549/Baby Badgermole Rescue

Baby Badgermole Rescue
Date of Scene:	05 September 2014
Location:	The Marshlands
Synopsis:	When the Tarpit 3 settles on a remote village, Toph rallies the Union to rescue the kidnapped badgermole from Genghis Rex, who in turn gets assistance from the Confederacy to drive back the blasted mammals.
Cast of Characters:	20, 108, 114, 119, 123, 162, 262, 301, 368, 560

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Genghis Rex (114) has posed:
Tarpits 3 has set down on the edge of the Marshlands. It's raw tonnage has sunk into the muddy ground and caused a massive amount of water displacement, which has flooded a nearby village.

Quackpot, wearing a straw hat, and chewing on the end of a piece of grass, sits leisurely in the shadow of Tarpits 3, a fishing pole in one claw and a beer in the other. For all his sadistic nonsense, he appears to be enjoying the golden rays of the sun as it slides down behind the faroff mountainside.

His pole gives a tug and he jumps up and begins frantically reeling. Sadly, the only thing on the end of his line is a tattered old soggy boot.

"Quack ..." he says forelorned.

Brachio radios, "If you'd stop throwing it back in, you wouldn't keep catching it, you fuggin' idiotops!"

Quackpot shrugs and drops the boot back into the water, then casts his pole again and sits down, cracking another beer.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    These last days have been horrible. While the blind girl has been through a lot the last months, few things come close to the helplessness she felt when the baby badgermole was taken. Sure, she hasn't curled up and let it keep her down, but it has clearly disturbed her.

    So when the radio comes to life with news, she wastes no time. The only thing she spends time on is to contact people on the Union channel before she storms off ahead, determined to settle matters. After she's rescued the badgermole, that is.

    A rumble is the only warning that Quackpot and Brachio gets, and it sounds like it's coming from near the village. Is that a dust cloud moving towards them? Though of course, with the village underwater, there's little dust to whirl up. Instead there's a massive splash of water as several earthen pillars shoot up towards where Quackpot and Brachio are, forming a semi-bridge towards them. As the water settles, the short figure of a certain earthbending master becomes visible as she /stomps/ towards them, a serious look on her face. It certainly looks like the short girl means business.

    "Give her back. NOW!" she demands.

Jinxel (119) has posed:
     While Quackpot and the other Dinos are apparently enjoying an improptu vacation, someone has to keep an eye on the Badgermole that the evil villains have captured with nefarious ideas in mine. Not only does this entail actually keeping guard over the little cub, but also trying to keep it calm so it doesn't keep making a racket trying to call for help.

     Which is why Jinxel somehow ended up stuck in the cell with the little beast, who has both forepaws wrapped around her, cuddling her like a plushie. Which normally wouldn't be a problem, except that badgermoles have /REALLY HUGE FREAKING CLAWS/, which leaves the poor Bad Luck Pony standing veeeeery still with razor sharp talons inches from her flesh, in a desperate bid to avoid spooking the little mole.

Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
    Zephyr comes screaming into the zone not long after Toph makes her presence known. The wind mage breaking the sound barrier as she swoops in and down towards the pillars and the Tarpits. "Time Space Administrative Bureau. Disarm all Devices and weapons, and surrender immediately or you will be fired upon! This is your only warning." she reels off, leveling her Device at Quackpot and Brachio(And the Tarpits in general) as she charges a beam cannon.

"Release the Cub. Right now!"

Tesla Armadia (368) has posed:
Tesla Armadia had been going over the information gathered so far from various scans of the badgermole while it's occupied with pony snuggles when the ruckus of shouting and moving stone echos from outside. To which she shifts her display holo-pad to the side to peer at the clock on it. "Huh. Knew a heroic intervention attempt would be inevitable, but they've stepped up their response times." She shrugs a little, putting the holo-pad away. Then shrugs off her labcoat, combat armor materializing in its place as she tosses it over a convenient object. Then taps her own comm. "The unwelcome company has decided to show up finally, Rex. Let's go say hello, shall we?"

As she starts to walk away towards the entrance, something can be heard skittering after her in the shadows, though other than the brief glimps of a reptile-like tail swishing in passing and beady glowing eyes, whoever or WHATever it belongs to is unseen for the moment.

Winnowill (108) has posed:
Normally, Winnowill wouldn't have anything to do with villainy of this sort. Having the Tarpits nearby, though, means she has a base to work on while investigating the marshes! And that's all she's doing, investigating the marshes. Disguised as Black Snake, the 'unicorn pony' from Twilight's world, she looks like a pale humanoid woman with a silken black tail to match her hair, and a small nubby horn. She's also sighing, "Oh, wonderful. Well, perhaps my new pet can help."

Her new pet, of course, is a gigantic duck. A duck with a python tail and large claws on its webbed feet. Also, it spits poison.

"Quack."

Currently, unlike many of the others, she is in the marsh itself, standing in a small boat.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    With so little tech or resources on his side, and dressed in entirely normal clothes, Shirou doesn't really strike most senses as being any kind of hero or Elite. Only a few shreds of magical energy leak from him, he's complete plain human... heck, if he was dressed like a local, he'd probably seem just like one of them.

    It's been a quick jog from the warp gates. And something of a slosh and slog, as he approaches the ship seemingly unarmed. He's forced to swim though, past a point...

    But this simple approach might be unexpectedly stealthy, given everyone else's flashiness!

Tony Stark (301) has posed:
And this time, when Toph storms off, Tony Stark is directly behind her. The bloody scene he found the other night the last time he let her go off on her own and fight dinosaurs is not something he cares to repeat. Of course he also can't exactly keep her locked up in the house without being a big fat hypocrit. So the compromise: Toph goes to fight dinosaurs, and Iron Man comes with.

He lets her make her own entrance, but only seconds after the young earthbender states her demand, the Iron Man suit comes into view above, hovering over the treetops. "You might want to do what she says," Stark's voice broadcasts downward, slightly tinny from the amplification. "She goddamn terrifies me when she gets this mad."

Fiera Kitsun (262) has posed:
While Fiera is more of a specialist in working with Pokemon than other animals, her family's religious beliefs include a strong reverence for Nature in all its parts ... and from what she knows, badgermoles might well be right up there with Pokemon as far as 'embodiment of an aspect of nature' goes. That, plus having seen the suffering that the Tyranno gang inflicted on the rest of the pack, has the red-haired Pokemon trainer *quite* ready to hand some dinos their tails - just as if they were Team Rocket, 'stealing' a living being with no regard for the baby badgermole's heart, or for its (his or her?) family.

So when Fiera offers her help in rescuing the baby badgermole, she's actually taken the time to *prepare* for the confrontation - restocking on supplies, swapping out a couple of her Pokemon, and making sure she's properly geared up for a serious battle. On the downside, she didn't plan for a swamp battle - some of her team may be at a decided disadvantage here, and as Fiera rides in beneath her Skarmory, Tenkuuzan, she's already surveying the terrain and contemplating how best to not only compensate for the marshes, but to use them to her advantage as well ... and with Toph and Zephyr drawing most of the attention, Fiera has Tenkuuzan bank around to come in from another direction - trying to close a wide circle around the Tarpits 3 and, ideally, the other Confederates.

Allan Bodily (123) has posed:
    Heroes you say? maybe a little Diplomacy could help deal with them...

    With those thoughts in mind, Allan arrives on the scene. A small... well, it looks like it USED to be a chopper, or perhaps several choppers, all patched together to form a freakish FRANKENSTIEN'S CHOPPER, either way it arrives on the scene, setting down for a moment to let allan himself climb out.

    Dressed as atypical maintance worker and carrying Diplomacy - his shotgun - at his side. He gives a small nod to Rex as the chopper leaves. "So... who do I kill?"

Genghis Rex (114) has posed:
Quackpot is surprised to say the least. He stands there, teeth chattering, the blade of grass falling from his bill. He pulls off his hat and holds it to his chest, subconsciously hoping it will somehow shield him from this young girl's wrath.

"Umm ... uhhh ... heh heheheh ..."

Brachio steps down from the boarding ramp and takes a place next to the near catatonic Quackpot, "Heh. You again?"

He radios the command center, "Bossasaur, that girl is back. She wants her pet. She brough some friends ..."

"Deal with them." the radio squawks.

Brachio puts the radio away and elbows Quackpot, "Whaddya think Quackers? A little girl coming to rescue her cute little fuzzy wuzzy, huh?"

Quackpot is paralyzed with fear.

Brachio smirks, "Isn't it cute?"

Then, he slams a foot into the bridge supporting Toph, "BUT IT'S WRONG!"

Rex glares hatefully at the monitor as Tesla summons him, "Why MUST these idiotic mammals constantly be trying to take MY PROPERTY? I AM A KING! I DESERVE MORE RESPECT!"

He grabs a HUGE rifle that was laying nearby, "I'm gonna devolve each and every one of them back to FROGS!"

Meanwhile, inside the lab of Tarpits 3 , Plesio looms over Jinx and the badgermole, "You know, when I asssssked you to look after that thing, I didn't eksssspect you'd want to become best friends with it."

Styraco pounds a few keys on his console, eyeing his monitor, "Those blood samples were excellent, Plesio. I'm starting the genetic breakdown now. In an hour or so, we won't just have a badgermole, we'll be able make an army of them."

Plesio grins, "Ekssssssellent!"

Jinxel (119) has posed:
     "It wasn't my idea!" Jinxel protests from within the cell, "I can't help it if the baby badgermole took a liking to me!"

     Then she turns her head towards Tesla just as the good doctor gets up to leave, "Aaah! W-wait! Where are you going! Don't leave me in here!" She starts to pull forward to get free, but the badgermole shifts it's weight and drags her back in with those big paws to resume cuddling.

     Jinxel, obediant minion of Nightmare Moon, held hostage by a badgermole cubs.

     Truely the scourge of the Confederate Army.

Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
    "Doesn't look like they're backing down. Dee?" Asks Zephyr of her Devi<span class=" fg_m bg_n ++ e.

    cm">YES! STUNMODE HAS BEEN CANCELLED. FIRING LOCK REVOKED. ATTENTION, PLACE YOUR HEADS BETWEEN YOUR KNEES AND KISS YOUR ASSES GOODBYE.></span> states the Device forcefully, as the blades crack back from the gemstone, and start to rapidly spin up. "I warned you! Now you're gonna pay!" IMPULSE DRIVER!> The spinning blades gather the air around them, focusing it towards the gemstone at the head of her axe haft. At the command to "FIRE!" this gathered wind lances out like a cannon shell, accompanied by a crack of displaced air. IT's headed right for Brachio and Quackpot!

Tesla Armadia (368) has posed:
<<I want copies of any future discoveries while I'm... out,>> Tesla radios back to Plesio and Styracio. Trust me, she feels your pain about such interruptions, Rex. Which is part of which she was here. Other than the SCIENCE of course.

A few minutes later she walks almost casually down the ramp from the Tarpits. "Tch. Swamps are always so full of pests. Guess it's a good thing I brought ... something to deal with them in such environments."

That... thing that was following her scrambles down the ramp to stand in front of the scientist, rearing up into a hunch on its back legs, fully extending the ridge of webbed spines that run down its back, and partway down the tail swishing behind the vagely saurian looking creature. Maybe some sort of amphibious mutant? Whatever it is, it hisses loudly, the ribbed fins atop its head and fanning from its cheeks also spreading fully; though it has a few small horn-like nubs across its brow as well. Overall it is about the size of a great dane or so.

It is, regardless, damn ugly.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    The baby badgermole is /not/ pleased with its current predicament. It doesn't know where it is, it wants its family, and it wants /earth/. There's nothing here, leaving the blind creature with no way to defend itself, move or even make out its surroundings besides sound, touch and smell. And the fact that there's something unfamiliar with it... that makes it cling to the warm little creature. At least it isn't stabbing it like the other things did! So Jinxel will find those sharp claws wrapping tighter around her as it hugs her closer. Yes, the pony is far less scary than the Tyrannos. And softer.

    Yes, the Union response is something that Toph approves of. Of course Tony showed up, considering he's her supervising officer, and well... she likes to think that he likes the badgermoles too. Hearing Zephyr repeat her demand only makes the earthbender stand up taller. Why, she doesn't budge even when Brachio slams his foot into the bridge, shaking it. Her stance is steady as can be, and she glares in the direction of the angry voice. "It's not my pet. She's my /friend/." At least she hopes she will be once the new badgermole babies get used to her like the older ones are.

    She can sense the large headquarters easily enough, considering it's made of metal. Perfect. "If you're not going to move," Toph states as she takes a determined step forward, "I will have to make you!" With that she brings her arms up, kicking into the bridge... and makes it collapse near Brachio, slamming into the part she's standing on, which again launches her through the air and towards the ramp leading up into the Tarpits! Her goal is clear; get in and get to the badgermole!

Fiera Kitsun (262) has posed:
And there's the fight starting up. Fiera's gaze de-focuses briefly, her consciousness overlapping with that of the Skarmory, and Tenkuuzan tucks his wings in, shedding altitude without sacrificing too much maneuverability. For a long handful of seconds, Fiera is actually seeing through two sets of eyes: her own, and those of the steel bird Pokemon who's carrying her towards the fray.

They still haven't noticed the Trainer or her ally, from all appearances ... it's an advantage that won't last much longer; Fiera aims to make the most of surprise while she can.

Tenkuuzan lets go; Fiera pops a couple of Pokeballs open, streaks of light heading towards the ground - and while she's releasing additional Pokemon, the Skarmory gets NOISY, letting out an earsplitting SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH and diving at Allan like a falcon dives on a sweet, plump, juicy rabbit. The helicopter may not survive Tenkuuzan's dive, particularly if Allan's too close to it at the time ...

But it's enough of a distraction, as these things go, for Fiera to make a safe landing and regain her feet, Foxfire close by her side as the two of them synchronize their thoughts and wills.

Winnowill (108) has posed:
Winnowill - or rather BLACK SNAKE - is watching all of this with some uncertainty. The 'unicorn' girl shakes her head as she leans back against the lip of her little boat. "Now what do I call you? Duthon? Duckpython? Snakeduck?" Hmm. "Psyduck, go attack them!" Yes, that is a good, original name.

Honestly, she doesn't give a damn.

"QUACK!" The DuckPython leaps to the air, flapping wings that have been warped and stretched for its greater mass. The flyers in the air will have to deal with a duckpython trying to wrap itself around one of them and choke the life away. This could be difficult if it tries to choke Tony or something.

Tony Stark (301) has posed:
Tony can't help but be slightly impressed with Toph's rather meteoric entry attempt. He knows how much she hates flying. But then it's probably different when she's launching /herself/ with her own earth boosts. In any case, Iron Man moves proactively to try to prevent any interference in her flight arc, swooping down low underneath the girl and then throwing on the brakes suddenly, flaps snapping out in a burst of retrothrusts, hands splayed to fire off several rounds of chaotic repulsor blasts, not aiming for anyone in particular, just making the area unfriendly.

Allan Bodily (123) has posed:
The chopper's long gone, having only stuck around log enough to let Allan off. As for Allan himself?

    *WHAM*

    Allan drops like a stone, obviously dead as blood oozes from his broken skull, congradulations, you wi- "...ow"

    Or not... Allan drags himself back to his feet, looking just a tad annoied as he spots Fiera. "Hmm... I think I remember you, some raid for medical supplies on the pokemon islands?" He suddenly aims diplomacy at her. "Hold still now..." and calmly pulls the trigger. hopefully she didn't actually hold still.

Fiera Kitsun (262) has posed:
Shotgun pointed at her? Good time not to stay in one place - Fiera bolts to the right, Foxfire dashes to the left, and Tenkuuzan wheels around with an even more ear-piercing shriek - the Metal Sound technique, a sufficiently harsh and piercing noise to derail an enemy's concentration - before Foxfire whips around from her evasive dash to launch an Ember attack at Allan for good measure.

It looks like the Ninetales didn't entirely escape unharmed; a few streaks of blood mar the cream of her fur along one haunch and a couple of tails; Fiera doesn't seem injured, but she's wincing as she gets back up from her dive for cover. "Yeah, I remember ..." Fiera says dourly. "Not like *you* need bandages, you just get back up when you die ... or is there a way to kill you permanently?"

Genghis Rex (114) has posed:
Brachio MIGHT have been covered in the rocky debris, if Zephyr hadn't opened fire on he and Quackpot like an ED-209! Brachio dives to the side, yanking Quackpot off his feet and rolling behind a small hill of mud and dirt.

"Hey buddy! Little trigger happy aren't yah?" Yells the big purple Tyranno.

Behind the hill Brachio shakes Quackpot, "Get it together, Quackpot! These folks mean business! You're gonna die here if yah don't!"

Brachio slaps Quackpot lightly. Quackpot is knocked unconscious.

"Aww JEESE!"

Toph finds herself on the left claw of Tarpits 3, roughly 15 stories in the air. The wind is harsh and the metallic ski of the giant metal beast is cold and lifeless. In spite of what's going on below, Toph feels momentarily alone. But she's not.

"Ahh, yes. Impressive that you can get this high, dear. WOuld be a terrible pity if you fell?" A snobbish voice proclaims. It is Terrible Dactyl, and he is between Toph and entry to the Tarpits.

Rex follows Tesla down the ramp, rifle at the ready, "LEAVE THIS PLACE NOW, MAMMALS OR BEHOLD THE FATE THAT AWAITS YOU!"

Rex fires on a flock of fleeing birds, each one caught within the beam instantly turns into an egg and falls to the ground, shattering.

"You have received the only warning I intend to give!"

Jinxel (119) has posed:
     Jinxel sighs, resigned to her fate as the battle rages outside, with no one having the time or inclination to disentangle the poor pony from her percular predicament. All she can hope for is that the sounds of conflict outside the ship doesn't make the badgermole panic and claw her.

     With that in mind, she twists around and patpats the badgermole tenderly, "There there, I'm sure everything will be alright. Just... don't accidentally claw me with your foot long talons, okay?"

Tesla Armadia (368) has posed:
In true mastermind style, Tesla decides to not get her hands dirty personally unless she has to. She just makes a hand jesture out at the fighting and commands, "Kill." In response Swampbreath scurries to the edge of the ramp and jumps off, disappearing into the muck of the marshlands with the affinity of a natural predator, even if he is rather unnatural himself. He was found in a radioactive swamp, after all.

Crossing the mire in short order the amphibious mutant abruptly bursts out of the muck near Zephyr, leaping to tackle her down so she stops shelling the other combatants.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Through the air she goes! It's totally different when she launches herself after all, it's a controlled motion. Any sudden loss of contact with the ground however? Now /that/ is terrifying. There's a whole lot of noise going on around her, and she doesn't have a clue about what half of them might be. Sure, some sounds are familiar, like the repulsors of the Iron Man suit, the Tyrannos are crying out and bickering, there's what sounds like the angriest turtleduck she's ever heard, it sounds like somebody /hit/ the ground and somebody shrieking... but that matters little as she throws herself up. Man, she /hopes/ that her ability to sense earth and metal is correct...!

    She reaches out, and grunts as she clutches onto the metal of the left claw of the mobile fortress, the metal letting out sounds of protests as she pulls herself up, small fingers digging in. But when Terrible Dactyl speaks up, her eyes widen. Where did he come from?! Rather than showing fear though, even if the words do get to her, she frowns. "Move aside, you flying gecko rat!" she snorts, yanking with her right hand in order to pull the metal plate, and hopefully unsettle Dactyl and free her way. No, she does /not/ want to fall, not from this height! Especially not when there is marshlands underneath her!

    Jinxel's words do catch the baby badgermole's ears, and it lets out a pityful sound even as it snuffles at her, its large nose brushing against her face. Then it pulls back, its large claws scratching at the floor as it lets out even more mournful sounds.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Shirou has gone unmolested, long enough to reach the ship. He's swimming, and it's stinky here. He'd rather be on the ship, then he can find the Badgermole while everyone makes a big fuss outside. He's not able to stand up to Elites too well yet, and isn't so ready to try if everyone else can handle that.

    He'd LOVe to, but getting the badgermole is way more important!

    And so he ends up at the ship's hull, scrambling for an entry way. But there's no ports in sight, no nothing... so, with no obvious way in, he'll make one.

    "It's like Reinforcement. The principle should be about the same..." He places a hand against a chunk of hull... and focuses. "Trace, on!"

    With those words solemnly declared, he focuses. Prana flows from his body into the hull plating... and the plating glows. Warps. Bends. Like molding clay, he simply shunts the material out of his way in some areas, creates a hinge...

    ... And so the hull grows a new hatch. If an extremely crude one that Shirou can just yank open. He'll probably not end up anywhere IMPORTANT, but... who knows?

Allan Bodily (123) has posed:
    Allan winces, bringing a hand up to his ear before. *FWOOSH*

    Allan lights up like a pile of dry leaves, a loud scream as his skin starts to burn, though regen kicks in before things get a bit too gruesome. almost immeidatly he takes aim again. "Ah... I remember those days." The look on his face hardens considerably, face pulling into an angry frown as the flames dance around him. "I HATED those days!" He opens fire again, before taking a moment to reload Diplomacy. "Glad I finally killed the old bosses, things have been a LOT better since then."

Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
    <MASTER! EVADE!> warns Divine Wind. The mage blinks, then jinks to the side on instinct, bursting mana to escape that lizard mutant's leap. "What the hell is that thing?!" Asks Zephyr to noone in parti<span class="underline fg_m bg_n ++ ular.

    cm"><Whatever it is, Master. It is ugly and we should do our best to destroy it.></span> The mage gives a nod of affirmation, and sweeps her axe in a wide arc. "Lets try and keep it at a disadvantage, once we're in the muck, we're toast."

    <INDEED! JETSTREAM IMPULSE!> announces Divine Wind. The arc that the axe makes, leaves several large motes of purple magic in its wake. These then split, and split again, until theres several dozen hanging in the air around her. With a dramatic pose, and a finger pointing at where the monster went, she announces. "FIRE!" the energy motes turning into streaks of purple magic, bombarding the area like a magic missile massacre.

Winnowill (108) has posed:
Tony's blast slams into the Not-Psyduck and it promptly tumbles down and splashes into the marsh next to Black Snake's boat. She prods it with a stick as it floats there, either stunned or dead, and sighs. "Well, I suppose I couldn't expect much," she admits in a lazy tone. Meanwhile the battle is going on some distance away, and she is just sitting here on the boat.

So the dark-haired pony-woman scans the skies and the fighting, then boredly selects a victim. The armored flying knight looks good. What was his name? The Stark? Something like that.

A coy smirk flits across her features as she just settles into her boat... and sends a bolt of Black Sending across the marsh toward Tony. He isn't telepathic, so it will be muted a bit, but it's intent is to suddenly trigger his pain center directly, so that it feels like every single nerve in his body is on fire.

Fiera Kitsun (262) has posed:
Fiera barely gets moving again in time to avoid getting shotgunned to death on the spot, and even so she catches more of the shotgun blast than is healthy for anybody. Foxfire rallies to her aid with a Confuse Ray, trying to baffle Allan's aim - if she can trick him into shooting at his allies, excellent; if he gets confused enough to actually shoot *himself* or (more likely) injure himself with recoil, that'd be great too.

And then, while Allan is reloading, Fiera's third Pokemon - the humble little Dugtrio named Chika - makes her move ... with a Dig attack, trying to open a nice deep pit under Allan's feet.

Fiera takes this opportunity to let out two more Pokemon: a Piloswine and a Gyarados. Koori nosewrinkles, but she digs in her hooves, ready to assist Fiera to the best of her ability, while Taki rises into the air with an angry bellow. Fiera's injuries are no secret to any of her team - the bond between Trainer and Pokemon conveys injury levels in both directions *just fine* - and none of her Pokemon are in a mood to let the one who hurt her off easily ...

Tesla Armadia (368) has posed:
Tesla Armadia idly leans back against the frame of the hatchway to watch the fight, tapping into her datalink once more. <<Styracio, I'm sending you a recorded feed, you may find some ... professional interest in Swampbreath's abilities.>>

As the pounce misses Swampbreath hits the ground and slides in the muck a bit as he reorients back towards his intended target. The glowing motes don't really register to him until they turn into streaks hurtling through the air and the mutant hisses as several of them puncture into his body in little purple bursts. He staggers a bit, then stands up again.

The visible cuts are already starting to seal themselves back up via some sort of regeneration factor. You know that ability salamanders have to regrow lost limbs? Yeah, like that, jacked up to eleven.

Swampbreath makes a snarling, almost choking sound as he slinks closer, then opens his mouth and lives up to his name in expelling a spray of noxious, acidic gas at Zephyr!

Tony Stark (301) has posed:
Tony Stark is, fortunately, not a telepath. He is also wearing armor, but that part doesn't seem to help him out much in this particular situation. His mind suddenly flashes back to another time, another universe, when one of the guardians of Annu struck him with something very like...

The covering fire ceases; Iron Man seems to stagger midair, keeping aloft only by virtue of the supplementary thrusters on his back that automatically compensate as he raises both hands to his head as if clutching his helmet is going to do any good against the sudden psychic onslaught that speared his brain.

"Jarvis!" he gasps, behind the mask. "What's--"

"I can detect nothing physically wrong with you, sir. Can you describe the symptoms?"

NO I CAN'T FUCKING DESCRIBE THE SYMPTOMS, Tony almost screams back at his well-intentioned AI, but his nose suddenly gushing blood makes him choke and splutter instead. He writhes in the air, trying to orient himself AWAY from whatever the FUCK that thing is, though in the process of retreating to a safe distance (he hopes) he at least maintains the presence of mind to loose countermeasures. A cylindrical object launches from a tube on his forearm and arcs gracefully toward the origin point of the attack. If Jarvis's calculations are correct it ought to *tink* down lightly in the center of the boat. And a moment later, explode, because that's what concussion grenades do.

Genghis Rex (114) has posed:
Ankylo, clad in a hospital gown, limps down a dark hallway, rubbing his sore back and groaning with each step. "Wish, they'd keep it down out there, I'm TRYING to rest!"

That's when his beady eyes fall upon Shirou. It takes a moment for the reality of the situation to register with Ankylo, but then his eyes go wide, "Hey! You're not supposed to be in here!" He waves a claw, "Shoo! Go away!"

Terrible Dactyl lazily falls off the side of the claw as the metal plate flies harmlessly past him. He spirals down, unfolds his wings and in a single flap is BEHIND Toph, wraps his wings around her and gently pulls her close. He rests his beak on her shoulder and says in a threatening half whisper, "Not very good at this, are you?"

Styraco eyes the monitor at Telsa's behest and grins, radioing back, <I do love watching you at work, Commander!>

Rex glares at the chaos in front of him, cocks his Devolver Cannon and aims at Zephyr, since she seems to be the closest Union member to him, "YOU ASKED FOR IT! HAVE FUN BEING A MONKEY!"

He pulls the trigger.

As Swampbreath engages Zephyr, she is brought out of the line of Rex's Devolver.

Brachio leaps over the hill, carrying the now jibbering Quackpot, and is struck directly in the chest by Rex's blast. Brachio drops Quackpot as a soft silver glow surrounds him. He looks like he wants to drop a firestorm of cusswords on Genghis Rex, but all that comes out of his mouth is a pain filled cry.

Brachio slams to the ground and begins to grow. His clothing rips, his bellowing deepens and eventually a fullsized Brachiosaurus stands in the marsh, but this time, it's JUST a Brachiosaurus, devoid of intelligence and reason.

Fear crosses Brachios face as the battle wages around him, He rears up and slams down on the marshy ground, splattering a tidal wave of mud and muck in all directions.

Rex drops the cannon and his eyes go wide as the tsunami of sludge rains down upon him and the main entry ramp of Tarpits 3. The Cannon slides donw the ramp and into the muck.

Jinxel (119) has posed:
     Aaaaaaw. :(

     Being the big softie that she is, Jinxel can't help but feel her heartstrings being tugged as she listens to the poor badgermole. It's so saaaaad! ;_;

     Unable to help herself, she wraps her arms around the badgermole's neck and hugs the little creature as she nuzzles it's cheek, "Don't cry, I'm sure everything will turn out fine."

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    "Calm down. I'm just here to grab someone else who shouldn't be here, then I'll be right out!" Shirou argues. Since Ankylo doesn't seem aggressive, he's not even really paying him too much attention. Shirou's just trudging along... but then he pauses while wringing out some of his clothes, frowning.

    "I'm here for the baby badgermole! Where's it being kept?" ... Yeah, the straight approach it is.

    Not that he expects anything too helpful from Ankylo.

    And Shirou doesn't even look particularly threatening.

Winnowill (108) has posed:
Smug, Black Snake just leans her chin on one hand, watching the iron man stagger in midair like that. She does enjoy watching little puppets dance. She is not all that used to actually fighting people in the Multiverse who are anywhere near her level, though... so she doesn't expect any sort of retaliation. Especially not in the form of that tiny capsule bouncing onto her little boat.

For not even a heartbeat, she stares at it uncertainly. Winnowill is not stupid, however, and quickly hurls herself into the water with a loud splash! The boat erupts into splinters, and a concussive wave splits the water to make it 'buckle' for a moment, but no sign of Black Snake reappears immediately. It's hard to tell if it hit her or not, and how badly.

It's a good bet that SOMETHING happened though, as the psychic assault ceases.

Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
    Zephyr grunts as those bolts don't seem to do much. "Regeneration factor, class four or five... great." she muses, then acks as she's suddenly engulfed in a noxious gas cloud. The acidic mist begins to eat away at her Barrier Jacket, before she jinks back away from the monster. <BLITZ DRIVE!> her form blurring out and creating a purple wake-trail in the air from the sudden magically infused burst of speed. Luckily enough for the Mage, her evasion of the Mist also made that beam go wide, striking some poor hapless bird and making another egg go tumbling down into the muck below.

    <Class Nine Acid Breath. Caution is advised Master.> notes the Device, before Zephyr sweeps it out to the side again. "Thanks for the warning." Is the sarcastic reply. <IMPULSE CASCADE! CONCUSSIVE SHIFT!> intones the Device, as more motes form in the air. These ones far smaller but gathering a large coating of wind. They then lash out in a fuscillade, saturating SwampBreath's location with explosive magical pellets. "Lets see it regenerate THIS!"

Allan Bodily (123) has posed:
    "Oh the shit I had to endure to get here..." Allan shakes his head as he reloads again. "It's ok though, I've killed plenty of assholes already, I'll hunt down every last wannabe overlord the 'verse over if I have to. The blood. Will. GAH!"

    Allan is interrupted as a massive hole pops up under him. Several seconds later, a roughed up Allan clawys his way back to solid ground, and immeidatly takes a aim at Fiera. "You're annyoingly hard to hit, you know that?" There's a long pause, then. "But I don't really need to hit *YOU* now do I?"

    With a smirk, Allan suddenly whips around diplomacy, firing off a blast at the pillowswine. Here's hoping it's faster, or at least a lot tougher than it looks!

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Did he fall off? Toph listens as she hears the metal creak and she feels the weight of the Tyranno move from in front of her. Where did he go? She pulls herself up as best as she can... at least until wings wrap themselves around her from behind and her eyes go wide in horror. "Let go of me!" she shrieks, doing her best to knock her elbow back into Dactyl's face! And her other hand scrambles, reaching out to the metal that she feels slipping from underneath her feet. Unfortunately her struggles only make it harder for her, put then again, this is in the air, and Toph's metalbending still needs some more polishing. Even if she reaches out to the metal, it's not enough as suddenly she feels herself slipping in her wild struggle to break free... and then she falls over the side of the claw with a startled shriek.

    The young earhtbender screams as she plummets, up becoming down as Toph has no idea where's where, and she has little time to prepare herself. Where is the ground?!

    The comforting words seem to help little, but at least the badgermole isn't lashing out at Jinxel. Instead it seems to desperately try to dig itself out, its claws scraping on the floor as it continues making miserable sounds. It bumps its nose against Jinxel, pausing its desperate digging for just a few seconds, then it begins bumping its head against the nearest wall, scraping at it next.

Tesla Armadia (368) has posed:
That is a whole lot of explosion. Mud and peat moss and whatever other debris litters the swamp is sent flying in all directions from the resulting blast. Followed by the loud CRACK of a tree being split in half and toppling over from Swampbreath slamming into it because of the concussive force.

Unfortunately for Zephyr, while that certainly knocked the mutant for a whallop it didn't come close to putting him down. Internal damage from concussive pulse is going to take longer to regenerate, but not so bad that he can't get back up again, already beady eyes narrowing at the mage. Followed by a snarl as he wirths a bit, and in a chorus of tiny pops a multitude of needle-like spines burst out along the length of his tail.

Immeadiately Swampbreath spins around, whipping his tail with so much force that it hurtles the spines off like missiles towards Zephyr! Not to mention they're probably poisonous like the rest of his biology.

<<One of Swampbreath's genetic mutations is a limited degree of Adapative Evolution,>> Tesla narrorates idly to Styracio. <<Case in point, his current opponent being too evasive for his potent but slow expulsion acidic breath. So he mutated a faster, more pinpoint means of ranged attack. Alas, as the evo-mutations are towards a specific opponent, they never seem to last from fight to fight. Price to pay for unpredictability, I suppose.>>

Tony Stark (301) has posed:
Iron Man almost visibly seems to relax -- which is quite the feat for a dude in full plate armor -- as the psychic onslaught lets up. It's mostly in the way his flight path switches from 'blind beeline away' to something once more resembling conscious control. He gets his flight stabilizers underneath him and pulls up, turning to survey the battlefield. Under the helmet, Stark sniffs loudly to try to counteract the trickle of blood matting in his mustache. Ugh, if only he'd built in a way to wipe his face without having to retract the mask. Not a good idea at this moment.

Toph's sudden shriek lights up warnings on his HUD, and his targeting sensors automatically zero in on the small, plummeting body when he turns his head in that direction. Without hesitation Iron Man is in motion again, diving headlong on a trajectory to intercept his young ward mere meters from the marshy ground.

There's a jarring *thump* as his arms close around the girl, but the impact is nothing to what the ground would have served up, as Stark levels his momentum into an upward arc once more. "Got you!" he shouts, as if she couldn't figure that out.

Fiera Kitsun (262) has posed:
Faster than it looks?

THIS thing?

Nope. Koori ain't a Slowbro, but she's nowhere near fast enough to dodge a surprise shotgun blast. Fortunately, what she DOES have is thick, heavy fur and layers of fat and muscle protecting more vital organs - so while the Piloswine bellows in pain, it's far from a disabling hit.

Andn then Koori retaliates with with a Mud Bomb, smacking a big blob of gooey marshy ground so that it flies hard and fast at Allan's face ... and that's before the rest of Fiera's Pokemon open up on the regenerating soldier.

In rapid succession, Taki unleashes Dragon Rage, Foxfire cuts loose with a Fire Blast, and Chika's Earthquake creates a relatively-localized tremor ... 'relatively' being, well, relative: other groundbound combatants can probably detect the temblor, although it shouldn't hurt anyone much beyond Allan, if him. And Tenkuuzan gets in on it too, releasing an Air Cutter attack from almost straight over Allan's head - although if it knocks him back down the pit instead of hitting from straight overhead, neither Fiera nor her team are going to complain ...

Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
    <ATTACK PATTERN CHANGED!> announces the Device, as it erects a hasty defensive wall. Most of those spines get stuck in it, puncturing only about half way, before stopping. That serves to weaken the barrier to further strikes, until some punch all the way through. One or two ping off her chest plate, but several slam straight through the armour, embedding themselves into the mage's flesh. "Adaptive huh? Gnnngh... poison too, gotta hurry."

    Zephyr sweeps her axe around her head, then levels it at the monster. "Full burst, pour everything you can into it." <YES! TYPHOON BUSTER> The blades crack open, begin to spin rapidly, but this time, instead of a concussive shell, the building attack is a glowing purple energy bolt, sheathed in seething winds. "FIRE!".

    The command launches the beam of energy, searing hot plasma and cutting winds crashing down on the Monster's location. Her magic is set to KILL mode, so this is going to be nasty... though the mage herself looks to be rapidly weakening from whatever was coating those quills.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Suddenly it's over her head, then the ground is on her left... what the CRUD?! Toph panics as she is not quite sure where to focus her bending, but she knows that the ground is coming closer and closer. But it's underneath water. But then there's metal...?!

    Toph lets out another pained and startled sound, and she feels her stomach lurch as she feels herself go upwards again. At least it feels like that. It's only when Tony calls out that she realizes what just happened, and she can only nod her head, shock still present on her face as she gasps for breath. It does take some willpower to remind herself to /not/ grab too tight onto the metal of the Iron Man suit. He needs it! If he hasn't let her drown in his pool yet, he's not going to drop her. Focus!

    "G-gotta get back up there to free the badgermole!" she reminds him, pointing upwards. There is the metal there, and if she can only get up there, then she can make her way inside. "That damn cheater made me fall off!" she adds as she regains her usual wit and bravado. Technically it was partially her own fault, but damn those Tyrannos. They started it!

Jinxel (119) has posed:
     Jinxel winces a bit as the badgermole starts to claw at the wall and hurts her ears with the sounds of screeching metal. Pinning her ears back to try and block out the sound, she does her best to try and comfort the poor thing, since she's a big sap and seeing a baby badgermole look so forlorn makes her feel really, really bad. :(

     "Shhh shhh shhh! It's alright, just calm down! I'm sure everything will be fine..." Ooooh, where's Fluttershy when you need her? She's always good with animals!

     Then again, Fluttershy would probably be giving the bad guys /such/ a Stare if she were here, and Jinxel has no desire to be under that intense gaze. o_o

Genghis Rex (114) has posed:
As Dactyl and Toph plummet the winged Tyranno pulls Toph to his chest and unfurls his massive wings. She feels herself freefalling for a split second before clawed feet clasp around her shoulders and pull her up, directly into Iron Man's grasp. As Ironman pulls Toph away, she feels a clawed hand place a small metal item in her palm - a key?



Dactyl veers off and heads for the entry ramp, "Fear not, Rex, I'll ..."

He lands and is immediately buried in a torrent of sludge and slides down the rampway, "OH DEAR!"

The Entryway to Tarpits 3 is clear ... for the moment ...

In the lab, Plesio turns his serpentine head to glare at Jinxel, "Would you shut that thing up!? I'm TRYING to work over here!"

Styraco is enamoured by Tesla's "lesson."

Ankylo's hulking form steps to block Shirou. He's hurt, but he's not too hurt to be a pain in the ass to someone who weighs a full ton less than him.

"The badgermole? Oh, you mean Skippy? Skippy's ours now! We adopted her! You can go home now. Mammals aren't supposed to be in here!"

Rex sputters and rises up out of the muck, he glares at Brachio, "YOU WILL CEASE THIS TANTRUM NOW, BRACHIO!"

Brahcio blinks at Rex several times. In spite of being a few dozen times larger than the Tyranno commander, Brachio's instincts only see a predator. He lets out a howl of fear and immediately turns tail and runs off through the Marshlands, kicking up waves of water and mud with every step.

Rex sighs, just as Dactyl sldies into him and drags him to the bottom of the ramp.

Winnowill (108) has posed:
Sputter. Black Snake rises from the marsh, covered in muck and dragging herself to mostly-dry land. One of her arms is limp at her side, clearly broken from the impact, and she's probably in a good amount of pain herself. She says nothing, but her eyes are holding a cold fury.

One hand moves to her arm, slowly pushing the bones back into place. Her mind lashes out at random, snapping at any Union nearby to project her own pain onto them in a bit of spite.

Allan Bodily (123) has posed:
    
Allan disappears under the barrage of attacks. There's a dull thud as he falls back inot the put, followed by a loud *FWOOSH* as the whole damn thing lights up.

    for several moments there's no sign of allan, jsut silence save for a cracking of the fire in the pit. Did he final die for good?

    The anser comes in the form of a loud bang, as a spray of buckshot fires from the pit up at the Skarmory. Followed by... oh dear.

    It's... well it looks like it's Allan, or at USED to look like Allan, but well, there's the hole in his torso, and half his skull exposed and the charred, blackened flesh or well... let's not go too far into it, ratings and all that.

    "Went for the big guns ASAP eh?" he sounds about equal parts amused and annoied. "Good call, you'd be surprised how many people keep thinking they don't need it." He suddenly fires another blast at a random pokemon. "Just a maintance worker." and another. "What could he do?" He reloads with a suprising amount of speed, given his current condition. "Do your worst kiddo. Red tide's rising. Blood's gonna flow." and finally he snaps a shot off a Fiera herself.

Tesla Armadia (368) has posed:
Dodge. Dodge!... Except Swampbreath doesn't dodge. Being a mutant apex predator tends to color a creature's perceptions like that. He just continues to slosh through the marsh, intending to take advantage of the effect of those poisonous spines once he gets close.

Except he doesn't get close before the massive energy release blasts into him, engulfing the amphibious freak in it's bathing glow of destructive KILL mode intensity. The ferocity of the attack burns through slime and flesh faster than that regenerative mutation can completely counteract it, by the sounds of the shrieking agontized rage coming from within the epicenter.

When it ends, Swampbreath is still standing, except his left arm has been burned down to the tendon and bone, hanging limply at his side, and the left side of his face clearly burned in damage as well though not to such a vile level of appearance. There might be a few ribs visible beneath now thin flesh on his side as well. That attack was a nasty blow to take.

But not enough to stop him, as he leans back on his tail, compressing it beneath his weight. It reacts like a spring, launching him out of the mire and towards his opponent. As he hurtles through the air the mutant spins his body while his spinal ridges go fully stiff, articulating them into a suprisingly lethal edge with the somersaulting strike.

Tony Stark (301) has posed:
Tony Stark wasn't honestly going to get into it with Terrible Dactyl unless he pushed the issue -- dude's generally okay, for a Tyranno. Came to his birthday party last year and gave him a horribly awkward gift and everything. He didn't actually witness the scuffle up on the high arm, but it wouldn't have taken long for his brain to put two and two together... but then Terry actually helps him SAVE Toph, and... did he just take a fall on purpose?

Good old jobber Terry. Tony makes a note to send him something nice on the down-low, later. For now, the entrance to the battlestation is clear, and Iron Man barrels through with Toph!

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Shirou stares up at Ankylo. He is TOTALLY outsized here. Outsized, out of his weight class... and his enemy's not exactly being an ass yet.

    "But he doesn't belong here!" Shirou answers emphatically. "And that's not the only thing I'm here to fix. This ship's too deep in the ground and lake! You're flooding a whole village that has nothing to do with you! Do you have any idea how much damage that's doing to their lives?!"

    He's going to try diplomacy, at least. If his enemy can't understand this simple fact, then he'll just have to cut through and hope for the best. Non-lethally as possible.

    "Trace, on...." Those words again!

    Golden light flickers in Shirou's grasp. In mere moments, he's wielding a pair of ornamental blades that look to be of Mayan-esque make. A subtle magic exudes from the hunting Daggers, and his whole body quickens!

    The weapons are primed and ready. They're raring to go. They were made originally to hunt extremely oversized opponents, after all...

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    What on earth?! Toph blinks as she swats at Dactyl with one hand, the other clutching onto the Iron Man, and she pulls her shoulders up - she swears she still feels those claws there! But the item that's suddenly in her hand... wait, is that a /key/?! The blind girl blinks in surprise, clutching onto the item even if she can't help but feel really confused about it all. "What the..." she mutters, then winces as her supervising officer picks up speed, and she surpresses the urge to scream, scrunching up her face as she feels the world fly by around her. Okay, Tony most likely knows what the hell he's doing! She hopes.

    As they finally arrive inside the battlestation though and things slow down and she can actually stand on her own two feet again, she isn't slow to scramble down, her hand momentarily squeezing on Tony's arm before she turns. This whole place is made of metal... and that makes navigating far easier. Her eyes widen, and she immediately begins running down the hallway and towards one shape that she thinks she recognizes. And the key is clutched in hand.

Zephyr Windstar (162) has posed:
    Zephyr wobbles in the air, panting as her body reacts to the poison. She can't maintain a beam for near as long as someone like Nanoha, and when it subsides... she's staring down the barrel of a .45--- no, a somersaulting buzzsaw mutant lizard. Her reaction is slow, bringing Divine Wind's haft into the path. She gets slammed into hard, reeling back in the air, before her magic gives out and she starts to fall, tumbling uncontrolled.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    With Jinxel fuzzing at it, the baby badgermole turns towards the pony and lets out another pityful sound. But then it suddenly tenses up... and rises up on its hind legs and begins slamming its clawed paws into the wall! It's not about to sit still no. And it doesn't seem keen on listening to poor Jinxel either...

Fiera Kitsun (262) has posed:
Given that Tenkuuzan literally has *metal feathers*, the buckshot does little more than irritate the already-irascible Skarmory - and Tenkuuzan dives to try and rake Allan with his talons. "< You have NO FREAKING CLUE what goes through Fiera's head, you sick son of a Muk!! >" the steel bird Pokemon screeches, backwinging away from another shotgun blast -

Which pelts off of Taki's scales. Again, it does little additional injury to the Gyarados, maybe moreso than the Skarmory suffered - but Gyarados have never been noted for being the calm, philosophical sorts, and Taki basically ALWAYS wants to fight. Tenkuuzan barely gets out of the way before a Hydro Pump blast from Taki attempts to blast Allan clear off his feet - in fact, driving him into the swamp would be absolutely ideal.

Koori tanks through more shotgun fire - actually using her own bulk as a shield of sorts for Fiera; Chika is safely underground and so not really vulnerable to the shotgun. But the Ninetales' eyes glow a bright blue as Foxfire steps back out to *take* a shotgun blast or two -

And then Foxfire's eyes flare even brighter as she invokes the Payback technique, dealing the shotgun's damage back to Allan in turn.

And then Koori uses Icy Wind, attempting to freeze Allan solid, hopefully abetted by Taki's earlier Hydro Pump.

One more Pokemon appears next to Fiera: a Haunter, her shape wavering and indistinct in the daylight - but Anrei is still very definitely here, and floats towards Allan with a Shadow Punch attack, trying to stave off the blast meant for Fiera ... although it's not like a ghost Pokemon can stop buckshot.

Jinxel (119) has posed:
     "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'll try to do better!" Jinxel exclaims after being shouted at! She doesn't like when people shout at her! ;_; It's scary!

     Once again, she tries to soothe the poor badgermole cub, stroking it's neck and whispering soothing words... only to end up flat on her ass when it rears up and knocks her off balance, "Woooaah!"

     As she sits up from her fall, she pouts, "It's no use! The sound of the battle outside is upsetting it."

Tesla Armadia (368) has posed:
Tesla Armadia watchs at the mage goes tumbling into the distance, and actually sighs a little. "I guess that's the end of tonight's experiment... Swampbreath! Heel." Despite the savage nature the mutant was fighting with he slithers back to the scientist and slumps at her feet like a pet. She probably would pet him, too, if he wasn't so nastily burned and wounded from that energy cannon blast. "Tch, that's going to take a few days to regenerate, even with your healing factor."

Genghis Rex (114) has posed:
Ankylo cocks his head at Shirou, "That's terrible news, for them, but you don't really understand. They're mammals. They eat up all the resources they can find and don't leave anything for anyone else, even themselves. If their village is ruined by us being here, it's only speeding something that'd happen anyway. We might be hurting the silly mammal,s but we're helping the environment."

Ankylo seems completely ok with this line of thinking, so much so that he offers a demented smile to Shirou.

Rex tosses Dactyl off of himself and begins scraping mud off him. He's ANGRY. Incredibly angry. So angry that he's talking, but is completely incomprehensible.

THIS HAPPENS: http://youtu.be/IDNYHfF-de0

As Tony and Toph make their way through the twisting tunnels of Tarpits 3, they run by the standoff between Ankylo and Shirou. Ankylo eyes Shirou's blades, thinks better of it and chases after Tony & Toph, "HEY! You're not supposed to be in here either!"

Plesio turns his head to the side at the sound of the oncoming commotion. He presses a button and a large metal door slams down, closing off the main entrance to the lab.

Styraco leaps to his feet, "How in the name fo the great egg could they get in this far?"

Plesio frowns, "Well, they DID put Quackpot on watch. Doesss it really sssssurprisssse you that it all kind of broke down after that?"

Tesla Armadia (368) has posed:
"Stay," Tesla instructs her mutant pet, and then strolls down to where Rex is trying to get out of the mud while screaming in a manner of which she doesn't know if its incoherent with rage or some obscure Reptilonian dialect. Which is probably why she waits until he's got some of the rant out of his system before finally commenting. "Calm down, Rex. A fit of irritation isn't going to do much good out here. Besides, you still have followers at the lab..." Though after saying that and considering it, she trails off for a moment.

I mean, really. While she has considerable respect for Styracio and Plesio's scientific skills, when it comes to fighting?

"... Right, we should hurry back inside ourself." She turns on her heels and starts back up the ramp, Swampbreath getting up to follow as she passes her, still clutching his all but bare bone arm to his side.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Not supposed to be here? The /badgermole/ isn't supposed to be here, it's supposed to be back with the rest of the pack! Toph hardly pays heed to Ankylo as she rushes forward, and her attention is drawn to the large metal door that slams down in front of her. That practically screams that they do not want them to go there. So that is where she will go. And metal is hardly enough to stop her.
    The blind girl rushes over to the door, her hands digging into the metal as it lets out a shrieking sound of protest, being torn. The people in the inside should see how it slowly tears open, but then it wraps around the five foot figure as she rolls forward, the metal crunched in places and slowing down her movements somewhat. The voice that yells at them echoes from inside the makeshift suit as she points a round fist at them. "Let the badgermole go before I kick your sorry asses!" she demands.

    The badgermole is confused by the noise and scurries more against the wall, scraping and scraping and makes one hell of a racket, unfortunately for Jinxel. Though it eventually pulls back and just lets out distressed sounds, exhausted and scared.

Allan Bodily (123) has posed:
"Oh, I know damn well what she's thinking." Tenkuzzan would find he might not get as clear a swipe at allan as he's like, as the repairman aims to knock him away, siwning Diplomacy around like a club. "It's the same damn thing everyone thinks when they meet me." Allan suprisingly doesn't open fire, and instead starts to march towards Fiera. "What do I do? do I cut the head off? Destroy the Brain?" He's knocked over by the Hydro pump, but keeps moving towards her.

    "Bombs? Explosives? Maybe if I burn the body?" There's a... rather terrifying noise as Allan almost literally EXPLODES from the returned shotgun blasts. He keeps walking.

    "Melt him down in acid? Carve out his heart and stick it in a jar?" There's a cracking sound as parts of Allan start to freeze up from the icey wind, ice crystals forming along his back. "HOW DO I KILL THIS DAMN THING SO IT DOESN'T COMES BACK?!"

    If Allan did things properly, he'd be right in front of fiera, just as the haunter knocks his head in a full 360 as he flls over.

    Slowly, he drags himself back to his feet. "Hehe, tell you what. Wanna prove me wrong? Go ahead, right now. If you can look me stright in the eye," He points to his own face for emphasis. "And tell me. Hehe, honestly tell me-YOU tell me, not your damn pets! f you can tell me you're not thinkihg that? I'll leave. simple as that." He grins. "Go on, prove old Allan wrong kiddo, I wanna see this."

Jinxel (119) has posed:
     Jinxel jumps when the metal door slams shut and looks up from her pouting, "Aaaah! What's going on?!" She looks between Styracio and Plesio, then turns her gaze towards the door as it begins to screech and rip open.

     And here is the moment of truth! Just her and two scientists standing between a very angry Toph and the Badgermole! Time to show what she's made of!

     "I SURRENDER!"

     ... By immediately throwing her hooves up in the air and pussying out at the first opportunity.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Shirou's whole body is shivering. He keeps encountering enemies he cannot possibly defeat as he is.

    And yet, he still has to! He glances around, looking for somewhere to escape to - maybe darting around Ankylo, or some passage too small for the brute to follow.

    But he's also facing the crimson Ankylosaurus down. "Then here's terrible news for you." Shirou begins coldly... but then...

    "THESE SILLY MAMMALS CAN PUT YOUR EYES OUT!!"

    With one flick, Shirou sends both daggers up at Ankylo's face. It's a poor toss - they're not really the best things for throwing, but he doesn't need them to be.

    He doesn't need to retrieve the weapons, after all! He just projects another pair with another flash of golden light. It only takes a second... and this pair sends him in a flash of movement straight forward, aiming to carve a gash right into Ankylo's right leg - aiming to hamstring him! ... or do SOMETHING crippling, anyways. Arteries, tendons, anything really nasty to go for, these weapons seemingly home in on without much input from their wielder! It's a brutal, vicious, swift onslaught meant to take down enormous prey, not fight a warrior's battle.

Fiera Kitsun (262) has posed:
Fiera sucks in a breath, bringing her arms up as if to protect herself as Allan pulls himself back to his feet *right in front of her*, making your typical zombie movie look G-rated ...

But her Pokemon - her *friends* - have her back, in this as in everything. Tenkuuzan's bloodlust, Taki's unbridled rage, Chika's and Koori's steadfastness, Anrei's dark playfulness ... and both above all those and serving as their deep-rooted foundation, Foxfire's calm loyalty. It's Fiera's Pokemon, despite their injuries, who give Fiera the strength to look Allan in the eye and take a deep breath.

"No. I'm not worrying about how to kill you permanently. The question's crossed my mind, but I have more important questions to deal with ... like how to get past *you* and help my other friends."

Her right hand comes up past her left shoulder, and she draws her sword - then brings it down in a diagonal slice, aimed across Allan's chest from shoulder to hip. Then she just brings her left foot up to try and kick him between the ol' goalposts.

Genghis Rex (114) has posed:
Ankylo covers up, the first daggers glancing off his forearms, as he backs up. Shirou's second series of attacks, tear through Ankylo's gown and strike against his armored skin, not breaking it, but it still smarts.

"Ow! Back off, you turdblossom!" Ankylo ducks into a room and slams the door behind him, locking it. He pokes his head in front of a window that looks out into the room and, being the mature Tyranno that he is, sticks his sizable tongue out at Shirou.

Rex trudges after Tesla, seething with anger.

While Plesio retreats to the back of the room, Toph finds herself faces to face with all 2000 lbs of the orange skinned Styraco Blackhorn - Tyranno Geneticist, Medical officer, and battering ram, "You think I'm afraid of you, little mammal? I'll make you a grease spot on the floor, clone you and do it ALL over again until I get bored of hearing you scream."

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    "...Wuh--" Shirou's surprised. The daggers failed to pierce. ... But they did succeed in a different kind of way. Ankylo's retreated! Makes sense, given he's hurt. And count Shirou relieved. Not only does he not have to fiht, he didn't feel so good about attacking anyone who's wounded anyways.

    "... What kind of insult is that supposed to be..." He mutters roughly, glaring Ankylo's way through the window. ... then... with no better ideas at the moment, he runs further into the ship!

    Sounds like the others need help. He can just follow the noise, wherever it's coming from, right?

Tesla Armadia (368) has posed:
"I'll leave it to you to deal with your subordinants." Because Tesla doesn't really want to be there for the first few minutes. She knows better.

Instead she turns her attention back to Swampbreath. "Good job, but you're in terrible shape." She arms one of her armor blasters and fires a shot directly into his chest, the mutant hissing and slumping over, bleeding some of his slimy blood on the deck.

"Don't worry," Tesla comments calmly as she retracts the blaster. "He'll regenerate faster from being 'dead' than he will only being 'half dead'." Sometimes rebuilding is faster than trying to repair.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Even if the large Tyranno steps up to her, Toph doesn't back down, and she lets out sigh as Styraco rambles. She is /almost/ tempted to respond, but rather than doing that she puts her arms forward before she moves them out towards her sides. In response the floor underneath Styraco lets out another creaking sound as it gets torn apart, sending the Tyranno falling down to the floor below.

    "Let's save that for another time," Toph snorts before she turns towards the badgermole cage, her makeshift armor moving slightly around her with every step she takes. For now Jinxel is ignored, as is Plesio if he's not posing any threat. And the metal around her hand shifts too, all so she can reach out with the key and unlock the cage. And as she does so, she turns her head slightly to call back to Plesio. "All I want is the badgermole. I will kick your boss' ass some other time."

    Especially if he thinks to bother /her/ friends again, no matter if they four legs or two.

Jinxel (119) has posed:
     Jinxel quivers a bit as she stands there with her hooves in the air, not making any kind of move to stop Toph. Trying to fight someone who can manipulate metal when you're inside of a room entirely made of the substance isn't a good idea after all.

     That and Jinxel is a big coward who doesn't like to fight to begin with.

Genghis Rex (114) has posed:
Styraco suddenly falls through the floor and lands badly on his tail, "ARRGGHHH"

Rex presses past Tesla, caring nothing for how she deals with Swampbreath. He has murder in his eyes and he stalks down the hall, breathing heavily, dripping with rage. Mud sloughs off his crimson skin and a trail forms behind him.

As Shirou enters the lab, Rex steps stiffly into the entryway of the lab, his eyes full of madness.

Genghis Rex (114) has posed:
"Bink." A computer in the corner makes a noise.

Pleasio smiles and says, "Ahh, you can all go now."

Rex blinks and gives Plesio an incredulous stare.

Plesio nods to his commander, "We have what we need, they can go."

Rex clenches his fists so hard, that his claws dig into his palms, blood begins dripping from both hands.

Plesio shakes his head, "Not here. Let them go. We have what we need. Further conflict would jeopardize everything. Let them go. Kill them another day."

Rex GLARES at the members of the union, steps aside and says , "Get out. Now. Take your beast with you."

Allan Bodily (123) has posed:
That. Was a bad idea.

    That was a REALLY bad idea.

    Allan eyes suddenly Narrow as soon as the sword is drawn. "Now now kiddo." his voice has suddenly gone deathly cold.

    "I gave you a fair deal..." as the sword slashes across him, Allan would suddenly move to grab it, aiming to drive it into himself so it can't move. "I was gonna leave all nice and peacefull, let you get to your friends and THIS is how you repay that? you attack? You didn't think this through."

    Allan would hold the blade in with one hand, the other? it brings around Diplomacy. "Now I'm gonna leave, you did what I asked and I'll uphold my little promise, but for what you just did? I'm taking some payback first." and with that, Allan would aim to shove diplomacy into Fiera's sword arm and open fire before ripping the sword back out of his gut and if needed, tossing it aside.

    "I'm leaving, peacefully now, be smart, don't interfeer with that." and with that said, allan would turn about, aiming to storm off the battlefield.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    If Toph's face wasn't covered by metal, then the Confederates might notice the surprised look there. But for now all they are met with is the covered shape of the young girl where she stands, even as the baby badgermole makes its way out, bumping its head into Toph's torso and nearly pushing her over. But the blind girl reaches out with her bared hand and strokes a spot right over its nose and makes some soothing noises from inside the metal.

    When Rex decides to step aside, Toph can't help but snort a bit, even as she reaches up to tear off the metal armor, shedding it on the floor as if it were a really thick and stiff piece of cloth. "Wise choice, lizards." No, she has no interest in trashing this whole place. Sure, she might be angry, but the badgermole is more important. And she can always teach them a proper lesson the next time she runs into them.

    She makes another sound at the badgermole with her tongue, and wile it catches the animals attention, it also makes it look confused for a moment. Toph doesn't give up though and makes a sweeping motion over the large creature's cheek. "Come on, slowpoke!" It's a peculiar sight as she slowly guides the creature out of the lab and towards the entrance where hopefully the other Unionites can help her get it safely back.

Jinxel (119) has posed:
     As Toph begins to leave with the badgermole, Jinxel lowers her hooves back down to the ground... then she pouts sadly and waves, "Bye bye mister Badgermole..."

     Sigh.

     "... I think I'm gonna miss him."

Fiera Kitsun (262) has posed:
Fiera's eyes widen in alarm as Allan *impales himself on the sword* where she was just going to cut him - and she doesn't even bother with the kick, trying to grab her sword with both hands. The shotgun is brought to bear ...

Foxfire is bordering on desperate; Fiera is just kind of terrified. There is a brief but intense mental stalemate before the shotgun goes off.

And Fiera, screaming in pain, collapses to the ground. Taki's roar absolutely drowns out Fiera's scream, though - and suddenly, with no further warning ...

*HYPER BEAM.*

Fortunately, the Gyarados simply blasts it into the empty air - not attacking anyone, merely venting a devastating fury ... and then Taki returns to his Pokeball. Koori and Foxfire are guarding Fiera very closely now - possibly attempting to help get her up across the Ninetales' back, but if they can't manage that much they'll just guard her until somebody else can retrieve her. Tenkuuzan, for his part, is going to make sure Zephyr is safely retrieved; the Skarmory likes her style.

That leaves Chika and Anrei to quietly return to *their* balls as well.