Time seemed to slow down to a crawl before her eyes, almost stopping as events played out around her in near stop-motion as perception and mind raced faster and faster.

The sheer pain of being cooked alive in the deepening flames she'd been sent flying into, the body of the bony monstrosity she'd tried to hurt prior crushing down on her chest, her respiratory system convulsing terribly as the smoke flowed in and the blood-curdling screams of raw pain and terror came out of her mouth, and even the searing stones and broken fragments cutting into and burning her back was all simply unimaginable. Unimaginable to live through this far at the very least. Any less luck on her end, or the lack of her grimoire's activation, and she'd have been outright dead and left as food or worse.

This all frankly was going on as her staff was already, since the beast had pounced on her and she'd reflexively raised that staff, pushing as hard as possible back against the beast's body in a rather desperate and reflexive reaction to try to keep its away from her head. Her hands likewise gripped the staff as tightly as possible, the one thing seemingly keeping its maw away from herself for all she knew.

Yet to ever say this whole situation was foreign to her was something of a lie if she had to be honest...because this sort of thing was not something she thought she'd ever feel again. She still saw it all in her nightmares now and then. Just as vivid as is she was still there those many years ago.

She could virtually feel the contrast of the piercing, deep cold of that day as it had crept into her very bones like specter.

She could hear the crunching of the dense northern forest debris underneath her feet with each hurried and panicked step.

She could remember the feeling of the tremendous foot of that beast crushing down on her chest, and feel the claws starting to gently sink into her flesh as it didn't even bother to go for the kill. Toying with her, even as her last real sibling tried to get the thing's attention.

Hell...oh hell. She could hear the crunch of Lyria's bones in its maw after it has tossed her around for fun. The images of that thing as the crimson blood dripped from its face, and as its eyes stared into her very soul, would forever stain her memories and nightmares alike. It was carved deep into her, etched in like a deep wound that would never fully fade away. Or had it ever fully healed in the first place?

What had they done to deserve this? Why? Why? Why were things like this??? WHY WERE THEY JUST WATCHING THEM DIE LIKE THIS WITHOUT BATTING AN EYE?!?!

She wanted to run, flee, be anywhere and anything else than there. Her basest instincts screamed at the top of their lungs, and her heart felt like it was racing faster than any car could comprehend. She could see the almost-darkness starting to encroach on the farthest edges of her peripheral vision. The pain began to deeper. The panic began to settle in even more.

It had to stop.

'I-I...'

There had to be some way to make it stop.

'I...'

Please, anything, anyone, please make the pain stop!

'I...!'

MAKE IT STOP!!!

The adrenaline surged through her body, and Wukong forced her body to eek out a melody with all of her remaining strength. It was a desperate plea for survival eeked out in reality as soon as she could force it to as soon and quickly as possible. This desperate melody, this attack cast out as her staff was pressed against the general body of this monster, was her way of screaming the words she had taken most to heart 'that' day.

Yet right now, her very soul silently shouted these words out far louder than any sound vocal chords could have ever made. Louder than any siren or bell, louder than anything she could imagine on the face of the planet.



She would fight to her truest and most final dying breath. She would struggle until the most bitter of ends came. She would defy death until every bit of life in her was spent.

Her journey was not yet over, not if she had anything to say and do about it!



@Izurich@BrokenPromise@Ponn@FamishedPants@SilverPaw@ERode

Klava didn’t really get it at all, but it didn’t matter.

The motherfucking ghost, after all, was just doing poltergeist bullshit. Nothing more, nothing less!

“Fuck me shit cunt gah!” the very maidenly maiden swore as the possessed barrel gave her the worst lap dance in the history of lap dances, before her form dissolved into powdered snow and reappeared behind Apollo. Blood, more blood than what reflected the actual severity of the wound she took, stained her indigo garments a deeper shade of purple. Her head bumped against the skinman’s ass as she landed atop the barrels and after a single second of more swear words through clenched teeth, Klava collected herself again.

God, fucking ghosts. Bullshit to the extreme. And of course, the robot was going to self-destruct. Oops, there goes Timekeeper, chasing after his sword wife again. Her mana was dropping too damn low as well. None of her operations really allowed her to do her main specialty of restraining traps. Fucking incompetents, all of them. Would it h-

Her eyes fell upon Protector. Armor scratched and scored. Weapon bloodied. The opponents she faced, the reanimated bodies of teenagers.

Right. All this was still her own decision-making, her own orders. Even built upon imperfect information, even without any discussion of magical capabilities beforehand, she still had the audacity to speak and to command. And, lacking any perspective or empathy, she told Protector, a nursery caretaker, to kill a buncha kids in brutal melee combat. Two more lay, collapsed but not as pale as death. The robot was still self-destructing, and their work still required them to approach further.

“Hah…” The Maiden dropped down in front of Billy Black, facing the flaming spirit. She probably needed a break. She wasn’t going to be much more helpful further in. So, once again, decisions were to be made. “Protector! First priority, get those kids out! If you can rejoin us after, great, otherwise, otsukare!” Her fist met an open palm, the remaining vestiges of her magical power surging into her Instrument. “And for the rest of you losers, hop the fuck in! We’re gonna ram through this harder than the cowboys do at the ranch!”

And with the cracking of an iceberg, Klava thrust Moya-no-Yume into the ground and performed her final Construction of the day.

“Winter Warfare: Battering Ram.”

Forming around Klava and Billy was a creation reminiscent more of a train than a ram. Enclosed on all sides but the bottom and the back, the construction was suspended on Slick skis, while the front featured a massive spike. The interior sported both horizontal handlebars meant for individuals to push against to propel the siege weapon, as well as a rudimentary steering system that involved one raised stake on either side, meant to be dropped down to turn the ‘vehicle’. In the absence of any ‘smart’ magical solutions, Klava had chose the most savage solution instead.

Run straight through the flames, straight up the stairs, and straight into the motherfucking dining room of these fuckwads.

“Alright Billy, time to get warmed up before you kick Justin’s fangs in," Klava said, looking through the transparent ‘windows’ she had left in the front. “I’m sick of these goddamn cellars and their goddamn barrels.”

_{@Crusader Lord@FamishedPants@Izurich@SilverPaw@ERode@Ponn}

Debri and smoke, blood and bones.

The next few seconds unfolded as fast as Su could think. She blew Centrocious off the side of the wall, raised her shield just in time to block an attack from Lenore, Before the nun was replaced by Silmeria. She barely had time to blink before Arzendale invoked his next spell. There was no time to think. Su was working entirely on instinct when she raised her shield and prepared to defend her ally from the hail of blood. This wasn't going to be like last time when she left Samuel to defend Silmeria. Su would position herself in front of the attack. It would hurt, but she was better equipped to deal with it than anyone else. During this entire debacle, nearly every member of her squad had been hurt in one way or another.

But Su knew that she wouldn’t be able to. While she had a modicum of self preservation due to Mika, Silmeria had nothing. Su didn't know Silmeria that well, but it was evident in all her actions. She took every opportunity to fire and never used her magic for anything other than offense. Even when she was going to burn alive, even now with an avalanche of blood upon them.

But even if she could place herself in front of Silmeria, she knew how important it was to end Arzendale before he did any more harm. If he survived, Wukong and Jacqueline’s slim chance of survival would be extinguished.

It seemed hopeless. Ashley was gone, Jaquiline was part of a blood spell, she couldn't even see Lilliah, and Silmeria would become a slave to an unfortunate fate. Maybe Su could do something about it.

While Silmeria raised her gun to fire, Su thumped her shield on top of her wall. The one advantage she had was that touch melodies were among the fastest to activate, and she was sure she could beat out the projectile or beam Silmeria was using for this attack.

The castle hadn’t steered Su wrong yet, might as well expand on her kingdom of debri. The wall shifted ans swirled as the wall grew a barrier. It sprouted in front of Silmeria, curling around her barrel so as to not disrupt her aim. Su was well aware that her melody would not stand up to the vampire’s assault for long. But maybe it could buy her an extra second.

The wall also sprouted a few other features. Directly behind Su and Silmeria was now a platform that joined with the ramp behind them. Wukong would also be shielded by a platform that extended out of the side of the wall. A staircase that went from the top and most the way down to the bottom. Due to the length of the wall, this was the best Su could manage. A means of descending the wall later, or for Wukong to scramble up to if she still had the strength.

Once Silmeria fired, Su would move behind her, hugging her stomach with one arm and holding up her shield with the other,all while backing away from the construction she had made. Even if it had held, some of that blood was going to get through the hole she left for Silmeria’s rifle. As the blood broke through Su’s barrier, she tried to let the avalanche of blood push her back. Rolling with a punch like a boxer might do. The further they got from the wall’s edge, the more Arzendale had to shoot through.

But Su kept a tight grip on her pistol. It was only a matter of time before that nun came for them, if she wasn't fighting Samuel again.

Jacqueline watched blearily, eyes watering, as Arzendale leaped to the side. This time, the powerful note was a boon, however, and she was able to catch the monster where it hurt. Unfortunately, he was a monster; thus, a ripped arm wasn’t enough to kill him. She gritted her teeth, thinking this’d be even more hellish if they had to fucking disintegrate him or something.

She didn’t answer Arzendale’s fury laden words – couldn’t answer even if she had had the clarity of mind to think of an appropriate repartee just then. The vampire chanted, and a vile magic pulled at her. Instead of flowing through her veins as it should have, her blood rebelled, and sought various openings to pour out of. She gurgled and coughed as her mouth filled again and again, no matter how many times she discharged the crimson liquid. She hardly had the space to wheeze the occasional short breath in. Her head pounded, her esper-grey complexion turned an even more ghastly colour, and before she knew it, Jacqueline was on the floor. Somehow, she’d retained the grip on her war pick, but her guts were back to oozing out of her belly. She felt awfully faint, and each time her eyes closed, it was for longer and longer periods of time.

Not…not yet.

Breath rattling, muscles jelly like, and the whole of her feeling as if she were burning from the inside out, Jacqueline crawled to the right. She was seeking cover, yes, but the moment she realized Arzendale’s spell included both her and the hooded hostages, she’d set for herself the mission to interrupt his spell. Of course, by now Jacqueline didn’t really know for what purpose she was dragging herself towards the spell circle, but the fact that she had to get there was something she clung to fervently.

The most difficult part of it – besides not losing consciousness – was keeping her fingers wrapped around the handle of her Instrument, even as they twitched uncontrollably. Even as was losing finer proprioception, the awareness of the exact position of her palm, the sensation of whether she was holding onto something or not escaping her. That meant that she had to visually check not only where she was going, but also if the damn war pick was still in her hand firmly enough. She also had the distinct feeling that approaching the magical circle weakened her further.

The periods of her unconsciousness were getting longer and more frequent than the times she was conscious and at least somewhat aware. Jacqueline didn’t realize it, but she was loud; rasping breath, the sounds of wet choking, sniffling, groaning, and even whining in pain. That might have been why the ally who’d been missing for most of this fight discovered her so easily, despite Jacqueline lying in the shadow of the staircase.

She first realized someone was there when she started feeling better. There was no other way to describe it; energy returned to her (though her spilt blood hadn’t), her entrails were back where they belonged, and the wound on her stomach was closed. That area was still more than sore, and it was clear the damage done to her intestines wasn’t fixed in its entirety. However, she felt much better, and that was all that mattered. She slowly gathered herself into a crouch, gazing up at Orion. “Glad you…made it. Thanks,” her voice was rough, words slurred and faltering, but at least she was able to speak.

She remembered what she’d intended to do – dispel Arzendale’s spell and the magic circle she was now so close to – but, well. If Arzendale was killed, then whatever magic he’d crafted would disappear as well. So, she stood up, and moved closer to the battle. Valkyrie was in position to fire at Arzendale as well – but if either the vampire or the nun saw the intention, they might act to evade or intercept. She didn’t have much time to act, so fired off a simple projectile – it formed faster, but flew slower. She angled it so it would go below Valkyrie’s beam, aimed at Arzendale's torso.

---

---

_{Reporting to: Billy Black}

---

_{@ERode@OwO@Majoras End@BrokenPromise@Majoras End}

Well, someone else took the bullet. Shame, really. Would have been nice to just not deal with the ghost anymore. With a sudden tight fit, Apollo looked back to see a woman sandwiched between his ass and a barrel. Though, she did pop out and fall a short distance, blood splattering on the ground as she landed.

When Billy asked him if he could do anything about the spirits spirit, Apollo gave a fairly reasonable answer for once.

"Nope. One trick horse at this point, either I heal or throw orbs."

He'd at least do his job for once. With mostly everyone in range, a burst of healing and defence emanated from Apollo. If they had to bust on through, he'd at least try to make sure they all lived. Klava and the other's deep wounds could be healed afterwards. What was more important was breaking through.

The protector did get the kids. That made it a lot easier for Apollo as he didn't have to haul them out for information. He just had to worry about what was ahead and go along for the ride.

---

_{@Ponn@Crusader Lord@FamishedPants@Izurich@SilverPaw}
It must be bravery that inspired her step.

It must be foolishness that forced her step.

It must be indignation that provoked her step.

It mattered not the reasons behind Valkyrie’s step, only that she had taken the step, moving closer to the edge, the Teslic Gauss sparking with all the power that she had left in her body. Lightning discharged sporadically upon her surroundings, snapping at debris and tilework. What more ought to be said? She performed as she always did, promising violence and vengeance in equal measure, leveling her gun at the monstrosity and pulling the trigger. A beam, no different than any other, streaked through the sanguine deluge, plunging in without resistance. It was a stake, carved of the wrath of the heavens. It was a blade, sharpened by a genocidal oath. It was a bullet, wreathed in all her thoughts and traumas, spurred on by her desire to kill them all.

It was, in the end, just a spell. A spell of the lowest tier, squeezed out by a sniper running on fumes.

Lightning scattered inches away from Arzendale’s skin, the electricity coursing through the air revealing a transparent barrier that glowed briefly before shattering. He smiled, even though there was no reason to believe now that either Valkyrie nor Breacher could see him. Simple-minded mongrels, these humans. Granted more power than they knew what to do with, and lacking the finesse of even a fledgling goblin, capable only of stubbornly attacking like the deficient savages that they were. Three magical circles, overlaid, meant three spells. The first, the deluge. The second, the barrier. And the third?

The deluge did not pause, and Breacher was forced to take to the forefront herself, drawing more and more debris from the very air to construct yet another set of barriers. Dust now made up her walls, dust and shattered stone as she pulled at Valkyrie, hugging the smaller esper from behind while bringing up the shield to protect both of them. Ever caring, ever protective, even when her call to fame had been to breaching rather than shielding. It took courage either way to brave the storm, to meet an avalanche head-on and hope to mitigate the damage enough that they could using the force alone to retreat instead. And as blood surged through the window she had left for Valkyrie’s long gun, Breacher prepared herself for impact, ready to roll with the tsunami’s force.

It struck her shield and coagulated.

The third circle, the third spell, had been one that caused blood to freeze.

Increased mass forced her shield down, anchoring Breacher to where she stood, and then the rest of the sanguine tide arrived, pummeling down the two of them with the virtue and vice of sheer weight itself, all while more and more blood built up overtop of them. Soon, they were wholly encased, the two having managed to get by with only heavy bruises due to their supernatural defenses against the chaotic powers of the monster they faced. But that meant little. A quick death may have even been preferred. For the two laid now in the center of a glacier of crystallized blood, atop the walls of debris that they had sheltered above before. And gradually, the air in their lungs was running out. One can only hope that another remained who could save them. But who still stood?

Wukong did.

In that instant, she had attained enlightenment, grasping the entirety of the transient world with her astral self. And in that same instant, she had discarded all that wisdom, plunging into the depths of her memories instead. The deaths of her siblings, their glassy eyes reflecting the ruination of her own face. The mad beast, delighting not in the sweetness of their flesh but in the density of their fear and despair, as it pulled them apart like a child would with butterflies. And somewhere, the ones that brought her into this miserable, broken, ugly world simply watched, took notes, and prepared. Prepared to make new children, prepared to make new stories. Stories of why their children had disappeared.

The wisdom she had garnered meant nothing as her back burned and Centrocious ripped off the restraints holding it back. She had neither the experience nor the strength to make claims of wisdom. But what she did have, in this moment, was what she always had.

Desperation to live. To survive. The primal instincts that saw her flee and leave her sister’s corpse behind, to be cremated and scattered in the wind. But there was no way to run now. So she had to fight.

The first blade-limb scythed down, slamming inches away from where her head had been, before dragging down to slice into her shoulder. She caught it there instead, hunching up her shoulder and bending her head in the same direction to clamp down on that blade. Hot blood soaked charred fabrics, but she kept her head.

The second blade-limb struck, meeting her staff instead. Bone thunked heavily against wood, forcing it down further and further until the staff was pinned against one side, leaving her still-bent neck exposed.

The head reared back, exposing rows and rows of disorderly teeth and dove in.

Sometimes, however, it was fortune, not skill, that ensured survival.

A bolt of arcane bolt burst against the side of Centrocious’s head, forcing it away just enough to miss, and in that moment, Wukong found her opportunity. An Esper’s Instrument was indestructible, and subsequently, no matter how sharp the blade, there was no way for the blade-limb that held down her Cherrywood Sage’s Staff to keep it in place either. A flick of the fingers shot the length of the staff upwards, and her free hand raised it up to aim at the monster above her. Whether head, neck, or chest, it mattered not. Centrocious was a monster made of bone, and there was much less that held it together.

The wind howled and the monster became dust.

Perhaps Wukong would be able to take another breath after all.

“Well done. Though rare, honestly.” A dark chuckle sounded above her before a boot slammed into her chest, driving her ribs into her lungs, pushing her into the searing coals that her adrenaline had helped her forget about just a moment before.

Arzendale smiled as Wukong writhed. The sniper and the shieldswoman were encased in sanguine ice. The shadow was naught but ash. The little light was snuffed out within the disposal room. The knight had been bled dry. And now, the monk will die as all monks did: by immolation. Perhaps his predilections had caused this to be more trouble that it was worth, but what of it? He had his fill of entertainment, and Justin had his lobby secured from invaders. It may take a day or two to clean up all this debris and redo the flooring, but what else were thralls good for but blood sacrifice and menial labor? Ah, certainly, one could have used them as soldiers instead, the way that human barbarians would, arming them and conscripting them to fill the espers up with bullet holes from all angles the moment they entered, but there…there simply wasn’t any beauty in that.

No, if one were to speak of beauty, it certainly must come only from suffering, the intensifying light in one’s eyes up until the moment its extinguished forever.

Ah yes, just like this.

A metal ball struck his back, then erupted into an arsenal of hastily-formed blades, ripping Arzendale in half. His upper body fell beside Wukong, his dimming eyes looking up to catch a glimpse of Orion, standing in the shadow of the foyer. Bloodied and beaten, but not defeated. And then, hidden beside the corpses that he had drained, Jacqueline remained conscious, vestiges of iron dust falling out of the air. An iron will, encased in an iron body.

A wet laugh sounded through his lips.

“T’was truly enjoyable, the writhing of the short-lived. May your paths continue to be covered in thorns, my pets, so that you are adequately prepared…” Above, the glacier of blood groaned, cracking as the power that held it in place began to wane. “…for my advent. Sleep lightly. Keep your daughters and sisters close. Adieu.”

Without a sound, the vampire dissolved into blood, extinguishing the flames that seared Wukong, thawing the ice that encased Valkyrie and Breacher. They were bloodied, yes, some closer to death than others, but with some healing magic, they would be able to continue on at least. So long as they did not die, they had no reason to stop.

Twenty-four human beings laid before them, lives never to be reclaimed.

There would never be a reason to stop.

.

..

…

The Ghostblade passed through flesh and bone as if it were air.

Silhouette, body charred and senses dulled, hadn’t stood a chance.

Like scoops of ice cream fallen from a cone, his hands tumbled down the tower, pulling his blades with it. Shadows receded from his monstrous form, revealing the red-eyed human underneath, unarmed and weak, with neither magic nor technique.

Nothing but a sneer formed on Lenore’s face as she hefted her sword up onto her shoulder, ready to behead the man behind the demon, but then, she paused.

Her crimson armor crumbled, pieces of her helmet falling off her head, dissolving into puddles of blood upon striking the ground. A low whistle sounded between her lips, the faintest sign of recognition in her carmine eye as she redid the eyepatch over her right eye again.

“Well,” she said, no trace of bloodlust in her tone anymore. “That’s just like the ol’ Doctor, isn’t it? Tell her that it’s not over yet, would ya, little Sammy?”

A flick of the wrist cleansed her falchion of impurities, and with another, she disappeared in a burst of blacklight, one half of his mask left in her wake.

---

_{@OwO@mantou@ERode@Majoras End}

The robot ticked, the barrels floated, the zombie advanced, and Finn’s allies were trapped. Though more important to him was keeping Betty’s silhouette in sight. There was no point to any of this if she was going to die at the end of it all. G.E.M.I.N.I. and Maverick could fight their war. The politics didn’t interest him. They’d be done with this already if they could work together.

How like a child to make the world seem so simple.

After casting a single melody, the time keeper was gone. Bob hadn’t been able to count a single second before Finn disappeared from sight. Finn would be safe from Bob, but that was one less esper that could have helped those that remained. Four espers, two teenagers, and Billy remained squarely inside the death trap.

Klava conjured an ice ram while shouting out commands to the others. Apollo’s inability to blow the bonfire away and Protector leaving the scene behind Billy didn’t seem to bother him too much. Or perhaps he was just too into the siege ram that Klava had built for them. ”Hell yea! I’m all fired up for this!” He grabbed hold of the handle that Klava had provided for him. ”Hold onto your asses! I’m pushin’ on five!”

”SIX…”

Tetrad was less impressed, if only because this was the second time Klava gave an order that was opposite of her own, and all the Japanese jargon felt out of place at the moment. She watched a bit of anime when she was younger, but she’d never think about saying stuff like that on a mission to a bunch of mercenaries. But she could handwave it as them being close friends. Not many people could kill on command like that. Eviscerated remains flashed in her mind before she ran for the train.

It wasn’t all bad. After running into the back of the train and taking the handle, she was standing next to Apollo. He cast a melody that healed any small scrapes and cuts anyone had gotten, though Klava’s bones would take much longer to heal. She wasn’t going to be much help pushing, but they had Billy for that anyway.

”That felt pretty good!”

”Thanks, but I-”

”FIVE…”

The crazzy train slid forward. There was no acceleration time, Billy leaned forward and used his inhuman strength to get to top speed. Tetrad nearly had her feet pulled out from under her, but managed to get her feet back under her.

The upper half of the burning spirit golem turned into a fist and slammed into the windshield. Normally, thousands of pounds of burning spirits would spill into the cockpit of the ram. But as much weight as the attack had, it was still a low quality arcane construct. Apollo’s magic shield had spread to the train, shielding it from a blow that could have ended the operation. That didn’t stop the occupants’ heads from jerking forward, as it was still enough to stop their momentum. No one felt it quite as bad as Klava did, as her fractured rib cage seared with pain when she slammed into the handlebar. But they had to keep going.

”FOUR…”

At least the spike paired with the train’s wedge shaped face meant they wouldn’t have much trouble ramming through the burning spirits. The train parted the golem like the red sea. Alcohol and flames were pushed to either side of the ram, and was visible out the side windows. Fable’s jacket had been plastered on the window right in front of Apollo’s vision, but the ram continued to move forward.

There was a space under the train too. It wasn’t tall, but they would be marching over a carpet of flames shortly.

”THREE…”

Apollo’s shield protected everyone on their walk over the flames. It would take a few seconds to burn through such a barrier, but now they needed to contend with the rest of Gunther’s arsonal. He had a single soul tied up in operating the spirit golem, while the other four were free to possess barrels and fly into the ram. One of the barrels struck a window and cracked it, but it held true. But every hit slowed the train, if just a little bit. There was also only so much Klava’s contraption could take. This was not the strongest ram Klava could muster, and it was starting to crack under the repeated blows.

”TWO…”

Almost at the other side, and the entire wine cellar was behind them. That meant the remaining barrels were going to be flying into the back, where there was no wall to shield them. Billy’s size and position meant he would be taking most of the attacks, but he was ill-equipped to do so from arcane charged barrels. The first barrel was mostly eaten up by Apollo’s shield, but that meant that the burning spirits under his feet were starting to eat away at him. A mere inconvenience for an esper, but it caused excruciating pain to monsters. The leather on his shoes was starting to peel, and the busted barrel had spilled wine all the way down his back.

”Hells bells!”

With the ram so close to the exit, Luna reached for one of the stakes on her side of the train and dropped it. ”Hold onto your butts! We’re spinning this thing!”

In the moderate sized space at the end of the wine cellar, the spike caused the ram to spin. At the same time, Tetrad hurled a card at the ground that filled the area with gravity-reducing confetti. It also had a healing effect, but no one would be in the zone long enough to enjoy it. It was just a way to get the ram to spin easier. With the ram turned around, the open back of the ram was pointed towards the stairs leading up. A salvo of kegs came for the front of the ram, and they were starting to break through.

”ONE…”

After a ride no one would soon forget, they ran up the stairs while the train collapsed behind them. Bob remained in the empty cellar, counting down to corpses that could not hear him.

”…MUGEN.”

Deep inside Bob’s chest, a cacophony of shattering glass and chemical reactions was starting to take place. Steam bellowed out of his joints, electricity arced around his body, and the cellar was bathed in a light that cast no shadows.

The espers on the floor above would see plenty of shadows. A powerful explosion rocked everyone right off their feet. The white light that followed them up the stairs was intense, and bathed the room in monochrome hues. When it subsided, everyone was left with a ringing in their ears, and any wounds they took from the ordeal up to this point.

”Not bad, girls.” Billy laid flat on his back to extinguish the fire. With that addressed, he sat down beside the espers. ”You too Apollo. That shield was mighty fine if I do say so myself. ” With a sigh, he looked at everyone present. ”Let’s get patched up and move further in. Reinforcements should be joining us shortly, they’ll have a path cleared out for us.”

The path back down had caved in, filled with wood and stone. Nothing that Billy couldn’t move, but it would take too much time. If Justin didn’t know they had arrived, they did now. And even if they could afford to clear the path, every second they wasted here was another second Finn was left alone with Betty. They could only wonder how Protector fared.

---

An esper was more than capable of carrying two teenagers under their arms, but it was a bit trickier when you also had to manage a spear and a shield. To this end, Protector opted to just make them lighter. This both made them easier to carry and made it impossible for them to attempt to escape. Short of throwing a fireball at her, there wasn’t much they could do.

Gunther’s main goal was to keep espers out and cripple Billy, so he took little notice of Protector running outside. She would face little resistance as she distanced herself from the wine cellar. Bob’s countdown became impossible to make out, but the detonation was loud even from where Protector was standing. It reverberated through the Bastion. It was impossible to tell how extensive the damage was, as it would take a bit for the smoke to clear.

She had made it outside. The teenagers were safe, but Billy’s team would be short one Protector.

”We’re, we’re alive?” The boy groaned. He was still clutching his stomach.

The girl still had her hands folded over her stomach. Apollo had struck her in the stomach hard enough to also incapacitate the person behind her.

”That guy was pretty rough, huh?”

”They’re dead.” The girl’s voice cracked. ”White, and Green…”

The violet haired boy remained quiet, but it was clear the news had affected him. His hands and lower lip were trembling. ”Really?” She nodded, unable to say anything else. The boy inhaled sharply before running his hand over his face. ”Oh god…”

---

_{@The World}

Marrie was a gentle girl, but sometimes, you just had to punt a goblin. It wasn’t like she was killing them, and it was all in the name of helping someone who was helping her. Also they bit her, you could only be so gentle with them.

”That’s the spirit, Senator! Show ‘em who’s boss!”

But Highway to Hell had already selected its next victim. It was not some dumb animal that reacted to the rampent flailings of its prey while it was trying to secure a kill. The several seconds it took to make a pile of goblins mattered little when Highway to Hell could devour Stacy’s head in a single bite.

”Later, Armstrong!”

The snake’s snout borrowed part way into the tunnel floor, taking in Stacy’s head along with half a mouthful of dirt. With its head bent so low, in the dim light of the campfire, she could make out some lacerations on the back of its head. They were small when compared to the size of the creature, but they were not clean wounds. The flesh hadn’t been cut, but torn, ripped up by some crude tool. This might have provoked the snake’s oddly aggressive behavior towards the severed head.

But Marrie couldn’t linger, she still had to save herself. Her healing melody fixed all of her wounds instantly, as she chased after Stacy’s body.

This leg of the catacombs led to an especially broad passageway. Marrie had to turn her clip light on to see anything down here. Sure enough, there were all sorts of goblins using wagons to enter different parts of the catacombs. The goblins carrying Stacy’s body dropped it on the floor before scattering. At the far end of the cave was another wooden door, but this one had been thrown open. Goblins were leaving it en masse, carrying everything they could. Garbage cans, crates filled with junk, anything they had stored in their burrows had to be taken before Highway to Hell got here. But the most interesting item Marrie didn’t need her clip light to see. A goblin carrying a blazing coin and some dishes was preparing to depart on a wagon.

Marrie could also feel Stacy pawing at her shoe. The chainsaw in her back was still running at a low idle.

@BrokenPromise @Ponn @Crusader Lord @FamishedPants @SilverPaw

As the blood deluge swarmed right at her, a part of Valkyrie's mind recognized that Breacher was trying her best to keep her as safe as possible while also not disrupting her aim. However, there was no time to express gratitude, there wasn't even a time for a grunt of acknowledgment for the next few milliseconds would determine if the gambit of risking a shot instead of immediately hiding behind cover was worth it or not.

"...!" Alas, the brown-haired sniper esper didn’t even get the chance to examine her work as Breacher promptly grabbed her right after she pulled the trigger, a toned arm wrapped around her midsection and pulling her back while the ex-policewoman’s other arm held up the riot shield, bracing for impact against the red tsunami. The plan was to figuratively roll with the punches and just allow the wave to safely push them back until their backs hit against a wall or something, it’d significantly mitigate the potency of this all-or-nothing spell. However, as one famous Prussian general once said, "No plans survive first contact with the enemy", and the saying couldn't be truer the moment Arzendale's blood wave smashed against Su's shield.

The crimson liquid magically froze upon contact like a nigh-instant process of coagulation, forcing Breacher to either embrace being anchored in place or let the shield go, the latter was obviously out of the question so anchored they were. "..." Valkyrie winced, but otherwise silent, focused on making herself as small a target as possible for the benefit of Breacher and the detriment of Arzendale. More and more frozen blood saturated them like platelets attempting to cover a wound, and in stark contrast to that moment of aiming for the fanged monster's head just now, everything was transpiring in a blur of sanguine tide.

By the time things seemed to slow down a bit, Valkyrie found herself in a world of crystalline red, her back pinned against Breacher's armored torso, still with an arm holding her belly. Teslic Gauss was stuck with absolutely no room to move her arms and it quickly became clear that they were entombed in this red ice coffin. Valkyrie's orange irises shifted left and right for a moment before it came to her that they would need assistance sooner than later, as silly as the problem of literally being stuck was, it's still a serious matter. She could still hear muffled commotions from outside though, although she couldn't exactly discern any spoken words.

Right, her current situation sucked, no doubt about it, but there's no way she'd just resign. Even when she could do nothing, she'd still do something, no matter how meaningless the attempt seemed to be for hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. To that end, Valkyrie simply took a single breath then held it, remaining perfectly still - an easy feat for a sniper - as she spaced out her breaths for as long as she could. She was the trained marksman here, she had specific training to be breathlessly still, Breacher didn't, it behooved her to accommodate the taller esper. After all, she'd be dead right now if not for the horned shielder, the least she could do was return the favor.

..........
......
...

Amongst the cacophony transpiring outside, she heard muffled noises of something sharp mercilessly slicing through flesh and bone, this was soon followed by Arzendale's voice... then as if on cue, the blood coffin encasing her and Breacher simply melted away.

Without pause, Valkyrie took a deep breath as she separated herself from Su, raising Teslic Gauss to aim at anything hostile that was still moving. A quick glance revealed a few things: One, Arzendale was gone, two, Centrocious was too, and three, Lenore was still around. Good. Valkyrie adjusted her aim and-... the fake nun blinked away, just like that.

"..." Twice now that her targets simply vanished, twice now they've eluded her; Viper and Lenore, she'd remember their faces, their voice, and one day, she'd put a bullet through their skulls. However, she also came to realize that blinking away sure was convenient, it was no wonder why the maneuver was employed regularly. With self-directed little nods, the brunette made a mental note to research more about this Blink note for the immediate future.

Right now though, hmmm... it seemed every melee-centric member of the team were quite worse for wear, a noticeable contrast from the mostly-fine state of their ranged comrades. That, and she was running on fumes too with only barely enough mana to maintain her transformation. It was a hard-fought battle for sure and while it's a shame for the hostages, no one here was under the illusion that their lives weren’t already forfeit, the only right thing to do was to make sure their deaths wouldn't be in vain.

With a small sigh, Valkyrie spoke into the comms, "Orders, squad leader?" she inquired to Breacher (and also Binky if she's listening), coldly professional for she'd never humor these abominations with even a shred of her emotions.

---

Before Ashley was even fully aware of them, several events transpired in rapid succession. First, the partially healed Leroux was able to fire off a melody at the burly vampire, while Ashley’s own arcane bolt struck the skeletal centaur-thing and distracted it enough for Wukong to finish it off. This was followed up by Leroux’s blade sphere slicing the vampire in twain, thus releasing Breacher and Valkyrie from their blood prison. The sinister nun lingered for a moment more, before blinking away in a burst of blacklight. In a matter of seconds, the smoke and flames that had so filled the chamber dispersed and extinguished to reveal that the G.E.M.I.N.I. strike team had apparently succeeded in securing the foyer, but that wasn’t all their absence revealed…

Ashley fell to her knees as she realized with increasing horror that none of the hostages had survived, the Knight of Tomorrow’s breath catching in her throat as she understood with utter, agonizing certainty that these twenty-four innocent men, women, and children would not see another... “N-No…” she whimpered, bringing a hand to her mouth as tears streamed down her cheeks. “T-They couldn’t… I couldn’t save any of them…” Squeezing her eyes shut, the young esper’s body trembled as she continued to weep for those who’s lives had been so cruelly taken, who’s futures had been so irrevocably turned to ash. All their rich possibilities, all their untapped potential, all their hopes, all their dreams, all now amounted… to nothing… “W-Why…? W-Why do I even have these powers, if I can’t help anyone with them?” she sobbed.

But you can… a voice echoed in her mind. And you will…

“W-What…?” she whispered.

You are still young, merely a student. You have much to learn, and experiences like this can help you…

“H-Help me? H-How?”

All the emotions you’re feeling right now, the sorrow, anger, pain… They can fuel your growth in ways you cannot even imagine. I know you’re hurting, but remember, while life may be painful, pain is nothing more than weakness leaving the body… You have great things to accomplish, Ashley, you’ve seen them, but to do so you need to be strong… Tell me, Ashley, what is the source of your anguish? the voice inquired. Who has caused you to feel this way? Who is really responsible for all of this suffering?

“Justin…” Ashley hissed, her voice dripping with hatred.

Yesss… the voice confirmed, seeming quite pleased with Ashley’s answer. He is the one who caused all this to happen, and you can be the one to make him regret it, to make him experience all the suffering he’s inflicted on others. You are the Knight of Tomorrow, the voice continued. You are the one who decides what tomorrow brings to those under your care… Hope? Or horror? The choice… is yours…

“Yes,” Ashley agreed, her previously distraught countenance now filled with a look of fierce determination. “It is…”

Rising to her feet, the Knight of Tomorrow deactivated her visor and wiped the tears from her eyes. The emerald eye shield quickly flickering back into place, she made her way down to the first floor to do what she could for her teammates. Of primary concern was Agent Wukong, who had suffered some fairly substantial injuries from both the flames and the undead spider centaur. “Here, let me patch you up,” Ashley offered with a kind smile as she reached out a glowing hand and allowed healing energies to flow through it and into her fellow agent. “There, does that feel a bit better?” she inquired.

We may have gotten a little beaten up, Ashley conceded as she glared up at the obnoxious portrait of the master of this wretched manor. But not enough to stop us from ending your thrice-damned life!

---

"MISTAKES WERE MADE."
Current Location: Von Carnage Mansion, ???

Corridors.

If Finn had to describe Justin's mansion in a single word, that would be a good one to use. Beyond the dining area was just one corridor after another. They were wider than your average hallway, but that didn’t change the fact that there were a lot of them. Even when Finn glanced down some of the other passageways, it was just more corridors.

Bob’s detonation shook the mansion at its foundation. Betty and the two pyromancers looked over their shoulders, maybe half expecting to see a ball of fire. But the white haired girl growled when she saw who was there.. ”Seriously?“ She turned to face Finn. Her hands coiled around her weapon in a white-knuckle grip. ”You couldn’t beat me alone, you sure you want to try this again?”

The boy remained calm. Even as he treked through the maze of halls, even as his shoulder bled, and even as Bob's subsequent detonation nearly caused him to trip on himself. He had to remain calm. He was alone.

As the trio noticed that he followed after them, the Timekeeper took his hand off the wound for a moment. It hurt like a bastard, but it wasn't bad enough to paralyze his arm. By some luck it was they only severe injury he suffered so far. "I managed to survive this long, didn't I?" Even if it seemed like he wasn't listening, he responded to Betty's ire. Finn looked between her and the remaining pyromancers. "Three versus one then? ...I can work with this." Despite his words, he didn't attack first.

The pyromancers took a step back. The brown haired one clutched his stump.

”Where’s Gunther?”

”I don’t need that puddle of playdough to spank this brat. I’m perfectly capable of doing that myself.” Black particles swirled around Betty’s form, wreathing her in spores. She was channeling a melody of some sort, and judging by the wind up time, it was going to be a powerful one. ”You can burn up his corpse when I’m done with him!” Betty roared like a lion before lunging for Finn. The tile floor sparked and chipped under her sword as she dragged it alongside herself. As she closed in, she swung her sword forwards, cutting into the adjacent wall as the blade threatened to connect with Finn’s legs, if not divide him at the hip.

It was tempting to call the pyromancers a pair of cowards, but that was probably due to his mood being soured. Atleast it'd save him the trouble. Finn remained eerily calm watching the girl charge in for another strike, moving into a combative stance. He furrowed his brows, then sighed with a scowl.

"Damnit Bets, you better not hold this against me!"

Suck it up and quit holding back.

He dodge-rolled out of the blade's range, then fired a beam of electricty at Betty.

[Silver Beam][Damage] = - 36 MP
(462 MP remaining)

Wooden splinters filled the air as Betty’s sword cleaved through the wall. Her cry of hatred pierced Finn’s ears. Her sword glided over Finn’s head. She would be ready to swing again before long, but Finn’s melody was almost ready. Betty’s melody was ready too, and they both activated at the same time. At such close range, it was impossible for Finn to miss. He aimed at one of her arms in an attempt to weaken her grip on her sword. The note flew towards her shoulder, it struck true.

But nothing happened.

By the time the electricity had burned through her spores, there was nothing left to even graze her uniform. It seemed the melody that Betty had prepared was defensive in nature. Her plan must have been to brute force her way through whatever Fable mustered and cut through him after the fact. Maybe if he had attacked faster, she wouldn’t have been able to protect herself with such a melody. Or perhaps Betty’s skills were just beyond his, and attacking her and two pyromancers by himself was a fool’s quest.

With their melodies used, it was down to who the better swordsman was.

Betty slid one hand off her hilt and grabbed the rod running along the back of her sword. In such close proximity, ‘half swording’ was a common practice to make fighting in closed spaces easier with larger swords. Though she had even greater leverage now, which was promptly displayed when their blades connected. Fable was sent reeling back towards the wall, while Betty attempted to follow up with a swing.

Finn didn’t have many options left. He could place his sword in front of himself like last time. It wasn’t a fool proof plan, but he had tried it before and it did stop her from slicing him in half. But because of the way Betty was holding her sword, it might be possible for him to stab her if he threw all caution to the wind.

He had to make a choice.

He couldn't miss another chance.

Ditching any thought of going on the defensive, the boy was more than willing to take the gamble and strike. If it didn't work, well, he could only hope the results weren't fatal.

Finn’s rapier glided through the air just as Betty’s swing was about to commence. While the violinist may have had leverage, Finn’s one-handed sword had superior reach on a thrust, which he was able to make use of after springing off the wall. Both children screamed as their blades prepared to enter flesh.

Finn’s rapier managed to tag Betty’s shoulder again. Her shoulder jerked backwards from the blow, but no blood was drawn. Once again, black spores had surged to the location of the attack. It seemed as insurance, Betty’s melody protected her from both physical and arcane dangers. But since the strike was coming at her mid-swing, it did manage to throw off her aim. Her sword glided under Finn’s rapier and missed his torso. Though Finn wouldn’t have long to celebrate, as it took little effort to course correct and ram her sword into Finn’s leg. The square head of her sword wasn’t suited for slicing through flesh, but without anything to stop her, the weight alone was enough to crush Finn’s leg. When she pulled her sword back, he had no recourse but to fall onto his back. ”That’s for thinking you could fight me. And this?” She stepped closer while taking her sword’s hilt in both hands and driving the head of the blade into his shoulder. He howled as whatever made up his inner skeleton snapped. ”This is for calling me that. I don’t want you to ever call me that again.” She squinted her eyes. ”Though I suppose crushing your head is the best way to shut you up..” By this point, the sound of the other freelancers could be heard in the distance. ”They survived?”

Brown looked to Betty. ”Gunther still isn’t-”

”Say another word, and I’ll drain you just to shut you up.” Betty hoisted her sword over her shoulder and ran past the pyromancers. ”Give him a shot and fall back.”

Both pyromancers did as they were instructed before running after Betty. In the presence of a broken leg and shoulder, the fire bolts were negligable to an esper. There was little he could do as Betty’s silhouette faded from view.

It hurts.

God it hurts.

What was he thinking?

Whatever tears Fable shed before returned in a pain-filled sob. It was all he could do, nearly meeting his destruction. "N-No...wait..!" In vain, he reached out as Betty fled, crying out in pain from trying to get back up. Whatever damage the pyromancers did didn't matter. What was the point?

I'm sorry...

No matter what he was, he was still just some dumb kid, was he?

_{@Crusader Lord@FamishedPants@Izurich@SilverPaw@ERode@Ponn}

The blood had solidified over her eyes. The only way Su could see was if something was bright enough to shine through the blood avalanche and her eyelids. But in the dimly lit room, there was no such source of light. Su was trapped in darkness, and she was suffocating in it. It was uncomfortable, scary even, but she was an Esper. She would endure.

They would be successful. It was a certainty. She had to go home and see Mika, and she couldn’t do that if she was dead. But more than her own determination, she knew Jacqueline would persevere. Samuel seemed like a resourceful sort, and Lilliah seemed adaptable to boot. Though in her tomb devoid of air or light, Su felt a certain amount of shame. Performing well was imprtant to Su, and she wasn't too pleased to be cut off from everyone alongside Silmeria.

But that made perfect sense, really.

Everyone had a bad day at work. Su would be kidding herself if she thought her performance today was stellar. There were better arrangements for her constructions, and her orders were based on poor judgments. The important part was that when Su left her crimson tomb, she would be a better than when she entered. She could normally forgive Silmeria for her overly aggressive approach to combat. But this wasn’t the first time she had come around to bail her out of trouble. Earlier in the week, she had been called to assist Silmeria. While Su would never begrudge someone who wanted her help, she was concerned that Silmeria's performance might not be from unfair circumstances, but hers reckless approach to operations. Perhaps it was some behavior that could be ironed out of her with training. Maybe Silmeria just needed a day at the Fang household.

But thinking of post operation affairs only took her mind of the present for so long. The claustrophobic space in the prison was starting to get to her. She wanted to move, she wanted to see, she wanted to escape this feeling of inadequacy.

“Gah!"

The blood thawed and ran down her body. She was soaked with the blood of innocent people. Not a single spec of her blue and black outfit wasn’t red. She coughed, she wiped her eyes with bloodstained hands, but it wasn’t enough. She finally clenched her hand into a fist and a gust of wind blew away what hadn’t soaked into her uniform. She was sore, but she would live.

Su didn’t need to look over the edge of the wall to see the sacrifices had died. It was an outcome that Su had come to expect from an ordeal like this. Trying to save the civilians would have gotten them all killed. It was a rough fight just trying to keep each other alive. That didn’t make it any easier, as she it could have been Mika under one of those burlap bags. Her eyes drifted to the severed head of the child before looking away towards…

“Samuel?"

This was the first time she had seen him out of the esper state. He was, well, a lot more attractive than she thought the haunting figure would be. It was not uncommon for espers to adapt personas to make their identities extra secure. But it seemed more like that part of him was just his true self shining through his esper form. Well, Su knew Sam was a gentleman, or at least he looked the part. If she ever needed to convince her parents that she had gotten married, having Samuel pose with her for a few pictures would be pretty good.

“This way!"

Su guided the two espers to the ground floor, where the other half of the agents were. There she saw Ashley tending to Lillah, and of course Jaquiline was nearby. It was at times like this she wished she had some way of assisting with the post-battle. But her mana reserves were low. Ashley's eyes were red, and Su was pretty sure it wasn't just from the smoke. The desire to hug her was there, but now wasn't the time for coddling.

“Ashley?" Su kept her distance, not wanting to spook the cadet while she was working on Lilliah. “You lived!?"

”Two out of three ain’t bad for your first G.E.M.I.N.I. only mission together.” Binky’s joyless voice carried through the smoke as she walked around the side of Su’s castle. ”The mansion is totally secured on the outside. If Justin has half a brain, he’ll try to escape while we’re closing in on him.” Binky’s eyes rested on Jacqueline for a moment. ”This isn’t a suicide mission, anyone who’s not fit to fight can remain in the back.” Her eyes passed over the headless civilians before coming to rest on Ashley and Lilliah. Her face lacked any trace of apathy. Maybe she didn’t care, or maybe the sight of death was so commonplace, Binky stopped reacting to it. ”But it’s all for nothing if we don’t take down Justin. We move out immediately.”

If Klava didn't have a busted rib, perhaps she would have made it.

Naw, she didn't even feel her ribs after the adrenaline started kicking in again. The rush of having outraced an explosion by mere seconds and the sheer bullshit that Gunther was gave her the boost of violent aggression she needed to sprint down the corridors after Timekeeper, that stupid fucking kid. There was a difference between taking orders and mindlessly taking orders. The Freelancers were no GEMINI, after all. They could make what they wished out of what she shouted in battle. They certainly weren't supposed to use her order of 'scouting ahead' to subsequently go and face off three opponents alone while already having gotten beaten the fuck out of. That was the sort of gamer play that Klava would have done only when she had a Mark to Blink back to. For Timekeeper, perpetually chasing after that big sword bitch and perpetually getting his ass handed to him for that as well?

"Fucking shit!"

Sliding to a stop beside the injured child, Klava's eyes flickered up and down his body briefly, examining the injuries that he had sustained. Broken bones and second-degree burns, as well as cuts deep enough to have severed tendons and left limbs worthless. She had enough mana still. She could run over those fuckers with another one of her fuck-you spike-trains. But there was no escape left, and there was no way of knowing just how much more fighting had to be done. When she got out of this, after the requisite post-operation dine-out, Klava would have to do a lot of self-review.

That was neither here, nor now.

"You continuing, kid?" The Maiden spoke, pulling him up to his feet. He was light. The blood he lost made him lighter. "There's still a ways to go, but if you are coming, then leave Betty to the rest of us. You're too involved to handle her."

Valkyrie's headshot was reflected, however, there was another avenue of attack Arzendale had not counted on; Jacqueline’s. Her projectile struck his back, and shredded through him, parting him in half. Leroux watched, fascinated, as the monster still laughed and talk despite being split apart. She bared her teeth at the vampire from afar, a grimace of a grin stretching her lips.

Her moment of satisfaction was short-lived; the beast proclaimed he would return. In that instant, Jacqueline fully believed it. “You!” she snarled, lurching into movement from where she’d begun leaning against the pillar at some point. However, before she could take but a step forward, the monster dissipated. All that remained was his blood. Any active magic of his was undone, and his allied esper took her leave. Centrocius was dead as well.

If this was victory, why did it feel so hollow?

Jacqueline smashed her fist against the pillar, insensate to the minor bruising her fist took for it – she was in pain all over, so the brief sharp ache to her hand was insignificant. She glared at the pool of blood Arzendale had left behind. Was it truly over with him or not? That was the question which plagued her, and until she had conclusive evidence that a vampire could not resurrect, or until she knew in what manner a vampire’s death usually appeared, she would not rest easy.

She took a few moments to rest against the pillar, calming her breathing, and bolstering herself for what was to come. She felt like shit, but the mission wasn’t done yet. As long as she didn’t die, it didn’t really matter what a beating she took as an esper. Admittedly, she’d already come much closer to it much sooner than she’d imagined she might. She supposed she’d have to be more careful now. She spat a glob of bloody saliva at the floor in disgust at the notion. However, if that was what it took to ensure some well-meaning meddler took her off this assignment preemptively, she would rein herself in. A bit.

Since there was some time to do so now, Jacqueline wandered to the nearest hostage’s corpse. She’d been vaguely curious in a corner of her mind how they’d been killed – by Arzendale’s magic, or some sort of a previously installed mechanism. If a vampire’s blood magic worked the same as a blood mage’s, then from what she’d seen in the fight against Lada, the sacrifice to power blood magic had to be killed by mundane means. Perhaps there was evidence of that on the hostages, or by the pillars they’d been tied against.

If not…it occurred to her that they might as well ask an expert. Just as she was about to relay that idea via their comes, Binky made her appearance. Jacqueline huffed at the backhanded compliment – two out of three was not the complete annihilation any self-respecting Gemini would prefer of their enemies – but did not otherwise comment. Her cheek twitched in annoyance, when, as expected, Binky made a clear insinuation that she should not proceed. “I’m not staying behind,” she snapped. This time, it wasn’t just her pride speaking. Her mana was near gone, and she did not possess a firearm, so melee with her Instrument was essentially her only remaining option.

She rolled her shoulders to relieve the defensive tension that had gathered there, then quickly redirected the conversation to another topic. “Listen, is Lada still around? We could use her knowledge of blood magic, at the very least,” she gestured to the remains of the battle. “Just in case anyone else is going to wield it…Of course, it would have made things much better if we’d known about it beforehand,” she muttered that last part under her breath, though it’d likely still be heard.

“If she’s still able to work her magic, I’d volunteer to be subjected to it,” she added in a drawl after pretending to take a moment to think about it. In fact, she’d had the idea of how very useful a blood mage’s help might have been sometime during the battle. As she’d said, if she’d had any idea vampires could do something so similar to a blood mage, she’d have considered it sooner. Of course, Lada had been responsible for getting them in safely by encasing them in the blood barrier, but given Binky’s report of secure perimeters, she should now be free to do something else. If only she was willing to…

---

---

Marrie wasn't going to let the world get away with this. She picked up Stacy's body, slung it over her left shoulder carefully to make sure the chainsaw was pointed away from her, and aimed at the wagon the goblin with the coin was on. She cast a silver blink at the goblin itself, adjusting slightly just in case they started moving. She had a plan, and it was a good plan, but the conditions had to be just right. When she arrived at the goblin, she'd grab it with her right arm and jump out of the wagon with it. Or if she couldn't get a good enough grip, she'd just have to ride the wagon with the goblin and try to reason with it while it moved instead of once it was restrained. She didn't plan to let go of Stacy's body either, though she was tempted to take the chainsaw out, she was relatively certain that doing so would kill the poor girl by making her transform back to mundane form while her head was being digested.

---

With the breakthrough, Apollo could finally have some breathing room. One moment where he didn't have to think and do anything... Kidding, Klava sped off immediately. He was going to heal her and solve the entire broken bones thing. If she ran in this state, her rib would pierce her lung or some shit. That was bad for business, seeing as how the maiden was somehow becoming a recurring associate in every single mission.

"Fucker," he said as he ran after her.

Though, when he caught up, he did notice the brutally assailed child who was with them on the mission earlier. Well, Apollo could probably do his job now. With his large hand reaching out and gripping the small child's head, a wave of healing came over him. His body would be fine but his mind still seemed kinda wounded. Having his head gripped like a bowling ball probably didn't help, but hey, he was crying before Apollo came along.

Seriously, why was there a child here?

---

_{@Ponn@Crusader Lord@FamishedPants@Izurich@SilverPaw}

By the time Su had arrived at the bottom of her castle, Lilliah’s wounds were partially healed up. Ashley didn’t have time to respond before Binky arrived, at which point Jacqueline started to talk to her. The Frenchwoman seemed a little agitated, but Su could understand why. If someone had cut into her guts like that, she’d be upset if they got away too.

But her request…

”You… Want Lada to use her blood magic on you?” Binky raised an eyebrow.

”Leroux! No!” Su approached. ”Blood magic very bad! Lada curse you! We not know-” Binky placed a hand on Breacher’s shoulder, and she closed her mouth and stepped back.

”What you want to do is very brave, but it’s not viable.” Binky folded her arms. ”Rottweiler did become more resilient under the effects of his dark blessing, but he was a normal human with training. You’re an esper and already under the effect of some potent magical effects. You wouldn’t gain as much out of it as he did. Even If you were willing to fight out of the esper state, part of Lada’s agreement with Fritzi was that we wouldn’t put her in danger, hence why she’s in an armored vehicle where she can meditate inside her magic circle. I’m unsure her blessing would help you deeper inside. She has demonstrated that she can heal superficial wounds, but ones like that?.” Binky let her arms swing by her side and stepped ahead. ”All you need to know about blood magic is that what it can do depends on the skill of the one using it. The stronger stuff requires sacrifices, and some monsters are able to use it through their own chaotic powers instead of through arcane rituals. Otherwise, everything Fritzi told you over the last operation should still apply for human magi.” She looked over everyone. ”But we can go over that while moving towards our objective.”

The G.E.M.I.N.I. agents fell into formation and hurried deeper into Justin’s mansion, leaving the room filled with flames and corpses behind them.

---

_{@OwO@mantou@ERode@Majoras End}
Billy chuckled as he watched Klava and Apollo rush off. ”Guess they’re worried about the li’l tike. Girl’s busted pretty bad and she’s still as quick as a hiccup.”

”Just one second Billy, and we’ll catch up to them too.” Once Billy sat upright, Luna placed a hand on his wounded back. Her body was enveloped in golden rays. She shined with the kind of radiance that would even make the god of light jealous.

But with Billy’s back to her, no one was around to notice it.

Monsters, much like espers, had an impressive ability to heal from any wound over time. So Luna’s magic was just as effective for healing Billy as it would be any esper.

”Ready for Justin?”

”Hell yea!”

It wasn’t until they got down the hall that they could see what happened to poor Finn.

Billy placed a finger under his chin. ”Kid looks a little under the weather.”

”What the SHIT!” Luna had just healed Billy. She couldn’t do anything about the Time Keeper’s wounds at the moment. Apollo was able to start mending his shoulder and chest, but there was too much damage to get it all in one note. Hiis leg was still broken, and would need to be healed before he could move around much. ”I can carry him, I’ll finish healing him once I’m able.” She pulled Finn’s arm around her neck and helped him limp down the hall.

”Keep your eyes peeled.” Billy walked behind them. ”That ghost guy is still around here.”

---

_{@The World}

Marrie was asking a lot of herself. She was carrying what was essentially a headless woman over her shoulder while trying to steal a coin, and then hitch a ride before Highway to Hell arrived. It was daring, it required the right elements.

But it was just an average Tuesday for an esper.

Marrie’s olympic strength made hoisting a grown woman over her shoulder easy enough, and plundering the coin from the goblin was like stealing from a big green toddler. Even if the coin appeared to be on fire, all Marrie could feel was a soothing warmth in her fingertips. Aside from the flame, the coin was just a penny, a piece of copper with Lincoln's face on it. The goblin was spooked, but made no attempt to recover the coin as it jumped onto another waggon.

The wagons were being pulled by goblins, but they were unable to spot Marrie and Stacy with the huge pile of trash in the way. And the sound of the idling chainsaw either went unheard, or was masked by a giant snake crashing into the goblin’s neighborhood. Only the goblins knew.

But as frantic as the situation was, Marrie was in the clear. She had collected the coin, and just needed to open a portal to return to the sewer where Pac-A-Fist was waiting for her. There was no more danger, she could rest easy.

Now she did have a choice to make.

Two requests, one for the coin’s destruction, and the other for its recovery.

If Marrie wanted to destroy the coin, her knife would be more than up to doing the job. A coin was little match for an indestructible instrument. She’d just need to take a picture of her handiwork to claim the reward. Or she could hold onto it and deliver the coin to a collector. The payment was near equal, so it came down to what Marrie thought was best.

But she did not have long to decide. Highway to Hell was getting closer, and the goblins would likely flee their caravan in favor of saving their lives. While she was only a portal away from safety, Elroy and Regina would bicker about what to do with the coin until the sewers turned into a molten war zone. It would be best to decide on the coin’s fate before she encountered Pac-A-Fist again to ensure a smooth resolution to the mission.

---

_{[@Nearly Everyone Lol!]}

Both G.E.M.I.N.I. and Maverick forces would find themselves entering another room. On one side, the government agents walked across white and red tiles, while the Mavericks side was black and white. It would have been reminiscent of a dinner if it wasn’t for the elevated ceiling and other accessories.

Each side of the room mirrored the other. The corners had a couch with cushions that matched, and a small table with a candle sat at the end of each one. Further down from each couch were several suits of armor and an armoire, which were positioned by the north and south walls respectively. It was not clear what these spaces were designed for, or if Justin just had a fetish for clothing. Even on the jog here, it seemed like nearly every room had a dresser of some kind.

The center of the room had only black and red tiles, with no white ones present. There was also a large statue of Justin crawling on top of a giant bull. He was grinning, bearing his fangs as the creature succumbed to death. It was chiseled in stunning detail, though most would take issue with the fact that Justin was wearing nothing but his smile. In front of the statue was a chandelier that illuminated the mirror before it, and cast shadows down the hall to where Justin’s office must have been.

While the giant statue obstructed their view, it didn’t stop either squad from noticing the other. Seven G.E.M.I.N.I agents in formation and Billy Black were about as obvious as you could get. Both leaders signaled for their squads to stop before stepping behind the statue. There was just enough light for Binky and Billy to make out each other’s faces. Everyone had their weapon up, but they had their attention divided between the other team and what their leaders were saying.

”You made pretty good time.” Binky placed her hands on her hips.

”Yea.” Billy left his sword in his holster. Though anyone who saw him fight knew that it would be in his hand before Binky finished transforming. For the moment though, she was still out of the esper state.

”Looks like your squad took a beating.”

”Yours too.” Billy swung a hand towards the G.E.M.I.N.I agents. ”They used fire on the both of us, huh?”

”And trickery. They brought women and children into it.”

”Repulsive, ain’t it?”

Binky rolled her neck until it cracked. ”We both want Justin dead, right?”

”Yup.” Billy tipped his head to the side. ”But once he’s dead, we need somethin’ else to fight over, huh?”

Binky eyed up Billy. ”You’re a terrorist and a monster. We could fight you next.”

Billy scoffed. ”And you’re one-O Fritzi’s favorites. Might wanna send her a message.”

”Sounds like our company can get started without us.”

”Agreed.”

Binky entered the esper state then and there, while Billy drew his sword. But they did not fight each other. They ran down the hallway into the dark, and were obscured from view.

---

Meanwhile, in a secluded part of the catacombs, a pink haired woman danced around a camp fire holding her katana like a microphone.

”And in this corner we have the agents of G.E.M.I.N.I.” She could barely contain her smile. ”At the front of the line is ‘Soccer mom Su, flanked by ‘Hold-the-line Jacqueline’ and ‘Gorilla Lilliah.’ Behind them is ‘Sam-I-am-Sam-you-El’, ‘Still Maria’, and ‘My skin is a little Ashley.’ I haven’t seen this much racial appropriation in a long time. Get with the program, Hollywood! Then we have a single Maverick esper and a bunch of hired hands.” Oros waved her hand towards the other side of the cave. ”At the front we have ‘Hot-as-Lava-cool-as-Klava’, with ’Way-low-Apollo’ and ’Lucky-Lucky-Luna’, with ‘Dead-again-Finnegan’ in the back.

Every cell is burning!

THERE IS NO REMISSION OF SIN

FIRST TRY

IT'S YO BOY! ALTERCATION ENGAGE SEVENTH SUNDAY!

”

Sharr rolled over in her sleeping bag. ”Could you tone it down just a little? I need to sleep.”

---

The order had been given, and Su would be the first to oblige.

Su would normally have trouble firing on freelancers that helped her, but she hadn’t directly worked with any of the ones present. She remembered Apollo fired down the hall of the police station, which wasn’t an endearing memory. She couldn’t confirm if some were Maverick gang members, but imagined a few of them had to be. No, attacking was not the hard part, especially since she had more team mates than enemies. It was attacking and knowing that some of her teammates could not fight their best. Some were wounded, and some were out of mana. But at least in this situation, Su could do her job. She could breach.

With a few hand gestures, Su announced her intentions to her companions. She was going to head around the back of the statue. Ideally another squad would go around the front of the statue or even join up with Su, but she couldn’t assess how well everyone was. Maybe over time, Ashley would be able to heal everyone back to full fighting capacity. Su was already moving before she finished making hand signs. Her hand was back on her gun, and she had it pointed at the enemy squad. From there, she just fired. So long as there was something to hit, she’d fire.

Su had a bit of mana left, but that didn’t mean she had to open the fight by constructing another castle. She felt reasonably safe behind her shield, and while her pistol wasn’t flashy, a single bullet could give anyone a bad day. Su was a pretty decent shot, and could reliably hit something if it decided not to hide behind cover.

---

Just like Luna said she would, she reached for Finn’s leg and finished healing it. It would take a few seconds for the bone to fully mend, but at least he could walk on it now.

”Try not to get hurt, okay?” Luna’s eyes seemed bigger than normal, and they were sparkling. ”We just need to hold out for a little bit.” As optimistic as Luna tried to be, she knew that the enemy team outnumbered them. Even if some of them were on their last legs, that was a lot of possible melodies that could come their way. They needed to play it safe.

She wouldn’t have long to chat.before breacher popped around the back of the statue. Luna had this weird desire to not get shot today, so she hid behind the black armoire closest to Su. Pit boss was not a powerful weapon, and moreover, magical projectiles were far less effective against other espers than physical ones. But if she could divide Su’s attention, maybe her allies could take up defensive positions or even counter attack. What a mess.

”Hey! You like card tricks?”

Luna fired a flurry of cards at Su before ducking behind cover. If she could keep this up without getting shot, she was sure things would be alright.

"A little???"
Current Location: Von Carnage Mansion, Inner Circle

In all honesty, the boy expected to get yelled at for his foolish actions, mentally preparing himself for that outcome. Surprisingly to him, that wasn't the case.

While Fable was left unable to move, he could still hear the sound of footsteps approaching. And well, some cursing, but that's probably normal concidering what they'd run into. Klava was the first to stop by the poor kid, looking over what wounds he suffered before helping him up. Holding back a pained whimper, he was forced to put most of his weight on his good leg whilst holding his wounded shoulder. When asked if he was continuing, the boy was about to answer until Apollo grabbed his head. Fable visibly tensed in confusion. _{"Th-The hell?!"} He would've assumed the faceless healer was going to smash his head against the wall or some crap, if he didn't realize his upper wounds were healing.

Well, the aggressive "headpat" wasn't really called for, but atleast Apollo wasn't willing to leave him for dead. Yet.

Once Finn's arm was healed, he lightly shook it to make sure it regained feeling, then wiped away whatever stray tears were left. He looked back to Apollo. "Thanks. Really." The boy nodded, furrowing his brows once he saw someone was missing. Where did Protector go? Even if he decided to bow out, that'd just leave three strained espers against god-knows-what. He didn't exactly have a choice, did he? Klava told him to leave dealing with Betty to them. The least he could do is share what he learned.

"Spores. Black spores. Nature element, I-I think." The Timekeeper started to explain as Tetrad helped him walk. His leg was still broken. "She used one of those powerful notes. A defensive one. I tried to fight, I really did! But I couldn't lay a dent on her, melody or not!" Finn frowned, looking aside in shame. "...I'm sorry."

Eventually the group entered another room, one filled with decor both expected like suits of armor, and tacky. The boy rose a brow at the bull statue in the center. Man, Justin must be one vain asshole. But the layout of the pavement was what caught his eye. The checkered paterns reminded him of a chessboard, and the colors of checkers. Both board games revolved around taking down a king and opposition.

How well his thoughts would befit the next chain of events.

The larger lineup of espers didn't go unnoticed. Even as Fable tightened his grip on his weapon, his eyes widened once he recognized who was leading them. "Doc...?" The last thing he wanted was to fight G.E.M.I.N.I. Though both thoughts probably didn't matter. Both Binky and Billy stepped away to talk, leaving the opposing teams to eye at each other like a western standoff. He hid behind Klava.

Why did they have to fight?

Did they have to fight? They had a common enemy, and yet both leaders were...okay, apparently they are working together while the rest fight each other for them?? Tetrad took the opportunity to heal the Timekeeper's leg, but he was starting to feel a bit anxious. "H-Hey, do we really have do fight the-" Unfortunately, he was interrupted by one of the agents opening fire at them. With a yelp, the boy hurried to take cover behind the farther armoire. After the last free for all in the cellar, he wasn't exactly up for going on the offensive for this one. But he had plenty of mana to act as support.

"If you got any bright ideas best use 'em now!!"

From behind his hiding spot, he aimed a lightning bolt and fired a passive melody at Klava to bolster her speed. He couldn't really do much other than wait and steel himself other than that. The boy wasn't built for fighting from afar besides using melodies.

One of the agents getting the idea of approaching him though? Highly likely.

@BrokenPromise @SilverPaw @FamishedPants @Crusader Lord @Ponn @Majoras End @ERode@OwO

Not a moment too soon, the cabbage-haired esper made her appearance, all fresh and chipper unlike the rest of the GEMINI team. The sole reason that Valkyrie didn't even think of dumping kerosene on top of those green locks were the established fact that her esper form only lasted thirty seconds a couple minutes, and the last fight sure lasted a hell lot more than a couple minutes; every second she could save for Justin was worth it to the point where sacrificing a few lives was still the better option in the long run.

"Sooner or later, we'll find that fake nun and end her heresy, the fact that she and Silhouette seemed to know each other should help to track her down." But Lenore was but a small obstacle to the real meat of this operation, that being purging Justin's existence, "Tiger Tony the human trafficker monster apparently had half a brain since he escaped the moment we culled more than half of his pack, but hopefully this bloodsucker is too arrogant for that." The ostentatious decor of his godforsaken home seemed to imply this was the case. Twas' not only Binky who had an apathetic expression to the death and destruction around them, a common occurrence amongst people in jobs that involved witnessing grievous harm and death on a regular basis really, being too sensitive in this line of work wouldn't be good for you, just look at Orion.

"Took the words right out of my mouth, we shall not let these innocents' deaths be in vain. The more we delay, the more this world has to suffer his presence, let's go." She nodded firmly at Veronica's Punching Bag as the agents made their way deeper into the mansion, inching ever closer to the inner sanctum.

...or so they would if not for a slight delay when Leroux suggested the idea of using Lada's hemomancy to 'top up' their mana, something Valkyrie honestly hoped would work as well, but unfortunately, the facts said otherwise; worse than being a high risk high reward gamble, the gimmick wouldn't do much for an esper, merely wasting Lada's mana for meager returns. Well, at least there was no harm suggesting it.

The discussion finished, the septet marched onward.

..........
.....
...

Entering another open chamber of the cursed mansion, just like before, Valkyrie subconsciously tuned out all of the superficial decorations: the tiled floors, furniture, sculpture of bestiality, and everything else that wasn't relevant to the mission, they would all be burned down soon anyway. What caught her immediate attention was the distinct larger-than-life presence of Billy Black, monster and leader of the terrorist organization dubbed 'Maverick Alternative'. Well, him and his cohorts, most of which Valkyrie could recognize, either through intel or recent experience; Tetrad, a maverick esper (Read: terrorist), and the rest... freelancers, from the Cobra Gang operation; that oriental ice queen, the faceless chiseled douchebag, and... what was a child doing here with them? Hooo... roping even children into his cause, that was to be expected from a lawless organization led by a literal monster!

"..." Valkyrie's orange eyes subtly narrowed with the callous hatred that she pretty much reserved for all monsters and espers who took their side, no exceptions. Her trigger finger was itchy to take a shot at Billy, but her sense of self-preservation - fueled by her knowledge of Billy's might - kept her in line. Hearing Binky's exchanges with him made her mentally roll her eyes, Justin and Billy, there was little distinction between them, both of them do NOT belong here on god's good earth. They all should return to the shithole where they came from and stay there, that or just perish really. Frustratingly at the moment, she didn't have the power to assert that ultimatum, but one day...

Right now, she could settle with thinning out his herd; the less brainwashed fools flocking under the wendigo monster, the better this world would be. As for the freelancers, well, as said before, they had made their choice and if they decided to go against the law, then the law would fight back, nothing personal.

It took barely any convincing from Breacher's sign language for Valkyrie to go with the plan. The moment Su moved, the brunette did the same, sprinting to take position behind the armoire on the opposite side of Tetrad's. See, there was this dilemma about going up against the railgun esper, unlike Breacher's hand cannon, Teslic Gauss cared naught for the presence of mundane cover. Valkyrie triangulated Tetrad's exact position based on sight and sound, aimed, and fired three sabots at her in that specific order; each of them would punch through the closet as if it didn't exist, then if all went well, they should puncture through the card-carrying bitch's vital organs. Whether she'd die instantly or painfully, it didn't matter, for as long as they ceased living.

---

Ashley had just finished patching up Wukong when she heard Breacher call her, the draconic esper clearly astonished that she had survived her trip through the portal. However before she could begin to tell her ally about her horrific ordeal, Binky’s voice sounded from the entrance. A moment later, the green-haired esper made her appearance, noting that they needed to get moving as time was of the essence. Still, that need for urgency didn’t stop Valkyrie from giving a small motivational speech, or Leroux from stepping forward to offer herself as fuel for additional blood magic assistance from Lada.

Ashley honestly had no idea what to make of the armored young woman. At first, she had thought her an intelligent and experienced agent, but then that opinion had changed to one of annoyance at her thoughtless flippancy and almost suicidal tendency to rush into danger without any thought for her own safety. But now, seeing her express a genuine desire to guard against future blood magic attacks, and willingly offering herself as a means to ensure that they would have such protection, the Knight of Tomorrow couldn’t help but feel somewhat jealous of her ally’s courage and tenacity. After all, this was a woman who’s entrails had been spilled out on the floor only a short time ago. What Leroux suggested may have been crazy, but it was also somewhat commendable, at least as far as Ashley was concerned.

After an alarmed exclamation from Breacher, Binky quickly nixed Leroux’s idea, explaining that not only would such a plan simply not be viable for espers like themselves, but also that Lada had been promised she wouldn’t be placed in any potential danger. With that out of the way, the team proceeded further into the sinister mansion…

.

..

…

After making their way through a labyrinthian maze of corridors, the assault team found themselves in a large chamber. Ashley took a quick note of the hall’s ostentatious decor, including the repulsive sculpture which dominated its center. Although she was familiar with the concept of “heroic nudes” from her art history classes, the high-tech heroine couldn’t help but feel disgusted by this particular piece. Indeed, she had half a mind to shatter it apart with a well-placed energy blast. However, as much as she wished to destroy this crime against fine art, her attention was soon drawn to the small group on the far side it. The small group lead by a large monster… This was obviously the Maverick contingent, Ashley realized, which meant that towering figure had to be Billy Black. The Knight of Tomorrow’s grip on her instrument tightened as she watched Binky and Billy approach each other and have a short conversation, one which, surprisingly enough, didn’t end in a battle, as they both seemed to agree that removing Justin was the most important thing. Still, that left their forces alone in the chamber, and it was only a matter of time before conflict began…

As it transpired, Breacher was the first to act, taking up position behind the statue and firing a few suppressive rounds at the Maverick espers. One of the latter, dressed in a colorful harlequin getup, responded by diving for cover, before popping up briefly to shoot a volley of playing cards of all things at the draconic esper. Meanwhile, Valkyrie moved to place herself opposite the Maverick harlequin. A moment later, her massive railgun sounded forth three times in rapid succession, promising to make a mockery of any cover the enemy esper chose to hide behind. Ashley, on the other hand, wasn’t nearly as eager to engage fellow humans, even ones tricked or brainwashed into following a monster. Thankfully, as her team’s only healer, she had other tasks to perform besides direct combat. The real question was, who should she assist first? Neither Leroux nor Wukong’s injuries had been fully healed, and while Silhouette’s condition was unknown, he seemed more than little beaten up. Still, from what little she knew of these three, it was Leroux who had proven to be the most reckless, and thus, the one in most need of her assistance.

Placing a glowing hand on her armored ally’s back, Ashley filled the impetuous young woman’s body with another pulse of restorative power, hopefully mending any lingering internal injuries she might have sustained from her earlier disemboweling. That accomplished, the Knight of Tomorrow took up position behind the armoire next to Valkyrie, from which she used hand signs to inquire if Silhouette required healing as well.

---