Difference between revisions of "4121/The Death of Love"

Latest revision as of 12:43, 29 September 2016

Drowned Ophelia (975) has posed:
It doesn't start with an explosion, or a hatredcopter. It doesn't start with blasts of lightning or ghostly, screaming skeletons. In fact, it starts out rather slow. The Swamp - a place of mysticism and danger, where memories dance like ghosts in the swirling fog. Memories of what was, what could have been and what might be. Visions, some people might call them - nightmares to others, who have left loved ones behind. The fog swirls thickly, preventing vision for more than a few feet in front of one's nose - and through this eerie, silent place. Some might almost think of it as a natural cathedral, if it wasn't for the water tribe hidden within.

That, and the shadows currently slipping through the thickly tangled tree trunks and under the swaying vines. Tear Drinkers - freakish undead empowered by DEATH METAL - glide through the gloomy atmopshere, some dragging razor sharp shovels, accompanied by veiled 'brides' who glide quietly over the brackish liquid. The soft rumble of a heavy duty engine as heavy support follows behind, appearing as nothing less than a man strapped to an electric chair. His hand on both the controls AND his own demise, with a rictus smile on his features. And a few men with fat, swollen guts, patting themselves and gurgling happily about their 'babies'. "Do you want to feel them kick?" One asks of another, and they both coo as they rub one another's squirming distensions.
Did we mention freakish undead?

Above, the air is chopped by the slow 'wumf wumf' of a Dirgeble, the floating casket leaning slightly aside as Drowned Ophelia braces herself along one ornate corner. Eyes tracking the progress of her troops below, the Six Stringed Sorrow playing a slow, languid, haunting tune. Ash slowly tumbles from the Dirgeble as it progresses, staining the waters below as she hunts - the HEART of this beast.
Themesong: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eDL01w2wC8

Sanary Rondel has posed:
Sanary's really starting to wish she kept her eye off for the ride here. Not because of the things she's seeing or wishes she hadn't seen, but because flying on just about anything that isn't some sort of animal or by her own power still feels wrong. Thankfully, the chatter of the radio in her ear and the need to check her gear does help distract the healer from it somewhat.

     Riot shield? Check. Metalbent shield? Check. Cool jacket and shades? Check. New hat and cape to look even cooler? Check and check. "So... Uh. Before we run into any resistance, is there anything I should... Be worried about?" She asks while turning to Ophelia, waggling her free hand once while the other hefts the oval shield carefully.

     "Like the head stuff. You know. From the last two times." They weren't pleasant experiences by any means, and Sanary even shivers a bit just recalling that pit of despair she found herself in each time she had linked to Drowned Ophelia prior. "Or... Uh. Swamp gas, if we're working with..."

     The healer pauses, peering down from the side of the Dirgeble (and regretting it immediately). "... That down there?"

Golden (782) has posed:
    The diminutive digimon peers over the railing of the DIRGEble that the head of the Drowning Doom is riding along in today. He's also standing on the rail, but he's pretty sure of his footing.
    "All this show-making is a giant waste of energy. Burn it all and drive them before us." He hops back onto the deck and wanders to the front end of the deck.

Alden (930) has posed:
Alden did not want to waste time, he heard the voice on the comunicator, and tried to catch up with Toph, a rather rushed conversation about swamps and the location, and he tried his best there to get there on time!, he was not sure he would do much, but at least he'd show up and help!. The Garurumon rushed along the ground, no point in burning too much energy before he actually gets started.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Who the crud does that undead screech owl think she is?! It's not the best way to wake up in the morning, that's for sure. Hearing somebody you fought against the previous week talk about doing who knows what to a place in your home country, now that does not sit well with Toph Beifong as she hurries out of bed, upsetting Buster who was sleeping at her feet. The cat doesn't hide his displeasure and annoyance as the teenager hurriedly tosses her bending attire on either. Breakfast will have to wait as Toph ties her belt on, then stuffs her headpiece into her mouth as she puts on her bracers as she rushes out of the front door of the Stark estate in Malibu. And then she's off.

    While she had heard about the swamp before, Toph has never been there before. But Aang babbled about this place often enough that it's not hard to find out. With others expressing interest in helping out she sends out a signal to her allies, all while she determinedly trudges on through the edges of the swamp, her expression stern. This place... it really is weird, just like Aang and the others had stated. Even if there's swamp water here, making the ground all wet and nasty between her toes, there's still something /clear/ about it. Unlike sand, which is fuzzy. Her seismic sense isn't /that/ sharp in this muddy ground usually, is it...? No time to worry about that, it's time to kick nasty undead out of where they don't belong!

    There are some people who do belong here though. Perhaps the invading undead don't notice them, but there /are/ people who live here. Except they are smart enough to keep away for now, even as two figures peer over some roots behind a large tree.

    "Why'd you reckon they are bringing all that racket here, anyway?" one of them asks his friend, reaching up to readjust his leaf hat.

    "Dunno... but old Slim here doesn't seem to like them, Due," the shorter man comments.

Reimu Hakurei (972) has posed:
     Reimu can actually be seen flying over the swamp with a quartet of red and white orbs close to her person. As she flies about, she begins to look for anything that might be suspicious or out of place. Of course, that's a bit difficult to do with all of the plant life practically standing in the way. Strangely, she still seems to be wearing her usual clothes for the most part.

     As she flies through the air, she looks down at the cover of the vast swamp. The plantlife will probably make handling ground enemies difficult. After all, it's not like her talismans, needles, and amulet shots were meant to pierce trees. She'll probably have to settle for fighting in the air as usual and providing some cover if it's needed. As she considers which options might work best for this, she continues her aerial search in the skies.

The fog is certainly not helping out either. She mumbles under her breath for a second, "All I need is a sign of their presence and I can get to work."

Drowned Ophelia (975) has posed:
"Nothing that could effect the Doom." Laughs the Queen of Tears, looking aside to Sanary. That brittle, sharp smile twisting up her lips. "Once your lungs have been swollen and stopped with the sweet waters of sorrow, you don't need to worry about what you breathe in again." And then her eyes narrow, as if an idea just occured to her. "Oh, you mean to -you-... " She glances back down again, curiously balanced as her claws fingers pluck and slide along the Six Stringed Sorrow, letting the morose music fall like the ash of Black Tears.

"It gets easier if you give in, you know. You'd be surprised how easy it is when you stop fighting and let yourself sink. All that weight just falls away, all those chains and rules and guilt that you put on yourself, and you just .. float." A glance back to Sanary, a flash of white teeth. Before she looks back to Golden, and laughs; High and sharp as glass.
"Everything's a waste of energy; At least this pleases the Dead Gods of Black Metal. Don't worry.. you'll supe on vengeance soon enough. And when everything is ash, when the lights wink out, when the rivers swell with the tears of the fallen - you can look back at a job well done."

And then she smirks to herself as the heroes call their incoming flight. She remembers a few names - a flying destroyer of the Tear Drinkers, and the blind Toph. Well, she can't do much about Toph just yet, but she can certainly make things a lot harder. Her song changes quite suddenly, the ash that falls from the Dirgeble losing cohesion as it falls. The fog thickening around the enroaching undead, swirling even thicker than it naturally does; What was only a few feet of clearance now becomes inches, tendrils of the affected fog clinging to limbs and trees alike, spectral and unnatural. The Drowning Doom marches into this heedless, their sounds muffling as they disappear into the fog. No air superiority for you!

"Find the heart and sup the poison!" She calls, even as the Six Stringed Sorrow dissipates - but the music reverberates on, the power of Death Metal summoned. Then flashing that brittle smile for Golden and Sanary - she leaps into the sudden pea-soup fog below. No splash announces her landing.

Themesong: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwNK1CKRnc8

Alden (930) has posed:
The digimon does his best to follow the signal, running across the fog, and once again regretting he had... sharper senses than other creatures, managing to hear the music now... and how the fog seems to grow thicker even, whimpering lightly. Still, he stumbles his way to Toph's side, panting a little, "Sorry if I was late." he says softly, trying to look around, "I... can tell where one of them is at least...", turning to face at Golden's direction, "But can't detect the others."

Sanary Rondel has posed:
That... That sounded vaguely threatening. Or was Drowned Ophelia suggesting something? Sanary can't really tell, but the notion of just giving in to the... /Sinking/ feelings she's had since helping out with these missions has the healer shuddering again. "Ehm... I'll..."

     She can't even muster up enough energy to come up with a witty response to that. Sighing lightly, Sanary just keeps peering over the edge of the Dirgeble at the swamp, the swarm of weird creatures, the falling ash turning to tentacles or... However that works.

     And then Drowned Ophelia herself jumps right in there. That's a thing. "Uh. So are we following her in that, or...?" She murmurs while glancing over at Golden, furrowing her brow for a moment longer before letting out another quiet sigh. "... We're already in this far." Sanary readies both shields in hand, then jumps right off after her!

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    When your eyes don't work then fog means nothing, fortunately. Toph wades through the water in one place, frowning a little. Hopefully she can drag the fight to some of the drier areas of the swamp... though luckily there's earth around so she can at least fight with mud.

    She turns her head just slightly when she hears Alden approaching, though she visibly relaxes just a bit when he speaks and she recognizes his voice. "I can hear them well enough," she responds, narrowing her eyes. "There's some soggy ground here, so I can't get an exact count on how many they are. But there's lots of earth here to use, even if it's... kinda wet. A friend of mine made it clear that this place is important, and we can't let them mess with it!" Aang is seldom wrong about stuff like this, after all.

    Closer and closer they get, and Toph rests her hand against the trunk of one of the trees, looking like she's concentrating. "There was that priestess lady there too, she was in Mirkwood last week, wasn't she? Can you see her?" she asks.

Reimu Hakurei (972) has posed:

     Reimu glances out of the corner of her eye at the suddenly thickening fog. She smiles for a moment because while she could just fly toward the fog, that's probably where the army is approaching from. That or it could just be natural fog. Either way there is really no point for her to just fly closer when she could just as easily send needles and talismans at the thickening fog. Plus, her amulet shots actually have homing properties so those should help too.

     The four red and white orbs levitate directly in front of the young miko and as she flies a bit closer to the fog, while also staying away from it as well. Reimu begins to emit several sharp needles directly into the thickening fog with no idea on where they will hit. Meanwhile, the four orbs promptly begin to emit a myriad assault of red talismans with the kanji for seal written on them. As the projectile storm races into the oncoming fog, it'll probably take some quick thinking to handle the onslaught of homing paper talismans while also dealing with the barrage of needles that also are meant to harm evil spirits.

Golden (782) has posed:
    Golden leaps down out of the dirgeble into the thickening fog, landing with a wet splat and getting covered in muck. Ew. Given his size, he starts leaping this way and that to meet up with the rest of the Doom.
    He faintly hears, muffled, the sound of incoming fire, and dives into the muck a moment before a rain of holy needles starts embedding themselves in things. A few of the things clatter off his metal hide, but when the digimon rises from the muck and shakes off the gunk, there's a handful that have found soft spots to stick into. These he pulls out with a wince. Who knew they could stick in that far?
    In retaliation, the Metal Mamemon shoots a barrage of energy bombs in the general direction the needles came from.

Alden (930) has posed:
Alden shakes his head, before adding, "No... there is this weird... thick fog covering everything..." he mumbles, "I feel a bit off..." he perks his ears a bit, as he hears, and sees a glimpse of something. "Toph... is anyone near us?" he asks softly. He decides to be more cautious now, reverting to his gabumon form just for an instant, only to use a different card. There is a flash of light, which obviosly does nothing to Toph, and suddenly, rather than the quadruped, or the small gabumon, there is a large biped instead. "Wish I was able to sense more stuff..."

Drowned Ophelia (975) has posed:
The Ratguts - creeps with the bulging bellies - suddenly stop and bend over with muffled 'HORKS' of sound. Rats pour outwards, formed of nothing less than the same ichor that drives the Tear Drinkers - Black Tears. The monstrous things spread into the waters like a disease, the dark taint spreading outwards. Roots wither at the touch, as the infection spreads further and further beneath the heavy fog.
Lances of needles and seals rain down blindly upon the hidden Doom - many lodge in trees and soggy ground, but there's enough that catches the freakish undead to catch attention. Especially when the monsters fall to the ground, less undead and more dead. The Lightning Rod - one part hot-rod, one part stage execution - turns. The driver rising upwards on an electric chair attached to a pole, thick wires cabling around it. "Turn up the AMPSZZzzzzZZZz" He screams, lips jittering as electricity courses through the manacles and helmet upon his head. Lightning lances upwards from the fog, crackling through the sky in Reimu's general direction, to join Golden's missile.
"Goroubei-" Comes Drowned Ophelia's voice, with no sight of the woman herself. ".. End that trouble. Sanary, find the other. The little girl is mine."

For Sanary, it starts with a faint flicker of motion at the edge of her vision, trapped in the thick, soupy fog. It might almost be the Tear Drinkers dragging themselves along - but there's something faintly familiar about it. Something about the smell, perhaps..

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Thick fog, huh? "That explains why the air got so heavy..." Toph replies with a mutter. Though when Alden asks if there's anybody close to them, Toph blinks. "Not close enough for you to see them, I guess? Why?" She steps up onto somewhat dry land, not caring that her pants are soaked. And sure, she senses that Alden changes his shape, not that she's really sure /how/ Digimon do that, but eh, it doesn't matter right now. "Do the best with what you've got, that's what I---"

    Suddenly the earthbender freezes in her step, her eyes widening. Then slowly she turns her head, as if listening with a surprised look on her face. Then just as quick she shakes her head, then hurries onwards. "Come on. We gotta stop them."

    Quickly she makes her way over the next area, now bringing her closer to the group of marching undead. Ugh, they seem rather disgusting... And they need to be stopped. Perhaps she would be even more angry if she was able to see or sense the spreading corruption...

    Toph brings her arms back, takes a deep breath, then she throws them forward three times in succession, palms open and facing the invaders. The result is a chain of earthen spikes that shoot out of the ground and the shallow swamp water, intending to injure some of the marching undead directly, then push them onto the others.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
Time to put theory into practice! As Sanary descends, her cape starts to lift up as if being pulled upwards by an invisible force. She's hidden some of her magical gray gunk in there! Unfortunately for her, trying to slow her fall with something tied around her neck just ends up with her choking herself for a few seconds, flailing her legs, and then landing unceremoniously in the swamp on her back.

     Well, at least there's fog to keep people from seeing how uncool that was. "Nngh... The other? On it." Shaking her head quickly, the healer wobbles back onto her feet (with the assistance of her shields), and she braces both of them in front of her at the sound of the undead being struck down by... Something. After confirming that she isn't being blasted by rocks or seals or giant lasers just yet, the healer starts marching through the muck! It's not like she can really heal them, after all... Right? Maybe.

     "So much for staying clean..." She mutters to herself as she plods along, the constant feeling of unease gnawing at the back of her head. What's she doing here of all places? Is she even useful here? Does... Wait. Spotting that movement, the healer halts for a moment, then readies some magical energy in her eye while advancing towards that odd-smelling thing. "Hey. Who's out there? If you don't want to get blown up, tell me so I know you're not a swamp thing or... Whoever."

Reimu Hakurei (972) has posed:

     As her barrage continues, she begins to float to the side as the large barrage of energy bombs manages to miss Reimu by a bit. That is until the familiar shockwave from the explosions occurs. The shockwave is rather jarring and it leads to the increasingly familiar ringing in her ears. From there, her assault continues as she manages to swerve her way around the varous explosives. As the explosives sail away from her, they keep exploding one by one, ultimately illuminating the early morning sky. Sadly, this causes quite a bit of a direct change in the path of the needles and they could honestly be heading anywhere at this point, her talismans are thankfully still heading onwards towards whatever evil spirit might in their path.

     Finally, a rather enormous bolt of lightning streaks through the air towards Reimu and in her haste, she swerves directly toward the fog as she still feels the intense heat of the lightning bolt on her left arm. Had it been someone less experience in dodging in the lightning bolt's path, than they would probably have been fried instead.

Alden (930) has posed:
Alden shakes his head, he must be seeing things, "Nah, must have been something in my mind." he mumbles back, "I thought I saw someone familiar." he says softly, before he follows suit, "Honestly, I think you are better suited for this than me." he mumbles, "So forward?" he growls. He rushes ahead, grabbing a card on his deck box and sliding it into the D-Arc, only reason he used this form, to use the darn things. "Let's see if this works... holy things should work on undead... right?" he asks, mostly to himself, as the card takes effect.

     It might look funny, for anyone that can see at him at least, as a giant brush appears in hsi hands. He moves forward, until he sees the first of the monsters, , liekly grouped up by the spikes. "Talisman of light!" he barks outloud, and moves the brush on the air, painting a symbol on the air. ( albeit perhaps... not quite as perfect). The symbol glows white and burns brightly for a few seconds, blasting the area around it with holy light, or at least, what digimon might call holy light. (up to Ophelia if it does anything or not, Alden just trying stuff xD )

Drowned Ophelia (975) has posed:
The Tear Drinkers move, no thoughts of danger or death in their minds; Only the pounding pulse of sorrow. Targeting them even in this is easy enough for Toph - just listen for the soft, broken weeping of the Brides as they are escorted along, floating serenely above the ground. Spikes of earth crash into the advance parting, spearing through arms and guts alike. The undead do not die - even with pieces missing, they still try to press on, focused on Toph now. "Stop being jealous." "You like burying things? I like burying things. I mean, I don't hate it as much as I do my parents."
Meanwhile, above the brides, electricity begins to build in the thick fog. Which darkens perceptively to Alden, building up an obvious charge-
His holy symbol goes off first, and they cry out as it flashes to life. Holy enough - or maybe it's just like shining a really bright light into a room full of self righteous emo goths. Some simply turn to dust, blown aside. It would seem that Drowned Ophelia once again under-estimated her opponent - or, perhaps, these are just side shows to the main freak fest. The thick fog boils across the undead, trying to gather themselves for a push on the digimon - but where the dead had fallen, for just a moment lay dead digimon for Alden. Their broken data dissipating into the air. The moment passes and it's undead once more, but still - something STRANGE is happening.

Sanary may well find herself confronted by zombies - but they do not bear the symbol of Drowning Doom. They bear.. familiar face. Clashing memories of home with these undead, torn freaks. And the lights? Houses. Houses burning, and the faint whistle of more bombs falling.
When Reimu gets close, when the fog brushes her arm - something leaps from the trees. A NecroMosher, stolen from Middle Earth. Blades jammed into its dead bones in all sorts of directions, trying to drag the priestess down, down into the gloom.

And finally, Toph may feel the sudden wetness about her ankles as she stands upon the ground she made. The waters suddenly swirling UPWARDS, a flash flood centered around her. Brackish water tained black, like an infected wound, as it tries to do no less than pull her feet off the land. And away from Alden, to let the swirling fog swallow what direction she goes.

Golden (782) has posed:
    The small metal digimon comes barreling out of the fog towards where Toph and Alden are, jumping this way and that off trees and other things. Stubby legs and all.
    "Oh. It's you again." Whether he means Toph, Alden, or Both, one can't be sure. He slice through an overhanging treebranch, aiming to drop it on the heroic pair.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Yeah, take that you smelly, lumbering rot bags! Toph looks determined even as the undead turn on her, and the short teenager stands her ground as she raises her arms again and then repeats the attack, doing her best to advance on the invaders, attempting to impale them, drop them into sudden holes in the ground. If they get to Ophelia, then maybe they can stop this entire mess!

    Yet in the middle of her assault, the blind earthbender halts as she thought she heard something, her eyes going wide in what might appear to be horror. Her next step which was meant to be certain and assertive instead makes her stumble slightly, letting out a gasp. It might only be for a few seconds, but it's enough for her to not immediately notice the wetness as the water rises around her feet...

    The sudden upwards burst of water takes her completely by surprise, and the girl lets out a half-audible shriek that is partially broken up by the water as she slips and falls, panic settled on her face as she is swept away. Some earthen spikes shoot up nearby, but the water doesn't seem to care. Sure, this means she avoids the dropping tree branch, but then again, that might have been easier to deal with for Toph. Not to mention less panic inducing.

Alden (930) has posed:
The digimon goes still as the undead turn into digimon, familiar ones!. He drops the brush, which dissipates as it touches the ground, stunned at the change. Even when it fades, he remains like that for a few moments. He is taken by surprise by Golden's sudden charge, likely bumping into him, since he was closer to the group, the wolf digimon trying to take a fighting stance, "It's you..."

Sanary Rondel has posed:
Where the hell is everyone, anyway? No signs of Ophelia, of Golden, of Toph nor Reimu... Sanary didn't get herself lost walking in a straight line, did she? "I know you're out there..." She calls out with another grunt, even clapping her shields together to try and draw attention from whatever the source of that movement was. She prepares to fire off a warning blast from her magitech eye, but pauses when she notices things exploding before she actually fires.

     Why's she seeing this again? It's... Different, but it's still close enough to get the healer to start gritting her teeth. She clenches the handles to her shields tightly as she keeps marching along, an irritated grunt leaving her after a while even as she tries to push away that growing pain and discomfort.

     "Where the hell are you...? Dammit, are you doing this?" Sanary finally just fires off a warning shot into the distance from her magitech eye, the heat laser detonating in midair with a small explosion. Even if nobody's there, just doing /something/ should help take her mind off what she's seeing.

Reimu Hakurei (972) has posed:

     Reimu glares at the sudden appearance of the NecroMosher and she smiles brightly for a moment. Her gohei is on her other hand and the four Yin-Yang Orbs are still next to her as they usually are. The poor thing doesn't realize that being in front of a danmaku user is basically the worst place to be since it leaves them susceptible to getting hit then if they just stay away instead. She emits an entire barrage of red, glowing needles directly at the unfortunate death metal powered spirit. Meanwhile, all of the yin-yang orbs concentrate their assault on the poor being directly in front of her.

     The NecroMosher is now graced with the unfortunate sight of an assault of holy powered projectiles at point blank range. It barely has time to say anything as all of the projectiles meet their mark and the poor undead creature is disintegrated from the assault. From there, the young miko flies out of the fog and she continues to rain down a storm of needles and talismans on the cloud of fog.

Drowned Ophelia (975) has posed:
The swift waters carry Toph away from Alden - away from help - as the thick, unnatural fog settles back over the pathway. What ripples there were quickly fade away, along with the sound of the panic slaps as the blind Earthbender tried to swim. Soon all sign that she was there is gone, save for the projections of spikes poking up from the ground. Alden is alone with the dead - and the Drowned Digimon, Golden, and even from this distance the Drowning Doom are little more than shadows as the thick fog settles back in once more.

Sanary marches forward, the echoes of burning houses in the swirling fog around her. And then? .. Then she sees herself up ahead. Wandering, in the opposite direction, magitech eyes dead. Armor rent. Skin pallid and weak, as if she had starved for weeks. The former members of her village shambling about her, ignoring her but to whisper their comdemnations.
"Weak.."
"Slow.."
"Useless.."
"-Obsolete-.."
Whispers. Whispers of damnation, of just little she can offer. Of just how much she failed. Strange, brackish waters wash along her feet, the trickle growing stronger from her right.

Toph may find herself swirled and spun around as the sudden breaktide sweeps her alone; Bare toes touching a bit of ground here, fingers a dash of foilage there. At last it seems to slow, and if she -stretches- she can feel the rot of mush beneath her feet. But that means letting her forehead dip below the waters which swell and lower. Like a .. heartbeat?
"Toph? Toph!" The thick footfalls of metal boots upon the marsh. "Come on, kiddo, where are you? You can't be in here; You're blind, remember?" Tony's voice. ".. Blind and tiny and fragile. You can't help any of these people."

Reimu breaks free once more, having taken to the skies. But it's hard to say what damage she's managing to do, firing blindly into the fog. Certainly it's annoying SOMETHING, as lightning once again crackles from the ground, but this time from a different direction. The faint throbbing of DEATH METAL making it hard to pin down sound, in addition to the muffling of the Doom's fog combined with the natural fog of the Swamp.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
"Whoever's doing this.. It stopped being funny five minutes ago!" Has Sanary already lost her sense of time? Probably, but she's sounding and looking much too angry and flustered to care about little details like that right now. As the images become clearer and more vivid, however, she soon slows to a stop just in time to see...

     Herself? But she's standing right here, not over there! She readies magic power near her eye again as she prepares to just blow the whole thing up in her frustration, but holds her fire when the whispers reach her ears.

     IS that what they were thinking? When they were being captured from their homes, buried alive and turned into husks? When they were... Well, they probably weren't thinking anything by the time that jerk in the red coat blew up the entire place, but was this what they were thinking before it all happened?

     Whatever the swamp is doing, it certainly appears to be working on the healer. She's stopped moving, just staring ahead at the shambling undead in front of her and what she could easily become.

Reimu Hakurei (972) has posed:

     The bolt of lightning practically races through the air with little resistance. As it races through the air toward its intended target, Reimu doesn't seem to notice until the bolt is nearly upon her. The four yin-yang orbs move toward her sides as she hastily swerves away from the bolt of lightning. In the process, her dress end ups being smoldered at the hem and she sighs. She grits her teeth as the lightning sails past her.

     From there, she continues her homing amulet assault at this point. For the moment, there is no need for her to bring out special attacks yet since it's still relatively easy. For now, the four orbs rearrange themselves around her rear and they all begin to unleash a torrent of homing talismans directly into the fog cloud. Meanwhile, she begins to emit, much weaker talisman shots from the front and it appears that she is trying to unleash a more wide ranged barrage into the fog cloud. It's probably in the hopes that they might hit whatever is generating the lightning but considering that there could be a large army in there, it's highly doubtful that they'll hit the appropriate mark.

Golden (782) has posed:
    It seems that Golden is not immune to the effects of the swamp. The mists disgorge phantoms of the DEXdorgremon, souless dragon things only concerned with consuming digimon. Also emerging are the forms of the guardians who fought them; people that Gourobei saw die. And also coming are a flood of lesser digimon, fleeing the carnage. Screams. Death. Destruction. The dead and dying all around Gourobei. And poor Alden is seen as one of the Royal Knights, an arrogant and mad one known as LordKnightmon.
    A monument to all his failures.
    There's a screech of modem sounds from what little electronic equipment there is as ribbons of light engulfs the Metal Mamemon as he screams bloody murder and leaps for Alden. He changes, becoming the Black War Greymon that had been seen in Mirkwood the week before, great cutting claws slashing towards Alden. "THEY'RE ALL DEAD!" He hears the voices blaming him for failing them, of course.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    The swift waters are something else than what Toph is used to in her swimming lessons. And right now at this moment she feels glad that her supervising officer at the time insisted on her learning to swim. But even with some knowledge and skill it's barely enough to help her stay afloat, kicking and doing her best to keep her head above water. For how long does she struggle against the water? It's hard to tell, with seconds feeling like a minute. She reaches out, but there's barely anything around her as her fingers just brush against something. It's a bit of a relief when the water seems to slow down. There's some panic when she feels something brush against her toes, and there's the urge there to get her feet down, but... no, going underwater is something that she's too afraid to do, especially now that she isn't in Tony's pool. If she goes under, will she be able to get back up to the surface?

    Aside from the water splashing against her ears though, there is something else she hears, and that something... no! Tony?!

    Immediately Toph turns her head, struggling to splash her way towards the familiar voice. "DAD!" It comes out somewhat garbled by the water that she gets in her mouth and then immediately spits out, coughing and hacking. And she's about to scream some more when she hears the next words. Words that are even a bigger shock to her. What... is he saying? The shock is nearly enough to make her stop paddling water for a moment, though Toph sputters and then reaches out with one hand, throwing it up and out of the water as she focuses. There's got to be earth underneath her somewhere! And it does respond to the earthbending master, as an earthen spike shoots out of the water, and due to the water slowing down Toph is just barely able to grab onto it, hauling herself up from the water, soaked and shivering with a panicked look on her face. "... this /isn't/ real," she gasps for herself, a verbal reminder, clinging to her literal rock in this dangerous current of water. "Not him..." No, there's no way Tony would /ever/ say that! Right now she's not sure where Alden went either, but there's no way she can go and look for him, not when she's still busy coughing up water and pulling herself up. There's got to be dry earth nearby. Just where did this flash flood come from anyway?

Alden (930) has posed:
Alden is similarly confused... there was Golden there... but suddenly he can only see... other digimon, fleeing away from something that was not quite a digimon, D-reaper creatures. Alden is unable to see the Golden, he only sees something large screaming (odd, d-reaper didn't scream...) and charging at him. "You monster!" he screams, even as he tries to take defensive action..

    . He only has time to slash a card, "Digi modify! Gallantmon... Aegis!". A large, circular shield fomrs in his hands just as those claws slash towards him. While this version of the aegis is not perfect, it is enough to take the claws, at least long enough for Alden to push Golden out of the way, the protection breaking down. "Wolf claw!" He exclaims, claws growing crimsom as he launches a flying energy projectile at the 'creature'. It might not do much, but Alden is not exactly aware of who he is fighting, at least right now, "Leave this place!"

Drowned Ophelia (975) has posed:
Sanary's doppleganger looks up at herself, and - for just a moment - the fog lifts. The illusions evaporating, showing what appears to be a calm, deep glade surrounded by the drifting tendrils of fog. And in the midst of it? Toph - shivering and coughing atop an earthen spike she made, seeming very lost and small.
Claws click upon Sanary's shoulder, Drowned Ophelia whispering. "Hurts, when you fail them, doesn't it?" No one ever said she was nice - even to her allies. "But maybe.. maybe its their fault for being weak in the first place. Maybe it's their fault for being stupid, and weak. I know there's a lot more to you, but you're not letting it out; It's like you want to be left behind."
Drowned Ophelia steps beside Sanary, and dips her chin towards the small child. "It's time to let go. Time to stop straddling the fence and accept, don't you think? And it's so easy. It's the easiest thing in the world - just show them you're willing. I told you I want to break the heart of this world, and there she is. All those little hearts tied to hers, waiting to break - a crushing downpour upon the Union." A flash of bright teeth.
"Just push her under and hold until the bubbles stop.. And take the power rightfully yours, Sanary." The name loud, in the deep fog. Tendrils of Drowned Ophelia's dress leaking upon the ground, flowing into the waters that had Toph trapped. And those waters are starting to rise once again, bubbling upwards.

"I don't know why you think you can do these things, Toffee. Just stop, let us take care of things. We're not the cripple. Come on, lets get you home. Pepper can even help you find your spoon.." Tony's voice wavers and fades away, as Toph can hear the faint high timbre of - Drowned Ophelia. Speaking to someone. And the last word - Sanary.

Golden and Alden begin to smash into one another, the hallucinations shared between the digimon trapped in this strange place. DEX and corruption, screaming innocents that run out of the fog and disappear once more when they fall from sight. All the terror that their world has shared, brought forth between them to mark their battle. For Golden? Whispers of how he wasn't strong enough, fast enough, big enough - and he'll never be. For Alden? Cries and pleas for help.

Reimu, meanwhile, stays above it all - quite literally. Her sigils and seals crashing into the hidden army below, but something may catch here eye. For just a moment the fog swirls clear - showing a black winged figure descending. The same that had been organizing the whole horror show in Middle Earth before. The fog quickly swirls closed again, but it'll give her a place to -target-. Or go into.

Drowned Ophelia (975) has posed:
The tune of Death Metal changes, suddenly - growing faster. Growing more desperate. Growing.. hallowed. It wasn't the Swamp's heart - it was Sanary's. It was Toph's. It was the little things holding her allies back and keeping her enemies afloat. This is - the Death of Love.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_aMnV1uaCY

Reimu Hakurei (972) has posed:

     Reimu glances directly toward the unknown sight as she flies into the fog. While there's no point in trying to go into the fog, it would be much better if she got the leader of the army to just come out and face her. If there was ever a time for her to start putting in effort, it would be now. The four yin-yang orbs stop with their barrage as they move in front of her form. At this point, she begins to glow white before a special set of words come to her.

     "Spirit Sign: Fantasy Seal: Concentrate."

     Immediately, several large, boulder sized glowing orbs of blue and green are generated around Reimu's body. As the gathering of energy continues, orbs begin to clump away from her person and race directly toward the winged black figure heading back into the fog. As the last of the orbs is unleashed, she looks on as the flashing orbs home in on their intended target.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Sure, she's cold and somewhat still rattled by her unexpected swim, but Toph isn't about to give up just yet. For now she keeps on climbing the earthen spike, her fingers digging into the rock. Her focus is slightly drawn away though, as the familiar voice says things that said voice would never ever say. For three years she's gotten to know that voice and the person it belongs to, and /never/ has it said words like these. "Just /shut up/!" Toph shrieks, then tears out part of the earthen pillar she's ascending, sending it flying in the direction of the voice as she clenches her eyes shut. It can't be him.

tThe moment the faint timbre breaks through though, her eyes snap open. With her sharp ear it's even easier to pick out from the other strange voice. And she hears a name...

    "... Sanary?"

Sanary Rondel has posed:
Sanary barely flinches at the touch of Drowned Ophelia's claws on her jacket, only glancing over slowly. Although her magitech eye is still functioning normally and she hasn't so much as fought a single person today, the healer's already looking drained. Empty, even. "Them...? They.. They were weak, but I..."

     Would her being stronger have changed anything? Or should the people of her home have been stronger to not get caught in that plot in the first place? Either way, it all came back to the same thing: Not enough power by anyone to stop anything. It's probably of little surprise to Drowned Ophelia that Sanary's listening quite intently to her, then looking towards the prone earthbender.

     "That many, huh..? They... That would mess up the Union a lot, wouldn't it?" She advances slowly, stopping at Toph and just staring at her with that dull look in her eye. It's not as if the Union hasn't wronged her before: They stopped her from gaining power, from being able to stop further atrocities, from being able to do... Well, anything she wanted.

     Or is that just Sanary deluding herself? Either or. She's not worrying about those details, either.

     "Power... Power's good. I need... If I just had more..." She almost sounds like she's in a trance and more than a little conflicted, setting aside one of her shields to lift the girl by the front of her shirt. Sanary isn't pushing down yet, although it might just look like she's definitely considering it.

     Just one little push.

Golden (782) has posed:
    Gourobei's claws crash into the imagined LordKnightmon's arm shield slash driver thing. Then the metal lashes come out against him, the shield coming into place to defend against it. Unlike the Brave Shield he would normally have in this evolution, this shield is a pale imitation and Alden's wolf claws scratch huge dents in its metallic black surface. The Greymon retaliates by backhanding the Weregarurumon with one of the gauntlets, knocking him away into the mists. While Gourobei would normally chase after the 'Royal Knight', he is beset with by ravenous dragons, which he destroys with those massive claw weapons called Dramon Killers. Trees are being carved into lumber by the digimon's frightful bladed gauntlets. He roars. And then one can sense all the despair being gathered into a black sphere of energy above the Black War Greymon, whose arms are raised. The pain, the suffering... this all being fed even more by the Drowning Doom. He soars up into the air, taking the swirling sphere with him.
    Just as the black energy is becoming visible above the fog, Gourobei is struck by the green boulder-sized spheres, which disrupts his control over the energy. It explodes, a massive bomb-like wave of pressure and dark emotions washing out from where he was, the roaring air and black fire burning away the mists of the swamp and Drowned Doom. The digimon is hurled back from the impact himself, tearing through tree branches and leaving a muddy furrow and trail of quickly evaporating pixels as he devolves back into the diminutive MetalMamemon form.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Before she knows it, somebody reaches out and grabs her by the front of her tunic, and Toph lets out a startled sound, her eyes going wide in horror as she flails and does her best to grab for Sanary's wrists. "Sanary?!" she repeats, panic settling in. What the crud is she babbling about? Sure, they're on different sides, but Sanary has never been one of the /freaky/ Feds before? They have fought, exchanged blows and trash talk, but never before has the older girl actually given Toph such as an unsettling feeling as the one that slowly creeps up her spine right now.

    "SNAP OUT OF IT!" Toph yells, trying to wrestle herself free, but that is clearly not going to work right now. So instead Toph throws her arms up, intending to burst part of the earthen pillar they're on. She can't exactly do something major right now, but maybe the burst of pebbles and mud might make Sanary let go! And if so, then she will do her best to scramble away and get herself into a better spot for fighting back.

Drowned Ophelia (975) has posed:
"Just one little step. One little push. A little pain, and its all over. You know what 'heroes' do, don't you? The best hands are always our own.."
Claws lift from Sanary's shoulder at the explosion of GLOOM above. Golden being tossed aside by the pass. But Drowned Ophelia? If she feels for her digimon, if she understands what he gave on her behalf, it does not show. That brittle, cold little smile on her face as wings open once again - the water receeding as the Black Tears leave it. And she flaps once, heading up and into the clear air.

The Drowning Doom on the ground have been more torn apart than one may realize, due to the fog - Reimu's homing orbs and talismons having done the job she sent them too, severly weakened and scattered the army of frailty. But again, the Queen of Tears cares for nothing, not even those loyal to her - she floats, serenly, claws dripping slowly as she smiles at Reimu.
"So. You're the one who's been keeping this place safe-ish." A slow, dark smile. "Care for a swim..?"

Reimu Hakurei (972) has posed:

     Reimu's smile practically fades away as she looks at the sudden damage from the blast. Specifically the large shockwave manages to send her backwards and away from the fight. As she flies backwards towards the trees, a small tarot card like object appears in her path and she lands on it. As she shakes herself back up, she gets back to flying once more.

     The shockwave was pretty jarring and her eardrums are still ringing from earlier. Her clothes aren't really in the best of shape as quite a few tears are easily noticed along her dress. She rubs the back of her head for a moment, "Why does everyone keep using giant balls of energy on me?!"

     From there, she can finally see the intended commander, "No thanks. I prefer flying instead." She stares at the rather feminine being and sighs, "You really need to do more research on people before you ask them to do something."

Sanary Rondel has posed:
That's Toph alright. Of course she'd be fighting back this hard. Sanary's always known her to be a feisty one. Perhaps not the most eloquent one, but... Certainly one of the more reasonable Unionites, all things considered.

     All the more reason to hold her under, right? If they could just lose their cool, start going berserk, maybe things would finally start changing. "Things would be different... More power, fewer... Fewer 'heroes'."

     At the very least, the healer does still respond to pain, crying out as she loses her hold on Toph from the barrage of pebbles nailing her right in the face! Instead of cursing up a storm or even vocalizing her displeasure, however, the healer just scrambles back over to the Earthbender sans her hat and her shades. She's not even trying to stand back up at this point, just grabbing the girl by her shoulders and...

     Trembling. "The hell's a... A hero good for, anyway? Always talking big and never getting sh-... Crap done. Power's what I... What I need." She chuckles bitterly and her grip on Toph tightens, frustration evident in her voice. She steadies herself, holds still, then...

     ... Lifts Toph back up, sets her butt down on that muck, then lies down without another word.

Drowned Ophelia (975) has posed:
"Maybe if you quit poking your nose in the wrong places, people would quit trying to cut it off?"
Offers Drowned Ophelia to Reimu, the semi-translucent wings upon her back slowly flapping; Far too slow to support her weight, but who said magic had to make sense? Especially magic powered by DEATH METAL and BLACK TEARS. That brittle smile remains on her face, even as the Six Stringed Sorrow bubbles into existance between her hands. Fingers pluck a few strings experimentally, before she rises a bit further into the air.

"Why bother asking? It's a lot more fun when you refuse. Besides, the only difference between my allies and my enemies - is who dies first. As for wanting to fly? .. I insist on a swim."

Her hands suddenly start thrashing the guitar, the strings glowing as she tilts the neck upwards - candle wake machine heads flaring to life with blue, flickering flames.
The air shudders as she summons with a Solo - Silence. The air shuddering as bandages are formed, whipping about as they try to do nothing so much as wrap Reimu up - and send her crashing to the ground. Reimu was a priestess of light, and sealed the evil and the undead. Drowned Ophelia? .. She was an avatar of Death Metal, and sealed the good and the light. TWO can play this 'sealing' game!
It's not damaging if it catches her, but it will keep her neatly tied from her power for a few crucial moments.

Reimu Hakurei (972) has posed:

     Reimu floats upwards away from the sudden appearance of the bandages. She grits her teeth and sighs as the four yin-yang orbs follow her nearby. As she looks down at Drowned Ophelia, she grits her teeth as the four orbs line up in front herself. As expected, a large barrage of only evil sealing needles are sent forth toward the death metal powered woman. While they are stronger than the amulets, the feeling of power that seems to be emanating from Drowned Ophelia tells her that this is going to be much harder than the other threats.

     She holds her ground in the sky as she eagerly awaits her opponent's next move. It was about time that she finally got a decent challenge out of these guys. She smiles for a second and speaks out,

     "You're actually pretty good at this."

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Things are turning out to be rather bad for the Drowning Doom, with their forces broken up by Reimu's heroic effort. And things are about to get worse, as Drowned Ophelia is not the only one who can affect the water in the swamp. Because somebody knows the swamp far better than she does.

    Two men step out from the undergrowth in the swampy water. One is lanky and tall, the other is a fair bit shorter, but they are both similarly clothed. Well, 'clothed' is a relative term. They aren't as much clothes as leaves. All in all, they do not appear to be very intimidating where they stand, though they do sink into a relaxed pose with their arms held out in front of them.

    "Ready, Tho?" the tallest of the men asks his comrade, who nods solemnly. "Let's get these vermin out of our swamp!" Raising their arms, the two men causes the water behind them to rise in a massive wave, one that makes the area in front of them go dry... and then they let their arms fall forward once more, releasing the mass of water upon the remains of the Drowning Doom forces, seeking to wash them and their filth away from the swamp. No, the swamp benders aren't too fond of people causing trouble in their precious swamp!

    The moment Sanary lets go of her, Toph pulls back and abruptly turns, about to leap off of the earthen pillar, but then she's grabbed, and she trips, not used to fighting in such a wet terrain. Of course she still tries to get back up, trying to bend the earthen pillar to shoot up parts at Sanary. "LET GO OF ME!" Toph snaps, fear evident in the tone of her voice. No, she doesn't like this at all! Something is wrong with Sanary! Heck, this swamp makes everybody act weird! Back onto her butt she goes, and Toph flails, panic on her face as she feels herself fall back into the water, honestly surprised that Sanary let go of her...

    The only warning Sanary gets is a creaking sound behind her, all before several vines lashes out at her head! If she looks up from where she's lying down, then she will see it; a huge plantlike creature that looms above her, nearly ten feet tall. And it doesn't appear to be friendly.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
It would have been so easy. Just hold her under for a minute or two, maybe use one of those shields if she got tired. And yet... When it finally came down to it, Sanary still couldn't pull it off at the end.

     Maybe all those voices were right.

     "... Too weak. Always too weak." The healer mutters to herself, letting out another bitter laugh and letting that swamp muck just seep right into her jacket without a care. There's a vacant stare on her face as she watches Toph scramble away, and she barely even moves when she hears that plant monster coming out of the swamp.

     At least she makes for a good decoy if Toph needs to make a getaway! The threat hasn't quite registered for her even as it lashes out at her, knocking the healer around and drawing pained grunts from her while she just takes it all.

Drowned Ophelia (975) has posed:
Fingers ripple upwards along the neck of the guitar, and lightning flashes from the sky in time with the sudden hammered solo - flickering along the path of the needles, popping more than a few in their journey into Drowned Ophelia's side. She gasps in pain, the frail masque of confidence shattering into hateful spite; She was, by her very nature, an emotional creature. She's about to start building up to a new solo - one can see the strings glowing, white hot - before the water floods the Swamp below.

Tear Drinkers cry out as they are swept aside in the cleansing wave, breaking the already scattered forces. The Black Tears purged by a far stronger force on its own home ground. Drowned Ophelia's clawed hands twist in anger, before she drops like rainfall towards the ground once more.
Near Sanary, landing like a razor to cut through tendrils. Sparing Toph only a single look - a light, wicked little chuckle - before she looks to scoop Sanary right up in her arms. Stronger than the frail Queen looks. "Don't worry about Sanary.." She begins, hate and glee fighting for control over her expression. ".. She's in good hands now."
Wings out again, and she's flying -up-. And away, her path marked by the streak of the black tears as she flees. Her forces routed, the Swamp saved.
A single bride pauses in its traverse as it notices the broken digimon, unevolved, upon the ground. It scoops up Golden, cooing softly. "I found my baby! Oh, I've missed you.." States the crazed, spectral ghost as it carries him away with the remainder of the forces.

VICTORY UNION.
WINS: Swamp Water, Wet Pants
LOSS: Sanary Sanity, Reimu Fashion

Reimu Hakurei (972) has posed:

     Her smile switches directly to a frown and she watches as Drowned Ophelia goes to pick up Sanary. As she watches them escape, she flies down toward Toph in a hurry, the four Yin-Yang Orbs dematerializing from view. As she flies down towards Toph, several thoughts occur to her. If this happens again, they'll have to take care of Drowned Ophelia first. She will certainly need some help since this isn't really much of a victory and they still got away. Still, it might be best to at least try to save Sanary, but another thought occurred to her. Whoever that thing was that held that giant orb of energy might need some help too at some point.

     As she floats down near Toph, she calls out to her, "Sorry about not coming to your aid earlier. I was ambushed by the leader of the army and had to deal with lightning."

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Off the nasty undead go, and the two swamp benders look rather satisfied as the filth gets washed away. "Sure took care of those things, huh?" "I reckon so. Better go help those people who were fighting them off too, they might be hungry."

    It certainly looks like their catgator is hungry as old Slim bites one of the Tear Drinkers in the bum as they flee.

    Toph is coughing slightly as she sits up when Sanary mutters, and even with her sharp hearing, Toph isn't entirely sure she heard the other girl right. Weak? For not wanting to drown her?

    Then... giant plant monster! As Sanary is knocked away the plant monster continues to advance, lumbering forward and raising its viny appendage. Before it gets to strike out a second time however, Ophelia is there, taking the Confederate healer into her deceiving arms, and then she's taken to the air again before another swing of vines can touch her.

    Toph blinks where she sits, looking startled and confused alike. What the crud did Ophelia try to do? But there's little time to consider that right now, as she hears Reimu's voice. Oh! Right, that's her... The earthbender shakes her head. "It's a battle, you can't have people there all the time to watch your back," Toph responds, only to tense up as the big plant monster turns on them! However, instead of attacking, the body of the monster shifts, revealing... a /man/?
    "Seems you guys were in over your heads in swamp water there, ladies," the cheerful man inside says. "Good thing we managed to chase those things off. I'll go and find your other little friend now, you two rest, it looks like you could need it." With that the vines shift in place, and Toph looks confused where she sits, not to mention looking very much like a drowned rat.