Final Five

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Oh, Kyouko, was it? He remembered reading about that auburn-haired girl in the news before, the one that managed to take down some giant monster thing before the Final Five could arrive. Very impressive indeed. If Iphigenia was going to be an apprentice of a similar pedigree, well, Tian-Gui would have no complaints at all. Saluting Mason as the old man sped off, the unofficial head of the Final Five turned to his misty friend for some snappy one-liners…only to realize that the passive destruction mage had disappeared.

Welp, that was the end of that.

Hitching up Ling's body parts to a more comfortable position on his shoulders, Tian-Gui pushed open the doors of the grill, not even concerned with the small oddities that resounded in his ears. It was Shanhu, after all. If he worried about all the little odd things, the police would never have anything to do. As the familiar din of chatting patrons and clanging utensils swarmed over him, the blue-eyed youth put that into the back of his mind and smiled at Runa, who seemed to have found herself the two apprentices in question. Walking through the pathways with his confident swagger, he smiled warmly at the three, before offering a hand to Kyouko.

"Nice to meet you," he said, "You're Kyouko Hiruma, right? The resolver of the Chaos Witch incident? Heard great things about you, and I'll expect great things as well! Welcome to the club, you two! The meal's on me!"
 
Not even having managed a quarter of the entire thing yet, Kyouko got interrupted by a young adult. "...?" Looking slightly confused at him for a moment the young one continued chewing on her Pon Pon Special Ponperrycheeseburger that was one of the seasonal specials. "...!" Oh! Ooohhh! Right! He was it? He was it! They were finally here! Interrupting her meal and swallowing down whatever she had in her mouth the brown-hair got up. It was seriously happening. She just met one of the great heroes! And further he actually wanted to shake her hand. How was Kyouko supposed to respond? Giving him the widest smile she could muster and shaking his hand Kyouko responded.

"T-THAT I am, nice to meetcha!" The brown-hair was overly loud, even for her standards. Urgh. Looking around she remembered he also mentioned something about 'you two', which must have meant...she wasn't the only new member? Realizing that the nervosity that Kyouko had dropped by a ton. Phew...but wait, didn't that mean the errors she made would become even more apparent? The food would become cold if she continued like this! And her superhero said something about paying for her anyways, alas "I already paid, feel free to dig in!" HA! Kyouko hadn't planned for it, but now that was actually pretty genius. "I-I didn't know what you all would like so I just ordered all the stuff!"
 
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Despite Kyouko's overzealous order, the grill did, ultimately, have more ingredients for each of the items several-fold. It wouldn't be very good business practice to have only one of each item. Understanding Runa's hurriedness, the cashier seemed to indicate with his yell to the cooks that it needed to be quick. He turned back to the girl and gave her a wink before turning to the next person in line. Ling's venture through the ventilation earned a single remark from an individual in the men's bathroom, who ended up dismissing the faint black smoke that escaped the vents up top as "burnt smoke from the grill" before going back to nature's business.

The conversations with Iphie and Kyouko carried on, eventually being brought together (as was expected) so as to ensure everyone knew each other before they chowed down on burgers and fries and inevitably went out for the true mission. Their meal was cut short, along with the entirety of the establishment's occupants, when a series of loud car honks, screeching, and screaming overtook the commonplace bustle of the cityscape outside. Within seconds of the rise in noise, a pair of vehicles were thrown down the street in full view of the restaurant's occupants. Flipping countless times before stopping against other vehicles (and pedestrians), the street erupted into chaos as the restaurant occupants stood up in fear, though did not dare to run outside.

A skittering creature, as large as the cars it swatted aside, crawled through the street. A black-skinned thing, bearing six legs and a pair of three red eyes, wreaked havoc outside as it brushed aside all the objects in its way, uncaring of size or sturdiness. A machine of some sort was clamped around its body and legs, looking as if a shadow had been bound by an exoskeleton. An abyssal.

Well, at least it spared them from having to wait for Limov.
 
Her handshake was weaker than expected, but it was the thought that counted. Smiling at Kyouko's enthusiasm and nodding in approval at her over-the-top attitude when it came to food, Tian-Gui said, scratching his head, "Well, don't mind if I do then! If you don't have any plans for dinner, let's go out for an even bigger meal after this! Need to show off my seniority by footing the bills of my juniors anyways~"

Thankfully, he didn't actually use his money for anything outside of food, because he was already bumming out in the Final Five's secret penthouse. Without another thought, he motioned Runa to join in on the feast as well, and spent the rest of their short lunch break mowing down the junk foods that the grill brought out. In between bites, he quickly briefed the two newbies on their assignment for the day, as well as asked for a proper introduction from the two. It was a bit of a surprise that both of them were rich, and temporarily made him wonder if those of the support organization had 'hired' them more for their vast coffers of gold and gems than their actual fighting capabilities, but…well, he was probably overthinking it.

By the time he was finishing up his meal though, the screams and honks and screeches coming from outside made it clear that what he had originally heard outside wasn't an abnormality that the police could handle. Standing up and facing the windows of the Fire Ring Grill, he narrowed his blue eyes.

The abyssal decided that it would not wait, and came to them instead.

"LING!" Tian Gui shouted at the face of the vehicular carnage happening right outside. "Let's go!"

With a powerful swing, he threw the Shade's Coffin upwards, before running out. Leaping whilst crossing his arms over his face and tucking in his legs, he smashed through the glass window dramatically. As the shattered glass glittered around his gallant form, his hair grew into a white mane, the world silencing itself as a baritone incantation resounded.

"Ilu-yang arz Svallin zizzl…"

His clothes shredded, exposing his muscular body for just a fraction of an instant, before crystalline shards erupted from his body, the golden material covering his body entirely. Like a comet, it struck the ground and slid, leaving a trail of uprooted concrete in its wake. And, right in front of the Abyssal, the sun-red structure shattered, revealing the armored form of Tian-Gui, staring down the three-eyed monster.

The shards turned into a red dust, pulled away by a reawakened wind.

With his arms crossed and his lightning blue eyes crackling with righteous fury, Svallin roared, "Do not fear! I am here!"​

"Final RED!"
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Oh, it looked like Tian and Runa had managed to locate the two members they were supposed to pick up. Tian's boisterous voice could be clearly heard as usual despite busy restaurant and Ling filtered out of the shop's ventilation system in some unlit backroom. "Hah…" it was sort of depressing that he had to hide away from the public's eye on every excursion, but such was life as amorphous black smoke.

The sounds of the restaurant's front barely managed to reach him through the kitchen and machinery's noise, but the commotion outside the building reached him just fine. A portion of him seeped through the wall to take a peek outside and if he had a face he would have frowned at the sight. Vehicles had just rolled to a halt some distance away from the restaurant and it didn't take a genius to guess that trouble followed shortly behind.

His intangible body had already streamed through most of the ventilation system when Tian called and then promptly launched the bag upwards. 'Good toss.' It was on point and within a second his body streamed from the nearest vent and enveloped the bag. A moment later and with the shell filled once more, the bag literally burst apart as the Coffin came to life. The numerous lines burned brightly for a moment, blinding those that looked with azure light. "I suggest you take shelter in the back," he told those that remained in the restaurant as the light show finally faded. Then as Tian crashed down in front of the lesser-Abyssal Ling drifted out the broken window that had already served as a speedy exit.

Where his comrade decided for a valiant declaration against the creature, Ling opted for a more direct message. The machinery thankfully didn't cover too much of the creature's body, but a bit of care was warranted. As such several smooth spheres formed around his levitating form, ballooning in size rapidly, and were loosed with a flick of his shadowy limb. Initially it might have looked like Tian was the target, but scant feet from his teammate the projectiles arced away. Mere seconds later and they curved back inwards towards the Abyssal and slammed into its shadowy body. The impacts battered it this way and that, punching clean through on occasion, but the creature didn't seem even partially incapacitated. Not only that, but the exchange had been utterly silent. Even steel groaned when his projectiles dented it, but beyond the Abyssal's lack of audible response was the fact that his projectiles had been silent even on impact. 'Odd.'
 
"I don't know, am I?"

In response to her own question to Runa, Iphigenia pulled out what appeared to be a company ID card, bearing her photo, name, and association, and conveniently leaving out her date of birth. Flipping the card so that the magnetic strip faced inwards and her picture outwards, her face brightened as the girl with the blunt manner of speaking seemed to light up in recognition. With Runa waving her colleague over, Iphie rose to formally introduce herself to her two future coworkers, giving a good, business-like handshake to the duo.

While she was slightly miffed to find out that the socially oblivious and obnoxiously loud girl was the other new member, Iphigenia seemed to take the second round of introductions quite well, mostly due to the unintended bribe of free food. Because in the end, Iphie didn't actually care if any of the other patrons got their food on time as long as she got to eat. With the four of them sitting down together (and a certain cloud of black grill smoke hovering about), they were all able to touch base quickly enough, although this was cut short by the odd noises returning tenfold along with some Avengers-like car flipping. This irked Iphie quite a bit, who remained seated as the others rose. She took the liberty of having a few more bites before she gently wiped her mouth with a cloth napkin.

"Really, it's not very nice to interrupt somebody's lunch."

Iphigenia crumpled the napkin. Seriously not having any of this nonsense, she stood up with her half-finished tea and finally made her way out, but not before expeditiously swapping her drink container from glass to plastic. Meeting the reformed group outside, Iphigenia observed the carnage outside and inwardly groaned. The damage to the road was going to kill the traffic in this part of town for the next week.

Raising an eyebrow as she watched Tian Gui transform like a manly magical girl, she drew her attention to the car-sized abyssal, sizing up it and her surroundings. Iphie noted the position of the block's streetlamps relative to the monster, who seemed to be soaking up her ethereal comrade's potshots at it.

"I'll see if I can't contain the damage," suggested the tea-holding girl, as her eyes darted in sequence to four lampposts surrounding the three-eyed enemy. Sipping her drink, she drew out an arc from each light such that the electricity seemed to form an 'X' with the beast in the middle of it, lighting up the abyssal in a shower of sparks. 480 volts was not a lot of electricity, but it was a good starting point that would hopefully paralyze the thing long enough for one of the others to do some cool finishing move.
 
"I'm Runa. Nice to meet you guys," Runa introduced herself right away to Kyouko and Iphigenia, once the group had properly convened. Even with the fairly swift arrival of her own order, she couldn't help but stare at the smorgasbord Kyouko had ordered, and drooled a little. "I already ordered something...but a little more won't hurt." She certainly had no trouble helping herself to a few bites of this and than when not doing her best to inhale a cheeseburger as fast as humanly possible.

The arrival of an Abyssal beast clad in some sort of metallic exoskeleton heralded the end of lunch. "I...guess that takes care of needing to go rush out and find it," Runa commented sheepishly to the newcomers. "We've gotta stop that thing. And, uh, I think the stuff it's wearing was supposed to be a control system, so we're supposed to not break it?" She was far too nonchalant for what was quickly becoming a minor crisis situation. "Anyway, I'll protect you." She did intend to live up to her big talk on the drive over, it seemed. Not that she probably looked very reliable when compared to the other current members of the team.

While Tian-Gui sprung into action, she was happily munching on fries and watching. Smashing through a window like that was just so damn cool, eliciting a squeal of excitement from the teenage girl. Practicality means nothing in the face of heroism. Spectacle is king! Right? She actually got lost in cheering her teammates on for a while as they made their cool entrances and attacks, before she remembered herself.

Runa walked out through the broken window with a determined look on her face. "Has anyone tried just punching the damn thing yet," she asked, getting into a bit of a fighting stance. Now she really didn't look as reliable or heroic as some of the others, cutting a far less imposing figure than the floating coffin or armored hero. She didn't wait for an answer before she dashed right at the monster. The flesh of her left hand hardened and whitened, her skin growing into segmented armor as her fingertips elongated into bladed claws, which she drove right for the Abyssal's three-lobed, burning eye.
 
Well, they were a lot less awesome than she imagined in her mind, but the company of those other three, well, four, was pleasant nonetheless! It was probably the first time ever that Kyouko Hiruma felt kinda shy, feeling herself less worth than the other members, and considering recent events she didn't want to share too much of herself anyways.

Their meal, which was now nearly empty, was cut short however upon the arrival of some sort of threat, an abyssal apparently, that they were supposed to beat up anyways. So...it came for them? Or something. Was this her big trial? The moment she would truly make it or break it? But...the food! "Goddamnit! You can't just let food go to waste~" Standing up and grabbing a chair she followed the rest outside just to witness Tian's transformation. Now what was that about being awesome again. "Holy shit that was bonkers! Will I learn to be so friggin' awesome too?!" Like, seriously, her own super great transformation would be great! Maybe some high-ass technology thing could do that for her? Well, for now all she had was this chair...but it should do, after all she was now a hero!

In agreement with Runa's 'advice' of just hitting it she followed the girl, though a lot slower she made a leap forward with the purpose of slamming the chair onto the beast. "HYPER KYOUKO FINAL!!!!!" Using her super duper awesome move which only solid part was yelling out some sort of attack the brown-hair was sure to leave an ever-lasting impression if she did some serious smacking with that!
 
Despite it's monstrous form and Ling's damaging strike, the creature didn't seem in the least bit enraged or focused on the ethereal mage. In fact, it seemed quite collected and considerate in its motions, taking the arcane hit before turning to the exiting heroic occupants of the grill. With its three, unblinking red eyes, it seemed to turn between all five of the heroes, as if analyzing them. The lightning that struck its body stopped just short of the black surface before jetting outwards. One of the lightning arcs surged right towards Iphie, though fizzled into thin air just short of her body.

As Runa and Kyouko charged forth, the Abyssal leaned low before springing up on its six legs, lifting the black-bodied beast into the air for but a second as it spun slowly. Avoiding their strikes, the Abyssal landed but a few feet from the two girls, and already spinning, turned it a sweeping slash at the both of them. Runa was fortunate enough to have the reflexes to avoid it, though Kyouko had no such luck. The black talon smacked into her stomach, flinging her into the nearest upturned vehicle down the street. Upon impact, she was shorn of consciousness, and lied as a slump against the car.
 
A drawn out sigh could be heard from Ling as his arm fell to his side and the Coffin drifted closer to the ground as if bummed out. 'It's Tian fault...' He just had to fire up one of the new recruits didn't he, and look at where that'd gotten her...

"Well shit…" His tone was resigned and tired as he watched the situation take a nosedive almost immediately. Their new members' enthusiasm wasn't unwanted, but one had nearly gotten electrocuted by her own redirected attack and the other was imprinted in the remains of a car. He wasn't quite sure why the brunette had chosen the chair either… His hand rose up once more and traced a circle in the air next to his head before he glanced at the new member to his side. "Right then. Iphigenia. Go make sure Kyouko isn't dead please?" Unsaid was that he would rather not have her making more attempts to electrocute the creature if they'd only be turned against the girl and possibly him given their proximity.

If the girl had any complaints about the directions given, well Ling had already turned his attention elsewhere. Spheres formed around him once more he called out to the two that were before the creature, the air distorting around him from the low tone and volume. "Tian, charge incoming! Runa, distract and hold (in place)!" With a forward gesture most of the spheres shot forward once more towards his teammates back but came to a halt around Tian this time. Whenever he was ready the spheres could be grabbed and absorbed, but Ling also kept an eye out for the Abyssals movements. If it made an attempt at any of the five, there were a few projectiles ready to knock it aside or at the very least distract the creature.
 
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Runa nimbly hopped backwards to be just out of range of the Abyssal's blow, although the other girl wasn't so lucky. She managed a worried shout of "Kyouko1?" and a quick glance in the direction the girl had been thrown, and was caught midway to rushing to her aid by Ling's orders. She's not going to ignore the spooky ghost guy, so she left the new member to others and focused on the enemy at hand.

Although...she could also feel Tian's glare boring into her back, so she paused long enough to strike a bit of a pose. "Um...I'm Final White!" That duty disposed of, despite the fact that she wasn't really all that white, and unlike the other two senior members, wasn't even in armor or otherwise making the slightest effort to really conceal her identity. At least distracting a monster was something easy to do. She already had its attention, so she just had to keep it.

"Alright you overgrown bug!" Runa shouted, "Let's play for a while!" She moved back in on the offensive, appearing to be going for another direct attack. Behind her, her hair fanned out and extended into a number of long, thin tentacles which arced around her toward the Abyssal, several of them aiming for each of its legs. If it was immobilizing, she'd have to tie it up somehow. And while she couldn't exactly spin a web, she could manage hell of a creative approach to grabbing it. Putting a little of her own body on the line was nothing to worry about, if it worked.
 
A reflective attack? And the speed to dodge both the strikes of Runa and Kyouko? While it was clear that the latter's finesse was clearly not on par with her heroic spirit, the enemy that they faced was an individual that could deal with both, and somehow reflect the lightning strike from Iphie at the same time. Slipping past his mark, the monster lashed out with furious strength, smashing into the short-haired rookie and sending her into a car with a thump.

She didn't get up, and Tian-Gui's eyes narrowed.

For a moment, he wanted to blame Mason or whomever for recruiting a girl who had no speed, strength, magical prowess, or endurance, but then, he realized that she was just what he had been in the past. Someone who wanted to be a hero enough that they'd do anything for a chance to stand on the same pedestal as them. It wasn't she that had failed the Final Five. It was he who had failed to protect her, even as her senior.

The pavement cracked as he took his first step onwards, the balls of arcane energy brought forth by Ling being sucked into the furnace that was the Flamestone. A blue flame burned in his eyes, Runa's tentacles rushing past him as he approached the abbysal. They lashed out with a vicious crack, and, even though the car-sized being had managed to evade most of it, its last legs were tripped up, and the abyssal fell onto the ground.

It was an opportunity granted by the allies that trusted him to protect them, and, with a roar, he slammed his gauntleted fist into the ground.

"EAT THIS! FLAMESTONE ERUPTOR!"

A golden pillar burst out from underneath the streets, red flames seeping from the cracks as it slammed into the monster's body, sending it flying a dozen feet into the air.

"GOOOOOO, FINAL BLUE!!!"
 
The failed attack was of little consequence to Iphigenia, and she was no worse for the wear. Regardless, because of the direction and rapidity of the deflected attack, she still flinched at the oncoming flash. Unfortunately, the other new member did not have similar fortune and had been dashed against a damaged car, looking quite miserable. Iphie made a pained face; if that was a sign of things to come, she was not going to enjoy the outcome of this battle.

She glanced at Ling, who seemed to her –somehow- that he was looking in her direction. "I don't dish out what I can't take myself," she shrugged. After all, nothing but the highest levels of electricity affected her in adverse ways. Iphigenia stopped herself short of commenting that she was a programmer, not a doctor, but she knew that wouldn't be getting her any points from anybody anytime soon. With a sigh, she vaulted over the hood of a car, crossing the distance to her unconscious comrade before examining Kyouko's body.

Iphigenia was not an expert in first-aid, but she knew enough to check for a pulse on the wrist, which she was able to positively confirm. From slapping the brown haired girl's face around, though, it didn't seem like she was going to wake up any time soon. She resisted the urge to pour the remainder of her drink on the fallen girl's face to wake her up, settling with taking a picture of the girl with her cell phone.

"Well, she's not dead," informed Iphie helpfully, turning back to the group.

She had half a mind to put a new spin on her earlier idea, using the four lampposts to create a high-voltage, electrical cage in series. With that arrangement, if it were broken or reflected, the entire thing would go down instead of arcing outwards at random people. The idea was put on hold, however, as Runa and Tian-Gui paired up, sending the abyssal flying into the air, ripe for who she assumed would be Ling to drop-smash back into the pavement.

Iphie took a sip of her tea.
 
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He shook his head slowly as Runa succumbed to the pressure of Tian, but it would have been accompanied with a small smile had he the lips to make such an expression. Well maybe not since it wouldn't have been appropriate for the situation.

That aside, the younger girl listened to him well enough and he tensed as the creature fell, ready to intercept any counter attack. When no such action was made by the Abyssal and Tian capitalized on the creature's moment of vulnerability instead, Ling quickly spread his arms open to prepare. The few spheres that had been held in reserve dissipated into azure motes which drifted upwards. As the creature was launched up by Tian's pillar, a magic circle expanded into existence in the sky above. Only faintly visible, it quickly lit up as a beacon in the afternoon sky, azure light filling the lines as he poured magic into the spell.

"Good," he responded to Iphigenia even as he focused on the task of completing his spell. The array's lines were filled at last and several pulses signified it was primed and ready to fire. With that he brought his hands together and in response, the array above the creature shrank until its glow was bright enough to blot out the sun. This wasn't the typical beam that would burn away the target and everything around it, but a focused strike to punch a hole through the Abyssal. He watched as it flew through the air and as an uncovered spot was exposed, he brought both hands downwards.

"Final Blue's Heaven Buster!" The array cracked and abruptly shattered into little pieces, but at the same moment a faint line was drawn from its position to the ground beneath it. And then it multiplied many times in intensity, burning away at anything caught within. The Abyssal's body proved to be no different as the spell bore a hole clean through the creature before it was slammed down onto the street with enough force to shatter and crack the ground by whatever force that hadn't simply penetrated it.
 
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Lifting up on rickety legs, it was apparent, if only for a moment, that the creature was taking quite the beating. The satisfaction of knowing the abyssal was hurting however quickly faded as its supernatural body exercised itself as perfectly as the moment it first appeared. Abyssals were known for lacking any sense of pain, and even less of a care for vocalizing it; they were dead silent throughout their destructive forays, regardless of the red beams of doom they unleashed and the streets they upheaved with mere footsteps.

The creature took a few steps forward out of the crater that had been created and shook itself of rubble. Its three red eyes stared down the Final Five once again, unblinking and strangely intelligent. It took one more step and...

Clink.

The sound of some mechanism opening broke through the briefly silent atmosphere. The leg that the abyssal raised paused in midair, and all at once, the metal bindings that wrapped around it fell apart, swinging on their hinges as the locks separated with a hiss. From there, it seemed the whole thing became instantly undone; or rather, the abyssal realized it was partly free and expended its energy in ridding of the rest. A pulse of energy surged through the street as the abyssal groaned with power. The ground shook briefly and the cars nearby slid an inch in the direction of the abyssal.

The air shrieked as a supernatural, invisible energy returned to the abyssal, empowering it. Returning to its senses, the abyssal's gaze shifted straight to Tian, and with a quick whistle followed by a piercing scream, a red beam shot out towards the juggernaut of the group. Too fast to move out of the way, it impacted his body and forced him back several dozen feet, blasting his body with searing heat... and it was growing in intensity.

Tian was spared from having his defenses broken, but the defenses wouldn't last long if the laser couldn't be redirected soon.
 
Tian-Gui was uncertain how close they were to downing the beast, but it did feel like they were getting close to tearing it down. The Heaven's Eruptor combo with Ling had dealt no little amount of damage to the abyssal, and, as long as they kept this pace up, the situation should be under control in just a few more minutes. It was unnerving to see the Abyssal act as if everything was still fine, but then again…Tian-Gui had no complaints. The monster was leagues above any of the supervillains that the Final Three had fought with in the past, and, even if it was weakened, it was still a vastly different experience.

Then, the armored man noticed something. There was a crack in the harness.

The device that was supposedly used to 'control' the Abyssal was breaking, and, as if capitalizing on its malfunction, it shattered the rest of its bonds, a tremor passing underneath. The monster had regained its powers, and, despite the cold sweat breaking down his back and the goosebumps rising up his arms, Tian-Gui couldn't help but smile underneath his impassive mask as it turned its killing gaze towards him.

Come.

Before he could react, a beam of energy smashed into him, bowling him over and sending him tumbling onto the pavement for a few dozen feet. Gritting his teeth and digging his hands and feet down into the cracked concrete, the wielder of the Flamestone found his footing again as his armor began to bubble from the searing heat. It hurt. It hurt more than the vicious blows of Lotte, who had beaten him over and over again while Citadel made wisecracks about his masochism. His joints were creaking and his blood was boiling, his armor slowly giving away at the true power of the Abyssal.

But regardless, Tian-Gui was happy. If he was being attacked, and if he was withstanding it, that meant that he was doing his job. That meant that no one was going to suffer the same fate as Kyouko. That meant that, even if he was greviously injured, he could laugh at it. Because he was a hero, and if no one else was hurt in exchange for the shedding of his own blood, Tian-Gui was fine with it.

One thunderous step echoed above the shrieking storm and the horn-like blare of the beam, as Tian-Gui forced himself to take a step forward. Against the overbearing force and his own screaming muscles, he took another, and another, and another, each step pushing into the melted pavement as he forced himself towards the Abyssal.

"COME ON, YOU MONSTER!" He roared in challenge. "LOTTE'S LOVE TAPS HURT MORE THAN THIS!"

As a reply, the beam suddenly increased in intensity, driving him back ten more steps before he could recover, the plating of his armor beginning to crack, lances of heat boring into his bare skin. But no, he would not be bowed here.

This was no place to be giving up.

"Kyouko! Wake up and witness the true form of a hero! Unbowed to pain and suffering, whilst resolutely striding forwards! So what the hell are you doing, lying down after a single strike? Well, Hero of the Chaos Witch Incident? What are you waiting for?"

He took a deep, deep breath of air that burnt his lungs, before taking another thunderous step forward, even as his whole body was pushed back.

"GET THE FUCK UP!!!!"
 
Things were nicely going from bad to worse. Looks like the most the team had accomplished so far was the one thing they weren't supposed to do, and it had Runa in a bit of a panic. Not that she was losing her head and running around. More just looking VERY uneasy, as she lacked the capacity to maintain a poker face some of the other members had. Tian's performance was inspiring, as he not only survived that blast, but continued to stand and move forward, calling out to their fallen companion even as his red armor burned. However, it was clear even he wouldn't last forever.

She threw herself forward in a dive, and quickly rolled under the Abyssal's head. Planting her hands firmly on the ground the inhuman girl put the full strength of her folded body behind a kick aimed at the monster above her. The blow knocks the monster's aim up a few feet, causing the beam to sweep skyward. With its target missed, the Abyssal stops the beam and focuses its attention on Runa. "That's more like it," Runa shouted at it as she quickly hops back to her feet. "Don't forget you're not facing just one opponent!" Not that the thing likely understood her at all, or like she would likely be able to weather that sort of attack outside of letting it go right through her. The important thing was taking the attention off Tian before he ended up in far worse shape. Runa raised her hands in a fighting stance as she prepared to face the Abyssal's counterattack.
 
"For fuck's sake." The air shimmered around Ling as he snarled, watching the Abyssal regain its footing without issue. Not only did the creature not have the courtesy to just die after that, but the damning sound of something breaking was clear. It wasn't like the Abyssal made any sounds to drown it out and it was quickly followed by a multitude of clicks and hisses as the harness seemed to unlock. Which was then promptly blown off as a wave power rolled off the supernatural creature and forced Ling's hovering body backwards.

He might have winced if it was possible for him as a horrific noise tore through the air before it counter attacked and sent Tian through the air. The attack didn't seem to even abate after the man had crashed down and tore a path through the road, and though he seemed to endure it for the moment there was no telling how long he'd hold. At least Tian seemed well enough as his "enthusiasm", if that was the right word for it, was not dulled in the slight but boltstered. Step by step, he pushed back against the creature and Ling would make sure his efforts weren't for nought.

Screw Abyssals though. At least most things in this world at least showed how close they were to death. Tian's roaring speech aside, maybe the heat was actually getting to his head, it seemed Runa intervened just in time to take the heat off their companion. As the two ran diversion on the creature, Ling raised a shadowy claw towards the creature and a number of spheres formed around him once more. This time rather than keeping their shape, the projectiles extended into thinner arrow-like forms and energy arced from their surfaces.

With a flick of his hand the Lancers were launched, but to disappointing results. Despite being engaged by Runa in melee, or maybe a mistake on his part, the attacks only managed to glance off the creature and flew past harmlessly as a result. 'Fucking hell...' Tian was probably going to give him a mouthful after this, and he hoped that he hadn't drawn the creature's attention with that. He'd probably be instantly vaporized by its attack unlike his hardier companions.
 
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"...ko! Ky...ko! Kyouko!" - "...?" That voice...was it? "M...Mi..." - "Kyouko!" - "Miku?!" The brown-haired girl opened her eyes, in front of her a was a rather idyllic scene. A nicely furnished girly room with a slight japanese flavour, Miku's room. "Jeez! How are you going to improve your if all you do is doze off?" Miku giggled. Apparently the two of them had one of their pseudo-study sessions. So...that meant...the brunette had a crazy dream? The last thing she remembered was getting rekt. But now, she was here...back in reality? "Is something wrong?" Miku asked in confusion towards the absent-minded Kyouko. "...Miku?" The small heroine could still not believe it, thinking back it was like she had woken up from a long and annoying nightmare, tears started to roll down her cheeks! "Miku!" Stumbling over the small table the *Hero of the Chaos Witch Incident' hugged her best friend. "K-Kyouko?!" The black-haired friend was clearly surprised, as this was an odd behaviour for the energetic wannabe hero. Hugging her more tightly Kyouko spoke up. "Promise me to never leave me behind! Please!" She already lost Miku once, and while that was just a dream it still felt real enough... .

"Promise you?" Miku's voice responded, or was it? It sounded...kinda off. "To be eternally together?" A creepy laugh erupted from her. "M-Miku?" Moving her body back to get a better look at Miku, Kyouko froze in fear. "Kyouko-chan, what's the matter?" Her beautiful blue eyes were now replaced by empty hollow sockets. Her beautiful skin torn and rotten, revealing some bones between her now torn clothing. Her small and tender smile was replaced by an emotionless frown if not for the long cuts at the corner of her mouths deep into her cheeks. Kyouko started to yell, she yelled and took a few steps back, stumbling over the table onto her bottom. "What's the matter Kyouko-chan? Didn't you wish for us to be together?" Her frown changed to a real, evil, smile. Taking a step towards Kyouko she continued. "It's still possible, y'know? Even after YOU KILLED ME!"

'You killed me', 'Liar', 'It's your fault', 'Liar', 'You should have died instead of me', 'Liar', 'You are a failure', 'Liar', 'Liar', 'Murderer'. It was like hundreds of Miku's were yelling all those things directly into her ears. Kyouko opened her mouth, wanted to yell that they should stop, that she was sorry, but all of her words were deformed into similar curses.

"GET THE FUCK UP!!!!"

And then the world she was in was brightened up, a radiant force similiar to a sun shattered the very scene before her that she was forced to witness just a eternity ago. The source of the light was just a single person, a hero amongst heroes, the armored Tian-Gui Jian. No further words had to be exchanged, no further thoughts had to be taken. All Kyouko had to do was to grab his outstretched hand... .
The girl opened her eyes, her entire body hurt... "Urgh..." She was still...alive? But just now... Trying to stand up she started to cough. Blood, and not a tiny amount of it. Fuck. That thing got her for good... but she was still alive. Collecting herself for a few seconds Kyouko looked around... just like in her Nightmare, the armored hero was seriously glowing, and with her attention soon redirected at the rampaging monster it was clear they weren't finished yet. Fuck. She really put on a shameful display. Was this Abyssal just insanely strong or was the wannabe hero just pathetically weak? If this was what the future was holding for her she had to... "Buuueeerrrrghhh...." ...not vomit. At least she didn't hit anything vital.

Leaving the small puddle of blood aside, Kyouko was finally raising again. The pain wasn't that bad by now, or maybe her senses were numb enough by now that she didn't even realize how much that one hit hurt. Regardless, she had to put on a good show. She had to! This was her once in a life-time chance, and if she was to fail here now. Trying her best to raise her voice the brunette continued. "Pfff! As if such a petty attack could harm me!" But seriously, was there nothing she could do? Her super heroic hero attack hadn't worked before and getting close once again was...not advisable. "Miku..." Murmuring those words, she honestly wished her best friend would stand besides her.[/hr]
 
As it was, what appeared to be the conclusion of the day's story quickly turned into a textbook definition of a bloody clusterfuck. Instead of the majestic drop slam finishing the fight as Iphigenia has expected, it had merely angered the beast, breaking its shell and unleashing a pandora's box of unholy power. And with this new development, she looked like a damned fool sipping a plastic cup like a child. Throwing away the drink in disgust, she watched as Tian took the full blast of the laser and was thankfully relieved by Runa's timely intervention.

With the situation only improving from horrid to 'slightly, maybe marginally less horrid' as Runa and Ling created diversions, Iphie knew she had to act. But the electric girl did not forget what had happened earlier; unless she was certain that the beast would not reflect her attacks, she could not perform at her full potential against the abyssal that refused to die. But there must be some sort of caveat for the beast losing its restraints, right? Maybe like losing its to deflect her attacks? Well, there was one way to find out safely.

"Don't stand between the lamps! I'm going to try to cage it in!" Warning the others of her impending action, she once again focused on the nearby lights, focusing and pouring energy into them. As she did so, the lamps began to burst and break one after the other as the poles they hung from became supercharged with electricity. Letting the posts stew for a moment, she finally released this energy, letting large arcs of lightning arc between each post, containing the beast like an electric fence. She had her doubts about the physical and electrical integrity of the posts, but if they held against the abyssal, then that was that, and hopefully they would be free to pummel the thing into submission. If not, then the lightning wouldn't harm anybody and she would have bought the others a modicum of time and an assessment for how far she could go without electrocuting her own allies.

Finishing her handiwork, Iphigenia was surprised to hear and see Kyouko awake, let alone standing. Clearly, her injury was not as grave as it seemed, but Iphie still didn't know if she was out for the count yet. It took her a moment to recall the girl's name, but when she did, she called out to check on her status.

"Kyouko! How are holding up?"
 
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