Infinite Realms: War of the Black God

[Qara-Xuan Zenith]

Hawkin chuckled lightly, filing away the information. "It seems your spirit world and mine work somewhat differently."

[IslaKariese]

As does mine, Kestral thought calmly, vaguely used to the fact that she was no longer in her home world by now. She still didn't contribute to the discussion, however, choosing to let the others interact around her as she recovered mentally from her trial just moments before.

[Guyshane]

Gambit looked up from a vase he had been inspecting and spoke up.

"Sure, makes sense. We all come from different worlds, why wouldn't they have different afterlifes." He thought for a moment. "Besides none of the people I know who came back from the dead ever mentioned people from different universes."

[Lordxana0]

In a sudden flash of light the Orb appeared once more before the collection of heroes. "The next pieces of the Dark Gods armor have been located." The room around them went white for a moment before they found themselves standing in a large city, one that was very familiar to Korra. Except at the same time it was different. The skies were blocked out by ash and soot and people who moved through the streets appeared weak and without hope. Among the crowd walked men and women dressed in heavily armor with gas masks covering their faces. Wherever they moved the crowds made way for them.



"This is the world from which Korra hails from, a land where certain people are born with a talent to control natural elements. This place has seen its fair share of wars in the past, but nothing that prepared it for the arrival of one of the Black God's artifacts." the scene shifted so the group found themselves standing over an ocean. "If normal time had been allowed to progress a man who went by the name of Amon would have died here, wounded by an explosion and claimed by he sea, but the artifact that landed in this world sought him out, The Gauntlets of Domination" two shiny black gauntlets descended from the sky and into the ocean. After a few moments the water surged upward and a figure wearing a white mask slowly arose from it. "Using his new power he returned to the city he had been cast out of... Korra can explain more about her world after this... and dominated the minds of the people. This realities Korra was one of the few unaffected and challenged him. However"

The world changed once more to show Korra battling against Amon. At first they seemed evenly matched, but then three people stood in front of Amon to protect him Korra hesitated in her attack and Amon took the opening, jumping in front of her and sticking the clawed hand of the gauntlet into her stomach. He slowly drew back his hand and pulled a glowing orb from her stomach and held it up for all to see. Korra slumped to the ground, dead. "So Amon took the Avatar spirit, granting him ultimate control over the four elements, and the ability to travel the spirit world, which he used to enter it and take command over the various spirits that lived their, adding their power to his own."

The room changed back to the resting area and the orb stayed silent for a moment. "The only nonprotected pocket of time is ten years after Amon takes control. The Dark Gods children seemed to have ramped up their protection, now having two of them in a world at the same time. I can't detect which ones, but know that they will only grow stronger as time goes on, and that Jericho was what one might call the 'runt of the litter'. I must go and prepare a counter measure to the gauntlets mind controlling effects, we shall see each other soon my heroes" the orb disappeared.

[eli_gone_crazy]

Korra stood in the room, panting, eyes glazed over. Soon a keening wail could be heard from the girl, as she collapsed to the ground. Sobs escaped tightly clenched teeth as she curled her hands into fists, pounding into the ground at more and more erratic intervals. "How could they do this?!" A thousand voices seemed to echo. Tears fell, attempting to reach the plush carpet, only to have their descent slow to a halt mid-air. The draft in the room began to pick up, swirling into a screeching gale. The lamps went out, their flames extinguished by the sudden wind. Korra's eyes began to glow blue-white, as the wind cocooned her in its embrace.

Bits and pieces of the wall and floor broke away as the girl made a few quick motions with hands, seeming oblivious to the chaos around her, tears still falling from the intense pressure of her eyes. The rocks began to swirl and spin, crashing into furniture and structure alike. Flames began to erupt out of the power sockets, springing into being at a single flick of her limp wrist. "How could this have happened?!" The voices sobbed a thousand times, as the gale whipped through the safe area mercilessly.



Notes: Okay, you activated her Avatar state, Xana.
This type of thing hasn't happened to Korra yet, as far as canon goes. It DID happen to her previous incarnation, Aang. But Aang had another character to talk him down from destroying the world, and Xana just made the most important people in Korra's life betray her before making her watch her own death.

SO.. I dunno guys. She's your average teenage girl with total power over all the elements and BSOD-ing. Have fun?

[Sicon112]

A tornado of air hurtled round and round the Crimson Lord, gale force winds screeching out a high pitched wail. However, even as the floor was decimated before him, the invisible force tearing it to shreds was halted by the invisible force binding together the earth behind and below Sabrac, his true form hidden from view and curled up deep in the ground. Though his cape whipped about wildly as though a living creature thrashing violently out at the air around it, Sabrac remained unmoved by the violent outpouring of power, even when shards of rock far larger than his own form flew at him with lightning speed, only to flash red, writhe, and melt away underneath a pulse of madder red.

"Hmm. I suppose I am somewhat disappointed. I had, perhaps naively, hoped for more competent assistants, however, it seems my wishes have been dashed aside once again. Even significant measures of power fall uselessly into waste if they are not wielded by one capable of using them, it seems." Ignoring the raging storm around him, he glanced over at where the ball of light had been moments prior. "Perhaps if a portal were opened now, this squandered might could be put to some minor use, even if it were a simple distraction, but I suppose that my employer will continue to delay taking the simple path in favor of cautiously protecting those warriors that it itself chose. If such measures need be taken in their defense, perhaps it should have chosen more carefully..."

[AMimsyBorogove]

"So which spirit realm is this exactly? The old hell? The new hell? The netherworld? Heaven? Seriously, you can't just say 'the Spirit World' and expect me to instantly get what you mean when there are so many!" The Ordinary Black Magician piped up from the corner where she had recently found herself abruptly awakening, surrounded by several new individuals in place of some of those who had fought alongside her in the battle against the Dark Lord she could only now presume to have been defeated. Her question, sadly, went unanswered, as another of the new arrivals interjected with a theory about different worlds having different afterlives, one that Marisa, still tired from her wounds and exertions, decided not to think too much about or comment on.

"You know people who survived dying too, huh?" The Witch asked the other thief with a grin. "Just how many ways are there to do that, anywa-"

Yet again, however, Kirisame Marisa found herself cut off, this time by a somewhat more sinister interruption. Evidently, the next world they were going to was the realm that one of the other "heroes" hailed from, and, upon seeing it destroyed by the Black God's power, she... didn't react very well. Well, okay, that was a serious understatement, considering that she began releasing what the Witch recognized as a form of multiple-element magic that was, come to think of it, rather similar to that employed by the librarian Youkai from whom Marisa had acquired so much of her personal collection of grimoires. Long story short, everything started to explode rather violently, and, although that didn't stop the faceless, glowy-eyed fire spirit from talking to nobody in particular, the Black Magician was pretty sure by now that nothing could do that. As for herself, a certain level of actual concern for the situation she now found herself in would be required.

Well, fortunately, Marisa had a relatively simple solution to this problem, at least. Given that she herself had been through all too many encounters with enemies who held power over the elements, she had, naturally, adapted some of her mainstay spells to compensate, giving her a readily available countermeasure for just this sort of incident. Her very first spell, the Orrieres Ritual Space, as well as her one-of-a-kind artifact, the Mini-Hakkero, already focused largely on drawing upon the same magical energies that were used in elemental spells, and using this as a source of power. Really, it hadn't taken all that much effort to create a slightly tweaked version of the Orrieres Solar System that responded to outside fluctuations in the elements and negated them within the Ritual Space.

But, although Marisa had this convenient solution to her problem, there was one small issue. She needed the Mini-Hakkero to cast this particular spell, and, unfortunately, she couldn't actually reach it where it was hanging from her belt at the moment, as her hands were currently occupied with a much more crucial task: holding onto her precious hat for dear life, lest it be blown away and vaporized in the gale of lightning and fire. Still, it wasn't like the Mini-Hakkero wouldn't protect HER, at least, from the incoming elemental cascade, since it was currently draining away readily at the magical wellspring of energy that was bombarding her, protecting her from harm as a side effect. So, considering that her options were to save either her allies or her hat, it was obvious which she chose.

The Witch gripped her precious hat tightly. "Oh well," She mumbled beneath the storm. "I'm sure they can all fend for themselves, anyhow.~"

[Guyshane]

Oh great another Jean, that's all we need. Elements were swirling all around the teenage girl. She wasn’t intentionally trying to hurt anyone but intent wouldn’t matter if she didn’t stop soon. Well only one ting to do about it Gambit closed up his coat and made his way into the maelstrom.

The going wasn’t easy, he had to dodge fire, earth and water. The wind pulled at his body. However the mutant had dealt with all of those and worse in his time. And so he arrived at the center of the destruction where Korra's powers were the strongest. “Hey! Cher!” She didn't appear to hear him and it didn't take the thief long to realize why, the winds around her were drowning out his voice. He had to get closer

And so Gambit stopped resisting and left the wind carry him. It was risky and a few times he thought he would get hit for sure but eventually he drifted past the young Avatar close enough to grab hold of her arm. So there he hung the rest of his body pulled upwards by the winds.

Voice don't fail me now. Gambit put all of his charm into his voice as he spoke.
“Cher! Korra! You need to calm down! Those aren't the people you know! That isn't you! You're reacting to something that isn't even in here with us! All your doing is hurting us! Please, you need to stop this!”

Gambit kept speaking and hoped it would work.

[eli_gone_crazy]

Korra was in a very strange place. This Spirit Ream appeared to be different from the others. The majority of the area was a pure, formless white. Korra herself was standing on a thick, warm carpet, colored madder red. Korra tilted her head, scrutinizing the weird floor, as it seemed to suddenly ripple in irritation. Not wanting to disturb what ever spirit that reigned over oddly designed carpeting, Korra quickly glanced around the realm finding the other inhabitant of the room, that creepy young girl she met earlier before the... before...

Korra heard yelling, pulling her attention away from the spirit world and the eyes of the little spirit girl, boring into her. "-her. 's allright... Calm down. We can save them if we do this right, Cher."

The rocks and water slowly swept to a halt, hovering in midair. The wind condensed around the crying avatar, the air in the rest of the room returning to a soft breeze, and finally halting. "Just relax and let the power go..." Ever so slowly, the small pocket of air released itself, conducting the Avatar and the mutant back to the floor of the small refuge. Korra's eyes ceased glowing as she began to sob.

[IslaKariese]

Kestral stood staring solemnly at the girl - Korra. She couldn't have been much younger than the shapeshifter herself. With only a moment's hesitation, she stepped away from the shadows and placed herself in front of the Avatar, kneeling before her but not touching her yet for fear of triggering a defense.

"I cannot begin to understand the pain you feel right now," she began. "I don't believe any of us can. But it is not an impossible fight. We've done it before, and we will do it again." Celoivera hummed against her back in agreement, and Kestral smiled faintly as she patiently waited for a response.

[Lordxana0]

Ulrich walked over to Korra and thought for a moment. "And last time after we beat the person wearing the armor the world turned back to normal, so as long as we win everything should just start going back to normal, so that is one thing at least" Ulrich had never been the best at the whole comforting thing, but he was at least trying.

[Lordxana0]

The orb returned once more. "It has come time for you to enter into the next world, I have managed to create a system so that you will be unaffected by the mind controlling abilities of the gauntlets from long range, but should he touch you I fear that the direct contact of the magic will take over your minds. I wish you luck, oh and yes I feel one more thing must be mentioned for those of you who will feel bad kill fellow... existences. As most of you have seen any death that takes place in the altered timeline with be undone once the Black Gods influence has been erased, so do not hold back" A portal opened in front of the, drawing them into it and expelling them into the next world.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The team found themselves in the middle of a massive city, surrounded by high buildings and paved roads. The sky was blocked out by a thick and heavy cloud of smoke being pumped out of massive factories on the outskirts of the city. At first things seemed quiet. Much too quiet. And then from out of the buildings spilled people, lots of them. Each one wearing the outfits of the people they had seen in the Light Gods briefing. They moved with an odd sort of silence, as if they made no noise other then their feet hitting the pavement. Their movements were unnatural as well, some of them using large leaps or crawling on all fours to reach them. When the last troop took his place other things began to enter the field as well.

Large machines with what equated to a gatling gun on one side and a hand that fired out electronets for stunning the targets. They stood about twelve feet tall, towering over the group.



"Ladies and Gentlemen, freaks of all ages, may I welcome you to your final resting place." above their heads hung a large blip with the faces of two men being projected onto the side of it. "My name is Salesmen" the one who spoke out his name was dressed in a rather elegant white suit and had short black hair. "And my associate here is Dreamweaver" The man he pointed toward a young man with red hair and a rather vacant expression."Now then for our first round of entertainment we give you five hundred Equalist soldiers each with the ability to control all four elements, but that isn't all sports fans, we have fifty Equalist Battle Bots version 3.0 now with Titanium infused diamond. You won't believe how many people died for that well they Dreamweaver?" the other man remained silent. "Agreed, now then you might be asking, 'But Salesmen you finely dressed devil what else could you possibly throw at us?'

The ground shook as three massive creatures made of pure darkness suddenly formed around the battlefield. One had the shape of a giant praying mantis with thousands of massive glowing blue ticks along its body, each tick the size of a small dog. The second one was a massive creature with the body of a wolf, the heads of a snake, dragon, and cheetah, two hawk wings on its back and a scythe for a tail. The third beast stood taller then the other two and looked to be a cross between a turtle and a porcupine, with massive red spikes coming off its shell. It had the face of a penguin with teeth like a shark. "Shadow Beasts!" Salesmen called out. "Brought to you from the Spirit World and your nightmares these creatures exist to devour entire nations and were kept sealed by the other Spirits, now under the control of Grandmaster Amon." He gave a short bow. "We hope you have fun and get killed, but no worries, this is only the first surprise, stay tuned to find out more" he laughed and the screen faded to black.


Elemental Benders- 500.

Powers-
Elemental control. These guys can control all of the elements, but not quite as strongly as Korra could. Together through they are a deadly unit.
Unfeeling- Using the powers of Koh the facestealer Amon has made his soldiers into the ultimate warriors, who will continue to fight until they are killed.

Battle Mechs- 50
Equiped- High power gatling gun right arm. Electro net left arm. Super hardened armor. Constant electrical surge running through them.

Shadow Beast 1- Mantis
Electrical shock- This creature draws powers from the ticks along its body to let out massive electrical blasts at its enemies.
Acid everything- All liquid in this creature acts as a potent acid that melts through everything but itself.
Blade Arms- Its two arms can act as blades that are almost as sharp as diamonds.

Shadow Beast 2- Chimera
Flight- This creature can fly
Shadow split- This creature can split itself into three monsters when weakened. A dragon, a cheetah, and a massive snake. Each piece has a third of the power of the whole body.
Acid everything- All liquid in this creature acts as a potent acid that melts through everything but itself.
Fire Control- This creature can release fire through its pores and mouth.

Shadow Beast 3- What the f-?
Strength- this thing is strong enough to pick up a large building and swing it around like a toy
Energy blast- this creature can let out a blast of powerful dark energy to destroy anything it aims at.
Acid everything- All liquid in this creature acts as a potent acid that melts through everything but itself.
Turn Order- Shane, Eli, Qara, Mimsy, Pixel, Sicon, Vicin, Lordxana, Isla

[Guyshane]

“Well this is a bit more than Ah was expectin right out'o the gate.” Gambit said. He gently lowered Korra to the ground. “Still nothing fo it, lets go.” The mutant charged the army.

In retrospect not one of his better moves but he didn't see another option at the time. The first group was summoning a wave of water, so Gambit threw a hand of playing cards amongst their midst. Each card connected with a target, exploding with the force of a grenade.

The thief leapt over their still forms at another group, extending his staff out to it's full length and began striking at the heads and joints of his enemies. An equalist attempted to blast fire into his face, so Gambit grabbed his arm and use him to burn several of the others before knocking the bender away.

Then the bender exploded due to the card the X-man had placed on him. Then Gambit heard a mechanical sound coming from behind him. He turned to see one of the mechanical suits aiming its gun at him.

The thief managed to dodge under the gunfire just before it started, causing it to hit several of the foot soldiers. Gambit scrambled to the mech managing to just stay ahead of the gunfire. As he moved past the suit he ran his hand along the edge of its casing charging it with energy. He had to force himself past more of the troops and hit the ground. Then the mech exploded taking out a large number when it went.

He moved through the crowd repeating the tactic with about 10 more of the mechs. Dis is getten a bit tiring. What can Ah do to take some heat off oh me? The mutant looked up and saw a small building. That'll do. He made his way through the crowd, breaking limbs and blowing up a few more of the equalists as he did so.

Here we go. The thief stuck several of his charged cards into the supports on one side of the building. However Gambit found himself surrounded by his opponents.

“Surrender and your death will be quick.”
Remy raised his hands in the air. “Wait for it.”
“Wait for wh-”

The cards went off with a loud discharge. However nothing else happened. When the soldiers turned back to look Gambit was gone.

“Where did he go?”

At that moment there was a loud groan as half of the building slid off and came crashing down on those beneath it.

Gambit smiled from the alley. “Well that should leave an impression, Now ah can get some rest while the others deal with the rest
----------------------------------------------------
Battle Report:
Equalist troops killed: about 90
Mecha tanks destroyed: 11
Shadow beasts defeated: none
Other: Gambit is gonna rest up in an alleyway, he'll help out if he sees someone needs it.

[Qara-Xuan Zenith]

It was clear enough, from the sound and the feel of things, that they were on the battlefield now. It was clear, too, to Hawkin, what his battle here would be.

He did not need to look with eyes he didn't have to see the creature; its odd, prickly shape was of less interest to him than its core makeup. The same shadowstuff that made up nearly everything in the Nether Realms, or close enough that he couldn't feel a difference, and bearing taint in every fibre of its being.

As though sensing his attention, the thing roared, and spat a gob of corrosive liquid at the man. He made a face as it burned a hole through to his shoulder-- he'd liked that shirt-- and waited patiently for it to make its way through his flesh, and out the other side, before the skin on his arm began to close itself up once more.

A flash of heat, of mental light, elsewhere on the battlefield distracted him; people were throwing fire around somewhere, and he didn't want to rely on dodging when he had his hands full with this thing. With a sigh, Jonathan Hawkin gathered a protective cloak around his shoulders from nowhere-- it wouldn't stop a steady stream of flame from harming his essence, but it was better than nothing.

Well... not a cloak. He would not pull a billowing robe of smoky black around his shoulders, not now, not ever. He wouldn't bear that association, even if he knew that the appearance of it meant nothing. Instead, it was the seeming of a bulky, well-worn leather jacket that swathed him. This was the choice he made.

Hawkin absentmindedly shoved his hands into the pockets of the newly-appeared jacket before turning his attention back to the beast he had marked as his foe.

Fire... Experimentally, he sent a couple of streams of fire at the thing; as he had somewhat expected, this did nothing. The thing made a noise like a foghorn, releasing... something, and Hawkin leapt aside. The building he had stood in front of a moment more seemed to shudder, as if experiencing existential angst, and then was gone.

Well... that happened. Nothing for it, then.

Hawkin reached inside his own mind, as though floating a request, and with a triumphant screech, a massive bird, with the markings of an eagle but easily the wingspan of an albatross or greater, circled down from the heavens, appearing as though out of nowhere.

Although the bird was fully as bright as any natural eagle, something about the way the light hit it, an observer may have noted, suggested that it was somehow less than real, that it was composed of shadows made real, given colour and form.

"Thank you, Hawk," the man murmured. It was his Summons; it would be meaningless to say that it came when it called when in truth it was a construct of, and controlled by, his own mind. Nevertheless, it was a powerful tool, and one that many could not wield; for that, he knew, it earned the right to be treated with respect.

The bird, for all its abnormal size, was dwarfed many times over by its enemy, which roared a challenge and spat more acid, which flowed right through Hawk as though it were not there. The eagle continued in its descent, flying straight at the beast. The mental construct raked at the shadowcreature with its feet, rending and tearing in odd ways. Where the bird's claws had cut it, the monster's flesh, or what passed for flesh, lay ragged and open, oozing corrosive shadowstuff.

Jonathan Hawkin chuckled lightly as he stood, an arm occasionally dipping here or waving there, as he mentally conducted his Summons' attacks. This was the work it had been made for, though he rarely found he had uses for Hawk outside of the Nether Realms.

Finding the bird too versatile to retaliate upon, the monster lunged at the puppetmaster instead-- so it wasn't an entirely dumb beast. Too focused on controlling Hawk's movements, the man had not turned his mind for the visual cues another man would see, and was not ready to dodge in time. He twisted his body awkwardly, avoiding the brunt of the attack-- he probably would have been crushed under the creature, a massive inconvenience even if it didn't kill him-- but snagging his side painfully on one of the thing's spikes. It drew blood, which practically blackened upon contact.

Brilliant. Taint to worry about even when I'm not venturing Below.

Still, at least blood taint wasn't an immediate concern, provided this fight didn't last longer than a couple of days. Or provided he could manage to banish the taint mid-fight, which... seemed the less likely of the two.

At least he didn't need to manually control his Summons for simple attacks; even as he was being sliced open on the dark creature, the eagle was swivelling in her flight, coming back around to peck viciously at the thing's eyes. He had to suppress a laugh that was probably partly due to battle-giddiness at that; no matter how long it had been, the symmetry of his bird seemingly trying to even the odds with this standard, obvious attack never escaped him.

As an added bonus, it worked, meaning now neither he nor his foe had functional eyes... and of the two, only he could see. It roared again, bellowing the same shadowstuff that had made an entire building vanish just before. That... probably wasn't good. Even if this time, the dark power passed harmlessly into the skies-- well, not harmlessly, he amended, as stormclouds manifested in the previously calm skies, pouring down on the battle raging below, but it could certainly be worse.

As the eagle pursued it, the creature stalked in the opposite direction; it took two steps before stopping, a petulant expression on its absurd face, as it shook five dead-or-unconscious men from the pads of its feet.

Apparently thinking better of the decision to flee, if doing so meant taking such a swathe out of its own forces, the thing rose up instead on its haunches and spun, spitting acid every which way.

A glob of the stuff took a piece out of the protective leather jacket, which was a pity, but beyond that, it still wasn't capable of doing any lasting harm to the pale man, who focused grimly on his Summons' attack.

Hawk worked methodically, shredding the massive thing with beak and claws. It started with the face, because Hawkin didn't much fancy having to dodge many more of those dark-power barrages, though in any case it no longer had any hope of aiming for him. He let the sporadic gobs of acid eat through him as he directed the construct in its attack, more and more of the thing's contents leaking out onto the ground, where it pooled in great black puddles that Hawkin was careful not to step in, slowly eating their way through the cobblestones and seeping into the earth below.

____________________

Status:
Troops killed: Well, there were those five mooks who got stomped on-- up to everyone else if they made it or not.
Mechas destroyed: see Shane's post, since I haven't touched them.
Shadow beasts: No. 3 destroyed. Have fun with the other two.
Hawkin's status: He'll be ready to step in if anyone wants/needs him for anything, unless this ends up having been simultaneous with everything (this sentence makes sense in my head). Otherwise/ when he's done he'll go find somewhere to deal with that blood-taint before it causes problems.

[AMimsyBorogove]

BGM: Himorogi, Burn In Violet

A series of powerful explosions rocked the battlefield as a black-white blur streaked over the enemy lines, trailing a shower of multicolored stars and ceramic bottles behind her, which rained down upon the first ranks of the assembled equalist forces who tried and failed to shoot down the nimble enemy who was bombing them. Predictably enough, considering who exactly was dropping said magical projectiles, when the stars landed in the enemies' midst, they burst colorfully and destructively, and when the bottles landed after them, they shattered to produce even more stars, which did the same things as the ones that had preceded them, scattering several dozen of the hapless soldiers like dominoes.

"HAHAHA!" The Witch made a sound that might have been called a cackle. It might also have been described as being "somewhat insane." Marisa pulled up as one of the machines, having survived her explosive charge, peppered the air with a series of shots that nevertheless completely failed to hit her as she rapidly rose into the air, tossing another of her trademark exploding potions down directly on top of the remaining machine. "Magic Time Bomb!" She called, triggering the countdown on the potion as it fell towards its target, snapping her fingers just as it reached its target and detonating the potion in a flash of azure light, shattering the machine into countless pieces. "Man, if that divine shiny-whatsit keeps on givin' me back the bombs I use, I can blow as much stuff to bits without any hesitation! This is the best job ever!" Laughing once again, the Witch ceased her ascent, arcing back downward towards the ground to make another attack run on the troops below. Raising the Mini-Hakkero, she concentrated a small portion of its energy, picked her targets at random, pointed the now brilliantly glowing reactor at her enemies, and prepared to fire.

"Stardust Re-" To her surprise, however, her spell was cut off by a sudden roar to her left, followed by a flash of light and a surge of flames. The Witch glanced to the side, noticing all too promptly that she seemed to be covered by a rather large shadow. It didn't take a Gensokyo genius to realize that a giant monster was vomiting mass quantities of fire at her. So, nonchalantly as if she were taking a walk in the part, she turned the Hakkero sharply to the side, at the same time hurling her broom in the opposite direction without even bothering to turn it, using the spell to propel her backwards and away from the incoming storm of fiery breath whilst disrupting the attack with her own magic at the same time. "-VERIE!" The Witch finished, her voice almost drowned out by the subsequent explosion that filled the sky as a rainbow of stars collided with the torrent of fire, scattering radiant magical light and searing fire in all directions. As the explosion cleared, Marisa recovered her balance, seating herself sideways across her broom, both of her legs dangling casually down as she blew the smoke off of the Hakkero in an altogether nonchalant manner, as if she had completely failed to notice the source of the fire attack she had only just deflected as it rose into the air on a pair of batlike wings, corresponding to its draconic center head.

"Ooh! A giant three headed monster!" The Witch exclaimed, pointing with seeming surprise at the enormous chimera that seemed now solely focused on her. Its bulk was tremendous, enough to cast a shadow over the entire battlefield as it faced off with its similarly airborne, albeit much smaller adversary. "I wonder, if I kill it, does it count as three kills, or one? Hmm, but that assumes the heads all share a health bar, like that annoying ghost band in the Netherworld... Maybe I have to kill it three times, instead? Aww, man, I hate it when my enemies get extra lives. Well, better blow it up quick, then, or else it might get an extend. Then I'd need to kill it four times. I just hope it doesn't have any continues." Muttering to herself about game physics that didn't actually matter in this scenario, Marisa seemed to completely ignore the monster as it roared angrily, fire spurting from its nostrils, and the fourth wall as it screamed and crumbled under the weight of the Witch's nonsensical lampshading.

BGM: Love-Colored Magic

"Well, whatever. I guess I'll take you on, anyway, no matter how many lives you've got!" With this declaration, Marisa swept her broom out from beneath her, leveling it at the giant chimera as she herself merely floated in mid air, underscoring exactly how pointless the cleaning implement really was when it came to flight. Grinning broadly, the Witch affixed the Mini-Hakkero to the end of her broom, and then held onto her hat as a surge of blue light began to emit from the reactor's center.

"Radial Strike!" With this shout, the Witch released yet another star-shaped projectile, firing it like a bullet straight for the chimera's center head. The beast merely roared, opened its mouth...

...And devoured the weak spell with ease, before opening its mouth and releasing yet another storm of flames, forcing Marisa to send her broom shooting upward, pulling herself over the incoming firestorm whilst at the same time dragging herself atop her broom once more.

"Sheesh," She muttered, dusting herself off as she once again regained her balance. "You ever heard of breath mints, big guy?" Whether or not the beast understood this taunt was unclear, but, nevertheless, it didn't really matter. The Chimera merely roared again, and this time spewed fire from all of its heads at once.

"Orrieres Solar System ~ Fire Magic!" The Witch promptly called, casting out her trademark quartet of whirling magical orbs to form a square defensive screen before her. This version of the usual ritual was somewhat different, both cosmetically and in effect, however, from its original counterpart. Unlike before, all four orbs were now a bright scarlet in hue, instead of just one of them. The Witch grinned as the fire struck her barrier, then completely scattered along its surface, fading rapidly into the four orbs at each corner of the square as the triple-pronged fire attack was completely absorbed. Marisa had already been more than prepared for simple elemental attacks after seeing the magic used by Korra, the newcomer to their own team who had originally come from this world. Although she hadn't used her elemental negation rituals to assist her teammates before, there was no reason why she shouldn't use it to deal with threats to herself - and, more importantly, to her hat.

"Whew. Not bad, big guy. That one actually had some power behind it. You'll have to do better than that to hit me, howe-" The Witch didn't finish her boastful sentence, for in the instant before she could, the Chimera took a new approach to attacking, and merely bashed through her barrier with its long, sweeping tail, the shattering boundary field launching the Witch back and only barely saving her from an impact that otherwise would have pounded her bones to dust. Reeling head over heels for several meters, the Witch at last righted her course, raising her hand and releasing a torrent of green stardust to momentarily distract the beast before it could press its assault. "Green Spread!" The Witch called, casting her magic. The Chimera snarled, and opened its mouth to devour the spell, only to find itself taken by surprise as the previously cohesive laser spread into several smaller ones, scattered outward around its head, and then proceeded to converge on the base of its neck, exploding brightly. Nevertheless, despite this successful hit, the chimera still seemed far from being fazed by the attack. The Witch sighed. When exactly was it that small fry like this stopped exploding if you shot them with enough weak stuff? She loved a good Spark as much as, if not more than anybody, but she really hated to waste that much energy on such a simple enemy.

"Well, that was rude," Marisa said, adjusting her hat to ensure it didn't fall off in the event of another impact. "I guess you're pretty much asking for me to blow you away, now, aren't you? Well, you're in luck, I guess. With all that power you so kindly gave me, I suppose I can spare a good, old-fashioned-"

Yet again, the Chimera decided not to let the Witch continue speaking unassailed, and so, flapping its wings, launched itself towards her, its center head - that of a dragon - opening its maw to consume her.

The Witch merely smiled, and raised her broom as the chimera's jaws began to close on her. Once again clinging tightly to her hat, Marisa spoke two oft-repeated words.

"MASTER SPARK!"

The chimera's central head was abruptly torn apart by a storm of rainbow-colored light, and swiftly disintegrated, followed by the middle of its torso, which fell in half, tumbling down towards the battlefield below...

...Only to reshape itself into two smaller beasts. Marisa sighed irritably, dusting off the Hakkero.

"Great. So it did have more lives after all. Meh, whatever. Those chumps down there can handle it themselves. Hmm... Since I've blown up a bunch of the cannon fodder, I wonder if somebody interesting will show up now? Oh well. Guess I just gotta wait and see..."

____________________

Status:

Troops Killed: 25 or so in this post.
Mechas destroyed: 1.
Shadow beasts: The Dragon part of the Chimera was Spark'd. The others split off to avoid death, but they're still just fine.
Marisa's Status: Still at roughly full power, since she mostly just used a few bombs she had lying around instead of bothering with actual magic, and she absorbed about as much energy from the Chimera's flames as she spent nuking it. This time, though, she's saving her strength for the end boss, so she's pretty much just watching stuff unfold from the sky waiting for a chance to blast someone powerful.

[Pixelmage]

Step, skip, step. Step, skip... Stop. Alice looked around her, dazed. Another step. Another skip. She spun around, taking in the details of the scene, of the war before her too, but mostly of the scene that painted itself above and around her. A whirlwind of souls, of spirits and of ghosts. Weren't they all the same thing?

And then there was fire, and light. And earth, and water too. The gusts of wind in particular were notable, Alice wasn't touching the ground, after all. It was a storm of power, and the little girl couldn't make sense of what was happening anywhere.

"So many ghosties..." She mused, reaching out for the spirits around her. They were broken, shattered. Yes, shattered. That was the right word. "They don't know how to play, do they? Well, it doesn't matter if they do or don't, you can play with me now and it'll be more fun!"

"Help." Called one of the spirits. "Oranges." Said another. "Moo." A third one, and suddenly their voices couldn't be made distinct anymore, as thousands of the fragmented souls cried out in unison, swirling around the blond girl. She finally turned her eyes to the mundane, the still living.

"Teehee... Lots of ghosties to play with!" Alice giggled, landing gently on the stone floor right before one of the soldiers. He must have tried to speak, if his squeal was any indication, sadly, his body had already failed him before he could form any words. The formation of soldiers around the fallen one turned to her, and fire surged over the distance. The girl was unharmed, amused at the shapes and twists of the flames. "You're thiiiiis old and never learned how to dance? The ghosties know how to dance!"

She moved gracefully, spinning and waving, sometimes skipping a step and giggling as she did. With each turn of her body, whips of water smashed through the masks of the soldiers. With each wave of her arms, the ground itself surged to impale them. And with each skip of her step whirlwinds hurled them into each other.

When the girl stopped dancing, her audience was dead.

-----
Killed on this post: 143 foot soldiers.

[Sicon112]

Sabrac once again molded his carefully built form from the whirling tornado of power that split open the crest of a hill, and as red flames gracefully twisted into black fabric, Sabrac finished his twirl with a flourish of his cape, and took his place overlooking the battlefield. Amidst the army below a building came crashing down, sending screaming and flailing bodies in every direction, accompanied by a cloud of dust and debris. Noting carefully the nearby flame of one of the newcomers, Sabrac nodded to himself. "Hmm, it seems that my measure of that one was accurate. He uses the power fate has given him with some small measure of skill and wisdom. A useful asset, then, to this job. Perhaps-" His voice abruptly stopped and his head jerked round to focus on the streams of fire coming from one of the other newcomers.

"Flames of- No, their makeup is different." The Crimson Lord watched impassively as they struck their shadowy target with no effect. "An intriguing imitation. The speed with which that man relied on that attack means that it cannot have been modeled after my own form, and must be one of his weaker, longstanding abilities. Yet, the similarities between the two are interesting. While one merely takes the character of fire for its own, the other is indistinguishable from flames, but both originate from no visible source." As Sabrac considered this oddity, the new 'hero' choose a new method of attack, bringing a massive, shimmering bird from the sky. Perhaps to an uninformed observer, it might appear a physical being, but to Sabrac's gleaming eyes, it was nothing of the sort. Merely a well modeled extension of the soul of its maker. Sabrac had to admire, on a technical level, the craftsmanship that went into the familiar. Though it was not on the level of a Crimson Lord, or perhaps even the more expert spellcasters amongst the Flame Haze's ranks, it was still more that he had come to expect from someone outside those two groups.

As he observed the battle, the relatively quiet vantage he had picked was disturbed by a cackling laugh shortly followed by an explosive roar as a black and white blur atop a broomstick shot over his head and out onto the field, raining explosives as she went. "As loud as ever, it seems, though I hardly expected one such as her to change her ways." The sky gleamed, now alight with lasers flying every direction. "It is not my concern how she handles herself, however, as long as she remains effective in bringing closer the goal of this expedition." So saying, he turned away to consider the blimp hovering a good distance away from the battlefield. "While the apparent masterminds of this inconsequential delay addressed our group from that vantage, if they were truly wise, they will have hidden themselves away somewhere obscure, and merely intend to distract us with their grandstanding. Of course, they could also be the most common type of fools, and have simply not considered such an option. Either way, assaulting that blimp is useless. If they are not present, then it is simply a waste of time and energy, and if they are, surely they will have at least taken some measures for their safety, so it would be more expedient to simply wait until this mob of lesser beings has been removed and see how they react. Perhaps they will even be fool enough to lead me to my target without any further expenditure of power on my part."

A loud crash rang out as a metal foot hit the ground nearby where the Crimson Lord stood. Slowly and purposefully, Sabrac turned around to face the line of enemies that stood before him. "It seems my power has been underestimated again. I wonder if these slaves were simply here on orders of their masters, or if some driving bloodlust has simply propelled them to attempt suicide." He didn't bother to stop talking, or even to turn fully to face the gatling gun that opened fire on him mid-sentence. Bullets crashed against his cloaked form again and again, and he idly wondered if any of the new, ignorant heroes would be foolish enough to come running in an attempt to aide him from what their narrow mortal minds perceived as fatal wounds.

Shrugging slightly with apathy, Sabrac caused his cape to shift as thousands of crushed and twisted bullets fell to the ground around him. "I wonder if anywhere in their destroyed minds they see the folly of their actions." He stoically watched as two other robots charged forward, firing a set of lightning covered nets towards the Crimson Lord. "I suppose not. The control of their master is too absolute to allow such a thing to happen. What a waste of power." Unable to even reach him, the nets approach was halted as their flimsy physical materials twisted and burst into red hot dust, literally disintegrating in midair at a single glance from Sabrac. "He has gained the ability to hold such absolute control over beings, and yet he is merely content with this result." His gleaming eyes stared contemplatively off into the distance, paying no attention to the creatures trying to attack him. The shadow of a battle bot loomed over the relatively small visible form of Sabrac, raising a massive fist which promptly came crashing down upon the Crimson Lord's body. Of course, he was completely unaffected.

With the shriek of rending metal, the battle bot's hand crumpled like paper and began to glow red hot, even though Sabrac had yet to move an inch. Stumbling backwards into its partner unit, the bot found its entire supposedly impenetrable armor being crushed simply by a thought in Sabrac's mind. The pressure stemming from the presence of a Crimson Lord pushed both robots to their knees even as they crumbled into red hot wreckage without a single motion on Sabrac's part. "There is a lesson to be found within this reality." Alternating waves of elemental barrages crashed down upon the hill, but they simply washed over where Sabrac stood not caring for such a pitiful assault. "Mindless peons, no matter what power granted to them, are nothing more than animals." A single black-gloved hand reached out from beneath his mantle with index and middle fingers extended and sparking with madder red power. Making a leisurely swipe through the air with his fingers, Sabrac turned the spark of power into an undulating beam of energy, curling through the air like a madder red whip and tearing through the screaming benders before him without resistance. "Such beings are not capable of any cleverness, nor any strategy. They exist only to be cut down one after the other by those with any measure of power. They are no danger to even those dispatched with me. Sending them here was nothing more than folly, useless even as a delaying tactic."

Flicking his wrist to recall the beam of fire, Sabrac pulled his hand once more under his cape, and turned back to monitoring the battlefield, leaving the mountain of mutilated and dismembered corpses a sign to others who might be foolish enough to approach.

-----

Troops Killed: 38
Battle Bots Brutally Demolished: 2

Sabrac's Status: Stoic

[Victin]

It was clear for Judas now that he was trapped. He tried using his book to cover his view and then take it away to see if his enemies vanished but they didn't vanish. When Isaac called for his help this wasn't what he expected. Isaac tried to attack them but they just waved his tears away, and sent back streams of hellfire. He had tried to run but fissures opened in the ground beneath his feet. He tried to jump over them but gusts of wind threw him back and forth. Isaac pleaded then Judas' help, but as soon as he got there Isaac ran the hell away, leaving him alone. He tried to attack, but the scene with Isaac repeated itself, but this time Judas was helpless with his back angainst a wall.

A soldier ordered the others to stop, and then turned to face Judas. The tall, menacing man's gaze was enough to bring tears of fear to Judas' eyes. With a swift movement of his hand the dirt Judas stood over awake and shifted, throwing him off balance and straight to the ground. A fireball erupted on his hand - He would finish Judas himself. He noticed his fez had fallen off and reached for it, but right before putting it back realized what the man was about to do. The flame on his hand grew bigger and brighter, its wild dance now becoming the tries of an encaged beasts trying to escape, its song now a maniac cackle that wished for death. Judas' death.

In response, the kid held back his book and opened it, facing towards the group. The oncoming bombs threw the soldier backwards and his fireball to the ground. The following explosions were enough to kill the soldiers who surrounded Judas, to knock him back to the ground (and his fez off his head) and to attract more soldiers to his position. He bothered himself to take the fez and put it on his head once again. Then, he looked around only to see an even larger group of soldiers coming to his position. Tears ran down past his face and fell straight to the ground. He had now only one option.

Judas picked the nail and pierce his hand with it. The pain instantly happened, and it burned like fire as the hole in his hand cried crimson tears. His skin turned black, as if immolated by invisible flames. Horns teared his head from within, and then twisted themselves into a spiral, their ends now pointing forward as if they were a bull's. Judas' eyes turned red as blood flowed into them, and his teeth grew in an instant, now the fangs of a tenebrous creature.

The newborn demon roared in fury, and then roared again, soldiers hearing the call from the beast and joining the ones that already ran to its position. One of the soldiers stopped in its tracks and lifted a boulder, which was then promptly hurled at the beast with a movement of the man's hand. Instead of dodging, the creature just... Lowered its head. That way, the rock was stopped by the monster's horns, pushing the demon back. It then cracked and opened, multiple stone shards falling in front of the beast. The creature then sprinted foward, taking hold of two rocks on its way and throwing them at the mass of soldiers coming to fight it. They were promptly hurled back, alongside many others which were now thrown at it. Not that it was a problem for it.

The first boulder which it came to face it broke with a punch. Then second one it dodged to the side and took hold of it. The third one it hurled the second stone at, and by then it stopped counting. Whips of water were swung at it, but the monster leapt into the air and rebounded off, from boulder to boulder, at the same time the whips sliced through rock as a scissor cuts through paper. As it ran foward, its and the opposing fleet's glares met, mindless bloodlust filling each head while elemental projectiles filling the air. They got closer, and the demon's descent upon the soldiers was enough to crush one's skull as it landed on it.

The body was lifted and swung around, sending back the nearby soldiers but not actually injurying any of them. Walls of fire rised around the creature and soon it was coated in yellow flames. They coalesced into a maelstrom of pain around the beast. It wasn't enough to kill the demon, but after it leaped out of it its steps faltered. It was also ablaze, which increased its anger exponentially. The vortex of fire calmed down as the benders went for another technique, and the creature took this momentaneous gap to attack.

It ran rapidly, and like a wild beast rammed its horns at the closest soldiers. They fell to the ground, and the crushing sound their skeletons made as it stomped them was music to its ears. Blasts of wicked wind hit the burning demon, and threw it off its feet, and then into the air. The still living troops proceeded to raise a wall of stone which the creature collided with a bone breaking sound, and then javelins of ice were fired at it. One pierced its shoulder, the other its leg. The beast growled of pain and fury, and took out the spear that was stuck on its shoulder and on the rock. Before more could hit it, the beast threw back the javelin at the attackers - who stopped it in mid-air and threw it back again - and leaped to the side and behind the wall before it was injuried more.

The wall the shaked and bent towards the demon. It tried to hold it back, but had to headbutt the stone to split it in two, then focus its strenght in one of them to counter the bending that was applied on it. The soldiers soon stopped this order of attack, and both pieces of the wall were thrown at them, one at once. Following them, there was a pitch-black being, a shadow that rushed towards them alongside a vicious, feral roar. It rammed its horns angainst one of those who weren't smashed, and threw the corpse at another one. A stream of hellfire revived the flames on his body, and it felt even warmer as it wet itself with the attacker's blood.

The last equalists tried to send gusts of wind towards the creature, but it shrugged them off and leaped at them. Fangs and claws made their way through flesh, and they fell to the ground, dead. The massacrer gazed around, looking for more prey, though the bloodlust was slowly fading away. His body suddenly felt numb and weak. His skin was now actually burnt, and it wasn't only his hand that bled. His legs felt weak and numb, and he decided to lay down amongst the carnage and the metallic net that came his way, its electrifying touch facilitating his rest.

~~~~

Troops killed: 39
Judas' status: Injuried, unconcious and under attack of a Battle Bot

[Lordxana0]

Ulrich watched as the army of masked benders fought against his allies, keeping away until he could come up with a full plan of action. Using the Nexus power right now would burn through his first three minute charge, which was dangerous in the sense that they were sure to run into more of these jerks before the day had ended. On the other hand he could probably end this in a minute or two, and that would give him four minutes with the recharge power his evil clone had found during the Ditto battle.

Ulrich quickly dodged away from a blast of fire send out by one of the many Benders who seemed to have taken note of his existence. He decided that using his more mundane powers would work for now. Ulrich quickly pulled free his blades and activated his triplicate power and charged into the ranks of Benders, unleashing multiple nonleathal sword strikes on all of the Benders they could reach. After landing blows on about fifty of them the Ulrichs stopped and reformed into a single being. "Delusion Paradise" his swords glowed with energy and all of the Benders he had hit suddenly stood still.

After a few seconds the soldiers turned on their allies, unleashing elemental barrages upon them in. In their eyes each of the other soldiers around them appeared to be another enemy that they needed to take down. Ulrich grimaced as he saw how hard they fought, knowing that under the strain of the illusion they would fight much harder then normal, but that would also cause their hearts and brains to give out after a few minutes. But in that time they would take out more then their fair share of enemies. All around him the mind controlled soldiers battled, destroying the Mechs and assisting his other warriors. Occasionally one would drop from a lucky blow delivered by their former allies. But largely his force of now insanity driven minions seemed to be winning the fight.

Ulrich heard Issac cry out and watched as a Mech lifted its leg to crush the boy. Yeah that wasn't happened. Ulrich sprinted toward the boy and grabbed him from the ground before the tank could crush him. After getting him out of range the boy tossed the small child into the air so it could be caught by his clone, who ran the boy into a safe building. Ulrich turned toward the Mech and spun his blades around. "Game on"

The Mech opened fire with its gatling gun, attempting to hit the fast moving boy. With a smirk and a hollar Ulrich jumped onto the machines back, and sliced through two of the tubs that ran energy through the metal monster. The Mech powered down and slumped over, unusable.

Ulrich sighed and looked over the battlefield. Things were going their way for now, but if those huge spirits weren't taken care of it wouldn't really matter in the long run. He looked toward Korra and Willow with a frown. Would the two of them be able to take down the two monsters? He would have to hope so.

Their lives most likely depended on it.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Soldiers are currenly killing each other and the Mech's. Odds are by the end of Eli and Isla's turns there won't be too many of them

The two minor spirits and one large spirit are still there through.

[eli_gone_crazy]

Korra groaned at the sounds of battle, wishing she could hide from the screams that rocked her. Purple forms floated through her vision, dark and screaming in agony known only to the great spirits. Growling, Korra stood, coming face-to-face with one of the spirits.

It was insectoid in nature, wide green-orange eyes luminous in the battlefield. Its front arms were bent awkwardly, silver shining off the sharpened edges. Puce blood leaked from a small wound at it’s side, burrowing a hole into the ground below.

Korra growled, eyes determined as she squared off against the Mantis-like spirit. It eyed her curiously for a moment, mandible clacking hungrily in the light. Korra shuddered out in fright, and it swooped in for a killing blow.

Korra spun through the air, fire burning through the spirit in a huge wave.

Undeterred, the spirit pushed through the fire, only to be met with more flames. Korra and the darkened spirit danced like that for what felt like hours, time condensing into nothing. Soldiers came and went, bloody and disorganized. The spirit bowled over several as Korra burrowed underneath, flying up to connect with what should have been the creature’s jaw.

Instead, the beast batted her out of the air, sending her flying into the wreckage of a mech, gasping for breath that didn’t come. As it stalked closer, Korra sent panicky waves of flame barreling in it’s direction, to no avail.

As the beast roared it’s victory to the sky, preparing to swallow the Avatar whole, the world turned blue-white. Air and fire soared to her command as she sent the beast sprawling. Earth reached to hold it in place as water threatened to drown it. With a twist and a battle cry, the Avatar sent the behemoth flying, soaring over rooftops and away from the main battle.

Sneering in irritation, the Avatar flew to the beast’s location, spinning first one tornado, then two and three, each more powerful than the last and shredding the spirit. As the spirit finally passed back to it’s world, the Avatar settled to the ground, centering herself as the blue light faded.

Results:
The mantis spirit is now no longer mantis-y. Or alive.
Sorry it took so long.


I’m going to go to sleep now.

[IslaKariese]

It seemed like it'd been too long since she'd fought.

Kestral knew, of course, that this was far from true, as she slammed Celoivera into any enemy within her reach. Those outside of her reach shot powerful elemental magic at her - the same sort of power that she knew her new companion Korra wielded. The archer didn't let the unfamiliarity phase her. She merely flitted between forms with an easy grace that proved to be no match for these "benders'" sheer power. She sliced the arms off of one, the legs off of another, and yet those who weren't outright killed by her blows merely continued to attack her. It was getting annoying.

Just as she was about to cut the head off of her latest victim, a bright flash of destructive magic flared behind her, and she turned to see the witch completely obliterate the middle dragon head of the chimera beast. Kestral grinned with satisfaction, but growled when the beast merely broke apart into a cheetah and a snake. It was a perverted subversion of nature, a chimera was, and just the sight of one surviving what she knew to be a fatal attack set her blood ablaze.

And so, before the beast's remaining two parts could even begin to attack the witch again (even though she wasn't even paying any more attention, as it was the principle of the thing), Kestral shot a super-charged fire arrow into the snake's neck.

The thing shrieked madly, turning towards her in a hissing and spitting rage, its flesh bubbling and hissing where the arrow struck. The cheetah also turned, yowling in anger. Far quicker than a natural cheetah, it flipped its body around and shot towards her in less than a second. Kestral wasted no time in leaping into the air and landing on the cheetah's back as a larger, stronger lioness, gouging deep grooves into the monster.

This, however, proved to be a bad move. Kestral yowled as the cheetah's blood burnt her paws and leapt off as quickly as she could. Just in time for it to practically burst into flames.

Shifting back into human form, Kestral tucked her hands into her chest and jumped to the side as the thing spat a gout of fire at her. With a snort of anger, the archer transformed into a dragon of the same size, releasing a similar beam of fire. The two attacks collided, with neither gaining ground. Slowly, so very slowly, Kestral gained the advantage. She had just about burnt the cheetah to a crisp when she caught movement in the corner of her eye.

With an unnatural growl-like hiss, the large snake reared itself to strike, and Kestral had no choice but to move or be skewered by the snake's fangs. As she rolled to the side, she had to cut off her own fire leaving the cheetah's attack to sail across where she once stood. And, luckily, where the snake's fangs were buried in the ground.

The cheetah cut off its attack quickly, but the damage was done. The snake's body writhed on the ground as its head was irreparably charred. Even as the snake finally stilled, the cheetah turned back to Kestral, enraged. But the archer was waiting. Ignoring the pain in her burnt hands, she swung Celoivera in an energized arch towards her last enemy. As the cheetah pounced, jaw opened wide in a snarl, it caught the beam in its mouth. It kept going, cutting its head in two and continuing with the rest of the body until there was nothing left of the beast but two completely separated upper and lower halves.

With that finally done, Kestral rested her bow against her back and continued to cradle her hands, waiting for the next challenge.

[Lordxana0]

Salesmen drummed his fingers against the chair he was sitting on as the battle went on bellow the massive battle zeppelin he and his associate were waiting on. The battle had gone as expected, after all those chosen by the other god would have the sort of people to kill armies twice that size and with ten times that power. He felt his phone vibrate suddenly and checked the message on it, feeling himself pale as the message for the family head appeared on his screen. If they were going to send that mad man in then they would all die. And he did not want to die.

"Dreamweaver you need to get off your lazy ass and do something!" Salesmen stood up and slowly loosened his tie in worry, using it to wipe his forehead and clean away the sweat forming on his brow. "Big bro is about to summon in the Crazy one, and if he comes then we are screwed. You are dead, I am dead, reality most likely will gain a physical form and then die!" he slammed his fist into the wall.

The tired looking man rose to his feet and nodded his head, reaching a hand toward the viewing screen and focusing on those it showed. "Give me your dreams" the mans eyes turned bright blue as in an instant he searched through every memory that they had ever had, using his ability to pick on the one person they had known that they would least want to meet on a battlefield as an enemy. Some where loves, others enemies, and some where just things they had heard of and feared. Whatever the case might have been he pulled the image from their minds and tapped into the power granted to him by his brothers, giving these images form and power enough to face the soldiers of the god of light.

"Oh... thats good" Salesmen looked over his brothers shoulder and grinned widely. "Thats really freaking good" he turned around and moved toward the back of the zeppelin. "I am going to get the last defense line up just in case, you take control around here" he snapped and opened a portal of darkness, stepping through and moving toward the factory lines.

Dreamweaver took the seat his brother had been using and crossed his fingers together, thrusting them forward and listening to the pops. "Battle Zeppelin, full attack mode" the massive airship turned all of its guns and missiles toward the warriors on the ground and began to launch and fire everything they had. With the last bits of his power he kept the force field up, tying its power to the lives of the phantoms he had created from their memories. He just needed to wait until they died, then maybe he could finally get some sleep.
**

Your characters are now fighting enemies created from their memories. The person they would least want to fight is now in front of them with enough power to make themselves trouble. You decide who or what this is and face it.

Also Battle Zeppelin, its protected by the other Phantoms but is firing down antiaircraft bullets and missiles on the battlefield. So thats a thing.


Turn Order- Eli, Shane, Pixel, Qara, Isla, Lordxana, Mimsy, Vicin, Sicon

[Guyshane]

Korra panted, wiping beads of sweat and blood off roughly. The battlefield was several blocks away, smoke billowing up in clouds over the battlefield. Glaring at staring passerby, Korra leapt up to the nearest rooftop, calling air to push her the last several meters.

“Well ‘dis is a dahm fine mess, eh Cher?” Gambit commented, appearing suddenly and seemingly from nowhere behind the girl. “I mean who da hell are all dese guys?”

Korra whirled at him, one fist drawn up near her chin as a brick flew towards the mutant.

Gambit in response simply leaned back and let the brick fly through the space his head had previously occupied.

“Nice power,” He commented seemingly unconcerned. “You’ll hav’ ta do better to hit me thogh, Ah been fightin’ and trainin’ with telekinetics for years noaw.”

“Yeah? And you are?” Korra called out, stepping further away.

“Oh, she forgets already,” Gambit shot back. “Ol’ Remy helps you out wit your control issues and dis is how you thank me?”

“Yeah dis is ‘ow I dank you.” The girl mimicked, relaxing. “You should be back there with the others.”

“Hey I need breathers in between fights, jus’ like anyone else dos’.”

“So, you followed me.”

“Nah, I was in de alleyway. I jus’ popped on up because wats da point of being one of de best thieves in the universe if you can’t sneak up on people?” Gambit replied easily, stretching slightly.

“Uh-huh.” Korra eyed him steadily, before shaking her head and walking away. “Probably should see what going on with the rest.”

“Yea, well…..” Gambit noticed a green-colored comet streaking towards the rooftop. He quickly reached forward and grabbed hold of Korra before pulling her back. “Get down!”

The streak collided with the top of the roof, kicking up a large amount of dust. When the cloud cleared it revealed a beautiful woman dressed in green with a white streak in her hair standing in the small crater she had made with her landing.

Gambit’s eyes shot open wide. “Ann-Marie? What are you doing her, mon cherie?”

Rogue didn’t respond, instead merely flying straight at the pair. Gambit ducked down low and grabbed his attacker’s arm, being careful not to touch her skin as he used her momentum to move the other mutant past her target.

“Rogue? Why ahr ya here?”

Korra snapped up, backing away from the pair. “Friend?”

Gambit cleared his throat nervously. “Well a fair bit more den dat. But she shouldn’t be here. An’ I don know why she’s attacking. Still watch out. She can fly, has super strength, and can drain your powers if she touches your skin.”

Korra’s eyes narrowed, and she sent a large wave of fire spinning toward the green clothed mutant.

Rogue flew up and over the fire and started heading back down for them before several explosive cards from Gambit forced her back higher into the air. “ ‘Til we know it ain’t her try ta go easy, she coud jus’ be mind-controlled or somethen’.”

Korra’s eyes narrowed, and she flipped, sending an air current to slam Rogue onto the nearest roof.

It worked but the two of them still had to deal with the angry mutant who was now grounded on the roof with them. Stomping down, Korra made two fast motions with her hands, wrapping portions of the stone around her, entrapping Rogue.

Gambit’s eyes widened again. “We need to get off dis roof, ‘dats not nearly strong enough to hold her.”

As if on cue there was a sound like giant footsteps and the earth entrapment started to fracture and crumble. With a final blow she broke out of the trap but instead of attacking wildly as she had before the southern belle began walking slowly towards Gambit and speaking to him. “Ahm sorry bout that Remy, it was a side-effect of the travel to get here. But that’s not important, Professor found a way so I can touch people, come with me. We don’t have anything to be scared of anymore.”

Gambit for his part simply stood there stunned, almost as if he was unaware of the impending danger. Korra growled, sliding forward to come between them. “Remy, right?” she called back quietly, sending a burst of air to push Rogue back.

“Wah?” Gambit responded, having sagged into himself at Rogue’s offer.

“I don’t think you need to let her touch you.”

Gambit shook his head seeming like he was waking up from a trance. “Yea, sure. Right. I’m okay.”

Twisting, Korra sent Rogue flying from the roof, before leaping to the ground, tucking her body into a roll to absorb the shock.

“Oh, sure. Jus’ leave me stuck up here.” Gambit commented aloud, as he looked around the roof. Finding a wire attached to one edge, he used his bo as a grip for a makeshift zipline down to the street.

Korra and Rogue danced on the street, the avatar sending flame and chunks of stone to box the mutant woman in. Sensing victory, Korra pressed her advantage, whirling into the air alongside a slab of pavement.

An unseen force smacked both her and the stone aside, crumbling into a nearby building. Korra’s vision flickered, and a man in orange and gold alighted on the ground in front of her. Struggling to sit up, she whispered, “Tenzin?”

Suddenly Korra was surrounded by glowing playing cards in a circle which all exploded, forcing both of the enemies back and away from her. Gambit jumped down from a balcony he had used as a vantage point and helped the teenager to her feet. “Ya okay Cher?”

Korra nodded, wincing as she pulled her hand away from her head. “‘ll be fine.” Falling into a practiced motion, she pushed Rogue and the other man away with a wall of flame. Turning back to the mutant, she offered her hand. “We need to start running. Tenzin is a master level Airbender.”

“Wind-users. ‘Dose are tough.” Gambit replied nodding. “‘dis ain’t a good situation, they have long-range and short-range covered.” Without waiting for a reply the mutant produced two handfuls of cards and tossed them out in a wide radius. He then grabbed Korra’s wrist and began to retreat. “Okay ‘den, what are our options?”

“Need to protect civilians.” Korra panted, beginning to run back to the battlefield. “I am a master of all elements except for Air. Uh…”

“Which means you ahe at a disadvantage if yah fight yor friend back there, and anyone who fight Rouge up close is just askin’ ta lose.” Gambit cut in. “We ahctully need a plan to deal wit dem.”

“Well, uh-” Korra shook her head sharply, stumbling as she saw stars. “How the hell am I supposed to know? You brought your freaky leech girlfriend!”

“If Ah had brought her do ya think I’d be spending mah time running from her?” Gambit asked irritably. “Besides are you really one to talk with your ami ova there?”

“My wha-You know never mind.” Korra turned a corner, and began twisting a gale behind them. “Any of those magic cards make smoke?”

“‘Dey, explode. ‘Dey all explode.” He replied flatly. “And it ain’t magic, ‘Ah was born with this powa’.”

“Never seen a… A combustion man.” Korra chuckled, glancing at the roofs above them to see flashes of gold and orange. “That’s what you are. Can you start helping me make smoke before they come back?”

Gambit glared. “Cher I’m tellin you, ya grabbed de wrong mutant to make smoke.”

“What can you do, beyond make magic exploding cards that don’t make smoke?” Korra abandoned the wind for a moment to collapse a brick wall, dust billowing into the air.

“Hypnosis.” Gambit replied. “And it ain’t jus’ de cards. I can do it wit just about anyt’ing that ain’t humans.” He demonstrated by charging his staff, giving it a purple glow before stopping.

Korra stopped for a moment, staring at him seriously. “You’re a guru like Patik?” Maybe he can help me.

“No, I am a thief and an X-man.”

“What’s an-” Korra’s eyes widened, and she leapt back, shoving Gambit away with her feet as Rogue came crashing down in between them.

Korra flipped up to a fighting stance, sending a wave of flame roaring towards the other girl. Of all the times to not wear my jacket

"Oi! Cherie!" Gambit yelled to get Rogue's attention as he swung his staff like a baseball bat directly into her face, which in turn knocked her into the alley wall. He continued to pummel her until she was stunned but unhurt on the ground.

Gambit grabbed Korra and pulled her along with him. "Come on, I bought us 'tirty seconds, tops."

Korra began sprinting to keep up, tugging the walls on the buildings they ran through to block any pursuers. Running into a small square, she skidded to a stop, staring up at the sky, “Well, fu-”

A zeppelin floated in the air, surveying the ground greedily. Grabbing Gambit’s arm, she began sprinting away from it. “Needa stop the two of ‘em.” She paused, and glanced at him warily. “You in the habit of beating your girlfriends senseless?”

“Not a habit,” The thief replied. “But I come from a world full of people like me. A large number have powers from birt’, other from experiments, still others from magic. I can’t always be gentle with people.” At that moment Rogue flew through the wall of a building straight at them. Gambit threw another hand of cards that exploded and knocked her off course. “ ‘Dat right there is just what Ahm talkin’ bout.”

Korra nodded, wrapping earth around the other girl again, more firmly this time. “You can knock her out, right?”

“If Ah need ta.” Gambit replied tersely.

“Well... Now would be a--- Fan… Tastic time.” Korra snapped, struggling to keep the mutant still.

Gambit pulled off his glove off of his hand as he walked up to the earthen cocoon. He then placed his hand directly on it’s surface and pumped power directly into the dirt. Once the amethyst glow had spread through about have of the trap Gambit took several large steps backwards before making another card appear in his hand, he looked down at it. “Queen o’ hearts, how poetic.”

The mutant then threw the card, which hit and triggered a large explosion. When the dust cloud cleared the unconscious body of Rogue was visible briefly before fading to shadows. Gambit cocked his head to the side. “So ‘dat wasn’t her, it’d take a hellva lot more ‘den dat to kill Ann-Marie.”

Korra visibly brightened. “Sure?”

Gambit nodded. “Seen her take worse hits than ‘dat. ‘Dis was a cheap knockoff, at bes’.”

Grinning, Korra began sprinting up the side of a building, leaping and twisting as her fingers found grips in the exposed pipes and stone. Pulling herself to the top, she yelled, “Come on, Tenzin! You want the Avatar? Well? Come and get her!”

Well I certainly can’t let her do all the work by herself after she helped me. Gambit quickly climbed up to one of the nearby cables and used them to climb to the roof, chasing after the Avatar and the airbender

A shadow passed over Korra’s shoulder, and she spun out of the way as a wall of wind collided with the brick she had been standing on. Tenzin spun toward her, batting flames out of his way as he collided with Korra, sending them both tumbling.

Suddenly the roof under Tenzin burst in the form of a circle and collapsed inward. Once Tenzin had fallen inside the building Gambit appeared from the shadows throwing a veritable barrage of explosive cards.

Korra leapt out of the way, using water from a leaking pipe to freeze the airbender in place. Panting, she sent a heavy boulder to collide with the man, watching as he slumped and turned to shadow.

Collapsing on the ground, she laughed shakily, turning up to face the mutant. “You’re all right for a useless guy, guru.”

Gambit threw his hands out and shook his head in jest. “Kids ‘dese days. Don’t remember a damn t’ing you tell ‘em.”

“You said there were lots like you? Are they magic bending gurus too?”

“ “Dey are mutants and we are born with our powers, for example Rogue is a mutant too and there are ones leagues more powerful t’en us. ‘Douh there are a few magic gurus where I come from too.”

“I uh, I never got to thank you earlier,” Korra rubbed the back of her neck, wincing as she stood. “For calming me down.”

The mutant held up a hand. “Oh don’ worry. Calmin’ down kids who can’t control ‘dere powers is part of what we do at the Institute.”

“...Yeah okay, sure.” Korra swung up to stare at the airship. “Say we start moving back to the others? Or are you planning to make your own way?”

“Let’s go.” Gambit replied, extending his staff.

[Pixelmage]

Alice skipped around the battlefield, spinning between piles of the defeated enemies as if to call it her personal stage. Water sprouted as she swung her arms and the wind rose to meet her hair as she ran. She stopped, mesmerized at her own miniature statues, mockeries of a human shape carved crudely in stones that she pulled from the earth with a flick of her wrist.

"Hee... " She giggled, making the stones clash into each other. "My ghosties didn't do this! They just did other things!" Her play continued, flinging rocks against scraps of destroyed machines and dazing herself in a typhoon of air and water that lifted several stores high at times.

"Fire I already know, though." She said, speaking to herself. "Uncle Belial taught me a lot about fire." She said, puffing a small spark in the palm of her hands and whispering "Agi."

"Hee..." She pointed to a small box, tossed aside from one of the buildings in the chaos. "Agilao!" The box burst into flames, it roared for a brief moment and then died as suddenly as it had surged. "Like that, see!" She continued to talk to herself. "But Uncle did it this big!" She said stretching her arms wide.

As if on cue, the building to her left exploded in a sudden inferno. Alice whistled, wide eyed and smiling as widely as she could. "Uncle! You're here!"

"It has been a while, hasn't it, Alice?" The voice roared from the burning building, a humanoid figure three meters tall with a crimson red color for the scales that served as its skin walked outside. Belial, one of the named avatars of fire, looked like a scaled salamander inside a human form. "You have found other... Masters, to learn from?"

"Oh, no no! There's just a lot of ghosties here! They know all sorts of-"

"Water..." Belial interrupted her, clearly displeased. "You are playing with water..."

"But uncle-"

Belial roared, glaring down at the girl. "Inexcusable."

Alice took a step back, grin fading into a frown, then into a glare of her own. "You're not with uncle Nebiros today?"

"Doesn't matter... You have been playing with wat-"

"Bufu." This time it was Alice's turn to interrupt her uncle's speech. A shard of ice, barely of her own height sprouted on Belial's chest, exploding in crystals barely before being vaporized by the heat surrounding the being. He snarled, deciding to ignore his speech and lunged at her, lifting flames from the ground as he advanced.

Alice wasn't certain about how to react, or how she had come to that idea in the first place... But the creature before her wasn't her uncle. Not without Nebiros, and certainly not being so direct... Lunging was seldom something Belial would do, after all. She had no time to think or react, her mind blurred.

-----

She could remember it, some of it... Belial... No, something that looked like Belial emerged and addressed her. She looked around, her surroundings were covered by ash and the air filed with smoke, her own dress had been charred in a few spots... She tried to remember... Alice had glared at it and then thrown a needle of ice at it... But it wasn't Belial, no, he wouldn't let the ice touch him...

She pressed her hands against her temples and fell to her knees trying to remember... It was fast, they moved fast then she was there. There was no sign of her fake uncle, except for the unbelievable amount of ash that surrounded her.

-----

NOTES: You guys know how sometimes things just burn? Well, yeah, the area around Alice? Let's just say she appended "-dyne" to one of her spells. Incoming bombardment got crispy too. If you're a bit too close you might want to avoid the heat.

[Qara-Xuan Zenith]

Hawkin sprinted away from the fires his companion had created, choosing himself an empty patch of land to stand on when--

"Jonathan. Running away from me again?" a sweet voice asked.

He stopped, allowing himself to smile at Amalia Swansea. "Not this time." He reached out to take her hand, and she skipped back, laughing.

"Maybe I should make you prove yourself first."

"I think I'll have to take a raincheck," Hawkin answered, nodding absently to the chaos a short distance away. "Friends in trouble, things to fight. Get ready to join in?"

"Of course." He felt her shift position and he waited expectantly for something that didn't come.

"What are you doing, Amalia?"

"I'm getting ready, like you said," she answered with a smile.

"Hmmm... where's the pardalus?" Hawkin reached up as he spoke to stroke the ephemeral hawk perched on his own shoulder. The woman beside him gave no verbal answer; instead, she threw a jet of fire at him; he only just jumped out of its range.

"I don't need it," her voice called, loud and strident against the background sounds of battle, beginning to circle the blind man. "You've said yourself that I'm stronger than anyone you've known. Stronger than Catherine Landsley... maybe even stronger than you."

Hawkin knew something was wrong, and with great frustration he found that he could not probe his surroundings for exactly what it was and at the same time focus on her movements in time to counter them. And it was true; he couldn't afford to let his guard down in a fight against his wife. Especially when, no matter what her game was right now, he couldn't forgive himself if he killed her.

The bird of prey flew down from his shoulder in a flowing motion that seemed to coordinate with his dodge, diving into her face to distract and blind her. Amalia let out a shriek, leaping back from the shadowy bird, and the sound came out... flat.

Taking advantage of her momentary distraction, Hawkin pulsed his power toward her, withdrawing almost immediately. Blood taint. His, not hers. Its. Even if she had turned in the past month that he'd been gone, Amalia Swansea wouldn't be giving off that level of taint. A Wraith, then. It must be skilled, if it had been able to fool him this long, but then, it had been playing off his distraction and wishful thinking. And it didn't need to know that he was wise to it.

Calling the Hawk off its attack but not to return to him, Jonathan Hawkin spun in a slow circle, raising a ring of fire around him. He lifted his arms up, urging the flames higher and higher until they obscured his face. He could feel their heat, but so long as he kept his head clear, he was in control of his flames. They wouldn't touch him.

"What are you doing?" shrieked the Wraith which now sounded to him like only a poor facsimile of Amalia.

The man in the middle smiled. He twitched his fingers in a beckoning motion, causing the flames to dance and send tongues of fire lapping outward, away from him. "Come to me, darling. I know you're not afraid of anything."

It raised its hand, trying to bend his fire back at him.

"Don't you want to make some of your own?" Hawkin taunted. "It would be more powerful that way. Or is it getting too hot for you here, my dear?"

The creature took a step closer, chasing away the Hawk from its face with a billow of what looked like smoke. It flexed its fingers, preparing to rise to his bait, when Hawkin's circle of fire exploded outward, scorching the earth and engulfing the Wraith just as it released its own jet of fire. The small stream was absorbed into the larger inferno, breaking off from the Wraith's control to obey Hawkin. "You dare to wear Amalia's face, I will take yours from you!" Jonathan Hawkin roared, patterns of light flickering against his pale skin.

Calmly, he watched the flames devour his enemy, then pulled his knife from his pocket. Why waste a perfectly good fire? While he waited for the fire that still surrounded him to die away, he drew a line on the skin of his left arm, then held his arm out to drip blood into the flames before they faded to embers, before the skin resealed itself.