ElfCollaborator

Freila on Melee Tongue, re-inflicting Sun Arcana and activating Beat of My Blood. Freila: Utilising Oppenheimer, Gabriel blasts an opponent with the power of nuclear radiation, unleashing a miniature nuclear blast onto them. Gabriel does 5d6+SYN (12) damage to a single target. Sun Arcana: Gabriel's Persona is of the Sun Arcana, the searing light that burns all who are revealed to it. Nuclear and fire attacks used by Gabriel inflict a burn on the opponent, dealing SYN/2 (6) piercing damage for three turns, each subsequent nuclear or fire attack adding an extra stack of burn. Enemies who resist radiation and fire cannot be affected by Sun Arcana's effect. Beat of My Blood: Any Frei-line skills (including his basic attacks) upon enemies with Burn, Shock or Frozen statuses (or any analogues) deals x1.3 damage. Sun Arcana's effects qualify as Burns for Beat of My Blood. Optimism: Even the worst kinds of situations can't bring a downer onto Gabriel's easygoing attitude. As the Persona is a reflection of the soul, Oppenheimer reflects Gabriel's unyielding optimism. Ailments have halved durations on Gabriel.

Empi scratches her head. She didn't quite envision adding 'dispensary' to the increasing amount of odd, non-matchmaking related roles she was already taking up. "Sure, I guess I'll do that. I'm not convinced we'll find one if your buddy didn't even know what the things were around this place, but if we pass by Eientei, wherever that is, when we're sorting out how to prevent your, uh, country, I assume, from taking more alien wing-wong than it wants to, then I'll look that Yagokoro lady up."

"For all I know, the circus clown who brought us all here's a Big Brother fan who just wants to see us all dance like a bunch of damn puppets so he and his friends can have fun, given some of the people you haven't even met yet. And no, I didn't mean back home, I meant here. Besides, getting you approved for employment would be a nightmare. You don't even have a minimum of thirty years interning in a proper department, and getting a robot work insurance would be a nightmare."

"Would be nice to have someone else who'll help out from time to time. Not that there aren't. There's Isobel- the botanist chick with the huge knockers-, for one. Those knockers are huge. Like, what the hell do I have to do to get myself a pair like that, huh?"

"You know, the usual. A little bit of healing, a little bit of morale boosting, stuff like that."

"Hey, I got SOME magic. Some. I'm a fairy, I got some tricks up my sleeve."

"I...uuh...well, I took mandatory self-defense classes once! And then, uh, flunked out. Karate's hard, you know?"

"Well, it's not like she deliberately sent me here. I was supposed to hook some shy dork of a shopkeeper with his supermodel total girl-next-door type neighbor and instead ended up seeing more alien wing-wong lookalikes than I'd really like. As for issues....hoo boy. Freud would have a damn field day here. A shrink would make millions writing about the issues these people have. You got a dash of PTSD, two cups full of grief, a pound of homesickness, three teaspoonfuls of being completely lost, and just taking a nice dollop of depression and heap it ALL over the whole psych ward sandwich. Like I said, I'm not a miracle worker. I'm not even going to try to hook most of these people up. I can deal with social anxiety - after all, most of my clients need that kind of help, otherwise they wouldn't need my help to get laid- but how the hell am I supposed to help you deal with your world being rendered into a smoking ruin? I mean, I try, but I can only do so much."

P17, smack Shaman A with a Silencer

"I kinda less joined and more had nowhere else to go. See, my boss decided to branch out into multiversal matchmaking but neglected to tell me that our company phone plan doesn't exactly cover other universes. So I can't exactly call my boss to tell her she sent me the wrong directions AND that she REALLY needs to outsource this stuff. As for matchmaking, do you really think I could hook these people up with anyone? What do you think I am, a miracle worker? Man, some of these people don't need a matchmaker, they need a shrink, and I ain't no shrink."

Empi shakes her head. "No, not THAT kind of doctor. My doctorate is in Interpersonal Relationships and Matchmaking. I'm....not exactly suited for fighting, as you might say. As for suspicion? Like I said, everyone else around here either shot at us, got possessed by those artifacts and then shot at us, or gives me weird vibes. I assumed you were part of the circus."

Empi looks up from checking her phone for reception idly and instinctively. There wasn't any, again. It was something comforting to do, but a little futile. "Inhalers are...uhh, these tiny things that spray medicine for asthma. Of course, thinking about it, I'm pretty sure this pllace doesn't have the concept of asthma. Also....fish-headed people? Okay, I know Trespassers are supposed to be Lovecraft's wet dream, but I didn't know we needed to find guys with the Innsmouth look." Then Instructor. "Sure, why not, since we got ourselves off on the wrong foot. Doctor Empi Powderbelle, pleasure to meet you."

N18, knife a fighter

"....we didn't need to do it like this." Lenore had figured, a while back, that Scarlet's heart would get her into trouble. The first time they'd worked together (wasn't that long ago), Lenore had figured Scarlet's heart was in the right place but she was going to do something stupid and she was hoping Phoenix or someone else would stop her. Her getting louder and more vocal about her opposition to the royalty wasn't helping; Lenore fully sympathised, but she knew better than to risk everything because of her own personal misgivings. The job was the job was the job; you did the job, you got out of there, and then you vented, because letting your emotions get ahead of you was tantamount to being caught or worse. Orchid being an idiot didn't help one bit either, and she had vitriol for him to spare. She knew she had Death's attention. For a single moment, she saw it, right in his eyes. Lenore had managed to strike a weak spot in his psyche. If she'd been given a little more time, a few more minutes, she might have gotten him to back down. Maybe not to work with them, but they could've avoided all this. Or maybe they couldn't have, and he was going to do this all along. But at least if Lenore had delayed him, they'd have had more time to get Mim out of the line of fire, to get Arthur out of the way, to formulate a plan, to make sure none of this had to happen. Lenore was already not a fan of violence, but unnecessary violence was something that infuriated both sides of her; the pragmatic thief hoping to escape without murdering anyone, the moral woman who sought to address an imbalance in the system. Well, no time to hesitate now. It was time to fight. She could save what words she had for Scarlet and Orchid later. "Snowbird, Bargain, you two should try to get Famine and Pestilence or Horace or Lily or whatever their real names are out of the way. I can't say for sure, and don't risk yourselves if you don't have to, but I feel you could flip them; you two have a rapport. Pestilence doesn't seem like the type to keep fighting unless she has to, and the way they treat Famine, anyone would leave if they got a better, safer offer. No honor among thieves and all that. Just my insight. For all I know, there's something else I couldn't tell from speaking with them alone." O19

Lenore sighs, a hint of disappointment in her voice. She whips out her knives, staying away from the frontlines, her eyes darting around her, looking for places to hide, vantage spots, enemies hidden around here. "Well, it was worth a shot. You never know what you might get away with, Scarlet, I was there too and saw almost everything you did. Still, would have been nice to get through without some bloodshed for once. For what it's worth, Famine and Pestilence, this isn't personal."

So there was an army and he wasn't that stupid. Arrogant, rash, temperamental, but capable of keeping his eye on the prize. He had a limit, but they weren't in a tactically good situation where Lenore could push him to find out what that limit was. A change of strategy, then. If it wasn't enough to get him to reveal his hand, it would be at least enough to buy time for Kane to plan something. He was grandiose, theatrical. Lenore could play that game too. She'd been playing this game since she was a tender young lass, after all. "Let's all put our weapons down a minute. No reason we can't be civil a little while longer. And Death, I see you're a man after my own heart then. A man who understands the value of competent allies and intelligent allies. After all, wouldn't want a weak link if I were pulling something off, hm? But....well, we're after the same thing, are we not? We're trying to cleanse the vices of humanity the same as you are; after all, most of us have been mucked up by the system, presumably like yourselves, unless there's another reason you're traipsing about the forest, in disguise, without the backing of any kingdom to chase our little group. We're all people tired of humanity's flaws, and trying to clean up that mess; we're just trying to do it with a little less murder. I personally find that murdering everybody in sight tends to end with my head on a pike. Even a skilled fighter like yourself can't evade the law forever. So, why is it exactly, that we're in opposition?"

Lenore crosses her arms, gesturing to the trees. All the while, she's running mental calculations. Famine, Pestilence, she sensed some fragility, some disloyalty. If she had more time, and preferably a lot more preparations, maybe she could get them to flip on Death. Pestilence was someone for Mim or Fey to flip; she didn't seem the type, but you never knew with the quiet ones. Pestilence was definitely someone to both watch out for but also to potentially flip if they could. Lenore wasn't the mothering type, but maybe Mim could pull it off. Famine, he seemed clever enough to know where the wind would blow, once everyone's hands were revealed. Lenore figured if they could get him away from Death a minute, maybe convince him that sticking with his buddies was a bad idea, he'd split. Especially considering War and Death seemed to have no respect for him whatsoever. People like that, they were easy to flip if they felt they could get away with it. Lenore knew this too well; this is why you tried to be respectful and polite with your fellow thieves. They could flip on you just as easily as you could flip on them. Any endeavour is born on trust, and heists were no different. War, she'd gotten her all wrong. Prideful, haughty, but possibly a sycophant. Lenore was getting rusty; it had been a while since she'd scoped out a mark. And Death? Dead on. Lenore mentally smiled. She wasn't that rusty. Still, she mustn't get smug. They could surprise her, and she'd only just met these people. Her method took weeks to play out, to track a weakness in her marks, one she could exploit to stroke their ego. She had here, at most, minutes. Definitely not the sort of situation Lenore wanted to be in. Lenore needed to push them more, prod them harder. Find out as much about her enemies as she could. She wasn't a fighter, but she wasn't some naive doe, either. "And I suppose, you have an army poised behind these trees to kill us? If you've been tracking us for a while, you know we've fought armies before and repelled armies larger and possibly better trained than your guys. So, before we risk causing too much of an unnecessary mess, what is it you want with our group? You didn't come here to preach to us about the vices of man, surely. And surely Pestilence and Famine here- great names, by the way- didn't come around here just to hear you speak, Death."

"My guess, Scarlet? The green-haired one has a bone to pick with our dear leader and an inferiority complex about it, his bandanna-clad friend -who seems like he's the one with the brains between him and his leader- and the shy-looking girl got dragged along for the ride and the prideful-looking woman with them has her own reasons for coming after us and will probably play her great leader for a fool."

Lenore puts two and two together. She'd taken a walk earlier to clear her head, and had spotted Fey and Mim making some conversation with people; Lenore had thought nothing of it, figuring Kane would've whipped their backsides into line if they were enemies. Another thing to be more than a little annoyed with Kane about, in hindsight. But, at least they knew where their enemy stood. "These were the people you were talking to this morning? Well, I suppose we can't really call you a prowler after all. That would require us not seeing you."

Without missing a beat, Lenore (masked in her plain white mask, of course) steps out behind Kane, raising an eyebrow behind her mask. The man's anger told her there was something personal about his outrage with the party; why would he care to call them insignificant rats, unless Virtuous had already hurt him in some shape or form? Lenore didn't know all the specifics of their history; she hadn't been the first one to join Virtuous, and maybe Kane had attracted someone's ire before she'd met him. He definitely had a complex about being called a thief or talked down to; Lenore could use that to make him show his hand. An angry man like that, he was an easy mark; either stroke his ego to make him feel so fulfilled he felt like you were no threat, or piss him off so utterly he loses all composure and shows his hand. At least, that was what Lenore could tell from a quick analysis. She wasn't some expert people-reader, and most of her marks weren't shooting at her with arrows. "Who are you, exactly?"

Now that. That was bad. Gabriel swallows a little nervously as he heads after.......whatever the hell Trick WAS, following the crowd on the rollercoaster. Shadows didn't tend to do this sort of thing; this was the kind of thing a villain in a TV show would do. Or the boss in a video game. Then again.... ...a larger target meant more things to hurt. Move to the rollercoaster, Mafreila against all available targets, re-inflicting Sun Arcana on targets already afflicted, inflicting it on targets not damaged and activating Beat of My Blood. Mafreila: Gabriel blasts all enemies with a burst of nuclear energy, less taxing and powerful than its stronger counterpart. Deals SYN (12)+2d4 damage to all enemies, 3 turn cooldown. Sun Arcana: Gabriel's Persona is of the Sun Arcana, the searing light that burns all who are revealed to it. Nuclear and fire attacks used by Gabriel inflict a burn on the opponent, dealing SYN/2 (6) piercing damage for three turns, each subsequent nuclear or fire attack adding an extra stack of burn. Enemies who resist radiation and fire cannot be affected by Sun Arcana's effect. Beat of My Blood: Any Frei-line skills (including his basic attacks) upon enemies with Burn, Shock or Frozen statuses (or any analogues) deals x1.3 damage. Sun Arcana's effects qualify as Burns for Beat of My Blood. Optimism: Even the worst kinds of situations can't bring a downer onto Gabriel's easygoing attitude. As the Persona is a reflection of the soul, Oppenheimer reflects Gabriel's unyielding optimism. Ailments have halved durations on Gabriel.

Descendant of Tepes. As in Vlad Tepes. As in Vlad the Impaler. As in Vlad "Casually create forests of impaled Turks as a warning to infidels and invaders" Tepes. That wasn't comforting. The more Empi went around in this grotesque freakshow, the less she liked it. She was used to crazy people, but at least the most dangerous people back in her office were the repo gremlins or the particularly rowdy succubi. Not a vampire who would probably play Operation with her organs. Then again, back home, it wouldn't be her who dealt with this kind of thing. It'd be people like that robot chick who showed up right now who dealt with the crazies. Empi remains silent as the group enters the mansion. True, it wasn't like she could do anything if this Remilia chick showed up, but it was nice and comforting to think she could. "Whoa, lady. You need an inhaler or something? Also....why, exactly, do you keep books that'll blow you to kingdom come if you read them in a library? Are vampires immune to that kind of stuff or do you people just have some technique for reading deadly books of death?"

Freila on Trick again, re-inflicting Sun Arcana and activating Beat of My Blood. Freila: Utilising Oppenheimer, Gabriel blasts an opponent with the power of nuclear radiation, unleashing a miniature nuclear blast onto them. Gabriel does 5d6+SYN (12) damage to a single target. Sun Arcana: Gabriel's Persona is of the Sun Arcana, the searing light that burns all who are revealed to it. Nuclear and fire attacks used by Gabriel inflict a burn on the opponent, dealing SYN/2 (6) piercing damage for three turns, each subsequent nuclear or fire attack adding an extra stack of burn. Enemies who resist radiation and fire cannot be affected by Sun Arcana's effect. Beat of My Blood: Any Frei-line skills (including his basic attacks) upon enemies with Burn, Shock or Frozen statuses (or any analogues) deals x1.3 damage. Sun Arcana's effects qualify as Burns for Beat of My Blood. Optimism: Even the worst kinds of situations can't bring a downer onto Gabriel's easygoing attitude. As the Persona is a reflection of the soul, Oppenheimer reflects Gabriel's unyielding optimism. Ailments have halved durations on Gabriel.

"U-ugh! That's....eugh...what the hell even...." He figured something like this would happen some day, from some Shadow they fought, but.... ....well, Gabriel now knew what a dog toy felt like. A very well-used dog toy, the kind you chucked into the washing machine a few times, gave up on after you realised you couldn't get the damned stench out and then threw out to get a new toy from PetSmart. If there was a place to buy clothes here, Gabriel was going to get some new ones and burn these. Luckily, he hadn't worn his favourites today (still safe in this cabinet back in Roswell) but damn if he didn't feel like he'd miss these things. Freila on Trick once more, re-inflicting Sun Arcana and activating Beat of My Blood. Freila: Utilising Oppenheimer, Gabriel blasts an opponent with the power of nuclear radiation, unleashing a miniature nuclear blast onto them. Gabriel does 5d6+SYN (12) damage to a single target. Sun Arcana: Gabriel's Persona is of the Sun Arcana, the searing light that burns all who are revealed to it. Nuclear and fire attacks used by Gabriel inflict a burn on the opponent, dealing SYN/2 (6) piercing damage for three turns, each subsequent nuclear or fire attack adding an extra stack of burn. Enemies who resist radiation and fire cannot be affected by Sun Arcana's effect. Beat of My Blood: Any Frei-line skills (including his basic attacks) upon enemies with Burn, Shock or Frozen statuses (or any analogues) deals x1.3 damage. Sun Arcana's effects qualify as Burns for Beat of My Blood. Optimism: Even the worst kinds of situations can't bring a downer onto Gabriel's easygoing attitude. As the Persona is a reflection of the soul, Oppenheimer reflects Gabriel's unyielding optimism. Ailments have halved durations on Gabriel.

"Alright, LOTUS, you raise a fair point, but still, calm your tits. Me happening to question the new person at the same time as some person I barely know isn't a cabal. I've had my fair share of human idiots too. Presumably if she WAS, in fact, some Terminator wannabe, it wouldn't exactly just be me and Rory here fighting her, unless you're saying you'd flat out ditch us to fight a hypothetical killer robot on our own. In any case, I got no problem with robots, but I do have a problem with being shot. Wasn't exactly in the job description. Then again, going here wasn't exactly on my job description either." Empi turns to the new person. "This is a misunderstanding. Keep your shit on, Arcee. I'm still not quite sure about you, but if you drop your stuff now and this Flandre chick comes sailing out like a bat out of hell, you're still better than nothing."