4171/What Lies Ahead

What Lies Ahead
Date of Scene:	31 May 2016
Location:	Planet March <PM>
Synopsis:	Season of Pain - Final Battle. The Return of Death. Drowning Doom march on .. well, March, to scour the world clean of life once more.
Cast of Characters:	975, 162, 972, Kushiko, Sanary Rondel, 782, 930, 691, 992

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Drowned Ophelia (975) has posed:
In all three of the last invasions - err, concerts - that the Drowning Doom put on, they always started from scratch. Right in the heart of a city, right in the middle of a fortress, right on the edge of a heavily defended swamp. This time? This time, the twisted Tear Drinkers have had TIME to setup.

The Magus Foundry - A Logia that almost managed to scour the world of March clean of life once before, the core of that massive creation having long since been dragged away. What was left was a cavernous reminder of darker times, metal ribs over metal floors, ancient stains and broken memories. The population of March had slowly begun to recover in the three years since - only a fraction of what they once were, but happiness was there. Babies were born, lifes reforged, and everything seemed to be okay now.
Until black clad figures once more began to march. The skies crack above with flickering lightning, a world-storm that's slowly creeping across the stars above. In the living darkness caused by the writhing clouds creep the FREAKS; Pale, dead faces and gaping mouths, Brides with their veiled and ghastly features, the murmuring Dorcs looking for a place of appropriate 'underground' feel and good wifi, the thrashing NecroMoshers - all that had been gathered, all that had been twisted, is here. Now.
From over the horizon lightning stabs into building and structure alike, dancing along metal to leave molten drops to fall to the streets below. Murders of black, red eyed crows harrass the skies, led by a massive corrupted Grimm known as EverGore. Gnashing black rats bubbling from sewers and down gutters. Electric lights flicker and flash with power surges from the lightning strikes, casting an eerie glow on the enroaching hoardes - a proper electric funeral for this world.
While at the Magus Foundry itself? A stage. A massive stage, an appropriate climax for this, the final leg of the Season of Pain, the Black Flags Tour. A massive bell tower clangs in time to the steady march of Black Metal, an ancient dirge heralded by fat drumlines and heavy bass. The ground practically writhes with the undead, thrashing and otherwise driven forth to die once more. Massive metal fists - with finger and pinky extended - poke outwards, lightning flickering along their wrists before launching outwards in a brutal display of power in time to the choopping Six String Sorrow's wails. The Horn Throwers. Engines roar, people scream for their cream, and in general? The Drowning Doom MARCHES. With Ophelia herself center stage, swaying back and forth in time to the steady thrash of her guitar.

Themesong: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTnf_KYyrBQ

Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
    March is a shadow of its former self. But it is not without its defenses and champions. Darma Windstar, a tall, imposing figure with the earfins and whiplike tail of some kind of lizard-cat creature stands defiant against the encroaching creatures, constantly putting out a distress call as the few Marchain Battlemages take up positions, aiming their Devices to pepper pulses of multiple hued magic into the oncoming storm, both airborne and ground-based. "Hold the line! Whatever happens we must not let them through! Get the civilians to the shelters!" orders Darma, gesturing to the non-magical civil protection forces, police and civil services. "We will buy you time. I only hope my distress call got out before this damnable interference."

    In the darkening sky, dancing amongst the lightning bolts, comes a streak of dark purple, which suddenly angles down to land amidst the Freaks and Dorcs, making a crater in the ground amongst their number. A single voice cries out as the dust settles. "I AM ZEPHYR WINDSTAR. THE WINDDANCER OF MARCH. YOU SHALL GO NO FURTHER WHILE I STILL DRAW BREATH!" And so, the local Elite joins the fray, her axe-blade singing as she dives straight into melee combat with the horde.

Reimu Hakurei (972) has posed:
     As the young miko departs from one of the warp gates, she can easily notice the large army in the distance. Reimu begins to fly onwards towards the darkened skies. As she begins to fly closer, four Yin-Yang Orbs materialize around her body. The winds begin to blow through her hair ribbon as she approaches the gathering army. As she glances down toward the metal fists, it becomes pretty easy to notice the rhythm that they seem to launching themselves to the beat of the music. That should make it easier to understand how they'll go. The other threat is probably going to be the lightning bolts along with those large angry crows.

     "It's nice to see that they rolled out the welcome wagon for us."

     From there, she flies onward, the four orbs beginning to spray homing talismans directly towards the Horn Strikers along the bottom while she begins to emit barrage after barrage of bluish talismans directly in front of her, their target being the hordes of EverGore.

Kushiko has posed:
Make no mistake, there would likely be inquisitive points of curiosity to be explored later by the Lotus and her operatives when it came to the world of March. What had been gleaned from cursory queries was one thing, but there was much more here that warranted documentation.

However, now was not the time for that inquiry; no, now was a more martial point than most when it came to the auspices of the Drowning Doom, it's leader, and the soul who had become wayward.

"Bound by honor, but even she's not sure of herself and whom she serves," the Tenno remarks faintly, far and away from the field. The Lotus frowned slightly as she regards the child. "But we will help this 'Yari' as she asks. Maybe..." Kushiko trails off, before looking up at the cut-in of her Lotus.

"For now, we'll ready ourselves to take advantage and help where we can. Depending on how Zephyr and the others here are dealing with the situation, you may need to task yourself differently."

Kushiko nodded. "Of course, Lotus."

That was the quality of the conversation leading up to this point. She had chosen her Warframe as best as she could; her weapons equally given scrutiny given the nature of the Drowning Doom. It was an unknown enemy personally, but they reminded her enough of the Stalker's shades and other twisted, supernatural threats. After all, Nekros wielded those same kinds of powers, and to another degree, so too did Banshee.

So she went without fear, and transferred not only to one Warframe, but two, the cloaked and hidden Liset breaking through the atmosphere of the planet and making a beeline for the incident point.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
It's been a busy week for the healer turned... Still technically a healer, but crazy! Between having to contend with Union forces just about every time she's gone out and gathering materials from unenthusiastic donors, Sanary hasn't really had a chance to just relax in a while. What better way to do that than to play a little music with some friends and hold a little concert to spread awareness?

     Awareness about what? The Drowning Doom, of course. And by awareness, it's less word of mouth and more direct overrunning the Magus Foundry. Not that playing music is figurative this time, though, since Sanary's actually on stage with Drowned Ophelia! With a... Guitar?!

     A bass guitar, and she's actually doing a decent job at playing it. Not too loud, not too fast, but just enough to amplify the existing sounds and give it a nicer crunch. And jsut to really fit in with the whole darkness and death motif, she's even wearing dark clothes with a tiny hat to match!

     "This is nice. So many people watching us, plenty of land to take over... We should do this more often~" She's laughing, too. That's probably not a good sign. an eyebrow raises slowly as Zephyr and Reimu come in, hacking away at the horde on one end and blasting orbs at the other. She's not too concerned yet with the defenders, although today's bass player does start conjuring up some solid gray sheets along the stage in front of her in preparation for more direct attacks towards herself and her companions. It never hurts to be ready!

(Outfit Reference: )

Golden (782) has posed:
    Behind the bassist and lead guitarist amid a ridiculous drum kit that seems to be playing itself with four foot long sticks is a Metal Mamemon, corroded looking and dripping with Black Tears as he thrashes away on the drums. He manages to keep a furious beat that sounds almost like gunfire or the sound of rain on sheets of tin. Occasionally the big bass drum will sound with a resounding BOOM as a larger bolt of lightning is triggered by it. Peals of thunder get unleashed by the crash of cymbals, tympanis, and high-hats. There's a strong anger behind the drumline.

Alden (930) has posed:
Alden received the distress call!, and he dives into the closest gate to the planet march he found. Thankfully, it ends up being one very close to the town!. He does not need much indications to see where he has to go this time. He rushes to join Zephyr and the other defenders, and try to contain the approaching 'army'.

     He wastes no time, no need to hold out, already in his Metal Garurumon form and trying to help pushback the wave of monsters on the ground, while Reimu worked in the air. "Giga destruction!" he growls from his position on the air, raining explosive missiles on the lesser monsters, making sure not to aim near any of the defenders, of course.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Yari Takane isn't here today. Nope. Not at all. She'd never betray her allies, of course. And there's even video of Yari in her Confederate quarters, playing with her foster daughter, that definitely isn't half clever bribing of security and half illusion.

Ophelia technically isn't an ally, or at least that's what everyone's supposed to know. And after the drowning of Sanary? The ninja's marked her as a traitor and an unstable tool. The fact that the rest of the Confederacy doesn't see that yet is irrelevent. She's Human Resources. And sometimes you need to be proactive.

And if all else fails, she can say she's just throwing off suspicion from Ophelia.

Thus, the amateur adventurer Yagyu Tomori is here, whose only claim to fame is theft of a few interesting enemy pieces of technology, including a gunblade, and willing to take just about any kind of pay. She's dressed in a long cowled robe, hiding her tail and horns, which have been dyed white. Even her hair's now a brilliant shade of red, and a mask around her face has a hastily worked together voice changer. Just a few pitches to throw off suspicion.

Unfortunately, the disguise won't work on someone who /really/ knows her. The 'adventurer' silently charges in right beside Zephyr, already hacking, slicing, and blowing off heads with her weapon. For an 'amateur', she has some skill. Mostly the brides and freaks. By now, Yari hates the undead (that isn't Dracula or Ariah), almost more than she does an Eikon.

Meanwhile, even as she's fighting, she notes both Ophelia and Sanary up on stage. She pushes her hatred deep down, and prays she doesn't end up having to fight the woman she's doing this all for.

Sigrun Stem (992) has posed:
Sigrun came quickly, and she has has taken up position inside a tall building three quarters of a mile away from the stage. The window is open, but the curtains are closed. For now, it's just another window among many. Any of which look equally harmless, any of which could equally play host to a sharpshooter.

Little, subtly glowing blue dots have been quickly spread across the area, each of which provides visual feedback to her on the inside of the curtain. Allowing her awareness of anything that comes too close to comfort.

She peers through the curtain, three red energy rings float in front of her left eye, greatly magnifying her vision. Her bow is drawn, an arrow nocked as the sharpshooter scans for high value targets.

Drowned Ophelia (975) has posed:
Thrashing - the feel of METAL flowing in her veins like white hot fire, her six strings glowing as she communes with the Bleak Gods of DEATH METAL. Drowned Ophelia's face is wild, eyes wide and teeth gritted as her hands switch the tune; The Death Metal altering as well, growing faster; Harder as the defenders push for a decapitation strike. And she's - laughing? Mad, cackling laughter, joining Sandere a her grief finally overwhelms her good sense. Black tears pour from her eyes, marking her cheeks with fresh 'running mascara'. "We're not going to keep it! We're going to BURY everyone on it! We'll eat this planet, and leave nothing but cinders in our wake! And nothing on this ****'ING PLANET WILL EVER SMILE AGAIN."
Those who are connected to her - those who have drowned and risen once more - can feel the Music change. The bleak gods of Death Metal lend their inspiration to those with grief and hate in their hearts.
"Sever the skies!" She screams, as Reimu flies in from above. Oh, Ophelia -knows- this one. She promised her a special surprise. The Drowning Doom falls in neatly, the Horn Throwers focusing their power along avenues; Trying to force Reimu into a very specific in-flight path. Lightning crackles in the bruise sky above - as the heavens weep. Masses of Black Tears arc up and over the Magus Foundry like dead comets, exploding - filling the air with drifting petals of caustic Black Tears. Trying to bring her down to the level of the Doom before she can get too close.
"TURN THE EARTH!" Comes the cry as Zephyr and Yari slide through the undead mooks like a hot knife through butter. Spots along the ground suddenly glow and twist before exploding upwards - FIRE POTS! Explosion noises!
"DROWN WITH ME!"
Spider-like fright-wigs clamber up the brave defenders lines - the few that make it forward first - dragging officers and defenders alike into the mass. To be torn apart? No, something worse - screams muffled as the decapitated heads seal themselves around the former March defender's own skulls, long sinewy lines of hair wrapping around limbs and puppeting the possessed creatures. A testament - the Drowning Doom came PREPARED this time.
PREPARED TO PUSH SHIT IN WITH METAL.

And finally, Drowned Ophelia looks to her Bass guitarist, those white teeth shining in a mad smile. "Oh, Sandere~ Fetch." She nods towards the front, where the Elites are trying to carve in. A glance to Golden, and a nod upwards to the sky. "RISE AND SLAUGHTER!"
Oh yeah. Good times.

Drowned Ophelia (975) has posed:
Themesong change, time to change the themesong! Fuck you wordcount.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-P0Wz3wqtpo

Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
    Darma growls as some of the defenders are pulled down from the towers and defensive barricades. "Hold them back!" she roars, before leaping into the fray herself, claws flashing with golden light as she starts tearing at the Freaks on the front line, and going in to try and rescue one of the taken defenders, clawing at the whip-like hair puppeting the poor fool.

    <Master. The enemy is using multiple strike vectors, along with the ground forces. Evasion recommended.> chimes Divine Wind, as the Fire Pots start to erupt. "Got it! Going topside!" she says, leaping into the air, leaving her silent 'comrade' to fend for herself, not that the Mage knew she was even there. Too many enemies, too few friendlies. Once she's clear of the ground forces, she turns her eyes to the stage.

    "You want to play with storms... I'll show you how a true Wind Mage brews a storm. Drive Ignition." Her Device transforms, shrinking from the large two-hander battleaxe form to a smaller, single-hand halberd-like form with two spinning turbine blade 'Bits' orbitting her. "Gear Second." A third Bit joins the first two, and she then levels the Device like one would a cannon. "I call upon the Great Winds. Ragios, Razgriz, Lethim. Deliver unto me a Maelstrom. Parijium, Gralith, Horaph." <DRIVE IGNITION. GEAR SECOND. MAELSTROM BREAKER. GET SET. TYPHOON SHIFT.> Energy gathers at the head, before bursting forth, begin condensed down by the Bits, before splitting into multiple strike vectors, each one angling around to hit a different part of the Stage. About eight beams in all.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
By now, Yari is decently sure she's going to hate death metal forever. Her ears are already bleeding. The urge to blast Soothing Jazz over those speakers is very, very tempting, but she doubts the singers on stage wouldn't be able to drown it out.

Besides, she has more pressing concerns. Such as the earth exploding underneath her feet! The ninja leaps back at first, dodging the first two explosions. The third, she grabs one of those frightwig-controlled defenders, and tosses him into the explosion as a shield! When he likely goes flying up? She leaps onto his body, 'crowd surfing' her way into the air. She needs a bit of height for her next adventurer's trick.

Namely, getting a clear shot at Ophelia. She takes aim, and starts blasting away. Namely, aimed for that throat. She's going to stop that singing if it kills her!

But that's only a distraction in the end. She'll use the debris tossed up by the explosion to stealthily lob a grenade right onto stage. High yield at that: she's aiming to clear both Sanary and Ophelia out.

Yari will give Sanary extra-hugs for this one later. Thus far, the ninja looks a bit bloodied, that explosion having ripped at her side despite the human shield! At least her mask is still in place.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
As the music shifts and everything starts to feel bleaker, Sanary too is putting her all into making sure that bass gets louder and rumblier. Might as well put her all into it before she has to ditch the instrument in favor of fighting, after all! "This is going to be the big one, then? Alright... Let's make sure this is the best show ever, then~!"

     She really sounds like she's enjoying this way too much. Alas, the healer can't stay on the instrument forever, and with Ophelia's gesture towards the oncoming Elites? It's time to get the real show started. Setting the bass guitar down carefully (those things are expensive!), the sheets that had been on the ground rise, looking not unlike a flooring aisle gone crazy.

     Large squares! Small rectangles! Everything in between! All with a fair amount of bulk to act not only as shields, but performing quadruple duty as bludgeons, jagged stabbing implements with those sharp corners, and even a platform for the healer to stand on as she surfs it straight towards the fray.

     Her first targets? Zephyr and 'Yagyu'. "Come for the show, hm? Well, sorry, but we can't let you steal it for yourselves!" Sandere jumps on the front of her 'platform' to force it vertically just in time for Yari's grenade to go off, avoiding the worst of the explosion and getting blasted forward...

     ... Right towards Zephyr's beams! Several of the shapes comes up to intercept a few of them, although one of the shots still nails her directly in the gut and draws a strained cackle from the healer. She's scorched on both sides now, and her outfit's already getting torn in places! "Oh... Oh, that's just not nice. Whatever happened to good manners?!"

     Laughing madly now, she launches four more of the weaponized tiles at the mage and the ninja, opting for a straightforward approach to solving her current problem!

Sigrun Stem (992) has posed:
Sigrun's scanning for targets finds Drowned Ophelia, recognizing the voice she decides to try a specialty arrow. she has no clue whether it will do the trick, alien worlds operate by strange rules, but where she's from, it's sure to do a number on most forms of undead.

An arrow made out of pure silver, hardened by magic to match steel, blessed by a priest on midnight of the full moon. She nocks it, calls upon the wind to guide it and speed it up. She takes close aim, tries to take into account any and all obstacles.

And then she looses it, three quarters of a mile from the stage and yet her aim is true. If she misses, it's not because she lacked accuracy, it's because her shot was blocked ,her target dodged or something along those lines. At half a mile of distance, the arrow goes supersonic, the shockwave likely drowned out in the noise, and if not, it will arrive after the arrow anyway.

Kushiko has posed:
Well, that flak is going to be a problem even if the Liset itself is cloaked, but what tears and meteoric firepower directed at Reimu might briefly cast a shadow as to the Liset's presence. It wouldn't last long, as the simple presence of anti-air is enough to cause Ordis who's actually piloting Kushiko's landing craft to bank away; a lack of weaponry is a very strong reason to avoid endangering the precious cargo.

"... no, here will do." Kushiko muses softly. Ordis, on the other hand makes a kind of reverbing noise of /confusion/: "Operator? /what the hell are you thinking/--er, what precisely do you mean, Operator? We need to find a safer insertion point!"

"And that will take too long, flip the Liset over so I can get out with Nova! /WE/ have a plan." To say that Ordis isn't happy with the blatant violation of his precepts is putting it extremely kindly.

"ZZZNk-whateveryouwant just get ready to OBLITERATE these things!" The Liset's shadow is seen first, the spadelike ship large and weaving as it throttles back it's thrusters avoid one particular nasty mess of firepower before it flips, it's underside facing skyward. From here emerges a single figure: petite and glowing with energy that flows out of coils as the casket-like recess revolves twice; once to let her out, and the other to close the ship back in.

And as the ship flips, she's nimbly running back around, grabbing the edge of the ship to flip herself to the surface once more. Yet as she does so, along her arms and legs, the control surfaces expanding and revealing rods that expand from her limbs. First two. Then four. Then six balls of golden, solidified energy, from which are rather... /large/ fields of oscillating energy bands. Said energy bands are going to /suck in/ and absorb that caustic fire as she focuses on weaving what has now become a dozen balls of Antimatter Drops to shield herself, her Liset, and perhaps even Reimu: or for that matter, allowing the miko to amplify the damage they're able to harbor.

Of course, if they fire even more, well, that'll be something to deal with based on what the frame itself sees.

Alden (930) has posed:
The digimon notices the change in the... rhythm of the fight, and how the 'drowned' or whatever Ophelia calls her forces seem to redouble their efforts!. He also sees that the others begin attacking the stage, and he realizes... that perhaps that is for the best. He tries to approach, flying quickly to get a better aim, trying to figure out if he can blast Ophelia without potentially destroying anyone else.

Golden (782) has posed:
    Golden catches a ride on the EverGore as it flies by, flipping neatly onto it's back. And onward into the sky to engage Reimu!
    Barrages of explosive spheres of energy are spat out by the cannon-arm. "Make this easy for yourself and embrace oblivion!" He's pretty nimble, righting himself and able to stay on top of the EverGore even as it flies about to evade things thrown its way. Just for the sake of variety, the approaching elites are bombarded with energy bombs as well.

Reimu Hakurei (972) has posed:
     Reimu continues to fly onward as the lightning begins to approach. Oddly enough, she seems to swerve away from the lightning strikes as they streak through the sky. The crackling of the lightning causes her to smile slightly as the orbs begin to move in front of her path. Rather than fly towards the ground, she immediately swerves away from the pair of lightning streams. The combination of the two streams of lightning practically light up the sky to the point where one could actually see that the sky was resembling day for a moment from the illumination. As the lightning begins to catch up to the young miko currently racing toward the center stage, the four orbs move toward her sides and she begins to fly faster in her efforts to get away from the rather harsh lightning.

     She grimaces as the cloud of black tears finally begins to show up. She races forward as her orbs continue to fire talismans directly at the Horn Throwers. However, she appears to be in luck as the dozen balls appear nearby.

     "I didn't want to use a spell card this early."

     Rather than racing through the clouds of black tears, she begins to slow down for a moment as the she proceeds to whip out a spell card,

     "Dream Sign: Fantasy Seal - Spread"

     Immediately, the familiar rainbow glowing orbs of light are sent forth and most of them spread out all around Reimu. Some of them head toward the lightning strikes while the orbs in front of her head directly toward the antimatter bombs as well.

Drowned Ophelia (975) has posed:
The FrightWig falls quickly to the Elites claws, the officer left dazed and hurt - but alive. Zephy's WIND BOMBARDMENT does a nasty job - shattering aside the air superiority of the EverGore and its massive MURDER OF CROWS. The EverGore driven back, swooping around in time for Golden to hitch a ride - submitting to the Drowned Digimon's will. The bell atop the stage clangs discordantly, a warning that the center is under attack! Lights flicker and die along the edge, and for a few moments the Horn Throwers fall silent - letting Reimu have her way, one or two beginning to collapse under their own weight. Drowned Ophelia looks across the battlefield, and releases the Six String Sorrow to grab hold of a mic on stage - and gutterally scream into it, something that builds from the gut and goes right up the octaves like a smoker's death rattle in a torture chamber. Ripples of pure -sound- tear out from the stage, knocking aside a forceful bombardment - and, unfortunately, the needles of a certain lizard ninja. Ophelia seems pretty pleased with herself - right up to the moment the grenade neatly lands. Poink.
Boom.
The creature twists aside, black ichor splattering the stage behind her as she staggers back. Just in time for - zip- a silver, blessed arrow to RIP right through her. She is thrown forward by the force of the bolt, hitting the back of the stage. And one can almost see the collective hesitation roll through the Drowning Doom as the music - doesn't -stop-, but is no longer being fed. Death Metal still reverberates through the air, harsh and horrible and beautiful, but it's not being CONTROLLED. Drowned Ophelia gripping the bolt poking out of her sternum with blackened claws, which hiss and smoke as she pulls it through. Panting as she turns back to the collective heroes, black ichor trailing from her lips.
".. I've been stabbed in the back before. This is nothing new." She spits. Enraged. "FREE THEIR BREATH!" She shrieks, even as raven wings snap out from her back. Forgetting tactics, forgetting strategy - hell, forgetting her own plan - she slices upwards from the stage, ribbons of black tears flowing after her. Where the exploding flak and lightning are cleared away by the frame as she aims to run straight INTO Reimu. Air borne catfight!

The remaining Horn Throwers fall silent, and for a few moments the defenders have their way - pushing the freaks away from the line, leaving re-dead and dissipating creatures of DEATH METAL in their wake. And then the stage - abandoned and defenseless for the moment - begins to discharge fog. Ice fog stolen and combined with the Swamp. THINGS flicker in the depths, shadows and horrors as the cloud relentlessly claws forward. Where it passes, the Undead sigh in relief. The Horn Throwrs begin to flicker back to life once more, but they don't discharge - rather, they keep building. The humming growing louder, almost in tune, a crackling, thrumming hammer. And then? As one, they unleash a single torret of raging energy, phasing and feeding one another as they try to batter the defenses down in one blow. The music suddenly rapid, bird heart thrashing, balls against the walls. Anyone playing patty cake with ranged attacks on the other side of the Drowning Doom hoarde is in danger of being BLASTED! Whether that be a digimon doing some artillery work or a sniper with a blessed bow. OR a mage...

THEMESONG CHANGE:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZX62imOapU

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
The grenade goes off, and sends Sanary flying /right/ for her and Zephyr. Clearly, fate (and very metal explosions!) hates 'Yagyu'. She smirks underneath the mask as those sheets rotate and let fly! She knows just how dangerous...and random...they can be! The first few are neatly sliced to pieces, bouncing off leather armor beneath those robes. One, however, slips past the whirling defensive feints of her gunblade to crack her right in the mask. The thing chips from the impact, falling away at her eye. Bleeding and now bruised as it might be, as Sanary gets closer, it may just seem familiar.

"Your singing's awful." Deadpans the ninja through that mask. She can't help it. The insult sends a spike of guilt through her heart.

Which pales in comparison when she fires two shots aimed for Sanary's kneecaps, then charges her, leaping boldly in to try to tackle and knee her unconscious! /Rude/!

Of course, Ophelia's minions pour out excessive amounts of lasers that lash out against her arm and legs. The arm just hisses. The legs bleed red, but the ninja endures it, and continues to hammer into Sanary ruthlessly, likely spreading blood on the both of them. Some of Golden's fire whips past her head, glancing off a horn, causing her assault to momentarily pause!

Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
    Zephyr grunts as her attacks are intercepted, and she's forces to parry a giant slab of matter being swung at her. She ducks under and away, twisting in mid-air before darting out of the crazed healer's engagement range. "Alden! Heads up!" she calls empowering her voice to carry to the digimon. "Allez oop! We're gonna go stop the giant bird thing!" she says, diving down to snatch up her friend, before pulling hard up and climbing to intercept the EverGore and its rider. "Okay, you deal with the rider, I'll take out the mount. I'll drop you off, but be ready, cuz I'm gonna lop off the thing's head." she explains.

    The mage then shoots past the EverGore, dropping Alden to land on its back, before pulling up again, looping hard around before aiming to dive down ontop of the thing. <MISTRAL CUTTER!> chimes Divine Wind, its blade glowing brightly with purple energy as she aims to lop the EverGore's head clean off.

    "SHIELD FORMATION!" roars Darma, rallying the defenders to form a barrier against the incoming beam of death and hate. The Mages dig in, and transmits power between their Devices, linking fields together into a deflection screen, making the beam strike, and split aside harmlessly. It won't hold for long though.

Reimu Hakurei (972) has posed:

     Reimu begins to take a small sigh of relief now that the initial barrage is over. Unfortunately, that is cut short immediately as her intended target begins to fly directly towards her, rather than stay in the back. Reimu's eyes widen and she hastily attempts to swerve away from the speeding figure. As Drowned Ophelia comes by though, her claws manage to graze the young miko's side.

     Reimu grits her teeth immediately as the slice cuts through her skirt and a small trace of blood drips from the cut. Immediately, she begins to float away from Drowned Ophelia as the four orbs gather in front of her body and begin to launch holy needles directly toward the figure who suddenly attacked her. As they unleash a barrage of needles toward Drowned Ophelia, it becomes very obvious that this is going to be rather difficult.

Kushiko has posed:
There is something to be said for enabling efforts; if anything, to stymie and thwart what's being done otherwise. The twelve orbs of gleaming energy, golden cored with lilac bands of light oscillating rapidly draw in so much flak as the Nova 'frame bears witness to not just Golden, but Ophelia careening for Reimu!

Of course, with Reimu helping to empower those orbs with even MORE energy than before, it and the flak and tears she used her orbs to absorb are, one by one, suddenly becoming black and lilac instead of pure gold.

That, as some people may know, like Zephyr and not!Yari, signifies they've reached a critical mass.

It's then that the Warframe /jumps/. Off of her ship, she launches herself, and with her energy flowing through her, she glides. She may take on attacks from other, but she's got her orbs of Antimatter presenting a very useful shield.

And yet as she airglides, the light of her Void energy lightening her frame enough, she gathers even more antimatter once she's nearer to the stage itself to release another wave of force; Molecular Prime, bathing enemies alone in the coruscating light as the radial wave ripples outward from her.

It's, something to be said for how much potential explosive energy is being wielded right now. The antimatter itself is basically particles of energy like a fine mist, highly unstable and debilitating towards the Drowning Doom that come into contact with it as it spreads over a good 30 meter radius.

Because frankly, the artillery, the laser cannon, all of that is going to have a massive, damn near cosmic-class level of explosive force brought down upon it; she actually brings those orbs; the few that remain 'non critical' into the Laser's bath. Just enough to take some of that edge off before she drops herself--and her orbs--onto the stage itself to unleash her Void-born power in absolutely /cataclysmic/ ways.

Alden (930) has posed:
Alden nods at Zephyr, "I'll take care of Golden." he agrees, rushing to meet up, his form curiously bursting into a somewhat wearker one, from Metal garurumon to his Were garurumon one, but it's certainly lighter!. "Don't worry!" he adds. He mumbles something, which is heard by his Shinki back in town, (thank god D-Arcs actually have range and allow comunication, and for the person holding it to see what the digimon is doing!), "Do the thing." he says softly.

     He faces the Metal Mamemon, "Golden!, Stop!" he asks, before a large brush appears in his hands, "Let's hope this will work as planned!" he exclaims, "Taomon!..." he uses the brush to paint a red symbol in the air, () "Bonhitsusen!" he calls, as the symbol begins to glow brightly, bathing the area nearby with 'holy' (at least to digimon) light. His sole focus is Golden right now so... maybe not smart.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
Even with all her newfound power (or at the very least, learning how to use her existing power), Sanary is still very much an anti-crowd combatant than a duelist. It's one things to try and mow down a crowd, but focusing on more agile targets such as Zephyr and Yari and proving to be much more difficult!

     "Oh? That's not very polite. Ah, but you Union people never know when to be polite unless it's convenient for you~" How'd she even make that connection? It's not as if this 'Yagyu' is wearing any Union gear, right? Still, who else could it be? It's always been the Union that's gotten in her way. The ones that always stop her from getting stronger. From accomplishing anything. The ones that hurt her. The ones that hurt Yari.

     The ones that need to suffer. Like this one right here! Trying to sound like a weird imitation Yari to get her to let her guard down... That won't fool her at all!

     Zephyr, for better or for worse, goes ignored as she focuses all of her efforts on trying to stave off the definitely-not-familiar adventurer, grimacing as both of those shots hit their mark and draw spurts of blood from her knees. Nothing she can't heal over time, but time isn't a luxury Sanary has right now! She catches Yari easily enough from that tackle, but the lack of her own leg power keeps her from (literally) standing her ground, and they go down!

     "Why do you-grhg... People always have to get in my way? And trying to do it with /my/ Yari's voice... How awful of you~" Even with as cheerful as she's sounding, the murderous intent is still quite easy to hear. Weathering those blows to the face as best she can, She draws three more of those sheets over to try and just slam the ninja right off her! The healer won't be getting up quickly either way, though, what with her knees getting blown out like that.

Drowned Ophelia (975) has posed:
The EverGore screams its rage, green witchfire bright in its six eyes as Zephyr lands upon its back. It begins to roll -
Schlit. There's a peaceful moment while the body keeps careening forward on momentum, wings locked, and the head tumbles away. Already evaporating into Black Tears as it goes. The Grimm completely corrupted by this point. And then the whole thing folds in on itself, likely giving Golden and Alden a ride for their lives as they both begin to plummet towards the exploding, laser filled, undead churned ground before. If there was anything ever more metal than two foes locked in mortal combat atop a giant headless witch bird formed of SORROW and HORROR while plumeting down towards laser infested undead, you're not finding it elsewhere.
The WarFrame falls through the air, absorbing glances of anti-air fire as she plummets; Fortunately, between Reimu's expansion and her own skills, the anti-matter orbs absorb a LOT of the hurt that could've shredded her coming in. There's nothing on stage to stop her, even as the stagelights swing upwards to unleash smaller lasers of their own. Moments, only moments.
Drowned Ophelia - up in the air with Reimu - throws up her arm as the holy needles burrow into flesh. Blackened ichor splatters outwards, and she shrieks as she claws at the air; Ribbons of the black ichor swirl towards the girl - only to shatter like glass. Their own suicide shards looking to shred that pretty little living flresh and spill a bit more crimson. "WHY CAN'T YOU LET ME HAVE THIS? YOU FUCKING DICK! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU!" Is she - crying? Yes. A full on, broken hearted sob - it's obviously not Reimu she's seeing in her mind's eye.
Kushiko hits. A moment of silence, before the cataclysmic mix of all that she absorbed goes exploding outwards. The bell tower clangs in mourning even as it collapses downwards, fire and explosions rippling outwards. And the DEATH METAL - falls SILENT. The Drowning Doom halt their forward advance, milling aimlessly. Drowned Ophelia's eyes turn downards. "No. NO! NO!!" She drops like a stone, landing atop the ruins of a Horn Thrower. The Six Stringed Sorrow wailing suddenly in her claws, trying desperately to hold her forces together. Lighting flickering around her, claws smoking from the effort as the strings heat up. Trying to hold a concert down without stage or props, trying to keep the performance going. Movement along the Drowning Doom again as purpose is given once more to the mindless METAL FREAKS.
But she's prominent - oh so prominent. But WHAT LIES AHEAD?
FINAL THEMESONG: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIedr_9_9hA

Sigrun Stem (992) has posed:
Sigrun only brought three of these arrows, and the first has been fired already. They're expensive, and even expecting based upon context to go up against undead, she didn't bring her whole stock. She couldn't justify the expense to herself.

But the three she has brought along, she's written off. These will be used, the remaining two arrows reserved for the proper moment was needed. And there, the target is so prominent, so inviting. For half a moment she expects it to be a waste, but then she realizes magic is at work.

And thus, in quick succession both arrows are loosed. The last arrow fired is the same as the one already loosed earlier, but the arrow that gets released first here is a broadhead. Slow in comparison, barely failing to go past supersonic speeds, but spinning, with wicked edges designed to tear through flesh. Due to the timing, they ought to arrive at approximately the same time.

The broadhead is aimed for the gut, the bodkin point for the heart. Both are high velocity, high energy missiles.

Reimu Hakurei (972) has posed:

     Reimu begins to fly backwards away from Drowned Ophelia and thankfully, she manages to swerve away from the glass-like ichor, although it certainly manages to cut through more of her clothes for the most part as well as leave a few more cuts on her sides. Normally, this is something that would happen after the fight is over. Before she has time to contemplate what happened, Drowned Ophelia falls directly toward the center stage in a manner of despair that's actually unfamiliar to Reimu. Is she afraid to die? The young miko sighs as she looks at Drowned Ophelia before continuing,

     "Well, this is just a part of the job."

The four orbs are aimed directly toward the cursed being and rather they unleash a final barrage toward the death metal powered being on the center stage. Hoard upon hoard of red needles descend upon Drowned Ophelia.

Kushiko has posed:
"/Shatter/."

The explosion is a glorious, wonderful thing to behold, and it's also an explosion that doesn't behave according to the normal standards. Coruscating bands of sparks flitter and fly from the impact points, as blast waves expand out before imploding inward, ripping Drowning Doom apart whilst doing the marvelous job of collapsing the stage.

For those who were too close, to see them /devoured/ and their bodies sinking inwardly as they become as that lilac light with smokey black and lilac energy flashing and compacting before the scene itself clears.

From the storm of energy, she rises; having landed forcefully, but despite being at the center of the carnage, she is mostly unscathed. A pulsating blue void shielding around her body as she cants her head. From a distance, Kushiko exults privately in the satisfaction of what has been done, but the battle is not just done yet.

She reaches, energy outlining the shape of a briary-inspired assault rifle, the Boltor Prime, and begins to carve her way into what mindless metal freaks remain on her way towards engaging Sandere, as opposed to Ophelia. This way, she can at least support the others, and hopefully keep her from fleeing.

Another figure descends from the Liset at this point. Predatory. Stalking. The Valkyr frame flanking from the other side, energy claws born of pure rage and Hysteria supplementing the breaking down of the Drowning Doom's assault. Yet the Tenno is decidedly uninterested in half measures until the task is done.

Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
    "HOLD!" roars Darma, and then, the beam putters out, "FORWARD! DRIVE THESE MONSTERS BACK TO THE BLACK PITS FROM WHENCE THEY CAME!" The defensive line breaks into an attacking spearhead, driving into the Drowned Doom, hacking, smacking, blasting.

    Zephyr goes into freefall as the EverGore is sundered. <Core Frame itegrity at 80%. Hostile force multipliers have been reduced. Leader detected. Coordinating strike.> Sigrun's arrows fly in, and Zephyr comes in from the other side. <MISTRAL CUTTER!> Her blade once more sheathed in that glowing purple light, as she aims to hit Ophelia from the opposite side from those arrows. A double strike, to seal the deal.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Whump whump! Goes the not-Yari and Sanary! The impact draws the breath from her lungs, Yari sensing that murderous intent.

And then the Bell Tower goes up in flames gloriously, momentarily blinding the masked ninja. For a few seconds, Yari's senses are on fire. The next, she's inwardly cheering on Kushiko and her warframe, knowing that all of the expense was utterly justified. She's hiring this one again if she keeps having performances like /that/!

But nor is she about to waste an opportunity, throwing herself right back at Sanary, even as those sheets slam into chin and chest, right onto the ground. She drags herself over, gasping and bleeding, pounded by Sanary and the explosion.

She'll try to weakly hold down Sanary, but the warrior-cleric has always been stronger than her! it'd be easy to flip her over and choke her out!

Leaning in, she whispers at Sanary. "Then you should beat them down, because you're stronger than they are. But don't you realize there's someone else manipulating you right now? They're making you into their puppet. That's not strength. You're stronger than being anyone's puppet. Throw it off. I know you can do it. All that hate and despair...go ahead. You can take it out on me. That's my job, right?" And then, taking a huge risk, she lets herself go limp.

It's all up to Sanary, now.

Golden (782) has posed:
    Golden is blasted by the holy energy, throwing off a stream of black steam as the Black Tears are purged away as his true nature re-asserts itself with help. It does not bring back the crest, but it seems that the Black Tears have repaired the old wounds and damage that the digimon had been carrying around. The strangeness continues as the light fluxes and the Metal Mamemon's data reassembles and unpacks even as the two digimon plummet on the back of a doomed diving bird. The sudden and forced digivolution plays havoc with electronics, with modem squeals and sparks flying as data is ripped from the electronic aether to generate the strange symbols that digimon call digimoji that rush into Gourobei.
    The thought happens as the music ceases. The remembering of what he is. First and foremost, Gourobei was a protector and guardian.
    A glowing hand grabs onto Alden's foreleg even as the changes are trying to solidify, trying to pull the Metal Garurumon into a protective embrace as they are about to crash headlong into the teeming hords of the Drowning Doom. The other hand pulls a large shield from its back as the glow slowly resolves to reveal Gourobei's War Greymon form, putting the golden shield between the ground and himself, the embossed Crest of Courage pointing towards the drowned. "Brave Shield!" The crest glows and enlarges into a sunrise-orange field as they crash into the earth.

Alden (930) has posed:
Alden did not really figure out what 'step 2' was, after trying to purify Golden, but the Weregarurumon certainly was not that worried about landing!. He lets out a rather surprised yelp as he is pulled close, mumbling something to Katze, some kind of assistance, "Hyper Wing!" he exclaims, a pair of white wings emerge, and he tries to... lift the two of them, but the speed was too much to stop, still, seems it manages to slow down the fall, at least somewhat!.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
Leveraging her beefy pig wrangler's strength, Sanary indeed flips herself and 'Yagyu' over to get on top of the ninja. Her smile becomes even broader when the not-Yari practically confirms her own thought process for her, although something seems off compared to before. It's... Cracking? Perhaps it's the combination of the whispers and Drowned Ophelia losing her own hold on the healer, but her smile looks more distressed and lost than a few moments ago.

     "Th... That's right. I can beat them all down... All they do is break everything, anyway... Who? A puppet...? Manipulating me?" Even as things are becoming clearer in Sanary's head, they're still becoming muddled as well. Instead of just single-minded devotion to destroying her enemies and protecting what's hers floating around inside her head, now there's thoughts of... Everything.

     It's getting too confusing. There's too much of it. It needs to stop. Why did she do all of this in the first place?

     "... You /are/ right. Trying to confuse me and... And making my head all weird. That's... That's you, isn't it?" That deranged smile comes back. "If you're going to use her voice, then you should be ready to die for that~"

     BAD PLAN. BAD PLAN. Someone better take Sanary out fast, because she's starting to slam her fists down at Yari's masked face!

Drowned Ophelia (975) has posed:
It's all coming apart, now.
But still Drowned Ophelia is trying to hold it, her claws bubbling away to fingers as the strings of her own guitar BURN her. METAL is a powerful force, but it will have NO master. She's thrashing hard, teeth gritted, chin turned upward. And for just one, ONE glorious moment, she almost has it. DEATH METAL sings in her very essence, shuddering the air around her, empowering and driving and -
Zip. Zip.
Her claws open emptily. Eyes staring blankly at the air as a hole appears in her chest, right into her stone hard, calloused heart. Literally stone hard and calloused. The second tosses her aside like a rag doll, just in time for Zephyr's blast to send her sprawling the other way - and for Reimu to SEAL the possessive POWER within. The Queen of Tears collapses upon the - No. Not the Queen of Tears. In the sudden, pervasive silence, one can see a young woman. Brown hair splayed around her head like a dark halo, torn jeans, sneakers. A black shirt with the falling raven and upside down Anhk upon it. Ophelia. Ichor trickles from her lips, from her chest as she curls in on herself, weeping. Sobbing. Lost and betrayed and alone.
"Oh god it hurts.. it hurts so much.. why did he.. leave.. "
Flicker. She coughs, gagging as the black ichor continues to pour from her wounds. From her lips, chest shuddering as she tries to draw in air. The ichor surrounding her. Flesh pales even further, and turns blue once more as she chokes, clawing at the wreck she lays upon. Trying to get AIR, dying all over again. And still the tears come, no longer the purity of clear saline but black and tainted. Her clawing hands halt - and she growls, primal. A wounded animal. Flicker, and the Queen of Tears is back once more. She slides to the ground, sinking like liquid into the earth. A poison, escaping her final punishment.

The Drowning Doom collapses. Almost literally, a few of the FREAKS simply falling flat on their faces. Disintegrating like the storm clouds above - which rain simple water, now, rather than the poison of sorrow and grief..

Madness and misery had come to finish this world, and had been pushed back. The Season of PAIN was over, and the season of forgiving RAIN began.

Sigrun Stem (992) has posed:
Sigrun doesn't notice the brawling involving Sanary and the mercenary. Her vision to narrow on the target, on the pain she just inflicted. Seeing it, seeing her target become a person for a moment, a person in tears, it almost makes her feel guilty. Almost.

Seeing Drowned Ophelia regain her form, any chance of that happening is gone. The target retreating is good enough for her, she closes the window, and makes her own departure. Mission complete.

Kushiko has posed:
... so, Kushiko, powering that Warframe is given to a few options, none of them are necessarily pleasing. Sure she could shoot Sanary, but that risked the contractor's life as well. And across the field, she had to move and move quickly; the first was a wormhole, a rectangular 'gate' floating that, the moment it appeared the Nova Prime frame disappeared, having bullet jumped her way into it.

A reverbing distortion struck as she appeared out the other side; a single, distorted energy tether completing the exit point, the portal flickering as she rolled forward to where Sanary and Yari were. As fast anything, she gestured again; the control rod on her forearm extending, turning, then the wormhole appearing to /swallow/ Sanary off of Yari. Where was the exit point?

... skyward.

Yes. That portal point went /straight up/, a good 50-plus meters upward, Nova spinning around to fall into the portal from the otherside as well to follow Sanary upwards. Any confusion the Sandere might have is likely to give way to rage and fury as the Tenno reappears behind her, grabbing her from behind and /spinning/. But as gravity and momentum try to assert themselves, she doesn't aim at the ground. Yari--Yagyu, is treated to an interesting sight.

The spinning, makeshift Izuna Drop is given to more power and strength because she keeps guiding herself--twice over--into the portal. It sends them up; then down, then up again. Each time, not preserving momentum and velocity, only going faster and faster...

Oh god this is going to hurt with the way Sanary's being pointed headfirst downward along with herself. Hopefully Reimu can with some swift flight down, make sure Yari gets out of there in time.

Reimu Hakurei (972) has posed:
     Reimu stares at the strange sight for a moment. For a second, she noticed a young woman rather than the enemy in front of her. She seemed to be talking about someone, but why would she be doing that? The young miko doesn't have time to contemplate this because she manages to notice Sanary still insisting on keeping this going.

     "The fight is already over!"

She begins to fly toward Yari, and in a burst of speed that most wouldn't really expect from her, she bursts forth, afterimages following in her trail and she grabs Yari. As the young miko flies away with Yari in her arms, she looks back for a moment and the four orbs begin to emit red talismans directly toward anything that might get in Kushiko's way at the moment.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Joy sparks amidst the despair and explosions and METAL! Off in the distance, Yari can hear the sobs of a familiar undead drowning in her own sorrow. Maybe Ophelia's working on her. Her enemy's pain is bringing her a twisted kind of joy deep in her heart.

Blows come down hard. Stubborn, stubborn Sanary. Under that swiftly cracking mask, Yari's smiling. Her ruined eye is only pulped further with every strike, shards of mask burrowing into that eye, blood splattering with each punch.

Despite the pain, she's still grinning.

"Go ahead. But you're smarter than that. Stop denying the truth, Sanary."

By now, Yari's head is swimming, likely with a severe concussion and internal bleeding. Which only gets worse, between wormholes sucking away Sanary, and then she's in the air, like some kind of rag-doll, one arm and her tail clinging desperately to Reimu.

What wisdom does Yari have to impart just before passing out to Reimu?

"Death...metal...is for fools and nerds. Jazz is superior." Thunk.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
"Over? Oh, no no no noooo. You and your Union friends don't get to say when it's over this time!" The cracks are starting to show in Sanary's facade again as she screams out a response to Reimu, the calm smile getting replaced with visible fury. On one hand, she's royally pissed. On the other hand, it really does look like the effects of Drowned Ophelia's tears are starting to wane for real this time!

     "Why... Why do you have to keep getting in my way? Why can't you let me have this?!" Her voice doesn't hold the same serene tone, her hair is starting to regain some of it's color (if black counts), and even her range of emotions is starting to expand past creepy cheer. There's a brief moment of hesitation as Yari speaks, and... Wait. Is that actually..?

     Before Sanary can process all of it, she finds herself suddenly hurtling through the air. But... Wasn't she just on the ground a second ago? Her struggle against Kushiko in the air begins as she squirms and tries to flail about, but it's ultimately not of much use between the Tenno's creative use of wormholes and rapid acceleration taking the wind right out of her. Faster and faster they go, until the healer is planted firmly into the dirt! And by the time the dust settles...

     ... Well, she looks like a freaking mess, bones are broken just about everwhere, and her clothes are in tatters between all the punishment she's taken in such a short time. On the plus side? Her skin and hair are distinctly darker than a few moments ago, and she's not conscious enough to start screaming bloody murder!

Drowned Ophelia (975) has posed:
With the Drowning Doom crushed, and March freed, there's only one thing left to do.

BRUTAL VICTORY
Winner: UNION
WINS: Splash time, mud pies, Sanary, Golden.
LOSSES: Hearing, Sanity, BLACK METAL SANDERE, DEATH METAL GOROUBEI

Kushiko has posed:
From the point of impact, Nova uses a momentary release of energy to power herself off, enough to keep such an attack from being lethal, somersaulting off and into a three-point landing some five feet away.

As the thunderous impact begins to subside the other frame that arrived approaches from another side; Valkyr, the berserker, the felinoid-like frame stalks towards where Nova, Sanary, and Yari are after that rather concussive show of force to /end/ the fight. Just in case Sanary had any fight left in her, flecks of black blood evaporating from the outer layer of her body.

"Good thing we're not Union," the Warframe doesn't necessarily /say/. No, the voice itself seems to fill the air without owing to any particular source beyond knowing it's coming from the Warframes themselves.

Valkyr on the other hand steps over to where Sanary is, and picks her up, though not without an infusion of mist-like energy from her palm to ensure some measure of medical stablization as the Liset approaches, thrusters maneuvering the vessel to where she could be picked up, and summarily escorted back to where she could get proper medical aid.