4886/System Tower, Floor 44: Saving Christmas

System Tower, Floor 44: Saving Christmas
Date of Scene:	15 December 2016
Location:	The System <TS>
Synopsis:	The System Tower returns to Britannica in time for Christmas.
Cast of Characters:	Lexicon, 1010, Silica, 675, 619, Deelel, Neuroi Girl

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Lexicon has posed:
With the chaos of the multiversal self-rejiggering fading down, the System's recovery has proceeded on pace with its automated repair utilities. Some time earlier this afternoon the High Speed Cablerail had been reconnected, repairing the connection the System has with the outside Multiverse. Almost immediately, the Drives began to experience a drop in System Resources, which soon isolated itself here-- to Britannica once again.

    In the snowy wilderness outside the digital city, the familiar shape of a black tower reaches into the sky, an infinite and imposing pillar connecting land and sky. At ground level, the same imposing steel doors loom tall, with placards of glowing numbers on either side: 44

    In front of this tower, dressed in her usual heavy white coat with fuzzy cuffs and collar, is the Drive Core Controller herself. Lexicon's hands rest on her hips, her face a scowl of annoyance directed right up at the building's face, as if she's trying to win staring contest with Glower Power. Beside her elbow, a holographic screen floats, displaying various technical readouts and a prominant percentage of 44 beside declining graphs and other such data.

    A couple meters away, a more ordinary woman dressed like a priestess sits atop a small heap of metal crates. Despite the snow, she's fanning herself as if she'd run all the way here from the city itself.

Reinhardt Wilhelm (1010) has posed:
    Reinhardt has been in a bit of a funk since the Multiverse re-jiggered itself. It's why he's here today, to take his mind off of the stress of that event and having to start fresh AGAIN. He's gone it alone before, when Overwatch got shut down, he can do it before.

    The towering German knight in power armor's arrival is announced by small tremors and heavy footfalls, jogging as he hollers to get Lexicon's attention. "HELLLLLOOOOOOOO!!!" He bellows, laughing heartily as he approaches.

    "Hope I didn't miss the excitement, what are we doing today?" He asks, before he regards the priestess looking woman curiously. "ANd who might you be, madam? I am Reinhardt Wilhelm, at your service!"

Silica has posed:
A City In Japan, approximately 20 minutes ago:
    Well... might as well. "Mom... get the first aid kit ready, I'm going out." calls Keiko from the upstairs landing. "I'll be careful, don't worry." she quickly adds before the elder Ayano can offer up much protest. Even with the Multiverse barfing its insides to the outside, Keiko's mother knows there's just no stopping the girl when she's set her mind to something.

    "Alright dear, Your father will be home soon, I'll send him up to keep an eye on you." Ms. Ayano relents. "I'll put dinner in the microwave for when you come back, okay?" "Thanks mom!"

    Keiko then scampers back into her room, grabs up her AmuSphere and begins the boot-up sequence. "Link Start!"

    Skies of Britannica, Now.

    A yellow streak cuts through the snowy skies, the glowing contrail of the Cait Sith known as Silica flying from the Cablerail station. It angles downwards, then begins to spiral in a lazy, declining circle down to the ground, before the slight, slender feline-eared girl lands with the soft tip-tap of her leather boots on the ground. "Hey, I'm here. This thing came back again huh?"

Cirra Constantine (675) has posed:
    Cirra Constantine still cannot find a viable warpgate to Galianda, this is largely in part to the scarce number of stable warpgates on the clockwork planet. However, she still has missions to perform, and a duty to adhear to.

    THat is why the Judge is hhere again today, treking through the snow - sometihng Shivans are good at, and reaching the top. "Lexicon." She says formally, expecting no answer from the hyper focused frown on the girl's face, before turning to her helper. "I can't help but think this thing is building towards some kind of grand finale at floor one hundred. Even if not, it's drain on systems is only getting worse. Do the other systems have no intention of cooperating with you to control the manifestations?"

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
Flying is easier, but isn't nearly as fun, and to be honest the green-haired wind priestess, Sanae Kochiya, isn't certain it even works in some sectors of the Multiverse, now. Better safe tha sorry! She arrives into the city, itself, and before leaving to the outskirts to rendezvous with the distress call, she takes out a rental. It could have been a cool digital recreation of a sports car, or at least a speedy motorcycle. Instead, what she comes riding out on is a curious conveyance, a platform with a handle for steering while standing upon it. It is fairly fast for what it is, and the single wheel, made seemingly out of partially solidified light, is effectively all terrain. It even kicks up light bits of virtual debris as it scoots forward, unimpressively and harmlessly.

    When she finally arrives, she swerves in the effort to look cool, despite the device being anything but. It almost throws the thing off balance, in the process. After she recovers, she dismounts, both the LightSeg and the glowy striped bicycle helmet perched atop her head flowing into something the size of a medallion. So cool! Too bad it's likely it won't work out of the System. "I came here as fast as I could!" Sort of a fib, it's true for the unicycle anyway. "What's up? --oh." Yeah, she knows that tower. She barely made it out alive(*) the last time the two faced off! Something happens to catch her eye, though, as her emerald mane shakes free some of the residual helmet hair bowling. "Ah, is it...a mecha!?" She supposes there could still be a pilot inside one of this size. There are others, too, with Cirra and Silica. "You're familiar with it, too? Nothing but trouble for this world, it seems like."

    If she's bothered by the snow at all, which with her arms half bare seems like she should be, she doesn't let it show. Instead she beams a confident smile.

Deelel has posed:
And so here is Deelel once more still trying to find the grid but when things came up with Lexicon's world? She was happy to turn up and help where she could. The basic was clad more for wandering the multiverse with a far more human made looking outfit and she knew they'd be contiuning what hat been started some weeks ago so here she was in the snow, her breath turning ti mist as she arrives righting on of all things? A Light Snowmobile.

"Greetings!" Calls out the program as she comes to a halt and banishes her ride.

Lexicon has posed:
    It's hard to miss someone as impressively large and impressively loud as Reinhardt Wilhelm. His booming voice gets Lexicon's attention and she shoots a look over her shoulder. The glower lasts only a second before she recovers to a more netural expression, turning fully to greet the mountain some places call a man, "Welcome back. It's been a while, hasn't it?" Her head tilts towards the Tower, "That's our mission today. This thing shows up at the worst times."

    This is directed to Silica as well, as the cait sith lands, "That's right." And Cirra's arrival, as well, "I don't know if it's building up to something or not. To be honest, I just want it gone. Now is definitely not a good time to be dealing with this kind of resource drain." There's a shake of her head, "And no, the other Drives have no intention of helping. We're not fighting right now, but they have their own problems to deal with after the recent disaster."

    The soft wirring, barely audible over snow, draws Lexicon's attention to Sanae's arrival. And then to Sanae's choice of vehicle. Her eyebrows form a straight, flat line of bemusement as she watches the slow approach, the attempt to 'skid' to a stop, and a somewhat more graceful disembark. Only after the LightSegway has dissolved does she address the wind priestess: "Really? All the vehicles and you picked that one? I think you could've walked faster."

    With the even tone of her voice it's hard to tell if Lexicon is teasing or scolding.

    Deelel shows up, and Lexicon lifts a hand to gesture at the Grid denizen, as if to say 'see?', though she doesn't actually say anything to go with it.

    The priestess beside Lexicon recovers herself and gets back to her feet--and proves herself a head or so taller than the DCC. Politely, she folds her hands and bows, "Ah. Miss Kochiya and Miss Constantine may recognize me but I have not met the rest of you before. I am Stylono, chief priestess of the Silver Cathoderal and personal assistant to Lady Silver Soul." A hand unfolds and she gestures to the crates, "I thought I'd bring your rewards ahead of time, this time, though it was quite short notice."

Cirra Constantine (675) has posed:
    The Judge nods to Reinhardt and Silica, unfortunatly seeing the Caith Sith isn't summoning one her rare smiles today. As Stylono addresses them she shakes her head slightly, "I was hoiping to ask for raw currency this time. My resources are... not what they normally are with this warpgate mess. Unfortunatly I still haven't found a way back to my homeworld."

    "Regardless of that. I will do my best to resolve the issue we have today."

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
There's a light, sheepish laugh from Sanae, as she rubs the back of her head. She doesn't get too embarassed, though, and at least, perhaps, it did entertain Lexicon for a moment in a troubled time. "Fast, no. But cute and reliable." And fairly inexpensive as far as rentals go. She'll leave the fancier rides for actual digital denizens, like the demonstrated Deelel. Regardless of the mode of transport, however, it seems that quite a team has been assembled. The Tower won't know what hit it, this time around. "Hello, Miss Stylono. Long time no see!" She does indeed remember her, with a cheerful wave added in. "It must be pretty serious if both of you are out here, braving the cold." And prepayment is also fairly unusual, so what exactly is going on in there?

    While the contents may not be known to them, what she does remember is that to combat the resource drain, they have to 'solve' the floor. It unfortunately makes it someone else's problem, but what else are they going to do? It's a bit different from the straightforward nature of Duty Space. "Understood, then. With a knight like Sir Wilheim leading the charge, we'll get this done in no time!" She seems to have freely made assumptions about both his personal character and his modus operandi, based on the limited information she has. It's nothing new for her. "And a cat fairy, maybe?" Her eyes pivot over to Silica next, such an enormous contrast between her and Reinhardt, yet they also seem like they belong on the same team, somehow. A light knock of her knuckles to the corner of her head jars her out of her distraction again.

Reinhardt Wilhelm (1010) has posed:
    Reinhardt nods to Cirra and Silica, recognizing them. He smiles broadly behind his mask, before he turns to face Stylono. "Well met, Lady Stylono." He also nods to Sanae, chuckling as she seems to borrow Silica's pronunciation of his surname. He doesn't have it in him to correct the girls.

    Sanae referring to him as Sir Wilhelm brings his spirits up even higher, as he chuckles and nods. "Aye, we will get it done, you can count on us! On my honor as a warrior and defender, we will not erest until all one hundred floors have been cleared!" He says, clapping his chest with a metallic thud.

    At the offer of rewards, Reinhardt shakes his hand. "There will be no need for that, I assure you. The satisfaction of a job well done and helping others is all I need, I assure you." Awful chivalrous, this one.

Silica has posed:
    "Lets get to it then!" says Silica, really trying to sound her old chipper self, but to anyone that knows her, it's obviously forced. "I'll hang back on support duty again like last time, so don't worry about healing or buffing too much. Just don't get yourselves too hurt, my Water Magic skill isn't high enough to use anything more than basic healing spells."

Deelel has posed:
Deelel just grinds at Lexicon for a moment as she snatches up the baton and attaches it to her clothing's pant leg. How does it even stay there? Magents? Who knows it just sticks there as she looks to all the rest of the arriving parties she's glad to see a few faces here who clearly lived through all the insanity of the multiverse going barf. So many faces he feared lost and where not she also takes a look to Sanae for a moment.

"I'd been worried some of you here might not have lived through the universe going what's the human term? Barf?" Her eyes glance over from Lexicon, to Sanae, to Silicia, Cirra and Reinhardt.

"So clear out, and purge basically? Got it, should be simple enough."

Neuroi Girl has posed:
     "...you are loud..." comes a very soft voice from behind Reinhardt. With her naturally nearly silent movements and inconspicuous style, the littlest Neuroi has made her way to the source of all the strange reedings. The faceless, pitch-black girl who is floating just a few inches off the ground looks between those gathered, then bows at the waist politely...which leads into a somersault before she rights herself again. "...I am Evangeline...I heard someone here needed help..." she says, then raises her head toward the tower. "...why is a black tower bad...? ...maybe the people inside are just trying to make a living...?" she says, though she seems ready to go inside either way.

Lexicon has posed:
    "The System Tower is bad news," Lexicon explains to Evangeline-- oddly casual despite the girl's entrance-- "Because its presence drains system resources from this entire Drive." A hand is raised, gesturing to the surroundings, "It's sucking out the lifeblood of everything you can see from here to the System Bus." Eyes returning to the neuroi, she adds, "Also it's full of viruses and deathtraps. Not people."

    Her eyes wander from Evangeline to Reinhardt, then Silica and Sanae and Deelel and Cirra, in that order, "For those who don't know me, I'm Lexicon, the Drive Core Controller for Britannica." A hand rests on her chest and she's surrounded with pale light. Rings of code shoot out at her knee, waist, and shoulder levels, then compress once again. When the light fades, she's changed into a silver-haired, red-eyed version of herself in a white bodysuit. Sigils wink to life in her pupils as armored pieces flicker in around her hips and shoulders.

    "The mission is simple. We solve the floor and the Tower disappears."

    Behind her, Stylono pushes the doors open, then steps quickly aside to avoid being in the way, "I'll figure something out about the reward, but each of you really should get something for your efforts, I feel. Be safe and be careful."

Silica has posed:
    Before everyone sets off, Silica draws a golden, gleaming crystal from her inventory, and holds it up as she begins to chant. The words are in a variation of some kind of norse dialect, horribly mangled by a game developer, but the words spinning around her, and locking into place, soon form a phrase. 'Let us be gilt in the Earth's embrace', and a 'bubble' shield forms around everyone heading into the tower. It'll provide some ablative defense against the first few small attacks.

    After that's done, she swaps out for her dagger again, and follows along near the back of the group, letting those more 'tanky' than herself take the lead.

Reinhardt Wilhelm (1010) has posed:
    Reinhardt makes a noise, "Well, I suppose I cannot stop you if you come up with something. In any case, we'll deal with this at another time." He says, before he looks behind himself, seeing Evangeline. "Oh, hello there!" He greets cheerfully, before he follows the others in.

    Hammer in hand, Reinhardt takes the front, knowing his status as the Party's tank as it were. "Stay close, stay alert. We are in enemy territory..."

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
That's a new one, and as far as Sanae can remember, is the first time she's seen a magical girl transformation live and in the flesh. Digital girl? To the vaguely humanoid Neuroi, she gives a curious glance. It might even be long enough to be considered rude, as she rubs a cheek thoughtfully. Is it an alien? It doesn't look like any of the ones she's familiar with, like the Grays and Reptilians. "Yeah it's...weird," she further attempts to explain. "They're like miniature worlds inside this one. The last time, at least for me, it was a haunted pizza parlor." Thankfully, aside from that and another smile, she's not extending the rudeness by poking Evangeline to see if she's hard or sqishy, though the hour is still young.

    Otherwise, she prepares to file in behind the Judge and Hammer Knight, possibly astride Silica and Neuroi Girl. If viruses are around, there may be combat, so she prepares by withdrawing what looks to be cards, or rather talismans, since they seem to be holding a divine energy, to those that can sense that sort of thing. They seem to still work in the System well enough, or at least did on Poochooze class ones, so she'll not sweat the details. "Okay, I'm ready," she proclaims, and begins to make her way forward! Let's see what the Tower has in store, this time. Maybe it'll be a cool Grottos n' Goblins adventure this time around, and she'll get to see Reinhardt, Silica and Cirra in what she presumes are their natural element.

Deelel has posed:
Deelel was ready for this and she seem to make ready to fall in with everyone else though Sanae has got her attention a bit maybe she'll tyr to talk to her once the job is done she falls in with a stance that's ready for a fight and she reches for the disc on her back which comes away, but the edge does not power up just yet..

"Reinhardt do you have any issues with magical support?"

Cirra Constantine (675) has posed:
    Cirra summons her Law Blade, the crystal sword is comforting in her hand now that she can't reach home. She moves forward as the doors open into the tower. "What will it be this time..." She murmurs to herself as she motions Reinhardt to move slightly ahead of her. He has way more armor then she does. And inertia. He's less likely to get toppeled over.

Lexicon has posed:
    Through the door, the Tower opens up into a single large, vaguely round room. There is no apparent ceiling, but a beautiful star-filled sky with a full moon. The vaguely bowl-shaped floor is covered in snow, with pine trees sticking up around the edges, aside from where the door itself is. Despite the utter lack of clouds, snow falls lazily, in a picturesque way out of a movie or video game. It's just...so very soothing and calm. While the room's floor is bowl-shaped, there's a little rise in the center, a small hill, and something floats right above that.

    It looks like a flat-screen TV, without need of a power cord or anything of the like, and with no obvious connectors or anything on the back that's facing the door. It just looks like a broad, flat black panel. It seems to lift up when the crunch of snow underfoot reaches it, and the panel turns around--revealing it is completely 2-dimensional.

    On the other side is what might be mistaken for a screencap from a visual novel game. A background of wintery scenery and flickering christmas lights, and a still-art depiction of a cute girl in a fuzzy winter dress and hat, hands clasped together. Underneath the screen-panel is a second, short and wide panel of a straight, flat blue color. With a series of beeps, letters appear.

CHRISTMAS
    Ah! I wasn't expecting any company at all! This holiday was going to be very lonely.

    The text panel flips over, turning blank. At the same moment, the girl's portrait changes to a cheerful eyes-closed smile.

CHRISTMAS
    Thank you for coming to visit! Merry Christmas!"

    Lexicon can't help but stare. After a moment to recover, she glances aside, "Don't let your guard down. That's still a virus." Still apparently unarmed, she floats sidelong, circling the little hill but not getting closer, mostly investigating the wintery set-piece the Tower has placed this lone virus in.

Silica has posed:
    Silica just... kinda blinks at the screen. Head tilting to one side as she cautiously approaches. "This looks like one of those VN's I've played... maybe we have to talk to this one?" she ventures, looking at the others. She's not gotten too close, but being distracted, if the Virus wanted to take a swing, it'd get a free hit in.

Neuroi Girl has posed:
     Evangeline also knows her role in a party. Aerial cover and artillery. So, as the others start inside she follows after and slightly above, keeping her lines of sight clear of her allies. Although she looks small and dainty, she has a few abilities that are not obvious on first glance. "...hello..." she returns Reinhardt's greeting, then looks over at Sanae. There's no expression on her face of course, but the Neuroi Girl doesn't seem offended. Or...happy. Or nervous. She offers a light nod to Sanae's explanation, then her feline tail swishes before she continues on,

     The wintery setting allows Evangeline to rise a bit farther into the air. She floats around the area before looking at the strange flat screen. "...Christmas is talking...?" she asks in that soft voice of hers, with only minimal inflections to it. "...Merry Christmas...whoever you are...I am sorry you were lonely...but your tower is causing trouble...is there any way you could make it disappear..? ..or at least make it smaller..? ...this is a very pretty place...and I don't want to hurt you...I was very lonely too...until I made some friends..."

     All of this is said by the little hovering girl right in front of that hovering screen. "...I am Evangeline..."

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
"A visual novel heroine?" That's Sanae's only logical conclusion, as the curious panel, etched distressingly sharply into space itself, comes to life to greet them. She suddenly remembers herself, and fidgets, giving a light laugh, "I mean, I had heard about that kind of thing. It's only natural for a teenager from Earth to know!" She certainly didn't play her share of them at any point. See? Silica also has her back on it being completely natural knowledge. Regardless, once she gets over being dumbfounded by the shape the virus takes, she can't help but reflexively answer in a heavily accented, "Merry Christmas!" Not even strange digital constructs sucking energy from cities full of virtual people should have to spend the Holiday months alone, after all. Even in these troubled times.

    Strange, though. This world didn't seem based on Earth at all, but a virus still cobbled together around it? The pizzaria and amusement center was one thing, but an entire Holiday is quite another. It gets Sanae to thinking and looking serious, as she steps through the snowfall, tapping her bottom lip lightly with the paper of one of her talismans. That's right, it's still an enemy, of some sort. Even if it doesn't seem to be harmful at the moment. Silica does bring up a good point about the nature of VNs, and if the virus has taken on this form, then... "Maybe we have to make her happy somehow, and that would clear the challenge. Uh...I'm rusty on my branching text adventures. But, hello!" She calls specifically to the girl in the window. The wisdom of engaging a virus in conversation may be questionable, but the logic seems sound. At this rate she half expects some dialogue prompts to appear hovering in mid air, in order to choose from. But maybe this one is smarter.

    Evangeline also seems to have the same general idea, whether she's familiar with the game style or not. Sanae stands aside for a few moments to observe how the panel reacts to all of them. It's quite a twist, and honestly, kind of fun in its own way.

Deelel has posed:
Deelel does not attack this thing is a virus yet but it's not made a move yet she does pause for a moment and returns the greetings. "Merry Christmas to you as well." Talk things out with a Virus? Humans have had a large effect on Deelel givne the basic is considering this, she just looks for a moment at Sanae for a moment "A Visual Novel..." That's something to consider and she also gives SIlica a bit of a look as well but she now turns toe the screen and does't let her guard down, she's just got to wonder what's going to happen next.

Cirra Constantine (675) has posed:
    Approaching the screen slowly, Cirra stop as it turns around, then frowns behind her helmet as it begins 'talking'. Evangeline replies to it, and the Judge isn't sure what to make of it. She starts moving around the hill opposite LExicon. She isn't in a talking mood anyways, better to focus on what else might be out there.

Reinhardt Wilhelm (1010) has posed:
    Reinhardt looks at the screen curiously, "Merry Chirstmas, madam. I would've brought gifts, had I known ahead of time!" He says, trying to keep a nice face at this virus. Eyeing Lexicon, he tries to weight his options, taking a look around he Christmasy surroundings curiously.

    All the while, he watches Evangeline. He might've seen reports with her in them, but it's fascinating to watch the Neuroi in-person.

Lexicon has posed:
CHRISTMAS
    Hello!

    The virus' screen depicts its dialogue to Evangeline and Sanae both when it is addressed directly. The picture likewise changes to depict the girl waving with a big smile. In a blink, it returns to the earlier hands-clasped art depiction.

CHRISTMAS
    My name is Christmas. I'd love to help but I have no control over the Tower's behavior. I am a virus but I don't like to do bad things.

    As the panel flips over, the art shifts to a more dejected expression, almost heartbreaking.

CHRISTMAS
    I'm trapped here. You understand? So I can't leave even though I want to.

    The picture shifts suddenly to an expression of realization, the winter-clad girl bopping a fist into her hand.

CHRISTMAS
    Ah! That's right! If you beat it than maybe I can leave with you! I'll wake it up right now. Please save me!

    There's a rumble and the snowy mound that the virus floats above suddenly shifts. Teeth appear and close upward, snapping Christmas up between them. Whatever creature those choppers belongs to hauls itself up out of the snow and into an upright position. A canine snout, a bushy tail and triangular brown ears, unreadable black eyes... and a familiar (to some) blue-colored gelatenous tear-drop body the size of a large truck.

    As the monster bounces up to its 'standard' form, an enormous object descends upon it, landing on top of the virus in a way that covers one ear while leaving the other exposed. An enormous red Santa cap, complete with fuzzy white brim and pompom, comes to rest on top of Great Poochooze.

    "POOCHOO!"

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
Okay, so they don't get to take the easy way out of saving and reloading until they find the right path of saving Christmas. At least one part of her instinct proves correct, though, as clearing the level and releasing the virus would definitely make her happy. ...wait, releasing the virus? That bridge will be crossed when it's come to. "Huh? Well, you can talk it out with us, then, right? I mean, that's what you visual novel heroines do." The Tower has its own whims, however, that must be followed. Instead of being a heroine to be reasoned with, she's instead taken the initiative to debut what has allegedly kept her captive her. Or, well, now with those jaws snapping shut, truly taken her captive. Sanae gasps, not fully realizing what she's saying: "No! We can't let the only good virus I've met be deleted this way. You understand, right Sir Wilheim? We must SAVE CHRISTMAS."

    It'll hit her later, probably. And she seems to be completely convinced that the strange girl is above the table on not being a bad virus, for better or worse.

    But if the panel is indeed Christmas, and was swallowed, that's going to take some precision strikes to try and avoid damaging the digital payload within. A bit like chipping away at one of those candy coated chocolates without harming the peanut inside. "If you know what a slime is, you probably already know this thing's tricks. I mean, I assume, I didn't fight a *Santa* Poochooze before." But such lazy monster design means the AI template has probably also been copied. She withdraws the talismans from before in more of a slinging motion, casting them outward where they fold and contort, in mid-air, into distinctly serpentine shapes. Then then track onto the Great Poochooze and head straight in. She's tried to live calibrate it to be a bit less potent than before, though...even if that's going to mean it takes even longer to whittle down.

Neuroi Girl has posed:
     Now Evangeline really wants to save the virus! It's just like her! Something everyone thinks is bad, but this one isn't!

     At least, that's how it appears. Evangeline doesn't follow things quite so blindly, but it is the thing she wants to believe. When the area rumbles and the snowy mound starts to rise, Evangeline zips backward quickly and raises her sleeve-like arms, which seem to lack hands. The flat, solid ends start to glow red, as do the small red panels on her strange platform-like wings. "...we will save you...if we can..." she says as the sinister red glow increases to a blinding level.

     And fires a solid beam of explosive, red energy. Right at the head of the creature. "...being cute will not save you from destruction..." Evangeline says as she unleashes her beam fury on the Poochooze. "...you ate Christmas...and we have to get her back..." Apparently Evangeline doesn't really plan before attacking. She doesn't usually have to. The things she fights don't usually take precision. Evangeline rises as she fires, making sure to keep the sightlines clear so her melee oriented allies can move in without danger of friendly fire.

Deelel has posed:
Humand had effected Deelel more than she know, she'd normally have thought the Virus was trying to trick them but now? She's going to ... give it a chance and try to help it. "I'll take what your saying is processing on the level Christma. If there's any information you can tell us how to help free you? We'll need to ... find you a function somewhere else also so this doesn't happen again to you."

If Christmas is on the level? She doesn't want someone trying to use them again.

"All right we'll do what we can to help you. Then comes the monster oh dear she arms her disk before she moves in trying to get aorund and behing the Poochooze before making a strike for it.

Silica has posed:
    Silica gives off a startled yelp as the mound of snow begins to move. She topples backwards, and rolls down the side of the 'hill' as it reveals itself to be a giant Poochooze. She gets buried under the snow that's shaken free, and takes a few moments to unstick herself from this predicament. "... Whoa, that's a giant dogblob!" she chirps, extrating herself and backing away a bit. Gotta watch the Boss, take in its pattern... and she can just about see the 'screen' inside of the semi-transluscent blob's outer membrane. She does nothing to start with, just observes.

Reinhardt Wilhelm (1010) has posed:
    Reinhardt listens, frowning beneath his helmet. "I see. We'll do our best to-" Unfortunately POOCHOOZE! He yelps with bafflement at the slimy creature, "GAH! WHAT IS THAT?!" He exclaims in shock, reaching for his hammer as he approaches. "Away with you, fiend!" The hammer swings at the Poochooze, slamming with intense impact. It's going to hurt...a lot. If he has issues with magic support, he doesn't voice it, so Lexicon and Deelel are free to buff as they see fit.

Lexicon has posed:
    "What, you wanna put it to work in my Drive?" Lexicon glances Deelel's way when the comment is made. After a moment, her attention returns to Saint Poochooze, producing her axe with a flourish of sparkles and System Resources, "If you're gonna insist, then I can probably find something. I don't care much for viruses but if it wants to be productive, who am I to tell it no?" The DCC swings her axe up over her shoulder one-handed and reaches out with her free hand, drawing her fingers upward and clenching them. A circle of digitized lines spirals out from around her feet, then dissolves.

    Reinhardt's hammer slams into Saint Poochooze with a gross sound, and it has about the effect one would expect-- like hitting mud with a pickaxe, there isn't much that a blunt weapon can do to it and even hitting the monster feels unsatisfying. And that's when Lexicon's digital work kicks in. The same lines appear around Reinhardt and close in. Promptly, the flame jet on his thruster sputters out, then starts hissing out crystallized steam instead. It'll still function the same (jet assistance included) but Lexicon's changed his attack type from Blunt to Ice.

    And it works so much nicer, when that hammer hits again, freezing and smashing off a piece of the giant Poochooze with a solid, satisfying sound. This draws Saint Poochooze's attention and it whirls around on Reinhardt, rearing up and back. It dips its snout low and surges forward, bouncing rapidly as it attempts to bowl the mountainous German over.

    With Rein getting the monster slime's attention, Deelel has an easy time getting behind it for whatever plan she has in mind. Sanae likewise is left to her own devices, even as her talismans strike the wobbly surface with small, divine bursts of light. It's so drawn on Reinhardt that it doesn't even respond to Evangeline's threat display. What does draw it, at last, from the great knight is when crimson lasers slash through its body in various places. This doesn't appear to cause any damage at all-- but the lines where the beams had sliced had instantly evaporated, and the Poochooze simply compressed to close the gaps. It's lost mass very suddenly, and whirls towards Evangeline's position even as it skids to a halt from its attack towards Reinhardt.

    "Hey, don't forget about ME, bastard!"

    Lexicon smashes that Taunt button. And by 'smash the taunt button' we mean 'smashes an ice-infused axe into Saint Poochooze', which yanks its attention back towards her and Reinhardt to keep the monster from going after the more fragile fighters.

Silica has posed:
    Silica watches. It charges, and it's an Ooze-type creature. If it's anything like those ones in ALO, it'll try to spawn off smaller adds as the battle progresses. The others are doing really well with Ice-type damage. So she straightens up, and begins chanting again. "Ek skýt fjórir ískaldur ör!" (I shoot four glacial arrows!). As the last word locks into place, four pillars of ice form about the young girl, and the begins aiming with the targetting reticule that appears in her eyeline. She spreads the shots across the upper part of Saint Poochooze, aiming to lob them artillery-style to impale and freeze along the 'spinal' line... even though this thing doesn't have a spine.

Deelel has posed:
Deelel Says "Find somewhere another system, maybe aother part of the multiverse. Help them find a function that doesn't hurt anyone and makes them happy. I understand if you can't or won't give it a chance." She's thinking though the lense of a basic after all which might put her off base but it's clear she's at least willing to give the thing a chance if it turly wants to leave.She takes a deep breath now and makes ready as she launches her disc at the strnge Poochooze.

Then she starts to focus summoning her Keyblade, while the disc is still bouncing about she catches the weapon off hand and that's when Reinhardt would find Deelel muttering something and soon he'll find a green glow covering him and did he just hear the tick tock of a clock? Yes, yes he did and he's rapidly find the Haste spell Deelel has caused has caue the bilg old hammer knight to be able to move a hell of a lot faster for now.

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
Dogblob, yes. That is probably what the different colored, slightly stronger one will be called. Well done, Silica! Sanae does fret a bit more than she normally would, especially back in her Youkai Hunter days, over the situation. To let down the virus, Christmas, would feel like she's letting down her old friend, too. If there's anything to be done, she'll help save her. Her normally cheerful face is strained a bit from it, as she once again dials down another set of card-like talismans. That is, until she hears over the radio that Silica has a plan. One that might be difficult to execute, but in the interim they just have to keep at it. That does provide a litte bit more hope. "Mm, got it!" She's full of vigor again, and she dares to lift off the ground through focused wind, as she begins to more fully channel her powers.

    She's fundamentally a nature priestess, and goddess in training. If it's ice that's necessary, she'll have to make do with what they've got. The good news is that what they've got is the remains of that enormous snow bank from before, and a wintry night scene all around. She can work with this! "I invoke the Miracle of the White Christmas!" Anyone that had been around her for long would know that her 'miracles' are often fairly mundane things. In this case, though, she seems to gather some of that chilled air with her normal wind-associated powers, along with some of the powdery snow. She still slings two more of those homing serpents -- but this time they're not the main payload, instead used as tracers for the cutting gusts of frigid air that follow immediately behind. She's still working more on the 'perimeter' of the Poochooze, to try and hack and slash as much of its bulk away as possible, so that maybe Silica can get her chance.

    Everyone is working so hard to free a virus, of all things. This is truly the Christmas spirit! Meanwhile, she keeps moving. Especially if the pieces breaking off start turning into the normal yapping poochoozes, she needs to be ready to maneuver.

Reinhardt Wilhelm (1010) has posed:
    Silica thankfully makes things easy for Reinhardt, when the Poochooze is frozen in places. He smashes his hammer against the Poochooze once more, freezing and shattering pieces off of the slimy hound before he's smacked by the Poochooze.

    "Oof!" He skids backwards a few, grunting as he tries to jump back to his feet once more. "Now it's on, monster!" He roars, charging once more as he speeds up thanks to the Haste spell. He shoulder-checks the Poochooze, trying to smash right into the gelatinous hellhound.

Neuroi Girl has posed:
     Like a true DPS, Evangeline draws attention only for a moment before the tanks draw fire again. She maintains her height and starts circling the Poochooze. "...release her...Christmas is for everyone..." she says as she charges up again, then starts firing a steady stream of machine gun shots. Individually not very dangerous. But when 20 or so are fired every second, it comes out to a steady stream of destructive little explosions peppering the Poochooze from above. Chipping away at it like everyone else. And it also helps her avoid hitting allies. And even if she did, the smaller shots are much less likely to cause serious harm.

     As she fires her twin streams of explosive bullets, Evangeline says to herself "...I should really get a blade someday..."

Lexicon has posed:
    Chunks of Saint Poochooze that get frozen and knocked free of its body remain frozen, landing in snow and the like where they're not likely to thaw any time soon. Arrows of ice impact its back and top, piercing the hat and causing crystalline patterns to spread across the gooey blue surface. These are maintained, and even begin to grow as the giant virus is surrounded by ice, snow, and biting snake charms. In general, while the body is shaved down and it gets smaller, the surface is also getting more solid.

    The monster 'crouches' in place when Reinhardt's shoulder slams into it, causing its entire form to wobble like an upset dessert. As the ripples subside, the virus hurls itself into a spin, flattening itself at the same time to shove back close-range fighters.

    Caught in the middle, Lexicon's knocked back head-over-heels, though recovers enough to land on her feet several meters back, eyes tracking Deelel's Disc as it darts into and then out of Saint Poochooze's body. Rapid-fire crimson lasers pepper it from above, chipping off chunks of slime and ice all at the same time, though curiously the hat remains undamaged even when hit directly-- Saint Poochooze seems to take damage instead.

    With its standard secondary attack disabled due to being frozen, Saint Poochooze bounces in place, tilting its face upward and unleashing a howl, "POOCHOOOOOOOO~!"

    The gentle falling snow that Sanae's taking advantage of is suddenly seized, the flakes transforming into hailstones and raining down through the entire boss room. They're just round stones that hurt, but the more alarming part is that Saint Poochooze slowly re-gains mass when the hail hits it.

Silica has posed:
(Action Sequence: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KwYAmgFhaI)
    Silica discusses her plan over the local radio, and once everyone's set up, she begins running. "NOW!" she cries, hoping everyone can get into place and do their part. This isn't like ALO where the rest of the Gatecrashers have fought together for literally years, honing their styles in concert and almost having a telepathic link with each other, so that a simple call of 'SWITCH!' gets instant reaction... but these are Elites, and she trusts them to be able to do what she's asked.

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
The Saint Poochooze, as some obscure health bar that's probably somewhere describes it, is a strange creature. It has just enough AI updates to keep things ineresting. For one thing, Sanae wan't expecting it to be able to turn the lightly falling snow into significant hailstones. They're not quite enough to draw blood, but as she shields herself from them with her sleeves, clucking with her tongue and yelping with every solid impact, one can sea some bruises forming. It's become serious! And the worst thing is, once she's finally able to focus back on the Saint Poochooze itself, "Using it to heal, too!?" That simply won't do.

    She's meanwhile got an ear to the radio, as she listens to Silica's MMO vet advice, as well as the plan she's formulating. "I'll do my best to go along with it!" And what exactly has gotten into Miss Lexicon, anyway? She's become like a, well okay, slightly different person with that onepiece on. The coordination isn't exactly perfect, since as put forward, they haven't had years of practice in combinations, but she gets the timing well enough, swooping down to scoop up Silica once she's got good flight speed. The hail becomes a bit more annoying when it's flying into your face, but Sanae at least tolerates it. It's not long before she's playing the part of skycrane for the diminutive Cait Sith, whether that was the original plan or not, scooping her up while still keeping her upright, and moving into position, "Okay, Miss Silica and I are on the way. Good luck everyone!" As the target zone nears, she readies to loosen her grip on signal, though she does wonder about the height. She's some kind of cat spirit though, so it's probably fine. They always land on their feet.

Reinhardt Wilhelm (1010) has posed:
    IT BEGINS

    Reinhardt takes the chance offered as he grips his hammer, charging the Poochooze, his boosters carrying him towards the virus again.

    His hammer's rocket activates, roaring as the Knight brings it down upon the Poochooze with dangerous amounts of speed. "RAAAAAAGH!" Whether it connects, or the blow whiffs, Reinhardt just needs to make the Poochooze recoil, just for a second, for Silica's plan to work.

Deelel has posed:
Deelel keeps the spells comming as she moves to keep her self from etting caught by the creature but well? Hail, hail the gangs all here nd Deelel's just getting smacked about now. WHAM WHAM CRACK OW! DEelel's not having a very good time of it as Deelel is getting slobbering knocked why she's not really used to all sorts of weather still. It just snows or rains on the grid /thats/ it. None of this hail coming doen on her she finally casts severla quick but weak fire spells trying to keep herself safe for even a moment.

"What the glitch is this?!"

She's going to be a bit busy trying to deal with the hostile weather but she'll be back in the fight quickl enough. She does see Sanae and Silica make their move.

"Go we'll deal with it here."

Lexicon has posed:
    "Here we go!" When the shout is given, Lexicon sweeps her axe back behind herself, waiting for the right moment, which Reinhardt provides when he slams into Saint Poochooze from the front. This staggers the ooze, forcing it back into position. Lexicon's feet touch the snow just long enough for her to spring off it, the contact throwing out a digitized circle across the snow that catapults her forward, "HAAAH! I'll /CRUSH/ YOU! ZERSTERONG!"

    When she swings, it's by bringing the axe beneath herself and then up in an arc, slashing into Saint Poochooze and flash-freezing the cut in a dramatic way, mid-splash. As the axe hits its apex, Lexicon grabs onto it with both hands now and brings it down in a near-identical reverse arc, "ZWEITER SCHLAG!"

    The second blow shaves out the ice from the first, scattering shards in every direction--including into the Poochooze's body. It also drags her back to the ground with the momentum, which allows the DCC to kick off sideways and out of the way for the rest of the plan to take effect.

Neuroi Girl has posed:
     When the hail starts falling, one of Evangeline's abilities is revealed. An energy shield that sparks with each hailstone that hits it. Translucent blue hexagonal plates of energy appear, forming a sphere around Evangeline. And when she notices the hail sticking to the Poochooze, she quickly flies over to cover it from as much of the hail as she can block.

     And then she gets that plan over the radio, she gives a light nod. "...I can..." she says. She stops firing for now, waiting for Silica to give the word.

     When the word is given, those explosive pellets start firing again. This time from both arms and the little wing-panels on Evangeline's legs. Eight steady streams of the shots, aimed with military precision. She can keep up this kind of attack for a decent amount of time, but not forever. So Sanae and Silica better work fast!

Silica has posed:
    As Reinhardt smashes the creature to stagger it, and Lexicon slashes its side clean open, Evangeline's fuscillade opens the path for Sanae to drop the Cait Sith into the gaping wound. "I'm a Cait Sith, and this isn't my real body." she says to Sanae quickly as they fly. "Okay, drop me now!" she says. "CEASE FIRE!" she then calls out to Evangeline, so she doesn't get shot in the back by a stray bullet for this next bit.

    "Wings of the Nine, Souls of the Alph. Guide my blade this day. I call upon the Great Water Dragon to slay my foe." As she plummets, peppered by Hailstones that leave glowing spiderwebs of red cracks across her body, her Dagger begins to glow, and let off a streaming trail of condensed, frozen water. One shot. She has one shot at this... that girl is counting on her, on all of them. "I'm coming to save you! HYAIIIIAIAIIAIA!"

    She stabs the blade into the top of the 'wound', and using the momentum of her drop, drags the blade downwards, cleaving her way deeper into the Ooze's body. The blade re-freezes the ooze as it cuts, and as she hits the floor, the ooze explodes with ice shards jabbing all which way into the monster's internals. Stunlocked for a moment, she gathers her strength and then, once her body begins to move again, uses her FIST, clenched around the hilt of her dagger, to smash into the the frozen form, just a little more. She can see the black 'screen', and reaches for it, grasping at the edges and hauling on it to pull it free of the icy prison. Her hands 'sink' into the screen, as the 2D edge bites into her hands, causing more of those red Damage Decals to appear as she hauls Christmas clear of the Poochooze, and rather unceremoniously tosses it due to momentum clear of the monster.

Lexicon has posed:
    Saint Poochooze is hammered from all sides in a rather heavy combo, keeping it staggered and unable to fight back, if only for a few moments. It's slammed into and pushed around, then cleaved open and shot repeatedly by lasers all in the same place, leaving its normally svelte, round shape rather nastily carved open on one side. Amidst all the ice, the impossibly thin black corner of something is visible, easily found, and yanked on. Friction causes this to wobble all through the Poochooze's body, and it seems to realize what is going on.

    The second it can move again, Saint Poochooze whirls around, trying to throw Silica off. The side effect is this further strains its own grip on its prizoner, aiding the Cait Sith in pulling the smaller virus steadily free until--with an uncharacteristic *blorp*-- Saint Poochooze is parted from Christmas and all the resistence disappears. When Silica drops it, Christmas sails through the air like an awkward ninja star until one corner impales into one of the trees ringing the battle room. After a few moments, the blank screen flickers back to a wintery background and the pre-rendered art of a girl in wintery clothes... upside-down. Helpfully, her free-floating text box got stuck into the same tree a foot or so below, and is rightside-up.

CHRISTMAS
    Oh my! I'm free? Ah, but it's still alive!

    "Not for long," Lexicon mutters, crimson eyes glancing after Silica, then returning her gaze to Saint Poochooze as the virus recovers from the beating it just took. White digital patterns shoot out around her in all directions as she raises her axe overhead, "I'll pin it down, everyone finish it off! LATENT KATASTROPHE!"

    Lexicon brings her axe down, slamming the blade into the snow-covered ground. The digital pattern repeats, shooting forward in a line that shoots up short, frozen spikes until it reaches Saint Poochooze. Here, the ground-skimming attack erupts into several long spines, impaling the gelatenous monster and locking it in place.

Sanae Kochiya (619) has posed:
Sanae had dropped the payload when ordered. There may have been some mental hesitation, but she doesn't let it carry over into her fingertips. What did she mean that this isn't her real body? Something like one of the stranger youkai have going on? Regardless, she snaps out of it, when the combined work of everyone gives just the opening that was needed to pry Christmas away from the Saint Poochooze. There might be a brief fist pump of celebration, but she can't afford to settle just yet. The Poochooze is still here, still a threat, and apparently very angry at having its prize taken away.

    Accordingly, she doesn't need to be asked twice. From her vantage point, still above the troublesome creature, though slightly lowering from where she dropped Silica, she has also has the perfect angle to attack. Placing her talismans away, she instead draws her wand, tracing a shape before clasping it in both hands and gathering the wintry winds around her. It stings against her already bruised skin, but without Christmas to worry about also taking damage, and Lexicon graphically (thankfully it's a jello blob dog) locking it into place, she can go all out with her wind powers. Extending her hands downward, she releases that stored wind as a vaguely tornado-shaped tendril down directly from above, the residual hail and snow being swept into it as she pushes all she's got into it. As long as no one else is attacking from above, or moving into the relatively thin vortex, it's friendly fire-safe. ...well, probably.

Wintry cyclones. The worst kind of miracle!

Neuroi Girl has posed:
     Evangeline stops firing when Silica says, but resumes as soon as Silica is within the creature. She uses controlled bursts from just her arms to keep the edges from closing in, and then...it worked! Christmas is saved! But Silica might be in trouble now. Evangeline dives down and spirals her way in, then quickly grabs Silica, revealing that the little Neuroi -does- have hands. Or, fingers at least. They poke out of her sleeve-like arms like someone who is wearing a jacket that is too long for them. Her grip is firm, and she quickly gathers Silica up before spiraling her way back out like a rocket.

     Once they are clear, she puts Silica down carefully. "...good job Miss Silica..." she says, giving Silica a pat on the head, then she rises into the sky again and raises her arms, once again lacking fingers. With Lexicon holding the monster down, Evangeline charges her strongest attack. Both arms and all six red hexagons on her wings start to glow, brighter and brighter. "...you may want to stand clear..." the little Neuroi warns. After several seconds of charging...she fires a beam nearly as tall as she is as she slowly rises, focusing her explosive beam on the nasty goo pup. It is pretty precise, but it is a large beam. It could easily be dangerous to her allies if they get too close.

Reinhardt Wilhelm (1010) has posed:
    REinhardt bring up his shield when Evangeline advises everyone stand clear. He doesn't need to be told twice to avoid getting blown up, and so he withstands the explosion directly, planting his feet with a growl. "Bracing, keep it coming!" He calls out, as the explosions let loose.

    Once the dust is clear, Reinhardt drops his shield, and he raises his hammer. "HAMMER...DOWN!" Roaring, the giant German brings his hammer down on top of the beast, intend to splatter it all over the room while Christmas is safe.

    Yes, that is a sentence. This is a weird, weird world.

Deelel has posed:
The plans seems to work the Siant Poochooze is thammered on from all sides. Deelel's recovred now and sh3e's oging to move in to help finish it off itneede but thankfully? Leixcon is there to axe that problem right then and there. She banishes her keyblade and then locks her disc back into place. Then others join in an she gets it she needs to make sure it's finished and done. She'll get the keyblade back out level it at the monster and a beam of light like a focused laser will fire right the hell out of it for themonster to end this thing.

"Get GLICHED!"

Lexicon has posed:
    Saint Poochooze wiggles and wobbles on the icy spikes keeping it in place, but can't for some reason break loose. The icy cyclone created by Sanae's wind magic does little to immediately harm it, though it strains its body against the spikes and, as the virus is battered by the others, the ice and snow's effect on the oozy body of the Poochooze makes it easier to damage. It's starting to freeze, between Sanae and Lexicon's efforts.

    The more dramatic effect of this can be seen when Evangeline bombards Saint Poochooze from the sky with a giant laser, searing through the virus' center of mass. It curiously doesn't damage the Tower's floor, though it burns right through the snow and earth floor until it exposes the black metal beneath.

    From the opposite side, Deelel's keyblade laser strikes the Poochooze in several points, chipping off half-frozen slime and further weakening its defenses. It can't move and seems to have trouble even making sounds at this point.

    Weakened and nearly solid, Saint Poochooze is unable to even move when Reinhardt brings his hammer down to finish it off. There's a glass-like shattering sound when his rocket-propelled weapon strikes the virus, which carries all the way through it to the floor where it impacts with a thundrous noise. Saint Poochooze's body shatters like a christmas ornament, scattering frozen giblets in all directions.

    The enormous santa claus hat, knocked clear, explodes into smaller copies of itself with little brown Poochooze ears sticking out from behind the white fur band. These rain down haphazardly in the snow. One lands perfectly atop the 'crown' of Reinhardt's helmet.