Return of the Emblem Chapter Twelve: Divergent Paths

[Toogee]

"Why would a place like this be popular?" asked Tia, sounding a bit confused as Eli raised his staff up. "Oh. Wait. This is one of those places that serve drinks I'm too young to drink, right? Makes sense as a meeting place though. Easy way to keep people in high moral and meant to have a lot of people traveling through at once. Thanks for the ride though! I... Honestly expected to have to walk the entire way."

Normally, Eli would have responded to Tia's overly analytic description of the nightlife, but he was currently facing the prospect of many dead civilians. People he may have passed by on his way to work. People he delivered to. They were all just going about their day, maybe enjoying life. They had no fight against the Fallen; why would they be murdered in the streets like this?

Eli shook off his shock temporarily to speak to Tia, though he was clearly distracted.

"What? Right, no problem. If you want to stay on, I could use the cover fire."

[Phoenix]

Southern Front

"Alright," Shadrak conceded. He didn't exactly have any particular reason to oppose Axel taking command. He didn't think it was likely they would have to do anything complex or heavily coordinated in a situation like this anyway. Though, one thing certainly was bothering him. "Do they really think he's going to come straight up the driveway like this?"

"Best to have it covered either way," Amon quietly noted.

Tavern Entrance

Raquel was leaning toward going back to the estate, but that would defeat their purpose coming out here if they couldn't convince Blake to come with them. She was seriously considering force by that point as memories of Chousokabe assailed her. She was at least going to pull the employer card if nothing short of force would work. She wasn't able to answer Veronika right away though, as her argument with Erion was still ongoing. She did get a somewhat worrisome answer from Reign, though. "I can't go back just yet either way. I didn't think things would get this bad, but now that they have ... I need to make sure my parents are okay." Something in his voice made it seem as though he'd lost his parents years ago and that he was merely going through the motions.

"Hey Blake," Nadine spoke up. "I'm sure you've figured this out by now, but people aren't allowed to do heroic crap around Raquel. If you can't incorporate her somehow, just forget it. By the way, you dropped this." She held up his insignia. "It's nice to see a nobleman actually being noble, but ... this really isn't the time or place ... honestly."

"I'm not going to let that happen," Raquel yelled toward the end of Erion's explanation. "That's why ..." She supposed she'd made her decision based at least partially on what Erion had said ... "That's why we need to get back to the estate while we still can." Apparently it was already a little late for that, as one of the cavaliers gasped and began stumbling back until he hit the wall of the tavern. As Raquel looked at him in confusion, Nadine looked elsewhere, to the source of his reaction. The figure on the nearby rooftop wore an ebon cloak and had decrepit wings and a face obscured by the shadow of his hood. All that could be seen were his fierce golden irises.

<"More holdouts ... excellent ....">

"It's ... it's a ...!"

"I ... am Fury, and you are going to show me the extent of your abilities. You will do this, or you will die."

"Get ready to strike him down! Mount up! MOUNT UP!!!"

"... how long has he been standing there ...?" Nadine asked, genuinely curious. It almost felt like he'd been there for awhile but if that was the case, she had a feeling they were going to get flanked, and hard if this thing could sneak up on them so easily.

West Gate

"Fine over here ... ... but you really ought to fall back for now, Your Highness; you don't want to use up all of your strength before the real battle begins, do you?" Eugene called up to Angelica, and then over to Athrun. The demons weren't particularly tough as far as he was concerned, but this was one hell of a workout.

Athrun didn't like the idea of falling back now, but the situation wasn't improving for them in the slightest, and if he wanted to deal with whoever was responsible for this horde of monsters, he would indeed have to conserve his strength. He leaped back to avoid one of the tigers, unsheathed his blade for one last attack, and swung hard, cleaving the beast's massive fangs off and slicing its cheeks. Before it could retaliate, he had vanished.

Athrun pulled off the farthest warp he could manage with his personal stone and landed on top of the west gate. He nearly fell over, out of breath, but righted himself and took a seat, allowing on of his legs to dangle off the edge while the other stood at the edge by the heel. He frowned as he took in the battle from his new vantage point. The situation looked far worse from where he was sitting. "... so many of them ..." As his grip on his sword tightened, he gritted his teeth and looked away. "How many are dying right now that we can't even get to?!"

The prince didn't wait long before standing up atop the gate and making a decision to return to the fray. He didn't plan on getting involved in the heavy fighting, but he couldn't stand the thought of just watching from a safe distance. "I need to start searching for survivors ... and Morgana no less. If something's happened her, Athena will never forgive me."

Grand Cathedral

"Head Mercinic Charis is at that party," Joanna remembered. Grimacing at Valter's mention of the civilians. When Weyland came up, she wasn't sure what to think. He was involved in a lot of strange happenings, really. Well it seemed like a good time to interject, even though Horace was still curious about Weyland. "I ... I know this will sound desperate, but I ... really want to help who I can right now, and those that truly need it are still out there, trying to get to safety."

"Don't even think about it, Joanna," said one of the guards keeping watch nearby.

[Snike]

Evelyn was relieved that Athrun had listened and had retreated. Now there was just Eugene- who was fine right now- and Ethan to worry about.

"Ethan, are you alright?" Evelyn said, as she stabbed another hound. This was certainly some practice, but odds were people like the priest weren't used to this much combat.

"Yes, a bit worried, but yes," Ethan responded, sounding a bit tired. "I hope this'll end soon."

So do I, the royal guard thought. If there were this many monsters here, who knew how many were elsewhere in the city, killing their citizens? They needed to get moving, so this horde needed to die.

***

"That's what I was hoping you and the others would talk her out of," Blake noted, with a frown when Nadine brought up his actions back at the gate. Then, to the man's surprise, she produced his insignia, which had been apparently left in the carriage. Well, that secret was out of the bag, thanks to his abesentmindedness. It sounded like the swordsman would have some explaining to do.

Before Blake could begin said explanations, a cavalier panicked and stumbled back into the tavern wall, for some reason. Upon looking in the same direction, there stood a man in black, with dying black wings and golden eyes: a Fallen. The man introduced himself as Fury, and essentially threatened to kill them all. Seeing as there were no vasili to his knowledge named Fury, that meant he was responsible for the demons. Merz.

"We'll talk about it later," Blake quickly told Nadine, before he drew his sword and rushed over to Raquel's side, so as to put himself in between her and Fury, "Erion start shooting at that guy if you can. We need to get into combat teams, now!"

[scorri]

Erion had been about to interrupt Raquel when a Fallen did the job for him. He'd been reaching for an arrow before Blake had even told him. Stringing it, he quickly swung the bow up, aimed and fired. He didn't expect to hit, but he had to try.

[Ether]

After a good while fighting, Prince Athrun made his retreat, warping atop one of the gate towers and away from the battlefield. With a final sweeping volley, Angelica decided to follow after him. Taking off and landing not too far from the prince, she began to speak to him, though her tone was notably lacking in it's normal cheer.

"So, what do you think we should do, Prince Athrun?"

[roymbrog]

Valter was grateful for Joanna’s interruption, if only because he didn’t want to explain Weyland’s involvement right now. What she said, however, prompted a concerned frown. The girl had a kind heart, but she was going to get herself into trouble again. “It’s not safe right now. Even if you found someone out there, how would you get them back to the cathedral? I’m sorry, but I’m not taking you anywhere. The most I can do is notify the army of our situation, and see if they can clear the area. We can search for survivors after the monsters are under control.”

Horace dropped the subject of Weyland, though he’d made a note to ask about it much later, and said, “But isn’t leaving at all dangerous? None of us should be going anywhere. That includes you, Valter. If the cathedral needs to send a message, they should use the air…” The monk trailed off for a moment, realizing what he’d said. “That’s not an invitation for you to try it either, Joanna.”

[-Cynthia-]

Southern Front

The man Gytha pointed out earlier was going on about dames and goats or something, which reminded Nadya to look him over. She did not notice any bumps on his head and decided that he was most likely drunk and not suffering from any sort of concussion. Either that or he was just an idiot...she couldn't really be bothered to spend any more time thinking about him either way,

"They might actually- demons ain't that bright and just kinda charge at the closest human they see and try to bite or claw 'em to death. The emperor himself might bit trickier though I imagine," she commented after Shadrak.

Taven Entrance

Veronika was about to offer to accompany Reign to check on his parents when a commotion started, apparently caused by a Fallen being sighted nearby.

"Get into battle formations!" she called out. She couldn't do much to something on top of a building, but she doubted that this Fallen was acting alone and having everyone prepared seemed like it would be for the best.

West Gate

Erica found herself bewildered by the prince's sudden disappearance. Looking around quickly, she noticed him on top of the gate. How in Wrath's name did he get up there? I'll sort that out later... she thought to herself, ramming her lance through the spine of the de-fanged tiger. We have the advantage I think, but this is going to be slow going...

Jacobs hacked his axe into the side of a tiger but the wound appeared to seal up right before his eyes. Mercy help me these things are tough...what are they anyway?

Grand Cathedral

Captain Alastor found himself approached by an unfamiliar woman- a civilian from the looks of it. "I have taken temporary command here yes. I am not doing nearly as good a job at protecting the people here as one might hope, but I thank you for your kind words. Any information you can provide on the beasts outside would be appreciated," he said, turning towards her.

[roymbrog]

“Yes, well. This may be a bit difficult to believe,” Kimiko said, and began her explanation donning a grave expression. “The beasts outside are most certainly synthesized through organic arcana, an alchemic technique that can be used to conglomerate organisms. This requires a truly exceptional practitioner of dark magic, to the level that humans are not capable of. Additionally, from what I have heard, beasts like this are used by the Fallen Empire to attack settlements in southern Kigen. In short, I believe these creatures to be creations of the Fallen. Why they are here I do not know, but there may be beings outside much more powerful than the monsters here.”

[Phoenix]

Tavern Entrance

Nadine had been mulling over whether to just do the responsible thing and shoot 'Fury' in the face before this could escalate any further, but Erion got off the first shot. Not one to give an enemy time to address multiple threats, she whipped out her pistol and fired immediately after Erion loosed his arrow.

To Raquel's surprise, both Erion's arrow and Nadine's bullet hit Fury square in the chest. At that distance and at night, both shots were impressive. Even more impressive was Fury's reaction. He flinched from both hits, and then stood there the same as before. "Even commoners are not so foolish as to make an attempt on my life. You humans are always trying to lop off the head before you even locate the serpent," Fury retorted mockingly. With that said, he removed the arrow and dropped it, then he used his other hand to dig Nadine's bullet from his chest, and dropped that too.

"Dammit, I could have taken his head off if I had a rifle," Nadine muttered. Given what Fury had just said, Nadine began to glance around almost randomly, checking corners to make sure they weren't about to be attacked while most eyes were on him. Nothing yet, which was a kind of relief, but also extremely suspicious. There was no way one of these fallen would try to take on their whole group solo, would they?

"Doubtful," Reign said before backing up and producing his tome. He was ready, though he doubted taking down this guy would be easy if he shrugged off arrows and gunfire. At least total incineration was still an option. Total incineration was always an option.

West Gate

"I'm not certain, yet," Athrun quietly answered Angelica, though he sounded as though he wasn't even there. He was thinking heavily on the situation, but the only thing he could think to do to get around these demons was to leave the royal guard here and slip past, but there were several reasons he didn't like that idea. "These things are just delaying us from finding their master and I grow tired of it, but without Morgana, and our numbers so few to begin with, I don't think we can get rid of them all and move on, not in time to help the people still alive, at least." The only consolation of being bogged down like this is that with so many of these creatures focusing on us, others are being spared ... though perhaps the situation is far worse than I suspect it is. After all, Morgana is nowhere to be found ....

Grand Cathedral

"But why not?" Joanna immediately spoke up. She couldn't exactly counter Valter's points, so until Horace noted getting a message out, she thought she would have to give up and wait out the nightmare in the cathedral without doing anything to help. She didn't like the idea of going around on her own to handle the task, but even that would be better than just sitting around. "I haven't seen any demons that can fly, so I should be alright, and if I find someone who's lost or injured, I can direct them here."

"No one else is going to make it here; these monsters are prowling all over the place. They'll pick off anyone haplessly wandering about, even you if you make the mistake of landing," the guard warned. He didn't know that for certain, but it was a pretty good assessment from what he'd gathered.

[Snowy_One]

This was it! The battle was about to begin! Robin had already gotten her bow ready, but as the arrow and bullet thudded into Fury's chest, Robin opted not to fire. It wasn't a matter of not being fast enough. She had hunted wild animals that bobbed and weaved far more than a target willing to stand still after all. It was that this was a target standing still, willing to let them hit him, that caused her to stop. She could have easily nailed him in the throat, as she had done to many birds, but a target like this would probably be more than willing to accept a shaft and fire it back at her than croak. Better to keep her arrow, at least for now.

"Raquel. May I suggest copious amounts of fire? Or, if he truly cannot be killed, a metal cast filled with molten iron to entrap him until age takes its toll? I would rather not waste arrows on a truly immortal being strong enough to let us hit him."

---

"Interesting." said Tia, watching while still mounted with Eli. "Such a feat as absorbing shots, while people often overestimate the lethality of an arrow or bullet in the tales to take such things without even flinching... Such knowledge would truly be terrifying to behold. Something like that should never be learned if possible. I wonder how he does it though? Maybe, if we take him alive, I can ask him. I'm sure he'll be glad to talk pleasantly as opposed to having guards shout insults at him."

[Toogee]

"Interesting." said Tia, watching while still mounted with Eli. "Such a feat as absorbing shots, while people often overestimate the lethality of an arrow or bullet in the tales to take such things without even flinching... Such knowledge would truly be terrifying to behold. Something like that should never be learned if possible. I wonder how he does it though? Maybe, if we take him alive, I can ask him. I'm sure he'll be glad to talk pleasantly as opposed to having guards shout insults at him."

"Well, at least she isn't afraid...," Eli thought as the new enemy made his appearance. As impressive as his defenses were, the rider was far more concerned with not getting mauled to death.

"As a general rule, anyone that calls himself Fury is not interested in idle chit-chat, Tia. Now, get your magic ready. I don't care how many hits he can take, if he breaths air, he can drown."

Eli urged his steed forward towards his assigned combat position, which happened to be with a woman they called Veronika. He didn't want to take off into the sky just yet; both he and Tia would be lone targets that the fallen could pick off. The rider would wait until more battle ready unit were ready.

[ReformBlade]

"Oh..." Jericho muttered, seeing the boasting murder bird. At his current distance, he was pretty dang sure he'd most likely miss his target, but in all the excitement, Jericho did lob his own special blend of fire at the bastard. With a name like Fury, I'm pretty certain the world is better off without you. Mistake? Maybe. Did he care? Of course not, nothing would get done if people cared what others thought.

[-Cynthia-]

Alastor

Not an ordinary civilian apparently- she's quite intelligent. "I believe you. Magic is not my specialty, but it is quite clear that these creatures are not natural. So if the Fallen are behind these beasts attacking, will killing them make the attacks stop?" he asked the woman. This just got worse than I thought...

[Phoenix]

Tavern Entrance

"Uh ... wha ...?" Raquel said, a little confused.

"We don't have time to get a cast to put that guy in," Reign pointed out, wondering why that suggestion had even come up.

"Maybe we do ... doesn't look like he's going anywhere. Getting him in there probably isn't happening though, so my vote's on fire," Nadine noted.

Jericho seemed to take up Robin's suggestion before Raquel could comment on that approach, launching a fire spell at Fury. Once again, Fury didn't bother to try avoiding the attack, but he did hold out his palm at it in some semblance of self defense. His decrepit old hand and its talons took the brunt of the blast and received minor burns for it, but Fury was again unfazed.

It's going to take more fire to serve this bastard up, Reign noted irritably. He briefly considered asking Nadine if she wanted to try something reckless but opted not to in the end. She was ready for battle, but he doubted she was willing to attempt a synchronized cast just to kill Fury. Even if she was, he was still in a lot of pain from his eye injury and doubted he could pull it off anyway.

Around the same time, the cavaliers who were mounted began to aim their rifles. They, like Nadine, didn't really feel like going in turn, and just started firing as soon as they lined up their shots. Fury was hit four times and began to stumble back from the repeated hits. He disappeared from view before long as a result. "Circle around! We'll hunt him down and kill him while he's down," the captain of the unit ordered.

Ken shook his head at Jessica when she looked at him. He didn't care if they thought he was a coward ... he wan't going up there, period. Jessica decided to stay put too, if only to keep the survivors in the tavern safe. Most were children ... orphans who had incredibly brave parents.

[roymbrog]

The monk sighed in frustration. Horace didn’t have a good answer for Joanna that hadn’t already been said by Valter or the guard, but regardless he knew she was going to keep trying to convince them somehow.

Valter did have another reason, though. “I’m almost positive there are flying demons present. Even if there aren’t, there are other things to worry about. I really don’t want you out there.”

Horace nodded in agreement. “Yes, what he said.”

“Besides, if someone is to go, it would be better if it were me. I managed to make it here on my own. I could probably make it back out,” the horseman continued.

“I just said-“

“You’re not in charge of me,” Valter interrupted, crossing his arms.

---

Kimiko was relieved that the soldier had considered her explanation, but she unfortunately did not have a good answer for him. “I do not know if it would stop the beasts that are already attacking. It would prevent more from being let loose, however,” she replied.

---

At the appearance of Fury, Kat had stared for a few seconds. Once the mysterious being began shrugging off attacks, however, she immediately ran back and hopped on her wyvern. If they were really going to fight this thing, she didn’t want the disadvantage of being grounded.

More attacks were sent his way, and Katrina was having a hard time believing he could sustain that much abuse without some amount of damage being done. The cavalry seemed to have the same idea, and let loose a barrage of shots, knocking Fury off his perch. “Kill him!” Kat shouted, having Volga charge towards the building he had been on. She aimed to take a flying leap over the roof to pin him down directly, because those horsemen circling the buildings were going to take too damn long.

[Phoenix]

Out of Sync

"Urgh ..." Reign's first instinct was to take off after everyone else trying to take down Fury, but being on foot, there was no way he would make it all the way to the roof in time to do anything but comment on a job well done or gawk at his defeated allies. I hope she knows what the hell she's doing. She's going to get to him before anyone else ...

"Katrina, wait," Raquel called out, worried they were about to lose another wyvern rider.

"Reign, they're not going to beat him," Nadine warned. "Let's ... try it."

"Are you serious?!" Reign exclaimed. So much for his theory ...

"Do you have a better idea? They've bought us enough time to get started. If we're quick we can burn him to ashes before his allies ever show up. There's no reason to sit here debating it!"

"We're the ones that are going to die; I got this patch about an hour ago ... there's no way I can handle a synchronized cast right now. Not a chance," Reign bitterly explained.

"... dammit."

Nadine wants to use that as a weapon? This situation isn't looking good so far but ... ... wow. Raquel looked up to the rooftop again just as Katrina cleared it, wondering what she herself should be doing right now.

Challenge Accepted

Up on that rooftop, Fury was still standing, though well out of view from the others. It was just him and Katrina ... and Volga.

"Come to challenge me by yourself? Brave ... and foolish," Fury said with a grin.

[spoiler=Don't open this]... alright then, but as a small note, this is not the start of the stat battle. Gettin' real close though so get ready.

[spoiler=Fury]Architect Fury

Class: Level 5 Elder Architect

HP: 48 STR: 0 MAG: 12 SKL: 24 SPD: 5 LCK: 1 DEF: 11 RES: 11

Weapon 1: Dark Cataclysm

Weapon 2: Submission Well

Special Weapon: Fury's Talons

Special Item: Iron Rune

Book: Life

HP: 144 MT: 12 Hit: 24 Evade: 6 AS: 5 Defense: 11 Resistance: 11

(Submission Well: The status this spell inflicts is persistent and cannot be treated by recover staves. It continuously reaves the target of 33% of their maximum hp for up to six turns while healing the caster for the exact amounts taken. Only one target can be affected at a time. Cannot Counter with this technique.)

(Fury's Talons: Only available as melee weapons. When they hit, no damage is dealt; the target is incapacitated for one turn and cannot be healed or moved. On Fury's next turn, the target is KO'd if their total defense is lower than 12. 12 or higher and the target's health is only cut in half and they are released.)

Traits: [Fallen]-Cannot be crit'd or lethal'd by dark magic. Is stunned for one turn on crits or lethals by light magic attacks.

The Team Lobby

Joanna squinted at Valter for a moment, wondering why he was so confident. He had made it here alright, of course, but he was going toward safety and away from demons rather than straight into them. That aside, she realized she might have an argument to use now. It was too soon to give up, after all. "Valter, if you are confident you can make it, then take me with you. Your chances will only be better with me along, and we'll be able to treat anyone we come across who's injured." She wasn't sure how to get them to safety, though ... that was still a good point that had been brought up, but at least they could help them hide out in a building or something. "I won't slow you down; I'll fly if I have to, just take me with you. I cannot sit here and hope knowing what's happening to people out there ...."

The guard sighed. Valter just had to decide to go himself and give her an opening, didn't he?

[Eail]

Before Jam could get a response out of Greta, a team of maids came in and announced that all noncombatants were to go into the basement. Though the dancer hadn't heard of this basement before, it was likely much safer than the room. The maids asked for Jam to come with them, but she refused.

"I gotta get ready for the battle. Be safe Greta!"

Jam ran down the hall to her own room, leaving the maids to their evacuation. As soon as she entered, Jam slipped off her ball gown and went for her usual outfit. As she worked to put her hair back into a ponytail, the dancer looked out the window to make sure the battle hadn't started yet. The air was still quite calm outside, almost too calm. Jam grabbed her magic tome, feeling the magic energies flow through her once more. She ran out of the room, eventually rushing back outside and at Alphonse's side.

"Hey," Jam said to grab Alphonse's attention. "Greta is in the basement with the staff. She's alright."

After a brief pause, Jam turned to the battle ahead. From the tone of her voice, she wasn't sure what to expect. A tinge of fear was present in her questioning.

"So...demons. That's what we're fighting, right? You think it will be that different from fighting people?"

"Probably." Alphonse replied to his companion. "My grandfather fought these back in the day when he was in the Kigen army. They're tough bastards to kill but they can be killed. You just have to be smart about how you go about fighting them is all." Giving the girl a smile he continued "Besides, I'm here with you, those guys dont stand a chance with the two of us together yeah?"

______

Walking up behind Raquel, Reign, and Nadine, Zach calmly asked "Can I help then? I don't know whose more powerful between Reign and myself but I should be a workable substitute at the very least.""

Edited December 27, 2013 by Eail

[Snike]

Shots were fired at the Fallen, but, to Blake's surprise and disgust, Fury dug both the bullet and the arrow out of his chest and seemed to be no worse for wear. A fire spell was tried next, to no avail either. It was only when four rifle shots connected that the fiend staggered back - but even that was uncertain, given how he shrugged off the previous blows. As Katrina and the cavalry pursued, the Ursian man paused, to consider their enemies' words. If he was the 'head', then where was the rest of the serpent?

[roymbrog]

Katrina heard Raquel call her, but it was too late at that point as they went sailing onto the rooftop. The wyvern rider was more than a little surprised to see the fallen still standing up here. Despite that, however, she still planned on keeping him here until the soldiers were in position. Kat urged Volga into a slow walk towards Fury, while she answered him. “Hey, I’m not foolish. I thought after the rifle barrage, you would have at least been injured. How did you do that, anyways?” she asked, gesturing towards him with her axe. “Are you healing all those attacks off, or are you just that tenacious? Either way, it’s very impressive.” Though she was ultimately trying to stall, she was also genuinely curious. This guy was going to be really hard to kill.

---

Horace was a bit irked. “Do you see what you’ve done? An exception can’t be made for you, if not for her,” he told Valter.

“It’s not the same,” he protested. Turning to Joanna, the horseman attempted to figure out how to explain his reservations. “Look, I can’t- ... If something happens, I’d much rather it just be me out there. I don’t think I could protect the both of us.”

[Phoenix]

Street

Nadine shook her head. "Power is mostly irrelevant. Just swapping Reign out isn't going to work; he and I trained together for months before we could safely use it," Nadine explained.

Just as well we can't use it right now; it's not a weapon. Even if it was, using it here would just tip them off that I'm back, Reign thought to himself.

Raquel took a step forward, becoming more and more certain that she should do something before something happened to Katrina. Once again, her body began to give off a faint golden glow. It caught Reign and Nadine's attention. "Raquel, wait a minute," Reign calmly urged.

Rooftop

"Hmhmhm ... why not drive your weapon into me, and find out for yourself?" Fury replied, his grin growing ever wider.

Meanwhile, the soldiers broke into the building and began heading upward. They would be there soon, but would it be soon enough?

Hall of Truth

"Then we can look after each other," Joanna countered. She meant that she would keep him healed and warded, while he would fend off any attackers that managed to slow them down, but she wasn't sure if that was apparent to him in that moment. They had only worked together a few times, but he at least knew what she was capable of.

[roymbrog]

“It doesn’t seem like such a good idea,” Kat replied. “It’s dark magic, I think you’re dark magic. What if my axe explodes or something?” Volga was almost there. Kat just wanted to be close enough to have her wyvern grab him if he tried to leave.

---

“If something does happen, do you promise to return immediately?” Valter asked in response.

Horace was incredulous for all of a second before resigning himself to the outcome. “You're both crazy,” was all he said.

[Ether]

"Just where did that woman dissapear to, anyway... someone like her should be letting out loads of energy but I can't sense her at all..." Angelica muttered with a sigh, before turning to Athrun again.

"You want to break through, right? I think I can make you an opening, but you're not allowed to die on me, you got it?" She stated, before releasing a large amount of wind energy. The effects took a few moments to register, but within a few seconds, a howling gale had formed above the cluster of demons, spinning with reckless abandon as the twister grew tighter and tighter, it's intensity growing to a fevered pitch.

"Be ready to move when I drop this thing... I don't know how long it'll keep them held up for but if this doesn't knock a hole in that horde I'll eat my dress."

[Snike]

Aaand now Raquel was glowing. That meant she was going to use her powers, which weren't so unlimited now. That, along with the fact that there was no guarantee that Katrina needed to be rescued, meant that this was a risk they might not want to take

"Raquel, wait," Blake said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "You have to believe in Katrina, right now. She's not one to take risks, and you might not need to use your power here. Please, hold off a little longer, and she'll come back."

After he said that, the man turned towards the roof and shouted, "KATRINA, IF YOU CAN HEAR ME, FALL BACK!" Hopefully he'd be heard.

Edited December 28, 2013 by Snike

[Phoenix]

Street

"Urgh ..." Raquel didn't reply but aside from the persisting glow around her, it was obvious that she had relented. She didn't feel good about just standing back and being hopeful, though.

"Eh, there are bigger problems right now, anyway," Nadine noted, frowning as some demons began to emerge. They weren't crawling out of the woodwork per se, but Nadine was getting sick and tired of enemies showing up out of nowhere just the same and began reloading her pistol.

Rooftop

"Well, it wouldn't be the only thing exploding when I'm through with you," Fury hinted, clearly amused at her hesitation. She'd definitely stalled him long enough for the cavalry to arrive, though. They stormed the rooftop and prepared to attack. "The first wave of humans comes. Excellent." Holding out his left hand, Fury began to concentrate heavily as the soldiers began to charge at him. What looked like a singularity appeared near his hand and most of them backed off, fearing they would be pulled into it if they continued their attack.

"Time to see what these Tarren specials are capable of ..." Suddenly, a massive head emerged from the dark sphere. It looked a lot like a bear but much more menacing. That didn't stop some of the soldiers, however, and they reached Fury in no time. The bear like demon acted first though, and reached through the wormhole and swatted at them, knocking two of them over and killing one of them. It then hauled itself through and tackled the third and last soldier still on the attack. They didn't even reach Fury in the end, and the others turned tail to run, fearing what else Fury was about to summon through that abyss.

Sure enough, more and more demons began emerging from the wormhole he had created. The rooftop was being overrun ...

West Gate

"Thank you, Angelica. I won't die ... not tonight," Athrun assured her. Getting by would mean weaving through the creatures rather than confronting them, but he felt confident he could manage that, at least physically. Hopefully the others could hold on while he tracked down Morgana. He just hoped the reason she was lying low was because she had found survivors and needed to defend them.

Hall of Truth

"I ..." Joanna wanted to just agree, but she wasn't sure what 'something' entailed. Running at the first sign of danger would defeat the purpose of going, after all. She supposed she could amend his terms a little. "If the situation becomes too much, I will ... I will return," she agreed, though she didn't like the idea of leaving Valter behind if things really were that bad. She doubted she would actually be able to do it in the end.

[Ether]

"Alright... just cut right through the middle, I'll keep it open for you." She concluded, before the fireworks began. Dropping the vortex straight into the center of the horde, the effect was immediate. Any beasts caught at the epicenter were torn to shreds within moments, limbs and fangs and things of all other sorts flying about as they were caught up in the maelstrom, only adding the the debris. Those fell beings too light to keep to ground were swept up and tossed about as though they were rag dolls, slamming helplessly against whatever first caught their path, be it a building or a fellow beast. Left in the wake of the still violent storm was but a small opening in the very middle, left just barely wide enough for a human to pass through, after that which had stood there had been torn asunder. The winds about the eye, the single calm, were too rapid for the demons to traverse without being buffeted to their deaths, but if one could bypass that wall of wind, they would find calm in the eye of the storm, and a clear path, atleast for a short while.