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Sanary Rondel	- LAST TIME - Serena and the Elites helping her encountered Royal Knights led by Gash and Zur, the Elites assisting them, and a gang of bandits with a penchant for energy beams, acidic sweat, and flexing all over the place. In the mass melee, the former princess was captured by the Royal Knights. - NOW - After weeks of scouring for Serena's wherabouts, intel from the Resistance has finally come in. Resistance agents lead their allies to approaching the castle from a nearby town. Strangely enough, however, despite their proximity to the castle, the town is rather empty. There aren't many people in the streets, Royal Knights aren't patrolling the area, and it seems fairly quiet all around. Fitting for a weekend, but it's a little too convenient. Not that the Resistance member leading them seems to mind. "This should be easy enough... We get into the castle, we get the princess, and then we take down Kanon! How's that sound?" The green bucket-helmeted warrior asks, adjusting their hood and taking a quick jog to get a better eye on things up ahead. As they round a corner, however, something blurry speeds right past the Resistance soldier, kicking up a cloud of dust around them. The cloud of dust settles, and the Resistance member is on the floor in two cleanly cut pieces. On the other side of the cloud of dust stands Valgar, swords drawn with one pointed towards the encroaching Elites. "You're destroying peace in this kingdom. I won't let you go any further!" (BGM SHIFT: https://youtu.be/ZvfpwJNnHkU ) His anger is clear. He readies himself to speed right into the Elites with what could only be another blindingly fast charge, but holds his stance as Zur drops from the sky with an obnoxious cackle. (BGM SHIFT: https://youtu.be/rukkvZdElMs ) "Heh, heh, heh, heh!  Having a hard time, chief of the Black Knights?"     "Zur? What are you doing here? Don't get in my way!" "Not so fast! I have business with you, Valgar."     "What do you mean?" A puff of smoke obscures them up to the waist briefly as a wrinkled old magician in a robe appears. The magician raises his staff, and electricity crackles around Valgar as a barrier appears around him. "I mean that you're a wanted man! You'd be better off dead than knowing the truth. Me? I'm grateful to Kanon! I've had a great laugh just watching you pretend to be a prince!" Zur cackles for a good three seconds until the lightning barrier shatters as Valgar powers through the thing and proceeds to turn the magician holding the barrier into two halves. "... Oh. The lightning shtick." The color drains from Zur's face as Valgar approaches him with the sword drawn. The prince raises his blade and swings it downwards, stopping just short of Zur's head as the jester squeals in fright.     "I need answers. Take me to Kanon!" "I had nothing to do with this, really! I don't care if the king's real or not! I just work for whoever's the strongest!" As Valgar's about to draw that sword across Zur's face, a voice suddenly booms through the square. "Yes, power is justice. Great justice calls for great power." Lightning falls all around the square, coming dangerously close to striking everyone without actually doing so. When the lights clear, a bearded old man not unlike the hermit from the forest appears. Valgar stares at the old man, not giving chase when Zur slips out from beneath him and takes off like a bat out of hell. Kanon is here. (BGM SHIFT: https://youtu.be/wsMlGKq-xlE )
Sanary Rondel	- EARLIER - "They're coming." Valgar states plainly as one of his scouts salutes and runs off, turning to the Elites that had been helping the knights. "Those Resistance sympathizers will be coming here soon to rescue that false princess of theirs. That'll be the perfect time to catch them all at once." He punches an armored fist into a similarly armored palm. "We'll finally be able to stop their terrorizing of our kingdom. On my honor as the Prince and leader of the Black Knights, we'll make sure you're all paid handsomely for your help." He raises a hand to gesture at one of the soldiers in the back. Unlike the pink or blue ones, he actually nods as if knowing what that means! Moments later, a cyclops flanked by two magicians arrives dragging in all manner of gold, valuable stones, and even one of those machine-gun-armed robots. "We'll sort out who gets what later. For now, let's focus on bringing peace back to the kingdom."
August Kohler	As the intel finally comes in, August jumps on the opportunity. Dressed in a grey winter coat with a hood, pulled up over his head, wearing gloves and armed with a shiny revolver and a combat knife, the Persona wielder's been busy ever since he had a personal talk with someone. Busy reading, trying to understand himself, trying to better himself. But he's not giving up on this mission just because of that. As they move forward through the empty town, August is on his guard. He's slow as they round the corner, taking the rear so they don't get stabbed in behind, but it's stabbed from the front they get...as the Resistance member is slain. August's anger is immediately clear, as he raises a mirrored wrist-bracelet to eye level. "Persona!" The Tin Soldier manifests, ready to meet Valgar as he charges...when Zur appears. Something's going on - Valgar is apparently being betrayed? The Tin Soldier points its rifle between two points, as Valgar gets trapped and then cuts his way through. If Valgar wants to see this Kanon...so does August, so he'll try and follow them, he thinks. But he doesn't have to, for Kanon himself appears. The Tin Soldier's rifle points to the old wizard's head, but it doesn't fire. "You must be Kanon. Mind telling us your plans already? The evil wizard monologue or whatever it is you're going to do."
Alexis	It had been inevitable that there would eventually have to a move made on the castle. It just ended up being a bit more necessary after the Princess was wisked away in the chaos of bandits and knights last time. And why'd it take this long to get things back in motion? Though one could just assume it was a matter of making sure that's where the Princess actually was being held. Last thing we need on this already ramshackled adventure is an 'in another castle' scenerio. The empty town is weird, but mostly just brushed off as people leaving because they didn't want to be living on the proverbial doorstep of corrupt rulers. Or were already all arrested by the royal guard. Both are equally plausible, neither is worth excessively dwelling on when they need to keep on the move. Which turns out to be another ambush. Which in turn gets ambushed. Two different men are cut down, two other men get into a pissing contest, and then the wizard supposedly behind it all finally makes an appearance. All this before Alexis even has a chance to fully react to the first ambush, and is left standing with a Pokeball in hand just shy of being thrown, and perplexity crinkled into her usually focused expression. "Does anyone else have a friggin' clue what just happened?" Well August seems to at least have a notion to follow, so we'll just go with that for the time being. She's just the one that happened to wander into this mess one day and is too curious/stubborn to back out again.
Sanary Rondel	Sanary's also around! She's helping to keep any particularly brave/stupid knights from drawing too close to where the Elites and Kanon are facing off.
Note	This entire situation has been a good thing for Note so far. It's forced her to think a lot more than she's used to having to deal with. And the tempestuous Saiyan-blooded girl's learning a thing or two from it.     If only it wasn't such a colossal mess.     Note's quick to recoil and yelp in HORROR, pointing up the moment she senses Valgar -- but it's too late.     She flinches and grits her teeth as... down goes a man whose name she didn't even really know.     Note grinds to a halt, teeth clenched and gaze settling HARD on Valgar, but then...     Then she leaps backwards as things get even MORE complicated and her apparent foes turn against each other. Or so that would be it, but...     "Backstabbing your own?! What sort of despicable--" A spark of RAGE strikes her. She would've looked forward to a good fight with Valgar...     Note's teeth start GRINDING as this gets more and more out of hand--     But then.... Note shivers and backpedals a few more steps as Kanon's appearing. She's drawn to look towards Kanon a moment before he fully appears, arm upraised to shield her eyes from the glare. "Awwwww... now what?! Last time it was some icky sweatdudes, now it's.. everyone else?"     Angrily, Note slaps her tail against the ground hard enough to cause a drum-like *BANG-crunch*.     "None at all!" She answers to Alexis, dropping down into a combat stance with a hand open in front of her, another knife-hand fist drawn to her waist. The black-haired youth inhales deeply, calming herself and focusing.     Something tells her she's going to NEED to be fully focused and pull out everything she's got today.     The air around her begins to shift, rise, rotate, and ripple as she slowly focuses her inner energies and stokes them towards overdrive. Note's skin exudes a transluscent white sheen that's slowing shifting its way towards a golden hue.     "I'm guessing you're the wizard everyone's angry about..."
Staren	This whole business is frustrating to Staren, because he's trying to keep order and protect people while both sides are in a hurry to kill everyone on the other 'side'. He's made /some/ progress talking to them though, and hopefully Strange has made more.     Kanon is suspicious, all the same, so Staren's up for a chance to stop whatever he's up to, and maybe talk to him to find out what he IS up to. As his body is recovering from the strain of yesterday, he's transferred himself into a robot -- although, as far as looks go, he just looks like he's wearing different armor than usual.     He's following along with the resistance for now, because this seems like a way to actually meet Kanon. He's... concerned, when someone gets dehalfitated, but as soon as the initial exchanges are over, he runs over to slap some nanobandages on the guy split sideways. It won't save him, but maybe the nanites can at least keep the brain in better condition for a little while.     THEN he turns to the newcomer wizard. "Who are YOU supposed to be? Because I'm going to talk to Kanon today. And if I don't, then I'm happy to ruin his plans, maybe he'll talk to me THEN."     If Kanon identifies himself, there's a brief pause, and then Staren launches into "So what's the DEAL! What do you want, and why do so many people have to die for it?" As long as the wizard doesn't /actually attack/ yet, Staren's happy to give him a chance to talk.
Zenos yae Galvus	"You follow the strongest..." A laugh, "Then you should proclaim your loyalty to me," Comes the arrogant tone of a familar man. From behind the forces, comes the Garlean, mask and all as the bag next to him holds FOUR swords now. As he walks, he moves to the side to allow a figure to stand next to him, but he stands close enough to keep the figure protected. Sword at the ready, he speaks calmly, though arrogantly, towards those assembled.     "I see you have come for the 'Princess', but as you see she is unharmed." he says, looking towards those who had come to put down the Rebellion. His own forces walking behind, as a Garlean gunship start to decend from overhead.     "However, it appears that there were...attempts to decieve myself, acting diplomat of the Garlean empire. You see, this is not just a sarcastically quoted princess, but the legitimate heir to the kingdom..." he says, as such turning to look towards Kanon.     "Have you anything to say in your defense, before you are cut down like the false king that you are?" he says, drawing from the bag of swords a familar blade, bone hand still attatched. "I'm looking forward to this."
Doctor Strange	"Oh my god," flatly utters Strange in quiet second-hand embarrassment as Zur is completely styled upon by 'the lightning schtick.' But upon the utterance of 'I don't care if the king is real,' his voice rises in volume--and in agitation. "What's with you all of a sudden? Hey," he says in irritated mock-helpfulness, "Try twirling your mustache a little. Maybe find the princess and tie her to a railroad track? I'm /helping/ you and I'm embarrassed--"      His rant is broken off by the arrival of Kanon. "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" As the Persona appears to challenge the figure, Strange tries to play peacekeeper. His hands are raised up, scarred palms trembling in the air as he attempts to divert August from attacking. "Look, I dunno about this guy, but I'm the Wizard Who Tries His Best Not to Be a Douchebag. Can I-- can I give you my monologue? It's a... little one..." He makes a pinching gesture with a thumb and forefinger. It takes a second or two to close. Strange clears his throat. "Here's the princess," he says with a gesture of his hand. He's motioning to Zenos, nodding along with the Garlean.      "And, let's be honest, her claim might be legitimate. So, I, being a Paladin, and all about..." Strange squints. "Accountability... perspective..." He slowly rolls his wrist, gently nodding with each utterance. "...and good faith... I think we should take a moment to examine her claim. It's a little effort now for a big payoff later. Okay? The Resistance gets a say, the Kingdom keeps its legitimacy either way. And hey. That's... important to... you... right?" He gives Kanon a searching, somewhat unsure look.      His gaze turns to Staren as the scientist attempts to maintain order. Eager to prevent a fight from breaking out, Strange... well. "There ain't no good guy," Strange nervously sings, looking around for someone to sing along. "There ain't no bad guy... there's only you and me and we just disagree..." The tune dies in his throat as his nervous expression gradually gives way to resigned disappointment. "Yeah," he sighs. "Okay."
Tomoe	So here we go again Tomoe was here to help the Resistance once more and even if it entailed fighting through some of the Paladins. It was strange for her to be thinking about that. Yet here they are with that being a possibility with another fight like that ahead of them. "Get in, get her out, deal with the Wizard, right? Simple enough there." Tomoe didn't want a blood bath though and still was restraining herself against the local military. "So here we are again Valgar was it? Very well, I would suggest you get out of our way but I don't think you're going to listen." Oh hell it's Zur as Tomoe gets her weapons ready, then Zur gets a very angry Valgar on them. Everyone makes ready for a fight with the knight, Tomoe has her sword and board out. Yet? Then comes The Wizard as it were and even as the Zenos shows up again, Tomoe looks to the newest arrival as Staren calls out what's their game. "Spill it just what the hell are you after with this mess?" As Strange brings up the possiblit to talk it out. "I'm willing to talk if you are Doctor Strange."
Krusty	Krusty is quite serious about rescuing Serena. He's not fond of losing a VIP in the middle of escorting them. He's also just not fond of losing in general. So once more he's not alone. He doesn't have a cadre of his Adventurers with him... No, they're waiting somewhere nearby. Instead, Krusty is only accompanied by one other. One of his Lieutenants, the scythe-wielding Bard, Misa Takayama.     Krusty watches as Valgar appears, only to be betrayed by the clown. But before Valgar can turn to fight, someone new appears. Krusty turns his focus to the new arrival, simply stating, "We're here for Serena. Where is she?"     Krusty is surprised though as Zenos appears with Serena in tow. The knight reaches up to pull forth his large two-handed sword, but pauses in raising it as Serena's identity as the legitimate princess. Even more surprising is the apparent indications that Zenos is turning on those he had previously been assisting. Krusty narrows an eye at the Garlean... Is it a ruse? Is it real?     For the moment Krusty holds his position, ready to act but waiting to see how the betrayers-now-betrayed respond.
Stella	Stella, of course, was with Valgar the entire time. Watching his every move, his behavior. Watching, silently, as the metaphorical other shoe dropped, Kanon appeared, and boasted about great power and great justice to go along with it.     Moments later there are threats.     The crystal golem in the guise of a girl interposes herself between Kanon and at the very least Zenos, but for all intents and purposes, between Kanon and as many people who threaten him as she can.     "It is irrelevant who belongs on the throne. All that matters is who has the power to claim and keep it. A powerful illegetimate king is better than a weak legitimate one. Without power the king cannot rule and defend."     That should probably not surprise Staren.
Sanary Rondel	Kanon eyes the Tin Soldier with a slow raise of his eyebrow, but doesn't even move. It's almost as if he's challenging the Persona-user to fire. "Deception? Hmhmhm... I suppose this is a good time to explain things, then. Rest assured, I am not the King, or the dear Prince here would want my head by now." Kanon replies in a booming voice despite barely moving at all, turning to Zenos and Strange with the same challenging expression August had gotten. "Yes... Let's talk. This was inevitable, so... Hm?" Soon, however, his gaze falls on the figure besides Zenos, and he grins widely. "The bloodline of the true khans was not completely destroyed, eh Serena? Our troupe trained you well if you've survived this long. Now you think your day has come?  The khans were slain long ago.  Why avenge crimes that happened before you were ever born?" The green-haired woman scowls at the wizard as he speaks in his oddly stilted tongue, drawing a slow smirk from him in response. "Shut up, Kanon!  Even if they were wiped out, how can I stay silent? I've seen firsthand the mockery you've made of our kingdom with your dark magic." Kanon laughs and runs a hand through his beard. "You are a brave to speak so freely.  You have the royal fire, just like the dead Queen... Your mother. You look just like her, Princess Serena." Valgar's the next one to speak up. "What nonsense!  My family has ruled this land since ancient times! My father... The king never spoke of any change in the royal family." Before Kanon can respond, the Skeleton Warrior roars and rushes at the wizard, leaping towards him with magic sword held high. It stops in mid-jump, however, before being flung back by a wave of energy and pinned down by an unseen force. Again, Kanon laughs. "I remember a warrior...  He fought to his last breath the night your family was destroyed.  He should have died along with the men he killed, on the outskirts of town.  I never dreamed that I would come face to face with him again!" Serena stares at him in shock. "The warrior who died when my family was destroyed?  I knew I recognized that armor.. That fighting style. We have met before!" As she continues staring at the Skeleton Warrior with a veritable pile of mixed up thoughts and worries, Kanon continues his monologue to the rest of the gathered Elites and commanders. Commander. Zur's run off screaming into the wind over a minute ago. He's really quite good at that. "The King himself said just before he died... Now my kingdom is that of the sword.  Destroy us now, the sword will return, and avenge us.  As a precaution, I ordered my warriors to gather every scrap of steel and iron.  Not one sword in the kingdom had such power.  I should have looked more carefully.  A sword found by a stranger turned to be the one. Serena... When your rebels and the sword worked together as one, that's when my troubles began." "What are you up to, Kanon?  By the time I was born, you controlled so much of the kingdom. Why did you have to destroy my family?!" Serena screams out at the wizard as she grabs a sword off the fallen Resistance member and lashes out at Kanon. There's a flash of light, and everything goes pitch black as Kanon's laughter echoes in the darkness.
Sanary Rondel	- MEANWHILE - "... Uh. I think the hot guy's not really the prince, the hot chick's really the princess, and the old guy is... The one that screwed with all this stuff and caused this mess?" Sanary murmurs in response to Alexis and Note, squinting slightly while struggling to process the mess of information she's just received. She frowns slightly as the area darkens, but stays right where she is while bracing for something or another. The halved-Resistance member looks grateful for Staren's assistance! Maybe. It's hard to tell with the helmet on, but they're sure to be thankful for not being allowed to just bleed out with a certain white-clad healer just ignoring them in favor of the old wizard.
Sanary Rondel	(BGM SHIFT: https://youtu.be/14XxwoYTXQk ) Images start to appear before everybody's eyes as Kanon speaks. Orange flames and blue birds scatter haphazardly. "In ancient time, humans mearly existed.  Proud sky spirits ruled the sky and earth spirits ruled the earth.  These mighty beings fought each other.  Humans were caught in the middle and cowered in fear." A blue human-shaped figure reaches up as a blue orb of light descends towards them. "Then the sky spirits gave us magic, a power beyond the imagination of most humans.  We decided to help the sky spirits in their fight against the earth spirits." A figure in Kanon's and the hermit's robes appears flanked by red spikes as flames dominate the background. "We fought with all our might.  Most of the wizards died.  But we finally succeeded. We banished the earth spirits into darkness." (BGM SHIFT: https://youtu.be/YHmEGFmNfvc ) The flames are replaced by a sky blue crystalline formation with a pair of red eyes looking over the blue wizard-figure. "But the sky spirits were unhappy.  They began to envy and fear our newly acquired power.  They pushed us, the wizards, who would have died for them... into the same darkness as the earth spirits."  The wizard-figure bursts into flames, replaced by an orb of light and a golden sword. "The surviviors forgot about magic. This was called the Time of the Sword.  I vowed revenge, and waited for the right time when I could revive magic in this world." (BGM SHIFT: https://youtu.be/wsMlGKq-xlE ) Kanon appears and shatters the golden sword. Light returns, and everyone's once again visible in the town proper once more. "I used spells to hold down the earth spirits and crawled from the darkness.  The khans would not trust my magic, so I destroyed them.  I replaced them with a wizard kingdom, where I hid and waited." After so long, someone else finally speaks up! It's Valgar. "You destroyed the royal family for your own evil purposes?" Kanon laughs yet again. "Evil purposes?  No!  To save humanity!  I am sorry, Valgar.  But you chose to live by the sword, like a fool.  If you were a puppet like the king, you would have lived much longer." Valgar flinches, then crosses his blades in front of him as Kanon raises his staff towards the leader of the Black Knights. "Father? He knew about this?!" Flames erupt from Kanon's staff at Valgar, the force of the miniature explosion wave sending Valgar flying backwards far from the concentration of Elites and knights. The black knights look at each other, confused noises starting to come from the gathering. Most move to check on Valgar, but others remain in the area to stand guard even as they're not quite sure who they should be focusing on. Kanon, meanwhile, seems unperturbed by the effect his words have had on the kingdom's knights and the prince. "But those who found the sword also found trouble, didn't they?  Far better if they'd met me before they met this woman.  Well, that's all right. Let it go.  Everything's still on schedule.  The dawn of sorcerers and humanity is about to begin!"
Staren	Boy, was Kanon ready to monologue! He must've been waiting to tell his story for a long time.     After it finishes, Staren says:     "You're right."     And then he raises his arm and fires-- beams of high-energy particles and a pair of miniaturized anti-tank missiles trying to spear the wizard with physics. "But you won't live to see it."     Staren has his own monologue! "You say you want an age of magic, but you want an age of YOU. You could have offered magic to people, offered to work together! But you schemed and lied. You're not saving mankind -- you're putting yourself above it! So the khans wouldn't trust your magic. You could have found those who would, and made a new kingdom. Led by shining example. Instead you hid and waited."     Staren shakes his head. "If you truly wanted an age of magic, you had all this time. You say you had a KINGDOM of wizards, and you all did NOTHING! Instead of elevating humanity like you say you want, you hid and waited!"     Staren frowns. "Your words, your claims... they are what I aspire to. But your actions betray them. People like YOU are the reason the Union was afraid to ever CHANGE things. The reason I had to spend YEARS watching my back from my supposed allies! YOU'RE the reason people call the Concord VILLAINS!"     Staren's voice booms from his speakers, distorted slightly as he hits max volume. "AND BECAUSE OF THAT, BILLIONS OF PEOPLE DIE BECAUSE THEY WON'T ACCEPT THE HELP OF PEOPLE LIKE ME! BEGONE, VILE MONSTER!"
Stella	That's a lot of mythology. A lot of politics, too. Both things Stella is neither good at, nor especially predisposed towards. But as far as she can tell, her prior judgment holds true: Kanon wields power, and is therefore the rightful ruler.     ... but.     Indecision, for the first time.     Kanon betrayed the knights.     It's a matter of deciding what she values more: the knights, or power giving one claim over others. But... when you think about it, isn't it the knights who betrayed their king? Who decided that him not being legitimate meant turning against him was an option? Then they're not very good knights, are they?     Indecision is hard.     Stella takes the coward's way out. If you're unsure, stick to what you were already sure of. And she's sure, at least, that Kanon's power gives him the right to do these things.     She refuses to budge, standing by Kanon. Crystals burst out of her wrists and hands, forming prismatic blades that she grasps.     She mutters under her breath, as if uncertain.     "...a real knight would not let this sway them..."
Note	"You say this is all to give people magic. Save humanity? I guess that'd be great and cool! If it was true." Note has kept her focus for once, hints of her childishness all that's slipping through a sudden show of discipline.     With a cracka-thoom her aura ignites upwards into a golden bonfire blaze, catching her hair in a sustained updraft and filling it with the same energies. it splits apart into an array of spikey locks, her golden energies outshining the hair's natural black coloration. Both her eyes are now a fierce light green...     ... and waves of raw power roll from her one after another, like the surface of a stormy ocean.     "But what's humanity in danger of right now? The one who seems to be causing people to get angry and kill each other is YOU, Kanon. You're why Valgar's cutting people in two. You're why angry knights are hauling old grandpas from their homes. You're causing a commotion so loud it really DID wake the dead!"     "I don't believe you when you say you're gonna 'save humanity!' You just wanna get revenge on these sky spirits and poke them in the eye! So go do that. Don't drag everyone else into your problems and fling lies everywhere!"
Zenos yae Galvus	Zenos, finally tired of all the recriminations...     Places a hand on the shoulder of the princess, using her strength to hold her from swinging wildly.     "If you are infact, a Princess, do not so easily use Violence without considering all of your options. You are now in charge of considering the wider opinion...you are now forced to do things you no longer like, as long as the people you govern are enriched." he says, scarily charasmatic when he wants to be...     To everyone else, with his voice along...his voice and the pure /force/ of personality he speaks a single world audiable to everyone who can hear it, "ENOUGH!"     "I grow tired of you brickering like animals. We have two sides. One side desires to raise men to fight and take care of themselves...while his claim to rule is illigitimate, his hand has directly put himself into power. On the other, we have the still living legitimate heir." he says, pointing at the Wizard.     "You, decide which is more important...your rule or your goals.." He turns towards the Princess, "Your decision, is your revenge more important, or the welfair of your people, and your rule...look around you, their spirits are broken, their minds needing leadership that he can not provide."     "The rest of you, stop attempting to shoot everything when thinking becomes hard, and instead THINK. Stop being like mindless beasts...or at least, if you do engage in mindless violence do it for IT'S sake..." he laughs.     "One or the other does not need happen, their goals are not mutually exclusive."
Alexis	After its all said and done and the magic slideshow is over Alexis, after a moment, just makes a grimace while rolling her eyes. "Great. Another megalomaniac that thinks there's only one right way and just because he's got the power he should put himself at the top of the pile under the guise of making things better, when it's only making himself more powerful behind the curtains." The grip on her readied pokeball tightens, but Alexis still doesn't throw it quite yet. There's still a lot of confusion in this, and while she's headstrong she'd still rather do it with some sort of idea what's going on. "As if I didn't have enough of that kind of jerk to deal with back home." She actually takes a step aside to not be quite so close to Note. If only because she can feel the power rippling off the Saiyan-blooded and doesn't want to be in the way if she goes Primeape on things. Like Staren is already doing. She can't really argue with most of his rhetoric, but still it's a bit flying too fast into the fire.     She's taken a little too long, so the ball in her hand rattles a bit before devulging energy on its own, consolidating at her side into a stocky lion-like form with jagged rocks along his back and ashen smoke waifing from amongst his mane. "< Power is given to Man to help. It's those that abuse it that make it regretable. >" the Entei speaks in his ethereal, not quite talking but totally understandable manner that most Legendaries posses. "Yeah, something like that," Alexis agrees with a snort. "Sorry, I was going to let you out, but.." " <It is alright. > " The Beast nodded his great head. " <It is best to not act on indecision. >" A pause. "< Wizard still sounds like a douchebag though. >" Alexis pauses, raising an eyebrow. And trying not to smirk too much at the legendary picking up on some of humanity's vulgarity. "Tch. I must be a bad influence."
Staren	Staren points at Alexis while he continues to shout at Kanon. "SEE?! THIS is how people think about using power to HELP people, because of jerks like YOU!"
Doctor Strange	"OH-kay," says Strange as the Skeleton Warrior attacks. They were so close to talking it out! He snaps his fists closed, bringing both up in a defensive pose. Orange mandalas of glyphs circle in the air before them. The Warrior is repelled without much incident... and Strange lowers his guard for a moment. He doesn't like what he's hearing from Kanon, and is now... decidedly less in favor of defending him.      "O...kay," he says to Tomoe. He looks at Kanon. Then back at Tomoe. "You're... hearing what I'm hearing, right?" He looks over to August, then Staren, then Xenos. "Uh... Stella. Right? You... still on his side, or..." Strange clears his throat, and quickly clarifies. "I just--I think... the vague pride in all this that I'm getting from him is a... just a bit of a... red flag." He grimaces slightly, nodding his head towards Kanon as everything shifts to black.      "...you realize me and Zenos were only helping you because we thought you wanted peace, right? We don't really /do/ pet projects. Especially not ones fueled by careless murder." He does not stop Staren from attacking Kanon. He does not stop anyone else who wishes to attack the wizard, either. In fact, with a dispassionate frown, Strange slowly rises into the air, and begins preparing a spell to join in. The scientist here has Kanon pinned, from Strange's perspective, and so the Sorcerer Supreme doesn't bother adding to the lecture.      All he says is... "The kingdom will decide your fate." It is utterly without the dry hesitation or the sarcasm of before, and possessed of a jarring, undeniable weight. Orange rings of glyphic writing appear in the air... arround the Skeleton Warrior. The spiked surfaces of magically-conjured flails crash into the barrier which holds the Skeleton Warrior in place. Portals to other dimensions open and blast at the barrier with energies pulled from across creation, spanning all hues of the visible spectrum, sizzling, cracking, humming, burning, freezing, broiling.      Technically, he /is/ part of the legitimate kingdom. Strange makes no move to attack or assist anyone else until Serena has made her decision.
Krusty	Krusty pays close attention to the provided history lessen, though he of course keeps in mind the source. There is much about this situation that is complex, much that is unknown. The future is unclear. At a time like this, all you can do is trust your instincts.     Krusty listens to his instincts.     Krusty calmly walks towards Zenos, finally raising his large sword in preparation to fight.     Krusty walks past Zenos, glancing at the man for a moment, before stopping beside Serena and looking down at her as the rightful Princess, "I've stood by you so far. I will continue to do so."     Krusty looks up at Kanon, his eyes behind his glasses narrowing at the wizard in obvious defiance.
August Kohler	August thinks for a long time on what to do. And then he decides, as Kanon monologues, that one thing interested him more than anything. The fact that Kanon never said what happened to the Sky Spirits. That means they're still out there. That means they're still a threat to these people, and they're something he'll have to deal with. Kanon's a criminal. And he deserves to die. But August doesn't move to kill him, not yet. The Tin Soldier suddenly rushes forward, dancing ever so close to Kanon. He's going to likely counter-attack at Staren when those attacks come. His goal is to grapple the wizard with the Persona, holding him down, and punching him to try and break his concentration on SK's barrier. "These spirits. What do you know about them? Are the Sky Spirits still a threat?" August clearly does not like the idea of them. Maybe... Maybe Kanon can sway him, somehow.
Tomoe	There's a lot of info here, the truth of the undead warrior, more about Serena and her past and Tomoe seem to be on edge. She doesn't attack she sees the wounded person is getting help from Staren and there's not much more she can do really there. She halts at the Wizard as his monologue goes on this is not quite what she expected as his motives for this whole mess. She's not happy but it's not quite what she expected. Valgar gets blown back, some of his men move to check on him. Good, she had no real hate for Valgar and his knights. She always saw the Knights being used in the end. The Wizard was not as cartoonish as she expected but it's true, the Sky Spirits would turn their attention back on to Man again if Magic popped up everywhere? There's a lot of what ifs, but what isn't what if she gave her word to bring an end to this when Serena and the old man called for help from the Multiverse. That much she knows this guy seems to be a destabilizing factor regardless of what action is taken next here. She gave her word, it's what she sees of worth. After all, she sees herself as a mimic and a fake, she should have been a nobody, an office Lady if she was unlucky or maybe lucky enough to 3work in something related to Parkour which she was passionate about but she would have lived and died. Without the world noticing her. Her word is not fake, she gave her word to aid Serena so in the end, it's time to end this. Her word was to stop the source of the chaos in the kingdom and remove them from political play. "It's over now for you come quietly and you won't need to get hurt." She will make ready to keep between Kanon and the rest as it seems it's time to bring him in question him and figure out what to do next after that. She has Caliburn out and at the ready, as she readies herself, then then moves in to aid with the restaining of the Kanon as the others moves to go in, or at least she can keep them from being jumped while they do.
Sanary Rondel	Staren's missile and beam barrage is met with a circular barrier of magical energy slamming directly into it, the resulting explosion sending Kanon floating backwards as the dust around him remains floating for a moment, then settles back down moments later. He scoffs lightly at Staren's own monologue in return, glancing between him and Note slowly as they accuse him of being the true threat to humanity. Serena, meanwhile, glances over at Zenos with confusion evident in her eyes. Anger, too, but as much as she dislikes the man, she also can't quite deny the truth in his words. "My people do need me, yes... If I'm to become the new leader, then..." She breathes in slowly as she lowers that salvaged sword, looking over slowly as Krusty and Tomoe join her. She even smiles briefly when Valgar finally manages to pry himself off a distant wall. "No. Now, more than ever, the kingdom needs stability. Whether that's with crown on my head or the current king's is secondary to the needs of the people. I may not have been the greatest leader, and I'm sure my parents made their mistakes, but..." Then she turns her sword towards Kanon. "What I know for certain is that they scarcely need a self-proclaimed savior such as you. Surrender, or we cannot guarantee your survival!" The warning is issued to Kanon and Stella alike, and Valgar too starts bringing up the rear with his own blades drawn. Kanon, meanwhile, seems nonplussed with everything going on as it is. He doesn't look afraid, however, even as the sheer number of superpowered Elites grows with Zenos and Strange turning against him. "Careless murder? Pet projects? Why can't my ambitions and humanity's salvation line up? The Sky Spirits have looked down on us for so long, and they continue to be an ever present thorn in humanity's side. No... An executioner's blade dangling above our heads. And the Earth Spirits... They would relish seeing us destroyed so they could use our land as the next battlefield. But if we can destroy them all and I can be at the top once the dust settles... Why not?" Kanon laughs once again, narrowing his eyes at the Entei when it's called forth. "So the Earth Spirits have joined you as well, then... No matter. The world will spin the way I want it to spin. The Sky and Earth Spirits will tremble before me. No..." Kanon shouts in retort, smirking when Stella moves to stand beside him. "Before us. Humans will become the strongest species!" Never mind that Stella's not human. Still, he's dropped quite the clue about the  Spirits' continued existence. Between Strange's efforts in attacking the barrier directly and the Tin Soldier's frontal assault in tandem with Staren's missiles, Kanon's focus on holding down the Skeleton Warrior wanes. He teleports in and out of existence a few times just to avoid getting clocked in the face or blasted by yet more explosives, but that's enough to take him off his game. The Skeleton Warrior roars suddenly as it rises, almost looking as if it's shoving off that force that had held it down before standing tall once more. "Agh!  No way!  You can break my spells?  What power!  So be it.  You'll be sorry you were born." Kanon grimaces as he finally stands his ground while magical energy swells around him with a visible crackling of energy. His staff raises, and lightning blasts down from the sky nigh indiscriminately!
Note	Note has not left her knife-handed battle stance. Her gaze just keeps narrowing more and more with increased frustration and anger with every word Kanon speaks though. His whole attitude just seems to utterly grate her the wrong way.     "If you wanna fight the spirits to protect people, that's one thing... but WHERE ARE THEY? I don't see 'em! You need to calm down and stop being a big jerk. So if I've gotta beat the jerk outta you for a bit... that's how it'll be!"     With a roaring rush of power, Note rockets from the ground and covers the distance to the wizard in under a second, leaving just a golden streak of dwindling aura. She comes in low, aiming right for Kanon's stomach with a SINGLE PALM STRIKE.     Though, that palm's aglow. And should it make contact, then there's a migthy shriek in the air as the energy within's forced out of her palms and perhaps into and THROUGH Kanon's guts, to flare out the other side as dispersing streams of golden Ki.     It's a blow aimed to WRECK his internal energy flows and wreck his muscle control. Might even trigger waves of nausea and dizziniess.
Zenos yae Galvus	Zenos sighs...     "Savages.." he says, as a Commander behind him salutes, "Your orders, m'lord..?" he asks, before Zenos says, "Hold position...this is a job for warriors...keep an eye on the armies and hold a way out for me." This is followed with another salute, "Oh, and keep a eye on the Princess.."     He takes a step towards the wizard, as the blade comes down towards him. "Well, the I suppose you would need more than simple words to convince you.." he grins. As he moves, the man disappears...     And appears to the right of the Wizard, aiming to swing the blade three times, aiming to try and cut through his defenses. The swing is powerful. VERY powerful. Even as lightning ripples across his form...his eyes glow as he starts grinning, "Ah! THAT'S MORE LIKE IT! Do not disappoint me, Wizard...do NOT disappoint me!"
Stella	The hostilities begin. Well, had begun already, courtesy of Staren. Luckily, it seems Kanon can handle himself.     "I will cut some of them off you," she states to the king. Whether he is real or not doesn't matter to her. She just wants someone to serve. It makes things easy. And he's powerful, and willing to impose his will. He fits the bill. Kings need knights. The Royal Knights left him, so she'll fill in for them.     With idle slices through the air, walls of crystal burst out of the ground near Stella, making a small but inconvenient barrier between Krusty, his men, Alexis and Strange, and Kanon. Stella hops onto it, fully aware some of those people, or Strange at least, can fly, and counting on a wall against him is probably a silly mistake.     "That's enough. Can you not see that this is the way the world functions? The strong must rule, because the weak can't hold a throne." Generally, weak kings die pretty fast. Their kingdoms with them, often.     Half a dozen blades appear over Stella's shoulders, and then fire off like projectiles towards the opposition, exploding on impact into a shower of sharp, crystal shrapnel.
Krusty	The situation quickly heats up as sides are drawn. Krusty maintains his position next to Serena, not looking to let the Princess out of his sight if he can help it. The last time that happened she was quickly kidnapped. Krusty glances at Zenos once again at that thought. But he's a big enough man to let the past be given the current situation they find themselves in.     Returning his focus to the two who they are standing against, Krusty says, "Go for the crystal one."     Having moved over to stand with the Princess as he did, Misa nods. Her hand reaches out, a large menacing scythe flashing into existance just beyond it. The Bard grips the weapon and says, "Understood." She starts walking forward, eyes focused on Stella.     However, Misa stops some distance away from the crystal wall that has formed, pointing her scythe in Stella's direction. Misa doesn't seem too impressed by the woman's words, simply responding, "There are many forms of strength."     The crystal swords come streaking towards the Bard. Moving her other hand to grip the weapon, Misa starts spinning it around in front of her. The swords aimed in her direction explode against the weapon. Some of the shards make it past to cut into Misa, whoe winces at the pain, but otherwise holds her ground.     Misa stops spinning the scythe after the attack has passed, before raising the weapon above her head. Musical notes of light form around her, a pleasant and cute melody beginning to play. As it does so, streams of pink sheet music begin to stream around her, rising up her arm and along her weapon before vanishing with flashes of light.     The sheet music reappears behind each of Misa's allies in her vicinity, specifically Strange, Alexis and her pokemon, speeding up their ability to cast spells and unleash abilities.
Tomoe	She is with Serena to the end here it seems as the confrontation with Kanon is now coming to ahead with Serena being willing to give up her claim if it keeps the nation stable speaks well of her to Tomoe. She watched for a moment as to how this will end up going, then it's clear how this is going to go. There is going to be a fight as she made herself ready she pops several defence spells but her years of fighting has left her with some very good reflexes so good as she hears the crackle? She back flips out of the way and it his the ground rather than her, it does not take tomoe more than a second before she's barreling right at the Wizard trying to get past his guards and to him. "Sorry I was born? I won't even if you kill me the things H have done have been worth it!" She'll be keen on taking him alive as she's just trying to charge the heck into him rather than carve him up.
Alexis	For a moment Alexis almost considers pointing out that just because a lot of her pokemon are ground or volcano themed they don't necessarily line up with the Spirits of his story. But then decides its not worth nitpicking over. Even with being the clone of a Legendary the Entei is close enough. The thought is cut off as Alexis yelps. Not from the attacks but from Wildfire grabbing the back of her jacket in his mouth and tossing her onto his backside to get ready. It takes a moment to situate herself before Alexis leans back up over the Beast's head to see Kanon starting to let loose. "I'm gonna take that as he's not surrendering." As she does so she wraps her hands into the part of his mane that's actually hair, and hooks her heels on the edges of his stony spines to brace herself. This is going to be a wild ride one way or another. "Let's--" Before she can issue a command to join in the fight against Kanon, Stella gets involved. Several shards impact against Wildfire's chest, the shrapnel actually digging into the volcanic beast's thick hide, but that's better than her own. Fine, challenge accepted. In fighting and in ideaology. "--It ain't the strength that's power, missy." Despite it's bulky appearances the Entei proves to be shockingly fast, clearing the distance in a matter of seconds to aim at physically ramming into Stella, and then bolting away again to get out of the path of the other's about to attack her as well. Alexis waits until he skids to a stop again before continuing, "It's knowing how to use it wisely to help others, not oppress them!"
Doctor Strange	"Hm! Alright." Strange gives Serena a conciliatory nod. He was hoping she'd want to arrest Kanon, and it sounds like things might swing that way! The wizard touches down to the ground. His hands pull from the empty air a straight sword of brilliant orange energy. "War with the earth spirits is what got you here," he says with a shake of his head.      "You look at systemic violence, you see the problem it presents... and you think the solution is switching the victim and offender? No--" He is promptly surrounded by a wall. He can fly, of course. But he doesn't. That would be too obvious. Instead, he stands his ground, raising his conjured sword to defend himself. Behind him, stairs of stone rise up from the ground, the sorcerer attempting to give himself the option of retreat in a more subtle fashion.      Trained enough in a smattering of styles, Strange knows to seek the higher ground, and he does, when he sees the nature of Stella's attack. He was expecting a charge, and is ill-prepared to combat projectiles with such little notice. The straight sword whirls as he attempts to deflect the attack. The worst of it sloughs off of the magical blade.      One distressingly sharp bit of shrapnel scrapes across his hand, forcing the sword free of it. It hits the ground and disperses into smoldering motes of energy that slowly fade into the air. Time turns backwards as the Sorcerer Supreme commands the Eye of Agamotto. The motes reform the sword, which flies up from the ground to snap back into his hand.      The shrapnel which struck it returns, too, ready to strike him--but he's ready for it, thanks to Misa's music. Though the gash in his hand remains, the shrapnel which caused it, this time, is sucked into a wall of floating, shattered reality. The wall is conjured just in time to prevent another injury. It disappears, flying out of a similar wall towards Stella. Strange has altered its shape into a star--perfect duplicates of the shrapnel blossom out from one central point, as the whole creation turns rapidly to slam into Stella. "Sorry about last time," Strange says to Alexis.      As if in response to the Scythe Bard, another Strange appears in a flash of green light. This Strange, pulled from the future, fashions a great, looming clock face of shining emerald energy. It's heavily abstract, and represented through elaborate, flowing glyphs and mystic symbols--but unmistakable are two hands which turn quickly across a circular face. Any of Krusty's forces (including the adventurer himself, if he gets involved), have time on their side--their actions are faster, too, so long as they remain under the spell's area of effect.
Staren	Kanon gets partway into his rant about spirits when Staren yells, "Oh my god STOP TALKING! You HAD your goddamn chance to do something about the spirits, quit hiding behind your lies!" Claiming he'll be sorry he was born gets a suddenly serious "Never."     Staren gets ready to shoot him again, then sees the staff raise and brings up his forcefield -- the lightning disintigrates its outer layers.     Aaand Stella's on the wrong side. Dammit! "He's not truly STRONG, Stella! He's been hiding all this time and he's mad he was found out! If he had the strength to do what he says he'd have already done it!" But he's not going to focus on her: Kanon needs to go down. As others rush in to melee, Staren takes to the air, flying above Kanon to avoid shooting allies and firing down with his beam cannons -- keeping the pressure up while watching for an opening to REALLY let loose with his high-tech arsenal.
August Kohler	Kanon makes some appealing arguments. For a second, August almost considers joining with him, on his own terms. But there's a better plan. One that works way better. As the lightning comes down, the Tin Soldier shields its arms, and its master. The bolts impact against it, scarring and frying the metal, but it doesn't work like electricity on actual metal, and doesn't surge through the Persona. August clutches the wounded spots in pain on his own body... And then the Tin Soldier surges forward again, for another punch. It moves to swing a flurry of blows at the wizard. August is waiting for something in particular to happen, really. Hopefully it'll go well.
Stella	"There are," Stella agrees with Misa, "But none of them matter if they do not equate to the strength necessary to defeat your opposition. The ability to defeat those in your way and to survive their assaults is the keystone of all life. I was taught this. I witnessed this under the rule of my king. I witnessed it even when his own strength failed and our kingdom disappeared. He was not strong enough."     Shouldn't she feel... sad about that?     She can't figure it out.     Entei slams into Stella; her body cracks, but she stands her ground, noticing the beast dashes away immediatly. She looks at Alexis. "What good is helping others if you cannot stop people from ending your life? The dead cannot help others. The dead cannot rule or save villages. The strength to stay alive and ward away oppressors, by necessity, the most important kind of strength."     She looks at Staren, shaking her head. "Bidding your time is strength, too. It is called strategy. Tactics. Planning. Circumstances can make strength vary. Is that not how it functions?"     Isn't it?     With Strange shooting shrapnel right back at Stella, she decides to advance from her perch. Crystals bounce off her body, armored as it is, dents and cracks from prior attacks beginning to seal up already.     Stella leap for Misa, seeking to impale her on a blade pretty directly. One of her feet hits the ground hard, sending a shockwave of crystals that rapidly grow, as sharp as spears, right out of the ground towards Alexis, though more than likely, her Pokemon will handle it.     And since it worked well enough the first time, she lobs her second sword at Strange again. This one doesn't explode, and just seeks to lodge itself into a squishy wizard. One of them, anyway!
Alexis	Alexis says, "No hard feelings," Alexis calls back to Strange. "It was a good challenge fighting you!" Which in her mind matters more than anything else. Once the super-fast attack of his own is over Wildfire does feel the effect of Misa's enchantment, and gives a brief nod in the bard's direction before turning attention back to the matter at hand. "Lady, you may not be entirely wrong," Alexis retorts, "But you've got one hell of weird angle of looking at it." The problem with trying to attack up through the ground is that the Entei feels it coming, and with a push of stout legs leaps away from the spikes ripping out of the terrain. A little dust is kicked up as he lands afterwards, but that's about it. "I think the only thing she's going to listen to is having the sense beat into her, guys." Alexis snorts, and nudges her battle mount as it were into action. "Let her have it." Wildfire raies his head and bellows a mighty roar, then lunges at Stella again. This time aiming to bring one set of thick claws slamming down on her, with more than enough force to dig into and shatter rock. How will her crystallized form hold up to it? Let's see!"
Sanary Rondel	The battle rages on! As Kanon darts around blasting lightning all over the place, Serena and Valgar find themselves actually working together to defend against blasts that the other is too busy attacking to defend against and vice versa. "Don't think I've accepted you yet, 'Princess'." "Likewise, 'Prince.' Legitimacy aside, our people need Kanon removed first and foremost." "... Hmph. We can agree on that, at least. We can settle the rest later." The first to get into Kanon's face is the Garlean. Despite their earlier allegiance, Kanon has no apparent qualms considering the man an enemy. As he registers the sight of Zenos being so close to him as a threat, he brings up his hands and shoves forward as those blue circles from earlier reappear. They move faster than Kanon does himself, moving to defend against those swings like makeshift magic shields. The first two strikes are blocked, but the third makes an odd crackling noise as it's struck by both Zenos' blade and Tomoe's sudden shield slam, the combined attack sending Kanon hurtling backwards with the blade cutting into his side and the shield battering him away. He twists into a laboriously slow backflip before landing, however, and sending a flurry of fireballs at the pair. Also, centuries-old wizards can apparently do backflips. "They've tortured us long enough, youngster. Humanity has no need for the spirits any longer!" Kanon shouts in retort to Strange before finding Staren firing at him next, forcing the wizard to start floating an inch off the ground as he starts levitating around rapidly to avoid the worst of the shots. His maneuverability seems to be focused more on speed than stopping and turning on a dime, though, and his leg gets clipped as he swings around in an attempt to avoid Note's gut smash and the blast simultaneously only to get bounced around a bit by both of their attacks as well. "What nuisances...! Begone, fools!" Kanon stops his midair tumbling as his staff rises above him, spinning rapidly while he turns his ire elsewhere. A tornado blasts out of the spinning staff, directed right towards Staren and Note! In trying to avoid both of their earlier strikes and countering, however, he's lead right into the Tin Soldier's punch flurry. Those blue circles appear yet again as he parries the bulk of those strikes, but even his magic can't keep up with that speed, and the wizard is soon sailing upwards as the strikes propel him into the air. He stays up there instead of coming back down.  Energy gathers around him again in large glowing orbs, soon flattening into nearly-needle shaped ovals before being flung towards the Persona!
Krusty	Misa feels her own speed boosted and it doesn't take long for her to identify the source. She gives the future Strange a nod in thanks before turning her attention back to their opponent. This proves to be good as the crystal warrior charges straight for Misa. The advantage of having a Bard in your party is shown as the buff she had placed on her allies continues to persist as Misa switches to defense.     Thanks to Strange, Misa is able to quickly bring the pole of her scythe around to parry the thrusting sword. The blade still manages to catch Misa in the side, cutting through her uniform, which begins to stain with red from the blood that begins to seep into it. Misa briefly struggles weapon to weapon with Stella, saying, "And you are claiming the Princess does not have the strength to defeat her opponents? Have you seen her strength? Because I have not. So I cannot judge it. But many have decided to follow her and fight against you. Is that because of her strength of will? Or the strength of her claim? Either way, if we defeat you today, I submit that proves her strength."     Misa finally steps to the side, turning her scythe to allow Stella to push past. The Bard then spins around, following through with the motion to bring the curved blade of her scythe around to slice towards Stella. As it does so, the blade lights up with a demonic energy which will seep into the damage it causes and continue to eat away at Stella.
Doctor Strange	There is a sword flying towards the squishy wizard. The squishy wizard stares the flying sword down. Trembling hands snatch it from the air with alarming speed, thanks to Misa's spell. He ends up stopping the blade short before it strikes a fatal blow. A thin stream of crimson trickles down the length of the crystal weapon, evidence that despite his defense, Stella's attack still struck true. He throws it aside.      The dead can't help people? No... he disagrees. "They can," says Strange, finally taking to the air to gain an advantage over the crystalline warrior. "And they do. We learn from their example. From their perspective." Both palms spread out, drawing from the space between spaces a length of sharpened, deep blue energy. His fist closes around the middle, and he hurls it at Stella.      As it travels through the air, its shape becomes sharper, more streamlined, until it is practically a javelin headed towards her. It gently comes to a stop, the razor-sharp tip of it tapping softly against some unseen barrier. There is a faint ripple in the air. "I don't know about that," says Strange to Alexis. Then, an explosion of blue flame, directed towards Stella in a violent cone. He's fighting her because he has to--but if she's asking those questions of hers in good faith, who is he to deny her the chance to get some perspective?      He vanishes, traveling back in time to cast the temporal acceleration effect upon Misa in his relative past. His future self remains, floating in the air above Misa and taking advantage of both effects to weave a complex spell. His hands move so quickly that they leave afterimages, his head rapidly canting and tilting to one side or the other as his mind races with mystic calculations disguised as riddles, thought exercises and parables. Stella will probably want to stop that, if she's familiar with wizards...
Staren	"It is!" Staren agrees with Stella. "And if he'd spent that time teaching humanity magic, or gathering power for his strike against the spirits, maybe he'd have a point! But look, this 'mighty' wizard is threatened by a regular old HUMAN political upheaval, when he plans to fight something even stronger? If he'd just started his quest, that would be one thing! But what's he done? What's he gained?"     Staren continues this explanation as a tornado comes at him. He braces himself, is flung through the air, and... then slows and stops his movement, midair. Throwing a flyer into the air doesn't really do anything, does it?!     But now Kanon has taken to the air himself! To get AWAY from all the people trying to melee him!     To get AWAY from the people who are the only reason Staren's not hitting him with everything!     Staren CACKLES madly and holds out his arms, firing at the wizard again... and this time, in addition to the beams, missile racks pop up over his shoulders and two dozen trails of smoke streak through the air, spreading out and then homing in on the wizard from all directions before airbursting around him in a sphere, high-energy physics aiming to spear him from every angle!     "AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA!"
Zenos yae Galvus	With a laugh, the fireball smashes against the bracing Garlean. Armor melts slightly, as the man is forced back. However...     The ball is eventually cut through, not taken away by the attack, but also hurt. He starts walking towards the Wizard again, clearly ENJOYING this.     "How very rare it is of me to be able to go all out like this..." he says, with a chuckle. However, with that, two swords fall down around the Mage. These blades glow with elemental power, one of lightning and one of wind. They EXPLODE with power, the wind one aiming to launch him into the thunder one, as it explodes...making it hard to actually muster up physical strength temperarily.     Then The blade in Zeno's hand swings, as a cut of light tears through the area, aiming to slice through the mage at a range.
Tomoe	Kanon has proved to not be some sort of Wizard that might just keel over at a strong wind. He's very good at avoiding and enduring the attacks he's taking, it's not over yet and she's scored a good hit none the less but he's also showing he can move still. Fireballs come her way and she's forced to endure it. Her shield gets some of it but more spills over around it and the heat is still doing a fair bit of injury to her, it doesn't stop her but it's clear she's been hurt from her reactions to it and to Tomoe? Her HP bar has dropped on her HUD. She has to think now about how best to approach this and she mixes it up. "You're not the only one with magic." Tomoe starts to chant in Norse, golden runs dance about her as she in turns fires several bolts of flame back at Kanon, before she gets on the move again as she looking around to get another opening where she can get in close again.
Note	Note's mad dash through the lightning leaves her scorched from a few close calls. SOMEHOW the young woman proves nimble enough to side-step lightning strikes from above and only takes a few glancing blows.     Unfortunately, her palm strike doesn't land where she wants it to.     That leg is probably gonna be all kinds of tingly and numb for a few.     "Hrrkk---" She tries to fight it. Her whole aura turns towards thrusting her AGAINST the wicked winds, trying to fight it... but no good. She's swept away from the Wizard with a jarring tumble of G-Forces gone awry, spinning end over end in the air with an all-over-the-place long yell!     All until...     "HYRAH!" With an EXPLOSION of power she flexes her might and applies the BRAKES in midair fiercely enough that a shockwave ripples across the battlefield.     However, she's a BIT MAD NOW and it has nothing to do with the Wizard.     Over there, Zenos is calling her a paper tiger.     This does NOT sit well with her. Teeth grinding and childish indignation plays across her face in a flash. "He thinks I'm all talk, huh..."     She remains floating in the air, staring defiantly down at the battlefield.     Note reaches down and... yanks off her boots. Holding them under an arm, she then slides off her blue wristbands wristbands and stuffs them into the boots. Lastly, she hoists off her red vest and stuffs IT into one of the boots.     "Paper tiger, huh... THE CLAWS ARE COMING OUT NOW!!!"     She hoists the boots up as a pair above her... and begins to spin them about. In short order her arm's become a blur and the AIR AROUND HER is whipped up into a tornado fury.     And then, with precision timing she LETS THOSE BOOTS FLY!     Straight at the Wizard.     Hundreds of kilograms of weighted clothing, turned into a ferocious projectile propellled with enough force to leave a ten-meter-wide, twenty foot deep CRATER in the ground if it misses.     It's gonna HURT if it HITS.
Stella	Alexis isn't wrong about that. Stella obviously respects power. It should stand to reason she's the kind of opponent that, once beaten, doesn't make much trouble for you, and might even switch sides, barring obligations. And while she believes in Kanon's power, she's not under any kind of obligation or loyalty either!     Another slam. Stella's body cracks again, though significantly more this time. The answer is, apparently, poorly, as she's forced onto one knee from the fact one of her legs seems to momentarily shatter in strategic places.     Misa's scythe crashes down into the weakened Stella, whose body shatters into a pile of broken crystals and limbs. Apparently battering her did wonders for whoever attacked next, and Misa was able to capitalize on that. Attempts to reform are, at first, hard-stopped by Strange's suddenl blast of blue flames and explosion, which scatters the golem's body across the area.     Of course, lethality is suggestive when you're a rock.     One of the scattered crystals suddenly bursts, growing, rather explosively, the entirety of Stella's body. At first prismatic and crystaline, it only recovers its proper colors after a few moments, roughly as she opens her eyes. She seems a bit smaller for it.     "I will acknowledge that the princess is strong by virtue of moving allies to defeat an obstacle in her path, if you succeed," she says to Misa, essentially agreeing, for what little good it does right this moment.     Strange has a point, though. She hadn't thought about that. She'd never considered the legacy of the dead to be strength. This needs time to think about, time she doesn't have right now. But it's obvious, when she looks at the wizard, that he's given her food for thought.     Finally, though. She hears the roar of a hostile wind and a thunderous crash. Shards of crystal break off her body, hovering in the air and gleaming like mirrors. The lightning from Zenos' blade, the beam shots from Staren's gun, the energy projectiles Kanon is hurling around. The dozens of small crystal shards replicate the effects, firing off in every direction like a mess of unfocused attacks; energy shots, lightning, beam fire, and even the off crystal or two that are electrified rather than shooting it out and which merely turn into projectiles. And then finally she has a moment to respond to Staren.     "We will see how his power holds when under pressure."
August Kohler	As Kanon goes up...orbs come down, slamming straight into the Persona. It flies backwards, into August, and almost barrels him over, but they stay up, as August wipes his face. There's a glances to Zenos, waiting to see what happens...but August says nothing, and points the Tin Soldier's gun up at the floating wizard. Fire swirls around it, and a fire shot blasts forward, moving to try and impact him. It's a big fireball, even if it might not kill him on impact, it's likely to burn and mess him up in the process. "Kanon! Even if you fail here, I can at least tell you this. If the spirits are what you say...they'll be stopped, permanently."
Krusty	All that needs to be said, has been said. Misa watches as Stella shatters beneath the combined strikes of the three. She lets out a breath... But then goes still as she hears the sudden crystal growth. Misa slowly turns to face the reformed Stella, looking somewhat impressed at the crystal woman's ability. It's clear that they need to try a little harder to drive her off.     Misa doesn't provide an active defense this time as the barrage of effects are unleashed upon the group. She struggles against the repeated strikes, getting shocked by lightning and burned by energy. By the time it's all through, Misa drops down to one knee with her head bowed, clothes still smoking a little from the impacts.     Misa slowly stands up again, raising her head to show determination still sparkling within her eyes. She moves her scythe out in front of her, slowly beginning to spin the weapon. The air just beyond it begins to blur with increasing strength. Finally Misa stops her weapon and sweeps it out behind her. It's time to reveal the reason, or rather one of them, she was chosen by Krusty to come along. And why Stella was chosen as her opponent.     "Resonant..."     Misa swings her weapon, the curved tip striking the center of the blurred air, "Beat!"     The attack thunders outward as a large shockwave of sound, rippling through the air towards Stella and growing in size as it does. A skill designed to resonate with the target's body should prove quite effective against Stella, no?
Sanary Rondel	"Ah, but I have! The wizards in the kingdom are those I or the survivors have taught. None have become as adept as I have, but I've seen plenty of improvement. Why, our mechanical golems are but a stepping stone towards establishing humanity's dominance over the Spirits!" Kanon's laughter echoes despite the imrpomptu arena being in open air with plenty of objects to absorb the sound, but... ... Magic. With even the sky not working to his advantage, Kanon's stuck between a rock and a hard place. As adept as he is with magic, his age is not working for him in the slightest as he starts zipping around once more. The speed is there, but the evasiveness much less so. In trying to dart past one of Staren's lasers, he runs into a dozen more that send him careening towards Tomoe's fireballs with smoke trailing behind him from all the burns. His only respite is having some of those fireballs slowing him down enough to not slam into the ground immediately, instead landing on his feet unsteadily just in time for Zenos to come charging in. "I haven't had a.. Fight like this myself in ages. When the Knights are so keen to throw themselves into every fight because of the King, even this can be exciting!" Kanon laughs as he brings up his staff, using it to try and stop Zenos' attacks next. The magical stick is apparently much sturdier than Kanon, however, as a spray of blood bursts from the wizard's arm and draws a pained shout from the bearded one when he staggers back. "I'll have to take this more seriously..." He growls once as he straightens up with that magical energy gathering around, interrupted by... Boots to the head. The impact leaves Kanon dazed for a few moments, but it only serves to anger him further even as the damage starts to mount up on the old wizard. "Then how about this?!" Raising his staff once more, the jeweled tip glowing while ice starts to burst out of it. It swirls around like a miniature blizzard, freezing the walls and ground alike as much as it threatens to encase the Elites in solid bricks of cold! It doesn't get far, however, before he turns the blizzard towards the Tin Soldier's massive fireball. Ice magic soon turns into a beam as he focuses on fighting it directly. Kanon throws himself sideways at the last second, the ice beam still firing forwards for a time before he turns some of the ice magic on himself to relieve the constant pain from all those burns compounding on each other.
Doctor Strange	Enough time has passed that Future Strange is just... Present Strange. Things are odd when you're so familiar with bending time every which way. That Strange nevertheless nods at Stella as she reforms. That look on her face isn't lost on him--and her willingness to hear him earns her a gesture of respect. 'When you're ready,' that nod says. Her counterattack fires just as his spell completes, the process sped along by his spell and the bard's.      An orb of inky blackness hovers in the air before him. Every wayward shot mimicked, redirected or recreated by Stella's shards is sucked in, even when those attacks are the shards themselves. The attacks bend and form unusual spirals and double helixes as their physical matter attempts to escape the pull of the orb. Its indiscriminate hunger rises to a fever pitch, increasing in intensity. Beams, lightning, Kanon's spells rush ever faster towards it.      Then it vanishes. Strange makes a motion with his hands, as if deflecting myriad blows, corralling an unseen opponent into a counterattack. One palm held at his waist, the other held far behind it... then suddenly thrust out. A burning white glyph heavily resembling an eye opens in the empty air before his bloodied palm. Weeping from this unblinking eye is a ribbon of matter.      It is a patchwork construction of every attack which happened to come his way, compressed into a violently vibrating mixture of plasma, magical energy, and crystal. Parts are solid, parts aren't, but the whole thing snakes down towards the ground, cutting a razor-thin furrow into it as it dips upwards to attack Stella from an unusually sharp angle.
Alexis	While Entei may be agile compared to his bulky size, there's still the matter that he's bulky. Agility only goes so far when it comes to lots of very small projectiles being slung all over the place with little room to negotiate. To the point that instead of trying he just growls "< Get down >" to Alexis and as she hunches over his back he braces himself and charges right into the scatterblast of shards. Out of dozens of projectiles several dig into his body, leaving visible wounds this time as they cut deep, but he powers on. Alexis does her best to keep herself covered on his back, several of the shards ringing off the stony spikes at either side of her, and several more zinging over too close for comfort. And while she might not be physically struck, she can feel the strain her pokemon is putting himself through to keep up the offensive pressure, even if he's willingly taking attacks to shield her it still stings. But that was part of their partnership. Even while charging through the barrage of shards Wildfire keeps his mind calm, focused on the opponent they face. It was not just strength, it was using it wisely. Not just being a living weapon, like he almost became. But if she had to experience the strength to respect it, that's fine. Most pokemon are the same way, that's why you have to battle before capture. The claws worked to a degree. Let's see what else her crystal can stand up to. Wildfire pushes through the assault, and opens his maw in another vibrant roar. This one sending a volatile blast of fire and molten rock at Stella very much like the volcanic power he embodies.
Staren	Kanon explains that he HAS been teaching wizards in preparation for his upcoming goals.     Oh.     Staren has to think for a bit, although he's not too lost in thought to try and dodge around the ice beam. It clips him, frost covering one of his arms and cracking the armor there. Parts of it fall off, revealing... more metal?     After a long moment, Staren replies, "Then why does it matter who's king? You can go on teaching wizards, can't you?"
Stella	Misa isn't wrong. It's not the shockwave that cripples Stella, so much as the hellish sound and vibrations it incurs in the golem. Knocked back by the attack, even as she rises, the effects are visible - her feet don't seem to find the ground as easily, her stance is unstable, like she's trying not to fall over. Her eyes are having trouble focusing. She's emitting a low hum, which is refusing to stop.     Her voice even distorts when she speaks. "That is incredibly inconvenient. Please do not do that again." Inconvenient is certainly a word for it.     It's clear when Strange and Alexis come in, that Stella can't defend. A return-to-sender ball of absolute chaos slams into her, cutting an arm off outright and knocking her back onto the ground. Flames engulf her next, scorching crystal away, and causing it to melt in other places.     Stella's only respite is that being down on her ass doesn't stop her from regrowing missing chunks of body. She gets back up, for a definition of the word, considering a spike of crystal bursts out of the ground to lift her up and act like a crutch. She still can't see well. Can't focus.     But her feet are still touching the ground.     "You've made a mistake doing that. You've spent yourself trying to destroy an opponent capable of outlasting your destruction."     Stella is still on fire. This is good. A hail of blades forms overhead, the swords catching fire immediatly. Most of them are focused on Misa, as they not only launch beams and balls of fire, but the swords launch themselves like flaming projectiles too!     It's not that Strange and Alexis don't have to deal with the same, unfocused lashing out, but Stella's seemingly making an effort to set Misa on fire, or pin her down at least.
Note	Note can't help but flash a smug little grin of triumph when WHONK! Boots to the head is a success!     ... Nor can she help being IMPRESSED at how TOUGH that old man is. She wouldn't have flung those so hard if she didn't think he could take it, but... "Wow, is he tough... did THAT really only dizzy him?...?!"     It would seem he is. But now that she's ditched all that excess weight, Note's super-powered form would seem lighter than a feather! It would, that is, if...     If anyone could keep track of her reliably. That's going to be very difficult, starting now. Ice barrages sweep towards her, seem, to engulf...     But when the hazard passes, she's just not there. She's directly BEHIND Kanon, seven feet away, and remains just long enough to state, "You're pretty tough, old man. But keep this up and you could die!" The very next instant, she's gone again - or so it would seem, to anyone whose eyes couldn't follow her rapid ascent fifty feet into the air. Note clasps her hands together out in front, palms open... "HYTAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!"     White-blue energies roil and sizzle in her open palms... and then pieces of the gathered power break off and rocket down like missiles, bombarding Kanon in a rapid-fire barrage of bursting Ki blasts!
Zenos yae Galvus	The bricks of cold tried to wrap around the Garlean General.     For a moment, it seemed to work...before there were slashes, tearing out of the cold ice, and tearing through it. Once more, the General withstanding the attacks as he can only laugh...     "YES! Most interesting...nothing has challenged me so in my home world...but here?! Hahaha...now...withstand this!" he says, before slamming the sword into the ground, causing a surge of power to flood out over the old man...aiming to weaken him...but then...     Three swords appear, each one leashing power to the Garlean General.     As the Aether flows into him, he leaps for each one. The sword first used is the wind blade, tearing through the land in a massive burst of power.     The second is the thunder blade, holding it high, as he slashes down, tearing through the land with it.     The final blade, glows dark with power as he lifts it up, and LEAPS through the air, aiming to swing the sword down in a mighty slash, the strength behind it causes the ground that would pass through the old man to explode from pure force...     "Can you transcend!?"
August Kohler	The fireball doesn't impact as August wants it to, so he steels himself. The fire swirls around the barrel again, melting some of the ice coming at the Tin Soldier, but not enough, as it freezes and turns brittle, pieces of it falling off, as August feels his skin become cold and numb from the sheer force of the blow. The fire helps warm it...and it should help against Kanon, too, because August decides he's going to make it harder for Kanon to dodge. "Everyone, look out!" August shouts to those in melee, before firing a spray of flame forward, gun spinning left and right. It's a massive wave of fire, moving to hit Kanon on all directions, and it's tall. Only way past it is through it, high up as fast as he can, or to outpace it backwards. Hopefully, it burns him badly, but doesn't kill him. August needs him alive.
Krusty	Stella isn't wrong. Misa has overextended herself with that last strike, the majority of her mana gone. There's not much she can do to engage the crystal woman right now, except perhaps try and get into melee range. But that's dangerous.     But then, she has allies in this fight. Stella does not.     Stella's concentrated strike against Misa forces her to fall back in an attempt to recover some of her strength. But the sheer force of the strikes make that extremely difficult, Misa taking more and more hits. If she wasn't an Adventurer, or one of D.D.D's leading officers for that matter, she'd likely be on the ground right about now. But Misa struggles until the attack passes, at which point she's still standing.     Placing the end of her scythe against the ground, the music sheets that had been floating behind her and her allies fade away. The reason soon becomes clear as the melody that had been quietly playing in the background switches into a more digital beat. More musical notes of light form up around Misa, a magic aura flaring around her. Similar auras flare around Strange and Alexis+Pokemon, boosting the damage output of their attacks.
Tomoe	Kanon is quite the wizard given he's still on his feet and the fight is reaching its peak form the looks of it. Kanon seems to be almost enjoying this fight from of all things as he launches some new attack on her the powerful ice magic. She pops just about every defence ability she has she glows brightly from it and when the spell fades. She's still sending and just about unharmed from it, whatever she did? It's clear she won't be able to pull that off again anytime soon. She, however, has an attack of her own left she chants again and her blade burst into bright white holy fire. She then rushes at Kanon again as she lets loose her sword art there's an explosion of magic as she's careful enough to not go for anything vital but enough that she's trying to take him out of this more with the force of magic than her sword strikes.
Sanary Rondel	"A puppet as king is more useful to me than one that would fight me at every turn." Kanon explains to Staren in mid-fight. Like in most places, talking is a free action here! Mostly. Or at least he hasn't had his head caved in by a sharp or large object to the face yet while talking, at least. Ki blasts aren't objects, though. They're energy! Or something. They explode, they hurt, and they amplify the burning sensation from August's waves of flame. With so much FIRE coming Kanon's way, it's nigh impossible to dodge any of it!  His robe burns, his beard is scorched, and the old wizard flails around as baser instincts kick in briefly to try and get away from the fire before ice magic encases him to put out the worst of the fires. "This is the problem with you people from the Time of the Sword... Always relying on the few things you're good at. No variety, no versatility... Humans can't survive against the Spirits  if they cannot adapt to all their powers combined!" Kanon shouts once again as that ice explodes outwards, massive chunks threatening to impale everyone in their path! After the explosion of ice, wind starts to swirl around Kanon when Zenos calls upon those magical swords once more. They aren't /the/ magical sword, but they're still magical  and they're still swords. Combined, the trio of blades force the wizard to put his all into those blue barriers once more, combining with the wind from the tornado surrounding him to dull those incoming swings until he's able to withstand enough that he's not in (immediate) danger of being slashed to ribbons. Each blast still sends him reeling and toppling over, however, and he can barely even move as Tomoe's holy blade cleaves into hiis magical shielding. The damage, however, is mounting steadily as he endures so many attacks from so many directions. His shields crack once more, and there's the sound of something snapping echoing through the (open air and very not confined) town square as the last few blows finally shatter his defensive wards entirely. Between the explosions, the flamethrowers, and the magic blades? It's enough to force the wizard to take a knee, and after so much fighting... "... I yield! Take... Take mercy on this old man, won't you?"
Alexis	*crunch* That's the sound not of impact, but of the flaming sword of crystal being caught in the Entei's mouth. He shakes his head a few times much like an animal would with a bone and then spits it out. It clatters to the ground, visibly cracked. That was the primary threat to them, the fire being tossed around isn't bothering the Fire type beast very much. Meanwhile Alexis has been musing over some of the conversation back and forth in middle of the massive brawl. Stella is fighting for what she believes in, and that much the duo can respect. In all honesty it isn't the view that is wrong, there's just issues in the Kanon was acting upon it. Or something to that effect. There was time later for debating rhetoric farther, but that was other peoples' matter once that was over. Alexis was in the here and now, the fight in itself, and that challenge. A challenge of not only strength, but the ideals behind it and using it. Power was one thing, but it only went so far unless you used it strategicly. Like right now, Stella kept pulling herself back together. But she was clearly taking damage because of it, and usually the best way to deal with a regenerator is to hit them harder and faster than they can recoup. At the same time, not just bashing her over and over. That would be counterproductive to the point. As such the duo actually hold back a moment to see what their allies are doing. Alexis is already familiar with what Strange can do, having been on the receiving end of that fight before. She doesn't really know Misa as well, but her familiarity with strange and supernatural powers in general does allow her to pick up on what the Bard is doing. Wildfire does too, feeling his internal heat flaring even more after the boost. Teamwork is a wonderful tactic. Flames lick from the corners of his mouth. Keep up the pressure, keep her from recovering too fast. Though he waits for his Trainer to give the word. "I could tell you about all the adventures we've had before. The worlds we've seen rise and fall, the ones we've helped to protect or restore. But I can tell you're not the kind to take words alone. You want to see that strength for yourself." Alexis stands up partially on the Entei's back to point dramatically at Stella. "So show it to her!" Wildfire roars in agreement, the great heat within him churning to intense levels. Embers stream out of his mouth briefly, then he opens it to spew a great blaze that forms into a sphere of flame embued with supernatural energies swirling about within. The fiery projectile hurtles towards Stella with tremendous power behind it.
Doctor Strange	Strange watches Stella regrow. Now, more than ever, it's clear to him that brute force just won't work against her--but that's fine. He never uses that unless it's an emergency. Much better to use an opponent's momentum against them, in his mind. Strike out with opportunistic attacks, but conserve energy until a definitive strike can be made. That strike needn't always be an attack in the strictest sense of the word.      Strange attacks Stella indirectly. He has no projectiles to send her way, no attack of hers to ridirect--the flaming swords which rush towards him are partially swallowed in a portal. The blades of a few, carried by momentum, are lopped off by the edge of the closing portal. Some of them scrape at his shoulders and painfully slice at his abdomen on their way past, burning the skin beneath his tunic. The Cloak of Levitation quickly pats out a fire for him.      "The mistake is yours," Strange says, as the landscape begins to shift around him. "In thinking we were fighting to destroy you." The buildings of the town begin to move apart, as Strange's will guides them out of the way of any further collateral damage. The terrain terraces itself before everyone's eyes, as unusually polygonal shockwaves of earth ripple through the ground to attack not Stella, but her footing.      The earth rumbles as it's forced to comply with Strange's will, constantly taking new shape to deprive his opponent of even ground. Those same shockwaves stop, where they reach Misa and Alexis, forming instead, for those two, a pair of miniature ziggurats formed of unnaturally copy-pasted terrain. Each one gets a vantage point--but the shaping doesn't stop there.      The crystalline walls Stella had previously created bloom outwards like mineral flowers. Their edges hone themselves with the sound of quartz grinding against itself until each one of the sections is nearly identical. All three raise into the air, stacked one atop the next, and all three rotate--one counterclockwise, two clockwise. Strange begins what appears to be a practice routine in the air.      His fists and feet resemble dragons locked in an endless duel--and conjured from both, sure enough, are serpentine blasts of blistering fire, each forming into the screaming head of a dragon as they both race for dominance over the diamond sawblade Strange has conjured. Each wraps around it--at which point the entire, rapidly spinning assembly is sent hurtling towards Stella.      Or rather, towards the ground in front of her. A huge cloud of flaming dirt sprays towards her. The entire attack is an extremely elaborate distraction--just buying time until--      There it is! Those two little words. 'I yield.' He gestures with a bleeding, scarred hand to the surrendering wizard, indicating this as proof of his assertion that Stella is the mistaken one.
Zenos yae Galvus	As the old man surrenders, Zenos moves to point the blade at him, angling himself so that he is blocking the man.     "Then I accept this honorable surrender." he says, offering to take the staff as accepting surrender. From here, he motions towards his troops, so that the man can be taken towards the now landing gunship.     "Princess, as you determine the fate of your kingdom, the Garlean Empire will hold this prisoner until things are stable here. I, Heir apparent, General of the Amries of Galimald, and Imperial Viceroy of Ala Migho, give you my word we shall keep him in good faith until such time your lands are able to take the responsibility again." he says, calmly.     "We shall also offer you any military aid you need to set up your rightful rulership."
August Kohler	As more ice chunks explode outwards, one smashes against the Tin Soldier. It batters it backwards, again, and August can feel the bruises and the exhaustion wash over him. He can still fight...but he doesn't want to. So when Kanon surrenders, Zenos says something. That he, one of the guys opposing them, will take Kanon into custody. Not the royal kingdom. Isn't that bad? Shouldn't the Watch or Serena be taking them into custody? Surely, August is going to oppose that. "I think that's a good plan, Serena. Kanon knows this world too well, and may have too many manipulations. Taking him elseworld is best, and I see no reason why we can't trust him and his men." A gesture to Zenos. A smile towards Serena. One requesting trust. The lack of hesitation from August on this...probably means something.
Stella	With Misa actively buffing both Strange and Alexis, their impacts are not-insignificant. Stella first disappears in flames, bombarded with blast after blast of blazing fire. As if that didn't suffice, Strange obliterates the ground in front of her, sending her flying back to hit a tree or a house - it hardly matters which, all things considered.     It's probably telling the greatest blow to her body doesn't seem to be the flames, or the dragons, or even the crashing through things. It's when Strange motions with his hands to a begging Kanon, whose tone is no longer one of command and power, but one of weakness and surrender.     The fissures and burns all across Stella's body mend, but her stance drops noticeably with her morale, and she makes no effort to continue the battle.     "I see. So it was not strength at all, but merely the appearance of it. How... disappointing." Is that the right emotion? She's pretty sure it is.     "You have proven yourselves. Your cause is the just one."
Staren	Kanon surrenders. Staren relaxes slightly. "Good. Perhaps, if you are sincere, you may yet influence the world toward your goals." He then looks to August expectantly... and when August agrees with Zenos, relaxes the rest of the way.     Beat.     Then he runs over to the half-man and beams up to his ship.
Note	There's a reason that Note delivered that warning. The longer she stays in this form, pushed towards giving it her absolute all, the less clearly she's thinking about what's happening to the battlefield itself. Or even the reason why they're all fighting.     Because this is TOO DARNED FUN. She doesn't want to stop. Her blood's boiling with adrenaline and ALL IS RIGHT IN THE WORLD. MORE, MORE, MORE!     She wants to let those instincts loose.     And so she does.     Note goes ROCKETING DOWN towards Kanon after all of the punishment, expecting that he'll rise again and find a second wind.     He doesn't. He yields.     That gets her into a panic. It's all she can do to ADJUST COURSE and try to put on the brakes. Note veers to the right--     AND this takes her straight for ZENOS. "AAAAAH!!" .. She should've veered left.     Note braces herself though, shielding her head with her arms at the last moment. She IS decelerating, but...     This could be painful.
Alexis	Wildfire turns towards the other fight, or moreso the end of it as Kanon finally submits. "< Some only have strength on the surface. >" The Entei turned back to Stella, and lowers his head briefly in a sort of bow. "< Others have it deep and true. >" "Yeah, what he said." Alexis half-folded her arms, leaning atop his head on them, and smiling. "And no hard feelings about the fight, eh? You put up a hell of one, and it was for what you believed in. That's the real strength."
Krusty	Krusty lowers his sword as Kanon surrenders. He's a little worn out from helping to guard Serena, but you wouldn't know it by looking at it. Krusty watches the surrender take place, with Zenos offering to hold him prisoner for the moment. After August offers his advice, Krusty turns to Serena, "Agreed. He might prove too dangerous to hold here. And a distraction from what needs to be done to stabilize the kingdom."     Krusty doesn't agree that there's no reason not to trust Zenos. But he silently admits there's enough reason to trust him over not doing so.     Meanwhile, Misa lowers her scythe, letting the weapon vanish back to her inventory as Stella sees the truth of Kanon. She says, "You fought well for what you believed. And also had the wisdom to not continue doing so." Misa gives Stella a brief nod of respect.     Misa also gives a nod to her allies, Strange and Alexis, "Thank you for your assistance."     Krusty turns to look at Misa as she returns to him. He asks out of concern, "Are you alright?"     Looking rather battered, with a number of cuts from crystal and burns from fire and light, Misa replies, "Yes, of course." Krusty smiles at the stubborn response.
Sanary Rondel	Kanon narrows his eyes as Zenos holds his hand out, but what's done is done, and the wizard's chances of getting out of here safely are dropping with each passing moment. Handing it over, the wizard shoots annoyed glares at the soldiers coming to escort him as he moves of his own volition towards the gunship. "Is it...? Hmm. If you're sure, then. I... Honestly, I did not expect things to resolve this way." Serena still looks tense even as Kanon is led away, eventually turning towards with a skeptical frown. "If it had been you taking him, perhaps, but... Well, this is no time to wonder about what ifs." She shakes her head once, then turns to Valgar. She opens her mouth, and Note zooms right past her. All eyes are on her for a few awkward moments until Sanary approaches and waves a hand dismissively while moving to assist Note. "I got her, don't worry." "... Alright, then." Turning around slowly once more, she glances around a few times before turning back to the Elites gathered around. "Has anyone seen Valgar since just before?" Strangely enough, it does seem that Valgar has just disappeared without a word. "He fought well earlier, too... He must have a lot on his mind after this, though." The green-haired swordswoman sighs, then rubs her forehead while Resistance soldiers start to gather around. "It's going to take some time to sort things out here, but thank you. All of you." The true princess smiles. "It was a hard-fought battle, but Kanon is no longer a threat to us. Now, we can focus on fixing the damage and planning our next moves, whatever they may be."
Zenos yae Galvus	Zenos looks up...as he hovers over the surrendering mage...     Note's dive keeps on coming. He moves to defend him, using his sword to block the attack as the two collide. There is a surge of power, sparks fly from the two as they collide. Shockwaves shake the area as the ground cracks beneath the garlean's feet, the ground itself seems to not enjoy the two superhumans struggling on it. Windows all around the area are shattered, and buildings settle uneasily...      Zenos' feet skid back just a little as he leans in, a little more as it continues, dangerously close to the charge but... The faceplate of the Garlean is thrown off...     The sword is swung up, aiming to try and deflect the Saiyan away from the target, and away from himself...as his face is finally revealed.     He is a fair man, long blonde hair. On his forehead rests a pearl like gem, a 'third eye' so to speak.     He is /absolutely beautiful/ in a way that should not be possible. The annoyed look on his face does not even detract from it, as he reaches over to pick the helmet up and replace it on his head.     "In the future, I trust you can control your power...lest you become a liability."
Krusty	Misa was watching as Zenos is struck by Note's uncontrollable dive. As his face is revealed, her eyes go a little wide in surprise. Her own face starts to go a little flush.     Watching her, Krusty tilts his head in curiosity, before turning to look in Zenos's direction. All he sees is the Garlean with his helmet back on. He looks back at Misa, "What?"     Misa is shocked out of the stare, quickly looking away and at Krusty, "What?"     Krusty looks confused.     But Krusty's attention is drawn once more as Serena asks about Valgar. Krusty does recall seeing the man during the fight, but can't recall when he last saw him. He replies apologetically, "Sorry, he must have headed off once the fight was over."     As they are thanked, Krusty smiles and bows, hand on his chest, "Your thanks are welcome, Princess." Standing straight again, Krusty continues, "As was offered by Zenos, I will have the Round Table Alliance prepare some relief supplies for your kingdom, to help get it back up and functioning quicker. You'll find we Adventurers can be quite generous when the right situation presents itself."
Tomoe	Tomoe sees that she's brought Kannon's shielding down she waits for what will come next but the Wizard yields. Zenos has an idea and the means to keep the wizards powers in check while he is held she'll back off and let the man move in ready to cover her until recently former foe should something undue happen with the Wizard as he gives up. Okay so hopefully this will be the end of it now. She stands there waiting clearly expecting more trouble, but she's not going to do anything else unless someone else does and Stella will be closely watched as she's still fighting after all. "This is ... one hell of a mess." With the Wizard now held and she looks to the Princess. "I can't fault him he's a good Knight from what I seen I'd make sure he's all right once he's had some time to clear his head. Note is stopped thankfully before Tomoe has a chance to act, and she sees Zenos face she won't forge that. "My word is all I have Princess ifd you need any more help do hit me up. I'd like to try and attempt to help get things stable here again."
Alexis	Alexis actually cringes a little when she realizes Note can't stop herself. Fortunately Zenos steps in to divert her, though not without losing a piece of his armor. Look at that hair. That face. While Alexis isn't particularly swooned by the man's appearance she can at least appreciate it. "Kinda makes it a shame he wears that helmet all the time, huh?" Oh, right. There's still matters to attend to. She scribbles down some contact information, then flicks the card to Serena. "Don't be afraid to send word if you need help in the future, Princess." She bobs her head towards Tomoe. "Or ask her, she knows how to get ahold of me to." Not being connected to any of the large factions she's got to be sure she can be gotten ahold of when needed.
Note	The clash between unstoppable force and immovable object is noisy. The impact of Note striking the flat of Zenos's blade kicks up a wave of dust and resounds like the booming of thunder.     And yet, there'd been a moment of panic. Something almost apologetic in her eyes, moments before impact. She WAS trying to slow down and salvage the landing.     Perhaps she could've even veered away in time. But Zenos is, well, tall. Taller than she'd really taken notice of!     It takes extraordinary effort on the towering man's part, but he does manage to redirect Note at a nearly ninety degree angle off to the side. She goes tumbling and skidding and rolling in the way that only a kid of her build possibly could.     Finally though she comes to a halt on her front, limbs all splayed out and tail weakly twitching at the air. "Nnnnnnghh..."     With a *BZASH* the storming golden energies all die down. As the wreathing aura dies away, her hair drifts back down to its normal state. Smooth, and once again black, and dangling in a normal ponytail. Even if her bow's on the verge of coming loose.     A few coughs, and she looks up, just in time to see...     Whoah.     Note's face is briefly transfixed, eyes just LOCKED ONTO Zenos in this strange, deer-in-headlights sort of manner, her lips scrunched up. Is that a little color gathering in her cheeks? Maybe a bit.     But she rapidly slaps herself on the cheek and shakes her head rapidly as though to clear it... all while clambering to her feet.     "He actually DID surrender..." She states aloud - as if utterly surprised by this fact, clearly dodging a direct response to Zenos's accusation.     Perhaps she knows there's something to it.