Scene #8395: The Hardly Castle Stage 1

Owner	Pose
Rowdyruff Boys	OFF the COAST of CALIFORNIA... that really doesn't work, does it? It needs to be just the X of Y, not X the Y of Z. Oh, well, we'll be back home soon enough. The Fortress of Professor Hardly is an offshore oil rig, which flickered into being with a flash of light shortly after the last seal location was erased in the 3D Printer factory. This was about what Brick had expected. A boat has been provided, as previously, but this time around none of the Rowdyruff Boys are present on it. Easier to just fly, for them. The oil rig, though superficially still what it appears to be, has been rather... built-up. It seems to consist of roughly three rings of interior structures, and whatever part of it exits below the bottom into the ocean certainly doesn't go deep enough or have the mechanical features of an oil rig. In fact, it's drawing in and filtering out sea water for... some reason. The three rings of interior structures get smaller as you go towards the middle, with the very center obviously being some kind of personal office or living space. There are force fields layered between each ring, and time feels a little... stagnant, around here. The past and the future don't exist here, except in very select blind spots, and this provides more of an observational area than a bridge into those time periods. Something very powerful is the patron of this place. It's certainly not Dick Hardly. By the time the group arrives, the Rowdyruff Boys have been hovering over the exterior hammering the forcefields with their various forms of vision and breath for a while. Nothing has really been able to pass in or out. "No shortcuts on this one. I smell a lot of Chemical X here, so be cautious," Brick advises. "I'll back you up. Can be your pointman, if you want," Butch offers to the party. The warnings and offer barely come fast enough to be answered. Something begins to launch metal barrels out of the middle forcefield at the group, forcing them to approach closer to avoid being attacked outside of their ability to attack back.
Remee Halcyon	> I'll back you up. Can be your pointman, if you want. "Actually, if we're up against a fortress, I-" Remee starts to say. She doesn't get to finish what she's saying, as the barrels get launched. What she was probably trying to say becomes clear as she charges out of the chaos. This is not an instance where the stealth/tracking/precision specialist of the team is the most useful option. No, this is where Remee's other combat modality comes better into play: An 8 foot tall Big Bad Wolf barreling across the battlefield towards the enemy's house of straw, shrugging off or regenerating nearly all the damage she takes along the way. The intention is, largely, to draw enemy fire at this stage - Remee needs to close in and build up momentum before she can start seriously doing damage. But while doing so, she can create openings for the others, whether by drawing attention or just by leaving a wake of destruction for them to follow behind.
Ishirou	"Thanks, Butch! I appreciate it!" Ishirou says quickly to the Rowdy, he's starting to try and figure out the forcefield, using scanning on it to try and look for a weakness... Until they open fire on them. Okay. Ishirou starts trying to maneuver, trying to avoid barrels as they fly while also trying to follow the people taking point. Those who can not fly are provided OPTIONs, which will attach to them, providing them flight similar to Ishirou's RESCUE suit. He also fires a barrage of anti-weapon shots trying to keep the skies clear for others. This only gets him clipped by a Barrel, but not run over by several. Ishirou is already calculating what needs to be done. Setting up a plan, he immediately shoots two sets of variables toward Futaba and the Power Puffs. The plan? Find a way inside, and between Futaba's mailable form, and the knowledge and strength of the Puffs this seemed like the winning move. All the while, Ishirou is scanning, trying to reveal as much of the dangers of this place as he can, so that he can help plan around things.
Corona Arclite	An oil rig converted into a Final Boss fortress. That sounds like a problem that could require the touch of an engineer to deal with. Someone thought so at least, because here's Corona Arclite, who's equally as good at breaking machines as she is building them. Boots clang on the deck, but she doesn't get all that far before both her large ears and her hackles are standing on end. Which is followed by a huff, and a tug down on the brim of her stetson. "Reckon somethin' don't feel rawht at all 'bout this place...." Her twitchiness is being aggrivated by the ... offness in the presence of the rig. All the same, she gives a brief nod to the two Rowdys. "Looks like this is gonna take a bit of everythi -- Look out!" Reflexively she jerks and rolls to the side, avoiding one of the first barrels being slung out of the interior. It crumples against the deck, resulting in a small spray of shrapnel, but nothing too worse for wear. The bits don't get any deeper than the reinforced lining of her duster, falling free of the jacket as she stands once more. "Quite the unwelcome wagon." More barrels are coming, but now Corona is also on the move. Jumping over, sliding under, and somersaulting her way between the improvised projectiles with little farther issue. At the same time she snaps off a few shots even admist the gun-fu acrobatics, oversized handgun barking with each pull of the trigger in the effort to widdle a way through that forcefield.
Futaba Nuki	Flying along the same path the Rowdyruff Boys took is a suspicious-looking seagull. It's seagull sized, sure, but it has a little golden ring around one leg, there's a leaf stuck to the bird's forehead, and the noises it makes sound less like seagull noises and more like someone badly imitating a seagull noise. It's still fun to do, though, so Futaba's not going to stop until the oil rig comes into view (or if someone tells her to). Spotting the movement of sea water into and out of the structure doesn't strike her as particularly odd, but it does give her some vague idea that there's something inside that needs that much water in the first place. A good place to jam some fireworks in, maybe. Whatever it is will have to wait, though, as Futaba sees the trio working on the forcefields from far above. Diving in to join them, Futaba shifts into her usual ninja-y form as she lands, teetering for a moment before digging into her pouch with one hand while greeting the group with a quick two-fingered salute with her other. "Hey, Rowdys! A slow burn today, huh? Alright, think I've got just the thing for that..." As she pulls her trusty flaming katana out of her pouch, Futaba finds that something on or in the rig starts launching stuff at everyone, and her free arm quickly triples in size and takes on a more metallic sheen to stop one of those barrels before it can smash right into her face. Wrapping hte arm around that barrel, she raises it briefly to peer into the forcefield, then lets out an irritated noise before flinging it right back. "Rude. Let's-" Before she can throw out her suggestion of 'hitting the forcefield harder', she sees that data being sent to her by Ishirou, and her mind goes right back to that water intake. Outtake? What's the word for that? "... Water form!" Without really elaborating all that well after that, Futaba does a standing backflip as she turns into a slimier version of herself, then slides backwards off the staging platform to get underneath it, then starts slithering over to where the possibly false oil rig is drawing in that water. The flames surrounding her katana still keep going as she heads towards that intake point, though, and she starts stabbing it into whatever forcefields might be between her and actually getting into said water intake point. Whoever made the katana might be rolling in their grave with how roughly she's treating the thing, but it's fine. It's tough!
Timespace Riders	The boat is host to Sougo and Woz for only a moment, as before. Here, there isn't even the pretense of enjoying the scenery of some distant coastline--Hardly's oil rig is an unsightly blemish in the sea. The Demon King's navy peacoat, canary yellow button-up, as well as the vibrant pattern on the reversible hem of his otherwise plain khaki slacks, all disappear beneath the swirling vortex of Woz's space-defying scarf. The two are deposited onto the exteriror of the rig, and Woz adds his own observation following Brick's. "The skein of time is gnarled here," he notes with pursed lips and concern evident in his brown eyes. "A knot, left loose enough to forestall complete stagnation, while keeping it free from ideas of 'past' or 'future.'" Turning his nose up, he adds, "The work is too delicate for a fumbler such as Hardly." Sougo beams at Butch. "I'd like that, Butch," he says. "Especially since--UWOH!" A buffoonish shout of utter surprise escapes him, his brown eyes wide as dinner plates, as he and Woz both hurriedly reach for their transformation devices. Woz's green laser light show and Sougo's flying pink katakana manage to keep them from the worst of the flung barrels, but each of them still catches a spark-flying glancing blow as they charge further in, barrels heavily clipping each of them and drawing grunts of pain. o/` Ka-meeen Rider! o/` ZI-O. . . KAMEN RIDER WOZ? WOZ?! The pink-and-silver wristwatch-themed rider and his silver-and-green smartwatch-themed retainer each summon weapons to give themselves a fighting chance as they advance. Zi-O calls forth the RIDE HEISABER--a toothed, pink-bladed straight sword with a grip and flat resembling the metal band of a wristwatch. A large clock serves as the crossguard, and Zi-O uses the blade's flat to blunt the impact of the blows somewhat as he charges. Woz, meanwhile, summons the JIKAN DESPEAR, a sleek polearm with a green tip and a touchscreen just below it, bearing several 'apps' as multicolored buttons on the screen. With little cries of effort, he twirls it overhead and makes aggressive swipes, crescents of cutting green energy following in the wake of his attacks to try and cut them down.
Timespace Riders	"My Demon King--let us take advantage of Remee Halcyon's transformation, with our own!" "Good idea!" Each of them procures a futuristic pocketwatch. Woz's bears the purple visage of a ninja-themed fighter, while Zi-O's sports the classic grasshopper-themed face of a well-known Rider. Woz's, slotted into the gate on his Beyondriver, plays a lively shamisen and koto melody with deer-scare percussion. Zi-O's plays a retro, 1980s-movie-style suite of cybernetic action hero bleeps and bloops. His Timespace Driver, as the watch is slotted in, reads in red LCD: BU04--some 35 years ago. Future Time! Dare Ja? Ore Ja! NINJA! Futurering Shinobi! SHINOBI! ARMOR TIME! Reborn with Solar Power! BLACK RX! Woz, now sporting a dramatic iridescent purple scarf, shuriken breastplate and pauldrons, teleports rapidly between barrels as they fly towards the group, landing atop them and stomping them down or otherwise swiping with his polearm to throw off their trajectory. Zi-O follows close behind, not quite as fast, but taking the brunt of oncoming blows that Butch doesn't catch, for the less beefy among the party. His new armor is sleek black plating with a dark green cuirass, sporting a prominent, six-sided silver plate just over where his Driver rests. "The Sun is a good friend of mine," Zi-O confidently mangles another Rider's catchphrase, as he powers through a barrel with a wrist deflection on his advance.
Powerpuff Girls	ONCE AGAN, the BOAT is OPERATED... By Princess Morbucks. The Girls stand by on board, hanging about in various states of readiness because floating is way more annoying than standing or sitting on a moving boat. Princess, the only one of the quartet who is actually licensced to operate a vessel of this class (she had to take yachting lessons, and then the City forced her into Remedial Boating after an episode about reckless boating ruining shoreline fun). Power crown shining, her eyes ring digital red while the forejewel projects information right over her eyes. "Going to stick me with the boat again too?" Princess challenges, while Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup start to take off after Remee and Ishirou's more ground and air-support strategy. Bubbles, of them, pauses, the blonde turning to consider Princess with a blink. "I can stay with the boat, if it means that much to you." Bubbles answers, floating just off the nose of the ship and drifting back towards the foredeck. Princess, not expecting this, immediately nods exaggeratedly, practically bouncing, before calming herself. "Ah, yeah. I mean it's not the most important, I could yacht..." Princess drawls, but as soon as Bubbles reaches the wheel she releases it, mouths a 'thanks', and jets off after the two puffs in her armor of gold and black, a streak of thruster blue-white and a pouf of ginger chasing after a long air-streak of ruby and emerald. MEANWHILE "You want to lead with your face, genius, be my guest!" Buttercup eggs on Brick, fully expecting it to be a successful strategy - seeing as Blossom and Buttercup immediately angle in to use Remee and Butch to absorb the first volley. The 'late' arriving Princess did not quite catch that memo, and so as sinister Hardlybarrels smash into her frontally and cause her to corkscrew dazedly in the air for a moment, she shouts in frustration. "BARRELS? You think I give a hoot about BARRELS?!" She hoots, clearly giving one. Blossom and Buttercup simply decline to slow down, using available cover. Princess, an Armor Girl, has a much more direct solution and starts firing back at the barrels with barrages of microrockets. Anything that shoots at her? That's a rocket barrage.
Rowdyruff Boys	The exterior harassment isn't there to bait you into a hail of gunfire immediately. Remee charges in and finds... an oil rig. It's a lot like being on a ship; narrow corridors, lots of machines supporting the place. Butch falls in at her flank, frowning as he looks around. "This place feels creepily familiar..." It's obviously insulated in a way that Dick Hardly couldn't provide. Ishirou finds a mess of problems. Everything's been laced with Chemical X so nothing is as breakable as it should be; every single wall would take the beating you can give it. Better to just use the doors because it will in fact take less time. There's also something looping time in on itself here so that attempting to travel into the future or past just dumps you back in the now. Self-copies can still happen but creating a weakness in the past won't. Trying to get a way through the forcefield, as Corona finds, also simply fails. You will have to advance along the available corridors. The people here still enter and exit; there's a hole, it's just one that's designed and in a place that isn't externally convenient for you. Unfortunately, this is the hidden rebel base, and the forcefield generators are inside the forcefield. Likewise, Futaba simply cannot penetrate far enough to do what she wants; the intake closes off as soon as she enters it, and although she certainly provokes its shutdown, that katana isn't getting through in a practical amount of time at all. And it goes without saying that sealing against the water is plenty water-tight to waterform Futaba, even before the forcefields are accounted for. Brick falls in alongside Sougo, since Butch has already collapsed towards Remee. He pushes a shoulder into one of the on-course barrels and deflects it to one side, providing a moment's opportunity that might otherwise not be there. "There's a few entities that can snarl time. I think the boogeyman is still dead, though. And it's daylight out..." It's probably HIM, even if Brick doesn't want to say so. That's an entirely different kind of bad news. All of you have plenty of force to ADVANCE and keep the steady stream of thrown barrels (where are they even coming from at this point?) off of you, but not enough to advance non-linearly. Blossom and Buttercup have the right idea; there are narrow corridors to be sure, but there's plenty of duck-away side-doors to use. As it turns out, the source of the barrels are a bunch of pseudo-robotic (much like the PLASTIC HARDLIES) gorillas that appear to have some sort of intangibility-projectile power. They're pretty fragile once you actually reach and/or shoot them. The corridor eventually funnels in one direction and opens up too wide to actually be inside the fortress conventionally, so some magic or super-science is obviously afoot. A long, wood-floored gallery with a long rug filled by what can only be described as ambiguously manly things in the form of taxidermied animals, books that look good on shelves but nobody actually reads, miscellaneous war memoribilia from wars the owner never participated in, a huge fireplace (on an oil rig???). It's definitely got an "upper class tv dad" vibe. The doors leading out, except the one from the way you came, are all wood paneled with shiny antique doorknobs. WHAT A FUCKING JOKE. Says the psychic presence of FATHER. You can taste his drunken disapproval. A moment later the psychic discomfort intensifies as he attempts to swap his hangover from himself to being distributed between all of you. He's bound to be here somewhere...
Ishirou	Disapproval radiates, and combined with the room they are in is effective against Ishirou in ways he wasn't expecting. Indus was particularly toxic to Ishirou's development, psychohazards developed and inserted all along some of these lines. It's enough to make him sick, and instead of collapsing... He tries to push through. He's here with good people. Some of them even have some sort of faith in him. Though despite everything he can't shake it all off. Instead, he realizes, that he should provide the effort to someone who can. OPTIONs on Remee, send in the data he was just given, trying to give her options to avoid or push through what was happening. Targeting data to Corona comes through next, if they were going to get through this they needed to push hard and now. The same with Sougo and Woz, making sure these people, powerful in their own right, could get the extra push to push on to Father. "Good to see your 'good enough' mindset works just as much as your decoration skills as much as it does to your weapons," he says, straining. He warns people, "The walls are made with Chemical X, so we can't push through them. There is some sort of time disruption field that I think is here to stop Sougo and Woz.." "There is one path, but I'm going to try and see despite this what's ahead and warn."
Corona Arclite	It's really rare to see a forcefield that can't be broken through some way, but that doesn't mean it's impossible. So there's one right there in front of them. "Hate havin' to go the way they're expectin' us," she pauses to reload her gun, locking a different mod into place and cocking it, "but looks like there ain't much choice." She adjusts her goggles, and takes to following the determined path into the fortress. Guess this is less of a siege and more of a rail shooter for her. Hmph. Fine. She can play along, for the time being. Hersnd plenty of targets, as they find the barrel throwing... robot apes, of course. As soon as she can sidestep a barrel throw she lines up her aim and fires, the Bolter mod added to her weapon turning it's rounds highly explosive. "Puttin' an end to these monkeyshines." Technically gorillas, but close enough. Destroy them and there's one less obstacle harassing their delve into the fort, that's all that matters. Then they can move on. rOnce the group is making way deeper into the oil rig turned fortress bigger on the inside than the outside (that last part sounds familiar) the decor gets more elaborate. More snooty. More... tacky. Those poor books, never to experience the joy of actually being read... Okay, enough nerd thoughts, we've got business at hand. Especially when FATHER makes his presence known, complains about their presence, and tries to impend upon them with his addled state of being. Which... honestly it doesn't look like Corona is at all effected. She spends enough time in that state of being due to her own passtime vices, she knows how to slog through the morning after and keep chugging along. So she does the same now, gritting her teeth and keeping her focus on the task of proceeding deeper into this clearly anomalous location. And shooting anything else that gets in the way.
Remee Halcyon	"Ugh..." Monster!Remee has to pause and pinch her nose as the hangover hits. "All this reminds me of my old home too much. It's all... old money rich person aesthetic. Especially the taxidermy." Granted, she's the one who put up a good third of the taxidermy in that old home, but the point still stands. Unfortunately, werewolf regeneration doesn't help much with hangovers. Remee feels the urge to go complain to life's manager. What's the point of being nigh-on invincible if someone can just... push a hangover at you like that? She tries to figure out which door the presence is coming from, pauses to pinch her nose again, and then just gives up and lets Ishirou's OPTIONs pick a door for her. Her hand goes for the antique doorknob- - Is that silver? No, looks more like brass... ... She doesn't want to take the risk even so. Her hand drops back to its side, and she drops her shoulder, and goes to just break down the door - all this may be Chemical X infused, but she's got literal narrative force backing her up.
Futaba Nuki	The intake shuts, and Futaba gives it a few hard stabs before grumbling in annoyance at the advance preparation for such a break-in attempt. Although boring a hole through the intake might be something she'd try given more time, she's got people on the surface counting on her to help them fight through the oil rig's defenses! Plus, it's not nearly flashy enough to keep her occupied for long. "No luck with the water intake. Looks like we're just gonna have to keep busting through, huh?" Futaba speaks up as she rejoins the group as they head through the corridors, not sounding all that disappointed despite not being able to get in that first way. "We'll be fine, though, because these barrels ain't gonna be enough to slow us down!" The ninja boasts as she remains in that watery form, but her hands turn somewhat solid and sludgey to both absorb and dampen the impact of those barrels to make the way in and through the corridors much easier. Upon entering that gallery, Futaba whistles lightly as she sees how big it is on the inside while leaving all sorts of water stains on the rug on the way in. She furrows her brow at the sight of the taxidermy, peers at the war memoribilia with a slowly-realizing-something grimace, and then... There's the sudden hangover. It's not an unfamiliar feeling, at least, and Futaba would know in any other situation how to deal with it. Getting struck with it now of all times, though, forces her to stabilize herself by stabbing several of her watery tendrls into and through the rug and wood-flooring. Silver lining: That solidifies her expectation that he's actually here. "It really does. Even my grandpa wasn't this tacky." She murmurs in response to Remee's own disapproval of the decor, then looks over at Ishirou at his warnings. "The stuff that gives superpowers? But don't you need that stuff inside a person to make it work? If it's just in the walls..." Futaba approaches one of the unoccupied doors at random, then knocks on it and turns to the group again. "He won't be expecting us to get in without opening them, right?" She gestures back at the door with her thumb for emphasis, then slips a kunai into her hand from out of nowhere (she doesn't have sleeves to hide them in). With a deft twirl, Futaba stabs it into the door, then follows it up by smashing her other palm into it, all in an effort to pierce a hole into it so she can try and slip through the door by shrinking herself enough to fit through it.
Powerpuff Girls	While Blossom and Buttercup zip around at top speed, opening doors and checking side rooms on the Chemical X'ed up factory, they learn two things: 1) That trying to punch a door made out of superpowers wasn't helpful, and didn't slam satisfyingly at all! 2) Intangible barrel monkeys do not obey fun rules, and the barrels are not intangible to skulls. It's terrible, all the way through, as the disapproval ramps up and the paths forward ramp down, Princess's rocket barrages proving utterly ineffective against Terrain With Toughness. The wallhacking Hardly Kongs are the kind of grinding threat that the Powerpuffs deal with on the daily for the sake of justice, and wise up quickly. The sizzling force of Authoritarial Gaze upon Princess Morbucks activates a different kind of strain form. "A JOKE, huh???" Princess shouts back, following a 'fellow' Armor Guy in Ishirou as he INTJ's the path down to one. "I'm not Pauline in your game, old man! And also, you're not allowed to use those likenesses!" Raising a grey video game cartridge with a foil sticker face and a red seal of quality on it depicting a Tactical Man and a Large Robot, Princess presents the tool of her turnabout. "But since my uncle works at Nintendo, I can!! Taste my Exclusively Licensed:tm: Nikita Missiles!" Princess shouts down The Only Hallway-Path, both golden wrist-bracers producing large guided smartmissiles to chase the source of her disapproval and destroy it -- or the stupid mainframe puzzle behind it!
Timespace Riders	Woz makes an affirmative 'hmh,' his helmet bobbing in response. Being one for speaking with unsaid words himself, he seems to infer something from Brick. He covers the more durable Zi-O and Brick with rapidly flung exploding shuriken, no doubt making quick work of the pseudo-robotic barrel-tossing gorrilas once they find their marks. Zi-O, meanwhile, continues Barrel Duty, until everyone's approach is ultimately funneled into the spatially-cheated gallery. Neither Rider is a particularly heavy drinker--so having a Father-class hangover put upon them has Woz staggering and Zi-O nearly bowled over, the Heisaber clanging as it drags across the floor while Zi-O stumbles for the bookshelf. "Uggh... this is awful," he bemoans, as his black armored fingers clumsily paw for purchase and pull several unread tomes from their spots. "Woz, I don't know how much of this I can take--let's find him, quick!" Zi-O twists the bezel on the RX Ridewatch. The face changes to a much sleeker, blue and silver rider, with the same distinctive red eyes on the mask. RX Time! Biorider! Zi-O's armor flies off with another heavily 80s synth sweep, revealing a black bodysuit. The pink katakana on his facemask shift red. Lightweight silver and blue plates fly in to replace the shed armor, with red trim completing the ensemble. "Your hangover makes me feel like... the King of Anger!" Ishirou's OPTION gives him the strength he needs to push forward, and he's off. His body turns to liquid, a blue gel silhouette of Zi-O racing with incredible speed between the doors leading out of the gallery. Touching one hand to the side of his helmet, Woz makes a clumsier version of his usual grandiloquent gesturing with the other. "I have no intention of subtlety, Futaba Nuki. It is wasted on this wretch. What my Demon King brings in speed, I shall match in thoroughness." He fumbles for one of his Miridewatches, Ishirou's OPTION coming just in time to keep him from dropping it. The question-marked visage of Kamen Rider Quiz flashes across the screen on his belt, moments before it's printed onto his body by diligently working green lasers. A grandiose, almost operatic overture plays, followed by the pleasant ding of a correct-answer buzzer. Action! Touei! Future Time! Fashion! Passion! Question! Futurering Quiz! QUIZ!
Timespace Riders	The clock hands on Woz's helmet are replaced by a single question mark, while his lightweight cuirass bears white question marks across its length. His right side, from his helmet down to the bottom of his cuirass, is the angry red of an incorrect answer--while his left is the pleasant blue of a correct response. The katakana on his facemask spell out QUIZ--which is exactly what he does, kicking down doors with a kind of brusque, systematic patience. "True or false," asks the Rider, striding down the hallway with his spear in hand. "Your children will thank you for your parenting." The right pauldron swings out, displaying a red X. A line of stormclouds forms ahead of him, lightning striking in sequence. "The correct answer is False," Woz says with cold, collected cruelty. "True or false," he repeats, searching the next door should the previous prove unfruitful. "You are the creation of another, made solely to forestall the inevitable." His finger taps an 'app' on his spear, bearing an image of a crooked cane. The tip of his spear becomes a question-mark crook with a sharp point. He rapidly swipes his finger across it, and electric energy builds up along the polearm... UN-CANE-TROLLABLE! FUKASHIGI MAGIC! Hardlight red-and-blue questionmarks flood from the cane, colliding with scenery and exploding. It would probably be a good idea not to avoid hungover Woz in the future.
Rowdyruff Boys	Sougo, and Woz, and one other insufferable brat with a time machine. FATHER gripes unreservedly, evidently too drunk to be bothered keeping his mind/mouth shut. There's not actually a logic puzzle here, the surrounding rooms are just FATHER'S area. Most of them don't go anywhere, but one goes through a study that has a door on the far side. It's a bit of a sprint, though. The man himself is meandering around drinking straight out of a bottle. Anyway, I'm not going to take that shit from you. Insufferable little brat who doesn't know what he wants. FATHER's snapping has an almost physical weight to it, like being struck with the base of a lamp. It's not literally that thing, of course. Remee knocks down a door. It isn't actually Chem-X infused; they don't need the doors to be that way because that's the way they want you to go. It's just the walls. And the walls tell their own narrative. The doors, though, that's just agreeing with the narrative that's being told. Afraid of silver, eh? Well I've GOT silver. A china cabinet opens up on its own. You know the type, hard wood, well-cleaned glass front, brass hardware. The hardware is brass, but not the stuff inside. Antique forks and knives in many different configurations are raised telekinetically from the cabinet and chase Remee. The psychic crack of leather accompanies their attempts to, not stab her, but bludgeon her. FATHER is a man who wants to hurt you more than he wants to get rid of you, and he can't hurt you if you just die. But he likes the idea that he could kill you, if he just twisted his "wrist" a little and brought down a point. //Hate havin' to go the way they're expectin' us.// Trust me. This way is better than the other way. FATHER takes another shot at Corona's mind, wielding whatever the other way is. It's mostly television snow jammed into your brain, which may or may not stick but is very unpleasant if it does. In terms of actual obstacles, the most that they run into is more wall-hacking barrel-throwing plastic monkeys, which is a persistent pressure that they have to shoot down, but the real dangerous thing is whenever FATHER actually does anything. Other than that, most of the trouble is simply advancing to the point you can engage directly. Murderous mosquito-robots start showing up and harassing people intermittently as some invisible checkpoint is cleared. They're small, annoying, and pack a surprising punch on account of the-- you guessed it, Chemical X. Corona is doing a pretty good job of moving at a steady pace and shooting down first-wave obstacles. The middle waves of mosquitos are proving to be a nuisance, though. Too small to get 'em all reliably. Futaba carves open a door, which is only a door, because the doors are the path they want you to use. She does get everything wet doing this though, and this is all hardwood and rugs, so it makes a mess of things.
Rowdyruff Boys	HEY! Stop that! You ever heard of wiping your feet? Stop being liquid you goddamn degenerate! That's not a request. FATHER batters at Futaba's mind, trying to limit her capacity to think of shapeshifting at all. There is no stupid mainframe. There is just a drunk man at the end of a long level that he gets to slap you from until the very end segment. There is, however, a 3D Printer stashed in a closet that is producing these goddamn monkeys, and that's what Princess's missiles zero in on and blow up. The reason is that the final door is a big stupid shutter you have to jump through to engage in a DUEL TO THE DEATH, which isn't gonna happen because there are like six people here. Furious, FATHER immediately responds to Princess: I'm going to make sure your mother wakes up with the idea to bug you about something she forgot about ages ago you insufferable little shit! This is only a psychic attack insofar as Princess is made aware that FATHER is doing this. FATHER is not unshakeable. On the other hand, FATHER is already a mess. He throws his current drink across the room and fetches an entirely new bottle just so he can pour it in a glass and sit down in his OMINOUS 50S FATHER STUDY CHAIR, staring balefully at the door, which nobody is actually at. Let me tell you something, WOZ. FATHER's psychic voice is practically laced with the spittle his physical form projects over the top of his glass. No child should EVER thank you for ANYTHING. If they do, you didn't do your job right. They should grow up as calloused and miserable as you ever were, because that's. WHAT'S. FAIR. And you? I don't want to hear this shit from you. The best YOU get is getting conned into sucking the dick of a guy who is going to do whatever he wants forever and just convince you THAT THAT'S OKAY by being JUST NICE ENOUGH ABOUT IT that it DOESN'T SEEM REASONABLE to assert yourself anymore. The only reason YOU can call me out like that is because you HATE YOURSELF just as much as I hate ME, and you don't have the balls to do anything about it either. So go on and spread your misery. We both know you're going to.
Corona Arclite	Trying to impose a drunken confusion didn't work very well. The attempt to just directly frick with her general awareness proves to be a little more effective. Mostly due to how highly tuned Corona's senses and sensory gear are, and the metaphysical equivilent to static feedback is enough to briefly scramble them. Though it doesn't seem to faulter her marksmanship any. It does however cause her to miss a door, running face first into the frame, and stumbling back while muttering pardons as if she'd run into another person. She stumbles through the doorway with a lash of her tail, sorting herself back out for the most part. Grabs and straightens her hat with one hand. "Been through worse then that." The robot simians aren't hard to deal with. But now there's mosquitos, the most vile and horrible insectoid evil there is. Small, buzzing, annoying bloodsuckers. Corona holsters her handcannon. "Time to do yer job, sidekick." Lights flicker on from her backpack, revealing to be a pair of optical sensors as it drops off her back and reconfigures into her robotic jackalope. Hopalong lopes in front of her, fumes hissing from the corners of his mouth. Then he opens his maw and expels a huge wash of fire and ash from his internal furnace, dealing with the numbers and small size of the targets by just filling a stupidly large area with a mightly conflageration!
Ishirou	The blow staggers Ishirou, making his head swim even more than the feeling of the drunkenness pouring through them all. On his hands and knees, he is forced to try and force his head through the fog. However, despite it all every single dehumanizing thing Petra has ever said to him surfaces. Everything Eggman has said about his form, giving up perfection... No, he made these choices, he gave up the fleshy body because he wanted to make a new vision of what humanity could be... Not because some child with a mecha told him he wasn't real. This was all his decision! He was making the best out of things...the best he could. He was doing what he needed to survive in a world like this... The irony dawns on him. No, it wasn't right, it wasn't the same... it wasn't the same! "IT'S NOT THE SAME YOU ARROGANT SOME OF A BITCH!" he shouts from the ground, trying to stagger back to his feet. His hand catches the wall, or a door, or something. He's now more confused about himself than ever, and he hates himself for it. He was right, he had the idea and the path...he knew what he was doing! Then why does he feel more unsure than ever..? With tears in his eyes, he knows one thing, even if he can't trust himself... He knows there are people around him better than he is. The OPTIONs ignite again, this time pumping into Corona, Sougo, and Woz. Corona gets data on where she needs to land her blows, to try and force their way through this, to try and strip out any doubt he might be putting in her. On the other hand, he tries to force the drunkenness out of Sougo and Woz, trying to correct their aiming, and through it all tries and coordinate with Quiz. This time, he aims for the one thing that he's sure he can do something about. Father's ability to continue to do this to their heads, trying to weaken that drunken field.
Remee Halcyon	Damn it. Why did Remee stop to think about silver so much? And now there's silver everywhere. He doesn't have to cut her to do damage with it. He doesn't even have to bludgeon her as hard as he is, really. Even the briefest contact is causing burn marks and leaving bare patches on her fur - as if it was some sort of universal werewolf solvent. > FATHER is a man who wants to hurt you more than he wants to get rid of you, and he can't hurt you if you just die. Remee has a flash of clarity as she's trying to fend off the silver assault. It's why... the Halcyons have the woods outside their house. The woods were never about having a convenient spot to dispose of people. There were plenty of cement factories and construction sites for that. It was never 'just business', as her aunt used to say. That was a lie. It really was really all about the need to feel a 'personal touch'. She gets that now. And she gets that this is her family, all over again. Remee tries to power through. They're almost to the end.
Powerpuff Girls	Blossom and Buttercup don't quite take the direct route, search-and-destroying down every trashy monkey through super-hearing and X-Ray vision combined with their natural frame-skipping speeds. A money gets crushed on every page! Battered by barrels and the psychic blows of drunken fatherly disdain, the girls endure on the grit of more positive memories and their inherent chemical 'goodness' -- the Professor never treated them like this, never drank like this. The sleaze of alcohol does nothing to mask the dripping misery of the man. You don't need to hear people's cries for help especially to listen to Father say pathetic shit out loud. Blossom becomes colder and colder, the lingering toku goo from Futaba and Biorider Zi-O freezing as the ruby Red passes in a stern state of focused eyes and set jaw. Her nose puffs cool ice-breath frustration, but following the Only Lit Road while resisting psychic sleaze is nothing new. "Ishirou! Make sure you don't take easy hits. You're still recovering. Remee, pace yourself!" Barks the determined natural leader. Buttercup stops respecting doors entirely. "Do you think this is a look? You think this works? We're here to shut down your miserable farm for miserable people - because you're a terrible father and a worse teacher!" The radioactive-mote crackling green Puff declares, boosting past Futaba to smash through a lit door and throw a tornado through the It's-Another-Fine-Hardwood-Study-Full-Of-Books-On-Rationally-Doing-Very-Immoral-Things-To-People library steeped in bottom shelf whiskey and value box cigar smoke. Princess, having shut off the reinforcements through the power of Licensing, is staggered into turning to a stop and checking her wrist display. "Not if I send her a text saying a psychic is trying to use her to get at me first, creep! She's in Europe right now, so she's probably still passed out drunk on wine!" Princess ''counters'' with the kind of maybe-a-little-too-specific answer on why the psychic trauma is one she's ready to deflect... ...and has deflected before. Last to the scrap, she chases the group through the Plurality Of Father's Studies Zone.
Futaba Nuki	"Subtlety? We don't need that if we're just gonna break this place apart, Mister Woz!" Futaba laughs while pushing her way through that door, realizing only after the fact that she probably didn't need to go through all that stuff just to open it. Still, it probably looked cool to someone, and that's all that matters to her. Forging onwards, she slides through that open doorway just in time to start hearing FATHER in the back of her head again. Sucking in air sharply through her teeth (or whatever approximation she's got in that slimy form), Futaba braces herself against the nearby wall while trying to fight off that intense brainfog. "Oi, I could've come in without shoes! I mean, just because they aren't really shoes..." She looks down at her slime-formed ninja boots. Everything about them and the rest of her is translucent save for the gold bangle and oversized leaves, but the shape is still undeniably boot-shaped. "Anyway. /You/ stop being so stubborn, you coasting jerk! Someone like you could do way better than this!" She snaps while looking around, feeling only slightly silly once she remembers that FATHER's got some weird psychic powers or something to project all that into her head. "And what kind of bright idea is putting all this wood and carpet in the middle of the ocean? Tiles would clean up way better than this!" What Futaba doesn't realize, though, is that she's still in that mostly liquid state as she moves along. On one hand, it means she can probably still get through stuff easily. On the other hand, it also means she might have some trouble dealing with anything that needs a heavier and more solid touch. That proves to be troublesome when the barrel-throwing wallhacking monkeys continue hurling stuff at the group, and all she has to slow them down is either her own watery mass (which ends up scattered fairly easily by wide impacts) and that flaming sword of hers. She's still slowed down a fair bit, though, each time she gets splattered and has to reform or slid along the ground to keep up with everyone else. It also gets a little harder to move when Blossom passes by with all that coldness surrounding her, though, Futaba's weird slime-teeth chattering from how cold it gets in passing. Morbucks' extremely specific answer gets a longer stare from Futaba, and she considers how to/if she should even say anything about that, but... Later. She'll have to ask her later after all this is taken care of. For now, making sure everyone is still moving. Still forgetting how to actually transform back, Futaba slides ever onwards, carving through through some of those oncoming barrels with the katana. The burning plastic might smell kind of awful, but that's a problem for whoever has to clean up after the group!
Timespace Riders	HEY! RX! Zi-O turns the hands on the clock at his sword's crossguard. The blade lights up, so brightly that its every feature past the crossguard is lost in a brilliant blue corona. In this armor of liquid speed, Zi-O can outrun the bothersome mosquitos, counterattacking with swipes of his brilliantly burning sword. Woz does not fare so well, in the more technical Quiz armor, and is stung several times in succession--first by the mosquitos, and then by Father's cutting retort. Zi-O, however, speeds in and takes the heat off of him in a physical sense, allowing his retainer to rise from his momentary, winded kneel. >Do you really love that other king, more than Sougo? With exertion present in the creak of his voice, Woz poses another question, marching forward as his king gives him space to continue his explosive stream of projectiles. "True or false--I hate myself, for being unable to guide my Demon King to his coronation." A vicious, two handed swing of the cane flings a spread of five exploding, superheated question marks, as the X on his pauldron again swings out. "The correct answer is False." "True or False! I only serve my Demon King because of trickery on his part." Zi-O makes a startled gasp, looking over his shoulder. "The correct answer is False!!" A standing forward kick impacts a mosquito, sending a cracking bolt of lighting arcing between it and several others. He strides forward and kicks the next door down. "Woz..." "True! Or! False! I love my Demon King, love myself loving him, and stand by him regardless of the future he will create!" The O on his armor swings out, and he rapidly opens and closes the gate on his belt. "The correct answer is..." He barrels through the following doorway, leaping past the startled Zi-O as energy builds up, visible as crackling red-blue electricity along his legs. BEYOND THE TIME! QUESTION EXPLOSION! A path of flashing red-blue questionmarks falls beneath his feet as barrels fly through the walls, each step intensifying the energy buildup as he charges through them, sparks flying from his armor. For a moment, the room is occupied significantly by a large double doorway, consisting of an O and an X. Tense game show music increases in volume and tempo, punctuated by 'what's the answer?' style bell-dings. Woz blasts through the O. "TRUE!" His right leg sweeps up in a midair cross kick, sending a crescent-shaped shockwave of red-blue electrical energy out in advance of his foot to clear the room with a chest-rattling explosion.
Rowdyruff Boys	You're a little bit of a nuisance, aren't you? Nice toys, though. I'm sure the Professor will remember the designs for later," FATHER taunts Corona, repeating the sensory-overload trick now that he thinks he has a grasp on something that might hurt her. It seems the missiles and the flamethrower have gotten rid of the swarms of enemies, and prevented production of more. There is a shutter-style door ahead. Arrogant! Do you think I feel good about myself? NO! But I've got one thing on you, pal. I can at least trust me! You don't even have that! FATHER retorts to Ishirou, another wave of psychic force hammering the message in. Remee... doesn't react as much as FATHER expects her to. You can practically feel his frown. Shitty family, huh? Welcome to the fucking club. The silver follows her, but only the psychic weight of his words strikes. FATHER is not paying attention to Blossom because Blossom is dealing with other things. Buttercup and Princess, on the other hand... Kid, I stuck it in her dreams. One alcoholic to the other, she's not gonna care that you didn't REALLY do it. But FATHER sounds tired of this particular bit. He oscillates to Buttercup instead, Funny thing is, at least I get to DO what I want. Look at you. Your whole thing is physicality, and the whole world outside about that is locked off to you. Why the hell are you even here? Is it the only moment you get to do this, or what? At this point, it might be noted that FATHER's vitriol substantially waxes and wanes based on what's thrown at him in the moment, and thus so do the intensity of his attacks. Hold on, there's a whole lot of grates along the far corridor just in front of the shutter that obviously leads to FATHER's room... They open. Scuttling out are PLASTIC ROACHES, which swarm down the hallway, ceiling and floor, and start dropping down onto and exploding on anybody they can get within a reasonable distance of-- and they explode good enough to not need to get TOO close. "Hey, remember that time we ate tiger balm?" Butch interjects towards Buttercup, for NO APPARENT REASON. The reason is distracting her from psychological warfare.
Rowdyruff Boys	But at the end of it all, through freshly-frosted hallways dusted with the explosions of grenade cockroaches, Woz carves through the obstacles and comes not to the double-doorway expected, but to the grand shuttered door at the end of it all. This scene transition is natural, nothing to worry about here, it's just a different hallway instead of going from the highway to a nonspecified quarry. FATHER is sitting in his chair, nursing a mostly-finished cup of what's definitely whiskey. He pours another and stands up, inky blackness spilling over his otherwise human features and obsfucating them. Flames erupt along the edges and back of the room and race along the walls, and out into the corridor that everyone must pass through to enter. It races on across each turn and room, engulfing cabinets and taxidermi, scorching fine china and silverware, blackening rooms full of ship-like industrial equipment. The flames go on and on and pour out of the entryway, bursting out across the sea in a great display of firepower that is observable from the coast. "That's fine," FATHER says to Futaba, dully, most certainly not beginning to turn into a corn cob but sounding like he's really not that far off in spirit, "I didn't actually care about any of it."
Remee Halcyon	> Shitty family, huh? Welcome to the fucking club. "... Yeah..." She pauses in her tracks. The silver's stopped battering her. There's only his words and his influence going at her mind. "I'm... trying to do something about them, though. About them, specifically, and about counteracting what they've done." She starts moving again. She tries to push the influence out of her mind, or at least to not let it slow her down. "And you know what - I'm not going to let my shitty family define me, either. I might have to wield the resources I've gained from them, and use the power I've inherited in my blood, but I'm not about to let those shape me or my actions..." She picks up speed. "So you can say 'shitty family' and blame that for yourself, but-" She closes the gap, barreling through all of the hazards in the room, heedless of what damage they're doing to her- "Of the two of us, only one of us has let their shitty family define their very identity..." And then she leaps... "And you sure as heck don't see me calling myself Daughter!" She slams her fist into the floor, right next to him, trying to just take out the structure beneath him entirely, and leave him with nowhere left to stand!
Corona Arclite	Things are just getting outright rediculous at this point. Corona continues to wade through it all, some mix of wariness and being too stubborn to know when to stop keeping her pushing forward while mentally gritting against FATHER's attempts at intruding into her mental space farther. But there's also the fire. Lots of fire. Like the guy is willing to burn up the entire lair just to try and get them to back down and die. Corona sidesteps several gouts of flame... but at the same time one of the bookshelves that has caught on fire falls over on the fiesty fennec foxgirl. Followed by a form too burned to tell what creature it was taxidermied. Burying her in the avalanche of burning paper and wood into a heap on the ground, and continuing to burn. And burn what's underneath it. Being made of various metals and heat resistance mechanical bits Hopalong is a bit less bothered, though it takes him a moment to wiggle and wobble around to get his jackalope antlers against the smoldering funishings. Then rapidly stomps a foot like a lever, ratcheting himself upright and his head vertically to lift the debris off the Corona. Making the 'jack' in jackalope for the moment literal. "Thanks pardner." Corona manages to squirm out once the burning pressure is off her, grabbing her hat as she does. She stands, slaps the hat against her side to extinguish sparks and then put it back on her head. Most of the outer layers of her duster have burned off, revealing the thin armored lining and faraday mesh on the inside that's kept her from being completely squashed and burned crisp. And now the source of the current fiasco is in sight. The gadgeteer gunslinger draws not one, but both of her oversized bolter handguns. The only explaination of how has to be the mechanized gloves she's wearing to be able to dual wield such rediculously big guns without cracking her own arms apart from mass and recoil. "Time to say goodbye to tall dark and psycho there." Corona digs in her heels and opens fire, alternating from one gun to the other and back to avoid hammering herself while bombarding FATHER with the barrage of explosive penetration rounds.
Timespace Riders	Woz and Zi-O rake their weapons across the swarm of plastic roaches--the brightly burning Heisaber and the crooked-tipped Despear cut brilliant, crackling swaths as both doggedly march through induced headaches, exhaustion, and droves of cheaply-made, chemically enhanced fodder, on through the shutters. Both Riders show signs of the fight wearing on them, chests heaving beneath armor. But though their bodies tire, their spirits do not. Woz and Zi-O both make impressive long leaps over the encroaching flames, each landing nimbly before his chair. "'I didn't really care,'" Woz cooly replies, gesturing towards him with the business end of the Despear, helmet tilted upwards in mockery. "The last refuge of a broken man with no options, no answers, and no imagination. We will test the truth of that statement," he says, index flicked towards Father in a theatrical gesture. His foot impacts a burning bookshelf, sending it hurtling towards Father. Acting on an unspoken understanding, the retainer and his king cover both sides of the impromptu projectile. Zi-O speeds left, rapidly turning to liquid and back before making a blazing-hot cut with the glowing blue Heisaber, hip to shoulder. Woz makes a nimble moonsault to the right, striking with the haft of the Despear in an overhead, attempting to trap Father with his strike, between Zi-O and Remee.
Ishirou	Ishirou's head clears for just a moment, Blossom is trying to cover and cheer him on. Right, he's...there are still... `I can at least trust me! You don't even have that!` '...you should have stayed dead.' 'And I won't blame you if you kill him next time.' '...least keep his eye.' He was about to say something to Blossom...but then he was racked by this psychic attack again. This time the cockroaches swarm all over him. He screams internally as well as externally. He can't get the feeling of dying out of his head, of what happened to him while he spent a week in that crater dead. The bugs swarming him and exploding... He falls to his knees a second time. He's smoking and burning. Synthflesh burns away as his right eye sparks. His hand reaches up...and then digs into his face. An excruciating sound of both him screaming and the sounds of something that shouldn't be ripped out happen. The eye and the gold embossing hits the ground. His face sparking, his eye staring at Father. Whatever last remaining effort he has to give surges through the OPTIONs next to Remee, as it radiates dangerously. It follows her movement, shooting where she is moving to give her better options. It isn't a plan, not anymore...it's hatred. He hates feeling this way. He hates it. He hates himself. He doesn't know himself. Everything he thought he knew was gone, torn away, tossed aside. He just feels hollow now. Filling the part of a tin soldier, being there pushing people up because it's all he knows. Surge builds up in Corona's, as a pack attaches to her weapons to make sure she could keep firing indefinitely. Then he just holds a hand out towards whatever furniture is around Father. He swings each piece, one after the other, trying to hit whatever he can. Fingers. Toes. Legs. Anything he could do to transfer the pain away from himself and into the other man. He hasn't even realized he's been screaming the entire time. Nor does he stop.
Powerpuff Girls	'Is it the only moment you get to do this, or what?' For a moment, Buttercup crackles with palpable, tooth-itching energetic activity as FATHER gets her goat in the way that most of the Townsvillains knew not to push her on. It was more than simply rude - it was insensitive in a weaponized way. It was right, but to hammer down on the girl whose problem was a world of sugar-glass sensations when she craved something real provoked a riotously angry response. The Townsvillains knew this. Why make the people that went easy on you daily worse and more violent? Well, FATHER a person intending to spread misery, certainly used an effective tool, if not for Butch's immediately interjecting non-sequiteur. From power-stanced-at-the-cycling door in a cloud of green crackling radiation, furiously hot enough to cast emerald mirages of energy through a heat-haze aura, Buttercup comes off her murder-glare of fury at FATHER to look confusedly at Butch. "What? Yeah, that look you made was hilarious, what does that have to do with--" She asks, but the mood is dissipated suddenly, just like that. Cooling rods in her runaway reactor work just right, and instead of riling up and popping off, the emerald Puff doesn't snap and straight up murk an asshole misandrist. Princess Deliliah Morbucks III does not have someone who understands her completely, her opposite and equal, around to help her through an awful stand-in for paternal abuse. She has the cope of a girl who was given anything except a relief from exactly things like this - exactly things like a mother she casually called a drunk, and a too-familiar fatherly tone. By having built something herself. "Shut up. Men like you don't get to talk to me like that." She snarls, hurling plastic roaches clear and coring the disgusting drones with shots of hot plasma from her palm emitters. "Like you're part of the trashy parent club, like you know better. You think it's new? Novel? Something I haven't handled before?!" Performing a right-handed salute to touch fingers to the fore of her power crown, the red jewel gathers up a focused beam of laser energy that traces a complex pattern across the Final Study's depths, which immediately erupts in a burst of immolating. "Imbecile, you're just another dead man who's accepted that the trashy job he did is just the way things are! I'm here--" Diving into the melee combination finisher with a jetting forward of her own, Princess front-flips into a jet-diving kick aimed right for FATHER's neck. "Exactly because this is the only moment I get to do this!!!" She exclaims, taking Buttercup's abuse on herself as well -- because it applied to her too, and she wasn't looking on allowing it to go on one day more.
Futaba Nuki	Futaba checks her gear one more time as she sees the shutter-esque door. It's only then that she realizes everything's still kind of wet, so the only thing she really needs to check is that flaming katana still being held safely-ish away from herself so as to not accidentally evaporate something that shouldn't be. Thanks to the power of not having psychic powers, she doesn't really know what it is FATHER's hammering everyone else with, and instead can just focus on clearing the path. Or, in the case of those plastic roaches, engulfing them in her liquified mass to weather the explosions for the rest of the crew. There's certainly a lot of splatter in the process, and Futaba's overall slime mass looks a bit smaller by the time she reaches the outside of FATHER's actual room, although Butch's comment about eating tiger balm still lingers in her mind. "It sucked, right? Does't work like lip balm at all." Upon reaching and seeing FATHER in person, Futaba is still sliming it up, although she still manages to hold the flaming katana like someone actually holding a flaming katana. The flames coming from the walls and corridor have her trying to backflip out of the way, but being made of water makes that rather difficult, so she ends up shrinking further by the time she's able to push through the flames to get inside FATHER's room. "You didn't? Then why'd you even bother with all this stuff?" Unlike before, Futaba's tone isn't even irritated despite getting burnt up more than she'd like. It's almost like she's disappointed. "If you wanted to impress people, there's way better ways of doing it. I mean..." She taps on the side of her head. "You've got all this stuff in here. You could've just used it to do something real." Futaba starts moving towards him, slowly at first, then leaping forward to engulf him in her mass like a pile of sentient quicksand. She bursts upwards not unlike a water spout, trying to carry FATHER up with her while spinning rapidly, both to disorient and to build up speed (somehow). "Are you even happy with doing things like this? Don't you want to be cooler than just someone that's 'good enough'?!" Upon reaching the apex of that climb, Futaba pivots around, then starts rotating in the opposite direction even faster than she did on the way up. The spin carries her (and possibly FATHER) downwards to smash into him directly from above, joining in the body-battering efforts!
Rowdyruff Boys	FATHER doesn't answer, or yelp, at the multiple-pronged beatdown directed at him. There are many things he could say but, in truth, the sole reason that he doesn't say them is because it would be satisfying if he did. His psychic influence, whatever else may be said about him, was proof enough that he had control of himself when he wanted to. It just turned out that what he 'wanted' to be was a miserable creature that heaps abuse on others. And so, in the eleventh hour, he commits one more abuse by simply taking the beating in silence. He steps IN to Remee's attack, taking the downward punch in the chest. The shadows flake away from him and he falls to the ground. Explosive penetrating rounds from Corona hammer into the shadows and flake more of them away... He pushes back against the burning bookshelf -- they're his flames, they won't hurt him -- and takes a broad strike from Zi-O that flakes away the remaining shadow along that corridor from shoulder to waist. Woz strikes him in the head, leaving a spherical impression where it made contact and exposing some of his actual face. Futaba joins not long after to bonk him from above and disperse what shadows remain above the shoulders. He's middle-aged, dark-haired, and would be decent-looking if not for the fact that he looks like a late-stage alcoholic.
Rowdyruff Boys	INTERRUPT! Brick comes in out of the wings and flies in a circle, eyes flashing with a burning light that vaporizes the various objects being used to attack FATHER. He pushes up and shoves Princess off-center so that her kick comes down on FATHER's shoulder with a dreadful crack, which is the first time that the man actually makes a noise. It isn't the noise you'd expect-- an aggravated sharp hiss, undoubtedly muffled cursing. His knees buckle. "That is not how we operate without discussion. We will talk about it more later," he asides to Princess. But it isn't Princess that he focuses on. Brick turns to face Ishirou. It's not necessary to get in the way of the debris he was attacking with, but if anything continues he DOES get in the way of that. "I am tired," he says, "of dealing with certain circles revolving around the damage that Petra Soroka did to the people around them. It clings too thoroughly to the Watch, and it clings too thoroughly to you. "You need to fix your shit, and you need to fix it now. We didn't come here to kill anybody," He finishes, simply.
Rowdyruff Boys	"I dunno. You just looked like you needed cheering up," Butch answers Buttercup. This would be at least mildly insincere coming from Brick, who DOES openly manipulate people, but with Butch it's probably sincere. Probably. He glances aside towards Futaba. "Uh-- uh, tiger balm is for muscle pain, not for... He's not used to being able to factually correct somebody.
Rowdyruff Boys	FATHER just slumps backwards onto the floor and stares at the ceiling. Brick glances at him. "By the way, you're under arrest for violating truancy laws for an entire school year." FATHER still doesn't react. It figures this guy couldn't give anybody a clean break with him. A door on the far side of the chamber opens, shutter-style just like this one. It leads farther into the fortress. It's not over yet...
Ishirou	"He wasn't going to die, and I wasn't going to kill him," Ishirou dones out hollowly. However, he lets the debris fall where they do. His remaining eye doesn't look up at Brick. Especially not when he says the next part. "I'm fine" He looks towards the new door. "I'll need a moment to do some repairs."
Corona Arclite	FATHER drops under the assault, and other matters are voiced in the wake of the attack. Corona, admittably, isn't one to keep up on going-ons in every corner of the Watch that doesn't specifically relate to her, so some of it just kind of goes past her. Instead she just huffs softly as she holsters her weapons for the moment. In the end, it doesn't matter. She's here to do a job, and that job isn't finished yet. The personal dramas and politics don't matter much in a bigger scehem of things. She gives a whistle and a nod, and Hopalong bounds over to transform back into her backpack and conserve his own energy until needed again. A pause. A tilt of the head. Though she's still ignoring the drama part. Not her problem. "Nah, Ishirou, yer good to take a moment. A brief reprise before we move on ain't a bad idea. But we ain't got too long as they know we're comin'."
Futaba Nuki	Futaba's irritation lingers, or perhaps it even grows as FATHER just takes it all wordlessly. By the time the volley of attacks ends and he's left without those shadows shrouding his body, she lingers over him for a while before sighing and rubbing her temples with even more of those odd squelching noises. "Tch... See what I mean? You even look like you could be cooler if you just tried." Butch's confusion, though, gets a snicker from Futaba and an expecting stare as her mood lightens up considerably. "Mhm, mhm? Wha's up, Mister Butch?" She asks, making it rather obvious she's just messing with him. The door opens, and Futaba still hasn't remembered to resolidify herself yet.
Rowdyruff Boys	"I guess you wouldn't really... DEAL... with muscle pain," Butch speculates, going off on a related tangent, and missing what Futaba is getting at entirely.
Powerpuff Girls	Lethal-intent finishing kick aborted, Princess lands in a skidding jet-boot ground-approach that drags across the burning ground. Her power crown's defenses render her casually immune to the ambient heat that she throws around, a design feature implemented exactly for being the kind of lady who dive kicked people through fields of fiery destruction when she was revved up. And also when she wasn't. And also when she called down solar flame from orbital support satellites. She had a theme. She doesn't turn back towards Brick, either, but she doesn't turn towards anyone. She just stands, not releasing the clench of her battle-dress, and silently brushes off her skirt. Buttercup, not really getting it even though she kind of Gets It Too Much, rubs the back of her neck and cools down. "Yeah. I did. I guess--" Blossom raises her voice, to cut through the light drama with a firm bit of praise. "Good work everyone. That's one of the threats we need to defeat down. Don't... let him get to your head. That's what he wants, even if it sucks." Princess rubs her face and cheeks with golden-gloved fingers, and with her mask back on, returns to the group quietly. AND THUS THE DAY WAS SAVED, THANKS TO... Bubbles sits on the wheel of the boat, out in the water near the rig, with a number of empty barrels floating in the water around. "Guess they ran out of barrels?" Heh, no, Bubbles. The Day was Saved, in that To-Be-Continued way, by all of you!
Rowdyruff Boys	Brick watches Ishirou go, folding his arms over his chest. He shakes his head and retreats towards Princess. "The rule is, we defer to the girls about lethal solutions. If they don't OK it, we don't do it. I'd have vaporized that guy too, if it was purely my discretion." He doesn't linger long, because he doesn't think Princess is likely to be able to bear the immediate scrutiny. Afterwards, he wanders off towards Blossom. BACK BY THE BOAT, Boomer emerges from the water with a sea turtle on his back. "Hey, look what I found." That sea turtle is not happy about this turn of events. MEANWHILE, IN AN OTHERDIMENSIONAL SPACE THAT IS NEVERTHELESS ADJACENT... HIM observes through a television set, draped dramatically over his massive armchair. "I have to admit that Hardly's creations are good at sowing pain. IT'S TOO BAD THEY'RE NOT HALF AS SUCCESSFUL AT DESTROYING THE POWERPUFF GIRLS. But maybe the next one will surprise me. I don't know, though. He needs something... else. Something TRULY SINISTER. ... Oh well, I'll just come back to this next week!" With a click of his claw, HIM changes to another channel. The next episode will be next week, but the real deal will only be happening in a few minutes! What could... could HE have possibly meant by this?!