Michael barely had time to look away from the resulting electrical explosion before it could blind him. He peeked out from his arm once he couldn't hear anything else, and found the room more or less a mess. His thoughts turned to the cultist who caused this in the first place, and he began to look around, trying to figure out what happened to him. Then the sight of the hole in the wall and the smell of burnt flesh answered that question for him.

He stumbled as Ria bumped into him and proceeded to shittalk him. "Glad to see you too, Ria," Michael called out sarcastically to her as she moved on to Diana and Brutus. Speaking of Diana... wait, was she dead? No, wait, she was alive. She seemed to be acting a bit weirdly, though. In the short time he's known Diana, Michael didn't peg her to be so... clingy. He brushed aside the thought; perhaps it was just the electricity messing with her mind. In any case, there didn't seem to be any cause for concern.

Ria's announcement caught his attention. "From King? What does he want now?" Michael asked when Ria showed him the message. Michael gave himself a moment to think. Eventually, he sighed and answered, "I would like to say that we should rest up and let the rest of the Vigilantes handle this. I don't think we're in any shape to take on this assault of cultists, especially after the one we just faced. If a majority wishes to go, however, I will join you. I'll be damned if this happens on my watch."

The newcomer saved the multiplying cultist, but another newcomer saved the two children, causing the tentacled cultist to focus on... Him? It? ...instead. He growled beneath his mask. His master had given him a gift! How could he fail!? No, he'd at least make some sort of statement. He would assist his masked brother to the best of his ability and then perhaps they could see to those brazen children if there was still time.

As Gilliam sunk his teeth into one cultist, he would suddenly find himself beset by the other's clones. They did not stab or punch or claw at him, they simply ran at him with no concern for their own safety and grabbed hold -- before pulling at their own masks to tear them off. Even with one hand, their grip was surprisingly strong.

Their master's gift was a valuable thing.






Reacting to the attack itself was nearly impossible, but Alto had to aim it first, so its trajectory was clear enough. He threw up his arm, the attack striking the back of his fist. It stung like a son of a bitch, penetrating his defenses and drawing blood, at it was better than letting it hit his vitals. With a growl, he then swung that fist around, spinning all the way until he faced King. The air seemed to fold in on itself along his arms path, then unraveling into a wave of force that surged out at Alto and King, throwing them away if they didn't get clear.

"Such gifted children..." He raised his hand to the sky, and the burning lightning began to surge above him once more, the veil fit to burst at any moment. "But do you know what it is to struggle and claw? To truly fight? I will teach you. Let us see if you survive to learn from this lesson!" They had potential, and so he knew that if he got the chance he must snuff them out. Suddenly, that same burning energy crawled across his fingers and he tore at the fabric of the world around him. What followed was no simple shockwave, but the whole arena trembled, the ground seeming to become rubber as it rippled.

Anyone caught in it would feel as if their teeth would shatter from the impact of it. Whoever was unfortunate to be closest to him when it was over would soon find the hulking man bearing down on them like a freight train.

He had to end this quickly, before the veil put itself back together.

Alto was able to enter God Speed at just the right moment. The shock wave cracked at the space he used to be. He re-entered normal speed at a distance back from where he stood, faltering to his knees. He didn't have any wounds, but 'dodging' a shock wave wasn't something you did. You can avoid the majority of the damage but there's no way to completely avoid everything besides not being in the blast radius to begin with, or exiting the blast radius before it reached you which is a feat only Alto could do.

King wouldn't stand a chance. Maybe it wasn't something that would kill him, but it would put him out of the fight.

Then he saw King sailing through the air, saber flying in a different direction, smile still present on his face. In his other hand was a transceiver like device. Before the thunder, Alto heard the sound of warship cannons being aimed.

"Fire!" Drake shouted from up above.

All cannons aimed, all shells were fired. Jokey keeping watch furiously for any stray shot veering too far out of control. It was far too risky to rely on goodwill. Any shot heading towards the city, he pressed a button and took control to guide it back. There was a reason they were doing this, and it was not for exposure.

King's gambit was a simple one, the enemy was one who could shift dimensions. What they had to do was force him into a situation where he couldn't. King and Alto were dual roles, front-line and distraction. Whichever one worked, really. The warship was the second sword, there may never be a need for it, but if there is a need not having one is fatal.

But would even a second sword work? There'd be no way to know until the shells hit.

Static was still coming through the transciever. It was even harder to hear with the dimensional interference.

".̸̟͎̗̘.̜̣.̞̟͙̠-̹̻̠͔̪͓͟.̴̰.͏̳̜̥.̝̱̪̕.̤̮̮̞̭̹̭͟.̷͈̻͍̯̭-̴͈̹̥̮͎̰ s̰̩͍ͯͪͥ͑͛͟o̰͕͡m̟̤̽ͅe̒͌͏̺̯̤̞̘̬t͓̟͙̹̋ͨͧ͗͒̈ͣ͟ḥͨͭͧ͆i̷̗̤̮̤̼n͇̹͖g̱͈̲͔͓͓͊'̩̈́̄͐͘ș̗̰̆͛̐̂͌̚.̣̬̦͜.̫̤̺͎̞̕.͍̹͕̖̟͖͝-̻̰.́.̶͉̟̰͎̱̗.̱̭͎̳̖ͅ.̺̬̲͔̹͡.-͔̼̳w̧̯͖̮͉̤͉̹ͭŕ̤͍̬o̥̭̒ͯn̟̰̙̝̠̹͕̏g̹̖͆ͦ̚!"

@KillamriX88 @Crazy Scion

David struggled to process everything that was going on around him. His first priority was Yuuto who was surprisingly actually lying in a puddle a short distance from him. It seemed he had gotten caught in that cyclone and had probably been slammed into the ground. "Ha, David one Ninja Jesus zero." David taunted as he looked over at Katherine. It seemed that she and Rurik decided to turn up the heat, both literally and metaphorically as they beat the ever living shit out of each other. It all went down so fast that by the time he could process who was even winning the final blows were already being thrown. He watched as Katherine delivered a bitchin knee to Rurik's solar plexus, while Rurik answered with a cheap hay-maker to Katherine's jaw. He could practically feel the cracking bones as sympathy pain made his teeth clench. He immediately tried to spring to his feet to help Katherine but found that to be a terrible move as he collapsed face first into the mud writhing in silent pain. He hadn't gotten out of his fight unscathed as the pain in David's leg and on his side was far greater then he had expected. David cursed Yuuto and his parting gift as he curled up and clutched his leg and side trying to suppress the pain. He could only half pay attention to the situation as Katherine approached Rurik. To his surprise, she offered him a hand and actually helped him to his feet.

"Did I miss something?." David muttered dumbfounded. "When the hell did they become friends?" His concerns were brushed aside when Clara started speaking her nonsense again. David was so pissed he was tempted to just blast Clara and introduce her to her own mud puddle. However, his stomach and his shin were making very compelling arguments as to why he shouldn't even think of moving. Luckily his frustrations were short-lived as Christine finally pulled through and put herself between Clara and her sister. "Good on ya ice girl." he quietly cheered before witnessing and even more miraculous occurrence and that was

Before Clara could even protest this new development a mysterious man, Thobias, flashed in from nowhere. He delivered a quick one-liner and just flashed away taking Katherine and Christine with him. David had mixed feelings about this development. He was glad that Katherine had finally gotten out of there, but it was hard not to feel like his efforts had been a bit wasted. He knows its a selfish thought, but he had tried his best to save the day and it hurt to be outdone by another teleporter. His personal pity party didn't last long though as he heard something stomp up to him and Yuuto. He glanced up to see Bak picking up Yuuto while whispering something to him. David's mind immediately went into high alert, "Shit. I let myself get too distracted. Don't turn around big girl. I don't have my weapon." He glances around frantically for his fire nozzle to thankfully see it a few feet behind him. His thoughts racing "OK, I just need to do a quick painful roll, grab the gun and send her...holy shit she's looking right at me." David froze realizing he had taken too long and Bak was now hovering right over him. David considered his options, "I could try to play possum and maybe she'll pass me by, no. Maybe I just YOLO this shit and go for the gun. Ah, screw it. If I die? I die swinging!" as he made up his mind to take action. He was halted when Bak spoke in a gentle Yekaterina accent, "You are one of us. Come along. We have doctor that can help."

"Help?" was all David could utter before Bak suddenly started hoisting him from the ground. He grabbed onto his fire nozzle by reflex as she threw him on her shoulder opposite Yuuto. His side immediately flared in pain, and he had to clamp his mouth shut to prevent himself from screaming. He did, however, allow himself to let out a totally manly squeal as a result of the rough handling. He hadn't expected Bak to help him and was frankly in shock at this turn of events. David thought about his situation as Bak went around collecting the injured. As it stood it he wasn't going to get his ass kicked for interfering with Clara's plans, at least not right now. He suspected that some flak would be coming his way eventually. Still, he did need a Doctor and could always bail after getting patched up. The persistent pain in his leg and side was starting to clear up finally. He could probably walk on his own now, but he figured as long as everyone kept thinking he was seriously injured they'd be less likely to yell at him.

"Huh?" David breathed as he felt a familiar itch in his skin, "Oh fuck its back!" He exclaims in shock. It seemed that whatever power had disrupted his Crisis left with the pain. His head started pulsing with a new even worse than Katherine headache. David didn't know what could possibly be worse than and escaped Demon, but knew he couldn't ignore the call for long. He had never tried using "Crisis" while being bunched up with other people before. He after all never liked the idea of getting other people involved with his bullshit. It was hypocritical considered he interfered in other peoples affairs, but he blamed this on his powers. He didn't know if it would actually bring other people with him, but if it did work and he was to bring all these tired and injured people with him to whatever bullshit disaster was causing him such agony. He couldn't even imagine the world of shit they would all be in. His thoughts were already getting hazy as he heard a loud ringing in his ears. He tries his best to mutter a spit out a warning, "Get...Away...From...Me...Its...Not...Safe." At this point, the bubbling felt like someone had shaken a soda and let it loose in his veins. Bak may even notice that the veins on David's body had started to protrude a bit with a bubbly blue glow now visible through the skin. He tried to hold on a few more seconds, but Bak wouldn't drop him so he could only hope someone had gotten a chance to get clear. He craned his neck and then once again screamed at the top of his lungs,

"CRISIS!!!"

The whole group would see a massive portal open in the sky above them and quickly descend over Bak and David and any unlucky enough to still be with them.

The Arena
As shells rained down upon the arena a large purple portal would open and deposit everyone right in front of the Brute Cultist during the active firestorm. David had no words for the situation he was now in. The monster and explosions everywhere told him he had landed right in the middle of a massive shit storm. He wasn't normally a pessimistic guy, but he honestly was questioning whether or not getting blowing up was less painful than getting ripped limb from limb by whatever unholy abomination he was currently looking at. "Oh, Well if I'm gonna die. I'm going swinging." David would fling himself off of Bak's back, now able to do so without the unbearable pain, yell, "Close." all the circles on his chest would vanish and back in the park 6/7ths of all the water on the ground would suddenly vanish into blue light and dissipate. David was ready. If that cultist made a move at them he'd introduce him to 300 PSI of fuck you.

@KillamriX88 @Gentlemanvaultboy



"How unfortunate, well it can't be helped can it? We monsters, we always fight over territory." The hulking cultist explains as he feels the gnashing teeth rip into his skin, but much to Gilliman's surprise, his skin is tough and chewy, like a normal man trying to eat a car tire. Of course he was making progress, blood leaking from the tentacles but he wasn't tearing the flesh apart like he normally does. The cultist looks over to his deformed arm, and saw the light drizzle of blood seeping from it. "That's not good..." He states flatly, before attempting to pull the tentacles up to, and near his face. "I'm a tad thirsty myself. Let's see who's the better devourer." He chuckles, before his teeth extend to look like horrific needles, and he bites into the tentacle mass that had him grappled. However, he saw Legion's rush and his eyes grew wide, for there were many ways that could go horribly wrong. For hell's sake, the monster just said he ate people! Don't give him more bodies to eat!

But that was the least of his concerns, as unbeknown to this servant of the dark forces, another evil power was in play. The sound of metallic hooves could be heard slamming into stone, as another red robed figure started to make his way to the arena. However, this man was no cultist, but rather a man of steel and rage. He had picked up from the news that an attack was happening, and that the arena was indeed a focal point for these assaults. With a large cleaver-like sword in hand, and a new hand wielding it, Luigi Vile rode forth upon his iron horse, a mechanical automaton in an equine shape. He was prepared for war, and would bring the fury of steel upon these cultists of flesh and blood! He rode towards the tentacled cultist, cleaver held high and ready to tear them asunder.
"Blitzkrieg!" The metal man shouted, for he would be swift like the lighting, and as destructive as a war.

The cannons fired and the projectiles screamed toward the masked man. The runes on his skin suddenly flared, engulfing him in a blazing, red light. He threw his arms out and split seconds before he was struck a massive, gaping wound was torn in the veil.A huge, red portal opened up and swallowed every shot that come at him. A high pitched ringing would assault everyone's ears almost as if the world itself was screaming in pain. Through the portal one could see a barren, discolored version of the regular world.

One could feel the ground tremble slightly as the blasts struck the mirrored ground beyond the gaping portal.

The masked man turned his head to look at Alto. His expression was hidden, but the look was taunting.

Knowing.

His hands relaxed and opened.

The rip in space shuddered and then rapidly shrank until it closed, but it didn't stop there. That point kept shrinking and shrinking, warping their vision as that one spot became a pinpoint.

"MOVE!" Off to the side, Gloria had come to her senses, though everything hurt. She tackled King, throwing herself and King forward and to the ground.

A moment later, it all finally snapped back. Everything went silent as their ears would be overwhelmed by the sudden boom. The arena stands were flattened, caving into the hollowed spaces beneath them. The upper level of the arena fared even worse, shattering and showering the surrounding streets and buildings with debris.

In the center of the chaos it was eerily safe, they would barely feel a thing as the world around them was torn apart. The warship would be lucky to stay airborne, let alone hold even remotely steady as the explosion rippled through it should it fail to pull back.

Those in the medical pavilion would feel the explosion rattle them, the walls around them cracking, but they were deep enough into the arena to stay relatively safe.

"Ahhh, so glad the rest of you could come and witness this," the man slowly turned to face the group that had just teleported in. Even as he spoke, his body heaved with each breath. Clearly causing such devastation had taken a toll on his stamina. "Look closely and remember well what will soon befall this whole, wretched city!"


@Crowvette@Dezuel

One, ragged boy ran through the streets. Suddenly ahead he saw a trio of strange men in masks and robes. On sight, they suddenly turned and drew curved knives on him. In response, he jumped and cocked a fist back.

What was he doing? Was he really punching his way into a knife fight? The cultists found this laughable.

SNAP!

An explosion blasted out behind the boy and his rocketed fist first into one, knocking him into the other two before another blast sent all three skidding and bouncing into the distance, their scorched bodies leaving a trail of smoke in their wake.

"OUT OF MY WAY! I'M COMING KATH!" Cassius sprinted onward. Finally he made it to the park. It had taken him a while to figure out exactly where he had to go, but eventually he'd been able to pick up on the commotion int he distance... though quite frankly there was a lot of commotion going on right now.

Just as he got there -- everyone left. Only Clara remained.

"OH COME ON!" He fell to his hands and knees, punching the ground. The exertion of such a long sprint finally hit him and he couldn't even find the strength to immediately get back up. Clara or no, he wasn't backing off. He'd make her tell him what was going on!

And then he felt it. A shock-wave passed through him and then the echoing BOOM! followed a second later. He turned his head to see the arena flying apart in the distance, an ominous red glow lighting it all up before fading a moment later.

"Wh-...what?"



"It's fine. I can walk. Don't worry about it..." Rurik spoke lazily from atop Bak's backpack, already having given in to being carried.

"'Sup." Rurik said as David was hauled up by Bak after fearfully protesting. Then he started freaking out... again. "Dangerous? Crisis? What cri-" And then the world flipped and they were back in the arena. "-sis?!" Rurik's eye twitched rapidly. ". . . gettin' real sick of this shit."

And then literally everything exploded.

Rurik felt like he must have stopped breathing for a solid minute. Finally he took a long, deep breath and let it out, just slumping weakly over Bak's shoulder.

He was so done with today.

Nαɳαƈα Dαιɱσʂ

---

Nanaca soon found out that her ability was too much for the cultists. It was all too easy for her to dispatch of them all, until the remaining ones decided to not even try engaging her in combat, opting to take the "run away" option instead. She chased after some of them, but not to the point that she was forced to leave the arena. This was where the real action was after all and she wasn't interesting in just chasing small fries.

Her gaze then turned into what looked to be the big boss of the whole thing. She would've engaged him as well, if not for the fact that King had told her and the others to not engage him. He told her that it would be "too dangerous", or something like that.

She sighed, floating backwards and taking one of the still intact arena seats. She sat with crossed legs, waiting until she could have her action again.

Haah, maybe I should join in after all... Who cares what that guy says?

As she waited, she heard a horrific scream echoing across the arena. She stood up at once, excited by the prospect for a new opponent, but she couldn't find anyone.

Oh great I think that had to come out from the outside. Grrr, should I just go there?

And then the whole arena trembled. The air itself trembled.

"G-gah!"

She reflectively turned herself weightless before she was thrown around by the shockwave. Since she was weightless, she was like a cotton bud, greatly reducing the effect of the shockwave and the normal force she received when she crashed onto the seats behind her. She quickly recovered, and she quickly determined that the source was the guy Alto and King were currently fighting against.

S-such amazing power!

Instead of feeling fear, she felt exhilaration instead. And it didn't change when their airship fired upon the big bad guy, and when the big bad guy responded by opening a huge red portal to absorb the barrage, accompanied by a painful ringing noise.

But then, the portal shrank, followed by a loud boom as it exploded, sending an even stronger shockwave to its surroundings.

Oh, crap!

Nanaca quickly turned herself weightless once more as she knew she couldn't escape the blast radius. The blast sent her flying into the stand behind her, and that stand itself was soon turned into flying debris and rubble. She could only close her eyes, hopefully protecting them from any dust or rock that might harm them.

When she opened them back, she could tell that she was buried under a bunch of rubble.

Naturally, it was not a problem for her.

She immediately broke free, sending the rubble on top of her flying as she took their weight.

Unfortunately, she didn't escape without a scratch, both literally and figuratively. Literally, as there were now scratches all over her body that stung like hell. And figuratively, as she coughed a heavy, painful-sounding cough as her body tried to expel the dirt and dust that had entered her lungs.

"W-wait, where do those people come from?"

While she was recovering, she had missed the portal that had suddenly appeared, dropping a bunch of new faces into the arena.

@Scarifar@rawkhawk64@Bartimaeus@AtomicNut

---

Ria cocked an eyebrow as the girl she'd just seen sputter up blood, collapse on the floor, and ducking fie, rose ton her feet and proceeded to get...real friendly.

She signed as the other girl got what could only be described as a grip. She let her indulge for just a bit, tilting her head to the side and staring listlessly at the wall between Brutus and the ghostly boy. The other ghostly boy. What, was exploding how they reproduced?

She considered Michaels words. He had a point. There was no way for them to fight, especially carting around her lame ass. "You're right. You guys did your part. Saved a lot of lives in here. No reason to go out and get yourselves killed. But, I think there's one last issue in here we have to address."

"Honestly, flat justice," she said, looking down at Diana as she lifted up one arm and extends two fingers. "Right at this moment I wouldn't mind you putting your fingers wherever you like, iiiiiiffff..."

She struck quickly and decisively, shoving her fingers up Diana's nose and trying to peel the other girl off. "If I thought you were really Diana right now! I might be high as a kite, but I still got a great view from up here. And let me tell you, your mouth might tell lies but that body don't. Michael, wrestle this bitch!"

Wrestle this bitch they might have done, were it not for the sudden shock that cracked the walls and send Ria tumbling off Michel and onto the ground amidst the bodies. The lights flickered once, twice, then gave up the ghost and they were all engulfed in darkness save for the light that managed to find its way through the cracks.


@supertinyking

---

Gilliam had no knowledge of the threat posed by the masked men. In fact he took their intrusive pile on as an opportunity to sate his hunger. Tendrils exploded out of him, wrapping the cultists, drawing them closer as his back bulged and deformed. It spilt down the middled, opening up into a great maw with teeth like tombstones and greedily flapping tongue.

The side dishes throwing themselves at his mouth was thrilling, but he found he was having some trouble. The main course, it seemed, had been overcooked. His skin was hard, chewy, with the texture of old tires. He knew because he had eaten tire before like this, just ripping and chewing with as many mouths as possible. It was inefficient and crude. Luckily for Gilliam, he was civilized now. He could utilize utensils.

Gilliam shrank slightly as he pushed more of himself into his tentacles and all along the them new tentacles formed, smaller, like hairs. Some were topped with small, sharp blades of bone, others three pronged barbs, and still others just shriveled little tubes. His mouths ceased there ravenous chewing and there was a bubbling sound as the tubes shook, bulged, and then spit clear burning stomach acid onto the areas his teeth were having trouble with. Not missing a beat the prongs stabbed down into the affected area as the blades went to word, rapidly moving back and forth to cut the meat into chunks so the forks could deliver it into the patiently waiting mouths. Bon appetite! Was there anything more civilised and elegant that this?

Even still, he could feel that his opponent was far more brutish in his methods. It shook him, to feel the familiar sensation of teeth sinking into his flesh. He almost lost it, almost fell into a pit of paranoia and terror, but realization hit him like a ton of bricks. "It was you." He said calmly, eyes coming into the sharp focus of the fundamentally insane. "You're the one I've been feeling. You're the one I've been hiding from for the past month. You? You?" he laughed wildly, joyously. "Pitiful old men. Joyless, wretched creature, I got you again. You were hunting me, but I got the drop on you! Hahahhahahahahahah!"

He was still laughing when the masks went off, and Gilliam was blow all across the street. The end of the tentacles tangled with the cultists flopped back and forth like a beheaded snake as parts of the boy it had been attached to rained down around them. It slammed, spasmed, weakly jerked, and laid still.

But it hadn't stopped.

The furious work of the little knives, the little forks, the little dedicated acid squirters, it hadn't ceased.

The tentacle coiled upward, standing for battle like a king cobra, and on the underside right below the smoldering tear where it had been attached to his body a faced resolved out of the flesh. A face that was human like but in now way was it a man anymore. It looked at Legion, and smiled.

He would be next.

Before that, though, an uninvited guest. Metal clashing against the ground drew his attention. "Luigi." It said, in a voice like air being forced through a hose. "Are we to debate the riddle of steel once more?" The face hacked, and out from its mouth emerged a long, jagged blade of bone. With whip like speed the Gilliam serpent jerked back and swung itself through the air, gripping as tightly as it could to its opponent, to come in and slice from the opposide direction of Luigi to leave the cultist no escape. If luck was with them their blades would meet in the middle of this man.

Diana jerked upwards upon seeing Ria's unbecoming feint to pry her away. Reluctantly, she backed off, a hint of a snarl in the corners of her mouth, as she eyed Kheraket on the corner of her eye. So much for having a little fun without getting caught, huh. I might need to strongarm this situation a little... although the little body of the witch will not last. The psychopomp thought, as her attention was drawn elsewhere. First, a huge rumble, which shook her unsteady balance and that of Ria's. It seemed the battle above raged on.

Then a second presence was walking towards the medical bay. Ragged clothes and skirt, a mask. Bruises and blood stains. Lightbringer. The muted conscience of the witch she inhabited recognized him first. That and the large girl besides him, who was in a similar if not even worse, state of sorry dressing, what with a Saint Laurel's uniform full of blood.

"Well, looks like people have been naughty on my absence..." Celestine said in his usual singsong mocking tune, but those who knew him would notice how he was barely able to contain his tiredness, rage and frustration this time around. He had received a call from his fellow Mephisto students, and thanks to having cajoled the titty monster he enjoyed an airborne lift back. Apparently a bunch of students had a fracas with Clara, and now they had been forcefully teleported inside the battlezone as end result.

So much for a little skull cracking. It turned out to be more babysitting. Cel looked at Meredith. "Well, let's do this, my demon lady." He said, as he pointed at the fellow fallen students."Could you whip one of your healing spells and get them patched up, and then we shall do a little...dance." Celestine added.

"I'm hungry." The student said, in an almost whisper, as she stumbled almost on Celestine. "I need more food." She added.

"Yes, yes I shall invite you to dinner." Celestine added as he tapped his foot against the ground of the pavillion. "But fi-"

The Fallen One never finished the sentence, before Meredith drew her arms around him and gave him a long kiss, knocking the mask off him in the process.

We have to help Lightbringer, that's- Diana thought to herself, trapped in her body. But her partner in crime did not move an inch, having a sort of perverse pleasure to see comeuppance to what seemed a slimy individual. Celestine tried to struggle, but it was in vain. Caught off guard, the tall and demonic Meredith had strength to spare to keep him pinned down.

He stumbled to the ground, gaping for air like a fish tries to breathe outside water. Meredith wiped her mouth with her forearm after the deed, not giving him a second glance. "Better now. That hit the spot..." She said, almost giddy, to the rush of having followed her instincts and awakened the traditional way of succubus feeding. She bit her hand, and drew a circle to perform first aid on those present, a small smirk in her face.

It had been the first time she had tried to shut her heart and tried to think with her head. Like her mother seemed to do all the time. Turns out, she wasn't as dumb as she initially thought of herself. She had seen through this man's attempts to manipulate her. He wanted a demoness to sic on enemies, to answer his beck and call. But he had also nearly killed her. It was a fair retaliation. She thought to herself. She was trash too. He was trash. She had made a lot of people miserable. Yet, when she was looking at her fellow companions and students, she bitterly admitted that she could only be friends with people if she helped them overcome these kinds of situations.

Life wasn't fair. And fights and love weren't either. So she had no qualms to use any kind of dirty deed at her disposal. "I'm sorry Ria, Dee. I have been too much of a bitch obsessed with Wolfie. I needed to get a grip." She said somberly, before spreading her wings, revitalized.

The reaper inhabiting Diana could not help but restrain her laugh at the amusement the situation provided. It was better than a cheap pulp novel, that was for sure. And seeing the slimy man crawling like a worm after being tricked by a demonic girl seemed to also produce a small amusement in Diana.

"Sh.shit." Celestine said, his forces all but gone. "But I guess this also works...too. Diana could you help me?" The trickster almost begged, talking to the small girl. The Moira moved, before squatting next to Celestine's face, and producing a handkerchief, wiped his lips of demonic saliva. "There, you have no longer taste of demongirl in you. I mean, what did you expect, leaving me to die and all? Be lucky that I am not turning you into one of my summons, Lightbringer."

"Well I guess we can't really fight like this." Not-Diana added, before taking a seat, and allowing her wounds to slowly heal.

I think I am getting a little better at this. She mentally thanked herself for a good well done.

---

@Gentlemanvaultboy@supertinyking

The arena was chaos around her, as Meredith scoured the battlefield that still raged. She had never seen so much corruption besides her own house in one place. And they were powerful. She was drained. But she had awakened a power to replenish herself rather quickly. So she needed to do like the funny man with the funny hat and the accent like that princess-like first year. Divide and conquer. After grabbing a shocked random minor snack on the way and tossing his drained self into a recycle bin post-draining kiss, she set her sights on a rather curious aggrupation of monsters. Some cultists brimming with eerie power backing up a monster made of flesh, sinew and tentacles, fighting yet another monster made of flesh. Also some half mechanical bull half man cutting people down.

It looked like the videos her mother always shown her. But it had a distinctive quality. Only a few of those seemed... tainted. So she swooped, and perched on the nearest salient, ready to pounce. She needed to be careful to win this. No more reckless Meredith.

@Hammerman@KillamriX88@Crazy Scion@RoflsMazoy@rawkhawk64

---

Bak didn't know what was happening. It was becoming a distressing trend with her. One moment she had been turning back to grab Vittorio from his creating place, ready to cart everyone off to wherever they could get treatment without being arrested. Then David had started freaking out, which she attributed to being carried by something like her. Then he'd started glowing. Then they'd appeared...

At first she wasn't sure. She took it for some decayed old ruins until she spotted Alto and everything resolved in her mind. They had been returned to the arena. Her immediate thought was to blast Alto before he got them, but he was standing on the other side of a huge man they had landed in front of. A giant, covered in magic symbols and wearing a mask like some kind of heinous witch, and as she watched him an airship listed into view and plowed into the stadium seating behind them. It flopped over on its side, and was still.

"Piss! Shook us like a kid throwing a tantrum." Came a female voice out of the load speaker on the ship, now cut apart with ripples of static and fluctuating in volume. It was really only loud enough for Nαɳαƈα to hear at all, as the ship had come to rest quite near her. "Jokey, you good?"

"I think I threw up." Came the reply.

Bak eyes were drawn off that mess when the witch man spoke. Told them to look. Told them what would happen to the whole city. The whole city. And as he talked her mind dragged up a different conversation. One she'd had in the early morning, with a condescending boy.

"The fighting between all three factions; two schools and a private group, it's gone beyond friendly competition to a blood feud. That is dangerous for us all, especially if there is a Greater Evil than the Ancient Evil, or just new machinations by the latter. Then again, I might just be seeking meaning beyond the conflicts and causes presented before me.

Was this what that boy had been talking about? She watched the devastation he claimed to have wrought on this stadium. She didn't much care what happened to the city. Like she had said, the whole city was beyond her range. But she couldn't help picturing what this man could do to St. Lucifer's, and the implicit threat of destruction he'd declared against it. That was comfortably within her range.

"Rurik, take Yuuto." She ordered. She didn't even brother to look up. She was too busy manually aiming her artillery cannons. "Go to warn Tovarisch. Take care of Vittorio." David had already jumped off. That was fine. She could be mad at him later, for whatever it was he had done. "I'll be giving covering fire."

"You're not serious." Alto said scornfully, sword flashing to life in his hand. The cut from Vittorio still hurt and for all he knew Clara had a hand in this. He'd half expected the lot of them to attack him. "You're on my side now? What kind of game are you people playing?"

The sound of Bak's cannons where her only reply. She could settle things with Alto later as well. Form his part Alto just growled in frustration. He threw his sword at the cultist back and extended a finger directly at the mans heart, waiting until after the man man to move before unleashing another Hyperlight Stream. Unlike Vittorio, he aimed to put this one down.

David's face paled as the Cultist implications sunk in. He glanced around at the widespread destruction around him. If that thing had really leveled half the arena then he had a snowball's chance in hell of beating it. David started contemplating how best to make a swift escape. If he fired a stream of water into the things face he could probably distract it long enough for him to draw a quick circle and escape.

"Rurik, take Yuuto." Bak suddenly ordered causing David's thoughts of escape to halt, "Go to warn Tovarisch. Take care of Vittorio."

He visible twitched as her steely gaze passed over him as she leveled her weapon at the cultist, "I'll be giving covering fire."

"You're not serious." David heard a man say, echoing his own thoughts. He looked over to see a St. Laurel's student, Alto, looking quite frustrated.

"You're on my side now?" Alto said with every bit of confusion also reflected by David. "What kind of game are you people playing?" David had no idea what this guy was on about, but it seemed Bak didn't care either, because instead of answering the man she instead decided to start unloading into the Cultist. This seemed to force the issue with Alto as instead of pressing for answers he immediately went into action and launched his own attack at the creature. The flashing lights and exploding flak made for an impressive display of destructive power, but David couldn't help but feel like it wouldn't be enough. He once again considered his options, looking at his fire nozzle and then looking at Bak and Alto. "I am severely outclassed here." He thought depressingly, "This guy could kill me in one blow." David realized that his body was shaking and that he had been clenching his teeth together. This creature terrified him and all his survival instincts were screaming at him to get the fuck out, "This isn't my fight. It's better to leave this to people much more qualified than myself." He reasoned, "I'm not a coward. I'm just being realistic." David again looked at Bak readily laying her life on the line to fight for her friends, to even fight for him a stranger. David aims the fire nozzle and fires a stream of water aimed right at the Cultist's face. He quickly switches to holding the fire nozzle with just his left hand and draws his pen. "I can leave." He thought, "I should leave." He didn't budge, "Fuck." David draws a circle, but not on the ground. He instead drew a new two-inch radius circle on his back. He would side steps right up to Bak keeping the water on the Cultist as he does so.

"Hey, tank girl." He says just loud enough to be heard over the roar of the water. "You want to do more than tickle him?" David would point at the circle on his back. "Stick your gum through that circle when I give the word and we can set this assholes world on fire. Close!" As David says this he drops the fire hose as the water abruptly stops.

In the distance at Mephisto's school for the wickedly inclined. A firebox explodes as a hose, left on max pressure, bursts from its housing, shooting water everywhere and smashing everything around it.

David pockets his pen and holds up his now free hands with circles drawn on the palms. "Open times 9!" The two circles on David's palms and the seven on his chest would light up. Bak would see the small circle on David's back light up where he told her to put her gun barrel. If she does so, Bak would see nine identical copies of her gun emerge from the portals. In response David would look over at her a nod. The rest would be up to her.

Rurik looked at Yuuto. What exactly did Bak want him to do? Yuuto was huge and Rurik was down to one arm. However, it gave him an excuse to get out of here...

"Hey, you're a big, tough snow bee, right?" Rurik said to Yuuto. "Can you at least stand?" Rurik figured if Yuuto could stand he could probably lean on him to walk if he needed.

As he was trying to get Yuuto back on his feet, his attention was drawn back to the fighting as it ramped back up.

Yuuto needed to get away, sure... but could he really just walk away from this?

. . . Of course he could! Since when was this something he would even consider? Yet consider he did.

(TL Note: Snow bee = shinobi. Rurik still can't do japanese.)




"Oh? You're still going to fight?" The big man shook his head. "Just like cornered anim-" BOOM! His face disappeared beneath a cloud of smoke as Bak's cannon blasted him. Bak's unusual arsenal seemed to have caught him off guard. Alto's attacks struck next, but behind the smoke it was hard to say how much damage had been done.

However, a moment later he fell to a knee. Alto's blade stuck out of his back, blood running down his side from where the hyperlight stream had struck as well. But he was still moving. He lifted his head, one eye now visible from where Bak's cannon had broken his mask. It was... perfectly human looking. A simple, brown eye.

A weak chuckle escaped. His sides shook as he laughed, but then his hands clenched, laughter turning to growls of effort and anger.

"Oh... very well..." The red markings that covered his skin flared with new intensity. The humanity soon fled as the sclera of his eye turned black. "You must not be left with hope."

Meanwhile, Alto didn't care to find out what that meant. The blade disappeared from the man's side as Alto remade it in his hand. He then covered the distance in an instant with one light-speed dash. Meanwhile, King also flew in from the other side. Both aimed their blades toward the man's neck.

It was unfortunate that Alto could not land a killing blow at light-speed. He had to return to normal speed to strike with all his power. The huge cultist roared and surged to his feet, throwing his arms out like a massive bird spreading its wings. The back of his fist caught Alto moments before his blade could strike and sent him tumbling into the air. King was a bit less committed and pulled back, letting the man's fist fly by. He took aim again, but rather than strike was forced to deactivate his weapon.

Alto had been snatched out of the air by his ankle and flung into King like a living flail. Had he left his saber lit he'd have cut the boy in half. As King was flying back the way he came, Alto was slammed to the ground at the man's feet who then lifted both fists high, ready to slam them down and turn Alto to paste...

Nαɳαƈα Dαιɱσʂ

---

Nanaca stood there looking around in confusion as she tried to take in her changed surrounding.

First, the arena was obviously in a less-than-optimal state. Rubble were everywhere, not just near the place she was standing. It was pretty much destroyed by the blast from before.

Next was the obvious fact that there was now a giant masked man in the middle of the arena. And he was making some sort of speech. Something about what would happen to the entire city.

She couldn't care less, unfortunately for him. Listening to big villain speeches was never really her thing.

And last but not least was the fact that reinforcements had arrived out of thin air. Maybe they had teleported in. It wouldn't be that odd if one of them had that kind of power in them.

Nanaca then felt the wind coming from the flying ship that rested near her. As usual, she didn't bother holding down her fluttering skirt, exposing her baby blue panties to the world.

"Hey, you two good?" she asked the two on the ship as she floated upwards to land on the top of the bow. "Maybe you two should retreat. That guy... he means business."

"As for me, well, I'm done running."

She leaped straight upwards, flying higher and higher yet still towards the direction of the giant masked man. Once she saw that she was directly above him, she readied herself, aiming both of her legs downwards.

And then, she turned herself as heavy as she could.

She immediately fell down like a rock. Or, to be more accurate, like a giant mass of steel. One ton, two tons, she didn't know how heavy she was being. She only knew that her impact would be massive.

Her aim was of course, the head. But if she couldn't manage to hit him there, she would settle with the shoulders or his back instead.

And right at the moment of impact, she would turn herself back to weightless again, so that she wouldn't suffer the returning force on her legs.

---

@Gentlemanvaultboy@supertinyking@KillamriX88

Meredith tensed her muscles as she got ready. Her sight wandered to Alto, King and the ordeal of the students with what she assumed was one of the heads of the attack or at least one of the main perpetrators. She wanted to rush blindly. Had she been her younger, more naive self, she would have to. But the recent events had shed off her innocence much like they had shed off her baby fat. Her target was elsewhere, as a cluster of cultists was harassing a shapeshifting creature and what she assumed a half-mechanical student. They seemed to be part of one of the schools. Probably Mephisto's. She wasn't full powered yet, as she had shed blood to near death not long ago. Hence, she couldn't pick quality targets yet. One of the attackers, well, a score of them had chosen to use quantity over quality. Her ability to plunder lifeforce out of a target, which she had just awakened seemed a perfect match.

It's after all, like that viperine masked girly boy has said. I can fly, I have allure, i can give good fighters a run for their money. Even if a power is dark, ultimately, the fate of one's actions is what you make use with this power. I got so drunk, and so despaired... i did end up misusing quite a bit. I ended up resembling mother.

She inhaled deep.

Despicable, indeed. In chasing what hurt me, I lost sight of what I should protect.

Her wings flapped fast, her legs and tail moved gracefully, as she landed on top of one of the attacking clones, the one she perceived a little off with respect to the rest. Even augmented, they were still humanlike in their strength, so Meredith had little trouble in seizing them and putting her mouth to the neck. The kiss was made soundly, like some sort of vampire. For maximum efficiency she would have to use the lips, but the masks were in the way. All it did was to make it even more drawn out and striking, as she pushed both the magical energies and the demonic augments out of the constructed body and incorporated it into her own, allowing the clone to dissolve peacefully, the strength never returning to the rest for it had been eaten by the half-succubus atrocious technique.

She licked her lips, a slight hint of revulsion forming on then, before resuming her swooping like a hawk rounds hapless birds of prey. She grinned, and let words once more escape her lips. Words of taunting, and malice. Fight evil with evil, for they had struck the weak at their most vulnerable.

"You guys taste like broccoli. but I am a good girl. I need to empty the plate and everyone will be happy." She said, adding a giggle to enhance the effect. If they had chosen terror tactics, so would she. After all...

She had been teached by a demon.

@Crazy Scion@Hammerman@KillamriX88

---

Bak hesitated as the big evil manhandled King and Alto. It wasn't just because sticking her limbs in strange holes wasn't something a girl was supposed to do, either. Watching the man raise his fist in the air, preparing yo bring it down on Altos head, she thought about how easy it would be to let this happen. Just sit back for a second more and watch Clara's problem, Vittorio's problem, get obliterated from the face of the earth. She considers that without him around she would logically be next on the chopping block, but that didn't really bother her all that much. Maybe the trade was worthwhile.

Two things made her reconsider. First of all, she could still here Rurik's footsteps which meant that his evacuation was slow going, leaving him vulnerable. This boy in front of her she knew could teleport, so she wasn't as worried about him, but a great evil would get after Rurik and Yuuto once it was done with her.

The other was that she could see the girl plummeting toward his head, which was likely going to let Alto slip away anyway. She may as well pile on the damage if that was going to be the case.

"Rodger." she said, spinning up her chain gun and shoving it into the hole. "Suppressing fire!" She shouted as it began spitting bullets.

@AtomicNut @Gentlemanvaultboy @KillamriX88

"Damnable fool, I told him to retreat and he has now made the enemy stronger and I have to utilize all of my strength here and now. That new girl, the drainer, she's the greatest threat. I must divide and cripple." He thinks as he is caught by the blades, the stinging, burning feeling of blades striking his flesh picking up as Luigi brought his blade down, cutting into the back of the Cultist's head. If he had done nothing, Luigi and Gilliman would of cleaved the top portion of the man's head from his body, a definite death blow.

Blood Reserve: -2 Pints, from 2 gallons. Effect: Transformation into high-mid tier demon form.
Form Powers Lost: Tentacles, and super strength. Powers Gained: Enhanced durability, flight, hyper sharp claws, and a hyper sonic screech.

Luigi, his horse, and Gilliman's blade were suddenly shunted back by an explosion, the small mass of consuming tentacles entwined with his evaporated by the hell flame. The hulking beast of a man who had been there was now replaced by a much smaller figure, with

The beast spreads its wings, turning its back on Gilliman as it pounces from the smoke of the explosion towards Luigi, who's just barely managed to pick himself up. It all happens within a moment, a split second of a blur of purple, and then a splash of red. The demon man's new claws tore into Luigi's chest, leaving a long X shaped wound that blood and oil seeped from. It was deep, at the center a speck of sunlight shining through Luigi's chest. For anyone else, a killing blow, and it seemed the same for the mechanical meanace as their body quickly creaked, and slammed onto its back.
"Now then, Legion, I will leave you to your fate. I gave you the chance to run, and you've squandered it, and I refuse to die for your incompetence. I'll let our master know of your failings." He begins, before no doubt Gilliman and Mer could see Luigi stand up despite what would've seemed to be a lethal blow. "Redundant systems activated. Death prevention activated, estimated time until total system failure, 40 seconds after engagement's end." A female voice spoke into Luigi's mind as he could feel his body was heavily damaged. He didn't have long, he had to keep fighting and repairing himself as he fought. First thing was first, however, and he gave as good as he got. A splash of crimson exploded from the Cultist's back, and then stumbled forwards before steadying themselves.
"Well then, you're still alive?" The Bird-Thing asks, surprised. With a single flexing of its wings it threw itself into the air, avoiding another strike from Luigi. "I must admit, I got unlucky today. Next time, things will fall better into my favor!" They hiss, before attempting to fly away. Luigi ignored them, and turned his focus on the enemy still within his reach. "Gilliman, you're in a near critical state. Get out of here, before that replicator uses more of that exploding technique. I'm already learning about those masks, and I'm not liking what I'm seeing." He says, as his lumbering mechanical form started his charge. He didn't know who this mystery fighter who had come to their aid was, but he couldn't care less at the moment. He needed to fight to live at the moment, even as he felt his inbuilt tools start repairing damaged systems he knew it would take a good while to truly repair it all. He just needed to get himself stabilized rather than perfectly repaired, as much as that angered him.

"Hey!" Cassius shouted as he stood. "You! Uh, Clara?"

"That is my name..." She responded somewhat impatiently.

"What happened to Kath?! What..." He looked around and saw the extent of the damage. The area was soaked for some reason, but then the nearby tree was in cinders. Also part of the park had just been completely torn up. "What happened here? What did you do?!"

"Well... let's see..." She turned to him and took a few steps closer. "I did nothing. That said, it would seem her sister's boyfriend fought her and nearly killed her before another student from our school absconded with her... Thobias I believe." She told him. "Does that explanation suffice?"

"Wh-what?! K-k-k- B-but you said almost. Sh-she's alive?" He suddenly felt a bit shaky.

"Last I knew. Though if I recall, none of Thobias's abilities are medical in nature, and that's assuming his intent was even to help her. With how she was bleeding I can't say how long she'll last," Clara said.

"Uh... umm..." Cassius whole body buzzed as waves of sickening stress and worry flooded through him. Thobias... why was that name familiar? He felt Katherine might have complained about him once or twice, but she never really wanted to go into detail about him.

That didn't make him feel better.

If he was a Mephisto and Kath didn't like him, didn't that just make him another enemy!? ANd why had Rurik attacked her? She'd already been so badly hurt! He was dating her sister, dammit! If anything happened to Kath...

"Where did they go!?"

"I couldn't say."

"WELL WHICH WAY THEN!?"

"Thobias is a teleporter. I really couldn't say," Clara didn't so much as flinch as he shouted.

"W-well... but... why are you even telling me anything?" Cassius's shoulders sagged in defeat.

"Because..." Clara stepped closer to him. "I figure we're in a similar situation now. Unable to take another move. What harm is there?"

"Oh..." Had... they not been working together then? Clara and the others? It wouldn't surprise him. They were a whole lot of backstabbers... right? But then again back at the hotel they'd all worked together to fight the demon. Convenience he supposed. Allies one minute, enemies the next when being friendly no longer suited them. "Thanks... I guess."

"Hmm..." Clara tilted her head. "You are welcome I suppose. I appreciate your cordiality. St. Laurels acts like a shining beacon of perfection, but so few of you actually live up to that in the end. It's disappointing in a way. It's almost nice to see someone act the part."

"Errr..." Cassius had no idea how to react to that.

"Well, if you ever find them as disappointing as I do... we always welcome those with power and ambition. You have both, don't you... what was it... Cassius?"

"Just because I'm being polite doesn't mean I'd ever want to join your school." Cassius narrowed his eyes.

"Ah, and so more disappointment." Clara shrugged. "Farewell, Cassius. And do try to keep your cool. Simply accept that there is nothing you can do and steel yourself for the future. You were polite, so you've earned a morsel of advice." And with that she began walking away. Once she was clear of witnesses she'd make her move back toward the arena.

Something was happening there.




The hail of bullets slammed into him, but they seemed to bounce off of his magic warding, barely doing more than stinging him. Still, he must have felt it. He flinched, that brief moment saving Alto's life in the end. Nanaca landed on him with meteoric force, dropping the man to a knee. Even still under the withering barrage of bullets, however, he slowly began to rise.

However, his arms seemed to be hanging limply at his sides. It seemed Nanaca had dislocated both his shoulders in one go. His fingers twitched as he fought to ball his hands into fists.

These... these... children. These damnable children were hurting him? Him? His lords chosen? The one who stood at the top?

It seemed they'd done something admirable. They'd completely and utterly shattered his composure.

However, it remained to be seen if that was actually a good thing.

He let out a furious roar, stomping his foot down, the resulting shockwave intended to throw anyone left too close to him back. Alto would have been included, but in a flash he managed to throw himself clear, sliding to a stop on his knee at a safe distance... but not really. The huge man turned his head and his enraged bellow increased tenfold in decibel as his roar began to tear at the fabric of reality again, sweeping his gaze across the group, aiming to batter them all back and throw them to the ground.

He balled his hands into fists as his roar ceased, and in one mighty flex both his shoulders popped and crunched back into place.

"You had your chance to escape as witnesses. Now... none of you will leave alive..." Once more. He could do it at least once more, if only a little. The burning lightning crackled around his fists again. He wouldn't just pummel them -- he'd erase them. He Leapt forward with inhuman force and speed, aiming to land upon Bak and Dart wherever they'd ended up and turn them to dust.



Rurik's head was spinning. He'd been guiding Yuuto away when suddenly the crazy man had started screaming at them and the two had been knocked over. It seemed they'd been on the edge of whatever attack had been launched, but even so it had been enough to knock the two unsteady and unsuspecting boys to the ground.

Rurik opened his eyes and found himself face-to-face and on top of Yuuto.

"Um, uh, don't worry, I'd buy you dinner first if I was gonna do something," Rurik muttered and pushed himself off of Yuuto. He began to do his best to haul him back up again only to overhear the cultist's threat. He looked back and didn't like what he saw brewing. No one seemed to be in position to intercept him -- not in time.

Except... maybe...

"This is gonna suck, but you gotta get out of here. See if you can find Clara again!" Rurik said and suddenly pressed his hand to Yuuto's back. Unfortunately he didn't have a large backpack to protect him like Bak had. Suddenly he'd have felt a massive force propel him clean to the edge of the arena, near one of the exits that fortunately was only half caved in rather than entirely. It would aggravate the hell out of his existing injuries but probably not cause any new ones... Or at least nothing major.

And at least he was well clear of the crossfire by now.

Rurik hoped he could move well enough to find his way back to Clara before too long. Any beholders that had been in the area had almost certainly been killed off by now. If not by Alto then by the massive explosion that had smashed the arena.

And then Rurik saw the big man dig his heel in. Maybe... maybe maybe maybe.

In a burst, Rurik shot back in. He skidded to a halt in front of Bak and David, shield already deploying but it was only at that moment that he realized what he was going to be trying to block. His shield might as well have been an umbrella before a typhoon.

"Oh... fuck." Why did he keep trying to play hero today? He had a feeling this time it'd cost him more than an arm and his dignity...

Nαɳαƈα Dαιɱσʂ

---

Nanaca landed safely near the big bad guy. With a grin on her face, and with her arms wrapped below her chest, she watched with the utmost amount of satisfaction as he fell down to his knees. She could also tell that she had dislocated both of his shoulders, which just made her grin even harder.

"Ha, is that all you got?!" she shouted to him. "I'm only using 50% of my power, you know!"

She was speaking the truth. Making herself heavier and lighter was just one half of her power after all.

And the other half, she had not used it yet on him.

She pretended that she was intentionally holding back however. In truth, she couldn't make him heavier even though she was that close to just touching him, since she had to make herself lighter right away at the same time.

She then turned to the others, saying with the utmost confidence, "Don't worry everyone! Now that Nanaca's here, everything would be perfectly fine!"

Just before he let out another roar.

He stomped the ground as well and the shockwave was enough to send Nanaca flying once again. She quickly responded by making herself heavy, stopping herself with the friction with her feet before she could go any further.

"G-gah, you're still not out yet?" she stated in disbelief.

He roared again, and even from that distance, she could feel the waves in the air pushing her long braids back and giving her skirt a flutter, exposing her baby blue panties once again. And just like before, she didn't bother holding her skirt down to hide them.

And then, he snapped his shoulders back into place like it was nothing.

"...That's it, I'm going to go all out of you now."

As he leapt with great force towards Bak and Dart, she jumped to block his path, shouting, "Hey, your opponent is me!". Before his fists connected with Rurik's shield, she kicked him on his left fist, turning it practically weightless. She noticed Rurik out of the corner of her eyes, and she decided that he needed some help from her. As force is mass times acceleration, zero mass meant zero force.

However, she had to pay the price, as the lightning now connected to her body. She screamed in pain as she jumped back with her other feet. Her entire body was convulsing, and she had to kneel to recover, waiting for the effect to disappear. She let out a series of harsh coughs after that, and to her grim smile, she noticed the spray of blood on the ground, coming from said coughs.

H-heh, once again, my weak body stands in the way...

@KillamriX88

@Crazy Scion@Hammerman@KillamriX88

---

No.

No no no no nonononononono!

---

Bak had barely had time to grapple with the disgust that came with saving Alto when the man screamed his head off with such force that it lifted Bak up off the ground and sent her flying back. She'd landed with a harsh crunch, something she'd noticed had been a reoccurring thing over the past few weeks. David was flung down nearby, and as Bak looked up from the dust she city could feel as much as see the lightning cracking across the mans body as he leaped at the two of them. Bullets wearn't going to atop that. She doupted even miss lines could.

Time seemed to flow in slow motion as she watched, like her brain was trying its best to make the most out of each individual second that was passing. She'd heard Papa describe this once when old friends of his from the revolution had shown up to share drinks and reminisce about their younger days, and from their stories she knew what it was. This is what happened when you were watching death barreling toward you, unavoidable save for the grace of the gods.

Her first thought was the teleporting boy, whether he'd be able to get away from this, because she couldn't see herself getting up in time to cover him. Wasn't he the one that had brought her here anyway? Well, it wasn't like that mattered now.

She thought about Vittorio, and was happy for a moment she'd told Rurik about that ring. She'd hate to think of it abandoned, gathering dust in the dark all alone. A thing as pretty as that deserved someone to came for it, after all. A morbid part of her actually thought that maybe having a new friend to avenge would be the push Vittorio needed to keep on living. So that wouldn't be so bad. In a way she would almost be saving him.

She worried for Clara. She wouldn't be able to find another monster like Bak for a while, that was for sure. Mr. Mephisto was very resourceful, though. They'd find a replacement for her. She couldn't imagine the student body being too broken up over her, but she smiled at the thought that maybe she would live on as boogyman ghost story they told to jeep delinquents in lone. Do your homework and do not loiter in hallway, or you would hear the mechanical footfalls of the monster Tsarevna coming for you.

Oh, she realized. Maybe this was how you became monster? When you disappeared you shed all the fear and sadness that could identify you as a human, leaving behind only the terror you'd wrought in your wake. You get reborn as a story, one that gets told over and over, mutating and becoming more horrible with each retelling as the details were sanded off to make you a more perfect horror. Had that happened already? Were people from the homeland already spreading stories about her? She smiled at the thought. That was fine.

Bak was okay with this.

Then Rurik ruined it.

---

What? How? Why. Why!?!

HE HAD ONE JOB!!!

That peaceful acceptance that had been covering her like a heated blanket was violently ripped away as Rurik appeared in from of them and all of a sudden time was moving much too fast for her liking. The lightning cracked evil, lighting the whole area in a sick glow. The girl from before jumped after the man, but that lightning seemed to fend her off all on its own. His path was unimpeded. He was coming right at Rurik.

This was not okay.

This was not acceptable!

She was supposed to be the one protecting people, so why was it all her friends instead? Why did Vittorio have to get shot? Why did Yuuto have to get beat up? Why was it Christine had to watch her sister and the man she loved nearly kill one another? It was stupid. It was all so stupid! Her friends were all stupid! And she was stuipidest of all for not being able to stop any of it. She was too stupid to stop them from being stupid.

As she be a treated herself a soft glow began to start creeping its was up the side of her missiles pod. A soft white glow, like light shining off down feathers. She looked at the man coming toward her friend, and decided no. Not one more. She wasn't going to sit by and let one more friend get hurt on her watch. Even if she thought it was useless she had to try.

The glow became a radiant light as she shot her missiles at the man, each once leaving a sparkling trail in their wake in streak of smoke. The went wide. It wasn't surprising. Without her targeting computer she couldn't aim them very well, and the quartet of shining projectiles were on course to sail past the man in midair.

Then, like a snake, a bolt of that lightning lashed out and bit into one of them as they flew past.

The missile didn't explode so much as burst like like an over filled water balloon, and what came out wasn't fire and heat but something hard to describe. A shining light spread out enveloping the man, David, Bak, Rurik, and Nanaca as the mans fist collided with Rurik's shield. All around them small lights danced like feathers in the breeze as the light expanded into a large translucent dome. Inside was...it was kind. Like falling into the softness of your bed after a hard day and bursting yourself in your pillows until the day washed away. Be a ease, it seemed to say. Be at ease. No harm will come to you. As it assured this a force seemed to pull at the cultists punch, lowering it's power greater still.

Bak's missile pod let out a gurgling, mechanical shriek, seemed to vomit some kind of black bile from its tubes, and shut down.

---

@supertinyking@AtomicNut

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Gilliam flopped around on the ground like a fish choking on air as he upchucked the remains of his bone sword. It had shattered in light of the mans transformation, and as he hacked them up to clear his airway the man murdered Luigi.

Damn shame, that. Still, he wondered what a man so steeped in oil would taste like. Of course the man had to ruin it by actually surviving. Manipulating his body he slithered up to Luigi, climbing up his leg and coupling around his shoulders to watch the bird man fly away. He didn't think he would be back to full size for a while after this.

"My apologise, I can't seem to form the legs to walk right now. Can hardly run without legs." He said as he eyed the other cultist hugrily. "I do have to agree about those masks. It seems I'm week to enemies that can self destruct. Though that just means we have to cut off his arms."

He tried to play it off, but he desperately needed some new biomass to replace that which had been blasted off. Not only that, he could feel a sort of itch in his cells that he couldn't identify the cause of. Something that was making replication and regeneration harder than normal. Not just the fire. Something deeper that that. Something was wrong, fundamentally.

He called out to the demon that had appeared to come to their aid. "Madame." He called out. "Might I enquire what that man tasted like?"

The only thing Michael really got out of the exchange involving Diana was that she was even more of an enigma than he originally expected. Magic was very strange, but perhaps it would be worth unlocking its secrets when he had the time. Even if he had no talent in the art itself, at the very least he would be better prepared should he face another user. He would have to ask Diana again about the matter... when she returns to her original state of mind. More rumbling occurred, with Michael thinking that it was high time they got out of the action and finally find a safe place to recover.

There was also a bit of a spectacle involving Meredith and Cel, which left Michael with a slight curiosity about what just happened. It was clearly one of the girl's abilities, and while he could make a few educated guesses, it wasn't really worth putting too much brain power into figuring out. Michael set that matter aside for another time, and instead walked over to Cel, kneeling down and extended his arms to help get him back onto his feet. "Let's get out of here already," Michael said tiredly. "There'll plenty of time to lie down when we actually find a place to rest."