Scene #9149: Supervillain Readiness Simulation - The End of the Final Floor?! A Surprise Challenger Awaits!

Owner	Pose
Lilian Rook	For a real change of pace, you aren't chased and harried all the way to the 'boss room' by enemy reinforcements and the implicit pressures of mounting fatigue and growing attention. As you've heard (out of character! since Lore Recon wasn't a huge thing), the upper quarter is the place where people are supposed to live, and that 'design ethos' appears to have been stuck to. The only traps to trigger are from forcing your way into places you clearly aren't meant to go. The only fights to pick are the handful of black knights that await at major corners and near restricted areas, looming with twice the menace of what you saw in town. Those inside the palace are armed with the brand new weapons you'd seen on the foundry floor. As long as you're accompanied by a maid or butler (or one of your own cosplaying as one), they don't seem to want to move, so it's probably best to simply walk your way to the end of the area and find the stairs up, rather than start an unnecessary floor-wide alarm that has potentially multiple minibosses descending on your head. You started out pretty strong like that! No point ruining it now, right? Right? Not that there aren't threats. Outside of beig overly tempted to fall asleep in a terribly comfortable bed, there are the idle non-staff; within the fiction, they seem to be more like Elena and Hafren, though gathered from other countries (or coasting along on entourage) for less noble or high-minded reasons. Some of them are particularly insistent on having your attention, or particularly adept at retaining your company by whatever means. If nothing else, knowing that the decor that immaculately resembles the spoils of colonial trophyism didn't come from a black market, but were allegedly taken from other conquered nations or failed heroes, makes the walk through it all a little more of a foreboding build-up. And through all your meandering and pondering and asking butlers for directions and being hassled by guests, where you end up has nothing to do with another giant clockwork gate at all. 'How could it' and 'why would it' are equally valid; the only place to go from the residential quarter has to be the private tower-- the one that sits directly below the singularity now dangerously close overhead. The last room before that is as grand as any previous chambers in which you'd fought a key-bearing guardian, however. The only way anyone would be let near it is for royal reception, after all. The marble tile is so spotless that it's practically a mirror. The long red carpet goes without saying, but is ten times the width it needs to be. A thousand little candle flames burn on pewter chandeliers and candelabra and the endless ranks of red candles on gothic cathedral style table risers. The whole place is shrouded in scented smoke, making the light from the giant windows stain the air.
Lilian Rook	The places one would traditionally take while waiting are occupied one to one by rows of black knights, standing still enough to be statues, though you already recognize them. The walk to the last gate, black iron and covered with a magic seal, is barred to you but not strictly by them; it takes a moment after the thick curtains are drawn back by some unseen force, near the back of the chamber, to adjust to the outdoors light spilling in, and make out in the beams, the throne seated on top of the short stairs to the last gate. Not that unlike a certain other evil lair situation, actually. Though far more dramatically put together. As if you'd arrived for a royal hearing-- namely, to beg and scrape at the evil queen's feet-- Liliana Lycoris is reclined almost haphazardly in it, five degrees off needing her legs on one arm, but certainly already deep into the classical condescending lean, elbow up and fingers curled under her chin, her stare from the elevated position more visible than the rest of her silhouette. And right between you and her-- "It would seem to be that the unruly guests that Miss Ritescu spoke of have cut in line, your majesty. To say this is expected of them would be appropriate, but it still tries my imagination." Who is this? Like actually who??? A vaguely lower-bound middle-aged woman of middling height, middling build, but with her immaculately proper British accent act down. Straight-backed, hands clasped together, perfect hovering right-hand distance maintained from Liliana, you'd mistake her from one of the maids if she weren't clad from the neck down in black armour and half-tabard. Though, come to think of it, the little ornament in her hair-- dark with a purple fade highlight that must not have come out in time for the sim-- kind of looks like a frilly 19th century headdress. Even if her eyes on you say 'well well well, what do we have here?', Liliana's tone is like a bottomless hole, accompanying her shooing with her left hand and saying, "Remove them at once." "Yes, my lady!" "Ah, but if these are the ones costing you so much extra work, then leave one or two alive for questioning later." "Of course, my lady!" A moment passes. The mystery woman serenely closes her eyes, and softly says with great excitement "Your highness." Wait did she just correct her line? Without any obvious command, the black knights lining the hall raise their weapons in perfect synchronicity. The armoured woman-- a captain?-- steps down from beside the throne and takes her position at the head of the walkway, lifting a shined blade of her own and pointing it towards you in a dramatic duelist's stance, though it most certainly is far too large to use as a duelling sword. "If you would be so kind as to kneel in the presence of the Queen, I will be honoured to show you to your new quarters in an orderly and minimally painful fashion." she declares, filled with first-time-on-shakespeare energy. "It's the decent thing to do, you know, when in the presence of royalty."
Petra Soroka	The great burden that has always been Petra's finally falls to her. Once she separates from the demon girls-- very, very importantly, only after she has-- she slips into a convenient closet, bars the door with morphmetal wrapped around the handle, and subjects herself to wearing a maid outfit in front of a bunch of Elites for the second time in her career. Because of Lilian. Again. The rhyming nature of the situation makes her confront the changes in her mentality ever since then, while she's tying the bustle pad around her hips. Obviously, she's much less unresolvedly unstable, and the fact that she doesn't feel like she's gearing herself for war by tugging her tights on is a point in favor of her mental wellness. It still makes her dimly unhappy to be wearing a dress in front of several people she doesn't care for, but it's not exactly the end of the world. What she fixates on, though, while using a sheet of morphmetal as a mirror to lace up the back of her dress, is the odd sense of emptiness that this gives her. For the maid off, she might have been psychotically unwell, but she was driven, and the purpose of putting on that costume was calculated and bloodily purposeful. Now, it's just strangely practical, that she might be useful to the scenario by dressing up as a maid. She ties the apron behind her, shoves some hanging clothes out of the way so that she can get a full-length view of the completed fit. Hair done up under the cap, dress ruffled and perfectly fitted, waist laced tight, steady on her glossy black shoes-- Petra stares for a few seconds, before sighing and collapsing her morphmetal into a bubble and storing it away. She looks fine. It's fine. It's not really a big deal, after all. "Say anything and I'll kill you," is Petra's greeting upon regrouping, but after that bit of vented heat, she's an immaculate icon of politeness. Between her deft deflection of the knights and explanations to the staff, and also being immune to all except the most mundane advances of the devil girls, it's fairly easy to be through the halls by a version of Petra that is unnervingly demure. Any comments on that, or even indistinct whispering that Petra can't catch, gets a side-eye glare glinting with lethal hostility, before she returns to pleasant smiling politeness for the next staff inquiry.
Odette Raskins	With the knowledge that Ritescu's been taking good care of the villagers, Odette's... Actually, she's not sure what to do with that information. After accidentally stumbling upon that with the demons goading her into putting the maid disguise on (she already has) and revealing that the petals are a power source for the keeping the castle going... She's also not quite sure how to use that information. Warn the others? The things they've been acquiring thus far have all been helpful in navigating the castle and especially in getting through some of the tougher battles, so it's not as though ceasing all purchases would be an option. Besides, it'd make Ritescu sad! Plus, Odette can't quite forget what the demons had said last time. Sure, she's in this specifically to help stop the Queen and to show that she can be counted on to pull through even without powers of her own, but it really does sound like it'd be far more relaxing and cozy to just loiter in the parlour or somewhere thereabouts. Through the combined power of inertia, peer pressure, and maybe just a little resolve, however, Odette wills herself into continuing along with everyone else! Just barely, but still. She hasn't taken off the maid disguise, though, insisting that it's a strategic choice instead of just finding a quiet corner to get changed out of it. It's difficult enough to keep moving forward, anyway, what with so many insistent guests and other non-staff trying to pressure her away from the rest of the group. "N.. No, no, I've got it handled with our guests. Um. Th-thank you, though! Y-yes, right this way." She stammers out, trying to play the part of the maid that totally knows which way she's going, but still hovering far back enough in the group that she doesn't even remotely look like she's leading anyone anywhere. Better to let those questioning the butlers guide everyone that way, especially when it leads them to the tower beneath the singularity. Odette really wishes she still had more of that black hole potion left, but alas. "Th... That's not going to come down on us, right? Uh. D-do we have a plan if the... If that breaks? Er. C-c-containment?" She asks, looking from person to person as though someone in the group might have a secret expertise in space engineering. "O-or should we just... Go as fast as possible? So we can get past the...?" A pause, and then she messes with her hair in frustrated terror. "N-no, that wouldn't work. It'd just suck us right in along with everything else here. N-no, someone... I-it has to be under control. Right? Right." The rows of knights are just are intimidating, even if they're not actively moving. The EMT shuffles right by them with her usual light movements, trying to get out of their undooubtedly baleful stares hastily so she can instead get stared at by- "Q-Q-Queen?!" Even though this IS the final floor, Odette still manages to be surprised at being face to face with the Queen and... Somebody? Somebody clearly important enough to be speaking to Queen Liliana directly, anyway, and with enough sway to adjust her lines in the middle of everything. The movement of so many weapons gets a loud squeak out of her, and her hold on her duffel bag (that looks super out of place with her maid uniform) tightens as she hurries to the front of the group. "Q-q-quarters? Kneeli... O-oh! Right, y-yes, ma'am. Uh." Probably better to the play the part of the maid for now, right? Right. Keeping her gaze fixed on the ground, Odette stumbles briefly before settling down on one knee, maid disguise and all. "Th-these are the.. Um. Guests, ma'am! From... Th-that were invited!" What did they mention downstairs? Something about- "For the event! Shall I take them to their... Quarters, then? N-n-no need for any blood spilling here, that'll just create more work!"
Rita Ma	A side-door opens, closer to the throne. A cute little blonde vampire girl pokes her head out, two jars full of petals under her arms. Her face and ruffled white shirt are spattered with blood. "Queen Liliana! Queen Liliana! I got you the--" Beat. The gravity of the crackling confrontation in the offing strikes her. She makes brief, uncomfortable eye contact with some of the heroes. "-- well, um, I'll be back later!! Have fun!!" Heel-pivot, cape-swish out.
Ivy Carrow	"Wow . . . You know, you and the Queen have a lot in common." Ivy couldn't help but giggle a little at the praise. Her, like Lili--The queen? What more could she ever ask for? "This whole thing could have been a giant concrete doom fortress, right?...But it all has to be this way, right? This place was a boring little strip of nothing in nowhere...Then she paved it over with stories." This at least, sobered her up. She looks into the demoness' eyes. "It's not like I don't understand what you mean. This castle is beautiful. Loved. Precious..." She wavered, briefly, before her mind snags on something. "But...'Paved.'" She said, like she was tasting it. "I don't like that word." "Someone comes around," she makes a flippant little wave of her hand. "They tell you, 'this is what you can be. This is what your options are. This is what you're meant to be.' Do you ever wonder how many explorers, singers, painters...had to throw it all away to do a nine to five? Fill down their edges into something benign. Harmless." She sneered, real scorn creeping into her voice. "Banal." "Just one person can't come up with a story," she murmured. "You can't 'pave over' them. They are a conversation between you, and them. The listener. The participant. An intermingling of wills and blood." "The difference between putting yourself above people and letting yourself be changed, and molding them to match you, is the difference between a tourist and part of the world..." She lifted up her glassing, looking into the swirling liquid. She let herself imagine, for a moment, that it was blood. Licked at her lips. "...Between leech and symbiont." "Maybe it is 'safer' here...But you know, safety without choice...Will kill every 'you' that never had a chance to be." A sigh. Her shoulders fall, stricken by melancholy. "...Isn't it such a waste? I hate it..." "...Ivy." The voice slid in and out of her mind, sliding over gray matter without touching it. Something someone else heard, far away. Something related to someone else. "You're being an embarrassment. Ivy...?" "I swear..." The not-voice comes close to her ear, now, tense and disapproving. "...The Dame Commander will be so disappointed." "Huh?" For the first time, Ivy's eyes swung up and away from the demons in the lounge. "What? Why? Who--" "Especially if we get left behind." "I...No, I'm not. I was done. I was..." The demons latched hold of her purred in gentle voices. Another hand took Alex. "Hk--" Her will to leave was already melting away-- "Nina's anchor." Alex reminded, shutting his eyes to keep them from wandering. --And then they both disappeared.
Ivy Carrow	Ivy's knees buckled, nearly falling onto red carpet...Until Alex catches her arm. "Ngh...What..." "'It's like you don't trust me.'" Alex repeats, mercilessly. "'I can do THIS by myself, can't I?'" "I...Shut up." "You're the fucking CAPTAIN now, Ivy! You have command! I can't keep bailing you out like this!" "You aren't my fucking boss--" "--No. I'm not. I just...care about you." That, at least, got through to her. "Don't make me watch you get hurt like this." The frustration in his voice changed pitch, to pleading. "Please, Ivy." Ivy stared, speechless. Looked down, her expression hard to read. "...Let go." He did. They looked away from each other. Revealing Nina standing between them, eyes darting between the two like two parents that'd she'd walked in on fighting. "Um..." "...I'll try a little harder.." "I'm not asking you to change. Just let us keep you safe--" "Listen!" The two turned, at once, to look at Nina. "We're...In the middle of a mission...right? We should...We should keep...moving..." The last word trails off, feebly, pointing to the rest of party. Grimacing in tandem, the two of them manage to look abashed, before following behind. "If you would be so kind as to kneel in the presence of the Queen, I will be honoured to show you to your new quarters in an orderly and minimally painful fashion...It's the decent thing to do, you know, when in the presence of royalty. "I am honored, Ma'am. Never before I have I been accused of being decent." She remains unbowed. "But surely, it would be a mockery to adhere to customs that are not mine. Heaven forbid I make demands of you thus, as an intruder," Ivy declares, before demanding anyway, taking the woman's draw as cause enough to lay hands on her own blade's hilt. "Might I know who we speak to?" Alex stood by her side. ...Nina was kneeling beside Odette, trading wide-eyed looks with the medic as her superiors kept standing.
Angela	Is this the finale!? Already?? Well okay, actually the ore that Cinder thinks about it the more this has been a pretty grueling adventure so far. Her feet are aching, her body is aching, and she nearly passed out from heat exhaustion of all things but she still has that jewelry box with the rusted lock that she is very PROUD of finding and she's all smiles as she rushes back to Petra (Angela still on the pad). ''Say anything and I'll kill you.'' Cinder holds out the jewelry box she's gotten when she finally finds her. "I...found a key item!" She says instead of remarking on the outfit, offering the jewelry box to Petra. "I found it while fishing! It's gotta be important, right? I thought maybe you could jigger it open! Or uh.. .break the lock? off so it can be opened? I was worried if I tried melting it off I'd damage whatever's inside..." She bounces lightly on the balls of her feet. She's REALLY excited about this key item find. Well, she assumes it's a key item. "A pond is an unusual place to put a jewelry box," Angela says. "Ah, but ... I probably should not be giving input? In that case, disregard that." And then she quiets down until they make it to the evil lair situation. "Um, hey--we're here to uh--" "Hello." Angela says, primarily to the middle-aged woman. "I hope you do not mind if I watch." "You ... could help too, Angela...!" "No." Angela says. "But I wanted to observe what I could of the process so I can properly compliment the work put in." Nina and Odette are already kneeling, but Cinder is ... still holding her fishing rod. She looks at the fishing rod, then to the Queen, then back to the fishing rod and hastily hides it behind her back.
Timespace Riders	Sougo and Woz make clear from jump their intention not to help with any unnecessary fights and to instead go along with the waitstaff up the stairs. In this case, that'd be Petra, which, in keeping with her wishes, neither he nor Woz remark upon. Sougo is pretty adept at avoiding social entrapment by other guests--namely through the fact that he travels through time to surprise them with details about other guests he's spoken with/will speak to further down the hall. "Oh, I just spoke to her, haha! she was looking for you, actually. It seemed pretty important." "Have you heard from him...? He'd probably love to hear about..." "I've gotta speak with her about it, too--let's have lunch soon, though! I'm dying to try..." After a lot of time loops to glean details from guests further down the halls and surprise the ones currently waylaying the Riders with the airs of someone who's been here much longer, the Demon King and his retainer finally make the walk towards the last gate, only to find it barred. It's the decent thing to do, you know, when in the presence of royalty. Sougo smiles brightly. "Oh, um, we're not here to be shown to any quarters. Or to make nice with the Queen. This is to either stop her or become one of those little trophies she keeps. I'd obviously prefer the first! Haha. But, it's important to me that what she's doing encounters as much resistance as it possibly can." Beside him, Woz grabs Odette by the scruff of the neck and forces her upright. "Stand up, cur. If you wish to show your fealty, show it to my Demon King," he dispassionately intones, before returning his attention to the Queen and what he presumes is her most trusted retainer. He shoots Nina an acerbic side-eye, not deigning to reach out for her. "Aw, that's okay, Woz," Sougo chuckles. "She's just nervous. Understandably. Like I said, it's hard not to notice all the people that tried and failed before us. But," he says, procuring his transformation belt and putting it on, as his retainer does the same-- TIMESPACE DRIVER! BEYONDRIVER! "Humans were trying to get into space for centuries, through however many broken dreams, broken bones, before we finally managed to put someone up there. Why do you think that is, Odette? It wasn't because the people that finally managed it were special, or smarter, or wanted it more. It's because they were working together--not just with each other, but with the knowledge and craft of everyone that came before them." Sougo holds the twinned halves of the Zi-O II watch, silver-pink and black-gold, one in each hand, as he returns his attention towards the Queen's knight. "I don't want to fight you, but I also don't expect you to just roll over and let us threaten the queen. So I guess..." A synthwave keyboard melody plays, as two opposing sets of disembodied silver clocks flank Sougo on either side. The chronometer on the Driver's screen displays not a year, but an omen: NEXT. "Henshin." Sougo spins the bulky white Timespace Driver, briefly making eye contact with Ritescu as she enters. Two voices, tenor and bass, triumphantly sing, in chorus, as both sets of clocks collide to form a rapidly spinning silver-gold backdrop, shifting polychromatic armor appearing over his body: RIDER TIME! KAMEN RIDEEER.. (RIDER..!) ZI-O--ZI-O!! II! Opposite him, Woz slots his square-faced Miridewatch into the side port of his sleek, black-green driver. Action! Behind him, a laser grid constr
Sarracenia	Dead. She's dead. At least in the sim. And she took her friend with her. -AND- it seems if she was listening to her comrades she might have been able to avoid it! Of course, Sarracenia is pretty stubborn so that is really a 50/50. Or maybe a 60/40. So, now Sarra is sitting in the Paladin waiting area, watching on whatever screen is provided. She looks pretty unhappy as she sips/burbles on a cup of hot chocolate with whipped cream on top and a little chocolate syrup smiley face on top of that. She does not blame Aidan for not being here. She is not sure what she would even say to him right now anyway. They pulled each other out of the ghost rooms and then she got them both killed for basically nothing. One upside though is she gets to see Petra being forced to wear a maid's outfit. Sarra can't help a slight smirk, wondering if Petra has to wear such a thing anytime she is at Lilian's house. That only gives her mind a moment's reprieve from dwelling on her failure though. As Sougo told her, now they were down two heroes going into the final area and perhaps the final fight. Sarra hmphs a bit bitterly at that thought. "...do they even consider it a loss...?" she murmurs to herself. "...well, even if they do not...I was not a burden..." Sarra might be getting stares of people wondering why she is talking to herself. Rita being a cute vampire and Odette just being cute in general help lighten Sarra's mood some. The group is brought in to Queen Liliana Lycoris's throne room, and seemingly sentenced to instant execution. Or...not? They are going to be guests in the castle? Sarra peers at the screen suspiciously, burbling her hot chocolate again.
Timespace Riders	Opposite him, Woz slots his square-faced Miridewatch into the side port of his sleek, black-green driver. Action! Behind him, a laser grid constructs the holographic face of a smartwatch, as he closes the hatch with an artful flourish, holding his hand out towards the Queen's knight. "Henshin." Projecting! Future Time! The digital screen on his belt displays an image of his armor, moments before it is projected onto his body by the laser grid behind him, to the tune of a triumphant techno anthem. Amazing! Time! Future! KAMEN RIDER WOZ? WOZ?!
Powerpuff Girls	Blossom Utonium and Princess Delilah Morbucks III (first name Princess) had varying levels of exhaustion. While the Chemical X powered Blossom was still going fairly strong thanks to long experience with campaign length fights and episodes that were a more complicated than they appeared to be, Princess was not faring quite so well. The show always cut much of the struggle, even when they left some in. Nobody really needed to see every second of every issue, every minute of every crisis, every hour of work that couldn't just be zipped through, zapped away, or punched so hard it ceased to exist. Often, it was interactions with people that drained Blossom the most: Even if the Amoeba Boys and the Gangreen Gang classically were just normal living giant amoebas who did things like steal single oranges and quite green hoodlums who were better at music than crime. The long string of difficult battles and near-saves still didn't keep everyone pushing through the castle. Blossom was used to her powers being just one tool in her arsenal, but even saving her energy and pacing herself the emotional tax had become draining on top of the constant and esoteric angles of attack. She had sprung formed and glowing knowing what to do, and still was struck at how hard and often she had to work. Blossom was used to being a Powerpuff Girl - she had never not been - but usually the episodes ended... differently? Usually the episodes involved the trio of the Girls all, to a point, punching down. And then, there was Princess. Despite her Power Crown's simulation of a Chemical X like effect, Morbucks was underneath her layers of gold and hornet black still 'a human woman with an ego, attitude, issues' and not as invincible on the inside as her solar energy drinking suits were on the outside. The 'Hardened Heart' armor that she had debuted at the start had been put through more paces than any single armor system before had, and at the hands of General Satsui most recently the escalation to a hacked-in use of the Satellite Armor for a round two rematch left Princess doubtful a third would even be possible -- and that was just how she felt physically. Emotionally bottomed out by playing the hero and then failing to be the hero in the same pragmatic breath, she had whiled away a rest time next to a (hired) demon woman who had played kind ear and councilor towards her. Blossom had vaguely thought it was okay, vocally, but more to the point thought Princess needed a break. What Princess needed was a strong and unwatered drink fit enough to curl nosehairs and burn all the way down throat, enough to feel it for minutes after, and then a hot soak. What Princess 'needed' was for the fight to be over, and for her to get a grade from someone, from Blossom, that at least tied off the grinding disaster in slow motion of this-- --- Neither woman really engages the other as they escape the floors, Princess' flashing HUD alert that she's Being Sold To shutting off once she's clear of the dragging arms of devilish ladies. "When I asked you 'how much for you to leave' and you said 'stay a while' I do not think I stuttered!" Princess shouts, throwing a ten thousand dollar billfold behind her (clasped in a gold M, of course) in serialized crisp hundreds. "Here's a tip, and some cheap advice: I'm done negotiating and am not interested in solicitation!" "Really?" Blossom asks, dryly interested. "Not from them. Pushy salespeople put me off." Princess admits, but she is put off for a host of reasons. Seeing Ritescu in the hall, before the blood-mouthed 'vampire' dashes on, Blossom seems ready to fight, and Princess darkly gawks at the showing, eyes narrowing under pink crystal crown-visor before she misses her chance to start another boss fight before the boss fight they expect.
Powerpuff Girls	There's just a little more to get to, to enter the 'final' room, and both Townsville women arrive in a zip-click of speed to a unified step finish on the ground. Blossom on the right, Princess on the left, with the red Puff loosely crossing her arms and Princess slightly turned in profile with arms at sides. It's Princess that moves first, after the tabarded knight-captain announces intention and challenge. "This isn't an audience." Princess tone cuts flat. "She just told you to remove us. I'm not received, and I'm not heralded, and I'm not welcome, and I know it: So no." Princess has to tilt her head rather than shaking it, because otherwise her large hair-poms would bap Blossom in the back and that would break Morbucks' decorum. "You've got a nice place here, real pretty, real high class. It's too bad I've never listened to someone telling me to kindly give up, and I'm not starting now. So why don't you show the proper respect for royalty and stop treating us like wayward children." While Woz drags Odette up from the ground and the Rider duo flashily transform into their armored forms, Blossom turns slightly to look out of the corner of her eye at Princess' direly scowling look. "You could have skipped a sentence." Blossom asides, sotto voice. Princess' scowl doesn't break, and her eyes don't come off the knight-captain. "But I didn't want to." Blossom loosens her arms and closes her fists. "... Yeah. I didn't like it either." Blossom admits back, without continuing, and shifts ruby eyes forward herself.
Petra Soroka	There is a grim reality that comes along with Petra so thoroughly investing herself into the maid role for tactical reasons. When her heel sinks into the red carpet, it ceases to be an affect that she is quietly cowed and servile, and simply becomes true. Shallow breaths barely disturb the smoke hanging in the air, and though she doggedly keeps plodding forwards towards where the throne room must be, she's not an icon of heroic bravery at the moment. Her hands stay clasped in front of her lap, fingers anxiously woven together, and she comes to a stop a distance away from the throne with her eyes not lifting to dare look at the Queen. "It would seem to be that the unruly guests that Miss Ritescu spoke of have cut in line, your majesty. To say this is expected of them would be appropriate, but it still tries my imagination." Petra, who had been instinctively waiting to be addressed first, snaps her face up in shock and gasps. Staring at the woman with her eyes wide, Petra's exclamation slips out louder than her demeanor was meant to allow, but the role performance slips back into her mind a moment later when her hand comes up to cover her mouth. "Cec-- you're here too?" "Remove them at once." Petra takes a half-step back automatically, like the tone of Lilian's declaration alone was a mental assault she has to withstand. After her outburst, the smoke in front of her face has remained totally still with her breath caught in her throat. She glances around the room, catches Rita's eyes just before she turns around and leaves, and the thought occurs to her that she might be able to get away with doing the same, as if she really was just a maid. It could even theoretically be for a tactical reason, because obviously everyone here is a lost cause already, with Liliana looming over them like that. Surely she could do more by double-crossing the Queen later, than she could by stancing up at her now. "If you would be so kind as to kneel in the presence of the Queen, I will be honoured to show you to your new quarters in an orderly and minimally painful fashion." But, Petra's not a bitchmade loser like that. She shakes her head and takes a steady breath in and out, in a mental exercise to meld the atmosphere of the throne room with the correct behavioral paradigm in her mind-- heroism, not maid service. After a few seconds, she opens up her eyes and swallows past the tension in her throat, looking up at the purple-haired general while her voice only cracks a little bit. "N-no. I won't. And neither will anyone here." Petra pauses, and side-steps besides Odette, leaning down at the hip as little as she needs to grab her by the scruff of her shirt along with Woz and yank her back to her feet. At the same time, her shoe kicks back to slam Nina on the shoulder, bowling her to the ground. "None of them are. Because this is-- the crack team of retards that'll somehow stop Queen Liliana's mad plans. If they won't, I will. A-and I know that means we'll have to go through you, but..." Petra holds her hand out to the side, and Silver pours out of the cuffs of her dress sleeve and blossoms in her palms, solidifying into a glossy pair of sword and shield. She points it up at the woman to match her stance. "Queen Liliana won't have my fealty. No matter how hard you try and force me to kneel." She sounds cool for all of a few seconds, before the pressure builds up too high and she has to add, "Sorry."
Lilian Rook	The staff reaction to a very severe (and professional!) maid, and an utterly hapless (at least she's nice) maid, is nearly the same. They aren't indifferent to the difference in quality between Petra and Odette, but first and foremost is their duty to play their chosen role to its most perfect extent-- possibly for eternity-- and how they feel about those two must take second place. Thusly, they mind their own business, are courteous and accommodating, encourage Odette once or twice like a clueless junior, and simply assum Petra knows what she's doing and don't argue about it. That doesn't go for the 'guests', where a particularly determined horned woman (the same one, in fact), harasses her for a little while longer, and then ends on "Hey, what's the deal? You're a maid aren't you? That means you're free use." and holding her poker face just long enought to catch Petra's reaction, before she goes cackling off into the clear, tittering something about a camera angle? Their reception as maids in the hall is entirely different. Odette kneeling immediately, somehow, brings a smile to the woman's face. Unlike how Queen Liliana does it, hers is warmly considered, forgiving of the follies of youth; as she could silently convey 'I'm rooting for you' and 'I'm so proud' with just a look. "Thank you dear. I can tell just by looking that you're a good girl. However you got mixed up in all of this, if they threatened you or forced you; tell me all about it later. We'll get this all sorted, don't you worry." The instant that Odette's mental guard is lowered, Queen Liliana has only to glance her way, and everything else is shut out by a crushing immensity of psychic pressure that seems to black out the world around her. Rather than being crushed by absolute force, or puppeteered by strings of suggestion, it feels like being dragged down and falling. The danger straight ahead is both insurmountable and increasingly far away. The glow of being forgiven and praised is unbelievably warm and heavy. What she thought was the best decision at the time must be. She's unbelievably lucky. She's practically a genius. Simply by kneeling there-- by playing the part-- the part of her brain that wants her to run away is utterly fulfilled. Effortlessly, passively, at 9.81m/s^2, doing nothing at all but what she's told causes Odette to tumble further and further away from being hurt and scared, and towards the warm and bright relief of knowing everything will be fine forever if she just doesn't do anything stupid. She doesn't get a weird eye glow because that part is accomplished with stage effects. And yet, that woman is hardly any less warm to Petra, even with sword drawn. The way she looks at her; the minute widening of her eyes, the softly aghast parting of her lips, the subtle tense set of restraining unproductive thoughts; it's all almost exactly as if-- "Oh miss Petra. How did it come to this? You were always so diligent, so eager, such a quick learner . . . I really had high hopes for you, did you know? Showing yourself again, in that uniform once again . . . Don't you wish you could go back to the way things were? Just a little bit?" That's stage direction, right? It's . . . kind of confusing. The time to really think about it is while Ritescu scurries in and back out again. Liliana can spare just enough tention for a surreptitious wink and a little pinky finger kiss gesture.
Rita Ma	Ritescu thunks the wooden door shut behind her, then slumps back against it, breathing her relief. Thank goodness. Some nasty looks- I think Princess is going to be trouble if she comes back to the shop- but nobody took shots at her. Then she- that is, just Rita, now- slips back into the Paladins staging area from there, setting down the petal-jugs and grabbing a handful of napkins to wipe the stage blood off her face with. (Of course it's stage blood- we can't have her drooling!) "Mmmph. I messed that up a little," she murmurs discontentedly. When the napkins lower, she spies Sarra over them, and trots over with a vaguely discontented expression. "Did Aidan leave already, Ms. Sarracenia?" she says, slipping onto the chair next to her and drawing up her legs. She's not that much shorter than the princess, but her shrimped posture makes her look un-intimidatingly tiny. "I was going to ask if you wanted some more medicine, but..." Little uncomfortable shift. She doesn't know how to politely say 'you might need the company more'.
Lilian Rook	'Might I know who we speak to?' "Knight Captain Caecilia Rosa, at my lady's service." comes the bizarely formal introduction. How she can pinch a tabard with gauntlets on and move it like a half-curtsy is between her and god. "And it's never too late to be polite you know. The idea of taking knee to offend someone; I'm afraid that's all nonsense invented by penny dreadfuls, dear. Manners are manners, and even insincere ones are better than none at all!" 'Stand up, cur. If you wish to show your fealty, show it to my Demon King' "Now if you would kindly take your hand off of my staff." The Knight Captain flicks downward with the tip of her sword like a conductor's baton. At once, an impossibly heavy weight smashes you~¤ straight down against the floor; enough force to break all of Woz's bones without the suit. Except it doesn't. It kind of barely hurts at all. Like having your cheek pinched after being caught trying to sneak a cookie from the jar. The heavy pressure that pushes him down feels like he's just freshly sighed and resolved to go along with Sougo's whims. That kind of emptying of tension and energy takes the place of crippling injury and battle fatigue. 'None of them are. Because this is-- the crack team of retards that'll' "Language, Miss Petra." 'She just told you to remove us. I'm not received, and I'm not heralded, and I'm not welcome, and I know it: So no.' "Indeed! And I would be pleased to remove you with the least amount of disruption. There's nothing at all lost in asking once, you know?" she says, briefly skimming the surface of what, for an instant, chillingly feels like a fathomless ocean of experience on the subject, to tell Princess "Even if it only works once in a hundred tries, you're never in the wrong for using your words first. The worst thing someone can do is be rude, after all, and that makes it easier to be a little rough with them if you have to be." Blinking slowly, she turns her attention off Woz, thinks for a moment, and says to Princess "I think that one in hundred is a very fine game to play, seeing as you pay nothing, and sometimes you might win. Does what you're doing right now ever pay out? Can it make things better?" 'So why don't you show the proper respect for royalty and stop treating us like wayward children.' Caecilia sighs. "Must you monarchs all be like this? Beheadings this and treason that, war and honour and so on and such forth. Wouldn't you like to take a load off, even just once, and not insist that everyone be terrible to you?" she says. Twirling her sword around, she plants it point down in the marble with a theatrical clank. "At any rate, my respect for her majesty lies well above the respect due to royalty. Even if you are a Princess, it's the most natural thing in the world that I'd stand by my lady." -----[stop]----- "Oh my goddddddddddddd you don't have to be so-- Ceciliaaaaaaaa!" Lilian doubles onto the arm of the throne, smooshing her face into her palms. "I'm going to die! I'm going to get diabetes and go into hyperglycemic shock! Come on!!! We went over thiiiis! We're the bad guys!!!!" -----[start]----- '"Queen Liliana won't have my fealty. No matter how hard you try and force me to kneel.' "Then I suppose I'll have your head." says Queen Liliana, having moved not at all but for a dismissive brush of her hand. "Do with the others as you please, but kill the traitor, Caecilia. You know there's nothing I loathe more."
Angela	Cinder has to admire Woz and Petra taking such a strong initiative--even if Petra stammered. Well, it's a strong initiative to her. She isn't really thinking much about Sarracenia, in fact! Though this is less out of spite or disgust but because A) She's pretty sure she's not really dead and B) She's kind of caught up in the current situation enough (and the fishing prize) that she's not dwelling on something that took place, like, HOURS ago. Angela did not immediately introduce herself to Cecilia and didn't say 'hi Cecilia', nor does she even smile at her but she does look at her for an extended period of time in a stare that would be impolite if her eyes were just a little harder. Her expression is faintly fond before she closes her eyes and resets her features back to neutral. ''Don't you wish you could go back to the way things were? Just a little bit?'' "...The way things were?" Cinder asks. "...Is this .... your backstory?" She asks of Petra. Angela's gaze snaps to Petra questioningly. Yes, her stare says, what IS your backstory? ''Must you monarchs all be like this? Beheadings this and treason that'' "Um--Actually, I wanted to ask about that...? Your um, general mentioned that there were some kind of peacetalks going on? Or I guess a general from a different kingdom--" Cinder begins. " Angela stares at Petra through the entire timestop. ''Then I suppose I'll have your head. ... Kill the traitor, Caecilia.'' "h..hey, no way!" Cinder draws out Fourth Match Flame. "Y--you can't do that! Even if she ... used to work for you?" She sounds unsure, looking back to Petra for confirmation.
Sarracenia	At least one person kneels to the Queen, and Sarra has much the same reaction as Petra and Woz. She is on her feet in an instant. "No, Odette!! That is what she wants!!" she exclaims quite loudly. Then...she realizes Petra and Woz were the ones having that reaction. "What the-...they were the ones that told me not to say those things to-" Speaking of Rita, Sarra yelps in surprise as Rita appears out of nowhere. "Ah! Rita!" she exclaims, then huffs softly and sits back down. "Yes, I think so...I can understand why he did not want to stay around with me after that. I will have to buy him so many vegan snacks or something after this." she says. She offers a light smile toward Rita. "No, I do not need any more medicine." she says, despite still having some bandages lingering on her arms. There may be more, but her dress hides any others. Except for one on her cheek quite close to her eye. "Would you care for some hot chocolate? Do you have time before you have to get back?" Sarra asks, and Gregory the piranha plant butler waddles over with a small cart full of hot chocolate supplies. 'Indeed! And I would be pleased to remove you with the least amount of disruption. There's nothing at all lost in asking once, you know? Even if it only works once in a hundred tries, you're never in the wrong for using your words first. The worst thing someone can do is be rude, after all, and that makes it easier to be a little rough with them if you have to be.' Sarra coughs into her cocoa and points -SO HARD- at the screen. "Did you hear that?! Even her minions agree with me!!" she exclaims, then blinks and draws back. "...wait, but...this is a simulation. What if she does not think that at all?" Sarra looks to Rita. "Do you think that is correct? That statement is -literally- the beginning of all of the trouble between Lilian and myself over the years."
Ivy Carrow	He shoots Nina an acerbic side-eye, not deigning to reach out for her. Also more devastating to the junior runner than outright condemnation was, "It's not her fault," Ivy didn't take her eyes off of their foe. But there was note of disappointment that cut through her voice. "If I overestimated how ready she was." Ivy glanced sideways at Sougo. Winked. "Stay down. We'll take it from here." Ivy hesitated, briefly, they prepared for this, Don't hesitate, before sliding her sword from its sheathe in a slow, metallic sound. She flourished her blade--A useless, showy gesture. And while that sword glittered in the eerie ambience of the castle, red tears opened all at once, like bleeding wounds in reality. They surrounded the queen and general on all sides, bleeding like open wounds. This one, out to the rooftops of the town around them. This one, in the empty hall of the clocktower. This one, to the gate in front of the castle. And a dozen others, different locations within this very hall... Including passages from Sougo, Woz, and all the other elites... right behind the throne.
Lilian Rook	The 'as you wish' is implicit. It fits perfectly in the gap between when Queen Liliana gives the order, Cecilia swipes her sword, and the black knights leap into action ahead of her. One had been 'trouble for' an Elite in the town below. These are worse. It's in the subtle lack of delay between their orders and their intent; a more complete assimilation into the militant extension of the enemy. It's in the newly forged armour; some of the few new-models from the foundry, their mass production suspended. It's in the increased number of stained glass petals embedded into the emblem over the heart; the filigree etched into the plate channels a greater flow of power. It's in the way that they all act in perfect unison as a living piece of the Knight Captain's will; perhaps even the one who conditioned and trained them in the first place. Elite troopers with high grade superhumanity and perfect swordplay are one thing already. The way that they attack like limbs of the same organism is another. One attacks Princess' jet boots and knees from the side, while another jumps to intercept her taking off, and another lunges behind her to slash through a retreat. Two flank Sougou from opposite sides, one attacking while one attempts to disarm him, whilst a third and fourth tackle Woz away from him, gripping his scarf and book in HEMA fashion. Knights move to flank the portals opened by Ivy, whilst two rush down the length of the hall to hit her with overlapping X-slashes, sliding or sprinting past on both sides. Cinder is battered towards the corner with the overwhelming strength of one steering her away. Blossom is surrounded by a perfect ring all at once, with a single gap, directly towards Caecilia, attacking three at a time from oblique angles, in a sequence so fast that you'd normally have to memorize it, not react. The third part-- that they're innocent villagers trapped inside the suits-- is what makes it really hard. On top of the fact that Lilian must have hired experts and drilled them in this backstage (right?), they're already very hard to damage, through the magical armour, but going slightly too far is asking to badly injure the surely much more fragile person inside. And Caecilia isn't making it easy, either. A telekinetic(?) blast is first aimed at Blossom, pushing her directly away from rescuing Princess with incredible force. While she holds it, she advances on Petra, slowly and surely as death. With her swordless hand, she gestures towards each of the mini-gates being opened up, and they're overwritten one by one with a clean floor, freshly lit incense, and not a speck of dust glimmering in the god rays. Each closed portal makes a sound exactly like a heavy curtain being drawn shut. At Petra herself, Caecilia hesitates for just a second, then brings her sword down as nearly a formality. It doesn't actually need to hit her. She's swinging a gigantic blade of invisible stellar pressure with it. Swishing it back and forth is all she needs to hurl Petra into the walls, ceiling, and floor. Any cracks or dents are buffed out instantly, cleaned away with a snap of her fingers.
Odette Raskins	The danger of pretending to be maid becomes far more apparent to Odette once she starts getting more attention from the guests than expected. Maids are supposed to be beautiful and fearsome fighters, but she's not sure how to do either of those things. She's pretty sure beating up any of the guests would be frowned upon if she could even manage it, and the horned woman's comments just get even more of a confused look from Odette. Really, she's not even sure where to start asking questions. Mental note: Ask Petra about what all that stuff about cameras and free use meant later. Oh, there's Rita! Ritescu. Blinking slowly at all the blood on her face and clothes, Odette stares straight at her for a moment before looking back over at the mysterious black knight. "D... Does she need a change of clothes? O-or a... Um." Maybe it's better not to draw more attention that way. She did look a little awkward being there after seeing everyone here. Odette clears her throat, then looks back down once more. Not being the only one acting as directed does actually help her feel a bit more comfortable, although she doesn't dare say that to Nina. At most, she flashes her brief sympathetic smile, but it's the mysterious captain's smile and words that actually have her managing to maintain eye contact for more than zero seconds. Almost immediately, she can tell this is someone she really needs to get on the good side of, lest she wind up on the wrong end of her sword and then some. Despite that, she also feels herself put at ease, and her posture even in that kneel straightens up a bit here, firms up a bit there, and her arm even goes across her waist like a proper-wait, that's the butler stance with the hand across the waist. "Th... Threatened? Good? I-" Indeed, Odette's mental guard comes down, and she glances sideways at the just the right moment for Queen Liliana to blot out everything but thoughts of escaping this situation. Weirdly enough, it certainly feels like escaping would be easier by doing anything but moving at all, and that warmth would be suffocating if it wasn't so inviting. Really, what was she even thinking doing all this? Sure, she's been a big help in getting everyone here, but she's not a hero like everyone else. She's just a normie medic, and she's played her part. Now? All she has to do is stay right where she is, like a good girl who's going to survive past this and live on comfortably.
Odette Raskins	Sadly, her welcome moment of peace is cut short with another terrified squeak when Woz and Petra both yank her right back to her feet. "H-huh?! B-but if we stay where we... Wh-what about what Mister Sougo said about all those other people? The bones, and the..." Odette's still trembling as she tries to sort herself out between the lingering terror of going against the captain and the Queen, the desire to actually do something worthwhile, and trying to rally around what Sougo's saying. Really, though, how's someone like her even supposed to match up against someone that has THAT many trophies?! Then again, maybe he's going somewhere with these questions about space. It's certainly confusing enough at first to get her to calm down a bit, even if there's not quite enough space to answer him right away (although she certainly does try). "B-because someone had to.. Er. Show what didn't work before others could..." There's just enough time to think about why he brings it up to get that eureka moment when he spells it out, too, drawing a light "ohhh, okay yeah I get it" from the medical maid. "Th-th-then we're really going to fight, huh? Hhh... I-I'm okay. I got this." Odette lies through her chattering teeth, not sounding at all like she's ready for a fight. Really, she just wants to go back to kneeling, but she knows that'd be betraying the people outside. Heck, it'd even be betraying the purpose of this entire simulation! Princess' more direct confrontation of the pair does get the beginning of a grin forming at the corner of her face, though, and she actually looks up and over at Petra when she says something cool. "... Pog." Odette murmurs under her breath, catches herself, then clears her throat loudly before looking up at the captain just as she calls her- "-my staff." Caecilia really isn't making it any easier for Odette. How could she betray the Knight Captain after THAT? Even though she's only met her as of a minute ago, Odette's already prepared to lay down her life for this lady, but... "S... Sorry, Knight Captain. I-" She pauses to pace herself instead of just rambling right away. "I made a promise to someone even above y... You, and the Queen that I'd do my darndest here. Th... That I'd get to the bottom of all this, and that I wouldn't give up, n-no matter how tempting it is." She probably would have failed that several times over by now if she was left to her own devices, but still. "A-and even though you're... Um. Super cool and all, I still have to stick to my word and face you h... Head on!" She's been staring at Caecilia's ankles this entire time. Odette doesn't dare risk looking up and seeing a disappointed look on her face, or even vaguely in Queen Liliana's direction. She's not willing to roll the dice on whether that alone would get her killed on the spot.
Angela	''... Pog.'' Angela's head snapsto Odette and she says, "I heard that!" Though ... does that really matter? She sounds--not exactly mad, but definitely scolding about it. Judgemental. It's unclear if it's because Odette used the word 'Pog' or because of the situation she is Pogging Out Over. Cinder is bashed away or perhaps more accurately, out of the way. She hops on her one foot as she threatens to tumble over onto her back. But Fourth Match Flame is still in her ands and that means she doesn't exactly need to be in close range to strike. With a flick of her wrist, a wave of flame ERUPTS out of Fourth Match Flame, aiming to heat up and burn through their armor--rather than close into melee, she actually keeps her distance, relying on blazing swipes to bring the harm onto them. She focuses on trying to take on knights that are busy with other Elites rather than dueling them herself. If she has learned one thing from Ash--it's that she can really shine when supporting others by being super unfair about everything. She is definitely not fighting with honor. This pulls the Angelapad away from Odette but she is still staring at her. "I will not forget." She promises. "I will ''never'' forget."
Rita Ma	"I don't think you have to 'make it up to him', Ms. Sarracenia." Rita smiles uneasily from around her knees. "He stood with you just because he wanted to. Maybe you could say 'thank you', but not 'sorry'." Hot chocolate? Her smile gets bigger- especially when she sees Gregory, after the initial startle! "Oh! He's really well-trained!"- but then it gets sadder, as she properly sits back up and stares wistfully at the tray. "Oh. It smells really nice, but... I can't. There's lots of things I can't eat these days." She stares at it longingly for a moment, anyway. "Health problems." Which would sound like a confession of being a vampire, if Sarra didn't already know otherwise. "There's nothing at all lost in asking once, you know?" "Do you think that is correct?" The outburst leaves her blinkingly confused, then sympathetically smiling down at her lap. Her fingers tap her knees. She takes a long moment to think, while Cecilia does psychic violence to people on the waiting-room TV. "Ms. Sarracenia... I really don't know anything about why you and Ms. Rook don't get along. You've both been around longer than I have. I'm just on 'her side' because I like her a lot. But..." "I think both of you feel like you 'already asked once'. And being nice any more would be like begging, or something. 'Well, if she won't make nice for once, I don't need her'. It's like that, isn't it?"
Petra Soroka	BEFORE THE THRONE ROOM. . . "Or uh.. .break the lock? off so it can be opened? I was worried if I tried melting it off I'd damage whatever's inside..." Somehow, Cinder is the person that Petra can least be in a maid outfit around. The embarrassment of being Seen, while in a cutesy obedient role, without the stabilizing force of a powerful woman that Petra respects to center her behavior around, has Petra wobblingly uncertain in her bit solely around Cinder. It's a little cute, that she's tugging at the collar of the dress and fidgeting with the skirt hem with Cinder, but the downside is that her effectively maidly demeanor melts away into her typical crassness when Cinder calls her over to look at the box. "Oh, shit? No way that wasn't there for a reason. Gimme it and I'll try working the lock off later." Petra straightens up abruptly at the sound of one of the black knights walking over, and hastily hides the box behind her back. Smiling as pleasantly as she can, Petra slowwwwwwly leans back to press the box against the floor-to-ceiling stained glass window, hoping that Qetra will yank the reflection out of her hands, while deflecting the guard. "Nothing to worry about here, sir. These honored guests were just being led to their rooms." "Hey, what's the deal? You're a maid aren't you? That means you're free use." Over the course of being teased by the demon woman, Petra bunched up more and more of her dress in a white-knuckled grip of trying to stay normal, and when that line is wielded against her she freezes completely. The Elites don't need mind-reading to see the thoughts scrolling behind her eyes while she tries to process that one. That's just a joke. Right? Lilian wouldn't do that, right? But-- but on the other hand, if she only hired maids who-- like, with her thing-- would she? That's way too much for something that she knows these creeps would see too, right? But she's playing a character. Maybe the character of Queen Liliana is-- that would make sense, wouldn't it? Playing up her own existing traits more, and more villainously. So, so, maybe Petra needs to play along, in order to not break her disguise-- Oh, thank god. Petra was in hitstun long enough that the punchline came and went. She laughs awkwardly along, glances at the Elites, and then rubs her palm across her face to become normal again. THRONE ROOM: "Oh miss Petra. How did it come to this?" Oh. Oh no. Petra's improvised lines and incidental emotional connections to all the previous generals have finally come back to haunt her. Her first thought in the tinnitus-ringing emotional impact of having that gently disappointed voice directed at her is a deep regret that she didn't come up with a character name at the start, because now, all of this is aimed at 'Petra'. "Don't you wish you could go back to the way things were? Just a little bit?" Her sword wavers, and her eyes drop down to the ground. The layer of emotional disaffection created by 'knowing' it's just a simulation sags and collapses under Caecilia's look. "L-lady Ce-- Caecilia. I don't want to fight you. B-but, it doesn't matter what I want, just like with that. I'm here doing what I have to do. Please don't ask me to argue for it too."
Petra Soroka	"Language, Miss Petra." "S-sorry, ma'am." Petra apologizes reflexively, then hesitates and wonders if she should take it back. She turns it over in her mind, and each time she does, the mental delay brought on by the fake scenario gets shorter and less relevant. Her emotions snap into place, and she closes her eyes and sighs. "I mean that. We might be, opposed now, but I promise I won't abandon everything you taught me just because of that. The things that were important to me still are. Just, I've grown up more, and I know my place in the world better, and there's other things that are important to me now too." After a few seconds of grappling with the fact that real tears are stinging in the corners of her eyes, she gasps and adds, "But seriously, if you met some of these people--!" "Do with the others as you please, but kill the traitor, Caecilia. You know there's nothing I loathe more." Petra retightens her grip on her sword and swings it down to her side declaratively. "I'm not a traitor. I'm not. Not to you, not to anyone; not right now. Because," She takes a deep breath. "Because I'm the same as you, Lady Caecilia! There's someone I care about more than any royalty, or anything in my past, or anything else! I don't need to make any arguments about why I'm here other than that. Because that person wanting me to be here, and telling me to do this, is enough." "And that person isn't you, Queen Liliana." That's an answer to Cinder and Angela's curiosity too, sort of. Does that even count as a backstory? Petra looks fully invested in the acting of it too, which is pretty impressive. If the knights hadn't cut off the avenue for Petra to confront Caecilia herself immediately, it's still not certain whether she would've had the guts to. After shoving a knight away with a shield slam that embeds the spike into their armor and keeps them connected to Petra by a semifluid trail, Cinder can see Petra quickly wipe her eye with the back of her hand. "Don't bother with 'you can't', or anything like that, Cinder. That sort of thing never works, but especially not with someone like the Knight Captain. She's a lot more certain about it than you are." The spike-trail retracts violently, hooking the knight back in to a second jab of Petra's sword that knocks them down, without any regard for the person trapped inside. A ripple across her shield frees the armor from being impaled and lets it collapse off, and then for a moment, she's clear for Caecilia to approach her. Expecting the blade rather than the telekinetic force, Petra is thrown hard into the wall, maid dress lacerated all over by the impact. When Caecilia swings again, though, and while Petra is still dazedly pulling herself back to her feet, there's a brief crackle of her numbing aura that cuts out right before she appears, standing on the safe side beyond the invisible telekinetic blade. She sways on her feet for a moment, and then tries to close the distance with little booster pads of Silver puddles dripping from her sword to form right beneath her feet.
Powerpuff Girls	'Because this is-- the crack team of retards that'll somehow stop Queen Liliana's mad plans.' Princess and Blossom, together, give Petra a look simultaneously at the comment timed to the Knight Captain's 'Language.' and feel similar emotions, though Blossom forks to rolling-eyed exasperation and Princess clenches her jaw. "Thanks for the vote of confidence." Princess asides, between teeth. 'If they won't, I will.' "I take it back." Princess adds after. She's feeling startlingly unthankful and the hackles keeps her sharp and focused. Processing aggression let her forget her own state of weariness. That, and being very, very insulted on her own behalf. "You're insulting." Princess declares dryly to the Knight Captain. "And you're smiling while you do it. Rubbing your hands and closing your eyes and smiling at me. Like you know better. Like you are better. And you know what? Your Black Swan garbage game theory nonsense about asking nice first? It's cute, real cute, except I'm not stupid." Blossom's stance shifts with the pressure slamming into Woz, shifting in a blurry flash of skintone and orange hair that doesn't get to a zap to 'block' the effect with herself and is surprised when the effect does not 'shoot out' but 'fall down', surprised at a 'knight' applying such effects clearly with the widening of her eyes. Princess just keeps Posting. "I know it brings you joy you damn secretary, because this is the one time people like you get to 'try nice' with people like me. You're not who I'm here to see." "But I'm paying attention." Princess jams her thumb onto her collar, taking a step forward. "It's my first name, moron, just like your spymaster figured out. Or did you not care? Was it not important for you to figure out? Did you forget to do your research?? Or do you just think I'm an idiot you can roll around in your hand and win on the table?!" "It's people like you that disgust me more than any real Villain." From almost-shouting to ice cold, Princess's gaze turns to Odette. "Get the F@& up, Odette, she's laughing at how weak you are while smiling!" "Language." Blossom echoes faintly, the situation turning heavily south. Particularly from getting force blasted against her existing interposing block just affected all the way to the back wall, veeeeem'd by gravity-blast with an audible outcry of effort that bears the weight primarly on her pushing-against arms. She grapples with it more and more literally as the Knight Captain hammers her, but while the direct attention is on Blossom, Princess is exposed to the Knights. That suits Princess fine. "But you know what? You're right. On one thing, you're right. You're playing games -- and the worst thing to be is rude* about it." As a human being, Princess' reflexes are mechanically advanced several thousand times to keep up with the speeds required to match the Powerpuffs. Fed data and flow via advanced combat computer assist, the fourteen years of execution practice is part of what sets her apart from most power suit lunatics. Denied both the plant of both feet and the burst of her flight jets, Princess's escape vector is straight through. The gold in her dress shift-shimmers with a mirage of heat and metallic smear of yellow-about-black with the lift-and-violent-step of boot crushingly down on the attack meant to disable her right bootjet, cocking her knee and turning toe while the emitter buried in the arch flares into a crackling jetstream.
Powerpuff Girls	Exploding from step to rising fan kick, Princess keeps braced leg planted while the jetwash from her overloaded boot surges into an anti-aerial foooom! of superheated gases that skids the power armored woman back. Still, there's a third behind her, and on one leg she can't balance, pivot, and react. Forearm raised to take third sword swing, Princess cedes her position entirely, a fractional-second launch from standing position to take the impact while moving with it. Spun out from the slash and controlling with palms, Princess lands once more on solid ground with a step-skip of physically running, a spread of pink-crackling plasma orbs lifting from her shoulders like hanging wings of ornaments and arcing back towards the retreat-cutting pursuit knight as a barrage of dotty-crackling danger. Her angle towards the Ivy portals that aren't behind her is cut off by the closing curtain effect, so the flightboosting Princess cartwheels over to dive kick into fourth knight. "Oh you've got a weak part in here, don't you?!" Princess challenges, a dynamo charge wreathing the power crowned poster in body thunder that erupts from the kick into the armored knight fit enough to pause a Powerpuff -- towards the Knight Captain herself, trying to angle a partially disabled knight against the head of the group to check her reaction.
Ivy Carrow	"I wonder, what your servants could have been, if you let them find what they could be, instead of telling them what they had to." Ivy said, recalling her conversation with the demons. "Is the only choice you can offer them a safer master than the one they already had? Do you have such little ambition...?" "Or should they just be quietly grateful their whole lives because you took possession a fate that they never got to pick--?" Then, she can't spare the breath. Ivy is on the backfoot, immediately. She tries to step through a hole in the air--and it SHUTS behind her. She tsks, and one of the Black Knights is on her. Alex at her back, trying to cover her with his own blade...But mostly, it makes clear the absolute gulf between them. For a human, Ivy is fit. She's strong. But she's just that; human. Which makes her movements more, not less, impressive. One moment she's standing, sword outstretched, cloak draped across one arm. The next, she's a flurry of lines, cutting through the air. A flurry of razor sharp points. But, it quickly becomes clear, she's not going for the kill. Her blade intercepts blade, curving its path out of the air at the last minute. She throws her cloak in the air in front of one of the others, a devastating blow disappearing into its void before she appears to pick it up and continue. The simple fact is, Ivy just doesn't have what it takes to put the black knights down without hurting the people inside. Even her blood curses, such as they were, needed to get into the bloodstream--or the mouth--and she just...wasn't willing to force that on people who didn't WANT to fight. But that didn't mean there was nothing she could do. Caecilia might be able to undo everything Ivy could muster, but that didn't mean it was effortless. She drew on the hungering thing in her castle once more, pitting its domain against the general's. Castle masonry rippled in the struggle, lunged upward, trapping a black knight trying to block Petra's path in a room with no exits. Alex held out his hand--Another tear opened up near the demon king an ambush, forcing the general to split her attention to shut it or let it ride. "Go!" They'd open a path. They had to.
Timespace Riders	Now if you would kindly take your hand off of my staff. Woz crashes into the floor. Zi-O gasps, but the fact that the suit doesn't spray up sparks seems to confuse both him and Woz alike. Only for a moment--Woz is nothing if not a consummate Poster. "Worry not, my Demon King. There is no force in the universe they could bear against me which could make me regret my place at your side." More than that, the retainer will not be knelt or bowed towards someone who is not Sougo Tokiwa without every ounce of his body having its say against the matter. His bones aren't broken--but even if they were, his muscles would still twitch in defiance, and even if those were flensed wholly, his nerves would still berate them and demand they comply. And so, thougyh he has gone along with Sougo's whims, he rises, putting the suit's strength against the force brought to bear against him, rising inch by inch. Even if you are a Princess, it's the most natural thing in the world that I'd stand by my lady. "So you do understand. Excellent," says Woz, on his feet and making a show of brushing his shoulders off and switching to the SHINOBI armor just before he's tackled to the ground. "Most ingenious of you," Woz complements. "However... such a strategem reveals your hand." Though the knights grip the armor's iridescent scarf, the fact remains that it is a scarf. With a flick from Woz, the garment spools between the grasping fingers of the trooper and makes a beeline for Caecilia--specifically for the wrist of her sword arm. Could that be what's controlling them? Without the book, he can't look up exactly what is, but you don't need a book of prophecy for trial and error. "Hey Princess," calls Zi-O. "Looks like they don't want us using those portals--but it's not like we have to go through ourselves to use them, is it?" His sword is knocked aside, but he shoulder tosses one of the knights into the other before he can lose his energy pistol, too. GHOST! After a snap kick to ward off a sweeping weapon, Zi-O fires off a cluster of homing hoodie-clad ghosts with lantern eyes, all of them swirling through the air and flying through the portals. It's true that the armor suits are flanking them, but they're so large and the ghosts so numerous and small that a few are bound to sweep between legs, under swinging weapons, past heads--all on their way to Caecilia's sword. "We've gotta find out what's controlling those things--we can't fight all of them and her! Give me some help here!"
Timespace Riders	"Have you ever read Engels?" Zi-O calls, juking a sweeping weapon followed up by a real haymaker from the Demon King aimed at knocking a suit of armor off balance. A sweep from his leg buys him enough time for more triggerpulls. "He talks about the concept of 'sozialer mord'--or 'social murder.' Instead of attacking someone directly, physically," he continues, deflecting a weapon with his pistol, elbowing to drive the armor farther and firing another volley of ghosts, "You do it with the economy,"he says, punctuating a jumping back kick, "The political machine," punctuating a followup sweep, "The economy..." "I think even people that don't read books are pretty aware of that," he says, evading a downward strike with a backflip and taking the opportunity to fire a few more shots. He must have been listening to the advice given to Angela about fighting as a villain--every opening he gives himself is purely to try and focus down Caecilia. "They know the kind of power their rulers have over them." "So let me ask you something. If things are going to be so great, then why is everyone out there who still thinks their own thoughts so scared? Why do none of the people out there feel like the Queen wants what's best for them?" "Is it 'because they're stupid?' Because 'whatever they've lost now,'" he continues, with a rising knee and another triggerpull, "'Is nothing compared to everything they stand to gain?'" "If your people--the people you're supposed to protect and provide and better the world for--are scared of you, unless you reach into their heads and rearrange everything, which is a form of violence--it's because you're a bad ruler."
Sarracenia	'I don't think you have to 'make it up to him', Ms. Sarracenia.' Sarra does not look so sure about that, but does nod slightly. "Right...thank you." she says. "I should definitely say that." 'Oh! He's really well-trained!' Sarra smiles at that. "Gregory is a very capable butler who always does his best. He has had quite a bit of influence on me over the years." '...I can't' Sarra blinks, then smiles sadly. "Ah, of course. Forgive me." she says. "So...what do you actually-" Sarra's incoming question about Rita's diet is headed off by the response to her outburst. Sarra is quiet a moment, then sighs softly. "I...suppose it is like that. And the few times I have tried to meet her half way it did...not go well. Though, that is not really what I meant. But, I think that answers it anyway." Sarra sinks down in her chair a bit. "I am hoping that the Trideag Association will dull at least some of the hostility, but...it seems unwise to get my hopes up after all this time. You and Xion both have my thanks for treating me like a...well...a person." Gregory bows politely as the hot chocolate is declined. "Is there something we could get that would be more to your liking?" he asks. He does not really know Rita beyond her name, after all. The fighting starts in earnest, and Sarra watches intently. "...if they lose because Aidan and I are not there...it seems unlikely, but...if that happens the blame...it will fall on me..." she says quietly.
Rita Ma	Rita holds out her hand for Gregory to shake! With his... leaf. Probably. "Oh. I'm sorry, Mr. Greg. That was probably a little rude of me." Referring to a butler like a trained animal, that is. Swiveling her attention back over to the princess, Rita hunches forward and rests her chin in her hands. There's that careful-sympathetic-polite demeanor again. "Mmmm... I think she's been impressed with you at Trideag, Ms. Sarracenia. But she isn't sure yet if things have changed for good, or if this just just a one-time surprise. If you keep it up, she'll be happy." "'Like a person'... well, you're welcome, I guess?" Faint smile, shoulders push up. Eyes shut. "I don't think Ms. Rook wants to dislike you. I think... she's just someone whose life made her do too much 'begging' already. You know? So--" George speaks, and Rita almost falls backwards off her chair. Her napkins flutter through the air. "Aaah! I-- I'm sorry. I wasn't sure you spoke. Um, ah..." She wiggles a little in her seat. Answering his question, and Sarra's earlier one, with a little embarrassment: "I can't have vegetable proteins. Or dairy. Or lots of sugars. Or cooked things. So..." Wait, that sounds like she's asking for-- "Blood! Or raw meat. Um, but water's also fine. Do you have sashimi or something? I think the office fridge has some more of my 'juiceboxes'..." "if that happens the blame...it will fall on me..." After that, she carries on with only a little embarrassment. "Well, everyone makes mistakes. Isn't it the point of a simulation to mess up safely?" Perky as always! And a tiny bit ruthless. "But you can be proud of helping for as long as you were able. It's better that they had you at all, right?"
Lilian Rook	'S... Sorry, Knight Captain. I-' "I don't give second chances to those who bite the hand outstretched to them." says Queen Liliana. Whatever the Knight Captain may have said to Odette is overruled; rather, it's unnecessary, because anything she would say would be kind, and this situation calls for nothing but the hard truth. "Regret your actions in Hell." 'And that person isn't you, Queen Liliana.' And yet, that, from Petra of all people, dressed up as a maid of all things, moves Queen Liliana to lofting one solitary eyebrow. The communication of what that means is an unspoken one. 'You're insulting. And you're smiling while you do it. Rubbing your hands and closing your eyes and smiling at me. Like you know better. Like you are better. And you know what?' "If that's how you choose to think of it, then that's your decision, dear." says Caecilia. "It seems like a very unhappy way to be. But now I've asked once, so this is a disagreement, and not a debate." Why is she talking like that. Who is it for? "It's just a shame, that's all." 'It's my first name, moron, just like your spymaster figured out. Or did you not care?' "I think you should decide whether you want to be 'like royalty' or not." 'I wonder, what your servants could have been, if you let them find what they could be, instead of telling them what they had to.' "Nothing." says the Queen, as the battle unfolds. Her voice cuts through the noise with knifelike precision in timing. "With infinite freedom, most will choose to be nothing. Your misunderstood, beautiful souls are an endangered species, you know. And only fools like you can't tell them apart." "Your world is indiscriminate in whom it renders into nothing. I am selective. And even then, I make them into something; more than they'd ever become on their own. How kind I am~" 'So let me ask you something. If things are going to be so great, then why is everyone out there who still thinks their own thoughts so scared? Why do none of the people out there feel like the Queen wants what's best for them?' "Hmm?" The Queen turns her head by a fraction of an inch, glancing out of the corner of her eye, like the answer is so perfectly obvious that asking the question is unusually stupid for Sougo. "Obviously it's because they're stupid. They're afraid because they were told to be afraid before I ever arrived. They think what's best for them is a pointless, hard-scrabble existence that amounts to nothing; because then it's 'theirs', haven't you heard?" "For your lovely little 'social murder' to exist, stupid, fearful, helpless people, who can't think an original thought and are terrified of anything changing, first must invent it, then must serve as the gears that actuate it." Queen Liliana sighs. "That hypocrisy of yours is one I'll truly never understand. In order to detest the people that poison 'society', you have to detest the fact that most would do the same thing in the same position. Being choosy is intellectual laziness, not to mention dishonest." "Society doesn't select only the evil to rise to the top. It doesn't have will or sight or choice of its own, and everything that happens is a reflection of the people within it. It emerges from them. The exceptions are scattered randomly, too few to matter; if you are to free them from it, first you must obliterate 'society'."
Lilian Rook	Petra drops one of the black knights at her feet. Setting her eyes on Caecilia, the first blow is as-expected, the second seems to surprise her after Petra knew how to dodge it. "My my, it seems I taught you well!" she says, almost enthused. "But aren't you making a mess? At least that, you should be able to do without." She snaps her figers, and the Silver booster pads are wiped clean with the phantom sound of scrubbing, leaving Petra stepping on inert tile again. The second and third swings come faster, battering her body and will to fight. And then the knight she impaled stands up, clutching the hole and walking forward as if they barely feel pain. Hurling one of the knights at Caecilia gets her attention. Reflexively, she responds to 'something going wrong' and 'someone needing help' on a much better engrained level than focusing on (play) battle. They slow down as if underwater as they approach Caecilia, who urgently takes hold of them, apparently unaffected by the radiant heat. Holding them reflexively in her sword arm, unused to keeping it free, she uses the other to aggressively clash against Ivy's disruption of the terrain, exasperatedly saying "You must be the one who put up that ugly thing in our garden. Could you please restrain yourself? I could do without your insistence on paving over everything and dyeing what we've built in your colours." 'Most ingenious of you,' "Thank you very much!" the 'Knight Captain' says ever so brightly to Woz. Whilst the black knights keep up the onslaught on the both of them, matching their moves and attacking them with crossups and mixes from multiple angles with their swords, even as some are hurled through portals, she looks as if she's having a hard time following the number of ghostly projectiles causing chaos, and is slow to put down the knight she caught to free up her other hand for Woz, still pinning down the floor disruption with her cleaning up. It's obvious he has his shot. She's still staring at him with a little note of polite shock when he jumps out for her sword hand. For just a second, you recognize the way she moves. As if she were someone else. Someone who knows how to handle the blade as if she were born with it in her hand. She parries Woz with even more force than that person, hurling him away with the turn of the blade and the wave of telekinetic force that comes with it. And all of the black knights falter at the same time.
Sarracenia	Gregory shakes Rita's offered hand with his arm/hand leaf. And chuckles at Rita's surprise to him. "Not at all. Training is important if one wishes to perform to one's utmost potential." he says, his voice deep and well-mannered. Sarra's eyes widen as Rita's required diet is finally revealed to her. She thinks of all the times she was confused and facepalms. "Of course...no wonder Aidan did not like your 'juice' that time..." she says, then perks. "Hmm...I do not keep sashimi since I prefer not to risk eating raw foods. Oh! But I do have..." Sarra reaches into her purse and rummages, then pulls out a prepacked platter of very thinly sliced meats. "This! I forget the name, but they are meant to be dipped in boiling broth for quick cooking and eating." Sarra hands over the platter and pops the lid. "If she has been impressed with me she is even more sparing with her praise than I thought. It feels as though she is simply waiting for me to-..." Sarra winces, then looks at the screen again. "...to fail." Gregory bows as the juiceboxes are mentioned. "I will collect one of those juice boxes, Miss Rita." he says, then heads off. 'Well, everyone makes mistakes. Isn't it the point of a simulation to mess up safely? But you can be proud of helping for as long as you were able. It's better that they had you at all, right?' Sarra's cheeks puff into a pout at that. "...perhaps it is better that they had me at all, but try convincing them of that. And the point of the simulation for me was to prove that I could be relied upon."
Angela	Cinder assumes Petra's just uncomfortable in the dress in front of so many people. She understands! Especially since it's not like Petra makes a habit of wearing them that she's seen. "Yeah yeah...! You can check it later. It's GOTTA be important...!" She hands it off without any issue. Somehow, Petra getting excited about the weird Key Item is soothing and comforting. She and Angela pay KEY attention to Petra's lore. Petra's dramatic declaration practically lights up sparks in Cinder's eyes, even though she knows it's--kinda--part of the bit? But Cinder's really into it! Because Petra's kind of into it?? ''Don't bother with 'you can't' or anything like that, Cinder.'' "Well...That's because I'm not certain of much, haha..." Cinder admits. "B...but I mean I'd at least try to, um." ''First you must obliterate society.' Angela nods a little absently-mindedly, glancing off the video feed for a moment and typing at a keyboard, though it's pretty light typing. Not furious. When the knights falter, that's when Cinder goes in for a stabbing strike with Fourth Match Flame before swinging it ride, trying to catch as many of them as she can.
Rita Ma	"Thank you, Mr. Greg!" Rita takes a tiny thoughtful nibble of the thin-sliced meat- if it's truly raw raw, she can have it! "Mmm! I think it's called 'hot pot'?" She's surprisingly non-ravenous, at least right now, with this. "You're really normal about this, actually. I thought you might be horrified." But she's a little too depleted by a hard day of acting to fret. The little sippy boxes she's got in the fridge are deceitfully labeled as tomato juice. They're the kind you'd take to school. After some thoughtful sharp-toothed chewing, gently kicking her legs in a laid-back contentment: "Well, if they think you were a burden, you didn't fail them by getting taken out. And if they think you were a help, they can be glad for the time they had you. There's ways you can improve, but I don't think anyone's going to be angry at you." She looks over the thin-sliced meats again, rolls them all up like a raw meat burrito inside a napkin, and then takes an audibly-sharp bite off the end of it. Rita contentment! "Mmmh. Thanks again! And, I mean... of course she's waiting for you to fail, Ms. Sarracenia." Glk. "She isn't sure if you being okay is a fluke. Even bad people have good flukes sometimes. She isn't hoping for you to fail, but she's waiting for it, so she'll know how long your good streak can last. ... Does that make any sense? I think 'consistency' is something she respects a lot."
Ivy Carrow	"With infinite freedom, most will choose to be nothing." A flicker backward, and ivy and skidding backward. "You underestimate our restlessness." A sword cleaves through the air, and she spuns just in time, she turns her body. The blade cuts straight through what should be her torso, but where it should cleave through her body, it instead burrows--without resistance--into the very masonry below her. Ivy handsprings off of the knight vanishing again, in midair. Where'd she go...? Up, up, hanging from one of the chandeliers, swinging gently back and forth. She hangs from it, hand outstretched to the side, as more rips in space scream open, only to be slammed back shut...And then opened again, elsewhere, space itself rippling like water. "Our dreams swell to fit our worlds! We are constrained by what we know! It's only when we see something..." She holds a hand over her eyes, miming staring into a horizon. "...That we can't understand, that we long for, that we want to be, that we can begin to change! That we can have the structure to understand what we want to BE!" "All they need is the safety to explore it," she mused, aloud. "Or the desperate need risk everything in search of it. Of course you don't see them thriving. You've never given them the chance~" "I could do without your insistence on paving over everything and dyeing what we've built in your colours." "Don't call it an eyesore, it was a fine castle, if you'd actually bothered to look--if a bit of a rush job. And I didn't even force anyone to staff it against their will~" "I can tell you've been listening. Good ear, good ear! But you know, that'd have more bite," Ivy sing-songed. "If you hadn't paved it yourself..." She gestured, not just at the castle room, but at the hungering star, at the village itself... "...With the lives of the broken and unwilling for stones." When the general was struck, and the black knights reeled, Ivy smiled. She held out her hand, and the masonry revolted. Her full focus turned to this, walls struggled to press up, blocking the General's view, the portals shutting off. The two competing images of the world as it should be warred, struggling against each other. "What you're 'protecting' is a story only as real as your queen's captive audience. That's why she can't let them be free~" "Without them, those 'stupid' 'animals' who have to be 'shown their place,' none of it is true in any way that matters; because a Queen without subjects is just a lonely woman with a dream." "First you must obliterate society." "If that's what society is, I'll burn it all down with a smile. Do you think you're not strong enough to do it?"
Timespace Riders	"Your subjects are afraid because they've lost people they love to you! Is that hard for you to understand? You're talking about how stupid they are in the middle of a room full of people you've snatched out of their homes to conscript! " Across from Zi-O, Woz is hurled across the floor, skipping once and tumbling before he rights himself with a handseal teleport, appearing in a puff of smoke that disperses with his sliding halt. He rises to his feet. "Could it be?" he says, observing the tail end of the faltering. "Not quite!" A second Zi-O has hit the arena. Flagging and faltering from being further into the fight: "It wasn't the sword, Woz! It's her focus--and she hates messes! Odette--throw that molten goop on every knight you can hit with it!" The future!Zi-O disappears in a flash of pink light. Woz, meanwhile, strikes another handseal and teleports, reappearing in the air and throwing a spread of exploding shuriken downwards on Cecaelia's position. More than trying to attack her directly, he's creating an obnoxious screen of flashing fire and smoke as he falls, granting Odette extra space to make the most unsightly mess she can.
Petra Soroka	"B...but I mean I'd at least try to, um." "Well, I'd also like to not be killed," Petra agrees with Cinder. "I'm just saying your technique is pointless. The most effective one is violence." "I know it brings you joy you damn secretary," Petra makes a viscerally aggravated noise and takes it out on the nearest knight with an aggressive, full-body stab and tackle. Morphmetal whips around their neck to yank them down and disengage, and Petra continues her comment to Caecilia as if there wasn't a break. "See? See, these people? They're just--" The reality that Petra is talking about Princess Delilah Morbucks catches up to her, and she closes her eyes and grits her teeth. She takes a breath in order to steady herself and align her mental state better with the role-- the tragic heroic role, of betraying her former boss but trying to keep those precious memories intact. "--No, sorry. I'm sorry for calling you that, Princess. But I'd appreciate if you didn't spit like that to throw aggro at someone who's being kind and loyal to someone who sincerely matters to her. I hate that." "With infinite freedom, most will choose to be nothing. Your misunderstood, beautiful souls are an endangered species, you know." Petra is so, so lucky that she isn't forced to come up with an argument against this. Searching deep within herself, there's no part of her that's willing to stand up for the worth of free will for society at large, and she has zero sympathy left inside her for the mouthbreathing morons who insist on the status quo. In large part, that's because of the actress behind the person sitting on the throne, which gives her even less room to argue. "And even then, I make them into something; more than they'd ever become on their own. How kind I am~" There is, still, one thing that Petra can disagree with, though. One thing that Petra has softly argued with Lilian on plenty of times before, and so, she can use it now to cement her heroic posture better. "You are. And that's the problem! I won't tolerate a world where those people get the same privilege of living forever that the people who are worth it do-- the world you're designing is one where those special people will be endangered forever! You say you're obliterating society, but the rot is inherent in them as long as you keep them around. It's just a comfort blanket to keep them around, no matter how much you talk about breaking them down and turning them into something better!" That may be the least heroic speech Petra has ever made. Good job, Petra! You successfully opposed the villain!
Petra Soroka	"But aren't you making a mess? At least that, you should be able to do without." Petra's footstep lands on soft carpet where she expected slick metal, and she yelps and stumbles to a halt. The scattered-away drops of morphmetal zip back into her sword with ripples of impact, but attempting to block the telekinetic the blow shears the blade in half and splatters it against the ground, leaving her with just a dagger that flows back into a sharp point. Her legs shiver, and her face stays firmly pointed down at the ground even while she tries to stagger aggressively back into place. 'Sapping her will to fight', for Petra, manifests primarily as shame. "Sorry. I-I can imagine a world where I didn't have to leave--" Where Lilian had told her to be one of the generals, "--but that's not the world we're in. Please don't be sympathetic to me, because I can't be sympathetic to you." When the knight that Caecilia pulled back to their feet stumbles in time with the others, Petra darts underneath their arm, dagger flipped point-down in her hand. At the same time she tries to bring it down towards Caecilia, her shield explodes into a spray of flechettes, a swarm of shiny metal motion and ambient threat that distracts from Petra's own movement, and then collapses inwards to cram extra force behind the knife.
Odette Raskins	The battle begins, and Odette's already scrambling to not get caught up in the melee. As luck would have it, though, she's not being targeted by the knights just yet, and just as well. She's already busy getting caught by Angela over saying something odd, and there's a brief hit of ice in her veins as she flinches at the scolding tone. "Gh...! Wh-why?!" She calls out in a mild panic, not even sure why she's freaking out over Angela saying that. It's not like she said anything wrong, right? Sure, Rita might've reacted strangely but... Are they both fans of ancient entertainers, too? She'll need to remember to look into that later. "Get the F*@& up, Odette, she's laughing at how weak you are while smiling!" Snapping her head up at Princess shouting right at her, Odette stiffens up for a moment and jolts in the direction of one of the knights. "Geh...! R-right!" She shouts back obediently, acting well before her mind can process her terrible of an idea running closer to the fight is. What does she even have that can work on these knights? She can't use any chemical warfare, or she'll risk hurting the people inside. She can't use brute force because she's pretty sure they'd be able to overpower her long before she could do the same. The way the Knight Captain spoke to her earlier still lingers in her mind, too, and that pressure from earlier- "Regret your actions in Hell" That much is still terrifying, but at least she doesn't have to think twice about lenience anymore. That means her only other option is being an obstacle and a nuisance, and making sure that her allies don't have to worry about killing any of those knights by accident. "Ah.. I-I won't regret anything, then! Maybe not everyone deserves a second chance, but..." Wait, there's nowhere to go from there. Cursing quietly at her mouth moving faster than her brain, the EMt struggles briefly to come up with any kind of follow up before trying to just bulldoze past that. "... N-nobody's going to die today, because I'm on the case! N.. No matter what everyone throws out, we'll stop you and leave alive!" After that boast, Odette rushes towards one of those knights accosting Princess first, leapfrogging off their back. She puts quite a bit of force in using them as a springboard, too, as an attempt to distract them long enough for Princess to capitalize on, or at least buy her another second or two. She doesn't stick around to see if they give chase after she lands, though, as her main target is the one that Petra had struck at with the shield-spike. "A-any bleeding?" Odette asks, already checking for signs of bleeding around them as she scurries over with her hands already in her medical bag. One's preparing a syringe while the other shuffles around multiple bottles around to draw from them in rapid succession. "Arm, don't move." She directs, practically tugging on the knight's arm and looking for somewhere she can even inject the concoction into them. There's plenty of legitimate painkillers and blood-stoppers so they don't bleed out or feel terrible the whole time, but she also makes sure to include sedatives so there's at least one fewer knight to handle than before.
Odette Raskins	GHOST! While Odette works, she very conspicuously avoids going anywhere near Zi-O and those weird floating things. They're fighting, so they couldn't possibly be ghosts, but she's not about to test that theory right now. This is still too slow for her taste, anyway, and the fact that the knight is still moving gets her to scream briefly and jerk back. The actual solution to this battle (aside from enabling her allies to go ham) seems to be clearer, though, once Caecilia utilizes her telekinetic wave and results in all of the knights reacting rather oddly. "W... We have to go bigger!" She calls out, making a few jumps in logic based on the Knight Captain said moments earlier. Also, Sougo from the future giving her exactly the sort of hint she needs. "Messes...? The g-oh! R-right, got it!" Odette might not have any paint, but she does have something else that could work just as well along with a brush of sorts already. Bringing out the jar full of golden goop courtesy of the battle with Satsuki, Odette takes out the featherduster from her disguise and dunks it right in. "I-if messes are what we need, then... I've got plenty to spare!" Although the EMT doesn't have the martial skill to fight anyone head to head, she certainly has the hand-eye coordination to make a mess just like Sougo suggested. With that goop-covered featherduster, she starts swinging the stuff every which way, taking particular care to rush towards the knights while they're busy swinging at someone else to tag their crests with the substance. She doesn't stop there, though, as she even tries flicks it out seemingly at random, trying to get it on knights and captains and Queens alike!
Sarracenia	'You're really normal about this, actually. I thought you might be horrified.' Sarra blinks, then giggles. "Have you seen my butler? Besides, I know you are a 'monster'. I saw you eat some of Melting Love and come out just fine. This is pretty close to normal compared to that. Even typical humans eat raw meat sometimes. Like the sashimi you mentioned. It may not be my thing, but I try not to judge others' foods of choice. Although...admittedly the blood thing is a bit unsettling." Sarra smiles. "Just a bit. Not enough to offset you kindness, though." 'Well, if they think you were a burden, you didn't fail them by getting taken out.' Sarra mmphs and shakes her head. "No, Miss Rita. If they think I was a burden then I failed them by being a burden instead of an asset. I cannot take easy outs like that if I wish to be a proper heroic princess and grade 6 Fixer." she says. 'And, I mean... of course she's waiting for you to fail, Ms. Sarracenia...' Sarra huffs softly at that. "Are you sure? It seems to annoy her when I do well. Which admittedly is just more motivation to do well." Sarra snickers.
Powerpuff Girls	'If that's how you choose to think of it, then that's your decision, dear.' Princes doesn't like that, obviously, but at least Princess is used to fighting uphill in the banter war. Her own heat is a mix of theatricality and real feeling - she doesn't like this, doesn't like being spoken to like this, roils inside at the thought that after everything and even 'taking the hero role'... It's nothing. It's the same as it always is. 'And that's it?' Princess' mind tries to gnash but can't bite down on anything solid. Maddening in a different way, the battle she fights is just down to... 'Is this really what being a hero is?!' Princess Morbucks had never thought it went like this. She was a Villain, a Supervillain, a Townsvillain (and not a Citysvillain) and the entire simulation, the entire purpose was to reverse that. 'Why is it just the same?!' But there was no answer for Princess. Not one that sprung from her or the world either. And Blossom is no help, recovering from the gravity blast. "Damn, nice impression of my mom." Princess tchs, watching the path of her shocked knight. "Rude and backhanded both. You want to go for the hat trick?" 'I think you should decide whether you want to be 'like royalty' or not.' Direly, under her pink-crystal visor, Princess' eyes are tactically red-lit slits of "You've decided, haven't you? That you, a servant, are royal because of all of this. You're giggling and wearing the clothes of it. You're loving every second of it, and it's oozing from you, like a disgusting oil. That gross aura, that falls out of your mouth? I know you're genuine -- genuinely rotten! Every single one of the big names before, all of them have smiled while treating us terribly. A big castle of failures to dance around and pose about. And you know what?" "Every single one of you betray your Queen." Princess declares, at a stop with the knights, pointing at the Knight Captain, and then pointing down. "Because none of you can keep having your own jollies apart from your damn jobs. The only time I've felt pitched to was once. And it was hired help." "You don't come close to a pristine. You're just rioting in the party house around the people actually doing things. You and your harpies? Hangers-on. You want to be beamed up by the mothership." 'I could do without your insistence on paving over everything and dyeing what we've built in your colours.' "A castle full of relics that you've dropped next to people's homes and you're talking about paving?! Is this the self-service olympics?!" Princess challenges further, shouts and Posts, and boosts forward. With the knights mostly disabled and the Knight Captain focusing all her attention inward, Princess starts drawing back a fist to drive at the disabled knight in the Knight Captain's hands over the actual woman with another charged attack of ''disabling'' electricity.
Powerpuff Girls	'But aren't you making a mess? At least that, you should be able to do without.' 'It wasn't the sword, Woz! It's her focus--and she hates messes!' "And I've bet you've heard this one before too, but I'm not doing this -- alone!!" Princess reaches a crescendo, a showy fountaining of solar ejecta-like pink power charged more and more and more. It might just be a 'lethal attack'. She's screaming right up to the point, narrowed eyes wild and decided. Where was Blossom, though? She's been particularly quiet after the knights were disabled, hanging back, watching and waiting and carefully preparing the one item she had bought herself for her own plans and purposes. Her secret weapon to defeat certain very chatty girls. And then, with Princess' furious 'getting you getting you GETTING YOU' charge, there's a SKRRR! of iconic flash-of-light zip to the opposite end of the Knight Captain, ready to flank, ready to use her secret weapon. A to-go container box of salted (not spicy!) crab, for lunch. Blossom applies the delicious meal of crab over the Knight Captain and her captured knight. 'But I'd appreciate if you didn't spit like that to throw aggro at someone who's being kind and loyal to someone who sincerely matters to her. I hate that.' And Princess? Fist cocked, her other is held out and zigs her off course, tumbling into a speed-bleeding skid that most involves her bleeding floor-melting heat into the area around her. "C'mon, Petra." Princess pants, having aborted at speed hard enough her suit systems still leaked heat, smoking on one knee. "Never seen one draw some aggro? These girls have been talking trash to upset us all castle, I hear turnabout's a classic." There's no need to spend that card on Queen Liliana. And. Princess liked Petra enough to explain. "... Sorry, but it's that or hit them all for real."
Lilian Rook	'You underestimate our restlessness. Our dreams swell to fit our worlds!' "You overestimate it." comes the cold, bored, deeply villainous reply. "Despite how small you are, the boxes you've made for yourselves are somehow even smaller. You'll content yourselves with imagining that, were you released from them, you'd expand to fill the universe; but the reality is that you'd hardly notice the difference." It's more than she need say in her role. "I've seen what passes for your dreams, and found them wanting." 'Don't call it an eyesore, it was a fine castle, if you'd actually bothered to look--' "I'd personally like it if you showed a little bit more respect to this one, dears." 'What you're 'protecting' is a story only as real as your queen's captive audience. That's why she can't let them be free~ Without them, those 'stupid' 'animals' who have to be 'shown their place,' none of it is true in any way that matters; because a Queen without subjects is just a lonely woman with a dream. "Without any subjects, she will have me." says Caecilia. "And the others. And a beautiful story. And I think having those things is worth more than what everyone else in the world thinks." Queen Liliana starts to smile, then makes it a smirk. "A Queen who needs subjects to be a Queen is little more than a petty social climber. To be the Queen is to embody authority so pure and absolute that whether one acknowledges it is utterly irrelevant." 'Your subjects are afraid because they've lost people they love to you! Is that hard for you to understand?' "Then I shall see that they join them." 'You say you're obliterating society, but the rot is inherent in them as long as you keep them around.' Liliana Lycoris, Queen of the Hungering Star, Black Bloom of the End, looks down on the battle at her feet and laughs. It's meant to be a dry chuckle at first, but quickly boils over into vocalized tittering and then a short string of laughter from the chest. She doesn't repress the mean-spirited grin at all. "My my, what an interesting thought~" she says, gaining a degree of energy in doing so. "But since I know better than everyone about everything and can so very easily turn the unnecessary people into perfectly functional props for the rest, why not~? Erasing them might be more sensible, but it'd limit the stage of every story thereon to just a handful of possibilities." '... N-nobody's going to die today, because I'm on the case! N.. No matter what everyone throws out, we'll stop you and leave alive!' The lid is opened. Liliana cackles again. "Oh really? But two did, now didn't they~?" Through sleight of hand, the Queen produces from behind the throne a bleached white human skull, with a passable replicae of Sarracenia's tiara still on it. She takes her time amusing herself with examining it, as if about to spring into the cheesy soliloquoy. "All of your struggles will amount to the same thing. Do you think you've been 'overcoming each challenge'? Hah! Every stop along your way has been nothing more than a dwindling series of chances to redeem yourselves, and now all that awaits beyond this room is death! And do you know why?" The Queen's gaze slides to the corner of her eye, glancing away from the skull and down the steps.
Petra Soroka	"These girls have been talking trash to upset us all castle, I hear turnabout's a classic." Unfortunately, Petra keeps pouting at Princess. "Yeah, I mean, turnabout's fair play, I got that, but-- don't you think the context matters too? It's not just, empty banter, you know? It's words. Words mean things. Saying 'secretary' all derogatory like that..." "Like, I promise I'm not batting for the villains here," She hits a small plaintive whine on that emphasis, bothered by having to dig her heels in on this ideological stance to this person in this situation. "But some of my best friends are secretaries, you know? I won't complain if you shit talk her in a way that's not-- not evil."
Angela	''Gh...! Wh-why?!'' "I will remember forever that you used the term 'Pog'," Angela explains. "As if I had heard it just yesterday even a thousand years from now. it is stuck in me. And it will be in there until the day I cease to be." ''I'm just saying your technique is pointless.'' "W, well I'm doing violence too." Cinder insists. ''I know it brings you joy you damn secretary.'' Angela frowns. But she doesn't seem like she's going to comment on it until... ''But some of my best friends are secretaries, you know?'' "Yes, it is a surprisingly involved job. It takes significantly more skills than 'CEO', certainly." Angela says, mostly thinking of her Dads here. "Indeed, the number of responsibilities that a Secretary has can be inversely proportional to the expectation of authority held within them. A lot of what they have to do is understated or not even stated at all, and of course their responsibilities can be varied as the types of people they are called upon to work for." She crosses her arms. "It is a real job worthy of respect."
Powerpuff Girls	'Saying 'secretary' all derogatory like that...' Princess's heat, literal and figurative, ebbs off her gold-and-black powersuit - and her eyes - for the brief moment of her landing-skid and the time shortly after. Blossom had the real move, guided by Woz. Princess was the distraction. "The context does matter." Morbucks agrees. "And it's not just empty banter. I'm tired of being told I'm being sold to when a heap of insults and nonsense are put on my plate. People have died, Petra," In character. But still, it's something that seems to be one of those Lines for Princess that makes it 'more real' to hold in mind. "And they're gloating about it." 'It is a real job worthy of respect.' "Have you felt recruited? Sold to? Been invested in? No. It's threat and insult the whole way. And it's still threat and insult. If they were a real secretary, interacting with a client, I'd fire them on the spot." "Secretaries are respectable. This? This is a mess."
Lilian Rook	'Damn, nice impression of my mom.' "Because you don't excite me. At so very few steps along your journey have any of you ignited a single spark of passion. Once or twice, there may have been reason for ceremony. There have been the buds of branches that may have very well taken us to something else." says the Queen, sighing in a way that descends partway into a rasping scowl. "A duel for the fate of the world, perhaps. A clash of ideals, like that heroine. Something with substance! A tale! The perfect stage, a baring of souls, a battle that would be legendary! But you've walked the straight and narrow, and the mature form of your growth is only business as usual." 'You don't come close to a pristine. You're just rioting in the party house around the people actually doing things. You and your harpies? Hangers-on. You want to be beamed up by the mothership.' 'A castle full of relics that you've dropped next to people's homes and you're talking about paving?! Is this the self-service olympics?!' 'Ah.. I-I won't regret anything, then!' 'Is that hard for you to understand? You're talking about how stupid they are in the middle of a room full of people you've snatched out of their homes to conscript!' The Knight Captain opens her mouth, but is silenced by a wave of the Queen's hand. "Don't try to justify yourself to them." She continues as if she had spoken only in a single unbroken string. "Crass. Belligerent. Apathetic. Predictable. Charging ahead through everything you can topple with force, wriggling through every gap you can find, squabbling amongst yourselves yet dragging each along like refuse. Those with the eyes to see have been dragged down by those blind and deaf to the world around them, and worthy of consideration no longer. Do you understand?" "At what point did you believe your presence here was a dialogue between us? You've clearly misunderstood if you think that you can do without appeal and still expect to be listened to. The first thing that any hero understands is that they aren't in control, and the second thing they understand is that they must rise above it regardless." "But I suppose they'd first need something worthwhile within them if they're to preserve it to the bitter end. All I see before me is a gaggle of tedious and thoroughly unpleasant little mercenaries." It's a lot of big talk; increasingly impassioned though it may be; but it's clear that the Knight Captain doesn't have a handle on everything going on. Throwing food around gets an aggrieved little gasp, and a "Really?! Must you?!" out of Caecilia. The knights are roused back to lethal unison, caring not even slighly about what bothers their 'Captain', pressing a heavy onslaught against the entire group through weight of numbers, no longer sparing Odette in the process, but now the spent syringes and medical splatter is bothering her too, muttering something like "No respect whatsoever . . ."
Lilian Rook	In the midst of rapidly cleaning them, Petra's spray of flechettes causes her to flinch, then begin to divert around her, but then the dagger lands in the seam of her shoulder, Caecilia makes a soft sound of pained shock, and then frowns at Petra Very Deeply, slamming her back down to the floor under weight of gravity. The wound is gone, less like a photoshop and more like a stubborn stain being scrubbed out over the course of seconds. "I thank you sincerely for that sense of decorum of yours remaining intact, Miss Petra, but this is thoroughly unproductive." It's yet more time she's burning not throwing gravitic telekinesis around to prevent people from overpowering the entourage. By the time the supernaturally melty gold is being thrown around, Caecilia has fully abandoned her personal assault, crying out "And here I thought that you were one with manners?!" at Sougo, at least a tiny bit betrayed. What she doesn't notice is that, where the thrice-transfigured gems touch the petal insignias, the armours seize up as all the power flows from them into the jewels; supercapacitors with contact chargers, designed to interface with the castle through the original gear. She snaps her fingers to wipe it away, and then flinches back with her arm covering her eyes as the use of power causes the gems to crunch into incredibly dense points, snap together under a new center of gravity, and rather than turn to dust, drag in every drop of molten gold-- petals attached-- into a singular vortex that coalesces into a spherical point of heat and light and incandescent magical power that hovers four feet from the ground with a steady hum. It looks a lot like the singularity. Only §inverse§ Caecilia lowers her arm and stares baffled around the room. It looks exactly the same, but all of the knights are fully incapacitated, and the group is still armed and ready to go. "My lady . . ." she says, turning her head to look up to the throne, but that, too, Queen Liliana dismisses with a gentle wave. "Think nothing of it. You held to your precious character all throughout. That alone is the reason that you may do whatever you like and I will always keep you close to see. Being dragged into their pace in order to win would have hardly been worth it." Caecilia bows out of the way (god that headpiece really does look like a headdress), and at long, long last, the Queen is moved from her throne. Slowly rising to her feet, the first thing she does is turn her back on you. The second is to beckon for Caecilia to follow. The third is to beckon you with one fingers. "Come, then. Report for your execution or die tired." The fourth thing is to open the door with a wave, and ascend the stairs, clearly in the direction of the final battle.
Angela	''Have you felt recruited? Sold to? Been invested in? It's threat and insult the whole way.'' "Are you here as prospective employees and business partners?" Angela raises an eyebrow. "Is... that the purpose of a Secretary in your eyes? My understanding is that the purpose of a secretary is to deal with all the business that their superior needs done but doesn't want to do themselves--in the cruelest and most efficient manner possible." Angel's eyes slant up in contemplation. "At the very least, that has been my experience with the job, and I've had more experience at the job than anyone else so I should know." She's not just being frustrating her, that is her genuine experience with the job! Maybe the golden age of secretaries has fallen and now it's all been taken over by AI and maids which, notably, also contains ai.