Scene #8771: Price of Progress: Magnificent Seven

Owner	Pose
Aidan Proudpick	Squirrels is people. Same as any other. You got people who want to make the world a better place, ya see. People willing to walk into the darkness, see what's really there. People who wield the darkness. People who shine their inner light on the dark. People just willing to help. But some people, they wanna ask the darkness for something back. See, the Reckoners are farmers. Real patient farmers. All they gotta do is plant a seed and wait. Eventually, that seeds gonna grow. Only a matter of time. Good people gotta keep those seeds from sprouting. They gotta keep working. But them Reckoners keep planting. If they get out of this world, they are gonna plant those seeds on other worlds. Ain't gonna be fast. Ain't gonna be like that old Queen. Gonna be slow. But eventually it'll take root. Like that lone mustard seed the good Lord is always talking about. So, these squirrels decide, hang the multiverse. A bit a power is worth it. A moment in time. A gallant figure, a violent smirk crossing his face. It ain't even a particularly cunning moment for Oak. A simple manner of pushing Corona into the air, making her weightless. "Corona Arclite." Ash whispers to her bow. The bow ignites from string to handle, forming an arrow of blue fire and wind. She hardly takes time to aim, instead simply firing out wildly. But she doesn't need to. The arrow twists in the air, correcting itself, manuevering to rush towards Corona's back. The wagon has turned completely weight neutral, floating in the air as if it were natural for it to do so. Gusts of air from Oak and the Bullet Bills keep it moving at a rapid pace back towards the Warpgate.
Corona Arclite	The shift in tone of voice is subtle. Subtle enough that a lot of people probably wouldn't pick up on it... but to someone who has exceptionally good hearing, there is something that bit more off in Oak's responce as he lets go. Then someone suspicious sticks out of the wagon to yell at the squirrels. Who apparently are actually in on things. Well, shit. "Why ya dirty sidewinder--" is all Corona manages to spit out before her world is thrown for a loop. Both metaphorically with the gravity shift, and literally as the arrow of wind blasts her off the wagon! Shot in the back in a very real sense of the phrase. Which results in Corona taking a facefirst reunion with the earth and eating dirt for the second time in the event, rolling several times across the dusty ground before coming to a stop. Her hat landing a few inches away. But at least it's close enough for her to reach over and grab the stetson with one hand after laying there for a moment, and slowly getting up onto her feet to use said hat to dust herself off. "Of all the dirty double crossin'..." She stops, an ear flicking at some rattling as she slaps down her jacket. The stetson is replaced on her head, and then she opens her duster, showing the skirted overalls she wears underneath as she gives the duster a few shakes that makes bits of metal alloy fall out. "At least the ablative linin' doin' it's job." Well that explains how she keeps getting smacked around and getting back up. Though not as much of a surprise to anyone that knows how much of a gadgeteering genius the vixen really is. "Shoulda suspected somethin' was up with those two bein' here and not part of our li'l multiversal group" Corona gives her duster one last shake out, but decides to just leave it dramatically open as things have gotten dramatically serious. "Didn't expect 'em bein' a coupla shiftless drifters in on the shenanigans though... But only thin' to do is go after 'em. And no more time fer playin' nice." Corona taps a few commands into her arm device, then takes a moment to grab her goggles and actually pull them onto her face. It was Serious Time, not to mention she didn't take being doublecrossed like that very lightly. The results of the command? A metal box is summoned at her feet. There's a lever on it which Corona pulls, followed by giving it a good kick and stepping back as gears grind and panels shift to unfold machinery into some manner of dieselpunk rocket bike. Cuz horses ain't gonna catch that flying wagon, and it's past the point about worrying about anachronistic issues because they're no longer dealing with just locals. Corona hops on, revs it up, and takes off with a furious fwoooosh! One hand on the controls, the other pulling out one of her guns. This one at first looks like a revolver... Until the cylinder starts spinning and one realizes that it's actually a generator, which would be why it fires off a shot more like an electrical spark than a bullet. Small but fast and efficient shooting, at least until they can get closer. "Gonna take more than that t'put me down, ya varmits! And much bigger meaner folks have tried to do it!" Shouted between zappy shots.
Madeleine Cadrasteia	As the bear-creatures perish and the last of the bandits flee into the night, Madeleine turns, expecting to see Corona helping lead the wagon back around into the firelight - and instead she sees the wagon quickly fading into the night as it races away. Unsure if this is the result of betrayal or simple failure, Madeleine curses under her breath and races after it, quickly leaving the firelight with her spear in hand. Thankfully, she can see just fine in the dark. As she runs it becomes clear, from both the wagon's speed and the arrows being fired from it, that this is indeed a double-cross. Madeleine slows to a jog just long enough to swing her spear, and Drogrung's ghostly-dragon head manifests around the spear-tip to cough up... something, in the direction of the wagon. A sickly green lozenge hurtles forward at great speed, exploding into a cloud of choking poison gas when it strikes the wagon's frame. Hopefully that'll put a stop to the Breath Weapon use, at least...
Odette Raskins	Odette still has the smell of burning rot and the sight of smashed heads stuck in her mind as she drags herself away from what used to be a pile of bears. She's horrified, but not so horrified that she doesn't know that being near whatever that was would be bad, and there's still work to be done. After rinsing her mouth out with a water bottle and spitting it right back out on the floor, the EMT slips a surgical mask right back on over her face and... She sees their ride hightailing it out of there without so much as an explanation or a word that means anything to her. "Why...? Uhh." Wait. Is she going to be stuck walking all the way back? That's a dick move of them. Grunting in irritation, she pulls her bag's strap right back over her shoulder and winces slightly from the bruises she got from that door crashing into her. Undeterred, she starts scurrying around the remains of that camp. Even though they had been tasked with taking down the bandits, she's not keen on the idea of letting any of them bleed out unnecessarily (at least the ones that didn't get their heads exploded). She'll make sure to tie them up a bit with some scavenged rope, at least, although it's done rather hastily considering the wagon gaining more distance from her as she's doing that. Once she's finished, Odette finally starts giving chase, although it's clear that just jogging or even sprinting won't be enough to actually catch up. She had kept one of those strange little wings from Sararcenia earlier, however, so... She's not sure how to use it. Some experimental swinging, forehead smushing, and cautious biting of the power up does work eventually, though, and she's soon in the air with those funky wings, albeit staying clsoer to the ground at first since she's not keen on losing control and crashlanding in her first flight. "H... Hey! Get back here! W-we still need to get back, too!" She shouts out at the pair, not even realizing there was any sort of double-crossing going on until she sees Corona and Madeleine firing on it. "Did they...? Oh. Freaking... Are all squirrels like this?!" She doesn't have any proper ranged weapons, but she does have... That rope from before! With little else to use, Odette makes a makeshift lasso out of that rope, then swings it around a few times and hurls the looped end at the wagon, trying to catch it onto something so that the Elites (and herself) can use it to get closer a little bit faster.
Sarracenia	Sarracenia is in pretty poor condition after the fight with those zombie bear things. She was feeling overly heroic for some reason, and threw caution do the wind. The bear made her pay for that. By the time the bear was squashed so flat it couldn't form monstrous flesh and claws, she is scratched up and battered and has a few deep claw slashes. She is panting a bit raggedly from the fight and looks like she is barely standing. And yet, she is grinning. She saved Odette (at least in her mind) and was heroic (again in her mind). She laughs and gives her hammer a flourish. "Hahaha! It is no surprise! No evil creature can stand up to Sarracenia and the Sundew Squad!" Has she dubbed herself the leader now? That grin and the conviction behind it are turned to surprise as Corona is hit by an arrow from...the squirrels?! Her grin transforms to an angry grimace. "Are you -serious-?!" she exclaims, then reaches into her bag and pulls out several green mushrooms. "Here, everyone! You'll need them! They're healing!" she calls out, then bites into one. It poofs and a green light flows over her. It doesn't seem to do that much for her wounds, but it at least seems to refresh her and closes up some of the more superficial wounds. Then, she pulls out a fluffy wing with a flashing P on it. She offers one to the others as well. When activated, in a puff of white smoke they are given raccoon ears and a tail along with a big flashing P on their chest. Sarracenia sprints forward then leaps into the air and takes flight. It isn't the fastest flight around, but it should be enough to gain on the wagon. Sarracenia doesn't have a lot of ranged attacks that aren't fiery explosives, especially when she is already flying. So...she hurls her massive hammer. "If you doublecrossers don't want to blow up, you should surrender now! This is my only non-explosive!" she calls out as she goes into a forward somersault spin, then like an oversized Mjolnir the DK Hammer is launched like a cannon shot at the wagon, causing quite an explosion of dirt and rocks and hopefully wagon parts.
Aidan Proudpick	Thankfully, they are nowhere near public. But things are weird enough, it ain't as unreasonable as the fox might think. The forest rocks suddenly under the roar of the rockets, sleeping animals darting out from their homes and further into the night. Oak sticks his hand out in front of him, the opposite hand from throwing Corona. A mite sickly blue runs up the fingers of the gauntlet, purple light gathering about the finger tips. The air above his palm takes on a shimmer, first like the air in a desert on a hot day. Then like water, thick and fluid. He flicks out the hand, waving it in front of him, bringing the orb of wind out in a sweeping arc. The lightning hits it and then bends, forking away from the sphere of wind. "Truly? Please, there isn't a soul that I haven't been able to put down." He leans a heavy amount of innuendo into it. Madeleine's lozenge bursts, billowing the sickly green smoke up into the air around the wagon. The wagon is going fast, but even that short amount of time within the cloud has the effect that Madeleine desires. Both sets of Breath Weapons wink out as both squirrels start coughing. Eyes turn red and itch, tears pouring down their face. Oak goes down, grabbing the top of the wagon with a sickly choking noise, trying to vomit but nothing is coming up. Oak feverishly claws at his face and neck. Ash is more measured, trying her best to simply breathe in and out. The bandits who are not dead, which, thankfully, is quite a few of them thanks to the quick work of Team Power Women, are not too keen on going anywhere. A bit of rope tying and they just sort of lull against the cabin, nodding to Odette. They are bandits, but they ain't stop. Don't bite the hand that gives you medicine. Flying wings are quite awful compared to the other forms of flight. Rather than a simple mental control over one's verticality, the wings require a steady thought, making one focus at keeping a steady height, bobbing up and down in the air with each beat of the wings. It is terrible for the uninitiated. Thankfully, Odette's resourcefulness may make that not a problem for long. The rope sails out into the air, grabbing onto a thick hook on the side of the wagon, forming a sturdy anchor for her to climb forward! The tanuki suits suddenly appear and Sarrecenia lifts up into the air. Oak starts actually sucking air into his lungs, gasping noises as oxygen starts getting past the constricted throat. Enough to blow wind out into his 'light' hand. He catches the hammer in it, taking away the mass of it. But not the sheer velocity. His eyes widen in surprise as he is pushed back across the wagon, struggling to stay upright as Sarracenia's mighty throw can only barely be stopped. The broad squirrel falls to the top of the wagon, grabbing on to it for dear life. Ash, also unable to breathe just yet, pulls out a pistol, carefully bracing herself on the back of the driver bench, closing one eye. The barrels of the pistol spin, and bullets fly out of each barrel like pounding hail stones, spraying lead in an arc at the incoming warriors!
Madeleine Cadrasteia	Madeleine smiles wickedly as the Gale Knights choke and cower. Already, her prey is on the defensive. But the chase isn't over yet! The wagon is slowed by the disruption to the Knights' breath magic, but not stopped. Madeleine is catching up, and in fact is able to vault forward and grab onto the side of the wagon while Odette and Sarracenia reach the top. Instead of joining the crowded melee up top and risking gunfire, the huntress looks for a different approach. These Bullet Bills have to be stopped, or let loose somehow. Drogrung manifests a large reptilian-clawed hand and latches onto the wagon, claws digging into the wood to hold the weapon in place - and to free both of Madeleine's hands. Clambering around to the front of the wagon, Madeleine lunges into the seat next to Ash and makes a grab for the reins. In the awkwardly close quarters there'd be little room to maneuver a weapon like Drogrung, but Madeleine is willing to fight literally tooth and nail to wrest control of the wagon away from the squirrel.
Odette Raskins	Breathing a heavy sigh of relief at actually managing to get the lasso attached to the hook, Odette wastes no time in starting to pull herself up along that rope and start closing the gap. It's convenient for anyone else needing something to grab onto, too, but it's also rather useful for her so she doesn't have to focus so much on flapping and worrying about gravity! Now she just has to worry about the gatling pistol. "I.. Incoming!" She screams out and promptly starts flapping again with the rope in hand, trying to move out of that firing as the bullets start whizzing by. Unfortunately, Odette still a complete newcomer to the world of flying in gravity, and she sucks in a pained breath when some of those bullets do graze her. More importantly and more worryingly, though, getting struck by those bullets takes out the wings, and that prompts yet more screaming from the EMT as she loses all that height she had. She clings onto the rope for dear life as she starts dropping, screaming the entire time she descends. That descent only stops through the rope being pulled along by the wagon through the skies, but the noises don't. Realizing that that's probably not the best place to be if the squirrely traitors were to start firing on her again, Odette starts pulling herself along that rope at an even faster clip than she thought possible. It's still pretty slow compared to an actual speedster, though, and that sticks with her as she pulls herself along that rope that's also her lifeline. In the middle of all that, she also finds an opportunity to dig a bottle full of a clear liquid out of her bag. She holds onto it as she climbs, terrified gaze locked onto the wagon as she waits for someone to start taking aim at her during her climb. The moment one of them does, she flings it right at them, trying to shatter the bottle and douse them in... Acid. It's a bottle full of acid. It's not one of those high-intensity acids that melts skin or anything extreme like that, but the burning is still quite unpleasant, especially on any open wounds!
Corona Arclite	"Wasn't gonna make this personal, but y'all went and made it personal." It's hard enough to have some trust in people, and Corona doesn't take lightly to having that trust gone back on. When Ash draws a fancy gun Corona holsters her own to get both hands back on the controls, throttles her rocket bike and cranks on the handlebars. The craft tilts and veering to the side as gunfire flies through the air while plumes of exhaust smoke and flame blazing out in its wake. It's impossible to dodge a saturation volley like that entirely but the flashes of hits against it's frame are few and far between with her improvised maneuvering, and remembering that in the air she's not limited to the usual two directions of movement. Which would be why after her maneuvers the rocket bike comes up on the opposite side of the flying wagon as it was previously. She eyes Ash's weapon. "Well now, ain't that cute." That's when she pulls out what looks liked a large revolver, but with a pair of cylinders instead of the usual one. "But mine's bigger." Corona pulls the trigger, firing off a burst of six shots as a revolver shoulder... but then a mechanism flips the cylinders to lock a second one in position, allowing for six more shots. Why bother reloading when you can just load more shots in the first place?
Sarracenia	Sarracenia makes a rather unhappy face as her hammer is caught. She's a bit tired of that. She's supposed to be the only one who can do that! Now two people from that stupid Gale Empire have done it! And this is just some random squirrel, not even a loudmouth bird! But, at least catching it like that has a fun side effect. The hammer shudders, then starts swinging back and forth under its own power! It threatens to smash into the wagon and those inside it! And it keeps swinging itself about as long as someone is touching it other than Sarracenia. Sarracenia grins as she sees that. "Hah! That will teach you not to lay your unworthy hands on a princess's weapon!" she calls out. Just before bullets start filling the air. The princess starts spiraling and weaving, arms held out like wings to help increase mobility. It isn't enough though, and there are several yelps as she is hit. After a few, there is a puff of white smoke around her as the princess's power-up pops. She is back in her western wear...and plummeting toward the ground. But, rather than shriek the princess takes up a skydiving posture, using her outstretched arms and legs to guide her down toward Corona's bike. She has time to appreciate Madeleine's gas cloud and Drogrung's claw attack. And to sympathize with Odette's screaming. Then, she does a front flip before landing gracefully on her feet on the back of Corona's bike. It might be surprising to see the loud and explosive princess doing such a thing, but she balances quite well for a few moments before dropping down onto the rear seat. "Thanks, pardner! And nice gun!" she says to Corona with a smile. She then pulls out an ice flower and in a poof she is now in ice colors. "Freeze, you varmits!" she calls out to the squirrels as she throws ice bolts at them. Wherever they hit, those ice bolts create large ice blocks that threaten to weigh the wagon down and possibly encase those on the wagon.
Aidan Proudpick	Wood splinters and cracks as Madeleine's powerful weapon digs into it. Ash turns her severe gaze towards Madeleine. The patient smile of a noblewoman is gone, and left is a calculating glare, orange piercing eyes on Madeleine as she clambers into the bench. "I was hoping we would get a set of the stupid ones," her voice is steady, "not the ones who are actually able to get things done." While Ash is not as powerful a combatant, unlike Aidan, training has been a daily staple since a young age. And, like Aidan, she is a squirrel. A backwards bend at the waist, spine moving back further than most can, letting the first grappling blows slide over her. The next set grab at fur and skin, wrenching at her position in the seat. Hands snake out, launching short but fierce blows at Madeleine's middle. Her lips form into a pucker behind her teeth, and sharp exhalations of breath launch gusts of wind like fists at Madeleine's face. The wind trick comes up again, the thick ball of air trying to deflect bullets away from Oak. Corona's sharp shooting is ready this time. Bullets rip through the air and around Oak, driving into his sarape, splattering blood down the edges of it. He gasps out in pain, staggering once again. Turning his eye towards the hammer trying to batter the wagon, he grabs it with his 'heavy' hand. The hammer slows as its mass increases, falling with a thud to the top of the wagon. The tiny town you came from ain't easy to see. Only a few lights are one at this time of night, flickering oil lamps in the windows. It's on the horizon, and with it, the warp gate. The night air suddenly CRACKS as the ice covers the wagon, freezing moisture solid and threatening to break open the entire wagon. Both squirrels find themselves locked in place, wincing in pain as the cold seeps into their bones. Oak swings back and forth, trying to get out of the ice. A glance downward to try and find the fourth deputy, only to have acid splash up into his face. The bottle smashes across his forehead, showering his eyes in acid. The ice has a minor benefit. Both squirrels are locked to the wagon. Oak's chest swells as he sucks in a breath, hand flashing out around him. Skeins of wind fold neatly into his palm. Not a complicated spell. But a useful one, enveloping the area around the wagon in a sudden hurricane!
Madeleine Cadrasteia	Madeleine, unable to easily see or move around the onrushing air-blasts, is struck by several of the wind-powered punches, and they're nearly enough to dislodge her from her seat next to Ash. While fending off some of the punches with one arm, the huntress draws her ritual knife. Instead of going for Ash directly, however, she slashes at the straps tying the Bullet Bills to the wagon. Even if the Gale Knights can keep the wagon aloft with just wind magic, it'll be an awful lot harder without the bullets pulling the weight forward.
Corona Arclite	"Nice shootin' yerself, Princess," Corona comments over her shoulder as Sarracenia pelts the wagon and it's pair of pests in frost. After expending the second cylinder of bullets she twirls the gun in her hand and stows it away, then grabs the handlebars with both hands once more. Her senstive senses have already picked up the shift as Oak inhales and starts to cast. The wind magic is no longer a surprise, meaning it can be calculated and accomidated for. "Now ya might wanna hang on." Corona leans hard to the side on the handlebars, pulling away from the flying wagon just as the cyclonic sphere swirls to life around it, and just in time to avoid getting batted away by them. Might still be a little rough for her passanger but it's getting out the immeadiate range of the spell. Then the rocket bike banks into a turn so Corona can line back up with the wagon. Revs the rocket engines and crams down on the throttle, creating a fierce roar and plumes of flame as the bike blasts back at the wagon, Corona having calculated the distance needed for enough velocity to counter the winds and pierce into the wind sphere instead of getting whipped away by it. Then at the last moment twist the rocket bike sideways, aiming to sideswipe the flying wagon and disrupt it's flight stability farther while the focus is on the spell instead. Trying to knock it off it's course towards the warpgate, force them to have to make more adjustments and lose time. Not every fight has to be fought through force alone.
Odette Raskins	The wind comes roaring through as Oak calls up a hurricane, prompting Odette to... Actually, she's doing pretty alright with this, for once! The rope she's hanging off of is still precarious as all hell, but having her arms and legs wrapped arund it actually keeps her from getting blown right off like if she was just standing on the wagon! It's a cope, of course, since it's taking her time and a half just to get to the wagon, but she'll take any little victories she can get. Seeing that bottle smack right into his face earlier certainly helped, too, and she's finally on the wagon before long! Or at least hanging off the side, since she's still worried about what else Oak and Ash might have up their sleeves. Being thatclose, of course, that means she has to worry about both squirrels aiming at her instead of just one of them doing that. She's not exactly a fighter herself, either, so how's she supposed to help the others through this? Be a nuisance, mostly, to keep dividing the squirrels' attention so her allies can capitalize. Drawing a pair of filled syringes from her bag, she shimmies closer as Madeleine and Corona move to throw the wagon off course, keeping close against the sides so she doesn't go flying off herself. Once she sees an opening, she pulls herself up onto the wagon properly, trying to stab them both into Oak to start inject the sedatives inside.
Sarracenia	Even with it's weight increased, the hammer continues trying to thrash. It is still able to wiggle about, but can't quite swing anymore. Also, when she started throwing those ice bolts Sarra didn't really think about how Madeleine was already aboard the wagon and Odette was being pulled along behind. She eeps and covers her eyes, hoping that she didn't hit her friend...ly aquaintances. "Sorry, guys!" Sarra is never quite sure where she stands with people lately. Or ever, really. The wind kicks up, forming into a hurricane. Corona compliments Sarra's aim, causing the princess to preen a bit, then warns Sarra to hang on, and Sarra...promptly falls off as Corona swirves away. Caught up in the hurricane, Sarracenia is bashed into rocks and swirled around viciously. Her ice flower power goes poof, leaving her once again in her western wear. As she swirls around, getting buffeted by wind and smacked about by debris, Sarracenia reaches into her bag and pulls out an actual tanuki suit power up. She squeezes it and in a poof she is in a fluffy full body raccoon suit. She uses the flight power to position herself...then, curls up. There's another puff of white smoke...then a statue like some kind of Mario Buddha is there falling through the sky toward the wagon. And much like the hammer right now, this is even heavier and more sturdy than it looks! Sarra is hoping to flip it, or perhaps even pin it to the ground! With the heavy hammer and the statue...might be possible? If anyone makes a joke about Sarra gaining weight, they might get smacked though!
Aidan Proudpick	The loss of the Bullet Bills doesn't drop the wagon down. Whatever power that is within Oak's breath weapon is keeping it at a neutral bouyancy. The bullet bills travel in two different directions as they are cut free, lazily streaming into the night, likely to touch an unsuspecting bird and end its life. The front of the wagon moves erratically as their guides disappear. Ash pushes her head back to see mountains getting closer and further away in turn. "Clever." A surprising amount of appreciation lines her comment. Ash decides to go for simple. Claws. Razor sharp climbing claws. You don't have to be a big tough warrior to cause serious harm with claws. Worse, if you've been trained in them. Ash thrusts her palms out, fingers crooked to keep the claws from snapping off with the force of any blow. It's a careful balance of precision and power, trying to get her claws into Madeleine's eyes. The wagon CRACKS again, wood splinters flying as Corona's bike hammers into the side. Oak doesn't have to twist, seeing as he is completely stuck to the wagon itself, but it does knock him off guard, making him sag to one side. Without the bullet bills to course correct, and the lack of gravity's effect on the wagon, it starts wildly careening to one side, bound to miss the warpgate entirely. "Assssh!!" "I'm a little BUSY, brother!" "Always fucking busy," he mutters. The hammer in Oak's hand creaks as it purple infuses it. He spins it once and the swing through the air makes the air itself tremble. When it touches a bit of the ice, the ice shatters away into the distance as if struck by a cannon ball instead of a light tap. The menacing hum of it, however, is cut short. The movement upward is harrowing. The powerful wind, the trees down below that threaten to break several bones if anyone collides with them. The fact that the wagon is filled with an explosive strange substance. The puncture is almost nothing. Oak hardly feels it. Until the plungers push in and he is suddenly woozy as if drunk. However, he is very good at drinking, so it can't be that. Ash starts puffing out wind to try and course correct. And it might be enough. Until Sarracenia decides to take matters into her own hands. The top of the wagon turns to flinders, planks of wood and sharp splinters flying in all directions. Inside, Sarracenia finds herself among what looks like coal, except streaked with a pale green white band. And then she is pushing through that as well. The wagon drops from the sky, plunging downward towards the ground at high speed. "You crazy bitch!" Oak puts his hand down on the wagon, swaying drunkenly. He has to accomodate for the new weight on the wagon, trying desperately to remove Sarracenia's added momentum. The entire wagon, and everyone on it, hits the ground hard, bursting it apart.
Madeleine Cadrasteia	Although Madeleine's eyes are... unusual, she still doesn't want to find out what happens if those claws get into her, nor is she interested in letting them damage the rest of her face. That's an important face! She needs it for stuff. So when Ash pounces on her, she's ready with her knife and her free hand to block the assault as best she can. Her blade is enough to ward away one of Ash's hands, as long as Madeleine can keep an eye on its movement and position the knife to counter. But that's difficult when Ash's other arm, which Madeleine has by the wrist, is pushing perilously close to her face! Ash's index finger grazes Madeleine's cheek, droplets of blood blooming from the scrape... And then they both have much more to worry about as the wagon crashes to the ground, spilling ghost-rock, Elites, and Gale Knights everywhere. Madeleine drops her knife in the commotion, but she doesn't lose her grip on Ash, and the two of them roll away into the bushes, grappling and hissing like a pair of angry cats.
Odette Raskins	At this point, Odette's not even worried about the wagon landing so much as she is just not getting shot, cut up, or blown right off the vehicle. That's why, when she pulls herself aboard after the syringe stabbing, she's already looking for somewhere else to scramble to instead of worrying about where the wagon's going. Ash taking over for the wagon redirection has her tensing up as she gets ready to throw herself sideways, but when the wind goes in a seemingly innocuous direction, Odette's already reaching back into her duffel bag for more stuff. And then the wagon starts nosediving, and she looks over at Oak and the Statuecenia when she realizes what's happening. "H-hold up, I can't fl..!" She only has enough time to hook up a small oxygen tank to a breath mask and put it on before the wagon crashes. Odette braces as best she can, mostly by throwing herself at Oak and trying to use him to break her fall during the inevitable impact. The impact still takes the wind out of her, and she can feel something cracking in her gut, but she's hoping she won't have to worry much longer about Ash and Oak if the landing's worse for them than it is for her!
Corona Arclite	Under normal circumstances Corona would pull her rocket-bike away from the wagon as it goes down to avoid the crash herself. But no, she is making sure this wild ride comes to it's end before the wily squirrels are able to get resituated. So instead she revs one last time, applying enough force to make the wagon not smash head first into the ground. Still making it crash, but it's better for both her allies aboard and the volatile cargo if it hits an angle to grind across the ground rather than slam directly into it. Then hunkers down to brace herself on the bike. The impact with the ground breaks up the wagon to the point that the bike pulls free of it's own violation, careening across the ground at a different angle than the wagon. The rocket thrusts die, one being broken free and spiraling off over the tree line, while the rest of the machine comes to a grinding, smoking halt. That Corona stands up from.. and it turns out the handlebars also broke loose, which she discards over a shoulder. "Not nuttin' Ah can't fix. Later." She steps down from the bike, drawing her main handcannon from it's holster as she does. The other hand grabs a round from her belt, loads it into the weapon. Snaps the chamber shut and lets it settle into her hand proper afterwards. After a few steps of doing that she stops and raises her arm extended out, taking aim at the wreck of the wagon and, seeing Madeleine roll off catfighting with Ash, takes aim at Oak. "Reckon I still owe ya a bit of payback." She pulls the trigger to fire a single shot from Starslinger with an audible crack. Though the shot never hits Oak directly. The round detonates at proximity, instead creating an blast of concussive force meant to one knock him away from the remains of the wagon, and two knock the almost literal wind out of him, leaving him too disoriented from the shockwave and the noise to be able to focus on any more wind spells. As mad as she is over the double-cross, there's still the matter of securing that potential contraband that they were originally hired for.
Sarracenia	CRASH! Statuecenia's plan works perfectly! She didn't really consider collateral damage or friendly fire again. She'll have to work on that. She is still a statue when the wagon breaks apart, but in a puff of white smoke she is once again a princess in western wear. She staggers about for a moment, shaken from her own landing. She shakes her head to clear the stars, then growls at Oak. "You! Let go of my hammer!!" she exclaims before leaping at him in a rather animalistic way herself. And likely just solidifying his theory of crazy b----. No, the princess won't even think that word much less say it. "You think that was crazy? You have not seen me when someone touches my hammer!!" she screams at him. She grapples him, but not to try and actually hurt him. She just needs to get her hands around that hammer. Once she does, a prismatic sparkling aura forms around its head, then flows down over her. "Hehehehe." she giggles a bit darkly. "It is my favorite time of day, now." she says, grinning in a rather unheroic fashion. "Hammer time. Hope you enjoy it, you yella bellied baffoon." The aura finishes flowing over Sarra, causing the ends of her hair and tassles and things of her clothing to float. Even with the extra weight he's added, the magic of the hammer makes it almost weightless for Sarra. The prismatic glow fills her eyes, and she starts hammering away. If Oak keeps his grip, he is in for a very wild ride. If and when he lets go, he is in for an earth shattering series of hammer blows. Will he end up as flat as a zombie bear?
Aidan Proudpick	Ash is a rather calm fighter, rather than her brother and half-brother, but she is also a fighter of skill and range. At some point, she does attempt to bite Madeleine on the wrist, but gets a punch in the head for it. Her blows are calculated, each attack trying to go at something vital, and each time getting pummelled by Madeleine's more aggressive efforts. Things are not going well for her. Oak is about to be PERFECTLY fine with falling. He reaches up with his 'light' hand, about to touch himself on the chest when Odette falls on top of him, knocking his hand away. His growl comes out slow like pancake syrup as he tries to wrestle her off with one hand so he can tap himself with the other. He IS sturdy enough to at least take a good portion of the impact. Blood sprays out of his mouth as he lands on the ground. His hand strikes himself as his back lands on the ground with a sound that backs should not make. Which makes it slightly alarm to see him immediately float up afterwards, eyes fluttering in and out of consciousness. The SECOND wave of blood comes up as the concussive round goes off near him. His body jounces up into the air, knocked up by the shockwave. Something gets severely damaged inside, something that will likely stick with him for months if he can't get the proper healing. His head snaps back from the force. Nerveless fingers let go of the hammer. Ash sees her moment, face bloody and raw. She scrambles out of Madeleine's reach, rushing over to leap onto the floating unconscious Oak. The mighty hammer swing from Sarracenia makes a bone crunching thwomp into the midsection of Oak, likely shattering several ribs, but LAUNCHING him like a 200 percent Pichu. Being neutral bouyant, he suddenly sails like the wagon did before, Ash grabbing around his neck with one arm to ride him like a surf board. She gives a nod of respect to Madeleine, steering her brother towards the warpgate. Lights flicker up all over town, the sound of commotion, guns being loaded and cocked, an african american man in a dark coat staggering out of the saloon, eyes wide. Again, it's Madeleine who sees it best. People's faces are shadowed more than they should be. Eyesockets look deeper, blacker, as if obscuring any human features. The flickering of lights in the background gives them the aura of a mob, even if there is no real violence being threatened. Silence falls over the town, waiting to be broken.
Corona Arclite	Corona Arclite almost takes another shot to stop them. Almost. But seeing Ash opt to get her sibling out of danger rather than continue the fight stays her hand, reminding the orphan gunslinger of one of the few things she will never have beyond the abstracts of adoptive extended families. Instead, the vixen sighs and lowers Starslinger to holster it. "Let 'em go. We gotta get this mess cleaned up." A pause as an ear twitchs. A flick of the tail. And that ominous feeling from before making the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. She walks over to the wreck of her rocket bike, fiddles with the controls a bit... and a good kick in the side gets it to activate enough to fold back up into what still looks more like an abstract sculpture than a metal cube. But at least that can be teleported back to her ship and not leave weird tech lying around for some local to find. "An' this place is givin' me the fuckin' heebie-jeebies. Those unnatural forces are feelin' mighty riled up." The supernatural getting restless is never a comforting thought.
Sarracenia	Sarracenia is somewhat disappointed as Oak gets launched like that instead of getting pounded into the ground. It is a real waste, since she can't stop herself from hammering for about 30 seconds. But, eventually the prismatic glow fades away and Sarracenia stumbles a bit as the recoil of hammering away like that catches up with her. She has to take several moments to catch her breath and leans on her hammer for support. And the tiredness and damage from the previous fight also catches up. The princess falls to a knee, realizing just how much pain she is in after fighting those bears and getting thrown about by hurricanes and shot with multiple bullets. She pulls another green mushroom and uses it, the green healing glow helping her to at least get back on her feet. "...I am so going to tell that bird about this next time I see him..." she mutters to herself. People start to gather. Were they that close to the town? Sarracenia didn't even realize it in all the chaos. There are ghost rocks strewn about as well. Seeing the looks on people's faces, she tries to stand as tall as she can, tries to strike the figure of the heroic gunslinger. And perhaps her earlier rapport from the poker in the saloon will help? She smooths out her long copper hair as best she can, then puts on a confident smile/smirk. She remembers what is supposed to happen if people get scared after all. "It is alright, everyone! We found some bandits holed up in an abandoned mine outside of town! They put up quite the fight, but my associates and myself were able to clear them out! The town should be quite safe, now!" She goes to gather the others up. "Now, my friends from Africa and Chine need to get a good night's rest and a doctor if there is..." She blinks, then looks to Odette. "Oh, just a good night's rest I suppose. Then, tomorrow..." She reaches into her purse and pulls out another large gold coin. "...we can play more cards and enjoy more drinks~"
Odette Raskins	Wrestling Odette off of him isn't actually that hard, but it's not exactly easy. Odette isn't remotely an expert at combat, but she's erratic and jittery enough that she can keep her head away from his hand the whole time, and she's scrambling off by the time the round slams him into the ground and bounces him up for the hammer blow. Part of Odette is still worried about that noise he made with all that blood since she's pretty sure there's internal bleeding going on there, but... Ash has him, and they're both getting out of there. They're back in town now, and the warpgate's right there, so that means... That means... Wait, what does that mean? "Should we be... G-going after them?" Odette asks as she rolls onto her back, the adrenaline finally wearing off and leaving in an exhausted heap. "Clean...? O-oh. Right. Why were we...?" She starts, looking over at Corona with a weary nod and only then realizing that there's a whole crowd of people nearby, staring right at them. "H... Hi. Uh. W-we took care of the... Bandits?" The EMT stammers tiredly as she sits back up, nodding at Sarracenia while taking off that mask and closing the valve on the tank. She doesn't notice the messed up shadows over the people's faces or their eyesockets just yet, still shaking from that harrowing landing and slowly staggering back up to her feet. "We'll.. Um. W-we'll just be going, unless anyone needs medical attention first...?" She doesn't look like she wants to stay, but Odette can't just leave her own job unfinished. She'll tend to her allies wounds, too, although it'll be limited to medicinal patches and drinks until they can get somewhere safer and less creepy overall.
Madeleine Cadrasteia	Madeleine stands up, wipes some of the blood from her face, and walks over to Odette. "I don't think we need to go after them. Our job's getting this ghostrock to the natives, not chasing squirrels. Speaking of," she says to other Elites, "how are we gonna move all this ghost-rock without a wagon?"
Aidan Proudpick	Jeremiah Reading steps up to Madeleine, "The ghostrock's on its way to the front line. We'll take care of it." He mutters, "Zombie incursion. With this, we should be able to put them down with this. We can get Kipomo out again to guard the warpgate until we can figure out a plan on unification." He pulls out four envelopes, filled with a large amount of multiverse credits. He nods towards Odette, giving only the slightest smile. "More than I offered before, but I can't pay you much more than that. And a favor from the Secret Service." A few people look over at Corona's bike, muttering about 'science' and 'ghost rock technology'. There's even a few oohs and aahs as it turns back into a box, whispers, though they stay at range. As Sarracenia turns towards them, the townspeople turn their heads, looking on her with those shadowed faces. The shadows don't dissipate, or pull back. Shoulders begin to ease. Tension falters. An easy murmur rolls through everyone. There is still an uneasiness among them. Jeremiah steps up closer, nodding towards Corona. "We can clean up things. But someone opened up the portal in the first place." He looks at the ghostrock. "A servitor. A servant of the Reckoners," he whispers, "They are trying to escape their cage. I'm going to need your help again. And keep an eye out." "I'll see about getting you clearance for information. Seems like you might need it." -------------------------- The camera pans out to an old prospector man, his mule near by, carefully lighting a pipe. He stirs slowly at his pot of beans, pouring a bit of whiskey into them for flavor. "This world ain't right. It ain't even the fault of anyone evil. The road to hell and all that." The camera pulls back further, showing men and women around him, faces drawn and dessicated. The walking dead, but light in their eyes. Not zombies, something more. "Alls we can do is keep pushing back the darkness. And give people a reason to live. Each time, the darkness stays back a bit. Hope, that's the key. It puts down the fear."