As Zeruel awaits a response or action from this mysterious girl, both characters would look up to see a daunting sight, one that is seen throughout the entire battlefield. Several golden star-like objects began falling from the sky at a tremendous speed, crashing into the ground and lakes of Arcadia. For Zeruel, it was a rather unusual sight and he doesn't know what to make of it. Regardless he holds his ground motionlessly as several of these stars crashed close to his position, with one of them being unusually bigger than the others. As the Laguna Angel examines the star, it was blatantly clear that something wasn't right. These were definitely not the cosmic comets coming from a meteor shower. No, they didn't seem natural. But who created them? He considered the astrologer Ciel as the candidate, but she wasn't in this battle. She even confirmed it herself. But if its not her...

Then what did?

His answer would come as soon as the dust settled around the clearing. The candidate? It was another mysterious female character, one that seemed to also be radiating an incredibly strong dark aura. She wasn't impressively tall, but had a golden-black outfit, topped off by a cape and large horns that resembled those of a bull's... as well as a Hellish succubus. Like the vampire-female, the Bull was someone he did not recognize. Zeruel did not attack however, rather keeping still and silent, as to find out an answer from these two mysterious units.

They spoke of some preparations, but revealed barely anything about what it is. They mentioned someone, or something, named Drasil and his complaints about what happened at...

The Alchemist's Laboratory.

The first laboratory that came to mind was Hohenheim's, the same one that Heaven and the other two factions participated in. Of course, Zeruel didn't participate the event, and neither did his retainer Kushiel, but the announcement from the Imperator did mention these specific details. Plus, he had some knowledge about the place as well. Whoever these characters are, they must have had something to do with the competition that took place in that lab castle. The question is what they were doing there. Of course, once they looked at him did they stop with their little chat, the Bull one teasing the Vampire with a suspicious glance and how she 'wasn't the type to make friends'. Zeruel had to chime in at that point.

"IDENTIFY YOURSELVES." Zeruel thunders over them imposingly.

But of course, they didn't see him as anything important, at least not in his mangled form. After a few insults thrown at his pride, the female characters entered a portal and left the battlefield, leaving the Laguna Angel alone in the burning forest that surrounded him. But by then, his regeneration had healed him to about 62%, just over the half way mark. He was blatantly still injured, but he was healthy enough to haul himself out of here. He had both little care or energy to continue fighting in this battle. The most important thing was simply...

What the hell did he just witness?

These characters didn't seem to be simply demons. Actually he can't quite confirm if they were demons at all. However, the only thing he was left with... was this scroll. Normally Zeruel would discard these papers of nonsense, but for once was he actually curious. What is this scroll? What does it contain? Why was it given to him? He had many questions that had to be answered. Yet one thing remained sure. Imperator Deva must be informed about this... event.

Transforming into his flying mode, Zeruel observes the chaos of Arcadia one last time, looking at the carnage that was brought upon this place. He glanced at the battles in the distance, the place were he fell, and back again. He was bested today... and he will be judged by the rest of the Laguna Council, but his dominance over them will still remain. He must simply learn from this event and be more cautious. After a long silence, the Laguna Angel turns around and leaves the burning battlefield and everyone still in it.

---

As Ghelgath tries to buy time within his little "Fortress of Solitude", he witnesses the defeats of two other Hell warriors. The first was Victoires', who was blasted right from the sky due to Hildr's attack to his left. To his right, both his and Silske's armies were getting obliterated by that Bastion, with the Ice Sargent attempting to strike back, just barely staying alive. And to his far right, Ghelgath sees Ira, the new "Queen" of Hell, having her throat sliced and left for dead. Yup. This new Queen died, having only been on the throne for just a few hours. He knew she wasn't worthy, the others should've listened to him. He may be considered more as an outsider, he still had been around for a pretty long time himself. Regardless, whether the Nexus will revive her or not, her rule will be challenged. Most likely someone is going to reclaim the throne. The Lich King wouldn't mind the throne, but figures that someone much stronger will indeed capture it for itself. Hopefully this new ruler, if one comes up, will be much more promising than this "false" Queen.

As he prepares to retreat, he suddenly sees cracks in the wall as he sees Bastion taking pot-shots at the wall. Ghelgath hisses in anger as he then looks back to where his Blizzard Hunters are chasing Tartys, with each one slowly getting shot down by him. This whole operation was a complete disaster. It was every man for himself. Yet as he observes the flier attempting to get rid of the last figure, he suddenly hears a shot, followed by seeing him stagger and begin falling towards the ground. But before he could do anything, he hears another shot followed by a bright red light pierce his mind and a sharp pain at his left knee.

"FUUUUUUUUUUCK!" he screams agonizingly as he looks down at his knee, revealing a bloody hole in his knee-socket.

This is a problem. Despite Tartys having been taken out, the sniper Marqueis and the Bastion unit were already on his tail. It seems as if he's going to die here...

But hope could save him...

The Ice Sargent had just recovered from almost being knocked out by one of Bastion's blast and gets slowly back onto his feet. He instantly notices that the fire being thrown at him was false, with his remaining units having been mostly destroyed or otherwise dissolving into the ground due to the lack of coordination. He looks up to see Bastion and Marqueis fire down on an ice barrier, where Ghelgath was undoubtedly trying to hide himself and take cover. That barrier wasn't going to hold, yet the Sargent can probably distract or take down one of them to help his general escape. They weren't concentrated on him anyways. One quick decision later, he picks his target. Using his staff he points it in the direction of Marqueis and fires a spell that would freeze the robot sniper upon contact. Whether it would hit or not, it will still provide half a distraction to allow his master to escape.

Meanwhile, the remaining Blizzard Hunter changes course once Tartys began falling to the ground below. Like the Sargent, he was behind both offending characters, who were both shooting down the barrier his creator erected. With a ghostly growl, he unit picks the flying Bastion and attacks her from behind, firing a frozen precision shot at the flying human. If it hit, it would slowly begin freezing her and the unit would attack the distracted unit, biting into her armor and taking her down with her, even if it meant its own destruction by self-destructing itself right in her face.

If both distractions worked, Ghelgath could escape into the woods, where the portal was just beyond that line of trees... but is such luck on his side today?

The battlefield had become one big nightmare. Below, the fires of the forest continued to burn and consume everything in sight while high above, the demonic fog left behind by Victoire served to halt those in the skies. Bastion was panicking now, attempting to avoid the Blizzard Hunter that was now in pursuit of her as well as the fog. She had seen how easily an Angel could be rendered useless in the air and did not desire to share Tartys' fate-

"Gahh!" Bastion cried out, feeling an extreme cold hit her square in the back. Almost instantly her knees buckled as she shivered in desperation, icicles slowly spreading across her body and even creeping to her jet boots. Before she could have time to react, she was tackled by the creature that had done this to her, grunting in pain as it chewed at her armor.

Consequently she was losing control, spiraling in a downwards arc towards the one of the islands below; one of the many currently acting as an inferno. "Get off me!" she said, trying to pound at the ice creature. She wouldn't have to do much because soon enough the Hunter exploded in her face, further sending her rocketing down towards oblivion.

"Arghh!" Bastion cried, choking on the red mist as she fell through that layer and crashed towards the earth unceremoniously. Fire and mist surrounded her on all sides, and Bastion was rendered a quivering and unconscious mess on the forest floor. The rockets in her boots sparked, a sign of their destruction and trickles of blood poured down her face. On the bright side, at lead the ice on her body had melted and the Hunter was dead.

Even in her forced slumber she was wheezing, the mixture of the red mist and the smoke from the flames doing well to keep her passed out. It was doubtful a fellow Machina would save her and even then, it was more doubtful she was in any condition to do anything more in this battle. For now she groaned, twitching and further letting her mind fall to blackness.

---

Henry Pearl Avaritia The 2nd

---

Henry awoke to the smell of smoke and demon mist as he struggled to get up from his prone position. It always sucked when shit like that happened, however it sucked a lot more when he died because of it. He took a look around and saw everything was on fire and people were screaming. "Huh. Can't tell if I died from that sniper or not. Lets take a look around." He cautiously formed a Gate behind him to protect him from any more sniper attacks and began to move forward, searching the island he was on for demons or prisoners.

It was a few minutes later that he saw a familiar looking Machina fall out of the sky, dropping into one of the burning forests. He rushed over as quickly as he could, healing any injuries he had with his Silver Eyes on the way. When he got to Bastion's location he prepared for a fight, but was pleasantly surprised to find she was passed out and bleeding. Huh. Didn't realise she was human. Neat.

Henry reached into the gate he had formed behind him and pulled out a strong restraining collar, latching it onto Bastion and then sitting upon her body. He healed some of her wounds, just enough to keep her from dying though. Then he sat on her like one would sit upon a log in the woods. Classic.

"I wonder how everyone else is doing. Everything being on fire doesn't bode well for our cause. Doesn't bode well for anyone actually. The onlybreaaon I stick around is for cool new stuff honestly. Who the fuck am I talking to?" Henry muttered as he rubbed the spot where he had been shot. Damn that had hurt.

With both Ghelgath and Tartys disabled thanks to Marquis, all that was left to do for the bot was to take the injured Ice Demon back to Hyperion and do unspeakable things to him for one reason or another. As he started towards his fleeing form, slowed thanks to a broken leg, a shard of ice flew by the hunter's body. It was a near miss, but a miss nonetheless, and this prompted the sniper to speed up to a run for his quarry. However, he noticed the vitals belonging to Bastion suddenly drop, much like her current altitude. She wasn't an acceptable capture like everyone else and needed the save. To his knowledge, he was the only one in a position to save her at the moment, and adjusted his plans accordingly.

As he neared Ghelgath, Marquis tossed Bindlebane into the air and caught it by the barrel, index finger slipping into the trigger guard. He came within range of his target and skipped a step, wound up, and swung hard into the back of the demon's head in an attempt to knock him out for the remainder of the battle. Whether or not it worked, hell if it even made contact, wasn't of the robots concern now. With other priorities, he kept running for the closest edge to where Bastion had fallen. The demonic fog everyone was starting to fall victim to reached him partway through his course, and while it did somewhat cloud his vision, this wasn't the acidic breath of the Leviathan that had disabled his body in Ruthria. As such, he paid it very little mind as his right foot made its last solid connection with land for a while, the rest of him skydiving off the isle to save the most important unit the Machina had.

While he fell, he was running calculations for how to land on the ground below without sustaining injury to his platform. The solution came in the form of one of the many trees densely packed in the forest below, which had a few Angelic soldiers impaled on them by now. As he neared one of these many organisms, he stuck one arm out and dug the ends of his fingers into the trunk, slowing him significantly and causing him to pretty much corkscrew down to the forest floor. By the time his feet met the ground once again, Bindlebane had found its way under the robot's arm as usual, back in its rifle form. Classy as ever.

A short walk to where he had tracked Bastion's fall later, the android spotted her prone form in something of a clearing along with a demon that should've been dead an hour ago. Somehow, Henry had survived being technically decapitated, and was now using the unconscious super soldier as a chair. Fitting, really. Anyhow, the sniper raised his gun and took careful aim. He would only have one chance to save the closest thing he had to a charge from becoming corrupted for a second time. He took his time with the calculations this time, wanting to make sure that both nothing went wrong and the sitting demon would be caught unaware. Everything seemed to go still for a moment, as if the deadly fog and aggressive fire didn't exist, like the Nexus was in perfect harmony. "My apologies, Bastion."

And then that harmony was broken with two deafening cracks, both coming from the treeline. One shot definitely hit its mark, as the still form of Bastion gained an exit wound in the side of her head that would make most uneasy. The second was less certain, however, as that one had been aimed at the center of Henry's back, right between the shoulder blades. Whether or not that made contact was all based on the demon's reaction time to a new prisoner getting offed before he could do what demons down with them. Marquis, unwilling to stick to one location for so long, high tailed it deeper into the woods and to the east of where he had been.

---

---

Meanwhile, as the demonic fog spread, the legion of Harpies that had been doing a fantastic job of proving themselves as useful got caught in its radius. Unable to supply their massive lungs with the oxygen required to sustain flight, they began falling unconscious in droves like missiles from the sky. They landed everywhere, on trees, in lakes, even on active combatants should they be unlucky enough.

Arcadia was essentially desecrated, once a possible home outside Celestia for the avians, now a wasteland no one would touch for years to come. Morale among these people had to have been killed, to say the least.

As the injured Ghelgath attempts to crawl away from the hellish battlefield that was covered in both fire and the blood of pretty much everyone here, he glances at the two opponents and thought to have seen a sliver of hope pierce the smoky clouds above him. As his ice wall began to crumble to the shots of the flying Bastion, he can see that one of his Blizzard Hunters actually survived the chase and proceeded to take down the terrorizing Machina female that basically dominated the battlefield up to this point. Not even the mighty Zeruel could've tanked her attack without getting severely injured. And he already tanked two demon attacks with little damage so that was already something to be extremely wary of. But now that she was down, pressure decreased substantially.

Then Ghelgath sees the sniper, Marquis, jump down from his former hunting spot, straight towards him. In the distance, he can see his Ice Sargent slowly trying to catch up, but fail due to him still trying to adjust for the impact compensation from Bastion's blast. This wasn't good. As he sees the robot toss his gun into the air and back in his hands, the Ice Lich panicked as he tried to crawl for his life. He wasn't going to die here, or get captured. As he continued to crawl into the bushes, the robot got closer and closer to him...

"Shit shit shit shit SHIT SHIIIIT, SHII~!"

A thundering crack tumbled his vision as he falls face first into the dirt. His vision rapidly changed from day to night as he seemed paralyzed and unconscious. However, despite his condition and his bleeding, Ghelgath was actually still conscious. Yet he kept still, hoping again that he can find an opening to escape. As he looks back however, he can hear the sniper actually walking away from him, probably to attend to Bastion's condition. Then the demonic fog covered the land as he could no longer see Marquis.

Now was his chance! Scrambling to his feet, Ghelgath grabs ahold of the nearest tree to him as he regains his balance. His vision was slightly blurry, while being a tinge red of the pain he suffered. From beyond the fog, he can faintly see the green glow of the portal, just below this hill. Suddenly, he hears another pair of footsteps come towards him at a rapid pace. Fearing that it was the robot sniper, Ghelgath lost his nerve and suddenly fell down in severe fright. The last thing he could see before blacking out were the boots of, not the sniper, but those of his Ice Sargent coming to his aid...

The Sargent picked the general off from the ground and carried him back to the portal, where the two were both barely able to survive the battle. This entire battle was just a complete disaster for the Demons of Hell. May better luck come to them in future battles.

But at least Ghelgath had an extremely close save, so thats a plus...

Henry Pearl Avaritia The 2nd

---

2 gunshots rang out. 1 bullet entered his Gate, a high caliber sniper rifle round. The other bullet went into a place that was much less fortunate. "SHIT!" Henry stood up quickly and his eyes began to glow as he used his Silver Eyes to repair Bastion's brain. It wasn't enough though, her life was rapidly fading. 'Wait. Silver Eyes can create anything. Maybe...' Henry focused as hard as he could (while still keeping an ear out for the sniper) and he created something amazing. He created life.

Henry put his hand to Bastion's neck and watched his hand glow, felt her vitals evening out, God damn this is tiring. Henry cut off the flow of energy quickly so he could rest for a minute. He opened another Gate to block Bastion just in case the sniper shot from the same place, now the only way to get at them was from places Henry could easily see. "Lets fucking go asshole! Stop hiding like a bitch!" Suddenly Henry drew the Cheaters Blade and cut down the trees in a wide circle around him.

The thunderous shattering of reality being torn rumbled through the thicket as the skies filled with a rain of golden meteors, nearly startling Zak off the branch he stood upon. "...Well that bodes well..." As the distant impacts shook the ground and a mist of vaporized water began to fill the atmosphere, Zak pulled off his jacket, tossing it over his shoulder before looking to Harley after she had directed him toward the flaming islands above. He paused for a moment before scoffing, blowing a sharp puff of smoke at the patterned girl. "Ye mean the precious treasure is some bloody sniper?" He asked, looking on as the dense red mist slowly encroached on them, filling the forest with heat and a chocking steam as the raging inferno of a fire shined out in the not to far distance.

"Did I stutter?" Harley said right back, eyes flashing in irritation. Her gaze trailed from the idiotic Angel to the sky lighting up above. The sight of those meteors curled her expression into one of non-tolerance. Well then, things were going well. "I'd tell you to go investigate those meteors if you're so scared one of one sniper, but oh wait, they're already gone. Your own slowness just cost you a fortune. Oh, but there's still time to go pick off one of the snipers. I reccomend the British chap who fancies himself the pride and joy of High Queen Eos herself. Because that's always fun."

"Ugh..." An apathetic sigh escaped Zak, tossing the butt of his joint into the approaching haze. "Ah hate havin ta have a plan...." As the red mist finally overtook them, Zak recoiled behind his shirt sleeve, coughing as the harsh sting of the demonic properties of the smog filled his throat and nostrils. "Point me in a direction checkers. Ah'll go ahead an' give ye the benefit o' the doubt this time." With subtle pain nagging at his senses, and his vision all but completely obstructed, the fiery haired angel decided to put his fate in the hands of this mysterious girl. Perhaps not the smartest thing to do, but certain circumstances required dire decisions on the spot. Harley wasted no time in tugging on Zak's sleeve and pointing him to the west; whether he chose to fly above the mist or endure it was up to him.

"So it turns out there's someone else on the field that might catch your interest. A big old Demon with the body of a Machina. Probably stole it. You can either gun it for him in the direction I pointed or keep on trying for that sniper," she said, seemingly unaffected by the gas. In fact, it looked as if the mist was passing through her as if she was a phantom. "Good luck now. Oh, and hope you don't die on the way!" Wincing from the pain, Zak peeled open his eyes and looked where Harley directed him. "Good enough for me..." Dropping backwards off the tree branch, Zak flipped through the tinted air and landed on the ground below, stumbling slightly as he braced against a near by tree for balance. Flames more brilliant than those that raged on every horizon spewed from Zak's back, spreading into a pair of fiery wings. Rocks and dust scattered out across the ground as the red haired angel took off into the air in a massive wing beat, splitting through the red fog, surrounding himself in flames as he gained speed. Finally, he broke through the smoggy surface of the mist, raising into air that wasn't as severely effected.

He stayed midair, exactly above where Harley had roughly directed him, waiting for several moments and observing the tainted lands below. The once lush and vibrant lands masses that surrounded Archadia had become a toxic wasteland stained with red and corpses. The sight was a sorrowful one. It might have been a nice fishing spot if it wasn't for the destructive conflicts wrought on by the three factions for no real reason. Zak contemplated this for a moment, along with wondering what was to be achieved by all this. What purpose did their benevolent leader have for sending them here? Suddenly Zak's thought were interrupted as he heard the familiar crack of a rifle rattle out from below. "Profound thinkin' time over!"

Bright light escaped Zak's body as he clapped his hands together, letting his jacket fall into the mist below, disappearing into the thick haze as it cascaded down. The brimming light spread out from the angels body, splitting off into several flaming masses. Each took shape, seven in all. Three winged hounds, two small oddly shaped humanoids, a moderately sized winged serpent, and a large oval golem looking creature, all quickly formed in a matter of a few seconds. Their features were vague hidden in the silhouette of the flames that made up their bodies. They all dropped down into the haze, accompanied swiftly by Zak who shot between them and downward toward the gunfire. Gaining momentum quickly, Zak surpassed his creations and zipped through the air in a ball of flames, sharing an appearance with the meteors that struck earlier.

Flames dropped out of the skies, landing in a scattered pattern as the seven fiery creatures made landfall. Fire rippled against the ground as they became amorphous upon contact, but they quickly regained their shape, swiftly grouping and running toward the gunshots. Heat wafted off the flaming entities as they roiled against the backdrop of crimson fog, splitting through the thicket leaving serpentine trails of flames behind.

Bits of wood and debris exploded into the air in a direct path through the forest as the shooting star that was Zak's flaming form drew close to the ground, busting through trees along the way. The mechanical sniper, Marquise would likely hear the roaring sound if he didn't see the bright image of the flame engulfed angel rocketing right for him. Within seconds, a swath of ground and charred trees was cleared away feet from the sniper, blown out by the force of the angel crashing near him. Rocks, cinders, and chunks of Archadian soil were sent flying at Marquise. Finally the smoke cleared, revealing the stern faced Zak who stood up from the small man sized crater he had made upon impact. There was a moment of silence from the angel before he finally looked toward the mechanical sniper who had been fleeing into the woods. "Oi!" Shouted Zak in an irate tone toward the sniper. He accompanied the shout with a brief and deft motion filled with spite; him kicking a rock off the ground into his hand and tossing it at the robot. "Ye shouldn't throw things!" He repeated the motion and threw a second rock, this one a bit smaller. "That includes bullets ye bloody tin can! Doesn't feel so nice does it?!"




Stars glistened brilliantly in the distant cosmos above the sandy wasteland of the mysterious barren nowhere in which Miyu currently found herself. Among the shining astral bodies above, splitting through the darkness like a swarm of fireflies, was a flurry of streaking lights. At first it looked no different than a meteor shower, lighting up the sky with sparse strings of white and gold. However as the moments passes and they arched across the sky, the sight grew, as if approaching the ground. Pretty soon it was obvious that this was in fact what they were doing, lighting up the dark night sky as they rapidly grew closer. The dull rumble of the meteors pushing the atmosphere out of their way began to bellow out over the wasteland as the shower of light rocketed toward the the sandy surface of the land.

Sounds reverberated through the cockpit of Daimyo forebodingly as one of the falling streaks of light passed closely overhead, tearing through the air in a ball of gold, blue, and white flames like nothing of the mortal world. The object continued onward, shaking the ground as it neared landfall until it finally wracked the earth with a deafening crash. The impact sent tremors rattling across the terrain as a geyser of smoke and sand shot up into the air filling the surrounding area with a small smog of dust and debris. Sparks of static electricity arched through the cloud like fine bolts of lightning as the dust slowly settled.

It didn't take too long for the air to clear up, leaving in place of the vision obstructing cloud, a large crater shaped hole which extended out for several yards. At the center of the crater, nestled snugly within the hardened sand solidified from the heat, was a misleadingly small, oval sphere like object. It was a blend of black and chrome, patterned with a sparse array of blinking lights and released low repetitive chirping noises. The object was similar in shape to a large dinosaur egg, and about the same size, sitting at about two feet tall. A faint cloud of steam subtly wafted off the sphere as it cooled from the heat of entering the atmosphere. With the dust finally settled and the rest of the shooting star like objects passing over the face of the planet like nothing out of the ordinary, the strange object was left to sit silently among the dunes a few minutes away from the Traitor Angel.

Balrog and Grafdakka met with a great crash. His oppisite’s had one arm made entirely of choppy, shready, pointy, smashy, and otherwise deadly melee weapons. One such weapons even gummed up the chains in Grafdakka’s saws. However he also knew something of Balrog’s weakness; his other arm consisted of a variety of cannons, launchers, and other ranged weapons. It’s only real melee option is to hit someone with it, which granted while entirely functional in that regard, it also meant it was far less suited when Grafdakka slammed his other chainsaws into said arm, his blades working their way into the gun barrels.

With their arms locked, Grafdakka bashed his head right into Balrog’s face, though considering he had some extra chainsaws as well, Grafdakka also repositioned a few chainsaws to try and slice through Balrog’s abdomen. ”YOU DO NOT DESERVE MY POWER! WE WERE SUPPOSE TO DEFEAT THAT SNAKE! BUT YOU BETRAYED ME!” Grafdakka was a bit fuzzy about the actual details of what happened at Alt Signia, but the fury allowed him to find the strength within himself to push Balrog downwards. Putting his thrusters at full power, Grafdakka kept pushing, intending to crash Balrog right into the ground.

Around that same time however, a vicious red fog began to cover the area, including Grafdakka. He recognized this as Victoire’s magic; he’s seen something similar at the Eliticor and Rutharia. While Grafdakka was certain that his bulk could withstand the corrosive mist, what he was slightly more concerned about is this annoying fog seeping inside of him and corroding more delicate parts of his machine body. While his spirit could force the animation, it’s much more tiring. He had to kill Balrog quickly and find Victoire. Surely killing her will remove the fog as well.

So to that end Grafdakka held nothing back. While his chainsaw arms continued to hold Balrog’s arms, Grafdakka used his head and legs to bash at other parts of Balrog, mostly to distract him from the fact they were quickly falling back towards the ground and into a mountain, which was mostly obscured by the thick red mist. Grafdakka is only vaguely aware that it might be behind them. He would also try his best to get at least one foot between himself and Balrog, as he had another, much more powerful thruster in his foot. Usually he only uses it in bursts instead of sustained flights for jumps or in this instance, a kick. He had to hurry however. Graf could already hear wires inside of him snap and spark as that mist started eating him from the inside out.

@Awesomoman64

As luck would have it, the time Henry spent healing Bastion's head had given Marquis enough time to get further into the forest, farther than the sweeping strike of the Cheater's Blade. As such, he remained concealed for the moment, vision becoming more and more obstructed by the red mist that had blanketed most, if not all of Arcadia at this point. While he ran, something started going awry with his systems, specifically judgement processors and speech programs. For what reason he did not know, though it didn't matter to him. He still had the task of either escaping or killing Henry to complete. He started to ease off his run around a new area to take shots at, though something was amiss. He wasn't as far back as he should be to be safe after the shot, and there was something else.

An Angel was throwing rocks at his head. The first one made solid contact and put a small dent in the back of his head, though the second pinged off the side as he turned around. Rather than the normal, generally delightful voice belonging to the Servant of the High Queen, a distorted mess of sound came out that was somehow just barely intelligible. "zzZid zew zzatzuallZEe zink zzzZZat Vrrd VvvVVrk?" He unceremoniously stuck his right arm back with Bindlebane in hand as it shortened to a revolver, and pulled the trigger on Zak. A singular engraved bullet flew straight for the left side of his chest, highly unlikely to miss even as the robot functionally deteriorated.

He turned back to the matter at hand while the weapon expanded once again, eye looking down the scope to not only find Bastion in one piece, but Henry raging about in an attempt to find him. "ZzR ze ZzzRRTLL vllLkd MmZ ZZZZt..." Making note of this for the future, he took aim rather hastily and took another shot at Bastion, achieving a similar result as before, though this time off by a couple inches. The bullet tore through her jaw and went down into her chest, where it buried itself in a lung. With the hope that she was done for good this time, the android stood up much slower than usual, leaving him open from an attack from Zak, should he prove to be alive, or Henry, should he find the sniper's location.

Henry Pearl Avaritia The 2nd

---

Another gunshot rang out, but this time Henry was prepared for an attack on Bastion. He sliced the bullet in half, with each half lodging itself into the ground beside Bastion. He also now knew where the sniper was. Number one priority, fucking killing the asshole who kept shooting his new bodyguard. Or that would've been number one priority, until he heard an ominous booming coming towards them. Then a sudden shadow had been cast upon Henry and Bastion. That was never ever a good sign. Henry grabbed Bastion from the ground and slung him over his shoulder, running to the edge of the island they were on. "WHY AM I THE ONLY COMPETENT DEMON IN YHIS FUCKING ARMY?!"

Henry sprinted as fast as he could, making a running dice off the island when he discovered his second problem."Holy shit why are you so fucking heavy? Fuck fuck fuck fuck-" He began flapping his wings as hard as he could, he would be a pretty damn easy target for the sniper as he struggled to fly with the added weight of Bastion. 2 more wings formed on his back, these ones silver instead of Henry's normal black, aS he flailed around in mid air trying to get his balance.

The first sign to Miyu that she was no longer merely one of the audience was when her drink tray began rattling. Rushing up to grab her glass and bottle before the tray was toppled by the vibrations emanating through the Daimyo. Her chips were spilled, but that was a minor inconvenience compared to her wine being spilled all over herself.

"Ok. Whoever is dropping the stones from the sky has bad aim. I'm not even on the battlefield." Miyu said, looking in the direction of the fallen object. "Lightning is not a normal effect for a kinetic impact.. Daimyo, any idea what that was?"

"Negative."

"I suppose one way to figure out what the stars are is to figure out what drops from them. C'mon Daimyo, let's go." Miyu waved her mech forward with a bottle in her hand, walking side by side with the sixteen foot mech. It kept a much slower pace than her.

"So, apparently the stars are giant flaming dinosaurs. Let's call that Hypothesis Dinosaur and I'm not sure whether I want it to be proven or disproven." Miyu said, having finished her glass, but still carrying the bottle. That was somewhat less full. Walking was thirsty work in this arid place.

"Hypothesis Recorded." Intoned the autopilot.

"Huh... Touch it, maybe we'll learn something." Miyu cast her Mantle to unify her own hand with the Daimyo's, so that she'd experience the sensation of touching the egg with Daimyo's hand.

@Inner Demon

Sparks of red energy arched off the rocks as they clattered against the metal shell that was Marquise. Zak grinned, while the robot turned to address him. Just as it brought it's gun up to fire, the rocks, having been charged with energy as they passed through Zak's fingers, exploded within inches of the machine's body, similar in force to grenades. Bits of molten rock shot out like shrapnel, shredding through the air at high velocities toward each side of Marquise from the shoulders down. Through the combination of concussive force produced by the two point blank explosions and the corrosive effects of the red mist, it wasn't extremely hard to read the machines still somewhat swift movements. The angel ducked his shoulder back, recoiling slightly as the bullet grazed his flesh, ripping through his shirt and shaking his body visibly. "Ye just don' learn do ye?"

Looking upon the machine's back now with a wince of pain from the irritation in his eyes, Zak raised his hand and produced from the tinted air a long saber made from bright white and golden fire. Just as the weapon materialized, two of the three hounds he had summoned earlier leapt over his shoulders, wings spread, and darted through the air fangs bared toward the snipers legs. The third of the hounds stepped up next to Zak, panting heavily as it looked up at it's creator. He gave the hound a pat on the head with his free hand, before rearing back and chucking the saber forward like a boomerang toward the lower abdomen of the robot. The projectile sizzled violently as it seared the air around it, spinning like a buzz saw of white hot heavenly flames. "Time fer yer service check ye bucket o' bolts!"

Not far behind the hound, the two flame born humanoids and the rest of the seven fiery creatures eased out of the thicket of charred trees. The massive serpent shaped mass that slithered among them cut across the ground, moving like a fiery tendril past Zak to cut off Marquise should it try to continue forward in any further efforts to underestimate or ignore the angel that had it in his sights.

"An' where do ye think yer goin' ye hellspawn?" Asked Zak, hovering mid air in front of Henry as he attempted to escape the situation. However, though it shared his voice, the one who blocked his path wasn't Zak, but a fiery embodiment that was the clone the angel had summoned earlier, which went for the most part unnoticed as it had been in a slow but steady pursuit of the mechanical sniper. Unfortunately for the demon, the clone was about as slow as its creator was when it came to reaching any particular objective when there was one at hand. Also like its creator, the clone was quick to be distracted by the tainted energy of the demon that now crossed its path. "Ah feel like...Ah should maybe stop ye....probably." Declared the clone in a raspy ethereal voice as it lifted its hand from the pocket of its jacket and readied a rather sizable spear made of the same flames that made up its body. "Ah'm gonna do it anyway...jus'ta be safe."




Daimyo cleared away a streak of the dusty membrane that coated the chrome surface of the mysterious chirping object, showing the muddled reflection of the mech. The surface of the object was smooth and warm, releasing a dull tingling sensation. The readings that came off the sphere were mixed, showing random increasing and decreasing energy signals. Suddenly something arched out of the object into the mechanical arm of the towering mech as it continued physical contact with the flush surface. Electricity jolted through the circuits and computers of the mechanical suit. Overwhelming energy and something like a virus attacked the systems of the mech, flooding various commands into its computers.

Sand and gravel shifted across the ground, sliding down the length of the slanted sides of the crater as it was displaced by the weight of the mech and the angel. The sharp shifting of the terrain nagged at Miyu's balance, swiftly drawing her down and toward the center of the crater should she fall. Strange programs continued to bombard Daimyo, likely to force it to shut down or something to that effect. The electricity that jolted through the mech like lightning rapidly conducted heat as it leapt across the massive metal hull of the machine, casting sparks of in various directions as it did.

Henry Pearl Avaritia The 2nd

---

Henry had finally managed to stabilise himself in the air when he was blocked by an angel. Or a clone of an angel, either or really. He had a very thick accent, which Henry always had trouble understanding. But the message became pretty clear once he pulled out a spear of flames. "Wait! I don't wanna fuck with you right now! I'm trying to leave ok? I don't want any trouble, just wanna get this chick out of the demon mist and get her medical help. Is that cool?"

Henry could probably take this guy to be honest. But right now he had an important hostage that he was trying really hard to not kill and going all out was a terrible way to do so. He was trying so hard to be diplomatic. He hadn't even drawn a weapon to defend himself.

Miyu would have had no trouble not falling to the center of the crater. She had wings. They weren't just for show.

But, unfortunately, she was being distracted by overwhelming energy flowing through her telling her to shut down in so many ways.. Not particularly implacable of either physical or mental fortitude, this would result in both her and Daimyo.. Shutting down. She, for one, wasn't particularly capable of withstanding electrical bursts capable of producing sparks just by it's passing, without becoming a crispy critter, while all the electrical systems on the Daimyo would be fried. Neither did she have particular fortitude against the mental attacks telling her to shut down, nor did the Daimyo. With the Mantle sharing damage that couldn't be withstood equally across them, both the Daimyo and the Miyu would be rendered non-functional.

Which would then act as non-functional things do and fall, to the center of the crater, or thereabouts. Fortunately for anyone interested in Miyu's corpse, she landed after the Daimyo, which had been leaning forward to touch, while she was still a few steps back. Of course, with the Daimyo and herself so overloaded with electricity and gathering heat, she'd be catching on fire shortly.

@Inner Demon

---

Chaos. It was bloody chaos.

Bonesword watched as the whole field of Arcadia quickly turned to a landscape of pure bedlam, standing with his sword drawn all the while. He had to set the fields ablaze to stop Victoire, but even then there was the floating fields that were unaffected, rather just making the situation worse as Bastion plummeted into the smoke and ash of the world. He felt remorse again, and he knew that this would probably be met with at Eos's hand.

But he didn't care at this point. He was just wanting for it to end.

Bonesword had begun to feel like he should rejoin the fray, and he decided on doing that very thing. It wasn't much use standing next to the corpses of his lovers, but he knew that he had to continue on at some point. The problem was that he didn't have much to do at this point, but this was set aside when he saw the demon, Henry, trying to pull Bastion out from the fire and flames. Why he was doing this, Bonesword didn't know, but he commended him for it. A decision was made as Bonesword saw that Henry was about to be impaled by a flaming spear, and that didn't really sit well in Bonesword's book. The skeleton ran up against a tree, and sort of conformed it to where it launched him directly to where Zak was located, with the skeleton managing to grab hold of Zak's legs, hopefully causing him a problem.

Should Henry care, he should probably run or he was next up for a stab.

@Inner Demon@TheWindel@floodtalon

As soon as Zeruel came back to Arcadia, he would find that his peers were in a complete chaos. The news of their leader, supposedly the strongest of their Hierarchy, being forced to retreat from a battle were enough to set the members of the Laguna into utter disarray. Add the fact that an unexpected, perhaps unwanted, guest waited in the halls of the most arrogant order between all the many sects of the Angels of Heavens and it was easy to see why the place was such an anarchy.

Said guest would turn out to be none but Iona, a being of which few knew much about, yet all who held a position of importance in the Heavens knew that her presence meant trouble.

"I see that you have returned, Angel of Might," Iona said in a stern voice as she glanced at Zeruel's condition. "I sensed something out of the ordinary in Arcadia, a perturbation that should not exist. Its echo brought me to you. Describe what happened to you during that conflict," she demanded.

“Ghnn….what?” When Bastion opened her mismatched eyes, her head was spinning and in pain. Bleary pupils focused on the world moving around her but she winced when trying too hard. “Ugh, it’s like a bullet went right through me…why am I moving?” The last thing she had remembered was crashing and rather violently too. Surely she was in no condition to be running so why was she….

Wait. She wasn’t just moving. She was airborne as well. At once her eyes snapped open and she realized she was being carried by someone. The stench of Demon invaded her senses but given that they were moving it meant the red fog was being avoided, at least temporarily. Still, she was no one’s birthday gift and with a glare she began to struggle and kick about in Henry’s grip.

“Hey, what’s your problem! Let me go already!” Bastion said. Her body exploded with sudden energy, pounding on the Demon’s back and flailing about to overall be a general nuisance and hindrance to him. Sure the fall would probably kill her if he dropped her, but death was much better than being someone’s chew toy. The sound of battle reached her ears eventually and she looked to the side to notice other’s wanted her as well.

An Angel made of pure fire it seemed along with a skeleton warrior dangling at his ankles. Yes, because the lands of Arcadia definitely needed more arsonists here, now didn’t they? “I said let me go already!” Bastion said, not caring for Zak and glaring at Henry’s back. Her red eye slowly shifted into a gold coloration, eager to burn a hole right into Henry’s wings.

---

News of the Battle of Arcadia spread quickly around the realm of Heaven. From Deva to the other angels, this battle was a brutal one at best. Technically Hell had claimed dominance over the wrecked ecosystem, corrupting everything around it, despite many having been killed, captured, or if lucky, retreat with their heads still attached. Yet the news that Zeruel was almost utterly destroyed by incoming shots provided by a combination of two Hellish forces and a pitiful Machina unit, sent the entire council into chaos and anger. One side claims that Zeruel has grown soft and week, lacking the forte for battle ever since his last one a thousand years ago.

"Disgusting to see how the so-called "Angel Of Might" dare to take the throne of Adam, announcing his supreme rule as the "Laguna Leader", fall ever so pathetically to a mere several pitiful units! His arrogant nature will cause his own downfall." cries Raguel, "Angel of Vengeance."

"I saw much promise when the Arm Of God took to power. Never have I seen an Angel so brutally beaten in a fashion like this... not since the recent assassinations of Fortitudo, Temperantia, and Shamshel." shames Paschar, "Angel Of Vision".

"BLASPHEMY! INSULT! Zeruel has promised us victory over the deaths of our fallen brethren! To be defeated in his first battle in a thousand years this easily, he might as well have foreshadowed Heaven's defeat!" roars Gaghiel, "Roaring Angel of God".

Yet while half proclaim that Zeruel steps down, the other half claims mercy and how the humans had advanced greatly since their last encounter.

"Zeruel may have been beaten in this battle, yet the War has only just begun. While brutal his defeat is, he's thankfully not deceased. Instead of continuing with old tactics, one must evolve through time. Humans had evolved and created technologies that now pose much threat to both realms, both Hell's and ours. I say we change our tactics accordingly to match and eventually surpass them." explains Uriel, "Angel Of Creativity".

"You forget how Lord Zeruel destroyed the Laguna-Human Alliance back centuries ago. He crushed them with no mercy and with such brutal strength. To not have battle for a thousand years of relative "peace", can take an affect on an individual. To stand united, can we grant Heaven the dominance and self-righteous victory we all deserve, all at a steady streamline pace." Sachiel, "Angel Of Water" hisses.

"Surely you know that cutting off our snake's head will lead to unruly chaos! A single battle does not mean we've all lost! If we go into chaos now, we'll never achieve anything. Have faith in the Lord and we will eventually power through and destroy both the Human and Demon populations. demands Michael, "Angel Of Loyalty".

Both sides have at least some points that all matched Zeruel's personality. Some were taken more extremely than others, while some lacked evidence and information. The Angel Of Might has been serving a peaceful term, when they were not at War. The only battle that took place was the attempted Assassination on Zeruel, which was soundly defeated alone by the Laguna leader. The arrogance and confidence that Heaven will win in the Battle of Arcadia did almost cost his life and this rightfully caused the Council to worry about their own safety.

As they continued arguing, low and behold came Zeruel from down the hallway. Rising from a large rising podium at the end of the massive golden table, he announces his presence with the up-most authority.

"ENOUGH." he booms demandingly into the Hall. All the other Angels ceased their arguing and turned to the Laguna Leader, having already healed at almost 100%. He continues to speak.

"I SENSE ALL'S CONCERNS OVER THE RECENT BATTLE THAT HAD TAKEN PLACE AT THE FLOATING ISLANDS OF ARCADIA. AND I UNDERSTAND HOW MOST JUDGE MY TITLE AND BY ABILITY TO LEAD US INTO A FULL-BLOWN WAR. YET THE BLAST I'VE ABSORBED WAS MERELY AN INSIGNIFICANT AND WEAK CONCERNING THE TWO DEMONS, ONE WHO MAY BE THE CANDIDATE OF THE THREE'S DESTRUCTION."

Several gasps echoed through the room as some quietly talked amongst themselves.

"THE DEMONS ARE OF NO CONCERN AT THIS POINT IN TIME. WE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN DOMINANT OVER HELL'S ACTIONS, KEEPING THEM IN CHECK. THEY WILL PAY THEIR TREACHERY IN BLOOD SOON. YET OUR MAIN THREAT, COMES FROM THE MACHINA."

The Angels disapproving of him booed at his remark for a brief period, yet Zeruel did not flinch.

"THESE HUMANS HAVE GROWN SIGNIFICANTLY MORE POWERFUL THAN WE REMEMBER. THEY'RE GROWING IN PHYSICAL AND RELIGIOUS POWER. THEY WANT TO PLAY GOD, YET THEY ARE INCAPABLE OF UNDERSTANDING THAT THEY ARE OUR BYPRODUCTS. GOD CREATED THEM AS INDIVIDUAL BEINGS OF FREE WILL, SUPPORTED AND GIVEN BY THE ANGEL OF SELF-DETERMINATION, TABRIS. BUT GOD DID NOT REALIZE THE MISTAKE THAT HE CREATED. TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE ROGUE ANGELS, WHO SHALL NOT BE NAMED, THE HUMANS ATTEMPTED TO TAKE MY LIFE AND WEAKEN HEAVEN'S STANDING ONE THOUSAND YEARS AGO. IF I HAD NOT ELIMINATED THE TRAITOROUS FIENDS, THE COUNCIL WOULD STILL BE IN THE CIVIL WAR. THE HUMANS HAVE UNKNOWINGLY SIGNED A CONTRACT, ONE WHICH SEALS THEIR FATE IN THEIR DEMISE. BROTHERS. SISTERS. DO NOT DISMAY. WE WILL HAVE OUR VENGEANCE. THE HUMANS HAVE UNLEASHED A TERRIBLE POWER THAT THEY WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO HALT. WE WILL CRUSH THESE INSIGNIFICANT BUGS UNTIL THEY ARE EXTINCT. MAY THE GLORY OF IMPERATOR DEVA SHINE DOWN UPON US."

Almost the Laguna Angels listening applauded his speech, except for some who do not have much faith in his words. Yet as they continued applauding, one figure began to enter the Cabinet Room. Several of the Laguna Angels turned to see the face of Iona. Yet most of these Angels, mostly shielded from the thoughts of Imperator's messengers, had not seen her before. They turned towards her with glaring eyes. She was an unwanted guest in this speech for the most part. However, Zeruel raised his tendrils to calm the masses. He was the only one to take orders from both the Imperator and her highest-class subordinates. He knew that her presence here meant something was terribly wrong. He then faces the rest of the Laguna Angels.

"CABINET DISMISSED."

As the fourteen other Angels in the room left, the Arm of God approaches Iona in his humanoid form rather than his true form. he begin to act kindly in her presence, knowing her status among Imperator.

"GREETINGS IONA." he states kindly as they walked together down the hallway, "YOUR PRESENCE IS RATHER UNEXPECTED, YET STILL HONORED ALL THE SAME."

"I see that you have returned, Angel of Might," Iona said in a stern voice as she glanced at Zeruel's condition. "I sensed something out of the ordinary in Arcadia, a perturbation that should not exist. Its echo brought me to you. Describe what happened to you during that conflict," she demanded.

Zeruel proceeded to answer.

"THE BATTLE OF ARCADIA WAS... DIFFICULT TO SAY THE LEAST. THE MACHINA HAVE GROWN STRONG SINCE I'VE LAST FOUGHT THEM. I EXPECTED TO TANK TWO INSIGNIFICANT BLASTS OF HELLISH ENERGY, BUT A BULLET BLAST FROM A MACHINA WAS UNEXPECTED...

BUT I FIGURE THAT'S NOT WHAT YOU SEEK."

With that, Zeurel uncoiled one of his tendrils and gave Iona the scroll.

"I ENCOUNTERED TWO STRANGE CHARACTERS DURING MY RECOVERY PROCESS," Zeruel continued to explain, "BOTH RADIATING A RAW AURA OF POWER. ONE OF THEM KNEW OF MY MIGHT AND PROCEEDED TO GIVE ME THIS SCROLL. I HAVE NOT READ IT PRIOR TO ME GIVING IT TO YOU, FOR I FIGURED THIS WAS INTENDED FOR THE IMPERATOR TO INVESTIGATE. THEY'VE ALSO MENTIONED SOMETHING ABOUT "DASIL" AND PRESUMABLY HOHENHEIM'S LABORATORY..."

Sounds of crunching metal and locking joints rang out from below the unsuspecting sniper, snagged in place by the snapping jaws of the two flaming hounds which bite down on its legs. A brilliant display of sparks and bits of molten metal sprayed out from the titanium body of Marquise as the white hot flaming saber sliced clean through the lower half of its abdomen. The sparks cascaded to the ground, snuffed out by the dirt as the sniper's upper half slowly slid off to the right, falling to the ground in a heap with a metallic clatter. A dim red hue emanated from the edges of the horizontal slice below its abdomen. Severely tattered by the previous spray of fire and shrapnel released by the exploding rocks, the robot's arms broke off from the impact of the fall, collapsing into bits beside what was left its body.

Marquise was positioned to see the two fiery hounds as they released its legs and approached the optical lens that was its eye. Suddenly they halted, stopped by the sharp sound of a whistle piercing the dull roar of the distant surrounding chaos. "Oi, thas' enough! He's valuable..." Behind the withdrawing hounds, Marquise could see the approaching legs of the one who felled him. "We've gotta be gentle with the lad." Slightly scuffed black dress shoes and dark blue pants were all the optical processors of the machine could make out as the angel sauntered over. At least it was until he stepped up and crouched down, tilting his head to match the orientation of the fallen machine. It could faintly see the red tattoo on Zak's wrist as his sleeves slightly rose. "Er...whatever ye sexually identify as ye bloody toaster." His tone was slightly biting as he flicked the snipers intricate looking lens. "Wha' no bzzt's? No beep's?...Huh...Ah don see whas'so precious about some ro-butler lookin' sniper..."

Zak stood up, placing his foot on the chest of the fallen machine, and with a squint in his eye from the sting of the demonic haze, he looked into the distance stoically, raising a hand into the air as the tinted breeze rushed past him, wafting through his loose fitting clothing and scarlet hair. He stood there....for several moments....staring at nothing. One of the hounds at his side whined, tilting its head at its creator. "No no...now jus wait fer it..." Another couple of silent moments passed, interrupted only by the sound of the large flame golem sluggishly emerging from the charred treeline, breaking down the brittle trunks and branches that stood in its path. "It's comin...it's....yea....and...." The faint silhouette of a tumbling object carried on the harsh breeze emerged from above. Zak reached out, stretching slightly, but alas managed to snag the object; his jacket, from the air by its collar, slinging over his shoulders haughtily. "....ye failed ye service check by the way..."

Assisted by the humanoids, one tall and one small, the fiery golem shoveled soil and fallen debris into a massive flat toothed maw which hung open across its belly. A large tongue lapped up the material, absorbing it into its body and creating a kind of cooled molten rock cavity in place of a stomach. A geyser of black smoke and cinders shot out from a small mouth across the golem's amorphous head, billowing out like a freight train as it lumbered forward toward Zak and his captive. "Eat up tiny." Declared the angel, stepping off the head and torso that was Marquise. With greedy hands outstretched, the large golem moaned in glee as it trudged forward, shaking the ground with each heavy step as it quickly closed the distance toward what was left of the sniper. Marquise could see the chilling display of the massive beast clambering for it, swiftly snatching it up by the sides and tossing it into the gigantic cooled, but still very warm, molten rock maw. With a frightening snap, the golem locked its jaws together over Marquise sealing it away in its prison of a gullet. One of Zak's hands emerged from his coat, producing a small rice paper joint which he pursed in the corner of his mouth before moving forward with the seven of his fiery servants in toe.


"Hmmm..." A couple seconds passed as the Zak clone thought profoundly. The moment quickly passed however as he drew the spear back. "Ah'm gonna go with no." Without any further hesitation, the clone launched the flaming spear forward with a strained heave. However something darted out of nowhere, shooting through the air at the clone. The rush of motion distracted the clone, causing him to release the projectile early. Roaring flames trailed behind the spear as it hurtled through the air, zipping past the encumbered demon and splitting into a massive spray of smaller spears just behind him. A flurry of destruction exploded out from the terrain behind him in a large radius several hundred feet across, coating the earth in more flames to add to the distant surrounding inferno. Large chunks of flaming Archadian earth rained down coloring the land in bright reds and oranges. The clone turned swiftly, but it was too late as the skeleton collided with his legs...and kept going. The flames that made up the clones body acted almost exactly like normal flames, flickering over the body and armor of Bonesword as he grabbed at fire and hot air, the momentum carrying clean through the emanation of Zak. "Wha...Whassat then?!" Shouted the clone in an irate tone. "Ye made me miss ye...ye...skeleton?" Confusion riddled Zak as he raised a fiery eyebrow. "...Torag?" He scratched his head. "Ah...Ah thought ye were on our side..."

"Whas um....whas going on here lads?" The voice of the actual Zak rang out over the small group as he called out to them from against a tree. He stood, one hand in his coat, and the other twirling the gun cane that was the late Marquise rifle. The clone and Zak looked at each other. "Crap..." Uttered the clone. "The hell are ye doin here?! Ah sent ye after the bloody sniper ages ago..." The clone raised his arms in a bewildered manner. "Ah was right on top o' the weasel Ah swear! But he escaped my attacks like they didn't exist...then Ah came across a flock of harpies so Ah had to find a short cut...then there was this sex robot..." Zak grabbed at the bridge of his nose. "Oh here we go...why did Ah have to send me? Ah never get anythin' done..."

Redirecting his attention toward the demon and the skeleton, Zak sighed and drew in a puff of smoke from the joint at the edge of his lips. "Wait a skeleton?" Realized Zak, almost coughing as he saw Bonesword among the rest. "....Issat Torag?" He shook his head. "No..no...wait never mind it's jus' some other bone head. Sorry. Ye all look the same to me." An oblivious expression crossed the clones face as the fiery hounds and the serpent emerged from the charred thicket on various sides. "Uh...?" "Lets jus' wrap this up please. Ah've got places to be...Ah'm pretty sure Ah do anyway." Declared Zak interrupting his clone before removing his free hand from within the coat and materializing a saber of white and gold flames, eyes set to Henry. His clone followed suit, eyes set to Bonesword. "May Ah have this dance?" Asked Zak toward the demon, motioning toward Bastion who hung over his shoulder, now kicking and screaming.

---

"SHIT!"

Bonesword did not calculate that he would fly through the body of the flaming demon, but then he did. Thankfully, he didn't stay in the flames long enough to actually catch on fire, just enough to get slightly cooked. Bonesword did land on a nearby floating island, however, and he saw the closely approaching clone as he watched back as Bastion struggled to break free. So Henry was just trying to capture Bastion... fucking hell Eos is going to have Bonesword's head for this.

That was besides the point now, the flaming minion of Zak was quickly approaching with a sword, and as such, it felt like a duel was about to begin. Bonesword drew his cutlass, it radiating with some kind of magical energy, and pointed it at Zak's clone. The swordsman's skull was trying it's hardest to make the angriest expression it could.

"You want to go toe-to-toe? Then show me the way of the flame."

He'd have to save Bastion if he could afterwards. That was the next priority.

@Inner Demon