View source for 6980/CT3: You Have Selected Regicide

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2020/01/07
|Location=Eorzea Region
|Synopsis=The investigation team uses a risky method to breach the Crystal Tower and stop Xande and save G'raha Tia.
|Cast of Characters=598, 819, 906, 6, 525, 7180, 7175, 42, 7055
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:'''<br>THE STORY THUS FAR: <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Perhaps unshockingly to those present, the realm of Eorzea, perhaps all of Hydaelyn, faces yet another disaster in the making. Cracking open the defenses of the ancient Allagan edifice known as the Syrcus Tower has resulted in unforeseen consequences. While they have won victory over the defenses and guardians of the Labyrinth of the Ancients, a moment of inattention has allowed for treachery to unravel the well-laid plans of Nero tol Scaeva and by extension, Cid Garlond. Lezard Valeth, the Sorceror of Midgard, has spirited away G'raha Tia, a Miqo'te who bears the Eye of Allag, something that seems to be a key to command the various devices of the mysterious Tower. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Now, Lezard has claimed the Tower for his own, and some quick thinking by Amelris allowed them to discover that the Emperor of the Allagan Empire, Xande, stirs within the Tower. Lezard is caught between sticking with his efforts to use G'raha to secure the Tower, or to attempt to usurp the lord of Allag in order to claim true primacy... But Xande is also responsible for vast devastation. Leaving him be or perhaps worse, allowing Lezard to claim his power, was unconscionable to the heroes. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Thankfully, an irritated Nero has worked to use what little access he had to provide a more... unorthodox method of accessing the Tower. He has rerouted the Labyrinth teleporters to be able to breach the defenses of Syrcus and send them deep into the structure, so they might be able to rush through it to the summit, where the seat of the Emperor waits. But there is only one chance at this. Once they have breached, there is only victory or defeat. The threats to be faced are unknown... And Lezard himself continues to lurk within, plotting and planning.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;But there is only one choice. The heroes assemble, and with a jaunty, nonchalant salute Nero activates the console that has interfaced with the ancient Allagan technology. With a flash of light, the world vanishes...<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And as the light fades, the group is surrounded in crystal and gold. The Syrcus Tower seems to consist of vast central open vaults, an endless spiralling staircase that moves directly from landing to landing all the way to the top in an inexorable path. The place is positively dripping with Allagan design and technology. Glowing crystal is inlaid into the structure, forming runes and paths for energy to travel. Glowing lamps of crystal and aether shine brightly, showing the way. Strange, unknown artifacts are common, and creatures are seen roaming the landings. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;But you're not out there. You're seeing this through a thick wall of crystal, as you lot are standing within the seething walls of the Tower. Immense power is immediately apparent, the thick crystal thrumming with pure aetheric energy that is being shunted through complex Allag machinery throughout the complex. The environs are cramped, and it looks like thin ducting is running up and along the area, forcing those present to clamber amidst the machinery to work one's way up through an impromptu maze of what seem to be service openings barely large enough for a person to fit through. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Perhaps it was never intended for a person to fit through them. After all, one can see some kind of spherical object hovering about in an adjacent area, apparently performing maintenance. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Still, you know what direction you need to go. The question is just what you're going to do in order to start getting there.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:819|N'Raha (819)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The teleport takes and N'raha makes a vague sick noise. Well, Nero was doing his best, even if that just felt like he was being pulled bodily through his left nostril. <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The catman centers himself, and then peels out his tomestone, looking down at the screen and the limited map data Nero had gotten to them. "Right, so, quickest route is.... Up through... these...?" He points at a series of vents and tubes that are conveniently Human Sized. They also seem to be some sort of maintenance area, what with all the fiddly bits and displays and Open Wiring and Other Things inside of them. Positively rife with the sorts of things an Engineer might need to fiddle with. "And then there's a chamber above us that... Uh, my Allagan is rusty. Something about Many People? So like a gathering hall or a break room or something maybe?" He lifts his visor and looks at the others. And at Inga. Looks like he's going to be carrying her for a bit again.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:906|Yang Xiao Long (906)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Yang's been down for a while, recovering from injuries and some other personal stuff. The teleport makes her shudder on arrival. "That... felt a lot like the last time Weiss used time dilation on me." she says with a shudder in her voice. "Right... so that was a thing." she then listens to Raha. "Okay, so, entry strategy is clamber through vents like a bunch of creepers. Got it."<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;She offers to help those who can't qute reach the tube entrances by literally picking them up and shoving them inside. She's super strong, after all, even with still being slightly injured.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:'''<br>Things had gone sideways as far as Tomoe was concerned with how things ended up. She had told N'Raha she was in for the long haul. So she'd recovered from the last time and here she was ready to go. Tomoe was currently on edge due to Lezard's unknown plans other than this tower is mine now. She also was uneasy as they had one shot to deal with Xande one way or another. Given Xande from what she'd been made aware of? Had set the world on fire at least /twice/. She had backed the plan to deal with him before they worry about Xande. Nero had come through with a way in, however, there was a catch. <br><br> There was only really one way out they had to win, if they failed, they would be dead or worse. She made some plans at the note of being at the top of the tower that could give her some tactical options she's not normally had. <br><br> It was time to go she looks to her friends and allies for this operation just a second before they teleport. She does not get to see the amazing work of Algan Engineering and artisans nope she's in the vents. <br><br> She looks to N'raha as he finds the tubes and nods. With a bit of help from Yang the Salamander is able to get into the tubes and closer to a very fateful meeting. <br><br> "I feel like a snack pack in here..."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:525|Inga Freyjasdottir (525)}} has posed:'''<br> Earlier: <br><br> Inga stand over a large cauldron, stirring something pungent with a big wooden spoon like a proper witch, when N'Raha stomps in, shaking snow from his boots. He only gets as far as "Lezard--" before Inga gestures with the wooden spoon vaguely and nods her head, frowning. "I'll be there," she says. Ah the joys of living with a Seer, sometimes, you don't have to explain. <br><br> Now: Inga finds herself in cramped confines, in which wearing a dress will be troublesome. The skirt will be torn in no time. She does however, have the rare advantage of being quite small, which may make this at least a little more comfortable for her. <br><br> Inga looks to Raha and shrugs slightly. "I may need a bit of help here and there, but I'll be alright," she assures him. "Just...a moment however," she says, and unpins the straps of her overdress before pulling it over her head and stuffing it in her pack. Beneath, she is wearing honest to gods bloomers. Who knows where she found such a thing. She ties the white linen underdress into a knot at her waist, then winds her braid around her head in a coronet and jabs it with a pin to keep it there. "...and here I was expecting ridiculously large hallways with vaulted ceilings," she grumbles. <br><br> She then turns to Raha or Yang to get a boost up, patiently waiting her turn.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''<br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Amelris blinks his eyes open, squinting them through the haze of the teleportation efforts. <br> <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "Yeeeeesh." The Miqo'te says, rubbing his eyes at all the gold and extravagance of the room. "I knew Allag probably had Gold as one of it's emblamatic colors, but that's gaudy even for /them/." Amelris's ears flutters to clear out the last bits of sounds from the teleportation, looking up at the area that's been pointed up. "Mmmm... I think that's close enough to an accurate translation." He admits, frowning, giving a glance sidelong at Igna, tilting his head. Well, well, not he didn't know about her! "Of course not, I doubt we were going to be that lucky, ma'am." <br> <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Amelris takes a deep breath, push his already tight stomach in and starts by leaping upward to reach the entrance. He's lithe and strong enough to handle that no problem, after all.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:'''<br>Alruna has her hand on her weapon, but not drawn, as they get dropped/fall off the back of the truck, metaphorically speaking. She stumbles slightly, her feet twisting as she goes from a flat landing to standing inside a circular tunnel shaft. Clonk. The paladin ducks down, folding the wings of her helmet down so they won't keep brushing on the ceiling. She spares a few moments, admittedly, to stare at the main 'people' spaces they're separated from by the thick crystal walls. It's a compelling sight.<br><br>Well, enough of that. They've got work to do. "Understood." she says, looking over N'raha's shoulder at his map. While Yang is helping people to climb up into the ducting, Alruna pulls herself up, eventually finding some footholds to speed things along. She clanks unsubtly as she climbs, so anything that's up there looking for intruders is going to have plenty of forewarning.<br><br>Alruna pulls herself out of the duct with an unladylike grunt, standing up inside a junction chamber of some kind. She weighs her options, examining a thrumming energy node worked into the wall.<br><br>And then she plants her foot on it, lifts, and SMASHES.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:'''<br>TEAM HUBRIS: <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Lezard and those who are willing to assist him with his work in subverting the Crystal Tower (and through it, the power of Allag) to his (and their) will are in a somewhat more comfortable position. A side room off the core area happens to have several displays, many of them flicking through Allagan script or showing diagrams. The walls have many large, /ominously human/ sized pods, various status lights flicking atop them with more mysterious script. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Lezard himself continues to busy himself with one of the consoles, flicking through information that seems to be focused on the Emperor and the state of the Tower itself. "Time seems to be against us." Lezard states, looking over his shoulder. "I do not have time to simultaneously deal with the two objectives, and yet I have to weight whether I am willing to resolve one and let the other pass, or attempt to, as the saying goes, 'have my cake and eat it as well'." He sighs. "Choices, choices." <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Then SOMETHING is smashed, and one of the consoles (and several pods) flicker out, going dark. Lezard scowls. "And there is the third problem. The 'heroes' must have found another path. We cannot allow them to make a mess of everything..."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Always have your cake and eat it too. That's how you progress." Staren replies, while looking over one of the other consoles. "Even at the most basic level. What is agriculture but getting the benefit of gathering food without actually having to search for wild plants? What's domesticating horses if not a way to get places without having to walk there yourself?"<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Staren comes over to Lezard's console to see what it has to say about the Emperor. "I don't suppose whatever's sustaining the Emperor's mind has something to teach either of us? Is he distributed or localized? Maybe we can just unhook his magitech-mechanical brain from the tower and then figure out what to do with him at our leisure."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:'''<br>TEAM LIGHT: <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Amelris is on point, the Allagans were /incredibly/ gaudy here. The place just drips extravagance both in architecture as well as technology. This might very well be the centerpiece of what was a massive empire seemingly constructed of elemental hubris. The group gets climbing through the ducting and vents. The going is annoying, but it doesn't take long to get up into what looks like a junction area. Aetheric energy rushes through crystal tubes and conduits, art and science combined. Alruna gets up to some shenanigans, however, losing patience and kicking in a junction. The panel shatters and there is a bloom of aether around Alruna, but it seems to not have any undue effect. Perhaps the concentration was too low to be lethal? However, there is a loud KER-CHUNK from above as some kind of mechanics fail closed... <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And with a dulcet chime, part of the gold and crystalline wall irises open, allowing them to climb up to the open port. The good news is that it looks like it takes them out into the main core area. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The bad news is that it's amongst the vaulted ceiling area, not particularly what one would call human-accessible. The path is thin, but one can crawl, or if one is daring, stand and walk across to the opposite side, which leads to what looks like another wall port. Already, one of those maintenance drones seems to be crossing the area, heading towards the damage.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Still, it does give them a clear view of the area below, a massive platform with crystal pylons and platforms arranged around it. There, a massive man in armor stands, clearly several times the height of even a Roegadyn. He seems to have no weapon, but his physique is astounding, covered in heavy armor as he looms... And one can hear him mutter, a deep baritone. "None shall draw steel against the Emperor as long as I draw breath. Amon has not returned. Could we have been breached? I will not allow any to pass. My defenses are impregnable! My might unparalleled!" <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;A pause. "... I wonder if someone /is/ invading. It has been so long!"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:819|N'Raha (819)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Even with Inga on his shoulders, Raha's still been carefully guiding the group, and as he lets his partner down, and Alruna does her DOOM SLAYER nonsense, he looks up and frowns. And then down and frowns. "Oh. That's... well, I'm sort of glad we didn't go that way. That's one guy we don't have to fight." A pointed look at his friends and associates, before he sighs, and starts to shimmy across the platforms, pointing at Amelris as he goes. "Get rid of that drone before it tries to fix stuff."<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Another look at Inga. "Go with Yang, I'll make sure there's not something ELSE on the other side that's going to immediately jump us."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''<br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Amelris winces a bit at the sound of VANDALISM, mostly because it's a sudden, loud noise and having feline ears is a problem sometimes. A glance downward gives him some pause, shaking his head. "I'm glad too. Sometimes, I wonder how theses entities do it. Sitting there, standing still for several hours, days, nay, weeks. Sometimes moons, just waiting for someone like us to come through..." <br> <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Of course, they don't actually DO that, it's just sometimes it certainly FEEL that it. <br> <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "Can do." Amelris mutters, taking in a deep breath to relax. A brief shimmer of light expands from him, spiraling out in a rapidly accelerating manner as he points his Rapier Rod at the drone. Wind blows out from around him faintly, unleashed out into a large blast of concussive air to crush it... or at least, get it way out of it's route or INTO something that's gonna scrap it.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;TEAM HUBRIS: <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"You are overthinking this, Staren." Lezard replies. He taps at the console, and brings up what looks like a basic map. "The Emperor is a discrete entity. He is in the process of taking up his place at the summit, but I am not sure how much time we will have. He will undoubtedly be powerful, but if I leave to deal with the problem I leave my other prize effectively undefended." <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;There is a pause. "... Or do I?" He looks around at the pods, and smiles. "I have an idea."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:906|Yang Xiao Long (906)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Yang follows after everyone else is in the vent, leaping up and catching the side, before hauling herself up. She arrives just as Alruna stamps through the panel. "That's probably a bad idea... lets do it more." The blonde deploys her gauntlets when the hatch opens to the narrow walkway over some kind of... fighting arena with a giant guy in it muttering to himself. "Man... I kinda wanna go punch him." she muses to herself, but is quickly given a Seer to look after. Yang quickly takes on the role of a bodyguard and sticks close to Inga, helping to hold her steady across the balance beam.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:'''<br>Alruna squints, shielding her face from the backblast of aether that vents around her and floods the tubes for a few moments. On consideration, that was probably not the /best/ idea, but it's had some effect. One way or another, they're going to shut this tower down. She's just starting the process a little early.<br><br>"Pity." she murmurs as N'raha implicitly curtails the idea of going down to fight that giant. Maybe they'll have time to go back for him later. Unsheathing her sword and shield, the paladin fearlessly walks across the narrow walkway, arms held out. It's a long walk from one wall to another, but steady pacing and a careful eye are all you need.<br><br>Never mind the fact that she starts speeding up uncomfortably, and is at a dead run by the time she collapses against the edge of the iris opening on the other side. Alruna clings to the gold-lined edges of the aperture, breathing quickly.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:'''<br>Wizard Hubris is a thing an the Allagans seem be quite apt with it. The extravagance in every from the teck to the magic hell the vents are nicer than some inn's she's had to stay in. She keeps note of the magic that's running through here and does not want to get into direct contact with it. She's able to keep up with N'Raha and the pysicla issues of getting around do not seem to bother Tomoe at all, she's moving with a good deal of experiance at climbing around like this is not a new thing to her. <br><br> She looks down at the masive man blow and she nods a bit. <br><br> "Let's keep on the moving, this guy would have slowed us down quite a bit from the looks of it. <br><br> "You know I do climbing stuff like this for fun." <br><br> She'll let her allies who seem already handling the drone to do so. She'll also pick up the pace leaping acrsoss using the ledge to pull herself up once her leap is finished.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:525|Inga Freyjasdottir (525)}} has posed:'''<br> Inga sighs heavily, shaking her head as she looks down at the drop. "Bees couldn't have graced me with /flight/ could they?" she grumbles. At least she knows she'll be alright if she falls. <br><br> Inga looks to Yang, "I'm sorry, I have been foisted off on you," she says, flashing an apologetic smile. "Don't worry too much if I fall, though I will not be able to get back here again I'm sure." <br><br> Inga looks as Alruna takes off and crosses the walkway easily, followed by Tomoe. <br><br> Inga's lips press together in a thin line briefly before she makes her way over with Yang, extremely awkwardly.Indeed, she scoots on her butt the entire way over. It takes some time. There is quiet swearing the whole way.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"I mean, I could go fight him." Staren points out. He follows Lezard's gaze, to the pods. "Have you figured out how to control those things, or is this some kind of soul-puppeting thing where you can bypass the magitech?"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;That's one guy they don't have to fight.... probably, anyway. N'raha hurries forward and tries to keep the team on task. Being an adventurer himself, he is probably quite knowledgeable at how quickly they can get off track. Amelris begins to wonder about the existential nature of the powerful guardian. How long has the giant man been there? Who knows? Still, the Red Mage focuses on the drone. The wave of wind slams into the drone, sending the beeping thing flying off of the buttresses and making an plainative beeping sound as the hover systems seem to have been damaged from the impact, the ball falling off into the many, many story drop on the outer edge of the tower. You probably won't be seeing it again. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Yang is inspired by Alruna's direct action, but chooses to make progress instead of engaging in even more rampant vandalism... for the moment. She sticks to Inga, helping the seeress make her way across the beams. Inga gains a fairly intense righteous anger at the embarassing situation she's put into, but she isn't going to let it stop her from progressing. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Alruna and Tomoe quickly make progress across, joining N'raha. Despite the temptation to drop in on the giant guardian who continues to ponder and lament the lack of glorious combat and the joy of defending the Emperor, they all eventually get across. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The other side proves to be similarly cramped but instead of needing to thread through a bunch of machinery, there seems to be a service ladder drilled into the side of the wall. Amazing. The ladder gets them up to a room that looks slightly different. A hatch opens up, allowing them to exit onto the main floor, which is... oddly empty.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The walls are panelled in rich wood grain, hung with crimson bunting. The floor itself is covered in a fine carpet that is comfortable and luxurious. It almost looks like it would be a quite lovely... stage, perhaps? A large stairway is on the opposite side of the room... This place seems to be close to the summit. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Lezard stands there, smiling. Staren may be with him, it is up to him, of course. He gestures to them as they file in. "Well, if it isn't the heroes. You are quicker than I would have liked. I suppose this is where you are going to tell me to leave and return your feline associate." <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;He spreads his arms. "Very well. Take him. Take /all/ of him." As he speaks, hidden tubes hiss, and what looks like dozens of men in robes fall down into the room, landing in heaps... And then one stands. It's a male miqo'te. A /very familiar/ looking one. Except there's no sign of recognition in those eyes, as he lifts a blade and begins staggering forward. Then another gets up. A third. A fourth, fifth, sixth.... <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;About three dozen copies of G'raha Tia advance on the party with weapons, their motions smoothing out as they move, as muscles begin to coordinate and knowledge rises unbidden... <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And Lezard laughs, turning and surmounting the stairs while the clones attack.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:525|Inga Freyjasdottir (525)}} has posed:'''<br> Finally, they make into a very comfortable chamber. A very comfortable chamber where Lezard has just been spending his time, /comfortable/, watching them struggle. <br><br> Inga, practically in her underthings, has been carried, crawled, and otherwise humiliated and she's /done/. Not a word passes her lips as her staff lights up, the runes glowing malevolently as she points it toward Lezard's smug back, and releases a lightning bolt as means of a hello.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Staren's already on his way to intercept the Emperor with a bunch of constructs, but he does have spy drones watching the lower room. He facepalms as Lezard makes them fight lookalikes of their friend. He just HAS to be extra sinister in everything he does, doesn't he?<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Also, once Lezard leaves the room, magic is released to seal the entrance with quick-growing vines, sadly just AFTER the lightning bolt strikes through. No doubt well-equipped adventurers can make quick work of them, but it should SLIGHTLY slow down any efforts to chase the Concord. There's an Emperor to stop and they can't have people meddling with that, after all...<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:819|N'Raha (819)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;N'raha would love to talk. Would love to banter. But Lezard has just... decanted, like 30 of his friend out of vats and it's not... it's not nice. And it's not cool. The Warrior snarls inside his helmet, lowers the visor, and braces himself to the charge of cloned G'raha's. "And Staren thinks we're fighting him for flawed reasons." Tch.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;He greets the first clone with the flat of his axe, turns in place, swipes at it, and then howls a mad challenge at the oncoming rush of mindless... perfect copies of his friend. This was wrong. THis was cruel. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Gods damn you, Lezard Valeth."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:906|Yang Xiao Long (906)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Yang, once Inga's safely across, moves up to the frontline. Lezard releases a bunch of clones of some guy, and then gets blasted in the back by Inga's rage.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Yang deploys her gauntlet again, sets her stance, and launches herself into the middle of the group, turning into a flurry of punches and kicks, punctuated with the resonant report of the shotguns built into her weapons. "OH YEAH!"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:'''<br>Alruna has her sword out the moment she's reached the top of the ladder. No convenient energy conduits or channels to break, but that's no reason not to be ready for the opportunity. Especially once Lezard welcomes them. She paces towards the center of this theatre, a taciturn scowl on her face as Lezard smuggily smugs his way through a bit of figurative theatre and drops a bunch of clones on them. He reminds her of Nero.<br><br>"Hmph." Unlike N'raha, she has no hesitation, hurling her kite shield (...?) to knock the wind out of a few of the cloned Miqo'te. She catches it on the return (?!) and uses it like a swatter to smash the face in of a third before she gets into the thick of things, wading her way towards Yang to watch the flamboyant brawler's back.<br><br>Her blade is soon running red with the clones' blood.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''<br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Amelris lets out a snarl, that burst out into a laugh. Inga's lightning bolt did knock back some humour into him. The sight of the clones is something that do give him pause, making him frown, lowering his rapier. <br> <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "Bleeding hell." The Red Mage cusses out, shaking his head. "So this was JUST a psychological ploy, right? Right." <br> <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; He didn't know the kid nearly as much as N'raha but this makes him angry more than anything else. "If you REALLY meant to delay us, you'd, like, I dunno. Clone that holligan the other day with his little critter that spewed poison. Or a dragon. Or something /bigger/." <br> <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Amelris spins his rapier rod, taking in a deep breath with lightning crackling at the tip. "And LIKE you'd throw away your BIG KEY TO SUCCESS with the Emperor still waking up. Unless you TRIED and that's the ONLY THING YOU COULD DUPLICATE. SO:" <br> <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Red Mage throws his weapon up, unleashing out a thunderstorm on some of the clones. "VERTHUNDER SECUNDUS!" <br> <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; he takes a step forward, spinning, twirling the weapon with precisiou and slamming it into the ground, blade first. A small tornado blasts out, calculated to not hit into his friendly allies. "VERAERO SECUNDUS!"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:'''<br>Well the place is getting more and more fancy now. Then there's Lezard, also Staren this makes things complicated but from the look on her face if Staren were to catch it. Then comes the clones, for a moment Tomoe is paused, her mouth agape at the dight. Clones of G'Raha Tia are coming right at them a whole lot of them. The attack come Tomoe is cuaght by some of the assault she's quick to change tactics the spear comes out and she starts using it's reach and her spead to dart in and out of the clone ranks hakcing slashing, and launchiung the odd spell of her own into the melee. <br><br> As she fights her way through the clone horde she would end up drifting towards Alruna and Yang trying to keep pace with them as they to move thought his mess.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:7055|Majima Goro (7055)}} has posed:'''<br>There's some sort of universal law about clones. In quantity, they're simply not impressive. <br>The axe swings easily dispatch G'raha Tias left and right. They're just not built for this. The first bolt of lightning misses them, aimed at Valeth. The lightning storm and subsequent maelstrom of wind from the Red Mage easily dispatches a great number of them. Yang's shotguns and whirling dervishes drives yet more to an early doom. What remains is ended by shield, spear, and sword. <br> <br>Approximately thirty-five clones, in the end, lay on the ground, bleeding, defeated, dead, terminated--generally out of your way. The thirty-sixth clone gets up. His hair covers his eyes, having been somewhat shaken up in the entire mess. He raises his head...and his ears fall off. <br> <br>...<br> <br>This is far less gory than you might think. The ears make a light 'clack' noise, the plastic band connecting them smacking into crystal unceremoniously. G'raha Tia(?!) pushes his hair out of his way to reveal one red eye, and one...eyepatch.<br> <br><span class="bold_fg_w bg_n ++ hw">"NEHEHEHEHEHAAAAAAAA!"</span> Majima Goro draws to his full height, drawing his trademark knife. "...Betcha didn't see that shit coming, eh? Look, Valey didn't say I couldn't, so I brought a chest fulla cool shit I found in the tower while I was waitin' on you slow-ass fucks, eh?"<br> <br> He seems to, yes, have acquired a treasure chest that lies conveniently on the path to continuing onwards. As soon as those inconvenient vines are gone. When did that pop up?<br> <br>"So, don't hold back, eh? If ya gonna make me wait like that, ya gonna have ta make up for it by makin' this worth my while!"<br> <br>A knife is drawn. His entire body flares with a distinct purple flame.<br> <br>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVhNrZxfhbs<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:819|N'Raha (819)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;N'Raha's hand yanks up at his visor, to get a better look, and instead he yanks the helmet off, throwing it to the side. He uh, he doesn't seem to notice. His black hair is starting to lift around his head slowly, as the Wrath rils over in him, his own both sheathed in a red glare. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"You bastard." <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And that's all the warning Majima gets. Because there's an explosion of motion, several dead G'raha's thrown from the path as N'raha SHOULDER SLAMS into Majima, howling a lion's roar of challenge. "I'LL KILL YOU."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:'''<br>Tomoe pauses at the last clone getting up then the ears fall off? Tomoe stares for a moment. <br><br> "That's no cat man! THAT'S THE MAD DOG OF SHIMANO! MAJIMA GORO!" <br><br> Tomoe cries out in shock. This was something while possible? She did not expect the man to turn up here day. She eyes the man his weapon and the glow of it. <br><br> "You want a fight? I will not be holding back." <br><br> With that Tomoe will leap into the air holding her spear in hand then drop down towards Majima launching into a high-speed series of thrusts and slashes. Some bits go high others go low she's trying to put some serious pressure on Majima as she's well aware of how dangerous this seemingly ordinary man /is/. The Salander is true to her word, she doesn't seem to be holding back at all.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''<br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; There's a moment of bafflement in Amelris' face when the ONE EYED CYCLOP comes out barreling, laughing like a hyena and displaying CLEAR AURA OF HOSTILE INTENT. <br> <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Red Mage rubs his eyes, sighing as he motion in Majima's general direction. <br> <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "EVEN MORE OF A BLOODY REASON! Why didn't you clone THIS GUY instead of G'raha?!" He exclaims out, knowing that Lezard DO have a bead on the audio around here as he places himself into his fencer's stance. <br> <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "Whatever! MAJIMA GORO, is it!?" Amelris takes a step forward, wriggling his fingers beneath the floating gem with his free hand, sending it afloat. "You face all of us -- and I, Amelris Belthrone, Crimson Duelist!" <br> <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; He pools both weapon together, muttering under his breath by unleashing a large blast of fire at him, stop, flourish with both hands and take another step back, followed up by a large slab of rock.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:906|Yang Xiao Long (906)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The group clears up the clones. And then one gets back up and starts cackling in a very recognizable way. "Huh, didn't expect this to be our first fight." she mutters to herself.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And then Raha comes bursting past her. Yang stumbles a bit from the force of that charge. She turns, sets a foot then follows up Raha's attack from the side, laying into Majima with a rush of punches, each one reporting a blast of force from the shotgun barrels above her index knuckles.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:'''<br>Alruna finishes the dirty work of putting down the last clone attacking her, caving in his temple with the hilt of her blade. The abrupt mood whiplash of one of the clones suddenly getting up again and revealing itself to be some kind of foreigner who resembles a Far East thug is just...whooo boy. This is going to be a long day.<br><br>Unlike N'raha, she doesn't have the misfortune of knowing anything about this guy. But Tomoe's reaction tells her he is a man of some repute. "Very well then." She flips her visor down again with the faintest of smiles touching her lips, charging in alongside N'raha, though with less Killing Intent than the catman. Majima just gets a faceful of black shield, not that that's likely to slow him down any.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:525|Inga Freyjasdottir (525)}} has posed:'''<br> Inga looks like she feels a bit better after hitting Lezard with a lightning bolt. It was satisfying, but there's not much time to dwell on it, because there are clones of poor G'Raha to take down. <br><br> Luckily, quick work is made of them. Inga doesn't even need to participate. Good, that will let her focus on Lezard. <br><br> Or...not. One of the clones isn't a clone at all, but none other than....! Inga blinks, brow furrowing. "...Who the fuck is this?" <br><br> Well, anyway. Inga pulls her knife, slices into her arm and starts throwing out blood-wards to her allies, and a little acid spray at Majima.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Amelris actually makes Lezard pause, the Evil Wizard almost habitually wanting to turn and retort against Amelris' argument. It's a good argument! However, Inga's lightning crashes against him, the spite lightning (a potent combination) scorching him and blackening his clothing and flesh. "GAH! Accursed Seeress!" He gripes, before he flourishes his cape and flees up the stairs. Staren might follow him, or maybe he'll want to observe Majima's battle. It's gonna be a hell of a battle. At least the clones aren't a problem.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:7055|Majima Goro (7055)}} has posed:'''<br>The first to make it to Majima is N'raha.<br> <br>That shoulder slam is fast, and powerful. Corpses fly side to side, and N'raha plows directly through the standing body, sending him absolutely sprawling.<br> <br>The berserking warrior will soon realize, as he smashes the Mi'qote into the wall, that this one still has cat ears. And tail. Majima's strategy of 'use a G'raha corpse as a shield' mostly worked, and he's okay with that. <br> <br>It buys the Mad Dog time to dash forward, seeking to drive his knife directly into the Mi'qote's back. <br> <br>One way or the other, he's got bigger issues. Tomoe. Already overextended from assaulting N'raha, he's barely able to defend himself against her endless blows. "Nehehe! Good! I was hopin' ya all wouldn't, eh? I've been bored for weeks on fuckin' borin' ass mooks!" <br> One of those slashes lands firmly in his side, and he grimaces for a moment. Then it turns to a manic grin, and he twists around to deliver a spinning kick to the girl from the /OTHER/ popular online game.<br> <br> Which means now the Red Mage gets a turn. "Shit, for real?" Majima says, cracking his neck once. "..Pick a fuckin' style, eh? Ya spreadin' yourself too thin with that shit." He shows an almost unnatural degree of flexibility, bending his knees and back to let the fireball to pass over him, raising just in time and sliding almost entirely out of the way of the slab of rock. Almost. It still sends him spinning a bit, and he shakes his head. "...Ya see?" He cackles wildly, dashing from side to side to avoid any further interference between him and bringing his tanto down in a vertical strike to faux-bisect the Crimson Duelist.<br> <br>"NEHEHE! Ya all gonna make this fun! That's what I was hop--eh?"<br> <br>He notices, barely too late, that he has miscounted. Inga's acid spray nails him directly in the chest. At the very least, he was wearing a substantive amount of G'raha Tia duds, so it doesn't hurt as much as he was expecting. Still, he'd rather not have bubbling acid left on his body, so he grips at the bubbling mess, and -rips-.<br> <br>And thus he, in a stunningly unexpect maneuver, is left shirtless, his tattoo glistening. Inga just gets a single look from his one eye, and he throws his knife up into the air...before leaping up and spin-kicking it in place, sending it directly towards her at startling speed.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:819|N'Raha (819)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Stabbed in the back is a lot how N'Raha is feeling right now in general. Or he would, you know. If he could feel anything other than unfiltered pure killing thoughts. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;His head reels as that knife sinks through splits in his armor, and he wheels in place to watch Majima remove the rest of this G'raha Suit and just... Oh. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The Berserker howls another challenge, feeling the presence of his allies around him in a generally general manner. He knows at least who he's supposed to hit, and that's good. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Because he charges at Majima, yowls, <span class="fg_+ bg_d ++ +RED">"I'LL KILL YOU."</span> and then takes a surprisingly measured swing of that ax, straight across Majima's middle, the achingly sharp glowing edge of Bravura slicing through the air.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:'''<br>He's bafflingly fast - Alruna gets knocked backwards with force she wasn't prepared for, stumbling among the dozens of bodies lying on the floor. N'raha's berserker rage is... concerning. Alruna's gaze flicks between him and Goro. She's heard some rumours about the Warriors and their inner fury. An 'Inner Beast'.<br><br>Hopefully not all those rumours were true.<br><br>Alruna tries to herd Goro, fencing him in so their heavier hitters can have an easier time nailing the man.<br><br>She lashes out with her sword, delivering wide slashes to fence Goro in.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:906|Yang Xiao Long (906)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And there comes the counter. Yang shifts her stance, tucking in tight then surges her Aura. A glowing golden energy aura forms around her, and the strike that comes in gets stopped dead. The floor craters under the impact, sending debris flying from where her feet sink into the stonework. The blonde brawler disengages, pirouettes around then launches back in, following Raha's attack again. She's used to being the one others follow up on. "Guess I know how Blake feels now." she quips to herself, leaping high and bringing herself down in an overhead slam.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:525|Inga Freyjasdottir (525)}} has posed:'''<br> Inga takes a moment, just a tiny, tiny moment, to blink in surprise as Majima tears his shirt off. She supposes that's a logical reaction to having acid-blood thrown at you, but suspects he's also just showing off. <br><br> Then there's a knife in her chest. She looks down to see that it is not in her heat, but that one of her lungs is most certainly punctured. <br><br> Oh, bother. <br><br> With a wheezing scream she tries to pull it out, but nearly passes out in doing so. The healer is going to need a bit of help, herself. With the blood that starts to flow she casts a healing spell on herself quickly. Blood dribbling from the corner of her mouth, Inga then whispers the focus word for a blast of fire, which she naturally aims at Majima.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:'''<br>Staren and Lezard have dropped a seriously heavy hitter on the party. The Mad Dog's nickname is well earned too. <br><br> "That I can safely say none of us here fighting now are 'mooks'." There isn't much time to say much more there she's quite aware. She's not going to avoid it so the towering girl will attempt o roll with the impact. It helps a bit but even then the force of the struck clearly hits her. It leaves her body distorting for a split second after the impact and tomoe sure sounds like she felt it too. <br><br> On her HUD her HP bar is dropping quite a bit from that hit. <br><br> She rallies and moves after Majima. <br><br> "Keep the pressure on him!" <br><br> She calls out as she does the same launching another swipe with her spear as she tries to follow up on Majima's attacking Inga. Had this been like an arena match? Tomoe would be overjoyed to fight someone on Majima's level. This on the other hand...is not a good thing in her view to have to deal with.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''<br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "Now THAT's rich!" Amelris snaps out, lifting his rapier to meet against Majima's tanto, taking several steps back as he meets against his slash. He deflects it rather nicely, spinning out of the way but still getting caught in the path. It cuts him into the side. A grazing wound, spraying some blood into his red clothing. He's still in this fight. This do emphasis just how DANGEROUS this man is with that bleedin' knife. <br> <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "Bit of a glass house to throw that kinda shade around, don'tcha think?" The Red Mage comments, stepping back as he refocuses his concentration to unleash another slam of spells against Majima. He's quickly hopping on his feet, almost dancing at the tip of his booted toes. An explosion of lightning comes crashing out from his Rapier Rod, take a brief leap and unleash another blast -- this one of disrupting wind. "If anything, if I'm spread way too thin, you're NARROWED than a damn thread! Just a little cutting..." <br> <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Amelris makes his rapier swish in the air. It bites. <br> <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "And y'macrame is tatters!"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:'''<br>TEAM HUBRIS:<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Yes, in fact, he does. It's basically in his contract. Or maybe he just loves causing psychological trauma in hero types. It's just kind of how he operates. You should see what he does to the local heroes. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The pair mount the steps to the pinnacle of the Tower, where a massive muscled man sits in a great crystal throne, holding a massive scepter. Lezard wastes no time in thrusting a hand forward. "A pity, Emperor, but your new reign is destined to be a short one! <span class="bold_fg_y bg_n ++ hy">LIGHTNING BOLT!</span>" <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;There is a crack of thunder, and Xande, the Emperor of Allag matches the blast with one of his own, a massive beam crashing into the lightning bolt and creating a huge clash of energy that surges back and forth between them. "Fool." Xande announces in a deep, powerful voice. "You think to usurp the Emperor? You have no concept of what you trifle with." <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Staren will, of course, arrive to see the titanic magical struggle beginning to unfold.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:7055|Majima Goro (7055)}} has posed:'''<br>N'raha's back! He feels, to some extent, that he really should be directing his blows more directly--if not ENTIRELY on the big bulky guy with the axe. He deserves it! And, in some ways, that axe really does hurt more.<br> <br>But that wouldn't be fair, honestly. He should -share- the love! The axe swings, and Majima's fiery glow changes to a yellow one. The axe swings...<br> <br>And it meets nothing. Majima's launched himself in the air using his bat, hopping right over the horizontal slash. His shoes land on that swinging relic midway through, and the bat's rolled around to smash directly atop the tank's head. Majima just isn't respecting aggro tables, but at least he isn't tunnelling the healer.<br> <br>Next up is the paladin. "...What, ya ain't got anything clever ta say? That's depressin'."<br> The bat comes up, and between the strangely durable wooden stick and his own maneuverability, he dulls it, but he can't stop all of it. Once there seems to be a break, he starts his own counter-attack. "There we go. I think ya ain't gonna dodge.../here/." The bat's swung overhead, as if to smash her in the head..but it misses. Instead, it's planted in the ground, and Majima uses the weight to swing himself around and deliver twin kicks to her side. Horizontal, instead of vertical. You know how it goes. <br> <br>And thereby, ya, verily, did the red mage get his due. "Neheheh. Shit, this is the kinda bullshit I deal with when I leave the house ta go get takeout! Ya think Eorzea's bad, go buy some fuckin' ramen in Kamurocho, eh?" Alright. He thinks he gets it. The lightning takes a second, and Majima has time to plant himself in the ground and adjust to it. The part he's not quite working out is why the /second/ spell--the biting winds, come out much faster. If he can figure that out, he can deal with this jackass.<br> <br>"...Come on. It ain't a real fight till the shirt comes off. Ya know that." He decides to take away Amelris's range advantage, sweeping right in. The bat starts to swing around in all directions, until he gets a good rhythm--and then it's something akin to a set of nunchucks in his hand, a blitz of swings before he finally kick and knock the duelist away and out of his hair. <br> <br>Tomoe's still around, huh? Well. That's unfortunate. "...Pressure? Neheh! I ain't pressured yet! Shit, ya think way too highly of yourself! I'm just gettin' started!"<br> <br>The spear swings past, and Majima's..just out of its way. The bat's thrown upwards in the air, and..<br> <br><span class="bold_fg_y bg_n ++ hy">HEAT ACTION: Essence of Dragoon</span> <br> <br><span class="fg_y bg_n ++ y">He rips the spear forward with Tomoe's momentum, ripping it out of her hands, for just a moment. And so he leaps up, weapon spinning in the air, until he dives back around, feet clenched to the bat, spear pointing straight down, as he seeks to land directly on her with it, and then swing himself and the bat around for a second blow. ...Even if she dodges all of that, he's got more to do, and he can deal with her in a second.</span><br> <br>Because Yang's still alive. Unfortunately, he's planted himself just in time for the latter half of the quake. It doesn't hurt nearly as much as it could, luckily for him. But he's still got to -deal- with her. "Heh! Wait, shit, I remember ya! Ain't how I was hopin' our first spar'd go, but I'll take it." The bat's back up in his hands, and he spins around to just try to golf her out of the way. Is she strong? Yes. But is she /light/? Compared to most of the other people he's hitting, yes. It might work.<br> <br> Leaving him again with the witch to deal with. "...Heh. ..Ya wouldn't throw that knife back, wouldja? ...Eh, I'll get it myself." He rushes forwards towards her, managing to /almost/ dodge the fireball. Luckily, it scorches the side of his face where he was already missing an eye, so it's not nearly as bad as it looks. First, he slides to the ground beside her, hoping to snag his Tanto back. Then, as he rises, the knife spins out first, followed by the bat, followed by a tornado of alternate knife and bat swings.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Staren's not sure what he expected this 'emperor' to be, but a guy showing off his muscles wasn't it. "I..." he starts to speak, but then the WIZARD DUEL begins. A second passes as Staren regathers his wits. As one, he and his squad of constructs (humanoid robots in something akin to riot gear) raise their weapons; A half-dozen caseless submachineguns fire on the enemy wizard(?) from various angles. Staren's is loaded with shaped-charge explosive bullets, the rest are using 'merely' smart material that can harden and soften itself for optimum penetration and kinetic energy transfer.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Staren's kind of hoping that the emperor can't put up a forcefield AND shoot lightning at the same time, or this is just going to be embarassing!<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:819|N'Raha (819)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Now, Majima. Why'd you have to go and do that. RIght in front of N'Raha? First you're hiding inside the corpses of his friend. Then you're using the corpses of his friend to hit him. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Then you're trying to kill his partner. Right in front of him. While he's already mad. Like... all the way mad. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And somehow the depths of his pure rage have yet to be discovered. There's not even words this time, as N'Raha watches Majima yank that knife out of Inga and then try to style on her. Not even anything close to words. Or any human or coherent sounding emotion or thought or anything. It's all just. Anger. And the need to kill this man in front of him. And protect the last good thing in his life.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The axe is a blazing star. It is a star of pure white hot hatred and rage and killing intent. And it slashes down at Majima, as the catman follows it up with a headbutt and a howling mad direct challenge.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:525|Inga Freyjasdottir (525)}} has posed:'''<br> Oh, good, Majima pulled the knife out of her chest. Given, it hurts A LOT, but at least it's not just...sticking out anymore. Now, with it out, she can begin to properly heal. <br><br> There is also a rush of blood, crimson spreading on the white linen of her shift like a poppy blooming. Inga, knife in hand, directs the blood from her own wound, the liquid pooling in the air, beginning to solidify into a long, keenly sharp spear. With a grunt and a flick of her wrist, the blood-spear flies for Majima, looking to impale him as he impaled her. <br><br> Inga then scans the room, checking in on her allies and....oh, dear. Raha is in the thick of the Odin-rage. More than she has perhaps ever seen him. This is not good. Very not good. "Gods, protect him," she prays.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:'''<br>Majima's feet thump against Alruna's armour, pounding on green plate mail while her shield's out of position. She hurfs, standing strong and turning her hip to force his foot back. "Fighting banter's /his/ forte." she says, smirking through her faceguard as she nods at Amelris.<br><br>And she can sense the Miqo'te is fashionably building up for something. The paladin lunges in, taking advantage of By The Fury N'raha Is Fucking Mad to backhandedly swat Majima with her shield from the other side, pincering the Yakuza thug between two armoured juggernauts at hopefully just the right time for Amelris to pull off some outrageous stunt.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:906|Yang Xiao Long (906)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Yang stands after her strike. Just in time to get yeeted into a wall by the bat swing. She slams into the wall and slides down and lands in a crouch, groaning as she holds her middle. "Crap, I think somethin' popped.."<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The blonde gets back up slowly, wheezing slightly as her Aura flickers... "Gotta end this quick..." A moment of focus, and her Aura stabilizes again. She then charges in once more, launching herself from her gauntlets, sailing through the air into a descending flurry of punches, laying into Majima and trying to pile on the pressure. "Yeah, I know, right? We should do this properly, one-on-one sometime."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''<br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Things are going to get even more confusing for Majima in a minute. Or perhaps it will tell him everything he needs to know. Sometimes, it hard to know in the middle of a battle. <br> <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Amelris is keeping up with Majima to some degree. He's clearly not as much of an agility fiend as he is but there is certainly the fact that his eyes are going well along, precisely keeping up with his movement and footworks. He know what a club is. Obviously. A bat, even more being USED LIKE THIS, is even more baffling to him. Still! The Red Mage thinks on his feet, lifting up his rapier to scrap along his mad blows, his weapon blurring against him. The precussion of his attacks is mostly what gets to him, reciving a few blows back and, really, the Duelist IS knocked out of Majima's hair. <br> <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; He skids along the ground for a few feet, gritting his teeth, flashing his carnivorous fangs. "Whatcha make you think you're worth for my shirt t'get off. Made this one myself, y'know." <br> <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Alruna sets up for him. Good. Then maybe he's got something to up the ante. <br> <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; There's a burst of power coming from the Miqo'te. Like wind knocking out, being pushed away as the Red Mage charges like a bullet against Majima, his rapier presented outward into a firm pointee. <br> <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Then it starts glowing. That's usually not good. <br> <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Amelris goes on the offensive, his glowing, enchanced rapier blurring in the air. A wide arc. A flurry of thrusts and culminating into a large streak of z-shaped reverse-then-non-reverse swings at him.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:'''<br>Tomoe says "Well then, we're really going to heat things up." <br><br> She notes as Majima does something rather unexpected. She loses hold of her spear mid-fight. This is the first time any soul in the multiverse has succeed in pulling something like this off. The next thing she knows he's leaping up. Tomoe will shift so she does not end up cored, by her own spear. She doesn't avoid the blow entirely though as the blad catch her on the side and fins a chink in her armour it clashes down her sie before she can pull out she cries out in pain. There are angry red wireframes in the wake of the attack. The second one she's not quite able to avoid either. It connects catching her across her breastplate still doing more injury just from the force of the hit. <br><br> She keeps it together long enough to recover her weapon. With spear in hand again? She'll turn after Majima. <br><br> "All right then!" <br><br> She chants a spell, in badly accented Nordic. Still, it's a bit better than she used to be. Should Inga is somehow paying attention to that right now. <br><br> She finishes her chanting the runes fade and she raises one hand at Majima. <br><br> "Ride the lighting!" <br><br> A burst of lighting flies from her fingertips seeking Majima out!<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Xande looks like he could in fact suplex a train, the guy is massively muscled and bare-chested, with veins of a golden-glowing crystal all through his flesh that seems to resemble that of the Tower all around them. His eyes are burning with gold light, hair short and spiked blond. He might evoke thoughts of a Saiyan without being one, at least. His legs are covered in orange pants of an almost Arabian style, with heavy boots and a massive black cape with a huge bracket-style hangar behind him. He might in fact be even more JRPG boss than Lezard. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Unfortunately for Staren, however, the Emperor seems to be EXACTLY the kind of man who can raise shields and shoot at the same time... But he doesn't. "YOU DARE?" He booms, vanishing in a wave of darkness as he flash-teleports across the arena and descends with a massive fist, bringing it down upon Staren's position while golden globes of unstable aetherochemical energy erupt all over the field, building in power... <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Lezard curses. "He cannot be this powerful already! Strike harder! As he speaks, the Manus Catalyst is withdrawn, blasts of Dark Beads raining on the Emperor.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:7055|Majima Goro (7055)}} has posed:'''<br>N'raha got angry. Good! This was going to be boring.<br>Majima was certainly expecting a longer moment than he got, though. The bat's brought up against the axe, effortlessly blocking--<br> <br>Oh. Never mind. The wooden batter splinters, shatters, and explodes outward in a flurry of fragments. Majima's eye opens wide. It would appear, in fact, that N'Raha is taking this -very- seriously. It is but a moment before the manic grin returns, though. That's how the adrenaline really gets pumping.<br> <br>He's preparing a counterattack just in time for the headbutt to smack him backwards. He loses his grip on the knife. It flies out of his hand. Well. That leaves him without his standard weapons. That's fine. He's not out of tricks just yet. That burning, heatless flame spikes a fierce magenta, and...<br> <br>Alruna is behind him with the shield. This was, perhaps, the worst move she could have possibly made. Hardly her fault.<br><span class="bold_fg_m bg_n ++ hm">HEAT ACTION: Essence of Friendly Fire</span><br><span class="fg_m bg_n ++ m">Majima takes the hit from the shield, but it spins him out of the way of the two. He doesn't seem to really even notice, spinning around to smash an elbow into Alruna's back. Then he delivers a kick behind her leg, hoping to force her to swing at the enraged N'raha with that leg, before spinning back around again to elbow the Angry Cat in the back of the head for good measure.</span><br> <br>Oh, hey, the witch's still here. Right. That's a problem. He's started to move in a rhythmic dance, but that spear's a real problem. The most he manages to pull off is having it slide /right/ inbetween his legs, only barely avoiding removing anything of import. Just...just along both of his thighs. He breathes with relief. That would have been awful. Still, that can't go unopposed. "The fuck, was that blood?" He says, looking vaguely disgusted, before breaking into a full run.<br> <br>He's much, much faster like this. He almost blurs as he starts to sidestep, covering the distance between him and Inga only slightly below superhuman speed. He moves like Rhalgr, constantly changing his position--punching up here, sliding on his back and spinning his legs around, and then suddenly his legs are up in the air. It's almost impossible to follow him.<br> <br>And then, at the end of it, a headbutt to send her out of his way.<br> <br>Then, the red mage. Had Alruna kept him in place, there is no doubt in his heart that the red mage would have skewered him utterly. But she didn't pull it off, and that gave him the opportunity to respond to Amelris in kind.<br> <br><span class="bold_fg_m bg_n ++ hm">HEAT ACTION: ESSENCE OF BLADE BITING</span><br><span class="fg_m bg_n ++ m">The rapier's swinging Z is interrupted, halfway through, caught in something. It's caught..in Majima's mouth. He's bent halfway over backwards, delivering a short, weak kick to disrupt Amelris long enough to rip the rapier out of his hand. Then, one leg in the air, he spins around, throwing the Red Mage's weapon directly back into his midsection.</span><br>..He's out of clever lines for the moment. He's /still/ got more to deal with. For instance, Tomoe's still up. Alright. Maybe, /just maybe/, this is worse than dealing with Kamurocho mooks. This is starting to tire him out a bit. He's going to have to think of something, if this lasts much longer. <br> <br>While he's thinking of something, Tomoe nails him in the back with the lightning. It is..stunningly effective. He lands on his knees, then on his face, utterly disabled... for just a moment. Then he's back up, looking remarkably angry. "...Alright. I fuckin' /hate/ that lightning shit. Had 'bout enough of it, and enough of the rest of you."<br> <br>He's a storm unto himself, barreling towards Tomoe at a full run. Just as it seems that he's about to attack, he slides down, between her legs, before pushing himself up to deliver a two-footed kick with steel shoes to the back of her head, and springing away from her--he's got bigger problems.<br> <br>Namely, Yang. Who's up on him with the punches. He's managing to keep up with her, arms up and his rhythmic fiery Heat keeping up with her aura. (Cont)<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:7055|Majima Goro (7055)}} has posed:'''<br>"...Yeah. I think we oughta to? But right now, I needja out of my fucking way." He starts spinning again, legs this time moving just to sweep Yang's out from under her, before he's suddenly cartwheeling around to plant both of his feet into her stomach, and leap off.<br> <br>And then, he draws a can of something. The word 'Emperor' is visible, and he starts chugging it. His flame grows brighter. "Listen up. I'm about fuckin' done with you assholes. You all get one last shot ta show me you're big shit, and then I'm showin' ya all who's boss."<br> <br>The enrage cast bar has started. Get to work.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:819|N'Raha (819)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Something in N'raha's brain is tickled when Majima's bat explodes like that, even if he's now got splinters in his face. That's fine. All of this is fine. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Majima Goro is going to die and then the world will be fine again.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Which is a little rough when Raha is suddenly spiked in the face by Alruna's shield and then elbowed in the back of the head with the JUDAS EFFECT because he was an idiot and ripped off his helmet and who does that?<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;But now Majima is standing in one spot. He's not moving, his... chugging a potion and. Well.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The catman whirls in place, uses Alruna to shove himself into another fell charge at Majima, and then lifts his ax in a high arc, leaping at the same time. The scorching white flames of the ax cast a baleful, white, arc light glow across the cloning room, before the blade comes straight down, with the force of one thousand of N'Raha's ancestors, all into one deadly killing blow that echoes into the room with ripples of murderous intent.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The moment Xande Teleports, Staren puts up his forcefield. It's as heavy as the one on his armor -- there's a harness with forcefield-projector disks worn over his coat. The smash just breaks a big chunk out of the forcefield and sends Staren careening into a wall. Staren has to drop the field, activate wings, slow his movement, and catch himself against the wall, but he seems to be practiced at this kind of aerial maneuver these days.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The robots track the Emperor's position and keep firing. Staren switches out his weapon for some kind of space raygun, but hesitates. How does he know Xande won't just teleport out of the way? He can't afford to waste this.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;He does try firing some small energy bullets at the strange orbs, though, to see if it interrupts them. The robots keep away from the orbs but for the most part just do one thing: Shoot their target.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"I do dare!" Staren retorts. "You could cheat death and you waited until NOW tcome back? There's a modern saying: You snooze, you lose! That you've reached the point of fighting us now... you've already lost!"<br><br> <br>

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''<br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Amelris will admit, this guy IS damn good. He didn't expect him to bite at his blade and slam him away, disrupted with his weapon and getting it straight into his midsection. <br> <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Partially, anyway. Amelris retailated by gripping at the hilt of his own sword, swaying his hip to be grazed by the thrust of his now normal blade, giving a kick up to his hand to grab his weapon back. Without saying anything else, the Red Mage leaps backward several feets in a wide, tall and long backflip, landing rather smoothly on the ground, back into his fencer's stance. <br> <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "Alright, then. If you insist." Amelris pants, ignoring the dozen little pains all over his body, lowering his combined weapon down to cast a spell. Again, the dark energies gather, purple and slamming around the crystal, thrusted out into a bolt of red and lilac energies, exploding out into an octogonal, perfect pattern. <br> <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Again, Amelris steps out, flourish and unleash... <br> <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Well, actually, he leaps up in the air, somesaulting in place with a wide swing of his rapier. A visible crystal arc is made, with several swords poking out that are launched at him, bombarding the Yakuza with a litteral rain of magical swords.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:906|Yang Xiao Long (906)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And Yang gets herself YEET'd once again. She skids backward several feet on her side after getting punted away. She rolls back onto her feet, then buckles into a kneeling posture. "Fuck he hits like a truck..." she groans to herself. She's looking battered and overextended, but forces herself back to her feet and slams her fists together. Her Aura bursts into golden flames that billow around her. A burst of energy to throw herself back into the fray.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Yang is like that one guy that just won't stay down no matter how many times you beat him up. She comes back in, swinging wildly, firing her gauntlets at random, trying to limit Majima's options for dodging and attacking, trying to get him focussed on her so the others can hit him while he's distracted.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:'''<br>Alruna receives a withering blow to her back, staggering her while Majima tries to kick her leg out from under her and send her off balance into N'raha. N'raha leverages off her mass and the weight is enough to do some more damage to her badly-positioned leg. There's a *crack* as her leg turns the wrong way. Her cheeks whiten as pain shoots through her. She stumbles for a second, lowering her shield hand to wash healing energy into her leg. An equally nasty-sounding crunch forces her knee back the right way, and she gulps air, biting back a scream.<br><br>The pain quickly fades, but the adrenaline spike from it does not. Alruna's nostrils flare as she falls back on her training, controlling the pain and fear, though her fingers tremble with a burning need.<br><br>Black aether limned with shades of purple, like an inverted colour pallette, licks along her blade. N'raha almost has the monopoly on wordless rage, today, but Alruna has her own share - the paladin's warcry comes out as more of a shriek as she casts her shield aside with enough force to stick into the floor, wobbling unsteadily while she charges at Majima, her sword creating what sounds like a /rip/ in the air as inky blackness follows in the wake of her blade, attempting to bisect Majima.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:'''<br>Majima is one of the more agile foes she's had and one of the few to make use of her size against her in some fashion. Majima is running right at her she slides under her legs. Tomoe tries to follow. It's not quite fast enough as he does catch her, she's able to bring an arm up just in time to keep the hit form directly catching her upside the head. even then it hurt and force her arm into her head. <br><br> This gives Majima a moment to move. It seems Majima is done with all of them and it's time to put him down or drive him off. Or they might be taking a very long fall off the tower. Or worse end up in the cloning labs here at the mercy of Lezard. <br><br> Tomoe grunts she gets an idea and she will launch herself at Majima. <br><br> "LUNAR REQUIEM!" <br><br> She moves rapidly bounding across the distance between Majima and herself. The sword art kicks in and she moves with inhuman speed for a moment before she unleashes a flurry of blows with the blad trying to just keep Majima off balance before the final of the rapid spear attack come as the blade glows white with some sort of light magic and will let loose a light spell at point black range if she connects with it.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:525|Inga Freyjasdottir (525)}} has posed:'''<br> Inga looks fairly surprised when she is headbutt, only managing to throw up a ward to negate some of the incoming force. It still knocks her back and off her feet. She winces as she hits the floor, glad at least for these ridiculously plush carpets. Soon enough, his attention is off her again. Thank goodness, she is not cut out for this sort of fight. <br><br> So she grabs her staff and labors to her feet, frowning as she eyes the battle. Inga is worried. This opponent is tough, and N'Raha is taking chances in order to try to take him down. He's all rage and violence, and she is afraid. Not of him, but for him. His a hot anger, and he doesn't think well while he's in it. The berserk rage has advantages, sure, but it has pretty hefty disadvantages too. He would exhaust himself, push himself past his limits and then... <br><br> Inga has no other choice. She has to help end this. <br><br> She rests her gaze on Majima, letting her eyes drift out of focus as she begins to chant, calling up a curse to weaken him, leave him open to their attacks. "Come, warrior, let all your armor abandon you, all your strength wither, all your quickness slow. May your knife blade be blunted and your blows be but a gust of wind." And so is releeased her curse.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:7055|Majima Goro (7055)}} has posed:'''<br>It would appear, in fact, that Majima Goro is not about to die. N'raha storms at him with fury. Misplaced, in many ways--Majima sure as hell didn't kidnap his friend. Majima sure as hell didn't kill a bunch of clones of G'raha Tia today, and he frankly hasn't even ever killed anyone.<br> <br>That doesn't seem to be stopping the Mi'qote of Light, however.<br> <br>And as the berserker challenges him, the Mad Dog of Shimano is ready. The blade cleaves down, destroying everything in its path. Unfortunately, that path does not include Majima. The upside is, he's still struck. N'raha appears to have carved a swath of crystal out of the ground, and it has sent a Cactuarian amount of crystal needles into Majima's skin. He wasn't able to avoid that much. He doesn't respond. He just sneers.<br> <br>Next is the red mage. The duelist leaps into the air, and countless swords of aether swing through the sky, piercing through and through. The Mad Dog of Shimano definitely drank something good through that cup, though, because his body just contorts almost inhumanly, and he steps and weaves through the flying swords like he's navigating through an angry crowd. <br> <br>"What'd I tell ya? Pick a fuckin' gimmick, ya chickenshit! EYEAAAAAH!" ....No response comes, though. He seems angrier for having been able to dodge. Unsatisfied.<br> <br>Unhindered, he's able to deal with Yang. "Listen here, girl. I said I was willin' ta spar ya." Each time her gauntlets fire, he's moved around behind her again. He's not even fighting back. He blocks her blows with a frightening speed and efficacy, moving to some unseen rhythm. "But some of you fucks are both too fuckin' angry to see straight, and too angry for me to really enjoy this, ya know?"<br> <br>He still doesn't respond to her. He's walking towards the treasure chest now. He's about done. He's absolutely about done with this.<br> <br>It is in this moment his hubris is punished. "...Eh?" The sword blow is very, very barely deflected by his movements. There's a wide, wide gash in his side. He's bleeding heavily from it.<br> <br>"..not bad. Ya ain't fuckin' bad, ya know that? That one actually hurt. ...don't think ya did enough, though..." He starts to limp towards the treasure chest.<br> <br>Next up is Tomoe. The heroes are running out of chances. <br> <br>The sword blade comes down, and Majima catches it. The blade drives into his hand, blood flicking away. Tomoe moves the blade again. Majima catches it in his hand again. He's bleeding more and more every time, but Tomoe can't seem to land anything meaningful. The spear attack comes, and Majima...is gone. He's behind Tomoe. He doesn't bother with her. He's going to handle this all at once. <br> <br>Inga stares at him.<br> <br>The curse weaves over him. It weaves around, a binding curse to drag him down into the pits of hell. The colors on his tattoo shine brightly. The flames on his body flicker brightly. The cursing words shatter on his body.<br> <br><span class="bold_fg_w bg_n ++ hw">"Listen the fuck up."</span>(cont)<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:7055|Majima Goro (7055)}} has posed:'''<br>Majima stands next to the treasure chest. "..Ya think this is a fuckin' game? Ya think the Concord is some kinda fuckin' joke? You just talk about ya fuckin' friendship, ya laugh and joke with each other, but when the time comes to it, you just fuckin' band together and that's it?" <br> <br>He kicks it open. It glistens with all sorts of shining metal and glowing lights. He pulls from it one very large Allagan club. One very dangerous looking knife. <br> <br>"You're all real lucky tonight. I ain't never killed anyone, and I'm not about to start. But you're all about to see what the fuck happens when you step to the fuckin' Concord without a plan. Every last one of you."<br> <br>The first is Inga. Majima is there, and then he is not. He is behind her. The bat is swung upwards, to knock her into the air, and then the knife is swung down to crush her back down, before it's retrieved. Technology of an era flashes. Majima is gone again.<br> <br>The next is Yang. The club is swung overhead, to knock the gauntlets out of the way, before a decisive stab forward and rip upwards into the woman's chest. Aether flashes, and Majima's gone again.<br> <br>Amelris discovers themselves the next target of the Mad Dog as he appears above. First two feet intended to land on his head, and then he swings around, delivering a blow to the back of his knees, and a knife slash to his throat. He'll be fine. He'll be fine.<br> <br>And then Tomoe. He is not in front of Tomoe, and then he is. He thrusts the Allagan Bat forward, and then upward, to lift her over him, and then retrieves it to drive a knife directly into her back...and then the technology activates again, and he's gone.<br> <br>The paladin is next. Majima flickers in and out, the teleportation tech on his looted devices starting to act a little out of control. That doesn't seem to bother him, as his weapons fly from each and every other direction, almost unblockable as he moves to get her out of the fight.<br> <br>And then, finally, N'Raha. He doesn't attack N'Raha. He just storms towards him, both weapons out of his hands, grabbing onto him as best he can...<br> <br>And then the teleportation technology activates one last time. If he's lucky, it's going to drag both him and the berserker outside to fall a very, very long distance. <br> <br>That's non-lethal, right?<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;TEAM HUBRIS: <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The bullets keep smashing into the Emperor. They're drawing blood, but it's like shooting rock. The bullets just aren't piercing like they should. "Allag is eternal. And I, as the Emperor, am also eternal. You believe you have already won... But this is only the beginning. As long as I exist, Allag will never be extinguished. You will know the power of the Void." The aetherochemical blobs rupture as Staren fires into thm, several of them vaporizing... And the rest detonate, scattering wide detonations all over the field.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Lezard hurls another bolt of lightning against him, and the crackling blast scatters over the Emperor, failing to find purchase. "I see I will have to put more effort into this." Lezard grates.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The Emperor straigthens. "Enough of this." There is another warping of darkness, and he teleports to the throne. He lifts into the air, and the sky turns dark as his hands rise. "THE VERY HEAVENS HEED MY CALL! PERISH!" As he speaks, several magical spheres manifest on the battleground, lines of energy cascading up into the air... Where meteors descend, burning with intense light as they are quickly pulled to the surface. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Lezard looks up at the descending meteors, and he scowls. "I feel intensely offended at this." He comments, and he lunges over to Staren, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Wait." He pauses, watching the meteors descend. "Wait...." A gleaming circle begins to draw about them as the flaming rocks get closer and closer.... "NOW!" At the same time, another circle draws itself under the Emperor. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Light flares, and Lezard and Staren... swap places with the Emperor. "WHAT?" The man roars... As moments later, the stars impact, roaring with fire and death throughout the battlefield... But not the throne. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Staren! Now!" Lezard points. "Strike to disable!"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:525|Inga Freyjasdottir (525)}} has posed:'''<br> Well, that was about all she had. Her eyes widen a little as her curse rolls off of him, noting in the back of her mind that those were some very nice wards and she would like to study them. "Oh...excellent wards who--" she begins, then he's making a speech...then he's gone and then-- <br><br> Inga is really not cut out for this sort of thing. She's never suppose to be in a position where she's getting into melee. She falls in a heap, destroyed by the hit, the life knocked right out of her before she can so much as scream.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The blobs explode if not shot first. Good to know. Also good that Staren shot the ones near him. Some of the robots may be taken out, though...<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The RAISER rifle still has nearly all its charge. Staren can fire a single shot that will explode on impact like half a ton of TNT. If THAT doesn't work, he doesn't know what will. He just needs to wait for his chance...<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Staren shakes his head as Xande lectures. "Not what I meant."<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And then... meteors! But Lezard has a plan. Staren trusts him, at least right here and right now.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Staren! Now!<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Staren takes aim with the weapon and--<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Strike to disable!<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Wait, what? Staren hesitates for a half-second... but no, this is the attack he prepared. What will happen, will happen. Surely Lezard's a powerful enough soul-mancer to take Xande's no matter what?<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Staren fires. The raygun fires a little bullet of light that moves slower than an arrow; it looks just like the ones he shot the aetheric blobs with. There's no sign of the immense energy stored inside, until it impacts solid matter. And then--<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span class="bold_fg_n bg_n ++ h">*KABOOOOOOOOM!*</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Staren's immediately put his forcefield up around himself and Lezard, braced for the shockwave.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:819|N'Raha (819)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;But as Majima steps up to N'raha he will not find a dull and complacent Catman, just waiting to be telefragged over the side of a wall or off the edge of the platform or LANDSLIDE'd over into oblivion by an angry man made out of rocks.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;No, N'Raha is there waiting for Majima, hands out to try and CATCH the Yakuza brawler, his face a mask of pure rage. And with a YANK, he lances an arm out, and wheels in place.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span style="color:gold">ACTIVE TIME MANEUVER!</span><br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Wait, this is just a hip toss. Well, not just a hip toss. N'raha yanks at Majima Goro and tries to spike him head first into the now open treasure chest. And then kick it. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Repeatedly.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''<br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; You want the truth? <br> <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Getting his throat sliced is hardly the worse thing that Amelris suffered in his life. You try getting impaled by a Magitech Reaver. It ain't /fun/. <br> <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; This ain't fun EITHER, honestly. <br> <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; This does results in the Red Mage coughing out, falling to one knee and holding out his throat to staunch the bleeding. He coughs, sputters and take his time to hold himself. Strangely, it didn't hit anything IMPORTANT but that was... very, very spooky. <br> <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Amelris groans, holding in by his rapier on the ground, looking up. "...How's everyone?" He gasps out, his voice rasp. <br> <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Then SOMETHING EXPLODES upstairs. <br> <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "..." Amelris looks up, ears flattened against his head as he gingerly push himself up with further groans, shaking his head. "Whatever that was, that wasn't good. Let's go."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;ALL: <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The explosions are cataclysmic. The conflicting, overwhelming forces rip through the battleground. Those below can feel the Tower-shaking annihilation occur above. Staren's defensive fields are augmented with Lezard's own wards, and both are stressed... <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;When the light and fire fades, Xande is... <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Still alive, somehow. Bleeding, heavily wounded, gashes ripped through his flesh. Driven to one knee. He stares at the pair with hatred, his teeth visible as he scowls...<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;But he has nothing to say. Not when Lezard stretches out his hand. Energies lash, tying around Xande as the Sorceror of Midgard begins to incant: <br><br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span class="bold_fg_m bg_n ++ hm">Body, Mind, Soul,<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;all are sheared away.</span><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span class="bold_fg_m bg_n ++ hm">If to serve this purpose I shall be despised, <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;my body scorched and blackened, so be it.</span><br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;When the heroes breach that stairway and get to the summit, that is the tableau that extends before them. Xande appears helpless, struggling against Lezard attempting to cast his Soul Transfusion ritual. Lezard is engrossed in the ritual, clearly it is taking all of his attention and power to try to tame such a being. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;So what now? What choices are to be made?<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:'''<br>Almost.<br><br>Majima's weapons are 'almost' unblockable. Alruna's soulstone, set into the choker around her neck but mostly hidden beneath the collar of her sturdy armour, explodes with a forceful radiance akin to sunlight, flooding the deep shadows that give the chamber its ambience and lighting it up. Not for long. But while that radiance is bursting forth from her, Alruna swats aside the Allagan weapons, Majima's swings creating thunderous rings as they bounce off her shield and her sword arm. Golden sparks of aether scatter from her body with each blow, and Majima's very tight schedule robs him of the chance to wait for the radiance to fade, which it has by the time he attempts to take N'raha with him outside the tower, and...well. Pays the price.<br><br>Darkness falls again. Alruna exhales, her armour's leather straps creaking. She stumbles a few steps as the Tower shakes. "We-"<br><br>Alruna swallows, painfully. "We have to go." She looks at the two Warriors of Light. Tomoe, Yang. Ing- ohhh. "N'raha, we- we'll be back!" she says, urgency creeping into her voice. She takes to her heels, running for the stairs.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:'''<br>Things are going to get painful and she's very much aware of that, Majima is dangerous and in his short time in the multiverse? Has become well known for how much damage the man can dish out. She watches as he goes after her comrades and friends. He's too fast to be able to get in the way of any of the attacks. Soon she finds him catching her in the back, the blade sinks down and she seems to drop, it looks like he's got her good there. She's not quite done but something rare happens there's blood coming out of the jagged digital wound before the wireframes seal. <br><br> She's back on her feet but looking pretty much wrecked. <br><br> Then something explodes upstairs she'll nod and force herself along to follow after Amelris. <br><br> "Those who can still fight with Amelris! Someone get Inga if you can." <br><br> She doesn't intend to leave her allies behind but Amelris is right there's something bad up there and they need to see what it is. She sees Alruna is still in the fight.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The Emperor is still up?! Staren stares, wide-eyed. But maybe he's weakened now. Maybe everything Staren carries, and Lezard's magic, could finish him off...<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;...or maybe Lezard's weakened him enough to soul-pokeball him. Staren sighs in relief as Xande appears helpless...<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And then the others arrive. "Wait! Don't disrupt the magic!" Staren shouts, urgently. He really does look afraid of the prospect of having to deal with Xande getting loose. "We can't risk freeing the emperor!"<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;If they look like they're readying to attack Lezard, Staren actually stands in front of Lezard and turns on his forcefield, and calls his robots to his side. "It took everything we had to get him weak enough for this to finish him! I can't do it again, you can't set him loose! Your friend will be returned to you, we promise!"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:7055|Majima Goro (7055)}} has posed:'''<br>Majima Goro looks up at N'Raha, chuckling a bit as he's slammed into the chest. He doesn't even seem to care. He's up on his feet, one hand over his stomach. He's watching the Mi'qote closely. <br>"...Heh. ...There ya go. Ya see? Ya got it in ya." He looks upwards, as the explosion goes off.<br> <br>"...So, ya gonna do shit ta save your friend? I ain't actually sure the fuck Lezard and Staren are up ta, up there. I was just takin' an opportunity to have some fun." <br> <br>He sounds distressingly genuine with this. It is almost a guaranteed 95% chance that Majima at no point actually asked what the plan was, beyond 'do I get to fight people'."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:819|N'Raha (819)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;There's something in Raha's face that gets some recognition, and then the rage partially drips out of his face and psyche... and...<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And he leans over, grabbing Majima by the shoulder, and hisses in his face. "Inga... Is Off. Limits."<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And with that he lets go, picks up his ax, and hobbles his way up the stairs towards the platforms to Xande.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:819|N'Raha (819)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And if no one is going to stop him on the way past, N'raha is hefting Bravura, pushing past Amelris and Tomoe and anyone else in his way, and stalks for Lezard and Staren and frankly ignores much of anything else. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"WARLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOCK." The words are angry and tired and angry and ragged and... "MY SEER IS DEAD AND I AM PUTTING THE BLAME ON YOU." Angry, howling energy is slowly gathering up around Raha again, the pointy bit of his ax's hilt scraping against the gold and crystal, screeching and keening as it goes.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:7055|Majima Goro (7055)}} has posed:'''<br>Majima Goro isn't about to go chase them. Are they about to make a catastrophically terrible choice out of habit?<br>Yeah. But he's busted up enough, and fixing this business up later is going to be hard. So he just settles on the treasure chest, pulling out a bottle of beer. <br> <br>He sighs. He picks up the Allagan knife, and carefully cracks the lid off, resting a bento lunch on his knees. Yeah. He's hungry. This is gonna be delicious.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Staren blinks. "Inga's dead? You know she comes back, right? No way did Majima figure out how to kill her for real."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:819|N'Raha (819)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And then Staren has to open his godsdammed mouth. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;His motion stalls. His head pivots.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And now he is stalking for the Boy Wonder. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Scraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaape goes the ax.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''<br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Amelris sees the situation. A glare is thrown at Staren -- he presumes is Staren -- before gazing at the whole situation. So. This person actually can do this kinda stuff with souls. <br> <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; On one hand, Lezard. He certainly don't want that bastard getting his hands on the soul of someone like Emperor Xande. If that's a soul, anyway. <br> <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; On the other hand, having Xande out and about would /not/ be great, either. <br> <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Miqo'te calculates this in his mind. He can probably get a good hit on one or the other... but this is a risk. He don't want Lezard to have Xande's soul. He certainly don't want Xande to be alive. <br> <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; This is a bit of a connundrum. <br> <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; N'raha pushing him away makes his decision. Trying something weird. <br> <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Amelris thrusts up his Rapier Rod, calling down a small thunderstorm above Lezard -- <br> <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Then with a flourish, call down a rain of sharp stones to drop on Xande. <br> <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Dualcast is weird, y'all.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Seifer says something that rings true to Staren. Staren takes a deep breath and glares at the assembled party. "You don't want the world saved. YOU just want to be the ones that save it." He points at Amelris. "You'd rather let the emperor go free than accept that he fell to someone you consider a villain."<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Out comes magic. Staren whirls and raises his matter manipulator, putting a platform of wood above Lezard to take the shot (and hopefully be blown to pieces so it doesn't fall on Lezard and clonk him on the head)<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;This means he has to turn his back on N'Raha. And drop his forcefield.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:7175|Alruna Greengate (7175)}} has posed:'''<br>Alruna's brief moment of shining solar indomitability aside, she's starting to get taxed by this marathon. Up the Tower again, then a fight, and now more running and climbing...<br><br>She unsheathes her sword with a *shink* drowned out by Bravura scraping along the gold-and-crystal floor. "N'raha!" she bellows, exhaling frustratedly. She starts running, her heavy tread echoing as she crosses the tower's summit, leaping across the shallow water channel separating the floor from the throne with very clear intentions. Even if N'raha's judgement is compromised, choosing either one of them will achieve their goal at this point. Maybe.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:'''<br>Tomoe is on her last legs as she approaches spear at the ready. She doesn't seem intent to run to melee, she'll start to chant and cast a quick spell firing a barrage of light bolts at the emperor as he was the main target they came for in the first place.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:819|N'Raha (819)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And even as Inga gasps to life over the radio, N'raha's already stalked over to Staren, the ax is lifted up into his hands, and he plants his feet. "MY NAME IS STAREN, I KNOW BETTER THAN EVERYONE ON EORZEA ABOUT WHAT'S BEST FOR EORZEA." <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"MY FIRST DAY IN EORZEA I CONJURED UP MAJITEK IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SHROUD AND TOLD ALL OF THE GREENSGUARD THAT THEY WERE SAVAGES FOR BEING MAD ABOUT MAGITECHNOLOGY."<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;He SLAPS Staren in the back of the head with his ax. "And never ONCE have you ASKED US about <span style="color:red2">ANY OF OUR OWN THOUGHTS ON HANDLING OUR OWN WORLD YOU</span> <span style="color:red4">SELFISH, SELF SERVING ARROGANT LITTLE MAN.</span>"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;For an instant, Staren considers telling N'Raha that if he REALLY cared he'd be making sure Inga was okay, not here. But that would be mean, words said purely in anger to hurt a good man.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Then the axe comes down, and Staren goes down with a concussion, so N'Raha doesn't have to listen to Staren defending his actions and going on about the poor children of the Shroud choking to death on ash crated by the god their parents worship. Except maybe in his head where he can imagine Staren saying that, because it's pretty predictable.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Fortunately, a healing vat will fix the brain damage as long as someone gets Staren out of here.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:598|Lezard Valeth (598)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The heroes arrive just at the crux of the situation. There is no time to hyperanalyze the situation. It becomes a question of who they want dead more. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Amelris strikes at both. The Dualcast is clever, but Staren mitigates the cleverness. The strike at Lezard is stopped by the instant terrain, and N'raha unleashes his building rage upon Staren in response, removing the assistant defendse. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Xande is bombarded with sharp rocks, the magic piercing into his weakened body. He groans, nearing death. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;However, he is suddenly released as Alruna and Tomoe charge Lezard, Alruna's burning holy blade punching right into Lezard's chest. This was already a compelling argument, but Tomoe follows it up with a barrage of holy bolts. The strikes immediately cause the delicate ritual to crumble, Lezard's ritualistic words dying on his lips as blood runs from his mouth and he falls backwards against the back of the throne. "Accursed.... HEROES!" <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;But with the interruption of the ritual, Xande is also freed. He stands, looming and still regal despite his state. "You have defiled this place enough. By the ancient pacts bound through me... I will call upon the Void, and destroy you all!" He thrusts his sceptre into the air, and the sky splits, a black hole opening that leads into a seemingly endless pit of blackness. Xande swirls into blackness, disappearing into that hole with a dark laughter. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Damn it..." Lezard scowls, falling to one knee. He reaches out and grabs onto Staren once more, a teleportation circle forming around them as he works to get the hell out of there before he is mobbed by the full attention of the angry heroes.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:819|N'Raha (819)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;N'raha just... flops to the decking of the throne room and lets out an angry noise. He's spent, that swat at Staren was the very last bit of energy he had. He grumbles, lifts a hand to wipe blood off his face and then swears. "Let's... go find G'raha so we can... undo all of this garbage."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:7180|Amelris Belthrone (7180)}} has posed:'''<br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Shit happens. It's kind of a mess. <br> <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; It would've been a mess /either way/. Amelris tried to be clever. It didn't worked. <br> <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "Well," The Red Mage, says, sheathing his rapier rod. He's a bit miffled that he didn't get to snap something back to Staren, something like 'can't you frickin' see what I was trying to do while you blocked my spell with your floating arse?'. Unfortunately, that's probably not that important at this point. <br> <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "Now we know what to focus on. Let's get G'raha and they better hope he's not harmed or Twelves help me." <br> <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Amelris reach up to a linkpearl in his ear, tapping it. <br> <br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "Nero. Thing's clear. We've got a pip to the Void here. We're searching for G'raha."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:'''<br>Tomoe is just about out of gas at this point, she watches in horror as things go sideways. There's not much she can do about it she doe snot make any attack for Lezard or Staren. She can only watch in horror as Xande getting away into the darkness. <br><br> "Oh hell..." <br><br> She's too beat up to pursue this right now, plans are going to be made and the means to chase after the emperor has to be found.<br> <br>
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