happens after hearing about her for a few chapters now. She seems notably shy sometimes but can put practicality above normal etiquette (just grabbing Jake's face on first meeting to look for identifiers).
Jake doesn't seem adept at small talk: bringing up weather or complimenting the girl's eyes kind of fast...
So the mirrors mean replicas and another dimension. It's an interesting idea with a kind of mirror that can reflect a vampire's image since that's usually something that doesn't happen. Now he's pulled them into the mirror dimension, now we'll have to see what levels of dark, alternate, parallel, and reverse it is. Logically I'd send in the back up at least to check on them, but we'll see what happens.
Favorite Part: Jake getting to meet the Shadow Radiant for the first time both video and in person. This was anticipated for a while, reasonable, and interesting. And there was a clear reason why this couldn't happen sooner even though her presence would've probably been useful for the last arc.
6Viewer27ManOur fire hero does introductions with the shadow girl via video call. He had to take the bathroom transporter to get here. He first asks about the weather but realizes that was a dumb idea. After name clarifications the shadow girl claims she and another can't leave the country because of incident with the handler's artifact and a resulting wall-like barrier to them. They can't find him so the fire hero wants to know when she's ready, not because they're a team per say, but to be friends. He likes her dual-colored eyes. She's anxious about going into a new world, and to reassure he says they'll be there, and wants to see her art, but gets a no to that. We cut away to just her alone at her house when the doorbell rings. The man at the door says the handler expected her and a woman. She backs off getting darkness ready while he gives a date and time for a truce and leaves. The fact the handler knows where she lives is concerning so she contacts the other one who's trapped. They might be free from the deal, but specifically them. They have a bad feeling so they decide to have invite 2 heroes, including the fire one. They all meet up in some woods. After handshakes our the shadow girl grabs fire hero's face to look at his mole. It's important because of imposter stuff. The count wants them to bring a crystal box and the shadow girl says 3 of them need to touch the artifact, found under a cathedral, to be set free. The count's known history is getting his power and then being locked away 1000 years ago. It might be like the mastermind lady, but how is an explanation for later. The town they've been spying on is oddly beautiful and the mana is sporadically aggressive, which is bad. The fire hero tries a chant confusing the shadow girl at first. They transform and get in the vehicle that flies off. At the destination they compare the mana to a slow heartbeat and feel something is off. The driver knocks on the tower door and the team questions this action and her stealth. With no answer the fire hero suggests busting the door down, but it's historic property, so the damage should be kept to a minimum. They don't have to go in, as the earth guy clarifies; they follow him around the castle instead. They find the count standing like a statue and a vampire. He comments on the radiants' youth then the driver being commoner-like that she doesn't deny. They request a truce for freedom while the earth and fire guys watch. A mirror rubs the earth guy the wrong way. The 3 touch the artifact, special effects go off, a barrier breaks, and the curse is lifted. The count thanks them, but they know there's a ploy in this town so he's under arrest. The count talks about mirrors and a replica of him comes out of the mirror. He brags about the tool he got from the last villain, and his monologue goes into the legends that got him to come here, replica replacement rules, and wanting to rule England from a mirror dimension. The people? They're fuel for the replicas. As his replica melts down to become his armor the count proposes to the driver. Our heroes argue on this before he jumps in the mirror daring them to join him. The driver warns against doing so, and after a warning they dodge glass hands. They run out and freak out on seeing the entire population of replicas. The driver double checks her contact can hear her when the glass hands yank them into the mirror.
This chapter truly begins the conflict with the count. He, through the described incident, has Blair, Selena-ja, and himself trapped here.
The trap explanation is very claim-reliant, but it explains a lot well. It explains why they couldn't do anything in other incidents earlier. The barrier effects reasonably and undoubtedly prevent dimensional travel like Jake's wardrobe too. They only affect those afflicted so the outside world wouldn't notice. Of course what exactly would happen if they tried to fly out on a plane could be an off-topic discussion topic of our heroes... It also gives the 3 motive to meet up, but obviously the count waited until he had an advantage with his mirrors.
The count seems to operate with his own view point that puts him in a 'high class', and he did comply with the deal itself. He just applies his threat after he gets what he wants.
The anticipated meeting with Blair happens after hearing about her for a few chapters now. She seems notably shy sometimes but can put practicality above normal etiquette (just grabbing Jake's face on first meeting to look for identifiers).
Jake doesn't seem adept at small talk: bringing up weather or complimenting the girl's eyes kind of fast...
So the mirrors mean replicas and another dimension. It's an interesting idea with a kind of mirror that can reflect a vampire's image since that's usually something that doesn't happen. Now he's pulled them into the mirror dimension, now we'll have to see what levels of dark, alternate, parallel, and reverse it is. Logically I'd send in the back up at least to check on them, but we'll see what happens.
Favorite Part: Jake getting to meet the Shadow Radiant for the first time both video and in person. This was anticipated for a while, reasonable, and interesting. And there was a clear reason why this couldn't happen sooner even though her presence would've probably been useful for the last arc.
8/20 c20 Viewer27Man
Our fire hero found his books. Our light heroine's got tickets to pop sensation: Hamster Wheel from selling leather stuff, but not for goths, and with a full moon effort behind it. After discussing skill-gaining, alchemy, and magic our fire hero decides to train today, but the light girl trained yesterday so he's got to pick someone else. In training he and the lightning guy practice without fire or lightning, though the barrier was easier. They discuss the last battles, them being intermediate, wanting a training montage and nachos, and that the water girl uses spit. Then they decide to communicate with their fists. Meanwhile the ice girl wants to learn to make clones, but the ninja lady says there are legal and inheritance restrictions, and that a child with a shinobi could maybe, meaning basically no. After talk of love and friends, the ninja lady says the ice girl can learn it with effort. Motive? To protect her friends and family, and not to pull a prank at the risk of being stared at. The next day at study hall some friends discuss how the death melody hasn't happened anymore. Upon hearing the sister was lucky her name is crossed out. Then after references they discuss people in colored clothing running around. They show blurry photos of our heroes to the water and wind heroes thinking they may have stopped it. The water girl agrees to go the podcast as she text the others. Meanwhile in London the international trio talk about it, the shadow girl being the most shy. The earth guy gives his report on the others: they're not complete idiots, get off topic, and can get serious. The shadow girl's uncle is supposed to move with her, but she has a vital mission to find the count within the month. The other 2 agree to help. Later the light girl has a video chat with her brother about what's been going with them before discussing leather jackets that she wants to be bulletproof. He tries to talk her out of it and she asks about getting an anvil for making chestmail. The parents would so he says no even though she calls him sweet. The next day is the podcast they come up after bigfoot. They are blurry, there are 9, cute girls among them, but no faces to see. The water girl nags, but no she doesn't actually nag...they could be listening. Could be a stunt, or a movie promo, but they have a monster photo. After discussing the shadow girl's nickname, color nicknames come up with our heroes suggesting more, but keeping it appropriate. Our fire hero listens with some dimensional aliens and they discuss nicknames and if it will be taken seriously. It probably won't. Our fire hero has to leave; he's got homework to do. In England a fisherman enjoys walking through a town at night. He's greeted by the handler and asks if he's okay. The handler is working on a project, but the fisherman doesn't want to help. Is the mirror a reflection of the soul? The fisherman literally goes into a window then leaves as if nothing happened except his eyes changed. The handler finds this interesting, wants a kingdom of 2 dimensions, but is stuck here with plans.
This looks like a resolution after the party last chapter with even more of a transition into the next arc.
A lot is touched on in this chapter. Jake's going to a concert with Amy. Amy makes leather things with an interest in armor. They continue to work on skills. The shadow girl, Blair, is finally shown talking with known characters and that her life could be in trouble if she moves before finding the count. There's a podcast that 2 of them participate in discussing photos of our heroes, I think making them folk legends now. It ends showing the count sending people diving into glass and coming out with a new eye color. Only the podcast seems conclusive this chapter, but that's things to look forward to.
Jack's observation: they get off topic a lot: yep.
I found the conversation between Tanya, Luka, and Reinstar about the clones a bit hard to follow who was saying what with some of the floating quotes, particularly around the moments meant to be humorous. These required rereading to confirm who was addressing who to conclude who was saying what.
Out of pure curiosity: In England, is the listed time stamp in England's time zone or is it the time zone where our first heroes live?
Favorite Part: Amy interested in making armor. I think I get why, but it would come off as crazy. In second I'll say there being photos of our heroes showing what happens if modern tech happens to get a photo.
Our fire hero found his books. Our light heroine's got tickets to pop sensation: Hamster Wheel from selling leather stuff, but not for goths, and with a full moon effort behind it. After discussing skill-gaining, alchemy, and magic our fire hero decides to train today, but the light girl trained yesterday so he's got to pick someone else. In training he and the lightning guy practice without fire or lightning, though the barrier was easier. They discuss the last battles, them being intermediate, wanting a training montage and nachos, and that the water girl uses spit. Then they decide to communicate with their fists. Meanwhile the ice girl wants to learn to make clones, but the ninja lady says there are legal and inheritance restrictions, and that a child with a shinobi could maybe, meaning basically no. After talk of love and friends, the ninja lady says the ice girl can learn it with effort. Motive? To protect her friends and family, and not to pull a prank at the risk of being stared at. The next day at study hall some friends discuss how the death melody hasn't happened anymore. Upon hearing the sister was lucky her name is crossed out. Then after references they discuss people in colored clothing running around. They show blurry photos of our heroes to the water and wind heroes thinking they may have stopped it. The water girl agrees to go the podcast as she text the others. Meanwhile in London the international trio talk about it, the shadow girl being the most shy. The earth guy gives his report on the others: they're not complete idiots, get off topic, and can get serious. The shadow girl's uncle is supposed to move with her, but she has a vital mission to find the count within the month. The other 2 agree to help. Later the light girl has a video chat with her brother about what's been going with them before discussing leather jackets that she wants to be bulletproof. He tries to talk her out of it and she asks about getting an anvil for making chestmail. The parents would so he says no even though she calls him sweet. The next day is the podcast they come up after bigfoot. They are blurry, there are 9, cute girls among them, but no faces to see. The water girl nags, but no she doesn't actually nag...they could be listening. Could be a stunt, or a movie promo, but they have a monster photo. After discussing the shadow girl's nickname, color nicknames come up with our heroes suggesting more, but keeping it appropriate. Our fire hero listens with some dimensional aliens and they discuss nicknames and if it will be taken seriously. It probably won't. Our fire hero has to leave; he's got homework to do. In England a fisherman enjoys walking through a town at night. He's greeted by the handler and asks if he's okay. The handler is working on a project, but the fisherman doesn't want to help. Is the mirror a reflection of the soul? The fisherman literally goes into a window then leaves as if nothing happened except his eyes changed. The handler finds this interesting, wants a kingdom of 2 dimensions, but is stuck here with plans.
This looks like a resolution after the party last chapter with even more of a transition into the next arc.
A lot is touched on in this chapter. Jake's going to a concert with Amy. Amy makes leather things with an interest in armor. They continue to work on skills. The shadow girl, Blair, is finally shown talking with known characters and that her life could be in trouble if she moves before finding the count. There's a podcast that 2 of them participate in discussing photos of our heroes, I think making them folk legends now. It ends showing the count sending people diving into glass and coming out with a new eye color. Only the podcast seems conclusive this chapter, but that's things to look forward to.
Jack's observation: they get off topic a lot: yep.
I found the conversation between Tanya, Luka, and Reinstar about the clones a bit hard to follow who was saying what with some of the floating quotes, particularly around the moments meant to be humorous. These required rereading to confirm who was addressing who to conclude who was saying what.
Out of pure curiosity: In England, is the listed time stamp in England's time zone or is it the time zone where our first heroes live?
Favorite Part: Amy interested in making armor. I think I get why, but it would come off as crazy. In second I'll say there being photos of our heroes showing what happens if modern tech happens to get a photo.
7/31 c19 Viewer27Man
The ninja lady and formerly injured guy report on the last arc, and are told the princess is coming. The feather has a legend, but should be put away for now. The shadow radiant is still trapped, but that's good as long as it doesn't go on for 40 days. The trainer and another guy could use revenge. Meanwhile the lightning hero talks to his recovered brother bringing up their dad not being home enough which brings up the topic of wishes and why that's not an answer. Meanwhile our fire hero and his sister discuss their concerns of what just happened. They missing their dad, stars, a movie reference, and that they can't tell mom what happened. The earth guy and flower girl discuss potentially freeing his sister, and that cloaked entities in myths are common, while reiterating that the cloaked wish granter was worth denying. They discuss the rest of the team and the fire hero as a leader. The others arrive, not to train, but to relax which goes to the flower girl's apartment where her training doll is doing windows. After that's squared away our heroes investigate the room. Her training doll has gone to a theme park in her stead with her uncle, the only relative she has pictures of. They consider prying, but don't. The earth guy pries into why the fire hero's in charge. Answers: Soccer? Got the powers first. Corny speeches? Encouraging. Not demeaning. WIP. The earth guy used to belong to a gang who he called in, plus a crime family they were working for, before getting his powers. He discusses how things concluded and his family story. He's not certain when he'll wake up his sister. They have his back when the flower girl comes in offering dinner and her story. She went through high school early, but dropped out of college due to a kind of fatigue involving her family issues and effectively no childhood, but her uncle was kind, and she wrote a book, then she got her powers. She wants to hear their stories. Meanwhile a mesmerized human drops documents down a sewer drain. More are requested. The requester wants a clue to eliminate enemies.
This was a resolutions chapter with backstories for our newer radiant and teasers for several things: the feather, the wish granter, Tina's leftover trauma, Jack's sister, the princess, and of course Edgar.
We learn about Jack's and Lina's pasts. Unlike our other heroes they both have pasts where they probably don't have to worry about being missed at school, and that being essentially superheroes seems like a very worthwhile and healthy main responsibility for their lives, not just an added on responsibility more akin to that of the other heroes. I think hearing Lina's past helps explain why she spoke up about the wish questions earlier and the awkward but forward wording she used last chapter to that end.
What Lina uses her doll for is interesting. Having it do chores while she's away is one thing, though I do have concerns for Lina essentially sending a doppelganger to go to the park with her uncle in her stead, since that's a 'being with family activity'. If he knows her well, I wonder if he noticed anything. I also learned they can recall the memories of the dummy doll this chapter; that's neat.
Favorite Part: What the dummy doll can all do as shown in this chapter. I find that interesting.
The ninja lady and formerly injured guy report on the last arc, and are told the princess is coming. The feather has a legend, but should be put away for now. The shadow radiant is still trapped, but that's good as long as it doesn't go on for 40 days. The trainer and another guy could use revenge. Meanwhile the lightning hero talks to his recovered brother bringing up their dad not being home enough which brings up the topic of wishes and why that's not an answer. Meanwhile our fire hero and his sister discuss their concerns of what just happened. They missing their dad, stars, a movie reference, and that they can't tell mom what happened. The earth guy and flower girl discuss potentially freeing his sister, and that cloaked entities in myths are common, while reiterating that the cloaked wish granter was worth denying. They discuss the rest of the team and the fire hero as a leader. The others arrive, not to train, but to relax which goes to the flower girl's apartment where her training doll is doing windows. After that's squared away our heroes investigate the room. Her training doll has gone to a theme park in her stead with her uncle, the only relative she has pictures of. They consider prying, but don't. The earth guy pries into why the fire hero's in charge. Answers: Soccer? Got the powers first. Corny speeches? Encouraging. Not demeaning. WIP. The earth guy used to belong to a gang who he called in, plus a crime family they were working for, before getting his powers. He discusses how things concluded and his family story. He's not certain when he'll wake up his sister. They have his back when the flower girl comes in offering dinner and her story. She went through high school early, but dropped out of college due to a kind of fatigue involving her family issues and effectively no childhood, but her uncle was kind, and she wrote a book, then she got her powers. She wants to hear their stories. Meanwhile a mesmerized human drops documents down a sewer drain. More are requested. The requester wants a clue to eliminate enemies.
This was a resolutions chapter with backstories for our newer radiant and teasers for several things: the feather, the wish granter, Tina's leftover trauma, Jack's sister, the princess, and of course Edgar.
We learn about Jack's and Lina's pasts. Unlike our other heroes they both have pasts where they probably don't have to worry about being missed at school, and that being essentially superheroes seems like a very worthwhile and healthy main responsibility for their lives, not just an added on responsibility more akin to that of the other heroes. I think hearing Lina's past helps explain why she spoke up about the wish questions earlier and the awkward but forward wording she used last chapter to that end.
What Lina uses her doll for is interesting. Having it do chores while she's away is one thing, though I do have concerns for Lina essentially sending a doppelganger to go to the park with her uncle in her stead, since that's a 'being with family activity'. If he knows her well, I wonder if he noticed anything. I also learned they can recall the memories of the dummy doll this chapter; that's neat.
Favorite Part: What the dummy doll can all do as shown in this chapter. I find that interesting.
7/21 c18 Viewer27Man
The bad guy's illusion comes bearing a gift baffling because the handler can see himself in it. The bad guy is not sure if it will work this way, but the handler opts to use the rat acting as the projector to see if the he's still alive. Meanwhile the rats dodge a quake by jumping only to get blasted by a plant. Our fire hero uses his fire sword, the earth hero his now blue stone hammer, and the plant girl a back flip and her plant bow and arrow to turn rats into dust. Only the mutated wolf man is left so instead of his useless rats blows bubbles with his flute instead forcing our heroes back. The wolf man grabs the earth guy and plant girl to complain about them until a fireball to the face shuts him and makes him drop them. The wolf man tries to tempt with about desires against interruption, but our hero doesn't like the huge sacrifice catch. The earth guy tries to smack him with a glowing rock, but it's dodged and he gets kicked. The wolf man is hit by an arrow, but fights back with energy balls only too be stopped by plant and fire shots. The wolf man plays his flute badly to bring our heroes to their knees, 2 of them. Then he's hit in face by a glowing rock, and it hurts. Then he finds the girl has his flute that she promptly breaks. He then turns human and whines about being close, and our heroes disagree with his philosophy. On complaining why his request didn't work the robed guy says he worded it badly. The heroes from the other battles greet the sister and she introduces to the robed guy. Before the villain can try another wish he's frozen then dust. Our heroes worry about fighting the robed guy, question about why he killed that guy, and who he is. He says he grants desires and has guidelines. After discussing the rules our heroes conclude they won't unless they're attacked. They question the rules more, but it's not worth a triggering a wish. They discuss the rules more and philosophy, including a certain manga/anime's philosophy, and the lightning hero claims he's an EMP, and more clear interest in da rules. In order to destroy him and his temple via wish it would cost them 1 year of life. With that they leave making no wish and he waves goodbye, mission accomplished, but our lightning hero feels like he's being watched. The handler's rat indeed turns to dust so he decides to research the glass gift. On leaving the temple the plant girl throws pieces of a stone disk around and breaks 1. They're still worried about the robed guy, discuss reasons for why things happened, and discuss the threats of what-ifs. The ninja lady says they'll try to bury the place so no one can enter and discuss what to do. The sister just wants to leave when the ninja lady askes her about the feather she pickpocketed. It's harmless, but got her in trouble so she decides to let her keep it. The feather also needs discussion, but our heroes need R&R. The sister piggybacks home on her brother down the mountain to be closed down.
This arc of 4 chapters was much shorter than the introduction arc and ended on the note of: beating the bad guy, not being sure if they're done here, then deciding they're done here. This seems a bit anti-climactic, but the established threat is gone, and this is a reasonable conclusion and makes sense, and is kind of different (outside of things that are primarily comedies). Though to be fair the 'not wanting what they want' thing is kind of weird, but even our heroes touch on how weird that statement is.
The robed entity (still unnamed) has our heroes scared on appearance, how he does business, and implications of phenomenal cosmic power. So this means it would be crazy if they were able to fight him some day...
They ask a lot of questions about how the wishes would work, and even after they've made their decision. There's a shift in the tone here of not being sure it's done while discussing the rules, philosophy and possibilities of desires with costs, and Ryu's saying weird, silly stuff, until they decide to just leave. Our heroes just leave the mysterious and creepy robed wish-granter down there. Surely no one will ever unseal the sealed wish granter to provoke a plot again...
The fight scene with wolf Jack is pretty cool. Misdirection and sudden shots, particularly from Ivy win the day. It didn't seem as big of a battle to me as Reinstar's foe or the Scarab the group faced like they were hitting with big blasts, but I like the fight all-in-all.
There's also the guy in side scenes who is showing all the signs of being a vampire while never being outright stated as such. He looks like he's going to be a villain in the future, using the glass that can show his reflection the previous bad guy found. No clue what that means yet.
Tina is now safe so our heroes, knowing them, are absolutely going to take Reinstar up on that rest offer...
Favorite Part: The fight scene. I liked the misdirection and suddenly he doesn't have his flute anymore.
The bad guy's illusion comes bearing a gift baffling because the handler can see himself in it. The bad guy is not sure if it will work this way, but the handler opts to use the rat acting as the projector to see if the he's still alive. Meanwhile the rats dodge a quake by jumping only to get blasted by a plant. Our fire hero uses his fire sword, the earth hero his now blue stone hammer, and the plant girl a back flip and her plant bow and arrow to turn rats into dust. Only the mutated wolf man is left so instead of his useless rats blows bubbles with his flute instead forcing our heroes back. The wolf man grabs the earth guy and plant girl to complain about them until a fireball to the face shuts him and makes him drop them. The wolf man tries to tempt with about desires against interruption, but our hero doesn't like the huge sacrifice catch. The earth guy tries to smack him with a glowing rock, but it's dodged and he gets kicked. The wolf man is hit by an arrow, but fights back with energy balls only too be stopped by plant and fire shots. The wolf man plays his flute badly to bring our heroes to their knees, 2 of them. Then he's hit in face by a glowing rock, and it hurts. Then he finds the girl has his flute that she promptly breaks. He then turns human and whines about being close, and our heroes disagree with his philosophy. On complaining why his request didn't work the robed guy says he worded it badly. The heroes from the other battles greet the sister and she introduces to the robed guy. Before the villain can try another wish he's frozen then dust. Our heroes worry about fighting the robed guy, question about why he killed that guy, and who he is. He says he grants desires and has guidelines. After discussing the rules our heroes conclude they won't unless they're attacked. They question the rules more, but it's not worth a triggering a wish. They discuss the rules more and philosophy, including a certain manga/anime's philosophy, and the lightning hero claims he's an EMP, and more clear interest in da rules. In order to destroy him and his temple via wish it would cost them 1 year of life. With that they leave making no wish and he waves goodbye, mission accomplished, but our lightning hero feels like he's being watched. The handler's rat indeed turns to dust so he decides to research the glass gift. On leaving the temple the plant girl throws pieces of a stone disk around and breaks 1. They're still worried about the robed guy, discuss reasons for why things happened, and discuss the threats of what-ifs. The ninja lady says they'll try to bury the place so no one can enter and discuss what to do. The sister just wants to leave when the ninja lady askes her about the feather she pickpocketed. It's harmless, but got her in trouble so she decides to let her keep it. The feather also needs discussion, but our heroes need R&R. The sister piggybacks home on her brother down the mountain to be closed down.
This arc of 4 chapters was much shorter than the introduction arc and ended on the note of: beating the bad guy, not being sure if they're done here, then deciding they're done here. This seems a bit anti-climactic, but the established threat is gone, and this is a reasonable conclusion and makes sense, and is kind of different (outside of things that are primarily comedies). Though to be fair the 'not wanting what they want' thing is kind of weird, but even our heroes touch on how weird that statement is.
The robed entity (still unnamed) has our heroes scared on appearance, how he does business, and implications of phenomenal cosmic power. So this means it would be crazy if they were able to fight him some day...
They ask a lot of questions about how the wishes would work, and even after they've made their decision. There's a shift in the tone here of not being sure it's done while discussing the rules, philosophy and possibilities of desires with costs, and Ryu's saying weird, silly stuff, until they decide to just leave. Our heroes just leave the mysterious and creepy robed wish-granter down there. Surely no one will ever unseal the sealed wish granter to provoke a plot again...
The fight scene with wolf Jack is pretty cool. Misdirection and sudden shots, particularly from Ivy win the day. It didn't seem as big of a battle to me as Reinstar's foe or the Scarab the group faced like they were hitting with big blasts, but I like the fight all-in-all.
There's also the guy in side scenes who is showing all the signs of being a vampire while never being outright stated as such. He looks like he's going to be a villain in the future, using the glass that can show his reflection the previous bad guy found. No clue what that means yet.
Tina is now safe so our heroes, knowing them, are absolutely going to take Reinstar up on that rest offer...
Favorite Part: The fight scene. I liked the misdirection and suddenly he doesn't have his flute anymore.
7/4 c37 Code Breaker
So we are focusing on what happened with Pilot now, and must say love how it's going so far.
So we are focusing on what happened with Pilot now, and must say love how it's going so far.
7/4 c36 Code Breaker
So we get a look into Galvania, learn more about characters pasts, meet a new character, and set things up for something else. Neat.
So we get a look into Galvania, learn more about characters pasts, meet a new character, and set things up for something else. Neat.
7/4 c35 Code Breaker
Well I enjoyed this chapter quite a bit.
Well I enjoyed this chapter quite a bit.
7/4 c34 Code Breaker
Nice scenes. My favorite had to be with Blair.
Nice scenes. My favorite had to be with Blair.
7/4 c33 Code Breaker
3 for one. A nice little chapter done, and I'm starting to like the princess.
3 for one. A nice little chapter done, and I'm starting to like the princess.
5/30 c17 Viewer27Man
The fox monster lost the ninja lady from her smoke special effects. He charges in when he finds her but has to evade her arrowheads. After she dodges to kick him in the face he trades blows only to find it's not doing anything and he's been tricked and tries to insult her for it, to which she apologizes, but she's got the threat to the world to worry about. He gets into a fight with a bunch of replicas. Surrounded by herself, the fox monster gets sliced. The ninja lady apologizes again, reveals her clones are made of stone as her eyes glow, and that she has a nickname for being silent but deadly. One stalactite drop later she's finished the job and feels the pressure to move on. Meanwhile, behind the door the villain finds a blue and cold room and that's it...until he finds the robed guy and his cauldron. Their conversation begins as a bunch of questions and pleasantries, and turns into wish requests. The robed guy shoots down the villain's desire granting request so he says he wants to see his wife again and that he'll take the power with his flute to which he's called a fool again. The robed one stops the fool by raising his hand. Robed guy says he wants power too much and misses his love, and then scares the peeking sister into backing away. The villain then settles on the power to fight the kids and he transforms as the sister moves away. Meanwhile, our heroes collide their powers against the scarab monster's maces, but it knocks them back by just punching them. Then they discuss their knowledge of insectology. The scarab smirks at knocking back our wind hero, but has to dodge the oncoming ice attack. The lightning hero and wind hero team up to zap and knock the scarab flying while it quickly grabs the lightning hero who escapes with the help of 2 blasts. After its horn attack misses into the ground the girls have the chance to hit it with their weapons. After evading a spell only to get hit by two the scarab then gets a water spear to the backside and then its wings cut off by a wind boomerang. After suffering exploding bubble the scarab finds its feet are frozen. 5 elemental attacks later the big bad beetle is done! After banter they swallow the fart seeds to recover until they can charge. Meanwhile, the other 3 heroes find the sister sitting by a dad illusion that the plant girl takes out. Greetings follow, and the sister explains that the warm feather protected her, and that the villain ran in the door. As the door opens she admits she's more afraid of the robed guy than the villain, but our fire hero isn't so worried. Then they see a big wolf man banging against an invisible barrier with a flute that wants to be changed back. Then the see the robed guy who has a different name for them. He pits them against the wolf man and offers potential desires that he calls right, and upon getting mad at he vanishes thinking it was funny. They fail to reason with the wolf man and consider killing him or destroying his flute. Meanwhile, a hand grabs a rat that turns into the villain just to give a message to the handler.
We get 2 simultaneous fight scenes this chapter and a new enigmatic figure that might be able to take over to become the villain of the arc. Maybe. Either way, didn't expect that.
It's nice to get a more in-depth look at what Reinstar can do since she's fought with our heroes a bit before, but that was just simple basic fast attacks for the most part before; now she sends in the clones to own her opponent. The 5 fighting the beetle are back in their element (pun not intended) of teaming up to fight a giant monster. Jake and the newer good guys find Tina and now have a fight on their hands.
Some things in this chapter happen abruptly such as Jake's dad illusion appearing, which makes sense to be there as a counter-measure, but is then taken out immediately before anything can happen with it. This isn't particularly new for this story, and while abrupt these things do serve to quicken the pace and do make sense.
Favorite Part: The 2 fights. They were cool. Reinstar showed us her moves and our heroes got to try their new stuff on a big monster for the first time having to find a chance to attack it from behind.
The fox monster lost the ninja lady from her smoke special effects. He charges in when he finds her but has to evade her arrowheads. After she dodges to kick him in the face he trades blows only to find it's not doing anything and he's been tricked and tries to insult her for it, to which she apologizes, but she's got the threat to the world to worry about. He gets into a fight with a bunch of replicas. Surrounded by herself, the fox monster gets sliced. The ninja lady apologizes again, reveals her clones are made of stone as her eyes glow, and that she has a nickname for being silent but deadly. One stalactite drop later she's finished the job and feels the pressure to move on. Meanwhile, behind the door the villain finds a blue and cold room and that's it...until he finds the robed guy and his cauldron. Their conversation begins as a bunch of questions and pleasantries, and turns into wish requests. The robed guy shoots down the villain's desire granting request so he says he wants to see his wife again and that he'll take the power with his flute to which he's called a fool again. The robed one stops the fool by raising his hand. Robed guy says he wants power too much and misses his love, and then scares the peeking sister into backing away. The villain then settles on the power to fight the kids and he transforms as the sister moves away. Meanwhile, our heroes collide their powers against the scarab monster's maces, but it knocks them back by just punching them. Then they discuss their knowledge of insectology. The scarab smirks at knocking back our wind hero, but has to dodge the oncoming ice attack. The lightning hero and wind hero team up to zap and knock the scarab flying while it quickly grabs the lightning hero who escapes with the help of 2 blasts. After its horn attack misses into the ground the girls have the chance to hit it with their weapons. After evading a spell only to get hit by two the scarab then gets a water spear to the backside and then its wings cut off by a wind boomerang. After suffering exploding bubble the scarab finds its feet are frozen. 5 elemental attacks later the big bad beetle is done! After banter they swallow the fart seeds to recover until they can charge. Meanwhile, the other 3 heroes find the sister sitting by a dad illusion that the plant girl takes out. Greetings follow, and the sister explains that the warm feather protected her, and that the villain ran in the door. As the door opens she admits she's more afraid of the robed guy than the villain, but our fire hero isn't so worried. Then they see a big wolf man banging against an invisible barrier with a flute that wants to be changed back. Then the see the robed guy who has a different name for them. He pits them against the wolf man and offers potential desires that he calls right, and upon getting mad at he vanishes thinking it was funny. They fail to reason with the wolf man and consider killing him or destroying his flute. Meanwhile, a hand grabs a rat that turns into the villain just to give a message to the handler.
We get 2 simultaneous fight scenes this chapter and a new enigmatic figure that might be able to take over to become the villain of the arc. Maybe. Either way, didn't expect that.
It's nice to get a more in-depth look at what Reinstar can do since she's fought with our heroes a bit before, but that was just simple basic fast attacks for the most part before; now she sends in the clones to own her opponent. The 5 fighting the beetle are back in their element (pun not intended) of teaming up to fight a giant monster. Jake and the newer good guys find Tina and now have a fight on their hands.
Some things in this chapter happen abruptly such as Jake's dad illusion appearing, which makes sense to be there as a counter-measure, but is then taken out immediately before anything can happen with it. This isn't particularly new for this story, and while abrupt these things do serve to quicken the pace and do make sense.
Favorite Part: The 2 fights. They were cool. Reinstar showed us her moves and our heroes got to try their new stuff on a big monster for the first time having to find a chance to attack it from behind.
5/8 c16 Viewer27Man
Our fire hero is not happy about his sister's kidnapping. After he's talked out of a punching dare our light heroine has the power to calm him down. The earth guy shows that his sister has been afflicted by the current villain's desire theft and has dark consequences and hopes that defeating him will undo it. As they discuss matters our fire hero's mother calls and he steps out of the room as the rest ponder the details of what happened to his sister. Then the flower girl enters and offers mana restoring seeds that may include side-effects though mainly gas. The villain's range has increased so they have to move. Meanwhile in the temple the villain is interested in the sister's feather accessory. He holds it to a door that rumbles as the feather glows and floats before giving it back. He asks about who the fire hero was, but only gets vague answers. She's then shown her dead 'father' which makes her sad and look away. After the villain promises basically everything he brings up a dead girlfriend to revive, a guy to get revenge on, that his flute that was supposed to be a gift can do these things, and that he was inspired to recruit a bunch of monster rats. Meanwhile in Egypt, our heroes find a cave where that is in a less famous spot than expected and enter. Back in the temple the rats take the spatial doors in while the villain questions the glass and chalice they brought. He understands rat squeak and says to give the glass to a freed man and holds up the chalice like the feather earlier and offers the big door more rat desire. Still sister says they'll stop him while he and the illusion she's suffering from seem to disagree with her. Outside the temple our heroes feel it has mana. At the entrance they discuss the desire needed to open the door. Our fire hero steps forward with an exclamation, but that's not enough, but by combining their desire it opens. Then the ninja lady gets in a fight with a halberd-wielding fox monster that can talk. The monster discusses that he owes his master and will kill them as the ninja lady comments. Our heroes go in the door as the two fight a high-speed battle before a name exchange and some bold dialogue. The fox monster is faster, but the ninja lady has a surprise...Meanwhile in the temple our heroes fight more rats leaving them frozen. After some banter they discuss a little about the temple. In a room of 8 pillars our lightning hero expects a mid boss and they see a broken skeleton that's not it. The mid boss is actually a giant mace-wielding scarab. Due to a rising presence they decide to split up; our fire hero goes with the new guys while the rest take care of this thing. Meanwhile the villain wants to use the sister as a meat shield by she kicks him in the shin to decent effectiveness until the illusion dad interferes. The villain leaves the room while she wants our heroes to hurry.
Our heroes didn't waste any time this chapter. Jake and his allies really didn't let his sister stay kidnapped for long before storming the hideout.
Reinstar's got a big battle of her own against the monster that beat Jin and is about to bust something out. The heroes built up in the first arc, aside from the leading man, are set up to fight a scarab. The other three are running in to fight hopefully the boss. This arc looks like it could end soon which would be surprising given the length of the previous one, but I'll have to read on to be sure.
This might be my overall favorite chapter yet. The stakes are high and personal. The example of this villain's threat seems quite formidable. I like the banter in this one in particular. The 'go on we'll take care of this' part to split up into 3 groups with 2 big fights set up felt fun.
Favorite Part: Ivy discussing the seed's side effects. Weird stuff is discussed, but don't worry, now it's just gas.
Our fire hero is not happy about his sister's kidnapping. After he's talked out of a punching dare our light heroine has the power to calm him down. The earth guy shows that his sister has been afflicted by the current villain's desire theft and has dark consequences and hopes that defeating him will undo it. As they discuss matters our fire hero's mother calls and he steps out of the room as the rest ponder the details of what happened to his sister. Then the flower girl enters and offers mana restoring seeds that may include side-effects though mainly gas. The villain's range has increased so they have to move. Meanwhile in the temple the villain is interested in the sister's feather accessory. He holds it to a door that rumbles as the feather glows and floats before giving it back. He asks about who the fire hero was, but only gets vague answers. She's then shown her dead 'father' which makes her sad and look away. After the villain promises basically everything he brings up a dead girlfriend to revive, a guy to get revenge on, that his flute that was supposed to be a gift can do these things, and that he was inspired to recruit a bunch of monster rats. Meanwhile in Egypt, our heroes find a cave where that is in a less famous spot than expected and enter. Back in the temple the rats take the spatial doors in while the villain questions the glass and chalice they brought. He understands rat squeak and says to give the glass to a freed man and holds up the chalice like the feather earlier and offers the big door more rat desire. Still sister says they'll stop him while he and the illusion she's suffering from seem to disagree with her. Outside the temple our heroes feel it has mana. At the entrance they discuss the desire needed to open the door. Our fire hero steps forward with an exclamation, but that's not enough, but by combining their desire it opens. Then the ninja lady gets in a fight with a halberd-wielding fox monster that can talk. The monster discusses that he owes his master and will kill them as the ninja lady comments. Our heroes go in the door as the two fight a high-speed battle before a name exchange and some bold dialogue. The fox monster is faster, but the ninja lady has a surprise...Meanwhile in the temple our heroes fight more rats leaving them frozen. After some banter they discuss a little about the temple. In a room of 8 pillars our lightning hero expects a mid boss and they see a broken skeleton that's not it. The mid boss is actually a giant mace-wielding scarab. Due to a rising presence they decide to split up; our fire hero goes with the new guys while the rest take care of this thing. Meanwhile the villain wants to use the sister as a meat shield by she kicks him in the shin to decent effectiveness until the illusion dad interferes. The villain leaves the room while she wants our heroes to hurry.
Our heroes didn't waste any time this chapter. Jake and his allies really didn't let his sister stay kidnapped for long before storming the hideout.
Reinstar's got a big battle of her own against the monster that beat Jin and is about to bust something out. The heroes built up in the first arc, aside from the leading man, are set up to fight a scarab. The other three are running in to fight hopefully the boss. This arc looks like it could end soon which would be surprising given the length of the previous one, but I'll have to read on to be sure.
This might be my overall favorite chapter yet. The stakes are high and personal. The example of this villain's threat seems quite formidable. I like the banter in this one in particular. The 'go on we'll take care of this' part to split up into 3 groups with 2 big fights set up felt fun.
Favorite Part: Ivy discussing the seed's side effects. Weird stuff is discussed, but don't worry, now it's just gas.
4/29 c32 4decode9
So we got Jake and Christina out of the way and like her reasoning and understanding them.
4decode9So we got Jake and Christina out of the way and like her reasoning and understanding them.
4/29 c31 decode9
Well there's the princess. So far she's interesting, but at least she isn't causing any trouble.
Well there's the princess. So far she's interesting, but at least she isn't causing any trouble.
4/17 c15 6Viewer27Man
Our chapter begins with a dimensional alien playing video games when their alarm for the injured goes off. Some guy is injured it's got them scared. Our heroes have a week of school that they all go to now though 2 opted to transfer. Our heroes go to a meeting and are apparently late. Introductions, including a firm handshake, are exchanged and an earth guy and a sleepy flower girl are introduced. The awake newcomer is too serious for banter since the guy was injured over a flute with a 3 day recharge time and an unsearchable song, but the bad guy who has it has a searchable aura, but he's good at hiding. After failing to recruit a vampire he puts the flute's spell on a girl's parents and uses her in an experiment uses a machine to transport a girl to their world; the dad is dead, mom coma, girl lost. Our bad guy already did the fetch quest to find 5 keys to a lore-filled desire temple in Egypt. The guy was injured due to an axe as the temple closed, but according to the sleeping plant girl you can get in if you really want something and banter follows. The serious stone boy doesn't realize what kind of story he's in and questions their victory over the last arc boss, but the sleepy girl gets it. The injured guy walks in with a speech of names, trying to sound heroic, and excuses about not having armor against a fast but weak monster. Meanwhile in the temple the bad guy doesn't want a closed door to open enough so he tries find more desire and trouble. Then at the sister's next LARP she's impressed by it then the death melody plays being the only one around to not fall over she calls her brother about the evil man in the mask. Taking an interest in her feather he grabs her as our heroes enter the scene. Our fire hero rushes in to save her, but is interrupted by big rats, and the masked man gets away with the sister. After a rat gets zapped and the sword is drawn our fire hero hears his deceased dad's voice and sees his image. While fighting rats the plant girl whips away the image and gently smacks our hero out of it and gives advice. The fire hero opts to just punch several rats to a crisp while his allies take care of the rest. Once the battle's over they discuss philosophy of desires, getting the sister back, and making plans.
The new arc seems to have passed its introduction phase. We get our first new characters of currently notable worth since the wind radiant. We get some insight into how the new bad guy has been spending his time. Then Jake's sister got kidnapped.
Welp... that got personal and raised the stakes quickly. I wonder how many chapters until the masked man is burnt toast...
Too bad the big rats blind-sided him given how easily he could beat them fists blazing. The escape portal worked very quickly for the masked man. Also realized that the new weapons didn't seem to be described as used in the real fight here; Jake got his sword out but he ended up punching the big rats instead.
We get 2 new elemental warriors this chapter. Jack so far is serious and does not like banter. Lina's first impression was being asleep, but can go philosophical about the currently common theme of desire. She'll easily fit in fine with this bunch, and Jack probably will to some capacity at some point, but it won't be easy. We also get someone an official member of the dimensional alien squad: the injured guy: Jin and he seems a bit eccentric in a speechy way that seems kind of serious and silly at the same time.
Favorite Part: The stakes being raised and getting personal from Tina being kidnapped including Jake's strong desire to save her.
6Viewer27ManOur chapter begins with a dimensional alien playing video games when their alarm for the injured goes off. Some guy is injured it's got them scared. Our heroes have a week of school that they all go to now though 2 opted to transfer. Our heroes go to a meeting and are apparently late. Introductions, including a firm handshake, are exchanged and an earth guy and a sleepy flower girl are introduced. The awake newcomer is too serious for banter since the guy was injured over a flute with a 3 day recharge time and an unsearchable song, but the bad guy who has it has a searchable aura, but he's good at hiding. After failing to recruit a vampire he puts the flute's spell on a girl's parents and uses her in an experiment uses a machine to transport a girl to their world; the dad is dead, mom coma, girl lost. Our bad guy already did the fetch quest to find 5 keys to a lore-filled desire temple in Egypt. The guy was injured due to an axe as the temple closed, but according to the sleeping plant girl you can get in if you really want something and banter follows. The serious stone boy doesn't realize what kind of story he's in and questions their victory over the last arc boss, but the sleepy girl gets it. The injured guy walks in with a speech of names, trying to sound heroic, and excuses about not having armor against a fast but weak monster. Meanwhile in the temple the bad guy doesn't want a closed door to open enough so he tries find more desire and trouble. Then at the sister's next LARP she's impressed by it then the death melody plays being the only one around to not fall over she calls her brother about the evil man in the mask. Taking an interest in her feather he grabs her as our heroes enter the scene. Our fire hero rushes in to save her, but is interrupted by big rats, and the masked man gets away with the sister. After a rat gets zapped and the sword is drawn our fire hero hears his deceased dad's voice and sees his image. While fighting rats the plant girl whips away the image and gently smacks our hero out of it and gives advice. The fire hero opts to just punch several rats to a crisp while his allies take care of the rest. Once the battle's over they discuss philosophy of desires, getting the sister back, and making plans.
The new arc seems to have passed its introduction phase. We get our first new characters of currently notable worth since the wind radiant. We get some insight into how the new bad guy has been spending his time. Then Jake's sister got kidnapped.
Welp... that got personal and raised the stakes quickly. I wonder how many chapters until the masked man is burnt toast...
Too bad the big rats blind-sided him given how easily he could beat them fists blazing. The escape portal worked very quickly for the masked man. Also realized that the new weapons didn't seem to be described as used in the real fight here; Jake got his sword out but he ended up punching the big rats instead.
We get 2 new elemental warriors this chapter. Jack so far is serious and does not like banter. Lina's first impression was being asleep, but can go philosophical about the currently common theme of desire. She'll easily fit in fine with this bunch, and Jack probably will to some capacity at some point, but it won't be easy. We also get someone an official member of the dimensional alien squad: the injured guy: Jin and he seems a bit eccentric in a speechy way that seems kind of serious and silly at the same time.
Favorite Part: The stakes being raised and getting personal from Tina being kidnapped including Jake's strong desire to save her.