Scene #5727: The Screaming Divinity

Owner	Pose
Priscilla	Under ordinary circumstances, this place wouldn't be anything much to look at. Statistically near-mean for the Multiverse, it appears to not be any more exotic or dangerous than any other large urban center in a mid-20th century Earth case. It isn't entirely clear what city it is, with a best guess being 'possibly London', but more likely than not it's just one that doesn't exist in the most common geographic timelines. Maybe the World Wars went differently, who knows? Either way, there had clearly been plans to greet investigators towards the local problem through the city warpgate, apparently unified long enough to have built more or less a small airport around it, but those were abandoned quickly enough that none of the 50s-60s recording equipment has been taken down and none of the old cars have been moved out of the lot. Instead, the streets are near-completely empty, with pedestrian traffic having been basically swept back inside, and major intersections instead having been taken up with police and military (and military police) barricades, and most streets blocked off with wire, cars, or temporary pillboxes. Helicopters rove back and forth overhead, and army vehicles are parked in the roads like something out of a King Kong film, but none of them actually make a move, instead standing around uncomfortably while their squad radio operators work. The barricades appear to have been arranged around all roads and alleys leading out of an expansive central park, built in the shadow of the city's gigantic clock tower, probably hundreds of years old. The buildings around here are classic construction, possibly preserved as historical heritage, and thus are dense and made of stone. It's late evening, with sunset colours just beginning to tinge the sky, but most of the park is lit up by a pulsing sphere, or perhaps a 'breach' of pale lilac light, which hovers in the air, and shines directly at the viewer no matter which angle they peer at it from.
Priscilla	Those who had come here unannounced have obviously beaten those who had an appointment here to it. Though not nearly as large and numerous as the city's local defenders, there is a very firm and intimidating perimeter set around the shining hole in space. A section of the park, three or four times the size of a baseball diamond, has been completely locked down; surrounded by heavy walls punctuated by portable forcefields in place of doors, and topped with a couple of automatic guns. There are very few soldiers comparatively, little more an a couple of escort squads to an engineering team, but half of them are holding energy weapons, another half have swords, there is a parked battlesuit hull-down, and one appears to be a mage of some kind, so they're clearly not generic military. Said engineering team is inside, where an artificial warpgate has been rapidly set up within the protective walls, and used to bring in the supplies to fortify the small field base squatting on someone's national heritage park. Most of it is packed with computers and testing equipment, leaving the grass more of a carpet of cables and parts, and stuffed with benches and generators lined end to end, with dozens of technies working at them, and lining up various lasers and lenses around the breach, as well as two personnel teaming up to draw a dense magical circle of some kind beneath it from opposite ends. The amount of materiel and personnel invested in this is a lot for having only just 'come onto the radar'. In fact, Priscilla had issued the order to have a team assembled within an hour of hearing of it. There are some unlucky officers who took severe objection to the invasion. Here and there in the park are the bodies of a handful of policemen, and then a couple of teams of what amounts to SWAT. There isn't a great deal of carnage, and the dead are all armed, which means they were probably gunned/cut down for being directly threatening (which would explain the military keeping at a distance) rather than just shouty, but a pair of wrecked armoured vans shows that the Concord didn't exactly go easy on these guys just for being tactical police.
Starbound Flotilla	"So why are we doing this again?" "Weird ssspacey thing alwaysss have mecha partsss!" "No, that doesn't make sense. We're here to help the First." "If we're getting paid and pulling new tech, I'm not going to argue." "Anxious. I really hope the First knows what she's doing." "She knows what she's doing. Focus." The Flotilla's rolling in too now, and they know just as little as the rest about what's going on. But they know that if Priscilla is being so blunt and aggressive with tactics here, there's probably a good reason, and so, like any proper Freelance Miniboss Squad, they've rolled in and established a few defensive sites and automated defenses to encircle the thing while Priscilla's team does whatever it is a Crossbreed does with a Weird Space Pretzel. They're just here to make sure the emplacement doesn't move or get interrupted, which is why they're sort of armored guards keeping an eye on the barricade. As usual, they patrol in their standard Durasteel equipment! Moonfin, the fishman, is in elaborate full-body durasteel armor that looks like a powered cross between a diving suit and a samurai's armor, glowing cyan at the faceplate. Biteblade, the humanoid plant, is in durasteel plating with elaborately carved wood and bone ornaments over glowing powered components that glow an intense green. Pavo the bird-girl wears a divine-aesthetic set of mesoamerican-style armor, with yellow runes and inscriptions lighting up on stylishly gleaming golden armor and robes. Albert the monkey-man is wearing elaborate dystopian commando armor reconstructed with a 'rebel spy' aesthetic: A sleeker faceplate, a slimmer form, and a more chaotic design that integrates thin, resilient plates of durasteel, and lines of bright white. George (just plain human) wears a futuristic combat EVA hardsuit that glows a gentle red at the flat faceplate. Seft, the robotic Flotilla member, is wearing full-on medieval knight armor with a soft energized blue glow below the plates on her body, and especially around the eyes. Each has a heavy industrial-yellow two-pronged plasma-cutter-like tool strapped to their side, a Matter Manipulator.
Ryu	Ryu had picked up the information about this event off of the Multiversal news broadcasts. Major Concord activity would've been noticed, especially when they move so swiftly and purposefully and when they cause this much obvious damage in the process. He found a warpgate to lead him to the city, and from there he took flight so that he could fly, invisibly and somewhat slowly, until he could land on a sufficiently tall building. He surveys the area, and then notices the dead around the perimeter... Prioritizing them over whatever this is, the dragon's invisibility fades and he moves at a breakneck speed, he tries to retrieve as many of the dead as possible and transport them to a safe zone. Once there, he'd begin reviving them. This is not an easy to track movement, as he moves about as fast as he can so he doesn't spend much time in the middle of the line of fire. He does have to stop now and then so he doesn't splatter himself against something, though.
Gawain	Gawain arrived through the warpgate. The knight was dressed in a black suit with a gold tie, black gloves over his hands as he prepared to be greeted by the locals to assist with their issue. But when there's no one there to greet him, Gawain finds himself looking down at his watch. This is the correct time, so where is everyone? Stepping out into the streets and spotting the perimeter, Gawain reaches into his pocket for his holographic badge, moving up. "Sir Gawain, Paladin Warden." There's a warm smile despite the obvious situation, as he spots one of the corpses in the park. His smile dampens, but his cheerful attitude doesn't go away. "I'm here on appointment, but there seems to be an issue! As this pertains to what I was asked to investigate, may I?" Assuming he's not outright stopped, Gawain moves to bypass the perimeter, approaching the park with above-average speed, moving to approach the Concord perimeter, where he shouts out as he gets into range. "Sir Gawain, Knight of the Sun, Paladin Warden! I request to speak to whoever is in charge immediately, or I will have to take offensive action to protect this city. Please understand." He's hoping they comply, but he can summon his sword in a second if they don't.
Staren	Secure the rift, Priscilla said. Denying explanation, even to Staren. It's odd. He trusts her, but part of caring about someone, or even simply supporting someone's cause, is being suspicious when they act strange, because they might've been replaced or mind-controlled. Not that he has anything conclusive yet, but it's something to keep in mind. Or this may make perfect sense for a reason she can't tell him yet. He arrives in armor as usual, overseeing the Brights working on studying the rift. He winces when he hears gunfire, and approaches the perimeter to look. "Really?!" He berates the guards. "Come on, was this really necessary?! We're the CONCORD, for crying out loud, are you trying to send the message that we're not powerful enough to take them down without killing them?!" Priscilla personally taking out a van full of them probably undercuts his point somewhat. He sighs, glancing over the park, and sending commands to have Concord personnel get the medical stasis vats from his old lab moved and ready to recieve occupants. But there are too many... Staren resigns himself as he moves to exit the perimeter, reaching for his beam saber. He's just going to have to cut off the heads and bring them all back as robots. It won't be a large expense for the Concord, and maybe it will help salvage relations with this world. That's secondary to the concern of saving their lives, of course, but if you need a budget justification it's better than 'YOU started this mission no questions asked, so I get to spend money no questions asked'. And then suddenly the group of bodies he's looking at is gone. "What the f--" his eyes catch sight of Ryu one of the times he has to stop and change direction to avoid a tree or something. "Hey! What are you doing?!" He shouts. "I need to bring them back, I'm sorry my allies got a bit trigger-happy!"
Ice King	In the middle of this park, in rough proximity to the space hole, there is a blue man wearing a crown rooting through one of the public-use waste receptacles. How did this homeless guy get through the cordon!? By not actually being a homeless guy! Also by flying. There's a penguin at Ice King's feet watching the goings-on with big beady eyes, as the latter rummages around, finally emerging with a cellphone. "Wow! One of those new-fangled WITphones!" he announces with a smile. Then, quoting some slogan from a commercial, "Witty phones for wittier people! This is quite the find! Might be time to upgrade from my Onion." He tries pushing a few buttons on the smartphone, with no response, eventually frowning. "Huh. Must be out of batteries or something." He seems not to have noticed the smashed screen. He tucks it into his robe. "I'll hook it up later. I wonder what else I can find in here." He sticks his arms back into the trash can to root around. "Oh! Oh! Maybe I'll find an ENGAGEMENT ring! Then Princess Bubblegum will have to marry me! I'm completely positive that's how it works. And it'll be free too!" In his efforts to find an engagement ring in a garbage can, he winds up half-climbing into it head-first. The penguin notices when corpses start being extracted. "Wenk." he lets out in surprise. The lack of immediate response makes him turn to look up at the flailing legs of the upside-down ice wizard. "Wenk wenk." Ice King peers out through the spaces in the trash can's grid-pattern exterior, his long nose bending against the inside like rubber. "No, Gunther. I don't wanna' see a dead body. Can you be less morbid when I'm trying to secure my future wife?" Gunther frowns and starts slapping the exterior of the trash can with his flippers. "Wenk! Wenk! Wenk wenk! Wenk!" Wobbling around, the upside-down Ice King grits his sharp teeth. "You're not HELPING, sweetie... KNOCK IT OFF!" He finally takes notice of what's happening across the way, even if the perspective is a bit confusing. "...Huh? What's going on over there anyway?"
Priscilla	Having come here in person despite being the one who issued the executive order, Priscilla returns to the barricade about the time Staren arrives, passing him on the way out through the permeable forcefield and dropping her invisibility just as she comes through. A handful of blood splatters across the waist and skirt of her dress tell him more than enough about what she's been up to (perhaps also remind of the days where that was actually an impediment to her stealth), as well as the uncharacteristically grim (rather than just distant) look on her face. She glances down at him as he goes out. "If I am right, Sir Staren, and I most certainly hope that I am, then any and all precaution taken today shalt be more than simply 'necessary'. Pray, place thine faith in mine judgement for just a while longer." She then moves to the engineers circling the lilac puncture in reality, especially paying attention to the pair drawing complex fractal circles all over the floor, etched along the concrete of a park road. She doesn't stop him from going out and doing his thing though. Staren's gonna Staren, and just because she authorized the semi-faceless elite mooks to shoot them doesn't mean she requires them to stay dead. In the next round of equipment being wheeled out of the warpgate, a quartet of medical tanks come out as well, possibly followed by more in the next half hour, depending. On his way past, the one with the jeweled staff and large hat looks at him, sitting on an ammo crate by the field. She gives him just a glance, then looks away, and says "Get the ones by the west van first, can you?" apparently not feeling good about having dropped a fireball on it. The army personnel, dressed in typical olive drab and carrying somewhat more advanced rifles than this time period usually has (something like imported FNs) stop and salute as Gawain shows his badge. He may recall that this particular world is more or less courting the Commonwealth for membership. An officer in a flat cap with a modern-ish radio waves him on, saying "Please, be our guest. The brass isn't letting us do anything until they know whether dropping bombs will upset the anomaly somehow. Nobody wants to authorize an artillery strike that might tear open space or something." That may or may not be the least of their problems.
Priscilla	When Ryu comes zipping in at high speed, the trio of guns on the low walls immediately flash and beep, swiveling to track him, but he's in and out of their range before they track IFF and fire, causing them to jerk to face each body over and over, but not catching him in time to actually shoot. After a few annoying rounds of beeping, Priscilla waves to the gunnery control tech and asks him to turn them off, then gestures on the Flotilla to move in and check it out. "I care not if they wish to pilfer the dead for burial, but I am certain Sir Staren shalt be less than pleased, and I am not nearly as certain that stealing the corpses is towards such ends." When Gawain actually arrives at the walls, one of the swordsmen, dressed in black, gold and saffron Concord formal attire, comes out to address him, roughly his age and height, albeit actually visibly armed with his ornate side sword. "I'd urge against that." he says. "The Concord has no interest in engaging in unnecessary combat. The resource here is something that the Concord has prior claim to, and every right to extract from foreign territory. I'm going to have to ask you to go through proper channels to-" "That is enough, Sir Louis. I knoweth this man. Thou may returneth to thine post." Priscilla quietly cuts him off from behind, whereupon he releases his casual grip on the sword at his waist and bows out of the way. Priscilla, still stippled in some quantity of fresh blood, comes to Gawain with about the same look she had given Staren. "Be brief, Sir knight. Thou hast earned some right to speak to mineself from actions past, but only some." The bodies Ryu retrieves start stacking up. The first round of cops appear to be an even split between precise shots to the chest and torso with laser weapons, with fourth degree burn damage and cauterized craters in their unarmoured bodies, and those who were cut down by blade weapons, or rather, the same blade, judging by the same depth and width of slashes across the neck, shoulders, and inside of the arms. A bunch of the SWAT personnel are just toasted, looking like they'd been hit with explosions or high powered electricity. A couple look completely file, but when he pulls their body armour off, distressingly insane amounts of blood come gushing out from inside their suits, and large portions of their skin look almost 'stained' pitch black, as if by ink burnt into their flesh.
Staren	Well, someone else has apparently got reviving the dead taken care of. They could be lying, but that seems pretty unlikely to Staren at the moment. He has no problem letting them take care of it. Given what he was going to do, almost any other method will probably work out better. Someone who was going to bring them back as zombies with demons in their heads probably wouldn't take that tone. And isn't that the guy who said he was a dragon from a lab on a magic world? Huh. That taken care of, he turns back to get to work, though he sends up a drone to check if Ryu did indeed get them all. If not, he'll collect the rest. Maybe now he won't have to cut off heads.
Ryu	Ryu makes absolutely sure not to stick around long enough to become an aerated lizard. When he gets to each of them, he makes sure he has all of their limbs and important squishy bits, and frowns to himself when he cracks open those that got freakily bloodmurdered. The dragon lets out a sigh of disgust at the sight of it, his eyes trailing over it, his snout wrinkling at the stench of it. He briefly tries to heal it but the rot seems to just eat his magic wholesale, and so he moves on to those more viable for resurrection. The dragon makes sure that each of them are given a gentle return to the living world by easing them up to a seated position, and goes about this on top of that flat roof that he was using as a vantage point earlier. He guides them away to the nearby stairwell one at a time, hoping they don't overthink his actions here too much. He also urges them to call someone to retrieve the other corpses... when confronted about it, he... doesn't have an answer. He just shakes his head. Some of them were friends. Ryu struggles to explain his shortcomings here, anguished by the reactions he gets. His wings then flutter, and he flits about and quickly comes in for a landing somewhere at the edge of the perimeter, a little further back from Gawain. He leers but he stays back for now.
Gawain	As the swordsman approaches, Gawain stops to listen to him, taking close attention to his words. He doesn't get any chance to reply as Sir Louis gets interrupted, and tips his head to Priscilla as she takes over, eyes briefly glancing to the blood stains but soon returning to meet her gaze. "I thank you, First of the Concord." Straightening out, he speaks, gesturing out to the area where the anomaly is. "The local government had invited me to investigate the anomaly that the Concord is currently controlling. When I arrived today, I found the situation as it is. Normally, I would ask you to either surrender or leave, for both the unlawful seizure and for the death of the officers, however..." There's a gesture in the direction of Sir Louis, as Gawain turns ever so slightly. "Not only do I not expect you to do such, but his words muddle such. My primary goal, however, is the seizure of any violence while making sure everything becomes safe for the civilians to return to their daily lives. Therefore, if what he says is true and you have claim to this area, I'd like any such documents or information sent to my way, if at all possible. Furthermore, in a way to try and ease the violence, I would like to request that you and the local government attempt to come to diplomatic terms over this anomaly and the rights of it! I am willing to act as a neutral party to do so, if it will lead to the cease of any and all conflict." Gawain looks actually pretty optimistic about his chances. "I hope that I have not wasted your time with this, and apologize sincerely if I have."
Starbound Flotilla	The Flotilla deploy immediately, moving in to close on where Ryu's movements track the moment Priscilla issues her orders. They can't at all match his incredible speed, nor can they remotely bypass his invisibility, but at the very least they can slowly and steadily close in to be able to see what's afoot. As they do, they ready weapons -- a laser-pistol, a shotgun, and other suchlike -- but don't fire without checking things out. When they do eventually find where things are going on, they move in quickly. Albert tries to take the lead here. "Stand down, and--!" "Mr. Petrov. Allow me." Moonfin keeps his katana drawn, but he approaches warily. "If you are returning the local forces to life, we will not halt you. But they cannot be allowed to enter the point of interest. It has been declared as being under Concord emergency jurisdiction, pending resolution by the First herself. You understand, yes?" They won't strike first, but they /are/ kind of being shitty in Ryu's whole savior messiah thing he's got going on, and whether or not those police forces intend to head back in will be another matter entirely. Weirdly, though, Biteblade isn't with them. Instead, Biteblade is with... Ice King?! She's headed over when others reported the odd sight and jumped onto the side of the trashcan -- a light little plantgirl, thank goodness -- and shoved her face right into the grid where Ice King is peeking out. "Hiii fuzzyface perssson! Over here isss big magic sssomething project for Concord. Need to ssstay away, becaussse Firssst of Concord sssaid to. Floran isss guard! Ssstrongessst and bessst guard! Like thisss!" She then hops down and attempts to hoist the entire trashcan and start wandering away with it. She's distressingly strong! Presumably Ice King will need to wiggle out of this weird situation first.
Ice King	The continued flipper-smacking from Gunther eventually causes the trash can to fall over. "Oh snag." Ice King says right before it crashes loudly and then starts rolling downhill towards where all the defenses and gun turrets are set up. "WOOB WOOB WOOB WOOB WOOB!" he lets out as he goes spinning towards danger. Gunther waddles afterwards much more slowly, wenking the entire time. It seems quite likely there's about to be another dead body soon. But Ice King, rolling towards danger, manages to cast a spell between the holes in the can's exterior in a panic. "GAH!" he lets out as an ice beam emits from his finger creating a wall of ice that he then slams into, cracking it. "Ow." Some old guy in a trash can now lies in the middle of everything, an ice wall between him and the nearest guns, while serious discussion about who gets to keep the magic hole takes place. Thankfully, Biteblade comes over to the reported disturbance, informs the 'intruder' that he can't be here, and starts hauling the trashcan away. "Magic, huh? I'm a wizard! Why don't I stick around and help?" he suggests, still upside-down, as he is removed from the negotiating area.
Priscilla	Sending a drone around the area, Staren can indeed confirm that the bodies are gone (though the vans are completely totaled, by attack magic only somewhat more restrained than what he uses the Star Hawk for), though not yet confirm Ryu's problem with them. While those killed by conventional means, despite several being relatively gruesome for their magnitude, regain the life everyone had thought lost with a certain unavoidable amount of shock, gasping and patting themselves down and a few talking about the typical bright light and loss of memory, the corpses that appear to have been bled and corroded black don't stir at all. In fact, applying his light magic to them, something lingering over the bodies outright devours it. When he puts his healing hands to the task, the magic snuffs out like a candle, an incomprehensible stream of whispers briefly rushes through his ears, and something invisible nips at his fingers, drawing a tiny bit of blood. There is something profoundly /wrong/ with them, significantly unlike a curse or black magic. As awful as it is to have to console the few that have now permanently lost friends, most at least seem grateful (and confused) to be alive at all. They can recount how the Concord basically just blitzed from the warpgate 'port' and shot down the police that scrambled to get in their way, and how an explosion took one of the armoured cars that showed up, but have no recollection whatsoever of how the un-revivable dead actually met their ends. When Staren goes back to the breach, he feels a distinct pressure from it, thrumming as if by an intense heartbeat, or a very low-pitch drum, . . . or perhaps even the vibrations of a gigantic, clockwork mechanism, clunking into place precisely once per second. Something about it seems to draw the surrounding air and light inwards, less like gravity and more like the edge causes it to merge. A couple of techies have thrown things into it and found they simply disappeared, and the test laser just wrapped around it. The magic circle appears to be roughly complete, and something more or less like a beacon and ward, to Staren's exceedingly passing knowledge, like they're painting a bullseye for a larger spell incoming, and shielding the area from collateral. In addition to the medical tanks, shields and radiation suits are coming out now. A group of soldiers moves off, however, two with swords and one climbing into his battlesuit, when the ice wall suddenly pops off. The autoguns were put offline, after all.
Priscilla	Priscilla looks down on Gawain (physically, seeing as six foot six is as small as she can do) as he speaks. With someone like her, the best anyone can guess about her feelings during conversation are like readings from storm clouds or arctic ice movements, unless they want to take a wild shot and project some kind of meaning on tail swishes and twitches for a 'species' with literally one member. At least, she doesn't seem to be getting any more hostile or tense, but she doesn't seem to be feeling especially cooperative or compassionate either. Her posture and expression are neutral, but charged and intense. "Sir Loius spoke not without truth. The Concord hast no interest in this city or its people, however what thou were called to 'investigate' is of immeasurable value, and these people hath no right to it simply because it happened to appeareth within their civil grounds." Priscilla says, briefly stealing a glance to the grand clock tower for . . . whatever reason. "A nation stakes its claim to that which is within its borders whence it is founded, not everything that shouldst fall into it. Furthermore, what is mine may especially not be claimed by anyone. If thou wish for a cessation of hostilities, send these soldiers back to their homes and tell their leaders they shalt hath nothing until we art done here." "Thou hast mine apologies for the fact that I am able to reveal nothing to thee. There art certain things that I cannot afford to dignify with 'diplomacy', least of all these small-minded men. Whilst thou hast earned some of mine respect, there is sensitive information here of import too great to reveal simply for being asked politely. I advise thee to turn about and leave. I shalt not strike thee in the back, this time."
Staren	A beacon for a larger spell to target? Staren's first thought, especially once they start bringing out shields and radiation suits, is that they're targetting some sort of attack spell... but that doesn't line up with the things being said. Perhaps a spell that will teleport the rift to somewhere else where it can be properly contained? So it bends light but absorbs matter? Just as a quick test, Staren tries telling a drone to fly in and then come straight back. "So, do any of you have any idea what this thing is? What are we trying to do to it?"
Ryu	Ryu approaches Albert, since that fellow was talking to him directly. The dragon moves slowly, now, and gets close enough to make eye contact, or as near as he can manage. He holds that posture for a while, growling at the man. The dragon looks around, though, at the numbers, at the guns, at his surroundings. There's a lot that could get destroyed here if he were to get into a fight, and he might be impulsive, but he's not suicidal. Won't stop him from glaring at Albert like a furious cat. He doesn't seem interested in discussing the depths of his disapproval.
Gawain	That's a refusal, then, Gawain realizes. He does take several moments to consider it. She's probably right, that this belongs to her. Why would she lie about such? But she has no proof, and has taken it illegally and without diplomacy. Gawain weighs both sides over in his head, but part of him already knows what he's going to do. The knight does not turn around. He does take several steps backwards, however, and actually looks pretty apologetic. "I thank you for taking the moment to speak civilly with me. However, I can do no such thing. Even if this anomaly belongs to you, which I have no reason to doubt you on, you have not taken the proper legal channels, and you have shed lives to take it. I therefore must side with the aggrieved, and must take offensive action. I do not expect you to forgive me, but this is my duty as both a knight and a Paladin. Prepare yourself!" In a flash, Gawain's armor is summoned onto him, as Excalibur Galatine manifests into his right hand. He waits several more seconds, until Priscilla seems to have clearly understood what he said and is about to do and seems prepared in any fashion, before dashing forward, moving to slash into her side with the blade several times. If the Concord reinforces her, Gawain is outnumbered. If she falls back and has their artilley take them down, he is outgunned. But this is Gawain's duty, and therefore he'll brave any risk to do what seems just.
Starbound Flotilla	Biteblade may be a bit of a goofball, but they're at least following a lot of orders here. "What, no! Essspecially not wizard! Or trashcan wizard. Go!!" She says. She's being kind of a jerk as she heads over to dump Ice King elsewhere! He's not going to stand for that, is he? Hopefully not, at least. Friendly as she is, once the little plant-girl gets started on something, she tends not to stop. "Anxious. Who is that...?" Seft, the armored princess-bot, has headed over here to help with the escorting out. "Baffled. Some kind of wizard, you said you'd found?" Might set off Ice King there, but... "Isss big ssspace hole. Can't have even great wizard around! Floran hasss to make wizard scram, okay? Otherwissse who knowsss what wizard will run away with! Nyeh, isss all here for Firssst." Biteblade asserts. Ryu's lack of conversationality gets more motionless tension from the Flotilla. "Negotiations seem quite ineffectual then. If you are incapable of asserting your adherence to the guidelines, there is little needing saying beyond a promise of violence if you violate the boundaries. Take no steps towards the innermost workings of the Concrod's work here, or we will act." They're going to keep those weapons out and guard up, intending to fire and slash but only if Ryu heads too close to the core of matters... Is that where more corpses are? It'll depend. Radio signals can be heard on Flotilla gear, and from Seft herself, as she reports. "Warning. Be careful, everyone. I don't know what's going on in there, but it might get dangerous soon. I can't say for sure... The radiation and disturbances are intensifying from the looks of the team in there, though."
Ice King	When someone else comes along and starts talking like he's not even there, Ice King frowns a bit and protests. "Aw, c'mon! Weird magic? Space holes? This is my JAM! Let me get involved in this wiz biz!" Ice King protests while being hauled away. As he moves further and further away from where everyone is having a lot of fun (he assumes), he grows increasingly aggravated, until he lets out an, "ENOUGH!" and ice lightning goes blasting outwards from him, freezing the trash can and then shattering it. He quickly gets up into the air, flapping his beard. "A hole's a hole! And if it belongs to the 'First', then..." He takes off towards the portal at high speed. "FIIIIIIIIIRST!"
Priscilla	One of the two magicians shakes his head at Staren, finishing up with a piece of something that looks suspiciously similar to a soapstone crystal and pocketing it when he's done on his side. "The First hasn't been incredibly talkative about it, but we're on triple time plus hazard pay, so it's important." The other one finishes up a moment later and continues. They look like twins. "The other guys ran some tests already, but the results are obscure. It looks like it leads somewhere else. Some other world, like a really half-assed Unification or a broken warpgate fragment, maybe? What we're doing here is making sure it doesn't relocate. We think it's going to open real soon, and we have no idea what's on the other end. The last thing anyone needs is it drifting away and opening to the bottom of an ocean or something, right?" The first one follows up "Yeah well, the First has /some/ idea where it leads, if she thinks it goes to something important." The deep, rhythmic vibration has been slowly picking up; the kind that comes from really deep speakers or really heavy machinery, and rattles in one's ribcage. It sounds very much clockwork-y, but also sort of . . . electronic. Priscilla's tense bearing seems to slowly get worse in keeping with the rise of that pulsation. Surely she's too far away to feel it, but it's like she can hear a timer ticking down. The longer she has to talk with Gawain, the more restless and more defensive she seems to get. Her back stiffens. Her fingers curl. Her tail bristles slightly. Her slit pupils narrow. "Thou art a knight, certainly." she all but whispers. "However in service to a poor master. Thou knoweth not what thou dost, so I can credit thee only for thine honour and thine loyalty; little else." Gawain told her to prepare herself. He even gave her a few seconds. It's very noble of him, and also possibly a mistake. Priscilla wouldn't (usually) be outright underhanded when that kind of gesture is made towards her, and she doesn't use the perfect opportunity to have the guns switched back on, but he'd have a better shot if he'd just took it right at that moment. This late into the evening, the sun is really starting to dip on the horizon, and even discarding the number of soldiers present, the dimming twilight works against him and to Priscilla's advantage.
Priscilla	Or at least, that's how it's supposed to go. Instead, ice-lightning and exploding trashcans happen, and the Ice King rushes in with the absolute worst timing. Priscilla turns to look at the flying bearded man screaming at her out of sheer ambush reflex, and where her head turns, the arc is traced by a swirl of glittering blue frost. Without even checking the target, she looses a charged breath she was probably planning to blast Gawain with by surprise, thus slashing the laser-like breath weapon of a white dragon through the air at him, instead of hitting Gawain in the face with it right as he charges. Of course it's not the knight's fault that the Ice King picked the exact same moment to barge in. It's hardly an intentional diversion tactic. It works as one, though. She is barely able to defend herself at all when Galatine comes at her, only having the time to twist partly out of the way of the holy sword. The strike goes right through her side, carving at least four inches deep, before glancing on an incredibly hardened rib and exiting with a splash of blood that's actually Priscilla's for a change. The crossbreed audibly strangles a hiss at what is certainly a painful wound from such a blade, albeit one that usually puts a human on the ground instantly, then just as the second blow comes, she disappears. The tip of Galatine swings through empty air. The Lifehunt Scythe is surely out. Rather than seeing it, Gawain can /feel/ it. 'Drawing' the thing results in a certain, unmistakable pang of existential dread; a critical threat recognized only by some deeply primeval sixth sense. Without being able to see or hear the blade itself, never mind the posture or footwork that a trained combatant would know to look for preceding a strike, he has to go solely off the sensation of ice cold slivers of glass on his back, to know it's coming, and a sudden, sharp whisper to gauge its direction --specifically from behind, as a typical sneak attack would take, but due to the way a scythe is actually built, the blade is set to cut across his front.
Staren	Staren frowns. A messed up Unification? Can that happen? He's probably the active elite who knows the most about the workings of the Multiverse, and that sounds wrong. Then again... So does what happened to Njorun and the Citadel, and he still doesn't know WHY the Multiverse changed. A fight begins. "Are you /serious/--" Staren starts to retort, turning to take aim with his beam cannons... only for Ice King to come flying in by FLAPPING HIS BEARD what how does that even And then Priscilla ice breaths him. Staren can't remember the last time he's seen her use that. Maybe that's why it could have surprised Gawain... who takes advantage of the situation to strike! Staren turns and raises his arm to fire again... But all he can see is her face with the expression he'd expect to see after learning he helped to kill a good man. Not mad. Just disappointed. And deeply sad... He hesitates. "Gawain, no! Don't do this!"
Starbound Flotilla	Biteblade is bowled over by the detonation! Knocked onto her ass by the blast of ice-lightning as the wizard reveals his true power level, she calls out, "GaaaAAAAH HEY! Come back trash wizard!!" She's been damaged by the blast, but not beyond an ability to launch into action! Microthrusters on her armor thrust at full force as she dashes and leaps after Ice King, drawing her bow and firing away alongside Priscilla's attack! "Urgent. Look out! Someone's making a break for the rift!" Seft cries out in a monotoned panic. They pursue! They wind up near and around Staren soon, laying ice and arrow fire downrange at Ice King... Trying to angle it a little to avoid messing with the rift zone. Elsewhere, Albert and Moonfin turn their attention to other matters. Albert hears combat, and narrows his eyes. He gets on the radio fast. "Combat situation. Another native defender? Take them out before they can damage it." He says, assertively. If he wasn't being enough of an asshole to set Ryu off before, he might be now, especially considering how some of the rest of the backup are breaking off to head to Ice King, or maybe even to Gawain!
Gawain	Gawain knows that someone could take advantage of it. He's always known that's possible, but he doesn't care. Always expect someone will be honorable. Luckily, the timing of Ice King prevents Gawain from getting blasted with the breath weapon of what appears to be...ice, or some sort of crystal, but Gawain doesn't slow himself. The attack is the attack, and he's already declared his action. The blood splashes on his blade, but he remains on the attack - and hits nothing. And then there's the feel of that scythe. Gawain goes tense, trying to locate the invisible Priscilla, but he has no real experience with invisible opponents. Gawain moves to try and concentrate on something, anything to give him an idea of when to strike...and as soon as the cold's on his back, he moves to strike behind himself, hoping to parry the blade. But the blade's moving for his front, so instead, he's far more likely to strike Priscilla. This allows the scythe to cleave through Gawain. It cuts through his armor, causing Gawain to stagger briefly as the blood spills and his eyes widen from the pain. He doesn't even get a chance to respond to Staren, as instead, Gawain moves to try and get back from the blow, taking a defensive stance and setting Galatine on fire. If he hits again, he's going to have to burn her - perhaps that'd keep her visible. "You're as skilled a combatant as I would have thought, Lady Priscilla! But I will not stand down. Not in a duel!"
Ice King	Ice King gets crystals suddenly forming all over his face, digging into his skin, covering the entire front of his head painfully. He drops out of the air, his beard stuck in place, and crashes to the ground. He lies there a moment, then gestures as he muffedly says, "Okay, I know I said holes are holes but I was honestly talking about the space hole." He struggles upright, waving his thin arms around and staggering blindly, only for ice and fire arrows to go thunking into his back painfully. "GAH!" he yells muffedly through the crystal mess on his face, and takes off running away from the source of pain and discomfort. Directly towards the space hole. A penguin goes waddling after Biteblade and Seft at a much slower rate, and will likely pass Staren several seconds after they do, if he remains stationary.
Priscilla	Priscilla's scythe swings at Gawain from behind. He turns to face the source, and so it sweeps behind him and rips across his back instead. Galatine lashes out in the correct direction, but he doesn't get a free second hit, nor does he get a poise trade. The edge of Galatine stops short in midair, hitting something extremely hard, and flashing white, and then jet black sparks. A flick of blood marks where it'd cut shallowly across Priscilla's fingers, but it seems she'd angled the shaft on the attack to simultaneously break a counter; something Gawain would have had a trivial time circumventing if he could see it, trained warrior as he is. If anything can be said of Priscilla's combat skill though, it's that she knows how to exploit that uncertainty and misdirection. She's suffered a wound for it, but the Lifehunt Scythe splits armour and the skin beneath it. It isn't a very deep wound, for Gawain's durability and protection; about what one would get for running a box knife up an unprotected back. The feeling is almost like a scalpel for how sharp it is, and so for a couple of seconds, right after Gawain's blow pushes Priscilla free and re-spaces the two fighters, he's just left with the ache and the warm trickle of blood. He successfully ignites Galatine without an answer, managing to escalate his lethality right away. The reason that Priscilla doesn't rush back in to stop him doens't seem to be a lack of speed or confidence. The blazing Galatine is certainly dangerous to her, but that just encourages Crossbreed remains hidden and still at some indeterminate distance, instead of challenging it head on. She wants to let the shallow injury do the work for her.
Priscilla	The nasty scrape across Gawain's back suddenly becomes exponentially more painful. Where the pain should recede to a dull throb, it rapidly explodes into a kind of agony intense enough for even a Heroic Spirit to take note. Instead of the sharp caress of the scythe blade, it feels something like hundreds of jagged teeth slicing and tearing at his flesh like an invisible swarm of tiny, insatiably bloodthirsty carnivores. Blood sheets from the cut like as if it'd struck an artery instead of surface veins, and where it pours out, vital prana bleeds away on the current, rabidly torn from Gawain by the hungry, immaterial presence. Where blood and prana leave him, a deep, dreadful cold settles in, flowing through his veins and settling into his bones, and pulling a sluggish, icy fog through his thoughts. The flesh directly around the cut actually burns very briefly, blackened by a second of flickering, monochromatic energy, somewhere between utterly silent fire and the bleed of flowing ink. Thankfully it doesn't keep going like that. As heart-stoppingly awful as the feeling is, it doesn't escalate without pause. After a few more seconds, it slows, and then fades to a more subdued, painful prickle, as if the force behind it is laying dormant; waiting for another taste of blood to rouse it to lethal wakefulness. It feels to Gawain not unlike being caught in a thick tangle of razor wire. So long as he holds his ground, it doesn't hurt, but it somehow seems like if he acts too fast and too hard in any direction, he'll harm himself. That is, besides the uncanny feeling that something is intensely watching him, just outside his ability to perceive. While that staredown happens, one fighter as a stalwart guardian at the ready to defend himself with holy power, and the other watching from the shadows like a predator sizing up the wounds of her prey, Staren remains by the portal, and the Ice King is heading straight for it, set to blunder right into the pulsing, vibrating, intensifyingly bright rent in space, shining pastel light in every direction now. Techies and magicians both begin moving away from it, grabbing computer equipment and hauling it out of the way. The magical circle underneath it flares a bright green, lighting up multiple concentric layers of spiraling patterns, hemming in the breach in reality. Staren and the Ice King both, so close, can suddenly hear the crystal clear and unmistakable sound of a quarter sliding cleanly into a slot.
Arthur Lowell	_pMM~ _00M g0@ #0F #0P __,,,_ ]00 ,g00000000&g, #0# g0000@~^` ``~M0&, f 00& _000M' ^M, jf 001 000' 01 00& j0F ## 400 00 ]0, 00g 0! pN00000p, 00 ^00g B1 y00@MMMM0000g_ ]00, ~0&g 1jM^ ~M000g M00g ~"x.,_ ~00& "000g_ _pF],~00g 00g M0000gpggpN0! ]# ~00, 00 ~M000000M ]0 ^00p 0& #0 400 #0 j0# ]00c ]0 _g00' 00f # q_ _p000' 006 ' ^0&g,__ __,g0000@ ]00 ~M000000000M~ #0F `~~~~` y00 y00' g00' ,00F ,p0M~ PRESS START!! A familiar voice calls out
Arthur Lowell	The rift disgorges a single small, thin figure, covered in a strange, ragged robe. The shockwave with which it disgorges this figure is a blast of sharp green light, and shining black and white auras. This heat and spatial warping as something emerges instead of falling in is enough to tear this entire region in half and upside down for the next ten years, if it weren't for the gleaming magic circle binding it. The entirety of spacetimefolds in on itself for a moment within it, as something seems fundamentally misaligned, before it stabilizes, almost failing to recognize the world in its current state. And the shouting voice resolves into words. "YO," He tosses Staren's drone off to one side, as if making sure to return it, then plants both hands firmly on his waist, as if striking the pose for drama. "WHAT'S UP?"
Ice King	Still running in a blind panic, too late to react to the enormous dimensional kersplosion, the spectacle of magic circles, and appearing figures. Ice King trips and falls directly towards Arthur, on course to face-butt him with a mass of crystals. One way or another, the wizard is going to wind up on the ground, though at least the crystals will be smashed, leaving a wizard lying limply on the ground. He waves weakly and says, "Hi, how's it going? Could you pull these arrows out of my back? I think one of them is still on fire." Gunther arrives then and just stands there watching, making no move to help. "Wenk."
Staren	If Ice King wants to go into a rift and maybe never be seen again, is it really Staren's responsibility to stop him? The dude's not a child. He's kind of distracted by the duel going on. So, this is the power of the Lifehunt, directed for once not at a monster but at Gawain. Neither of them answered. Is there anything Staren could possibly say that would get them to stop? Staren starts to move with the techies and magicians while the fuel has turned into half a staring match. "Dude, you might wanna get away from that." He finally cautions Ice King. And then-- Green spirographs? Staren stares at Arthur, mouth agape in shock. This potentially means far more than the return of the God of Space. Staren hurries over to him, putting hands on his shoulders, continuing to stare with wide eyes. "You escaped!" He looks between Arthur and the rift. "How?!" Some time ago, Staren agreed to a contract. To ensure himself an afterlife, even if it was sealed away from the Multiverse. He planned to look for a way back if he ever died, but it was certainly a hell of a long shot. And he last saw Arthur leaving to stay in that world. Which means it can be done. Staren has truly conquered death. Well. Potentially. It probably requires... "...God powers. Right? Probably. Just..." It starts to hit him that this probably looks strange to anyone who doesn't know his thought process. He takes his hands off Arthur and steps back. "I mean... Welcome back. How's she doing? How're /you/ doing?" He tries to collect himself, putting on an uneasy grin and making a double-fingergun gesture at Arthur. "Cool as always, right?"
Arthur Lowell	Arthur's first act upon arrival is to encounter the wizard coming headfirst and crystal-first at him. He winds up, and with one heavy swing, slams his fist straight through the crystal, smashing it apart. With the blunted impact of the strike, he immediately attempts to apply as awesome a bro-pound has ever been pounded directly to the no-doubt flailing hands of the wizard. "FUUUUCK YEEEEEESSSSSSSS" He immediately calls out, hopefully stopping the man dead in his tracks. "WHAT'S UP, motherfucker? You got that PINCUSHION going on? KA-BAM!" A bright yellow circle with an odd action icon appears over Ice King, and Arthur smashes it apart, yonking him back onto his feet with a fresh boost, almost as if he were mashing the RECOVER ALLY button on another player in a co-op game. "YO, STAR! How's those HAPS? HELL YEAH, stuff was FINE up in there. Shit got HELLA WEIRD on the TIMESCALE, we had a couple BILLION on it. I think she STOLE a couple of those MEMORIES when we SPLIT on the ENDING but it's ALL GOOD, DOG! YEAH BOY YEAH GIMMIE THAT SKIN." He immediately engages Staren's hands in a series of elaborate daps, pounds, low-fives, finger-wiggly gestures, palm-slides, and other suchlike, even a few motions designed to interact with robot-only capacities when Staren has them, before finishing the greeting off.
Gawain	At first, it's just unease from the pain, as Gawain tries and fails to track Priscilla. He takes a defensive position with the flaming sword, trying to detect her, when everything becomes hazy and hell. Gawain actually screams, having to force himself to kill it soon after but having screamed nonetheless as he chokes, stumbling forward. Having never fought Priscilla before, nor knowing the power of Lifehunt, Gawain had no reason to expect this, and for a moment, he wonders if it'll ever stop. When it dies down, Gawain takes several ragged breathes, forcing his breathing and stance back upright. The feeling is still terrible, as Gawain remains still, defensive. He's trying not to move, trying not to strike or shout. Without the sun at his back, Gawain's ability to defend against this is less than he wishes it could be. He just needs to find the right time, the right moment to do something... And then the rift explodes. Gawain's eyes widen as he forces himself back, which he almost immediately regrets as the pain tears at him and cuts into him further. Luckily, the rift doesn't cause any damage to the area, but /something/ just happened in there. "I...First of the Concord, I request a ceasefire. Whatever happened in there needs to be investigated immediately for the sake of everyone in this area, including your own people." To show that he's sincere, there's a flick of the wrist, and the blade ceases to blaze, though Gawain doesn't remove his defensive position. "I apologize for requesting such after starting this fight, but if that is intentional, please explain what is going on, and if not, please allow me to assist in dealing with it."
Priscilla	Of course Priscilla couldn't possibly miss the colossal explosion in spacetime. It seems to be exactly what she had expected. Between the elaborate 'magical circles' drawn spirographically beneath the breach point, and the elaborate tech barricades set up around it, it seems unlikely this park, or much of the surrounding city, would have survived /without/ the Concord's interference. Of course, that makes it an entirely humanitarian effort, doesn't it? Why would Priscilla have this place steamrolled with zero notice and claim the breach is 'her responsibility' if all that containing it would do is save lives? Maybe that wasn't her concern. In fact, when the fight is interrupted, she doesn't even directly respond to Gawain's call for a ceasefire, never mind point and go 'see look, that's why I was here, I'm the good guy!' as would be the easy moral ammunition if she cared about lives here. She all but instantly forgets the ongoing hostilities, dropping her invisibility as quickly as her aggression, and giving Gawain only a brief, tensely concerned look until he lowers his sword, and then turns moves away without saying a thing, wordlessly 'accepting the terms', for whatever length they can be called such. Hurrying over to the compound, Priscilla picks up speed from a brisk walk to something like a mildly superhuman jog, despite her bloodied side. She drops the Lifehunt Scythe on the way, letting it fall into the grass, and then at the end almost tackles Arthur as he completes his complicated bro pound. Equally wordlessly, she does something so jarringly out of character that it needs no explanation: she sweeps him off his feet (with a good foot of height difference between them) and but squeezes him in her arms, as if making sure to thoroughly test if he's real, before reluctantly (and more than a little embarrassingly) putting him down. "Welcome again amongst friends, Sir Lowell. Thou hath so little idea of what it means to see thee again."
Arthur Lowell	Priscilla tackling and hugging Arthur is completely unexpected in basically all ways. Not only is it really unexpected from how she used to act, albeit consistent with her brief moments of revealed emotion, it's also a bit of a surprise because it's just hard to keep an eye on Priscilla even when she's invisible. "Guh-- Waaah!" He falls into the grabbing and kinda gets anxious and tense as usual, but it doesn't last too long. He grabs her in his own hug; even Arthur can muster some of that for someone who he went through so much stress and pain with. "GREAT WHITE, what's those HAPS? DAMN, dog, you got ROYAL up in this!" He kinda restores everything that got mussed up by the experience, and does seem to be quite real. "Got the HAPPINESS on BEING BACK, dog! Glad hearing you got the RELIEF on it. Know you all needed some COOLNESS in your LIFE." There's that double fingerguns and the wink. He couldn't last long before giving it. He even does the teethgleam!! Jesus christ.
Gawain	As Priscilla pretty much agrees to the ceasefire, Gawain follows inside, but he doesn't actually stay long. He mainly watches the situation, not wanting to intrude on what seems to be a reunion and not actually in a state where he can continue to fight. Instead, he pulls out his radio to try and contact the government and tell them that the situation is going to cease shortly, ask the nearest official-looking person who isn't one of the Elites if they can get in touch with the government and wrap this up, and then moving to retreat. Once he gets back, Gawain's going to try and see if the strange debilitation has faded and if the strange black wound has healed, because otherwise, he's going to have to brew up some potions.
Staren	Staren relaxes more as Arthur does a wacky handshake and gets hugged by Priscilla. It's not even been a minute yet, and already it feels like Arthur being back is just normal. Staren glances back at Gawain, but to his relief, the duel is over. He turns back to Arthur with a slight smile. "She's in charge of the Concord. We have a lot to catch you up on. Do you know how to get to Afterus? If not I can give us a ride while we catch up." He looks to Priscilla. "Or perhaps you'd prefer to bring him to Grand Dorado?"
Ice King	Ice King's crystals were removed via bropunch. Sadly, he can not return appropriately, because he is not Ron Wizard, and is also still on the floor. He struggles back to his feet and reaches around his back to pick arrows out of it. Hissing and ow-ow-owing the whole time. He witnesses the whole hug and happy reunion thing awkwardly, scratching his arm through his sleeve with the arrows he's holding. When Arthur seems pleased to see Priscilla again as well, and various other people, and there's all the energetic discussion on the radio, he's feeling better about this whole encounter. "Aww, that's nice. Well, I guess my business here is done. I don't think I'm gonna'... Hm." He sticks one of the arrows into the remnants of the space hole to see what happens.
Priscilla	The rare urge to laugh catches Priscilla completely by surprise, while still deeply invested in the feeling that Arthur might suddenly disappear into a wormhole again if she stops confirming he is there. It comes out a brief, soft, half-choked round of laughter, before she coughs to stop herself, when he goes full fingerguns and everything. "Yes, to sayeth the least. Though there art many responsibilities I hath been made to take, there hath been many opportunities left. Feel at ease that I hath done very much well for mineself since thou took thine extended leave, and am well prepared to aid thee in any manner thou shouldst need." She takes a second when Staren speaks of Afterus. "I believeth there art certain matters thou shalt be occupied with resuming as well, soon enough."
Ice King	The arrow seems to impact... Something. Well, he's not going to be leaping into a hole just so he can slam into a wall, so he drops the arrow and is companions. "Thanks for punching those crystals off of me, by the way, guy. Most of the time when I get punched it's not for such great reasons." He scowls and mutters. "Darn Finn and Jake... Always getting up in my grill. That was MY barbeque grill and they had NO right to it! If LSP wanted those beans so badly she should have put a ring on them." He runs a hand through his beard to clear it off crystals, and then gets a surprised look on his face as he finds something unexpected, apparently unwittingly picked up while in the trash. He holds the item in the palm of his hand and grins widely. "Wow, hey! Gunther, I found one!" He holds up an engagement ring.