958/Assault on Heaven's Gates

Assault on Heaven's Gates
Date of Scene:	11 November 2014
Location:	Earth-1111
Synopsis:	In an attempt to figure out how the war in her world works and solidify her role in it, Beli turns her attention toward the Paradiso-controlled city of Shanghai, home to the largest population on Earth. Somehow, she will deny Paradiso a chunk of its soul resources...the only question is how.
Cast of Characters:	Crys Gattz, Staren, 238, 255, 481, 570, Ayako Hasekawa

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Beli Klum (238) has posed:
    Shanghai, China: with a population of over 24 million, the bustling city proves to hold the single largest concentration of people on Earth. In a war that makes use of souls as resources to form troops, then, such a location would no doubt be a choice target for anyone.

    Right now, it's under the possession of Paradiso. This is obvious enough just by looking at it; the entire city seems graced by a resplendent light. The sky, even at this dimming hour, is a soft light blue, and though night approaches, what shadows are cast by the city's towering buildings seem less dark than they should be. Everything gleams gently, as if suffused in pure white light. If a place could be called 'blessed', this city would certainly seem to fit the word.

    Even the people seem strangely pleasant. Nobody travelling through the busy streets would hear the blare of a siren or voices lifted in anger. People simply aren't interested in aggression, it seems, and if one weren't aware of the cause of this, it would no doubt seem like an unexpectedly wonderful place to live.

    The source of all this beauty, of course, is the towering gate that sits in the center of the city, larger than the tallest skyscrapers. The frame is formed from what appears to be marble, shaped like angels and spirits whirling and dancing together in their ascension to the top, with a billowing light blue smoke serving as the portal in the center of the gate. This, unsurprisingly, must be the gate that leads to Paradiso, serving as a symbol of Heaven's conquest and a transit point for reinforcements to pass into the city should it fall under attack.

    And Beli, flying on six black wings, is gliding between the towering buildings, heading straight toward the gate. A few people look up at her from the sidewalks and streets, some pointing and making remarks, but while none of them seem particularly fond of her (judging by their looks of distaste and annoyance), they also don't seem interested in stopping her. Better to ignore the thing they dislike; maybe she'll go away then.

    Beli herself isn't concerned with the looks she gets. She ignores them, continuing straight ahead until she reaches the gate at the heart of the city. There she swoops down, banking up at the last moment to flap her wings and gently alight on the ground several feet in front of the heavenly gate. Her wings fold onto her back, her eyes narrow as she looks up at the gate's swirling fog...and she waits, hoping her allies arrive soon. Before the angels do, at least.

Crys Gattz has posed:
Crys Gattz fighting angels? That was something she was used to and she hat to admit at least the air didn't require a full hazard suit to deal with. Still the price was likely too high. Crys was here she kinda felt out of place. While not off the darkness she's been touched by it rather forcefully long go and who knows what the lingering traces of that would get from the angels not that she's thinking much about that.

She's walking along the street at a sadate pace her one good eye looking about. She's seen very peaceful soceities like the Federation of Planets, but even they still had problems criminals the odd malconent and the like. The entire place while wonderful to look at made her wonder as she looked about she had only some of the details about this world and would likely have to ask Beli more later. Though her style of dress and her eatrs get a mix of looks from people, some with intrest and some with dislikel because she's clearly not human, yet disturbingly close to being one.

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako flies behind Beli, riding side-saddle on her broomstick. She's not particularly fast in the air, so she falls behind Beli quite quickly. Nonetheless, she looks downwards at the city gently glowing white light. "Ooh... It's quite pretty. But..." Her gaze turns back outside the city as she notes night starting to fall. "Not right at the same time... night needs to fall too!" She nods her head once as she notes the gate.

    When Beli suddenly swoops down, Ayako hops off her broomstick while grabbing it with her right hand. And of course, floats down to gently land on her feet next to Beli. She begins to absentmindedly sweep the ground with her broom as she glances around curiously...

Setsuko Kaminagi (255) has posed:
    If the heavenly forces that stand watch over Shanghai didn't have an inkling of impending attack before, they do now. Setsuko Kaminagi's divine presence is stronger than ever, a clear beacon 'visible' for dozens of miles to anyone with the senses to pick it up. There is no disguising her approach, a pure divinity that speaks of neither holiness nor profanity, but simply lies in the colorless domain of 'the oncoming storm'. The demigod knows that she cannot conceal herself, and so she moves as fast as she can to reach the city before she can be intercepted.

    There are those who might ask the swordswoman why she would bother coming astride her usual Union-issue hoverbike when she herself is now capable of flight. To those people she would respond with a simple rhetorical question: 'Why ride into battle astride a charger when your own legs serve just as well?' The hoverbike is capable of more speed than she herself can manage by a fair margin, and while she doesn't dare risk it in the actual fighting, it's at least worthwhile for getting her there swiftly. As soon as she's over the city, however, she taps a button on the yoke, and then simply turns and leans out of the seat.

    Months ago, this would be the precursor to a demigod aerial drop, a plummet from above that dropped her right into the thick of the action. Today, she simply hangs in the air, aloft on her own power and overlooking the city. Both announcing her presence simply by being present, and taking a look over the city's layout, considering lines of attack, likely choke points, places where her blade might be needed. They're going to have to figure out how they actually take this city; having a rough idea of the layout in her head will be incredibly useful.

Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
    Kimiko is not here, or at least, she's not here in any form most would immediately recognize as her. Instead, there's an armored, humanoid form which could almost be one of Paradiso's angels. The armor makes a complete covering from crown to toe, with overlapping plates covering the joints, and the face entirely obscured by a blank, opaque visor. The armor's surface is a pure white with elegant, flowery engravings that glow with a soft, silver light, in the same color as the transparent wings extending a short distance from her back, and the halo over her head. The feet are the least 'humanoid' portion, coming to points that should cause some difficulty in walking, though the wearer seems to have an excellent sense of balance as she moves through the city in long, loping bounds.

    Around the figure's waist is a knight's belt and scabbard, the sword sheathed there showing less of the angelic influence in its silvered metal, and more of the Puella Magi that summoned it.

    She comes to a stop near the portal, coming smoothly, if slowly, to a stop, then standing with legs apart, looking up at the cloud-like transference point--if that can be inferred from the motion of her helmet--and then taking a few, careful steps back, before coming again to a rest near Beli.

Staren has posed:
    War.

    This is war for people's very souls. And it's a war where even a single battle can make a difference.

    At the front is the Star Hawk, a 40-foot-tall mechanical man of metal, which stomps up to and through the city, the ground shaking with each step. And behind it... A platoon or two of mechanical spiders larger than a man, supported by the mass-produced, animated metal unicorn statue guardians, and several larger spider constructs shaped of crude clumps of stone and earth held together by magic, and several more humanoid shapes, maybe ten feet tall, made of stone or dirt or whatever was handy.

    This is a war, so Staren brought an army.

Kirika (481) has posed:
    Welcome to Shanghai. Kirika arrives atop a purring motorcycle, wheeling onto the scene with a pair of goggles protecting her eyes as she joins up with the others when she figures out where they're gathering. She switches the bike off, then hops off with sword in hand.

    Offering a bow and a stoic nod to Beli, Kaminagi, and company, she then rests a hand on the pommel of her sword as she eyes the arrival of Staren's constructs. "Curious." her world has those, and they are plentiful. So it's not like she's surprised when Staren arrives with them, but the fact they all bow to his will is something notable in of itself.

    Her crimson eyes glance up at the gate with a grim look, steeling herself for a battle with for the ages. The civilians are barely acknowledged, beyond a single token glance. "Lady forgive your servant for what we are about to do, our sins are great." She says at last in a soft tone, closing her eyes momentarily.

    Fighting the Holy Host definitely is one of those 'I'm so going to hell for this' things.

Beli Klum (238) has posed:
    The arrival of others alongside Beli certainly doesn't go unnoticed by the populace of Shanghai. This is, after all a relatively normal, modern Earth; cybernetics, witches, hoverbikes, and hulking robots are completely out of the ordinary, at least when not in connection to Paradiso or Inferno. And, considering how news has spread about the last time small groups of strange people arrived in various cities around the world, most seem to be assuming that this is not a good sign.

    At least Kimiko's arrival seems to still the people's concerns somewhat. Surprised as they are by the armored girl's rush through the streets, she looks remarkably like the very angels that have claimed the city, though not like any they recognize. Perhaps she's some kind of new angel, sent to ensure that the hybrid aberration doesn't cause any more trouble. Whatever the case, they begin quickly clearing away from where the group is headed, certain that nothing good will come of what is about to transpire.

    As each person settles into place, Beli offers them a brief nod and smile of greeting. She's still not certain about how to go about this whole thing, and it shows in the nervousness on her expression, but, still, she tries to keep firm in her resolve. This was her choice, and she will have to see it through to its end.

    Her wings spread again, and as she ascends higher above the ground, her feathers take on a crimson sheen to match the blood-red flames that form in the centers of her halos. Anyone sensitive to such energies would be able to feel that she has shifted to purely demonic powers, no doubt to be far more effective against their next enemies than anything else she has may be.

    "I am not sure who will come to meet us," she calls, her voice echoing with its strange angelic and demonic reverberations, "but I will try to help however I can. If one of the archangels comes to meet us personally, it will be a projection that will not be as strong as their full power. Keep an eye out for anyone who looks...well, more significant than the rest."

    Not even a moment after Beli finishes, the air fills with a sound of music. Harps, specifically, plucking and strumming a beautiful harmony that grows louder and louder with every passing moment. It seems to be coming from the gate, whatever it is.

Beli Klum (238) has posed:
    BGM: http://goo.gl/9AL6S5

    And soon, the source of the music makes itself known. Dozens of angels emerge from the fog, their forms constructed from many hovering, opalescent crystals arranged into a vaguely humanoid shape, but without any piece completely attaching to another. The only piece that remains completely static is a single radiant orb in their heart that sends a constant glimmer through their crystalline bodies. Two 'wings' spread from their backs, stretching out with crystals hovering along their lengths like feathers. The halos that hover above their featureless heads are decorated by dangling crystals like an assortment of wind chimes, and in place of legs they have similar arrangements of crystals that trail down beneath them. Their hands, however, are the most abstract, for they are simply assortments of crystals hovering around a central orb in no discernable shape, constantly orbiting and whirling.

    Beli's frown deepens. One of the angels speaks in a voice that thrums like a gorgeous harp, though nonetheless booms out as if in command. "Whatever your business is here, aberration, you and your allies have no place. Our lawgiver may have fallen, but that does not change that you have committed the greatest of crimes in the premature deaths of the archangels and demon lords!"

    The angels' 'hands' shift, then, changing to what appear to be weapons: swords, mostly, though some arrange into halberds, spears, and bladed whips instead. "In the name of our Lord, Gabriel, the Powers will hereby condemn you all for your sins against our world!"

    The Powers don't seem interested in talking the matter out. Without any further hesitation, they spread out, rushing at each person who stands in front of the gate. Angelic weapons are swung to cut down each offender, with Staren's large suit drawing several in particular due to its size and the reinforcements behind it. Those weapons are remarkably sharp, too, and more durable than one might expect from crystals.

Staren has posed:
    "Yeah, yeah, whatever. In the name of humanity, I hereby condemn /you/ all for stealing its future and sealing its potential!" When they move to attack, he opens fire -- The gatling railgun on the right arm, and homing beams of light shoot from the leg packs -- but he can't catch all of them and he seems to be saving his missiles for reinforcements. Though his constructs surge foreward and his mecha's left arm manifests an energy shield of some sort, he can't really protect the whole mecha from hits. He hopes it's tough enough to tank some of this...

    The clockwork spiders, meanwhile, spew acid at the angels, and the humanoid golems charge forward, smashing with feet, fists, and crude metal clubs, while the spider-golems try to crush with their great stone legs. The metal unicorns, lastly, try to interpose themselves in the way of the angels' attacks, soaking hits for the other constructs to some extent.

    When Beli says to use engulfing attacks, Staren stops firing the railgun and readies his missile launcher -- great balls of plasma fire soon explode near any angels that aren't too close to his allies or constructs!

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako nods her head once when everyone has gathered. "Better do this now!" She quickly spins in place, brushing the ground in a wide circle around her. Her broom's brush is then waved towards everyone! "Water Bubble!" Spheres of water form around everyone for a moment and then fade away. Yes, even Staren's army gets Ayako's basic barrier that really doesn't do anything but be a foundation for her other barriers.

    Ayako sits on her floating broom sidesaddle again once Beli ascends a bit and looks up at her. She nods her head slowly. "Umm... alright..." And then the harp music suddenly appears from the gate. Her eyes go straight to the angels and her head inclines to the side gently. And then they suddenly attack everyone! "H-hey! Geez! Don't just attack people all of a sudden!"

    Ayako floats back quickly with a small burst of mist and then quickly gestures around herself with her hands. "Abyssal Water of Coctyus!" A water barrier forms around Ayako that greatly slows the weapons suddenly brandished in her direction by the angels to give Ayako chance to dodge or get behind someone else!

Setsuko Kaminagi (255) has posed:
    Floating above the city as she is, Setsuko has a high-angle view of the Powers' arrival, watching in simple silence and listening. The arrival of the powers brings no more response from her than an arched eyebrow at first. Her expression is nothing but calm resolve, and their condemnation does not move the demigod in the least. Even when they form weapons and launch themselves to attack, she is utterly still in the air-

    Until the moment a sword-wielding opponent drives a stab straight at her. Her hand moves with superhuman speed-

    And the blade meets what seems to be a wall of metal. The full-sized blade of Zanjintou takes shape in less than a second, and the first couple of feet are all she needs to stop the Power's stab outright, turning herself into a blade lock with the massive bulk of her sword fully horizontal. Only then does she speak. "You're the first opponent against whom I'll be testing this blade's full power. Don't disappoint me."

    And then the demigod turns and /shoves/, pushing herself out of the clash to give a couple meters' distance. "I suspect that you have none - but all the same, I ask your name, if any. I am Setsuko Kaminagi, Major in the Union Armed Forces Elite Division. And this sword-"

    She sweeps her massive weapon around, holding it out behind herself in a ready stance. "-is called Zanjintou."

    And then she lunges forward, bringing the colossal blade in a sweeping horizontal slash of sheer, simple brutality.

Kirika (481) has posed:
    "You have come to dominate this land and its people, seeking to disrupt the harmony your God has created! You would impose order on those you could be-" And Kirika's train of thought is derailed the moment Staren throws diplomacy to the wind in favor of badass one-liners and explosions.

    Kirika herself is less than comfortable facing off against the Holy Host, but judging by what Beli has said before, this is a regretably necessary course of action to be made.

    The minute Staren launches off five-rounds rapid at the powers, Kinugiri is removed from its sheath, and Kirika coils up before making a massive leap, running off into the fray with sword drawn.

    Her blade raises up just as Kirika sees an attack her way.

    "It is time for a devil's blade to slay an angel, regretable as it may be to do so! It-"

    A heavenly sword meets steel forged by a masterful smith, infused with the magics of a demigoddess of Kasun. The blade glows with red inscriptions, and Kirika grunts in effort as she fights to stay standing. "-'s name is Kinugiri."

Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
    Kimiko--as that angelic figure certainly is--looks up, first, to see Setsuko arrive. Seeing Setsuko fly on her own is still a new thing. The arriving army catches her attention next; those are something she's never actually seen before. Those arriving after her each get a nod, somewhat more pronounced with a glowing, white halo above her head to make that slight bob with her head. Once done, she stands straight once more, and moves her right hand to rest against the pommel of her sword.

    It's a subtly aggressive stance, one that knows of conflict soon to occur. It will likely do little to ease the minds of the citizenry, whatever they thought of the "angel's" arrival. Their peace was somewhat distant in her mind, though she hopes fervently that they will not suffer greatly for what must be done here.

    The town's guardians appear, in a form as alien as she could have hoped for. She would be confused longer were it not for Beli's explanations. As it is, she'll take heed of that prior experience, as well as Setsuko's stratagem, should an opportunity for that well-present itself.

    "We do not bow," comes the calm voice from behind the blanked visor, as one leg moves back and she lowers into a poised crouch, "to your Law." Her sword is brandished high. "Tyrants are unneeded."

    Her blade strikes. She slashes, thrusts, twists and carves arcs through the air that seem to defy laws of motion. The soft glow over her armor is bright, now, shining a silver-white visible even through a distance in daylight. Still, for all her magic, it is as she said--difficult. She's not striking for the cores of her nearest opponents, but forcing motion to avoid, and avoiding in turn. Those blades that come at her strike into a swiftly summoned kite shield sharply enough to embed, but she allows nothing to reach through to her with more than a glancing blow, forcefully turning her shield to present unmarred surface to each strike and make it that much harder to withdraw any crystal that strikes into it.

    She dances this way and that on pointed feet, the difficulties of balance simply another facet handled by her battle trance as she attracts as much attention as possible. As many foes as she can manage to pull toward her and frustrate at once, between her shield and her sword, before she'll unleash her true weapon for this round.

    Her sword strikes, but in the moment it changes direction, it also changes form. A massive hammer, its haft some eight feet long and head large enough to take out a man's torso, swings in a complete circuit to crash into the core of every angel within her reach.

Crys Gattz has posed:
Crys Gattz sees the angels they are not how the humans, CASTs and newmans see suicvh things on her world. No they seem alien almost somewhat rmeind her of the falz she looks at them for a moment. She folds her arms.

"Your war should have ended with ... the fall of your leaders and tell me?! What of your sins against the world and it's people?!"

She summons a weapon it's a huge hulking blade it's entirely made of metal and one might see faint letters near the hilt but it's too hard to make out. Her one good eyes narrow she gets ready to enter the fight. The blade it old very old it's origins are unknown yet ths blade has found it's way into Crys hands almost like it had wanted to fight the Falz with her so long ago.

She bring up the 3weapon attemping to use it to defend herself.

She breaks into a run with her large blade and tries to get in close enough to one of the angels to strike out with all the force she can muster.

Beli Klum (238) has posed:
    The Powers assaulting Staren meet with mixed results. On the one hand, the gatling railgun is too fast for them to avoid completely; its shots pierce through their crystal bodies in more than one spot before the angels shift out of the way, forcing Staren to adjust his aim if he wants to hit them. The homing beams are slightly more effective, for while the Powers suddenly disperse their forms into storms of crystals to let the beams pass through them now and then, a few simply try to shift out of the way, suffering chunks of crystal being blasted away once the curving beams adjust to strike them.

    Fortunately, his shield seems durable enough to prevent their assaults from doing too much to him directly. Whips lash at it from a distance, slashing and crashing against its surface from afar as the Powers are held at bay by Staren's constructs. Their thrusting fists and crushing clubs are avoided by further dispersing of the Powers' bodies, but it's not perfect; one club outright crushes the heart of a Power whose dodge was misguided, shattering it with the crack of glass and causing its crystals to tumble to the ground. Its whole form soon vanishes in a mote of light, and a white, ethereal orb rushes from where it was over to Beli. The others prove more skilled: razor-sharp swords seem more than enough to puncture and slice the armor of the constructs in front of them, and while some of the horde of Powers find themselves drenched in acid and plasma that consumes their crystalline bodies, they are relentless, pushing themselves into the constructs with little care for their own safety.

    Ayako's water barrier proves to be a surprise to the two Powers that rush toward her. They find themselves abruptly slowed to a crawl, their descending swords falling much slower than before and giving plenty of time for her to evade and find somewhere safe to run to. She won't have too much time, though, at least after that barrier is gone: the Powers have no interest in letting her go that easily, and the moment they find themselves free of the barrier's slowing effects, they rush at her again with musical battle cries to try and stab her through wherever she runs.

    The Powers that have been drawn to Setsuko are similarly and abruptly hindered. The one that rushed ahead of the trio finds its thrusting sword suddenly halted against Setsuko's much larger blade, and while they lack faces to express with, the angel's gestures of abrupt frustration and confusion clearly mark its surprise before it begins pushing against the demigod's sword.

    It is, of course, a futile effort. The Power is soon hurled back toward its companions, though a beat of its wings stops it before it crashes right into them. Its voice echoes contempt through the elegance of harps as it snaps back to Setsuko. "We are the Powers; we need no name, not under our Lord's grace!"

    The sword swings around, but it doesn't find a clear purchase. Instead, the three Powers disperse into a storm of crystals as the massive weapon passes between them, the blade cracking against a few crystals in passing. Rather than arrange into their separate forms, however, the trio shifts and expands into something much larger: a single giant Power formed from three, with all three hearts orbiting in its chest and swords large enough to match Setsuko's forming from each hand. The giant angel lifts its swords before bringing them crashing down on Setsuko. "Now fall, and see the folly of your alliance!"

Beli Klum (238) has posed:
    A Power has found itself locked with Kirika, too, its joined hands formed into a crystal halberd of elegant beauty. The weapon's blade is locked just at Kirika's sword, but the angel can push it no further down, not against Kirika's strength. Its voice of harps rings out again. "Our God is the one who leads us to our victory! The Lord Michael shall see to it that darkness is cast from this world, and in our unity, we shall find peace in virtue, not the storms of chaos that aberration embodies!" Abruptly, the angel shifts; its halberd is hoisted up and out of its brief lock, then swung in a horizontal slash to cleave right through Kirika.

    The angels, meanwhile, are briefly confused in the face of Kimiko's presence. Her form is angelic, but if she stands with Beli, then she must be an imposter of some sort; her words claim as much. That realization only seems to draw their ire further, as several of the angels rush toward her with weapons at the ready. As planned, six come flying after her, prepared to assault with crystal blades. Strikes come from one angle after another, the angels pursuing her relentlessly as she retreats, blocks, thrusts to force their brief splitting and reforming in a constant delay.

    And then she strikes, her hammer swinging around to shatter three of the angels who are too caught by surprise to adjust in time. Three more souls rush toward Beli as their crystal forms disperse in light, while the other three split in time to avoid the crushing hammer striking at their hearts. The resulting storm rushes immediately toward Kimiko again, reforming just in time to thrust at her from three different angles as she's recovering from her last swing.

    More shouts are directed from Crys to the angels, and as they rush toward her, they respond in angered harp songs. "Not all of our leaders have fallen, for the grace of Paradiso is not so easily blotted out! Our Lord Gabriel still stands, and by this night's end, he will see you eliminated for your trespasses!" Bladed whips crash against Crys's weapon, but find no purchase on her, and she proceeds to strike against the four that have chosen her as a target. Her huge weapon strikes at them, but one Power's sacrifice helps to dampen the strike, as it forms a shield from its whole body to protect its companions. The strike shatters its form and sends it tumbling away in dozens of pieces, but it grants just enough time for the others to fall back before their lashing whips fall on Crys again from afar.

    And what of Beli? The rephaite is currently dealing with a few herself, lashing at them with bursts of scarlet hellfire and swirls of darkness to confuse and disperse their forms. A few strikes hit her, drawing black blood from fresh wounds, but she doesn't allow them to slow her down. She flies, ducks, weaves to try and avoid the brunts of their attacks, all while retaliating where she can against her assailants. The souls that fly toward her from the successes of her allies simply vanish.

Staren has posed:
    Staren hasn't seen these allies in a fight in a long time, if ever. Kimiko is like a flying angel now, and Setsuko has a giant sword? Okay. He chalks it up to the Multiverse being the Multiverse. He doesn't know it's supposed to be surprising!
    "You can't help it, can you? You're bound by your programming." Staren observes somberly. "Well, then we have no choice but to come to blows, until the hazard you present to humanity's freedom is no more!"

    Staren's shield is like the projected-energy version of a physical shield, as in the sort of thing a fighter or knight might carry on their arm, rather than a fully-encompassing energy field. Staren tries to block attacks with it, but those that make it past scratch and tear at his armor. Nothing severe... for now.

    Staren's retaliation is to fire out another salvo of missiles, seeking out angels that are clumped together or too far from the front lines and then exploding in great plasma fireballs!

    New commands are radioed out to the constructs -- The clockwork spiders stay back and spit acid, while the rest focus more on being a defensive line than going on the offensive, though they try to push the angels back when they can (they can't fly? That makes this easier...). Crystal weapons that are sharp enough may slice off parts of the golems -- hacking off a limb or two maims them, while successfully cleaving the torso of one causes it to collapse lifelessly.

Crys Gattz has posed:
Crys Gattz weapon clashe with the angel's weapon, and moves quickly twisting her body and moving to keep her self from being able to get one good hit in it's not enough to gt the one she was after.

"Go a head, my fuse is short anyway."

Crys twists again as the whips come in but this time she's not quite quick enough and the hit her some of them are dampened by the photon field others of them are not as she's hit pretty hard and she's also bleeding a bit given they managd to bypass the field that protects her. She still standing and she raises one hand off the blde and mutters somethingl.

"RA Foie!"

There;'s an explosion of flame about her homing in on those angels that have got too close but it's clear they got her good.

Setsuko Kaminagi (255) has posed:
    "Disappointing," Setsuko replies simply. "I would have expected warriors championing a force of goodness and light to hold more respect for their opponents." She allows the mass of Zanjintou to carry her through a half turn, and then shifts the momentum to dance through the air back away, all in one fluid movement that leaves only the smallest of gaps for attack. By the time she's retaken her 'stance' in the air, her trio of opponents have taken a much larger, singular shape, one swinging weapons each a match in size for her own blade. Size, to be certain... but not power.

    The demigod whips Zanjintou up in a lightning-fast block, planting one hand on the flat of the blade and letting its sheer surface area serve as a shield against the two-handed overhead strike. Despite her utterly inferior size, she has the strength to stop the attack cold, arms quaking briefly with the effort of holding it steady. But only briefly. For after just a moment of that block, she allows Zanjintou's full-sized blade to disperse entirely hurling herself right up through the gap between swords, close enough for the crystals to scrape shallow cuts all along her shoulders as she passes. But it allows her to lunge up above the Power's guard, and in the next heartbeat, Zanjintou has retaken its massive shape, and the swordswoman hauls her sword around in a diagonal power slash aimed straight for her opponent's 'head'.

Staren has posed:
    "They AREN'T championing a force of goodness and light, that's why we're fighting them!" Staren observes, to Setsuko.

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Another blast of mist flies from the brush of Ayako's broom as she takes the opportunity to fly off on her broom in the direction of Staren's constructs. Her sphereical barrier goes with her to help her evade any pursuers. She moves towards the constructs, trying to lead any tunnel-visioned Powers into the defensive strikes of the constructs. It seems she's trying to get behind the defensive line!

    As she flies over the wall of constructs, her right hand goes over her head and grabs her witch hat. She flings it down towards them-and the barrier goes with it! Upon hitting the ground, the sphereical barrier quickly turns into a single concave dark bluish shield to help fortify the line.

    Once behind the constructs, she pulls another witch hat out of her muffler and plops it onto her head. She then cups her hands in front of her body and starts focusing. It's going to take a moment to make enough gray Healing Water for these defenders!

Kirika (481) has posed:
    "Your god is mistaken." Kirika growls simply. She is having none of this dogmatic shit, regardless of what she was taught about rights to religion. Right now, what matters is taking that Power out.

    She mutters something unladylike under her breath as the Power slashes its halberd at her, moving to evade by leaping back. Its weapon gives it a hell of a lot better range against her blade, and she knows for a fact fighting someone with a polearm when all you have is three feet of steel is suicidal, magic sword or no.

    So she plays it smart, backing far as she can afford to before launching a firebolt the Power's say, then another for good measure.

Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
    Kimiko is good at little if not at knowing how to roll with a blow. Sadly, the lack of feet make this particularly difficult. Ankles are useful things, and she rather lacks them at the moment, as hindered as they would be by any armor. The storm of crystals is confusing to look at, and yet more confusing to determine how to counter, even with reflexes as sharp as hers. When her strike fails to bring down more than half her intended targets, her best effort is to strike the ground, using her weapon as a lever throw herself back and out of the way.

    The hammer is large, and her speed is slowed. Rolling with the strike as she is, her opponents' weapons still reach her, if at reduced force. She's about to find out just how well angelic armor stands to angelic weapons--though in this case, she's little expectation. Those crystals look too physical to be worried over mystical alignments.

    Yet, it holds, magic reinforcing what material may lack. She feels the sharp impacts, but is spared the more agonizing (and distressingly familiar) feeling of sharp implements being thrust through her chest. She's knocked yet further back, to be sure, but she lets herself fly, knowing this will make it that much harder to penetrate her defenses in a single blow. Her hammer is lost from her grip, and her "wings" are sadly useless for actually stabilizing her imminent crash.

    On the other hand, her grip is strong and dextrous. She thrusts her fist into the ground hard enough to break concrete, and certainly hard enough to slow, then halt her fall, turning her momentum into a spinning kick aimed with lethal intent at her nearest pursuer. She spares only one more strike with the opposite leg before leaping back to her feet, such as they are, and then taking off at a full run. Not toward her remaining opponents, no. Her run seems to ignore them entirely as she fairly flies across the battlefield, taking a circuitous, dodging route that finally takes her to Kirika's opponent, against whom she aims a blow of her first--which has suddenly sprouted a decidedly wicked set of spikes, as if grafted over the gauntlet's angelic base.

Beli Klum (238) has posed:
    Unfortunately, the angels do, in fact, fly. Lacking legs as they do, that seems to be about all they /can/ do. Nonetheless, Staren's forward push is effective; the salvo of missiles manage to get clumps of the angels, shattering crystals and cores alike to send more souls Beli's way, and those that were already weakened by acid and plasma are only eaten away further until they find themselves force to fall back. Directly pushing through Staren's forces isn't working, apparently. Time to shift tactics.

    As if on cue, several more Powers emerge from the gate to replace the forces that have fallen in battle, joined by those that have given chase to the fleeing Ayako. Those fighting Staren fly up, rising above the scientist and his own army, and, once joined by the new forces, they disperse. The storm of sharp crystals, however, isn't mean to defend, but attack. They fall from above in a spreading rain of blades, each crystal relatively small but falling with such density and speed that they prove to be a great risk nonetheless as they try to fall over Staren's entire army, including Staren himself and Ayako. The cores, meanwhile, remain floating higher above the army, hopefully in safety.

    Crys's explosion of flame is another effective assault. The roiling flames blast into the grouping of Powers, rushing through their assembled forms to engulf their cores in roiling fire. It's clearly effective in the way they give pained harp songs, their cores cracking and soon shattering under the intense heat. Three more souls are sent toward Beli, but Crys is given only a moment to breathe: two more Powers emerge from the gate and immediately disperse, hurling their crystals at her in a concentrated storm like razor-sharp bullets.

    The giant Power assaulting Setsuko finds its strike blocked, but only for a moment; in that brief recovery, Setsuko suddenly rushes between the twin swords as they continue their cleaving descent. Before the Power can adjust, Setsuko is right in its face, and a quick cleave of her sword slashes right through its head, cutting through many crystals in its assault. The angel gives a disjointed thrum of harps as it staggers backward, though its head doesn't seem to fall apart. Rather, its whole /body/ shifts, dispersing into another storm of color that swirls around Setsuko before settling into the form of a gigantic serpent with is cores serving as three 'eyes' on its head. The angel attempts to constrict Setsuko in its coils, but those are not only crushing; the mass is bladed as well, slicing and grinding with every squeeze it offers.

    The first bolt fired by Kirika is avoided, of course, by the dispersing Power, but it's the second that finds its mark. Dispersing as it does exposes the Power's core, and while it tries to shift out of the way, that blast shatters through a good half of it mass, leaking light and mist from the wound. Just before the angel can reform, however, Kimiko comes in with a blow that shatters the rest of the core, sending the Power's crystals tumbling to the ground before its whole form disperses in light. Another soul is sent to Beli...and several more Powers emerge from the gate, too. With whips as their weapons, they send crossed lashes at Kirika, while Kimiko's pursuers catch up to her. One had found itself shattered and briefly stunned by her thrusting kicks, but the other two have formed halberds of their own to try and stab through her from behind, pinning her to the ground if they can manage it.

Beli Klum (238) has posed:
    Beli, meanwhile, has continued leading her pursuers in a careful dance through the air, but it soon comes to a halt as she whirls around to face them. With a shout, her left arm is thrust toward the grouping of angels, and all at once, she consumes them in a swirling blast of hellfire. The angels are consumed, shouting their pain before falling silent again. Those, too, vanish in motes of light, their souls sent toward Beli as she pants and gasps for a moment's breath.

    It's a moment she isn't spared, however; a brilliant light forms from the gate, and soon the archangel of charity shows himself, slipping free from the smokey portal in all his shimmering glory.

    BGM: http://goo.gl/YZaCPY

    Like the Powers, Gabriel appears to be made entirely of radiant and separate crystals, but these resolve into a more human shape, albeit one that is extremely tall and slender. Even more significant is his heart, which holds such radiance that it makes his entire form glimmer with many brilliant colors. His feet taper into points, and from his back extend four of those same abstract, floating wings like crystalline windchimes with light trailing off each 'feather' in radiant bands. His halo is formed similarly to those of the Powers, but what is very different is his weapon: a long spear whose head is a similar collection of those orbiting crystals hovers where his right hand would be, and as he floats free from the gate, he casts it to the side in a defiant, regal gesture.

    Without a moment more to spare, the archangel rushes toward Beli with a resplendant harp's song. The crystals at the end of his staff suddenly arrange into a long scythe's blade that he sweeps to impale Beli right through. The rephaite, however, is quick to protect herself: while not the best move available to her, she casts up a wall of darkness beside her, the pitch-black shadow hardening into a barrier that catches Gabriel's blade. Beli is knocked aside in the process, wincing along the way, but she manages to stay in the air as Gabriel twirls his weapon and braces it for another attack. "You should have kept your head low, abomination," Gabriel remarks, his voice full of contempt. "Now that you threaten our peace directly, we have no choice but to cast your stain from this world, as should have been done long ago."

    Beli just gives a hateful snarl to the archangel. She says nothing; her response comes in the rush of dark spears that fly at Gabriel, each one quickly parried aside by an expert twirl of his weapon.

Kirika (481) has posed:
    Kirika can fight and evade as much as she can, but she's not good enough to dodge that many whips at once. The half-kitsune is snared in the Powers' lashing whips, three of them wrapping around her leg, her wrist, and her neck as the fourth strikes her across the back. Flesh is flayed from Kirika's back, and she lets out a howl of pain as she struggles to keep conscious and fighting.

    Gritting her teeth, she tries to slash at one of the whips holding her down while she has a chance to cut herself free before another whip strikes her.

    This isn't going well.

Crys Gattz has posed:
Crys Gattz is not giving much time to breath but she takes what she can she does see Beli sucking up the souls, it's a good thing she's got an idea of what's actually going on with them and not that she's just going to devour souls, right? Anyhow Crys comes under attack and the huge blade is banished a smaller one appearing in hand the SB saber humms to live as Deelel move to intercept and parry many of the incomming crystals at her, cutting them apart or defelcting them away from her self.

"So ... you keep coming?"

Those who'd know crys would find it odd she normlly barely talks during fights, she's being a postive chatter box today, it's kinda odd.

"SAVARIT!"

Her mag appears hovering at her shoulder and then she summons something a creature of light that looks like a stag forms up bside her and raises it's head high raining light beams which are like lasers down upon the Power's attacking her.

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako's gaze turns upwards at the large amount of crystals threatening to rain on Staren's forces and herself! With the cores far above them in the air. She stops cupping her hands in front of her body and wrings them in front of herself.

    "Hey! That's cheating!" Ayako puffs her cheeks out and pouts. "Fine, I'll cheat too!" She grabs the broomstick she's sitting on with both hands and slams the brush into the ground. It doesn't appear to have done anything-and Ayako quickly darts close to a construct to shield her from the raining crystals! Even so, she still gets scratched and slashed up quite a bit by them. Said wounds bleed a little bit of water, but her appearance rapidly begins to reform to seemingly 'heal'.

    And then the ground starts to rattle. Every single water main in a thirty meter radius suddenly bursts and water geysers up from the streets! Ayako's gaze goes straight up to Staren! "Staren! It's up to you now!" The broom's brush is moved to point straight up at the giant robot Staren is piloting. "Here's one for guns! Bullet Maelstrom!" The water geysering up from the streets suddenly swirls up and around in front of Staren's giant robot, the whirlpool's wide maw extending out from in front of the robot and pointing towards the gate.

    Any bullet that goes through that is going to be far, far more powerful than normal!

Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
    Kimiko doesn't normally give off much of an indication as to when she's pulling out her strength, until the form of her efforts materializes. The Paradiso armor changes that, to what little good the warning will do those attacking her. Rather than turn to face her attackers, she uses her mobility to its best. The blows to her back are too shallow, falling too short to bring her down, hard though their impacts may be felt as they dent the heavenly material inward. Her next leap comes up with a new hammer, though shorter than the previous. With this she spins end over accelerating end, and strikes forward, against the ground.

    The ground craters more than it cracks, a resounding crash that sends fissures in every direction, a network of cracks criss-crossing as the city's grounds are wrecked in a terraforming blow.

    The angels can fly, of course. To disrupt their footing is not her arm. It's the storm of knives that erupt from those cracks that are her true attack. Like an eruption under pressure, the cutting stream surrounds and intersects the positions of both her pursuers and the whip-wielding opponents Kirika faces, stopping barely short of the latter's position.

    From the center of that brief maelstrom, Kimiko rockets upward. She's still not flying, as it's only her legs that propel her--along with the quickly disappearing spell circle at the center of her crater. Before she can noticeably slow, she's leaping again, leaving another circle mid-air. Another, and another, and she's carried high enough to reach the position of Setsuko and her airborne opponents. There's not the barest moment to rest, now--her magic won't let her stand. She can only move without ceasing, a shield in one hand and a lance in the other, charging into and /through/ any opponent that comes Setsuko's way, not heeding the impacts, seeking only to disrupt and crash against, again and again. If she can hold their attention, that's enough. She's prepared to be wounded in turn.

Setsuko Kaminagi (255) has posed:
    The form of a massive snake is one Setsuko can't quite defend against with so little warning, not when she's fighting conservatively. It has too easy of a time getting around her, the crystals crushing and gouging at the same time; while her previous wounds were shallow enough that they've already stopped bleeding, these bite deeper, drawing a hiss of pain and annoyance from the demigod. But the reinforcements have proved enough of an issue that Beli has called for something drastic, and that call sets the swordswoman's face into a mask of resolve.

    "I'm sorry. I don't have any more time to waste here."

    As she is now, Setsuko no longer shows her aura by nature. All the power that once boiled off her is now bound up in every fiber of her being and every inch of her sword. But that doesn't mean that she cannot still apply it as she once did. With no warning, there is an explosive rush of divinity in every direction, Setsuko whirling herself around with her blade and blasting a concussive burst of blue divine power at every single shard squeezing in around her. The Zanjinto lashes out, left and right, but it's a clearing strategy more than an actual attack. She's giving herself just enough room to hurl herself skyward, trusting Kimiko to deter the giant Power from pursuing.

    And so she does, launching straight for the clouds, putting every ounce of her power into rising high and fast. Fast enough that twin jets of blue erupt from her shoulder blades, downward fountans that almost seem like wings in a way, carrying her to the heavens as if that were where she belonged. "And with the speed of a shining cloud...!" There is a moment at the very height of her arc, a moment wherein the divine thrust ceases and she is left high above all as if floating.

"ZANJINTOU..."

    Her voice rings out in the moment she finally turns herself over and descends. And if her rise was as a god's, her fall is as a meteor, the power of flight interweaving with the pull of gravity, the swordswoman pushing her fall to terminal velocity in a heartbeat - and then far beyond. Down she descends, a falling bullet, the massive blade of her sword held high above her as she goes, every second of her fall adding more and more speed, more and more power to the inevitable moment when her impossible plummet takes her straight to the top of the heavenly arch. And in that very last instant, at precisely the perfect moment to transfer every last newton of force into a single overwhelming strike with a divine sword strong enough to carve steel like tissue-

"ITTOU RYOUDAN!!"

    -Setsuko Kaminagi swings her blade.

Staren has posed:
    Some part of Staren is elated that he's pushing them back, but it's subsumed by his focus on analyzing and directing the battle. When the angels fly up, Staren sends up yet another salvo of missiles to greet them, but that's probably not enough to take care of them. When he sees them spread into a cloud of crystals, he realizes what's up, raising the Star Hawk's shield over its head and commanding the larger spider-constructs to move back and the smaller ones to dive under them for cover!

    The shield saves his mecha, and the larger spiders save the clockworks, but most of Staren's army is destroyed in one fell swoop -- sliced-and-diced unicorn statues fall in pieces to the ground, while a couple of the stone constructs crack and fall to pieces.

    Curiously, when a stone spider cracks apart, it reveals an inactive clockwork spider as its core.

    Staren stares at the devastation of his army, the mecha's shield arm drawing a beam saber and slashing at the crystals on the ground -- but when Staren realizes he doesn't see any cores down there, more missiles and a spray of railgun fire are sent up to the sky to deal with them.

    And then a new threat emerges: An archangel that attacks Beli. Staren's ready to charge in against Gabriel, but there's a change in plans as their objective is <span class="flash bold_bg_w fg_n ++ larified:

    chw">DESTROY THE GATE!</span>

Staren has posed:
    The spider-constructs and remaining humanoids run for it, skittering back down the road, spitting acid at any pursuers.

    As for Staren's mecha, it deactivates its shield and puts its missile pod back on the holder clips on its arm, to free up use of its hands. The right shoulder pack opens up and unfolds, expanding out into a long-barreled rifle-looking weapon. A track on the Star Hawk's shoulder allows it to rotate into a horizontal position, the mecha's hands steadying and aiming it at the gate while shifting its feet into a steady stan<span class=" fg_x bg_g ++ e.

    cGx">ANTI</span>-WIRELESS RAILGUN 20%

     Panels with stabilization thrusters open along the barrel, and laser drills in the Star Hawk's feet burn holes in the ground so that stabilization pylons may be deployed.

    ANTI-WIRELESS RAILGUN 40%

    Normally, Staren has to aim with precision. This time, his target is a stationary object! Staren shifts the rifle slightly, moving the targeting reticle on his HUD over the side of the gate.

    ANTI-WIRELESS RAILGUN 60%

    "C'mon..." Staren mutters impatiently as he waits for the capacitor banks to charge. "Thanks, Ayako!"

    ANTI-WIRELESS RAILGUN 80%

    Those who can sense such things might sense magic on the massive railrifle -- the entire weapon has been enchanted, magic joining science to pack as much power as possible and to exploit the weakness of the weapon's original target. Inside the chamber sits a warhead containing a bomb, not of chemical or nuclear power but of magic -- crystals charged with opposing elemental energies, that will explode with great force when combined. Not to mention the kinetic force of impact, nanoseconds before the explosion. On the front of the round is a laser drill, to vaporise a tunnel into the target so the bomb can blow it apart from inside.

    ANTI-WIRELESS RAILGUN 100%

    Staren exhales, and holds out his breath, as he holds the reticle still and begins to squeeze the trigger. At the Star Hawk's feet, attachments to the feet laser drill into the ground and deploy pylons deep within as stabilizers.

    Now.

    The Star Hawk's thrusters fire to hold it stable and counteract the force of the railcannon. All that electricity is dumped in a tiny fraction of a second to produce incredible current and incredible force. The enchanted railgun transfers not only kinetic energy, but magically-enhanced power and accuracy to the warhead that's launched straight up into the air at several times the speed of sound. And of course, now it's enhanced by Ayako's magic too! The round moves through the air so quickly that there is nothing to see but a streak of fire and smoke, like one long explosion, and a great boom. And, of course, if the warhead operates as planned, there should be some impressive fireworks at that arch.

Beli Klum (238) has posed:
    Kirika's slash helps disperse the whips lashing at her, but they aren't exactly severed. It gives her some space to recover, at least, and perhaps some more time to retreat...particularly when Kimiko comes to help. That erupting storm of knives rockets up into the air, consuming the Powers around them in a strange reversal of the tactics they've been using themselves. Separating their bodies isn't so useful here; the knives blast upward, blocking off a couple of the Powers and consuming those that are placed poorly to have their cores shot through. More souls move over to Beli, and for now, Kirika is spared.

    The Powers assaulting Crys seem to gain a moment or two of the upper hand as they fire their constant barrage at her, but once their shards are all spent and they try to reassemble themselves, the advantage is completely lost. The stag's barrage of beams rain down on the cores trying to rebuild their bodies, crashing through them and obliterating them in the process. The Powers raining down on Staren and Ayako face a similar fate, their cores being shattered and exploded in the salvo Staren sends up at them.

    The giant Power Setsuko has been dealing with suddenly finds itself greatly damaged by that sudden swirling explosion of power. Most of the serpent's lower body is shattered, crystal shards raining harmlessly down on the streets below, freeing her at least for the moment to rush upward. The serpent's lingering head gives a tinkling bird's song of anger, but as it rushes after Setsuko again, mouth agape, it finds itself faced with Kimiko. The Puella's lance crashes through its head, shattering and dispersing its form again. The storm of crystals attempts to re-orient itself to face her, but as it solidifies again, she charges once more to disrupt it. A few more Powers have slipped through the gate again to join the fray, but in their efforts to subdue Kimiko, they face an all too similar fate amid their attepts to cut her down again and again.

    Fortunately, Gabriel is too occupied with Beli to turn his attention to the people trying to destroy the gate. As he rushes toward her once more, his scythe rearranges itself into a glaive, and before Beli can move aside completely, she finds herself run through the stomach with it. The rephaite gasps in pain, black blood like tar slipping down the archangel's blade...but she isn't down yet. She's taken worse than this and stayed standing, after all. This close, she manages to look up at Gabriel and offer a bloody snarl before another rush of darkness comes in, shattering the hilt of his weapon in a powerful blunt strike.

    ...but as Gabriel falls back slightly, the broken end he holds actually regrows itself. It extends up into another crystal glaive, and as shock and surprise flit over Beli's expression, he thrusts this new one in to join the first, grabbing both to rush forward and pin her against a building's wall with both polearms.

Beli Klum (238) has posed:
    However, as successful as that may be, it's not a complete victory.

    In the next moment, Setsuko cleaves down through the gate's center, slicing it clean in half. At the same time, its power accentuated by the swirling whirlpool formed by Ayako, Staren's cannon fires a single shot of incredible force that speeds through the air, crashing right into the side of the arch. The resulting explosion consumes a good portion of the gigantic structure...and, after a moment more, the portal dissolves and the gate begins to collapse. First the half that was weakened by Staren's shot, its structure tumbling down in a cascade of gigantic chunks and shards, and then the other half, imbalanced and forced to crumble without anything to support it. Debris and clouds roll up, sending a wave of rushing wind through the city streets and tumbling white debris.

    Gabriel's attention is swiftly drawn back to the destroyed gate. His shock is clear in his silence, and then the resulting rage that echoes in his voice. "Wh...NO! What have you done?! That was-!"

    Whatever he was next about to say is quickly silenced, as a spear of darkness thrusts through his chest and pierces the glimmering orb at his heart. The archangel freezes, silent for a brief moment, before his form steadily falls apart, pieces cascading down to the earth. Soon enough, those pieces and the remains of his weapon dissolve in flashes of light, though he leaves no soul behind. At least it frees Beli from being pinned; the rephaite catches herself in her fall, wings spreading to steadily descend to the ground despite the pain lingering in her expression.

    There are only a few angels left, now, easy enough to clear up. And the sky's strange light is steadily fading, giving way to a more natural night, letting evening's shadows linger as they should instead of the overwhelming radiance of Paradiso's influence.

Setsuko Kaminagi (255) has posed:
    Setsuko's momentum carries her through, straight down to the ground, in a crash-landing hard enough to crater whatever asphalt or concrete her feet may slam into. The tremendous force of her descent can have no other conclusion; but even so she lands boots-first, and sweeps her massive sword up into a perfect vertical, declaring with the tone of ritual, "There is nothing my Zanjintou cannot cut!"

    And then the blade disperses, the weapon returning itself to its katana form as the silver-haired woman turns and launches into the sky once again, headed straight for Kimiko to fall in step on clearing out the remaining angels.

Staren has posed:
    After the shot, vents at the back of the rifle expel a cloud of vaporized coolant.

    Staren's focus was on the gate, so he didn't see Beli get stabbed. Indeed, he lets out a sigh of relief when the portal dissolves, finally looking between his allies... "Beli!" He turns to aid her, then has to steady the machine against the sudden winds. By the time he recovers and has put the sniper railgun away, she has slain Gabriel. "Are you alright?" The mecha huries over.

    He's content to let the remaining angels run. If they make a nuisance of themselves, though, they will be swiftly destroyed.

    When she transmits that she's fine, he nods, the machine echoing the gesture. "So... how many more of these gates do we need to destroy?"

Kirika (481) has posed:
    Kirika manages to slip out of her bonds, before she sees Setsuko carry out a seriously epic feat of swording things. "...impressive." She comments, wincing from her wound as skin knits itself together. When she's good to go, Kirika notices the remaining angels, and then she takes off towards them with sword in hand.

    Blade slashing at the divine warriors, Kirika leaves behind burning slashes as she goes to work on these things, her technique impeccable despite her wounds. The half-kitsune's suit jacket practically flies off, followed by her shirt. Thankfully her tank top seems to have stayed on, but it's clear her tailor is going to be PISSED when he sees this.

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako glances up into the air as she watches the aerial battle taking place as she holds the maelstrom in place. It's all she can do until Staren fires! And winces visibly when Beli is run through the stomach with Gabriel's glaive. She hops back onto her broomstick, but can't do anything else... And then Setsuko cleaves the gate cleanly in half, followed by Staren firing! The swirlling whirlpool in front of the giant robot Staren is piloting disipates quickly after boosting that one shot.

    The very moment that her boosting barrier falls, Ayako emits a burst of mist from her broomstick's brush flies quickly through one of the now quieting geysers of water. She sighs softly in relief as the moves through the water and then glances up quickly at Beli up in the sky. To witness her finish off the archangel. Her broomstick is pulled up quickly and yet another burst of mist accelerates her towards the slowly decenting Beli. "Beli!"

    Ayako's hands cup together in front of herself and purple healing water quickly fills her hands. "Healing Water!" She quickly flings the water at Beli's nasty-looking wound to heal it!

Crys Gattz has posed:
Crys Gattz is able to take zome of them down and she notices others are falling but she wonders how many are coming and well Gabriel is very busy with Beli so there's not much she can do about this save she can seem to turn her head at the commenbt of what they'd done.

"They are no longer fuel for your war."

She says before readying her weapon to look at things as they seem to be getting back to normal.

"We got to boot both sides off the world and lets be honest both places are going to make a play for here..."

She pauses to see that Beli got pretty mauled in that fight and she baihses her wepaons to go to see if they are all right.

"Beli?!"

However it seems Ayako and possibly others are the job.

Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
    Kimiko is using a power-intensive technique rather unlike her usual, for the sake of buying time--which means she has to keep using it. She seems fine from her motions, but it will cost her some extensive downtime later, especially so soon after a certain business involving a Dead Apostle and a darkness-amplifying field magic.

    But for now, she charges and strikes, again and again, even as the crystals strike and batter her, seeking to impale, or run furrows against her plates. They've yet to succeed, her armor holding, but some force is always transferred through. She can't avoid feeling it and still fight with all her senses intact, as much as adrenaline dulls the pain.

    With Setsuko to help, it's just a mop-up operation, to bring down the last few that came through the gate before it could be shut down, cutting off the city from Paradiso. Little enough chance they can't readily deal with it--until one of the last Powers lands a luckier blow than most, striking the spread protective plates over Kimiko's knee, denting a point just hard enough to lock the joint into position. Despite the wings that appear at her back, she isn't flying, but repeatedly jumping, her magic making momentary surfaces. With just one working leg and her hands full, that plan falls through, as does she, as an armored mass likely to leave another crater in the ground below.

Setsuko Kaminagi (255) has posed:
    She never hits the ground. In the blink of an eye, Zanjintou is in its sheath, and a pair of bare, scarred arms have caught Kimiko neatly and effortlessly.

    "It feels strange being able to catch you in mid-air like this," she remarks idly, looking skyward to the angel. "Can you fix the joint quickly?"

Staren has posed:
    *FOOM*

    Staren grabs his missile pod and fires another missile at the angel responsible. Since they /didn't/ run, he starts spraying railgun fire at the others.

Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
    Kimiko is caught. "A-ah, just... give me a second, I'll be fine." It's all she needs, really. A little uninterrupted time to concentrate on figuring out how to smooth over the dented material with her magic. It's resistant, given how tough the stuff is, and even without impending collision with the Earth distracting her, it takes her longer to fix than it would have for her to hit the ground. Though, she is still a little distracted.

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako wheels her broom back around and another burst of mist sends her flying towards Setsuko and Kimiko. "Oh very nice catch! Here you go! Healing Water!" She flings the purple water at the injured Kimiko's knee so that once the dented armor is fixed, so will her knee.

Beli Klum (238) has posed:
    The remaining Powers are easily swept up with a few more focused efforts. More souls are carried along to Beli, pulling some more people from their enforced roles as angels...save for one. But that will be addressed shortly.

    Beli's descent is slow, but she fortunately stays out of the way of the gusts of wind before they vanish. Staren's concerns are answered with the brief lift of her hand and reassurances over the radio, and, soon enough, she finds a stumbling landing on the ground. Again she winces, but before she can do too much more, Ayako rushes in to toss healing water into the deep wounds in her stomach. The angelic demon yelps softly in surprise, but not pain; she only looks down at the wounds as they steadily seal up, blinking in brief confusion. "...wow. Thank you, Ayako, that is...very helpful." Her head lifts, and she smiles a little to the watery girl as the flames in her halos and the sheen on her wings fade away. "I do have my seraphic flames to heal, but...I am very grateful not to have to expend more energy myself."

    Beli's head turns just in time to see Kimiko falling at a very uncontrolled rate. Beli's eyes widen, and she looks ready to bolt over and try to help, but it seems Setsuko has taken care of it. Another well-aimed missile shatters the remaining angel as it rushes down in a last desperate attempt to finish its work, briefly raining down opalescent sparkles around Setsuko and Kimiko. It's enough to let Beli breathe a sigh of relief, at least, before turning back toward the ruins of the gate.

    All things considered, the hybrid can't help but smile to herself a little more when she looks up at the sky. "...it is...normal," she remarks, almost in awe. "Perhaps...that is another key, rather than trying to kill their leaders..."

    The rephaite gives a soft sigh, then, when Staren asks about the gates. She looks up toward him, her smile fading a little. "...well. There is...one for every large, concentrated population on Earth, mostly cities and town. So..." A frown. "...a few hundred, I guess?"

    The rephaite straightens up a little more. She's still a little sore, it seems, but Ayako's healing has certainly taken care of the worst of it. "Gabriel has not died, either. That was only a projection of his power, so that his true body would not be at risk. I doubt he will be very happy about this whole thing next time we see him. In the meantime, though, I guess neither Paradiso nor Inferno should be able to actually hold this city without a gate sitting in it. Not that I know if they can simply rebuild it or not...or what they will choose to do if they cannot..."

    Another sigh. Beli's hand lifts to rub the back of her head as she turns back to her allies. "Well. I am very grateful to have had your assistance, all of you. I suppose...we will have to see what comes from here, then. For now, I think this is a victory, all things considered."

Kirika (481) has posed:
    Kirika finishes the last of the angels, and by the time everything is done, she's already sheathed her blade in appropriately dramatic fashion, flipping her blade in reverse and sliding it in the sheath in a crouched position.

    She links up with the others, observing Ayako as she heals the wounded with a nod to Beli. "She's quite useful in that regard, aye." She manages a smile, her own wounds not needing quite a much attention, but her back could use some patching up from a dedicated healer despite Kirika's powers.

    However her mood darkens, a frown creeping across Kirika's face as Beli explains. "A war between Hell and Heaven, with mankind in the middle...as it will inevitably be." She shakes her head, sighing in regret. "We'll be here to assist you, the next time battle comes to this world, Beli Klum." promises Kirika, gripping the hilt of her blade tight.

Crys Gattz has posed:
Crys Gattz listens at the number of gates she thinks for a moment they should hit the largest ones first and work theere way down she mused for a moment. She wonders for a moment about GAbirel but it looks like things are going to get messy with him.

"They may attempt to deny the enemy resources."

A cold way of putting it, Crys didn't mean it as such but she's tyring to not think too hard of them purging things. She takes a deep breath.

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako smiles cheerfully back at Beli. "You're always welcome, Beli!" She nods her head quickly, and quickly begins checking everyone else for injuries. Several balls of healing water of various colors materialize around her, most of them purple however, as she checks up on Kimiko's knee. She quietly douses Setsuko's wounds with a ball or two while she's nearby and then floats over to Kirika. After a careful look at Kirika... she startles at her back and swiftly heals Kirika's wounds.

    Ayako then winces as she listens. "Several hundred gates... this..." She nods her head once quickly. "Un! If I can be of help, please let me know, Beli!" Followed by a bright smile.

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako sheepishly floats over to the water pipes she broke, and fixes the flow of water and starts fixing the pipes and street with gray healing water. "Sorry, city..." She hops off her broomstick and bows politely downards towards the ground as she curtsies. "But!" She perks up. "You have to admit. They were cheaaaaaating." Ayako nods her head quickly as she gets to work. "Cheaters." Her tongue sticks out playfully. Why yes, she is talking to the city.