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Rufus Shinra PREVIOUSLY, ON THE LAST EPISODE OF BESPOKEN:

"You're a hero, Sarra. Whether or not this Darkmancer is real doesn't change that. But I *don't* trust the word of someone like you so easily. What about the villagers? Their homes? With people's *safety* at risk, I won't just back down because I was asked."

"Mm... But it is not an uncommon heroine's journey to discover she isn't the destined heroine only to become a heroine of her own volition after. That is still a viable heroic path and, frankly, one I respect a little more--though of course sometimes the 'destiny' comes from the fact that the heroine in question is struggling to fill that role, whether they intend to or not."

"You see - I was originally set to conquer this country, rule it with an iron fist, a hundred years of bloodfire rain and salted earth and all of that good stuff, you know? But as I was gearing up to do just that, I got a business proposition... I don't wipe it from the map, but instead I conquer it a *little* bit, then just hold it steady, and my business associates like Derrick here, go sell... opportunities, to would-be heroes."

"Just what sorta profit margins are you getting on all this? Kidding, kidding. Obviously it's bad and we need to stop it. That was never in question."

"I have an army of my own, and we will not allow this to continue! I, Princess Sarracenia Sundew, Crown Princess of the Sundew Kingdom, cannot allow it!"

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Darkmancer Castle has been built into and around a mountain at the north border of this world, partially built with stone and partially carved into the mountainside - natural and man-made caverns and caves being incorporated into the layout.

It looms, properly, as any evil castle should. Counting the mountain its made out of, it is the tallest thing for miles around, and visible from most of the surrounding countryside. There's variance in the terrain surrounding the mountain, valleys and rivers and hills and such, making the final approach a difficult (if still mundane) journey for the average newly-minted hero.

At the foot of the mountain is The Barrier. After making the arduous cross-country trek (with Darkmancer Castle looming on the horizon at all times), the aspiring hero or heroine must use the four orbs to break through the barrier, and then begin the long trek up through the mazelike caverns, encountering more of the Darkmancer's minions along the way, until finally navigating the dangerous traps and tricks in the castle proper before finally, presumably, having a fated encounter with the Darkmancer himself - after which the world will be saved, great job, feast time followed by a triumphant heroic return to the world you left behind.

All of this would be hard to do on foot. Fortunately, the group has an airship fleet, and can skip over all of that.

From the decks of the Sundew Sovereign, one can more easily see the intended path that prospective heroines (or heroes) would travel. Indeed, several *are* traveling it right now, spaced out by a few hours - making their way across valleys or assembling to break the barrier, or traversing the caverns or engaging in intricate miniboss fights at parts of the castle. Seeing no less than four separate adventuring parties, just on this final leg of the journey, puts the undeniable lie to the idea that there's one (or two) 'destined' heroines here to save the world.

And yet. Not 'destined', but maybe they'll save it anyway.
Angela Angela's opinions on Sarracenia are at an all time low but she doesn't seem to be inclined to be bringing up that when she is chiefly concerned about revenge at having her time wasted. Angela really hates having her time wasted and doesn't care for scams. It's one of the reasons she's pretty leery of making a deal with Swindle! Much like her friend, she doesn't think she could live down the risk of being swindled by Swindle.

But in this case, Angela mostly feels the anger rather than the shame. Haschen looks over the edge of the airship and peers down at all the adventuring parties. "Geeze, there's so many groups..." Haschen says. "I don't recognize any of these people. Do you think any of them haven't figured out it was a scam?"

Moku presses a hand on Haschen's shoulder and shakes her head. "..."

"Oggh... I kind of feel like we're ruining their fun... Miss Angela, is there anything we can do?"

Angela, still stuck on a screen says, "The groups are spaced out enough that they might not even be aware of one another's existence..." Angela says. "Though some may be more devoted to the illusion than others. Nevertheless, we are here to shatter the illusion. Whatever the effect this has on those below is not strictly our concern. If some desperately desire a supervillain readiness seminar of somesort, I'm sure there's other avenues that are less exploitive."

Moku follows Haschen's movements to rest her arms on the railing of the airship and stare over it, a permanently dull expression on her features that seems nearly imitative of Angela's own.

"If anyone wants to sneak in any training, Haschen's responsibilities in our company include weapons testing."

"Ahaha.... I doubt anybody still needs training right before the final boss right?" Haschen says, sweating severely.
Rufus Shinra Somehow, Rufus just *happens* to have an apple and a bow and arrow at hand.

"Hey, you ever heard of William Tell?" he asks Haschen.
Alexis "Yeah, prophecies are overrated anyways." Alexis chimed in on the matter with pretty much the same sentiment as everyone else. "Now's time to stop playing by the broken rules and be the heroes you -want- to be."

But while she maintained her usual demeanor, inside Alexis was to put it bluntly quite angered. She had little forgiveness for people that played with lives like this, manipulating and ruining them for their own twisted whims. That her best friend had nearly gotten dragged into those machinations? That just made it personal. Time to get serious levels of personal. To the point you would almost forget she's from a vibrant world of cute combat critters that can seizure you into submission. (PORYGON WAS INNOCENT)

Nor was she particularly intimidated by the fortress looming atop an ominous mountain. She has busted her way into similar strongholds before. She had been ready and willing to, once the barrier was opened, let loose a couple of her subterrainian pokemon to flip a figurative middle finger to the cave labyrinth and burrow a tunnel right up into the keep.

Until it was pointed out the airship could just fly over that entire mess. Okay, that works too. Let's them conserve their energy.

"If they figured out it was a scam they wouldn't still be running around like Rattatas in a maze looking for cheese."

Idly she bobs a pokeball in one hand, already starting to formulate a few tactical options in her head. Once they learned for sure what they were actually going up against, Darkmancer or whatever the jackass turns out to be.
Merelisa Shaynore     This is far from the first time that Merelisa's been tricked and pulled around like a puppet by the greatest evil in the world! She's no fool at being fooled. Not only that, but she wasn't even the main target of it this time, so she can skip right past feeling betrayal and get immediately into righteous violence and revenge. All's right in the world.

    On the deck of the airship, she stands with a hand on the railing, and the other on the woven-gold Stellar Heart Andromeda around her neck, with the same familiar pressure like she's feeling her chest for her heartbeat. Her attention is commanded mostly by the looming castle at first, but as it draws closer, she gets distracted by the wandering groups of destined heroes below, eventually settling with her arms folded across the railing and her head hanging over the side, hair buffetted around by the wind. She tracks one group of three with her eyes, far enough down below that they're just pinpricks fiddling with their orbs to get through one of the trials.

    "... Isn't it a little odd? To get this perspective of it all, while still knowing exactly how it felt to be blindly down there. It's... sad, almost, I think. To the people down there, this is everything to them-- this is their *calling*, their chance to do the most important thing they've ever done. And then to us... we're already so far beyond it all. We're just going straight to the castle, to cut out the heart of the evil and put an end to all of this, because it's routine for us in a way it isn't for them."

"Nevertheless, we are here to shatter the illusion."

    "Yeah." Merelisa straightens up and corrals her hair back into place with a fingernail, then looks up at the imminent castle. "We are. And I'll make it something that everyone across the world knows, so that none of these-- these unaware, aspiring heroes are taken advantage of for a minute longer than they already have been."

    With a digital blue fizzle, Merelisa's mechanical arms flicker into existence above her shoulders, armspan as wide as the ship itself. The huge hands lace their fingers together and lay down with their palms up, forming a platform for her to step up on and raise her above the airship deck. She unsheathes her sword off her back and points it out at the castle, like it's a tangible threat for her to strike down the entire structure herself, this far away.

    High, high up in the air, above the clouds above the castle, the digital distortion of Merelisa's teleportation magic glows for several seconds across a huge swathe of the sky. Electric blue filters down through the clouds and then fades, leaving the menacing sky looking darker than it was before, until green ripples of ionized light weave and wisp around the tips of the castle towers like auroras. Infrequent and dim, the auroras gradually build in brightness as the airship approaches closer.

"If anyone wants to sneak in any training, Haschen's responsibilities in our company include weapons testing."

    Merelisa stares at the sight for a few beats longer, then belatedly turns back to Angela's tablet with a questioning 'hmmm?'. "Like sparring? Oh, no, we shouldn't do that."
Sarracenia      Usually Sarracenia would happily play along with the path set forth before the hero, following routes laid out before her and taking on tasks as they are presented.

     Not now, though. Now...she is angry. On several levels. Levels she is busy angrily listing in her mind as the Sundew Sovereign flies toward the castle with a total of 12 ships in formation with it, forming a flying V of promised destruction. As they fly, loudspeakers on the underside are spouting a repeating message telling those below how this is all a terrible trap by the evil Darkmancer to take advantage of the would-be heroes and their rich parents. And perhaps foolishly inviting them to join them at the gates to bring this evil down once and for all.

     'Do you think any of them haven't figured out it was a scam?'

     "If they do not yet know, we will inform them." Sarra says, her frowning face locked on the castle as they near it.

     'Hey, you ever heard of William Tell?'

     Sarra mmphs in annoyance at Rufus. "Have you ever heard of Gallagher?"

     'We're just going straight to the castle, to cut out the heart of the evil and put an end to all of this, because it's routine for us in a way it isn't for them.'

     Sarra, her own shimmering copper hair flowing in the wind, mmphs again and tightens her grip on her hammer. "Unfortunately, Angela is right. We must shatter the illusion even if it might shatter their ideas that they were going to be heroes. For their own good, and for the good of this world."

     'Yeah, prophecies are overrated anyways.'

     Sarra sighs. "Perhaps, but...the idea that one could fulfill a prophecy...it is enticing." she says, then looks toward Alexis. "I am glad to have you along. All of you, really." she says, looking to each in turn. "...even you, Angela. I guess." she adds. Yes, her opinion of Angela is equally as low right now. Who tries to actually seriously strangle someone just for putting them in a tanuki suit and taking some pictures? The ships form up around the castle with their broadsides toward it. It's a semi-circle of what must be hundreds of cannons being aimed at the Darkmancer's Castle. Sarracenia stands at the siderail in her battle dress, her hammer held with the handle resting on the deck and the four orbs ready to be used...if indeed they are actually needed.

     The loudspeakers of the ships go silent as Sarra picks up a microphone, then in unison they all blare her voice. "Darkmancer! You have not only scammed me and who knows how many other would-be heroes and heroines, but you have trod upon the sanctity of the heroic quest! Not only that, but you have admitted that you are slowly conquering this land with no regard for the lives of the citizens! I, Princess Sarracenia Sundew, Crown Princess of the Sundew Kingdom, will see you brought to justice for this along with all of your collaborators! This is your only chance to surrender before we come in after you and level this dreadful castle!"

     Sarra then holds up the orbs, waits for a few moments to see if they do anything, and...well, as much as she would like to, she cannot just fire at will. There could be people inside the fortress somewhere. So, she tells the gunners of the Sovereign to focus on the gates of the castle. Once it is open, she leaps off without even a leaf power-up and rides her hammer down to cause a shockwave just to make sure the way is clear.
Angela ''Hey, you ever heard of WIlliam Tell?''

"No?" She says. "Did they shoot an apple out of the air? Do you need my help?"

''Like sparring?''

"Yes." Angela says. "Essentially. Of course, I imagine you wouldn't need any such practice, considering your own skill and talent."

''Because it's routine for us in a way it isn't for them.''

"...Hhhn..." Angela sighs. "Yes. Routine. Anything can become rote with enough repetition, even saving worlds."

She smiles at Merelisa's agreement with their reason here, though it's very slight. And certainly, Merelisa pointing a sword dramatically at a castle is kind of endearing to Angela's own sense of narrative style. An adventure like this is not unlike what she dreamed of going on in the past, in fact and in that there is some charm even if it is an illusion--she can't deny that. But knowing that Merelisa, at least, adds some REALNESS to the affair helps soothe her mood despite the lies.

The smile fades when a lot of special effects start occuring above the sky. She glances towrds Merelisa, then back up to the sky.

"What are you doing?" She asks, almost innocently.

''Unfortunately, Angela is right.''

Angela sighs, her hackles not even rising one centimeter. "A frequent refrain."
Rufus Shinra "And then to us... we're already so far beyond it all. We're just going straight to the castle, to cut out the heart of the evil and put an end to all of this, because it's routine for us in a way it isn't for them.""Yeah? Welcome to the Concord, guess you haven't finished the intro seminar yet," quips Rufus, and then ends up looking like he regrets it, but only a little bit.

"Down there? I'd bet it's all like, rich dads buying their trust fund kids a magical vacation. I grilled Tanya's dad a bit while we were waiting for the airships, he had to pay out the nose and sign paperwork and all that stuff, go into this eyes wide open. Everyone down there has someone else who's arranged this for them, and they're going to go back to their cushy comfortable lives."

"Never feel sorry for a trust fund kid."

> "Perhaps, but...the idea that one could fulfill a prophecy...it is enticing."

"... Yeah," admits Rufus.

"Honestly, I was - well, I was upset that it wasn't *me* most of all, but I was still a bit excited about the whole thing? It's the thing of storybooks. A little bit too basic and cliched, but sometimes simple can be nice too."

"It's - I mean don't get me wrong it's obviously *bad* and we need to stop it, but I can see why it was getting so much business and was able to charge so much. Makes you think, doesn't it?"

Haschen has to suffer the terror of Rufus's target practice, but fortunately he's a good shot. Even with that momentary distraction, he eventually ends up getting all up in Alexis's business.

"How much for one of those? Just whichever one that is," he says, pointing at whatever pokeball she happens to be holding at the time.

Sarracenia makes her heroic declaration, and opens fire. Even before either of those, though, there's been a reaction from the castle dwellers as the airship approaches.

... As the ancient memetic phrase goes, 'one does not simply fly into Mordor'. While Middle Earth may exist elsewhere in the Multiverse (possibly in several iterations and variations) this is not Mordor, but none the less taking to the skies has its own drawbacks. As is demonstrated now, with the Darkmancer's minions taking to the skies.

All of everything else here may be fake danger, a show put on for the benefit of the paying 'heroic' clientele, but the danger here is real. These are real giant flying eyeballs with bat wings and claws, firing real eye lasers and casting real hexes!

The group's not close enough to land yet, so any response is going to have to be from the air or the deck of the ship!
Sarracenia      '...she leaps off without even a leaf power-up and rides her hammer down to cause a shockwave just to make sure the way is clear.'

     ...is what would have happened anyway, if the way had been clear! But instead, there are flying eyeballs to deal with! All the ships open fire on the incoming enemies, and all the ships are peppered with lasers. "Prepare to repel boarders!" comes the raspy voice of the Sundew Sovereign's captain, a slightly larger Piranha Plant with a proper three point hat and a red military coat. The rest of the Piranha Plant soldiers and sailors use a combination of spears and fireballs to fight the Eyebats.

     Sarra herself is hit with at least one laser and an Eyebat, sending her toppling backward as the ship shudders. She swats the bat with her hammer, then calls out to the captain, "Switch to Bullet Bills! Clear the ships so we can move in!"

     The captain quickly relays the orders to the other ships and a wave of cannon fire follows, radiating outward from the Sundew Sovereign. The Eyebats are joined by swarms of Bullet Bills which seek out the bats like heat-seeking missiles before exploding on impact.
Alexis Oh look, it does have some manner of air defense. In the form of eyeballs with bat wings. "Good grief, it looks like we're flying into the middle of a dark metal album cover," Alexis quips. Then jukes to the side, barely missed by one of the energy beams blasting over the deck of the airship. But all things considered this was one of the potential defenses they would come up against and she's ready, throwing the pokeball she had in hand high overhead. "Time to go, Windburn!"

so any response is going to have to be from the air...

The pokeball falls back into Alexis' hand... and the creature released from it dives past the airship into the fray already at blazing speeds. Literally. The burnt orange and grey avian's body is aglow in a blistering aura, wings spread and talons bared like a vast predatory bird to tear into the swarms of flying eyes while acrobatically spiraling around their attacks. Shearing talons kick and beating wings bludgeon any foe unfortunate enough to get within reach.

Normal peregrine falcons and famously fast and furious airborne fighters and hunters.
Then you add fire to that.
The species certainly lives up to the name 'Talonflame'.
Merelisa Shaynore "Yeah? Welcome to the Concord, guess you haven't finished the intro seminar yet,"

    Merelisa frowns lightly, stepping off her hand platform. Her mechanical arms fold together, crossed in irritation with a forearm-thick finger tip-tapping on the opposite bicep, though her own hand-on-hip is less readably annoyed.

    "I'm aware of our position; I'm just sympathetic to theirs. It's not easy to be led along like that, so I just want to help them. I remember being limited to that scale, and back then, there wasn't anyone with a better perspective like ours to help."

"Everyone down there has someone else who's arranged this for them, and they're going to go back to their cushy comfortable lives."

    "...Oh, well." That puts Merelisa off a bit. She pouts and looks down to the wandering hero parties, then up at the castle again. "... Still. Even if they know it's fake, they don't know that the Darkmancer is a real threat, taking advantage of them. They're still good people. Taking a vacation isn't a *bad* thing."

"What are you doing?"

    "Helping," Merelisa says aside to Angela, unhelpfully. Then she lifts a hand to point at the swirling auroras, fingers curled loosely. "In several minutes, on my command, the castle will be obliterated. It's something I built after defeating Ouranos, the strongest weapon that anyone's ever designed, being used for the forces of good."

"It's the thing of storybooks. A little bit too basic and cliched, but sometimes simple can be nice too."

    "It's like a storybook," Merelisa sighs nostalgically, closing her eyes. "And when you get caught up in that storybook feeling, it's hard to tell what feels wrong because it's wrong, and what feels wrong because it's just short of perfect." She's definitely talking about something else.

"This is your only chance to surrender before we come in after you and level this dreadful castle!"

    Merelisa takes a bracing breath after Sarracenia's speech, sliding up shoulder to shoulder with the princess to support (and take a little credit for) her declaration. So when the eye demons start to pour out, she's in the perfect position to pull her greatsword off her back and set it alight. She swings it in an arc in front of her and the ensuing wave of fire turns a swathe of demons into ash, propagating out in an echo of the movement of her sword.

    "Of course. Once he knows we're real heroes, he'll reveal that he's a real villain. Be careful, everyone!"

    Then she climbs up onto the railing, balancing carefully with the heels of her boots hooked on the edge of the wood. She smiles down at Sarra and touches a finger to the Stellar Heart, and a ball of Sarracenia's red and gold light starts orbiting around her. "I'll be relying on you for now, okay, Sarra?"

    Merelisa grabs the miniature planetoid in her palm and clicks it into the pommel of her greatsword, slotting in a perfectly sphere-shaped gap for the copied magic to fit. It glows brighter and brighter, enveloping Merelisa until... she's wearing a cute little bee outfit, like one of Sarracenia's powerups. The wings on her back buzz faster and faster, and then she leaps off the side, flying (clumsily) around to shear eyeball demons in half with each sword strike.
Angela Fortunately, Haschen avoids getting an arrow to the knee OR face but she is still significantly frazzled no matter how masterful Rufus's aim is.

Angela still doesn't quite feel 'beyond it all' herself. Maybe it's because she usually sends out her Agents to do battle on her behalf, or maybe it's simply the removed nature of her engagement with the outside world, but as true and intermingled those situations are--she's not sure that's actually it. Some part of her thinks she'd never get bored of this, that in the infinite vastness of the cosmos that there's just so much to do--she'd never get bored, no matter how similar the themes crop up. The magic might not be as unbelieveable as it was in her first days, but would it feel ... easy? Below her? Her dreams still seem so meager and small and so impossibly far away.

''Never feel sorry for a trust fund kid.''

Angela gives Rufus a long look. She says nothing.

Angela, notably, has brought melee fighters to the battle which limits their effectiveness in battle.

But Haschen has an idea! She mans one of the cannons and after fiddling with it, draws out a match and lights the fuse!

"Oh boy oh boy oh boy...!" The Bullet Bill in the cannon says to her. "My granddaddy William Bill always said this day would come, but it's finally here...!"

"Uh...uhmm..." Haschen says, eyes slwoly widening. "Why are you talking...?"

"Oh don't worry, this is what I've been made for! Just a few more seconds...Thank you so much for lighting that fuse...! This is the best day of my life!"

The cannon launches the Bullet Bill towards the flying eye-creatures and Haschen falls over onto her side and curls up into a ball and rolls from side to side, a haunted expression on her face.

Moku salutes the Bullet Bill as it explodes against the enemy forces.

"Are all bullets people..." Haschen whispers over and over again. "Are people bullets...?"
Rufus Shinra >"And when you get caught up in that storybook feeling, it's hard to tell what feels wrong because it's wrong, and what feels wrong because it's just short of perfect."

"Who cares *that* much about what's actually right and wrong, honestly? You should just pursue what feels right."

> "Still. Even if they know it's fake, they don't know that the Darkmancer is a real threat, taking advantage of them."

"Yeah, true," says Rufus as he racks his shotgun and does his part for clearing the air.

The darkmancer minions get fought off, by bee suits and airship barrages and birds who aren't Kale and by suspiciously sapient living ammunition. It doesn't take much to send them packing - this is, after all, the first wave of minions - even for a evil lord who's turned to the dark arts of Capitalism, there's certain things that still hold true.

"Well, well. The heroes come rushing in like the calvary."

That's... ! That's the Darkmancer! Poofing into existence on the deck of the Sundew Sovereign!

Oh, wait, it's just PHANTOM DARKMANCER, one of the minibosses. Literally Darkmancer's shadow, come to life, as one does. He's still being remotely 'piloted' and speaking with the real thing's voice, though.

"You know you can't win. I'm still a real evil lord. That's not for show. So how about we strike a deal..."

"Join me, we can rule this land together, and I shall make you all more powerful than you can ever imagine!"

"By which I mean, I have openings for heroic consultants to improve the authenticity of the experience, and I can cut you in for ten percent of the take."

"Is that ten percent of the net or gross?" Rufus has to ask.

"Of course if you don't..."

Phantom Darkmancer pulls out a Giant Shadow Sword, and starts swinging it with abandon - targeting not just the heroes, but going to try to bring the Sovereign down if he's not stopped!
Sarracenia      'Honestly, I was - well, I was upset that it wasn't *me* most of all, but I was still a bit excited about the whole thing? It's the thing of storybooks. A little bit too basic and cliched, but sometimes simple can be nice too. It's - I mean don't get me wrong it's obviously *bad* and we need to stop it, but I can see why it was getting so much business and was able to charge so much. Makes you think, doesn't it?'

     "...people want to believe they are special and destined for something more than most have reached." Sarra says in a rare introspective moment. "But, to paraphrase someone, it is perhaps more authentic and powerful to become a hero without being destined for it."

     'Talonflame'

     Sarracenia's eyes widen at the sight. It is such a magnificent bird! And it is wearing her colors! "Amazing choice, Alexis~" Sarra calls out to her friend.

     'It's like a storybook.'

     "That is exactly why this is so bad! Taking advantage of the storybook adventure like this is just criminal!" Sarra exclaims.

     'I'll be relying on you for now, okay, Sarra?'

     "R-relying on me?" Sarra stammers a bit uncertainly. Has anyone ever said that before? Alexis probably has, or at least something similar. Aidan probably has as well.

     But Merelisa...Merelisa is basically everything Sarra has been looking for and hoping for so far! A proper hero/heroine who seems to value her and treats her well! Sarra's eyes practically sparkle when Merelisa uses their bond to call upon the power of the bee suit, and a squeal escapes the princess. "Bee suit~! It is so cute on you!"

     'Are all bullets people...Are people bullets...?'

     "Not all bullets are people, but these bullets are! They are called Bullet Bills, and you should not feel bad in the slightest about firing one off! They enjoy it!" Sarra calls out to Haschen. Unfortunately she does not have time to go pat Haschen on the head like she wants to do. "Just keep firing them!"

     'Well, well. The heroes come rushing in like the calvary. You know you can't win. I'm still a real evil lord. That's not for show. So how about we strike a deal..."

     The Phantom Darkmancer starts swinging. Piranha Plants dive for cover as deep slashes are cut into the deck of the Sundew Sovereign, with a particularly damaging one hitting one of the three masts that hold those propellers which keep the ship flying.

     Sarra staggers as the ship drops a few feet suddenly from the loss of thrust, the other propellers spinning up to maintain position. Once it is steady again, Sarra rushes the Phantom. She comes spinning her way in with her hammer leading the way. "Of course we can win! It is you who cannot win! We are a team of mighty heroes! ...and Angela! ...and Rufus is more of a businessman, I suppose. But no matter! You cannot hope to stand against us!" she declares as she locks hammer to sword with the shadow.
Angela Haschen is briefly out of commission. She is having an existential and philisophical crisis.

Moku pushes forward, readying Amrita. She exhales slowly and readies her staff before her. She listens to the PHANTOM DARKMANCER and what they have to say. She breathes in through her nostrils as the offer of a ten percent of a take is offered. The decision is already made in her eyes.

"Ten percent." Angela says slowly. "I suppose that is a better deal than I am currently in but I already have a fairly similar job. I am not particularly inclined to expand my resume at this time."

Of course, it's easy for Angela to say. She is in absolutely no danger from that giant sword.

''They enjoy it!''

"They are capable of feeling real joy??" Haschen wails, covering her face with her hands and weeping openly. "Wh.wh..wh...what have I doooonnnee...? I didn't knoooww.... Peas forgive meeee...!"

Moku rolls under the giant sword swing (Haschen, already sobbing on the floor, starts crawling away). She raises her Amrita staff and then BONKS the Phantom Darkmancer in the head with it before twirling it around and aiming for a jab with the bottom of the staff into the Phantom's chest.

"..." MOku doesn't say anything but seems strangely motivated in THIS particular battle!

"Is there a Bullet Bill heaven...? Do they just appear in another cannon waiting to be launched again...?" Haschen wails.
Alexis Windburn continues to circle around the airship, watching for any more flying foes in case they come back or try something sneaky while her trainer and allies are occupied.

And here comes ... nope, it's just a shadowy doppleganger, not the real deal. Or an original idea. Seriously, does every evil wizard use that trick? Though it at least sounds accurate, trying to tempt people into joining his side for power and all that crap.

To which Alexis doesn't need to think to know a response. "How about no, you frick off, and stop perpetuating this vicious cycle of exploitation?" Of course she's not expecting him to accept that 'offer' any more than they are his, so it's no shock when he starts swinging that big dark sword around. It's hard to tell if one of the slashes is actually aimed at Alexis or she is just in the direction of his efforts to damage the airship as well.

But it instead collides with a large darkish colored form resembling some manner of badger or weasel that appears in front of her, bracing his forelimbs defensively against the attack. Which still hits with enough force to send him skidding backwards into Alexis, who grunts as she braces him back up. It's not a comfortable collision, but it keeps them from falling over or falling off the side of the ship. Does that still count as overboard? Honestly wouldn't want to find out...

"Good timing, Scorch." Alexis remarks as she props him up, and dusts herself off. No surprised one of her longest and most experienced companions would know when he's needed before she did herself. She flicks some stray pink bangs out of her face, which fluidly shifts into the commanding point pose that her counterparts often utilize, though in Alexis' case it's with a smirk. "Now how about you not so kindly show this jackass off the Princess' airship?"

The answer is a snarl and narrowing eyes. (Gladly). Then the roar of flames as they erupt around Scorch's shoulders, forming the high fiery collar that is one of Typhlosion's trademarks. Short but powerful legs launch the volcanic badger forward, curling as he does, the spinning motion wrapping the flames around his entire body as he hurtles towards the Phantom like a living comet to drive the miniboss back!
Merelisa Shaynore "Well, well. The heroes come rushing in like the calvary."

    Merelisa alights on the edge of the airship, still adorably beesuited. Her sword ripples with smokeless heat, held one-handedly out to her side despite its size. Itty bitty antennae stick up out of her loose red hair, flapping in the rushing wind.

    "Of course we do. Scum like you will always inevitably draw the attention of people brave enough to put you down."

    Does that still sound cool if the stinger of her costume waggles a bit when she says it?

"I'm still a real evil lord. That's not for show."

    "And I'm a real hero. And so is Sarra!" Merelisa jumps down onto the deck to stance up to the Phantom Darkmancer in proper formation, front to front with her sword raised in battle stance. "If you want a heroic consult, then listen to me right now!"

    "Your deals, your power: they're all worthless! None of the spoils of evildoing that you've stolen from this world will last beyond this fight, today! I, Merelisa Shaynore, the heroine Andromeda, will tear down your castle and wipe your petty, cruel empire from this world, so that its people may finally heal! To hell with your offer!"

    Merelisa's opening swing catches the Darkmancer's sword edge-on-edge, nearly matched for size and appropriately glowing to counterbalance the evil shadow darkness. She cleaves off to the side, sparking down the length of his weapon and gouging the deck of the ship, then carries the weight through to block his next attack with the wide red-gold flat of the blade.

    She takes one hand off the weapon, jumping back to get out of reach for a second while she conjures up a fire-red crystal in her free hand, then chants a quick spell to disintegrate it into a cloud of embers. With a wave of her hand, the embers scatter, and then each one explodes to blanket the entire area around the Phantom Darkmancer with fire. Once the fireballs fade, though, the ship is still brightly lit, but instead of the red and orange of Merelisa's fire magic, the deck is bathed in an ethereal blue-green.

    Up in the sky around the castle, the auroras have reached a fever pitch of day-bright rainbow colors. The air is starting to prickle against your skin, and the normally-aimless bends of the auroric lights are arcing into concentric circles in the sky, centered above the very middle of the castle. Merelisa stops her clash with the Darkmancer miniboss for just a moment to take a deep breath, straightening up and smiling confidently as if the battle was already over.

    "Was it worth it? Has your evildoing up until now paid out? Has the rot in your heart justified its encroaching corrosion, or was there never any hope of goodness in there to opposite it from the start?"

    "Make peace with your answer, and let it all be scoured away by the light of the Firmament."

    The clouds above the castle are pierced through by a blinding pillar of pure white light, ripping away the moisture in the atmosphere and turning it to glowing plasma in an instant. The castle is pierced through with a deafening squeal of matterless energy, followed by an explosion that erupts from the bedrock below it and rips out through the walls, turning ominous villainous night into radiant day. The shockwave throws the airship aside even at this distance, and in its wake, the air tastes like bitter ozone and ash.
Rufus Shinra > "We are a team of mighty heroes! ...and Angela! ...and Rufus is more of a businessman, I suppose."

"Hey," says Rufus. "I'm in this too."

"You say you cannot hope to stand against you - that's not the first time I've heard such from heroes. Real ones. You got suckered in just like everyone else, didn't you."

Everyone soundly rejects the Darkmancer's offer.

"I could probably convince them at twenty-five," pipes up Rufus.

Mostly everyone soundly rejects the Darkmancer's offer.

"Fine, then! If you won't accept my generous offer, then you shall-"

A blinding pillar of light pierces the castle.

Rufus, in the middle of reloading his shotgun, gives a low whistle. "Where'd you get *that* hardware? And where can I get some?"

He glances down at his Enemy Skill materia, which is shining brightly. "Actually, nevermind. Turns out I'm good."

The Phantom Darkmancer abruptly disappears, replaced in an instant by the real Darkmancer. This is probably some sort of contingency spell he's got set up to swap him and his living shadow in order to keep from, say, being instantly killed by orbital sky laser. (It's probably not that specific a trigger.)

"-perish with the... what..." He runs to the railing, staring out at his castle, which now has a giant new hole in it. "My castle! Do you know how much money that took to build? How much I had to spend on landscaping to give it that proper looming look? How much I had to pay off the cleaning staff after a janitor got lost for a whole weekend in the labyrinth?"

"... No. You know what, that doesn't matter now. All of this - all of this was a mistake." Oh good he's seeing the error of his ways. "I need to go back to my roots. Traditional evil." Maybe not.

"I will conquer this world - and all the other worlds - *properly*. Fire raining from the skies. A thousand years of darkness. The utter and literal eradication of the very *concept* of hope."

The sky starts going dark. It's not that late in the day for it to happen naturally.

And the Darkmancer starts changing. He's enlarging, muscles bulging - going from man to beast, some sort of dark bull-man. Swords are cast aside - he pulls a gigantic darksteel hammer out from the shadows, and hefts it with intent.

"AND ON MY VANGUARD, I SHALL MOUNT YOUR HEADS, THAT ALL MIGHT SEE THE FATE OF SO CALLED HEROES," bellows the Darkmancer, in his true(?) form.

He swings the hammer overhead - whether or not he connects with a hero, the Sovereign is going to take some serious Collateral Damage while the fight continues. You'd best step up your game!
Alexis -"My castle! Do you know how much money that took to build? How much I had to spend on landscaping to give it that proper looming look? How much I had to pay off the cleaning staff after a janitor got lost for a whole weekend in the labyrinth?"

To which Alexis starts smirking again. "Well, good. Denial or Destruction of Enemy Assets is a viable tactic." Then back to a serious expression. "Even if the money lost is just a few drops compared to all the lives you've ruined to do so." Then the real Darkmancer goes for a giant hammer instead of the sword. "That's still a form of over-compensation!" she snarks. "It's just less phallic in shape!"

The tomboy's sass is brought to a grimacing halt as the hammer is slammed down, and the shockwave generated by the impact heaving the entire deck beneath their feet. Enough to throw both Alexis and Scorch off their feet, smashing backwards into and -through- the deck railing, and over the edge.

Which would of been really nasty if it hadn't been for the watchful Pokemon overhead, who uses her speed to dive down after them. Windburn grabs onto Alexis' shoulders (it's okay her jacket is made to stand up to the abuse of sharp claws and other pokemon handling) and Alexis grabs onto Scorch. Not even being the largest of flying pokemon the Talonflame has more than enough power to heave the duo back up onto the damaged deck, Alexis dropping Scorch onto his paws and then dropping down next to him. Entirely back into serious mode. "Ready to finish this big guy?" Scorch nods, some smoke whisping from his mouth as he bares his fangs.

"Alright then!" Alexis gives his shoulder a pat, then takes a couple of steps back to be safe. "Show him some real firepower...."

Scorch crouches down on all fours to brace himself, collar ablaze so hot that tips start to burn blue instead of red-orange. Embers swirl about just in front of him, congealing into a crackling ball of fire...

Alexis thrusts out her hand towards the Darkmancer. "And light 'im up.... BLAST BURN!

Scorch snaps his mouth forward and shut to chomp down the fireball. Briefly drawing all that built up thermal energy into his own... and opens his mouth again with a roaring "TYYYYYYYPHLOSHOOOON!" to unleash the much larger incedinary beam like a living laser cannon!
Angela Angela is naturally assuming she's not a hero because she has pretty much supported all of Petra's evildoing and in fact she is so evil she hasn't even really felt most of it as evil, not relative to the petty cruetlies that she has frequently endured already. But irrespective of what she feels about labels, she is significantly more concerned with the giant death beam from the sky that is exploding the castle there. While she doubts the laser could penetrate the layers of rock that the facility is buried under in one shot, she imagines two or three would do iot. At least in the mid-term, she absolutely cannot piss Merelisa off, she has decided, and that means she has to ease up on Sarracenia.

Somewhat. Even Angela has her limits on practicality.

''Do you know how much money that took to build?''

"I can provide an approximate quote, with a range for any internal contraptions that add additional costs modified by local land costs and permits."

''Fire raining from the skies. A thousand years of darkness. THe utter and literal eradication of the very *concept* of hope.''

Angela sighs. Hearing all this, knowing that Merelisa can launch that laser as many times as she wants (her interpretation of what Merelisa said) so long as she can direct them--it sort of makes the battle feel like a foregone conclusion. What kind of hero test is it when someone is doing that much heavy lifting??

But she supposes at the very least, that means she doesn't have to worry too much about time, work, and employee cost.

Moku backpedals to drag Haschen out of the way of a massive swinging hammer attack.

"..." Moku looks at Haschen, shaking her somewhat as the former is showered by splinters. Shake shake. Shake shake.

"...Wh..wha?"

Moku points to the damage the Darkmancer is doing to the hull. Haschen's eyes widen and her mouth drops open as she realizes... If this ship goes down, all those innocent missiles will go down with it--and they'll never have the chance to explode on their own terms!

Haschen readies her TRAINING RABBIT EGO DUMMY EGO Gear in her hands and rubs at her weeping eyes with her wrists.

"Hey... Y-y-you can conquer the world, and all other worlds, and rain fire from the sky... But you can't eradicate...hope! That's all these poor Bullet Bills have! I won't let you...!"

She screams wordlessly as she joins the Hammer Battle...with her own! spinning around as she takes a good clobber at the Darkmancer's chest!

And Moku is cming in from below, hoping to trip him up with an Amrita strike towards the legs...!
Sarracenia      'A blinding pillar of light pierces the castle.'

     The collection of airships all roll slightly in the air before being set upright again by their captains. Sarracenia is staring right alongside the Darkmancer as he stares at his gutted castle. "A-amazing, Merelisa!!" Sarra exclaims, eyes still sparkling.

     Then...the Darkmancer just makes bigger threats. Sarra grips her hammer as he grows. "Oh yeah? Well, I am tired of villains like you trying to ruin hope for the worlds! We shall destroy -your- hope instead!"

     She snaps her fingers, and the captain of the Sundew Sovereign nods before pushing a big red button on the helm of the ship. The bottom of the ship opens up, and a Banzai Bill launcher emerges from it. "I hope you do not have anything important left in there~" Sarra says as the truck-sized bullet is launcher. It flies rather lazily toward the castle, but when it hits...

     It hits the front, unleashing a rapid series of growing explosions until the final explosion, which is a bit delayed and leaves a mushroom cloud in its wake.

     Meanwhile, Sarra pulls out a red mushroom with white spots. She downs it in one bite, and...grows to a similar size to the Darkmancer! Game, stepped up! "You think a bit of size and some words are enough to scare us?! You obviously have not dealt with REAL heroes before as you claim!!" The now triple-sized princess roars back, her own hammer gaining a prismatic glow around the head, which flows over the handle and over Sarra.

     Against the backdrop of that mushroom cloud, Super Sarra goes into her hammer frenzy! The Sundew Sovereign is defintely going to take some collateral damage here, but it is not a small ship being some 200 feet long. It can take it! ...at least for a minute or two! Barely able to control herself beyond moving back and forth, Sarra rains super-powered hammer blows down on both the Darkmancer and his hammer. WHAMWHAMWHAMWHAM!
Merelisa Shaynore "My castle! Do you know how much money that took to build?"

    Merelisa straightens back up after the shockwave slams into her, hair touseled wildly by the distant impact. She peels a few strands away from her lips, quietly going 'peh, bleh' to unstick them. Taking a deep breath of ozone-crackling air recenters her, posturing heroic with her antennae waggling.

    "It was all the people's money. Tossing it away like that is just another sin you'll pay for with your life. It won't repay the debt you owe them, but they can at least start rebuilding-- something you'll never have a chance to do."

"All of this - all of this was a mistake."

    "I'm glad you get it now, but it's too late for--"

"I need to go back to my roots. Traditional evil."

    "Ah. Well."

    Merelisa lifts up her sword in accordance with the Darkmancer's increased height, extremely familiar with the phase change size change. "I have my own roots, Darkmancer! And they're strong enough to have choked out monsters a hundred times worse than you! Let me show you how a true hero of Gaia deals with evil like you--!"

    The Darkmancer's hammer crashes down, and splinters spray Merelisa while she flies to the side with bee wings buzzing. She kicks off the railing to riccochet back through the air at the Darkmancer's head, greatsword angled down by her side to swipe at his head while she buzzes past. Circling around and taking superheated stinging jabs around the upper half of the Darkmancer's body, Merelisa darts under Sarra's arms and around her back to take advantage of each of her staggering blows, and distracting the Darkmancer to open up chances for her.

    "Your conquest ends here, Darkmancer! In the end, your scheme was your own demise. After making so much mockery of destiny and heroism with your toys, it must've been true destiny that put one of them into the hands of a *real* hero. And now, Sarra and I will seal your fate!")]
Rufus Shinra Moku and Haschen come at him with a combo attack, with well-honed(?) Lobcorp agent precision. Alexis's pokemon blasts him away with a fire laser.

Sarracenia comes in with the hammer frenzy. It's a contrast - her hyper rapid swings versus his calculated, rage-fueled swings, but it's one he's getting beaten back by bit by bit by bit.

Darkmancer ver. Beastform locks in. He brings his own darkhammer up against the frenzied hammer, trying to parry the hits and look for openings, and take them where he can get them...

... until Merelisa comes in, flanking him. Every distraction, every mistake, every bit of stolen attention causes an opening, causes Sarracenia to land another solid hit. He's hard pressed to keep his defense up, much less be able to keep up offense, and the writing's on the wall if this pattern continues. Already he's looking increasingly worn down.

> "Your conquest ends here, Darkmancer! In the end, your scheme was your own demise. After making so much mockery of destiny and heroism with your toys, it must've been true destiny that put one of them into the hands of a *real* hero. And now, Sarra and I will seal your fate!"

"ENOUGH ABOUT DESTINY! ENOUGH ABOUT PROPHECIES! I PUT NO STOCK IN THAT OLD PROPHECY THAT I WOULD ONE DAY MEET MY END AT THE HANDS OF A PAIR OF HEROINES! IT'S UTTER NONSENSE AND I WON'T HEAR IT FROM YOU TOO!"

"IN FACT-" He breaks off from Sarracenia, leaping backwards in one mighty motion to land on the other side of the Sovereign and put some space between him and the party. "EVERYONE DIES!"

He shifts his hammer grip to one hand, and raises the other high into the sky.

"A THOUSAND YEARS OF DARKNESS!"

The sky grows yet dimmer. Not even stars twinkle through. The only illumination is from the deck lights of the airship.

"FIRE FALLING FROM THE SKY LIKE RAIN!"

The complete darkness is fleeting - and now the deck lights are being outshone by the incoming fireballs from high above.

"AND THE COMPLETE AND LITERAL ERADICATION OF HOPE!"

You can feel it now. Eating away at you. The despair, the anxiety. The knowledge that tomorrow may not come.

This is the end.
Angela Well-honed may be overstating it. Haschen is the least experienced Agent in all of LobCorp.

Well to be precise, she is plenty experienced in one specific thing: Being a living training dummy. She is not experienced in fighting. And her EGO Gear is the weakest in the facility--to the point that some aren't even sure it IS an EGO.

As the area becomes spookier and darker, and the empathic assault strikes at one's drive to believe in hope and other positive vibes--There is a shift in the Agents.

Haschen just outright panics. Her eyes get a faint yellow glow to them as white armored plating starts growing out of her arms. She immediately sits down and rocks back and forth again, completely giving up on the fight.

"Oh no oh no oh no he can keep fighting oh no oh no I can't I don't want this please just hit me please just keep hitting me instead of this please....!"

Moku is silent. She makes a faint erkking noise as she stumbles back, crouching down and covering her face with her wrist.

And then her jaw distends. It drops open and it just keeps dropping until it distends and hits the floor. The Agent crawls across the cabin, first towards Haschen, before sniffing and crawling across the floor more on the way towards the Darkmancer...

"Hcck...Haccckkk..." Mokuj says before bounding on all fours, her stomach distending as she aims to clamp down that too open jaw on the Darkmancer's arm and bite down with her very own teeth. "HACCRKRRRR....KHRRRRRR...." Her eyes are white, unseeing.

"Oh dear." Angela says, hanging off of Haschen's arm. "It seems both of my Agents have corroded. My apologies for this dirsuption in efficient professional service."
Sarracenia      Sarracenia throws everything she has into trying to stop the Darkmancer even as she marvels at Merelisa's heroic speeches and Alexis's pokemon. But in the end...her greatest nagging doubt that is always in the back of her mind is proven true. It is not enough.

     -She- is not enough.

     Not enough to stop those really powerful villains or save worlds or their people.

     Her hammer frenzy runs out just after the Darkmancer leaps backward and Sarra stumbles forward. The time it takes her to recover after that much exertion gives him plenty of time to call in the rain of fire. Then, the despair hits. Sarra is not exactly known for a strong mind, and combined with her natural doubts and insecurities...

     She ends up just staring upward as those giant fireballs coming down. She looks over at Alexis, then at Merelisa, then around at Moku and Haschen and the now panicking Piranha Plants who are running about every whichway on the deck of the ship. "...I am sorry, Merelisa...Alexis...perhaps no one should rely on me..."

     Not a single ship seems to escape the fireballs, but they all prove to be sturdier than one might expect of a flying wooden ship. The only ship that starts going down...is the Sovereign. A fireball impacts almost right on Sarracenia, knocking her across the deck and returning her to normal size. It punches through the Sundew Sovereign as well, igniting fires and causing the ship to lurch as the engines lose power.

     Sarra is barely able to move, but...something the Darkmancer said breaks through the hopeless haze. "...two heroines...but there are three here." she says, sitting up with a wince. "I do not know if you can rely on me...but I know I can rely on you!" she calls out to Merelisa and Alexis. "No one else will die to you, Darkmancer! Which is still a stupid name!"
Alexis Eventually the gout of flame fades out and dies, until there is only streams of smoke whiffing from Scorch's mouth as he slumps to the deck, even the fiery collar flickering to a dim passive glow. That was one of his strongest attacks, but also one of the most draining. It was going to take a few moments for him to recover enough thermal energy to get going again.

A precious few moments the Darkmancer has no intention of giving freely as he calls upon total darkness and bombards the entire group with the enervating assault. Fire and brimstone is of little issue to a Fire specialist, but the crushing darkness is much more effective in starting to gnaw away at it's victims.

Alexis grunts, leaning against Scorch's side. Windburn slumps next to her. Darkness, bitter and isolating. She can feel the pokemon next to her, but can't see anything or anyone else, and can only hear the vile fiend's ranting.

But proximity is enough, as something grabs onto her shoulder. Alexis jerks up, tensing as it might be an attack... and then yelps as a paw is shoved in her face! What she had felt was Catnip crawling out of her backpack, and now the Sprigarito was rubbing her paw against her face trying to use their aromatic effect like smelling salts or something. But better smelling. At least enough to be a little revigorating. Hearing Sarra call out from the darkness, still having faith in them, that also helps. "Heh, still don't understand what it means to fight with -real- heroes, does he?"

Catnip leans over Alexis' shoulder to paw at a bag strap. A few bats manages to dislodge a pokeball into Alexis' hand. Her thumb presses against the release button, and the fizzle of the discharge can be heard if not seen.

But moments later the almost neon glow of a pair of feline eyes is visible in the suffocating darkness. Luxray was normally one of her hunting and scouting pokemon, but the reason why made it a prime choice for the moment. The lion-like electric type's eyes could see more of the electromagnetic spectrum than just visible light. It's not perfect, but it's enough for him to scope out where the Darkmancer still stands.

"RAAAA!" And then becomes more visible himself as his form is backlit in a crackling aura as a surging electrical blast is fired off in the Darkmancer's direction!
Merelisa Shaynore "I PUT NO STOCK IN THAT OLD PROPHECY THAT I WOULD ONE DAY MEET MY END AT THE HANDS OF A PAIR OF HEROINES!"

    This is Merelisa's element. The storybook clarity, the adrenaline and violence, the fate of a world balanced on the razor's edge of her sword, with the enemy in front of her and her allies behind her-- Merelisa is a *daughter* of destiny itself, and it can only be fate's design that she would be drawn back to this again.

    Not that she has anything to complain about. Merelisa is the most dutiful daughter that destiny could ask for, and because she's here, it's a foregone fact that the heroes won't die, the villain won't prevail, and the world won't end. Cosmic purpose is a blanket and armor, and cosmic certainty drives her blade into cosmically-certain foes, and all is right with the world.

    To that end, the Darkmancer's declaration that all hope is lost does the opposite for Merelisa. She *is* the last bastion of salvation for this world! She *is* the one that'll strike down the embodiment of hopelessness and return this world from the brink! And she's really, *really* good at that!

    Merelisa kicks down on the Darkmancer's shoulder to leap high into the sky above the sinking Sundew Sovereign, facing down the storm of fireballs herself. Sword held high, she catches a meteor on the edge of the blade and holds it back with gritted teeth and sparking flame, being gradually pushed down even against the frantic buzzing of her wings. And then the Andromeda pendant flashes, and with a sudden surge of strength, Merelisa pushes her sword up and slices the fireball in half, evaporating it into a solar stream of fire splitting the sky. Where it connects, other fireballs explode prematurely, filling the air with fire high above the airship before it can be battered by more.

    "No one else dies, Darkmancer! Not us, and not them!" Merelisa swings her hand out at the long approach to the now-destroyed castle, where the other pay-to-hero parties are. "And definitely not hope! Hope never dies, not as long as people like me-- us, are around!"

"...I am sorry, Merelisa...Alexis...perhaps no one should rely on me..."

    "--Sarra!!" Merelisa's shriek of worry pierces all the way down to the ship from where she flies above. Rather than dive (bee wings aren't made for that!), Merelisa flips around in the air and pulls out a green crystal that she expends for a cast of wind magic. Jumping in mid-air, angled almost straight downwards, Merelisa rockets down with her sword streaming fire like a comet trail behind her, the raining fireball that the Darkmancer failed to summon, and cleaves straight through the core of his massive, monstrous form.

    Merelisa drops to the deck, then to one knee, and stumbles over to where Sarra collapsed. "Sarra, are you alright? It's over now, so-- we won. We couldn't have done it without you. So take it easy now, alright?"

    For Moku and Haschen, Merelisa's mechanical arms teleport back into place above her shoulders, and she wraps a fist gently around each of them and lifts them out of distance of hurting anyone else, or themselves. The tablet hanging off of Haschen is given a dubiously suspicious look.

    "...Corroded? This is normal for them? Why do you put them through something like this?"
Rufus Shinra The agents are corroded. This is, possibly, more horrifying than anything the fire-and-brimstone Darkmancer can come up with.

He recoils back - but he can't get away fast enough, with one clamping down on his arm.

He gets blasted by electricity next.

And then...

... Well, then Merelisa happens.

The Darkmancer opens his beastly mouth to say something more, maybe something about his evil returning, hearts of men, or any of the many lines that Merelisa has certainly has heard before... but no noise comes out.

He simply falls apart... and then the pieces start literally dissolving away, fizzling into nothingness like a fizzy pill dissolving in water. Within a minute, there's nothing left.

The sky returns to normal. The fireballs unravel mid-fall. Hope returns.

There's no more Darkmancer. There's still the castle, but that got blasted by a continuous space laser, and isn't looking too good. The aesthetics are certainly not 'looming' anymore.
Alexis Alexis reachs over to ruffle her hand in the Luxray's mane-like growth. "Thanks for coming in clutch, Spectrum." Lions can't per say purr, but he emits a throaty rumble of similar affection. Alexis recalls the other two more worn pokemon. "You two did a great job too."

Spectrum follows her as Alexis manages to trudge over to where Sarra is. "If I wasn't so tired I'd swat you for thinking you're not reliable," she jokes.
Angela ''Corroded? This is normal for them? Why do you put them through something like this?''

"''I'' put them through nothing," Angela explains. "Our training is largely designed to discourage Corrosion. It is inefficient and hazardous to our goals. Normally it is not a risk at all unless some manner of empathic or psionic assault is utilized." Angela is an AI that can lie. In this case she is lying by obscuring the fact that she absolutely WOULD put an Agent through Corrosion if it proved helpful to the facility and its goal. Usually it isn't, of course. In fact it's particularly dangerous--an Agent can corrode permanently, after all, even with training. And more likely so without it. Since Sarracenia is present and will undoubtedly point out whatever inconsistency she leaves, she is compelled to add.

"Intense emotion can also serve as a trigger, but usually only results in minor corrosion. What happened to Moku could only have happened in a situation like this."

-Fortunately in this case, Haschen and Moku writhe against Merelisa's hold for a time before Haschen recovers quickly, sagging in Merelisa's arms. "Th..hank you, hero..." She says.

Moku takes another half minute before her body twists itself back into normal shape like it had never monsterfied at all.

"..."

She offers Merelisa a thumbsup. Yeah she's okay.
Sarracenia      'Sarra, are you alright? It's over now, so-- we won. We couldn't have done it without you. So take it easy now, alright?'

     Sarra wipes at her eyes. She is not fully crying, but she is definitely sniffling and has some tears sliding down her cheeks. "You could have done it without me. You are amazing. Alexis, you and your pokemon are amazing. But me?" She sniffles again. "I just...am not. I could not light up that crystal way back when first getting qualified to fight Antigents on Lilian's world. I have been unable to save magical girls from their terrible fates so many times. I was unable to defeat Lezard when he attacked the Sundew Kingdom. I could not save Quicknest or complete even that silly mission to weaken its defenses before the big invasion. I am just...not-"

     'If I wasn't so tired I'd swat you for thinking you're not reliable,'

     Sarra can't help a slight smile despite herself. "...I want to be reliable for big things, though. Not just...having aerial transportation or snacks or other somewhat trivial things. If somehow it had come down to me having to face down the Darkmancer...I do not think I would have been able to..."

     Sarra remembers that Angela is here. She levels a smoldering gaze at that tablet. "...she cares nothing for the agents as far as I can tell. They are disposable fodder to her because they can be restored or something. I doubt she feels bad at all that they became 'Corroded'. What a terrible word, too."

     Sarra looks over at Haschen and Moku. "You two...I know you cannot just visit the castle, but...you are welcome to rest on one of the less damaged ships if you would like."

     Speaking of damaged, the Sundew Sovereign is in a controlled crash. It lands rather roughly and will need repairs to fly home, but it is not destroyed at least. And the rest of the fleet stands by to help wherever else they may be needed.
Angela ''She cares nothing for the agents as far as I can tell.''

"..." Angela stares at Sarracenia for a long moment. She is calculating a response.

"You do not know me." She says softly. "You know nothing of what I've been through. Or what I've had to feel."

Haschen opens her mouth, catches something in Angela's eyes, and clamps her mouth back shut.