Alvios had some sound advice. With the mass of instant minions the witch had at her beck and call it would be pointless to cut them down for any other reason than to reach her. He just had to hope that her copies didn't express the exact same abilities they did. If her clones of himself had the ability to shield her this would be a little more complicated. And even if that were the case he did have a work-around.

Oz overlooked from a building at the edge of Jeff's fortress, staring down at the burgeoning horde of purple figures below. It was time to take that advice to heart. He held his right hand aloft. Oz conjured his classic force spear in a display of shimmering violet light. With his other arm he pointed down toward Ada like he were using it to aim and measure his trajectory. Circles of arcane lettering wrote themselves in mid-air pointing toward his target like a tunnel. Oz reeled his arm back and supercharged the spear. It thrummed a deadly beat as the condensed force sought release. He hurled the spear at Ada. The shear velocity caused it to ripple through the air with an intense bang as it broke the sound barrier. "I hope you're arrogant enough not to dodge this."

The violet webbing beneath the castle snapped and tore as the pulse of energy pushed it away, freeing the Castle. all while Jenso's flames belted down against a small portion of the unfamiliar clones, melting them away. Once the army was fully risen, the purple sludge below them faded. Ada Shrugged and looked up at Oswald and Alvios. "Curious that you think me to be so simple," Ada's voice echoed inside of Alvios' head exclusively, "You're a prime example of everything I hate in a man." Suddenly, one of the clones nearest to the castle was launched upwards by a figure of Rajaka. It was Cilia, post her hive-queen transformation, and she was preparing to slice Alvios in half. "I have eyes and ears everywhere"

That phrase began to echo in the heads of every last hero that strode forwards.

_{"I have eyes and ears everywhere" "I have eyes and ears everywhere"
"I have eyes and ears everywhere" "I have eyes and ears everywhere"
"I have eyes and ears everywhere" "I have eyes and ears everywhere"
"I have eyes and ears everywhere"
"I have eyes and ears everywhere" "I have eyes and ears everywhere"
"I have eyes and ears everywhere" "I have eyes and ears everywhere"
"I have eyes and ears everywhere"
"I have eyes and ears everywhere" "I have eyes and ears everywhere"
"I have eyes and ears everywhere" "I have eyes and ears everywhere"}

"I know your fears," Ada mocked Alvios once more.

"You let her die," The clone of Cilia Bellowed, mimicking the dead woman's voice as best it could. Ada's eyes shifted to Oz and she smiled, raising her lower eyelids. As Oz's spear flew through the sky, several clones of Zelriane jumped into its path, only to be blown to smithereens, unable to stop or slow it. But, a moment before the attack struck Ada, it was matched by a stream of white energy fired from Dacer's bow. The archer stood in front of Ada, his hand reeled back from pulling on his weapon's invisible drawstring. Ada chuffed and lightly pet the boy's dirty blonde hair.

"Silly little man," Ada's voice pulsed inside of Oz's head like a nagging disease, "Maybe I can't defend myself thoroughly with my army up, but Dacer here is no longer under the effect of my simpler methods of control. You won't be finding a candle, just to be clear." Dacer lowered his bow and glared at Oz. His mouth curled into a subtle smile.

"Now, I think he just wants to protect me!"

The clone hordes went toe to toe with Bruce's golem swarm, from one side of the battlefield to the other, clashing indefinitely. However, it quickly became obvious, that ada's clones were slowly reforming themselves. Any entity not hit by Ki, stood right back up and repaired itself, fighting on. The golems, although effectively keeping sections of Ada's army at bay, were fighting a losing battle. Although Bruce's Ki reserves were astronomical, Ada's Meta energy was unlimited.

Jeff and Bruce received oncoming fire from the front row of clones. Shards of ice, rock, flames, force, arrows, and even Meta energy blobs flew towards them in massive volleys of sheer oppressive power. Ada glanced at Bruce and smiled. "I have eyes and ears everywhere" her voice boomed inside his head once more, "What are your fears?" She glanced back at Oz, and a clone began to form near the bottom of the tower.

"Such stupid little heroes," Ada mumbled to Dacer, "Aren't you glad to be on the winning team?"

"Ecstatic."

Alvios didn't pause, looking at the visage of Cilia. Blade in hand, a flash of Ki blew the clone to particles before he was even done swinging his sword.

"I have quite gotten over killing clones of my ex-girlfriend. You got me once, Adarine. I don't plan on giving you that pleasure again. Eyes and ears everywhere?"

Alvios jumped down, landing on the head of one of Bruce's more massive golems, a ring of oversized swords in the air forming around him and crashing down, erupting into bursts of light, the tiny fragments shredding apart all of the goo near their impact points.

"I am the Scion of Light, inheritor of Helios' legacy. Slayer of the Swarm, survivor of your precious Yzeira's wrath. You are nothing, just a hollow being trying to find life through manipulation and thievery."

He jumped to the ground, a spinning swing blowing away any more of the Ozmone Army that approached him, before jumping up again, high enough that he could see her above all of the golems and slime.

"...And looking at you now? I wear purple much better than you."

Ada was confident in Dacer's ability to protect her. With Alvios drawing her attention away it left Dacer to watch for long range assaults against her. The safest bet was to stay up here and continue a long ranged assault while Bruce and the others kept the witch's forces at bay. Oz had some new tricks to use with Geode's help. Perhaps it was time to start drawing from a new bag.

The edges of these rooftops were treacherous enough with Jeff's machine on the move but with an experienced marksman like Dacer focusing on him for his ability to strike hard from range Oz had to operate carefully. Knowledge of meta energy was one thing Oz had been given by the creator but the experience of using it in such a setting wasn't something that would come as easily. Oz sat back, away from the edge and any easily spotted area. He knelt down and projected a small shield over himself as he meditated.

Few people had the convenience or calmness to close their eyes during a duress like this battle. Oz, like the others, had consistently proven he was among the few the world had to offer for its salvation. It was a good thing Jenso came across him in the citadel. Without Jenso's help he likely wouldn't have come away from that place in one piece, or even as himself at all.

Oz reached deep inside himself. To him it was like jumping into a well, only to find a dark lake hidden beneath that kept stretching onward until no more light shined. Only the thumping of his heartbeat and the regular tapping of his hand kept him focused. There he found it. Beneath the thick blackness lay a seed of light. A little light that grew in intensity as he swam closer. It felt warm as he reached out to it. Like he'd finally come home after years of being away. This was his light. Here he was beyond the whispering and psychic jeers of Ada. Yet here in this deep introspection he was also most vulnerable to the enemy that probed his energy before Jenso's rescue.

Something swam through the dark. The feeling of being watched was more potent here than if someone had been physically staring him down. It was still here. He was still waiting. Watching for a disruption to take advantage of before he faded. A weakness Oz could not afford to show. Those eyes tracked him from beyond Oz's light. It paced through the darkness as a torrent of garbled thoughts, personal doubts and skewed memories of past failures assaulted Oz. He shrugged it off as he always did and pressed into the light. The psychic pressure grew stronger like the sound of overbearingly loud static until Oz took his light in hand and raised it aloft. All at once the darkness began giving way to his light, filling the emptiness and banishing the onslaught. The eyes vanished into the distance, trailed by whispers too quiet to understand.

Oz finally opened his eyes. It had only been mere seconds since he began. He looked at the brilliant sky blue orb grasped in his hands. His light. The power that pushes back the void and makes way for life to blossom. Veil.

"I wonder what Dacer really thinks. Did we ever need Ada's candle? It's time to see if you were right Geode." Oz whispered under his breath. All he needed was to touch Dacer with this to see if it would work. Unless Ada really was a telepath she would only think of it as some kind of attack. The others would focus on killing her body. Oz would try to battle her for Dacer's mind.

Oz steadily stood and took up position on the edge of the building. "Atlas!" He commanded. He opened his arms wide as the surge of ki from his body enveloped him instead of forming a separate entity. The Atlas avatar encased him as he held the powerful orb in his hand. Oz jumped up, directing the mass of energy that encased him in an upward arc toward Dacer and Ada's position. It was only expected that Dacer would see him.

Something in the back of his mind panged with a sense of competition. The question wasn't whether or not they would succeed. It seemed to be over how they would succeed. Would Oz accomplish his goal and Dacer be freed to take care of a weakened Ada for them? Or would his companions kill the witch before that could happen?

Jenso took note of Bruce's golems clashing with Ada's clones, while it seemed like Jeff and Bruce had the most attention from the clones. He jumped down beside Alvios after he destroyed Cilia's clone. He landed beside Alvios, letting white flames emerge from his body to eradicate any purple goo that might form beneath himself and Alvios. He stomped his left foot into the ground, and a large wall of white flames emerged behind Bruce's army which covered the full length of the field.

"Don't worry about the white flames, guys. With my Ki mixed in, they won't hurt you." He stated, loud enough for the heroes to hear but not Adarine. Of course, he wasn't sure if it even mattered if she did or not, but keeping that fact a secret could help them to land a blow. Alvios was right, defeating Adarine would end this whole situation.

The white flame wall began to move forwards, and coated Bruce's rock army in over-heated white flames as it advanced to increase their damaging capabilities, but they did not melt as a result. The flames would end up phasing through any heroes who would be struck, and the attack kept going with great pushing power behind it so it would clash against Adarine's clone army and to straight up incinerate them to clear a path towards the witch. The heroes were able to see through the white flames from their side, but Adarine herself could not. Jenso dashed alongside Bruce's rock army as they fought, paying close attention to see how the clones would react.

Bruce marveled at the device that attached itself to his feet. His smile broadened into the grin of a child as he flipped in midair, concentrating his Ki into the mechanism to create and outward burst that slowed his descent to a halt just inches above the ground before hurtling upward again.

"Thank you, my friend!"

"I have eyes and ears everywhere"

Bruce recognized the voice as Ada's and his grin faltered- not dropping, but wavering as though restraining a barking laughter.

"I have eyes and ears right here, and that's all I need!" Bruce said aloud, though no one could hear him from his position unless he yelled.

Bruce saw his colossi become engulfed in Jenso's white flame, reveling in the awesome sight.

"Brilliant, Jenso!"

He caught sight of Alvios using one of his golems as a platform, and an idea struck. He glanced up at the island, which had only grown a bit thinner since depositing the force of colossi. It would reach the end of its downward arc soon.

"Lightbringer!" Bruce shouted to Alvios- apparently the swordsman had another name for the Scion of Light. "Jenso! Brace yourselves!"

Bruce made a gesture with his hands, and in the midst of Alvios' and Jenso's paths, two new, six-limbed, massive golems rose up, faster than the goo could pile over it but at a pace manageable for the heroes to leap aboard. That wasn't what they needed to prepare for, though.

With another flick of his wrists, like a composer, Bruce threw his arms wide apart, and a new fault line formed in the ground beneath the battlefield, ripping it apart and creating a gaping chasm between the castle and the tower. Many of Ada's army were made hapless victims and fell inside- Bruce's golems, being a part of him, already had accounted for it and were strong enough to leap across.

Alvios and Jenso's golems hunkered down and charged toward the chasm, which continued to widen. From the descending island that was now nearing the tower, a new family of colossi roared and plummeted down. They were not attractive in form, if anything they had the appearance of giant worms with dozens of rows of teeth. Though it meant nothing since Bruce could levitate any earth he chose, he also gave them wings, smirking to himself- ever since the fight with Rajaka and Zelriane, he'd grown to love flying.

Roughly thirty of these airborne creatures headed for the chasm. Bruce intended for them to create a clear chance for Jenso and Alvios to bypass the majority of the purple sludge and conserve their own strength to take down Ada.

That done, Bruce turned back to Jeff.

"Let's go, Wild Card! Show us what you can do!" Bruce yelled, ignoring as Ada's voice echoed in his head once again. "Impress m-"

His senses caught the energy rocketing toward them before he even turned around. Calling upon his reliable blade, he gripped it in its sheath and, with one stroke, sent out a wave of slashing Ki that sliced through the onslaught horizontally. His sword was returned to its sheath in an instant, but a flash of red was unmistakably present.

"What do I fear?" Bruce mimicked Ada's question, his lips quivering to restrain another boom of laughter. "I fear you are wasting your time."

Bruce's voice deepened, but not due to entering his sage state- Sakki began leaking into his speech.

"I've a better query- do you feel fear?"

Bruce swooped down, slashing into half a dozen goo creations and splitting them in half before arcing back up.

"Take away anything that makes you even slightly noteworthy," he drawled. "Your name, status, your alignment- what does that leave you? A wench with purple sludge."

Bruce's grin turned dark, and his hair shadowing his face left only his eyes visible.

"Do the same to me- my name, status, alignment all gone. I'm still a madman with a sword." Sakki had taken over his mouth, and his tongue flicked over dry lips. "One who'd love nothing more than to chop your body to pieces and feed them to one of my golems. Now tell me, which one is scarier?"

Bruce brandished his blade.

"Show us whatever you've got- if you think us so simple-minded that you can guilt us into submission, you're as wrong as anyone has ever been. Hell, throw the image of my dead wife and brother my way if your weak imagination can conjure it."

He chuckled.

"It'll only add to the thrill."

Bruce's hands tingled with anticipation, and he slashed, sending another wave into the horde.

"I'll cut them all down."

Overall Ada's voice echoing in his head had little to no effect on the wind sages current emotion as he merely just let it drift into the back of his head along with the million other thoughts that would cycle through the scientist's mind. He nodded back to Bruce ready to following him into battle, but first turned his attention to large wave of attacks that aimed for him and Bruce.
"If thats all you go to mess with me Ada, it would be easy to say your leaving me rather disappointed. I was expecting much worse!"

Jeff raised a gand conjuring up a couple dozen wind scythes on the fly while cannons appeared online the tower's wall and both fired off to easily counter the incoming wave. For anything the arcane cannon fire missed, tge wind scythes would curve past and strike the weak spots for, disapating them entirely and then moving on to slash through any blob clones that Jenso or Bruce were not already obliterating themselves. "Right behind you Bruce! I'll be sure to keep you covered. Or well actually I have an idea. One moment!

With that Jeff's eyes and hair bursted into a bright blue as he entered wind sage and boosted himself straight into Jenso's field of white flames with a field of wind surronding him which he then released into the fire thus making the flames rise untill they were nearly touching the bottom of the flying castle which was at least floating 30 feet from the ground by this point.

Thankfully due to the white fire's magical effects, the sage was able to hide within this literal coverfire as he over charged his windcannons and took aim for two specific targets. "Let's see how you handle this one."
The sage spoke to himself as he fired off two special wind sniper shots that zoomed through the grassy field passing over most of the blob army and easily through anything that would try to jump in front of it as both headed to snipe a hole through both Dacer and Ada's chests.
These shots were different then his regular ones however as they had a secret trick to them. If Dacer were to try and counter it with an arrow attack, upon contact it would merely the split appart into 5 even smaller shots which would then head for the target instead. Same would apply if they tried to dodge with the attack wuth the bullet splitting and then following after them. Upon hitting it would split apart more and more untill the attack struck for many different angles at a celular level designed to do anywhere from decent to massive damage on the inside of the target's body. "Wind cannon ultimate... Sniper's Scattershot!"

Ada sneered, the corner of her lip cringing backwards as Alvios quipped about her dress. "We're just starting, Hon," She whispered to herself, shifting her gaze back to Oz. Then the white flame rose, a giant wall that blocked off the heroes. Ada snickered and shrugged. Her eyes glimmered and she rose one hand above her head. "Trying to block out my omnipotent vision? Puh-lease." She looked upon the battlefield with glee as it was torn in half, and more golems began to lurch from the flying rock above her. Dacer pulled back on his drawstring and waited patiently. Ada's eyes flashed towards a new target as soon as his sinister vibes began to ripple across the battlefield. "Oh?" Her lips curled into a smile. Ada stepped forwards and wrapped her arms around Dacer from behind moments after he dispatched of the golems descending from above with a series of flaming arrows,
incinerating them completely in a spectacle of Arki that peppered the sky with miniature infernos.

"Dacer, Hon, keep me safe for a little while," she whispered quietly into his left ear. He tore away from her and pulled back on his bow once more. A spiral of torrential fire built viciously as the island continued to soar towards them. Oz's projection sped past it slightly faster. For a split second, the entire army slowed their pace, their attacks and movements became sluggish as Ada rose her hand. Dacer fired a much larger inferno arrow, striking the landmass above them, and triggering the attack at its epicentre. A purple dome covered Ada, Dacer, and Tiger, stopping the oncoming Atlas short with the dense material which showed no signs of breaking.

"I'm going to catch you a playmate"

The dome surrounding Ada suddenly lurched up and around Atlas, into a sphere that looked much like a giant jawbreaker. It glinted in the sunlight, and Ada threw it back into the center of her Army, which immediately picked their pace right back up. Ada focused on Bruce and licked her lips. "Come close, stupid boy," She whispered, "If you're so sure about yourself."

Something was odd after she'd revealed herself again. Tiger and Dacer had gone missing. Ada paused and glanced forwards at the two shots that ripped through the air like sniper fire. She giggled gleefully under her breath and stomped the ground like a giddy schoolgirl. "Oh this is going to be be so cool!"

The two shots, as if hit by one of Dacer's arrows, split into many different projectiles, with only a moment's delay between one another. Following that, each of the smaller shots split, one after the other, until the remaining shots, possibly numbering in the hundreds, lacked the energy to pierce anything Ada had prepared. Several clones jumped into the path of the remaining bullets, practically eating them with their viscous bodies, while Ada rose several pillars to block anything that made it past her army. She rose a hand to her mouth and yawned as Dacer appeared in front of her.

He stood crouched, one hand pressing into the grass below him with newly formed claws, while his other was braced backwards, as if ready to swipe. Fur ran along his arms, legs, neck and face, with a green aura of energy encompassing it all. Most notable, his hair had turned green, and he had two little ears poking out from the sides of his head. His eyes, once luminescent globes of emerald, had developed small black pupils that divided them as slits, shifting to adjust to his speed. And of course, he had a small striped tail that flicked from side to side. His form was far more feral than Lark's, Sera's or Jenso's. With nearly every inch of his body covered in fur, his hands and feet armed with razor sharp claws, and his... Tail...

Ada Looked Dacer over carefully and nodded to herself, one hand on her chin. "Yeah... Yeah, this is a good look for you! I can be into this!" She purred, "I hope nobody judges me too harshly, hee hee!"

Dacer's eyes prowled the field as Ada began to focus carefully on her army, and the energy therein. Where to focus? Where to increase density? Where to unleash the Meta Clones? She smiled, and her voice boomed inside of each hero's head simultaneously.


"Maybe we could hang out after this? Chat about fashion, I've got plenty of dresses, I'm sure you would look marvellous, strewn up against my wall in one with your cocky mouth sewn shut."

Several more clones of Cilia made their way towards Alvios, numbering at least forty. Each and everyone repeated phrases of discouragement, piecing together into a single line of dialogue. "Your choice was selfish" "Tell yourself whatever you want" "My sister is going to die" "She hates you" "I Hate you" "That time we spent" "What a waste" "Look at where you are now" "On the precipice of defeat" "If only I'd met Jenso before you" "I wanted so much more" "Here you are" "Here I am" "Here we are"

"We're going to pick you apart slowly!"


"Oh, how Droll! The itty bitty psychopath is playing saviour! Didn't your wife ever tell you, that's not very heroic? If you're stupid enough to put on such a hypocritical display of sheer psychological malady, then please, step onto my dance-floor."

Two clones, one of Rajaka, and one of Zelriane, jumped up into the airspace near to Bruce. They were different than the rest, shining bright with glowing eyes and a sense of consciousness about them. Zelriane's clone swung his foot towards Bruce's face like a spinning shuriken, and Rajaka reached out for his hover board.


"That assistant of your was delicious. Swallowed her in copious gulps, like a prime steak! There's something about the blood of crude lab assistants that tickles my taste-buds. But, maybe she wouldn't be dead, if it wasn't for your overwhelming incompetence." Ada's voice thrummed louder. "If you keep holding your friends back, you're going to get one killed. Don't worry though, I'll be sure to give them respect every day. Maybe I'll turn that silly golden kid into a lamp post."

Three clones of Sera, shining brightly, flew towards Jeff and rose their hands, trying to trap him in a literal sphere of force energy. Each one seemed stronger than Sera was in the past, and more resolute in their goal.


"Fancy yourself a god, do you?" Ada mocked, "I can feel your Meta energy, and that pathetic Geode whelp inside of you. Couldn't manage on your own, could you? Zelriane was right, you'll be quite the specimen for Yzeira once we're through with you. Let's test that mettle, shall we?"


"Golden boy," Ada started... ..."I'll save you for last."

---

Jenso's flame wave tore through a good portion of the army, but many of the clones, mostly those who went on to directly attack the individual heroes, had protected themselves with a barrier of ooze, pressing towards the castle quickly in an attempt to take it down. Those who were not completely eradicated with Ki based attacks, simply got right back up. Those that were sliced to ribbons, reformed themselves with ease. Ada laughed as she kept her eyes focused on Bruce.

"Let's make you mine"

Dacer's form didn't disappear this time. Instead, he ran at a speed comparable to Jeff's, into the thick of the battle. He swiped at the air with his claws, sending sabre-waves of Ki towards Bruce's newly formed giant golems from afar. The raking shock waves dug into their chests, dicing them into cubes as they criss-crossed past their stony figures. The archer- No- Feline Assassin landed lightly on his feet and hopped back into the air, charging a strenuous amount of Ki in his right paw.

Jenso frowned as Oz was caught in the bubble, but smirked at Adarine's mind message. 'Going easy on me, huh? Big mistake.' Jenso thought, as the white flame wall, which was now enhanced by Jeff's efforts, reached the crevice. As it moved in, it began to sink it's bottom half into the rock wall on the other side where Ada and Dacer were, causing the white flame wall to shrink to half it's original size while Ada was mainly focused on Bruce. He hoped she didn't notice, and would have simply assumed that the bottom half of the wall had dissipated by reaching the crevice.

The top half of the white flame wall continued onwards across the other side as it phased through Bruce, aimed to incinerate Dacer completely, melt Oz's bubble, and eventually reach Ada if it wasn't stopped. Under normal means, Jenso would not have been able to make a second wall, but Jeff's buff had made it possible.

Jenso turned towards the clones of Cilia that headed for Alvios, gritting his teeth angrily for a moment but keeping his cool as the clones insulted his friend. He began to launch a barrage of Ki image impact punches from both of his fists, aimed to crash into the heads of the clones. "Ha! As if this is enough to stop us!!" He shouted confidently.

Alvios didn't hesitate. Apparently, he was being quite honest on the quip about his mental stability, and cut through the clones of Cilia in front of him that Jenso hadn't battered down. The name of the game had just changed, and he had better things to focus on than his own mental trauma; the universe was at stake, after all. The present, the fight, his brothers-in-arms and the destruction of his enemies were the things that mattered.

As well as Dacer going feral. He recalled that Jenso had mentioned One With Nature before, but this was completely different. And recalling the last time Jenso had used the form against him... it was time to kick things up a notch. He retreated back towards Jenso, features vanishing under a white veil as his body was coated in Ki, eight swords spreading behind him like a halo; the form he had taken that nearly put him on-par with the Golden Hero.

"You all seem to have names for these forms... I think I'll call mine Lightforge. Now then, the important part!" Alvios landed next to Jenso, and looked over at his friend. Despite the lack of facial features, it could be sworn that there was an extra-bright glint in his eye.

"Jenso! Light me on fire! As much as you can spare!"

Jenso gave Alvios a confused look, somewhat confused about what he intended to do. Still, he knew of Alvios's healing abilities and the fact that his white flames wouldn't hurt his companions. He did what Alvios asked, launching a torrent of flames into his companion. "Right! Give em hell man!" He said.

Bruce reared back on his hover board, aiming the bottom towards the clone Rajaka and simultaneously ducking the blow from the faux Zelriane by angling such that he wouldn't fall off. One hand clutched the side of the board, while his other, holding his blade, brought it slashing upward- in the moment it arced, it changed into half a dozen throwing knives that hurled toward the prideful clone. Meanwhile, he focused his Ki into the board, and the defense mechanism transformed it into five hyper-concentrated lasers that fired at not-Rajaka.

"Ah-ah," Bruce said, retracting his Ki from the board and letting himself back into free fall above the chasm. "This was a gift."

Only after he'd avoided the immediate attacks did Bruce even notice that Ada's voice had been essentially shouting in his head. He spent a tenth of a second considering the possibility that he might actually be insane as she accused him of being.

His conclusion: eh, probably somewhat.

After that Bruce went over Ada's attempt at goading him. He blinked. And snorted.

"That's it?"

Even after Bruce had fallen past the the horizon made by the chasm, and deeper, the humorous chuckle wouldn't stop. It wasn't his fault the Order was unintentionally hilarious.

"You tease," Bruce slurred, finally reactivating the board and once again flipping upright to cease his descent. "I've been listening for days to tales of how sadistic you are. I had assumed that also meant you were clever. I was more correct about weak imagination than I thought."

Bruce might have released Sakki, but he wasn't stupid- the influence he held over his actions hadn't been fully surrendered. This was his role in the group dynamic. The one who drew attention.

He'd dwelled on it since Mikey's initial analysis of his abilities, what felt like months ago. He'd told him that his Arki wasn't suited to offensive one-on-one battle, that it was predictable, and slow.

All that amounted to was a roundabout way of saying loud.

"Let me explain why you can't faze me with your tactics," Bruce said, closing his eyes. Time around him, to his mind, slowed, as the heartbeat of the planet pounded within him, slowing his own until they were in sync. He sought his sage state not for power, but to aid in illustrating a point. "Nothing you've said is new information."

His awareness of all the earth for miles around sharpened, and he felt the earth stretch out deep beneath the ocean. His voice echoed loudly with the reverberations lent by his state and the chasm, projecting across the field.

Bruce had made peace by finding acceptance with Ross' help. In admitting to the chronic suppression of his emotions and resolving it, he'd been forced to confront his identity anew. Most people would require a significant time frame to achieve such a thing- Bruce, like his companions, was not most people.

"I know what I am- I am a power source. A weapon, and a wanderer."

His golems, those falling and the ones Dacer had shot to pieces, reformed with the speed of thought, resuming their missions.

"I'm well aware my wife would be fully disillusioned with who I am now. I am not who I used to be. But nothing is absolute, and that is why this world is worth saving," Bruce said, Sakki's influence appearing again. His sword reappeared in his sheath. "That's what makes it fun."

Behind the tower, from within the ocean, the earth of its bottom erupted upward. A wave exploded out that threatened to drown the coast, and behind it, the mass of material itself began to morph. Dirt flew up in a mass from the first onslaught of rock, silt, sand and mud, and shot through the wave of water, past the tower and toward Ada with a gigantic mud slide.

"I have chosen this guild as the last home I will ever know. They call me friend out of the goodness of their hearts- but my role is to enable them to succeed with the full extent of my strength and nothing further. I've made peace with this fact."

Bruce's influence receded again, and Sakki came back out. The gigantic amount of earth behind the tower reached with two short arms to grip the coastline, two far longer arms reaching out of the creatures back toward the tower itself. A mouth, with jagged fangs and teeth, shot out toward its base- and there was much material left to spare.

Bruce cackled briefly, slicing his sword in a 360 degree arc that sent a spiraling helix of Ki up toward the Order clones.
'Huh. That's new. Cool.'

Bruce released his sage state- his point had been made. His friends had heard all he had to say, not just Ada. He made it clear he had no insecurities on that front.

"And no," he hissed, his tone almost playful despite the malice dripping from his aura. "My wife never quite got around to telling me that."

Jeff cringed when Ada's words began to echo into his head but like before he just simply pushed it into the back of his mind adding it to literal other hundred thoughts that were cycling through his mind. "If that's really the best you got on me then clearly you should just run home to daddy Yzera, cause I've already accepted my mistakes and shortcomings. She wouldn't want me to lose it over her death just like I would have wished for her not to over mine."

Seeing the shining clones of Sera, Jeff couldn't help but let out of laugh as he once again overcharged his gauntlets and motion to the castle for a moment. "And you choose to throw that pathetic joke at me? God even three of them is barely worth my laugh!"
The castle pilot payed close attention to everything that was going on, including Jeff's motions towards it and armed the main cannon once more and fired off another arcane pulse at the three as the came down while Jeff backed out of range. Despite his mockery he didn't expect the blast to do more then force the clones to block, however it would leave them open for when Jeff charged in and aimed his cannons headon at them. "Wind Cannon Mega, DOUBLE SHOTGUN!"

The blasts fired from both cannons were similar to that of the sniper shots, but unlike that one, these came at the Sera clones by the thousands shattering past the force barriers bit by bit and threatening to shred the clones into tiny bits as well before launching what would be left miles away.

Other cannon holes began appear on the tower where guild members began to channel enegry into and started to fire at any clone that came into range of it. The attacks all varied from elemental types to techmo plasma bullets. Some even launched Templar bombs at the stronger ones in attempt to downright stop it in it's tracks.

Alvios waited for a moment, his cloak of light absorbing Jenso's infused flames, until he looked like he was made out of Jenso's white flames, constantly being folded and sharpened and mixed with his own Ki under his control. It was almost a near-perfect integration. Alvios nodded at Jenso, giving him a thumbs-up, before suddenly kicking off of the ground in a small explosion, a streak of white fire heading up over the chasm.

Does Jenso even know what kind of incredible power he has? Just this amount, probably just a carefree burst to him... we're almost opposites in terms of reserves and control. I can't contain this for long, but it should be good enough...

Alvios was at a high vantage point now, looking over the battlefield from above. Bruce was going to make some mapmakers very unhappy once this was all over. It was certainly enough to shake things up, and while his golems might never beat Ada's clone army, they were holding them off. And reshaping the landscape was probably good enough to make her at least a little distracted. Besides, she probably thought he was suicidal at this point.

He dived. The blades behind him folded into him, holding his form stable as he went straight down into the ground, like a meteor, the flames beginning to expand from him in a glowing sphere, ready to burst. He wasn't specifically aiming for anyone. Not Dacer, not Oz's bubble, not Ada's wall. He wouldn't need to.

"I think I get it now, at least a little. You all probably want Jenso for his crazy power, knowing that if it could be controlled, even a little bit...well, you could do things like this. Oh, right, Jenso likes adding passion to his attacks, just like all of these forms. What would our combined attack be called...? Oh, here's a good one:"

Alvios collided with the ground, and released it. All of Jenso's blazing energy, condensed and refined and enhanced, bringing out every ounce of untapped potential and lost focus with Alvios' mastery. If it wasn't for his ability to constantly regenerate himself, doing this would probably destroy his body. A massive explosion of energy, only vaguely able to be directed towards Ada and her army.

Ada's prison rolled down into the midst of her army. Oz warped its trajectory with his power to bring it to a full halt. Those minions around him not distracted by immediate combat turned their attention on him. Somehow Oz had managed to preserve the veil energy in his hand, even after that tumble.

Atlas was his ticket out of the bubble. He willed the extension of himself to fill the space inside the bubble until there was none left and kept pressing. He gauged his power well so that he would not crush himself in the middle of it all. After all the pressure it finally gave way and popped. The minions watching him spilled around the opening given. Familiar and unknown faces alike swarmed at him before being driven back by Atlas' burgeoning form. The amorphous energy originally held back by the bubble spilled out and coalesced into Atlas' torso rising above from Oz's position. It reeled back before spinning into a true whirlwind, smashing divots through the earth, crashing through surrounding ooze and minions alike while clearing a good amount of breathing space for Oz to work with.

With a moment to act, Oz lifted the energy he had cradled up to the air. It evaporated as Atlas transferred it to itself. The massive avatar lifted both arms into the sky as it conjured a great hammer from the veil energy it gained and started swinging down toward Ada's position. This would draw Dacer's attention without fail. So that the moment wasn't wasted Oz separated from his avatar, leaving it to its action and ran forward toward the location the hammer would fall. He needed to be there the moment after the impact so he could follow up.

The cilia clones fell to pieces, reforming as they hit the ground, and jumping towards Alvios again. But with Jenso's flames burning brightly, their blades melted before striking the floating warrior. The clones relented, and headed for Jeff's tower as quickly as they could. But again, as they approached, they were mowed down by a series of attacks the came from the moving fortress. Rows and rows of clones were turned into sludge, but it took only seconds for them to reform, and continue their assault, heading towards the castle like invincible zombies. The Sera clones that attacked Jeff were pushed back slightly, but repaired the damage they received, and followed through once again, flying around Jeff and launching a repeated series of force blast at him, each with enough force to knock the sage unconscious.

Jenso's flame wall continued forwards, but moments after it crossed the gap, a row of Rajaka clones reeled their fists back, and punched. The force of their strikes pushed the wall to pieces with gigantic shock waves, allowing the clones to advance right back and hold of the approaching golems. Behind them, a gigantic mass of purple ooze rose up, past the Meta clones of Rajaka and Zelriane, which both fell to the ground in pieces after being struck by Bruce's attacks. As Bruce himself began falling however, a massive purple hand erupted from the titan that Ada began to rise from the ground, aiming to snatch him right out of the air. The titan began to develop its body as well, quickly turning into the demonic entity that Jenso had faced back at the mountainous chasm where Vale had confronted him.

Prisma.

The giant looked up, but turned to witness a brilliant flame approaching at outstanding speeds. It was Alvios, and he was directing himself to strike. The clone of Prisma began to glimmer, quickly directing its chest towards Alvios, and charging a round of Arcano Ultima to Meet Alvios head on before he could attack. But he was too slow. As Alvios crashed through his chest, the giant clone's attempt to catch Bruce was cut short, and the resulting explosion eradicated the beast, along with a massive portion of Ada's Army, and any Golems that Bruce had in the immediate vicinity. Dacer ran and jumped away from the resulting explosion, Past Alvios and over the Chasm, while Ada just stood there and brought a hand to her chin. She seemed puzzled. Were they responding to her psychic onslaughts? She couldn't hear them speaking, but Bruce's voice was pecking at her ears, despite it getting drowned out by the explosions on the battle field. Well, that, and the fact that she had little interest in what any of these brats had to say. Ada's army went sluggish for a moment, and she rose another bubble around herself as the explosive energy approached her. Were they so intent on wasting their stamina? She chuckled, looking down at the ground before her, specifically, at Jenso's 'sneak attack'. She twisted her ankle, and an overwhelming torrent of sludge began to tear through the ground, stopping the underground flame wave and consuming it whole.

As Alvios' attack subsided, Atlas' hammer bared down on her dome, smashing it into the ground. The hammer's focused strike left a series of cracks in her defence, but she was able to hold it together. As it faded away in a puff of smoke, Ada's army began to pick up steam once again, albeit with a slight delay. The Clones of Sera that attacked Jeff earlier had stopped long enough to be dealt with, and what remained of her army after... Wait a moment.

Ada, after making her way to safety once Atlas' attack recoiled, glanced across the crater created by Alvios. Nearly a third of her Ozmone creations were incinerated in his brilliant display, despite her efforts to shield a portion of them. it created a massive gap in her ranks, leaving the path to where she stood wide open. She cringed at the results, and noticed something running straight for her. Was that... The burly one?

Meanwhile, behind her, the efforts that Bruce had placed to send mud towards her was halted by Alvios' flaming attack. Chunks of hardened mud lay scattered as the creature attempted to clasp the tower. "Straight for the tower?" Ada sighed, "That's boring."

Every attempt- The hands that shot towards the giant structure, the maw of razor sharp teeth that aimed for its base, all of it was evaporated upon coming within 10 feet of the Tower's walls. The earth was blasted back by a distortion in space time, reddish waves of energy that rippled through the fabric of reality itself. It was defended by something sinister, or perhaps, it had no intent. Either way, the tower protected itself. Ada crossed her arms and shuddered as Oswald made his way for her directly. "They can't honestly think they're the first people to try something like this," she thought to herself, "Even if they are giving me a hard time." She sighed. "Perhaps... One more!" Ada waited patiently for Oz to get closer, glancing off to the side every few seconds, hoping that his timing would be just right. "I'm ready for you, Big boy."

All while this was happening, Dacer had already made his way past Jenso, standing between him and Jeff with his claws at the ready. It seemed He wasn't intent on defending Ada after all. What changed? It didn't matter. Not a shred of hesitation poisoned his movements. He spun around in midair, flipping elegantly and slashing at both Jenso and Jeff, unleashing claw-like slashes through the air, ice-elemental for Jenso, and Pure Ki for Jeff, before he landed on his feet again, and dashed towards Jeff.

Jenso stared in amazement as Alvios took the giant Prisma clone down, impressed at what he'd done. He smirked confidently at him as he did. "Holy shit! Great job, man!" He shouted, when Dacer appeared.

Jenso looked up at Dacer and kept his flames focused around his body, creating a condensed area of heat around himself as he dashed further to the left to avoid Dacer's ice claw attack. He hoped the heat would be able to deal with any cold that would reach him. He began to channel more flames into the ground through his feet, and dashed after Dacer to close the distance between him and his foe, calmly waiting to see what Jeff would do and how Dacer would respond. He couldn't keep up with Dacer's speed like Jeff could, so he needed to wait for the right moment to act. He coated his hands in Arki as he did.

Bruce recognized the form of Prisma on his way down- and he wished he had been above ground to see what it looked like when the clone was downright annihilated by Alvios.

He felt his assault on the tower meet significant resistance and shatter, so on that front he chose to bide his time. He couldn't sense any energy sources heading directly for him through his ties to the earth, and while Dacer was a force to be reckoned with, he decided Jeff and Jenso would be all right. With no clear outlet for Sakki to vent toward at the moment, he took advantage of Jenso's generous gift to him. Bruce began surreptitiously manipulating the walls of the chasm, breaking thin, imperceptible layers of both sides down into sand that would fly more readily into the bag's opening. He marveled at the fact that the bag did, in fact, manage to retain several tons of material without weighing him down.

He wasn't entirely confident that the supply would be of much use once they reached the inside of the tower, but he'd exploit any edge he could get.

Bruce once again took stock of the whole chaotic scene- Jeff and Jenso were still together, and Alvios had progressed a little, but despite being the largest physically, Oz was making the most geographical headway. He chose to have confidence in whatever his plan was and shot up on his hover board, headed toward Alvios. He kept his sword ready in his sheath.

"I think you just showed us all up, Lightbringer." Bruce said, drawing Alvios' attention upward.

Upon seeing the clones of Sera start to reform Jeff took note that the shotgun attacks of his wouldn't be enough to stop the clones entirely and thus resorted to fanning the flames around the clones with a solid clap which with Alvios's solid distraction of making a massive explosion allowed it to finish the job.

"Thanks Light boy, now I can finally turn my focus to.." Jeff stopped as Dacer appeared in front of him. "Dacer.. somehow I knew it would come to this.." The sage said as he formed the nanoblade with his left hand and dodged the initial ki slash launched at him with a swift sidestep. "I know you're still in there Dacer, and this time I won't fail at freeing you from her control!"

Jeff took to the air and split into 4 mirages which he placed wind spheres into 3 of which held various orbs inside of them and from there waited to see how Dacer would react and prepared to counter it from there.