The benefits of flying are tremendous, especially for a long-range fighter. Prism can stay out of Smokey's reach for as long as she wishes, she gains incredible mobility, and, let's face it, it looks cool. However, there is one very major downside that is incredibly relevant right now. Prism is floating in midair. With no cover. Or any form of concealment. Meaning anyone who isn't blind can see what Prism's doing.
Now let's consider Smokey, who is in the process of aiming at inanimate objects with a weapon that has a margin of error the size of a football field. Yeah, he's not really too distracted with that. So, when Prism doesn't immediately shower him with a hailstorm of bullets, he kinda figures something's up. And when he sees her pull something from her belt, it's not hard to imagine what she's up to.
In fact, let's play a game called "How Obvious is Prism's Attack?" So, she's reaching into her belt, which means she's probably pulling out a bullet. Considering she's only fired once, it's probably not to reload, so it must be specialty ammo, which is confirmed when she loads it into her gun. Most likely dust ammo, as that's pretty much the only kind of specialty ammo. The question is "what type of dust?" Well, it's probably not fire, so let's rule that out. It could be lightning, but that's really doubtful, considering it probably wouldn't affect his aiming enough to stop what he's already planning. Wind, kinetic, and gravity dust would be absolutely useless when one considers Smokey's own semblance. That basically leaves earth and ice dust, and since ice is more common, let's go with that. Now, considering that she pulled out and loaded that bullet in full view of Smokey, who is most certainly not blind, all Smokey has to do is wait for the muzzle flash and
hammer dance out of the way. Yes, even with the massive gun in his hands. It's not like it's any lighter when it's on his back.
So yeah, Prism misses. Now let's get to the good part.
Strangely, Smokey's feeling somewhat confident right now, despite the layout and the match-up of the day being heavily against him. Maybe it's the fact he has the Good News in his hands. It's hard not to feel confident when you're holding this much power in your hands. Well, for whatever reason, his confidence is there. Isn't that nice?
Resuming his view down the scope of the Good News, he re-positions his gun just a bit to accommodate his recent dodge. His inanimate targets didn't move, and quite frankly the dodge might have actually put him in a better position. Satisfied, Smokey takes a deep breath, activates his semblance, and pulls the trigger.
At first, nothing seems to happen. In the first half-second, no bullet comes out. Instead, a gear turns, and the gun makes a peculiar sound, almost like it's...
inhaling. As the gear spins, the inhaling grows louder and louder until the gear completes its revolution, when--
The Good News speaks, and its voice begins as the clap of a thunder god. A trail of smoke flies out of the barrel as it shrinks back into the stock, the muzzle brake hissing out smoke of its own to reduce the kickback. Even with all the dispersion, the force of the recoil digs into Smokey's shoulder and noticeably forces it back. Yes, the Good News has moved the Immovable Object.
The bullet flies towards the market place, and as it reaches the first stall in it's path, the fire dust in the first chamber begins to ignite. The stand explodes apart in the next instant, and the trail of smoke becomes a red streak as the Article begins to sing its piece. But its voice is no angel. The shrill shriek of a banshee fills the arena, as if to swear vengeance, death, and destruction on any that crosses its path. More stands are obliterated by the sheer force of the missile traveling through them, but the ear-piercing screech is unimpeded as the red demon races onward towards its final destination.
Finally, as the bullet reaches the back of the marketplace, slowed down by the wood of the marketplace stalls, the demon-possessed streak slams into the last stall at the back of the marketplace, finally crashing into the ground underneath. There, the hand of the devil reaches forth.
The stand shatters into chunks of burning wood that scatter across the marketplace, spreading fire all around. The wooden stalls in the immediate area become blazing infernos, as the strings of lights become highways for the fire to spread faster. The chunks of wood that are the remains of the stalls that were visited by the red demon act as kindling for budding fires across the marketplace, some even smoldering on their own after being touched by the trail of fire left in the Article's wake.
Smoke, naturally, begins to rise, though at this point it has far to go before it obstructs Prism's view. With that said, the smoke around the fire obscures the strings of light, meaning that if she
were interested in returning to the marketplace, Prism would have a hard time not getting tangled in burning threads.
As for Smokey, he quickly moves on to his next task. The first thing he does after recovering from the recoil is work the action to eject the now empty casing, which would be almost invisible now thanks to the lack of dust. Immediately after the casing is ejected, the gun hisses out hot air, as the cool down process begins. This will take time, and Smokey will not be able to begin reverting the weapon back to storage form until it is finished.
At the moment, that's fine with him. He runs to the perimeter of the courtyard, towards the first crossbow in his path. Wielding the behemoth rifle as a glorified club, Smokey swings at the base with aura-enhanced strength and shatters it, freeing the crossbow as it falls to the ground. As for why...well, that'll probably have to wait till next post.
Aura: 93% (attack dodged)
Semblance: ACTIVATED! 1ST OF 6 ROUNDS
Matchstick: 7/7 ~Fire Dust Loaded Holstered, on standby
Dust: 14/14 Ice, 14/14 Fire
The Good News: Venting...
Articles: 7/8
Action: The Good News, 1st Vytal Festival Ed., delivered to Mistrali Marketplace.
So, just clarifying, the fire is currently centralized at the back of the marketplace around 5 or so stands. It is quickly spreading. The path used by the bullet is filled with burgeoning fires that may quickly grow and spread more smoke. The smoke hasn't had a chance to climb yet, and it's also behind her, so her view isn't obstructed. If I need to add anything else, let me know.
Also, that "shriek" from the Article was supposed to be like the sound of a whistling firework, but like, much louder.