"Ow." Miyu said as she was whacked in the head, but it really didn't seem like she meant it. Apparently she still had her Mantle up, so Juno wouldn't know exactly how hard to hit her to cause pain through that, without killing her instantly if it wasn't up. Unless Juno was awesome enough at general angelic magic to know on sight how strong Miyu's casting of the spell was, in which case it would be more genuine. Either way, once she finished grieving, she'd respond back, "Well, sorry we can't all be uncountable ancient crones." about the alcohol business.

"Well, that idea's useless then." Miyu commented to herself on the Hoho's response, looking down in thought time to get hit by Dora, and get a facefull of dirt, her spell having apparently stopped by then.

~Maybe I deserve the "quit being a bitch and go help" pep talks. But right now, I still feel like people had just avoided answering my questions, and honestly, why am I still fighting for these people? Inertia? Boredom?~

~Hell. Even the Imperator's advice was damn sucky, maybe even worse than last time which was 'here, blind person with a concussion, let me summon a shield that you don't know how to use near you'. Yeah, I'll just git gud and succeed, because totally a little willpower would make me the deciding factor. And then the Valkyrie summons... Was that a good idea, to piss off one of your allies by using someone else's powers to steal their troops? And bring them into a place where they might be stuck for a few months or permanently killed, no nexus Resurrection? If they were mine, I'd be right pissed.

And then, looking up from the dirt. Miyu saw hope. ~Whoever that guy is, I am joining his team for the next battle. Didn't matter what side he was on.~ And so the Bonesword succeeded where Shizuka had failed.

Miyu got in the Diamyo, and made for the whiskey with vigor and speed. Which in the giant armor mech, was still slower than anyone else.

Looking into the distant storms Juno pointed at Omega was able to make out what looked to be the slithering scales of a massive serpent. Omega couldn’t help but whistle in admiration, “That’s the second biggest snake I’ve ever seen!” Joking aside, this did raise a few questions for him, mainly if that serpent or Juno herself for that matter did in fact have more control over the Nexus than anyone had lead on. Perhaps he’d need to look into a few things when this was done.

Before he could think long on the subject, a Harpy approached him and introduced himself as Syphax. Omega tipped his hat and introduced himself in turn. ”Howdy, Syphax. Name’s Omega. I must say I’m surprised to see a new face for a challenge like-”. Before he could finish, Omega spotted Henry being his cheap self and dropping a grenade before anyone had really made a move. “Pardon me. Duty calls.”

Just as it hit the ground Omega dove for the flashbang snatching it and holding it close to his chest as it went off. By obstructing it’s flash no one was effected by the blinding attack, and since it wasn’t magic in anyway, Omega wasn’t even phased. Standing from the action the spirit drew his pistols and stared at the bridge ahead. ”I think it’s time we stopped lollygagging and got a move on. Come on!” Omega darted forward at a brisk pace but made sure to watch his step as he got to the bridge.

@The 42nd Gecko@KoL@Mega Birb@Lucius Cypher@floodtalon@Flamelord

---

Miyu’s remarks drew a glare from Balrog whose only response was to point at her and slowly slide his finger across his neck. Oh how he wanted to walk over and smash her right then and there. Rip her head off so she could no longer use that annoying mouth of hers. If only he had been allowed to earlier they could have saved themselves that embarrassment at Alt Signia and he wouldn’t be stuck in this Machina body.

But even a simple mind like Balrog’s could see the bigger picture. While killing Miyu would bring much pleasure, defeating the other factions would be even more sweet. So when Fran came up and asked to be launched over to the other side, he chose to help her rather than start ripping and tearing the Angels as they bickered among themselves. Setting her on one of his shoulder missiles, he took aim at the snake women that had appeared and fired. Might as well put the missile to good use while it ferried his ally over.

By then Balrog noticed most of the Angels as well as Machina were currently crossing the bridge. With a big grin he decided to seize an opportunity to knock out quite a bit of the competition and moved to the start of the bridge. ”CHOO CHOO!” cried the mighty Baldakka train as he activated his leg thrusters and barreled down the bridge at high speeds hoping to knock off anyone in his way. (Even if that included Henry. A little payback really.)

@Lmpkio@Banana@floodtalon@The 42nd Gecko@Mega Birb@Ryonara@Flamelord@Lucius Cypher@KoL@TheWindel@Lonewolf685

Henry Pearl Avaritia The 2nd

---

Henry was just admiring/questioning why Ni-Murray had decided to start dancing in the middle of the bridge when a bunch of imps summoned by Sliske pushed past him and one massive set of explosions later they went into the castle. Something evidently went horribly wrong as a bunch of snake people came out with swords, ready to dismember anyone in their path. Which definitely wasn't going to be him, because had a buffer in the form of a spandex wearing robot girl. Some skeleton jumped over the explosions, which was pretty cool but not worth his time. He then flipped off Sliske and Henry smiled.

"Yeah, Sliske can go fuck himself." He muttered under his breath as he prepared to rush past the snake people while they were busy with the Machina girl. Then a bunch of tall women started appearing all over the place and Henry suddenly felt really uncomfortable and he couldn't understand why. 'I'm going to push these feelings deep down inside me and not confront them now.' After that internal monologue he decided to jog to the entrance. He was close to the end now, just need to dodge/kill the snakes as necessary.

”CHOO CHOO!”

"Sometimes I wish I was on the Machina team. They all get along so well." Henry didn't even bother turning around as he knew Balrog was probably going to run him over if he didn't run for his life immediately. As he ran directly for the Lamias he opened a Gate slightly above the Lamia and released a large amount of snow. Definitely wouldn't kill them, but it would sure piss them off.

Tatiana Lorenz

Things were rapidly becoming crazy behind her, and Tatiana was glad that she had gotten a head start on the bridge with the other Machina members. Evasive action was taken to dodge the traps that Ni-Mu laid down on the bridge, though given her proximity it wasn't that difficult to do so. It would probably be harder for those who had not been as near when they got onto the bridge itself. At least Hibiki and Shizuka had arrived, even if commanding duties seemed fairly straightforward here. It was basically going in a line up until the maze. Of course Bonesword had tried to stop her, but given her own analysis of the bridge she decided that she didn't need to listen to him.

Well, if they wanted help with the traps she could definitely provide it. Rifle drawn, she aimed back the way they came and began to fire, not necessarily trying to hit anyone but rather attempting to get them to dodge into the traps that had been laid down. It was as good a plan as any, as far as she was concerned.

The sudden appearance of imps was less pleasant, and they managed to dodge her own gunfire to run into the castle. The also sudden storm wasn't great either, nor was the news of the Demons and Angels teaming up. "It doesn't matter," she replied. We'll take them out either way." She managed to avoid not falling off, thanks to a keen eye and more than a bit of balance, and she was making her way along steadily.

It seemed things could get worse though, as the idiots which had made it past her set off the traps inside, basically screwing all the factions as they were attacked. "Somehow, not surprised," she grumbled as she activated her Funnels, tubes flipping out of her backpack as thrusters activated. She kept them near though as they began to provide cover fire from behind, while she herself focused on shooting the Lamias. Thy had come this far, and even Bonesword had made it. It was just a bit further....

@Banana@Lonewolf685@KoL@Ryonara

---

Tartys

Things were rapidly escalating out of control as all the factions rushed for the bridge, with the Machina making it on first even if Tartys herself wasn't that far behind. She kept her lance at he ready, wary for attempts to be knocked off while keeping her magic ready if a fight should break out.

In the meanwhile, several things happened in quick succession. The lead Machina began to do....something, several imps ran past and got themsevles blown up, a storm showed up courtesy of Dora, some Lamias appeared from inside the castle, and most important Deva gave them the assistance of allies for this fight, which would be very much welcome considering what they were going into. It would not exactly be a stroll through Heaven. Though she had to wonder what this 'git good' thing was supposed to mean.

She did take a swipe at Henry as he ran past, but the sudden explosion was blocked by Omega before it could detonate and blind her. "Let's go," she agreed with a nod, gesturing for the Amazon that had been summoned with her to follow. "Accompany me." Though the appearance of the giant running down the bridge wasn't exactly welcome either. A flash of magic would serve to create a shield over all those with her, which would at least keep them in one piece. Then once it passed they could resume their rush.

"So much for a truce," she noted at the same time. Well, they were demons. What did you expect?

@Awesomoman64@KoL@Mega Birb@Lucius Cypher@TheWindel

"But of course. Maid to serve!" Hibiki said as Hohenheim responded to her. Hibiki watched from her position as Shizuka stormed off to help her Machina allies get across the bridge, wishing her luck. Of course, before she left, Shizuka left a little something behind herself. It wouldn't activate immediately and in the chaos of everything happening it'd be easy to miss, more so since now everyone was heading off. But hopefully it could make a difference. "I'm ready whenever you are, mistress."

As for Shizuka, things got intense quickly. Henry shot forward to avoid the traps laid behind Ni-Mu, while a bunch of imps ran right into them. Bonesword managed to get closer to the entrance but at the same time more imps had triggered the elevator's trap, summoning three snake-women. And then the Angel's blessing went off and various amazonian warriors arrived. And just to make matters worse it was raining and now Balrog was on his way. Shizuka didn't bother thinking too much about who was the biggest threat or had the greatest chance of succeeding; it was time to act.

First Shizuka activated her Force Shield. The light blue energy expanded out wide enough to block the entire bridge behind her; fortunately most of her team sans Hibiki was already in front of Shizuka, leaving only the forces of heaven and any straggling demons behind. Second, Shizuka made sure to outpace Balrog as best she could. None of her weapons had any hope of destroying him right now, so out running him was most important. Next, Shizuka began to hover just a bit above the ground using her wings. The storm made it somewhat hard for her to fly, yes, but it was faster and easier for her to simply glide above the bridge then to try and run across it. It was getting too slick, and her footing was getting thrown off by Balrog's massive steps. Next was to eliminate the threats before her.

While Shizuka knows that Hohenheim intends to sick her creations on everyone, Shizuka wasn't entirely concerned about them. No, it was more important that she prevents others from winning instead. While she wouldn't ignore the snake women, right now Shizuka was more concerned about Henry, who had managed to get into the thick of things. Those amazonian were also going to be an issue, so Shizuka glided up to the head of the machina pack to get in position as she spoke over the comms. "Aim for Henry. He's still has to deal with the snake women. We can avoid them by flying underneath the bridge, but watch out for whatever Alchemist might have up her sleeve." With one arm holding her shield behind her, Shizuka braced her rifle and fired with one hand in Henry's direction. Shizuka made sure to at the front of the Machina pack, sans Bonesword, to prevent any friendly fire incidents.

"Hmm..." Juno's reaction to both Miyu's incapacity to be talked with and the sudden rain soaking the snacks she was eating wasn't the best possible one. The Spatial warrior frowned her brow before glaring at Dora and throwing the rest of the wet chips over the bridge's edge, down to the void below.

When Sliske approached the other Angels, Juno didn't say a thing. She may not be the best strategist of the Heavens, but even she knew better than trusting the Demons' words. Even so it didn't mattered to her, but if anyone intended to betray their faction, she was going to do something about it.

Her attention remained so until Balrog came barreling at everyone. Everything was just so chaotic and complicated that Juno couldn't get it at all. Why people just didn't set their problems fighting one another, instead of doing these stupid things? That was when Juno had a good idea. She moved back to the beginning of the bridge with a flash step, before unleashing a blast of gravitational force with one hand, pushing everyone on the bridge either inside of the elevator lobby (if they were relatively at the middle of the bridge) or out of it (if they weren't lined up with the shot).

Getting everyone, or most of everyone, inside of a confined space was bound to get some fight happening, to entertain Juno. As soon as everyone was sent flying, the purple-haired warrior dashed after them, drawing her blade to try and slash Balrog from behind.


"I cannot comply with this order, commander. Ignoring the Alchemist of Origin's instructions bear a risk too great according to my analysis. My coding has self preservation as the highest priority after complying to the Queen's Commands." Ni-Mu's reply to Shizuka was as cold and machine-like as the rest of her speeches. The android didn't bore a speck of emotion inside of her, truly a perfect machine on the molds of the Machina High Queen. Which would perhaps feel jarring when the maid was used to deal with units with less than perfect behavioral codes and other humans.

When the rain began to hit the bridge, turning everything into a slippery mire, Ni-Mu's greatest asset, her adaptability kicked in. Her processors reconfigured her stabilizers with real time perfection, making sure that neither the wind, nor the water, or even the snow up ahead were uncounted for whenever Ni-Mu moved.

"Recalculating targets. Ready: Blade Creation. Set: Continuous Barrage. Overlimit." As she said so, a veritable storm of projected swords hit the bridge, avoiding the position of the Machina, but otherwise covering the whole place, as if the rain had turned into projections of hard light and steel. Each blade that hit the ground, or an enemy exploded in shrapnel that began a chain reaction, the anarchy at the bridge only ever helped Ni-Mu as she charged forward using the cover Shizuka provided to try and reach the gates.

Or so it looked like, until the gravity was tampered with in an instantaneous move, sending Ni-Mu barreling at one of the lamias, who was also pushed back inside the elevator hall. It took only one moment for Ni-Mu's processors to calculate a new strategy though. "Gear Shift x6. Ready: Blade Creation. Set: Forest of Impalement. Gear off." With blinding speed, Ni-Mu's command created a veritable forest of lances, spears and the like growing from the walls and floor of the elevator room (except for the calculated impact zones of any Machina units). The android kicked the lamia at the waiting blades, before creating spikes at her own feet, allowing her to stay stuck at the wall as the others crashed at waiting death trap.



"Fine, then. Things are starting to heat up now, I really could use some refreshment and a maid is way better than these homunculi." Hohenheim said as she snapped her fingers, teleporting Hibiki to the Alchemist's study, where Hohenheim was waiting with an obnoxious smirk on her face as she looked at the most recent developments of her challenge through a gigantic holographic monitor as if that was some kind of twisted sports event.

---

The swordsman ran inside the castle as far as he could get before things went to shit, and within what seemed like mere seconds, everything regarding the first trial seemed to completely fall apart. The skeleton stabbed a scimitar into a spot where he could and he held on tight with his left arm. This would be a tough spot, but honestly it was the best move the swordsman had at the time, and with how Ni-Mu ran in and attached herself to a wall, he decided it would be the best idea to not take any chances with how this is going down. That being said, the right hand of the swordsman held his Shroomblade ready.

Then came the gravity shift from Juno, and holy hell was it rough. The sheer force backing it was insane, and it sent even the burliest of fighters barreling towards Bonesword. He rolled over to the side as he dug his Shroomblade into the ground in addition to the scimitar and watched as the swarm of forces came flying in past him. It was barely a hair away from getting slammed by everyone at once, but he survived thankfully. As the swordsman began taking notice of what he had to help his side take down, a very soft rumble sounded through the room. The swordsman began to speak over the Machina local comms. with what his plan was. "Ni-Mu, I trust what you're doing is gonna work. That being said, if you don't mind a bit of backup, my green thumb is itching to do it's thing." The swordsman pulled his blades out of the ground and entered a defensive stance as he said this, the rumbling beginning to crescendo up. It was clear shit was about to go down here.

---

@Lmpkio @Grombus @KoL @floodtalon @The 42nd Gecko @Mega Birb @Awesomoman64 @Ryonara @Flamelord @Lucius Cypher @Lonewolf685 @TheWindel

Being one of the last few on the other side of the bridge, Sliske watched from the comfort of relative safety as shit hit the fan. The dwarf from Ruthria that apparently hated shirts brewed up a storm over the bridge, Juno wasted no time force-palming the contents of said bridge into the next trial, and shrapnel was flying everywhere. A perfect statement of the chaos he had indirectly caused, to which he chuckled. So, with most hazards out of the way and most of Ni-Mu's mines triggered, he crossed the bridge with no rush, his four hierarchy minions following close behind.

Since he insisted on wearing what were essentially dress shoes all the time, he almost slipped a few times on his way across, though he caught himself each time. Careful steps to avoid the spots where the robot in a body stocking had run got him across unscathed, and he hesitated at the last step, both feet still outside the door. A grin split across as his face while he made the choice to exploit a little of the system the Alchemist had made, regarding the tarot deck kept in her quarters. Fate was a fickle mistress, and he wasn't usually one to take a gamble such as this, but he would make an exception for today. "Hohenheim, I would like to draw a card... and target the Demons." His minions would progress inside and stand off by Henry and Ghelgath, wherever they ended up, idly waiting for orders while their master awaited the results of a demonic draw.

---

In a fashion similar to Sliske, Syphax was able to cross straight across the bridge, avoiding any slippage by using his talons to grip the ground. Since he was behind the initial force push, it had no effect on him, and he got one hell of a laugh out of the display of fighters either getting blasted into the lobby or holding on for dear life, one of which he passed on the way as Juno went for Balrog's exposed backside. "C'mon, Bonehead, you're not down yet!" The harpy chuckled and continued on his way, honestly expecting to have to take down the lamia himself, as no one else seemed to be trying to take the snake women on.

He strode into the lobby just as everyone was recovering from Juno's attack, taking stock of things. The lamia were recovering and trying to advance towards various targets, the Demons were disorganized as always, and the Machina, with all three of it's representatives, were attempting to take down the one with the dark blue horns and red eyes. Not his fight, so he wouldn't interfere for the moment. However, one of the snakes was slithering towards him with quite a toxic glare, swords raised. "Huh, so it won't be one of us as first blood." He drew his greatsword from it's scabbard on his back, spinning the light blade in his left hand, and tossing it to his right before gripping it with both. As cocky as it looked, he was ready for anything the reptile could throw at him now. And if someone's neck got in the way of a swing, that was their problem.

Before the snake could strike, however, spears of hardlight sprang out of any hard surface in the room, giving few a chance to dodge and escape the massive attack. Even Syphax's lightning reflexes wouldn't save him entirely, as a pair of these death sticks would catch his right leg, causing more than a light wound. He could feel one of them tear through his thigh, and the other through his calf, taking feathers with it as he flew straight up a couple feet to free himself. He was bleeding out of a lame leg now, but it wouldn't prove a crippling blow to the harpy. Wings meant he could still move and take the weight off that leg if he needed to walk, and now adrenaline was beginning to pump through his system, slowly numbing the pain.

At this point, the lamia wasn't his concern anymore, it was the robot that had caused the massive attack: Ni-Mu.

Henry Pearl Avaritia The 2nd

---

Henry heard a volley of gunshots echoing from behind him, so he immediately opened a Gate behind him to catch the bullets heading his way. He smiled as he threw his sword into the Gates as well and withdrew Mjolnir to take advantage of the sudden lightning storm. Now things were going to get fun.

Right up until he went flying through the air. He narrowed his eyes as rain smacked against his face at even higher speeds and he attempted to wipe the water out of his eyes. When he next opened his eyes he was about 2 seconds from being impaled. "OH SHIT!" Henry threw Mjolnir at the place he was about to land to clear it of death spikes. He then grabbed it once again and jumped to the side to avoid being crushed by the likes of Balrog and others. He scratched himself on a spear that was pointed weirdly but otherwise he was completely fine.

"Welp, I'm out. Any open elevators?" Henry muttered to himself as he ran for one of the elevators. As he did this he started pulling out land mines and throwing them around haphazardly.

Ghelgath continues following Henry close behind, also being quite wary at the situation at hand. He really didn't want to fall down to his untimely demise at the bottom of the chasm. He avoids most of the things and people that were coming at him, like the incoming bullets, and his partner with relative ease, while also being extremely cautious of his surroundings. Yet when the massive Barlog began to charge at them at a rather impressive speed for someone of his size. Yet Ghelgath had a plan to put him on ice... literally. With a smirk, he quickly turns around and fires his hands out at the ground behind him. A blast came, covering a rather large section of the bridge on ice, making it easy to slip off if the units weren't careful. At the same time, Juno's force push almost made him trip and fall, but was able to barely keep his balance.

"Hey, chill out dickhead!" he blurts out insultingly at him, "Yer gonna pummel us at that speed! Slow down will ya?"

He also hopes it will slow down anyone that is behind him anyways. He looks back at Henry with a cocky grin.

"Your welcome!" he replies as he runs next to him.

The next thing they know however, Silske's minions began to block their path into the maze that was just within their grasp. Ghelgath continues running, briefly trying to assess the situation. He quickly forces himself to make several ice demons to help in taking them out, distracting them as he tries to push through. Suddenly, to his dismay, the floor began to burst with a volley of spikes, shattering most of the demons before they could get to the other warriors. Quickly, Ghelgath fires more ice from his hands, making himself a safe passage way through the spikes and towards the elevators. There he form more soldiers to distract the other warriors as he tries to find an elevator in which to enter, forcing to pick one that was not with his partner by slicing the spikes with his Lich Axe.

---

Meanwhile, the hulking Zeruel continues to float down the bridge at a speedy pace, slightly lagging behind, but not to the point where he is in last. Several female warriors appeared by his side, along with everyone else, yet the Arm of God barely takes note of them as he continues trudging along. He sees Barlog up ahead, carrying Luxuria on his back, muttering how she'll be getting wet and such. Her lust for such disgraceful and lewd things seemed to bother the Arm Of God, not to mention the fact that she's helping him with her axe in tow. His eyes glow for a minute as he launches two tendrils to subdue the woman, latching onto both arms, in an attempt to pull her off of such disgusting heathen.

"Whore Princess of the Uterine Sea," booms Zeruel with glorious might, "You've become an annoyance. ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL."

Using three more tendrils sprouting from his back, they made a beeline head towards the Princess, attempting to punch the living shit out of her.

"So, I can see that someone else thought about not squandering their fist round roll. Well, let us see what fate has in store for the Infernal Bootlickers, shall we?" Despite her lack of even the least speck of respect for anyone other than herself, Hohenheim was amused that someone finally had decided to break the boredom established by almost everyone else. One could very well infer the smirk on her face by the tone of her voice as she announced the card that had been drawn for the Demons, under Sliske's request. "Number eighteen, The Moon! That'll be a fun one, hahaha!."

With a snap of the Alchemist's fingers, the world around the Demon's seemed to shift and weave. A strong nausea would take them, forcing the Demons to their knees, puking. However, instead of whatever contents their stomachs may have, what came out of their mouths was a black, oily ichor, a living shadow, if you will call it so. Soon enough, it began to form and take shape as Hohenheim explained what had just happened. "I hope you appreciate a bit of your own looks at the mirror. Before each of you is a doppelganger, a being that represents all the repressed feelings, the fear, lust and darkness on your hearts. As well as having absolutely the same powers and appearance as you all. They are going to try to kill you naturally, as soon as I finish this speech. I hope your narcissistic lot like fighting yourselves. Hahahaha!" And, just as Hohenheim finished her speech, the Nausea would pass, but not before the doppelgangers made their first move.

Fran's clone rushing at her, trying to bind her with a copy of her own lasso, before axing the original up the face.

Henry's clone opening his own gates trowing a pair of grenades at his counterpart, before drawing a pair of sub machine guns the greedy demon knew too well and opening fire with a fit of insane laughter.

Balrog's clone didn't lost a moment in planting his feet on the ground and unleashing all his dakka at his original... and whatever else was on the way.

Gelgath's clone summoned a wave of ice soldiers to fight his own original, before rushing to meet him with a copy of his own axe.

Suparna's clone attempted to consume her original, in a gruesome battle that's better left on the fringe of imagination.

And, finally, Sliske's clone summoned one of his War Father's, commanding it to begin spawning minions, before trying to take advantage of Sliske's recovering state to blast him with two fireballs.


@Lmpkio @Grombus @Banana @floodtalon @The 42nd Gecko @Mega Birb @Awesomoman64 @Ryonara @Flamelord @Lucius Cypher @Lonewolf685 @TheWindel

If Miyu had been a machine, she would have picked her shields such that only the Angels would have been shielded from Ni-Mu's barrage, but she didn't have the time to express such finness, instead having to shield the entire bridge from Ni-Mu's barrage. Fortunately, shielding a good sized platoon from heavy artillery fire was the exact purpose of the Daimyo, so shielding a bridge was within its capabilities.

That said, Ni-Mu's tech was vastly superior to Daimyo's old and never top of the line to begin with tech, and so the shield would get broken through VERY quickly, despite the scale difference and how this was the Daimyo's literally only special ability to direct the power of its fusion reactors towards. Fortunately, Juno had given everyone a boost, so that most everyone was through before Ni-Mu's barrage overwhelmed the Diamyo's shields. But even in those bare moments, it had already drained 80% of the shields.



Speaking of which, there was the fact that they were all being force pushed by their friendly neighborhood Juno into a wall, ceiling, and floor of more spikey pointy bits. Miyu barely had time to register that she was tripping every single mine, with her face, as the Diamyo tumbled head over heels down the bridge. Fortunately, with the mine's lack of explosions, they were low collateral, high piercing type damage, exactly what Miyu's variant of Mantle of Unconquerable Sun was designed to stop.

Summoning the last of her shields in "deceleration mode" Miyu created four weak panes of shields in front of each of the Amazons that got pushed and Tartys and any of her other allies she could protect (she wasn't going to bother trying to declerate Zeruel, and she missed a few others), to help decelerate them (by having them slam through each of them) before they slammed into Ni-Mu's second attack.

Of course, that left the Daimyo no shields or time or attention to spend decelerating or defending itself, and Miyu simply tumbled through the spikes, causing mayhem and destruction and flying sharpnel. By the time it stopped, the Mantle had been overwhelmed, and the Daimyo was a sputtering impaled wreck. With it's last efforts, it raised its hands.



Flipping off both Ni-Mu and Juno, before a handful of missiles that were still operational started streaking towards Ni-Mu's general vicinity, and the Daimyo exploded into clouds of sparks and smoke that covered a significant part of the room.

@Flamelord@KoL

"Pardon me sir, but, do you know the way? We're a bit lost." A figure stepped into the mailroom who looked exceedingly out of place in the technological citadel of Eos, or even Hyperion in general, looking like she should be in the radiant halls of heaven or a painting of the archaic past. Her blade was drawn and on her shoulders, literally dripping fire. A closer inspection revealed a slow-burning mechanical lubricant had gotten on her blade, and then been ignited. In human terms, she might as well have had a sword fresh with blood on her shoulders.

"I think we were supposed to report, about something, for something. It was important, I think, but we're not sure. But I keep going the wrong places and we keep getting stopped." Well, that explained the sword.... But the inconsistent pronoun use was still a mystery.

Was it the fate of the Machina for their frontline, foolhardishly charge straight at the enemy commanders to always be crazy? First Grafdakka, who at least was crazy in a "destroy the enemy at all costs" way, and now.. This.

@Mega Birb

It seemed taking a step onto the bridge was the first step into absolute madness. The storm Dora had summoned was turned into a blade storm as the rain became swords falling upon anyone who was currently traversing. Though Omega technically wouldn’t need to worry, he was right next to Miyu when she activated her shield to block the incoming weaponry so he was fine either way. Then. Everything happened.

First, Omega heard someone yell “Choo Choo” behind him. Turning back he saw a massive hulk of metal and flesh start his engines and charge straight at him. He quickly turned to Miyu to alert her. ”Miyu watch ou-” before he could get his warning out, he felt a slight tingle through his body and the next thing he knew everyone on the bridge had gone flying. All he could muster at the sight was, ”Whoa!”

It didn’t help that just after, Balrog came barreling through him much faster than initially planned thanks to the push. ”WHOA!” He yelled in surprise. Had Omega not been a spirit he would have been a pancake, but instead the demon just passed through him harmlessly, though Omega always hated the feeling of someone going through him. Which is why Juno also charging through him to get a chance at attacking Balrog didn’t make things better.

”Okay seriously? Can no one see me standing here? Whatever.” He continued on the bridge with little obstruction that would affect him and arrived at the lobby entrance to see what the cluster of flying people had become. To his shock, the lobby had become a large iron maiden with spears and lances everywhere to impale those dropping in. While some, mostly Machina, looked like they had avoided them others clearly took a nasty hit from them all.

They wouldn’t need to worry about one group it seemed as it appeared as though the demons were fighting themselves, or at least shadow clones of themselves. That left the Machina and the Lamia if they survived the spears. With the amazons the Angles could deal with the large snake women as the primitive warriors probably dealt with their kind before, but the Machina as always still had the advantage over heaven. Glancing back at the shadow clone demons, Omega had and idea.

”Excuse me, miss Hohenheim? Would you mind drawing one of them tarot cards for the Machina? Think it’s time they got to have some fun.”

@The 42nd Gecko@KoL

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With his enemies lined up, Balrog was sure he could knock a few off. But before he could even make contact with anyone, his speed more than doubled as something from behind force pushed him along with everyone else. The only person he managed to even get near was a small ghostly figure but Balrog had gone right through him. Enraged he turned around mid air to see who the culprit was just in time to feel her blade slice across his chest cutting part way into his armor.

”You? Balrog remember you.” he growled grabbing Juno and firing his machine gun arm point blank at her. His attack wouldn’t last long as he hit the ground full force on a bed of spikes. Not too different from his bed at home, but still not pleasant to land on either. Juno still in hand Balrog slammed her into the spikes as well while using the same motion to push himself up.

”Balrog...Make little girl...Pay… Just as he was able to stand the large demon dropped to his knees as a sudden sickness washed over him. ”uuuggghhh. Balrog no feel so goo-*hurl* ” before he could finish Balrog upchucked a massive amount of black goo which he made sure got on Juno as much as possible.

As the last little spittle hit the ground the ink like substance began to form in front of him and become, himself? ”What this?” Balrog asked in confusion only to be answered by machinegun fire and a rocket barrage, which in his defense is how Balrog would have answered that question as well. In retaliation Balrog smacked his clone across the face with his twin flails and followed up by grabbing the clone and slamming him into the pointy floor. Now it was his turn to unleash a massive rocket barrage at his fake.

@KoL

For all the chaos happening on the edge of the Nexus at this point, Marquis was still in Hyperion performing one of his usual, menial duties: Sorting through Eos' mail. As rare as it was, she had actually gotten a package from an Angel, which immediately raised suspicion. What business did one of those haughty beings have sending a sweater to the leader of the Machina? He had been considering just tossing the thing, if anything it would slow her processors, but he had a duty. As stupid as it was...

He had been running probably the fifth microscopic scan on the piece of clothing when someone new showed up, distracting him from the careful combing for atomic explosives or toxic elements. Sure they were primitive when it came to technology, but there were quite a few he knew of that were capable of weaving a bomb into a sweater, and the one that sent this thing was one of them. He looked up and grabbed Bindlebane off the table beside him in a flash as the newcomer spoke, the barrel and stock shortening to the standard length of a revolver just at it reached her nose. "Drop your weapon and identify yourself!" His body hadn't necessarily moved, only his head and arm to the side in intimidating swiftness. How someone like this was able to get this close to the queen already was a mystery...

Marquis would be having a chat with the guards in Hyperion later.

"Sure thing, sir. Oh, hmm, pardon me." Alexi dropped her weapon, clattering to the ground and setting the carpet from 'sizzling ominiously' to 'outright on fire'. With her boots getting a bit toasty Alexi stepped forward to escape the fire, nudging her forehead into the gun to gain some ground.

"We always wonder why you guys use these things. They're so predictable, they only shoot in one direction. How do you ever hit anyone? When they're looking away?" There was a dangerous smile as she examined the weapon that was point blank with her skin even as she invaded Marquis' personal space.

An ominous pause.

"Oh yeah! You wanted to know who we are. I'm Knight of Winter, Alexi. There are some others, but Alexi is fine. We'll understand, it's easier that way." For someone who was being 'helpful' and held at gunpoint, her body language and facial expressions seemed to imply she felt she was the one who had him hostage, or at least that she thought she had the upper hand.

@Mega Birb

One crazy thing after another. About midway across the bridge Shizuka felt a ripple of force touch her shield. She had just enough time to brace herself as the rest of it sent just about everyone sprawling into the lobby room. Shizuka wasn't sure if this was Hohenheim's mechanization or the failed attempt to clear the bridge. Whatever the choice Shizuka wasn't going to waste time. She was blown into the room, but used her wings and shield to help slow her flight enough that she could make a straight line towards one of the elevators. Shizuka's senses were going wild as she absorbed the various things going on, noticing that the demons had copies of themselves fighting each other, Henry making a run for one of the elevators, and Ni-Mu deploying spikes along the walls to impale everyone else.

"Avoid the enemies for now, our priority is to reach the elevators. Henry is about to make a run for one and I don't have a visual on Miyu. Her mech seems destroyed, but she could still be alive."

Shizuka fired a burst of plasma towards the chassis of the Daimyo as the maid shielded herself from it's explosion. Assuming Miyu didn't have an escape pod, Shizuka intended to make sure she was dead this time. But Shizuka didn't bother to double check and instead made a straight line for one of the elevators, using her wing's speed and her energy shield to protect her from any attempt at interception. If they didn't hurry Shizuka worried about what else would come into the room.

Meanwhile Hibiki was teleported to Hohenheim's lair, where she immediately disarmed herself and got out of her combat armor. Patting down her skirt the maid bowed towards Hohenheim and went to prepare her a refreshment. She reached into her bomb bag to retrieve the miniature matter replicator, which usually made her bombs. However with a bit of fiddling, Hibiki was able to make it produce some foodstuffs she could quickly prepare. And being the best maid there is, Hibiki was able to whip up opal jelly, doughnuts, and a glass of ice tea. She brought these over to Hohenheim on a silver platter Hibiki also made with her matter replicator, holding it steadily in her hands. "Your refreshments. I shall be your maid for today, and what do you wish for me to refer you as?"

@floodtalon@Flamelord@Banana@Lonewolf685@KoL

Zyata found herself with a magical mandate to aid the forces of heaven. And a target rich environment. Well, at least that might be fun. Still on the far side of the bridge, she took aim at a target she could still see who seemed unlikely to dodge, not seeming all that agile. The wind and rain would be tricky, but nothing she couldn't handle.

~Time to enjoy the thrill of the hunt.~ Zyata got down to one knee, resting her rifle on the other to steady her shot.

And so Zyata fired a shell at the center back of Sliske's Warfather while Sliske was hurling shadow. Immediately upon firing, she rolled behind the nearest piece of cover to hide, hopefully before any friends of the one attacked could turn and spot the firee. The nearest piece of cover was the discarded snack and drink bar of the Daimyo. She discharged the shell casing and reloaded, keeping an eye out for retribution.

@Mega Birb

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Bonesword was watching the horrible scene unfold in front of his eye sockets. It was utter chaos, with Daimyos exploding, force pushes, demon doppelgangers (Thank fuck Bonesword fought for the Machina), and the somewhat-quake getting even harder. It was a noticeable rumbling at this point, and from the sounds of whatever was coming, it would be there in the heart of the battle quite soon. With a flash of a smile and a mad dash towards the elevators, the rumbling vanished without a trace. Bonesword felt like it would at least cause a bit of a distraction for the Demons and Angels. Over the Machina comms, the skeleton spoke again."I'm gonna try and steal the elevator from Henry. Ignore the rumbling that just occurred, that was something I'm gonna deploy the next round." With a quick flash of green flaring up from Boneswords eyes, he threw two of his shitty non-magical swords in front of Henry's path, hopefully causing him to stumble and allowing the swordsman to get into the elevator before Henry.

While throwing the swords, the skeleton began calling to Hohenheim for something. "Hohenheim! Calling a card draw, aimed at Angels. Thank you!" @KoL

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@Lmpkio @Grombus @floodtalon @The 42nd Gecko @Mega Birb @Awesomoman64 @Ryonara @Flamelord @Lucius Cypher @Lonewolf685 @TheWindel

Tartys

With her Amazonian escort in tow, Tartys had along the bridge at as quick a clip as she could manage with the storm that was engulfing the entire place, to try and compensate for the delay that had taken place and to make up some ground. But really, when this was over they were going to need to have a serious lesson in making sure the beings of Heaven weren't actively trying to screw each other over in addition to their foes.

As if to prove her point completely, the two of them were hit from behind by some sort of gravity wave, and a quick glance back in mid lurch indicated that it had come from Juno. This might have been somewhat typical for their supposed 'ally', but Tartys was understandably growing leery of venturing onto a battlefield with her again, given that she seemed to be more on Hohenheim's side than on their own. She was probably trying to get the challenge to end as quickly as possible so she could get to that unspecified 'date' that Hohenheim had offered her.

At least they didn't have to spend very long in the rain of swords because of that, but in turn they found themselves headed towards what looked like some medieval torture room, done in a light show of holograms. Miyu's shield was appreciated by the both of them, and as she flew Tartys called upon what magic she could bring to bear to enhance it and try to protect herslef and her allies as they came in for a landing.

Pain flared into existence, and for a moment Tartys found herself unable to move. It was only hanks to her Amazonian ally that she was pulled away, and shaky vision resolved to see that her wings had been torn and leg injured, while the Amazonian had a wicked cut on her arm. "Let me help with that," she offered, rising to her feet once more as she marshaled glowing light.

But the woman brushed her off, nodding as she drew her weapon. "Not now," she explained as she readied a gunsword.

Looking around the lobby Tartys was surprised to find that the Demons were under attack from what looked like copies of themselves, powerset and everything. The Machina had come out better than everyone else had, and now there was a full on melee going on as every faction fought each other as well as the lamias from before. "Focus on taking out the Demons," Tartys told her companion. "We won't have a better opportunity while they're distracted."

The Amazonian nodded, firing off her gunblade at Sliske before moving to engage him and his doppelganger at close range, while Tartys herself tried to fly momentarily before being brought down by the pain of using her wings. Instead she huffed, dispatching a random minion before unleashing a burst of magical energy at the ice walls that were now present, blasting through them and further at Ghelgath behind. Get rid of the Demons here, and this fight would become a whole lot easier.

@Awesomoman64@The 42nd Gecko@Lmpkio@Mega Birb@KoL

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Tatiana Lorenz

Moving across the bridge, Tatiana nodded as Shizuka issued her orders, and directed her fire accordingly. It might not kill him, but it would make crossing the bridge a nuisance which was better than nothing. And really, any additional trouble for the demons was good for them, given how they matched up in general. But she was determined to actually get inside the building before everyone was wiped out, considering how much this had gone off the rails already.

At least, until things got crazy again. The storm of blades wasn't as much of an issue given that it wasn't aimed at her in the first place, but the giant wave of force that slammed into her from behind was. One of her rifles was torn from her grip as she fkipped head over heels, her thrusters firing to try and correct her flight path before she was tossed off the bridge. Fortunately sh wasn't immediately tossed into the void, though she came unnervingly close to smashing into a wall somewhere along the way.

Shaking her head as she recovered, Tatiana sighted the incoming missiles and quickly reacted to fire off a couple flares to hopefully divert them. She trusted Ni-Mu to defend herself, of course, but the less damage they took in the initial stage the better. Especially with the demons throwing out mines and everything else going to complete chaos.

"I've got your back," she told Shizuka as a few of her remaining funnels deployed, hovering nearby as they fired at any nearby targets that presented themselves, while she in turn moved to lay down covering fire for their commander, and to block Henry from his own mad dash as best she could. They'd have to go one at a time, but she had no problem with delaying the other combatants so the Machina could get through first.

@Ryonara@The 42nd Gecko@KoL@floodtalon@Banana