middleofsomewhere | The Will to Fight: Finale: All teams

The Will to Fight: Finale: All teams

The Far Gate

Given that people have scouted ahead, it will be no surprise when those who arrive at the Red objective find an army of demons there. Unlike the other packs they have encountered, these ones are not roaming, and don't appear to be heading towards the city. Instead, they are guarding something.

A gate. It is larger than the others they have seen so far by an order of magnitude, and if there are this many demons outside, the keystone must be guarded just as well.

For those who are actually on the red team their SCA will flash up a message: This gate has multiple keystones. It is the focal point for other gates closer to the city. Close it.

Around the City

In the Caverns

Once the rockfall was cleared, those that wished to could make their way back towards the city. They might come across demons on the way, small packs scouting the land and hunting survivors, but for the most part their way will be clear until they get to the city and to the Voidtrecker camp.

For everyone else, there are plenty of non-combatants that need protecting. The cavern itself remains warded against demons, but patrols still pass and keeping everyone safe and hidden is important.

Almost all the citizens have thrown off the mind control now. Some of the younger children have started having nightmares, and keeping everyone positive and calm is harder than it was before with a goal in sight.

In the City

The sigils hum and glow. For those feeding them power it's a very long couple of days; though once the monks are free they join in, brusquely waving off any questions or concern about their wellbeing to focus on the task at hand: protecting the city. They will of course accept any extra energy. The wards are not meant to go out completely, it will take a lot of energy to restart them.

By the eleventh day it is clear something else is wrong. Some of the focus stones on the city walls are out of place, either knocked awry in the battles before the false peace, or sabotaged by demons. Either way, for the wards to fully activate they will need those not giving energy to go out onto the walls, to find the stones and align them. It's not too technical but might be dangerous, because outside the walls, a fight is about to begin…

The Battle for the City

The attacks have gotten more frequent but on the evening of day ten they stop. Silence. No gates open, no demons attack. The whole night is spent in a tense, almost eerie silence.

It is broken at dawn the next day, two massive gates open, one to the north of the city and one to the south. Demons march out, heading towards the city.

Not just demons, they each have two large structures, siege machines. It seems they wish to knock this city down completely, securing their victory over the humans.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

FOOLISH BRAT, WHAT WERE YOU THINKING RUNNING IN LIKE THAT!?
Shut up, you wanted to charge in like this and agreed to it! Better me than anyone else.

The fox lectures him as he yelps at the whip that came down on him, snapping his head back to the large demon with a growl and fangs still bared and fur bristling. Then a wave of pain hits him and even the fox tells him to run back to the group and get that looked at, but not before one more bite into a nearby demon and lashing of his tails at another before he runs back to the nearest group with the same ghostly fire lingering around the demons as a hopeful distraction. He'd probably have more luck using Chenqing in his non-transformed form, if he can make it back without another lashing.

It was like being in a magic show that was made of water instead of flashy lighting and mirrors. If Reno minded how wet he was getting from all the bursting water balls, he didn't show it. If anything it brought a sharp little smile to his lips as he dashed and weaved through the display.

He didn't have any pre-planned moves to go along with Demyx's flashy limit break like he would have with Rude, but the Turk made do improvising to the tune. Now this was a tango!

The Turk kept up a barrage of strikes with his baton, fancy kick combos, and even threw a punch or two at the demons as Demyx kept them busy with the water attacks. He threw in an arc of lightning here, and a taser prod there but notably there was a lot less electricity on display from the Turk than usual.

At least until the end. Reno saw his opportunity to wreck havoc as the waterza spell splashed over a slew of demons in the area--and the redhead seized the moment to leap into the air and slam back down with his baton hitting the ground. From the EMR burst a large electrical blast that spread out in a full sphere of blue lightning around the Turk; its spread was wide, and the water only strengthened its power and radius more as it snaked its way through the water left on the scene.

The Turk stood slowly to survey his (and Demyx's) handiwork, a smirk on his lips. His smarmy attitude was interrupted though by a tug on his pants leg, but when he looked down he didn't really see anything so much as recall the image of a creature he'd once seen on the train. He blinked and it disappeared from his mind's eye. However, it left the feeling of something behind--of pure magic, an energy unbridled, and a strong twinge of...

Reno looked towards Roland on an instinctual urge. His smirk dropped into a small frown as his brows knit together. "Damn..." He couldn't tell what but something was clearly wrong with the guy. The redhead muttered something about a puppy not being too pleased if things got worse and reluctantly (but quickly) made his way towards Roland.

"Hey, you." Insert your preferred version of informal and rude ways to say that here. "The hell is the matter with you?"

He hoped the guy didn't need a restorative spell because he wasn't sure he could deliver. Could he get the guy closer to one of the other healers? Probably, if push came to shove he'd hoist the guy up and carry him off. Ah, the things he'd do to finish a job right.

He reached out a hand to touch Roland on the shoulder.

Everything's going well, until it isn't. Unable to see the little spirits running around, the spider blinks as energy passes over her, rippling against her barbs, sending goosebumps up her arms. Death. Water, electricity, ice, heresy--

Heresy?

Eh? Oh, right, red girl's illusions are-- wait, no, she's doing some huge summon thing. Cool, but not the source of... Well, whatever. She's halfway through constructing a healing circuit for the group now beside her when Yondu and Roland start acting super weird behind her. And as a giant fox limps up. Um? Okay.

Okay, okay, she can do this. Frazzled, too much happening at once, she takes inspiration from the fight around her. Water! Water works. Instead of a more typical healing spell, she starts with medicinal water, adds holy, imbues it with heresy resistance... she has no idea what's happening, but it seems like it's mind-flavoured. Above her, above her upstretched hands, a huge ball of glowing liquid forms -- and then explodes into glowing rain as she releases her hold on it. Great Gospel time! Please no one stab her, she's not ready to get fridged!

[ ooc: anyone hit by the water will be (1.) healed of minor injuries (2.) able to better resist mind-influencing effects (3.) purified to some extent and (4.) completely, totally soaked. ]

Tidus had taken the portal ~~back a thousand years ago~~. A portal made by Spider? Sure, why wouldn't he blindly trust the spider lady - he has this far on the train, and he jumps right into the action, leading him straight--

--to that giant hunk of no good news known as the siege engine? Well, with Allen focusing on the demons and keeping them at bay, Tidus takes the opportunity he has. The high higgledy back inside his heart, the hope and its power mingling with his. He's been silent for a reason, on a mess of a battlefield - gathering magic and doing his best to move around, but not much. He feels a dizziness come to his head as the pyreflies from his own magic gather around him, and around the siege machine...

Water starts to condense, moisture thickening the atmosphere until spheres spin around the machine and coalesce inward, as large as the machine itself, a sudden burst of water coming from underneath. Before, the geysers had been small -- this time, it's more like a geyser, attempting to damage, flip, or do whatever to the machine, the mass of water boosted by high higgledy.

But still, for as strong as the aid of the higgledy is to the attack, Tidus feels the exhaustion from it collapsing to a knee after pulling it off.

A lot of stuff is starting to wear down at Yuume.

Part of this is because her sword can't freaking block anymore. She needs to talk to Kyoko later, and ask that please, please, in the future, don't make her giant blade impossible to use for a parry, but for now it occurs to her that these aren't necessarily things she needs to block.

And good thing too, because no matter how many times she dives into the shadows below, she has to surface with enough fistance to get to that siege engine. And if Kumoko's water isn't reaching that far, she's not getting a break with that.

So Yuume swings the blade down- she swings it down and cuts at the chains before ducking into shadow to avoid what she can, cutting at the orb, scattered rain of rot be damned. She's good at the 'determinator' thing.

Specifically the part where she keeps charging mindlessly forward, pushing the idea of anything that is absolutely screaming in pain from mind. "I've had vines grow through my arms," she sneers, cutting forward and through. "Do not think even THIS will stop me..!"

Mami is deeply concerned about all of this. She's finally clear-headed enough to take a look at the battle as she picks off smaller demons, but...nothing seems clear at all. The trajectory of the swings don't make sense, pain and despair swirl around...and it's distressing.

She sees a Kyoko under siege and lashes a steel ribbon at that chain to pull it back, her other hand sending out a yellow healing aura---but the others are far from her, there's only so much she can do.

Stay on her feet long enough to heal, deal with the mess later.

[Kyoko dodges the chain with Mami's help, jumping back to get some room.]

Now that I've got a clear Soul Gem, I can really go all out!

[Her Soul Gem shines bright red as five giant spears with shafts bigger than tree trunks rise from the ground. They coil in unison, and all launch at the siege engine.]

"Get back!"

Roland allows the demon to come close to him, muttering the call sign to himself over and over again, hoping someone can hear him; hoping his mind can latch on. But it doesn't quite work, the demon's claws reaching for his shoulder - though the reality of it is lost on him, Reno's hand simply trying to shake him free of the illusion.

He takes a step back and draws his gun from the hammerspace, aiming it at the demon - the voidtrecker he can't see past. And he would have shot Reno then and there, but Rannygazoo the high higgledy braves its own fears and leaps towards the barrel of the pistol, swinging it to the side with all its might. Instead of shooting a friendly, Roland instead shoots to the side, barely grazing an arm...

...and he tries to chase that feeling instead; the glow of a creature like a lighthouse in the night, unable to dispel illusions but all the same, a guiding force back to life. It's then that Kumoko's magic rain showers upon him, forcing Roland to blink repeatedly.

"Y-You...You're - " Red hair. Red hair and that face, unmistakable, a memory jogging, flashes of images transposed over the battlefield. Reno?

He sees his higgledy now, the magic doing its job. But his vision is still compromised, seeing the rest of the landscape akin to static on a television, one minute demonic invaders, the next the truth of the voidtrecker's last stand. It confuses him enough, but he's gaining cognizance by the second.

However, Roland is still a man down, unable to contribute to the greater fight. He's not taking up his weapon and swinging it around just yet.

Allen made sure to stick near Tidus, mostly because he had not a single clue as to what the other was attempting, plus if he needed to move him for whatever reason he knew he had the reflexes that were quick enough to deal with it.

As he watched the water, he had moved to block an incoming attack, making sure all the while to keep an eye on the other. When he saw him take a knee he kicked the demon away.

"Do you need help moving around?"

She can't understand what is happening around her, as the charge seems to falter. She sees Roland's distress, and her instinct is to fall back to his position, drawing as many as she can into a defensive formation. But those of them working as salients are...holding, for now.

She assesses things as best she can, with unfamiliar and above all numerous foes. They still have momentum on their side - but the driving force behind it seems to be faltering. She could be wrong, but if she's right...

She has to make a decision. If she falls all the way back to Roland, that might be too far - she might not make it in time. Yondu is closer, and his arrow is lethal and above all ranged. It can, perhaps even by itself, keep the demons from forming up too much.

She hopes Roland will be fine - but her decision is made. She turns, falling back, to aid Yondu the best way she can under the circumstances: by hand.

If he needs help spotting targets - she can give very precise directions. Thankfully the clock system of aiming translates well, really.

The general aura of the battlefield shifts as the Higgledies and Kumoko's rain bring purification and beautiful energy to the field. The demons start to fall back slightly, towards the siege engine though they are perhaps too late to save it.

Tidus' water has flipped it almost to its side and Kyoko's spears do the rest sending it crashing down as Yuume takes out the big demon before it can even think about trying to lift it. Shadowy chains strike out at all three of them. Two of the regular demons pounce as well one towards Allen and one towards Mami in an attempt to interrupt her healing.

The dragon is still causing chaos and has occupied most of the big demons, though a couple break off to close in on Kumoko instead, lashing out with toxic whips.

Wei Wuxian is still surrounded, a small demon approaching to throw shadowy chains at him. Thea is in similar trouble, her arrow took down a smaller demon but it has enraged a whole pack on the regular ones that are trying to surround her and herd her away from the group.

Demyx, Vexen, Guri and Yondu are making better progress against the demons even with Yondu fighting the illusions. The numbers are beginning to thin, there might be an end to this demon hoard after all.

Which is good news for Roland and Reno who for the moment have a little bit of space.

Edited 2021-03-24 21:09 (UTC)

A person shape (Guri) comes up beside him and he tries to pick out sounds that aren't pain and suffering. The grunts of pain from demons failing rather than the anguish of friends and young people. He tries to focus on sound, contact

"I hope whoever you are, you're here to talk to me and not-

And then he's doused. This is the wettest damn fight that Yondu has been in that's nowhere near water. Is he the only member of this party that cannot produce water out of thin air!? But luckily after a rush of chilly water his him and he opens his eyes, the tunnel hearing of nightmare sounds ebbs and he's seeing a wavering view of the real fade into clarity. The visions of death and pain and sounds of ravenous demons victorious are gone.

He recalls his arrow again. "Thank ya!" he offers real quick to Kumoko and the assassin, having been unaware of what Thea did because of the illusion, before shouting out, "It's trickin' us like what happened in the city! It's the same kinda illusion! An' there ain't no humans on that siege engine-" He'd looked for any humans to avoid long enough to figure that out "-so if it's man-made I don't know where it come from!"

And then, out at the demons, because he's pissed after all that. "I know where all y'all skinny little bastards are at now!" They just made it worse on themselves.

Now that he has his eyes again, he decides to focus on clearing enemies around them for a little bit. The arrow flies in tight, nasty loops and picks off enemies around them, giving the healers some recovery room because they really need it. But once he's thinned that herd he's going to go back to picking off demon leadership.

Ha, take that! Like a wannabe programmer squinting at their screen, she doesn't know how she fixed it, but it looks like it worked out. Feels good! Feels great! Feels... woozy?

Uh. Right, those chains from before. Her calculations were off, huh?

If she were under the control of the system, she has a horrible feeling that she'd be seeing an MP bar rapidly approaching zero. Even without the HUD, it's a familiar sensation; her vision is swimming, all ten eyes focusing at different points, wavering--

She greys out for a moment to the sound of whistling, human torso slumping over in a faint.

[Kyoko once again attempts to counter chains with chains, trying to get them tangled in each other. She's long had battlefield awareness beaten into her, so she notices quickly when Kumoko goes down.]

Crap, the spider lady just collapsed!

[Kyoko summons more Rosso Fantasma clones, three to protect Kumoko and three to get in melee with the remaining demons. The real Kyoko is staying at a distance and using her spears like javelins, throwing them at any demon in range.]

Oh, good. Yondu is back on station - she makes a mental note to ask Kumoko about that water, when this is all over. Kumoko is nice and interesting. Then, she breaks into a full-speed run, holstering her guns to conserve dwindling ammunition.

Yondu is back in the fight. Check. Kumoko is covered by the Multiple Lady. Check. Which leaves Thea the most vulnerable, in her book. And so, at full speed, she simply barrels straight into the demons.

She's a deadly shot. But that isn't where her true strength lies. That rests in hand-to-hand combat, where the blond moves like a grim angel. Precise blows, each delivered with her maximum strength; powered by synthetic muscles and durasteel bones. She was long ago programmed for this sort of fight, and she can shrug off blows that would down a human. She grabs the one that's getting nearest Thea by the back of the neck and swings it around like a club, right into its fellows.

If they haven't turned their full attention to her, they'll very shortly regret doing it, though probably only briefly - and hopefully this will give Thea the breathing space she needs.

Edited 2021-03-24 22:52 (UTC)

And that's all Thea needs to regroup, grab dropped arrows and goes back to firing volleys into demons. She returns the favor via volley into a pack coming from the side,"Needed that!" plus a quick thumbs up of thanks mid-firing into demons.

To hell with it, the fox form isn't doing him any good at all as he's trapped, but the sudden drenching feels nice enough and heals some of the more minor injuries. But it's time to turn back into the human form with just one black tail with red tip showing with his fluffy ears looking the same. Chenqing was still in the hoodie pocket, thank the heavens, and is immediately pulled out with shrill notes played from it. If there's any corpses around, he'd be grateful for their use to fight the surrounding demons. A different tune, one he focuses on towards the demons as he summons illusions of his own against them to try and trick them into thinking each other is a voidtrecker.

He's cursing his lack of Suibian here, it had become useful again for him back in Hakagemachi and he'd grown dependent on it again.

Mami is really getting tired of this. She lashes a ribbon out to try to dodge the demons again, firing cures this way and that---she manages to reach a few, but it's hard with them constantly on her tail.

They're losing people---they have to end this fast. So with a yell she leaps straight up, summons an entire skirt of rifles...and creates a platform of ribbons beneath her. From here, she starts to snipe ruthlessly---she can feel herself getting close to her limit, but they're so close.

The good news is, Yuume is fully prepared to handle the chains the same way she did before.

The bad news is, that's taking some time this time. They might not be able to wrap around the blade- which frankly is probably surprising the demons even- but trying to handle enough of the chain without getting hit (difficult, especially when she's turning it into scattered shrapnel), without anything else hitting her? Is, well...hard.

An idea though- Yuume sinks directly downward into the shadows, after pulling as much attention from the chains as possible.

Eat dirt- literally, she thinks, even as she tastes 'metal' in her mouth.

Chugging his bottle of Hi-Ether, Vexen immediately feels somewhat better. It doesn't help the physical fatigue, but he can feel magical energy at the ready again. As the rain falls on him, however, something strange happens. Dark purple and black smoke rises up from him wherever the purifying water lands, reeking of something truly foul.

It's distracting, and at a moment where he can't afford to lose focus, with Frozen Pride so far away. When a demon sets upon him, his reflex is to block. Row upon row of teeth rip into his arm and claws tear at his chest, causing even more dark smoke to billow from him, now mixed with the pale grey of frigid air. He can't cast like this, and there's no retreating while the creature is clamped onto his arm. The best he can do is flail at it with his free arm as he grits his teeth against the pain, clearly unskilled in hand to hand combat.

Xingchen is on the battlefield, gathering what courage he has and fight to save everyone to the best that he can, as he hasn't fight in a long time, but he finally remembers his swordmanship and combat skills. While he worries for his nephew and his family and his friends, his help is needed, and with his sword, he stabs whatever demons are in his way.

When he sees his roommate in trouble, he can't let him suffer in pain. With the demon attacks him, he stabs the demon right in the back to help free him.

"Vexen, hang in there. I'm here!"

Demyx had barely gotten any potion in his mouth when he realized Vexen was taking damage from something, leaking darkness and for some reason fighting a demon in a hand to hand throw down.

That seemed like a bad idea, even to him and Vexen did just throw a Hi-Ether at him. With his dance partner gone, it was just as well to find himself someone else to fight with.

He had just enough, through MP Haste and a touch of potion to do his watery dash to close the distance but really, really he was mostly tapped out. He arrived just behind Xingchen and took the position at Vexen’s other side.

“What are you doing?” Demyx asked, looking a little harried and with that moment, now he could get the potion in him and he stood next to Vexen, shooting him an unimpressed look.

Was that another demon? Thwack! At least he was armed!

Yondu's arrow flies around the battlefield at speed, taking out demons. It is added to by arrows from Thea as she fires rapidly. The demons are being cut down, no siege engine to retreat to now as Mami fires across the battlefield. There are multiple Kyokos protecting Kumoko as Guri, Xiao Xingchen, Demyx and Vexen cut down and grapple with demons. The tide has turned and the Voidtreckers have the upper hand.

And then the dead rise, which might be deeply concerning for those who are not aware of Wei Wuxian's power, to see demons the previously killed stand once more. More surprising still to see them go after their own, fighting the other demons.

The ground rumbles, ominously. Enough to knock someone off stride, perhaps enough to knock them down completely. It seems to bolster the remaining demons as they stop attempting to retreat and double down in their attacks.

"Got it!" Tidus had answered Allen, pulling from his arms band an elixir, chugging the small phial, to deal with his drain on both sides. Either good timing or poor as the chain had come to wrap around him, and--oh, word, those just got twisted up? Thank whoever did that.

So Tidus manages to get up on his feet, a glance at the siege machine to see its condition (not upright? good), realising a sense of apprehension and dread that isn't his own, but--he looks, can't see across the battlefield with the demons, and he starts to make some way through them, distracted by foe, stopping, the ground rumbling.

Not good. Please don't tell him it's a second machine. His destination had been to where the few of his blue higgledies were, gathered by Roland, fussing and trying to soothe him with spells. But he tries to reach out through to the man by the connection of Gibbers and Rannygazoo, concern intermingled with a greater sense of hope.

He hopes himself for some time of answer, but there are demons around, he knows he still has to fight--!

Not the first time someone had pulled a gun on him, not even the first time that it was a former ally, and really not even the first time it was Roland holding the gun aimed at him. Altogether it was a rather unfortunately familiar position. Reno held up his hands in the universal surrender sign, palms facing Roland to show his hands were empty--indeed, he even let his baton slip out of his hand to dangle on his wrist from its strap so that he was well and truly defenseless.

It didn't seem to make a difference. Roland didn't look pissed off at him this time, instead he looked a bit confused and pained, like he was fighting something on the inside that hurt more than physical wounds. Like he was anguished and simply reacting--like he didn't really see what was in front of him. Luckily for Reno, something made a difference in the split-second before the gun fired because he damn well noticed the sudden motion of the arm being pushed aside as the trigger was pulled. Reno flinched as the bullet grazed past his arm, ripping his clothing and leaving a nice mark across his skin which quickly began to seep red.

He wasn't quite certain breathing a sigh of relief was appropriate yet so he held it instead as he watched Roland carefully, expression neutral. The dark haired man definitely looked more than a bit confused now and Reno frowned slightly as he let his arms drop back to his sides.

"Yeah, asshole, it's me. I know you hate me but could you wait until we're finished with the mission to try and get the drop on me? Tch." A beat. "Can we consider this makes us even?"

NOT THE TIME, RENO.

But leave it to the morally questionable Turk to ask such a thing right in the middle of a battlefield with a mental crisis going on. Yes, he was the worst. No, he felt no remorse for it.

"You better now? Or do I need to get you out of here?"

That was probably as close to concern as the redhead was going to get as he stared cautiously (and perhaps worriedly?) at the former president. It was, at least, a genuine question and offer. Definitely a good thing they had a minute to spare for the time being, thanks everyone. Hopefully they wouldn't need it for much longer.

Meanwhile, it had been a hot minute on the battlefield since the King of Dragons was summoned and his time was rapidly coming to an end. A glowing red aura somewhat like sparks flying outwards from the great beast began to emanate from the dragon. Any hostile entity standing within the aura would feel it effecting them negatively, causing damage in repeated waves as it pulsed out from the dragon. (Friendlies would see it, but not suffer from it.)

Bahamut took another clawed swipe at his latest opponent. He hovered for a pregnant moment in the air with nothing but the aura surrounding him. Then, with a great beat of his wings, the large black dragon rose higher into the air and looked down on the battlefield. He took a deep breath and as he did so a great force of energy formed within his gaping maul--and when he breathed out an awesome blast of energy flew rapidly down to the battlefield and struck the area where the largest foes stood, hitting a multitude of demons with his fearsome Megaflare.

Then the dragon flew straight up into the air at a seemingly impossible rate for a winged creature and disappeared. It's time was up, it had done what it was Summoned to do, and that was that. It was gone.

Edited 2021-03-25 05:32 (UTC)

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