[center][h3]The Final Hollow - vs Moebius A[/h3]
Goldlewis, Therion, Edward
[b]Word Count:[/b] 3461 (+4x2)[/center]
Edward grasped his chest as the darkness wrapped around them, and the unnatural stress built further. He groaned, but rather complain, he steeled himself and continued what he had been doing while the others had been wailing on the copies, which was, of all things, donning a [url=https://i.imgur.com/S9zqReA.png]Sousaphone[/url] he’d retrieved from the armory. 

It had been something of a gamble to retrieve it, but A pushing all the melee fighters back opened up a perfect firing line for Edward to make use of the instrument he had received from the spirit of a false angel. Still, it never hurt to improve the odds, and so the Dreadnaught Designated target on this new form of A, marking it and briefly increasing its variability, before placing his lips to the mouthpiece of the bass instrument and blowing.

Rather than music, a beam of faux heavenly light lanced out of the instrument, blazing brilliant and bright in the darkness, and continued to blaze until the weapon was spent and it was reduced to being a mere implement of music making.

As for the man's comrades around him, Therion had not even tried stepping into those rings. It didn't matter if they were actually harmless and just looked dark and ominous, he wasn't going to test it. Instead he was glad to swap back to fighting at range. Even though the battle seemed to be going decently well for the Seekers, there was a persistent dread that made his heart beat harder and his brain pulse, and though the stress didn't diminish whatsoever even with some distance between himself and the Consul, it still had to be safer than being right up close. Therion lit his darts up in silver for a little extra power and threw them at A, along with a pair of magic knives that formed in the air and flew directly forward.

 Just as leery of the distorted space as his allies, Goldlewis opted to keep his distance as well. He opened with another thundering salvo from his Skyfish minigun, then passed the baton to his most heavily-armed striker. After manifesting, Marduk hefted the Rage Serpent, then bombarded A with concussive blasts. As his Security Level refilled, Goldlewis considered which weapon to use next, and ultimately settled on Yowie. If sound energy, knives, and bullets could get through those strange zones, it couldn’t hurt to try this. With ease his burly arms lifted the ship-mounted harpoon gun into firing position. “Get a load of this!” 

Much like the Junicorn’s horn did earlier, the harpoon pierced A’s body clean through. Thanks to its barbed tip, however, it caught on the Consul’s eldritch flesh as Goldlewis reeled it in, and to his surprise he managed to drag A into the Absolute Nothingness around him. When he moved into one of the dark rings, it switched to the area he’d been in before. Unfortunately the harpoon dislodged after hauling A just one ring from the center, but already Goldlewis had a plan. “Keep ‘im busy, folks! I’ll reel ‘im fast as I can!” It would take a few seconds for his Security Level to refill between each shot, but it wouldn’t be long before Goldlewis dragged the aberrant overlord into melee range.

A would not stand idly by, however. Still quite healthy thanks to the Seekers’ damage debuff, he stirred vile magicks into being. [b]”Witness the wondrous fury of the stars!”[/b] He held out one hand with two curled fingers raised. Then he turned his hand as he might a key, and the blood in his challengers’ bodies burst from them in crimson spikes. Ganondorf and Falcon, being the closest, got the worst of it, left bleeding and stressed. Specters crawled at the edges of their vision, and for a moment a five-pointed crown of shadows seemed to adorn them.

Edward stumbled in the middle of trying to remove the spent Sousaphone as his blood impaled outwards from his body, preventing him from switching weapons fast enough to play a part in the distraction tactics.

Still, that was what minions were for.

With its incredibly short cooldown, Edward’s Pyrobat was resummoned only a few seconds after it had last been used. This time, rather than swooping forth, it flew up, and then began to spew a beam of fire down at the ground, charging up its attack before sweeping the beam forwards, slicing it up and across A’s enlarged form.

His Bronze Golems meanwhile, lacking blood to burst forth from them, marched forwards into position next to Goldlewis, such that they could stab their long spears into either side of A once he was dragged close enough, and to then assist in reeling him in by backing up and pulling him between them. If they should ignite and armor sunder him in the process before the heavy hitters got to lay the smack down, then all the better for it.

Therion didn't know how they could 'keep 'im busy' when the Consul had no need to turn his focus onto any one of his adversaries, able to do harm to all of them at once with only a wave of his hand. Regardless, the thief kept up what pressure he could put on A. Within a moment he called on his wraith blade, reaver bolts fired from the weapon's tip joining everything else he could throw at the Consul. And when the retaliation he expected came he grit his teeth and fought through it.

He called on one of his strikers to mitigate the area's lack of healer somewhat. A warmly dressed girl appeared, and she seemed to pray for a moment before a ring of her own spread out from her summoning point, overlapping with A's Absolute Nothingness and encompassing all five men fighting him within a spirit water well. Though the spirit infused waters would slow A down, Therion had summoned Nayan for her healing ability. So long as the Seekers were standing within the zone of her Calling Spirits their wounds would begin to repair themselves over time. It would heal their bodies just fine, but could do nothing about the stress that continued to compound.

The soothing spirit water elicited a sigh of relief from Goldlewis as it worked to counteract the blood loss inflicted by Consul A. With how dangerous the battles in the Qliphoth had been, those with restorative abilities of any kind were very much in demand. If this was going to be a battle of attrition, and his Security Level needed to be saved for Yawie rather than spent on his other longer-range options, he figured he had better shore up the team’s defenses. Since A’s visceral eldritch magic seemed to ravage them indiscriminately, he opted for a simple Shield Burst rather than a single-target Shield Charge. Once he slammed his coffin on the ground, a pulse of energy expanded to cover his team, shrouding them in bright blue hexes. These barriers wouldn’t hold for long, but between them and what healing this motley crew did have, hopefully they’d be in it for the long haul.

A wasted no time in testing the new shields’ mettle. He thrust his hand forward in another arcane sign. It blew through the barrier and into the Seekers’ bodies, with Falcon, Ganondorf, Edward most affected. Their flesh seemed to shrink away from his touch, peeling back from their bones to expose the skeletons beneath. The golems seemed to soak up the rest of the spell, and even their metallic shells were stripped away. For a split second there was nothing but exquisite pain, and then it was gone. The heroes’ bodies were back to normal, the damage of A’s curse mitigated by the veteran’s barrier, but blood seeped from inexplicable seams. The bleeding was now stronger than the regeneration from Calling Spirits, and the knowledge of the Seekers’ own mortality loomed over them like a dark cloud.

Goldlewis groaned, his head spinning. His nerves were on fire from the brief but terrible sensation he’d experienced. He didn’t know how much more damage his mind could take, but he did know that he had to act, while the 20% damage boost from Hypereutectoid was active. He could see that the feedback damage from hammering the Seekers’ shields all at once had A reeling, a perfect target for Yawie’s harpoon. “Pucker up!” He fired, pierced the Consul’s body, and dragged him into the Absolute Nothingness one step closer. One more ring to go.

The flesh ripping spell struck just after Edward had managed to toss the Sousaphone from his shoulders, causing him to double over from the pain. 

His golems didn’t react as graphically, but they certainly were struck hard by the magic against which they had limited resistance, metal forms warping and buckling, the energy holding them together periodically flickering. It could have been worse, however, as unable to hit A as they were, they had locked themselves into defence mode, letting them endure the spell just that little bit better.

Their creator recovered a moment later, pushing himself up as the healing aura somewhat dulled the pain of the damage, even if it wasn’t enough to revert it faster than he was bleeding out. 

Gritting his teeth and sticking to the plan of keeping A busy, he re-marked the Consul with a cast of designated target, and then quickly hip firing his pistol at the foe, relying on that make (and the foe’s prodigious size) to see the shot land true. The time he could have spent aiming better he instead used accessing the armory and retrieving the [url=https://i.imgur.com/3ndhxtj.png]Charr Pirate Musket[/url] stored within. 

There were probably better firearms to use available, but without time to analyze them, he had gone for what was familiar. With practiced efficiency he raised the musket, sighting down the barrel, and aiming for the Consul’s center of mass as a precaution that turned out to be well considered, as the smooth bore rifle’s shot went wide of where he was aiming, enough that had he aimed at the head he would have missed entirely. 

Then, holding the rifle by the barrel, he quick-drew his maglock pistol again (the magical firearm having reloaded itself in the time he had spent fetching and using the rifle) and fired off a third slug at their foe’s center of mass, aiming for debuff applying rate of fire over his own damage in anticipation of the final reel in. 

With every one of A's attack, Therion's breath came heavier and his muscles tightened. His heart beat harder, which really didn't help the bleeding either. He was really starting to question whether they could take this guy down before their bodies just gave out. Once the spectral shredding A was dishing out hurt them more than Nayan could heal them, there wasn't anything else Therion could do to help keep his allies healthy - that was the only group healing he had access to. The others were on their own for now until some of their strikers regenerated. For his own well being Therion reached into his bag to squeeze the Constrained Heart, giving himself a little more healing and defense once Goldlewis' shields went down.

Then it was back to trying to deal as much damage to A as possible. He didn't have an inexhaustible supply of throwing knives, and though the ones he could summon from his glyph wouldn't eat too much of his mana to cast, he couldn't swap completely over to them if he wanted to save his supply of magic for his own debuffs, or for donation to an actual mage that may need more energy to cast. He still had the reaver bolts at the very least, but it would hardly do much on their own.

The hand that wasn't holding his wraith blade ghosted over the items he had access to, searching for something helpful. The dwindling supply of blades and darts, a couple of potions he'd held onto, his thieves tools and-

Ah, right. He'd almost completely forgotten about the power he'd gotten from one of those spirits from the big top. Instant body and ability changes on top of the chaotic violence they regularly faced could make it easy to lose track of what even one's self could do.

[color=BC8DBF]"I got it from here,"[/color] Therion said, tapping Goldlewis to let the man know to prepare for melee early. With his grappling hook in hand the tool flashed briefly as he prepared to use it for his Chain Hook. And what the hell, he spent a Battle Boost to ensure this would actually work.

With his aura flaring from the Boost, Therion let the Chain Hook fly. It wrapped around A, the sharp edges of the empowered hook's head digging into him. The thief yanked it back hard as soon as it was attached. Now matter how large, heavy, or dug in the Consul was, he would move.

When Edward’s barrage came to a close, Goldlewis was ready to pull the Yawie from his coffin for the third (and hopefully, the last) time, but he paused when Therion stepped in to take over. Though he couldn’t imagine what the little man had up his sleeve that could replace his harpoon gun when it came to reeling the Consul in, he wasn’t about to second-guess or underestimate his comrade. He watched, nerves and muscles tense, as Therion unleashed his Chain Hook. It flew through the black-and-crimson haze of Absolute Nothingness to ensnare and embed into A’s body, leaving him stricken and susceptible to the thief’s strength. A single, impressive tug dragged A through the final protective ring and to the forefront of his makeshift formation, where the melee fighters could reach him at last.

Goldlewis had been waiting for this moment, and he was ready. Given a moment to prepare by Therion’s efforts, he stepped in and crouched down to unleash Piston Gun Assault with his shotgauntlets, which acted as a Heat Engager that left him powered up. As A reeled from the blast, he bulled forward to unleash a withering combo that incorporated both immense coffin slams and destructive shotgun punches. Seconds later it came to an end with his Heat Smash, [url=https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/tekken/images/e/e3/Meteor_Raid.gif/revision/latest?cb=20240512151834&path-prefix=en]Meteor Raid[/url], a grounding wallop followed by a divebomb from the veteran’s Mothman railcannon, powered up to max by Security Level 3.

At either side of goldlewis, the Bronze golems also struck, and though they lacked flair, the now larger A was exactly the size of target they were built to take down. With all the grace of mechanical pistons, the halberds were thrust forwards, drawn back, and then thrust again, all four spear tips striking at the same moment.

Knowing that A was about to be piled on by all their fighters who wanted to lay the smack down, Edward didn’t bother preparing more shots. Instead he rushed in as well, briefly igniting in flames, before skidding to a halt parallel to the building brawl. There, he waited for the right moment, and then when they were aligned, summoned his Feather Staff striker once more, who cast a healing spell on all of the fighters in the front ranks which would, at that point, be everyone.

And all the while as the others went to town in order to lay A low, Therion kept a tight hold on his chain. He used his Armor Corrosive again as soon as A was close enough, counteracting their own damage debuff with a defensive one on the Consul and making sure that everything his allies were throwing at A did as much damage as possible.

In the midst of the Seekers’ assault, the wounded and irate Consul unleashed Embrace Futility once more. His dark arts’ arcane force shuffled the Seekers’ positions, hauling Goldlewis, Therion, and Falcon to the front while sending Ganondorf and several golems to the back, while Edward moved up just a little. Having gotten lucky with Therion, A used the extra slack to retreat behind one ring of Absolute Nothingness. His challengers all suffered a reduction in strength and speed, but worse was the sensation of dreadful hopelessness, pushing the Seekers ever closer to the brink.

For Edward, though, this extra mental duress pushed him past the precipice and into the dark beyond. Overcome by all the stress, he suffered a meltdown, his mind screaming and his body seizing. [b]”The human mind–fragile, like a robin’s egg,”[/b] A observed dispassionately, raising his hand. [b]”And now the true test: hold fast, or expire?”[/b]

When he brought down his hand, the Gravemind tore its attention from the fight before it to respond in kind. An unsevered tentacle descended, massive and mighty, to fall upon the squad of Seekers fighting A. It moved just slowly enough that most could save themselves with a timely dodge, but Edward was not among them. Goldlewis recognized the Consul’s finishing blow for what it was and threw himself at the strategist in a bid to save him with a tackle, but the deplorable limb was simply too vast. It slammed down on both of them hard enough to shake the floor, yet when it withdrew for use against the Gravemind’s own attackers, neither of the men were gone. Though bruised and broken, Goldlewis could still fight, and against all odds Edward endured, albeit on his last legs amidst the shattered parts of his golems.

A narrowed his eyes. [b]”A trifling victory, but a victory nonetheless. Still…”[/b] The next moment, Edward’s unabated bleeding dealt him the deferred deathblow, and palicos appeared from the ether to whisk him away to safety. [b]”Great is the weapon that cuts on its own!”[/b]

When Therion came up from where he'd dove to avoid the wayward tentacle, it was just in time to see it crush two of his allies. He cursed, heart beating with uncertainty, and it didn't slow down any even when it was revealed neither man had turned into a pile of ashes. Especially when their dreadnought succumbed to his wounds not a moment later.

The thief cursed again, darting forward to retake to the fight. He passed the inexplicable cat cart before they disappeared with their charge, not bothering to try and puzzle that one out but understanding that it clearly meant the man was out of the fight.

He had dropped the Chain Hook to avoid the Gravemind's arm but now he threw it again, catching the Consul once more and forcefully dragging him back into range. With the toll this fight was taking on their minds and bodies, especially in the wake of Edward's defeat, none of them could last much longer. But hopefully the same was true for A. With that in mind Therion burned through his BP instead of saving it for his divine skill, the aura around him flaring bright gold with two Boosts as A was hauled closer. This time, with his own power heightened, Therion let the chain go once A was in striking distance. In its place his wraith blade reappeared instantly, and just as quickly the spectral weapon sunk into the distorted Consul's flesh. Therion tore through him as much as he could, his bladework rough but quicker and deadlier than ever.

Feeling in his gut that this was a pivotal moment, Goldlewis gritted his teeth and mustered up the strength to follow Therion’s example. Just after the thief carved through the Consul’s armor to rip open his torso, the veteran airdashed with a tremendous Behemoth Typhoon, his coffin’s spiked end planted directly in the squirming wound. “RAAAAAAAAAAAGH!” he roared, his great strength amplified even further by his lust for revenge. He twisted in the air, spending his Security Levels, to pummel A with two more brutal Behemoth Typhoons before Goldlewis finally hit the ground.

On impact he sank to his knees, his mind and muscles afire, his chest heaving from exertion and his breath ragged in his throat, but through his weary eyes he could see that A had been brought to his knees once more. The warped space around him was gone, and even the Consul was breathing heavily. [b]”As the fiend falls, a faint hope blossoms…”[/b] he muttered, as if narrating the battle from the Seekers’ point of view. A attempted to rise, then sank back down, and snorted in derision. [b]”A moment of respite, then. Steel yourselves…against the coming horrors.”[/b]

Goldlewis glowered as he fought to catch his breath. Just as he thought–this wasn’t over yet.