[img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/59130ec9-ed14-4987-990a-43bfc6f37c8a.png[/img] [@Ponn][@Majoraa][@ERode] The gangs were thinning out, but the flames were replacing them. The overhead fans were turning slow, but the arcane flames didn’t need much wind to spread. Typically arcane flames would never last this long, but all the spilled alcohol made the place a fire hazard. Smoke and flames brushed against the sprinklers, but they didn’t fire. The fleeing gang members were helpless before Ashley’s shots. They didn’t retaliate, and only hastened their retreat. Dante’s had become a death trap and none of them wanted to stay inside. If thirty of them can't take on the espers, then the ten that were retreating stood little chance. They weren’t even cooperating. They shoved one another as they fought their way to the exit. Ashley called for reinforcements, but Violet was still deep in meditation. She was primarily here to help those that had succumbed to dream magic, and was the only reason the last school girl was standing. Some might say she should multitask, and she probably should have, but GEMINI was fortunate just to have someone who could access dreams on a whim. There likely wasn’t another esper in the world that could do that. But the Pink Pounder had heard Ashley’s request. He stood up a bit straighter, his grip tightening on his blade. The hostiles were starting to come out of the front door, and they’d surely overwhelm Violet if left unchecked. At least, that must have been what he thought. Because he wasted no time in rushing the fleeing gangsters. His crooked sword cut through the first to come out in a single slice, while the next one was kicked back inside. “[color=#ff00f8]L[/color][color=#ff00f2]E[/color][color=#ff00eb]A[/color][color=#ff00e4]V[/color][color=#ff00dd]E[/color] [color=#ff0000]M[/color][color=#ff2000]A[/color][color=#ff4000]G[/color][color=#ff5f00]I[/color][color=#ff7f00]C[/color][color=#ff9f00]A[/color][color=#ffbf00]L[/color] [color=#ffff00]D[/color][color=#ccff00]R[/color][color=#99ff00]E[/color][color=#66ff00]A[/color][color=#33ff00]M[/color] [color=#00ff40]P[/color][color=#00ff80]R[/color][color=#00ffbf]I[/color][color=#00ffff]N[/color][color=#00bfff]C[/color][color=#0080ff]E[/color][color=#0040ff]S[/color][color=#0000ff]S[/color] [color=#ff00c9]O[/color][color=#ff00c2]U[/color][color=#ff00bc]T[/color] [color=#ff00ae]O[/color][color=#ff00a7]F[/color] [color=#ff009a]T[/color][color=#ff0093]H[/color][color=#ff008c]I[/color][color=#ff0086]S[/color][color=#ff007f]![/color]” On the upside, it didn’t seem like any of the gangsters were going to escape. On the downside, that wasn’t a viable escape route for the last remaining school girl. Speaking of which, said school girl was currently sleep walking under the arm of one of the wizards. Two yellow beads looked out at Ashley from under his hood, and he placed his hand on his piece. He didn’t draw it, but he kept his hand on it as he circled around the counter and walked against the wall. The flames in his path seemed to go out on his approach. Meanwhile, Estelle was playing five-dimensional chess with the three agitated wizard gangsters. It was true that they knew Estelle and the other espers were GEMINI, but that was largely because a dryad had called out the insignia when she spotted it. The fact of the matter was that most magus didn’t know that much about espers. Their magic operated entirely differently, and had different limitations. Sure, you could broadly classify a group of spells as having similar components, and they were aware that some espers could teleport short distances. But a lot of espers could also create huge explosions of light, gravity wells, eldritch creatures, and all manner of other absurdities that would not be very good in this particular situation. Regardless if Estelle was teleporting or creating a nuke inside their barrier, the best course of action was to move for cover while keeping an eye on what was going on. But did it really matter? They couldn’t leave the safety of their bubble without risk, and Estelle decided to fill it with arcane light. They had dove into the booths on either side when the melody went off. It was just potent enough to shatter the barrier and stun the three shadow wizards. It was the perfect time to act. Estell managed to get her hands on “Larry and Curly” before smashing their heads together. They went out like a light and sunk behind the backrest they were using for cover.. However, “Moe” had dove into the adjacent booth and wasn’t in head smashing distance from his peers. There Estelle stood, burned and ears ringing from the shots that nearly hit her head. But Moe just aimed his gun at her. His hands were trembling, the gold rings on his fingers looked like they were choking gloved sausages. They both seemed to understand that even if he fired, it wasn’t going to land. [b]”Yo…”[/b] His voice cracked. And then there was Finn, poor confused Finn. It seemed like everyone wanted him to have an epic battle with Dante, but he was too busy darting around and keeping everyone out of the back of the diner. But this was something Finn took note of, and attempted to exploit it by running out back as fast as he could. There wasn’t a lot in his way. Yes, his body was burning up, and the single healing note he used wasn’t adequate to heal such widespread damage, but it was enough to keep him on his feet. His natural resistance to magic made the flames go out, and he dove over the counter to run for the back room. [b]”Stop right there!”[/b] Dante bellowed. But Finn would [i]not[/i] stop. The time kid did the opposite of stop. He was already swift, but his melody made him that much faster. It was a straight shot to where he had to go, all he had to do was run through the illusionary monster’s hand to get there. He ran into it instead. Dreams may be illusions, but they are real to the ones who experience them. At least, until they wake up. Whatever Dante’s sand may have done to Finn, the giant creature that was reaching for him was very much real. At least it felt like it. It raised him into the air and proceeded to squeeze him. The blade on his chainsword spun, and its grip loosened just enough to let him go. But by that point, Dante was back in front of the doorway to the back room, hammer in hand. He was panting hard, likely for all the maneuvering he had to do around the growing inferno. There was no need for words. The demon released a bellow only Finn could hear. Simultaneously, the demon swung its fist in a wild haymaker that would clear out the whole diner. Dante surged forward, becoming a giant bullet made of sand. How would Finn respond? [hr] [img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/49e43850-6b94-4e43-94d0-440214371bfb.png[/img] [@The World][@Nakushita][@TaintedMushroom][@FamishedPants] The light that Marrie shone in Lenore’s eye got her to wince, but she was far too determined to follow through with her attack for it to be interrupted. This created a brief window where Lenore couldn’t course correct, making her susceptible to Marrie’s reversal. Trapping an esper’s weapon inside a portal wasn’t a bad tactic. Had Lenore committed to her thrust, it might have even worked. But with her wide sweep incoming, it was going to be impossible to catch anything meaningful inside the portal on her small blade. The blow was deflected, Lenore’s blade cut a crescent shape in the floor in front of Marrie. She was much closer now, possibly close enough to cut. But Lenore kept up her momentum and her shoulder crashed into Marrie. She stumbled backwards, but not without swinging her blade at Lenore’s face. Arcane steel clashed against arcane steel, and sparks flew. Marrie had her back up against the portal on the machine, but she couldn’t pass through it because of how small the portal on Apexer’s blade was. The glow in Lenore’s eye wore away, as did her smile. She didn’t say anything, and resumed advancing on Marrie. She could deflect Lenore’s next few blows, but she was going to need to put herself on the offensive if she didn’t want to get overrun. [center][img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/40b268e9-9477-4d81-97d6-81ce4b87c2d3.png[/img] [color=tomato]"Remember Himiko, dying is gay!"[/color] [color=888888]— Mika Fang[/color][/center] After dispatching the last of the guards on the balcony, Mika looked off the edge at the remaining two on the other side of the smoke screen. As it turned out, a blind and deaf Himiko wasn’t able to land her shots on two men armed with submachine guns. She prepared to launch herself off the balcony when a gray pillar of smoke shot out of the smoke and [i]almost[/i] hit Mika, only for her to transform into a spirit and float out of the vicinity. The spot where she had been standing was engulfed in smoke, and moving in close would be risky. [color=tomato]"Crap…"[/color] Mika was down to her last life line. She could escape from one more attack like that, and then she’d be on her own. Mika slinked backwards and hoped the gunmen couldn’t guess her position. Though when she turned around, she saw Bobo, covered in napalm, Pointing her flamethrower in Mika’s direction. She could prepare a melody, but it wouldn’t come out faster than Bobo’s burning napalm. It looked like Mika was about to say goodbye to her last “get out of jail free” card, but her eyes darted towards something in the air. It’s a bird, it’s a plane, no! It was Justin! The protection Justin had placed on himself was keeping the napalm on his leg at bay, but that paired with the sudden impact shattered his protective blessing, and possibly Bobo’s back. With a “GAH!” The nun fell on her chest. However, the burning napalm that she had coated herself with was now also stuck on Justin, which was going to be a problem. Or was it? While Asher had intended to land his shield melody on Justin mid-flight, he needed extra time to really power it up. As such, his melody landed late, arriving just in time to prevent [i]most[/i] of the damage he would have suffered. Mika was about to assist with a follow up, but noticed that Himiko was dead. Well, not dead per say, but out of the fight. Obviously if Himiko had died, she would have detransformed to her normal self. But if she wasn’t moving, she was surely close to death. Mika looked between her companions and Himiko, and cursed under her breath. That stupid esper would make sure she never heard the end of this. She extended her hand, and a spectral cat lept out of her palm and floated over to Himiko’s side. It bound over her, spreading its enchanted magic over her body and preventing her condition from getting any worse. [color=tomato]”What a waste of perfectly good mana."[/color] [b]”I couldn’t agree more!”[/b] Bobo pulled the trigger on her flamethrower, and a stream of napalm rained down on Himiko’s body. Before the napalm landed on Himiko, she drove her elbow into Justin. While the blow itself hadn’t hurt, ithe arcane charge in her elbow shoved Justin off of her back. She hobbled to her feet and looked between the two espers on the balcony with her. [b]”You’re not done yet, are you!?”[/b] A surge of smoke surrounded Bobo’s body, and she seemed to grow healthier as a result. [b]”Come here you little bitch! I’m not done paying you back yet!”[/b] She ran at Justin with her mace held out to her side. Mika also let out a war cry and charged after her, but she wasn’t going to reach Bobo before she reached Justin. Unless… And then there was Asher. He had successfully evaded the molotov, but the machine gun goons were still firing at everyone from behind the smoke screen. The spectral cat was starting to look a little sad, and might not stand up to much more fire. Even if Bobo felt Asher was below his notice, at least the construction workers still thought he was a threat. And then Nova was waiting in the smoke somewhere. If Asher was going to do something cool, this was the time to do it.