6263/Rebellion in Londinium

Rebellion in Londinium
Date of Scene:	11 January 2019
Location:	Metastasis Londinium
Synopsis:	The streets of Londonium run red as people attempt to bring an end to the new movement in the most direct and violent way possible, empowered by darkness.
Cast of Characters:	6856, Gilgamesh, 6384, Sir Gawain, Sarracenia, Rhongomyniad, Kotone Yamakawa, 6880

---

Kalia (6856) has posed:
THE GREAT CITY OF LONDON

It was sudden and bloody.

In the span of a few seconds, several dozen Bounded Fields - magical barriers imposing specific effects - went up over London, such that the entire city was covered in a magical haze. And the effect is... vicious, to say the least. Memory alteration, being leveraged on a massive scale, although there was a downside to the magi extending their reach so: unreliable effects, and below-average performance.

All across London, numerous people - perhaps around one percent of the population at best - suddenly lose their memories of King Arthur. In the sudden state of confusion, perhaps even anger at realizing their new king is a nobody they don't even recall, a certain specter reaches out, and rebellion is born.

The streets flood with darkness. The empowered rebels, glowing an ominous black, red and purple, spread the shadows around the city. Cars are overturned, storefronts pillaged, random people on the streets beaten for not agreeing to join the sudden movement. In the Clock Tower, magi scramble to not only communicate with RHONGOMYNIAD, but to start undoing the Bounded Fields deployed.

The obviously mind-controlled crowd starts gathering as a single mob, the initial chaos over. They're going towards the palace, and no longer just "a crowd of englishmen". Vengeful spirits have joined the fray, people slain with business yet to finish from various eras of England. Some of them even sport knightly getup, and may be fellow knights or enemies of Camelot.

At their head, one figure.

A knight in the heaviest of armors, silver and crimson, enhanced by demonic traits, bloodied spikes and horns that seem more natural than armor. A bloodied red blade, emanating hatred. No, gathering hatred, from the crowd, from the victims of the crowd. The specter under the guise of the Knight of Treachery, deformed by belief and the wants of the rebels, feasts on the air of Londinium, basking in every last negative feeling of the crowd.

Gilgamesh has posed:
     The King of Heroes has been staying in Londinium for the last few days, in quarters distressingly close to the Divine Spirit Rhongomyniad's own.

     This is, in one part, curiosity. She is a god on Earth, a divine spirit, orchestrating a perfect city. Her nature is so much like his own that he wants to see just what her perfect city looks like. So far, he's been...well, he's still *here*, so that says quite a bit. He appears to at least approve of it in some sense, even if he likely thinks he could do better. That's not personal, though; he thinks he could do better than everyone, and he's frequently not wrong.

     It is another part diplomacy. He is the King of Denmark. Visitng foreign royalty is what Kings do, and surveying Londinium and whether or not it might be a problem for his own plans and desires is also an important facet of being the King.

     It is also because Rhongomyniad is *extremely* attractive, and the Wedge of Heaven deeply desires the Tower at the End of the World.

     So when the haze starts, the King of Heroes is up in his quarters, drinking. He'd contemplated calling Rhongomyniad and asking her to join him, and seeing how much further he could get into her mind - how much more damage had been done by what she was. He'd contemplating offering her alcohol with a sense of deja vu, and for a brief moment, wondered where he might find a large Greek gentleman to complete the sensation. He glances out the window as the Bounded Fields pop up. Interesting.

     Something tries to touch his mind. With deep amusement, he crushes it in the back of his head and stands. His hands go into his pockets, and he starts walking down the steps after, very briefly, calling Rhongomyniad.

     "You have nothing to worry about. I've decided. You fascinate me, so I'll help you out, just this once, without asking for anything in return. I'm eager to see the power of the Tower at the End of the World, after all."

     "Next time," the King says, "I expect you to join me for dinner."

     The King walks out onto the crowd. He's glorious. He exudes perfection and glory like a golden aura as he walks through the streets. He snaps his fingers at various individuals who look to be under thrall and shouts orders at them, imposing Kingly will upon the vengeful mortals - though his orders ultimately come down to 'get inside and bar the doors and don't come back out until it's over,' though with increasing degrees of ludicrousness.

     When vengeful spirits get near him, the King of Heroes just presses his hand to his head and laughs, the laughter echoing down the streets.

     "Fwahahahahah! How entertaining! The dead of the Underworld have come to face the King!"

     "Unfortunately for you, the Underworld is practically my backyard. But I'm feeling generous tonight." The King's fingers split, revealing his glowing red eye and his wild grin. "I'll let you take the first swing, mongrels."

     He throws open his arms. "Aren't you lucky, you worthless gallu shades, that the King has come across a beautiful woman to put him in such a fine mood! Who knows! Perhaps one of you will even be the one to kill me!"

     The tone of his voice is pure mockery.

Orchid (6384) has posed:
     Time for one of those 'Good news, bad news,' games.
     Good news! Orchid was right!
     Bad news! She was right about there being a popular uprising against Rhongomyniad.
     Good news! Orchid is close enough to help deal with the problem!
     Bad news! Orchid doesn't have much in the way of weapons.
     Good news! What weapons Orchid does have are actually well suited for stopping riots without slaughter!
     Bad news! Orchid doesn't have enough to stop ALL of the normal people at once.

     Ah well, we do what we can with what we have. In Orchid's case, that means getting in front of the crowd, landing in front of Buckingham Palace, and deploying about 150 of her spiders, directing them in building a web across the street, anchoring it to cars, light poles, buildings, slower fat american tourists (they should provide some good for once) and anything else. Even should the webs be cut, the hope is that they'll be sticky enough to stop the rioting mob.

     Wait, was she PLANNING on being on the mob side of the wall? Probably not, but that's where she is now.

Sir Gawain has posed:
There's a knight riding in, on a steed made of metal with wheels. Sir Gawain is dressed in his formal uniform, leaping from a meeting impromptu to assist his king, even if she's not /his/ king, with a rebellion. With a sword sheathed at his side, the knight skillfully weaves through the roads and the pillagers, moving to find the source of this.

Burning rubber, he gets to the main crowd, using his own will to force back the Bounded Field's control, and deciding he'll move for the target that reminds him so much of Mordred. He doubts he can take them alone, fi they're this powerful...but with the help of his allies, perhaps he can.

Gunning the motorcycle, he hits it off a curb, and gets air with a fast wheelie. The motorcycle soars over the crowd, as Gawain suddenly launches off it, soaring through the air at high-speeds until he suddenly starts coming downwards towards the knight of hatred, sword first. "Stop your evildoing, you fiend!"

The blade will come down in a slash, instead of a stab, trying to pierce the knight's armor. Gawain's willing to see just how sturdy this malice knight is.

Meanwhile, the motorcycle lands on the other side of the crowd, skidding to a somewhat violent stop, but it's not too damaged. Gawain calculated this!

Sarracenia has posed:
     Having her shopping day interrupted by an angry mob is a good way to ruin Princess Sarracenia's mood. As soon as someone attacked her demanding that she join the rebellion they received a hammer blow...which ripped Sarracenia's dress when the attacker gripped her dress.

     With Sarracenia's mood already soured she puts on her newly commissioned Battle Dress (from the safety of a quickly deployed circular blind), and when she emerges finds a veritable army headed toward the castle. "Hmm. Civil unrest?" she wonders to herself until she realizes there are spirits and even a demonic knight leading the charge. She makes her way to the front of the crowd, hearing Gil's speech in the process. She turns her nose up at him. "King." is all she says to him before she turns to face the demon. "I do not know who you are or what has happened to these people...but because of this magic one of my dresses has been ruined. And you shall pay for it, one way or another!"

     She leaps forward, bringing her massive hammer around in a spinning attack aimed to bowl over the blood knight and any others in her path. Each impact unleashes a small explosion, only enough to stagger someone really. But they certainly make for a flashy attack!

Rhongomyniad has posed:
    At the point when all hell breaks loose, the goddess Rhongomyniad is currently inside Buckingham Palace. It is her weekly visit with the former Queen, for tea and casual small talk. Today's subject has been mostly about the change of clothes, the King's more modern, regal garb in place of the stately armor she has become so easily recognized through.

    Rhongomyniad pauses mid-sentence when the Bounded Fields erupt, teacup just this slight distance from her lips. Glowing green eyes blink slowly, as something tugs at her memory of King Arthur. A memory that she had lost already, once. Mentally, she crushes it, then lifts her gaze to the Queen across from her, whose reaction seems to be much the same.

    After a moment, Rhongomyniad leans forward, placing her teacup down and then rising to her feet, "I am sorry, Queen Elizabeth. Something has arisen which I must tend to."

A few minutes later...
    The doors of Buckingham Palace open. Striding out between the guardsmen is the golden-haired Goddess Rhongomyniad. Nervous soldiers glance her way, then back to the advancing mob outside the gates. When Rhongomyniad pauses, they both glance back at her. One swallows.

    "They are attempting to erase my existence. It may be a threat to Queen Elizabeth. Protect her with your lives, as True Sons of England." Her gaze returns to the gates, a golden light gathering around her right hand that trails motes of light as she walks. As this reaches an imcomprehensible intensity, it extends out into a sword-like shape. Straps of metal erupt from the tip, interlocking, winding down in a complex braid until the light is fully contained by them-- creating a lance.

    Guardsmen at the gate pull it open for her, then promptly shut and bar it behind her. Eyes fixate on the gathering mob, lingering at last on the demon-armored knight who leads them. Eyes narrow.

    "Raider Knight," she intones. Gawain makes his dynamic entry and attack. A passerby jumps in with a hammer. King Arthur's head tilts forward, "...Mm... Nostalgic. But somehow also incorrect." She brings the lance up, turns it, and drives the point into the pavement at her feet. Behind her, a castle rampart erupts from the ground, barring the gates of Buckingham behind siegeworthy stone. With dust and rubble still settling, Rhongomyniad draws her weapon free and approaches the melee in a smooth, steady gait, her eyes fixated entirely on the demon knight.

    "Explain yourself."

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
This wasn't a normal uprising of the people no this was magic related someone had messed with a lot of people's minds and that left Kotone quite unhappy with that. She had very concerned feelings about what Rhongomyniad had done. Yet she was willing to give her a chance, doubly so when this was an uprising caused by magic cast by power-hungry mages. It was time to get to work. Orchid wouldn't be alone in trying to run riot control here. She knows she can't save everyone, not with the King of Heroes out and about, things were about to get very Sumerian but what she could do is save who she could.

She would be moving to help Orchid. Kotone cloaks the moment breams down from the Bluenose which was hovering high overhead. The ship did not pack any weaponry that could help with this, however, it at least allowed Kotone to arrive in time.

Kotone was packing as much freezer foam as she could bring with her a riot control weapon which did allow air to pass through it but could hold someone for hours otherwise and she started to set up trip wires and other traps set to it which would be able to hopefully.

She's also actively using the units to throw into masses of the rioters as well. Hopefully, her cloak will make her hard for people to pick out in this massive mess.

Lancelot du Lac (6880) has posed:
     Though tasked with handling the camps surrounding Camelot, so long as there is trouble in the lands of King Arthur, Lancelot is sure to be there. Having originally arrived via horse back, the French Knight has long since abandoned his steed, opting to have it return some place safe rather than risk it being injured. Horses are valuable after all.

     "Not as soon as I place myself back under King Arthur does a rebellion break out. Were I the boastful type, I'd say she should consider herself fortunate. Unfortunately I just find this very sad."

     The armored knight laments to himself before marching into the angry mob, sword drawn and gripped with both hands. First order of business is to deal with the clearly brainwashed civilians, which given that they're probably still just human, shouldn't be much of an issue. Lancelot swings the flat of his blade at various angry British men, aiming to knock them out while holding out as best he can. Hopefully, this doesn't hurt them too much...

Kalia (6856) has posed:
GIL: How curious. Kalia cannot read the golden man. No, they can, but... it's like trying to get past some incredible defense, and there might not even by any food underneath them. So such people exist? That's troublesome. The knight directs their blade at the king. "Then when you die, it'll only be a short walk to the Underworld for you." Three ghostly knights converge on Gilgamesh, wielding pitch black spears of hatred. Not only do they hurt if they hit, but they seem to be sapping vitality and spreading decay on affected limbs.

ORCHID: Orchid's spiders begin producing webs, and at first it seems to work - but the demonic knight raises their blade, and the hatred flows from it into the crowd. The rebels almost seem larger, buffer for it, a variety of slashing and cutting weapons forming in their hands out of... well, that's not a material. Those are blades of hatred. They start cutting their way out, and some even launch bolts of darkness at Orchid's drones. They're cursed! A hit amongst the drones seems to start a chain reaction that would sap even Orchid's systems, like fuel is being drained.

GAWAIN: A knight crashes into the demonic knight leading the rebels! The illusion/disguise is sturdy and doesn't yield, though this up close it isn't hard for Gawain to tell this is a distorted image of Mordred. The ideal leader of a rebellion, when you think about it. Kalia stands their ground, the blade piercing their side. They return the favor by trying to stab Gawain right back. "The king's reign ended centuries ago. It'll be ended again by my blade!, as is the will of the people!"

SARRACENIA: Tumbling in like an angry, hammer-wielding top, Sarracenia knocks away several of the rebels - they're tough! They crash into cars or buildings, sporting injuries that start healing slowly but getting back up. The ones that don't, are pointedly not dead, merely freed of the specter's influence. Reaching the knight proves problematic however - ghosts rises to protect the masked Kalia, using blades to roughly block the hammer, before slashing with harsh, dark curses. These blades are NOT natural!

RHONGOMYNIAD: The way to the balance is barred by the king. The mob grows angry, but Rhongomyniad is their target, not the queen. It works out. The demonic knight intones, distorted by their helmet: "I have no explanations to give! Your story ended. You shouldn't be here. I'm the ire of a nation given form! Isn't it poetic?" No, something is wrong. That's not Mordred. Or maybe it is, but only in the sense it's what people think Mordred should act like. "Return to your grave, /Father/!" The knight frees themselves of Gawain, and with bluring speed, makes for its king, straight for the neck, with that bloodied red blade.

KOTONE: Freezer form does wonder to halt the weakest of the rebels, or the ones already battered by Sarracenia. The ones who still have strength break through, empowered by their obvious glow and anger. Amongst them, a magus, whose hand is raised and bellows out unnatural black flames at Kotone, inflicting a crippling array of debuffs along with quite the pain to boot.

LANCELOT: With Lancelot's efforts on the crowd, he'll notice firsthand the assortment of rebels is sturdier and faster than they have any right to be. Luckily, that also means he can use lethal force without too much concern and they'll likely survive, but it might be a painful awakening when, busy smacking three people down, another three come in from behind, brandishing dark knives that penetrate armor and harm entirely too easily. Are they ALL armed with weird hate-weapons?

Rhongomyniad has posed:
    "I see," Rhongomyniad's gaze remains fixed on the Demonic Knight, "You are not who you appear to be." Her feet shift, presenting a narrower profile with the Lance held behind herself, point angled upward, "You are no son of mine."

    But her most savage attack aside.

    Rhongomyniad, unarmored as she is, must make sacrifices to go on the true offensive. This sacrifice is her left arm, sweeping up to push the sword stroke away from her neck. It carves into her sleeve and then her arm, spilling crimson that splatters the stone wall behind her. The lance is readied behind her, thrust towards the Demon Knight's chest. But even if it doesn't penetrate, she's not actually done yet.

    "My son is a Knight. And you are no such thing."

    The tip of the Divine Lance pulses with power, blasting a bolt of divine light with full intent of shoving her attacker right back into the mob they had just charged out of.

Sarracenia has posed:
     Sarracenia growls lightly as she fails to even reach the demon knight, but does get some satisfaction out of sending several of the citizens flying.

     And then suddenly, smashing her way into the middle of a huge hate crowd reveals itself to be a bad idea. Who could have guessed?! The princess cries out as those mind blades slash and pierce. She spins her way out of the crowd once more and comes to a graceful stop, one hand pressed against her side to brace a wound. "...well, I suppose I asked for that..." she murmurs to herself. Her new Battle Dress is also slashed, but she commissioned it specifically for this sort of thing so it isn't as big a deal as losing her royal dress. And she notices that she feels more tired than she should. "Hmph. This has turned out to be more troublesome than I thought."

     With melee turning out to be a bad idea, Sarracenia starts twirling again...but this time she starts tossing out explosives! A salvo of Bob-ombs in this case, which get lobbed into the closest part of the crowd to unleash a few small but powerful explosions. "Just what is going on here?! Typical citizens should not be this dangerous!!" she shouts to anyone who can hear and cares to listen.

Orchid (6384) has posed:
     It's time for MORE good news, bad news!
     Good news! Orchid's drones are brought along with the assumption that some will fall.
     Bad news! There are still a lot of them falling, and the wall of webbing is coming down.
     Good news! Orchid still brought a bunch of them!
     Bad News! Now Orchid herself is in the middle of things.

     In fact, Orchid had brought a full 200 drones, about twice what she could manage to control directly, but she was able to release control on a number of those building the wall. So more spiders spread out from her body as she brings her shields online. She doesn't appear to be doing much, but she is accessing local cameras, filtering out the data, uploading it to the paladin Tactical Network, telling them where the worst groups of rioters are.

     Of course, while this is going on, her spiders are going for those with the freaky swords, jumping on them, and wrapping them up in silk. Specifically, going for the eyes, to keep them more vulnerable and less likely to hit Orchid.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
The battle is heating up and Kotone is doing some work to tie up a number of the rebels but there are still yet more, she sees the black flames, memories of Kingsmouth comes back to her. Her early days in the multiverse with the horrors of what she now knows to be the Filth. She is, however, a phantom here moving in and out of the assaults of black flame and by a miracle she's not touched by them, this time.

She has other tools to help disable the magically altered rioters though, she's got a built-in taser system known as eelware, she'll leap from rioter to riot putting hat to use trying to take down some of the more heavy hitters in this throng of angry rioters.

<< Orchid do you see those flames?!>>

Gilgamesh has posed:
     The ghosts come at him. And they hurt. They crash into the King of Heroes, dragging against his golden soul, trying to touch him, claw at him. They leave long marks along his skin that ooze black muck for a brief instant before the blood that flows flows past. Their spears pierce into his arms.

     His laughter continues, redoubled.

     A moment later, he grabs the spears with both hands and thrusts himself forward, his red glowing eyes wild and cheerful. "Mongrels."

     "Do you really think you are capable of killing me? Look into my eyes, you fools. You do not even know who I am. Anyone too stupid to recognize the King is no threat to me."

     Behind him, the world explodes into gold. Ripples pour out of the sky. His grin widens as he presses himself forward, the black rot spreading across his arms and fighting against divine constitution. His arms are trying to *heal* over the spears, to lock them in place, and they're going much faster than normal.

     He wants to deprive them of their weapons before he crushes them.

     The King licks his lips. "I wonder what the despair of a gallu spirit tastes like. Why don't you show me, mongrels, as you look upon your final demise? Behold a glimpse of my limitless glory!"

     "GATE OF..."

     "BABYLON!"

     From the golden weapons emerge blades. Countless blades. *Way too many* blades. The countless magical weapons stick forth, looming hard enough to cast a shadow. The King's laughter redoubles. His grin is almost feral. "Let me have a taste of your sorrow, mongrels! Gaze upon the Abyss that lurks below the Underworld and tell me how it feels to have your vengeance crushed in an instant! If it's entertaining, I might allow you to continue to exist in a jar somewhere, suffering in terror for the rest of eternity! Aren't I merciful! Fwahahahahah!"

     "And if you don't entertain me, then I'll simply go enjoy that beautiful Princess over there, or go find the King of Knights and enjoy her presence for a while! Or maybe I'll just crush all of you at once like insects! Wouldn't that be fitting?"

     And then the blades come forth like a rain of machine-gun fire. Swords of all manner of magical power, finer than the finest craftsmanship mortal hands could have wrought, stab into the streets of London, fired at, through, and into the ghosts with all brutality.

Sir Gawain has posed:
This isn't Mordred. Or if it is, it's some strange distortion. As blades go into each other's armor, Gawain's knightly armor pierced by Kalia's own blade, the knight grunts, falling back briefly. He doesn't remain pushed back for long, however, shifting his sword in a stance and moving to slash again into Kalia, as he barks back. "I am Sir Gawain, Knight of the Sun, Warden of the Paladins...I will not allow you to force these people to your whim, to cause insanity in these streets!"

With a flick of the wrist, Galatine catches ablaze with holy sunfire, before being struck at the armor again. The slash is stronger, more power put behind it, trying to force Kalia on the backfoot. Gawain's cautious, though, because she's strong. "Taste my blade!"

Hopefully, the group focusing on the knight can maybe push her back away from the palace.

Lancelot du Lac (6880) has posed:
     Lancelot does not take too kindly to getting stabbed in the back. Knives made of HATE pierce through his white armor effortlessly, causing the large knight to stumble forward as he tries to regain his composure. He may be bleeding sure, but at least he now knows he can get away with being a bit more aggressive.

     "You're cowardice is second only to my own. Now come, let me apologize for holding back earlier by showing you what the Knight of the Lake can truly do!"

     Lancelot redoubles his efforts, completely ignoring the bleeding stab wounds in his back as he grips Arondight with new found determination.

     Lancelot rushes up to one of the angry British man, raising an armored leg up to their chest before just punting them with a stupid amount of strength into the rest of the crowd, hoping to to throw them off balance before following up with another wide smack with the flat of this blade.

Kalia (6856) has posed:
RHONGOMYNIAD: "Aren't I? I'm the people's blade." The demonic knight insists, even as a spear penetrates their stomach. "I'm the blood on your hands. I'm retribution for your wrongs." The spear blasts the knight back with holy light, inflicting significant damage to the specter. Shit, that actually hurt. What IS that spear? The wound is healing, but... it's slow. A holy weapon, huh? Maybe this was a mistake. But no, even if Kalia had known, they couldn't have helped themselves. That's just how they are. "But don't take my word for it. Look what your reign did! Look at these people, conflicted and demanding their real queen back!" It's kind of a vocal minority, really, and not even a "willing" one per se. Even so, the knight rises. Their blade glows, and they unleash a black shockwave, trying to sap the strength out of Rhongomyniad. Underneath the armor, where Rhongomyniad pierced it, she can see... nothing. It's not darkness. It's not empty. It's Nothing. It's like a black hole. Where has she seen that before...?

SARRACENIA: "They are strong because they've accepted the call of rebellion!" The knight intones at the princess, and indeed it seems fairly obvious that the swirling vortex of negativity - of anger, confusion and a desire for revenge - isn't just centered on the knight, it's actively empowered the crown. Bombs scatter the crowd well enough regardless, many falling unconscious and losing that dark aura in the process. The ghostly knights, however, insist. They attempt to pincer Sarracenia, to skewer her from both sides!

ORCHID: More webs, more silk. As the crowd weakens, it's becoming easier to web them, but it's still not quite there. The bulk of them still have the strength to fight back, slashing with those odd weapons, cutting silk with knives and swords alike. Many of them speed up - they leap, for the drones, despite having no business making such leaps as regular people. They knife, like their lives depend on it. Crippling feedback bounces back to Orchid, even if she manages to avoid the crowd's fury directly.

KOTONE: The taser helps, at least against the common rebels. But the magus is still on Kotone, and even as she disables a few of the commoners, he doesn't yield. He claps his hands, and lightning attempts to strike her! Black, corrupt lightning, the kind that saps life and will alike.

Kalia (6856) has posed:
GILGAMESH: A rain of deadly magical weapons. The crowd is ill-matched to combat that. Commoners fall left and right, and the mundaner ghosts are banished back to their rest just as easily, amidst golden explosions and blurs of light. But the ghostly knights, they're fast. Three swordsmen maneuver through the hail of Noble Phantasms. One is struck down so the other two can proceed forward. One more falls, taking a hit for its fellow. The remaining swordsman comes with with a vertical slash, attempting to cleave Gilgamesh in two. The demonic knight, a distance away, rumbles at the king: "Everyone can be killed. So can you. Names and titles are irrelevant to a blade."

GAWAIN: "You think I forced them to do anything? They desired this! They desired me." It's not strictly true, but it's not strictly wrong either. Of course, there's a problem with the disguise: Kalia is not a swordsman. Or swordswoman. Swordsghost. They cannot keep up with a knight, not in skill at least. Gawain's blade finds purchase again, cleaving away a chunk of the demonic knight's armor to reveal more... Nothing. He remembers it more vividly than Rhongomyniad, no doubt. A great dragon, a hole in the world. This knight is a composite of two legends! And with startling speed, the knight attempts pommel strike Gawain in the face, and almost simultaneously, reappears behind him with a sword thrust.

LANCELOT: Lancelot stops holding back. None of these people have the skill to wield blades, even fancy blades of hatred. In melee, he has them outgunned in every way. The crowd is dispatched with so little trouble, that there's no sense making note of it. But the demonic knight sees this, and blurs away from Gawain, to appear before Lancelot. "And here stands a source of strife greater than I could have ever hoped to be. How did it feel, Lancelot? When the kingdom wasted so many knights and resources against you? Could I have succeeded, without your aid?" The knight's grip reaches for Lancelot, and a crushing, dark pressure attempts to squeeze the life out of him.

Gilgamesh has posed:
     The swordsman carves across Gilgamesh's face. The beauty of the King is undiminished; the blood that rolls down his face is flawless in its elegance despite the cut along his eye. The King's face rolls to the side as it closes, his lips licking across his own blood curiously. He straightens. He's still smiling as he rips the spears free of his own body and spins them into his hands. There's no *skill* there, or at least, not much - he's not an expert spearman. But he is superhuman. He is beyond superhuman. He is a divine being, as far beyond humans as they are beyond ants, and even something like this looks graceful in his hands. The Knight tells him even he can be killed as he darts to the side to avoid the next strike. "Names and titles are irrelevant to a blade?"

     "Hah! How stupid you sound! How unbelievably ignorant!"

     "It's too much! Stop, stop! You really might kill me!"

     "I might laugh myself to death."

     The King flicks one of the hell-spears forward with the force of fifty men. The second the knight even *starts* to dodge, the King flicks the second one.

     And while he's dodging that, a third spear, gleaming gold, just emerges up from underneath him in an instant, shooting into the sky trailing glistening gold like a signal flare.

     The King resumes walking. He snaps his fingers at Sarracenia. "You should come with me, Princess. I'm going to go see the King. She's probably in trouble."

     And then he heads off to join Rhongomyniad, whistling like he's taking a sunday walk.

Sarracenia has posed:
     While her twirling bombing attack is quite pristine, causing her hair and dress to billow out elegantly like a ballerina dancer, the weight of her hammer keeps Sarracenia from being all that agile. She is caught squarely in the pincer attack, but even with the hit her spin brings the knights in closer...lining them up nicely for a follow up sweep with Sarracenia's DK Hammer.

     The princess blinks as she realizes something Gilgamesh said earlier, bringing a light blush to her cheeks, though it may be lost against a cut on her right cheek that has marred her lovely face. She'd like to think that it does not diminish her beauty, but that is up for debate. As Gilgamesh speaks up again, she hmphs softly. "Fine. Hopefully the Kingdom of Londinium will remember that the Sundew Kingdom came to its aid in this dire time." she says as she follows after Gilgamesh, hammer slung over her shoulder like a JRPG hero's weapon.

Rhongomyniad has posed:
    "No," Rhongomyniad states plainly when the crimson knight rebukes her. She sweeps the Divine Lance up and back, holding out her bloodied left arm to gesture, "My intention to rule singly has been rescinded. It is as King Gilgamesh said- A god cannot rule men, and I am too distant from my humanity to rule them. The Queen was never taken away. The Parliament still determines law. This is known. This is accepted."

    "You are not my son. You are not the heroic spirit of my son. You are not a knight." It is not said with malice, but simply in the tone of one stating simple facts. The slash wave splashes against her, splattering blood across the wall behind her. A crimson cut crosses her body from shoulder to hip, her clothing damaged but still very serviceable. There's the slightest of grunts from the effort of withstanding such a blow while she's pontificating, but once she has recovered her breath, she swings the Lance around and points it directly at the Demon Knight.

    "No matter how quickly you try to conceal it, the opening in your armor reveals your true nature to me. You were never human." The metal straps surrounding the Divine Lance begin to unravel, the sheath coming apart and dissipating into motes of golden light, "A creature like you does not belong in the World of Men." As the wrapping comes undone, Rhongomyniad soon holds a projection of raw, divine light in her outstretched hand.

    "Light, may you be released from the End of the World. Split the Heavens and tether the Earth, Anchor of the Storm."

Orchid (6384) has posed:
     The drones are expendable, despite the strange feedback Orchid has been getting. Sure, lots of them are getting taken out, but there was a lot of them to begin with, and as things go, Orchid doesn't have much cause to hold them back. As for what they are doing, well, they are tending to explode when jumped on, throwing the rioters back. Of course, the way things are going, Orchid won't have many, if any, to help with the cleanup...

     Orchid herself is still out there, trying to keep an eye on the whole thing, to see where action is needed most.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone is trying to get the common rebels down as many as she can and she's got that mage hunting her pretty darn hard right now. this time they will get more lucky with dealing with her. She hit and she lights up like a holiday tree, it also forces her out of stealth mode and she looks at the mage for a moment clearly in pain.

"So you are one of them...so afraid of losing your power mage?"

With the Mage who is one o those in on it or seem to be Kotone is going to hold back a lot less against them.

She's disabled a lot of people but with this guy shooting at her with his strange magic at her and she'll pull her pistol out and start shooting at him aiming to take him down quickly, disabling him if she can but she needs to keep alive here, and not get hit with that stuff /again/.

Sir Gawain has posed:
"I felt the effect try and take over my mind. Do not lie to me!" Gawain declares, as he cleaves some of the armor away, sees that hole of nothing, and freezes. "Vortigern-"

And in that instant, he gets hit head on with the pommel strike, before with speed, the enemy cleaves into his back, ripping into more of his armor and wounding him with bruises and battery.

Gawain's response is to try, after she moves away, is to leap towards the knight and try and smash her over the head with the flaming blade. It's not a powerful blow, and is something to wound her while Gawain rallies himself forward, as well as support Rhongomyniad's incoming strike

Lancelot du Lac (6880) has posed:
     Lancelot heaves as he takes care of the last of the 'normal' rioters, planting Arondight into the ground as he uses it as a crutch to rest. He may be unnaturally tough as a Heroic Spirit, but even he has his limits with wounds like his. He doesn't get very much time to recuperate though, as the strange demonic knight comes to approach him.

     He does not know who they are, but their words cut deep, causing his face to scrunch up. They know what they're talking about. About how he slaughtered dozen of his brethren trying to save Guinevere. His heart sinks in sadness first, but that sadness is soon replaced with something else. Anger.

     "You will not get your answer, damned demon! Now hold thy tongue so that I may cut it out for you!"

     Seemingly ignoring the dark powers that seem to be crushing the life out of him, Lancelot inches forward towards the knightly wraith, each step becoming more labored as the magic slowly by surely takes it toll. By the time his sword reaches them, the slash he delivers is weak and desperate, but he doesn't care. Just anything to shut them up.

Kalia (6856) has posed:
GILGAMESH: Gilgamesh obliterates the remaining ghostly swordsman. It isn't even a surprise. And then, nothing stops him from rallying with Rhongomyniad.

SARRACENIA: In much the same fashion, the princess dispatches of her two knights, batting them away and back where they came from - or so one presumes. Wherever ghosts go back to when banished, it's where they went.

ORCHID: The crowd is finally weak enough to start restraining properly. If silk and webbing is still being employed, countless rebels end up bound - and the explosions from the drones are also enough to knock out plenty of them. The streets are finally calming!

KOTONE: Kotone takes the magus seriously and casts gun at him. Magi hate firearms, and with reason. The magus falls over, heavily wounded - unconscious. Alive, more importantly. And before the aura vanishes, it even heals enough of his bullet holes that he's not too badly at risk of bleeding out.

GAWAIN: Gawain's flaming strike shreds through Kalia's fake armor. It reveals more of that... Nothing. It's always Nothing, under the armor. A hole in reality. But shredding the armor is, surely, damage.

LANCELOT: "Is that how it felt, then?" Sadness and anger. That's satisfying. Even as Lancelot carves through the armor to reveal more of the Nothing underneath, Kalia is satisfied. And fed.

Kalia (6856) has posed:
RHONGOMYNIAD: The spear glows bright. The demonic knight takes a step back, battered as they are, almost on raw instinct. No, it's more than that. The disguise is shed. Kalia's true form manifests - the almost skeletal, androgynous shape of a specter, covered in ragged black and grey clothes that obscure their feature. Pale white eyes glow,, a scarf covering their lower face entirely. They're unarmed, and only one arm is visible out of that tattered but heavy... coat? Cloak? (look Kalia if needed).

They stare at their demise, a spear so disgustingly holy that they might almost know better than to approach it. "You are right. We are not your son. But we are the people's will. We are here because they wished for a solution. We are here because they desired this. We are their path to power. And we have played our part. No. We have played our part twice over."

A ripple of magic.

Three magi reveal themselves, on nearby rooftops. They are enhanced, too - powered by Kalia - but far less than the others. They didn't need it as much. They were already on the edge of Bad Decisions.

ANDREW MITCHELL, member of the parliament, is the first to launch his attack. With a clap of his hands, spell circles dismantle several nearby houses, turning every last brick, pipe, electronic and wooden plank into a deadly projectile screaming for Rhongomyniad, from every imaginable direction.

FELIPE BENNETT, magus, follows up. He reaches out, feeling out the air. The wind sharpens, the ground under Rhongomyniad melts, becoming magma. It's as if, all of a sudden, every mote of oxygen was a buzzsaw onto itself, a hostile territory in which nothing vulnerable to being slashed should remain.

THEODORE REESE, magus, is the last to attack. His burly frame slams its foot down. Squirrels, rats, stray cats and dogs, even the birds, become possessed with a terrible red aura. They scurry through the chaos, like living bombs. It's a terrible onslaught of exploding animals!

The demonic knight, Kalia's guise, was a distraction. To open Rhongomyniad up. In the wake of the assault, Kalia's form has vanished, but their presence is still felt. The three magi remain, and they'll need to be taken out!

Gilgamesh has posed:
     The King of Heroes makes his entrance as grand and dramatic as ever.

     He simply drops out of the sky in front of Rhongomyniad. His longcoat flutters around him like a cape. The projectiles from Andrew Mitchell are met with a harrowing rain from the Gate of Babylon, weapons of impossible glory striking outwards around the King of Heroes to intercept those little fragments with precision accuracy. A few of them get through, scratching a few cuts into his perfect face. He looks over his shoulder amidst the storm and smiles at Rhongomyniad.

     "Now that is an extremely pleasant sight."

     "You are exactly as magnificent as I'd hoped, King of Knights. I want you all the more now."

     "And what the King wants, the King will have."

     He turns his gaze back to the dogfight of swords, spears, and chunks of metal, looking up at the mage with a look of overwhelming boredom.

     "This is it? After all those threats from your gallu, this is the best you can do? Three mortal mages?"

     "Very well then, I'll play your game."

     The King opens his hand. A tablet falls into it. He opens the tablet of stone, gold runes springing up above it like a holographic interface. His fingers wave over it.

     "I'll show you how pointless it is to contest the King of Heroes, in magecraft or in mortal combat, mongrel gallu."

     "Witness the difference between the Age of the Gods and this degenerate time!"

     The tablet glows, and suddenly, above Andrew Mitchell, a wave of wands appears. It's a carpet of magical rods, wands, and items that stretches through the sky.

     A moment later, it unleashes lightning, fire, wind, earth, darkness, light - everything Gilgamesh can think of, primordial elements simply pouring down onto the top of the building with all hell.

     The King looks over his shoulder at Rhongomyniad as the onslaught begins. "I'm serious, you know."

     "I expect you to let me take you to dinner next time."

     Leave it to Gilgamesh to flirt in the middle of a battle.

Orchid (6384) has posed:
     There are many attacks coming at the King of Knights. Orchid's reaction times are such that she can see those attacks coming. Coming in time to use her dash-boots to slip over, and interpose not only herself but her shield between Rhongomyniad and the wave of animals, taking the hits mostly on the shield before she arcs back down, landing in the street.

     Of course, she doesn't have a good angle on the three magi... but she does have a good angle at the building Theodore Reese is standing on. In fact, she has a very good idea of where he is... and how to knock out the roof from below him, with just a few plasma lemons. *pwip*

Sir Gawain has posed:
Gawain slashes again. This definitely reminds him of Vortigern - but they soon find out it isn't. It's a spectre with powerful masquerade abilities. Before Gawain can challenge what they have to say, though, even if they seem to believe what they're saying...three magi reveal themselves and attack. Gawain suddenly moves...

And explosions rock him backwards, damaging his armor further and burning his face, as he tanks the exploding animals. He proceeds to flick his blade again, turning off the fire, before he launches himself up to the rooftop where Theodore Reese is.

The man's empowered. Blunt of the blade might not be enough...but Gawain doesn't want to kill him. So he strikes for the shoulder, trying to wound him and take his arm out of commission if he tries to throw a counter-attack, before kicking forward with a heavy armored foot, moving to kick into Theodore's leg and make it difficult for him to dodge further attacks.

"Your reign of terror ends here. I am Sir Gawain...and I will not allow you to threaten my king!"

Lancelot du Lac (6880) has posed:
     "Sorry..."

     Lancelot whispers under his breath as the wraith disappears. He's not certain if what he saw was truly a fellow knight, but just in case...

     Either way, his job here is done, and he can now attend to his King. Arriving in a state that most would considered sad, Lancelot du Lac arrives by Rhongomyniad's die, using his stupidly tall body to help shield them like a proper knight should.

     Again, he's still standing. Even after all the abuse. This broken man just refuses to die.

     "I apologize...For arrive so late. Now if you'll excuse me."

     As soon as he appears, he leaves once more, his sights set on one Andrew Mitchell.

     "Reach the edge of the world and go beyond its limit. O distant King, witness this light!"

     As they chants, Arondight responds. The blade becomes brighter and brighter, vibrating violently as a torrent of magical energy aims to escape. Lancelot does not let it escape though, instead bringing swinging the overcharged blade at the member of parliament.

     "ARONDIGHT OVERLOAD"

     A shimmer of blue light fills the air as he brings the holy sword down on the man, the air now filled sound with aggressive vibrating and a sword that desperately should be breaking, but is unable to.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone is not fast enough as she likes she's able to bring down the mage which is good and she reports on it over the tac net to the Paladins. she's going to get on the move now as something else seems to be happening the big bad masterminds behind this mess has shown up. The mages with their unknown ally show up she's caught in the backlash of the assault but she's not down she's hurt yes but far from out of it, she's proved to be pretty quick.

She will start moving to use her agility to get up the side of the building that Andrew Mitchell is on and then use a double jump to get over the edge she'll land and has her pistol in hand as she looks to the mage for a moment.

"This ends here you broom rider."

Kotone then will charge at them trying to fire several rounds at him but that the distraction she intends to pile on into him and tackle him to the ground then using her eeleware trying to just take the mage down with enough force.

"This shit stops NOW AND YOU WILL ANSWER FOR ALL THE PEOPLE YOU DRAGGED INTO THIS!"

Sarracenia has posed:
     Sarracenia follows Gilgamesh somewhat begrudgingly.

     Her mood does not improve when they reach the 'King' of Knights. Aren't Kings supposed to be male? And why does she get to be fawned over while Sarracenia is practically forgotten?

     It improves even less when the world is suddenly a world of flying debris, cutting air, and exploding animals. There's nothing even remotely like this in Pipeland! What is with these Heroic Spirits?! Sarracenia pulls out a cute little stuffed figure wearing a black helmet and with a black turtle-like shell on its back, gives it a squeeze, and suddenly it is gone in a puff of smoke and she is wearing a full-sized set with a black body suit underneath. She quickly ducks down, disappearing into the shell much like a turtle would. If anyone is close enough they can hear her frantically yelling into what must be a phone or radio. "I don't care! Get here NOW! And activate the Bonzai Bill launcher!!"

     Like a rocket, a wooden airship much like a Spanish galleon comes powering into the area, propelled by propellers on its masts and two large propellers on the back of the ship. It has a golden statue of Sarracenia's likeness on the front, and even as it closes in it is lowering a cannon with a barrel so broad that most people could stand up within the barrel.

     But, then the 'King' demands that the people be captured alive. Sarracenia lets out a very frustrated and angry cry. "Fine! Stow the Bonzai Bill! Use the broadside cannons! Fire on all three! And drop some walls!" The wooden ship flies in overhead, helping to shield at least somewhat by dropping several thick wooden walls with a few feet of space between them. It may not help against the very -air- trying to kill them, but it should be pretty effective at stopping flying debris and exploding animals.

     Once that is done, the ship starts to rotate in the air, and each time one of the sides of the ship faces the position of one of the magus they are targeted by a dozen or so Bullet Bills. The shark-faced person-sized bullets fly like slow missiles toward the targets and explode on impact like a rocket calvary attack.

     If the buildings weren't already damaged, they proooobably are now.

Rhongomyniad has posed:
    Glowing green eyes narrow, as the Demon Knight reveals its true appearance. That horrid, androgynous, skeletal demon that stands before her, now. A monster that does not belong in the Age of Men. But before she can take action, the true pawns of the demon's manipulation reveal themselves.

    Gilgamesh drops in to intercept the projectile masonry hurled her way by ANDREW MITCHELL. He returns the favor with his collection of magical artifacts, but it is his earnest request that the Goddess responds to: "Very well."

    THEODORE REESE fields small animals as bombs, which are simultaneously intercepted by Orchid and Gawain. Rhongomyniad lifts her spear overhead one-handed, divine light swirling from tip to haft.

    The ground grows unstable, pavement burning away into molten stone as the very air turns into blades, courtesy of FELIPE BENNETT. Lancelot's intercession shoves her out of the area of effect. Rhongomyniad brakes herself with a burst of magic in the opposite direction of her flight, planting her feet firmly on non-melting concrete once again. The Divine Lance is raised once more, filling the streets around her with shimmering golden light. In the commotion, the demon has disappeared-- though there's still that feeling like the presence is still ...here. However, she simply turns her attention on the magi surrounding and attacking her. Even if they're besieged by those who have left to her defense, she must see to this matter.

    "You know me as the King of Knights, King Arthur. But there is another name. Another title. Another purpose." The clouds overhead swirl, and then part. A spike of golden light descends.

    "I am the Tower that Shines at the End of the World. The King of the Storm. Goddess of Chivalry. Avatar of Justice. My name is Rhongomyniad."

    The pillar of light descends not on the three magi, but on the place where the demon Kalia had stood. She is not visible, but the presence is still felt. The goddess decreed that the three magi should be captured alive. But she is having none of this demonic nonsense in her city. And with the various helpers having since lept away to attack the mages directly, this more or less leaves Rhongomyniad in the street with only Gilgamesh and that evil presence to keep her company.

    He'll probably be fine. The demon, if caught in the area of impact, much less so.

Kalia (6856) has posed:
The collective defense begins.

Blasts of all imaginable elements pepper a rooftop and break through incoming projectiles with ease, Gilgamesh displaying power that, predictably, no modern magus, or at least no modern magus who is actually just a magus, could possibly match. Sarracenia brings to bear the firepower of a ship, too - the magus who tried to make the largest mess, ends up taking the largest mess in response. ANDREW falls off his perch, badly scorched and battered by the assault, hitting the concrete below hard. Still alive, though. Barely.

THEODORE is knocked off his perch by Orchid's shots, and lands, as gracefully as possible, on the streets below. Gawain comes up to him. Theodore regrets many of the decisions that led him to this point. With a precise and single blow, Gawain reminds a mortal why it's a bad idea to pick a fight with a Heroic Spirit. Depending on Gawain's intent, it may go as far as Theodore never walking again. With mercy, he might recover.

FELIPE would probably be dead if Lancelot did not know exactly how to apply and ration his strength, even in the midst of a technique like overloading his blade. The power granted by Kalia probably helps just a bit, too. He's smashed, hard, crashing through a building. Is he... is the madman getting back up, even with his body broken? Well, no, he's not, because Kotone just knocks him out cold, the proverbial shouldertap needed to make him fall over.

All three are alive, for a given definition of alive.

Kalia (6856) has posed:
Golden light fills the streets of London. Kalia is blasted, even hidden. There's no escape from that spear's wretched light. They're forced to reappear.

They stand before Rhongomyniad, outfit even more tattered than before. Their missing jaw, their missing arm, their missing lower torso, it's all visible now. They're breathing irregularly, and their voice seems pained - telepathic as it is, given the missing jaw. Kalia looks at the king, then back down at the ground.

"The outcome is irrelevant to us, admittedly. While we were here, we found something way more interesting. It was sleeping deep beneath the land. A spark. Something left from a long time ago. It really, really hates you, you know? And it called. We answered. But it couldn't awaken until blood had been shed. It couldn't awaken until the blood of Britain boiled with fury once again. We are done here. We cannot fight your lance. But you are not. It comes." Kalia's form vanishes again. This time, they are really gone.

But what's that choking feeling in the air? Why does the sky blot out, and the shadows grow to impossible sizes? Something tears at the fabric of the World. Something steps through from the outside, in the middle of the street, before Rhongomyniad. A tall warlord in impossibly black armor, whose presence dims and eats the light. A man the size of a human, but also the size of Britain. It's almost difficult to look directly at him.

In his hand, a massive hammer. A mace. Spiked. Its size can't be made out. It seems to be a normal, albeit large, spiked warhammer. But the more one looks at it, the more it seems to grow, taking up one's entire field of view.

Vortigern speaks.

"MY CITADEL. COME. THAT LIGHT IS MINE TO DEVOUR."

Then, he is gone. Light returns, courtesy of Rhongomyniad's spear and the sky. But it starts raining, because of course it does.

Orchid (6384) has posed:
     Well of course the weather turns miserable. Despite the best efforts of the King of Knights and Vortigern, this is, still, England.

     Orchid sighs, standing up. There's a lot of work to do, to tend to the wounded. Mind you, a lot of the wounded will need to be restrained while she treats them, but no one promised that S&R would be easy.

Sarracenia has posed:
     Finally, the onslaught ends...and it starts raining. Although it douses Sarracenia's burning rage for the moment and replaces it with 'of course it is raining', she is still in a bit of a sour mood. She sighs heavily, then looks to Rhongomyniad. "Although I doubt you will need it, The Kingdom of Sundew would be happy to donate rebuilding materials, and I believe we could benefit from some trade agreements. If threats such as these are even uncommon then I suspect the military could stand to be better prepared, and the Sundew Kingdom deals in armor and weapons. I could even provide a few of these cruisers." She gestures up at the airship still floating overhead, its hull now peppered with holes from the flying debris.

     "But, for now I should return to my own kingdom. My mood for shopping has been ruined, and I doubt the shops will be open again today anyway." She leaves the capturing and questioning to others. That's soldier work, not princess work. A rope ladder lowers down from the hovering airship, and she steps onto the bottom rung before it starts to raise again. "Farewell for now."

Rhongomyniad has posed:
    Rhongomyniad does not flinch as the light of her lance fills the streets and blasts the demon back into visibility. She takes no pleasure in the sad state that Kalia is in, but merely sweeps her glowing weapon down, aiming it directly at the creature as it speaks. Those glowing green eyes narrow slightly as she processes what it relays.

    She flinches, then, not from the figure's appearance before her so much as the effect it has on the World. A reaction that quickly corrects as Goddess stares down Tyrant. Her jaw sets in a tense, unreadable expression.

    When the figure disappears, her grip on the Divine Lance tightens. Metal bands reappear, braiding together and wrapping the light under its covering once more. The castle wall behind her rumbles, then lowers back into the street.

    Without further hesitation, she steps forward into the rubble and chaos. There are things that a King must attend to after a disaster such as this, and the first of those is the well-being of her people.