Reincarnation Wars - IC *Still Recruiting*

[ArlEammon]

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=13479439#post13479439

2040 AD

Giant In The Playgrounds Holo-Forum

The various avatars of people walking around the Holo-Forum of Giant in the Playground range widely from the truely bizzarre, such as Illithids, to the cute, stick figures of Rich Burlew's Order of the Stick. As we speak to eachother, and play various role playing games to pass the time, something bizarre happens. Our bodies disappear from their virtual plug-ins, and we all appear as ourselves in cyber-space. All other avatars and board members are gone, and only we are left. We feel as if something even more unusual is about to occur, and we feel . . . changed somehow.

Armin walks into the area the others are, and he looks around the virtual place, a hollow, empty place without the others. Just as suddenly, we feel the presence of a truely powerful being enter into cyber-space with us. This man appears as a shining humanoid light. "I am Light." The being speaks to us. "I have come to tell you a great truth, none of you are Human any longer. You are all. . . more." Light sighs and goes on to explain, as none of you seem to understand the information he attempts to cram into your minds.

"In this world, you were born Human. However, you have all been born into various worlds as something more than on this world. You have chosen, even as we speak, which of your former selves you wish to draw unto your'self. Some of you may struggle with your new inner nature. Light nods towards Armin. "Some of you may find this to be the greatest adventure of all. Yet the reason you have come to this world into your present forms was so you may draw your selves into being. You have all been Chosen to fight, and find the knowledge needed to save your world, your worlds, and all worlds from eternal suffering at the hands of Unspeakable enemies."

You all understand the truth of your previous incarnations. Armin's eyes show themselves raven black, the rest of you exhibit minor changes, but all of you feel the power.

Light speaks again after you all feel the powers surging through you. "If any of you wish to ask your questions, ask them now."

[Morcleon]

At a complete loss of words, Morcleon slowly runs his tongue over his lips. Closing his eyes to focus, his first coherent thought since the announcement appears in his head. "... holy crap." He looks up at the being and lets out a sigh. "So... we're all the reincarnations of various past selves, come to defeat a powerful evil... I don't suppose you've ever played any of the Legend of Zelda games?"

He smirks slightly before his eyes widen in shock. The iris of each darkens into a pitch black before glowing red. Three black comma shapes fade into view on each eye, rotating slowly. They slowly expand outward to form a red six pointed flower with a black three pointed star in the center. Morcleon collapses to one knee and gasps out, staring around him. "I... I can see the lights... What just happened...?"

[ArlEammon]

The Light
"You are exhibiting minor changes in your body and soul, as well as major ones. The outward appearances of such changes will be passing soon, there might be some minor discomfort, but exhibiting actual pain is somewhat unheard of. Are you quite alright?"

[ArlEammon]

The Light
The Light nods to Marshal. "An intelligent question". He responds. "The answer is that neural feedback has been fed to your bodies because as of right now, you are literally in cyberspace. You aren't even in your homes anymore. You are literally in the Holo-Net Forums. Do you quite understand what I mean by this? This is no game, this is indeed a real-life situation. What must I do to convince you?"

[Morcleon]

"Yeah... I'll be fine." As the last of the pain fades into nothing, Morcleon wonders at the changes to his vision. It apparently gave him the ability to see some sort of energy, emanating from each figure in the room, as well as the ability to discern even the smallest unconscious twitches. ... it's not... it's not the sharingan, is it...?

He turns to Marshall to ask a question, but before he can utter a single word, a cold voice speaks in his mind. "Yes, yes it is the sharingan. Mine, in fact."

"Yeah, it's some sort of eternal mango or something..."

"It's Eternal Mangekyo, you fool! How we are similar is completely beyond me."

"Now, now, boys, break it up. We don't want to scare away the new guy, do we? He's never had anything of this sort before."

"Indeed. Now then, Morcleon, we shall be your guides in this venture. My name is Mitth'raw'nuruodo. You know me better as Grand Admiral Thrawn."

"Thrawn?! That's awesome? Who are the others?"

"The others? Uchiha Sasuke, John Taylor and Karan Sjet. Via your memories, I see that you have heard of them all, so I feel no need to explain them to you. Now, your acquisition of the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan is only the first of your abilities. As our soul become more entwined with yours, you will unlock more abilities, namely, all of ours."

"So I'm getting the full abilities of all of you. Like, with Sasuke's chakra and jutsu, Taylor's Gift and magic, Karan's... ah... What does she have? And what do you have?"

"I am one of the Unbound. I can easily sense hyperspace devices and various magical auras..."

"As for me, you have access to all of my tactical expertise, intelligence, and certainly not insignificant cooking ability."

"... wait, cooking ability?"

"Oh my god, Thrawn actually made a joke? Oh, this is gonna be more fun than I would have thought..."

"Now, you should return to your senses. I believe the entity of light, and indeed everyone in the room, is staring at you oddly."

Snapped from his reverie, Morcleon blinks a few times to get his head clear, and then lets out a deep breath. "Now this... this is going to be one hell of a ride..." He turns to the Light. "I don't suppose there's anything you can tell us about these enemies we're destined to fight?"

[Morcleon]

"Oh, I am well aware this isn't a game. If we're gonna be up against something that could kill us, we should get as much information about them as possible. All the better to defeat them with." Morcleon grins as he feels a cool, calming energy flow within him, his senses expanding and his mind sharpen.

Turning to the Light, he poses a second question. "I don't suppose you have any of their art...?"

[ArlEammon]

The Light
"Their art, what do you mean? Oh well, "Art" literal art. Yes. . . There is one called Yog-Sothoth. There are many others, such as DarkSeid, and Shuma Gorath. However, the three mentioned are the first three to have punctured into this reality. There is little to no conclusive proof that the three evil beings have made it into this world themselves, but they most assuredly have agents here. You would do well to avoid them, on the other hand, if you ever come into contact with them face to face. The consequences for newly awakened Chosen facing them would assuredly be fatal."

"As for their agents. A few but significant amount of their agents and minions should pose some great threat to you, but you could face them. However, one reason you have been chosen is that my kind is unable to find them directly. You are closely to Mortal Planes than my race, and thus are able to fight them directly. Purge them from this reality in any means necessary, whether peaceful or not, before they bring their Masters to this place."

[mkfuba07]

Tristan looks around in confusion, wondering what's come over these people. "What are you all talking about? Powers? Intertwined souls? Yog-Sothoth? Mangoes? You've all apparently lost your minds, but I'm not going to fall into the same tra-" His eyes clench shut as a flood of emotions wash over him from the others in the room. Anxious fear, eager anticipation, and relatively minor pangs of annoyance wash over him, threatening to bring him to his knees. Instinctively, Tristan draws strength from the steel of his watch, allowing it to fortify him against his new-found senses. He stares, wide-eyed, at his wrist as a cocky voice fills his head.

"Hell's bells, kid! You should know better than to discount something just because you haven't seen it before!"

"Foolish Alerans. I still do not understand this concept of intentional falsehoods. Why would someone claim to grant great power when they are unable to do so? The truth would shortly come to light, and the deceiver would shortly be defeated by his clan."

"We can't all be as wise as the Marat, Kitai. People will do terrible things for power, or even entertainment, and this kid has the brains to know that."

"Does he have the brains to get off his ass? Makin' us look like damn fools sittin' there with his head in his hands."

Tristan returns to his senses to discover that he's really fallen to the floor, though he doesn't remember it happening. He pushes himself to his feet, looks around at the others, and with a quick shake of the head to clear his thoughts says, "Well, consider me convinced. Either you're telling the truth or I've lost my mind as well. Either way, I'm in."

A small smirk appears on his face as he roles his eyes. "Alerans..."

[ArlEammon]

The Light
"It's good to know you accept this, Tristan." The Light responds. "Alright. One of you has a ship. And, Grand Admiral Thrawn, you know where you can find another. You can enter Sigil, the City of Portals through Cyber-Space connection at any time. Even though your investigation will take place on Earth sometime in the near future, you should start your search for evidence in Sigil. Currently, Sigil's 1,000,000 people have all disappeared, and only new arrivals inhabit the place. There are thousands of people there left, and we only have a few clues in where for you to look. There are many Temples left to the various deities there. It seems the clergymen were not affected as much as the others. The few clues I have managed to pick up is that the Lady of Pain is still in Sigil. This means you can question her directly also, if need be. If you fear for your lives, sanity and comfort, simply mention my name at her presence and she shall be unable to harm you."

[Morcleon]

"So, then. We have a lead." Morcleon grins. "Also, how exactly do we connect to Sigil through here? There are transfer codes for different threads and subforums, but what's the code for Sigil?"

He then turns inwards to the four-fold gestalt residing in his mind. "Thrawn? Do you know what ship he's talking about?"

"Not for certain. However, I suspect that it is Miss Karan's Pride of Hiigara. She has informed us that she felt its presence faintly as we made out way to your body. I suspect it is buried somewhere on your planet."

"The Pride of Hiigara? The mothership from Homeworld 2? Now that is an amazing ship..."

"Indeed. I suggest you attempt to find it as soon as possible.

[Erik Vale]

Erik

The word's 'This is Nuts' did not even compare to what was now happening. Erik was the first to feel his other 'selves' pipe up, talking. This was too much. Yet he was in the mood to follow what has to be a spike of imagination. Perhaps someone had slipped him a drug. Well to follow the rabbit...

"Well, if nothing else, I must be drugged or something but I'm game to follow the rabbit down it's hole... And I have the wierdist companions, one of whom I'm sure is mad. And admits to being so in tittle."

"Shove it kid, I'm only considered mad cause I play with runes. Sure, age and power and all that, but to innovate, the warp be damned."

"I wish I could say I have been on nuttier missions..... But really?"

"Dwarf, you would do well to tread more lightly around the warp and speak more quietly about it, lest you be cast into it... Besides, Aleandrea want's to speak."

"Seers. I know of Sigil, hell, I was bounced around planes of existence several times myself of my own accord not just my masters. I can try and transport us all now if you would like."

"Without protections, without guiding runes, looks like you are mad bound under demon-spawn-"

"Fey."

"We're surrounded by binary, I'm sure we could make whatever simple images-"

"We could use those...."

"I take that back, I don't party and don't go to them often, someone has definately given me a drug to 'lighten the mood.'"

((Colour to person allocation))

Black in Quotation marks: Erik
Dark Slate Grey in Quotation marks: Master Chief
Silver in Quotation marks: Alric the Mad
Yellow/Green in Quotation marks Aleandrea
Dark Orchid in Quotation marks Eldrad Ulthran

[ArlEammon]

The Light

"The transfer code for Sigil is a powerful and spiritual command from you. All you need to reach Sigil is to command the network to send you there and it will. One more thing, while you are investigating Sigil, you will need to discover and alternate means of reaching Earth once again. Should you be unable to find one after your investigation, you will be provided with one. So those of you who possess ships will need to wait until after your investigations on Earth to soar through the stars."

[NM020110]

William
The man who used the alias NM020110, silent to this point, now stood, surrounded by an abiding sense of power.

"The fusion of souls is complete, then?"

"Yes, though not the fusion of powers."

"Perhaps if Yukari weren't overloading the system..."

"Well, that was fixed. The Light seems to have removed her to stop a system overload."

"I suppose that it will finish when it finishes."

"Alright. Let's try and get some information then!"


"A question, then. You seemed to indicate that you have information regarding the beings which are invading, and their servants. Could you please elaborate on what we will likely be facing?"

Color allocations

Lifemaker: Green
Captain Aizen: Blue
Orochimaru: Purple
Mokou: Crimson

[ArlEammon]

Armin

Shinnok:
"How could it possibly be that this, "Jacob" is our soul-sake. This man possesses no power, no supernatural ability, and yet he somehow is US? What a cruel fate has been bestowed upon us. Never the less, we will show our soul-sake the power we can teach him."

Ganon: "Calm down, I'm sure that unlike Mr. Chivalry over there, (Ganon speaks to Hawke, nodding towards him in Jacob's mind), this new "recruit" has great potential in efficiency and what needs to be done. Think of his weakness and lack of power as a great opportunity, we three have the ability to make him into something great and truely strong."

Mateus: "I agree with Ganon. If this new Powerless is truely one of us, he deserves the respect that we all share with one another. After all, he is literally US, not just some weak, good-natured bastard of a peasant who should be stepped on and crushed. He might not be so strong now, not in the ways of ruthlesness and brute power, but he does have us all to teach him."

Hawke: "By the Maker. All of you are drueling over this man as if he was some kind of a cheap harlot. If he really is of our own soul then he doesn't need to listen to us in order to follow his own heart. He needs to follow his own heart, not some carrot on a string. I highly doubt that he would want to follow your evil ways."


Jacob began to feel his heart darken with a great past evil. He spoke to the others. "We will need to leave for Sigil very soon. I can tell from The Light's presence that he is apprehensive that we get going now." He closed his eyes and squeezed lightly, and then his person vanished from everyone's attention.

[Morcleon]

Raising an eyebrow at Jacob's words, Morcleon nods. "Indeed. We should get going to Sigil. The sooner we can get the information, the better."

He forms a single hand seal, concentrating on the location of Sigil. An instant before the completion of this transfer, Sasuke's voice rings out in his head.

"Wait! That chakra... It's Orochimaru! How could he-"

Morcleon disappears in a puff of smoke, leaving nothing behind.

Belated Voice Color Identification:
Me! (Morcleon)- Deep Sky Blue
Uchiha Sasuke- Purple
John Taylor- Black
Karan Sjet- Sea Green
Grand Admiral Thrawn- Royal Blue

[NM020110]

"Ah, very well then. I suppose that we'll find out when we make contact."

William seems to shatter, in the manner of a pane of glass. The shards evaporate into mere motes of light, then disappear.

"Since our powers seem to be getting combined, and since each of us numbers some form of immortality among your abilities, I'm guessing that we won't die very easily."

"Bah, Kaguya and I killed each other a lot. Death doesn't enter into it."

"I though I felt Sasuke's chakra. He and his brother were the ones that managed to kill me...three times, I think it was?"

"Thanks to Ichigo and his friends, I died...five times, was it? Then that accursed council imprisoned me for the Spirit King knows how long..."

"Well, we're here, it seems. Sigil, the City of Doors. That Light fellow said it was depopulated somehow..."

"There's Sasuke, or at least his reincarnation. Looks like he's improved his eyes again."

[Erik Vale]

Erik: "And what did Allice do?"
Eldrad: "I-"
Erik: "Don't know, I know, now then."

Then suddenly, through his will, a faint glimmer of runes surrounded the area around Eriks feat, Dwarven runes, there very essence screaming of power.
Fey power billowed around his arms, curling like serpents, crying to be unleashed.
Slowly, a vortex or dark sickly light opened above him.

Three different modes of travelling between the planes, all taking a bit of time, activated at his whim.
The odd thing was, none of these finished, John spoke up, and despite a lack of magic, the transportation he was subjected to so many time happened.

Master Chief:"Enough of this ****."

Three golden rings of just light exploded from Eriks head, midsection, knees, and he was gone, landing in Sigil.

[ArlEammon]

Jacob
Jacob appeared in Sigil. He still wasn't used to this whole idea of having three evil incarnate indivuals in his spirit sharing his body, mind, and everything else that was his. He noticed that the others were beginning to arrive, but he continued to have his eyes wander through the land scape. It appeared that they were in the Temple District. There were strange creatures, the Dabus, taking care of the walls throughout Sigil, and maintaining the city. A few of the people throughout the Temple District turn to see the others coming without means of a portal, and their curious eyes stare into them as they appear.

[mkfuba07]

Tristan
As his companions vanish, poof, shatter, and otherwise teleport to Sigil, Tristan ponders how he is going to do the same.

"I know none of you like to be left behind, but it looks like we're going to be a bit late..."

There's really only one method I can see, but I've never traveled from cyberspace or to Sigil from the Nevernever. Once we get there, I don't know where we'll have to go to get where we're going. Everyone up for an adventure?

"We aren't getting any younger over here so make with the voodoo, magic man."

"Yes wizard, you're making us even more late."

"'A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.'"

With that thought, and with a surge of power, Tristan slashed at the air with his right hand muttering "aparturum". A shimmering hole between the worlds opened below his palm, while a small puff of smoke trails from his watch.

"Oh... I guess I should have seen that coming."

"That's what you get for using digital. We'll have to get you a nice mechanical one later."

He stepped into the portal and appeared in what can only be described as a gargantuan library and museum. To his left, stacks filled with books as far as the eye can see, disappearing into obscurity as they grew higher. To his left, pristine glass cases displaying what, he could only begin to imagine. In front of him, a seemingly endless hallway.

"Well, this doesn't look like it's going to be easy..."

"I always wondered what the internet equivalent in the Nevernever was. I guess it makes sense for it to be filled with infinite data."

"If it's infinite, how are we going to find the way out?"

"Use your senses."

And Tristan became fully aware of the myriad bookshelves in front of him, sensing the metal they were made up of. More importantly, he sensed the lack of them behind him. He turned around, and saw a massive stone archway. Beyond it, the floor disappeared and all he could see was a brightly glowing portal, rotating seemingly at random, suspended in midair. Approaching the archway, he discovered that the enormous spherical room the portal was centered in had archways just like the one he stood in peppering the entire wall.

"Well this... this is new."

"I think we can safely assume that we've found the Way to Sigil. This many gateways connected to a single portal? It could only be one place."

At that point Tristan noticed a large burlap sack leaning against the wall of the arch. It looked incredibly out of place in the modern environment. He walked over to it and cautiously peered inside.

"My staff! And my blasting rod! My duster, my shield bracelet, my force rings. Everything's in here! Even my mother's silver pentacle and my trust old Smith and Wesson."

"And my webshooters! I felt naked without them, and that's saying something considering what I usually wear."

"Materia! Hot damn, I missed you!"

"There's also a pair of swords..."

"It's called a gladius."

"...and what looks to be a collapsible spear."

I don't know if this is a good sign, or a bad one. Something or someone in the Nevernever wanted us to have these things. If I had to guess, I'd place my bets on my faerie godmother (Yes, she exists). Just because she's my godmother doesn't mean she's got my well-being in mind. These items have also been modified to work together. See these holes in my duster and Kitai's swords? I bet Cid's materia will fit in there perfectly.

Gripping the sack, Tristan faces the portal floating in the center of the room. Without a second thought he steps into open air. He falls... not straight down, but as he passes the threshold of the archway he feels pulled towards the portal. As he grows nearer, it rotates of its own power to face him. He squints as the light grows brighter and brighter, until his eyes are clenched shut.

When he finally opens them again, he is standing in Sigil.

I guess you could use a voice-color chart for me as well:
Tristan - Black
Harry Dresden -DarkRed
Gaius Kitai - Magenta
Cid Highwind - Teal
Spiderman - Blue

[ArlEammon]

The Lady Of Pain
Strange, floating Humanoids eerily make their way towards Tristan and Jacob. Usually the Dabus would only speak in strange riddles, with magic being required in order to make contact with them intelligible. The Dabus reached out his hands as if in greeting. "We are the Dabus, and we have come to you to give warning. You must use the name of The Light for protetciton. Our Lady of Sigil is coming in order speak with you now. Be on your best manners, or she may have you all flayed. Remember, the name of The Light is will ward you from her anger."

An eery woman appears in a purple flash of energy, glaring at the arrivals with fierce eyes. "This place has been imbalanced, and you come here with great evil and power among you. I can feel something strange in your spirits. . . I demand answers! Why have you come to Sigil!? None have managed to break through my senses, even for a moment, except you. My eyes close and open, only for me to find you have entered the City without my notice, if only for an insignificant moment. Have you come in the hopes of escaping my notice? What are you up to?"

[Erik Vale]

For some reason, Erik let Aleandrea control his body, some sense that it was the right thing to do.... He thought that that might be John and Eldrad acting, but he did it anyway.

He/She rose one hand, marking off points with his/her fingers and he/she spoke, his/her voice strangely a mingle of his normal and Aleandreas light but undercut tones.

"1, We came here because we were told by some being called "The Light", 2, We didn't seek to come here quietly, we just came, and 3. Well, I barely have any idea what we're supposed to be doing, but that apparently some sort of enemy is coming, and we have been chosen to fight them."

Some part of his mind was beginning to regret the decision...

[ArlEammon]

The Lady Of Pain
"OH, The Light sent you? I suppose Azeroth is in trouble perhaps? No matter. If you are within the Light, I suppose you should know that there are strange places in the City that are no longer possible for me to enter. This perplexes me most deeply, not even Aosker could deny me the right to enter into areas of my own domain."

She looks angry once more, her face, surrounded by blades sticking outward from her. "There is an ancient abandoned Temple of Tharizdun in this place, I may not be able to enter into it any longer but I can open it for lesser creatures. Yet before you enter into Tharizdun's former abode, I must suggest you speak with the inhabitants in this Temple District. The gods of that place have informed me of strange occurnences before and during the vanishings. "

She looks amused for just a moment. "You should learn of your true enemies a little more after you have spoken with the preists. Oh, and I have one more thing to say. If you should wish a dominion here in Sigil, I shall be happy to oblige. Some of you have important property here I have kept for safe keeping."

[Erik Vale]

"Wait.. What?"

Then his mind starts going off.
'Good, I've been feeling naked.'
'Could use my tools...'
'You would trust this warp-spawn?'
'Yes. However to say how she is acting is unusual would be an outright lie in how much it is an understatement.... However I prefer this one... Perhaps I could gather some of my relics...'
Then he spoke.

"It would be good to have a place for safe keeping...... B-... Perhaps we should see what you have for us before we talk to the preists, that way we know how we can talk."

Aleandrea pipped up in his mind.
'You really are a clueless aren't you? I haven't been here for a long time during my long life, but still.... These preists range from power of an ant to a god themselves.... Only the Lady of Pain can keep this mess civil, and if she is..... yeah....'

[Morcleon]

Perking up at the mention of "important property", Morcleon smiles at the Lady. "Ah, thank you, Pain-sama. A headquarters here would be most appreciated. Although I believe it would be best if we obtained our belongings first. You never know what may happen, and I feel it would be prudent if we were to equip ourselves first."

"... I never knew you were so long winded..."

"Or that you were in a habit of using honorifics."

"... I blame you two for the influence."

"He's right, though, in both ways. It would be best if we can get our equipment back... and we all have... made our marks on him."

[ArlEammon]

Equipment
"Ah, well then, the Dabus will provide you with a map for your headquarters. With that, I must bid you farewell. All of your belongings are inside, and the place isn't far from here. Indeed, after you are done with your investigations here, you may leave and enter Sigil at will from any location. Now, goodbye."

Jacob
"Well then, I suggest we go to headquarters first. We will need to retrieve all of our weapons and stuff there."

[Erik Vale]

It was an interesting place, there head quarters.
And there storage room, a largish warehouse, was even more so, with an assortment of the weirdest things, ranging from almost stone-age to far future.

Erik's pile seemed smallest, a simple bag, and well, the thing that didn't make it so small.

A full set of power armour.

"We have a spare hour. I want to be clothed."
"Is that. Yes, a bag of holding! This will be good."

"I'm sorry guy's, but I got two girls inside me, one just went a little goey, and one of the guys want's to get clothed. You have just lost me for an hour. Thank god all the servo's are there..."
The armour, looked magnificent, its dark green standing out on the light brown walls, the darkened visor showing not even the slightest crack, there was no dust. Erik would be busy for a while....

[NM020110]

Finally finishing the mental argument with the newly integrated souls, William heard only the last words of the conversation.


"I still say that I should be the one controlling. With this much energy, there's little that wouldn't be possible."

"Any of us could. But..."

'As I said before, if anyone tries for dominance, they will be opposed by me, and the others will support me. The best you can hope for is a temporary arrangement during combat, at least until we can figure out how to start combining power sets.'

"Fine by me."

'Thank you.'

"You said something about equi...oh, already gone, I see. Thank you for your help.
I agree that we should probably head to the safehouse, first. At the very least, we'll be able to check it for traps before relying on it against an enemy."

'What kind of equipment would you have, by the way?'

"Eh, I'm not much for equipment."

"I should still be able to manifest my blade here, though I'll need an appropriate katana to do so with."

"As much as I hate to say it, I'm with Mokou in this regard.

"I suppose that I'm a bit different in this regard. I still possess the Blade of Kusanagi, and there should be a belt of some sort with the rest of my equipment in it."

Having been sidetracked into another conversation with his other selves, William realized that the others had left already.

Stepping into the warehouse, William saw Erik busily donning his armor. Looking around for his own stash of equipment, William soon finds a well-made katana, equipped for some reason with a hexagonal guard, resting atop a purple rope. Some manner of paper hangs from it.

"That's strange. This does indeed look like my belt, but that was certainly not a shimenawa before."

'It will do, though. Is the equipment still sealed inside?'

"Yes. Several thousand throwing knives, paper seals, smoke pellets, a summoning seal, and some other items are sealed inside."

With that, William tied the shimenawa on, forming a large bow at the back. The shide hung down almost to his feat, and he could feel the equipment be made ready for rapid unsealing and use. Once the sword was secured in the new belt, William was effectively fully equipped.

"Well, I suppose that I'll start checking the rest of the area for any potential traps, pitfalls, or other potential problems."


To keep my speech to the other souls and my speech to other people distinguishable, I am notating it as follows:

'I am speaking to the other souls.'
"I am speaking to other characters."

[ArlEammon]

Jacob
Jacob arrived in a strange Temple like area of the Headquarters. It appeared in that area, that there was an excessively dark atmosphere present throughout the entire section devoted towards Shinnok. Black robed men were seen in meditative trances, which broke as soon as Shinnok arrived with the body of Jacob. The Shadow Preists bowed before him. "Long have we awaited the arrival of our Master, Shinnok." They said ominously. "We have kept the Kamidogu and Staff for your glorious safe-keeping. As we understand, your incarnation of Hawke, may have the useful ability to use the Kamidogu as a Mage's staff. In addition, the Amulet of Kamidogu is also in our possession, although outside the Realms, the Amulet is no longer a tool of omnipotent power." Shinnok smirked.


Hopefully we should return to the Realms soon. However, for now we have been Chosen by the loathsome "Light", to preserve the lives of ourselves and the mortal insects of this multiverse." Shinnok paused for a moment. "Brotherhood of Shadow, you are to leave the confines of this Temple and help to guard the Headquarters of my allies." The eldest Brother nodded. "Yes, Lord Shinnok."


Jacob felt a tinge in his spirit, as all four seemed to instinctively felt reality warp into it'self. "There will be newcomers arriving at this place to protect it. In this place, many will come to protect the universe and everything from further disruption."

[Morcleon]

Stepping through the large double doors into the warehouse, Morcleon looks around appreciatively. It takes some time, but he finally manages to locate a small pile containing the equipment from his past lives. "Ah, here we are..."

"Hey, it's my coat! Wonderful. I hope they didn't take out anything..."

"Nope. The Portable Timeslip and the various magic items are still right where they should be. They even restocked your pepper."

"Ah, there's my Kusanagi... and my shuriken seals. I don't see any shuriken laying around, so I would assume that they are already sealed."

"The seals are fully loaded with pretty much everything you had. And the blade is in perfect condition."

"I don't think I had anything of... oh? What's this? A charric... I haven't seen one of those since my exile from the Ascendancy."

"Ah, nice. We get some backup weaponry too."

Donning the white trench coat, Morcleon slips the gun into its holster and fastens the utility belt around his waist. The chokutō is placed at an angle through the back of the belt, easily drawn at the first sign of trouble. He grins, stretching out his limbs and getting used to the feel of his new gear.

He turns to check on the others, seeing them being similarly equipped from their past lives. Taking a step towards them, he freezes as a cold feminine voice, far different from the normal warmth and care it usually has, sounds urgently in his head.

"Alert. We are detecting an unknown entry into this reality. Prepare for contact..."

[ArlEammon]

Allies:
UNSC troops arrive in hundreds to scout the area, eventually, the Headquarters and Temple District is discovered. The previous group couldn't have known, but The Lady of Pain had been contacted by The Light to take in the larger groups, namely the UNSC and others. Apparently, The Lady had decided to accomodate a wide variety of interplanar citizens to repopulate the city, for some unknown reason. Regardless of why, there were now a few hundred UNSC stationed at our headquarters. The Shadow Preists were a little nervous and ready to strike.

Then Intruders:

The real trouble began a few minutes later. The UNSC, and others unknown to the group assembled, was suddenly fired upon by unknown sources. Something must have been keeping The Lady of Pain in check, or distracting her, or something, because suddenly all Hell had broken loose. Within one of the countless portals of Sigil, a stream of heavy fire poured into UNSC troops. . . and out stepped a rival, formidable indeed. . .

(The Enemy Is . . .)

http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/7538/normalsg19142114.jpg
By iamnew (http://profile.imageshack.us/user/iamnew) at 2012-07-05

[Erik Vale]

"Ok, I know I heard that.... I'm not done suiting up yet..."

'Don't worry, you will only need to do this once.'
'And I can protect us...'

Servos continue there job with a few minutes to go, the sounds of weapons fire from both Jaffar and Marines filling the room.

[NM020110]

"Enemies already, and an unknown number. I can't identify them. Does anyone have a way to capture one of them, or otherwise gain information?"

"It's a tad inefficient, but we could get information from a corpse using Edo Tensei."

"Weren't there a number of techniques ideal for capturing?"

A blast knocks away a chunk of flesh from William's left shoulder.

"Why are we still standing here? Let's get going already!"

Walls of flame appear, and divide several enemies from the group. The wall parts slightly to allow William to step through, then becomes solid once more.

"Come, test yourselves against me."

[Morcleon]

Coughing at the debris and smoke, Morcleon's eyes turn a deep red and black, swirling in the tell-tale sign of the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan. Sweeping his eyes over the enemies as he crouches behind a fallen slab, he answers William. "I could always remove whatever is powering those weapons. My sharingan can't detect any source of magic feeding them, so it is likely a scientific energy. In the meantime, we'll just have to take them out the old-fashioned way."

In his mind, Morcleon converses urgently with Taylor. "What's powering their weapons? Can you find the source well enough for me to do the bullet trick?"

"The Gift isn't fully up yet, so I don't have a full image. But I can tell that it's a sort of liquid. I'm not sure the bullet trick would be very healthy for your hands, or the floor..."

Muttering darkly, Morcleon shouts over to William. "Disabling such a large contingent is risky. I say we whittle them down a touch before going for a prisoner." He swiftly taps both wrists, popping out two large windmill shuriken, unfolded and primed. A flick of the hand attaches a thin, chakra-infused wire to the center of each, and another flick sends them arcing off towards the first line of enemies.

[ArlEammon]

The UNSC was doing a fine job in annihilating a sizable contingent of the First Wave. Thousands of Jaffa fell from the fire power of the Spartans and others, grenades and ammunition shredded hundreds of them without a single casualty on the otherside. That's when things started to get ugly. Kull warriors began to manifest themselves in the hundreds, as well as other reinforcements. What began to make things even more frightening was the invasion of even more enemies, not just Jaffa, but Storm Troopers. Anyone who had seen Star Wars would instantly recognize them, and they managed to start turning the tide of the battle against the UNSC.

Still, the battle wouldn't end so soon. The UNSC was a strong, veteran battle force, and the adventurers in Sigil, stocked with magical equipment and the ability to fight fiercely themselves brought the battle to a stalemate. Meanwhile, a large group of Kull, Jaffa, and Storm Troopers made their way to Headquarters. The UNSC gaurds were currently fighting with this contingent and losing horridly. The Shadow Preists continued to stay back and defend the grounds of the Headquarters it'self.


OOC

In order to avoid double posting in the OOC thread, I'm noting OOC here, that something will block a wide-scale attempt via magic to disable the energy from the Staves.

[NM020110]

"Can't even put up a strong fight. It looks like headquarters needs a little help, though."

'How goes the integration of powers?'

"I'm still waiting on Orochimaru to finish his."

"It will be quite a while yet before we're done. It looks like you're just going with Ms. Fire Manipulation for now."

'Alright...is there something wrong between the two of you?'

"..."

Though the missing chunks had healed by now, there were still more enemies. William retreated a little to the headquarters, to aid them.

"The power of the white snake isn't through yet, but you should have access to several of my other techniques now. Try to keep it simple."

"Let's do things right, then. Get a nice, strong fire going...Wind Release: Great Breakthrough."

"Is that really the best you can do? I'm rather disappointed..."

[mkfuba07]

Having discovered a wizard's laboratory in the basement of their Headquarters, Tristan had been investigating its contents while donning his gear, oblivious of the first wave of attackers. It looked much like Harry's lab, only larger, with higher quantities of ingredients for potions. A summoning circle sat in the center of the room, also similar to Harry's own.

"Such convenience. Whoever set up our HQ sure was thorough."

"Oi, Boss! Did'ja miss me?"

"..Bob?!"

Glowing orange eyes appeared on a nearby shelf, imbedded in the eyes of an ancient skull.

"Do you know any other talking skulls, boss? Now's not the time for a mushy reunion, we've got company. Second wave of bogies incoming."

"Second wave?! Why didn't you tell me about the first wave?"

"You seemed to be having such a nostalgic time, I didn't want to disturb you. Anyway, blasters, lots of 'em."

"Stormtroopers? You can't be serious..."

Bob somehow nods his head, a difficult feat for someone without a neck. "And more, boss."

"I'll take us there. I think we're ready for a more impressive use of crafting."

Tristan grabs his staff from a table, the only equipment that isn't stashed somewhere in his leather duster, and walks over to the stone wall of the lab. Placing his hand on the wall, he uses the earth furies in the ground to locate a large group of invaders, all of whom are stationary and facing towards the HQ.

The wall bends at his will, creating a spherical hollow into which he steps. It closes behind him, and carries him to the surface. He rises from the earth behind them, keeping them oblivious to his presence. He winds back his arm, gathers his strength, and drives it into the ground. A violent wave of earth ripples forward, sending all of those in front of him crashing into the wall of their headquarters. Most of the stormtroopers crumple to the ground in a heap, but the mightier armored Kulls stand and turn to face him.

"I think we just found out what, "And more," meant. Damn it Bob, you can't leave out these details!"

Without warning, Tristan's body shifted, bending and twisting, as beams of light sped through empty space his body occupied moments ago.

"Took control there for a second, figured you could use the help."

Tristan brought his right arm up as he turned to face his attackers and muttered, "Riflettum".

A shimmering shield appeared around him as blasters fired at him from all sides.

[Erik Vale]

The last peice clamped down, and a voice spoeke in Eriks head before he could even thing about running start up.

"Phage here. Program start ups complete, HUD up in three, I'll let you fight before I introduce myself and vice versa, cause Tac says your busy."

By god he was right. A 50m range scanner was almost literally full as Erik began running out of the building to aid in the defence.
For a moment he felt like Flash in his speed....

With Eldrad's spear strapped to his back and a needler at his side, Erik stopped but a moment to asses the situation, and found the various souls clammering for different actions. And here's where it got tricky.

He gave a hand to Aleandrea, a warlock with more power and experience than all bar Eldrad. It was his left.

He left the Dwarf Alric aid the Eldar Farseer Eldrad in the casting of her psychic powers safely, using just the power of the mind, requiring no gesture.

His right hand became the property of John, Sparten 117, The Master Chief. A Needler rested comfortably.

In the end, the only complaints was the lack of time to enchant things from Alric, and the curses about having to keep up to targeters from Phage.

And when Erik burst through the door, he was all pain.

He had the speed and reflexes of an Eldar Seer, boosted again from the training of John and the Mark 6 assault suit, for a bullet to hit him was a rarity, even if his shields complained and sputtered. The suit, while not being able to increase his speed by the full factor of 5, definitely made him superhuman.

From his left hand, magic spewed into oppositions ranks, as without the need to vocalise, Aleandrea drew from the potent well of magics within her, striking with enough force to vaporise small groups, hammering the area with 30' spheres of death, or chains of eldritch lightning.

From his right hand, needles flew with expert aiming into the softer spots of the opposition, turning men into purple pillars of light and chunky salsa.

However, Eldrad chose not to attack, providing with the eyes of a seer, protection that could not be equalled, and a form of offence that could not be defended against. The ability to see seconds into the future, and the luck and skill to choose the right strand of fate.

[Morcleon]

Controlling the two illogically large shuriken, Morcleon rips furrows in the enemy lines. But it wasn't long before a number of the newly formed stormtroopers shot them out of the air.

Sighing, he crouches down behind another conveniently placed piece of debris, consulting the gestalt in his head.

"Taylor, I know the bullet trick won't work on their energy staffs, but could you do it for the stormtroopers? Also, Sasuke. How much strain would using Susano'o have on my body?"

"I could probably take out the power packs in the E11s, but it would take a while to get all of them."

"Your body hasn't adapted to my chakra enough to use Susano'o. Amaterasu is probably available, but you would have only enough control to ignite it and put it out."

"I see..."

Giving over control of his hands to Taylor, Morcleon feels a magic well up in him, finding the blaster packs nearest him. And then it was the easiest thing in the world to pull them to him, and let them trickle out of his palms.

He concentrates on his right eye, and stands up, glaring at the amassed Kull, Jaffa and stormtroopers in front of him. "Let's see how you deal with this! Amaterasu! http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c172/nfandom/anigan.gif

A roaring wave of black fire rushes toward the enemy horde, striking them head-on, and burning through them faster than logically possible, inextinguishable.

[AkaiNeko]

Long version (catching up is fun!):
Kate was officially having a very, very weird day.

It started off normally, waking up, eating breakfast, and logging onto Giant in the Playground to browse for an Adeptus Evangelion campaign. Then she had been digitized, had four of her own past selves forcibly re-inserted, been informed that she was to join some other Playgrounders who'd already set out in trying to fight horrible monstrosities from beyond reality, learned that all of the above was tied to what were known in her world as fictional constructs, and had her body altered to match said past lives slightly better.

As the dizziness had faded, she felt one of the new presences "step forward". "Hello. I am Arturia. Your, um, past self. I....think you know of me." She gave a small, confident nod.

Kate didn't move. She felt her soul grow stronger; her sword was mighty, and she had faced terrible foes before, and come out victorious. What had she to fear?

Another stepped forward and gave an easy smile. "I'm Canaan. I like guns. I think we can make this work."

Kate's soul grew more confident. It was just another fight, a few more bullets to be put in their fated places; she had friends to protect, after all, so it really didn't matter what she was up against.

The third stepped forward and gave a small nod, his otherwise clear face a bit cautious. "I'm Narukami Yu. I think we'll be fine; this isn't anything too new." He gave a small, sardonic smile.

Kate felt her soul grow calmer; calling upon alternate selves to fight eldritch abominations? What else was new?

The last stepped forward, her face almost empty of all emotion or expression. "Greetings. I am Ayanami Rei. I will fight."

Kate felt....

....

....rather less than expected. Cooler. Steadier. But nothing like what she'd felt from the others at the joining of their souls. She moved for the first time, looking questioningly at Rei, who turned her crimson eyes away, looking, very slightly, apologetic. "You are somewhat familiar, I think, with my true nature. I feel it would be in our best interest if I held back for now."

Kate cringed, and nodded, speaking for the first time to her past selves. 'That's probably wise. Thanks. Um.' She stood. 'So. Hi. Uh, I'm Kate. Um....let's get going. I'm not much for intros, and we're well behind the others. But, uh....' She broke into a huge grin. 'Holy crap it's good to meet y'all!' And before they could react, 'Rei, could you do a Dirac thingy to this Sigil place?'

Rei, looking rather surprised at the outburst, nodded nonetheless, and motioned to the floor underneath them....

....which brings us to now. Kate stepped out of the Dirac Sea and looked around the....temple, it looked like. This area was huge, and filled with an incredible variety of items - vehicles, weapons, clothing, at least one contingent of warrior monks glaring at her in sinister fashion....and there, sandwiched between a mountain of scrolls, a giant dead snake and an armored jeep, was an oddly, wonderfully familiar pile of her own equipment.

As she jogged over to it, a UNSC (?!) marine in the black armor and drop-pod logo of a Hell Jumper ran to her; Canaan stepped up and activated her Synesthesia. Her eyes glowed red, and the soldier faltered; "Friendly. Also nervous."

"Ma'am, you're one of the big guys?" the man asked. She nodded hesitantly. The soldier seemed relieved. "There's an atack going on up top. Hurry, please."

She nodded, more firmly, and then caught herself. "Soldier," she called, letting Arturia infuse he voice with authority, "where is the battle? I'm new to this place." But before he could answer, an oddly familiar female voice called out.

"Um, I can get you there!"

Kate and the soldier looked towards her pile in surprise; they saw a girl who looked like...."Rise? Kujikawa Rise?"

The girl nodded shyly. "Um, Senpai?" Kate nodded, making a "kinda" gesture with her hand. Rise stared for a moment, before nodding and continuing, "OK, good. I can get you there, and direct you, just like always." She smiled warmly. "It's good to see you again, Senpai."

Kate nodded, smiling herself. "Good to have you." To the ODST she said "you're good." He nodded and jogged off. Kate turned to Rise and, blushing slightly, motioned for her to wait by the stairs. Then she turned to the pile.

"Good, Excalibur. Like everything else, you shouldn't be able to access its true power yet, let alone Avalon. Oh, and my armor. We can modify it later to fit with the rest, but now's not the time. And yes, you'll have to put it on manually this first time."

"My glasses are not ordinary. They'll be useful. Excalibur's probably better than any of my swords, of course."

"My clothes aren't special; just go for the armor for now. But grab my Beretta, please. Also, normally Synesthesia would tire you out after a while, but with the boost from Miss Army Killer, I think you can just keep it up."

"Armored Plugsuit. Should fit well under the armor. And my lance, as a last resort."

Five minutes later, Kate wore an armored Plugsuit, a left-arm bracer, a shoulder pouch, gunbelt (complete with guns), and swordbelt (complete with Excalibur), weirdly non-restricting, ballgown-like battle armor, and glasses. The Lance of Longinus was across her back. She grabbed Rise and sprinted for the battle.

Kate took a moment to analyze, Rise pointing out her allies. Spotting a group of marines under heavy assault from Storm Troopers (?!), she loosened one gun, drew Excalibur, activated her eyes, allowed herself a small smile, and leapt into the fray.

TL;DR Version:
I'm here. Let's break skulls.

[ArlEammon]

The Battle

The stalemate was quickly turning into a victory for Sigil. Adventurers from Sigil were now blowing up, cutting up and shooting up the Storm Troopers, Kull warriors and Jaffa. The newcomers from Earth were now destroying the enemy left and right with almost no casualties and no deaths. The Kull warriors were a bit harder than the others to destroy, but they were still being picked off slowly, one by one. Eventually it seemed that victory was at hand. Indeed, the fresh attacks from the newcomers, including Ameraterasu's power of black fire, Erik's magical powers, Jacob's ability to fire lightning bolts and other projectiles, and use the Staff as a Mage staff, Dresden's wizardry, and other special abilities was slowly driving the enemy back into their portals. That didn't even count the UNSC's elite fighting. That's when the battle finally began to get hard. Energy bolts recoiled off of their targets as lightsaber wielding enemies began to step through the Portal. Debris, troops and even small vehicles were being thrown as projectiles at the UNSC.

It would be a disaster if they reached the Inner Temple District. Finally the Dabus began to interfere as well. Their magic would prove useful as wizardry to fight against the enemy invaders and even the Sith warriors, but the Dabus were not veteran warriors like the rest of the defenders.

[Morcleon]

"Well then, this could get ugly..." Morcleon ducks a flying wall and stands back up. "We need a way to take out those Sith..."

"Ironically enough, you did pick up a charric earlier on. If you could somehow get enough shots off, it would heavily damage the Sith warriors."

"Alright... hey, Sasuke, you have seen Naruto's kage bunshin with your sharingan, right?"

"... yes? I could probably perform it, but I wouldn't be able to get nearly to same numbers as him."

"We don't need an army. We just need enough to take out those Sith."

Placing his hands in the familiar cross-seal, Morcleon feels the sharingan feeding a line of copied information to him. Chakra usage, control and manipulation... "Kage bunshin no jutsu!

Four clones appear beside him, each in a cloud of smoke. As one, they draw their charrics and scatter. Vibrating blue bolts of microwave energy strike into the enemy formation with supernatural speed and accuracy, targeting those with lightsabers. Each attempted deflection ended in surprised failure as the kinetic energy tore the weapon from their grasp.

As the original Morcleon grins in triumph, he notes the portals continuing to pour out enemy soldiers. "Taylor, Karan. Do you think you can rig up a way to turn off those portals? We won't be able to hold off these guys forever."

"Understood. I'm beginning my scan... It appears they use the same general concept as the Vagyr hyperspace gates. It should be relatively easy for Taylor to deactivate them."

"Taylor?"

"I'm on it."

A swell of power surges up in Morcleon's mind, searching for the magics and technology that keep the portals running. It stretches out to take them, each effort sending a slight ache into his head.

[Conor77]

A young boy charges out of a portal, sword and bell clutched in hands, body garbed in a surcoat and ceramic platemail armor.

The first thing he did was fall down.

Then he spoke, with many voices, one of which was his own:
"Sorry!"
"Augh, dammit Kimiko, I know you have calibrations to do but I needed that leg!"
"Sorry!!"
We must be more careful in the future. Saraneth almost slipped from our grasp, and that would have meant trouble. Though it does not seek to ring of its own accord, it often does so."
"wwhat the hell wwas that? this is the wworst thing that evver happened to me, aside from bein dead a course. im gonna die a second time cause you can't evven wwalk right"
"Look! Look. Just everybody shut up and lets get on with this...this battle."

The warrior got up, adjusted his limbs, and 5 souls peered from his eyes at the scene around him. A man with a sword made of green light was staring at him quizzically, still somehow deflecting missiles using the sword while looking in the opposite direction. Another man sitting on a pile of rubble taking a breather had a strange staff across his knees. Before the man could get up, two rifle-wielding soldiers clad in heavy white armor ran around the corner, saw him, and leveled their guns squarely at his chest. As the cacophony of war sounded around them, he could just barely hear their command to drop his weapon. The heavy broadsword Nehima tumbled from the grasp of his right hand.

All four approached and stood around him, the two soldiers still holding guns up to him. Once they were arranged in a semi-circle, the soldiers yelled above the sounds of battle a query as to who he was.

"uuhhh...", was all he could manage before his left arm, seemingly of its own accord, rang the bell he was holding in a figure eight pattern. The four men (He assumed. The two in armor could have been anybody.) in front of him started forward, but their muscles seized up and their eyes twitched at the piercing ring of the bell. The boy's torso still completely still, and his face frozen in shock, his right arm reached to the strangely shaped bandolier strapped across his chest. It drew the third-smallest bell carefully, by its clapper, and while the little audience he had gathered was still rapt, threw it into the air, caught it with a flourish, and rung it downward, as though it were a blade.

The four enemies dropped dead at the armored boy's feet.

He just stood there for a while, staring.

[Erik Vale]

The only thing Erik did to change his fighting was to stop firing.... The Jedi where quite happy to incinerate the crystals launched from his needler, however their ability to not be killed by what might be effectively meteor strikes that exploded in orbs of acid or arcane energy was just as low as everyone else.
And seeing where they would dodge too was a big bonus.

[Erik Vale]

The only thing Erik did to change his fighting was to stop firing.... The Jedi where quite happy to incinerate the crystals launched from his needler, however their ability to not be killed by what might be effectively meteor strikes that exploded in orbs of acid or arcane energy was just as low as everyone else.
And seeing where they would dodge too was a big bonus.

[AkaiNeko]

Awash in a sea of blue, Kate heard the mass snap-hiss-wooooaaaam of the Sith weapons. Moments later, Rise confirmed her suspicions, her alarmed voice echoing in her mind. 'Yu, how are we on power?'

"Um....it really hasn't been very long, but one Maragi should be well within our limits. But I wouldn't risk another just yet."

Kate nodded, jumped high, pointed at the mass of seething blue beneath her, and ordered: "MARAGI." The blue was engulfed in flame. She landed, letting the flames brush her and Arturia's resistance do it's job for just a moment, before jumping to engage the dark-side users. 'OK strategy?'

"Dodge projectlies, get in close. They have years of fighting experience, we've got lifetimes; they can't touch us, and we can definitely touch them."

"Right. No anti-army moves for now; Excalibur has survived far worse than an energy blade unscathed, and this "Force" shouldn't affect us any more than that fire unless we will it. We distract them and drive them back into their own doorways."

Kate nodded, ducked a flying light saber, readjusted her grip, and leapt for the nearest Sith.

[ArlEammon]

The Others
Some of the group from Earth managed to either turn off the energy inherent in the enemy weapons, at least in small groups of dozens up to a hundred each. However, others attempted to find the energies inherent in the native Portals of Sigil. Not that they managed to do any good. The Lady directly watched over the portals. Despite the fact that she seemed to be indisposed, it was still impossible to manipulate the portals here. However, the battle was going smoothly.

Jacob fired his energy blasts from Shinnok's Staff, and summoned stars to fall from the sky onto their targets, be they Kull, Jaffa, Storm Trooper or Sith from the Sith Empire. Jacob was suprised to see some of his staff marks being blocked, not because they were blocked, per se, but because the blasts from his staff seemed to incapacitate the blocking Sith through taking off their hands, or at least knocking the sabers from their grip. The meteorites falling on the enemies seemed to take them out of commision quite in the groups of thirty or more. Soon, with the combined assault of all the others, the assault was coming close to being quelled.

However, it appeared that the last group of straggelers and others like them were closing in on the Headquarters. Around one hundred Sith, and a thousand Storm Troopers were closing in.

[mkfuba07]

As energy bolts pelted his shield, causing concentric circles to pepper the shimmering surface, Tristan decided he needed a new plan.

"Put me in, chief!"

"I have not yet shown these foes what I am capable of."

"Let's let Kitai take the lead on this one. Everyone else give her whatever help you can."

With that Tristan felt his body leap twenty feet into the air, bolts tearing through the space he just stood. His shield dissipated as each of his arms went to opposite hips, drawing his gladii from their sheaths. Their blades shone as the furies in the metal honed the edges and strengthened the steel. The green sphere set into the pommel of one sword glowed warmly as a transparent scarlet shell inched over his body and pure adrenaline began to pump through his veins.

"Reflect should take care of those energy weapons. And who goes into battle without Haste?"

As he was about to land, Kitai called to Kaze, her wind fury, and he came at her call. He granted Tristan his speed, and the world seemed to slow around him. He hit the ground running, one sword held horizontally in front of him, the other behind. The blaster rounds were moving just as fast as they had been before, but to Tristan they had slowed to a jogging pace, looking more like musket balls than their traditional beam-like appearance. Tristan collided with a few but they did little more than bounce back, taking out a few Stormtroopers who had been unlucky enough to aim properly.

Charging the nearest Kull he drew strength from the earth and he felt his muscles surge with raw power. Tristan slammed into him like a bullet, and not even the thick armor of a Kull warrior could resist the speed, strength, and razor-sharp blade of his gladius. He moved on to the next one, scything down his enemies with reckless abandon. In under five seconds there wasn't a Kull or Storm Trooper in sight. Well, not a living one at least.

Tristan released all of the powers he had summoned and collapsed to the ground. His muscles ached and were devoid of strength, and a few of his bones may have been broken.

"No being is meant to move that quickly. Your body could not maintain such a state without harming itself. I did what I could with watercrafting at the time, but the air isn't exactly saturated at the moment..."

"You should'a let me know! I could'a been curin' him the whole time!"

Tristan's body began steadily repairing itself with intermittent bursts of relief as Cid Cured him. Bones mended, and muscles stitched themselves back together. It hurt. A lot. He gripped the handles of his swords tightly until his metalcrafting buried the pain of his injuries.

He was just coming to his feet when he noticed jeep-like vehicles flying through the air near all of the portals. The Warthogs got nowhere near him, but the threat posed by beings that could throw them around like pebbles gave him cause for alarm.

"I think it's time we got a better perspective on the situation."

Double-tapping the webshooters in his palms, Tristan aimed towards the roof of their HQ. His aim was true, and he sprung towards the top of the building landing slightly harder than he would have liked.

"I'll have to work on that sometime when we're not being assaulted."

He looked out at the Temple District, and couldn't believe what he was seeing. Sith warriors had streamed through the portals, and with the help of Storm Troopers had broken through the UNSC's ranks. They were heading towards the HQ in large numbers while the marines closed the breach in their defenses.

"Think we could pull off the speed boost long enough to take down about a hundred Sith and ten times that many Storm Troopers?"

"Well, it depends. Do you plan on being alive at the end of it?"

"I think that means no, chief. "

"Thanks for the input, Cid."

He stared out at the swarm, formulating his next plan of attack.

[Morcleon]

Seeing the explosions and laser fire from the marines and other Sigil troops tear into the now mostly disarmed Sith warriors, Morcleon dispels his shadow clones, feeling the welcome surge of energy enter him.

"Let's not do that again. I don't have the insane amounts of chakra that Naruto does."

"Agreed. That took a lot out of me. Well, I suppose that's what I get for dividing my chakra into fifths..."

"There appears to be a large contingent of stormtroopers and Sith bearing down on the headquarters. If they are not stopped, it is very likely they will destroy the structure."

His eyes widening, Morcleon leaps from rooftop to rooftop toward the HQ. Landing on a building not far from the base, he scrutinizes the arrayed hostile forces.

"Thrawn? Tactical anaylsis?"

"They are advancing extremely quickly. At their current rate, the marines will be unable to stop them befor they reach the HQ. Also, your physical abilities have not been fully manifested, so a melee attack on them would be suicide at this point. I recommend using a long range, high power technique to destroy a large percentage of them in a single hit. I believe Sasuke has one such ability. Kirin."

"Indeed. We will have to generate the thunder clouds, though. I presume you know this technique well enough to set it up effectively?"

"Of course," Morcleon grins inwardly. "I have seen the anime, after all."

He forms a hand seal, channeling a vast amount of chakra into his throat and mouth. Raising his head to the sky, two roaring dragons of fire shoot into the air, continuing onwards to slowly dwindle out of sight. This rapid increase in the ambient temperature, combined with the rising heat from the previous Amaterasu, creates a large rumbling cumulonimbus, coalescing above the headquarters building.

A slight rain begins to fall. In this sudden twilight gloom, Morcleon stands up, facing the side of the enemy formation. A hand is raised in the air, crackling faintly with lightning. He reaches his chakra into the thunderstorm, drawing out the natural lightning within. It converges on a point above the amassed enemy, blazing into existence as a blue-white dragon head, spitting sparks.

"It's not as large as the one I used on Itachi, but it'll do."

Morcleon grins, muttering to himself. "'Vanish with the lightning... This is Kirin.'"

The blast of lightning strikes down in the barest fraction of a second, slamming into the center of the enemy formation.

[NM020110]

"Flashy. That's Sasuke, though."

'I don't think that I have the durability to use many powers, yet. How long until power integration is complete?'

"You have the lowest level of my powers already, as per our agreement. It should take about five more hours to implant the full extent."

"Give me about two days."

'Hold a moment, we really need to stop those incoming enemies. That lightning blast took our quite a few of them, but I count quite a few still coming in. We may be able to regenerate, but we aren't very durable yet.'

"Give me arm control and I'll be able to erect a barrier. That should prevent them from reaching the headquarters building, allowing time to eliminate the remaining enemies."

'Very well. Just remember our agreement: save first, then conquer.'

William's arms begin to move at great speed, forming seals. A cracking sound can be heard as Williams arms go far past their normal limits. Soon, though, William slams his right palm on the ground, and a demonic gate rises, barring passage with the barrier that seems to emanate from it.

"Kuchiyose: Rashomon. Very little can pass through this gate..."

'You seem to have broken my arms in the process, though...'

"Those will heal, won't they? We've created the chokepoint, now we need to eliminate those trapped by it. If I may?"

'No, we've done enough for now. I rather suspect that we'll be seeing something big come through next, so we should be prepared.'

William stood atop the gate, letting his broken arms regenerate themselves while watching for stragglers.

[AkaiNeko]

As it turned out, Sith were much less intimidating when you strip away their usual advantages. Kate's immune to Force manipulation, can read the future as well as they can, can dodge bullets even better, and has a sword that isn't destroyed by light sabers. Just as She put a bullet through the gap between a Quarian's light sabers, straight into its skull, her other hand holding Excalibur out to deflect a blow from a Devaronian, Rise's nervous voice echoed again through her mind. "Uh, Senpai, there're a lot of those Star Wars guys coming towards the base!"

Kate ax kicked the Devaronian. "Crap. How many?"

"Uh....a few hundred Storm Troopers, maybe a thousand, and maybe a few dozen with light sabers!"

Kate swore, and, given the expedience that was quite suddenly required of her, found herself unable to resist the slightly ironic justice of frying the rest of the group around her with a hearty "MAZIOLAO."

"Just for the record, use of a Lao- level spell was, perhaps, not the wisest course of action."

'There were only a few Sith, and they needed far more than normal troops. It was a trade off.' She leapt towards the temple.

Had circumstances been a bit more favorable, Kate would've had a number of options to choose between. Of course, "more favorable circumstances" meant "had more time to properly bond with her past lives". Yu had several Ma- type spells that would probably work, but she could only safely handle base level versions right now, and that just wouldn't cut it against a huge group of powerful foes like this. Excalibur was fully capable of taking the whole lot out in one shot - but that level of synchronization would take a while for her to achieve. With Unit-00, of course, it would've been as simple as crushing ants. Ants that couldn't bite back. But she didn't have Unit-00, and with all this thought noise, there was no guarantee she'd be able to pilot at first anyways. And the Lance? Not even worth considering.

"Heh. At least you'll always have me. By the way? Watch for lightning, please. Those clouds look nasty."

Kate sighed. Without more time to synch up, she had far less to work with. On the bright side, it did make for an easier decision. She jumped. For people like Canaan and Arturia, getting to the front of the pack in one leap was child's play; as per Canaan's warning, she twisted so as to not be in the way when Kirin hit. The light and heat washed over her pleasantly; to account for the shock wave. she adjusted her trajectory to. Just before landing, she gritted her teeth and pointed at the soldiers before her and to her right and spit out another "MARAGI."....right as the Rashomon Gates erupted from the ground. The sudden eruption of fire tore through the suddenly tightly-packed soldiers. 'Well, that worked out well....' As the shock began to wear off and the men right in front of her found their bearings, she once more readjusted her grip and and charged, eager to ensure that this advance ended right here.

[Conor77]

A clap of thunder wakes Conor from his thousand yard stare. He looks around, startled, to discover that the quiet girl named Kimiko had finished all tests and functions with his new arms, and that the other girl -whose name was Abhorsen?- had put away the dangerous Bells and gathered up Nehima. It had also begun to rain.

At this point, devoid of adrenaline, afraid, confused, and scrambling to contain 4 minds full of emotions, thoughts, memories, and instincts, that he remembered the four bodies laying on the ground. Staring at nothing forever.

He let his legs, made of advanced plastics and metal rather than flesh, sink him to the ground as he cradled his head in his hands.

"Oh god. Oh god what did I do. What the hell did I just do? I just...killed... four people!"

It is the same with any new warrior. This is why armies train and train and train again their soldiers. Why they have propaganda, and patriotism, and celebrations upon homecoming. Because they have to do what you just saw, and more than that, they are expected to do so as many times as possible. Get up, young one. I did that damage, not you. I have killed for my life before, and I will not hesitate to do so again. Always remember that everything has a time and a place to die, and when it is ours, we shall. But for now, get up. We must find out what is happening here.


For...for what its worth, your arms should be about.....four hundred thirty six point eight five percent stronger, your legs about the same. I finished my calibrations. They should also be strong enough to take that force, as well as anything trying to dump kinetic energy into them less than... I dunno, these meteors might destroy them, but they have some kind of strengthener I can't pinpoint... am I...rambling?

yeah, an ya got my awwesome WWhite Science, an that killed Sollux. Ain't nothin stronger than that guy. Sides, wwho cares 'bout some random dudes wwho wwere tryin to kill you anywways?

Thanks, I guess.

He got up, quite easily, from limbs that just felt...good. For some reason, the memory that he murdered four people, from a life of complete pacifism, just went away. He flicked Nehima out of her scabbard and twirled her on his finger as if she were a toy.
So... information......

He looked around, ignoring meteors and gunfire, though they were more distant at this point, and saw a stormtrooper run around a building, and nearly fall down. Easy pickings. He almost smiled as he picked up his sword, and began to run...

[mkfuba07]

Tristan could only stare at the oncoming army.

"Maybe with more practice working together we could maintain the Speed Boost long enough to take out all of them, but I don't think I have it in me. Anyone else have any ideas?"

"I could manipulate the gravity of the area like I did with the Reds, but I don't think those Sith are planning on giving me the time to gather the power. Sure, Sigil has to have a massive confluence of leylines passing through it, but I need the time to tap into it."

"Let's count that out then. Keep it in mind for later."

"I'm more of a one-on-one fighter. Or a small gang. You're not gonna get much help from me on this large of a scale.

"I might be able to handle it, but without watercrafting to heal my wounds, and there will be wounds, you might not make it through the fight."

At that moment he saw a shadowed figure leap to a nearby building. He looked skyward, and two fiery dragons shot into the sky. Clouds formed, and rain began to fall. A dragon's head appears, the embodiment of lightning in the darkening sky.

"This gives me an idea. Not sure you're ready for it yet, so we may need to borrow some lightning of our own."

"I've got that covered."

As a colossal bolt of lightning ravaged the core of the enemy forces, Tristan drew his swords. One he pointed at the sky, towards the center of the thunderstorm. The other, the one with the red gem set into the pommel, he pointed towards the charred ground that remained after the lightning strike.

"Fulminas!"

Ramuh!

The souls chimed in chorus, and the lightning responded to their summons. A bolt of lightning much smaller than the first tore through the sky, towards Tristan's raised gladius. As it hit him, he redirected it through his other blade, and the materia sparked and crackled. The electricity coursed into the ground, and a mountain of earth began to rise in the middle of the enemy troops.

When the tip was level with the roof of their headquarters, it burst open to reveal an old man wielding a staff. He raised his staff in the air and lightning coursed towards him, just as it had for Tristan. Instead of being redirected towards a single point it was scattered at random in a ring around it. Many of the Sith warriors were able to absorb the electricity on their lightsabers, but some weren't so lucky. Every storm trooper that was struck by Ramuh's attack dropped to the ground, either dead or incapacitated.

As quickly as he appeared, Ramuh wrapped himself in his cloak, summoned another bolt of lightning, and disappeared, his mountain collapsing into the ground once more. The ring of dead troops that the shadowy stranger had started was now half again as large.

Tristan stared, wide-eyed, at the destruction he had just wrought. His arms fell to his sides, hands losing their grips on his swords. They felt like... well, like a billion volts had passed through them.

"That... what the coolest thing I've ever seen! Show me more!"

"Maybe when you can move your arms, kid."

[ArlEammon]

The End Of The Battle
Jacob's slaughter of over a hundred Storm Troopers and others with Shinnok's staff blasts was only the beginning of the slaughter of the enemy troops. Others let use thunder blasts, and other wildly powerful attacks. Only a dozen Sith were left to fall back. Meanwhile, The Lady of Pain had finally appeared from whatever task she was performing and then, as suddenly as the enemies came, she shut the gates entering the other worlds. "From now on," everyone in the city heard this, "No one leaves or enters until the Personae have found what they need. I suggest you all get comfortable with your new homes until then."

The Shadow Preists just shrugged. No battle was necessary for them.

[Erik Vale]

"The Personae? What the heck?"

'Agreed. What?'
'Does it matter, we have to wait until some internal issues can be dealt with. If nothing else, it gives us time to practice, and for me to mark our... Tools...'
'You sound way too happy about that...'
'You're no-'
'Don't worry I won't mark your staff, don't get your.... Panties?... I don't think there are enough words for this in Dawarven.'
"Well first things first, we need to regroup and talk. We can probably meet the others back at the warehouse base... Let's... Why am I speaking to myself in plural?"

'Get used to it, many Spartans have to. It will also be a good time to introduce myself.... Are you sure you don't want to talk to UNSC forces?'

"Yes."

Erik begins walking back.

[AkaiNeko]

Kate laughed uncontrollably as she pulled herself from the rubble left by that last summon, surrounded by a chaotic swirl of dust and color, the adrenaline in her system not quite agreeing with the relief that accompanied news of the battle's end. Her four alternate selves joined in (though Rei just smiled slightly) a moment later, especially Yu.

"It seems this Lady of Pain is aware of what Persona's are, and has a different word for users. Never thought I'd be on this side of that relationship."

'Yep. Didn't see that coming. The Lady saying something funny....weird. Anyways, can we all agree that we need to talk to our new comrades about spamming high-level attacks against targets that we've just closed for melee combat with? Magic is one thing, for now, but who knows what else they've got.'

"Indeed. There's no guarantee that my resistance will scale enough for us to remain impervious forever. We'll have to hope for the best, I suppose. Though before you start talking strategy, you should probably introduce yourself." She and Canaan shared a significant look, and Arturia nodded. "But before we do any of that...."

Kate's elation drained somewhat. 'Oh, right. We should definitely help with the wounded out here. Yu, I assume we can still manage a few Dias?'

"Sure. So long as we just focus on stabilizing and critical injuries, we should be fine."

Kate nodded and began searching for wounded.

[Conor77]

The stormtrooper, still unaware of the cyborg running towards it, stopped, raised a hand to the side of its helmet, nodded once, and turned around to run in the other direction. It made it around the corner, followed swiftly by the deft electronic legs of the 16 year old. The trooper's shoulders sagged with relief when it saw the portal at the end of the block. With a last burst of energy, it began to sprint towards it.

No! Stop him!
I have it! I will call upon the Charter.
"Anet, Callow, Ferhew, Trobodaer!"

Conor saw a flash of the effect of the spell a split second before it was fired. "NO!", he yelled as he bucked the hand that had been outreached towards the stormtrooper into the sky.

A few dozen slivers of some kind of gold metal flew from his fingertips into the air in a deadly burst. The stormtrooper, noticing the shout and blast, turned and raised its blaster. But at this point, Conor's new metal legs had carried him into the soldier, mere feet in front of the portal's shimmering colors. The human struggled underneath him, but an exhausted human has no strength at all compared to robotic limbs. Conor clutched at the arms, pinned them to teh soldiers chest, and ignored the vicious kicks aimed at him as he knelt on top of the soldier.

He ripped off the helmet, first thing. He saw a woman's face, sweaty and flushed, her short hair a complete tangled mess. She was struggling angrily and futilely against the robot arms. He drew Nehima, in the guidance of the one in his mind. The soldier's eyes widened. She struggled harder. He held the sword up, so that she had no choice but to look at it. her eyes slowly went from panicked and angry to unfocused and dazed, her limbs slowing as though she was struggling through syrup.

C'mon, c'mon...

And in a flash behind his eyes, he drew himself through Nehima, and into her memories.

[mkfuba07]

Tristan settled down after the exhilarating attack, and was getting prepared to set the mess he'd made of the ground back to normal. Summoning a mountain was cool and all, but people still had to use the roads.

As he prepared to leap down from the roof, a figure pulled itself out of the rubble, and began to brush itself off.

"A straggler. We should capture whoever it is for questioning."

"Kitai, that doesn't look like a Si-"

Tristan felt himself leaning over the edge. Just as he was looking straight down at the debris-ridden courtyard, he felt Kitai take full control and kick off of the side of the building. He sped towards the back of what he could now tell was a girl. She appeared to be administering first aid to a marine.

"That's not something an enemy would be doing..."

"Stop Kitai! She's with us!"

She showed no signs of stopping as she drew her gladii, not filling Tristan in on what she planned to do with them. He didn't like it, though.

Harry didn't either. With a great effort of will he chipped through Kitai's control and with little more than a thought released the kinetic energy stored in one of his rings. A force strong enough to blast a hole in a brick wall propelled the front half of Tristan's body towards the ground. He landed less than gracefully, rolling until his forward momentum was stopped by the force of friction on his already damaged body.

For the third time that day, he was lying broken on the ground. At least this time there were enough pools of water around that watercrafting himself to full strength would be much easier. While he started the healing, he decided they needed to have a "discussion".

"All right, from now on, I'm completely in charge. No more taking control, no more making your own decisions. This is my body that you're throwing around and battering within an inch of its limits." He gave out a painful groan as his broken arm set itself and began mending together. "I know that none of you are stupid, but you're going to have to consult with everyone else before doing anything that could kill me. We should also think about being more careful with the power we're throwing around. Apparently that person who crawled out of the rubble was an ally. An ally we could have killed."

Without saying anything, they made him aware of their agreement. He stared silently towards the sky as healing rain fell against his skin.

[Anecronwashere]

Necron was having a very strange day.
What should have been a regular day soon turned strange with the sudden appearance of Light and the very strange appearance of several multiple personalities.

'So this is what we become. Gotta say we could do better.' came the voice of Jarez, the Exile
'Great I thought I'd already dealt with having a second person in my head. I swear if Garret comes back...' Tom Lovett scowled mentally as he added his expertise to the collective.
'Why does it always happen to me. Why coudn't Ron take this one for once. You think you had it bad, I had a Dark Lord sitting in my skull weighing me down since I was 1.' grumbled Harry.
'As opposed to several hundred sets of memories flashing through you? Many of which being military a**holes' Zeus, the virus commonly known as Alex mercer butted in.
'Quiet! This is my head, my rules' Necron burst in
'Not anymore bro. Our head, our rules.' Lovett pointed out
'So how does this work exactly?'
'Well until we fully integrate all but the dominant personalities abilities are suppressed, so if you want my skills at stabbing someone with a pen you can't use the Force from Jarez to do it with. We should be able to integrate if given a few hours alone. Or several days fighting.' Lovett explained.

With that settled the collection vanished with the pop of apparition.

As the portals were sealed Necron slipped through, feeling the wards slam down a moment afterwards.
"Well that was lucky. I almost missed the lockdown."
Necron walks up to the nearest living being and asks "What happened?"

[Morcleon]

Morcleon stood on the top of the building, watching the thunderstorm dissipate into nothing. A smile broke out on his face. To no one in particular, he muttered. "Well... we won, didn't we? It's a shame we can't go back to earth yet."

"You may have won, but the strain from all of those techniques should be catching up to you about-"

He felt light-headed, and the world spun around him. His knees crumpled, and his body fell off of the roof to the rubble below. Lying there with a small trickle of blood coming from his mouth, Morcleon chuckles at Karan's mental expression.

"... now. You really should be more careful and not push yourself. The physical integration hasn't completed yet, so you only have the chakra to sustain you."

"Indeed. You're lucky that you're still conscious."

"Fine... when will the merger be complete?"

"It will take several days to fully gain our physical skills."

Groaning, Morcleon lifted himself off the ground and sat up. He staggered to his feet and walked slowly to the warehouse. Upon his arrival, he slumped against one of the crates and closed his eyes.

"What happened?"

Snapping his head up at the sound of the voice, he blinked at a figure standing in front of him. Tilting his head to the side, he answered the voice. "Hmm? Oh, we got attacked by a bunch of Sith, stormtroopers and other assorted antagonists... Are you another one of us? Y'know, multiple minds/souls, one body?"

[AkaiNeko]

Kate crouched on top of a building, sword and gun at the ready, listening to a possible ally argue with themselves. The marine she'd found in the rubble below was behind her, his wounds no longer life-threatening. Said possible ally was on the ground before her, apparently also no longer life-threatening-ish.

'"An ally we could have killed." Sounds like confirmation to me.'

"Also sounds hilariously misinformed. I didn't even need Synesthesia to hear them coming."

"Indeed, but that's beside the point. We have a wounded ally down there, who may or may not be in a stable enough state of mind to accept aid."

"Actually, they seem to be healing pretty quickly. Some kind of regeneration, seems to involve ambient water."

'....is that what that is? These colors are giving me a headache.'

"I lived like this for years. You get very used to it. This one time, I found a detonator cap that this guy had swallowed-"

"If we could return to the matter at hand? I think we should call to them from here and see how they react."

Kate nodded and, with some trepidation, called down: "Hey! Are you ok down there? Got yourselves sorted out?"

[Anecronwashere]

'Sith? Is Revan here? And who are these stormtroopers?' Jarez asked
'Stormtroopers are a few thousand years in your future. I'll send you the memories of the movies.'
'Hehe, dumb clones. If you could clone someone, why not clone a Jedi or Sith army and make them loyal? Nothng against the mercenary Mandalore but jeeze.'

"Commander Jarez of the Republic Fleet Bravo, I served under Revan in the Mandalorian Wars before he fell out in the Unknown. Agent Tom Lovett of Pandora, leader of the Janus Squad. Harry Potter, Lord of House Black, Director of the DMLE and former Master of Death. Alex Mercer, or ZEUS depending on who you ask. And me, I'm Necron standard guy all round.
As for your side, I'm going to assume so until proven otherwise."

[Morcleon]

Morcleon grinned at the new arrival. "Ah, wonderful. And yes, you are one of us. We all have four of our past lives and abilities merged within us."

"Uchiha Sasuke, last of the Uchiha clan. John Taylor, Walker of the Nightside. Grand Admiral Thrawn, served under the Chiss Ascendancy and the Empire. Karan Sjet, Fleet Command of the Hiigaran people and the Sajuuk-Khar. Me, I'm Zachary, although you would know me as Morcleon, from the wonderful GiantITP holo-forums."

He struggled to his feet, letting out a breath. "... lucky. You didn't have to fight in that battle... Anyway, let's go find the others. We need to get everyone up to speed and form a plan of sorts."

[NM020110]

William hops down from the gate, which should return to the ground fairly soon, so that he can greet the newcomer.

"Welcome to Sigil, then. Necron, was it?

I suppose that I should introduce myself. I am William, another who was granted the power of those whom I am the reincarnation of. The previous incarnations to which I am bound, and which are bound to me, are Evangeline A.K. McDowell, true source of vampirism and high daylight walker, Orochimaru, Sannin and founder of the Village Hidden in the Sound, Sousuke Aizen, Former Captain of the Fifth Division of Soul Society, and Fujiwara no Mokou, owner/operator of a Yakitori stand.

I'm sure that you'll fit right in, here."

[ArlEammon]

Jacob
"Interesting." Jake said. "This is all insanity." He said at the newcomer. "I've found out not only that I've been four different people in the past, but that three of them are either incarnations of evil it'self or might as well be. Yet, I can't help but think that this is all quite exciting." He extends his hand to Necron. "The name is Jacob. I'm Ganon, Shinnok, Emperor Mateus Palamecia and Hawke. Nice to meet you."

[Anecronwashere]

"I was an evil Jedi General, the Boy-Who-Lived, a psychopathic virus and a combo of trained assassin and regular guy that was overlaid on a child. So same here, 3/4 are Evil and the other is a moody saviour. I'm sure we'll get along just fine." Necron grins, taking Jacob's hand.

"So where to next? Is there a base or something?"

[NM020110]

"Seems like you'll fit in quite well, then. The headquarters building which we were given is just past that gate."

[Anecronwashere]

Necron heads towards the headquarters, seemingly at ease.
Though his gait is relaxed trained professionals can see the tiny movements that belie his expertise and wariness as he scans the surroundings of the former battlezone for threats with the eye of someone trained from birth to do it combined with decades of magical warfare and force-based warfare.

[ArlEammon]

The Personae

Finally returning to the headquarters, the people may have noticed that the UNSC was currently there, speaking with those who had made it there and were still there. The Spartans had explained to the people there that the UNSC, the United Federation of Planets and several other factions were forming alliances in order to battle Yog Sothoth, an Outer God bent on channeling all of the powers of the Great Old Ones and Outer gods into his avatar in order to conquer realites throughout the multiverse one by one. Apparently this wasn't the only threat. Yog Sothoth had powerful allies, and, in fact, with the absence of important enemies, their power was growing slowly but surely.

By the time that all of the Personae arrived, the people noticed that hundreds of UNSC soldiers were speaking at a building in the center of Personae headquarters.

[mkfuba07]

Tristan was roused from his daydream by a voice calling from overhead.

"Hey! Are you ok down there? Got yourselves sorted out?"

"Oh yeah," he thought to himself. "I forgot what got me here..."

His eyes focused on the face of a girl glancing over the edge of a building above him. He stretched, his healed limbs aching slightly, and folded his arms behind his head.

"Yeah, I think we're alright. Just had some... control issues. I hope I didn't startle you too much with that lightning show or the attempted incapacitation. If it's any consolation, I don't think she would have tried to kill you. I'm not sure she could, from what I've seen of the other people - uh, personae - today."

"Do you want any help patching people up? It looks like people are meeting at HQ if you've finished up around here."

[Erik Vale]

Erik stares at the crowd of soldiers who have yet to notice him, unsure of what to do. John himself, is unsure of whether to join them or go around.
Then Aleandrea pipes up, and he sees motions appear in his minds eye.

'Do that and I can solve the problem.'
He was happy a warlock's power doesn't come from complexity. And then, he saw himself begin to fade, becoming translucent.

'Delt with, now go around quietly. You are invisible, only you can see yourself.'

Slowly, Erik began to make his way around the soldiers to the building.

[AkaiNeko]

Kate nodded to the man below her. "Aight, let's get going then. I haven't actually met the others yet. I'm Kate, by the way. Kate Holmes. I'm also Canaan, synesthetic mercenary; Narukami Yu, Fool-Type Persona user and leader of the Inaba Persona User's Investigation Group; Ayanami Rei, pilot of Evangelion Prototype Unit-00; and Arturia Pendragon, better known as King Arthur. Good to meet you."

[Conor77]

Heads turn. A tallish boy dressed in strange clothing is dragging unconscious or possibly even dead troopers floating behind him. The few that notice him watch as he cranes his neck around, and sees a group of similarly strange adventurers gathered in a circle. He walks purposefully over to them, gathered persons dangling in the air behind him as if balloons on a string.

He throws them down at the feet of the gathered reincarnated souls. He looks each of the Personae in the eye, and then says purposefully: "My given name is Conor, and my surname hardly matters now. I know how these stormtroopers got here, but not why. Does anyone actually know what is going on here. And, do they have any information that wasn't gleaned off that Mr. Light guy? I don't trust him. It. Thing."

Anyone who takes care to glance at him notices a few lightsabers hanging from his belt, as well as the rifles of the troopers slung on his back, in addition to the green surcoat over ceramic scale-mail. Someone who takes greater care in looking might notice that his arms are very finely constructed robotics.

[Anecronwashere]

"If you can find a living one I can give you all the information you need. Doesn't matter what state they're in, unconscious, coma, last breath." Came the voice of ZEUS from Necron's throat

[ArlEammon]

UNSC

The UNSC soldiers are currently holding a meeting informing the Personae of important events and information. Apparently, the Covenant has been battered, beaten and bruised in wars and is in hiding. However, mysterious forces have empowered the last hidden remaining strong-holds of the faction and the Covenant has given the UNSC a deadline before they wipe the UNSC from the Galaxy. The UNSC have identified the weapons and power-sources newly given to the Covenant as something called "Species 8472" technology.
The United Federation of Planets, from another universe had informed them of this, and had noted that the same species had grown immensely powerful in their's. Various other factions had formed an alliance between themselves from other universes in order to fight against not only their common enemies but in order to prepare for the Last Battle.

[Morcleon]

Morcleon sighed. "As of now, all of the information we have is from Light. There hasn't been enough time to gather our own data."

"We're also going to need some backup firepower. We may all be powerful, but even we cannot stand against the armies of worlds and planets." He glanced around the group, taking in the six others who were to be his allies. "I can get us a decent starting fleet, but I think that we should gather more allies. If the enemy has the Sith and the Covenant and other such beings, logic states that other entities from formerly 'fictional' stories exist as well. My first choice for this is Fleetmind, otherwise known as Petey."

He pulled out a battered-looking iPhone 10HS, quickly flicking through the holonet to the desired page. Placing it on the floor, he displayed an article floating in the air (http://schlockmercenary.wikia.com/wiki/Fleetmind). "This is the largest interstellar fleet that can be relatively easily convinced to help us. I hope."

[AkaiNeko]

"Actually....um....I can fight on that kind of scale. Theoretically. But without the proper resources it'd take a bit to work up to, and anyway I'd rather save that as a last resort.

"As to contacts....the Investigation Group are all powerful fighters and mages. There aren't many of them, but they've fought through hell before. Snake....might be willing to help. It's their leader that's important; she's an excellent leader and fighter. But I don't know that she'd listen. There are a few mages, Heroes, and other beings that might help, but most of them suffer from one of the above issues (though some'd be real boons). But there's also NERV. They've fought abominations like this many times, and won. Given proper support, they could be a real asset. They also have access to those "proper resources" I mentioned earlier.

"And incidentally, I hate to burst your bubble, but we aren't likely to get any really worthwhile information from these guys. They're here for the same reason the UNSC is here, not to mention us: 'cause some higher dimensional being(s) sent them here. They probably know even less than we do."

[Conor77]

"Umm, these four are alive. The three helmeted ones tackled me while I was looking into the memories of the fourth. I'm keeping them unconscious for now, but you can interrogate them if you wish. But, uh, keep it civil, okay? From the memories of the fourth one, these guys are just soldiers. They, uh, were all just soldiers". He says this last staring pointedly at the body bags being brought into the facility in a steady stream. "Everyone has a time and a place to die, I guess".

"But now, right now", he begins again, "we need to get...stuff. I think each of our reincarnations has some kind of help they can provide, whether it is a force or an artifact. You (gesturing to Morcleon) say you can get the fleetmind, which sounds good for starters. The UNSC is already here. And, if someone would be willing to accompany me, I could get the Black Queen's ring from one of my past live's world. Most of its lesser powers would remain locked to humans like us, but I could access the Red Miles, a kind of superweapon capable of ripping apart entire planets, devouring them like a giant cancer." Conor looks away after saying this, as if distracted.

"And, has anyone actually considered how wacky this is? Like, this right here? I don't know who you people are, but I know I'm FREAKING SIXTEEN! I got my first job two days ago! I still don't know what I want to study in college! I killed FOUR PEOPLE just now. Or, one of my past lives did, but does it matter?" He begins to get a little hysterical, but then appears to calm down again.

He turns quickly and walks away looking embarrassed, muttering something like an apology as he wanders elsewhere.

[Anecronwashere]

"Wait, don't kill them? Whoops." Came the masked voice of a stormtrooper, before he clutches his head. (Insert GM fluff here)
"Ow, I have to get used to that. Still atleast it's quieter in here than before. Seriously, have you ever heard a thousand people screaming inside your head. Not fun."

The trooper is wrapped in a blackish-purple wave and Necron reforms

'I can't believe you just killed him!'
'Would you rather set Tom and his "Investigation" skills on him? I don't keep prisoners and you know it!'

[Morcleon]

Morcleon retrieved his device, pocketing it. He sighed. "I agree, it is a little strange. But I suppose we will have to deal with it as best we can. Those soldiers knew the risks of combat. And now we do too." His face takes on a wan smile and his voice takes on a dramatic tone. "Because of we fail, life as we know it shall cease to exist. But let's not get too caught up and worried about that, shall we? Just take things calmly."

"... you remind me of Vader, with his love for the dramatic. Did he really say to his son 'Luke, I am your father'?"

"Actually, the quote is 'No, I am your father.'"

"Ah, touché."

Straightening up, Morcleon stretches before staring up at one of the portals out of Sigil. "Of course, before we can actually do anything, we have to exit this city."

[AkaiNeko]

"Wait, what? No, I thought we were supposed to stay in the city, remember? That's why teh Lady sealed it off: So we can search a more controlled environment. Supposedly. Also? Please don't kill/eat/torture/anything comparable to the above said actions anyone unless you need to, guys. I'd be morally obligated to step in." She looked at Necron, or more precisely, Zeus, specifically. "Also? Billions."

[Anecronwashere]

"It's what I do. It was literally my first action as a sentient being. besides, it's not like he felt anything and he lives on yammering inside my head. And affecting my personality so he is't completely gone." ZEUS shrugs

[ArlEammon]

Jacob
"I hate to chime in but, wasn't there a temple of Tharizdun or something like that that we needed to get in and investigate? It's been a while since we were informed about The Lady's suspicions of that place. I suggest we get to the Temple as quickly as possible and find out whatever the hell we need so we can leave this area. It makes a good headqaurters but not such a good home."

[Erik Vale]

Erik spoke with Aleandrea's Voice.

"That is an understatement.... If my few memories of Sigil, from my masters darn movements, are true, I can find that temple quickly, and find a useful portal out of here...."

[ArlEammon]

"It's not so much a portal we need to find, it's appeasing the Lady of Sigil in order to use any portal on our way out of here, remember?" Jake responded. The group soon found maps to the Temple in their rooms and areas. They were easily able to find Tharizdun's Temple within three hours.

Meanwhile in Tharizdun's Temple:

This isn't a good thing. The voice ominiously said, displeased. "They are already here. A great battle has erupted between the invaders and defenders. It appears the defenders sustained minimal losses, and the vast lion's share of casualties were from our side. We're going to have to deal with these outsiders very carefully. In the meantime we have to consider proper counter-attacks against the enemy presence in Sigil. The Lady has already been alerted, but remember, we have certain measures that can keep the Lady sealed and bound while we have our way with the Great City."

[Anecronwashere]

"Then we should hurry. This world isn't going to save itself. But first, anyone got a wand? I'm feeling a bit naked without atleast my phoenix core."

[Conor77]

"I've got a Wand of WWhite -I mean White- Science. Err, it wouldn't actually work as a wand from the Rowling novels though, it just blows things up in spectacular fashion. But given that you have a wizard in there, I bet you have the Strife Specibus to use it. So, uh, here"

Conor, as he walks, hands -Necron? ZEUS? 4Soulsandaperson Mcdude?- the Wand.

"Careful with that thing, it could blow a hole the size of a chimney through just about whatever you point it at."

He stares up at the temple. Huge uninviting iron gates look rather unfriendly and also uninviting. Conor sighs, rattles the gates once, and then bellows: "HELLO? ANYONE?"

[ArlEammon]

"Oh, Dear. This Amateur Coalition Of Blowhards Should Be Easy"
Strange voices can be heard behind the gates. Immediately the door swings open, and a group of six Pit Fiends charge the assembly of Personae as a blitzkrieg. These Pit Fiends are hideous creatures. . . deformed abberations and quite powerful. One of them would be no match for some, perhaps many of these Personae, but six could pose a problem if they made a mistake.

[Anecronwashere]

The wand is pulled into ZEUS who grins ferally.
"Looks like a few hunters come out to play."

He seems to blur slightly from speed as he jumps straight up and then propels from something in midair, slamming his knee into the leading Pit Fiend, before bringing up a blade in a series of frenzied slashings. Then before the Fiend could react he was gone, flipping over the lot and landing on the wall, forming a giant whip and bringing it slashing through the monsters.
"I was built to take monsters like you down. Did you really expect to be a threat?" He mocks

[Erik Vale]

In an instant, an internal conversation went on inside Erik, and images flashed in front of the minds eye of the bodies many souls.

'Shall we Sparten?"
'Let's go.'
'Obviously I am the only one who doesn't think this is nuts.'
'Not the only, you two are absolutly-'.
'Quiet, I need to enchant'.
Erik just smiled.

And he then became a blur of speed, charging towards the demons, with foul words of the tounges of both Fey and Demon, Erik spoke, charging the nearest pit-fiend.

He thundered into a fiend, with the wieght and speed of a car travelling at 60km an hour, but that was not the true force of his attack, as his hands thudded into the fiends flesh, the first things to contact, as incantations activate-


(One of those demons should be teleported straight to hell, as per Damnation. (NWN2 Spell). Or it's dazed for a minute.)

[Conor77]

Conor is taken aback. "What the hell? This is Sigil! A place of peace between beings!"

Knowing nothing else to do, he takes a few steps backwards, and reaches for the Wand... Before realizing that he gave his greatest weapon to someone who is kicking in the teeth of Pit Fiends in melee. He curses the demon's mothers.

Instead of the Wand, he draws Nehima, symbols flashing down the blade, unreadable to anyone except the wielder and the victim. The Pit Fiends do not know of Nehima now, but when this battle is over, they will never forget it. One of the Pit Fiends that isn't engaged with the other guys strides up, looking almost casual at speeds close to 30 miles an hour. Conor grips the now glittering sword tighter, as adrenaline fills him with the sight of the beast, and the rushing of blood in his ears. He feels his past self's fighting expertise and memories fill him to the brim, and as he starts to ready his sword, he begins to tell the Pit Fiend of Nehima, so that it would be Remembered in earnest.

"Do you know this sword, great Demon? (It stalks closer. Nehima is still held low to one side of Conor's waist) This sword is Nehima. It was seen by the Clayr, who see all futures, and so the Wallmakers made it with their great skill, and passed it on to the Royal Family. And it was one of their greatest blades. (The Pit Fiend tries an experimental slash, but finds itself parried almost immediately by Conor's enhanced speed and skill) It's original inscription told that story, until it passed into the hands of the Abhorsen. (The Pit Fiend now tries howling billowing flame into Conor from a safe distance, but between the enhancements on the sword, his armor, and his prostheses, he is unharmed) The Abhorsens kept it, slowly augmenting its enhancements to the point where it passed into legend. (The Pit Fiend circles, warily. The others cannot help it. they are rather engaged) But legends fade, and Nehima was forgotten by all, save a few. (They stare at each other) Lirael, daughter of Terciel, Abhorsen and Clayr by birth, offspring of both Death and Sight, found it. (Conor sees its muscles tense, magic tightening them beyond even their original superhuman strength and speed. He would have less than a second once it pounced, but that would hopefully be enough) She, the last Remembrancer, caught it from the mists of the past and breathed new death into it, in the form of the Panpipes, lesser versions of the bells that now hang on my side. The sword was changed that day, changed so that it will never be forgotten again. (The muscles were done tightening, and now the moment seemed taut, like a clothesline stretched a mite too far...) The last Remembrancer imbued it with such power, that its inscription changed permanently. It no longer tells a story. It simply reads- (The lunge. A quickening snap of muscle, sinew, grace and perfect destruction in claws, teeth, and horns. The sword, in an equally simple and graceful arc. is brought to an upwards position) -REMEMBER NEHIMA!

BOOM! White sparks fly in the wake of the swordstroke, hitting the beast and carving through as if the Fiend was only imaginary. The only clue that the Fiend was hit at all was the thunderclap accompanying the slash, and the fact that the fiend collapsed to the ground yards behind Conor, its smoking carcass stinking like sulfur. His armor, made of a special porcelain, managed to transfer the force of the deadly claws into kinetic energy, throwing Conor backwards as well, to tumble next to it in a great heap.

[AkaiNeko]

Long before the door opened, Kate had reservations about the door. There was more ambient blue around than she liked, and some very odd signals that were difficult to attribute simply to their being in Sigil. Moments before the door opened, her instincts screamed at her to MOVE.

And then Excalibur was in her hand, the door flew open, and a pit fiend was barreling at her - only to be slammed into the wall by Invisible Air's ("See? It is useful!" 'Point proven.') release. Kate grinned slightly. "I don't even have to feel bad about killing you!" She readjusted her grip after the wind blast and lunged.

[Morcleon]

"Ah, our first encounter in the temple... wonderful." Morcleon sighed.

"Well, if someone's sending these things at you, at least it means you're on the right track."

"Indeed. The very presence of a defensive force indicates that there is something, or someone, here that our enemy does not want found."

"Yes, but it also means there are things after me, which is something with which I will not put up!"

"For every spirit is a proper place in hell. And today, we shall be your deliverers!" Drawing his blade in one swift motion, he launched forward at the group of fiends, an azure haze of lightning covering the chokutō in his hand. His sharingan spun wildly as he ducked under a number of claws seeking his body. The quickly rising sound of a thousand birds could be heard as his sword flashed amongst the devils.

As his combo was finished on one creature, Morcleon lands, deliberately letting one of the attacking limbs come very close to his body. A large field of crackling electricity burst from him, arcing up the fiend's arm and disrupting it's muscles and nerves. Chidori Nagashi!

[mkfuba07]

"I guess you're mine, then," Tristan thought as the sixth Pit Fiend charged towards him. He quickly formulated a plan, getting confirmation from the others that they understood their parts.

After four mental nods, he knelt to the ground, placed his hands flat on the ground, and bowed his head. As the Pit Fiend was almost upon him, three things happened almost simultaneously.

First, Tristan's arms came up, tapped his webshooters twice, and aimed directly at the Pit Fiend's eyes.

Second, the earth furies stirred, and a small ledge rose immediately before the Fiend's feet.

Finally, he leaped into the air, careful to avoid the Fiend's blind strikes. As he passed over the Fiend he revolved, facing his adversary's back. He finished with a swift kick, with both legs, right between its shoulder blades.

Tristan landed in time to see his enemy pitch forward into the ground, hands clawing at his eyes. He didn't stop when he reached it. His upper body, up to his waist, sank into a quagmire of liquified stone.

"Fuego!" Tristan barked, pointing his staff at the inverted foe. A wave of fire roared towards comically flailing legs. The watery stone sloshed as the surrounding stone contracted and the wave washed over it. While the inferno had little effect on the Fiend itself, the water in his impromptu swimming pool evaporated. As the blaze subsided, he was encased in an earthen shell almost as hard as diamond, though much less beautiful.

As the legs appeared to stop flailing, Tristan turned to see how the other battles were unfolding. "hehe, now he really is a pit fiend."

[ArlEammon]

The Pit Fiend Tristan encased in an earthen shell shattered his make shift prison. However he was the only fiend left, suddenly however, a swarm of eight others came pouring out of the gate. Fire balls came pouring out of the gate as the eight pit fiends came swarming at the Personae. They would hit the ground and explode in a radius of twenty feet circles, clearly injuring or burning the Personae. Usually this would be too much to bear but the combination of powerful Souls within the Personae allowed them to bare pain beyond that of any Human. Some Personae, may have been immune or resistant to the fire, however.

Jacob noticed that as Ganon, the fireballs had no effect on him. With his Kamidogu staff, Jacob fired a blast of pale white energy at one of the Pit Fiends, causing it to slump to the ground, bleeding profusely as it now had a huge, gaping hole within it. Jake simply forced Shinnok's staff into the Pit Fiend's massive wound, and charged, causing it to explode in a shower of diabolic gore. He further turned and fired another energy shot at another Pit Fiend.

[chulance]

To say Floyd was having a “Weird” Day would even be putting into words how crazy things we’re getting for him.

He’d woken up late as usual, having passed out while watching a movie at 4 in the morning. Maybe it was good to start sleeping earlier, then again that was pretty boring. After eating breakfast, and just messing around he decided to log onto A Giant in the playground forums. However this is when things got very..trippy, and nothing like what he’d experienced before. When he was on the forum Digimon suddenly became a reality as he became digitlized, and not only that four of his previous “Reincarnations” had been integrated into himself.

That meant one thing, he could no longer deny reincarnation, it was real. The Light or whatever wanted him and others to fight some horrendous threat to the universe, and the investigation would start in some place called Sigil. Apparently there population 1,000,000 in total had vanished into thin air not exactly something that made him eager to begin his investigation. This whole thing was insane, only one thing was keeping him happy the integration of abilities from 4 of his favorite characters naturally all villains except one.

“You’re my reincarnation? ?So that means you now possesse the powers of the genie as well, luckily you’re not trapped in some lamp like me. And there’s no street rats to interefere with us achieving ultimate control over the world!”

“Right, all these maniacs in here, we need to be ready for anything, we have the power of the universe in hands, and we need to use it to defend the world don’t listen to these mad men.”

“BUU SAYS do what Buu want! Do you what you want! These people are not useful for anything except in my stomach!!! Chocolate Chocolate!!!” Buu roared, of course it had to be Super Buu but hey was my favorite anyway.

Onslaught was the quitest.” I have nothing to say, defending mortals, defending anyone they all dserve to be destroyed! Devoured!” Buu cheered at that last part, Kyle sighed, and JAfar shook his head obviously wanting to rule. So there was a conqueror, superhero, foodaholic with more power then Goku, and a destroyer.

“This is fu….this is insane..” I had no words for this, as I felt dizziness, but the feeling faded as their powers we’re being integrated into my own. I was now more concerned about the change of scenery Sigil, he was sent to some temple filled with equipment. Of course none of ohis “past” Selves had anything of importance or did they. Kyle’s ring, I picked it up and slipped it on my finger feeling energy coursing through my veins, before I felt Kyle’s few energy. Of course I wasn’t ready for that, but this was still incredible.

He arrived at the warehouse, apparently some bottle had taken place, according to the UNSC troops, then he overheard others talking suffering like he was from 4 previous incarnations within him. As he approached them, he was along with them sent to some temple. More confusing so he’d escaped the first battle against star troops, only to be pit against demons this was just great. I Began to feel the energy signals of those around me, one of Buu’s abilities no doubt.

“This insane..this is, ugh fine this is cray, but I’m not even gonna argue I got super powers.” I saw Morceleon fighting and just chuckled, Sasuke Uchia? Now this was going to be more fun then he thought.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cG8YdwCVZSc

“Alright let’s go pit fiends!!!!! “I stretched out my hands, and legs as an invisible but faint power began to surge around me. This was just the beginning as the aura took on a pinkish hue, and my skin briefly took on shades of pink, from black to pink interesting. I could only imagine what sort of racist jokes my friends would come up for that, as the more I gathered power the ground beneath me began to shake. “BUU WANTS YOU DEAD SO DIE!!!!!!” The power began to surge even more, the ground beneath my feet tearing apart, as if some massive earth quake was starting.

I began to gather pink ki in my hand, while opening my moth roaring I fired three blasts two from my hands, and one from my mouth tearing through one of the pit fiends who dared to attack Floyd despite his display of power, it seemed Buu was the most aggressive of my previous four personalities. “ALRIGHT!!” With a nod, I flew forward body slamming into a pit fiend, then raising my arm into air extending it in length before raining down a hail storm of ki blasts on me and the fiend I’d just slammed into.

[Conor77]

"Oh for the love of-" Conor is cut off as the fireballs engulf the area in embers, including him. The fireballs of the devils last longer than normal flame, flickering and roiling long after normal flame would have simmered down. He buries his face in his hands, but still sustain some burns from the fireballs, in addition to the massive impact damage from the force of the beast. He tries to get up, and manages to get onto one knee. And then up onto both feet, staggering. He sees the others, wheeling about, killing multiple Pit Fiends, and then the other Pit Fiends roaring out of the building.

"What, no. Those can't be real. There is no way." He tries to stand up straight, before a pain in his ribs forces him into a stoop again. He just observes for a bit, trying to regain his breath.

[Erik Vale]

Erik Curses as he sees more fiends coming through.
'To think. one of those would be the one I just returned to hell.'

His shields however are holding strong, the power of the amulate empowering his shields, with the fireballs that touch him being just blasts of hot wind, his sheilds barely noticing any that aren't direct hits.

'Fall back and draw my stave, I shall deal with them.'

Slowly the Spartan fell back, dancing out of reach of the fiends claws, and then towards one fiend, something only psychics could see occurred.

Psychic energy billowed around Erik's head and around the staves tip, the energy from the stave flowed into his head, and then, guided by the power of The Seer of Ulthwe, Eldrad, The Psychic power thundered into a demon with enough force that it's mind should be immediately emptied.

Two uses of mindwar on a demon. The Demon's mind could take anything from no damage to emptying and the demon becoming lifeless.

[Conor77]

Okay, first things first, A few things might happen that differ slightly from the given posts, especially any second posts you may have made. Hopefully I can keep this to an absolute minimum. Is that cool? Here we go...

The Fiends underestimated the speed with which 5 gestalt souls were able to react. What was supposed to be a strike was stymied almost immediately by a charge against them. The mass of flesh and bone shaped like a human leaped at them fastest, kicking one but swirling out of reach and onto a wall before they could realize they weren't the ones attacking. It proceeded to slash and slice with a whip made of its own flesh. Their skin flayed and muscles ripped, but any damage done seemed to toughen over instantly, and from the scars layered over their bodies, ZEUS could see that they had taken abuse like this dozens, perhaps hundreds of times before. He needed a different tactic.

As he kept a few of the Fiends busy trying to snatch him from the wall, someone in advanced armor plowed into one, sending it someplace unknown with a crack and a wisp of smoke. Another person swung in around the soldier, lightning arcing from his body as he swirled and dodged away from claws by the skin of his teeth. When he was in the place he desired, he seemed to falter, allowing one of the Fiends (no longer worried about Zeus, who was momentarily out of reach), to grasp him with its meaty claw. The key word was seemed. In reality, as soon as it touched him, a huge amount of Watts coursed through its body. Its muscles twitched and its head was thrown back in an involuntary roar of pain. Morcleon however, had hoped that his lightning would be coursing through an open hand, not one closed around him. For now, he was trapped.

The three other Fiends had three targets. Perfect. Each fiend tried for a different champion, with rather similar results. The one that tried to engage the girl, Kate, found itself slammed against the wall and then charged with a sword. Kate's stroke was true, and the fiend was pinned against the wall, howling in agony but still unrecovered from the wind. The weapon had some strange property that allowed it to truly damage the demon, blackish green blood and white ichor spilling out of the wound into the surroundings, yet not mixing together. The second was stopped not by an attack, which it would have resisted, or defenses, which it could have ripped through, but by trickery. Trickery and spellcraft laid it to rest in the earth, trapped by the oppressive scent of the cobblestone. And the last one was struck down in a duel by a sword enchanted by white fire, wounding its opponent in the process.

So, those are sort of a summary of the first posts everyone made, woven together into a cohesive narrative. A few specific notes:

Morcleon Erik (I'm dumb), your spell sent it to hell, but unfortunately, it's in Lawful Evil hell, which means everyone is chums, and it got sent right back. If it was a "Demon" and not a "Devil" (huge distinction, I know), it would have been sent to Chaotic Evil hell, where it would have been ripped to shreds and fed to Cerberus.

Akaineko, your stab wasn't a killshot, but the Pit Fiend is now pinned to the wall by the sword. You would have to release it in order to use Excalibur again, or you can leave it and let the Fiend bleed to death.

mkfuba07, nice pun. Also, clever strategy. Congrats.

To anyone watching at this time of night/day, Part deux coming in just a little bit.

[Anecronwashere]

OOC: The reason Necron hasn't done much is because I would have been in shock, and shut down. The others have stepped up to basically fully possess Necron. It's how I act, I take everything in stride until I can shut down and work through everything, which due to the others i can do almost immediately.


Mercer in Necrons body blinks at the lack of effect and aims the wand he had been given, fully intending to blow it away. Only for nothing to happen.
"Hmm I guess the magic didn't cross over into other magics." Potter comments as ZEUS sprints straight up the wall ignoring gravity and propels as far up as he can before looking down, taking aim at a free monster and falls, very very fast straight towards it.
Slamming into something at terminal velocity would damage just about anything, Fiends unexcepted as the piledriver weighing twice as much as a regular human (he absorbed the Trooper remember) cracks the ground in a shockwave just from the transferred kinetic force from ZEUS to the Fiend to the ground.

Using the Devil as a springboard he double-flipped forwards, entire posture shifting as the virus relinquished control to the trained assassin (Lovett)
grabbing one of their claws he twists roughly, snapping the bone into an unnatural angle and sending the claw at it's owner's eyes.


Should anything attempt to attack Lovett he will move almost too fast for human possibility right out of the line of attack, conserving energy and only being a hairs breadth from the attack before locking eyes with the attacker and sending a brute-force Legilemency attack from Potter in an attempt to shatter it's concentration.

[ArlEammon]

Jacob
Jacob noticed that Shinnok's Staff by it's own would not have fired energy attacks in the Mortal Kombat verse. It took Hawke's own expertise with staves in order to bring the magic out. It impressed Jake that the level of power his small group of insane sorcerers possessed was strong enough to harm and kill even Pit Fiends. Jacob fired off the eldritch bolts of power from Shinnok's staff at any Pit Fiend that threatened the others. However Jacob stayed in the back. He was currently far away from any threat, although Pit Fiends could use magical attacks, such as meteor swarms and fireballs, or raise the dead to attack. Jacob wondered if he should stop using the Staff and just resort to powerful spells next.

[NM020110]

William limps onto the battlefield, using a sword as a walking stick, well behind everyone else.

'Blast it, Orochimaru, these legs are only supposed to jump six feet, not thirty!'

'Bah, that's your fault for being such a weakling.'

'Just because I expected to live my life as a programmer makes me weak, now?'

'You know, there look to be some creatures attacking your allies. Perhaps we should be helping?'

'I've finished with the first round of integration. It's Aizen's turn now.

Also, brace for a shock. The last thing to go through was my immortality technique.'

"Does anyone need he-"

William's offer for aid is cut short by horrid choking noises, as he stumbles and retches, snakes pouring from his mouth.

'Orochimaru, what have your done!? What is happening to my body, here?'

The snakes swiftly multiply, and swords begin to appear from their mouths as they approaches the Pit Fiends in the form of an immense wave of snakes.

[Conor77]

I fell asleep while writing part 2! Sorry about that, but I'm here now.

Surprise is often said to be better than strength, and it certainly seemed to be in this instance. One devil dead, another trapped in the earth, one pinned to a wall, another who knows where, and one of the last two electrocuted? It seemed perfect. Until 8 more did a proper bum-rush, sending Fireballs through the gates ahead of them to blanket the area and prevent counter charges. At least in theory. Jacob, who had kind of missed out on the lightning-fast first attack, now pushed aside the flames and blasted a fiend in the stomach, shoving a long staff into the wound before it could "toughen" and then sending power coursing through it, destroying the demon's flesh. He then skips backwards, over near where Conor is recovering, blasting magic at the other devils.

Erik, wearing full-body armor, is rather unperturbed by the flames, since they carry no shockwave along with them. Instead, he reaches out to the raging devils and attempts to silence their minds. The minds are very, very different from a normal person's. and it was hard, but he caused one of them to slump over, a vegetable. He grins inside his helmet briefly, before he picks up a tiny amount of psychic feedback. Opening his mind to allow power to flow through it also afforded him a glimpse at the mind he had just wiped. If anyone could see him under his polarized visor, they would have seen his skin turn very, very pale. His eyes widened. No mortal should ever know the kinds of things that go on in Hell. He was thus a little unprepared for another Pit Fiend to barrel into him, both of them crashing to the ground in a tussle.

Necron aims the Wand of White Science at the demons from atop the wall, but is unable to fire it. He tosses it backwards, in the approximate direction of that kid who didn't like killing. Just as 2 more devils circle around the other side of the wall to harry him down, he jumps off, kicking one in the face to land solidly on the ground. He lets them approach a little ways, before running up the wall, zig-zagging to avoid the claws that cut through stone like it was butter. His momentum carries him up to the top of the wall, where he braces powerful legs and slams into a demon, newly armored head first. The devil hits the ground with a nasty crunch. Necron has broken something. And then, ripping the fiends claw off, he finds one of the only weapons that can damage them fully. He rips its head off and turns to the other three, that have surrounded him. While the other souls within him continue their various assistances, ZEUS just grins, ferally. This is gonna be good.

Tristan looks back and forth from the demon he trapped and the others beginning to rush around. He doesn't want to let his eye off the one in the stone, but the others really are more of a threat... When he looks back at the one he took down for the 7th or 8th time, it is gone. Just, dissolved. He looks around, first left, then right. He drops into an alert crouch, every voice in his mind pushing the extreme danger button as hard as they could. What spidey sense didn't let him react to in time though, was the massive invisible fist that hit him just under the ribs, throwing him 50 feet backwards, to roll heels over head before landing, apparently relatively unharmed.

Kate still has her hands on the hilt of Excalibur. The demon trapped by it is looking at her very nastily, but two more are approaching in their way, which was lightning fast. She needed to make a decision, to fight two demons without her sword, or three with it. Okay, two and a half with it, really. This thing on the wall looked almost dead.

As soon as he saw the other Pit Fiends coming around, Morcleon released his lightning, ensuring to provide enough energy to kill it for good. Without the muscles contracting, he could just push the hand aside to step out. He felt pretty cool, until he turned around and saw 2 Pit Fiends, razor-talons out, grinning a smile-less grin, one of them preparing some kind of spell that involved 4 orbs of stone. Uh oh.

Holy crap guys, I just hit the post size limit...

[Conor77]

Meanwhile, Floyd is receiving his briefing from the Light. He is having a special portal opened for him that will take him exactly where he needs to be, but he is warned that it is somewhat temporally and spatially and actually quite probably mentally unstable. Okaaaay... He steps through it. His mind is filled with haze. He sees a group of adventurers, and walks over to them, but they seem to ignore him. For some reason everything is in black-and-white, with little artifacts flickering around at the edges of his vision. The adventurers spoke to each other, (but not him), and then walked up to some gates... And then, demons! Eager to join the fight, he starts throwing pink energy, to help the others. But somehow, they seem not to notice. His energy blasts have no effect. The demons don't even look at him! What is going on??? And then he finishes stepping through the portal, in the exact location where he was standing moments before. But now, everything is in color, with his normal vision. He can also smell, now, the smell of charred bodies and flame and a hint of what could only be described as magic. He is a little bit confused as to what just happened.

Meanwhile, the wave of snakes gets closer to the demons, they and the Personae alike thinking it was some new threat...

[mkfuba07]

Tristan groaned. The world swam before his eyes, and he felt his head rotating with it. His eyes blinked lazily, attempting to be aware, but struggling to stay open.

"My duster was able to diffuse most of the force, but we may have a broken rib."

"Quick thinking on the shield, Wiz. Concentric, spherical, porous shields to spread out the force of our tumble. Like the bumper of a car. Meant to be crushed, but just enough to make the impact survivable."

"I had to do the same thing when I blasted myself to the top of an elevator shaft without thinking about how I would survive the fall. Who says I never learn?"

"Guys, I think we need to get this healed quickly. That thing's still out there, and more have appeared."

"Been on it since you took the hit, boss."

"Bones and muscles are easy. Concussions are a bit more challenging. This could take a while, especially without water."

"Alright, it's time for some evasive maneuvers. Harry and Spidey, take care of movement. Cid and Kitai focus on healing, but stay alert. The others may need your help at any time. First, we find out where the Invisifiend is."

He reestablished his concentric shields, making them thinner than they had been before, with more open space between each shield. Six shields in total, covering a thirty foot radius around him. And then he waited.

For a while, nothing happened. He was beginning to think that the demon had moved on to someone else. In any case, the delay was giving him time to heal his injuries. He could keep his eyes open without effort, and the world's movement had slowed to a slight wobble. Kitai and Cid worked fast.

Suddenly, the second outermost shield fractured, somewhere to his right, and Tristan understood why it took the Invisifiend so long to move. It had been trapped. As he turned toward the breach, the third outermost shield was fractured a moment later, so Tristan knew that his foe was charging towards him. Fourth, more certain of the demon's location. Fifth, almost positive. Sixth, now or never.

He lashed out with his webshooters, spreading a broad web of, well, webbing through the air in front of him. It was definitely not enough to halt the foe's movements entirely, if at all, but now Tristan had one thing he hadn't had before - sight of the Inivisifiend. His top half is the important part, right?

He threw himself sideways as the fiend's arm sped towards him, intent on a slightly more incapacitating blow than the previous one. As he dove, he mentally prepared himself for part three of their vicious duet.

[Erik Vale]

((There is a post size limit, Holy crap! Oh, and yes I know there is a huge difference between devils and demons, I also stress it.

Eldar Farseer's ablity to 'Anhialate' minds normally allows no feedback, but considering she is without her runes it is entirely appropriate.))

Erik had nothing to prepare him for demons, however each of his other souls had slight advantages to speed their recovery.
John had seen all the horrors of war and participated, he was the last spartan with the Hyper-Lethal rating for a reason, and he was trained to keep cool.
Alric was a dwarven soul, naturally immune to the predations of the warp, resistant to magic and the powers of the mind.
Aleandrea used to deal with fey, demons and other things on a nigh daily basis, with a god-like patron fey in her head before her pact was resolved.
Eldrad was THE eldar psycher, trained well beyond and skilled well beyond even the most tightly bound psycher to resist mental influence and drive out demons.
And so, when the devil charged, controll was regained.

The staff couldn't moved far enough to impale the devil, so he let it fall a little moving his hands. The Devil struck him with force greater than a charging brute, and even with the magical enhancement of dwarven runes, his shields flared and almost died on impact with the devil and then the ground, they couldn't take much more. But to say Erik was reinforced physically was an understatement.
He was almost as tough as a tank.
And could flip heavy tanks two handed with ease.

His hands, spread a little, pushed the devil away but a little, enough to move his hands, then darting up in a blur of motion, he claps his hands around the devils head with all the force he could muster.

((Don't think there is godmodding here beyond being able to move his hands which should be fine, your turn...))

[Morcleon]

In the grasp of the fiend, Morcleon could do nothing but watch the fire and flames draw closer. He closed his eyes, concentrating. "John Taylor. Do something about those flames. Please."

"Heh... will do."

He felt a power surge up, slightly more painfully this time. His gift spread out, reaching throughout existence to find what he desired. It locked on to its unique signature, and pulled it through the barriers between dimensions, forcing its way to his reality and general vicinity. A deluge of holy water crashed onto Morcleon an instant before the hellfire. "... why holy water?"

"Eh, thought it was a useful precaution. It is hellfire, after all."

"Ah, touche."

Groaning, Morcleon retrieved his sword from where it had dropped on the ground. He looked up. He groaned again. "Some form of earth-based spell...? Wait... Lightning chakra beats earth chakra. I do sorely hope that this carries over to magic..."

He ran through a series of hand seals, concentrating the chakra along his arm and into his hand, dividing it into a number of sharply focused projectiles. He continued to focus the lightning chakra, creating ever-increasing numbers of senbon. His sharingan spun again, targeting the vital points on the pit fiends, as well as the orbs themselves, hoping to defuse them. A moment passed. Morcleon fired, sending a hailstorm of concentrated lightning needles toward his enemies. Chidori Senbon!

The instant his jutsu activated, he molded some chakra within himself, ready to replace himself with a convieniently placed log if the spell wasn't disrupted. He then had a curious thought. "Wait, it that a meteor swarm...?

Convieniently placed log? Why yes, there is. For some reason, there's always a cut log ready whenever a shinobi needs to use the replacement technique. And who am I to remove such a long-standing staple of Naruto? :smalltongue:

[ArlEammon]

Jacob, Again, Or Is It Ganon!

Suddenly, Jacob began to giggle nervously, with his body shaking uncontrollably with pre-laughter. The mysterious, deep, mocking laughter continued for a handful of seconds, before a mystical energy exploded throughout Jake's body. The Sword of the Sages was seen coalescing into Jacob's fist, and the Triforce of Power materialized into his hand. The battle possessed man grew tusks from his mouth and he grew to resemble something more like an Orc or pig-man than a Human being. The laughter then became more like a dragon's roar. Suddenly, the man teleported into the nearest Pit-Fiend, attempting to cleave the upstart demon with a single cleave with supernatural strength, easily strong enough to cut through ten feet of castle wall. The size of Ganon/Jake? was equal at least to the Pit-Fiend he was cleaving.

[3SecondCultist]

The pale light emanated from the windows above, casting a long shadow on the stone. Seated at his workbench, Alexander Idrian examined the mechanism in front of him: a broken timepiece. It seemed to be running several seconds slow now.
Tick, tick, tick.
With a sigh, he tosses it away. Before it could land, an idle flick of the finger dismisses it into dust. A slow smile splits pale skin. Almost as an afterthought, he realizes how quiet the laboratory is now. The voices remained stilled, as was proper. They would bother him when and only when he permitted it. The barriers were still holding strong, but no battle is without cost. Behind his dull gold irises, Alexander could feel the pain slowly building - the hunger that came with using one's powers. What had the Watchmaker called it? Evolutionary imperative? What utter nonsense he had sprouted. There had been a carnival, and something about redemption. Of course, there were others. The Nihilist, who seemed to spend all of their conversations either laughing triumphantly or trying to persuade him to kill everything. The Hero, who did almost the exact opposite and wallowed, usually making a half-hearted attempt to get Alexander to run off or re-invent himself. Finally, there was the Tyrant. Of the four spirits, he seemed to be the most rational, and the only one worth talking to. Then again, he had deluded himself into thinking he was a god, but compared to the others he was practically sane.

Suddenly irritated by such idle thoughts, Alexander stands up.
Some fresh air would do me good, I think. Ensuring that his twin bracers of pewter and steel stay firmly embedded into his forearms, he walks over to his desk and removes one of the many vials. He holds it up to the light, watching the flakes of metallic pewter fall slowly through the alcohol solution. Pulling back the cap, Alexander downs the drink. He can feel the pewter reserve inside him now, a veritable treasure trove of power. Throwing on a grey coat, he walks over to the cabinet. There, lined in dark mahogany, was Caesura - a true man's blade. He belts it on carefully, the sheath only a slight bulge beneath the wool fabric. Alexander Idrian is ready. Moving to the door, he steps through with an abandon he does not quite feel.

[AkaiNeko]

As Kate barreled into the devil, slamming into the wall and piercing it through with the finally unsheathed Excalibur, spattered with blood, vision filled with blue, feeling the impact and strange energies leaking off her foe, she realized something: she felt good.

That first battle had been too soon, too chaotic; she wasn't used to her new capabilities, and had basically relied on the instincts pouring in from her other selves. And, while Kate had always believed that she could kill if she had to, she had mercifully never had to find out; Canaan and Saber were more than used to killing others, but generally took no pleasure in it, and Rei and Yu were used to more controlled fights against distinctly inhuman foes.

But now....it hadn't been much longer, really, but it had helped immensely. Fighting a large scale battle had been one hell of a warmup. Talking with her other selves was good (especially given who they were). Even just walking around, seeing their new base, with it's incredible variety of weapons, armor, vehicles, fighters, and so on, and then walking around the city, Sigil, the center of the Outer Planes....she was starting to feel it, to internalize this new way of being. And these new opponents....there was no pity here. They may have been people, in some sense, but they were not worthy of her concern as such; where her selves ranged exactly from Neutral-Good to Lawful-Good, they were firmly Lawful-Evil. But they were smart and skilled and powerful, much like herself. She felt awake.

"Kate, not to interrupt, but...."

"Two more, incoming!"

OK, now she was really awake.

'Saber, not to sound like a broken record....'

"Don't risk it yet. You've just unsheathed it and accessed its full form for the first time, we can't safely handle any more for a minute or two. Hold till it's stabilized. Or win."

'Alright, let's do this.' "Reform: Invisible Air: Bounded Field of the Wind King!" The Pit Fiend she had speared screamed as the ripping barrier reformed around the sword, Kate turned to face the devils rushing for her and...."Release: Strike Air: Hammer of the Wind King!" The barrier of compressed wind impacted the impaled demon for the second time, this time tearing into its innards, and Kate shot forward toward her new opponents, sword back for a powerful slash.

Not sure, but I think that did it for teh guy on teh wall.

[Conor77]

Conor drags himself forward through the pain, biting his lip and trying to count how many Pit Fiends were left. 6 in the initial attack, 5 went "down", but only 4 died. Then 8 more appeared, bringing it to ten. From what he saw as he crawled for the tiny white stick of wood, he counted one more down from getting its head ripped off. 6 were inside the courtyard right now, 2 menacing Morcleon while 3 surrounded Necron and 1 scrapped with Erik. Another two charged Kate, and the other one was still stuck in the stone... He reached the Wand, grasping its smoothness in hands made of charred metal. He got up, slowly moving while ignoring the pain. When he finally stands, he has only to pick his target. Eridan assures him that whatever he picks has no hope at all.

[Anecronwashere]

"Surrounded by goons, holding the claw of one that seems to hurt them, a lot. Hmm, what to do." Tom smirks ducking a slash from one of the Fiends.
As he comes up he keeps going, flipping backwards over the 1st Pit Fiend and stabbing straight through.
Pulling it out he began the dance of death, assuming a duelist's stance as he ducked, weaved and parried the 4 incoming attacks until he suddenly reversed direction, delivering what would have been a savage backhand to the 2nd Fiend except with the claws, did a whole lot more.
The 2nd going down, even if temporarily Tom turned to the 3rd remaining and smiled ferally, and the devil knew Mercer had returned. With the claw he lashed out, tearing through the neck and pressing his other hand straight into it, dragging his demonic biomass into his body.
If any of the other 2 still live he slams his foot down on them, cracking bone ruthlessly.

"Come and get me!" He roared in a feral rage as claws stabbed out from his hands, looking more like the devil's than his standard form.

(OOC: ZEUS got claws from consuming a Hunter the first time, and absorbing various other enemies gave him other powers, consuming a Devil for his upgraded claws seems like his style.)

He stood ready, any wounds inflicted sealing themselves as the very dense virus stood with 3 bodies surrounding him.


All of his companions (read: you guys) feel an immense wave of emotion, driving them to unleash more devastating attacks or combos.
Any Force-Users who can sense Force Bonds will see tendrils linking all of them to him.

(OOC: The Exile forms Force Bonds very quickly. Kreia and Exile spend an hour of knowing each other and they gain pain-sharing. Anton is overwhelmed with rage if you decide to attack the owner of the apartment you rob despite being in contact for 1-3 days and he had a Force Bond with almost every single one of his troops at Malachor to the point that he shut off his Force Connection when they died so he wouldn't either)

[NM020110]

William staggered back to his feet, gasping for breath.

'What is...this? My body feels almost like a husk. Why do I feel like it's not my body?'

'Fushi Tensei, my technique of pseudomortality. We now hold the form of the great white snake, and this body is to be our host.'

William could feel the wave of snakes as though it were another part of his body, and attempted to move them. They responded, splitting around the personae and attempting to overrun the pit fiends with a wall of outstretched blades. The multitude which remain, make a rush for the gate, attempting to bring it down with the weight of their musculature.

'There's so much vital energy here...I never knew that I was so...weak. It feels like I could just walk through a wall with this strength.'

'It is not yet fully developed; we're only at around 10% of the capacity brought by this technique. That snake wave, properly known as the Formation of Ten-Thousand Snakes technique is probably at the absolute limit of our abilities for now.'

'Well, that's your first phase of integration. I believe that it was to be my turn next?'

'Right. First though, what will you be integrating, Aizen? I don't really want more surprises like that last one.'

'Very well...for my first three-hour phase, I'll mostly be integrating some of my spiritual pressure and a bit of my swordsmanship. It won't be anything drastic like Orochimaru's, but it will provide a strong base for later.'

'Very well, then. Now let's see if we can't help anyone here...that one looks good.'

William surveys the fight, then enters by attacking the pit fiend which is busy casting, first with a grouping of snakes emerging from beneath the sleeve of his robe, seeking to inject a paralyzing venom, and then with the Blade of Kusanagi, seeking out the eyes.

[3SecondCultist]

Alexander strides through the illogical vistas of Sigil, taking everything in anew. From the depths of his pocket, he feels a faint vibration. Pulling out his HoloNet screen, he activates it. Apparently his Cultist account on GITP has been notified of the appearance of other Playgrounders nearby.
Fascinating. He pauses, moving to the side of the street. Gradually, he opens up the door into one of his subconscious partitions: the tavern of the Hero. The Waystone Inn, with its silence of three parts, remains exactly as Alexander left it. Kvothe the Bloodless (or Kote the Innkeeper, it was hard to tell the difference sometimes) sits at the bar, polishing glasses. He barely looks up at Alexander's entry.
"How are things?" His flame-red hair, as always, lacks a certain luster in the half light.
"Perfectly fine, thank you. So far, your abilities have proven to be the most interesting, if not the most useful to me. However, I do enjoy the faculties of your rather remarkable memory." The arcanist's green eyes hold Alexander's, saying nothing but expressing a deep sorrow.
"I didn't come here in order to hear you carry on about the unfairness of the universe. Honestly, you can't blame me that Rothfuss died before he could finish your story. I wasn't paying attention earlier when the Lady of Pain made her announcement. Could you recite what she said?" Kvothe/Kote simply sighs again, running a hand through his hair and standing up.
"From now on, no one leaves or enters until the Personae have found what they need. I suggest you all get comfortable with your new homes until then." He pauses. "Good enough?"
"Yes, I believe so. I'll see you soon, I expect." In a flash, Alexander closes the door in his mind, finding himself on the streets of Sigil once again. It seems as though he had been missing out on some pointless, if entertaining fighting.
Let's see if we can rectify that. After waiting for a moment to ensure that no-one else was present, Alexander shot upwards into the planar skies, his inborn gift for flight bearing him ever upwards. Below him, he could see the streets of his neighborhood in the Guildhall Ward, and all around the other 5 Wards that made up Sigil's ring. It doesn't take him long to find the source of the disturbance: the old Temple of Tharizdun. It looked like a mess already, what with the pit fiends and all. From his position high above, Alexander begins burning his reserve of tin. The additional information that floods his senses is nauseating at first, but he adjusts quickly.
Time to sit back and enjoy the show.

[Conor77]

Morcleon responds quickly to the threat of other devils with what he knows as the counter to earth, lightning. Plus, lightning has worked so far, right? The devil was not charging an earth spell, however. Just after the hail of tiny electrically charged spikes left his hand, he recognized the rocks from a Meteor Swarm spell. Under normal circumstances, the spell summons 4 tiny pebbles that grow to boulders 2 feet wide, which explode on impact in huge balls of fire. He hoped like anything that his needles would be able to stop the Pit Fiend from casting the spell, because those needles weren't going to do much to it. But the other fiend was ready, and with a swipe of its hand, the needles had their magical energy Dispelled, allowing them to plink harmlessly against the hide of the devils. Except that it neglected to sap those that fired against the boulders, and then something odd happened. They were still about 1 foot in diameter, and even though the spell was not made of earth, the needles shattered the stones into tiny pebbles. The devil, now holding a galaxy of floating gravel, looked concerned at the state of its spell. Morcleon was worried now, as these demons seemed more... controlled. More intelligent than the others, too. Both devils' grins returned as each meteor in the nebula of loose stone grew, to 1 foot each, glowing with unholy energy. Unwittingly, Morcleon had shoved the power level of the spell up to gigantic levels. The devil with the hellgravel pointed its claw. Before Morcleon had time to move, he was engulfed in a rain of fiery howling meteors, impacting the entire area around him in a huge buckshot pattern. At each impact, a gout of grey-black fire with a sickly yellow center erupts. the combination of 30 or 40 meteors turns the entire courtyard into a sea of fire, that rises almost above the walls. Morcleon disappears entirely.

Erik tussles with his Fiend, bashing it over and over again, but never managing to do any permanent damage. Likewise, the demon tries to gain purchase on his armor, only to find its claws sliding and slipping on the near frictionless shields. Erik finally gets into a position of attack, and throws both of his arms forward, into the devil's eyes. Even though its body toughens over, like every other wound inflicted, it can't regenerate its eyes. Blind, it finally manages to pop his shield, grabbing him at last. Erik sees the meteors, though, and with a last effort of strength against the demon on top of him, squeezing him to death, he slammed its body into the ground between him and the impact site. The flames whirled about it, but Erik was safe behind the soon-to-be carcass of the demon.

Necron slashed with the claw he absorbed from the body of the first devil, but found a problem: Not all of the strength of the Pit Fiends was in their magically toughened hides. They were plenty tough all on their own, and despite his best efforts, he could only produce flesh wounds, that would kill lesser things, but seemed to be minor concerns of the fiends. He had near-ravaged all of them when he saw yellow-black fire rushing forward. He armored his skin with the Pit Fiend's collected skin, just as the devils around him turned their Fire Immunity on. But of course, their magic hides had been slashed and sliced to uselessness against the flames, and their blood boiled as they collapsed against burns they'd never felt before.

[Conor77]

Meanwhile, outside the gates, there were fewer devils to deal with, and no magical fire save the leftovers that boiled out of the hole between the walls where the gates were. Jacob had gone seemingly insane, grabbing a glowing sword out of nowhere and impaling a Pit Fiend. A Pit Fiend that no one else could see. Kate, ready against the two charging her, looked sideways into the face of a devil about to gut her head to toe while invisible, now stuck on the end of the flaring white sword of Jacob/Ganon. Kate whips the sword back, and then forth again, ripping the Pit Fiend on the wall in half and blasting the other two backwards with concentrated wind.

They landed in a heap of snakes, serpents that had reeled from the heat of the flames now writhed over the two, seeking to bite and bite and bite.

While Tristan ducked the blow of the other charging devil, he reflected on the fact that it was mad as, well, hell. He had embarrassed it in front of its fellows, and for that it would try harder than anything to kill him. Its swipes were furious and quick, ignoring any attempt at defense or holding back. Tristan continues to spray web on it, outlining it more and more, to the point where the demon simply decloaks, its invisibility useless under the mass of web. He just kept dodging and dodging again, trying to find an opening or an opportunity to strike at it, but finding none that wouldn't get his stomach gashed open. When he heard the loud, clear ring of a bell, and the sound of a shout, "HEY PIT FIEND, HOLD STILL FOR A BIT". The Pit Fiend ignored Saraneth, but Tristan saw Conor holding the Wand of Science and understood. Calling on all his skills of maneuverability, he jumped, leaped, and dodged, until he was on top of the Fiend trying to kill him so very hard. he pulled back on its head using webs, until it looked like it was playing limbo, at which point he wrapped it in tons and tons and tons of webbing. Before it could rip through it like tissue paper he jumped free and shouted "NOW". Conor used the wand. A sound like the thunder of ten lightning strikes resounded, and a single gigantic beam of White Fire leaped from the Wand to the Fiend, holding still for all of 4 or 5 roaring, deafening, blinding seconds. When it was over, both of their ears were ringing, and the only sign that there had been a devil at all was the blast crater on the wall of the building behind it.

Alexander laughed.

[Anecronwashere]

(OOC: ZUES can't absorb dead things that aren't items. He Consumed one of the 3 surrounding him)
ZEUS stands covered in numerous cuts and surrounded by corpses.
His stance changes subtly as Jarez takes over, twisting his Force Powers into a couple of Heals.

The cuts on Necron's body quickly seal, as do the now-organic clothes leaving him pristine and actually in better combat-form than when the fight started.

With the current threat over Necron returns to dominance, grinning wildly.
"Right, I'm back. That was fun, I can't wait until I can do that sort of stuff without losing control of my own body."

[AkaiNeko]

Kate moved fast, thanking her lucky stars that she'd picked up that invisible devil in time, and leaping to finish said devil, already impaled on a glowing sword and rattled by the wind spell.

"KATE! We may have just lost someone in that firestorm! There's too much interference to be sure!"

'What?! S***....ok, no time. Yu, need an attack boost. Doesn't matter how short.'

Yu didn't argue. "This may hurt. Tarukaja!"

Kate felt the drain on her reserves, but it wasn't too bad. She immediately moved on to the closest of her two original targets, intending to give them as little time to recover as possible.

Not sure of teh exact timing here, sorry. Canaan would've picked it up more-or-less instantly, so however that fits.

[3SecondCultist]

From his position, Alexander continues to survey the battle.
Hmm. His morphing power seems to stem from a biological irregularity, much like many of my own. Given that shape-shifting is already under my purview, such an extension can't be too hard. He nods slowly, taking stock of the flow of the combat. Everything seems to be almost over already, today's foreseeable entertainment coming to a premature close.
Let's see how these 'Personae' will fare under a focused attack. He begins by expanding his consciousness outwards, subtly overriding the senses of all sentient creatures within viewing distance and removing all traces of himself. To anyone paying attention, they will see only empty sky and hear only the faint whispers of a planar wind. Then, Alexander focuses the remainder of his will against the last unimpeded Pit Fiend, attempting to take over its mind utterly. Should he succeed, Alexander will compel its body to make a full attack against the closest Persona, abandoning all forms of defense or retreat.

[Erik Vale]

Erik takes a moment to catch his breath, but with the endurence of John and Alric, it is quickly caught. Before he can push off the devil, Aleandrea speaks.

'Let me. This shouldn't sear your armour...'

With a few jestures, Aleandrea releases a beam of acid into the devil, potent enough to melt almost anything shy of a Black Dragon, with more control then a scapal, Aleandrea keeps as much of the beast as cover until the last moment, then getting up quickly.

Sitting up, Erik grabs the staff, and repeats the Virtrolic blast, shaping it into a strange acid-lightning, he sends it forth to the closest demon, where it will jump to the next closest, and the next, and the next...

Blasting the demons with potent acid. Can get up to six within about 3m of the last struck each other.

[NM020110]

"Ouch! That hurt."

'My substitution jutsu should help. Use it.'

'Oh, very well.'

William, having recently had his lower half removed by the meteor, used Orochimaru's substitution technique to regurgitate a rather more intact body.

"Ugh...that's not something that I'll get used to anytime soon...wait, wasn't there a pit fiend somewhere?"

'You seem to have been moved a ways away by the blast.'

'Alright. Wait...you're not Evangeline. Who are you?'

'I was known as the Mage of the Beginning. It seems that the Light made a mistake regarding who precisely was you and who wasn't, most likely due to my interference with Evangeline.'

'Hmmm...well, you'll have to accept our pact, then. We support each other, and act to prevent the enemy from conquering the worlds. Once the enemy has been defeated, and only then, we will then begin our own conquest.'

'Humans...even when they're down, they look for ways to reach the top. Sure, I'll accept that.'

'Very well, then. We should see to finding Morcleon and help him, since he was at the focus of that last attack. Mokou, you have ten seconds of control. Could you please do something about these fires?'

'Sure, I can do that.'

The flames which engulfed the courtyard are compressed into a sphere at the courtyard's center. The sphere is then rammed into the pit fiend which had so recently let lose with a meteor swarm.

[ArlEammon]

End Of Battle
Ganon!/Jake
Jacob continued his maniacal laughter. Removing his sword from the impaled victim, he stepped forward with his massive sword, as the Fiends were covered in agonizing acid. It was not enough to more than moderately inconvenience them in normal circumstances. Unfortunately, for them, they were inconvienced enough to not see the reincarnated King of Evil step towards them with the Sword of Sages to decapitate one in one fell stroke. The other could not help but charge with idiotic adandon towards Jake, only to be split from the top of his head to his groin.

The combined efforts of the entire team had finally cut down a small army of very powerful diabolic fiends. Finally, a group of wandering adventurers managed to spot the Personae, and marvel at the sight. Fourteen Pit Fiends dead and mangled corpses, while the group was battered and bloody, it was an obvious triumph of superior power and team work, and although the Personae very nearly lost members, there weren't any true casualties after all.

[Sen isSaqqara]

The last hour or so had been a very interesting time for Rob. He had been surfing the Playground forums, as normal, when he happened to select a link embedded in a pic he was interested in. Normally, this would be nothing out of the ordinary, but as he let his mind fly along the link, something happened. His mind was pulled, briefly, towards somewhere else. He had the sensation of being wrenched in two directions at once, and it was not pleasant. It was over in a moment, though, and and he found himself at a remarkably vivid error-404 screen. A light appeared in the top-left edge of his vision, spelling out the words '404_macro' in traditional cmd-style font. Part of his mind realized that he was somehow more... connected to the 'net than normal, but the majority of it was already eager to see where he would end up. He found himself at the blank, white area of a page in the process of loading. His thoughts strayed to what he had just experienced. It had seemed important, somehow. perhaps he should look at the error log and see whe-
Then the page loaded. /r/aww (http://www.reddit.com/r/aww/).

At some point over the next ten minutes, he realized that there were more voices than usual in his head. The first to speak was female: Ah, free at last. Well, relatively free, I suppose... Wait, what's that? The comment seemed directed at Rob, but another voice answered. It's a cat.
And what is it doing? Why are we watching it?
Because it's cute, obviously. replied a third voice.
But, wha... don't we have more important things to do?
No.
Bu-
She doesn't understand the inate importance of cats.
Amusing though the voices were, they distracted Rob from the more important thing at hand: cats and their adorable antics.
Can you guys shut up? I can't hear myself think here. he interjected.
Yeah, a bit of quiet would be much appreciated. noted a fourth, far more quiet voice.
Fine. Here.
Wait, what are you doing? Let me go!
Can you just keep her held in the corner over there for a while?
Gladly.
They spent the next half-hour watching hologifs of kittens.

Alright, let's go see what that thing earlier was about. thought Rob. A few mental flicks brought him to his browser's error log, where he found an oddly formatted link. That must be it. I wonder where it goes...
What is this system? It seems like clockwork... How does it work? asked one of the voices. This one was deeper, with a tone that suggested extreme wisdom and cunning, with a hint of refreshing insanity.
Rob spend the next fifteen minuted giving it a crash course on how the 'net works.

When he got around to following the link, he found a simple site containing nothing but a recording. The server it was hosted on was strange, though. If his plugins were right, it had near infinite space and power. Its memory was filled with traces of overwhelming amounts of data, suggesting that it had been in use recently. He activated the video, watching as a group of seemingly normal people met with something that called itself 'Light'.

So, what now, friends? asked Rob.
We should follow them.
We should go find more pictures of cats.
No, I agree with Eva. We should follow them. Let me take care of this, planeswalking is my specialty.
Lead on, then. concluded Rob.

[3SecondCultist]

Above the carnage, the telepath watches with a slight frown.
That should have worked. I suppose Pit Fiends aren't built like the average human, though. In either case, it might me more prudent for me to introduce myself. Letting his initial override signal fade, Alexander floats down to the ground near the other Personae. He lands next to one of the fallen fiends, smiling coldly at the corpse. Golden eyes sweep the scene, taking in each 'hero' one at a time. When he finally breaks the silence, Alexander's light, melodic voice can be heard only within the depths of each Persona's consciousness.
Greetings. My name is Alexander Idrian. I've been watching for some time. I must admit, your fighting prowess is far more accomplished than I had expected. You're fun. May I inquire as to why you are here?

[Anecronwashere]

"Why is anything here? Because someone decided to screw with us.
I'm Necron, I have the forms of ZEUS, Harry Potter, the Exile and Tom Lovett. Oh and please refrain from penetrating my mind with your telepathy, it brings up some bad memories for a few of us and is quite rude."

[Erik Vale]

"Now that you know where here because something just screwballed us. Who are you and what are you doing here?"

Erik remained in a defensive stance, quite willing to believe this person could be part of the demons group.

'i could try going into his mind... See if he is another opponent, or skim the future.... But somethings... Not right. I can't read him.'
'Is he... Are we pathless?'
'What?'
'I'll agree with the dwarf here. What the heck.'
'Well go on. What is Pathless?'
Erik and Aleandrea thought together...
'Sush. We'll explain latter.'
'However, Eldrad, if you can get in quietly...'

Quite lightly, with centuries of experience and training coming to the fore. Eldrad began probing the very edges of the newcommers mind...

[ArlEammon]

Jacob/Ganonperson
Jake reverts to a more human form. A handsome, dark skinned though red bearded man with tall stature and smiles. "Ganon, Shinnok, Mateus, and Hawke." He says seriously and politely. "Might I suggest that you refrain from glaring into the mind of three purely evil beings. Merely doing as you did now would be enough to drive you to insanity. Not to mention if you gather enough of my three evil souls'es attention." He continues his smile. "I myself would never wish you harm, though I cannot help what I was a few lives ago."

The Personas all wondered with suspicion at all of their fellows. A thought had come to them all, even Hawke. How much could they trust the others, even if they were united in common purpose. Oddly enough, despite Jacob not having a strong will, something was preventing him from falling prey to the evil of Shinnok, Ganon and Mateus combined. Hawke was of course a good sort, though he was outnumbered by three other souls.

[Conor77]

Conor, winded, bruised in the stomach, scratched all over, ears ringing from the wand pulse, and burned from the Hell-embers still floating down on the scene, stumbles through the courtyard gates. He looks at Morcleon, "You still alive? Dang". He slows up, into a semblance of standing up straight, and turns his gaze over to Alexander. "Who the hell're you? And when did you get here, anyways?" He looks down, then, to his own stomach area. "Err, can anyone heal internal bleeding? I think I have, like, a lot of it..." Before tipping over and falling on the ground, unconscious.

[Anecronwashere]

Jarez takes control as he waves his hands, casting Force Heal several times on the damaged man.
"Weakling. That explosion was nothing, I could tak that with no armour. Unless that Wand did the damage. Hmm, I should ask when he gets up."

[3SecondCultist]

Alexander's internal defenses go up immediately at Erik's mental encroachment, the iron will inherited from Sylar and Kvothe taking over almost instantaneously. The probing almost goes unnoticed, but Alexander has rebuilt his psyche to allow for very little wiggle room. The foreign nature of the Eldar seer was also a good hint.
Damn, he's quite the telepath himself. I had better not let my guard, lest he slip in. Alexander sighs.
"Very well. I usually prefer a more invasive style, but..." He shrugs simply, standing up to his full height in this form.
"I believe that I am like you. Transformed, my true potential unlocked. In my head I have four beings as well. Rashek, the Terrisman who would go on to be the Lord Ruler of Scariel for over a millennium. Legato Bluesummers, an exceptionally powerful and antagonistic telepath. Kvothe the Kingkiller, in all of his broken glory. And of course there is Gabriel Grey the watchmaker, known to his peers as Sylar the killer." As he calls out each name, Alexander shifts into each form, displaying them to the Personae. Finally, he reverts to his original body.
"I did mean it when I say I was impressed by the swordsmanship. And, looking around, I can see that your other powers are greater and much more terrifying. We've got sorcerers, psychics, and lost arts." Alexander nods.

[mkfuba07]

Tristan was leaning against the wall, catching his breath after his little acrobatics show. He knew that he shouldn't be this tired, as any of his incarnations should have been able to handle that much exertion. Maybe his "integration" was taking a bit longer than he had thought...

Or, maybe, all of the physical and mental endurance that each of his incarnations had came from actual experience instead of inert talent. Yes, each of them had powers that would allow them to exceed normal human limits, but it took each of them years of training (maybe not Spiderman) to be able to sustain their talents for any period of time. While he has their powers and capabilities, his body and mind aren't yet strong enough to sustain them all. He'll have to work on it in his spare time to catch up to the others. "Great, of course I have more work to do..." he thought to no one in particular.

Was that jealousy he felt growing in himself? Or was his watercrafting passing someone else's feelings on to him? No, he had been blocking out those senses ever since their first meeting, back in cyberspace. This emotion was his own, and it was nothing new. Even as a normal human he felt this way about most people he met. He always focused on the negative of his own situation, while seeing only positives in others'. Who was he to think he knew everything that someone else was going through? Who was he to say how much someone else suffered or struggled?

"Kid, I know how you feel. I think you know how many times I felt powerless compared to the forces at work around me. If I could just do a little more, had a little more influence, I could do so much more. But after a while you learn. You have as much potential as you give yourself. And you have even more than normal. You're as clever as any of us, and eventually all of our potential will become yours."

"I just feel so frail and useless compared to the others..."

"You know better than that, boss. You've seen what we can do. Give it time and we'll be running circles around these guys. You know, not that it's a competition or anything."

"I don't understand why you feel a need to be what you are not. Alerans are some of the most resourceful, and strangest, beings I've ever encountered. Just when it looks like they're about to fail, they find a way to surprise you."

"Anyways, it looks like we have company."

He watched as a man descended from the sky, commenting on their fight, and asking why we were here. Tristan smiled a bit when the stranger told us that we were "fun," and found the others' reactions to his question to be satisfactory, so he didn't add to them.

He then saw Conor pass out and collapse to the ground.

"It looks like someone is not be as 'inhuman' as you think they are."

Tristan ran over to Conor, who was already being healed by Necron. He felt a connection to the boy, at least more so than he did to the others. It was probably the fact that Conor had potentially saved his life during his concussion. Though seeing another Persona so obviously struggling as he had was probably part of it. Either way, he earthcrafted a healing tub into the ground beneath Conor, and drew water up to fill it. He trusted Force Heal to heal as well as he did Cure, which meant that he put his faith in watercrafting for more delicate and complex wounds. After placing his hands to both sides of Conor's head and sending his senses out into the water to mingle with the furies, he found nothing more threatening than what he figured Force Heal could handle, but he sped up the recovery anyway.

He rose from his work to hear the rest of Alex's introduction. When he finishes, he extends his hand in greeting. "Well, it's always good to have another partner in this fight. I can't wait to see what you can do."

[Sen isSaqqara]

Rob had been wandering the streets for a while now. The initial shock of steping out into some back alleyway of a place completely foreign to him wore off quickly, fading into curiosity. As he wandered, the voices in his head continued to bicker, though it had become a bit one-sided. The deeper voice had sided with the more relaxed, almost rythmic one that if he remembered correctly had spoken up third. Together, they tended to advocate the less sensible courses of action, often leading him in random directions jyst to see what they could find. The female voice was far more reasonable. She was getting angrier, too, and Rob suspected that it wouldn't be long before a fight broke out in his head. The last voice, the quiet one, said nothing at all.
He was just starting to get some idea of where he was when he heard some sort of commotion from behind the building next to him. The general consensus in his mind was to go check it out, so he ducked into a nearby alley. Luck was with him and he soon arrived at a small terrace overlooking a scene of carnage. The various persons he had seen conversing with Light earlier stood among what little remained of their opponents. It seemed that they had just been engaged in a conversation with a newcomer, a man with amber eyes. He decided to wait and watch, perhaps hide sonewhere...
We're already hidden. I always had a hand for disguise.
So he sat there, legs dangling over the edge, looking for all the workld like a potted plant.

[ArlEammon]

Ganon/Jacob
"And now, gentlemen, unless we intend to recuperate, rest and heal our injured, we will need to continue our investigation. I can see something gleaming in the far off-distance of this ancient Temple, and so far, it's allure is quite appealing." The one known as Jacob stated. "I suggest that we consider our further strategies for plumbing the depths of this den of evil. Even I could have been as injured as Conor or dead if certain things happened in our first battle. If THAT was our first battle, with nearly fifteen Pit Fiends swarming us like giant mosquitos, we will need to be very careful about how we carry ourselves into this duty."

Jake turns to Conor. "Conor, are you alright? I noticed that part of you is still on the ground, even while you stand."

[3SecondCultist]

Feeling the encroachment of yet another Persona in the form of Rob, Alexander smirks smugly and says nothing.
Ah, I see we're not alone. Good. I would so very much hate to be bored for very long. The telepathy has proven to be quite useful. At Jacob's request for further strategizing, Alexander nods his assent. The Pit Fiends were no enemies to be simply shrugged off either.
"I imagine some coordination is in order. Everyone here has different strengths. We can use Erik's considerable psychic prowess, as well as my own, to act as a sentience radar of sorts. It would take a very skilled telepath to hide from me." The last words are slightly raised, to ensure that Rob can hear them.
"As for the rest, you seemed to handle yourselves quite well. Necron, you might want to be careful with your magics, as there seems to be an element of unpredictablity involved. Conor has power as well, although it is belied by a lack of staying power. Perhaps if he were to position himself in such a way that he could strike from afar, with minimal chance for injury?
Centuries of leadership as Rashek seem to lend themselves to the situation, and as he speaks, Alexander finds himself burning reserves of Brass, subtly Soothing the emotions of the Personae (specifically, their pride or distrust). Those with mental defenses might not be affected, but it is unlikely that the others would notice in either case.

[Erik Vale]

'Would be interesting to try. But not in a combat environment.'
'I've got an Idea for replacing your runes since we had that stun... With this rune and Aleandrea's ability able to create light..."

The Persona of John speaks through Erik's mouth.
"I can already pick up motion within 50m, the devils where only a surprise because they came through the portal. If you think you can sense further, go ahead, The other three within this one are currently talking shop about magic and they may end up able to help, but they will need a bit.... I'll be best as a hole plugger tactically."

Mentally, Eldrad gets ready to berate John that what she does isn't magic, but decides to just let it lie.

[Anecronwashere]

"Hominum Revelio." Incants Potter, waving his stick around.
"If anyone sees anything glowing it's a person, or a person pretending to be an animal."

Several more silent wand-waves later Harry is unsmellable, silent and covered in Death's cloak.
"I'll be back, I'm going to scout out the area ahead."

OOC: Italics denote spells.

[ArlEammon]

Harry Potter Person

In the far-off distance, what seems to be more than 3 square miles of the deep Under-Temple of Tharizdun, the easily seen sheen of gold can be detected. There seems to be no life in this part of the Temple save for rats, bats, and some insects which manage to be maintained by the dungeon's ecosystem. Vines and green plants also cover parts of the floor in this odd religious shrine. Skeletons, the dead kind, and not the undead kind, cover parts of the floor, and rusted weapons, such as daggers, swords and axes are seen sticking through some of them. Some skulls are seen broken or cracked. You manage to see a strange fountain in the right side of the vast treasure room sheening with gold which provides the nourishment for the plant life here. Oddly enough, no stench of bat, rat or bug stain the sanctity which seems to come from this fountain.

Suddenly, a mysterious presence steps into the room and smiles. "Welcome. Too long I and this small sanctuary has been confined around a larger place of evil."

[Anecronwashere]

(I'm silent, odourless and wearing an invisibility cloak made by Death himself and can hide from him, who the hell can see me???)

"Hi, I'm Harry Potter. No offence but who are you? And how can you see through my Cloak?"
The cloak comes off, reabsorbing back into ZEUS's weird body.

[ArlEammon]

OOC: A spirit gaurdian.

"I am the gaurdian of these waters of life. For many millenia I have been suffering under the oppression of many evils within this Temple. I have been awaiting those worthy to take from the treasures of this sanctuary and to partake of the waters of life. Your friends out-there will need my help to fight the threat to The Lady's reign which lies below."

He out-stretches his hand. "This hand has been tending to the Sanctuary for thousands of years. It has fought evil for just as long. It has suffered and caused blood-shed." He outstretches the other. "This hand has been made to only bring blessing and life. Do not starve this hand. It is all I have left out of an immortal existence of pain and suffering."

"I am immortal. Immortals are not meant to age and wither."

"If I am left in this place to wither much longer, I will die.'

'Partake of the waters of life, Personae. Partake of the waters of life and breathe in that which is beyond mortal ken. Souls await you. From within the bowels of the Cosmos and beyond lie the Wells of Souls. You have found one of the holiest Sanctuaries in the multiverse. Should you succeed in ousting the evils far below this Sanctuary, you will save me, yourselves, and Sigil."

[Anecronwashere]

"I thank you for your blessing ancient one. I will do what I can to rid these temples of evil. It's my job after all."
Harry smiles as he waves his wand, sending a Patronus message.
He then does what was offered.


with the others
A glowing white stag, radiating positive emotions canters out and speaks with harry's voice
"I have meet a spirit of water inside, come and see, the way is clear."

[mkfuba07]

Tristan walks along the corridor, cautious despite the patronus's assurance that the path was safe. He reached the treasure room without incident, though he remains a bit anxious. There's only one spirit that he fully trusts, and that one was sitting on a shelf in his lab back at headquarters. As he approaches the fountain, he gets filled in by Necron.

"A water guardian? Let us test its sincerity."

Tristan dips his hand into the fountain, sending his furies to mingle with those in the water. He quickly realizes that attempting to manipulate the waters would be a horrible mistake that he would not survive. The unlimited well of power he felt swirling in the pool and beyond was unimaginable. What he could discern was that the spirit had been truthful, and the water would not harm him. He withdrew his senses, in slight awe of what he had discovered.

"Well, here goes nothing," he said, as he plunged his cupped hands into the water and took a quick gulp.

[Conor77]

Conor wakes up, spluttering back to consciousness, shaking off water. "Thanks, uhh" He looks around at who was healing him, "Tristan. And... Necron" He trails off as Necron puts on his wizard enchantments to go scouting. He turns back to the group, patting his stomach with his right arm, making sure everything was nice and proper. Everything seemed back to normal. "Thank you very much, he says to Tristan. In real- that is, back in regular life- I know most people wouldn't survive something like that. Which... is scary. So thanks again" He looks up at Jacob's statement, and then back down at the ground, where his left arm still laid, apparently about to serve some surgical function before supernatural healing had taken its place.

Uuuuuhhhhhh, Kimiko?
Yes, it was going to operate if it had to. Good thing it didn't. We should get it reattached. Just, hold it up to the socket and let the foglet programs handle the rest.

Conor grabs the arm and puts the upper bicep up to his shoulder socket. Within seconds, a tiny flickering light appears on the arm, red. He moves it closer to the socket, and rotates it slightly. The light turns green. After holding it there for a few moments, grey strands of metal stretch across the gap and drag the arm into place. Within seconds, the control surfaces on the arm flex, all the joints rotate around and swivel back to the neutral position, at which point Conor regains control of his arm.

"Okay. I have an idea. Let's never do that again. Ever. First thing's first, I'm keeping the Wand with me-"
"-damn straight, I told you givving it up wwas a terrible idea-"
"-Shut up, Eridan. So, yeah, its staying with me, and I think having some of the tougher guys out in front scouting like Necron is doing right now is much better than having the less powerful of us charge in, too".

Then he is cut off again, as Harry's stag pops up, stating its message. Tristan follows it. Sighing, Conor follows where him, drawing the WWan -Imean- Wand and holding it in front of him as he goes. He also warns Tristan to be careful. He feels rather close to Tristan, who seems intelligent, and also maybe similar to him, a bit less powerful then some of the others, like Erik the tank and Necron the unkillable wizard-virus. Soon enough, he arrives at the fountain with Tristan, and hears Necron's message. Tristan bends down for a drink. Conor holds off, for now, Lirael commandeering his head for a sniff and look around.

Lirael is smelling for the smell of Free Magic. This would most likely encompass any magic in the area not bound into a shape by spells or incantations. It smells like metal, so your hands after you've fumbled with change or similar.

[Anecronwashere]

'Well this is new.' commented a new voice
'I'm Danny Fenton. Or phantom depending on if I've gone ghost or not. Here I'll share the memories with you.'
Several flashes of memories later the whole group was up to speed on each other.

"Well this is interesting. A general, a virus, a boy who lived, a trained assassin and a half-dead ghostboy? What next, Batman?"

[mkfuba07]

As he stepped back from the fountain, what appeared to be wisps of light rose from the ground and began to circle lazily around Tristan. Their "bodies" appeared as a bright white, while prismatic tails followed in their wake. They surrounded him, obscuring his vision of the room, and began sinking into his skin.

"Did anyone else see what just hap-"

"They are called pyreflies, and are associated with the lifeforce of all beings in the world. Or, at least, those from my world," a gentle, feminine voice uttered softly in his head.

"Pyreflies? Like from Spira? Who exactly are you, then?"

"I am Summoner Yuna, of Besaid. I suppose I'm actually High Summoner Yuna, though I have never been called so in life."

"Well Yuna, I know you're no stranger in the fight between good and evil. There are forces threatening all of the worlds, and we could really use your strength."

"I do not know how I got here, but I will help however I can."

There was a tinge of regret in her voice, and a desire for retribution, but beneath that he saw a glimpse of hope. Tristan decided not to delve too far into her emotions at the moment. It must be jarring to be torn from the afterlife and thrust into someone else's body, or mind, or whatever the amalgamation of souls had now become. He'd be filled with unease as well. She'll become more comfortable in time, he hoped.

"Well Yuna, we're glad to have you along." As his incarnations introduced themselves, Tristan looked around the treasure room, as the others took their sip from the Well of Souls.

[3SecondCultist]

Following the others into the depths of the temple, Alexander takes his surroundings. Everything here seemed too... tidy, even for such blatant negligence. His tin-enhanced ears listen to the words of the spirit guardian. At the promise of more souls, Alexander can feel the hunger take control. He speeds up, his steel-mind draining as he makes a dash for the Well.
I must have more.
As he gulps down the water, Alexander feels the approach of another, a woman of great power and age. She is preceeded by a harrowing laugh.
Oh, it feels wonderful to be free of death once more! The universe seems to have given me another body to dominate. Yet more proof that Equivalent Exchange is but meaningless garbage.
Alexander knows her already: her name is Dante. Mistress of homunculi, manipulative genius, and one of the most powerful alchemists of her realm. Apparently, she is unaware that this body is already inhabited. It was time to give the old woman a lesson in manners.
As host, allow me to offer you my personal welcome. My name is Alexander. I hope you enjoy your stay. As he speaks, Alexander builds yet another partition, using some of Dante's last memories: a city, ruined and abandoned beneath the earth. Without waiting for a response, he casts Dante's consciousness into it and bolts the door shut. Time enough to master alchemy later. For now, he needed to be alert. After all, the spirit had mentioned a great evil.

[ArlEammon]

Zeus
Jacob took a refreshing gulp of water, and for a little while it seemed like nothing was happening. A few seconds passed and he noticed no change. That was, until mysterious blasts of lightning slammed into him. As Ganon he had thought it just may harm him greviously, ecspecially since he could tell somehow that the source of the lightning was divine, but curiously, rather than cause him harm, he merely felt it enter his body, as if it was a part of himself. That's when Zeus arrived. The presence of Jake's spirit felt the arrival of another soul, this one was different from the others. A proud, powerful being of the Olympian Pantheon. Once it's master and King, Zeus, the god of the Sky had come to enter into Jake's body, and spirit as one of his incarnations. Jake had felt the presence of the awe-inspiring deity enter him, and was in so much unusual feeling, he didn't notice he had been knocked against Sanctuary walls. Nevertheless, there seemed to be no harm done.

This was just an unusual joining. The man, appearing to be very muscular, although white bearded and moustached with long hair, finally gave a formal greeting. "I am Zeus, the god of the Sky. I am glad to have finally been brought here."

[AkaiNeko]

Kate stared at the water, thinking. Objectively, of course, drinking was the obvious choice. More knowledge, more power, better odds of successfully apotheosising reality into a perfect utopia beating Yog-Sothoth, IT, The Dark Continuum, Adam, whatever.

But....some of her companion were clearly time-bombs. Ganon, Sylar, ZEUS....odds were good that her past lives' vast experience with fighting eldritch abominations, evil overlords, murderous psychopaths, and so on would be getting a solid workout on more than just her designated opponents. Could she really afford to risk it?

"Yes, we can. We need whatever help we can get; we can handle it. You are not alone in this."

"Yep. We're pretty strong, we won't be overwhlmed if there's trouble with the new guy. And we probably need those powers."

"Gaining new Personas is an accomplishment, a mark of enormous training and personal advancement. And we're being offered that essentially for free, with minimal downsides."

"Preparation is key. The more tools we have, and the stronger we are, the more likely victory becomes."

'....so what I'm hearing is an overwhelming victory for team "drink the magic-y soul-water and get another voice in our head". Aight, here goes nothing....' She bent to drink.

[DoctorFaust]

Jaime's day had started pretty normally. He got up, logged onto the playground forums, spent a few hours looking around and talking to people. Things pretty much went downhill from there. About two hour after he logged in, everything disappeared. All the people, al the rooms, all the effects and landmarks people had created. Shortly thereafter, a door appeared, with five figures standing in front of it. One was a tall imposing figure wearing a mask, one was a large black man holding a cavalry saber, one was a tall imposing figure wearing some kind of armor, one was wearing a long brown duster, and one was a dandy in a pink checkered suitjacket, but with an air of confidence that made him seem deadlier, or at least more threatening, than most. Jaime looked at them all for a second, then blurted out, "I recognize you all!"
The masked one stepped forward then, pulling off his mask to reveal a smiling, but rather normal looking man with shoulder-length brown hair."As well you should child. My name is Revan, former dark lord of the sith. While none of us are quite sure how we got here, I expect the others will want to introduce themselves shortly, as it seems like we'll be here for a while, but for now it will suffice to say that we are here to offer our talents to help you with a task." He steps back after this, and the other three move forward to take his place.

"And mine is Howl Jenkins Pendragon, Royal court magician, at your service."

"Commander Shepard, Systems Alliance. I'm probably the best fighter in your head right now."

"Malcolm Reynolds, captain of the Serenity."

The biggest guy in the group of three moves to the front, shakes Jaimes hand, and says with a slight russian accent, "I am Sanya, Knight of the cross, wielder of esperacchius. We'll be going more in depth with you regarding our powers later, but now you need to go through the door."

"Why do I have to do that?"

"Because people need your help on the other side. Is that not reason enough?"

"I guess so." Jaime says, then walks up to the door and puts his hand on the handle, staring at the door. He hesitates for a few seconds, takes a deep breath, then opens the door and walks through into a dimly lit stone hallway. "Well, that was anticlimactic," he mutters to himself, and sets off down the hallway towards what looks like a glowing fountain with a group of people surrounding it.

[Sen isSaqqara]

As each of the others made their way down, Rob lept down from his vantage point. Assuming the guise of a tasteful shrubbery. Making his way down the halls after the other Personae, he found himself just outside the fountain room. A quick meeting was called in his mind, and a course of action decided on.
A moment later, he stepped into the room, his illusory guise causing him to appear as an elderly man in a grey janitor's uniform carrying a mop in one hand and a bucket in the other. While the mop was simply part of the illusion, the bucket was real, summoned using the cityscape's mana at the guidance of the deeper voice. Whialing a jaunty tune, ('charcoal pheonix' to be exact,) he strode into the room in a nonchalant manner, ignoring the others. He quickly filled the bucket at the fountain, then turned and made his way back into the entry hall. As soon as he thought he was outside the viewing range of the others, he returned to the guise of a shrubbery and drank from the bucket.

[Conor77]

Finally, after hesitating for a long while, Conor thought it best to drink. He needed to be stronger, even at the cost of a bit of his sanity. And after his discussion with the other voices, maybe they could help quell it if it was some kind of beast like ZEUS or Ganon.

Even so, he made a cup out of Charter Magic, which would instantly dissolve if he lost concentration, and took a sip, with an anticipatory grimace.

...

Hmm. Nothing.
wwell wwhoop dee friggin do. noww, wwere probly gonna get some kinda disease from drinkin this wwater. that wwould certainly fit in wwith our luck so far.
This doesn't make sense. Why would everyone else get a new voice when we don-
H-Hello?, says a new voice, with a kind of British accent attached.
Oh, hi. Welcome to Conor's mind. I don't think we've met, but we don't really need to, seeing as how we are the same person.
Oh, er, well, wait what? I don't understand. My name is Eleanor. Eleanor...Lamb, though I'm not very proud of my family name. I come from a place, called Rapture.
My name is Kimiko Ross, roboticist. Nice to meet another of my selves.
hey there, my name's Eridan Ampora. I'm a sea dwweller, wwhich means I'm basically royalty.
And I am Lirael, an Abhorsen, which I suppose is kind of an anti-necromancer, and also a Remembrancer, which means I can see into the past to find things out.
Oh. I, er, see. Well, nice meeting you all, though I heard someone say we're all the same person?
We are. We are all separate incarnations of the same soul, spread throughout the multiverse. Right now, we're trying to stop the Dark Gods from swallowing everything, along with everyone else you can see through my eyes. We all have our special powers and what-not. Currently, we are all inhabiting my body, which so far has meant that I have control. In an emergency of course, one of you could certainly wrest the controls away. But as long as there is no present danger, I'd like to be able to control myself without falling down due to 5 minds trying to act with 1 body.
Alright then, I suppose.
Good, everything's settled.

And then a piercing pain rips through Conor's middle. //It has been taking a lot of abuse lately, no?// He puts a hand there, trying to feel what hurts, when it vanishes with a pop. He feels something weird going on with his eyes. When he looks at his reflection, he sees that they've turned entirely yellow, no pupils or anything. He takes off his glasses, as they only make his vision blurry now. Well, would you look at that! He feels tougher, too. And faster. In fact, he just feels better. A thousand tiny injuries, imperfections in muscles, deficiencies deep in the genes of his cells were cured with the tonic of ADAM. He'd played Bioshock. He knew what this was. And he had every Plasmid now, thanks to Eleanor. He let lightning crackle from his fingertips, lightning that was biological in origin, rather than magical. That could have a use. He could make things set on fire with a glance, pick things up and throw them without even getting close to them, anything he wanted. This was power. This was what he needed.

Wait, was that a janitor just now?

[3SecondCultist]

Alexander takes note of the other Personae's entrance and subsequent drinking from the pail, his telepathy and empathy taking note of the same mental signature from outside the temple.
So he can shapeshift. Interesting. Or is it an illusion? No matter, he seems to be harmless for now. Best to just wait and see what happens. In the minutes of silence, Alexander finds himself contemplating his newest ability. Alchemy. With this, he could amplify his Allomantic and Feruchemical powers a hundredfold! Dante was one of the best: she had been there for the creation of the Philosopher's Stone. Of course, he himself needed no such trinket. In the half darkness, he smiles, wondering what fun new toys everyone else had acquired. Perhaps it was best to press on and find out.
"So, great one, could you please elaborate on the nature of this evil? I'm so very interested in seeing what this place has in store." The rudeness in his voice is definitely present, but subtle, under the surface.

[ArlEammon]

The Silent One
Alexander hears nothing except a voice in his mind, subtle, and very oddly different, it wasn't telepathy, it was more like a spiritual voice inside his mind. "Read the walls of this place. The Fiends had been protecting the place from the virtueous or at least the trouble makers."

[3SecondCultist]

At the spirit voice's insistence, Alexander begins to actually examine his surroundings. Taking in the weathered stone and trying to decipher the carvings, the telepath nods slowly. He is pleasantly surprised to receive a cogent answer from the Spirit.
So, any directions you can give us, then?

[ArlEammon]

The Spirit
"You should all be able to decipher the writings in this place, being as Personae. That is all I am to say to you, Alexander." The Spirit then goes silent, and vanishes totally.

[Erik Vale]

Erik finally opened his eyes after taking his handful from the water.
"I could have used some sort of warning. At least, not a cryptic warning."
"You heard Farseer Eldrad's to spend the last-"
"1 minute 03 seconds."
"Settling a madman in my head."
'I'm not nuts. This is nuts, a crazy idea-'
'Glad to know someone noticed.'
'Good thing I'm trained in crazy.'
'And to think, I used to be insulted by the word 'Mad'.'
'Oh quiet. Lets get this done with.'
"Agreed, six people bouncing around here is quite enough."

Erik's words seemed rather random, as only he and Phage could be heared out loud. He then proceded to look at the inscriptions that where indicated by the spirit.

[COLOR="DarkRed"]This colour is for Deadpool.

[ArlEammon]

The Sacred Texts
You make out several words. Unfortunately it seems like you aren't able to understand everything, but based on the Spirit's words, you seem to think he meant you could understand everything you needed to. You make out sentences eventually, and paragraphs after a few minutes.

"The Fiends From The Hell."
Seem to tell of a story of celestials and a group of strange celestials called "Angels' from "Sanctuary" doing battle against demons and devils. The war made it to this part of the Multiverse before even The Lady was here, and eventually, the Angels and Celestials fought and sealed many powerful devils and demons, who would usually be at war with eachother, underneath the Temple. Tharizdun was found the very bottom layer of this area, and the demons and devils have been chipping away at his Seal with ritual and spells for countless millenia."

[Erik Vale]

Using the inhelmet Camera, Erik creates a recording of the writings, speaking a translation as he reads.

"So one Tharizdun has been released, and it looks like more are going to be... Let's hope again this is a hallucination or I'm going without dinner..."

[3SecondCultist]

Bored of simply waiting around for the other Personae to get to their bearings, Alexander dives inward, allowing the natural highways of his mind to take him where they will. He finds himself in a grand hall. The half light casts dozens of shadows across the metal and stained glass. Ahead of him, he can see a small cottage, strangely out of place amongst the grandeur of the palace.
Kredik Shaw: home of the Tyrant. I know this place, but I have to speculate as to why I brought myself here.
The door of the cottage opens, revealing a man. He is ancient, his clothing threadbare an rustic in fashion. On his arms are a pair of metal bracers, and his expression is a mixture of sad resignation and indolent fury.
"Why have you have come back here? I thought you only wanted my powers."
"Honestly Rashek, I have no idea. Boredom, I suppose." Rashek, the former Lord Ruler of Scariel as well as master Allomancer and Feruchemist, visibly deflates.
"Come on in, then. I'll brew a pot of Terris tea, if you like."
"That would be lovely, thank you." Alexander follows Rashek inside, closing the door behind him. Inside is just as he remembers, quiet, simple, unadorned. A mirror hangs from the far wall, and the table is empty. Rashek sets about putting a kettle on the far stove. As he does so, Alexander stares at his own reflection.
"You know," says the Terrisman from across the room, "the more indifferent people are to politics, to the interests of others, the more obsessed they become with their own faces. The individualism of our own time. Trust me, after nearly a millennia spent practically alone, this is an inevitability."
"Individualism? What does it have to do with individualism when a camera takes your picture in a moment of agony or intimacy? Oh, a camera is a device that allows one to capture perfect images. Try to keep up. In such scenarios, it means that an individual no longer belongs to himself but becomes the property of others. You know, I remember my childhood: in those days, if someone wanted your picture, they asked you for it. And then one day they stopped asking. The moral right of the camera became elevated above all other rights, and that changed everything, absolutely everything." The tea had brewed now, and poured into twin ceramic cups. Alexander sits across from Rashek: the better to converse with him. Rashek has no initial response, so he continues.
"If you put the pictures of two different faces side by side, your eye is struck by something that makes one different from the other. But if you have two hundred and twenty three faces, there is a sudden realization that it's all just one face in many variations and that no such thing as an individual ever existed at all." He laughs: an awful sound. The Terrisman only arches an eyebrow.
"Your face is unlike any other. Moreover, as a shapeshifter, you can change your outward appearance to match your sense of self. You know who is behind your face." Alexander simply shakes his head, pressing on with his argument.
"Just imagine, for a moment, living in a world without mirrors. You would dream about your face and imagine it as an outer reflection of what is inside you, your soul, if you will. And then, once you had reached a hundred, someone put a mirror before you for the first time in your life. Imagine your terror! You would be seeing the face of a stranger. Then, finally, you would know quite clearly what you had been previously unable to grasp: your face is not you." Simultaneously satisfied and unsettled with his conclusion, Alexander sits back, taking a long draught of the tea. It scalds his throat, burning him from the inside. However, the pain is minimal and soon begins to dissipate, his healing factor repairing the soft tissue in a matter of moments. He stands up abruptly.
"Thank you Rashek. I promise I will come by soon, so we can have another chat." That said, Alexander hurls himself once again through his mind, returning to the surface. The whole process takes less than a minute, leaving Alexander standing where he was only precious moments ago.

[Sen isSaqqara]

Hey Rob, we got someone new.
Sounds good. Who? Wait, what am I even saying? Who are you? Rob thought to himself. Turning around, (in his mind, of course,) he surveyed the scene in front of him. A plain room extended from where he sat, a uniform white color with perfectly even lighting. It almost appeared as though he was in an infinite space, but he could just make out the contours of the room. He was sitting in an office chair, one of the spinny kind with little wheels on the bottom. Before now, he had been focused on a simple screen sitting at a desk, through which he was controlling himself. As he turned, taking in the people standing in the room with him, he let out a low whistle. He recognized each in turn: Urza Planeswalker; Elodin, Master Namer; Evangeline AK McDowell; Bowman Hath; and Yuki Nagato. The last appeared to be the newcomer.She gave a slight bow, before pulling a chair seemingly from nowhere and sitting down at the back of the room near Bowman. Hath was sitting on the floor, eyes closed, seemingly in contemplation of something. Urza stood nearer, holding a small slate tablet with which he was amusing himself. Eva stood a foot or two away, staring at Elodin, who in turn stood returning the stare with a stereotypical insane look on his face.
Noticing his gaze, each turned to Rob.
So what shall we do now? he asked. Eva spoke up first:
We are strong enough to hold our own. We should introduce ourselves to the others.
Seems sensible. noted Urza. We could stand to see what they're capable of.

Alright, makes sense. agreed Rob. Anything to add, you two? This was directed at Bowman and Yuki. He got silence and a blank stare, respectively, in return. Bowman he expected this from (the poor guy had gone through a lot,) but not Yuki... Something occurred to him. He turned to Yuki.
You can speak English, right? Silence. Well, then. Can anyone speak Japanese? Silence again. Oh no... Looked like watching subs had a downside too.
He turned back to Elodin, who seemed to be doing his best to irritate Eva. He was succeeding, if Rob was any judge.
You have anything to add, Elodin? The namer turned his attention away from the mage for a second.
Oh, I agree with Urza. We should get to know our new comrades, don't you think? With this, he returned to Eva.
Alright, then. We have a plan.
He sat back in his chair, spinning it around, and focusing once again on reality. A new icon had appeared on his field of view, with a tag attached labeled 'from Urza :)'. When he selected it, an extensive list of illusionary options unfolded. Grinning, he let his current disguise fall. Striding forward into the fountain chamber, he addressed the other Personae: "How are you gentlemen? All your base are belong to u- I mean, Nice to meet you! Sorry I'm late, what've I missed?"

[3SecondCultist]

The first thought to enter Alexander's consciousness after he resurfaced to this reality was simple, biological:
What is there to eat? I'm starving. The second, however, was rather more relevant to the situation at hand.
Who is this? It would seem that he is the Persona from outside, who was pretending to be a janitor. The telepathic signature remains the same, after all. But I will be the first to admit that I cannot comprehend his motives. Why has he chosen to reveal himself now, when he has volunteered so much effort into keeping his presence a secret? Whatever the answers are, Alexander resolves himself to discover what they are. He finds himself examining the stranger, trying to decipher what kind of powers he might have at his disposal, and ultimately coming up with very little beyond the fact that this Persona was clearly bordering on insane, more so than any of the others he had encountered. There were several explanations for this particular phenomenon. The first was that this Persona did not posess the required strength of will to keep his various Incarnations in check. The second theory (more likely, given his potent disguise or illusion magic that he had displayed earlier) was simply that the majority of his Incarnations were unstable, in ways that Alexander had not yet fully encountered. In either case, it would only be rude to leave the man simply waiting for a response.
"You have not missed overmuch, I'm afraid. My name is Alexander Idrian, and these are my new companions, the Personae of Sigil. And you are... ?"

[Conor77]

Conor, following the suit of some of the others, take the moment for a little conference in his mind. He sits on the ground cross-legged, eyes closed, palms outstretched, as if he was meditating or praying. He then consults himself for advice.

Okay,-
Okay wwhat, jackass?
I was just about to say! Also, you know I'm you, right?
wwhatevver
Indeed. "Wwhatevver". I'm calling this meeting to discuss...things.
Like what, pray tell?
Basically, how does everyone feel, with everything going on?
I feel...calm. But also excited. This is the most energizing thing that's happened to me since I left Rapture. I will lend you my power, and it is quite substantial, if I may fluff my feathers a bit, in the presence of other powerful beings.
I feel comfortable, given the situation. I have faced death many times before. I have even walked in its waters. In fact, I walked in its waters for the "last" time, not too long ago as I remember it.
I think I'm beginning to get a hang of these arms. Apparently I designed them, because all over there are these helpful little clues, like it was built to be studied by me. I'm already unlocking the potential of the arm's bio-locking technique. The plasmid enhancements from the ADAM should be able to work through them, given a bit of time. The lightning one already can, of course. Speaking of ADAM, I'd like to get back to our base sometime soon so I can study the substance in detail, I really think-
-She's clearly fine. And improvving your limbs, wwhich is good. Wwhat wwe need to do next is collect as many tools as possible. Stuff that other people havve, that wwe can also use. Let's get some of spider-guy's wwebs, and get anyone else who can use "magic" (wwhich I guess is real in this wweird univverse) to enchant your sword further. That thing needs to havve the force of a wwrecking ball by the time we hit more enemies. The WWand can only get you so far on it's owwn, until wwe can get it to an Alchemizer to improvve it further. Wwe could also alchemize it wwith your swword, and THAT I wwould pay to see swwing/blast. Anywways, let's get movving.
Eridan, I...
Shut up and start asking for stuff wwe can use, moron!

Conor, sheepishly, gets up from his sitting position. He asks Tristan, "Do you suppose I could borrow a length of your webbing? It might come to some use for me as a rope."

[Sen isSaqqara]

"Rob, Persona of Somewhere Else. Very pleased to make your acquaintance." replies Rob, striding over to Idrian and shaking his hand. "I'm afraid that I only caught a replay of your meeting with Light, as I was running a bit late. Errors, cats... you know how it is."

I don't trust him.
Agreed. He has that look on his face. In his eyes.
A prophet, perhaps?
A mind reader?
A namer?
Best we keep him on edge. Throw him things that aren't us. Take a new form, for a start.
An illusion, I suppose. Sounds good.

Rob's form flickers, shifting. It is, of course, an illusion. His shape resolves into a much changed version of himself. His hair lengthens, turning from its normal white-blond to a deep black. His form becomes more thin. A spiked black tattoo appears around one eye. His clothes change, becoming a variety of black layers with thin white trim. Functional, but elegant.

Your design, I assume, Eva?
Yes. What, it looks nice! The vampire-mage turns, looking at the other incarnations. Now, something to make your thoughts even harder to read. Not that you really need it...
I may be able to help. It was Yuki who spoke up. Strangely, the words did not seem to come from her, but from the space next to her. Urza coughed, drawing Rob's attention.
I seem to have found a useful piece of artifice called 'Google Translate'. I rigged up a temporary fix for our new friend here.
Yuki stepped forward, gently pushing Rob aside and taking a seat at the screen.
Hmn, yes, that should do. Her thought process should be sufficiently alien to keep us safe.
Better yet... added Rob, reaching out and pulling a second screen from the air next to him. It was his own imagination, after all. Sitting down, he took general control, leaving the details up to Nagato. Two heads are better than one, right?

[ArlEammon]

Jacob
"I don't know about the rest of you, but I intend to investigate this matter now that we know of the threat we face below. Tharizdun is being released, and the seal on him has been weakening for millenia. I suggest that we get down there before the enemy sends hordes of bastard demons and devils out to us. We should be hunting inferior demon spawn, they have no right to be hunting us, or our brood." Zeus looks to the others in Jacob's spirit. Suddenly, Jacob's body changes from that of a dark figure of Ganon and transforms into a white togad young man with albino hair, with the Blade of Olympus in his right hand.

[NM020110]

The Golden King

'When we get done here and have a bit of time, I think that it would be a good idea to go for a bit of a demonstration of powers. At the moment I don't have that much of an idea of what your powers are.'

'Stop talking and pay attention. You've been standing here for five minutes saying absolutely nothing and staring at a wall without seeing it.'

'What, again? How much did I miss?'

'There was a sanctuary spirit here, but it's left while you were spacing off. It wanted us all to drink from that well over there.'

'I'm guessing that we're the only ones to not have done so thus far?'

'Pretty much, yes. There also appears to be some writings on that wall you were staring at. I've no idea what they say, however.'

'The temple rests atop innumerable sealed demons, devils, and daemons. Tharizdun is sealed at the very bottom. I'm guessing that the pit fiends that assailed you just before I joined were from that pit of sealed entities.'

'Thank you.'

Having been apprised of the situation by those with better attention spans than he, William moves to the basin and drinks lightly of it.

'Welcome, to this crowded little mind.'

'Ah, it's good to be back!'

'Hmmm...Gilgamesh, is it?'

'Yeah, you have a grudge from somewhere? I don't recognize you.'

'Right. I suppose introductions are in order. I am William, human computer programmer and general layabout. Age: 29'

'Fujiwara no Mokou, human, and the owner of a Yakkitori stand within the Bamboo Forest of the Lost. Age: somewhere around 1500. I forget the exact number...'

'Sousuke Aizen, shinigami and captain of the fifth squad. Age: Somewhere in my second millenium.'

'Orochimaru, post-human, and a ninja of fairly great skill, if I may brag. Age: 54.'

'I've been known by a few names, mostly as the Lifemaker. Age: somewhere around three millenia.'

'I guess that this isn't such low company after all. There seems to be quite a bit being held back, though.

Anyway, I am Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes. Two-thirds god, and my age hardly matters!'

'Cheerful, aren't you? And two-thirds god...how does that work? Anyway, it's good to have you here. I'll go ahead and offer you the same pact as the others:

We work together and support each other. As the one whose body this is, I'll maintain control save in extreme situations where control will be delegated. Since the vote currently stands 4-1 in favor of conquering this world, we'll proceed to that after we have saved it from the threats presently facing it.

Would you agree to this?'

'Hah, is that all? Sure, I'll help a little.'

"Integration complete. I'll take point this time."

Perhaps only to cover for his earlier lapse of awareness, William began quickly moving forward, apparently with no regard for traps.

'That water gave a boost to my integration. My first phase is already completed.'

'After only an hour? Impressive. I believe that it is Mokou's turn next, then the Lifemaker, then Gilgamesh.'

'Alright, then. Until I finish integration, you'll have a limited number of times that you can come back. I wouldn't recommend get killed much more than once a day for now.'

'Right.'

'What are you talking about? When you get killed, you die! What do you mean no more than once per day?'

'Ignorant people like you are why I opened my stand in the Bamboo Forest...I'm immortal by virtue of drinking three doses of the Hourai Elixer. I just pop back into existence a few seconds after being killed.'

'By Ea, that is madness!'

[mkfuba07]

Tristan watched as a newcomer entered the treasure room, wondering if he was the same person as the janitor who just sauntered through, filling a pail from the Well of Souls. He had found that... delightfully irreverent, and decided to keep an eye on him. As he leaned against the fountain, he crossed his arms, closed his eyes, and Listened. To anyone else it might look like he was having a discussion with his incarnations, but his attention was focused across the room, as the stranger introduced himself to Alexander.

"So his name's Rob... where did he say he was from?"

"Somewhere."

"Well yes, but where?"

"I do not know. Everyone's from somewhere. But he could be from anywhere."

"If everyone's from Somewhere, how could anyone be from Anywhere?"

"You've got it all wrong. Rob is from Somewhere, Anyone is from Somewhere Else."

"I am so confused..."

"You are not alone in this, High Summoner."

He was chuckling silently to himself when he realized someone was trying to get his attention. "...length of your webbing? It might come to some use for me as a rope." He opened his eyes to see Conor standing in front of him. He blinked a few times before shaking himself out of his own inner "Who's on First?" bit.

"Absolutely, no problem. I've got loads of the stuff, and I can easily make more."

He discharged about ten feet of webbing, being careful to not get it too tangled, and handed it to Conor as he went back to Listening.

"Did he just say something about cats...?"

[3SecondCultist]

Alexander's smile falters slightly as Rob's hand touches his.
Oh, right. I'd actually forgotten about this particular power.
His empathic ability floods his consciousness with Rob's emotions, thoughts, hopes, dreams, and personality details. The Intuitive Aptitude takes care of the rest, and after a moment, a Name slides into the forefront of Alexander's waking mind. He allows it to slip away down the cracks of his sleeping mind, as Names are wont to do. No matter, hopefully Alexander wouldn't need it.
So it is illusion magic. Definitely a sorcerer of some sort. There is more, much more. There is a great power within him, something called a 'Spark'. Oh, and look! A fellow Namer. Well, he would be amusing to have around. However, Alexander still finds himself somewhat unsettled at the... unconventional nature of Rob's psyche. His Incarnations are extremely unstable, for one. And then there is the overall unhealthy interest in cats.
They are only animals, after all. Flesh and bone. They die as easily as normal humans. He shakes his head slightly. Analyzing Rob's psyche, while fun, was hardly pertinent to the situation at hand.
"Well then, there is little time to waste then. Lead on, Jacob."

[DoctorFaust]

Jaime wanders into the fountain room, slowly turning a circle to view all of the carvings. "I missed something important, didn't I," he mutters to himself, approaching the group, "And furthermore, do any of you recognize these people?"
I'm not sure of their names, but I recognize a former friend on mines force signature.
Thanks. Anyone in here recognize the language on the wall?
No, but I expect it has something to go with either demons or devils, and the big bad that we have to defeat.
Why? Actually, never mind that, there were pit fiend corpses around the entrance, weren't there. I'm surfacing now to introduce myself and seem less crazy. "Hi there." he says, approaching the group as he finishes buckling on his sword belt, "I take it you're all the rest of the Personaes of Sigil the people in my brain were talking about. I'm Jaime."

[Sen isSaqqara]

He is accessing the local data for this area.
I knew it.
A psyker?
Something like that. Yuki, can you do anything about it?
I will encrypt the relevant data. He will not be able to access it again. I will also add a obfuscated layer to our outward controls. I will run it using random keys, swapping every 0.05 milleseconds. This should prevent our overall nature from remaining static, and keep us from being readable.
Am I correct in thinking that this will keep us from retaining any true name for more than... What was it, 0.05 milleseconds?
Yes.
Perfect. Hey Yuki, could you read the local data for him?
Yes. It would take some time to decode. Assuming you want it in a form master Elodin can understand, it would take upwards of 30 minutes to run the appropriate subroutines.
Damn. Urza, you think you could write an agent to act as an assistant to Yuki and run subroutines for her while she focuses on control?
Sure, just give me a few.seconds first. I'm learning about something called C++.

[mkfuba07]

Since the conversation on the other side of the room seems to have dwindled into silence for a moment, Tristan opens his eyes when Jaime entered the room and introduced himself. He walks over and extends his hand in greeting.
"Hi Jaime, I'm Tristan. Looks like you've been drafted into our little army as well. I'm terrible at self introductions, so I'll just say that if you need elemental magic, healing, or inhuman speed or strength, I'm your guy. I'll let the others introduce themselves because I don't think I even know everyone's names, and I'm sure some of their powers are beyond my comprehension."
You sound like you're welcoming him to a health spa. You gonna offer to show him to his room, next? In any case, it's probably best that you didn't tell him too much about what we can dish out.
Yeah, somethin' ain't right about Rob and Alex over there. Let's hold back until we find out more about everyone else.
This seems like sound strategic advice. I still don't fully trust these strangers. Besides, we can't access our true combined power without practice and time.
Kid, you stopped talking ten seconds ago, and you're still holding his hand. The new guy probably thinks you're crazy.
Tristan shook his head and quickly dropped Jaime's hand with an awkward smile.
"Sorry about that, zoned out a bit. It's been a pretty long day. You ever get that feeling that you're going crazy? Anyway, I think we're getting ready to head downstairs soon, so I'd suggest you get ready for trouble."

[3SecondCultist]

Secure in his knowledge that Rob will leave him alone for the time being, Alexander turns to introduce himself to Jaime.
"You came at an opportune time, actually. We were about to vanquish a great evil, or some such. My name is Alexander. I specialize in in mental manipulation and control, but I also have numerous support abilities." His smile no longer extends to his eyes, but his bearing conveys no threat.
"Shall we continue?" He begins to proceed further into the temple, looking for a stairwell or passage downwards.

[Erik Vale]

"Agreed. I've the writings recorded and... Well to say I won't need sleep for a couple of days is a complete understatement... Staying around here would just be a waste of time unless the spirit returned."

Meanwhile, some of the other minds were bouncing around in Erik's head, talking amoungst themselves.

'I would suspect that such an item would be in the satchel.'
'Well then, that grants short range-'
'I'll grab that out now.'
'But you have no psychic powers?'
'Yes, however-'
'So I wont need to put as much energy into it. We'll let you talk to 117, let us keep talking about the magical department.'
'Abupt.'
'She is that. It's almost like she has the space elf theme down pat.'
'Ha!'
'Oh quite you two.'
'Yes, before I have to side with the space elf.'
To say his mind laughed a little after that statement would be true.

Absent mindedly, Erik drew a small device from the bag of holding, looking at it he attached it to the same point as the bag, moving them around a little so they both remained attached.

[Conor77]

Conor, leaving his other selves to their various integration attempts and ignoring Eridan's advice for now, wraps the webbing around his wrist as a kind of weird bracer, before following and assisting Alexander. As they both look for passages that travel downward, Conor introduces himself.

"Hey, I was a little "out of it" before, but its nice to meet you. My name is Conor, and I won't worry you with names that I've had previously."

They find the stairs, and walk down them.

He extends a hand made of metal and plastic, as he steps down the bottom stair. But Alex isn't looking at him. Hand still extended, he looks ahead of him, and sees the second level.

"Oh. Well, then."

[ArlEammon]

The Second Level
Strange voices and noises, the sound of screams and whimpers of terror are on this level. It's soon apparent that both Baatazu, Abyssal, and even other kind of fiends are swarming the entire level like maggots on soggy bread. There aren't many actual Pit Fiends of Balor levels that any of you can see though. However, as soon as the entire group make their way to the bottom level, they are swarmed by a small army of hundreds of lesser fiends. Snotspills, impish monsters and others are now hurdling towards eachother's falling bodies to find new, freshmeat that has found their way to their layer.

[NM020110]

"Just a horde of low-rankers? How disappointing.

Formation of -"

'Using that technique will probably see you almost without chakra for a while.'

'Won't it regenerate?'

'After about six hours, yes.'

"Alright, forget that one. Swordswork it is.

Earth Release: Stone Clone!"

A copy of William is quickly built of stone. Both the clone and the original draw their blades and begin to move, liberally applying the swords to kill the opponents which stand in their way.

[3SecondCultist]

Alexander pays no mind to the Fiends directly in front of him. Instead, he is cataloging the principles of alchemy, learned over centuries of practice. The power rush is intoxicating, and as such he pays no initial heed to Conor's offer of greeting. All the while, his telepathic mind shielding is active, so that there are no sensory traces of him to any sentient beings within range. The entire process takes but a few minutes: Alexander has to sort out Dante's most practical knowledge from the sentimental garbage.
Now this is some useful material. Combined with Larasium and the appropriate emotional Allomancy... His smile returns in full force. For now, he had a much more pressing use for the gifts of alchemy. He claps his hands together, forming a circle with his body and pressing his left hand on his right arm. In a flash, he has transmuted the depleted steelmind into something far more dangerous: atium. He also transmutes one of his rings, before crushing it up into a thin powder and ingesting it. Alexander can feel the metal reserve within him now, joining the tin and pewter from earlier. After he is sure that he is ready, Alexander drops the mental cloak. He fills his atiummind with enough age to render him roughly ten years older, before beginning to burn his atium. Hundreds of illusory shadows move through the cavern, drawing out the future of the combat like a map inside his head. Alexander draws his sword, before wading into the combat.
This is where the fun begins.

OOC:Burning atium allows a Mistborn to see several seconds into the future, showing the actions of all combatants. It makes the Mistborn near-invincible in close combat, as they know the perfect counter attacks to all moves their opponents will make. Compounding it (by combining it with Feruchemy) magnifies the power tenfold, allowing Alexander to see the entire combat before it happens. Right now, he will use this ability to avoid (or counterattack, if possible) individual threats against him.

[Erik Vale]

'This would be the perfect time to attempt that seperate attack from the same thing.'
'Yep. Idea, wouldn't be able to do it again for a while.'
'Could use storm, weaker. Just own mind, let them use spear.'
'Forming basic rune. You guys get right hand.'
'Let's do this.'
"Trying a co-ordinated, will fall back if neccesary!"

By this he ment, that he was letting the others parcel out their skills, instead of focusing on one area. Hopefully it will work...

One hand would work only due to the huge strength advantage of Deadpool, John and the Moinjir Armour, and even then, they kinda wished the staff was shorter... Perhaps they could fix it latter.

Erik charged in a blur of motion towards the demon horde, the Staff of ---- ((Inserting Latter, damn mind)) flicked, with each blow capable of peeling apart tanks with ease darted to slash individuals.

With the other hand, Using the runic knowledge of Alric, Aleandrea used her magic to create a rune of eldritch energy. This, Eldrad used as a focus, bringing her mind to complete and total calm, psychic energy billowed around the rune. And then, unusually, in a combination of both 'witches' magic, the hand flung the rune towards the densist pack of demons, and at once, a burst of pure eldritch energy bursted on the landing, and an even larger burst of psychic energy split a very specific barrier in a rather specific nature, and for a larger area than the eldritch burst, but not quite the entire room, a storm exploded into action. Lightning bursted and potent gusts of wind buffeted the demons, even as the psychic energy from the tear clawed at their minds.


((The Fluff and potency and exactly what happens with the 'psychic' storm varries between the varrious sources. I am unsure of wether the storm is supposed to be purely psychic and it moves things just from the psychic energy and is mostly in the mind, or whether it causes an actual storm, so I'm going with a combo, considering the power of Eldrad.))

[DoctorFaust]

Jaime pauses for a second when he sees the entirety of the army of monsters, and then breaks out into a huge smile. He laughs, and says "Man, this is going to be fun."
Revan, can I use your lightning yet, and if so, how much control do you need?
I should be able to. Give me your left hand and call targets as you see them.
Howl, can you do any 'oh god, things are coming to kill me' style illusions yet? Mal, Shepard, which thing on your guns are the safety?
Not yet, but give me time. When we've fully integrated I should be able to pull off ones good enough to fool you.
Isn't one on mine, but Shepard here says it's on the left side of the trigger guard for the assault rifle.
Sanya, I'm giving you control of my right hand once this breaks down into a melee. Until then, help Revan pick targets. Anything that looks strong enough that we wouldn't want to take it hand-to-hand at this point.
Very well. I'll start improving your fencing while I'm at it.
Thanks. Jaime feels his left hand being lifted to point towards the enemy forces, as well as a slight tingling sensation emanating down his arm as a web of purple lighting starts to form around it. Is this supposed to be happening?
Something went a bit wrong. Still not used to this body, and I used more power than I should've. Perfectly fine, just means I might not be able to this for a while. Or you might die.
Wait, what? I might diARGHH! A thick sheet of purple lighting spews out of his hand straight towards a group of monsters, with a couple strands going back into his body before arcing to the saber at his side, burning a hole in the scabbard in the process. Son of a b****, that hurt. Warn me before that happens next time, would you. Jaime straightens up, draws his rifle and starts taking potshots into the horde.

[Conor77]

Conor, after the shock wears off, seizes the Wand on his belt. But then, pausing, he thinks about it.

Uh, what can we do?

Half-a-thousand devils of slime and flesh turn, various night-eyes and gelled hides flashing against the torchlight.

You have my lightning Plasmid, but it can only affect one enemy at a time without something to connect the circuit...
Well-
Use. The. Wwand. Jegus, do I have to say that louder? Your hands wwere right on it!
Dude! Eridan! Shut up! Who else?
Your arms have a lot of force. You could go hand to hand, if you, you know, already know how to do that...
Use Belgaer. It is the Thinker, and it will still the rabble's thoughts.

And, as fiend and friend alike charged towards each other, Conor drew the large silver bell, which shivered with power in his hand. With careful movements, he removed his left hand from the clapper, hanging the bell exactly at the center, so that he did not ring it accidentally, because of what horrors would happen then...

And with a slow, careful motion, he drew the bell into a triangle, ringing it.

[Sen isSaqqara]

Rob falls in line after Adrian, walking along a respectful distance behind him.
Bowman, could we get a shield? Sort of a bubble-type thing, perhaps.
Yes. replied the young man, finally breaking his meditative pose.
Do you think you could summon up a few glass vials of some sort, old man?
Of course. This city provides us with plenty of colorless mana...
Good. Hath, I don't suppose I could bother you to fill a few of these with some of the blood left by our enthusiastic new friend?
All to easy.
And Yuki. Somewhere to keep these?
Done. A set of leather loops materialized on Rob's belt, into which the newly filled vials smoothly slipped.
You know, I don't think we're really needed here.
That's why we're waiting it out following this guy, Elodin.
Could we maybe...
No. No more cats. Bad namer. *thwack*
Ow!
Quiet down back there. You two are acting like ten-year-olds. Though I suppose we wouldn't be missed if we just slipped out an- *thwackthwackthwack*

[Anecronwashere]

Necron simply smiles as the horde go straight through him before returning to both visibility and tangibility and switching out to Jarez.

His double-bladed red saber glows with malice as it expertly cuts through the pitiful demonic horde he found himself in the middle of.

Suddenly he performed a double-take as Revan unleashed the Force lightning.
A jump later he was next to his former commander
"Revan? My old friend is that you? I recognized the force signature of that blast, though you would do not to overcharge the power. That was Alek's mistake not yours."

(OOC: What is Revan's real name? Revan is a shorten of Revanchist which is the title he gave himself. Alek becomes Malek for anyone who doesn't know)

[ArlEammon]

Zeus/Jacob
The Greek-Godlike-Sorcerer-Quasi-Divine-Emperor-BloodMage-Eldergodish man stood with a proud chest against the dark enemy armies of lesser demons. He unleashed a massive storm of lightning bolts against the impish monsters, sure it would destroy all targets in his range. Some of them were clearly only counting to kill their victims in melee, since they were so sure that over-whelming them with pure numbers would work. They were mistaken, Zeus, or Jacob, whomever was in charge unleashed a constant barrage of lightning bolts at the demonic hordes, adding to the massive and impressive display of fire works that was already taking place. If any enemy got in range, Zeus was sure any of the fools could be cleaved in two with contemptous ease. He noticed that the others were sure, at least some of them, that this horde of darkness would be taken down easily as well.

[mkfuba07]

Alright Yuna, let's start with the Gunner dressphere. Keep our distance until they're in range, then we'll unleash our boom magic. I don't know much about demons, but I think it's best to protect ourselves against fire as well as physical damage. If you have time throw in the other defenses as well. I don't want to end up with broken bones this time.
As the horde grew steadily closer, Tristan raised his arms, expecting two guns to appear any second now.
Um... I'm terribly sorry, but I don't know what you mean. What's a dressphere?
His body froze, stunned. How could someone not have their own abilities? It just didn't make sense.
And then they were on him.
His gladii sprung from his sword belt an instant before the creatures barreled into him. It was dead before they hit the ground. He turned his fall into a roll, springing to his feet faster than he had fallen, far away from any of his allies.
New plan! Fire, and lots of it! Hopefully it'll have some effect.
The green materia in his sword glowed brightly as blazing flame burst from the tip of his sword. That alone was not enough to stop the mass of imps and demons around him. He held his breath as Kitai took over, molding the fire, shaping it into a ring around him. She fed the flames, expanding it into a fiery inferno that spread steadily outward. Those that weren't killed by the flame succumbed to the secondary effects, filling those nearest the conflagration with irrational dread, sending them running.
Those that made it through met Tristan, swords sharp enough to cut through steel, and though he was too far below the earth to draw on his windcrafting, he could still feed on the strength from the earth, making him a juggernaut amidst the flames. He stood his ground, hacking off limbs, finishing off enemies as efficiently as possible. Each slash took down another demon.
But that only lasted about twenty seconds. The heat and lack of oxygen weakened Tristan, eventually forcing him to drop to his knees, as well as drop his shield of flame. He sat on the ground as his head swam, catching his breath. He couldn't bring himself to stand as more foes charged him from all sides.

[Anecronwashere]

Seeing his ally fall surrounded by the hordes Danny grabbed control, shoving himself and Potter into what amounted to a mental escape pod as a second Necron was duplicated.
His wand materializing in his hand he cast the Bubble-headed charm around the choking man.

"You know you really shouldn't smoke. It's bad for your health." Danny snarked, rings forming around his waist, separating until a glowing black and white teen stood there, hands glowing with ectoplasmic energy.

[3SecondCultist]

As he stands and fights the Fiends, Alexander finds himself understanding progressively more. Pathways stretch out into time, actions and reactions, forever. He can see them all, and understand their meaning! It would seem as though Intuitive Aptitude is useful for more than merely understanding powers and people. In the moment, Alexander feels nearly omnipotent.

And then Conor rings Belgaer.

Everything shifts, shorting out and fading into nothingness. It takes a near instinctual pewter burn to avoid being hit by the Fiends, as his atium no longer seems to function correctly. He turns it off swiftly, then uses his flight to hover near the top of the cavern. From this height, he can see the whole chamber, but his attention is focused on Rob for the moment.
Fascinating. He seems to have snuck up behind me earlier. What was he doing back there? Was that it? I have given him ample opportunity to back-trace my true Name. Or at least, what was my true name prior to fully integrating all of Dante's memories and powers. Sensing no effect, Alexander shrugs internally. After a moment, he descends back to the ground behind the other Personae.

[Sen isSaqqara]

Damn it. Thought Rob as Idrian jumped away from him, leaving him in a small bubble of angry enemies.
Relax. We'll be fine. They can't get through the shield.
Fine. Can you throw up a strike rotating at head height up to, say five feet away?
...No. For some reason I can't.
We have lost some control of the thought processes. There is some disruption in the air in this area.
My shield is still up. How?
Your shield is an existing modification to reality. It is not affected. I am working on a subroutine to keep this disruption out of the shield's area. It will take a few minutes.
Rob sighed to himself, and began walking back towards the others. He spotted Alexander standing with them. I'm starting to dislike him. We should have tried for some of his blood.

[DoctorFaust]

Jaime freezes for a moment, surprised as Necron jumps up to him. He opens his mouth about to say something, but Revan takes control before he can. "Jarez? Is that you, old friend? How have you fared since the end of the Mandalorian Wars? And how did you get your powers back after Malachor?"
What are you doing Revan?
Talking to a very old friend. You can have your mouth back once I'm done with it. Jaimes hand lifts again in preparation to lose another blast of lightning at the monsters, but all that is conjured is sparks. "It would appear that I was right about not being able to use the force for a while. Haven't made that mistake since I was a padawan, though Alek was fond of it." Jaimes left hand moves of it own accord and draws his lightsaber from his belt, thumbing it on to reveal a meter long purple blade. ""Feels good to finally have this in hand again, even if this isn't my body."

(OOC: I don't think that Revan has been given a canon name yet, but that bears looking into.)

[Anecronwashere]

"It's a long story, full of thrilling combats and a gang of weirdos who all hated each other.
So exactly like any of my other missions.
I spent a few years travelling, doing the whole Exile thing before being knocked out and stuffed inside an empty mining colony. Kriea the backstabbing Sith crafted a Force Bond with me to open my powers up again and after killing the Jedi masters she tried to make me destroy the Force itself. Still, she failed, I killed her and all was well.
Oh, Canderous pulled together the mandalorians, he found the old Mandalor helmet. Your old killer robot was in my hold so I repaired him for you too."
dodging a little imp Javez skewers him and turns back to Revan
"It's good to see you without your helmet, I told you it would get you in trouble one day. Remember those Jedi Converters you had? One of em called Anton thought you were a girl, a hot girl."

[Conor77]

Conor and Alex, for a moment, stare at the fiends. The fiends stare back. The rest of the party clumps down the stairs, hitting the bottom before noticing and pausing along with those already there. There was a pause, during which only the gurgles of slime demons keeping their shape could be heard. And then both sides, as if one, charged.

And then there was chaos. Lightning raged from Jacob and Jaime, white and purple tearing through the hordes of weak foes. Meanwhile, Erik started wading through enemies, with such strength in his staff arm as to tear some enemies entirely apart, while belching his own lightning from the other hand. Alexander extends his mind into the future, seeing easily where the imps and axe-wielders will attack him from, allowing him to block and strike with near-impunity. Necron also slashes with swords made of light, with only time for a few kills before recognizing the lightning of an old friend. William takes the time to make another of himself out of stone, before he too goes into close-combat. Even Tristan fights with a sword, after sheathing the area in fear-inducing flame. Only Conor and Rob hesitate, protected by Jacob, who may not be able to shoot beams of lightning into the crowd of fighting friends, but is threatening enough to protect his allies from the brunt of the demons.

This would seem extremely effective, and at first, it was. But sheer numbers can be a powerful factor, and these demons had fought in numbers for their entire lives. They were good at it. Lemures and Manes slipped up the fighters' feet, while Dretches tore at hair and eyes, and Khazra goat-men whipped axes towards them, so that they had to block more than they could attack. The strife is heightened by a huge blaze that roils though the area, started by Tristan, causing fear and panic to sweep through the demon ranks. But even though the fiends could take fire all day, Personae were less able to take the heat. Between burning and smoke, they were driven deeper into the depth of the battle, fighting on all sides. They were having a bit of trouble, as Tristan's flame stopped and he dropped to the ground wheezing, being saved by Necron's spell.

Alexander noticed something wrong first, when his visions of the future (now looking like a giant mass of spaghetti from all the action around him) stopped appearing, in distorted ways. A few seconds later, the rest of the room heard a clear, loud, BongBoooongBoboooooooooooooooooooooooonnnnnggggg

Conor had decided at last to move, ringing Belgaer in a near perfect triangle. But the bell wiggled during the last stroke and rang twice during the last ring. Devils began to drop to the floor, drooling, uncaring of where they fell. Their hearts beat fast and their lungs take in huge gulps of air, blood filled with adrenaline. But it is useless. They are worse than dead, their souls trapped inside their bodies, minds shut down by the voice of the Thinker.

Psychic powers stop, passive mind-protection effects began to project weird distortions, and inside everyone's mind, the ringing starts louder, hedging out the voices of their Personae. for a few seconds, it is unbearable, as it just gets louder and louder and louder...

Until it stops.

The party looks around, many of them with hands to their ears, to discover that between the bell and their fighting, fully over half of the fiends are gone, blasted, sliced, slashed, or brains fried away.

The Personae recover first, hefting weapons and charging before the devils can regroup to recover their numerical advantage.

[Erik Vale]

"Come on lads! Jobs only Half Done!"
Surprisingly, it was Alric that called to continue the battle first, his voice intermingling with Erik's.
It would be easiest, in the minds of those personae, for the warriors to fight, and the others to aid.
Deadpool had centuries of combat expertise.
Alric had centuries of combat expertise.
John has decades of combat expertise, and training most relevant to Erik's heightened abilities.
In the hands of these three, the staff was not just and artefact of immense power.
It was THE artefact of immense power, anything that came close enough would quickly be subject to a surprising array of attacks from the staff, as well as unusual melle attacks, a punch here, a trip here, bludgeoning like a club there, slashing using the force field of the staff to cut here....
And weirdest was, Deadpool's unpredictability meant that demons expecting a devastating offensive would find themselves just warded off with a defensive swipe, and another beside them annihilated.
Meanwhile, Eldrad gazed into the future, picking out every action she could, to provide defence, and enhancing a devastating offense.
And Aleandrea sat watching, just providing a warning set of eyes. Here, in the thick of it, her suggestions were amateur, and she knew no magic that could help, considering that the small device at her side would provide faster teleportation than she could. Despite not leaving an after image.

[ArlEammon]

Jacob/Zeus
With the onslaught of the demons effectively neutered, Jacob decided to move away from the duo of fighting friends, and instead of resuming a blast of lightning bolts at the enemy, he soared horizontally through flight in order to cleave the enemies in two or less with massive sword strokes with the blade of Olympus. Occasionally an enemy could lash out at him or strike with their blades, but of course with Ganon's toughness he was heavily resistant to physical harm. The slashing, thrusting and swinging of the Sword of Olympus would continue unless something more threatening could get in his way than whatever he was facing.

[AkaiNeko]

Kate recovered from the bell's effects, ceased staring at nothing, growled a curse, and cast a very satisfying "MAZIO!" over the horde. Lightning seemed to be a group theme at this point. And then, she realized: it was very hot, stuffy, and so on in here, largely due to lack of air-flow. She could fix that...."Yu?"

He sighed. "Go for it. We'll be fine."

She pointed at the horde and commanded "Magaru!" And a great wind ripped through their ranks, while the backblast refreshed the Personae.

That done, she gripped her sword, reloaded the Beretta, and jumped into the middle of the downed fiends, Invisible Air shredding their ranks.

OOC: Pretty sure Air: Wind King skills mostly manipulate local air, obviously, but higher level MegaTen wind skills seem like they'd be perfectly capable of summoning new air. Given teh other shenanigans you get up to, anyways. Should make for fun combos later.

Also yes, she was talking to Yu out loud there. Talking to myself is a habit I have only imperfectly broken, and I'm assuming some disorientation here.

[3SecondCultist]

Alexander shakes his head, clearing away the ringing that remained. Thankfully, he had avoided the worst of the damnable bell.
I must admit, it is a useful tool to wield. He managed to kill most of the demons, albeit at the price of mental stability. Alexander sheathes his sword: there would be no more need for it now. Standing behind Jacob and the other charging Personae, he only smiles as he feels the breeze approach him. It felt nice, cleansing. The worst of it hits the enemy, thinning their ranks even further. He pauses for a moment, in thought.
Perhaps I could offer an alternative means of ending the combat. I would hate to get any more Fiendish blood on my coat, after all. Once again, he claps his hands: alchemy. He transmutes another ring into brass shavings before downing them as quickly as possible. The brass reserve appears after a moment. Rashek was an exceptionally powerful Allomancer, thanks to his ingestion of Larasium. His expertise would come in handy here. Almost unconsciously, Alexander floats above the other Personae, so that every being in the chamber can see him. Then, using sonic manipulation, Alexander magnifies his voice so that it echoes throughout the cavern.
"You have already lost. Look around you: see the corpses of your allies. You have already lost. Further struggle is futile. You have already lost. There will be no stopping us. You have already lost..." As he speaks, Alexander sends out massive Soothing waves, stripping them all of the will to fight on, along with whatever forms of courage they might possess. Moreover, he finds himself telepathically compelling them to lay down arms, to surrender. The Personae would be affected, but he has faith in their mental fortitude. They were no longer his concern: stopping the demon horde, on the other hand, was.

[mkfuba07]

Well... at least I didn't break any bones...
Yeah, passing out in front of a rampaging army of demons is much better.
Hey, I didn't pass out! I just... couldn't move or think clearly...
He stood as an imp leaped towards him. He pointed a closed fist towards it and released the energy stored in one of his rings. It might as well have been a stuffed animal, the way it flew across the room and smacked into a pillar. It burst into a not-so-cuddly splash of goo.
My head still isn't entirely clear. We may have gone overboard with the fire.
We were caught off guard. We will have to have a discussion later regarding the High Summoner's abilities, if she cannot do what you believe her to be capable of.
My apologies. I am as confused as you are.
A sudden breeze filled the room. As the smoke cleared, he saw Kate dash into their enemies scything them down.
Let's try to not blow her up this time. She could probably take it, but let's not risk it.
If she's going in on the ground, I say we take to the air. Now that the room is filled with summoned wind, I should be able to achieve flight.
I feel like I've waited so long to hear you say that.
He kicked an oncoming demon in the chest, his earthcrafted strength collapsing its ribcage. With that same strength he jumped, throwing in some flips, twists, and turns just because he could. At the apex of his leap, the wind gathered beneath him, holding him aloft.
Someone seems to have a flair for the theatrical.
Quiet, you. This is such a strange feeling. It's like I'm swimming without any of the uncomfortable wetness. I could get used to it.
I hope you're used to it now, because we're going in. I will manage the flight, if someone else feels like handling swordplay.
Get me my spear, and I'll take care of all of 'em!
Tristan drew a thin metal cylinder from a loop inside his duster and gave it a flick. A moment later he was holding a full-sized spear, not particularly high quality, but he would take care of that. He pinched his fingers together as he ran them along the blade, sharpening the metal. He sealed the gaps in the shaft as well, leftovers from its construction.
He gripped the spear, twirled it a few times as he got used to its weight and balance. Then he dove into the fray, jabbing, slashing, and skewering his foes, trying to stay out of Kate's way. If the swarm of enemies got too great, he would simple rise into the air and find a less concentrated bunch.
He was aware of Alex's voice ringing in his ears, and felt a compulsion to set aside his spear and submit. Instead, violet flame burst from his hands, ran up the haft to the blade, and sheathed it in fire. He added to it a strong but subtle firecrafting to inspire courage, with range enough to affect Tristan and perhaps those it was slicing through. The compulsion subsided as he bent into another dive.

[DoctorFaust]

Jaime falls to his knees as Alexander's compulsion washes over him, but quickly recovers. As he staggers to his feet, he stabs straight out with his lightsaber, whipping it around in an arc to protect himself. He regains his footing and dances back a bit from the group he was attacking. "That does sound like most of the other missions you've been on. I'm glad to know that Canderous became Mandalore, though I had no idea that Atton was still alive, but that definitely sounds like him. I thought that the Republic would've hunted him down for what he did in my service." Jaime shoulders his assault rifle as another group bears down on him, whipping esperacchius out of its scabbard and slashing at a startled imps throat. He slices through and parries a few more attacks, managing to get killing blows on most of their wielders before turning back to Necron. "I can't really say that I'm too sad about the councils death. Most of 'em were *****. Shame about Kreia though, she was a good jedi before she fell."

[Lonewolfe208]

A strange figure steps out of the temple:

"Time to get this party started!" Igniting his saber at the entrance of the Temple, The tall warrior disappeared and reappeared in the midst of the horde.

Make sure you give these demon bastards hell!
Joshua quickly cringes at the sound of Dante giving him battle advice, most of his Incarnations kept silent, except for Dante and Taskmaster, Who genuinely pissed the righteous hell out of Riddick and Bane, who found the chatter annoying.
Would you kindly shut up, You stupid inbred demon-mutt.The inner voice of Riddick growled the insult.

Now Now boys, How about we let our sla-, I mean our "Host" Do his job.
So the philosophical mind-rapist decided to speak up eh? Well let me tell you something, You ain't got jack on someone who is INSANE!!!!! A shrieking laughter followed as the Taskmaster made his thoughts known.

[TheAntiplanar]

Sam walks though the broken entranceway, gazing at the rubble. Her expression is one of plain surprise. The Lady had ordered them here, but she wasn't expecting the devastation that greeted her.
What happened here?
A battle, obviously. By Mandalore, it's almost too painful to listen to you. The voice was characteristically dry: Fett. Sam shakes her head internally at the bounty hunter. Her stride takes her into the atrium, to the fountain. She passes through the remains of the celestial sanctuary.
It's so sad, to see such a being shackled to an eternal duty. I wish we could do something to help. This one, full of compassion: Fey. Sam only smiles at the young girl's spirit. She was glad to have Fey along for the ride. The murals proved to be interesting, leading Sam ever downwards. Soon, she began to pick up the sounds: clashing of metal, the crackling roar of lightning, and a man's droning voice, emanating from beneath the earth. As she descended, the clamor began to increase. Sam felt a twitch of sorrow, her emotions clouded by a compulsion of despair.
It seems to be a magical effect of some sort. Please, allow me. Charles Xavier's mental blocks immediately halted the effects in their tracks. Of the lot, he was proving the most helpful. Sam thought back briefly to several days ago, when the crowd had filed into her mind. Charles had been the first, but the rest had followed merely minutes afterward. There was Victor, the technopathic artificial human. Fett, the infamous bounty hunter. Fey, the beautiful fae enchantress. And finally, Elspeth had appeared, planeswalker and former Knight-Errant of Bant. Since then, she had not had a private moment to herself. She loved it.

The opening snaps Sam back to the present. Through the doorway, she can see the remains of yet another catastrophic battle. Blood and ichor spattered the walls, the bodies of a small Fiendish army strewn on the ground. What interested Sam, for the time being, were the others. She could see several men standing near her. There were even more figures in the melee (at one point she picks out Kate from the crowd). Another throws lightning. Her attention is also drawn to the man floating above them, proclaiming defeat for the remainder of their enemies.
So this is where the party is. It might be best for me to hang back for this, let the others finish what they started.

[Sen isSaqqara]

Dampening systems online. I've added an adaption mechanism to the framework: we should be able to counter out any sonic effect within a quarter-millisecond of its initiation by causing a destructive wave pattern within the shield. reports Yuki.
Good. Now that we won't have to worry about that noise in the future, let's get to work. There's plenty of enemies left, who wants a go?
Eva laughed, pulling a gothic-styled control-set unlike any Rob had ever seen from the air in front of her. I haven't had a good chance to let loose in a while...

Rob turns towards what is left of the army of fiends. He leaps into the air, soaring beneath a cloak of darkness until he reaches a point just above Alexander. Perfect for the desired dramatic effect. He flings his arms out in front of him, incanting in a voice that is not his: "Lic Lac Lilac! Centum Sagitas Magicas Glacias!" One hundred arrows of sharp, freezing ice the size of basketballs fly forwards from his outstretched hands, each seeking out a target among the horde.

[3SecondCultist]

As Rob flies towards him, Alexander finds himself bracing for an attack. It does not come, however, and the mage passes right by. He simply chuckles softly.
It would appear as though he holds a grudge. How petulant. I suppose it doesn't matter, though. Getting into yet another contest would be dull. Best to just let him be. Dropping back down to the floor, Alexander notes the presence of several other Personae. The first seemed to have jumped right into the combat, without asking any questions. Did he even know why he fought? The second held back, however. She didn't seem to be wearing any armor or carry any weapons. He cannot help but find this all strange. There seemed to be new Personae every other minute. How 'rare' was this phenomenon, anyhow? With the battle all but over (the Fiends really seemed to dislike being stabbed by dozens of floating ice weapons), he approaches the second Persona.
"Good day. I am Alexander. I am another Persona, the term coined by the Lady for gestalt entities such as ourselves. May I inquire as to how you came here?"

[TheAntiplanar]

Who in the -
Don't worry about it, pup. Sometimes it's best to just tag along for the ride.
Well isn't that interesting. Victor's voice had joined the chorus.
This 'Alexander' is the source of several electro-magnetic disturbances. At a guess, I would say his powers involve some sort of magnetism or telekinesis.
I've tried to breach mental barriers, to no effect. Whoever he is, he wields potent psychic power as well. We should be wary here.
The block seems to prevent my Empathy powers from working either. I can't get a read on his emotions.
Enough! I don't understand why this man, or any of the others gathered here, would turn against us. As far as I can tell, our mandate is saving existence. So we've all got a pretty common goal. Sam's frustration with her Incarnations remains below the surface, but in order to quell them, she smiles at Conor and Alexander.
"Hello. It's a... pleasure to meet you. I'm Sam, and along for the ride are the spirits of Boba Fett, Professor Charles Xavier, Fey, Victor Mancha and Elspeth Tirel. The Lady of Pain asked me to come here, but I can see that you all started without me. Are you guys having fun?"

[3SecondCultist]

The Bloody Chamber:

The demon horde has dwindled to a mere fraction of its former number. The majority of the lesser Fiends were killed in the early battle, or utterly crushed by Belgaer as it was rung by Conor. It is indeed a bloody chamber, the reflection from torchlight and enhanced senses casting a black and crimson pall on the proceedings

Jacob finds himself in the easternmost section of the room, looking right towards the original entrance and left to the exit. All around him are the dismembered corpses of demons: the Sword of Olympus has more than lived up to its name. Kate is closest to him, a similar gathering of eldritch cadavers decorating the stone. Joshua and Tristan, on the other hand, find themselves closest to the far exit at the southern end of the room.

Meanwhile, a large portion of the remaining demons were quelled by Alexander's Soothing, retreating to the south as well , threatening to cut off the pair still fighting there. Many demons were also outright slaughtered by Rob's ice spell (being a demon comes with certain weaknesses, like the cold).

However, the enemy remains. Near the center of the room are a cadre of larger, red skinned demons. Several of them sport aprons, soiled in ichor and bloody fluids. All of them carry blades, cleavers for the most part. There seem to be just under twenty, after a cursory inspection. Hate and hunger dance in their beady eyes. One of them calls out, something about 'fresh meat'. They have rallied a final group of demons, which begin to move gradually southward, pinning Joshua and Tristan between the unknown and what remains of the horde.

[ArlEammon]

Jacob Again
The white robed figure possessed lightning charging from his eyes as he threw his lightning bolts at the enemy Butchers, massive, bloated things with huge weapons who were stitched together with the parts of other demons. Jacob continued to fire lightning bolts one after the other, attempting to annihilate the small horde of demonic monsters. If the demons would gradually move to close to their targets, Jacob would soar towards the monsters with his ability to fly as quickly as he could, cleaving the enemy in two or less with his mighty Blade of Olympus. None of Jacob's allies would die in this place if he had anything to say about it.

[Sen isSaqqara]

Rob steped down to the ground, walking over to meet Sam.
Alright, who wants to cover introductions?
How about me? I promise not to scare the new kid. Please?
Fine.

As he strode forwards, a smile on his face, his appearance changed once again. His form returned to normal, white-blond hair rising from his head in spikes and curls as his slate-blue eyes stared out from under it. His clothes changed to suit it: a light-blue shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows and a pair of khaki pants running down to sturdy, light hiking boots.
"Only when we don't have to put up with this guy playing the part of the Herald of Darkness." He gestures to Alexander. "He does have the tendency to get a bit dramatic at times. In any case, I am Rob, at your service." he bows slightly. "And you are?"

We're ready for anything she can throw at us, right guys?
Most likely, yes. We can deal with anything mental, sonic, or physical.

[AkaiNeko]

Kate stood amidst the corpses of the recently slain demons, watching their blue auras dissipate, panting slightly.

"Um, we've got two new allies, I think. And two others are about to get pinned down, over that way."

"Strange that we didn't fight any of those larger demons till just now...."

"This may have been their plan - wait till we're tired and separated, relatively speaking, and pick as many off as possible with their heavier hitters. That said, it's likely that this bunch was totally unaware of our capabilities, and was simply caught flat-footed. Or they place less value on their troops than an ant colony, and are willing to fight by attrition. Or this was simply a test, establishing a baseline for future encounters. Don't forget that this place, and our enemies, are old and very powerful; underestimating the threat posed could well be fatal."

'Soooo....I'm going after those demons. Don't need to be losing any allies, at least till we've figured out which ones are bad guys. I'll introduce myself later.' With that, she reformed Invisible Air and leapt for the Butchers, intending to scatter them with Strike Air and fall on them with sword and gun.

[Anecronwashere]

Danny flew around the butchers, moving at Mach1 (speed of sound) in a circle, throwing glowing green energy bolts with deadly accuracy.
"Is this all they've got? The Box Ghost is more of a challenge than these fools."

*

The red saber moves in time with Revan's, coordinated as only a Force-Wielder can.
"So what about you? I heard about your 'death' then reappearance but not much else."

[mkfuba07]

Three more times he dove from the air, stabbing with his violet spear, and four more demons fell to the ground. Only then did he spot the Butchers approaching, cleavers raised in apparent rage, though it could have just been hunger.
Butchers? I hated you back in Diablo, and I'm not sure I'm going to like you at all now.
You have defeated these creatures before?
Well yes... technically. Back in Diablo I only reached the Butcher once and defeated him.
He must have been a mighty foe.
Actually, I think he was the first boss... That game was hard...
You know that there are a bit more than one of them coming for us now, right?
Well that was a video game. And before I didn't have the souls of four powerful warriors to work with. We have at least a six times greater chance of victory.
You know there are more than six of them, right?
Well I'd like to think that the other personae won't just sit there and watch us die. We just have to hold out, But I refuse to be saved again, so we're going to pull our weight.
Damn straight!
He took a few more quick swipes at some of the foremost lesser demons, then retreated to the open entryway nearby. He landed somewhat harshly, feeling the shock in his knees.
This is where we make our stand. Kitai help me get some fortifications up. I don't know if they're trying to defeat us or just get through us to escape, but we're not letting it happen.
Alerans are so stubborn. Though I will do as you suggest.
Harry, let's try to stay away from fire. It may work on the butchers, but I'd rather not nearly pass out again. Stick with earth, force, and wind. Throw in some ice if you can.
With that, he knelt to the ground, concentrating on the earth beneath his feet, and the water far below them. He began breathing heavily as stone began to rise, spears of rock protruding from the ground in a 10 foot radius semicircle around him. most were at around waist height, with some taller ones thrown in for the Butchers. They might break them apart if they had the strength, but it would at least slow them down.
Water began to bubble from the ground, and Tristan started panting in exertion. Some began to morph into liquid spikes, while yet more coated the ground in a ring around his prickly shield.
"Infriga," Tristan muttered through clenched teeth. The water solidified, crystalline traps surrounded him sparkling brightly as light from lightning and lightsabers hit them. As an afterthought, he began spreading webbing between the earthen spears, hoping that they would serve to slow down enemies even more. He also created a shallow pool in the ground below him, filling it with water that could be used for healing or offense.
And he settled in for what had become a siege.

Edit: I accidentally a word.

[Morcleon]

"Note to self, chakra and magic do not mix well..." Morcleon*sighed. He was now buried under several tons of stone and rubble, with no clearly visible way out. It was tight enough that it was impossible to reach the portable timeslip in his jacket, and his hands were separate, making it impossible to form hand seals.

"Well, this is a fine mess we're in. Anyone have any ideas on a way out?"

Silence reigned in his mind for a significant time before Sasuke rose his voice hopefully.

"We could try to force Susanoo out. Its power, even in the incomplete form, should be enough to break through."

"Wonderful. Let's try it."

His eyes squinted open, and a channel of chakra came to his mangekyo sharingan. Forcing his eyes open, Morcleon gave a cry of power, and for this effort, a hazy violet skeleton began to coalesce around *him.

On the surface, all was still. The breeze rose up and blew a swirl of gritty dust over the stones. And then, a chakra-infused skeletal arm ripped from the center of the destruction. Another soon followed, and then a head and ribcage. And in the center, Morcleon stood, panting and bloody, but sporting a wide grin.

"Susanoo: activated."

His smile faded a little when he saw no one around. The pit fiends were dead, and the rest of the Personae had already gone on ahead. He shut down the skeleton armor and crossed his arms.

"Great. They probably all think I'm dead. Hey, John Taylor, you think you could punch a timeslip connection to where the rest of the Personae are?"

"Of course. The Lady may have prohibited travel to and from Sigil, but the roads within Sigil should still be open."

Morcleon reached into his coat and pulled out a finely made gold pocket watch. Snapping it open, he focused on his companions. A second passed. The face of the clock darkened and expanded, covering him in one fell swoop.

He found himself in darkness, floating. No gravity, no light. A path opened in front of him, and he walked forth on it, seeing the frozen view of a bloodstained chamber, demons, and the rest of the Personae. But on his sixth step along this road, he was forced violently into his mindscape.

A bright flash of light, and Morcleon was dropped unceremoniously onto the bridge of an Imperial Star Destroyer. He looked around, and chuckled. Typical, this was his mindscape. Behind him stood his four reincarnations: Uchiha Sasuke, John Taylor, Thrawn, and Karan Sjet. And in front of him, was a tall, beautiful woman with electric blue hair.

"Welcome to my mind. Now would you please tell me who the hell you are?"

The lady before him sniffed disdainfully, and raised an eyebrow. "I am Superior Saturday, formerly the ruler of the Upper House. Cast into Nothing by that infernal Piper, this was a second chance granted to me. To aid the travels and trepidations of my most recent reincarnation."

A grin slowly formed on Morcleon's face. He stepped forth, hand outstretched. "Welcome to the team. It's nice to have some more firepower around here. We're going up against a higher dimension entity, so we'll need all the help we can get."

"You seem... acceptable, for a future self of mine." She took the proffered hand, and a golden nimbus of light surrounded the two figures. Morcleon breathed in deeply, feeling the sorcerous power of the House flow through him. Saturday continues. "They said that you should receive my complete sorcery and the physical benefits of being a Denizen within a day or so. The Sixth Key will be waiting for you back in this... timeslip of yours."

"Wonderful," Morcleon nodded. "Now let's go make our dramatic entrance."

A brief burst of concentration was all that was needed to dispel his mindscape and return to the physical world. His hand snapped up, capturing a long quill pen, made from a shiny green peacock feather.

The imperious voice of Saturday sounded in his head, resonating with the familiarity of command. "This is the Sixth Key. I can see you know of its abilities well. Follow my instructions, and I shall teach you your first spell."

Morcleon nodded, and walked toward the exit of the timeslip, still showing the frozen image of a battle nearly complete. His hand, with the pen of the Sixth Key still in his grasp, began writing. Magic flowed forth as glowing green script, and former words that pained mortal eyes. The text grew ever more complex, until it resembled a wall of crawling letters.

Armed with this spell near completion, Morcleon stepped out of the portable timeslip, arriving on the ceiling of the bloodstained chamber. He looked up (down), and grinned. Nearly a score of demons were arrayed below, a perfect test subject for his newfound power.

"Tell me, Saturday. What exactly does this spell do?"

"This one is a basic destruction spell. It uses a thin stream of focused Nothing wrapped in sorcerous energy to burrow through and destroy your targets. Often suddenly and violently and all over the place. We call it, somewhat ironically, stealthblade."

With a flourish and an exclamation point, Morcleon finished the spell. Speaking a single Word that seemed to hang on the air, he pointed up (down) at the remnants of the demon horde. The stealthblade uncurled into a single line of crackling green, and shot toward its targets with an ominous rustle.

[Conor77]

Conor, at Alexander's soothing voice, drops his shoulders and tension, becoming calm, and lethargic. As he relaxes, his fingers open just enough to allow Belgaer to slip through, and tumble towards the floor.
NO!

In slow motion, as Lirael snapped him out of his daze, Conor saw Belgaer falling. It turned in the air, as he moved through what felt like syrup to get to it. He dropped his feet out from under him, reached his hand forward, but even if he caught it, what's to keep it from ringing?

He didn't have time to think about that. He didn't have time to think about anything much.

And then, in what seemed to the outside world to be a pretty cool and well-thought out move, he did the splits and snatched the bell by the clapper. It shook in his trembling hand, trying to ring, but unable in a grasp of desperation. Conor's heart was beating like a machine-gun, and he had been holding his breath while it happened. He slowly exhaled. He then, carefully, put the bell back into its bandolier. He got up, and looked around. Some kind of demon with cleavers was attacking now. Huh. Why wouldn't they wait until they had a clear advantage, instead of right in the middle of a fight with lightning, which seems to be the weakness of demons?

He moves over to start contributing to the battle, when he steps on demon slime, which squishes onto his technically bare foot.
"'Ullghhhh, that's disgusting."

And then he looks down at it, and sees it doing something odd...

[Conor77]

Lightning, ghost blasts, lightsabers, frost magic, sword slashes, even a few bullets. The rest of the horde couldn't really do anything against the focused might of over 30 powerful minds housed in 8-9 powerful souls. The thick hide of the red-skinned butchers couldn't keep the Personae out. Their only tactic seemed to be laughing as they died, to unnerve their opponents. But none of that mattered, because they were cut down swiftly. Everyone stands over their bodies, which seem to reek of rotten meat near the butchers, and shakes hands. They are interrupted by Conor, who hops around and over to them with some of the slime demon bodies stuck to his other foot.

"Ah, it won't... I... GET IT OFF!", He shouts as he dances around, flailing.

With a wild kick, he hurled the goo off his foot, into a corner. The others laughed or frowned, as their dispositions indicated.

"That thing was alive!", he says.

"Maybe we didn't destroy all of them entirely" offers Zeus!Jacob, holding the ridiculously oversized Sword of Olympus on his shoulder.

"Yeah... or maybe...", starts Conor, as he looks across the shadowy interior of the room, counting bodies. "...they're coming back!" He prepares a Lightning plasmid in his shoulders, focusing the electricity into his metal palms, while crouching into a combat position and aiming his arms towards the darkness. Out of which come 3 canisters of some sort, which tumble across the floor, bumping over bodies and landing spread out over the area. A red, low hanging vapor gas begins to issue from them with a hiss.

12 butchers, cleavers out, move into the gas, inhaling deeply while fanning out to defend what looks like the fiends that had just been killed shambling over bodies and using tools to reassemble their broken bodies and mesh together the goo. Everything that the gas touches uses every means it has to get back up, assisted by the tool-bearers. As the gas (with a sickly sweet odor that smells slightly like bad oranges) rolls towards the Personae, they raise their weapons against the hands at their feet that even now begin to clutch at them...

[Erik Vale]

Aleandrea smiled inside Erik's mind.
'Looks like it's my turn.'

Suddenly, weaving invocations and power, Aleandrea summons a large orb of powerful and compressed acid.
Then throws it amongst the restoring demons.
In an instant, a weak concussive burst went out from the orb, and powerful acid drenched the recombining creatures.

[Sen isSaqqara]

Oh for... This is just getting silly. Thought Rob. He reached a hand out to Sam, extending Bowman's shield to encompass her as well.
"I'm afraid it seems introductions will have to wait. Care to come with me and bring an end to this, or would you prefer to remain here?" Then he thought the better of it. "Actually, never mind. My advice to you is to stay here, keep near our depressing floating friend over there. Don't touch him, though, and don't trust him."

With this, he retracts his shield and begins to stride forward. The slick layer of blood and guts on the floor recedes as the barrier pushes up against it ahead of him. Calmly unconcerned, he walks towards the ranks of demons resurrecting themselves ahead of him. There is, after all, little they could hope to do to him. Reaching the center of the room, he pauses to consider the situation.
Alright, let's not be stupid about this. There's no need to fight these mooks. We're going downwards, right? Yuki, could you put together a rough map of these chambers from local data?
Yes. It will take time, however.
Fine. Urza, weren't you working on an agent to help her run more tasks at once? Take advantage of the brain's multithreading ability and whatnot?
Just about done, really. I don't have a model to use to represent it in here, but I can deal with that later. Let's try it out. Entering a command on his slate, Urza stepped back to consider his work as a new being flickered into place beside Yuki. It looked like her in every respect. He entered the line again, and a second replica fizzled into appearance.
I figure we can get away with about five before we start slowing down. We only need these two for now, though.
Perfect. Elodin, why don't you work with the first to see if you can come up with a name for Idrian?
Sounds good.
And Urza, why don't you work with this one to get a mapping tool working.
I think I found just the one for the job already. There really are plenty of useful tools on this 'net' of yours...
Good. While you're working, we'll just keep blasting away. Between Yuki and Bowman, we're pretty much immune to anything they can throw at us.
Gladly. This is fun! I really need to let loose like this more often.

Standing in a bubble of calm among the chaos of the fight outside, Rob raises his hands again. The incantation tumbles from his lips once more, ringing through the room in Eva's voice. Fifty spear-like ice-chunks shoot out to each side, impaling more of the monsters gathering around. From beneath the shade of hair lowered over his face, a slight grin slips out.

[AkaiNeko]

Kate looked on in frustrated horror as the Butchers began reassembling the fallen demons, while stomping and stabbing those around her. She tried to think, and called to the other Personae: "OK, here's my thought. Someone who can use fire, try to burn that crap, we should be tough enough to take it if it goes up. That doesn't work, someone with science-y/analyze-y powers figure out what direct contact with said crap will do to us. It's safe, we take out those big guys, and go from there; it's not, we use wind to control it's flow till one of you can contain it. Thoughts?"

'Incidentally, Canaan, I'm not making much headway here. Can you interpret this any better? What's with this gas? Safe? Flammable? What?'

"Give me a moment...."

"For what it's worth, due to the duel nature of science and magecraft, we should, theoretically, be fully resistant to any ill effects the gas could have. I'd rather not risk it till other options are exhausted, of course."

"And I'd rather we not be the ones casting the proposed solutions. We're starting to run low; we need to give it a bit, recharge some so we don't run dry in the clutch."

Kate readjusted her grip, and noticed Rob wading into hell. She called "HEY! Do something flame-y! Or at least go for the damned leaders!"

[3SecondCultist]

Alexander stands near the edge of the chamber, observing the new-born battle.
The gas doesn't bring them back to life, but will likely poison most of us. No matter, my body will keep regenerating. I wonder, though... these demons have proven to be highly resistant to almost all forms of attack. What happens if I try an incomplete alchemical transmutation using the Grand Arcanum? The scarred man from Ishbal, he had a version of it on his arm, did he not? In either case, Alexander did not have time for a full transmutation at the moment. He turns to Sam, a wry smile crossing his features.
"I don't know where he got the word 'depressing' from. I will say this, however. That 'Rob' character does not strike me as particularly sane, considering his Incarnations and his frankly paranoid reaction to meeting me. He is right on some counts, however. The moment I touch you, there is a high probability that I will learn your true Name, thus gaining power over you. It happened earlier, and I have the unfortunate feeling that I will be paying for it." Alexander sighs inwardly. There was hardly any point to all this. Sam seemed like a formidable telepath herself, he had no wish to cross her unduly. Beyond that, though, she was a waste of his time.
Let's just get this damned battle over with, so we can continue our investigation. I'm hungry, and I would love to return home as soon as possible. He leaves the woman by the entrance, following Rob's path and sending out waves of obliteration towards any surviving demons in the vicinity.

[ArlEammon]

Jacob
Noticing that the monsters they had just "killed" were reforming from slime and bloody goo, he realized that as Hawke, with his power over Blood Magic, he would be able to contribute far more to his team-mates effort than as Zeus or the others. Suddenly, Jacob knicked his finger with a dagger, causing the blood to travel through the air into the demons that were struggling to remake themselves, the blood flowed steadly through Jacob's self-inflicted wound, mingling with the blood of the demonic gels and gore throughout the wound. Normally this sort of damage would kill even a very healthy man, since he had lost so much blood, but as Ganon he could lose alot more than that and still be fighting very fiercely. The blood, as it mixed with the coalescing forces of evil in the second floor of the Tharizdun Temple, would parasitically feed on the demon's disgusting blood and return back into the six souled Jacob, feeding Ganon, King of Evil, and strengthening his body. The plan was to practically devour the demons so nothing was left to reform.

[TheAntiplanar]

I wouldn't say that we're heard the last from those two.
It is doubtful, yes. They seem to be more enemies than companions. Then again, I imagine that it has been a strange day for many.
Can you guys focus for a moment? We need to help out here! Fey, what do you have for us?
Hang on a moment, let me just... Sam's vision widens suddenly, her irises turning a bright violet as Fey's vision is superimposed over her own. She can see the Ley lines now, beautiful threads of living magic that permeate existence itself. She also finds, after a moment, that she can feel the earth around her.
Let's start with a nice battle dress, hm? From her pre-existing extra-dimensional pockets appear Sam's armor plates, one at a time, until she is coated from head to toe in green-grey armor. The design is her own: a cross between classic Mandalorian and a style that is unmistakeably Sidhe. Sam can hear Fey's soft sighs of pleasure as the plates of Mithril-Beskar alloy fully materialize.
Stop that, girl! It isn't halfway decent.
You aren't my dad! What gives you the right to -
Silence, you fools! Can you not see the battle unfolding in front of you? We have a moral obligation to aid the Personae combat the spawn of hell.
Well hello to you too Elspeth. I'm glad to see you alive and cheerful as ever.
Given the current scenario, the likelihood of one of us 'seeing' anything is minimal.
Oh, shut it Mancha. Just because you're a robot doesn't give you the right to talk like one.
Sam ignores the bickering, using Fey's magic to reach out towards the Ley lines and begin to absorb the energy. The art seems to be instinctive, the tapping of magic from the environment coming to her as easily as breathing. Hurriedly, she designs a spell to protect from all types of poison or disease, magical or otherwise. It is potent, but will last for less than an hour. Elspeth's knowledge of white magic is of great value: it is, in fact, based off of the planeswalker's original design. After a moment to gather what she feels is the appropriate amount of power, Sam releases it, sending the spell out towards the other Personae and shifting some of the magic to herself.
Whoa, hold on! Be careful with the Ley lines! The mutant girl's warning comes too late, however, as the excess power from the spell manifests itself as a small swarm of minuscule, fluffy squirrel like beings.
What happened?"
Ah, they're only hobgoblins. They won't actually do anything other than get butchered.
I see what you did there...

[AkaiNeko]

"OK, got something. It'll spark up a little, but won't really burn. It's heavy, so we shouldn't be breathing any. Beyond that, I got nothing."

'Great....well, ok. Saber, can we use Invisible Air on ourselves?'

"....yes, actually. It'll hardly be form-fitting, but it can easily prevent contact. Though it may throw off your timing. Keep calm and let your instincts work."

'OK, cool. Back into the fray, I guess.'

Kate focused, and once more invoked the wind barrier. It shimmered up around her, distorting her view. She breathed, and let muscle memory guide her as she jumped the mass of demon gore, sword raised, ready to strike at the butchers.

[Anecronwashere]

Hovering above the mass of goo, the now-1 person breathed in air and breathed out concentrated cold, freezing the jelly-like demons into glacial ice

"You all need to cool off."
'did you really just say that?'
'shut up, I don't use my cold powers much.'

[Sen isSaqqara]

Rob (and, by extension, Eva) was snapped out of his battle-hungry trance by something triggering in the edge of his senses. The only thing powerful enough to do that would have to be a truly terrible pun worked into a post-mortem one-liner...

In his mind, he pulled back from the controls, spinning his chair only to find himself face to face with one of Yuki's silent replicas. Urza stood behind the agent, smiling.
We got it. The next chamber is directly below us.
Perfect. Alright, Elodin! Get over here. We're going to need you in just a second. You know the name of stone, right?
Yes...

Rob turned to face the other personae. He coughed to clear his throat, before starting in a deep, resounding voice: Urza's. It begged respect and authority with all the weight of someone who spent several lifetimes leading the coalition and defense of a world.
"What are we doing here? Several of you are supposed strategic geniuses, and yet we fight these things hand-to-hand? Come on! While I must admit that it could be considered fun, and that it certainly lets some of us burn off a little steam, it simply isn't productive. We're going down, right? Why fight our way to the stairs when we wield the kind of power we do? Come on, let's go."
With that, he let his mind go blank, feeling Elodin take control. His voice screamed out silently, speaking a word beyond comprehensibility and beyond recognition. There was a moment of silence, then the floor below him shattered. A column of stone shards fell away, leaving him floating gently over a hole about 5 meters wide running down into the floor, with a slight light visible at the bottom.
"Shall we, comrades?"

[Anecronwashere]

"That we shall then whoever you are." Danny remarks, dropping through the solid floor near the hole, ignoring such petty things as physics and the inability for two things to occupy the same space.

[3SecondCultist]

Another flick of a finger, another demon utterly obliterated. While amusing at first, Alexander quickly finds himself bored by the proceedings. At Rob's - no, Elodin's shattering of the floor, he blinks twice.
Well then. It seems as though the way has been made for us. Given that the demons here continue to fight, opening up a pathway for more enemies hardly seems tactically sound. However, it might get us to our destination quicker. In the battle between expedience and caution, Alexander finds himself leaning towards the former. He strides towards the hole, destroying any foes in the way. Once there, he gathers up a Name from the back of his mind. It bursts out of him, resounding throughout the chamber. The Name of the wind. Alexander coaxes it, persuading small eddies into existence and directing the remainder of the red gas downwards, in a miniature funnel cloud through the newly made opening.
There we are. They might be immune to it, they might not. Either way, I am only redirecting their own weapon back at them.

[ArlEammon]

Bumping to maintain interest.

[Sen isSaqqara]

Another namer! Unless I'm mistaken, that was the name of the wind...
Interesting. I guess our paranoia about having him in our head was justified.

Rob turned to Idrian, looking him in the eye. "Just who do you have running around in your head?"

[Morcleon]

"Okay, seriously? We go through all that trouble to kill them, and they don't even have the decency to stay dead?" Morcleon mutters under his breath. "How troublesome..."

Still on the ceiling, he hears Kate's advice, and smiles. If its fire and destruction she wanted, it would be fire and destruction she got. Morcleon closes his right eye, letting the sharingan in his left spin rapidly. "Sasuke, can we get a rapid-fire sniper thing going for Amaterasu? We have several friendlies in the midst of those demons, and I would very much prefer to keep our friends alive."

"...for these purposes, your control over the black flames should be sufficient."

"Wonderful. Let's give them a little fire support." Grinning from his upside down perch, Morcleon channels a concentrated bolt of fiery chakra into his left eye. He stares at one particular demon who seems to be in a slightly more advantageous position than its companions, and shoots out a short-lived lance of blazing black fire. He then moves his vision to the next hostile and fires another bolt of Amaterasu. And then the next, targeting each one in turn.

[Conor77]

As the demons rise, the Personae move backwards. The undead can only move about as fast as it takes the gas to spread, so at first there is nothing to strike, per say. Alex throws a green caustic fluid-ball at them, which pops, covering dozens of them in acid. As their flesh pops, sizzles, and dissolves, a smell of unholy proportions washes over the party. Some fall to the floor, their muscles and/or tendons entirely burned away. But others keep going, their faces and bodies horrifying to consider as they shamble forward unheeding, through the seeping biological sludge that covers the floor. Lightning barks from Conor's hands, blasting zombies, and chaining through the electrolytic bio-waste on the floor. But any zombies that it hits are much less affected by lightning than their living counterparts, and they are only stunned for a bit, the slimes not even that. As the red mist creeps forward with the horde, Conor calls upon his genetically enhanced lungs, taking one deep breath that should last him in strenuous activity for about three minutes. Then he charges, kicking aside moving corpses, sliding directly towards the butchers. But he dives between them, snatching the hissing steel cans from the floor, crushing them in his hand, and hurling them away, spinning to block cleavers with his aircraft-grade alloy forearms as he does so. The gas has no apparent effect on him, as long as he remains unbreathing. But it gets harder with time...

Kate, in a similar move, wraps herself in air, charging forward with her sword, cutting already cut fiends, slashing tendons and muscles and goop, having some effect, though it isn't much. They clutch at her, but she beats them back, their efforts completely in vain. Rob walks forward, safe in his bubble of a shield. The slime and entrails on the floor are pushed aside, as is the gaseous undeath in the air. He gets to the middle of the room, being eyed by butchers to either side of him. He creates a ball of ice in his hands, drops his shield, and blasts it in spikes outwards. Butchers fall, and zombies are pinned to the floor. After making sure his enemies would avoid him, he puts a hand to his temple, as if receiving some form of information, and hovered into the air. He chastised the others for their inefficiency, before blowing a hole in the floor. Necron gladly slid through, having blasted the undead with cold, only to find it ineffective against everything but the Manes and Lemures.

Alexander followed Rob, just seizing devils with pure force and ripping them to shreds, uncaring of the gas, even as it was stirred up into the air in Rob's wake. He also had no immediately apparent symptoms from it. Jacob stands back, and slices his finger open, allowing blood to spill forward so he can use it as a weapon. The undead, now unrecognizable from their original forms, fall to its effect, but the butchers seem to absorb its power. With a harrumph, he swiftly cuts open his entire wrist, allowing a fountain of power to engulf the cackling fiends. They could absorb small amounts of blood power, but this was too much. They bloated and burst where the blood-magic hit them, no longer laughing. But even a gestalt soul is housed in a mortal body. Jacob may be able to survive, but he grows pale and it clearly takes its toll on him to use up so much of his blood.

And then, Sam casts some kind of nature spell, summoning a few hundred tiny creatures, but more importantly, warding everyone in the party from any untoward effects of the gas. Conor lets his breath go, Kate releases her air-armor, and Alex goes: "Huh", before calling the name of the wind and funneling the last of the gas into the hole. The only gas now remaining is that in the corner of the room still being emitted by the canisters, useless in an empty stone area. At the gas' dispersal, the demons stop rising again and again, and die for good almost immediately. The remaining butchers look afraid, devoid of their gas and their minions. They move backwards, and start to withdraw towards the corner with the gas. Kate moves to stop them, but Conor puts a hand out. "Wait", he says, drawing the Wand of White Science. "They made the mistake of getting out of friendly-fire range", he explains, as he aims (not much of that needed), and fires. A sound and light like a hundred lightning bolts fills the room, and the butchers are no more.

[Sen isSaqqara]

Rob saw Jacob stagger, and frowned. It wouldn't do to have his allies fall... He moved over to the persona, keeping his shield up and letting Eva continue to unleash volleys of ice at the remaining butchers. He lands next to the man.
"Hey, are you OK?" He sees the slice on Jacob's wrist, and grabs hold of his arm.

Yuki, could you run a quick healing program for this guy? Seal him up and maybe give him a bit more blood?
Yes. She got up from her seat, the agent which was working with Urza taking her place. The air in front of her flickers, and another screen appears. Her fingers dance on the keys, executing a series of commands.

Jacob's wrist was sealed, the entire wrist reverting to its prior state. Blood was also added to his veins, bringing its level back up to human average.
"Tell someone before you try something like that again, eh? I might not have noticed."
Rob looked around, surveying the chamber. His eyes came to rest on the canisters in the corner. Keeping his shield firmly in place, he began to walk over towards them.

Alright, Yuki. I might have something for you to analyze in a second. In the meantime, Elodin, how are we doing with finding out his name?
It's going well enough. Still, it'll take some time. I'd like to know how he knew the name of the wind. It might make this a bit easier if he is partly someone I know.
Fair enough. Bowman, you want something to read back there? I know keeping the shield up is boring, but it's what is keeping us alive.
The boy shook his head, still sitting with legs crossed and back to the wall.
Alright, then. Ah, here we are.

Reaching the canisters in their empty corner, Rob reached down to pick one up, but hesitated.

Yuki, can you seal this so that we can grab it with some of the gas left in it? Or better, can you tell me what it is from here?
Yes. Rob smiled, recognizing the mathematician's answer.
The latter, I take it?
Yes. Yuki tapped a key, and a stream of data flowed onto the screen. Her eyes took it in in the moment before it was replaced by more, and so on.

[ArlEammon]

Jacob
"Thank you, Rob, for your concern. If you would have noticed, though, my blood is further being replaced by the blood of the demons. They are entering me, and I am gaining strength. I mistook my body as being too filled with the power of the souls of Personae, however. Soon, we will all be as I thought I already was." The blood of the demons were pouring into Ganon's form, and he was devouring their life force. As instantly as he became pale, his form became muscular and stronger. Now that the demons are gone, I believe it is time for us to march forward." Jacob nodded a thanks at Rob for his help. "It was good that we are allies."

[Sen isSaqqara]

"Any time. Nice technique, by the way." Rob called back. "I don't think I caught your name..."

[ArlEammon]

"I am Jacob. Possibly the most insane of the lot of us by this point." He responded. "I'm glad all these things have finally died. For now, let us consider leaving back up to the Fountain or going forward."

[Sen isSaqqara]

"I'm Rob, the challenger for the aforementioned title of 'most insane of the lot of us'. Speaking of which, I'd vote for going forward. Saving the world, and whatnot." He grins.

Any progress on the gas?
I am working on it.

[NM020110]

'Mauled by demons, poisoned to death by some kind of gas, re-animated by said gas, and finally dissolved by acid...not a pleasant way to go.'

'I've had worse. There was that time with the giant catfish, or that ice-vampire, or...'

'Can we come back from this?'

'Sure. Just think of it and you'll reincarnate.'

'Really? It's that easy? All I have to do is thi-'

A pyre springs up from where William had fallen, and quickly grows. When the pillar of fire dissipates, William stands resurrected.

"-nk of...oh."

'Try not to get killed again for about...oh, sixteen hours should do it. The integration is imperfect so far.'

"I seem to have missed something, here. What happened since those demons overran me?"

[TheAntiplanar]

Sam walks through the chamber, stepping around the corpses of the demons. Up ahead, she can see a small group gathering around the collapsed section of the chamber. Sam changes course, heading towards them.
Damn. What was that, earlier? Sounded like some kind of magic.
I've never heard anything like it either. My magic doesn't really use verbal components.
No matter. The evils here are in retreat. We will destroy them yet, and send their masters back to the darkened pit where they belong! An awkward silence ensues after Elspeth's outburst, the other Incarnations unsure how to respond.
... knew there was a reason that I preferred her quiet. Sam presses on, reaching the others just in time to avoid an exceedingly tense internal situation.
"Hello again! The name's Sam, and I'm a Persona just like you guys. The Lady of Pain sent me here to help in your investigation. How can I help?"

[mkfuba07]

Tristan panted as the room fell (relatively) silent. The cacophony of shattering stone, cackles of demons and Butchers, and roar of wind died down as he cast his last demi, collapsing the entire body of one of the zombies to a single miniscule point. Corpses sagged in a ring around his defenses, and various body parts were caught in the webbing between his spikes, where they had gotten stuck in their blind approach. With a call to the furies, the ice crystals shattered, and the stone spears sank into the ground. There was enough wind remaining in the chamber to allow for a lighter leap over the pile of gore that had surrounded him. He landed gracefully in front of the rest of the group, wind cushioning his descent.

[Conor77]

Conor carefully resheathed the Wand, and let out a slow breath. Now that there was no more gas, the undead just lay there in piles of organs and flesh on the floor. Disgusting. Ears ringing, Conor steps through and over them, walking to the hole made in the floor by Rob. He peers down, seeing only more of that red gas, that was funneled down and away from the bodies. He shakes hands with his compatriots, and looks around to make sure that the bodies are staying down. They are, so he decides to speak.

"Hello, Sam. My name is Conor. So far we don't know much, except that all the demons here are trying to revive one of their own, a super-powerful Fiend by the name of..err... Tharizdun? Yeah, I think it was Tharizdun. Anyways, I guess instead of taking the stairs, now we're just blasting through the floor. But I can't see anything down there except the mist, so I guess we'll have to wait until Necron, (the ghost-guy) gets back or until it clears".

He looks around at the decay all around them. "Does anyone have, I dunno, a cleaning spell? This is really unnerving me to be standing above all this...", He lifts a foot from the muck, which oozes down like syrup, "...goo".

[3SecondCultist]

Alexander surveys the scene, taking in the Butcher corpses and the distinct lack of living foes in the room.
Well, at the very least we are all one step closer to escaping this forsaken place. I suppose the notion of seeing Tharizdun take form on this plane is fascinating, though. These other Personae seem more than capable of holding their own. It will be an... interesting encounter, I hope. At Conor's predicament, Alexander raises an auburn eyebrow. He kneels down beside the Persona, taking a look at the demonic goo.
"Here, let me help. You should probably stay still for this." Raising his hand, he breaks down the goo into its components and dismisses it from existence. Nothing remains around Conor's feet, the stone floor in the immediate vicinity otherwise empty. Unfortunately, very little of the Persona's outer footwear remains either.
Hmm. I had better be careful with that ability. A little further and I would have obliterated his entire foot. Apologizing to Conor, he gets up and walks over to Rob. He nods at the Persona, looking down the at rift Rob had created.
"Kvothe. You asked me earlier how I knew the Name of the wind. One of my Incarnations is Kvothe the Bloodless. If you want, I could give him temporary control so he could talk to Elodin. It's up to you, I suppose." He shrugs slightly.

[Morcleon]

Morcleon canceled the chakra flow sticking him to the ceiling and fell. Turning in midair, he landed on a relatively clean spot between the remains of the undead. He stood up, and walked towards his companions. "Saturday, do you have a cleaning spell?"

"Of course I do. What, do you think I enjoy messes like this? No!"

A slight crackle in the air signified the start of a spell as Morcleon waved his hand vaguely at the floor around him. The undead slime and slop flowed off away from the Personae, leaving a clean stone floor behind. "How's that? Good? It's a shame I only got here for the end of the battle. It looked quite fun... Does anyone have our next direction?"

[AkaiNeko]

"Hold it." Kate stepped up and raised her voice. "You." She pointed at Rob. "What the hell was that?! Not only did you make the boneheaded decision to blast a goddamned hole in the floor and try to head onwards, thereby leaving a screaming mass of constantly regenerating demonic gore between us and any emergency escapes we may need to make, or just tired slogs back to the exit, mocking our capacity for complex thought as you did so, you then tried to go on without us! When, or if, that Necron guy gets back, I'm....figuring something out to hurt him, since apparently he's part ghost now. I'll find something, I've beaten ghosts before.

"And you!" She pointed to Alexander. "Getting rid of the gas? Great! Awesome! I'd have tried to do it myself if my prana supplies had properly integrated from my past lives by now. But WHY, for God's sake WHY, did you put it where we're about to go?! We just dealt with that, and you want us to do it again?!"

[3SecondCultist]

His expression deadpan, Alexander turns to face Kate. His tone isn't confrontational, his stance is even. He breathes in and out once, composing himself.
"If you must know, I redirected the gas downwards because it would have less tactical value to the demons below. Namely, there are most likely no corpses to regenerate down there. I also waited until we were all protected from the gas, so if we hurry we will not have to deal with it: we will remain immune to any adverse effects. And furthermore, I imagine there is a fair chance that several of Tharizdun's cultists are mortal beings. Therefore, some of them might be susceptible to said effects. I am willing to take that chance." He smiles at her, waiting for some sort of angry retort.

[Sen isSaqqara]

Rob moves over towards Kate, addressing her complaint as best as he can."I apologize for making the hole, but in my (admittedly quite limited) experience, one generally wants to make time a priority when saving the world. Also, I can always seal the hole back up again if you prefer. In fact, now that Alexander dumped all that gas down there, it might be for the best. But Perhaps I should ask your opinion first, neh?'

[Anecronwashere]

"You do realize I can fly through solid objects right? I can carry you lot up to the top whenever you want me too at Mach1 or faster. These demons aren't even challenges, I'm using them as combat practise trying to integrate my different selves."
Necron said, phasing up through the floor.
"Now stop arguing and let's go save the worlds."

[Conor77]

Conor looks at his foot. Clean, it shines much better.

"Thank you. No need to worry about destroying anything, my legs are made of-" He is cut off abruptly by Kate, who stamps over and begins to berate Rob and Alex.

Does this happen often?
I don't know, we haven't been around one another for very long. I suppose arguments will happen.
But, no harm has been done, right?
We have yet to see if that is so. They may have done some harm if they have strengthened the enemies below, or risen any bodies that lay there. Likewise, she thought Rob was going to abandon us to go down one level, and she is also mad about that. In any case, we really should move on, seeing as how we don't know how much time we have.

Conor simply says "I'm going down. Anyone else can come with me, if they want to". Then he winds his gathered spider-silk around his waist, and ties it to a jagged protrusion of the hole. Slowly, he unwinds it, descending down into Rob's hole, leaving the others to argue. He begins to breathe deeply, as the gas gets closer and closer, and makes his eyes glow bright yellow for illumination. As he peers into the red darkness, he takes one last breath...

[Sen isSaqqara]

Turning briefly to watch Conor, Rob turned back to Kate. "Well, it would appear that the option of sealing the hole has just been taken from us by someone acting on their own impulse... I'm starting to see where you're coming from on that, ah.... I don't think I caught your name."

[Erik Vale]

Erik rolls his eyes, letting Eldrad spek. How Eldrad knew to roll Erik's eyes instead of some other minor body language Erik didn't know.
"Fine, just give me a moment."
Closing his eyes, Eldrad calls up the mental storm of images that are the strands of fate, and looks at what would happen not long after jumping down the hole.

[Sen isSaqqara]

Rob stepped back, letting Erik get to the hole. Stopping in place next to Idrian, he turns and whispers to the psyker. "Ah. I would ask how you know I've got Elodin up here, but I think I know earlier. You figured it out when you looked through me when we shook hands, no? Regardless, we should indeed talk in further detail some time. Now, however, would not be opportune. Until then, though, shall we put aside whatever conflict we have with one another and work together? I'd rather not die over some petty grievance."

[3SecondCultist]

Alexander listens to Rob before nodding curtly in his general direction.
"A fine plan." Without any further delay, he takes a step into the air and begins floating over the hole. Focusing his powers, Alexander begins to surround himself in a bubble of telekinetic force. Any sort of projectile would be sorely pressed to hit him at all. He also reaches deep within himself and begins to burn through one of his other Allomantic reserves: bendalloy. Looking around, he can see the other Personae moving slowly, as if through a bowl of molasses. The temporal effect would only be within several feet of him, but if for some purpose his barriers were to be breached, Alexander would have ample time to react.
Wonderful! It's missing a little something, though. It only takes a moment for him to summon the lightning. Sparks run up and down his skin, blue bolts piercing the air around him. Sometimes, style mattered. He glances back at the others once before beginning to descend himself.

[TheAntiplanar]

Sam stands on the edge of Rob's hole, watching events unfold. First, there was Tristan's arrival, followed by Conor's problem and Morcleon and Alexander's respective solutions. Then, Kate showed up and started yelling at certain Personae.
Honestly, the least she could do is show some courtesy!
Well, you know what they say.
Indeed. Modern manners, and all that.
As she observes, Sam begins to feel both worried and amused. Their bickering was almost as entertaining as the peanut gallery in her brain, but they had already demonstrated, within a few short minutes, that they could not work effectively as a team.
There are just too many type A show offs here. We might want to consider splitting up into smaller groups, so that there's less room for egoistic conflict.
I suspect some of them might be compensating for something...
Now now. It is never good to play at knowing what is going on inside their heads. Believe me, as a telepath I have seen my share of strange personalities. As usual, Sam tries to avoid the chatter, moving towards the pit. Her focus is no longer on the other Personae. Instead, she stares down into the darkness, wondering about what lies beyond.
Only one way to find out... Sam will wait until the other Personae have gone ahead, before casting a minor feather fall spell and jumping down at full force, armor and all.

[mkfuba07]

Physical feuds I can handle. Interpersonal feuds on the other hand...
I would stay out of it too if I were you, boss.
Agreed, this is not our fight. Though we should try to learn as much as we can about our allies in the meantime.
He Listens to as much as he can, managing to hear everything said since the end of the battle. As Alexander begins a somewhat flashy departure from their current floor, Tristan quietly sinks into the earth, and a hollow in the stone carries him through the intervening space. When the hollow ejects him into the room, he clings to the edges and ends up hanging upside down from the ceiling, gazing into the room below. He watches as an electrified orb of telekinetic energy slowly lowers Alexander into the room, others follow, and Sam descends from the hole at full speed, slowing near the end of her fall, and alights gently on the ground.

[ArlEammon]

The others suddenly find a large room free from the oppression of the demons and others.

The Sanctuary
It appears as if this room is at least a sixty foot radius. It possesses what appears to be a dark cloaked man or woman, for all you know, with his or her head bowed. The figure stares at the group of Personae, waiting. Those of you who can sense danger sense none at all from him, and he appears to radiate a strange aura.

[Conor77]

Conor descends to the full length of the string, before untying himself and dropping the last ten feet to the floor below. He straightens slowly, drawing Nehima and putting it in a defensive pose. Some of the others descend as well. He clears his throat, and announces,

"Hello. We have been sent by The... well, by The Light. We mean you no harm if you mean us no harm".

There is a somewhat awkward silence.

"So, what can we do for you?"

[Sen isSaqqara]

"I'll take rearguard." said Rob. It was his honest preference. While it meant that he would be the last to gain any advantages they came across, it also meant that he would have the most warning if they ran into a trap. His paranoia made him a natural for watching his back, too. Not to mention his newfound near-invincibility.

Are you sure this is the best idea? What if, say, the first three down there have new aspects of themselves unlocked?
We wouldn't make it down in time even to be fourth anyways. Besides, it will be easier to seal this behind us as we descend. I'm not leaving it open for more demons to follow us down.
You know, I really would like to talk to Kvothe. Make sure you don't forget about that. If nothing else, I want to know how he ended up in a mind like that...
Rob grinned. Some progress on what he is?
Yes. We were making very little progress at first, but I've been finding that I know more and more of what you know. I recognized a few of the others he has locked up in there. Legato, Rashek, Dante. Someone else, too, but I don't recognize them.
Rob let out a low whistle. That was a truly diabolic lineup of villains of the highest rank. Poor guy.
Who? Kvothe, or Idrian?
Both.
I wouldn't be feeling too sorry for Idrian. From what I can tell about him, his personality easily eclipses those three put together.

[ArlEammon]

The hooded figures nods to Conor, his face was still unseen. "Hello, Connor. I can see that you and the Others have arrived. It is time for me to formaly introduce myself. I am, for all intents and purposes. . . well, I suppose you can call me John Doe." He said with a note of humor in his voice. He laughs before continuing. "You should know that for all of your power you are all inexperienced and green. Proceeding to the rest of the Temple, and thus, the doors beyond this Sanctuary will be likely difficult even for you. I suggest you return whence you came."

[3SecondCultist]

As he descends, Alexander stares at the figure. He stops about a foot off of the ground, hovering. His expression is one of withering contempt. He lowers his speed bubble, waiting for him to speak. After he does so, Alexander addresses the figure.
"Well, that was not particularly original. 'Return from whence we came?' Do you honestly expect us to listen to such garbage? My expectations for villainy are higher, I'm afraid. Furthermore, a little effort to hide it would be nice. One look at you and it's plain as day. Throw on a disguise, change your shape, or what have you. Spice things up! The ominous warning is far too cliche for my taste." Alexander's face morphs back into a smile, seemingly of its own accord. He lands - it will be easier to fight like this. As he prepares himself for combat, Alexander keeps his eyes on the mysterious man.
"Unless, of course, you are the misunderstood brooding hero. In which case, carry on."

[ArlEammon]

"John Doe"
"I only suggest retreat because of the danger the beyond. I am not your enemy, nor do I remember who I am. I suggest once more that you not venture beyond these doors. However, you should know that if you are in danger on this level of the Temple, you may return here for aid."

He pauses for a moment. "I can sense who you all are and what importance you have, your names and identities. You cannot do the same for me, but if you care to search my soul, you will know that I am not a threat, in either physical or future capacity of any sort. I trust you have questions for me."

Jacob appears in the room besides the others. "I am not trustful of you, in this most conspicuious sanctuary. Unless of course, you are a Spirit like the one we discovered in the first level above."