2018-02-03: Hell's Chapel
- Log: Hell's Chapel
- Cast: Tobit Calice, Best Man, Talise Gianfair, Lily Keil, Tethelle Cirdian, Cassidy Cain, Sephilia Lampbright, Dean Stark, Ida Everstead-Rey, Cyre H. Lorentz, Xantia, Rudy Roughnight, Layna Manydays, Leon Albus, Lydia Seren, Jack Van Burace, Arash Khan, Gwen Whitlock, Rosaline Calice
- Where: Kislev-Aveh Front
- Date: Saturday, February 03, 2018
- Summary: The two Drifter groups-- along with a few reinforcements --converge to crash Rosaline's shotgun wedding. Lots of people get hot under the collar, tempers flare and Malevolence only adds fuel to the fire.
============================<* Kislev-Aveh Front *>============================= The frontlines of the Kislev-Aveh War have shifted many times in the last few hundred years, but they have left their scars on the land. One can, of course, find fighting between their infantry and Gears here. Such places are dangerous, and most Drifters know to steer away from them. However, sometimes there is no choice; even the rail lines thought to be away from the front can get caught unawares by a patrol, and skirmishes have resulted in delays and death for those trying to get to the Badlands. The areas not currently being fought in are also dangerous. Deserters and monsters alike can wander them, and the dry, dusty land leaves little succor for those in need. To make matters worse, abandoned fortifications and trenches make an excellent hiding place for the bandits seeking to profit here. Drifters are sometimes drawn here, though, to either fight for one side or to excavate abandoned ARMs and Gears left behind in a battle. This sort of salvage work is risky, but the rewards can be great. BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxynM-xwLUs
<Pose Tracker> Tobit Calice has posed.
This wedding is a mess.
Tobit Calice, noted bandit leader, reputed cannibal and probable Hellion, had his big day planned down to the very last detail. What he didn't count on, however, was that Rosaline would bring SO MANY DAMN FRIENDS to his town, and they would ALL survive the trip to the church. It's true, most of his goons were busy with the party preparations, but that's what traps and hounds are for.
And now he's got a tiny army of Drifters pounding at the chapel's door*, the church's bell is broken, the catering has been halfway destroyed, and the bride isn't even here yet**! She must be shy as usual.
But at least he's got more bridesmaids*** than he expected.
Lily, Gwen and Arash have been carried to the back of the church, and quickly encouraged, at several gunpoints, to put on something a little more elegant. Heroics may have been attempted, but abruptly made awkward by the reveal that they weren't alone in the back: twelve people, all adults Rosaline's age or older, are being kept tied up. While they're conscious, they've obviously been drugged.
Back up above, Rosaline is still seething from the sight of Gwen being taken away. No offense meant to Lily and Arash, but she isn't quite as invested in their well-being. She looks at the pounding door, then back down to Tobit, who has resumed practicing a speech obviously meant for her. It's saccharine. It's sickening. It's ignoring the fact that Rosaline did not agree to a single aspect of this.
"Let's go," she decides, stepping off the wooden beam she was perched on and sailing down gracefully. Tobit turns to face her. His eyes go very wide, but soon surprise turns to delight.
"Rosaline! You came after all! I'm sorry I didn't send a more traditional invitation." He chuckles, in a low rumble. "But you know me, always with the grand gestures."
"That was a wanted poster, Toby!" Rosaline spits out. Normally, the nun has two settings, quiet politeness or screaming murderous rage. This is the rare in-between: justified anger. "What is this insanity even about? Highway robbery, murder, cannibalism, arson?"
"God, cannibalism again!" he sniffs, ignoring the last item. "You bite one little leg and maybe you enjoy it, and suddenly cannibalism is your whole THING."
There is a metallic rustling as Rosaline draws her ARMs and trains them on the man.
"Toby," she asks, her voice choked, "was it you? Did you burn down the orphanage?"
He takes a deep breath, then: "I had no choice. I TOLD you, that place was a prison for you."
Rosaline remains silent for a second. She takes a few ragged breaths, her ARM-holding hands shaking. "Oh, Toby..." Tears start to trickle down. She does her best to blink them away, but can't stem the tide. Tobit's reaction is, for all intents and purposes, comparable to muted surprise. "Toby, I..."
"I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" Rosaline exclaims, pulling both triggers and spraying the man with bullets. But already, he's out of the way, leaving splintered, bullet-ridden church pews in his wake.
The other infiltrations likely took those last few moments to get into position for a sneak attack. Rosaline, however, has no such luck. Bridesmaids (unfriendly ones, alas) appear from the back to drag her away from the scene. It takes five of them to bodily restrain her. Meanwhile, as they do, Gwen, Lily and Arash are brought back to the front, made to help place the drugged hostages on the still-intact pews so they can attend the ceremony. (Even though they're bound, yes. They can figure something out.)
"Brother Vito, Helen, Martha, even the dentist... Don't you see the reunion I've prepared for you, Rosa? It'll be just like old times! We couldn't drag big sis Lorelei all the way back from Aquvy, but CLOSE ENOUGH, right?"
And finally, the front doors crash open. It's time for certain parties to make a grand entrance.
* That's Tethelle, Cyre, Lydia, Lyndia, Xantia and Dean!
** Rosaline hangs high in the rafters, still undetected, along with Talise, Ida and Sephilia.
*** And Arash, though the old man is already dressed to the nines, and to be frank would probably make a poor bridesmaid.
OOC: HELLO FRIENDS! As per the results of the Digger, those who were captured by Tobit's goons will first receive a debuff meant to represent their unfortunate situation. Those who successfully snuck in get to make a sneak attack on Tobit-- or his Hellion friend --after that! The rest are coming in through the front door, and won't get a combat action this round-- Though they get to make a big entrance!
<Pose Tracker> Best Man has posed.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Comes a shout of a volume and intensity that seems ill-suited for the man it belongs to. A worn down, scraggly-looking kind of black-haired, tan-skinned fellow who seems like he has taken additional years atop his actual age, with a long scraggly beard pouring forth like a fountain of magma, dressed in a suit of far better condition than most of his peers but not to avoid the loss of the security deposit caked in cracked rock with veins of magma flowing underneath the surface.
He walks as though his feet wears heavier than his size portrays, slow and deliberate as his golem-like proportions necessitate. He slams a naked fist into a pillar next to him as he comes to face with the invading wedding crashers, eyes filled with a churning blaze of unquenchable flame that leak down his face wet with tears as he speaks anew - less with anger, more with sorrow.
"Don't... don't ruin this for Toby!!" The gentleman in the form of a man-sized fire golem-like Hellion pleads, as much as he threatens, wiping a sleeve against his face. "This is the happiest day of his life! He... he deserves all the happiness he can get from someone who loves him so...!"
Fists clench, crackling so violently that blood in the form of more lava runs down his palms and drips on the floor. "Behave... just behave...! Toby asked me to be his Best Man... and I want him to be happy... so much..."
He keeps his fists clenched, hunched over, as though a blockade to prevent a number of our Drifter heroes from daring to interfere further with this wedding!
GS: Best Man has activated a Force Action!
DC: Best Man switches forms to The Best Man!
GS: Best Man has attacked Lily Keil with Inconvenient Ropes! GS: Best Man has attacked Gwen Whitlock with Inconvenient Ropes! GS: Best Man has attacked Arash Khan with Inconvenient Ropes! GS: Best Man has completed its action. GS: Lily Keil takes a solid hit from Best Man's Inconvenient Ropes for 0 hit points! GS: Slow and Weaken! Statuses applied to Lily Keil! GS: Arash Khan guards a hit from Best Man's Inconvenient Ropes for 0 hit points! GS: Slow and Weaken! Statuses applied to Arash Khan! GS: Gwen Whitlock takes a solid hit from Best Man's Inconvenient Ropes for 0 hit points! GS: Slow and Weaken! Statuses applied to Gwen Whitlock! GS: Best Man has completed its action.
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
In the shadows high above the chapel, Talise locks eyes with Rosaline, there in the shadows. She holds her peace, but not forever.
And then Rosaline goes crazy with rage. Talise clicks her teeth together and scowls, pulling her hookshot out and latching the hook on to one of the beams near her even as Rosaline shrieks and starts shooting like some kind of... well, some kind of Rosaline.
Talise hasn't forgotten how Rosaline can be, after all. She's a crazy one when she's angry.
"Damn it, don't do that, Ros'," Talise hisses as she swings her legs down over the rafters. All she can think of is what she told Rosaline the other day. you don't have to be perfect, so long as you remember to catch yourself when you need to.
Damn it, Ros'... catch yourself before you wander into something you can't control, she thinks, as if she could somehow beam the thought down to Rosaline.
Talise slips her foot into the grip of her hookshot and takes ahold of the chain, then taps the trigger, setting it to unravel at a more gradual pace. Over the sound of battle comes the repeated clink of chain links over a metal rim.
Descending from above, Talise plots a smooth descent towards the wedding grounds. Swinging her gun from her side, the tall woman sets her jaw and takes aim. "Hey Toby!" Talise shouts across the distance at Tobit, tossing her gun in her hand so she can pump it once. "Why don't you show a little bit of respect for the lady's wishes, dumbass? You think you're helping her by murdering the people she loves?"
As she descends, Talise opens fire, unloading with a hail of buckshot aimed to catch Tobit before Talise herself even reaches the floor. She sprays the area he's standing in with several rounds, the loud 'BOOM' of the Everstead-Rey shotgun ringing through the patchwork chapel.
"Besides," she shouts a bit irrationally, "Rosaline deserves someone who loves her, not covets her, you fuckin' creep!"
GS: Talise Gianfair has attacked Tobit Calice with Shotgun Wedding! GS: Talise Gianfair has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
A bridal party is not complete, of course, without bridesmaids. A sacred institution, one that offers help and support to the bride on a big day. ...Or it does, when the entire ceremony isn't a mockery of decency and good taste, as now, evidenced most notably by the fact that this particular bridesmaid has her wrists bound before her and a dead-eyed glare that suggests murder in the sense that the ocean suggests water. Golden eyes hammer out at nothing in particular, scanning for weak points among the guards, for angles of attack. ...But she is more than her eyes.
As she comes around from unconsciousness Lily Keil is, against all odds, quite dressed for the occasion. She wears a lovely gown in a color that is unfortuantely at odds with her pallor and darker makeup, a too-pastel pink that would be quite suiting on her in a bit darker of a shade. It hugs her figure well, flaring out to a wider skirt that hangs down to her ankles, showing bare feet along the floor, peeking out here and there. The dress has puff that hugs at the shoulders, along with the ruffles down her torso, but no sleeves. And the circuit patterns at her clavicle, all the way down her arms, make a strange contrast in deep blue.
Wait.
The red-tinged bandages are easy to puzzle through at her shoulder, of course. Similarly, the bruising at her face that suggests she put up a fight to whatever... this is. But the markings on her arms that could naturally be considered tattoos are, on closer inspection, not tattoos. They're too smooth, too luminous for that. They are indeed circuitry patterns to those who know electronics, tracing in their wending, mazelike lines up her right arm from the fingertips, all the way past the cap sleeve of her shoulder and closer to her neck, luminous deep blue and faintly pulsing, now and then, taking in the arm, the elbow, the upper arm...
And on the left hand they are similar, save that they stop short of the elbow, do not go under the bandages, and then reappear at her clavicle with another gap there, too. It's hard to see her fingertips with her hands behind her back of course, but these patterns do not fade with time.
There are bruises, of course; she has a black eye that coneals darker eyeliner and eyeshadow on one of her eyes, a bloody lip and a few cuts over her person, as well as some still-healing burns on her right hand. But she's largely cleaned up, and ready to be part of the wedding party. Well. Semi-ready.
She seems awfully calm for a woman who looks to be planning to kill someone. She's rather quickly returned to alertness... Or was already semi-aware to begin with.
In the meantime she places 'guests' in pews despite the pain in her hand, and watches the ongoing drama as it ends. She thinks about her next move here... But, with the hostages in the way...
Well, Lily considers whether to care about them, frankly. But the Malevolence swirling around is making her queasy, and this isn't advantageous ground at the moment. Her expression remains largely stony, except for a slow-burning rage and discomfort.
Oh, the discomfort is very strong. But the doors are opening...!
<Pose Tracker> Tethelle Cirdian has posed.
Originally, Tethelle's plan was to sneak in, get into position, maybe smack Tobit over the head when he wasn't expecting it.
She changed her mind.
The first sign that Tobit gets that Tethelle is one of the Drifters coming in through the chapel door is when she literally kicks her way through it; the old doors are still too heavy to shatter, but she slams them open pretty hard and strides through them. She has a heavy, unusually curved cutting sword in her hands, the same one she had against the great white bird.
"I OBJECT," Tethelle booms, as loud as she can manage - and she has a hell of a pair of lungs. She expects to be mobbed, immediately, by Hellions, which is why she puts her shoulder down and charges, using strength and a willingness to trample anyone in her path out of the way more than her sword. She's not trying to kill most of them, after all.
No, she's just trying to bull-rush her way across the church, towards Tobit. She can take stock of the room when she gets there; this is a time to act, not a time to think. "This wedding is a sham!"
<Pose Tracker> Cassidy Cain has posed.
She has beeen trying to make her way back to civilization ever since Vorthuzahl the Metal Dragon had suddenly swept her up and 'carried her away' the last time she had tangled with her distressingly upgraded archnemesis. Her clothing still in tatters and her modesty largely kept up by a large, cowled cloak that she has stolen from someone else (because of course she did), she finds herself in a town presently embroiled in the very serious business of preparing for a wedding. Overlarge cowl pulled over her head to obscure her face from view, there's a slight incline of her head at the 'very' busy church, green eyes shot with gold running up the roof and all the way to the belfry.
Her ribs, arms, the bare length of leg peeking out from her cloak, are all covered in so many bandages she may as well be like one of those mummies she's read about in the penny dreadfuls that litter Filgaia in all of its corners, but she still manages to look exasperated as she plants her hands on her hips, surveying the building. The question is this: can she 'afford' to take a break from dragon slaying? Because it's a career that she's managed to take up given this new and sudden complication in her life and if she knows Vorthuzahl, he won't stop until everyone is dead, but 'specifically' Jude and herself.
"Ay, well. Why nae? I 'love' weddings."
Pulling out her grapple gun somewhere underneath the folds of her cloak, she fires it up the belfry and reels herself up.
A few minutes later, she's swinging in the back of the church, landing in a crouch and peeking around through one of the pillars.
There's a fight 'already' starting whe Talise comes down and starts shooting.
"Never heard of a ceremony where people are already objecting tae the union 'before' the vows," she murmurs, her virid stare tracking the Best Man as he starts tying up the bridesmaids. 'That' gets a winging up of both of her eyebrows, because she recognizes a few of them.
She sighs, and rolls her head back.
Stepping out from her cover, she pulls Hawthorne's Revolver out and aims for the back of the Best Man. She is never above shooting first as she pulls the trigger.
"Interesting set up for a wedding you've got here, luv," she says, lifting her fingers to pull her cowl back, pale-gold tresses spilling out from the confines to frame her face, and that smile that cuts like a knife. There's a glance to Lily and Gwen. "Dinnae think they're the sorts tae like the whips and chains, but they lead more exciting bedroom lives than I thought they would. I learn sommat new every day. How about you try out someone with 'both' their hands free, or does that nae do it for you?"
There's a blown kiss towards Lily and Gwen.
"Hello, lasses. Tae think I was half expecting this tae be 'Lily's' wedding."
GS: Cassidy Cain has attacked Best Man with Blame It On My Youth! GS: Cassidy Cain has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.
Sephilia Lampbright has a plan too. Sephy's plan is simple, but elegant in its simplicity.
From above the proceedings...the girl's voice sounds. "CHAUNCEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYYYY..."
A giant form suddenly appears, and begins falling to the ground...
"WEDDIIIIIIIIING..."
And the voice becomes louder...
"CRAAAAASH!"
There is the sound of a massive impact, and Lord Chauncey of Foxington smashes into the ground, before leaping into a charging rush towards Tobit!
GS: Best Man has activated a Force Action!
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.
BOOM! goes the front door, which goes hella down, thanks to Tethelle kicking the hell out of it. Dean follows in her wake, ARMs in hand, expression set with determination. The church has seen better days, given those shot-up pews, but his attention goes first to a scraggy man with a lava beard that he can't actually see. "What're YOU doing?!" he demands back. "What's all this about a wedding to Rosaline?! How can anybody marry someone who never said 'yes' first?! If you care about your friend so much, why're you letting him do so many terrible things?!"
But the gentleman approaches slowly, slamming a hand with surprising strength into a pillar and crying at them not to ruin things for Toby. Dean... well, he feels a little sorry for him. But only a little, because Rosaline's his friend first and foremost, and she made it clear that she was not invited to the wedding per se, despite the fact that she's apparently the bride. "It's still not right!" he shouts. Tethelle calls the wedding a sham, and he gives her a firm nod. "Yeah! So get out of the way!! We're not letting your friend do whatever he wants to *our* friend!"
GS: CRITICAL! Tobit Calice takes a solid hit from Talise Gianfair's Shotgun Wedding for 175 hit points! GS: Cripple! Statuses applied to Tobit Calice! GS: Sephilia Lampbright has attacked Tobit Calice with Foxington Pound! GS: Sephilia Lampbright has completed her action. GS: Best Man takes a solid hit from Cassidy Cain's Blame It On My Youth for 113 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
The crowd surrounding the church is an obstacle, but it's far from insurmountable. Ida engineered a distraction by simply throwing a biscuit to a flock of hungry-looking crows loitering around. The ensuing avian scuffle kept the guests distracted while Ida snuck past, moving from shadow to shadow as she crept around the side of the building. Rather than risk the back entrance, she found a stained-glass window near the front of the chapel and knelt by it, concealed in the church's shadow. As Rosaline's voice filters through the chaos, Ida rises up just far enough to peer into the window, and observes the scene. Rosaline is confronting Toby, right there in front of everyone. Her breath all but catches in her throat.
'I had no choice! I TOLD you, that place was a prison for you.'
Ida ducks, instinctively. Gunfire, splintering wood. Toby talks afterwards, and he doesn't sound dead--Ida peers through the window again and catches sight of Rosaline being dragged away. A quick scan of the crowd reveals more information--Ida's eyes widen as she sees Gwen there, her artificial arm obvious. Lily, likewise, is instantly recognizable, and Ida takes a moment to just stare at the intricate circuit patterns tracing their way across her body. Seeing them in full is disconcerting, to say the least, and she's quietly grateful that Lily probably hasn't noticed her yet, because she is being very rude. More tied-up guests, ones she doesn't recognize. Did he kidnap people just for this?
Shattering glass. People protesting. Ida knows what she has to do--she pulls out a flare grenade, lights it, and holds it as it cooks down. There's a smaller breaking-glass sound that's all but lost in the din, and a flare grenade sails through the air. It goes 'tink' as it lands the floor at Tobit's feet.
It explodes in a blinding, magnesium-white blast.
GS: Tobit Calice takes a solid hit from Sephilia Lampbright's Foxington Pound for 109 hit points! GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has attacked Tobit Calice with Flare Grenade! GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has completed her action. GS: Tobit Calice takes a solid hit from Ida Everstead-Rey's Flare Grenade for 0 hit points! GS: Slow! Statuses applied to Tobit Calice!
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
You know, someday they'll actually get the drop on one of these terrible evildoers. Why is it that the villain always gets to set up the big dramatic traps? Why's it never that they get to lay the awesome deathtraps? The answer probably has something to do with the fact that heroes are typically a naturally hotblooded and gung-ho group. It's so easy to get good, easily offended folks up in a fury.
Incidentally, there's one such easily offended guy dropping out of the rafters right now.
He does so with a great big gust of wind like a window-shattering downburst. "Hey cannibal guy!" Cyre roars as he drops right ontop of that bright pink shock of hair and the hands grabbing at it. "You know, maybe if you didn't want to be known as a cannibal, you SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN A CANNIBAL."
"More importantly," he says as stained glass begins trickling down from up above, "The lady clearly ain't interested in you! So why don't you just lay off!?"
(Says the horrible flirt.)
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Since the group Xantia was with had a relatively easy time getting this far - thanks other team, for attracting so much attention - she hasn't actually needed to flex her muscles much just yet. Which is actually kind of a disappointment to her, but she did get to eat a sizable portion of the intended wedding banquet along the way, so that's still a net positive.
Several members of her group decided on the stealthy approach, but that's not Xantia's style. So when Layna declared her intention to just waltz up to the guards and start knocking heads together, Xantia didn't hesitate to pick that as her preferred option also. If this provided a useful distraction for the others, that's good, obviously, but it would be giving her too much credit to say it was planned that way. She just wanted to do something she knows she's good at. And if someone else was already gonna do it anyway, she figures that meant it would be a helpful course of action.
Given Layna's anger and Xantia's enthusiasm, those guards would've had a pretty bad time of it already. But they weren't the only ones with that plan, so it's not very long at all before the ruckus outside ends, Tethelle busts down the door, and the rest of that group follows. Xantia sadly missed that altercation with Rosaline, and before getting through to Tobit is headed off by a large man, who much like other Hellions just looks like a large man to her.
"Yeah!" she backs up Dean, "It's not right to make people do things they don't want to do!" Speaking of which... looking beyond, she can see more people who possibly don't want to be there. Some of which look pretty familiar... She has to blink a few times before being sure enough to question, "...Lily? Gwen? Why are you wearing that?" It's weird enough to prevent her from immediately figuring out what must have happened there.
<Pose Tracker> Rudy Roughnight has posed.
Some things in life Rudy Roughnight understood without issue. Fight on the high ground, assess a situation before taking your first shot, understanding that on a dig a room a rarely just a room: these things were instructed to him once and then they locked in as if they were hardwired into his psyche. Other things, like sarcasm, the essence of hypocrisy, and illogical social conventional, however, took a bit longer. But Rudy, eager to serve, help, and fit in, soon learned them as well and understands their importance.
One of those aspects of social conventional is that when a friend asks for help? You give it. So when there was talk about needing to bust someone from a wedding and people being captured? Rudy was already locked and locked and ready to go. So when the group charges in guns ablazing, Rudy is there with his Hand Canon primed and ready to go. Others shout their thoughts, but the blue haired boy, often the selective mute, says nothing. Instead, he looks and assess. Then he remembers social convention.
As the gunfire begins, Rudy calmly moves toward a small book, pulling out the pen. Calmly he signs his name into it.
Yes, Rudy Roughnight is taking the time to sign a wedding guest book that he is planning to crash. He can't disappoint his grandfather's name with bad manners!
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
It sounds like a tornado outside. The wind is howling, tearing at the outside of the haphazard, delapidated building. The source of it becomes clear once Layna steps through the door, alongside the others who decided to approach through the front. She's surrounded in a green glow and the winds spiral around her.
Layna Manydays is usually known for having a fairly jovial, friendly attitude. There's usually a smile or a grin of some kind on her face.
Right now, however, the only thing on her face is a look of pure anger. She heard everything, and saw Rosaline get abducted.
"You're a dead man, Tobit Calice." She states.
The howling of the wind increases as it bursts away from her. It knocks over statues, dishevels hair and clothing, and shatters the stained glass windows out from the building.
Talise, Ida, and Sephilia come down right on cue, taking advantage of the confusion.
"If the rest of ya know what's good for you, you'll make waves while I've still got my patience." She demands, raising her voice to the rest of his flunkies around the building.
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
EARLIER
Yesterday, Leon Albus had an understanding of what he needed to do. The Black Wolves would make for Nortune. They would enter the city from the sewers and acquire critical information. Information that they needed to find Gryndille. He needed to tell Lily. That was when he returned to the inn at Wayside, where a young beastwoman girl came up to him.
>SKIT START
YOUNG BEASTGIRL: "Mister Leon! Mister Leon! I heard that Miss Lily is being forced to be the bridesmaid while a cannibal forces a nun to marry him!"
LEON: "...Ah. Please tell Fei that something came up and I'll be out for a little while."
YOUNG BEASTGIRL: "O-okay, Mister Leon! Errands?"
LEON: "You could say that."
* Argent Divider slowly enters the frame.
NOW
Leon did not help hunt down Tobit Calice. He had been in Nortune. This means that he arrives late -- but he still makes quite the interruption, as he slams his way through the front door to the chapel and then walks past Rudy signing the guest book. The duster-wearing man steps in with his shotgun over his shoulder. "Tobit Calice," he says. "You don't need a working bone structure in your hands to be worth your bounty, and you've personally offended me, despite the fact we've never--"
'I OBJECT!'
Gunfire. Leon's eyes widen and then he darts behind a pillar. His back is smashed against it, his eyes narrow. Rosaline's scream is what pierces the air most, but the inside of the room is nothing short of bedlam. His teeth grit together, as he looks around the pillar. "Bloody hell..."
But he spots Lily. That sets him only slightly at ease.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
EARLIER
YOUNG BEASTGIRL: "Hey Fei, Mister Leon said he was going on errands after I told him that Miss Lily was going to be forced to be a bridesmaid while a cannibal forces to marry him in a town covered in malevolence and fire.
FEI: ....Yeah, I think I'm gonna stay far away from that.
YOUNG BEASTGIRL: Huh?? Aren't you going to go help Miss Lily and Mister Leon?
FEI: I'm sure they've got it.
YOUNG BEASTGIRL: But.
FEI: I'm sure they got it!! *running away*
NOW
Lydia runs by Leon's power, raising a medium into the air as she throws stars at everything pretty much. "HA HA HA HA!" She shouts. "HA HA HAAA--huh?" She looks over to Lily as she starts running in place, blinking at him.
"Oh!!!" Her eyes widen. "You're alive!!! You're that guy I knocked off a train!!! I'm sorry about that!! Wow I thought you were dead!!!" She points to tied-up Lily while ducking under some gunfire. "I'm here to save this woman whose arm I nearly bit off 'cause I feel bad so don't get in my way okay??? I won't shoot you or anything, I'm trying to nearly murder less people in my life, it's like my new self help strategy!! Though I'm probably gonna murder Tobit so like I'm not completely done with it, but you know, baby steps right? Ha ha ha ha!"
<Pose Tracker> Tobit Calice has posed.
Ah, the Best Man makes his entrance. That's at least ONE thing going Tobit's way today. He nods in professional greeting to his lieutenant and friend, who is already getting emotional at this wedding. Ah, that guy.
"I DO LOVE HER," Tobit shouts back at Talise, like the bachelor he is, hissing as she swings down while all hell is simulatenously well and breaking loose.
Then comes a blinding flash. He sets his hands in front of his intact eye and staggers back, all too late. He bumps into a pew, and--
Talise's shotgun blasts him right into it, crushing the seat. Sephilia and Chauncey drop in and move in to pummel the vile man. It's a good thing he's blinded right now, because he would be very upset at being beaten up by a plush toy.
In a monstrous burst of strength, he shoves Chauncey right off and gets back on his feet. His tuxedo is well shredded now, but even that point-blank blast doesn't appear to have even drawn blood. He cricks his neck.
"I REJECT YOUR OBJECTION," Tobit roars at Tethelle as he blinks some of his vision back. Chances are he's never ever been in court... yet. Cyre has more to say, and to this he sneers, in the beastman's general direction. "Shut up! What do YOU know? I've known her since we were INFANTS!"
The wind whips outside, courtesy of the shaman and Layna's combined efforts. The few still-standing grunts outside look at one another, and at the erupting battle scene, Layna's grandiose threat...
And they decide they want nothing to do with it anymore.
That's one less thing to deal with. Meanwhile, with Toby, however...
Now you've done it. Tobit loosens his tie, as his chest suddenly seems very tight in his tuxedo, dramatically expanding. There is a tearing sound as his muscles bulge out, to the point where he pulls at his sleeves and tears them off.
To the few non-resonant people here, this man is merely very muscular, and somehow concealed it earlier. The rest, however, they cannot see. Scraggly black fur grows along his arms, hands turning to crooked, razor-clawed half-paws. His feet undergo a similar transformation, shredding his gloves and shoes alike. He grits his teeth as his nose lengthens and his teeth grow into a feral snarl, his wild eyes growing wider and more bloodshot with each instant. Canine ears extend from his head as black hair covers his human ones.
Saliva drips from his mouth, letting out a burning hiss as it touches the floorboards. He tosses his head back and HOWLS AT THE SKY, WITH GOD AS HIS WITNESS, and embers ignite all across his black fur, flash-burning his entire shirt off.
Some present have seen this before. Tobit Calice has taken the form of a hellhound.
"NOW THIS PARTY CAN REALLY GET STARTED!"
He pulls at his belt, where the remains of a vest conceal two weapons. The one he pulls out is a simple but well-cared-for revolver bearing the Ethos insignia. He shoots at those who made the mistake of getting the most up in his face, the grandstanders, the ones who want to TELL HIM HOW TO LIVE.
And once he's holstered his weapon again, Chauncey is the one closest to him, and the first to find out firsthand why they call Tobit a cannibal. The hound-man lunges for the fox, biting for him with purple-trailing fangs.
DC: Tobit Calice switches forms to Hellhound Tobit!
GS: Tobit Calice has attacked Talise Gianfair with Trusty Revolver! GS: Tobit Calice has attacked Ida Everstead-Rey with Trusty Revolver! GS: Tobit Calice has attacked Tethelle Cirdian with Trusty Revolver! GS: Tobit Calice has attacked Layna Manydays with Trusty Revolver! GS: Tobit Calice has attacked Cyre H. Lorentz with Trusty Revolver! GS: Cyre H. Lorentz takes a glancing hit from Tobit Calice's Trusty Revolver for 65 hit points! GS: Tobit Calice has attacked Sephilia Lampbright with Malevolent Bite! GS: Layna Manydays takes a glancing hit from Tobit Calice's Trusty Revolver for 66 hit points! GS: Talise Gianfair guards a hit from Tobit Calice's Trusty Revolver for 78 hit points! GS: Tethelle Cirdian critically Guards a hit from Tobit Calice's Trusty Revolver for 24 hit points! GS: Ida Everstead-Rey takes a glancing hit from Tobit Calice's Trusty Revolver for 57 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Jack Van Burace has posed.
"Rudy!" There is a growl from onne Jack Van Burace as his sword comes flying out of a scabbad to parry an errant bullet. "I don't think they care about who is signing the book at this point! In fact it might not last to the end of the night!"
"Come on now, Jack." Hanpan says. "The boy is only being polite."
"I'm pretty sure no one here knows what polite means..." As if to punctuate this point there is sudden shouting and gunfire from inside the church as bullets tear though walls and slam into people that are attempting to break up this mess.
"Rudy, we are missing all the damn fun and I didn't come here just to eat cake!"
<Pose Tracker> Best Man has posed.
*Cass* voices her objection through Hawthrone's Revolver, and Hawthorne is in no position to say no as the bullet sinks into their left shoulder, halted from burrowing further inside due to their rocky body blood in the form of lava coming from the fresh wound.
"I'm... I'm spoken for." So the Best Man-Golem sputters, from pain - but not so much the flustering she might expect when he gets all forward on someone, but then again, maybe it's not that important in the scheme of things when this little engagement might just be a one-night stand at this rate. (Ahem.)
"What's not right about making my Toby happy?!" The Best Man sputters, incredulous to the protests of *Dean* and *Xantia* alike. "She's... she's so lucky to have someone like him in her life!" He speaks, on the verge of more lava tears... uh, isn't he going to clutch his shot shoulder in pain? No? Okay. "I've worked so hard for him... and, and so have the birdesmaids!" He gestures vaguely over to *Lily* and *Gwen*, who are, or previously were, doing so outside of their will, but shh.
*Lydia* jumps into the picture throwing stars everywhere. They smash stuff! Because the universe doesn't care and will throw space detritus where it will, wanting to play a game of baseball at all times with any passing heavenly bodies. In this instance, the 'heavenly bodies' are 'a number of shabby vases with scrounged flowers that are just shredded-up desert tumbleweed in-between the few flowering plants they could find.'
"No!! What are you doooiiiiing?!" The Best Man cries in anguish, looks down, and tightens his fists again.
"If... if you can't just see how HAPPY Toby is...!" The Best Man sniffles, "I... I have to ask you to leave! Leave! Leave! LEAVE! Leave me to see Toby get what he deserves...!" As far as disheveled bandits in the form of Malevolent fire golems go, he seems to barely be able to hold back tears.
If only the same could be said for being able to hold back their punches. A left cross for *Cass* and *Dean* alike in one wide punch, his fists searingly hot to the touch. He steps forward and swings his right out in a lariat, looking to flatten *Xantia* and *Lydia* in one fell swoop - and accidentally clip *Lily* in his heightened emotions.
GS: Best Man has attacked Cassidy Cain with Best Man Is Also Best Bouncer! GS: Best Man has attacked Dean Stark with Best Man Is Also Best Bouncer! GS: Best Man has attacked Lydia Seren with Best Man Is Also Best Bouncer! GS: Best Man has attacked Xantia with Best Man Is Also Best Bouncer! GS: Dean Stark guards a hit from Best Man's Best Man Is Also Best Bouncer for 103 hit points! GS: Best Man has attacked Lily Keil with Best Man Is Also Best Bouncer! GS: Best Man has completed its action. GS: Lily Keil takes a solid hit from Best Man's Best Man Is Also Best Bouncer for 104 hit points! GS: Xantia takes a glancing hit from Best Man's Best Man Is Also Best Bouncer for 47 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
"Bullshit you do! You like the idea of her! If you loved her, you'd take no for an answer, you creepy fucking toolbox!" Talise shouts across the distance between herself and Tobit as she hoks off her hookshot's grip. She snags it in her off hand and shakes the grappler loose before retracting and stowing it.
Snapping a look back over her shoulder, Talise tries to catch sight of a familiar head of cotton-candy fluff amidst the chaos. "Ros'," she shouts. "Rosaline, hang on!"
Tobit changes - and that revolver comes out, ringing out with a crack of firepower. Talise clenches her teeth and rolls her shoulder forward. The bullet hits her and knocks her back a little, but doesn't penetrate; it gets caught in one of the chain-link rings of the mailshirt she wears under her coat, transferring its impact into blunt force and spinning her around.
Talise recovers, planting her boot and giving herself a shake, then stowing her shotgun. It's replaced soon enough: She draws her sword. Light dances along Rastaban's immaculately-polished blade as it catches a ray of something at just the right angle.
"The first one in line only gets the prize in cafeteria lines and carnival games, Tobit. Love isn't like that," Talise states, as she holds Rastaban out to her side. "You aren't entitled. Women don't owe you anything. Rosaline doesn't owe you her love. She doesn't even owe you her respect after everything you've done. That's why I'm not gonna let you force her into anything she doesn't want to do!"
With a grunt, Talise launches herself forward. Her two-handed broadsword snaps back, then sweeps forward like a striking cobra as she powers into melee range, aiming to swat aside Tobit's revolver hand with the flat of her weapon.
Talise steps into her next move. Her shoulders bunch as she unleashes a heavy, two-handed blow, aiming to try and carve into Tobit's upper body in a diagonal slash, following with a few quicker ones. "Rosaline," she shouts, "is my friend! Friends don't just let friends get mistreated by abusive jackholes!"
GS: Talise Gianfair has attacked Tobit Calice with Infinitely Rippling Stream! GS: Talise Gianfair has completed her action. GS: Cassidy Cain takes a solid hit from Best Man's Best Man Is Also Best Bouncer for 96 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
"DUDE JUST BECAUSE YOU WERE BABIES TOGETHER DOESN'T MEAN YOU GET TO IGNORE CONSENT," Cyre yells back even as Toby decides to reveal exactly why it is that cats are the best animal. I mean, dogs turn gigantic and drip horrible spiritual corruption from their gross jowls. Like, wow, that is SUPER gross. "I mean, that means she's like your sister, guy! You don't just... You don't just add incest to a rap sheet that already contains cannibalism! That's just all kinds of wrong!"
"Also!" Cyre continues right on running his mouth. Bullets scream by his ears as Toby shows that his hands are apparently still dexterous enough to work a human-sized trigger. One grazes his cheek, another carves a bloody line across a shoulder. None find purchase. "Marrying someone you were babies with is actually kind of weird!"
Wind howls as Layna plays her hand-- and as Cyre draws upon the power of the Gale Claw. "You know how many things she's probably seen you do?" He calls through the storm, "That is way too much information to build a relationship on! You should only have to see someone else crap themselves AFTER you've dated a couple years!"
"So, I guess what I'm saying is--" Cyre roars. His words transform into a tremendous, sonic shockwave that might just play havoc on Toby's new- and likely highly sensitive- new ears. Nevermind the raw concussive force hammering into him. "LAY OFF, CREEPER!"
GS: Cyre H. Lorentz has attacked Tobit Calice with Howling Gale! GS: Cyre H. Lorentz has completed his action. GS: Lydia Seren critically Guards a hit from Best Man's Best Man Is Also Best Bouncer for 20 hit points! GS: Sephilia Lampbright critically Guards a hit from Tobit Calice's Malevolent Bite for 10 hit points! GS: Tobit Calice guards a hit from Talise Gianfair's Infinitely Rippling Stream for 89 hit points! GS: Tobit Calice critically Guards a hit from Cyre H. Lorentz's Howling Gale for 23 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Cassidy Cain has posed.
The Best Man is faster that he looks.
His left cross punch manages to take her across the jaw, sending her flying and sprawling backwards. The impact aggravates her already considerable injuries, bleeding through the matrix of clean linens swathed over her ribcage. Teeth clenching behind closed lips, she sits up, rubbing her jaw. "Ay, I get it. Nae means nae. But what you dinnae understand, luv, is that I'm a 'terrible' listener."
Cassidy aims with her revolver once more - there is absolutely nothing flashy about her movements, her attacks are typically straightforward and today, especially, there is not much of a change there. Her smile widens.
"So if I cannae take your heart, I 's'pose' I'll have tae content myself with an eye."
And with that, she pulls the trigger.
<Pose Tracker> Arash Khan has posed.
Arash Khan has found himself in quite a tangle. You see, the man did have four cutters hidden on his wardrobe to deal with precisely this situation. Two of them were taken during the capture, one drops out of his pocket but is vaporized instantly by a stray sky laser, and the fourth one jimmies around and only cuts the ropes on his legs before it decides to go blunt. Just dandy.
Time to get creative. He shuffles over to his trusty rifle and boots its panicking guard firmly in the shins. That dealt with, he realizes the best course of action is to grab his firearm with...his mouth.
"Mrrmrmmphm! MrrmrrrPFFFT!" <You're a cad, you know that, Tobit!? Forget about this travesty of a wedding, get out of Rosaline's life if you know what's good for you!"> The other drifters distract the howling hulk enough for Arash to deliver two stout kicks into Tobit's rippling neck, and a stout headbutt(?) with his gun going right under the chin.
He sees some folks near his landing area have blades. <Little help?>
GS: Cassidy Cain has attacked Best Man with Bye Bye Baby! GS: Cassidy Cain has completed her action. GS: Arash Khan has attacked Tobit Calice with Butting Into The Conversation! GS: Arash Khan has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Things start exploding. ...Lily's fine with this, frankly. And the moment at which the doors burst open and people start rushing in, Lily immediately snaps her eyes up to the Best Man and then looks around for something sharp. ...But she halts in place as a particular person bursts through the doors. His late arrival does not do anything to blunt his entrance as far as Lily is concerned, who looks over to Leon and looks, for a moment, briefly much less angry.
...But before she says anything, the gunfire starts, and she ducks down between some pews to get out of the way of those holding a gun on her. "Long story!" she calls to Xantia as she moves past hostages, and then, "And don't even start, Cain--"
She appears on the other side of the pew at her full height, looming upward for an instant and hearing... Lydia's... Lydia, along her way. She doesn't even pause, just adds, "Another long story, Leon--"
At which point the Best Man is charging and a fist claps her straight in the face, knocking her straight into one of the pews that splinters with the force with which she hits it after all the gunfire already weakening it. She hits the ground quickly, looking straight up at the burning golem man.
The strange patterns on her arms pulse for an instant as she glares blood up at the creature before her. "I didn't work for him you tool," Lily points out, and brings herself to her feet while palming something in the debris and--
Lunges straight for him, both hands on a very large splinter of wood that she attempts to introduce rather directly into the Best Man's kidney. ...Or where a kidney ought to be on a fire golem. "It's nice you care," she says, eyes narrowed, "But I don't."
GS: Lily Keil has attacked Best Man with High Stakes! GS: Lily Keil has completed her action. GS: Best Man takes a solid hit from Cassidy Cain's Bye Bye Baby for 93 hit points! GS: Best Man guards a hit from Lily Keil's High Stakes for 67 hit points! GS: Tobit Calice takes a solid hit from Arash Khan's Butting Into The Conversation for 90 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Tethelle Cirdian has posed.
Tethelle is momentarily buried in salamander Hellions, which check her approach.
"You can't object to an objection!" Tethelle practically explodes out from the pile of Hellions herself, shedding them left and right as she shakes them off, and they scatter. She's a little slow to react to the transformation since she missed half of it; her eyes widen, then narrow as she sees the changes. She feels the energy...
A bullet flies at Tethelle. Automatically, she sweeps her sword through a particular motion, deflecting it with a sound like a ringing bell; the vibration carries up her arms as the sword continues to 'sing' for several long seconds until she squeezes it just so, wrestling it to a position of stillness.
Tethelle shoots a glance toward where she last saw Rosaline, then focuses on the monstrous Tobit. "You've made your choice," she says, "but here's the thing: she still gets to make hers. Regardless of what you think - and if you're making choices like this..."
"It falls to people like me to stop you!"
Tethelle winds up and literally throws her sword in an arcing path. It whistles past Talise, coming close enough that she could grab it out of the air if she was so inclined. Hopefully she does not, because it continues on, carving a line across Tobit's now-bulky flank before returning to Tethelle.
And she's still getting closer...
GS: Tethelle Cirdian has attacked Tobit Calice with Sword Boomerang! GS: Tethelle Cirdian has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.
"Oh no you don't," Sephy cries as Tobit's slavering jaws snap just a tiny bit of Chauncey's arm. The big plush WHAPS the hellhound man on the nose!
"Bad! Bad dog!"
Sephy, are you enjoying this...?
GS: Sephilia Lampbright has attacked Tobit Calice with Foxington Whap! GS: Sephilia Lampbright has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
There, Ida thinks, as a fresh tide of Malevolence washes through the chapel. There's his true form. She takes several deep breaths, trying to steady herself--but there's only so much you can do when you're watching a man turn into some sort of firey canine (lupine?) monster right in front of you, all but tearing his suit apart. The feral howl he lets loose with reaches back into Ida's hindbrain. Adrenaline washes through her in response, a stimulus she is all too familiar with by now. One of Toby's shots punches through the window by pure chance, and that surge saves Ida from taking the bullet square in the chest. She ducks, and covers her head as shattering glass falls down around her. A chunk of it traces a cut down her right hand, but she clenches it in a fist.
Hold the pain close. Don't let it interfere. Flow with it. Let it teach you.
Ida surges to her feet, vaulting through the window in a single bound. The floorboards tremble beneath her bootsteps as she rushes Tobit, lashing out at the Hellion's canine snout with a right cross. "Bad dog," is all Ida has to say in response to his tirade.
Muffled voices. Gunshots. Ida whirls around to see Old Man Arash, somehow managing to headbutt Tobit, sort of. She glances over at Lily, sees Leon going for her, and prioritizes. "Arash!" Ida reaches for a certain familiar multitool, which occupies its place of honor in a buttoned pocket. She flicks out its serrated blade, grabs the ropes binding the older Drifter, and starts trying to hacksaw through them. Kalve's craftsmanship is more than up to the task, but there's lots of rope.
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has attacked Tobit Calice with Body Blow! GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
Lydia Seren gives Leon a lot to process in short order. First, the woman who knocked him off a train had an asteroid for a head. Second, he has to process that she was the person who bit Lily. His eyes widen for a moment. Then, slowly, he nods. "I--er--yes. Of course. I know her, so I intend to help her, too."
Lily calls out to him. He glances around the pillar again, to answer: "I gathered it must be!" he yells, before he starts rushing towards the Best Man. He lacks the resonance to see him as a Hellion -- only a strong person, instead, seemingly capable of powerful blows that defy explanation. And, perhaps, fire magic. He swings up the shotgun.
"I think you've mistaken caring for insanity!" he snaps at the Best Man, then he pulls the trigger.
There is a thunderous crack-boom, as Argent Divider's lower barrel fires. The shotgun slug goes hurtling towards the man's shoulder. Leon walks forward, then, his eyes narrowed the whole way.
GS: Leon Albus has attacked Best Man with Shotgun Blast! GS: Leon Albus has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.
"So it doesn't matter if Rosaline's happy or not, as long as Toby is?! That's not fair!" Dean shouts at Best Man. He looks over towards the bridesmaids, then doubletakes when he sees-- "Gwen?! What're *you* doing here? Are you okay?!"
And hey, there's Lydia too! There's... well, there's a LOT of people, and Dean can only pay attention to so many folks at once. Who he should *really* be paying attention to, though, is the Best Man as he heaves a massive left cross towards him and a woman he doesn't know (hi, Cassidy) at once. Dean stands his ground, and for his pains, he goes WHUMP straight into the wooden floor, throwing up a hail of splinters in his wake.
That arm... was REALLY hot. So hot, it might leave blisters on his face later. As Dean rights himself, groaning and wincing from the pain of the impact, he remembers what Rosaline and Xantia told him earlier. Some monsters are invisible, or have invisible things about them... So this guy's the same way?
"Gotta be careful, then," he says to himself, mostly to remind himself. He hops up to his feet, shakes his head--and despite literally having just told himself to be careful, charges the Best Man, aiming to whallop him with his ARMs' combat rods high up, right in the face.
GS: Dean Stark has attacked Best Man with Twin Drive! GS: Dean Stark has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
To be fair, Layna at least has no interest in telling him how to live. She just wants to tell him how to die. She continues strolling into the chapel as the wind continues to howl around her, fixing Tobit with a stare.
She watches as he transforms, taking on the form of a vicious hellhound and firing at her with his revolver. Layna dodges to the side, the bullet cutting through her coat and clipping her shoulder as it flies.
...So this wasn't going to be as easy she first thought. Well, that was alright. It meant she might actually be able to enjoy this. She begins cracking her knuckles...but as she moves toward Tobit, she spots a certain familiar old man, bound and gagged yet still trying give Tobit what for.
It does cause her to crack a grin finally, so she decides to take pity on him. She extends a hand out toward Arash and the wind soars toward him, slicing through ropes alongside Ida's hacksaw. And then, she turns her eyes toward Tobit and offers him a vicious grin and a taunting gesture.
GS: Layna Manydays has attacked Arash Khan with On Your Feet Me Hearties!! GS: Layna Manydays has completed her action. GS: Best Man guards a hit from Leon Albus's Shotgun Blast for 51 hit points! GS: CRITICAL! Arash Khan guards a hit from Layna Manydays's On Your Feet Me Hearties! for 0 hit points! GS: Poison, Cripple, Jam, and Mute! Statuses applied to Arash Khan! GS: Restore! Layna Manydays clears debuffs from Arash Khan! GS: Tobit Calice takes a solid hit from Tethelle Cirdian's Sword Boomerang for 93 hit points! GS: Tobit Calice critically Guards a hit from Sephilia Lampbright's Foxington Whap for 20 hit points! GS: Tobit Calice critically Guards a hit from Ida Everstead-Rey's Body Blow for 24 hit points! GS: Best Man guards a hit from Dean Stark's Twin Drive for 65 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Wow, is he actually crying? This reaction knocks the wind out of Xantia's sails a little bit. Even if the Best Man is an obvious bad guy, she can't help but feeling a little bad about making someone cry. "W-well, even so, there has to be a better way than what you're doing!" She's not the best at this. It was easier to handle when she was just punching things.
Lucky for her, all hell breaks loose soon enough. Gunfire, a rain of stars, and before she knows it, the large man decides enough is enough and swings a fist in her direction. Her instinctual reaction is to backflip out of the way, which is mostly successful. The Best Man's hand scrapes past her leg, leaving a strange burning sensition in its wake. Upon landing back on her feet, she looks down at the burn, then narrows her eyes at the one who inflicted it. "I get it... you're a Hellion, too!" You'd think she would've assumed that after fighting all the ones outside, but apparently not.
This makes things easier. Holding back won't be necessary here, as others have already decided also. She makes a fist, smiling as she sees Lily's strike. It's nice to see her feeling good enough to stab people in the kidneys again. Then she strikes herself. Not even with that fist, but with her foot, leaping high and spinning 360 degrees before crashing down on the Best Man's upper torso with one leg extended, pushing off after her strike to land back in her original position.
And then takes the time to cheerfully wave at another familiar face she didn't know was involved in this at all. "Hi Leon!" She sure looks like she's having a good time, in spite of everything. The reason for this might be the fact that her clothes are stained with the 'blood' of an innocent red velvet cake. Another thing the Best Man might not be happy about... Xantia is obviously guilty of ruining the wedding's food preparations.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
"People who murder orphans don't get to be happy!" Lydia shouts. "DUH!!"
Making orphans is ok, but killing orphans is too much, this is how the murder equation works.
Lydia actually isn't sure if she can murder anybody so she goes after the fire golem so she has an excuse not to. "Ha ha ha ha!! I'm ruining a wedding!! Suck it suck it suck it!!" She swings her arm forward and BLOCKS the lariat surprisingly with that metal arm. It still shoves her back but the blow's effects seem surprisingly minor for a flaming golem of doom.
"Also you totally kidnapped Lily! Kidnapping women is also pretty awful, who does that except for awful people??" She'd call it an old timey western move but, to be fair, this is Filgaia so it's really just a normal move.
Her arm twists into a glowing hot blade, supported by none other than Solais Emsu as she cleaves it for the fire golem's arms. Hopefully it's not resillient to space laser elements.
"Weddings are boring!!!" Lydia screams to nobody in particular before pausing and saying, "Hey Dean." at normal volume. "Let's kick this guy's butt with an all out attack!"
You have to knock him down first, Lydia!!
GS: Xantia has attacked Best Man with Whirlwind Kick! GS: Xantia has completed her action. GS: Lydia Seren has attacked Best Man with Solar Slicer! GS: Lydia Seren has completed her action. GS: Best Man critically Guards a hit from Xantia's Whirlwind Kick for 25 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
"I could take the scars and the prosthetics, BUT THE FRECKLES??" So many dreams are being destroyed today, but none will arguably be more tragic than the one involving a bunch of salamander hellions trying to steal and bring back various gowns for their manager, a hellion who had the (mis)fortune of being a canine hellion. Not a hellhound, like Tobit has just revealed, but just some random canine manifestation. So this is why there are dresses for people. "You had the RIGHT LOOK for this wedding, with the figure and the scarring and the metal arm... thing, but those freckles on your left shoulder? You *realize* there are products for that now, right?!"
Gwen is wearing a dress that matches Lily's, a pastel pink that sets will against her pale skin and rosy cheeks. The neckline is not low, as befitting a bridesmaid dress, but exposing far more than Gwen has ever done before, which is to say 'any region below her chin'. The short red hair is complimented by a few of those withered-looking flowers placed into her hair. It's a cute look, even with the whorled pink old scarring on the right side of her body, as well as the the very exposed metal of her ARM, the muscles of her left arm doing a fine show of keeping up. It's just too bad about THOSE FRECKLES that are on her shoulders and the side of her left arm.
While Lily seems to be planning murder, Gwen's still too out of it to really have much of an opinion on things, even as, things begin to slowly degrade. There is a look on the dazed, freshly wakened Gwen that seems to explain everything as she helps the last of the 'guests' to the pews.
'This is fine.'
There is one thing that manages to finally snap Gwen from the dazed gloom, and that is the blast of Malevolent energy from Tobit as he transforms, hitting Gwen's senses like a brick to the face. Or a splash of cold water. Something.
But there is something worse here that snaps Gwen all the way back to alertnes.
THERE ARE PEOPLE SHE KNOWS WHO ARE HERE, AND THEY ARE SEEING HER DRESSED LIKE THIS. WHAT THE HECK, WHERE IS SHE AGAIN, WHAT THE
With a shriek, Gwen just jerks both bound fists around, attempting to slam them right aroundon the poor(?) Golem best man's face, the sudden motion ripping some of the poor dress.
The manager? She's long gone by now, Layna's entrance and invitation all that was needed for the hellion to run away, off to pursue her dreams of being a fashion designer.
GS: Gwen Whitlock has attacked Best Man with HULKGWEN NO LIKE WEDDING! GS: Gwen Whitlock has completed her action. GS: CRITICAL! Best Man guards a hit from Lydia Seren's Solar Slicer for 79 hit points! GS: Poison, Disrupt, Cripple, Jam, and Mute! Statuses applied to Best Man! GS: Best Man guards a hit from Gwen Whitlock's HULKGWEN NO LIKE WEDDING for 61 hit points! GS: Tobit Calice has completed its action.
<Pose Tracker> Rudy Roughnight has posed.
"It doesn't matter if it doesn't make sense, it's just what you do!" Rudy exclaims back to Jack over the sounds of weapon fire. "Not making sense for the sake of tradition is what makes us human!" Holding up a gift with white wrapping paper and a satin white bow and waving it around, Rudy is forced to shout over the sound of battle. "I feel bad enough that I had to put your name on the card because I knew you weren't going to get them anything." A glance is given to make sure no one heard Rudy's DEEPEST DARK SECRET. Or the other one that soon follows. "Don't tell them, but we got them really soft bath towels. I didn't have time to find their registry before this, but I figure everyone really loves soft bath towels no matter who you are!"
It seems as usual, Rudy is going to have to be told by his companions what he needs to be doing here because he's not going to fire bullets into a nice church until he's SURE it's the right thing to do. Because well, that's how you get kicked out of towns. Not that Rudy knows about getting kicked out of towns for firing ARMs in churches or anything.
In the assaults that wage their way around the room, Rudy looks around. Hrm, that thing that everyone is attacking seems to be important. Maybe, he can turn this all around!
"Please take this gift to the groom with my thanks!" With that, Rudy lobs the towels right for the Best Man, though it might be thrown with a little too much gusto, which means it might just hurt from the sheer force behind the throw. I hope he didn't mind that I came without an invite, but I plan on leaving before the reception!" Roughnight calls out with an earnest desperation though secretly, there is a big frown on his face. He's not getting a thank you card, he just knows it.
GS: Rudy Roughnight has attacked Best Man with He Will Never Do This Again! GS: Rudy Roughnight has completed his action. GS: Best Man guards a hit from Rudy Roughnight's He Will Never Do This Again for 57 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Jack Van Burace has posed.
"And now there is a Golem. Are we sure this isn't Cecelia's fault?" Jack calls towards Rudy as he sees that creature made of lava and stone crash into people that he knows and ones that he doesn't. Wait...hold on...one that he defiantly knows...
Is...dressed oddly. And very angry about it. Jack quirks a brow at that, and at the shady looking person shooting the poor golem man in the eye.
She looks super shady.
But its Rudy that gets his attention. "Wait you actually brought a prese--you don't have to bring a present if you crash a wedding!" He's always angry lately, always wishing to let out with a good bit of minndless violence, but Rudy's simple gesture just...he can't help but shake his head. "And you're wrong about that, Rudy." His eyes turn towards the golem as Hanpan sheathes Jack's ancient blade in magic. "I so did bring them something!"
The air slash tears towards the Golem, followed on its heels by Jack himself. Leaving an open lane for Rudy to fire over his shoulder if he needs it.
"Gwen! What are you wearing?!"
GS: Jack Van Burace has attacked Best Man with Heal Blade! GS: Jack Van Burace has completed his action. GS: Best Man guards a hit from Jack Van Burace's Heal Blade for 42 hit points! GS: Jack Van Burace takes Cover! He gains 50 temporary hit points! GS: Best Man has adjusted their boss level for 9 opponents!
<Pose Tracker> Tobit Calice has posed.
Some people try to catch sight of Rosaline, but she's already gone in the back. It's hard to tell, amidst the chaos, how well she's doing on her end-- and Tobit is standing right in the way of anyone who wants to check.
He lowers his gun. It turns out he's a surprisingly good shot for someone who is partially blinded and lacks depth perception.
Tobit staggers back from biting Chauncey, and spits out a small amount of Foxington Fluff, clearly not into it. Okay, that wasn't his best idea. Chauncey pounds at him in retribution, but the hulking hound-man shoves the fox away before he can accomplish much. "I'm not playing GAMES, STUPID girl."
And here comes Ida with a very similar solution, i.e. punching him in the snout to establish dominance. He whips right around, catching her fist in the air with a superhuman grip, he shows his teeth to her, twisting her arm. "Same goes to you, IDIOT girl." He seems proud of his taunt, as random as it was.
"It's like you've never lived in a VILLAGE before!" Tobit turns around to spit at Cyre, making some wildly incorrect assumptions. "You don't know what it's like! People grow alongside one another, they learn what they have in common..."
"And we're both BEASTS!" Tobit howls this out, his own shout cancelling out Cyre's, as embers dance in the air. "There is a FIRE in both of us! No one understands her like me! No one understands me like her!"
Talise comes in for a Rastaban combo, with some words about how Rosaline doesn't owe him anything. He raises a thickly-furred arm, repelling the blows-- but the blade still daws blood.
"Do you see this?" He points to his eyepatch and scar, enlarged in this form, like a badge of honor. "SHE took it from me. We were fighting. That's right. Do you have ANY IDEA what she's actually like? She's not a pure ingenue, she's vicious. And that's FINE WITH ME!"
Tethelle throws a sword at him, and it takes a decent chunk out of his flank, though if he's feeling pain, he doesn't show it. "Make her choice? She chose POORLY! She went with the cloth and the people who abused her, instead of the life of adventure she always wanted! How FUCKED UP is that? I did her a favor!"
He doesn't understand what Arash is saying. "Well, I know you are, but WHAT AM I??" he sneers back, before being kicked in the neck. He sways with it, and there's a lot of neck to kick, but he does stagger back while Layna frees the old man. He returns the taunting gesture.
"Okay, ENOUGH PLAYING AROUND," he says, holstering his pistol to draw another weapon, at his other flank. It is a large shotgun, made of silvery metal, encased in skinless, meaty tendrils and bearing the Ethos insigna. There is a scope on top, or rather an eye, which opens to look at every opponent in turn, pupil narrowing and shrinking.
"Meet MOTHER'S MERCY, the Ethos' Reaper and sandworm-repellin' SECRET WEAPON! Want to see how much power that baby packs, DON'T YOU?"
And he blasts away at his opponents, firing explosive pellets that only deflagrate further as he opens his mouth to breathe fire and add it to the mix.
<Pose Tracker> Best Man has posed.
*Xantia's* foot comes down on the man's chest, but nothing seems to give, and she might have an ouchy on her ankle as his eye(s? the one that got shot seems to be in a bit of flux here) narrow(s). "Did you... did you eat all that... I, I made so much of that for Toby...!" The Best Man sniffles as he slams his fists down into the ground. Underneath *Xantia*, a column of fire and rock - mostly fire, owing to it being melted rock specifically - shoots up in an attempt to envelop her. "It was meant for Toby!! My Toby!! For his special day..."
"TOBY IS NOT AWFUL!!" The Best Man screams to *Lydia* as the very blessing of Solais Emsu strikes across his arms. He flinches visibly as his arms go limp, staggering as more blood also lava but that's kind of hammered into our heads now drips free onto the beyond scuffed, very much stained, blackened, and ruined carpeting. The most he can do in the heat of the moment is roar and try to throw his entire body weight into Lydia. "You're too young to understand love!!" He's not quite ready for being All-Out Attacked yet...
*Gwen* taps a (not as meaty, which can be taken several ways here) arm deep enough into the tackling Best Man's upper back. He goes to a kneel as more sigh yes it's lava tears drip down his face, equal parts water and blood plus I am legally obligated to mention it's lava again in this passage. He struggles to raise his left hand, laying it on *Gwen*'s shoulder. "Don't ruin your dress!! I worked hard to pick that out for Toby's wedding... please, go... go change... don't ruin this for him." Huh, he's letting her off light aside from the touch burning.
*Rudy* hurls a towel with perfectly human force into him, distracting the Best Man from further directing Gwen in matters of not ripping her dress. The Best Man takes a moment to dry his tears with this handy towel which seems to blacken and burst into flame? He... doesn't seem upset by it? It's kind of weird... several more towels as provided blacken and burn. "Oh! I'm so sorry you have to see this!! I'm... I'm so happy someone understands how much this means to Toby, please, don't... don't worry, I'll sort this out and get these towels to him, thank you," but those towels are gonna burn to cinders before he can. Oh, well. At least *Rudy* isn't about to get clobbered.
The air slashes tear through the burning morass of ex-towels, and *Jack* sees the should-be-one-eyed man-golem turn and sneer at him as he stomps a foot down like it has more weight than it seems to. "DON'T DESTROY MY TOBY'S WEDDING GIFTS!!" ...Has he been paying attention to any part of the conversation between BFFs Jack and Rudy? Maybe less important a question than to ask if Jack is paying attention to the column of fire about to spring up underneath him.
GS: Best Man has attacked Cassidy Cain with Really Hitting It Off Here! GS: Best Man has attacked Lily Keil with It's His Wedding I Can Smash If I Want To! GS: Best Man has attacked Leon Albus with WARNING - INSTALLING RIGHTEOUS FURY IN LILY! GS: Best Man has attacked Dean Stark with Burn Myyyy Beard! GS: Best Man has attacked Xantia with Something About Temperature And Feet Here! GS: Best Man has attacked Lydia Seren with Love Makes You Tackle People By Proxy - A Life Lesson! GS: Best Man has attacked Gwen Whitlock with Gentle BURNING SHOULDER Hold! GS: Best Man has attacked Jack Van Burace with It'll Come To Me Soon What That Term Was - Hot And... A Limb! GS: Best Man takes 8 damage from Poison! GS: Best Man has completed its action. GS: Tobit Calice has attacked Talise Gianfair with Mother's Mercy! GS: Tobit Calice has attacked Ida Everstead-Rey with Mother's Mercy! GS: Tobit Calice has attacked Tethelle Cirdian with Mother's Mercy! GS: Tobit Calice has attacked Layna Manydays with Mother's Mercy! GS: Tobit Calice has attacked Cyre H. Lorentz with Mother's Mercy! GS: Tobit Calice has attacked Arash Khan with Mother's Mercy! GS: Tobit Calice has attacked Sephilia Lampbright with Mother's Mercy! GS: Dean Stark guards a hit from Best Man's Burn Myyyy Beard for 73 hit points! GS: Talise Gianfair takes a solid hit from Tobit Calice's Mother's Mercy for 138 hit points! GS: Cyre H. Lorentz takes a glancing hit from Tobit Calice's Mother's Mercy for 73 hit points! GS: Layna Manydays takes a glancing hit from Tobit Calice's Mother's Mercy for 73 hit points! GS: Gwen Whitlock guards a hit from Best Man's Gentle BURNING SHOULDER Hold for 27 hit points! GS: Tethelle Cirdian takes a solid hit from Tobit Calice's Mother's Mercy for 144 hit points! GS: Arash Khan takes a solid hit from Tobit Calice's Mother's Mercy for 144 hit points! GS: Cassidy Cain takes a solid hit from Best Man's Really Hitting It Off Here for 103 hit points! GS: Lydia Seren critically Guards a hit from Best Man's Love Makes You Tackle People By Proxy - A Life Lesson for 20 hit points!
DC: MISS! Jack Van Burace completely evades It'll Come To Me Soon What That Term Was - Hot And... A Limb from Best Man!
GS: Sephilia Lampbright critically Guards a hit from Tobit Calice's Mother's Mercy for 26 hit points! GS: Leon Albus takes a glancing hit from Best Man's WARNING - INSTALLING RIGHTEOUS FURY IN LILY for 51 hit points!
DC: MISS! Xantia completely evades Something About Temperature And Feet Here from Best Man!
GS: Lily Keil guards a hit from Best Man's It's His Wedding I Can Smash If I Want To for 62 hit points! GS: CRITICAL! Ida Everstead-Rey takes a glancing hit from Tobit Calice's Mother's Mercy for 91 hit points! GS: Poison and Cripple! Statuses applied to Ida Everstead-Rey!
<Pose Tracker> Cassidy Cain has posed.
'Don't even start, Cain.'
"Start?" she wonders with a laugh, flashing the Kislevi sorceress a bigger, broader smile. "Ach, Lily, you wound me. I dinnae think I 'ever stopped'."
Other attackers, other shots. She rolls sideways and back on a knee before she gets caught by friendly fire - which is a very real, very tenable risk as the church is suddenly 'full' of bodies. Whoever the bride was, she's certainly popular, she observes privately, considering the screaming she hears about childhood friendship, the true nature of love, and trophy wives. Either the groom must be 'extremely' wealthy, or viciously hated, and in her experience, one usually goes hand in hand with another.
There's a blink when yet another familiar figure joins the fray, and Cassidy tilts an openly amused look towards Leon Albus when he announces himself with a hail of gunfire.
And someone else does, too. Xantia calls him by name.
"Long time no talk," she remarks. "Have I ever mentioned how it warms my heart seeing the two of you together? In sickness and in health? Till death do you pa-- " She's too hurt to be as fast as she usually is, when that swinging backhand takes her full on the face and sends her flying again, sending her sprawling by Gwen's feet and her tattered cloak falling away and exposing 'plenty' of her injuries, blotches of bright crimson blood pouring through white linens and so much skin that it's downright scandalous - and in a 'church' no less, she's practically naked under that cloak. But a wrist jerks the cloak closed over her - not that she's ashamed, she is distinctly bereft of shame most hours of the day, but what she can't abide is vulnerability.
Still, as Jack points it out oh-so-helpfully, emerald eyes lift to catch a sight of Gwen in her very pink bridesmaid's dress. And her grin becomes all the more incorrigible. She is 'half-dead', fighting a Metal Dragon on your own will do that to you, but she still manages to laugh. "Be still my heart," she tells the one-armed wonder. "Almost dinnae recognize you, luv. Pink is 'definitely' your color, and if I had known you'd look so terribly 'fetching' in frills and ribbons, I would have accepted your drunken proposal tae elope. It's nae 'too' late for that, y'ken. We 'are' at a church."
She fires a few more shots towards the Best Man.
"Methinks this wedding is a bloody wash, anyway. Is it just me or does it sound like the Best Man is in love with the Groom?"
GS: Cassidy Cain has attacked Best Man with Now Is The Hour! GS: Cassidy Cain has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
The fact that Tethelle has her back on this one makes Talise feel a lot better. She bounds back a little to make room for Tethelle's massive sword to whirl through like a boom boom boom boom boomerang.
"Trust me, I know how angry she gets!" Talisr growls. "That doesn't mean that's all she is!" She bounds to one side and prepares to take another swing at Tobit.
Which is about when he pulls out a gun with an eye on it and just shoots her before she can mount a decent guard. The explosive pellet again catches in one of the rings of Talise's mailshirt, this time above her stomach.
Of course, it also explodes, the concussive force of it throwing her off her feet and hurling her backwards. The tall swordswoman smashes through a couple of church pews, old wood shattering and breaking into fragments under the force.
"Althena damn it, Talise snarls, pressing a hand to her abdomen as she shoulders her way out of the wreckage of the pew. She coughs wetly, a bit of blood running down her chin. Something down there has bruised and she's pretty sure it's not bleeding on the outside.
"What the hell kind of life do you think she has?" Talise growls as she shoves a chunk of pew off to one side. "Rosaline's friends are adventurers. I'd trust Rosaline to go anywhere with me. What you're doing isn't giving her that kind of life. You're forcing her into what you think she wants!"
Again Talise looks back, momentarily hoping to spot Rosaline somewhere in the mix. She can't quite escape the feeling that she needs to go after her. But right now, Tobit's not about to let her.
Talise launches herself out of the ruined pew, her sword swinging forward, then descending to her left. as she winds up for a heavy blow. "But you didn't even bother to ask her what she wanted, did you?!" she roars. "Because you're only thinking of your own damned self!"
Talise closes in, and swings with a massive, ascending slash, aiming to cut through Tobit's defenses and hopefully chop that gun out of his hands.
GS: Talise Gianfair has attacked Tobit Calice with Tidal Blow! GS: Talise Gianfair has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.
Sephilia narrows her eyes. "Who's playing games? I'm about to get *serious*! CHAUNCEY! CRUSH!"
The big fox winds up and takes a biiiiig old smash at Tobit!
GS: Sephilia Lampbright has attacked Tobit Calice with Chauncey Crush!! GS: Sephilia Lampbright has completed her action. GS: Tobit Calice guards a hit from Talise Gianfair's Tidal Blow for 76 hit points! GS: Tobit Calice guards a hit from Sephilia Lampbright's Chauncey Crush! for 89 hit points! GS: Best Man critically Guards a hit from Cassidy Cain's Now Is The Hour for 27 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Tobit returns her gesture. He's got plenty of fire in him, in more ways than one, she'll give him that. But he's still unforgivably trying to force her friend into something she doesn't want. That means he needs to be removed.
It's at this time that Tobit draws out a weapon - Mother's Mercy, he calls it. ...So that's what happened to it. It's definitely seen better days, covered in awful tendrils and bearing an eye like it was. Layna rolls her shoulder and draws out her arm blades.
Tobit fires...and Layna charges into the flames and the explosives. She doesn't get through unscathed, but she handles it better than she would have otherwise. She slices one of her armblades toward him, but it falls just short of inflicting any real damage...
...Though the armblade itself wasn't of any real concern. Wind rushes off her weapons, slicing at Tobit like a cutlass.
She's not in a talkative mood herself, but fortunately, it sounds like Talise is giving a pretty good argument in her place.
GS: Layna Manydays has attacked Tobit Calice with Cutlass Gale! GS: Layna Manydays has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Lydia's righteous anger on Lily's behalf, such as it is, is a little surprising to her. It impacts her somewhat dully as she moves, glancing to Ida once as she glances over to her in turn. SHe doesn't have time for a lot else for now. She's busy with Leon for an instant, who calls back to her, speaking on his own about what he thinks of this... event.
But shortly they are locked in combat. Her 'knife', such as it is, drives into tough flesh and breaks off, not enough to finish the job on its own by any means. Lily adds to Cass, just loud enough to be heard in a mutter, "You do bring the mood with you, don't you?" She never did stop. It's true, she never seems to.
But the Best Man throws his tantrum and his blow strikes Lily again, bashing her straight in the side of the hfead and causing her to see stars for a moment as she stumbles to the side and drops her makeshift weapon. ...She returns to proper awareness just in time to see Leon strike, just in time to see the burning individual squeeze around Leon.
While Cass fires shots, Lily rights herself, taking a quick, steadying breath--she feels a pulse inside her, and is briefly too hot to function, stumbling back once. ..Then the strange, circuit-like patterns on her arms pulse one more time, shifting colors to brilliant red as a glow suffuses her body; the broken patterns on her left arm abrubtly surge towards her bandages, completing the chains as her golden eyes glow. The ropes at her wrists burn away.
"...I respect how strong you feel about him," Lily admits. "But the way you feel for him..." Her fingers curl into fists, and a black mist surrounds her hands before the patterns glow blue as she lifts a hand. It grows... cold, all of a sudden, and mist coalesces around the Best Man before shards and shards of ice crash inward like jagged spears to attempt to impale him all at once from all directions.
"...I feel about that one. So make peace with whatever God you favor."
GS: Lily Keil used Mystic on Lily Keil! 100 Temporary HP gained! All statuses cleared! GS: Lily Keil has activated a Force Action! GS: Lily Keil has attacked Best Man with Mistgleam! GS: Lily Keil has completed her action. GS: Best Man critically Guards a hit from Lily Keil's Mistgleam for 27 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
"Man I spent my entire childhood growing up in a village. Home's about as village as you can possibly get. I've lived way further out in the boonies than here. Like, come on guy, it looks like you people even had running water! What the heck, that's not a village! That's a town!" Tobit levels his rather distressingly meaty shotgun. It has an eye. Why does it have an eye? What is with Malevolence and weird body horror? Is this a metaphor for something?
It's a big, throbbing, veiny, meaty cannon called Mother's Mercy and it fires lots of little pellets in a big, hot, explosive spray.
It might just be symbolic.
Cyre manages to avoid catching a shot in the center of mass, but can't quite avoid the accompanying plume of fire. He snarls as the flame scorches at one side of his body, the most thoroughly exposed skin blistering painfully. "Ghh. Don't you get it? She doesn't want to be with you! She grew up with you and decided she didn't want to be with you like that! I mean, she took your eye, you dense bastard!"
Stormwinds scream, swirling around the shaman's arms. He roars, surging forward on a burst of explosive air-- and drives his hands forward. A tremendous, catastrophic pressure-wave follows in his wake, delivering far more concussive force than an ordinary man could ever deliver. "That's not what people do when they love each other! And so what if you think she made the wrong choice-- it's not YOUR choice to make!"
GS: Cyre H. Lorentz has attacked Tobit Calice with Grand Pressure! GS: Cyre H. Lorentz has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
"Xantia," Leon answers with just that barest edge of calm. It isn't the easiest to maintain in the face of fighting this person. He glances sideways at her. "Here to help a friend of yours?"
He realizes, then, that his shotgun blast was pushed back far too easily. His eyes narrow for a moment, and then he feels that hand come in long before he sees it. It burns, radiating heat outward that brushes against him. It tells him all he needs to leap away, but still leaves the sleeve of his jacket blackened for a moment. His eyes widen, silver and growing angrier.
"Listen to yourself!" he shouts. "All you're doing is for someone else. You're going to end up dead, at this rate--and unappreciated, while you're at it!"
He glances sideways at Cassidy. He stares for a moment, then sighs. "Ah, Cassidy Cain. I had just started to miss you, too," he sighs. "Rest assured, this isn't our nuptuals. We would pick somewhere far nicer than this."
His eyes glance towards Lily. He hears what she says -- and then he nods, and instinct takes over. He is used to fighting with her, so when the air cools down, he knows to move. Argent Divider is snapped to the side. The barrels fold, and then the long sword blade springs out, telescoping and locking into place. Gold and red light dance along the blade, and then leave an afterimage as he soars by, and slashes hard in the passing.
GS: Leon Albus has attacked Best Man with Riot Crash! GS: Leon Albus has completed his action. GS: Best Man critically Guards a hit from Leon Albus's Riot Crash for 26 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Arash Khan has posed.
Arash Khan gives thanks where they're due as the ropes dribble to the ground like so many lethargic snakes. "Y'all are life-savers, you know that? Now let's teach this monstrous maroon some manners!" He sees an opening. Specifically, the one at the end of Tobit's terrifying Ethos shotgun barrel. Arash lines up his sights with that death-dealing portal and fires three rubber shots in quick succession straight into its maw.
"Put a sock in it, Tobit! You don't deserve that gadget and you know it!" It's like plugging a gun barrel with a carrot! Which works, actually, but you need to step away pretty darn quick once you manage it. After a few more ricocheted shots at Tobit's fingers, Arash gives a cordial wave to his comrades to seek cover and reload.
GS: Arash Khan has attacked Tobit Calice with Sabotage At A Distance! GS: Arash Khan has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Tethelle Cirdian has posed.
"Jack! Rudy!" Tethelle calls backwards, having spotted them (finally) in the back of the church. "You could have told me you were coming."
Tethelle catches the sword on the back sweep. It looks like a practiced motion, even if it seems unorthodox - but it's important to be able to strike at all ranges. She flicks blood off it to the side as she advances, holding the blade slightly lower than before, point behind her rather than in front. It's an offensive posture, not a defensive one.
"She seems to be getting all the adventure she wants to me," Tethelle growls, "and that's it. What she wants. Not what you want. After everything you have done, from what I know, I wouldn't trust you with anyone. You," she says, voice raising, "are half right. You may be a beast if you want. But she is nothing of the sort!"
Tethelle's stance, being more offensive, leaves her well-suited to charge in. It does not leave her in any position to parry a sweeping shotgun, or the fire that comes after; it washes over her, and she roars in pain, but leaps through the fire, trailing little wisps of flame and ash behind her as she passes.
She comes down in a great two-handed strike, trying to hit Tobit from the air; to strike him, push off him, and literally launch herself past him to land behind. She raises the sword again afterwards, the point of the blade now pointing directly at Tobit's face as she's switched stances. "If we want to talk about bad decisions," she says, voice tight, "why not yours?"
GS: Tethelle Cirdian has attacked Tobit Calice with Skydrive! GS: Tethelle Cirdian has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.
"Hey Lydia!" Dean says. Not knowing that there is a proper procedure to all out attacks, he gives her a fierce nod and thumb's up. "Yeah, let's go!" He follows up with those two blows to the Hellion's head--but they don't have quite enough force behind them, and he's punished with a faceful of embers. He can't even *see* the embers, so Dean, even while he's getting scorched by something that sears the air, just keeps up with getting into Bestie's face. "You're right," he says. "I don't understand, and if this is what it's like, I don't ever want to!!"
Romance? Love? Marriage? It's all well and good for other people, and he guesses he'll do that stuff one day when he's older--that's what you do when you grow up, right?--but for right now, blegh, hard pass.
At least Dean doesn't mind what's under Gwen's dress...? He's not interested in *that* stuff either, generally speaking, so the scars and the ARM and the (*gasp of horror*) FRECKLES are not as off-putting to him as they might be to, say, a more licentious boy of similar age. As long as Gwen's okay, that's the important thing. The problem is, she doesn't seem to be okay, any more than anyone else he--
"blah blah blah GOLEM blah blah blah," says Jack.
"GOLEM?! WHERE?!" Dean yells at the utmost of his excitement, promptly forgetting the shoot-out to whip his head back and forth for any sight of this Golem. He has no idea that Jack means Best Friend. A moment later, he gives Jack a wounded, even angry look. "Hey, I don't see any Golems in here!" Pause. "Hey, I know you! You're the guy from Wehaca! You got thrown into me! How're ya doing?"
Besides, you know, caught up in a massive wedding brawl. On which note, Dean continues to attempt to ram Twin Fenrir's combat rods into the Hellion--which, Xantia's right, all that crying he's doing is really uncomfortable and makes Dean feel even sorrier for him even though he's doing terrible things--though this time hard towards the knees instead of the face. He'll find a weak point sooner or later!
"Look--" he adds to Bestie, "it doesn't matter how much you care about your friend--when your friends do something bad, if you really care about them, you have to stop them! That's how you help them, by keeping them from doing something they'll end up regretting later! You're not helping Toby this way, mister!"
GS: Dean Stark has attacked Best Man with Dual Shooter! GS: Dean Stark has completed his action. GS: Tobit Calice guards a hit from Layna Manydays's Cutlass Gale for 88 hit points! GS: Tobit Calice guards a hit from Cyre H. Lorentz's Grand Pressure for 85 hit points! GS: CRITICAL! Tobit Calice takes a solid hit from Arash Khan's Sabotage At A Distance for 60 hit points! GS: Jam! Statuses applied to Tobit Calice! GS: Tobit Calice takes a solid hit from Tethelle Cirdian's Skydrive for 131 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Xantia taps the foot she used to kick the Best Man on the ground a few times after landing. That was a little painful. What is that guy made of? Of course she doesn't know he's literally rock-solid, but even then, she's kicked many rocks that were less solid than that. Yes, it certainly does look like holding back here won't be necessary in the slighest.
"Multiple friends, now!" Xantia's answer to Leon is all too cheerful, she seems the same as always even in a crisis. She does enjoy helping. Especially helping by punching things. She has simple needs.
Yet another familiar face drops in! So of course Xantia has to offer him a wave, too. "Hi, Rudy! It's been a while!" Perhaps this is not the best time to catch up. But she does observe Rudy's actions upon joining the fray, making some mental notes. She knows nothing of what you're supposed to do at weddings, so this may be useful to know for later. So if Xantia ends up coming to the next wedding she's at with a bunch of towels and throws them in the best man's face, you know who to blame.
With all this distraction, she would almost forget that she's in the middle of a fight, if it weren't for the Best Man directing a complaint at her. Before she can respond, the complaint is joined by fists crashing into the ground, causing the ground underneath her to shift. Though she has only a split second to react, react she does - leaping to the side and rolling across the floor to avoid the pillar of flame meant to incinerate her. That was close.
"I may not know much about weddings, but I do know one thing..." Xantia rises back to her feet, pointing dramatically at the Best Man as she declares, "The food is meant for the guests, too!!"
Hopefully nobody was expecting anything profound out of Xantia. Nor anything that really makes sense, since she wasn't on the guest list to begin with.
But never mind that! There's a battle going on, and if there wasn't enough reason to fight before, now the Best Man is hurting her friends, too. She takes a moment to observe the big guy's movements, searching for a possible weak spot, which isn't easy when you can't even see their true form. But a moment of being brought off-balance is enough for her to decide to rush in, duck low, and slam her fist into the leg of the 'man'. Hopefully this doesn't hurt her fist more than it hurts the target.
GS: Xantia has attacked Best Man with Focus Punch! GS: Xantia has completed her action. GS: Best Man critically Guards a hit from Dean Stark's Dual Shooter for 11 hit points! GS: Best Man guards a hit from Xantia's Focus Punch for 85 hit points! GS: Tobit Calice has completed its action.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Ida sees something in that moment, as Tobit tries his level best to crush her hand. It's something feral, obsessive, possessive--like empathy that's been stunted, and twisted into a grotesque mockery of what empathy should be like. It's going to haunt her. She bares her teeth right back at Tobit, drinking down the pain.
Tobit starts ranting about understanding Rosaline, about getting her. Ida's hand tightens around the grip of the multitool as she keeps right on hacksawing. Arash is freed, and Ida gives him a nod.
The gun comes out. Ida's face twists into a look of wide-eyed surprise, and she ducks behind the pew as shot fills the air. A few stray pellets graze her side, but they're blazingly hot, hot enough to ignite fabric on contact. Flames lick up the side of Ida's coat. She hits the ground and rolls, but that horrible fire is spreading. She twists her left arm free, but her right is still very much injured, and now stuck in the coat, which is on fire.
Useless. Useless idiot girl.
Talise keeps trying to tell Tobit how wrong he is. Ida takes a slightly different tack. "Were you with the Ties?" she says. "Or is all this well-to-do dress purely for the occasion? Does Kent Hauch know where you are?" As she speaks, she keeps her jaw tight, channeling that pain. Chi flows up into her skin, strengthening it against the heat. The look she gives Tobit is more than a little feral.
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has attacked Ida Everstead-Rey with Iron Body Cultivation! GS: Ida Everstead-Rey takes 7 damage from Poison! GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has completed her action. GS: Ida Everstead-Rey takes a solid hit from Ida Everstead-Rey's Iron Body Cultivation for 0 hit points! GS: Shield! Statuses applied to Ida Everstead-Rey!
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
Lydia manages to swing those weird tendrils of hers forwards and push back against the golem's charge. The metallic tendrils bubble and boil from the heat of the golem but this doesn't seem to cause Lydia pain. She focuses her mind and shifts the composition of the tendrils to a higher melting point. She then says, "Ugh... somehow fighting the mass murderer's hanger-on is worse than fighting the orphan killer. What kinda moron thinks that killing 'orphans' is the way to a girl's heart? I just don't get it... so maybe I am too young or maybe I'm just not that much of a loon."
She glances over to Leon and says, "Hey uh..."
A pause.
"Are we really trying to 'Convince' a lava golem made of malevolence or whatever to just chill out? Or are we just ... saying this stuff because it sounds cool?"
She punctuates this as her arm burbles once more and sheds a layer of liquid metal as it aims to wrap itself around the lava golem and melt around it.
GS: Lydia Seren has attacked Best Man with Metallurgy! GS: Lydia Seren has completed her action. GS: CRITICAL! Best Man takes a solid hit from Lydia Seren's Metallurgy for 161 hit points! GS: Poison, Cripple, Jam, and Mute! Statuses applied to Best Man!
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
"If you can get a lava golem to chill out, you're not fighting a lava golem," Cyre calls over the crazy matrimonial melee. "If it works, maybe you're not fighting at all! If it only works halfway, then at least you're fighting a rock golem instead! Win-win!"
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
"I didn't chose t'wear this, I swear!" It's hard to figure out which part is the worst- the burn of the Best Golem's hand on her shoulder, Jack asking Gwen what exactly she's wearing, or Cassidy talking about THAT ONE TIME. "D-don't talk about that in public! I was real drunk, okay?!" -and yeah it's the last one, is anyone really surprised at alll, just *look* at that shade of red on Gwen's face
... But yes.
Gwen then notes the bloom of red marking Cassidy's scandalous exposed bandaged skin, and, unfortunately, she doesn't have the sense to allow Cassidy her pride. "Whoah, whoah, you okay?! Did they get you too?!" UH THERE'S OTHER THINGS TO BE WORRIED ABOUT HERE
Like the broken dreams of the poor Best Man. "U-uh, sorry, sir!" Gwen's also just a little too caught off-guard to realize she's apologizing to a hellion who may not be exactly all there. "Really, I am. But I gotta look out for Rosaline, just like you look out for your friend. So, uh-" Where is Rosaline exactly, anyway? Wait, didn't she come in not too long ago...? Maybe... she's in that room Tobit's guarding? Seems like it. Either way, Gwen's got some Choice Words for the man. "I'm gonna apologize one more time t'ya, because I might have to cause a ruckus," she murmurs to the Hellion NotGolem while he's still in earshot, even if he may possibly be a lot more invested in the state of the bridal gifts at that point.
"Y'know, Tobit, I gotta thank you!" Gwen shouts cheerfully, putting on her best girl-next-door smile, as one hand obsessively tries to cover her poor freckled shoulders. "All of this decor on such short notice, n' the attention to detail's real nice, I gotta admit." Trying to dodge and move with and around the various attacks (which is hard in a dress like this), she starts walking up to Tobit. "But there's onnnnneee thing I gotta *really* thank you for."
And then, when she things she's close enough to launch her fist from a casual gait and get away with it, Gwen's grin finally reaches the angry glint in her eyes.
"You just made me really appreciate Janus."
That's when she just bumrushes the poor groom. LOOK, HER HANDS ARE STILL TIED TOGETHER OKAY
GS: Gwen Whitlock has activated a Force Action! GS: Gwen Whitlock has attacked Tobit Calice with Special Delivery! GS: Gwen Whitlock has completed her action. GS: Tobit Calice takes a solid hit from Gwen Whitlock's Special Delivery for 122 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Rudy Roughnight has posed.
Jack's opening for gunfire isn't taken, because Rudy's too busy shaking his head at the disappointment of Jack actually thinking that assaulting a groomsman with a special sword art is proper wedding gift. And people think Rudy is the clueless one. As Tethelle shouts out her surprise, Rudy lowers his head with a faint blush. "Sorry," he replies softly in response to her words. He is about to respond, but then Xantia speaks up. "Hey!" Always an advantage of a wedding, get to met so many people you don't get to see too often. Of course, having a large construct hyper focused on dealing with unwanted guest mars the social time, but what can one do.
While Jack and Cassidy have their fun at Gwen's expense, Rudy's reaction is a little different. Despite everything going on, he is dumbfounded for a moment. But the ravages of Wedding Wars loom, breaking him out of the daze to remark to her with a "You look beautiful in your dress!" before hrmming to the fight at hand.
As the Best Man continues to fight, Rudy actually puts away his ARM. Instead of shooting, he merely wades into the fray and just tries to hold the guy back, attempting to grab an arm, a leg, or whatever he can. A nod is given toward Dean and Leon's words about the folly of this battle. "You need to listen, fighting won't help your friend, we don't have to fight!" It's an odd thing for Rudy to NOT go into a situation ARMs a-blazing, but for some reason, a clueless being just trying to help his friend be happy even at his own expense strikes a chord with Roughnight. Or maybe Rudy just really doesn't want know how bad of a social faux pas it is to kill a member of the bridal party on the big day.
<Pose Tracker> Jack Van Burace has posed.
"Why don't you not set them on fire first!" Jack shouts back towards the poor Best Man as he rushes forwards. Noting the ground below him he throws himself the his left as the flames erupt, narrowly dodging becoming a torch before rolling back to his feet and...
"I ment rock golem not..." The swordsman gestures vaguely towards Dan. "Golem golem!" He pauses a moment. "There needs to be more words for these things." He mutters under his breath. "And I'll be doing even better once I put my sword though rock guy here!" A little superviolence does his soul good. His espicially. He can feel his broken amulet sing its power though its veins as he turns towards the Best Man.
"You picked a bad day for a wedding."
"Look Gwen! I'm sure its fine if that's your style! It brings out your eyes or something!" The swordsman calls out as he spins towards the Best Man and smirk slightly. "Rudy! Some people reasoning just doesn't work on! You have to speak a language they understand!"
Hanpan just sighs and looks disaprovingly at Jack. "You're going to say violence aren't you?"
"Of course I am!" He adds as he flings himself forwards to swing the blade towards the lava man's knee. Knock him off balance at least.
GS: Jack Van Burace has attacked Best Man with Strike Buddy! GS: Jack Van Burace has completed his action. GS: Best Man guards a hit from Jack Van Burace's Strike Buddy for 71 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Tobit Calice has posed.
The Ethos didn't MEAN to make (restore?) Mother's Mercy into a one-eyed monster, but now that Cyre has observed that, it's hard to unsee it, huh.
Ida asks about the Black Ties. A look of terror briefly flicks across Tobit's canine features. "The Ties and I parted ways on friendly terms," he articulates. There is probably no such thing as parting on friendly terms from the Black Ties. If there's a connection, perhaps he's expecting a visit...
Assuming ANY OF THIS goes his way anymore.
Talise, Cyre and Tethelle point out what should be blindingly obvious, but Tobit merely seems to be blind. This is a man who has a riverside cottage with a great view on Denial. "Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP! You have no idea what you're talking about! We formed a CONNECTION! She took my eye, she watched over me while I recovered, and we formed a connection! I was her only friend, she was my only friend! And you would TAKE THAT AWAY FROM ME?"
Meanwhile, the Best Man's heart is being broken into itty-bitty little pieces, for more legitimate reasons.
Arash plays one of many tricks up his sleeve for dealing with very dangerous weapons. One of his rubber bullets hits the mark, plugging the barrel right as it's about to fire another round-- and this ends as you would expect. There is an explosion right in front of Tobit, and the weapon looks scorched, though not particularly damaged. Thing is sturdy. The Hellion bandit's hand hisses against the trigger, but he still keeps it in a death grip.
Layna has some serious fire of her own in her and shows it. Tobit would be pleased, if it weren't for his terrible mood. She slashes at him with the help of wind magic, and once more, Tobit raises a meaty arm that takes the brunt of the impact, only adding to a rapidly-growing collection of scars. She's still managing to make him bleed, thoyh-- and that's progress.
Talise wants to get in on that scarring action, with a massive slash aimed at Tobit's gun-holding hand. He shifts his stance to parry her, though he gets what can be charitably called a mixed result: one of his fingers goes flying right off.
And yet, he STILL hisses through the pain, and keeps holding on the the weapon as if his life depended on it. His grip has to falter at SOME point. It has to.
And the scarring is not done either, as Tethelle drops from above and drives a sword right into his face. The hellhound lets out a howl of pure pain, as a gash is opened-- Really, it would have taken his eye if it weren't already gone. The eyepatch snaps off, as his facial scars become a lot messier and bloodier.
Cyre fires off a massive concussive blast, which to Tobit has the slight upside of driving the sword out of his face. He somehow manages to stand upright even after being driven back several feet, however. Chauncey comes back for a mega-punch, but Tobit is fresh from the school of hard knocks, and despite everything, finds a way to parry that.
Now, Tobit doesn't know who Janus is, to tell the truth. He may have heard about the fellow famed bandit, but honestly doesn't understand how this is germane to the situation. Perhaps his confusion is what finally gets him to lose his footing, as Gwen bumrushes him right off his feet and into ANOTHER poor, now-destroyed pew.
He climbs back on his feet, hissing and spitting blood, dislodging pieces of wood from his hairy skin. He shakes his gun, which is emitting sparks. Ugh.
"Okay, I am OFFICIALLY DONE fucking around, each and every one of you is going to DIE TODAY."
Purple miasma swirls around the weapon in his hand, the meat enveloping it shifting around as it gathers power-- And finally, Arash's bullet is dislodged. The eye widens.
"ENJOY THE POWER OF LOVE, IDIOTS!" Tobit bumrushes Gwen right back, then raises Mother's Mercy once more to blast at the others. The explosions are even more intense than before, and engulf the fallen pews as if they were mere kindling.
As he shoots, Tobit charges right for Tethelle-- She's made him MAD. And now she finds out why they call him a cannibal, as he bites at her, aiming to tear out a nontrivial chunk of her flesh. Whichever one he can get, he's not picky.
And now, the church is officially starting to qualify as 'on fire'! The hostages shift in their seats, starting to slowly come back to their senses. You'll need to sort this mess out before you can do much to help them, but don't forget about them, now!
GS: Tobit Calice has attacked Tobit Calice with I Only Have Eyes For You! GS: Tobit Calice takes a solid hit from Tobit Calice's I Only Have Eyes For You for 0 hit points! GS: Hyper! Statuses applied to Tobit Calice! GS: Restore! Tobit Calice clears debuffs from Tobit Calice! GS: Tobit Calice has attacked Talise Gianfair with Suddenly Everything Is Exploding! GS: Tobit Calice has attacked Ida Everstead-Rey with Suddenly Everything Is Exploding! GS: Tobit Calice has attacked Tethelle Cirdian with The Beast Within! GS: Tobit Calice has attacked Layna Manydays with Suddenly Everything Is Exploding! GS: Tobit Calice has attacked Cyre H. Lorentz with Suddenly Everything Is Exploding! GS: Tobit Calice has attacked Arash Khan with Suddenly Everything Is Exploding! GS: Tobit Calice has attacked Sephilia Lampbright with Suddenly Everything Is Exploding! GS: Tobit Calice has attacked Gwen Whitlock with Sucker Punch! GS: Tobit Calice has completed its action. GS: Arash Khan takes a glancing hit from Tobit Calice's Suddenly Everything Is Exploding for 124 hit points! GS: CRITICAL! Layna Manydays takes a glancing hit from Tobit Calice's Suddenly Everything Is Exploding for 126 hit points! GS: Poison and Cripple! Statuses applied to Layna Manydays! GS: CRITICAL! Talise Gianfair guards a hit from Tobit Calice's Suddenly Everything Is Exploding for 85 hit points! GS: Poison and Cripple! Statuses applied to Talise Gianfair! GS: Sephilia Lampbright critically Guards a hit from Tobit Calice's Suddenly Everything Is Exploding for 92 hit points! GS: CRITICAL! Tethelle Cirdian guards a hit from Tobit Calice's The Beast Within for 124 hit points! GS: Poison and Cripple! Statuses applied to Tethelle Cirdian! GS: Tobit Calice drains Tethelle Cirdian! Tobit Calice gains 62 temporary hit points! GS: CRITICAL! Gwen Whitlock takes a solid hit from Tobit Calice's Sucker Punch for 141 hit points! GS: Poison and Cripple! Statuses applied to Gwen Whitlock! GS: CRITICAL! Ida Everstead-Rey takes a glancing hit from Tobit Calice's Suddenly Everything Is Exploding for 120 hit points! GS: Poison and Cripple! Statuses applied to Ida Everstead-Rey! GS: CRITICAL! Cyre H. Lorentz takes a glancing hit from Tobit Calice's Suddenly Everything Is Exploding for 126 hit points! GS: Poison and Cripple! Statuses applied to Cyre H. Lorentz!
<Pose Tracker> Best Man has posed.
*Cass* keeps shooting her mouth and her gun, and our Best Man seems to simultaneously weep more of those tears of a nature already very well documented at this juncture with just his forearms, and many of those bullets just... don't seem to register the way bullets ought to with human flesh. There's no commentary on her side note...
"Nothing matters but Toby's happiness!!" The Hellion shouts from behind his arms as *Leon* comes in with a dashing slash, which similarly seems to fail to cut that deep. "I'll give up anything for my Toby on his special day!!"
He seems to find something resembling an emotional center, for however a Hellion bandit can ever manage to do so when beset on all angles, flexing weakened and pained rock arms against the icy spikes brought forth by *Lily* and her overwhelming sorcerous power. An absurd amount of steam rises from the man's body on impact as the intensity of the lava burning underneath his rock-flesh grows ever brighter and hotter.
"Y-You're not a guest!" The Best Man blubbers as she thrusts a fist into a leg. *Xantia* has doubtlessly taken many a leg out this way, and indeed, there is enough focus behind her punch that he flinches and slides back... but he holds his stance, aside from a forward lean to put more weight on the other rocky leg. (It won't hurt her fist as much, since there was some give.) "You're just here to ruin everything for my Toby...!"
*Dean* stands his emotional ground as he lays down the moral law about how it's one's responsibility to stop people from doing bad things. "It... it doesn't matter what Toby does... where he goes... who he chooses... I'll... I'll always stand by my Toby...!" While *Xantia* put forth a good lead, *Dean* doesn't seem to be able to do much other than slap that bit of ARM against the leg as the Best Man starts barreling forward again...
Just for him to yelp and roar a guttural and gurgling churning voice that smolders and distorts as he is covered in a layer of liquid metal from *Lydia* that smothers, condenses, and probably does all sorts of scientifically awful things when the way the liquid metal coats a body does that has heat to vent and expel but can't so easily. We're going to have to count 'pained screaming' as the only verbal counterattack he has about serving under a notorious cannibal, arsonist, and orphan killer.
He swishes an arm vaguely in *Gwen's* direction, as if only half-listening to her polite tone of voice as if to shoo her off, go fix her dress, go make sure everything is okay on Toby's end while he's busy writhing in pain - and so she is free to deliver that SICK BURN while he is burning in a sick and horrifying fashion.
*Rudy* attempts to bring humanity and empathy back into an already chaotic situation, to a man who seems bereft of almost any sort of any emotional stability as he's continuing to cry tears and blood and... tears and blood and...
AHEM.
Tears and blood and FINE YES I AM HERE - LAVA TOO - BACK OFF ALREADY. Thank you. Moving on...
Between two men who seem to be possessed of a strength that does not seem much a match for their appearances in the least (less so for the dark-skinned, black-haired fellow with the scraggly beard, he does seem kind of tough-looking under the scraps of charred fancy suit that has no right being as intact as it is), it seems they are equals. *Rudy* is capable of holding an arm to try and restrain the man at the appropriate level of strength, and keep him there.
The only issue is how hot he is to the touch - and it might not be too clear to *Rudy* as to why this is, unless he can see the Malevolence. But he can see the man's sorrow and frustration.
"I can't... I can't let my Toby down... you don't understand--" His body gets far hotter. It is now hazardous to be holding him, no matter whether he intends to hurt *Rudy* or not in the process. This doesn't stop *Jack* from moving to go at the back of the knee, again, where that seems to be the popular option for several people now. The Best Man goes to a crouch...
And slams a fist on the ground again. And again. And again. That's three times, and three pillars of hot rock and fire that seems to coincide with the positions of *Lily,* *Cassidy,* and *Jack.*
He breaks free of *Rudy,* which will mercifully put an end to the painfully hot temperatures he's been subjecting himself to as he swings wildly with his fists at the rest - *Lydia,* *Dean,* "Leon,* and *Xantia.*
Everything is on fire - and yet...
"WHY WON'T YOU LISTEN!!" The Best Man exclaims. "It's Toby's... Toby's... Toby's..." Just about everything out of their mouth relates to the hellhound raising hell like a mad dog all the way over there, as the tantrums escalate.
GS: Best Man has attacked Rudy Roughnight with Not Just Too Hot For You - Too Hot For The Entire Alphabet! GS: Best Man has attacked Lily Keil with Fire Pillar! GS: Best Man has attacked Cassidy Cain with Fire Pillar! GS: Cassidy Cain takes a solid hit from Best Man's Fire Pillar for 123 hit points! GS: Best Man has attacked Jack Van Burace with Fire Pillar! GS: Lily Keil critically Guards a hit from Best Man's Fire Pillar for 25 hit points! GS: Best Man has attacked Xantia with Fiery Fist ! GS: Best Man has attacked Lydia Seren with Fiery Fist ! GS: Best Man has attacked Dean Stark with Fiery Fist ! GS: Best Man has attacked Leon Albus with Fiery Fist ! GS: Best Man takes 7 damage from Poison! GS: Best Man has completed its action. GS: Dean Stark guards a hit from Best Man's Fiery Fist for 127 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.
Sephilia Lampbright grumps. "WHY is everyone setting things on FIRE today?! That's VERY dangerous! I've had enough of this! Now you're gonna get it!"
She reaches into the backpack she's riding in on Chauncey's back, pulls out a folding chair, and passes it up to her buddy.
Chauncey sweeps the chair in a huge, massive arc, inadvertently fanning the flames...and aiming directly at Tobit's head.
GS: Sephilia Lampbright has attacked Tobit Calice with Foxington Folding Chair! GS: Sephilia Lampbright has completed her action. GS: Rudy Roughnight guards a hit from Best Man's Not Just Too Hot For You - Too Hot For The Entire Alphabet for 95 hit points! GS: Xantia critically Guards a hit from Best Man's Fiery Fist for 22 hit points! GS: Tobit Calice guards a hit from Sephilia Lampbright's Foxington Folding Chair for 111 hit points! GS: Jack Van Burace takes a solid hit from Best Man's Fire Pillar for 114 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Cassidy Cain has posed.
Oh god fire.
'Absolutely' too hurt to evade, but most of the effects catch the cloak she wears. She bites back a sudden cry, dropping and rolling and 'groaning', smoking faintly from the new injuries she has sustained. Ash and bits of cloth flake off her like raven feathers, leaving 'more' of her exposed. "If you wanted....me naked...you could have just said so, luv," she murmurs. "Methinks you dinnae swing 'that' way, though? Why dinnae just tell the fookin' groom you love him? Who knows, maybe he'll marry you instead of...instead of..."
Her cheeks puff out, unable to hold it. She doesn't mean to, it's 'clear' the golem is suffering enough under the weight of his unrequited love, but she 'laughs' anyway. "Ach, fook me, I cannae even finish the sentence. Sorry, luv, I think you better try and earn your love connection the hard way. I'm sure there's rocks and valleys out there just 'dying' tae meet your acquaintance."
'You do bring the mood with you, don't you?'
"It would nae be me if I dinnae keep things festive, luv," Cassidy replies, getting on her feet and a hand pressed into her bleeding ribcage, feeling warm crimson flood between her fingers. "Plus, it's a wedding! Have I mentioned how much I love weddings?"
And to her beau, Leon, she winks. "Dinnae look tae me that you miss verra often, luv, so I'll take that as a compliment," she observes, wryly. "But now that you've said that, you should nae have raised my expectations that way, because now I'm fully expecting nuptials at a grand cathedral and an engraved invitation for me and my partner. I think you'll like him, if nothing else, he will nae be embarrassing anyone - he's quite fashionable."
'Don't talk about that in public!' The courier, whose life she's made difficult multiple times, cries from somewhere next to her, but it's as if she didn't hear her. As Rudy compliments her on her dress, she laughs. "Ay, see? Admirers already, and from a man named Roughly Allnight, besides. If you must ken, Mr. Allrnight, she's a 'really good kisser', if we end up crashing the reception as well, you oughtae ask her tae dance!"
Cassidy Cain: Expert Matchmaker. Her talents are as long and varied as her present attentions.
When Gwen points out the state of her, she manages to keep her smile in place, though the inward wince is reflected in those evergreen eyes. "Ay, well, 'that'. It's a verra long story. You can say that...hrgh..." She straightens herself up with effort. "....the other lad was a 'thousand' times bigger than me. You oughtae see what I did tae him, though. This poor sod in love with the groom's nae even half."
All said as she chambers a Symbology-imbued round in Hawthorne's revolver, chill bleeding into her fingers as she touches the metal, the thing hissing mist and smoke when it goes inside the gun. Snapping it back in place and aiming for the middle of the thing's forehead, she fires. And should it impact, ice will start encrusting the impact point and start to flood its skull with freezing mist.
GS: Cassidy Cain has attacked Best Man with The Best Is Yet To Come! GS: Cassidy Cain has completed her action. GS: Best Man guards a hit from Cassidy Cain's The Best Is Yet To Come for 87 hit points! GS: Lydia Seren guards a hit from Best Man's Fiery Fist for 66 hit points! GS: Tobit Calice has attacked Talise Gianfair with Suddenly Everything Is Exploding! GS: Tobit Calice has attacked Ida Everstead-Rey with Suddenly Everything Is Exploding! GS: Tobit Calice has attacked Tethelle Cirdian with The Beast Within! GS: Tobit Calice has attacked Layna Manydays with Suddenly Everything Is Exploding! GS: Tobit Calice has attacked Cyre H. Lorentz with Suddenly Everything Is Exploding! GS: Tobit Calice has attacked Arash Khan with Suddenly Everything Is Exploding! GS: Tobit Calice has attacked Sephilia Lampbright with Suddenly Everything Is Exploding! GS: CRITICAL! Tethelle Cirdian guards a hit from Tobit Calice's The Beast Within for 124 hit points! GS: Poison and Cripple! Statuses applied to Tethelle Cirdian! GS: Tobit Calice drains Tethelle Cirdian! Tobit Calice gains 62 temporary hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
Layna backs up as she notices Mother's Mercy sparking. That's...a bad sign. Either it's about to do something big, or it's malfunctioning which...could be problematic anyway. And then Tobit fires, unleashing massive explosions that consume the whole church, setting everything aflame and putting the current situation into frame. Not only that, the force is off to knock Layna backwards, off her feet and onto a ground.
She is also slightly aflame, but with a grunt she forces herself to her feet and pats at the flames on her coat. She glances around, with a frown. This was a problem. Most notably...
The hostages. If they tried to do anything to help them, Tobit would make them pay for it. So for now...Layna breaks her silence.
"Listen up, me hearties! You're not gonna let a little fire stop ye, aye? We've got more important things to worry about now, so let's hurry up and put this entitled, scurvy blaggard in his place." She says, hoping to motivate everyone to keep fighting. And if he takes offense to it, well...
...Then all the better.
GS: Layna Manydays has attacked Layna Manydays with On Your Feet Me Hearties!! GS: Layna Manydays has attacked Cyre H. Lorentz with On Your Feet Me Hearties!! GS: Layna Manydays has attacked Talise Gianfair with On Your Feet Me Hearties!! GS: Layna Manydays has attacked Tethelle Cirdian with On Your Feet Me Hearties!! GS: Layna Manydays has attacked Ida Everstead-Rey with On Your Feet Me Hearties!! GS: Layna Manydays has attacked Gwen Whitlock with On Your Feet Me Hearties!! GS: Layna Manydays takes 5 damage from Poison! GS: Layna Manydays has completed her action. GS: Talise Gianfair takes a solid hit from Layna Manydays's On Your Feet Me Hearties! for 0 hit points! GS: Restore! Layna Manydays clears debuffs from Talise Gianfair! GS: Layna Manydays takes a solid hit from Layna Manydays's On Your Feet Me Hearties! for 0 hit points! GS: Restore! Layna Manydays clears debuffs from Layna Manydays! GS: Cyre H. Lorentz takes a solid hit from Layna Manydays's On Your Feet Me Hearties! for 0 hit points! GS: Restore! Layna Manydays clears debuffs from Cyre H. Lorentz! GS: Ida Everstead-Rey takes a solid hit from Layna Manydays's On Your Feet Me Hearties! for 0 hit points! GS: Restore! Layna Manydays clears debuffs from Ida Everstead-Rey! GS: Gwen Whitlock takes a solid hit from Layna Manydays's On Your Feet Me Hearties! for 0 hit points! GS: Restore! Layna Manydays clears debuffs from Gwen Whitlock!
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
We're wasting our time, a little voice in Talise's mind criticizes tartly. The longer we stand here trying to fight this Hellion, the longer they have to do whatever it is they're doing to Rosaline. And I promised Rosaline I'd stick close to her.
For now, though, she manages to deprive Tobit of a finger. A small thing. But every little bit helps.
"I don't know Hunchy Kent but he might set you on fire," she grunts for Tobit's benefit.
And then Tobit starts setting things on fire anyways. The explosions he unleashes from that hideous gun slam across her like fireballs; she grunts and shields herself with one arm, but chainmail can only soak up so much. Somehow she does manage to deflect a bullet off of Rastaban's blade but it just ricochets into the ground and explodes, hurling her backwards again. She hisses with pain as she comes down to a hard landing on one knee, skidding for a few metres.
The church is burning around her. "Damn it... where the hell is Rosaline," Talise mutters as she glances over her shoulder, trying to locate that familiar bearer of the cotton candy floof. She can't. But there are hostages beginning to stir.
Hostages who will die unless she, Talise, can help the others do something about this. Of course I'll fail. I don't have any conviction. Not like Siegfried. I'm just a blade that cuts things for no reason.
But Layna's encouragement gets Talise's mind working in a different direction. No. There is a reason this time. Rosaline Calice needs us. I don't care if Althena doesn't want me. Rosaline is my friend.
Talise steels herself, then launches forward again, charging with her head and shoulders held low in the hopes of not getting shot as she plows into close range. "I'll show you a thing or two about love, you damn dog," she snarls. "'Cause I love Rosaline too! All of us do!"
Rastaban's blade blurs as Talise rears up and begins to swing. Each individual stroke, by itself, isn't that bad - but she's swinging a lot. She's lashing her two-handed blade like a whip, aiming to try and inflict slash after slash on Tobit's arms and flanks - and then, rearing back, she'll attempt to finish the technique by just kicking him violently in the chest.
"Malevolence isn't the power of love, dumbfuck!" Talise shouts in the process.
GS: Talise Gianfair has attacked Tobit Calice with Ten Thousand Relentless Streams! GS: Talise Gianfair has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
Multiple friends. Well, there's that; Lily glances to Xantia once with a brief nod, but has little room for that in the triage that now dominates her thoughts in battle. Leon is still talking, which is largely what counts, and she doesn't need to warn him of what she has planned; they know each other far better than that by now. "I understand," Lily says to the Best Man, coolly, without the mercy that such kind words might usually imply. But as he slams the fist to the ground, as the pillar of hot rock and fire erupts from beneath Lily, she clenches her hand into a fist as her patterns blaze brilliant violet before shadows engulf her form--and seem to eat away at the pillar all around her before it can touch her, falling into so much ash, such that the burns it inflicts barely smell of anything as she stares forward to the Golem before them.
"You've mentioned how much you love weddings," Lily replies dryly to Cassidy. "And if you're looking for a cathedral, you should know I follow the Nisan Orthodoxy."
Everything is very abrubtly on fire--Lily can see that. She narrows her eyes, looking to the closest hostage and the line of the fire as it comes. This battle is getting worse--the smoke, far worse. ...Lily closes her eyes, briefly, at that, taking a breath of the quickly-smoking air. Then, there is light. Her eyes snap open, glowing faintly again, and the brilliance starts from within her, beginning to emanate outward, towards Leon as he fights, Xantia and her food, Gwen and her freckles, Dean and his love for Golems, Lydia and her... stars. Each is suddenly suffused with brilliant radiance, red that glows outward in auras and shields against harm, soothes smoke inhalation, touches wounds, Ether brilliantly flaring through the whole room.
...Them, and the hostages closest to Lily, those she can reach, as she pours magic into a barrier to help them hold on until they can get out.
GS: Lily Keil has attacked Leon Albus with Red Emanation! GS: Lily Keil has attacked Dean Stark with Red Emanation! GS: Lily Keil has attacked Gwen Whitlock with Red Emanation! GS: Lily Keil has attacked Xantia with Red Emanation! GS: Lily Keil has attacked Lydia Seren with Red Emanation! GS: Lily Keil has completed her action. GS: Lily Keil heals Dean Stark! He gains 200 temporary hit points! GS: Lily Keil heals Lydia Seren! She gains 200 temporary hit points! GS: Tethelle Cirdian takes a solid hit from Layna Manydays's On Your Feet Me Hearties! for 0 hit points! GS: Restore! Layna Manydays clears debuffs from Tethelle Cirdian! GS: Rosaline Calice has attacked Rosaline Calice with Etone-in-Training Attack!! GS: Rosaline Calice has completed her action. GS: Rosaline Calice takes a solid hit from Rosaline Calice's Etone-in-Training Attack! for 80 hit points! GS: Rosaline Calice has attacked Rosaline Calice with Etone-in-Training Attack!! GS: Rosaline Calice has completed her action. GS: Rosaline Calice takes a solid hit from Rosaline Calice's Etone-in-Training Attack! for 88 hit points! GS: Rosaline Calice has attacked Rosaline Calice with Etone-in-Training Attack!! GS: Rosaline Calice has completed her action. GS: CRITICAL! Rosaline Calice takes a solid hit from Rosaline Calice's Etone-in-Training Attack! for 127 hit points! GS: Lily Keil heals Xantia! She gains 200 temporary hit points! GS: Lily Keil heals Gwen Whitlock! She gains 200 temporary hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Arash Khan has posed.
Arash Khan ducks, Arash Khan weaves. Flying pews miss his mustachioed mug by inches! Heads of cherubs zip about him like the unfriendly kind of landmine. It would be downright chuckle-worthy if they weren't all in mortal danger. Eh, Arash chuckles anyways.
"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. You know what happens to someone who crushes an old friend's trust! They get their asses handed to 'em Tobit!" Arash's King of Spades reacts to the curiously large amount of lava dotting the battlefield. It flares in a burning red now instead of the usual green. Perhaps it's wistful for the warm warm dungeons of home? That would've been magma, Arash thinks. Completely different.
Following his shovel's instincts, he darts around Tobit's unholy fire and gathers up puddles of molten rock, which assemble themselves into a pulsating sphere of red hot and angry. What's next is obvious. "ROCKET SAND, PYROCLASTIC BUUURST!" A jet of ash and force propels ERUPTS from the tip of his spade straight into Mr. Calice's ugly face, burying it under air aflame (to the relief of everyone nearby).
Arash takes that opportunity to run up, jam his rifle into the roof of Tobit's ash-choked maw, and fire. A parting present before he dashes off to unbury some hostages.
GS: Arash Khan has attacked Tobit Calice with Rocket Sand! GS: Arash Khan has completed his action. GS: Leon Albus takes a glancing hit from Best Man's Fiery Fist for 59 hit points! GS: Lily Keil heals Leon Albus! He gains 200 temporary hit points! GS: Tobit Calice takes a solid hit from Talise Gianfair's Ten Thousand Relentless Streams for 122 hit points! GS: Tobit Calice takes a solid hit from Arash Khan's Rocket Sand for 108 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Ida sees that look of fear. It's cold comfort, though, considering she's still on fire. She can feel the blisters forming on her skin, smell her own flesh smoking. She focuses on the pain, and on the sound of Layna's voice--the former empowers her, the latter sharpens her.
Ida finally manages to get the coat off, and throws it into part of the splintered pews. The wood catches fire instantly, but it's not like there was a shortage of fire to begin with. Ida tenses her right hand, feels clean, pure heat flowing down her forearm, reinforcing her injured muscles.
"I don't know the man that well," Ida says. She turns back to Tobit, scorched flakes falling off of her burned, ragged undershirt. "but I do know he hates betrayal. There is no way this can end well for you."
And then, explosions.
Ida twists to the side as the high-explosive round flies at her. It shoots past her right side with mere inches to spare, and strikes a jagged, splintered pew-chunk behind her. The wooden furniture shatters and burns, turning into wooden shrapnel mixed in with whatever hellish mixture was in that ammunition. Darts of wood and metal riddle her back, and the impact sends her lurching forwards. Ida coughs, violently, and tries to catch her breath. "Lily!" she shouts, as soon as she can breathe. "We need to get these people--" A violent cough. "Out of here--!" Ida coughs again, takes a stumbling step towards Tobit.
The coughing is real. The stumbling is not--it's a feint. Ida suddenly lashes out with a low offhand punch, introducing her fist to Tobit's lower abdomen even as Arash flings soot and dirt at his face. She stomps down hard on his instep, as if trying to hammer his foot through the floorboards. Given how old this place is, it might just work
GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has attacked Tobit Calice with Unladylike Fisticuffs! GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has completed her action. GS: Tobit Calice takes a solid hit from Ida Everstead-Rey's Unladylike Fisticuffs for 135 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.
"A what!? He looks like--like some Black Ti--"
Leon stops in his track, then his eyes widen as he turns and stares at Lydia. Realization sets in; he may not see Malevolence, but he knows of it. "Oh, Guardians, he's a Hellion! That explains it!"
Convincing isn't likely to work, then. His eyes narrow, as he looks back towards the Best Man. Moreso, as flame begins to swing through and engulf parts of the building. He turns, knowing now why his blade did not bite too deeply. The tantrum is a problem -- more so as he throws those haymakers that, Leon knows, could compromise the structure of the building. He shoots to the side, just barely getting away from a punch that feels like has more force behind it than its size belies. Heat roils off it, and Leon skids backward.
He takes a few sharp, shuddering breaths. "Damn..."
His eyes shift to Cassidy. Her partner? He raises an eyebrow, and then looks towards the golem. Red light from Lily infuses him; imbues him, giving some strength where it was lacking. He can't do much for the hostages yet.
He swings Argent Divider out, then grips it in two hands. Silver light floods down the blade, before solidifying into an energy blade that changes it from a narrow, elegant sword to a larger broadsword. Lights flash up the side, along paneling:
Code.29 JOYEUSE
Then, with a single downward strike, the blade of energy leaps off. It whips out, and turns into a quartet of huge arcs of silver light that come crashing down at the fiery Hellion, one after the other, trying to batter him into submission.
GS: Leon Albus has attacked Best Man with Code.29 JOYEUSE! GS: Leon Albus has completed his action. GS: CRITICAL! Best Man guards a hit from Leon Albus's Code.29 JOYEUSE for 121 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
Once again, Cyre is on the receiving end of Tobit's burning love.
Literally.
There's fire everywhere.
Well, you know they do say that love is a burning thing. It makes a fiery ring. Thus, bound by wild desire, Tobit flings them all into a ring of fire.
...
Layna starts yelling.
A pile of rubble shifts nearby-- and then explodes. Cyre yells as he bursts out of the ash and wreckage, his cloak charred black and a great mess of blood dripping from somewhere near his hairline where a chunk of wood must have smashed into his head. "Ugh. Damnit, that hurt! You know what, buddy. I think I know what your problem is, now. Your problem is that you're fuckin' obsessed. So obsessed you don't even see that there's someone right next to you givin' everything for you. And you know what?"
"Having been on the receiving end of it, I can safely say," Cyre points into the sky. "Your love? Your love seriously, massively sucks. So, with that in mind, I'm pretty sure you really ARE done fucking around. In fact--"
Tobit might or might not notice that there are a bunch of little dots lighting up all over his body. More of them alight on some of the wood and detritus still hanging on by a thread from the rooftop and rafters. "It's pretty clear you ain't fucked a damn thing in years!"
And then there are lasers.
So many lasers.
Lasers that, incidentally, smash right into the still-burning structure and... maybe, just maybe they might also somehow put them out...!
That's how lasers work, right?
GS: Cyre H. Lorentz has attacked Tobit Calice with Valkyrie! GS: Cyre H. Lorentz has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Tethelle Cirdian has posed.
"You said," Tethelle says, voice tight, "that you had no choice. That you did all of this - burning the orphanage - because you had no choice but to free her. Now you say that you have a connection, and she should be thanking you for everything you have done for her."
She keeps the sword point angled toward Tobit with one hand as she reaches toward her hip pouch with the other. "I think you're a horrible person who has accepted darkness into your heart. You call her a beast, but you're the monster here. You need to be stopped before you hurt anybody else." The Malevolence didn't corrupt him, Tethelle feels. He accepted the Malevolence because of the kind of person he is. He wanted this.
And that makes it her duty to stop him.
Tethelle is expecting more gunfire, more fire in general. Tobit has generally shown a preference toward that, after all - which doesn't really surprise her, given what she knows about him. She was not expecting him to charge her, and in his transformed shape he's much faster than she expects. He gets teeth on her, biting deeply into the meat Tethelle's lower arm. The shock makes her drop the sword, which clatters against the ground, and yell out in pain.
But now Tethelle has her other hand clenched around the stone tablet she always carries. As she withdraws it from the pouch, it is already glowing. Tethelle wrenches her bloody arm away from Tobit and plants her palm flat against the Medium, then begins to pull it away, gripping something that wasn't there just a moment before as if the tablet was a scabbard she could draw a weapon from.
Her right hand is holding a sword. Not just a sword, but a Sword, the power of Equites drawn from the Medium. Green near the base and brightening to an almost incandescent gold near the tip, the crossguard is a starburst of six smaller blades with a complicated pattern of silver vines that seems different every time it's examined.
The blade comes out narrow and one-handed, but enlarges in Tethelle's hand to the size of her dropped blade. Tethelle doesn't speak, so intense is her focus in maintaining the blade, but she just looks at Tobit before she swings it in a great two-handed arc, the energy forming the blade leaving a radiant trail in the air.
They need to end it, so they can deal with the fire. Tethelle will fight to defend them, as much as anyone else.
DC: Tethelle Cirdian switches forms to Sword Shaman Tethelle! GS: Tethelle Cirdian has activated a Force Action! GS: Tethelle Cirdian has attacked Tobit Calice with Material - Divine Blade! GS: Tethelle Cirdian has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
Lydia is friends to all. Is Best Man really just a golem? Nevertheless, she braces for the impact but this time far less compentently as before. She goes slamming through the air and crashes ignobly to the ground. "Ugh...! Listen to yourself! He is crying BLOOD and LAVA that's not what happy people to do! My friend Ginny was a Hellion too, and even though I thought it was good for a time, it wasn't! What I thought was something beautiful, was just her suffering in a way I couldn't see!"
She stands herself up and points towards the lava golem. "If you're really his friend, you'd stop him before he hurts anybody else! Because if he was happy with what he was doing, he wouldn't be a hellion in the first place! Duhhh!!"
She blink at Leon. "Huh?" He didn't...see it?
"OH shit he's human too?" She cricks her neck lightly and adds, "Arright... I'll do my best..."
She pumps her fist, filled with burning determination--
--oh wait no, that's not a metaphor, Lily actually just went and gave Lydia a red aura.
She leaps into the air, drawing the Rigdobrite Medium as she summons a meteor which will TOTALLY help stop fire from spreading right?
She bounces off the meteor shortly after and shouts, "FACE THE POWER OF SOCCER! METEEEEOORRR!! CRASH!!!"
She kicks the ball once with her foot, giving it a quick spin and then slams her foot down hard into the meteor, shattering it into two halves, sending one flying for Tobit and the other...his BEST MAN!
GS: Lydia Seren has attacked Tobit Calice with Meteor Crash! GS: Lydia Seren has attacked Best Man with Meteor Crash! GS: Lydia Seren has completed her action. GS: Best Man guards a hit from Lydia Seren's Meteor Crash for 103 hit points! GS: Tobit Calice takes a glancing hit from Cyre H. Lorentz's Valkyrie for 79 hit points! GS: CRITICAL! Tobit Calice takes a solid hit from Tethelle Cirdian's Material - Divine Blade for 309 hit points! GS: CRITICAL! Tobit Calice guards a hit from Lydia Seren's Meteor Crash for 133 hit points! GS: Poison, Cripple, Jam, and Mute! Statuses applied to Tobit Calice!
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Xantia manages to sneak in a hit to the Best Man's leg, which has less effect than it would have on the average man, but she's expecting that by now. Considering what everyone else is adding to the effort, well, there's little doubt that they're dealing with something that isn't human.
Yet even so, Rudy... Rudy is... Xantia has no idea what he's trying to do. She probably would if the Best Man was a good person, but she's already beyond that point, given that by now she knows that he's a bandit, a Hellion, and somebody hurting her friends. The priority should be to make this stop, there's just no other way. It's thus with dismay and confusion that she questions his actions: "Rudy, don't be nice to him! He's a bad guy! Beat him up!" That's language she would understand.
Still, despite what she says, she is moved the gesture. Once again, she finds herself considering how this situation would make her feel. Even if things got to this point... would she consider things to be at the point of no return? Would she want to accept that somebody from her past turned into an irredeemable bad guy, with no way to ever be on good terms with them?
No, she wouldn't. The past is too important. She would do everything in her power to make things right. No matter the cost, no matter how long it took, she would never stop trying. Has she been wrong all this time? Did she stop looking for alternatives too quickly?
As if to underscore how badly wrong this is all going, Tobit lights a good chunk of the building on fire. She brings up an arm to shield herself from a blast of heat, then needs to quickly shift stances as she has a retaliatory punch incoming. It's a fairly wild swing. Xantia swings her own fist to meet it, and is surprised by the relative lack of force behind it - she struck far harder, effectively deflecting the blow without even much in the way of discomfort. This isn't making her feel any better about the whole thing.
What is making her feel better is Lily's magic. She opens and closes her hands a few times, studying their red glow, no longer feeling even a little pain from the blows she's been exchanging with the Best Man. Perhaps, so shielded... this is the time to try making a move. It may be futile, with things having progressed to this point, but she's going to feel bad about this forever if she doesn't at least try.
Abruptly, she leaps for the Best Man. It may look like an attempt at a flying kick of some sort, but she's only aiming to use him as a stepping stool. One foot to gain height, the other to scale the large man entirely, then dropping down onto his head in a headstomp that would make Fei proud. Springboarding herself over him, she breaks into a run, and is suddenly on Tobit in a matter of seconds, attempting to crash into him from behind with a shoulder check. That's one way to get his attention.
Her true goal in this wasn't the attack, however. What she really wanted was a chance to say something to him. To speak her mind freely, just for the sake of having spoken her mind, if nothing else. Even she can't manage enough optimism to actually expect it to make a difference at this point, but...
"Tobit! I don't understand everything about what's going on, but, if it were me... I would never want to lose a childhood friend, no matter what! Even if they did bad things, I want to make things right somehow! If you don't want to make Rosaline sad, you have to stop fighting! We can help you, get you healed, and then maybe things can be like they used to be!"
Sometimes, it doesn't matter how realistic your hopes are. If there's even the tiniest shred of a chance, you simply have to try.
GS: Xantia has attacked Best Man with Transilient Assault! GS: Xantia has attacked Tobit Calice with Transilient Assault! GS: Xantia has completed her action. GS: Best Man guards a hit from Xantia's Transilient Assault for 60 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.
Wait--now Lydia's talking about a Golem--and now Cyre too?! Fortunately Jack explains that he meant a different kind of golem, though while that does clear things up, that's not much comfort, because... that means there's no Golem present. "Guuuyyyyssss! You can't call stuff that's not a Golem a Golem!" Dean whines. "That's just confusing!"
Rudy meanwhile doesn't just try to convince Best Man, but even puts away his weapon and tries to hold him back. Dean smiles at the other Drifter and returns his nod--he seems like a really nice guy! But then Jack's saying that he needs to speak in a language the Hellion understands, i.e. violence, and Best Man... certainly doesn't prove him *wrong* as he cries about always standing by Toby (Dean is starting to think maybe Cassidy is right), then starts pummeling his fists towards everyone in range, including Dean, while wailing about how they don't understand. Dean does his best to stand his ground and guard against the torrential downpour of fists, but they're too overwhelming, and he's sent flying to crash into one of the few up-until-now surviving pews, reducing it to splinters in his wake.
"Augh," he groans, pulling himself up, head ringing, sweat pouring down his face thanks to the Hellion's absurd body heat. He grits his teeth and glares up at Best Man--but even now he can't help but feel sorry for the guy. "...I *am listening," he says. "You wanna help your friend no matter what. I really do get it. The one who's not listening..." He grunts as he rolls upright, broken wood collapsing beneath him, coughing hard as blood runs down the side of his face. The smoke is getting really bad, too, and the flames are eating up the walls of the church. Even so, he stares right at Best Man with all his determination. "...is you!! So if you're not gonna listen..."
Red light seeps up his body--but this isn't burning, it's soothing, healing, closing up his bleeding wounds and soothing his many burns. It doesn't wash away *all* of his wounds, but Dean stands taller, stronger. He looks around at the source, sees Lily, and gives her a big grin and nod of gratitude; then he turns back to Best Man, smiling just as fiercely and confidently. "We'll just have to MAKE you listen!!"
There are ley hexes inside the church too, of course; there's everywhere one might get into a fight. Dean dashes around the debris with speed, then comes to a stop over one glowing blue--lucky for him that there was a water hex inside here. He concentrates, calling upon the power of the copy Sword Medium; then, once Xantia has springboarded off Best Man to leap at Tobit, Dean roars with defiance and calls down a physical manifestation of water to *deluge* Best Man with crushing force... and then perhaps wash out towards the ends of the building and put out some of those fires so the others (and of course Dean himself, once Best Man is dealt with) can protect and evacuate the hostages.
GS: Dean Stark has attacked Best Man with Elemental Crush! GS: Dean Stark has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Rudy Roughnight has posed.
People mock them. They look at the large brown articles of clothing and wonder why a person would have that with him. But as the temperature of the Best Man continues to clean, Rudy is suddenly glad that he went with the powerful industrial strength sort of hand protection. As the heat climbs, Rudy finds himself switching hand to hand to try and keep himself from burning too greatly while keeping the golem back. While the injuries are far from dangerous, the pain is enough that he is forced to allow the monstrous protector from his appointed task.
Then Jack speaks to Rudy about the necessity of fighting and Xantia does as well. Everyone else is raising their weapons even if they are still advocating peace like Dean, so Rudy is clearly not doing his part. A soft sigh is given as the Hand Cannon is pulled out and spun around in his hand while the other arm is lifted up to display a glowing forearm. "I'm sorry," he offers softly toward the foe, bolts of electricity arcing about the weapon as it seeks to unload a powerful and explosive payload. Hit or miss, Rudy concludes with a dejected, "Just how it has to be."
GS: Rudy Roughnight has attacked Best Man with Boosted Shell! GS: Rudy Roughnight has completed his action. GS: Tobit Calice guards a hit from Xantia's Transilient Assault for 61 hit points! GS: Best Man takes a solid hit from Dean Stark's Elemental Crush for 135 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
Jack makes an attempt at a compliment, which, weirdly, seems to anger Gwen into opening her mouth to quip back, but Rudy compliments Gwen's dress in the earnest, simple way a Rudy could manage in the middle of a battlefield. For all the young man is every bit the soldier, he's also got that odd quality of being able to turn it off and on. Like, for weddings. And commenting on dresses. Gwen blinks, seeming touched at his compliment. "... Thank you, Rudy."
Somehow, it makes her feel a little better. That is, until Cassidy _has to ruin it all_.
"Ghrk...!" Gwen winces and flails her fingers, seeing Rudy's poor innocence being threatened. "C-cassidy, he's way too young!!" Then, a moment later, "And besides, there's not going to be a reception!" Which isn't the point, but Cassidy gets to see Gwen flustered, especially when she starts talking about 'the other lad'.
So really, dealing with Tobit's a lot easier for Gwen, even as all these issues threaten to bring back some very bittersweet memories from her own past, all at a time she can't afford to slow down.
Pressing past Tobit as he sails off towards a pew, Gwen manages to get to the doorway, and then... stops.
Rosaline is back there, alright, still struggling against the Hellion bridesmaids, and-
Red.
Which is one of the colors that flashes against Gwen's eyes as she's flung crashing against another pew, a pained cry as she tries to get up. "D... damn, this damn dress!" The smell of smoke calls for Gwen's attention as well, panick starting to flutter in her chest. Layna's words, as well as Lily's strange comforting glow, manage to push back her fears temporarily.
She needs to get back to Rosaline. Eyeing Arash and others' efforts to rescue the hostages with a grateful smile, Gwen gets up, her dress further battered. Her ARM flares up to life, summoning the energy needed to cycle through Gwen's body, filling it with a hum that, combined with Lily's aura, makes her feel like she's walking on air. "Please be okay..." Gwen makes a mad dash towards the back room once more, hoping against hope that Tobit will be too busy to react.
GS: Gwen Whitlock has attacked Gwen Whitlock with Bounding Flight! GS: Gwen Whitlock has completed her action. GS: Gwen Whitlock takes a solid hit from Gwen Whitlock's Bounding Flight for 0 hit points! GS: Hyper and Quick! Statuses applied to Gwen Whitlock! GS: Best Man takes a solid hit from Rudy Roughnight's Boosted Shell for 162 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Jack Van Burace has posed.
This time he doesn't move quite fast enough.
Fire and stone erupt under Jack's feet to throw him to the ground. He rolls, but flames catch on his coat and pant-leg as he rolls across the ground to put himself out. Not the greatest way to start this, but the pain simply seems to drive him forwards. Causes him to grin viciously.
"Well what do you call a guy made out of rock, fire, lava, and a deep and passionate love for his best friend besides a golem?!" Jack tosses back towards Dean as he pops up, manuvering round the Best Man as he goes. Which isn't a great manuver really. I mean its dangerous, its reckless, it leave him open to the heat that is rolling off of his opponent.
Then a longer pause.
"Wait. Gwen...this...isn't the reception?!" A longer pause before he starts just laughing. "...wait...Roughly Allnight? You...introduced yourself as Roughly Allnight?" Jack may never stop laughing. Which really is good for everyone and especially him since it distracts him from trying to stab a sword deep into a man made of fire.
GS: Jack Van Burace has attacked Jack Van Burace with Maximum Risk! GS: Jack Van Burace has completed his action. GS: Jack Van Burace takes a solid hit from Jack Van Burace's Maximum Risk for 0 hit points! GS: Hyper and Quick! Statuses applied to Jack Van Burace!
<Pose Tracker> Best Man has posed.
*Cass* always seems to be one step ahead of the people she reads... but Hellions, they hardly ever hide themselves once they just let it all out. The japes and jests all are simple teasing before she goes on in with a shot to the forehead that is intercepted by a fist that emits an unsettling amount of hissing smoke and mist, discoloring the color of the skin of their palm but also slowing the churning magma underneath.
*Lily* moves to use her power to protect her friends underneath a red glowing light that might make the burning air a whole lot more tolerable to breathe and move around in, as she locks eyes with the Best Man in a moment of... not quite calm, but a small break in the action as people start to deal with the problem of the building fires and the hostages. "I remember like it was yesterday... Toby got us all a round to drink... four. Seven! Five? Six rounds of drinks... and we all went together to a ghost town..." He cries wistfully. "We burned it all down... oh, how I remember, that old orphanage barely looked like it had no one to look after it... Toby looked so happy that day, just to burn down that old building with nobody in it... I remember his smile."
Wait. What did everyone see prior to crashing the wedding?
"How I've longed to see my Toby smile like that again...!"
*Leon* brings him out of reminiscing with a four-count series of slicing silver lights that lace through the love-struck golem of a man as *Lydia* as she relates from personal experience what it's really like to be a Hellion - to be in such close company of one, even.
"Toby is happy!!" The Best Man retorts - as a Hellion himself, it could be that these nuances of sadness and one's conscience running amok in contradictions and other emotional foibles are lost on him. But he tries, as greater gashes of lava blood form from *Leon's* attack.
"Toby was so happy when he got that gift from her... he... he was so kind in sharing it with the rest of us." Her? Who gave 'Toby' a gift? Was this gift... Malevolence? There is one known 'actor' that goes by 'her' in which Malevolence spreads - and it damn well should explain why they're Hellions, to boot. "Toby is happy! This is the happiest day! I'm happy for Toby! I'm happy he's getting everything he wants! I'm happy he's getting someone he loves!!" The last part is all but screamed, as he is battered underneath a great meteor.
*Dean* and *Xantia* have had enough of this. The latter springboards off of him with a series of kicks, as *Dean* calls forth a torrent of water to wash him over and quench much of the flame surrounding him as he struggles to stay afloat, the deep red fires sinking into an extinguished dark brown-ish gray hue.
*Rudy*, with resignation, pulls out the Hand Cannon and has to make the call to blast him square in the chest as he is carried further away. Could the Best Man, on some level, understand if he is at odds with his feelings about the whole situation? As *Jack* hones himself for the next, decisive strike, he will be pleased to know that the way is - in a sense - clearing.
The way is filled with flames. It continues to burn, chipping away at both your will to see this through to the end as much as it is trying to burn you. The Best Man is, at best, left a simpering, conflicted, flailing golem man whose body seems to stiffen and weaken as they are carried off to another part of the cathedral. He can't have drowned, his head remained above water the whole time...
But his feelings are his to sort out, as the fight leaves him.
There's not much time left if they're going to put a stop to Tobit's ambitions. All while everything is on fire and is also doubly on fire in the other color-text way.
GS: Best Man has activated a Force Action! GS: Best Man has activated a Force Action! GS: Best Man has attacked Cassidy Cain with Suddenly Everything Is On Fire! GS: Best Man has attacked Dean Stark with Suddenly Everything Is On Fire! GS: Best Man has attacked Lydia Seren with Suddenly Everything Is On Fire! GS: Best Man has attacked Lily Keil with Suddenly Everything Is On Fire! GS: Best Man has attacked Rudy Roughnight with Suddenly Everything Is On Fire! GS: Best Man has attacked Jack Van Burace with Suddenly Everything Is On Fire! GS: Best Man has attacked Xantia with Suddenly Everything Is On Fire! GS: Best Man has attacked Best Man with Suddenly Everything Is On Fire! GS: Best Man takes a solid hit from Best Man's Suddenly Everything Is On Fire for 201 hit points! GS: Poison! Statuses applied to Best Man! GS: Best Man has Fallen! It is no longer able to fight! GS: Lily Keil guards a hit from Best Man's Suddenly Everything Is On Fire for 107 hit points! GS: Poison! Statuses applied to Lily Keil! GS: Cassidy Cain used Mystic on Cassidy Cain! 100 Temporary HP gained! All statuses cleared! GS: Cassidy Cain has activated a Force Action! GS: Cassidy Cain takes a glancing hit from Best Man's Suddenly Everything Is On Fire for 85 hit points! GS: Poison! Statuses applied to Cassidy Cain! GS: Xantia critically Guards a hit from Best Man's Suddenly Everything Is On Fire for 35 hit points! GS: Jack Van Burace takes a glancing hit from Best Man's Suddenly Everything Is On Fire for 91 hit points! GS: Poison! Statuses applied to Jack Van Burace! GS: Dean Stark guards a hit from Best Man's Suddenly Everything Is On Fire for 126 hit points! GS: Poison! Statuses applied to Dean Stark!
<Pose Tracker> Tobit Calice has posed.
"I'M NOT OBSESSED," Tobit says, now exploring bold new frontiers of pathetic.
He scowls as he sees Layna invoke the power of pirate leadership to motivate the others. And yet, something about it amuses him. "Heh. Just like in her books."
Talise claims that they-- Rosaline's friends --all love her. "How dare you... How dare you POISON HER with your... YOURSELF?"
He's preparing for another rage-induced attack, but Talise has a series of slashes, followed by a kick to the chest for him. Then comes Ida, with a clever feint and a deadly followup. She doesn't pin his foot into the floorboards, as he seems to be standing on the only steady remaining part of this church, but it does hurt him, and also set him up for Arash's followup--
Ash and molten rock end up right in Tobit's maw, only to be crushed as she chomps right down on it, swallowing the embers, but Arash isn't quite done yet, blasting him in the maw. The shot doesn't pierce him, but whips his head to the side in a painful-looking way. And then comes THE FOLDING CHAAAAAAAAAAAAIR, finishing this combo and sending him crashing right into the altar.
But wait, there's more! Lasers are bombarding him now, right through the roof, and he manages to weave away from most of it, but this leave him open for an unexpected attack: Half of a soccer asteroid (what?) sails towards him. Rock explodes in his face, which is by now well and truly disfigured.
Then here comes Xantia, who has something to tell Toby. Her slows her shoulder-check with a massive-hand, though visibly underestimates the girl's strength in the process. Her words are surprisingly kind, considering HOW MUCH SHIT everyone else has been giving him. See, this girl gets it. Except.
"Stop fighting?" he snarls, "Get HELP? Are you out of your MIND? What do you even KNOW?"
And finally... Tethelle invokes the power of the Sword Guardian, wielding their own blade for a brief, shining moment. Tobit doesn't actually know what he's looking at-- he is comprehensively atheistic --but staggers back at the sight, intuiting its threat level.
She swings in a single, perfect arc, cleaving the enormous man in the chest. Blood gushes out, seemingly more than any one man has any right to contain. What IS still keeping him up? Malevolence alone?
"You don't understand... the depth of my devotion to her," he chokes out, despite obviously being in severe pain. "I sacrificed SO MUCH for her, I've burned away my soul in tribute to that witch, and I'm NOT GOING TO STOP NOW!" A purple aura envelops him, starting to mend his wounds.
Tobit raises Mother's Mercy again, its eye glowing a sickly purple. This time he fires it in a sweeping arc, heedless of any sort of aiming precision-- who needs it when that thing packs so much stopping power? --except for a few special friends, who get it aimed at their feet, causing a towering pillar of flame to erupt and threaten to engulf them, taking chunks of the ceiling above with it.
A moment ago, Gwen caught a glimpse of Rosaline's bloody battle in the back. She dashes right past Tobit, who really is too busy to even try and stop her anymore. She makes it safely... and finds her friend. She needs a little help walking.
Here comes the bride.
It is the first time, for almost everyone here, seeing Rosaline wearing something besides her habit. She is wearing part of a floofy, white wedding dress, which seems to have been picked specifically to compliment her hair. And it would, too, were it not for the dangling sleeve, the half-torn skirt layer (of several) and the crimson red blood drenching almost all of it, along with her gloves, her hair and some of her face.
Aside from all this and the thousand-yard stare, she seems all right.
Gwen was also handed a bag. Inside are the things the bandits took away from her and the others earlier. Maybe this'll come in handy?
ACQUIRED:
1x Gwen's Things
1x Lily's Things
1x Arash's Things
1x Rosaline's Things
Thanks to Lily, some of the hostages are covered in a magical shield. This seems to help them stave off the heat and Malevolence-- The others are not so lucky, so they'll likely be the ones who'll need to be taken out of the building first. Arash starts looking at the less-protected hostages. He can't easily get them out with a hellhound (very bulky stalkerman) and a lava golem (tragic giant) trying to murder everyone, but he can start undoing their bonds, for starters.
Meanwhile, meteors, lasers and water are conjured up, among other things, to put out the flames. Somehow, the former help... but let's be real here, the water is what's doing most of the work.
Efforts to stave off the fire buy everyone time, but the makeshift church is starting to crumble. The Best Man is down for the count. It's time to finish this.
GS: Tobit Calice has attacked Tobit Calice with Desperate Devotion! GS: Tobit Calice heals Tobit Calice! It gains 200 temporary hit points! GS: Tobit Calice has attacked Talise Gianfair with Streetsweeper! GS: Tobit Calice has attacked Ida Everstead-Rey with Streetsweeper! GS: Tobit Calice has attacked Layna Manydays with Streetsweeper! GS: Tobit Calice has attacked Cyre H. Lorentz with Streetsweeper! GS: Tobit Calice has attacked Arash Khan with Streetsweeper! GS: Tobit Calice has attacked Sephilia Lampbright with Towering Inferno! GS: Tobit Calice has attacked Tethelle Cirdian with Towering Inferno! GS: Arash Khan takes a glancing hit from Tobit Calice's Streetsweeper for 82 hit points! GS: Disrupt! Statuses applied to Arash Khan! GS: Tobit Calice takes 8 damage from Poison! GS: Tobit Calice has completed its action. GS: Layna Manydays takes a solid hit from Tobit Calice's Streetsweeper for 165 hit points! GS: Disrupt! Statuses applied to Layna Manydays! GS: Sephilia Lampbright takes a solid hit from Tobit Calice's Towering Inferno for 181 hit points! GS: Tethelle Cirdian takes a solid hit from Tobit Calice's Towering Inferno for 191 hit points! GS: Talise Gianfair takes a solid hit from Tobit Calice's Streetsweeper for 166 hit points! GS: Disrupt! Statuses applied to Talise Gianfair!
DC: MISS! Cyre H. Lorentz completely evades Streetsweeper from Tobit Calice!
GS: Talise Gianfair has activated a Force Action! GS: Ida Everstead-Rey takes a solid hit from Tobit Calice's Streetsweeper for 161 hit points! GS: Disrupt! Statuses applied to Ida Everstead-Rey! GS: Lydia Seren takes a solid hit from Best Man's Suddenly Everything Is On Fire for 176 hit points! GS: Poison! Statuses applied to Lydia Seren!
<Pose Tracker> Sephilia Lampbright has posed.
Sephilia Lampbright is scorched by the inferno. Chauncey is going to absolutely need fresh patching.
That makes Sephy annoyed.
"You've hurt me and my friends for the last time, you big dumb jerkface! Chauncey an' me are gonna teach you a lesson in manners, aren't we, buddy? LOOOOOOORDLY!!"
The girl and the doll burst into a final rushing charge, Chauncey's arm extended out to one side.
"LAAAAAARIAAAAAAAAT!"
I mean this has to be a scene out of a nightmare for someone. A twelve-foot-tall plush fox, smoldering, with a laughing little girl hollering a battlecry, barrelling through a blazing inferno to get JUSTICE?
GS: Sephilia Lampbright has attacked Tobit Calice with Lordly Lariat!! GS: Sephilia Lampbright has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Cassidy Cain has posed.
There's a faint smile at Lily's remark about the Nisan Orthodoxy. "Trust me, luv, I'm well familiar with those rites and rituals," she murmurs, thumbing a little bit of blood from her mouth. And at Leon's very emphatic identification of what that thing is...
"A hellion?" she wonders out loud. "So am I. 'What a bloody fantastic coincidence!'"
No, Cassidy, not that kind of hellion.
The Best Man ends up painting a picture as to just how 'literally' the term applies to him when her party of attackers is suddenly set on fire, and considering the fact that she's already wearing 'so little', she manages to avoid the wall of fire heading into her direction and thus ridding her of her outerwear. The hood catches on fire, which she manages to rip away and toss, leaving her in nothing but immodest tatters and bandages.
But given how brokenhearted he is, the fight draining out of the Hellion, she furrows her brows.
"Well, now what?" she mutters, rubbing the back of her neck, blood and sweat leaving in scattered drops from pale skin. The church feels like a sauna, and smoke threatens to choke her; her expression is disbelieving - considering the fact that she had just spent a few days trying to escape a dragon, she is rather tired of being set on fire.
"OI, EATSHISFACE!"
This to Tobit as she unpins a grenade and tosses it at his direction.
"I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU AND GOLEMFACE SPOUSES FOR LIFE."
She levies the revolver to aim for the tossed grenade, and once it's close enough to his mug...
"YOU MAY NOW KISS YOUR ARSES GOODBYE."
...and pulls the trigger, the sorcery-imbued round tearing through the incendiary and unleashing a wide, wild explosion.
GS: Cassidy Cain has activated a Force Action! GS: Cassidy Cain has attacked Tobit Calice with Bye Bye Baby! GS: Cassidy Cain takes 10 damage from Poison! GS: Cassidy Cain has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
'I've burned away my soul in tribute to that witch, and I'm NOT GOING TO STOP NOW!'
Bingo, Ida thinks. Tobit raises his ARM. Ida would run for cover, but between the fire and the wanton destruction of scenery, there's nowhere to run to. She leaps to the side, automatic fire from the horrible beast of a shotgun chewing through the air where she stood seconds ago. Tobit keeps firing, though, and the next shot punches a hole in the floorboards six inches away from Ida's right foot. The third shot clips her proper. Shot tears into Ida's torso, the impact sending white-hot needles of pain racing through her body. She clenches her teeth so hard they feel like they're going to crack.
The hostages. She's no good against Tobit, but at least she can get the hostages out.
Ida fumbles for her multitool again, and pulls out the serrated knife. She scrambles back through the shattered, burning wreckage that used to be several pews, and takes a knee next to one of the hostages. She manages a halfhearted smile as she starts cutting the woman's ropes, though pain turns it into a rictus.
More movement from back behind the altar. Rosaline.
Ida's heart skips a beat. Good God, she thinks. It doesn't take much imagination to figure out what happened. "Gwen!" Ida shouts. "Get--get her out of here!"
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.
Something snaps.
It's not just that the Best Man-- from what Cyre has overheard coming from that side of the church-- is just a genuinely lovestruck guy who chose the worst possible beau to fall in love in. It's not that the church is falling apart, threatening to crush each and every one of them where they stand. It's not even that the giant dog man has decided to let his gun continue to be the only thing about him that makes even a lick of sense.
It's, apparently, that Tobit has proven himself exactly as redeemable as a coupon for 50% off at Akbar's Dungeoneering Emporium.
"You... You think that you're the only one who should get to know her?" Cyre growls, the wind begins to howl ever louder. Gales surge all around him in currents of green light that inexplicably highlight their passage. "You're more far-gone than I thought. You... You weren't infected by this shit. You took it on, didn't you? Sacrificed not just your own soul for power, but all the people who followed you, too. How many have you hurt in the name of this... This bullshit?"
Cyre has seen what Malevolence can do to a noble soul first hand. He's witnessed its corruption as it tainted the very land itself. But what happens when it finds its way into a heart that was black and half-mad from the very beginning?
This.
Apparently, this.
Tobit fires. Cyre's eyes blaze with emerald light, conjuring a vast whorl of elemental air that absorbs the buckshot before it can find purchase. "The only thing that you've gotten right today... Is that she is beautiful. She's a beautiful person with a beautiful heart. A beast? No, that's only part of it. Everyone's got a monster inside, and hers is a bit more volatile than most, but she's so much more."
Cyre extends a hand into the surging elemental currents, thin strands of pure power swirl up his arm. Into his arm. Transforming it. The human flesh gives way, swelling into something more befitting of the one who walks in Fengalon's footsteps-- into the claw of the White Tiger God itself. "She has a beautiful heart, and we are all fortunate to have her in our lives. One who sees her as nothing but a beast to be dominated is the worst kind of scum! Now! Tobit Calice, grit your teeth and--!!"
Cyre darts forward, the fury of a tornado raging around his fist.
"COUNT UP YOUR SINS!"
Cyre throws a punch.
There's a sound like the collective wrath of a windstorm being released all in a single moment. A vortex of primordial force erupts from Cyre's outstretched fist, drilling straight through fur, flesh, bone, corruption, wood and stone. There is nothing but dust left in its wake.
GS: Cyre H. Lorentz has attacked Tobit Calice with Tornado Fang! GS: Cyre H. Lorentz has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.
It becomes clear that Leon didn't see what Lily was seeing--but then, he wouldn't, either. She's long had greater perception than he does on that matter, to somewaht devastating effect in the past. ..But Lily is not only with him for the moment; her magic takes her elsewhere in the battle, to other allies, though not all of them. A good turn deserves another, maybe, when it comes to Xantia; Lily's quiet watchfulness is with her for a moment in the span of that aura, a shield that she hopes will last long enough for them to act.
Dean, too, speaks--he grins at her, and she nods back to him, severe as usual and preparing her next move. Gwen, too, her sister bridesmaid for the moment, suddenly rushing forward with her hum. And Lydia... Lydia leaps into the air, talking soccer yet again. Here is Lily's chance--
Ida calls out to her. Lily's golden eyes snap to her for a moment. "On it!" Lily calls, suppressing her own cough somehow. "We take these guys down and we'll have room to move!"
...But she meets the Best Man's eyes. He says what he remembers. ...He recalls Toby's smile. ...Lily has no more time for banter, at this point, little to reply to Cassidy about the weddings. "Hellion is a creature overcome by a spiritual sickness," Lily explains to her, watching her opponent drift away, Tobit speak. Talk of her. Who? ...She doesn't know. But the flames consuming her she forces down with a mist of cold around her, shivering as she batters her own body to put out the flames with her magic. ...She's already wounded. This makes it worse.
It doesn't matter for now; Lily, still in her pastel dress, reaches out a hand towards another set of the hostages, towards the fire closest to them, and her 'tattoos' glow violet as a dark cloud appears above the flame, seeking to obliterate the air on which it would feed entirely, snuff out this fire temporarily with the power of a hungry void.
...She slings a hostage over her shoulders, staggering at the pain for an instant, and starts backing towards the exit, trying to keep flames down as best she can. ...But she's only one sorceress, and there is always more fuel. At best she can keep the fire off the hostages for a little longer.
Everything is on fire, and she is no exception.
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
Talise widens her eyes for a second as Tethelle channels THE SWORD. Someone else who does what I do better than I do. What good am I?
"Poisoned, my ass!" Talise shouts, hiding the moment of doubt behind anger at what Tobit says. "See what I mean?! You love the idea of Rosaline! The idea! The real Rosaline doesn't want you, you molesty shitbag!"
That horrifying gun comes to bear again, violet light glowing from that eye - but all Talise can hear is something that Tobit said. The Witch. The Witch. The Witch. Talise's eyes grow wide - and she looks back, staring as she realizes that Rosaline is there, vacant-eyed and dressed for a red wedding.
A wedding for a sad girl.
A depressed young Etone, so low that it seems nothing will help her.
A female user of Malevolence at play.
THAT female user of Malevolence.
A wedding set especially for Rosaline Calice, courtesy of THAT female user of Malevolence.
Sorey nowhere in sight.
And--
A wave of self-loathing immediately swallows up Talise as she realizes she missed every obvious sign, every telltale hint, every little giveaway that might've allowed her to save Rosaline Calice from this setup. As Tobit unloads on her and pounds her with explosive bullet after explosive bullet, she's swallowed up by the fire, body afire with pain - yet she barely feels it, so consumed is she by the horrible thought.
She, Talise Gianfair, has failed Rosaline, and all her friends.
And now she has to somehow save this -- and she doesn't know how. "Rosaline," Talise whispers as the explosions whirl around her.
Soon enough, the fire and flame part, billowing smoke streaming to either side of the tall swordswoman. Blood runs down one side of her face, seeping from a deep cut near her temple and another slashing across her cheek. More runs down her chin, down her left arm, from a spot just above her hip. Her bleached hair has slipped free of its usual gelled style, at least in part, leaving a few strands hanging in her eyes. Dark shadows hang about that green gaze, her eyes lost in the night like dull green lights.
Her gaze settles on Rosaline for a moment, sending the young Etone a wordless encouragement - it'll be alright. Then, slowly, she turns back towards Tobit, finding his eyes. The scowl she locks on him carries all the sharp-edged hatred of a thousand finely-honed knives.
In truth, though, Talise only needs the one knife. With a short leap, she moves.
Talise is suddenly about a foot from Tobin, facing the same direction as him. Her coat crackles around her, hair stirring around her face.
"Wedding's off," she says quietly. At which point she pivots.
And attempts to grab Tobin by the neck with one of her gauntlets of ogre power, so that she can try to pull him in and run him through the stomach at an ascending angle intended to hit the heart.
GS: Talise Gianfair has attacked Tobit Calice with Savior's Storm! GS: Talise Gianfair has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
The might of Mother's Mercy, backed by Mavolence and Tobit's own fury, is something to fear. The weapon sweeps out in a deadly arc. Layna attempts to dodge, but it can be difficult to avoid something when all he needs to do to hit her is just point it in her direction. It knocks her back, sending her to one knee, and it's clear she's on her last legs. The rising heat is starting to take its toll on her.
She looks up...and sees Rosaline escaping from the back in a blood-stained wedding dress, looking...
...Well, honestly, Layna expects nothing less after everything she's been through.
There are still hostages to be concerned about, and while Layna doesn't doubt that people are going to have to deal with them, Tobit is still up and being a threat.
"Sounds like you gambled with the devil and lost, lad. Here's the thing about sacrifice - sometimes, it just doesn't amount to anything." She comments, rolling her shoulder again.
Earlier she'd made a threat to strangle him with his own tie, but she wasn't sure she had the strength in her necessary for that. So, she decides to go with something simple. She rushes toward him...
...And tries to punch him right in the face, her armblade on that hand off.
GS: Layna Manydays has attacked Tobit Calice with Swab the Decks! GS: Layna Manydays has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
SUDDENLY EVERYTHING IS ON FIRE!!
But first Lydia blinks. "Uh... but the orphans were super dead dude." Unless they were malevolence ghost orphans and like without malevolence they become normal orphans? She's not a shepherd, she doesn't know how this works okay?? She adds, "It's okay if you have the hots for him but you probably should confess." She blinks. "Sorry I said 'hots' but--ugh, you know what I mean."
Unfortunately, everything is on fire. Lydia can't stop fire from burning at her in this kind of situation unfortunately. She can only really manage one shot.
She better make it count right? She sinks to one knee to try and breathe without inhaling smoke as she brings her other medium to bear. The medium of Solais Emsu. Her eyes hone in on Tobit like cameras. Should she really go all out on this guy?
Well she should probably shoot him hard enough he isn't in the church anymore otherwise it's gonna topple on him. That's right! She gets to be excessively violent today AND a good person! She stands herself up and summons what looks like a dude in a turban and a space-cape. He gestures once as a star pentagrams of light ripple into being before him.
And then a hefty bright white laser erupts forward and slams for Tobit's body with a fair amount of brutality, quite frankly. And that's fine. It's fine. Everything's fine. It's fine.
"Dean it's like, not a capital G golem a lowercase g golem I promise!!" Shit is that going to be her epic battlecry now?!?
GS: Lydia Seren has activated a Force Action! GS: Lydia Seren has attacked Tobit Calice with Material - Solais Emsu! GS: Lydia Seren takes 10 damage from Poison! GS: Lydia Seren has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Tethelle Cirdian has posed.
It's an effort for Tethelle to focus sufficiently to hold the sword, even for a few moments. It's trailing light as it threatens to come apart in her hands, little wisps and flecks of energy radiating away from it. Some of them blend in with ash and sparks from the flames around her, except in brighter colours: gold, green.
And yet she still manages it. For a few critical seconds, at least. After her blow, she holds the stance for a moment, then opens her hand; the Divine Blade fades away, splintering into a hundred thousand points of energy that dissipate like a swarm of microscopic fireflies, briefly sword-shaped until they aren't.
Tethelle steps back, kicking her sword - her sword, not Equites' - back up into her hand. She wields it only one-handed despite the awkward size of it, as the other is still holding her Medium, a stone plate with Equites' symbol engraved upon it in all its complexity.
"Of all the things to give up, your soul should be the last," Tethelle says, before Tobit shoots her.
It's a really impressive shot.
Tethelle is surrounded by the pillar of flame as Tobit gets a shot right at her feet. The pillar reaches all the way to the ceiling, showering chunks of scorched wood down upon her; between the flame, the cloud of rising dust and ash from everything hitting around her, and the fallen ceiling itself, Tethelle is almost completely obscured from view.
She staggers back out of it. Tethelle is barely conscious, but she's struggling. Tethelle sweeps the arm carrying the still-empowered Medium, and a series of swords thrust through the walls of the church, piercing at nothing -
No. Not at nothing. Just under the ceiling, to support it, forming a small arched path. Tethelle didn't realize the ceiling was as bad as it is until it fell in on her. She can do a little. "Go," she croaks out, because much as she wants to deal with Tobit, the people in the church that are not Tobit are far more important than he is.
The path can't possibly last for long. The magical blades are not well-suited for holding up anything; it is their nature to cut and slash, but it is in Tethelle's nature - and Equites, ultimately - to be a sword to defend others, and she's hoping that it's enough for Rosaline, the hostages, and the other Drifters to at least start to escape.
<Pose Tracker> Arash Khan has posed.
Arash Khan needs a helping...hoof. He dives behind a marble saint's statue in the nick of time, leaving Tobit's malevolent pellets only his shoulder to savage. Still hurts like the dickens. And are those wounds sprouting something? Oh dear. It certainly worries the hostages he's freeing. "Now hang easy there, sir, I'm just fine and that fire's at least a minute away from ya."
A long, high whistle echoes through the valley. And the thundering sound of a horse's charge answers. A horse with handy cushions on its back instead of a saddle. How convenient! "Banu!" Arash tosses a sugar cube concealed in a secret pocket, and it promptly disappears. "Now up y'all go!"
Poor souls are loaded onto his horse's back with surprising efficiency given his injury. Both horse and rider are accustomed to this sort of thing, after all.
"Get along now, I've got some business to check on further in." Flames are a bit too harsh around the altar for a horse to risk, even one as brave as Banu. Plus he's got the feeling some medical attention is required. "So then, Ida, Gwen, need a hand?"
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.
With Gwen's strength briefly augmented and the ropes on her hands having frayed from the stress of movement and battle, all it takes is a few strained adrenaline-fueled pulls before the knots on the ropes binding Gwen's wrists finally give way, discarded among the debris on the grounds of the church.
And it's a good thing she did, too, because the thrum of that high dissipates like smoke at the sight of the bloody bride and what's behind her, thankfully hidden from view for most.
"Rosaline..."
Those who look to where Gwen meets Rosaline will likely see Gwen's back, the scarred skin taking a shuddering breath as the courier stands there, numbly taking the bag from the nun.
At least there's a part of her that's able to go on autopilot, moving forward to take and assist Rosaline on the long walk to the front. "I got her. Don't get-" Don't get close to that room.
'Gwen! Get--get her out of here!' Ida's shout snaps Gwen back. Tobit's still here. Tobit's still alive.
Right.
With rigid movement, Gwen tries to grab ahold of Rosaline's hand, trying to rush her away to the nearest exit.
It's just her bad luck that Gwen in her numb state didn't think to hold onto Rosaline with her right hand, instead of her left.
GS: Gwen Whitlock has completed her action. GS: Tethelle Cirdian has completed her action. GS: Ida Everstead-Rey has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.
Shortly after Xantia is clear of him, the Best Man is washed away behind her, conveniently preventing any retaliation there might have been for using him as a springboard. Now there's just fire to contend with on her way to Tobit. Lots and lots of fire. Yet a combination of moving quickly, speeding through sections with the least amount of fire that she can discover, and the added protection of Lily's magic manages to keep her mostly safe from the flames. The heat's still rather intense, but she's managed to avoid being on fire, that's what counts.
For a short moment, she holds out hope that Tobit might actually listen to her. She actually gets the impression that he's receptive to what she's saying. But that only lasts until she urges him to stop fighting and let them help him. She winces at the rebuke. Though it does figure. It's not easy to stop fighting once you've decided to start, she knows that from experience. And this particular situation... Tobit's right, she doesn't even know what all is involved here. For one thing, she can't even see what he's become. She herself doesn't even feel like she could fully understand everything if it was explained to her. It's frustrating, but... what she said was the best she could come up with. No more arguments will come to her.
While she tries in vain to find more words in response, she has to abruptly sidestep a burning beam, which came falling from the ceiling. Looking up, she only now starts to realize the bad shape the building is in. Which means that Rosaline, and the other people being held captive, are in serious danger...!
Glancing aside, she breathes a sigh of relief when she sees Gwen with Rosaline. She's okay, as far as she can tell. Clearly she didn't get a good look at that expression. Others are starting to bring people to safety, also. She feels a strong impulse to go help with that, and yet...
Her attention returns to Tobit. It's always like this at these moments. When she considers how to keep the most people safe, the answer she reaches is 'eliminate the threat'. If the threat remains, more people will be in danger. So if she's in a position to prevent that, then that's what she should be doing, isn't it?
Out of nowhere, Xantia's fist suddenly lashes out. It was going to be aimed right for Tobit's head. But at the last possible moment, she puts herself in Rosaline's shoes again. What if this had been her childhood friend...?
Her strike deviates, the punch carrying her full strength behind it now directed for that weapon of his, Mother's Mercy. That's what's setting everything on fire. Maybe, just maybe, Tobit will stop once he's disarmed. Either way, this will help keep people safe.
That is, unless she causes more harm than good, by throwing a literally explosive punch at a fire-based weapon.
GS: Xantia has attacked Tobit Calice with Exploding Fist! GS: Xantia has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.
Rock, fire, lava, and passionate love for his best friend...?! "What do ANY of those things have to do with Golems?! Do you even know what a Golem is?!" Dean yells back at Jack. He would totally go off on Jack--DO NOT MESS WITH DEAN ON THIS POINT, DEAN IS PASSIONATE ABOUT CAPITAL-G GOLEMS--except then Lydia yells about the difference, and he stops short. "Oh." Pause. "Wait, what's a lowercase-g golem?!"
NOT THE TIME, DEAN. Especially since Best Man is waxing nostalgic about burning an empty (???) orphanage, and Dean is staring at him, and remembering what Rosaline said, and the graves, and suddenly he's putting things together waaaaayy after everyone else... Yeah. That's a look of absolute horror stealing over his face. And then, he can't bring himself to feel that sorry for Best Man anymore.
The waters fall and extinguish some of the flames, but there's way more fire where that came from. The building is roaring with fire now, and there's something extra-choking about it now, moreso than just the smoke, which sees Dean coughing and rasping until he pulls his scarf over his mouth. Even then, though, the heat is sweltering, overpowering, and--and the realization of what happened in this town is just too horrible. It's left him genuinely rattled, and for a moment, he's paralyzed.
But then he shakes his head hard as others tend to the hostages. He can't just stand around doing nothing, or else these people will end up the same way as those poor kids! Stumbling as the building begins to crumble, he heads towards the nearest hostages and, letting Twin Fenrir vanish back to wherever they go when he's not using them, he attempts to help carry a couple, one on each shoulder, out of the building.
"You guys okay...?! We're getting you out of here!" he tells them, whether they're conscious or not. The heat's taking a toll on his body, though--as he staggers through the building, it feels like he actually is on fire. Maybe it's heatstroke...?!
<Pose Tracker> Jack Van Burace has posed.
And then.
Everything is fire.
Thankfully its fire that doesn't last long. Wipes away by water and weapons. Jack doesn't have much time to celebrate since at the moment he is well...burning. Thats right. He is very much on fire. Flames licking his coat as Hanpan runs franticly down one arm and then the other to try to put them out.
It doesn't work, but it looks pretty adorable.
"Jack! You should jump in the water! You're burning..JACK! Don--"
But everything else is saying 'Jack do'
Violence, anger, hate, rage, they burn bright in him as he leaps twoards the already falling Hellion to bring his sword screaming down into the rock beast. Thats what he should do. There are people to save, there are hostages to rescue, there are many good things that he should be doing to help people.
But this is what feels the best.
"Go! I'll explain about lowercase g-golems later! I'll keep this one busy!" Yes. Keep him busy. Because stabbing is just the right thing to do in this situation.
Defintally.
The words? The expliantions? The graves? Rosaline's state of being? All of that just makes the violence more sweet.
...but then the fire golem is down. Under waves, and weapons, and his own desire to just help Tobin and there is nothing left to vent his rage on.
There is a wild look in Jack's eyes as he searchs for a target, though none present himself. Almost, almost he turns his blade on the surroundings himself until Hanpan yanks on his ear.
"JACK! Get ahold of yourself!"
The little singed wind mouse calls as the swordsman takes a deep breath and shakes his head to try to clear it of the cobwebs of rage.
Then, then he'll finally start helping Dean and Rudy and others get the survivors out.
GS: Tobit Calice takes a solid hit from Talise Gianfair's Savior's Storm for 209 hit points! GS: Tobit Calice takes a solid hit from Cyre H. Lorentz's Tornado Fang for 197 hit points! GS: Tobit Calice takes a solid hit from Sephilia Lampbright's Lordly Lariat! for 216 hit points! GS: Tobit Calice takes a solid hit from Cassidy Cain's Bye Bye Baby for 114 hit points! GS: Tobit Calice takes a solid hit from Lydia Seren's Material - Solais Emsu for 183 hit points! GS: Tobit Calice has Fallen! It is no longer able to fight! GS: Tobit Calice takes a solid hit from Xantia's Exploding Fist for 174 hit points! GS: Tobit Calice has Fallen! It is no longer able to fight! GS: Tobit Calice takes a solid hit from Layna Manydays's Swab the Decks for 176 hit points! GS: Tobit Calice has Fallen! It is no longer able to fight!
<Pose Tracker> Tobit Calice has posed.
With the Best Man out of the way and the situation critical, the Drifter group converges upon the already badly bloodied Tobit. He bares his teeth and raises his hands, ready to take them on.
He is not ready.
A partly burning Chauncey delivers a powerful lariat. Cassidy contributes a grenade and some atomic-level sass. Lydia drops down a multicolored space laser on him-- Certainly not the first dropped on this crumbling bandit camp today.
Layna recognizes the purity of simply socking a terrible dude in the jaw. It impacts with a satisfying sound. Cyre has a similar idea, though with many more theatrics behind it. Fengalon's own enormous fist is swung at the horrible Hellion, sending his head whipping in the other direction.
And finally, Xantia's prodigious strength is what it takes for Tobit to FINALLY loosens his death grip on Mother's Mercy. The winds kicked up by Cyre's attack then send the weapon soaring well out of his grasp.
Then comes Talise, who has hit her Limit Break point several times over. Tobit is offering little resistance now, and so the mighty grip of the Ogre's Gauntlet is more than enough to set him into position and drive Rastaban right through his heart.
And she does so.
And yet... no. No, this has to be a nightmare. The man still stirs, despite having a sword sticking out of his heart. "Rosa... line..." he hisses out, wild-eyed.
Meanwhile, the others are hard at work getting the hostages out. Lily snuffs out the flames around them, clearing them a path. Tethelle holds up the building with sacred blades, making said path relatively safe and buying the others very precious time. Ida is cutting bonds, so that those for whom the drugs are wearing off can start to work to free themselves, however stumblingly.
And best of all, Arash summons a trusty steed to transport some of the weakest. The others can be carried, or lent a shoulder by Dean, for starters.
If this is any consolation, it's likely none of them can see Malevolence, and that the drugs have dulled most of their perception of what happened here. They were spared most of the horror.
Gwen is trying to carry a clearly shell-shocked Rosaline to safety, but the beastwoman struggles. She mutters words of thanks, then frees herself from her grip to stagger towards Tobit, looking at him listlessly.
<Pose Tracker> Rosaline Calice has posed.
Tobit, who still has a sword in him, leans against one of the few nearly-intact pews, somehow still alive despite bleeding black, ichorous buckets. He's struggling to breathe, but manages a smile at the sight of Rosaline approaching. And just as bloodstained as he is. That's the idea.
"I heard everything, Toby," she says, trying her best to keep her voice steady. She glances at the others. She heard the kind words too. She heard people with a very different perspective on her childhood friend. A more healthy one. "You're not... You're not the boy I grew up with, and to tell the truth, I wouldn't even want the boy I grew up with to still be in my life to begin with. I... I don't want to see you ever again, Tob-- Tobit."
This wasn't the plan. Tobit Calice, once-eyepatched Hellion, fumbles for words, then reaches into his pocket. He starts speaking, only finding words he seems to have prepared well in advance.
"Rosaline Calice, I-I-- You know me as I am, warts and all. And I know I'm not the best person, but I can make you happy. No one else can. I love you, Rosa." He pulls out a ring, extending it to her. "Will you join me, so that we can be reunited as King and Queen of Sinners?"
"Will you marry me?"
"I-I--" Rosaline's breathing is ragged. She looks at the others, some of whom are still fighting, trying to find sense in this absurd situation.
"I said--" She staggers forward, glancing again to the Fox Company, to Ida-- Ida would understand, right?
She crouches, sweeping her arm to grab at the fallen Mother's Mercy and raise it right in front of Tobit, holding it above the ring.
"I."
"SAID."
"NO."
DC: Rosaline Calice switches forms to The Wrath!
GS: Rosaline Calice has attacked Tobit Calice with One Woman Apocalypse! GS: Rosaline Calice has completed her action. GS: Tobit Calice takes a solid hit from Rosaline Calice's One Woman Apocalypse for 194 hit points! GS: Tobit Calice has Fallen! It is no longer able to fight!
<Pose Tracker> Rosaline Calice has posed.
And with a pull of the trigger, what remains of Tobit Calice slumps forward. Rastaban clatters out of him, and slides back at Talise's feet as billowing clouds of purple miasma escape from the Hellion's body.
Rosaline clutches at her chest, leaning on the half-broken pew without letting go of Mother's Mercy. She's breathing heavily. "Toby, I-- I'm so sorry, I didn't... It's all my fault..."
And yet, as she looks at what's left of the burning body, her expression is one of barely contained rage. She knows what she did. She knows what he thinks of her, what a nightmare her life would be if his insane plan had succeeded. And yet-- She cannot reconcile those emotions, no matter how hard she tries. They gnaw at her, they tear her apart inside, and--
Purple mist swirls around the beastwoman. Its presence staves off the flames all around her, kicking up a fierce, foul wind all around Rosaline. It's hard to even approach her if one tries.
Gone is the blood-drenched white glove on her left, non-ARM-carrying hand, as it tears apart at the seam to reveal a white-furred, crooked, clawed hand, but this is nothing new. What IS new is the hand rapidly growing in size, the fur growing thicker and spreading along her arm, the claws growing several inches long, soon far too unwieldy to let the woman hold anything.
She lurches to the side, carried by gravity, and only NOW starts screaming. Her jaw widens with a crack as her already striking fangs grow, likewise sharp and oversized.
Her bridal veil catches aflame as her hair lifts, carried by currents of heat, and becomes living flame, curls now a silent inferno trailing along her scalp and much beyond.
She tears at her dress with her transmogrified arm, leaving room for her legs to undergo a similar bestial transformation. And as the arm gripping Mother's Mercy tears its glove apart as well-- With a whirring sound, the trigger on the ARM adjusts itself to fit its wielder. That part wasn't Malevolence.
Finally, her tail sways rapidly, as if trying to shake itself loose-- There is another crack of bone, and now she has a second tail.
She collapses to her knees. Whatever people saw, whether a transformation or simply the woman lurching and screaming, it did not seem pleasant. She stares at her hands for a few seconds, as the building collapses, and notices the few foolhardy enough to remain inside.
"Don't look at me. DON'T LOOK AT ME!"
She looks back towards the entrance and points, panting.
"Go save THEM, you idiots! I'll be fine!"
This might actually be true. The flames don't even seem to dare approach Rosaline. And the moment one looks away-- She's already leapt away, with a stained glass window breaking away into multicolored shards.
Soon, the hostages are all out and on their way to safety, and the church is a ruin once more.
Night has fallen. Once again, victory comes at a bitter cost, but at least the group can take small comfort in knowing that a very twisted man's reign of terror has finally ended, that the Malevolence that made this nightmare possible can be purified, and that innocent lives were saved.
> Rosaline has left the party.
DC: Tethelle Cirdian switches forms to Warrior-Priest Tethelle!
<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.
Lydia watches Tobit get taken out for good. Lydia wonders if she'll feel bad about helping kill a guy later. She hadn't done that before. Right now, though, she can only think 'good riddance'. Maybe it's the malevolence in the area.
Rosaline shouts 'Don't look at me!'.
Lydia looks over because, well, that's the side effect of yelling 'Don't Look At Me'. She blinks in surprise as Rosaline has gone from catgirl nun to nekomata hellion. "Hey--" She begins, vaguely remembering Rosaline as that Granas nun she harassed at the Baskar Colony.
NOT LONG ENOUGH AGO
"Don't...don't look at me!!" Asteroid the Kid/Lydia screams. "Don't look at me!!!" She raises her medium into the air, firing a portal into the metal doorway. "Don't look at me!!!" She is terrified.
She promptly summons Rigdobrite.
NOW
"...heh..." Lydia manages. "What a joke. Another thing to deal with..."
She rushes out from the burning building, intent on escaping before it collapses on her. Luckily, she has a trick for this: It's called portals.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Ida looks back at Arash as he looks at her. She's a sight for sore eyes, to say the least--her jacket's gone, her shirt is ragged and bloody and riddled with countless holes from shotgun shells and shrapnel. Beneath the extensive, recent wounds, there are older scars, including a number of telltale half-moon bite scars around her right shoulder and upper arm. Wel bites, just like Flora.
Ida finishes dragging the utility knife through the hostage's binds. She keeps on eye on Tobit, even though he looks like he's about to go into shock and die at any moment--she knows just how much punishment Hellions can take. She punched clean through Mathias's chest, and he was still able to hang on long enough to tell her something she still hears in her nightmares.
"Go!" Ida shouts, as the stunned hostage gets to her feet. Arash and the others can guide her towards the door. Ida gets to work on another. She listens as Rosa speaks, her heart tightening into a little knot. At the same time, though, this... needs to happen. It's horrible that it had to happen like this, but running from it--
A ring. Ida looks back at Rosaline, her face pale, her jaw tense. She grits her teeth.
A single blast of the shotgun, and it's finally over. Ida swallows, hard, as what's left of Tobit Calice slumps forward, lifeless. It's funny. She's almost getting used to this. A fresh tide of Malevolence swirls out of Tobit's body, and Ida urges the second hostage to his feet, letting him run to safety. She hurries over to the third, but doesn't bother with the bonds around her wrists--just her ankles. There's no time. "Rosa!" Ida cries. "Gwen--" Ida glances at Gwen a moment, then back to Rosaline, just in time to see the Malevolence engulfing her. Consuming her. Changing her.
'Don't look at me.'
"Rosa," Ida chokes out. She sways unsteadily to her feet, her eyes round, her hand shaking.
'DON'T LOOK AT ME!'
"ROSA! WAIT!" Ida clamps a bloody hand to her mouth as if trying to keep herself from screaming. As if she could somehow keep the horror inside and smother it before it grew out of control. A burning beam falls from the ceiling, hitting the floor with a crack about five feet away. As the last of the hostages file out, Ida limps along after them, running on reserves.
As soon as she gets the chance, she all but collapses, and lets unconsciousness claim her.
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
In her heart, Talise knows she can't fix this, and all it does is make her hate herself even more. She does make sure to drive Rastaban into Tobit straight to the hilt and leaves it there as deep as she can physically get it - hopefully to let Tobit die.
He doesn't, much to Talise's consternation. Her mind flails for something else to do.
Rosaline does it for her, shooting Tobit off of her sword and letting him slump to the ground. A sick feeling wells in Talise's stomach as purple mist comes billowing out of the ex-orphan and into the other one. All she can do at this point is watch the inevitable happen, and reflect on how she, Talise Gianfair, missed hint after hint, tipoff after little tell that should've been obvious and now screams at her thanks to the perilous benefit of hindsight, that something was in the works and that Rosaline was vulnerable.
And now she gets to watch Rosaline turn into a Hellion and run off, her childhood friend's blood still on her hands.
For several long seconds, Talise doesn't say anything. She looks off in the direction Rosaline went, her expression blank and dead-eyed. It would be wrong to call it shock, because it punches her more deeply than that and hangs on for much longer. The colour has drained from her face to an extent; her normally sunkissed tan complexion is ashen beneath the bloody streaks across it. Part of the blood has trailed around her left eye and oozes down like a long line of tears.
"I'm sorry... Rosaline," is all Talise can say, her voice sounding very small and sad in her own ears. It's not a tone of voice most have heard from her.
Talise's gaze drifts through the remnants of the chapel in those quieter moments after Rosaline disappears. As she limps on autopilot towards a safe spot, she finds herself looking from face to face. Her eyes find her friends. Ida Everstead-Rey - a sad woman who cannot seem to get the bow of her ship pointed towards the sunrise. Sephilia Lampbright - a girl who lives with the knowledge that the same Witch who engineered Rosaline's downfall is out for her too.
"We look to you for guidance sometimes," a memory of Rosaline says in Talise's thoughts, just a few days ago. "You often seem to know what to do next."
When she finally reaches safety, Talise brings her sword-arm out, holding Rastaban at arm's length. She lets it hang there for awhile, before shifting it in her grip, holding it underhand, the point downward.
And drives it into the ground, where it sits embedded at an angle.
Talise's gun follows. She hangs it over the crosspiece of Rastaban by the strap. Then, slowly, she turns and begins to walk off towards the horizon, leaving her weapons behind.
"I've failed you all," she says, her voice dead of emotion and laden with exhaustion as she slouches off towards... wherever. "I'm sorry. I can't do this anymore."
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.
It's a brutal beatdown that gets brought onto Tobit Calice. And yet, somehow he manages to survive, even with a sword through his chest. It's a testament to the durability of Hellions that even after all that he's still capable of moving, of getting up...and potentially even fighting.
And then Rosaline approaches him. She rejects his proposal vehemently, and...with finality.
It's not the brutal method that shocks Layna, but Rosaline's reaction. She starts moving toward her quickly, but suddenly purple mist starts forming and swirling around her, preventing her from getting near.
"Lass...Lass! Rosaline!" Layna shouts, a hint of desperation creeping into her voice. "Listen to me! You can't-"
It's too late.
The Malevolence overtakes Rosaline, and...she transforms. Rosaline says not to look at her. Of course Layna looks.
"It's fine, Rosaline, we can-"
...And she's gone.
Layna takes a deep breath and shuts her eyes. This wasn't how she intended things to go. But...she's still Layna Manydays, Captain of the Ruby Empress. It hurt, but she had to be there for those that were left.
She does what she can to lead the rest of the hostages out. She'd promised the assistance of her crew on this mission, and while they hadn't helped with the infiltration mission, they were there to provide aid to those who no-doubt needed it.
Her crew notices her worn-down look.
No one brings attention to it.