When Rottweiler drew his pistol, Jacqueline’s whole body tensed, ready to try a last-minute save via a melody or an attempted dodge. However, the martial artist killed four of the prisoners. “Shit,” she hissed, already seeing where this’d go. The blood mage. Of course.

In the brief moment before all hell broke loose, Jacqueline had the presence of mind to send a brief notification through the comms. She’d heard others were dealing with hired espers, and though there was no way there were any other blood mages anywhere else in the building, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to let the others – especially the boss – know. “Engaging a blood mage. Useful tips are welcome,” she messaged her allies.

Then, the mage in question worked her magic, and the death empowered the remaining prisoners. Though she was unaffected by it, she could tell what the spell did, and the furious inmates advanced towards them. “He’s the one who killed those four, or did you already forget that little detail already?!” she shouted at the bespelled prisoners, indicating Rottweiler. She didn’t let Lada’s protector leave her sphere of vision, however, and was soon facing him again.

“You, get out of my way,” she scoffed, aiming another swing of her weapon at him. She didn’t know if an Esper’s dispel could work against a blood mage’s spell, but she was ready to try it out. Thus, she worked a subtle melody, one that would either undo Rottweiler’s blood-enchantment or turn out to be a waste. She just needed to make sure she’d hit him. Since it’d take a while to cast though, Jacqueline had no problem trying to get some mundane hits with her weapon in beforehand.

---

---

---

”The opposition has hired some espers. Be on your guard, agents!”

A good warning, but one that perhaps came all too late for Lilliah (and Valkyrie by extension).

It was no small surprise when the staff-swinging esper suddenly had her target slammed back into her at force. A staggering blow that sent her reeling before the attempted assassin drew a cut along her right thigh and lacerated it. It was such a quick flurry of events it brought Lilliah to the point she'd have flopped onto the floor in the heat of it all, save for her taking a knee in reaction and using her staff to hold herself up somewhat as well.

The bang of her ally's weapons and thump from the roundhouse kick drew her eyes back to the battle immediately in turn, training and instincts kicking, though looking up just in time to see Viper blink to the other end of the hall. She could see the esper's heavy breathing, and lack of torso attire after that initial blows the monkey-like esper had performed, and it for a brief moment brought a small, satisfied smirk to her face. If the enemy was forced to retreat, at least, then it was worth it well enough.

That's what she got for-!

'Oh...'

That was the momentwhen the movement caught the female esper's attention, and time for that brief window seemed to slow to an utter crawl to her perception. Movement from across the street. One armored grenadier. One anti-mat rifle. One rocket launcher. All in the windows of the police station. All aimed in their direction.

'...Oh hell!!!'

Wukong used her staff and position to push herself forward into a running sprint, the pain instantly surging through her like molten iron through her lacerated thigh. She stumbled for a moment, but doing her best she forced herself to move forward as fast as her body could move. The pain to some extent was almost unbearable, but she couldn't waste time. She threw herself onto Merry with as much force as possible to try to knock them both down to the floor, casting a melody to affect her ally at the same time as she made any initial bodily contact with her. A touch-based spell. If it worked as intended, they'd be bowling down onto the floor due to Lilliah's tackle along with the melody now helping to protect her ally (hopefully) by the time they hit the ground.

Maybe they'd be able to get out of this in one piece? Maybe was perhaps the best hope for it all. That was the goal of her rushed plan anywho, working on her feet to try to keep an ally intact and maybe get them both in a semi-safe position. Not that taking an RPG to the face would be good though...

@BrokenPromise@Izurich

Well. He put down the homicidal urge to try to land a [Silver Spawn][Powerful][Trap][Damage X] under the pinned Sofron. He was a healer first and foremost. He was meant to save lives. You know, ignoring the fact that he probably just killed a man by snapping his neck and tossing him out a window. Also shooting people from earlier. Eh, he took lives with one hand and saved them with the other. Well, his hands did both but that didn't sound as good.

His reflect wouldn't really do much except buy a second. Not really worth it, if Klava was just resolved to eat getting burnt. He'd heal her afterwards.

Though, the relative safety of his position was pretty nice. Out of the danger zone and out of the brunt of the tear gas. Nobody but him and a broken window.

He should probably get ready, though. He couldn't really waste any more of his mana on random things. After all, healing took a lot out of him.

So of course, he went with the old tried and true method of sneaking about outside of Sofron's melody before reaching a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency. With a swift punch, the glass broke and he grabbed the fire extinguisher. Maybe it'd be useful. Maybe not.

---

_{@Izurich@Crusader Lord}

Merry fired round after round at her assassin, using the sound of her footsteps to direct her aim. Though approximating the distance of a nearby threat was not the same as firing on a distant one. But it was hard to be logical when your blood was boiling. It could be reasoned however that firing had a higher chance of hitting than not firing.

Though that chance diminished when you had a monkey on your back.

Merry was knocked onto her chest when Lilliah dove on top of her. Shortly afterwards, a sniper round flew over her back. This was followed by an RPG, which veered off course due to the wind storm and slammed into the ceiling. Bits of timber and tile were thrown about in a furious shower from the floor above.

”Not now, Beuford!” The grenadier chewed out the rocket gang member. ”One of our hires is right there! Have some common sense!”

_{”I just really wanted to fire a rocket, it’s why I took this job in the first place.”}

The Gemini agents seemed to be in the clear for the moment. The gunmen weren’t going away, but they couldn't see the agents. They were out of sight below the window frame.

With all the sounds going off, Merry had lost track of Viper’s footsteps. She may have escaped, she may be dead, but Viper would soon confirm it was neither of those.

A dull, yellow mist formed down the hallway. Not long after it appeared, it rolled in and subjected the agents to its effects. The agents would feel their muscles start to stiffen up. They could feel weakness setting into their arms and legs. Breathing was more difficult, and even their consciousness was starting to fade. Worse was that the cloud seemed to be moving, trying to remain on them at all times.

Gunmen to their backs, Viper out of sight, and a yellow mist that permeated the area. A troublesome situation to be sure, but how would they deal with it?

---

_{@SilverPaw@TheGMbby}

Upon Lerox’s request for information on blood mages, Fritzi was quick to reply. Being a magic researcher, such questions were often easy for her to answer. “Tip one, don’t bleed near them. Tip two, all their spells are dark blessings which require rituals to activate. If there’s a ritual circle nearby, destroy it. Alternatively, keep their hands apart if that’s not possible.” Jaqueline had seen a red circle glow in Lada’s cell before. A closer inspection would reveal a circle made out of salt encircling the blood mage.

Rottweiler's grip tightened on his baton. ”I’ll get out of your way when I’m dead.” When their weapons clashed, the rust particulates signaled that Jaqueline was preparing something. What, however, was not something that anyone could discern. The proverbial jack in the box kept Rottweiler from getting too aggressive. ”A powerful one this time, huh?” As the melody surged into her weapon, he went for another deflection. He shoved the pick aside with his hand, momentarily knocking Jacqueline off balance. With his opening created, Rottweiler rushed in and swung his baton at her rib cage. She felt pain, but it wasn’t the bone crushing hit she might have anticipated if he was powered up. ”Wait...” Rottweiler examined his hands, only to see that the red glow that his body had bathed in was gone. Touching her pick was enough contact to trigger the melody, and it had ripped his enchantment to tatters. ”Heh! This feels a lot less fair now.”

But Rottweiler and Lerox wouldn’t have time to exchange quips. The convicts had fled their cells and were fighting everyone. The agents, Rottweiler, other convicts, all were fair game. As if they were zealots trying to appease the blood god by spilling as much crimson as they could. Jaqueline and Rottweiler were too preoccupied fighting each other to notice the mob surging towards them. Two smaller men jumped onto Jacqueline. One tried to bite through her shoulder plate while another went to gouge at her eyes. Rottweiler was shoulder tackled into a wall by a giant brute. Those blessed by the blood seemed to have amazing fortitude. But without it, even a mundane bum rush was enough to knock him off his feet. After he slammed into the wall, the former police officer drove his foot into the giant’s family jewels. Even a murderous rage couldn’t keep someone on their feet after something like that. Rottweiler would be free before long.

While Jaquiline was getting swarmed, Su’s mother like instincts kicked in. Keeping the empowered brute out of the fight was important, but there had been a tip in the scales with her fellow agent’s latest gambit. She ran to her ally as fast as she could. But before departing, Su looked over her shoulder and tossed a stone. It caused many more stones to roll after it and harden into a wall over the exit. They wouldn’t have any backup, but she wasn’t going to let a group of rowdy convicts escape on her watch. With that settled, they had to push for the goal.

Su charged with her shield up, plowing through any of the convicts who stood in her way. She could shoot some of them, but opted for the less bloody option due to their opponent's power. When she got to her ally’s position, she grabbed one of the convicts and threw them off of Jacqueline.

”I got back!” Which was probably “I’ve got your back” in Chinglish. She had placed herself between the angry mob and Jaquiline, refusing to let another inmate get their hands on her.

But just ahead was Lada, who was without a body guard. The spilled blood across all the prisoners was starting to surge to Lada’s side in the form of giant coagulated tentacles. They flew towards the knight’s position as giant spikes. It was a clear attempt to impale her. The blood mage remained kneeling, her hands clasped together, begging her god for their dark blessings.

---

_@OwO@ERode

While Sofron had very potent melodies, his instrument did not seem to have the same kind of power. Elroy was one of the most powerful freelance espers, and even he only had access to a single diamond glamor. The few espers that managed to surpass Elroy’s power were well known, documented, and tracked. Anyone would know if they came face to face with Oros the Mad or the Iron Queen of Pax Septimus. They were tracked down to the very city they inhabited. But some old butler guy who needed to introduce himself was likely just a veteran esper; Powerful, but beatable. Klava was able to duck before the butler’s shoulder connected, causing him to fall right where she wanted him to.

Her entire body was burning up, and her vision was failing. Not because of the tear gas, but because Sofron’s flames were doing normally irreparable damage to her eyes. Her silky white skin was turning red and covered in blisters. Her kimono would bake and adhered to her flesh in time. A normal human would cry out in pain and not have the will to remain in a burning inferno. But Klava had a will that was harder than steel.

She could feel her attack connect. The familiar if morbid sensation of a blade sinking into flesh. It worked its way between his ribs before the hilt of her blade bottomed out against his flesh. When Klava pulled her blade free, there should have been a nasty wound in its place. As gruesome as the attack was, it was an act of mercy. The butler could end this any time they wanted by reverting to their true self. That would end the melody, prevent them from bleeding out, and save everyone. But this was America after all. While hesitation meant defeat, sentiment could lead to folly. A fact Klava became aware of when she felt a hand clamp over her thigh.

"I hadn’t realized storms were so gentle."

Placing her knee on Sofron’s head was enough to get in a free stab, but it did nothing to secure either of his arms. With a shove, Klava rolled into the wall where she managed to make an indentation into the sheetrock. The butler scrambled to his feet before searching for his next target, content to let Klava cook in Balewulf.

While Apollo was able to stand outside of Sofron’s melody, the tear gas had become so thick he couldn’t see either esper. The eye watering substance was making its way towards him, leaving the melody’s confines. But soon enough, Sofron emerged from the smoke. There was a small cut in his shirt above his stomach. There was a wound there, but it was closing right before his eyes. Instead of the relaxed stance he had before, Sofron’s teeth were grit, and his eyes were red from exposure to tear gas. He had to be blind now, but the butler’s ears may have picked up on the sound of a fire extinguisher glass breaking. His breathing was raspy. It was hard to tell if he was this way exclusively from the tear gas or if the hole in his chest also contributed to it.

With a warcry that sounded like the hiss from some long dead wraith, Sofron spread his arms and charged towards Apollo. His arms became wreathed with fire as he neared his target.

"Baleful Embrace!"

---

_{@FamishedPants@mantou}

Protector opted to ignore the main target in favor of dealing with “Kumambamon.” The close distance meant that the mascot’s (?) cattle prod was a danger to Aria. But agent Silhouette was there to deflect the blow with his knife and run through the restrained guard with his sword. The bomb suit offered little protection from swords above the trauma plate on their stomach, which Sil avoided.

”Dayum.” He said, looking down at the wound. ”Don’t think I’m walkin’ that one off.”

There was no time to exchange words. The yellow gas was creeping up the stairway, and neither esper wanted to inhale it. Samuel took protector and walked past Mamba, but not before slitting his throat out of mercy. But they had a dilemma now. The top of the stairs was set aflame, and the yellow gas was spreading to their position. It might have been possible to run through the non-magical flames, however...

The floor erupted with a bang. Bits of carpet and timber filled the air and almost knocked the two espers down the stairs. but the Protector's shield was there to push away the incoming debris. While they weren’t visible, Adder and King Cobra’s voices could be heard from the floor below.

”Did you get them?”

”I don’t fucking know, just gun down anything that tries to come down that hole after us.” The sound of another round being loaded could be heard.

”Using the zip lines as a rapple was still a good idea, right?”

---

_{@The World@Hammerman}

Marrie had a good plan, foiled by one problem.

The speed of a stone’s throw was easy to intercept when her target was surrounded by loyal subs willing to die for the cause. Thinking that it was another destructive spell, one of the more-undressed honey-worshippers leapt to his Queen’s defense, taking the projectile right in the chest…only for Marrie to teleport there instead, the windstorm that surged around them causing even the Queen herself to retreat backwards. At such a close range, there was no way for him to stop Marrie from plunging the Apex Predator into his chest, but at the same time, there was no way for her to stop him from spasming out a final shot from his super soaker. Honeyed water splurted over Marrie’s torso, staining her with accursed sweetness before his death caused the expiration of the spell.

More debris rained down from the rampant destruction of the warehouse, a falling beam crushing another sub underneath and reducing the Queen’s sting troopers to merely four. Between the magical bullshit occurring and the physical destruction that was practically happening everywhere, she ground her teeth together. If all here died, no one would be alive to tell of her cowardly retreat! “Drones! Pin that wretched assassin down!” she cried, before forming a triangle with her fingers and rotating it around in a vaguely mystical manner.

What true practitioner of the mystical arts, after all, had just one spell up their non-existent sleeves?

Marrie, Tetrad, and the bossbro would all feel something over their bodies, originating from the parts that were stained by honeyed water. It expanded at a regular pace, the watered-down honey turning into something that was so dense in honey it could only be considered a crystallized sludge that dragged their bodies down and restrained them, some more effectively than others.

And as consequence of that, Marrie found herself about to be mobbed by four whole ass grown men while at the corner of her focus, the bulldozer rumbled with ferocious might, intent on crushing the entire fivesome under the power of AMERICAN industry.

Tetrad, of course, didn’t fare all that well either.

Her spell slowed by her Special and her body slowed by the hardening honey, she made an easy target as the spear-ape hefted his spear back and threw it at her with the finesse of an Olympic athlete. “Banana PEEL!” he roared in triumph, moments before being clobbered by a light fixture and falling on his ass in a bloodied daze. He would not live to see the results of his throw, but Tetrad would currently live to feel it. Hot pain lanced into her back, a sharpened point digging past skin and fat, into the meat that composed the organism named Tetrad.

Relief from pain came with Transplace though, yoinking her through the shattered window of the bulldozer and...onto the lap of a fifty-something construction worker? It must have been a matter of overlap, a matter of accuracy under stress. Aiming for the construction worker at the same instance that the hammer she had thrown at him would've overlapped with his silhouette made for a difficult shot, doubly so when it was a linear beam with no extra modifications stacked on. And thus, there Tetrad was, with an old man's beer belly jiggling like jellied fish against her own. His mouth opened and closed rapidly, forming the syllables for “oh fuck oh shit” before his fat fingers began groping for his pistol.

Now, the ultimate question of speed: was Mr. Butterfingers-Never-Fucked faster? Or was Honey-Slathered-Tetrad the queen of the quickdraw?

…

In a sad corner of the wrecked warehouse, Daniel Pinkerton, Harvard graduate and valedictorian of his MBA program, huddled underneath a shipping container. Off to the side, his tailored Italian three-piece suit laid, coated in honey crystals and bombarded by bees. Brown and yellow stained his white briefs, his face twisted in humiliation as he pressed his hard hat against his head and pressed his phone against his ears.

…

Standing as the only ape left, the brawler-ape looked at the two weapons of his fallen brothers: Spear and Hammer, then at the monstrosities that still wrecked havoc upon the Bastion that should have been their shelter away from the judgment of society. They were gone now, but the blood oath they made when they cast away their human skin remained, beating in his heart, telling him to fight on. He picked up the hammer and spear, gripped them tightly in his hands, and let out a breath.

“It’s peanut butter jelly time.”

The final-ape has arrived.

…

Enjoying the symphony of wreckage, the mysterious operator of the wrecking machine continued to swing the black hammer of demolition back and forth, more and more of the warehouse caving in. What god heeded the concerns of ants?

None.

The countdown continued, the whirlwind of devastation growing closer and closer to the conclusion of this wretched play.

---

_{@Majoras End}

Lightning ripped down the length of Fable’s rapier. The damage note wasn’t dampened by an area effect this time, so the effect was much more pronounced. The moisture in the crabs bodies became super heated, and the escaping water blew their shells apart like little sticks of dynamite. The mass of crabs had lost one of its arms, but it was still able to follow through with its mean right hook. No matter how potent Fable’s magic, it didn’t change the fact that he had been tugged off balance and was stumbling. By the time he had regained his footing, he had no time to hop out of the way. He braced for impact, but there was only so much a thin rapier could do to soften the strike of a fifty pound crab claw. The uppercut connected.

Fable was sent into the air, but was otherwise fine. Monsters did not obey the laws of physics. Despite being just crabs, the Crab Rave could wade through concrete barriers and buildings unimpeded. But espers bent those rules the other way, where monster attacks did far less damage then they should. Fifty pounds of anything to the chin would knock someone out, if it didn’t dislodge their head from their spine first. But Fable only had to deal with some momentary vertigo and a sizable bruise on his cheek. It looked like he had been bullied at school. Just one more reason why espers were the best ones to contend with monsters. But while Fable was soaring away from the mini rave, he was gliding towards one of the larger raves. It opened its four-hundred pound claw in anticipation of Fable’s arrival.

Now this would hurt a lot more.

But before Fable could decide on a melody to deal with the situation, a portal opened up in front of him. He had enough time to make out an elegantly dressed demi boy and Elroy on the other side. When he flew through the portal, he tumbled across the asphalt road before landing at Zir’s feet. That hurt more than the crab punch.

“Nice one! Portal Witch!” Elroy gave his ally a big thumbs up.

Mary huffed. “You’ve got the doctor, Elroy?“

“Yup!”

Elroy was already running straight for the chaos. Binky might have been given a momentary opening while one of the raves was distracted by Fable, but they were now totally surrounded. ”Is that the Immortal Volcano I hear?”

“Autographs are after the show!”

For reasons that were mysterious to most, Mary hadn’t acknowledged Fable aside from assisting his escape. Speaking of which, the Crab Rave divided when it came in contact with the portal. Part of the creature was attempting to force itself inside the portal, causing a slew of crabs to spill out the other side. They were shapeless and scattered, but that would change soon. It would just be a moment before another mini rave was created.

In the hypothetical scenario that an observer could get a good look on Valkyrie's face when she pulled Teslic Gauss' trigger after aiming it at another person, one could see that coldblooded stillness of a soldier just following orders even if meant someone had to die to fulfill them. Whether she always had the talent to be indifferent to 'justified' murder since birth, or twas' something she developed after the death of her little sister, or even a little bit of both, the truth wasn't clear, the esper herself might not even know the answer. Regardless, the same 'cold stare' could be seen the moment she fired those sabots at Viper's approximate location, yet in this particular case, that was not all, there was a dash of murderous intent in those wide-opened unblinking eyes, this was no longer about following orders, no, this was personal.

However, before she could assess the result of her last three shots, she found herself accosted yet again by another female esper, "Aaargh-?!" A pained scream, half-surprised half-enraged came from her cords as Wukong tackled her, bringing both of them tumbling onto the ground. One could deduce that since they were coworkers, there should be a damn good reason why Liliah dared to disrupt her viper hunting session, and that answer came two-fold in the form of an anti-materiel rifle round narrowly missing her back, smashing against lifeless concrete, then shortly followed by a rocket-propelled explosive, the latter fortunately veered off course by Wukong's storm melody, sending it careening up into the ceiling, exploding there.

"...!" Valkyrie gritted her teeth as her form was pebbled with bits of debris and dust. Right, Wukong just saved her life, she should be thankful for that. The brunette sighed harshly as she remained on the ground, catching her breath, it just dawned her that she had been holding it ever since Viper blinked away. "Thanks..." Merry murmured begrudgingly, believing that she didn't manage to nab herself a viper.

Not only that, some misty bullshit started filling up the hallway now, obviously arcane in nature as she could feel its effects even without breathing it in. Obviously, it's time to abandon ship. Standing up, "Wukong," Valkyrie addressed her comrade as she tapped the ginger's shoulder, a surge of orange sparks traveling from her arm to Liliah's body, a speedster melody delivered via touch, "Fly us across the street, I'll take care of the tangos!"

With that done, she'd literally mount Wukong from behind, piggybacking her, the supernatural rifle rested against Liliah's right shoulder. This way, Wukong should be able to engage her Flight melody to soar out of the window toward the precinct with boosted speed, while Valkyrie could focus on aiming at the windows, taking out those three assholes the moment she could see even an inch of their heads.

With only seconds to spare, there wasn't any time for brainstorming, she needed Liliah to trust her on this.

If the maneuver was successful, there was no doubt that Valkyrie would unleash aerial justice through the three mobsters' heads the moment she saw them. One gauss sabot for each men.

@Crusader Lord

---

"Should really double check the skill descriptions next time."
Current Location: Richter Street

Since the enemy became singular, Fable didn't have to worry about dividing his attacks. But his prediction seemed to ring true, the paralysis note couldn't stop it's attack. He tightly shut his eyes. As long as he wasn't separated from his instrument, he'd be fine, and he managed to free Aeterna from it's grip in time. The Crab Rave managed to knock him into the air, but the only wound the boy gained was a bruise and a slight ringing in his ears. Eh, could've been worse. He could've been decapitated.

Though as he tried to shake off the vertigo, Fable caught a dreadful glimpse of where he was launched to. The larger crab was prepared to catch and crush him in a single, giant claw. His eyes widened.

Oh Christ-!!

He was going to cast a blink note before he was undoubtedly screwed, but by luck, a couple more espers had arrived to help. One of them being Mary? That was just karma at work. He tumbled a distance after going through the portal, skidding to a halt. "Ow..." Whether it was by the pain of guilt returning or by the pavement scratching at his skin, somehow this was worse than getting punched. He carefully got back up, catching a glimpse of Elroy running on ahead to help the doctor. Wait, wasn't he the guitarist back at the Diner? Guess those two were the only other back up they got.

But something told the boy it'll be enough.

He slightly frowned at Mary seemingly not recognizing him. Whether that's good or bad, hell if he knew. Whatever, he'll get a chance to apologize after they're through with the behemoth! Speak of the crustacean devil, seems it didn't take losing it's prey too well. Part of it divided once it reached into the portal, Fable stepping away from the outpour. It was only a matter of time before the damn things became solid. "Not again..." He sighed. But hey, atleast it's progress.

But he isnt going to waste another damage note.

Before the crabs could reform, Fable fired another bolt at the center of the cluster. Instead of damaging the crabs outright, it instead held them down, arcs of electricity acting as rope. "Dividing and frying them seem to do something!" He'd call out, mostly to Elroy and Mary. The boy did glance at the latter for a split second.

He might need some help.

Considering that she'd not hit her target, you'd think that Marrie's plan had failed. You'd be right, but also wrong. Strangely, considering her aversion to killing, her instinct for battle was fierce. She'd managed exactly what she needed, not what she wanted. As the wind storm forced the other bees away from the Queen, she had a quick moment to look at her close up. She had a precious few seconds before the four bees got to her, and she would use them.

One. She rolled to her left as she transformed to her mundane form, towards the queen bee and out of the immediate path of the bulldozer in one fell swoop.

Two. The hardening honey, stuck to her esper form, was jostled by the roll and no longer form fitting due to the slight differences in outfit size between her forms. She got back up into a crouch.

Three. The roll scraped the honey off of her, most if not all of it. She stood, transforming back as she did, Apex Predator in her hand and a Melody on the tip of her tongue.

Four. She switched her instrument to her left hand as she cast a simple Melody as she began sprinting towards the queen bee.

Cold - Silver Self - Storm

Five. A powerful whirlwind, almost a miniature tornado, formed around her right arm, the side the bees and possibly the ape were on, ready to block any incoming attacks or spray.

Six. She reached the queen bee and lunged for her, Apex Predator aimed at her center mass.

She still had a few seconds before her melody ended, but with any luck, she wouldn't need it.

---

_{ON-SITE: G.E.M.I.N.I. Assignment - w/ @FamishedPants@BrokenPromise}

---

_{@The World@ERode}

Many Roman war dramas had one character or another proudly declaring that they bare no scars on their back. The implication being that they had never fled from a battle that had been decided. Luna couldn’t care less about how brave she looked, but getting hit in the back by a spear was not a good time. That was especially true if it was hurled by an ape man.

Not again! Not again!

She was momentarily powerless. The honey hardened over her like a golden coffin, making her unable to avoid the spear. It was one hell of a silver lining, but the honey sarcophagus she had been trapped inside was broken up by the strike to her back. Though the searing pain made such a thing hard to be thankful for. Pain and weakness spread out from her lower back. The ape had missed her spine, but she could already tell that wasn’t a wound that was going to just heal itself. Perhaps it was the weight of the spear, or the fact that the tip wasn’t too sharp, but it fell out of her back just as she swapped places with the hammer. Another blunder brought on by the delayed effect of her melody. She really did have the most unreliable glamors in Pax Septimus.

There was a brief pause in action as Luna and the bulldozer operator looked at each other. Of all the random and insane things that had to happen, somehow winding up in the lap of some greasy machine operator topped everything that had happened thus far. Luna had safely buried her woes over not having any guys to hang with in the back of her mind. While Luna’s fortune was constantly in flux, it was uncommon for her wishes to be granted monkey paw style. But she didn’t know why he looked so upset. It’s not every day a drop dead gorgeous babe just falls into your lap. She had even been lightly sprayed with honey, she doubted it could get any better than this. Maybe threatening him earlier spooked him, she didn’t know. But he was drawing a pistol and that wasn’t cool.

”Knock that off!” Luna grabbed the man’s head and shoved it into her kinda-small-yet-firm breasts. She caught his hard hat and placed it on top of her own head just so that she didn’t have to deal with it at the moment. Her legs were still restrained in place, but Luna managed to stretch past the man’s jelly belly and grab his gun. She aimed at the ape and fired a few rounds at his center mass, focusing on his chest, shoulders, and head. A hand gun likely didn’t have enough ammo to kill an ape man, but weakening him now would make him easier to deal with later. No sooner did she finish shooting did Luna pull the man’s head back and press the hot barrel of the gun against his neck.

”Turn this thing around and floor it!” As confident as Luna was in her ability to learn the controls, she doubted she could dispose of this virgin, remove him from the cockpit, learn the controls, and successfully ride to the mist girl’s side. The collapse, the bee men, and the monkey all made things time sensitive in regards to her companion’s survival. If the construction worker could heed her orders, he didn’t have to die. Not that Luna cared one way or the other.

Now might have been a good time to heal that infernal stab wound in her back, but Luna would have plenty of time to do that once she completed her mission. Once the bulldozer was turned around, she aimed her finger across the warehouse and fired a firework into the crane’s massive wrecking ball.

”Yas queen! Slay!” Tetrad pumped her fist, still keeping her gun pointed at the man's neck.

Something as massive as a crane could not be totally affected by one of Luna’s melodies, but with any luck, her magic was potent enough to at least reduce the weight of the wrecking ball. That should at least buy them a moment, provided the wrecking ball wasn’t broken or wrapped around the crane after a sudden overswing.

The moment Sofron’s wound closed while she pulled out her dagger was the moment that Klava knew she was fucked. Of course someone who diamond flames would have other tricks up his sleeve too. She just hadn’t thought he had an auto-healing card to play.
It was a misplay then, but not one that she’d regret.

As the man’s hands clamped over her thigh, as words left his own mouth that she couldn’t properly hear, the melting snowwoman of an esper had only one word to say.

“Trigger.”

Sofron’s hands pushed through a sheet of snow as Klava teleported back down the hallway, landing in a crouched position atop the catering cart. Even through the adrenaline, the toll of flat-out tanking the full effects of Balewulf agonized her, enough so that it would hurt more to wipe the tears out of her eyes than to keep enduring the sting of tear gas. But the fight didn’t stop just on account of her pain, and the grind didn’t stop either. If it was up to Apollo to give Sofron his funeral rites, then it was up to Klava to make sure that Protector stopped wasting time on mooks and started getting the job done. Through blurred vision, she made out the silhouette of the armored hulk jumping down into the hole that the Cobra Gang had blasted and inched her way towards the hole as well. Her feet were burning now, smouldering against the ashes of the hallway, but those were all momentary pains, all temporary distractions. When she detransformed, everything would be fine. She was used to this.

She has become used to this.

Klava closed her eyes, trying to give them as much of a break as she could as she pressed her index finger between her brows. Wish, melody, chant, prayer, cause, effect.

Amidst gunfire beneath and the crackling all around, no words could be heard from her blistered lips.

But power accumulated regardless, and as Protector went for her killing strokes, Klava forced her eyes open, granting her a split-second of clarity before tears and smoke scarred her vision again. The beam, pure as moonlight reflecting off of freshly fallen snow, shot downwards, towards the only person who wasn’t dressed like a goon.

Towards the King, the Cobra.

---

It hurt. It hurt to tackle her ally like a crazed buffoon, as in literally and physically at least, but otherwise Wukong had no regrets. The sniper bullet whizzed overhead before an actual RPG flew in and was blown away before it blew the hell out of the ceiling above. It was enough to nearly forget the pain as Lilliah forced herself to get up on one knee below the windowstill. She turned to face the windowstill, but didn't dare poke her head up to try to fully stand...well, at least yet. There was another problem that came swooping in.

A sickly yellow mist permeated the area, and as soon as she felt the beginnings of the strange effects on her body and mind the panic tried to set in. No. She couldn't just pop her head up for the guns, but neither could she fiddle about here. Mere seconds would be all she and her ally had, and she had to-

'Zzap!'

Her ally's magic surged into her, perking her mind and body back up enough that it forced her back into focus as time seemed to slow for her in that brief flicker of a moment. Flight. She began to prepare the needed melody before she even heard the plan, perhaps not hearing much of anything Merry said in the first place, but when Valkyrie got onto her back to piggyback she didn't give her ally any more time to wait. No hesitation. No wait. No pause. Not a second longer. She immediately cast her melody the moment Merry was on her back, intending to send them barreling out of the window in rapid flight and aimed to careen over onto the precinct roof in a very literal crash course.

Would the idea work out? She hoped so. At least enough to get them out of the building and away from the damned mist!

If it didn't work out? Beuford, for all his love of firing rockets, would at least get to see a monkey and a girl shoot into the air like one in flight...doing so with all the grace of a five-day-old dead fish dropped from a plane and hurtling through the air toward their intended destination in some manner. Glorious. Simply glorious.

@BrokenPromise@Izurich

“Got it,” Jacqueline offered a rushed acknowledgment of gratitude to the boss. It was good to know that disturbing the circle – which was clearly present, now that she knew to look for it – could work as well.

When Rottweiler said his movie-protagonist classic of ‘over my dead body!’, Jacqueline snorted. “Cute, but I can arrange that,” she drawled. Then, they were close enough to clash, and there was no leave for bantering anymore. It was supremely annoying that her opponent knew about espers and was apparently trained what to look for; he could even guess that when it took more time, a melody would be more powerful. By that point, Jacqueline could only hope she’d still manage to apply the melody.

Perhaps it was luck, perhaps Rottweiler had been conditioned to think that whatever she was about to do would be damaging, but either way, using his hand to parry her weapon was his undoing. The moment he touched the war pick, the touch-based dispel melody took hold, and removed his enhancement. Just in time to, as he hit her with that baton across her left flank. Another injury; a blunt ache to accompany the sharp sting of the gash on her thigh and the scratches on her forearm. Nothing too debilitating yet, thankfully.

Rottweiler noticed soon enough that his power-up was gone. Although he complained, he didn’t seem too worried about it. Probably because the second blood spell was already in effect, and the remaining inmates were raging their way through anyone they encountered. Since she was facing Rottweiler, and thinking about how to bring him down, she was too distracted to notice that the bespelled inmates had gained on them by now. Thus, when two bodies suddenly jumped on her, she was brought down easily. Admittedly, even if she’d been prepared for it, she wouldn’t have been able to withstand that kind of weight.

“Hraargh,” she shouted when she fell, pinned to the ground. It was difficult to breathe the way she and her enemies were positioned. Squirming, she dropped her weapon with a clang – it was too unwieldy to handle just then. Instead, she began using her elbows and knees as she fought off the rabid men. She blocked the one who went for her eyes, but the other latched onto her shoulder, which…well, her armour did block some of it.

She was starting to get really pissed off, and was considering doing some biting of her own, when Breacher came to her rescue, and yanked one of the men off of her back. “Good!” she replied. She channeled spite, fury, and the feral joy of not having to deal with two people on top of her, and punched the other inmate in the chin.

While he was briefly dazed, she glanced at the blood mage. Rottweiler was no longer in front of her, protecting her. Now, there was a free path between her and the mage. Jacqueline locked eyes with Lada, and the latter realized the exact same thing in that moment; that she was vulnerable. However, that did not man she was without a way to protect herself; the other woman began gathering the blood on the floor. This was then swiftly sent towards Jacqueline in the form of spikes.

Thinking quickly, Leroux grabbed the inmate she’d been combating, restraining him at arm’s length as best she could. More importantly, he was directly in front of her, and if all went to plan, a human body would be enough to intercept all those spikes. If she saw the spikes going through him with enough force to extend towards her as well, she was prepared to jump backwards. Meanwhile, she prepared another melody, one that just might knock out the blood mage.

Jacqeuline thought that if Lada was in the middle of one spell, it wasn’t likely that she could get another one off, after all. However, if the damaging beam she’d send at her didn’t work, she’d pick up her war pick, and rush towards her cell to take care of her in melee.

---

---

Well. He probably should have went for the kill shot earlier. Well, despite that, the maiden seemed to safely scampered off somewhere else. She was burnt to hell, but she was probably fine.

No time to cast a melody. Apollo was already being beset by the man.

With a quickly advancing man wreathed in flames, Apollo pulled a quick one on him. A quick whistle and wink as if to goad him in to a singular noise. The wink was a little unnecessary. It wasn't like Sofron could see it if he wasn't blind. Of course, Apollo ran away once again. However, he gave a little gift to the blind Sofron. Thrown like a shot put, the pressurized container came for the servant. Sure, an extinguisher could probably survive a little heat. However, the heat of an esper? Who would know? Not Apollo. He was already dashing towards another window with a rappelling line.

He was a healer, not really a fighter like the others. If he had a gun in his hands? Yea, probably would be a good time to shoot. A blind man running straight at him? Sounded like a fairly easy shot to make.

And out another window Apollo went. Really, they probably should have barred all these windows. That's probably why they lost so easily to a gang.

This time he just leapt to an adjacent wire. No Tarzan swing on this go around. He didn't randomly choose a window this time. Besides the hole glass breaking, he was rather sneaky trying to find a better way in. Preferably, one with a gun nearby.

---

Samuel delivered a swift, painless death to the foe before them with a cruel smile. Of course, this was not intentional, merely an inescapable expression he was forced into whenever he made use of this sick, twisted curse of his. It was sure to give off the impression that this bloodshed and carnage were joyous occasions to him. He didn't really feel that way, but he wasn't above using this to speed things up a little. If it made this dirty work a bit safer and a bit quicker, of course he would abuse it. To do otherwise would be inefficient.

And speaking of inefficient...

Running off to do your own things without properly communicating a plan and listening to the team leader... oh, I'm quite confident we won't have to pull some random employee in for those training videos anymore. Just give me a camera and I'll show you everything protocol warns us NOT to do.

Well, from what he could make out, before it became covered in tear gas, the Esper the thugs had wasn't wiping the floor with the freelancers. Perhaps a bit of spontanuity every now and then could prove helpful? Samuel had no problem with those two successfully killing such a potent threat, especially given the high-tier magic he was capable of using. Hell, his death could prove to be the blow to morale they need to force these thugs into a proper, real panic!

Now, what should he be doing?

Couldn't well leave everything to the freelancers. He had a job to do! It would be embarrassing to allow these chaotic elements to take center stage in a G.E.M.I.N.I operation. It would reflect badly upon him, the other agents, and it might even disappoint his boss -- something Samuel might prefer death to---

A loud noise caused by an explosion near them almost sent the injured Samuel tumbling down the stairs, something he only barely avoided doing moments ago. He was getting kinda tired of these stairs, honestly. As the loud ringing that assailed his ears subsided, he noticed the hole left before them.

That isn't going to please Doctor Moller... Not at all.

Samuel became irritated at the reckless destruction of property these criminals seemed so fond of. He thought about flinging a damaging spell right back into the hole, but his large barge of a friend decided to charge straight on in after a brief moment of preparing themself. Silhouette then decided to move to the edge of the hole in order to follow up on the protector -- a strategy that while repetitive, was quite effective up to this point so Sam had no qualms about abusing, only to notice that his armored ally was suffering some sort of mental attack.

To worry about such trivial things amid live combat... maybe I was thinking too highly of you.

Silhouette couldn't help but be disappointed at this behavior, ignoring moments ago when he was doing essentially the same thing. But who's gonna call him out for hypocrisy in his own mind? Nobody. Except me. Anyway, he looked up just in time to see a speeding Klava rush to their aid, though he could swear she had seen better days (or anything at all really). He couldn't say he felt confident leaving Apollo to deal with things by himself, but jumping through fire and tear gas just did not seem like the smartest plan, so he decided to assist the other two in helping clean up the people blowing holes out of the ground beneath him.

Sam inhaled and followed the icey woman down, though not through the hole they had made. Instead, listening to the voices beneath as best he could, he cast a specific note on himself once he was sure he could land on or nearby his target, Adder, by falling through the floor in an angle they wouldn't expect, hoping to surprise them with a blade to their neck or the most appropriate vital he could find. An extended fight with his wounded arm wouldn't be the best idea, though hopefully, Protector could regain their composure in time to assist if it had.

_{@Izurich@Crusader Lord}

The Gemini agents in the apartment complex were in a bit of danger. There was hardly any time for them to consider what was going on or how to deal with it. As agitated as Silmeria was, she was able to execute a solution to their problem. Just as the paralysis was setting in, the duo ran out of the fog and to the window. Merry’s speed boost for Lilliah helped the wounded esper stay ahead of the approaching mist. They were in the air in no time.

A lot of things were needed to fly that often went overlooked by espers. Flight required the subject to be light with aerodynamic surfaces. They might need a strong propulsion system to make up for any short comings the subject may have. The heavier something is, the more aerodynamic the subject needed to be. Otherwise the propulsion system needs to be stronger. It was an easy formula to forget when you just had to cast a two note melody on yourself. But Lilliah would soon remember this crucial bit of data when she went to soar. It took quite a bit of effort to stay airborne, but it was manageable. She wouldn’t be gaining any altitude as she needed to “climb” to keep the two of them in the air.

The sniper took aim at the duo, but his head jerked backwards after taking a hit from Merry's gun. Beuford was still loading his RPG when a shot tragically laid him to rest. May he continue to fire rockets in the afterlife. This only left the mysterious man decked out in armor. But he also had a grenade launcher, which was by far the least useful weapon in this situation. Without a floor or even walls to contain his smoke grenades, they weren’t going to be too effective. But he had to do something. So he fired a grenade straight at Lillia’s chest. He was smart enough to retreat before the sniper focused her aim on him.

The duo managed to finish their escape by flying into the commissioner’s office. The door leading out of the room had been shut, likely an attempt by the remaining grenadier to preserve his life. So it was only them, alone in a messy office with a drilled safe.

But what about the pursuing yellow fog?

Behind the agents on a floor right above where they started was Viper. A yellow orb of radioactive material orbited her head, casting its yellow glow on everything around her. It became clear why Beuford’s trigger happy finger was frowned upon. His rocket had hit the ceiling, but Viper must have been aproaching on the floor above them. She had her dagger pointed across the street at them, which was a lot more threatening knowing that a melody could come flying out of it at any time. But after taking a breath, she lowered her knife.

”There’s no reason to fight after the contract’s been voided.” Her knives slipped into some scabbards on her wrists. ”The commissioner’s safe holds something that belongs to me.” She pressed her thumb and middle finger together. ”There’s a green gift box inside wrapped with a gold and red bow. If you can get that for me, I’ll meet you at The Great Escape at noon tomorrow for a trade.”

---

_{@SilverPaw@TheGMbby}

Everything rode on the next few seconds of the operation. The approaching blood spikes impaled the inmate on Jacqueline. He hadn’t even screamed before she shuffled backwards and fired a beam straight at Lada’s torso. With her kneeling and hands in prayer, hitting her mid section was almost impossible. A stream of rusted metal blades dug into Lada's arm before ending up in her gut. Magi had higher than normal magic resistance, but the attack had done some serious damage. With a groan, she clamped her hand over her arm to stem the bleeding. The bloody tentacles fell to the ground with a splash, becoming unmoving puddles. Before Lada could put her hands together again, Jacqueline had picked up her weapon and rammed it into the blood mage. She fell backwards out of her circle, thumping her head against the concrete wall behind her. She wasn’t out cold, but she was dazed and her circle had been scattered by the knight’s charge. There would be no more blood rituals today. Lada laid on her back, growling through her teeth as she clutched her arm.

With the dispersion of the circle, the inmates started to regain their composure. Most seemed baffled by their predicament. They behaved as if having regained consciousness after sleep walking. ”How da hell did mah doze bake?” One said, looking around himself for someone’s fist that was as bloody as his nose was.

But not all the tension in the room had been released. Su had erected a half wall between herself and the rest of the inmates. While there were a few inmates on Su and Jacqueline’s side of the wall, they all knew enough to stand back. But Rottweiler and Su were having a bit of a standoff. Both had their pistols drawn and aimed at the other one’s head. Su hadn’t quite gotten her shield up in time, and wasn’t about to make any sudden movements.

”This over.” Su’s eyes were locked on the former police trainer.

”I haven’t gotten Lada out of here yet.” He didn’t take his eyes off of Su either.

”You lucky she alive.” Su’s breathing was steady for someone being held at gunpoint. Not that her target was any less composed. ”She want you alive too.”

”I would hope so!” He smiled. ”I get it, you think I’m a piece of shit. But the only thing Lada’s guilty of is keeping her parent's art alive. Your people wanted to study her like an insect. If that hadn’t been the case, perhaps I’d have fought to the death like some of my old buddies.” He adjusted his footing.

”Look around. You think you get Lada out of here? Surrender and you both live.” Su clenched her teeth.

Rottweiler didn’t look away from Su, but he turned his head a bit towards Jacqueline ”What do you think? I hear ex-police officers don’t do too well in jail. It's a step up from science experiment though, right?”

---

_@OwO

Apollo’s pitch to Sofron went as he anticipated. The heavy canister slammed into his chest, and he instinctively wrapped his arms around it. Most fire extinguishers have a safety valve on them to release excessive pressure. This is often enough to prevent a fire extinguisher from blowing up in a hot environment. Though the instantaneous heat applied by Sofron’s melody overcame it. The canister exploded, throwing anti-flame foam in all directions.

It had been Apollo’s intention to find a rappel line to get to the bottom floor. But those were all at the other side of the building where the Gemini sniper couldn’t shoot them. But Apollo would still get to the bottom floor soon as the explosion pushed him out the window. He fell ten feet toward the asphalt road, half slathered in a flame retarding agent. Though Apollo was saved from a hard fall by an unexpected cushion. Several gang members had dove out the window before him, including the guy he flung outside himself. Not all of them survived, and they made for a softer surface to land on. Quiet, with the only sound being the window breaking. Just as planned! He needed to move quickly though, as a smoke grenade had fallen not too far away from him. Hard to tell where it came from with no visible combatants nearby.

He had enough time to run inside where a trove of weapons laid before him. Among the slain gangsters on the first floor was a few pistols, one gilded gold, an AK-47 or five, anything he wanted was right there waiting for him. As soon as he bent over to pick one of them up, a voice called out to him from the floor above.

"Imbecile!" Sofron coughed. "I will not be done in, by, a fire extinguisher!" Apollo could also hear some other espers at the other end of the hall.

---

_{@FamishedPants@mantou@ERode}

It was difficult for Protector to do much harassing with her spear. Shortly after diving into the first floor, Adder opened fire on her. That said nothing of the M202 FLASH Cobra had mounted on his shoulder. Protector might have seen the box shaped quad rocket launcher before if she watched many American action movies. It was designed to fire incendiary rockets, and could fire four of them within a second of each other. It seemed that the projectiles for Cobra's launcher had been modified, as the last rocket he fired was an explosive one. Bullets kept Protector locked in place, and King Cobra prepared to fire another round directly at her.

That was when a charred zombie that kind of looked like Klava leaned into the hole to assist. She launched her melody straight at the Cobra, and ice took hold of his arm. His launcher and arm were solidified in ice. Before Adder could switch targets, Samuel phased through the floor and stabbed him in the neck, killing him.

”Not so fast!” King Cobra hopped backwards and pulled out a detonator. His thumb was resting directly on its button. ”This station now carries enough Semtex on it’s key structural points to blow it out of Pax Septimus at the touch of this button.” Once he was sure he had everyone’s attention, he moved his arm closer to himself. ”That’s right, no one has to die needlessly.”

The Cobra seemed to be retreating, but with every passing second his arm was thawing more and more. Already the ice was cracking and falling off. But could they risk attacking him if it meant dooming everyone still inside?

---

_{@The World@Hammerman}

Marrie’s gambit, once again revealing her human identity to all in the vicinity, paid off.

But only somewhat.

After all, what did honey-flavoured restraints seal? The outfit of an individual, or the flesh underneath? As her legs rematerialized beneath her, the only portion of her body that wasn’t physically sealed off by the honey due to her esper form not having any ‘real’ legs to begin with, the human girl suddenly felt the crushing weight of the hardened honey even more than before, her roll more of a clumsy tumble than a drastic shift in movement. She fell to the ground heavily, gracelessly, the impact fracturing her left elbow while shattering a portion of the honeyed restraints as well. The pain was unbearable. The pain disappeared the instant she re-initiated her transformation. The distance wasn’t optimal, and the four muscled drones were seconds away from rushing at her, but the esper’s left arm was free now. Her left arm could grasp her instrument, and the Melody on her lips did not require another arm to cast.

A hand, grip vice-like and sticky, grasped her arm and…

…a cold storm expelled from her form, blowing back that hand in the same instant. Forceful winds swirled around Marrie like armor, a dense barrier that did not force back the quartet of full-sized adult men but prevented them from getting a grip upon her instead. And though the Queen of Bees was fast, her impractical dress and her predilection with letting her manservants carry her around everywhere made it so that she wasn’t nearly as fast as a sprinting Esper, restrained or not by honey. Apex Predator found its mark, the entire length sinking into the Queen’s chest as Marrie lunged in with the entirety of her body weight. With a thud unheard amidst the cacophony of falling debris, the two crashed into the ground.

Blood soaked Marrie’s body. It wasn’t her blood, but rather the blood of the Queen, gushing out from her ruby red mouth. It opened and closed, rasping out unheard words as a ferocious light gleamed in the mortally-wounded woman’s eyes, her arms having wrapped around Marrie’s body. At point-blank range, it was impossible for any blocking or dodging to happen, and through the crystallized honey on her back, the Esper could feel those arms begin to vibrate, larvae reawakening at the dying Queen’s command, ready to avenge her demise at the hands of this blue-haired assassin.

But this was point-blank range, and Apex Predator was already in her chest. All it took was a twist of the knife to finish the Queen off.

And as Marrie turned, fully prepared to face the four full-sized adult men who were most likely totally going to kick her ass for killing their idol, what she saw instead was an upside-down bulldozer and a bloody smear of flesh and bone equivalent to that of four human men, while Tetrad, covered in vomit and honey, sat inside the second bulldozer atop a thoroughly traumatized old geezer.

Now what happened here?

…

“Mrhghmrhgmrggh!!”

Pressed against the chest of a psycho-bitch who threw a hammer at him, the man struggled for a moment, the bulldozer swaying dangerously while Tetrad unloaded half a clip towards the final-ape. The bullets missed, of course, a testament towards the accuracy of a handgun while situated in a swaying bulldozer atop of a jelly-bellied coward, but thankfully, the final-ape didn’t seem focused on taking down Tetrad either. There was a bigger menace, a demolition-sized one, and the final-ape took off, arms hanging loosely behind him as he dashed for the crane. And as for the unarmed construction worker?

“Oh god oh god please don’t kill me I’ve got two sons to t- HEEEEK!” Shrieking at the kiss of gunmetal against flesh, he defaulted immediately towards survival mode and turned the bulldozer around, flooring it without any thought of long-term consequence. So long as the gun was pointed to his neck, the man eschewed all thoughts, driving it faster and faster…towards another bulldozer.

Tetrad went ‘Yas queen! Slay!’ The wrecking ball lightened up significantly, crashing into one of the remaining support pillars of the warehouse but only denting it instead.

And then, while she was still forcefully jubilant due to the nature of her Draw 4, one bulldozer crashed into the side of another, sending it flipping rightwards into the quartet of half-naked manservants who had just dodge rolled eloquently out of the way a mere half-second ago. None of them were able to get out a word of surprise or saltiness, before eight and a half tons of steel turned them into paste.

This was traumatizing. Tetrad may have been fine, but the whiplash of the impact, as well as the general massacre he had caused, ended up with the man throwing up his half-digested lumberjack sandwich all over his and Tetrad’s laps.

But hey!

Both espers were still alive, and as they turned their attention to the crane, they saw perhaps the tug-o-war of the century! With Tetrad’s weightlessness spell lightening up the load somewhat, the final-ape had inexplicably managed to catch the wrecking ball on the rebound, grabbing both ball and chain with hammer and spear. In a group, the Ape Gang was able to push around shipping containers like it was nothing, but even alone? He was somehow able to stall the crane! Man versus machine! Brute strength versus mechanical force! The chain let out the tortured grown of steel being pushed to its very limits! The hammer and sword both began to bend, to break, as the final-ape’s costume tore at the seams to reveal the dynamic anatomy beneath!

“RETURN! TO! MONKE!!!”

And then, the final-ape fell back, wrecking ball and chain both following behind him, and then on top of him, crushing him beneath the weight of crude iron. There would be no paradise found by him and his brothers. It was not even his own strength that had tore the wrecking ball free from the crane.

It was simply cold calculus.

The crane had released the wrecking ball of its own volition, and now raised itself erect as a shark fin. With the rumbling of a monstrous engine, the massive vehicle roared into the warehouse now, its intent clear: ram through the rest of the warehouse with the crane alone and let this house of cards come tumbling down.

But in this bloody affair, two souls still stood to resist the tyranny of land ownership and demovictions.

If Marrie and Tetrad could stop the crane before it got halfway into the warehouse, then Bastion was theirs!

---

_{@Majoras End}

The shock lasso that Fable cast was capable of holding the troublesome crabs in place. As they had been secured right over the portal, it was impossible for more crabs to come through. Fable had stalled the nearby crab rave for now.

Mary looked at Fable, if only for a moment, when he started talking. But averted zir eyes as soon as he looked in zir direction. But ze gave a small nod when he finished mentioning that splitting them up did something. Mary reached into Danny’s mouth and pulled out two slimy, wiggling tentacles. They were red in color and had a flat side, which might have made them look more like tongues to some people. Ze heaved one at a distant crab rave, and the other ze squeezed into zir palm until it burst. A red surge of energy flew out of her finger, slamming into the side of a building. There were now two additional portals in those locations. The crab rave lost its footing when it stepped inside one of the portals and came out the other as a shower of defenseless crabs. Binky was quick to capitalize on this moment and waited under the portal with her bone saw high above her head. The crabs that touched the saw were cut in half, falling to either side of Binky along with hundreds of their brothers and sisters.

“Seems like that worked.” Ze said more to zirself than to the boy standing a bit further away from them.

There was only one crab rave left, and Elroy was having the time of his life knocking it’s legs out from under him. When it collapsed on top of him, he emitted an explosion that blew the surrounding rave apart, and cooked a few crabs in the process. “It’s raining crab! Hallelujah!”

Among the scatter shot of cooked crab meat and burning shells was a single blue crab holding onto a ukulele. it tumbled across the concrete, shaken but otherwise unhurt by Elroy’s last spell. Anything with a functioning brain might have use the opportunity to retreat. But much like the creatures this monster chose to impersonate, the crab rave instigator only knew how to feed and destroy. Some might find it’s small stature cute, but its thoughts were anything but. With a strum of it’s ukulele, more crabs started to join the fray. Drains, sewer covers, all were places where more crabs could emerge from. There were no assembled crab raves, but the crabs would coat the streets before long.

Binky groaned. ”Think we can wrap this up soon?”

Elroy didn’t stop smiling, but he did raise one of his eyebrows. “How soon?”

”In the next six seconds?”

“Uhh...”

The blue crab was defenseless as it played its song on friendship and destruction. The instigator of this entire event had been revealed, but it would not be long before its legions returned in full strength.

"Bingo."
Current Location: Richter Street

With the not-yet Crab Rave stalled for now, that gave Fable more time to figure out his next move. Not to mention give the rest a bit of breathing room. He watched as they fought, waiting to see if he needed to help any further. It was almost interesting, seeing how others fought. Though as curious as he was becoming, this wasn't the right time. There was one behemoth remaining.

The last Crab Rave collapsed easily against the jovial rockstar, and finally, the source of the hivemind and it's tiny ukulele were revealed. Fable grinned, he knew it was hiding in there somewhere! But that triumphant feeling wouldn't last. The abnormal crab was calling reinforcements. It would only be a matter of time before their efforts were in vain. The boy overheard the Doctor's question to Elroy. So they were on a time limit, huh?

Six seconds.

Fable started to run towards the instigator. As his running broke into a sprint, lightning arched through his legs, making him faster, and hopefully fast enough. Once he was at a certain distance, he readied his weapon to finish the blue crab off with a stab dead in the middle of it's body.

It was an incredibly risky maneuver, thrusting yourself to a wide open space with absolute zero cover while being stacked up on one another, one might as well paint a bullseye on oneself, but desperate times called for desperate measures and when the choice was certain doom via paralyzing fog or a risky escape, even said risk became a non-issue. During those precious seconds as Valkyrie soared through the air atop her Flying Simian mount, time seemed to slow down as she aimed her railgun, held her breath, and disengaged trigger discipline. She was now in the "zone", that perceived feeling of tranquil clarity that sharpshooters experienced, she was the judge, jury, and executioner and held between her hands was the hammer in which she'd judge the guilty.

There was no room for hesitation, the moment she saw even a glimpse of the mob sniper's armored form, she took the shot, sending a sabot straight through his visor, making an absolute mess of the fragile head underneath his helmet. She shifted her aim to Beuford and unfortunately for him, Teslic Gauss didn't need reloading, supernatural as it was, she pulled the trigger again, condemning him with the same sentence, death. At least they wouldn't have to suffer, that was gracious enough for filthy criminals like them. It was too bad that she didn't manage to nab the grenadier before he retreated back out of sight though, but you can't have everything, right?

As the smoke grenade arced uselessly below them, Wukong and Valkyrie landed into the Commissioner's Office via one of the opened windows, a pretty smooth flight considering the circumstances. The latter immediately got off the former's back, separating them into two distinct targets again, who knew if there were tangos already aiming at them. As it turned out, Merry's hunch proved true, she spotted something glowing and moving at the corner of her eyes and whipped around to find a yellow orb orbiting around the snake bitch. If there was any doubt that she missed her shots in the hallway, it was now confirmed.

"..." In that very moment, her expression steeled into that unblinking wide-eyed coldblooded stare once more as her arms moved on their own, orange sparks surged down her forelimbs as she quick-aimed and fired a shot as fast as she could, now knowing the damned esper mob could teleport around. She didn't have the time to aim anywhere particular, maybe it would hit her arm or leg or an ear, regardless, even if she couldn't kill her now, she'd at least make sure to hurt Viper. Of course, in her murderous mental state, she had no attention reserved to listen to what Viper had to say.

And who could honestly blame her? The serpent tried to stab her heart and paralyze her mere moments ago.

@Crusader Lord

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_{ON-SITE: G.E.M.I.N.I. Assignment - @ERode@FamishedPants@BrokenPromise}

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The giant rectangular box on Cobra was completely unfamiliar to the Protector, and the sentinel simply tilted its head from behind its shield to visibly question what it was. Either way, it was sure that the thing spewing flaming bullets at it was in no way good for the team-- let alone for a single freelancer such as itself. In that moment, all the mana around the sentinel's shield pulsed repeatedly as if being hit by hard, fiery, lead rain. Perhaps it was not that great of an idea charging in head-first like this...

As if its thoughts were the cue, Klava and then Sir Agent Silhouette made their entrance. The Protector took a moment to thank all the gods that heard its concerns before beginning to right itself. The yuki-onna was a welcome sight, and so was a frozen Cobra arm, and most especially one less opponent to worry about. As expected from a professional G.E.M.I.N.I. Agent!

However, it needed to make a move quickly. By then, Cobra had seemingly pulled out his trump card... and getting blown out of the city didn't seem like a good option. The Protector was afraid of heights, you see. However, if they were to do nothing, they'd have to face him again in another mission-- and this was the last time it needed to be bothered over an opponent's well-muscled chests!

With the ice still encasing his arm, the Protector inhaled a deep breath. It looked directly at Cobra, and made a show of lowering its head as if to concede.

However, after a couple of seconds, it shot up once again, this time focused on the detonator. It sent a thrust forward with its spear and brought it back in a wide arc, sending a rush of gravity to meet with the detonator in question, and if it worked, would yank it right out of Cobra's grasp in time.

_{@The World@ERode}

In the heat of the moment, Luna was only focused on ensuring that the bulldozer operator complied with her demands and the ape man stayed away. Any sort of excuse he had as to why Luna shouldn’t shoot him was more or less ignored. But like most humans, Luna had a number of keywords that would always draw her attention to whatever someone was saying.

He has two sons?

The thought registered internally, and was not given the kind of attention it deserved. Ensuring the startled driver avoided hitting the mist girl and keeping an eye on the ape were her priorities. Fortunately, the ape man realized that Luna was not the biggest threat present. Probably because her aim was so bad. But regardless!

The bulldozer operator could indeed drive in a panic, but Luna had given up precise control of the bulldozer with this tactic. Rolling the other bulldozer on top of the buff bee men was probably not the most ideal thing to happen. Yes, they were cultists and probably would have fought to the death for their queen. But a small part of Luna was holding onto the hope that they might reform after that bad influence was removed from their lives. Probably not, but it was a hope. Moreover, she was pretty sure her honey restraints were the only reason she wasn't flung off of this guy's lap. That was a pretty hard hit, and she could feel her entire body sway as a result. She didn’t have much time to dwell on it before her eyes flicked downward at the warm, once delicious sandwich that had been ejected all over her lap. Luna often forgot that unlike herself, others were not as accustomed to seeing people die in such violent ways. She didn’t even understand why he had this reaction initially. ”Oh, that’s too bad.” Luna sounded almost monotone. By this point she had been covered in honey, dirty sock smell, blue glitter, why not add a half digested sandwich to the mix? Besides, Luna lived to party. Getting technicolor yawned on was practically a form of endearment. This wasn’t her first rodeo.

But holy cow, that mist girl. She was so timid when this fight started and she just up and stabbed queen bee in the chest like some mad man. Like what the heck was going on with her? Luna didn’t mind though, it was good that she had finally found her back bone.

The ape taking on the wrecking ball was impressive to watch. Ape men were not really her thing, but to see it switch targets to someone that wasn’t her or the mist girl was a welcome change. Something resonated inside of her when the ape man’s suit ripped, and he seemed to be winning his fight with the heavy metal ball. Only for the feeling to vanish when he finally didn’t. A weird sense of guilt and relief washed over Luna when she realized all of the ape men were gone.

But her internal sentiment lasted just a moment. There was still a slimy foreman running around somewhere and a crane in dire need of dismantling. She had considered casting a weightless note in the center of the crane to weaken it, but was unsure if it would be potent enough to break the thing. This was one of those situations where she had to put her faith in a freelancer. It wasn’t something she liked to do, however…

”Go on! Put an end to this!”

Luna shot another firework, this time directly at the mist girl herself. When it struck her, The firecracker made a loud bang and blew the rest of the honey coated restraints off of her. That should let her move around a bit more freely. Unfortunately, it seemed like Luna’s melodies were disagreeing with her again, as the honey that was on the mist girl was teleported to her position. It weighed her down and reduced her SPEED.

”Well, what’s a little bit more honey, right?”

She pulled Pit Boss off of her shoulders and used the slower firing weapon to launch a volley of projectiles at the crane. She doubted she could stop it, but maybe she could break the glass around the cockpit to let the mist girl rush down the thing. She had done everything she could. It was the mist girl’s turn now.

Marrie was barely functioning from having killed not one but two people now, but the call from the other esper jolted her back to reality. Finish it, huh? She looked at the crane. She really didn't want to hurt anyone else, but in the shock of it all she couldn't really make herself care like she normally would. As the whirlwind around her arm dissipated she threw a hand to her mouth to try not to puke. She swallowed hard and looked up at the incoming crane. It looked like, if she timed it right, she could get in the driver's seat similar to how Tetrad had with the bulldozer. Alternatively, taking out the treads might work. Or if her aim were perfect, she might be able to topple the crane on itself. Ah, screw it. She stood up and pointed her instrument at the crane.

Warm - Silver Projectile - Blink

She prepared herself, as much as she could, and then she was there. She managed to hit the glass just as it shattered from Pit Boss' fire. With the crane still moving forward, she was forced into the cockpit and instinctively grabbed onto the frame of it with one hand and drove her instrument into the headrest just next to the driver's eye with the other. Still covered in blood, her voice broken and raspy, and Apex Predator stabbed next to the driver's head with the teeth on the back nearly stabbing him in the eye, she spoke.

"Stop this crane." she managed to make her command before shooting her head to the side to puke out the window of the vehicle.

There was going to be a reckoning with herself when this was all over.

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