4105/The People Cry Out, Saying 'Such Opulence Cannot Be Allowed!'

The People Cry Out, Saying 'Such Opulence Cannot Be Allowed!'
Date of Scene:	13 May 2016
Location:	The Central Valley
Synopsis:	A callous queen has worked her people to the bone to create four grand statues of herself from precious metals, and made all her subjects show up for the unveiling. The inevitable riot happened, and a 100ft tall bronze statue was stolen in the mayhem.
Cast of Characters:	513, 596, 803, William Pauwel, Starlight Bandits

---

Starlight Bandits has posed:
    It's a big day in the royal capital of Credinch. The main reason is the big masses in the centre of the Royal Square, covered in white sheets attached to long ropes. Masses of people in dirty clothes and weighed down by dismal expressions are gathering here, at the less-than-polite insistence of men bearing muskets and polearms. Each one is glaring up at those covered shapes with looks that are somehow more filthy than the rest of them.

    A grand fence of wrought iron separates the huddled masses from a grand palace, the grounds of which are cluttered with more of the gentlemen that are ensuring everyone is gathering. They all have those muskets pointed out at the crowd in case they get uppity. An elderly gentleman in fine robes, a bald head and a salt-and-pepper goatee is walking among them, occasionally stopping to speak to the ones that are slightly better dressed.

    Directly above them is a caged balcony, the bars narrow and many. Considering that the door to the balcony is open, it's apparent that it's there to protect, not imprison. Sitting on a throne is Queen Vestario, her gazed fixed upwards. Not on the unhappy masses, but on what lies under the sheets. Standing next to her is a man in robes under chainmail, a sword hanging from his waist, a frown hanging from his lips.

    Among the rabble, young children are zipping around and between the legs of the elders, seemingly conveying messages to and from a young man near the centre. He's slightly cleaner than his kin, and has a pair of intense blue eyes that glare at the queen's cage. Nearby is a short, squat fellow with a bristly moustache and hands that are constantly wringing. He's looking up at the blanketed masses too, but not with hatred. Instead, his eyes gleam with opportunity.

    The stage is set. Now, what of the rest of the actors?

Steve (803) has posed:
A certain foreigner manages to blend in relatively well with the unwashed masses. He is also dirt smudged and tanned from outdoor labors, though his more colorful and maybe-modern shirt and pants still manage to stand out, if slightly. Why was he here, and how did he even find out about this place? The multiverse still holds many mysteries. No matter that, Steve stands with the crowds, not seeming nearly so bothered by any pike or blunderbuss that may be pointed in his direction. In fact, he seems quietly amused, in contrast to the frowns and scowls of the populace swarming around him.

    "Never thought to do a big reveal," he muses aloud, crossing his meaty arms over his chest, as he waits with a long-lived patience. "I'll have to do something similar, when I'm reading to build a new wing on." He does wonder, though, what could be worth the big to-do that could fit under those tarps they've set up. Everything should be revealed in short order!

Finna (513) has posed:
What do we have here? Lots of dirty, unhappy-looking people and a grand palace? Armed men ready for a RIOT? And some would-be criminals hoping to steal GIANT STATUES?

    This is a level of absurd even Finna's not ready for. She's in her fox form, having slipped in as a bird. For now, she's atop a building, hunkering low while watching the square.

    But this form is sharper-eyed and far sharper-eared than most. Conversations from across the square... what can the fox hear? Especially from those kids rushing around in a hurry?

William Pauwel has posed:
Nothing good can come of this.

    Out in the crowd is a somewhat... Flustered looking young man who is just about as out of place as out of place gets. He's actually relatively cleaner than the majority of the unwashed masses, and is certainly more sharply dressed.

This immediately makes him out to be rather... suspicious. Or at least, kind of weird.

The other thing that sets him apart is hanging from his belt; it's unlikely that ANYONE native to this place has seen a weapon quite like that thing before. It's a gun, first and foremost- but it's also a RIDICULOUS PLASMA GUN.

Yes. Today, William Pauwel is out in the crowd, looking for... something. Or maybe someone.

Who, though?

Well, the people on the radio! The Bandits are here, and that can only mean that this powderkeg is about to blow-- unless he can find them first!

(he probably won't, because where's the fun in that?)

Zwei (596) has posed:
    Well, normally this wouldn't be any of Zwei's business, (okay, everything is Zwei's business) but the so-called 'Starlight Bandits' had made something of a show last time, and before doing anything else with their world, Zwei needs to know more. More about who those various people had been, what was going on, why the Bandits were there, and how the hell they did what they did. Dirty, miserable looking proles are more of a side note than anything else, since it's clear to anyone with eyes who they hate, and who treats them poorly enough to deserve the treatment. A few gigabytes of notes are being scribbled as a relatively tiny reminder to maybe check back at some point soonish, though this looks like a revolution is about to happen at any second anyways.

    Even if Molly and Irvine hadn't said exactly what they planned to steal, Weiss on the scene as just another dirt-smudged nobody would have been able to tell immediately. A few simple sheets aren't exactly going to fool any kind of scanning, and they aren't designed to anyways. Zwei has a double inward groan moment as the material analysis comes back, ratcheting up these people's discontent a dozen notches on the acceptability ladder, and immediately rethinking what kind of effect this theft would have.

    In essence: dramatic either way, and most definitely entertaining.

    For now, Weiss' focus is, if it can be truly said to ever be narrowed down, on the queen herself, trying to get a good picture of her bearing, her attitude, her complement, and probably her skeleton for all the curious thoroughness that is her nature. Aside from that, she keeps surveillance on the guards, monitoring heartbeats, muscle twitches and sweat release, for signs of them getting nervous and trigger-happy.

Starlight Bandits has posed:
    Steve's presence does indeed draw a bit of attention. The finery of his garb still surpasses the rags those who surround him wear. This paints him as someone suspicious, untrustworthy. Thus, he is given something of a wide berth, by all but the man with wringing hands. "Devil of a thing, innit?" he says in an oily voice, planting himself right next to the thaumaturge. "Real crackerjack chance, you feel me? I'm sure you do, you peach slice you!" He lets out a wet cackle, giving Steve a knowing nudge with his elbow.

    Meanwhile, the totally inconspicuous bird on the crumbling rood listens close to the children darting amongst the crowd. Unsurprisingly, the mutterings are all very unkind, all regarding the guards, the event, and especially the queen. But as for those children? They're whispering to the crowded people, 'when the sheets come off, ya gotta storm the palace. Johniver said so!' The Exalted might also catch something from the man walking amongst the guards on the palace grounds, thanks to a fortunate breeze. "...t will be a disaster. And when a disaster strikes, the best thing to do is lay down and wait for it to pass, ri..."

    Meanwhile, as Will tromps around the people, openly carrying, they pull away from him with fear in their eyes. Thankfully, that makes his progress quite easy. But suddenly, a young man with fire in his glaring blue eyes stands before him, arms crossed. "Who are you? Are you some kind of spy for the queen?" he demands to know. And now, the people are actually starting to bunch up around him...

    Zwei's scans come back, revealing that yes, these are statues of bronze, silver, gold, and platinum under there! Something is weird about the analysis of the biggest, bronze one though. Something kept moving around under the sheet, blocking her scans... but, as for the queen? She is an open book. Arrogant, contemptuous about her subjects, eyes only for the statues. The man beside her, by the by, is clearly unhappy with all of this. Every now and again, his sword hand twitches as he glances to the queen, but he never acts. As for the guards, some are certainly trigger happy... but those who the elderly gentlemen spoke to seem much calmer, less ready to fight. Encouragement perhaps?

    But now, it begins. Some of those guards beyond the fence also had trumpets, which they play in unison to draw everyone's attention. "My people!" the queen speaks into a tube that must be connected to open pipes all over the square, as it carries quite well. One can almost hear the curl to her lips when she deigns to address them as 'people.' "You have toiled for years! And while it is long overdue, it is finally done. The testament to my greatness that will last forever! Behold!"

    The sheets start coming off! The crowd tenses...!

Steve (803) has posed:
"...I don't understand a thing you just said," Steve admits openly enough, to his newfound companion. Despite that, a grin is returned, as the miner-mage reaches up to scratch lightly at his beard stubble. Maybe he senses a kindred spirit, to a degree. "But I like the WAY you said it." He gives a glance around the nearby vicinity, the relative isolation proving advantageous for getting a good grasp of the situation, as well as being able to pick up bits and pieces of some of those whispers. It's got him thinking, and thinking for this kind of man can be quite dangerous.

    Steve's interest isn't immediately in what might be beneath the sheets any longer, feeling the tense atmosphere around him escalate. If his time in the multiverse has taught him anything, though, it's that opportunity can often be a lot more valuable than immediate material gain -- admittedly, it's been a difficult adjustment. Once he figures that they won't be overheard, he actually reaches over to put an overly-friendly arm around his new, presumably local pal, "I've got an idea, if you're up for helping me with it."

    In a slightly lower tone, he explains, "Looks like they're fixin' for a rebellion, right? I'm going to arm these people. I can demand anything I want after they slake their bloodthirst. Just help me with the distribution when the time is ripe." And it seems it soon will be, as the first peeks of the statues are beginning to come into view! Steve turns back away to watch, but he initially looks baffled. "...that's a lot of metal to throw into something so boring. I could think of so many other things."

William Pauwel has posed:
    Will can't help that he's from a place and time where 'open carry' is basically equivalent to 'remembering to put on your pants in the morning.' He's honestly a little bit surprised at how people just kind of... part like the proverbial sea at his very visible firearm. It's perfectly normal to him! This is like Tomoeda all over again!

Hopefully this place doesn't burn down. That would be sad.

    But suddenly, someone gets ALL UP IN HIS GRILL! Will jumps back as that fire-eyed young man leaps out of the crowd at him. His hand goes to his gun by sheer reflex, but it doesn't... Actually get drawn. That's the kind of thing that starts fights, or gets somebody killed. "Spy for who? What in tarnation are you talkin' about?" Will gapes at the firey-eyed man, "I heard tell that there'd be some trouble around these parts, and came over to try and put a stop to it! Never even heard of this place 'fore--"

    But then the Queen starts speaking. Will blinks from the tarp, to the queen, to the man with the incendiary stare. "Oh," Will says after a moment and frowns, "Now's 'bout the time when a certain pair of banditos would normally say somethin' about a curtain call."

Is the show about to start!? Will sure seems to think so!

Finna (513) has posed:
Ooooooooh. Rebellion. This is starting to sound interesting. And like an opportunity. In better circumstances Finna could use this for some practice at ruling a nation.

    She'd probably be better at it than the queenie here. Not perfect. Not even remotely. But far, far better.

    Alas though, not today.

    Instead, she has a little bit of sabotage planned. A come-uppance that will just utterly piss off the queen the best way possible.

    Sheets start coming off, and the bird takes flight.

    Strong wingbeats take it siy-high in no time, more easily than most birds could do. Up and up over... the smallest statue, which people will have the easiest view of.

    Flying at twice the statue's height, the bird scrunches specific muscles as soon as enough eyes settle on the small statue...

    Splut.

    Right on the forehead.

    ... who needs bombs and shouting when you've got COINCIDENTAL BIRD DOO-DOO to drive the point home?

Zwei (596) has posed:
    Weiss (metaphorically) frowns at that little black spot crawling around under the sheets, clearly not registering as any kind of metal. Would that be Molly or Irvine? Seems a little weird for them to already be there and doing . . . whatever that is, but then they're a weird couple to begin with. Either way, it doesn't really take a genius to piece the situation together, and only super-senses to do it so quickly. She begins to meander up towards the guards that seem as if they'll actually do what the queen will inevitably command, invisibly expanding her interdiction field as Zwei wishes he could drop Asche into the scene.

    One eye, or rather several hundred microscopic eyes, are focused behind her as the unveiling happens. Her multi-weapon arms from her wrist, the seam in her forearm hidden by her grody, threadbare sleeve. If the guards open fire, her shields should protect a very wide swathe of the crowd behind her. If what's under the tarp presents danger, she'll shoot it to pieces. She wants to see this rebellion actually go off. For science, of course.

Starlight Bandits has posed:
    The greasy fellow seems a bit put-off as Steve confesses his ignorance of local slang. But as the mage puts an arm around him and offers a deal, his face starts to split into a grin. "Oh, you a monger then? Alright my blood, lay it on me." He listens close, nodding along. "Get 'em proper bristled then? Well... I fink I can do that. If things go curdled though, it's back to plan A, chumwise." He opens his coat, reveals several bottles and vials that seem to be filled with black powder and stuffed with rags. Bombs. "Hahah! Me as well, I could get proper cozy off a single hand!"

    As for Will, the young man regards him suspiciously. "... no. You're some offworlder who came to gawk, aren't you? Hmph... just don't get in our way, either you or your 'banditos.'" And with that, he stalks away, the crowd letting him by.

    The sheets fall. Four statues are revealed. The tallest, standing at 100ft and made of bronze, depicts the queen with her arms outspread in a welcoming gesture. It also depicts her as slightly slimmer and with a fuller figure than what reality would suggest. The same is true for the 50ft silver statue, which depicts the queen looking contemplative, a hand propping up her chin, the 25ft golden statue depicting her looking off into the distance, and the 10ft platinum statue which has her carrying a sword and shield.

    But everyone's attention is fixed on the bronze one, because two people are climbing it.

    One is dressed like a magician, with the black silk tophat and tuxedo. A red carnation in the breast pocket and grey silk trousers. The other is dressed as a bunny girl, with a fully body grey nylon stocking under a white leotard. The fake ears and rabbit tail are dark blue, to match her hair. Yes, it's the Starlight Bandits.

    "Oh no! We didn't reach the head in time Irvine!"
    "Not to worry Molly, just keep climbing!"

    And so they do. The crowd, the guards, and the queen baffled into silence. But then, a bird poops on the platinum statue. A ripplie of laughter runs through the peasants, and the queen snaps. "SHOOT THEM!" she screams. The guards raise the muskets, point through the gates and start shooting! But, said muskets don't have the rifling for such things, so the Bandits climb undisturbed.

    "CHARGE!" a voice in the crowd calls, one that Will might recognize as the young fellow who confronted him. The people respond all too eagerly, suddenly pushing towards the gate and fence, climbing on them to put as much weight as possible upon them, trying to get over the spikes that top them! The guards naturally turn their guns on them, aiming between the gaps... but Zwei's shield comes up, blocking the shots! They push on, unharmed. And now the guards have to reload, a time-consuming process in this period. More guards are rushing from the palace, already loaded, but they haven't formed up yet. Now's the time to try something on the palace, if at all!

Steve (803) has posed:
Though the concoctions aren't helpfully, stereotypically red sticks of dynamite bundled together and erroneously labelled 'TNT', Steve still gets the idea of what this fellow is peddling. If only he'd thought to bring some of his own, but he's a bit limited to what his current inventory can manage. "Well then, you've got a deal. We'll save it for a last resort, though. No need to damage the goods, heh." Mining with explosives can be such a wasteful venture. With this, he distances himself ever so slightly, to turn his full attention back to the goings-on, and the unveiling which had previously just begun. The glimpses he'd gotten, though--

    The precious metal ones are kind of droll, honestly. They might have some interesting properties, but the gold one he could pass on. He has plenty of that stuff already. The sense he gets from these people here is that they'd rather have food in their stomachs, and clothes without fleas on their backs, than these self-massaging icons. That biggest one, though, it catches his eye. What kind of metal is that? He withdraws a device from his inventory, aiming to scan it for its aspects, which is about when he notices that there is humanus, and lucrum, from two people climbing it. "...huh." Well, that doesn't seem like it's part of the planned festivities.

    Nonetheless, that marks the start of the festivities. "Show time, my friend," he calls to his accomplice, and begins withdrawing several iron swords from his inventory. These are ones he'd looted off some Crimson Cultists he'd cleared out recently -- they're in varying stages of wear and tear, but they're all quite servicable. There are also some bows, with arrows, in similar workable condition. You know, skeletons and all. After providing a batch of them to his counterpart, he bellows out, "Good people, come and claim your blades and missiles! For the small fee of your favor, you can arm yourselves! Supplies are limited!"

William Pauwel has posed:
    Wow, way to be rude, fire-eyed kid. Will is left scratching at his cheek in the wake of... Of whatever that was. All the more reason to pay attention to the GRAND UNVEILING though. The first thing to come to mind is that those really are rather massive statues; overly large, in all honesty. Why would you make a hundred-foot tall metal statue if you didn't intend for it to get up and fight?

They are pretty impressive and all, though they're also not what he's looking for--

Wait.

There. On the tall one.

YEP. RIGHT ON CUE.

    "I knew you'd be around here somewhere!" Of course he did, they /said they'd be here/ on the radio! The Starlight Bandits would never lie about something like that! Will races forward even as guns start firing and basically the ENTIRE populace of the city decides that now is about the right time for a revolution. Lead balls streak by and scatter dust up between his heels, but they're not aiming for /him./

And so Will reaches that statue in the middle of the plaza, and... Gets to work climbing it.

    It's kind of a tall order, considering the statue's sheer size, and the Bandits already have such a head start! But whatever they're doing up there, it can't be good! "Hold on! What in tarnation are you two thinking, taking a statue this big? What'll y'all even do with it!?"

    Meanwhile, down below, chaos breaks loose. Will... Does not really know much about revolutions. He does recognize a stampede when he sees one, though, and is suddenly glad that he's heading up and /away/ from the one playing out beneath him.

Zwei (596) has posed:
    Ahh, there we go. How silly of Zwei to assume that those two wouldn't do the weirdest thing possible. Why are they dressed like that? Probably a secret not even god knows. It gets the idea that they want to be on the head to give some kind of flashy speech though, and, well, Zwei kind of wants to see it too.

    The revolution isn't a disappointment either! With this many people /this/ angry, Zwei would have to be an idiot to have Weiss try and snipe the queen right now. Instead, she goes for the balcony bearings, covertly and precisely punching out half of the securing bars with her wrist PDW so that the entire iron ensemble should bend and list away from the door, making it difficult, if not impossible, for her to climb back into the palace in time to barricade herself in some kind of panic room. The sight of her hanging there like a juicy steak should hopefully incentivize the mob to storm the place too. Viva la resistance and all that.

    Still, in all the chaos, she manages to pick out Steve's voice, as well as William's. Incensed as the crowd is, Weiss is way too strong to be bowled over by an angry mob, and she looks like one of them anyways, so she begins shifting through the crowd as if she intends to get at the gate, before pulling down her hood just enough to reveal her reverted to default face, luminous green eyes piercing through its shadow as well as the pearly grin on her face. "Surprise to see you two here!" she says directly to Steve, and then has to kind of call out to William. "Are you contracted for the statue too, or just getting greedy?" She then glances up to the queen smugly. "Or just here for a front row seat~?"

Finna (513) has posed:
CHAAAARGE indeed!

    DOWN SWOOPS the bird from its perch on the second-tallest statue as the chaos begins. Finna's flying ahead of the charging crowd towards the palace, aiming to minimize the bloodshed... but not necessarily make this TOO easy on the rebellion. She swoops in amongst the crowd while they're distracted and shapeshifts RAPIDLY into... well, it's a girl nobody here's ever seen before. Black haired, a star tattoo on her right check, and maybe fifteen years old? But her face is hard to see because she's donned a cloak.

    And things unfold mostly as predicted. The palace fields guards.

    "And what do YOU guys think you're doing?!" Her hand's extended faster than wind, releasing KNIVES to fly through the air and slice down barrels, stab into hands and sideways and into crucial parts of weapons. She's taken apart enough guns (the hard way) to figure out what you need to screw up to render them useless!

    "Shining statues don't put food in bellies and clothes on backs. Just WHAT'RE you defending? Your own family's road to starvation?!"

    Should seeds of doubt slow the soldiers down from gathering their wits and organizing, or even giving up on the defense... all the better.

    But no way is she gonna take down ALL of them. Only a few of those that seem most likely to get their rears in gear quickest.

    She is Haslanti. And so she knows well that people need to be able to save themselves as much as they may need help sometime... let them fight, let a few die, let them learn and avoid these mistakes in the future.

Starlight Bandits has posed:
    The greasy fellow just stares as Steve starts pulling swords and bows out. Far more than he should be able to carry. "Heh. You Timothy's Tragic, ain't you?" he asks, before taking a handful and shoving them into the arms of one of the charging people. "Spread these out, my blood. Courtesy of this fellow and Wily Tim!" The man stares at the weapons, before nodding in awe. Thus, the blades are spread, bows finding their way into the hands of those who hunt. As they do, people start coming over to claim some for themselves, each one giving Steve an amazed, thankful look.

    Meanwhile, Will starts to climb! That is quite a sheer surface indeed, but it seems that the two eccentrics have noticed him! They reach a shoulder, and start lowering a rope for him. Should he take it, his ascendance resumes much faster as they pull him up! "William! It's so good to see you! And you look so dapper!" Molly exclaims, pull the younger man into a fond hug. "To answer that question you shouted young man," Irvine begins. "We are thinking that the theft of something so large, with so many to see it will do wonders for our legend! We don't NEED to do anything with it other than take it!"

    That's... surprisingly sensible. Especially coming from him.

    Meanwhile, on the ground, Zwei shoots out the balcony supports, to immediate effect! It starts to crumble, the queen shrieking in fear... when the fellow with her springs into action. He grabs her from her chair and throws her through the doors into the safety of the palace just before it collapses. He falls, landing on top of the rubble... only to get right back to his feet. He's a tough fellow, it seems.

    The guards would rush to assist him, but Finna has dropped into their midst and becomes a whirlwind of violence. Knives render their muskets useless, before puncturing their flesh. "Retreat!" one of those superiors shout like it was arranged. Seems that it's working. Until... "No. Stand firm. You are soldiers to the kingdom. Serve your duty until your last breath." The swordsman is on his feet, his voice cutting through the chaos as he carries himself with the air of a seasoned soldier.

    He stares at Finna as he draws his sword. "You are young, you do not understand. We serve the queen, because it is her divine bloodright to rule. We carry out our duties because they are the highest calling we have. To deny them is to be no better than beasts. Your rage is understandable... believe me, I have had my doubts. But I will hold fast to my oath until my body is cold." He holds the sword out before him as the gates finally come down, the people starting to rush the courtyard.

    "So come! Extract your bloody vengeance, fufill your revolution! We will push you back until we have nothing more to give! FOR THE REALM!" Perhaps it is the man himself, or his words or his actions... but the remaining guards are reinvigorated. "FOR THE REALM!" they concur, even those who were keen to retreat. They line up, muskets levelled at Finna and the people rushing towards them.

Steve (803) has posed:
It's a familiar voice! That is, one he hadn't heard in a while, admittedly, but difficult to mistake. In the midst of handing out armaments as he is, it takes him a while to reply properly, but when he gets a break from the dispensing, he dodges downward at the sound of a musket blast, then raises up in a grin. "Oh, hey," he says, in a lower voice and in response to Zwei's own recognition. "Quite a lively day in this neighborhood! Hah hah. Just doin' my part." It's doubtful that it's fully out of the goodness of his heart, of course, considering that he's fundamentally giving a war loan out here, but hopefully it won't be held against him too badly. Even in the multiverse, it isn't every day that you come across the very moment of revolt.

    It's really too bad, too, that he doesn't have even more space. How great would it have been to give all of them armor, too? But for now, this will have to do! "Good work. Their gratitude should be a good start to the compensation!" Learning the secrets of that strange 'metal blending' would be a good start, though just being able to break off a large chunk of it wouldn't be bad, either. There's a problem with that, though; there's a bunch of people climbing around on it. And some, if his ears aren't fooling him over all of this ruckus, that are aiming to steal it. He's all for free and sometimes unwilling exchange of property, but he had his eyes on it, too!

    Giving the last of his personal stash to Wily Tim to do with what he will, Steve quickly decides to reinforce his fledgeling army here, withdrawing one last item from his inventory. It seems to be a bottle, but it's not quite a grenade like the cohort's wares. He tosses it to the ground at the back of the groups crowding on the offensive -- it's a splash potion of speed that he'd been saving for emergencies, but this is close enough, considering they're up against guards with proper firearms. This leaves him free to focus on that statue.

    "Damn it, those weird jerks are going to steal my metal!" Yeah, he's already laying claim to it. Dodging any errant blasts and shot that might be coming his way, he comes up to that same piece of 'art'. He doesn't climb it, though, he instead gives a thoughtful scratch of his chin. Withdrawing his pickaxe, he starts striking the base of it, if left uninterrupted. "Well, I guess a chunk of it would let me reverse engineer it."

Finna (513) has posed:
Finna FLINCHES, doubt striking her. She wasn't expecting such a personality to show up in the guards... but so much is explained, very quickly. And how is she supposed to respond to that? In the instants of thought she has, she must pick the principle under which she should stand by.

    A claim of divine bloodright? If true, denying it would be akin to saying that the Dragon-Blooded were justified, that every suffering Luna's champions have gone through was justified.

    A deep and powerful voice bellows somewhere in her gut. In rage, in aimless fury, PUREST indignation and for a moment that's what's on her face. Pure fury greater than one her apparent age should ever know.

    Something shakes in her. Her lips curl into a frown. Why is she helping this rebellion exactly? Just the urge to set the wheel of fate turning with a little extra juice? Pure chaos? Or was it the spite she felt looking at the Queen's face as she watched her people?

    "You really... want to fight to the last man... over a vow... to someone who's not kept up their responsibilities to you..." Her words come out shakily in those instants as chaos unfolds around her and weapons are pointed at her. Even as she speaks of things with a more responsible understanding than she's shown most anything in the Multiverse. What's overtaken her here?

    Whatever the case, Finna snarls, tears in her eyes. Why's she crying? She's not even sure anymore.

    But her own sword's in hand now, and she rushes this faithful man with her own blade being drawn seemingly from nowhere. It's polished and skillfully made, but nothing like what the locals use. Has more in common with a viking style blade, really.

    With an angry howl filled with frustration she ducks in low and speeds in with a strike from low to high, that aims to slam right into his.

    In her current form, Finna's not very strong. But she's still incredibly fast. As fast as a human could possibly move - even a bit faster. The blade moves with speed and agility on top of what's clearly some level of skill. She's aiming to engage him in a sword lock and continue this argument.

    "I'll see if you can still say that when you're disarmed and toppled!"

William Pauwel has posed:
    Weapons start being distributed! A crazy silvery woman starts tearing the guards to shreds! A BALCOMY COLLAPSES! What kind of crazy situation did Will fall into this time!? Well, at least the Bandits are the one constant in this storm of chaos- a rock in the heart of a hurricane!

It's kind of sad to think that, of everything here, they're the normal bit.

    Will does in fact take that rope as it's dangled right before his very eyes! It's not long until he's pulled right up onto the statue's shoulder. And into one of Molly's amazing hugs. He hugs back-- out of reflex, really! And courtesy. And also she does give really good hugs.

A-anyway.

    "Uh, t-thanks, it's good to see y'all too?" he coughs as he's released, tugging lightly at the fabric of his poncho, "A friend made this for me and-- wait, so y'all are just going to steal it to... To say that you could?" Well, that's... That's about as expected, honestly. Will scratches at the back of his head as he tosses the idea around in his brain, but... "Uh. Not that I don't get why and all, but..."

He gestures at the massive, hundred-foot tall statue. "How're y'all going to get this thing out of here, anyway!? It's huge!"

    And then, Zwei appears! The last time Will saw her, she... Uh. Sort of ground a couple of his ribs into a mess of fractures and bone fragments. He just sort of stares at her grinning face and gingerly adjusts his hat. A nervous tick!? "Uh. N-no, I came 'cause I heard the Bandits were going to be stirrin' up some trouble and--"

There's a beat.

"Hey," Will asks, "Do y'all feel something... Moving?"

Is Steve's pickaxing going to topple the statue!? Will Will even notice before it's too late!?

Zwei (596) has posed:
    Weiss physically feigns a sigh as all the gunfire and shouting drowns out half of her trying to be pleasant, and as the crazy loyal bodyguard decides he wants to die for his deployable queen and hurls her butt to safety. The disguise is sort of beyond its use at this point, and so she ditches the cloak and prole clothes completely. "Compensation? C'mon, these guys are obviously peasants! You want in on the haul don't you? Consider them working for you at the moment! You'd better get in on this action soon!"

    She then launches herself upwards onto the hundred foot statue by her own power, landing on the opposite shoulder, dressed in grey and green and hued in stark, artificial white. "Alright, spit it out! What's the grand plan for taking this thing! I don't really take you for a couple that'd deliberately engineer all that-" she gestures towards the mob violence "-going on down there. You're planning to haul it away right now instead of waiting for the palace to run dry of able bodies and drag it off the normal way, right?" She then rolls her eyes at the interruption to the soldiers' rehearsed retreat. She'll let the crazy knife lady battle it out with the lynchpin, but right now her focus is on seeing how Irvine and Molly plan to escape in the chaos.

    Once that pickaxe comes out, she has to yell down to steve, and by yell, it is implied that her voice is just being sent out parabolically. "Hey! These guys are in it just for the show! You don't have to bust the thing up! Come with us and you can have it later!" She then looks to Will. "You don't mind if he comes with, right? He's a trusty guy. I mean it's not like you're doing anything with it either."

Steve (803) has posed:
Steve could have cared less if there were people on the statue. It's...wait, things succumb to gravity when you start mining them out? That would explain how it'd just started creaking and leaning, then, and is shaking around with every strike. He's been in crazy situations with Zwei before, so he stops mid-swing, "Eh? They're just going to steal it then not do anything with it?" The very concept looks completely foreign to him, once everything that's been shouted and muttered finally, fully soaks into his brain. "--well, I guess that's fine." Consider this statue as having received a stay of execution, and it won't receive the iconic DOWN WITH THE POWER treatment.

William Pauwel has posed:
Oh. The statue was moving because some guy with a magic pickaxe was undermining its foundations.

...

ISN'T THAT KIND OF DANGEROUS!?

    "Uh," Will blinks, scratching lightly at his jawline. "Well, I don't mind, personally. But-- uh. This was the thing all those people built, right? Seems unneighbourly to just up and take it and then don't give anything back, so..."

"Anyway, as long as these folks see somethin' good come out of this, I don't mind! Don't think a big ol' statue'll be of much use to 'em anyway, right?"

Starlight Bandits has posed:
    The rebellion, now significantly more armed, stands before the musket line, gripping swords clumsily. They've toppled the thing that kept them separate, and after hearing the swordsman's words, they suddenly seem so... unsure.

    But, they have an orator on their side too.

    The fiery eyed young man stands atop the collapsed gate. "Too long have we suffered under her thumb. Too long have we toiled and scraped for her grandiose trinkets. I don't care if she has a divine birthright. We have a goddess right here, who came down in the form of a bird to aid us!" He gestures at Finna now, voice becoming incensed, powerful. "We are armed! We are numerous! We are righteous! Charge, my friends, my family, my countrymen! Strike with thousands of fists, scream with thousands of voices! And even if you should die, know that your blood will water the garden of liberty! TAKE THE PALACE! KILL THE QUEEN!"

    They charge, iron swords raised, arrows fired towards the musket line. Said line retaliates, plumes of gunsmoke rising. Bodies fall on both sides, but the clash between Finna and the swordsman gets a wide berth due to respect and fear for both parties involved. Despite his obvious age, it's a testament to his skill that he manages to keep up with Finna's speed, standing his ground and engaging the sword lock.

    "I will. I shall say it in the gaol. I shall say it on the gallows. I shall say it to whomever judges my soul. No one will ever have cause to say that Oleu of Revoria was not a dutiful man." He starts pushing back, trying to overpower Finna before suddenly twisting, aiming to shoulder her right in the face!

    Meanwhile, everyone else converges on the real attraction here; the Bandits' heist. "Oh my gosh Irvine, they really want to know... we're gaining fans~!" Molly whispers with obvious glee. "Yes, it's wonderful... but we must keep our cool Molly!" Irvine replies, also obviously very happy. But then, the statue starts buckling as the legs are knocked away! "Hm... stealing it mid-fall would be pretty amazing, don't you all think?" Irvine asks conversationally. But, probably thankfully, Zwei makes that unne<span style="color:essary.

    c#4169e1">"Now watch everyone, as Irvine the Incredible works his magic~!"</span> Molly says, really playing into the role of magician's assistant. Irvine takes off that hat and produces that strange silvery short staff from within it. He and Molly both grasp it, before... "Abracadabra!" Irvine exclaims, lamely touching the tip against the cheek of the giant bronze queen.

    bweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

    Zwei's sensors may start going nuts as a bubble of some kind of subspace starts wrapping around Irvine, Molly, and the statue. Because the statue is so big, the bubble is large enough to envelop Steve down below also!

    bip

    And suddenly, they stand on or alongside the statue on a grassy hill overlooking a small, rustic town.

Steve (803) has posed:
Well, it's not that Steve was going to do any of the fighting, himself, in that case. He just helped give the people the means. It's still a bit odd, as he takes a step back to lean against his pickaxe, that he seems to be wrapped up in this 'magic spell' of theirs. He wouldn't know what a space-time bubble is, but something seems a bit off about it. He knows plenty about magic, and this didn't seem like the kind he knows about. "Huh? ...hey, wait, I'm down here!" His protests don't come nearly quickly enough, if they would have been heeded at all. He's whisked away by the same force that draws the statue away. The miner won't say it, but that was a pretty neat trick, magic or not.

    Once his vision readjusts, he's seeing something a bit more the usual for his pace of life. Nature, and what looks like a small settlement, though likely with no large nosed villagers honking incessantly. "What'd you bring it here for? Is this where you've got your base camp set up," he wonders? It's really too bad, though. At this rate he's going to miss what was promising to be the best part of the whole rebellion, but he'll just have to make contact with those irate citizens later. Should be able to work out some nice trade deals.

    Anyway, on to more important business! "So, you need help cutting this up? Ain't no reason to keep a statue of a probably-dead queen, when there are so many more interesting things you can do with metal."

William Pauwel has posed:
W-well, Will wouldn't call himself a 'fan' exactly. Even if the bandits are pretty cool and all but still!!

    He does watch intently as they perform their... Magic trick? No, Will doesn't recognize that little device for what it really is. He can't possibly; he's seen a lot of relics before, but Terminal Getaway is a little beyond him. Still, he's seen them use it before! "Oh! It's that thing!" He calls, pointing at the silvery stick, "The thing you used when we left the airship! And when you ran off with... That thing from the ruin."

Beat.

D-does it really have enough power to take an entire statue!?

    Apparently so! Will marvels as that bubble of distorted space expands and swallows the statue up in its entirety. Then, with a *blip* and a sudden inversion of the very fabric of reality, they end up... Somewhere else entirely.

"W-wow," Will blinks, clearing his eyes of the lingering space-shenaniganry. "That was... That was awesome! Was that the biggest thing you've taken with that rod of yours?"

Finna (513) has posed:
Whoah, whoah, whoah! This strange man here leading things saw her transform? Finna's startled by this news... and that one moment of distraction costs her. "Gyackgh...!" WHAM! She's bowled right out of the sword lock! But instead of toppling over she sort of bends over backwards and transitions into a rather gymnastic backflip that takes her right back to her feet.

    "Sharp eyes you have!" She whistles appreciatively at the fiery eyed youth.

    Should she play that part? Should she play UP the part? Hmmmmm. Hard to decide.

    So instead of playing it up, she just stands confidently, twirls her sword up to the ready again, and levels it at Oleu. She shivers, but declares, "Standing up for her this long isn't proof enough? Which is more important? A ruler, or their people? You can see what's in her heart by the state of her people. All these luxuries she heaps on herself just masks a filthy and sick soul. I hope she appreciates your loyalty, because she's certainly not earned it."

    Oh. Screw it.

    When that last word leaves her mouth it's accompanied by a rush of power. Silvery-blue Essence whirls up around Finna's body. The mark of the crescent moon shimmers upon her forehead briefly before her whole body's subsumed in a billowing bonfire of silvery moonlight and swirling purples and deeper shadows. Where she seemed human before her body's now a humanoid mass of opaque light, indistinct points of blue light for eyes and a sword wreathed in ghostly flames in her hand.

    Well. That guy went and called her a Goddess.

    She may as well provide.

Zwei (596) has posed:
    Yes! Yes! It's that thing again! The bipstick! Almost as much as the Starlight Bandits' bizarro personalities and inscrutable goals, Zwei had been fixating on that particular piece of ancient technology since the two had used it to make their dramatic escape last time. It'd been suspicious, but it wasn't really sure it was within that thing's capabilities to haul a statue weighing thousands of tons out of there. Weiss looks practically elated as she appears on the grassy hillside with the rest, all concern for the revolution instantly wiped from her face with an alarming lack of humanity.

    "I knew it! You even got dressed up for that trick! A+ for style!" she chimes. "I figured you two must have some kind of trump card for all the heists you've been getting away from as well. Where'd you even find that thing? And how long have you been /doing/ this?" Oh they're all courteous questions, but far be it that Weiss isn't trying to answer them all herself by doing enough sensor crunching on the thing to fill up the combined data storage space of half the Pentagon.

Starlight Bandits has posed:
    Oleu stands firm, sword raised against Finna. He grimaces as he hears her words. "It is a ruler's right to decide how she treats her subjects," he says. It almost sounds rehearsed... how many times has he reassured himself of this?

    But then, Finna explodes in ethereal light, and all the fighting ceases. It really is a goddess. Even the fiery-eyed youth seems amazed. And in this moment of quiet, a voice speaks.

    "Enough."

    There, at the door that once led to a balcony is the elderly gentleman that was walking among the guards earlier. And he's clutching the queen, a hand to her mouth and a dagger in his hands. "Oleu," he says kindly. "None will doubt your loyalty, ever. But a goddess, one who gave her majesty's bloodline the right to rule, is now here saying she does not deserve that right. What more do you need?"

    The elderly hero seems torn, looking from the queen who stares at him with pleading eyes, to the guards on the verge of being overwhelmed, to the starving populace. And then, finally... he sheathes his sword. "Stand down..." he croaks to the guards, all of whom immediately drop their muskets. The gentleman smiles, and says, "Well... since we are all here, I think we should get this trial underway immediately. We gather to pass judgement on the queen for years of neglect, callous cruelty and wasting the kingdom's resources. What verdict have the people reached?"

    The screams of "GUILTY!" are deafening. The gentleman nods. "The sentence... is death." And with a practiced motion, that dagger is plunged into the queen's heart before she is shoved from the door to fall on the rubble of her balcony. The impact drives the blade deeper, and she's dead before she stops rolling.

    The only thing more deafening than the verdict is the cheers that follow.

=====

    Back at the bronze statue, ropes are lowered so the Bandits and Will can abseil to the grassy hill below. "Do as you like with it! But if you make something impressive, we might come and steal it!" Irvine says, patting Steve on the shoulder. All the attention on he, Molly, and the stick is clearly improving his mood.

    "It's Terminal Getaway! With it, we can warp anything that's touching it somewhere else! We can't choose where though... but that's part of the fun~" Molly explains. "Irvine and I got it... hm, I don't remember!" "But we've had many adventures with it!" Irvine explains, putting an arm around Molly and pulling her close. It's not really an answer... but considering how the two are going down to that little village, it might be the best Zwei is getting right now.

    "Gosh Irvine, those people back there are probably going to be so, so amazed by us~!" "We carried out the seemingly impossible Molly! Of course they are!"

William Pauwel has posed:
    "Terminal Getaway?" Will repeats like he's in some kind of espionage game. The young Chaser murmurs as they rappel down the side of the GIANT STATUE. He gives it one more look before turning to follow the Bandits to... presumably go find a room or a bar or something in that little hamlet down there. "Huh. Did y'all give it that name, or... what? I mean, y'all had to have found it in a ruin, right?"

They... Probably don't remember, honestly.

Will's not really hoping for much. But it'd be nice to know!

Zwei (596) has posed:
    "Seconded." Weiss follows up. "It's a fancy name though! Was that really just your vivid imaginations, or did you find it on a monitor somewhere? And what do you mean touching? How can you even tell?" It really does seem like she's forgotten all about that bloody and dramatic revolution happening right this very moment, which she had just seen with her own eyes, though honestly, Zwei expects these two might know less than they're letting on, and even if not, might not be great at explaining it. "You know, I think it'd be helpful if you left me a calling card or something. Like a pro! It's really hard to track you down otherwise!"

Finna (513) has posed:
THIS turn of events startles Finna. What to make of it? What to learn of it? Is this... should she take it as a sign from Luna? Under that blazing aura of moonlight she's looking troubled. Thankfully, her emotions are impossible to read like this. Largely because her face is so ridiculously obsucured by divine light.

    "Feel..... this was the best outcome." And that's a rarity. So often when she comes across trouble like this, it's TOO LATE to shift events towards an ideal outcome.

    The queen falls, but the Lunar looks skyward.

    And notices that the GIANT BRONZE STATUE IS GONE.

    Startling enough to knock her RIGHT out of her reverie. "Wh... wha..... WHAT... where'd it... go?"