Scene #1153: Heisting Christmas

Owner	Pose
Bain	WINTER SPIRIT BLACKSITE "NORTH POLE" HOME OF UNAFFILIATED MACRO-AURIC "SANTA CLAUS" 18:00, 12/15/22 LOCAL AIRSPACE What rushes over the tundra is a pair of large transport helicopters. Bain's pulled out all the stops today, getting out a pair of military insertion craft to get the team in close, before their target can scramble reindeer interceptors. Bile and Alex, his two expert helicopter pilots, are gunning it as fast as these things can go. In each helicopter, there are several large cases, painted festive colors and wrapped with a fancy little ribbon. As usual, Bain has provided GEAR to his allies. BRAMBLE PATCH receives a convenient set of GRENADE CASINGS, allowing for timed alchemical combinations to be created and released. She also receives a mask, the LUMBERJACK'S BANE: It looks like some kind of fir-tree monster, crushing a christmas ornament between its teeth. LUTE receives... It's some kind of extremely high-power laser designation device. Honestly, Bain seems to have just assumed that Mr. Crabs will claw at a large laser dot like a cat does. He also receives a mask, the VERY ROCKET CHRISTMAS, a caricature of a viciously grinning Giovanni wearing an unconvincing fake Santa beard and hat. LAER receives a set of several high-yield smoke grenades, with a payload that's surprisingly flammable. She also receives a mask, the REBEL WITHOUT A CHEER; a distorted, grumpy-looking female christmas elf with harsh red eyes. JACK HORNER receives a small set of combat knives, useful for stabbing or throwing, and easily concealed in the sheaths provided with them for him to hide. His mask is... the JACK. It's actually just Jack's face again. Except a sort of caricature, and it's wearing sunglasses. Bain figures he doesn't really want to wear any other kind of mask, really. EVERYONE also gets parachutes for jumping out of the helicopter with, if they don't feel like waiting for this thing to land. Even the pony! EVERYONE also has space available in the two large CARGO AREAS in the helicopters, which Bain has already partially filled with his own heist gear for his companions, but space is left if one wants to, say, pack vicious animals or similar. Another pair of helicopters was on-call to help transport Mr. Crabs with a big harness, like they do for Jaegers, but they're a bit behind the main group. They've just gotten over the North Pole area. From above, one can see the MAIN WORKSHOP, a titanic structure that churns out soft clouds at the north. Also visible is the TOYBOX, a storage area in the east. There's SANTA'S HOUSE, a residential sector in the west. And there's the CHRISTMAS TREE, a densely-packed forest-like area on the south surrounding a large, primary tree, which hums with magical power. The center is the NORTH POLE, some kind of large possibly mining and refining operation that's got a lot of wide, open space. Air raid sirens have a rough analog here: Harsh, crisis-sounding jingle bells can be heard from below. The helicopters are descending on the NORTH POLE with intent to land; they've gotten here before Santa can scramble any magical reindeer to intercept them in the air, but it's not a stealthy insertion. Those who do not choose to dive out into an area of their choice using the parachutes may deploy here.
Laer	This is not Laer's first rodeo! Which is mostly to say she's been along to gank people's stuff befffore; this is actually the first time she's attempted to directly attack Santa Claus. Through actions, at least. She's sent several cutting remarks his way before. She'll take a parachute, even though she's not entirely certain what it's for, before jumping out of the helicopter. Given her own inate ability to fly, she intends to throw it, unopened, at someone from the air, which is unlikely to do significant damage but is rather rude. The mask goes right on. Noone will ever suspect an elf of disguising themselves as an elf. That would be speciesist. She's aiming to land somewhere around the main workshop, and other than throwing the parachute at someone isn't really attempting to draw attention to herself. That can come after her little mission is complete.
Lute	Lute, normally, would not be the type to wear a mask of Giovanni. Because, as understanding of Lute's antics as Giovanni is, even Giovanni still has limits. But, there is a far more important reason he plans to wear the mask tonight. He assumes Bain is getting some sort of anti-Santa masks, and that these masks will help keep them all off of the naughty list. Either way, as they get near the North Pole, Lute of course decides to jump out of the helicopter early. And, he's even competent enough to use the parachute this time! As he floats down, though, he /isn't/ going to be idle. Seriously, just waiting to reach the ground is for /losers/. So instead, he throws out a set of Pokeballs right near where he plans to land. Specifically, right on the edge of Santa's territory. He's waiting for Mr. Crabs to arrive and be dropped on the outskirts as well. He's waiting for the 'Kaiju factor' to kick in. It'll still be a brief time til his Kaiju arrives though. So for now, his Pokemon will be drawing the aggro. Tyranitar, Tyrantrum, and Arcanine are now on the battlefield.
Jack Horner	Whistling quietly to himself, Jack of the Tales pulls his blonde hair into a ponytail and then tugs his Jack Horner mask over his head. Bain is quite right about what sort of visage Jack would like to have - his own! The knives are hidden on his person and his trusty antique six shooter is jammed into the back pocket of his jeans. He looks very unprepared for the cold weather in jeans, boots and white tee-shirt... but Jack's time as Jack Frost rendered him practically immune to cold. Gathering up the drill, Jack clasps it tight and leaps out of the chopper. Pulling his chute, Jack aims towards the TOYBOX. That's got to be where the main vault is, and Mister Drill has a date with Mrs Vault Door. Briefly, Jack wonders if he can lock Lute in there. Sexist man ever, whatever!
Bain	SANTA'S WORKSHOP (EXTERIOR) SANTA'S WORKSHOP is a monolithic structure; from the exterior, one can see titanic candycane smokestacks emitting clouds, and huge glass windows letting in light. The structure itself is massive, an incredibly scaled building large enough to house manufacturing equipment for an entire multiverse worth of toys. The majority of the native ELF WORKERS have hidden themselves, taking cover in various substructures connected. Harsh wind and snow blows here, whipping viciously over the ground and building against the structure's walls. There is a path to the SOUTH leading to the NORTH POLE. There is a door to the NORTH, leading to SANTA'S WORKSHOP (INTERIOR) 6 ELF SWAT are here. LAER is here. The ELF SWAT immediately brandish candycane batons, forming up on the door. They're small, no bigger than three feet, but clad in green elf-themed combat gear of surprisingly effective grade. Surely, though, Laer can deal with them! One of them is immediately knocked out after a large backpack slams into their head from above.
Bramble Patch	A mask. How novel, considering it's going to do nothing to conceal an identity. Since, you know, My Little Pony and all. But Bramble Patch tugs it on all the same, tucking the top under the stocking cap she was already wearing, because it'd be a shame to turn down all Bain's hard work and effort into doing something she's wanted to do a very, very long time. Never getting what she truly wanted for Hearthswarming Eve is right up there with all the teasing and taunting she got as a foal for reasons she is the mare she is today. The parachute is a nice thought too, though she's got reasons to wait for the helicopter to actually get close to the ground before getting out and setting her eyes on the CHRISTAMS TREE's surrounding conifur forest. It was the season of Christmas, or whatever multiversal equivilent one cared to celebrate. A holiday known from it's long and well rooted traditions of celebration in song, to the point that it could sometimes get right out annoying when you heard the a million different versions of the otherwise same song over and over again. None the less it was difficult to avoid that music was a part of many of the celebrating cultures. In some, it was even magical, in the way it seemed to come up with no visible source when needed. But this.. this wasn't Christmas music. It was like a creepy haunting wind through the cold air and pinetrees, something more suited to a different holiday a few months back. Especially when Bramble Patch does indeed start to sing along with it. " o/~ Welcome Fillies and Gentlecolts; now listen and scream! Least favorite Pony is back; gettin' all up in this scene. She has been in the woods, but that's just more reason to fret. She's got no holiday cheer, so buckle down and get set She's comin'; disgracin' the Claus. She ain't gonna be nice; she's gonna blow you all off with her Everfree vice. So scream with your fears and stowe away for the night. Now Bramble Patch is here; to bring the Nightmares tonight! o/~ " As the pony pauses to rise on her back legs and throw her hooves over her head, multiple glowing green eyes appear in the helicopter behind her. Then let loose a cacophony of howls as a pack of Timber Wolves (Everfree's are wolves actually made of dead wood, peat moss and dark magic) leap out over her and charge towards the forest, their yowling ruckus and terribly bad breath sure to scare away whatever cute holiday critters are living in said forest. This is one time where the BARK is indeed worst than the BITE. "No living in the past, so you won't last, against this villian's dare. With a foul farewell, and an enirvate spell, you won't have long to prepare! o/~"
Thranduil	Thranduil and the Elven soldiers he brought with him are absolutely terrified by riding in a helicopter. Thranduil maintains his normal calm visage, though his ice blue eyes are as wide as saucers. They do not parachute, of course, and wait until they are able to exit the helicopter safely to make their way toward the others. "I have heard there are Elves here kept in bondage. We shall attempt to liberate them by any means possible." The sound of swords being drawn in unison rings throughout the land, and the Elvenking leads his small army toward the focal point.
Bain	NORTH POLE The NORTH POLE is a spiritual and magical center of power, which mutually resonates with Santa Claus to provide energy! That's why there appears to be some sort of REFINERY STRUCTURE all around. This central area is wide, expansive, and naturally generates high volumes of CHRISTMAS-THEMED MATERIAL to convey intense CHRISTMAS SPIRIT. The large refinery machines provide cover on-foot, but the area itself is wide enough to allow a titanic KAIJU to be the centerpiece. There's a red-striped white pole at the center of it all. It is small, unassuming, and completely immune to all damage. There is a path to the NORTH leading to SANTA'S WORKSHOP (EXTERIOR) There is a path to the EAST leading to the TOYBOX (exterior) There is a path to the SOUTH leading to the CHRISTMAS TREE There is a path to the WEST leading to SANTA'S HOUSE LUTE is here 8 ELF SWAT are here TYRANITAUR is here TYRANTRUM is here ARCANINE is here The elf SWAT with their candycane batons immediately move to engage Lute's pokemon! The three-foot-tall green-clad combat-gear-wearing combatants are relatively low-level, and won't present much of a threat, but do their best to keep the creatures from causing any wrecks in this field of christmas cheer!
Laer	So much for the stealth approach! But Laer is not likely to give up on this easily. Also, she kind of suspects that the ELF SWAT may not be the brightest sorts under the sun. "Hi! I'm with the maintenance team." She explains. "If you'd just let me past, I think you'll find I'm able to repair your leaky christmas spirit before it does too much damage to your floorboards. One hundred north poles were lost last year to leaky Christmas spirits!" Upon reflection, she decides that that is a terrible story. Rather than have them repeat it, the bard will toss one of those firey smoke grenades over towards where the swat members are, then follow it up a few moments later with a fireball.
Vruasa Telash	SEVERAL MINUTES AGO "Is this really what we're doing today?" Vruasa Telash asks Fiora O'Brien, while he puts his coat on over a thick layer of heavy winter clothing. He could just put on his GOD TIERS, but that would be too easy, and insufficiently stylish. Besides, using illusions is not an innate talent of his. There's no way for him to do any kind of stealth without the magic jacket, after all. As it turns out, he already seems to know the answer to the question that he's asking, because he doesn't actually hesitate before kicking them -- possibly unnecessary -- into FAST FORWARD. NOW VRUASA TELASH is standing outside of SANTA'S WORKSHOP, as if he had been here when the shit hit the fan. He appears to be himself in a human form disguise, dressed in heavy winter clothing. A long red scarf trails off of him, a gift from the previous year's Christmas. He is not alone or empty-handed, though. In one hand he holds a STEAMING MUG of BLACKBERRY TEA. The chaos that has exploded around him has escaped him entirely, or else he's deliberately ignoring it. One arm is held out as if in anticipation of somebody being there to loop their own arm through it. Or else, that person is in fact already there and reality is simply catching up to their transition. It's hard to tell with this asshole.
Simon Petrikov	CHRISTMAS TREE Simon Petrikov has been altered by the Crown's power. He is not quite human anymore. Sure, at his base, that is exactly what he is. But as he marches through the snowy wastes, having left Marceline behind in the care of others - with some trepidation - the extremely hostile environment of the North Pole is not really... Doing anything to him. He should be freezing to death, in just his usual clothes - a suit, with no attempt made to account for weather. But instead the cold just... Doesn't bother him. His footprints left behind in the snow are quickly filled, he notices, as he looks behind him. There's lyrics for a song somewhere in all this, he's sure. Maybe he'll compose it in his head so he has somethin to sing to Marceline later. What's Simon's reason for coming up here, anyway? Well, to be honest, he was wondering if maybe Santa Claus knew something about the Crown - or objects similar to it. Come on! An immortal old guy with magic, who is basically the ruler of a land of ice and snow? Santa and Simon are practically the same! He even tries to do good things for kids! Though in Simon's case, it's more, 'take care of one particular little on a day to day basis and make sure she doesn't get eaten by monsters'. Either way, Simon suspects Santa may be kindred of some form. Someone else cursed and trying to make the best of it. And maybe that might be true in his own world, but this is an entirely different Santa so mayb he's completely off base here. But he owes it to Marceline to ask, at least. "Hm hm hm," he hums to himself. "The snow glows white on the pole tonight, not a footprint to be seen... A kingdom of isolation-" His song is cut off by the sound of dire-sounding jingle bells. "Uh-oh." Simon hefts his backpack on his shoulders and starts running as best he can through the snow and ice. He's panting for breath by the time he actually reaches the outer perimeter of the CHRISTMAS TREE. He isn't sure what's going on, and was actually planning to approach the front door or whatever this place has, but in dire circumstances, he may not have the time for manners. Even so, as soon as he spots anyone in the area, he calls out to them... Oh, look! A pony! In a mask! He's about ready to try to explain his presence, starting off with, "Hey, just coming up here to try to meet with Santa! Sorry if I'm trespassing! But, uh, hey, it sounds like something is going down. Is there any way I can-" then he realizes there are timber wolves with glowing green eyes coming out of a helicopter and running out into the forest around him, and this pony probably does not belong here. "...Help." There is a jeweled crown hanging from a cord attached to Simon's belt. His white-hued eyes are actually watering a bit, from some kind of bright light to the north. Is he seeing things again? His eyes are weird after long exposure to the Crown. He sees things that aren't there sometimes. And sometimes he sees things that might be in the future. And sometimes he sees thing that are real but that normal people can't see. Like magic energy. Maybe the wolves aren't real either. He has no way to know. But he does reach for the Crown, almost without realizing he's doing it.
Bain	TOYBOX (EXTERIOR) The TOYBOX is a titanic warehouse complex and storage area, offering the most secure storage in the arctic. All the doors here are security doors with complex holiday-themed locks, everything is windowless, and outside and all around, you can see huge present-shaped crates containing toys ready to be moved in or out! There is a path to the WEST leading to the NORTH POLE. There are MANY LOCKED DOORS to the EAST leading to the TOYBOX (INTERIOR) 3 ELF SWAT are here JACK HORNER is here Jack's arrival has enough distractions keeping it from being noticed that he should be able to be less ID'd as a threat. The trio of SWAT are watching the skies mostly, and since Jack's slipped in, dealing with them, the complex locking mechanisms, and other matters, shouldn't be too tough. It'll get even easier once Bramble Patch can knock out the CHRISTMAS CHEER REGULATOR elsewhere.
Steve Rogers	(NORTH POLE, at least to start with) You wouldn't think that a nigh-mystical gift-giver and icon of holiday cheer and generosity would actually need a warpgate, would you? Santa probably doesn't use it that much himself, but supplies for toy making have to come in somehow, as does reindeer feed, etc. And so do occasional defenders of justice and all-around goodness. Case in point, a snowmobile bedecked in holly and with a couple of people on it. Captain America is driving, his trademark shield latched to his back so that his hands are free to drive; he's already scanning the area as soon as his eyes are on the North Pole side of the warpgate, and as soon as he spots the TOYBOX - almost certainly the main target of the raid - he steers his snowmobile that way. "Need me to drop you off," he asks his passenger, "or are we going to the same place for now?"
Jack Horner	TOYBOX (EXTERIOR) Still whistling to himself, Jack pulls a knife and cuts the parachute from the pack seconds after he lands. That way, he can fit more loot in! Letting the SWAT Elves keep their eyes on the sky, Jack strides off towards the EAST. With drill in hand and six shooter ready to be drawn at a moment's notice, Jack can surely handle whatever comes his way!
Quentyn Westwind	Quentyn is so piled in furs to shield against the cold that the boy beneath the garments is almost entirely hidden. His eyes are visible, but that's about it. On the other hand, he's probably perfectly warm as he rides behind Captain America. He's also got a ridiculous rifle slung across his back, and presumably all the rest of his adventuring gear hidden about his garments somewhere. As they ride along, Steve Rogers might notice some odd effects around him (as long as he doesn't resist the spells). First an ethereal blue-white, angular shield deploys around the man, and then fades out of existence. Then the same for a green, oval shield. And lastly, if unresisted, a spell that briefly makes the Captain's skin feel and look stony! But like the others, it fades. If the superhero looks back through all this, he'll see aether gathering around Quentyn for each spell-- he's the one casting them, though he doesn't say exactly what he's doing. But well, if any attacks make it past Captain America's shields, he'll be a bit hardier. "Um," Quentyn radios in reply, "I'll follow you..." Your very own pocket white mage/sniper.
Bain	CHRISTMAS TREE The CHRISTMAS TREE is actually a huge mass of fir trees that have, somehow, beaten back the cold to something managable. No snow piles here, and the intensely packed forest surrounding the titanic central fir tree. Around that fir tree, a string of HUGE lights harnesses the tree's power to regulate the cheer power. Most of the structures around here are natural, formed out of trees that keep only a light sheet of snow on their surface. There is a path to the NORTH, leading to the NORTH POLE OH SHIT WOLVES are here BRAMBLE PATCH is here SIMON is here The CHRISTMAS TREE is here The wolves are scaring out the local wildlife, disrupting the natural source on its own; the christmas lights here should be simple to tear down individually, but there's SO MANY STRINGS that it might take a lot of work - or a lot of mouths - to rip them all away!
Deelel	Captain America is not alone as Deelel arrives riding on a light snowmobile, yes they /have/ those and away she goes from the warp gate and she calls out to STeve over the comm. "Who the heck would be boneheaded enough to do this?! They will eternally drown in coal for this..." Deelel knew enough you don't pick a fight with Santa. She had to wonder htis was eithere something stupid or there was some kinda super genious with a plan she couldn't get, wait maybe they wanted the coal for something?! She had no idea but here she goes.
Bain	NORTH POLE The NORTH POLE is a spiritual and magical center of power, which mutually resonates with Santa Claus to provide energy! That's why there appears to be some sort of REFINERY STRUCTURE all around. This central area is wide, expansive, and naturally generates high volumes of CHRISTMAS-THEMED MATERIAL to convey intense CHRISTMAS SPIRIT. The large refinery machines provide cover on-foot, but the area itself is wide enough to allow a titanic KAIJU to be the centerpiece. There's a red-striped white pole at the center of it all. It is small, unassuming, and completely immune to all damage. There is a path to the NORTH leading to SANTA'S WORKSHOP (EXTERIOR) There is a path to the EAST leading to the TOYBOX (exterior) There is a path to the SOUTH leading to the CHRISTMAS TREE There is a path to the WEST leading to SANTA'S HOUSE LUTE is here 8 ELF SWAT are here TYRANITAUR is here TYRANTRUM is here ARCANINE is here THRANDUIL is here THRANDUIL'S ELVES are here The very first and most obvious 'elf oppression'-looking thing is the SWAT elves covered in body armor. They're three feet tall, though, and currently approaching Lute's POKEMON with intent to attack!
Bain	SANTA'S WORKSHOP (EXTERIOR) SANTA'S WORKSHOP is a monolithic structure; from the exterior, one can see titanic candycane smokestacks emitting clouds, and huge glass windows letting in light. The structure itself is massive, an incredibly scaled building large enough to house manufacturing equipment for an entire multiverse worth of toys. The majority of the native ELF WORKERS have hidden themselves, taking cover in various substructures connected. Harsh wind and snow blows here, whipping viciously over the ground and building against the structure's walls. There is a path to the SOUTH leading to the NORTH POLE. There is a door to the NORTH, leading to SANTA'S WORKSHOP (INTERIOR) 6 ELF SWAT (INCAPACITATED) are here LAER is here VRUASA is here The horrifying conflagration catches all at once, turning into a vicious fireball as soon as the bunched-up group gets formed. Yeah, they weren't gonna believe Laer anyway, probably! Now they are charred, somewhat, roasted even, over an open fire. Dead? Who knows. Free CANDY/CHRISTMAS-THEMED LOOT for Vruasa, though, and the door past is open.
Finna	THe FROZEN NORTH, regardless of world, is Finna's natural environment. Both as a Lunar and a Laughing Winds tribeswoman... the cold lands are her friend. Is it any wonder that, the moment she's out of the nearest warp gate she's off like a rocket for the sanctum of what she believes to be the Multierse's foremost god of winter. Seriously. The saint who became something more, is known over many worlds, has incredible powers and is all but worshipped as the symbol of something? Yeah, in Finna's mind, the SANTA CLAUS is the God of Christmas, whatever Christmas is. Okay, she's heard several tellings of what Christmas is but he's the one she groks the best. Because bringing gifts to children in the cold of winter when everyone's stuck indoors and bored witless makes so much more sense to a woman of Creation than any notion of messiahs. WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH! The tiny white fox is off through the snow at incredible speeds. Its pawprints shimmer silver briefly for the split-second they can be seen and its sleek form cuts through the wind, the snow, and the ice as if it were nothing. How fast is she going? Faster than most cars gould go, easily. Which is why it makes very little sense when anyone that might've been tracking its approach no longer can. If anyone was lucky enough to see the little bugger anyways. Its fur is white adn only its nose and eyes stand out at all in this environment. So. CAN Jack handle whatever comes his way? Because a silvery glint might catch his eye and draw his attention momentarily away from the Toybox. Was there a woman standing in the snow before? No, there was not. But there is now. Yes. A young woman, clad only in the wind and snow and her long white hair's a scant twenty feet away from him. Her arms hug about herself as though she were cold, though she doesn't seem to shiver in the slightest. The cold's not bothering her, but her eyes are so very lonely. And if Jack spares more than a few moments at the way she's staring pleadingly, welcomingly his way for any form of companionship, why... Forgetting everything he was doing briefly will be BEYOND easy, now won't it?
Lute	NORTH POLE At the North Pole location, Lute is currently focusing on attacking the elf SWAT team. Honestly, this will probably be a bit one sided. The Tyranitar and the Tyrantrum are both large rock Pokemon, similar to dinosaurs. They mess with the local weather a bit, shaking their bodies, letting loose a bit of a sandstorm. The goal is to make the weather harder to see in. Lute doesn't really care about Thranduil and his elves, though. They can deal with the sandstorm themselves, he's not going to warn them. But he's not going to target them with what comes next. Which is Lute's Arcanine, a bit of a bloodthirsty beast, rushing around to start biting at the Swat Elves. Also, the sound of helicopters are coming in. A gigantic Kaiju is being carried in by a pair of twin helicopters. It is dropped down, and lands, right near the North Pole. It lets out a gigantic roar. It's Mr. Crabs! ...Or at least, it might be. I mean, he has a moustache, and Mr. Crabs doesn't have a moustache. Obviously this is not Lute here in the mask, and the crab is a different Kaiju who has a moustache. Its foot lands near Steve Rogers and his allies who are coming in near the North Pole as well.
Bain	TOYBOX (EXTERIOR) The TOYBOX is a titanic warehouse complex and storage area, offering the most secure storage in the arctic. All the doors here are security doors with complex holiday-themed locks, everything is windowless, and outside and all around, you can see huge present-shaped crates containing toys ready to be moved in or out! There is a path to the WEST leading to the NORTH POLE. There are MANY LOCKED DOORS to the EAST leading to the TOYBOX (INTERIOR) 3 ELF SWAT are here JACK HORNER is here STEVE ROGERS is here QUENTYN WESTWIND is here 1 ELITE BAINBOT is here 5 BAINBOTS are here FINNA is here Jack should find that the drill set he has - it's actually not just one drill, but a large industrial drill and a set of smaller hand-drills in a duffle bag - should be able to pierce the doors! After time. It takes TIME to open the door. The noise might attract a guard or two! It also attracts FINNA, though. Jack has a potential distraction on two fronts... As for CAPTAIN AMERICA and QUENTYN WESTWIND, they find that BAIN has deployed several of his HUMANOID COMBAT ROBOTS! The bulky, square-limbed machines roll into the area and transform out of spherical shapes, and are hard at work providing another distraction to the SWAT, several of them pinning the trio down, while an ELITE Bainbot, marked with caution-yellow stripes, fires its kinetic energy weapon over at CAPTAIN AMERICA, trying to drive him off back towards the NORTH POLE. Of course, the shots may fall useless on STONE SKIN provided by Quentyn, at least initially! It's two prompts, now, to go back over there.
Fiora O'Brien	Fiora does not so much as arrive at SANTA'S WARZONE as she simply exists there, just as she did not exist there in an defined state before. Wearing her SUMMER BEACHWEAR, she gives a big grin, tucks herself next to Vruasa's outstretched HOOK ARM, and gets about half a second into starting whatever stupid crap she was going to do, before immediately swearing up a storm about how 'bloody cold it is', and ceasing to exist once more. After a fast-forwarded minute of the Witch of Void tearing her closet apart for something warm to wear, she re-appears with a floppy-eared black beanie with gray fleece and little ball-dangly (it looks insanely dorky), a thick gray coat, gray snowpants, and black snow boots (which match her hat! Fashionable AND dorky.) Sliding under Vruasa's arm, she points her right hand at the open door. "ALRIGHT, SANTA! LISTEN UP! We're here to settle accounts! And don't you and yours give me that 'but Fi-ora, I couldn't find you' bull!" She calls. "This isn't gonna be another Stained Glass Incident!" Fiora looks around. "Wow, this place sucks. And the door's open! I wanted to kick the door down. Come on, let's find that Ho-ho-holdout-of-all-my-gifts." Fiora, as well, pointedly ignores the fact that stuff is exploding. Violently. She does, however, give a smile and a wave to Laer.
Laer	Laer will give Vruasa at least two glances, but she doesn't give away whether or not she sees through the disguise. She doesn't seem too interested either in looting the elves herself or hassling him, at least, instead heading into the building and looking for the jingle bells that she had been told about. Of course, she's still pretending to be maintenance in between blowing people up. There's no way that those within would have heard the explosion, right?
Reker	NORTH POLE Approaching from the warp gate, Reker has spawned his LTV and is racing along through the snow towards where the bad guys have begun their assault. He's made sure to put the winter mods on his truck, so it won't slip too much in the snow. If anyone wanted ot come along with him, that's up to them. He has room for four, after all. Either way he's roaring along through the snow, trying to get to the workshop before anything too bad happens there.
Laer	On the other hand, Laer'll totally notice Fiora. But she pretends she doesn't for the moment, partly out of politeness, but mostly because she knows it'll annoy the Witch of Void a little bit.
Bramble Patch	At the CHRISTMAS TREE forest... They may be made of dried wood and rotting plant matter, but those timber wolves are very real. And prehaps more importantly to Simon's awareness, magical in their source of animation. It's a strange mix of Dark magic and something Natural yet not, due to the combination of Everfree's untamed nature and Nightmare Moon's corruption of it. There's an even bigger radiance, possibly the local source of it, coming from the Pony. "Well it's about time you showed up ya old fogi--" Bramble Patch stops in middle of retort as she actually turned partially to look at Simon. Squints a moment, then grabs the Lumberjack's Bane mask with a forehoof and pulling it down a bit to make sure she's seeing right. Old guy with a big white beard, but he's not wearing red and not nearly fat enough to be the old guy with a beard she was expecting. "--Hmph." Followed by a small yelp as she lets the mask snap back to her face, but shrugs it off. "If I was you geezer, I'd get out of here while you can. Things are gonna get very uncheerful." With that she turns and starts into the woods after the Wolves scaring off whatever they can. A few bite at the trees and start gnawing on whatever branches or lights they can get in their foul smelling mouths, but they're mainly there to scare off the local wildlife. As she walks into the forest herself Bramble Patch pulls out one of the grenade casings Bain gave her, already loaded, pulls the trigger pin out with her teeth, and lobs it into the tree tops. It detonates at the arc and splatters some biological alchemical mess across several of them. Tonight's Fun Fact: You know mistletoe? Yeah, that stuff people are suppose to kiss under? Yeah. That stuff. That stuff is actually a botanical PARASITE, thriving off the water and nutrients stolen from the infected host. Drawing on the alchemical slurry and Bramble's Special Talent for growing poisonous and blighting plants the seeds in the mix practically explode into growth, much faster and more aggressive than their natural kin in trying to dig into the conifurs and essentially devour them from the inside out. It's Bramble Patch's way of putting holes into the cheer 'network' of the forest while making her way towards the CHRISTMAS TREE at the center.
Guest Dash	(NORTH POLE) Just above the pair of snowmobiles, soaring no more than ten feet off of the ground, is a quickly moving blur of colors. To say it's a festive blur of colors isn't quite right. Red and green are most certainly there. But so is the rest of the rainbow of awesome. Rainbow Dash easily keeps up with the snow riders, wings beating a steady rhythm. A blue and yellow scarf wrapped around her neck flutters behind her in the wind, matching the navy blue jacket over her upper body. There's a pair of goggles over her eyes, that have already fogged over as soon as she broke from the warmer weather on the other side of the warp gate into the freezing cold of the north. "Someone seriously lame!" Dash says, dipping down just between Deleel and Steve's snowmobiles. "Seriously, this rates at least a 9 on the lame-o-meter!" Christmas, Hearth's Warming, Festivus, whatever it's called. It's still the same thing, and messing with it automatically puts someone down in the 'ultra lame' section of Dash's book. The Sandstorm that Lute's pokemon whips up comes on so quickly that Dash doesn't even have the chance to react to it. She flies right into it, sand whipping up against her goggles. Even with them, it's so thick that she can barely see. She flares her wings, screeching to a halt just short of running into a large shadow that she presumes is part of a building of some sort. Dash wipes her brow, "Whew! Close one." She blinks underneath her goggles, struggling to see in the sandstorm. "What gives!? Alright, who brought the desert to winter?!" But that thing she thought was a building amidst the sandstorm? It's not a building. It's Mr. Crab's foot.
Vruasa Telash	The initial appearance of FIORA gets a sharp look out of VRUASA. Ordinarily he completely agrees with the both of them wearing nearly nothing, but this isn't the climate for it. No, not even for gods. He's about to open his mouth and criticize her choice of wardrobe when she bursts out swearing and fucks off to change. He PAUSES HIMSELF pending her return, not wanting to advance the narrative until she's back. It's only once she has re-appeared and settled in at his side that he unpauses himself, resuming normal temporal acceleration. Which is to say, advancing through time at one second per second like everyone else. "You know, he probably couldn't." Vruasa points out, reasonably. He's not actually certain that he's gotten any gifts from Santa, but he'd assumed it was because Santa rightfully judged him to be kind of an asshole and simply elected not to send anything his way. Fiora, however, is a wrench in all things omniscient. Anything around her is utterly blacked out. Fortunately (or unfortunately) for Vruasa, that happens to include judgement deities like Saint Nicholas. Not that he cares. Vruasa finds Santa Claus to be a creeper voyeur. If they don't have much to do with one another, he's perfectly alright with it. The general devastation going on around them gets ignored once again in favor of tunnelvision towards Fiora and their selected path. Vruasa just shrugs at her observation of this place sucking and advances forward, nodding to Laer in passing. "It's fucking loud and busy. Do you think it's always like this?" He asks Fiora, conversationally.
Jack Horner	TOYBOX (EXTERIOR) Jack sets the industrial drill into the door and, well, drill baby drill! He takes a second to assess the situation, what with the roaring Kaiju and all, and catches sight of Finna. Huh. Well. "Hey, baby!" Jack calls out. "You're looking cold! Listen, let me get these doors open and I'll find somewhere to get you nice and warm!" Of course, with his attention momentarily broken, the drill produces an ear-splitting noise as it hits the mechanism all wrong for a moment! Jack swears!
Finna	The snow woman smiles when Jack notices her! Or seems to. In fact, only person who would be seeing a woman there is Jack. virtually anyone else sees only a loose collection of snow clumps somehow arranged into a pillar in a hurry. Jack would've discovered it, had he been distracted enough by the siren call of those lonely eyes to stroll over and embrace her. That would've been far preferable to Finna. Him dropping the tools would've been a great opportunity for her to swipe them out from under his nose and run off to hide them. Making a really loud noise is acceptable though. And him turning at all makes for a perfect opportunity to enact Plan B! "HRAUGH!" A vulpine shape bursts from the snow piled up near Jack... right behind him. It flies straight up for his derriere, jaws open wide. CHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMP Yeah, she's attempting to bite him in the ass. HARD. And stay locked on. If she can? She'll get him scurrying about every which way and screaming his lungs out! She cannot forgive people trying to ruin the smiles on children's faces. So not being able to sit down for a week seems like a fine punishment to her! And once she moves, the 'woman' illusion fades, the pillar revealed for what it is.
Steve Rogers	NORTH POLE: Suddenly there is a GIANT ENEMY CRAB getting airdropped in the path of Cap's snowmobile. Fortunately, Steve's reaction time is excellent; with a yell of "HANG ON!!" to his passenger, he wrests the snowmobile into something resembling a power-drift, kicking up a spray of fresh powder and managing - somehow - not to crash into Mr. Crabs's foot. Not that Captain America has the slightest idea who "Mr. Crabs" is; all he knows at the moment is 'giant monster which looks like something out of a movie I missed'. He still has places to be, though - and after straightening out from the drift, Cap runs his snowmobile between the Kaiju's legs and continues on his way to ... THE TOYBOX: Bainbots are very recognizable to the good Captain, after the incident in the Earth Kingdom which led to Bain experiencing a second-hand punching out; Cap unslings his shield and wedges it over the snowmobile's windshield, twisting the throttle to accelerate towards the Bainbots. In fact, he's headed STRAIGHT TOWARDS the Elite Bainbot. Between Quentyn's spells and the vibranium shield itself, even kinetic energy bolts aren't likely to slow him down .... At least, not until he vaults off the snowmobile's saddle, grabbing his shield along the way, and flies feet-first at the yellow-striped Bainbot, seemingly heedless of his own safety. He can handle getting shot a few times. Quentyn, on the other hand, probably CAN'T ... so after the kick lands (to whatever effect), Cap will be doubling back to protect the white mage. "Good work with those spells!"
Bain	NORTH POLE The NORTH POLE is a spiritual and magical center of power, which mutually resonates with Santa Claus to provide energy! That's why there appears to be some sort of REFINERY STRUCTURE all around. This central area is wide, expansive, and naturally generates high volumes of CHRISTMAS-THEMED MATERIAL to convey intense CHRISTMAS SPIRIT. The large refinery machines provide cover on-foot, but the area itself is wide enough to allow a titanic KAIJU to be the centerpiece. There's a red-striped white pole at the center of it all. It is small, unassuming, and completely immune to all damage. There is a path to the NORTH leading to SANTA'S WORKSHOP (EXTERIOR) There is a path to the EAST leading to the TOYBOX (exterior) There is a path to the SOUTH leading to the CHRISTMAS TREE There is a path to the WEST leading to SANTA'S HOUSE LUTE is here 5 ELF SWAT are here 3 ELF SWAT (incapacitated) are here TYRANITAUR is here TYRANTRUM is here ARCANINE is here THRANDUIL is here THRANDUIL'S ELVES are here REKER is here RAINBOW DASH is here OH SHIT A KAIJU is here Honestly that's all that really needs to be said. The sandstorm effectively blinds the elves and several are incapacitated by VICIOUS BITING! And now the main threat - a Kaiju(?) - is here.
Simon Petrikov	CHRISTMAS TREE Simon holds one hand up as he backs away. His eyes are altered, as mentioned. And in those wolves and inside of the masked pony, he can see... Something. Some darkness. He saw something like it, though more intensely, in a giant skeleton sorcerer who nearly killed him. Even in a smaller amount, it still looks dangerous. The beings acting as vessels for it look dangerous. He has been misidentified as Santa, it seems, and he starts to explain, "Look, I don't want any trouble! I'm sure you have a totally legitimate reason for being here!" But then he hears on the radio that bandits are attacking the North Pole. Bandits! They might interrupt Santa's work! And then children wouldn't get presents! Also, Santa and his elves might get hurt, and, as he has told Marceline, Vandalism is WRONG. With a capital WRONG. After a moment, one of those dark wolves in the process of tearing at the christmas lights may suddenly find an old guy landing on its back, and trying to pull those christmas lights and their cord up into the scary beast's mouth, behind its teeth... And... Ride the wolf. With christmas lights for reins. Simon is not an action hero, and there's a high chance of failure, and he is FREAKING out, but he has to do SOMETHING, and trying to steer an evil wolf around a giant forest at the North Pole and try to disrupt the operations of a vandalous pony, even if he is likely to get hurt as a result is still better than putting on the Crown. Even if he's yelling, "Oh, breadballs! Oh, breadballs! Oh, BREADBALLS!" the whole time. Poisonous plants? He'll do what he can, but he kind of has his hands full trying to wrangle a wolf into serving as a mount.
Lute	NORTH POLE The only one who is still around Lute appears to be Rainbow Dash. Lute is incredibly annoyed at this. Not necessarily because he dislikes beating up ponies. No. It's because his role was 'distraction'. People are probably getting too used to his role as that, which is why they're rushing for the actual target. So he's going to have to take a more desperate measure to get people's attention. For now, Mr. Crabs will focus on Rainbow Dash, and Lute's Pokemon will try to keep Reker in this area. As such, Mr. Crabs goes into action first. He feels something hit his foot. It takes him a bit to look down, and see exactly /what/ hit him. As the giant Kaiju sees it, it pulls back a foot, and swings it forward. Hard. Trying to send Rainbow Dash flying. Lute's Pokemon, meanwhile, try to attack Reker with a rather simple move: Rock Tomb. Large stones appear, trying to halt Reker's progress and pin him down. As for Lute, well. He's going to do the DESPERATE THING. He makes a /mad/ dash to the North Pole itself. There are /lots/ of different mechanisms around, made specifically to harness it. To harness the festive joy. And after asking if it could be tapped into, Lute got a brilliant idea. He's trying to grab ahold of the North Pole, and trying to tap into its power. He's not sure if this will work. It PROBABLY WON'T. But, he's trying to tap into the POWER FESTIVE. Specifically, the festive parts that /suck/. All of the negative. Black Friday. Holiday Shopping. Awkward family moments. Getting stuck in traffic. He is trying to figure out some way to channel this from the North Pole to become an Avatar of Holiday Misery. ...Who knows if it'll work.
Quentyn Westwind	The little white mage (or... almost literal fur ball in his current wear), with the sharp manuevers, clutches against either whatever handles/grips the passenger gets or the Captain if there are none. With said Captain no longer on the throttle and the snowmobile slowing down-- as soon as it slows enough, Quentyn jumps off and uses the vehicle for cover. So at least he's got some sense. He also slides his rifle into his gloves hands, but the boy doesn't seem in a hurry to aim it at anyone. Instead, he just remains in cover, only sneaking out a few looks at their opponents. Green aether gathers around the white mage and his gun once more and, with a hand gesturing in the Captain's direction, he tries to direct a regen spell on the hero preemptively. "Um," he radios, "Tell me if you get hurt or cursed."
Bain	SANTA'S WORKSHOP (INTERIOR) SANTA'S WORKSHOP is a twisty, tangly structure, a mess of wide-open factory floors and close hallways. Both of these are perfect for an explosive assault. Within, the lights are beginning to flicker strangely as power flutters between primary and backup power. It's a bit disorienting. There is an exit SOUTH to SANTA'S WORKSHOP (EXTERIOR) LAER is here VRUASA is here FIORA is HERE The interior is going to need some navigation; this place is a goddamn maze of machinery. Laer can attempt to use any powers she has that might enhance navigation, perhaps begin breaching walls, interrogate any of the SWAT elves she keeps blowing up, or whatever course of action she may wish to indulge, to confront that issue, though. Where is Santa, though! This north pole place is way too big. Maybe Fiora can shake the answer out of one of the cowering, hiding elves deeper in the factory?
Reker	NORTH POLE Reker spots the Pokemon that jump out in front of him trying to attack him. The Rock Tomb pops up right in front of his truck, and he slams on the brakes, trying to swerve out of the way. However it's hard to come to a sudden stop on the ice of the north pole and all he manages to do is swerve to the side. Bracing for the impact that's coming, he slams into the rocks that block his path. The vehicle comes to a sudden and complete stop. As soon as his momentum has come to a stop, he quickly changes seats, moving from the driver's seat to the turret. As he rises up into the turret, he racks the charging handle back on the .50 M2 machine gun that's mounted there and turns the weapon on the Pokemon that just attacked him. The heavy machine gun begins to chatter out rounds, aiming to pin down the Pokemon and try to get them out of his way so he can get out of the snow and into where he was originally headed, even if he has to go on foot now.
Bain	CHRISTMAS TREE The CHRISTMAS TREE is actually a huge mass of fir trees that have, somehow, beaten back the cold to something managable. No snow piles here, and the intensely packed forest surrounding the titanic central fir tree. Around that fir tree, a string of HUGE lights harnesses the tree's power to regulate the cheer power. Most of the structures around here are natural, formed out of trees that keep only a light sheet of snow on their surface. There is a path to the NORTH, leading to the NORTH POLE OH SHIT WOLVES are here BRAMBLE PATCH is here SIMON is here The CHRISTMAS TREE is here Many of those lights are being torn down, though one of Brambles worker's is being interrupted... The flickering glow of the trees seems to indicate that the mistletoe is doing its job, though, the magic in the trees seeming to fluctuate, wildly! It's progress being made, and the cords of lights falling away are leaving the tree's internal magic vulnerable; if Bramble can unsettle the titanic First Christmas Tree itself enough, she'll be able to knock out the main power! Even Simon, with his developing WIZARD EYES, should be able to detect that, though...
Laer	Laer doesn't really have that many powers that enhance navigation without preparing for it in advance, which she hadn't! Instead she's going to have to resort to cruder measures. Much, much cruder. She'll grab one of the swat elves by the ears and start yanking. "Where are the jingle bells? Tell me, and you won't be celebrating your first Christmas without sound." It's not the most terrifying torture threat ever, really, but it's kind of abusive considering her height advantage and all. And way more direct than she normally is; she's feeling the time pressure of the others waiting for her to finish her bit.
Bain	TOYBOX (EXTERIOR) The TOYBOX is a titanic warehouse complex and storage area, offering the most secure storage in the arctic. All the doors here are security doors with complex holiday-themed locks, everything is windowless, and outside and all around, you can see huge present-shaped crates containing toys ready to be moved in or out! There is a path to the WEST leading to the NORTH POLE. There are MANY UN(LOCKED) DOORS to the EAST leading to the TOYBOX (INTERIOR) 3 ELF SWAT are here JACK HORNER is here STEVE ROGERS is here QUENTYN WESTWIND is here 2 ELITE BAINBOTS are here 5 BAINBOTS are here FINNA is here JACK HORNER noticed by one of the elves! Especially if he cries out as Finna attacks him! The drill's mounted, so it keeps drilling and drilling despite the mechanism fussing for a moment! The elf cries out and brandishes a baton, ready to assault Jack's legs! Oh no! But, meanwhile, the flickering power eases the security mechanisms long enough that Jack's drill can catch through and bust open one of the doors! Meanwhile, the regular old bainbots keep firing long after Captain America gives a solid KICK to robo-Bain's face! It cracks the santa mask it's wearing and slams it off its feet, but despite being damage, it keeps going! Cap can hear Bain crying out in pain over the radio, though. Deelel's the one who draws the non-Elite Bainbot fire, though, with a bright snowmobile! They're trying to overwhelm the light-snowmobile with a huge volume of kinetic weapon energy weapon fire! Meanwhile, a second Elite comes to back up the attack on Cap, the heavily injured one and the fresh one both trying to flank now, dashing madly through the snow, trying to pursue and fire on Quentyn and Captain America as they meet back up at his snowmobile.
Guest Dash	NORTH POLE When that building that Rainbow Dash narrowly avoided hitting begins to move, the pegasus freezes, her wings the only thing continuing to beat steadily to keep her upright in the air. She turns, slowly, just as the foot arcs up. Then she shifts her gaze up, following the leg up to the giant Kaiju towering over her. Dash's ears wilt in an instant. "... Aw ponyfeathers." Dash twists around in mid air, her wings coming down heavily to try and catch the cold wind so she can fly away from the kaiju sized kick. WHUD. The foot connects with Dash just she's flying off, the blunt side of the claws smacking her underside. The force is enough to send the little pony back the way she came. "WAAAAAAAH!" There's a second WHUD as Dash hits the snowy ground at a partially-controlled roll. But she keeps rolling, snow sticking to her. Around and around and around, snow gathering over her thicker and thicker. "I'm gooOoonna beee ssiiiicccckk!" It rolls almost right past Lute and the North Pole, and doesn't stop until it finally smacks into the side of a building. The entire snowball disintegrates, and a slightly green-faced Rainbow Dash topples out from the inside of it. "Ugh... Worst ride /ever/..." She staggers up to all four hooves, shaking snow off of her wings. "Okay, how do I-Hey!" She pauses, wings half extended. Her eyes are glaring at the masked Lute. "What the hay do you think you're doing!?" Dash thrusts her wings down in several strong beats, the kaiju momentarily forgotten, and she takes off at intense speeds. Hooves outstretched, she aims herself right at Lute to try and tackle him away from the North Pole.
Bain	NORTH POLE The NORTH POLE is a spiritual and magical center of power, which mutually resonates with Santa Claus to provide energy! That's why there appears to be some sort of REFINERY STRUCTURE all around. This central area is wide, expansive, and naturally generates high volumes of CHRISTMAS-THEMED MATERIAL to convey intense CHRISTMAS SPIRIT. The large refinery machines provide cover on-foot, but the area itself is wide enough to allow a titanic KAIJU to be the centerpiece. There's a red-striped white pole at the center of it all. It is small, unassuming, and completely immune to all damage. There is a path to the NORTH leading to SANTA'S WORKSHOP (EXTERIOR) There is a path to the EAST leading to the TOYBOX (exterior) There is a path to the SOUTH leading to the CHRISTMAS TREE There is a path to the WEST leading to SANTA'S HOUSE LUTE is here 3 ELF SWAT are here 5 ELF SWAT (incapacitated) are here TYRANITAUR is here TYRANTRUM is here ARCANINE is here THRANDUIL is here THRANDUIL'S ELVES are here REKER is here RAINBOW DASH is here OH SHIT A KAIJU is here Lute takes out more SWAT in the background, but that's not the important part. Channeling the power of the NORTH POLE ten days from christmas is more than the average human being can handle. Luckily, Lute isn't average! However, the experience is PAINFUL. If he can hold on for a moment, though, his pokemon will suddenly have large BELL HARNESSES attached to them, enabling MAGICAL FLIGHT, not unlike Santa's reindeer! It probably won't last long. There would be more effects if it weren't for an INTERRUPTING PEGASUS. As for the other combatants, Lute is here to handle their combat needs!
Bain	SANTA'S HOUSE The residential sector of the North Pole facility is simple and friendly and cozy, housing the many elves. It has gone mostly unacknowledged during all this chaos. There is a path to the EAST, leading to the NORTH POLE 1 ELITE Bainbot is here. Another Bainbot deployed from the helicopters. It has retreated from battle, and is headed to destinations unknown.
Deelel	North Pole: Deelel has arrived and sees there's some Bainbots there that are still shooting after Captain America. She sees the bots fire they are comming at her and she forced to speed up heading for them trying to evade hteir fire as best she can she's not perfect. The craft takes hit but it's clear she's intending to run some of the Bain bots downa s a light wall forms in the wake of her machine and she may even try to pen them in.
Bramble Patch	The CHRISTMAS TREE: There was a number of reasons that the Timber Wolves were Bramble Patch's monster mooks of choice. Primary one being that since they were basically just dead wood and magic animated in the form of a wolf, they were pretty easy for her to make and manage in sizable numbers. That made them useful here, as she figured the local trees would be too thick with 'holiday spirit' magic for her to corrupt; which is also why she went the parasitic route. Another being that they were pretty hardy since they lacked any sort of 'living' body parts to harm. Within Everfree Forest they were all but unstoppable. Though this far from Equestria they weren't as inherently strong, but still extremely hardy and difficult to put down. On the other side of the coin, they weren't exactly the smartest of minions when someone wasn't giving them direct commands. Case in point, the one commandeered doesn't even seem to notice Simon is there until he grabs the string of lights it had been chewing up and pulls them tight into its mouth. Fortunately it's not thick enough to gag the beast, because when those rotting fumes back up, it's... well... Just ask Spike and Applejack how that turned out. Once the string is yanked though, the timber wolf takes off at an erratic weaving run roughshod through the dense woods, likely smacking Simon's face into many a conifur branch, though if he keeps a hold on those lightstring reins he should be able to keep his ride. Meanwhile Bramble Patch stops to look up at the massive Christmas Tree at the center of the woods. When she does so, some of that Holiday Spirit starts conjuring up memories of Hearthswarming Eves past. All those years of foalhood (ie childhood) that her parents insisted on giving her gardening related presents in hopes that they could make her talent 'work right' instead of the weeds and fungus she only seemed able to grow. The year she asked for a telescope thinking she could try astronomy instead, but her mother didn't think science was mare-like enough and gave her beautician tools instead. All the times she'd ask for things like Wonderbolt action figures or a Daring Doo book, but they would only give her 'girly' toys like plushies and brushable pony-dolls. Or when she asked for alchemy kits to try and make use of her 'broken' talent but they thought they were too dangerous (not that they were WRONG in that case). "WAAAAAAAAUGH!" the trip down unwanted memories draws a shriek of rage out of her as she rears up and reachs for her back. She pulls out not her usual gardener's spade for a weapon, but a freakin' chainsaw she borrowed from the Confederate armory. How she's even reving that up and holding it with hooves is a mystery in itself. Just as she's swiping for the branchs to start she's interrupted by Simon's shouting, pulling her swing short and giving the big tree nothing more than a short buzzcut this time as she turns to look. Simon's wolf crashes into a pack of them, causing the whole bunch to shatter into various twigs and rotting peat across the ground. "What the hay old man! I told you stay outta this. But you just had to go and butt in, didn't you? Trying to score extra good points with the fat ol' jackass?" A holiday donkey that more or less functions as a house servant for the reindeer barn bleets from the background. "Dang right that was offensive!" Bramble snaps back, before looking down. And smirking smugly. "But I think you bit off more than you can chew..." Simon's Wizard Eyes would see the spike of that wild energy coming from her, specifically from under her stocking cap where the headband holding her corrupt gemstone is worn. With it all the bits of wood and rot rattle on the ground, then tumble and crack back together. Not into a pack of timber wolves, but into one very large, very pissed off looking giant wolf looming over Simon, nausiating vapors still smoldering out the corners of its mouth.
Jack Horner	TOYBOX (EXTERIOR) Howling in pain, Jack reaches down for Finna and - for the first time ever in recorded history - tries to pull someone off his ass! He kicks out at the baton-wielding elf, swearing at the little policeman for battering at his shins... ...and then, holding Finna by the scruff, tries to beat the elf down by using Finna as an impromptu club. Two birds with one stone and all that.
Quentyn Westwind	Just one more peek out and-- ZAP. Quentyn's skin (and even the furs!) briefly looks stony, but the boy winces and lets out a soft "ow ow ow" despite the defense spell. Being under fire Quentyn doesn't handle so well. The kid hunkers down behind the snowmobile further (with any luck it won't explode?), even partly kicking some snow out to lower himself down more. But when Quentyn sees Deleel running in... she's a good guy (well, gal), right? Probably? Looks like she's going for the bad guys. The telltale signs of spellcasting appear around the mage and his weapon once more. Around Deleel, a golden glyph that vaguely gives the impression of a clock forms-- It starts to spin, slowly but quickly getting faster. Then the effect fades out of existance.
Lute	NORTH POLE With Reker gunning down the Pokemon, the Pokemon move to take cover. The two ground-based Pokemon dig down, while the Arcanine keeps moving, using Agility to try and void the brunt of the bullets. All three of them do get hit a bit, though. But soon after, the Tyranitar and Tyrantrum appear from /underneath/ Reker. The Tyrantrum is trying to bite at his underside, and pull him under. The Tyranitar is bursting from the ground next to Reker, and trying to /push/ him under from above now. Lute keeps holding onto the North Pole. Despite the pain, despite the suffering, he /has/ to channel the Spirit of Christmas. If only so he can add this to his impressive list of accomplishments. Still, though, he is slammed into by Rainbow Dash, the hooves hitting into him. Hooves from horses are /dangerous/ things, and hooves from ponies aren't much difference. As Lute is hit, he goes tumbling back, wincing in pain. "WHAT THE HELL, how do you hit that hard? Are you made of dark matter or something?!" Still, Lute needs revenge. And revenge he shall have. For, with the holiday reins on his Pokemon, he can bring this fight to Rainbow Dash's level. He leaps on his now airborn Arcanine, and flies around on its back. "FLAME CHARGE!" And Arcanine rushes forward through the air, trying to charge into Rainbow Dash while its body bursts with flames. Mr. Crabs, in the meantime, is simply stomping on everything he can. He's trying to destroy all of the mechanisms made to gather Holiday Spirit. Because why not ruin Christmas even more directly by making it harder to get holiday spirit.
Fiora O'Brien	"This sucks." Fiora grumbles, wandering inside the torn up insides of the FAT MAN'S SLAVE LABOR FACTORY, where DREAMS become COMMERCIAL GLUTTONY. "I expected instant gratification, and should have expected better." The Witch sighs, giving a little wave at Laer. "Sure. Free the elves. Rah rah, fight the man, etc. I'm sure the angle you're working is entirely altruistic." She offers, though for the Bard, she gives a rather warm grin. "Don't freeze your ears off, mmm?" She calls, before it's deeper into the facility. "Wow, this place sucks! No elves, no Jolly Red Giant, and no giant pile of gifts, or even coal, with my name on it!" Fiora fumes lightly. Then, well, Vruasa has REASON and FACT that he brings to bear against her bad mood. "... Yeah, but, still. He could have at least tried. Psyber tries! It's just... Well. Okay. Let's just find him." Fiora finally relents, tromping through the ruined factory and trailing snow everywhere. "I mean, how hard could it be to find Santa, in Santa's Workshop?" Ignoring completely there's like a goshdarned ground war going on. Let's just all ignore that.
Steve Rogers	TOYBOX: So the mage guy bundled in the furs has a rifle. Good to know he's not completely defenseless; Cap makes a mental note not to obstruct Quentyn's line of fire - although the Bainbots are spreading out rather purposefully. So Captain America stops blocking with his shield and flings it, aiming to ricochet it off of one of the Bainbots on his right, into the other Bainbot on his right, angled so that it'll fly back to Cap ... Not that he's still where he was when he threw the shield - he can handle getting shot, but he prefers to avoid it when possible, even with the defensive spells Quentyn cast on him earlier still in effect. "Shoot the yellow-striped one!" he advises his ally while he's crouched behind the snowmobile with Quentyn ... Then straightens up to fling his shield at the Bainbots who were previously on his left, trying to knock both of them out the same way he (hopefully) got the first pair. Getting flanked is bad even for super-soldiers, after all.
Finna	With a canine-like yipe, the fox is yanked off her target and smacked into the elf roughly as it gets. Finna is SURPRISINGLY DURABLE for such a small creature. A few whacks like that would be enough to get a fox pretty darned injured. But somehow she tanks it. NOw, the poor elf, probably not so well off. Regardless as she breaks loose from the manhandling, she's... changing. Yeah. The fox writhes on the ground, more irritated than really hurt. Sure, the wind was knocked out of her. And she'll be bruised. But the woman who springs out of her fox shape - clad in tight-fitting leathers with fur trim - doesn't look too worse for the wear. Frowning up at Jack with a pouty expression, she's resting lazily on her side uing a single hand as support. Finna's not wearing a heck of a lot either. The leather outfit shows off arms, legs, midriff... yet like Jack, the cold's not bothering her. And oh hey, she's the 'snow woman' he saw earlier. Just not quite as idealized and dreaming. NOT QUITE. A bit more youthful and impish, perhaps more 'cute' than beautiful. "Pooooooooo, you! What happened to the part about warming me up. Never heard of love bites before? That's okay, though!" She springs to her feet, dusts her hands off... and waggles a finger. "I'm gonna have to take EXCEPTION to that 'mangy mutt' comment though." Shrugging her shoulders and waving her arms in an 'it can't be helped, oh well!' gesture, she takes a stance, tosses her hair back, and GRINS at Jack. Hey wait. WHEN DID ALL OF HER TEETH TURN RAZOR SHARP?! The rest of her is following suit, too. Her body expands up and outwards by a hefty amount, bulking up. Though decisively sleek and feminine, her arms and legs gain serious muscle tone and she gains a whole foot in height. As her body fills out, it sprouts fur. All the clothes vanish, but she swipes at the air with claws that glow silvery, a crescent moon now glowing above on the forehead that now rests above a lengthened snout... She huffs out hot, predatory breath down at the now-shorter Jack, bearing down at him and dramatically bringing the claw hand back. Winding up for a life-shredding blow. The claws glow strangely, silvery and blue and shadows all at once. Even some glittery light. It's magic, alright. A very powerful magic.
Vruasa Telash	The mythos of SANTA CLAUS isn't something that VRUASA Is too familiar with. He keeps having to ask Arthur and Fiora for explanations of things, so he mostly just ignores the matter of the elves. He's not sure where they come in or why and he doesn't really care. What he does know is that Santa is supposed to give people things, good or bad. That sort of attention is something that Fiora has been sorely lacking in from external parties, so he can't really blame her for being worked up about it. He leans heavily against Fiora, juuuust enough to slightly adjust the angle of her walk if she doesn't lean back deliberately herself. "This IS pretty mundane..." He admits, glancing about at the surrounding maze of machinery. Maybe there's some magic underneath the surface. The building size probably doesn't synch up to its external dimensions, for that matter. Something catches the Knight's attention in a bad way, though. Vruasa falls quiet, an aggravated expression rapidly crossing his face. He jabs a metallic finger into Fiora's side and answers, clearly irritated, "Yeah, there's NOBODY who goes out of their way to give you an epic fucking gristmas. Not ever. nuh-uh." The most recent was, of course, the most extravagant he had ever gone. Vruasa had fucked that up in a few ways, too. But he can't help but be at least a little offended that she's so invested in this weirdo voyeur deity when he's done as much as he has along a similar lines himself. This is mostly because Vruasa doesn't have the cultural interest in Santa Claus or Christmas that Fiora does. He hasn't got the frame of mind to comprehend what an affront Santa Claus's inaction must feel like. "... Why don't you just ask one of these assholes where he's at?" He asks, jerking his head towards the SWAT Elves.
Reker	NORTH POLE Reker's machine gun continues to rattle until the Pokemon come up below him. He clambors up onto the edge of the truck and dives off of it as the truck gets knocked through the air. He turns himself in midair, his right hand pulling the sidearm off of his thigh and firing shots back at the ground types as he falls backwards. He lands and rolls over a couple of times before coming up onto a knee. He grabs something off of his belt and throws it at the ground near his feet, the smoke grenade kicking up a huge cloud of red smoke in front of him. A second one joins the red smoke, green smoke floating up from the grenade. It's very festive, when you think about it. But Reker is using the smoke to hide his movements from the Pokemon that are attacking him. while he switches to a weapon that's going to do more damage even if he can get shots close to them.
Bain	SANTA'S WORKSHOP (INTERIOR) SANTA'S WORKSHOP is a twisty, tangly structure, a mess of wide-open factory floors and close hallways. Both of these are perfect for an explosive assault. Within, the lights are beginning to flicker strangely as power flutters between primary and backup power. It's a bit disorienting. There is an exit SOUTH to SANTA'S WORKSHOP (EXTERIOR) LAER is here VRUASA is here FIORA is HERE The SWAT elves are still, you know, elves. They come right out of a child's cartoon. And so, with a little... Coercion, of course, the SWAT elf will relent, calling out in panicked cries, giving Laer a set of directions! Following them brings Laer to the FIRST JINGLE BELL, a titanic web of huge round bells wrapping around each other and constantly churning and jingling. Webs of metal wire extend away from the yards-wide apparatus occupying much of a factory floor where musical materials are produced.
Laer	Laer would be taking quite a lot of offense to the narration if she could see it! Fortunately, this is not the place for that. "Oh, this is my stop, one moment." Most of what Laer knew about Christmas was in the slightly inaccurate form of Gristmas. However, she's done a bit of research for this, looking into the most polar opposite of Christmas music she could find scouring all the multiverse for a good five to ten minutes, ready to counteract the Christmas spirit in this first Jingle Bell and cause a meltdown between the Christmas and the AntiChristmas! She's even stooping to singing in common, rather than her normal 'anything else'. "Oh dreidel, dreidel, dreidel, I made you out of clay! Oh dreidel, dreidel, dreidel, then dreidel I shall play." This goes on for a bit, magically augmented at the Jingle Bell.
Bain	TOYBOX (EXTERIOR) The TOYBOX is a titanic warehouse complex and storage area, offering the most secure storage in the arctic. All the doors here are security doors with complex holiday-themed locks, everything is windowless, and outside and all around, you can see huge present-shaped crates containing toys ready to be moved in or out! There is a path to the WEST leading to the NORTH POLE. There are MANY UN(LOCKED) DOORS to the EAST leading to the TOYBOX (INTERIOR) 3 ELF SWAT are here JACK HORNER is here STEVE ROGERS is here QUENTYN WESTWIND is here 2 ELITE BAINBOTS are here 5 BAINBOTS are here FINNA is here DEELEL is here The injured Bainbot suffers a sudden SHIELD BASH, and the thing bounces off of it straight into the uninjured one, smashing one arm clean off of it as Bain cries out in pain! It stumbles as the other one goes down, getting its gun ready briefly... Before it suddenly turns around. He'll give that one to Cap for free, and let Quentyn heal him back up to full. Bain, instead, turns around and levels the large gun, one-handed, at Finna! He fires viciously, trying to blast a charged shot into her hard enough to pierce through horrible monster-person hide and get her on the ground for a moment. "Hey, Jack! I know you're having fun, but don't mess around too long! We've almost got it ready!" Meanwhile, Deelel is heading around and around the stray non-Elite Bainbots, penning them in effectively and taking several of them out as the energy walls blast them apart!
Simon Petrikov	CHRISTMAS TREE There is a reason Simon is not an action hero. As his face is smacked repeatedly by tree branches as he rides the wooden wolf through the woods, he isn't quite sure where he's going with this. He thought maybe he'd do like in the movies and ride around using the enemy's own stuff against them. Have the wolf interrupt the other wolves. Whatever, you know? He can see the magic in the trees being disrupted. He's gradually starting to realize that what he's seeing is... Magic. He realizes it even more when his wolf rodeo leads him back to that strange masked pony, falls apart into pieces, which dumps him on his rear, and then forms up with the other wolves into a giant wolf of poison and decay. Simon has twigs in his hair, and reaches up to brush his hand through his hair and beard to clear some of them as he stares transfixed up at the giant wolf before him. He rises to his feet, never taking his eyes off his opponent. His whole life flashes before his eyes. Then his eyebrows come down in determination, he bares his sharp, magic-mutated teeth, and he pulls the Crown from his belt loop. "Sorry, but there's a little girl waiting for me to come back home. I'm not going to croak here at the North Pole." He can see the power of Christmas Magic flickering and fading in all these trees, even the First Christmas Tree. He's not going to let that spirit, that hope fade away. "And I'm not gonna' let the spirit of Christmas die up here either!" He has to return to Marceline, he has to keep Christmas alive, and he has to make sure that someday, his fiancee, his princess, Betty, will be able to love him again. And there's no way she could, if he ran right now. It worked once before. Maybe it will work now. He puts the Crown on his head, and he sings as he does so. "o/` We were drawn from the weeds, we were brave like soldiers o/`" "o/` Falling down under the pale moonlight. o/`" His beard and his hair grow longer, thicker. His nose likewise becomes longer. He puts his hands down to his sides, points his palms at the ground, and shoots icy winds and snow from them. "o/` You were holding to me, like someone broken. o/`" As his beard begins to flap and move in a prehensile manner, like wings, suspending him in the air, he raises his hands and points them at the toxic wolf. "o/` And I couldn't tell you but I'm telling you now! o/`" He shoots a tidal wave of ice and snow at the wolf, trying to bury it and blast it. And the whole time he is gritting his teeth, as the tendrils of magic worm their way through his brain, closing doors of memory shut in his brain forever. Betty's face. "o/` Just let me hold you while you're falling apart! o/`" He points his hands to the sky, and clouds form overhead, rapidly, supernaturally. Ice lightning flashes from one cloud to another. "o/` Just let me hold you and we'll both fall DOWN! o/`" He brings his hands down and cyan lightning tears down from the sky and freezes on impact, attempting to entomb the wolf, to kill the fast-growing mistletoe. He forgets Betty's name. "o/` Fall on me! Tell me everything you want me to be! o/`" A vortex of ice and snow descends from the sky as he moves his hands to control it. The vortex is aimed at Bramble Patch. "o/` Forever with you! Forever in me! o/`" He forgets he had a fiancee. He's crying and he doesn't know why anymore. "o/` Ever the same! o/`" The vortex sucks all the heat out of the air, and releases a wave of ice and snow in every direction.
Guest Dash	NORTH POLE While Rainbow Dash isn't quite certain as to just what it is Lute has a hole of, she's confident that it's not a good thing that he's doing whatever it is he's doing to it. All the more reason for her to put as much force through her tackle as she can, pushing all of her momentum into Lute the moment that they connect. She bounces off of him, coming to a complete stop just above the north pole. Wings flare out quickly catching the air as they beat steadily to keep her aloft. A grin flashes across Dash's muzzle, "Pure awesomeness, that's what I'm made of! And tonight you're just pure lame!" But then Lute has jumped onto his Arcanine. His festive Arcanine. That takes to the sky. Dash, the flying magical pony, stares at this in incomprehension. "Whu. Wha. How?! That's-Whoa!" She flicks her wings back, and quickly dives downwards, trying to avoid the flaming flying canine of doom. Despite her speed, flames lick at her sides, singing her coat and turning patches of it darker with soot. She keeps flying straight at the ground, looking like she's about to slam into it like she's in some uncontrolable dive, expecting Lute to follow her. But then abruptly, Dash flares her wings back, coming down in an angled swoop, and she immediately loses momentum. In exchange, she gains height. She leaps up practically a good few feet into the air, soaring up above Lute's head. A deft flip later, and she's behind him and his flying Arcanine. "So your dog can fly! Big whoop!" Dash flies past them, looping around them. Then again. And again. "You're in my playing field now, bub!" Again and again Dash flies around, a powerful wind beginning to rise up in her wake. Wind, snow and ice swirls around Lute and the Arcanine, forming a wintery vortex as Dash continues to fly faster and faster around them.
Jack Horner	TOYBOX EXT. As Finna transforms, Jack pulls out his trusty six shooter and begins loading bullets into it. Five brass, one silver. He whistles too, and then snaps it closed and points it in Finna's direction. There's a bit of back and forth, of course, until Bain takes Finna out for a moment. Jack smirks and offers the shapeshifter a roguish wink. He turns towards the east and gets ready to move the moment Bain tells him to!
Quentyn Westwind	Quentyn looks at Captain America (if the man is still in sight), kind of a guilty expression and without making eye contact, and shakes his head quickly. ...until Rogers damage some of the bots and the others focus their efforts elsewhere. Quentyn cautiously peeks up over the snowmobile just to make sure it's safe. And it is! Relatively. He looks between the bots, the Captain, and Deleel. And he looks speculatively at the door with the drill on it, flipping up his goggles long enough to adjust his glases underneath. Then back to the others. Rogers has regen on him, but Deleel doesn't. Quentyn still doesn't use his rifle (except as a kind of psuedo staff from the way aether keeps gathering around it? but he directs the spell with his hand), instead opting to cast Regen on Deleel.
Bain	NORTH POLE The NORTH POLE is a spiritual and magical center of power, which mutually resonates with Santa Claus to provide energy! That's why there appears to be some sort of REFINERY STRUCTURE all around. This central area is wide, expansive, and naturally generates high volumes of CHRISTMAS-THEMED MATERIAL to convey intense CHRISTMAS SPIRIT. The large refinery machines provide cover on-foot, but the area itself is wide enough to allow a titanic KAIJU to be the centerpiece. There's a red-striped white pole at the center of it all. It is small, unassuming, and completely immune to all damage. Vast quantities of the machinery here are wrecked heavily! There is a path to the NORTH leading to SANTA'S WORKSHOP (EXTERIOR) There is a path to the EAST leading to the TOYBOX (exterior) There is a path to the SOUTH leading to the CHRISTMAS TREE There is a path to the WEST leading to SANTA'S HOUSE LUTE is here 8 ELF SWAT (incapacitated) are here TYRANITAUR is here TYRANTRUM is here ARCANINE is here THRANDUIL is here THRANDUIL'S ELVES are here REKER is here RAINBOW DASH is here OH SHIT A KAIJU is here The Kaiju wrecks the hell out of much of the refinery here. Oh shit, someone stop it! Otherwise next Christmas might be getting ruined instead!
Finna	As Finna's getting all up in arms and character, hoping to channel both 'femme fatale' and 'the big bad fox' at once to get Jack wetting his pants (int his cold, that would CERTAINLY be a problem for several reasons...) She ends up a bit slow to notice Bain coming around the corner. She spins around and brings her claws around and -- only too late notices that it's not a bullet. A bullet, she could probaly slash into pieces. An energy blast? KTHWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! Finna's blasted CLEAR off her feet and into a snowbank. THROUGh the snowbank. She goes tumbling end over end with a sizzling scorch on her side. It looks and smells pretty nasty. BURNED FUR is never a pleasant smell, really. But there's no doubt she's still alive. She's still breathing, even though that knocked the wind RIGHT out of her...
Bramble Patch	If Bramble Patch knew the suffering Simon was putting himself through by putting that Crown on, she'd probably enjoy it. And maybe sympathize a little. She was essentially corrupted similarly by the power of Nightmare Moon, after all. Just she didn't have the whole trying to struggle against it issue since she pretty openly accepted it and the power that came with. But she doesn't so all he gets a nostril flaring snort as she revs her chainsaw again. "Ugh, whatever oldtimer! What is with you people and emotional lame speechies?" She doesn't even actually see him put it on as she turns back to the main Christmas Tree and lifts the chainsaw up over her head.... then stops as instead of lecturing Simon starts to -sing-. "We already had the musical number! This is no time for--" At first her eyes widen a bit as the storm starts to churn overhead, enough to be visible behind the masic. The first blast catchs the Giant Timber Wolf right in the face, leaving it with a comical beard and hat of snow. The ice also lodges in its throat, clogging up those noxious fumes the wood-beasts' breath is notorious for, mostly due to the gaeous breakdown of the moldy peat and plant matter inside of them. Unfortunately they don't handle that backup very well, and after a moment of thrashing trying to clear it's mouth the Timber Wolf explodes. Between the blast of cold making the wood brittle and being so far away from Everfree, that's an explosion into splinters that it's not going to be pulling itself back together from. That's when Bramble's expression goes from surprise to a flat realization, and being an experienced aspiring villian, disgusted acceptance of what's about to come, expressed with a sour toned "Oh horseapples" Which gets cut off by getting POLAR VORTEXED in the face and buried in snow and ice.
Lute	With the smokescreen now present, both of the ground type Pokemon are having trouble seeing their prey. Which, well. This is a good move. If they can't hit him, they'll have trouble. Which is why it's a good thing that both of them have wide area attacks. A small localized earthquake occurs, caused by the two Ground Pokemon. They're trying to just utterly destroy the area around Reker, to beat the crap out of him. Lute, meanwhile, tries to follow Rainbow Dash. As Rainbow Dash predicted, which lets Rainbow Dash get behind. Lute, while good at riding Pokemon, isn't as skilled in the air as Rainbow Dash. The wintery vortex isn't doing him any favors, either. But... If only he can throw off Rainbow Dash's flying... ...Yeah, he's gonna regret this. "OVERHEAT!" And, the Arcanine bursts with flame, trying to engulf even Rainbow Dash. And Lute of course is caught in it too. Mr. Crabs, meanwhile, just keeps destroying the machinery. It spits out a series of bubbles. And then another series of bubbles. Half of the bubbles are acidic, the other half are basic. And as the bubbles mix, it's going to lead to a /large/ amount of explosions. Explosions. Explosions everywhere.
Bain	CHRISTMAS TREE The CHRISTMAS TREE is actually a huge mass of fir trees that have, somehow, beaten back the cold to something managable. No snow piles here, and the intensely packed forest surrounding the titanic central fir tree. Around that fir tree, a string of HUGE lights harnesses the tree's power to regulate the cheer power. Most of the structures around here are natural, formed out of trees that keep only a light sheet of snow on their surface. There is a path to the NORTH, leading to the NORTH POLE OH SHIT WOLVES are here BRAMBLE PATCH is here SIMON is here The CHRISTMAS TREE is here The CHRISTMAS TREE suffers a buzz cut. Power fluctuates even more! The power flaring up and down is enough to break many fuses, but perhaps not enough! Just a little more, Bramble, and there's no doubt at all that this will push the North Pole facility's infrastructure over the edge! Oh, but wait, now the Ice King is releasing a HUGE wave of ice and snow magic and Bramble is caught up in a duel. Eh, that's okay. Bain's not gonna nag Bramble, at least. He knows she understands the situation and she's trying her best and all that. Good lord is he impressed by that energy spike he just picked up, though.
Steve Rogers	TOYBOX (ext.) Almost got what ready? Those words catch Captain America's attention even as he's rising from behind the hiding place - The shield flies straight at the remaining Elite Bainbot's back, or more specifically at the back of its neck, and Cap runs in as close behind it as the snow cover allows. As soon as it rebounds back to him, he catches it without breaking stride - And if he can relieve the Bainbot of its rifle in the process of finishing wrecking it, he could use the souvenir. Heck, he could put a ribbon and a bow on it and call it a Christmas present for SHIELD R&D; they'd probably love a new type of weapon to study.
Deelel	North Pole: Deelel is still trying to catch the non elite bots and does fairly well at that, she doesn't mind going after the lesser threads to let people better suited to go after more major ones to handle that. It's one less thing fo the other to worry about as she zooms about she stops forming light walls and starts putting her disc to use throwing it for the remaing bain bots.
Bain	SANTA'S WORKSHOP (INTERIOR) SANTA'S WORKSHOP is a twisty, tangly structure, a mess of wide-open factory floors and close hallways. Both of these are perfect for an explosive assault. Within, the lights are beginning to flicker strangely as power flutters between primary and backup power. It's a bit disorienting. There is an exit SOUTH to SANTA'S WORKSHOP (EXTERIOR) LAER is here VRUASA is here FIORA is HERE The JINGLE BELL churns and grinds, metal crushing against metal as shards of bells and clappers come flying off of it. The ANTI-CHRISTMAS blasts through it, bringing it to a screeching halt, shutting down the North Pole's primary internal communications system! Everything's set into default modes. Santa likely still has his own transmitters and such, but the internal network is all messed up!! There remain many beaten and disabled SWAT elves for Fiora to interrogate as per Vruasa's suggestion, if she likes.
Fiora O'Brien	"Oh pfah, don't be like that." Fiora offers, leaning back into the troll-disguised-as-a-human-version-of-his-normal-trollish self. "You're not included in that thought because this is the list of people who have tried and failed, or, you know, apparently never tried at all. You try! You succeed! You're like, right there, next to me. Not some ass-absent Saint with a job to do and delinquent on it!" Fiora grumbles, elbowing Vruasa as they continue DEEPER on their QUEST FOR ABSOLUTION from the FAT MAN. "Look, you're not /expected/ to give me stuff, and you do, and that's great. I love it! But you have a minor leg up on the whole 'finding me' business. This guy... Santa is said to know everyone in the world, know if they're naughty and nice, and is /supposed/ to bring gifts for people, every year." Fiora harrumphs. "Guy's like a billion presents overdue. Some people would charge interest, but this guy basically didn't show up for me or Keane. And since, you know, it's a tad touchy of a subject, I thought this would be as good a time as any to go get what I think I'm due. Is that so wrong? I didn't want to belittle your gifts. I just..." Fiora sigs, looking glum for a moment. "It kinda hurts more than the stained glass. To be ignored by something that's supposed to be for everyone. Basically, I guess my powers are stupid more often than not." Determination sets in. "Well, there's some assholes. HEY! ELF JERKS! WHERE'S SANTA?! JOLLY OL' SAINT NICK HAS AN APPOINTMENT!" She calls, quite peeved.
Bain	TOYBOX (EXTERIOR) The TOYBOX is a titanic warehouse complex and storage area, offering the most secure storage in the arctic. All the doors here are security doors with complex holiday-themed locks, everything is windowless, and outside and all around, you can see huge present-shaped crates containing toys ready to be moved in or out! There is a path to the WEST leading to the NORTH POLE. There are MANY UN(LOCKED) DOORS to the EAST leading to the TOYBOX (INTERIOR) 3 ELF SWAT are here JACK HORNER is LEAVING STEVE ROGERS is here QUENTYN WESTWIND is here 2 ELITE BAINBOTS are here (DEAD) 5 BAINBOTS are here (DEAD) FINNA is here DEELEL is here Jack gets in through those security doors! The last Bainbot is decapitated for daring to turn its back on Captain America and shoot a diplomat. Yeah, that seems about right for this scenario. Deelel manages to pick off all the remaining Bainbots that she's contained, and... Wow, it looks like most of this is dealt with! There's a fair number of Bainbots incoming, though! They're heading in from the west! Looks like Bain had his reserves held back, and he's seeing how desperately reinforcements are needed on the eastern front.
Quentyn Westwind	That blast gets Quentyn's attention, head snapping over to the source quickly. Wasn't there a wolfwoman or something there a moment before? The boy peers, but it looks like can't see much. He takes his snowgoggles and glasses off, pocking both (the latter in a hard case), and raises that ridiculously large rifle's scope to his eye. Quentyn peers with that instead... and seems to be lining up a shot... at Jack? He flicks the safety off. He braces against the snowmobile. Controls his breathing. Steady. Finger starts applying pressure to the trigger... Aether simultaneously flowing around the mage... BOOOOOOOOM! Quentyn literally goes flying back, feet carving two small trenches into the snow for a short distance until THWUMP and he flips over on a snowbank. Somehow the kid manages to keep the rifle out of direction contact of the snow (save for what's kicked up onto it), as though he's practiced at this. And a bullet goes towards Finna! Fortunately, rather than wound her, it projects a fairly powerful Cure spell on the currently-not-a-bird girl. It won't completely set her right but until she can get more careful care... Qentyn, meanwhile, seems more intent on fumbling with and downing an Ether than getting back into cover. Or even standing up right now. He doesn't even notice the incoming bainbots.
Vruasa Telash	"Do you really WANT this guy to know what we've been up to all the time? I don't know about you but I actually like my private shit staying private." Vruasa responds to Fiora, their walk angle righted by her counter-lean. He has expressed on multiple occasions a belief that Santa Claus is a creepy motherfucker. This hasn't changed now. It is unlikely to change in the future, though he does have a bit of common ground with Santa in one particular regard. "Anyway, you know the both of us are going to get coal if we get anything. I am, at least. Holy shit. How much time do I spend just fucking with people? The only person in our group that isn't on this guy's shitlist is probably PB, maybe CW if she's lucky and depending on what she's gotten up to lately." He isn't really certain what Summer does with herself. There's no way in hell that PP is on anybody's 'nice' list, though. That guy is crazier than he is. The Knight glances down towards the elves that are currently the subject of their interrogation, scratching at his head with his free hand. "Hey, uh... why the fuck does this place even have SWAT teams anyway? You'd think there'd just be some magic bullshit protecting everything. Think it's just like our Lands, where they're just sort of there when we're not attending them?" "... Hey, couldn't you have just written this asshole a letter? Isn't that what people DO?" Knowing Fiora's luck though, Vruasa is pretty certain that it got lost in the mail. Or the reply did.
Bain	TOYBOX (INTERIOR) The TOYBOX's internal area is huge. Several stories tall, many, many times as wide. Presents are packed high in the air, and extend essentially as far as the eye can see. The internal geometry in this place has to be mad. The lights flicker, when they're not just all red emergency lighting. There are exits to the WEST to the TOYBOX (EXTERIOR) JACK HORNER is here Bain is calling out in his ear, directions! This twisty, turny maze of boxes would be tough to navigate on your own! SWAT elves keep showing up around corners too! But they're the easily disposed kind, if Jack and get the drop. The VAULT - the big one - is huge and red... And big lights on it flicker on and off. Jack could get that main drill set up for when the first door opens now, if he wants... or try to bust up some of the power systems nearby, if he's not trusting Bramble to do enough. The electronic lock system needs to be powered, though, and it's getting just... Just BARELY enough power. A little sabotage could take it out, but he could get a head-start assembling that drill if he trusts his allies to get that done.
Finna	Of course, Finna knows of Quentyn's strange talents. Why he'd be shooting at her is easy enough to understand. The idea of healing through getting shot is stil really weird, but with the power flowing into her.. she sighs. RELIEF. The wound is no longer stinging nearly so badly. "Thank yooooouuuuu!" The foxwoman waves Quentyn's way, then... drops onto all fours to go lope-dashing after Jack with EVERYTHING she's got. And 'everything' turns out to be a hell of a lot. She has tasted his blood. She has used her Lunar enlightenents to lock ontto that scent. As now she is The Great Predator... he is now the hunted, the prey. The chase is on. Jack may be witty. He may be nimble and quick. But the nose knows, and he's leaving his scent EVERYWHERE.
Reker	NORTH POLE The smoke screen was working, or so he thought, until the ground under him cracks and gives way. Reker falls down into the fissure created in the ice and earth below his feet, tumbling down into it. As he falls deeper, he manages to grab hold of a ledge and catch himself. He holds tight onto it, but it seems like Reker might be out of the fight. He's not out yet, though. He's starting to crawl his way back up out of the fissure, trying to get back to the surface so he can find those Pokemon and put them in the hospital. It's a slow climb without any gear, however, and will take him a few minutes to get back to the surface.
Laer	Laer chatters on the radio for a bit, after the bells explode, before giving a glance back over to where Vruasa and Fiora are. "Duty calls, I'm afraid. We should get drinks sometime. I've got a job I usually do during the truce, if you wanted." With that rather worrying offer, she'll start to head out of the workshop, looking for just where this tree is. Once she finds it.. well, chopping isn't really what she's about today. Instead, flying above it, she's going to dump all of her remaining smoke grenades, then toss down one last fireball. Laer's not particularly concerned with whether they should set the tree on fire, or if any of her allies are down that way. They should look out for themselves.
Guest Dash	NORTH POLE Around and around Rainbow Dash goes, when she stops... Well, she probably should have stopped a bit earlier. The Arcanine's flames get caught up in Dash's wintery twister, sucked up into the mix before Dash even realizes what's happening. "Whoa, whoa, whoaaa!" Dash dips and dives, trying to avoid the flames. But in a short amount of time, the entire twister is engulfed in the fires. Dash, too. The entire twister wibbles and wobbles as it quickly begins to destabalize. Then spits out a singed and smoking Dash into the snow. Without her to keep the twister going, it quickly deteriorates into nothing but smoke and whisps of flames. Ssssssss... Dash lays splayed out on the ground, snow quickly melting all around her. Her fur is a good deal singed, but somehow she managed to keep her wings from getting the brunt of the flames. "Oooowww..." The ground shakes underneath her as that monster wrecks the machines all around. Ugh, that thing, too? Dash pulls one leg up underneath her, then another, and slowly starts to rise. "That's it, time to kick you back to lames-ville ..." And then she promptly flumps over to one side - Against something solid. Dash blinks at the North Pole she's leaning against. Barely aware of what it is, she uses it to force herself upright, wings spreading at the ready.
Steve Rogers	TOYBOX: Oh look, more robots. Where were they hiding, cracks in the giant monster's carapace or something? Well, wherever they're coming from, Captain America has to trust Finna to chase down Jack; Quentyn's rifle is clearly not a weapon of offense, to judge by that healing bullet. (Or maybe it can shoot more than one kind of bullet; that wouldn't surprise him either.) So it's Cap's job to protect the mage. It's a job he takes to very readily indeed, flinging his shield ahead of him to start throwing the Bainbots into turmoil as it ricochets among them. He's closing in again, so it doesnt' have as far to fly back before he catches it - and then it's just a matter of wading into the fray. He's probably going to stop a few more bullets ... or a few dozen ... but if Quentyn's earlier spells are still in effect, that won't be enough to stop Captain America from wrecking Bainbots all over again.
Jack Horner	TOYBOX INT. For all his stupidity and tendency to think with his pants, Jack is an incredibly efficient killer. With one of the knives in his hand, Jack dispatches each elf he comes across. It's not like they're Fables. It's not like they /matter/. He doesn't miss a beat. Bringing down a bit vault door? It's not that different to smashing down the door of a giant's castle. He sets the drill down and gets to assembling it. If he gets that drill set up and working, Jack turns around and levels his revolver down the way he had just come down. He still has his oversized JACK mask on, too.
Bain	SANTA'S WORKSHOP (INTERIOR) SANTA'S WORKSHOP is a twisty, tangly structure, a mess of wide-open factory floors and close hallways. Both of these are perfect for an explosive assault. Within, the lights are beginning to flicker strangely as power flutters between primary and backup power. It's a bit disorienting. There is an exit SOUTH to SANTA'S WORKSHOP (EXTERIOR) LAER is FUCKIN GONE VRUASA is here FIORA is HERE The SWAT elf is very INTIMIDATED! He yells something in a panick about how Santa's on the west side of the North Pole, in the residential area! He also informs Fiora in a variety of rhymes that he has a tiny elf family and doesn't want to die. Another explains to Vruasa in similar rhymes that it's sort of complicated, and doesn't he have a ship full of crewmen anyway? Except in panicked rhyming too, of course.
Lute	NORTH POLE And, while Reker is working on climbing out, that's when the Pokemon go into action again. Because of course they're the type to hit someone when they're down. And they do this by means of 'Hyper Beam'. And, Rainbow Dash is cornered against the North Pole. Lute blinks. Oh god, she better not channel the HOLIDAY SPIRIT as well. Lute must stop her at all costs! Or else they'll just end up making a new My Little Pony figure of Rainbow Dash in a Santa Hat or something that desperate fans need to buy! And so the Arcanine swoops in, trying to send a massive Fire Blast attack, straight at Rainbow Dash. And Mr. Crabs keeps up his destruction. He's beginning to aim at nearby buildings a bit as well, because seriously, destroying all of this stuff is not that hard for an unopposed 80 meter tall kaiju. It's lucky that Lute himself is distracting two others right now.
Deelel	North Pole: So the last of the Bainbots are down and that's one lass problem to deal with or there could be more coming in it seems. She takes a moment to looks over to Quentyn as he's busy healing up people but she's now got to figure out her next move. She catches her disc, puts it on her backa nd guns the engine to intercept the new forces. Deelel's going to haul tail this time there seems to be more going on than she thought.
Finna	Finna may be cutesy. She might be whimsical. She's justifiably seeming crazy on some scales, and she has a tendency to hide her social shortcomings somewhat shallowly. She's not the mightiest warrior, the smartest traveler or even the most accomplished trickster, but she wasn't quite chosen for strength and fighting prowess. Nor was she chosen for mystic wisdom. Looks and wit yes. Speed yes. Determination certainly. Thinking outside the box? Oh yes. She has been many things before her Second Breath. A prankster, a sneak, and even a competent member of a blitzkrieg attack squad of BARBARIAN SPECIAL FORCES. But before much of that, she was a huntress. She's been a lot of things for someone in their late teens. She's seen Jack's weapon and knows how people tend to use that. Which is why she approaches not from the ground or even chest level... no, she's crawling across the CEILING. Somehow. No, more like running as if gravity was in reverse. "You've sure made an awful mess. Did you -have- to get so lethal? You're so naughty, I'd expect you to get your coal. Your whole house will be caved in with it." The rather tall foxwoman hops down, her own weapon popping out THROUGH her flesh. Yes, her whole arm ripples weirdly and instantly she's clutching a smith and wesson of some make or another, loaded and hammer cocked.
Bain	TOYBOX (EXTERIOR) The TOYBOX is a titanic warehouse complex and storage area, offering the most secure storage in the arctic. All the doors here are security doors with complex holiday-themed locks, everything is windowless, and outside and all around, you can see huge present-shaped crates containing toys ready to be moved in or out! There is a path to the WEST leading to the NORTH POLE. There are MANY UN(LOCKED) DOORS to the EAST leading to the TOYBOX (INTERIOR) 3 ELF SWAT are here STEVE ROGERS is here QUENTYN WESTWIND is here 2 ELITE BAINBOTS are here (DEAD) 5 BAINBOTS are here (DEAD) FINNA is LEAVING DEELEL is here 10 BAINBOTS are here 3 ELITE BAINBOTS are here The three Elites stylishly roll to a stop in front of Captain America. None of them move in a human way... Bain's not possessing them? Odd. Ten more form up behind them, all thirteen of them brandishing electrified batons, so thankfully Quentyn's not going to get gunned down or anything. And now, they charge, swinging wildly! They should be easy to take down for the remaining three defenders who are here to cover Finna's hunt!
Simon Petrikov	CHRISTMAS TREE A long-haired, long-bearded man wearing a magic Crown is flapping in the air with his beard. He looks around in confusion, seeing all the snow, the trees, and the REALLY BIG tree that towers above him. He seems bewildered. Confused. Then pained as he struggles with something, clutching sharp finger tips to his head. But he lowers his hands again, as he descends slowly towards the ground. He lands, and looks around. "Where am I?" he asks. Then he chuckles a bit. "Hey, this is a pretty sweet pad. It's got snow, and trees, and pretty lights. Heh. Maybe I should make this my home!" He looks around and points towards one of the mounds of snow. "Maybe have a few penguins running around," he mutters. The snow shapes itself into a penguin, and a couple stray pieces of foliage fly into its face to form a beak, and broken Christmas lights for eyes. He grins and puts his hands on his hips. "Maybe I'll make this my kingdom!" he announces to seemingly no one. Then he puts his arms up above his head and says, "Alley-oop!" as he takes off into the air again. Flapping around, he sees there are people nearby. He squints at the glaring lights and the sound of distant kabooms, and the power flowing through the area to the north. "Hey. Hey! HEEEEYY!" he yells as he points in that direction. "I claimed this kingdom first! You're TRESPASSING!" He then flies at high speed towards where he can see others fighting huge monster things of some kind. "There can only be ONE Ice King!" ...Along the way, he passes Laer throwing smoke bombs and fireballs down on the First Christmas Tree, and looks back over his shoulder, pointing angrily. "HEY! SECOND-HAND SMOKE, LADY! GEEZ!" After a few moments, at the NORTH POLE, ice lightning starts to rain down on Mr. Crabs from the sky, freezing if it makes contact. "Ah-hahahahaaaaa! How d'you like that, Crabcakes!? No Crustacean gets to mess with the Ice Kingdom while I'M around!" the Ice King yells out as he sits up in the air, shooting cyan ice magic from his fingertips at an 80 meter tall crab.
Bramble Patch	With the amount of snow and ice brought down upon her it understandably takes Bramble Patch a bit of time to dig herself out of the top. Upon doing so she takes a last swig from the bottle labeled as Habanero Hot Sauce she was using to warm up, and tosses it away. Oh no, littering! On top of everything else she's tried to do tonight. "Looks like the old coot ran off at least." She pauses to shake herself off. Ears flare at the sound of projectiles overhead, and she looks up just in time to see Laer loosing smoke bombs over the woods. "Buck and double buck!" she wails as she half runs, half slides down the hill of snow, and gallops away from the big tree as fast as she can!
Bain	CHRISTMAS TREE The CHRISTMAS TREE is actually a huge mass of fir trees that have, somehow, beaten back the cold to something managable. No snow piles here, and the intensely packed forest surrounding the titanic central fir tree. Around that fir tree, a string of HUGE lights harnesses the tree's power to regulate the cheer power. Most of the structures around here are natural, formed out of trees that keep only a light sheet of snow on their surface. There is a path to the NORTH, leading to the NORTH POLE OH SHIT DEAD WOLVES are here, or used to be BRAMBLE PATCH is here SIMON is LEAVING The CHRISTMAS TREE is here LAER is here The tree won't burn down, unfortunately; it is, after all, the First Christmas Tree. But it doesn't need to; the fire disrupts its CHRISTMAS CHEER REGULATION, causing the power to fluctuate WILDLY! All magical senses around the north pole should detect huge surges and losses in CHRISTMAS CHEER ENERGY!
Quentyn Westwind	More!? Quentyn is, briefly, very thankful none of his teachers aren't here to see this. He knew what firing would do, of course, he just thought it would be safe with most of them down or going down. Oops. The white mage is really lucky they're melee. He gets back on his feet a moves about quickly in the snow... pretty much just trying to keep Captain America and Deleel between himself and the bots. He fishes out his glasses and snow goggles, putting on the first and then the second. The student glances to the now open door... "Um... I think they're trying to distract us..." Quentyn radios. Aether gathers around the mage once again, and the golden speeding up clock appears again-- but this time Quentyn gestures the spell at Captain America.
Bain	TOYBOX (INTERIOR) The TOYBOX's internal area is huge. Several stories tall, many, many times as wide. Presents are packed high in the air, and extend essentially as far as the eye can see. The internal geometry in this place has to be mad. The lights flicker, when they're not just all red emergency lighting. There are exits to the WEST to the TOYBOX (EXTERIOR) JACK HORNER is here FINNA is here The lights all around flicker and POP, as things swap to emergency power. Magnetic locks - fitting for the magnetic north here - disengage completely, and the drill's activation forces the vault door off to the side. While Jack engages his vicious hunter in the flickering darkness, gunshots now likely the primary source of any light here, the drill plunges through the main vault door and hits the secondary vault door, chewing through the hardest substance known to man: Christmas cake that you forgot about last year.
Reker	NORTH POLE It seems if the master's a jerk, the pokemon will be too. Hyper beams rain down upon Reker inside of that pit. His energy shield is designed to take energy basted blasts and reduce the damage from them, but this is a lot of energy. Reker's form actually gets disrupted by the force of the blasts, but he's still alive when it clears, thoug hhis health bar is deep into yellow at this point. "My turn, assholes!" Reker yells out, as he pushes off of the wall of the pit and grabs the ledge. He yanks himself up onto it and rolls over, before coming up onto a knee. His grenade launcher is in his hands, as he levels it at the two Pokemon that have been tormenting him, firing three 40mm grenades at each of them in rapid succession. They want to do area of effect? Well he can do the same.
Steve Rogers	(TOYBOX ext.) Oh, this batch didn't bring guns? All the better; Captain America charges at them, moving even faster as Quentyn's spell takes effect. He even has a moment to flash a thumbs-up back to the riflemage ... And then he's in the thick of the fray again, catching batons on his shield rather than depending on throwing it, and lashing out with his fists (and occasionally his feet) to deal with the 'mook' Bainbots. Hopefully he can also hold the Elite Bainbots' attention well enough for Deelel to help pick them off.
Fiora O'Brien	Fiora, having interrogated the Elf, picks up the poor SWAT officer by the scruff of the collar, or the lapel, or whatever - she can grab the guy anywhere she pleases, really. She draws him up to her eyes, and stares deeply into the terrified guy's eyes. Then she makes him disappear. ELSEWHERE... A SWAT ELF is on a beach in the BAHAMAS, in a sun chair, with an umbrella, and a daquiri sitting next to a plane ticket back to the North Pole. BACK IN THE NORTH POLE... "Alright you fucks. If he led me wrong, I'll be back for the rest of you, and your fates will be far, far, far worse." She growls, purple smoke curling around her fingers as she does. She wasn't lying, either! After that, it's off towards the RESIDENTIAL AREA, through walls if need be. "Look, Vruasa, I get that he's kind of a creeper, but I'm due at least SOME gifts. Like, from when I was a weird shut-in and didn't do anything. I was a /good/ girl once. And I deserve all that stuff! Or... Even to hear him say 'ho ho ho, fuck you bitch, here's your coal'. I'd love coal. I'd fill up my giant house tower with it, or power LOGAL's shitty lamps for an eon with the shit. Just... an acknowledgemnet. By SOMEONE that I exist." She stops, and sighs. "You know what I mean. It's kind of a sticking point for me. And, yes, I'm still mad about that stained glass shit."
Jack Horner	TOYBOX INT. Jack stares at Finna behind his own visage and keeps his handgun level. "That's the plan, foxy-loxy." Jack empties all six chambers as Finna attempts to taunt him, not even giving her a dramatic entrance. Blam-blam-blam-blam-blam-blam!! All six chambers empty in a few seconds. Six bullets, one of them silver. Who knows whether it'll do anything. Jack flicks his handgun open, sending spent casings flying into the air, as he throws a handful of new shells upwards! What the hell is he doing?!
Bain	NORTH POLE The NORTH POLE is a spiritual and magical center of power, which mutually resonates with Santa Claus to provide energy! That's why there appears to be some sort of REFINERY STRUCTURE all around. This central area is wide, expansive, and naturally generates high volumes of CHRISTMAS-THEMED MATERIAL to convey intense CHRISTMAS SPIRIT. The large refinery machines provide cover on-foot, but the area itself is wide enough to allow a titanic KAIJU to be the centerpiece. There's a red-striped white pole at the center of it all. It is small, unassuming, and completely immune to all damage. Vast quantities of the machinery here are wrecked heavily! There is a path to the NORTH leading to SANTA'S WORKSHOP (EXTERIOR) There is a path to the EAST leading to the TOYBOX (exterior) There is a path to the SOUTH leading to the CHRISTMAS TREE There is a path to the WEST leading to SANTA'S HOUSE LUTE is here 8 ELF SWAT (incapacitated) are here TYRANITAUR is here TYRANTRUM is here ARCANINE is here THRANDUIL is here THRANDUIL'S ELVES are here REKER is here RAINBOW DASH is here OH SHIT A KAIJU is here ICE KING is here The North Pole's CHRISTMAS SPIRIT rushes through Rainbow Dash due to contact with it. It's intense, powerful magic, and REALLY painful. It's likely to turn her mane red and green for the next ten days or so, at least. But in the more immediate sense, it summons the BATTLE SLEIGH to her person; the pegasus' flight magic is now extending to a mobile weapons platform. The magic does its best to work with the nearest vehicle: REKER'S TRUCK! Despite its damage. Oh man, it's possible that maybe he should get on the gun of his new red-painted ride quick, because now it's sleigh-styled and will fly easily when pulled by Rainbow Dash. Or, at least, that's what the CHRISTMAS CHEER will normally do. It's possible it might not take effect, if either of them are resisting hard enough!
Finna	TOYBOX INT! Finna's not trying to kill Jack. He seems far too useful and skillful to simply kill. And maybe, just maybe, she can do something more befitting her Caste. Maybe. But she's not about to let him kill her either. Although unsure if that gun can really hurt her, Elites are another thing entirely, and Jack is FAST. Thankfully, so is she. The lighters flicker out, Finna momentarily's distracted and a hair too slow on her counter-plan thanks to all the wild, strange Christmas energy sizzling through her senses like a buzzing from nowhere! "au--" BLAM BLAM BLAM! Only a fraction of a second slower than Jack's own shots. Never mind the muzzle flare, what -really- catches the eye here among the flickering backup lights is the brilliant sparks that fly when BULLET MEETS BULLET. The shots ricochet off each other and go spanging EVERYWHERE in deformed fragments! One, two, three, four, five--- Finna's last bullet only grazes, however. It doesn't make it to jack, but it slightly offsets the one bullet that, if Jack was counting right, was the silver one. The bullet pelts straight into Finna's Warform flesh through the right shoulder, making her stagger back and YOWL in agony!
Bain	CHRISTMAS TREE The CHRISTMAS TREE is actually a huge mass of fir trees that have, somehow, beaten back the cold to something managable. No snow piles here, and the intensely packed forest surrounding the titanic central fir tree. Around that fir tree, a string of HUGE lights harnesses the tree's power to regulate the cheer power. Most of the structures around here are natural, formed out of trees that keep only a light sheet of snow on their surface. There is a path to the NORTH, leading to the NORTH POLE OH SHIT DEAD WOLVES are here, or used to be BRAMBLE PATCH is here The CHRISTMAS TREE is here (BURNING) LAER is here The christmas tree is dropping a lot of branches that are on fire. It's sorta chaos in the fir area, sloughing huge piles of snow and such. Bramble will need to RUN RUN RUN to the north, probably! Laer, for her part, probably predicted most of this and has cooly evaded all the consequences of her actions, no doubt.
Guest Dash	NORTH POLE When Rainbow Dash uses the North Pole to push herself up, she didn't know what to expect. What'd Lute do with that thing, anyway? But one thing she is aware of, it HURTS! "YEEOW!" Wings flare out on instinct as Christmas Cheer rushes into her! She launches herself backwards in a half take off, half backflip and ends up tumbling away from the pole even as flames come bearing down on her. She ends up flat on her belly again, a few feet away from the pole - Thankfully not an even greater pega-crisp than she already is. "The hay is with that freaky thing?! It-HEY!" She glances up at her bangs, now a very festive red and green. A flick of her tail shows that it's just as festive as her mane. "What gives!?" At the jingle of a harness, she looks back to find a mobile BATTLE SLEIGH nearby, and her annoyance fades somewhat. "... Oohkay, SLIGHTLY more cool. HEY!" She shouts back at Reker, "This your ride?" Dash quickly dives into the harness, pulling it on quickly. "Get in and hang on!" Then with a flare of her wings, she takes off, giving Reker only seconds to react. Pulling carts is nothing new for a pony where carts are kind of an every day thing. But this? This moves like butter. And Dash is taking advantage of that, giving Reker an excellent - and fast - mobile platform at which to rain down some Christmas Cheer on Lute and his pokemon.
Bramble Patch	IN TRANSITION The mad dash out of the woods to avoid Laer's smoke bombing takes Bramble Patch back towards the central area around the North Pole, where most of the people are fighting either Bainbots or the giant crab. Living in Everfree Forest, giant potentially destructive monsters is nothing new to her, so the pony just gallops right on along. It's Rainbow Dash's holiday upgrade as she's running by that gets her to rubber neck a bit. "Hey that's cheating! She already has an Element of Harmony, no need to god mod her out!" While she's yelling at that instead of watching where she's going, one of the ice lightning bolts hits the ground right in front of her, causing a large patch of ice to form on the ground. She doesn't notice it until her front hooves connect and promptly slip out from her center of balance. "Whaaaaaaah!" The pony falls on the ground with legs splayed out as she haphazardly slides across the ice slick, under Mr Crabs, and into one of the wagons the elves use to tow feed and hay from storage to the reindeer barn. A couple of empty feed boxes are sitting in it, which she bumps into. They fall on the other end, and being one of those wagons that just has a central axle and wheels, act like a counterweight to flip the wagon up and launch Bramble Patch into the air! CRASH! And right through one of the windows to the Claus' House.
Vruasa Telash	"Don't you pull that shit on me. I don't want to know what you know about me." Vruasa snaps back at the SWAT Elf, suddenly quite offended apparently. It's not entirely the elf's fault. Most of it has to do with the way Fiora's acting right now. The fact that she really wants validation she isn't getting is something that he can wrap his head around adequately, but what he doesn't understand is why he's apparently so inadequate. It's a self-centered view of the whole affair, and one that he's having to actively try not to get upset about. When they move on, the Knight ends up drifting alongside Fiora -- possibly through structures if she's ghosting them BOTH out -- and heading towards the residential area. There's a whole lot of nonsense going on out there that he just doesn't pay any mind to, in no small part because it can't physically impact him. This heist/battle isn't their business, even though they happened to arrive in the middle of it. Vruasa can't help but snort in faint amusement at Fiora's imitation of Santa telling her off, but it's half-hearted and he chooses not to remark or answer her. Nope. He's just going to hide behind his shades and pretend that this doesn't bother him at all, for the time being. This is probably unhelpful. Hiding things from the Void Witch isn't exactly productive.
Bain	SANTA'S HOUSE The residential sector of the North Pole facility is simple and friendly and cozy, housing the many elves. It has gone mostly unacknowledged during all this chaos. There is a path to the EAST, leading to the NORTH POLE 1 ELITE Bainbot is here. FIORA is here VRUASA is here (soon?) BRAMBLE PATCH is here. Within, there's many elves, hiding. The area is mostly dominated by their living spaces, not Santa's. But the average Elite is immediately drawn to places of power and relevance. An Elite Bainbot is striding out of a hallway. There's only one thing apparently down that hall, if they look: The NAUGHTY LIST archive. The Bainbot that just walked out seems to be doing so with a happy sort of bounce in its step, and doesn't mind Fiora, Vruasa, or Bramble, giving them friendly waves.
Lute	The ice lightning starts to come down at Mr. Crabs from above, freezing his top side. He lets out a bit of a roar of pain. Yeah, there is already a lot of ice around here, and he's made for swimming in the frozen waters, but. The ice is a /lot/ colder than what even he is used to. And so, it's distracted by Simon. It turns its head up, roaring a bit. To start, it begins to spit out acid bubbles, towards the Ice King. They might be hard to freeze, due to being acid, but really, it isn't impossible by any reach. As for Reker, his grenades are doing a fair bit of damage to the Pokemon. More than they're able to easily handle. As such, they're moving to fly away a bit, using their air advantage to get away. Wait did we say air advantage? We mean 'everyone has holiday spirit powers now'. Lute just /swears/. Things are getting out of hand. And so, with his three flying Pokemon, he's thinking of bailing. But where will that leave Mr. Crabs? So, desperate times call for desperate measures. He flies to the North Pole, grabbing it again, his Arcanine hoving him in front of it. He touches it, bears with the pain. And then he does this just long enough for Mr. Crabs to take to the air. This is mostly for the terrifying moment of Mr. Crabs flying to distract the whole group. While the Kaiju is getting airborne, Lute flies down to grab one or two of the fallen elf SWAT members, and plant them on the back of the Arcanine. He looks up to Simon, "We'll leave your kingdom, just, uh, these other people were the one planning to mess with your ice kingdom, not me!" Hopefully this CRAZY ICE PERSON will go after the people /chasing/ Lute as he tries to get away with a couple of elves, and not him himself.
Jack Horner	TOYBOX INT Bits of shrapnel bounce off his mask, and Jack's six shooter somehow - impossibly - catches each of the six bullets he threw up into the air in each chamber. He looks back towards the now open vault. "Got a date with whatever's behind the mystery door unfortunately, foxy!"
Reker	NORTH POLE The battle was rather crazy at this point, when suddenly out of nowhere, a talking pegasus pulls up with his truck trailing behind her, which has turned red and the top is open. Reker peers at Rainbow Dash and his truck for just a split-second before he hops over the side before the pegasus flies off. Not sure how, because he didn't have one in there earlier, Reker emerges from inside of the truck with a Santa hat on. Grabbing ahold of the weapon mounted on the vehicle, he cheks it real quick, before he grins. "Now I have a Machine Gun. Ho. Ho. Ho." Machine gun in hand and flying battle sleigh below him, Reker begins to rain down firepower like snowfall in a blizzard. If one listens closely, the bursts of gunfight actually might be the tune to Jingle Bells. Reker is especially directing fire towards Lute as he tries to get away with those elves. The last thing the world needs is Lute with toy making, SWAT gear equipped elves, "Hey! You're way too late in the year to get Elf on the Shelf! Wait until next year!"
Bain	TOYBOX (INTERIOR) The TOYBOX's internal area is huge. Several stories tall, many, many times as wide. Presents are packed high in the air, and extend essentially as far as the eye can see. The internal geometry in this place has to be mad. The lights flicker, when they're not just all red emergency lighting. There are exits to the WEST to the TOYBOX (EXTERIOR) JACK HORNER is here FINNA is here The wild western six-shooting showdown conclusion to the hunt goes well, in that it doesn't mess with the vault. The vault, itself, pops wide, the heavy door spinning as it opens. Within: THE GEAR OF SANTA CLAUS. The coat, the boots, the sleigh harness, the bag. It'd be hell to get all of it out the door, though, even if you actually used the bag! Damn it, it's not Jack's bag though, it's too gaudy and black and huge. Anyway, those knives should be able to cut a few things off quick, before Finna recovers...!
Jack Horner	TOYBOX INT Jack gasps! Is it... his sack?! He calls out the magic incantation: "Clickity-clack, get into my sack!" And nothing happens. Well, shoot. Too much to hope for - but it's probably a good thing for everyone that Jack never, ever finds that sack of 'literally hold anything'. So, keeping his six shooter trained on Finna, Jack goes to work with his knife. A sleeve from the coat, a big patch from the sack, and a long length of sleigh bells! Oh no!
Bramble Patch	AUGH! Robot!.. oh wait, that's one of Bain's. Waving at her. "Hope you found something good." With a mutter she rolls back onto her hooves and stands up. "Okay! This isn't over yet. Let's find a way out of this dump." With a huff she trots over, grabs the knob of a door with her hoof to turn it and opens the door. "AAAAAAAAAAAH!" The shrieking of several female elves can be heard. Bramble Patch stumbles back out of the door with a yowl and trying to shield her face with her forehooves as she's pelted with peppermint scented soap bars and candy cane colored luffas sponges. "Hey, stop it! I'm a mare! A girl pony! It doesn't matter if I--oof!" She stumbles back through another doorway, landing on her back. She opens her eyes to see a bunch of elves staring down at her. They had been hiding from all the big potentially scary Elites outside... but a Pony? She's barely bigger than them. And they've delt plenty with ponies with how often little girls ask for them for Christmas. To the point of where they all smile slowly. Several grab padded toy bats off the wall. A couple pull Nerf guns out of under their bunks. One even grabs a string of lights and fashions the end into a lasso. "Get away from me you little freaks!" Bramble runs back out of that room with the elves in pursuit, and into another. Then out of that room with several others joining the chase with pots and pans. Turns out the doors are magical so they don't always lead to the same rooms, enabling the elves to move around the facilities quickly and efficently. So all the way down the hall Bramble Patch and her pursuers are randomly running in and out of different doors that don't even make sense to be coming or going from compared to last time, just like in certain cheesy mystery cartoons.
Finna	"Are you STILL trying to seduce me after putting a bullet through me?!" Finna... no, does not sound offended or even indignant. Just amazed. Also hurt. Because owwww, that's a nasty place to get shot. Right into the joint. It hurts enough that Finna focuses and does the one thing that Jack probably was NOT expecting her to do with a silver bullet in her shoulder. She plunges a claw in, digs the thing out along with a few lumps of flesh and cartilege - biting down on a scream the whole while - and then regenerates. The flesh grows and distorts weirdly, filling in and sprouting new fur. Along with the huge burn on her side... it all vanishes, and new fur rapidly grows to replace what was lost. In moments she's good as new. But magical senses can tell that this took an AWFUL investment of eenrgy. So much that she actually starts glowing brightly while keeping her claws trained on Jack. "So I've got a question for you. You go in there, how do you plan on getting out? There's only one exit from a vault!" ... And she's blocking it.
Simon Petrikov	NORTH POLE The Ice King yells, "Ice Winds... Bloooow! BLOOWWW! BLOOWWWWWWWWWW!" as he unleashes powerful freezing winds from his hands. Maybe he can't freeze the bubbles... But he might be able to send them back where they came from. When Lute starts to retreat, making excuses for his presence, the mad man turns upon him with fury. "Whaaaat!? You're ALL trespassers! None of you leave here, unless it's in an ice cube!" He ceases his wind blasting for a few moments. He begins weaving magic, listening to the voices in his head, as they bury Simon Petrikov deep, deep down, in a terrible dark, frozen place, where he can't find his way out ever again. The Ice King draws from the bottomless well of magic that is the Crown, and some mass begins to form in the sky. A really. Really. REALLY big shape up in the sky. A shadow that grows to cover the already-dark North Pole. Then an acid bubble that got through while the Ice King wasn't paying attention hits him from behind, sizzling against his back, and he cries out in pain. "GAAAACK!" He stops focusing. And a glacier starts to fall out of the sky, right over top of Lute and Mr. Crabs! And, uh... ...Possibly everyone else too. The Ice King is falling out of the sky, because in his attempts to shed the jacket that is presently burning him, he wound up turning upside-down, losing his Crown, and his magic. He's stil crazy though.
Bain	TOYBOX (EXTERIOR) The TOYBOX is a titanic warehouse complex and storage area, offering the most secure storage in the arctic. All the doors here are security doors with complex holiday-themed locks, everything is windowless, and outside and all around, you can see huge present-shaped crates containing toys ready to be moved in or out! There is a path to the WEST leading to the NORTH POLE. There are MANY UN(LOCKED) DOORS to the EAST leading to the TOYBOX (INTERIOR) 3 ELF SWAT are here STEVE ROGERS is here QUENTYN WESTWIND is here 5 ELITE BAINBOTS are here (DEAD) 15 BAINBOTS are here (DEAD DEELEL is here Captain America faces down a gang of vicious robots with batons. HASTENED by Quentyn, he manages to deftly dodge and roll with their automated assault comprehensively, allowing Deelel, who is presumably striking from the flank, to clear them out in tandem with Captain America's vicious, busty fists.
Bain	Bain's robots are mostly dealt with! With ONE exception. His helicopters, having landed again after that chaos with the kaiju, are available for all those heisters who are retreating, and they intend to run RIGHT over the exit on the Toybox, dropping a rope ladder for Jack to make an escape from Steve, Deelel, and Finna as he gets out of here, fully aware that he's rather surrounded! Bain figures the guy will relish the chance to slip right out of their grip, once he gets to the door of the Toybox. This, of course, after Laer, Bramble, Lute, and Thranduil have all gotten aboard. He's gotta get it done QUICK, though. Mostly because of titanic falling ice structures, the huge fire to the south, and all the other chaos going on here, like fires starting in the north! Jesus, what a battleground this place turned into.
Jack Horner	Jack turns back with a little 'Hmm?' as he cuts the sleighbells down. He nods at Finna as she talks. And then, much like before, he suddenly empties every chamber into her. Six bullets in rapid succession, although none of them are silver. "Sorry, love!" he comments, sprinting for the exit with his ill-gotten gains in hand. "Gotta run! Maybe next time things'll be warmer!"
Bramble Patch	After much door running shinnanigans Bramble Patch remembers she still has one of the grenade casings Bain gave her filled with alchemy. As she barrels back into a hallway and sees the window she originally crashed in through, she skids to a stop, grabs it with a hoof, pulls out the pin with her teeth again, and tosses it back at the elf mob chasing her. "Here's a present!" It bounces off the floor... and one of the elves grabs it, and slaps a 'Do Not Open Until Christmas' sticker on it, which magically stops the grenade from 'opening' by exploding. "..." Bramble throws her hooves in the air. "That's it. Bramble is out!" She turns and slaps her Cutie Marked rump with one hoof. "KISS MY NIGHTMARE MOON, BITCHES" Then jumps out the window and makes a beeline for the choppers.
Guest Dash	NORTH POLE That battle sleigh shouldn't feel as lightweight as it does. But Rainbow Dash has pulled STORM clouds that felt heavier than this thing does when she pulls it up alongside Lute and his magical flying Arcanine. "Oh hay no! Ho ho ho and pull over, jerkwad!" With a few effortless flaps of her wings, Dash soars overhead Lute and the canine, giving Reker an excellent chance to lay down some christmas cheer and get the elf back. And trying to apply her hooves to Lute's head as she passes directly over him. Is that snowflakes falling from Dash's wings from every flap? That's going to get annoying. Then the Kaiju begins to fly. Why not. Why the hay not. Dash pushes forehooves out in front of her, as if trying to break in mid air. "HOLD ON!" She swerves rapidly, wings beating hard. The sleigh behind her drifts in mid air like a race car, sliding around behind her - And giving Reker a pretty good place to aim at the Kaiju as they pass. Dash keeps flapping, diving past the monster's limb, dodging its flailing. She only pauses to look up when a shadow comes over them. "... Aw ponyfeathers..." Eyes grow wide at the glacier that has materialized. "HEY! HEY DUDE! THAT THING!" She points a hoof at the glacier urgently, "SHOOT THAT THING!"
Lute	As Reker chases with machine gun, Lute looks back. Damnit. There has to be /something/ they can do in order to escape with at least one elf. And Rainbow Dash is quite a flyer... Rainbow Dash is a /lot/ more likely to catch up, especially considering she is brimming with Holiday Spirit. ...But to make things a bit easier, Lute tosses an elf back. They should be distracted enough just catching the elf falling through midair that it'd slow down their pursuit. He'd be able to get at least /one/ elf out, this way. And then the iceberg comes. Lute is going at /full speed/ to get away from it, and trying to escape. But, with /luck/, the iceberg falling will distract the heroes enough to get Lute away from here wtih /one/ elf.
Quentyn Westwind	Extraction helicopter flying overhead? Not so fast! Quentyn swaps the magazine on his rifle for a different one, starts to aim it but... there's a-- friend? Ally, at least-- radioing she got shot. ...Maybe next time. Quentyn lowers the rifle and slings it behind him, instead entering the warehouse (and pulling out a magitek lantern for light), searching for a not-bird that could probably use a few Cures and maybe a bullet extraction, judging from what was overheard on the radio.
Vruasa Telash	"You know... something just hit me." Vruasa asides to Fiora, suddenly perking up. This is not the perking up of somebody who has ceased to be salty. No, this is troll mischief. He flashes a fangy, if weak smile at her. "Fi... how would you like to ruin this /whole/ caper for everyone involved in it?"
Finna	Somewhat amazed at this method of reloading - especially out of a human - Finna's startled enough to blink a few times. Especially when Jack remains entirely calm. IMPRESSIVE. This guy's got guts and wit. DEFINITELY wins over Lute. Sadly, this means she's on the defensive when Jack keeps shooting. She focuses entirely on defense... and with lightning speed brings her claws about to rapidly shred bullets out of the air. One is actually speared on a claw from the side and is left sizzling on it like some kind of weird shishkabob while she swerves and bends in a WEIRDLY UNNATURAL way to dodge the last. Unfortunately there goes Jack... "...Pfoo... maybe it's better to let him haul butt than bite it again, so he doesn't go after someone else..."
Reker	NORTH POLE With that elf flying through the air, Reker grabs something out of the sleigh. A string of lights tied just right to make a lasso. He hucks it out at the right angle to snatch that elf that Lute tossed out of the air, and then turns his weapon upwards at the falling ice. He starts to blast away at the huge wave of falling ice, hoping that he can carve out a nice chunk of it so that him and Rainbow Dash can escape clean. At the very least, he'll shoot enough of it away that they won't be crushed horribly by it. He'd consider that one a win at this point. Lute's the last thing on his mind at the moment, because there's much bigger, much more dangerous fish to fry.
Fiora O'Brien	Fiora sighs. "Well, that's just great. He's not here. I guess I'm leaving a stupid note." Fiora grumbles darkly, as Vrausa ghosts along besides her as they don't really leave a trail in the snow. Everything is awful and Fiora's mood is reflected in her mein, which is a trail of godawfully thick black smoke dragging behind her. "I'll just... write down a place for him to leave my crap, and..." Fiora turns to Vruasa. "What are you thinking? I'm in the mood for everyone to have an /extremely/ shitty time, if you can't tell."
Simon Petrikov	NORTH POLE The Ice King falls out of the sky, plummeting, plummeting, plummeting... And hits the ground from a height that would amount to a lethal fall for most people. Even though he lands in a huge pile of snow, several things break on landing. "Oooow! OOOOWWWW! WHOAH-NELLY THAT HURTS!" the Ice King yells. Then the Crown hits him on the head and knocks him out, before landing in the snow next to him. The glacier is being blasted apart, and at least it's not as big as it COULD have been, but there's still going to be a few gigantic ice boulders falling on Santa's stuff if some kind of secret North Pole forcefield defense system doesn't kick in and block it all. Or an Exalted doesn't stand underneath each boulder and Perfect Defense or something. Hopefully this won't impact Simon's place on the list, if he's even still Simon when he wakes up. It seems those trying not to be crushed underneath the ice are likely to avoid such a fate either way, though.
Guest Dash	NORTH POLE As soon as Rainbow Dash spots the elf going overboard, she dives. Wings flick back, and she brings the sleigh down just underneath the poor thing so Rekar can grab it with his lasso. For a brief second, she considers going after Lute. But they have bigger problems than Lute with a single Christmas elf. Such as the large glacier coming down on the North Pole. At least the weapon Reker is totting is shattering the glacier into bits and pieces. But they're still large bits and pieces. Dash dips and swerves, quickly dodging the boulders as they fly past. There's little else she can do BUT dodge, quickly taking herself, Reker and the elf out of the range of falling ice bits.
Vruasa Telash	"Santa Claus is quasi-omniscient. He knows when people are pulling some shit, right? Well, we've ended up at one of Bain's heists more than once now. Dude is incredibly enthusiastic about this shit." Vruasa explains, having been listening to the radio as people have bantered on this subject. He gestures broadly towards the surrounding walls, "Well, think about it. A quasi-omniscient being getting caught off guard by a fuckin' heist? Get real. The fatass voyeur is sitting somewhere laughing his ass off because this was his goddamned present to Bain." "And even if that's not true, nobody can prove it wasn't. It'll drive those motherfuckers crazy if somebody points it out." He offers, raising a hand to tap at his shades. Vruasa does not, however, go and start SPOILING THINGS. Noooo. He just smiles devilishly at Fiora, who gets first claim on ruining everything. If she wants to take it.
Bain	The impact of all that ice releases a huge shockwave that puts out the fire in the Christmas Tree and in the Workshop. The tree's a wreck, the shop's still smoking, and the toybox has had a few bits of its most precious materials stolen. But, christmas is saved. Bain didn't manage to get ahold of a set of gear that would let him break into literally everywhere in a single night, and Santa keeps his own gear, though it'll need some repairing. Good job, everyone! Bain's even frustrated on the radio! Or, at least, he seems that way. Though, in a way, he's quite satisfied with what happened. Because even if Fiora's right, and Santa let him do this... Well, there's no way Santa let him go after his Critical Goal. ELSEWHERE, IN THE NAUGHTY LIST ARCHIVE: One of the pages has been altered. Someone's name has been scratched out completely by a heavy sharpie. Everything else, of course, remains in the book, besides that name. The address pointing to a safehouse, the list of horrible heisting crimes, and, of course, the alias: "Bain" He has drawn, just over where his real name was written, an image of a large winking, grinning smiley face in a balclava, and a message. "MERRY CHRISTMAS ;D"