[Log] Escort Mission: The Tatlins, pt. 2
WHO: Asch, Anise Tatlin, Lucas, Aerith Gainsborough, Brigit Kelly, Luke fon Fabre, Maria Tegawa, Soma Cruz
WHEN: Saturday, March 7
WHERE: Near Daath, Auldrant 2
WHAT: Here by popular demand (if by "popular" one means "one person requested it")! An IPA troupe lead by Asch escort the Tatlins along with a mysterious package from Daath to the Hub. Some familiar undead faces take exception to this.
WATCH FOR: Oliver Tatlin gets a bright (and stupid) idea, NPC power!, Brigit is badass, PONY
As soon as the monster crumples under Lucas's stick, his eyes widen in horror and revulsion. Sure, on one level he's aware that these are zombies or vampires, and whatever they are, they're already dead. But still. "Oh, I didn't-I didn't /mean/ to-AAAGH!" The claws cut long gashes in his arm, and he nearly drops the stick from the shock. Instead he pulls it back, ignoring the momentary pain and springing up from his horse.
His jump is boosted by something supernatural, his psionics flowing through his body and manifesting as light shimmering near his ankles. While in midair, he concentrates and points one finger down at the rest of the approaching ghouls. "PK FIRE!" Just saying it is enough to help the boy fire a bolt of psychic energy from his head, a bolt which will explode into flames the moment it touches anything.
Lucas misses The Major with his PK Fiyer attack.
Hey, NPCs can get names sometimes! It's just Sergeant Hughes' good fortune that he got an upgrade from 'nameless grunt' to 'Locrian Sergeant' to 'Locrian Sergeant who actually appeared in a spin-off game once.' Well, it's better than nothing, anyway; this way, he'll *probably* survive, maybe.
"Ugh!!" As the Malkuthian zombies--and it is quite clear to Larry by now that these are *not* human, and he is reminded in a flash of battle intuition of that one-sided fight he'd heard of in Theor Forest--slash into him, he again takes the brunt of the attack in order to protect the box behind him. However, this time he's almost run through, and avoids getting skewered by means of savvy mount manipulation. The lizard-horse screeches and rears back, whipping its head back and forth to try to force some of the vampires back, and Larry counters with a quick slash-slash-thrust combo.
"I'll do neither!" he shouts back as he attacks. "I have a mission to complete, and /you/ won't stop me!"
You hit The Major with your Big Words from An Extremely Minor Character jab.
Meanwhile, Pamela and Oliver are cowering in the middle towards the back. At least they're not panicking and making things worse.
Flanking? Asch can deal with being flanked. The reins of his mount are suddenly jerked and a sharp command is shouted to the creature, one that fortunately registers as valid. Instead of making any attempt to defend or, Asch draws his arm -- and sword -- back and across his chest, and his mount takes a step towards the ghoul on the right before abruptly turning; with luck the attack will connect and the ghoul will get less than affectionately hipchecked to the ground or into more of his companions.
While his mount (hopefully) takes care of one zombie, Asch leans forward and takes a vicious, vertical slash at the other. The preparation necessary to get these attacks off correctly means Asch takes /another/ hit from the two, but if he can take at least one of them out, it'll be worth it.
Asch hits The Major with his Heads are overrated anyway. attack.
A hiss of breath is forced out of Soma as the foot connects with his gut. Slipping off the 'horse' had cost him the ability to defend against the attack and though he recovers quickly, that doesn't mean much against an opponent who can move very fast.
Unless said opponent decides to pause for vengeful banter. Renewing his grip on the silver blade, Soma resists the urge to return a counter-barb or vocalize the realization that there had been a few escapees after all and lashes out in hopes of finishing the job.
There aren't many titles for Soma's attacks, at least not official ones; which is good in this case as he's still winded and can save his breath for the attack itself. Communication, such as it is, comes in the shape of a cold lack of mercy in silver eyes. There isn't any hesitation; maybe pain, but anger seems absent or at least contained and channeled into something useful.
But he's searching for a soul, too, one he hadn't had at immediate beck so it's taking some time to hunt it up, saving his energy too, for when he will call on it, so his attacks remain standard, almost mundane albeit skilled in execution.
Soma Cruz hits The Major with his A survivor? Let's fix that shall we. attack.
What the. A meat cleaver? It is a strangely fitting weapon for a situation like this and though it has no been melted down into a series of knives, Excalibur still retrains it's supernatural sharpness and a bit of that 'holy' ability as well. The sharp clever cuts deep into the vampire's neck, splitting the jugular and -burning- the flesh around it. The acrid stench of burning unholy flesh emerges from the smoldering neck and the vampire would scream if it still had its vocal cords. Jaws move soundlessly as he lurches forward on his second death throws, flailing wildly and just.. well he just tries to punch Brigit.
More enemies try to launch themselves at Luke but the young man is able to bring up the barrier just in time. Two of them find themselves suddenly impaled upon the pillars of ice and they howl in pain, kicking and punching with their supernatural strength. Bits of ice crack beneath their fists as fetid blood runs black along the white/blue ice. One manages to snap off a chunk of the ice and hurls it downward at Luke, pointy end first.
There is a shifting hrking sound as the team of vampires and ghouls attacking Python find themselves neatly corraled by the snake's massive tail and one gets a knife right in the forehead, eyes crossed as he slumps against the pressing body of his companions. One of them who managed to maintain hold of his spear looks up. "GET HER!" He shouts as he leans back as far as he can and heaves the blade on a stick with superhuman strength.
But of all the vampires, at least -one- gets lucky. He gets himself a mouth full of Cetra blood, which tastes -funny- and burns a little as it goes down his throat. But at the same time, it feels remarkably energizing. Of course, he is so busy enjoying the taste of Aerith that he doesn't realize that he's suddenly on the receiving end of a violently powerful lizard's tail. The tail knocks him neatly into the air where Tokunaga's upper cut intercepts his downfall and punches him up into the air! Another ghoul, overtaken by the scent of fresh blood, tries to lunge at Aerith and hopefully dismount her.
And yes. They are beating at the plush, but only because they were warned about the giant plushie. It is -dangerous- and if you can take it down, then the little girl is no problem.. Right? But the problem appears to be actually taking down said plush. The one that's batted flies stunned to the side while the other dangles comically in the plushie's hand. "... .. We are -not- you filthy ." He's once again tossed to the side and while Anise and Tokunaga are busy attending to Aerith, another one has managed to climb a tree and is leaping down from the tall branches onto Anise.
Lucas's PK Fire sprays everywhere, instantly catching the ground on fire but little else at the moment. Bits of dry tender burst into the flames and do not burn out as they feed on the surrounding grass but the ghouls and vampires remain mostly unaffected except one, who had his pant legs a little singed. The one who got burned hisses angrily and leaps up to tackle the boy down to the ground.
It should be noted that named grunts tend to be more powerful than PCs themselves sometimes and right now, this is actually the case. At least for the moment as Larry slashes, driving back those who would try to take his precious cargo. The sword cuts deep into a vampire's chest and then pierces through into the heart. There's another 'hrking' sound from the victim as he struggles to hold Larry's sword, keeping him busy while another one drops from behind in attempts to take the box.
Asch's mount effectively blocks one zombie from attacking the God General himself. The size of the lizard itself is enough of a deterrence for the soldier turned vampire that he begins focusing all of his concentration on the beast. His sword slashes outwards even as he's knocked to the ground and rolls, trying to avoid being trampled. The one who's on Asch at the moment though tries to parry but he's too fast. A head goes flying off into the crowd and the body slumps uselessly to the ground.
Soma is affective this time, neatly finishing the job he initiated. The head of the vampire coming off as the body slumps into a neat puddle. But even as he does so, another ghoul is taking advantage of this and leapfrogs over the cold corpse and lashes out with a clawed hand at Soma's face.
The Major gets a glancing blow on Maria Tegawa with his Let's see how you handle a javalin.. TO THE FACE attack.
The Major hits Soma Cruz with his I will take your -eyes-. attack.
The Major misses Luke fon Fabre with his And sometimes it's just a trip and fall~ attack.
The Major hits Asch with his So you got one of us but what about your little pony HMM?! jab.
The Major hits Anise Tatlin with his Surprise little girl~ attack.
The Major hits Brigit Kelly with his Oh god. That burns. So we'll just punch you into submission. attack.
The Major gets a glancing blow on Aerith Gainsborough with his Going.. DOWN? jab.
The Major hits Lucas with his You too. attack.
Seeing Maria like that was... well... scary. Last Brigit had seen her was when she was enjoying one of her bentos at the Hub. Now... this was like a completely different person!
A really -cool- person. *_*
Oh wait, we were attacking, weren't we? Brigit shook off the distraction and got back down to business. Which was beginning to get pretty smelly... and messy. Brigit rolled up her sleeves, wincing at the hurt arm, then finds herself really getting into this... or maybe that's the adrenaline talking. That, and she's surrounded by people doing /really cool things/ she'd never seen before, unless it was someone from her Band years ago. Even then...
The undead's wild punch connects solidly with the side of Brigit's face, sending her staggering back a few steps and causing her to spin almost completely around. Ow! She puts a hand to the hurt jaw and frowns, turning on the ghoul with grey eyes flashing. She sweeps the cleaver toward his head, turning to send an arcing uppercut slice toward the closest behind her trying to attack Lucas, testing to see if her skills have rusted beyond being able to perform a successful combo.
There's ice exploding, there's floating kids, there's a little girl on a giant plush doll, a lawyer on a giant snake, two swordsmen with their blades flashing, a lady in pink sending greenish light out to harm the zombies... Watching all of this gave Brigit a strange feeling of confident freedom... like she could possibly just let loose and -no one would notice-. It was almost a relief.
Kinda made Brigit feel like her techniques were lacking in a certain 'je ne sais quoi' that gave them such elegance. She felt downright barbaric in comparison!
Brigit Kelly juggles The Major with her ...oh well! <3 combo.
Brigit Kelly juggles The Major with her ...oh well! <3 combo.
Brigit Kelly juggles The Major with her ...oh well! <3 combo.
Brigit Kelly juggles The Major with her ...oh well! <3 combo.
"Wh--" Loc. Sgt. Larry grunts as the vampire-ghoul-thing refuses to releases his sword, and he's left vulnerable at a critical juncture. Not for an attack--but for his precious cargo. This seals in his mind what they were after, not that he had any doubt in the first place (for why else would they suddenly be attacked?), and with a snarl, he attempts to slash *sideways* through the vampire into the one trying to make off with his cargo behind him.
"Colonel Asch! The cargo!" Larry snarls over the God-General's way.
The Tatlins, meanwhile, are still cowering. Oliver, however, is starting to get a worried gleam in his eye as he sees Larry trying to protect that cargo. Whatever it is, it must be very important for a God-General to come along with them. So shouldn't he, as a devoted follower of Yulia's teachings, do his best to help protect whatever it is?
Yeah, they really are this retarded. At this point, it's only a matter of Oliver finding a decent-sized enough stick. At least Pamela hasn't thought of that just yet.
You get a glancing blow on The Major with your LEGGO MY EGGO attack.
Being this angry is not exactly a rare form for Maria, but it is one she has not been in for some time recently. Other matters have taken her attention and she's also been rather reluctant to get into a fight. Well, it's less reluctant and more disinterest in fighting anyone else beside the vampire interlopers.
A hand lifts to intercept the javelin hurling at her face. This works, resulting in a resounding CLANG that echos throughout the air as the weapon drops to the ground, its point bent into a useless and twisted mass of metal. Her gaze falls upon the undead individual that threw it at her.
Maria's eyes narrow and Pytho descends for the kill, jaws opening wide once more to swallow her prey whole.
Maria Tegawa critically strikes The Major with her Let's try this 'eating' thing again attack.
Another ghoul slashes at Lucas, and he bites his lip to muffle a cry of pain. Leaping off of his horse, he lands amid the ghouls after a midair flip. It's easy for him to land on his feet, showing more physical skill than his body would seem to have.
"Why won't you all run away, monsters? Why are you attacking these nice people?!" Despite the sheer naivete of these words, the boy is starting to glow with energy now, his eyes shimmering blue as he channels his psychic powers.
His hands open, and he sprays the energy outwards in a multicolored blast of polygons and brilliant light. "PK LOVE...ALPHA!"
Lucas hits The Major with his Love <3 <3 attack.
Luke fon Fabre says, "Did you just ... care bear stare them?"
Asch says, "....."
Lucas says, "It's a Care Bear Brain Stare."
The stuffed animal is coming to save me, Aerith thinks without time for irony. The creature on her has fallen off, but it is being replaced, rapidly, by another. Aerith has time at least to shriek as she's shoved off the "horse" and onto the cold, dusty ground with a bone-rattling thump!
Aerith is fortunate enough to not have more holes punched into her. Her hands go up out of reflex to grab at the thing's throat, perhaps to try and choke it? Or at least to delay its implacable biting.
The light, though, flares again: it starts out as a reddish glow around her, and /then/ a shower of green sparkles, this one aimed rather directly onto the ghoul's back!
Aerith Gainsborough hits The Major with her pwaf jab.
What... did he... did he just say that? Can he say that to a little girl? Is it allowed? "You... you...! If you're so smart then why are you trying to get blood from a stuffed doll!" Anise brings her finger to pull down her lower eyelid and pokes out her tongue in the vampire's direction. "BIIIIIII-daaaa~" Hmph. "...and I'll have you know I'm not filthy! I just took a bath this morning!" So THERE.
"Are you okay, Aerith?" Just as quickly as she can turn, Anise's attitude shifts to one more suitable for her age. Worry comes over her face as she fidgets. "You're not going to turn into a vampire or anything, are you? Because I--eeeEEEEEE!" When the vampire jumps down on her from the trees, Anise SCREECHES, flailing her arms in an attempt to get it off. "Nooo! I'm too young and cute to die!" She swats at the thing ineffectually with her tiny fists, even as she's pulled off Tokunaga's back and onto the ground. And Tokunaga falls.
...then Tokunaga reaches over and picks up the offending vampire, turning to slam it into the ground. What, did he think the doll would stop moving just because Anise fell off? Slowly getting to her feet, Anise rubs her backside where she fell. "Owowowow..." The girl sniffles, reaching up to climb back onto Tokunaga... and that's when she spots her father trying to be a hero.
"Papa! No, get back!" Before any of the creatures can even get close to her parents, Anise points toward the group of them nearest Oliver and Pamela. "I'll kill you ba--" Hands quickly slap over her mouth. Let's not curse in the presence of mom and dad, Anise.
Flushing a bit, she points again. "Feel the hammer of light!" White sparkles form around her hand as she begins to collect Sixth Fonons. She then sweeps her arm upward, and the fonons go flying up into the air. "Limited!" After just a second or two, beams of light shine down on the vampires and ghouls. Now, in most cases, this might not do damage, just stun the enemy. But since they're weak to pure sunlight, well... that's another story. "Got your weak spot!"
Anise Tatlin misses The Major with her Blinded by the light~ super.
Oh, the pony doesn't like that. It doesn't like that at all. The odd mixture of being ordered and allowed to do as he pleases means that the horse whirls around with a guttural snarl, snapping at the attacking ghoul, and coincidentally gives Asch the momentum necessary to get in another good swing in at the attacking ghoul. Whether it's a hit or a miss, Larry's shout alerts Asch to the fact that the shambling monstrosities are closing in on the box and decides the God-General on his next course of action. A short shout and a sharp kick to the ribs spurr the lizardhorsecreature forward and towards Larry, Asch fully intending to knock any lingering ghouls out of the way for the sake of keeping them away from the box.
Perhaps fortunately, he's not entirely aware of the sheer idiocy that Oliver is attempting to take part in. Otherwise he might be really tempted to bury his face in his hands and sigh himself unconscious, and unwise maneuver in the middle of a dangerous melee.
Asch hits The Major with his FOR PONY! attack.
Today is not Soma's day. Cutting down the first gives him little breathing room as another moves forward to take its place. Cold and merciless as he may be against someone targetted as a true foe, the young man can still bleed and feel pain. And while any number of abilities will allow him to recover from the injuries fairly quickly, they still hurt to receive.
Clawed fingers rake the side of his face from temple to cheek, scoring nose and brow and jaw before he jerks back with a stifled shout of pain. Automatically his own hand rises to press against the injury, doing little to stem the bleeding that has partially blinded his left side. The pain is intense, made worse by the location of the injury. But he has to endure it for a while longer, to survive. Turning, trying to keep sight of the vampiric ghoul with his good eye, relief comes not in the shape of a healing spell but, *finally*, the thing he has been looking internally for.
Erinys. The soul of a vengeful goddess. Soma pulls upon its power, raising his bloodied hand and releasing pent up energy. Dressed in flowing white, with a flowing river of golden hair is the woman that appears before the young man, white wings curved and spread gracefully behind her. Ghostly in presence, *almost* solid, but not entirely. Her eyes are closed and her arms spread as if in graceful welcome to what she cannot see.
Her message is not love or even peace, but divine retribution in the shape of holy light that radiates from her presence and strikes toward the undead attackers recognized as foes to her master. An affront that needs to be rectified.
It just goes to show. One should never go for someone's good looks when they've got a Fury in their corner. The image fades soon after the onslaught, the power to sustain its presence spent. With any luck, it'll clear the area around him for a few seconds and give him time to recover.
Soma Cruz hits The Major with his ARGH NOT THE FACE super.
The Major has been knocked out!
So far so good for Luke. Only one bloody painful injury to worry about and a whole lot of luck keeping it from getting more than just messily inconvenient. It is completely REVOLTING the way they stick there and bleed stinking blood, but there's no pleasure at all in their agony. The 'IPA guardsman' retreats further step by step, noting the trouble with the fonstone and Oliver but deciding to leave that in much more capable hands just in case. A chunk of ice thrown at him with alarming swiftness is swatted aside with the flat of his sword with a ringing /clang/ and a spasm of numbing pain up his arm. Damn it!
Sunglasses spare him seeing spots from Anise's strike against the zombie army, and the ever-thiev--er, enterprising replica realizes there's even more scattered fonons lying around now. And immediately makes use of them, charging one of the remaining ghouls (did Brigit just do something suspiciously awesome-like, the likes of which average people cannot do? Luke makes a note to keep an eye on her), and changing the fonon field from light to wind. And then attacks in a vicious rising slash, electricity roaring into crackling life around the blade.
Luke fon Fabre misses The Major with his Lightning Tiger jacking Van's attacks again attack.
Entering the home stretch, it seems that the newly born vampires and their ghouls really -are- no match for the IPA and their allies. Brigit certainly hasn't lost her touch as she literally hacks her way towards Lucas, leaving a pile of corpses behind in her wake, all of then burned to some degree by the blessed blade in her hand. Larry fares worse, his sword cutting through a ghoul and then into the one who managed to lay his hands upon the precious cargo. There is a moment's grin before it fades as he gets caught up in Anise's magical attack and instantly crumbles into dust as the pure light hits him.
Where Maria failed the first time, the second time is the charm. Python swoops, giant maws closing in and devouring the cluster of vampires with a single gulp. She leaves nothing behind as they scream for a second in her mouth before the powerful muscles crush the air out of their bodies and slowly send them on their way towards her stomach.
Then it becomes one giant light show after another. First Lucas with his PK Love Alpha. The energy spraying out in brilliant lights and polygon shapes that make the vampires think for a moment that they are just caught up in a very bad acid trip before they're slammed. The first rank goes down hard and Aerith's cure spell explodes a vampire from the inside out thanks to the sudden surge of healing magic within him. The second comes from Soma and Erinys. The Goddess radiates pure holiness, the power of it burning through the second and third ranks; vaporizing them almost instantaneously. They didn't even get a chance to scream.
Asch and Luke make quick work of the remaining vampires. Asch trampling forward, both the God-General and the horse itself trampling or cutting them down where they stand. They fall like paper dolls against the double blades, Luke's lightning sword turning them into dust after Asch or the mount has crushed and rendered them immobile.
With the last of the vampires and ghouls dead, there is silence. The scent of decay still hangs in the air but there is silence. No reinforcements appear to be coming.
"W...Wow!" Brigit breathes, looking at the results of her successful combo. Ruin was all that the cleaver left in it's wake, making short work of the ghoul who lusted for her blood, as well as the one behind... and the one next to that... and--how /did/ she hit that one? It was all a blur! She briefly recalled swinging her leg toward it and watching her tennis show take the thing's head clean off, but everything was just so -fast-. It was... wow. Pretty exhilarating.
Oh, /man/ she wished the Brotherhood had seen that!
The chef, emboldened by her success, smiles widely in that 'hey, mom! Look what I did' way that always looks COMPLETELY foolish, especially on those who are far too old to be behaving like they're four. She then realizes that this awesome moment might have also ruined her attempts to remain relatively unremarkable and flushes with embarrassment. She should be careful! It wasn't safe to go flaunting about like some superhero now, was it? Sure, those around her were performing feats that no human (in her world) seemed capable of doing without the aid of 'movie magic', but... well, too late to worry about this now.
She twirls the kitchen knife and glances around for another target, allowing a moment to be distracted by the 'PK Love Alpha' attack by the boy. Oh... oh god. That's so... so -adorable-! <3 Then again by the various and colorful displays of magic and might by the group.
Soma appears to take a vicious attack to the face, which he responds to with dazzling and divine retribution, Asch and Luke cleaning up the last of the undead. She rushes over to him, slipping the cleaver (which will need a /thorough/ sterilizing later) back into her bag before she tries to touch him. That is, if he allows.
"S-Soma! Are you okay?!" Her arm and jaw hurt terribly, but they would heal just fine. From what little she saw, however, she's expecting possibly a nastier mauling than she can help with on Soma. She doesn't have the ability to replace organs or, in this case, ruined eyes. It doesn't hurt to check, though.
"But Anise, I can't just sit back and do nothing!" Oliver protests, somewhat ineptly given as he's only just managed to pick up a branch. Horribly enough, Pamela's gotten the same idea by now. Good thing for *everyone* involved that Anise at least distracts her parents long enough for Asch to dispatch the vampires harassing Larry on his own and for the others to dispatch all the other vampires everywhere else, thus render the Tatlins' help even more unnecessary than it already was.
Sgt. Hughes meanwhile looks around warily during the lull in the attack. "There don't seem to be any more reinforcements," he remarks warily to Asch and any others listening, in the tone of voice that says that he doesn't trust things to stay that way. All the same, he sheathes his sword, and as he adjusts the restraints on his horse's cargo, he calls out, "How is everyone? Who's injured?"
It's up to Asch to decide what to do with the injured, but Larry can at least make it easier for his commanding officer to figure out who they are.
Aerith feels the thing over her - dissolve? She isn't sure what happened; Aerith sits up, though, grasping her shoulder as it continues to bleed, breathing heavily as she looks around at the -
Ew, she thinks, even as she tells Anise, heavily, "Thanks..." She puts one hand on the ground and pushes herself up to a standing position, wincing as the wound shifts around. She raises a hand, vaguely, at the call for wounded.
Once Lucas realizes that the ghouls are all gone, he calms down. He's careful to step around the things, uttering a tiny prayer that they might be at peace this time around, and climbs back onto his horse creature. He whispers something to calm the poor creature down.
"Sorry 'bout that, um, I hope y'all will be safe now!" He does glance over at Brigit when he realizes she's looking at him, but doesn't say much. Just a shy little smile and wave. And that's when he remembers his side.
"...Jus' a lil' here," he admits. "It's not major, I can heal it mahself over the course of the ride if it's better..."
"Papa, no!" Tokunaga starts to lumber forward.. then pauses. Anise glances back, looking at Aerith... then looks over toward her parents. Wounded Aerith. Dad and mom. Wounded Aerith. Dad and mom. And back and forth and....
And Anise just passes out. Luckily, Tokunaga flops to the ground beneath her so she doesn't land very hard, but the girl seems out cold. That one that jumped on her back must have done more than just knock her off Tokunaga!
"Anise!" Cue Oliver and Pamela hurrying over to dote on their poor passed-out daughter.
There is silence and stillness, but only for a moment. With the last of the creatures dead Asch glances around, takes stock of who's injured and who isn't, and then picks out three of the un- or at least lightly-injured non-Tatlins seemingly at random. "You, you, and you. Scout to make sure the area is clear in a radius no greater than fifty feet for four minutes, then return to the group." Asch turns his attention to the rest of the group and raises his voice a bit. "We continue for the Hub in five minutes--"
Asch cuts off as Anise suddenly falls to the ground, pausing for a moment as he stares at the girl. ".... and someone get Anise and her creature." Maybe the 'creature' would get himself and Anise on his own, but Asch doesn't want to risk leaving Tokunaga behind. He knows enough about Anise to know she would /kill him/ if he did.
And with those orders given Asch turns from the group again, withdrawing his radio from his belt and flicking it on. Time to report in again.
There's a moment where tension in Soma's frame might warn Brigit it'd be a very bad idea to rush up and touch him, especially on his blind side. It's the sort of tension that will only go away after he's sure there's no other enemy to deal with. The silence that follows seems to suggest what the smell of decay does not and his head turns to the left and right in wide motions to catch a glimpse of the field. Dust and injured and then the Scion's voice calling for his attention. Someone who's voice is only vaguely familiar, toward whom he turns to face with a puzzled expression that fades into recognition. "You're Brigit... the food stand vendor?" ....Perhaps it's understanding that he sounds a little bewildered. Focusing on /why/ Brigit is here and not in the hub is definitely keeping his mind a little off the pain.
The left side of his face is a mess, flesh torn by the raking claw and the eye... well, closed. Caked with blood, the condition of the eye underneath it is dubious at best. It's definitely the worst of the injuries, though he's still feeling the effects of the earlier cut from the initial clash of the ambushers and the kick to his gut.
Soma realizes he probably should answer the girl's concern. "I think I'll be fine." Suure, fine. Though he's telling the truth. Eventually it'll all heal itself; and he's had worse. "What about the others? Did any of the others get hurt?"
With the ghoul things defeated, there's little to do besides try to do something about the wounded.. and then get moving. Luke's more interested in getting the hell out of here, but leaving people behind wasn't going to happen either. When Asch begins handing out orders, he sheathes his weapon, makes a note to clean it with /fire/ later, and frowns faintly when pointed at and given directions again.
He can't be sure Asch is doing it on purpose, so he can't really protest, Instead he swings up onto the back of one of the unwounded horses and kicks it into motion; scouting at least he can do, and with only one injury, he was one of the least hurt here. ... He was worried about Anise, but her parents were right there, they'd take care of her.
"Oh," Aerith says, taking a step towards Anise; but, of course, her parents are getting there pretty quickly! That's good, she thinks, squeezing the wounded shoulder to try to stem the bleeding that isn't stopping quite so quickly on its own.
Adrenalin filtering out of her blood stream leaves her feeling a little wobbly. She looks over for the 'horse' she'd been riding, walking towards it as it seems to have stopped meandering off.
Just as fiercly and without warning she had come, Python suddenly loops down into the earth and disappears, leaving a large hole in her wake. Time to sleep off her meal-ew, that might cause a little indigestion, possibly. Or, well, not really.
Maria doesn't follow, instead gracefully hopping from the creature before it dives underground and landing neatly on the ground. The look in her eyes is a little unsettling to say the least. Something is up. "Is everyone alright? We should definitely keep moving, especially given our injuries."
She walks ahead, pausing to give a passing nod to the Tatlins, before assuming position at the front.
Thankfully, Soma didn't haul off and attack -- shame on Brigit for not being more careful! But he's very perceptive, even with his injuries. What a strange guy.
The redhead chef turns to Asch and replies, "I don't think I'm hurt too bad, thank you... but Soma looks really hurt!" Brigit gasps when the little girl with pigtails falls over. So many injured... They really do work hard, those IPA folks.
Soma's response.... is typical to all those 'strong' types. She sighs and offers a smile. With the condition he was in, it wasn't difficult to tell that it was a really bad wound. Further investigation would be required to see if the eye was still intact.
"Yeah, it looks like we have some injured. But you should take care too, you know?" She turns away and glances over the wounded. Man, did they have hospitals in this world? Maria puts on another dazzling display of cool experience... She's so strong... *_*
"You guys go through so much trouble to keep the multiverse safe, don't you?" The chef mumbled, smiling awkwardly. "You probably do this all the time, huh?" She looks at the lady in pink, who appears also heavily injured and frowns. This seems so /old hat/ to them. What a heavy burden to bear... Then Maria, whose power was impressive, if not terrifying to behold, everything seemed really overwhelming all of the sudden.
"Even those... those kids..." Brigit's voice breaks and she looks down, feeling foolish for letting her emotions get the best of her. Why was she so upset? Was it the rush of battle? Get a grip!
Soma is strong, but what he says has a grain of truth. Carefully, he shakes his head before starting to move away, head sweeping around in an effort to spot his mount. It probably didn't go too far. "I will." He'll find some gauze to wrap up his face if the ones who can heal are busy with others.
"Fighting undead? Kind of." An odd look is thrown Brigit's way, followed by a wince as he realizes facial expressions are a bad idea. "If you can, you should go help the others." He's not... entirely oblivious to Brigit's plight, but his way of thinking suggests that she might be better for something to do. "...And thanks." For the concern that is, though almost immediately the young man turns away to continue his search. By the time they're ready to get underway again, he should have caught up with his 'horse' and be ready.
Aerith looks over at Brigit and smiles a little bit, even as she tugs on the rein of the horse to get it to slow up so she can get on its big stupid back and not have to trudge much further. "Thank you," she says. "I'm sorry you ended up having to see all that..."
Luke fon Fabre says, "Hey. Authority-people? Is it okay if I bring my evil twin to see the holographic simulation room thingie tomorrow?"
Luke fon Fabre .. ..... "Silence means it's okay! Thanks!"
Maria Tegawa says, "Yes, that is fine."
Maria Tegawa says, "Provided you escort."
Luke fon Fabre says, "I will, ma'am!"
Cid Highwind says, "Hey, any luck with that werewolf-leader-thing?"
Cid Highwind says, "Hmm. Must be busy."
Captain Agrias Oaks says, "I wouldn't know, ser." Pageflip. "I've not been assigned to that."
Maria Tegawa says, "I have not questioned him personally."
Karen White says, "I'm talkin' to him. Soon."
Brigit nods, her face hidden by the curls of red hair, then looks around at the others. Her face is slightly flushed and her eyes look wet, but other than the faint bruise on her jaw and the stain from the cut on her arm, she's got herself together.
"D-does anyone need help?" Not... that she can really do much than offer. Her ability to heal is very limited and... well, she's not really ready for her big debut as a Scion just yet. Either way, she's not so injured that she can't help ease the travel of those less fortunate in the battle.
And, she hands out antiseptic wipes and hands out the rest of her wares for no charge -- sometimes, you could use some comfort food. Brigit knows /she/ could!
WHEN: Saturday, March 7
WHERE: Near Daath, Auldrant 2
WHAT: Here by popular demand (if by "popular" one means "one person requested it")! An IPA troupe lead by Asch escort the Tatlins along with a mysterious package from Daath to the Hub. Some familiar undead faces take exception to this.
WATCH FOR: Oliver Tatlin gets a bright (and stupid) idea, NPC power!, Brigit is badass, PONY
As soon as the monster crumples under Lucas's stick, his eyes widen in horror and revulsion. Sure, on one level he's aware that these are zombies or vampires, and whatever they are, they're already dead. But still. "Oh, I didn't-I didn't /mean/ to-AAAGH!" The claws cut long gashes in his arm, and he nearly drops the stick from the shock. Instead he pulls it back, ignoring the momentary pain and springing up from his horse.
His jump is boosted by something supernatural, his psionics flowing through his body and manifesting as light shimmering near his ankles. While in midair, he concentrates and points one finger down at the rest of the approaching ghouls. "PK FIRE!" Just saying it is enough to help the boy fire a bolt of psychic energy from his head, a bolt which will explode into flames the moment it touches anything.
Lucas misses The Major with his PK Fiyer attack.
Hey, NPCs can get names sometimes! It's just Sergeant Hughes' good fortune that he got an upgrade from 'nameless grunt' to 'Locrian Sergeant' to 'Locrian Sergeant who actually appeared in a spin-off game once.' Well, it's better than nothing, anyway; this way, he'll *probably* survive, maybe.
"Ugh!!" As the Malkuthian zombies--and it is quite clear to Larry by now that these are *not* human, and he is reminded in a flash of battle intuition of that one-sided fight he'd heard of in Theor Forest--slash into him, he again takes the brunt of the attack in order to protect the box behind him. However, this time he's almost run through, and avoids getting skewered by means of savvy mount manipulation. The lizard-horse screeches and rears back, whipping its head back and forth to try to force some of the vampires back, and Larry counters with a quick slash-slash-thrust combo.
"I'll do neither!" he shouts back as he attacks. "I have a mission to complete, and /you/ won't stop me!"
You hit The Major with your Big Words from An Extremely Minor Character jab.
Meanwhile, Pamela and Oliver are cowering in the middle towards the back. At least they're not panicking and making things worse.
Flanking? Asch can deal with being flanked. The reins of his mount are suddenly jerked and a sharp command is shouted to the creature, one that fortunately registers as valid. Instead of making any attempt to defend or, Asch draws his arm -- and sword -- back and across his chest, and his mount takes a step towards the ghoul on the right before abruptly turning; with luck the attack will connect and the ghoul will get less than affectionately hipchecked to the ground or into more of his companions.
While his mount (hopefully) takes care of one zombie, Asch leans forward and takes a vicious, vertical slash at the other. The preparation necessary to get these attacks off correctly means Asch takes /another/ hit from the two, but if he can take at least one of them out, it'll be worth it.
Asch hits The Major with his Heads are overrated anyway. attack.
A hiss of breath is forced out of Soma as the foot connects with his gut. Slipping off the 'horse' had cost him the ability to defend against the attack and though he recovers quickly, that doesn't mean much against an opponent who can move very fast.
Unless said opponent decides to pause for vengeful banter. Renewing his grip on the silver blade, Soma resists the urge to return a counter-barb or vocalize the realization that there had been a few escapees after all and lashes out in hopes of finishing the job.
There aren't many titles for Soma's attacks, at least not official ones; which is good in this case as he's still winded and can save his breath for the attack itself. Communication, such as it is, comes in the shape of a cold lack of mercy in silver eyes. There isn't any hesitation; maybe pain, but anger seems absent or at least contained and channeled into something useful.
But he's searching for a soul, too, one he hadn't had at immediate beck so it's taking some time to hunt it up, saving his energy too, for when he will call on it, so his attacks remain standard, almost mundane albeit skilled in execution.
Soma Cruz hits The Major with his A survivor? Let's fix that shall we. attack.
What the. A meat cleaver? It is a strangely fitting weapon for a situation like this and though it has no been melted down into a series of knives, Excalibur still retrains it's supernatural sharpness and a bit of that 'holy' ability as well. The sharp clever cuts deep into the vampire's neck, splitting the jugular and -burning- the flesh around it. The acrid stench of burning unholy flesh emerges from the smoldering neck and the vampire would scream if it still had its vocal cords. Jaws move soundlessly as he lurches forward on his second death throws, flailing wildly and just.. well he just tries to punch Brigit.
More enemies try to launch themselves at Luke but the young man is able to bring up the barrier just in time. Two of them find themselves suddenly impaled upon the pillars of ice and they howl in pain, kicking and punching with their supernatural strength. Bits of ice crack beneath their fists as fetid blood runs black along the white/blue ice. One manages to snap off a chunk of the ice and hurls it downward at Luke, pointy end first.
There is a shifting hrking sound as the team of vampires and ghouls attacking Python find themselves neatly corraled by the snake's massive tail and one gets a knife right in the forehead, eyes crossed as he slumps against the pressing body of his companions. One of them who managed to maintain hold of his spear looks up. "GET HER!" He shouts as he leans back as far as he can and heaves the blade on a stick with superhuman strength.
But of all the vampires, at least -one- gets lucky. He gets himself a mouth full of Cetra blood, which tastes -funny- and burns a little as it goes down his throat. But at the same time, it feels remarkably energizing. Of course, he is so busy enjoying the taste of Aerith that he doesn't realize that he's suddenly on the receiving end of a violently powerful lizard's tail. The tail knocks him neatly into the air where Tokunaga's upper cut intercepts his downfall and punches him up into the air! Another ghoul, overtaken by the scent of fresh blood, tries to lunge at Aerith and hopefully dismount her.
And yes. They are beating at the plush, but only because they were warned about the giant plushie. It is -dangerous- and if you can take it down, then the little girl is no problem.. Right? But the problem appears to be actually taking down said plush. The one that's batted flies stunned to the side while the other dangles comically in the plushie's hand. "... .. We are -not- you filthy ." He's once again tossed to the side and while Anise and Tokunaga are busy attending to Aerith, another one has managed to climb a tree and is leaping down from the tall branches onto Anise.
Lucas's PK Fire sprays everywhere, instantly catching the ground on fire but little else at the moment. Bits of dry tender burst into the flames and do not burn out as they feed on the surrounding grass but the ghouls and vampires remain mostly unaffected except one, who had his pant legs a little singed. The one who got burned hisses angrily and leaps up to tackle the boy down to the ground.
It should be noted that named grunts tend to be more powerful than PCs themselves sometimes and right now, this is actually the case. At least for the moment as Larry slashes, driving back those who would try to take his precious cargo. The sword cuts deep into a vampire's chest and then pierces through into the heart. There's another 'hrking' sound from the victim as he struggles to hold Larry's sword, keeping him busy while another one drops from behind in attempts to take the box.
Asch's mount effectively blocks one zombie from attacking the God General himself. The size of the lizard itself is enough of a deterrence for the soldier turned vampire that he begins focusing all of his concentration on the beast. His sword slashes outwards even as he's knocked to the ground and rolls, trying to avoid being trampled. The one who's on Asch at the moment though tries to parry but he's too fast. A head goes flying off into the crowd and the body slumps uselessly to the ground.
Soma is affective this time, neatly finishing the job he initiated. The head of the vampire coming off as the body slumps into a neat puddle. But even as he does so, another ghoul is taking advantage of this and leapfrogs over the cold corpse and lashes out with a clawed hand at Soma's face.
The Major gets a glancing blow on Maria Tegawa with his Let's see how you handle a javalin.. TO THE FACE attack.
The Major hits Soma Cruz with his I will take your -eyes-. attack.
The Major misses Luke fon Fabre with his And sometimes it's just a trip and fall~ attack.
The Major hits Asch with his So you got one of us but what about your little pony HMM?! jab.
The Major hits Anise Tatlin with his Surprise little girl~ attack.
The Major hits Brigit Kelly with his Oh god. That burns. So we'll just punch you into submission. attack.
The Major gets a glancing blow on Aerith Gainsborough with his Going.. DOWN? jab.
The Major hits Lucas with his You too. attack.
Seeing Maria like that was... well... scary. Last Brigit had seen her was when she was enjoying one of her bentos at the Hub. Now... this was like a completely different person!
A really -cool- person. *_*
Oh wait, we were attacking, weren't we? Brigit shook off the distraction and got back down to business. Which was beginning to get pretty smelly... and messy. Brigit rolled up her sleeves, wincing at the hurt arm, then finds herself really getting into this... or maybe that's the adrenaline talking. That, and she's surrounded by people doing /really cool things/ she'd never seen before, unless it was someone from her Band years ago. Even then...
The undead's wild punch connects solidly with the side of Brigit's face, sending her staggering back a few steps and causing her to spin almost completely around. Ow! She puts a hand to the hurt jaw and frowns, turning on the ghoul with grey eyes flashing. She sweeps the cleaver toward his head, turning to send an arcing uppercut slice toward the closest behind her trying to attack Lucas, testing to see if her skills have rusted beyond being able to perform a successful combo.
There's ice exploding, there's floating kids, there's a little girl on a giant plush doll, a lawyer on a giant snake, two swordsmen with their blades flashing, a lady in pink sending greenish light out to harm the zombies... Watching all of this gave Brigit a strange feeling of confident freedom... like she could possibly just let loose and -no one would notice-. It was almost a relief.
Kinda made Brigit feel like her techniques were lacking in a certain 'je ne sais quoi' that gave them such elegance. She felt downright barbaric in comparison!
Brigit Kelly juggles The Major with her ...oh well! <3 combo.
Brigit Kelly juggles The Major with her ...oh well! <3 combo.
Brigit Kelly juggles The Major with her ...oh well! <3 combo.
Brigit Kelly juggles The Major with her ...oh well! <3 combo.
"Wh--" Loc. Sgt. Larry grunts as the vampire-ghoul-thing refuses to releases his sword, and he's left vulnerable at a critical juncture. Not for an attack--but for his precious cargo. This seals in his mind what they were after, not that he had any doubt in the first place (for why else would they suddenly be attacked?), and with a snarl, he attempts to slash *sideways* through the vampire into the one trying to make off with his cargo behind him.
"Colonel Asch! The cargo!" Larry snarls over the God-General's way.
The Tatlins, meanwhile, are still cowering. Oliver, however, is starting to get a worried gleam in his eye as he sees Larry trying to protect that cargo. Whatever it is, it must be very important for a God-General to come along with them. So shouldn't he, as a devoted follower of Yulia's teachings, do his best to help protect whatever it is?
Yeah, they really are this retarded. At this point, it's only a matter of Oliver finding a decent-sized enough stick. At least Pamela hasn't thought of that just yet.
You get a glancing blow on The Major with your LEGGO MY EGGO attack.
Being this angry is not exactly a rare form for Maria, but it is one she has not been in for some time recently. Other matters have taken her attention and she's also been rather reluctant to get into a fight. Well, it's less reluctant and more disinterest in fighting anyone else beside the vampire interlopers.
A hand lifts to intercept the javelin hurling at her face. This works, resulting in a resounding CLANG that echos throughout the air as the weapon drops to the ground, its point bent into a useless and twisted mass of metal. Her gaze falls upon the undead individual that threw it at her.
Maria's eyes narrow and Pytho descends for the kill, jaws opening wide once more to swallow her prey whole.
Maria Tegawa critically strikes The Major with her Let's try this 'eating' thing again attack.
Another ghoul slashes at Lucas, and he bites his lip to muffle a cry of pain. Leaping off of his horse, he lands amid the ghouls after a midair flip. It's easy for him to land on his feet, showing more physical skill than his body would seem to have.
"Why won't you all run away, monsters? Why are you attacking these nice people?!" Despite the sheer naivete of these words, the boy is starting to glow with energy now, his eyes shimmering blue as he channels his psychic powers.
His hands open, and he sprays the energy outwards in a multicolored blast of polygons and brilliant light. "PK LOVE...ALPHA!"
Lucas hits The Major with his Love <3 <3 attack.
Luke fon Fabre says, "Did you just ... care bear stare them?"
Asch says, "....."
Lucas says, "It's a Care Bear Brain Stare."
The stuffed animal is coming to save me, Aerith thinks without time for irony. The creature on her has fallen off, but it is being replaced, rapidly, by another. Aerith has time at least to shriek as she's shoved off the "horse" and onto the cold, dusty ground with a bone-rattling thump!
Aerith is fortunate enough to not have more holes punched into her. Her hands go up out of reflex to grab at the thing's throat, perhaps to try and choke it? Or at least to delay its implacable biting.
The light, though, flares again: it starts out as a reddish glow around her, and /then/ a shower of green sparkles, this one aimed rather directly onto the ghoul's back!
Aerith Gainsborough hits The Major with her pwaf jab.
What... did he... did he just say that? Can he say that to a little girl? Is it allowed? "You... you...! If you're so smart then why are you trying to get blood from a stuffed doll!" Anise brings her finger to pull down her lower eyelid and pokes out her tongue in the vampire's direction. "BIIIIIII-daaaa~" Hmph. "...and I'll have you know I'm not filthy! I just took a bath this morning!" So THERE.
"Are you okay, Aerith?" Just as quickly as she can turn, Anise's attitude shifts to one more suitable for her age. Worry comes over her face as she fidgets. "You're not going to turn into a vampire or anything, are you? Because I--eeeEEEEEE!" When the vampire jumps down on her from the trees, Anise SCREECHES, flailing her arms in an attempt to get it off. "Nooo! I'm too young and cute to die!" She swats at the thing ineffectually with her tiny fists, even as she's pulled off Tokunaga's back and onto the ground. And Tokunaga falls.
...then Tokunaga reaches over and picks up the offending vampire, turning to slam it into the ground. What, did he think the doll would stop moving just because Anise fell off? Slowly getting to her feet, Anise rubs her backside where she fell. "Owowowow..." The girl sniffles, reaching up to climb back onto Tokunaga... and that's when she spots her father trying to be a hero.
"Papa! No, get back!" Before any of the creatures can even get close to her parents, Anise points toward the group of them nearest Oliver and Pamela. "I'll kill you ba--" Hands quickly slap over her mouth. Let's not curse in the presence of mom and dad, Anise.
Flushing a bit, she points again. "Feel the hammer of light!" White sparkles form around her hand as she begins to collect Sixth Fonons. She then sweeps her arm upward, and the fonons go flying up into the air. "Limited!" After just a second or two, beams of light shine down on the vampires and ghouls. Now, in most cases, this might not do damage, just stun the enemy. But since they're weak to pure sunlight, well... that's another story. "Got your weak spot!"
Anise Tatlin misses The Major with her Blinded by the light~ super.
Oh, the pony doesn't like that. It doesn't like that at all. The odd mixture of being ordered and allowed to do as he pleases means that the horse whirls around with a guttural snarl, snapping at the attacking ghoul, and coincidentally gives Asch the momentum necessary to get in another good swing in at the attacking ghoul. Whether it's a hit or a miss, Larry's shout alerts Asch to the fact that the shambling monstrosities are closing in on the box and decides the God-General on his next course of action. A short shout and a sharp kick to the ribs spurr the lizardhorsecreature forward and towards Larry, Asch fully intending to knock any lingering ghouls out of the way for the sake of keeping them away from the box.
Perhaps fortunately, he's not entirely aware of the sheer idiocy that Oliver is attempting to take part in. Otherwise he might be really tempted to bury his face in his hands and sigh himself unconscious, and unwise maneuver in the middle of a dangerous melee.
Asch hits The Major with his FOR PONY! attack.
Today is not Soma's day. Cutting down the first gives him little breathing room as another moves forward to take its place. Cold and merciless as he may be against someone targetted as a true foe, the young man can still bleed and feel pain. And while any number of abilities will allow him to recover from the injuries fairly quickly, they still hurt to receive.
Clawed fingers rake the side of his face from temple to cheek, scoring nose and brow and jaw before he jerks back with a stifled shout of pain. Automatically his own hand rises to press against the injury, doing little to stem the bleeding that has partially blinded his left side. The pain is intense, made worse by the location of the injury. But he has to endure it for a while longer, to survive. Turning, trying to keep sight of the vampiric ghoul with his good eye, relief comes not in the shape of a healing spell but, *finally*, the thing he has been looking internally for.
Erinys. The soul of a vengeful goddess. Soma pulls upon its power, raising his bloodied hand and releasing pent up energy. Dressed in flowing white, with a flowing river of golden hair is the woman that appears before the young man, white wings curved and spread gracefully behind her. Ghostly in presence, *almost* solid, but not entirely. Her eyes are closed and her arms spread as if in graceful welcome to what she cannot see.
Her message is not love or even peace, but divine retribution in the shape of holy light that radiates from her presence and strikes toward the undead attackers recognized as foes to her master. An affront that needs to be rectified.
It just goes to show. One should never go for someone's good looks when they've got a Fury in their corner. The image fades soon after the onslaught, the power to sustain its presence spent. With any luck, it'll clear the area around him for a few seconds and give him time to recover.
Soma Cruz hits The Major with his ARGH NOT THE FACE super.
The Major has been knocked out!
So far so good for Luke. Only one bloody painful injury to worry about and a whole lot of luck keeping it from getting more than just messily inconvenient. It is completely REVOLTING the way they stick there and bleed stinking blood, but there's no pleasure at all in their agony. The 'IPA guardsman' retreats further step by step, noting the trouble with the fonstone and Oliver but deciding to leave that in much more capable hands just in case. A chunk of ice thrown at him with alarming swiftness is swatted aside with the flat of his sword with a ringing /clang/ and a spasm of numbing pain up his arm. Damn it!
Sunglasses spare him seeing spots from Anise's strike against the zombie army, and the ever-thiev--er, enterprising replica realizes there's even more scattered fonons lying around now. And immediately makes use of them, charging one of the remaining ghouls (did Brigit just do something suspiciously awesome-like, the likes of which average people cannot do? Luke makes a note to keep an eye on her), and changing the fonon field from light to wind. And then attacks in a vicious rising slash, electricity roaring into crackling life around the blade.
Luke fon Fabre misses The Major with his Lightning Tiger jacking Van's attacks again attack.
Entering the home stretch, it seems that the newly born vampires and their ghouls really -are- no match for the IPA and their allies. Brigit certainly hasn't lost her touch as she literally hacks her way towards Lucas, leaving a pile of corpses behind in her wake, all of then burned to some degree by the blessed blade in her hand. Larry fares worse, his sword cutting through a ghoul and then into the one who managed to lay his hands upon the precious cargo. There is a moment's grin before it fades as he gets caught up in Anise's magical attack and instantly crumbles into dust as the pure light hits him.
Where Maria failed the first time, the second time is the charm. Python swoops, giant maws closing in and devouring the cluster of vampires with a single gulp. She leaves nothing behind as they scream for a second in her mouth before the powerful muscles crush the air out of their bodies and slowly send them on their way towards her stomach.
Then it becomes one giant light show after another. First Lucas with his PK Love Alpha. The energy spraying out in brilliant lights and polygon shapes that make the vampires think for a moment that they are just caught up in a very bad acid trip before they're slammed. The first rank goes down hard and Aerith's cure spell explodes a vampire from the inside out thanks to the sudden surge of healing magic within him. The second comes from Soma and Erinys. The Goddess radiates pure holiness, the power of it burning through the second and third ranks; vaporizing them almost instantaneously. They didn't even get a chance to scream.
Asch and Luke make quick work of the remaining vampires. Asch trampling forward, both the God-General and the horse itself trampling or cutting them down where they stand. They fall like paper dolls against the double blades, Luke's lightning sword turning them into dust after Asch or the mount has crushed and rendered them immobile.
With the last of the vampires and ghouls dead, there is silence. The scent of decay still hangs in the air but there is silence. No reinforcements appear to be coming.
"W...Wow!" Brigit breathes, looking at the results of her successful combo. Ruin was all that the cleaver left in it's wake, making short work of the ghoul who lusted for her blood, as well as the one behind... and the one next to that... and--how /did/ she hit that one? It was all a blur! She briefly recalled swinging her leg toward it and watching her tennis show take the thing's head clean off, but everything was just so -fast-. It was... wow. Pretty exhilarating.
Oh, /man/ she wished the Brotherhood had seen that!
The chef, emboldened by her success, smiles widely in that 'hey, mom! Look what I did' way that always looks COMPLETELY foolish, especially on those who are far too old to be behaving like they're four. She then realizes that this awesome moment might have also ruined her attempts to remain relatively unremarkable and flushes with embarrassment. She should be careful! It wasn't safe to go flaunting about like some superhero now, was it? Sure, those around her were performing feats that no human (in her world) seemed capable of doing without the aid of 'movie magic', but... well, too late to worry about this now.
She twirls the kitchen knife and glances around for another target, allowing a moment to be distracted by the 'PK Love Alpha' attack by the boy. Oh... oh god. That's so... so -adorable-! <3 Then again by the various and colorful displays of magic and might by the group.
Soma appears to take a vicious attack to the face, which he responds to with dazzling and divine retribution, Asch and Luke cleaning up the last of the undead. She rushes over to him, slipping the cleaver (which will need a /thorough/ sterilizing later) back into her bag before she tries to touch him. That is, if he allows.
"S-Soma! Are you okay?!" Her arm and jaw hurt terribly, but they would heal just fine. From what little she saw, however, she's expecting possibly a nastier mauling than she can help with on Soma. She doesn't have the ability to replace organs or, in this case, ruined eyes. It doesn't hurt to check, though.
"But Anise, I can't just sit back and do nothing!" Oliver protests, somewhat ineptly given as he's only just managed to pick up a branch. Horribly enough, Pamela's gotten the same idea by now. Good thing for *everyone* involved that Anise at least distracts her parents long enough for Asch to dispatch the vampires harassing Larry on his own and for the others to dispatch all the other vampires everywhere else, thus render the Tatlins' help even more unnecessary than it already was.
Sgt. Hughes meanwhile looks around warily during the lull in the attack. "There don't seem to be any more reinforcements," he remarks warily to Asch and any others listening, in the tone of voice that says that he doesn't trust things to stay that way. All the same, he sheathes his sword, and as he adjusts the restraints on his horse's cargo, he calls out, "How is everyone? Who's injured?"
It's up to Asch to decide what to do with the injured, but Larry can at least make it easier for his commanding officer to figure out who they are.
Aerith feels the thing over her - dissolve? She isn't sure what happened; Aerith sits up, though, grasping her shoulder as it continues to bleed, breathing heavily as she looks around at the -
Ew, she thinks, even as she tells Anise, heavily, "Thanks..." She puts one hand on the ground and pushes herself up to a standing position, wincing as the wound shifts around. She raises a hand, vaguely, at the call for wounded.
Once Lucas realizes that the ghouls are all gone, he calms down. He's careful to step around the things, uttering a tiny prayer that they might be at peace this time around, and climbs back onto his horse creature. He whispers something to calm the poor creature down.
"Sorry 'bout that, um, I hope y'all will be safe now!" He does glance over at Brigit when he realizes she's looking at him, but doesn't say much. Just a shy little smile and wave. And that's when he remembers his side.
"...Jus' a lil' here," he admits. "It's not major, I can heal it mahself over the course of the ride if it's better..."
"Papa, no!" Tokunaga starts to lumber forward.. then pauses. Anise glances back, looking at Aerith... then looks over toward her parents. Wounded Aerith. Dad and mom. Wounded Aerith. Dad and mom. And back and forth and....
And Anise just passes out. Luckily, Tokunaga flops to the ground beneath her so she doesn't land very hard, but the girl seems out cold. That one that jumped on her back must have done more than just knock her off Tokunaga!
"Anise!" Cue Oliver and Pamela hurrying over to dote on their poor passed-out daughter.
There is silence and stillness, but only for a moment. With the last of the creatures dead Asch glances around, takes stock of who's injured and who isn't, and then picks out three of the un- or at least lightly-injured non-Tatlins seemingly at random. "You, you, and you. Scout to make sure the area is clear in a radius no greater than fifty feet for four minutes, then return to the group." Asch turns his attention to the rest of the group and raises his voice a bit. "We continue for the Hub in five minutes--"
Asch cuts off as Anise suddenly falls to the ground, pausing for a moment as he stares at the girl. ".... and someone get Anise and her creature." Maybe the 'creature' would get himself and Anise on his own, but Asch doesn't want to risk leaving Tokunaga behind. He knows enough about Anise to know she would /kill him/ if he did.
And with those orders given Asch turns from the group again, withdrawing his radio from his belt and flicking it on. Time to report in again.
There's a moment where tension in Soma's frame might warn Brigit it'd be a very bad idea to rush up and touch him, especially on his blind side. It's the sort of tension that will only go away after he's sure there's no other enemy to deal with. The silence that follows seems to suggest what the smell of decay does not and his head turns to the left and right in wide motions to catch a glimpse of the field. Dust and injured and then the Scion's voice calling for his attention. Someone who's voice is only vaguely familiar, toward whom he turns to face with a puzzled expression that fades into recognition. "You're Brigit... the food stand vendor?" ....Perhaps it's understanding that he sounds a little bewildered. Focusing on /why/ Brigit is here and not in the hub is definitely keeping his mind a little off the pain.
The left side of his face is a mess, flesh torn by the raking claw and the eye... well, closed. Caked with blood, the condition of the eye underneath it is dubious at best. It's definitely the worst of the injuries, though he's still feeling the effects of the earlier cut from the initial clash of the ambushers and the kick to his gut.
Soma realizes he probably should answer the girl's concern. "I think I'll be fine." Suure, fine. Though he's telling the truth. Eventually it'll all heal itself; and he's had worse. "What about the others? Did any of the others get hurt?"
With the ghoul things defeated, there's little to do besides try to do something about the wounded.. and then get moving. Luke's more interested in getting the hell out of here, but leaving people behind wasn't going to happen either. When Asch begins handing out orders, he sheathes his weapon, makes a note to clean it with /fire/ later, and frowns faintly when pointed at and given directions again.
He can't be sure Asch is doing it on purpose, so he can't really protest, Instead he swings up onto the back of one of the unwounded horses and kicks it into motion; scouting at least he can do, and with only one injury, he was one of the least hurt here. ... He was worried about Anise, but her parents were right there, they'd take care of her.
"Oh," Aerith says, taking a step towards Anise; but, of course, her parents are getting there pretty quickly! That's good, she thinks, squeezing the wounded shoulder to try to stem the bleeding that isn't stopping quite so quickly on its own.
Adrenalin filtering out of her blood stream leaves her feeling a little wobbly. She looks over for the 'horse' she'd been riding, walking towards it as it seems to have stopped meandering off.
Just as fiercly and without warning she had come, Python suddenly loops down into the earth and disappears, leaving a large hole in her wake. Time to sleep off her meal-ew, that might cause a little indigestion, possibly. Or, well, not really.
Maria doesn't follow, instead gracefully hopping from the creature before it dives underground and landing neatly on the ground. The look in her eyes is a little unsettling to say the least. Something is up. "Is everyone alright? We should definitely keep moving, especially given our injuries."
She walks ahead, pausing to give a passing nod to the Tatlins, before assuming position at the front.
Thankfully, Soma didn't haul off and attack -- shame on Brigit for not being more careful! But he's very perceptive, even with his injuries. What a strange guy.
The redhead chef turns to Asch and replies, "I don't think I'm hurt too bad, thank you... but Soma looks really hurt!" Brigit gasps when the little girl with pigtails falls over. So many injured... They really do work hard, those IPA folks.
Soma's response.... is typical to all those 'strong' types. She sighs and offers a smile. With the condition he was in, it wasn't difficult to tell that it was a really bad wound. Further investigation would be required to see if the eye was still intact.
"Yeah, it looks like we have some injured. But you should take care too, you know?" She turns away and glances over the wounded. Man, did they have hospitals in this world? Maria puts on another dazzling display of cool experience... She's so strong... *_*
"You guys go through so much trouble to keep the multiverse safe, don't you?" The chef mumbled, smiling awkwardly. "You probably do this all the time, huh?" She looks at the lady in pink, who appears also heavily injured and frowns. This seems so /old hat/ to them. What a heavy burden to bear... Then Maria, whose power was impressive, if not terrifying to behold, everything seemed really overwhelming all of the sudden.
"Even those... those kids..." Brigit's voice breaks and she looks down, feeling foolish for letting her emotions get the best of her. Why was she so upset? Was it the rush of battle? Get a grip!
Soma is strong, but what he says has a grain of truth. Carefully, he shakes his head before starting to move away, head sweeping around in an effort to spot his mount. It probably didn't go too far. "I will." He'll find some gauze to wrap up his face if the ones who can heal are busy with others.
"Fighting undead? Kind of." An odd look is thrown Brigit's way, followed by a wince as he realizes facial expressions are a bad idea. "If you can, you should go help the others." He's not... entirely oblivious to Brigit's plight, but his way of thinking suggests that she might be better for something to do. "...And thanks." For the concern that is, though almost immediately the young man turns away to continue his search. By the time they're ready to get underway again, he should have caught up with his 'horse' and be ready.
Aerith looks over at Brigit and smiles a little bit, even as she tugs on the rein of the horse to get it to slow up so she can get on its big stupid back and not have to trudge much further. "Thank you," she says. "I'm sorry you ended up having to see all that..."
Luke fon Fabre says, "Hey. Authority-people? Is it okay if I bring my evil twin to see the holographic simulation room thingie tomorrow?"
Luke fon Fabre .. ..... "Silence means it's okay! Thanks!"
Maria Tegawa says, "Yes, that is fine."
Maria Tegawa says, "Provided you escort."
Luke fon Fabre says, "I will, ma'am!"
Cid Highwind says, "Hey, any luck with that werewolf-leader-thing?"
Cid Highwind says, "Hmm. Must be busy."
Captain Agrias Oaks says, "I wouldn't know, ser." Pageflip. "I've not been assigned to that."
Maria Tegawa says, "I have not questioned him personally."
Karen White says, "I'm talkin' to him. Soon."
Brigit nods, her face hidden by the curls of red hair, then looks around at the others. Her face is slightly flushed and her eyes look wet, but other than the faint bruise on her jaw and the stain from the cut on her arm, she's got herself together.
"D-does anyone need help?" Not... that she can really do much than offer. Her ability to heal is very limited and... well, she's not really ready for her big debut as a Scion just yet. Either way, she's not so injured that she can't help ease the travel of those less fortunate in the battle.
And, she hands out antiseptic wipes and hands out the rest of her wares for no charge -- sometimes, you could use some comfort food. Brigit knows /she/ could!