Log: Winnebago Blitz, Part Two
WHO:Brigit Kelly, Daos, Flandre Scarlet, the Onion Knight, the Radiant Dynamo of Invention, Revya, Sync, Vivi Ornitier, Zidane Tribal
WHEN: After part one
WHERE: The Alliance-Occupied Zone
WHAT: The Coalition is running low on supplies, and goes on a raid to seize what they need from the Alliance. They get kind of carried away with it.
WATCH FOR: Nobody thinking to taking any supplies. Also starring Flandre Scarlet as the little brother from A Christmas Story.
There's a horrible sound of wind. "Miss Kelly! Are you whooof!!"
Vivi Ornitier can't really get his call of worry out very long before he's tackled straight off the roof of the Winnebago, and hits his head on the ground below. "Owwwww... wh-why'd you do that?!" He peers at Flandre, although he looks hurt more than angry. "I can't play right now... my friends are in trouble! I can play later, okay?"
The boy hobbles around the Winnebago, peering his head around to try to spot Brigit's assailant. That older boy over there... it's him, right? "Hey, you leave her alone!" Vivi calls out, hopping out from behind cover. He thrusts his staff forward, and another small shockwave of light erupts from under him. The clouds crack open above, and a thick bolt of thunder crashes downward, striking at Sync with a subtle arc towards his position. Vivi doesn't know who he is, but he's hurting one of his new friends.
You get a glancing blow on Sync with your Thundara attack.
Forge is duly used for a springboard. Zidane lands squarely on the Soulsteel's head, and vaults off, his arc taking him over Dynamo and back towards the foundry. Forge shakes his head vigorously, and something rattles; mere moments later, he's tearing off after Zidane. His footsteps shake the ground.
Dynamo takes off after Zidane, as well. She tosses her crossbow into her free hand, and a glimmering Essence Cannon assembly slides out of her forearm. She quickly locks onto the thief, firing off a burst of plasma-but this one is intended to stun, not to kill. It will detonate in Zidane's vicinity, sending out a shockwave of force that may well send the Genome sprawling.
Radiant Dynamo of Invention gets a glancing blow on Zidane Tribal with her Knockback Stunning Bolt feint.
Revya's expression might be comical if it was not in the middle of a fight. She seems shocked that Daos, obviously a spellcaster and carrying a mace that probably weighs more than she does, is just going to punch her in the face.
She feels her nose crack as she is thrown back, landing in a messy pile in some debris knocked up from the fighting. Revya reaches up before getting up, feeling at her nose-yup, it's bleeding, and probably broken. It hurts like hell.
Revya feels outmatched-well, she is. It doesn't help that she has to listen to Gig in her head. 'See? Useless! If you can't beat whatever the hell that is, how do you expect to beat a World Eater-oh, right, me. Come on, don't you want just a little power?'
Revya forces herself back up to her feet, levels the Onyx Blade at Daos-and lets Gig act.
There is no visible manifestation of the power, aside from Revya looking briefly as if she was caught in a gust of wind; her hair and loose pants billow momentarily. Daos, however, finds himself literally picked up and thrown into (and possibly through) the wall of the Foundry, unless he's very good at getting out of the way of invisible force.
"Hng," Revya says, trying to straighten her own nose after launching him.
Revya hits Daos with her Gig Edict: Wallop attack.
There are advantages to being small. There are also disadvantages, like being really easy to toss.
He's thrown a bit far, landing harshly as his ankles burn from the impact. "Ugh...I'll try from a distance," he mumbles to himself. Glancing aside to make sure Revya and Vivi are still alright, he looks around briefly, running behind a crate.
Wait, what?
When he emerges, after a short burst of magic and a Class Change, he's dressed in red and white robes with a tall hat and a staff in hand. "You like magic, don't you? Try a taste of your own medicine!" He whispers a spell chant before thrusting the staff forward, sending a burst of icy Blizzaga straight at Daos.
The Onion Knight hits Daos with his Red Mage Ice Magic Time attack.
The Onion Knight buffs his STA to -1.
Brigit remembers those biting words, how easily Sync was able to mince her and others apart with a few well-placed laughs and snide remarks. He was good at taunting. And for someone so young, also a deadly fighter. It also didn't help that Brigit was a little easy to taunt, being nice to a fault and not sticking up for herself with much success... she was really a work in progress.
Someday, she might even grow up to be a real live hero! Or at least look more the part.
As Turbulence begins to twist around her, the razor sharp winds begin slicing at bear skin, hair and dress, red slashes appearing almost instantly. Over the wind, Brigit's cry of pain can't be heard, but her expression tells it all. Finally, then the fonic art finishes it's job, she drops to one knee and pants for air.
Vivi's spell glances off Sync, and she looks back at the black wizard, smiling, "Th-thanks!" That... actually cheered her up a bit too. She flashes the (adorable) boy a thumbs up and promises to herself to make him something extra special.
That attack hurt, but thanks to her divine nature, that pain wasn't crippling. It dulled it, just a little, enough to cause her eyes to tear up, but she was up again in only a few seconds. The cuts bled, painting streaks or spreading a stain on her clothes, but not dangerously so - she wasn't losing grievous amounts of blood. Maybe this was what Sync was referring to when he thought she was so annoyingly tenacious!
"You just... you just destroy everything without any care or reason!" She advances, deliberately, playing chicken with the replica and seeing if he'll move to avoid her or stand there and tank what's coming - or, she's gambling with his obvious great speed.
"...you took everything away from me! Why can't you just leave us alone?!" She clenches her fists, balling them up and then lifting her head to scream, "You loveless creature! I... I....!" Her voice, however, booms for this last part - amplified with an uncharacteristic and fearsome quality from Battle Cry.
"I HATE YOU!"
Brigit Kelly buffs Daos's POW to -2.
Brigit Kelly buffs Sync's POW to -1.
Brigit Kelly buffs Flandre Scarlet's POW to -2.
Brigit Kelly buffs Radiant Dynamo of Invention's POW to -2.
Daos lets out a shout of surprise, as he gets picked up and thrown backward. The Sinistral smashes through the wall, leaving a rather big hole in it. He stalks out of it and swings a hand out. Ice slams into the Sinistral a moment later. He scowls, and then thrusts his hand down into the ground.
"Let me show you what magic can truly do, worms!" he shouts. He looks up, for a moment, eyeing Brigit - but he no time for her, yet.
His hand explodes with power, and the ground is rocked. A wave of stones explode up from the earth in a straight line, towards both Revya and the Onion Knight.
Daos hits Revya with his Rock Storm attack.
Daos misses The Onion Knight with his Rock Storm attack.
Her friends? Flandre flies into the air, wings floating at her side for a moment. "Ooooh... I get it now." Flandre notes, nodding her head. A fanged smile as she picks up her wand, the bent metal staff known as 'lavaetin', or close to that. "You're too busy playing with them..." She sadly remarks, her wings drooping, the crystals glowing faintly, all seven of them on each wing-multicolored! And then that cry. It saps her spirit, it eats at her heart-and most of all, it causes her to stagger, even in air. She... she hates them all? Well that's okay! She doesn't really even know the human!
Compared to her red and white clothing, the crystals glow even fainter. Beginning to dull.
A moment later, she perks up. "Okay dolly- I've got the best of ideas~!" She beams. "I know just what to do!" If he won't play while his friends are in danger...
She just has to help get rid of his friends-that one that cried out, he cried out to too! The wand is raised, and the crystals, however weak they may be glowing, momentarily surge. From above, glowing, before the telltale sign of a swarm of rainbow colored energy spheres bombard Brigit, at least where she was before!
Hey, if she's gone-she's not in danger. And then they can play!
Flandre Scarlet critically strikes Brigit Kelly with her Reading without the lines attack.
It'd be way too early to celebrate; now that he knows how accurate Dynamo's marksmanship appears to be, being on the run isn't advantageous as Zidane would like, but it's better than being a sitting duck. Besides, with that big guy lumbering after him, the thief hopes he'll be a little harder to hit. In a way, he's correct, but only if he keeps in mind direct hits. He isn't expecting something bright to detonate somewhere off to his right, nor for that detonation to cause a kind of 'shove' that has him scrambling for footing. The sacrifice of precious seconds is well worth it; not only does falling on one's face hurt, but it tends to look totally uncool.
It's the revelation that Revya has created a sizable hole in the wall (by hurling Daos - wow, that's some strength) that makes Zidane change direction and head promptly for said Sinistral-sized opening. And here is hoping he manages to duck within before he gets steamrolled by Forge-!
Or at least, it appears that this is his plan, until he suddenly plants a foot against part of the intact wall and launches himself into the air in a somersault. If Forge has run after him in hot pursuit, his larger size may make it impossible to avoid crashing into the wall. Just in case, Zidane attempts to stomp against Forge's back on the downswing of his backflip for a little extra 'help'.
Zidane Tribal hits Radiant Dynamo of Invention with his NOTHING WITTY FOR THIS TITLE :( attack.
Sucks to be you, Vivi. So adorable that everyone wants a piece of you! A piece of... misty... darkness... whatever you have underneath that hat. Sync glances up at the boy when he yells at him to leave Brigit alone, and that helps him evade the lightning bolt that he casts his way, rolling with it to sustain only an indirect hit. His uniform's a little scorched, and it aggravates the wound he sustained earlier, but all in all it could be worse."So one of your boyfriends is a little kid," Sync remarks to Brigit, loud enough for Vivi to overhear-which, of course, is the point. "I thought there were laws against that, but hey, who knows how things work where you're from?"
That could be it, yeah. Mostly he meant how she chased after him, but this works, too. He frowns when she gets up regardless, in spite of the heavy hit. He doesn't look all that impressed by her diatribe, either-but when she shrieks that she hates him, something about it just... cuts. It may be the divine power behind it, sapping at his strength, but-well, for a moment, it sounds too much like another girl he knows, and being called a 'loveless creature'... it strikes home.
Maybe he's not quite as over her as he thought.
"Who the hell cares what you think!?" Sync snarls, the malicious joviality vanished. "Sure, we're destroyers, but if you're going to whine at us to leave you alone, save it for when we're raiding you, not when you're raiding us!"
He snaps his hand out then, dealing first with Vivi-nothing too powerful (relatively speaking), but something fast, a fonic arte that takes barely four seconds from start to finish. "Flare Tornado!" he shouts, and a vortex of whorling flames begins spinning around Vivi, or perhaps only where he was. Once that fonic arte has been shot off, Sync sprints for Brigit, first aiming a kick to lash up at her chest, then following up with an uppercut and an open-palmed strike in a three-hit combo.
Sync hits Vivi Ornitier with his A +jab solely for the reason that you've been getting hit by a bunch of people so far jab.
Sync hits Brigit Kelly with his I'M STILL A LITTLE SENSITIVE ABOUT THAT OKAY attack.
"Gah!" Onion Knight can't run nearly as fast in mage garb, but he still manages to avoid being toppled by the rockfall summoned by Daos, thanks to Revya's warnings. "Thanks! Are you alright?"
She is a lady, even if she doesn't seem to want protection!
He class-changes back into his Onion Knight garb, armor shining again as he takes off running. "Guys, we'll hold him off," he radios his allies, since he's never been much of a thief to begin with. Instead, he leaps right up into the air and conjures just a bit of magic, opening up a small portal in front of him. It fires off a number of small fireballs that will probably be more annoying to Daos than anything else, as the Comet spell isn't very powerful in his Onion Knight class.
He's got Vivi for that, right?
The Onion Knight hits Daos with his BURN IT OFF!!!!111111 jab.
Revya, on the other hand, can't get out of the way of the rocks. All she can do is yell about them.
Launched by the wave of stones, Revya somehow manages to land on her feet. Perhaps it is a miracle. Maybe she's just more used to being hit by rising rocks than other things, like explosions and meteors.
"'m okay," she says, in defiance of her bleeding nose. She doesn't look too badly off otherwise, just a bit bruised and with a few scorch marks. Blame explosions. Gripping her sword slightly differently, Revya ducks the comets (comets? Really? Really?) and comes in with a flurry that should be impossible with a sword that big. It continues to mist off red energy as she swings, over and over.
Revya critically strikes Daos with her I Ran Out Of Good Names Already attack.
"Ack!" Vivi is twirled in a circle up in the air by the tornado, deposited face-down on the ground with his coat afire. He rolls in a panic to snuff the flame, and then climbs back to his feet. When he's back up, though, his expression isn't the wide-eyed worry of the beginning of the battle; the little wizard boy has started to compose himself, and he looks determined.
"Stop making fun of us!" Vivi shouts petulantly at Sync. "All of you!! You just hurt people and hurt people! I'VE HAD IT!" He stomps his foot on the ground, and that might seem childish on its own. But his staff comes down along with it, and along with that, there is a heavy shockwave that sends a hot gust of wind blowing all across the battlefield.
A moment passes afterward.
Then a roaring holocaust blasts through the Foundry grounds, walls of fire rushing across the facility. Enormous tongues of fire leap out and lick at the Allies, and the entire conflagration seems like it threatens to devour the factory. It doesn't, though-all of the destructive power is concentrated on the Alliance forces gathered present. To the rest, including Flandre, whose mad mischief Vivi seems not to have fully caught on to yet, it's just a crazy light show-and, hopefully, a good distraction to grab what you can and skip out of town as attentions are focused elsewhere.
You miss Daos with your Burn, Baby, Burn jab.
You miss Radiant Dynamo of Invention with your Disco Inferno jab.
You hit Sync with your Burn, Baby, Burn jab.
As soon as the cry left her mouth, Brigit clasps hands to her throat and opens her eyes wide. Where did that come from?! But either way, the effect is the same - it may not appear so on the faces of these formidable opponents, but something at the very core of them seems shaken, just enough to weaken their strength somewhat.
Brigit can't tell if it was even effective, but she does know that that voice seemed to have a strength to it that she never exhibited before. It was a little scary, but it was also exhilarating!
Of course, this is cut short by the cutting words from Sync, which causes Brigit to frown angrily. She drops down to defend against his oncoming attack, but he's too fast for her! The three-hit combo causes her to back up, staggering with the last hit, the effort of trying to defend causing her to breathe more heavily.
"We're here... to take back... what you stole!" Wiping the back of her hand over her mouth, there's something behind her normally friendly exterior, something that hasn't quite healed properly and probably never will with the path she's on now.
"...We might not be able to bring back those you've killed, we might not be able to take everything back... but we're going to make you regret what you did!"
"You started it! So... don't act so justified!" It's laughably naive of her to say this, but try not to get distracted by that, she's reaching out to grapple Sync, intending to pick him up bodily, clinch, then kick him fiercely away from her.
Brigit Kelly gets a glancing blow on Sync with her Oops I should probably attack now attack.
And it must be delayed, but finally those multi-colored spheres catch up with Brigit and land RIGHT on her. The effect is too difficult, too strange to describe, but the result is the same: Brigit shrieks and staggers back, away from Sync.
The fireballs strike into Daos' side, raining into the armor on the man. He scowls, and wheels his mace around. Revya launches numerous strikes into him - the Onyx Blade breaking armor here and there, drawing purple blood, and cutting into the giant. The Sinistral roars in anger and rage, snarling out his wrath. His aura flares, brightly, blue flame crackling around his body.
He swings back the mace. The skull on it flashes, green fire pouring from the eyes. Daos lets out a roar, and tries to slam the mace hard into Revya's side.
A shield of blue light erupts around him, a moment later. Vivi's flames crash into it, and bounce away, as the shield fades a moment later.
Daos hits Revya with his Mace Whack attack.
Zidane is an agile little bastard, Dynamo thinks. Unpleasant comparisons to the Moonsilver that managed to kill both her and Forge aside, she realizes that she's the only one who can really do damage in this fight.
She is proven right when Forge plays right into Zidane's hands, throwing the full weight of Ku's Final Mercy at the Genome as soon as he thinks he has him cornered. The thief's dodge and subsequent counterattack throw the Soulsteel off-balance, and he topples forwards with an earth-shaking thud. He is buried by a small avalanche of building materials afterwards.
"Forge!" Dynamo cries. She hurries up to the pile, grabs hold of a soulsteel plate, and pulls-the pile shifts, and with considerable effort, the larger Alchemical manages to extract himself. He's bruised and battered, but he looks down, giving his partner a weak smile-albeit one that's hidden beneath his helm.
Then the Soulsteel hears Vivi shouting, and realizing that there's something bad afoot. "Get down!" Forge cries, tackling Dynamo to the ground and shielding her with his body. The fire washes over them, and when it passes, Forge...
"Forge?" Dynamo murmurs. She realizes he's not moving, and everything's hot-she struggles out from beneath his body, and shouts again: "Forge!"
Somewhere, someone rolled a Valor check against a fear of fire, and the dice came up ones.
"Forge-get up!" Dynamo grabs her partner's wrist, and cries out in pain as his superheated armor sears her palm. She lets go, snarls at the retreating Zidane, and reaches out with a hand. Runes glow green, and a hunk of rebar lifts off the ground and throws itself, spear-like, at the thief's back. "Stay put!" Dynamo snarls, unwilling to let him get away-but also unwilling to leave her fear-paralyzed partner's side.
Radiant Dynamo of Invention hits Zidane Tribal with her >:( jab.
As the spheres causes Brigit to stagger backwards, and even scream in pain-Well, Flandre is a bit unhappy about that. She's not gone yet! If she's not gone-then Vivi won't play with her, and she really wants to play. Oh she's just not going to listen to him anymore!
"Okay, how about now?" Flandre notes, hovering infront of Vivi, before slowly circling him.
"Can we play now? Heehee... It's getting boring....." She notes, as she 'flutters' to a stop infront of Vivi. The mage is doing everything in his power to ignore her. The lightshow he makes is pretty but..."I said-" She 'changes'. Flandre's happy, and whimsical demeanor fade away-and something more vampirish bubbles up. "Let's PLAY!" Her arms, small and frail as it seems, reaches out to grab Vivi and force him to the ground, holding him in place as the pressure is gradually increased.
"You're NOT going to say no to me!" She really doesn't know about Vivi's past-she just thinks he's a literal doll.
Flandre Scarlet misses Vivi Ornitier with her This might interrupt a few spells stun.
Naive? Oh yeah. Normally Sync might just laugh it off, but considering that Brigit unknowingly dug up some fairly recent wounds, he snarls, not managing to avoid her clinch but softening the kick nonetheless by kicking off her at the same time and moving with the momentum. He rolls and gets back up on his feet.
"Go ahead, then! Go ahead and hate me!" he snarls, perhaps taking this a little too personally, all considered. "But you ought to realize, that hatred's just an excuse to do whatever the hell you want! And we'll keep doing whatever the hell we want, too!" This is just in time to see the rainbow-colored lights pour down on top of her head, and he laughs coldly, and a tiny bit manically, to see it. "So hate with all your heart!! It'll be fun to see you slide down that slope!"
Sync is in a bad mood now. This is further evidenced by the fact that, once the sparkles are finished, he closes in on her again to summon fonons into a strike arte, bending knees slightly to call up the fonons that his wind arte and Vivi's Thundara spell cast about. The result is a huge beam of electric energy that bursts out from his hand when he snaps out an open-palm strike. "Reaper's Wave!!" he snarls.
Vivi's petulance isn't lost on him either. However, Sync doesn't have the time to react to him at first, and isn't inclined to banter with him either-well, what would he have to say to him that he didn't just say to Brigit, anyway?-and it seems at first like whatever arte he used, it wasn't any more impressive than a gust of hot wind.
Sync is proved very wrong a moment later.
Forge isn't the only one with a fear of fire, though in the God-General's case, his is more specific; his is more of volcanic lava. Holocaustic flames will do in a pinch, though, and as they sear out and envelope him, he screams in pain, staggering back. At least Vivi will keep Sync down for a moment.
Sync gets a glancing blow on Brigit Kelly with his HADOUKEN attack.
So much for the smash and grab - Zidane tosses a quick glance over his shoulder at the now severely damaged wall. He can now only speculate what might've been theirs for the taking inside (stealing back, perhaps, what had already been stolen was all well and good, it was being able to really STICK it to a group notorious for terrorizing the public). But, really, they're out of time, and knowing Vivi they can't just rely on his firepower for too long.
He'd totally exhaust himself just trying to do his best for everyone AND THEN ZIDANE WOULD FEEL KIND OF BAD. So it's time, he's decided, to leave with the assurance that they had at least caused them some headaches (and property damage). The thief is, indeed, attempting to make good on his opportunity to escape when Dynamo finally launches a rebar in his direction. Good reflexes spare him an untimely shish-kabobbing when Zidane just barely manages to twist himself away-and gets a wicked furrow drawn into his back instead.
Thaaaat's going to hurt in the morning. Hell, it hurts NOW. "It would never work out between us anyway!" Zidane manages, grimacing. His sprint picks up where it left off, albeit with a little more visible urgency. The purpose?
Made clearer when he reaches for Flandre with the intent of simply pulling her off Vivi, not roughly, but in the manner one breaks up a fight between young children. Granted, these 'kids' are capable of HIGHLY DESTRUCTIVE MAGIC... "Hey! If you can't play nice..." You don't get to play at all. "Vivi, can you stand?" Hurry up, before Dynamo decides to throw something bigger!
Revya was expecting the flash, or something; she had actually closed her eyes for it and had just opened them right when she saw a giant mace whistling in at her side.
Revya thinks: Oh, shit.
Revya screams something wordless as the mace catches her in the side. It hits with enough force to throw her; as she had been intending to run under cover of the giant flash, that part's a plus, although the fact that she now hurts like a bitch isn't.
She does not charge Daos again. Under complaints from Gig, she shoves the onyx blade back in its heavy sheath, turns, and... it would be sprints except her hip hurts so much that it's more of a constant lurch. Maybe he won't follow?
"Revya! Are you alright?" Onion's still catching his breath himself, when the word to retreat comes out. "Revya, Vivi, it sounds liek we're pulling back..." He turns to glare over his shoulder at Daos, but the young knight doesn't attack him further, not yet.
"This isn't over, all of you! I'll face you again! I'll take you all down myself someday, if I must! You'll see!" And then he, well, turns tail and starts running towards the strange Winnebago vehicle, hoping that someone knows how to operate it...
"Go, everybody! Get what you can and get out of... huh?" Spellcasting on this scale takes concentration, after all; by the time he's come out of his casting reverie, he's got Flandre in his face already shrieking at him. "H-heyy!! Let go!" It might be a little surprising when the doll pushes Flandre back-not just physically, but returning the exertion of pressure, a tug-of-war of opposing and equal forces resulting in no net movement. "My friends are in danger, let go of me!!"
At least his pal has come to the rescue! "Zidane!" Vivi sticks close to the thief, almost like a child by his parent. "Y-yeah," he says, looking down at his feet; Zidane ought to know from experience, though, that Vivi isn't very good at running-it might be faster just to carry him really.
At least Vivi seems to notice the worry over Dynamo behind them. Vivi turns around and casts a quick spell, conjuring an arcing shield-wall of ice to protect Zidane from Dynamo's direction. He then turns back, nodding to Onion Knight's call. "Everybody, keep together!"
The clumsy attack hit-but apparently, it wasn't enough to take Zidane down. Dynamo curses softly as she sees him doubling back, but there isn't much she can do at the moment, not while she's got Forge to worry about, along with gods-know-how-many workers. Thankfully, nobody's gotten caught in the crossfire, and Vivi's pyrotechnics were more than enough to encourage the more curious among the Populat to seek shelter.
Once more, Dynamo grabs ahold of Forge's arm, draping it across her shoulders. It's still superheated, and she hisses softly as fire settles into her muscles. But it's enough to shake some sense into her lover. He stands, sort of, leaning heavily on the Radiant Dynamo for support. It looks almost comical, considering how big he is in comparison to her, but the two make their way out of the alley and back into the Foundry.
And then they're stopped cold by a sudden wall of ice. "Dammit!" Dynamo snarls.
After the attack, Brigit lifts her head up and returns Sync's snarl with a frown, then clenches her teeth. She charges him, then lifts up her hand to-
She stops, her hand hanging in the air for a moment before dropping it.
Sync's words might not have had quite the effect he had intended. Instead, it cut through the hate for a moment and forced her to take a moment to look at her face in the mirror inwardly.
...What was she becoming?
"...." The scion's frown slackens and her face takes on a distracted, contemplative look... which is terrible timing considering that's the precise moment Sync's lightning struck.
Reflexively, Brigit put her arm up and braced for the attack, which didn't work all that well. The attack, while not as effective as it could have been, left her feeling shaken, but silent.
Hate isn't so easily banished, however. She's still hurt, but for the moment, she got a glimpse at just how ugly it was.
"...So that's it? Are you trying to tell me that..." Brigit's trying to say something like 'So you were like me, once?' or 'Someone hurt you, so now you want the world to hurt, too?' but instead she says, "Some kind of endless cycle?" Distractedly, she looks over her shoulder and realizes that it's really time to go.
So she turns back and shakes her head before running after them, "...d-don't think this is over! You're still... still... horrible!" And with that lame comeback, she turns tail and runs back to the vehicle. She doesn't know how to drive, but she's pretty sure the pedal on the right is what brakes it! (Or was it the left?) Either way, a wall of ice closes off the path behind her.
Slowly, Daos lowers his mace. The weapon hits the ground, and the Sinistral spits. Purple blood and sweat run down him; his wounds slow him a little, and that proves an annoyance. The godling closes his eyes and focuses, for a moment. He can pursue them in a moment. He needs to be ready, first.
Ready to throw a bus, if he must.
Light exudes from him. A flash of dark blue light rolls off the Sinistral, and some of his wounds begin to bind up.
Daos heals Daos with his Lufia II Has Some Hilariously OOC Name For This Healing Spell Daos Has Like 'Heroism' Or Something action.
As Zidane pulls her off of Vivi completely, even if she's being pulled away by Vivi on top of it, and his powers-her eyes flash to him. This ANIMAL ... oh he's come to play! "Hiii~!" She notes, before she gets pushed away and back from Vivi, floating instead of falling over. "So are we going to play now?" She asks, only then to go on. "... Pulling back? That seems silly to say, I don't see anyone pulling at all!"
Of course they're leaving-a sudden wall of ice rising. "Oooh.... where'd that come from?" The winged girl floats over to the wall of ice, not paying attention to the horrible monsters behind her. "Gooodbyyyyye~!" She waves to the people who leave. "Let's play again sometime, okay!"
The ice wall gets her attention now-as she presses against it, stops, pushes it, stops, floats around it, and then tries to lick it.
"Mmmph?" She asks no one, as she tries to fly away. Tongue... stuck. "MPH!" She notes, once more, wings now flapping. "MPPPPPPPHHH!!"
The wall of ice begins to weaken-shaking as if something is trying to find it's weakpoint-after the Coalition is gone, the ice will shatter into fragments-perhaps more like shavings. The wall of ice was being mean, kidnapping her tongue and everything.
Sync is not really all that concerned in what effect it has on Brigit, whether it riles her up further or makes her stop and look at herself. If he were really more concerned for the former than the latter, though, he probably wouldn't have phrased it quite that way. Just sayin'.
"Why would I bother trying to tell anything to you? A worthless thing like you?" Sync snaps. When she runs for it, he scowls, reminded unpleasantly in her insistance on hating him of Anise, but doesn't follow at first. He kind of can't, what with the ice wall and all. Coordinating with Dynamo on the radio, he lifts a hand to start casting an arte to destroy it-
And then that winged girl does it for him.
"..." Sync scratches his head, then decides to follow Daos' lead, and focus his momentary concentration on a minor healing arte to get rid of the worst of his burns. He'll chase after in a moment.
Sync heals Sync with his FAASUTO EIDO action.
That ice wall is probably the most brilliant idea of the day. Zidane's eager to usher Vivi and any other stragglers into the winnebago, but he can't help but stare a little as the winged girl proceeds to get her tongue stuck firmly to it. With a quick shake of his head, he hops onto the roof of the vehicle, banging on its roof with one fist. "Go! Go go go!" Before they decide to bust down that ice wall and chase them! Because that's kind of inevitable at this point. Put the pedal to the metal, Brigit!
Zidane, in the meantime, will crouch low on the winnebago's roof in total flagrant disregard of things like aerodynamics. Tails are awesome for feats of balance like that.
There is a bit of coordination. Dynamo tries her best to concentrate, even through the pain of having superheated metal draped across her shoulders-and the tormented wailing of the alien souls trapped within the alloy. As if soulsteel weren't vocal enough under normal conditions; the stuff gets even creepier when it's subjected to stress.
As if recognizing this fact at long last, Forge stands on his own, removing his arm. He still looks somewhat rattled, but he quickly regains his senses, moving to see if there's any serious damage to the facilities, or casualties among the workers.
Dynamo, meanwhile, hurries over to Sync. "Are you all right?" There's smoke rising from the back of her buffcoat.
The black mage boy hurries into the Winnebago, taking cover in the back seat as he did on the way in. He peers at the seatbelts, not quite getting what they're there for, until he overhears Brigit mention the picnic basket in the back. "Huh?... oh, wow!" Vivi shuffles in his seat over to the basket, leaning over it to peer inside. "There's... there's everything in here! Wow, look at all these spices... is this spit-roasted?"
Brigit Kelly takes several tries with much grinding of gears before she finally manages to get the winnebago moving in the right direction, with the emergency break OFF and not hitting any walls.
However, the wipers are on for some reason, and she can't seem to get it to fly for longer than a dozen feet or so before landing heavily on the ground again.
Lavan wasn't going to be happy about this.
Revya is back in her usual spot in the Winnebago-the back. She has very carefully given the sword its own seat, if ther eis room; at least, it's on the seats rather than on the floor or something.
She is sore but otherwise okay, especially now that she has (more or less) fixed her nose and asked Gig to heal it. (All he did was unbreak it. Her face is still bloody.)
"I'll be fine," Sync mutters, though he settles down a little when Dynamo hurries over to him to check up on him. "I used an arte, and anyway, your coat's smoldering. Lorelei," he swears, "fonists and mages and all those are a pain in the ass!"
Never mind that he is one. Sync should know!
He'll spend some time hitting the Winnebago with a high-level fonic arte or two, but when it becomes apparent that it's got a forcefield protecting it... well, they're running, and he might be pissed, but he's not that jazzed about pursuit.
Escape routes are rough, and as the heroic roughnecks make their mad escape through Alliance territory, the van does shake. And when the van shakes, so do the things inside the van. Such as the people, for instance. And the food.
"Waugh!" Vivi calls out as he's knocked down off the back seat again. His eyes don't go wide because of this, though-it's because the basket begins to tumble. "I'VE GOT IT!" he calls, and holds a hand out...
The basket freezes in midair. The black mage climbs carefully back up the back seat, picks the picnic basket out of the air, and sets it gently back down on the seat.
WHEN: After part one
WHERE: The Alliance-Occupied Zone
WHAT: The Coalition is running low on supplies, and goes on a raid to seize what they need from the Alliance. They get kind of carried away with it.
WATCH FOR: Nobody thinking to taking any supplies. Also starring Flandre Scarlet as the little brother from A Christmas Story.
There's a horrible sound of wind. "Miss Kelly! Are you whooof!!"
Vivi Ornitier can't really get his call of worry out very long before he's tackled straight off the roof of the Winnebago, and hits his head on the ground below. "Owwwww... wh-why'd you do that?!" He peers at Flandre, although he looks hurt more than angry. "I can't play right now... my friends are in trouble! I can play later, okay?"
The boy hobbles around the Winnebago, peering his head around to try to spot Brigit's assailant. That older boy over there... it's him, right? "Hey, you leave her alone!" Vivi calls out, hopping out from behind cover. He thrusts his staff forward, and another small shockwave of light erupts from under him. The clouds crack open above, and a thick bolt of thunder crashes downward, striking at Sync with a subtle arc towards his position. Vivi doesn't know who he is, but he's hurting one of his new friends.
You get a glancing blow on Sync with your Thundara attack.
Forge is duly used for a springboard. Zidane lands squarely on the Soulsteel's head, and vaults off, his arc taking him over Dynamo and back towards the foundry. Forge shakes his head vigorously, and something rattles; mere moments later, he's tearing off after Zidane. His footsteps shake the ground.
Dynamo takes off after Zidane, as well. She tosses her crossbow into her free hand, and a glimmering Essence Cannon assembly slides out of her forearm. She quickly locks onto the thief, firing off a burst of plasma-but this one is intended to stun, not to kill. It will detonate in Zidane's vicinity, sending out a shockwave of force that may well send the Genome sprawling.
Radiant Dynamo of Invention gets a glancing blow on Zidane Tribal with her Knockback Stunning Bolt feint.
Revya's expression might be comical if it was not in the middle of a fight. She seems shocked that Daos, obviously a spellcaster and carrying a mace that probably weighs more than she does, is just going to punch her in the face.
She feels her nose crack as she is thrown back, landing in a messy pile in some debris knocked up from the fighting. Revya reaches up before getting up, feeling at her nose-yup, it's bleeding, and probably broken. It hurts like hell.
Revya feels outmatched-well, she is. It doesn't help that she has to listen to Gig in her head. 'See? Useless! If you can't beat whatever the hell that is, how do you expect to beat a World Eater-oh, right, me. Come on, don't you want just a little power?'
Revya forces herself back up to her feet, levels the Onyx Blade at Daos-and lets Gig act.
There is no visible manifestation of the power, aside from Revya looking briefly as if she was caught in a gust of wind; her hair and loose pants billow momentarily. Daos, however, finds himself literally picked up and thrown into (and possibly through) the wall of the Foundry, unless he's very good at getting out of the way of invisible force.
"Hng," Revya says, trying to straighten her own nose after launching him.
Revya hits Daos with her Gig Edict: Wallop attack.
There are advantages to being small. There are also disadvantages, like being really easy to toss.
He's thrown a bit far, landing harshly as his ankles burn from the impact. "Ugh...I'll try from a distance," he mumbles to himself. Glancing aside to make sure Revya and Vivi are still alright, he looks around briefly, running behind a crate.
Wait, what?
When he emerges, after a short burst of magic and a Class Change, he's dressed in red and white robes with a tall hat and a staff in hand. "You like magic, don't you? Try a taste of your own medicine!" He whispers a spell chant before thrusting the staff forward, sending a burst of icy Blizzaga straight at Daos.
The Onion Knight hits Daos with his Red Mage Ice Magic Time attack.
The Onion Knight buffs his STA to -1.
Brigit remembers those biting words, how easily Sync was able to mince her and others apart with a few well-placed laughs and snide remarks. He was good at taunting. And for someone so young, also a deadly fighter. It also didn't help that Brigit was a little easy to taunt, being nice to a fault and not sticking up for herself with much success... she was really a work in progress.
Someday, she might even grow up to be a real live hero! Or at least look more the part.
As Turbulence begins to twist around her, the razor sharp winds begin slicing at bear skin, hair and dress, red slashes appearing almost instantly. Over the wind, Brigit's cry of pain can't be heard, but her expression tells it all. Finally, then the fonic art finishes it's job, she drops to one knee and pants for air.
Vivi's spell glances off Sync, and she looks back at the black wizard, smiling, "Th-thanks!" That... actually cheered her up a bit too. She flashes the (adorable) boy a thumbs up and promises to herself to make him something extra special.
That attack hurt, but thanks to her divine nature, that pain wasn't crippling. It dulled it, just a little, enough to cause her eyes to tear up, but she was up again in only a few seconds. The cuts bled, painting streaks or spreading a stain on her clothes, but not dangerously so - she wasn't losing grievous amounts of blood. Maybe this was what Sync was referring to when he thought she was so annoyingly tenacious!
"You just... you just destroy everything without any care or reason!" She advances, deliberately, playing chicken with the replica and seeing if he'll move to avoid her or stand there and tank what's coming - or, she's gambling with his obvious great speed.
"...you took everything away from me! Why can't you just leave us alone?!" She clenches her fists, balling them up and then lifting her head to scream, "You loveless creature! I... I....!" Her voice, however, booms for this last part - amplified with an uncharacteristic and fearsome quality from Battle Cry.
"I HATE YOU!"
Brigit Kelly buffs Daos's POW to -2.
Brigit Kelly buffs Sync's POW to -1.
Brigit Kelly buffs Flandre Scarlet's POW to -2.
Brigit Kelly buffs Radiant Dynamo of Invention's POW to -2.
Daos lets out a shout of surprise, as he gets picked up and thrown backward. The Sinistral smashes through the wall, leaving a rather big hole in it. He stalks out of it and swings a hand out. Ice slams into the Sinistral a moment later. He scowls, and then thrusts his hand down into the ground.
"Let me show you what magic can truly do, worms!" he shouts. He looks up, for a moment, eyeing Brigit - but he no time for her, yet.
His hand explodes with power, and the ground is rocked. A wave of stones explode up from the earth in a straight line, towards both Revya and the Onion Knight.
Daos hits Revya with his Rock Storm attack.
Daos misses The Onion Knight with his Rock Storm attack.
Her friends? Flandre flies into the air, wings floating at her side for a moment. "Ooooh... I get it now." Flandre notes, nodding her head. A fanged smile as she picks up her wand, the bent metal staff known as 'lavaetin', or close to that. "You're too busy playing with them..." She sadly remarks, her wings drooping, the crystals glowing faintly, all seven of them on each wing-multicolored! And then that cry. It saps her spirit, it eats at her heart-and most of all, it causes her to stagger, even in air. She... she hates them all? Well that's okay! She doesn't really even know the human!
Compared to her red and white clothing, the crystals glow even fainter. Beginning to dull.
A moment later, she perks up. "Okay dolly- I've got the best of ideas~!" She beams. "I know just what to do!" If he won't play while his friends are in danger...
She just has to help get rid of his friends-that one that cried out, he cried out to too! The wand is raised, and the crystals, however weak they may be glowing, momentarily surge. From above, glowing, before the telltale sign of a swarm of rainbow colored energy spheres bombard Brigit, at least where she was before!
Hey, if she's gone-she's not in danger. And then they can play!
Flandre Scarlet critically strikes Brigit Kelly with her Reading without the lines attack.
It'd be way too early to celebrate; now that he knows how accurate Dynamo's marksmanship appears to be, being on the run isn't advantageous as Zidane would like, but it's better than being a sitting duck. Besides, with that big guy lumbering after him, the thief hopes he'll be a little harder to hit. In a way, he's correct, but only if he keeps in mind direct hits. He isn't expecting something bright to detonate somewhere off to his right, nor for that detonation to cause a kind of 'shove' that has him scrambling for footing. The sacrifice of precious seconds is well worth it; not only does falling on one's face hurt, but it tends to look totally uncool.
It's the revelation that Revya has created a sizable hole in the wall (by hurling Daos - wow, that's some strength) that makes Zidane change direction and head promptly for said Sinistral-sized opening. And here is hoping he manages to duck within before he gets steamrolled by Forge-!
Or at least, it appears that this is his plan, until he suddenly plants a foot against part of the intact wall and launches himself into the air in a somersault. If Forge has run after him in hot pursuit, his larger size may make it impossible to avoid crashing into the wall. Just in case, Zidane attempts to stomp against Forge's back on the downswing of his backflip for a little extra 'help'.
Zidane Tribal hits Radiant Dynamo of Invention with his NOTHING WITTY FOR THIS TITLE :( attack.
Sucks to be you, Vivi. So adorable that everyone wants a piece of you! A piece of... misty... darkness... whatever you have underneath that hat. Sync glances up at the boy when he yells at him to leave Brigit alone, and that helps him evade the lightning bolt that he casts his way, rolling with it to sustain only an indirect hit. His uniform's a little scorched, and it aggravates the wound he sustained earlier, but all in all it could be worse."So one of your boyfriends is a little kid," Sync remarks to Brigit, loud enough for Vivi to overhear-which, of course, is the point. "I thought there were laws against that, but hey, who knows how things work where you're from?"
That could be it, yeah. Mostly he meant how she chased after him, but this works, too. He frowns when she gets up regardless, in spite of the heavy hit. He doesn't look all that impressed by her diatribe, either-but when she shrieks that she hates him, something about it just... cuts. It may be the divine power behind it, sapping at his strength, but-well, for a moment, it sounds too much like another girl he knows, and being called a 'loveless creature'... it strikes home.
Maybe he's not quite as over her as he thought.
"Who the hell cares what you think!?" Sync snarls, the malicious joviality vanished. "Sure, we're destroyers, but if you're going to whine at us to leave you alone, save it for when we're raiding you, not when you're raiding us!"
He snaps his hand out then, dealing first with Vivi-nothing too powerful (relatively speaking), but something fast, a fonic arte that takes barely four seconds from start to finish. "Flare Tornado!" he shouts, and a vortex of whorling flames begins spinning around Vivi, or perhaps only where he was. Once that fonic arte has been shot off, Sync sprints for Brigit, first aiming a kick to lash up at her chest, then following up with an uppercut and an open-palmed strike in a three-hit combo.
Sync hits Vivi Ornitier with his A +jab solely for the reason that you've been getting hit by a bunch of people so far jab.
Sync hits Brigit Kelly with his I'M STILL A LITTLE SENSITIVE ABOUT THAT OKAY attack.
"Gah!" Onion Knight can't run nearly as fast in mage garb, but he still manages to avoid being toppled by the rockfall summoned by Daos, thanks to Revya's warnings. "Thanks! Are you alright?"
She is a lady, even if she doesn't seem to want protection!
He class-changes back into his Onion Knight garb, armor shining again as he takes off running. "Guys, we'll hold him off," he radios his allies, since he's never been much of a thief to begin with. Instead, he leaps right up into the air and conjures just a bit of magic, opening up a small portal in front of him. It fires off a number of small fireballs that will probably be more annoying to Daos than anything else, as the Comet spell isn't very powerful in his Onion Knight class.
He's got Vivi for that, right?
The Onion Knight hits Daos with his BURN IT OFF!!!!111111 jab.
Revya, on the other hand, can't get out of the way of the rocks. All she can do is yell about them.
Launched by the wave of stones, Revya somehow manages to land on her feet. Perhaps it is a miracle. Maybe she's just more used to being hit by rising rocks than other things, like explosions and meteors.
"'m okay," she says, in defiance of her bleeding nose. She doesn't look too badly off otherwise, just a bit bruised and with a few scorch marks. Blame explosions. Gripping her sword slightly differently, Revya ducks the comets (comets? Really? Really?) and comes in with a flurry that should be impossible with a sword that big. It continues to mist off red energy as she swings, over and over.
Revya critically strikes Daos with her I Ran Out Of Good Names Already attack.
"Ack!" Vivi is twirled in a circle up in the air by the tornado, deposited face-down on the ground with his coat afire. He rolls in a panic to snuff the flame, and then climbs back to his feet. When he's back up, though, his expression isn't the wide-eyed worry of the beginning of the battle; the little wizard boy has started to compose himself, and he looks determined.
"Stop making fun of us!" Vivi shouts petulantly at Sync. "All of you!! You just hurt people and hurt people! I'VE HAD IT!" He stomps his foot on the ground, and that might seem childish on its own. But his staff comes down along with it, and along with that, there is a heavy shockwave that sends a hot gust of wind blowing all across the battlefield.
A moment passes afterward.
Then a roaring holocaust blasts through the Foundry grounds, walls of fire rushing across the facility. Enormous tongues of fire leap out and lick at the Allies, and the entire conflagration seems like it threatens to devour the factory. It doesn't, though-all of the destructive power is concentrated on the Alliance forces gathered present. To the rest, including Flandre, whose mad mischief Vivi seems not to have fully caught on to yet, it's just a crazy light show-and, hopefully, a good distraction to grab what you can and skip out of town as attentions are focused elsewhere.
You miss Daos with your Burn, Baby, Burn jab.
You miss Radiant Dynamo of Invention with your Disco Inferno jab.
You hit Sync with your Burn, Baby, Burn jab.
As soon as the cry left her mouth, Brigit clasps hands to her throat and opens her eyes wide. Where did that come from?! But either way, the effect is the same - it may not appear so on the faces of these formidable opponents, but something at the very core of them seems shaken, just enough to weaken their strength somewhat.
Brigit can't tell if it was even effective, but she does know that that voice seemed to have a strength to it that she never exhibited before. It was a little scary, but it was also exhilarating!
Of course, this is cut short by the cutting words from Sync, which causes Brigit to frown angrily. She drops down to defend against his oncoming attack, but he's too fast for her! The three-hit combo causes her to back up, staggering with the last hit, the effort of trying to defend causing her to breathe more heavily.
"We're here... to take back... what you stole!" Wiping the back of her hand over her mouth, there's something behind her normally friendly exterior, something that hasn't quite healed properly and probably never will with the path she's on now.
"...We might not be able to bring back those you've killed, we might not be able to take everything back... but we're going to make you regret what you did!"
"You started it! So... don't act so justified!" It's laughably naive of her to say this, but try not to get distracted by that, she's reaching out to grapple Sync, intending to pick him up bodily, clinch, then kick him fiercely away from her.
Brigit Kelly gets a glancing blow on Sync with her Oops I should probably attack now attack.
And it must be delayed, but finally those multi-colored spheres catch up with Brigit and land RIGHT on her. The effect is too difficult, too strange to describe, but the result is the same: Brigit shrieks and staggers back, away from Sync.
The fireballs strike into Daos' side, raining into the armor on the man. He scowls, and wheels his mace around. Revya launches numerous strikes into him - the Onyx Blade breaking armor here and there, drawing purple blood, and cutting into the giant. The Sinistral roars in anger and rage, snarling out his wrath. His aura flares, brightly, blue flame crackling around his body.
He swings back the mace. The skull on it flashes, green fire pouring from the eyes. Daos lets out a roar, and tries to slam the mace hard into Revya's side.
A shield of blue light erupts around him, a moment later. Vivi's flames crash into it, and bounce away, as the shield fades a moment later.
Daos hits Revya with his Mace Whack attack.
Zidane is an agile little bastard, Dynamo thinks. Unpleasant comparisons to the Moonsilver that managed to kill both her and Forge aside, she realizes that she's the only one who can really do damage in this fight.
She is proven right when Forge plays right into Zidane's hands, throwing the full weight of Ku's Final Mercy at the Genome as soon as he thinks he has him cornered. The thief's dodge and subsequent counterattack throw the Soulsteel off-balance, and he topples forwards with an earth-shaking thud. He is buried by a small avalanche of building materials afterwards.
"Forge!" Dynamo cries. She hurries up to the pile, grabs hold of a soulsteel plate, and pulls-the pile shifts, and with considerable effort, the larger Alchemical manages to extract himself. He's bruised and battered, but he looks down, giving his partner a weak smile-albeit one that's hidden beneath his helm.
Then the Soulsteel hears Vivi shouting, and realizing that there's something bad afoot. "Get down!" Forge cries, tackling Dynamo to the ground and shielding her with his body. The fire washes over them, and when it passes, Forge...
"Forge?" Dynamo murmurs. She realizes he's not moving, and everything's hot-she struggles out from beneath his body, and shouts again: "Forge!"
Somewhere, someone rolled a Valor check against a fear of fire, and the dice came up ones.
"Forge-get up!" Dynamo grabs her partner's wrist, and cries out in pain as his superheated armor sears her palm. She lets go, snarls at the retreating Zidane, and reaches out with a hand. Runes glow green, and a hunk of rebar lifts off the ground and throws itself, spear-like, at the thief's back. "Stay put!" Dynamo snarls, unwilling to let him get away-but also unwilling to leave her fear-paralyzed partner's side.
Radiant Dynamo of Invention hits Zidane Tribal with her >:( jab.
As the spheres causes Brigit to stagger backwards, and even scream in pain-Well, Flandre is a bit unhappy about that. She's not gone yet! If she's not gone-then Vivi won't play with her, and she really wants to play. Oh she's just not going to listen to him anymore!
"Okay, how about now?" Flandre notes, hovering infront of Vivi, before slowly circling him.
"Can we play now? Heehee... It's getting boring....." She notes, as she 'flutters' to a stop infront of Vivi. The mage is doing everything in his power to ignore her. The lightshow he makes is pretty but..."I said-" She 'changes'. Flandre's happy, and whimsical demeanor fade away-and something more vampirish bubbles up. "Let's PLAY!" Her arms, small and frail as it seems, reaches out to grab Vivi and force him to the ground, holding him in place as the pressure is gradually increased.
"You're NOT going to say no to me!" She really doesn't know about Vivi's past-she just thinks he's a literal doll.
Flandre Scarlet misses Vivi Ornitier with her This might interrupt a few spells stun.
Naive? Oh yeah. Normally Sync might just laugh it off, but considering that Brigit unknowingly dug up some fairly recent wounds, he snarls, not managing to avoid her clinch but softening the kick nonetheless by kicking off her at the same time and moving with the momentum. He rolls and gets back up on his feet.
"Go ahead, then! Go ahead and hate me!" he snarls, perhaps taking this a little too personally, all considered. "But you ought to realize, that hatred's just an excuse to do whatever the hell you want! And we'll keep doing whatever the hell we want, too!" This is just in time to see the rainbow-colored lights pour down on top of her head, and he laughs coldly, and a tiny bit manically, to see it. "So hate with all your heart!! It'll be fun to see you slide down that slope!"
Sync is in a bad mood now. This is further evidenced by the fact that, once the sparkles are finished, he closes in on her again to summon fonons into a strike arte, bending knees slightly to call up the fonons that his wind arte and Vivi's Thundara spell cast about. The result is a huge beam of electric energy that bursts out from his hand when he snaps out an open-palm strike. "Reaper's Wave!!" he snarls.
Vivi's petulance isn't lost on him either. However, Sync doesn't have the time to react to him at first, and isn't inclined to banter with him either-well, what would he have to say to him that he didn't just say to Brigit, anyway?-and it seems at first like whatever arte he used, it wasn't any more impressive than a gust of hot wind.
Sync is proved very wrong a moment later.
Forge isn't the only one with a fear of fire, though in the God-General's case, his is more specific; his is more of volcanic lava. Holocaustic flames will do in a pinch, though, and as they sear out and envelope him, he screams in pain, staggering back. At least Vivi will keep Sync down for a moment.
Sync gets a glancing blow on Brigit Kelly with his HADOUKEN attack.
So much for the smash and grab - Zidane tosses a quick glance over his shoulder at the now severely damaged wall. He can now only speculate what might've been theirs for the taking inside (stealing back, perhaps, what had already been stolen was all well and good, it was being able to really STICK it to a group notorious for terrorizing the public). But, really, they're out of time, and knowing Vivi they can't just rely on his firepower for too long.
He'd totally exhaust himself just trying to do his best for everyone AND THEN ZIDANE WOULD FEEL KIND OF BAD. So it's time, he's decided, to leave with the assurance that they had at least caused them some headaches (and property damage). The thief is, indeed, attempting to make good on his opportunity to escape when Dynamo finally launches a rebar in his direction. Good reflexes spare him an untimely shish-kabobbing when Zidane just barely manages to twist himself away-and gets a wicked furrow drawn into his back instead.
Thaaaat's going to hurt in the morning. Hell, it hurts NOW. "It would never work out between us anyway!" Zidane manages, grimacing. His sprint picks up where it left off, albeit with a little more visible urgency. The purpose?
Made clearer when he reaches for Flandre with the intent of simply pulling her off Vivi, not roughly, but in the manner one breaks up a fight between young children. Granted, these 'kids' are capable of HIGHLY DESTRUCTIVE MAGIC... "Hey! If you can't play nice..." You don't get to play at all. "Vivi, can you stand?" Hurry up, before Dynamo decides to throw something bigger!
Revya was expecting the flash, or something; she had actually closed her eyes for it and had just opened them right when she saw a giant mace whistling in at her side.
Revya thinks: Oh, shit.
Revya screams something wordless as the mace catches her in the side. It hits with enough force to throw her; as she had been intending to run under cover of the giant flash, that part's a plus, although the fact that she now hurts like a bitch isn't.
She does not charge Daos again. Under complaints from Gig, she shoves the onyx blade back in its heavy sheath, turns, and... it would be sprints except her hip hurts so much that it's more of a constant lurch. Maybe he won't follow?
"Revya! Are you alright?" Onion's still catching his breath himself, when the word to retreat comes out. "Revya, Vivi, it sounds liek we're pulling back..." He turns to glare over his shoulder at Daos, but the young knight doesn't attack him further, not yet.
"This isn't over, all of you! I'll face you again! I'll take you all down myself someday, if I must! You'll see!" And then he, well, turns tail and starts running towards the strange Winnebago vehicle, hoping that someone knows how to operate it...
"Go, everybody! Get what you can and get out of... huh?" Spellcasting on this scale takes concentration, after all; by the time he's come out of his casting reverie, he's got Flandre in his face already shrieking at him. "H-heyy!! Let go!" It might be a little surprising when the doll pushes Flandre back-not just physically, but returning the exertion of pressure, a tug-of-war of opposing and equal forces resulting in no net movement. "My friends are in danger, let go of me!!"
At least his pal has come to the rescue! "Zidane!" Vivi sticks close to the thief, almost like a child by his parent. "Y-yeah," he says, looking down at his feet; Zidane ought to know from experience, though, that Vivi isn't very good at running-it might be faster just to carry him really.
At least Vivi seems to notice the worry over Dynamo behind them. Vivi turns around and casts a quick spell, conjuring an arcing shield-wall of ice to protect Zidane from Dynamo's direction. He then turns back, nodding to Onion Knight's call. "Everybody, keep together!"
The clumsy attack hit-but apparently, it wasn't enough to take Zidane down. Dynamo curses softly as she sees him doubling back, but there isn't much she can do at the moment, not while she's got Forge to worry about, along with gods-know-how-many workers. Thankfully, nobody's gotten caught in the crossfire, and Vivi's pyrotechnics were more than enough to encourage the more curious among the Populat to seek shelter.
Once more, Dynamo grabs ahold of Forge's arm, draping it across her shoulders. It's still superheated, and she hisses softly as fire settles into her muscles. But it's enough to shake some sense into her lover. He stands, sort of, leaning heavily on the Radiant Dynamo for support. It looks almost comical, considering how big he is in comparison to her, but the two make their way out of the alley and back into the Foundry.
And then they're stopped cold by a sudden wall of ice. "Dammit!" Dynamo snarls.
After the attack, Brigit lifts her head up and returns Sync's snarl with a frown, then clenches her teeth. She charges him, then lifts up her hand to-
She stops, her hand hanging in the air for a moment before dropping it.
Sync's words might not have had quite the effect he had intended. Instead, it cut through the hate for a moment and forced her to take a moment to look at her face in the mirror inwardly.
...What was she becoming?
"...." The scion's frown slackens and her face takes on a distracted, contemplative look... which is terrible timing considering that's the precise moment Sync's lightning struck.
Reflexively, Brigit put her arm up and braced for the attack, which didn't work all that well. The attack, while not as effective as it could have been, left her feeling shaken, but silent.
Hate isn't so easily banished, however. She's still hurt, but for the moment, she got a glimpse at just how ugly it was.
"...So that's it? Are you trying to tell me that..." Brigit's trying to say something like 'So you were like me, once?' or 'Someone hurt you, so now you want the world to hurt, too?' but instead she says, "Some kind of endless cycle?" Distractedly, she looks over her shoulder and realizes that it's really time to go.
So she turns back and shakes her head before running after them, "...d-don't think this is over! You're still... still... horrible!" And with that lame comeback, she turns tail and runs back to the vehicle. She doesn't know how to drive, but she's pretty sure the pedal on the right is what brakes it! (Or was it the left?) Either way, a wall of ice closes off the path behind her.
Slowly, Daos lowers his mace. The weapon hits the ground, and the Sinistral spits. Purple blood and sweat run down him; his wounds slow him a little, and that proves an annoyance. The godling closes his eyes and focuses, for a moment. He can pursue them in a moment. He needs to be ready, first.
Ready to throw a bus, if he must.
Light exudes from him. A flash of dark blue light rolls off the Sinistral, and some of his wounds begin to bind up.
Daos heals Daos with his Lufia II Has Some Hilariously OOC Name For This Healing Spell Daos Has Like 'Heroism' Or Something action.
As Zidane pulls her off of Vivi completely, even if she's being pulled away by Vivi on top of it, and his powers-her eyes flash to him. This ANIMAL ... oh he's come to play! "Hiii~!" She notes, before she gets pushed away and back from Vivi, floating instead of falling over. "So are we going to play now?" She asks, only then to go on. "... Pulling back? That seems silly to say, I don't see anyone pulling at all!"
Of course they're leaving-a sudden wall of ice rising. "Oooh.... where'd that come from?" The winged girl floats over to the wall of ice, not paying attention to the horrible monsters behind her. "Gooodbyyyyye~!" She waves to the people who leave. "Let's play again sometime, okay!"
The ice wall gets her attention now-as she presses against it, stops, pushes it, stops, floats around it, and then tries to lick it.
"Mmmph?" She asks no one, as she tries to fly away. Tongue... stuck. "MPH!" She notes, once more, wings now flapping. "MPPPPPPPHHH!!"
The wall of ice begins to weaken-shaking as if something is trying to find it's weakpoint-after the Coalition is gone, the ice will shatter into fragments-perhaps more like shavings. The wall of ice was being mean, kidnapping her tongue and everything.
Sync is not really all that concerned in what effect it has on Brigit, whether it riles her up further or makes her stop and look at herself. If he were really more concerned for the former than the latter, though, he probably wouldn't have phrased it quite that way. Just sayin'.
"Why would I bother trying to tell anything to you? A worthless thing like you?" Sync snaps. When she runs for it, he scowls, reminded unpleasantly in her insistance on hating him of Anise, but doesn't follow at first. He kind of can't, what with the ice wall and all. Coordinating with Dynamo on the radio, he lifts a hand to start casting an arte to destroy it-
And then that winged girl does it for him.
"..." Sync scratches his head, then decides to follow Daos' lead, and focus his momentary concentration on a minor healing arte to get rid of the worst of his burns. He'll chase after in a moment.
Sync heals Sync with his FAASUTO EIDO action.
That ice wall is probably the most brilliant idea of the day. Zidane's eager to usher Vivi and any other stragglers into the winnebago, but he can't help but stare a little as the winged girl proceeds to get her tongue stuck firmly to it. With a quick shake of his head, he hops onto the roof of the vehicle, banging on its roof with one fist. "Go! Go go go!" Before they decide to bust down that ice wall and chase them! Because that's kind of inevitable at this point. Put the pedal to the metal, Brigit!
Zidane, in the meantime, will crouch low on the winnebago's roof in total flagrant disregard of things like aerodynamics. Tails are awesome for feats of balance like that.
There is a bit of coordination. Dynamo tries her best to concentrate, even through the pain of having superheated metal draped across her shoulders-and the tormented wailing of the alien souls trapped within the alloy. As if soulsteel weren't vocal enough under normal conditions; the stuff gets even creepier when it's subjected to stress.
As if recognizing this fact at long last, Forge stands on his own, removing his arm. He still looks somewhat rattled, but he quickly regains his senses, moving to see if there's any serious damage to the facilities, or casualties among the workers.
Dynamo, meanwhile, hurries over to Sync. "Are you all right?" There's smoke rising from the back of her buffcoat.
The black mage boy hurries into the Winnebago, taking cover in the back seat as he did on the way in. He peers at the seatbelts, not quite getting what they're there for, until he overhears Brigit mention the picnic basket in the back. "Huh?... oh, wow!" Vivi shuffles in his seat over to the basket, leaning over it to peer inside. "There's... there's everything in here! Wow, look at all these spices... is this spit-roasted?"
Brigit Kelly takes several tries with much grinding of gears before she finally manages to get the winnebago moving in the right direction, with the emergency break OFF and not hitting any walls.
However, the wipers are on for some reason, and she can't seem to get it to fly for longer than a dozen feet or so before landing heavily on the ground again.
Lavan wasn't going to be happy about this.
Revya is back in her usual spot in the Winnebago-the back. She has very carefully given the sword its own seat, if ther eis room; at least, it's on the seats rather than on the floor or something.
She is sore but otherwise okay, especially now that she has (more or less) fixed her nose and asked Gig to heal it. (All he did was unbreak it. Her face is still bloody.)
"I'll be fine," Sync mutters, though he settles down a little when Dynamo hurries over to him to check up on him. "I used an arte, and anyway, your coat's smoldering. Lorelei," he swears, "fonists and mages and all those are a pain in the ass!"
Never mind that he is one. Sync should know!
He'll spend some time hitting the Winnebago with a high-level fonic arte or two, but when it becomes apparent that it's got a forcefield protecting it... well, they're running, and he might be pissed, but he's not that jazzed about pursuit.
Escape routes are rough, and as the heroic roughnecks make their mad escape through Alliance territory, the van does shake. And when the van shakes, so do the things inside the van. Such as the people, for instance. And the food.
"Waugh!" Vivi calls out as he's knocked down off the back seat again. His eyes don't go wide because of this, though-it's because the basket begins to tumble. "I'VE GOT IT!" he calls, and holds a hand out...
The basket freezes in midair. The black mage climbs carefully back up the back seat, picks the picnic basket out of the air, and sets it gently back down on the seat.