Riverside 19

[Lord Magtok]

[Sky above the City - Here Comes A New Challenger!]

A very distinct, high-pitched guitar riff roars over the city, heralding the dynamic entrance of what is nominally a stealth aircraft with a cloaking device. Dropping its cloaking field and swooping down on the airbase, the Faction hovercopter boldly announces its presence with country rock and a pair of rotary laser cannons. Anything that looks like it might be a point-defense turret or engine is going to be a priority target for the hovercopter, which aims to make a huge mess, drop off its cargo of reckless paramilitary goons, and then get the hell out of here before anyone can figure out what just happened and shoot it down.

"God, it's been too long. Vlad, Amb, you guys ****ing ready for this? The Faction comeback tour starts today!" Haz beams excitedly, practically bouncing with glee in his skintight green power armor, loading silver bullets into his favorite revolver. He can't recall if these are that kind of demon, but between the silver of his sidearm, the holy engraving on his rifle (Hic apparatus occidit daemones), and a lightsaber which flat-out ignores most common resistances by virtue of being a ****ing laser sword, Haz is pretty sure he's got most of his bases covered.

"We're a little late to the party though, don't you think? People are going to think of us as vultures, swooping in for glory and loot just before the war is over," Ambriel sighs, adjusting the wings sticking out of the back of his crisp white suit, and tracing his alabaster prosthetic fingers across the length of his sanctified halberd. Next to Haz, the angelic cyborg feels overwhelming underequipped for the coming fight. Is a grenade that scatters fragments of dragon bone really going to help here? What about the extra arm he recently had installed, the one on his left side, tucked beneath his white suitjacket? Won't the superfluous limb and its plasma pistol sidearm just get in the way?

"Fashionably late, you mean. Besides, who cares what they say? 'Mankind ill needs a savior such as you,' pfft! What would you have us do instead? Hide underground the whole fight? Leave the city to rot? Finish off the General while she's weak?" Vlad shakes his head, dismissing the foolish thought at once. Like the other two, he's got his own unique set of equipment. Dressed up in some ridiculous Victorian era Castlevania/Bloodbourne cosplay covered in knives, he's got a shoulder-fired rocket launcher's strap hanging from one arm, a toothy vampiric grin, and...well, that's it, really. As the group's vampire, he's the only one with any actual supernatural abilities. Even the rocket launcher feels excessive; he's pretty sure he could handle most of these demons all on his own, with nothing more than a rusty fireaxe and a pint of virgin's blood for when he gets hungry. We'll see how long that overconfidence lasts, however.

[Recaiden]

"No problem, as long as we're clear." Huh. She hasn't seen Zefir be serious before, so intent on anything.

Omiko takes Zenon's hand in her mechanical one and steps lightly into the sphere.

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Outside the Drill Tank - Demonic Base -> Somewhere on the Other Side of Nowhere]

The maw closes over both of them, then shrinks to a pinpoint and disappears. Omiko might get the sensation of being transported, but it's strange. Dark, and....moderate? Although there is nothing but blackness around either one of them, she can clearly see Zenon still holding her hand, not to mention, feel it. One might expect things to be cold, like the void of space, or perhaps eerily warm, as though having been swallowed by some great beast, but instead, the atmosphere around them remains comfortably temperate. After a moment, there's a feeling of expanse, as a heap of mawspheres all piled on one another seem to materialize out of nowhere in every direction, except the floor, which remains inky black. Zenon releases her hand and takes a step towards one of the "walls", before turning to look at her, his expression serious.

"I hope you don't mind, but there's something bothering me that I'd like to talk to you about. It concerns how the battle is progressing. I am concerned about the loyalty of our so-called 'allies'. Do you think it's likely they will try and turn on us when the battle is over?"

[Celticbear]

Westside -- Vigil/MERC

The sword flies into his hand, and he trips on the net. He tries to stand up, but that only gets him tangled more. He tries cutting on the net, but like a Chinese finger trap the thing tightens like a vice. Eventually, he figures a way out of it, and lies gasping on the floor, not realizing his left foot is still caught in the net. Xavouir then lifts his hands, and tries to cast an offensive spell at... well nothing at this point, but due to the strange anatomy of his new body as well as the fact that Wenomir can't really cast spells normally, all that comes out of Xavouir's open palm is about eight to nine fried chicken wings.

[Recaiden]

Much nicer than the space-between-space that she's used to.

Omiko's claw snaps closed a little quickly. Tense, apparently.
"It's not a problem. In the long run, they'll certainly turn on us; they're religious zealots. We can see that their methods of warfare aren't aimed at a conventional victory, and they consider us a resource to be expended. But it won't be immediately after the battle. Their position isn't strong enough."

She steps towards the same wall.
"Still, don't take too many risks."

[Darkcomet]

[Westside - VIGIL/MERC]

"...You know, you're right, I AM awfully confusing right now, but..." The armored figure in the air gestures down at all this in clear bewilderment. "I feel like I need to understand the situation first. Why is he flailing about like an incompetent would-be sorcerer?" This said with a point at 'Wenomir.'

"What did I miss here?"

[Nova_Eclipse]

[The Other Side of Nowhere]

"Hmmm, I suppose not, although we are decidedly lacking in air defense, and they seem to have ample air power." Zenon muses. "I do wonder if capture in this instance might be preferable. They obviously fear this woman's power. There's no need to convince her to join our cause, either; simply set her free in their midst and watch the fireworks. I am....not well-suited for capture operations, though. How about you?"

[Recaiden]

"I like it." Omiko admits. "Seems counterproductive to fight her at all then."
"The gun has a nonlethal setting, the crystals are good at pinning people without harm, and I can trap her in a pocket realm if I get ahold of her. No accounting for what her magic can do to get out of it, though."
"Convincing her might not be too hard; Zefir wouldn't appreciate it though."

[Nova_Eclipse]

[The Other Side of Nowhere]

Zenon chuckles.

"I doubt she'll let us just kidnap her, but if you can manage to shuttle her to a pocket realm, and we can keep her there until after the battle, we'll be off to a smashing start, then. I'll do my best to keep her and her companions distracted long enough for you to nab her." He offers Omiko his hand once more as one of the spheres on the wall in front of them opens its mouth for them. "As for Zefir, I don't really care if he likes it or not. I suspect his opinion might change once our so-called 'allies' turn on us. Until then, perhaps it would be better if he didn't know at all about this. After all, there is a chance that what we're preparing for will not come to pass. I don't think the chance is very high, but it's not zero, so it must be accounted for. If anyone asks, you can tell them you ate her."

He winks at her with a roguish grin. "After all, a girl is entitled to a light snack now and again, isn't she?"

[Ashen Lilies]

[Westside - Kal]

Meanwhile, Kal re-emerges into the scene, having managed to somehow successfully dodge the explosion - no matter how improbably it may seem. Listen, he didn't have a lot of clothing left to lose and we're on a PG-13 forum here - sometimes realism needs to take a back seat to keeping things family friendly (like how the Hulk always keeps his pants on).

[Westside - Cassandra]

Well. That's a lot of things happening there. Too many things. Like the very familiar telekinetic-ghost-cyborg. Because yeah, of course he would show up. That might as well just happen.

For a moment, Cassandra tenses up, stress flooding her features before looking awfully like she's about to be sick. And then she isn't.

Cass' posture shifts subtly, as she takes on a more confident, relaxed pose, tension fleeing her body as she takes on a fencer's lounge, hand resting easily on the hilt of her smallsword.
"Well commander, it seems your flock has been gathered," she says, her voice dipping in register slightly for the first few words, before returning back to normal pitch, though with a touch of acid. "Wenomir" didn't exactly provide a great first impression, after all.

She looks at the floating armored guy.

"Do you know this person?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Triumfens Handth - The Demon's Capital Ship]

Spoiler: The Demon's Capital Ship

Show

Triumfens Handth, or the demons capital "ship", could be better described as a space station. Its basic structure is similar to this. A black monolithic spire surrounded by three halo-like rings. The halo-rings are flat platforms which's top and bottom surfaces are covered by golden panels.

The spire itself is tall as a skyscraper and has a completely smooth surface with the middle part far thicker than the more pointed ends.

The upper ring is the smallest of the three and is also floating closest to the spire, near the very tip of it. It has six black obelisks standing placed with equal distance from one another on the top-part of the ring.

Unlike the other two rings, the middle ring is not just floating in the air but is instead directly connected to the spire by four bridges. It's thicker than the other two rings and actually seem to house living space within it as there are windows alongside midsection of the halo, with four hangar-like entrances facing each cardinal direction.

The lower ring is the largest of the rings and floats the furthest away from the spire, in line with the lower tip of it. All the panels on the bottom of this ring appear to be reflective, like a giant circle-shaped mirror.

The first barrier in their way to triumph is the literal one around the ship itself. Though it doesn't actually stop their blaze of glory as much as it slows it down. Going through the barrier is like moving through tar, so much so that at their current speed it might take a few minutes to get through it. However, it should be noted that the crew can move freely even if the ship can't.

In addition, nearby they will see that winged figures are gathering in one of the hangar-like openings in the middle circle of the "ship". They appear to be be constructs of stone that vaguely resemble the pit fiends themselves. They lack tails and instead of heads there are just burning torches, furnaces, pipes or other implements sticking out where you normally would find a neck. These strange constructs are inscribed with runes that glow with a fiery light that appear to originate deep inside them.

There are also parchments hanging off their wings, draping them in long lists of strange symbols which probably are supposed to mean something.
It looks like they are getting ready to take off, which would likely be pretty bad if they caught the Faction forcing themselves through the field.

[Westside - VIGIL/MERC]

'Xaviour''s eyebrow narrows and gestures wildly at the hoovering newcomer. "Well, I missed the part where we need to explain ****. Maybe you should first tell us who the **** you are first?"

[The General's Command Center]

The demonic construct is deceptively fast considering its sheer size and hunched over gait. But what is the general attempting to do exactly? The infernal enchantment can hardly be called a void, since it is going somewhere, into the golem itself. Much of the energy that would have damaged the chthonian is instead absorbed by it. Its not the absence of energy, its the transfer of energy, including sound apparently.

Regardless, as Felandria and Alice are running towards the colossus, it suddenly drops, falling head-first into the water with a big splash. Displacing enough water with its size that it creates a large wave as it quickly submerges into the water.

How very odd. Are they going to follow it underwater or try to fight it on the riverbank somehow? The water is quickly turning into ice, though the General might have interfered with that somewhat.

[Gullara]

[The Archer]

The image, suddenly having transferred itself to the concrete ground, is moving openly straight towards the city hall. It appears to have picked up speed quite a bit now. It's moving straight for Jezebel who the archer can see in the distance and will likely reach her in the next post unless she can interfere with it somehow.

The question is how you can interfere with a animated picture, but perhaps she can figure out something out. Perhaps destroying the surface it is moving through might cause it trouble?

[The Archer]

Which in the... The archer doesn't waste any time wondering what she's looking at. She can guess that it's a threat that needs to be stopped. She dashes to catch up with the thing in the wall, and then she thrusts her hand toward it. From behind her appear two streams of water which fire at the image with considerable power, like a pressure washer.

[Earl of Purple]

Northside Disaster Zone

It's a good thing the angel song is still boosting everyone's abilities, as the cleric raises her hand and casts a potent spell that manifests as a beam of light; if it hits one of the skeletal dinosaurs, it should punch a hole right through- and magic left over will make the hole bigger until there's no skeleton dinosaur left. The spell only has one target, unfortunately, so it isn't great at fending off a large group- unless they're easily demoralised, at least.

The Misting can't even do that much, though she'll reach out with her ability to try and Soothe away all their bravery, confidence and valour. If they're mindless undead, not even that will work- but if they aren't, hopefully it'll leave their fear more prominent and help in demoralising them.

[Morty]

[Westside - VIGIL/MERC]

"Anika" sighs heavily as she hands her staff to "Xavouir" and goes to retrieve the Answer. As the sword's rightful owner, even if a different body, picks it up, one can almost hear a low hum on the edge of hearing, and Wenomir in Anika's body manages to get more of a grip on himself.

"So it has, but clearly we have more to deal with before we can get a move on." She turns towards Electra. "Electra, you scout ahead. See what's between us and that angel. If you blow up any demon vermin on your way, that's a bonus. And you," she points her finger at the figure, "will tell us who the hell you are before we tell you anything."

[Darkcomet]

[Westside - VIGIL/MERC]

There's an artificial groan from above as these people insist on introductions. "Someone driving a machine with silver in its construction. If I was the enemy, this shell would reject me and possibly explode. I can't really stop and tell you more than that, other than that I know everything a former ally of yours did, and that he is dead, save for what remains in me. He was losing his fight against death, and preserved what he could, inadvertently releasing me due to some parts of where his powers came from that he never quite understood. He would tell you to **** off, stop trying to turn this into some exposition dump, and tell me what needs to burn."

The pause after that seems longer than it needs to be.

"What an angry man. Still, even if I were the same person, I think he'd like to believe that despite our past differences, we could at least fight on the same side against the forces that got him killed. Though Wenomir looks rather...out of it right now. Did he snap and become a poultry conjurer?"

[Shadowcaller]

Eastside City Hall

Jezebel can tackle the distracted sorceress but the moment it takes seem to be enough for whatever she can sense.
As Jezebel runs towards the portal, she can see what appears to be a grenade landing near it, right in her path. In addition, she can hear something right behind her, moving as fast as death itself.¹
Those looking in Jezebel's direction will see what appears like a pit fiend materialize behind Jezebel. Its smaller than the average fiend however and is glowing intensely, armed with a long runed daggers.

Jezebel will feel weaker simply by being in its presence, so its a good thing she didn't have a wall-crawler on her right now...

[The Archer]

The creature stops and appears to be in pain as the archer sprays it, or well, the streets, with water. Then it quickly changes direction and moves up a nearby wall and onto the surface of the roof of the building the wall belongs to. She could pursue it but its way of movement might make it difficult to follow. It does leave a trail of color in the streets and the walls now, looks like it is "wounded", somehow.

[Outside the Drill Tank - Demonic Base]

As the AMEN members teleport away, Itholos second-in-command quickly approaches the demon lord and leans in close, whispering something in their alien language to him. Whatever it is, it causes him to frown deeply.
Itholos takes a deep breath and then turns to Zefir. "We will need to end this as quickly as possible now. If you have forces you can deploy, I suggest you use them. Our people have captured Ilpholin, but she has revealed the position of our capital ship. This forces us to put fourth all our pieces, we can't play for keeps anymore. Out next strike must be decisive."

Northside Disaster Zone

Not to mention the damage to the buildings themselves. The heavy bolter is sending both black tar and roof tiles flying as they go right through the charging beasts and actually pierces the roof as well. They fall to pieces as the tar they're made up start to coat the roof.
As the rest, the undead seem mindless so discouraging the undead doesn't work, but the soldiers doesn't seem be doing pretty good at least, blasting off the incoming creatures from the roof. Indeed, it seems like they're holding the line, not a single creature managing to reach their lines.

"Just keep shooting, we haven't seen the damn demons yet." The gorgon hisses.
Just as they are talking, a person in a teal poncho coming running towards them. A hairy, ape-like woman that has a big wasp flying right besides her.
"Finally, but where are the others? Damn it."

The woman stops as she reaches them, panting heavily. "Came... as fast... as I could... we've been betrayed..."

¹That's poetic language for "very fast", not actually instant speed or anything.

((Adding a description here so everyone can see it. This "ship" can now be seen floating above westside, surrounded by some sort of shield.))

Spoiler: The Demon's Capital Ship

Show

Triumfens Handth, or the demons capital "ship", could be better described as a space station. Its basic structure is similar to this. A black monolithic spire surrounded by three halo-like rings. The halo-rings are flat platforms which's top and bottom surfaces are covered by golden panels.

The spire itself is tall as a skyscraper and has a completely smooth surface with the middle part far thicker than the more pointed ends.

The upper ring is the smallest of the three and is also floating closest to the spire, near the very tip of it. It has six black obelisks standing placed with equal distance from one another on the top-part of the ring.

The middle ring is unlike the other two rings not just floating in the air but is instead directly connected to the spire by four bridges. It's thicker than the other two rings and actually seem to house living space within it as there are windows alongside midsection of the halo, with four hangar-like entrances facing each cardinal direction.

The lower ring is the largest of the rings and floats the furthest away from the spire, in line with the lower tip of it. All the panels on the bottom of this ring appear to be reflective, like a giant circle-shaped mirror.

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Westside - VIGIL/MERC]

Electra has just emerged from the building she dropped into to avoid the explosion when the Triumfens Handth becomes visible. She pauses for a moment, her eyes growing wide for a brief instant, as she grimaces and grits her teeth. Memories flood over her for a moment, and she clenches her free hand into a fist involuntarily, before she takes a deep breath, closes her eyes, and lets it out through her nose.

They're gone now, do your job and don't get killed. She repeats that to herself in her head several times, willing the memories to stay where they're supposed to and not interfere with the task at hand. Finally, she nods at 'Anika'.

"Be careful, all of you." She looks to Cass, and nods silently, as if to give her another admonishment, but says nothing else, instead blurring and disappearing in a flash, and reappearing several blocks away on a rooftop, heading in the direction she saw Topaz and the angel descend in.

[Gullara]

[The Archer]

The creature stops and appears to be in pain as the archer sprays it, or well, the streets, with water. Then it quickly changes direction and moves up a nearby wall and onto the surface of the roof of the building the wall belongs to. She could pursue it but its way of movement might make it difficult to follow. It does leave a trail of color in the streets and the walls now, looks like it is "wounded", somehow.

[The Archer]

The change in direction catches the archer off guard, and the water sprays uselessly against the concrete before she cuts it off. The thing is likely able to get out ahead of her now. Thinking fast, the archer pulls her bow and sends a volley at the thing in the wall, each water arrow connecting briefly with the force of the pressurized water, if lacking the sustained pressure.

[Recaiden]

[The Other Side of Nowhere]

Zenon chuckles.

"I doubt she'll let us just kidnap her, but if you can manage to shuttle her to a pocket realm, and we can keep her there until after the battle, we'll be off to a smashing start, then. I'll do my best to keep her and her companions distracted long enough for you to nab her." He offers Omiko his hand once more as one of the spheres on the wall in front of them opens its mouth for them. "As for Zefir, I don't really care if he likes it or not. I suspect his opinion might change once our so-called 'allies' turn on us. Until then, perhaps it would be better if he didn't know at all about this. After all, there is a chance that what we're preparing for will not come to pass. I don't think the chance is very high, but it's not zero, so it must be accounted for. If anyone asks, you can tell them you ate her."

He winks at her with a roguish grin. "After all, a girl is entitled to a light snack now and again, isn't she?"

Omiko laughs. "Of course! Invading a city is hungry work."

"If VIGIL drives the invaders off, Sargon won't be in any position to betray us either. But I didn't come here to lose. We need more than just distraction."
"Just making sure we're on the same wavelength." Omiko takes Zenon's hand again and steps into the sphere.

[The General's Command Center]

The demonic construct is deceptively fast considering its sheer size and hunched over gait. But what is the general attempting to do exactly? The infernal enchantment can hardly be called a void, since it is going somewhere, into the golem itself. Much of the energy that would have damaged the chthonian is instead absorbed by it. Its not the absence of energy, its the transfer of energy, including sound apparently.

Regardless, as Felandria and Alice are running towards the colossus, it suddenly drops, falling head-first into the water with a big splash. Displacing enough water with its size that it creates a large wave as it quickly submerges into the water.

How very odd. Are they going to follow it underwater or try to fight it on the riverbank somehow? The water is quickly turning into ice, though the General might have interfered with that somewhat.

Well, looks like the General's magic doesn't work. She was trying to redirect energy away from it, but it's more different than she imagined.
As the wave approaches her trace of burning void leap out and freeze the moving water solid before it can reach her.

It's not clear what the monstrous golem is doing. But it can't be good. Still, there might be an opportunity here. Here, the General lifts her hands and is surrounded by a halo of void, while further downstream the firebird dips the tips of its feathers into the water. Together, they weave magic to speed up the water's transformation into ice, stealing the Syde's thermal energy for themselves before the chthonian can get to it.
And, perhaps more importantly, leave the golem trapped inside a colossal ice cube.
Probably this will cause terrible flooding further upstream, but that's not a concern right now.

Alice is slowed down a little as the splash of displaced water crashes against and parts around her shields.
She hesitates at the frosting edge of the water.
"It isn't...running from us?"
Well. She'll just have to stay close to Felandria so the giantess can teleport them out. She wraps a bubble of air to breathe around herself and plunges in after the chthonian.

[Lord Magtok]

Triumfens Handth - The Demon's Capital Ship

Spoiler: Previous Post

Show

[Triumfens Handth - The Demon's Capital Ship]

Spoiler: The Demon's Capital Ship

Show

Triumfens Handth, or the demons capital "ship", could be better described as a space station. Its basic structure is similar to this. A black monolithic spire surrounded by three halo-like rings. The halo-rings are flat platforms which's top and bottom surfaces are covered by golden panels.

The spire itself is tall as a skyscraper and has a completely smooth surface with the middle part far thicker than the more pointed ends.

The upper ring is the smallest of the three and is also floating closest to the spire, near the very tip of it. It has six black obelisks standing placed with equal distance from one another on the top-part of the ring.

Unlike the other two rings, the middle ring is not just floating in the air but is instead directly connected to the spire by four bridges. It's thicker than the other two rings and actually seem to house living space within it as there are windows alongside midsection of the halo, with four hangar-like entrances facing each cardinal direction.

The lower ring is the largest of the rings and floats the furthest away from the spire, in line with the lower tip of it. All the panels on the bottom of this ring appear to be reflective, like a giant circle-shaped mirror.

The first barrier in their way to triumph is the literal one around the ship itself. Though it doesn't actually stop their blaze of glory as much as it slows it down. Going through the barrier is like moving through tar, so much so that at their current speed it might take a few minutes to get through it. However, it should be noted that the crew can move freely even if the ship can't.

In addition, nearby they will see that winged figures are gathering in one of the hangar-like openings in the middle circle of the "ship". They appear to be be constructs of stone that vaguely resemble the pit fiends themselves. They lack tails and instead of heads there are just burning torches, furnaces, pipes or other implements sticking out where you normally would find a neck. These strange constructs are inscribed with runes that glow with a fiery light that appear to originate deep inside them.

There are also parchments hanging off their wings, draping them in long lists of strange symbols which probably are supposed to mean something.
It looks like they are getting ready to take off, which would likely be pretty bad if they caught the Faction forcing themselves through the field.

Ambriel frowns, stepping towards the hovercopter's cockpit. It's currently on autopilot right now, and the numbers aren't adding up. Weren't they going ten times as fast just a moment ago? Wasn't this supposed a hit-and-run operation, the sort where the hovercopter would show up, drop off the squad, and vanish before the daemons even knew what hit them? This doesn't bode well. "We're slowing down. Are the engines screwed up, or are we-"

"Magic. I can smell it in the air. We're being ****ed by magic." Vlad sniffs the air for emphasis. He can't actually sense magic any better than the other two can, but they don't know that, do they?

"Raptor Christ, we're always being ****ed by magic. Well, the hovercopter's good as dead if those gargoyles catch up to it. Ambriel, get ready to joust them out of the air if the laser cannons aren't enough. I'm going to try to get us close enough so Vlad can-" Too late. Rather than wait for a more ideal shot at the hangar, Vlad leans out of the hovercopter, points his rocket launcher at the pit fiends, and fires! He laughs hysterically as he's nearly flung backwards out of the hovercopter by the recoil, catching Ambriel's wing before he can tumble any further and drop out of the sky.

"...Or he can do that," the winged clone sighs. Haz swears under his breath, strides into the cockpit, and begins turning the slow, laborious process of turning the hovercopter towards the hangar, so the rotary laser cannons can follow up on Vlad's rocket with even more fiery death and doom. Meanwhile, Ambriel stretches his wings and tightens his grip on his halberd. Oh man, this is gonna suck.

[Nova_Eclipse]

[The Other Side of Nowhere -> Westside VIGIL/MERC]

"We shall have it," Zenon assures Omiko, as they step through. There is little time to say much more, as they step through the darkness once more and emerge back into the Nexus, in the middle of the street just behind the VIGIL group.

Behind the group, a tiny shadow appears in the middle of the street, a dark point barely visible an instant before a massive black sphere appears in the middle of the street. It has solid, sickly yellow eyes that burn like flames, no visible nose, and an enormous maw filled with jagged teeth. This it opens into a black passage large enough for two people to walk into. Or out of, as the case may be, as Zenon and Omiko emerge into the street. Zenon, for those not familiar, appears as a "man" wearing black armor that's trimmed in red and white. The armor itself is sleek, tight and seems almost cloth-like, though the dull finish on the black portions hints that it's something far stronger than mere cloth. The red and white parts are obviously metal of some sort, forming thicker bracers, high boots/greaves, and a helmet with twin crests that flow from the centered ruby on the brow-piece, over the eye-reliefs and back, forming a v-shaped fin of sorts that follows the contour of the helmet. The more cloth-like portions seem to form a heavy, sleeveless shirt, with the wearer's physique being covered only by a skintight layer down to the bracers, while lower torso protection is provided by what can best be described as "metal briefs", again with the skin-tight layer underneath, seeming to cover from beneath the armored over-shirt down below the briefs, over the thighs and down into the greaves. Two triangularly shaped "holsters" adorn his thighs, one on each leg, the unadorned white hilt of some sort of weapon just visible. His eyes are burning the same color as the sphere's as he releases Omiko's hand and surveys the foes arrayed before him.

He cracks his neck and flexes his fingers, a predatory smile mirroring the one on the now-closed maw-sphere.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here? None other than the the great Wenomir himself. This will be more interesting than I had thought." His voice has a British accent to it, amusement evident. "And friends, to boot. Most interesting indeed."

[Felandria]

[The General's Command Center]


Well, looks like the General's magic doesn't work. She was trying to redirect energy away from it, but it's more different than she imagined.
As the wave approaches her trace of burning void leap out and freeze the moving water solid before it can reach her.

It's not clear what the monstrous golem is doing. But it can't be good. Still, there might be an opportunity here. Here, the General lifts her hands and is surrounded by a halo of void, while further downstream the firebird dips the tips of its feathers into the water. Together, they weave magic to speed up the water's transformation into ice, stealing the Syde's thermal energy for themselves before the chthonian can get to it.
And, perhaps more importantly, leave the golem trapped inside a colossal ice cube.
Probably this will cause terrible flooding further upstream, but that's not a concern right now.

Alice is slowed down a little as the splash of displaced water crashes against and parts around her shields.
She hesitates at the frosting edge of the water.
"It isn't...running from us?"
Well. She'll just have to stay close to Felandria so the giantess can teleport them out. She wraps a bubble of air to breathe around herself and plunges in after the chthonian.

Felandria watches Alice jump into the water, and she really wants to jump in after her......

RIBBIT!

See, years ago, a thing happened.

Her adventuring party, early in their careers, encountered a monster that turned out to be a giant frog.

It swallowed her friend, Vladimir.

She tried to go in there after her, but the giant frog absolutely terrified her (IRL she failed multiple Will checks against being frightened) and ever since she has been scared of diving into deep waters.

She could really use some help with this......

And this is when the mech suit she called for finally arrives.

GILES!

The mechanic suit, much like Iron Man’s suit, is playing music, but instead of AC/DC, it’s playing the theme from Perfect Strangers.

Greetings, Felandria, sorry I’m late.

I’m afraid I can’t become the size you are without you already wearing me, so if you wouldn’t mind....

Right, sorry.

Fel returns to her normal size and allows Giles to envelop her.

Looks like we need to go for a swim.

You need to take the lead on this one, follow Alice.

Ah, yes, the frog thing.

Not to worry, I’m fully waterproof.

Off we go!

And so Giles dives into the water after Alice and the monster.

[Celticbear]

Westside

"Wenomir" is still tangled in the net as he blearily looks down and says, Chicken...?

[Morty]

[The Other Side of Nowhere -> Westside VIGIL/MERC]

Oh, Riddle. So this is DC, but not DC. The psychic is... dead? Wenomir might have been angry and bitter at him, but he never wanted that. With Kr being gone who knows where, it feels like... is he finally the only one left of those who founded Watchtower once? He doesn't like that feeling. Not at all. But there's nothing to be done about it. This final and unintentional creation of his can be an ally.

"First off, I'm actually Wenomir. There was a body-swap incident. I have no idea how, but once I get my hands on-" And then Zenon shows up. "Anika" regards him coolly, as she walks over to "Wenomir" and cuts through the net with a single slice of the Answer. "No one has ever greeted me like that and been remotely friendly."

[Recaiden]

Omiko rolls her eye. "...we knew Wenomir was here the whole time. Don't act like we just stumbled across them."

I'm sure you've all been following her scenes since the beginning, but in case you haven't... Omiko is a cyborg catgirl (with extra cat) space-pirate who is at least 2/3 'forbidden spirit that isn't the same kind of being as the demons attacking the city but would otherwise be called a demon'. Her coat is spotted gold-and-black, and covered in extra eyes and mouths. Like a gibbering mouther, but fluffy! One of her arms is a giant mechanical claw, another is a plasma cannon, and the other two have their nails extend into long black hell-crystals, the same stuff she has instead of a hairstyle. The left eye socket in her face is a bundle of cameras and ominous red lights; the right is a nice normal green. Her outfit's just soaked rags now, what with the storm and the explosions and the burning.

As she steps out of the maw, the cannon-arm immediately draws a bead on Xavoiur-as-Wenomir. But it doesn't fire yet.
"Well, let me be your remote friend, then!"
"Riverside is doomed. You guys don't have to be."

[UncleWolf]

Eastside City Hall

Losing a relatively large portion of her power was certainly disturbing for Jezebel, but she didn't have time to act disturbed. Her pace slows slightly as her divine strength is stolen from her, and the portal before her wavers slightly. With her connection to it lost, it wouldn't last much longer so she does what she has to do and throws Cessie. It's certainly an inelegant solution, throwing mages like they were shotput, but Jezebel didn't have much of a choice in her opinion. Not with a glowing grenade landing in front of her at the same time. The mage is hurled through to collide with Hunter Jones on the other side and is more than likely enough to send them both sprawling. With the last bit of her Warp connection, Jezzy sends a little mental message to the mage.

I know Chivalry is supposed to be dead and all that, but I'm sorry Cessie. Guess I can't help myself. I'll do my best to see you soon. Promise.


As the portal snaps shut once the mage is through, Jezebel continues the throwing motion and slams her armored hand down over the grenade. Despite losing most of her strength, the remaining power armor and the sheer amount of combat stimulants in her system digs her armored claws right into the street. Using her grip as a pivot, and hopefully restraining most of the force of the grenade when it goes off, Jezebel will kick off the ground and twist in the air. With her hand anchoring her down, she lands and keeps low, turning completely around to face the direction she'd come with her Eviscerator at the ready to guard herself.

Unfortunately for Adir, he was likely trapped here with her as well.

Northside Disaster Zone

Eric doesn't even nod as he continues to lay waste to the advancing undead. He keeps his bursts short, controlled, and very targeted. If they'd been zombies it is likely that the bolt rounds would be more effective, but as it is he was running quite low on ammo and concentrated on taking out anything that looked like it was pushing ahead of the pack.

The Lotus Gardens

Should Cessie have been thrown through, a rather grumpy and uncomfortable Hunter beneath her will try to get up and keep a hand to support the mage. "You a'right, Miss?" He asks. Hunter Jones calling Cessie "Miss" would probably be a bit rude, but he was quite a bit older than her. He had the right.

[Zefir]

[Outside the Drill Tank - Demonic Base]

As the AMEN members teleport away, Itholos second-in-command quickly approaches the demon lord and leans in close, whispering something in their alien language to him. Whatever it is, it causes him to frown deeply.
Itholos takes a deep breath and then turns to Zefir. "We will need to end this as quickly as possible now. If you have forces you can deploy, I suggest you use them. Our people have captured Ilpholin, but she has revealed the position of our capital ship. This forces us to put fourth all our pieces, we can't play for keeps anymore. Out next strike must be decisive."

[Outside the Drill Tank - Demonic Base]

"I#m aware and I have all my people out now." Zefir says, still in his killing mood. "Now I will go for my target. I leave a henchman here for you to get in contact with me."
Zefir then gives a handsign to the henchman which will get into their drilltanks and depart.
After that Zefir will grab into his bag and drags out something that may be a mix of a skateboard and a rocket. After he get's on the rocket starts and Zefir will surf through the sky to Topaz and the Ange

[DMside]

Without an army to get out there is nothing really up here. Mia will just return on gathering data while possible and link them to the other Vigil members. Next she will try to hear our for any emergency signals. maybe some people need help?

[Murkus]

[Eastside City Hall]

Adir doesn't have to think here. They got Cessie through, that's what matters. He can worry about the portal closing behind her later. They can't be all that far from the Gardens, right?

What does make Adir worry is seeing Jezebel pick up what appears to be a grenade. "Get that thing away!" He shouts to her, though the distance between them isn't too great any more. The stag turns almost on reflex and blazes away with his Bolter, pumping what's left of the mag into the pit-fiend-esque grotesque menacing Jezzie. His silvery armor glints in the weapon's obscene muzzle flare.

[Nova_Eclipse]

[Westside VIGIL/MERC]

Zenon chuckles to himself, and gestures open-handed at the group.

"Indeed, as my comrade has said. There is no need for further bloodshed. Turn around, leave the city, and no further harm will come to you. Persist, and be prepared to face oblivion. You're at a distinct disadvantage right now."

Omiko seems to have read his mind on approaching these so-called 'heroes', but he doesn't really expect them to take their offer of peaceful retreat. He's seen these sorts too often to expect otherwise. Still, perhaps they'll surprise him. This is the Nexus after all; perhaps it winds up with all the smart heroes that know when to retreat to fight another day.

[Darkcomet]

[Westside - VIGIL/MERC]

"Well, I might be able to..." The floating figure pauses, floating down to the ground on the side of the VIGIL and MERC party as the new interlopers appear, silent and waiting, until a low artificial chuckle emanates from its vocal synthesizer. For those that don't know, this robotic shell is physically identical to an old armor type, and could be mistaken for a person wearing it, even, if not for the artificial tinge to the voice. The helmet has a large visor, and it's light compared to heavier power armor suits, with less bulk while retaining a sleek higher-tech look. The palms and feet have very slight circular protrusions, but further detail isn't quite visible at a glance, only remotely visible while still airborne.

"Oh, wow, am I glad this thing wasn't made with involuntary laughter or that would've taken a while. You think really highly of yourselves, don't you? These people, they've stared into the abyss, and the abyss blinked. They've faced the destruction of all of reality and stopped it in its tracks, crushed enemies with far greater stakes than one city." Her? Its? voice takes a confident tone, and the shell crosses its arms.

"We've faced down demons all kinds, undead monsters, both, beings that some would have called gods, and won. What makes you think you're special?"