Scene #4046: Phantom Cocoon - To The Beginning

Owner	Pose
Lyner Barsett	After braving the living forest, under the control of an unknown Reyvateil's song, the joint alliance of the Knights of Elemia, Tenba, and the Curch, have secured the perimeter around the area that's been dubbed 'Phantom Cocoon', which consists of a...massive metal sphere. It clearly had some kind of expansive metal complex inside, given its size, but no attempts to gain entry have been made. Until today. With the outer perimeter secured, it's been decided that a smaller team would attempt to gain entry. This is the team consisting of Lyner, and assembled multiversals. Gathered directly in front of the Phantom Cocoon, in the clearing where their last battle ended, Lyner crossed his arms and faced the structure with an apprehensive look. Off to another side, Luke; Tenba's representative, stood as well, eyeing the structure with a frown. He appeared to be a part of the entry team as well, given his proximity. Though he spoke to a few other rank and filers, giving them orders for the outside. As soo as everyone gathered, it would be time to head in. Hopefully.
Kazusa Ujikane	Kazusa was here before, and she's made herself a promise to see things like this through! Besides, it's Misha's world, and Misha is someone who's been fairly cool to the card-user, including letting her borrow Reyvateil powers. So she's gotta help somehow! Even, she realizes as she saunters up to Lyner's side, if her only cards remaining are cards she doesn't have an easy source to copy for. Gulp. Well, she'll figure out some way to help, right? "Ah, hey, looks like we're all just about ready to go. Been anything since last time we were here?"
Sanary Rondel	Ever since that last visit to the Phantom Cocoon, Sanary's had some time to prepare. Magic training, weapon sharpening, combat maneuvers... Even looking up general information on dragons and wood in case another one pops up! That's why she's looking a little more confident today, the actual armor (big and green!) worn on her and the extra shields on her back notwithstanding. Protection's always helpful to have, after all, especially if they're heading inside that big steel structure they were holding off on last time. "I'm ready in case we need to fight any... Well, anything that doesn't shit lightning. What's the plan once we're inside?" The healer even unstraps one of the shields to hold properly, keeping the other on her back for the time being while giving the outside of the structure a once over from a distance.
Staren	Staren feels like he hasn't been getting out enough lately. This world has a problem that needs investigation and possibly heroing... he can do those things! As usual for expeditions in hostile territory, he's wearing his powered body armor. He waves to the people he knows. "So, um. There's a giant metal sphere in the forest. Obviously. Do we currently have any ideas on how to get inside it...?"
X	Back to the place of magic singers and angry trees! A ray of blue light splashes down near the gathering, decompressing and filling out into the now-familiar shape of X. His teleport-in coordinates are just a hundred feet or so from the meeting place, so it's a pretty visible entrance... even if he doesn't make much about it when he walks up to the group. X's looking pretty friendly today. Now that they're not surrounded by ANGRY TREES. "Hello!" Though he picks up on the mood quikly enough and studies the strange 'phantom coccoon' intensely. "So the trouble's coming from in here?"
Yuna Kagurazaka	Yuna's here to help again, and as before, she's got Jiina and Elner with her ... but only those two; the rest of the Matrix of Light is on call but not immediately present, for whatever reason. Yuna almost didn't ask Jiina to come along, either, but her suspicion is that she'll need Powered Form if she needs anything. The blonde idol waves cheerfully to the rest of the party as they show up: Lyner, Kazusa, Sanary, Staren, and X, and to the others as they arrive, too. "Presumably the local investigators have had the chance to sort out where we might be able to get inside," Yuna notes to Staren. "Or we might just have to punch our own hole through the side of it, but ... Elner, are you picking up anything the rest of us should know about, or is the sphere's outer shell blocking your scans or something?" Which would also be a thing the rest of the party might want to know. The robo-faerie goes ahead and scans the sphere for now.
Deelel	Deelel had been making ready for htis but she wans't sure just would might be in here and she takes a deep breath. She doesn't need to but it is a habit shs's dound that helps to calm her either way she's ready now infront of the Coocon and is ready to move forward though she's summoned her keyblade the Duel Disc to her side for the moment.
William Pauwel	The last time Will was here, he was almost mowed down by an entire forest's worth of angry trees. Today, all that they need to do is crack open a giant, glowing egg-shaped thing and get to the delicious Reyvateil-creme center hidden within! That's... That's how that works, right? He looks a little more... Appropriately dressed for this particular world today, though. A bit more thoroughly armored. Will adjusts the plates of armor covering his chest ever so slightly as he sits and waits for THE PLAN. "We just gotta get in there, right?" Will asks, gesturing at the giant egg-thing. "We got a drill? Or a big egg-hammer?"
Misha	So yeah the last time with the whole forest debacle, Misha hadn't quite been expecting to have to fend off killer vines. This time the Star Singer is more prepared. Once they had FOUND the massive shperical edifice, she's hung around mostly without much else to do, sticking to the site and not bothering to do things like 'go home' or 'find something else to do' for as long as Lyner is usually around. Speaking of... One hand slides into Lyner's fingers while he stares at the strange building, Misha serving a a silent presence for her knight for the moment. Of course with a 'smaller team' going to work on gaining entry, she's not too surprised to see the others arrive, and even Sanary this time. Staren asks a valid point. How to get in? "Hey Lyner, did anyone find a lock on it?" Valid question! It's a valid question for her to ask!
Lyner Barsett	Everything said and done, Lyner waved and nodded greetings all around. And then he turned to Sanary. "Hey Sanary. Our plan is...uh..." He chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. "...Well, just stay on our guard and try to proceed through the place. And find anything that seems like it might give us an answer to what's happening here." Yuna answered Staren, so he nodded along to her. "Right. We're in front of it." He gestured to the long indent in the otherwise featureless sphere. It looked like a door of some sort. A door with no features on it at all. Misha linking hands with him is met with a subtle smile, and he explains further. "No, we didn't find a lock. ..." He looked towards the indent, and then frowned. "But we also didn't try too hard. Or else we might set something off." Will's comment earns him a pointed look from Luke; the black haired, black armored knight of Tenba. He didn't say a word, and instead, he pressed on ahead. "Come on." He grunted, inwardly rolling his eyes at these damn Multiverals. "......" Once in front of the indent in the cocoon, he reached out, placing a palm into the surface... And right at that moment... I'm sure only one more time, a miracle will occur In the twisted future you draw out with your kind voice. It begun. The ground beneath their feet began to shake and rumble, and the indent in the cocoon lit up with lines of red energy across its surface. ...Then it slid right open! Whoa, seriously? Just like that!? But that wasn't all. From all over the surface of the structure, fragments of metal extended outwards, revealing...laser turrets. As evidenced by the fact that when they opened fire, green rays of searing light burst downwards at the spread of soldiers around the general area, curving about and creating chaos right off the bat. "Oh crap!" Lyner exclaimed, looking up as the defense systems activated. From some distance away, Radolf called out. "Lyner, Misha, Luke, everyone! Get in there! We'll keep these defense systems busy! Go!" Luke nodded and he dove into the depths, disappearing as if he'd passed through a portal... Time to follow him. Or you can stay around and get swiss cheesed by innumerable laserfire. The choice is yours, really.
Kazusa Ujikane	Well. No one available for Kazusa to copy into her Cutthroat card, and if there were someone here who'd fit for The Beast, well, she probably wouldn't even have to ask to find out. So it looks like it's time for Kazusa Ujikane, plucky adventurer girl, to go on an adventure all by herself, so to speak. Oh look. Hear that song? That's the sound of adventure. "Oh crap!" Kazusa yells pretty much in unison with Lyner. She doesn't need him to give any instructions; or rather, it's nice, but it ends up being what her instinct tells her to do anyway: 'run into the sphere like your life depends on it'. Because at this point /IT KIND OF DOES/. Curvy lasers slamming into the ground everywhere, oh god that one was close, do I still have eyebrows?! Crap crap crap crap run run run run...!
Sanary Rondel	"Sounds easy enough... Ugh, this is going to be a slog, ain't it?" Sanary mutters, then laughs lightly before bracing that shield in front of her and giving it a light whack. "Well, I've got this if anyone needs to behind me. So..." And as if on cue, lasers! Way too many lasers. Hearing Radolf's exclamation from behind them, she takes a position by the indentation with the kite shield raised in front of her to try and protect against some of those lasers. "Hurry up, people! I'll cover you!" And cover she does, facing down those lasers with-okay she's not really looking at the lasers since that'd be very, VERY painful. She is indeed acting as a literal human shield, however, standing between her allies of the day and the oncoming shots. Even Yuna and Misha get cover despite some oftheir past encounters! Sanary's not /that/ crazy to hold any grudges here, after all. She'll wait until the last moment before scrambling inside with the last of the group, cringing a bit once the adrenaline wears off and she starts feeling those lasers that got past the many gaps in her armor. "Son of a... Everyone okay?"
William Pauwel	Look, Will is not exactly used to situations where he is not required to break open at least /one/ mysterious and/or ancient mysterious obstacle. He can't help it if his immediate response to 'weird thing with no visible way through' is 'break in!' Fortunately, they won't have to do that. Unfortunately, the song that opens the way forward also heralds the appearance of SO MANY LASER TURRETS. Will is unusually well-versed in the art of dealing with laser turrets, but the ones he's dealt with don't exactly /curve/ to hit you. Will yelps as one streaks dangerously close by, dodging out of the way by a sliver of an inch. Only one way out now. FORWARD. Will breaks into a run! He's right behind Kazusa as she charges in. TIME TO GET THE FUCK OUT. Or... Get the fuck in?
Misha	No lock. "Well then, I've got nothing." Misha says pretty plainly. "Though we're not proceeding anywhere withoug actually getting in firs--" Speak of the devil. When the song begins anew, in that familiar, melancholic, tone, Misha tenses. This time she's a little more prepared for the tremors, opting for her hevier purple robes and dtufier footwear, but the Star Singer still wobbles. Up until the cocoon unveils its defenses, when the path in open. "-Not good!" As -soon- as those lasers start to fly, the Reyvateil is behind lLyner, trying to make herself as small a targer as possible-- which is not as easy as it used to be anymore. Between Lyner- and Sanary of all people covering her, Misha makes it by mostly unscathed, but even as the group starts to book it... She sings. Voice lifting into a chant in melodic Hymmnos, the song is a little hasty, but the point gets across all the same- it is a song meant mainly for vanguard fighters- she's spreading herself a little thin in how she sings, intending the whole group aside from herself be the target for this song- one that boosts defense and though it does not heal injuries already picked up, it mitigates both pain and trauma for any subsequent wounds And it is NOT easy while running for her life.
Staren	Really?! Getting in is that easy?! Oh, there's a catch. Fortunately, Staren's forcefield is most efficient against energy attacks, so taking a few hits while running for the entrance shouldn't be /too/ much of a problem, unless they're crazy strong despite their huge numbers. Naturally, Staren simply runs straight for the entrance. Any lasers that hit him cause the forcefield to become visible, a transparent amber sphere that grows opaque and whitish in areas where attacks strike it.
Yuna Kagurazaka	That's a somewhat distressing set of lyrics, but before Yuna can react to the sung words, LASER TURRETS take immediate and critical priority. Yuna immediately yells, "SHUGOSEIHEKI!!" and manifests her kite shield, the Wall of the Guardian Star materializing on her left forearm. That should keep her somewhat safer from bendylasers as she's heading into the 'cocoon'. She squeezes off some shots with the beam-pistol that appears in her other hand, trying to snipe a couple of the turrets while she's on the run; Jiina's marksmanship is noticeably a little better than Yuna's, although they balance out in terms of overall effectiveness. And of course, Elner just gets to hide practically inside Yuna's shield ... but at least the little robo-faerie can reinforce Yuna's defenses from there. Not very efficiently, but at the moment, every little bit helps - and as much as Yuna would rather try to help the security personnel who are going to be stuck outside, she recognizes that the actual threat has to be dealt with inside the sphere; she can help them more by joining the others who are heading into the 'cocoon'.
X	X reacts the moment that turrets appear on the thing's surface. His right hand shifts to buster mode instantly. But he waits until they actually start FIRING before he returns any. A few shots are all the time he has to get off though, because... THAT IS WAY TOO MANY LASERS! A few strike, sizzling into his armor and burning nasty gouges. But it holds up - FOR NOW. "Handle this yourself?!" At first X can't believe these people would take the path least likely to be survivable. Are they suicidal? Should... should he let them stay out there withiout his help? Or trust them to know what they're doing? The path in gapes wide, beckoning, whilst the ground still rumbles under his feet. With a sour yell the blue robot plunges on for the entrance, taking a few shots at any turrets ringing it...
Deelel	Deelel is following Layener not and she moves along with the group. "If you need something to open it? I could give it a crack." She notes with a bit of grin on he face but she doesn't bring up her keyblade she looks at Luke for a moment and just gave him a slightly odd look before floor shakes. "So Black ICE? I see." Deelel now had the heyblad ready, but it seems she was in errror it wasn't black ICE, still away she goes through the portal.
Lyner Barsett	For the sake of making a world where no one cries, I scream out a prayer that doesn't reach anywhere and disappears Into the contaminated red sky, Throwing away all mercy. Crap, crap, crap...! Lyner, having had years of meatshie-I mean, Vanguard experience, naturally moves to shield Misha, allowing her and the others to go right on ahead. With Sanary and Yuna, he pulled out his blades. "Shield of Bond!" An aura of white build up, forming into a protective barrier that some of the lasers struck and bounched off of, veering harmlessly in other directions. The Star Singer's song is much appreciated, as though it doesn't heal wounds, he keeps him able to take a few more shots before his concentration breaks and the barrier he formed shatters. But that's fine. That was all the time he needed to help cover the others. "Radolf! I'm leaving things out here to you!" Wow really? This Radolf must have been some kind of badass if Lyner was just going to leave him and the soldiers outside to deal with massive beamspam alone. He turned and brought up the rear, disappearing inside. ...And then the Cocoon's door slide shut with a hiss and a latch. INSIDE ...Inside, they would find themselves...not anywhere they expected to find themselves. Here, they were, standing in the middle of an abandoned street. A modern day street, paved and painted with dividers, crossing points, and the like. It was raining too. Raining incredibly hard. And the sky was dark. And darkening more as lightning coarsed through the clouds. All around them were modern high rise buildings too. The lights were off in all the windows of pretty much all of them...save for two. One skyscraper in the distance had lights on in the windows of the highest floor. The other? Due east of thei immediate position, there was another building with lights on in the windows at about the second floor. An office building. They were in a modern city, in the middle of a torrential downpour. And it was definitely real. They were getting wet. This was no illusion. ...Did they cross reality? No way. That can't be right. "Uh..." Lyner started rather dumbly, shocked still as he finally came out, only to find himself getting soaked immediately. Luke meanwhile stood further ahead, calmly looking about as he assessed their surroundings... Now what?
Sanary Rondel	Standing back up after hunching over and nursing her wounds, Sanary lets out a deep breath before gawking at the odd sight before the group. "... O... Kay. This doesn't look like the inside of a big steel thing." For starters, it's raining. From the sky. The indoor sky. How the hell is that supposed to work? She lets out a confused sort of noise before regaining her composure, glancing over at X, Kazusa, Deelel to make sure they're still in one piece as well. "Well... Uh. No way to go but forward, eh?" Sanary takes a moment to press her hand against her shield, an oddly plasticky gray mass forming over the front, then expanding into a large, sheet-like mass. It's taking a bit of concentration to get it built up properly, but once she does? It hovers over the group, providing some cover from the rain! "We got a few ways to go... Er. Are those lights on? Hm... Which you do the rest of you wanna go?"
X	'uh' is right. X doesn't mind the rain. Or the dark. But... "Some kind of spaceship. That's what I THOUGHT we were entering! Is this more magic?" He sounds surprisingly acceptive of such a wild force for a robot, at least! But what else can he be when he's surrounded by it so much? X points eastward. "I'd rather risk something strange happening on the second floor of a building than the top. Why don't we check out what's hppening over there first?"
Kazusa Ujikane	Well, they made it. Thank god. Kazusa stops once their mad dash is over, bending over to rest her hands on her knees and just... catch her breath. Pant. Pant pant. "We... we made it..." It's probably understandable that she doesn't notice the strange surroundings right away. Even with the rain, it doesn't quite register until Sanary speaks. Then she looks up, and- "...Interdimensional cocoon-?!" Well, she's noticed now. "Wooooow...!" Standing up straight, Kazusa does a couple turns just for the sake of looking around, eyes wide. "It's... it's bigger on the inside...!"
Yuna Kagurazaka	It's raining. Heavily. On the plus side, at least Yuna's battlesuit isn't going to show off any MORE of her body for getting wet. It also isn't going to start shorting out or anything from the rainfall; Yuna holds VERY still for a couple of moments as if to make sure she doesn't need to release her transformation or anything. Then she relaxes. And sneezes. But at least it's a small sneeze. "I think 'inside' first," she suggests, sniffling briefly. Sanary's 'canopy' is a welcome change from getting actively rained on but she's still wet from what fell BEFORE the shield was interposed. "Somewhere we can dry off, warm back up, and start asking questions ..." She looks towards the eastern building, then gestures in that direction, letting her pistol and her shield vanish for now. "That seems like the closest option; if we have to check out the skyscraper, we can at least get geared up for the trek. And maybe the rain will let up first." "At least it's not acid rain or something ..." Yuna shakes her head briefly, then tries to wring some water out of her hair. "Maybe the sphere acted like a portal of some kind to another world ... ? Elner, have you still got access to the Multiversal datacom network?"
William Pauwel	What do you expect to see when you run into a giant glowing coccoon.? Will was kind of thinking 'horrible butterfly monster.' He was definitely not expecting to end up in a city that looks like it came straight out of some kind of film noir movie. Not that he has any idea what film noir IS or what a city SHOULD look like. In fact, the first thing that he says is, "Wow, it's like a bigger Tomoeda!" Will is not really a city boy. "How'd'you reckon they fit all of this inside that thing? Some kind've weird... Bigger on the Inside thing going on?" Will tilts his hat back slightly, suddenly glad that his leathers are sturdy enough to shrug off the rain. He glances towards the skyscraper with the high-up lights and lightly tilts his hat back to get a better look. "That might be a good place to check out. Think I might head that way for now, get a closer look." The rain doesn't seem to bother him all that much. Does he get rained on a lot?
Staren	Inside, and onto... a turn-of-the-millenium street? "Uhhh..." he looks to Misha, "Is this what cities look like in your world, or is it completely alien to here...?" Staren asks. Obviously they should investigate one of the buildings, but first, Staren looks around and starts scanning with the sensors in his helmet. Passive all across the EM spectrum to check if it's an illusion of visible light only. Pinging with ultrasound to confirm the solidity of nearby walls. And scanning for magic (intensity only, he can't really tell 'type') and dimensional distortions to investigate the 'interdimensional coccoon' theory put forth bu Kazusa. The rain doesn't bother him, except for the noise and visibility issues. But it's not like it will soak him through his armor...
Misha	After enough running to leave a girl breathless, hear pounding, and panting, Misha comes to a halt, hands planting on her knees and working on catching her breath. Only when she looks up does she realize this is a -street-. Complete with buildings and everything. "... I'm pretty sure that's not how... Movement works." She says, sort of at a loss for words as the rains quickly leave her soaked. "Cities here are... Well they have to fit on the tower, so they can't have buildings like these without having them anchored to the tower itself, so the only sicyt /like/ this is Platina, but... It's still way too different" Pause. "Can we go somewhere more dry?" Complaining is not something Misha usually does, but she usually doesn't get drenched this fast.
Deelel	Deelel had no idea where they were going to end up. She doe sfind out soon however she's very glad though that Lyner is an experianced tank. he's very much so s tey go in and she's feeling less on edge due to this but what she was not expecting was a modern user city caught in an unending rainswtorm. Deelel is just soaked in short oder but she doesn't seem put off from the cold as she looks to Sanary for a moment nodding in agreement. "Who knows X, if I tried to catalog everything I might just glitch." An odd way for a seeming human to talk isn't it? She however takes a moment banishes her blade pulls a rod off her leg and it turns into a light umbrella, yup she totally got one of those.
Lyner Barsett	Choices are made. The majority seems to be intent on heading EAST to dry off and check out the second floor of the building. Luke, the ever present grumpy pants, and Will, decide to head NORTH. If ya'll want to change your minds, feel free to do so. But for now, the two northbound companions were headed off to go in that direction. Lyner gives his harebrained theory on where they are, and then most everyone decides that EAST is easier than NORTH. So they head in that direction. The summoned sheet of gray from Sanary is a welcome addition, and Lyner breathes out a sigh of relief as he walks along with everyone, though sticking close by Misha, in case anything silly decided to jump out at them all of a sudden. YUNA would discover that yes, you still have access to the multiversal datacom network at large. STAREN's question is answered by Misha, and then his scanners spread out to confirm various things. The first confirmation is that this is no illusion. It is here and it is solid. That rain is real as well, you were in an abandoned city for all intents and purposes. Magic sensors however come up....blank. At least at first. But then a phenomenon familiar to the others happens. From below their feet, golden energy channels through the streets, and hurtles further into the distance, the same energy from last time that was being drained from the Plasma Bell! So that's what this song is doing! EAST They eventually arrive at an office building. The doors are unlocked, and they can rest inside the lobby if they wish. There are easy chairs, sofas, and magazines littered on coffee tables. They're all...actually blank. There's nothing on them. No words, or pictures. Like they're just filler for the environment. And no one is around. No one. % Not even any enemies. It's just the harsh pitter patter of raine striking the pavement relentlessly. Once you're ready, perhaps you should head upstairs.
Lyner Barsett	NORTH The light of the beautiful moon Sinks down to the beginning, Far beyond the sky As Luke and Will make their way north...they may or may not notice something suspect. There is a glint of red light on the very rooftop of their destination skyscraper. ...And a second later, an arraye of EIGHT red beams pierce through the rainy skies, curving around buildings and heading straight for them! They're semi homing, and will give up their targets after a few seconds, but they are fast! And they're curving right for the two. And into your grieving eyes. I still reach my hand Even further. Believe in the grief you feel. Luke narrowed his eyes and pulled out a compact, black and white cube from behind his waist. "...Don't drag me down." He mutters aside to Will, expanding a double sided energy lance before proceeding to dash forward through the streets.
Kazusa Ujikane	There goes Kazusa's umbrella. Pout. But most of the group is headed east, including the people the booknerd knows best! So she's gonna be right there with them, looking around as they go into the office... and then looking around some more when she realizes how blank everything is. "...whoa... this really is like some kind of dream world, but it's real! Weird." She picks up a blank magazine, shoves it in her purse, and then immediately goes tromping right up the stairs. "I wonder what's up here, if everything downstairs is just scenery dressing."
Staren	Well... Staren was /going/ to follow the others, but that energy is the obvious objective, so Northward he goes! As soon as he realizes the beams are /homing/ he activates his wings and crashes through nearby buildings' windows in a beautifully-animated chase scene to try and avoid them! He waits a moment to see if the beams keep coming, forcing him to seek cover... otherwise, he dashes after Luke!
Sanary Rondel	Heading NORTH to provide Luke and Will with some additional backup, Sanary's magic sheet-cover will, unfortunately for the eastern team, be going with her. If it's any consolation, though, at least that canopy won't be in use for very long with the sudden influx of LASERS! "Holy... Heads down!" It just had to be lasers again. Bracing that shield in front of her once more, the armored healer rushes forward with Luke directly at those lasers. Why isn't she trying to dodge them? Doging is hard, and running into them with her shield means not having to deal with them curving around to hit her arms or legs or other armor-covered bits! "You see which rooftop they're coming from?" Even as she calls that out, she's already peeking around her shield to try and get a bead on the source while moving forward. She's sticking to a fairly straightforward path, however, in case William or Luke need someone to hide behind!
Yuna Kagurazaka	"Well, if this is some kind of Cosmosphere," Yuna says to Kazusa, "then this building must be relevant to our 'host' somehow - the Reyvateil whose world this is ... and it's probably the same Reyvateil who was messing with things 'outside'." She pauses briefly. "A virtual Reyvateil? Lyner, Misha, has anyone ever tried to make a 'fake' Reyvateil, a computer or something to simulate the 'functions' of one?" It's just a guess, and she knows it. And now she knows that Will and Sanary (and Luke) just ran into trouble. She's still going to try to find some way to dry off a little bit before heading back out - and if there's no convenient source of towels or something like them on the first floor, she'll trek on up to the second. She's a little too worried about the others to spend TOO much time looking around, but there's no point in visiting this building and NOT investigating.
X	X does indeed choose to go east. He's sure there's enough people going North, so maybe leaving them to handle it WOULD be better. So he takes the lonely path east, feeling apprehensive and questioning his choice the ENTIRE way. Even as he steps into the office building's lobby... "Hello?" And... there's nobody home. Although his shiny metal exterior's dripping water, X doesn't seem terribly bothered by all the rain he just trudged through. And with Kazusa right over there... "No idea how that worked last time, but if you need to borrow what power I can offer again, go ahead. I have a feeling this... 'dream world' will have it out for us soon." He treats the magazines with a disbeliving STARE... then heads for the stairs. Because he doesn't feel like trusting any elevators, especially for just a SINGLE FLOOR...
William Pauwel	There's that song again. That sad, mournful, heartstring-plucking song. Will makes a sound that may indicate at least rudimentary pattern recognition. Whenever that song sings, something happens. He tugs a pair of goggles from around his neck to up over his eyes. The rain patters against the lenses as they trudge north, toward that distant tower. The lyrics are more of the same. Grief. Always grief. What is the singer grieving for? What do they want the listener to grieve for? A red flash snaps his attention back to the present-- right in time to catch a laser straight to the chest. Will grunts, but more out of surprise than pain. A panel of leather is burnt through over his chest, revealing a distinctive, matte black plate of armor. Ancient Nanoceramic is /amazing/ at absorbing beam weaponry, it seems. Will grunts, tilting his hat down as more beams streak in. He leans forward, bracing his shins against the inside of his boots. Wheels drop from the sides of his hardened sole, pressing into the rain-slikced streets. Water streaming off him in thin streams, Will shoots forward like a practiced ice-skater, weaving in-between narrowly dodged beams as he races after Luke. "Don't you worry about that, pardner," Will says as he pulls up alongside his slightly grumpy companion. There's... a very big gun in his hands. Will takes aim and fires at the distant source of those beams. He probably won't hit anything, but the Solano fires slugs of charged plasma. Maybe it'll disrupt some of those beams!?
Deelel	Deelel heads east with the bulk of the group she's seemingly not concerned as she uses her light umbella to keep the rain off until they get into the office building. She takes a moment banishs the tool now that it's not needed and starts to look about hte office. "Nothin gbut empty files..." She notes as she holds up one of the empty magazines. "Got any idea about this? X? Humm a dream I heard suposedly organics can't read in dreamsd maybe that's it but? I have never verfied that data."
Misha	Lyners wild-mass-guessing reyvateil-ologist theories aside, Misha is soaked and looking less pleased by the second. Jade eyes watch the golden light dance along the ground, darting off to parts unknown. She trudges on, looking about as miserable and hissy as a wet cat, though she keeps her drenched irritation to herself, bottling it away like she has the bad tendency to do. Be prepared for a very wet cosmosphere nect time. Into the office though. Misha pauses at the blank magazines, a knot furrowing on her brow. "She could be, you know, a real Reyvateil." Misha noted mildly at the term 'virtual' getting thrown into play. Reyvateils are people too. "I'm pretty sure a computer can't mimic our higher thought processes and create emotions of it's own. Not here anyway."
Lyner Barsett	EAST As Yuna would find; yes there are towels. In a nearby bathroom. "Huh? Virtual Reyvateil?" Lyner looked towards Yuna with an arched brow. "I...I've never heard of something like that." He shakes his head, wringing out his cape after. "I couldn't even begin to guess why someone would make a virtual Reyvateil. ...That's just a sad thought." He could guess actually. But he didn't want to say. And also, he was more concerned about this office at the moment. Once he was sorted out he began to follow X up to the second floor, where the hallway lights were conspicuously ON. "Huh..." The knight intoned, looking left and right as they made their way down the hallway. Eventually though, they come across a set of double doors leading into a meeting room with a looooooong table. And in this room, all of the seats are empty! And the lights are on. But there's one thing that stands out. On the table, at one of the seats, there's a single laptop, powered on and running. It seems to have some kind of text application open. "That's..." Lyner narrowed his eyes and peered in, taking a look left, and then right, before stepping further in to make sure the room was totally. Secure. The others could check the computer. Also, from the window, they can see streaks of red lasers tearing through the skies as the NORTH group battled with their unknown attacker...
Yuna Kagurazaka	Yuna brings a couple of towels back for the others (especially Misha), handing them out before she actually works on drying herself off. Misha's point about it possibly being a real Reyvateil just draws a good-natured nod; it's definitely a valid point. She only guessed 'virtual' because of the discrepancies compared to 'normal' Cosmosphere dives, as described. At any rate, yes, going upstairs. Yuna takes a brief look at the laptop, but if she's not familiar with the language it's working with, she's going to let someone else try to decipher it. The lasers to the north are of somewhat greater concern. "Jiina," Yuna calls out, "we need to combine before we head out to rendezvous with the other group. For speed if for nothing else." "Noted," Jiina replies. Other than that, the green-and-white armored figure is quiet; Elner glides over to hover next to the laptop, attempting to access it wirelessly. The robo-faerie won't try hacking in or anything - just a basic probe of its systems, if there's anything that CAN be accessed.
Kazusa Ujikane	"Ah, I'd like that, but..." Kazusa takes out The Marksman as they walk, holding it up. The face of it is black, blank within the borders around the edge. "See, I've got five cards, and I can only use each one, once. They don't reset until I've used all five." She explains as they go, until they come to an office, and... A computer! That's something Kazusa knows how to use! In fact she uses one every day. For hours. So a laptop is instant attention. "Ooh, let me see, let me see!" The nerd dashes around the meeting table, slides into the seat, and goes to work immediately - first reading whatever's in the text editor, then going snooping around for literally everything else she can dig up on it.
Lyner Barsett	NORTH In actuality, everyone wants to be saved, And their wandering hearts pierce a hole in the sky. The beams chasing Staren don't come after him any further once they make impact with debris and schrapnel. So he is free to dive out and continue after Luke. Will and Sanary take shots, but are still standing and rushing on. Luke meanwhile weaves left, then weaves right, and slashes a few lasers away with the edge of his energy lance. A few strike his armor, but he doesn't stop. It was now or never to get to the bottom of the source of those beams! If I choose you, And if we can search for a happiness just for the two of us It doesn't matter if freezing flames burn my body, I am near a smile. The shots popped off by Will streak through the rainy sky, and up towards the rooftop. Several opposing lasers strike them, and they cancel each other out. However, nothing seems to have gotten hit. His reward for trying though, is a fresh batch of lasers burst out over the roof and curling and zigzagging down towards for all of them. Luke, Staren, Will, and Sanary. At this point, Luke's black greaves shift, revealing...mini boosters slotted under them. "I'm going in. Hold on, guy." Unless resisted, he would grab Will by the back of his jacket, and then....BLAM. All of the boosters in his greaves flared to life, and he shot upwards. Skipping the inside of the building. No, it was time to skip straight to the top. Just, uh...watch out for the wall of homing lasers coming headfirst at you. With his lance in his other arm, he swung outwards, destroying any obviously dangerous ones, and letting the others streak past, or strike non vital area. It was reckless, but he was going for it.
Lyner Barsett	EAST The laptop is easily accessible, with no need to hack. On it, is a sort of datalog. It reads: "(Date garbled) ...We believe we may have finally figured it out." "She is angry. ...Angry at us for our transgressions against her." "But she won't listen to us. She has already made her choice. Decided our fates..." "But we can't let it end there. We have to show her that we're worthy again..." "Project Sotiris will be our new beacon of hope..." The log ends there.
X	At the news Kazusa's kind of stuck with weirder choices, X frowns. Hopefully he'll be able to protect her if anything happens! But luckily, the second floor seems incredibly quiet. Too quiet. "One of the eeriest places I've ever been, even when it doesn't look special at all." Well, with Kazusa rushing to the laptop's main seat, he takes a position behind and gazes down. His advanced optics have no trouble reading the screen even at weird angles! "Project... Sotiris?" He records the message completely, saving an image of it perfectly to memory... then.. "Think there's any other logs on that you can pull up?"
Sanary Rondel	"Everyone okay?" Sanary directs some healing magic towards Will, Luke, and Staren once they regroup, a green light cloud expanding from her towards them for that brief moment until it's time for... Lasers! More lasers. Dammit, lasers. Sighing lightly to herself, she readies her shield AGAIN and prepares for another dash towards the building when Luke appears to be shifting gears. "Going in...? Oh. OH. Alright, I got your back!" What a nice change of pace. It's been a while since Sanary's used her AANS, but it looks like today's the day they get dusted off! Figuratively, of course, since she's already wearing them around her ankles, but still. Redirecting her energy into those anklets, she starts floating into the air before taking off after Luke, her shield ready to take some of those incoming lasers as well. Luckily for Luke and William, Sanary's become rather proficient at the art of doing TWO THINGS AT ONCE. As she flies onwards, she's also keeping that healing light 'linked' to the two, augmenting their natural regeneration and even giving them access to her own pool of magical energy should they need it for whatever reason! Depending on how closely Staren is flying, he'll even get some healing and magic battery access as well.
Kazusa Ujikane	Kazusa reaches up, adjusting her glasses out of habit as she reads. "...she is angry... decided our fates... show her we're worthy again..." Furrow. "...Project Sotiris? What's that?" Immediately, she minimizes the data log, and goes poking around - whatever the equivalent of the desktop is, whatever passes for a documents folder, she'll even go snooping through the filesystem folder by folder if it seems like there might be anything interesting to find. "We're about to find out! If this was a business laptop, there might not be much on it, but if it was personal, who knows what they left lying around in a folder."
Staren	"Why does this magical singer have it out for people?!" Staren wonders to himself. He sees where the beams are coming from now. As he runs into an alley trying to dodge, a minimissile launches upward from the a on one of his armor's shoulders. It races past Luke and Will, and then explodes to soften up the target for them! Plasma mini-missiles are designed to briefly superheat the area, burning and melting rather than using concussive force.
William Pauwel	With all the power pouring into this place, it's no real surprise that someone, somewhere, has something that can weaponize all of it. It just so happens that that someone is pointing their gun at Will at his companions! Deadly, red lasers streak out of the sky, threatening to turn them all into so much smoked swiss. Fortunately, they seem to be made of something that the Solano can at least cancel out. This will serve him very well when Luke straight up makes like some kind of terrible bird of prey and snags him right off the ground. "What in--" Will stammers as he's liberated from gravity's cruel embrace. "Aah!" He's flying! FLYING! This is not a situation Will is familiar OR comfortable with! His legs kick helplessly underneath him as he's snagged into the sky! ...Right into the path of yet more lasers. Sanary is there to make sure he doesn't get too chewed up, though! Will does his part, opening up with the Solano to the best of his ability. Plasma and lasers meet and crackle into mutual nonexistence. Between all of this firepower, he might just make it through in one piece! Maybe. If Luke manages to stick his landing into that office building without Will eating a face full of glass.
Yuna Kagurazaka	A question or two, and it comes out that Sotiris means 'Salvation' or something to that effect. Which seems appropriate, given the rest of what the datalog says. With no apparent need for hacking, Elner is prepared to leave the laptop to Kazusa; however, seeing the laser battle to the north has Yuna growing antsy - she doesn't want to leave the others on their own for too long, particularly given what they're already dealing with. She's sidling back towards the door as she waits to hear what else can be found, if anything; once the group is on their way out of the conference room, she'll head back downstairs ahead of them, and combine with Jiina as soon as they're outside. Maybe sooner, if the doors are going to handle Powered Form's size without impromptu architectural remodeling. She's alraedy aware that it means going out in the rain again, but whatever. She can handle a little rain, her friends may or may not be able to handle a little lasers but she's prepared to do what she can to assist them on that front.
Deelel	So thing contiune on as they start to look about the eastern region. She pauses at the mention of a Virtual Reyvateil? That catches the program's intrest. She milled over this thought and got up from the magaizne howeverr the laptop? That gets her attention as she makes for it to get a good look at it but Kazusa has it very much well in hand. "Humm any idea what might be on there Kazusa. She'll start to check out the room for anything else she's got confidence ins the young user's ability to dig up anything of worth from the laptop. She'll look about for a moment while she waits, she pauses as she gets a look. "Project Sotiris?" She watches X work now look for more logs. "After you try as well allow me to take a look if you don't mind."
Lyner Barsett	EAST There is...nothing else of terrible note on the computer. A deep probe of the system reveals that there are actually many other datalogs, but their contents are corrupted beyond salvaging, with filenames like 'jfsdsotirnh&*3'. And they errored out when opening. The one they did get to read must have been all that was left simply due to already being open. ...There didn't seem to be anything else here. Lyner frowned, watching the streak of lasers in the distance. "Is there anything else on that computer?" He asked, turning to face Kazusa, X and the others. "If not, we should probably clear the area and and get going north to help the others" In fact, he was already leaving the meeting room, and then the hallway, and down the stairs to go do just that! "Project Sotiris, huh...?"
Kazusa Ujikane	Well, that appears to be that. Kazusa finally pushes the laptop away and lets out a sigh after every file crashes out Totally Not Word, folding her arms over her chest. Pout. "That looks like it," she replies to Deelel and Lyner. "This poor thing's really messed up, whatever happened here corrupted pretty much every file on the thing. I'm not sure it'd start up again if we shut it down." Finally she stands up, adjusting her purse on her shoulder. "Well, that's about all I can do for now. Let's get going, see what all those..." "...those flashy, bending lasers..." Did she really only just notice now? She only just noticed now. Oh good grief.
Lyner Barsett	NORTH A writhing dream is the meaning of my life. I want to return this frightened world Into the depths of the water from whence it came. The four of them actually manage it pretty well! Especially Staren. That Plasma Missile explodes near the rooftop and the lasers abruptly stop there barrage, giving the crew time to continue flying upwards at high speed. But once the smoke clears, they notice that there is a massive, red, spherical barrier crafted out of hymmnos runes covering the rooftop. It fates gradually from sight, and then... Luke, Will, and Sanary break through the smoke, and they do NOT enter the building, Luke carries Will up to the roof where... They come face to face with... A person? A robot? An android? It's decked out in sleek white and red armor, with a black bodysuit, balljoints, and single tip legs. Also it had purple hair. It stands some distance away from the rooftop, cold blue eyes following the flight path of the trio as they break through the smoke. "........" It raises an arm, and suddenly, several red funnels veer through the sky and form up around it, pointing towards them. The tips begin to glow with charging energy... There it was. The enemy. Sadness is the only thing I will not erase. I will even cut through That kind of person's reasoning with these two hands of mine. Down to zero we go. And the song continued. And while it did, the energy from the Plasma Bell ran up the skyscraper itself, seeming to be drawn into the building...
William Pauwel	Thank heavens for massive plasma torpedos!! Will needs to shield his eyes from the blinding flare of light that ensues. That seemed to have stopped whatever was firing those lasers, though! And Luke even has the sense to land them on top of the building instead of trying to go through the window. Though that might have been more because of the weird barrier than it was because he didn't want to bust right in like some kind of BAMF. More importantly, they're on the roof now. And... There's someone else there with them. A... Robot girl? S-she's pretty cu-- NO WILL. No. Important things first. She's charging up an attack! The bits are preparing to fire! Will's eyes go wide, he has to do something /RIGHT NOW./ A voice on the radio catches his ear. Being an impressionable young lad, Will immediately acts on the first reasonable thing he hears. And thus. "Hey! Wait!" Will yells, the Sirocco's powerful microservos whirring to speed. The young Chaser suddenly lunges forward, RIGHT AT THE MYSTERIOUS ROBOT GIRL. "We ain't here to fight! Hold yer fire!" He leaps at her, arms spread wide!! And tries to wrap her up in them before she can fire. His secret weapon is... A hug!? "Just calm down. There ain't no need to turn this into a brawl, is there?"
Staren	Staren smirks as the lasers stop. That worked! But apparently there's someone up on that rooftop... He /would/ launch more missiles, but it seems Will wants to try talking first, so Staren will do something less... violent. Since he's so far away, he ducks into a building and prepares to teleport up to the others...
X	"Everyone else has been fighting. I wonder if this little log's worth leaving the others alone this long... this is why I didn't want the team splitting up!" Well, they can PROBABLY handle things. But he eyes Kazusa critically. "You said you need to copy either a sneaky person or a berserker? You'd better stay behind cover if there's nothing like that around. You can't get hurt!" He goes to leave the room, but stops at the door... "... Maybe we should bring the laptop with us."
Deelel	Deelel says "Still it had some clues so this was worth while." She gets ready to leave and moves onwards. The other group could use thier help likely so she summons her keyblade again as she mvoes on out wondering about the name of the project? "Good idea." She'll turn back pack up the laptop and follow the rest of the group now, it's a good thing X thought of that.
Sanary Rondel	Landing by Luke and Will, Sanary switches the kite shield in hand with the riot shield on her back, arching her back a bit to let herself adjust to the change in weight. As she does, her gaze falls on the maybe-android before them, and she raises her free hand in greeting. "Hey. Is all this singing and.. Er. Lasers your doing?" She tenses up when the tips of the funnels glow red, moving in front of Luke and Will in a defensive stance. She still has her other hand up, however, to show that she has no weapons held in it. "Hold up, hold up! We're not here to fight, lady! Unless we have to. Now why don't we just calm down, stop draining the..." What was it called again? "Plasma... Something? Will, help me out h-" And as she glances over towards where William was, he's already passing her by to... Try and give the android a hug. It takes Sanary a moment to process just what's going on with that, but it doesn't take too long before she's following after him. Someone has to make sure he doesn't get turned into paste, after all, and so... Sanary follow right on after him! She still has the shield in tow, but she's still trying to look as non-agressive as possible while doing so and keeping her healing energy linked into him just in case. She even raises her free hand with an awkward wave and grin!
Lyner Barsett	EAST Deelel takes the laptop. It doesn't vanish in her hands immediately, so she can walk off with it. Everyone else runs off! NORTH The light of the beautiful moon Just silently Falls into ruin into the beginning. Evidently, that robot girl was NOT the source of the song, as it KEEPS going, even as she stands there and cold charges her funnels for maximum lasering. ...But then Will goes and does something stupid. He DIVES RIGHT AT HER AND....hugs? He actually succeeds too! Wrapped up in the Chaser's arms, the android blinks slowly. And then begins to speak in a rigid tone. "...Behavior not recognized. Processing..Processing...Processing...Error, Error. Designated Response not found. Rerouting. Defaulting to standard response. Deploying High Density Anti-Personnel Laser Array." FWEEM! ALL of her funnels turned inwards, aiming at Will as they finished charging. And then BLAM! All eight fired at the same time! All concentrated on him and him alone. Good luck, sir. This admiration I have locked away Still reaches faraway, Into the darkness All the days I spent alive with you AND THE SONG COMES TO AN END. With it, all of the energy being funneled in from the Plasma Bell ceases, as if finally cut off. Another song does not start up either. But there's still that robot situation.
William Pauwel	OK so maybe spontaneously hugging the (cute!?) robot girl with the orbital death lasers was not the best idea in the world. Even if she WASN'T an emotionaless super killdroid, rushing up and hugging a girl you just met is probably something that would be considered 'weird' by most cultures. In hindsight, it was probably not entirely unforeseen that she would shoot him with all the lasers ever. Speaking of which. The rest of the group gets to watch as the mysterious gynoid opens fire with all eight of her charged blasts. Will's voice goes up in a cracking, pained scream. The fabric covering his back burns away, revealing... Jet black plates of strange, alien metal that covers his back and wraps around to ensconce his torso in a protective bulwark. You'd think that it wouldn't do much against this much firepower. And in some way, you'd be right. But these plates seem to EXCEL at absorbing and dispersing the energy. The beams slam into his back and the plates do their work, drinking in the light that connects. The smell of cooking flesh is a sure sign that they seem to be dispersing at least a portion of their power directly into Will's back. If he wasn't being buoyed by Sanary's healing magic, it's almost certain that his back would be nothing more than a charred mess. In a way, it's even worse; her magic means the nerves keep on healing back even as they're being burnt away. But he has something else going for him; the very same absorptive and repulsive properties associated with this armor means that a sizable portion of the machine's heat is being pumped around Will's torso, out of the plates located over his chest, and finally directly into the Gynoid's body. The pain also seems to be making Will's muscles seize and contract, trying to shrink him away from the pain. Unusually, this appears to mean that he's... hugging her even more tightly. And crying, more than a little bit. That's a lot of energy to absorb, a lot of heat, a /lot/ of burns. But somehow, thanks to the magic of ~Tomoyo's Fashion Boutique~, Will is still alive. Also, hugging tighter, because he can't do much else right now. M-might need to pry him off.
Sanary Rondel	Sanary wasn't... Not expecting that, really. That's why she's maintained that link to William even before the lasering, although she focuses more of that energy into him now that the android's been confirmed as a threat! Although the healing isn't likely to fix all of his injuries nor act as a substitute for more focused treatment, it should at least help to soothe the pain, stabilize the more serious wounds, and (most importantly) keep him alive despite the frying. Well, it's not like she promised him it'd be a pleasant healing experience! Moving in closer to get her gauntleted hands on William's shoulder and the android's also shoulder, she promptly starts wedging her hands in between their shoulders, pushing forwards to try and create some space and start getting the former back to the safety. She'll leave any actual offense to the others for now, what with having to focus her energies on making sure William doesn't sustain too much long-term damage. "That... That was really dumb, you know that?"
X	X is pretty quick for running. Perhaps not the fastest of Reploid-kind, but still much faster than the average human. He dashes faster than most athletes could manage despite the rain-slick pavement, moving to rejoin the others at the North section! And it doesn't take him long to get into view of things... Just in time to see Will try and HUG some kind of robot. And get... utterly blasted. X can only WINCE and worry. He practically FELT that one from over a thousand feet away. Well, he'll be over there soon! Because he's charging for the group with all the speed he can muster!
Lyner Barsett	BREAST FIRE!? The built up heat funnels into the gynoid's body, and she realizes...this is quite bad! She tries to get free, but finds that Will is REALLY STUBBORNLY ATTACHED! And then FWOOSH. The the heat, built up from her own lasers firing at him is sent back through /her/. "Damage Sustained, Thirty Four Percent. Mission has been completed. Retreating." Armor sparking slightly, the robot girl backed off once Sanary and Luke pulled Will back. And then her funnels returned to her, forming into a wing array as she flew off into the sky....and vanished. They are left with the rainy rooftop and the silent city. And then... The surroundings turn to white. Light envelops everything and then, AND THEN... "Lyner, Luke? Misha? ...What happened to Will?" Came Radolf's voice as reality faded back in. They were back outside the cocoon, apparently shunted off by some higher power. And it looks like Deelel still had that laptop! It didn't stop existing. But they weren't getting back in. Luke glared aside at Will and mumbled. "You are a moron." Lyner chuckled meanwhile, rubbing the side of his head. "Well....everyone's still alive. That's what counts, right?"
Yuna Kagurazaka	Once she's out on the sidewalk/street, Yuna does indeed shift to Powered Form .. And then wastes absolutely no time at all in getting to the skyscraper where the other half of the group has engaged a laser-wielding gynoid who may or may not be a Reyvateil of some sort in her own right. Her hoverthrusters are good for high-speed overland movement, she could probably fit into the flow of traffic on a major highway as far as her speed and maneuverability go. It's not fast enough to save William from getting lasered in response to the hug he attempted ... but at least she's here to see the results, and if he winds up plummeting from some great height, Yuna stands a pretty good chance of being able to catch him ... At least if they didn't wind up back in the forest. She would still catch him if necessary, but other than that, Yuna sighs in relief. "Yeah," she nods to Lyner, "that's the really important thing. And we might know a little bit more about what we're dealing with ..."
Deelel	Deelel arrives just in time for Will to make a very dumb but there's nothing she can do with her keyblade out and the laptop tucked under one arm she doesn't evne a skip a beat she sees how bad off William is she starts to focus for a moment. "Life's Refeshing breeze, cure." She finishes her chant raises the keyblade and lets lose her own healing spell on William hopeuflly this will help but things re not looking took good and she's really getting worried here she'll have to leave the robot to the others.
Staren	Staren appears above Will in a flash of light. Wings deployed and buzzing, his shoulder missile racks in front-firing position, he's ready to-- ...Will is /hugging/ her? Even after that? Seriously? Before Staren can decide how to handle this, the robot girl... flies away. And then the world goes away, too."Aah, what the--" They're back outside. Staren stomps his feet. "Dammit! So much for accomplishing anything..." he folds his arms. "Clearly, that was some kind of defense mechanism to keep us out of this thing. If adventurers are running around in some pocket universe, they won't harm it, right?" He shrugs. "Next time maybe we should cut our way in, see what's actually inside there."
Kazusa Ujikane	And the next thing Kazusa Ujikane knows, she's shunted out of the strange space. Fwump. Deelel got the laptop, so that's good! And then- Oh god Will, what happened. You took her advice and- and oh god. The cardgirl is immediately over by his side and looking him over, though she does not actually have any first aid skills. Just 'the ability to be horrified at what happened now that he took her advice'. "O-oh god, I'm so sorry, I... I didn't think she'd... th-that was a really bad idea, I'm so sorry-!" From now on no giving bad advice you're not there to enact yourself, Kazusa.
William Pauwel	Will is kind of regretting his mildly impulsive nature. Also being put into hard Fight or Flight situations while also hooked up to a network of advice givers who may or may not be particularly sound sources. Regardless, his NOBLE SACRIFICE (read: dumb and unnecessary thing, but he'll call it noble anyway) seems to have driven off the weird gynoid, especially since Will doesn't exactly have the strength to resist Sanary peeling him off of their assailant. Will collapses into white-space as it forms, and then finds himself face-down in cool, soothing grass. Except it kind of, too, because these kinds of burns tend to leave your skin sort of... sensitive. The plates of armor underlying his outfit seem to have been left their mark in his back and chest. They're surrounded in charred, flaking tissue-- skin which seems to be gradually healing as the magic is heaped on. Kazusa comes up along with the others. Will tilts his head, his eyes are still tearing up a bit, but he flashes a grin to fight back the pain. "I-it's fine. Gonna take... More than that. Heh. I was the one who did it, so don't... feel too bad. Okay?" And then he turns his face back into the grass, because it feels a whole lot nicer like this. Also because being seen all weepy-like by a bunch of ladies just ain't right.