ғ ᴇ ᴀ ʀ ʟ ᴇ s s - ᴀ ᴅʏsᴛᴏᴘɪᴀɴ ᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴ ᴀᴅᴠᴇɴᴛᴜʀᴇ 「ɪɴ ᴄʜᴀʀᴀᴄᴛᴇʀ」

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Spun around. Twirled around. Bought down to her back, letting her limbs be this 'canvas' for Arata to work with in his dance, just like they'd practiced. It felt surreal, and certainly not in a good way. But it couldn't be long now. A bomb was ticking.

And there it was.


At the very first feeling of a trembling around the building, Tia's body suddenly jerked upwards, the tight dress tearing at the edges at the abrupt movement. She was preparing to summon her motorcycle, and get everyone equipped with what they needed.

But this explosion was not controlled. This wasn't the explosion that had been planned.

Her eyes widening in horror as a wall of fire came in from either side, instinctively, Tia bought her large body around Arata's in some sort of protective embrace. Nearby metal objects - be they spoons, forks, plates... spare pieces of jewellery, did their best to try and form some sort of wall against the flames. But, as agony itself kissed one side of her body, and a gut-wrenching scream trembled from her lips, it had proved to be a futile defense against this unexpected explosion.

[glow=red]P a i n .[/glow]

Tia could feel fire scorching around her, her flimsy disguise burning, the flesh on one side of her face scalding red-hot, flakes of skin crumbling away as a puffy eye was forced closed. Her left ear rang, and her mind shook like the very supports of the building. But still, she still managed to summon it 'in time', out of sheer force of will.
"MIXUKI, TO ME--!!"

Rubble began to shower around the ballroom, a symphony of guests bones' crushing, blood spurting out from pure blunt force, with others writhing on the ground as the flames slowly ate them away, chunks of the palace acting as a mercy to release them from their fate.

But, plates of motorcycle bodywork hovering above this broken 'princess' and her false partner, acting as shields from above that stood firm, the NOAH stood, half broken. Standing on one knee, her arm still limply clutching Arata, one eye forced closed from burns. Slow, heavy, agonized breaths. Watery blood from blistered skin, trickling down one side of her face. Doing her best to keep the shield above them firm, Tia's eyes were watering from the pain, her voice letting out short bursts of what seemed a mixture between a scream and groan.

That fucker.

She thought she didn't care about these 'civilians'. But now... surrounded by their corpses... hearing their dying screams... it... it was... for someone to do this to their 'own people'... for someone to have the audacity to act as the people's 'heroes'?!

Tia's one open eye widened, and leaked tears in horror as a wife lay shattered on the floor, surrounded by the blood and entrails of her future husband. She slowly looked up, waiting for the piece of debris that would eventually crack her neck.

[glow=red]THAT FUCKER!![/glow]

In the middle of the buried corpses, a voice that shrieked in sheer, crackling rage bellowed out like a thunderbolt.

[glow=red]"--GET HIM, ARATAA!!"[/glow]

Her body roaring out instinctively despite the unbearable pain eating away at one side of her face, she extended an arm forth. Pieces of the chandelier that had crashed behind them rose from the rubble, interlacing together into some sort of metal lattice, extending outwards, pieces connecting together with metal wire. Like some sort of shield from above, that didn't flinch when falling pieces of the collapsed building hit it, she'd formed a long 'roof', a piece of wire connecting it all together. It all connected to one direction: the direction of 'King'. This way, Arata could 'see' his target. Arata could 'reach' his target, without the risk of danger from above as well as the bullets of the nearby CLERICs.

She hadn't even thought about it. With the range extension of her power the wire had provided... it had just... happened, the wire spool along with many other rucksacks of gear she'd bought for others with Mixuki, held firmly in her hand. Naomi was already moving in on King herself, but with Arata at her side as well, surely they stood a chance. That was why her body had moved in the way it had; that was why her mind had ignored the agony that should've bought her unconscious. It was all for that chance.

Her powers clear amidst everything, CLERIC guns began to aim at her. Into the barrels barely visible through the smoke, a hatred-filled eye stared back.

[glow=red]*CHK-CHK.*[/glow]

A trio of what looked like heavy machine guns, floated forth and lined up in front of the NOAH, clacked forward-and-back in midair, before they opened fire, a furious hailstorm of bullets converging in on a group of the CLERICs with a relentless vocal roar audible behind it. What seemed like huge nails, [glow=red]CRACKED[/glow] and whizzed across to accompany the bullets, dismembered and teared apart the limbs it came into contact with. Whatever Arata decided to do, she was sure to aim away from him. In her storm of rage, it seemed like 'Tia', still had an ounce of sanity in this ruined palace.

Tears: orbs of emotion, orbs of what felt like was coming from her true survival instinct, that she and all of her comrades were going to die, splattered against the floor as she let lose her wall of projectiles.

A loud [glow=red]ringing[/glow] was all the dirt-coated, burnt, and dress-ripped NOAH could hear.
 
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The interior seemed to mock María's internal crisis. Pristine and shiney, it looked like the epitome of satisfaction and achievement, yet María felt like a broken puppet, following Rubel's gratious tugging on her strings. He had managed to maneuver them around the royal guests with relative ease, his words powdery and sickeningly sweet. If it wasn't for her eternal crisis, she would be impressed with how well Rubel managed to traverse through this sea of decadence.

She had felt uneasy ever since she stepped foot on the yard, seeing the cathedral split the light of the evening sky. The very structure spelled doom for her, but she had to overcome it. She HAD to gallivant into the lion's den, return to those who sought to groom her into a pawn. Return to those, also, who sought to end her life once they realized she was a failure... But hearing her voice, and seeing, however poorly, glimpses of that blurry head of snow-white hair... Years-old scenes popped up inside her head, melting into flashes of lights as white as Elayna's hair. She had heard that cold, almost artifical voice before. Even through that veil of hospitality, her true nature echoed with every word, as María felt droplets of sweat build on her forehead.

A hand reached out to Rubel's shoulder, seeking support. ”E-excuse me for a moment...” she murmured, and inhaled so deeply that her chest strained against the form-fitting gown. She carefully wiped the tips of three fingers over her forehead, and added a ”Darling!” hastily, and unnecessarily loud. Nobody could take notice of her state of crisis. She was Rubel's... no, Mr. Behringer's other half, and she had to uphold that lie, no matter what. And if that meant belting out her apparent affection, even in a moment of crisis, that was the least she could do to repay the kindness FEARLESS had shown her so far. ”I'm not feeling quite well, sweetheart, if you'd be so kind, I shall enjoy a momet of fresh air outside. Behave yourself, dear, no uncouth anecdotes in the royal abode.”

Carefully heading towards the large windowframe that lead to the balcony, she made sure not to hurry too much. Not only would it be suspicious, but the last thing she wanted was to bump into someone she couldn't feel or hear coming. Commotion was her number one enemy. Finally, her slender fingers wrapped around the cool handle, opening the door to the outside. Her heels clacking against the immaculate stone of the balcony, she felt a shiver run down her spine, as the cool air of the night penetrated her every pore. Her gaze was glued to a lone illuminated window in a house in the distance, a single speck of light in the blurry dark. If only she could see better... It had been a long time since her condition had eaten away at her, but now, in FEARLESS duty, it seemed to rise up inside of her again.

Just a moment... A bit of fresh air... A bit of peace and qu-

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María's eyes tore open as she swirled around, her poor vision lit up in darkened oranges and yellows, mixed with roars of searing white. A deafening ring sounded in her ears, almost ringing out the gutwrenching screams of agony. Almost. Debris and shards sailed through the air, while the fabric of the curtains billowed in the air, flames dancing across their rich, royal violet color, as they ate away at them. María brought her hands up in panic, bringing her index fingers and thumbs together to form a square shape. With her arms trembling, the shakey frame barely covered half of the inferno raging inside the palace. María began to sob, her breathing becoming rapid and irregularl. She knew that there was no way she could use her ability often enough to save everyone inside in such a spacious area. The heat nibbled on her skin, and tiny shards of glass burrowed themselves into her bronzen skin. Her face stung from the cuts, and her brain was overwhelmed with the hazy hell waging a war against life. Tia! Rubel! Where they okay? The other FEARLESS members, both in and outside. A claw-like grip squeezed her heart, it felt like. She had left Rubel inside. If he was hurt, this would all be her fault. The least she could've done to repay his and everyone else's kindness was to suffer by their side.

Just as she felt herself about to collaps, FOX's body hit the balcony, almost coliding with María. A gasp escaped her lips, as she knelt down next to the body. ”Did you hurt yourself?!” she screeched out. She had no knowledge of proper first aid, and what kind of idiotic question was that to begin with? The man seemed of extraordinary sturdiness, as he fought himself back up, and screamed towards a figure María couldn't quite make out. His voice... Panicking, María's subconscious warned her not to give away more than necessary, and so she scooched closer to him, whispering a mere word. ”F-Fox?”

He needed to get down. THAT was important right now. Not fear. Not the thoughts of guilt. Helping FEARLESS. And FEARLESS needed their leaders to lead. She squinted around, and her fingers wrapped around the balcony's railing so hard that her knuckles turned white. Trying to get a glimpse of the ground, she hurried back over to her superior, pretending to be nothing but a mere concerned guest, trying to aid another guest. ”I think I can help you get down. I can't follow you though... I-if you trust me.
 
Erja Liikanen - Team 2
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Taking in the situation around her, taking some cover near the wall, she momentarily walks to observe the Paladins...leaving...?
A bit unnerved by this she watched a bit puzzled. What did they do now? Guessing the plan was still on, what came next was a shock to say the least. With a deafening roar a large portion of the Cathedral went up in flames. While not a bomb expert herself, Erja had seen them in action plenty often enough, this though, this was far more explosives than they had brought, incendiaries as well.

"Wha-!"

Before she can react much howvever smoke and derby poured forth from the ruined structure, a large piece of metal of note straight for herself, already ducking to run, a blade from Valkyrie cut the object in two. That was twice now she owed her, but Erja wasn't about to stick around to say thanks. Running from the smoke she needed a clear view of her surroundings, assembling the 14.5mm rifle on the move, Erja heads for a collapsed portion of the Cathedral that had fallen towards the courtyard, while risky it did provide a point of elevation and a view of the inside and out, noticing a beam of light, that knife bitch had to be here. Looking through the 14.5mm scope she has a chance to see Valkyrie with a blade to her neck as the guy with the chainsaw sword and one too many weapons intervenes.

Unsure of what to do Erja briefly turns her attention towards the interior, while unable to get an exact fix on what was going on in there she had to find someway to be useful in this madness. Cambering the first round of the anti-tank rifle's magazine, Erja awaits some sort of orders, or if the opportunity presented it's self for five seconds a chance to kill one of the two targets, if this weapon couldn't do it, then there was no point in the human soldiers taking part in this madness, short of the use of WMD's or Armored Vehicles. While her thoughts partly lingered on what she had seen earlier the fact this was a trap and the reasoning she felt were behind it were of little relevance in the here and now.
 
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\\ Juniper Hamilton
\\ Team II



What?

Like her fellow FEARLESS, Juniper was caught off-guard and was surprised by the sudden exodus of the Paladins from the main entrance of the palace. Had Juniper not had better senses, she would have been stunned by the very circumstance. A cold sweat broke out from under her armor, but the raven-haired operative kept her composure, although she was very much struggling to do so… especially after a certain familiar Paladin girl locked eyes with her for an eternity of a few seconds.

She knew.

Shit.

Juniper stayed on edge, ready to break out of her disguise and act at any second. But the group of paladins simply ambled on as she stood her post, feeling like she was stepping on eggshells. Elayna passed her, and their faces met again. The seraphim forced her face into the semblance of a warm smile, even giving a casual wave back at the murderous Paladin girl. “You too.” Juniper swallowed, her eyes locked on the white-haired paladin until she disappeared into a black SUV that had rolled up near the entrance.

She knows.

Fuck.


But why didn’t she act? The very fact told Juniper that something was wrong, and it probably was wrong on a catastrophic level. Unfortunately, she didn’t know what. And for the next few minutes, the status quo resumed, up until the signal from Valkyrie was given to blow the whole joint up.

Catastrophic it was. The shockwave nearly took Juniper off her feet, forcing her to stumble several steps forward before regaining her balance and looking back at the stricken building. The roaring flames, crumbing superstructure, and the sounds of straining metal told her the entire thing didn’t have much longer. She cursed; seeing the level of damage, she thought the demolition had gone a bit too far. How could squad one survive that? Thinking the mission was starting to go tits up, she was about to make a snap judgment to order Crusader and herself to go in and assist when she caught a flash of pink in the corner of her eye. Snapping her head in the direction of Valkyrie, she made a grimace, her eyes narrowing. She had not expected a Praetorian to engage Valkyrie. Juniper didn’t hesitate in her words.

“We’re helping Valkyrie. Move.”

Breaking into a sprint that matched Crusader’s pace, she engaged in concert with the chainsword-wielding berserker. There wasn’t much she could do with her current loadout, but she’d have to make a plan on the fly… somehow.

Juniper raised her poached semiautomatic rifle, aiming and firing at the praetorian from range while she made a beeline for their position. With the fight in the enemy’s court, they’d have to make as much of a distraction in the opening gambit as they could.
 
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The sight before Rubel and Maria as they entered the Ballroom was enough to overwhelm the senses. Unlike the dim and dreary streets of Valhalla's slums the room they had entered was bright and vivid with color. The gold enameled walls and light fixtures gleamed at them. And the light blues, rosy reds, and lavender purples of noble women in their ballroom dress, livened the scene into a Romanticism painting. Mingling with their partners or off in groups to themselves, fits of laughter emerged from them over the clamor of arriving guests.

As the women gossiped and fanned themselves with satin hands, the men took to sharing greetings among one another. Handshakes between gentleman, and embraces among family. In their black and brown tailored suits their beards and mustaches rustled as they spoke in low tones. Staring out the corner of their eye every once in awhile at a passing lady or an acquaintance. They would only break off from their groups for invites to dance or to socialize with an old friend.

It was one such man who approached Rubel as he and Maria were making their way toward the Entree table near the ends of the room. His hair was wet with pomade and clung to the faded yellow hue it once proudly boasted. With a light mustache bordering on white he gave a roar of a greeting unbecoming of his posture. "Hello there young man! I dare say we have not had the pleasure of greeting. I couldn't help but notice what a beautiful darling you have beside you and that you two make a lovely addition to this evening. I beseech to know your names. I am Archduke Wolgram Von Meyer." Offering his hand in welcome to Rubel, he seized it firmly before sharing a rigid and brief jostle. "Archduke Meyer! It is an honor to have finally met. Mrs. Behringer and I wouldn't miss it for the world."

Sharing pleasantries on the aspects of daily commonwealth life, Rubel couldn't help but notice a Paladin, leaning against a nearby wall, was eyeing their exchange. Trying not to draw attention to himself, the Archduke still managed to catch his gaze. "Ahh, so you've noticed. Sharp eyes. They don't let me go anywhere without them, quite bothersome at events but the price of royalty... Oh my! It's almost time to begin. It was a pleasure Mr. Behringer, but we must part ways here." Giving Rubel a robotic smile, the Archduke strolled of toward the Ballroom's entrance. Watching as he leaves Rubel noticed the Paladin quickly join his side.

"I'm not feeling quite well, sweetheart, if you'd be so kind, I shall enjoy a moment of fresh air outside. Behave yourself, dear, no uncouth anecdotes in the royal abode.”

"Of course! You have my word as a man my love." Watching as Maria ascended the steps to the balcony, Rubel soon shifted his focus back to the direction the Archduke left in. He wasn't aware of any set time for the evening to begin nor of Archduke Meyer being in attendance. There was also the absence of King and Reaper which was bugging him.

The majority of the time they'd spent in the Ballroom he'd be scanning it ten times over for their faces. Not once had he find them in the swaths of people and it seemed like they wouldn't be arriving by the looks of things. What was going on? They inconsistencies had to be connected, he knew, but was not sure how.

Regardless of whether he solved the puzzle of the missing King, Rubel's body moved without need of his minds command. In search of a restroom and any rooms of interest along the way, he wasn't afraid snooping around in enemy territory. Maintaining his appearances as he passed arriving guests, the darkness of the outer halls worked well in his favor. Unlike the Ballroom, the hallways were only meekly lit by what candles were afforded to their use. With giant stone marble arches seemingly reaching a hundred feet above, one would almost not recognize the hallway's ceiling for the shadows until their eyes had adjusted.

With enough room to fit about fifteen people shoulder to shoulder in width, Rubel had little trouble blending in with the masses as they began to finish filing in. What was odd however was the general absence of servants. Usually a party of this size would have dozens of them about the building making sure guests were entertained if not fully satisfied. And yet Rubel didn't encounter a one, not even as he reached the bathroom doors. Looking down both ends of the hall before entering, he quickly vanished into the latrine before exiting several moments later.

Faced with an empty hall once more, he took to admiring the architecture and interior design of the place, or so it seemed. In actuality he was searching for hint of where there might be a squad of Paladin or CLERICS hidden away and waiting to ambush them. Passing through several halls and checking various rooms, the place seemed surprisingly empty. Though, upon heading back in the Ballroom's direction, a cracked door caught Rubel's attention. Being courteous enough to knock before entering, an empty bedroom greeted him upon a flip of the switch.

Scanning the room for a minute he was about to leave and head back when the sound of thumping boots made his ears perk. Flipping off the light switch in a hurry, Rubel clung to the door, leaving it cracked to the extent he had found it. Within moments the resounding echo of boots off the walls accompanied rows of Paladin as they passed by his field of view. Instinctively leaning back out of sight, Rubel held his breath as they passed him by. Only daring look when they were near the end of the next hall, he watched as they round a corner headed toward the front entrance.

"Where are you going?" He thought to himself as he eased the door open. Listening before looking, he felt the coast was clear before exiting out into the hall. Readying to report what he'd seen to the others, his mind called his attention back to the reason he'd entered the room in the first place. "Why had it been left open?"

Entering the room once more, Rubel searched it top to bottom without a clue to show for it. Heaving a sigh at his luck, he wondered if it had simply not closed to when the last occupant left it. As his mind raced between whether to stay a little longer or leave and warn the others, his heart beat on steadily. Blue eyes fixated on an adjacent wall, they soon blinked at noticing a small discrepancy. A painting on the wall was lightly crooked. But not just that. It seemed too large to be appropriate for the small space afforded above a polished mahogany dresser.

On top of said dresser, and against the back wall, Rubel noticed after getting closer that there was what looked to be a thin coating of drywall that extended an inch or so to the floor. Running a finger over the dresser top, a clean streak appeared on its otherwise dirty surface. Grabbing hold of the painting's frame, Rubel removed it to show a patchwork of sloppy carpentry underneath. His interests peaked, he checked over his should at the unlocked door behind him, before gazing over the rough white plaster. With a moment of thinking he raised a finger and then thrust it into the wall. Piercing it with little racket, he dug at the insides which felt like putty.

Beginning to rip it apart with fingers and then by the handfuls, he tossed the chunks on the floor before he had made enough room to grasp at it fully. In his mind he already knew what he was looking at, but he didn't want to believe it. Wanting to be certain, he tore the remainder of the wall apart slowly, revealing the secret that had been hiding behind its rough cover job.


Standing there, staring, Rubel's blue eyes widened and the cheery smile fell from his face. What he was staring at wasn't meant to be there, clearly, but the moment made it all the more dire. Staring back at Rubel from inside the wall, a yellow putty substance caked the entire interior of it. Leaving no room for space or even air pockets, it seemed as if the very walls were made of the stuff. Recognizing it by sight and then smell, Rubel was simply stunned for moment and unable to act.

___________________________________________________________________________

The door burst open, hitting a table and knocking over the potted plant on top of it. With a crash it burst on the marble stone floor as a figure darted by. Out of the room, Rubel bolted down the large corridor. Passing the corner the Paladin's had moments ago, he skidded across the floor before regaining his traction. He was taking too much time, he knew, but the feeling of his momentum gave him hope it would be enough to carry him into the Ballroom in time.

Then without warning it happened.

A violent crack threatened his eardrums and they went deaf. Then an unbelievable mass of heat swept over his back and engulfed his entire body. As cracks formed in the ceiling above, it began to collapse in pieces before him. Watching as the pieces fell and feeling the heat intensify, time seemed to slow before it abruptly stopped.

He tripped, he was sure of it, as one second he was staring at the hallway ahead and the next the marble floor. Contemplating what had made him fall, the heatwave passed over him and the cold marble floor invited his touch. The perplexing thought of what he tripped over soon passed, and in its place a void engulfed his consciousness.

The world around him ceased to be.

And he ceased to be.
 
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Things were going... surprisingly well. Slow, but swimmingly. Helping to make some of those corpses disappear their team now had to wait for the explosion to occur. Something that 'slowpoke' was supposed to take care of. If he was so slow, why couldn't she have done it?

Though, considering the Symphony of Bloodshed that the Chaos Witch was supposed to conduct after their cover got blown it was probably for the better to save her powers. After all, as much as she hated to admit it, one of her biggest weaknesses was a long drawn-out fight.

In the end, Aresia was supposed to get into position somewhere safe close to the gate and waited... and waited. The sole thought that in just a few more moments she could unleash hell upon those pathetic creatures was the only thing keeping her in check as she waited even longer on Slowpoke.

And then it happened. Aresia was actually surprised. In a positive fashion. She was used to explosions. And with that came certain expectations. But the fireworks that Slowpoke created was simply beautiful. A few chuckles escaped the glasses-wearing girl as a thick cloud surrounded her entire being. Never could have Aresia imagined that, even if somebody else did it, it would still feel so good. For this explosion alone the raven haired girl could have fallen in love.

"This is great! Just... good! Simply beautiful." Like a retard, the red-eye continued to laugh as slowly, the tables were turned on them. It was Valkyrie's painful shriek that got Aresia back into reality. Something happened. Turning towards the commotion close to her it took the Chaos Witch some more seconds before the dust settled enough to reveal the Praetorian on top of the Sword Wielding Warrior.

Was this.... Reaper? King? Someone else entirely? Did it really matter? They were all the same. Despite the hostage that the Praetorian took she left herself wide open.

"Tzch..." The glasses wearing girl balled her fist in anger. Collateral Damage. Simple as that. So why, all of a sudden - just like last time -, did she feel some sort of restraint? Kill the enemies. Was all that mattered. Unlike with Tia, or Arata, Valkyrie could have been nearly called a stranger to her. Noah or not.

Was it because of that small single sentence that Valkyrie devoted towards Aresia? Did the Chaos Witch hunger that much for attention, for acknowledgement?

"Tzch..." No wonder the raven-haired girl was so weak. So pathetic. With thoughts clouding her mind like that. This was supposed to be easy. It had to be easy. A simple phrase. A simple snap of her finger.

"Tzch...." A third time. Aresia was angry. Angry at herself. Angry that she couldn't be what she wanted to be. She wasn't a devil but neither a saint, so... what w- "SCREW ALL..." She now cried out in anger as she employed the safest method.
Despite her behavior, Aresia was aware that the Praetorians had some sort of protection against the NOAHs abilities. To her understanding, however, this protection had to be flawed in terms of protecting themselves against the 'otherworldly' rather than negating 'everything' by default.

If a NOAH could create rocks, the rock itself was as real and 'normal' as any other type of rock around them. Thus, a giant rock falling on a Praetorian had to have full effect despite their 'anti-noah' protection. After all, the Praetorian did not stop the NOAH from creating the rock in the first place.
Much like that, Aresia felt herself in a similar position as the rock NOAH. Nobody stopped her from casting. And once a fire was set, it burned.

The exception to those were most likely her Guts Avesta and Arcadia Blaze.. and her Chaos Seeds. Though anything else should still work. Thus, for the sake of precision Aresia had to use those numbed down blades once again.

In the end, this were all simply assumptions as the Chaos Witch never faced a Praetorian in the first place and she could only hope it worked. Still, her weapons were as real as Arata's Regana-Hier and, if she remembered right, that one didn't disappear on touch either. "...OF YOU!"

Despite all the thinking she did, which wasn't really much, not much time had passed as 2 swords and a spear sticked out behind her. Some sort of invisible portal. Not shortly after all three of the projectiles shot towards the Praetorian on top of Valkyrie. Hopefully, it would work again.
 
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Mcomerey felt the building shake and fill with dust as the explosives detonated at their placed locations, it shook with unexpected force and power, the mix up of these guys explosives was crap.

Their supplier or whomever had procured these explosives was incompetent at best, they were trying to perform a specialised demolition not blow them all into a million pieces, he couldn't yet survey the damage caused by the explosives or if their had been additional expected triggers but something most certainly caused a fault. His preparation, his setup of the explosives, its placement for its specifications.

They Couldn't Be Wrong, if they were such things could easily break such a mans pride, this was his work, his honour.

As the dust slowly settled, Mcomerey peaked from his cover, though with his earplugs and other light protective gears his ears still rung as if he had been inside a bell. He saw movement his primary employer a rather stunning damsel was not in too good a situation, she was soon on the floor against an opponent as the hedonistic man remained in cover hidden, after all he wasn't a fighter.

However, he wasn't stupid enough to think that letting all the fighter die here would be worth his while. This was an illegal job and in illegal jobs... it was stupid to use up all the explosives, so that you had spare to cover your tracks. He worked his hands as he hid his intention to make a very small makeshift grenade from the plastic explosives and a detonator.

After all Mcomerey could not die here, their was still many damsels for him to charm and well the damsel with the "drone" swords might well be worthwhile saving at the very least, he would carefully rush his job and be ready to throw the makeshift explosive at its intended target, though he had wished he could "charm" her too.
 
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In a single moment, the mask he wore was torn away, the wall of flames erupting from the surroundings before the earth-shaking sound had even reached his ears. The flames burned into his retinas, a dozen nightmares lurching up in the back of his mind. The scorched flesh. The crumbled bones. The curled fingers. The agonized expression, even as she tried to smile.

The flames that stole away even her voice.

They were inside him, the ashes of those turned into nothingness, the memories of all those he killed. Scepters of the past, clutching onto him, sepia photographs smoldering. A part of him wondered, questioned, feared. Was this the true plan? Had the NOAH lost their value now that FEARLESS could simply use assassination tactics to take down the Praetorians? Was Brother and Foxtrot included in this suicidal hellfire because a pacifist and a morphine addict were similarly useless?

In the instant before his death, Arata’s mind was consumed by such thoughts, his regrets piling drowning out his will to live.

And then, the fire that burned into his retinas disappeared, replaced by a dark warmth. Embraced by Tia, the youth could hear her heartbeat clearly, hammering violently against her chest. He could hear the flow of her blood, accelerating further and further. He could hear the contractions of her muscles, tensing as the pain, the death that was meant for him was taken by her instead.

He could hear her voice, ringing with hatred and pain, a voice that the flames had not yet stolen.

A sticky warmth splattered upon his cheeks, as he looked up at the NOAH that should hate him for everything he was, that must have plotted a dozen different ways to kill him. Half her face was burnt, skin melting at parts. Her dress was falling apart, shredded by the impact of the explosion. Her singular eye met his for but a moment, before the fury took over, her unique power unleashed.

It was happening again.

Someone else was protecting him, while all he could do was watch. Protecting the worthless Arata, even when he was many times stronger than her in combat, even when he was many times weaker than her in everything else. The bile reached up his throat. The self-loathing settled down in his heart. Death was all around, and still, he stood there, just watching. Brother was gone. Foxtrot was trapped. Titan was going one on one. Tia was half-dead. Monad was faltering. And so many…so many happy people were dead.

He could have hated them, but now, they were all the same. All like her.

He couldn’t protect anyone.

The corridor of chandeliers was made, gold-painted brass and steel mixing to form a single path.

All he could offer was…

“Consume me, Regana-Hier.”

…condolences and vengeance.

The smouldering sepia photographs sank, as the black stains spread, inkstone eyes widening as the world faded to monochrome. Bloodlust blossomed within his heart as the world split apart, a glimpse of a nightmarish dimension of stardust and aberrations revealing itself as the beautiful hilt of the Weapon of Massacre exposed itself. The hands of a pianist grasped it, pulled it into the burning cathedral, offered it his very identity.

Ash and sparks danced all around, but he couldn’t feel anything.

Isolate, isolate, isolate.

The ground cracked beneath his feet as he accelerated further, racing down the chandelier-corridor in an instant.

Kill, kill, kill.

Smoke and fire parted around him, a cloak of heat as he single-mindedly smashed through his hesitation and fear.

The Record of the Cycle of Holiness and Depravity

The Law of Severing Cuts

Sin Cutter

From the shadow of the Titan, Lionheart emerged, Regana-Hier a black blur as it snaked towards the King, trajectory nigh unreadable, physical force nigh unstoppable.
 
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0 9 0 0
H O U R S
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Fiery, scarlet eyes stared upwards to meet the cool, azure gaze of her assailant, the one responsible for killing so many of VALKYRIE's friends. Valkyrie's strong gaze refused to wither as Reaper creased the dagger across her neckline, drawing small traces of blood as the blade etched across her flesh. Though not deep, all it took was a minute amount of pressure to kill the NOAH.

However, Reaper took her time - a sadistic affinity for torturing her victims that Valkyrie would use to her advantage. The Praetorian did not realize just how outnumbered she was, the smoke still obscuring their surroundings. "You have lovely eyes." Reaper cooed, her lips creasing into an ominous grin. "So vibrant, so full of fear."

Valkyrie held her breath as she stared into death's eyes. "I'll kill you. I swear on my life I will kill you."

Before Reaper could respond, the sound of a revving chainsword interrupted their violent intimacy. It was Crusader, charging through the smoke with his wildly impractical sword in all of its macabre. As Valkyrie's comrade searched for an opening, the other members of FEARLESS came to Valkyrie's aid.

"Ragnarök!" She snapped with her unrestricted hand, the floating swords lashing out at Reaper from above.

With almost superhuman speed, Reaper drew her pistol in to her off hand, rapidly shooting down each of the three swords before they could hit her. While unsuccessful, Valkyrie's attack would hopefully set up her allies for an opening, hearing a shot pang out from a distance. Following up on Juniper's shot came Aresia's summonings, weapons summoned forth from another realm that would strike at Reaper from above.

"Amateurs." Reaper scoffed, grabbing Valkyrie and tumbling onto her back. Before Valkyrie could realize what was happening, their positions had been reversed in a grappling maneuver, leaving Valkyrie in the friendly line of fire. In a reactionary panic, Valkyrie's sentient swords struck down Juniper's gunshot before parrying Aresia's attacks so that their master wouldn't be skewered by friendly fire.

As soon as Valkyrie took down her own comrade's attacks, Reaper used the inertia of her grapple to throw Valkyrie off of her, sending the young NOAH flying in Crusader's direction. Before Crusader could get close to Reaper with his chainsword, Valkyrie would be propelled into him with great force, knocking both of them to the ground.

The world spun as Valkyrie attempted to figure out what was going on around her. Scarlet eyes searched the immediate area, only to realize that she was in fact, laying on top of her chainsword wielding friend. "Sh-shit! Sorry!" Valkyrie's face burned red with embarrassment as she stumbled off of Crusader. Valkyrie cursed under her breath as she crawled off of her friend, embarrassed by how much of a fool Reaper was making her into.

"Damnit!" Valkyrie growled, slamming her fist into the ground as she stood up to face Reaper. Valkyrie had enough of this. All of her friends that were still trapped in the cathedral were in danger, and Reaper needed to be brought down now. "I've had enough of this!" Valkyrie snapped her fingers, watching as her swords came back to her side - an aura of death hovering around her.

"Let's end this!" If there was anyone in the squad that could defeat Reaper, it was Valkyrie. She had fought her before and held her own. She would punish the monster that had taken ECHO from this world. "Ragnarøkkr!" The swords that floated around Valkyrie spun in place, slowly increasing their rotation speed with every passing moment. Pointing towards the Reaper, the three swords sent themselves at her target with blinding speed - the back blast of her attack leaving a shockwave in their wake.

As the shot flew across the battlefield, Reaper suddenly vanished. "Shit!" Valkyrie jumped backwards - but it was too late. The Praetorian appeared in front of the NOAH, carrying one of the swords that Valkyrie had shot towards her a moment earlier. Aiming for her heart, everybody watched helplessly as Reaper plunged Valkyrie's own sword into her chest.

Like a statue, Valkyrie stood in place, a terrible picture of the young NOAH impaled by her own sword. Reaper grinned as the NOAH coughed up her own blood, the longsword passing straight through her chest and to the other side. Despite her best attempts to move, she could do nothing but lean into the sword, tears welling up into Valkyrie's eyes. Floods of emotions and regret passed through her as Valkyrie realized that she was going to die. With her spare hand, Reaper lifted Valkyrie's chin so that she could see into her tear-stained crimson orbs.

"Those eyes, so full of hope and fear." Reaper grinned, attentively studying Valkyrie's last moments of life. "Sleep, little girl. You were too weak for this world." The Praetorian pulled the sword from Valkyrie's chest, watching as the NOAH fell to her knees, clenching the hole that drained blood.

"E-ECHO... I'm... I'm so sorry." Ashlynn coughed as she collapsed at the Praetorian's feet.

Reaper turned towards Valkyrie's comrades, who had just watched one of their strongest NOAH be killed by their own weapon. "Who's next?" She smiled, standing triumphantly over the defeated Valkyrie. With arguably their best fighter defeated, who could possibly stand against her? "Run... get out of here..." Valkyrie pleaded with what little strength she had left, only to have the dim ember of life snuffed out by a swift kick to the face.

Turning towards Juniper, Reaper pointed at the dark haired woman with Valkyrie's sword. "Come, it's your turn to die." Reaper placed her boot on the defeated Valkyrie's head, waiting for her next kill to come forth.


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From the burning balcony, FOX wasn't sure who had survived the explosion. For all he knew, it could have just been him and Naomi left. As Naomi prepared to make her entrance, FOX shot her a nod before catching the pair of heels that flew his way. "Sure thing, sweetheart." He smiled, secretly wondering if this was the last time he would ever see Naomi. As she sprung into action, FOX knew that she would need help - even if she didn't realize it yet.

Laying in place, he had to find a way out of this situation, until he heard a voice beside him. Turning towards the figure, FOX was surprised to find María knelt down beside him. "Me? Hurt? Nah." He lied, nonchalantly ripping a piece of tablecloth from a disfigured table beside him. In the next moments, the FOX quickly fashioned his own tourniquet to stop his arm from bleeding before scanning his immediate area.

”F-Fox?”

As soon as he had taken care of himself, he turned towards his blind comrade, who had just moved from the railing back to his side, "Yeah, it's me. You alright? Let me take a look at you real quick." Gently placing his hand on her chin, FOX softly turned her head to each side so that he could make sure that she wasn't wounded. Upon inspection, FOX found that she had a few cuts and abrasions, softly trailing his fingers along the wounds before getting to work. "Oh shit, you went blind!" FOX teased as he dusted off another piece of torn off tablecloth.

As she explained how he could get down, FOX delicately wiped the blood that was on the new girl's face. "Sorry, but I'm not leaving you up here." FOX explained, searching for an alternative option. "It's a long way down and..." before FOX could finish his sentence, the floor under their feet began to crumble, the structural integrity falling apart due to the spreading flames. "Look out!" Grabbing María, he had no time to do anything else as the floor beneath them opened, sending the two of them plummeting to the floor below.

As they fell, FOX gripped his comrade tightly, rolling over so that he would absorb most of the impact. Crashing against the ground, FOX let out a yelp as he felt his shoulder crack from the plummet to the ground. Out of all of the horrible dates he had been on, this one had to be the worst. Fighting back the pain, FOX released María before rolling over. "You okay? Keep your head down." Reaching out to her, he opened his hand and beckoned for her to take hold. "Stay with me. I'll keep you safe." While he did want to keep an eye out for his blind comrade, she was a NOAH - and with some direction, FOX could use her to help Naomi if she was in trouble.

---

"Hah! Now that's the spirit!" The King cackled, amused by the entrance of his first challenger. She was quick, launching herself into a powerful attack that even the King himself would not want to stand against. Unfortunately, it seemed all of Naomi's attention and focus was on her opponent, her gaze too focused on the attack patterns of his sword. With so much unbridled rage, Naomi forgot the most basic lesson in dancing. Watching one's footwork.

"Arsenal of Heavens..." The King waved his sword, stepping backwards as two golden rings formed underneath Naomi's feet. Spewing forth from the golden rings, two divine chains clamped themselves against Naomi's feet. As the Titan came in full force, her fist would stop just inches from King's face when she would suddenly feel something pulling on her from behind. With her forward motion completely stalled, King watched as gravity did the rest of the work, forcing Naomi to unceremoniously fall on her own face.

Waving his sword in the air like a conductor, Naomi would find herself pulled by the divine chains, lifting off the ground and hurled like a flail towards the charging Arata. Tossed like a ragdoll, Titan was forcefully smashed into the young man, the two NOAHs swept up and sent crashing into the wall in a single motion. Although not lethal for the two, powerful NOAHs, they were certainly going to have a headache after that.

[/hr][/hr]
 
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Three smoking barrels surrounded her, the sound of bullet casings rolling around on the floor. She'd thinned out some of the CLERICs with her continuous stream of fire, nail shots reducing them to paste when they hit, but some had been smart enough to find cover. Several bullet holes lay dribbling in the side of her right arm, but the bullets hadn't gone all the way through. In fact, they'd barely gone in at all.

As she watched Arata start to run forth, for a brief moment, that adrenaline faded away and she was bought back into reality.

"Huuaaa... huaaa... [glow=red]u-urghhh!![/glow]"

Bringing her hand up to her face with a slow and shaky hand, the NOAH made some sort of futile gesture to hold the side of her face to staunch the roasting, sticky sensation that felt like it was spreading. Charred flesh - her own flesh - was the only smell that filled her nostrils, and even touching her face caused flakes of dribbly, wobbly skin to peel off.

She wanted to faint. Maybe she even wanted to die from this pain. But then, she remembered her purpose.

>>>>>>
"Who am I, Mike...?"
"You're a [glow=red]weapon[/glow], lanky. But only if you choose to be."

<<<<<<

[glow=red]Kill the Praetorian.[/glow]


[glow=red]Kill him before the flames consumed everything.[/glow]

Looking to Mixuki, she closed her eyes for a moment, grimacing as she forced her motorcycle helmet over burnt flesh. She felt, through the pain, that familiar handle. That familiar seat.

And through the flaming abode, the turbo-fueled whinny of her motorcycle roared through desecrated walls.

As the rubble stopped falling, she bought down her pathway of wire and chandelier parts, bolting down it, a flaming eye of fury visible through the black visor of her motorcycle helmet. A burnt lime dress trailing in the gusts of heat. She could spot Fox, and Maríá, in the distance - a relief enough for her to want to cry usually - but she couldn't feel 'relief'. An MK18 unattached itself from the side of the Blackbird, flinging in FOX's direction. She kept that promise of getting his rifle delivered to him.

[glow=red]~ ~ ~[/glow]

She watched as Naomi was abruptly flinged away into Arata, but as the point of impact occured, Tia extended a hand. Some sort of hum of energy occured around Naomi, as her body 'slowed down', the two still colliding, but with at a much less lethal force. As the two soared into a wall, Tia slowed her motorcycle to concentrate her energies further on the metal-bodied NOAH, pulling on Naomi's body so her collision felt like a light bump.

She screeched the motorcycle to a halt around her two fellow NOAH, standing Titan, calling her Blackbird away. Lionheart was quick to return on the assault, converging in on King's position, the sound of Regana-Hier cutting through reality itself humming along with the whistle of flames. If Maríá could be directed by FOX, as well, they could all combine their efforts. Tia could fight to keep that promise to María she made a day ago, that promise of protecting her. They, four NOAH of FEARLESS, would see this King fall for his wretched sins.

And Rubel. He was nowhere to be seen. But if they dared to touch Brother... if their horrid trap had killed one of the people she respected the most, that was all the more reason to [glow=red]rage.[/glow]

With a bellow, Tia moved in to back Arata up intitially, long nails spinning and floating around her. Though as she darted forward with speed that was strange for her, she didn't take a direct approach. Nails from around her formed a 'staircase', each floating strong enough for her to stand on, hopping to the next and maneuvering in the air effortlessly, like some sort of acrobat. Bullets that came towards her from CLERIC fire just seemed to simply swerve away upon getting close to a nail.

The NOAH, 'Tia', was different. Something deep within her had 'unlocked'.

[glow=red]"Look around you, King! Look as you laugh and treat this fight like a FUCKING GAME, in the presence of your own DEAD PEOPLE!"[/glow] Tia hopped from nail to nail, maneuvering in a circle. [glow=red][/glow][glow=red]"Even us REBELS care about your people, more than you!"[/glow]

Crunching her hand in a fist, Tia roared as the nails she'd been hopping on converged in on King's position from various different directions, whizzing with the power to dismember limbs, timing the attack when Arata moved out of the nails' area of effect. Her power's range - its control in particular - seemed to have exponentially grown in a consciousness fueled only by adrenaline, pain, and hate. She wasn't expecting it to do anything. It was all about applying a constant stream of pressure... and in a way, she felt like she was warming up.

As she hopped off the levitating nails, her body seemed to float back down to the ground in an extremely unusual manner, as if she was deifying gravity itself. Wire was wrapped around parts of her body, allowing her to pull and apply magnetic force to it. Dropping all of the nails, the shards of metal clanked and rained from the sky, all of the force released as the harmlessly fell from above.

Landing back beside Titan after the assault, Tia proceeded to do something very strange. Looking at Naomi, she slowly bought up her fists, and adjusted her posture, so she was exactly copying hers.

Naomi would feel a force - though not one against her - filling her body. Her limbs felt lighter. Her joints felt more smooth. Her movements felt like they had even more force behind them. And above all: her body was emitting an aura. An aura Tia had provided against her metal skeleton, that repelled other metallic objects. With her energy assisting Naomi's, and Arata hot on the offensive as well, a simple sentence to bolster her allies, came from a mutter under Tia's helmet.

[glow=red]"We'll bury him."[/glow]
 
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Erja Liikanen - Team 2
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This... This was bad, very bad. While she knew better than to fire into the Melee herself, Erja did not expect this outcome. Watching as the NOAH dispatched some of the errant gunfire, what was to come next, well... That knife bitch had caught one of the blades and used it in kind to stab into Valkyrie, the later however did have time to mumble some words, looking through her scope it was Run get out of here... As if this bitch were just going to allow that, kicking Valkyrie in the face the NOAH ceases all movement. NO... NOT AGAIN! YOU Won't get away again you monster! No more of your sadistic behavior!

In a fit of anger and rage, the Sniper takes aim, she only estimated her chances at 50-50 odds, at this range unless she had superhuman senses the bullet would impact in less than a tenth of a second. A munition designed for Anti-Tank round, traveling at supersonic speeds, she wouldn't even hear the shot. But on the off chance the bitch did phase out, or the round only took an arm or a leg, she barks out some commands to the squad. Technically it was against orders and protocol, but she wasn't about to sit by and watch this bitch slaughter yet another team. Taking aim she needed a few precious seconds anyways, which the cocky shit was giving them.

"White Death on all channels Team 2, taking the Shot, RIP grab her, we may have a slight chance of saving Valk.. Juniper stay back to back cover formation with our friendly bartender...who needs to keep away from the front of her.. I'm running after the shot.. See you at the base if I live... See you in hell if I don't.. May God be with me.." In reality she was deathly afraid of the knife bitch as she took to calling her, this Thing was not human, could not be human. Even when it was human it likely showed no kindness and no remorse to a single soul, a monster even before she became such. The shadow rulers of this country were the worst sort to gain power, more so power that stripped the frailness of man and boarders in the realm of Gods. Taking a deep breathe it was now time to take the most important shot of her life.

Squeezing the trigger, the massive 14.5mm rifle barks, but by the time the sound is heard the round is already well down range, actually it would be correct to say the round would be impacting right now, traveling at Mach 4.3 it was faster than the vast majority of the fighter jets she had read about in old historical texts. Even as her eyes blinked she could only wait for the shot to hit, and see if any of her allies bothered to listen, hopefully none of them would get in the way of the shot.

With a thin grim smile at least some of them might live this day.. Now to watch, then to run.
 
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Her forward foot hit the ground, a dull thump emphasizing the weight behind the swing as her fist careered towards the King's head with frightening speed. However it seemed that while she'd prepared for the sword, she had nor prepared for what it was capable of. Chains snagged her legs, pulling her with surprising strength unlike anything she'd felt before considering how difficult it could be to move her at times. Her fist fell short by a few inches and the dark haired Titan let out a small growl of irritation before she found herself flung backwards at speed. She wasn't surprised that her initiating punch hadn't landed, but she'd be lying if she said she weren't some what surprised by being flung through the air like a football.

She curled herself into a ball to prepare for impact, a strategy to mitigate damage to herself against whatever it was she would collide into. However while she'd been expecting an unpleasant landing, something felt not quite right... for one she was taking far longer to land than she'd predicted and secondly she appeared to be slowing down... somehow. She eventually landed, rolling nimbly back to her feet into a combat ready stance. "Alright... that could have been better... " she mumbled under her breath before looking around to reassess the situation once more. Arata was nearby, engaged with King and Tia was still standing too, it was a good feeling to know they'd survived the blast, not that she expected any different from either of them.

Naomi tried to think hard to come up with a plan, some way to close the gap before he could intercept her with those chains. She exhaled as she dropped her fists, turning to see if there was something she could use to her advantage. After another moment she turned to rejoin the fight before a peculiar feeling began to spread throughout her body, as if everything internally became stronger and more fluid in movement. It felt good, almost like how she felt when she Enraged and empowered herself to become stronger and faster. Her eyes locked to Tia's helmet before drifting towards her hands, noticing she was mimicking the same combat stance as herself. She could feel it, the connection between them at that moment and gave a small grin.

Naomi's eyes changed too as she blinked, the color pigments in her irises altering to resemble the grey-ish green of Tia's. Naomi gave the younger NOAH an approving nod before turning towards King. "Sounds good to me... " she said in response to what Tia had said, once again raising her fists. "We've got to keep moving if we want any chance of landing a hit on this guy, also I'm curious to how well he can multitask" she looked towards Tia again, "Stay close to me, with that new trick of yours I think we've got a way better shot" she gave a confident smile. "Let's move" King was already being generous, having let them regroup for this long.

Naomi would break from their position towards the left, vaulting tables, debris and flames as she moved wide around the room to hit from the left. With Tia's support, moving was far easier and way more fluid and just about anything metal was instantaneously pushed aside as she moved which was an interesting discovery for the dark haired Titan. She struck the ground hard with one of her fists before ripping up a large chunk of marble from the floor. "Alright you fuck, let see how you handle this" she muttered before launching the chunk towards King with an exhaling growl of strength, being careful not to hist Arata in the process. She'd follow shortly behind it, hoping the chunk would blindside him long enough for her to land a connecting blow to his chest.
 
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\\ Juniper Hamilton
\\ Team II



Juniper bit down on her teeth. The image of Valkyrie’s sword plunged through her chest burned into her memory. She stopped in her tracks, all but too late, specters of the past returning to haunt her as time slowed to a crawl.

How many years had it been?

How many countless days had passed since that fateful day in the King’s Court? It was a court of inquisition that Juniper had no hand. She had stood so stoically on that morning, with her chin high, hands gripped up above on the grand great sword that had been her issue. She betrayed not a shred of emotion as the condemned shed her tears, pleading, familiar red eyes searching for solace and redemption in the one she trusted most. Juniper looked on. There had been no reason to question before then.

Was that not how a Paladin should behave?

Even when the blade fell, she could only look away, hands clenched white against her own but unable to act. She was never whole again after that day.

Time would never heal her wound. She would never forgive what they did to her dear sister.

New Ecclesia would burn for what it did, however many eons it would take.

-

The crimson streak of Valkyrie’s blood flashed across her. The twisted praetorian had claimed another victim, and once again, it had been on her own watch. Her eyes were locked on her executioner’s face, her red orbs piercing the praetorian with a deadly vengeance. Without a word, and with superhuman strength, she closed the distance, casting the useless rifle in her hands like a javelin at Valkyrie’s murderer. The anxious panic in her system mere moments before had all but left her body.


“Get off of her, you piece of trash.”


Juniper took another step towards Reaper, disregarding the earnest warning of the FEARLESS sniper and the crack of the bullet that followed. Reaching out to her side, the air around her rippled and flashed as her raven-tinted hair was purged of its color, her locks simmering an albino white as a great broadsword was summoned to her hand. On her left, a pristine tower shield materialized itself in her other hand, swinging her sword once in a circular motion as she balanced the blade that had nearly long since forgotten the light of day. It had not lost its luster, its edge hungering once again against a new enemy.

“Cover me.”
She spoke two simple words to her comrades, the care for her appearance having been dropped long before. An aura of calm fiery enveloped the white-haired girl. There was no hesitation in her body as she bared her blade, pointing its tip at the form of the praetorian with measured deliberation.

“Not today… Miranda. I will fight you.”

With another kick, she swung around once again, a fell swoop coming down on the praetorian intent on ending her where she stood.
 
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María wanted to protest. The pressure of disagreement stuck in her throat. As always, there was someone so much more assertive than her. She KNEW she could help him down. She KNEW that FOX was needed. María needed him down there. Valkyrie needed him down there. Tia. Rubel. Every last one of them. And yet he refused. Just as she prepared to belt out that he needed to stop caring about her well-being, and trust her, so that he could help FEARLESS come out of this situation with even half their own healthy, she felt herself yanked down.

”FOX!” she screamed, as the sound of wreckage overwhelmed her, only the structure's tearing apart and the cackle of the flames engulfing the palace managed to come through, as a sharp whistle danced in her ears, mockingly and overwhelming. She felt as if her head would explode, as she suddenly felt the warm, hard grip of FOX on her, his body enveloping hers, as the two fell.

It took less than a blink within the darkness.

Smashing into the vandalized floor, she could feel FOX's body cracking upon impact. Her own body hurt, and how badly must FOX ache, she couldn't even imagine. She quickly rolled off of him, crawling on her knees. ”FOX!” she gulped out once more, this time from behind tears and a dirty face. Her leader's body moved; how he found the strength was beyond María. She quickly nodded, and grabbed his hand.

”Don't worry about me. Please!”

For the first time since she had arrived in the AFTERLIFE, perhaps for the first time ever, emphasis was in her words. Genuine. Not ordered by anyone. Not forced by anyone. She swallowed audibly, her chest heaving. She had been in this environment before. In THEIR reach. Bruised and battered. And now it all happened again. But this time, she wouldn't run. She wouldn't be at their mercy.

”We have to help... We have to help them, Fox!”

She didn't know who would require their aid the most. Her own instincts screamed and hammered their fists against María's lungs from within to search for Valkyrie and Tia, but she knew they all were in trouble.

”I left Rubel alone... ” she whispered, ashamed of her confession. ”We have to find him, and get everyone out of here!”

She didn't know what FOX had planned, but they HAD to do something. Anything at all to prevent anyone else from suffering at the hands of the royals.
 
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Crusader just stood dumbfounded for the moment. Valkyrie was dead, Erja was ordering him and Juniper around...and now Juniper had white hair, a paladin's sword, and shield. At least she was on the right side of this conflict, which was still something the man was trying to understand. Reaching up, he tore off his helmet and threw it away. It was going to be no use anymore in this fight. It didn't recognize Juniper, as an ally, and would try to direct his attention toward killing her. It was down to just his normal, human eyes to try and win this fight now. Blinking a few times, Crusader reached up and brushed some of his long, blond hair out of his face.

Revving up his sword again, he listened as the blade spun for a few cycles, before being silenced again. He knew he had perhaps a 3/4 left of the gas for his chainsword, before it would become little more than a heavy club. Grinning a bit to himself, "Well then...shall I call my Mistress from now at the bar Juniper?" He asked, before he took of running toward the fight between his fellow FEARLESS comrade, and the Praetorian. However he was only human, and it was more than likely by the time he got there, either Reaper would be gone to a new loaction, or dead.

However Crusader understood one thing, and one thing only. That his job was to fight with Juniper. He could provide covering fire, however he was much too angry after watching Valkyrie die to care. If he was going to die, it would be in a valiant attempt. Besides, one extra body in the fray, meant Reaper had two sets of strikes to try and parry, and block. As Crusader took off running, he slipped his pistol into a holster, and let his free hand go to grab the hilt of his chainsword. Two handing the weapon was perhaps his only chance to actually swing his weapon fast enough to have a chance at hitting Reaper.

All he could hope for, was that this all worked...for if it didn't, that meant only thing in Alexander's own mind. That he would be a failure, dead in the lawns, and gardens of those he hated most. Having given up everything, to get this point. Alexander knew this was his peak, for if he helped to slay Reaper he would be a hero. However he knew at the same time, his peak could also mark his greatest downfall. A nameless victim, torn apart by a sadistic killer.
 
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The attack of the team worked strongly against them. While Aresia had her doubts from the get-go about initiating Reaper like that despite having a hostage the female Praetorian turned the entire situation upside down.

The follow-up of that was, just like that, Valkyrie died. Despite the initial inhibition that the Chaos Witch felt she was not particularly... invested in her death. She did not want to be. She refused to be. After all, having lost one dear friend had been enough for the raven-hair to swear to never let anyone close again.

No, instead, Aresia had to think about doing the best in this situation. Valkyrie could be turned into a... usable... but more importantly without an 'hostage' the crimson eyed witch could unleash nearly her full power. Reaper would die.

The air around the Crimson Witch got hotter as she prepared for a chant, ready to turn Earth into Hell. Before Aresia could finish however, it was Backdrop and Crusader who decided to charge the expert Assassin in melee next. On top of that the Seraphim Whore revealed an entirely new side of her - rather than being just a Seraphim she was a slightly more useful Seraphim.

For a second Aresia stopped, only for a second though, as she finally found the resolve to be the Chaos Witch she wanted to. She was supposed to be.

As Juniper and Crusader were hopefully locking Reaper into melee, Aresia chanted rather fast with an expressionless face. A magical circle appeared under reapers feet giving just a short moment of notice before a Fire Geyser shot forth into the air. "Rot Horizon."
 
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As the black blur got ever closer to King, another blur came in from the side. Dragged by divine chains, Titan’s form approached violently from the corner of his vision, three hundred pounds worth of mass travelling at subsonic speeds. But did that arrogant bastard think that was all he needed to put him down? Regana-Hier hungered, and the monochrome world that Arata existed in was tinged with red.

Cut it to pieces.

The blade was already in motion, the incomprehensible trajectory splitting into three simultaneous strokes as one technique transitioned into another, ready to turn this makeshift fail into manageable chunks of meat.

Noble Phantasm, Tsuba-

"That's quite a talent you have there, I had no idea.”

Stance of Blue Skies, Pale Crescent.

The stains darkened as Lionheart leapt over the Titanic Flail, Regana-Hier thrust into the ground as a vaulting pole instead of shredding through Titan. He could feel it in his face, the burning pain as he willingly denied his Elegance its meal, and he could feel the drain in his energy as it took from him what he didn’t offer it. He should have killed them all. The guests, the CLERICs, sated the Weapon of Massacre’s appetite before seeking to devour the King, but it was too late for that. Naomi’s form collided with the flat side of Regana-Hier with enough force to bring it up and over, Arata recycling that energy to bring the great sword down upon the red-haired Praetorian.

The roaring of a flame dragon, however, changed those plans. Possessing the poise of a master conductor, King brought the flames within the palace alive, a mythical beast manifesting to slam into Lionheart. He tumbled, somersaulted, and landed on his feet, the sword shielding him from the hellish flames as King continued his performance, all the flames within the palace having become his servants. They flowed around him, an active defense to dissuade challengers.

Worthless.

The Ebony Cut.

A transcendent swing split the very air itself, casting aside the flames that wreathed King, revealing the charred floor that he stood upon. Bursting forwards within that vacuum, Lionheart dove deep, the Weapon of Massacre clashing with the Spellsword of Chaos. Sparks flew at the impact, the Praetorian’s own Elegance igniting his sword as he parried and riposted, a golden example of fencing technique.

Golden, but not legendary.

Matching his foe’s movements, Lionheart suppressed the anxiety of once again being foiled, stepping diagonally forwards. Regana-Hier rose up to meet the flaming sword, gliding against the edge before a violent flick sent it flying skywards. Face to face, his inkstone eyes caught every detail of King’s completely unbothered face. Expected? Bait? A trap?

PUSH THROUGH.

With meteoric force, the pommel of Lionheart’s sword descended, intent on cracking open the King of Chaos’s skull.

CLANG.

Sparks flew once more, a second sword manifesting in the Praetorian’s offhand. Held it reverse grip, it redirected the strike inches before it would have landed, the King still unperturbed. Was the difference so great? Was his power still so lacking? Should he have started by reaping the souls of his allies after all?

Was that one instance of clarity, that pointless belief in the truth of a statement going to cost him?

Above, the flaming sword was called by its master once more, descending.

High End Skill, Illusion Turn.

The spellsword struck Lionheart’s form and fell through, sinking into the floorboards beneath. In an inhumane feat of speed, an afterimage was left behind as he reappeared behind King, a body-bisecting swing already in motion.

The corruption curled underneath his right eye, extending over the bridge of the nose.

He was starving.
 
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0 9 1 5
H O U R S
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With VALKYRIE defeated, Reaper had turned her attention to the rest of Squad Two. To the Praetorian's surprise, the woman she had challenged transformed, materializing a familiar sword and shield into her hands as she called her by name. Juniper... the former Paladin Captain of the PALADINS, a traitor that had yet to be punished. Her name alone angered the Praetorian - her presence even more damnable.

The traitor would be dealt with accordingly, but first came the issue of that pesky sniper. With her eyes providing the calculations, Reaper lashed out with Valkyrie's sword, cutting the massive anti-material round out of the sky and splitting the powerful shot down the center. As pieces of antimaterial round glanced into the nearby dirt, Reaper turned her attention to the charging Juniper. Without the need of any special ability, she knocked Juniper's rifle-turned-javelin out of the sky as it came vaulting towards her. "Heh, I thought you looked familiar, Juniper."

"Get off of her, you say?" Reaper placed her foot atop Valkyrie's motionless head, a laugh escaping between her lips. "As if you can stop me." She challenged, eagerly watching as the enraged Juniper charged towards her. While once an incredibly powerful Paladin, her strength was still incomparable to the potential of a Praetorian. It was not a question of if the Paladin would last, but a question of how long. "Come and receive your punishment, traitor."

As she came running towards the Praetorian, Reaper prepared to phase herself out of existence. In Reaper's mind, this battle would be over in just one strike, with Juniper's blade a clean miss - and Valkyrie's sword plunged into the traitor's back. As Juniper's blade hurled itself towards Reaper with a lustful vengeance, something in Reaper's plan went horribly wrong.

Bringing up Valkyrie's sword just in time to parry the blow, Reaper felt the muscles in her wrist strain to hold against the Paladin's powerful strike. "What?! Why can't I..." Using all of her strength to push Juniper away, Reaper's gaze immediately averted themselves toward the ground.

"Heh. Thought so." A familiar voice remarked from below. "You can't teleport if someone is touching you." Looking down, Reaper finally noticed Valkyrie - her arms wrapped around the Praetorian's leg.

"Y-you're still alive?! But how?!"

The young woman smiled weakly, "Magic." As if planned, a magical circle drew itself beneath Valkyrie and the Praetorian's feet. Aresia's Rot Horizon began to manifest, with Valkyrie intent on letting both of them burn to a crisp. With a swift kick to the already wounded Valkyrie's face, the Praetorian managed to pry herself free from Valkyrie's iron grip before retreating backwards, the flames of Aresia's spell striking upwards and into the air.

As if waiting for their moment to strike, several black arms ripped themselves from Valkyrie's back, the bones of Ragnarok charging through the pillar of flames and towards the surprised Praetorian. A terrifying sight to behold, the beasts of Ragnarok were lit ablaze as they charged through the flames to their target, seeking to consume their unfortunate victim. The Praetorian fought back the ambush, shooting down all but one of the flaming arms before she lashed out with Valkyrie's sword in an attempt to cut it down.

As she swung the sword at the last arm, the sword immediately melted in her hands, crawling down her arm before the dark material tethered itself into the ground. "NO!" Reaper screeched as the sword turned against her, attempting to raise her other hand to shoot down the last arm with her pistol. Without her powers, the Praetorian was too slow, the arm grabbing hold of Reaper's last means of defense and scorching the defenseless Praetorian as the flames began to consume her.

Valkyrie slowly crawled to her feet, blood running down the gaping hole between her chest. From the hole in her chest, crimson eyes glowed before covering itself in a mass of black liquid, the terrifying wound slowly closing itself. Perhaps it was magic, or perhaps Valkyrie was something far more vile than her cover would make one believe.

"This is for ECHO."

She told herself repeatedly as she acquiesced herself to her true identity.

Upon command, the dark arms viciously pulled on their defenseless victim. Reaper screeched as her human bones cracked and broke under the pressure of being pulled apart. In a torturous macabre, Reaper's arm was suddenly ripped free from her body, blood streaking the battlefield around them. The once seemingly invincible Reaper screamed inaudibly, horror filling the sadistic killer's face in terrible shock.

"Kill, kill, kill." Valkyrie clenched herself, body shaking and her eyes fixated on the ground as if she was possessed. "Kill... kill... kill..." She repeated endlessly under her breath. In the next moments, Valkyrie's dark manifestations went feral, ripping the Praetorian to shreds. Blood curling screams filled the air as the Praetorian was torn apart until she was no more. Valkyrie would seemingly spare no mercy for the monster who had none. Finally, the monster had been killed.

But by consuming the monster, does one become a monster themselves?

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As Reaper was no more, Valkyrie's eyes shifted towards her companions, streaks of crimson glaring at those that stood around her. "Kill... kill... kill." She continued to chant, staring towards Juniper. The monsters that she had released desired more, an insatiable appetite for bloodlust. The arm-like protrusions that had ripped Reaper to shreds watched Juniper as if they wished to consume her as well.


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The world slowly burned around FOX, the familiar sound of battle echoing between the walls of the burning cathedral. There was no time to think... only time to act. "Shush." FOX brushed off María's protests. "I'm not leaving you, alright?" With Arata, Naomi and Tia fighting among them, it was clear that FOX and María needed to do something to help. If they could just get into a position for María to use her abilities... "It's your first day on the job, after all." He added with a grin.

As FOX scanned their surroundings, several CLERICs noticed the pair despite the confusion that was actively occurring around them. "Take 'em out!"

With quick reflexes, FOX rolled himself in front of María, pulling out his compact pistol and aiming at the two figures in front of him. In one hand, he held the pistol between his eyes and in the other, still clenched the pair of heels Naomi had given him. Several shots flew in every direction as the two CLERICs dropped dead from the terse exchange of gunfire.

Shoot. Move. Shoot. Move. Never stay in the same spot for too long. That was the first lesson any RONIN must learn. As soon as their targets were dead, FOX turned to María, "Alright, let's-"

Before the RONIN could finish the sentence, he felt an object smash into the back of his head. Was he dead? FOX's vision blurred as he fell forwards, his hand stopping himself just short from accidentally delivering a headbutt into María's face. As he stopped himself, he noticed the rifle now sitting beside him. "Jeez. A little warning next time." FOX gritted his teeth before turning towards María.

"Do you mind holding these for me? They're important." FOX handed María a pair of high heels so that he could pick up his assault rifle, press checking the chamber of the weapon to make sure a bullet was seated in the breach. "I'm going to get you close to KING so that you can do your thing, alright?" FOX explained, waiting a moment for María to gather herself. "I don't think they'll stand much of a chance without us."

As everyone continued to fight, FOX pointed to a large column behind the Praetorian. "If we could get you there, maybe we could do something." He pointed, forgetting that his companion was almost hopelessly blind.
---------------

"That's it, boy! Now we're talking!" KING cackled as Arata charged forth, lashing out at him with his large sword. While it seemed like Arata was fighting with everything he could muster, KING acted as if everything was just a game to him. The two traded blows for some time as Naomi moved for a decisive counter attack. Attacking from two directions seemed like a sound plan on paper. But would it work?

After cutting down a boulder flung by Naomi, KING struck at Arata for a final blow, prepared to deliver the coup de grâce on the young boy standing in front of him. When his spell-sword connected with flesh - it was no surprise when the image before him vanished. Right behind the decoy of Arata was Naomi, fists at the ready and charging in for another strike. Behind KING himself was Arata, already swinging his two handed sword with all of his might at center height. For any other person, there seemed to be no escape.

"Tch! How ungentlemanly!" KING shouted as he waved his hand in the air. As Arata's sword connected with KING, the man in front of him suddenly burst into a curtain of flames, throwing fire dangerously close to Arata's face. Naomi, who was charging in for a punch to the Praetorian's chest, found herself charging instead through the very flames that obscured Arata's vision.

As the two missed their attacks once again, the flames split and tore along the burning cathedral before pulling back together into the King of Valhalla. "Hm, well I suppose we could try to make a three way dance work." The King grinned, inviting for his opponents to come forth once more.

 
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Following in Naomi's wake with a roar as she poured all of her energy into amplifying the Titan's movements, Tia's eyes widened as King revealed another one of his powers. To turn his very form into fire. The move of his had left Naomi reeling forward into flame and into Arata - and whilst Lionheart's sanity was seemingly being consumed - Tia knew she couldn't let Naomi get anywhere near him. With a sudden magnetic pull, and a huge amount of effort, Tia wheezed as she 'stopped' Naomi's charge in midair, pulling her back out and away from Arata and the flames going for him. Controlling her body like that made her feel sick, as if she was controlling someone against their will, even if she used it with good intention.

At the same time, trying to help both of her NOAH just out of instinct, she tried to assist Arata with the flames going for his head. Hurriedly feeling around with her magnetic pull for something, a large metal plate rose from the rubble, likely once for holding something grandoise like a turkey. The piece of dinnerware glowed red hot as it obstructed the flames from biting into Arata's face, before flopping back onto the ground.

This fucking 'King' asshole really was treating this like some sort of game.

Clenching her fists with heavy breaths, the nails that surrounded her spun and whirled as the charged up, ready to shoot into the curtain of fire that was the Praetorian just out of frustration. But as her teeth grit, and her fire-torn voice growled... for some reason, in this flaming graveyard, she remembered something, from an old friend, as clear as day.
"Whatever you do in life Tia. Remember, what you fight for. And never become conflicted. It breeds doubt, and confusion...it clouds the mind."
Widening her eyes as she remembered that sentence, Tia dropped the nails that were levitating at her sides almost instantly, her rage beginning to subside. Just throwing brute force into him was a good way to vent her anger, but... by the movements of the flames, they were going to hit...
“Things might get dangerous tomorrow, but… just know I’ve got your back.”
As the flames roared around the sides of the mansion, she remembered who & what she fought for. She wasn't going to let the pain change her into something she wasn't. The burnt corpses of the innocent were going to scar her mind, but she wouldn't let that change her either. Right now, she had to keep her cool, and push down that fury, or she could get herself and close allies killed.

She couldn't forget her old self, just because of this. Positive. Think positive. Smart. Try and be smart.

"Force alone... g-ghh... it's... oouuw... it ain't working," Tia panted at the side of Naomi and Arata, her muffled voice calming down under the helmet. The more she expelled her 'rage' as she remembered who she was, though... the more that searing, horrendous pain stung. "But... we've got something else up our sleeve..." she put a hand on Naomi's shoulder, "I'll be back soon. You and Arata keep up the pressure, kay? And be careful around him."

Whirling around, wire creaked as it shot out from either side of her, the ends curling around half-destroyed overhangs and launching her body like a catapult across the destroyed room. As she began to descend, the wire curled around her own body, and her large amount of momentum came to a halt, harmlessly bringing her back down to the ground with a floating motion.

Flames were starting to close in. But her landing, next to María and FOX, was just on time. Whilst FOX covered the girl from CLERIC fire, as King's flames began to spread around the edges of the building and converge closer and closer, Tia slid over to the crouching, blind girl. Whilst FOX was probably out of range of the flames - and could dodge - Maríá, being blind, probably couldn't. Tia was quiet for a moment as she simply bought her arms around María's, tightly holding on in some form of protective embrace, pieces of scrap working to form a little sphere around the two.

"Don't worry... it's... h-hah... it's only me..."
Tia whispered, flames spitting against the glowing metal cocoon. She ignored the overwhelming heat, levitating the two of them out of the reach of King's flames. Dispelling the scrap away once things felt safe, the helmet-clad girl looked up, and smiled at her fellow NOAH. "G-got your back, remember? ...Are those... Naomi's heels?" she looked down in confusion for a moment, before shaking her head, squeezing her a little before releasing her. "W-well... ow, ow... it doesn't really matter. I'm just... so glad you and FOX are okay. I was worried sick, when the explosion hit."

Looking around, everyone was here... except for one.
"I... I dunno where Rubel is, but don't worry! He's a really resourceful kid, probably waiting in the wings with some crackpot plan! I'm sure he'll be here soon..." she kept telling herself that, in hope, that Brother wasn't one of those burnt corpses. Please... if there was a God: not Brother. He had to be okay.

"I - o-oow - ain't sure how your power really works, but... 'erasing time'. It sounds like it could be great for opening King up to the biggest beatdown of his life,"
Tia wheezed, putting a hand under María's arm to help hoist her up. Looking to the expert RONIN who was doing a number on the remaining CLERIC's, Tia joined his side under cover. "You know, FOX, you can be a real mystery sometimes. You're still rocking that 'wonky tie'/'rugged yet stylish' look, despite everything," she joked, backing up his fire with some high-speed nail shots. She wasn't sure how many CLERICs were remaining, but there couldn't be more than a couple now.

"Even when I poured all of my energy into Naomi, and even with Arata pushing himself... that Praetorian bastard hasn't even taken a scratch yet," Tia explained to the two, before turning her head to FOX. "But... ghhg... ouch, ouch... i-if you can act as María's 'eyes', FOX, and if I can get us around using my baby, there's got to be a way we can use her power to break the King's defenses."

Clicking her fingers, Mixuki appeared at her side. A large potion of the fuel had been drained - enough for it to get going, but in the event it got hit by a fire strike, the thing wouldn't blow up like a bomb at least. She gave a grin through the searing pain to the RONIN and her fellow NOAH.
"How about it? ...I dunno how long it is before this building gives way, but I still think we have time: Time to show King what it means to fuck with FEARLESS."
 
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María felt further protests clump up somewhere inbetween her chest and throat, silenced by FOX's stubborness ”I do know what I signed up for, I wouldn't have come if it didn't me-” but her heroics were undermined by her flinching, as a nearby voice ordered the attack. Her head craned to face to where the voice had come from, and before she could even attempt to squint, to focus, to see at least the outlines of her enemies, she felt FOX's frame move. Gunshots followed, as María brought her arms over her head, cowering.

Useless, again.

The dull thud of bodies hitting the floor reached her ears, almost drowned out by the cackling of the flames that seemed to devour the entire world from María's point of view.

She couldn't help but let out a cry of relieve upon hearing FOX's voice, his standing silhouette moving, and moreso, living. Shaking, she pulled herself up, ready to follow FOX, before letting out a high-pitched squeal. ”Are you-” Of course he was. Though she didn't know what had happened, FOX seemed to resist every single obstacle thrown at him--even literally, though María couldn't tell just how literal.

To her surprise, she felt the warm surface of a pair of heels in her palms. She nodded, squinting as she held the shoes up to her eyes. Heels? That was certainly weird, but she wasn't going to question it. And if they were important to FOX, she'd do her best to keep them in one piece.

King... Of course he was her destination. No, all of them would end this face to face with the Praetorian.

She nodded once more, turning her head not to where FOX pointed, but to the raging flames the King himself had turned into. The brightness stole away the few features she could make out, leaving a white void amidst the haze that was her vision. ”If someone has any way of taking him out, I can...” She swallowed hard, struggling to keep her thoughts coherent. ”...I can cut out the time just before. He can't possibly react if it never happened for him... Right?” This hellish band of nobles was capable of the most absurd, the most atrocious. She was certain that even the King couldn't react to something that was, quite literally, cut out of his own reality. But little buds of doubt flowered in the back of her mind.

Lost in her thought, she gasped in shock, as she felt Tia's clad touch. Scrambling backwards, her motions only slowed down as Tia's voice sounded muffled from behind the helmet's visor. María felt as if a shell of stone fell from her organs. She was alive! The new NOAH leaped forward, and locked her arms around the injured Tia in blind joy, letting Naomi's heels sink into her lap.

”Oh, thank God, you're okay!” she cried out. After a moment, she pulled back, and fished the shoes from the floor, pressing them against her tightly. ”Are they?” María was surprised, but distantly happy that, in all the tragedy and grief of this terrible world, even someone as hardened as FOX seemed to find someone he was fond of. Scrambling to push herself into a standing position with only her legs, she tried to push away the worry about Rubel. Tia was right, he was smart, resourceful... Yet, if anything happened to him, it was her fault for leaving him alone... If she had condemned him to a lonely death...

María shuddered, and couldn't bear the thought any longer. Instead, she nodded towards Tia.

”I... I don't know how powerful the King really is, but... If someone has a way to deal with him, I'm sure I could... I could take away his chance to react to it, I think. I just have to be able to s...” She paused. To see it? Surely, that would inspire a lot of confidence in María's ELEGANCE. ”I just have to be in position.”

As the motor of Mixuki roared, announcing its arrival, María took a deep breath. This was it. When Valk had told her of possibly joining FEARLESS, she had dreamt about a chance of being the heroine for once. Of doing something. Of succeeding. And this was it. No, in fact, this was more. No vain persuit mattered. She had to do her part in order to save lives. As the fire inside her flared up hotter than the inferno consuming the palace, she elected to ignore Tia's crude language. Etiquette was, afterall, just another chain the Ecclesians had trapped her in.

”Mh-m.”
 
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