@Ponn@Majoraa

Usually, having a casual conversation with a giant shield with evil nuns shooting out from either side of it was a recipe for disaster. Ashley had to shout her words to overcome the sound of howling wind and roaring flames. The shield surged towards her position, but it came to an abrupt halt and spun sideways. The barrel of Bobo’s flamethrower was struck downward while Lexi’s staff was shoved upwards. Both of the nuns missed their targets and turned to look at Elroy.

Bobo grit her teeth. ”What are you doing, you oaf!?”

"If she doesn’t want to fight, I’m not going to force her." Elroy kept his shield up and on its side. Only a fool would expose himself during a ceasefire, regardless of the opponent. "I cannot guarantee anything, Techno girl. Too much has happened that no one can explain. But what I know is the holy man told me this pendant would protect us from the spirits that guard the train. The fact that they do not attack me and continue to assault your squad shows me that they work. I must also trust him when he says the train is here on a holy mission and has never harmed anyone. The storms are just an effect caused by the other train. I do not imagine he would have me oppose you unless he was certain of this." He looked over her shoulder at Finn, who was still fighting off the spirits. "They won’t hit each other. I’m sure they will move out of each other’s way when they get close. If they don’t, it’ll be because this train wants to destroy the other one. They are angel and devil, if you believe in the holy man, that is."

"A little help?"

”Hang on, hang on, so what’s the deal with them goin’ after my sister like that?” Cereza asked Elroy, hurrying over to fire a volley of arrows at the spirits that swarmed Cerise, and by extension, Raven.

Lexi scoffed before jingling the cross shaped pendant she, Elroy, and Bobo were wearing. ”Weren’t you listening?”

"They are here to protect the train, and see you as aggressors." Elroy clarified before another spat could start. "Our pendants are preventing that, but they shouldn’t attack you if you retreat." Neither he nor any of the nuns did anything as Cereza’s arrows struck down the spirits. But this momentary culling would only hold them back so long.

But the nuns weren’t the only ones that were barely holding back their murderous intent.

"...Orion." Mika stepped up beside the squad’s commander. "Since when have monsters ever been able to do good? The nuns are part of the group that killed Angel. We know they are capable of brainwashing people and that is what happened to Elroy. Are we really going to stop our mission on account of what he claims?"

The train drew into a clearing, and overhead it looked like there was another shape snaking across the sky like a serpent. Soon the trains would be very close to one another.

Ashley’s mind raced as Elroy spoke, the fiery freelancer apparently willing to cease hostilities for the moment, even if his ostensible allies were considerably less enamored with the notion. His revelations were troubling enough, but no sooner had he finished speaking, then Mika voiced her own opinion on the situation. The Knight of Tomorrow knew she was in a tough spot. She had an exceedingly difficult decision to make and an exceedingly small window of time in which to make it.

On the one hand, what Mika said made a great deal of sense. Up until now, she’d never seen a monster do anything other than endanger innocent lives. Stacy and Elzy might have been possible exceptions, but there were fairly good odds that both of them were just human espers with monster-like esper states. Not only that, but the fake nuns had indeed murdered a fellow agent and were almost certainly working for The Hand, an organization responsible for brainwashing multiple people. Was it really such a stretch to imagine them doing the same to Elroy, even in light of his great power and experience?

Yet, on the other hand, this monster had yet to harm anyone, despite having ample opportunity to do so. Plus, the “holy man” Elroy mentioned might very well have been the mysterious “High Priest” that had helped The Maiden, Gale, and herself eliminate Sofron a month prior, although she couldn’t exactly tell Mika that. Even so, after taking Elroy’s actions into account, it seemed far more likely that he was telling the truth, especially in light of the fact that there was a second, far more dangerous looking behemoth heading for the one they were currently riding on.

If she was being honest, this entire mission seemed insane from the onset. Even if her small team somehow succeeded in destroying a monster of this size before it entered the city, there was no way they would be able to eliminate the second one as well. And of the two possible behemoths to attack first, why was the less aggressive one chosen to be that initial target? Mika herself already suspected that there was a mole in G.E.M.I.N.I.’s ranks, and with each new puzzling piece of information Ashley encountered, that possibility seemed ever more certain.

Still, even if Elroy was right, and this “good” train wished to defeat the “evil” train, their choice of battlefield was decidedly less than ideal. Although most of Pax Septimus’s populace had either evacuated or were huddled indoors, a battle between two behemoths in the heart of the city would be devastating in the extreme. As far as the Knight of Tomorrow was concerned, her team’s primary objective was to prevent loss of life, and the destruction of only one of the trains (and the supposed good one at that) would do little to achieve it. A quick glance at the rapidly approaching second behemoth told Ashley that Crazy Train’s writhing path would soon bring it over Pax Septimus Park. It wasn’t ideal, but if any place in the city would be free of civilians during a storm like this, the park was it. However, at their current speeds, the two behemoths would meet a fair bit beyond that zone of relative safety, which meant that, for her hastily formulated plan to work, one of the trains would either need to slow down or speed up…

“Timekeeper!” the high-tech heroine shouted. “I need you to give this train as big of a speed boost as you can!” Then, turning to Mika, she added, “Listen, Cerberus, I know this is a long shot, but the best way to mitigate civilian casualties is to ensure Crazy Train is taken down over the park. If Elroy thinks Peace Train can help us accomplish that, then I’m willing to give it the chance to prove it,” she added, making sure to keep her shield up and her techno-wand ready in case the train’s ghostly crew started getting too close. “If not, then we’ll have no choice but to take it down, too. And rest assured,” she promised with narrowed eyes, her voice low enough that only Mika could hear her over the roaring tempest. “No matter what happens, those nuns are going to pay for what they did to Angel…”

---

Corruption:75%

They're actually hearing each other out. The Timekeeper internally breathed a sigh of relief. Good, so there's still some semblance of reason amongst them. Amidst Elroy's, he gradually ceased attacking the spirits that still lingered on his side of the train, opting to simply keep moving out of their way. Then Elroy seemed to respond to his quick thinking. "Holy man's your employer I take it?" Finn would've asked just how much information the Holy Man had on this behemoth himself, if not for his own perusal, but considering how effective the pendants (backups? Holy Man possibly an esper too.) had been as mentioned, then their adversaries had more weight to their reasoning than Gemini. He couldn't help furrowing his brows in confusion at their answer for why the ghosts moved to surround Cerise of all people. Wasn't she aiming for one of the nuns?

Wait. Yeah, it'd probably make sense if the pendants protect them by tricking the ghosts into believing they're one of them. Or allies of a sort at least.

And then, like clockwork, Mika stepped up to question Orion's decision to trust the Immortal Volcano. Well. More like to trust the nuns that murdered Angel, the three were akin to cats and dogs waiting for the first move from the other. Maybe it was cause the late agent was nothing more than a stranger, but he couldn't exactly sympathize with Cerberus' vengeful warpath for her. Her mother's death, that was reasonable, she could be grieving her for days on end and the effect Su's death had would still leave a scar long after. But...

"Since when have monsters ever been able to do good?"

Mika's question didn't exactly bode well with the machine, and the blood he could still feel on his hands. He tried not to let it show. She was going to end up going down as dark a path as he was. If not worse... Finn wouldn't have time to retort though, Ashley gave him the order to give Peace Train a speed boost while she reasoned with her. He shot a sharp grin back to show he heard and glanced back at the ghosts.

"Gentlemen."

With his free hand, he focused a melody hopefully strong enough and quickly dropped down to press his palm onto the roof of Peace Train. "AAAAAAAAALL ABOAAAAAAAARD!"

No luck with her assault, but at least Fenrir managed to steal a bit of battery-life from Lenore, even if not as much as she hoped.

Shit, really!? Now her allies were all on fire! Marrie's mind was racing on what to do when a certain thought managed to worm its way in. Why was the smoke not being blown away by Crazy Train's momentum?

Memories came flooding back. Ah, yes. Magic is bullshit. She'd managed to learn that by now. But that sparked a new idea. She'd have to test it, but if it worked it might win the entire battle... Or potentially get them all killed.

A few seconds to calculate Crazy Train's movement. Half a second to compose, another second to aim properly...

{Bronze Beam - Sky Call - if(not foe) - Heal}

It didn't have to be big. It didn't have to be strong. It didn't have to be a lot. It just had to help her now clearly ranged allies and give back a little to her monstrous mana benefactor. And if she was right...

The walls of darkness finally melting away for the last time, leaving the sniper without anywhere to hide, and giving Noah a clear path forward. As Noah rapidly closed the distance, the sniper shouted something at her, but Noah didn’t hear a word of it. With blood pumping in her ears, bullets clunking off of her shield, and her heart beating out of her chest, Noah responded in the only way that felt natural.

“Shut up!” She yelled, though in response to what, she couldn’t say. Noah’s hold on her cross changed, forgoing it’s previous defensive placement in favor of bringing the bladed side back and behind her head. It was a clearly telegraphed attack. One that, if successfully landed, would have more than enough force to be devastating. Perhaps, if Noah had ever been in a real fight before, she could’ve done something better, but it would do the job.

The sniper raised her gun above her head in a desperate bid to block, and succeed. Noah’s cross bit into the rifle, and the sheer momentum Noah had built up forced the gun down, but not enough to deal any true harm. The sniper mustered her strength and pushed, trying to throw Noah’s cross back up and into the air, and followed it up with a roundhouse kick.

Unfortunately, forcing Noah’s cross back up into the air didn’t really do all that much but prepare her to strike again. Alongside that, as a spear user, Noah had more than enough room to try and backpedal slightly to dodge the kick. While dodging, her spear would be coated in a golden white energy. It was clear to anyone who looked that something had been cast on it. She could then surge forward, bringing down her spear on the sniper once more, trying to take advantage of the opening after the kick.

@Ponn@Majoraa

Mika kept looking at Ashley after she confirmed her course of action, but she said nothing in return. Perhaps she was content with her promise, or not. They were both professionals, even if they were both young. She swung her eyes over to the nuns, who smiled back once they realized they had the cat girl’s ire. With a huff, she marched over to her companions to help defend them from the spirits. Like Finn, Mika’s weapon was better suited for dealing with monsters, and she was able to swiftly clear the spirits around Cerise and Raven. The specters wouldn’t be an issue so long as the other espers didn’t attack them.

”Yes." Elroy told Finn. ”Holy man employed me. I don’t think you know him. He came here from rome."

Finn was also ordered to speed up the train, and like the “good little killer” he was, he did it. It was hard to tell if it had any effect. Such a melody would have a noticeable effect on an esper, but it was harder to tell when you were riding on the back of a behemoth that was speeding through the city. Not only was Peace Train much bigger than an esper, it was much faster as well. Thus, the improvement was hard to notice.

What was a certainty was that the trains were headed towards each other. Peace train started to gain altitude as it came over one of Pax’s many parks.

---

@Vertigo@The World@Nakushita

Extinguishing the fires was trivial, but it would take time to properly do so. Time that the sisters could use to prepare another trick. Again, Nova threw up another smoke barrier in front of Regina as the pyro surged forward. Gunfire ripped through the smoke. While they had no clear view of their target, you could only miss so many times as two espers firing akimbo blind, especially when they were noisy. Regina’s manic laughter was cut off with a yelp as a bullet ripped through her. However, neither pistol toting esper would have the satisfaction of seeing her fall.

Before the nuns could appear, Ciri walled them off with shadows. For some reason, creating a physical barrier out of shadow made a lot more sense than a shadow spider catching fire, that she was riding around like a mount. The wall was not particularly tall. In order to stretch the wall across the crazy train it couldn’t be any taller than the nuns were. But better that then some cloud of smoke, which didn’t seem to inhibit their aim at all.

The first thing to pop up over the wall was Lenore. She pulled herself on top and looked out at Himiko and Ciri. They moved their guns to fire, but her arm was already crackling with arcane blacklight. She hopped backwards as the dark beam left her fingers. And then…

The shadow spider rider was no longer Ciri. Lenore had swapped places with her and, as she was mid fall when the switch took place, had little difficulty plunging her sword into the back of the spider. The creature lost all structure and melted into the ground under Lenore’s feet. She stood up and pointed her blade at the greedy gunslinger. The glow in her eye intensified.

”Why not? I’m ready for a duel now!”

But when did Lenore play fair? A flaming eye opened up in the sky, and out came a hail of burning rocks. Regardless of where Himiko moved, They tracked her like the IRS. They looked like falling stalagmites punctuated with neon trails of flame. But as dangerous as it was, it didn’t stop Lenore from rushing towards her position. Even as another nova erupted.

Where was this happening? Ciri knew.

Her daring escape had been stopped by a melody that placed her on the other side of her wall and in the air. The fall to the ground didn’t hurt. Ciri was able to unfold from her riding position and land on her feet okay. What hurt was being hit by another flame nova. Regina was just outside of striking distance, clutching her ribs and her knife in one hand. Though now that Ciri was closer, and if she cared to focus while being set aflame, the knifes she held looked strangely like tambourines. Circular blades with small symbols suspended along them.

”Hit and run…” She lifted her hand off of her wound. Her skin melted like wax, and under the flames on her skin, her wound was closing before Ciri’s very eyes. She stood up strong and tightened her grip on her blades. ”Ain’t exactly my style!” With a growl, Regina lunged for Ciri. Close quarters wasn’t her specialty, but it was a toss up if this was preferable to being in the vicinity of Lenore. Speaking of the nuns, that creepy one with the cigarette was likely nearby, but she couldn’t be seen.

But there was a silver lining. While Trixy wasn’t visible, Ciri could feel it was very close.

And then there was Marrie, seemingly forgotten by all the other combatants. With the train burning up under her, what else could she do but try to give back to the creature they were protecting. She focused her mana into a light healing mist that poured down over Crazy train’s wound. And it seemed like it might have healed some of its pain. Then the burn mark started to turn brown, like a normal bruise. Then the burn mark went away and skin started to grow on all of the exposed sinew across Crazy Train. Then…

Then Peace Train shot past her. It glowed with a holy radiance and mended away the other behemoth’s wounds. Even the other espers could feel its restorative powers in a more subtle way. Just by being near the target of its healing magic, their wounds didn’t feel so severe anymore. Crazy Train’s endless wail finely ceased.

But only Marrie could see the Gemini espers, and Elroy.

"Huh." Elroy scratched his head. "It’s not like Regina to show mercy. She must like you, Shark girl!"

Marrie blinked, and suddenly another Behemoth Train was there, seeming to follow her example and heal Crazy Train. She couldn't help but laugh as Elroy's voice reached her. So many things happening at once... Her guess being correct, at least the first, her second still had to be confirmed... the revelation of why the trains were trying to meet up... And now Elroy's words of... encouragement? She wasn't sure if avoiding his sister's attack was mercy on Regina's part, or action on her own, and she didn't really care at the moment. Much more important was making sure that those still fighting survived, and finding out if either Train was going to start attacking now. She didn't expect it, but you never know with what were essentially eldritch creatures.

"I'll take your word for it!" she shouted, trying to plan out a course of action. Now that Ciri was off her spider, and fighting Regina, helping her seemed to be the smart thing to do. Especially since Marrie couldn't see what was happening on the other side of the smoke and darkness walls. Then again...

Now that what was presumably Peace Train (though whether either Train was the one they had been called was unclear in her mind) was next to them, this felt like the perfect chance to try out her plan. She'd just have to make sure she was ready to catch anyone who didn't make it onto the parallel behemoth. Time to test it out.

With Crazy Train nicely divided into sections, and all the other espers being on a single one... Marrie stood, pointing her Instrument at the top of the section the others fought on, and fired a Melody, trying to will the direction of the coming winds towards Peace Train.

{Warm (Rank UP) Gold Projectile - Storm}

It was costly, and she was ready to jump off and give herself flight if any of Crazy Train's passengers didn't make it onto Peace Train, but ending the battle(s) quickly, and peacefully if she was lucky, was worth it.

... And if the deep, dark feeling in her gut was right, then she'd much rather be alone for the next part, anyway. Had to keep her promise, after all.

Despite being applied to so large a target, Finn’s melody appeared to have indeed succeeded in speeding up Peace Train enough so that its inevitable rendezvous with Crazy Train would occur over the park. However, to Ashley’s considerable shock, the Art Deco behemoth didn’t harm the other train as it passed by, but rather healed it…

W-What…?!

Even if her bewildered eyes had been deceived, the Knight of Tomorrow could feel the restorative power of Peace Train’s magic suffusing the very air around her. This was unprecedented. All analyses and predictions had pointed to the two behemoths engaging each other in combat, or uniting to destroy the city, but to meet for something so benign as a healing? Ashley was still having trouble believing it. Furthermore, even if Peace Train meant no harm to anyone, mundane human or monster alike, could the same be said of Crazy Train? Had it really just come to have its wounds mended and then continue on its inscrutable way, or would the now fully restored behemoth descend upon Pax Septimus with renewed fury? The high-tech heroine had no idea, and she wasn’t gong to simply wait around to find out.

As the two trains raced by each other, Ashley aimed her techno-wand at Crazy Train and charged it with transcendent power. Her eyes widened at the sight of a familiar blue-haired esper atop the other behemoth, but she didn’t allow that to distract her, nor did she permit the subsequent swirling of storm clouds around one of Crazy Train’s cars to prevent her from enacting her plan. Adjusting her aim to avoid the mystic meteorological obstruction, she fired a lance of neon green energy into the side of the behemoth. However, this was not an attack, but rather a finder beam, which would hopefully ascertain the monstrous locomotive’s imminent intentions, especially in regard to Pax Septimus and its inhabitants. And if those intentions were hostile, then learning its weak point also wouldn’t hurt.

---

@TaintedMushroom@Kero

Something that Asher failed to realize was that ignoring the problem wasn’t going to make it go away. As such, when the berzerker esper aimed a beam to intercept Penumbra and assist however that may be Raphael, Monstro loomed towards him undeterred. It tilted its head to the side and bit down on Dead Head, teeth sinking into the the front of his chest and the back of his shoulder blades, and holding him hostage in its jaws. If only a brief moment. His lucky shot had paid off. He was freed, and closer to the two initial targets, but goddamn can he not go a moment without getting bit by something? If he spared a moment of clarity amidst his anger he’d see there were two options presented to him now. Either he could tear that ugly-ass whale a new one and give himself some temporary breathing room, or he could continue his warpath to see the ringleader beheaded. Was there a way to do both? He wouldn’t have long to decide. The monster was circling around their battlefield overhead, priming itself for another try.

”....Mm.”

Ramona on her end could only press her lips into a thin line as she observed everything. He didn’t even react, to anything from her in fact. Why was he even so…angry to begin with? Was he always like this during jobs? People like him were so boring to deal with. The demon sighed. ”How long do we have to keep this up again?”

Doberman however hadn’t been as fortunate. Maybe she could just excuse it as her not being as well of a melee fighter as she was a marksman, or perhaps despite the Walking Church being terrified, she was more of a competent fighter than the sniper had initially assessed. Noah took advantage of an opening to slam a potent melody down on her.

”SHIT-!” The sniper tried to dodge out of the way as quick as possible, but with how close they were to each other, and how far Noah’s spear could really reach, she was bound to hit something. The weapon cut across Doberman’s back, causing her to hiss in pain and recoil further away from the nun out of instinct.

”Having a bit of trouble back there!?” They could hear Penumbra call out to Doberman, who growled in response.

”You’re more of a little pain in the ass than I thought. Hey, Ramona, a little help here?!”

Ramona tilted her head in confusion. From where Doberman was standing there wasn’t enough shadows to really do anything. But the girl did seem more fun than skull-for-brains. ”’Kay.”

Monstro’s shadow now loomed ominously over Noah.

The preacher and the scantily clad assassin exchanged more blows, though neither of them seemed to have an edge. Or at least, the assassin’s edge wouldn’t kick in until later. Even espers grew weaker when wounded. Raphael was strong for the moment, but that would wain the longer the fight dragged on. Not a single one of his destructive blows could fell his nameless opponent. Though no annoyance showed on his face. His eyes flicked upward. It was hard to make out with the storm raging, but the trains were already overhead. The calm on his face broke when he grit his teeth.

”We need an opening!” Raphael couldn’t be too specific with any orders. Even if he found it easy to talk while fighting, his opponents would surely react to his words, and he had not trained with the espers present long enough for them to understand covert instructions. ”If we can even down one of them, that’s all we’ll need to push through and join the others!”

The sniper’s cursing and calls for help from her allies would do nothing to change the fact that her back remained facing Noah. Not helping matters, Noah’s cross cutting the sniper had allowed it to activate its special ability, slowing the sinner’s movements. And perhaps worse still, the sniper remained without momentum.

Noah, still running on that mix of adrenaline and panic, capitalized. Her cross’s blade was once again bathed in holy light, and with her teeth grit, she moved. From its previous downward slice, the cross now thrusted upwards, with every inch of force and speed Noah could muster, poised to pierce through the right side of the sniper’s back.

Noah’s assault would not end there. She’d heard and processed the call for help to understand that someone was going to do something. Her head would swing around violently, searching for that help, and spotting it near instantly. It was rather hard to miss the monstrous shadow whale right above her.

Noah’s body immediately pivoted to face the beast. Her feet firmly planted, she adjusted her grip on the main body of her cross so she could push up, and grabbed onto the horizontal beam of her cross with her other hand. With that leverage, she would force the cross upward and out of the sniper’s body, and swing it around.

The cross’s tip would aim directly at the whale, and as its previous melody dissipated, something else charged up. Noah’s particular brand of holy light coalesced around the blade of the spear, and after a second, her choir screamed. “JUST GO AWAY!”

With that, the beam of light would fire upon the beast of shadow.