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Cantio	LAST TIME The night before, soldiers from Shadaloo, a criminal organization once thought destroyed years ago by a group of international crime fighters, attempted to raid a mining village on a war-torn continent. A small band of Elites called together Colonel William Guile, however, fought back and put a stop to the kidnapping attempt, saving the villagers while also managing to hide a tracker on one of their vehicles that could lead them straight to the would-be kidnappers' base of operations. After a brief planning discussion, the group decided against just charging into the lion's den. Instead, they would first seek out the ruler of the region to gain his trust and aid in putting an end to the remnants of the criminal empire, and to save other kidnapped villagers from the region at the same time. They don't know how what they're heading into, after all, so it wouldn't hurt to get some backup covering the area before diving back into the fray. NOW When someone says castle, the first thing to come to mind is probably some kind of well-maintained area, cleaned up to look either beautiful or imposing. Most people wouldn't expect a castle to look like something that's built on practical ruins, but that's exactly what Lightan Castle looks like. Rather than an expansive palace, dense walls have been raised around a series of massive pits and quarries, clearly meant more for function than form based on the quality of the stone and metal used to construct them compared to the stonework itself. Paved paths make it easy to tell which way to go, at least, with some even leading to basic-looking outdoor elevators meant to bring valuable materials to the higher levels for use at the walls and export elsewhere. The castle itself, as might be expected, is more of a defensive structure than a show of wealth. Aside from a single gray banner flying up high, there's nothing else really decorative about the structure. Even the courtyard is kind of empty save for the random wooden posts sticking out of the ground here and there, with plenty of space going between the entrance to the courtyard and the entrance to the interior of the castle itself. It'd be an ideal defensive area for a huge battle, at least, even if it's not being used for that right now. Instead, it's being used for some kind of discussion at the moment. Guile, the contact for this mission and the blonde beef mountain, and a man in dark red skull-motif armor that would have been considered too edgy decades ago are talking about something while a long-haired man in green keeps turning between the two. "We don't have time for this, /Mister/ Zanon. If we don't go after them today, we could lose the trail." "Of course. And how do we know you're not in league with these Shadowlaws?" "Lord Zanon, Sir Guile, please. There has to be something that we can- "Are you doubting my judgment, Yuri?" "N... No, my lord." Talks do not appear to be going well.
Gaonoir	And off to the side is a bit more edgy, as Gaonoir is leaning against a wall with his forelimbs crossed as edgelords like to do when lurking and and snarking on the sidelines. Erika is next to him, with her D-Port smartphone in one hand as she's going over the information they've already gathered. Which isn't much, but it's still something. They did learn the enemy has fighters more skilled than your typical thugs and raiders, which is strategicly helpful even if not of immeadiate benefit. After a bit of watching the back and forth Gaonoir just chuffs softly. "How long you think they'll keep going before they stop shouting and start punching?" Which gets a roll of the eyes from his Tamer without even looking up from her screen. "Not every negotiation has to break down into throwing fists over discussion." "I know, I know... but you can't tell me it wouldn't suit these two more..." That actually gets Erika to look up a moment. "You.. do have a point..." Idly she swipes away what she was looking at, and thumbs open the Digivice app. If this does break down into a brawl or some other show of dominance, they will at least be prepared.
Rufus Shinra	Rufus Shinra, introduced as just 'Rufus' and 'A guy who loves adventure', arrives. There's no grand pronouncement of arrival, though rappeling down from a passing helicopter might cause some stir. (The helicopter leaves once he's safely on the ground.) "Alright, so ancient long dead criminal sindicate, suddenly turns out to be not quite as dead as everyone thinks, and starts causing trouble. Sounds like an adventure." This is said mostly to himself, though he's not being entirely quiet about it. Speaking of not being quiet - he doesn't hesitate to just simply walk into the middle of the conversation. "Now, my good /Lord/ Zanon, it seems to me that we're a little bit lacking in trust here, hmm? You're all suspicious of our little rag tag bunch of heroes, vigilantes, mercenaries, and none of the aboves, am I correct?" "And maybe you should be. How do *you* know that we're on your side? Well, my good Lord, I can answer that question with a little question of my own..." He smoothly reaches into his vest pocket, and withdraws a small box, which he holds out reverently towards Lord Zanon with one hand while cracking open the lid with the other, dramatically revealing the contents: two dozen marble-sized crystals, actively shining in a half-rainbow of blue, red, yellow, and white colors. "If we were so opposed, would I be so quick to offer some fresh armaments, to you and your men?"
Petra Soroka	Petra is still bitter about the loss of her mech. Not out of sentimentality for the Kana, and in that regard, she's actually glad it's gone. Not out of combat utility either, because the image of Ishirou's white phosphorus-charred corpse is still hanging around in her memory. Being completely without shelter and privacy also sucks shit, but even Petra understands that an apartment would be better, at this point.     She misses it because she has to *walk* everywhere.     After a boring trek, Petra gets to the boring castle, sighs, and heads in anyways. Maybe it'll end up being more interesting than it looks, or maybe it'll just be a dull but necessary step towards saving some kidnapped villagers. She *should* want to do that, so she'll *act* like she wants to do that. That's what heroism is all about!     Instantly upon entering the courtyard and seeing Zanon and Guile's outfits, Petra gets a little more reinvigorated. Petra herself is still wearing her bomber jacket with the gauze around her neck, completely covered up despite the season.     "Why would we be here pretending to be on your side if we were in league with the Shadaloo? How would that make any sense?" Petra pauses and thinks for a couple seconds, then absently states her thought process out loud as it unravels. "Well, I guess we could be trying to lure some of your best fighters away, guide them into an ambush, and then leave you significantly weakened and vulnerable to an invasion."     Petra blinks, realizes that she probably didn't need to say any of that out loud, and shuts up, sticking her hands in her bomber jacket pockets. "But we're not. Doing that."
James Bond	A black SUV is parked near the castle. Its thick tires and aggressive square profile suggest a military vehicle, yet, paradoxically, the badge on the hood is that of a prestigious luxury manufacturer. It's had a few after-market options installed--but those aren't important, nor are they obvious to the naked eye. The driver is none other than James Bond, who's taken the opportunity to change into an outfit more suited for meeting a respected figure than the night-op fatigues he'd worn for the previous operation.      He'd endured the negotiation with patient, professional silence, up until the most recent question. His cold blue eyes scan over the weapons offered by Rufus, appraisingly. Crystals? Not the usual fare for an arms dealer. Run-of-the-mill wouldn't have intel this good, this soon--or bother with an entrance like that.      "Fair question," says Bond. After a pause, "Perhaps this'll help?" He takes hold of his navy blazer by the lapel, holding it open so that Zanon can see he's reaching for the pocket, and not the shoulder-holster over his pale blue dress shirt. A Paladins badge is procured, and offered to Zanon for his perusal.      "You can have your people run it at your convenience," he says. "If that isn't good enougn for you, my people are working overtime to find angles of attack on Shadaloo's operation--once the report is ready, I can have copies made and bring them straight to you."      Bond hears a familiar voice, looking over his shoulder. There is a sense that he'd be double-taking, at the sight of Petra, if not for his air of professionalism. "Soroka," he says courteously. The 'what the hell happened to you' is unspoken, but there.
Angela	Angela is mostly curious about the situation here because she is coming in late and she largely has an interest because Petra has an interest and she needs something to take her mind off of the King of Greed returning to Lobotomy Corp of its own will. She knows damn well why it is, but she has not yet figured out what she intends to do about it. It's staying in containment even if it isn't a proper containment and she can't exactly send in a crew to thrash it when it isn't doing anything but whispering to her. The feast is still too meager Angela cannot come out personally but Petra has a video pad in her pocket that Angela can pop in on and since Petra is technically now working for Lobotomy Corp, it's not even against regulation for her to have one anymore even if it is a bit unorthodox. "I recognize that voice." She says, just her eyes and nose poking out of Petra's jacket pocket. Her eyes slant towards the source and take a good long look at Rufus Shinra. Well, she thinks, at least this day might discourage the King of Greed some. Petra points out exactly why they could be part of the 'Shadowlaws' and Angela gets the feeling that pointing out she has no idea what they are is going to help matters. "Being honest, I have no idea why they have an interest in a dreary place like this." Angela tries to be helpful as well? She expects it to go the way her attempts to help usually goes but she doesn't want to be an embarrassment to Petra right now by not even trying. "Also we aren't the ones wearing skulls."
Shotaro Hidari	"If the man was with Shadowlaws, then why would he stop their operation?  More to the point, why would he then come to you... lord of this land, to ask permission?  These are the actions of someone who is both someone who wants to solve a crime, but also shows respect to the law established in a faraway land." Shotaro walks through the door, hands in his pockets as he sweeps an arm towards Guile.  "He could also ask you the same thing.  You are the ruler of this land correct?  Are you not also responsible for what happens to its citizens?  How is he to know that you are not in league with them?  Instead, he has shown trust." He pulls his fedora off his head and gives a bow.  Straightening back up, he places it on his head.  "I understand the sting of not seeing this.  But let's not let our pride get in the way of what must be done for the good of your citizens.  Many people forget their lord is also a man, and capable of not seeing all." "So let us work together, drive out these kidnappers, and prove both our good intentions and desire to keep your rule of law solidified."
Hiromi	How was word of this operation delivered to new parties? The prior presence of Concord, Watch, and other elites guarantees some amount of spread. That's the most obvious answer for one particular arrival, with no other explanation forthcoming.     But let's go back about ten minutes, to when an impact like a meteor strikes somewhere miles from the castle, yet loud enough to be clearly heard. From a high enough vantage point, the dust, much of it shattered wood, is visible. And yet, on later examination, one may find that there is no crater, let alone a remaining stone. Only the path of destruction through the trees is clear, to mark that something came here, then seems to have simply disappeared after hitting exposed roots, and before hitting the earth.     Ten minutes is how long it takes for the Archwolf, Hiromi, to arrive at this gathering, walking on two legs and giving the spiritual presence of 'looming' beyond what her advantage of height should reasonably provide. One can't call her 'late' if there was no prior agreement, but she's 'late' in other senses. And far too quiet, in the audible sense. It's the uncertain and uneasy silence that precedes violent motion, the attention of one who would be less threatening if her eyes were more comfortably that of 'a beast.' It may be a mercy that her attention is delivered unevenly. Some, perhaps, don't appear in her vision at all.     There are negotiating tables that would benefit from this presence. This may not be one of them.     "'Shadowlaws,'" she repeats, as if turning over the name to find how to open it. "'Doubt.' Trust. Needs for haste. Offers. Support." Her eyes move from one figure to another. "'Accreditation." A word she must have heard, once. "Reputation. This, you need, for hearing."     "I am Hiromi," the words-that-aren't carry the usual, for her, lingual-skipping payload. 'Hiromi' is the Archwolf, as well as the overlap of a dozen other concepts and titles. The Final Huntress, The Beautiful Tyrant, and on and on, without the need to take time to say them. "'Shadowlaws,' I don't need. Do you doubt?"
Xion	As it turns out when your organization is named 'Shadowlaw' and has a large-eyed man on the box art looming with pure white eyes and a chin that could open bottle caps and a square-toothed evil grin on and his name is 'Dictator', and that organization (with a winged skull emblem) deals arms and drugs and backstories to street combat idiots... You accumulate a few quests for revenge. From the shadow cast by Guile's meat mountain on the ground, Xion appears - for the trio of speaking contact characters, her first sign is the sound of her fingernail clicking gently on her phone's screen. For most everyone else, on approach or in Her Majesty's Least Secret Van outside the castle ruins, Xion appears in a silent emission of black-purple motes next to Guile in his blind spot with her back turned to his, in a black long coat and black boots, without gloves and with her hood down. Both hands hold her phone, which she manipulates. "There's a few from the village, and a major one here, and--" The noirette's eyes come up. "Oh hey, Petra. Is Angela your jacket pocket friend?" She asks pleasantly, noticing the pair - and giving away fully that she's just spooking in Guile's chargeback zone. She's crossed him up!! "--anyway, there's like a dozen quests *just* for 'revenge', 'teach those guys a lesson', that kind of thing. Nobody really likes these folks, do they?" A question that lingers with Shotaro's ask. "Not even their own people, it seems like."
James Bond	>I am Hiromi.     "You certainly are," says Bond with a slight upwards curl at the corner of his mouth. "Always a pleasure, Hiromi." >I have no idea why they have an interest in a dreary place like this.     "Places aren't 'dreary' for no reason," says Bond, his eyes briefly flicking towards Petra's pocket. "Worlds like this one put a great deal of importance on profit motive. Development tends to happen only when it's profitable, or when there's no cheaper alternative. In the case of this place, options other than the mine would mean less miners and more expensive ore."     Bond's eyes flick towards the entryway, and he sighs. "As a result, places like this aren't in the public eye. So there's less global outcry when an outfit like Shadaloo sets up, and they know it."
Petra Soroka	Petra tries to think about the last time she saw Bond. He wasn't at her arrest, was he? She should really ask Lilian for a list of people who were there, this is getting embarrassing. Either way, he obviously wasn't expecting her, so he's kept up to date on her being arrested.     He's still one of the fucking Paladins who didn't bother reaching out to Lilian, even if it feels a little strange expecting that from someone old enough to be her dad. She matches his look with a snotty glare, tilting her chin up defiantly without greeting him in return.     Petra momentarily startles at Angela's voice coming out of her pocket, and then again at Xion's appearance. "Oh-- hey Angela, hey Xion!' Then to Angela, "That's what I've been thinking, right? This place is lame, what evil organization would even be into it. The only one with enough flair for that is Zanon himself, not the shitty castle."     Petra chatters with Xion and Angela for a short time, before Angela retreats from her tablet. She basks in the feeling of cameraderie-- on a mission, no less! Like she's actually a valued presence, with a purpose to being here! She briefly shuts out the presence of anyone else here, besides the two other girls, until Hiromi, unignorably, arrives.     Petra's eyes flick back open and dart towards the Archwolf. Holding on to a scrap of that feeling of 'meaningfully being an Elite', Petra raises a hand in a small wave to greet her. "Hey, Hiromi. It's been a while.
Rufus Shinra	> His cold blue eyes scan over the weapons offered by Rufus, appraisingly. Rufus mistakes the appraising gaze of Bond as that of a gaze of interest. "Ah - these caught your eye, maybe?" He reaches back and plucks another one of the marble-sized crystals, this one coming from a purpose-made slot inside the shotgun he's got holstered on his back. Rufus holds the yellow crystal up between thumb and forefinger, showing it to Bond. It sparkles with magical energy. "I might have a couple more of these stashed away, enough to share with my friends. Tell me, Mr. Snappy Dresser, are you a friendly sort of person?" > "I recognize that voice." "And I recognize-" Rufus pauses as his attention turns towards Angela - and by necessity, Petra. "Ah, someone's telecommuting to 'work', I see," he says, neutrally. "Can you actually do anything from in there, or can we count on you being able to ping someone to death?" It's not quite clear if he's being sarcastic about the possibility of death by a thousand @everyone's or not. > anyway, there's like a dozen quests *just* for 'revenge' Rufus's attention snaps over to Xion and her cell phone. "Is there actually a sidequest board up here?"
Cantio	EARLIER, IN THE NEARBYISH FORESTS: A pair of ninja leap from treetop to treetop, navigating the dense branches and leaf cover far above the ground deftly as they track the movements of armies in the distance. Neither of them are wearing ninja hoods or full-face covering masks, though, but big headbands that fit on their foreheads just enough to keep their hair out of their eyes. Clearly, they're going to important to somebody at some point. Maybe. Definitely not now, though, since one of them gets knocked out of his perch by the rumbling nearby upon the landing of something like a meteor. The older one has to scramble to gather up his charge, and they observe the Archwolf from the shadows until she's no longer in sight. "The heck was that, Master Hayate?" "Something to report to the others. Come, Shirox." NOW, IN THE COURTYARD: Gaonoir and Erika aren't the only ones watching things from off to the side. There's a couple of attendants watching Guile and Zanon having their beef, including a bald man in reddish armor and a brown-haired woman in a blue robe. "Boss man's got a point." "Unless he's looking a gift horse in the mouth." Rufus barging into that conversation with the offer of materia draws a suspicious glare not from Zanon, as he actually looks mildly intrigued. No, the suspicious look actually comes from Guile even as they both pause to eye those colorful crystals. "You sure about that? We're here to stop kidnappers, not push some warlord's-" "/You/ aren't. Tell me. What are these? You call them armaments, but I only see expensive children's toys." Zanon doesn't look like he's ready to commit to what Rufus is trying to sell just yet, but it's a step up from what Guile had been managing earlier. When Petra speaks up and starts going through her thoughts, meanwhile, Zanon, Guile, and Yuri all turn to stare at her. Guile seems to be getting progressively more irritated, Yuri's anxiety starts to spike visibly on his face, and Zanon... Zanon actually smirks briefly, and Yuri actually calms down a moment later. "You're more honest than the American. I'll give you that much." He scoffs lightly, clearly pleased in that irritated way at being able to take a shot at Guile while they continue to glare daggers at each other. Bond's offer of the Paladins badge gets that same glare from Zanon at first as he looks at it, then at Bond before taking it firmly. At least he's not snatching it! He keeps looking up and down slowly, though, grimacing after a moment and handing it back with another scoff. "... Tch. You're mistaken if you're expect us to submit to your masters' will. We'd sooner die fighting than trade one yoke for another." "Aren't you listening? We're not here for that. We're here to stop Shadaloo, that's it." While Zanon and Guile bicker a little more, Yuri lets out a weary sigh and nods at Bond. "That'd be incredibly helpful, thank you. We've been able to stop some of their attacks, but tracking them down has-" "Yuri." He shuts up after that, instead glaring at the Angela-tablet that Petra's got. Zanon doesn't have an answer, either, prompting Guile to speak up again. "Shadaloo's always been in the business of kidnapping people. A quiet place like this? Nobody outside's going to notice." He looks over at Zanon next. "Do any of the other kingdoms around here know? Do any of them even care?" Zanon answers with a scoff, prompting a low "Thought not." from Guile afterwards. The comment about wearing skulls gets a brief flash of anger from Zanon, but he gets calmed down fairly quickly when Yuri interjects. "She's just impressed! It's bold." He reassures, glancing back at the tablet briefly and giving Angela a 'come on, play along' kind of desperate look.
Cantio	"Shadaloo." Guile corrects Shotaro, but otherwise remains quiet as he works through the potential suspicions on both sides. It's when he flips the script on Zanon, though, that said lord actually looks furious again, going as far as gripping the hilt of the ominous-looking sword strapped to his back until Yuri scrambles to get him to settle down. "We were in chains before anyone ever thought to look at us! And now that we're free, you dare suggest that I'd put my people back in?" "Save it. I don't know about any of that stuff, and it's too late to pretend to care." Guile answers, drawing another glare from Zanon and an exasperated sigh from Yuri. "But if you're going to get that angry, then save it for the ones actually taking your people. I'm pissed enough at them already, so I don't have any left for you." Biting back another string of angry words with Yuri just focusing on trying to keep Zanon from blowing up, he finally settles down long enough for Hiromi to make her own imposing appearance. Although he's tall, he still has to look up at her, although he still has that energy of being ready to throw down. He doesn't answer her right away, instead looking over at the entire group that's shown up just to... Get him to lower his guard? Xion speaking up is the first time Guile, Zanon, and Yuri even realize she's there. Yuri's the only one to make a noise, but Guile's stance shifts reflexively for just a moment, lowering his center of gravity just a bit until he realizes she's not a hostile. No need to crouch here. Zanon, too, has his hand going for the sword again, but... 'Nobody really likes these folks, do they?' 'Not even their own people, it seems like.' She has a point there. Releasing the sword, he finally sighs and shakes his head. He sounds tired rather than angry, although there's still a skeptical tone lingering in there. Xion might even even notice that something other than anger has been has been flaring on and off throughout this whole conversation, at least for thep arts she's heard. It's not just from his heart. "This would be too suspicious if you were really working with them. Too much work than launching a frontal attack." He mutters, finally starting to give some ground with what might very well be the sheer absurdity of so many disparate faces showing up in one day. He still looks like there's a fury burning beneath all that, but he's clearly holding something back to try and have the appearance of civility, at least for now. "But you must be aware that Litonia is not a wealthy nation. Not yet. We cannot promise anything in return."
Shotaro Hidari	Shotaro stands his ground, it's important to be aware that there could be treachery all around them.  If the leader wasn't aware of that, then he'd be far too suspicious.  Shotaro places his hat back on his head, "Your anger is far too genuine.  My apologies for the veiled accusation, but I had to be sure myself." He pulls out a notepad and writes something down, "Thanks for the correction, Mr. Guile," he says, and flips the pad closed and puts it away.  Turning around he takes a look about him before turning back to the Warlord.   "It appears to me that Mr. Guile does not want anything in return.  I can not speak for everyone here.." a look is cast towards Rufus but for a few seconds, "But I am not here for riches or money..." Somewhere, Akihiko feels her blood boiling for some reason.  "That Shotaro must be offering work for free again... damn him!" "But rather for your people's safety and prosperity.  As that, we need to free them from anyone who'd kidnap them.  Save any thanks for your people's well-being and future."
Rufus Shinra	> "You sure about that? We're here to stop kidnappers, not push some warlord's-" Speak for yourself. > "/You/ aren't. Tell me. What are these? You call them armaments, but I only see expensive children's toys." "Sure, sure - I get that they don't look like much, my good lord, which is why I'm happy to give a little demonstration..." He pulls out his shotgun and slots the yellow crystal back into it. "So I saw some guy over in Eternia do this once, stop me if you've heard this one before..." Rufus holds out his shotgun, and focuses. Waves of energy emanate from him. "By the power of Grayskull..."                                     | BOLT |                                     He shoves his shotgun skyward, gripping it loosely by the comb as if it were the hilt of longsword. A bolt of lightning arcs into the sky from the end of the gun. Rufus brings the shotgun back down. "I have the power!" (He doesn't actually look any different.) "No training needed - just glue one to a sword or a gun or whatever else you got, and think really hard about 'I really want to blow this guy up with magic' and away you go."
Gaonoir	Sounds like even the locals aren't entirely sure what to make of the exchanges. Being the more (comparitively) sensible and sociable of the two it's little surprise that Erika is the one that steps forward. Gaonoir remains where he is, staying to the side, but his attention is on his Tamer and the ongoing confrontation. The dour indifference is just an act so he can watch without too much interuption. And be ready. Having often been between giant powerful monsters and digital beings, both willingly and otherwise, Erika shows little fear in walking up to the two men despite likely being the most normal, unpowered human in the gathering. "Colonel Guile. Lord Zanon." She keeps a calm demeanor, but the eyes behind the large glasses glare with the look of a woman who's grown tired of the machoism going back and forth instead of progress. "We all understand the matter that our time window to act is progressively narrowing, yes." It's not entirely a question. More a statement of the situation. "If it was rewards we were concerned with, would we not of started any bargaining on that point rather than aquiring your aid first?", she points out. Then a sideways glance at Rufus as he shows off a bit of elemental power. "Oh, they're like mods. Interesting." But not something to get distracted by at the moment.
Xion	Hiromi's personal gravity is so high that Xion doesn't resist the snap of her attention taut towards the Archwolf. The long walk up is still as sensational as a pyrotechnic celebration. The noirette's eyes stare with a certain kind of brazen longing in her that blooms from planted seed to mature plant in an instant. Then she talks, and Xion knows for a fact exactly who and what Hiromi is/represents. Grinning, Xion dips her attention to her phone again, stroking the star charm hanging from the case with an idle pinky to create a soft jangling. 'Is there actually a sidequest board up here?' Xion turns her head, attention broken by a much more mundane question she reflexively has the answer to. "Oh, sort of? Most of the quests here are just for EXP, but some of them have munny rewards. Ah," A wince. "Munny is the currency of dreams, so it's really only respected by moogles and fairies and stuff. But if you know any moogles, it's good!" Xion brightens. She knows several moogles. Unfortunately, they're so if-you-know-you-know that explaining them doesn't really help. The tension release moves through each of the men discussing in turn, and Xion doesn't take her hands off her phone to provoke any quick movements, just standing and swaying. The ends of her coat flap against her legs while Xion turns to Zanon's admittance: "How about a big meal when we're done? I've never had Litonian food before, and beating up people that deserve it works up an appetite. Doesn't it, everyone?" Her tender question is interrupted by Rufus slinging magic crystals, which, admittedly, are cool anough for Xion to affect a flat-phone-holding clap. "Oh! You're a paramagician too! That's so cool."
Petra Soroka	Rufus pauses as his attention turns towards Angela - and by necessity, Petra.     Petra's hackles raise before Rufus even opens his mouth. Something about his face, and the way he looks at her, instantly registers as annoying to her.     "This is a fucking *negotitation*, jackass. Are you here to kill people? You look like you just showed up to sell girl scout cookies and overdressed for it." Petra huffs air out of her nose, irritated. "Back off of Angela. Who even are you?" "She's just impressed! It's bold."     "That's the point, isn't it?" Petra gestures to the skull-laden outfit, evidently not seeing anything wrong with the evil vibes it gives off. "I mean, it's sort of tacky, and it's the kind of style I find cool at all, but you at least committed to something, right? It's memorable."     Petra falls quiet for a few seconds, thinking back to something Eggman said to her before. "Solid primary colors and a consistent motif." That advice being for villains, specifically, doesn't register as a problem to her either. "We cannot promise anything in return."     "We practically never get paid for any of this sort of stuff anyways." Petra says, currently carrying all of her worldly belongings in her bomber jacket pockets due to being completely broke. "So that's fine." "No training needed - just glue one to a sword or a gun or whatever else you got, and think really hard about 'I really want to blow this guy up with magic' and away you go."     "Oh, even better, you're offering magic orbs." The materia is actually kind of cool, but Petra refuses to say that. "Seriously? 'Glue them'? That's so crude."
Hiromi	'The heck was that, Master Hayate?'     It's a good thing those pair are ninjas. They'd otherwise have likely been spotted and hassled by Hiromi on the way here, and her play is prone to being rough. As is, they make it out unharassed by wolves, with the Archwolf's wiseness remaining steady.     'Always a pleasure, Hiromi.'     "Bond-who-is-chased." That probably isn't his name, but it does reflect their last meeting in person.     'Hey, Hiromi. It's been a while.'     It takes a moment longer for Hiromi to find Petra in her memories, though she does. "Little one. Your metal shell. Did you lose it?" She raises her head, then lowers it, sniffing. "New smells. Did you heal?" Has she ever said Petra's name? Maybe not, though there's recognition -- of having met before, clearly, but probably also of other things.     'This would be too suspicious if you were really working with them. Too much work than launching a frontal attack.'     Even for Hiromi, this sort of large, disparate group is on the stranger side. Or, perhaps, especially for her. She couldn't argue the point, but isn't commenting on it, in any case.     She's more interested in Rufus's materia. Magic stones? Her briefly locked gaze doesn't betray exactly how much experience she has with similar items, but it does show more respectful recognition than the eyes of the one calling them 'toys.' Her curiosity appears partially satisfied after the lightning-shotgun demonstration.     'But you must be aware that Litonia is not a wealthy nation. Not yet. We cannot promise anything in return.'     "Treasures of earth give themselves, when I call." This is said dismissively, as if the wealth isn't important to her, while at the same time casually suggesting something extremely relevant to a mining town.
Rufus Shinra	> "Who even are you?" Petra gets a second look. An appraising look. Rufus quietly makes a decision. "Ah? My name's Rufus. And I think maybe we've gotten off on the wrong foot here." He gives a semi-bow, flourishing his non-gun-holding arm. "Would you permit me the indulgence of a second impression, Miss Angela's Minder? Say, over dinner and a nice bottle of red? Chateau LeFantaisie, this evening, in their private room? I'll have a copter sent around to pick you up."
Shotaro Hidari	Shotaro's gaze, after being focused on the situation shifts towards Hiromi, because she just commands such attention.  He's encountered the Archwolf before, and sometimes indirectly, as he takes a careful gaze before peeling himself off.  He takes a steadying breath, where he is sure he isn't being watched. Falling in with Xion the moment he can he tilts his hat to the Nobody.  "The quests lead here today, eh?" he asks, "How many quests are there out for Shadowloo anyway?" he says making conversation. He pretends to not watch Rufus asking Petra out for dinner.
James Bond	>Bond-who-is-chased.      Bond's smile grows a shade more sly.      Petra's glare bounces off of Bond. He's fairly certain petulance is like food or air to her, based off of their limited interactions, and thus doesn't question it. As for Lilian, he's still a little too too emotionally repressed to have thought to help--or, to put it shortly: >Are you a friendly sort of person?      "I'm British," Bond dryly quips. After giving the joke a moment to settle, he clarifies: "The name is Bond. James Bond. Ms. Soroka put it a bit more bluntly than I would, but she has a point. We can discuss business later." And we will. Either you have frightening connections or you're not the simple arms dealer you'd have us all believe. Sure enough, there's a demonstration.      The offer of champagne to Petra--that draws a chuckle from him. "Your persistence is rather -shocking,- Rufus." He'd almost made it a full 24 hours without one of his insufferable puns. >You're mistaken if you expect us to submit to your master's will.      "I suppose it's good not to be mistaken, then," says Bond to Zanon with professionally pleasant neutrality. "I'm neither a conqueror nor an evangelist, Lord Zanon." >That would be incredibly helpful, thank you.      He nods at Yuri. "I thought it would be good to have help from people who know the area, but I didn't want to let Shadaloo get away without finding where they're working from." >You must be aware that Litonia is not a wealthy nation. We cannot promise anything in return.      "I won't ask you for wealth," says Bond simply. "I appreciate the thought, but I'm doing just fine. I think our friend there has the right idea," he says with a nod towards Xion.
Hiromi	Hiromi focuses on Zanon. "'American' wishes for finding kidnappers, yes? Rescuing. This for..." She sniffs, as if she could also smell lies and beliefs. Maybe she can. "...reasons of rightness-thinking. You are this pack's leader, yes? This, your territory. Enemies hide, within, like prey to hunt. Hunters seek prey, not wealth."     The barest nod to Xion's words, "And food."     Attention returning to Guile and Zanon. "Seeking permission, is respect shown." The first sound isn't a pair of words, but is most easily understood as such. It carries the clear implication that it's in opposition to entering a territory without permission, which is the same as an invasion. Even if everything about her manner of speech is strange, the understanding of the concept of 'territory' and rights over it is strong, and something that translates relatively easily between wolf and human.     "You are understanding?"
Hiromi	He takes a steadying breath, where he is sure he isn't being watched.     Did Hiromi's ear move toward him when Shotaro breathed? No, that would be paranoia, surely.
Petra Soroka	"Little one. Your metal shell. Did you lose it?"     Petra stiffens up at 'little one', momentarily losing her ability to maintain a train of thought. In the midst of the haze, she doesn't put together the fact that Hiromi is referring to the Kana, not to the Silver, and briefly wonders if she's become human again without noticing. Then she shakes her head in a remarkably dog-like way, blonde hair fanning out, and collects herself enough to respond.     "Eh? Oh. Um. My mech. Yeah, they-- took it. The Paladins. It's fine though, I can still-- fight. Stuff." Petra continues to be incredibly nonchalant about the loss of the Kana. "And I'm, mostly healed, from last time and everything since, if..." "Would you permit the the indulgence of a second impression, Miss Angela's Minder?"     Petra is taken so off-guard that she physically steps backwards, eyes wide. Her metallic eyeliner sparkles with little gleams of light with each incredulous blink. "I-I-I-I'm Petra? What? I can't-- why-- w-what is-- I-I'm below drinking age, technically?"
Angela	Angela looks so small! She does. It is unavoidably adorable. Rufus is being helpful by distracting Angela from her growing and quite dangerous joy by helping her rediscover her incandescent rage. In the span of a quick exchange that Angela is quite silent for. Rufus uses his final fantasy powers to score a critical hit on Angela by hitting her directly in her weakpoint of being unable to be here herself. "You know why I cannot be here." Though quite frankly she isn't sure she would be even if she could. This place just does not feel pleasant. Petra stands up in her defense as usual and the rage starts slipping away from her. Don't get pulled in, Angela... "You are still breathing, are you not? If I could kill you with a sentence it would gave already happened. I have enough men like you in my life. But we are still building the future, aren't we? It is still a possibility." Woops. Her happiness once again pushes her to reckless words. Rufus then does something she absolutely doesn't expect. Angela is struck dumb for moments, minutes of time for her. She slows down. In her ears... You must eat up all this happiness before it spoils... Angela exhales. Ansi153, "She has dinner plans.") Nevermind they aren't for today but Angela's cold voice is as cold as ever. Colder than the surroundings. Petra's stammering makes her wonder if she miscalculated so she takes another breath. "Do as you wish, Rufus. Just leave me alone." Why is she being so defensive anyway, she thinks, its that stupid abnormality. She doesn't even respond to poor Guile in the moment, wholly distracted with her own thoughts and anxieties.
Rufus Shinra	> "I'm below drinking age, technically?" "Only in certain countries," says Rufus. "Besides, who's going to find out?" "So - eight works for you, right? Wear something nice." > "If I could kill you with a sentence it would gave already happened." "That's quite the reaction," Rufus notes, neutrally. "Good to know that you can't do that, then. I'll leave you alone."
Cantio	'This place is lame, what evil organization would even be into it. The only one with enough flair for that is Zanon himself, not the shitty castle.' I mean, it's sort of tacky, and it's the kind of style I find cool at all, but you at least committed to something, right? It's memorable. The bald man and the brunette off to the side have to turn away briefly to hide some chuckles. Zanon looks like he's getting annoyed again, despite his eyebrows being mostly hidden by his helmet. That last bit seems to have him calming down a bit, at least, as he straightens his stance and gets his temper back into check while that obviously-evil-sword continues hanging off his back like... Well, a hanging evil sword. Shotaro, meanwhile, gets one of those irritated, but somehow relenting grunt from Zanon when he explains himself about the accusation. "Hmph. You're lucky Yuri was here, or my blade would be feasting right now." Zanon answers, eventually letting out another more tired noise that's bordering on physical exhaustion. "It's as he said. We've had no luck tracking them down ourselves, and our soldiers have had their hands full fending off the beasts to the west and the knights to the east." (INTEL HAVERS: To the west is the nation of Bozack, ruled by the beastpeople deep within the jungle. They've mostly clashed with Tradnor and Izumo to the north in a three-way struggle for a central fort at the river dividing the three nations, but have recently started sending scouts into Litonia's territory. To the east is the kingdom of Highland, ruled by conventionally attractive humans in the plains. Said clashes have largely been initiated by Litonia, though, in their quest to expand their reach into arable land and not just the quarries and mines they currently rule.) Rufus' demonstration of what the materia can do has Zanon and his crew looking unimpressed at first. Yuri and the woman in blue in particular just exchange brief looks, as though they're not even convinced yet, right up until Rufus reveals the materia's actual purpose. "If anyone could use these... One squad could take an entire castle on their own." Zanon murmurs, that dangerous smirk returning as he looks upon Rufus with a more accepting eye. "And you would arm our soldiers with this, for... The purpose of stopping the kidnappers? If that's your angle... Very well, then." Definitely sounds like he's on board with that. This could not possibly blow up in someone (else's) face. Besides, if anything's going to be blowing up, it appears to Zanon's crew that it's whatever Rufus is doing to try and get... Petra and Angela out to dinner? Zanon doesn't say anything to try and get them on track there, but there's an incredibly dull and moderately judgmental stare coming from the people at the sides of the courtyard.
Cantio	The topic of haste gets put back into Zanon's and Guile's minds as Erika brings it back up, and Guile actually nods as he checks his watch. "I'll have a pickup swing by later. We'll need to move fast, though, since it'll only give us a little more time before dropping us in. Zanon." "Hm?" "We'll need your troops in position once it's time, too. We can't have Shadaloo escaping once we head in." "Don't underestimate us, Colonel. We'll have the cavalry armed with those magical stones. Any stragglers trying to escape will be destroyed, and our most most powerful troops will remain mobile while we head in to remove their heads." Xion recommends a more subdued reward in the form of a big meal, drawing a more pointed stare from Zanon. "If you're only here to play hero, you'd best consider leaving if you don't have the stomach for death. Those bastards are going to regret ever coming here trying to lock any of us up again, and I'll have their heads for it!" He announces, drawing a brief cheer from the other soldiers and attendants inside the castle. There's a clear sense of bloodlust in his eyes and voice there, but... He's on board! Good enough, right? Right. Yuri, meanwhile, tries to play it down with an awkward laugh. "O-of course, ma'am. Once everything's taken care of, I'll gather some of our best people for the feast." Perhaps concerningly, he doesn't give any information on what's going to be in the feast. Instead, he turns to Bond with another firm nod. "We've only seen the kidnappers leaving at best. By the time our scouts return with any intel, they're long gone, and we haven't had any luck following them anywhere up until now. But with this..." He nudges Zanon's arm, prompting another confident noise from the local lord. "We can turn things around." Zanon doesn't elaborate against who, of course. Hiromi's words, however brief they may be, have Zanon once again long considering their meaning. Strange-sounding they may be to the ear, he can still grasp what she actually means deeper in that, and she can sense quite a bit coming from both him and Guile as well. Guile's intent truly is that pure, just to see Shadaloo stopped despite the great personal risk. Zanon's intent, too, is just as focused on protecting the people of Litonia, although there's still some darker force lingering around him, clouding his words and thoughts, as though there's some kind of bloodlust molding into his person. "She's right. If anyone's going to mess with your borders, that's going to be well outside of anything I care about. All I want is Shadaloo, and finally putting an end to their ambitions." "How noble... Hmph. But I understand. Prepare what you must, then, and I will see you again once it's time to begin the counter-offensive."
Shotaro Hidari	Shotaro isn't phased by the threat from the warlord, he isn't aware of what he could do, but he isn't worried about a show of machoism right now.  He lets it go with a bow, attempting to keep things polite.  Though a few words catch his interest.  The 'beasts' might be a real invading force but... The knights are not.  "Oh, is Highland responding to Litonian aggression finally?" Shotaro lets slip, though now more cautious of Rufus providing weapons to these people.  Perhaps that is the point, give them a taste, then sell to their enemies?   He also notices how Angela is distressed by this man.  Anyone who upsets a woman gets his ire very quickly.  "Perhaps our would-be weapon seller would read the room instead of hitting on someone who obviously has a strong bond to another," he says, calmly, "And is younger than her.  It sets a bad taste in people's mouths, you know?" Shotaro places a hand on his waist, "Or is attempting to disrupt the peace all you're good for?"
Gaonoir	"Then it's best we get a move on." And now Gaonoir is right at Erika's side again, even though he never visibly moved from his previous position. Voidstep lets him do things like that. He nudges the girl lightly in the side. "What's our status?" Erika brings her device back up and flips to the Digivice app once more. "You're fully recharged, and so is the D-Port." "Good. Then we can get the heavy hitting out right away," Gaonoir replies with a nod. "You think you'll need the -really- big one?" "We will see what we're up against." But this time Gaonoir isn't going to waste time being conservative when the fighting comes. Not after how hard he got smashed before smashing back last time.
Petra Soroka	"Wear something nice."     While Petra's brain is crumpling like tin foil into a ball out of the sheer incoherence of this interaction, this is the sentence that she latches on to. She's currently wearing the only clothing she owns, which she fished out of a donation bin, except for her jacket, which she found in the Kana when she stole it. Her ability to procure nice clothes has always been dependent on two women with wealth that she had access to, when Remee gave her an allowance, and when Lilian dressed her up in her cell.     To that end, in response to Rufus insisting that she go out to dinner with him, Petra's bewildered response is, "I'll need to ask Lilian...?" "I have enough men like you in my life."     Angela's input is a close second, however. Petra freezes, realizes she's standing in the courtyard of a castle with a dozen Elites and soldiers standing around watching her, and shakes her head insistently.     "Wait-- what the fuck? No, I don't need a second impression, not if Angela's impression of you is that bad. I trust her plenty." She glances down at the tablet in her pocket. "He's that bad? Should I do something about him?"
James Bond	>Besides, who's going to find out?      Bond doesn't particularly know Petra too well, or even have that fond an opinion of her, based on the primarily negative things he's seen--but even then, there's only so long he can watch this go on. "I believe her friend there said she already had plans," says Bond. A spark of mischief flashes across his blue eyes, as his mouth twitches upwards at the corner. "In any case," he says, "If you're so determined to break out the red, I wouldn't be opposed to mixing business and pleasure."
Rufus Shinra	> Shotaro "Hey, I think your princess is in another castle, so why don't you go head over and white knight there instead." > "I don't need a second impression" Rufus's reaction, on being suddenly rejected... ... Is to shrug. "Hey, your loss. You don't know what you're missing." > "If you're so determined to break out the red, I wouldn't be opposed to mixing business and pleasure." "Copter will be by at eight," says Rufus without so much as a glance Bond's way.
Xion	Hiromi's attention passes to Xion, and Xion resumes her brazenly attentive looking back to the Archwolf. "There's a kind of wealth you can carry with you, too. A different kind of richness than 'things of the earth'. Like feelings, and memories, and mementos. Like meals, mmhmm." Lifting a hand from her phone finally, Xion brushes her fingers back from her brow through her dark hair, smiles politely at Hiromi, and (while looking up) drops her hair-stroked hand down and out, fingers splayed to offer a shake. It seemed like the right thing to do, in the middle of talking to the warlord and American Captain Colonel Of The United American States Armed Army Forces Air Street Fight Division. "I'm Xion. I'm between titles, but I was a hero for a while, and to some people I still am. It's nice to meet you, Archwolf." That is, until the warlord insists on being kind of a freaky Street Fighter Guy about ending the lives of seven screens of dudes while moving right before fighting the Legally Not A Nazi For Localization Reasons skull pin supertrooper. "Do people who want another sword to help them often turn down help like that?" Xion asks, side-eyeing Zanon curiously. "If they're willing to die for the cause of hurting others, then what happens to them happens to them. I won't cry for the wounds of the wicked. It's giving them more than they give their victims."
Shotaro Hidari	"Unfortinately for you, Mr. Rufus, my buisness is here today. Perhaps another time!" Shotaro says with a smile and a pair of actual honest to god finger guns.
Cantio	EARLIER "Call it what you'd like, boy. They've had enough time getting fat off the land, and it's time Litonians get a seat at the table." Zanon answers Shotaro with the tone of someone that's clearly spoiling for a fight, but also believes in what he's saying. Xion assuages Zanon's concerns, and he actually cracks the slightest of grins at that. It's not a happy grin, though, but one of those 'yeah...' kinds. "Some would. Many rulers and so-called knights in this land are the types to spill the blood of the common people ruthlessly, only holding back feigning mercy when they reach the head. It's... Absolutely disgusting, who they'll make excuses for." LATER THAT NIGHT It's finally time to begin the attack on Shadaloo's turf on the continent. Following Bond's tracker, it's easy enough to find the general region where Shadaloo's vehicles had escaped to last time. Considering the distance between Lightan Castle and the base with the mountain range separating the two, it's no wonder nobody's ever been able to track them down before now. And yet, getting there today is incredibly easy. With the location in their sights, Zanon and his personal army have moved out from the west and the east by land. It's a slow endeavor, getting so many cavalry through the relatively narrow strips of land  to the east and west of the mountain, but it's worth the effort. That's more time for Rufus to arm the cavalry with materia, and more opportunities to get everyone in place to make sure there's no viable escape route by land. Guile's got different plans for getting everyone into position, though, as a helicarrier is present to take anyone straight over the mountains and to the indicated region proper. Jamaican music is provided by the pilot, and the person singing sounds suspiciously similar to the pilot. Anyone just passing by the area in recent weeks wouldn't really notice anything beyond a few trucks parked outside at first, but the area's been worked on fairly quickly in recent days. Gray prefabs for housing soldiers and cages for those they've kidnapped are scattered around the outside of what looks like a cave entrance, and the tracker indicates that there's probably even more room deeper inside than one might expect at first glance. Defenses are pretty light outside right now, with only a few dozen soldiers posted outside while the spotlights remain dimmed/off so as to not draw too much attention from anyone just wandering by. It'd be a good opportunity to get the jump on them, but that'll have to come fast if that's the case. The reason: Zanon and his cavalry are coming in closer just from around the sides of the mountain range. Another minute or so, and they'll be spotted. It might not be such a bad idea to let them act as decoys for the Elites, though the element of surprise will be gone that much sooner.
Hiromi	"'Xion,'" Hiromi says, working over the syllables of 'key-on' like she first has to taste them.     Xion has her hand extended. Hiromi has, surely, seen a handshake before. She knows it as a greeting, even if it isn't common in her own territory.     She takes the hand, though there's no shake. It's a press of palm to palm, her own rather larger than other's present and Xion's in particular. There's a sense to her that skips words. It's the scent and warmth of the earth, of buried things untouched by wind or rain, of bodies and breath in the dark. It's a presence that envelopes her surroundings and brings them into sharp relief, like everything further from her is just a little blurred.     There's no shifting of form, no rearrangement of bones and flesh, when it's a four-legged, monstrously large wolf lowering its head to Xion's neck. She's simply there. Hiromi takes in the Nobody's scent, and the two-legged form returns. Blink and you'll miss it.     "'Hero.' I will remember."
James Bond	>Is Highland responding to Litonian aggression finally?     Bond clears his throat a little loudly to be incidental. >Copter will be by at eight.     "I'll look forward to it," he says, pleasantly enough. "In the mean time..." his attention shifts to Yuri. "Let me get you that advance intelligence, hm? Come with me, if you would."      Bond leads the retainer outside, to the decidedly aggressively-profiled LM002. With a polite 'wait there a moment' gesture, the Paladin climbs into the driver's seat and turns the key slightly, pressing a seemingly random series of buttons on the radio. It rotates and reveals an entirely different control panel, with a switchboard of polished metal toggles each labeled in stern capital letterz. An indicator light labeled 'REPORT' is blinking on this console.      With the press of a button labeled 'PRINT,' the indicator light above 'REPORT' winks out, and a bulky printer emerges on telescopic rails, from beneath the glove compartment. A sheaf of papers lands one at a time, neatly into a collection tray. Once Bond retrieves them all, he places them into a manila folder sourced from the compartment proper, and the printer slides back into place.      Black and white photos reveal aerial photography taken of the base, through use of the tracker, and slightly grainier ones highlight persons of interest. A few printed pages also detail potential entry and exfiltration routes, prioritized by safety and visibility.      Stepping out of the Lamborghini, Bond shuts the door and proffers the folder. "There you are," he says with a courteous smile. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I should go get ready." He doesn't specify for what.      LATER THAT NIGHT      Bond travels in the helicarrier, dressed in muted night-op fatigues, with a protective vest that sports plenty of storage space for his distinct spread of gadgets. He stands near the door when the base approaches below--"I'm going to take care of those towers."--and leaps out, tucking into a roll to minimize the impact and the sound thereof. Apparently, he's gone with 'act now.'      His eyes immediately fix on the guard towers. Sneaking through the camp and counting on the noise of the carrier to distract, he makes use of the grey prefabs to keep himself out of sightlines on his way up, before leveling his watch at the railing of the nearest tower. Industrial-strength steel wire launches from a port beneath the bezel of his watch, carring him swiftly up.      By the time his body clears the rail, the cord detaches, and he vaults over it, putting his knee forward to crash into the guard's stomach. That should wind him. His leg is spaced between the guard's the moment both his feet are on the ground, hand moving to check any potential weapons with unnatural speed and strength, before the wrist is stripped, twisted. The guard is swiftly twirled and brought into a submission hold, one arm applying pressure while the other procures a suppressed Walther--with a bizarre underbarrel attachment. r      CLACK.      The one-and-done attachment falls off, as a thumb-sized EMP flies through the night air to pre-emptively zap the other spotlight.
Shotaro Hidari	In transport, Shotaro watches, trying to read the situation. He also appears to be on a cell phone that sort of looks like a beetle. "Right, we'll be dropping in... a minute, so plug it in about that plus fifteen seconds," Shotaro comments, and closes the phone up shortly after. They could have these people be decoys, but he's not about that kind of life. Shotaro, without a parachute, leaps out the side of the transport. He pulls out a USB stick-looking device called a 'Gaia Memory'. In his other hand is a belt that looks like it has two slots for said USB stick. He places the belt around his waist before the actual belt part wraps around his waist. Pressing a button on the stick, it does a call out. JOKER Somewhere else, a green-haired boy with a book stands up when he sees the belt wrap around his waist. He starts counting mentally, pulling out his own USB stick. Pressing the button, it also calls out its name. CYCLONE Back over to Shotaro, the USB appears on the right side of the Kamen Rider, and Shotaro presses down on it as it calls out again. He presses his own memory into the belt and pushes both slots out so that the belt forms a W. A massive wind kicks up through the camp and into the air as the two-in-one Kamen Rider transforms. CYCLONE JOKER The wind seems to 'blow' the armor onto Shotaro, as one-half is Green and the other half is Purple. A scarf appears around his neck as the cyclonic wind builds up around him and lets him land with ease. The wind bursts out from Kamen Rider Double (or Kamen Rider W), aiming to try and use the cyclone energy to knock everything back onto the ground. "Count up your sins," he says, pointing at the nearest Shadowloo agent. Moving at a slow pace as he attempts to push toward the cave.
Rufus Shinra	Rufus is perfectly fine letting someone else be the decoys. He's in general fine with everyone else taking the vanguard, even. It's only when the battle gets started does he start fighting. "Talk about an ice cold reception... alright, let's get these guards..."                                   | BLIZZARD |                                   "To chill out!" he calls, as he launches a blast of freezing air at the closest one. "I bet he wishes he wasn't so cool, huh?" says Rufus. "Talk about an ice cold reception."
Gaonoir	That's okay, taking the direct approach is more Gaonoir's style anyways. He could of gotten here quickly himself, but the transport is a good convenience that allows him to conserve his energy. Until it's in position. That's when he grabs Erika, and as soon as the hatch is opened, jumps out. While Erika is pressing something on the D-Port to take advantage of the time it's had to build up a charge even as they drop towards the camp below. DarkGaomon... Warp Digivolve to-- Dark energies engulf the Digimon, briefly appearing beneath the flickering shades as no more than a wireframe like one would see in a digital animation program. Which shifts and morphs, growing to a size that instead of hanging on Erika is actually propped upon his back. The taller more humanoid porportions start to fill in, though his head is still wolf-like as a HUD visor digitalizes over his eyes. What had been the fighter headband now unfurls from around his neck as a bombadier scarf, even as the two engine pylons extend from his back like a jetpack. While the Dark Digitron material manifests around his limbs to form cybernetic legs and large metallic gauntlets around his fists. DARK MACHGAOGAMON But rather than engage the jets Gaonoir comes down at tremendous speed to hit within the camp in an almost perfect 'Hero Landing' three-point stance. With a little extra as the one gauntlet fist slams into the ground in doing so, sending a shockwave of darkness-infused air rolling out from his ground zero to knock down and away anyone unfortunate enough to be caught in it's path.
Angela	Angela is confused for a moment when Shotaro also gets involved. What is with people trying to defend her lately? And why now?? But Angela's just confused. She doesn't interfere. She gets chided by a version of her dad who doesn't even know he's her dad and she stews in Petra's pocket as a particularly sour pocket friend. Perhaps she is just being ridiculous. Jealous. A girl was wonderful as Petra--well quality of friend matters, of course, and its just a dinner. Petra does need to eat more even if she doesn't need to eat more. Did she judge too harshly too quickly? She doubts it frankly, a larger voice says, but there is just enough inner conflict for her to pull back a bit. "Perhaps I am too harsh." She concedes, deciding to try and be objective. "He immediately asked me my deal upon first meeting and I felt it impolite and he took it as a power struggle concern whereas I took it as a lack of respect." She frowns. "...Though I did not pick any particular fight today." Which is true! But nevertheless she adds, apologetically, "The Manager heard about it and is sending agents of the Control Team." And indeed, shortly before that night, a couple agents of the Control Team DO show up. Specifically Cinder, whom Petra knows, and another taller red head who identifies herself as Yuri. NOW Cinder is pulling on her Ego Gear. Yuri is concerned if the helicarrier is going the right way and keeps checking an actual physical map of the area until they finally arrive. "Hey, uh, Petra--I made Agent." Cinder smiles, pulling on a suit that smells like ash. "Good luck out there, okay?" She joins the attack force, drawing a blackened and charred sword that smells like the world's largest matchstick--of smoke and fire--and swings that blade down and across one of the guards while Yuri, only equipped with the basic uniform, exhales slowly and tries to pump herself up. Angela is quiet for the moment. You deserve to be happy too. Angela tries to ignore it.
Xion	There's a reason - clear when the large wolf comes right up and places down force on her raised and splay-fingered palm. She had a feeling that was the right way, a kind of communication. The weight drops her palm as force is applied to it, and Xion holds her gaze even though the world narrows to 'Wolf' when she's fully approached... And sniffed. Deciding this is reasonable, Xion closes her eyes and leans forward a bit to sniff-sniff back, and scent the rich earth and the authority that commands it. For the oddest moment, Xion can't help but smile and think about if it rained would the Archwolf smell like wet earth or wet wolf. When the two-legged form returns, she's still leaned forward and closed-eyed, but sniffing a two-legged woman's neck is a bit different than sniffing a giant wolf's. Isn't it? As for the rain, Xion decides the answer is both. ONE AWKWARD SCENE TRANSITION AWAY FROM THAT LATER, Riding on the HELICARRIER with American Colonel For Street Game Fighter Guile, Xion twirls a pair of keychains around her finger. Watching the movements of the soldiers to flank around, really, there's only one position to start fighting at: The very center! When Bond starts taking out the lights, Xion follows the digivolving Dark Hero landing with an anticlimactic hop-into-thin-air-and-appear-on-the-ground, skipping through all of the awesome potential for falling and whistling and landing. Instead, she 'lands' on her feet outside the fortress gates, presents a golden medallion, and emits a loud 'guohh!!' kiop that turns musical and major-keyed. A large magic fist spins and meshes and materializes in the air before the large closed hand falls into the ground with an enormous boom that sends up a shocking cloud of dirt. Underneath, Xion picks up the large fake magic gauntlet like a medicine ball, spins, and tosses the large thing into the nearest guard tower like a very stupid battering ram for predictable results. "If you had second thoughts: Start running now!!" Xion hollers at the external guards while her Hibiki-inspired giant golden battering fist causes havoc.
Hiromi	Guile's intent truly is that pure, just to see Shadaloo stopped despite the great personal risk. Zanon's intent, too, is just as focused on protecting the people of Litonia, although there's still some darker force lingering around him...     Hiromi is satisfied, in the moment, with what she senses from both men. "We will go."     And so, they do. Hiromi, for her part, sets back out into the wilderness on her own, becoming a dark and surprisingly difficult to track beast once she's under tree cover. The aerial craft are easy enough for her to track, and the presence of mountains in the way just doesn't seem to bother her or her pace, for some collection of reasons.     No later than the first assaults upon the camp, and that same wolf, as tall at the shoulder as she had been on two legs, bursts out from the side of the mountain itself. This time, she does crater where she lands, as close to the middle of the camp as can be seen from outside the cave system. From within that cloud of debris, she howls a challenge, a warning, a beware, for you are hunted that echoes against the mountain and, distantly, out to sea. She could hardly be more noticeable.     Teeth. Those great and terrible teeth will be the last thing the first brave souls see. If none are so brave, she'll be on her way to the caves, to find someone harder to move. Any who scatter, she ignores, so long as they don't come within five yards of her.
Petra Soroka	EARLIER . . . "Perhaps I am too harsh."     "No, I trust you, Angela." Petra turns away from Rufus to more clearly signal her dismissal of him. "Fuck that guy. He sucks. He'd better start respecting you." NOW . . .     This reminds Petra that maybe, actually, she does miss the Kana for combat utility too.     Looking down from the helicarrier, she can't help but think about how effective it would be to drop down on the camp in the Kana and wipe it out from the safety of its cockpit. It'd be sort of satisfying, to feel one of the prefabs shatter beneath the hull, and then swing the turret into another one of the towers to send debris flying into the soldiers.     The mechanics of it, the sheer tactility of violence, all snap into her mind like a trained reflex now, when they hadn't back when she actually had the mech. Like playing rough with toys and seeing blood spray across the stone. Petra isn't sure how much of that is from experience, and how much is from the thrumming, instinctual motions encoded in the muscle memory installed in her.     Either way, after some consideration, she's back to being glad she doesn't have the Kana. "Hey, uh, Petra--I made Agent."     "Cinder? Oh, shit. That's good, right? Congratulations." Petra tilts her head at the EGO suit and scans up and down Cinder's body-- seemingly checking her out, actually appreciating the consistent theming.     "Oh, you know-- I actually, talked with Angela, about maybe working there? At Lobotomy Corporation? So, uh." Petra stumbles into a brief pause, unsure of her point in saying that. To fill the space, she gives Cinder a one-handed finger gun, while her other hand fills with a rippling silver mass that extends into a spear. "Keep an eye out, for that."     Petra jumps out of the helicarrier well before it descends enough for that to be safe. Plummeting towards the ground, Petra doesn't bother maneuvering herself to minimize the impact as Bond had. Instead, just before crashing, her momentum stalls, as if she was on an invisible trampoline, and then she crouches and flips forwards into the air, to swing her spear into a soldier's back.
Cantio	EARLIER "Of course, Mister Bond. We'll take whatever you can provide." Yuri answers with a slow nod, partially from relief at things not blowing up, and partially from fatigue. After a short moment to catch his breath, he follows the agent to his Lamborghini, waiting once directed to and gawking at the vehicle all the while. Although he's not familiar with cars, he can at least tell that this one's something special, and that's confirmed seconds later once the spy gizmos start moving around. The intel is a little hard for him to read at first, not because of the language, but because aerial photographs simply aren't a thing in this world. It confirms quite a bit for the both of them, too: There's not really any kind of hidden exfiltration point here, because the cave can only go so deep before it's just diving into the complete unknown. There is, however, a river moving through the cave that leads to the ocean. If escaping by land isn't an option between Zanon's soldiers blocking up the land to the east and west and the Elites moving in, then the only other viable option would have to be the sea route! Assuming there's any way to do that, of course. More notably, though, there's quite a few persons of interest to take note of. There's a few named Shadaloo operatives with noted gimmick weapons, and there's also mentions of increased dragon activity inside the cave. Bears, too, as though there might be both of those things inside the cave and being important enough to even mention in the reports. NOW The towers, being largely off, stand little chance against the infiltration expert's machinations. Shadaloo soldiers are experts at close combat, but they're more used to direct attacks and getting the jump on people rather than the other way around. The ones in the tower are pacified rather easily, and it's not until after he fires off the EMP at a spotlight that he's finally spotted by another guard bearing some kind of oversized greaves with blades on the front. Said guard starts rushing him down with a wild flurry of alternating kicks, trying to cut through the agent with those shin-mounted blades and occasionally even slinging cutting projectiles his way with rapid flipping kicks. Kamen Rider W's sudden burst of wind, meanwhile, knocks a whole slew of Shadaloo soldiers off their feet save for a giant that could very well be The prototype for every massive OP mook that never actually shows up ever again. Regardless of the giant's status, however, his fighting style is closer to some kind of musclebound spider's as he dashes in from low to the ground, trying to mitigate that windy advantage before moving in for the big grab and slam. As if that's not bad enough, though, the one of giant's fist is practically as large as he is, far big enough to scoop up the Kamen Rider even without putting his whole body into it. Rufus' ice puns certainly get an icy reception from Zanon's and Shadaloo's soldiers alike, although it's generally the latter he has to worry about when he shows off the power of his ice magic and freezes one unlucky soldier to the side of one of those makeshift buildings. Some of Zanon's troops murmur amongst themselves, trying to figure out if they need to deliver shitty jokes of their while others just start belting out their own awful heat and shocking puns to follow his lead. Rufus and the soldiers aren't left to do this freely, of course, and they're soon made the targets of fireballs! Actual fireballs, coming from actual dragon people, emerging from the cave itself.
Cantio	Gaonoir's shockwave landing, like Double's, takes several of those surrounding soldiers off their feet and propels them into nearby prefabs with heavy impacts. Unlike Double's opponent, however, the soldier coming out to face him isn't a fast-moving heavy, but rather a slow and deliberately moving fighter that throws heavy punches and kicks at him from a far longer range than a human's limbs should be stretching. Also, they're stretching! And electrified, somehow. Despite the smell from Cinder's weapon, she gets the jump on a soldier and cleaves neatly through his uniform and armor alike. The resulting screams get her and Yuri (the agent) plenty of attention from a trio of Shadaloo soldiers bearing crackling magnetic rods. One of them is even able to split their weapon into four floating pieces, using them like telekinetic projectiles while moving in for the melee. Xion's extremely loud entrance isn't missed, either, and she's able to draw quite a bit of attention when that giant magic fist crashes through another tower, bringing it down in a hail of unnecessary sparks and a singular explosion on the side. She does in fact get several guards running at her proclamation, but rather than moving away, they're moving towards her. They stop when they're a good twenty feet away, though, as nobody seems keen on actually getting too close to her until there's a good dozen ready to rush at her with their own blades, mining picks, sledgehammers, and even one with a pair of arm-mounted jackhammers and a whole exosuit to carry all of it. The most unlucky soldiers to witness Hiromi, meanwhile, have to contend with their own fears of being eaten and also being murdered themselves if they dare to turn tail and run. As such, they fight on and force themselves to brave the teeth poised to tear through them, although the bravest challenger to Hiromi's might comes from a Shadaloo operative that definitely isn't human. No, she sees the challenger coming for her as they charge out from the cave, wreathed in purple flames and spinning towards her with front paws extended. It lands with a slight skid moments later, bellowing out the mighty roar of a bear that's been infused with some kind of terrible psychic power. Petra's unconventional acrobatics catches the soldiers off guard as well, as several move in to try intercepting her before she springs out of reach and lands further away while skewering one of their comrades. The survivors glance at each other before rushing at Petra regardless of the risk, although the reason becomes clear seconds later: They fight in tandem by swinging each other around, each one holding onto the leg of another while maneuvering around her and swinging each other forwards to lash out at her from odd angles, trying to confound her with their teamwork and mobility.
Rufus Shinra	Fireballs! Rufus gets lightly singed, but only lightly, mostly due to using the allied soldiers as cover. Better them than him. On encountering actual resistance and return fire, Rufus fades back, but only slightly. He's not a *coward*, he's just... opportunistic. His opportunity comes with the next wave of attacks - he dashes forward, using his shotgun as a propulsion device, trying to get past the ranks of dragons and flank them!
Gaonoir	Melee from a distance is a moderately unusual method of fighting, though a bit less unusual when you consider all the other things Digimon do on a regular basis. It's a bit of a shock, but it isn't enough to catch Gaonoir completely off-guard as he turns and catches the extended fist in one of his metal clad hands. Which goes so so as it still gives off the electric charge and it conducts down his arm. Teeth clench, a growl emits between them as he's learned his lesson, and lets go of the fist to just bring both gauntlets up in a blocking gesture against more punches and kicks, arcs crackling out with every strike. He takes a step back admist the assault. Then just as the final kick hurtles towards him.... he's gone. The foot passes through a shadowy afterimage, the lack of an impact potentially throwing off his attacker's balance. Hiromi is trying to draw more aggro to herself, so he's got a chance to focus on his one attacker. Being able to shift into a shadowy state and move quickly should work to his advantage, making his follow up attack harder to predict. The surge forward with the voidstep abruptly puts Gaonoir right in his attacker's face, manifesting from the transposition mid-swing of a vicious haymaker with one of those big gauntlet fists! Frickin' telefraggers am I right?
Shotaro Hidari	The shoulder charge into grab catches the Two-in-One Kamen Rider. Shotaro is grabbed and then bounced into something heavy, probably a truck, and goes through it with the larger man. However, Kamen Rider Double, flips back, hands on the ground, before bouncing into a better position. While the weaker guys were flung away, this guy was pushing through it. "Shotaro, with someone like this we probably need a way around his advantage in strength," Philip says, and Shotaro can't agree more. "Yeah, let's try Luna," He chimes in with gets an agreement from his other half. Kamen Rider W draws out another USB stick, pressing it does the signature call out. LUNA Pressing down after inserting it into the double belt, he once more flicks the belt out as half of him is blasted with bits of the LUNA armor. LUNA JOKER This time, Double fights somewhat differently against the brute. He changes things up to be more deceptive in his fighting style. He goes in, like before directly, but he swings the arm on the other side of his body out to try and grab the legs of the heavy man, who is obviously off balance by his arm's weight. Attempting to flip him up, Shotaro flips up and aims to send a kick down to try and drive him across the dirt.
Angela	Angela is unaccustomed to this kind of solidarity so she just bobbed her head in acknowledgement, trying to ignore the fact that an Abnormality is targeting her which, as we know, always ends well. SLIGHTLY EARLIER But now Cinder, who hasn't really questioned Angela's presence with Petra yet because she has more important things on her mind. Yuri gives it a doubletake but since Cinder is her senior elects to follow her lead. "Yeah, pay is better, gear is better..." Cinder says, grinning and unleashing a laugh that kind of ends in a (hopefully) endearing if dorky snort. She double fingerguns back at Petra, making a 'pow pow' motion before stumbling into a hanging bar she didn't notice there. She re-fingerguns back at Petra. "Don't worry, I'll be keeping an eye out, for sure, haha, yeah." Yuri can't help herself and smirks at Cinder before elbowing her in the side. "Joining up?--Guess we might be on the same team huh?" Cinder's cheeks turn bright pink. NOW Cinder may have bit off more than she could chew. Yuri doesn't have EGO gear of her own. Yuri is able to step in to keep one of the Shadaloo soldiers off of Cinder but the others manage to step in and get several strikes against her side, causing the Agent to hiss in pain and stumble back and away to open up some space and try to figure out how to deal with this situation. Yuri can't break in to strike back so Cinder is gonna have to handle the offensive here. Cinder draws out a cigarette from a case and puts it in her mouth, lighting it with her sword. She breathes out the smoke through her nose. She steps back in, sending a wave of flame erupting out from the EGO weapon as she tries to focus on the elite soldier, hoping to take it down before the other two overwhelm her. Now that she's actually fighting she's focusing a bit on the work. "They seem like skilled fighters." Angela murmurs, but she doubts they are anyting Petra can't handle.
Xion	Xion really wasn't expecting psychic combattle bears - even if they're not her targets! Using her magic keychain-copy of Hibiki's unstoppable strength to hurl around a giant gauntleted golden fist is great and all, but she expects the shock and awe to actually shock and awe the enemy soldiers. Morale is one of the health bars of an army, and committing to a big sudden offensive normally caused some balking... But Shadaloo would murder them for running. There really is only fighting to resolve the issue. The guards massing up is something Xion could give extra time to, or wait to be advanced on, and does not. Lacking sympathy for those that ring the sides of fights and mass before attacking, the black-coated Nobody advances barehanded at a power stride towards the tool-armed goons. Side-ducking a downchop, Xion hurls off and slugs the first reckless goon to try their luck. The second flailing goon receives a stepping sweep of a side kick that ends after a full rotation, the noirette presenting a red-and-white medal in her palm -- no, it's a red and white toy car of some sort, a motorcycle and sidecar model. "If you need someone else to help you take me on, you're going to need more guys!!" Xion continues to holler. "You won't match me in a Dead Heat!" Piled onto by a whole mining team, they fall and strike and send up a great cloud of dust and damage - but Xion is past them with only scratches, her overcoat having become hotrod red and steam-crackling with combustive energy as she drifts and slides past the goonswarm to blink into a bouncing high-speed combo that gains air and power as the Nobody violently orbits the exosuit with a rain of blows too fast to see, ending with her appearance at the top of the Exosuit with a held-high kick. From her fist, a tinny little toy voice emits: #-1 INVALID ANSI DEFINITION: +white/uhr (with an errant 'tou' at the end of 'Heat', making it 'Heato') Her falling kick completes with a combustive gravitic detonation!
Hiromi	It's not like Hiromi hates brave soldiers. There's a certain level of respect for any who will stand and face her, though that respect isn't visible in the way she pierces bodies with her teeth and launches the bleeding, screaming, or dead away with a toss of her head. Swords fare no better than any other weapon in so much as cutting her tongue. The unworthy cannot break her skin, according to what she's spoken, and that lets her as easily chomp a man's weapon arm together with his weapon, before there's a chance to put weight behind an attack. It's a style of fighting that doesn't respect weapon reach, and is blatantly unfair.     The bear brings from her a cry of elation. First, she rears back up on her hind legs, and then crashes down, clawed hands to clawed paws, on her only two legs. Her teeth are still bared, her growl subconscious, as she wrestles for footing. Each step is a test, made without drawing on the earth to support her, but allowing herself to be driven through its breaking, if enough power is applied against her. She simply can't help taking the opportunity of asking for her opponent's strength, rather than close off any chance of it hurting her.     It is, of course, hopeless to combat her in direct contests of strength. Greater elites have tried, and she -- didn't win, in one case, but that person isn't here. The psycho bear has only until Hiromi's curiosity is satisfied before she maneuvers from standing wrestling for space to a sudden reversal, pulling them in close enough to tear through the bear's neck with her teeth. She can already feel that howl of triumph welling up.     The tactically correct choice would be to hurry on into the cavern system before anyone escapes. Hiromi's priority is to instead take the time to watch how the other elites are faring, if there isn't anyone either charging to meet her or prepared for her charge.
Petra Soroka	When Petra pulls her spear out of the soldier she downed and looks over her shoulder to the approaching soldiers, she doesn't expect to see them grabbing each other's legs. She whips around, spear at the ready, prepared for something magical or projectile-based to happen, and when it doesn't, her spear slumps down a little, then disintegrates into droplets to puddle on the ground.     Kicking against the ground to leap backwards with improbable propulsion, Petra keeps her distance from the soldiers for a bit longer, just to really make sure they aren't doing anything else. When they aren't, she sighs, tucks her shoulder down, and somersaults forwards to slide beneath the swinging body. She pops back up to standing, behind the reach of the wielded-person, places one hand on either soldier, then pulls them apart from each other.     For the one that was being used as a weapon, she twists her whole torso to hurl him into the stone dozens of feet away. With the same motion, still grabbing onto the soldier's collar, she simply drives him into the ground at her feet, then steps over him to look around for others.     Cinder is being hassled by a soldier with a much more impressive combat technique! Petra knows that she's practically new to combat, so she starts walking over to support her, with the morphmetal puddle on the ground warping into four spiked prisms that lift into the air to follow her. They fan out behind her, then spear through the air to skewer the telekinetic fragments of the staff that the soldier is using to harass Cinder, attempting to stall them in place.     Petra watches Cinder light the cigarette with her EGO with her lips pressed together. Fuck that's cool, actually. "Hey! I'll lend you a hand, alright?"     While crossing the battlefield to Cinder, Petra passes by Rufus, and gives him an annoyed look. She reaches into the pocket of her jacket, wrapping her hand around her revolver, then decides against it.
James Bond	Fighting 'honestly' in quarters as close as 'the platform of a guard tower' is never ideal. Therefore, at the sight of the guard rushing towards him, Bond leaps ungracefully off of the tower and hits the dirt with a grunt, rolling to his feet just in time to have the Walther kicked from his hand. The blade of the guard's boot drags across his forearms as he attempts an off-balance stop, snarling in pain as blood is drawn.      Bond is on the back foot, ducking, weaving, and taking some of that flurry deliberately to avoid worse from the blades--until he can get a handle on the knife strapped to his thigh. Holding it in a reverse grip, he flicks it outwards with deceptive strength, striking sparks in the darkness as steel scrapes against steel.      His foot surges forward to pre-emptively stomp down in a brutal kick aimed for the guard's opposite leg, while the knife sweeps up, across the midsection, then right, butt of the grip aimed for the guard's temple. With a bellow of effort, Bond sends the knuckles of his free hand racing straight for the throat, just as his foot eases off of the other boot.      A quick tazer dart from the watch should take the rest of the fight out--and give him enough time to do a quick visual check on the cages, and make sure no one (from Shadaloo) is trying to move them away. From there, he'll head for the river system mentioned in the reports.
Cantio	Luckily for Rufus, mounted cavalry are way bigger and easier targets to both see and atack than a guy on foot. With that provided magic, meanwhile, they're actually holding their own against the dragons, clearly a surprise on both sides considering that it should be a one-sided bloodbath with type advantages being what they are. Unluckily for Rufus, the dragon troops aren't that stupid, and even they realize he's there when shotgun spray starts tearing into them from behind. Those in the back start spraying flames his way and, to make matters worse, one actually comes from behind him, launching himself forward in a curled up body projectile with all the force one might expect from a tall-person-sized dragon! Gaonoir's got his own opponent somewhat scouted out with his efforts in teleporting right into close range. Said opponent doesn't look nor sound freaked out in the slightest, though, even with that fist smashing right into his face and knocking his head clean... Back? His neck is stretching back as his head goes further back than a human's head should, then comes hurtling in back while those lingering limbs wrap around the Digimon to try and hold him still for the impending headbutt and full-body electrocution to follow. It's clearly a last ditch effort, but that doesn't mean he still can't take some pride in fighting to the end! Or just enough to not risk getting executed for trying to escape through taking a dive. Either or. Double's shift in combat style, meanwhile, proves to be far more effective than his first windy landing. Being heavy enough to fight the wind is one thing, but being lopsidedly heavy means there's not a lot of room to actually maneuver once off balance. The giant skids along the ground following that kick, but he seems to be more angered by it than anything else. Smashing that oversized fist into the ground, the giant leaps forward at Shotaro, arms outstretched briefly before curling inwards to tuck and roll his entire body at the Kamen Rider like a distorted bowling pin. This one seems hellbent on actually flattening Double, although his movements are a little more sluggish than the others. Against a more easily bewildered opponent, the weirdo people fight circus might have had a better shot. It's certainly worked for them before, but that sort of maneuever was always in the context of lone warriors or moderately equipped locals. Against someone like Petra, who has far more raw power and that strange silver liquid technique? She ends up getting the drop on them instead, as the one being swung impacts against that distant stone with a painful crunch, and the other gets planted into the dirt not unlike one of those posts back in Lightan Castle's courtyard. It's still not clear what those are for. Yuri's able to keep the regular-ish clubbers busy while Cinder has to deal with the one just throwing those club fragments telekinetically. Club pieces clash against the flaming EGO weapon, and hit sparks fly when that sword cuts into the soldier's armor, but the wave of flame is what really forces them all to step back. Those clubs are still ultimately just physical extensions rather than any flame-disrupting magic bits, after all, and it forces that little crew to just start swarming Cinder instead of dividing their attention with Yuri. The one with the separate chunks gets confused, though, as something initially unseen holds his weapon bits back. By the time he realize Petra's responsible for spearing through his trademark weapon, he rushes right for her with a spiraling dropkick through the air, but it might be a little too late with the way the fight is going all around.
Cantio	Bond's opponent cracks a sadistic smirk as he draws blood, stretching that leg upwards and shaking the blood off with a dramatic snap sideways before readying himself to get into a proper brawl with the former secret agent. He stays on the offensive, too, taking full advantage of Bond backing off to try and keep him on that back foot. Getting the tables turned on him clearly isn't a possibility in his mind, though, as when Bond gets that knife out and launches a counter-offensive, the momentum shifts dramatically. The kick to the leg is blocked handily enough by that steel-encased leg, but the rest of the soldier's body is considerably less protected from that knife that slices. The blow to the head knocks him off balance, setting him up perfectly for that tazer to the face. For better or for worse, there's no captives in the outside camp. Based on the reports, they're probably depper in the cave complex where the experiments can be carried out, away from prying eyes and ears trying to track them down by ominous gases or despairing screams. Xion calls on the power of Mach and loudness to start fighting against the Shadaloo forces' morale bar, and it does wonders for the troops, allied and othewise. Zanon's troops rally and unleash yet more magic blasts around the battlefield while delivering their own painfully shitty puns, and Zanon himself just charges right into the fray with his evil-looking sword and cleaving through people left and right. Guile isn't letting himself get left in the dust, of course, as he wades in with heavy-handed punches and gravity-defying kicks that leave him fully upside down for a moment before taking on a low defensive stance to lure in more charging Shadaloo soldiers. Inexplicably, a single crossed-arm projectile is enough to explode arund several of them at once. The combined show of might is enough to leave plenty of the Shadaloo troops shaken, not to mention the one she's really dishing it out to: The ~~Fencer~~ construction equipment dual-wielder. Turn as quickly as he might, they hecan't keep up with all those kicks from so far around. All he can manage to do is throw out one last-ditch pincer attack from those arm-mounted jackhammers, trying to give Xion a single powerful pound before the gravitic detonation blows that entire suit apart. Hiromi's encounter with the bear, too, is all but impossible to ignore for both Zanon's troops and the Shadaloo soldiers. Seeing the cavalry standing any kind of chance against the dragonmen is already wild enough, and seeing the contest of strength and wills between the Archwolf and the Psycho Bear just starts whipping everyone into a bit of a frenzy. The bear is certainly more powerful than the average bear, but it's certainly not smarter, and it doesn't know when to quit. The struggles for dominance continues, but the bear can't get the upper hand despite its efforts, and Hiromi tears into it and leaves it laid out and bleeding out with that ominous dark energy flowing out of its body and... Deeper into the cave? How strange. At this point, it's certainly a lot easier to head into the cave with the Shadaloo soldiers getting summarily taken down, but they still have one more ace up their sleeves. They just don't know it yet, though, as a high-pitched squeal starts coming from an innocuous box just outside the entrance to the cave. All at once, the still-living soldiers, dragon and human and otherwise, all start roaring madly. For those without eye protection, it's easy to see their eyes rolling back as their throats and faces start to bloat. All at once, they start spewing poison at the gathered Elites and the cavalry behind them, trying to wash the entire area in a sickening purple miasma that burns on contact and sticks to whatever it touches.
Rufus Shinra	*WHAM* That's the sound of a dragon hitting Rufus. What's the dragon hitting Rufus with? An entire dragon. I mean, that entire dragon. Itself. Not the neighboring dragon, but... This... flowed better and made more sense in my head. Let's move on. *SHING!* That's the sound of one of the marble-sized crystals audibly shining in Rufus's weapon. While he handed out his spares to the soldiers, he kept one of his favorite crystals for himself.                             | ENEMY SKILL LEARNED |                             "Alright! Now you're going to get it!"                                  | SKY DRIVER |                                 *WHAM* That's the sound of Rufus hitting a dragon. What's Rufus hitting the dragon with? An entire Rufus.
Shotaro Hidari	The fight between the large man with a giant arm and the yellow and purple man with a stretchy arm goes back and forth. Shotaro is trying to not match the man tit for tat, but instead try and avoid as much damage as he can while also trying to find the right style that'll help break through the giant man's bulk. However, doing it and succeeding at it are two different things. While lesser blows exchanged are easily avoided, the powerful ones are harder to avoid just from the sheer force exuded by the man. The shockwaves stagger Double, before he reaches to grab and smash him again. However, once more the Two-in-One Kamen Rider is back on his feet because while the fist strike was true, Philip had a plan. He just needed time to see through the enemy's defenses. Shotaro takes the blow, and the two see their opening together. Double kicks for the center of mass on the giant man, specifically looking to kick him in ways that'll be harder to ignore because of his uneven bulk. Each shot aims to cause him to flinch more and more before he jumps back. Grabbing the JOKER memory, he presses the button to get it to speak the name of the memory again and slides into a slot on the waist of the Kamen Rider. JOKER, MAXIMUM DRIVE Flipping into the air, it looks like he's about to do a Rider Kick, but instead, the Yellow half of him splits into two, then into four. All at once the four halves of Kamen Rider W fire down, each one aiming powerful chops against those places he'd just kicked, before the single JOKER half fires down in a rider kick, aiming to blast through the center of mass of the giant man. Once over, the two are back into one again.
Gaonoir	The electric stretching man actually hits upon a solid course of action. Voidstep takes a certain amount of energy to engage, so after the expenditure of his previous attack utilizing it Gaonoir can't just go shadow to slip out of a close-quarters grapple. The arms stretch and wind to wrap around him, getting high enough to even bind his arms to his sides, and the stretchiness preventing him from simply pushing far enough to yank them free again. "Get off!" he barks sharply. Interestingly it's not at his opponent to let go. It is at Erika to get off his back before she too gets tied down and the electricity crackles through those extended limbs. As such she doesn't question, using the pylons of his jet engines to prop herself up out of immeadiate reach, and then jump off backwards from there. Though as she does, she thumbs the D-Port to engage one last energy charge into her Partner, hoping it will be enough. The electrical shock follows soon after, sparking and hissing through the air as Gaonoir is lit up, the metallic parts of his body conducting all too well. It almost looks like one of those cartoon x-ray electrocutions, except instead of a skeleton you get flashes of the wireframe infrastructure, being a digital lifeform and all. But even as he's being gripped and shocked, Gaonoir manages a snarling grin. The rush of battle was surging through him as much as the current, as was natural for such a combative Digimon. "Fine." An audible whine can be heard, and that wasn't him doing so in pain. "Hold on." It was his jet engines, which go from a whine to roaring with power in split seconds, catapulting Gaonoir from standstill to rocking skyward in the same splits of seconds. Much faster than his opponent could ever hope to let go first after having committed to his electrocution grapple, as the duo is hurtling higher into the sky than anyone can clearly see more than the flare of his engine contrails. The force of the launch is enough to shake his foe's grip, and Gaonoir is able to pull an arm free. Which he winds back up and over. Clenches into a fist. And the entire mechanical gauntlet starts to spin. Spin fast enough spirals of darkness and wind energy twist around it like a minature cyclone. VICTORY! KNUCKLE! CRUSHER! Just as they reach the apex of his lauch Gaonoir swings down, reorienting his lower body to an upward angle behind him. Which helps stretch the arms of his opponent enough that he can slam his fist into his foe regardless if he lets go or not. Followed by the jet engines SCREAMING back to full power, sending him hurtling viciously towards the ground even as the powerful drill punch is pummeling into the electro-stretchy man, keeping him caught on the front of the assault. Up until it slams into the ground with meteorotic force!
James Bond	Bond nudges the bladed greaves of his downed opponent. "Have a rest," he puns--"It'll take the edge off."--to the benefit of no one. After retrieving his pistol from the ground, his quick visual scan confirms:      No sign of the cages yet--they must be deeper in. That's fine--because he's headed there anyway, both to clear the place out and to make sure no one tries to escape by water. Met with opposition along the way, he naturally fights back, until, mid Walther-aim, he spots the grotesque transformation induced seemingly unwillingly.      Pausing from sheer revulsion, Bond lowers the pistol and takes a step back, only to be blasted fully by the burning purple miasma. His skin turns an inflamed red and he groans in pain, leaning against the cave wall and clawing at himself in a desperate bid to be free of the burning substance.      With no such luck, he dry-heaves and fumbles for another gadget. This one is... a pack of cigarettes?      Coughing violently, Bond nearly drops them, before he manages to open the pack. On one knee, he extends the open pack to the bloated, poison spewing soldiers--but not in giving. The way he holds it is more like a weapon, which it is:      When his thumb squeezes the label on the pack, a rapid-fire stream of tranquilizer-tipped darts shoots from the upper-left cigarette. Bond sweeps it across the cave as he struggles through the cloud, his other hand pressed against the wall and painting it purple as he keeps himself from doubling over.
Angela	Angela quietly watches the battle as she sees the Control Team newbies work together. She is pulled away briefly to help with a crisis back at the Corporation but she mostly is just...watching. Cinder is unaware she did something cool. In her own mind, she was smoking that cigarette because she's incredibly stressed out and needs something to take the edge off. She started a long time ago, actually, since she was back in the Outskirts. This whole situation actually reminds her of back home. The cold. The people trying to kill her. Being outnumbered. Getting a hand from a friend she just started to know. "Oh--yeah! Sure thing." Cinder manages a smile upon seeing the kind of DAMAGE Petra's unleashing. "Thanks for the help!" She exhales some more smoke, this time through her mouth but it's not just these guys that can use teamwork. Don't think about how they're people, Cinder thinks, just don't think about that right now. Cinder backpedals quickly but Petra has another problem going on--it'd be best if Petra can get her pick of the targets and she tries to clobber the guy jumping Petra upside the back of the head with her club while Cinder is driven back and to her knees, blood spilling across the cigarette that drips from her mouth and she grimaces, sending another swirl of fire around her to try and force these guys back. She just needs to buy some time for Petra to do her magic. "You're still human..." Cinder murmurs.
Petra Soroka	Petra doesn't react quickly enough to perform the best counter maneuver to the dropkick (dodging it), because she had assumed that the clearly-midrange-telekinesis-fighter wouldn't be able to transition into melee so easily. Instead, she performs the second best counter, which is being made of metal.     The kick hits her shoulder, and she's forced to lean with the impact and stagger back, dull pain radiating from the impact. She recovers from the hit far more quickly than the soldier recovers from the attack itself, though, and steps forwards again to punch him into the ground, before instinctually freezing at the high-pitched squealing noise.     When the soldier's face starts to bloat up, Petra does the only thing she can think of: shove her hand over his mouth and force his jaw shut to prevent any of the poison from getting out. Her expression becomes increasingly distraught as she feels his throat swelling underneath her palms, and she looks around for a solution to this horrible gross problem, until her eyes land on her floating spikes.     The four spikes shoot off in three directions, one going to each of the trio of soldiers that she, Yuri, and Cinder are fighting. The spikes drive themselves into the soldiers' mouths, piercing into their throat, and the inertia of the impact propagates through the length of the spike to turn the back half of each into a grasping liquid mass, clinging onto their faces as a smooth metallic seal to keep the poison inside. The final spike plunges into the back of the soldier Petra had been holding.     Ugh.     Petra drops the body to the ground and stares at it for a few seconds. She expects, for the second time, to feel more about the act than she does. "You alright, Cinder?"
Hiromi	Poison spews everywhere, faster than Hiromi can decisively react. She moves into danger, rather than away from it, as little as she can do to even block it with her body.     She holds her breath, and can keep doing so until the mountains slip into the sea. That much is fine. The burning across the entirety of her form, wearing no armor and only partial coverings of cloth that breath well, is less fine. It's worse than annoying, and she doesn't particularly 'like' being unable to so much as take in the air to growl without burning her lungs, either.     Without concern for its value as a clue, nor the likely case of it having already done its job, Hiromi leaps to smash the previously innocuous box. The durability of weird war crime containers versus the strength of Archwolves leaves little uncertainty to its final fate.     There's more than one way to move to safety, when in the center of a cloud of miasma, and the direction Hiromi chooses is 'down.' Natural stone is her home domain, and it opens up around, dropping her through a hole just big enough for her (and comfortably roomy for most humans, if not for oversized mooks), which closes off again with a deceptively thin, airtight seal, a little too strange and convenient to think of a natural stone formation, though it otherwise looks like one.     She'll speak again once she arrives somewhere with air, though this will be detailed in a future chapter.
Angela	"Don't think I'm dead yet," Cinder grimaces. "We appreciate the backup," Yuri smiles. "Thanks, Petra!" Cinder bobs her head in agreement. "Sorry, still getting used to this EGO weapon." She exhales out another plume of smoke. For some reason, she's less afraid than she thought she would be.
Xion	Breaking the morale of the enemy troops means all that's left is to push forward for the allied forces, and all that's left for Xion to do is trash the power lifter goon. At super speed, all she has to do is crash it with her powerful super kick! Unfortunately, instead of defend itself, what the loader does is a seeking anti-air - the bane of triangle jumps, dive kicks, and Maximum Spiders everywhere. Armored on connection, Xion and the loader clash in a powerful snap -- and the Nobody lands just past, the red bleeding off of her coat in a mist of cardinal toner and heat. Nursing shocked shins as the loader breaks apart, Xion continues on without the benefit of Mach's incredible speed. She doesn't get far, chasing Hiromi's feeling across the battlefield when it explodes into poison mist and strange ominous ear-shatterng sound from the mad roars all about. She had been ready for a howl, even perhaps hoped for a lupine aroo, and instead she gets the bray of toxic abuse and violence. Acrobatically leaping up after being choked by coiling streams of miasma, Xion uses her high vantage to find the unmistakeable presence of the Archwolf and reach her empty hand towards the incredible authority there. Something answers her, a flash of colored light from Hiromi twinkling and keychain-jangling into the Nobody's hand. Falling out of the air, a slim lightpost-wide pillar of miasma-burned earth lifts to meet her midway, the tip of her right boot balanced perfectly precarious on the lip of the raised earth. "No, I don't have any mercy for this at all!!!" The nobody howls herself, wild, and crouches on her earthen post to pull up, pivot, and whip a thread of stone like a baton-ribbon, back and taut, snapped up and down. "Being terrible to everyone isn't a strategy: it's a curse!" From her snapped bit of the cloth of the world with Hiromi's ''borrowed'' Authority, Xion affects a great blanket snap wave of tectonic and landscape shifting, aiming to catch the miasma's roll before it breaks on Zalom's cavalry and sweep the front wave up to crash miserably together and spare the strength of the allied forces.
Cantio	As one entire dragon strikes at Rufus, so too does one entire Rufsu strike at the dragon. It's a painful trade, but one that ends in the Shinra heir's favor, as the dragon he strikes kind of... Explodes. Figuratively, of course, but having its face all bloated up with poisonous garbage by the time he crashes into it means it can only spew one more horrible blast of that stuff around aimlessly before deflating beneath him as it loses consciousness. The same doesn't quite happen with the weird giant Shotaro is facing. His overgrown arm starts to turn before anything else does, but that only seems to slow his reflexes down as he takes a swing at Kamen Rider Double. It's far too slow to intercept that four-pronged strike, though, blasting a hole straight through the giant man before he finally falls still with his arm leaking more of that poisonous gunk. Gaonoir's timing with spin into the air could certainly be worse. The electric rubber man is already starting to bloat with that impending poison about to burst out of him, perhaps even worse than the regularly-shaped soldiers. Defending against the blow isn't anywhere in the soldier's mind, nor is anything else, as that drilling fist practically pops him upon impact on the ground and coats everything in more of that burning purple stuff. James, meanwhile, pushes deeper into the cave, and his efforts actually seem to bear a more interesting fruit. The shambling poison-spewers he encounters and blasts full of tranquilizers, instead of exploding or popping like so many of the others outside, actually start to... Settle? Their faces return to their normal size and shape as they fall unconscious, whatever signal that set off this reaction in them seemingly kept at bay just by losing consciousness (even if they land on their faces). Luckily, there only seems to be one wave of them just past the entrance, as though it might just a be short-range transmission sort of deal. Petra stabs the soldier right through the face and seals it shut, forcing his face to start filling up with nowhere for the poison to go. It's not until the spikes start pushing through the soldiers' throats that they actually star to deflate in their death throes, not quite popping from sudden impacts like those that died before them, and not spewing out everywhere thanks to the gas being trapped inside them. It's still rather horrifying to see, but the collateral damage does seem to be mitigated considerably in this way. Cinder's flames, meanwhile, work far better than they should. It's kind of a gory sight, as that poisonous sludge is imminently flammable and coming right of those soldiers freaking out over the whining signal. Luckily for her, Guile happens to move in the way just before they actually start exploding, sparing her the grisly sight. Conveniently enough, the fire also seems to be burning through the gas they're leaving behind, leaving their air oddly crisper than it was moments ago.
Cantio	Once Hiromi takes out the box, meanwhile, the whining noise dies down as expected. What might be less expected, though, is that those soldiers still alive and bloated actually stop. The normal people color starts returning to their faces, although they're still shaken and distracted enough by those horrifying near death experiences that it's practically child's play for Zanon's troops to pin them down or just kill them outright. Xion's earth-shifting maneuver works wonders against the sweeping gas, too, as the gas is still limited in where it can move based on being... Well, gas. The tectonic technique pushes the gas back and away, back towards where it was coming from, and bunching it up into a conveniently massive cloud overhead. It'd certainly be terrifying if it spread from there, but combining that with Cinder's flames mean that it all burns up in a huge, yet brief puff of smoke. The air smells a lot fresher now than before. With the battlefield outside the cave covered in quickly-burning poison and dead Shadaloo soldiers, Guile can only manage a disgusted grimace while Zanon steps over a few of the slain. "What a pain... But this confirms it if nothing else ever could. We're dealing with a specific poison expert in here." "That's enough for you to know what we're up against?" "Not what. Who." "Hmph. Then I'll leave my men outside. They'll need time to detoxify themselves, and we can take these kidnappers heads ourselves." Hiromi's descent through that hole, meanwhile, proves to be quite effective at evading the poisonous gas as well. There's quite a bit to see as she heads down, too, and that will be revealed in the next and (probably) final chapter of this hostage-rescuing journey to the mantle!
Gaonoir	While Gaonoir is executing his attack and his opponent Erika has cleared out from the impending ground zero, towards the edges of the fight. With all the power being thrown around in the assault she wants to be nowhere near the midst of it. After which she pulls a thick scarf from her satchel and wraps it around her lower face to cover her mouth and nose, because something with poisons and gases is becoming quickly apparent. The reunion with the ground is thunderous, terminal momentum slamming Gaonoir's opponent between his drilling fist and the ground with such force that there is actually a distorted pause between the hit, and the ground caving into a crater as the man explodes with the ichorous discharges. A cloud of dust and fumes swirls upward from the intense blow. Then as its settling Gaonoir stands admist the dust. Snorts and shakes some of the goo off his hand. The digitron metal has a few corrosive marrs on it, but for the most part is unaffected. Despite the appearances of a Digimon they have no real organics to them, so Gaonoir is no more than minorly annoyed by the toxic affair. "Hmph. And they call me a sore loser." He turns and walks away. Other than the purple goo, there is literally nothing left of his opponent. Not that he cares. They kidnap, enslave, likely torture and eventually kill people. One less of them is an improvement to the world. Gaonoir walks over to Erika, scooping her up with one arm to sit on his shoulder. Chuffs softly. "Okay, I'l admit it. You were right in being prepared for fiends with unusual capabilities after that last fight."