4556/So Frail

So Frail
Date of Scene:	16 September 2016
Location:	Earth-7207 <MANA>
Synopsis:	Season of Pain 2 - The Drowning Doom invade a world already on the brink, haunted by the ghosts of ancient terrors. Drowned Ophelia will awaken these monstrosities, and set them loose on an unsuspecting world - until some heroes show up to stop her.
Cast of Characters:	975, 151, 928, Sanary Rondel, 385, 215, 691

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Drowned Ophelia (975) has posed:
It begins - with a sound. Slow and pensive, it winds its way across wind swept prairies of the mid-west in this new, ruined world. It slithers through ruins long since buried, mementos to a world long since forgotten. Moaning, the sound carrying far further than it should naturally be able to - reverberating across the fibre of reality, an echo of its strength from the BRUTAL WORLD of it's birth. DEATH METAL. Follow the sighing, sawing sound back to its origin point, and one will find the Six Stringed Sorrow. A slender, long necked instrument, wake candles flickering with blue flames where one would normally find the machine head pegs. Let the eye draw back, and see the blackened claws that pluck and glide along the glowing strings, harmonizing - summoning - the METAL. The very air vibrates with it, settling into a communion with the DEAD GODS.
Let the eye draw back further, and find Drowned Ophelia. Pale blue skin lit in the dying light, swaying slowly as she brings the sound towards it's first drop off - a woman pushing a metaphorical car towards the metaphorical crevice. Draw back further, and see her stage - massive bone hands that curl up and closed, as if to hide whatever lays beneath them. Further back?

It's a giant fucking SPIDER. Made of metal, steam hissing and long legs gouging out rivets from the earth as it slowly clumps forward, pistons thumping and whirring in time to the sudden drums. Just in time for Ophelia to tilt her head back and -SCREAM-. It comes from somewhere deep in her gut, bypassing her throat entirely, rattling with her DEATH ROAR. The hands slowly unfold, mechanisms shivering, to reveal the STAGE behind, dull eyed zombies and cackling skeletons cranking and pushing at levers. Lights flickering to life and swingout out, highlighting the night sky above. Storm clouds bubbling into existance.

But it's not the mobile stage. It's not the slowly forming storm. It's not even the GIANT FUCKING SPIDER. No - it's the shades. They're -congregating-. Harmless when not provoked, they're moving towards the sound of DEATH METAL, towards the ancient memories, towards the promise of misery and sorrow - things hidden. The sweet release, the agony, of -knowing-.

THAT'S what's to be feared. Flickers of darkness curling through the ancient shadows like ink through milk, calling forth their Ending.

The Drowning Doom, MARCHES.

Themesong: MirrorThrone - 'So Frail'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_qRLlnsjhU

Ainsley (151) has posed:
The shades were inert until Ophelia disturbed them. They went through their eerie silent lives among a local ruin, pretending to drive cars, to eat food, to have relationships and grudges and more. Their dream-like cycle was disturbed only when an alien force washed over them and broke the Shades from their stupor. These things are not ghosts. They are the images of human life before the great disaster that killed the people that once lived here. These manifested nuclear shadows of a sort cease looking human the moment they can 'see' the world around them. They become a surge of malevolent darkness, hundreds of hungry monsters with deep white pits for eyes crawling, skittering, sprinting and slithering across the wasteland to the nearest source of untainted mana.

They hunger for life. And the best source of life is people.

A local town's alarms go off and the authorities that had not anticipated something disturbing the shades like that calls out for help from the Multiverse. They call out for help from the Union, mercenaries, anyone that could protect them from the dark army that is charging toward them.

There's a warp gate at the edge of town, and right out of the gate people would be able to see the things on the horizon getting steadily closer and closer. The music Ophelia provides to these horrid monsters eggs them on to the point of frothing wrath, and a horrific feeling of evil pressure thrums in the air.

This is a good example of why Ainsley doesn't ever visit her own world, and also a good reason why she's not actually here right now.

The animal people are still rushing to their homes to reinforce their ill-kept wards, and one poor overly panicked hedgehog man with a limp and a bit too much padding keeps tripping and stumbling all over himself like an adorably round ball of fear.

The sky goes from blue to grey the closer one gets to the Shades. They suck the very joy from the world around them as they progress, trampling the earth and leaving only ash and death. Even clouds vanish from the sky as the mana effects ripple outward.

Momoyo Kawakami (928) has posed:
    Stepping through the portal right in front, Momoyo is the first to arrive. Recklessly, she tosses her hair and takes in a deep breath. She had expected... well, she didn't know what to expect but it was significantly less strange than she had thought. She hadn't done much reading after all.

    After a step or two though, she stops. Surveying the scene and reaching out to ascertain how many civilians she could detect at this range and their locations. Her eyes narrow on the hedgehog struggling against the horde. "Damn..."

    Like a lightning bolt, she charges off to try and close the distance near-instantly and get the man to safety. Dust clouds follow behind her along with the wind as the high school girl moves, her red eyes narrowing as she surveys the monsters... and only grows more excited. Yes, this girl liked violence and the aura surrounding her was only psyching her up even more. Were it not for the man she was trying to carry she wanted to charge right into the fray!

Sanary Rondel has posed:
Just how does Sanary keep getting herself roped into these messes with Ophelia? It's not like she's particularly fond of the woman after everything that's happened, but... Well, she /did/ do a good job in that whole revenge thing. Plus, it certainly doesn't hurt to have wild cards like her on her good side, right?

     Right. Of course, the axe healer's learned quite a bit from the last few times: Namely, making sure to actually have armor on for these kinds of missions what with all the freaking lasers and area-wide bombardments the Union's been so fond of throwing around. She's not taking any unnecessary risks today: her heaviest green armor, a pair of shields, and a whole lot of gray loops encircling her limbs and gear just incase she needs to move fast.

     Still, that doesn't mean she necessarily has to like what they're doing. "So... Uh. Ophelia. Do all these... Trips we've been on actually make you stronger or anything?" The healer calls out while seated upon the massive spider creature, peering at whatever it's made of and occasionally glancing at the multitude of shades approaching from below. "I mean.. All this stuff. You building a sleeper army out of all this or something?"

     Where did she even learn that term? Is she even using it correctly?

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
With trouble breaking loose in Ainsley's world, Yuna decided it was time to stop focusing quite so narrowly on Ravnica. Ainsley's a friend, after all, and whatever these Shades are, they're apparently dangerous - if not by virtue of conscious malice, then by the ambient effects they have on their surroundings - and as soon as Yuna is through the warpgate, she can see it for herself. The darkening of the sky, the fading of the ground ...

Yuna shudders briefly, sucking in a breath. "Jiina, let's combine; I'm going to want Powered Form here. Elner, high surveillance, I want your bird's-eye view of what's going on and where we need to be. Marina, Erina, stick close to Elner and provide fire support if needed."

One transformation sequence later, Yuna's basic Light Suit has been 'augmented' by the addition of the bulky exo-frame that comprises her Powered Form, while the remainder of the Matrix of Light (one robo-faerie and two human-sized armored gynoids) are heading up into the sky, to where Elner can help spot trouble for the Union and other good guys. An additional moment for Yuna to call for her shield Shugoseiheki, and to silently conjure the Matrix Divider in her hands ... and then Yuna lights up her heavy armor's hoverthrusters and heads for a point between the village and the approaching Shades. Yuna opens fire with the Matrix Divider as soon as she can see the not-ghosts - possibly shooting a few of the Shades that might have threatened Momoyo, *definitely* giving the other villagers some much-needed cover fire to get inside.

Iria (215) has posed:
Leaving her cape behind to allow her a bit more freedom of movement, Iria arrives via another nearby warpgate as well. Unlike Momoyo who just arrived, Iria is a bit less reckless and instead of flipping her hair, something she usually does when she's making a point or proving she's called someone's bluff, she takes out her binoculars and surveys the general area. Once she's gotten a good feel for what's going on, she scowls and puts her binoculars away before taking out her rifle and loading a clip into it, before using the strap to keep it attached to her shoulder. "Sure beats hunting bank robbers," Iria comments to herself, remembering how she was called to San Jose-8237 recently to help in the arrest of a bunch of notorious bank robbers who had been moving so fast that the local police couldn't catch them. She'd caught them singlehandedly, and even declined the reward, saying she was doing what she felt was right.

After she's done reflecting on everything, Iria carefully makes her way to where the others are headed. When she's close enough, she too unstraps her rifle and opens fire, attempting to assist Yuna in the covering fire and help the villagers get to safety. Whether or not it works is irrelevant, it's the effort that counts in Iria's mind.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Yari, for once, is riding along right near Sanary. Very close by, in fact. Mostly because she doesn't trust Ophelia farther than she can toss her with one pinky. She's been sharpening a kunai the entire time and generally looking unhappy. She has ear-plugs in.

Yari Takane /hates/ death metal. This might be due to Ophelia's influence here. Still, the ninja adjusts her kimono, and lets out a heavy sigh. "That's a very good question. What /do/ you hope to gain from all this?" Asks the nin-lizard, before turning back to Sanary.

"Sleeper agents imply any amount of subtlety or nuance in their attack plans. A giant spider is not a subtle plan." She then adds, voice utterly disapproving. This is going to be a long operation.

The ninja sits up though as the Unionites begin to engage the Shades and a certain high schooler saves a guy. She's too far away to see exactly /who/ it is, but the ninja's already scanning the surroundings. And she /swears/ she feels a familiar tickle on her ruined eye. Already her teeth are gritting. Her tail lashes. She looks even more annoyed than she was for some reason.

Drowned Ophelia (975) has posed:
"Sleeper army? Fuck that. I want them to -know- I'm coming."
Cackles Drowned Ophelia, leaning back until her throat is exposed to the sky. Practically inviting that blade, isn't she? She's giggling madly, the DEATH METAL growing louder with each passing moment as she begins to climb towards her solo. The giant spider picking up speed, as if drawn along the current - the dark waters of a Shade flood, the crawling, sick monsters directed by the DEAD GODS OF METAL like one would direct a firehose. Her eyes are slitted, dark and deep, as she licks her lip and practically hisses.
"It pleases the fucking DEAD METAL GODS. With each Season of Pain, the multiverse knows them more and more. It will begin to fear the turn of seasons. And, one by one - I'll pluck the fucking lights from the sky. -They- have to win every time - I only need to win -once-. Loss is as inevitable as poison in the fucking vein, Sanary; Sorrow swallows all in the end."
Her head turns towards Yari, and her eyes are bright. Bright and mad, as if the ninja-lizard had not tried to choke her to death. As if she had not driven said creature to violence, taunting her in her wounded state. It was a hatred shared - one that thrived. Her tongue poking out over black lips, white teeth biting hard - black ichor dripping from the corners of her mouth. "Subtle's for pussies; Grow a pair."

And then she cackles, swinging her arm out. It circles, long and slow as the drums begin to pound harder. Seizing the tune - changing it. The Shades, driven by the hammer of her FUCKING METAL, surging forward. Hungry. Hungry and empty and hollow and wanting more and more AND MORE.

"FEED! FEED! FEED AND KNOW LIFE'S SORROW ONCE MORE!" She screams, lightning crackling over form, grounding itself from her guitar. Pot fires ripple upwards from the side of the stage, the storm above swirling outwards. Feeding on the misery of the Shades, which in turn are fed by the DEATH METAL, a vicious cycle only growing stronger with each passing moment.

The first of the return fire slams into the crawling chaos; Blackened shades -bleed-. Mostly red, their white eyes strained - the scattered few up front dissipating beneath the fucking brutal artillary of lasers. But there are so many more, and the fucking METAL is getting louder. Spreading wider. Calling, screaming, accusing - waking the dead.

"-Heroes-" Cackles the mad, broken thing that directs this, the DROWNING DOOM, LIVE AT BURNT WORLD.

Themesong change: Arch Enemy - 'I Will Live Again' - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyEu9y6wifs

Sanary Rondel has posed:
Weirdly enough, the death metal doesn't quite seem to phase the one-eyed healer. Maybe it's just a lingering side-effect of being connected to Ophelia that time, but... Well, it's better than having her ears bleed!

     Sanary won't admit it, but she's also bobbing her head to the beat. Just a little, though! She nods slowly at Yari's clarification of the sleeper thing, and just like that, Sanary's misconceptions are cleared up! Sort of. No, a lot.

     Note to self: It does not involve actually sleeping or even pretending to sleep. She does seem satisfied by that explanation from Ophelia regarding her goals, at least, although her response to the ninja does draw a dirty look from the one-eyed healer.

     Thankfully, Sanary's sufficiently distracted when the projectiles start raining down on the shades. The healer finally gets up and braces her shields. "We got incoming soon... Stay on guard." She sounds just a little more awake this time, what with the vaguely familiar lasers coming from Yuna in the distance. Not that she can identify the idol just yet, but she's been shot by her enough to recognize that pattern.

     Things just got a lot more interesting. "... Yuna's here. And at least two others with her." She glances over at Yari, giving her an odd sort of look before keeping her feet firmly planted on that spider and...

     Not moving anywhere. Yet. "We should wait for them to come to us. No use risking our position just rushing out there, right?"

Momoyo Kawakami (928) has posed:
     Having shuffled her charge into safety, she turns around to face then oncoming horde. Her blood was pumped and she was getting excited, the bestial grin could easily be seen in her eyes as her teeth flashed. "Alright, time to carve a path out of this horde... I've not fought anything this horrible looking since that dragon on Lordran on my first mission!" Her fist pulls back to gather energy, and then a bright yellow beam arcs through the crowd, lancing through the horde viciously in the general direction of the spider off in the distance!

    "Kawakami Style: HOSHI GARASHI!!!"

    The cylindrical beam fires the first return shot into the horde, announcing her presence immediately as she challenges the legion of angry monsters head on gleefully, her jacket whipping behind her in the wind in front of the little man's house!

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
That urge to strangle just increases as Ophelia speaks. The lizard pointedly turns away. "I wouldn't expect a /civilian/ to know the advantages of a proper attack plan. Unlike...this." She waves her hands at shades, undead, and the ridiculous spider-bone-walking-stage.

But at least she commands her minions, urging them forward. Sanary mentions Yuna on the battlefield, and then Momoo unleashes her power in the back to lance through the horde. A chill runs through her spine, and she forces herself to concentrate.

Pulling out a long-barrelled rifle, she props up her knee and rests the gun on it. Taking aim, she tries to line up a shot on Yuna's chest!

Not actual shot yet, though. She slowly nods. "Agreed. If they get too close, I'll put a bullet between their eyes."

Yari goes on Overwatch position!

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
When Yuna first heard Ophelia's 'background noise,' she really thought it WAS only noise - she didn't think it was supposed to be any kind of music.

Then somebody identifies the 'noise' as actual music - not a kind she's familiar with, but music nonetheless ... at least allegedly ... and Yuna shakes her head. Whoever decided that death metal counts as 'music' ... well, she's heard other forms of 'metal' music before, but this stuff just hurts to listen to.

Or maybe it's the Shades wreaking havoc. Yuna doesn't have *that* kind of supernatural sensitivity, though - dark spirits wreaking havoc shouldn't make her head hurt all by themselves. So it's probably the alleged 'music'.

With Elner keeping tabs on things from above, Yuna knows that the 'music' is coming from that giant spider thing, and Elner's picked up on the fact that Ophelia isn't alone out there. Momoyo's Hoshi Garashi draws her attention a bit to see how thickly packed the swarm is ... yep, that's a lot of Shades.

"Iria, focus on holding the border for a moment, I'm angling for a better shot!" Yuna calls out, then reactivates her hoverthrusters and maneuvers away. A few seconds give her the position she was hoping for; she touches down again, planting the exo-frame's heels as deeply and solidly as she can to brace herself. The lenses on her outer shoulders slide open - the shoulders of the powered manipulators and their arms, not Yuna's own arms or shoulders - and the beam emitters within begin crackling ...

And then the beam cannons fire.

Yuna picked her firing position to put the thickest part of the Shades directly between herself and Ophelia's spider-thing, while avoiding catching her allies in the line of fire, and her beam cannons carve a swath through the Shades - twin torrents of radiant concussive force. The blasts might not reach far enough to hit the Spider, but they should at least put the bad guys on notice.

Iria (215) has posed:
Iria's no music critic, but she knows that's not the best kind of music for a fight... or anything else for that matter. She turns away briefly before hearing Yuna's call out to her and she gives a nod to her friend. "Understood, Yuna! I'll take care of this!" She turns to face the Shades and smiles with an evil twist to it.

"You're not getting past me that easily!" Iria yells as she opens fire on the Shades, trying to maintain a steady stance to avoid falling over or anything like that which might give the Shades a chance to burst forwards. "Doesn't matter how many there are, I've got plenty of ammunition for ya!"

Drowned Ophelia (975) has posed:
The twin beams of combined MURDER LIGHT curl through the crawling chaos, splitting them down the middle; Carving a wave break in the enroaching hoardes, their lonesome cries echoing dully, screaming their frustration. And blood - most of it red, but other hues are seen. A channel straight up the middle, but it won't last long, the monstrous echoes of a world long dead falling in on themselves like the Red Sea collapsing. The sudden removal of the middle press frees Iria to hold the front line - her crackle of her weapons slowing the hectic, mad advance into a crawl as the Shades fall upon one another, trying to press closer. Inch by inch.

If this bothers the Queen of Tears, it's unseen - for her smile only grows wider. White teeth flash behind black lips as she begins to arch her back, the Six Stringed Sorrow's machine head crawling towards the blackened heavens above. The strings are glowing, heating up, the speakers on the back of the giant walking spider thumping - the very air shuddering between them, as beautiful as it is terrible. At the top of her chord, at the climax, the broken creature releases her fret to draw a claw along her own wrist. Singing softly.
"Down the road, not across the street; That's the way we cut the meat."
Her own blood - black ichor. It slithers down, before suddenly rising, as if gravity had briefly reversed itself. Drifting upwards, the ethereal Liquid Sorrow evaporating into the storm clouds above. Which crackle, and bulge outwards, lightning webbing towards the town that the three mighty Heroes defend. And then?
.. Then it starts to rain. A slow, gentle trickle of pitch ichor, that slows as it nears the ground. The Dead Echoes, the Shades - one can see it healing deathly wounds. Balm and salve. But to the living? Each touch might as well be acid, for it burns and stings.
And from the way the storm is growing, this deluge is about to break into a full on storm. And that's not going to be good for ANYONE.

"The waters are rising; Can you feel it?" She whispers, mad giggles. "Go - go and -hurt- them."

Momoyo Kawakami (928) has posed:
     Momoyo hisses, and when the horde collapses in on her again, she fearlessly throws out a fist to crack a jaw here, shatter a ribcage there. "Tch." she looks up when the weather changes... but abruptly shudders. Her clothing was beginning to hiss, and unlike most everyone else present, she came unarmored. "Damn." she mutters, wincing briefly from the corrosive rain.

    "Kawakami Style: Restoration."

    A violet aura surrounds her skin, preventing the wounds. She would have to do this over and over to deal with the corrosive rain on her bare skin though, so while healing through the burning with her signature technique, she brings enough ki forth to both slow down the hordes around her and announce her advance with a gout of steam which has the added benefit of obscuring her position unbeknownst to her.

    "Momoyo Microwave."

    Her allies couldn't get within several meters of her, but she herself radiates the kind of heat that comes just after a nuclear explosion, radiating off highways as she attempts to evaporate the rain and scorch the oncoming hordes surrounding her. Her red eyes narrow as she starts to slowly advance in range of Yari's sniper rifle, dimly recognizing Sanary's aura at this distance... and trying to process Ophelia's.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
There's no mistaking it. If Yuna's Matrix Divider gave her an inkling as to who Sanary was going to run into today, then Momoyo's shouted Kawakami Style attacks would be... Would be...

     Dammit, apt comparisons aren't that easy, Eepecially when she's so ready to actually fight the source of said easily-identifiable lasers. "That's them. That's definitely them. Yuna, Momoyo, and..." Sanary squints, one shield braced in front of her while the other gets released to hover over head in preparation for that awful rain as it grows stronger and stronger. "I don't recognize the third one's lasers. But we might as well make 'em feel a little more welcome, right?"

     The healer grins for a moment, then glances over at Yari and Ophelia with a more deadpan expression. "... By shooting at them, I mean. Not... You know. Actually welcoming them."

     It doesn't hurt to be clear! And with that, the healer channels energy into her magitech eye, the Fire matrix inside it activating before firing a thin red laser that sweeps upwards at the three fighting off the shades! It's not aimed particularly well, though, and it doesn't even seem as if it'd come anywhere close to hitting anyone even if they stayed perfectly still. Really, there's almost no chance that Sanary's going to hit anyone with that laser directly what with literally firing a bright freaking laser out of her only working eye.

     The explosions, though. The explosions might actually come somewhat close!

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Shudder. Watching Ophelia cut herself to strike is never not unsettling, and Yari quickly looks away. Their enemies are making headway. Rain falls, her kimono now thoroughly soaked. She flicks out an umbrella helpfully to make sure /she/ doesn't get that rain of acidic blood on her.

"They'll be pushed back at this rate." She mutters, before finally taking proper aim. Momoyo is quite literally burning with heat. No, she doesn't want to get anywhere near that.

"Time to say hello."

That's when Yari starts firing with quick, working the bolt with every shot. It's a decent calibre, but she knows just how tough and strong Momoyo is. Accurate shots, all aimed for the legs and chest. Mostly trying to drive her back with volume of shot rather than actually killing intent.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
"Kyaa!!" yelps Yuna as it starts raining something way too close to 'acid' for even a hint of comfort. The Light Suit's defensive aura keeps it from burning Yuna herself, but there's a flicker of light with every 'raindrop' that pings off of her armor - and even what looks like exposed skin (currently, that only amounts to her face) is protected by the same aura. If this keeps up, it's going to be *really* bad.

Also, EXPLODING LASER which sends Yuna racing back to the edge of the village. Holding the perimeter against the Shades is more important -

Well, that's not really true, is it? But Momoyo is wading into the front line of combat, as it were; Yuna doesn't need to push the attack herself.

Not when there's something else she can try to do - and she's the only one here who can try it..

o/~    Let's set off on a big journey, to beyond the sun and wind
    And surely the door will open, to a paradise not on any map

While Yuna starts singing without accompaniment, Elner taps into what radios are available in the area anyway - even resorting to just transmitting the instrumental track over people's radios, if that's the only option. Yuna does have a portable karaoke rig in her 'inventory,' but she doesn't want to risk the speakers under the acid rain.

o/~    The morning you were born into this world, the bells of blessing rang
    People are born embracing one unique treasure

The song Yuna's started singing is bright and cheerful and optimistic; it may not be the best song with which to oppose DEATH METAL, but it was one of the first songs to come to Yuna's mind, and she's singing with - literally - all her heart, putting her feelings into the lyrics.

o/~    Never forget the feeling you had that day, flowing in your heart ... "Dear My Song"

And then she's singing the chorus, reprising the music with which the song began ...

o/~    We're in the middle of our journey, aiming for the land of the sun
    To the promised place that isn't on any map
    Changing a commonplace tale into a future without end,
    Surely all kinds of dreams can come true, so smile

Iria (215) has posed:
The moment Yuna starts singing, Iria does a double-take... and then has a flashback to a few years ago when she was at a concert of Yuna's and got a bit carried away and... well, that's for another time and another place.

When Yuna begins to sing her song, Iria smirks a little at that. "Fighting fire with fire, good choice Yuna!" Iria says with a chuckle, before shifting and moving to try to adjust her covering fire position so that Yuna has a bit more cover than before. "No one touches her if I can help it!" Iria yells.

Drowned Ophelia (975) has posed:
It's growing stronger - the METAL. The beautiful, terrible fucking METAL. It pounds and rips and roars - it calls to DEATH, to HATE, to SORROW and PAIN and LOATHING. It calls to - a promised place? What? There is a stumble as Yuna's song goes out across radios, across every available device. The storm sagging, no longer growing as the Six Stringed Sorrow evaporates like a bad dream. Because Drowned Ophelia?
She's.. PISSED.
She screams, a wordless sound of hate, as wings of shadow snap out to either side of her. And she's flying UP, an eclipse silouetted against the sky as the Shades approach and burn in Momoyo's aura. As they falter against the strength of heroic MURDER LIGHTS and efforts. And the Queen of Tears tucks her wings in -
And dives. DIVES like a falcon, dives like a falling angel, her voice bright and clear and murderous and rattling and HATEFUL as she lunges STRAIGHT for Yuna. Iria be damned, the Battle be damned - someone has tried to take the spotlight!

That's one way to interrupt her performance - get her focused on something less important.

Momoyo Kawakami (928) has posed:
     Momoyo glances up at the singer who was evidently the source of the music. She almost shifts to take the free shot at her from below while it was hard to dodge... but she has to concentrate on dodging herself. The Shades were one thing. High caliber anti-personnel anti-Elite sniper bullets were another thing entirely.

    No, Momoyo had a more important task in front of her and it was keeping the attention of the Feds and the spider in front of her. "Hey, Sanary!!! I'm giving you a free one-way invitation to HELL! Better get ready!!!"

    There was only one attack big enough to keep the things in front of her separated from their would-be leader's fury.

    "Kawakami Style: HOSHI KUDAI!!!"

    There's a moment of silence as Momoyo brings her arms together, her figure swathed in black but for one glowing red eye like some kind of beast of the night herself amid the mist and hellish heat cooking flesh around her. And then, a bright flash, the likes of which only the healer could possibly withstand. With a furious roar she turns the star-shattering beam on the spider and everything in front of her, trying to damage it and stop the rampage with all her might!! The attack was simply wide, much much wider than the attack she used to cut through the crowd earlier, as she would be visibly short of breath for a brief moment afterward.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
"Sanary!" Warns Yari as Momoyo winds up. She doesn't /quite/ know what that demon of a woman has planned, but she knows enough to get out of dodge. And it proves quite a good idea as suddenly a burning hell-beam erupts towards their spidery perch. When the smoke clears?

Yari's missing half of her kimono, and is generally smouldering and smelling like cooked lizard. She lands, rolling backwards before sighing.

But she's alive. Her gun's toast. She pulls out a pair of pistols. Her immediate target are any Shades that look like they're trying to devour /her/!

Her secondary target is a hail of bullets for Yuna. The same Yuna that Ophelia's charging for.

She's not particularly worried if there's a bit of friendly fire here. It's probably a little deliberate too, as much as she tries to make it look accidental.

"Don't get in my firing lane!" Complains Yari, just to make it look like Ophelia's fault.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
Sanary draws in a slow, hissing breath as the heat from Momoyo's aura starts to come through, forcing the healer to actually back off of that massive spider despite her flame-resistant armor. Fun fact: Fire-resistant armor doesn't help so much when the heat is on the inside! And... However the hell it is microwaves work with all that vibration and science mumbo-jumbo.

     To be fair, Sanary /is/ from a much simpler place. She narrows her eye just a bit when Ophelia goes flying off as well, apparently enraged by Yuna's... Singing? It's not /that/ bad, is it? Catchy, even. Alas, the healer can't quite take her time to listen as her attention is instead drawn by that shout from the martial artist, and she even braces her shield in preparation.

     "Bring it on, Momoyo! I still owe you one for next time, so let's see how big you can make it!" She shouts back in retort, cycling her magic through her body and even into the shields as she just stacks them right over each other to prepare herself for the worst. Between that and the power of the armor itself augmenting her defenses, surely she'll survive tanking even this vicious attack!

     Surprisingly enough, Sanary actually does! Putting a bit of energy into her anklets to handle the floating, the healer pushes forward as the blast slams into her shields. Even with all of her defenses in place, however the healer can still feel herself getting shoved further and further back! The shields hold steady even as the heat tears directly into her, threatening to outstrip the healing magic coursing through her and mending the melting EVERYTHING inside.

     It goes on for what feels like an eternity, but eventually... "... H... Hah! Not bad, but is that... Is that all you got, Momoyo?! ... Momoyo?" Peeking out from behind her shields, Sanary notices that the landscape is a little... Different from before. Where'd all this forest come from? And where'd everyone else go? There's not even that giant spider in sight anymore!

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
So, Yuna thinks in the back of her mind, the good news is that she just interrupted the heck out of the song which was stirring up the Shades and making so much trouble generally. The corrosive rain hasn't stopped (yet) but the storm is no longer intensifying; with a healthy dollop of luck, it'll fade entirely now that the evil, black-magic-or-worse song has been interrupted.

The bad news, of course, is that the enemy singer is gunning for Yuna personally and is probably going to rip her throat out if the chance presents itself.

o/~    It can't be seen, but there's always a treasure deep within the heart

That's NOT going to stop Yuna from singing, though. She trusts Iria to protect her as well as the bounty hunter can, and if the enemy singer forces her way through Iria's cover fire, Yuna still has Powered Form's armor and her kite shield and the Matrix Divider to protect herself with.

o/~    Never forget the feeling you had that day, spreading wide in your heart ... "Dear My Place"

Speaking of Shugoseiheki, the Wall of the Guardian Star is still strapped to Powered Form's left exo-arm - and the sound of gunfire from Yari's general direction prompts Yuna to pull the kite shield into position, protecting herself as best she can against the inbound bullets. Blocking is about all Yuna can do right now; the song takes JUST enough attention that she can't start dodging. Shugoseiheki might do her some favors if Iria can't force Ophelia to break off, but that's about it ...

o/~    The bell of hope resounds; open the door of destiny
    And surely we can make it to the final paradise
    On days when sorrowful rain continues to fall, we can keep swimming
    Always, deep in your heart, you believed in yourself

Iria (215) has posed:
Iria is going to protect Yuna at any means necessary. Even if that means literally placing herself in the line of fire. Ejecting the near-empty clip from her rifle, she loads a full one and switches to fully automatic fire. "No one will hurt my friends! NO ONE!" She yells as she opens fire at any hostiles coming in Yuna's general direction. "We will triumph!"

Drowned Ophelia (975) has posed:
It's the fucking -song-. It's ruining the atmosphere! Drowned Ophelia falls - only to be intercepted by IRIA'S BULLET TIME. The high velocity slugs tumble into - and through - the monstrous woman, splattering her ichor upon the ground behind her as she lands. But where one would expect blood and weakness, this creature... this mockery of a woman... straightens once again. Black lips pulled down into a growl as she flexes her claws.
".. That'll never hurt me as much as I do myself."
Pretentious bitch. The Black Tears begin to rise once more, a miasma, flickering between liquid and gas at will, the ectoplasm glittering as it sharpens. Preparing to launch at Iria - preparing to tear and rip and gouge. Suicide shards.

Which is when MOMOYO makes BIG FUCKING EXPLOSION NOISES. Drowned Ophelia left her stage undefended. There is a clanging of mournful bells from the giant mechanical spider as it is enveloped, the stage crashing in on itself - and the METAL staggers to a halt. Cuts off like someone yanked the hand. The storm above ripples, already beginning to fade, along with the slow trickle of acidic rain.

"What?" Ophelia looks over her shoulder, just as the spider begins to sag. And then begins collapsing faster and faster, the Shades disrupted not only by the sudden lack of impedus but by the poisoning of the very mana around them. ".. NO.. NO! GODDAMMIT NO!" She hisses, spinning back around to Iria and Yuna. A low, almost animal growl slips from her throat - before wings snap out, and she's up in the air again.
This time cruising low across the crowd, one arm dangling.

OH Yari~ Ride's here.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Yari gets the order, and sees Ophelia sadly in one piece, mostly. She does the smart thing as Iria floods the area with fire. The ninja takes one to the tail, and another to her side. She urks at the glancing shots, only to leap into the air. A dozen smoke bombs are dropped, and suddenly the area is a miasma of pure white cloying smoke!

Ride indeed. Yari tries to grab that dangling arm to hodl onto. All of her weight on it.

Yari is a /jerk/!

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
If Yuna had gotten a good look at what Iria was doing to Ophelia, it would probably interrupt her song right then and there. While Yuna fights when she needs to, she doesn't like to inflict pain on anyone, or to see ANYBODY suffering, be they friend or enemy or hapless bystander. She pulls out all the stops against drones and undead without issue, but against somebody who can think and (more importantly) feel, she holds back whenever she can. So seeing an enemy - even one who personally wanted to kill her painfully - shot full of holes ... not a good thing.

Even without seeing it, Yuna can kind of figure out how badly Ophelia got hurt, especially when the sound of the spider-stage getting blown up sends the flying singer fleeing with an arm dangling like that. But ... well, as badly as Ophelia is hurt?

The fight is over.

o/~    Somewhere beyond the rainbow, is the sound of tomorrow being born ...

The song isn't, but at this point, Yuna's finishing it more because it's a song she likes - and maybe she's hoping that finishing the lyrics will act as a sort of spiritual (but not magical) ointment for the damage wrought by Ophelia's death metal. It's also a chance for her to wind down mentally while Elner does one more sensor sweep to make sure things are more or less secure. Two more choruses, and the song is done.

Iria (215) has posed:
Sometimes, there's no other option but to use violence. Of course if Yuna had interfered, things might have gotten worse...

With things taken care of for now, Iria gives a thumbs up to her allies and winks at Yuna. "We really did this for a song, didn't we?" She laughs a little before she starts to head back towards a nearby warpgate. "Once I get back, I'm taking a nice hot shower! I don't care what Fujikurow has to say, I need to clean up first!"