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Big Boss CHRISTMAS EVE
THE LINE

It's time to save Christmas. Despite everyone's concerns that Big Boss is going to turn the Metal Gear Geola into a nuclear robot after the holidays, they've all banded together to make sure the presents get launched.

The massive draconic-themed mech, with rifles and minimissile pods built in, red and white, with a stocky upper half and a giant toothy maw that hides a present railgun, is being piloted by three people - Big Boss on the movement, Mikoto Shimizu on the weapons, and Jeanne d'Arc as support controls. The bottom of the right foot has a slot to toss presents up to the railgun, and the rest are going to be guarding a colossal present cart, which is itemized for when the loads need to be filled precisely.

Using the Line's hyperglass fields to speed up, they're going to fire the Metal Gear faster than humanly possible, launching more presents in a single night than one could normally do. This is not possible outside of the Line. This is not possible without all the prep they did using Santa's workshop, and it'll likely never work again.

But tonight, it has to work.

As the group sets up at the launchpad, Big Boss is expecting a problem. FOXHOUND said there would be a problem, didn't they? He's in the cockpit, which has three cramped seats, all together. They'll have to sit on either side of him. It'll be awkward.

But, that's how it is sometimes.
Nanoha Takamachi     "Right then. Shall we get started, Raising Heart?"

    Nanoha's staff chimes an affirmative as Nanoha raises it into the air above here. It then states, <Wide Area Search.> Small orbs of pink light appear floating in the air around Nanoha. Dozens of them. They all then fly off, taking up positions around the group of elites and the Metal Gear itself. Some even fly up and into the mech's cockpit, ready for later.

    Once the orbs are all in position, Nanoha waves her hand out in front of her, a holographic terminal forming. She taps a few commands into it, causing more holoscreens to appear around her. They are showing the perspectives of all the magic probes of light, giving Nanoha a good view of the area.

    Nanoha smiles as she types some more, saying to her Device, "Remember: Apply the encryption. And add the age restriction. We don't want this going to any kids, or the Multiverse at large." She then moves a finger to a big red circle, "Alright, here we go!" She presses it. The main screen in front of her changes to show her own face. And a single word pops up in the corner of all the screens, written in that near-english fancy script of Midchildan:

    REC

    Nanoha clears her throat and then begins, "Hello, everyone! I'm here with several elites, from all the factions. Unaffiliated too. And tonight we're going to combine our efforts to make a Christmas miracle: Delivering presents to everyone on the superplanet in one night! I decided that the significance of this accomplishment was worth recording, even if it's only likely to ever be seen by other elites."

    "Now, how will we accomplish this? May I present to you all... Santa's Metal Gear!" Nanoha taps on her holoterminal, causing her main screen to switch to one of the views of her probes as it hovers around the Metal Gear. Nanoha continues, "Here we have taken a weapon of war and turned it into the ultimate means of saving Christmas! All thanks to the efforts of those here and others like them around the Multiverse. People who saw that Christmas was threatened and said 'No!'. Putting aside their differences and stepping up to do what many might consider impossible. This machine will be piloted by a few elites: The Concord's very own Mikoto Shimizu, Jeanne d'Arc, and the head of the Watch himself. They will perform the deliveries before the night is out and Christmas day dawns."

    The orbs in the cockpit float around to get profile shots of the three pilots. Nanoha says, "I hope you've been practicing, everyone. No pressure!"
Sumiko Mikoto, transformed into a magical girl sits on her seat in the cockpit.  This was for Christmas, that is what she was telling herself, but she felt a bit used by this whole situation.  Right now, however, she was convinced that trying to disrupt this isn't a good idea.  At least, not right now, and that somehow this wasn't a big deal because...?  Ok, she didn't agree with Priscilla at all, but this is likely because she's a teenager and always thinks she's right.

Because she is.

The Jade sword is set behind her, as she has no way to make it vanish when she's transformed.  She is also unwilling to NOT be transformed because of what happened with the trapped gift.  She doesn't feel like being impaled with shrapnel again.  So right now, a week (or so) of training leads up to this moment.

The orb settles in front of her, and she looks up.  She breaks out of her funk to give a bright wave and smile to the camera.  "Yeah, made a weapon of war into a Christmas miracle.  Good thing nobody is planning on using it for such again, right Mask?"

Yeah, she's going to be sassy in the brightest way possible.
Ritsuka Fujimaru Tonight, the team saves Christmas. How much is probably open to interpretation, but united under a common goal, even Jeanne d'Arc is in the Christmas spirit to spread cheer and excessive amounts of property damage.

She just wishes the cockpit wasn't so cramped. "Would it have really broken anything to get some more leg room in this machine? This must be what it's like in the cheapseats on airplanes..." She mutters in her usual annoyed tone, brushing the poof on her edgy black Christmas hat away from her face. "The view isn't too bad, at least... Hm. So this is where all that stuff happened."

Jeanne's never been to the Line before, so seeing it in person is rather surreal. Nanoha's announcement of their task is the only thing that pulls her attention away from all the strange-looking hyperglass and countless mining setups in the distance, but it gets her attention pretty effectively judging from the sudden increase in volume from her end of the Metal Gear.

"Hey! You better not be recording us inside here, too!" Despite her past Christmas efforts in the same outfit, it seems the Dragon Witch is not particularly keen on being seen on screens like this for some reason.

At least Mikoto still seems nonplussed about the aftermath. Bugging her about that might keep Jeanne distracted. "Oh, of course not. You can trust this noble soul, after all, since he did spearhead this effort. But if you think something bad could happen..." She pauses for dramatic effect, that familiar asshole grin creeping up her face once again.

"... You'd do something to stop it, wouldn't you?"
C Crow whistles, taking a short patrol between the present cart and the Metal Gear itself. He was dressed in a different festive sweater today, colored with two shades of green stripes and a depiction of a Christmas ornament on the chest, along with a replacement for his ruined fuzzy antlers.

A half wave is given to Nanoha and the cameras before he speaks into the radio. "Alright, I don't see anything suspicious around the presents or the base of Metal Gear. If we're going to get jumped, I have the feeling the attack'll be direct."

    "And hey, let's not fight on Christmas Eve, yeah?"
Crys Gattz The Line was a place she'd known bout for a long time, yet she'd never had a chance to visit it. She was at least dressed for the season. She's got a Santa hat on and is wearing an MS Santa outfit, shockingly a modest one this year. She seems in good spirit but she's aware there's likely to be complications from this effort. Either way she'll just see where things will end up taking her.

She's hoping for the best all things considered even her MAG floating beside her shoulder has a little Santa hat on somehow. She does seem a bit wary not of Big Boss evcen if his Metal Gear makes her uneasy but more for, whoever kidnapped the elf's habit of laying traps and the like.

"Ho ho ho!"
Rean Schwarzer Rean is wearing a Santa hat and a not-singed festive scarf, also doing a patrol near the box of presents.  He's never been to the Line, though he knows some of his friends had a race here a while back. It's definitely weird looking, probably the weirdest actual section of the Multiverse he's been in.

"Good luck up there, you three!" Rean shouts, turning to look at the Metal Gear's cockpit. It's not like he /wanted/ this to fail, even if he still had that niggling feeling in the back of his head screaming about future disaster. He's even smiling.

Was it the festive spirit? Or maybe he's just finally run out of angst energy, and has now wrapped all the way around into 'fuck it' territory.

But if they could get people together to make this happen, maybe there could be a Christmas miracle.
Big Boss As Nanoha begins filming, having been the design portion of the Metal Gear's wing-thrusters, Big Boss grunts, grimacing. It'll be fine. Just home videos, right? Crow gets an affirmative, as does Rean.

Mikoto decides to be sassy.

Big Boss doesn't need to lie. "I'm not playing your game, Mikoto Shimizu. A Metal Gear is still a Metal Gear-"

The world turns upside down, as a missile suddenly fires at the group on the ground as well as the Metal Gear's leg. If it impacts, the present cart is thrown back, but people have time to get out of the way and not get hit by this initial salvo. The Metal Gear Geola is marred already, as an attack helicopter flies in overhead.

FOXHOUND is here to keep its promise. It will destroy the Metal Gear.

Two units, clad in uniforms with strange equipment, jump from the helicopter as it pulls them down. One is clad with weird weapons, such as a marble launcher, an explosive dart launcher, shuriken...and has a lot of mines on him. The other is wearing a fire-retardant suit, a gas mask, and is holding what appears to be a goddamn vacuum cleaner connected to some kind of furnace.

Grinch Krampus and Coal Humbug have arrived.
Gilgamesh      "Huhuhohohoho!!"

     That's probably not a great sign.

     The sky turns dark in an instant. Swirling clouds gather above the Line. Snow begins to fall en masse. No gentle, platonic Christmas snow this - this is a storm, a raging wildness, a primordial blizzard from a distant age. It's accompanied by thunder and lightning, the twin gods of the night, cracking and bursting through the frigid air. It's something biblical, something ancient, as if somebody took the Flood myth and turned it into a snowfall, the sort of thing that feels like it won't stop until the world is buried.

     Then appears the logo.

                         THE QUEST TO SAVE GILSMAS                          
                              THREE WISE KINGS                              
                                ( >, 5 AP )                                

     The glowing chevron fills itself in, visible amidst the pounding snow, as the King of Holidays makes his appearance.

     Gilgamesh is radiant. He's dressed in a Santa outfit, but it's no simple outfit, oh no. What ought to be white-fur trim is shimmering golden fur, perhaps fleece, perhaps real spun gold. What ought to be red cloth is ruby-colored armor, glittering like a jewel even in the roaring snowfall, as if reflecting Gilgamesh's own glorious aura. Around his head is an actual honest-to-God halo of the sort you see in old paintings, except it's a glimmering, roiling red-and-green, like Christmas lights with the cumbersome plastic and glass removed in favor of pure light. Red, glowing runes line his cheeks. The only out-of-place element are the boots, which are golden and winged, with seven notches on each side of a winding, serpentine rune.

     His arms are crossed. His hair is slicked back into spikes. On his face is a condescending sneer as he gazes down, literally, at the party, flickering back and forth in place rapidly.

     "Well done, mongrels."

     The King uncrosses his arms and claps, a slow, deliberately inciting, clap. "I'm pleased. You struggled to build a weapon suitable for your purpose. You struggled to sort the great List of Naughty and Nice. You, knowing that trouble awaited you, chose to go ahead regardless of the danger, and constructed your plan to save Gilsmas without hesitation. Bravery like that is indeed a virtue."
Gilgamesh      "But," Gilgamesh's hands fall back to his sides. Around him, golden ripples start to appear, "Now that your trouble has arrived, will you be able to overcome it? Show me, o would-be saviors of Gilsmas - show me if you have the resolve, the strength, to overcome this final trial! Or will all your work be for naught, and the Multiverse's presents be lost to them this year! You are the sample of its strength - so fight with all your might!"

     From the ripples emerge clay birds.

     They're exquisite. The finest birds imaginable. They look so real, so lifelike, so beautiful. They're fired clay, with a perfect, gorgeous gloss that seems to move like feathers in the light of Gilgamesh's halo. They poke forth, and it would be almost cute but for the magical power instilled in them all, the overwhelming concentration of mana. These are toys, yes - but they are *original* toys, toys from which all others spring. These toys have the mythological weight of every child who has ever unwrapped a truck and pretended it could move, who has ever played with a wooden train, who has ever received a doll and made it dance. These toys carry the foundations of humanity's simplest joy - play.

     Gilgamesh's arms cross once again as that foundation is launched. The birds flicker and fly, moving with that primordial joy, that primordial delight, that instilled imagination that makes them real and wonderful to those who can still dream of such things. Their wings flap. They whistle.

     They are every bit as deadly as Gilgamesh's usual fare, every bit as beautiful, and every bit as overwhelming. They move in rapid zig-zags. Their wings are sharp enough to cut through flesh. They are toys, yes, but ever have children dreamed of battles and glories, and that, too, is instilled in these simple childlike wonders.

     Over it all, the King of Holidays laughs.

     "Huhuhohohoho!!"
John Rizzo      For an emaciated man severely underdressed for winter, John Rizzo is fast. In the night, his agility is unnatural. The tall, too-thin vampire moves more like a graceful, deadly animal than a man. He's out of the way of the missile salvo in no time.

     When Grinch Krampus and Coal Humbug arrive, he makes a start towards them, only to stop in his tracks at the arrival of Gilgamesh. "I can't call it that," says Rizzo to Gilgamesh. "No hard feelings." He glances from Gilgamesh to the FOXHOUND units...

     Coal Humbug could be an enormous problem, both for John and his allies. Rather than risk falling into the Red Fear at the sight of flames, Rizzo squares up against Gilgamesh. "Don't suppose I could get you to leave us without a fight," he says--he pointedly doesn't ask, because even someone as peaceful as Rizzo knows when someone came to fight.

     Sure enough, a flock of magically enhanced toy birds, beautiful and delicate, zip through the air. Rizzo sighs. He reaches under his shirt and procures a silver necklace with a tiny metal curio. He holds it close, and a bright light emerges from it. The birds batter him, cutting his skin... but the cuts seal themselves almost as quickly as they appear. He can't last through all of it, but he doesn't have to. In the midst of being pummeled by the birds, Rizzo makes use of another unnatural characteristic.

     With superhuman strength, the vampire rolls a huge, packed snowball, just smaller than a wrecking ball. Hefting it over his head like Atlas, Rizzo throws the snow-boulder at Gilgamesh.
Sumiko Missiles come raining down on the cockpit.  Mikoto reacts too late, thanks to the distractgil.  Grabbing her blade, she jumps to the seat and crouches, staring up at the two members of Foxhound who just came barging in.  

"Alright, I got one question.  Which one of you set the bomb?" She does not wait for the answer but rather slams her blade into the ground as the magical circle appears.  Nothing is actually damaged, strangely, but a flock of robins flies out of the magical crest that forms.  

They flock all over both attackers, aiming to peck at their faces, their eyes, and wherever they can get their beaks into.  Individual attacks are annoying, but a large group of them could be very deadly.  
C A missile barrage impacts the legs of the Metal Gear, blasting back the cart of presents and causing general mayhem. Crow, thankfully, wasn't in the precise blast radius and thus only ends up rolling onto his rear. "Ugh...did I jinx it?"

The King of Heroes, Gilgamesh appears in all his festive splendor. Even in such a get-up, the raw pressure he was radiating was enough to incite doubt inside of him, to make him want to flee. FOXHOUND's Grinch and Coal, he could tango with any day, but this guy? He'd only heard about him, but rumors didn't do him justice. Without a doubt, this opponent would be the most challenging so far, even more so than Linehart had been. Yet..

It wasn't much. Rean probably didn't even realize how badly his morale dropped at the idea of fighting the namesake of Gilsmas, but putting aside their differences and extending the proverbial olive branch to fight together again, as friends and classmates, roused him. "Alright, let's go!"

Weaving gracefully, Crow avoids the bombardment of magical toys, only shooting down the ones he knew he couldn't maneuver around, slipping past the salvo to get closer to Gilgamesh. "ARCUS Activate!"

The Line darkens, briefly, as a swarm of phantom butterflies rush the hero-king, intent on pummeling him with curses.
Crys Gattz Crys Gattz listens to Big Boss's reply to Mikoto. Well, this could be going somewhere she watches on. She's concerned but so long as it keeps to being words she would not step in. Then she hears the sound of an attack helicopter overhead.

"What the Faltz?!"

There comes the missiles she's caught in the blast, the good news is the photon shield and armour she's wearing so she's only slightly banged up and scorched from the attack.

She looks up to see it as two forms drop out of the chopper with weapons armed. She grimaces for a moment and another soul appears that soul is? Gilgamesh and he's quite radiant she has to admit. She takes moment to deal with all the snow that is falling.

She looks at The King of Heroes for a moment she's from a world so far as she knows there's no real analog to this King but there's a sense o respect for him form if only for his power and skill that he has.

"So a fight is it then? So be it."

She takes a moment and the Fal Claw materialized on to one arm the hydraulic claw which looks like it might be an auto wrecking tool clamps shut once and an energy pistol appears in hand. It is not the King she gets to fight sadly as she comes under attack from Grinch Krampus and Coal Humbug.

"FOIE!"

She raises one hand rather than using the pistol she lets rip a burst of flame at Grinch Krampus, and then fires a shot from the pistol at Coal Humbug.

"So you wanted to crash in on this? I hope you're ready for what comes next!"
Ritsuka Fujimaru The arrival of FOXHOUND has Jeanne smiling wider than before even as the cockpit rattles around her, tightening her grip on the controls while glancing around to figure out where they're coming from.

The people in the helicopter probably have something to do with that. It's Gilgamesh's arrival that really surprises her, though, but not in the bad way. No, his arrival jsut made things all the more interesting, and Jeanne laughs freely as he announces his final challenge to the group: BIRD MISSILES.

"Well well. Christmas just got even more interesting, but our success... That's going to do wonders for anyone doubting our roles as the heroes of Christmas. So don't you dare screw this up!" She bellows to her allies as she shakes of that dull buzzing noise in the back of her head, then climbs out of the cockpit behind Mikoto with her blade drawn.

"These idiots won't learn from just getting pecked at, Mikoto. No, naughty children need to be spanked!" And so, Jeanne leaps off the Metal Gear forcefully, diving right towards the pair of Grinch Krampus and Coal Humbus with sword in hand. As she lands, she goes for a broad sweep towards the both of them, her blade trailing with dark flames.
Nanoha Takamachi     "No, no, of course not!" Nanoha grins at Jeanne's concerns about being recorded in that outfit. She may or may not be lying. Okay, she probably is.

    As focused as she is on the terminal in front of her, Nanoha doesn't notice the incoming missile until it's too late. Her Device tries to warn her, <Master!> but the explosive detonates nearby and Nanoha is thrown by the blast. She hits the ground with a grunt, her Barrier Jacket a little scorched by the explosion but otherwise intact.

    Nanoha climbs to her feet once more, looking rather displeased by the intervention of these soldiers. Gilgamesh trying to exploit this for his own test does not go unnoticed, but Nanoha's focus is on the Metal Gear. It's the tool they need to save Christmas. And Nanoha's not about to let down all the children who are expecting their presents!

    Nanoha slowly floats up into the air as she sets her sight on that attack helicopter that fired the missile. It's released a couple of men down to the ground. Nanoha hopes that the Metal Gear and those inside can handle them. For Nanoha is not about to let this chopper continue to damage their Christmas Miracle.

    After all. The air is Nanoha's domain!

    The Aerial Mage blasts forward, heading straight towards the helicopter rather quickly. As she does so, she whips an arm at to her side, several pink balls of light forming in the air around her. She then points towards the helicopter and calls out, "Shoot!"

    The magic projectiles shoot forward, streaking through the air to explode around and against the helicopter, if they can reach it.
Rean Schwarzer And then the FOXHOUND guys show up, trying to bring down the Metal Gear, just as expected. THe box blows up, and the shock wave knocks Rean onto his back.

What ISN'T expected is Gilgamesh showing up alongside them and hopping into it as a part of their Christmas trial. "...Are you serious right now?" Rean asks. Leave it to him to find some way to make this part of his game.

Crow seems nervous, probably having heard about what happens when someone challenges the King of Heroes. But...They had to save Christmas. Even if things went wrong later, they couldn't just give up.

"Yeah, he's pretty intimidating. ...I think we can take him, though. What do you say?" Rean says, trying to raise his (former?) classmate's spirits.

Crow surprisingly accepts, and so Rean heads in under the cover of butterflies. One of the birds clips him in the shoulder, but he's still running, aiming two swift sword swipes at the ruler of Gilsmas!
Big Boss Mikoto gets responded by Grinch Krampus, a German man, as she fires her flock of robins. As they start to claw at Grinch Krampus, he starts firing wrist-crossbow bolts at them, piercing through them, even as they tear into his ghillie suit.

"Ach, that was me. I am Grinch Krampus, and you've been naughty. That means you get taken away, understand, with the rest of the bad boys and girls."

The crossbow bolts are then fired directly at Mikoto, explosive-tipped, to try and throw her backwards, as he grins maniacally.

Crys fires flame at Grinch Krampus, and a shot of a pistol at Coal Humbug. They're deft, Grinch ducking out of the way, as he fires another bolt at Crys, while Coal grimaces. bullet getting stuck in his suit. "All you punks trying to save Christmas. I'll burn this wicked holiday to the ground."

He clicks a switch on his 'flamethrower', and fires a molten hot piece of coal straight at Crys's head, which the force of a bullet yet at a much bigger size. It's gonna hurt if it impacts.

Jeanne comes down sword-first. She announces herself, so both agents are expecting her. Grinch Krampus rolls out of the way, throwing a mine directly at Jeanne to impact with her and blow her up, while Coal Humbug smashes his vacuum-cleaner-flamethrower into her, blocking the sword and letting the red hot embers burn her skin.

Nanoha goes for the helicopter. Her projectiles explode around it, but are unable to hit it directly as it weaves out of the way, causing splash damage. A machinegunner begins firing directly at Nanoha, trying to shred her with bullets.

Big Boss stays in the cockpit, defending it. He has his gun up. But otherwise, he'll let the others handle this. That gives him more time to prepare.
Gilgamesh      The snowball comes hurling in. Gilgamesh tilts his head to the side. From the Gate, more birds pour, smashing into the snowball and shattering it to bits. The snow splatters against him - tightly packed but . The sneer on his face at John's refusal merely widens. "Every barking dog wants to howl that they're special. Every one wants to howl that they'll resist. That they'll resist in petty, trivial ways. That they'll fight with all their strength."

     "And yet most of them I simply kick into the snow."

     The phantom butterflies come surging in. Gilgamesh's birds do a lot of the work - the air around him becomes a colorful dogfight as the birds crash into the butterflies, shooting them down and being shot down in turn. A few of the curses get through and splatter against the ruby armor, but several of them manage to land blows, crashing against Gilgamesh's face and arms. Cursemarks spread, marks shaped like butterflies growing across his face. They pulse with an unpleasant light under his skin.

     He still looks fucking gorgeous, and that's tremendously unfair, but those marks look pretty painful.

     Rean dives in among the cloud. He ducks and waves to hide his presence in the swarm. The dogfight rages around him. When he emerges, Gilgamesh jerks backwards, but not fast enough - a pair of slash-marks get him across the nose and cheek, drawing blood and oozing magical energy from where the butterfly curses landed. Gilgamesh 'tsks.'

     "A good start."

     The birds continue to swarm, but now they've fallen back to a more defensive pattern, swirling around him like an aircraft carrier. They sweep about the King to cover him from further attacks as the wounds he's already taken start slowly sealing up, as the butterfly curse-marks start being forced out of the bloody wounds Rean inflicted. He raises his hand and snaps his fingers.

     The Gate opens, and dolls march forth. No alabaster skin and fancy dress, these dolls - they're carved of rock and wood, terracotta clay, pottery. Some of them have wigs of flowing horsehair or silk or wool. Some of them are wax. They are all of them that wonderful thing, that wonderful childhood friend that all children hold so dear. They, like the birds, hold the magic of childhood inside them, the wonder and imagination and joy of the lonely and the lost who just want someone to listen to them.

     These dolls march forward, armed with little toy bows and arrows carved of white cedar. Even the bows and arrows are gorgeously-crafted, some mythological wood pulsing with the dreams of battle and glory in the hearts of little boys (and some little girls) everywhere. The dolls loose their arrows - those very simple-looking toys become deadly weapons in the hands of the King, battering down upon the three who stand against him.
Sumiko Mikoto attempts to bat the crossbow bolt away, only to have it explode in her face and send her flying.  She bounces across the ground until she finally comes to a stop.  Facedown, she grunts as she drags herself back to her feet and glares at the Krampus.  

"You don't know a thing about me.  So shut up," She says, bitterly and throws herself forward.  Behind her, a distorted creature seems to form around her, puppet-like, with a mask of stained glass, with gem-encrusted clothing covering its torso.  Its hands are amorphous blobs of people and animals.

She seems to just vanish, teleporting through the air, before coming out right behind Krampus, aiming to drive her weapon right into the (hopefully) exposed back of the FOXHOUND soldier.  "However, I am going to pay you back for that explosive."
Ritsuka Fujimaru Not quite the entrance that Jeanne was hoping for, but at least she's in her preferred range right now. All she has to do is get hit with a land mine and set on fire, then-

Well. That happened. Hissing as the heat of Coal Humbug's device scorches her unnaturally pale skin, she only has enough time to glare daggers at him before she's hit with a land mine. The explosion knocks her off balance, but the Servant recovers it fairly quickly as she takes advantage of the blast to slip past that vacuum-flamethrower.

"Your friend doesn't seem to like you very much, does he?" Grinning madly once again, the Dragon Witch twists her sword upwards as she thrusts it forward. "Otherwise, he wouldn't have sent me this way!" Jeanne aims a swift kick at Coal Humbug's shin before following through with the blade proper, aiming to drive it right into his gut and twisting it yet again if she can get it in firmly enough.
John Rizzo      "Sorry," says John. "Kick me if you gotta." It isn't spoken with any enmity.

     As Gilgamesh's toy dolls march forward, something happens with Rizzo's eyes. They seem wistful, almost like they should be crying--but there are no tears. Despite that look, he's smiling, even as their arrows pierce him. His wounds heal, slowly fighting the damage done by the toy army's weapons.

     Rizzo takes out his pistol. While toy swords and arrows pierce his ankles, legs, and arms, he calmly loads the weapon with rubber bullets--a Colt Detective Special. He attacks Gilgamesh, but not directly. Rather than shooting at him, he uses his enhanced senses to shoot the King's birds out of the air, hoping to draw fire by virtue of annoyance.
Nanoha Takamachi     Nanoha watches the helicopter manage to mostly avoid her barrage with some impressive maneuvers around them. She has to give the pilot credit. Still, Nanoha hasn't even begun to go to her full potential, initially hoping that these 'FOXHOUND' forces recognize the error in their attempt to face off against those who are currently arrayed against them.

    The machinegunner opens up against Nanoha and for a brief moment, the Mage realises that this is the first time she's actually been shot at but an actual, real, physical bullet. Quite the milestone in her career!

    Nanoha starts her own evasive maneuvers, dancing through the air as she tries to keep ahead of the machinegunner's aim. His stream of bullets do occasionally get close, managing to catch Nanoha in the side or the back. They don't manage to penetrate the magical defense of her Barrier Jacket, but the impacts are still felt as Nanoha winces. It's like being punched multiple times by tiny fists!

    Nanoha's evasive flight brings her up in front of the helicopter, staff raised to point straight at its pilot. As a pink light gathers at the tip, Nanoha calls out to the soldier inside, "We are trying to bring the joy of Christmas to so many people. If there's any part of you that remembers what that feels like, please, retreat now. Or I'll be forced to shoot you down!"

    In order to provide a final warning to the pilot, Nanoha shifts the aim of her staff to the side. The resulting beam that blasts forward from the weapon will thus only graze the craft at most, rather than go for a direct hit.
Crys Gattz Things are not going so well at this point for Crys the two people suppoirting Gilgamesh have proven to not just be speed bumps. Grinch Krampus and Coal Humbug are not taking things laying down. Oh dear, there's fire and this isn't going to go do well for her, given the nature of her armour flames will be far harder for it to deal with. She'll bring up her photon shield to block the shot, while it does so but her timing is off. She gets caught right in the face.

Anything she was about to say is overpowered has more primal drives kick in. She's got a burn mark there and her eye patch's strap burns away. It falls off as she moves back a bit.

under the patch is a horrible mass of unhealed scar tissue and one thing clear she has no eye left in that socket.

The Newman grits her teeth and will break into a run at Grinch Kramphus her first intent is to attempt to take out his weapon. She fires bolt from her position as he closes but it's the big mechanical claw she brings into play as she attempts to get the weapon somehow and do what damage she can. Failing that she hopes to force Coal Humbug to back off at least to give her some time to think. Or it could go very badly for her.
Rean Schwarzer And Rean lands a hit on Gilgamesh's smug face. The dolls Gilgamesh summons starts firing arrows at them, And Rean tries to duck and weave between it all, a few arrows piercing through his jacket. Still, he dashes towards the dolls, weaving between each one and Gilgamesh himself with a sword slash each.
Big Boss "Hahaha!" Grinch Krampus shouts back to Mikoto, as her blob monster forms around her, and then she teleports behind Grinch Krampus. As she moves to impale him in the back, he starts rolling again, causing the blade to simply slash across his suit, injuring him. "Ah, my present to you. It's a FOXHOUND custom. And of course I know about you."

"You wouldn't be on the Naughty List without a reason, would you?" He laughs again, as he throws two mines directly at Mikoto, trying to blow her sky-high.

Jeanne moves to plunge her blade into Coal Humbug's gut. It doesn't quite work - the suit is hardy, though she's able to cut it and spill blood from his gut, causing him to grimace again. "Ah, humbug. Time to give you your medicine."

He flips another switch on the flamethrower, and points it in Jeanne's face. It does not shoot flames. It shoots /carbon monoxide/, straight for her to inhale and poison her.

Crys moves for the weapon. Coal Humbug's weapon is /extremely/ durable, so it's not possible to just shut it down, but it is possible to do some damage to both it and him. He responds by firing another blast of carbon monoxide straight at her, since it's switched to that, and make her breath in the poison.

Nanoha fires a blast to graze the helicopter, sending it spiralling back, but it remains airborne. The pilot's helmet makes it hard to tell their expression, but they press a button and talk into a comm. After a few seconds...

Someone pops into the radio, speaking over comms.

<"You are aiding a man who is likely to use this machine for nuclear war after the holiday ends. The Metal Gear must be destroyed.">

<"We do not play silly games for 'joy' or 'cheer'. We destroy threats. Stand down and allow the machine to be eradicated.">

The helicopter fires a /missile/ at Nanoha, trying to blow her up straight up.
C Crow clicks his tongue. It should be illegal for guys to look that good after getting hit dead in the face by a curse! It wasn't fair, even to handsome people like himself. "Ah, my phantoms are already winding down..batter up, here comes seconds!"

Raising his weapons of choice, Crow dives forward and fires his orbal pistol, blasting arrows out of the air, deflecting them with swipes of his gunbarrels, and fleet-footed evasion to dance through the volley of wooden projectiles. That's not to snub them, either, he was sure that taking a hit from these things would land him skewered into the hyperglass. "How about this?!"

Crow delivers a volley of Water Sepith infused bullets from his orbal revolver to flash freeze some of the wooden bows arming the toy soldiers, before turning the boxier pistol in his other hand on Gilgamesh, firing to Rean's sides after he exits the Second Form and richocheting his bullets up to the King's shoulders.
Sumiko The double mine was dangerous, even with her quick thinking and movement, she only nearly avoids being detonated again.  Sliding against the road that is the line she looks burned and battered for her movement, but not dead.  There is, however, a shadow that covers her eyes for a moment.  

"Do you now?  Because that's impossible.  The thing that put me on that list was something you couldn't just go and dig up.  You also lose the meaning behind it without knowing /why/.  However, I don't care if you know or not.  I'm going to make you feel like I did with a gut full of shrapnel!" she says, angrily.  

She knows what this is, she hates that she has to defend this.  This is something that was created with her desire to do something nice.  Her desire to tip the scale to make up for the guilt she had over what she had done.  There is twisting in her heart, darkening of her soul gem.  

She leaps forward, forgetting all attempts at subtly or forward-thinking.  She just moves at him with savage swings, attempting to cut the man as hard as she can.  She aims specifically for his stomach, trying to repay the favor.  
Gilgamesh      "Hm."

     Gilgamesh says nothing more as John takes the wounds. His red eyes flicker in the roaring snow. He watches John start firing into the birds, knocking aside his little magical aircraft squad; one of the birds even spins out of the air into the King himself. It leaves another little cut on his face, out of which the curse-mark oozes some more black magic. The King flicks his finger up to wipe the blood off.

     The dolls are a *lot* more durable, and a *lot* faster, than Rean gives them any credit for. It takes a lot of work to keep up with them; Crow's ice shots make his life a little bit easier, freezing some of the toys, but it's still not *easy*. It's not like charging into a shelf of toys but rather an organized, orchestrated military unit. They close ranks as Rean starts knocking them over. They move to guard their King, firing bows at the oncoming swordsman. When he gets past them all and gets another cut on the King of Heroes, another deep gash along the cheek. The ice bounces around to hit the King's armored shoulder, freezing along the upper part of his arm. Gilgamesh purses his lips. There's a flicker of mild irritation in his eyes.

     "Very well then." The King of Holidays raises his hand for the first time since the battle began, and snaps his fingers.

     That's when the doll soldiers all draw little wooden swords, also carved of holy cedar. The bird air force soars into the sky, wheeling around in a circle.

     More of those beautiful dolls come thundering out of the Gate. They're horses, being ridden by more soldiers with heavy wooden clubs and spears. Chariots come following, beautiful clay chariots that embody that childhood love of speed, of adventure. These are the root of every child who has ever played with little toy cars and jumped them off little toy tracks, or run them along their bedside, or run them along the ground. These are the root of those wheels full of happiness, and they thunder forwards to push the party together, to wheel around them and put them back to back.
Ritsuka Fujimaru "Medication? What do you take me for, some sort of useless invalid?" Apparently so, as Coal Humbug tries to gas Jeanne with that nothing she can really smell. She pushes right through the spray of invisible poison, not noticing that it's slowing her down and throwing her off some as she fights alongside that strange woman from the other day.

She never did get Crys' name, did she? Not that she'd ever ask, but still.

As she recovers her footing, though, Jeanne hears that voice coming over the radio. <<"Oh, I'm perfectly aware of what he could do with this, but why should we stand aside? This is what we made with our combined efforts, and it's through that this was all possible. The gift of toys, nuclear weapons, and teamwork...">>

Even as she dashes towards Coal Humbug for a quick slash at the ankles and thrusts up again, Jeanne still finds an opportunity to flash her allies a shit-eating grin. <<"Isn't that togetherness what Christmas is all about?">> She follows that slash with a burst of fire conjured all around herself, partially for flash and partially to disguise the spears forming and launching from behind her in rapid succession.
Crys Gattz Things do not seem to be going so well for Crys against Coal Humbug who seems to prove he's good about his kit. That weapon of his is durable and maybe even reinforced it. She has at least got his attention and now she's got a blast of carbon monoxide at her. There is jack her armour can do about that and she's forced to breathe a good deal of poison a normal person might be dropped.

She's able to endure it but she's not feeling so good and she's thinking of a better idea for combat. She'll banish the claw and summon a pair of pistols. Even as she feels dizzy from the poison. Heck, she's about ready to vomit and her vision is blurring a bit. This is not good, this is not good at all.

She sees Jeanne Alter's still up but Jeanne is a heroic spirit after all. She's got a job so to speak and an ally to back up even as she hears the radio from the chopper pilot. She presses on but not without a sense of guilt. She'll fire her photon pistols at Coal again laying down, bursts of energy but given what she's suffering? It might not be going so well for her. Maybe she's getting too old for this?
Nanoha Takamachi     The pilot doesn't seem to want to back down. The missile fired at Nanoha likely evidence of that. A missile is... Probably a little more what Nanoha is used to. So she attempts to deal with it in much the same way she might something else. As the missile streaks in towards her, Nanoha doesn't try to fly off to evade. Instead she brings her arm up across her chest and then whips it out in the direction of the approaching missile. A single orb of light appears beside her, before blasting off to meet the missile.

    There's an explosion in the air, though as the missile was forcibly detonated early, Nanoha is only caught on the edge of it. Once the smoke passes, Nanoha's combat dress is a bit more blackened, but Nanoha is still flying strong.

    The Mage looks sad. Though only part of it is because she'll have to fight this man and his crew, who are just doing what they believe is the right course of action. But Nanoha has to do what she believes is right too, so she calls out, "Blaster One." A couple of remote bits materialize in the air around Nanoha, similar in design to the head of her staff. Nanoha does respond to the pilots words though, saying, "If that happens, then we will deal with it when it does. For now though, we have to save Christmas, even if that means risking what you say coming to pass."

    Nanoha suddenly dives down, moving to fly under the helicopter. The two bits also split up, moving to fly around the helicopter at different angles. Nanoha comes to a stop beneath the craft, raising her staff up towards it as she calls out, "Axel Shooter..." Four orbs of light appear around her. Similar orbs appear around the Blaster bits that have stopped and turned to aim as well. Nanoha then finishes the spell with, "Focused Barrage!"

    All twelve orbs fire of a beam, a dozen streaks of light dancing around each other as they close in on the helicopter from three different directions.
John Rizzo      John allows himself to be corraled by the miniscule cavalry. He takes off his coat. The dress shirt underneath it looks two sizes too big, the tie loose and slightly askew. He's got to be freezing--but he doesn't seem to mind. Holding his long trench coat in both hands, he holds it at the ready.

     "Sorry about this," says Rizzo to Gilgamesh. He strikes, as soon as his back hits Crow's. The vampire dips low, using the coat as an impromptu sack. He scoops up a great deal of horses and chariots, at great risk to his own well-being. With that same slow certainty, he hefts the 'bag' over his shoulder. Swords poke through the fabric, stabbing into his back. Tiny clubs pummel him, causing his rise to falter slightly.

     Even as some of them cling to his bare skin, club his temples and run over his feet, he makes the move. Spinning in place, John builds up speed, slams the makeshift bag into the crowd of approaching toys. He then hurls the contents of his coat, sending a cloud of toy infantry right back at Gilgamesh. "I really am grateful you're here." He sounds as if he means it--that wistful look in his eyes is still there. The medallion around his neck glows with a brilliant white light.
Big Boss "Ah, the naughty always try to argue with the Krampus. Don't you know? Krampus always knows what to do with you." He's probably not actually aware of the circumstances behind Mikoto's Naughty List, but he knows she's on it, as Grinch Krampus gets cut in the stomach. It splits his suit, but not his belly, staggering him back. He responds by moving to knee her, before trying to stab her with a poisonous crossbow bolt from off of his suit.

Coal Humbug sneers at Jeanne. "Christmas...is the worst day in the world. Let it burn!" He flicks the switch against, as the blade slices at his angles, causing him to trip forward. As he tries to right himself, bleeding, he sprays pure fire at Jeanne, the three-mode flamethrower trying to immolate her. "And let you burn with it!"

Crys fires at him, and she, too, gets the fire blast. It moves to coat her and mix with the carbon monoxide to make her both sick /and/ burning.

Nanoha lances the helicopter from three directions. It's almost dropped from the sky, but barely keeps up, as minimissile pods open up underneath. Missiles begin lancing at her, trying to blast her out of the sky. <"So be it.>"
C Despite their childish appearance, these wooden constructs moved with all the cohesion and precision of a trained fighting force. They were very much fighting an army of skilled warriors, rather than some child's play things. But what caught his attention wasn't necessarily their make or their strength, but their presence. They each radiated..something. A sort of mysticism that was similar to the Higher Elements. "Rean!"

The chariots storm and make to trample them, while Crow tries to break the enclosure with a high speed dash, quickly hopping and skidding across the glass only to be belted back, rolling across the polished surface to stop at his classmate's feet. "Ugh..I think I bruised my ribs.."

Even so, he picked himself up, spitting away at the groud before readying himself. He shot a look to Rean before his body began to shimmer blue. "We're not down for the count yet, so let's show him what we're made of. Rean, now! ARCUS Activate!"

The image of a clockface spinning wildly out of control flashes over their form, as Crow manipulates the flow of time to increase both his and Rean's speed and reflexes. Using this newfound time to act, Crow reloads both of his weapons with normal munitions and releases a volley of suppressing fire to give his classmate an opening.
Ritsuka Fujimaru Despite Jeanne's predilection towards fire, she doesn't carry any particular immunity or resistance to fire. This becomes startlingly pronounced when Coal Humbug blasts those flames right into the fallen saint, drawing pained yells as it scorches her and turns her into a living, walking pillar of flame.

Instead of collapsing from excessive burns or screaming and flailing wildly like a person on fire normally would, though, Jeanne starts laughing. "You enjoy burning things, too? Although I'd agree with you on that, Christmas is absolutely perfect!" Yelling, too, but also laughing as her blood starts to boil with rage and tingle with amusement. "What better way to mock God than to turn a holy day into a celebration of money and objects?! To forget the origins of that day those church-going fools?!"

It's a lot of yelling. "And do you really think your flames are enough to put /me/ out, you stupid worm?! That something like /this/ is going to defeat the guardians of Christmas?!"

The flames around Jeanne grow hotter and larger as she adds her own to the mix, churning together until a dragon of flames appears around her and all but drowns the Avenger out of sight. "I am the Dragon Witch of France, and you are nothing but a cinder before me!" All at once, the flames come crashing down on Coal Humbug with Jeanne's fury.
Nanoha Takamachi     The helicopter doesn't look like it can take much more. Nanoha would have hoped they'd realised this, but perhaps they just can't accept failure in this situation. Nanoha can understand that. She feels much the same way. So she will keep on fighting.

    But first, Nanoha has to deal with that mass of micromissiles! The Mage blasts off, flying at high speed once more as she dances through the air trying to avoid the trails of explosives tracking behind her. They begin to explode as they get close to her, until finally the majority of them catch up and light up the sky around Nanoha.

    Nanoha comes blasting out of the explosion, not so much flying now as falling as she heads straight towards the ground. She's looking more worn at this point, though still in the fight as she manages to recover moments before hitting the ground. Nanoha plants her feet against the solid surface, skidding to a stop as her two bits catch up to float above her.

    Nanoha plants her feet into the ground more solidly, a large spell circle appearing on the ground beneath her. She swings her staff up towards the helicopter, a spell ring appear beyond the tip, as well as the tips of the remote bits. Magic begins to gather as Nanoha starts, "Photon..." The light grows stronger as she quickly charges the spell, the bits charging similar spells. Finally Nanoha calls out, "Smasher!" The three large beams blast forwards towards the chopper with the roar of power.
Crys Gattz Crys Gattz isn't arguing at this point with Coal Humbug at this point.

"Did Santa burry you guys in coal at some point?"

She does not have much more luck dealing with Coal Humbug, he's proven to be more infuriating to fight than the species of Dragon that is native to Ragol and loves to nest in the geothermal power plant under the colony there. She's on fire now she's stick she's got to drop and roll, and t's uncertain for how long she can keep going through shit she'll keep an eye on Jeanne Alter,s ranting.

There is a point there in all that anger and rage that seems to fuel Jeanne.

"Not going to die just...yet."

It's more than a job for this guy she muses it's honestly personal or it seems to be.

She'll banish her guns and summon a pair of gauntlets. There's a tri blade symbol on each one and two pink photon claws form from each one as Crys makes one last push to try and take down Coal Humbug. She's not full out trying to kill him, she's trying to get him to stop though.

"Enough of this..."
Rean Schwarzer The dolls are sturdier than expected, but he gets through. They then draw little tiny swords and start thwacking him with it, leaving little tiny bruises and stab marks on his shins as they try to shove him away from their King. They kind of looked like something someone would dig up in the Ancient Quarry or some other place with strong Animist roots. Something that was very ancient and mysterious.

Then one of the chariots rams straight into him, sending him flipping over it. "Ow..." Rean mutters, landing on his back. Crow rolls up next to him, having had the same thing happen. Still, they both get up, and Crow slaps him with a Chrono Drive. Rean nods. "Right, let's do this!"

Rean rushes in at full tilt towards Gilgamesh, slashing his way through dolls and past chariots, putting as much strength as he can into his attack once he reaches the King!
Sumiko Mikoto is now just a ball of pure emotion, she doesn't often let herself bleed like this, but right now it's all she can do to stay alive.  The kick to the stomach is blocked by her free hand, but the arrow thrusts at her, scratching her deeply across the arm.  There is a bit of staggering from her as she tries to back away, and the pain of the poison starts to flow through her.  

The soul gem darkens a little more, as the poison in her body is neutralized.  She pushes herself, more and more with reckless charge forward.  Why?  It's not important, it's not meaningful.  However, bringing up that subject, while she laughed it off still hurts.  It still reminds her about what she did, and the fact that she still...doesn't forgive that man.

She doesn't forgive this man either, so it's easy to tie the two together.  "He abandoned me.  When I had lost everyone, and only had him left, he abandoned me.  Left me into the Japanese adoption system," she says, through gritted teeth.  "I can't make him pay, because they will protect him...but nothing is going to protect you."

She says, releasing a howl, before leaping at him.  The Eidolon appears again, but before she reaches him she vanishes.  This is because in the air she is taking flight again, a hand pointed out as a barrage of spears, very similar to Jeanne's fly down trying to impale the man.

She appears again, thrusting her blade from behind and attempts to simply tear through him, as she vanishes again.  The Eidolon appears, attempting to smash him into the earth before finally, a raging fire explodes all around.  
Big Boss Jeanne's fire burns into Coal Humbug. It blasts into him, immolating him. Despite that, he still walks, and sprays his own straight back at Jeanne. "We know who you are, saint! Burn in the fires of hell! Burn in the flames of a child's fleeting DREAM!" It moves to swallow her whole, trying and take her down with him, even as his suit starts to burn apart from the sheer intensity of her heat, temperatures it's not build to withstand.

Nanoha's final strike comes out. As it fires, they fire the last thing they have - every missile there is. Her shot hits as they fire back, blowing up the helicopter and sending it crashing to the ground, but leaving her with the salvo as a response.

"Santa gave me /nothing/." Coal Humbug screams, as he's shot as well, but breathes flames at her too to engulf her entirely.

Mikoto tells her story. Grinch Krampus tilts his head, but he shows no sympathy. "You should have been a good little girl, then." He's taunting her. If he survives this, he might even remember her. But for now, as she summons her eidolon and smashes spears at him, they jab into him, ripping up his suit. He spits up blood. But he's still alive.

Another mine goes out. Right as it reaches near her face, an explosive bolt is fired at it, moving to create a chain explosion to knock her out.
Gilgamesh      John scoops up the little toy soldiers. He flings them at Gilgamesh, a mass of his own toys battering against the ruby christmas armor. They don't break - they're much too well-made to simply crack, each and every one a Noble Phantasm in its own right simply by virtue of its age and mythological weight. But they do batter against him. They're mostly harmless little things, but they draw away his attention, forcing him to open the Gate and pull out a sequence of strange colored squares that remind of rubix cubes, which soar in to intercept, blocking the damage from the King. His attention is fixed on John for the moment, though, and there's such a rain of toys from the coat that directing the squares really is taking up his attention - this *isn't* what they were made to do.

     And that opening gives Rean and Crow a chance.

     Crow's volley rips into the soldier dolls. They bring up shields. They fall backwards. Tipping them over seems to be enough to 'defeat' them; the knocked-over dolls turn back into golden mist as Crow fires to give Rean a clear path. His accuracy is excellent. His shots are spot-on.

     It paves the way.

     Rean goes surging forward, a whirlwind of speed. The Chrono Boost, Crow's accuracy - they give him a clear shot straight down the middle of the unit, straight for the King of Holidays. The blade swishes out, sweeping forward, so close, so close. It's definitely a dead-on impact-

     Thump.

     The blade hits the back of Gilgamesh's arm.

     It cracked the ruby gauntlet. Blood drips out, mingling with the red. The blood of a demigod touches the ground once again, a gleaming, beautiful, perfect droplet, like a crystal falling amidst the ruby. Somehow it's a more pure red than the ruby itself.

     Gilgamesh raises an eyebrow.

     "Hohhhh, what's this? There's some determination left in you anyway."

     "Very well then."

     The Gate opens. The ripples open not only all around Gilgamesh, but all over the battlefield. There's...tons of them. Tons, and tons, and tons, and tons. More ripples than there's any right to be.

     "Rejoice, mongrels. I've decided to reward your determination with a glimpse at the King's favorite toy."

     Something shoots out of the ripples.

     It's a yo-yo.

     The yo-yo goes shooting around through the battlefield. It's gleaming gold. It's beautiful. It's *impossibly* beautiful. It's gold. The yo-yo itself trails red cloth in its wake much like Gil's own armor. It spins beautifully, trails of rippling crimson filling the sky.

     Most impressive of all is the string. Or, rather, there is no string. There's merely golden, shimmering light, raw power bent into the shape of a string, dragged through the battlefield, a deadly, decadent magical energy in its rawest and purest form. It shoots out of every one of those countless ripples. Gold light fills the room. Gilgamesh puts on his haughtiest sneer.

     "I invented this trick aeons ago," he says idly as he flicks his finger down.

     The yo-yo itself descends towards Rean's face, grinding like a buzzsaw on its way past. It comes out of a hole near Crow, doing the same. Its fine magical strings threaten to slice Rizzo to pieces.

     It is the deadliest yo-yo in the whole of creation.
Sumiko Mikoto runs right towards Krampus, even as he weathers both her attack and her story.  The cold response only causes her more anger, but she is not surprised.  It's not even the cold response, it's the uncaring and almost corporate response of it.  Right as the mine and bolt are ready to steal Christmas, she fades from sight.  

Vanishing into the darkness as she appears in the air once more.  Portals open up all across the battlefield.  She dives into one below her and then starts shooting across the battlefield like a demon.  Her blade attempting to hit anything she can reach.  Attempting to literally saturate the battlefield.

Jumping out of another portal at the end, she crashes into the earth.  Jade spikes explode out of the ground in a massive blow all around her, attempting to impale the remaining fighters and attempt to end this.  Regardless, she barely gets back to her feet, literally pushing herself beyond her limits.  
Nanoha Takamachi     Nanoha watches her beams explode against the helicopter, destroying much of it and causing it to start crashing down towards the ground. The helicopter had managed to get off that barrage of missiles though and they are now all streaking down towards Nanoha. The look of determination on Nanoha's face doesn't change though as she sees those missiles. Instead she crouches down and then blasts upwards into the air.

    RIGHT TOWARDS THOSE MISSILES!

    Nanoha raises her arms up in front of her as she prepares to weather the damage. The resulting blasts create a trail of explosions in the air as Nanoha meets them head on. By the time she streaks out the other side, her Barrier Jacket has numerous holes in it and she's received some serious burns. But Nanoha continues flying, heading straight towards that crashing helicopter!

    Nanoha streaks into the side of the craft, crashing into its interior. She quickly grabs the gunner in one arm, before going forward to grab the pilot in the other. Nanoha then blasts forward again, crashing through the forward glass and flying off moments before the helicopter hits the ground in a grand explosion.

    Nanoha's is just able to get far enough away from the explosion and slow herself before her strength gives way. Nanoha and her passengers hit the ground a little roughly, skidding across it before coming to a stop. Nanoha breathes heavily as she just lies there. She manages to turn her head to see Mikoto dealing with the last of the FOXHOUND soldiers.
C Crow is confident in Rean's abilities as he charges forward. But what leaves him shellshocked is the reveal of the King's Yo-Yo .. the favorite toy that as it so happens could serve as a weapon just fine. He's shaken from his realization as it smashes straight into Rean and draws blood, leaving Crow with a split second to realize that he was under attack from the portal that suddenly appeared as well, putting two and two together just in time for the Yo-Yo to come for him. "Ngh..!"

Pushing his head to the side so it doesn't bean him directly, it smashes into his shoulder and dislocates it, forcing him to drop his revolver and sending him down to the ground. "Gah!"

It was a close call, leaving a gash down his face. One of his fuzzy antlers wound up shredded, again, and there was a scorch mark on his shirt and blistering his skin from the friction of the incredibly high powered strike. What now? Could he really hold the line with just himself and that Rizzo guy?

Thankfully, Crow didn't have to find out. Gilgamesh proclaimed that they'd won, and so, the fight was over. That just left him to peel himself off the polished ground and make his way towards Rean to make sure he wasn't actually killed by that. "You still with us, pal?"
Big Boss Everyone goes down. Nanoha manages to grab the soldiers, crashing herself into missiles. Jeanne and Crys burn. But Mikoto...

Mikoto defies the impossible. Portals open up, and her shots blast everything. A spike comes up into Grinch Krampus's gut, causing him to bleed out of his mouth. He grins one more rictus grin as he pulls himself out of the spike, collapsing to the ground.

"When I was a boy, I was a good little boy. My parents always told me, you have to be a good little boy, sweet to everyone, or the Krampus will take you away. So, I did what any good little boy will do."

"I decided to hunt the Krampus."

"I learned the crossbow. I learned the mine. The way of trapping. I would hunt down and kill the Krampus. But when you fight monsters...I embodied him in my heart and soul, didn't I? I became the Krampus, even in name. Hunt down the 'bad' ones. Take them away. I was a CIA cleaner...until they said I went too far, and tried to execute me. FOXHOUND pulled me away. It pulled me away to fight another day."

"Perhaps one day, you'll kill your own personal Krampus, too." This is directed mainly at Mikoto, but everyone can take away from it, as Grinch Krampus /explodes/ from a mine. He's dead.
Crys Gattz Crys Gattz now knows what's going on here as Crys finds out the answer to what's up, nothing not even coal. Not even acknowledged that Coal Humbug even existed. That must be a hell of a thing to suffer. There's fire, there's so much fire. Crys will try to brace herself to power through it. This was not the best idea, this was the worst idea. Given she's been poisoned burned and otherwise beaten the heck down by Coal Humbug? She lets out a blood-curdling scream as she hits the snow which thankfully is enough to put out the flames, but Crys isn't getting up and she will need some help to get back on her feet.
John Rizzo      John slips his coat back on. It's full of punctures, and several spots of it are wet with blood. As he sees the yo-yo, he knows what will happen next. Rizzo makes for the nearest large object--a Christmas tree, naturally. He isn't fast enough to outrun the yoyo--but he doesn't have to be.

     He is pummeled on his way to the tree. His hands are beaten and swatted away from its branches. He's knocked off as he tries to climb it--but he gets back up. That white light is shining even brighter now. Though he is pummeled by the yo-yo, he hardly seems to notice, even as it splits his skin.

     Crrrack. Rizzo tears off an enormous limb from the tree. With monstrous strength, he swings it like a club, swatting Gilgamesh's yo-yo away. Despite the size of the limb, he swings it like it's the size of a baseball bat, and with the poise of a batter to boot. Slowly, his wounds heal throughout this patient, determined defense.

     When the fight ends, there's no need for him to keep deflecting. He tosses the limb aside. It lands with a thud. The wounds all over his body slowly close, able to do so now that they're not under constant assault. "You reminded me of something dear today," says John to Gilgamesh. "Something precious."

     "Thank you."
Big Boss Coal Humbug's suit has melted off. A spike is through his gut, as he laughs. "As a kid, they tell you Santa comes with presents if you're nice. Coal if you're naughty. He brought me neither. He never came at all. Ignored me. I'd wait, every year, another year, 'is Santa coming?'. But he never came."

"So I decided to destroy Christmas. I decided I'd get back at that man, who neglected me. Who rejected me over all the other children. I raided NORAD's Santa Tracker, building my own flamethrower, and when I did...FOXHOUND recruited me. To destroy Christmas. But I wonder..."

"Would you have sent me coal, at least to tell me I was noticed?"

Boom. The bomb blows him away. Both FOXHOUND operatives are dead. The Metal Gear has been protected.

Christmas has been saved.
Ritsuka Fujimaru Jeanne eats those flames willingly as fire clashes against fire, the inferno threatening to swallow up everything around them as she forgets for a moment that there's other people in this fight. It's not as though she cares about whether or not she winds up immolating that strange motherly figure fighting the helicopter, that weirdly shiny gunner fighting Coal Humbug beside her, or even that insolent kid that's already dealt with so many land mines to the face.

The flames start dying down on both ends, and Jeanne starts staggering. She's still burning, laughing madly even as her outfit and her flesh smoke from the intensity of all those flames. Her laughter only stops when she hears the gradual end of the rest of the fighting, turning slowly just in time to see that the Grinch Krampus has died.

Jeanne scoffs, brushing her head and the remains of her hat off. "So glad to hear that you've heard of me. But to think that /you/ would be able to put me down... Don't think so highly of yourself, dumbass!" She stabs her sword into the ground in front of her as she starts dropping to a knee, holding herself steady to stop it just before her knee actually makes contact with the ground. Her pride won't allow her to do that just yet, but she's not quite in a position to really get back up either.

She hears the radio, and she chuckles.
Sumiko Mikoto finally stumbles to her knees, the adrenaline of the moment wearing off as she crumples.  The magical girl outfit fading as she finally gives all she can give, staring up as Krampus speaks.  There is a sadness in her face, sure she was mad about being blown up.  Sure she was angry about the situation with her uncle.  She's mad that she can't do anything in this world.  She's mad at her own weakness at this...

This was a reminder of reality.  That she isn't the only person who suffers, that others do too.  They suffer and it twists them as it did her.  Her head lowers as the man dies, unable to say anything to what he told her.  If she slew it, would she still be her?  Or would she become it as he did?  

Was there really no way out of this?  Are the choices to do nothing, or become the monster she was destined to?  The question in her mind pains her more than anything, punching her to her core.  She barely has the presence of mind to fumble out her spare grief seed and then tap it to her soul gem.  

Looking down at the grief seed, a tidal wave of emotions hit her.  Until finally she throws the empty grief seed against something.  It's easy to ignore others when it's not you who is suffering, and even harder when you do.  This...this was too much for her heart to ignore.
Gilgamesh      John thanks him. Gil says nothing. Instead, he disappears, reappearing near Rean and Crow.

     The Gate opens. A pair of pills fall out. Gilgamesh tosses them at Crow. "Take one yourself. Give one to him."

     "Don't take them both or you'll probably die."

     And then the King of Holidays just vanishes into thin air.
C Crow blinks, surprised at the generosity, before nodding just in time for Gilgamesh to vanish. He gives one to Rean before stopping to push his shoulder back into place. It's a painful process, but when it's done, he takes the medicine he was given and sighs with relief. Rean truthfully needed it more than he did, really, but he was happy to be in moving condition again.
Rean Schwarzer Rean nods as he cracks Gilgamesh's gauntlet. Despite everything, he still had some spirit left. He jumps back to prepare himself for whatever might come next...and it's a yo-yo. His favorite yoyo, apparently. It rams straight into Rean's face, slamming into his nose and rolling up his forehead. The impact knocks him into the glass floor of the line, slamming the back of his head.

He's a bit too dazed to really hear what's going on, but once the fog clears, Crow is checking up on him, and it sounds like they'd won.

"Yeah...I'm fine." He sits up, blood dripping from his nose. It looks pretty broken. The pill from Gilgamesh helps staunch it though and his head no longer hurts from slamming into the ground.

Then a small, black object bounces off the ground near him, landing some distance away like someone spiking a volleyball. It's a grief seed. He looks up in Mikoto's direction, and she's staring at her Soul Gem, deep in thought. There's two burned corpses in front of her, with remnants of jade lying around.

He carefully stands up, wiping the blood off on his jacket sleeve, before walking over to her. He wraps his arms around her from behind in a hug. "What's wrong?" he asks.
Sumiko Mikoto barely manages to make the gem disappear into the ring before she was embraced from behind from Rean.  There is a long pause, she isn't sure how to put it into words.  She isn't sure why she can't just say it...

"I lied to you," She says, finally, "I am not over it...it still hurts.  I am still angry.  I still feel awful for...everything.  I just, seem to ignore the pain of others because it isn't mine.  I'm just..." she says, with a bitter smile.  

"I'm just a really awful person."
Big Boss Christmas is saved. Despite property damage in the firing run, all the presents get delivered. The Metal Gear lives up to its name.

And, at the moment, Big Boss still plans to use it in the future. That's not a problem for tonight...but it may be a problem in the future, if others wish to stop him. Or warm his icy heart. However unlikely it may be.
Ritsuka Fujimaru Finally, Jeanne gets back up. Her hair and body are a mess from all the fire, and her outfit is in tatters, but she has enough stamina to get back up finally. Looking off to the side, she notices Mikoto's posture, that strange look around her, and that guy that's been hanging around her quite a bit lately.

Perfect. She closes her eyes, pondering the different things she could say or do. It's not like she's blind or deaf to what's happened recently, the tension over the Metal Gear's purpose, or even going back further. Just the right jab could just set them both off, get things really heated now that the dust has settled.

Jeanne heads back to Metal Gear Geola. There's still work to be done.
Rean Schwarzer Oh. Something about her past? Her uncle?

"Something like that's hard to get over." Rean says, still hugging her. "I wasn't really expecting you to, not so quickly.  But I still have faith that you'll eventually get there. Even if the pain never truly fades, I think one day you'll be at peace with what happened to you."

"You're not an awful person, not if you recognize that there's a problem." His attention turns to Crow for a moment, as well as Big Boss. "Besides, I haven't exactly been the image of forgiveness lately either."

"So how about we both work on moving on, together?"
Sumiko Despite herself, Mikoto laughs a little at that.  She was surprised to hear the encouragement (if you could call it that) from the King of Heros, but Rean too.  With a sigh, and finally standing up she smiles, and while not forced it's a tad weak.  She's a bit emotionally exhausted.  

"Alright..." She says, towards Rean, giving him a hug.  "Alright...lets actually get to saving Christmas, we still have presents to deliver, right?"