6855/The Gallant Hero

The Gallant Hero
Date of Scene:	27 September 2019
Location:	Duke's Archives
Synopsis:	A JRPG party battles Lezard for the fate of a Princess.
Cast of Characters:	Lezard Valeth, 7002, Sarracenia, Rean Schwarzer, Touta Konoe, Alexis, 6386, Tomoe

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Lezard Valeth has posed:
    The Duke's Archives are not particularly difficult to find from Anor Londo. Past the bonfire, through some halls, past some silent giant armored sentinels and you come to an entrance area guarded by a particuarly aggressive giant boar. It might not be so much of a problem if it was not literally layered in thick armor plating, the only open space around its lashing tail. Still, that's not too much to worry about for Rean and his accompaniment.

    The Archives themselves are vast and live up to their name immediately. The edifice is an imposing building of marble and granite, soaring staircases and bookshelves of mahogany.

    It also consists of multiple 5-6 story tall chambers packed densely with books. The entrance area is clean and orderly with the exception of a series of tomes left open on desks with a potted Pirahna Plant. It's snoozing at the moment. Also present is a chalkboard with some odd markings on them detailing some kind of arcane ritual of some kind.

    There is a sign to one side: DO NOT BREAK ANYTHING.

    NO SERIOUSLY, DO NOT BREAK ANYTHING. YOU WILL MAKE PRISCILLA VERY ANGRY.

                        - Lezard Valeth

    Meanwhile, Lezard is scribbling into a tome at one of the desks, quietly enjoying the day while leaving Sarracenia to basically figure out what she wants to do with her time. His lack of provided entertainments, apparently, might be contributing to the reason why things have been so fractious so far. Among other things. Still, there's more tea and cakes set out on the balcony for Sarracenia to enjoy. For such an evil wizard, he sure doesn't seem to spend a lot of time doing evil experiments and laughing. He mostly seems to be constantly referencing books and taking notes at the moment.

Mikoto Shimizu (7002) has posed:
Mikoto was staring out over the balcony and looking down.  Not really on watch, so much as she was just killing time.  The talk with Sarra and been...well mostly positive.  Sure, those two will never LIKE each other, but at least they'll leave her out of their back and forth.  

With a sigh, she leans back against the railing and looks up.  There was a chill in this land she could never get out of her system while here.  Was it just because of death or was there something else..?  

Oh well, maybe she just needs more tea...?

Sarracenia has posed:
     Sarracenia has never really been into books, so being stuck in here is almost as bad as being behind bars. If there is a fictional section she at least dabbled, but most of her time has been spent playing with the piranha plant. Feeding, watering, staying just out of range, that sort of thing. She has to say that Lezard has certainly not acted -that- evilly while she has been here. She still thinks he is only out for himself and doesn't give two rats' tails about the lives of others, but she at least has accepted that he isn't some mass murdering necromancer out to build an army of evil.

     And also that Mikoto doesn't want her help. At all. Which was probably the harder pill to swallow.

     Right now she is on that balcony, holding a tea saucer and cup and sipping lightly. She has no idea when or even if anyone will come to save her, and has even less idea just what Lezard and Mikoto will do in either case. But, one thing she thought might happen hasn't. Which was the possibility of Lezard using her in some sort of Witch research project. Which has left her confused as to the purpose of the kidnapping. Rather ironically the actual purpose has already happened.

Mikoto Shimizu (7002) has posed:
"Whatcha thinking about, Sarracenia?" Mikoto says, conversationally. "Or is this one of those 'penny for your thought' things? I am still thinking about going back in for some tea. There is just a layer of cold out here that I can't get rid of no matter how much I try."

Rean Schwarzer has posed:
The rescue team arrives at the archives, and after they deal with the guard boar, they enter the marble building.

"Whoa..." Rean mutters, amazed at the size of the building. Well, it didn't seem like a 'villain fortress,' so maybe his assessment earlier would've landed him way off route. It did suit the sorcerer, anyway though.

Anyway this place is huge, and he's not sure where to start. "Let's try splitting up into groups, and then radio each other if something happens." Rean says. He then eyes the sign. "And y'know. Not break anything." He /really/ didn't want to be a frozen sculpture.

Touta Konoe has posed:
    ' NO SERIOUSLY, DO NOT BREAK ANYTHING. YOU WILL MAKE PRISCILLA VERY ANGRY.'

    "I think that's a bit too late of a warning for me..." He can't help but make the comment upon noticing it with the rest of the group. Not that he'd wanna try to mess with the Immortal Slayer Priscilla unnecessarily (necessarily is a different story altogether though). Seeing Rean take command Touta nods, "Alright, sounds like a plan, so do you want all of us to split up one by one? Groups?"

     Touta asks as he places his arms on the back of his head, but in doing so his sleeves slide down ever so slight to reveal...Bandages? That can't be right, can it? Yes, perhaps it was intended as a fashion statement but the gauze actually looks like it's been covered with slight patches of red. In fact, if you look around his t-shirt's collar there's a bit of wrapping around his chest as well. Did Touta come here when he wasn't feeling well or something?

Alexis has posed:
Angry armored boar, say hello to angry armored dinosaur! ... That about sums up Alexis sending out her Aggron to help deal with the monsterous guard animal. There's a very 'We don't have time for this' demeanor about the Trainer, she's not holding back anything from the get go. Plus the fact that Aggron's -eat- metal, so he's all too happy to help by chomping down on the beast while everyone beats it into submission.

After that's done with she recalls the beast with little fanfare. It's not needed, as she's already got her blazing badger at one side, and what appears to be some sort of large wolf with rock spikes jutting out of the mane around his neck on the other as ready escorts. The only reasons Alexis didn't rush immeadiately after the absconded princess was 1) She knew being kidnapped was kind of a thing Sarracenia -wanted- (weird I know) so she was letting her friend have her moment and maybe get it out of her system, and 2) she wasn't going without some sort of plan. She's brash, not stupid.

She does make a face when Rean mentions splitting up. "You haven't watched many scary movies have you? Not a great idea. Also, not really necessary." Alexis turns to look to the Lycanroc. "You know Sarra's scent, Howlinger. Start sniffing." The lupine plods forward a bit and puts his nose to the ground to track.

... Not that there seems very many ways to go. But you never know. Places like this usually have hidden passages and such.

Note (6386) has posed:
    "The good news is--" Note skitters up next to Rean, her tone chirping with enthusiasm and a 'taking it easy' attitude that seems... well, maybe warranted, maybe not. For all that Sarracenia has been kidnapped by a supposed 'evil Necromancer', Note simply doesn't seem worried. "Sarracenia's probably doing okay! If she was hurt I wouldn't be able to feel her presence that easily."

    She hasn't shown any indication that she really wants to power up and get serious. Perhaps she doesn't realize how serious Rean is taking the situation...

    It may be on the disconcerting side.

    "Kinda weird he basically just invited us here over the radio though..." The tiny teen is, indeed, very content to flit about from this part of the surroundings to that, looking around corners and behind obstacles just to see what's up in this place. She's not smashing anything or otherwise making a mess...

Sarracenia has posed:
     Sarracenia looks over just slightly at the question, then back out over the snowy area and crystal cave entrance. "...I was just considering who if any might come to my rescue. I am not closely aquainted with many heroes, and I have only a -very- small group of people whom have claimed to be my friend, and a slightly larger group that includes people that might be my friend but I have no proof or admissions from them." She then looks toward Mikoto again. "You for instance. I assumed with our interactions that we might be friends, but...I do not know for sure. And our most recent interactions kind of pushed my assumptions in the other direction."

Tomoe has posed:
Rean was not alone, he's far from alone here. Tomoe has been to this world many times and she knows it quite well. She notices at the entrance she pauses reading the sign. Lezard has given them a polite and very wise warning. Tomoe thinks for a moment and will be forgoing the use of wide era spells.

"I would heed the warning left there. I fought to help restore this world, let's not wreck any of the library so watch yourselves."

This is quite the place she has experience in this world and the fact Lezard gave them that warning? She's damn well going to heed it.

She looks right at Touta she looks at him.

"Don't make her angrier then. I don't like splitting the party but it sounds like a plan? Alexis shall we? I don't like it either but we need to cover more ground. She sees Note, she pales a bit now, the gods of this world and her own help her. This could be quite the trial.

"I know don't split the party but this may be the best way Alexis."

Mikoto Shimizu (7002) has posed:
"We're friends, I have told you as much," Mikoto says with a brilliant smile. "Just because friends fight or disagree does not mean they stop being friends. If I hated you I just wouldn't interact with you. I litterally don't have the time or mental energy to waste on people I don't like...you know because of this.." she motions towards her ring, where the soul gem rests for now.

"Also I think you're more popular than you think," She says knowingly, looking down and catching a glimpse. "Call it a hunch."

Lezard Valeth has posed:
    In a place this large, there are absolutely books of fiction. Even the obsession of Seath couldn't entirely prevent some cross-contamination with other forms of literature, and since his death it's only become moreso. There are significant areas dedicated to poetry and fictional accounts of various forms, though Sarracenia would probably quickly get annoyed with the accounts of noble heroes saving a princess from a dragon. Still, though Lezard has been kind enough, he certainly hasn't /planned/ to entertain a selfish tomboy of a Princess. So mostly this ends up being an enforced guest stay in a giant library while Lezard has some of the unspeaking keepers of the Archives keep her pointedly away from an exit to a walled approach to a seperate tower.

    It's when the boar dies that Lezard looks up, blinking. "Well, that is unexpected." He sighs. "That is far faster than I calculated. Well, regardless... It is time to greet our guests." Lezard steps forward, drawing the Philosopher's Stone from its interdimensional holding place and stepping to the middle of the vast main hall. "Sarracenia, you may be pleased to note that you have visitors. It is time for you to play your part." There is a gesture, runes long-inscribed along pillars, floor, and walls alighting as space twists...

    The large elevator at the back CLACKS as the mechanics lock. This leaves the group little choice but to proceed up the stairs. Note's Power Senses start going wild, almost as if their arrival had coincided with /something/ occurring. Fate is like that, perhaps. The stairs move into the main hall, giving the entire group the ability to look down from the second floor walkway to see what is happening below.

BGM SHIFT: https://youtu.be/h3anV-VSpMg

    There, light cascades through the room as they look down upon an evil laboratory. Burnished brass fittings, tubes with strange floating /things/ in them, tables stained with crimson with implements to cut. Most of all, a large metallic table with shackles mounted onto them. Above is a large crystal with crackling green lightning that surges up over it, running up off of Jacob's Ladders to either side. Sarracenia is locked down on the table, Lezard beginning to cackle as he raises his hands. "Soon, Princess, everything you have, everything you are shall belong to me! You will make an excellent test subject! How ironic that your efforts to save Mikoto will have led to your doom!"

Sarracenia has posed:
     Sarracenia smiles lightly as Mikoto says that, though that smile fades a bit at the part about the soul gem. She blinks at the mention of possible popularity, then looks where Mikoto is looking. But, she isn't quite fast enough to catch that glimpse. "Really? I can think of...two people at most who -might- come here. Maybe." Seems the proud, prissy, pompous princess doesn't actually have much self-worth.

     But then even Lezard says she has visitors. Plural. The play your part comment makes her raise an eyebrow, and then...

     Sarracenia is rather impressed by the setup. Even if she now knows it now that it has been staged she is...well, kind of disappointed. She wasn't in real danger? This is even more annoying evidence that Lezard is -not- evil. But still, as Lezard says that, it is entirely possible he is planning to take her soul or something. And so with only partially faked fear and anger, Sarracenia tugs on her bonds and growls. "Just what are you planning to do to me?! You will not get away with it, whatever it is! I am sure -someone- will come for me!"

Mikoto Shimizu (7002) has posed:
Mikoto follows along as it was time to move to the actual phase of this plan.  Whatever the reason for all of this, she supposes she'll play along.  Yawning, as the two make their back and forth, she speaks.  "I mean, I think it's obvious.  What better way to keep my soul from falling out than to use a soul of a Princess to staple it there."

Mikoto's taking to the role a bit, having changed into her Magical Girl form.  "And with your soul, I'll command your forces to haul more into service or something," A pause, "Or something like that.  I didn't read the script very well.."

Mikoto instead of continuing instead goes to pour herself some tea, "I'm really cold."

Alexis has posed:
Looks like splitting up was a moot point either way. Alexis doesn't bother recalling her tracker, because she's been in enough secret bases and evil lairs to -not- trust appearances alone. A hunch which seems to prove true as they come out onto the walkway and Howlinger hunches down at the edge. Alexis and Scorch are close to follow. "Well, that's no way to treat a guest." Serious or not, her snark meter is still set pretty high at the moment.

Scorch bristles at Sarracenia's calls for help but Alexis is quick to grab his shoulder much like before, uttering under her breath "Don't leap before we look. Could still be a trap." But she trusts him enough to let go after that, instead propping her hands on her knees as she squats down to look over the edge of the walkway. "Yo, Lezzie Valet." That's definately a purposely misprouncing of names. "How's about you quite with the weird magic-science and let Sarracenia go? Because I doubt you want all your stuff busted, but if this goes the 'hard way' there's no guarentees the 'DON'T BREAK ANYTHING' warning is gonna hold any muster."

Scorch's collar-mane of flames ignites around his neck and shoulders, but the Typhlosion is at least waiting for his Trainer's word to start living up to his name.

Note (6386) has posed:
    Just why is Note taking this so lackadaisically? It's hard to say, really. Nobody's asked her, either. But... after the group leaves the elevator and it locks itself up, she... shivers. Freakishly. As though a jolt just ran through her whole body... "Eeeeauuuuhhhh.... I just felt something WEIRD..." And pinning down just WHAT she felt is the hard part. She's trained on detecting life energy. This frequently has overlap with other supernatural powers, but only enough to unnerve her.

    Well, all she can do is press on and... and have her easygoing attitude completely shattered. The theatrics happening below trigger a sharp inhale. She quickly realizes this is what she's feeling... and yet, "Wh... what's he gonna DO with her...?!"

    She's not a mage, so the purpose of... almost everything she's seeing is rather baffling. Increasingly worrisome, too. Was she wrong to think Lezard wasn't actually gonna DO anything...? Was her intuition that off? It's all pretty frustrating to think about.

    However, for the moment, she just folds her arms grouchily. For now. Experience is telling her she should be letting Rean spearhead this. He's so gung-ho on this rescue thing...

    "This isn't cool! M-maybe I should step in and do something about this...!"

    But that sign. 'DO NOT BREAK THINGS.'

    ... Note doesn't know how to unleash her power without things breaking. Things -always- break when she gets serious. WHOLE PLANETOIDS broke last time she fought Lezard... between the two of them...

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe passes the masses of books here understanding of what value this is to this world and its people. She also is aware of how much she went through to help restore this world even if she was not the biggest of players here. Still, this was a situation she'd never have expected to get into. It looks like the group was able to get the band back together again as they now make for the lift and ride it up. She'll try to force her way out to be the first one out to take point and she beholds the lab, Lezard is sure known for his style, isn't he? He does not disappoint here but she has to be wondering what is going on. Still, is he going to use Sarra for something? She doesn't want to risk it and Note has felt something strange.

"Lezard that's enough. Unhand the Princess this instant! Do so and we'll just walk out of here with her and not raise any more hell."

She's just going in with the assumption there is trouble afoot rather than not. This is Lezard he is dangerous he is powerful after all, she's got her sword and shield out ready to move but she is waiting on what Lezard has to say Mikoto's own words make tomoe just get this /wot/ look on her face for a moment.

Mikoto Shimizu (7002) has posed:
"That threat won't work on him, if anything happens to this place Priscilla will come down on YOUR heads, not his," Mikoto says, yawning and sipping some tea. "What now heros? What will you do!?" Ha ha ha...cough.

Touta Konoe has posed:
    The elevator brings them up to the second floor hall-way only to give them a front row view to what would have been the equivalent of a Frankenstein Horror House. Touta doesn't know Lezard too well, but he knows what he did inorder to 'help' Mikoto out. So as far as he's concerned the guy's on his shit-list. So the moment the guy starts cackling, Touta hops from the second floor hallway into the lab right onto the ground just as shounen protagonist have to. If anything he's still immortal even if a bit hurt so he can manage to deal with having to test the waters. "Oi, the hell do you think you...Are...Doing?"

     All the intensity, all the urgency, everything gets drained from Touta except for a confused face when he sees Mikoto here...Acting very non-chalant about what's going on. Is she going to get tea...? Was there some sort of joke he was missing?

Rean Schwarzer has posed:
Touta's injuries would have gotten at least a "Are you sure you're up for this?" from Rean. Didn't he usually heal pretty quickly? But clearly the other boy wanted to stick around, so.

"Hmmm...Sticking together would keep us safe but this place is huge so it'd take longer-" Rean's interrupted by the floor opening up, revealing a crap ton of mad science equipment and a cackling Leard standing over a tied up Sarrancenia. "Your majesty!" Rean shouts.

Mikoto's acting is off, though, implying that the situation isn't as dangerous as it might look. Rean's seriousness fades as his expression shifts into a expression of confusion. And then Mikoto calls him on the phone, giving some suggestions on how to handle the situation /without/ risking blowing up the library. THis adds even more confusion to the situation, But, they still needed to get Sarra out of here.

Rean sighs. Well, if they wanted dramatics, they'd get dramatics.

He takes a deep breath and draws his sword. "Unhand Princess Sarracenia, this instant!" He shouts, pointing it at Lezard. "In order to not destroy this place I- (this better not be a prank Mikoto,) I challenge you to a dance-off!"

Lezard Valeth has posed:
    "Oh come now, Mikoto. Put some effort into it. You will never be a proper assistant if you simply do things halfway." Lezard chides Mikoto for her lacksidaisical behavior. Then again, having the lazy and weird minion is pretty on target too, isn't it?

    The arrival of the heroes causes Lezard to pause in his mad laughter. "Ah, the fools. Right on schedule! I see that your dedication to Sarracenia has brought you all forth. Do you truly believe that you have what is required to save your Princess?" He glares up in irritation at Alexis. "Your banter will avail you little, Alexis. Do you think such weak barbs will be enough to convince me to relent?" Note pauses, worried for a moment, while Tomoe demands Sarracenia's release.

    "Hardly." Lezard scoffs. "As if I would do such a thing. All you have done is played right into my hands. Once I have defeated you all and infused Mikoto with the contents of your powerful souls, she will be unstoppable... And I will have many new Witches to experiment upon." Oh, it looks like he just explained his Super Evil Plan. Wait, is he actually going to do this? The line between mummery and truth seems to be getting a little blurred here.

    And then Rean challenges him to a dance-off. Lezard's ranting actually pauses for a moment as he looks over to Rean, his expression best summed up as 'are you f---ing serious'. "I seem to have discovered the problem with you. You are an idiot." Lezard states matter-of-factly. He sighs for a moment, and waves dismissively as he begins to build steam back up. "You mock me with such a request? Never! You will bleed for your dear princess! You will wager your lives on the altar of destiny and we will see who will emerge triumphant! My power will rend you apart!"

    There is another pause as he looks around the room. "However, there is the small detail of the surroundings. They confine my true powers as well. VERY WELL, FOOLS!" There is another complicated series of gestures, Nordic runes flaring in the air around him as the lab shudders, space twisting away as they seem to become ghostly afterimages. Sarracenia, too, is separated, though she can see or hear everything else, she seems to be displaced, unable to be touched. Sizzling barriers cover the books inset into the walls, powerful wards alightning up as the entire group of heroes seems to be trapped with Lezard. Stars whirl through the barriers as they darkne, the night sky burning with unknown nebular and undiscovered planets as they overlay the Archive's much more normal look.

    Perhaps notably, the tea set on the balcony remains synced, as well as a chair for Mikoto to sit on.

    "You deal with no mere mage. Tremble, and behold a sorceror of eld! Space itself obeys my will! Now, PERISH!"

BGM SHIFT AGAIN: https://youtu.be/0RMnjL6X2gg

    Promptly, Lezard gestures. a circle of power erupts beneath him, blasting his clothing and hair wildly as a mad joy alights his face. Raw, intense arcane energy surges around him, channelled into the book before him as he calls out, "LIGHT, SHATTER! RAIN DOWN THE COLORS OF DEVASTATION UPON MY FOES! PRISMATIC MISSILE! Throughout the room, glistening spheres form, multifaceted crystals that burn with light... And then they explode, the shards disintegrating into dozens of beams of energy that surround and bombard the heroes!

Mikoto Shimizu (7002) has posed:
Once the challenge goes off, Mikoto starts snickering, which turns into giggles, which turns into full-fledged laughter.  Oh my god, he actually did it!  The mad man!  Once the laughter dies down, she coughs and looks at Rean again.  

Then immediately bursts into laughter.

Sarracenia has posed:
     Sarracenia hears Rean's challenge and...just gets the most confused look ever. "..wha..?" Then Mikoto starts laughing, and Sarra tries REALLY HARD not to join in. "D-do not...l-let them distract you...*snrk*...S-sir Rean! I-it is all...*coughlaugh*...p-part of their plan!"

     Then she buries her face against her arm and laughs into it. Hopefully she isn't heard, but...it is entirely possible she is. But, she manages to get control of herself quickly enough. Especially when that Prismatic Missile goes out! "H-hey! Watch out!!" she shouts urgently. Nothing funny about that attack!

Alexis has posed:
"In my experience? Not likely. But there's always that small chance it'll be the one time it works," Alexis replies, merely shrugging the rebuttal off as she stands back up. She's not even phased by Rean's bizarre choice of challenge; she's been around much weirder and more eccentric people in her time.

There's something that feels off about this entire encounter, but, she's not about to question getting to throw down over Friendship and what not. It might be a game in the end. Well, she can play along as it were. "Don't worry Princess, we'll get you out of this malignate mage's clutches!" Though Lezard is at least considerate(?) enough to change the venue to something less collateral damage prone.

As soon as attacks come hurtling down Scorch steps in front of his partners with arms held out protectively, the Typhlosion taking the blunt of the assault. After the blasts of magic pass he hunches a bit, weezing a puff of smoke from his mouth, feeling strangely winded. "< .. Ugh. I need a moment before I can play hero.. >"

That's okay. Alexis doesn't say anything, just nods to him and motions at her side. Howlinger hops to the side to get around the two of them and leaps into action, for a brief moment moving with such intensity he seems to be a blurr of grey and tan that hurtles towards Lezard, head down just enough to angle the largest stone spike protuding over his head forward like a ramming prow!

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe is almost ready to open her inventory to get her phone and blue tooth speaker out. However it seem the dance contest is not in the cards. As Lezard talk about sucking out their souls to power Mikoto? She's not sure if it's pact of an act or not. It could be either way and it scares her. Then comes the missiles she's not fully recoved from her fight at the circus and ther's no time to worry about that. Why? Magic missiles, that is why up goes the mourning wall to help intercept some fo the blast on her but not all of them and many to the shot leave red wireframed injuries in their wake, she springs into action vaulting over some of the laboratory gear and will land close enough to hopefully get in Lezard's face and will engage in a combo of shield slams and several slashes from her blade just trying to keep some pressure on him so he might have to think twice about casting. Or so she hopes, poor girl she doesn't know how much experiance Lezard might have with fighters like her.

Touta Konoe has posed:
    Rean challenges Lezard...To a dance off...And Touta can't help but try not to laugh. Like this might be one of the few times that Touta can't help but snicker. It was so out of the blue!!! He's sure someone must have put him up to it but damn it, Touta actually might have just taken some damage from not trying to laugh while wounded. The fiends! They knew his weakness! But as soon as he's able to get it out of his system he can't help feel how this heroic journey to rescue the princess seems to have gotten off track.

    "Wait...This is a joke right?"

    Okay, we seem to be getting somewhat back on track a little. As the barrier gets put up and all of a sudden Lezard starts talking about using their plan. Before Touta has a chance to speak up again he's already being beamed at! He's quick to evade but it's apparent as one beam nicks his arm that there were definitely bandages...And he was definitely bleeding...WITHOUT healing!!! Touta finds himself clicking his teeth.

     "Touta!"

     "I KNOW! I'll be careful...I don't know if this Lezard guy is screwing around or actually serious with this bull crap, but if he's gonna give me an excuse to vent, I'll take him up on the offer."

    Touta starts getting more evasive than usal trying to avoid as much injuries as he can rather than trying to just minimize the damage to the minimal. He bobs and weaves through so many of those prismatic missiles it probably does feel like he's dancing. Though the moment he finds himself out of them, he's already getting into slicing range of Lezard! As the circle of power ignites a mad joy alight his face, as Touta finds himself getting closer, Lezard would find the kid has quite the smirk of his own as he raises the blade over his head...Before completely feinting his attack and attempte to slam his foot into the magician's gut.

Rean Schwarzer has posed:
...Yeah, Mikoto was pranking him. Rean facepalms, his face red as a tomato. "...Why am I not surprised? /Thanks, Mikoto./" Rean says, as pretty much everyone laughs at him. Well, at least they were out of the Archives now and in...some sort of inter-dimensional space?

He shakes his head, trying to regain focus after that bit of embarrassment. "Alright, enough laughing. Let's get Her Majesty back!"

Lezard fires off that prismatic missile attack, and Rean raises his sword to block it. He gets grazed by a few lasers, but is otherwise fine, so far. He rushes in, one strike becoming many as he passes by Lezard.

Note (6386) has posed:
    So far, so good? Note keeps her eye on the proceedings... but her right palm squarely SLAPS against her forehead with a very loud *SMACK* when Rean makes that awkward challenge. DANCE OFF?!

    Yeah, looks like she WILL have to step up. Note begins walking purposefully towards the laboratory proper now.

    And with every over the top cruel declaration Lezard makes, her expression tightens with new twists of tension and tangled-up rage. "I thought you were way better than this, Lezard! Call it martial artist's intuition. Are you the same guy I fought in the tournament...?!" All she can do now is... raise her dukes as space itself distorts and the battle arena is set.

    The sorcerer unleashes a barrage of beams, but the little monkey-tailed youth leaps and dives over the first few, ducks under another, and kicks her whole body to the left just as another goes swooping past. The freakish thing is that she doesn't seem to even be using her EYES to track the projectiles coming at her.

    And in the brief lull that follows, Note stands straight up, whole body tensing. "You're gonna get it now!" She's not just idly making declarations, either. With a resounding *THUNDERCRACK* golden Ki explodes from her body, drawing her black hair upwards and leaving it as a myriad of waving golden spiky locks. The lightshow dies down quickly though, as Note controls the raging power. The blazing aura shrinks until it's merely a thin layer of light exuding from her skin. Green eyes narrow fiercely Lezard's way.

    The girl simply blitzes out of sight, becoming a blur of golden motion that only the fastest can hope to track. Weaving herself in and out of the melee scramble fast enough to throw out a punch here, a dive kick there, and an elbow there to accentuate the others' physical efforts, and weave it into a mighty combo of blows!

Lezard Valeth has posed:
    Lezard laughs as the lasers blast through his foes, power coruscating around him as he works to obliterate these heroes. What would he do with all of these valiant souls? Would he really pour all of their essences into Mikoto? Would they end up returning as Witches after he has gotten his terrible fingers into their spirits?

    They begin to fight back. Alexis calls out her defiance and sends her Typhlosion up against the Sorceror to tank the strike. It's kind of rough, but it'll live. For now. Howlinger comes striking in return, trying to take Lezard down with that spike! It isn't very effective. The spike cleaves past him, the Sorceror sidestepping with a flourish like a matador. The spike carves a line of blood across him, but he barely seems slowed down by it. "Is that the best you can do?" He asks.

    Tomoe answers that with a powerful assault. She runs up the wall and vaults across, using the acrobatics to close the distance. Lezard moves to try to block, but the repositioning proves to be effective, the shield and blade crashing into him, sending him reeling with grating yells of pain. "Agh! Clever strike. Do not think you will be so fortunate again!"

    This gives Touta the opening he needs to follow up, slashing in for Lezard. He moves to block, but unforunately for Touta the block takes the form of the book whipping up before him and creating a hemispherical barrier of artifact-grade paper, the foot strike being blunted significantly as it impacts the barrier... Albeit knocking him back a couple feet regardless.

    Rean takes advantage of the deployment of the defense. After all, if he's protecting one side, he can't be protecting another, right? He cleaves in and through the area, his sword techniques slashing and leaving wound after wound in Lezard's strangely durable flesh. He is no mere human, but Rean seems to be no mere swordsman.

    Note asks Lezard some questions. The Sorceror laughs. "Am I? What do you truly know of me, Saiyan?" Note blurs, unleashing her Super Saiyan power in order to begin her assault after dodging the strikes with casual ease... But when she comes in to strike at Lezard... He turns, whipping his arm down to catch the first punch. He smiles there, his fingers digging into the knuckles as he squeezes with intense force. "Did you think I would be so foolish as to not take advantage of the attributes of a Saiyan body?" He asks... And then he whips his hand up to block the dive kick. However, the elbow punches past his guard, knocking Lezard back and drawing blood from his lip. He scowls, wiping his face as he shakes his head from the impact. "This is far from over."

    The energy around Lezard pulses, blasting outwards and trying to force others back. "THUNDER, RAGE ACROSS THE HEAVENS! BLESS THIS LAND WITH YOUR LAMBENT TOUCH! LIGHTNING BOLT!" Spires of lightning surge up from the ground, sizzling arcs of blue-white crackling force crushing down and jumping from hero to hero, attempting to blast them all apart with megavolts of deadly force!

Mikoto Shimizu (7002) has posed:
"You're welcome~!" she says towards Rean, while drinking some tea.  Mmmm...

Looking back towards Sarra, she whispers, "Soooo...that's a lot of people come to save you, so I think you got way more friends than you think you do.  Friends aren't just people who like you no matter what, they're people who come when things are at their worst..."

She sighs, "Kinda like you and Rean are to me, ya know?  Missguided in the attempt, but appreciated."

Sarracenia has posed:
     Sarracenia can't believe how many people came! She has barely even talked to Touta, and she and Note have barely talked since the dinner that Lillian treated them to! "It...it is, isn't it?" she says softly back to Mikoto. "I would not have guessed that so many would come. Even if my hero is not among them, it is...amazing." Her eyes actually get a bit misty, and she sniffles before coughing a bit to try and clear up her face. Can't really do much other than that while strapped down.

     Then, she plays her part some more. "You cannot win, sorceror! You may as well release me and surrender! There is no way even someone as evil as you could withstand the efforts of so many heroes!" Those last few words might have a bit of a tremble as she fights against her emotions.

Note (6386) has posed:
    The resistance Note encounters is far greater than she was expecting. In that brief moment where her fist is OUTRIGHT STOPPED, she grins. It's not exactly a MERRY GRIN. It's the sort of expression you only see on those who love all there is to a fight - including being outdone and knocked into a wall. She is IMPRESSED as much as she's frustrated at getting almost nowhere.

    After their final clash though, Note somersaults backwards, skidding a total of fifteen feet further back.

    "Like I said... call it martial artist's intution. You didn't strike me as someone who ENJOYED doing cruel things! I was thinking of tracking you down... maybe learn a few things... but you've really pissed me off now!"

    Of course, the Super Saiyan power she's drawing on means blazing emotions, so being pissed off easily is probably to be expected for anyone familiar with it...

    Lightning flies at her, and at the very last moment Note brings her arms to bear against it. With a howling kiai power is forced from her palms as a brilliant flash of bluish-white. It collides directly against the lightning bolt, holding it at bay for just two seconds of freakish suspenses. It's just too bright to see what's HAPPENING THERE... until the lightning bolt SPLITS INTO TWO and parts entirely around Note as she simply powers through it, rocketing forward in inches-off-the-ground flight. Spearheading this effort? Her right hand extended forward, wreathed in a swirling, thick sheath of Ki, extended a good two feet as a shimmering ephemeral 'blade' of sorts. The technique's clearly unstable as the form of this 'weapon' shifts and warps unpredictably, but she still seeks to drive the thing into the sorcerer's gut with another mighty yell!

Alexis has posed:
The evil wizard seems to just shrug off the wolf's attack, but Alexis smirks all the same. Accelerock was all about hitting fast and precise, not hard. It was a move to start putting pressure on Lezard more than anything else, and maybe give someone else on the team a chance to get in and smack the smug bastiche around.

Certainly seems to be no shortage of people willing to jump in on Sarracenia's behalf, regardless of what the Princess might of thought.

More magic is slung out, this time in the form of huge bolts of lightning. Unfortunately Lycanroc is a Rock type, not a Ground type, and despite his best efforts to evade the assault Howlinger just isn't faster that pure energy. A particularly large bolt slams into him and with a wail he's send rolling through the air to land at Alexis' feet, eyes spinning. "It's okay boy, you did what you needed to do." He's returned to his pokeball, and Alexis looks aside to her partner. "Scorch?" The badger stands back upright, flames crackling. " <Yeah, I'm in. Still feeling a little off but...> "
He's cut off by a mystic chime as a pair of cream and pink ribbons extend out of Alexis' backpack, coiling lightly around his shoulders and the tip of one tickling under his chin. "Syyyylveon~" churrs the fairy fox as she pokes her head out as well, using her soothing powers to clear some of whatever enervated the Typhlosion. << Be brave. Be strong. >> And then her voice gets almost sadistic. << AND SHOW THAT BIG MEANY POO-PANTS WHAT FOR >>

That's.. Just going to assume that was using Helping Hand and not ask. Fairies are as weird as they are cute.

"You heard her." Alexis clences one hand tightly. He wants to play with the power of the elements? Fine. "Time for the bonfire, and he's the kindling!" "Tyyyyyphlosion!" Flaming miasma spews from the badger's maw, but this is no mere flamethrower. It's more like he's blasting elemental napalm, and getting hit by it is like being thrown in the middle of giant incendiary explosion that keeps burning and burning even after the initial blast.

Touta Konoe has posed:
    Touta thinks he has a reasonable fake out in mind but the reality of the situation is that Lezard's already got a barrier up to bolster his defenses as Touta tries to catch him off guard. He needs to stop doing that with spell-casters. Touta sees that the others are able to take a bit more advantage of the moment at least so he could indulge in the group teamwork. But that'll be short lived.

    Lezard gets back on the offensive as he releases massive bolts of lightning. In his situation he finds it hard to defend himself and attempts to dodge, but the result is inevitable. He feels the electrical energy surge through his body. He lets out a shout that pains the ear. It's the cry of someone who's actually in pain...And it's coming from Touta. As the shock takes its toll finds himself burned and singed across his body, his bandages start coming undone revealing massive gashes on his arm that begin to bleed out. The red of his t-shirt begins to...Leak? No, the wounds in his chest had apparently opened up as well, letting blood seep through his t-shirt. While his reasoning to help a friend might have been truly heroic, to go out when there was clearly something wrong with him might have really put him into a predicament.

    Even if that's the case though, he jams his blade into the ground to leverage himself. He forces a smile on his face towards Lezard who's clearly enjoying playing around. "Yeah...I really need to get in a good hit or two. Otherwise I'm not gonna be pissed at myself later."

     With the lightning subsided Touta starts into a slow paced run, which gets faster and faster as he charges. "Grasp the earth..." He speaks his words like a spell and in doing so his body distorts into a blur. His body flings from one point to the next at breakneck speeds difficult to keep up with using only sight alone. The blur passes Lezard's right side, it blasts past him on his left. Right in front of him, he can feel the dust pick up behind him and then suddenly...Nothing.

    "ONE-HUNDRED THOUSAND FOLD!!!"

     The voice comes from above as Touta prepares to slam his blade from up above the spell-caster. Using the magnified weight of his blade he intended to brute force his way through the next barrier this guy tried to conjure up.

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe is able to get some good hits in, and she muses "I'll have to change my tactics then!"

AFter all with Lezard? He's smart he adapts. So trying to use the same stuff over and over again will eventually fail and you'll get smacked with some creative spell work.

She will keep moving trying to not sit still as she dods so there's a short tell from Lezard. he's chanting that means something big is on its way, she's able to get off one of her tanking abilities in time as she leaps away from the strike it kind of work keeping her from a direct hit and what part of the spell force hit her isn't as bad.

This is relative however as she ends up electrocuted by the spell crying out in pain as dear lord that hurt she's being set on lighting here and the injured but alive Tomoe is now turning her attention once more on to Lezard.

"You're not the only one who can do that."

She starts chanting herself it's in Norse, the accent is bad, she's mangling it but it's clearly not intentional. They dance about her for a moment longer she'll raise her shield arm opens her palm and lets loose a lighting bolt of her own right at Lezard, knowing with how hard she's hitting? She needs to hit him and hit him hard right now.

Rean Schwarzer has posed:
Rean cries out as he's stuck by lightning, electricity arcing over his body as he staggers forwards. Rean sheaths his swor and then unsheaths it, the action making an arcing shock wave towards LEzard, and hopefully making an opening for others to attack!

Mikoto Shimizu (7002) has posed:
"Rean! Don't get hit by the lightning! It's...shocking!" Mikoto says, with a slight frown. Okay, maybe that pun was too far. Or....not far enough!

Lezard Valeth has posed:
    Lezard grimaces as Sarracenia yells her defiance from her slightly out of sync position. "Silence, Princess! Your defiance will simply fuel my plans! No matter how bright your spirit, you cannot simply scream into the void and expect it to change!"

    Note manages to use her aura to out-power the incoming magic, forcing it to flow around her harmlessly. The spirtual blade thrusts forward, and Lezard is struck, the burning blade slashing into him with a grunt of pain, the energy blade ripping into him with a hissing surge of power. "We shall see how much your anger serves you!"

    Alexis, the master Trainer that she is, quickly reorients her party in order to maximize their potential power. The Typhlosion is finally brought online, the fearsome Pokemon unleashing intense, overwhelming flame upon Lezard. The impact roars, the sticky, deadly consuming fire roaring around the Sorceror of Midgard and consuming him in the inferno. He has no witty response to that, which likely says more about the efficacy of the attack than anything else.

    The ground erupts before Touta as he positions himself, a sudden surge of bone and death attempting to interdict itself in the way of the incredible speed that Touta can bring to bear. The bones creak, flames licking up between them as for a moment, he works to bring the strike down... And the bones shatter, the wall of death unable to defend against him. The blade cleaves down through the inferno, blood spraying out through the flame and hissing into crimson steam. Rean follows up, cleaving past to create a bloody cross-slash that leaves the Sorceror howling and gasping in pain, the burning man staggering for a moment at the sheer force brought to bar upon him.

    Tomoe perhaps is right to worry about Lezard's defenses and his ability to adapt, however. As she incants her spell, invoking Norse runes, there is a shadow of a smile in that flame... And as she blasts him back, a burning hand reaches out and catches the lightning, the energy coruscating around him in much the same way it did for Note... But it circles in around him over and over again, building upon itself. "YOU DARE?" He roars through the pain, his indigance and rage beginning to come to the fore as it builds into a blinding screech... And a wordless detonation blasts outwards, deleting all sound in a shockwave as he claps his hands together, driving them backwards, extinguishing the flames scorching his body to embers. He is left burned, his clothing charred, his body rent and bleeding copiously. He straightens himself up, golden power rushing around him as he raises his hands, the Philosopher's Stone floating there before him and turning its pages. "You will never defeat me with such sloppy spellcasting. And now... The time has come. I will destroy you all!"

    He holds out his hands and incants, twisting his hands through the air. "HOLY STARS OF LIGHT, COME TO MY CALL AND BANISH THE DARKNESS BEFORE ME! MYSTIC CROSS!" A series of burning lights form in a ring around the battlefield, crashing downwards in explosions of sanctified energy, showing that even an evil wizard is capable of using holy attacks, ironically.

    But it doesn't end there. The power surges around him, building and building towards something even more intense... "The power is aligned. Your doom approaches, /heroes/."

Alexis has posed:
"Now that is how you light someone up!" Alexis whoops as the blazing inferno engulfs the manic mage. It's not enough to take him out of the fight, even with everyone piling on top of him, but things are rolling too far and fast to be concerned over it now. Not when he's already charging up something big, and casting holy lasers or some such from above upon them. "Syl!" Caddie extends all four of her ribbon-feelers out and putting up a Light Screen to try and shield them. The light beams slam against it hard, hard enough to shatter the defensive technique and explode. It's ablative at best, keeping the main explosion of the impacts a distance, though the resulting wave of holy energy still washes down over them with a blistering effectiveness.

Alexis held one arm to shield her face and gritted her teeth, the energy discharge around them billowing the tails of her overcoat behind her. Fists clench again. She can feel this is going to be the end of the fight for them soon, one way or the other. Not like that's going to make her back down. If anything, it's the opposite. If there's one thing she knows, there's only one way to go out in a fight like this...

Caddie slumps down in her backpack, exhausted by the energy she's been expending just on support moves, as the cascade of energy fades. Scorch is already on the move, battered and beat but as unwilling as his Trainer is to quit. The flames around his neck burn even more intensely, his glowing red just as brightly. Alexis stomps a foot to the ground, flicks some smoldering bangs out of her face and then clenches her fist once more. "This is! All or nothing, win or lose, with all our fighting passion! Scorch..." She turns to thrust out her hand.
"Blast Burn"
"Tyyyyyy..." Scorch drops to all fours, channeling the intense heat and energy his building into the ground. "PHLOSION!"

The ground beneath Lezard almost literally explodes, unleashing multiple huge pillars of shearing hot flames all around the mage, rivaling the previous inferno in intensity!

Rean Schwarzer has posed:
So yeah balls of holy light coming from a smug necromancer. Rean moved as quickly as he could to avoid the bursts, but one lands directly in front of him, sending him flying through the air skidding across the floor. Also, there's still some lingering electricity from the lighnting strike still on him, so that zaps him too.

And Mikoto's still teasing him. Rean sighs. He'd have to get back at her later, somehow. But for now, back to fighting Lezard. Rean goes in again, rapidly slashing at Lezard with all his might, and then finishing up with a vertical, blazing slash.

Note (6386) has posed:
    That energy blade sears and scorches what it touches, and this isn't limited to just Lezard Valeth. Small burns are sizzling on Note's right hand and forearm. But the injury she inflicted seems to have been worth it! Still, she doesn't exactly look happy about it as her ki blade fizzles out. Rather, she disengages again by kicking the ground and putting distance between herself and Lezard.

    This fight is just TOO INSANE for her to engage in proper melee combat.

    Note skids to a halt in a combat stance, featuring upraised knife-hands, a thrashing tail, and a springy bending in both knees. She is READY!

    Well, ready as one can be when their enemy is a sorcerer who can call down EXPLOSIONS FROM THE HEAVENS. "... Oh COME ON, how many spells does he know?!" She's never heard of anyone having so many different techniques they can call upon so easily, martial arts, magic, whatever.

    The quip's stifled quickly by a far more serious and concerted effort from Note. Because she's quickly realizing just how terrifying this display of power really is...

    Can they beat him?! She briefly trembles where she stands, uncertainty flickering in her emerald eyes... a tad of fear.

    If they lose here... what's going to happen to Sarracenia? What'll happen to her? What about the others here who just came to help a friend...?! If she just fights like she did in the tournament, she will DEFINITELY lose!

    Through all of this turmoil, Note faces the onrushing holy light with a panicked roar and is engulfed by a blast many times her own tiny body!

    As the smoke billows through, her voice continues piercing through the raging magic. A ferocious power lashes out and tears THROUGH the holy blasts. Spears of golden light and blue-violet crackles of arcing lightning rip it apart and blast it away.

    In the midst of it all, Note stands as tall as she can, hands clenched into fists at her sides. Golden light burns furiously as a thick, pulsing aura that whips around her like an angry firenado. That spiky hair's reaching even further for the sky now, save one rebellious lock that dangles over her forehead. Lightning dances around in her aura like soaring dragons. Needless to say, she's pumping out a stunning amount of energy now, and that just keeps climbing...

    "Not if I have anything to say anything about it, Lezard! You shouldn't have done this!"

    She wastes absolutely no time at all raising both hands his way and--

    ... Casually unloading a huge blast of bluish-white energy several times bigger than her entire body from both palms. It tears across the distance to Lezard in almost no time at all!

Tomoe has posed:
Okay using her magic against Lezard was not the best of ideas, it really was not the best of ideas at all here at all Lezard just shuts her down. If she lives through this she'll take this lesson to heart. For now, she's got to figure out how to insert sword A into scary Mage B more effectively than she has been. With magic not being a good idea she's going to go back to what's she's best at.

Then comes a big damn spell namely Mystic Cross it slams into her, the holy energy is not a fun walk in the park and she's even more messed up it's also clear he's working up something else and she does not fancy her soul being removed from her body at all.

"Not done yet..."

Nearly so but she's almost very well done with the beating she's been getting as of late it's catching up with her still shes might have a chance.

She will see her friend making their moves and she redoubles her effort she'll zip along the ground, then flare out her wings taking flight above, then dropping down on Lezard to not only put her mass but the force of her leap into a strike against him.

Touta Konoe has posed:
    Touta finds that his blade is tougher than the bones that Lezard attempts to use inorder to stop Touta. But apparently he's got more life in him than these bones can keep up with! He mows through them like a bowling with his speed and in doing so mows through them like bowling balls as his strike leads the path for Rean's follow-up attack. It's a good combination strike if there was one to give.

    "T-That might not have really hurt the guy, but sure as hell felt good." He can breath a bit better knowing that at least. Until he doesn't. Holy Magic, it had to be holy magic? For someone like Touta he knew that if he was hit with something like that well...It wasn't going to be pretty. Not in the slightiest. More than ever makes it a perogative to avoid the purging lights as well as he can and for the most part its fair to say that he does manage to avoid the worst of it, but truth be told. He's feeling the sensation of warmth trickle down his arm. His breathing's getting way heavier. But he sees Note, Tomoe, and Rean all going so far to keep pushing through that it gives him a smile on his face. Even if he was banged up, he could appreciate the passion of people going out of their way to help a friend.

     < I would hope with all that blood loss you wouldn't have it all going to your head. If you take one more attack... >

     "I'll manage somehow! Besides, I know I'm tired but if I'm not trying to keep up with these guys just a bit...I don't know if I'd be able to look'em in the face later...

     The sword makes not remarks leaving Touta to grip his blade with resolve to keep this fight going till the end.Touta's schpeel makes him a bit late on the attack end, but thankfully it puts him in a good position to hide his own attack behind the blueish energy that Note blasts out as cover. He can't imagine that such an attack would be put off that easily, but even still he's going to make sure that at the very least that even if he finds a way to block it, his strike will be right behind Note's to give a little extra oomph!!!

Lezard Valeth has posed:
    Alexis stakes everything on her next strike. As pleasant as it is to see a horrible person burn, perhaps, Lezard seems to be a bit resistant to simply going up in flame. Maybe he's been accused of being a witch one too many times. She brings out the best in her Pokemon, exhorting them to their greatest heights, and Lezard turns, hearing the call. He clenches his teeth, staring as the papers splay out into a defensive barrier once more. The Typhlosion fires, blasting his position... And he miscalculates. The blast comes from /below/, not a direct attack this time. The impact blasts him high into the air, a scorched body sailing high as the Sorceror struggles to come to terms with the massive strike.

    Rean tries to take advantage of the strike, but there is a sudden ringing sound as Lezard rights himself, having drawn out a dark, terrible rod of twisted, dark abyssal wood surmounted with a heavy crown of soulsteel. The disturbingly durable thing struggles against the mighty blow... And turns it aside, Lezard landing back on the ground. He wavers there, but his confidence still shines through like a baleful glare. "You will never earn your princess like this." He states, perhaps with... an odd note of regret.

    Tomoe continues to refuse to die. She's good at that though, she IS a tank after all. She lunges forward, Lezard turning to defend against the expected direct strike, but the sudden angel-wing leap into the air allows her to feint past the defenses of the Sorceror, causing him to look up with a mix of irritation and dull expectation as she cleaves downwards into him, ripping another terrible blow across his body and staggering him.

    Finally, Note has reached the limit of her patience. Lezard, as powerful as he is, has only made use of a tiny fraction of his spells. Note has seen many others in the tournament, after all. And with that knowledge, that knowledge that everything is on the line and that Sarracenia's life and soul hang in the balance, reaches that needed limit to tap into even deeper power. The world thrums around the Super Saiyan 2, even Lezard forced to look upon Note, a flicker in his expression as something subtly shifts in his movements and demeanor. The ki blast roars across the battlefield, and Lezard sweeps the Manus Catalyst up, interposing itself. The blast strikes, sizzling against the weapon, and there is a massive detonation, hurling Lezard back. "I will do as I like. You cannot stop me, Saiyan...!" He hisses between clenched teeth. "I am not going to lose... Least of all to an ignorant child who is only capable of hurling energy around as if it was their dinner!" His own defiance is cast forth despite his bloody, battered, burned body.

    Touta follows up with another sword strike, striking right past Lezard while his defenses are down. The slash cleaves into his side, twisting him a bit more into that patchwork of pain as he barely stays on his feet. "Not... Not yet..." He hisses. "Not like this. I refuse...!"

    "Ye must desire rest from thy empty existence..."
                    "Thou shalt have it!"

    High above the battlefield, golden feathers wink into existence, carried on the solar winds as they swirl about with light, pure energies... And then they swirl together, the sky alighting into dozens and dozens of golden halos. Each one expands, blasting downwards and expending itself with a glittering lance of devastating power that rains from the heavens, joined by more and more and more, each one crashing down and creating a roiling salvo of bursting light and destruction that rips across the battlefield... Or rather, the area Note occupies, the others benefitting from Note's bold move by forcing Lezard to focus on the untouched Saiyan. Or maybe it is a cold comfort, considering the collateral destruction washing across the field in holy blast waves.

                             "CELESTIAL STAR!"                              

Touta Konoe has posed:
    Touta's hidden slash proves to find its weight behind Note's attack. It's definitely not as fatal but he can at least say that it keeps Lezard from following up with his own attack immediately so that the others can reposition themselves if they had needed to. Plus, it just feels pleasant to slap this guy around a bit, even if Touta's not a full strength and this guy's playing pretend or something.He's not sure which is which but then more issues arise... "I THOUGHT THIS GUY WAS A NECROMANCER OR SOMETHING!!! What the he-"

     Those are Touta's last words as the spell pelts the battlefield with more holy magic. Seriously this felt very out of character for Lezard. Maybe this was his way for holding back for the others but it was really messing up Touta's day with him throwing holy lights around like Touta wasn't a god damn vampire!

     Well, whether it's from Lezard's pity or Touta's own preparedness for such nonsense, he manages to rally through! He gives up his avoid absolutely everything he can idea seeing as it wasn't working and makes one final charge at Lezard. Touta focusing all his strength in this final attack, hoping to act as the vanguard in creating one last opening for the others to finish this up.

     Touta's body roughs through the waves of holy light that crash upon him till there's nothing between him and Lezard, there's a brief smile on Touta's face as his body becomes a blur again before reappearing right in Lezard's face bringing his sword down.

     "Five-Hundred Thousand Fold!"

     The boy shouts once more with the blade looking like it's about to slice into Lezard between the eyes, and if he brings up another barrier to stop him, that's what it would be. But it was meant to be a bluff for something much simpler. A clenched right fist was being holstered as he looked like he was about to bring down that final attack and in doing so he'd use the weight of the blade as he swung it back to ricochet a powerful punch intended to slam right into Lezard's jaw. A punch that was meant to help wield a sword that was heavier than certain skycrapers.

     Touta wasn't still too happy about the most recent developments with Mikoto and this was probably one of the very few opportunities he'd get to vent. So he will!

Note (6386) has posed:
    Does Note realize that she's cranked it up a notch further?! It's really hard to tell. With a gaze that's narrowed fiercely, sharpened like a knife, and a focused, heated fury simply rolling off of her, it's quite hard to read anything but DESPERATE DETERMINATION from her. Teeth grinding tightly and brow furrowed - and perspiration blasted away by that aura - she gazes skywards at the descending blasts... and her own arms move as a blur. In just one second, a dozen curving blue-white beams with comet-like tails fly up and SLAM into the golden feathers nearest her. Premature detonations protect her from the worst of what follows - a rolling shockwave of destruction!

    Sure, he can call her a child. She is. Ignorant? Oh, to be sure. But... "Hrmph! Shows what you know..." Another thundering kiai and the resulting shockwave of pressure parts the blast before it can approach her, giving her a perfect opportunity to--

    Simply vanish?

    --Nope. In the moment between heartbeats she's simply THERE in front of Lezard. And in a second or two? The hammer-like shockwave of her motion will catch up. But before it does, her fists unfold into knife-hands and two dozen strikes lash out to points all across Lezard's body. Each one expertly and cruelly aimed at sensitive joints and energy centers, each blow accompanied by a surging and painful INJECTION of damaging Ki meant to inflict internal injury more than external. At the sheer volume she's pumping out though, there might not be much difference - apart from THE PAIN.

Alexis has posed:
Alexis was ready to take what they'd done out of friendship and leave it to the others. With all it's power output Blast Burn exhausted Scorch and he wouldn't recover before Lezard unleashed his final attack. All the cards had been played, that was all they had to give.

Or it should of been. But just as the blast wave of the attack bombarding the field was rolling towards them there was a flash of light, and the assault collided with a dome of energy that sent it rolling harmlessly around them. Alexis blinked a couple of times at the white cartoonish cat with blue hair tuffs standing in front of them, projecting the barrier with her psychic powers (thankfully the Meowstic didn't have her ears fully unfolded). "Catalyst?"

<< Tch. All this fighting and carnage and you didn't invite me >> the psychic chided with her usual deadpan. As the attack ended her ears tucked back down and the physic barrier dissolved. << But I suppose, without you there would be no one to feed me, brush me, or take me to such wonderfully anamolous locations, so you're worth risking a little power. >>
"... Spoken like a true cat." A little awestruck that the feline came out to help on her own accord, but Alexis pushes it aside for the moment as she stands back up. "But I guess we're not done just quite yet!" Pause. Then Alexis rubs the back of her head. "Just... I don't know, annoy him for the others."
<< Oh, how lovely~ I get to make someone just a little more miserable~ >> The Meowstic's yellow eyes glow faintly as she forms several small spheroids of energy around Lezard, which then erupt in short strobe-like bursts.

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe is still alive somehow, she's not quite enjoying that, she has got a pretty good hit in, Note meanwhile transforms harder. Everyone's souls seem to be on the line here and she's not holding back at all. She's watching Lezard she knows something have to be coming for them all. He's can't be done yet and then it comes. Powerful magic is being put in the work and damn it's quite the light show, she would be impressed at how pretty it was, save for the fact she's getting blasted very damn hard. At this point, part of her face is just a mess of red wireframe with more checkered marks all over her body. She's clearly fading her next chain of sword attacks are not as powerful as she fights her way through the wave but she keeps coming intending to just hack and slash into Lezard.

"I'm not ... done yet either!"

Rean Schwarzer has posed:
Rean braces himself for the shockwave from the meteor, and gets sent skidding across the floor on his back. Again. He lays there for a moment, dazed before struggling to his feet. He's burning out,  and so is everyone else.  But they couldn't lose! Whatever the truth behind LEzard's behavior was they were all here to bring a friend back together.

...Together. Right. They /all/ needed to make it back safe.

"We'll be taking back our friend, no matter what you throw at us!" Rean shouts, igniting his sword with the brightest flame he could manage. "So-" He rushes forwards, slashing at Lezard with all his might.

"Let. Her. GO!" He shouts, his last strike bursting into an explosion.

Lezard Valeth has posed:
    Alexis should have been doomed. However, she had one more trick to play, one more Pokemon to keep her on her feet. One more Pokemon that appreciates her for her ceaseless efforts to be the very best. While maybe not the most intimidating of Pokemon, the Meowstic has their own tricks, and the Signal Beam pulses begin blasting right in Lezard's face, blinding him and putting him even further off balance.

    Tomoe is on her last legs, striking as hard as she can and turning that moment of distraction from Alexis into a blade combo that nearly drives Lezard to his knees. Each slow, lumbering blow drives Lezard further down, only his insane will keeping him on his feet as he bleeds all over the floor.

    Rean cries out his beliefs. His rushes forward, his blade on fire with everything he can muster. He helped bring them all here to save Sarracenia, and he would see it through. He strikes at the Necromancer over and over and over again, his blade flicking out to carve bloody trails across his body as it is savaged... And then the blade slashes upwards, cleaving through him with a massive blast as he falls backwards, barely coherent at that point.

    Note has grasped the tail of the dragon. The world is right. Everything is in place. Every time she moves, the universe seems to move with her in a moment of perfect emotion and clarity. Every movement deflects another incandescent death blast, sending them harmlessly away over and over and allowing her to stand tall in the aftermath of a strike that would have obliterated many others. Lezard's eyes widen in the aftermath of that strike, disbelief clear on his face. "HOW?" He hisses, actual confusion there as the situation rapidly slips from his fingers... And Note's fingers slip into his body, striking him at high speed while she jabs him with intense, crippling strikes. Finally, in agony, he falls to his knees...

    Unfortunately for Touta, Lezard is fully capable of using holy magic, which is really unexpected when one considers the traditional correlations. You would be surprised how useful it is, and how unexpected it is for everyone else. He pulls together everything he possibly can, even with the hellish touch of the holy magic damaging the vampire. He strikes, lunging forward with that incredibly punch, hurling all of his strength behind it... And is treated to the feel of knuckles crushing into Lezard's face... And then there is a SNAP as his head twists around, his neck breaking as he unceremoniously collapses to the floor, the body inert.

    All around them, the energy fields collapse. Not only does the containment field vanish, but so does the lab equipment, space folding back on itself and restoring itself to its original form... A large, book-filled library with the corpse of a necromancer on the floor, Sarracenia sitting there, unbound and having fallen to said floor. There happens to be a bag full of her stuff that's sitting next to where she fell, too, allowing her to recover her stuff.

Mikoto Shimizu (7002) has posed:
"Oh shit..." Mikoto says, dropping her tea. "You guys actually killed him. Well...shit. Now I have to write a report...shiiiit."

Note (6386) has posed:
    Everything comes crashing down. First the Necromancer... and then, seemingly, all of his spells and the fact that there even was a lab...?!

    Note had leapt back after delivering her crushing combo, touching down with a simple motion that, if she wasn't burning with overwhelming power at the moment, would seem ordinary. Cloaked in the power of desperation though, just falling back into a combat stance seems like pulling the hammer back on a revolver...

    "... W-wait... he's DEAD?!" The words, she can barely stammer them out, so startling is this notion. Just like that, she drops down to her knees and with a *SPLOOOF*-noise the golden aura and related lightshow are all snuffed out. All that tension being released at once is rather like a puppet losing its strings and it's all she can do to keep from just flopping face-first into the ground for a good five seconds. Her limbs are just that shakey!

    "Is... is Sarracenia okay...? Ugh, feels like I just put my everything through the wringer..." Which is kind of ironic, considering what she just PLOWED THROUGH.

    Note slowly rises, running both hands nervously through her once-again smooth black hair and futzing with her ponytail. A look of torn guilt's slowly growing as she considers what just happened... "I-I didn't really want him DEAD, just stopped..."

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe is bad off. Her hp is in the red she's a mess half her face is still angry-looking red wireframes and she'll pause for a moment she'll make sure Lezard seems to be down at least for now is he dead? Did they actually kill him? She doesn't know. She stagged for the Princess

"Sarrah, we need to get your things and go..."

She looks to Mikoto seeing she doesn't seem ready to fight them? She will not push it.

"We need to go ... and don't break anything."

Touta Konoe has posed:
    "Aaaaah, that was satisfying. Alright, now I don't know what the big idea is but stop scre-"

     Touta's sense of satisfaction at being able to punch Lezard so firmly that it gives a crack...Now that he thinks of it, that wasn't exactly a good thing when a snapping sound comes from your neck. Yeah all of that didn't sound good.

     All of the good vibes that should be given to Sarra for rescuing her and seeing that she's safe are completely overshadowed by the fact that Touta might have just punched a man to death. In a panic he starts slapping, shaking, and doing all the other unnecessary things he can think of to verify if Lezard's actually dead. Even threatening his stuff. Threatening an immortal's stuff always works! So why isn't he waking up!!! "O-Oi Lezard...If you don't stop me I'm gonna touch one of these magical books...And I break magical things really easily..." That wasn't exactly a joke either. Touta was prone to unintentionally break magical things if he wasn't careful. So just being in this magical lab was probably in and of itself a horrible, horrible thing to have Touta around. Also...He's bleeding all over Lezard too. Can't really want that.

Lezard Valeth has posed:
Lezard's body lies there, battered, broken, bloodied with the focused efforts of many Elites gathered together to defeat him. What will this mean? The Multiverse is freed of a terrible force of evil, perhaps. Now the Multiverse will be able to move forward, healing from all the damage the man has done. Glittering lights rise from the body, his magic and spirit streaming out, likely, into whatever hell might await him...

    "Well. That is inconvenient. And incredibly painful." Wait, what was that?

    The lights increase, streaming out of the corpse and collecting there in the air, hanging together as a spiritual form coalesces out of the air.

    It's... Lezard. Just as a ghost. Well, crap. He looks... intensely tired, more than anything else. "Do you have /any/ idea how expensive it is to manufacture a replacement body?" He sighs. "Very well... You have won this time, heroes. I yield up your Princess." He gestures to Sarracenia. "Take her and her things and leave."

He looks back to Touta and frowns. "Do stop bleeding all over my corpse. It is unseemly."

Rean Schwarzer has posed:
The room reverts to a more normal state, and Sarracenia is freed. Also, Lezard's head is twisted in an unnatural way and not moving.

Oh no.

"I-We- I didn't /mean/ to-"  Rean says looking between the others and Lezard's corpse. Lezard was an asshole, and probably deserved to die, but they weren't /trying/ to kill him! ...Well, /he/ wasn't at least. And then he goes silent, staring blankly at the floor.

He was a military student- he knew people died in combat, and in war. But he wasn't looking at this as a warzone, just a rescue mission where no one was supposed to die, not even the kidnapper.

That wasn't how he worked. Trying to kill things when it wasn't necessary was what that 'other' him did.

And now Touta's bleeding all over Lezard's corpse, and Tomoe is looking rather...broken? Like a glitched out computer image. Still silent, he chucks a healing spell at Tomoe, and then prepares to throw another one at Touta when Lezard's ghost shows up.

"...Huh?" Rean says, his brain registering that the sorcerer didn't fully die. So then...

"Wait, then we did it!" Rean shouts, no longer looking dead inside. Anyway, he focuses again, and slaps Touta with that healing spell. He then looks over at Mikoto, and then looks away, slightly blushing. Right, they still needed to talk about that. Also about the level of trolling he took tonight.

Sarracenia has posed:
     Sarracenia is wide-eyed as it seems Lezard was actually killed! She certainly wasn't expecting that! But, his ghost appears and mentions a replacement body, so she figures he will return in the flesh soon enough. With her iron bindings finally opened she can sit up from the table, and in proper maiden strapped to a mad scientist's table she does not even have shoes on. Just the pure white and fairly simple dress. She gives as many of her rescuers as she can at once a hug, and hugs as many as she couldn't in the next. "You...you all came." she says, teary-eyed. "I...I was not sure anyone would come, much less a full adventuring party!"

     She looks down at the fallen necromancer, then at Mikoto, then around at each of Rean, Touta, Note, Tomoe, and Alexis in turn. "Let us depart. Mikoto has made her choice. Let her clean up this mess." she says, a bit over-theatrically. Even though she smirks in a friendly way at the magical girl. She makes sure to retrieve her purse from wherever it is before she leaves with her saviors.