ElfCollaborator

"Heal them! I-I have them covered!" Switch Tower Stance to Jade and Halley, maintain protection on Venus Tower Stance: Redirect half of the damage taken by protected allies to Sachi before RES is calculated for either. All protected allies gain 20% extra damage on their next attack due to Stand United. All enemies who hit targets with Tower Stance have the debuff Bonds of Friendship applied (when attacked by Sachi's allies, consume the debuff to return 10% of the damage dealt by the ally as health capped at 10% of Sachi's maximum health (8).) Sachi regains 10% of her maximum health per turn and Con/4 health due to the bauble (total: 10 health).

Azusa puts on the Future Coord, rubbing the back of her head. "Hope we don't screw this up twice. I don't think I'll live that down if we do."

"Gotcha! I'll keep that in mind! Right now I got something else to take care of!" Lahmu A takes another Agilao, taking another stack of Sun Arcana. He deals x1.3 damage against it due to Beat of My Blood. Beat of My Blood: Deal x1.3 damage against enemies with Burn, Freeze or Shock statuses. Sun Arcana's effect counts as a Burn. If the Lahmu is dead before Gabriel attacks it, hit Saber with Agilao instead to get her started. Gabriel takes 25% less damage from fire attacks and is immune to burns due to his Blue Bomber Jacket.

Sachi simply nods, too preoccupied with protecting her allies to care about very much. Tower Stance holds. Sachi uses her Basic Defense (reduce incoming damage against Sachi by 50%). Sachi regains 10 HP due to regeneration.

Empi Powderbelle "Alright, Indian Superman. You've proved your chops on the relationship front, now show me what you're actually good at!" Empower Navin with a Talent Affection. Lover's Many Faces (Talent Affection): Empower an ally with +4(+INT) (Total Buff: 11) to their highest stat if they complete three actions of Empi's choice in any order at any point in battle. Sequence: Flurry of Explosions, Concussive Blast, Piercing Strike If any Affection activates, Empi regains 10% of her health.

"Get behind me!" Sachi yells as she heads forward to protect her allies. Hopefully she wouldn't have to fight too much, as long as she did what she could. Tower Stance on Venus, Hiroki and Liliya Tower Stance: Redirect half of the damage taken by protected allies to Sachi before RES is calculated for either. All protected allies gain 20% extra damage on their next attack due to Stand United. All enemies who hit targets with Tower Stance have the debuff Bonds of Friendship applied (when attacked by Sachi's allies, consume the debuff to return 10% of the damage dealt by the ally as health capped at 10% of Sachi's maximum health (8).) Sachi regains 10% of her maximum health per turn and Con/4 health due to the bauble (total: 10 health).

"......you bastards burned this whole place down, huh? No worries. I can keep up the heat too, you know. Oppenheimer!" Despite how casual Gabriel's words sound, it's pretty clear that he's applying a lot of venom behind them, almost as if he's struggling to retain his calm and laidback demeanour. A far stranger being appears behind Gabriel as he invokes his own Persona, a pale-red masculine figure with cat ear-like projections on each side of its head, the face replaced with an orb constantly playing a stylized animation of a hydrogen atom, arms wrapped with boxing tape and legs in black eveningwear. He wasn't the fastest to react, but Oppenheimer didn't need to be fast; it just needed to do its job, and its job was simple. Burn everything down. One of the Lahmus is immediately beset by a searing hot flame, swirling in and around it, eating away at its defenses like nothing else! Lahmu A takes an Agilao Agilao: Deals 3d4+SYN damage, reduces the enemy RES to 55% of its original value. As this is a fire attack, this also triggers Sun Arcana. Sun Arcana: All nuclear and fire attacks add a debuff that deals SYN/2 piercing damage for three turns, stacking with future attacks.

Empi Powderbelle Empi rolls her eyes. She'd explain later. At least he got one thing right. "See? You can trust me when it comes to matters of the hearts of women. Well, if you didn't, you'd look kinda stupid anyway. Soooo....you two good again? You two doing anything later? As friends?" Sachi Honda Sachi shakes her head as she sees the expression on Isobel's face. She stands up, offering Isobel her hand to help her up. "I-If we need to go, I s-shouldn't be bothering you about my problems. B-besides, y-you're important to strategy, right? I-I shouldn't be bothering you right now then. S-sorry..."

Gabriel Kowalski Gabriel quietly chuckles as he chimes in with Perlita's explanation. "And it's been a fun road since then, y'know? Our leader's all mysterious and that. He's a cool guy though. We hang out quite a lot, as bros, y'know? Fighting Shadows and saving peeps tends to build friendship. Though me and Perlita here knew each other waaaaay before he got around here."

Empi Powderbelle Empi finally shimmers back into visibility right next to Navin, looking rather exhausted. "You don't want to know just HOW difficult it is to get around this place without bumping into people. Sorry about that. I'll explain later. Sooooo.....how did it go? Did you two get your issues sorted? Was I right to get you to apologise and explain? Is that a little spark of luuuuurve I see?" Sachi Honda Sachi breathes in deeply as she sits down, staring at Isobel for a while as she tries to collect herself. "I......I just need.....can you....will you listen? I....I need to get this off my chest. Please."

Gabriel Kowalski Gabriel frowns as Perlita shuts him down for the umpteenth time. He simply shrugs. "Maaaan, Perlita, why you gotta do that? I was trying to sell you to 'em, y'know, show 'em you're as important as you are to keeping us all alive. Which you kinda are. I'll be honest, she's saved my bacon more times than I can count. Turns out when you're good at making enemies die, they like making you die too. Though having a living nuke around is useful. A little." Sachi Honda Sachi continues staring at her, clearly calming down as she does. She doesn't say very much, but she's clearly in need of someone to talk to at the very least. "That.....that would be....nice. L-lead the way."

Sachi Honda Sachi simply stares at Isobel, trying to calm herself down by breathing deeply and calmly. This was the lady who'd pulled her out of that hallucination, that nightmare, in the fight. She was looking at her with concern (thankfully not pity; Sachi was vulnerable, but she would never, ever be pitied and she would never let anyone dare pity her). She breathes deeply, trying to calm her nerves. She stares up at Isobel. Her mind's eye flickered, placing Mio's visage over hers, just as it had placed her voice over Isobel's. The girl shook her head. This wasn't the time to break down. No, she had to pick herself up. She had to. "I.....I just need......I just need to calm down." Gabriel Kowalski Gabriel shrugs as he continues rubbing the back of his head casually and a little awkwardly. "Can't say I'm nearly as useful as Perlita here; she's saved our bacon more times than we can count, even if she won't admit it. Me? I got one thing I'm good at; blowing things up. You need it nuked or set on fire? I can do that. Mostly."

Empi is rather irritated by the barrier being erected in front of her, but she had no intention of pursuing it any more. Mitsu was probably wholly capable of horrifically murdering her in a thousand different ways, and Empi wasn't quite sure her insurance plan covered all of them. Maybe, at best, 90% of them. Working for Venus had its perks. And anyway, Navin wouldn't manage to fuck up with Mitsu again while she wasn't watching. Hopefully. That was, in theory, the best hope. Empi figured he wasn't stupid enough to make the same exact mistake twice. She'd just smack Navin if he, by some goddamn coincidence, he fucked it up again. Disappointed, but with hardly any other way of getting around it, she wanders off to bug someon else.

Sachi Honda "I.....I need some space.....excuse me. I'm sorry." Sachi runs away from Soryn frantically, terrified of her own outburst. She needed somewhere to go. She needed to calm down. She needed to stay put. She needed to cry. She hadn't felt right since that mist had made her relive her sister's death, and the battle hadn't helped her one bit. Sachi needed something, someone, anyone. She is so utterly lost in her thoughts that she almost runs into Isobel, almost plows directly into her. Gabriel Kowalski Gabriel lifts an eyebrow, impressed. He seems totally at home here, as opposed to his awkward friend or his standoffish companions. He rubs the back of his head, laughing a little. "Susmariosep, it seems we've gotten ourselves into a bit of a mess. Not that we're not used to messes, it's just that our messes are usually a fair bit smaller. So , uh, you got anywhere we could rest at? What's the game plan?"

Empi simply shrugs when Mitsu glares at her, pointing at Navin and making a look as if to say "I'll explain later but don't say a word about me being here". She floats along behind them regardless, not saying a word to conceal her presence. She had totally expected Mitsu to see straight through her glamour anyway; some humans and all goddesses had the ability to see through it. Then again, Empi wasn't trying to hide from Mitsu; if she was, she would've picked a better method. Mitsu may have had six-hundred-odd years on Empi, but Empi had three-hundred-odd years of learning how to get away from a goddesss' prying eyes in a workplace. And besides, this was standard protocol for dealing with problem clients, which Navin, well, was. A better problem client than usual, but a problem client he was.

Empi resisted the urge to curse out loud as Spicy and Solomon got in the way of Navin and Mitsu's reconciliation. She settled for quietly clenching her fists, looking very much annoyed; thankfully, her glamour was keeping her hidden, so nobody (except possibly Mitsu, and Empi was used to goddesses seeing straight through her glamour). All these distractions were getting in the way of Empi's plans, and it was seriously irritating her. The temptation to bodily pick the two of them up and drag them out of the barracks was intense. She decided to calm herself down by mouthing rather foul words that should never be repeated in polite company at them instead.

Sachi Honda "Sis!" Sachi screams as she lashes out at Soryn's touch instinctively, flailing around before stopping herself. Luckily, in this form, she isn't strong enough to do serious damage to him; it's more akin to being lightly slapped by a small child. It takes her a while to calm down, breathing heavily. If there's any physical injury on Sachi, it isn't apparent at all. What's apparent is that this girl is incredibly, extremely troubled. Gabriel Kowalski If Gabriel is bothered by Samantha or Lilya's presence, he doesn't show it at all. Then again, he doesn't seem very bothered about much of anything. "Oh? Who are you two lovely ladies, then? You two with the bigger group?"

Empi, for her part, resisted the urge to utter "Bullshit" at Mitsu's remark. Her emotional "instability" was the concern of the people who cared about her, and that included Empi and Navin and anyone who dared say they cared about Mitsu's wellbeing. Still, she couldn't help but smile. Navin was getting the job done.

Empi Powderbelle If Navin had been paying much attention, he might have seen a small blur in the air floating behind him. If he had known, he might have not mistaken it for a trick of the light, an illusion. It was the fairy glamour that disguised Empi from sight. She preferred being far more open with her glamour,; usually, it was used to disguise her fairy form for when she needed people to take her seriously or when she wanted to go incognito into the human world to find her client. She could control how strong or how weak the glamour was, and what it did. Right now, of course, she needed it to keep an eye on Navin. After all, this was Navin's first step to reconciling with Mitsu, and Empi's first step to getting Mitsu laid. She had a lot riding on this; when she got back, she could brag about being the first fairy to ever get a goddess laid. Empi holds her tongue for now as she floats behind the superhero. There was a time for snarky remarks and a time to just shut up, and this was that second one. Sachi Honda Sachi ambles around in a daze, looking more resigned than terrified. The Berserker, he'd called out to her; he'd told her she had the strength to do it, to take the lives of others. But did she really? She wasn't Mio. She could never be Mio. Mio could do it all; she was tough, she was brave, she was determined, determined enough to raise Sachi and her little brother all by herself when their parents died, determined enough to become a Hero in Sachi's place to try to keep the Taisha away from her. Determined enough to- SACHI! Sachi made a terrified squeal as the memory of her sister's death played out before her eyes again. She instinctively raised her hands in front of her eyes, flinching, before realising there was no threat. No Vertex that had been thought killed, no Vertex to assail her now, but only in her nightmares. She sighed, looking down. She needed a breath of fresh air. She couldn't sit here and wallow in her own despair, not yet. There would be time for that when it was over. There were other people who needed help before Sachi did. Gabriel Kowalski Gabriel simply grins at her, clasping her shoulder comfortingly with that easy manner of his, as if he'd been doing this his whole life. The "introducing yourself to hardened soldiers" part, not the "everything is fine" routine; as long as Perlita knew him, Gabriel had been like that about ninety-nine percent of the time. Then again, in the past year, they'd found out about a whole different world beneath theirs, gotten cool powers straight out of those Japanese anime, been thrust into yet another world that he was pretty damn sure was Star Wars, and now they were in some castle from the Middle Ages. At this point, Gabriel learnt the best way was just to go with the flow and play it cool. After all, it'd gotten him this far. "Sure thing, Perlita. I'll be your knight in shining armor this time, though I'm pretty sure you'd have done pretty good on your own. You're not that awkward, so give yourself a little credit."

Gabriel If Gabriel is bothered by the corpses, he doesn't seem to show it. Or perhaps he's putting on a brave face. It's hard to tell with him being so laidback and calm. "I think she did. Anyway, uh....some guy told us to go help out but, well, looks like someone else got here before we did. Guessing you guys were fighting some pretty big baddies, huh?"

Azusa grumpily walks in, dressed up in the dress she'll be wearing on stage. "So am I, but if I have to wear this any longer than I need to, I think I'll take her offer up on quitting."

Gabriel By comparison to his more awkward friend, the teenage boy with Perlita seems more laidback and calm, with equally tanned skin and messy black hair. His attire is considerably more casual, consisting of a black shirt and a blue jacket with dark jeans. Like with Perlita, the only thing that might hint his status as a combatant are a satchel of throwing axes at his side and the unnatural sheen over his jacket. He seems comparatively serene as he shrugs and shoots Perlita a comforting, easy smile. "Ay 'sus, Perlita. Don't worry about it. I'm sure it'll be fine after we explain, right?"

Empi Powderbelle "Feeling a little overexposed here. Mind throwing me a heal?" Basic Defense. If any buff activates, Empi regains 7% of her maximum health.

Sachi looked around as the battle ended, leaning on her massive shield, her eyes fixed on the dying Berserker. This was different from fighting the Vertex. Much different. The Vertex weren't people. They were monsters, hell-bent on destroying the last dregs of humanity. There was no negotiating with them, no way of pleading for mercy from them. Six hundred years of war between mankind and the Vertex had established this reality. It wasn't a war, it was self-defense, not like many of the wars Sachi had read about in history books; it was the very end of the human race being fought against, and an inscrutable foe bringing it to them. Sachi hated fighting; it was always Mio who would fight her battles for her, who would face up to the bullies who hounded her. Even when she was a happier child, she preferred to avoid fighting. But the Vertex, at least, she felt less guilty about fighting. This was different. She wasn't fighting monsters who knew no mercy, who could not understand compassion, who sought only to end mankind. She was fighting people. Other human beings. People with their own feelings, who could understand others, who could be reasoned with. And yet she had to fight them too. She tried to speak up briefly to the group around Cu. Her voice was soft, cracking from the pressure she was feeling on her mind. "C-can't we....can't we just....." She sighed, exhaling deeply. "C-can't we.....save him?"