In Which the Overlord is Flat On His Face

[badassfreakingoverlord]

It's going to be one of those days.

In the hallway directly outside the mess hall lay a book. The bright red body and overall size clearly pointed to it being the Overlord, for those familiar with him, but his back cover was the one facing upwards. No sign of any minion around. None of the cursing, struggling, and flopping one would expect from Zetta in such an undignified posture.

Just a tome, lying flat on the ground, as if a crew member had simply discarded it thoughtlessly.

Comments

[thewunderkind]

"Oh uh...okay." She filed it in her brain under 'weird sayings'. "And anyway that's totally not true! I can build those things...just watch me do it if we ever get the materials for it!"

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"Sure, you COULD, but you don't have the materials for it. Whereas everything I do -- uh, besides having these weapons -- is pure Zetta, baby!"

They both knew he didn't NEED the weapons to kick ass, though.

[thewunderkind]

"Yeah well my Commanding Officer powers are pure Lash!" why was she even...she conveniently ignored Zetta calling her a baby. "Besides, power isn't always everything! With the right strategy, anything and anyone call fall!"

Yes this is why Black Hole won all of their war--oh wait. At least Lash had the right philosophy.

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"Hyaaa ha ha ha ha! I always have the right strategy: annihilate with superior strength!" Though really, even Lash knew that Zetta was slightly better at tactics than he let on. One didn't get to be the Overlord without a certain knack at command, after all.

[thewunderkind]

"Right right," she answered, trying not to grin (and failing), "but even superior strength has a weakness or two to exploit. Ever hear 'bout the single finger to the forehead vs an entire body trick?"

Considering who Lash had hung out with for most of her life, there probably wasn't even a second thought or a doubt about it. In fact, this was probably why they hadn't had a proper army command battle yet.

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"Oh, where you hold someone down just by leverage because they can't move at all to lift themselves? Go ahead, try that," Zetta said. "The sheer power of my muscles will snap your finger like a twig!"

[thewunderkind]

She looked down at her hands and realized she did like having them.

"...on the other hand, let's not do that." But he did get bonus points for knowing that trick. "Actually this does make me wonder...do you guys ever get sick? And how does that work with mana powers?"

[badassfreakingoverlord]

After 35,000 years, he'd picked up a couple of common-knowledge things here and there.

"Since strong mana power usually correlates to a higher level, and a higher level usually makes your stats better, it's harder for a stronger demon to get sick," Zetta said. "But it can happen. We -- demons in general, get sick like anybody else does. Of course, it CAN be more colorful if the demon is more impressive. I once got a cold that was so nasty my hair clotted up."

[thewunderkind]

Lash responded to this by, what else, laughing and trying to imagine the Overlord with the world's worst morning hairdo.

"Must have been something else when you sneeze," she remarked. "I'm trying to imagine what that's like, and how many things either got ruined or called up when you did, tee hee hee!"

Uh weren't they fighting a short while ago, why did this always happen? It's almost liked they liked talking to each other.

[badassfreakingoverlord]

And didn't like actually trying to hurt each other. Press Zetta to admit it and the truth was he was seriously having a hard time bringing himself to unleash any serious attacks Lash's way. Not because she couldn't take them, but because... well, he didn't want to. "Hey, I didn't do direct summoning before I got bound into a book. There wasn't a need."

[thewunderkind]

The denial of feelings was a great idea! Arguably Lash would say she would rather get the serious attacks because she could totally take them.

"Oh, that does make sense," she said, thinking and stroking her chin. "Granted knowing that you can do it now, imagine applying all of that once you get your body back! No one could stand a chance..." Or well, "No one could stand a chance even more!"

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"Hey, I still used minions and stuff," Zetta said. "They were just generally deployed from a home base sort of deal instead of dropped onto the field. It won't be that much more overwhelming... though it will be more fun!"

[thewunderkind]

"It's a heck of a way to organize a surprise attack!" Lash added. "When you think about it, you can't really prepare for someone teleporting things right in the middle of a battle. At least in my world anyway. You see the armies advancing and everything. With that power however? There's so much more damage you can do! Teleport them right next to their home base and capture it, rendering their communication system completely useless for one!"

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"You may be overestimating it a bit. Battles in Netherworlds are generally fought on smaller scales than you're used to with armies and tanks."

Around him, a circle appeared, encompassing about half the battlefield from where he stood. "That's effective range. If I wanted to cross a lot of distance fast, I'd order my minions to chain-throw a fortress."

[thewunderkind]

"Huh. I suppose it's effective for quick and fast five to six minute battles that end quickly," she mused. "But what would happen if you did employ the whole military outlook of it?"

Because if there was one thing Lash enjoyed, it was upsetting a delicate balance of anything.

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"Vehicles and buildings get deployed under the same principles. And there's a limit, even for an Overlord, on how many things can be brought out simultaneously. We're not omnipotent... though I'm closer than anyone or anything else, of course," he said, ever happy to toot his own horn.

[thewunderkind]

"Yes of course," Lash parroted with a grin on her lips, not wanting to take away from Zetta's very important horn tooting. "But...could you twist that and say, bring out vehicles with a bunch of demons soldiers inside, or a building that has a couple of tanks parked in there? And oh! Just imagine if demons had CO powers too!"

Abusing the system never sounded this much fun.

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"Oh yeah, that's easy. Each one counts against the total limit when deployed, though, so that does present a problem with the action economy. It has to be a worthwhile improvement in the battle for it to be valid."

See, Zetta had his share of brains. Just no common sense. Or brains the rest of the time.

LJ WHY DID YOU NOT TELL ME I HAD A TAG

[thewunderkind]

"Wait you guys have some sort of deployment limit?" She....could not comprehend how that could work. Especially since some of her inventions involved creating factors build specifically to pump out as many weapons, soldiers and armies as possible.

"What happens when you do? A referee comes out and scolds you for overdoing your deployments?"

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"Damn straight. It's only possible to transfer so much stuff from home base. It's a hard limit on power, you can't exceed it, it's a cosmic rule." Though the referee thing would be pretty hilarious. "But the limits exist on both sides, so it's still an even fight."