LHC Official Unofficial CF Archival Thing

[Sariel of Tevet]

Infiltration Team

Oh, so it was time for talk then? Ephantus supposed t couldn't hurt. Now that he was here in Crosswind's lair, it could be beneficial to learn from the man before Ephantus disintegrated him.

It also occurred to Ephantus that his new..."allies" might not appreciate his association with Crosswind. Eliminating them would probably be a rather big pain as well.

"I am here for my own benefit, Crosswind." Ephantus answered. "Curiosity brought me here. After all, my sources never did tell me what exactly happened to Project Midnight." The machine-intelligence boomed. "Considering I sank so many resources into the Project will little to sjow for it in the end." His cyclopian eye glowed red as he fixed Crosswind with a look.

"Most unsatisfactory."


Interference Team

"There are two of them." leske muttered in horror, staring at the Dayman. "Of course there are two of them."

For the sake of his own sanity, Leske decided that it would be best to just ignore the Dayman and Sailor as much as he possibly could. SO with that in mind he turned his attention back to the random, chaotic violence of destroying a city for the sake of distraction.

And noticed Horror, Sark and the Nightman. "I don't know who those guys are," Leske raised his gun, aiming at Sark, "But this is seriously not their day." He fired.

[Sariel of Tevet]

Infiltration

Jereman frowned. "Don't know? I thought you knew...assumed you of all people would - " He broke off, acutely aware of the others in the room. "Hm. I suppose it doesn't matter if they know. I've been trying to distance myself from them for some time now, but the Director...she doesn't like to let go of assets. Well, liabilities more like." Then he frowned at Ephantus again.

"We were contracted to build that...that Void Wave Bomb by some nutjob group called the Purifiers. We weren't finished with it when the government decided enough was enough. I was...away on business at the time." He shivered. "You know, they say she set it off knowing what ti would do? Turned the whole country to Obsidian. I thought she was gone, too, having been right at the center of the blast. But Sylvia...and Haley...there are a lot of Project: Midnight experiments just wandering around the world, it seems. Former employees, too." He flashed a quick smile.

"At least I know you aren't here to kill me...no, that isn't true, is it? Whatdya say, Ephantus?" He nodded towards Kayla, Geirhald, and Izaak. "Help an old friend out?"

[Sariel of Tevet]

Koko whacked Cale a few more times with her frying pan, "I'm not a dog, either! And it's KOKO. No mo! So mean..." large tears welled up in her blue eyes and she sniffled slightly, large ears drooping, "I'm a cat. And my name's Koko."

Scarlet, still perched on Vespi's bike, looked on in absolute horror at the sight before her, "What. The actual. Hell."
I have seen a lot of strange things, but that... That's worse than strange. And I think I'm going to be sick.

She turned her crimson gaze away from... that, and towards the three villains who had decided to make their presence known.

"Hm. This could actually be a bit problematic," before she could fully voice her concerns, the atmosfaerie had sped off again, with Scarlet still clinging to the back of the bike.

Charging straight in are we, dear? I'll give you full points for tenacity, but against opponents of which you have no knowledge, this is not a wise plan.

The shadow demon slipped off the bike and into the shadows, watching carefully. If things started looking bad for the atmosfaerie, Scarlet would be able to warp her to safety from this position. ...Not that she cared, she reminded herself, because she really didn't. ... Really.

[Sariel of Tevet]

Alias
The rebuilding of the city had not surprised Alias. Of course something else was going to happen that had not made sense, but it was the way of the rebuilding that caught his eye. Soon though, Alias had to ignore the special occurrence, and pay attention to the odd headed man.

Distrustful of the machine that the lettuce head man was implying Alias could "work the guns" on. It was a surprise that this "Jeremiah" had decided to free him of all things. Upon hearing his story... Alias then understood. Walking past Jeremiah to the plane contraption, he made a slight hissing noise before getting in the gunner seat and waiting for a minute before acknowledging his savior again. "What do I- how do I use... guns?" His learning the meaning behind new words would have been fascinating if Jeremiah had actually known Alias was having trouble with speaking certain words he had never used in the first place.

Clay

Eyes shone with interest under Clay's mask. It was a little stretch of time from when he left the water Elemental and The Lizardman with a band of at least two bandits and three mercenaries, so basically five others. Not extremely well trained in the art of swordplay or gunmanship, but they were no pushovers either. It was simple, locate the disturbances in the city, eliminate or capture whatever the creatures that were making the destruction are. Then get back and run more tests on the creatures they had already captured. If they could be killed easily, or even just killed in general if you were talking about the elemental, Clay wanted to know how.

Noise sounded about the streets around in the distance, and they quickly made their way through the city. Using all of his knowledge of this place to find where the noises had come from for that time they were sounding out.

[Sariel of Tevet]

INFILTRATION TEAM

As Kayla struggled to breathe under the pressure of a second atmosphere, she frantically tried to think of a way out of her predicament. I'm still not quite sure what types of magic I know, but maybe I could...? She closed her eyes and tried to concentrate, this time imagining the extra atmosphere being forced out of her bubble. Slowly, she could feel the pressure begin to be relieved, though it did not completely dissipate. I guess wind magic isn't my strong suit.

Though she was still under more pressure than usual, she was at least able to move. Seeing that Ephantus seemed to be distracting Jereman, she raised her sword to strike again. Just before she brought her blade down, however, she suddenly felt an intense pain within her head. She cried out, dropping her sword, then fell to her knees while clutching the sides of her head with her hands. "What's... happening... to me?!?" She screamed again as the pain became even sharper, and she could feel something forcing its way into her mind. Nearly blinded from the pain, she yelled out, "C-Cale! What's going on?!?"

VILLAINS

Sark smirked at what looked like a very half-hearted attempt on his life, and took Leske's attack full force. Many of the bullets passed all the way through him, but most became embedded within his body. His smirk turned into a full-blown grin, and he shouted, "I certainly hope that was not your best shot. Are you not the Leske I read about in the Project Midnight records? They made you out to be a mysterious and powerful entity- a 'journeyer,' as they decided to call you- but if you cannot do better than mere firearms, I will be quite disappointed." Slowly, the bullet holes began to disappear.

"Horror," he responded to his ally, "you asked me what I've done in my time? Ha! My time crosses millennia, and it would be impossible to list all of the deeds I have performed during my life! At any rate, is a mere plague supposed to impress me? I have hunted all living beings to the brink of of extinction more times than I can recall! Even in the short time since I have I have awoken, I have set into motion events which will make me the most powerful being in existence!"

He outstretched an arm towards Leske, and made a finger-gun as his theme once again blasted forth from all directions. "And no simple gun wizard is going to stop me." As the last syllable left his mouth, his finger burst open, and all of the bullets that he had absorbed flew back in Leske's direction.

INTERFERENCE TEAM

By the time Koko finished her most recent frying pan barrage, Cale's face was covered in purple, fish-shaped marks, some of which were beginning to drip blood. Unfazed, he ruffled the cat-lady's hair. "Don't be sad, Kokomo. Here, I think I might have a tennis ball with me..." He reached into his coat pocket, and retrieved not a ball, but a delicious-looking fish, which appeared to be fresh off the stove. With a frown he remarked sadly, "Huh. Well, this is not a ball. Sorry." He tossed the fish over his shoulder, and it flopped onto the Dayman's codpiece. He then turned to address the increasing number of beings nuzzling into him.

Cale began to sing, "Don't worry.... about a thing. Cause every little thing.... is gonna be alright!" He patted Fenris on the head, then kicked him and Horror's minions away. "Right, so anyway..." He turned and spotted Leske a short distance away, shooting at something farther down the street. He started his chopper, then rode up to join the gun-toting Storm Rider.

When Sark spotted the young Efrun, his grin grew into a full-toothed smile. "Aaaaaah, Cale! I was wondering when you were going to show up!"

The squid-rider cocked his head to the side in confusion. "Do... do I know you?"

Sark raised an eyebrow, but after a moment his expression changed to one of realization. "Ah, I see now. The process of becoming linked to the Rifts must have sealed away your memories." He vanished, then reappeared right beside Cale. "Here, allow me to help with that. If I'm right, this should automatically restore your sister's memory as well." He flicked Cale in the forehead, causing the squid-rider to stagger backwards several feet, then fall to his knees while grabbing his head in agony.

"AAARRRGH! WHAT DID YOU... DO TO ME?!?"

The vampire lord crossed his arms. "Oh, just give it a moment."

Cale could now feel something entering his mind. Images... sounds... memories.

FOUR DAYS EARLIER

"It's always so nice when the two of you come home to visit," Mrs. Efrun said happily, setting her cup of tea on the coffe table which sat between herself and her children.

Her daughter, Kayla, took a sip from her own beverage before responding, "I agree, and I'm really glad that Cale and I were both able to get the time off from school. I still can't believe it's been two whole years since I started studying at the Academy!"

"I wish you didn't have to go all the way to a different country for school, but it is the best place to learn magic. Or anything, for that matter."

Kayla's twin brother, Cale, grinned and added, "Like fighting!"

"I still don't understand why you picked the Colliseum," grumbled the twins' father, GOLDBEZ KLEIN EFRUN. "That country has a school for literally everything, and you of course decided to go to the one that just trains warriors. You're twenty years old, son. It's time you started thinking realistically about your future."

Cale shrugged. "Maybe I want to be like Grandpa! I am named after him, and since you almost never answer any questions about him, I might be able to find out more by following in his footsteps!"

His mother's eyes widened, and KLEIN's expression grew dark. "You will NOT be like my father." KLEIN growled, "Your mother and I have spent your entire lives doing everything we could to prevent that from happening!"

Before Cale could respond, Kayla suddenly stood up. "Hey Cale," she said, "why don't we go buy some groceries? I just remembered that we're out of... stuff."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "What? We've got plenty of stuff! Hell, we bought some on the way over he- OW OW OW!" She pulled on his spiky, silver hair to get him to stop talking.

"No, you're thinking of the things, not stuff. C'mon."

He grunted and stood up. "Guess we'll be back in a bit," he said to their parents.

As soon as the twins had left their home, KLEIN slammed his fist on the table that sat beside his chair. "Damn it! Can the Efrun family not escape this fate?" His wife stood, approached him, and began massaging his shoulders.

"Come now, dear," she soothed, "just because he wants to be like his grandfather doesn't mean it will actually happen. We've done everything we could to steer them away from that path, and just learning to fight isn't necessarily going to-"

"You don't believe that any more than I do," he interrupted. "The two of them look identical to my father. Cale's learning to fight, and Kayla... she may be learning magic to heal people, but that has combat applications as well. Don't forget, my grandparents tried to give their son a normal life too." He sighed and added, "And it doesn't help that those two are always armed to the teeth wherever they go."

"You know that can't be helped," his wife responded. "Don't forget where we live, dear. Walking outside unarmed is just asking for trouble."

"Trouble has a way of finding you in this place, whether you ask for it or not." He scratched the back of his head, and felt the stubs of tentacles hidden beneath his silver hair- inherited from his father, of course. "Especially for members of the Efrun family."

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"You really shouldn't say stuff like that around Dad," Kayla scolded her brother as they neared the local supermarket. "He hates the idea of us becoming adventurers."

"He doesn't have to like it- it's in our blood," Cale replied. "Or at least, I assume it is. We know only a little bit about Grandpa, but I'm willing to bet that our family history is a lot more interesting than Dad allows us to know. By the way, what sort of stuff are we buying here?"

She shrugged. "I'm sure we could find something to bring back."

"I could really go for a bagel right about n- WHOAH!"

When they entered the store, they simultaneously stopped to stare at the chaos within. A large crowd was gathered close to the checkout lines, staring in shock and awe at a swirling mass of darkness near the front of the building.

Kayla pointed at it and exclaimed, "That... is that some kind of portal?!?" Before she even finished her question, Cale was already running towards it. "Hey! Get back here!" She ran after him, and they both stopped a few feet away fromt he rift. "What do you think you're doing?"

Cale's response was to point at the center of the portal, where a sentence floated, composed of golden, magical letters. "Enter through here, and have your greatest desires granted...?" Kayla read out loud. "Cale, this is obviously a trap of some sort."

He grinned and took a step forward. "That's what I'm hoping for."

"Come again?"

"Grandpa once said that every good story starts off with a bad decision. So walking into an obvious trap must be the beginning of a great story, right?"

"That... that may just be the dumbest thing you've ever said. Do you even understand how dangerous this is?"

He shrugged. "I'm carrying enough weapons to arm an entire party. You're not exactly defenseless yourself, either." It was true. Cale had two swords at his sides, a bow on his back, a dagger strapped to his leg, and a revolver in a chest holster. Kayla, meanwhile, had several energy weapons concealed within her jacket.

"Think about Mom and Dad," she pleaded. "How do you think they would feel if we up and disappeared?"

Another shrug. "We'll just have to tell them about the amazing adventure we had when we get back." Before she could protest further, he dove headfirst into the portal and disappeared.

"Dammit, Cale!" She immediately jumped in after her brother, and the rift closed behind her.

INTERFERENCE TEAM

Once the pain subsided, Cale smirked. "I'm gonna take a wild guess and say that you're the one that laid the trap?"

Sark frowned. "Was it that obvious?" He looked back in Horror's direction. "As I was mentioning before- I devised a plan to make myself the most powerful life form in existence. You see, when I awoke from my most recent slumber, I found myself inside of that decrepit Project Midnight facility. On a whim I chose to search the remaining archives and see what meager research the project had done. To my surprise, I found something most... useful." He struck a pose and pointed one finger into the air before continuing.

"Really I have you to thank, Leske. You see, when you first visited this land all those years ago- though I get the feeling it wasn't nearly so long ago for you- you left behind traces of your strange magic. Project Midnight managed to collect data from these traces before they disappeared. They combined this with technology they had developed to attempt to create a magical device which would allow them to transcend the boundaries of time and space and visit other dimensions, as you do so casually. Evidently, their first experiment was a catastrophic failure. The Rift generated by the machine was unstable, and the moment someone tried to pass through it, it became a black hole of sorts, sucking all of the life energy out of the target world, leaving it completely barren." He struck another pose, looking quite triumphant.

"Those nearsighted fools didn't understand the implications of their creation. I did, however, so I modified the device to achieve something that those inferior life forms working for Project Midnight could not have even begun to imagine. When activated, the device created Rifts on not one, but hundreds of other worlds, all linking back here. I designed it so that, once those worlds collapse, the machine will reroute the collected energy directly to me. Of course, I still needed someone to attempt to traverse a Rift, and so I laid a trap. One which lured in young Cale here, as well as his sister. The magical energy required to transport the two of you here was not enough to tip the first domino and cause the worlds to fall, however. Instead, your life energies became connected to the void between dimensions. If you both were to die, that energy would pass back through the Rift, thereby triggering the collapse."

"And so..." He slowly approached Cale, and balled his hand into a fist. "Die." Sark punched the squid-rider, sending him sailing backwards and into a building, then through that building and into the next, ultimately leveling the city block. "You know, Leske, without you or the twins, none of this would have been possible. I really do appreciate the help."

[Sariel of Tevet]

Infiltration Team


For a moment, a very brief moment, Ephantus considered just blasting the Crosswind away. But no, the man could answer all of his questions and he was indeed a former ally that Ephantus could confirm as powerful and reliable. Also he was beginning to really dislike these "heroes" he was tagging along with.

"I say..." Ephantus began, "That your remaining existence is more useful than you extermination."
Ephantus slowly turned to face Izaak and Geirhald. He powered up his laser again.

Ephantus
HP: 59678/59678
MP: 2790/2790
Abilities: Laser Canon Barrage, Nanite Possession, Warform

Ephantus fired his lasers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Interference Team

"Is this guy for real?" Leske growled, hearing Sark's monologue. He glared at the bullets that Sark shot back at him and drew a pistol, stoping each bullet in mid-air with his own shots.

"I don't know, or really care who you are, pal." Leske yelled, charging at Sark. Leske was vaguely concerned that Sark had just sent Cale flying through several buildings. "But I'm not just some gun wizard, pal."


Leske used his magic to teleport, appearing behind Sark. He aimed his gun point blank at the villain's head. "I'm a Traveler. Trained by the best mage in existence." He fired. Not just any old bullet, however. Leske, on rare occasions when necessary, could pack his ammunition full of mana, that detonated on impact with an aetheric backlash that corroded and burned.

It occurred to him at the last moment that being so close to such an explosion might not have been a good move, but meh. He could roll with it.

[Sariel of Tevet]

Interference

Stratus picked Koko up by the nape of her neck and took her off of his head, and began to cuddle her.

"Noooooooooooooooo!!! Kitty! Don't cry! You are with the biggest and baddest atmosfaerie in this whole gang! And besides!"

He hugged Koko tight and began to dance around in circles.

"Nothing's gonna harm you, not while I'm around.
Nothing's gonna harm you, no sir, not while I'm around.

Demons are prowling everywhere, nowadays,
I'll send 'em howling,
I don't care, I got ways"

He picked the fish up off the ground, which had turned back raw after colliding with The Dayman's codpiece and wiped Koko's tears with it.

"No one's gonna hurt you,
No one's gonna dare.
Others can desert you,
Not to worry, whistle, I'll be there."

He knelt down and pulled the sides of his mouth out to force a smile.

"Demons'll charm you with a smile, for a while,
But in time...
Nothing can harm you
Not while I'm around..."

Stratus placed the raw fish into Koko's frying pan and plopped her back on top of his head and pointed towards The Nightman's checkpoint.

"Not to worry, not to worry
I may not be smart, but I'm not dumb.
I can do it. Put me to it. Show me somethin - I can overcome.
Not to worry, mum.

Being close and being clever
Ain't like being true
I don't need to,
I would never hide a thing from you,
Like some..."

He hopped onto his bike and flipped the side mirror up so that he could see Koko in the reflection (the caption at the bottom of the mirror said "kittens in mirror may be cuter than they appear").

"Nothin's gonna harm you. Not while I'm around.
Nothing's gonna harm you, darling
Not while I'm around."

The Dayman shook his head and wandered over to Stratus. He reached into codpiece and pulled out a slip of paper, and extended it to Stratus.

"Uh...what's this for?"

The Dayman looked up at Koko, and then back to Stratus.

"It's a coupon......for free shipping."

He let out a boisterous royal laugh and hopped into his codpiece kart.

"Onward to victory!"

He took off with Stratus in tow, and were both there much sooner than expected.

Villains

The Nightman watched his screen and saw The Dayman and Stratus park at the foot of the checkpoint.

"Well they both got here sooner than expected."

The Channel Twelve Live Action Literally Right Now Usurped Newscopter Race Report floated over head to get a prime spot for the battle.

"Well folks, it looks like they got here sooner than expected."

The camera panned around to show Sailor Solar standing only a couple of hundred feet away.

"Oh....it would seem that they were all standing in front of the checkpoint the entire time!"

The Nightman opened up the cockpit and hopped down to the ground.

"I want to handle this personally. No more toys."

[Sariel of Tevet]

Koko hiccuped against Stratus' chest, "I'm getting squished... And you're tone deaf." She blinked a few times in absolute horror as the moronic not-atmosfaerie wiped her tears with a fish who had had the misfortune of being in the place no fish (or anything, really) should ever be: Cale's pocket the Dayman's codpiece. And audible, "Well, that's disgusting," was heard from the shadows. Ah. Scarlet.

Speaking of Scarlet, the shadow demon gave a start as one of their new opponents sent Cale flying through a few buildings. She grumbled, "This group... Honestly."

She darted through the shadows to appear at the boys side. A noticeable frown appeared on her features as she realized that no one on this team had any apparent healing abilities, "I just realized that no one on this team has any apparent healing abilities. Well... Almost no one." She knelt down and waved a hand over Cale's face, "Yoo-hoo. Gods, I suck at this. I really hope you're unconscious, because if you're not, this is gonna hurt. A lot. So cheers."

Carefully, Scarlet began to use her shadow magic to force broken bones to knit back together, covering the as of yet unresponsive twin in twisting, shadowy bandages.

Ugh. This takes so much more effort than breaking things... Not that I've ever done this before. I don't think. But nobody needs to know that... I hope I don't fuse a rib together backwards or something... That would be awkward.

While Scarlet worked on Cale, Koko was having her face forcibly shaped into a smile.

"I don't waaaah- STOP IT ALREADY. My face only stretches so far!" She pouted, rubbing her now raw cheeks. She was placed, once again, on the biker's head, cursing her small stature. While he wasn't looking, Koko flung the fish out of the frying pan and out of sight, making a mental note to wash the frying pan as soon as possible. She was suddenly, inexplicably relieved that the fish hadn't regained animation and started singing upon colliding with the Dayman's codpiece. Koko shook her head, having no idea where that idea had even come from.

"Uh...what's this for?"

Koko returned herself to the task at hand, glanced at the paper, then at the Dayman.

"It's a coupon......for free shipping."
The little cat blinked confusedly, "Eh? Challupa Man, we don't have any packages to ship, I don't think... You're... fishy-weird."

Scarlet felt a twitch in her temple, "Why do I keep hearing the phrase 'sooner than expected' over and over?" She made a face, "I've never even done this before; the fact that I accomplished it at all without poisoning the kid is a near miracle... Bah, sooner than expected... Y'know, some people are just entirely unappreciative of the things I do. It's really getting quite out of hand and I'm feeling like a side character that's been upstaged by some three foot tall pink fluffy abomination. Then I do something useful and it's sooner than-- Hm? That wasn't directed at me? Oh. I feel rather foolish now."

The demon cleared her throat awkwardly, then glanced at her patient, "Okay. You can get up now. Aaaany day. Yeah."

[Sariel of Tevet]

INTERFERENCE TEAM

Leske's bullet hit its mark and, as expected, exploded in a burst of mana which enveloped both the vampire and the Traveler. What wasn't as expected were the feathers which also erupted from the point of impact, filling the air. A body fell to the ground, but it wasn't Sark. As soon as the shot had connected, the figure in front of Leske changed into one of the servers from the Whooters, though now conspicuously lacking the owl bits.

Laughing, Sark emerged from a nearby alleyway. "I had a feeling that bringing one of them would be a good idea. I'm glad that I went through the trouble it took to make that disgusting creature resemble my beautiful form." He snapped his fingers and dozens of Stormfront's citizens began pouring out of buildings and alleys, all having been converted to vampire minions. They swarmed Leske, clawing at him and tring to sink their teeth into him.

Sark pulled up a conveniently-placed outdoor chair and took a seat. Assuming a relaxed posture he commented, "I certainly hope you've got more of those magic bullets with you, Leske-boy; You're going to need them."

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Shortly after Scarlet finished her healing, Cale opened his eyes and sat up. He looked at his savior and opened his mouth to speak, but his eyes grew wide when no sound came out. He clutched his throat and started to gag, before quite literally coughing up a lung.

After staring at the discarded organ for a few moments, he calmly remarked, "Heh, that's probably not good. I should probably have my sister use some of her magic on me the next time I see her." Remembering Scarlet, he gave her a reassuring smile. "Well, it's not that big of a deal. I'm sure you tried your best, right?" The sound of Leske's exploding bullet rippled through the air, catching the squid-rider's attention. "Boopen, are you here?"

"Ye!" There was a rustling from under a nearby pile of rubble, after which several tentacles reached out and started clearing the debris. Once Boopen Jr. had fully uncovered himself, he flopped over to Cale and Scarlet, then latched onto the former's back.

"Thanks for the help," Cale said to the demon, "now if you'll excuse me, I've got a vampire to slay." He stood up, and as he did, several of his joints and bones made a variety of cracking and popping sounds. "...Probably nothing to worry about. Let's go, Boopen!"

"Hokay!" Boopen Jr.'s ink jets flared up, and he flew off with Cale towards the vampire-infested street.

[Sariel of Tevet]

Infiltration Team

Geirhald growled, an angry sandstorm rumbling over a craggy steppe. “Traitor…Ephantus…”

Jereman Opheia grinned. “I much prefer to be on this side of your warform, Ephantus.” Hurricane in hand, Jereman advanced on Kayla, Izaak, and Geirhald. “Haley delayed…Thief girl runaway…and now your machine friend has turned traitor. Things aren’t looking so good for you, Storm Riders.”

He slashed horizontally at them with Hurricane, blowing out the wall and opening the hall to the city, newly restored by the Dayman. Confused, Crosswind threw up a thick barrier of cycling winds while he examined it.

“My city…restored…I assume this was somehow your doing. Well, no matter. I’ve grown bored of fighting in this confined space. The wind has no room to rush except through a narrow space.” The wind barrier rotated towards the Infiltrators, pushing them towards the opening. “I think it’s time we move this battle out of my castle. Updraft.” A fierce gust of wind pushed the three remaining Infiltrators out the gap in the wall and into the city.

“Do try to keep from breaking too many things, Ephantus, yeah?” Very casually, he stepped over the edge and walked on the air over the city.

In the City

Horror frowned. He didn’t like having his flesh minion ignored like that.

“I don’t like having my flesh minion ignored like that,” he repeated and began contemplating his next plan of action. He didn’t exactly like Sark. Not that he liked the Nightman particularly, but he definitely didn’t like Sark.

“Pff. Vampire. How very droll.” With deliberate gracefulness, Horror dug his hands into the earth and began pumping as much of his weird monster energy into the ground. Within seconds, the earth erupted, producing hulking golems held together with a sort of goopy black gelatin that made squishy noises when they moved.

“Jelly golems,” he muttered. “Not what I was going for, but still better than owl-girls. Although they did make a nice salad. Anyway, minions! Attack…Sark’s Vampires!”

And lo, did the jelly golems began fighting Sark’s Vampires.

Horror, meanwhile, spread his wings and advanced on Sark. “Sark!” He shouted. “You’ll pay for your insults!”

Jeremiah Lettucehead

Jeremiah fit his helmet on his lettuce head and did his best with Alias. “Here.” He put the lizard man’s claws around the control. “Press this button to attack with guns. This button drops bombs. Get it? Got it? Good.”

The plane revved to life. “Let’s fly, baby!”

Within minutes, they were flying low above the scene of madness where vampires and jelly golems fought squids and Sailor Solar and Atmosfaerie. “Whoa. Weird. Fire away, Scales!”

[Sariel of Tevet]

Alias

Alias was ever so slightly confused at first when he started to use the gun. The big problem was making it so that his claws would not scratch against the sides of the triggers or slip off. When he tried to use the flats of his fingers, it was only more difficult. "Ghurr... trouble firing gun... sorry" he growled softly. Finally, his hands caught onto the gun in a comfortable position and almost instantly, bullets began to rain down from above. It was a miracle he did not accidently bomb every single thing below in one spot with all the trouble he was having, especially since his arm was still hurt. The reverberations from the gun not doing him any favors.

[Sariel of Tevet]

SIRI looks over at the writhing mass of shadows, when a fist breaks through. An large, very angry, very loud, very long roar of just pure...violence echoes in the cockpit, causing SIRI to cover her ears, "SHUT UP! FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS, EVER WAS, AND EVER WILL BE WILL YOU PLEASE SHUT UP?!" The cyborg screams. "PRESS THE FUCKING EJECT NIGHTMAN! HE IS GOING TO KILL US IF HE LEAVES IN HERE!"

PULLIO:

Pullio only feels pure anger. Like...a lot of anger. So much that he feels it forcing itself put of him. He starts to force his way out of the shadows, black ooze dripping from his body like a freaking river, slowly spreading towards SIRI and Nightman. Pullio's whole body aches with pain, which, as we know, fires him off into berserk mode. He reaches behind him to grab the handle of Triana, and completely freezes when he touches only air. "Where.....is......TRIANA?!" He roars, forcing his eyes open to glare at both SIRI and Nightman. "You...stole her! GIVE BACK!!!!" He roars, stomping his mighty foot in a rage. HE takes a step closer, the ooze beginning to steam off of his body due to the body heat coming from his unnatural anger caused by the fueling of the pure darkness which invaded his body.

[Sariel of Tevet]

SIRI turns and, realizing that Nightman is not in the cockpit anymore, attempts to teleport to him. However, Pullio grabs her by the throat in the beginning of her spell and throws her out of the machinery. She flies out of the ship and hurtles straight to the ground, eyes open wild. She just barely teleports before hitting the ground. She appears on the Nightman, holding onto him. "OH MY GOD! HE IS GOING TO MURDER ALL OF US!" She buries her head into his shoulder.

PULLIO:

Pullio, after throwing SIRI out throw a widow, steps backwards into the ooze.

Pullio...not the girl and the man.... a wizened, creepy voice murmurs inside of his head, adding to the confusion and rage.

"What?" HE mumbles, before slapping his head. "Triana is gone. Must.....kill...." He rushes to the window and slams through the other eye glass thing. The berserker lands on the ground with a gigantic THUD. Dust flies up around him as he lands, so that his landing is completely covered by the dust. Doesn't matter, because he is going all DBZ and holding his pose, the classic landing pose, until after the dust settles. Pullio pushes himself to his feet, head aching, eyes literally glowing a pale silver, as if, as if it is sickened. Pullio roars, leaning his body backwards at the sudden pain of the shadows he absorbed earlier, due to the cocoon, start to morph his body. He seems more...feral. His hair shoots out, turning into a mane, which spreads down to the center of his back. He is going completely berserk, which can only happen if one has pure Darkness within them.

Pullio....good....i am pleased.....now kill them all...MINUS THE CYBORG AND THE NIGHTMAN! And...i guess....the Dayman.... the creepy voice whispers inside of his skull.

SIRI:

"Oh shit." She whispers, eyes, all three, open wide. SIRI leans close to Nightman's ear and murmurs, "We have to leave. Now."

[Sariel of Tevet]

"Hmmm, we'll see. Can't say I really care for this city." Ephantus rumbled, jumping after the discharged infiltrators. He hovered beside Jereman for a moment, flight boosters enabled at the bottoms of his "feet".

Ephantus aimed at the infiltration team with his main gun and fired. The red beam cut through the air towards the targets menacingly.

And then for overkill he fired off a couple of rockets afterwards. Just because.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


The swarm of minions that were....well, swarming, suddenly (and quite literally) exploded outward, painting the area in a disgusting layer of middle-class vampire minion. Leske looked none the worse for wear, though his hands were glowing a rather ominous blue. As were his eyes, behind the sunglasses.

"Ugh." Leske scowled at Sark. "You're going to be one of those villains aren't you?" The man sighed heavily. The casually arrogant types were the worst. Mostly because they reminded Leske of his old master when he got pissed off.

"But since you mentioned it," Leske snapped his fingers and a wall of various fireamrs appeared behind him.

"As a matter of fact, I have an infinite number of those bullets. And I wonder which one of us will run out of ammo first." He snapped his fingers again and the wall of weaponry thundered.

[Sariel of Tevet]

Scarlet stared blankly at the discarded organ that Cale had coughed up, "... Oops?"

She sighed dejectedly as he summoned his squid and flew away, then gave the organ a sideways glance, "You're just... Gonna leave this here, then? That's sanitary." Delicately, she wrapped the organ in shadow and levitated it several arm's lengths away from herself as she trudged back in the direction she'd come from. Apparently she was too miserable about her equally miserable failings at healing magic to recall that she could just teleport back...

"There are explosions over there," she stated to no one in particular.

"Hyaw, hyaw, hyaw. Yes. I smell a lawsuit coming on."

"Oh, no," Scarlet muttered, "Not you again."
"YES! It is I, I. R. Badd! And stealing organs is against the law, lady shadow demon!"

"I'm not stealing it! I'm returning it!"

"I believe that organs come with a very strict no exchanges or returns policy, Miss Carson," I. M. Badd looked as ridiculous as ever, wiggling her painfully obviously fake mustache in disdain.

Scarlet sighed, the imaginary thundercloud over her head downpouring to mirror her mood, "I know I've been kicked into an ill-fated side plot when you two show up."

"Yes, we is the side character committee of side characters!"
"We are, you grammatically inferior buffoon. Additionally, that was a redundant statement. Edit it immediately!" Out of nowhere, she whipped out a red marker and scribbled an 'X' on her brother's face.

"My mustache! ... Actually, it looks kinda better now."

"Somewhat, yes... This will not stand! I object!" Without another word, I. M. drew an 'X' on her own face.

"Why do all twins have to be neurotic in some form or another?" Scarlet asked herself, shaking her head and attempting to sneak away while the twins argued over whose 'X' was more decorative and complementary to the mustache.

"Halt!"
"Stop!"
"That's what I just said!"
"But I said it better!"
"I said it best! Halt is much more sophisticated than 'stop.' Clearly, I am the more refined, of the two of us."
"At least everyone knows what stop means!"

"Are... Are you implying that my vocabulary is so small that it doesn't include the word 'halt'?" Scarlet asked dangerously.

"Well, one can never be too sure with shadowy vermin."
"Vermin?"
"Vermin. Noun. Wild mammals or birds believed to carry diseases; parasites and worms, or, most applicably, people who are perceived as despicable and causing problems for the rest of--"

"I know what it means, you obnoxious cow!"
"Cow. Noun. The mature female of cattle. There is a flaw in your reasoning, for I am not bovine."
"But you are female," I.R. interjected.

Scarlet gave a frustrated scream, shadows exploding around her and drawing the attention of the lawyer twins.

"Let the jury find the defendant guilty of lung theft!"
"Innocent, I say. It was only a loan."

"It was not a loan," Scarlet explained, "He coughed it up and left it behind-"
"And you saw fit to take it? Hmmmm?"
"Finder's keeper's?" I. R. supposed.
"Brother, that only works in child's games. We're speaking of organs, here!"

"Then let us review and go over the facts!"
"That's the same thing!" Scarlet and I. M. shouted in unison.

"Er. Right. Correct. They are the same indeed. I was reiterating. To reiterate, so to speak."

Because this is just one of those times when weird things happened, a defendant's stand, judges seat, two lawyer's stations and a bench for a jury sprung up around the group. A few of the vampire-owl-whatever-things filed in to fill the jury. Scarlet felt an eye twitch.

"Miss Carson. You are on trial for negligent medical care and lung theft."

"Because I was already having a brilliant day," Scarlet muttered dryly.

"Let us recap. You attempted to heal your comrade. He awoke, at which point you stole the lung from his body-" the jury gasped, though giving what the jury was comprised of, it sounded more like a strangled gurgle.

"He coughed it up!" Scarlet snapped.

"Nonsense and untruth!" I. R. proclaimed, "That's only a mere expression and exaggerated phrase."

"Well, not this time. And aren't you supposed to be defending me?"
"I like to pick, choose, and select my battles."

"Ahem. After the defendant stole the organ-"
"I'm telling you, he coughed it up!"
"-She then proceeded to send the boy, now organless, away on a questionable seafood rocket."
"I don't even know how to respond to that."
"What's more, the defendant then wrapped the organ in shadows and prepared to escape; presumably to an illicit organ market to sell it."
"That... Is actually not a bad idea," Scarlet mused with a fanged grin.

"SHE ADMITS IT! GUILTY! Guilty, I say!"
"At fault! Wrongdoer!"
"Let the jury pronounce their verdict!"

"Let me find something to treat the migraine all this yelling has given me," Scarlet mumbled, intensifying the shadows and focusing them around the small "courtroom." Her eyes flashed as she sank out of the shadowy orb and reappeared just outside it. With a classy snap of her fingers, the orb exploded into darkness, taking out a few more buildings along the block. The demon shook her head, irritated at being caught up in another pseudo-legal side plot and stalked back to the main battleground.

Once there her eyes landed on Cale, and narrowed, "Here," She snapped, throwing the lung, still in shadows, at him, "Next time you have someone babysit an organ, please sign a disclaimer."

[Sariel of Tevet]

Recovering from the fall after the gust of wind that knocked him and his allies out of the building, Izaak saw the bright red beam heading straight for the group.

"Scuto!" he yelled. Instantly, each member of the group was enveloped in a sphere of pure arcane energy. The lasers and missiles connected with them, sending the group flying back. When the onslaught of energy and artillery was over, the shields popped like bubbles, leaving the group slightly battered but intact.

"Is everyone alright?" asked Izaak as he stood back up.

[Sariel of Tevet]

Interference/Villains

The Channel Twelve Live Action Literally Right Now Usurped Newscopter Race Report flew over head as Pullio began his rampage, and what seemed like a few different sets of fights were beginning to start. It circled back around the battlefield and hovered right next to The Nightman and SIRI. The pixie anchor hung out of The Channel Twelve Live Action Literally Right Now Usurped Newscopter Race Report and looked into the camera.

"Well folks, this seems to literally not bode well your favorite news organization's new owner. Mr. The Nightman, would you care to comment on this obvious derailing of your plans to confront The Dayman, who we still have yet to get a clean shot of as his codpiece is just too glorious and shiny for our cameras to pick up. I mean really the glare, literally, has been picked up by our cameras, literally miles away. What is that thing even made of?"

The Nightman sighed, half at Pullio, half at SIRI's demands to abandon a fight, half at the ineptitude of The Channel Twelve Live Action Literally Right Now Usurped Newscopter Race Report news team, half at The Dayman showing up with cat thing and the racially confused hair guy, and honestly half at himself.

"Well...the best laid plans I suppose, right?"

The pixie anchor was taken aback and blinked a few times, before turning to to his pilot. Who seemed equally just as confused.

"Mr. Nightman...er...Sir...what about the best laid plans?"

The Nightman sighed again...this time at being surrounded by idiocy.

"The best laid plans of mice and men...? It's...it's a phrase. Do you...do pixies just NOT have culture? Either way. Just...just keep rolling ok? Can you atleast manage that?"

He attempted to take a step forward, but SIRI was still holding on to him.

"We will leave, but I have something to take care of first."

He calmly tore himself away her and began to march towards The Dayman. The Nightman lifted his wrist, opening the infinity portal within his body, and shot a series of chains, japanese porn tentacles, spikes, handcuffs (both fuzzy and not), snakes, duct tape, and a kitchen sink towards his foe.

The Dayman was struck with the steel and organic matter and flew into the base of the checkpoint, where he became pinned. The Dayman watched his clone royally swagger his way to him, and began to laugh.

"Do you really think you can control this body? You may be a clone. You may have my cells, my blood, my royal DNA. BUT YOU WILL NEVER HAVE MY ROYAL SPIRIT!"

The Dayman began to glow furiously with the purple hue of pomp and flexed his codpiece, which sent a dazzling shockwave from head to toe that dismantled his shackles (and the tentacles of course...which were still attempting to be a bit gropey).

"Royal spirit only comes from birth rights. Something that a lab rat like you would never be able to understand."

He thrust his codpiece outwards and a beam of pomp sprang forth and began to close the gap between the two combatants, and then reflected off of The Nightman effortlessly.

The Nightman dusted his shoulders for effect, and continued walking towards The Dayman, whose body began to feel heavier and heavier. His knees buckled and he collapsed onto the ground, unable to move at all.

"Do you feel that, Ali? You may have birth right, but that makes you weak. I can control you."

As he came within a few feet of the codpiece, The Nightman began to glow and channel his own dark pomp to create an unbelievable power.

"Though I do not like to be indebted to anyone, I suppose I should thank you for giving me these powers. That's right, my prince, this codpiece," he bent down to caress the jewel incrusted crotch covering, "is only an antenna. A way to amplify your powers. Being a prince made you lazy. You relied on this," he rubbed his cheek along the crest of the codpiece and felt a tingle in his own spine, "this...precious gift...to hone your powers. Instead of training on your own."

He stepped backwards and sent out two tentacles which wrapped themselves around the ankles of The Dayman.

"I am much more powerful than you without it, but I admit, I need it to carry out my plans. And because you are unworthy...you are going to hand it over to me."

The Nightman flexed his hands and The Dayman's body began to tremble and his hands glided down his perfectly formed body to the clasps of his beloved codpiece.

"Give it to me, Ali."

The Dayman, unhooked his codpiece and tossed it to The Nightman, who held it up for his own eyes to behold.

"It truly is beautiful, isn't it?"

He wasted no time and donned the royal codpiece. The Nightman held his arms out and tilted his head back, as gears were heard turning beneath the codpiece. It began to spread out across his body, creating a set of jewel studded knee and shoulder pads and a sparkling masquerade mask.

"Hmmm...this will never do."

The Nightman imbued his new armor with a trace amount of dark pomp and it turned a shade darker than obsidian.

"Much better."

He turned to Pullio, who was presumably still having some sort of beserking existential crisis, and called back over his shoulder to Stratus, Koko, and The Dayman.

"Have fun, I believe our barbarian has a play date to attend."

He opened up a portal at his feet and called out to SIRI and The Channel Twelve Live Action Literally Right Now Usurped Newscopter Race Report.

"I believe we will take our leave now."

And he hopped into the portal to return to the Project Midnight base.

With The Dayman out cold on the ground from grief, Stratus stepped up to take on his manliest task yet. He lifted his eyes to address Koko, still nestled atop his head.

"Well kitty num nums, looks like we have to take care of things here. You ready?"

[Sariel of Tevet]

INFILTRATION TEAM

As the pain in her head subsided, Kayla stood up and looked around. She forced herself to ignore her newly reclaimed memories for the moment so that she could catch up on what she had missed while incapacitated. The group appeared to be outside now... and Ephantus was attacking them? She also noted that the city didn't appear to be very damaged, considering how long the interference team had been out there.

"I'm fine," she responded to Izaak, "But it looks like we've got two enemies to face now. We were barely able to hold our own against Jereman; how are we supposed to fight Ephantus too?"

INTERFERENCE TEAM

Cale caught his lung, then raised an eyebrow at Scarlet. "You brought this with you? Couldn't I just like... grow a new one or something?"

"Nahson," Boopen Jr. explained.

"Oh. Well, maybe I should hang on to it then. Boopen, could you hold this for a bit?"

After Boopen Jr. offered a blurble of assent, Cale reached behind his back and grabbed the point where one of Boopen Jr's fins connected to its head. He pulled, and with an audible zzzzziiip noise, an opening began to appear. Once he had unzipped his companion's entire mantled, it was revealed that the small squid had a hollow interior with a cloth lining.

As he placed his lung into the squidpack, he grinned and commented, "I'm really glad I have you around, buddy. I don't know how I'd stay organ-ized without you." He chuckled and zipped his friend back up. "Yep, I bet that was like a breath of fresh air!" Boopen Jr. raised a tentacle and slapped him on the back of the head.

"You stop that shit."

"Eh, right. Sorry about that." Cale walked over to Scarlet and addressed her while scratching the back of his head, "Heh, sorry about flying off without you back there; I can have a little bit of a one-track mind sometimes. I guess this makes twice that you've helped me out. I have to say, your kindness really takes my breath awa- OUCH!" Another tentacle smacked the back of his head.

"STAHP."

"...Right. Anyway, I think we should totally be bestest friends. And bestest friends help bestest friends fight half-naked vampires, soooo... let's go!" He grabbed her by the hand, and Boopen Jr's ink jets fired up again. The trio shot upwards, and as they arced towards the spot where Leske was confronting Sark, the little squid let out a cry.

"ADVENTURE!"

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>


Sark laughed. "My, my... that you would so casually decorate the city with the entrails of its citizens... Even if they were transformed into my servants, that's just a bit cold-blooded, don't you think?" He stood from his chair, and walked into the center of the street. "Which of us will run out of ammo first, you said? Perhaps this will be interesting. But then again, I've encountered your kind before as well, so I think I already know the answer to that. At any rate, let's begin, shall w-"

He cut himself short when bright, purple light suddenly flashed in the sky. "Ah, I believe that means that the Nightman accomplished his goal. I have completed mine as well; the boy is surely dead, and I'm far too villainous to make sure that he survived." He bowed to Leske. "I must take my leave now, but don't worry. We shall undoubtedly meet again, and I'll be more than willing to destroy you then." He posed, allowing the background music to play for a while longer before he suddenly vanished.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>


An instant before the vampire lord vanished, Cale, Boopen Jr, and Scarlet arrived. As soon as Sark entered his line of sight, Cale let go of the demon's hand and dove straight for the enemy. He collided with the ground at a high enough speed to cause the cobblestone road to crack, and immediately drew his swords.

"All right, I'm back, and this time it's personal!" When he noticed that the vampire was gone, his expression became one of confusion. "He was standing right here, wasn't he? Am I missing something vital?"

[Sariel of Tevet]

Koko jumped off of Stratus' head, unsheathing her frying pan and pointing it at Pulio in what was a surprisingly epic pose, "Ready, sir! ... Wait! I shall not respond to something as ridiculous as 'kitty num nums' in a battle. Or ever. Barring three seconds ago; I was distracted by the opponent. ANYWAY. Koko or nothing, biker boy." She turned her attention back to Pulio and her eyes widened slightly, "Yikes... He smells bad. Like really bad. And that's not because of the lack of soap this one has or hasn't used in his lifetime. Though that's not helping." She turned to Stratus, "He smells like bad darkness. Not like the demon lady; she smells like an amnesiac viper. This one smells like corruption and evil has seeped into his skin and hijacked his brain." She readied her weapon and charged forward for a whirling attack against the barbarian.

-------------------------

Scarlet merely glared at Cale, "Lungs aren't regenerative," she added to the small squid's negative. She felt an eyebrow shoot up her forehead of its own accord as he unzipped the squidpack. Sighing, she shook her head and decided it would be better to just never ask about anything that happened with this group ever again. It was... less painful and mentally straining that way.

"I'm gonna pretend you didn't just pun twice within the same block of text, and also agree with your squid. You stop that."

She took an involuntary step back as he approached her, accustomed to keeping other beings at at least an arm's length away, "A one-track mind, you say? I hadn't noticed," She deadpanned.

The next pun went over her head, as the demon was stuck on the "your kindness" bit, wondering what the hell had happened to make her so soft.

Her brain caught up and froze again in the same second as the word "friend" was tossed around. She was unable to react properly as her hand was grabbed and her feet left the ground.

That is the first time, that I can recall, that anyone has ever called me their friend.

As they flew, the demon stared at her companion, confusion turning her crimson eyes to garnet. She was so preoccupied with her thoughts, trying to find a definition for the word friend that she could understand, that she almost missed the kid letting go of her hand. Almost.

"Oh, dammit. You and your one-track mind!" She yelped as he sped into a dive and she began to fall more slowly. As she fell, she looked around her, trying to find her other companions. A flash of purple light caught her eye and she glanced toward the direction it had come from. A curse escaped her as she saw the situation with the now incapacitated Dayman, Stratus, and Koko. She did a flip in midair, going into a graceful dive and plummeting towards the earth. Her eyes narrowed as she zeroed in on her own shadow, slipping into it and popping out of Cale's to negate the force of the fall.

"He was standing right here, wasn't he? Am I missing something vital?"

"Yes. You are," Scarlet replied, frowning, "He was a diversion. Disappearing like that, I'd say the villains have completed their goals here." A slight chill crept up her spine as her attunement to the plane of darkness alerted her to another problem. Her frown deepened, "We have another problem though. There's a corrupting darkness here; I think it's coming from the barbarian from before. We should head that way. If we can break the corruption on him, he may know something about the whereabouts and identities of our enemies."

She jumped back away from Cale as she suggested it, putting her hands up, "I'll get there myself though. I just discovered I'm not a huge fan of free-falling."

[Sariel of Tevet]

Sailor Solar

“Ali!” Sailor Solar fell to the ground rather dramatically and cradled the Dayman’s head in his hands. Tears fill his eyes and he allowed his gaze to drift down to the Dayman’s crotch. “Oh no. I was too late. Forgive me, Ali, I thought I could save you from my future…” The tears began to fall. “I had thought that maybe I could spare you my fate – without my codpiece, I lost myself. Diane left me for Barbados Slim. You remember Barbados? Without her I had nothing and I fell into the shame-spiral of anime and ice-cream.”

He threw his head back and shook one fist at the sun overhead. “You told me I could save him! That I could save myself!”

The Crosswind

Jereman Opheia grimaced at Ephantus’ use of lasers and missiles, but smartly decided against saying anything. Ephantus wasn’t a being he enjoyed trifling with. He hovered above the party as they somehow survived Ephantus’ attacks, still frowning. Even with Hurricane, these insects were proving inordinately difficult.

Spying Jeremiah Lettucehead’s airplane a ways off, he casually reduced the air pressure around the vehicle until it plummeted to the ground by the other assembled Player Characters.

“I will have order restored in my city,” he muttered, scanning those assembled. That’s when he noticed a figure off on her own. Vespi, the leader of the troublesome Storm Riders. Ephantus could handle the others. He wanted this one to himself.

Vespi

Vespi’s bike was thrown aside suddenly, crashing through the next several city block and ending up partially submerged in the pudding factory in midtown. She reacted without thinking, however, becoming lightning and arcing away. She reformed atop some office building, face-to-face with Jereman Opheia, hovering ever so casually in the air.

“Crosswind,” she growled like a sparking wall plug.

“Nice to see you again,” he quipped. “Come back to destroy my city?”

“I’ve come to take back our city.”

He snorted. “Your city? Whose? The Atmosfaerie? Please. Your kind don’t live long enough to appreciate civilization. Can’t you see how I’ve industrialized Stormfront?” He swept his arms wide. “All in a few short years. Your people had centuries and never managed to bring this up above a mud hovel.”

Vespi wasn’t interested in arguing with him (mostly because he was technically correct). “It was our hovel.” Lightning shot out from an outstretched arm and he parried it aside with Hurricane.

“Feisty to the end, of course. But it is an end for you, unfortunately.” He lifted Hurricane above his head, tip pointed down. “How long do you think the Storm Riders will hold together with their leader? I’ll give a day at most. With you out of the way, they won’t be much trouble.”

Vespi tried to jump away by Jereman’s downward thrust was too fast. Time seemed to stretch on in that second. She remembered coming awake for the first time, formed form a pocket of magical energy and a lightning strike out in the Thunder Plains. The ground around her was charred black from the reaction. A name escaped her lips after she took her first breath. Her name.

She remembered seeing Stormfront for the first time, the only city in the Land of Storms. A loose collection of buildings centuries old, filled with Atmosfaerie of every form. It was the only place in the Land of Storms like it. She met Geirhad there and fell in love with him.

Geirhald. She remembered being attracted to his form, the way it was ever-shifting, barely a coherent shape. Even when she discovered that being too close turned him to glass, she didn’t want to be apart from him, nor he her.

Geirhald.

Something roared in her ears and the memories faded. A thick cloud of dust was gathering around her, blocking her from Jereman. No, not dust. Sand. Sand! Geirhald. She couldn’t move fast enough, couldn’t yell for him to leave her. He was too close, stray bolts arced from her and struck him, turning little bits to glass that were swept along in the sandstorm. Little bits. Hundreds of little bits. Then larger sections as he compressed closer.

Time quickened, returned to normal. All was quiet. Vespi found herself surrounded by a small glass dome. Through it she could see Jereman Opheia, but her attention was only on Geirhald. He stared at her, or rather his head did. The only recognizable part of him left was his head, but even that was glass and still. She reached for it, found only coldness. Then the dome around her cracked. Jereman’s sword pierced the dome – and it shattered.

Geirhald vitrified head broke away and fell into her arms while the rest of what had been him became nothing more than twinkling debris on a building roof.

“How noble,” Jereman said dryly. “But unfortunately, glass isn’t very sturdy. Well, good-bye for real this time.”

Before he could raise his sword again, he recoiled, spinning through the air. On another roof, not so far away, stood Haley, wielding her rifle. She fired a few more shots to keep him away before hopping the distance to Vespi.

“Come on,” she said curtly. “We have to go.”

“I…I can’t…”

“He’s gone,” she said so shortly that Vespi flinched. “He’s gone and there isn’t anything we can do. The rest of the Storm Riders still need you.” Smoothly, she whirled and fired at Jereman again. “Come on.” She hoisted Vespi up, but the Atmosfaerie refused to let go of the glass head. “Fine, keep it.”

Haley

Haley brought Vespi with her back down to the assortment of assembled Player Characters. “Sorry for taking so long,” she muttered. “But I got caught up with…family issues.” She glanced back at the castle. “Is it just down to Jereman, now?”

Vespi slumped down where she had dropped her, still clutching Geirhald’s head. “Uh. Right. Geirhald…he’s gone.”

Surveying the area, she frowned. “Wait, Ephantus turned against us? Well. Can’t say I’m that surprised. Although, I would like to know who that is!” She pointed an accusing finger at Sailor Solar, still weeping at the Dayman.

Jeremiah

Jeremiah Lettucehead picked himself and Alias out of the wreckage of his plane, shrugged, and began swaggering over to where Haley and the others were.

Horror

Horror also kind of shrugged and disappeared into a portal, deciding he would return when the plot needed another affably evil villain.