4945/The Best That's Ever Been

The Best That's Ever Been
Date of Scene:	28 December 2016
Location:	Core Tellus <CT>
Synopsis:	The Watch Gets Swamped but At Least the Music Ain't Bad.
Cast of Characters:	William Pauwel, 1051, 385, 1081, 941, August Kohler
Tinyplot:	CODE Chaser: Shattered Judgement

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William Pauwel has posed:
    About a week ago, William Pauwel made a series of terrible life choices that had he and some of his friends catapulted into a swamp. This is bad enough, considering that three of them-- Will included-- had open wounds, and as any outdoorsman knows, a wound in a swamp quickly turns into something that will kill you. But two were able to get out before infection sat in, and Will is just ornery and foolish enough to carry on regardless.

    No, the threat of Death By Bacteria is but one that faces anyone who dares to tempt the wetlands of the Expanse. There are horrible things that lurk within the waters: beasts that could eat a man whole, machines and traps left behind by a long forgotten war, and the dreaded PUNJI STAKE. All of these things could have killed Will several times over, and indeed, his relative silence this past week seemed to suggest that he may have succumbed to the wilderness.

But then, out of the blue, a distress beacon, clear as day, pointing to the middle of the vast swamp.

    Of course, getting there could prove troublesome. Breaching the border would require subterfuge, flight, or some other similar form of transit. Then there's the swamp itself...

Though curiously, the wetlands are... unseasonably calm today. That would change soon upon the final approach to the signal's source. The waters roil and burst with swamp gas. Horrible things stir in the murk. But Will's signal is coming from just over the next hill.

And, distantly, there's a strange, sharp note in the air. Perhaps just the whistling of swamp gas from some bloated corpse?

Millium Argent (1051) has posed:
     About a week ago MILLIUM ARGENT GOT MESSED UP.

     Thankfully medical tech was far enough along to help clear all that nastiness up in enough time to allow her to get back into action sooner, rather than later. She's alone today too! Soaring through the skies high above, deciding to avoid the Iskandrian border entirely. Claire was nowhere to be found today. And for good reason. Flying and carrying her was kind of hell!

     The operator is sitting comfy in some far off location with her laptop, earpiece in as she spoke to Millium. "You're over the border now. Stay skyward and don't drop altitude until you're a mile in. Two if you want to be safe." Taktaktaktak, she types on the keyboard, the screen having a digital map brought up with a blipping blue beacon on it. That was Millium's signal.

     "Gotcha!" Millium replies as she soars through the sky, peering down and back at the ruined Iskandrian checkpoint. Looks like they were rebuilding. Oh well! She turns her attention over to the swamp in the distance, punching her speed up several notches and bursting along. "A distress beacon though... I wonder what's going on now...?" Luckily the guild idol had nothing scheduled today and was cleared of the hospital a day or two ago, so why not go help?

     Claire's voice rings out in her ear in reply. "Considering it's him, he's probably getting tossed around by Dire Alligators."

     How nice.

     "Orrrrrrrr whatever THAT is!" The blonde chaser supplements, staring down at the building swamp gas and...well, whatever that corpse is supposed to be.

     Ew.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Yuna wasn't around to stop William from making any of those terrible life choices, but the distress beacon brings her running.

.... well, no, technically not 'running'. Flying, though, which is just as good - she'd sooner not test her Light Suit's ability to endure any degree of immersion in the swamp, so staying high and dry sounds REALLY good to her. The fact that flying is the least complicated way to cross the border is just a side benefit; she's more worried about whether whoever might have seen her flying across is taking offense at her casual violation of national boundaries.

Then again, when has a little thing like international relations ever stopped Yuna from trying to help a friend who needs it?

"Elner, keep zeroing in on that signal," Yuna calls out to the robo-faerie as the two of them skim above the swamp - staying above whatever canopy the plants of the swamp may be forming, for both speed and safety. When they've homed in on the X and Y coordinates of Will's beacon, *then* she'll worry about the Z. Jiina and Marina are also present, following Yuna and Elner at a slightly more leisurely rate.

Celes Chere (1081) has posed:
    Celes cannot fly, and so we are going to assume she had a ride here. Perhaps it's someone else's ship, or a very shady half-broken shuttle from one of the Watch's very rare hangars, but whatever the case she's here, and we're not going to think about it more than that.

    And while she can't fly, she CAN cast float, and that's good enough to avoid sinking into the swamp, or for that matter getting her cape and boots dirty. Not that she's one to mind a bit of dirt, but swamp water is just really nasty and smells for days.

    So we find her now atop the hill overlooking the bloated corpse and the source of the signal, presumably having coordinates with others she's aware of in the area. Excalibur remains sheathed, the curvy golden blade showing none of its shine just yet.

    "I can tell the signal isn't far, but all I see is a large corpse. He might be inside of it." Wouldn't be her first time encountering that. Looking at you, Zone Eater.

Mel Brock (941) has posed:
    Mel is able to get there, of course, because Mel is a damn dirty cheater. Being able to cross borders by being in low orbit is just not fair.

    And damn straight she's coming at full speed with Will lighting up a distress beacon. She's gotten kinda fond of the plucky guy. So the Chaser screams down into the atmosphere at the highest speeds she can safely pull; below a certain altitude, she drops under the speed of sound entirely, but still keeps cranking it as fast as she can without hitting trans-sonic speeds. "Alright, this is where the ride gets a little more rough, make sure your straps are good." She reaches out and kills the G-dampening inside the craft; instantly, the various shifts and shakes of the ride are far more noticeable, and about three seconds later she takes the Chaser into a shallow dive that puts them much closer to the ground.

    Thankfully, she also slows down, so that getting a good look at the ground will be easier. "Should be around here somewhere, this is the place..."

August Kohler has posed:
Inside the Chaser, Mel has a tagalong. August Kohler cannot fly and is not trekking over the border through swampland for days to get to Will, so instead he's just coming from above. He's silent during the ride, but doublechecks his straps when Mel informs him it's going to get rough.

Once they actually get to swampland, the boy unbuckles, and adjusts his outfit. He's wearing his Tellus outfit, aka basically a western outfit, and has a shard of mirror on him, as well as his laser pistol. As the Sheriff speaks, August is glancing out at the surrounding terrain. "Let's hope he's not dead. You think he found it?"

William Pauwel has posed:
    There is a giant, bloated corpse rising from the swamp. It looks like it could be some kind of horrifyingly large hippopotamus positively stuffed to the gills with some sickly, green /awful/ that suffuses its skin with a palor that goes far beyond cadaverous. The thing sinks slightly into the swamp as if noticing the eyes staring into its bulk.

Its mouth is just slightly, invitingly open in the way that only Dungeon Entrances can possibly be. Is Will really inside that thing!?

Wait.

No.

    Beyond it. Lancing up into the sky from behind the enormous, gigapotamus is a bolt of white-hot energy, accompanied by a quite frankly terrified cry. Something is at the other end of the blast- a great, scaly thing with far too many teeth and a snake-like body that extends deep into the swamp. It twists as it falls, mouth snapping open with three rows of shark teeth. It's about then that a dozen more rise from the murk, beyond the hippo, each dripping with malicious intent.

    "Dangit," a familiar voice shouts as YET MORE PLASMA BOLTS lance up at the emerging serpents, "Why're there so many of them!?" It's... It's Will! And he's in pretty god-awful shape. His clothes are in tatters, and several patches of red blossom on what little white cloth he's still wearing. He's standing atop one of the rare outcroppings of solid ground in this horrible, swampy mess. Strewn around him is a smoldering swarm of what looks like might have been crocodiles, but with tiny bodies and oversized heads. They're not that anymore, though. They're just on fire, now. But that doesn't change the fact that he's ALSO surrounded by those strange, serpentine heads, and what look like more of those hippo-like creatures just barely off in the distance.

    The water around him is roiling-- boiling, even. Steam and swamp gas alike rise from the earth. Two streams of gas mix and immediately ignite, blasting the beleaguered Chaser back several feet- and straight into the path of one of those terrible serpents!

And all the while, there's a sound in the air. That strange noise--

No. Not a noise. It's a melody. A frantic, hectic song playing through the air from somewhere nearby. A fiddle-player, all the way out here!?

Mel Brock (941) has posed:
    Aaaand that's a huge swamp serpent. No, check that, that's several.

    Mel briefly turns to August, and says simply, "Kohler, if you want off Mel Brock's Wild Ride, now's the time. Otherwise, tighten your straps and hang on." It's a last 'out' for the Persona-user, a chance to hop out and fight on the ground if he wants to. And after a moment with the door open to let Kohler leap out into the swamp, she locks the cabin in, and kicks the Firestarter-C up into the air. There's a quick flare from the engines as the vehicle accelerates and banks around, and Mel comes in on a strafing run - low enough that her shots will go horizontally if she aims for the serpents, posing no danger to those on the ground.

    The shots are bog-standard sci-fi particle blasts, of course, glowing a bright blue-white as the vehicle opens up.

Millium Argent (1051) has posed:
     Oh dear lord. Look at this mess.

     "Uhhhhh Claire? You see all this?"

     "I see it. He's done it again." A sigh is emitted from Millium's earpiece, and then she grumbles. "Do what you can to help, but don't land on the ground. For the love of all that's good, don't land."

     "Got it!" Millium replies, keeping airborne while she eyes the gaggle of creatures keeping Will quite busy. What to do...what to do.... Wait....WAIT. That music. THAT MUSIC! ...Why was it familiar? Not in a direct way, but...swamp...music...fiddler...

     "OH! I got it! The Fiddler in Green!" The blonde exclaims, slapping a fist into her hand. "....Mmmmmn, okay I'm gonna try something! You guys keep.. uh, doing the thing." She takes a deep breath, and then flies off, towards the sound of music. While she soars through the air, she cups her hands around her mouth and calls.

     "Heeeeeeey! Mr. Fiddler! Can you hear me? We don't want to cause any harm to the swamp! We're just looking for something real quick! Can you help us out? Please?"

Celes Chere (1081) has posed:
    William appears, and much to Celes' relief, is not inside the massive corpse. Really, once was enough for her. Sadly, he's also surrounded by monsters who have turned rather aggressive, so that relief is short-lived. Then things get uglier, the giant serpents moving to eat the Chaser.

    Celes leaps from her position atop the hill, towards Will's position. The float spell carries her gracefully, the long jump bringing her into Will's trajectory. She catches him with an oopmh, but given the young man's frail build, she has no difficulty not flinching and keeping a firm hold on him with just the one arm.

    Her other hand unsheathes Excalibur, as the two fall back down towards the ground and swamp. Luckily, float, so they won't be splashing down into disgusting water.

    The golden blade erupts in flames, but she doesn't attack with them. She's trying to shoo the serpents away, giving them a chance to back off before 'waving firaga on a stick threateningly' turns into 'waving firaga at their faces'.

    "Are you fine to keep defending yourself, William?"

    She only then realizes they've never MET before, but is too busy to consider it awkward.

August Kohler has posed:
Will is alive. This is good. What's not good is the massive hippo carcass, the reptile swarm, the music (which immediately reminds August of the Pied Piper), the exploding gas, and all the other terrible things. As Mel makes the offer, August takes a minute to ponder, and then leaps out of the Chaser. As he does so, he takes a glance at his mirror.

"Tin Soldier, to me!"

Within seconds, the Tin Soldier is at his side, as August lands in a crouch. And the Tin Soldier silently roars, dancing around as it spins that gun...

And attempts to create a massive wall of fire in the path of the reptiles. If they keep going forward, they'll get burned. "This should hold them off for a few moments! Let's see if this Fiddler responds."

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
The giant dead-looking hippopotamus is enough to bring Yuna up short, raising her left forearm as though to shield her nose and mouth from the stench. She's not actively COVERING them - but she's being very, very judicious about how deeply she breathes in while she's 'downwind' and/or above the gigapotamus.

Not to mention the serpents rearing up all around, and the self-igniting jets of swamp gas. If it were anything BUT rescuing a friend in danger, any one of the above three would probably have sent Yuna fleeing again on the premise that there are easier places to look for artifact weapon upgrades. But ... well, Will's still at the center of the mess, and he needs help.

Or at least, he WAS at the center of it; Celes seems to have caught him after the explosion launched him. Yuna stifles a sigh of relief, calls out ,"Shugoseiheki!!" and flies in to try and cover Will and Celes, the Wall of the Guardian Star manifesting on her left forearm as she invokes the kite shield by name.

She can only protect them from one side at a time, but she can at least make sure they don't get blindsided.

William Pauwel has posed:
    Will sure is alive. The Chaser is beaten and bloody. There's a good chance that many of his wounds will need the application of some serious disinfectant, because there's no way that all this swamp water is anyway good for those. He yelps as he's knocked back-- at least his lungs are working fine-- and lands... In Celes Chere's heroic grasp!?

Will blinks up at his savior, wide-eyed and maybe just a little bit pink in the face. There's a strange fluttery feeling in his belly. Wh-what is this? This bizarre, tickling sensation-- and why are there sparkles!?

Wait.

    No. There are sparkles because Yuna's shield just blocked an enormous snake face. The thing hisses around its snaggletoothed maw-- they look so much like shark teeth, in fact. "I-I'm fine!" Will coughs, wiggling out of his presently far-too-sparkly rescuer's arms. "I've been through way worse than this," he says, his gun glowing with rippling, pearlescent energies. "We just need to beat them back!"

    A task which Mel's aerial superiority gives her a distinct advantage in. The Firestarter's particle blasts explode against one of the serpent's necks. Scaly skin and cold blood erupt from the wound, and the creature seems distinctly distressed by the attack. Several others are struck as well, and their blood sprays in great gouts-- though if Mel gets any on her ship, she'd find that those droplets would quickly begin to work through her outer hull.

Apparently these creatures get to ignore the local microbes largely because their blood is literally a highly corrosive acid.

    Meanwhile, Millium is out searching for the source of the music. It's a little difficult, considering the swamp's terrible acoustics. But she's an idol, after all-- if she couldn't pinpoint a source of music, she'd be a pretty terrible one! And that certainly can't be! It's coming from a few hills away, amidst what looks like a pretty sizable plateau... Covered in some somewhat unusual vegetation.

Vegetation that starts firing /arrows/ up at her.

There's... Quite a few people down there, isn't there? And there, in the middle of them, a large man with a great big beard tucked against a squealing fiddle. At least she found them! Now just to get them to LISTEN TO HER (SONG).

    MEANWHILE AGAIN, back at the snake pit, the serpents hiss and sweep down at the rest of the party, gnashing at them with their rows of teeth and their acid blood. The swamp itself appears to answer their rage with even more swamp gas and steam. August and Celes take offense, and unleash their unique brands of FIREPOWER on the beasts!

Which... Which might be a mistake.

Fire meets swamp gas. Swamp gas catches fire. Fire meets MORE swamp gas. More swamp gas catches fire. Firaga and Maragi are, together, enough to light so much swamp gas on fire. This causes a chain reaction that makes all that gas EXPLODE. The flame reaches the Gigapotamus carcass, and then even THAT goes BOOM.

The boom is just big enough for Millium to see it from way across the swamp.

W-whoops.

    At least the snakes are gone. Even if Will is presently face-down in the dirt, covered in scorch marks and Gigapotamus bits and maybe suffering from a couple burst eardrums. Wait. No. Not gone. A couple slither up from the murk, hissing with menace and wracked by terrible burns.

Hopefully the party fared better than they and Will did.

Mel Brock (941) has posed:
    The good news is, even the (relatively) tiny little Firestarter-C is equipped with defensive shielding. The bad news is, it's (relatively) light, and the acid is strong enough when it splashes across the energy field that her equipment actually starts blaring warnings. Mel frowns. "Jesus, what the hell is in those things?" But she'll just have to keep the Firestarter a little further away when she-

    Oh my god they're using fire in all this.

    Mel floors the accelerator. "Shit shit shit shit shit shit-!" The ship rocks as the shockwave hits it, going completely ass-over-teakettle. Its shields are (barely) holding, but the concussive force alone has caused a bit of damage, and more importantly, it's in a complete tumble. So the Marshal immediately starts correcting this - by switching off the engines entirely. And grabbing the ship with her mind to stop it.

    She's able to right the Chaser, but it takes her a moment or so. She won't be able to junp right back in until she starts the ship's engines back up.

Celes Chere (1081) has posed:
    In Celes' defense, she's never had to deal with swamp conditions this severe. In her trained mind, 'swamp' just means monsters more likely to be vulnerable to fire and lightning. That coinflip didn't end in her favor.

    On the bright side, when she's blown back by the explosion and finally splashes into mud not far from Will, she avoids ending up scorched too badly thanks to her 'armor' having some level of elemental protection. This still gave her a headache.

    She crawls up, still holding onto her sword, grunting. "I'm rustier than I thought I was. At least that seems to have handled most of the snakes." Most of them. She sees a few slithering back up, badly burned and more than likely angered by the fact. No fire, this time. Best not try to find out if swamp gas can explode twice.

    Excalibur lights up a bright white, and with a swing Celes hurls a blast of holy light towards a few of the snakes. She could try going into melee, but that'd require taking her eyes off Will, who's still kissing the ground. And it's kind of her fault. She's not feeling too great about that one.

August Kohler has posed:
August has no excuse for using fire except 'it's his major damage source'. The swamp gas explodes in his face, tossing him backwards as his skin burns and is scorched. His clothes are singed, his arms are torched, and he emits a shriek of pain. The Tin Soldier is also blown backwards, flying away as it mimes blasting off (again). It fades away shortly after.

However, despite his horrible burns, August gets back on his feet. "Fuck, my bad. Everyone alright?!"

Millium Argent (1051) has posed:
     ".....Whooooooaaaaaa....."

     That was a pretty huge conflagration. She could see it all the way from over here. "...But why did they set the swamp on fire? That's kinda dumb, isn't it?"

     There's a bleep in her earpiece and Claire responds, "Yes. Yes it is." A pause follows, and then she speaks again, "Eyes forward and down, you've got company."

     "Huh- WHA!" SUDDENLY ARROWS. ARROWS EVERYWHERE. Millium squals and immediately starts veering and weaving through the air frantically. Don't get hit, don't get hit! She'd turn on her barrier, but she doesn't want to drain SERAPH's energy too fast! Just gotta not die! Easy, right?

     Right.

     NOT.

     But he's there! He's right there! THE FIDDLER ON THE ROO- I mean, in the swamp! "Hey! Hi!... Ack! Hello! Mr...WHOA- Fiddler!" Millium greets between dodging barrages of arrows. "I.... I'm actually like...WHA- Like, a REALLY BIG FAN... of YOUR-AHHH!" That one arrow came way too close!

     "I think it's...ACK! N-Noble what you do here! And I...WHOA! I just wanna help a friend find the thing they need! I'm...SORRY- if they cause harm, but...they just...JUST DEFENDING THEMSELVES!" Forced to erect a small barrier this time, she blocks an arrow aimed right for her heart. "So can you please...TOO CLOSE-- please help us? We'll get out quickly I PROMISE-!"

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
If Yuna had anticipated massive explosions overlapping her location, she would have thought twice about Flight Form - her most agile armor by far, but one of the least damage-tolerant. She *did* have Shugoseiheki equipped, which helped in one direction, and having her back to Will and Celes possibly did some good as well ... but if it weren't for the Light Suit's protective aura to start with, she'd probably be a lump of charcoal. Maybe one of the cutest lumps of charcoal ever seen, but still, charcoal.

Luckily, Yuna DID have that combination of protections in play, and even more fortunately, she managed not to fall into the swamp from the conflagratory detonation. She reaches up briefly, checking to make sure her hair isn't on fire (either the top of it or anywhere along her ponytail), then brushes soot and ash off of herself where she can conveniently reach it. *Then* she looks around to check the state of everyone else. August said he was dead but he's looking highly animate and not much like a zombie; William, on the other hand, doesn't seem to be moving - so she zips over to try and scoop him up, using quick barrages from her right arm's pulse blasters to try and dissuade the serpents from trying to take any bites out of him.

Or out of her, for that matter.

She really doesn't care if she HITS the serpents, she's seriously just trying to discourage them from coming any closer - and at the moment, she can't even muster a semblance of lethal intent, so the focused energy bolts won't do more than sting a bit.

William Pauwel has posed:
    In the team's defense in general, Tellus is notoriously hostile to human life, and it's not like Celes has even been here before. But that doesn't change the fact that /a giant explosion/ just levelled most of the battlefield and knocked at least one of the team straight out. Fortunately, the others are apparently considerably more durable (and way less worn-out) than Will is.

    A wave of holy light hews into one of the serpents and a curious thing seems to happen. The wave seems to pass through the creature without leaving any wound at all! But just as the surprised serpent moves to counterattack, it pauses. The region of its neck that the mage-knight struck seems to... boil? No. It's growing. Growing madly out of control. The snake hisses frantically as the rampant growth spreads, bulges, and finally bursts, causing the thing to topple over in a mess of strange organic matter-- plant, animal, bits of molten stone and earth.

...Weird. Got the job done, though.

    The exhausted, unconscious Chaser dangles like a hoisted cat from Yuna's arms as the beleaguered Galaxy Fraulein struggles to dissuade the serpents from continuing their assault. Fortunately, this does keep them from going after she and Will! Unfortunately, this doesn't do anything to keep it from attacking August. The snake swoops down with its jaw unhinged and its teeth... buzzing like a set of some kind of terrible vibro-blades!?

MEANWHILE, TWO HILLSIDES AWAY.

    Millium is dodging like some kind of AMAZING AERIAL ACE. She whizzes, she whips, she's dances through the air! But she certainly can't just keep it up forever, can she?

One of the archers down below steps out from his camoflage, wrapped in heavy, scaly leathers and wielding a powerful compound bow. He draws back another missile-- this one, apparently, tipped in some green, ichorous ooze... But stops. The Fiddler's tune comes to a halt, and the archer cranes his head back toward the bearded man.

    "Stand down, Argus," the fiddler grunts. "All of you, hold your fire." He turns his head up at the woman in the sky, squinting through his fingers and around the bow in his hand. "Girl, you have around sixty seconds to explain why your friend has spent the past week chasing me and my band. Use them wisely."

Welp, there's that at least.

Mel Brock (941) has posed:
    This is about the moment a full-on burst of blue-white energy shots rains down on the serpent attacking August.

    Mel is coming in fast now that the Chaser is righted; moreover, she's got a solid lock on the creature that hasn't even noticed her, and she's raining down a full-on spray of automatic fire at the beast. August, as it happens, is in no real danger. The shots are as precise as future targeting tech can make them.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
To be fair, William is less 'dangling from Yuna's arms' and more 'draped over the inside of her kite shield' ... and Yuna is not particularly happy with the situation, but she's not about to simply let him fall, either. She's kind of tilting to one side as she fights to keep Will balanced and supported - at least, up until she just pivots herself upright, latches both arms around Will as best she can, and flies up further.

Honestly, she barely *cares* about his gun right now, the guy almost got killed. A lot of good it's going to do Judgment if the Solano's 'acceptable wielder' and current master gets eaten, burned to a crisp, or roasted and THEN eaten while looking for the missing components ... but with that said, Yuna takes a moment (and/or asks Elner to take a look) and make sure Will actually still *HAS* the Solano on his person or in his hand.

Millium Argent (1051) has posed:
     They stopped firing!

     THEY STOPPED FIRING!

     Yes!

     Noww she had sixty seconds to explain why Will's been stalking his guy something fierce.

     Shit.

     And the idiot's gone and gotten himself all exploded, so this was entirely on her! Success or failure! Laid bare in her hands! No pressure, right?

     WRONG.

     Millium takes a deep breath and begins to descend from the sky, lowering to a more conversational level. Her feet touch the ground as she lands, and she holds her hands up, SERAPH fading out of side, along with it's light. A show of non-aggression.

     "Well, uh... My friend has an old relic. A gun! ...He calls it Solano, but ...there's an AI inside! It's called Judgment, I think?" Millium crosses her arms, body tilting a little bit. "You see, the relic's been pointing him all over the world, showing him where to find the parts to complete it! And the latest point that it's led him to was here!" She spreads her arms, gesturing to the entire swamp. "So if he's chasing you around, then..."

     Millium peers at the bearded man, smiling sheepishly, "...Then that must mean that you're carrying the part, I think." Pause. And then she frantically holds her arms up in front of her. "I think that's about all I know! Please don't shoot me!"

August Kohler has posed:
August, still recovering from his wounds and getting a picture of the situation, does not notice the murder snake coming for him until it's too late, and is about to strike at him. He turns to see it, and is about to try and grab his gun (which he doesn't have enough reaction time for) when Mel comes in for the save, firing energy shots at the snake until it is dead. August just backs away from the snake, giving Mel a thumbsup, before moving to try and find something reflective. He doesn't have his Persona, so he's in trouble.

Celes Chere (1081) has posed:
    Holy damage seems to work. It works odd, but it works. Celes won't look the gift horse in the mouth. Snake. Gift snake. Doesn't roll off the tongue quite as well. There's a minor break in the waves of serpents, at least. August and Yuna seem to have a few of them busy. Celes decides to undo her horrible mistake while she has breathing room.

    That is to say, she edges towards William and casts cure on him. A few times if she has to, and she'll give him a hand standing up too. Esuna might not be a bad idea either, who knows what's in all this mud and water.

William Pauwel has posed:
    August is seconds from becoming giant swamp sharksnake food before he proves that he has FINALLY BECOME A TRUE TELLURIAN. He stands boldly in the face of a rain of deadly energy weapons while a horrible abomination against all sensible nature is viciously exploded to death. Will would be so proud, if he were actually conscious.

(Apparently being a Tellurian is contagious. Who... knew?)

    Regardless, Mel's final airstrike, coupled with the damage the snake thing had already taken, manages to put an end to the threat the serpents pose... For now. Who's to say what might still lurk in the swamp, though? Definitely not the Solano! Will's firearm is safe and secure in his hand. It's curled around that thing pretty tight, in fact. He seems to have gotten pretty good about keeping a hold of it in a tight spot.

    Celes' cure spells wash over the young Chaser, then. His wounds begin to visibly mend, red splotches and bruises giving way to healthy skin. A quick esuna is enough to make sure that his blood ISN'T infested by horrible swamp parasites or the dread weresnake virus. He shudders a bit as he comes to, but seems... More than a little dazed. Being knocked out by an /explosion/ would do that to a guy. "Ngh..." He says, blinking up at his... Twice-over saviors.

"...M-my heroes," Will coughs through a dizzy grin. "Heh, never thought I'd be playin' the part of the damsel."

At least he's not in a dress.

That'd just be /weird./

    Meanwhile, Millium has her hands full trying to convince a whole bunch of swamp thugs to NOT fill her full of so many arrows now that she's conveniently down on the ground close enough for them to... do that. The old man taps the hard end of his bow against his shoulder as Millium fills a fully sixty seconds with a mixture of DESPERATE BRAIN-SEARCHING, COMMUNICATOR CONVERSATIONS and TALKING. He pauses for a moment after she finishes, stroking thoughtfully at his beard. The old man is... pretty big from down here, actually. It's hard to tell if he'd be more or less intimidating if his leathers weren't also covered in horrible swamp stuff.

    "You mean to say that this whole thing has been a misunderstanding, then." The Fiddler says, after a moment. "...Solano, huh? Interesting. And he wants something of mine, too." His eyes sparkle with a glimmer of insight, "If he really isn't after my head, then perhaps we can come to an... agreement."

"Of course, I'll need to be properly assured that this isn't some kind of trap, you understand." The Fiddler continues. "A meeting on neutral ground. No weapons, no tricks."

Millium Argent (1051) has posed:
     Oh wow, that worked.

     THAT WORKED. MILLIUM ARGENT IS NOT DEAD. ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED.

     The girl breathes out a sigh of relief, hand pressed against her chest. "Yeah, it's just a biiiig misunderstanding!" Thank the lord that Mr. Fiddler wasn't super trigger happy. He lays out the terms of a meeting, and the blonde girl nods.

     "Yeah, that's fine with me! No tricks, no weapons, a nice neutral place!" She smiles sweetly after, "I'll bring snacks! Do you like cookies? Claire can bake a mean batch of chocolate chip ones!"

     There's a blip in her earpiece then. "Say another word and I will end you, Argent."

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Oh good, Will's awake and no longer dying.

Yuna lets out a sigh of relief, nods thanks to Celes, and flits back down to something generally resembling solid ground to set the Chaser down. Yuna herself still looks a little the worse for wear - mostly scorch marks and soot on parts of her armor that she didn't do anything about yet.

Celes Chere (1081) has posed:
    "It's fine. But, as your friends pointed out, next time, call us, we'll be happy to help you before you actually need the help," Celes answers, looking around to make sure the silence isn't the precursor to worse. It really does seem like the last of the snakes have been put down for now, at least.

    "I'm sorry, I didn't get to introduce myself before. Celes Chere. Sorry about the fire." She's only half to blame, but she'll own up.

William Pauwel has posed:
    "Heh, well, last time I did, we nearly got mauled! And... You know, I didn't want to... bog anyone down out here." Swamps are kind of awful places to do any travelling, after all. It seems pretty quiet right now, though. Without that fiddle to direct the swamp, it seems to have returned to its natural state. Also they probably wiped out all the snakes for at least a few miles.

    "Don't worry about the explosion. I get blown up pretty often! More often than I should, maybe," Will answers with a grin. "Name's Will. Will Pauwel." He extends a hand to shake. It's only polite! "Sorry 'bout the rough meeting. I don't usually intend for this kind of thing to happen."

It just... sort of does.