Return of the Emblem Chapter Fourteen: Nine

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

Someone stole his kill! People these days, no respect for murder order.

Gar walked over, retrieved his knives and kicked the head of the corpse. That'll learn'em to not be killed by him.

Gar cleaned his knives.

Edited September 11, 2016 by Script

[-Cynthia-]

He looks so much like him...I have to try here at least. "We don't need to fight- we are here to talk about your hostage. Please, lay down your weapons. I can help you like I helped Gabriel," Lysandra called out to the figure in the smoke, taking a tactical position in front of the healer aiding them.

Lysandra defends Lane!

[Ether]

With her opponent dispatched, Isabella briefly took to the rooftops, awaiting the main targets to show themselves. And that they did, nearly immediately enshrouding their leader in a veil of smoke. Now while her superior senses could allow her to fly in through the smoke and strike preemptively, the brief time she had gotten to size them up made her decide against it. These were no ordinary fighters.

Instead, the disciple decided to get the drop on one of the opposing mages. Bringing nirvana down on them as she leapt from above, she managed to strike a heavy blow, leaving her opposition heavily wounded, while she herself took a much lighter blow, thanks to the dark particles pulsing through her body and blades to help deflect the incoming spell.

Isabella vs Mage Knight

Isabella(5,3,2) 15 hit vs 9 evd, hit! 22 Mt - 4 def, 18 damage!

Switch to Adv. Barrier Sword!

Mage Knight(2,4,1) 9 hit - 6 evd, hit! 16 Mt - 9 res, 7 damage!

Isabella 15/24

Mage Knight 9/27

Isabella +1

http://www.coyotecode.net/roll/lookup.php?rollid=138502

Edited September 11, 2016 by Ether

[Script]

A Man Called Gar

Round two had started. Time to catch up on the death.

He followed up on someone else's move. Karma!

But he didn't finish the target off just yet. Oh no. He needed to like, double-kill this one to make up for earlier.

Gar attacks Mage Knight.

Gar vantages, Gar doubles, Gar does 12 damage min. Mage Knight is dead.

http://www.coyotecode.net/roll/lookup.php?rollid=138503

9+4-4=9

9+2-4=7

15 damage.

Arietta/Axel/Gar +10 points.

Edited September 11, 2016 by Script

[Nanami Touko]

"Why am I, s-so wobbly?" Amalia wasn't focused at all, barely sure of the people stepping into the area, smoke surrounding some of them. She didn't clue back into things until felt a familiar surge of magical energy, glancing behind her to see Uriel, healing her leg wounds. "Uri... I don't... I don't think I can, but, I..." What is my fight? Spurned by my Goddess, rejected by my people, upholding these doctrines whilst I put myself in a place with these humans, who only believe that fighting and killing each other is... Is the only... Her head still hurt, her back did as well. Her legs were feeling better, and the burning in her throat had cleared up. She stood up straight, keeping her sword up.

"What they believe in is wrong," she managed to mumble, staring at her friend with pain and tears in her eyes. "They fight to save their friend, but some of them, they're enjoying this! This mindless slaughter... It's like they have no regard for each other, not in the least..." I can't understand it... If you wanted to save your friend, why, all the extra steps, the needless violence... Make it quick, do not make them suffer! No one deserves to suffer like this...

She grit her teeth, gripping her sword's hilt tightly. It didn't stop her tears, but-- "I can s-still help. I will keep you safe, Erion, Uriel..." That was the least she could do. "Do what you must," she spoke, taking up her stance in front of the both of them. A new emotion was seeping into her as she felt herself scowl. Rage. Disgust. Ire. Something she felt she would never experience. It was sickening her further. This twisted emotion, as a small ball of anger aimed at the humans started to spread through her mind. And as Erion's arrow whizzed past her, the feeling grew, for a moment, until she saw where he had fired. Her expression cleared in an instant, turning back at him with an almost smile.

"Thank you."

Amalia bulwarks her team o3o7

Edited September 11, 2016 by Narmaya

[Snike]

Well, his plan of shooting Zerachiel in the face just went up in smoke. Literal smoke. Axel sighed, then decided to take a moment to drink a stimulant and evaluate the situation.

Axel uses a Catalyst!

MT + 4 (?) HIT + 5! Now 12/15 base.

Aside from the smoked team, there was a team with only its' apparent defender left standing, and another team entirely untouched. The red armored man didn't like the look of their weapons, though.

"Anna, got the shifty one?" Axel asked, as he reloaded his rod. Just in case.

***

"While I hope your plea works, best be careful," Lane said to Lysandra, before focusing his attention- and his staff- on the archer who had just dropped the smoke grenade thrower. He was a bit too far away for the man's healing to be fully effective, however what were serious injuries became mere scratches in comparison. The servant of Nyx just had to hope that they didn't come into play, later.

Lane Shifts 5 STR into MAG! Now 0/10, respectively.

Lane Heals Erion! Erion +15 HP!

Team ILL gains 2 points!

Erion 21/24

[scorri]

Erion nodded. "It's not what I'm used to but... You're right. I can't promise I'll be able to do this every time, but where I can I'll spare their lives. But please..." He hesitated and then placed a hand on her shoulder. "I know you want to help. But don't... Don't push yourself too far, ok?" Taking a step back from her, he strung another arrow onto his bow and aimed carefully at the cloud of smoke. Just give me a clear shot... I can end this quickly.

Uri meanwhile, gently placed his hand on Amalia's back, continuing to feed healing energy into her body. "I know my friend. I know. If you want... We do not need to stick with them. After all of this, if you would rather go on our own path, I would not object."

[Nanami Touko]

"It means more than you know, Erion," she managed, the smile coming as she spoke, scowl disappeared from sight. A confused brow slipped over her eyes as he asked her not to push herself-- she shook her head quickly. "I have to help! I am here, and I am still standing... Even if I can not stop you all from killing each other, I can at least knock out the few I get close to, and keep you all safe. I will stop what bloodshed I can..."

As for what Uriel said... She didn't have an answer. Did she want to leave? Right now, yes... But did she want to leave all of these people? Not... Not really. She'd spoken to a few, but, they were good people... Mislead in their ways, and evidently prone to violence, but they were not sadistic. Erion was proof enough of that. She smiled back at Uriel, but did not answer. I'll just keep helping. It's all I know how to do, anyway...

[Phoenix]

Silence

Aside from herself and Zachary, Gabbie sensed only three other people in the house. Those three were in the basement. "Three on two, huh? I guess that works," she quietly mused.

"What are we waiting for?" Zach asked. James quietly stepped into the room, coming up behind Zach.

"She's waiting for me, I think," James smiled. Zach sent him a look.

"Let's go," Gabbie said, heading for the staircase that lead down into the basement. James' face said it all, "I told you so." Zach rolled his eyes and the two followed after the lancer.

The basement appeared to be empty when they got down there, but Gabbie didn't look surprised. "Good news ... we're not too late. Bad news ... they knew we were coming." Gabbie's best guess? One or both of them sensed Zachary. Gabbie dropped into a combat stance, thoughts in the back of her mind demanding she take out the magic seal, though she knew there was only a one in three chance it would actually be of any use without Samael around.

Violence

Road had his first target lined up, but he hesitated as the bulk of their enemies began to get into range. Not one to leave himself completely open, he guarded his upper torso, neck, and jaw with his rifle, using it in a similar manner as a shield. The move still left the barrel pointed in Gabriel's general direction, and seemed timely, as one of the archers was about to take a shot at him. He thought the arrow was coming for his head, so that's what he tried to covered when the arrow came whistling in, but by some strange twist of fate, it wound up skewering his leg.

Road dropped to the opposite knee as a burst of flame erupted around his hand, a combat reflex that normally served as a close range counterattack. It nearly cost him temporary use of his hand. His glove was charred by the time he reined in the fire spell. The only thing he could think to do for now was to fall back and try to treat the wound. Using his own wings for cover, preferring to sacrifice those before presenting his head or chest, he began to focus his power.

Zerachiel simply stood there as the smoke enveloped him, Lucille, and Leo. He was actually a little sore being taken out of the fight like that, but it did give him time to look at the situation more tactically, and he knew they were at an overwhelming disadvantage at the moment. He would have to act quickly to change that, but he had another problem he also had to deal with, that woman ...

He called out to them through the fumes clouding his world. "If you were here to talk, you wouldn't have butchered my men! Save the rhetoric for later, woman!" He quickly turned to Leo, one of only two figures close enough for him to even make out the figure of. "Leo, take your friends and get that old woman. Don't kill her, just bring her to me." The smoke was clearing quickly. "Hurry up, now, go!"

"Alright, alright. Look after Lucille," he pleaded, "she shouldn't even be here."

"I know," Zerachiel bit out as Leo ran off. "You're here now, though, so make yourself useful. I'll cover you," he nodded, encouraging the girl to contribute to the battle.

"Right," Lucille nodded in turn. With the smoke all but gone, she rushed to the side of one of the only remaining mages.

Zerachiel meanwhile moved a fair distance closer to the group. He didn't much care who he went after, as long as he could knock them down a peg. He settled for a target that was both in range, and that he could bring down without getting himself surrounded and cut off from the others. Not closing in meant using his blunderbuss, or one or two thrown weapons. He opted for the latter, and attacked Isabella. It wasn't likely that they'd get any new recruits out of this if they managed to win, but the idea had occurred to him when he released the pair of axes, which subtly influenced their course.

"Her," Leo called out as he broke into a sprint, heading right for Lysandra. One of his own men, the assassin, closed in from another direction. "Don't kill her, we need her alive!"

"Got it," his partner acknowledged.

Leo hadn't been expecting Lysandra to meet his attack head on and dissuade him with an earth spell, but he weathered it as best he could and closed in. He couldn't possibly incapacitate the woman safely using his axe, so he slammed his fist into her stomach as hard as he could, instead. Severe internal injuries? Maybe, he admitted, but that was easier to treat than a gaping wound that would bleed out in minutes. For some reason, the assassin saw fit to nick her wrist with his poisoned blade. When Leo gave him a look, he said "It's not lethal, just to keep her out for a while--" and just like that, he was gone. An arrow had found its way into his eye socket, and he tumbled from Leo's view like a falling tree.

"N-no!" Denial was something fate cared nothing for, and Leo found himself on one knee, a bullet had been buried in the other. The gunshot rang in Leo's ears as the pain grabbed hold of him and forced him down. "Dammit ..." What was he going to do now? Just wait for someone to shoot him, again? "Dammit!"

The last thing Lucille wanted to hear was Leo cursing while so close to the enemy. She got her fellow mage on his feet and he made a beeline for Road. Lucille meanwhile decided she should try to help Leo, despite how ... stupid ... most would deem that move to be. She couldn't leave him alone over there to be ganged up on and killed.

The mage knight treated Road quickly, but he was nowhere near one hundred percent, not that he really cared. He waited just long enough for the mage to get clear and then blasted himself into the air with a fire spell, too furious to care about his singed boots. He was high enough for a clear shot on the archer who'd attacked him, and even the swordswoman blocking everyone else couldn't intercept this shot. "Why don't I return the favor?!" He took a shot, aiming to trade crippling injury for a crippling injury.

As Road took off, the seraph knight closed in on the group Leo and his partner had attacked, hoping to take down its last remaining member. That didn't work out, but just barely, and she hadn't lost anything for trying, though the thought of falling back to safety was stronger than ever.

ENEMY PHASE#3

Zerachiel attacks Isabella with Tomahawk! Rolls 2,2,6!

http://www.coyotecode.net/roll/lookup.php?rollid=138521

Hit! -8 HP!

Zerachiel doubles! Rolls 2,2,1!

Hit! -8 HP! KO!

Lucille uses Raise on Mage Knight!

Mage Knight HP 20/27

Leo uses Dual Attack, attacks Lysandra with Deadly Axe!

Lysandra launches CounterSpell!

-6 HP!

Leo's rolls 1,2,4!

http://www.coyotecode.net/roll/lookup.php?rollid=138524

Critical hit! -48 HP! KO!

Leo gains +2/-1 skill die modifiers

Assassin's roll irrelevant because we're past the point of KO but it's in the link.

Plague status, etc.

Mage Knight uses Raise on Road!

Road HP 5/21

Road attacks Erion with Rifle! Rolls 3,5,2!

http://www.coyotecode.net/roll/lookup.php?rollid=138526

Hit! KO!

Marshall A Taunts Arietta and Defends Road!

Seraph Knight attacks Lane with Plague Lance! Rolls 2,2,4!

http://www.coyotecode.net/roll/lookup.php?rollid=138527

Hit! -8 HP! Plague status!

Marshall B Taunts Gar and Defends Seraph Knight!

OTHER PHASE#3

Anna uses Precision Shot and attacks Assassin with the Arbalest! That's a lot of A words, huh? 4,3,3!

Auto Critical Hit and KO!

Gabriel attacks Leo with Dread! Rolls 2,3,6!

http://www.coyotecode.net/roll/lookup.php?rollid=138529

Hit! -27 HP!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
TEAMS
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
ENEMIES
PART II:
Zerachiel HP 36/36 Tomahawk
Lucille HP 21/21 Barricade
Leo HP 12/45 Deadly Axe (+2/-1 skill mod)
---
Road HP 5/21 Rifle
Mage Knight HP 20/27 Rogueslayer Light Tome (Aggressive)
Marshall A HP 14/30 Firewall (Defensive-Aggressive)
---
Assassin HP 0/12
Seraph Knight HP 33/33 Plague Lance (Aggressive)
Marshall B HP 30/30 Firewall (Defensive-Aggressive)

ALLIES:
Anna HP 27/27 Arbalest
Gabriel HP 30/30 Dread

PCS:
Reign HP 18/24 Force Fire Tome
Faatina HP 10/21 Precise+ Lance
Thany HP 18/21 Killer Lance
---
Amalia HP 21/21 Brave Sword (-2 SPD)
Erion HP 0/24 Rune Sword
Uriel HP 27/27
---
Veronika HP 21/21 Crippling Sword (DEF)
Robin HP 13/18 Crossbow
Kenta HP 15/15 Blood Sword
---
Arietta HP 25/27 Poison Axe
Gar HP 9/9 Stiletto
Axel HP 21/21 Silver Lance
---
Isabella HP 0/24 Blitz Lance
Lysandra HP 0/30 Advance Shield Tome (Earth)
Lane HP 2/15 Night Brand (Dark Light Brand)

PLAYER PHASE#4

Edited September 11, 2016 by Phoenix

[KentaEzren]

"Well now, lets see.... There aren't that much enemies to fight, but... I'll have to stick with one." He thought, advancing towards the front of the battlefield, and when nearly approaching an enemy, he drew his sword. "Now I know killing isn't an answer, but our target is valuable to us... and your in the way of us getting to him."

[spoiler=Attack]

Kenta attacks Road. http://www.coyotecode.net/roll/lookup.php?rollid=138538 4, 5, 6 Damage (6 STR, 9 from Blood Sword equipped, Damage die = 5) 5 (Road's Health) - 9 (Kenta's Damage + Blood Sword equipped) = -4, KO.

Edited September 11, 2016 by KentaEzren

[-Cynthia-]

Now that the smoke had cleared, Veronika moved forward on her original objective of taking out the enemy leader. She rushed up to him and rapidly slashed at him, her sword cutting through his armor with his blow. However, he was a tough and skilled opponent and struck her solidly with his axe, sending her to the ground in one blow.

Veronika uses Astra!

http://www.coyotecode.net/roll/lookup.php?rollid=138542

(3,5,5)= Critical Hit! 10-7= 3 x2= 6 damage! Zerachiel 30/36 Defense -1

(6,2,6)= Hit! 7-6= 1 damage! Zerachiel 28/36 Defense -2

(4,5,4)= Hit! 10-5= 5 damage! Zerachiel 23/36 Battle Craze kicks in STR,SPD,DEF, RES+2! Total DEF: -1

(1,5,5)= Critical Hit! 10-6= 4 x2= 8 damage! Zerachiel 15/36 Battle Craze 2 activates STR, SPD, DEF, RES +4 Total DEF: 0

(1,6,2)= 12+1+2= 15-15 Avo Hit! 11-7= 4 damage! Zerachiel 11/36 Total DEF: -1

(4,4,6)= Hit! 20+4-1= 23 damage! Veronika 0/21

Nika -4 points

Zerachiel 11/36 STR,SPD, RES +4 HIT/AS + 25% DEF -1

[scorri]

As the avian Erion had shot flew away, he turned and smiled at Amalia. "It'll be ok, see? We can do this, I promi--" His words were cut off with an agonized scream as he collapsed to the ground. Road's shot had taken him straight in the knee leaving him unable to stand or really even move at this point.

Uri started to heal Erion when he spotted the group's other healer almost unable to continue on after an exchange with a flier. "I... I'm sorry. I'll be right there. Just hold on for a few more seconds." He launched himself over to the other healer, soothing his wounds as much as he could. "Hold on, we need to keep this team up, alright?"

Uri heals Lane for 8 HP

+2 points to Team Vowels

Lane: 10/15

[Nanami Touko]

"Yes... Just stay behind me, I'll--" Erion's scream cut her off, the noise sending a painful chill down her spine. She looked back at him, and then where he'd been shot from. "E-Erion..." He wasn't dead, quite obviously, but he was still in horrible pain. "An eye for an eye-- this sort of foolish thinking...!" She glared back at the avian that had shot Erion, finding him unfortunately out of her reach, but if you want to play this game, then I'll play it...

Another hulking man stormed in, punching Lysandra hard, before getting knocked down to one knee, bullet lodged in his leg. "You! All of you!" She rushed after him, sword at the ready. A quick dash to get close, a hard swing, cutting at his wrist to knock the axe out of his hand; "just stay down!" And finally, hand clenched tight around her sword's hilt, she drove her first into his chin, sending him rolling over onto the ground. "Enough! Enough of all of this!" She was still scowling, unable to control the anger filling her mind. She clenched her hand again, wincing. Punching humans in the face like this, it was bound to happen eventually. She'd broken two of her fingers, stuck between her sword hilt and that man's hard skull. She let go, tossing her sword into her left hand, taking up her stance.

Not yet. I have to stay standing... Not yet!

[spoiler=rage!]

http://www.coyotecode.net/roll/lookup.php?rollid=138546

Amalia attacks, 7 + 5 - 2 = 10 damage!
Vantage! Brave Sword!
Amalia attacks again, 7 + 6 - 2 = 11 damage!

Down goes Leo! Up goes anger!

Amalia switches to Firewall!

Amalia/Uri/Erion +10 points

[Snike]

As it had turned out, none of the initial kills stuck, and a good fifth of their force fell, including Lysandra. What made things worse was that Veronika had charged Zerachiel, and had been struck down in a single blow. Which in turn meant command -what little of it there was- was quickly breaking down. They had to end this battle, and fast.

So Axel decided to start with taking out their leader. Before Zerachiel could get behind cover, he was blasted off of his feet by the lancer's second shot of his light rod.

"Target down. Medics next!," he said, even as he swapped the spent weapon for his lance and moved to both cover Nika and finish the artificial off if need be.

http://www.coyotecode.net/roll/lookup.php?rollid=138549

1,2,4 = 16-15 = Hit!

22-8 = 14 points of damage! Zerachiel is defeated!

Team GGA gains 10 points!

Axel 21/21

Zerachiel 0/36

[Thany]

:Thany walks up to marshall A: "i dont like how you look, so im going to stab you!" :she twirls her lance very fast and stabs, only for the lance to not even penetrate his armor.: "wa... what?" :Then the marshall goes for a horizontal swing, but she ducks under the attack: "how did you not get hurt from my lance?" :Thany asked confused,:

http://www.coyotecode.net/roll/lookup.php?rollid=138555

rolled a crit for no damage.

http://www.coyotecode.net/roll/lookup.php?rollid=138556

he missed

[Ether]

Arietta vs Lucille

Arietta hits, no damage, poison

Lucille hit, no damage

Arietta/Gar/Axel +1

http://www.coyotecode.net/roll/lookup.php?rollid=138561

Faatina closes in on Road

[Script]

Man Called Gar

Yeah right, loser.

But Gar's earlier "ease" for the killin' got undone. This whole thing should have been a lesson in not tenth-assing effort but noooo he just wanted to inflict unspeakable atrocities on someone twice over. The world was just never fair.

Gar threw his knives into a vortex of possibilities.

Gar vantages, Gar is at range, Gar doubles, Gar is taunted.

Taunt reduces MT.

Gar does 6+6-4=8 damage.

Gar doubles does 6+2-4=4 damage.

Gar does 12 total damage.

Mage Knight at 8/24 HP.

Taunt reduces damage.

Gar does 9+6-4=11 / .75 = 8 damage damage.

Gar doubles does 9+2-4=5 damage.

Gar does 13 total damage.

Mage Knight at 7/24 HP.

http://www.coyotecode.net/roll/lookup.php?rollid=138562

Arietta/Axel/Gar +1 point.

Why weren't they dying!?

Edited September 12, 2016 by Script

[Snowy_One]

Robin took a deep breath as she nocked her next arrow, doing her best to ensure the shot was lined up perfectly after she stood up. Already the battle had gotten hectic and the three-man teams that seemed so common had started to form up again. Didn't really matter though. She saw Gar trying to take down a mage knight, and failing, and had her target. She lined up her shot, aiming for the mages neck, and let the arrow fly.

Robin rolled a 5, 6, 3! A hit! Big shock...

Robin deals 11 damage! (9 + 6 - 4) to Mage Knight! Mage Knight HP -4/24.

http://www.coyotecode.net/roll/lookup.php?rollid=138576

[Snike]

"Thank you. Just give me a second to focus myself," Lane said, as he leaned on his staff to keep steady. While his armor had blunted the impact of the seraph knight's lance, the actual weapon was poisoned, so it seemed likely that he wouldn't last much longer. Maybe enough for one more helpful action, but after that, he would have to step back.

Well, unless the seraph knight came back for more.

[Phoenix]

[spoiler=Try Fighters]

Zachary screamed as his whole world flashed white. It happened without warning, and left him helpless on his hand and knees.

"Agh! Son of a ..." That was James' voice. Zachary had a feeling he knew what happened to James.

"Gabbie," Zach called out, "what's going on?!"

"You two stay down," Gabbie called over to them. She'd been looking just slightly away from the brilliant flash when it occurred, and was spared the full intensity of the light. Her instincts were right. She reached for the magic seal Anna had given her. It was too small to affect a large area, but any light magic traveling within a few meters of her would be drawn into the seal. She clutched it in her palm, keeping her bare fingers off of it, so as to avoid the burns she would otherwise get from having the seal touching her hands while absorbing so much power. "Just stay down," she warned them, again as she began to move forward.

The basement was a large area, with little furniture or cover, and one back end area not fully visible form the staircase, like two large squares connected by faces, offset to right. The corner she would have to round to get a clear view of that area, the area Lois and her captors were in, was one she knew she would have to be fully prepared for.

The enemy took the initiative. Whether emboldened by Zachary and James' cries or simply wary of waiting, a tall avian woman stepped out from around the corner with two hands leveled at Gabbie. Two fingers on each hand gave off the distinct white light of high level combative light magic. All she could do before Perugia began blasting away at her was raise up the tiny light seal to intercept the light shots. Within a quarter of a second, Perugia had fired off six shots, three from each hand. To Gabbie's surprise and Perugia's dismay, those first six shots rushed frantically into the seal.

Gabbie took the opportunity to use her spear and thrust at Perugia. She just barely missed, but the woman had no choice but to fall back or risk a serious injury. "Alexis, some help here," she called, as she tried to keep herself at a safe distance from Gabbie's strange looking weapon.

Gabbie was expecting to get tackled to the ground and pulverized when she saw Alexis rushing out of the shadows at full tilt, but the water mage blew past her and floored Zach, who had just made it back onto his feet. When James stood up to meet her, he was kicked in the groin and shoved into the wall with enough force to break one or both of them if not for it being reinforced by the subterranean dirt and rock. Alexis settled for James' dislocated shoulder and moved in on Zachary, who had taken the opportunity to charge up a thunder spell.

"Gabbie, we'll deal with her, you find Lois!" Gabbie doubted he and James had the situation handled, but she couldn't afford to turn her back on Perugia just yet. "Hold her down!" Zach called out, hoping to trick Alexis into thinking James was back on his feet. It worked. She turned to see him biting hard as he nursed the fresh injury. By the time she thought to look back toward Zach, it was too late.

Unleashing the most powerful spell he could manage on such short notice, he nearly electrocuted Alexis and himself at the same time. Gabbie and Perugia, forgetting all about each other momentarily, watched in shock at the yellow spectacle that lit up the entire area. Alexis was still standing, but visibly dazed, and slightly obscured by the smoke rising from her singed outfit. Zach was in a similar state, slightly dazed and trying to crawl away from the tank of a woman while he had the chance. Smoke was rising from his now singed and tattered robe, and he hadn't gotten out of that without a few minor burns.

"That was good," Alexis admitted, "but it was also suicidal."

James moved in, reduced to one arm but not willing to let her initial attack go unanswered, he smashed his bow against the back of her head and reached around to her front to pull her into a headlock as he dropped his weapon. Only having one arm made the move far too easy for her to free herself from. James saw it coming, a hard punch to the face that left him seeing stars. What he didn't see coming, was the sickening angle his arm was left at, after Alexis had twisted it, pulling him into the perfect position, and breaking it with a quick elbow slam. He could only loose a brief scream before Alexis kicked him squarely in the chest and sent him back into the wall.

Gabbie winced at the take down. These two were just too strong for them, even as a team. Gabbie knew she was next unless she diverted their attention, somehow. Realizing she could kill two birds with one stone, she yelled, "Warp, now! Get Lois out of here!" She directed her attention behind Perugia, where she sensed Lois, and Perugia, somewhat falling for the diversion, glanced partway over her shoulder. That was when Gabbie rushed her, slamming her arm into the avian's face and slipping the magic seal into her dress as she toppled over. She didn't lose much momentum as she ran over the avian and toward Lois' location. Alexis was hot on her tail.

Lois finally came into view, a pathetic sight that made Gabbie wish they'd found her sooner. She reached the seated girl and wrapped her arms around her, hoping to get pulled into the warp, herself. On second thought, take me too, and then grab Zach and James if you can! ... they'd tried, at least ....

Countdown

His attempt to capture Lysandra had been countered so hard, he might have had an easier time doing it, himself. What was done was done, though, and Leo had been shot in the leg and then knocked around by a furious swordswoman. Zerachiel couldn't deal with her, himself; he had his own swordswoman to deal with.

Veronika hit him quite a few times before he could mount a solid defense, and since he'd already lost a strap or two holding his pauldron in place, a defensive approach wasn't going to be effective anymore. He caught what would have been a sixth strike with his hand, suffering another cut on his hand and then smacked Veronika with the flat of his axe. Although not as messy as a conventional bladed strike, a hit that hard could have killed regardless. He didn't bother to check if he'd done her in at first, wanting to gather himself before he decided what to do with her.

Leo rolled onto his back, trying to shield his face from any further abuse, his other injuries proving almost trivial for the moment. His eyes darted every which way, searching for his weapon, but he could find the blasted thing, not while lying on his back, face straight skyward. He sighed as blood pooled up in his mouth from his missing tooth. He spit it out to keep himself from choking and sighed. "They got us good ..." He closed his eyes, expecting to be shot dead or impaled before he could even think about getting up, again.

Lucille, despite having been mostly uninjured to this point, felt she had things the worst of those still standing. Arietta had come at her with a giant maul and nearly took her head off with it. Lucille didn't do much more than flail defensively before making a break for it. She tried to get back to Zerachiel.

"Help! I need help! She's trying to kill me!"

"Sure, I'll take care of it," Zerachiel lazily said as his old wounds began to close. Just as he turned his sights on Arietta he was blasted, falling backward before rolling back onto his feet. The wound in his chest was severe, but it was the shock of being flipped like an omelet that seemed to hold the artificial's attention. At first. His eyes met Lucille's pleading ones after a moment. "Just make a break for it ... pretend you're a civilian. The guards'll buy it." He glared at Lysandra's fallen form and called over. "You've got my attention, mom! Say your ... blasted piece ..." Lucille flinched as Zerachiel toppled over, barely conscious.

"Zechs! You can't just lie down! They're beating us!" Lucille knelt down over him, trying to tell if he was still alive. The wound on his chest was already beginning to close rapidly, but Zerachiel himself seemed to be too out of it to take advantage of that fact. She stood back up and tried to heal him, but a bullet came racing by and tore her staff from her hand, leaving her reeling from the impact.

Road saw Zerachiel go down from the air, and judging by Lucille's panic, he was either already dead or about to be. Thinking back to the intensity of the rod blast, Road was almost certain Zerachiel was dead before his back hit the pavement. The battle was lost. A mounted warrior seemed to be pushing deep into the tattered remains of their defensive line, but Road was more concerned about his leg and figured one of the others could deal with her. It didn't pay to be reckless, though. He eyed his two remaining smoke grenades. With the battle decided, there was no use saving them. He needed to cover either his own escape or that of his allies. He threw down a smoke grenade and landed near the spent casing to try and treat his wound.

ENEMY PHASE#4

Road uses Smoke Grenade on himself!

Road uses Elixir! +20 HP!

Marshall A moves to siege range!

Seraph Knight attacks Axel with Plague Lance! Rolls 1,4,4!

http://www.coyotecode.net/roll/lookup.php?rollid=138713

Critical Hit! Plague status!

-18 HP!

Marshall B defends Seraph Knight!

Poison ticks!

Lucille -4 HP!

Plague ticks!

Axel -6 HP and KO!

Lane -4 HP!

OTHER PHASE#4

Anna attacks Seraph Knight with Destiny Bow! Rolls 1,2,1!

http://www.coyotecode.net/roll/lookup.php?rollid=138715

Reroll! 6,3,4! 4 Charges remaining

http://www.coyotecode.net/roll/lookup.php?rollid=138716

Reroll! 6,3,3! 3 Charges remaining

http://www.coyotecode.net/roll/lookup.php?rollid=138717 (this is mistakenly marked as reroll1 but is actually reroll2)

Critical hit!

-16 HP!

Gabriel attacks Lucille with Despair! Rolls 4,5,1!

http://www.coyotecode.net/roll/lookup.php?rollid=138714

Hit!

-15 HP!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
TEAMS
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
ENEMIES
PART II:
Zerachiel HP 0/36 Tomahawk
Lucille HP 2/21 Barricade (Poison)
Leo HP 0/45 Deadly Axe
---
Road HP 21/21 Rifle (Untargetable) (Siege Range)
Mage Knight HP 0/27
Marshall A HP 14/30 Firewall (Defensive-Aggressive) (Siege Range)
---
Assassin HP 0/12
Seraph Knight HP 14/30 Plague Lance (Aggressive)
Marshall B HP 30/30 Firewall (Defensive-Aggressive)

ALLIES:
Anna HP 27/27 Arbalest
Gabriel HP 30/30 Despair

PCS:
Reign HP 18/24 Force Fire Tome
Faatina HP 10/21 Precise+ Lance
Thany HP 18/21 Killer Lance
---
Amalia HP 21/21 Brave Sword
Erion HP 0/24 Rune Sword
Uriel HP 27/27
---
Veronika HP 0/21 Crippling Sword (DEF)
Robin HP 13/18 Crossbow
Kenta HP 15/15 Blood Sword
---
Arietta HP 25/27 Poison Axe
Gar HP 9/9 Stiletto
Axel HP 0/21 Rod
---
Isabella HP 0/24 Blitz Lance
Lysandra HP 0/30 Advance Shield Tome (Earth)
Lane HP 8/15 Night Brand (Dark Light Brand)

PLAYER PHASE#5

Edited September 13, 2016 by Phoenix

[-Cynthia-]

Lysandra had blacked out briefly when the warrior's fist had struck her, only to feel the familiar feeling of life's energy reviving her and bringing her back to consciousness once again. As she opened her eyes, she saw that Gabriel and the others appeared to be doing well enough and Zerachiel was injured, calling out to her. She managed to summon up enough strength to get back to her feet and look at him.

"I...just wanted to remind you that you can make your own choices. No matter the circumstances of your birth, you do not have to do anything your father or anyone else says. This world has many terrible injustices- but also a lot of good. I cannot make your decisions for you, but there are other ways to change things rather than destroy them," she said, looking at Zerachiel with sad eyes.

[scorri]

Having healed the other healer enough to keep him on his feet, Uri rushed back to Erion, where he quickly healed the man enough that he was able to get up on his feet. It only took a few seconds before the avian was back up on his feet, looking for the next person to heal.

Erion meanwhile staggered to his feet, barely putting weight on the knee that had been shattered only a few seconds ago. Drawing a few of his daggers out from under his sleeves, he called out to Lane, "Oi, you and me, lets get that armored hulk who keeps getting in the way of that pegasus."

Uri raises Erion!

+6 HP

+3 points to Team Vowel

Erion rings up, dual attacks Marshall B with Lane!

[spoiler=To the rescue]

Keeper had been waiting on that call, a tome in one hand and one of his many energy storing jewels in the other. With a flash of light, he appeared in the room where chaos was happening. Releasing the spell he'd been holding back, he grabbed quickly reached down to Gabbie and Lois. As a flash of light intended more to blind any enemies approaching than anything else was released, a smaller flash of light was emitted as he warped the two of them back to Weylands. Letting them go on the floor, he glanced down at Gabbie. Two more? I'll do my best. Keep her calm as best you can. With that, he disappeared in another flash of light.

Edited September 14, 2016 by scorri

[Snike]

The other big guy went down just before Zerachiel did, and following them was one of the healers. As expected, the mercenaries were starting to clean things up.

That didn't stop the seraph knight.

Before Axel could react, he was slammed back by the flier's pass, then, almost immediately forced to a knee by a burning in his shoulder. Poison?

It didn't matter, since the battle was already won, but it was still more than inconvenient. Rather then attempt to shake it off, the lancer just decided to sit down and try to catch his breath for a moment.

***

Lane gave Erion a look, before sighing. "Couldn't be the worst decision I've made. Let's go," Lane said, as he abruptly stopped glowing purple as he put his staff away. He drew his blade, and followed the other mercenary into battle. Erion got the jump on the enemy guard, dealing two mighty blows with his daggers and leaving him stunned long enough for Lane to take a stab. The weapon began to glow purple, and, with more ease than expected, pierced through the marshall's armor and into his chest.

"Good job," Lane said, as he removed his glowing sword from the now staggering enemy. He wasn't entirely certain if the wound was fatal, but he certainly wasn't a threat in his state. With that done, the servant of Nyx retreated, unable to hide his growing fatigue from his previous wound

Lane Shifts 5 MAG into STR! Now 0/10, respectively.

Lane prepares for Dual attack!

http://www.coyotecode.net/roll/lookup.php?rollid=138730

Dual attack!

Erion attacks with Rune Sword!

4,4,3 = Critical hit! 2(19-12) = 14 points of damage! Heals 7 points! Marshall B 16/30 Erion 13/24

6,2,1 = Critical Hit! 2(17-12) = 10 points of damage! Heals 5 points! Marshall B 6/30 Erion 18/24

Lane targets Resistance with Night Brand!

Lane attacks!

6,5,3 = Critical hit! 2(15-12) = 6 points of damage! Marshall B is defeated!

Team ILL gains 10 points. Team vowels (UAE) gains 1 point.

Marshall B 0/30

Erion 18/24

Lane 6/15

Edited September 14, 2016 by Snike

[Ether]

It seemed that the healer had managed to block her swing with that colossal shield of hers, but she could see the woman's shield arm sink a little. Broken bones and internal bleeding in the arm, most likely. It wasn't an immediate KO, but with a little time, it would either soften her up or knock her out on it's own. Leaving her to Gabriel as he took his shot at the retreating healer, Arietta turned towards the pegasus rider who had been darting around and causing trouble. Even managed to get up close and into position, but a sudden turn from the rider made her re-direct her trajectory ever so slightly yo ensure the hit... a shame too, one good hit with the triforce revved up would have eviscerated both the rider and turned the pegasus into glue. Oh well, she still got a solid hit in, crushing the knight's breastplate before they took to the air, bleeding profusely.

That lance stung though, fuck...

***

The last thing Faatina saw clearly was the enemy Avian sniper descend into the growing smoke as he dropped the smoke grenade. But if he was descending, then... she concentrated for a moment, trying to hear or make out anything in the fog... it wasn't much to go off of, but the vague sounds of landing were enough to give it a go...!

A few moments after she began her charge, the vague figure in the smoke appeared before her. Pulling her blade and rushing the Avian down, she swung her sword down at his head as soon as he was near in range. From this close, he couldn't pull his gun on her, and if he took to the skies, he'd never land a good shot through the smoke.

***

Well, she had been right to be wary of the leader, at any rate. When the smoke had cleared, the man had swiftly lobbed two axes in her direction, and while they hadn't inflicted any sort of mortal wound, they had managed to take Isabella out of the fight for the moment. And just like the last time, the healers that seemed to supposedly be on side didn't pay her much heed. Were it not for her own ability to recover, albiet more slowly, she might have felt left out to dry, moreso than she already did at any rate. Still, she was close to regaining enough strength to pursue any fleeing foes, the dark magic flowing through her from within and mending her wounds.

Arietta vs Seraph Knight

Arietta(4,4,4) Autohit!(This feels so wrong fuck you Miracle+), 14 Mt - 5 def, 9 damage!

Seraph(4,6,5) 14 hit - 8 evd, hit! 16 Mt - 7 def, 9 damage!

Arietta 16/27(Plague)

Seraph 5/30(Poison)

Arietta/Gar/Axel +1

http://www.coyotecode.net/roll/lookup.php?rollid=138742

Edited September 14, 2016 by Ether

[Nanami Touko]

He's back up? Mercy bless you, Uriel! Amalia took a deep breath as none of their enemies came after her, the big man covering his face and collapsing on his back. "I won't kill you... But I can't promise the same of my allies. I'm sorry..." She left him with that, rushing back over to Erion, who had just finished tossing daggers at one of the marshalls. He'd been squarely defeated, despite his massive shield, but Amalia still wished he was alright...

"E-Erion, your leg, how is it? Does it still hurt?" She asked him quickly before scanning the fight again, spotting another smoke grenade go off, and then-- wings? She only caught a glimpse as an avian with a rifle dove into the smokescreen. You... She took up a defensive stance in front of Erion.

"Sniper! I will not let you harm him again!" she barked at the cloud, trying her best to be menacing-- which was a meek attempt at intimidation best. "I-I knocked your friend out! And I-I'll... I'll, k-ki..." She couldn't bring herself to even utter the word, in threat. The more this went on, the less impressive her boast was becoming. "Shoot me if you can!" she finally managed, "unless you're afraid to shoot one of your own!" That was all she had, and it was a hard thing to claim, without wings. Still... I can't reach him, and I can't react fast enough to stop a bullet... This is the worst feeling...

Amalia defends team ~'3'~