Executive Action

Without wasting a second more, President Tert ran towards Yuchauzh for a right hook, his dark green hand clenched tightly in preparation for his attack.

As Kantuta and Siquioce stepped to the side, Yuchauzh raised his log up to protect himself as he prepared his counterattack. Unfortunately, not even Yuchauzh's mighty trunk was enough to deter the goblin's blow, and it had a hole punched straight through it by the boss's mighty fist.

As Yuchauzh stared at his plant in disbelief, President Tert used his hand, which was still stuck in the log, as a mallet and smashed Yuchauzh flat on the ground. Once his foe was downed, the CEO jerked his hand out of the log and threw the object down at Yuchauzh, ignoring the splinters that littered his fist.

"My word!" Kantuta exclaimed, "Such power! Siquioce, we're going to have to stay on our toes if we want to get out of this unscathed."

Groaning, Yuchauzh got up and rolled backwards before yelling, "Hey! Instead of talking about how powerful he is, how about you do something to help me!?"

"Okay, fine." Kantuta said with a scowl before raising her staff to the sky and twirling it around like a baton, "I cast Fortify!"

With a flash of light, a thin, white barrier covered all 3 of the party members, giving them all a slight boost to their energy and defense.

Giving Kantuta a fierce glare, President Tert said, "So, you're casting support spells? Don't think that you'll get away with this!" Cracking his knuckles in anticipation, the goblin clenched his muscles before coming forward for a flying kick.

Seeing this, Siquioce, who had been busy gathering moisture, squirted his load at his enemy with great force. Though the water wasn't very powerful, it had just enough force to push President Tert slightly off course, causing him to crash into the desk behind Kantuta.

"Haha, nice!" Yuchauzh cheered, "Now's my time to shine." Wrapping his arms around his chest, the orc reared up before barreling through the air like a cannonball. "Take this!"

Getting up, President Tert had only a second to hold his hands out in front of him before he was struck by 200 pounds of orc meat, causing him to be sent careening into the nearby wall.

Staring at her father with widened eyes, Nolai gasped, "Woah! A big guy like my dad took that much damage?! You're the real deal, Yuchauzh!"

"Heh, thanks." the orc said while sporting a wide grin.

With one eye closed, President Tert hoisted himself to his feet and growled, "Nolai, stop that rebellious talk. This is but the beginning." He pulled out a brown gem from his suit pocket and, to the surprise of everyone, ingested it in one gulp. After doing that, a brown aura surrounded the goblin as he laughed evilly. "Ha, ha-ha! You're not the only one who has access to the arcane arts! With the power of my terrastone, I have control over the very essence of the planet!" Flashing the group a large, sharp-toothed grin, the boss coalesced red energy into both of his hands before facing his palms towards the trio, "Kneel before the might of my Stone Vault!"

At that moment, large stones appeared to materialize out of thin air, entrapping the adventurers in a rocky cage. Once his adversaries were enclosed, the goblin chuckled and gathered more energy into his hands, "Now stay right there, fools. Your end is soon to come…"

Wringing her hands in despair, Kantuta looked around and cried, "Oh no, we're stuck!"

Yuchauzh wagged his finger, "Don't be so certain, elf. Don't your know how erosion works?" He turned to the right, "Siquioce, come on! Squirt more of your water at me 'n this rock over here!"

With no hesitation in his mind, Siquioce absorbed some more moisture before blasting both Yuchauzh and the wall in front of him repeatedly. In the meantime, Yuchauzh took his log, which was starting to become covered with vines, and placed it to his forehead, causing the vines to become even thicker. Once the flora reached a suitable size, Yuchauzh thrusted his trunk into the rock wall, causing the barrier to shine with a bright light before crumbling to dust.

Kantuta stood stunned with her mouth agape, staring incredulously at the newfound opening, "What?? I know that, with enough time, even the mightiest of stones fall to invasive plants, but that rock was demolished in mere seconds! Such a feat could only be done if…" her eyes widened, "Wait…do you have elemental powers, too?"

"Yep." Yuchauzh grinned slyly at Kantuta, "Bout time you figured it out."

Kantuta stared at the ground, unable to believe the information that she was given.

As his friend struggled with herself, Siquioce stated, "We have an opening now! Now's our chance to strike back!"

"Oh yeah!" Yuchauzh smacked his log against his hand, "Let's go, then."

Kantuta lagged for a second before nodding, "Yes, let's just get this over with."

As his opponents revealed themselves, President Tert, who was still preparing his attack, shouted, "What?! How did you escape?!"

Waving his trunk around, Yuchauzh responded, "Don't think about how we got out…" forming a green ball of energy in the air in front of him, Yuchauzh picked it up and threw it into the air, "Think about how you're goin' to handle this!" Bringing his plant forward like a baseball bat, Yuchauzh sent his energy sphere flying at the CEO while Kantuta and Siquioce followed up with a Fireball and Aqua Shot, respectively.

Afflicted by the elemental assault, President Tert fell backwards onto a lone chair, which cracked and broke under his weight. Seeing the fallen figure of her parent, Nolai said, "Ooh, nice! He should be done now, huh?"

The party watched the president's body, looking for any signs of movement. Then, after a few seconds, the goblin shifted a little in his position on the floor. He continued twitching for a few seconds longer before appearing to levitate off of the ground, moving as if he were a puppet held by strings. He turned to face the group before having his eyes fly open, his sclera, irises and pupils being a dark purple. "You…" he said in a low, rumbling voice, "You have resisted me for the last time." He held his hands close to his chest, "Your rebellion against us shall go no further. Now is the time to submit." Holding his arms out to his sides, President Tert released billows of dark, black smoke from his pores, coating the entire room in an obscuring haze, "This is the end!"

Seeing this sudden and unnerving event, everyone else in the area instinctively covered their mouths and noses, trying their best not to inhale too much of the strange gas. Running over to the group, Nolai said in a muffled voice, "I dunno what happened, but my dad's outta control! You gotta stop him now!"

Wobbling back and forth, Siquioce complained, "I…I don't feel so good…"

Looking over at his friend, Yuchauzh noticed that Siquioce's skin was turning an unnatural shade of gray, his eyes slowly starting to lose their shine. Even more worrying was the fact that Siquioce's bluegull chick was also starting to look blander, making a low chirping sound as he hung his head low. "Ack! Not the bird!" Yuchauzh smacked his fists together, "That's it, I'm going in. Screw this smoke!"

Seeing Yuchauzh expose himself to the foreign gas, Kantuta called, "Yuchauzh!" Her mind flooded with thoughts, the elf's heartbeat increased as she struggled to find a plan of action. Soon, after a brief brainstorming session, she came up with an idea. Taking the dare to hold her staff with two hands, she slammed it down on the ground and cried, "I cast Invigorate!"

Following that exclamation, an orange aura surrounded Yuchauzh, who was running towards the still-floating President Tert. After a second, Yuchauzh felt a change in his power levels; despite feeling somewhat off as a result of the gas, he felt as if he could strike down even the strongest of monsters. Filled with this new sense of might, he leapt up with his sturdy log in hand, letting out a manly battle cry before spiking the boss to the ground.

Crying out in pain, President Tert stopped releasing gas and laid flat on the ground, the purple leaving his eyes as he remained motionless. Just like that, the battle was over.