Fandom Soul Eater: F.A.T.E

[RedArmyShogun]

Nadia Semyonov - Daniella Ethalyn
New York City - North of JFK International - NYC
September 26th​

As the Witches were finally pushed back, or the process of pushing them back, putting some pain on them, the Church of all things had to show up, a lot of them with two Paladins judging by their looks, were now entering the fray, trying seemingly to kill the two main bloodsuckers of the mercenary group, while an assorted gaggle of robed idiots added weapons fire to the grouping. Where they in on this too or was something more going on here? They were shooting at the witches first, now them? 'What in the name of death...'

‘Shit… what’s the fuckin’ plan here?’ Dani growled out, leeching off Nadia’s own soul perception like a crutch. ‘None of’em look like that other fuck. We might can take’em, but…’ There was the matter of energy and consequences.

With a slight delay, Nadia decided to break one of her own rules of command. She voiced uncertainty. ’I don’t know. This all is crazy, the Witches aren’t talking, the cargo is likely destroyed, now the self-proclaimed warriors of God are here. I could try talking to them, but over the gunfire and the fact the bloodsuckers will fight back, I do not know if they’ll hear me short of me getting right up in their faces. We could just kill them if able, then deal with the damage after, I suspect that asshole is on the way though and I’m not sure he’ll take on a self-defense claim in good faith. Then there is the option of just abandoning this mission. They cannot catch us. Adrian though… Adrian is in a bit of danger. I know better than asking you to abandon him.

So, do we try to talk to them, or do we purge the ranks?’

‘As if they’d fucking listen… They want anything that isn’t pure-bred human dead. I say, fuck’em. If Cyrus or the others get pissy when they’re trying to kill us, fuck them too,’ Dani remarked with a scoff.

Sighing internally, Nadia had a feeling matters would not be so simple, it would be best to not bloody them too much, but it was true they were trying now to kill them, were they behind this or were they trying to defend th… No, that would make no sense, why would a bunch of human supremacists defend what was rightfully in some historical manner seen as the enemy of mankind? If that was truly the case, then the Paladins ought to question if their leadership were sane.

’Fine, but at least I’ll shout why we are doing this, first we’ll work on that gunner line, I think. Alternatively, we could try taking on those Paladins but I don't like our odds.’

‘....Why not do the reverse?’ Dani posed after a brief pause. ‘The rest of them are normal. Adrian and the Bloodsuckers can flatten them. We don’t even have to take out the big two, just keep’em from fucking with the others." Hell, if Nadia really wanted to, she might get them to stop and listen once they’re neutralized.

Agreeing with this in part, Nadia did not trust her chances with them, but they could test the waters, learn if there was any truth to the rumors on how they resonated to such a high degree. Rushing in as the lunatics fired on all of them, she shouts at the pair, it was likely they would not hear her, but with the enhanced abilities given by resonance, there was a slight chance they just might. "STOP YOUR ATTACK! YOU ARE INTERFERING WITH A DWMA OPERATION! THE WITCHES ATTACKED US FIRST!" With the enhanced power at her command thanks to Dani, Nadia aims to lock swords alongside Red Fang, while broadcasting what all was happening here to the DWMA handlers, if even a Satellite could zoom in on all of this, it would help a lot in the aftermath. If that failed, maybe some of the cars or mercs had cams on.

Interactions: EmperorsChosen (Dani) Sir Les Paul (Adrian/NPC's) The Regal Rper (NPC's)

 

[Merciless Medic]

Noah Wiley​

Date: September 27, 2067
Location: Steel Pier, Atlantic City Beach, New Jersey
Interactions: Gauss, Arkayis, Chanterelle, Maria, Ark, Raphael
Mentions: N/A
Sir Les Paul Peckinou Meredith RedArmyShogun The Regal Rper

They did well, even though Noah felt like he wanted to die. As they made it to a safe place, his legs wanted to give out and he was coughing up a storm, trying to hack whatever it was out of his lungs. Spores? Probably, he didn’t see any though. Raphael coughed a bit too, but he couldn’t tell if that was from the irritations of the spores or from his own brand of exertion.

They rested though, and they were all checked up on. The MIBVI Response Force was a godsend, and Noah actually felt like he could get some well-needed rest and relax a little. They got it covered, was what he kept telling himself. Until tomorrow, when they ultimately would need their help again - likely with clean-up.

He hoped it was a clean-up.

Noah didn’t even want to see or even hear what was going on out there. He didn’t want to think about it, but he heard it anyway. Those agents - three-stars - succumbing to the spores and being dragged to the ocean… It was disheartening to hear that some of their elite were being culled.

He was debriefed, along with others of his team, and figured that his initial train of thought was correct about the whole spore stamina-draining thing. Infuriating, sure, but it was an explanation he could get behind.

As the next day came, Noah was standing with Gauss on the boardwalk, staring at what was left of the pier from another conflict. He sighed, scratching the back of his head. “Yeah, well-” He coughed. “What’re we supposed to be doin’ again? Just clearin’ this shit out? Find people like our original goal?” He wanted to make sure. At least everyone seemed to be here, aside from Raphael, but he was sure the chain sorcerer would arrive soon. He listened to Maria, humming in thought. “Let’s hope we don’t have’ta fight, but I’m not gettin’ my hopes up.” He coughed again. Even with Chanterelle’s help, his lungs were still irritated and sore from the spores from yesterday. He hit his chest a couple times and grunted, feeling a little better after that.

 

[Merciless Medic]

Raphael Valerias​

Date: September 27, 2067
Location: Steel Pier, Atlantic City Beach, New Jersey
Interactions: Chanterelle, Maria, Ark, Gauss, Arkayis, Noah
Mentions: N/A
Meredith RedArmyShogun The Regal Rper Sir Les Paul Peckinou

Raphael was so tired. As soon as they were debriefed and Chanterelle helped clear his lungs, Raphael took the fattest nap he ever had. He slept throughout the night soundlessly, his body coughing intermittently but it wasn’t even enough for him to wake up. He had missed out on the talk of what was going on at the beach, and had forgotten most of the mission they were supposed to do on the grounds of being dead-tired.

He swore that a Zombie would feel more alive than he did.

As morning came, Raphael was finally able to really learn about how well their attempts at holding those things back worked. He was told to go to the pier with the rest of his team and - after some stretching and hacking up a lung - he managed to make his way to his team. He seemed to be one of the last ones to arrive. His entire body felt sore, his lungs and throat ached, and his soul felt funny from using so much magic, but he still had some juice left from having slept so much.

He approached his team, having missed out on everything that was said aside from the tail end of Maria’s words. He groaned, coughing a little. “Aite, chains are at the ready…” There was a bit of silence from him and he looked at the mess in front of him. “The fuck are we doing?” He felt so lost, like his mind had jumped ship and went elsewhere.

 

[Sir Les Paul]

North of JFK Airport, New York City, New York
GM Post​

en route to Eastern front​

The Paladins were a focused lot. Whereas Nadia and Dani were two minds intermingling, gaining the benefit of two souls in Resonance, the Paladins acted independently and swiftly. The swordsman was in fact not was quick as the previous Paladin, but his deft decision-making simply put him ahead of Nadia and her conversing with Dani. Quite plainly, Nadia didn't make in time to parry or block him, but instead see up close just what each individual was capable of.

Red Fang, too, was quick to make a decisive action. He had but the guns in his hands as weapons, and strong through they were, they wouldn't block the enhanced slash coming at him from the Paladin. They didn't need to. The Bloodsucker had a century of experience with this handgun design and had used it against blades a plenty. He had a technique for this very interaction. He fired the handgun, even though barely charged, causing the slide to kick back. In the fraction of a second the barrel was exposed with a gap between it and the frame, it shoved it upward and into the sword, then gave it a quick twist. This, alongside heaving himself in the opposite direction and forfeiting that gun, was enough to deflect the slash, causing the Paladin to lodge his blade into the ground.

A daring move and a sacrificed weapon, but such was the nature of these moments. Lives were on the line.

He tried to follow-up with a shot from his secondary gun, but to the surprise of likely everyone involved, a hand of Earth shot up from the ground to block the backlash of his gunshot, protecting the Paladin even if he could have dodged it.

Nadia could claim the Witches were at fault, but their actions seemed to say otherwise.

With the Witches now apparently supporting the Paladins, Fox Hunt was doing no better against the female wielder of the halberd. The new individual with the blue helmet was able, if barely, to prevent a lethal stab by causing her jab to glance, using bandages that were wrapped around his arms to tug on it from behind. Much like the hand from before, he fought with control. Unfortunately, he was still cut by the edge of the Halberd, but again at the least dodging the fatality. The electrified tonfa wielder tried to follow up with this yank, but was again halted by the Witches with plank thorns bursting through the ground to protect her. Between both Red Fang and Mammon being blocked by magic, Crimson was at a loss for how to immediately proceed.

They just became wildly outnumbered. Even if Paladins could have heard the cry from Nadia - and they couldn't in the chaos - why would they believe her when the Witches were now actively helping them?

It only seemed to get worse.

Everyone dodged or blocked attacks, but one person was stuck being completely overwhelmed: Adrian. With most of the sharks and plants from earlier destroyed, the knights and their magitech weaponry had few targets left. Adrian only had an omnidirectional defense in theory. Spikes couldn't cover every inch of his skin against bullet fire. After hails of kinetic energy hit him time and time again, eventually a few broke through. He was shot, though not with a proper projectile. Instead, these were bursts of kinetic energy dampened by sliding off his spikes, but still, three shots riddled his back and spilled his blood. He screamed out, primarily in enraged though also in pain, before transforming into the Iron Maiden as his last line of defense. The Knights continued pelting his impenetrable form with more fire, preventing him from transforming back.

It was a universal constant of the battlefield: if Adrian was stuck in his stationary form, things were undoubtedly fucked. The extent of his injuries unknown.

---

Between Bergen Basin and I-678...​

The arctic circle during winter was known for its cold, lifeless tundra. The eternal darkness that sat wistfully on the horizon, not knowing the warmth of the sun or the kiss of life. All succumbed to the cold, eventually. Every fire, every passion, all emotion... it gave way to the cold.

There was not a cold on this mortal coil more intense than that of death itself.

An inadvertent enhancement caused by Korne amplifying the natural capabilities of Wes through the shared connection that was Feng and her gifted soul. All four of them would fall victim to the shear winds of the chill that would hit them.

For, through Wes, they heard the most desperate cries. Cries, pleading, bargaining for salvation if there truly was a God; all their heart and soul in just a few words. A singular, intense focus greater than any magnifying glass. For, the sun could only be so focused, but the cold brought everything to the same, equal stillness. Even stars die.

What they felt was the final echoes of a voice on the brink of death and, for a brief moment, what it felt like to be on that doorstep. What it felt like to have one foot in the ground.

"S-Save... us..."​

It cried, but it did not echo.

If one such feeling was not enough, another happened in near-tandem. Just as that plight permeated their souls, another more chaotic series of sounds came to the forefront.

This one made less sense, but it carried a familiarity perhaps known best to Wes. An odd, low-humming he might be able to recall recently if he was not too shook by the former sonic intrusion. It was intermixed with a deluge of what soon became a maelstrom of noise that made little sense. As if an orchestra was given all broken instruments that never knew tune and its conductor had no hope of navigating the alien sounds.

Korne, Feng, Aki, and Wes were all subjected to these feelings simultaneously. Wes was obviously hit the hardest, but the feeling that shot to Feng was sufficient to cause a head-throbbing pain. Korne and Aki were spared the worst of it, but it was enough to cause a spike in concern from the Death Scythe. He stopped amplifying the others.

Feng, Aki, Wes were not spared merely because Korne severed their connection. Even in residual, the raw emotional impact of the words Wes picked up and the forlorn sense of hopeless desperation was an incredible albeit bleak experience, especially when thrust upon one so abruptly. Korne did not waste time or offer consideration to how they felt. Instead, he immediately demanded answers, a combination of frustrated, concern, and perhaps a touch of fear, 'What the fuck was that?' He asked. He hadn't experienced that before - ever.

Samuel Smith did not relax. His sharp eyes did not relent. He could feel something was off about them, his soul perception told him once the four were hit with the wave of sudden feelings, but even his eyes could not decipher it. He had considered a harsh reply given the wise-crack made by Feng, but an actual wise man knew better than to further confuse a conversation.

"Bluntly, I no longer know what is going on. Those beasts are new and full of impossibilities," Samuel explained, eluding to the fact their consumption was wavelength was entirely out of the ordinary, "we're also missing dozens of Witches and a few handfuls of agents, no doubt due to those monstrosities." He could tell Korne was upset by something. He could read the soul of his partner plain as day. Dealing with Feng directly was pointless, he felt, if Korne would just explain it later. Unfortunately for him, Korne was taking the direct route.

RedArmyShogun Shotgunpenguin EmperorsChosen

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Nadia Semyonov - Daniella Ethalyn
New York City - North of JFK International - NYC
September 26th​

Those fucking bastards are ignoring me… She thought of the Paladin just avoiding her to go after one of the mercs.

This was all going to shit, and going to shit fast. And as she expected the Paladins outpaced her, while she was sure that some trick was at work the sudden change in tempo of forces was decidedly against them. Then of all things, Adrian had to go off and get shot, she would have to reign Dani in, or do a hell of a lot of reason. This was the reason that one did not put significant others at risk or in the same unit, or family for that matter… Things like this could unravel everything. And if it did, then they were all likely dead. Nadia had a plan but she needed Dani to pull it off, and hopefully those bloodsuckers would play along…

’Dani, stay with me, we falter, we all are dead. I WILL get Adrian out of here in one piece but I need your help.’

’...Those… pieces of SHIT’ Dani growled out. ’I’ll burn their fucking church down!’ Rage fueled her thoughts and her wavelength spiked to indicate it. ’Fuck their ceasefire, I’ll fucking kill’em!’

’No. Not now you won’t, I will give these bastards a thrashing soon, but we must retreat. We’ve lost this round. I won’t ask you to be calm, but get ready to regulate as much energy to me as you can on my signal. I have a plan to get us all out, hopefully those fools will listen to me and follow. We will drag these bastards to their own Pavlov's House.’ With those words said Nadia darted at her superhuman speed and darted behind the engines of the cars, Adrian’s form in sight.

Dani growled, clearly not pleased by the prospect of retreating. However, she had come a ways and despite the animosity pulsing from her wavelength, she did as requested, reining in her wavelength in preparation for whatever Nadia had planned.

With that matter settled, Nadia spoke into the headset they had left, she didn’t know if they would hear it, but she would mix hand signals in as well while making her choice, ”Mercenaries if you can hear me I’ll be brief. Destroy the Truck, have your men fallback and follow me. I aim to give these bastards Stalingrad and Scorched Earth but I will need your help. Use me as a shield. Find a place with high floors and good walls.” With that she signaled waving at the group, making a motion which was akin to a grenade, she pointed and the wreck vehicle that already had damaged the weapon significantly and pulverized the munitions they had, she wanted those fucks to have nothing left unless one of them could drag it out, which she made a wishy-washy hand towards allowing it.

Finally sticking one hand up and out she made a circling of her left hand, index finger extended in a circular twirl before pointing at Adrian, then herself, then a hand knife forward pointing towards the street away from the enemy and off at an angle. Then punching her fist into solid rock as steel she made a rally sign wanting them to find a building the could fortify and call for help from, but she wanted to leave those fuckers nothing useful. ’Okay, Dani, everything to my legs, then the center of my back, then my hands and lets hope this madness somehow works out.’

’Fine…’ The weapon growled out, regulating her wavelength into Nadia to push her speed to its limits, in addition to her grip. She didn’t know what the woman had planned, but she only hoped it involved getting Adrian out and killing the other bastards like she promised.

’This is going to hurt. I better get something better than a pat on the back for it you know? Alright, now!’ With that said, Nada closed dive, spun and ducked till she reached their partner, Nadia swung Dani out to the side and gave a simple command. ”Burn anything not friendly if they get close. Running now.” Retching him up upon her back, it was awkward and heavy but it did balance well enough given she was using one hand from the bottom and leaning over to do a sprint one way hoping to catch sight of any bloodsuckers willing to carry out her plan… If not, she would find a place herself.

Interactions: EmperorsChosen (Dani) Sir Les Paul (Adrian/NPC's) The Regal Rper (NPC's)

 

[Shotgunpenguin]

Wes Kraven
New York - Bergin Basin/I-678
September 26th
Mentions: Sir Les Paul RedArmyShogun EmperorsChosen ​

---

Wes was slightly disappointed when Feng suggested that he shift himself onto her back, signaling that she would be relying on Korne to dispatch the beasts. He deflated slightly, the wind in his sails dying out as he breathed a soft sigh in his weapon form. Doing as she requested, he unwound his cord from her forearm before snaking it up and around her shoulders like straps of a backpack before shifting so that he was flat against her back.

When he was given the signal, a high pitched whine screeched out from behind Feng, just barely audible to the assorted weapons and meisters. To the beasts however, assuming that they had a greater range of hearing, would hear every ear-piercing bit. Like two power drills working their way through their ears and drilling straight into their brain.

Feng made quick work of the beasts with Korne, the death scythe proving more than capable of cleaving the beasts in two. As she cut through the beasts, Wes couldn’t wonder once again why Samuel hadn’t used Korne from the start if he held this much power. If Feng, who wasn’t even the weapons partner, could wield him so well, then why was he still bothering with a regular weapon?

Before she could continue her assault against the beasts however, a shrill whistle cut through the air. It was similar to the sound Wes had produced before, although the sound continued on for longer than his burst had. As if responding to the whistle, the remaining beast suddenly perked up and turned tail. Additionally, about a dozen more of the beasts suddenly emerged from the surrounding area, joining up with the original and forming a fast moving pack that departed further into the city.

Wes hadn’t even heard their soul signatures, which meant that in addition to being able to enhance themselves, they knew how to hide their souls as well. Amplification could have been a one-off thing, a freak coincidence that these unnatural beasts could tap into their soul energy to enhance themselves. But soul suppression wasn’t something that one could use by accident, it required an understanding and control over one’s soul to a degree far beyond what a beast could comprehend.

It was painfully obvious now that someone not only created these creatures, but was also controlling them. However, he didn’t have much time to dwell on the thought as the corpses of the dead beasts suddenly started to glow with a strange light.

If he thought that the beasts smelled horrible when they were alive, then the sheer rancid scent that accompanied their rapid decomposition was far, far worse. It was as if someone had blended together rotten meat, bile, and all other sorts of nastiness that would bring anyone to their knees. Soon, the only remnants of the beast's corpses were the scorch marks from their blood and the nauseating smell that polluted the air.

As the moment died down, he could feel Korne’s disappointment that the battle was over. He wasn’t even trying to hide or disguise it, like a child crossing their arms and pouting in the middle of the grocery store because their mother wouldn’t buy them a chocolate bar. And at that moment, all Wes hoped for was that his obvious disappointment would mask his own. While Korne was disappointed that the fight was over so quickly, Wes was disappointed that he didn’t get a chance to do anything at all after being able to once again experience an oscillating wavelength.

Wes considered staying in his weapon form for the sole purpose of avoiding the stench for as long as possible. At Feng’s mention of something still being off however, he decided to remain strapped against her back for the time being. If whoever sent out that ear-piercing whistle was still watching them, then splitting off wouldn’t be the best idea. Instead, as Feng conversed with Samuel, Wes decided on trying to see if he could pick out any trace or sign of the beasts or the one who was controlling them.

As he focused on his soul perception, picking through the souls of his partners, Samuel and his own, as well as the witch, trying to pick up on anything out of the ordinary, he felt a chill roll down his non-existent spine. What came in through his perception wasn’t the horrid sound of the hounds' souls or the possible soul of their handler. No, what came through was the sound of desperation, of a soul that was pleading to any power that would listen to it for salvation. Accompanying it was a low hum, one that was strangely familiar to the weapon.

And then it all came crashing down. A wild and disorienting cacophony of sound that assaulted his ears and only served to heighten the desperate emotions that were thrusted upon him. As soon as Korne stopped his amplification, Wes shifted out of his weapon form and took a step back from Feng. His normally lidded eyes were wide in a combination of fear and concern as he tried to understand exactly what he had just experienced.

“I-I have no idea.” Wes answered the death scythe, a hand coming up to rest over his chest. He still felt the residual emotions that they had experienced, a heavy and forlorn sense of despair causing his heart to feel like lead in his chest. Any feelings of disappointment were long gone as this new weight settled over him, feelings that he knew weren't his own. "Just before those dogs ran off, I heard a whistle, it was at a high frequency like what I was blasting them with. But it wasn't just a quick burst, it was almost like a command whistle. And after that..."

He paused for a second, taking a breath before continuing. “I felt like I just heard someone crying out before it was overwhelmed by that noise. Like they were being drowned out in a sea of shrikes and screeching. I know I’ve heard it before, but I can’t remember where.” Bringing the hand that was resting above his heart to the side of his head, he looked between Samuel and Feng. “You said that people have gone missing, right? What if what we just heard was one of them?”

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Feng Long
New York City - Between Bergen Basin and I-678
September 26th​

With all that happened and was happening, Feng could sense a little of Wes and Aki's disappointment in being used in the manner that they were, or rather not being used. There was no helping it in this case, they both outputted wavelength, unless she wanted to just physically beat shit with them, but the battle was now over as the wretched beasts had departed, she would make it up to both later. But then an extreme cold washed over her, and all those that were part of her union could feel. Then there were the emotions, the pleading voice, and all those terrible sensations, to which Feng took the time to crouch down, holding her hands in a prayer stance she tries banishing those thoughts and its helplessness from her mind.

And it worked. Had she been customed to despair, rather than fighting to survive, she would have fallen long ago. But the cold was another matter, she had to rub her shoulders after the prayer as she got to her feet. And with a slight glare she stared towards the disturbance. "They spoke to our souls. And its "they". The words were, save us. Not save me. Then there were the other screams as you said... Something foul is happening here... I also believe only me and Wes got the full brunt of that... Did you not feel nor hear anything Samual?"

Then there was the issue of what was happening here. It didn't set well with Feng, sighing and placing her hands upon her hips, she stares up at the sky briefly before lowing her gaze, arms now crossing under her breasts. "I know I'm here to be the go between, but this doesn't sit well with me. I could try contacting Nadia for orders, or I can leave her contact frequency with Agent Smith over here, though I don't know what he wants to do with this whole situation as it stands. I don't even know the status of that team. It's freezing, good thing I wore my heavier gear."

They had a job to do, but this was also something to not just ignore, even if it could be a trap set up by those causing the pain to those screaming voices. For now any thanks to her temp weapon or the question on why Samuel wasn't using him, could rest.

Interactions: EmperorsChosen (Aki/Dani) Sir Les Paul (NPC's) Shotgunpenguin (Wes)

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Kisei☆Hoshi​

Deadsoul​

Species Death Golem
Partner Eloise Keegan
Rank Two-Star

Location The derelict Mansion, Liberec Region, Czech Republic
Mission The Missing of the Giant Mountains
Status Excitement

​

Tags: RedArmyShogun EmperorsChosen The Regal Rper Haze- Merciless Medic Pumpkid

It was time. It was time to show the fruits of long, hard-fought labor. It was time to forfeit the concealed nature of an assassin in the shadows.

Kisei had reinvented himself or been reinvented countless times as Midori, but it was now time to embrace his new self. A self found in the broken pieces of a deadman brought back twice and renamed in the whims of an awkward Witch. A self independent of the heartbreak and loss that for so long defined it him. A self that was about reclamation, not the melancholic remembrance of a time long past.

Her wavelength poured into him. A steady stream of white noise that he had become accustomed to. To any other partner with the exception of a few gifted geniuses, her wavelength - her soul - would have been an impossible task to ready and regulate. A frustrating, excruciating example of a blessing being a curse. A soul that was more a damnation than a boon. It made her hard to read, but even harder to work with. It was something only truly overcome with time. And, now that it was, Kisei would find himself amplifying that wavelength, keeping it stable, keeping it defined, and multiplying its raw power over and over, like folding steel, until it was sent back to Elly.

The power she gained from their resonance was no small leap. This was not the immature resonance of teenagers, and though it was not perfected like their mentors, it was still respectable in its quality.

However, that raw power was not where their resonance ended. Neither of the duo intended to hold back. They wanted the death of that Bloodsucker, the bitch of a Baroness, as quick as feasibly possible. If it could be done in one fell swoop, it would be. There would be no arrogant back and forth, no histrionics, no theatrics that she could abuse. That was the thing Elly and Kisei agreed on in their core, in their hearts: her immediate death.

Kisei did not only only shift into his scythe form, once he did, he brought out the next stage of power. The one that neither Wren nor Dante could use because neither Sara or Zosar had yet the skill, nor had either the relationship. Weapon Amplification Resonance. The state a Demon Weapon can take once Resonance becomes easily maintained and can be pushed to the next level. For Kisei, this mean his blade edges being coated in a bright, glowing light comprised of their solidified wavelength. The metallic sheen gone and replaced with a constantly-shifting flow of energy much like the noise on a vintage television set, blurred and dancing as if barely making it through an old CRT television. Each scythe head nearly doubled in size, specifically jutting out in length, though unlike some scythes they did not create the semi-circular crescent shape made famous by Maka Albarn.

They couldn't. It would just be a circle.

This was the type of raw power Kisei did not possess alone. It was the type of power he told Dante over and over, ad nauseum, was impossible to achieve alone. This was the reason each Meister accepted a partner instead of acting on their own. This was the power of two souls working in tandem in ways they were honestly never meant to.

The undead nearby would feel a cold shiver run down their spine. An animalistic fear normally not present within them, and if so, it was only when their betters were around and enraged. That which would be laid to rest feared the reaper and by proxy feared that which embodied him. This not a feat against magic, but against the dead. In the immediate area around Elly, the undead would lose their physical capabilities. Their strength and agility would decay over time, even their flesh may begin to decay. Thralls that were only alive due to the magic may even begin to rot and die, but this could not stop the control. Only the preservation. The duo could not inhibit the magic of the undead, but they most certainly could ruin their fucking day.

Meanwhile, the strength sapped from the undead would begin to pour back into Elly, providing her the temporary boons enjoyed by the Bloodsuckers. This was the crux of Kisei's death scythe abilities: steal the strength of the dead and turn it against them. He had once done this with Maria. Now, it was time for his own partner.

'We may now win the war of attrition, but I'd rather kill them sooner rather than later,' Kisei said, sharing his opinion with Elly in their shared connection. He was almost-arrogant. Cocky and high on the power trip of Resonance combined with leeching the life force of the surrounding Bloodsuckers.

'So, be a good queen for me and make it off with their heads,' he added, riding the lightning and ready to dive in. It likely wouldn't be the quick kill they wanted, but at this point, he wasn't opposed to dicing these fuckers into tiny, little pieces. All that stood in their way was a thin shield of blood.

 

[Haze-]

Wren
(& Beelzebub technically)
The Derelict Mansion; Czech Republic​

Wren closed her eyes, drew breath. Sat there with a stern, focused look until the cue from Zosar made her hair stand on end. The downpour of violent wavelength sent frozen needles prickling down her spine. She hissed awake, unceremoniously, like a beer can tossed by a drunkard onto the slant-edge of a curb. Flinched, wide-eyed, making a face she was sure would look awful stupid on a mirror.

‘Shit.’ — Wasn’t third time supposed to be the charm?

She sat there trying to regain her focus, sober up from the hit of wavelength, her eyes forcefully drooping back in place after they’d just rolled to hit the back of her skull. A staggering breath turning into a grunt to feign that she wasn’t fucking up, wincing, trying to work her mind back into functionality with simple games. ‘What color comes when you mix yellow and blue?’. Red, she would’ve replied to herself, if she weren’t too focused on the outside world. On cruel time ticking past her.

She knew exactly why it was so hard now compared to before. Back then she had the boost, the high, from chain resonance. Back then, even without it, on their second go she was still confident at Zosar’s side. Back then,

“Struggling, my highness…?” — there wasn’t a demon yelling sour everything’s into her ear.

The blank, empty void flickered, light tearing in and out from beyond the candles. Short flashes of the dining hall blinking, intermingled laughter and howling cut silent as the black pooled back in to fill each slit in the darkness. Glimpses of marbled statues pointing at her, frozen in mirth, and that damned jester kicking his feet up on the plush seat of ‘her’ throne.

“I could take the reins. Oh, for but a moment, of course!” — He wheezed like a dying old man, voice so close to her ear she could almost feel the hot breath on her cheek. Her head cocked back, she sighed. Time moved slow in her soul space, but it still moved. She didn’t have the time to be playing ‘who wants to be a Kishin’ with her soulroommate. Not a battle of attrition, not now. She was one beat further into utterly disappointing Zosar.

Betraying his trust in her. Dropping the weight at the first push from the burden placed on her shoulders.

“But you already knew that, didn’t you, my liege?”

“All you have to do is hold this humble servitor’s hand for guidance.”

Sweetest venom, and a promise for power with no grounds other than the greedy hunger pangs they both shared to stand on.

The chainblade struck at the side of the scaly chimera, like a dull hatchet, chewing a giant houndstooth pattern on its armored skin. Blades whirring, inching deeper, but there was barely even a crackle of spirit energy burning in them. She clenched her teeth, anxiously whittling the energy as if trying to shape a bar of soap in her hands. Fumbling, watching it slip between her fingers.

The clock ticked forward.

“Do say the word whenever it so pleases you…I am still as patient as ever.” — That’s when she paused, realization alight in her eyes— ‘That must be it, huh…?’

She drew out the breath she was holding, the pitch-black emptiness cleared, light pouring in waves. Wren let go. Not taking anyone’s hand. Simply letting things flow, dropping the calm seal, as if she were done trying to blot out the sun with her pinky or muffle the bang of a handcannon with a silencer. In this case, the roar of a chainsaw.

A knot untied in her chest. The struggle was gone.

It was a flash of yellow on the outside, the chainsaw in Zosar’s hand seeming to phase to draw a yellow, neon line clean through the chimera. Black, acidic blood seared to a bubbling hiss on the revolving teeth once the entire length of the blade crossed over, steaming fumes rising. There was a thin line of light burning laps across the guide bar, fused spirit energy mashed together just like before.

The booming roar of the chainsaw, replaced with a soft, mechanical whirr. The rest of the wavelength that wasn’t poured on the blades was sent to boost Zosar’s body, make it as light as possible.

‘That didn’t go nearly as bad as I thought it would…I guess I still got it.’ — Wren huffed a sigh of relief, chuckling, shooting down a wide grin at the jester now sitting like a teddy bear in her lap. Odd how he didn’t seem to be smiling now.

“Oh, how dull…” — He grumbled, disappointed. She only kept smiling, a big ‘fuck you’ writ on the enamel. She figured that the benefits (and the dangers) of being there breathing the same air as him would outweigh the lack of oomph they had with her focusing on her calm seal.

‘Shouldn’t come bite us in the ass…’ — She repeated at Zosar, and mostly to herself. A couple of seconds was all they needed anyways.

“You can play the ‘fighting music’ now, Beel,” — Wren kicked her feet up on the table, leaning back — “I’ll allow it just this once. Be a doll would’ya? Yer’ queen ain’t long for all this fine dining, make it funky while I'm still in here…”

He stared, wordlessly. His neck craning to one shoulder like a puzzled dog before he cackled back — “Your wish is my command…”

Wiry black fingers snapped; a far-off gramophone wheezed alive.

Spoiler: 'fighting music'

Interactions: The Regal Rper
Tags: RedArmyShogun Merciless Medic Sir Les Paul Pumpkid

 

[The Regal Rper]

Zosar | Czech Republic

The delay was just a few seconds in real time.

Wren’s wavelength shook in a subtle way Zosar could tell from mere experience and familiarity. Not with her soul, but with the impact this amount he was throwing at her had. The blades whirling on her form struck but didn't sever. It's movement slack from the strike but the resistance proved a minor advantage.

He didn't let that stop him though, he just kept on pushing, leaving it to Wren to work with what he had given her. Slicing through the Chimera slowly as teeth dug in and cut at a terrible snail’s pace.

It was when he heard her gasp, the moment of reeling, that there was a decision to make. Stop or keep going. He could pick up cleanly through her wavelength based solely off it's movement, based solely off familiarity and his experience with this very kind of reaction, that she had underestimated the impact of what she was asking from him. Under Chain Resonance the weight of his volume had been shared with Kisei providing a guiding support. On her own, she had to handle it in full.

Had he been paying attention truly to the technique he might have picked up on the fact the move they had created on the fly, was not in fact Wavelength Amplification Resonance like they had initially thought. Nothing like what he could do with Markus or what he had done with Becky, in fact it was more on par with what he could do with Eustace- Soul Resonance, a more powerful version of a technique, but in the moment of his struggle with the Chimera reptile, Zosar didn't give the nature of their technique any mind. Only focusing on it's success or preemptive action on its failure.

Only focusing on the beast death.

Just as a Weapon to was supposed to intimately understand the wavelength of their partner to better make use of it, he had spent years learning to read the Wavelength of his partners, to determine when he was going too far, when he was putting too much on them- when he wasn’t putting enough. In a way it had helped, it aided him in learning when to restrain and in the moment where Wren didn’t immediately pull through Zosar had a choice to make.

Stop or follow through.

As minor as this decision might have seemed, it was a fundamental decision baked into a habit of instinct-- and in that moment he forewent that instinctual move to restrict what he thought Wren was struggling to handle. He kept at it, just as she had asked. Left it to her while he focused solely on the fight much like he would leave it to Markus. And when the teeth gained its glow and its power increased, the chimera stood hardly much of a chance against their attack.

They cleaved straight through it, and in its swift and sudden death in the four seconds of delay there had been in real time, Zosar felt Wren's relief, as his own satisfaction peaked.

“Atta girl.” The praise whispered on his tongue as he cut clean through. Anything else he might have said though was immediately cut short by the growl, and his eyes shifting to the imminent attack.

With it already inbound Zosar only managed to roll out of the way in a last ditch effort to avoid the attack, and avoid getting pinned, he hit the ground hard, rolling to his side then popping up immediately on the left on his feet.

The briefest scent of heated metal made it's way to his nose, and ignoring it, he immediately blitzed the beast to attack. Wren might have picked up that his shoulder and the left side of his body armor were scorched, though padding slightly burnt, but not to a clear enough point where her Meister was displaying pain. Whether that was due to his own staunch attitude or if the armor actually held up, it was hard to detect- whatever the case was, he was using that boost she had given him and was rapidly approaching the final beast to finish it off.

Zosar, struck with his right hand carrying Wren, a arcing slash using her whirling blades. With their current Resonance technique still going, what mattered now was how long it could be kept going, and that relied on Wren, specifically how long she could keep focus on this technique they had created.

Soul Resonance like this given the freshness of their partnership normally lasted only a few seconds, longer with better rapport into a full on minute, skilled individuals with practice performing the technique could do it easily without worry of a time limit to consider. Zosar knew that, it was why he chose to blitz, charging a literal flamethrower in bestial form instead of circling around or using a maneuver, his movement was desperate, it was calculated. He surged forward but also made his attack with the advantage of the sheer length of Wren's blade at his advantage so that if the beast did open its maw as he tried to strike at its leg, he could maneuver around its attack. What he was considering that Wren might not in the afterglows of her victory was the strain. Spiritual strain didn't kick in immediately, not with their sort of rapport so far at least- but it would. It would hit Wren first before Zosar felt anything.

That would be the problem. If she felt that strain, it would be short in time before he felt it.

Worse if she felt that strain, properly managing their resonance would become more of a chore for Wren herself

Despite the recent success they were still new, still fresh off the block, still inexperienced together- three missions didn't compare to months on missions like Elly and Kisei had gone on or any of their other peers who had sustained longer partnerships.

Mentions: RedArmyShogun EmperorsChosen Sir Les Paul Merciless Medic Pumpkid

Interactions: Haze-

 

[EmperorsChosen]

Aki Kiyoko - North of JFK International Airport

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

Aki was resolved to let Feng do the talking, though before she could transform to stand on her own two feet, the wailing orchestra hit them all. The pain shot through Aki, though also a chill. Not many things did that. The girl had grown up around warzones and seen things young that most adults were sensitive to. She was desensitized, so the few times a vibe like that shot through her spine, it was particularly unnerving. Her wavelength spiked with anxiety and she suppressed an urge to shoot out from where she was, waiting until the amplification was cut and the Death Scythe spoke.

'You don't know??' Aki spat back, her voice unnaturally jittery. They were the experienced guys. If they didn't know what the hell that was, Aki liked it even less.

Instinctively, her form zipped out of where it was stored, landing on her own two feet but still quite close to Feng. Her head turned, scanning the surroundings. Like her voice, the jerks of her head were just as anxious. She wasn't completely panicked and out of her head, but clearly unnerved. She was looking for a threat, a movement, something she could focus on.

"T-That isn't how that works though..." Aki replied after the others. "You can't speak to the souls of other people outside physical contact... We wouldn't need communicators in that case. The whole team would just talk internally..." She reasoned, still gazing across their surroundings for movement.

RedArmyShogun Shotgunpenguin Sir Les Paul

 

[Meredith]

Chanterelle Dubois

The Next Morning

The events on the beach had been difficult to process. For a fight to start so quickly, so violently, to bring forth something so far beyond her magic.. it was a feeling that the witch was unfamiliar with, at least, if you didn’t count her experience on Dall Island. The wholly unnatural nature of the carnage in front of her was… invigorating.

Chanterelle had had little time to ruminate on the comparison of these experiences. The lull of combat only increased the demand of her skills. This was where her magic excelled. The extraction and extermination of harmful spores and other plant matter was almost second nature—and magic of decay than inundated the spores that infected the other agents drew her attention like that of a moth to a flame.

She worked through the better part of the night, finally succumbing to sleep as the sun threatened the horizon.

---

Dark circles hung under Chanterelle’s eyes as she approached the group with soft footsteps. She felt no anger or annoyance to match her fatigue. The firewall stood as a stark reminder of the carnage they had witnessed on the beach, and crisis was no time for anger. But a thought had lurked in her mind while she had done her work: without a witch, a good witch, things could have been much worse for the affected agents. Perhaps this was a better use of magic, a softer one… the power to heal instead of to destroy.

It was something to think about, barring anything else. The energy level in the group was very low. She slipped into their small circle behind Ark—no words, just a sort of huff, which she supposed was appropriate for such an early morning. Gauss’ words were jaded, but they expressed a sentiment she agreed with. A calmer day would be more than welcome.

Maria was perhaps the only person in the group who was raring to go. Chanterelle supposed that insulting her creations would motivate her more than just about anything else. She was one of those with the never-ending urge to prove herself—or, at least, that was how Chanterelle saw her. The others were more morose: only asking for their tasks. It was upsetting to see them behave like simple soldiers.

Coming to a stop, she raised her hand to greet the group with a wry smile. She was one of the only members of their party that seemed to perform better under intense stress. The anxiety that she had felt the day before as they started their mission was gone. Things had already gone badly, and the question was only how much worse they could become. That question was almost… exciting.

“I hope you’ve all slept.”

The Garden Witch​

Species Witch​

Rank: Fate Agent​

​

Location: The Steel Pier, Atlantic City, NJ.​

Mission: Kaiju Cleanup​

Status: Exhausted, but Optimistic​

​

Merciless Medic The Regal Rper
Peckinou RedArmyShogun Sir Les Paul

 

[Sir Les Paul]

Steel Pier, Atlantic City Beach, New Jersey
GM Post​

​

A forlorn sense of dread washed over those on the pier as they saw it over the horizon.

The lumbering, half-broken body of KN9 trudging through the waters. A mass had been spotted on the coastline prior, but not yet identified. Most believed that the kaiju had been all but annihilated the day prior. Between the unorthodox assault that left half its body dissolved and the hydrogen-fusion mines that it set off upon its departure, it was thought dead. The military believed even the Shinigami would have been brutally damaged if not destroyed by the explosions, especially within the water where they had the most force. The prospect of it surviving was absurd.

Yet, there it was.

Not that the morning had been pleasant before. It was yet another set of trauma inducing carnage for the agents to go through. Hundreds of corpses from the day before were strewn across the pier and exactly one survivor in critical shape. The latter third of the pier was nearly entirely separated from the first third, in no small part due to the battle that had occurred. So much so that most agents present weren't secure in staying on it. Even if they could escape, causing more damage to the pier or for it to completely break off in any section might result in losses of bodies or at least the chance to find survivors. Not to mention, make what was left that much more unstable.

Ark could only do so much in terms of reinforcing the pier. As it turned out, trying to control sand beneath a layer of water was difficult for him and the cement used to anchor the steel platforms was outside of his range of control. None of his spells were written to account for the chemical changes that went on in concrete, and it showed. If Rand were around, he might have pointed this point, but it was Gauss, not Rand, leading them. The connection between science and magic wasn't as strong.

Instead, Maria and Raphael proved to be perhaps the most impactful searchers of the entire assortment of agents present. With Maria able to fly while illuminating areas, she was able to search in places others couldn't. Gauss knew better than to ask her to risk her dear dolls to manually search in dangerous spots if there wasn't a chance of finding something, so he allowed her to station them when and where she saw fit. They were her resources and her ability to fly was more valuable regardless. Meanwhile, Raphael was able to use his chains to reinforce some areas, even if only temporarily, as well as create psuedo-cranes to help lift debris using the support of the anchored part of the pier.

Chanterelle found herself clearing out the leftover, fungal corpses of the would-be invaders that were fought and verifying the infection did not spread - which it, in fact, did not. A less straining job for the exhausted Witch.

Gauss, Noah, and Arkayis found themselves more or less playing mediator with the other teams. Some had Witches, some had more Meisters, but few of them had any ambition for the objectives. Some Agents realized very quickly that they needed a mental health break. The Steel Pier was an amusement park. Some of the victims were families, children, siblings - sometimes clinging together for deal life, trying and failing to endure the tempest that followed the attack of the kaiju. The wake of destruction was one that conjured visages that could stir any agent, though those with sensitivities like Noah and Arkayis may have been especially sensitive.

This only made the sight of the kaiju closing in that much more daunting. What it had done once, the damage it was already responsible for; no one knew it better than the agents on that beach trying to salvage both the life and property from its first attack. Worse, even, than what occurred in New York before defenses had been raised.

A violent screech filled the air. The agents present had no way of knowing it was so severely distorted from its original cry, but they would be well aware of at least one thing... it could still roar.

Gauss internally cursed himself for the comment he made earlier. He should have known better: it can always get worse. He looked to the left and right, eying both of his partners before letting out a sigh. Both had been pretty quiet through the morning and he hadn't needed them as weapons much, making it fairly silent overall. More so, they hadn't needed to remain in his hands for most of the day. "Transform, fellas," he said, as if already tired from the battle yet to come.

Directly after, he radio'd in to his team, offering them instructions. They still had time before the creature reached them, but not a lot. At least enough to reconvene, that much he knew. He just didn't want the less mobile, like Chanterelle, or the dolls of Maria, to be left behind. 'Get back to the base of the Pier, meet me near bright blue gate, and await further orders,' he told them, crisp, clean, and quick, like most of his orders had become.

RedArmyShogun Meredith Merciless Medic Peckinou The Regal Rper

 

[The Regal Rper]

Paladins | JFK Airport, NY

Yeong:

Sonnetta:

----

The odds had just shifted significantly in their favor and it was quickly donning on the Knights with the Witches actively supporting them in this fight there was little chance of truly losing. With the witches now helping them defensively, and what clearly seemed to be a Meister and weapon pair rushing to the aid of their Weapon companion under fire, the lead paladin female had now shifted entirely to focusing on dealing with the Bloodsuckers.

To cover the swordsman while his weapon had been down, the ones firing on Adrian shifted some of their attention to providing support fire with the witches having given an assist to their paladin, they locked on to buy him time to yank his weapon out of the ground.

While this is happening, the female paladin blitzed forward keeping her weapon in hand as she closed in she twisted her grip on the Halberd, tugging to bring her opponent in closer, then drove her palm right at the helmeted bloodsuckerin a full enhanced open palm strike aimed squarely at his chest.The second it landed she immediately followed with a smashing blow with the halberd in the right direction, severing the bandages in the process, and turning immediately moving at the tonfa wielder with the butt of her Polearm that carries a blades point.
While the two paladins moved in on their targets and attacked, the Knights continued with their fire and support. Mostly providing a window of opportunity for Adrian, Nadia, and Dani to attempt an escape before the female may shift her attention to them as she dealt with the tonfa wielder and moved on to another target the moment she could.

Mentions: RedArmyShogun EmperorsChosen Sir Les Paul


Interactions: Fox Hunt

 

[Peckinou]

Arkayis Misonuka - Steel Pier, Atlantic City Beach, New Jersey
Mentions: Gauss Sir Les Paul , Noah/ Raph Merciless Medic ,Chanterelle Meredith The Regal Rper , Maria RedArmyShogun
​

Arkayis had kept quite for a long while, enough to assume that he was giving everyone the silent treatment, even with Gausses apology it only had a little effect on him, albeit it was better than no effect. His flames were slightly hotter than before but still maintained it's more so red coloration than the original Blue one that he was practically known for, he still wasn't happy not in the least, but he really didn't ponder much on it, he knew it would only ruin his mood even more than it already was. Arkayis was use to destruction, though not typically city wide destruction, especially on this scale. The amount of people sent here was also a notable thing that he wasn't use to, something that would help make this his least favorite mission ever, the only thing he was looking forward to when it came to this mission was leaving and they weren't going to be doing that for quite a while considering the whole mess of a situation they were dealing with.

Regardless of his personal feelings he kept close to Gauss but still maintained a bit of distance from him, there was a saying that one of his sisters friends use to tell him 'Forgive once.' there was a bit more to that line than just that but, he wasn't sure if that was a phrase he live by or not, but it was something that always stuck in his mind, maybe later when he would be able to finally make up his mind about something and take up a firm stance on it. But as of right now his mind should probably focus more on the issue that involved the screeching from the air, something that made Arkayis internally groan out of annoyance as Gauss began to demand for them to transform. Silent treatment or not he obliged to Gausses request and transformed, it seemed to him that this day is going to feel longer than it already is.

 

[Sir Les Paul]

North of JFK Airport, New York City, New York
GM Post​

en route to Eastern front​

’Fine…’

​

Except, everything was not fine.

The plan for an escape might have been a solid one, but there existed a point of failure within a plan. A point close to home. Dani could not so easily be told 'no, not now' and 'you must not falter', especially after the repeated stress of the day. Even if she wanted to, truly, her soul did not make it so simple. She was entity of rage. Her murderous soul was a symphony of anger and destruction. It was an inherent and permanent part of her, as it even was when Mikey was alive. Nadia hadn't even been her partner for a year. If her own brother could not tame her soul, why expect anyone to? Nadia, Adrian, even herself...

...she was anger incarnate.

A pulse. A tightness in her chest. Their chests. This was feeling Nadia would have as well, given their closeness. It was a moment that, if only briefly, made the whole world stop. For a second, all of the chaos around them fell to silence. That pulse, a single bounding thump, traced from their cores, through what felt like a million tiny branches in their bodies, through their arms, their muscles, tensing their jaws, pounding their eyes, and finally it hit their head with the full force of raging locomotive and brought on a furious agony inside their skulls worse than the hangover from any night out.

Only then did it hit. The screeching cacophony that was the Murderous Soul. It was deafening. Literally and spiritually. Both of them would have their senses dulled if only because of the override to what they heard. An ear-splitting pain that dissolved away the odd tightness from before. It was a chorus a thousand versions of Daniella Ethalyn screaming in rage and banter, completely asynchronous with no rhyme or rhythm to make it manageable. Wavelengths became considerably more difficult to control, fluctuating rapidly and mirroring the chaotic verse that was Dani at her worst.

She wanted to kill. To harm. To maim. Blame shot out at everyone from the voices, echoing through her mind. Senseless, ceaseless blame. Every single member of Fox Hunt had a hand in this. Red Fang was the first one they met, and perhaps if they never did with that lunatic fuck in California, Blue Steel would have never recruited them. Of course, Blue Steel did. Crimson was a cocky, femboy punk that didn't even seem to fit in. Had Sybil never healed her, they'd never have even come this far. The Paladins, too, having the sheer audacity to shock her and how bringing forth this fight. And, why fight? Why bother? Nadia made the decision to make the group seem like an issue not worth the effort of resolving. Adrian got himself shot taking on more than he could handle. That was whole MO, wasn't it?

The voices inside their heads, her head originally, it blamed everyone whether or not there was a fair reason to. Fuck this, fuck that, fuck him, fuck her, fuck them all, let them burn. Cut, slice, dice, slash, it didn't matter; just leave it ash.

Time continued to flow despite the interruption of their plan. They hadn't even made it to lift up Adrian, after all.

The battlefield was ever changing. The paladin wielding the Halberd would find her strategy of pulling in the bandage user a forlorn cause. He could simply unsummon the tethers he tried to bind her with. The tonfa wielder was not so capable. He found himself impaled in the lower left quadrant of his abdomen by the bladed butt of her polearm.

Meanwhile, Mister Prey had hit his limit with the Witches above. He fell from the sky and the cloud that followed had disappeared. Left were two flying Witches, both hurt, but still fighting. Killing two in a fight against four wasn't a poor performance, but it meant the remaining two could return to the fight. And, they did. The first of them began her barrage of flame and fire, making it rain onto the ground below. This presented a problem in that despite the attempted orders of Nadia, Fox Hunt fully intended on trying to protect their equipment, assuming they could even protect themselves. No one present acknowledged those orders. Why would they? She had no grounds to give them and they had no reason to follow them. She was the outsider. Assuming she could walk in and give direction was just arrogance.

No, the real leader here was about to make himself known.

The second of the two Witches was a mistress of lightning and her destruction would have been far, far worse than flames that would rain down. Dodging fire was infinitely easier than dancing between bolts of lightning. Luckily for all below them, they wouldn't have to try. Before she could unleash her wrath, two daggers were plunged into the sides of her neck by caped figure donning the mask of Guy Fawkes. She began to fall, and he fell with her. Difference being, he could control his descent; she was already dead.

'Father would be so disappointed,' said a new voice across the live coms.

'Losing to a bunch of glorified corpses and a some fanatical cosplayers from a ren-faire - pathetic,' he went on, his voice coated in a youthful arrogance that far outweighed the rest of those in Fox Hunt.

Crimson was at least able to block in the incoming fire using his shields of blood, but only in the immediate area around himself and Red Fang. Luckily, some of the thus-far less useful group members were able to intercept, specifically by blasting what appeared to be grenade launchers directly into the fireballs. Thus, preventing the further destruction of the cargo. Those suits weren't just for show. They packed a fair amount of firepower, even if it was meager in comparison to some of the others.

The flaming Witch was soon also eliminated. How and where from wasn't clear, but she was plummeting to the ground right after.

Renard touched-down on the ground and immediately made a mad-dash for the Halberd-wielding Paladin, but there was a key difference with him. His soul was profoundly monstrous, but he wasn't alone. There was another. Two others, in fact. All resonating. He apparently had Demon Weapon partners, both of whom were Bloodsuckers themselves, and he made no effort to hide it.

The sword-wielding Paladin would retrieve his blade, but find himself in a precarious position. He would need to deflect the incoming rain of fire, lest allow some of his knights to be burnt by the incoming projectiles.

Most of the knights had to cease firing. The rain of flame and fire alongside explosions demanded it, some of whom were already caught up in the blasts and more may be depending on the actions of a Paladin. This created a brief opening.

Adrian transformed from his stationary state back to his human form, using his doors as massive shields to block any fire once it started. Nadia was close enough that he could rush over and ask the simple question:

"The fuck is going on?"

Simple, but valid. In all his time knowing Dani, he had never seen her soul flare the way it was. Equally important, in his entire time knowing Nadia, he had never seen her pause even slightly under pressure. This was just as new to him as it was to them. This was the first time Dani had ever been pushed to her limits in the battlefield. And, like, Adrian was making it worse trying to defend them when now, up close, the wound on his side and blood trickling from it was visible.

---

Between Bergen Basin and I-678...​

"No. I didn't," Samuel answered. Dry, plain, factual. If not for the background Feng and Aki came from, it might been off-putting how impersonal Samuel was.

"It's just Sam," he added, wanting to bring an end to the naming conventions. At least they didn't use his stage name. Granted, not many did; only the enthusiasts often even knew about it.

Once he had sheathed his katana, he outstretched his hand. It was turned upward, laying flat and horizontal. Korne took this as a message and transformed quickly only to retransform back into the hand of Sam. A brief moment passed in silence. There was slight glaze over his eyes; a familiar one that came when a Meister was intently listening to their weapon.

It didn't take long.

"It is my opinion that you are all overthinking this," Sam said, breaking that brief silence with a quick and decisive opinion.

"I hear a cry for help and answer. There is no other outcome," he explained, keeping it short and simple. In truth, Sam was a simple man of simple priorities. Grow his own strength and use it to protect others. He was warrior. Much like Mifune and Black☆Star before him, even if the latter claimed to be an assassin. It might have been easy to draw a comparison to him and Starwulf, but Sam had a larger ego. He also spoke less. A lot less.

"I likely outrank whoever your leader is. I will permit you to assist me, but only on the condition you wield Korne and abide his instruction," Sam offered, "or, you may return to whatever you were doing. If you do, I would ask you escort the Witch back to the Airtrain facility beforehand."

"Choose quickly. Time is of the essence."​

RedArmyShogun Shotgunpenguin EmperorsChosen

 

[The Regal Rper]

Paladins | JFK Airport, NY

Multiple things flooded the situation and with Witches rising to arms for Yeong, the male Paladin, his attention shifted from the witches attack to the sudden powerful emotional presence that came from Dani and Nadia.

Two witches cut down by one bloodsucker spelled immediate trouble however, so in the end, their problem was one he ignored entirely, the enemy for the moment was ignored entirely. What became his priority were his allies and the surrounding safety to prevent a greater fire. The projectiles that remained had to be taken out immediately.

Something wasn't right here, but there was no real time to think about why the Witches that had just been helping them a moment ago had decided to perform such foolish attacks that also resulted in friendly fire. Time to think was time wasted, he acted.

The male paladin blitzed away from the projectile heading in his direction to dodge and moved in the same instant towards his peers.

“Yeong!” was spoken with urgency into the comms and hurled in his direction after a brief moment of aiming with supernatural enhanced force behind it was exactly what he would need, a smaller portable shield, different from the ones the Knights had stuck into the ground to create a wall that their gunners could use as a defensive support. This slightly large buckler shield went hurtling in his direction at insane speed, pitched almost like a baseball, and the Paladin performed a strange stunt in catching it as the saya of his active weapon shifted to the free hand

The saya of his katana, the sheath to his weapon whether through experience doing this before or just the skill in his movement, in a display of exceptional agility he slipped the incoming object hurtling towards him in between the sturdy strap where you would hold the buckler shield and then using the angle it came, all he had to do to make it stop was to change his wrist position and the saya stopped the shield dead not far from the tip of the sheath. Locking it in place and then with the shield now acting as a protective front, he moved directly into the path of the nearest projectile approaching his allies and with a increase in the power of his wavelength swung the saya with the buckler shield facing the projectile, and struck it hard at the side instead of trying to brace against it. The move was more akin to swinging a bat one handed or almost akin to swinging a tennis racket in a sweeping arc against a rather comically large ball. And the effect of the Magitech shield was immediate as sparks crackled when the fireball made contact with the shield.

Yeong’s overhead sweeping action was quite simply done to shift the trajectory of the fireball not at the enemy or even to the ground, knowing the splashback it would cause but direct the fireball into the immediate path of another heading towards his peers, some of whom were scrambling to gather their allies after one fireball had managed to knock a few to the ground and cause a few to briefly catch minor fire damage they had swiftly put out.

The move would damage the shield but the action was worth it in the effect it would cause by colliding with any of the remaining projectile he was aiming for.

At the same time- the female Paladin made a simple command at the approach of the lead bloodsucker- his soul, not just his but the noticeable dual souls of his Weapons, making it quite clear she would need to change strategies if she were going to be forced to deal with him and all the others.

Divide and conquer was not the Paladin way, but for this moment, in this instant, they would have to make due. They trained to stop the worst, and she wasn't about to let one stop her here.

The words: “To me” were cryptic but the message was clear to the others on the Paladin comms. All capable allies that weren't preoccupied supporting Yeong's present effort, down from the attack, or assisting an ally, needed to focus their resonance on her.

In the exact time Yeong executed his move against the fireball Renard had landed and had begun moving, so too did the female paladin’s command get uttered. In the moments before this new bloodsucker would clash with her, the lead paladin’s spiritual energy had begun to rapidly rise with power. Now with the support of several more souls capable of providing their support and adding to the fire than when she had initially began, her spiritual presence had increased significantly and in that moment the wings of her grigori soul parted from her back-- small and nowhere near as fully formed as they could be to allow for flight, but that wasn't the purpose of this act.

It was instead to massively bolster the speed she was about to display with the increased burst of power. Immediately, she did not wait or give this Utility bloodsucker Meister or his Weapons the chance to capitalize on their shared resonance. Though she knew not the experiences of what a true Resonance was-- she knew the importance of the power up and how much of a problem it poses. Instead, she immediately blitzed.

Much faster than she had been before. Not just that alone but that furious conviction that could be felt in her approach was not light, nor was it phased by the presence of Renard’s palpable soul or the growing power the accursed act of Resonance provided. If anything, the confusing situation that had been created and the very idea the most skilled warrior had come out to finish things quickly drove the woman to take far more serious action immediately, knowing if she was severely injured or killed, her allies might just be next and they would certainly not last long for Brennan and Simon and reinforcements to get here.

For the briefest moment, there might have been something more than just blind zealous following that drove her to act here instead of retreat. And as she moved in to clash with the lead fighter, that feeling may have just been shared momentarily as thought in prayer was uttered and a bit more spiritual power rose to join her ascent.

The halberd twisted, spun, and then the blade came first in a slash that aimed for a killing blow- not the deep maiming moves that had been aimed at his peers which had been done to take them out of the fight swiftly unless a killing opportunity presented itself, but strikes that aimed for the head, important areas like the shoulders and elbows and knees, with the speed she moved at here and the strength behind it. Then the move reversed its direction immediately after before she twisted the polearm in her hands and the butt end of the Polearm’s spear tip came downwards in a slicing motion that she followed up with a reverse twist that brought the twin blades of the halberd head up from below in a upwards arcing slash. Her movements held no hesitation primarily because she knew clearly about the delays between resonance, her attention while fixed on Renard, did not ignore the fact the other members of Fox Hunt were present and could impede. Every moment she made at him also came with the awareness and caution she was one fighting against many while the other section of her team was preoccupied with the chaos of the foreball.

It was likely a few of the Knights may have moved to shift some of Fox Hunts attention the moment the fight between the female paladin and Renard began by providing fire support but that didn't change the fact she was still in the thick of combat with the most skilled of the group and the various others around.

The more time that passed however the gradual more there would be to add to her power. She started with twenty five or so, now she was using about fifty plus a good chunk of those still able in the link not supporting Yeong, should there be another attempt at wrangling her weapon again, or even worse trying to break it-- there were fail-safes installed that would at the very least make use of her weapon in a differing form as long as it wasn't totally destroyed beyond any use.

The battle was sure to be intense- the point was, would recruits get there in time?

Sonnetta hardly cared so long as she prevented the unnecessary bloodshed of her men and women at arms

Mentions: RedArmyShogun EmperorsChosen Sir Les Paul


Interactions: Fox Hunt

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Feng Long
New York City - Between Bergen Basin and I-678
September 26th​

Huffing a bit at the words of Samuel, or Sam as he preferred, Feng shook her head, clearly annoyed. Sam may have been a hero, likely a good one at it, but he didn't have a finer appreciation of the criminal things of the world, and the tactics of those who used them. "Not the point I was making. It could be a trap, one favorite tactic of the less morally inclined, is to leave something or someone out that is hurt to draw their enemies into a trap when they go to help." There was also as she thought before, that some sort of abomination was waiting for them with the souls begging for release. That one she wouldn't bring up.

"I won't speak for my partners, if it's a trap I rather spring it while I know. If it's not, then we did some good." Looking at Korne, or rather his weapon form again and the demand, Feng squinted her eyes. Sam with his greater soul tend to eclipse to some degree that which was with him. She wasn't 100% sure if the other items with him were Demon Weapons or not, but it did bring up a point of contexture. "Er, if you don't mind the asking, why aren't you using him? I'm not acquitted with Japanese weapons, and you seemed to know what you are doing with those katana you had before, are they all, err demon weapons? Your soul tends to blind out other souls near you, with my soul perception at least. Why don't you use him?"

Looking at her two partners, Feng gave a shurg. "If need be, I can use him, but It's going to be like earlier, not all that pretty, plus I want to make use of my partners as well."

With that she turned her gaze to Aki and Wes, giving a shrug as she did so. "So, we want to help him? Not like we can do our mission otherwise." Feng couldn't make heads or tails of this situation, time was of the essence, and she had still not actually accomplished what she was here for. To make matters more difficult it seemed Sam would follow up on this alone if he had to. And thus make her task all the more difficult.


Interactions: EmperorsChosen (Aki) Sir Les Paul (NPC's) Shotgunpenguin (Wes)

 

[EmperorsChosen]

Eloise Keegan - Zelezny Brod, Czech Republic
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

Elly was loathe to feed into overconfidence save for as part of a strategy. Even if the tide was in her favor, she didn't surrender control for confidence, instead waiting until it was certain. However, the spirit-leaching ability of Kisei's brought a new side out. For the woman who nary tolerated drugs save for the occasional alcohol, it was the closest thing to a high one could attribute to her, and did she ride it.

She was already smiling, lips curled upwards not in a large grin, but akin to a pleasantry. She had a habit of this when fighting, maintaining a look of calm and control. Now her lips curled further into an oppressive smirk which bore a hint of teeth. Her eyes narrowed dangerously a threatening glint. Just like when fighting the fae, Elly took the power boost and it fed into her mind as it did her body.

'Have a little fun, darling,' Elly cooed back, uncharacteristically haughty.

The boon didn't make Elly forget the mission or the objective, but it certainly made the battle itself more enjoyable. Victory wasn't a matter of question, it was a natural occurrence that would come after she made the Bloodsucker dance. Even as her eyes locked with the Baronness, Elly felt a tinge of hesitation shoot through her. She froze for a moment, her smile disappearing in a look of confusion momentarily. However, then it returned, more smug than ever.

"Oh-hoho... You bitch~" Elly commented as she realized what just happened. At first she seemed amused, but in reality, this 'Queen' was but entertained at the audacity of the attempt. Still, it did give the Baroness some moments of breath before Elly continued full force, turning each seamless twirl of the scythe into a slash or cleave against the Baroness's shield, seemingly following Kisei's request. Additionally, each hit was uncharacteristically heavy for Elly given the boost from resonance, the weapon amplification form, plus the leach. To boot, intermittent in the slashes, Elly would have the scythe separate, slinging one end around the side of the shield.

RedArmyShogun Sir Les Paul Merciless Medic Haze- The Regal Rper Pumpkid

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Maria Mayer - Atlantic City - New Jersey​

In the passage of the morning onwards, Maria would carry out her given role of scout, search and rescue more like... Well, no, just searching. Nothing out here had survived after all. She was sure of that the more they searched. So many people had died here, to her it was strange that people would be in such number at this time of the year. Though for herself it would be strange going to the beach at all.

The salty sea air was corrosive to all things, demanding constant maintenance, be it wood or metal, and as a result held little appeal to her. But such things were of little importance in the here and now. As she flew through the air with the displacement given by her broom and the light of her spells, she seemed to be filling the role of a less intrusive helicopter, searching for survivors. In turn all she found were the dead, to one extent more intact or less than the body before. If not for the odd workings of her mind, it would have been depressing rather than displeasing, as she wnt off to search yet another pile of rubble.

As far as her dolls went, she kept them on the more stable portions of the pier, issuing orders to the human sized pairs as they assisted in removing ruble or in moving bodies, depending on what the supporting agents needed. Miraculously one of the teams managed to find a survivor. But that was the end of the good news as a pile of debris just barely penetrating the waves rose up into the form of KN9. Maria was less than amused at this change in events, though heavily damaged, the beast was not dead as rumors the night before would say.

Soon after orders came in for her team to meet with Gauss at the Bright Blue Gate as it was called by the Meister, causing Maria to be curious if it was actually named that or something he hand came up with. Yet again a matter that didn't matter in face of current events. Forming a connection with her two medium dolls, Maria connected with and commanded them to head to the rendezvous, matching the strides of her dolls, it did not take so long to reach the point. As she cast a glance back at the monstrosity, then turned her attention back to Gauss she sighed audibly.

"It seems I may have yet more unreasonable demands to carry out? Though I do not like this... Does it mean the team in New York failed?" Maria knew who was assigned there, though she did not volunteer that fact.

Interactions: Merciless Medic (Raph-Noah) Meredith (Chanterelle) Sir Les Paul (Gauss) Peckinou (Arkayis) The Regal Rper (Ark)

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Nadia Semyonov - Daniella Ethalyn
New York City - North of JFK International - NYC
September 26th​

~~~

Dani’s mind suddenly silenced all at once, the noise from everything around her drowned out as her eyes focused on the wound displayed on Adrian. Not even his words she processed, just the blood. That offended her most of all. The anger and rage built further. Now things weren’t fine. She wouldn’t forgive them if they dropped all their weapons and begged.

’....No. Fuck them,’ Dani growled, a gravelly echo accentuating her voice. Her wavelength began to kick and hiss like a wildfire, but her voice was low and cold. ‘They’ve gone too fucking far–those pieces of shit…! Why should we run? Why do we always have to take the fucking high road? No! They fucking started it, so let’s fucking melt them!’

With the chaos all around them, Nadia barely had time to do more than glare at Adrian as the wave of hostility rolled into her, just a step or two from madness, though she had to admit the feelings were not alien from herself as Dani made demands. It seemed the Bloodsuckers weren’t going to listen to her anyways, as the Paladin with the halberd took out one of them more likely than not, the Witches were firing on everyone and before she could gather her thoughts some random fucker with mask that looked like a child or edgy teenager on the web showed up, killed a few things and said things as he did all of this that caused her to have pause.

Corpses? turning to look directly at the witches, Nadia reached out with soul perception, to see what would turn up with what faculties she still possessed as Dani’s rage filled in with her own as she shot back; ’Dani, do you think I want to run?’ She said within the soul space, aware of the presence of Rin, before turning back to all that was going on. ’There are three witches underground, what's left in the sky, what's left of those gunners and two Paladins. We can’t kill them all, not as in I won’t, but as in there are too many of the Moodozvon debil around here. So who are we taking?’

‘The fuck we can’t!’ Dani shot back. ‘We’ve killed giant golems, fucking tree spirits. Most of them are just fucking Human!’ She said, a long growl following as she took in Nadia’s words. She wanted them all dead. All of them. The ones here, the ones from before. Hell, Dani wanted to find their churches and hide a bomb in their bibles then go in to watch their Sunday sermons. However, those ones–the ones who shot her Adrian–those she wanted the most dead. ‘...Those fucking robes... The ones with the guns… We can kill all of them, can’t we?’ She questioned with bitterness in her voice.

’Provided the two Paladins don’t interfere, in fact I want us to ramp up, hard and fast as we can, as I fully expect them to attack us. Those guns are a bit too dangerous to leave alone, and if we can get between them, they’ll likely hesitate to fire… We also got those four witch shits on the ground.’

’Fuck the witches, they can stay buried,’ Dani snapped back. ’I’ll pump ya’ with everything I got… Just fucking kill’em. Even if you can’t muscle them, I can melt them before they know what fucking happens…’ She argued, her wavelength already flowing through her to amplify her.

’There are four or five more on ground level…’ She said with a sigh, going after the gunners was needed if only to prevent them all being gunned down, but Nadia while angry, did not expect it to be so easy. Knowing their luck the pompous jackass from before may turn up, or one, if not both of the current Paladins would attack her to defend them. Still focusing her soul perception on the witches, this all felt too… orchestrated. Knowing you were a pawn on the board ment little if all the other chess pieces wanted to play the game. One piece could not divert or derail the act. Turning her attention to Adrian she spoke aloud. ”Adrian, see to your wounds, regardless of the whys, we are surrounded by enemies. If you can back us up or finish off the witches behind the fists… Or stay out of the way, we are taking out those gunners.”

With those words said Dani and Nadia would continue to resonate, building up power as Nadia dived into the gunner line, blade ready as Dani readied her own special talents in the form of her tail and Venom. The die had been cast, while being ready for changes in the situation, Nadia also awaited whatever her soul perception would pick up on the witches. "Be ready for wavelength amplification on your blade."

Interactions: EmperorsChosen (Dani) Sir Les Paul (Adrian/NPC's) The Regal Rper (NPC's)

 

[The Regal Rper]

Ark | Atlanta | Rings: 0/1

Zosar had a point: Lady Luck was a capricious mistress.

It might have been funny to say: There she blows! As Godzilla sashayed in the distance ever closer. It's presence once again known-- but Ark really just felt tired.

The sentiment was shared as he noticed of course, as time went on.

For a guy that didn't believe in the concept of fate or destiny or any concept of having ones fate manipulated outside of the earthly bound toxic forces that be or about one's purpose being bound to a predetermined path, Ark could see why his ex-merc companopn believed in the universal concept of luck and it's advantages and disadvantages, especially in the times they had traded a few stories-- the few times Zosar said anything about his old life, when he was willing to say anything at all. Things certainly could have gone better considering Gauss' previous words. And if they had, perhaps he would inevitably found a desire to buy Gauss a drink. Corralling a sphinx was one thing, wowing a likely unintelligent titan was another.

He didn't believe Gauss could score two wins in a year like that anyway. If he did, it'd be Ark’s nightmare if his family started crying to make connections like they already were by prying into just who he was around in this program at all.

Maintaining the pier as the Titanic beast lumbered in the distance was no easy task. He had expected some difficulty of course, but nothing quite like this. The earth below in the deep refused to listen or was sluggish in its mannerisms. When he moved it, it barely did half of what his moments demanded, when he forced it the ground below as far as he could feel, seemed to wave off his commands.

Frustrating, to be quite frank. The old insecurities would probably never go away. That sense of losing what he was best at, was almost an insult- but his ego wasn't high enough to let it stay as a bother. The experience really just reminded him of Egypt and that blasted temple. More and more, it was becoming too clear to him that his reliance on his gloves, even his current repertoire, might require tweaking. Because in a fight where his ability to manipulate the earth was being hampered- well, his arsenal dropped significantly to his spells, and while those were useful they lacked the raw versatility he utilized so effectively. The Pier's fragile state was an example and the grateful skill of his magely companions eased the work load for the search significantly.

Ark as he performed in the necessary machinations, letting his thoughts consider the possibility of future adjustments to his gear, was interrupted by that roar.

Gauss instructions made it through slightly stressed ears. “Copy, en route. Over.”

By the time he had arrived by those very gates Maria was in sight and perhaps Chanterelle and Raphael.

Maria's comment though did get Ark's brain fumbling for information on what exactly she meant by that. The only thing he could recall at the immediate moment was that Nadia had been on that team with Adrian…and…maybe Feng with her partners? He couldn't quite remember the details except that Adrian, Nadia and Dani were on that team. Everything since yesterday had sort of just drawn his mental focus solely on the here and now.

“Were they supposed to do something about that thing?” Not even sure what to make of it. A whole Titanic beast lumbering around, and it has completely avoided the ones actually supposed to address it in case of a resurface.

There was nothing more to really do but look at the distant silhouette and sigh.

Lady Luck had a sick sense of humor.

Mentions: Merciless Medic

Interactions: RedArmyShogun
Peckinou Sir Les Paul Meredith

 

[Merciless Medic]

Sara Middleton​

Date: September 27, 2067
Location: The Derelict Mansion, Liberec Region, Czech Republic
Interactions: Dante, Elly, Kisei, Zosar, Wren, Jianghsi, Baroness
Mentions: N/A
Pumpkid EmperorsChosen Sir Les Paul The Regal Rper Haze- RedArmyShogun

This thing’s creepy laughter had Sara on edge, but what had her even more concerned were the long chains ending in sharp claws. She didn’t realize they’d come out so far, and she didn’t want to play with the idea of him possibly having Rejection or something that could cause an even bigger problem, so wrapping those chains around Dante wouldn’t be a good idea. Still, they were also just as dangerous swinging around like that.

As she came in with a horizontal swipe, she immediately changed the arc of her swing to hit the floor instead, pole vaulting over the one clawed hand and reaching the Jianghsi in the air. She spoke to Dante, voice focused. ‘Dante, I’m going to send you some of my wavelength. Amplify it and send it back to me. I need to be faster.’ She sent him a portion of her wavelength - an amount that was already a fraction of the human half of her soul. A sizeable chunk, sure, but it she wouldn't need too much.

Somersaulting, her continued swing aimed for the Jianghsi’s upper body. She didn’t need the amplified wavelength right this instant, she just wanted to make sure she wasn’t caught off guard by anything else this thing was going to throw at her.

The call of the Baroness’s command towards Elly and Elly’s resonance with Kisei to make that beautiful weapon form was missed by Sara, so was the continued absence of Zosar and Wren, as she focused on the Jianghsi. There was no time to ogle at the display nor worry about her other teammates, as troublesome as this focus was, but it also showed her trust in her teammates.

 

[Merciless Medic]

Noah & Raphael​

Date: September 27, 2067
Location: Steel Pier, Atlantic City, New Jersey
Interactions: Gauss, Arkayis, Maria, Ark, Chanterelle
Mentions: N/A
Sir Les Paul Peckinou RedArmyShogun The Regal Rper Meredith

Chanterelle’s concern about their sleep was nice, but it wasn’t something Raphael or Noah could comment on. Raphael looked sheepish while Noah shrugged.

Noah stayed beside Gauss for the majority of this clean-up. He’d go in and help pull a few of the bodies when he could, but he couldn’t help but see the dead he saw during the Fool’s Festival. Much more worrying was when he’d be beside Gauss and their team lead communicated with other teams, who looked emotionally dead - in shock maybe. Noah could feel it, he was there before. Maybe he was feeling it now.

He felt so empty.

He did offer some of his healing wavelength to those who were mentally struggling, hoping that it would do them some good. Noah was still conserving his energy though, so he didn’t offer it too much, just to those who looked like they were really suffering.

Memories flashed before his eyes as he was reminded of those volunteers and victims he tried to help calm in that tent. It frustrated him that another calamity had happened, and they weren’t even here to help stop it. He shouldn’t care so much, but it tore at his heart and reopened an old wound of feeling like he wasn’t enough.

His hands felt cold and numb, his green eyes just as dead as those poor families who couldn’t make it out in time, and yet he forced himself to continue. For the majority of his time helping, he was unusually silent and stiff.

As for Raphael, he had talks with both Sara and Noah about what had happened on the Fool’s Festival, and he was starting to get sick being in the thick of this search-and-rescue. Well, more like search-and-retrieve. It was bleak, a reminder of how mortal their lives were. Raphael’s jaw was clenched for so long that his muscles were starting to hurt from the strain. He made pseudo-cranes, and helped stabilize dilapidated structures, going with Maria’s dolls in some aspects to help with the search when he had nothing to do.

He could understand why Sara and Noah were changed after the Fool’s Festival. Seeing all these people, people they could have helped if they were here instead of goofing off somewhere else ate away at his mind. While he didn’t feel like he wasn’t enough like Noah, he still felt a nagging feeling that something should have called for an evacuation. How did no one notice the beast before it destroyed the piers and beachside?

What was troublesome was that this creature, the one everyone said was being dealt with, arrived. Raphael growled as he saw the beast come up, but he heard Gauss’s voice loud and clear. He huffed, running back to the gate as he heard Maria and Ark ask about what was going on.

There was a team in New York? He swore he must have missed something.

While Raphael ran back to the rendezvous point, Noah obeyed Gauss’s orders and transformed. His soul felt a little colder than normal, likely due to his continued numbness to the situation, but he was still trying to function like a Demon Weapon. He barely even heard the creature’s shriek, his mind just trying to process what he had seen - again - and focus on Gauss’s wavelength.

Raphael’s skin tingled upon hearing the screech, making it to the destination and looking back at the creature. He tried to see if it was even damaged at all, huffing. He spoke on the comms, eyes squinting. This would have been great if he had both eyes that worked. “I thought this thing was dead already? Is it even damaged?” That was honestly his main concern.

 

[EmperorsChosen]

Aki Kiyoko - North of JFK International Airport

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

Sam's affirmation didn't put Aki at ease. It just confirmed their lack of information and how weird that sensation was. Aki normally would have been in Sam's shoes, telling everyone else calmly that they were overthinking everything. She would tell them to just do it or do not. Here, however, she didn't feel that good about investigating that strange call. It didn't help that unlike Sam, Aki was not an altruist. While she was a good person, generally, and a people-pleaser, she was raised in an opposing environment. Her concern was her company. The enemy or the collateral were of less concern, especially when they were greatly suspect.

On top of that, Feng wouldn't even be using her. It made her jumpy, like being the middle car of a convoy and hearing explosives around her. At least being apart of the fight gave her something to focus on.

"...It's up to you," Aki replied with somewhat of a pout, still sticking quite close to her sister. "...I'm pretty much useless here apparently..."

While self-depreciative, it was more an expression of her earlier thoughts. Aki would essentially be luggage and so Feng's beliefs were more imperative than hers. Even if Feng was unfamiliar with the type of weapon, the raw power boost from a Death Scythe would make up for any lack of grace, and Aki knew she couldn't match it without likely causing damage to Feng.

Aki glanced over to Wes briefly. He too wasn't as useless as she was here. His wavelength had plenty of practical use and, if nothing else, he could be used as a shield. Though she wondered if he would even want to proceed given he was fairly risk-averse.

"Well... you and Wes, I mean," Aki added. If he was of use, he deserved to be part of the decision as well.

RedArmyShogun Sir Les Paul Shotgunpenguin