The phones break apart, spilling girl and fox tail all over the floor. The ominous blue light in the heart of the devices takes a moment to fade away entirely even with the severed electronics.

A wall is in front of Kat, and a second later the sizzling black-hot tip of a spear. The broken stone dust fills the air as Lancer wrenches the weapon loose back the way it came. Something about this weapon is truly wicked - this is a curse made manifest. Despite Lancer's earlier dismissiveness about the value of specific storied weapons, this spear never leaves her hand for a second.

"You're right," she hisses. "It's not too late. Even thousands of years after the fact it's not too late. I will [i]not [/i]be remembered for a stroke of bad luck."

Berserker throws up another wall, another hammer blow strikes through it. Beneath her visor, Berserker's teeth grit as her wall grows thicker, and again as the lance smashes through stone and mortar. The various Masters gather in a cluster behind Katherine as the wall continues to take blow after blow. There is nothing Berserker can do to move to the offense; in Julian's story, the best her castles can hope for is a slow siege before a total collapse.

"Hey Kat," said Cyanis, putting her sunglasses on as she started to squeeze octopus-like through the narrow arrow slit of a window to escape. "Don't mind me, I'm going to get help. I - what? What the hell is this?"
"Hmm," said Actia thoughtfully. Cyanis yanked her wrist. Somehow she had become linked to the same chain that was binding Actia and Diaofei together.
"You can't do this to me!" cried Cyanis, flopping dramatically on the floor (and also so that she could try to use both feet to scratch at the chain. "You need to use silk, or soft leather, or a pre-Rewan lock! My skin is delicate! I'll get eczema!"
"Oh no, is that because of the cold?" said Opalis. "I'm so sorry! I've never used my breath on people before, let me get my first aid kit -"
"Great Buddha, grant me the strength to endure -"

There are not enough collective braincells in that mess to figure out a coherent escape plan; I'm afraid that will fall to Kat and Ivar.