Scene Listing || Scene Schedule || Scene Schedule RSS
Owner Pose
Hiromi     In the first trip down through the labyrinths, at the behest of Hiromi and to break an ambiguously defined curse over the land, a secret set of teleportation rooms leading back near the surface had been found. After that, a different kind of portal had taken everyone to meet one called the Archon, who had handed out several magical tokens, claiming that at least one of these was needed for the portal to function properly, and that they would eventually find their progress down halted if they could not find some important bells.

    Reacting to Lotus's Valkyrie token, the portal took the party to a snowy hill, on which stood the Shrine of Destiny. Within it, the Norn explained that the Orb of Fate had been taken by the leader of the fire giants, Lord Surtur, who intended to begin Ragnarok early. Fighting through a series of tunnels downward, filled with ice but giving way to lava, the party halts just before the final chamber. With the help of several runes and the Wizard token, Ishirou finds a convenient means of linking a teleportation gateway, set into a wall, back to previously explored areas. This makes it simple to rest and acquire reinforcements.

    As before, Hisako is here, a wolf-tailed miko, here to observe on Hiromi's behalf, and to answer some questions, though not to fight on the frontlines. Lotus has buffed up and convinced four ghostly vikings to join the battle, who had previously been part of the guard on the surface, and are half the survivors of an original hundred-strong force.
Kale Hearthward Kale stands near the aforementioned portal, doing some warmup stretches.

He looks impatient.

... But he's not rushing on ahead of everyone else, either.
Darren      Darren's here too--dressed in yellow gym shorts and a white tank top. "Damn, Kale," says Darren, patting him on the back in the midst of his own warmups. "That's good form!"

     There's a momentary pause. Reaching into his drawstring backpack, Darren pulls out his trusty blue headband, slipping it on and pushing his hair from those bright, green eyes.

     "Hisako," greets Darren, coming in for a cool-kid handshake. In from the side, hook the thumbs, bring it in for a chest bump and one-arm hug.

     "Good to see you again, blood."
Ishirou Ishirou is testing things out with his new runes.  The portal rune is self-explanatory, and won't get much testing, because he doesn't want to try and teleport into places he hasn't been to.  That's silly and dangerous, and dangerously silly.  

He tries 'charging' items to see if they do something, or if it's simply adding magical energy back to depleted items.  In THAT case, it'd be amazing for himself...given how he draws mana in, but then he'd have to figure out if it's a matter of being cost-effective.  Maybe it's made for items with a magical charge?  

Actually, with it being as explosive, that makes more sense, transferring magical power into an item.  

He waves to people as they come.  "Sorry I was engrossed with trying to figure out this new rune."
Kirishima A new face is here! Sort of. Kirishima's not wholly unfamiliar to most of the people already here, at least, but she's definitely not familiar with the labyrinths, the tokens, the task, or even the miko acting as Hiromi's eyes. She's heard just enough to be intrigued, though, especially when the call for reinforcements is given. That's more than reason enough for the ninja to show up donning her usual white and blue outfit along with a steel mask over her mouth and nose along with an appropriately flapping scarf that most certainly won't catch on fire before the end of the day.

Being a ninja, of course, means she doesn't show up by coming in through a portal where people can see her. No, she comes through all sneaky-like, turning invisible prior to arrival so she can instead appear out of nowhere dramatically, already standing on top of a pillar or larger-than-average rock or something.

"I have arrived. What will our target be today?" She makes sure not to look at anyone in particular, either, although an observant person will probably notice her eyes darting around every now and then, sometimes to Hisako to see if she's paying attention, sometimes to Kale to watch his form, Darren to see if he's coming in for a handshake, and Ishirou for what he's doing with those runes and such.
Vantablitz Remnants     "Wah! There's a ninja enemy?! Isn't this supposed to be a Norse-themed quest?!" "Then it has to be an NPC, right? I recruited those guys really easily~" "Huh? Oh. Yeah, actually, it doesn't look like she's hostile." "Good. Now be quiet for a little, okay~? I'm trying to focus." "You don't need to focus to--" "Shhhhhh shh shh shhh~"

    Lotus and Ahn are still exactly where they were before, more or less. Ahn advises the newcomers to "A-ah, hey, come with me a second!" and starts moving back up the passage a little ways so that they look away from the way downwards. This is because Lotus is currently disposing of all the giant corpses the party had just freshly made. Or rather, 'recycling'. She has quite literally planted herself in place, whilst a spreading network of vantablack fluid channels has grown all around her --and is still quickly growing-- to pierce all throughout the bodies, dissolving them into so much red muddy water and absorbing some black substance from it, gradually growing up creepy little gardens of black and white flowers over the sludgy dirt, maybe a tenth of the total mass of the giants.

    This is for Reasons:tm:
Hiromi     Close proximity to Hisako reveals more certainly what 'approval from Hiromi' already hinted -- beneath the loose outfit, she's in great shape. Physical capability doesn't equate to understanding of cool behavior, unfortunately, and Darren successfully mystifies her. After visible confusion, she apparently decides that this is normal for his culture and that she shouldn't worry about it. "Yes, Mr. Spears. I'm glad to see you're in good health. This trip might be particularly dangerous. Please remember that you won't be locked in there." That sounds just a bit purposefully worded.

    Hisako has similar words for the others, as each person arrives, though she's otherwise content to remain in the background. Rather than answering Kirishima, she assumes that someone else will. But she is, definitely, looking.

    Ishirou finds that the 'charging' rune does seem to be less than useful on items that don't already have a magical charge, or way to contain one built-in. That works about as well as electrocuting non-electrical items. He can feel the small, pewter token growing warm whenever he's using it. It's not clear where the energy is coming from, but for him, is mostly a matter of tedium of drawing the runes over and over again. Should he try charging the same item multiple items, or an item that was already charged, it quickly becomes clear that 'over-charging' is a thing, and more of 'a dangerous thing' than a useful one.

    Lotus finds that working through the fire giant remains gives her, as expected, some bio-info that will be useful for making fire-resistant surfaces with her body. It won't be enough to survive in lava, but it will be enough to not immediately die, which tends to be an important distinction. Along with that, their muscles are pretty incredible, even beyond their great size. She might be able to pull off some 'instant explosive power' technique with this.
Hiromi Yet first was the world in the southern region, which was named Muspell.
  It is light and hot; That region is glowing and burning, and impassable
   to such as are outlanders and have not their holdings there.

He who sits there at the land's-end, to defend the land, is called Surtr.
  He brandishes a flaming sword, and at the end of the world
   he shall go forth and harry, and overcome all the gods,
    and burn all the world with fire.


    The lair of Surtur is an unpleasant place. There is far more lava in sight than solid ground, and what ground there is is barren rock, alternatively broken or smooth and brittle, older flows waiting to be brought back to heat and life. Sulphurous gasses are a constant hazard. The ice and snow of the previous areas is far behind you, now, and neither water nor steam can be counted on to remain.

    A ring of bubbling lava forms a moat about a rock palisade. Mighty drawbridges, sized for the giants to use, stand raised at the northern and southern ends. Their construction, for all their great size, might be more precarious than one would like, like they'd be easily damaged. Though if that happened, it might not make it any easier to jump the moat.

    Surtur himself isn't in immediate evidence. Instead, the immediate danger is comprised of several giants, and a larger number of fire-breathing ants (around the size of dogs) wandering around the area. While it might otherwise be possible to swiftly dispatch them and take any number of strategies for breaking the fortress -- which has a lot of giants in it -- this is very unlikely to still be possible if no one stops the four ghostly warriors who are following Lotus about. (They have not had any particularly strong reaction to her eating the remains, trusting the Valkyrie to know all about dealing with the fallen.) They're all primed to charge forward and break things, though none of them have a good way of dealing with lava.
Ishirou Ishirou satisfied with his understanding of the runes under his control looks up again.  Kirishima is acting weird, Hisako is acting aloof and cool...which is normal for her.  Let's see, Lotus and Ahn are acting weird, but that's normal for them.  He's sure Kale's about to run headfirst into the fire room.  That's fine, he can do that.  And Darren is also acting weird, but that's also normal.  

Ishirou's enveloped by a light, and his power armor comes into view.  Once connected the summons various parts.  Aiming for a range configuration with flight, he considers something for a moment.  

How to draw out Surtur..?  He might come out if enough giants come out, but could they force Surtur into an unfavorable position..?  Crossing the threshold, Kale says he has the drawbridge and getting people across, so instead Ishirou attempts a biohack on one of the giants and attempts to dig for information.  

He also uses his knowledge of law and customs.  Can he goad Surtur out into the open, and be challenged without his support helping him?  Simply put, can they put the giant at a disadvantage?  
Kale Hearthward "Damn right my form's good," says Kale, accepting the back pat.

He moves on from physical warm-up to doing his breathing exercises. Breathing exercises are direly important when you cast from your lungs.

"Alright, are we all ready?"

He pulls out his left hand sword, and gets it at the ready as he starts walking.

And then running.

And then, with enough speed picked up, leaps and transitions into flying, his jet boots kicking in.

It's an aerial charge that would make any knight proud - Kale simply goes over the ice, over the snow, and then over the firey moat - He's moving fast, and ignoring anything that would have slowed a land-bound knight down, and moving at a decent fraction of his maximum speed. He's trying to simply blaze past all of the giants and the ants, before they're able to catch up to him - or, maybe before they're able to react altogether, to the sudden appearance of a flying vanguard blazing through the air.

And then at the drawbridge, the drill sword Periactus activates, Kale using the momentum of his charge in attempt first to pierce through it - and then, bracing his feet against the nearby wall, tear the rest of it apart!
Darren      Darren rolls his neck, bounces on his feet. "Oh, sure thing, Ahn," he says, following--until it's Time.

     The lair is entered. Darren is towards the front of the group when he steps in. "Nessie," he says with certainty, on the other side of the drawbridge, "You're up." A flash of light rises from his backpack, revealing a blue, friend-shaped plesiosaur with a single horn and a grey shell.

     Letting out a fierce cry, she advances, ahead of the ghostly vikings. While they follow Lotus, should their wandering place them in danger of lava, the Lapras will blast the lava with conjured, ice-cold water.

     At the same time, Ramesses, the animated sarcophagus, emerges, too. He creepily stands upright on two ghostly arms, toothily grinning at Ishirou. One hand waves in a manner perhaps meant to be friendly. He then points at the fortress, then at Ishirou's head, then shrugs.

     "He figures you're tryna get at that fortress," explains Darren. "Or tryna get 'em to come out."

     Ramesses bounces excitedly, then falls flat on his back and stamps himself against the ground.

     "He'll set up something nasty for 'em."

     Those teeth open, revealing an unsettling, smiling black void. Ramesses spits something purple and jagged into cupped, ghostly hands. Flinging it litters the approach with sharp, poisonous stones.
Kirishima "Rest assured! I am no NPC, but you may consider me a faction leader!" Kirishima announces proudly to Lotus and Ahn, letting her bravado come through loud and clear before she coughs lightly into her hand. "... Admittedly, a small one at the moment, but our time will come sooner rather than later. You are, however, correct in assessing that I am not hostile to your cause! In fact..." With two fingers raised in front of her face, she jumps, then vwips from her spot to a few steps' distance away from the pair in order to raise her free hand in a thumbs-up.

"I am here on your side!"

With that squared away easily enough, Kirishima turns her attention to the threats at hand: Giants, giants, and giant(ant)s. Although she moves quickly, she actually waits a moment before rushing in with the rest of her allies, skating across the ice with relative ease despite a lack of skates. It's somewhat improvised through sliding her feet over the surface, but it's better than trying to sprint across it and risk flinging herself right into that fiery moat.

"Though we strike into the heart of the hellish lair, taking on those that would call the flames their beds and the lava their drink, we cannot falter in this task!" As Kirishima vwips from side to side erratically in her advance, she projects her voice rather loudly despite presenting as a ninja. Even her first attack is rather flashy in itself, consisting of a forward-moving backflip followed by flinging an assortment of sharpened objects at the ants and giants to try and grab their attention all at the same time: Kunai, knives, needles, and even a couple of small explosives!
Vantablitz Remnants     Of course, Lotus engages that Fire Resistance and Strength the moment she's figured them out, but the primary reason for her turning huge corpses into creepy alien flower gardens reveals itself shortly thereafter.

    Ahn, still wearing the backpack, stands in the middle of the carpet of glossy black and bone white alien growth, bathed in its pale green glow-lights, and says, "Okay. Hit me up!" to which Lotus obliges with "You mean 'eat me up', right~?" "Not now!" Rather than grabbing Ahn and pulling her in to toku suit up, what Lotus does next is breaking down her body almost entirely, at which point the flower garden dissolves and collapses into a forest of ferrofluid-like geometric shapes, and implodes in upon itself.

    The result is that the total cumulative masse congeals around Ahn, altogether enough to climb double digit feet in height. The slightly unwholesome sounds of shifting fluid, crunching 'bone', cracking fibre, and ratcheting woven matrix, comes together in a brand new Lotusform 'the average size of all the giants consumed', though distinctly less humanly proportioned; instead of being a slightly taller and shapelier copy of Ahn, her shape is distinctly more 'mecha' and substantially more heavily armoured, beneath which that glossy 'solar panel fibre' muscle now bulges in the seams. Huge claws on each foot anchor her into the ground, matching those of the hands that reach down to scoop up a giant axe, and augment it with a decarbonizing film and glowing hardlight edge. Water-steam escapes from toothy jaws, tinted green by six glowing eyes. There's a reddish tint to the otherwise white plate, but that's a factor of the heat resistant copy.

    "Oh, this is pretty comfortable even with the lava and all." "I'm siphoning those water bottles in your backpack you know." "Ah, fine by me! Let's just go!" "Done taking it slow~?" "Hell yeah!" The encouraging wave from the Lotusform is definitely Ahn's, her body language dominating the gestalt for the time being, but the ridiculously fast sprint, combining giant stride, super strength, and the flower-blossom energy thrust, is mostly the Lotus augment.

    They charge straight into the mass of defending enemies; intentionally stomping on ants with Ahn's martial precision and Lotus' exterior resisting their fire and absorbing their splattered biomass; and clashing with the giants by using an equally sized axe (with multiple augments) accelerated with qi-amplified movements and blasts of metabolic energy, primed to cleave right through whatever they use to block and take the giant out behind them. Every splatter of blood, every severed limb, is snatched and disintegrated and absorbed for additional power, resulting in a kind of compounding avalanche charge.

    "Follow me, brave warriors, and fear not pain nor death!" "Hey, don't tell them that!" Their plan for the moat appears to be throwing a giant or two into the lava moat, using them as a stepping stone, and wall slide-super jump-footstool-triple jump-wall grab and climb up the far side, aiming for where Kale punctured the barricade and looking to yank it down into a bridge configuration through brute force.
Hiromi     Ishirou's knowledge check, aided by his bio-hacking of a local, reveals that there should be plenty of ways of goading an extremely powerful and prideful giant lord into combat, assuming he can get a message to him. Shouting similarly prideful challenges and insults would probably be enough. Whether this will put the giant at a disadvantage is less clear, without knowing how important the defensive position of the rock fortress actually is to him. He can read the info that Surtur is meditating in the center of the fort, but nothing much reliable about his abilities.

    Kale races past the wandering enemies. They don't even have time to go after him, since he's soon followed by the slower, but at least as enthusiastic (very solid-looking) ghosts. If he turns, he could even make a pincer move, but first he'll have to contend with the fact that the drawbridge doesn't just break at his attack, but comes crashing down with immense force, enough to potentially kill anyone on either side of the moat around it, as its pieces break apart in the most dangerous way possible.

    Darren, with Ramesses sets stuff up. That doesn't do much immediately, but it will once enemies advance on his position, which probably won't take long.

    Lotus + Ahn's transformation gets the most eyebrow-raising reaction from Hisako yet, if still a silent one. Maybe it's her great size. The wolf-miko is, naturally, hanging back, and uses a talisman covered in turtle symbols on herself, to some subtle effect, once the heat has her sweating. The temperature differences are even worse for having just come from the ice lands.

    Not everything will go precisely to plan. There are only a few giants wandering around outside the fort, and even with the giant Lotusform blitzing all of them, they're not enough to make a good bridge, with how quickly the bubbling lava breaks them down and pulls them in, when they're laid fully over it. This is true only before Nessie helps, cooling an area down to be just temporarily semi-solid, which makes the area very unpleasant but at least briefly survivable as a way in, if one has good jump-climb ability and can't just fly. The destroyed drawbridge is really no help at all, almost like it was more a deathtrap than part of a defensive wall.

    However one gets across, the inside of the fortress really does have a lot of giants. Despite the space, they're practically packed in there -- though none were standing close to either drawbridge. Surtur is easy to spot across another, inner ring of lava, sitting cross-legged, next to a frighteningly massive axe, even against his own size, and a crystal orb that only looks small because a giant has it.
Hiromi     That mass of fort-garrisoning giants is where the vikings charge for, though they are very badly outnumbered. The ring of non-hazardous rock is narrow enough that they could at least hold off the giants coming from the right and left, if left to it, though the ones in back are able to grab loose chunks of rock, and one sights in on Kirishima as a target to let fly.

    Ishirou and Darren, being further back, are relatively unmolested -- until the fire ants and the one surviving giant who had been in a completely different direction from their lair invasion sight in on them to start making life hard, with the ants surrounding Ishirou to bite him before he can fly off, and Darren having to deal with big stompy feet.
Ishirou There is a moment where Ishirou can see the fire ants coming.  He just needed a little more time to put a plan together...and then...

There we go.  

At that moment, the power armor and Ishirou flies up and away, aiming to blast away from the Ants, who just NARROWLY missed grabbing onto the flight unit's legs.  There is a flip in the air as it transforms into flight mode and goes up and over.  However, it does NOT leave the ants and their giant friend empty-handed.  

Missiles rain down across the ants and their giant master, aiming to try and leave a devastating trail in its wake.  More than that, a few homing missiles fly off towards the giant lord himself.  Not to actually do damage but to interrupt his meditation.  

There is a song, a song about the end of the world.  A song about how Surtur will meet his end.  He takes a breath, and his speakers turn on, making a loud sound before he starts singing.  

Surtur moves from the south
with the sathe of branches
there shines from his sword
the sun of gods of the slain

but on the fields of Vigrior
before their avenger he sits
for the bane of Surtur comes
their names empowered by Freyr

Surtur walks the path all travel
for his immortality but transient
a notch on their axe he'll become
and on the road to Hel he'll tread

And with that, he passes by the ants again, delivering them another gift.  Yes, it's missiles.
Kirishima For better or for worse, the vikings won't be left to fend for themselves. Kirishima fights alongside them to aid in blocking off the giants, and she looks up as she sees the first volley of stones coming in. "Giant rocks? Very well... Bring your worst!" She bellows in challenge, not quite noticing that one giant is aiming at her in particular. She does an admirable job weaving through the rain of rocks, although the one aiming for her actually manages to nail her in mid-jump, and it seems as though she's about to be taken down into the fiery moat so soon after the battle begins!

Until Kirishima is replaced with a block of wood while she reappears a short distance away and lands in a three-point pose. "A simple, yet effective maneuver... But not effective enough!" She shouts defiantly and overdramatically, one arm crossed over her face to both pull something off her back and wipe some blood off so as to maintain the illusion of untouchability.

Once she's done with that subtle-ish cleaning, she sweeps her hand forward as a pair of giant frog heads appear on her shoulders following the sweep. "You're not the only ones capable of such bombardments, you know... See if you can withstand the might of my ninjutsu!" Her hands and fingers move rapidly as she goes through a whole host of seals, the frogs opening their mouths wide while flames appear in front of them. Those flames keep growing until they eventually launch upwards in a huge arc towards those stone-hurling giants.

It's not the flames themselves that are the danger, however, but what's hidden within those flames. As they come to the top of their arc, they split into multiple smaller fireballs that rain down not just flames upon the giants that are practically living in the stuff already, but a rain of deadly shrapnel and solid cannon rounds.
Kale Hearthward "Drawbridge down," calls Kale, who is turning to help others get inside - which turns out not to be necessary, given the moat's being actively cooled enough to get across that way. "Oh, neat trick..."

Like he promised Ishirou (Wait, did he actually promise? Maybe he meant to promise but didn't actually say so. Whatever.) he hangs back instead of pushing right on into the fortress ahead of everyone else. Actually literally - he hangs out on the side of the wall near the drawbridge entrance, using it as a bit of cover.

And inside - giants. A tight pack of giants, and Surtur further in, specifically. Kale gets a bit more height, using the wall's features as cover, and looks the situation over for another moment, eyes narrowed.

He starts casting, shaping the winds - rolling out a long, thin current, and then holding the spell firmly in his hands, takes a deep breath...

"Bear witness!" he calls, winding up and pitching the wind. "To the EAST WIND!"

The spell flies across the battlefield, curving past the giants - over the lava moat - toward's Surtur's axe!

It's one gust. One incredibly powerful gust, easily in the Fujita 5 range, blasting upwards to try to yank the axe out of the ground and send it flying clear out of the fortress!
Vantablitz Remnants     The vikings that are trailing behind were something Lotus would be a bigger help, but her impulsive thirst for speed and violence and multiplicative absorption has outstripped them. "Hey, we can't just abandon them back there! Aren't you supposed to be a Valkyrie?!" "But I already 'blessed' them a ton~" "Take two seconds to do it, alright? I've got things here!" "Oh fine."

    The squished ants and dead giants, albeit not all that many of them, left behind are rapidly colonized by distinctly unnatural black lotus flowers. From them flow roving shadowy puddles that lay as traps, binding and impaling the legs of careless giants who step on them, but also leaping up as waves of dilatant hard cover when the vikings near them are attacked, adding much more favourable terrain to the field on top of her existing 'blessing' heightening their parameters and survivability.

    Ahnlotus slams the axe into the ground, the glowing edge disappearing as she releases her hand. With Ahn in control of the physical motions and circulation of energy between them, Lotus has given her the last piece of setup she needs with her aggregate size: equal height with the giants.

    In close quarters like this, packed into the stone fortress, Ahn now has the upper hand. 'Her' leg kicks out to break the knee of a charging giant, which she leaps off of to grab his head between 'her' claws and pulverize it with a rising knee strike. A swinging blade is knocked aside with a spinning elbow to the flat, torquing up for a snap hook into the underside of the arm and ribs, plunging the sharp parts of 'her' fist deep, its twin repeatedly hammering the giant's front with fa jin until he collapses. A revolving high round kick smashes a raised weapon out of another giant's hand, which transitions into a tackle and vicious ground attack to his head and neck. The one that approaches behind her is blocked by throwing the first one, and a spearhand strike goes through the both of them.

    Ahn is now tall enough to do martial arts to giants.
Darren ROCKY PLAINS

     Darren is unflappable, despite the size of the giant compared to him. He has to look up to meet his would-be killer in the eye--a considerable distance. When you're on the field, a lineman's got one chance to make a block. The giant's foot comes up...

Dropped your block.

     And Darren fakes it out, cutting right to spread open the giant's stance. His whole body then shifts gracefully forward instead, dipping past the giant's ankle.

     I4's missiles carpet the area--Darren weaves under, around, above them, eyes always forward, feet never uncertain. You always trust your teammates. And you keep moving, until they make a stop, force you out of bounds...

     Or until you score. Rainbow. 20. Hut. Hike.

MOAT

     Nessie, previously having helped escort the vikings, is enveloped in red, crackling energy. In three rapid bursts, she grows to immense proportions--large enough to be a siege weapon unto herself. Indeed, that's the likely expectation the giants on this side of the field have, that she'll turn towards the fortress and begin attacking it with Lotus, or perhaps that she'll fight them directly.

     It's a trick. The giant plesiosaur roars, her features now markedly more fearsome, her shell resembling an ocarina, surrounded by prismatic musical notation. The moat is, first, cooled with freezing water. More and more fills in the space, until Nessie freezes it--into a ramp.

     Ramesses slingshots himself, having stretched all four arms to their absolute limit. He rockets, air whipping past him with a howling noise, up the ramp. He soars over the rocky walls, his arms are pinned to his side for aerodynamics--but at the last minute, he extends them, slamming into as many giants as he can with the force of several hundred pounds of speeding sarcophagus, just as Darren takes to the air.
Hiromi     Before getting to him, there's still all the rest to deal with. Darren's playmate makes a grab for him with his hands, followed up by a tackle that might otherwise be described as falling directly on him, revealing only afterward that the giant is using his own bulk to reduce the directions Darren can easily dodge while making another sweeping grab.

    The fire giants inside the fortress on the right side of the ring-shaped platform continue to pelt Kirishima with boulders, any one of which could crush her flat if she took a bad hit, while also trying to overrun the two vikings in front of her. One breaks through, wounded in the process, swinging a big axe for her, in a wide enough arc it could hit Ramesses if it misses her.

    The left side has the other two vikings and Ahnlotus, and despite those very effective efforts, still enough opponents remaining to be a problem. With no reason to try to overrun their line, it's instead a slugging match, though one of the giants in back pulls out a fire wand to blast them. The earlier meal gave her partial fire resistance, but that magic would still hurt.

    Kale is sighted in by the furthest back couple of giants on either path, who have been slowly circling around until they can fire off bolts of fire in his direction.

    But none of that's quite as dangerous as when Surtur begins to move. Not waiting for his opponents to come to him, now that he's been challenged, he simply leaps directly over the wide moat, axe in hand, solid rock shattering beneath his feet, the flaming edge of his immensely heavy weapon coming to life as he drags it around in a spinning slash right through the position of both Ahnlotus and one of her vikings, who brings around his far-smaller shield and sword together to try to take a blow he definitely isn't built to survive. The sheer strength is enough to grant it speed, together with that run-up, and its momentum makes it difficult to redirect at all.

    "No, Odin cannot help you here." Said with total confidence. And then Surtur is already away again, vaulting past all three fighters on that side, his footsteps thunder, his march an earthquake, as his second leap takes him through the air, and even the heat passing by the blade of his axe, to say nothing of taking it directly, a danger to Kale's life in the air.

    "Who bears the souls of Valkyries to Valhalla, I wonder? I'll let you take your wizard, first!" He's away again, without stopping to see what happens to any of his targets, going straight for Ishirou. As already demonstrated, simply flying up isn't enough to escape him. His axe approaches with sure intent to kill.
Kale Hearthward Kale is winding up for another attack when the giants sight him.

He's nearly singed by the first fire bolt, due to not paying attention, and scrambles to avoid the others, leaving his perch to start ducking and weaving around the arena, looking for an opening...

And then, again, nearly getting fried by the sheer heat coming off of Surtur in the process of that, and is only saved by diving sharply to get back closer to ground level.

"At least I'm alright- oh, no..." he says. He's realized who Surtur was going after, now, connecting the dots as he sees everyone's position. "Ishirou!"

He jets off again - ignoring the incoming flame zaps for the moment, trusting in only his luck to see him unharmed - and heads towards Surtur - making pair of sharp turns in midair to get around and in front of the giant, and more specifically between Surtur and Ishirou.

"I4, go!" he barks, and then breathes at Surtur. Mere breath isn't the right word - it's as a dragon would breathe, a blast of sheer aerial force, delivered nearly point blank. Enough to get Surtur's focused elsewhere than Ishirou, at least.

... Kale will worry about the consequences of getting the giant's attention like this later.
Ishirou Ishirou is thinking to himself because he sees the Giant come out of his hole.  "Oh good the plan worked.  I'm a genius!"

'Who bears the souls of Valkyries to Valhalla, I wonder?  I'll let you take your wizard first!'

"Oh no!" Ishirou says, staring at the giant bearing down on him with the strength of...well a giant.  Not just /any/ giant, but the king of them.  His eyes scan, frantically, he doesn't have the time to be as careful as he was before.  His path is trying to be alive in the next few seconds.

He actually drops high mobility mode and shifts back into humanoid mode.  Throwing off his profile is the first step, he might lose speed, but the profile change is bigger with a weapon like an Axe.  A large beam saber moves to try and block.  Ishirou isn't looking to try and match the strength, but try and deflect the blade just enough...but the force is just too much.  

The blow is far less damaging than the giant was probably expecting, which throws Ishirou end over end.  The other reason for the humanoid mode is that the thrusters and maneuvering jets are across the machine, allowing him to remain to hover, instead of being thrown to his death in magma.  He goes flying again, as he switches back into plane mode the moment Kale goes for the attack and spins around.

Beams of energy fire at the Giant, aiming to try and pepper him from afar as he tries to recalculate his battle plans.  "Thanks, Kale!" he shouts, not abandoning him and making sure that the Giant has two targets.  
Kirishima With the giants continuing their attack on the defensive line of vikings, Kirishima has little reason to try breaking through herself. Instead, she's committed to holding the line with these newfound companions (for now), firing a few more disguised cannon-shots and doing a few more flips to avoid getting crushed underneath another volley of boulders coming her way.

"Hold the line! If we can weather their attacks, we can turn the tables on our adversaries and their leader!" Upon spotting that axe-wielding giant, Kirishima makes a beeline for the warrior, slipping a short blade out from behind her and almost clearing that axe with a swift leap as she tries to deflect it upwards away from Ramesses.

Almost is the key word, though, as the heavy blow still grazes across her whole body and knocks her upwards quite a bit higher into the air than she was expecting. It knocks some of the wind out of her, too, but she's not too banged up despite going up that high. Realizing her precarious position, the ninja whips out a grappling hook from her other side, whirling it around briefly and launching it at the giant to get it around one of those meaty arms. With any luck, she can swing herself around the giant in a dizzying arc before driving her own weapon into an open mouth before leaping right off.

She hears Surtur's voice calling for blood, and she sees an opportunity. "Come, Darren! This way, viking friends! Their commander's head shall yet be ours!" She calls out to the vikings to try and rally them while rushing forward once more, trying to weave through the viking lines on the way to join the fight against Surtur with Lotusahn, Ishirou, and Kale.
Darren      To break a tackle--usually--you hit and spin. Get low, make contact first, spin off the tackler before they can wrap you up. Usually, defenders aren't to tall they can tackle just by flattening you.

     Darren doesn't hesitate. He ascends like a bullet, and the quarterback's shoulder rams into the giant's stomach with alarming force for someone so much smaller. Darren rolls across the giant as he falls. The heavy impact of the giant's body is made, without Darren beneath--instead, slipping past his ribs.

     What -is- impacted is a field of poisonous stones, that dig into the skin. The poison is like ice in the veins--perhaps a new sensation altogether for the fiery giant.

     Darren's eyes gleam with aggressive, forceful intent. A sharp, precise 'hook' is thrown telekinetically, a fist-sized impact of remarkable strength landing on the giant's temple.

     The hovering psychic then darts off, to rejoin with Nessie and Ramesses.

Arena. 15. Hike.

     The giant plesiosaur looses a sonorous cry, her eyes glowing an otherworldly, wispy white. The air near her horn cools so much, so quickly--frost clings to it. A ray of bitter cold, nearly as wide as Surtur himself, engulfs the space between him and Nessie's horn.

     In the aftermath of this ray's impact, a shimmering aurora appears above the battle, bathing Darren and all his allies in protective light that dulls the impact of incoming attacks.
Vantablitz Remnants     A slugging match is something that the Ahn Lotus gestalt fighter is absolutely built for. Speed and maneuverability isn't 'their main advantage'; they have an entire toolkit of them. Ahn's martial arts are flawless and tireless. Lotus protecting her body shifts tiny degrees to deflect impacts and constantly regenerates by showering in the enemy's blood-- even fire damage. It is a self-sustaining reaction, the warpath continuing on indefinitely.

    Then Ahn pointlessly leaps in front of a viking ghost, yelling "Look out!" as if he hasn't noticed the attack. Surtr, faster and stronger and with a much more powerful weapon than the others, is much harder to mitigate, and defending another is always much more difficult, as Ahn can't move the two of them from out in front of the viking. Crouching fast enough to create a compression wave of wind, then hitting the axe with a rising palm fast and heavy enough to make a booming vapour cone, she drives it over the pair's head, clipping them on the way up and leaving blistered and burnt plating from the wash of fire.

    "What'd you do that for?" "He was in danger!" "He's an NPC." "This --probably-- isn't actually a video game you know! It's just like one." "Also he's a ghost." "Ghk--" "Oh well, I'm supposed to protect warriors while playing the part of a Valkyrie, right~? I'll forgive it this time~"

    Flexing both their combined bodies, Ahn builds up power and the circulation of qi in their legs and core, and then chases after Surtr with an enormous, explosive leap, gaining much more height at a sharper upward angle. Off-blue gel, slick and sticky, 'sweats' onto Ahnlotus' claws from her hands. Brilliant plumes of light flare from her upper back, suddenly driving her downward at the giant king at tremendous speed, the stomp itself a stumbling shockwave, whilst the quick flurry of strikes following it are merely landing blows --practically only for scoring points, optimized for speed and making contact. However, she especially aims to grab his flaming axe, and presuming he won't relinquish it so easily, try for a shoulder throw.

    Yes, it is that blue jelly. With the ambient heat so high, and the flames gushing from his axe, it should spread and multiply extremely quickly.

    "Just so you know, no god has ever looked out for me in my life. I don't believe in those anymore." "You're ruining the mood." ". . ."
Hiromi     Strong though it is, no one can say Surtur's strike wasn't telegraphed. Even the heat of a near-blow is enough to make armor begin to melt, and Kale suffers more for throwing himself into that path a second time, after his first narrow escape. Still, his quick defense surprises flame-haired giant. "A Knight, now? So you knew one Valkyrie wasn't enough to stand before me. But remember this -- I killed scores of Odin's best when I took the Orb of Fate!"

    Strikes hit from Ishirou's guns, finding good purchase in a few unarmored spots along his back and sides. Kale's breath attack hits point-blank, but neither is enough to yet put out his flames. As if he's only getting started, Surtur responds to Kale's close-attack with one of his own, throwing himself into a swift headbutt that brings against his flying opponent a helmet closer to the size of his whole body.

    Elsewhere, the remaining drawbridge has been lowered, and the few giants that weren't busy fighting on the narrow ring have filed out around the fortress to continue aiming their wands at those in the air. Zooming around like that, Ishirou is their target, though he'll only have to hold out until their wands run out of charge -- after which, they'll have to find boulders.

    "Valkyrie!" The ghost cries out in alarm, when Ahn moves in to take the hit, temporarily saving him from a glorious second death. With the appearance of their leader, the couple of giants that haven't already fallen to the combined assault redouble their efforts, robbing the two vikings of the chance to say anything more, as their buffed state only brings them about to the level of being equal their far larger, stronger opponents. Reach is always an advantage, but in terms of still-working limbs, they're winning.

    From somewhere a ways off, Hisako is intently watching, though not so much for the ghosts. They're not her responsibility.

    Things are are still dicey on Kirishima's side, but after taking out the one that got through, and with Ramesses still there to back them up, they can at least hold the line against the few giants still up. Hurrying back to follow her to fight Surtur will be difficult, unless someone else intervenes, but Kirishima getting back on her own is easy, apart from one trying to peg her with thrown rocks from behind out of frustration, before the ninja slips away.

    Darren's shoulder slam to poison stone combo works perfectly, taking his first opponent totally out. He won't be getting up in any shape to fight while that poison's working him over. Nessie's cold ray hits Surtur in the side, just as he's turning around to watching Ahnlotus' approach.

    The ray is interrupted when Surtur first stomps the ground, then crashes his axe against it, creating a fissure that runs all the way to plesiosaur's position, opening the ground directly below and around her. Getting trapped between the rocks would be bad enough, but it runs all the way down to the lava, which is bubbling up to meet her as the ground breaks apart.

    It really should have worked. The stomp hits right into Surtur's armor, and he stands against it, but the follow-up blows can't reach for his axe, because he's still set it in the ground, and now he's vaulting off it, using it as an anchor to spin into a kick that launches Ahnlotus to the side, cracking it out of the stone in the process. The blue jelly is actually still on him, what little could reach, multiplying, but not enough for him to notice.

    "You cannot prevail, Valkyrie. I have foreseen your every move." He leaps after them, axe dragging in a series of thunderous crashes, then spinning up and through the air. His foot comes down first, to pin them for when the blade descends again, though it must descend, one way or another.

    "You die now, little sister."
Kale Hearthward "Keep moving!" Kale barks back at Ishirou - and the moment of distraction is enough for Surtur to capitalize on, sending Kale flying backwards with a headbutt.

"... Ugh..."

He rights himself and flies back in, trying to harry the giant with a rapid fire sequence of sword cuts!
Ishirou Those were interesting words from the King, but that's what they were...words.  Knowing the future is certainly powerful, but it's not everything.  Having knowledge is very important, but it's also knowing how to apply that information.  However, bolts are fired at him.  The armor spins into a barrel roll to avoid the worst of the attacks, before executing a dash.  This was more dicy.  

The outer protective armor is blown off, causing Ishirou to call out in surprise, but he quickly clears the range of fire and quickly comes back on Surtur.  "Full analysis mode!" he says, aiming to quickly scan the giant king, before immediately transmitting that data to the group.  The king might know the future, but he can know the moves of Surtur.  

Following this is a barrage of magical shots, aiming to repeatedly blast the King with bolts of lightning and attacks to mess with his internal biological systems with cleverly disguised hacking attempts.  Once more he turns around, still deciding to stick to being on the wing, rather than directly fighting.  

"So what happens if I know what you are doing as you are doing it?"
Kirishima Dicey or not, Kirishima's spirit is still unflagging as she makes a break for Surtur and her allies, legs practically moving in a blur of rapid steps. It's clear she's practiced the stereotypical ninja-run, and even the hurled stones aren't enough to stop her from charging onwards. She barely even flinches when they strike her in the back of the head and back, although one of her shoulder frogs does fall off without her seeming to realize that the cannon it was hiding has gotten somewhat bent from the impact and repeated firings in such a short timeframe.

She does at least take a moment to whirl around and hurl some more kunai at the offending giant, but her real priority is within sight: Surtur is still lashing out at her allies, and there's little left to do but to subdue the ruler of this fiery fortress.

"Surtur! You may have foreseen their moves, but can you see mine? Can you react to all of us in time?" Kirishima's voices comes bellowing out as she starts blinking from place to place as she approaches Surtur at a moderately distressing speed, looking liek she's about to collide with him with those rapid-fire teleports until she goes past him. It's all part of her plan, however, as the repeated teleports start taking her around the axe-wielding warrior, bouncing from place to place in a nearly incomprehensible pattern that might even look like Kirishima is in multiple places at once.

It's a diversionary tactic at first until she sees that data from Ishirou coming in. She sees potential attack vectors, ideal angles to strike while minimizing risks to herself, the most dangerous ways Surtur might strike back, and she adjusts her approach once again. The teleports start taking her further away until Kirishima suddenly flings a whole mass of paper talismans at Surtur that move less like paper and more like solid rectangles for some reason.

Once they get close enough to Surtur, those talismans explode violently with both great force and putting out enough smoke for Kirishima to make her move. She slips in through the cover of that smoke, driving her sword downwards at Surtur's foot with one hand to try and jam it right into the ground. Her other hand, meanwhile, is empty as she aims a heavy uppercut right at his chin to try and catch him roughly at the same time she might get noticed trying to stab him in the foot.
Vantablitz Remnants     "What the hell--?!"

    Seeing the big Norse giant king do a vaulting spinkick at her has Ahn considerably off-balance. She knows how to block an attack like that from muscle memory, but her reflexes are stunned by critical fractions of a second by the absurd display. Lotus shifts to take over, but she isn't really any faster in this position.

    Black fluid mass runs under her plates and through her arms, reinforcing the 'muscle', whilst additional, thick plating bubbles to the surface. Ahn kicks backwards and guards her core with both arms, and Lotus fires the 'dash thrusters', taking the force out of it as they go. The giant's kick is still a solid strike, dead on, causing horrid shock even to Ahn fairly deep inside, but the way it launches them both far away is at least entirely intentiona. Flares of light and grasping claws drag them to a stop on all fours before tumbling into the lava.

    He's leaping after them. They're both too anchored to plausibly dodge out of his axe's reach to any side but back, where the lava moat is.
"Ghh--! Fuck it! Establishing local luminal tensor matrix! Blueshifting calculated eigenvector!" "Hahaha, we're doing that are we~? Sankhara, Vinnana, Namarupa, Salayatana, Phassa . . . Yes, let's!"

    Ahnlotus rolls over, and the flying stomp collides with her chest; thankfully, Lotus doesn't need that to breathe. Throwing both arms up, a puppeteer's reel of glowing 'strings' of blue-green light connect her fingers and points all over Surtr's arms and face, and even the axe head, bending with their motions with a tiny bit of slack-- though they aren't even solid.

    "Don't get ahead of yourself! Try reacting to it first!" "Continuing charge~" The 'finishing blow' is interrupted just as it starts by a sound like gunfire and birdsong at the same time, each light-string brightly pulsing with sun-hot brightness that lases Surtr in a dozen different points with hypervelocity hard-light bullets, precisely targeting points of motion, with the last, larger and slower pulse colliding with the axehead with immense pressure and force. The beams remain affixed, as half a dozen more rapidly spread out to snag new weakpoints, preparing for another round of attack.
Darren      Nessie falls through the cracks in the ground. Lava splashes her scales for one fleeting moment. Her wail of pain disappears as she's bathed in the light of Darren's expertly thrown pokeball.

     Touching down, ball in hand, he furrows his brow. He knows the playbook. Explains how he downloaded Nessie. Not great. But not insurmountable.

     Though smaller than the giants, Ramesses is dense, heavy, protected by the aurora barrier, and, alarmingly, somehow able to harden himself by curling his limbs up tight. Slingshotting himself through the few remaining giants, then, makes him into a deadly projectile. As he zips past Kirishima to slam into a giant's chest, the sarcophagus offers her a high-speed-five.

     Darren's assault on Surtur is no less frenetic. "You're not the only precog here, fam." Breaking into a sprint, index and middle finger pressed to his temple, Darren peers into the near future--setting up a read a few minutes in advance. In the present, he harasses the would-be world-ender with rapid switches.

     First, Saucer, the ladybug with the EWACS thorax, spewing sticky webbing meant to tangle him up, all the while speedily, erratically flying until Darren recalls him.

     A plume of dirt and rocks, telekinetically blasted into Surtur's field of vision by the little alien, Roswell, who replaces the ladybug. What he lacks in speed, he makes up in mental might--and the webbing is meant to bridge even the gap in speed. Four swords, formed and controlled by the pokemon's powerful mind, each large enough to be wielded by someone slightly shorter than the fiery foe. Each attacks of its own will, as Roswell is recalled and swapped out with...

     Harry, the hulking yeti, whose appearance is heralded by a blizzard, that rains fist-sized hailstones down on Surtur. Darren, flying into the air to draw attention in the hailstorm, applies pressure at Surtur's back leg, while the yeti charges forward. Darren lifts him up, maintaining that pressure, allowing Harry to make a clothesline attempt, as those persistent swords continue to harass.
Hiromi     From the direction of the fortress, it becomes clear from the change in shouting that the odds have been conquered. The four einherjar, somehow all surviving, march their way back across the still-accessible bridge of cooled lava, left by Nessie's efforts, and surrounded by slain giants. Their wounds heal over, thanks to Lotus' blessings, and while it's not clear if they can get tired or not, they don't show it. They have breath enough to exult, and to be angry, directing their ire toward the one defaming both Odin and their Valkyrie.

    She might not really be a valkyrie, but they wouldn't still be here without her. Either way, it's moral support, which will be direct support, once they reach the giant lord.
Hiromi     Ishirou's scans find a lot of predictable information, like how fire doesn't work well on fire giants, and how this one, in particular, is incredibly strong. Petrification doesn't work, either, for all that that's presently relevant. The Orb of Fate is still in that pouch, and hard to miss under any kind of scan. It's very powerfully magical, and some measure of its magic is affecting him just by being there, as a difficult to analyze protective layering.

    Whatever that means, it isn't an issue for Darren's own precognition. It's more like Surtur is just, in general, difficult to hurt, and it could be entirely coincidental, in those few moments he's perfectly positioned to have the perfect response to something before it happens. Either it's subtle, or he's that smooth, or he's bluffing.

    But Kirishima's attacks are wholly effective, and when Surtur turns to face her -- made much harder for how Ahnlotus and Saucer hold him down -- it's without the same sense of recognition he had for most of the others. He can't track her from this position, while hard light bullets and light-strings are searching him for the weak points he only barely has. He can't turn to face Kale's sword strikes at the same times. Everything is happening in an instant.

    "No, that can't be," he says, to no single, apparent cause, abandoning his axe to pummel Ahnlotus with his fists, turning at the last moment to a grasping claw of an armored hand to grasp and tear either their body, or the rock all around them, little more bothered by solid, volcanic rock than one would be by sand. Without attempting to finish her off, and perhaps without actually knowing how to conclusively kill a body like Lotus', he leaps up and off, elbow-striking Kale right through the air on his way to -- not realizing where Kirishima has disappeared to.

    Blue Jelly still spreading, Harry's blizzard hitting together with swords, Surtur ignores the latter to tear his axe back out of the ground, and aim a stomp at the yeti that could kill with just the shockwave, given how easily one can be knocked back into the lava.

    No, it's worse than that. It's not just flailing when he strikes his feet and axe against the ground. It's in growing anger, as the flames of his body gutter, but the cracks run deep, and grow, and the ground shifts, breaking into platforms that drift, tilt, and crash against each other, accelerating their downfall. Somewhere above here are the snow lands, but between here and there is stone and earth, and pieces of it begin to fall. Rising spouts of lava, forced up as if by the mere pressure of his rage, wash over stretches of what had been safe ground. Nothing, anywhere, is remotely safe, now.

    "The Orb has lied to me!" Blood streams, though he doesn't heed his wounds. "I've been misled. How could that be? One of Odin's tricks?" He hardly needs to be paying attention to someone for their life to be in great danger now, though the four einherjar are still, even through all of this, trying to get through to reach him.

    All except the one with the sword and small shield, who is reaching for Ahnlotus' position. "Valkyrie, you can't remain here. Even if you only take the orb, it alone must be returned! Though Surtur would ever chase it. Come, let me help you rise." How he expects to do that while being a fraction of her size is unclear for only the moment before 'sheer determination and bulging muscles' becomes the answer.
Ishirou Ishirou has been doing pretty good this fight.  It just happened to be that eventually, the power of foresight would overpower his power of perception.  The powerful attack smacks Ishirou out of the air, forcing him to return to humanoid mode and hit some part of the ground that wasn't on fire.

The suit is heavily damaged, but not down or destroyed yet.  Sparking and bent in places, Ishirou can only watch as the results of the battle have come.  He doesn't know what to do about the Orb, but he does know what to do about getting out of here.  He etches the rune on the ground in front of him.

The portal is now available for everyone, and Ishirou does not stay around to find out.
Vantablitz Remnants     Lotus' giant arm is torn right off. Vantablack fluid sprays the rocks, Surtr, and sizzle in the lava. One by one, eleven plus one glowing lights revolve around where Ahn is, orbiting the chest, then moving to collect around the last remaining arm, a dozen rays of light locked on to the giant, head, heart, lungs, throat, spine. Despite the accumulated damage, they continue.

    "Adjusting C constant for collection and acceleration through liminal abnormality. Charged. Locked. Connections maxed out." "From the eleven nidanas, Jaramarana, and from Jaramarana, pass into Samsara." "Releasing! Go to hell!" "Like winter to spring, and spring to winter, you too, are impermanent~ Ahahaha~!"

    The full dozen connections repeatedly clap with melodic thunder. Streaking bolts of perfectly guided light bend and perforate their target in rapid sequence, inexorably guided to their destined location along samsara's weave, and blowing up into rather un-spiritual radioactive thermal reactions within. Ahnlotus kip up in the standard way --a feat assisted by wildly inhuman 'musculature' and burst thrust, given their immense combined weight-- and accelerate to full blast from a standstill, her one functional arm snatching out to tear the orb's container free, promptly absorbed into Lotus' mass.

    "Don't worry! We're not leaving you behind!" "Odin has ordained victory on this day~! Hahaha~!" Eight tendrils lash out of the severed arm, plucking up each of the einherjar to be carried along at breakneck speeds as Ahnlotus sprints, leaps, boost dashes and power slides around collapsing lava tunnel hell, the last of the fire-resistant coating boiling off as they go.
Hiromi     Surtur dies grasping his head and screaming, as if unable to bear some contradictory truth, as much unable to bear the fury of radioactive thermals.

    The ghosts are carried along, the conscious escape through the portal (or through the tunnel, should they prefer the longer and riskier route).

    A slight girl in miko garb follows quickly, though last, having waited to be sure that no one needed carrying.