Scene #5426: Thoughts in Chaos

Owner	Pose
Mortimer Balman	It weren't much of his business, but damned if Mort wasn't gonna get involved anyway. Josuke needed some help.. Well, he was gonna get it. A quick phone call to Staren and another one to Josuke to tell him where to go- Josuke had never actually BEEN to Mortimer's house, so that was good for his plans- and so he had called the group to a small copse of forestry some distance from Equestria's entry Gate. Well beyond their borders he had no need to fear the town getting caught in the crossfire, though he'd advised them to go on a 'town outing' somewhere far from Ponyville nonetheless, if only to be certain. The first thing they had to do was deal with those who would be following Josuke and the poor victim of his unintentional corruptive healing. An hour or two's time given to Mortimer and his crew, they had done an excellent job of setting up an 'ambush'. Using her dark magic, Nettle had set up illusory magic to make the copse appear intimidating. Unnerving. /Haunted/. A realm of the dead, with dying trees and faded grass, the howling of tremendous beasts lurking just beyond the edge of sight- granted the last one of those was real. Ulbrecht's howl could be heard for miles in all directions. The forces of Chaos may find such a thing inviting.. Or maybe not, since such lands tended to belong to the Dead, in the Old World. And the Dead seldom cared for the trespasses of the Living- much less Chaos itself. So, perhaps, it would give them some small degree of trepidation. Especially the shadowy silhouette of a huge humanoid figure, wielding a massive sword, always just on the edge of the periphrial..
Josuke Higashikata	Josuke really had no choice but to trust Mortimer's judgement here. Mind, he did trust Mortimer; it's just that Josuke has no experience with this 'Chaos' business. Besides, he wasn't really worried about himself, so much as this poor bastard he'd tried to heal of a broken arm. Oh the arm healed, all right. Except that wasn't it. His hands and feet turned into bird talons! That definitely wasn't normal. Fortunately the Speedwagon Foundation had quickly gotten the situation under control, at least, inasmuch as it could be gotten under control in Josuke's world. There wasn't anything that could be done for the kid -- it had been a classmate of Josuke's who'd broken his arm while fooling around on a bike -- but they could keep him away from the masses and as comfortable as possible. Josuke had promised him that he WOULD find a way to fix this. And that's what he's here to do. Josuke and this friend of his are on the way to the location Mortimer has mentioned. Though to call this kid a 'friend' is... rather a gross overstatement. The young man, a black-haired kid with darker skin than Josuke, eyes the larger teen dubiously. "I hope you know, I still don't trust you." At this, Josuke winces. "I know, Yamazaki... I messed up," he admits. "That's why I'm bringing us both here. I'm trying to fix it. I know somebody who might be able to. So c'mon. It's a chance, but it's better than nothing." A determined look comes over Josuke's features. "I'll WILL fix this!"
Staren	Staren heads for the designated spot, looking around warily. Not that it can be seen -- he doesn't need to turn his head when he has drones in the sky and microcameras in the back of his armor. Still, anyone who sees him knows he must be ready for a fight. Then again, the suit also deals with a number of hazards and he's known for wearing it on every visit to Priscilla's world after he was only ambushed /once/, so who knows? Once he comes into sight of Josuke, he waves. "Hey. Good to see you again. Who's your friend?"
Argast Wyrdseeker	Such a land like this was not going to impede the followers of the Dark Pantheon. Argast looked over the scenario and looked to his followers. Where some paled and took a step back, a Khornite would appear and deliver a swift axe to their head and instructions that if another turned to run, they and the man next to them would be slain. "How inviting...I did not know the undead held lands here. Still, we must collect our new devoted." Argast said. As he moved into view, he would show off something new. Wispy energy coming from his back, looking more akin to bird wings. "Bask in the sight of my favor." He says, right in the direction of the Silhouette.
Mortimer Balman	Once Josuke and his friend had arrived, they would find themselves being whisked away by Switchbait, whom Josuke should recognize as Mortimer's butlerfree. "<We haven't much time, they are right upon your heels.>" He would guide them deep into the copse. "<You should stay here, young Josuke. The Master can handle these rabble- but we do not know what other evils are woven into you, you could be hurt. Let us attend to your friend. Mr. Staren, do you happen to be packing missiles of any sort today? I rather think it may be amusing to rain Hell upon these buggers.>" The howling abated when the silhouette raised its hand. It beckoned with a withered hand for the warriors of the Dark Gods to come in.. And began to fade back into the woods. While it is highly likely that Argast and any other sorcerous sorts could, with a bit of effort, see through Nettle's illusions- their sorcerous sights are probably well lit up by the background radiation that Mortimer gives off, after that time he ate a Tesseract. Even with the silhouette falling back, it's almost painfully easy for mystics to see him, he stands out like a solitary star amidst the void. He couldn't hide even if he wanted to. Hopefully, that will prove for a good distraction..
Josuke Higashikata	The young man, Yamazaki, seems surprised at seeing Staren. "Wha--?!" Josuke interrupts, before he can go on, "It's okay, really. Everything's fine. These people can help." To Staren, he notes, "This is Juro Yamazaki. I was trying to heal his arm, and... well..." Juro notes, holding up his now bird-clawed feet. "He did THIS to me!" He seems to feel like it's Josuke's fault. And from the wince on the be-pompadour'd youth's face? So does Josuke... Yamazaki looks... bad. It's not just the bird-taloned hands and feet -- the latter of which are also visible, thanks to not being able to wear shoes. He looks haggard. Tired, as if he'd not been sleeping properly. And his posture is slumped, as if he just plain didn't have the strength to stand up straight. Suddenly Yamazaki looks up. His eyes go a bit misty. "...He's coming." The words barely a breath on his lips, Yamazaki turns in that direction -- Josuke emits a choked sound and grabs hold of the other teen's arm. "DON'T!" Josuke exclaims. "Tune it out! He'll do worse to you than what's already happened!" Josuke can't follow Switchbait fast enough. "I need to make sure he doesn't get Juro," Josuke replies. "He's... we're both getting the urge to go to Argast. I should be fine, but I need to make sure Juro doesn't wander off."
Staren	"Good to see you, Switchbait!" When asked if he brought missiles, Staren responds in the same tone as one might when asked if they remembered to bring drinks or sandwiches for a picnic: "Of course! Plasma, high explosive, or anti-tank?" Staren just glances over Juro briefly. "I'm sure we can fix that." He follows along as Josuke fears how to protect the teen. "Would you rather knock him our or just stick him somewhere?" There isn't time for politeness.
Argast Wyrdseeker	Argast looks over at the shadowy figure, grinning under his helmet. "Oh yes....I will follow. But not before this..." He says. If shadows were going to be the tools of the trade, the sorceror would release his own. around him, an aura of darkness forms and within moments, shadows of seemingly undead creatures were rising up. "Go forth. Scour this land for our new devoted and drag him to us, if you must...and kill anything keeping him from us, my phantoms." The ghosts vanish out, off to their task. "Now...let us follow our guide." He says, leading the warband towards the glowing source that was Mortimer.
Mortimer Balman	Switchbait tries to rush them along. "<I'm terribly sorry that we're in such a rush young man, I promise you- we /will/ fix this prob->" He's cut off by the boy's announcement. "<Spoink buggery.. Alright, Josuke, allow me, I shall take him from here.>" With his psychic powers, Switch would simply /lift/ Juro into the air and begin fluttering off deep into the woods with him. "<You hide too! And if you please, Mr. Staren- plasma! Less chance of a conflagration!>" And then he was gone. The howling began again. Softer this time. Mournful, almost. No- it was a song. Singing to the skies above, while the woods seemed to.. Recoil, at the approach of the warband. As if even these 'dead' trees knew that Evil and Corruption came to them. Nothing would stop them from entering.. But they would hear singing, Mortimer's voice, as they ventured into the copse. "O.. Death. Whooaaa, Death.. Can't you spare me over for another year?" His voice sounds dry and cracked, like the rest of the forest looks. He sounds /old/. Impossibly old. A flash of gold and fire and a massive blade sinks into one of the tree trunks. Mystical Orichalcum and Red Jade.. But a sword of such size would weigh a tremendous amount, far too much for any one man to wield alone. Difficult for a single man to pick up alone, even. Suddenly /cold/ began to creep in. Painful cold- if any of them were Norscan in origin, they might find it almost homey. "Well what is this, that I can't see? Icy cold hands, takin' hold of me.." And then Mortimer walked into view, twirling a large knife with wicked barbs on the back edge in one hand. "Well I am Death, none can excel- I open the doorways to Heaven or Hell. Whoa Death, won't someone pray? Keep me from you for one more day.. The children prayed, the priestess preached, but Time and Mercy are outta my reach." And now he's walking toward them, still flipping the knife around in hand. Some ancient beast of war from a distant reality- he looks gaunt, almost decrepit, but moves with purpose and surety. "I'll fix your feet, so you can't walk, I'll lock your jaws so you can't talk.. I'll close your eyes, so you can't see- this very hour! Come and walk with me.."
Josuke Higashikata	"Whatever we have to do," Josuke replies. Yamazaki... doesn't seem to be listening. "...Crap," Josuke hisses. He reaches up and quickly strikes the other teen on the cheek with his hand. "OW!" Yamazaki complains, raising the back of one bird-taloned hand to his cheek. "What the hell was that for?!" Josuke frowns. "You were listening. I told you not to listen." Thankfully Switchbait seems prepared to handle things. Juro protests as he's lifted, "H-hey! Put me down, you big bug!" "It's okay!" Josuke calls in Yamazaki's direction. But then he faces the direction he feels that 'pull' from. He felt that darkness, and knew he'd have to face SOMETHING, to try to cover Switchbait's escape. Though as one of those shadescomes into view... "Aah!" Josuke is not prepared for a four-foot snapping turtle to lunge at him. He falls back on the ground, instinctively summoning Crazy Diamond to pummel the shade. Anyone who sees Crazy Diamond now will see the corruption, plain as day -- the pink is the same, but what once was silvery-blue armor is a deep, midnight blue. The hearts on the Stand's knees and elbows have been replaced with what looks like eyes. And the tubes in the back of the Stand's neck now more resemble tentacles.
Staren	DESTRUCTION RAINS FROM THE HEAVENS! Staren provides missiles, arcing over the forest and coming down around Argast before exploding into superheated fireballs. Nettle may be ready to glamour them as falling hellfire or something. Before Staren can launch a second attack, though... "W-what are YOU doing here?!" He backs away from the shade, before firing his HEAT micromissiles at it then turning and running. <"Guys, Vert's here! I'll try to lead her away!"> He looks around. The subtle difference between having to stop and LOOK and get bearings before heading towards roughly where he remembers the gate is, versus just going where his map says, may be lost on them.
Argast Wyrdseeker	Argast laughs as he watches and hears the song. "How quaint. Your song is cute, but means little." He says. Indeed many of the warband were Norscan born and bred, but the few that were not were evident by their shivering, and a few more were put down for cowardice. But in watching Mortimer move, he nods. "Champions of Khorne, I believe the creature wants to entertain you." With that, a trio of khornite warriors in armor come charging at Mort. Unlike their far future counterparts, these berserkers carry either twin axes, axe and shield, and a greataxe. "Khorne does not value mutant skulls, but I will enjoy your death anyway!" Elsewhere, the shades continue their advance onto their victims. The Turtle shade seemingly walks through the onslaught from Crazy Diamond, and tries to grab onto Josuke. Staren's shade is seemingly destroyed from the rockets, but then emerges and slowly walks at him.
Mortimer Balman	A few more of the Slaves of Darkness were put down for their fear. Good. That was all Mortimer needed- the more energy they wasted on themselves, the less they had to face him. Even if it was a trivial matter for them, it was still time for Mort's crew. The Khornites were engaged with gusto- Mortimer's knife could do little to their heavy armor. But his unarmored form is, compared to the Berserkers, as graceful and swift as an elf- they are ponderous and slow. Easy to taunt, easy to trick, easy to use their own bulk against themselves, even if Mort stands a good head taller than them at the least. They will stay occupied with him. As for the others.. A piercing warcry comes from above, just as the plasma fire begins raining down. "<Behold, FURY FROM THE SKIES!>" Bolts of lightning dance across the trees as the plasma bursts and burns and melts. Nettle's wraithly form comes shrieking from the Heavens, black clouds forming up with unnatural speed over the little battlefield. Her form is that of horror- her body has split in two places, so far back that it seems like her entire HEAD is a single colossal mouth. She looks much like a ghostly Langolier, complete with jutting, grotesque fangs that would impress an Orc. And she is not alone. The howling becomes a horrid braying roar, and a great black form darkens the skies as it pounces from over the trees! A wolf of impossible size, screaming so loud as to be deafening, grabbing the nearest man and shaking him its massive jaws, spraying blood across the ground. Before the man even has time to scream, another form leaps off of its back, a meter-tall tortoise whose hide and shell are deepest blue, with fangs sharp enough to chew through mail. It dives into another man's throat, tearing it out in the time it has taken the wolf to pick up and kill. It's already leaping for another, smacking the darkling across the face with its tail with such force as to shatter his skull in several places. Rain begins to fall.. Hard, and violent, with a bitter wind to accompany it.
Josuke Higashikata	Josuke is scared, yes. But there's something he knows. That massive turtle shouldn't have been able to just walk THROUGH Crazy Diamond's barrage. Stands are able to affect things on an even greater range as than normal humans. Something's screwy about this. But he's not chancing it. As the apparent giant snapping turtle tries to grab him, Crazy Diamond turns and then itself grabs hold of the downed Josuke by the front of his uniform jacket, and tosses him a distance away. It's far enough away for the Stand to dematerialize. And it's also NOT in the direction that Switchbait took Juro in! Josuke hears the commotion, and it gives him some direction in these woods. He turns to the giant 'turtle' and scowls. "Come and get me, if you can!" And then he runs in the direction of the commotion of Mortimer's group fighting against the warband.
Staren	Vert takes damage and reforms. That's pretty expected. But as he starts to run, Staren realizes two things: 1. In his hurry, he used the wrong weapon -- her forcefields should have blocked that with no damage at all. 2. his HUD has turned back on. Her hacking /didn't stick/?! How would that even work? He turns around, and she's trying to grab Josuke. This... this doesn't fit. Self-diagnostics show there was NO interruption at all. "What are you...?" He follows Josuke -- manifesting his wings and flying in short hops while firing beam cannons at the shade, trying different weapons to see how it interacts with them.
Argast Wyrdseeker	As the rain falls and his men die, Argast simply laughs. He watched it happen with a grin and some kind of satisfaction. The shades with Josuke and Staren vanish, and give no chase. But as they get to the site of the battle, that's when Argast gets active. One of the berserkers nods, and they back up. "Very good...I have been curious how you would fight, but I am ...unimpressed. Allow me to show you the gifts of the Lord of Change!" He calls out. With a moment of focus, a large ring of flame erupts from the ground. "Bathe in my mastery of the lore of flames."
Mortimer Balman	Without much of a scratch on him, Mortimer backs up a touch as well when the Berserkers fall back. He whistles sharply, and his crew hops out of the way. Reder and Ulbrecht scarper away from the flames, but Nettle flutters into the ring and laughs that eerily cheerful laugh of hers, "<Lore of Flames, /indeed/! If this is the best you can call forth /conjurer/, perhaps you should go home and see if some bored royals won't take you on for a court jester!>" Her eyes begin to glow, a sickly sort of green, and profane words that the Multiverse does not translate leave her gaping maw. The rain intensifies, becoming.. Slicker, somehow. Almost oily. It threatens to smother the flames. But not Mortimer's, he's lighting a pipe and walking over to the massive sword still embedded in a tree- bending the flames out of the way with a wave of his hand- but Argast would sense no magic when he did this. The sword is pulled from the tree, and despite how much it must surely weigh Mort hefts it as though it weighed a feather. And then he walks back INTO the ring! "Is this all you can do? Come on now.. I've seen "sorcerors" of the Dark Gods do so much more than this, old man. Come on!" He starts walking toward Argast, a death's head grin on his face. "Come on, slave! Show us what the worship of your mewling gods is worth! Summon up your daemons! Hit me! Fight me!" He's drawing, perhaps, /unpleasantly/ close to Argast as he talks, and he definitely towers over the man and his few surviving followers with ease. "Give us a /hug/." He spreads his arms and leers down, even as his own mane flares out and threatens to outshine the hellfire.
Josuke Higashikata	Fire? Josuke has no real defense against that. But he has an idea. "'Not impressed', huh?!" He grins -- probably a little more madly than he intended to -- and calls forth his Stand again. "<Crazy Diamond>!" The Stand appears, but instead of punching the flames, it moves its arms in wide circles, 'gathering up' the flames in Josuke's area. It's going to burn the hell out of Josuke's arms, and his face contorts into an expression of pain as the burns start appearing under his sleeves, but it's better than burning his whole body. And then the Stand raises its arms, and with a loud "DOURRRRA!", 'flings' the fire back, into whatever of Argast's warband still remains. He knows better than to try to throw it at Argast himself; having command of 'the Lore of Flames' probably means he's pyrokinetic, and would merely dismiss any flames what went in his direction.
Staren	The vision of Vert goes away. Huh... But now they're coming into the area where Mort is fighting Argast. And here comes a ring of fire. It would be more effective if Staren didn't have flight. "Nope! How about not?" He starts shooting down at Argast and the warband with his beam cannons -- as much to test the effects of basic weaponry on this foe as to inflict damage itself.
Argast Wyrdseeker	Argast doesn't back down. Rather, he keeps his eyes locked on mort even as he started walking towards him. Then came fire. He quickly moved to grab the flame from the sky and slam it into the ground, only for Staren's lasers to hit home. Sent skidding back, but still alive, he growls. "Oh, I am not finished yet..." He then looks up to Staren and to Mort. They had to have metal on them, in them, somewhere. Raising a hand, he would call to it, bend it to disobey it's master. This was his third magic, the Lore of Metal itself.
Mortimer Balman	Mortimer's footsteps suddenly became.. Heavy. He was aware of heat rising from the few bits of metal he was wearing, but they weren't nearly hot enough to bother him. The boots however.. The metal strips across them. Suddenly became tremendously heavy. One of his feet flat out came out! "...Okay that's actually a pretty neat trick, I'll give you that. But.." With some grunting, his other foot comes out. The fur on his feet is singed a bit, and smoke can be seen rising from his pants. "Let me show you some /real/ fire.." Those who had fought with Mortimer before, mainly Staren, would notice that the local atmosphere was suddenly heating up. Rapidly. The oily rain that Nettle had summoned began to evaporate in steamy hissing before it even hit the ground, and the little ghost was swiftly making her egress /far/ away from her Master. The chosen of Khorne, lacking Argast's magic, would probably notice it first- the heat is oppressive. Cloying. /Choking/. It threatens to simply smother. And then tiny wisps of atmosphere begin bursting into flame with tiny explosions. Mortimer could only hope that Josuke figured out 'stay the hell away' quickly.
Josuke Higashikata	Josuke is... actually pretty well off here. He doesn't have a whole lot of metal on his person. But he has some. Enough to cause him some trouble. Those pins aren't really gold, first off. So he's kind of hoisted by his own petards a little, when his collar goes up in flames from the metal of his pins overheats. He emits a yelp of surprise -- and pain -- losing his concentration over Crazy Diamond enough to de-manifest the Stand. Not to worry, Mortimer. Josuke's stumbling back with his face on fire at the moment. Well, no, not really. But he tears the jacket off of him, throwing it to the ground and stomping on it to put it out.
Staren	So, particle beams work just fine. Good to know... And then the mage does SOMETHING. It's not, perhaps, as immediately and outwardly obvious as it would be were Staren a knight clad in steel plate. The power of magic is pitted against the power of technology /designed/ to allow ordinary humans to fight monsters and mages on even footing. Staren, perhaps, has the clearest picture: It grows warm inside the armor, making him start to sweat, and his HUD indicates growing but far-from-critical damage. Looking closely, one might see Staren's armor starting to crack and warp in places, but on the whole, the futuristic materials have the toughness to withstand far more than simple steel ever could. Staren lands, and stumbles -- moving is a bit harder, and it throws him off -- but he tries to press the attack, repeating fire. "Leave this place, and these men. Go find supporters among the like-minded -- Or I will turn my power to stopping you just as I did against August."
Argast Wyrdseeker	Argast feels the heat and laughs. The kind of laugh a man who is totally gone in the head gives off. "Yes...such a wonderful creature! Oh, how Tzeench would twist you in his service." He then looks over and with the quickest glance grins towards Josuke and what he believed to be Crazy Diamond. "You deamon looks more suited, Josuke. And your grin suggests the corruption is taking root in you as well." Then he looks to Staren and....grins evilly under his helm. "Never fight a mage with dominion over metal, boy. Besides...I owe you for banishing Locii." He says. But when it comes to cloying and choking areas, Argast had his own weapons. "Followers of Nurgle, give your lives and let loose the gifts of the Plaguefather!" With that, nurgling run forward and onto the blades of others, uncorking plagues. Argast had shifted to trying to fight down Mortimer's flames with his own, battling fire with fire.
Mortimer Balman	Nurglings. Little filthbeasts of Chaos. Wretched and irritating, but flammable. Mortimer cannot help Josuke or Staren in dealing with those, he can only deflect the ones that are bothering him and incinerate them into little piles of ash. "Plagues.. Let me show you /plagues/, sorceror.." Mortimer's gut distends a little bit, and there is an ugly, gut-wrenching gurgle followed by a muscular twisting action. The old Typhlosionmorph's throat swelled out and his mouth opened, projectile vomiting a disgusting, toxic, and /caustic/ slurry of cancerous fluids, carcinogens, bacteriological agents, and assorted filths and biles collected in his belly, all of them aimed at Argast. It is to say the least, unpleasant. It isn't half as infectious and disease-riddled as the Nurglings are by a long shot- Mort wouldn't even DREAM of trying to beat them for pure plague potential, or smell for that matter- but the toxicity and causticity of the stuff is not to be ignored. It's enough to melt flesh right off the bone..
Josuke Higashikata	Josuke scowls at Argast's words of how much more 'suitable' Crazy Diamond appeared. "It's not a DEMON!" he growls. See, he doesn't know the difference between 'demon' and 'daemon'. "It's a Stand! Let's see if it sticks this time!" He summons Crazy Diamond again. The Stand grabs hold of... Josuke again! By the front of his shirt, now the short sleeved one instead of the jacket. And it throws him, OVER the Nurglings. And hopefully over Mortimer's sphere of 'murder everything'. The Stand disappears, but the momentum is there -- things in motion tend to stay in motion! Why's he doing this? Because he's trying to reach some of the injured members of the Argast's warband. "Here's a present from me!" And then he calls Crazy Diamond once more, sending the Stand into the group, pummeling at the warband as much as it can in a short stretch of time. The Stand emits a loud, ascending, "DORARARARARARA!" as fists fly. But Josuke's not just venting his rage, no. When he's done as much damage as he can before the warband turns on him, an orange aura appears around the Stand, as Josuke tries to FIX it. Purposely botching it. Josuke's powers of healing work oddly on living beings -- it's less 'heal' and more 'return to a prior state'. Hence why he's useless against illnesses except healing the damage to the body that the illness's ravages have done. That is, when he's CONCENTRATING, that's how his healing works. Here, he's purposely NOT concentrating, purposely trying to botch the fixing of the armor and weapons -- and of Argast's people. With any luck this should result in things like backwards-pointing limbs and bodies fused into armors and weapons. Though that Chaos taint is probably going to make some of these into mutations that Argast's little band would want, there's bound to be a few of them that are severely inconvenienced by this. Josuke can be vindictive normally. Tainted by Chaos, even this little bit, he's downright MEAN.
Staren	"I was one of the ones trying to STOP people from banishing the iris, idiot!" Staren shouts. And then at the words 'let loose the gifts of the Plaguefather', he switches over to internal air. Yes, the Lore of Metal cracked his armor, but there's layers in there and they aren't all metal. Still, it may be a bitch to clean off later. Which he'll have to figure out before he can take the armor off... For the moment though, he can fight. The remaining plasma missiles are fired to try and scorch the plaguebearers before they can get close, to sterilize their diseases, but who knows what's in the air now? Staren takes to the air to put /extra/ distance between himself and the nurglings. Which, y'know, means in the heat of reacting to the moment, he forgot about Josuke. Whoops! He looks down to see... Okay, stuff is just getting weird down there. Josuke's gonna need serious decontamination too. Staren wonders if the Concord hospitals would take him in return for being able to study whatever he's been infected with...
Argast Wyrdseeker	Argast watches and revels in Josuke's healing of his men...until it goes wrong. Many are disjointed and their heavy weapons leave them stuck in the ground. As for Mortimer, a wall of flame erupts in front of the sorceror, protecting him from most of the bile, though some gets through and manages to actually injure him. "tch...Not bad. I've had enough. Those of my warband still able to walk, we are leaving. The wounded and the incapable can be left to die." He says, turning around. Walking slowly, he shoots a look to Josuke. "That rage suits you. Perhaps it was not Tzeench who is meant to be your master, but the Blood God." He says, laughing intently. As for the remaining nurglings, their taint is quickly sanitized, but in the end it was all just a ploy to cover the sorceror-lord's escape.
Mortimer Balman	Mortimer spits, a bit of toxic bile that sizzles and hisses on the grass as the Sorceror and his few remaining cohorts make good their escape. "Hmph.. Wretches." He looks at the dying. "Switchbaiiiit!" Letting out a loud call for his butler, while Ulbrecht stands his massive bulk over the dying warriors of Chaos. A single paw is more than enough to keep them in place. The butterfree floats in as Nettle's glamour over the copse begins to fade away. "Switch, these men are to be treated as POWs. They will be treated accordingly." "<Of course, Master Balman. How shall we proceed?>" "Bind their wounds as best as you can- do NOT let Josuke try to heal them, even after the cleansing ritual has been completed. We will deliver them to.. Hrm. ...Queen Celestia? No.. We will tell the Queen, but it will be up to her what their fate will be. If Her Majesty has no desire to take them, we will find someone who wishes to. Perhaps we can rehabilitate them.." Nettle appears beside her master's head, giggling. "<Devious, Master. What greater insult than to relieve those worthless gods of their congregations? I approve.>" "Good. Reder! Ulbrecht! Fetch Josuke and his friend, we bring them to the town so that the magi can perform the ritual! I want it done now, chop chop!" "<You got it, sarge.>" Reder gave a quick salute, jumped back up onto the Thunderwolf's back, and they galloped off. Now all that was left to do was clean up the mess.. That was going to be ugly and disgusting, but well it must be done.
Josuke Higashikata	Josuke tried to stay out of range of the Rot, but maybe he's ended up caught in the effect radius of the exploding Nurglings. Or maybe the Chaos taint is acting up. Either way, he isn't even able to fire a comeback at the departing Argast. The adrenaline seems to drain from him abruptly, and he collapses to his knees, retching what he hopes is just bile. God only knows what this corruption's doing to him inside. It's been resting there for a while, and seems to have activated with the accidental corrupting of his friend.
Miari	It takes a minute or two... but Miari does figure out how to navigate to the proper warpgate. She ends up swooping down from the skies on a small cloud, swerving between trees. Unlike her last time traveling this way, she's standing and navigating much like someone on a surfboard might to handle fine manuevering. She swoops clear over the disgusting army... but only for a bit. THE SHEER STENCH has her diverting AROUND them. "Disgusting! Even Blood Apes smell better than this." It takes... something special to disgust an Infernal Exalted, who has been acclimated to things that most humans would find thoroughly unappealing...
Staren	Argast and his band leave. So that's one mission accomplished... Staren lands by the retching Josuke. He doesn't know how bad the Nurgle taint is, so he has to take every precaution. Decontaminating is going to be such a bitch if Miari doesn't have magic tricks up her sleeve for this. He reaches into his bag (note to self: Include nano and medical tools /outside/ the bag in the future to avoid needing to contaminate it) and wraps a bandage with a plum-sized lump in it around Josuke. It can't do much more than speed up his natural healing, so really it was kind of the wrong tool to use here, but maybe it can at least slow the infection. He waves Miari over as she approaches. If she looks closely, his armor is damaged, with tiny warpings and cracks on the external plating.
Mortimer Balman	Mortimer's only defense against the rots of Nurgle is to keep the heat up around himself. This makes him look like he's wreathed in a grand aura of searing heat, the grass burning and curling under his now bootless feet. The boots.. Are probably shot and will need to be replaced. Again.. Sigh.. What few Nurglings have survived all this will find themselves squashed under Ulbrecht's colossal paws. The great hulking beast gingerly and gently picks up Josuke and flips him onto his back, and does the same for Staren- though with much more effort, all that heavy metal- and then begins trotting off to the nearest Gate. The ponies will be able to tend to the corruption that has rooted itself in Josuke and his friend.. And hopefully with Miari here now, she can help cleanse the filth of Nurgle out of their bodies before something even worse happens. As for Mortimer, well.. He's got to deal with the prisoners, aided by Nettle and Switchbait, and eventually Roll, and then he needs to wash the ever loving /hell/ out of his pants. Great, the zipper melted itself shut. And the button fell off. He was going to hurt that damned magi the next time he saw him..