3901/ICoT: The Hard Way

ICoT: The Hard Way
Date of Scene:	12 March 2016
Location:	The Bastion
Synopsis:	Cinderbrick Fort was the home to the Marshals. Now it's only home to Windbags and a Core. And so begins a race between Cael, Ura, and their associates to kill the former and obtain the latter.
Cast of Characters:	Kotone Yamakawa, 236, Alexis, 673, The Kid, 822, 908, William Pauwel, 961
Tinyplot:	In Case of Trouble

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The Kid has posed:
    If only the Marshals could have known how apropos the name 'Cinderbrick Fort' would become.

    As a result of its stout, sturdy construction, the spit of land the Fort was built on failed to rise as high as the rest of the city. Embers rain down, from the still-burning lands below, as well as those torn from the heart of the world through the deep wounds in the earth. The close proximity to the inferno below has blackened the Fort, the air rich with the smell of cinder and sulphur.

    The warpgate is a few feet above the entrance to the Fort, new arrivals greeted with a bit of a plummet to the cobblestone below. The Kid is already waiting for everyone, sitting on the ground, surrounded by junk and clutter. Returning folk may recognize the draconic heads of the curious automated turrets of Caelondia. But judging by the patches of raw flesh on the Kid, along with his singed white hair, they clearly did not shoot those explosive orbs.

    "Thanks for comin'," he says. His chronically tired voice carries a bit of wistfulness to it. "Always wanted to come back here. Never thought it would be like this..." Before them is three Pyth gates, great hovering sigils of the Wakeful Bull. Once everyone has arrived, he pushes himself up on his feet using the handle of his Cael Hammer and walks towards them. His City Crest makes them slide apart smoothly, before tumbling to the ground below.

    "This was the Marshals' base," the Kid explains as he loads his Fang Repeater with darts. "They were the law in the City. Kept folks in line. But they also made sure everyone was doin' their work well. Folks needed an extra pair of hands? They'd chip in." Beyond three sets of gates, a wide set of stairs rips itself from the rubble below. Kid just climbs right on up without looking where his foot lands. Seems used to all this now.

    "I was close to wrappin' up my time with the Masons. I was gettin' offers from all the other guilds. But I wanted to take the Marshals' test all proper. Wanted to prove myself as a Marshal, not a Mason. Wanted to really feel like I earned that badge." All of this kind of tumbles out of the Kid's mouth in a rush. Sounds like he's not really one to talk about himself all that much.

The Kid has posed:
r    The stairs terminate into what must have once been a courtyard. Not even the Crest can salvage all of it though, only able to restore a path to progress. Piles of rubble sit on the 'ground,' but there is a wide gap in the centre, which can only be navigated by going around to the right, which is the only path restored. Some fractured pillars are also pulled up, which may serve as welcome cover for the turrets that come with it all, a siren wailing somewhere. Said turrets begin to spit multiple small blasts in a rough cone at the party. The cover begins to splinter from the shots, which gives the subsequent ones a clearer path to do damage!

    To further complicate things, Gasfellas are roaming about here, their glowing blue eyes piercing into the party as they step up. Some begin to advance towards them, pickaxes at the ready. Their bodies glide, but as they prepare to lunge, they begin vibrating in a jerky manner, amorphous bodies swelling as they seem to inhale. But the others? They begin to move towards some white crates with blue writing and depictions of Squirts and Gasfellas on them. One Gasfella smashes a crate open, which reveals a pack of squashed-together Squirts, which quickly reinflate and join in the charge. And there are still many more crates...

    Kid deflects that glowing purple buckshot with that shield of his. "But, we got a Core to earn instead. Let's go."

Zen (822) has posed:
    Of all the resident perversions of nature - the gasfellas, the squirts, and Gods know what else - one of them might well stand out among the crowd. A pecker alights on a stack of tanned bricks high, high above the Kid and his crew, turning his one good eye on them in appraisal. The Kid and any of those who have been with him on some earlier ventures might recognize this bird as Falla, but more importantly, as the loyal subordinate of a certain other nasty survivor of the Calamity: Zen.

    Falla only sticks around as long as it takes for him to size up the rest of the group before taking off again, leaving to share his findings with Zen. Just as she'd figured, she's going to be heavily outnumbered, but that's alright -- it's a race, not solely a contest of strength or numbers. And agility is definitely something that the Ura have always had on the Caelondians, even since the old days.

    As Falla makes the return trip, however, Zen keeps watch from what remains of a rampart on the Western side of the fort. She mentally summarizes the advantages she has over the Kid's group: she's already in the fort proper whilst they still have several masses of enemies between the center of the place. Also, she has the most immediate access to the local armories, and members of her own group of Ura stationed at strategic points throughout the place where they can spring traps and use other mechanisms, like ballistae, that have survived the fall of the fort in a functional state. She nods to herself in approval. So long as she doesn't waste too much time, she should still have a relative advantage.

    Her strategic sense isn't perfect, though, and it leaves out the possibility that those traps may backfire, and that her scouts might have been outdone by the monsters before the Kid's group could even reach them. That said, it's a good thing that there are a few more variables that she hadn't considered: the elites from the Confederacy who may well emerge from another warpgate present near her position on the rampart.

    Zen looks back at them as they emerge in curiosity, a hand immediately reaching for her sword. Though a boy who emerges from behind her would think better of the situation. Looking to his sister, he says, "Wait. They may be able to help us." At which point he turns to them with a deceptively amicable smile.

Rory White (673) has posed:
As before, Rory's picked a completely inhuman method of getting around! Her Flexbot emerges from the warpgate in ROTORCRAFT mode, the arms and legs extending high above it and ending in spinning propellers. More legs dangle beneath it, some ending in weapons and tools. Actual HEAVIER weapons have been mounted to hardpoints on the roughly person-sized 'vehicle's slim yet dense profile. It's shaped kind of like an egg, minus all those protrusions. Thing just doesn't look... natural. Its shining, polished, silvery surface is covered in mechanical seams where it could likely unfold and show off more technological wizardry...

    It's enough to give any XCOM soldier a nightmare, that's for sure.

    Thankfully none are here.

    This handy arrangement means she doesn't care about the footing and can instead focus on the task at hand: making sure nobody else falls, keeping beasts at bay, and scanning for the unusual energy signals! If this core emits anything she can detect, anyways, electromagnetically.

    "It's always monsters when we come here. Some of the strangest I've ever seen. But a core is worth the venture... I wish some of those Marshals were here now to help though. They sound like some of the most upstanding sorts!"

    And from her lofty perch, she rains LASER DEATH on the Gasfellas from afar, hoping to harass or maybe ignite them. Chasing them off is fine with her!

Auron (236) has posed:
    It's a good thing Auron's sword is as wide as it is. Otherwise this would end up being a lot harder for him than strictly necessary. Not being the sort to frequently dodge things that are thrown at him, but rather to deflect them or just outright tank them, this might have been a really, /really/ bad time. As it is, though, his sword serves as a decent enough shield. He listens to the Kid's reminiscing silently, looking out at the world around him while raising his sword to deflect a bit of the buckshot himself.

    However, when the Kid makes to start the trip, Auron looks in the Kid's direction and nods. It's one of the few times he isn't trying to keep to the rear of the group. Someone needs to try to be a meat shield for the incoming buckshot. So this time Auron attempts to keep towards the front of the group, sword raised in what he hopes is a semi-effective shield for both himself and others. His effectiveness is pretty limited to melee-based attck and defense, but he intends to do what he can on that score.

William Pauwel has posed:
    Worlds brought to ruin aren't so different from worlds filled with ruin. The major complicating factor is time. Just a matter of time. But there's a sense that Caelondia could be worse off even than the world was when the Ancients fell. But the opportunity to see a world in the process of falling apart is still something that can't exactly be overlooked, and the chance of maybe, possibly, contributing to its salvation is the kind of storybook thing that could get anyone's blood pumping.

Or so William Pauwel, professional explorer and closet romantic, believes.

    He emerges from the warpgate in mid-step, having clearly never done this kind of thing very often. To his credit(?), it's only when he notices that there's no ground underneath him that he goes up with a shout. Gravity does the rest, tearing the Chaser out of the sky and down into Caelondia's patchwork streets. He lands on his feet, and then promptly topples forward as momentum finishes gravity's work. Will groans, rubbing his nose as he rises. "Ugh, s' always the nose."

He blinks as the Kid starts and soon scrambles up to his feet. "W-well sure. Can't turn down an opportunity like this'un, can I?" Will grins, unholstering his trusty (oversized, overpowered) handcannon with just a bit of a showman's flourish. "'Sides, it sounded like you could use the support."

Though... Maybe on the emotional level as well.

Will can't even begin to imagine what it's like, wandering through your own, brokwn world. Maybe this is how his ancestors felt, years and years and years ago? There isn't much time to dwell. Will falls into line behind the Kid, unable to do much advancing himself without tumbling off into whatever dreadful abyss waits beneath the piecemeal fortress.

It proves to be a halfway decent idea as they come up to the fort's defenses. Will knows all about turrets. He also knows all about cover-based tactics, and slips forward to take advantage of the Kid's portable cover. The Solano roars as it fires, disgorging blasts of roiling, crackling plasma into the turrets and gasfellas as they appear.

For now, he can at least make use of his relative advantage in firepower and range, but...

Well, as long as they take out the gasbags before they get in too close, there's no problem, right?

    "So, I'm a bit late to this party, partner," Will says above the gunfire. "The... purple guys ain't like anythin' I've seen before. What exactly're we fightin' here?"

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Rory is not alone as she arrives, but kotone ios more than a bit creeped out at the rotorcraft mode and she looks at it for a long moment before opening up a comm channel to her.

<<You look like a damn cyberdisc, Rory, you know that? You might get shot on reflex>>

she's ready to go, clearly armed, with both a SMG of some sort, a matter maniplator and seems ready to move. Kotone however isn't entirely grim as she takes a moment to bring up her rifle and opens fire to add support to Rory's assaul

Alexis has posed:
Alexis drops to the pavement from the warpgate with a audible thud from her heavy boots, making a brief crouch to take the surprise landing. "Guess in this case, the last step is the doozy." She shrugs a bit and stands back up. As she does it becomes apparent that after that last couple of incidents in what remains of this world she came prepared. Though the shinguards and dragonscale bracers do kind of clash with her typical cargo shorts and hoodie, but hey her gear is at least practical. She's even got a pair of go-goggles atop her head should she need them.

As usual it seems to be a rather motley crew that's assembled, but she falls into easy stride behind the Kid's lead all the same as he opens the gates and retells his tale. Which of course gets interrupted by defenses and monsters and why is it always those freaking cannons?

At least time she came a bit more prepared for such things and immeadately has a pokemon to put onto the field. "Go, Magnum!" At which the large aqua colored pistol shrip-like mon appears. "Deal with those turrets before the pin us against the mobs."

Magnum makes good use of Auron's improptu tanking, skittering up to point his massive claw past the bodyguard and fire several quick Water Pulses at the turrets, taking full advantage of the type STAB and the boost Mega Launcher gives the attack.

As for herself, Alexis grips her weaponized hockey stick, but holds back for a bit so she doesn't get caught up in Rory and Kotone's lacette of firepower on the gassy gasfellas.

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
    And it's a Confederate that Zen gets! Well, a trio. Gudako and her posse of foxes, the two pink-haired Servants in fancy monk robes, one blue one red, happily hanging out behind the teenager magus, whose constant 8D expression is as reliable as the idea that gravity is a thing.
    Which in some worlds it isn't, shut up.

    She takes a few moments to look around, having read up on the world prior to save time. She hums, mostly to herself, before snapping her fingers. Caster steps forward, smiling.

    "Master~."
    "Soooooo. Let's get a Bounded Field up." 8D
    "T-This quickly? It won't be very good..."
    "Eh." 8D

    Caster sighs, but the foxgirl yields, producing a set of ofuda that she layers on the ground in a perfect circle around herself. VITALITY, SPEED, REGENERATION, STRENGTH, INTERFERENCE are keywords that come up a lot on the paper slips. It takes her a while, while during which the sounds of weapons and battle are becoming more common down below.

    To Zen, Gudako gives a thumb up. "Berserker is pretty dang fast, where's the shiny you need collected?" Sending the catfoxgirl after something that glows and is also shiny is obviously the best plan, it should make sure nothing can distract her off the single most distracting item on the battlefield.

    At some point, Caster finishes her spell, causing a large dome of magic to expand over some of the area. This dome is fragile, bound to the ofuda that created it, but it spreads the following effects:

    Zen & allies + local wildlife: str+ agi+ end+ regen.
    Hostiles: very slight interference (play however you want, it's a magical curse; think minor random debuffs, if any effect at all).

    Victor is no fun and does not benefit from the buffs.

Victor Xix (961) has posed:
     It's always interesting to see the end of a world.

     Victor appreciates it. It's perspective. It's focus. The Warpgates were wonders that could take him to places he could never have imagined. That wasn't, of course, terribly hard; the Greaver had little imagination to begin with. He'd never really seen the point of it in the day-to-day. It didn't keep you alive. It didn't help you win. It didn't give you power. Therefore, he'd not spent much time cultivating it.

     Still, the Warpgates fostered just a hint of creative thought in him. Just enough to stir fresh memories of a long-dead age and fresher memories of a world he'd found broken. This ruined husk was so much like his own world. Would he find something useful here? Some piece of the puzzle?

     No. No, he very much doubted it. The second he'd emerged from the Warpgate, he could tell - he probably wasn't going to find much that could change the world. If such a thing existed, it would have been used, after all.

     The sound of the blade immediately prompts a response. The massive man - and he is massive, nearly ten feet tall on his own, and nearly half that as broad - grins, a terrible grin full of rip-tearer teeth, sharp shredders that glisten in the dying light. "Hoh."

     "Pull it out, and be ready to use it."

     The boy plays peacemaker. Victor chuckles, a deep, rolling laugh that well-suits his massive size. Fingers that end in very sharp-looking claws flex as he sniffs the air like a beast.

     "Well then. I'll go on ahead. You can gather your troops or whatever you need to do. I'll buy you some time."

     With one hand, the Greaver hoists a cannon over his shoulder. Rust of age crumbles off it as he pats it down. Caster's magic washes over him meaninglessly as he gathers in his other hand a musket with a bayonet, slinging it over-top what appears to be a twelve-foot hunk of metal with a hilt under his ratty-looking cloak.

     Then he simply walks off the wall and drops.

     Victor lands with a *thud* in the middle of the killing field. There's a lot of metal here. Instead he sniffs the air again, searching for the smell of blood as he wades into a group of monsters. The ones that get in his way go flying from the back of his hand. The rest do not. As he goes, he hums a merry tune, a cheerful lullaby that's oddly out-of-place from the giant.

     Once he has a bead on the allied party - largely by scent rather than sight - he draws out a match and lights the cannon, hoisting it onto his shoulder to brace it.

     The cannonball goes right for the enemy party as Victor continues humming his ill-fitting lullaby.

Zen (822) has posed:
    Zen immediately narrows her eyes at the sight of Gudako's trio, and though her hand retreats from the hilt of her blade, the harsh contours of expression all but declare these three are not a welcome sight. Just as she seems ready to charge off in the direction of the 'shiny' herself, however, the boy from before is swift in grabbing hold of her arm. It's a supernatural reflex of his own, it seems, even though he doesn't look at all predisposed toward combat. Still, his grip not only halts her movement but calms her within mere instants, her eyes meandering to his as her expression deflates in kind.

    So the boy looks to Gudako with that same smile as before, pointing out a brilliant, cyan sphere of light in the distance, seemingly floating in midair. "It's there," He says. "It appears unreachable, I know, but as you travel in that general direction, the ground will form up beneath you. Don't worry. Walk in confidence and faith, and you will surely make way to your destination." No sooner has he finished saying this, though, than has Zen violently torn her arm out of his grip, sneering at him. "Let's just trust them for now, okay?" He soothes. "It's only one core. If they betray us this time, we'll know never to trust them again, but if we discover that we can trust them now, then we've garnered allies. You and I both know that the latter choice is more in our favor regardless."

    Afterwards, she nods begrudgingly, shifting her attentions to Victor. She can only show the beginning of a smile at his retort to her tension before he leaps off for parts unknown. Likewise, her brother can only just mutter a "See?" before she, too, mobilizes, going to rally with the Uran scouts that she had come in with. In the meanwhile, Falla rouses a group of squirts and gasfellas on the Eastern rampart, circling around above them until he has their attention. Then he makes way for the central square, where both the ballasts and the path the Kid's group are traveling on meet. With any luck, Falla will reach this place just in time to slow them with another group of mobs.

    This leaves Zen's brother back on the rampart to sigh to himself. Always, always with the haste and violence...

The Kid has posed:
    Rory just receives a long stare from the Kid. He's used to her weird contraptions by now. Her scans would pick up something unusual up ahead, but it's hard to pinpoint the exact location. Some kind of background interference coming from far below. However, her lasers prove quite handy against the Gasfellas, piercing their rubbery hides and setting them ablaze!

    Auron's wide blade serves quite well as a shield. Those curious shots fired by the turrets actually deflect when they hit it, and some go right back to the shooter, exploding it! But being here feels... strange. That pressure he felt in that odd dream some weeks back seems heavier.

    Will is quite wise to duck behind the Kid. That Bullhead Shield of his is a tower shield in his hands! But the payload from that gun of his takes Kid by surprise. "That ain't like no Duelling Pistol I ever seen," he remarks in an impressed tone of voice. As for the young man's question, he gets the cliffnotes. "Windbags. We kept 'em on a leash as labour, but they're spreadin' out after the Calamity. Fort's warm and has a lotta metal to eat, it's everythin' they could want."

    Kotone's spray 'n pray works surprisingly well! One shot bites into one of those crates, causing the liquids that seep from a wounded Windbag to dribble out. Clearly, they must be used to ship the curious beasts.

    Magnum's impressive water blast does a real number on the turrets! Not only does the water seem to short out whatever makes them go, but the pressure eventually starts stripping the things down, breaking them apart.

The Kid has posed:
    All in all, the party does well, mopping up just before Caster's Bounded Field can impair them! Kid seems to notice... something, looking to his hand before clenching it into a fist. He seems to think it's the Pantheon doing this. So though he might be weaker now, he's also more motivated. "Let's move on."

    Around the gap in the former courtyard, and up yet another flight of stairs conjured from the rubble. The path ahead is similarly repaired, and judging by the walls that come with it, this section must have been indoors. However, there is a room on the left that actually managed to stay suspended independent of the hallway that would permit one entrance. Judging by the metal plating and barred door, it must have been important.

    Kid glances at it as they pass by. The Cael script on the plaque has worn away some, but he manages to read it... and instantly comes to a stop. "Emergency Armory," he says, walking over to the door and rapping on it. "Reinforced," he mutters, turning his attention to the ground next to it. There, some kind of foot-activated switch is embedded, but judging by his scowl, it's not currently functioning.

    And then Windbags glide towards them along the ruptured hall, Squirts squirming out of the revived ground. Kid mutters some kind of oath before dropping to a knee and taking out that Fang Repeater, firing into the advancing crowd. "One of you try to get that door open!"

    And it is here that Victor's cannonball flies at the party! Kid looks in the direction of the boom, and cries out, "SNIPER!"

Auron (236) has posed:
    Auron's actually accustomed to offering just enough cover to give an ally behind him a place to retreat to while still not completely blocking his ally's line of sight. Braska needed line of sight to see where to aim spells, after all, and Jecht would need line of sight to know where to leap out for his own attack, after all. So he serves as Magnum's cover, while still not completely blocking his line of sight.

    And then suddenly he's aware of something pulling at him. Already not the fastest in the group, he finds that something is messing with his agility even further. He can't move as fast, can't raise his sword as fast. He's going to take some flak, literally, for that. But he's also not one to give up that easily. It also tells him that there's someone else here.

    His next clue? Getting fired at by a canon.

    There's not a lot he can do about cannon fire. Strong, tough, and stubborn he may be... but he's also just a human being. Exploding cannon fire, plus the inability to move fast enough to dodge thanks to that curse, equals being in the attack radius. Being in the attack radius, plus only being human, equals getting blasted off his feet. Yet all the cannon fire gets is a surprised grunt as he's thrown back. The damage is starting to pile up now. But he gets back up, an expression on his face that's halfway between a wince and a teeth-bared scowl.

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
    "Ah? You don't trust us? Well, I guess that's expected! The last person who trusted me too much, I stabbed and took his divine power! That didn't work out very well, I puked it out. Oh! I still have his maid though, she's cool, she was pretty happy I freed her." In this thread, Gudako does not help make a case to either Zen or her brother in the slightest. But she does not intend to betray these two! They seem cool. And also, like ninjas. With a cool mask, in one case. You don't want to piss off ninjas, usually.

    As then location of the Core is indicated, Gudako nodnods, and then points towards it. "BERSERKER! Fetch." 8D

    Berserker grins like a madwoman, gets on all fours-- and disappears. Now incorporeal, nothing more than a superghost, the Servant beelines for the Core. Walls and a lack of floors can't stop a ghost, but Cores are not banal artifacts. It's entirely possible their energy can prevent Servants from staying incorporeal in their proximity. Either way, she WILL need materialize and stay materialized to grab the Core.

    Gudako looks down then, musing. "So. Hm. Caster! Can you help mister newbie down there? But be ready to join Berserker~." The foxgirl nods, and produces another set of ofuda.

    The paper slips scream through the air once thrown, crackling with electricity. They are aimed for ALEXIS, and it's not hard to spot the blue-robed, pink-haired Servant on the edge of the rampart above. If the paper slips connect to the Trainer, they'll basically cause a lightning bolt or five to be attracted to her from largely nowhere.

Zen (822) has posed:
    Zen's younger brother is the only one left behind to respond to most of what Gudako has to say regarding Zen's distrust, though even so, there's not a lot he -can- say. Or think, for that matter, other than how glad he is that his sister wasn't here to hear it! That said, once he's overcome the initial shock value of hearing the she tried to usurp someone's 'divine power', his natural cool, collected demeanor regains prevalence. At that, he lightly taps Caster on the shoulder, pleasantly asking: "May I have one or a pair of those? I'm not entirely sure, but I believe I may be able to make use of them with my bow. Otherwise, if there are any I can lay as traps, that would be extremely helpful!"

    So he may not be a powerhouse, but at least he has that entrepreneurial spirit. Certainly a respectable trait to many parties!

    Meanwhile, Falla continues to lead the mob of gasfellas and squirts own the steps connecting the Eastern rampart and the central court, and Zen makes contact with the first of the Ura she had left scattered about the fort. She gives him the okay to come out of hiding, sending him back to the Western rampart to keep an eye on her brother whilst she makes way for the next of her squad.

William Pauwel has posed:
    "Labor?" Will blinks as much out of recognition as out of a need to shield his eyes from his weapon's own discharge. "I gotcha. So it's not that much different from how the Ancients used to work. But these things don't look like any Greaver I've ever seen." The Solano fires another cluster of shots before Will slips back behind the Kid's shield. "You've got a good eye for firepower though, partner," the Chaser grins, "This gun's been runnin' in the blood for a couple generations now. Not much Solano can't blow away!"

That's a bit of a fib, of course. The things the Solano can't deal with are usually way more dangerous than the things it can.

And it can be a bit... unreliable.

    Fortunately, the party finishes with this leg of the trek before that strange wave of energy sweeps across them. Will's brow furrows a bit as he notices each step becoming a bit more difficult than the last. It's not a good feeling, but...

    For now, it looks like the task at hand is more of a mental one than a physical one, anyway. "You got it partner," Will says, moving up towards the damaged door and the switch that, presumably, activates it. He replaces his handcannon with a wrench and screwdriver, and immediately goes to work trying to jimmy the pressure plate out of the floor to get at the mechanisms underneath.

And then there's a cannonball.

    "What in tarn-" Will grunts, grabbing onto his hat to keep the cannonshot from tearing it from his head. "Crackers, what's shootin' at us?" No time to waste now. Not with the Windbags swarming in, too. "Y'all keep whoever that is busy! I'll try to get this darn thing open."

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone is trying to keep pace with her friend she doesn't want to get left behind on a day like this. Kotone ius spraying an praying for the moment as she attemps to thin things out. She keeps on shooting and wonders for a moment and she cringes she doesn't like doing this but they have little choice. Worse the Windbags /are/ starving to dfeath too. She braces herself and pressws onwards as they keep going.

"Hey Rory how much weight can that morph of yours take? Could it carry me?!"

Kotone has an idea here to where she's going with this...

Alexis has posed:
For a moment the hairs stand up on the back of Alexis' neck. She's not entirely sure what just passed over, but she at least notices -something- did, mostly due to living around a magical kitsune herself. You just learn to pick up on those little feels of something magical going on. Where it came from she's got no idea, and just mutters as she tightens the grip on her stick.

And then a cannonball comes crashing into things. So much for this starting out light! But the Kid has found something interesting. "Just keep those monsters off -- Whu?" Reflexively she snaps around at the sound of more projectiles, but instead of more shots several papers tag the ground around her. That, again due to previous mentioned presense around a kitsune a lot that uses similar, at least realizes vagely enough an ofuda in general to get out a quick. "Aw, shit."

And then LIGHTNING! Enough that even though Alexis jerks away at seeing the paper, it hits the ground and arcs towards the next conductive thing, which happens to be the Water type trying to potshot Gasfellas. Magnum doesn't even get out a yelp of surprise before the elemental weakness effectivally one-hit KOs him. "Dammit! Zapette!" Alexis yelps, even as she recalls the fallen shrimp, and out of her bag a Pikachu climbs up onto her head. A pikachu wearing an orange wrestling leotard and mask at that. "Ally Oop!"

Alexis holds out her stick, and once the Pikachu jumps down onto it she whips around and swings, heaving the electrorat into the air in the direction the papers originally came from. At the apex over the rampart the little rodent curls up briefly and--

"PiiKAA!"

-- Instead of the return lightning one might expect drops directly towards the pink-haired foxgirl with a lot more force one might expect from her size, courtesy of PIKA LIBRE!

Rory White (673) has posed:
<<It's nothing but complaints about the Flexbot.>> Rory replies over the comm. <<The small profile and dense arrangement has plenty of advantages. I wonder how to make it more appealing?>>

    The rotorcraft's speakers come to life again. This time near Auron and Alexis. "Is this form creepy?" The faceless, mechanical ovoid-copter-with-lasers asks.

    With William working to break into the armory, Rory brings out more hidden weaponry! The ovoid's sides unfold, revealing micro-missile launchers! Semi-guided missiles hiss and flare off, three from each. The curl and arc around to flank some Windbags from afar! They lack punch individually, but the firepower adds up with a series of small, intense, HOT explosions from each!

    And to answer Kotone...

    "A metric ton, but not with rotors! Might be able to carry you if I add more rotors."

Victor Xix (961) has posed:
     The cannonball lands. That was nice. Satisfying. A good thump, a good /boom/. It was a good way to start an afternoon.

     Victor is backed up by a renegade catgirl. This is also probably nice, for some people. He flashes her a sidelong grin full of ripper-tearer teeth.

     It is possibly a nice smile, where beast-people are concerned.

     The renegade lightning cat's display of electric magic draws an immediate reprise. The cannonball, to Victor's surprise, does not. Well, that was fine, too. Unhurried, Victor stuffs a suit of armor into the cannon in place of the cannonball and goes forward through the throng of monsters. Ah, right. They were doing the same thing. Opening the door. Well, only one thing to do there.

     The Greaver jumps.

     In the air, he points the cannon downwards. It fires, sending him upwards thanks to the laws of physics. His feet plant firmly on it, and then press off it, sending him up for just a bit of added momentum to control his fall.

     Victor goes soaring past the Pokemon battle. He lands on the ceiling of the ruined building and then steps off.

     Ten-ish feet of killing machine lands directly in the space between The Kid and the Door Group - Rory, William, and Lyria.

     One hand unslings the musket from his shoulder as the other grabs the /twelve-foot hunk of metal/ on his back. The musket swings upwards towards the Kid. The hunk of metal - larger than the Greaver wielding it - comes around for William, Kotone, and Rory.

     Lashed across the Greaver's face is a wild grin.

     It makes him look hungry.

The Kid has posed:
    The blast from the cannon knocks the Kid down also! As Auron gets back to his feet, he almost hears a chuckle on the hot wind. A voice that says, "Is this where your Hope gutters out? I expected more..." Meanwhile, Kid is back on his feet, looking mighty sore in more ways that one. To Will, he nods, and proceeds to cover him has works on the door. The mechanisms of the switch are curious, mixing wires with pipes of some kind of fluid. But the locking mechanism is clear enough, once the pipe circuit is complete, the door opens.

    Once the door has opened, Kid disengages to rush inside. Within are racks upon racks of some kind of blunderbuss, as well as crates of ammo. Kid grabs one and a pouch of slugs, then runs outside, looking to the Windbags... both groups of Windbags. He sees Falla luring the second group... that and the sniper... "The Ura are here!" Since Rory seems to have the first group sorted, the rockets splattering that group, he aims the musket at those being lead by the Pecker...

    Only to be confronted by a beastman! With fast hands, Kid raises that shield to block the musket being swing at him. But Victor's strength is enough to make his knees cave... and yet, the Greaver has left himself in a precarious position. His other arm is swinging at the others, which leaves his body open.

     The retort is loud, and the blast strong enough to actually send the Kid sliding back a few inches. Bits of scrap metal are flung out, potentially slicing through Victor! Either way, Kid gets back to his feet and yells, "They're goin' for the Core! RUN!"

The Kid has posed:
    He immediately beings sprinting, not even checking to see if the party is following. Up a flight of stairs to arrive at what must have been a cafeteria or break room. Broken tables and chairs fill the room, some coated with what has broken from crumbling ash statues of Marshals. Each one that still has a chest has a badge borne proudly upon it. Even in their ruined state, they seem to gleam with an innate authority.

    But there's no time to waste here, no time to scavenge food or deal with the Squirt infestations inside what looks like popcorn machines. The Core comes first.

    Speaking of, Berserker arrives in the Core Chamber! The cobblestone underfoot is rainbow-patterned, glossy and clean here. The air smells sweeter and feels cooler, no doubt a blessed relief in this baking sulphurous heat. The ground around it has sprouted into fresh green grass, a few blossoms having grown. The Core hovers, twinkling gently, just ready to be claimed...

    And yet... there's something about it.

    Servants are creatures of memories and stories, pulled out of time. The Core seems to resonate with this concept. As Berserker gets close, memories of her own time, her own story seem to flash through her mind, the Core having some kind of pull. Almost like it's trying to absorb her...

Auron (236) has posed:
    ...That voice.

    Oh, Auron recognizes it. But he just gives a grim smirk. "Hardly," he says, apparently to no one in particular.

    Once he gets back to his feet again, Auron notes William at the gate, trying to get it open. That is a clear target. So he heads to where William is as fast as his debuffed feet can take him. He takes up a position to protect William from the fire as well as he can. He places his sword before him, digs his feet in, and gathers his qi into reinforcing his body. He's stilll bleeding from the various flak and his chest aches from the shockwave of that cannonball, but he's not about to give up now.

    Which means it's entirely possible that, if the Kid's musket didn't do anything, Victor may just come up against Auron in SENTINEL MODE when he swings that sword. Meaning that, if Victor's oversized sword DOES happen to strike the upraised Katana, though the impact of the two blades will ring up Auron's arms like a horrible, bone-rattling bell, and will send a massive wave of pain crackling through his upper body... the ex-Guardian is not moving.

    Though when the door opens, he's rather forced to bring up the rear, thanks to that agility debuff. He's not keeping up with anybody here. But that's all right. He can cover the group's back as they enter the place.

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
    Before Caster can address Zen's brother, the Servant will need a minute to deal with Alexis. She might have bitten someone tougher than she thought she did! Though downing one Pokemon is probably good, there's more where that came from. Oh is that a yellow and black mouse? It looks so adorable with its red cheekma-- wait is it coming straight for her.

    The Servant EEPS, her large mirror suddenly appearing in front of herself. Almost a meter tall and wide, this ornate imperial treasure of a mirror will stand strong against any attack... usually. The Pikachu crashes into the mirror, which knocks Caster back and onto her ass, despite the fact the mirror is a flying instrument and she wasn't actually holding it. Telekinetic control goes two ways!

    Darting back up, Caster produces another set of paper slips-- and tosses them towards Zen's brother's bow instead of either the Pikachu or its master. The slips imbue the bow with the ability to shoot ICE and FIRE, together if desired, either around arrows or without arrows at all! But, well, you can't have magic without mana, so every shot is going to drain Caster a bit. On the other hand, she's got plenty to go 'round. Seems Caster will be relying on Zen and her brother to push away this aggressive luchadore mouse!

    MEANWHILE, Berserker finally reappears by the glowing, crystaline Core. She ooohs, drawn by the shiny, per her nature as a CAT, which she insists she is, and not at all a fox or a jackal. MEMORIES come to the surface of the Servant, tales of a goddess wishing to experience what it's like being human and loving instead of being loved, tales of an emperor and of betrayal. LUCKILY, Berserker largely encompasses the kindness and sincerity of her original being, so you're not going to get an even angrier, vengeful killbeast.

    But when she picks up the core, she does start acting deluded. "Oooh! OOOH! Berserker will give this to emperor Toba, nya! The emperor will be so happy, he'll praise Berserker!" She-- does not notice it, but as her large cat paws hold the equally huge crystal, it starts eating at her. Bits and pieces of her being are being sucked into the Core like stray pixels, which regenerate moments later. As long as Berserker does not run out of mana, she SHOULD be able to outpace the rate at which the Core is eating her. But it's clear she can't possibly fight and hold this thing at the same time, it's too much of drain.

    Berserker starts making leaps, bounds and very fast dashes, to take the crystal back to Gudako. She's normally extremely fast-- crossing the gap would take a couple of seconds. But not while holding the Core.

Zen (822) has posed:
    You know the worst thing about escort missions? It's when your escort target keeps getting separated from you, or putting themselves in needless danger, or dying so that you have to reset.

    Fortunately, the Kid's actions aren't dictated by a random number generator. Unfortunately, he does still have a factor of his own that limits his good judgment: instinct. Adrenaline. Strain. In the spur of the moment, he vaults himself past the encroaching horde of mobs being lead by Falla, putting him closer than anyone else to Berseker and, by extension, the core. This also means that he can't be held up by the gasfellas and squirts that he's put behind himself, but it also plants him clean in enemy territory. Thought some Unioners have no doubt followed him past the horde, it's only a matter of minutes before the rest of the baddies mass in the central court. And at that point, anyone left behind by the Kid is going to have an army between them and their employer.

    So Zen, having located the other members of her gang, will be lying in wait between the Kid and the core. Thankfully for them, he'll likely be too fixated on the core in the distance to realize that other part of the path, much closer to home, has already materialized. That means, of course, that there's someone here.

    As the Kid tries to rush past, two Ura spring out of the unknown. The first of them lets fly a lance intended to trip him up whilst the other, wielding a grappling hook, attempts to snag his leg. Only once these two have both thrown out their attack will Zen appear, moments delayed, to point her blade at the center of his neck. "We are taking back what is rightfully ours, Child of Cael."

    If he is held still, she hesitates only a moment before bringing her sword down on his head. If he's still free to move, however, she tries a swipe at him anyway, before breaking in a swift pursuit. In the case of the former, one must hope that one of the others of the Union did indeed follow him past the maelstrom gathering in the center court.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
The door is opened and they are able to push in though she hears the kid bring up the Ura are here. this could be good, this cou,d be bad. Given how things might go, but what is tru she does hear they are going fo rthe core and they got to haul it. She looks to Rory for a bried moment then makes ready to start running she knows she's a bit behind and is going to keep with Rory all things to be said and done as she'll do what she can to back up her AGI friend, not really friend when Kotone thought about it. Rory was family at this point but she'd never be sure just how the AGI would take that?

William Pauwel has posed:
    Will's seen a lot of locks in his day, but this one is definitely the... weirdest of the bunch. "The heck?" The chaser rubs at his chin, desperately trying to keep his mind focused on the task infront of him instead of the chaos unfolding around him. It's not the easiest job in the world, but the complexity of the lock does wonders in occupying his thoughts.

After a bit of fiddling, he trips the mechanism at the lock's heart. The armory door slides open with a satisfying hiss--

And then, suddenly, he has so much more to worry about.

Specifically, something around ten feet tall and almost five feet wide.

    Will's eyes go wide when Victor suddenly leaps INTO their little formation. "What in--" He doesn't get the chance to finish. The beastman's swing tears through the air. It's only by some small miracle that Auron was able to interpose himself between Will and that terrible sword. Even so, the clangor of steel meeting steel reverberates and spreads, transforming into a shockwave that still manages to blast the young Chaser back.

    "You're..." Will murmurs as his eyes find... A giant. Something as large as a Fomorian, but the details are... Wrong. But the teeth, the claws, there's no mistaking what this giant is. "You're from back home, ain't you!? What're you doin' out here?" His tools are stuffed recklessly into his pockets, freeing his hands to fish out the Solano. "Partner," he yells to Kid, "Get goin'! We'll try t' keep this one busy!"

Victor is huge.

He has huge guts.

    That means there's so much target for the Solano to blast. In a single motion, he draws the handcannon, takes aim, and depresses the trigger. One, two, three times, the Solano's barrel flashes, delivering a tight spread of plasma slugs.

But can just three shots stop Victor from pursuing his goal!?

Rory White (673) has posed:
With Gasfellas down and crazy intruders going after the Core, Rory acts IMMEDIATELY. Her hovercraft ZOOOOOMS off towards the nearby core as it's revealed, heedless of the Ura (and Confederate) threat!

    She doesn't attack. Not with lasers and missiles anyways.

    She has learned that fighting elites with FIREPOWER is not good. They'll withstand damage. They'll endure injury. They'll -DODGE LIGHTSPEED LASERS.-

    SO.

    A different approach is called for.

    The most UNGODLY noise SLAMS out from her Morph's speakers as it shifts slightly, forming itself into a dish to amplify the output! The noise comes out at LUDICROUS decibels, enough that any human would be feeling HORRIFIC PAIN, and possibly suffering hearing damage. And well, there's no dodging SOUND. A screeching, electronic noise that's pure TORTURE to be in the way of. Even ALLIES may find this... INCREDIBLY disagreeable to approach! Nails on a chalkboard doesn't come close. This screeching, scratching, howling racket all but SETS BRAINS ON FIRE. And it may be worse for, oh, animal-folk Servants with sharp jackal ears.

    Nor is there any dodging the BLINDING LIGHT, enough to drown out ALL vision of EVERYTHING near the core and force instincts and reflexes to CLOSE THOSE EYES.

    When you're WAY the hell up in the sky on rickety platforms held together by god knows what, this is a -really- bad thing to be blasted with.

Zen (822) has posed:
    Zen's brother has just enough seconds left over after turning from Gudako to appraise that thing that she was looking at: a hypercharged Pikachu barreling straight at them. He manages to scramble back, likewise falling off of his feet, but at the very least he manages to get out of the line of fire. Never one to be rattled, he quickly returns to his feet and draws his bow, studying the Pikachu only a moment before drawing an arrow. He makes a quick and dirty mental assessment: ice or fire? Well, at a glance, maybe the red of that thing's cheeks means that it's somehow fire-aligned, so that's no good. Moreover, it seems to depend rather heavily on its agility to attack, right? So, with a deep, deep breath, Zen's brother trains his short, focusing it on the Pikachu's legs, and...

    ... he fires.

    As the arrow flies, a ring of frigid energy begins to emanate from it. This means that the arrow doesn't necessarily need to hit its mark directly to have the intended effect; in fact, if any of the Pikachu's appendages make contact with the ring, it has a good chance of temporarily freezing them. If this is successful, it would give Gudako the time to get away at the very least.

    Meanwhile, Zen's brother loads another arrow, keeping it trained on the Pikachu. If he missed... well. If he missed, he doesn't want to be caught off guard.

Alexis has posed:
"Never a dull moment around here is it?" Alexis retorts rather tongue in cheek when Kid says to move. She however casts a glance up in the direction she'd launched the 'chu. He pokemon can handle themselves, but hopefully she didn't give that one more to bite off than she can chew... Bugger it. "Cover the Kid! I'll deal with the other distractions!" And goes for another pokeball...

Zapette rebounds off the mirror, rolling onto her hindpaws in one direction when Caster is knocked the opposite way from the impact. Her little tail gives a twitch twitch twitch as the foxgirl summons up more cards, only to use them for something else. Buffing up a second opponent? Okay, you do that.

"Kaa!" Zapette darts backwards when the arrows fire, leaving them to hit the ground after her luchador acrobatics. Unfortunately the ring of ice and emmates from where they strike reachs just as far, and freezes her feet to the ground. Uh oh. "Pi ka." Tug. Nope. Stuck.

Except that would be about when Alexis rises up past the rampart. By standing on the shoulders of a red-orange and rather angry looking Charizard. "Excuse me, evening the odds a little."

"Charrrrr!" Redline gives his wings a furious beat as he lands on the edge, and spews out a scorching Heat Wave at Caster and the guy with the bow.

Zen (822) has posed:
    The arrow finds its mark, successfully freezing the Zapette's legs. Good!

    Next he looks, though, something that looks like an avatar of Pyth rises up over the rampart. Not so good.

    Without a moment of hesitation, he looses the arrow that he had been holding on to, allowing it to spread another icy ring as before. He immediately looks to Gudako afterwards, calling, "This way, hurry!" After which he immediately dives behind the separation point between the rampart and the central court.

    The reason that he had told Gudako to come in his direction becomes evident soon after: the aura of icy magic functions as a shield for about three seconds, carving out a circle of safe space amid the hellfire that soon comes rolling out of the Charizard's mouth. Unfortunately, the shot wasn't so perfectly placed that it clears an entire path to the central court, meaning that on his way over, several things happen:

    The hat that he had been wearing is caught in the fire, immediately crumbling into a pile of ash;

his entire quiver detaches from his back in the roll, leaving all of his ammunition to be incinerated likewise;

    and his right hand is caught in the fire at the final second, leaving it to be burned, and Zen's brother to wail in agony.

    Afterwards, there's not a lot he can do other than to slump against the cobblestone of the separation and the clutch his wounded hand. It looks like Gudako may have to protect him this time around -- he's probably not going to be of much use in combat from here on out, considering the hand.

The Kid has posed:
    Things fall apart, the centre cannot hold. Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.

    This excites the Patheon, their collective gaze falling upon the ruins of Cinderbrick Fort.

    In the cafeteria, Kid sees the spear coming out the corner of his eye and does a hop to dodge it. But while in the air, his foot is snagged by the hook, and he faceplants hard. As Zen lines up her swing, he suddenly rolls back, moving with the taut rope! He bounces to his feet and yanks the barb from his ankle, glowing maliciously.

    "Caelondia bought those mines fair 'n square. Ya don't get say the Cores're yours, Daughter of Ura." Coming from his uneducated mouth, such flowery language seems insult. Which is probably what he was going for. Bullhead Shield is put between he and Zen, Scrap Musket at the ready. He's going defensive, being outnumbered as he is. Maybe Kotone can lend a hand as she rushes to join him?

    Meanwhile, as Auron and Will face down Victor, the two aligned with the Kid hear voices. Auron hears that kingly tone once more. "This is quite an overwhelming foe, isn't it? And your legs are failing you old man. Perhaps all it will take is a nudge to send you into Despair..." And with that, memories of past failures seem to boil within Auron, making that blade seem heavier still!

    Will hears a childish laugh from all over. "Oh golly, this is fun isn't it? What poor Chance landed the likes of you in this mess? Your Whims are going to get you killed... let's see if I can help~" And with that, as Will pulls the trigger on his incredible gun? It splutters, some sparks shooting out. A one-in-a-million malfunction.

    Rory flies off, blasting the worst noise in the world in the hopes of disrupting Berserker's retreat with the Core that is eating at her very being. As she approaches, a sage, yet slurred voice is heard, one that does not come from any microphones or audio receptors on her craft. "You act with great Purpose, creating things such as these... but to try and outsmart an unknown enemy, unsure of your methods will work? That, young one, is Folly, and I'll have you learn from it." At this time, the guidance systems of the Rotorcraft start to go haywire! Not just those for navigation, but those that control and direct the sonic blast also!

     As Alexis rises up on her fiery mount to confront the young Ura, Gudako and Caster, a distant whinny and a clopping of hooves echo through her mind. "Launching your pet to confront your foes without your guidance..." says a gruff, horsish voice. "I wonder, are you Brave? Or merely Impulsive? We shall see." Finally, she stands to confront the attackers... and the first thing that might come to mind is to rush in! Attack them herself, crush them, win! Higher thinking and synergy with her Pokemon flies out the window as her impulses gain traction, trying to influence her behaviour!

The Kid has posed:
    Meanwhile, the Gasfellas being lured by Falla arrive, and begin to split up. Some drift towards Auron, Will and Victor, others towards the Kid and Zen. There's a pack of them about the size of the ones they've fought before. But, each group is lead by... well.

     tMost Windbags were recruited for more menial tasks. Gasfellas were used for labour, Scumbags for waste disposal. But occasionally, along came a Gasfella so ornery, so mean-tempered, that the best use for them was in the more militaristic guilds.

    Wouldn't you know it, the Marshals had two such Windbags on staff.

    Glutus and Glandon are the biggest Gasfellas you ever did see. Their pickaxes have been sharpened, balanced for piercing flesh instead of rock. Their rubbery hides show several stitch marks, indicative of wounds that had been sewn shut. Gasfellas with so many must have seen their fair few scraps.

    Glutus-or is it Glandon?-confronts the trio by the armory. Now, here's where Zen's plan kind of hits a sticking point. She lured the Windbags, but she's not exactly tamed them. Which explains why the big fella swings at all three of 'em! Up in the cafeteria, Glandon-or is it Glutus?-starts slamming his axe into the ground, each swinging breaking up a piece of the floor. On his scarf, some kind of badge glitters, and his presence spurs on the Squirts infesting the popcorn machines to emerge and try to slam into anyone they see, Zen and Kotone included!

Victor Xix (961) has posed:
     Shards of metal sink into the massive Greaver's flesh. This does not move the massive killing machine - it draws /blood/ as the metal digs in, red blood that spills down his front and sinks into his pants, red blood that splatters across the stones and paints it an ugly red color - but it does not move him. This is perhaps not optimal.

     So Auron's katana collides with the massive sword, and it rings Auron's bell firmly and fiercely. Victor, shockingly, releases his blade before the vibrations hit him, leaving /Auron/ to deal with the aftershock. The heavy sword spins out and smashes into the wall, tearing a massive chunk of landscape apart. Brick, mortar, and long-gone stone explodes as the sword rebounds off the immovable object that is Auron. It might even be /cracked/ from the force of the impact.

     Victor is not particularly concerned. Auron is in the way.

     But then, so is William. The young man turns to face him, drawing a weapon - one that makes Victor's horrible animal eyes widen as it is levelled at him. What does it do? What is it capable of? What-

     Thump, thump, thump.

     Three plasma shells lodge firmly in Victor's chest. They sizzle, blackening the wounds before it can even bleed. It is enormously painful, and the Greaver's face twists in obvious agony with each *thump* and *hiss*. The wounds look close to where his heart should be.

     Victor touches the wounds thoughtfully, like he was expecting something much, much more serious than three, err, seared-black holes in his chest. "Hm."

     "I guess you're not troublesome after all."

     Victor has a job to do nonetheless. His hand reaches out to grab William by the neck. His other hand brings the bayonetted musket around into Auron's face, at once intercepting the other man's sword and putting him in a position to choose between dodging the bullet or protecting Will. The musket discharges, black-powder smoke and flechette metal adding to Auron's immediate problems in life.

     Victor moves. The musket (and Auron) becomes a fulcrum of motion as Victor, with Will in tow, uses Auron's own immovability to slingshot himself forward into Rory's killing field of sound. The musket snaps in half, all purpose in its life expended, with Victor's passing.

     He was asked to support Berserker, after all.

     Victor skids to a halt, kicking up dust and stone in the middle of the field. The sound may or may not tickle his brain slightly. Victor was designed to suffer worse weapons and keep going. A mild headache really isn't enough to stop him.

     Will probably wasn't.

     Rory and Kotone probably weren't designed to handle a young man and his heavy gun thrown into them *very very hard* by a ten-foot-tall murder engine.

     Victor discharges Will from his grasp and into the loving impact radius of the robot ladies as he goes to join Berserker. "Hey, pretty kitty. Let's get out of here."

     Victor truly does not give a damn about the Gasfellas. It's far more likely they'll get riled up by Rory's field of sonic pain than him.

Auron (236) has posed:
    Auron actually winces at Rory's horrible racket. His hearing's pretty sharp too. Though thankfully not inhumanly sharp. He holds his ground, facing down Victor...

    Then suddenly that voice appears again...

    ...He's right, isn't he? Auron's already slow. And his speed's been crippled even more now. What can he hope to do against a foe like this?

    And then suddenly Victor's in motion. Even if Auron's speed hadn't been crippled, he wouldn't have been able to counter. He's just too fast. It's all Auron can do to not take the shot directly to the face. The report sounds loudly just to the side of his head, and there's an explosion of viscera as the shot finds his arm, mangling it.

    And then Victor's past his guard, grabbing William, and he's just too fast for Auron to get to. Especially in this state. With his past failures ringing through him and even FURTHER crippling his ability to react...

    Auron just doesn't have it in him to continue.

    He falls, arm mangled badly, unable to get up for the pain. The only bit of resistance he can even muster is to keep from crying out. But he's going to be of no further use, not like this.

Zen (822) has posed:
    In an instant, all the forces that have been vying over control for the core merge: the Unionites, the Confederates, and the gasfellas that not even Armageddon wanted to take off of their hands. Zen keeps her sword held at the nape of Kid's neck, but she doesn't have the time to line him up for a clean kill... or at least, the time to do that without risking her own life in the process. So at the final possible moment before Glutus-Glandon's sledge comes down on her head, she tries to kick the Kid in the direction of the swing before letting that same, fluid motion carry her out of harm's way. The ensuing shockwave sends her Uran compatriots flying off into oblivion, but at the very least she's allowed to slip off to the side, easing back into the swath of claws, flames, fumes, and blades.

    Once she's against the wall, she spies Falla flying in an oddly specific zigzag pattern above the court. In their shared 'language', that means 'Goal achieved' -- this is enough to let her know that Berserker got what she was looking for, and that Zen should focus on getting out of there while they still have the disorder of the situation to cover them. So even if Glutus-Glandon and his posse decide to follow Zen, she doesn't make any attempts to fight back. Unless something knocks her clean off of her feet, she makes a beeline for the Western rampart that she had started on, rallying with her brother and, presumably, Gudako.

    Only when she reaches the nexus between the Western rampart and the court does she realize that there's another considerable obstacle barring their exit: a winged creature with gleaming orange scales, and horns that seem to brand it as some sort of avatar of the Gods. That aside, is there a... person, riding on it? At that sight, Zen's eyes widen before collapsing back into their usual scowl. Without any regard for the smoke still flickering off of the stones from the earlier bout of fire breath, Zen rushes out past the separation in a flurry of four knives, two of which are aimed at the creature's wings. Immediately afterwards she draws a flintlock pistol that had before then been resting on her leg, sending three bullets in whatever direction the creature shifts in to either avoid the knives, or whatever direction it's forced in after the effect of the knives is ascertained. These shots are aimed at the rider herself.

    Afterwards, she continually darts around the field, brandishing whatever knives she has left to throw and firing off as many bullets as she's able to slip into her flintlock. She does this until she's wounded in some way that would incapacitate her, trying to take the pressure off of Gudako, Victor, and her brother such that they can retreat through the gate. Assuming they're successful, she'll try to follow.

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
    Gudako and Caster will follow Zen's brother as able; Gudakom is not very fast, being a very generic human, but Caster can just grab her in a princess carry and haul ass. And Caster's fast! On the nose, maybe about fourty times faster than the average peak human. Deceptively agile for a Caster, but about as tough and strong as wet paper.

    With her floating mirror, the Caster helps mitigate the incoming heat wave from the Charizard; it probably speaks of the thing's craftsmanship that it isn't even slightly dented or even red from the flames, although the Servant on the other side and her master are uncomfortable and slightly scorched. It is not a very good day right now!

    "This is a doozy, master! Berserker's still a bit off!"
    "Huh-uh, hey, Caster, tell me something I don't know." 8D
    "Well, that thing is a fire dragon, I bet I can shoot water at it!"
    "Less saying more doing, Caster! If my cellphone melts you're grounded!" 8D

    Caster sets Gudako down behind cover with Zen's brother, producing another set of paper slips. She slaps them on the back of her mirror, and then-- pretty much dives straight for Alexis and her Charizard.

    "Secret Technique: EAT MIRROR!"

    And she... swings it. Telekinetically, like it's a very large melee weapon. Predictably it's a lot stronger than it looks, she could probably tear a wall open with a mirror swing. And the enchantments she stuck on it make the mirror gush pressured water out like it's going out of style. She probably won't be able to hit Alexis herself, but the big dragon is harder to miss! Plus, Zen's sudden appearance might help.

    BACK TO BERSERKER, under normal circumstances, she would prove Rory to be hilariously wrong. If she thinks you can't dodge sound, she has obviously never met a Servant. Unfortunately, Berserker is holding onto an incredibly valuable and powerful artifact that is EATING HER. The reduction to her parameters is pretty noticeable, and one would like to remind that Berserker has large fox ears, which are very sensitive to sound indeed. The light is not so much an issue, but the loud, screeching torture slows the Servant down. If she was defenseless before she's even worse off now, and will only be able to get away with the Core if Victor and Zen's assorted forces can provide adequate cover.

    Luckily, she's a Berserker, so pain doesn't disable her outright. But her leaps and runs seem to take her longer to calculate, and she's having to stop every other hop to whine about this situation. She's easier to intercept, and will require additional cover.

William Pauwel has posed:
    What does a guy do when he's staring down something approximately twice his size? What does that guy do when he realizes the thing that he's fighting was specifically designed to kill things, and that he certainly qualifies as a 'thing that can be killed?' If 'piss yourself' isn't near the top of that list, then you're probably either a badass or a liar. Fortunately for Will, it wasn't that long since he stared down something that was literally evolving for thousands of years specifically to murder things that weren't Itself, so his fortitude has seen some improvement in recent months.

Unfortunately, that doesn't exactly help what's about to happen.

    "The heck're you made of!?" Will growls when three *direct hits* from the Family Gun fail to do anything more than punch holes into the massive Greaver. "Go down!" He roars, depressing the trigger one more time--

    He hears... A voice?

And then his gun suddenly *fizzles* out. His eyes widen, clicking the trigger down as if not quite believing that this is happening RIGHT NOW of all times. "Of all the- hhk!" A massive hand squeezes around his throat. The young chaser chokes as all of his weight suddenly squeezes his windpipe against the Greaver's grip. His face goes a terrible shade of red, his hands scramble at Victor's wrist, struggling to try to maybe lever some of his mass off his throat. It's all he can do before...

Before Victor starts *MOVING.*

    Will gurgles an awkward, pained squack when terrible, awful momentum is suddenly added to the force squeezing the blood into his skull. He wraps his arms over and around Victor's, fighting for every breath-- before they slip into that field of awful, brain-jamming SOUND. As Will is right now, it's impossible for him to tell whether the ache behind his eyes is that noise, or just the pounding of his own pulse against the inside of his head.

    He cracks open a single, bloodshot eye at the thing manhandling him like some kind of particularly meaty sack of potatos. The Solano clicks and sputters as he pulls its trigger. Again, again, it fails to fire, fortune having turned its eye from him in his hour of greatest need.

But...

Chasers--

    Will's cheeks puff, his breath wheezes from his lips in a sputtering gurgle. His hand... slams a wrench into the top end of his ancient, impossibly valuable gun.

Something comes clatters and sparks.

The Solano's core flashes. Its heart ignites, blazing to life.

Chasers--

    Will levels the gun at Victor's face. He feels his momentum shift, and his vision swims as he's suddenly flung through the air. But in that moment, where his weight suddenly lurches into the air but before he actually goes flying, Will has a lock.

He pulls the trigger. The Solano's barrel erupts, disgorging an oversized gout of plasma like a roiling ball of lightning, right into Victor's face.

Chasers make their OWN fortune!

But no amount of luck will change the fact that he's now hurtling through the air at speeds that will probably break most of the bones in his body when he finally stops.

That's kind of going to suck.

Alexis has posed:
The burst of ice from the arrow isn't enough to stop the intense gout of flames, but it does stall it in the time it takes to burn through long enough for the intruders to scramble for cover, though the archer doesn't get off entirely scott free as the firebreath catchs at his heels before he's out of the way.

The heat is also melting the previous ice patch, giving Zapette a chance to pull her feet free finally.

Alexis starts to step off Redline's back but stops with a flinch at... hoofbeats. She actually tenses at the moment, expecting another attacker at first. But instead it's more ethereal... and not necessarily not an attack, just one more of will than physical... Or maybe she's tensing up at that 'pets' remark, that's a low blow from a pokemon's point of view.

Alexis isn't exactly without a brash temperment, that much is for sure. Why if it wasn't pink her hair would probably be red.

And then there is a cat-fox girl rushing in with a mirror! (though considering her own choice Alexis can't really object about impromptu weapons) Redline actually grabs the mirror with his own claws, expecting the smaller Caster to not be as strong as he is. Which might be true, if it wasn't for the great gout of water that comes blasting out of the mirror. A roar of aggrivation is a good sign that Caster was on the mark as far as Elemental conflicts is concerned. Even if heat quickly turns the water to steam, that bloody well hurts! So do knives. Knives definately hurt... Though its with as much pain as it is anger that the Charizard attempts to slam the water spouting mirror right back into Caster in a sort of 'quit hitting yourself' manner to get the water spray away from him.

"Dammit, they're coming back this way!" Wait, isn't that the same woman that butted in last time and made off with the Core? Yeah, that's not good! Now she's running around like a mad women whipping knives left and right.

At least until Alexis rushes at her with her own skates, hockey stick still in hands. Checking and High Sticking, my two favorite fouls! Looks like at seeing a familiar antagonist some of that Impulse took over. Though Alexis would argue why can't impulse -be- bravery, if there was time for such things.

And little Zapette is more or less overlooked as she's getting her feet free thanks to the heat from the flames. So she's the only one not distracted to see Berzerker charging into the midst of things. Little sparks crackle from those red cheeks...

"PIKACHUUUUUUUUUU!" And a big ol Thunderbolt goes hurtling at the murdercat to try and stop her.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Things are not looking good really they could be a lot better as things are going quite this insane. Then agains he should have known given the Panteheon is involved she hand't really come to get their attention, she was more trying to just help what she could with Rory and the Kid. She'd not expected quite something like this with the gods of the world possibly poking at them. She is not aware of what Rory is seeing she does see the kid however needs a hand and she's moving in there to attempt to help however then come Glutus-or or is it Glandon?

Kotone understand being able to repsect the deities of this broken world. But this is getting more than a little on the insane side here. So here she is in this madhouse dash as she's force to defence herself. From what? Why things coming out of the popcorn machines and she's forced to fire several shots at the creaters. She doesn't make use of the high exposives she has on her as that's not a good ide,a she does howfver switcvh to he Matter Maniplator ot pick up things and then launch them at the attacking creatures, maybe even scoop up some salvage for later, not that she'll get much but she's darn well going to try something here.

Rory White (673) has posed:
One moment you think everything's fine, everything's good!

    But then the Servant you were trying to torment into useless submission STILL somehow manages to hang on instead of dropping the core and stumbling off and seeking cover from the AWFUL NOISE.

    And a GOD decides to make things HARD on you.

    AND A YOUNG MAN BEING THROWN STRAIGHT AT HER!

    Of course, having a GOD speak to her has inflicted plenty of confusion in the instants leading up to her systems going haywire. The rotor-sphere's silent, but Rory's conscious flares at high speed through trying to make sense of what just happened in those instants. Conclusions re reached quickly, but she's no less frazzled!

    And it's just enough distraction that... she ALMOST doesn't notice the alarms going on, her craft entering a dizzy sideways spiral and the dish now rotating wildly!
R    With a yelp of alarm oer the Mesh (only Kotone's gonna notice that) she shuts down the noise and lights!

    But she's still going completely loopsided and sideways!

    "H-how is it folly?!"

    And then in comes Will.

    There are FAR comfier things to slam into out there than Rory! Between her and Will however, Will's the one with organic bones and other fragile things. Her Flexbot, well...

    CRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNCH!

    Slammed hard, she hits the unstable flooring, skids and slides straight towards the edge!

    Then everything comes to a halt with another CRUNCH-WHUNk that's probably even MORe uncomfortable for poor will. because her matter Manipulator comes to life and deploys a short wall of DIAMOND BLOCKS (yeah, those are a thing apparently) she normally uses for Mobile cover. They're decently heavy, and slamming into them increases drag enough that the sliding momentum's killed.

    Unfortunately it's even more impact for Will. Better than going over the edge, right?

    Luckily, the rotors are shut down fast! So he might only get a small cut or two from smashing into the weirdly-shaped mechanical monstrosity.

    Which is now sparking and sizzling, clinking and clunking. Its mass shifts oddly in an ALMOST liquid fashion, the surface rippling and rearranging slowly, but for the moment...

    She's down, pretty hard.

    "Are you alright sir...?"

Victor Xix (961) has posed:
     Ah. That was more like it.

     The boy's spirit is intense, but it's not his spirit that gives Victor pause. It's that, as the kid goes flying away, his machine activates. The Solano flares to life, building an intense charge in the space between Victor swinging his arm backwards and Victor hurtling Will forwards. The Greaver's eyes widen as the Solano rises directly into his face and discharges. And he's in mid-air, without his trusty hunk of metal for steering. And he's in mid-throw, with one arm already locked into the motion. And...

     Victor's mind flashes through options. In the span of the gun charging and the gun firing, it's already told him what he knew to be true.

         TERMINAL
     NO HOPE
YOU LOSE
             FAILURE

     The superheated ball of plasma catches the Greaver *directly* in the face, in mid-air, in mid-motion. It's like being hit with an electrified clothesline right in the eyes. The massive Greaver spins end over end, shooting forward without control. A bestial, thundering ROAR of pain erupts from his massive chest, echoing through the building. He crashes headlong into the wall, toppling brick and smashing stone as weight and velocity do the filthy work of physics' law enforcement.

     The Greaver rises from the rubble in a world of darkness. Burns blister across his face. His eyes, normally red, are seared a milky white. For the moment, Victor is blind.

     He drops to all fours almost instinctively, sniffing the air. He searches for Berserker's scent as a point of reference, then Will's, pushing through the ionized sting of his own burning flesh. Angrily, Victor bares his sharp teeth, snapping at the air like a furious predator. Even his magnetic sense is screwed-up thanks to the lightning.

     At the very least, his sharp tactical mind has a fair idea of where he is versus where everything else is. Running on all fours to heighten speed and avoid flying bullets, Victor heads, roughly, towards where Berserker was. If he can get to her, then...well, then he can probably...absorb hits for her.

     It's not much, but it's something.

Auron (236) has posed:
    The kingly voice rings in Auron's mind far longer than it should. It hits as squarely as the first did. His past failures playing in his head just reinforce it. Survivor's guilt is hard enough, but when it's thrust into one's face like this...

    Auron was never the emotionally strong one of Braska's Guardians... that was always Jecht. Jecht could always pick himself up after any knockdown, physical or otherwise. If Auron had been the one that had become the Fayth instead... he would have broken immediately, when he realized what he'd done to Braska as the Sin-possessed Final Aeon.

    Auron's strength lies not in getting back up... but in not getting knocked down to begin with. When he's knocked down... he tends to stay there. And this... is as 'down' as he's been since coming to the Multiverse. His remaining eye closes and he begins to let go, to give himself over to the unconsciousness that will bring relief from the pain. But something stops him.

    "Hey! HEY! GET UP, ya stodgy old fart!"

    It's not that regal, kingly voice. It's a rough, crass-sounding voice. But one he knows well. He doesn't know if he imagined it or not. But the familiar voice draws his splintering consciousness back into focus, and his eye snaps open. Gripping the hilt of his sword with his uninjured arm, he shifts to his knees, and then uses the sword to push himself to his feet. He wobbles. The pain is incredible. But he remembers this. Yunalesca's strike... crawling down Mt. Gagazet, bleeding... trekking across the whole Djose Continent... almost making it to Bevelle... Something else he failed at...

    He growls at the turn his own thoughts are taking. No. There's no time for that. Even if he's going to fail here too, he has to TRY. There's only one thing worse than failing, and that's not trying to begin with.

    The Core is lost, he figures, but that doesn't mean he can't conserve their assets. Meaning, his allies. So instead of going after the Core, he makes his way to where Kid is, in the courtyard with the enemy Windbags and Squirts. He winces as he shifts his foot back. He holds his sword tightly in his remaining functional hand. Concentrates all his qi into the space around him. A wind begins to kick up around him, a barely visible vortex flinging small debris and dust around. Then he takes a step forward and TURNS sharply, flinging the vortex forward, into the mass of enemies. As it travels, it changes into a massive tornado! This is likely to pick up a lot of enemies and fling them around.

    But he's not done. He leans his sword against his nonfunctional arm and retrieves his jug of Nog from his belt. It's slightly awkward because of having to reach across, but he manages. And then he tosses that jug into the tornado... where it turns the whole thing into a FIERY TORNADO OF DEATH!

    ...Yeah, that's probably how you know Auron's juuuuuuuust a little ticked.

    However... once that's done... his knees abruptly give out on him, and he crumples to the ground, his sword clattering to the ground. Failure or not, that's just all he has in him. But at least he can't hear that kingly voice anymore, can't see the filmreel of his failures playing before him like some morbid saint's vision...

The Kid has posed:
    The Kid is pushed back, under the hammer of Glutus-no, maybe Glandon. He rolls with the shove though, getting himself clear! But the fella keeps swinging, forcing Kid to keep moving, again and again. No time to mount an offense, or even get to his feet.

    Things look grim.

    And then the winds pick up. Even the biggest Gasfellas are quite light, so both Glutus and Glandon are drawn in to the whirlwind. The smaller Gasfellas have no chance, and the Squirts left homeless after Kotone's efforts are sucked in too.

    And then, heat and flame. More than the Windbags wanted.

    They burn into nothingness in the heart of the cyclone. But one thing survives, and it falls to land next to the Kid. It was the badge the former Glutus-or maybe the former Glandon-was wearing. The Head Marshal badge, worn by the leader of the Marshals since before the Ura-Caelondia War.

    Cael are-were-a sentimental people. Their treasures were not the richest of Caelondia, but gifts given from the heart, items with a lot of history. And this badge was certainly the latter. Kid always wanted to be a Marshal, but hadn't felt like he earned the chance.

    Well. No time like the present.

    He picks it up, ignoring how it burns his hand and pins it to his chest. The Core has moved, but his Crest should still lead him to it. As such, he begins to sprint, as hard as he can towards Victor and Berserker. Hammer over his shoulder, and a grenade taken from his belt. He primes and lobs the latter, high in the air and before him. As it drops down, he swings his hammer like a baseball bat. It's a clean hit!

    It flies towards the two beastfolk, exploding... right before them, likely to do little damage. But the smoke it kicks up, and the smell of gunpowder? Well, that just serves to obscure Kid's approach. He leaps through the cover, aiming to get over Victor, and grab at the Core!

William Pauwel has posed:
    Will has all of approximately an eighth of a second to confirm that the Solano's shot hit home. He has no idea what goes through the greaver's head as he fires. All he knows, from the smell of burnt flesh to the gutteral, terrible roar that Victor bellows, is that he somehow managed to get him.

    It's a small mercy, because there's literally nothing that he can do to stop himself from hurtling through the air. Will tumbles like a ragdoll, going head over heels once then twice. He tucks his head in, draws his legs in, and then...

Smash!

    He crumples into Rory, breath ripping out of his chest. He feels... something snaps. Something on the inside. He tumbles further forward, pressed against Rory's side, but that doesn't help the transfer of energy into his fragile, fragile skeleton.

Soon, they come to a stop.

Rory asks him a question...

He doesn't reply.

That's... probably not good.

Zen (822) has posed:
    In an act of brash, reckless, yet undeniably noble bravery, Alexis comes hurtling at Zen with her hockey stick. Contrary to her expectations, however, Zen doesn't keep moving around as she charges at her: she stands perfectly still. She spikes her blade into ground and kneels, holding on for dear life. So when the hockey stick makes contact with her, Zen does not go flying; she stays perfectly in place, albeit with what looks quite a lot like a fractured collarbone, and a series of uncomfortable cracks that foretell of many other broken bones.

    Yet there is martyrdom in this brazen answer to Alexis' attack. Should she have missed it before lunging at her, Alexis would thereafter find a knife lodged in her shoulder -- a knife that Zen had been holding in her opposite hand as she had come charging at her, relying on the force of Alexis' own attack to drive it into her body. She uses this knife to keep a hold of her as, in a single, fluid motion, she lifts her blade out of the ground and presses it directly against Alexis' neck.

    Immediately after, Zen opens her mouth to speak, though she is interrupted by a spurt of blood. On the next attempt she does manage to put out syllables, however, and she speaks just as boldly as she had with the Kid previously: "I have seen it: she is like me, a tamer. And you, you are her beasts of burden. Unless you wish to see your master dead, then you will let us go." Then she directs a similar message at the people of the Union. "And the same goes for you. If you have even the smallest respect for the life of your ally, then we will walk in the core's possession. No sudden moves. If you attempt to harm any of us, I will end her."

Alexis has posed:
And she not rushed to try and cut Zen off, Alexis might of realized the woman was readying a double-edge to her body blow. So while the effort to take her out was reasonably brave, it was in the end impulse spurred both by the godly prodding and remembering the woman's previous deeds.

So she gets a knife for her trouble. Maybe the bigger problem is that she didn't bring her Aegislash to use as a weapon this time, which would of negated a lot of the issue to come.

She does realize -something- is up when Zen doesn't budge, but the best she can do is jerk enough the knife goes more into her collarbone and shoulder than it does her neck. "GAAAH!" Still bloody hurts like a bitch though, and Zen still has a superior advantage over her with the leverage.

Despite having gotten bashed with a mirror, doused in water and at the end of his own reserves Redline looks right ready to still live up to his name and be just as impulsive to try and save her, but a few sharp scolding sounded pikas from the luchador clad Pikachu seems to get him to realize he'd be risking more harm to Alexis than good, and stands down with a disgruntled growl and dirty looks at pretty much everyone else.

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
    Since nothing gets in the wrestling Pikachu's direct path, lightning strikes Berserker! This SUCKS, especially weakened as she is. Scorched from the electricity and strained by the Core's drain, the murdercat comes to a screeching halt somewhere in the proximity of Zen, her brother, Gudako and Caster, although to say she lands or stops is being really generous with vocabulary.

    It's more like crashing.

    But she's alive, and the act of basically hitting the ground face first causes her to drop the Core, which presumably ends up at Zen's feet by convenience. Pro: it's not eating Berserker anymore! Con: it's on the ground. Pro: maybe it's more powerful than a regular Core now that it feasted on a Servant practically to death? Gudako would be curious to see how much power that thing has stored, and how much more it can store.

    Could be a neat side project.
    Just grab a Core and stuff it full, see what happens.

    Meanwhile, Caster has basically hit the ground again from the Charizard smashing her mirror back at her. The blue-robed Servant is bruised and burnt, and not looking like she had a good day at all. But the ceasefire, and Victor's statement of suddenly being blind, cause her to breathe a sigh of relief and then hop over to him.

    Caster attempts to heal Victor!
    It... does not work.
    Caster attempts to buff Victor's sight!
    It... does not work.

    This is extremely confusing, and so Caster is just going to try to direct him the best she can while mentally making a note to ask why that did not do anything at all. Just, you know, not where the Union can hear it to use it against him.

    Gudako is still behind cover! She approves of Zen's trick greatly, but since she's still all 8D you can't really discern the change. Maybe she's smiling a bit wider? Ah well. She's not about to complain they have a way out when both of her Servants are totalled.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone has had trials of her own but prehaps today was not one of the intended ones for her? Still she's not ab9out to forsake her friends and leave the kid snapping out in the wind. Or prehaps supporting the others here is a trial of her own, prehaps that is the case? She watcesh the vortex just suck up everything, there's so much fire she can't help but stare at what they have cause. She looks to see the badge which has endured everthing.

"That should be on good hands now...wait Kid?! Your hand."

Kotone seems quite concerned but she's going to keep focued on what she ahs to do she looks as he launches the grenade like a baceball of death. She moves to sprint after him, deeking in and out as she goes worse for some? She seem to vanish from vuiew, but if you look really chard you can catch notice of the cyborg moving while she's effected by her optic Cameo.

<<Rory?! Are you all right there's more than just a rush for the core going on here!">>

The Kid has posed:
    Kid leaps over Victor and Berserker, in time to see the Core hit the ground. It's right there, he can grab it! He-

    He looks up at Zen's words, and sees Alexis being held at knifepoint. Her challenge rings out, making him freeze. He has no doubt that she'll do it. The question is... will he listen? Somehow, he feels like the old man wouldn't. He's got a ruthless streak to him, Kid can tell. Zulf wouldn't, he would surrender. But what would a Kid do?

    He looks to Alexis, remembers how she saved his life from a fall when they first met. The scales ain't even. Not to mention, a Kid shouldn't have sucha ruthless streak. For that reason, he backs away from the Core. "Take it, Cousin of Ura," he snarls, glaring daggers at Zen. "But, I'm comin' for it. And when I do, I'll bring that Terminal down around your head."

    He turns and storms off down the path to tend to his allies. To Will and Auron, he tips some Healing Water into their mouths and onto their wounds, enough to stabilize them. Pointedly ignoring Zen and her allies as he tends to everyone.

    And on the howling wind, there is the noise of a bemused noble chuckle, a delighted child's laugh, a sickly 'hrmph,' and a disappointed whinny.

Zen (822) has posed:
    Somehow, Zen manages to pick up the core passed by Berserker and drag herself toward the warpgate with Alexis in tow. She keeps the blade held to her neck with every step, constantly watching those of the Union to be sure they are adhering to the conditions she had set forth. Then, assuming she is allowed to make her way to the gate itself, she lets Alexis go. As promised.

    "Remember this," She says, her gaze locking on to the Kid even as he averts his eyes, "justice will always prevail. Take it a hundred years, vengeance always comes to the oppressors. The Calamity is that vengeance, and we are its heralds."

    And with that, assuming she is allowed to do so, she retreats into the warpgate. On the other side, Gudako and Victor would see her promptly collapse.

Alexis has posed:
Alexis manages to sort of stagger after instead of getting dragged, if only to keep her shoulder from hurting even worse. She grits her teeth, which is about the only reason she doesn't have anything to say. Up until Zen finally lets go, and she slumps to her knees. Immeadiately she grabs a hand to her shoulder to help put some pressure on and keep the bleeding down. For what good it does, it's already soaked through her shirt.

"... Sorry," she murmurs, mostly to the Kid. "I remembered her last time, and it," pauses to wince, and shift her weight away from leaning on that side. ".. Got the better of me." As did other things.

Rory White (673) has posed:
"That's a no to me." Rory can tell a seriously injured young man when she's crashed into by one! Really! But she's kind of... immobilized.

    The Strange Machine she's loaded into clinks and clunks, insectile legs snapping back into place as her sensors recalibrate. SOME of the Flexbot's subsystems go through a full reboot. But diagnostics kick in soon and the reshaping begins. In under a minute it's reshaped into something vaguely resembling a HOSPITAL BED-COCKROACH under William. The legs slide along its surface and snap back into place.

    <<One of our own is down. Severe injuries. Possibly internal bleeding. Will need to evacuate him and get him to a Healing Vat for a proper diagnosis and treatment! I suspect broken bones and worse. If this is the Gods' ideas of Divine Intervention, deciphering what they INTEND here will take some thought! How are you holding up? We seem to have encountered Mission Fail.>>

Auron (236) has posed:
    Auron managed to fall onto his side thankfully, instead of on his face. Turning him over would have been a chore. He's surprisingly heavy for not really being that big. The Healing Water does its work well, and the bleeding of his mangled arm slows to a manageable level. It also parts the darkness that had fallen over his awareness, and he wakes with a quiet sound of surprise and confusion.

    It takes him a moment to get his bearings again. He shifts... and hisses in pain. That's right. His arm got hit. He forgot about that. Slowly, trying not to aggravate the limb any worse, he gets to his feet, again using the sword to push himself up. He nods to Kid. "...Thank you," he says quietly. He looks to the warpgate with a hard look. And then he offers, also to Kid, "...Apologies." He's referring to the loss of the Core. And then he turns to the others, to check their states.

    William's state is the first noted, and Auron winces. It's not his arm. It's his pride. He was trying to protect William. That... didn't turn out so well, did it? Alexis is injured too... they all are, aren't they, in varying degrees? Auron being... well, AURON, he starts going back over it. Wondering where he could have done better.

    But that's just it. He couldn't. Increasingly, the incredible things of the Multiverse are leaving him behind. He, with his swords and riding birds, is increasingly finding it a struggle just to keep on even footing.

    And he's beginning to realize there isn't much he can do about it...

Alexis has posed:
Alexis manages to get some of her usual spunk out between winces as she gets to her feet. "Then we'll just have to try harder next time." She feels bad, but at the same time, she's not the sort to let it drag her down completely. You get knocked down, you get back up. Repeatedly if you must. Arguably that takes more courage than dealing with impulsiveness does.

Despite being on the last slivers of his own health Redline uses an arm to brace her as they make their way back to the gateway. And the Pikachu disappears back into her bag, if only to find something to put over her shoulder until they get back to base.

William Pauwel has posed:
Will makes no noises when he's hefted onto the Rory-gurney.

He's kind of unconscious. Also possibly bleeding internally. Less so now that he's gotten a healing potion, but still, squishy human bodies do not take well to being pitched like a caber.