When the transmission came in, Pit skidded to a halt.
"Hey, it's Halo! She sees us!" he said, though the street fighter next to him could probably hear the angel of information just fine.
”Oh?” Karin had said, looking to her right and searching the myriad structures of this place for her allies. When Sandalphon rose into the air, Karin raised her hand.
”Ohoho! There you are! Splendid! Then all must be well.” Even from this distance it was obvious when Karin ran her hands through her ringlets from the way her well maintained hair caught the light. If only her servants were here to compliment her.
The two groups proceeded forward to where the paths converged to meet up with each other. Sandalphon didn't even need to inform them that a fight had taken place, that was clear in the way their appearances had changed. Pit was stuck silent in surprise at their new looks, both Sandalphon's silly number of belts and Geralt's entire gender change, but it didn't phase Karin in the slightest.
”Sandalphon, Geralt. Very good. This setback is ultimately minor, I believe.” Karin said.
”If they had something worth truly being concerned over they no doubt would have deployed it by now. Even with this teleporter trick the odds are still with us, I’d wager.” A brief rundown of how the other Seekers fared revealed that most of them had also run into a squad deployed to stop them. So the bad guys didn't have enough people and figured the combo of young looking girl and boy were the least dangerous to let pass? That ruffled Pit's feathers. As soon as Sandalphon finished her warning to stay alert, Pit was already heading to the stairway next to them.
"Okay, let's get going!" he said, eager to see some action and prove himself to present company.
As they climbed the stairs (Karin had climbed larger), Karin couldn’t help but notice the distinctly east asian aesthetics of this place, particularly the pagodas. They would make good places for her to use a grappling hook should she need too in the upcoming fights.
And fight they would. None other than Rufus Shinra had deemed fit to oppose them. Well, him and some displeasing looking guard dog.
”Esteemed company indeed.” She said sarcastically.
”You are going to have to clear your schedule, I’m afraid.” Karin eyed the guns and the dog. She didn’t imagine Rufus would be lacking in firepower, so even if the bullets wouldn’t shred through her like paper she still didn’t want to be forced to block or deflect them for too long. And the beast was most likely a formidable foe in its own right.
Karin, alongside Geralt, would be the two closed ranged fighters, while she imagined Pit and Sandalphon would deal damage and support them from afar. Karin strafed to the side and then moved in a zig-zag fast enough to nearly blur to make her a harder target as her opponent opened fire with a barrage of bullets. While she came up on Rufus she was anticipating a lunge from the beast and was ready to plant her foot and slam a kick into its side. Darkstar obliged, its coiled sinews propelling it forward with fearsome speed. Karin’s kick connected, but the attack dog was hefty, a bio-engineered freak of nature composed of unnatural knotted muscle. Having moved much less than she might have thought, Darkstar swerved to clamp its jaws down on her extended limb, but the street fighter wasn’t alone. A blazing orange shot from Sandalphon’s Eye of Sol slammed into the beast’s shoulder to keep it momentarily at bay.
While Karin was dealing with Rufus, Geralt, who switched into the LCCB Assistant Manager Identity while Rufus was monologuing and showing off his gun (why did people
insist on monologuing?) was approaching. Bullets pinged harmlessly off her riot shield, and when the barrage ended, Geralt returned fire with a few Quake rounds, though her aim was somewhat impeded by all of the movement and trying to avoid friendly fire with a relatively unfamiliar weapon.
Though under suppressive fire that made him more stagger-prone, Rufus stayed cool enough to recombine his guns into a single heavy carbine. He was still far enough to be reasonably safe, but he stepped backward anyway, and as he did he yanked Darkstar’s lead to launch it like a living cannonball (or in Karin’s case, one of Blanka’s Rolling Attack). Then, with a pull of the trigger, he followed up his beast’s attack with a new firing mode: a shotgun blast.
That was when Pit jumped in, leaping into Darkstar's path while summoning up a Guardian Orbitar. He couldn't actually reflect the beast back like with a true projectile, but stopping it was no issue. With the right angle, and the dog's own momentum, he tried to at least bounce it into Rufus' line of fire. Of course, he wasn’t quite so lucky, but the beast did get deflected, and his shield took care of the ensuing blast. When the Orbitar disappeared and his bow took its place, Pit ducked out of the way of his teammates and fired arrows of light that snaked toward Rufus himself.
Karin found herself supported by Pit and Sandalphon both. She made a displeased noise at the back of her throat and then zipped around Pit. She doubted the beast could be calmed down even without Galeem triggering its bloodlust. It would have to be subdued with force.
”To heel!” Karin shouted, spinning her leg and slamming it down on the beast’s head like an axe. Preemptively she dashed forward and over the creature and lunged for Rufus to slam her palms into him with advancing, thunderous steps, following after the arrows.
The kick to Darkstar’s head forced it to bow, but it was by no means broken. Its master turned his shoulder against Pit’s arrows, one arm shielding his face as he mitigated the damage in a defensive stance. Karin had taken her leave to chase Rufus down, with no further mind paid to Darkstar, but she’d end up regretting it. Enraged by the blow to its cranium, Darkstar used Subdue, glowing red before it pounced. Its jaws snapped shut on Karin’s calf in the middle of her assault, and after dragging her to the ground it tossed her into the air.
”Aah!” Karin cried out in surprise and pain. Rufus recovered from her palm strike and took aim like a skeet shooter.
At that moment, in the height of his distraction, a bolt of pure solar power smashed into Rufus’ forehead. That fiery payload did not pierce his body, but it singed his hair and left a nasty burn mark. His shot went wide and Karin fell back down with only a glancing blow, causing his lip to curl at Sandalphon in a mix of smoldering pain and anger. It was obvious now that he had to pay much more attention to the more distant members of this projectile-heavy team. He used Heel to yank Darkstar back to his side, who immediately extended its tendrils to go on the offensive with Spear Whip. Rufus himself aimed at the ground behind him, then fired to send himself flying away through the air.
Karin landed on her back and then rolled to her feet, gritting her teeth. She had cleared the line with her assault, even if she herself wasn’t the one doing the damage. Karin swatted away the oncoming tendrils with a few meaty impacts, ducking under one and then going low. She had to target Darkstar. Figuring its defense wasn’t strong she went full offensive, looking to slam and smack it back and to the ground with a series of advancing elbow strikes.
As Pit and Sandalphon were firing away at Rufus, and Karin handled the beast, Geralt slowly approached while taking potshots at Rufus. Between the man’s multiple weapon forms, longer range, and dual pistols, she couldn’t afford to fully expose herself, but Geralt made progress nonetheless. Taking Ishmael’s strategy to heart, she used every moment Rufus was focused on somebody else to close the distance between the pair, and when she felt fairly close, emerged from behind her riot shield and let off a burst of Quake Rounds, these shots carefully aimed and intended to punish any distractions.
When Rufus’ flight came to an end, Sandalphon had already trained her sights on him. Naturally she’d noticed that the man had escaped from the others on a route that took him back across the battlefield and closer to her. Normally she’d stop shooting at this point and switch to defense, but the presence of her allies and the comfortable weight of her new weapon in her arms made her feel something akin to courage. She barely missed a debilitating leg shot as Rufus landed, then adjusted and took aim at his torso. He anticipated her and doubled back, reaching into his coat, to dodge the shot. Having kept track of her ammunition in her head, Sandalphon began to reload, but Geralt’s intercession prevented him taking advantage. He rounded on the redhead and they exchanged fire, his shotgun blast into her riot shield and her Quake Rounds into his torso. The shots sent tremors through his muscles, promising to leave him reeling the next time he took a hit.
Meanwhile, Karin’s assessment was correct in that the beast couldn’t block or anything, limiting its defense to its bestial dashes in and out of range. Her strikes wore down its vigor one hit at a time, but Darkstar bit back. After a few moments of frenzied fighting, it unleashed Whirlwhip, leaping into the air to slam Karin with its tentacle hard enough to knock her down if it connected. It wouldn't if Pit had anything to say about it.
After the last few days of battling in pairs or as a team, the angel was getting the hang of actually fighting together. Keeping track of his allies was part of it, and now that Geralt had moved in to engage Rufus in earnest one of the three of them could break off and support Karin. The street fighter had been taking damage, and since Pit didn't want Sandalphon to switch to healing so early in he would be Karin's back up.
Pit pivoted away from focusing his fire on Rufus, dashing back to where she was fighting. A dash shot at the same time meant a stronger arrow sent Darkstar's way just before Pit kicked off the ground to meet it himself.
"Bad dog!" he called, breaking his bow apart into two blades and coming at it with a heavy cross slash.
Karin’s arms would be marked with tooth and claw marks if it wasn’t for her ki. She looked to sidestep the beast’s tentacle whip when Pit came into view.
”The beast is hardly my equal.” She said defensively, not wanting Pit to get the idea that she needed his help. But she knew that it would be faster if they worked together and thus all four of them could focus on the real threat, Rufus.
Though picking up on her tone, Pit couldn't help but tease.
"Really? Could have fooled me!" ”Tch.” Karin grit her teeth.
As Pit went in for a slash, Karin stepped to the side and fired her grappling hook into its side and then attached Darkstar to the ground beneath it. Nothing more than a cheap trick to hamper its mobility for a moment or occupy its claws. Then she would try to circle behind it and knock it back to the ground should it attempt to take into the air or dash away. Once anchored, Darkstar strained at its binding for a brief moment, then turned on the line, got its jaws around it, and chomped through the wire. That gave Karin and Pit a chance to land another hit which they did with gusto. In the moment after Darkstar freed itself, the situation changed.
Geralt took the opportunity as she got closer to Rufus to commit to a charge, aiming to capitalize on the tremor she’d induced with her Quake Rounds with a hearty shove. At the same time, she hoped to keep herself between Rufus and Sandalphon, or at least enough that their healer could still get a shot off while Shinra was occupied. As she approached Rufus used Heel to recall his guard dog. Darkstar hurtled away from the other two Seekers, somersaulting through the air. He braced himself for the tall woman's shield bash, but his defensive stance wasn't enough. Triggering her foe’s tremor stacks, Geralt sent Rufus sprawling.
Just then, Sandalphon finished reloading. Though unsatisfied with her speed, she knew that she'd get faster in the future, and right now at least she could rejoin the fight. With Geralt in melee range, she held her fire for now, especially when she saw Darkstar barreling toward her. “Behind you,” she called, warning the Witcher about the imminent attack. The next moment Darkstar struck, its appreciable weight making for a solid blow.
As Geralt contended with his beast, viciously kicking it off of her leg, Rufus pulled himself up. In his gloved hand he was holding two shiny silver coins. Keeping Geralt between himself and Sandalphon, he flipped them into the air. In a flash he pulled apart his carbine, took aim at the falling coins, and pulled the triggers. When his bullets struck the coins, two red lasers streamed across the arena. Though narrow, his Bright Lights blazed bright and flew fast, catching Sandalphon off guard. The beams blasted her to the ground, alongside Geralt, who tried to block the attack, but was staggered and knocked off-balance by the unexpected force behind the lasers.
Without missing a beat, Darkstar sat and howled, casting Thundaga. Rufus held his recombined carbine upward, and after the spell struck it to infuse his gun with lightning, he readied his aim.
Darkstar's sudden return to Rufus' side meant that Pit and Karin's attention followed it over, and they got to see the Shinra heir's Bright Lights and the dog's Thundaga from a different angle.
What the heck was that?! Pit thought. He'd been thinking that the modified beast might be their main issue with its master relying on it for protection, but he was starting to see that the two of them worked in tandem a lot better than he'd initially assumed. Regardless, the revelation didn't slow him down.
Pit bounded back to where Sandalphon and Geralt were fighting while snapping his bow back together, coming up between them where he could best move to protect either one of them. He was betting on his speed of quick summoning an Orbitar shield in order to keep the Palutena Bow out and ready, with which he fired an arrow by drawing back the ethereal bowstring as far as it would go. A fireball erupted from the arrow as soon as it was loosed, the more powerful shot headed directly at the pair of enemies.
For obvious reasons, Rufus couldn’t perform a recoil dash right now, but he still tried to evade the incoming firebolt. It struck his left arm as he swerved to the right, and though it elicited a grunt of pain, Rufus still managed to level his carbine’s barrel at Pit and return fire.
KRAKOOM! He let rip a lightning bolt across the battlefield in an instant to deliver a high-voltage jolt to the angel’s chest as Sandalphon got to her feet behind him. He'd lost the bet, the electrified shot too fast. When the bolt hit him Pit let out a gasp of pain and surprise. He was sturdier than he looked though, so when the initial shock faded he could recover quickly.
Bullets peppered Rufus and Darkstar from afar, Geralt covering the pair of angels before nodding at them and hiding behind her shield. After a moment, the riot shield vanished, and in its place was Geralt, who had swapped back to her default state, swords and all. “Cover me.” She simply requested, drawing Quen to further bolster her defenses and rushing forward, flaming katana in hand. She rushed for Darkstar, relying on Pit and Sandalphon to keep Rufus’s attention while she and Karin wore the mutant hound down. As she approached, Geralt swiped and slashed at the dog, aiming to finish it before it could become more of a threat. Darkstar ducked back and lurched forward in the way that wily predators tended to do, leveraging its tentacle to lash out from a longer range. After he reloaded, Rufus supported from behind, using the halves of his gun to distract the Witcher as she fought–or perforate her while she was distracted.
In the moment after Geralt arrived, Karin aimed a kick at the beast's knees to lock it down and then she popped it up into the air with a low palm strike to leave it suspended long enough for Geralt to easily slice through it. Dashing to the side as she slashed, Karin fired an EX-Palm strike into it to knock it back towards Geralt so that the witcher could strike it even more. Instead the wounded Darkstar got yanked out of danger and toward Rufus, while the gunslinger rewarded the two with a coin in exchange. When he shot it, it dispersed a cloud of short-lasting but shockingly acrid smoke. Two shots flew in from Sandalphon, the first striking his shoulder and the second whizzing past his head. Clearly annoyed, Rufus turned and hurled Darkstar over toward the archangel instead, who arrived with a corkscrew attack that Sandalphon barely rolled to avoid, then started to hurry after his hound. Knowing that Karin and Geralt would have recovered by now, he quickly produced a handful of five coins which he tossed in the ladies’ direction. When he recombined his guns and fired, the coins detonated in a magic scatter bomb.
While Quen protected Geralt from Darkstar’s lashing tentacles, and even most of Rufus’s support fire, the follow-up scatter bomb left more than a few minor cuts and burns all along her body where shrapnel and heat had hurt her. Overall, though, Rufus hadn’t managed to wound her terribly. He had, however, managed to completely nullify her strategy to target Darkstar, instead sending it after the two who would be least effective at fighting it. While Rufus assisted his hound in assaulting Sandalphon, Geralt punished any assumption that this form was melee-only by drawing Odysseus’s bow and taking aim. “Pit! Cover Sandalphon!” She ordered, firing arrows off at the Shinra executive and his hound.
"Already on it!" Pit had been firing light arrows that whizzed around the battle, striking at their opponents whenever they could. Shinra and his dog were quick on their feet, so they ended up missing more than they hit. But with Geralt switching her weapon for a long range one, Pit did the opposite. The young angel snapped his arm out straight, dismissing his bow and letting the strong melee Arm encase his own. He swung the limb hard like a bat into Darkstar's side, following up with a few discs fired out. He kept an eye on Rufus' advance, ready to blast through either one of them with an uppercut.
Though Sandalphon had avoided Darkstar’s initial Corkscrew, the archangel looked practically helpless as the vicious beast attacked. But while it was true that she lacked the strength, speed, or durability to contend with the hound in a straight-up fight, appearances could be deceiving. After lashing her with its tentacle, Darkstar smelled blood and went for the throat, but before its fangs found her its lunge came to a sudden stop in midair. The tension of impact created a series of shimmers, revealing razor wires stretched between the poles and lanterns around the spot where Sandalphon had retreated. They cut into Darkstar’s hide, especially its tender lips, and the next moment the beast rebounded. Those wires, courtesy of Sandalphon’s fusion with Parvati, bought her just enough time for Pit to come to the rescue. While Geralt’s arrows from afar were about as effective as the angel’s, his powerful Arm got the results he needed against the attack dog’s already-bruised ribcage.
With an angry yelp, it jerked away, then rounded on Pit. The hound attacked in a flurry of flashing fangs and cruel whips, but with its bloodlust elsewhere, Sandalphon could take action. By now everyone had taken some punishment, be it from painful chomps that left bleeding bitemarks, stinging lashes, calculated gunshots, or incendiary magic. With the brief moment Pit had given her, she stashed her rifle and summoned her gunstaff to cast Angelic Wings. The miracle would heal all her allies by over fifty percent, probably more than any of them needed, but with her Concentration Protocol engaged it charged her Shapeshift, too. It also allowed her to start recharging her skill with attacks, which she began to do immediately by firing off ether bolts at Darkstar to help Pit keep the beast at bay.
Rufus, meanwhile, got off a couple shots to follow up Darkstar’s attacks, but the arrows from Geralt only helped Karin close in on him, and he couldn’t ignore the heiress for long. He turned to face her, coolly sidestepping arrows as he sized up his fellow elite. “Let’s see what you’re made of.”
Karin pushed through the smoke of a leftover explosion like a rocket through the clouds.
”I’ve nothing to prove to you!” She exclaimed, punctuating her defiance with a spinning overhead kick aimed for his head, looking to punish that sidestepping of his. Her kick connected with a satisfying impact that brought on a surge of assurance. Karin was confident she was a match for just about anyone in close quarters combat, as long she could avoid their tricks and spells. She fired her palm towards his gut and then when he moved to block them, snatch his wrist to try and throw him over her shoulder.
Rufus didn’t try to block with his arm, though. When he recovered from the kick, he turned his carbine in his hands and held it like a baton to catch Karin’s strike. Of course, she went for a throw instead, but hers weren’t the only fast reflexes around. He managed to tech the throw, converting his momentum mid-flip to essentially roll over her and land behind her, neither of them at an advantage. Naturally, he went for an immediate point-blank blast, then jumped for the second one so that its recoil could launch him away in an acrobatic backflip. Karin sidestepped the first blast, but as she went in after the second blast caught her in the chest.
”Gff!” She fell backwards and rolled to her feet immediately, moving to chase after.
While flying, Rufus broke apart his gun for a rainstorm of gunshots, more to harry Karin than inflict real damage. When he landed a few dozen feet away, though, he tossed his guns into the air and pulled out two coins. As the coins flipped up, his weapons fell into his waiting hands, and he crossed his arms to shoot both in another pair of Bright Lights, one laser for Karin and the other for Geralt–even as an arrow from Odysseus’ bow struck him in the hip.
Karin narrowed her eyes, aligning the course of the falling coins with the aiming of his guns in her head, giving her close to an exact moment of when to expect the beam. She ran forward and predicted the blast. With a sudden jump she flipped over the beam, changing direction at the last second to throw off Rufus’ aim. She landed with a twirl and kept moving forward. Geralt, now having gotten a hang of the trick, dodged out of the way of the beam, though she did so with less acrobatic grace and more of a haphazard leap to the side. Even though it cost her some time on the offense, that thing
hurt.
“Hngh…” Rufus groaned, the pain from his various injuries starting to add up. Meanwhile, thanks to Sandalphon, the Seekers were all healthy. “That’s a real headache,” he remarked, frowning at his enemies’ healer. “I think I’ll indulge as well.” He snapped his fingers, and Darkstar sat down to howl. Both Pit and Sandalphon could get in free hits, but the fact remained that the attack dog used Curaga on its master, restoring a lot of his health. Rufus ran his fingers through his hair, smiling, and recombined his gun. “Let’s go again.”
”I’d be happy to oblige!” Karin aimed her grappling hook towards his legs and fired. But she wasn’t aiming at him yet, she just yanked herself forward to give herself a burst of speed to dash towards him. Her target did not allow himself to be grappled, but latching onto the ground behind him gave Karin the same effect. As she sped in, Rufus stepped to the side in the hopes that she'd zip past him, and fired. Karin knew he wouldn’t just stand there and wait to be hit, which is why she halted her momentum when she saw him sidestep and flipped into the air, changing course, the gun scattered the ground where she had just been. Landing on her feet she strode forward in her stance, having closed some of the distance.
When Darkstar paused its attack and began to sit down, Pit recognized that it was going to cast. He also recognized the opportunity presented with it casting so close to them. He didn't move to interrupt the spell, instead dashing backwards a couple of steps to charge the Upperdash Arm. He glanced at Sandalphon briefly, his intent to make the most of this opening and extend it further clear. With the Arm powered up Pit plowed forward, smashing it into Darkstar. The force would drive the beast up into the air, this time on the Seeker's terms; reversed from its earlier use of Subdue. It was a prime target for Sandalphon, and while she did her thing Pit shifted in order to set the Arm up for yet another charge shot. He didn't discount the possibility that Darkstar could retaliate mid-air with its whips, but after the healing courtesy of their archangel he was sure he could withstand it. The Upperdash Arm had little in terms of defense anyway.
Though Pit's launcher popped Darkstar up too fast for Sandalphon to switch back to the Eye of Sol, the archangel was by no means going to let this chance slip through her fingers. “Well struck,” she told Pit, calmly calculating a trajectory. When she threw a Frost Lock, the icy cluster struck Darkstar in the middle of its fall, leaving it frozen solid as it hit the ground. The shatter damage left it reeling, and in that brief window Sandalphon took a step forward to cast a handful of glinting wires. They tightened around the hound’s legs and body, not an attack but a possibility–a chance that if Darkstar got sent flying, the wires would cut it limb from limb.
And Pit would sure try to send it flying. He watched Sandalphon's off-the-cuff plan begin to unfold, grinning widely.
"Perfect!"A forward charge with the Upperdash Arm was no less powerful than a back dash charge. Pit deployed it as soon as Darkstar touched down and the wires wrapped around it. If he hit it hard enough to send it flying over the side of the platform, would the holographic leash still hold? There was only one way to find out! He surged straight at the beast with the bulky weapon poised to crash into it.
Geralt, meanwhile, had taken a moment to catch her breath and prepare the next phase of her attack: a swarm to overwhelm Rufus while Darkstar was being absolutely thrashed by the angelic pair. First, a Bombing Flight appeared and zoomed for the Shinra heir, followed by a flurry of arrows while Karin was charging at him. Second, Fizz and the PT Imp Pack appeared, with orders to use the bombing flight as cover for a hit-and-run attack. Finally, Geralt herself, steel sword in hand, following behind her summons, ready to back Karin up and put some real pressure on Rufus.
The sudden and dramatic numbers advantage took Rufus by surprise and forced him to get very serious very quickly. Though a skilled marksman, he worked best as a duelist and even better with Darkstar to divide his enemy's attention and coordinate follow-up attacks. A brawl with a gang just wasn't his style, but Rufus rose to the challenge. He split his carbine and started to run as arrows flew his way, firing into the pack of miniature bombers to down or detonate them. Geralt’s strikers closed in with Karin in the lead, so he flicked a handful of coins toward the pack to scatter them with a chain explosion.
That might work for the minions, but not Karin. She emerged from the smoke and met Rufus in a brief but furious trade of blows. It ended as quick as it began: with Rufus using his carbine to deftly parry an elbow strike, leaving the woman who'd underestimated him off-balance just long enough that he could whirl around behind her and blast her away with a scattershot to the back. Without missing a beat, Geralt burst from the smoke behind Rufus in turn, her immense head of hair further magnifying an already fearsome silhouette. Her steel sword carved across the Gunner's forearm as he tried to disengage, staining his expensive coat in blood. The next second, Geralt took a pistol whip to the chin, and as the last couple bombers swooped down the two staggered apart.
Though Rufus managed to deal with a whole gauntlet of attackers in quick succession, there was one thing he couldn't do. Pit’s weighty Upperdash Arm bashed the wounded mutant hard enough to launch it off its paws and hurl it bodily through the air. When Sandalphon’s wires pulled taut, their razor edges sliced into Darkstar’s flesh like they might a ripe cheese, leaving its hide criss-crossed by a web of deep gashes. Unfortunately the wires snapped rather than slice straight through, which left Darkstar mostly intact, but plenty of damage -and motive force- had been inflicted. Since its leash wasn't physical, there was nothing stopping the hound as it sailed toward the arena’s edge. Until its tentacle caught and wound around one of the poles, stopping the beast right on the brink.
“Together,” Sandalphon announced, crouching beside Pit as she took aim with her gunstaff. “Three, two…”
Pit gave her a quick nod, instantly swapping his weapon once more. The Arm faded away and the Palutena Bow fell easily into his hand. At the range they'd knocked Darkstar to, the arrows would be more effective than chasing the dog down. Pit pulled back and conjured a light arrow, holding and charging it to max power. Another ball of flame began to swirl around the arrow's head.
"...one, fire!"The shots from bow and gunstaff flew forward, catching Darkstar as it pulled itself back to land on the platform. The Curaga it had cast applied only to its master, and as wounded as it was it couldn't stand up the angels' final attack. The shots slammed into its head and chest, drawing a deep whimper and sending it sprawling to the ground. It laid there bruised and bleeding for only a moment before its body began to disintegrate.
Staggered but not bowed, Geralt rose to her full height and faced Shinra again, moving to keep up the pressure while Pit and Sandalphon finished Darkstar. With Karin backing her up, it wouldn’t be the hardest thing she’d done for sure. Focusing less on damage and more on keeping Rufus buried beneath a flurry of sword slashes that cut off his movement, she set Karin up for a devastating comeback blow.
Thus, Karin Seppo dashed around the side, and then leapt straight towards Rufus, spinning her body and arms gracefully before bringing her hand down upon Rufus like a hammer.
”Ressen Ha!” Her strike, delivered in the perfect opening between Geralt’s barrage of steel cleaves, caught Rufus cleanly. Its full force pushed him back, eliciting a pained grimace, and he let off a suppressive blast as he retreated with a big jump. Only then did he notice that the energy link to Darkstar had been severed, and no sign of his attack dog remained. “Hmph.” He reloaded, his fingers a bit more unsteady than before, and switched things up. He began to move by firing his carbine behind him to propel himself in different directions at a blistering pace, aiming to outmaneuver his foes and gun them down–though this strategy demanded more frequent reloads, as well.
With Rufus flying around the arena, Geralt found herself at a bit of a disadvantage. She lacked the mobility to keep up with him, and while she could shift back into LCCB Manager, that would leave her without a viable melee option beyond shield bashes for when he got close. Though, given the level of rapid-fire attacks he could put out while on the move, it might be best to let Karin and maybe Pit handle the rapidly changing distances with their foe, while she covered herself and Sandalphon from being chipped down. Making the decision as Rufus blasted himself Karin’s way for a hit-and-run shotgun blast, Geralt transformed into her LCCB Assistant Manager Identity, trading her Witcher gear for riot weapons once more. Rushing straight to Sandalphon before Rufus could really put the hurt on her, Geralt took a defensive position, covering their sniper/healer’s non-dominant side with the shield and her own body. “I’ll keep you covered and take shots at him. I think Karin has a bit of a grudge against this guy for not using his wealth properly or something.”
Geralt was close, but right now Karin’s grudge was more about how he kept escaping her wrath. Rufus was fast, faster than Karin, but unlike Karin his mobility was predicated on his weapons. Weapons that he needed to reload. Thus, Karin stopped worrying about punishing and catching up to his every dash, and started focusing on putting just enough pressure on Rufus that he had to put distance between them.
Rufus opened up his gun to slot more ammo in, and Karin brought the hammer down again.
”Ressen Ha!” Had very long range, especially when predicated by a Seppo dash. She swung dramatically through the air and took his legs out from under him with a slide, but Rufus never stayed on the ground for more than a moment. The two exchanged strikes, but after sending her away with a strike to her jaw that bloodied her lip, he found the moment to insert his shells and blast her away. Beginning the whole process over again. Karin rolled to her knee and her eyebrow and eyelid twitched, watching him zip around the place. Unfortunately he had no incentive to fight any way but reactively. Karin began the arduous progress of getting in once again, feeling the stinging pain of getting shot whenever she failed to predict where or when he would shoot. But this strategy was running out of legs, and both of them knew it. Karin was managing her temper and not over-extending anymore, and he was no doubt bruised from their brief but furious melee encounters. Each careful shot from Geralt’s pistol was slowly building up Tremor on him, as well, and the moment it reached a critical mass, Karin would have an opportunity to wail on him without pause.
The two were keeping Rufus on a short leash, and it got even shorter once Sandalphon and Pit arrived to help them. Together, the four of them could surround their highly mobile foe and hem him in. Instead of resuming her overwatch, Sandalphon joined the chase with her gunstaff held like a halberd. Seeing an easy target, Rufus practically threw himself at her, but the moment she goaded him into approaching she coldly rebuffed his advances. The gunner’s instincts told him to avoid her Frost Lock at all costs, but in dashing away from the icy cluster he inadvertently dashed right back toward the archangel’s allies.
Instantly, Rufus recognized the bad situation he’d put himself in. Thanks to his injuries and his Tremor stacks he felt jittery, hard-pressed, and -for once in his life- afraid. It was time to pull out all the stops. As he slid to a stop, he split his gun and whirled around with his arms extended, shooting in three hundred and sixty degrees to make sure that no matter where the Seekers were, they needed to slow their roll. Then he tossed his guns, seized two handfuls of coins, and hurled them upward. When he caught his guns he aimed up into the cloud of glimmering silver and opened fire. From above him, over a dozen Bright Lights blazed outwards like rays from heaven, ravaging the arena and all who dared to oppose him.
Or at least, that was the idea. To Sandalphon, this all-out attack looked a lot like her own Celestial Castling–not to mention a desperation move. “This is our chance,” she called out. “I’ll keep you alive. Go!”
"Aye aye!" No other motivator needed, Pit darted right into the laser barrage. With so many in a relatively small area he couldn't avoid many of them as he weaved through - and they hurt, a lot. But he'd had a lot worse, and he trusted Sandalphon's words besides. Pit soldiered through with his wings folded tight against his back lest a laser punch right through one and came out of the light storm at Rufus with the bladed bow ahead of him in a wide inward slash. He flipped the weapon in one hand and brought it back the opposite way, moving into a cutting combo.
”Hmph!” Karin charged, zig zagging and dashed to and fro, weaving between the lasers. Like Sandalphon predicted though, she caught more than one due to the sheer number and her aggressive movement. But even with the scorch marks Karin pushed ahead, dodging swiftly between the last few between her and Rufus.
Geralt blinked owlishly as Sandalphon charged off into melee range, but shrugged and slowly approached, focusing on keeping Rufus busy with constant fire and trusting her armor to keep her safe from the worst of his counter-fire. She wasn’t necessarily close to him when he tossed the coins up into the air to create a wide field of Bright Lights, but she wasn’t terribly far away either. Taking Sandalphon’s call to action, she charged in, Suppressing Rufus with volume of fire so that the others could lay on the punishment, her shots now building up Rupture to increase the damage Rufus received. Pit’s swift strikes triggered all the Tremor Geralt stacked up, shattering their target’s poise. Rufus got popped up, spinning like he’d been struck by a Crush Counter and very vulnerable.
Karin stepped in.
”Tenko!” With an upward palm thrust she smacked into his back and popped him up. Spending an EX-Meter she followed it up with yet another palm thrust as he fell back into it, with a flash of gold and orange power.
”Mujinkyaku!” She followed it up with a stabbing pair of upward kicks and a roundhouse to send him tumbling along the ground.
Rufus rolled onto his feet but only got halfway up before falling back to one knee, his strength and stamina faltering. Teeth gritted, he recombined his guns and readied another shot at whoever might want to come his way. At that moment, Sandalphon used Angelic Praise, and a divine ripple spread out around her to sooth her allies’ wounds. With that vital boost, the other Seekers could make the final push through whatever Rufus had in store and seal the deal.
Geralt rushed in then, shield to the side to bait out Rufus’s shot, trusting her armor yet again to prevent any lethal damage, with Angelic Praise’s recovery making sure she was topped off as well. She fired as she did, aggressively keeping the Shinra scion’s attention on her as Quake Rounds pounded into him.
Pit moved in as soon as Rufus pulled the trigger. He didn't need to worry about avoiding the shot when Geralt had already moved to take it, so the angel flashed forward with his bow yet again. He swung it to catch Shinra's wrists and disarm him, but the man kept a tight hold on the weapon that was his only lifeline. Pit continued to swing, getting his cuts in where he could, and the combination of up close and ranged badgering left the Kanzuki heir her opening.
Geralt blocked the shot, and Karin found her moment. If she did the correct string of attacks, she should be able to build up enough meter to execute her final attack. Swooping in from the side, she got right up in Rufus’ face and paused. The implied threat prompted a counter that Rufus turned into a swing, but he wasn’t the only one who could counter. She caught his arm between her two palms and twisted, and with a painful crack he was sent spinning. Golden eyes glinting, the heiress moved in for the finisher.
Her signature move, she caught him with a follow up Tenko palm strike.
”Tenko!” Rufus span head over heels, and Karin stepped forward, the ground quaking as she performed a powerful palm thrust, her other hand curving steadily over her head as she took a wide stance.
”Meioken!” Something within her hissed, and Karin tapped into the deepest part of her being. Gold, red, and blue energy swirled around her as she struck a pose.
”Kanzuki-ryu Ougi!” Before he hit the ground, she struck him with an elbow, a palm, and then a knee.
”Hadorokushiki Hasha No Kata!” The knee seemed to suspend both of them in the air. Karin grabbed Rufus’ arm, turned, and then spun! Karin threw him in the air and he began to spin like he was attached to a wheel. If Sakura was here, she would feel a reflexive pain in her belly.
”Behold!” Karin extended out her arm and palm to Rufus’ midsection as his dizzying spin came to a stop.
”The final attack!” With seemingly no more effort than pushing open an ajar door, she placed her palm against Rufus’ center.
There was a tremendous burst of wind from the impact site and Rufus was little more than a blur of color and motion. He flew to an island across the gap, skipped across its surface like a stone on a pond, and then vanished out of sight into the fog of Arabahaki. Karin hardly noticed, she was too busy laughing and reveling in her own supremacy, like she had won the fight all by herself.
”Ooooho ho ho ho ho!” Then she clenched her bared teeth and quaking fists and glared daggers at the spot she had launched Rufus too. Daring him to return. The blood heir to an empire. Corrupt, selfish, cruel and uncaring. To banish a reflection of one’s self is an uncomfortable thing.
…With an exhale, Karin stopped and looked at Geralt, Pit, and Sandalphon.
”As someone with power…we have certain obligations we must fulfill.” She explained.
”Thank you very much.” Sandalphon bowed her head for a moment in a sign of respect. “A fitting conclusion. Impressively done.” She moved between her teammates to give them each a quick examination, ensuring that all were ready to move on. If anyone was still hurting, a quick Healing Ring from her gunstaff would help patch them up. As frenetic and demanding as this fight had been, the Seekers’ trial against Rufus Shinra was just an appetizer, a foretaste of what was to come. Everyone needed to get their breath back and stride forward, head held high, toward whatever awaited them next. Of course, that wouldn’t be difficult for Karin. “Separating those two was critical to our success,” she continued as she finished her diagnoses. “Shinra and his hound were strong, but in a master-servant dynamic, there is no such thing as true teamwork. He did not lack skill, but against our numbers advantage he could only go so far. Everyone played to their roles admirably.”
”Indeed! Your skills with the arcane, or, perhaps technology, I’m not sure, are admirable.” She smiled.
”Though I find the fate of the hound regrettable and shameful on Shinra’s part. I would never ask my lions to fight my battles for me.” Karin said disdainfully.
“...Lions…?” Geralt blinked confusedly at the same time that Pit exclaimed the same,
"Lions?!"“You have
lions?” She asked exasperatedly.
”Of course! I do so enjoy the company of such noble beasts.” Karin responded cheerily.
Somehow, that revelation didn’t seem to surprise Sandalphon. “I wield divine miracles in the name of the goddess Illia,” she explained matter-of-factly to clear up Karin’s confusion. “As we press on, let's be careful to not let our victories go to our head. If we’re already fighting Shinra executives in person, I struggle to imagine how this gauntlet will continue to escalate.”
”A miracle worker? How apt. I suppose I should have suspected the angel motif was more than just aesthetics.” Karin said with a chortle. Sandalphon tilted her head slightly.
"Hey! Am I chopped liver or something?" Pit was grinning as he said that, and quickly looked back at Sandalphon.
"Aw c'mon, like you said it'll be nothing a little teamwork can't solve!"With a twirl the Palutena Bow vanished to wherever it went when not in use, and the boy held both of his palms up toward the other three for a round of high fives.
"So for now, go team!"Sandalphon permitted herself a slight smile as she leaned down using her staff to give the gung-ho little guy his high five. “Go, team.”
”Forgive me, Pit. But in your case the source of your power was never unclear to me. Go, team.” Karin she rose her hand and let her five be highed as a matter of course.
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