Scene #8138: Agents of BUILD: Doomgate

Owner	Pose
Operator	The absolutely lowest circle of hell is dull and arid and featureless, an eternal salt plane that stretches in all directions, absent of any end. There's no planetary curve down here to create a horizon, so the dull sky and cracked earth just goes on and on and on. Is this the terrible alternative to the punishment above? A place for souls to cast themselves down, a maddeningly empty eternity as opposed to constant punishment? Or is this a circle set aside, ready for those who commit a sin not yet conceived? But in the distance is light, sound, substance. The flickering of firelight, the stomp of countless feet, the dull roar of many voices. "Heh. Sure sounds like a bunch of demon bastards," Duke says, jamming a fresh clip into his gold Deagle. "Right. This is it, the final battle. Let it all hang out here. They want earth, so let's give 'em hell." Approaching the light and sound reveals a great dip in the cracked earth, leading to a lower plain. And it seems like every square inch of it is occupied by a demon. A massive army, millions strong, throngs and writhes, the air crackling with tension, ready to mobilize at a moment's notice. They're all facing in the direction that the Elites and the two agents of BUILD arrive from, but none notice them. Their eyes are fixed solely on a grand structure before them. A towering, wide arch made of pitch black onyx, covered in runes thrumming with demonic power, and augmented by alien technology Standing before it, addressing the masses, is a think, skeletal demon draped in red finery and brandishing a sceptre. "The time has come! The Doomgate is ready! The world above shall know our rage, taste our steel and flame!" the hellpriest yells, projecting their voice across the whole army, and drawing out a triumphant roar from them. "The defenders of man are strong, but we are stronger, and more numerous! With their attention on their skies, destroying our alien compatriots, they will not be prepared for the massive swell in our ground invasion! And thanks to the technology of those foreign creatures, we have done the impossible. We have chained the Unchained Predator!" He points the sceptre skywards, at a massive orb that floats unattended above. Like the so-called Doomgate, it's an object of black onyx, formed from multiple overlapping hexagonal plates that constantly move and reposition, revealing that the bulk of the thing is made of said plates. They're covered in runes and when the gaps line up just right, the innards are full of alien tech too. For some reason, this object seems to carry more import than the invasion portal. Even the ground beneath it is void of demons, those at the very edge of the gap much more subdued than their surrounding comrades. "Oh, that's where he is. Can't believe the dumbass got himself captured," Duke grunts as the hellpriest below continues to ramble about how they will be sure to win now that the 'Hell Walker' is under lock and key. "Right. Most important thing here is to break that," Duke says, pointing to the orb. "And then defend that." He gestures at the Doomgate. "We're not getting out of here without it, and they can't be allowed to go through it. Put everything into smashing that ball as hard as you can. Really give it to it. And then... we'll kick the crap out of this entire army." Duke practically radiates confidence as he readies his missile launcher. V1 produces their rail gun and takes aim. What could be in this device that has them so confident that once they break it, the battle is as good as won?
Corona Arclite	Corona Arclite was just about to ask if they need to destroy the freakish looking demon tech when Duke clarifies that it's also their quickest way back to the surface. "Rawth. No blowin' up -that- MacGuffin then." But there is another thing that needs to be busted open, and that's apparently just as important. And probably best if they can do it before wading into the hordes of demons that are so fixated on their grand moment they haven't moved to intercept the arrivals. All the better, since Corona is an expert in ranged combat. That said, she holsters her sidearms. Instead opting for another larger weapon. That is to say Hopalong jumps into her hands, shifting his parts with the click-a-clack of metal and clockwork as he does. Hindlegs form a brace against her shoulder, while the automatronic jackelope's mouth opens wide to reveal the glowing depths of his internal furnace. Corona shifts her feet a bit to steady herself, digging her spurs into the parched ground, to fire when its time. Her companion's 'Slagmaker' weapon mode is aptly named, both in what it fires and what it does. The projectile that erupts from it is a smoldering hot glob of molten metal, the 'slag' of heavy industrial metalsmithing. Which is usually really good at melting down and eating through whatever it is fired at, making more of the namesake slag. It won't be enough on its own, but Corona is counting on it's effect weakening that encasement and making it much easier for everyone else's firepower to smash open.
Ozhira	The Devourer's arrival here through the Hellmouth is... messy. That ghastly kite of flesh and teeth and spines dives and drops quite suddenly, slamming into the salt plain with a decidedly gooey sound. The resulting crimson-colored mush scatters, then retracts back to the impact point from which the human disguise of Ozhira emerges. They glance upward at the way the team had arrived, mouth slightly agape, before trotting after Duke and the others towards the only clear source of life here. The Beast peers from their cover, down across the scores and scores of demonic soldiers. Eyes wander to the Doomgate when Duke points at it, then lift to the orb he gestures to, "...We understand. Two objectives. Different places." Once again Duke is witness to the creature's silhouette distorting and stretching until-- there are two Ozhiras. The Ozhira with the black tie liquifies, transmuting into a viscous crimson sludge that slithers across the hellish brickwork, shuffling through cover or climbing along the architecture towards the Doomgate itself. Each time they stop, the squirming crimson mass leaves a part of itself behind; a spring-loaded spike trap. The Ozhira with the red tie remains behind, swivelling their head to their comrades, "Throw us. Like before." The beast's form similarly liquifies, but rather than scuttle away, the mass compresses and elongates, hardening into a spear of off-white, keratinized bone. After a moment, one end extends multiple barbed spines while the other extends fins, like the fletching of an arrow that just happens to be taller than most people.
Remee Halcyon	Welcome to the lowest circle of hell! Scratch that one off the bucket list? ... Actually thinking about it, lowest circle of hell would be... post-bucket-list? Actually no don't think about it too much. Remee continues on. Wolf mode is nice just for crossing long distances at speed. The shouting demons make her ears fold back a bit, though. "Jeez, that... sounds like one bland motivational speech at a self help seminar," she says. "I guess it's true, hell is other people." The wolf shifts back into a person, and the person raises her rifle. "When we get back, remind me to get something with a bit more stopping power..." she says as she loads in ammo. Let's see... there's demonic runes, so holy ammo might work, but there's alien tech so the piercing rounds she used earlier might be better... oh, of course, she's being silly. Now's the best time to break out the piercing holy ammo. "And something that'll work better on entire armies," she adds, glancing at the demons below before taking aim and firing at the orb.
Hellwarming Trio	"This hell sucks." "I dunno. I bet Master could figure out somethin' to do with all this salt. Like cookin'!" "This hell indeed sucks." Floating behind Duke and V1 are the youkai from a completely different hell. They're still a little disappointed about losing their sweet rides from the last itme, but being able to actually control their movements again does take some of the sting out. Squinting into the distance, Satori stops slightly above Duke to peer over his shoulder at the dip in the earth. That's followed shortly by her bumping into him thanks to Utsuho bumping into her thanks to Rin bumping into her. They're all able to see the demonic army in the distance along with the massive onyx structure that the hellpriest is yelling in front of. "Shouldn't he just be the Chained Predator, then?" "But then he'd be Unchained again once he's out." "Perhaps it would be more efficient to just call him the Predator, then." "But that's-" "-not as cool!" Sighing softly to herself, Satori focuses instead on Duke's instructions as he directs their attention to the orb and the Doomgate. When he mentions hitting the former as hard they can, she cracks the slightest of smiles when she sees the excitement evident on Rin's and Utsuho's faces. "This sounds like a rather straightforward plan. I imagine they're afraid of whatever's locked up in there, so I'll take the vanguard. I'm sure they'll be terrified once they see him attacking them while their prison is still intact." "And we get to blow up the rock?" "You get to blow up the rock." With that idea in mind, Satori heads down towards the demons facing the Doomgate as she reaches into their minds, filtering through their minds to find those with the most vivid memories of the Unchained Predator. With any luck, she'll find something to draw on in order to conjure up that very same being's weapons and appearance to start wreaking havoc on their ranks, as though the thing they feared had somehow managed to escape and take his revenge on them personally. Utsuho and Rin, meanwhile, are tasked with cracking open the Orb, and they're more than eager to start firing on it without a care in the world. Utsuho's control rod radiates enough heat just from the beam she's firing at the orb to distort the air around herself, and Rin's focusing her flaming wisps to start blasting it at a single point to try and punch a hole into it from where everyone else's attacks can capitalize on busting it open.
Timespace Riders	"Got it," says Zi-O, still armored up in the bright, 90s-game inspired Ex-Aid Armor from the previous leg of the incursion. His retainer Woz, in the ninja-themed, purple-accented Shinobi Armor, scans the congregation in the distance. The first objective, as Duke had said, would be smashing the device constraining this 'Unchained Predator.' But after that, with the numbers involved on the opposing side, some thought as to selection of targets certainly wouldn't hurt. Noting the hellpriest, Woz scans through the crowd to try and distinguish other demons the army might look to for leadership. A spread of three hardlight shuriken already rest tucked between his fingers. Zi-O glances over to Duke, noting his choice of weapon, then gives a thumbs-up. "Great idea!" Removing the futuristic pocketwatch from his belt, he slots in another; this one announcing itself as Fourze! ARMOR TIME! A disembodied suit of armor emerges from a pink portal that appears before him. White with orange trim, its board-stiff posture and aerodynamic shape give the appearance of a space shuttle. It takes off, rocketing towards Zi-O, breaking apart and snapping into place over him. Three! Two! One! o/` Fooourze! o/` "Let's have a stellar time!" After getting the space shuttle-themed rider's catchphrase wrong, he levels two wrist-mounted rockets at the strange orb, firing off a volley of seeking missiles that spread out in arcing flight paths. Taking to the skies right along with them on rocket boots, he joins the fray with an aggressive flight trajectory, coming in for a direct pass on the contraption.
Hiromi	Hiromi doesn't even get to the point of Duke being halfway done. The hellpriest speaking of chaining the Unchained Predator has already ignited her interest in seeing whatever's been sealed away. Whether it's a greater hellbeast or something more foreign, she wants to see what it is -- and to fight it, naturally. That being the case, she tilts her head at Duke's tactical recommendation. "Chained one. Friend? Packmate? Fellow-hunter?" She can hold off on that challenge until after the army of demons is handled, in that case. She has that much ability to prioritize. What could make millions of demons so frightened? She needs to know. 'Throw us. Like before.' While looking up at the distant prison, silently pondering on the easiest means to reach it -- the infernal salt below her isn't a material that responds well to her powers over earth and stone, subterranean crystal though it is -- Ozhira makes a request, and in the same motion, presents Hiromi's opportunity. The Archwolf strides over and picks up the compressed, spear-shaped predator swarm. One spin to ascertain the weight and balance, then she winds back into a contortionist pitcher's stance, and makes the throw, converting that full-force spin into a straight and true launch. It can't even be called a ballistic arc; there's no appreciable time for gravity to drag the red-tie Ozhira down. There is one, notable difference from last time she'd done this, though. Hiromi extends her arm in the same motion, just as the kinetic energy is converted, lets her grip slide, then keeps her pinched thumb and forefinger around the very base of the Ozhira-spear, launching herself up as a trailing passenger. She's less aerodynamic, but at these speeds, that's only a concern insofar as the wind striking her would be deadly to a lesser creature. Ozhira strikes first, Hiromi second, flipping into a feet-first strike, planting herself on the demonic sealing plates at a right angle to gravity, and giving an extra shove of force to help her fellow predator break through. A curious effect of Hiromi recognizing Ozhira as a natural weapon is that it immediately fills that part of them with divinely unbreakable toughness, enough to survive the supernaturally rough treatment of Hiromi's strength using the spear like a spear. Not that Hiromi is much of a conventional weapons specialist. It's 'using anything at hand to break anything else at hand' that's her specialty, and her personal reality, oppressively enforced on her surroundings, states that things she cannot break do not exist.
Evehime Gevurah	Evehime is-- frozen in deep contemplation of the saying 'Let it all hang out here'. She has apparently somewhat forgotten about the whole 'Hell' thing for a short while, stuck in a one-arm-folded mouth-to-fist statuesque pose of slightly downturned contemplation, as if someone is about to carve a classical sculpture to commemorate whatever baffling depth she imagines out of Duke's tacky bullshit. "I see, Duke of Man. It is true, that when meeting all of your enemy, all of what they might bring to bear to stop you, to conceal or to conserve loses all meaning, if it is so that you will leave none alive to flee and tell, or die in the attempt. I see why you were chosen to--" Oh they're at the demon army. "Captured?" That word seems to rouse her interest, given that she was probably expecting some sort of boss monster. "Very well then. Though it will be difficult to destroy such a thing without . . ." Evehime trails off only because she has an idea, and has decided words are pointless at that stage. There are so many Elites piling on breaking through the orb that she doesn't seem to think it necessary; or at least she has absolute faith in Hiromi when it comes to smashing stuff. Evehime bounces on her heels a couple of times to get a feel for the lack of coreolis, then blasts off into the sky with the third little leg flexor bump, arcing up over to the giant containment orb, and just missing it. Skimming right over its upper surface, she turns lazily through the air, plants both her boots to its side, and kicks the gigantic machine down to ground. At first, it seems as if she's just hoping to help. Then, perhaps to crush a bunch of demons below it. But it becomes very obvious very quickly that both those plans are too pedestrial for her. The Gevurah has already optimized how much killing she can do with this: by kicking it straight towards V1.
Operator	The demons begin to notice the moment the attack commences. Claws point at Corona fires the first volley, the moten slag clinging to the orb's exterior. The constantly moving plates split up the burning hot slag, creating multiple small pockets of it that keep burning through the onyx and starting to disrupt the internal mechanisms. Remee goes for piercing holy rounds, taking aim at the demonic sigils. Each one struck lets out a howl as the power within is dispelled, the rune broken by the cracks left by the bullet's impact. Below, flying demons begin to take to the air, only for Duke to shoot them down with waves of missiles. "Keep it up!" Satori reaches into the minds of the hordes, and what she sees is... a man. A figure on two legs, clad in armour. The Hell Walker, soaked in the blood of the greatest of them. Always coming, never stopping. The strength of demons, their infernal power, their unique physiologies, all rendered mood in the face of this figure. The visions she creates of them causes morale to shatter immediately, howls of terror rising from the army. "What is the matter with you?! Kill them!" the hellpriest cries. Zi-O's rockets get intercepted by the flying demons, who have begun ascending in numbers that even Duke's multi-missile launcher can't keep up. As the Kamen Rider makes his pass, they all dogpile him. Before, during their descent, they always seemed to be laughing as they attacked. These ones are not. Their faces are grim as they bite and gnash. They almost seem afraid, desperate to protect this container. Hiromi tosses Ozhira, and the living bone spear passes through multiple demons before making contact, hitting the weak point that Rin has made with her concentrated fire. Utsuho's heat begins melting the onyx plates, causing them to gum up and cease shifting. The follow-up push from the hunter drives Ozhira deeper, but the lower layers are made of thicker stuff, and her penetration begins to slow. And then Evehime makes her move. Leaping through the flock, she skims the orb and kicks it down. Not unto the armies, but towards V1 who was charging their railgun. As the massive structure descends, they react quickly, firing the hyper-accelerated shot at Ozhira. Normally, it might travel too fast to boost, as the robot does with it's shotgun blasts. But the device is upon them, and Ozhira has been rendered unbelievably hard thanks to Hiromi. So the shot remains, pressing Ozhira deeper and deeper. So the robot strikes, hitting the bullet with their fist, and something finally gives way. Ozhira flies clean through, and the demons wail with terror as the orb opens up. Something falls from it. The army below looks up in horror as a silhouette drops, landing among the Elites and the Agents. They rise slowly, revealing the figure of a man. They are clad in futuristic armor, green and black, with a face helmet that bears an opaque visor. They look around at the Elites, and even if their eyes aren't visible, all present immediately understand this man.
Operator	He hates. He hates in the same way that a sun burns, constantly and powerfully. His hate is like a spear point, sharpened to perfection, superheated, and thrust into the bellies of those he hates. He hates for good reason, kills for good reason, moral reason. But he enjoys it. Relishes it. Revels in it. Loves it so much, that even if his violence is just, it is so grand and glorious and vicious that it still seems like a sin. And those he hates will never perish. There will always be more, another to kill, and then another and another and another. So be it sin or righteous, he will continue to hate and love, kill and kill. Until maybe, finally, his hands will reach for another neck, and find none. Rip and tear. Until it's done.
Operator	"Good to see ya again buddy," Duke says with a smirk, slapping the mammoth of a man on the shoulder. They turn their head, and though the helmet doesn't make it clear, one gets the sense that they're glaring. "D-Don't gawk, you fools! There's enough of us that we can win! Kill them! Kill them all!" It's clear that the demons do not want to, but this 'Unchained Predator' makes the choice easy for them as they jump down, grab a demon by the horns, and slam their head against the ground hard enough to shatter it completely. The demons charge, attempting to mob and overwhelm, but a tossed cluster of pipe bombs from Duke stop their advance. V1 air-dashes above and shoots with a rapid-fire nail gun, pinning them to the ground. Between the three of them, one hundred of this millions-strong army is already down.
Remee Halcyon	Remee's nose wriggles. Her skin tingles, and if she had fur on at that moment, it'd rise as well. It isn't always this clear, but she has bits of insight on occasion - manifesting as cross-interference into her other senses, when there's something... narratively going on. Stories overlaying themselves onto the world, or other forces taking hold of reality's firmament and twisting, or in this case... just merely a strong sensation that something needs to be somewhere else. Wordlessly, she takes a hand off of her rifle, reaches into her gear bag, and pulls forth her shotgun. Just as wordlessly, she holds it out, grip-first, towards the man who radiates hate.
Corona Arclite	Being one more of the line of Frontier Justice, the Law of The Weird Wild West (IN SPAAAAAACE!) being what you choose to believe in and stand to fight for, Corona can almost immeadiately vibe with the impression the slayer of demons gives off. She even takes a brief moment to give a tip of her hat in his direction as a proper acknowledgement of the man made of righteous fury, because now really isn't the time for full introductions. "Now that's a helluva entrance to follow. Pun intended." She lifts Hopalong over her shoulder, allowing him to revert from weapon mode to backpack and reposition himself in place on her back. Because she needs her hands to draw Forgesweeper from her arsenal, doing the one-handed pump-action ready trick with it before flipping it into a proper hold, other hand bracing under the barrel. But this sawed-off doesn't need to be crammed with ammo though. The pulsarium arc chamber that takes the place of a shell chamber is already crackling with a blue-green glow of energy building. "Yippe-ka-yah ya bastiche hellspawn!" The vixen marches forward, unloading round after round of hot electrified pain from the plasma shotgun, her expert marksmanship keeping her aim where the spread will blast the optimal number of targets with every shot.
Timespace Riders	Zi-O suddenly has the attention of several fliers, his body dipping in the air as he rockets past the orb. "As if I'd make it that easy for you!" cries Zi-O, thrashing midair. The rockets on his wrists add spin to his flight, turning faster and faster until the demons piling on have to hang on for dear life. Dipping even lower, he begins pummeling them against the barren earth, until it seems like they might just manage to ground him. "He's free!" cries Zi-O, as he struggles with the demons. "Now's our chance!" With a determined cry, Zi-O levels his wrist-rockets at the ground and fires them as missiles, the explosion throwing him into the air and blasting him free. Plummeting back to the earth, he ignites his rocket boots again, now 'skating' across the salt wastes at high speed, kicking up clouds of dirt as he attempts to draw fire for Woz. The retainer takes advantage of the fear in the ranks, leaping from his vantage point and striking kuji-kiri with his hands, disappearing in a puff of smoke heralded by the sound of a deer scare. Reappearing midair several times, he makes a series of opportunistic, gravity defying roundhouses, dives and flip-kicks, popping demons out of the air who were unlucky enough to be caught in one of Zi-O's rocket jumps. His true target, however, is the one giving the orders, and it's this one that he's saved those shuriken for. Breaking from Zi-O for a surprise attack, he appears above the priest and flings the shuriken downwards, tossing out his purple, shining scarf with the other hand. The scarf extends impossibly, racing past the shuriken to try and snatch the fiend at the ankle and drag him upwards into the sharp, explosive projectiles.
Hellwarming Trio	The conjured Hell Walkers are even more effective at disrupting the demons' ranks than Satori expected. As she watches the blood soaked visions at work, she commits what she sees to memory despite some of what's happening even scaring her somewhat. If nothing else, at least the fearsome being isn't being aimed at herself or her pets. No, her pets are hard at work aiding the liberation efforts, cheering each other and their companions on as the plates weaken and jam up, being pierced open by Ozhira's and Hiromi's living projectile maneuver. They cease firing by the time Evehime launches the orb at V1, and they're cheering their hearts out as V1 punches Ozhira right through the orb to open it up to the horror of the demons below. Some primal part of the youkai's minds are hit with a sudden fear instinct. They may not be demons in the technical sense, but they're definitely not pure animals in Utsuho's and Rin's case. Their only consolation is that they're at least animal youkai and not , but Satori's just stuck floating there, having made the mistake of actually looking into his mind even for a moment. She freezes up, stuck staring at the hate-filled man long after Duke makes it clear that he's an ally in all of this. "... Intense, huh?" "Yeah.. H-hey, we're on your side, got it?! We're protectin' the earth, too!" "Intense indeed... But this should be invaluable for the future, too. Let's make sure there's no room for doubt." Rejoining the fray, the trio of youkai remain in the air rather than charging in from the ground. Flames and shots from the local demons force them to juke and weave to avoid the worst of them at first, but they soon find their footing again once they regroup well enough to start their counterattack all at once. Utsuho swings her control rod in a wide arc around herself, drawing a laser across the ground where the non-flying demons are gathered up before bringing up multiples explosions from below to hurl them into the air and scatter them if the explosions themselves don't blow them apart outright. Rin keeps her eyes out for anything flightier in the literal sense, focusing her swarm of dancing blue flames on others that might try to harass their crew from the skies. Satori, naturally, keeps doing what worked before, but with new wrinkles added in now that she's seeing the Hell Walker in action for herself. The conjured visions aren't just coming from the demons' memories now, but from eyewitness accounts of it to make them that much worse. They're bigger, coming in from blind spots that shouldn't be possible with the Hell Walker clearly visible further away, and there's more of them now.
Ozhira	The Red Tie Ozhira-Spear drives into the containment orb. When they slow or get stuck, the spear writhes and squirms unnaturally until it starts moving again. Aided by others, punched in, deeper and deeper-- until the containment cracks open. As its occupant drops free, Spearzhira writhes more like a snake than a weapon, liquifying into sludge the color of blood and sloshing out of the ruined device. This goo rises up, resolving into the girl-shaped disguise the Beast tends to favor, beholding Duke's reunion with his coworker. Despite that face-concealing helmet, though, they stare. There might even be a moment where the Slayer and the Devourer lock eyes. It only lasts a second or even less, but it's enough for Ozhira to draw their hands up under their chin, murmuring in awe, "Predator." The Hellpriest's shouting distracts them and they glance his way over the sea of demons he commands. Duke, V1, and the Slayer all rumble into action. It all pulls the Beast out of whatever reverie they got stuck in due to the presence of such a powerful, furious will. Whirling in place where they stand, Ozhira lunges into action. It's a lunge that doesn't...particularly try to maintain the human shape, as the Beast's biomass sloshes forward into a cascade of crimson sludge and teeth. From where they splash amidst the demons, spike-tipped tendrils lash out, erupting with spines and then retracting-- drawing anything caught on them into the monster's gaping maw. But didn't Ozhira split in two a minute ago? Black Tie Ozhira had paused in their activities at about the same time the Red Tie version locked eyes with the Hellwalker. But once the latter erupts into violence, the former reconsiders their options. Promptly, this Ozhira reverses directions and slithers along taller architecture-- ceilings, beams, and walls-- while closing in on the Hell Priest who's so busy barking orders. And as soon as they get an opportunity, dropping onto his head like something out of-- well, a different horror movie with about as many teeth.
Hiromi	Once Ozhira has penetrated far enough that their own hunger and the shot from V1 is what's left to push the spear-form through, Hiromi releases her grip, running up the curve of the sealing orb on all fours, claws scraping, cutting, and giving her rough purchase. She's right on top when the kick from Evehime sends the whole thing crashing down, and leaps clear of the rebounding shock with fistfuls of broken hell-onyx and alien machinery. <J-IC-Scene> Hiromi says, "Demons. Greatest fear, Unchained Predator." <J-IC-Scene> Hiromi says, "I have the scent. 'Human.'" And she begins to laugh. Whatever makes this so funny isn't elaborated upon. She takes the indescribable pipes of alien machinery, smashes them against the onyx shield, breaking and sharpening the latter at the expense of obliterating the former, destructively knapping herself a long, jagged, obsidian club-sword. The moment she wishes for it to no longer be affected by her casual destruction, her own divinity suffuses it. It had been refuse. Now it is strength and sharpness, and only that. The hellpriest's screaming gets her attention, but she turns away again, judging that loud one as 'a leader' in only the unimportant aspect of influencing crowds by noise volume. Taking over by toppling leaders may be her usual method in most cases, but that's for most cases involving people. If demons wish to be acknowledged as more than 'prey' in her eyes, they'll need to prove it. There are millions of them, and a handful on her own side. Millions of demons could make even a perfect swordsman tire to death. They could surround and swarm and attack from every angle, fill every space with fire and blade and claw, and be an unavoidable force against which no skill would suffice. They could do this, if they were brave enough, and if they weren't so unfortunate in their choice of opponents. When Hiromi wades into the horde, her massive, makeshift blade bisecting as many bodies as are willing to crowd against her, or unlucky enough not to escape, all that intercepts her is turned aside. Unworthy weapons cannot pierce her skin. Only greater opponents have the opportunity to scratch her, and only before her own strength reaches them, in turn. Small wounds close instantly, greater wounds close most of the way, leaving trails of blood behind her, yet do not slow her advance. "Bring out your greatest. Tremble! Fear! Bring your champions. Flee, cowards! Be crushed. Be trampled. Let the strong stand, face me, feel my strength. Be honored to die. Prove yourself worthy, and I will eat your hearts. The rest--" Her final word reverberates with the force of divine authority, a command to those who lack the strength to resist her. "Fall."
Evehime Gevurah	When the orb cracks, and Evehime crashes to earth, the Gevurah delays her errant urge to snap the hellpriest's neck just long enough to properly see what comes out of that suspiciously durable containment device. At first, a moment of jaded disinterest, as feet in power armour drop from the orb. Then, a moment where even her head turns back, recognizing the moment he is conscious, and the sheer ferocity of the palpable aggression rolling off of him. The way Evehime trembles, from twitching fingertips up, is entirely unlike that of the quaking demon hordes recoiling in fear. At least, if that manic grin, half-forgotten how to express, means anything. God she wants to fight this man. That's twice in one evening too, when twice in one year would be extraordinary. In immediate priorities, there are literally a million demons right in front of her, gathered into one place, with multiple exciting allies of convenience at her side, and absolutely nothing to care about destroying nearby. "Wolf Queen. First Version. Unchained Predator. Duke of Man." "Do not lose count. And do not let any escape." Evehime paces to the side, taking something like a sprinter's start at what she appears to deem a 'fair' distance from the others mentioned by name. The cluster bombing is the a signal. The combined explosion shares the air with the roar of Evehime changing places with a cloud of molten salt, a large demon changing places with Evehime, and the surrounding air changing places with demon blood and gore. Rather than having any kind of sensible approach to dealing with their sheer numbers --the logistics of fighting an army at all-- she has accelerated herself through what must be a hundred deep in file, simply hurling away or trampling anything that had been in the way in that instant, and pushes as deep as she can so that she can be surrounded on purpose.
Operator	Remee passes the Slayer (it seems as good a name as any) her shotgun. In a single, smooth motion, he takes it, aims behind her, and blows away a demon that was lunging at her back. He inclines his head, a nod of thanks and appreciation, before tearing into the horde with newfound ferocity. Now that he has a weapon, those whose nerves break and try to flee find their legs getting blown off so the Slayer can stomp their skull into paste. Corona charges in while the army is very distracted by the Slayer's rampage. Her first dozen or show blasts find only undefended backs before they begin to realize that others are attacking them too. Those that lunge for her get a heavy round to the face courtesy of Duke's Deagle. Zi-O rocket jumps, blasting apart the winged demons that lunged for him. Scattered, ill-aimed shots fly at him as he drifts a distance away from the army, every shooter looking over their shoulder for fear of the Slayer ambushing them. This makes them prime targets for Woz to appear above them and lay them low with acrobatic strikes. All the while, the hellpriest is trying to get anything resembling tactics in order. He contemptuously conjures an angry red barrier in anticipation, but has failed to notice the scarf. When Woz yanks, they stumble and lose focus, the barrier thinning enough that the explosive impact shatters it entirely, sending the hellpriest flying against the Doomgate. The Hellwarming Trio are correct to be wary of the Slayer. When he first arrived, the three of them got the most intense stares of all. And even now in the midst of battle, every now and again he looks over, to make sure they're not about to turncoat on them. Satori's illusions are doing incredible work. In this massive army, demons far away from the Slayer could at least breathe easy knowing there were multitudes between they and him. But now they're constantly looking over their shoulder, never able to breathe easy for a second, making them easy targets for Utsuho and Rin to blast. The former's nuclear blasts cut massive swathes in the armies ranks, while the latter snipes down those that take to the air. Either to mount an offensive, or just to try and flee. Red Ozhira becomes a blender, devouring every demon that gets too close. They're generally more used to being the one doing the eating, and some of them try to do just that. But V1 suddenly slams down from the air, landing with such force that they pop multiple demons in the air and leap after them, punching them into Ozhira's maw like it's a carnival game. Black Ozhira meanwhile has the perfect opportunity to strike. The hellpriest is against the Doomgate, dazed from Woz's attack. She latches onto his head, and he screams against her flesh as she begins to bite down. His sceptre hits the Doomgate, and the massive portal begins to hum to life once her teeth finally meet inside his neck, and he goes still. Uh-oh. Hiromi bears a blade of sharpened onyx, and in her hand it cuts like indestructible obsidian. The demons begin to retreat when they realize that others on the same level as the Slayer are here, killing them. Their attacks become frenzied, desperate, they begin to cluster up. In times of crisis, primal instincts come to the fore. And unfortunately, that is where Hiromi thrives. Just as an offence begins to mount, she issues her command, and throngs of demons fall to their knees before her, immediately marking the biggest threats as the ones still standing. The Slayer throws himself at them, burying that borrowed shotgun into their mouths, and pulling both triggers. Evehime issues a challenge. Keep count of kills, presumably to compare afterwards. V1 gives a thumbs-up, Duke says, "Sure thing babe," and the Slayer says nothing, but has an air of 'I've been keeping count for a long time.' She becomes a living bullet, ploughing through scores of demons to embed herself deep in their ranks, anticipating a massive brawl.
Operator	But then the Doomgate opens, and priorities change. Demons rush the portal, either to invade, or just escape. Throngs of them get closer and closer, when suddenly, in the sky, another portal opens. A UFO descends, inverting its flat sides to be perpendicular to the ground, and slams into the salted earth between the army and the Doomgate, blocking their advance. Holographic displays appear before the faces of the Elites and the Agents, depicting Tommy Tawodi. "Not too late am I? We just finished off the aliens topside. And I paid a visit to our burned-out HQ. Via the wonders of teleportation technology, a massive chunk of extracted, burned building is deposited beside the UFO. It's a vault, with the surrounding structure still attacked. "Knew I could count on you Tommy!" Duke says with a chuckle, approaching it and tapping at the numerical keypad (those close enough would see that the code is '1111'). With a hiss, the locks disengage, and the door swings outward. Within is racks upon racks of guns, ammunition, medicine, and strange emblems that radiate power. Duke strides in and begins loading up, downing entire bottles of pills in one gulp. V1 begins touching various orbs contained within, and begins dual-weilding shotgun and revolver. The Slayer begins pulling weapons off the walls to augment his arsenal, and also touches a red orb with blue shapes within that resemble an eye. Suddenly, he partially disappears, leaving only a shimmer in the air. "We've been saving these for emergencies, so help yourself," Duke calls, lighting a cigar, and suddenly punting a demon so hard that they go flying into the distance. "Now, it's time to kick ass and chew bubblegum. And I'm alllll outta gum."
Remee Halcyon	THE VAULT! Remee's right in there downing pills as well, with her usual disregard for what the side effects might be afterwards. "Right," she says, wiping her mouth clean on her sleeve. "I need more ammo - I need something that's going to fire more bullets, and I need-" She pauses at one of the vault's many items. It looks like some sort of bulky touchscreen that's been built into a large wristband, with extra dials and buttons. "What is that, a targeting computer? I'll take that too-" she says, grabbing the bulky device and slapping it on her wrist without a second thought. Remee, now with an absurd amount of guns strapped to her, steps back out of the vault and goes to pursue the horde. "Right! Targeting computer," she says, going to press the big glowing button on it. "Do your-" blip kssshchetet That one. In the front, about to reach the portal. Head shot. blip The one behind it, leg shot so it'll be trampled by the ones behind it. blip The next two need two center of mass shots each, blipblip blipblip then reload and- Remee fires quickly, without seeming to take time to properly re-aim, and yet each shot hits true, and she slams more rounds into her guns with literally record-breaking reload times before going to fire again with literally no gap between reloading and firing- kssshchetet High priority target nearby, headshot. blip Aim for the arm on that one. blip Someone's thrown a grenade, shoot it in the air so it'll hit the most targets blip- kssshchetet One blip - two blip - three blip- four blip- five blip- six blip headshots, all in a row- kssshchetet Reloading is too slow, drop it and grab another gun, blip aim and fire blip- Target acquisition and target elimination, one after the other after the other after the other, with seemingly no time inbetween. Remee's not pouring out a solid stream of bullets like some might be, but each and every shot's hitting its mark with uncanny accuracy.
Ozhira	Black Tie Ozhira twists their body suddenly, wrenching the Hellpriest's head from his shoulders. The mass of thrashing crimson tendrils inverts, hurling the head out into the crowd of demons rather than eat it. The Beast then thrusts a tendril into the neck-hole, deep into the viscera of the body. A second later, spines erupt from the torso in multiple places, and then the body is torn into pieces from within, scattered across the dias. Red Tie Ozhira, who currently is not showing themself as wearing a tie, thrashes spiked tendril limbs about and harpoons in scores of monster soldiers. When V1 starts knocking enemies towards them, an entirely separate mouth emerges from the pulsating mass to intercept the flying bodies; lunging to snap them up as they're offered. Fireballs singe flesh and send off sprays of crimson fluid, but the beast's ever-changing appearance makes it difficult to tell just how much damage Ozhira is sustaining or how much is sticking through their regenerative factors. Tommy's sudden arrival using his stolen UFO as a makeshift barrier to the activated Doomgate prompts both instances of the Beast to whirl towards him. Recognition takes a second, and it's the closer Black Tie Ozhira who greets him by reassuming their human form enough to wave a hand, "Hello! Welcome!" He teleports in a weapons vault and this instance of the Devourer immediately hops into the arsenal to take their pick. Within these racks and racks of weapons and supplies, Black Tie Ozhira's hand passes over shotguns of all descriptions, rotary-barrel machine cannons, rockets and dynamite, gauss rifles, and several different kinds of energy weapons without deciding on anything. They aren't terribly skilled with weapons like these. What does at last capture their attention does so with such awe that, as they pick it up, their jaw is slack with awe, all those triangular shark teeth showing, "...Ooh... We choose this." Moments later, this offshoot of Ozhira dashes out to meet with the other, thrashing mutant monstrosity version of themself. They hold up the item they chose as an offering-- a simple medical kit with a distinctive red + emblazeoned on its black case. The box is speared on one of those tentacles and hauled into one of many sets of gnashing teeth. Promptly, the more monstrous incarnation of Ozhira pulses with a faint, red aura. Each of the far-too-many visible eyes gains a crimson inner glow. With the Berserk Pack enhancing their strength, the Devourer doubles--and again doubles-- the number of thrashing, spiked tentacles as well as extending the range at which these limbs thrust amidst throngs of demonic attackers. Each stab hauling victims into gnashing teeth; each attack ultimately recovering the biomass lost to incoming attacks after expanding to this unmissable size.
Corona Arclite	When the bigger demons realize what's going on and charge, Corona puts her smaller nimble size to good use. She slides right between the legs and under one, leaving him to get faced off courtesy of the Deagle. Immeadiately she's got her plasma shotgun up to blast the group behind it, even as she's bounding back onto her feet. Tommy arrives neither early or late, but at the perfect time for a supply drop. Still have to get over there though. So Corona leaps, angling her shotgun both to blast another demon in the face and use it as a 'shotgun jump' to propel herself higher. Enough that she can land atop another demon, parkouring from head to head to get closer to the gate where Tommy landed. And dropped off the vault section. She glances inside once the keypad has been unlocked and it's open. "Tarnation, this may be Hell but rawht now Ah'm in bleedin' Heaven." It doesn't take long for her to make best of the offering. The most obvious being the linear launcher propped against one shoulder when she walks back out. "Time to lock'n'load and wreck'n'rule!" But that's not what she starts with. No, for that she's got what appears to be a toolbox in her other hand. Or it does until she drops it down, pulls a wrench from her toolbelt, and gives it a good smack. The box starts to unfold as she does, reconfiguring itself into a turret. A few more 'percussive maintenance' hammers and it deploys more chainguns and rocket launchers. It bleeps and whirrs as it powers up, starts locking onto demon masses, and opens fire in a vicious automated swath across the ranks. She's working to make a choke point, to stop any demons from making a rush for the portal, or to try and flank their merry little band of prolific overkill from the sides with their superior (but rapidly dwindling) numbers. Then Corona takes up position next to it, intending to make a staging point and hold it down so the demon army can't try to swarm past them to the portal. The Linear Launcher roars as it fires it's highly volatile projectile into the masses. It's considerably powerful, especially in the hands of an expert gunner. But it's got a rather long recharge time between shots to compensate. Which is why in the other hand Corona has a Super Nailgun. Also known as the Perforator. It isn't hard to see why as she fires it off in bursts in the gap between times the Linear Launcher can fire. Its quad barrels producing rapid-fire barrages of deadly spikes at high speed mowing down the enemies that try to flee the volatile wrath of the larger weapon and the automated turret. Alternating between the Perforator's rapid firing rate and penetration power and the slow but extremely potent Linear Launcher, backed up by the constant automated fire and rocket bombardments of the Turret, it's a wickedly efficent death trap. Were the party you should pray you never find yourself at When we show up even Lucifer pisses his pants We eat havoc for breakfast, mayhem for lunch We Wash down our dinner with a bucket of blood
Timespace Riders	"Tommy! Thanks for the assist!" Zi-O waves excitedly as he sails through the air, rocket-jumping towards the deposited cross-setion of building. Woz appears only a moment later, the two of them running in and hurriedly perusing the armaments and equipment. "Ah, the custodians of this place were well-traveled indeed," says Woz, picking up a definitely alien weapon--some kind of many-bladed chakram with a grip at the center and an armored motor housed beneath it. He next grabs a golden ring encircling a lightning bolt. Zi-O, meanwhile, reaches for a glowing red pentagram and a blue ring encircling a stylized 'III.' "Right... I have a good feeling about this!" The two of them hurry back outside, and immediately begin putting their finds to use. Already fast even without the hastening effect of his discovery, Woz is a blur--fast enough to keep pace with the heat-seeking, motorized chakram he's picked up. His purple scarf trails stylishly behind him, as white arcs cut through hordes of demons. The Razor Wind is scarcely ever in his hand, for as soon as it returns to him, once even when he's in the middle of an acrobatic moonsault--he immediately has a new target for it. As it seeks out targets around him, he makes high-speed takedowns with his sickle-tipped spear, hooking heads and limbs at breakneck speeds, employing his strength to hurl foes into the path of his other weapon. Zi-O, meanwhile, matches Woz's high-speed, finesse-based assault with pure brute force. Stacked up on the power of the Pentagram of Protection, he can make the most of his Quad Damage. Where before there was a bit of care and caution required for his rocket jumps, now he makes them at the drop of a hat. "I'm going to be the greatest, kindest Demon King of Time! And that means... there's no timeline where your invasion succeeds!" He isn't at all shy about point-blank use of his wrist-mounted rockets, even implementing them as part of his punches for an extra burst of explosive power. He makes himself a menace before the gate, raining down screaming guided missiles with explosions highly disproportionate to the size of the projectiles. Quick applications of his rocket boots turn dive kicks into burning lances of destruction, as enemy attacks strike the empowered Demon King to no avail.
Hellwarming Trio	Just when things are starting to look a little dicey with the demon swarm rushing for the opening Doomgate, Tommy's there to save the day with the hijacked UFO! Satori has to drag Utsuho and Rin over to the vault while the two are in middle of hollering and getting a bit too worked up over the extended battle, and they keep Duke's back covered while he gets that complex password entered in. The simpler youkai don't even think about looking at what the password might be. Their master cheats by reading his mind (and inwardly commending the clever choice of numbers). The three of them would otherwise ignore this development in favor of relying on their own talents, but when they actually see what their gun-toting companions are doing (or not seeing the terrifying one at all), they gather together for a brief moment. "Think it's a good idea, Master?" "I mean, if they're all doin' it, right?" "If word doesn't spread, then... It should be alright. Just don't brag about it later." With another cheer erupting from two members of the trio, it's time to get loaded up on weird emblems! The shapes are largely unfamiliar, but touching one of each should be more than enough. Utsuho and Rin both come out of the vault first, radiating with an ominous POWER aura that makes it all too obvious what they're going to do. "Bet I can blow up more of them." "Yeah, but my aim's better." "Heh. 'Aiming.'" With her raw power boosted to a ludicrous degree, Utsuho raises her free hand above her as all of it starts to congeal into a blinding orb above her. Plasma bursts off the surface of the glowing orb as it enlarges rapidly as she pours more of her energy into it, the sheer size of the ball threatening to disintegrate the walls and whatever demons might even be thinking about coming at her from above as it just keeps getting bigger and bigger. It's not going to be a subtle explosion by any means, and it's entirely likely this is a terrible idea while everyone's underground, but she's not here to do subtle. She's here to do big. Thankfully, Utsuho remembers sooner rather than later that the Doomgate needs to stay intact so they can actually leave, so she hurls that sun bomb into the distance at whatever unlucky hordes happen to be in that area (or slumbering above and below the target). Rin, not willing to let herself be outdone, pours her energy into a figurative army of flaming wisps. Rather than the little head-sized orbs that she so often conjures up, however, these are more like entire bonfires or effigies, each one larger than herself by several magnitudes. Whereas Utsuho is trying to get her kill count up through a wide area blast, Rin is aiming for specific targets, all at once, all locked onto multiple demons at once as the flames wash over them before flying towards the next target, aiming to cover entire battalions in homing flames. Both of them are cackling madly as they go through all of this, of course. They're clearly enjoying this more than they probably should. Satori, meanwhile, sure is taking her time coming out of the vault. She's not even seen coming out of it at all, and it would appear that she might even still be in there if not for the fact that she's nowhere to be seen. Coincidentally, there's random shotgun blasts coming from behind Corona and Remee whenever a demon tries to get the jump on them, almost as if someone or something is watching their backs.
Hiromi	As is the case with Evehime, so too is Hiromi nearly overcome by the desire to fight the Slayer, made no better when he blows the heads off several of the larger demons in front of her before she's able to add them to her own rampage. Likewise, still, she can prioritize, at least for now. The army of demons are the first problem, and the gate-- Whatever just happened with the hellpriest causes her head to turn, watching the gate activate. It's soon blocked off, fortunately, by a UFO coming down, and at that event does Hiromi obligingly return. "Tommy. Victory. You've claimed it? Good." What weapons might actually be useful to the Archwolf is a good question. As her present equipment indicates, she's used to both improvisation and salvage. A 'gun' just won't do. Most swords are simply more awkward claws, for her. But with the full variety of items available in the vault, she finds something to catch her eye. It's little more than instinct that tells her what each thing in the vault is for. Grabbing one of the golden orbs -- and then another, and another, each breaks apart into a cloud of Soul-Breaker energy, as its designed to do, though what that name means isn't part of what she's able to intuit. What's important is that it envelopes her body in an accelerating field, tuned to and heightening her natural motion, pushing her forward at speed. Even her reflexes and thoughts are quickened, as if the rest of the world had slowed down. Hiromi, overdosing on Haste PUs, flies back into action. She only doesn't literally fly because maintaining contact with the ground, even if that contact explodes it into liquifying clouds, is what lets her instantaneously course correct. Her strength was already without meaningful limit, when facing any opponent less than the Gevurah. Her immortality has been questioned, yet still passes every test put to it. And now, the one hope one could reasonably hold, that they might be able to avoid her before she can reach them, or dodge her blows, is quashed, so long as that golden glow continues. The salt plains, once dull and featureless, are given new shape by her passage, cratered by her strikes, dry riverbeds opened where the wind beside her blows parallel to the ground. She seeks out the knights of hell, its barons and dukes, slips around and under their guard, then turns them into disintegrating projectiles against the ground and their fellows. The cuts from her black blade are sharp enough that they might not be felt, were the rough angles not enough to launch the tops of each target away from their lower bodies. And as that Soul-Breaker energy is known to do, even with a single orb's worth, the rapid pounding of her heart, pushed past anything that even the insane could consider a safe limit, and now in that extended state of reckless overdosing, finally causes her heart to burst, just as she'd plunged her claw through some bull-horned, goat-legged demon's chest and out the other side, grasping its own heart. Hiromi, in the strictest sense, dies for her hubris, still standing on her feet. It is the perfect opportunity for every demon surrounding her, after she'd plunged into their midst, to take their pound of flesh, to stab and slice and burn her from every side. They have three seconds to do so, before she reforms her heart, presses it back into shape, and forces it to beat. They have another three before her torn muscles reform around and through the very claws piercing her, tensing and breaking them off, popping the broken pieces out with the taut snapping of her first testing flex. And then Hiromi spins her blade in a full arc, twirled over her head, takes a bite from a baron's still-warm heartmeat, and continues on her way.
Evehime Gevurah	Evehime's reaction to the horde running is not favourable. It involves the words "At last, an army worth the breath expended to lay waste to it appears before me, and you break and flee?! That eagerness to exterminate all humanity-- where is it?! Show it to me! Those who would kill should be ready to die in turn!" It isn't very hard for her to cut them off, simply by rocketing off again and smashing the ground between them and the gate, but she hasn't actually physically blocked them yet before the falling UFO does it instead. She doesn't move from her perilously close position, even when the gale of its narrow passing causes her hair to blow out into her face and the ground snakes beneath her feet from the crash of the falling vault. It is with some amount of spite that she slowly and contemptuously turns from the now-bottlenecked horde, pushes the already opened vault door aside as if it actually mattered, and . . . Evehime shatters a violently trembling purple orb in her fist. Evehime ties a loose bandanna around her wrist. Evehime slams and clips a metal greeble with a circular red meter into her waist sash. Evehime leaves the vault. Evehime leaves the vault. Evehime leaves the vault. Evehime leaves the vault. One glows with a crackling violent aura. The other three are fully luminously semi-translucent red. She leaves at such ridiculous speed that it is no longer possible to keep track of the relationship between explosive kickoff and near-simultaneous destination; all four of them are only really trackable by their glowing afterimages, rendered as holographic trails showing what they were doing a fifth of a second ago, and the solid light streaks from the muzzles of dual wielded weapons being fired at quadruple speed along the entire path, without stopping --without reloading. Ribbons of red and purple, streaks of orange fire, clouds of rising smoke, criss-cross at completely unfair speeds around the leading vanguard of the demonic hordes, and lace all the way through the ranks from front to back. The sustained roar of eight guns at quadruple speed is completely chaos. The sheer amount of blood and guts and dismembered limbs within sixty feet of each one suggests that she wasn't satisfied with the efficient use of rapid, small calibres. It is making a point.
Operator	The smart computer on Remee's wrist does as it claims. Every beep seems to freeze time entirely, picking out the statistically best targets, and adjusting Remee's arm to hit them. Over time it even seems to adapt to her, picking targets based on her strengths, the percentage to hit going up as it realizes it's on the arm of a sharpshooter, not some urban dad or orphan or mailman. Everyone concentrating by the Doomgate seems to inspire the bravest of the army to try something. Ozhira's sudden mitosis and explosive growth puts a quick stop to that train of thought. Frantic attacks deal damage only for the wound to scab over with the biomass of the offender. A quick retreat is called as some of the stronger demons try to dislodge the UFO, only for Tommy to turn weapons upon them, lasers deploying from glassy panels on the outer rim disntergrating them. While Ozhira resolves the situation with more Ozhira, Corona turns to the solution as old as time; using more gun. The sentry, marked with the logo of some organization called RED, quickly blooms into a pair of miniguns with a missile rack, all three quickly being deployed on incoming demons. Those that think to kill its operator are swiftly taught the error of their ways, perforated with a multitude of nails. Multiple corpses are left stuck to each other by them. Woz becomes a blur, fast as his weapon if not faster. As the army begins to thin, stronger demons are the ones left alive. Several send flames after him, but the winds kicked up by his own speed extinguish them, and those responsible are killed shortly after. Meanwhile Zi-O becomes a natural disaster, implacable and destructive. Those that dare to try and engage him in melee quickly find their bellies gored by explosive punches and kicks. Lesser hordes are scattered by his explosive jumps, each one propelling him absurd distances, the multiplied damage applying to his own self-knockback. And yet, he's still a slower target, making him tempting to shoot at. But those that try soon find V1 upon them. Somehow, even with both hands occupied by guns, they can still flick coins, and their ricocheting shots splatter the heads of the gunners.
Operator	Utsuho just makes a sun and throws it. The backline had begun to flee, but you can't escape heat of that scale. Flesh boils as it impacts, ionizing radiation ensuring that those that actually manage to outrun it are likely doomed in the coming hours. Meanwhile, Rin creates entire gashadakuro rather than mere skulls, the titanic skeletons bringing their fists down on larget generals to prevent the demons rallying. Those that try are consumed by spectral blue fire, quickly reduced to ash. It's a good thing this isn't the hell she's supposed to warm, because fire that burns things this fast is unsustainable! Hiromi, quite literally, kills herself by overdosing, her heart exploding in her breast, a trail of dead behind her. It would be a moment for demons to take revenge. But someone says no. Duke Nukem is at her side, delivering an explosive punt to the first one who tries, sending their corpse flying, and a blast of buckshot to the next. "Look but don't touch creeps. This one's a classy dame," he growls, giving Hiromi the time she needs to reforge her heart. His back was to her, so it's unclear if he would find the whole heart-eating hot or a turnoff. As Evehime continues her devastation, she comes to understand intimately the nature of these demons. It is said that, as godless beings, they are absent of virtue. Things like courage, bravery, valour, is not known to them. Fundamentally, they are bullies. Each one of them only signed on knowing that their overwhelming numbers would make the invasion easily. They could not lay low their predator, so they locked him away. They can not face an equal threat, so they break. And so she kills them. She and the Slayer both find themselves back to back at one moment. A demon's throat in one of his hands, and that shotgun in the other, blasting a second. And he looks out at the carnage she's spread, and gives her a nod, before they split once again. In spite of the sheer efficacy and brutality of the combined efforts of the Elites and the Agents of BUILD, the fighting still takes a while due to sheer numbers. But eventually, the army is broken. Tommy, who had been guarding the portal, lifts the UFO from the ground to allow everyone access. "Great work. A decent chunk got away, but there's no way they can put together an invasion like this again. Let's go." Duke hands out backslaps as everyone makes their way out, but the Slayer remains. "You coming pal?" Duke asks, and only receives a gesture in response. The Slayer indicates the Doomgate itself. A direct portal to the mortal world. Leaving it standing down here would be irresponsible. Someone has to stay behind and break it.
Corona Arclite	"Always gotta be a few scragglers," Corona replies to Tomy with a smirk. "Iffen no one survived to tell the tale, the remainin' enemies wouldn't know what to be scared shitless about, am Ah rawht?" Followed by a light oof at the backslap from Duke. Reachs up a hand to straighten out her stetson afterwards. Then glances back at Slayer as he gestures at the Doomgate in response to the question. "Reckon he's got a point, pardner. Even iffen they ain't got a full invasion force left, leavin' 'em a back door to the normal world pro'ly a bad idea." Corona pauses to pull a pack of sapper chargers, explosives specifically made for demolishing large structures, and toss em towards Slayer. "Y'all likely don't -need- the help.. But this will make the task a bit more -fun-. Wrap this gig up with a proper fireworks display." A final hatbrim tip salute to the one man(?) rip-n-tear army and she turns to get about the UFO ride out of this literal hellhole.
Hellwarming Trio	Eventually, the youkai's bloodlust fades, and just in time for the power-boosting relics to finally wear off as the army is finally repelled. They're covered in scorches, blood, and numerous other innumerable smaller wounds, but they've prevailed, and Utsuho and Rin are quick to start cheering for their victory over the literal army that's just been fought back. They return Duke's backslaps with some of their own, trying to match his with sheer energy even if they aren't quite so beefy. "That's how Junior Asskickers do it!" "Hell yeah! This hell's got nothin' on ours!" Satori, meanwhile, finally reappears after touching that strange invisibility thing, bearing several wounds of her own that'll heal in time. She's actually a short distance away from the Slayer when she does, and she's carrying a shotgun that looks like it's far more suited to someone of his size than herself. There's also a bruise on her forehead that's suspiciously as wide as the barrel of said shotgun. She hesitates for several long moments as she stares at the Slayer, approaching him cautiously before holding it and a half-spent box of shells towards him as far as her arms will allow her to do so. "You may need these more than I do. If you happen to end up at our home by the time you're finished, we can... We'll guide you back to the surface." Whether he takes it or not, she'll end up just sprinting away to rejoin everyone else at the Doomgate and keep Evehime, Hiromi, or Duke firmly between them. She can't get over being terrified that quickly, after all.
Ozhira	Fed as they are by a constant onslaught of would-be attackers turned victim, Ozhira's thrashing, bloody rampage lasts for quite some time. Due to the size they had become through consuming so many demons, the Devourer has more or less rooted themself in place, becoming an enormous terrain hazard and obstacle that helps cover the Doomgate. After what feels like hours of combat, though, the demonic army breaks and retreats. What's left of the monsters flee beyond the Beast's reach. It lurches, tearing up sections of Hellscape as they dislodge some of their rooting tendrils, but soon give up the idea of pursuit. A disgusting noise echoes from within the colossal Devourer. After a moment, with a hideous retching sound, several of the mouths hurl out streams of sizzling green acid filled with countless demon bones and lumps of scorched demonic flesh. In doing so, the mass decreases in size, gradually converting from hellflesh horrorbeast into a lump of quivering crimson sludge. When this resolves itself into the human shape of Ozhira, the Devourer's expression is an unhappy one, "This tastes. So bad." What approximates their tongue sticks out between frowning lips, "Spoiled. Rotten. Hell flesh. Retaining this fills us with discord. We reject it." The duplicate had re-merged with the primary mass at some point in the chaos of the battle and is nowhere to be seen, so at least that amount of confusion is resolved. Still looking a bit sick or perhaps just disgusted, the creature swivels their head across the gore-strewn battlefield, taking stock of the others. The Hellwalker's apparent intent to stay behind gives them pause, though they nod once in understanding, trotting over to rejoin their fellow Concord members Hiromi, Zi-O, and Woz.
Hiromi	<J-IC-Scene> Hiromi's voice transmits in-between unnervingly manic, monstrously bestial laughter. "Unfamiliar tools, powers, dangerous, yes. Things unused to. Unexpected, surprising. But--" <J-IC-Scene> Hiromi says, "--useful, deadly, fun. Hunting this prey. Some, are worthy." After clearing her immediate space with her blade, and taking a taste of the (actually quite bad, but her stomach is also strong) demon heart, Hiromi notices that Duke had her back, during that brief period her physical awareness had waned with her death. "Strong, some, but--" Hiromi considers the terror and flight of the demon army. "'Brave,' they're not. Hah." She claps Duke on the shoulder. (A slap, from her, tends to be too much.) "Not like you! Good. Now, back to hunting." Tommy calls for a retreat, but there are some that are getting away, and Hiromi has to stop and consider it. Does she care if they're not all killed? "Leaving, half-finished?" She sets her blade, for the moment, to stand in the salt-ground. "These, will they grow? No. Coward prey." And if they won't grow, then there's no point in leaving them alive. But maybe, just maybe... if she kills all the demons in hell, then new, better demons will take their place. If not now, then some day, later. Isn't that worth a shot? "No need," she says, finally. "I will finish. Rejoin, later." That should, she assumes, be enough words for them to understand her plan.
Timespace Riders	"My demon king," says Woz. "Loathe as I am to part with such a remarkable weapon," he says, with a theatrical glance towards his uplifted hand as the Razor Wind returns to him with a high-pitched whine. "The time has come for us to depart." What once resembled a salt plain is stained red for a considerable distance out--and Zi-O turns from watching the demons retreating into the desolate expanse to face Woz. His helmet bobs in agreement. "Okay," he says. "But I have to say goodbye to the Slayer, if he's staying behind for us." There is a sense, from his tone, that 'us' here mean a lot more than just the people present. "Fighting is something you enjoy, isn't it? You're not just here because you want to protect people, but because there's nothing you enjoy more. Once I'm King of Time... if there ever comes a day when this place dries up, I'll be able to see it." "Call out to me," he says, pausing for emphasis, "and whatever you need is yours. Even if it's been so long that no one alive in the future knows or appreciates what you've done... I will." Zi-O turns to leave. "Until then, Slayer," he says warmly. Of course, with Hiromi helping, the timetables ought to move forward considerably. "Take this with my blessing, Archwolf," says Woz, turning his smartwatch-themed, shuriken-bedecked helmet her way. He lifts the Razor wind for her to see. "It should make quick work of those particularly unworthy of your full attention," he obsequiously adds , with a light overhead toss of the motorized chakram to her. Good hunting. With that, both Riders depart, golden temporal energy coalescing into Zi-O's open gauntlet. A pocketwatch with a distinctive green helmet on its face is just visible before the two of them step through the portal.
Operator	The Slayer takes the offered equipment with a nod and an offered fist bump to each who give it. Even Satori. It seems the Hellwarming Trio managed to convince him they're the good ones. But when Hiromi decides to stick with him, he's clearly taken aback. It seems, for a moment, he might actually tell her not to. But the moment passes, and he gives her a nod. Two can kill them all faster that one. "Well... as much as the babes back home might miss me, I ain't leaving you two down here alone," Duke says, walking back across the threshold to slap the Slayer on the shoulder. V1 also walks over and gestures at the myriad blood puddles lying around. They do seem to like absorbing demon blood. Tommy lets out a long sigh and also crosses over. "At least if I stick around, we can use the UFO to get back when we're done. But I know he's gonna want to hunt every demon down here first." The Slayer gives a single, resolute nod to that statement. And with that, once everyone parts through the Doomgate, arriving again in a slightly less on-fire Las Vegas, does the Slayer turn his fists on the archway, causing the gap in the air close, leaving the Agents of BUILD and Hiromi in hell.