World Tree MUSH

    The frozen north... A place so far beyond the light and reach of the sun that it's almost eternal night. Clouds hang high in the dark sky obscuring the moon and stars and a chill wind blows through the soldier's camp.
    Here is where the last defenses of man, elves, dwarves, and demihumans have come together. And they have been fighting a losing battle for months now. The Demon Lord's tower spews an almost endless amount of ogres, orcs, goblins, trolls and other hideous monstrosities, but for now... There is a moment of downtime. A moment of cherished quiet and peace.
    Several soldiers of all races and creeds sit around a dying fire trying to eke out some warmth for themselves, when a young human comes running up to the fire.
    "Did you hear? The Demon Lord's defensive line broke! Someone pushed through!"
    This earns a murmur of confusion, bewilderment, and even awe from the men.
    "What's this now lad? Is it true?" A veteran dwarf asks cocking his brow.
    he youth nods vigorously while trying to catch his breath.
    "Some demihuman catgirl and her party-- the one that people say pulled the sword." The boy says panting, earning another murmur from the men.
    "Then maybe we stand a chance of winning this war after all." Old Thrain of Middleston says rubbing at his grey beard. "... Good luck, Mau."

    ...

    Breaking through the Demon Lord's defensive line was no easy feat. And it cost the lives of a lot of men to do so. But Mau trudges on through the Demon Lord's tower a transformed cat. Gone is the lazy bum of an adventuring catgirl. She has been replaced by a warrior who's tired eyes burn with conviction and determination. She will need it. Her allies will need it.

    ...

    The Demon Lord's tower is no joke. Every step of the way up is a battle, fraught with traps and the endless numbers of the monstrous horde that make up the Demon Lord's army. For every goblin Mau and her allies cut down a orc appears. Cut down that orc and an ogre takes its place. The ogre falls only to be replaced by a troll... But they press on until they reach the Demon Lord's throne room at the top of the tower.
    "So you've finally come." Says Vile Darque, the Demon Lord himself, from where he sits in his throne, surrounded by countless monsters. "You've been a thorn in my side for years now and you finally show your face here in my dominon- and you're a catgirl." He says, blinking, suddenly incredulous.
    "Got a fucking problem with that?" Mau snarls, soaked in blood, sweat, and radiating killing intent.
    "N-... No. Not at all I just expected you to be more of a... Normal guy with a sword. It's always a normal guy with a sword every time."
    "..."
    "..."
    "Wait what do you mean 'every time'?" Mau asks cautiously.
    "I've been reincarnated a hundred times to fight the hero." The Demon Lord answers tiredly.
    "... You're fucking with me." Mau sighs.
    "I'm really not."
    Things are suddenly really awkward and tense.
    "You mean I've been fighting the same guy all this time!?" Mau shrieks.
    "You mean you're a catgirl now?!" Vile Darque yells back.
    Both of them spend a solid minute rubbing their faces before the Demon Lord rises from his throne.
    "Fuck it. Kill them all." He says motioning for his horde of monsters to lunge into battle for him, countless goblins, ogres, orcs, zombies, skeletons, demons and beasts rushing for the party.

The frozen north. A place beyond the sun's embrace, where a bitter wind blows and each breath turns to an icy mist. As she sits by the dying fire among those the heroine has chosen to accompany her, Itana el-Zayl spares a single thought.

    /I hate this fucking cat SO MUCH./

The tower's warmer, anyway. This time, Itana isn't fool enough to push to the front - she learned a lesson from a week lying on Castiel and Illumiel's couch. She hangs back, conserves as much as possible, and comes prepared with two extra quivers. She's emptied both and dipped partway into one of them by the time the group breaks into the throne room.

Itana listens for a moment. She looks up at the Demon Lord. She looks back at Mau. She looks back at the Demon Lord.

"If I did not have an angel here with me, I would shoot you during parley for putting your house in the /middle of cold./"

She notches an arrow anyway as the horde begins to sweep in. Sliding a heel back, Itana lets the shot go with a call of "Angarag!" The arrow lets fly into the vanguard of the onrushing horde - and the ogre it strikes instantly becomes the epicentre of a blooming fiery explosion, like a bomb attempting to break up the brunt of the formation.

"Why are you getting on her case for being a catgirl," Itana shouts over the fire, "/when your name is Vile Darque?!/ My brother in the Crystals, was Nasty von Bad taken?!"

 
     The frozen north. Home. Suvdaa is absolutely in her element here, and it shows. It's been a hell of a push. It's been a lot of arrows drawn back and launched from a bow that's straining from overuse, but it holds its own as Suvdaa and Dulguun rack up their own set of kills as the push forwards. Some time is taken to let the bear maul and strike fear into the lesser monstrous types before pulling back to let others deal in their blows, where as a bear like himself won't last too long. Suvdaa, though? Every shot is counting, every quick pull of an arrow launched to hit a vital point. 
 
     It isn't until the group reaches the top as she draws her bow. Listens to the two go back... and she just... sort of asides to Mau. 
     "... You were a male in your past lives...?" There's more curiosity than disappointment, but what can you do? 
 
     When the command for the attack is made, Suvdaa and Dulguun do their own thing, fighting with a synergy only a beast and a tamer could have. As Suvdaa launches shots on approaching or far away monsters, Dulguun rips and bites into things that come close. Even skeleton bones get smashed into bone dust!

    Illumiel is an unassuming blonde girl, she looks far too young to be part of this adventuring party, but the borrowed sword sings through the air, wreathed in Blessed Flame, and seemingly etched with Divine symbols. The weapon cleaves through the mundane gear of the Demon Lord's minions. Her movements are precise, like a warrior seasoned by many campaigns, and the fury of her attacks is only bolstered by the aura of divine terror she projects around her, causing these ferocious beasts legs and arms to become feeble, and their resolve to buckle.

    She alights next to Mau, brandishing her sword, before turning and placing a hand on the catgirl's arm. She murmurs some words... and those using melee weapons in the party would find their weapon enwreathed in Blessed Flame. "Fear not, for I am with youl be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

    Blessing bestowed, the Avenging Angel surges forwards once more, sweeping a swath of monsters with her divine weapon. The hint of white wings, the barest breath of a halo, her form shimmering in a light that rises from within.

>> GAME >> Illumiel spends an Edge for: Avenger Aura. Blessing all the melee weapons.

     Mao Mao, for whatever reason, didn't think to bring his winter clothes to a place known as the "frozen north". Shivering and miserable, relying on his cape and the flames produced by his sword, he marched up to the Demon Lord's keep with icicles hanging from his nose and significantly less pep in his step than usual. Much grumbling under his cloudy breath of course followed every monster attack.

On the bright side, as they make it to the throne room, things have warmed up considerably. Rubbing his limbs to bring some life back into them, swapping Geraldine between hands as necessary, the cat warrior tries to speak up but instead ends up sneezing violently for several moments. Finally, however, he's able to take a deep breath and say his piece.

"I am the great hero... Mao Mao... oh whatever..." he mumbles, sniffling. Looks like the poor kitty's got a cold, though it doesn't stop him from reacting to the oncoming horde with flaming slashes of holy light- he gives Illumiel a thumbs up for that by the way- and nimbly avoiding blows in return. The occasional stumbling and stopping to sneeze is just part of his plan.

    Trudging through the frozen north was hard on the men, that much is obvious. Ghost was quick to join Mau with the vanguard force, and he brought some support with him too. That radio still gets reception, somehow, and upon contact with an unheard force, Ghost intones those words like the spells of a dark wizard summoning his patron to smite the enemy.

    "Bravo 0-7 to Warhammer 3-8, fire mission requested. Danger close approved. Target fifty meters north of our position."

    "Warhammer to Bravo 0-7, say again?"

    "Danger close approved. Send it."

    "Roger that, 0-7. Stand by."

    Like fire from the heavens, a 105mm howitzer round blows the gate down, and a volley of 25mm GAU-12 fire rips through the curtain wall and the minions posted there.

    "Direct hits, Warhammer. Targets cleared." Ghost then follows along casually, occasionally stopping to kill a wounded orc or zombie, and such.

    Fighting in the castle proper is much more furious, as Ghost has to constantly reposition to avoid catching an ally in the thick of it. His rifle becomes both a melee implement and a gun as Ghost swerves and dodges enemy strikes, responding either by smashing his Magpul stock into an enemy's face when they get too close, or lighting them up point blank with 5.56 NATO. Greentip does nasty things to a body.

    Otherwise, he hangs back with Itana, using his precision marksmanship to good effect on the trash mobs and tanks alike.

    Good thing they're not LITERAL tanks, or this might be a problem.

    Once they storm the throne room, Ghost is extremely tempted to unload half a mag into the dark lord and be done with it in time for dinner. But something stops him. Maybe it's the desire for Mau to have her vengeance.

    It's not his call to decide this man's fate, even if it'd be seemingly so easy.

    He glances at Itana with an incredulous glare. "And you gave Al-Qatala shit for their name?"

    She isn't wrong, mind. Not like there were any AQ alive to protest her critiques with AK fire.

    He doesn't dare judge Mau for her choices in how she lives her life. He does however wonder how long this whole reincarnation affair's been going on, and _why_ for that matter.

    Is his combat knife GLOWING?

>> GAME >> Ghost spends an Edge for: Ghost calls in a fire mission at the start of the op.

    The elders of Clan Shuzenji no doubt had immense protests for this. It's too dangerous, they'd say. Lady Shuzenji could be lost to us, they'd say. But for once, the backing of the Emperor of Arashi-no-Moto himself had stood with her against the objections of the elders, and so Shuzenji-no-Matsu has come, assisting the Hero of legend against the diabolical Demon King purely for the deep debt it might incur with the kingdoms of this world.

    She had probably swept through whatever hospital ward can be found in the alliance base, leaving a trail of healed and healthy soldiers in her wake. But that's just the preamble. Matsu's main intent is to be with Mau the entire way, a leap into danger that even her attendants don't dare make with her. And given her atrocious stamina, someone will probably have to carry her most of the way. At least she's light! And at least she doesn't seem perturbed by the cold whatsoever.

    Despite the danger, and despite her status as 'The Healer(tm)', Matsu Shuzenji is no stranger to life-threatening danger. She stands fast and moves forward the entire way through the Demon Lord's tower, never once faltering. It's the reaction between Hero and Demon Lord that finally brings her up short, crimson eyes blinking with bafflement. "...a hundred... I... what..." She looks at Mau. She looks at Vile Darque. "...you two have fought each other a hundred times without knowing it?" Her eyes sweep to the Demon Lord in particular. "If you know how this goes every single time, why even bother? Why not just wander off and find something to do that doesn't involve conquest, oppression and murder?!"

    The Phoenix Maiden is a little pissed.

    And the simple fact of the matter is, there are a fair number of undead and unholy beings among the Demon Lord's minions. The white-haired young lady simmers with purifying fire, an array of ofuda fanning itself out around her; her flames flow into each, and then she unleashes them scattershot, again and again. She might not be much of a combatant, but there are some enemies here that she's particularly suited to fighting.

>> SUMMARY[Matsu Shuzenji] >> Screw the morality of it, after 99 defeats, /why are you still trying/? I'm taking out my bafflement and irritation on anything undead or unholy.

    "It's a detail I may have left out." Mau replies to Suvdaa as Illumiel takes place beside her. But then the battle is instantly raging.
    In an instant Mau is a whirling buzzsaw of bladed death, her holy sword shimmering in the dim light of the torches illuminating the chamber, her short blade glowing faintly thanks to Illumiel's blessing as she weaves into the fray. Sweat beads off her brow as fatigue from the nonstop fighting finally takes its toll, but she fights on, carving a deadly path to Vile Darque himself.
    Itana's arrow strikes true, the explosive conflagration reducing an ogre and its surrounding retinue of orcs and goblins into constituent ashes.
    It's true that if not for Ghost's air strike they may not have made it into the tower in the first place, but it's been fight after fight after fight, and still the Task Force 141 man shows he has what it takes, putting precision shots into targets like he was shooting down a range of blades and teeth.
    Mao Mao is a sight that makes many of the monsters laugh, his sniffly sneezing misery bringing them amusement. ... Until he turns into a deadly blender just as effective as Mau herself, cutting a swathe through the horde.
    "That would be our patrons." Vile Darque replies to Matsu. They won't let us do anything except their will." He says more tired than hate filled as the Pheonix Miko evaporates skeletons and zombies by the droves.
    "We've been locked in this clash for far too long. And the both of us will do anything to end it at this point I think."
    There's a sudden CLASH as Mau's holy blade is stopped dead by the Demon Lord's dark sword, murder blazing in her eyes as they blade lock for a solid moment in the middle of the fray.
    "I'll fucking kill you, then!" She snarls. "And end this cycle for the both of us!"
    "You'll *try*." He replies. Before the blades break from their clash. There's a flash- a flurry of furious clashing blows ringing and resounding through the throne room before one final crash of steel on steel is rewarded with a gasp of pain and a wet splash of blood on the floor stones.
    ... As Mau drops to a knee, perilously wounded.

     It takes a minute for Mau and Vile's conversation to register in Mao Mao's slowly unfreezing brain. Parrying a goblin's sword and kicking it away, waving his arm to keep his balance, he sniffles and considers for a moment. "Wait... you've done this /how/ many times? And across multiple lifetimes? Here I thought my weekly bouts with the Sky Pirates were getting a little stale..."

Something reinforced by Vile Darque's next comment. After another sneezing fit, Mao Mao responds with, "Huh, I guess you guys really are getting bored of it. Why not just... say no? What's the worst they could do, anyway?" This is followed by some more smashing of monsters as he tries to hide the fact that he's running out of breath already.

"Your name is still stupid though." he adds, regrouping with the rest of the party. "And I serve a guy named King Snugglemagne, I know what stupid names sound like."

But then Mau is wounded!? Blinking several times in quick succession, Mao Mao gestures at Matsu and rather ineloquently barks out, "Healer... heal!" before jumping at Vile Darque himself, golden katana shining with its own light as he tries to take up the fight in Mau's stead. Not for glory, this time, but just to buy some time.

    Aside from her purifying strikes, Matsu is content to stand back and sling healing magic, ensuring that her allies can continue the fight. But the words of the Demon King Vile Darque actually bring her to a halt, if only for a few moments. Normally careful to keep (most of) her true feelings off her face, the young head of Clan Shuzenji allows a hint of sadness to slip through on her face. "...I know what it's like to be picked by a god against your will. If anything, you've got it worse than me. I at least have a choice in what I do with this power. But-"

    Blood splatters, and down goes Mau. Matsu's words catch in her throat, and then a look of determination sets in. "...but the kindest thing that I can do for either of you is to make sure this clash ends once and for all. And if that happens either way, then I'm sorry, but I'm going to lend Suzaku's fire to the side that doesn't run on cruelty and conquest."

    In a series of rapid-fire hand seals, Matsu weaves together a spell and then thrusts her hand outward, unleashing a torrent of potent healing fire straight towards Mau.

    "You know it's really annoying to be told to do something you're going to do anyway!" she yells to one side at Mao Mao.

Itana hangs back with Suvdaa and does the shooty thing. She doesn't have her own bear, but she has at least one angel. Those are also good!

Counterpoint: Itana has a ranged weapon. No Avenger Aura for her.

"Listen, I cannot be held accountable for people's poor naming decisions," she sighs with a sidelong glance at Ghost before glancing back and putting an arrow between an orc's eyes for good measure.

She keeps on shooting, though she's got at least one eye and ear on Mau's back-and-forth with the Demon Lord, the dialogue just barely making it through the constant shrieking of fiends and the regular twang-hiss of arrows flying. She keeps on shooting, trying to keep the crowd back. At least until there's a crash that snaps her eyes back - just in time to see the fight end in perhaps the worst possible outcome.

Itana draws a breath through her nose and silently hopes Castiel will not bonk her, if she survives. She takes a few steps back, readies an arrow in one hand and glances at Suvdaa and Ghost with a nod. "It has been... a trip," she says before breaking into a sprint - and /leaping./

    BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMbH9zimuG0

Itana's leap is high and true. She flips in midair, coming down towards a large ogre in the midst of the pack. Her heels slam into the creature's shoulders, and she balances atop the staggering creature for just a second as she coils like a spring - and jumps a second time, higher and faster. The nomad flips and spins at the height of her jump, twisting upside down, her bow pointed down at an angle and her free arm snapping back with a trained precision as she soars over the entire battle line. Even with the world inverted, her aim is true. She whispers a word.

The arrow she fires off is faster than anything has any right to be. The sound barrier shatters with a vibration that resonates through the throne room, blowing the facings off of columns and cracking floor tiles. The shot is aimed centre-of-mass at the Demon Lord - a blow aimed to kill or at least hurl back.

A second later, Itana touches down in a crouch. Her cloak and hair flutter around her as she bows her head a moment, then looks up, eyes fixed on the blue and horned figure with a scowl.

"I have only one life to live," Itana says tersely, "but I will gladly take yours for the greatest sin of you or your patron....

"...putting your castle up here in the cold."

>> GAME >> Itana el-Zayl spends an Edge for: Itana superjumps over the trash mobs and fires the SUPERSONIC ARROW in a bid to GET AGGRO.

    The clash of metal, the resonance of Holy and Dark magics clashing draws Illumiel's attention. "Mau!" she calls, doing a 360 twirl to clear space around her. She then turns and launches at Darque. "Ye though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. I shall fear no evil, for thou art with me. Thy rod; and thy staff, they comfort me."

    Mid-charge, her wings erupt, their golden white feathers trailing behind her. Her burning halo emerging, and silver armour ensconses her body. The borrowed sword is dropped, and twin blades, one gold and ivory, the other silver and ebony, emerge in her hands.

    She moves in to clash with the Demon Lord in the wake of Itana's arrow shot. Bellowing out to Matsu. "Heal her! I'll hold him off!"

>> GAME >> Illumiel spends an Edge for: Summoning the Dawn and the Dusk.

    Ghost takes a moment. He can't be surprised. They're stuck in this cycle of constant death & rebirth, ordered by powers they may not even fully understand to do battle. He can relate, sort of. He stands back and puts down monster after monster, with his rifle, stopping only to stow the empty magazine and replace it with a fresh one with practiced, smooth motions. Then he's back to shooting, his custom M4 spitting lead and only muffled by the suppressor on its muzzle.

    He only hesitates when he hears Mau drop to a knee.

    A troll rushes him, and Ghost returns to focusing on the enemy. The troll is easily three times his size, a massive bugger with a heavy stone pillar as its weapon of choice, torn right out of the building it came from. The troll swats and swings at the annoying human as it shoots at him over and over with its little musket, peppering it with bloody wounds. Ghost zigs and zags until the beast corners him. "Fuckin' hell-!" He snarls, aiming at the troll's face. It roars, its face a mangled mess when bullets hammer into it.

    As his magazine runs dry again, Ghost lets the L403 hang on its sling while he grabs something; a 40mm grenade launcher. Bracing it against his shoulder, Ghost fires it at the roaring troll.

    If not for more pressing matters, he may have even found amusement by how the troll caught a grenade in its mouth, a mess left where its head used to be.

    Then he draws his Glock and knife, rushing Vile Darque as he opens fire on the dark lord. And when 9mm runs dry in the mag, Ghost hurls his blessed knife at the Vile.

 
     Maybe it was the bond they had, or maybe it was just the actual flurry of clashing blows as the blades break from a hard clash, and wet blood scatters on the stone floor, to reveal not the Demon Lord falling but her adventuring partner taking a knee instead. 
 
     Suvdaa stares wide eyed before she just bursts out Dulguun's name, her own invigorating shout seemingly spurring the tired grizzly bear on to fight with renewed energy. Seeing so many people start to turn their attention to the Demon Lord, Suvdaa can't risk her shots hitting anyone- so her bow continues to focus on what's around. Spellcasting goblins, shamanistic orcs, whatever could mess with the party from afar is getting arrows stuck into different vitals of the body before she moves on.

    For a moment. For a good beat, Mau is in a bad pinch.
    "F-fuck..." She coughs, spitting up blood and using her sword embedded in the floor to keep herself from toppling over. "H-how?"
    "You've gotten predictable." Vile Darque points out to her with a shrug as he raises his blade to deal the coup de grace and end this millenia long clash...
    When a black cat lunges at him with a katana, and an Angel of the Lord charges him with her divine blades.
    "AGH WHAT THE FUCK!" He growls as he's forced to fend Mao Mao and Geraldine and Illumiel and Dawn and Dusk off, the legendry weapons of the feline warrior and angel putting him on the defensive.
    That's when Itana leaps.
    And her arrow screams through the air, the supersonic shot slamming the Demon Lord dead center of the chest and staggering him before he's assailed by Ghost unloading the magazine of his handgun and that blessed knife embedding in his shoulder, while Suvdaa takes out his casters.
    The healing fire rushes over Mau's body, allowing her to stagger back to her feet; and it's while Vile Darque is distracted...
    That the blade point of a holy sword suddenly sticks out from his chest.
    Mau, without a second thought, just... Stabbed him clean in the back.
    "... Some hero you are." Vile Darque spits, coughing up blood.
    "... I always *hated* being called a hero." Mau points out as she TWISTS the blade and rips it free.
    The Demon Lord wobbles where he stands for a moment. Before he collapses face down on the floor stones.
    Mau drops to a knee again, this time to catch her breath as exhaustion finally takes its toll.
    "Ah... D-damn... It's over..."
    For a long moment it seems that way. Mau topples onto her back and lays there panting as she stares up at the ceiling.
    Vile Darque twitches. Then he sits up.
    "... If I go down you're all coming with me." He chokes, pointing a hand for the center of the room at the floor. A bolt of black light plows through the stone and shoots downwards.
    And the tower begins to rumble as the wounded Demon Lord chuckles. And flings himself off the edge of the tower.
    "..." Mau says eloquently as she gets up-- and stops herself at the edge of the tower staring down.
    "We need to go." She says. "He just nuked the tower's supports. Everyone get out of here there's something I still need to do."

     Mao Mao is somewhat relieved that he didn't have to take the Big Bad alone, since it looks like everyone who isn't busy casting healing magic has decided to pitch in on avenging the fallen hero. And then... it's over, just like that?

"You know," Mao Mao says with another sniffle, "Normally I'd complain about an anticlimactic and frankly unheroic finish like that, but... I really don't care right now. I just wanna go home and have some chicken soup..."

Buuut of course, villains are always sore losers, and as the whole tower begins to shudder and collapse, the black cat grumbles to himself. "Really should've brought the Aerocycle." He spares Mau one last glance, understanding the Hero's Code means he shouldn't interfere in whatever it is she has left to do, and gestures to everyone else. "Alright, let's get going before this whole place comes down on us. Don't worry about her, she'll be fine. She's... a legendary hero."

 
     Suvdaa finishes off the ranged casters, looking over now to see the after math of the fight. Demon Lord on the ground, Mau up and on her feet, and what looks like the end actually turns out to be the beginning. 
 
     "..." Suvdaa stares at Mau with this absolute death glare of hers, reserved for only the worst times of things. But she knows she's just outmatched here. Mau's a millenia long experienced war fighting another millenia long experienced source of evil. This is her fight. 
 
     "DUMB CAT!" She shouts out, having to push her voice up with the rumbling of the tower begins to rumble and collapse. Even Dulguun is getting a little antsy and nudging at Suvdaa's waist, tugging at her bear pelt cloak to get her to start running out. "You better not do something stupid and get yourself killed!" 
     Finally, Dulguun's nudging gets Suvdaa to follow his lead up, swinging a leg over the big bear and hopping on its back as it starts to make a mad dash, all while Suvdaa gets more arrows ready should they be needed. This raider's not happy at all. In other words, she's fine.

Itana is fully expecting to have to jump around like a madwoman and keep ahead of whatever insane powers the Demon Lord has to hurl at her. Instead, Mau does a heroic thing - kind of. The archer blinks twice at the sight of Mau's weapon sticking out of Vile's chest, from behind.

Itana is momentarily torn between approval of the sheer practicality of it, or disapproval of the sheer unheroism of it. She eventually settles on sighing and shaking her head.

    /This fucking cat./

Pushing her hood back, she straightens up and looks back to Mau. The long moment passes without Itana filling the silence. There's no point.

At least until Vile Darque /sits up/ and blows a hole straight through his own tower before diving straight off the edge.

The very structure shudders beneath them. Itana clicks her teeth together and widens her stance for the sake of balance, quickly taking stock of the situation. She acts on her first impulse: Darting over to Illumiel and touching a hand to her shoulder quickly. "We need to get out of here, quickly. Come on--"

It's right about then that a chunk of rubble under her feet gives way, along with a large swath of floor. In ordinary circumstances, Itana might be able to jump out of trouble. In this case, she's caught by surprise and begins falling backwards, finding herself with no actual footing to brace off of. Her eyes widen as she grasps for a handhold that's no longer there on her way down into the abyss.

    Considering all chivalry has been thoroughly abandoned, Ghost thinks nothing of body checking Vile Darque like it's rugby season, and he takes the moment to rip his knife free from the dark lord's shoulder while he stows his handgun. This is gonna be close quarters, and he needs the hand free.

    He also tends to Mau, helping her to her feet. "You good to go?" He asks, concerned. There's no choice, they need to leave right now.

    He's currently cursing himself for not bringing a damn parachute today. "No arguments here." He says to Mao Mao. He's going to absolutely haul ass until the floor gives out under his feet.

    "Oh for fuck's sake-" And then Ghost follows Itana down. This is bad.

    "You chose the name 'Vile Darque'. You could have abandoned it at any time. You have no room to chastize Mau for unheroic behavior," Matsu points out blandly.

    Then he... he blasts the floor.

    "...e-eh?"

    Blink blink.

    "...what the hell is wrong with you?!" Matsu might be panicking a little as the floor starts to crumble. "W-what- what do I- what is-?!"

>> SUMMARY[Matsu Shuzenji] >> halp

    Illumiel's wings flap as she hovers there. "Silence, Demon. Your reign ends here."

    And then he takes the tower's supports out.

    Mau says she has unfinished business, and then Itana's there. "Yes let's g--" The floor gives way, and Itana begins to fall. Time slows to a crawl, and the angel completes her turn. Blades dissolve into divine light as she tucks her wings closed. She dives, like a hawk diving on a rabbit. Blue eyes blaze as she focusses on Itana's flailing form, extending one hand toward her. "Reach for me!" she calls, stretching out to grasp Itana's wrist, to make a firm hold.

    She spots Ghost falling too, and once she has Itana in hand, she flares her wings out a little bit, and reaches her other hand out to him... jinking closer so he can grab hold.

    It is as the party starts to make their way toward the exit that Mau stares off the edge of the tower.

    'DUMB CAT! You better not do something stupid and get yourself killed!'

    The hero closes her eyes tightly for a beat before she glances over her shoulder and offers Suvdaa a pained and wan smile.

    "I know. I love you too."

    And then Mau breaks into a sprint, taking a running leap off the edge of the tower after Vile Darque.
    With that done, there's no turning back, and the rest of the party is faced with another dilemma, moreso than the floors falling out from under them.
    The stairs collapse.
    And then the tower walls explode outwards. Rocks and rubble and debris go flying in every direction as the entire floor shelf that the party is on begins to fall, landing on the level below it-- smashing through. Landing on the level below that. Smashing through. Landing again on the level before that, smashing through-- the entirety of the floor makes for a large falling platform as the countless myriad flying monsters of the Demon Lord's armies swoop in, trying to finish what their master started while the tower falls, making for a rough elevator ride down.
    Mau can be seen running up the chunks of a falling staircase, leaping from rock to rock, blade clenched in her teeth as she chases Vile Darque back UP into the sky, nimbly hopping up floating debris as the clouds part and the full moon shines down on the crumbling tower.
    "You fool! You'll die too!" The Demon Lord shrieks.

    "Killing you was always the plan... Getting to live through it is just a bonus."

    Even before the tower completely comes apart, Matsu is on the verge of losing it. "Th- this tower is collapsing, what are you doing- we have to get out of here. We have to get out of here, what-"

    Mau jumps off the edge. It's insane enough that it breaks through Matsu's near-panic for a brief, bemused moment. "...what the hell is wrong with you?"

    Then the entire floor starts to pancake its way through the rest of the tower, and Matsu completely loses her footing. Off she goes, tumbling right towards the edge and into the abyss. "AH-WHA- HELP- WHAT- VILE DARQUE IF YOU SURVIVE I'M SETTING YOU ON FIRE- AAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Down, down, down goes Itana...

...until she's touched by an angel. Itana doesn't think. She's preoccupied with dying and isn't going to say no to /not/ doing that. Straining in mid-fall, she eventually manages to snag Illumiel's wrist in turn and grab hold. Her grip is strong and tight.

As she hangs off of Illumiel like a Christmas ornament, Itana finds herself blushing involuntarily. There's something humiliating about this whole situation. She should have been smarter - should have gone directly for the edge of the tower and hopped her way down - should have left the damned cat to her fate and gone into business for herself. If she'd done that, she wouldn't have needed help.

Into the unbidden wave of shame comes a little golden thought that looks and sounds, in her mind's eye, uncannily like a tiny blonde angel with outstretched arms and a gentle smile. /If I'd done that, Mau might've died. Lumi might not have been alright. They went out of their way to help./

Itana is silent for several beats as she hangs from Illumiel's grip. When she does finally look up, it's with her chin dipped a little and a fierce blush radiating up her face. Her voice stays low, as if to keep others outside of the little angelic circle from hearing a door open.

"...Thank you."

She doesn't get much time to marinate in the moment. Flying monsters whirl around them - and Mau's scrambling up the tower like an idiot anyway. Something she barely sees swoops past them; Itana sucks in her breath. "Lumi, I'm going to let go!" she calls up before doing just that, shaking loose and dropping in a controlled fashion to what looks like what was once part of a buttress.

A couple of gargoyles come swooping in. Itana snaps her arm twice. One creature goes down in a spiral, the other soon following. A glance to one side, and she catches sight of another incoming creature - a goblin with a javelin, riding a large roc.

Perfect.

Itana immediately hops off the buttress, swatting the hurled javelin out of the air, twisting and landing on the back of the roc. The goblin's squeak of surprise is cut off as she shoves him out of the saddle with a curt, "We're switching." The roc, for its part, screeches in surprise, but Itana scoots up the giant bird's body as it writhes and tries to throw her off.

Grabbing the reins, Itana digs her heels in a couple of times and begins wrangling the bird. She can be heard calling to it in what sounds suspiciously like a human's best approximation of bird talk - and the flight path begins to steady.

    /I've missed this,/ Itana reflects. She hasn't flown since the Red Wings shot down her black chocobo near Kaipo.

>> SUMMARY[Itana el-Zayl] >> BIRD THIEF

     Mao Mao takes the time to spare one last look back at Mau... only for the collapse to start, and he barely manages to keep his own footing as the floor crashes into the next floor and so on, breaking up into pieces on the way down. And boy is it a long way down.

The forces of darkness continue their assault even as the heroes try to find some safety, and Mao Mao for his part hops from debris to debris, slashing those flying minions to keep them away from his comrades. But in his condition, it's not long until he suddenly has a painful coughing fit, causing him to slip off a foothold and start freefalling into the abyss himself.

Visions of his ancestors appear before his eyes. Shaking their heads disappointedly, as if they always knew he'd never amount to anything. Just a failure, worthy of neither his father's attention nor the family's legendary name.

As the wind whips around him, cape flapping in the cold, the black cat warrior decides to try something anyway. "A hero never gives up..." he murmurs, raising his free hand to his mouth, fingertips pressed against his lips, and he... whistles. Several moments pass by, nothing happening, until...

A glint of light on the horizon! Mao Mao narrows his eyes to get a better look through the wind, and he can just make out... yes, a sight that causes him to start laughing maniacally, at least until another coughing fit catches him.

Much like how his Aerocycle, manned by his deputies Badgerclops and Adorabat, catches him out of the air. "Dude, you forgot your parka. Seriously, how did you forget your parka? It's the /frozen north/." Badgerclops chastises the sheriff, who has nestled in firmly behind the big, warm badger.

"Shut up and go grab anyone else who's falling. Adorabat, point 'em out." Mao Mao retorts, too tired to get into a debate.

The little blue bat, letting go of the vehicle's rear bumper, salutes with one of her wings as she grins. "I'M ON IT!" she excitedly screeches, darting off to find anyone in need of a lift... like Matsu, for example.

    There was a time that Gaz was in a similar position to Ghost right now, falling out of a helicopter, screaming for his life. but Gaz was still tied to the heli by a rope. And he was much closer to the ground, not to mention way too close to incoming traffic for comfort as he traded shots with terrorists on the highway.

    Ghost has no rope. And for a moment he steels himself for the inevitable, until he feels someone grab his hand. "Lumi!?" He grabs onto her hand tight and sheathes his knife.

    "Bleedin' hell, thanks!" He says to the angel, before he notices pieces of rubble through the air. It's a rough time trying to reload a rifle in the middle of free fall, but after some fumbling due to the velocity, Ghost slams a mag home and cocks the gun before he takes aim at a goblin riding a baby drake. He shoots, and the goblin goes down with a bullet in the head.

    His form isn't nearly as graceful as Itana's, but Ghost managed to grab hold of the drake's saddle and he takes the reins. This is patently ridiculous, but it beats free fall minus a chute.

 
     Suvdaa heard that. She just refuses to react to it. 
 
     She also refuses to show how she's reacting to it unintentionally by hiding her face into Dulguun's back fur. "... Dumb cat..." She mutters, oblivious as Dulguun means to run, but finds himself tumbling as the entire floor beings to fall - and smash through. Fall, and smash through, fall and smash through, and then the flying monsters arrive. Somewhere in the chaos, Suvdaa's cloak has flung back, and she has gotten up to watch as all this occurs. The sky can be seen as the flying monsters take flight, and she looks up to them as she starts to draw that bow 
 
     --And the full moon hits her eyes. 
 
     In the next blink, she's someone else. Her eyes glow with a faint blue as she draws back five arrows, each one glowing with a white light as she aims, and fires. Magic enchanted arrows fill the room as sets of arrows are launched one after another, each one homing around the flying creatures as they swoop and fly. With unerring accuracy and an uncaring merciless gaze to those that would defile the frozen north attack the friends and allies of her children, Od Tegri takes over the radier's body, and begins a slaughter. The falling elevator of platforms doesn't concern her, just holding her ground and defeating every single threat in the air is all she needs.

>> GAME >> Suvdaa spends an Edge for: Od Tegri puts on a lightshow.

>> GAME >> Mao Mao commits an Edge for: Last second save by the deputies with the Aerocycle, coming in from offworld. Also saving other people maybe.

    Itana's door opening earns the archer nomad a smile. It's a ssmile that looks so much like Castiel's. Her response is silent, but Itana would feel the Angel's return before she lets go to go wrangle her own transportation.

    Ghost's form may not be as graceful as Itana's, but the operator is given as much support as the Angel can offer, before she's freed of her burdens, and can take wing properly once more.

    She summons her blades once again, and begins to carve a path through the flying retinue, though an eye keeps track of Mau chasing after Vile... she's gauging where the catgirl might end up falling, and is making her way into the general area to score a trifecta of 'catch the falling allies'.

    It's more than chaos as the tower collapses into debris and disarray. But the heroes show that Mau didn't pick them to come along for willy nilly reasons.
    Even as Mao Mao's ancestor look upon him with despair, his allies swoop in, in their time of need to catch him and Matsu.
    It's as the gargoyles and roks and arremer demons come flying in that the party shines. Itana and Ghost hijack avian mounts with grace, poise, and a little Task Force 141 elbow grease, securing their paths down safely.
    And then... 
    Od Tegri unleashes a hailstorm of arrows, beast after beast dropping from the air dead between her, Ghost, and Itana, while Illumiel and her divine blades cut and carve a swathe in the monsters.
    Mau...
    Mau takes one last vaulting leap off the highest rock she can reach and--... Wraps her hands around Vile Darque's neck.
    He gets his fingers around hers in tandem and the two are just beyond words, strangling one another as they tumble and flip head over heals in a wildly uncontroleld freefall.
    "Is that it? You'll kill yourself to be rid of me?" The Demon Lord spits.
    "If... I... Have to."
    The two continue this for a moment before Mau gains the upper hand- wrenches her grip- and there's a sick POP.
    Vile Darque goes limp... And then begins to dissipate into motes of darkness as his body melts to nothing with his last word...
    "Freedom..."
    Mau continues to fall. Careening towards the ground without any ability to arrest her fall as she tumbles through the air unconscious.
    And the ground is awfully close in sight now.

    "AAAAAAAAAAAA- gwak?!" Matsu's deeply alarming freefall is suddenly interrupted by the timely arrival of a bat. "W-what- a bat? I-" Gosh darn it Matsu, calm down, that bat has brought you an Aerocycle rescue, you're not falling anymore. Count your blessings. "...th-thank you." The white-haired healer is largely quiet the entire rest of the way, although she might be clinging a little tightly to whoever's in arm's reach on the Aerocycle. She might just be a little shaky on her feet when they land, but she'll still dust herself off and... try to stand tall.

    Her hands aren't shaking. They're not. They're not.

The roc isn't as pliable as a chocobo. It wrangles and thrashes as Itana works the reins. Eventually, though, she spurs the winged creature into a grudging accedence. "Once we're done here, you can go home," she promises with a pat to the back of the bird's head before giving the reins a slight coax, leaning to one side.

With a screech, the immense bird responds, swooping out of the worst of the rubble fall. A few more monsters come swooping after her. Scowling, Itana cranks her body back and aims behind the roc. As the horde clusters up behind her, she holds her shot for a moment - and then begins opening fire. Arrows scatter behind her as she thins out the crowd with shot after shot, easily keeping ahead of the mob while picking creatures out of the sky. The roc's more or less cooperating now, following a sweeping arc around and down the tower.

It gives Itana occasional glimpses of what's going on, though so far up, Mau and the Demon Lord are hard to actually spot. She presses her lips together intently and exhales through her nose, all too aware that she could never get a shot through. But eventually she spots something falling down the other way.

Mau wanted to be a catgirl. She is about to be a splat mark.

"Damn that cat," Itana growls, but the flash of anger belies the anxiety surging in the pit of her stomach as she spurs the roc towards the falling wreckage. But her mind's already filling in the obvious. The debris-fall is too dense there, the roc too big, the distance too great.

There's nothing Itana can do, and she hates it.

     Now that the Aerocycle is in play, aerial combat is much less of a hassle. All those flying monsters aren't just dealing with a sword-wielding cat anymore, but a nimble machine armed with machineguns that fire magical crystal energy. Any gargoyles, arremers, or whatever else that even think about getting in Mao Mao or his deputies' way get swiss cheesed in mere moments.

"HI!! I'm Adorabat! MAO MAO I FOUND SOMEONE!!" the bat screeches some more, good lord is she /loud/. But her voice reaches the sheriff, and it's not long before Matsu is safe aboard, even if the seat's a little crowded. Once they're certain everyone else is accounted for, Badgerclops brings the Aerocycle in for a landing and lets Matsu off, while Mao Mao helps to steady her.

"Heheh, that was fun." Badgerclops titters like an absolute himbo.

But then Mao Mao's keen eyes spot Mau still falling, and he scrambles to get back on the bike. "There's no time, I have to-" he starts, but another violent coughing fit racks his whole body, delaying the takeoff. He's too late, he'll never make it now!

 
     After the final blow is struck, there is an instinct to tilt her gaze upwards, and see Mau, free falling and tumbling. Without second thought, the goddess having its grip on Suvdaa's body doesn't hesitate. A sudden lurch of a sprint to what remains of the castle walls, that bow tossed aside and quiver thrown off to launch upwards off the wall, reaching hands up to grab onto a crumbling crack to go higher, and then grip and hold. Mau's body is falling fast, timing it... and with one powerful kick, the goddess shoots off from the wall and out in the way, arms up and open to pull the catgirl into a strong hug and holding tight, head tilting to the oncoming ground as they tumble together. 
 
     With a crash, the two land in a hard tumble and a roll before crashing up against the piled up remains of the floor and walls. 
 
     Wrapped up in the bear cloak, Suvdaa now aches from new bruises, scrapes and bleeding while slowly trying to unwrap herself from Mau and get a sense of what's going on, only to realize Mau isn't moving. 
 
     In an instant, her mind has flashed back to years ago. Very long ago, in that dim underground crypt with the undead, with that dogboy cleric and the smaller cat girl. 
 
     Forgetting there's so many others here that could help in the moment, Suvdaa just gets to work, trying her best to ignore the wounds as hands push down on Mau's chest, beginning chest compressions. "Wake up... Wake up, Dumb cat...!" A deep breath is taken and Mau's head is tilted back just slightly for her to lean down and give mouth to mouth, then pull up and start compressions again. The whole thing isn't entirely accurate, but is it enough?

    The drake Ghost rides is very tempermental. Every now and then it tries to throw Ghost off its back, but he uses his rappelling hook to wrap around the beast's neck. "OI, behave or I kill us both!" He snaps back, as he rides closer to the ground.

    Mau doesn't look good at all, and Ghost rushes to try and join the others on the ground. But he's too far. There's not much more he can do but watch helplessly. And Ghost hates being that guy.

    "Dammit, Mau..don't give up yet..." He mutters.

    Even as their master dies at the hands of The Hero, the flying enemies are still thick, and very aggressive in keeping the Angel occupied. She banks, twirls, dives and jinks with demons, wyverns, rocs and whatever else fills the air and darkens the sky, like a murder of cro-- wait, wrong franchise.

    The problem is, there's too many enemies, too much distance, and Mau chose the absolute dumbest method of finishing this fight.

    Much like Itana, she mutters about her powerlessness... But she trusts that He has a plan, even in this place of other gods, and magic.

    Suvdaa proves her faith correct, and with another wing over, she rejoins the fray to drive off the broken army. "Flee, your master has fallen, and you shall be next! By my blade or another it matters not." she bellows as she flies and slashes with her Divine blades.

    She is not a healer, and never will be. There are others far more suited to that.

    As the last remnants of the tower collapse behind the group, and the party lands in their own ways, Suvdaa lands with Mau in her arms. The catgirl yuusha is unresponsive; neither breathing nor moving.
    Suvdaa begins CPR, she starts mouth to mouth.
    For a moment. For a long moment there's no response, Mau lays there, body jerking slightly with each time the raider performs chest compressions.
    In the distance there's a riotous, raucous call of the armies of man, elves, and dwarves, a cry of victory and celebration as the tower has fallen and the Demon Lord's army scatters at Illumiel's voice, several riders on horses come barelling towards the party at top speed.
    Upon their arrival, an old dwarf and a tall blonde haired man in priestly garb leap off their horses. The man's canine ears perk up, tail wagging.
    "Mau! Suvdaa! Everyone! I knew you'd do it!" Andy, the fully ordained Priest of Galatea whoops.
    Wow he's a big boy, though.
    But he pauses at the sight of what exactly is going on.
    "O-oh. Oh no."
    But before he can say any further--
    Mau chokes.
    She sputters.
    She wraps her arms around Suvdaa tightly.
    "... Did we win?" She asks, voice hoarse and exhausted.

The last chunks of tower finally meet the earth, except for the billowing dust. Itana is used to that - she covers her nose and mouth with the folds of her cloak, just as she would in the deep of a Damcyan sandstorm. Her eyes water as she squints, guiding herself by feel and shape and trusting the roc to have a survival instinct.

It's trust well-placed. The immense bird alights with a screech, touching down a distance from the rubble pile. Immediately, Itana looks back towards the pile, trying to get some sense of where Illumiel is and where Mau wound up. She'd caught sight of Suvdaa leaping miraculously at the last second, but anything more than that has been hard to make out through range, debris and confusion.

Beneath her, the roc shifts uncomfortably. Itana looks down and brushes fingers through ruff feathers. "Shh," she murmurs as she slips a knife into her palm.

There's a snap of leather, then another, then two more. The roc's saddle and reins slump to the ground, Itana following a second later. She looks up at the huge avian and waves one hand. "Go, be free."

The roc wastes absolutely no time. With a scream of obvious relief, it hurls itself into the air and spirals upwards and away.

In spite of herself, Itana smiles just a bit sadly. She missed that feeling.

    Finally getting to the others, Ghost hops off the drake and uses his knife to cut the saddle off. The baby wyrm snarls at him, and Ghost flips him off. "Yeah, piss off. We're even." The drake does in fact piss off, flying off to doubtlessly complain to his drake buddies about this rude human who decided to ride him like a pony!

    He didn't even tip.

    Ghost then rushes to Mau, rifling for the trauma kit in his rucksack before suddenly Mau wheezes and sputters.

    There's a sigh of palpable relief as Ghost gives Mau a pat on the shoulder. "Fuckin' hell, Mau. You had us goin' for a bit there." He says with a chuckle.

     Mao Mao looks up again to see that Suvdaa has gone for the rescue... but for what feels like an eternity, the other cat hero is unresponsive. Slowly making his way over, deputies following close behind, he all but holds his breath even as all the armies of allied good guys show up. "Is she..."

The sputtering, the hug, the question. Mau yet lives. And in answer, Mao Mao smiles down at her and says, "Yeah. We won."

And then he lets out a huge sneeze into his cape.

 
     Suvdaa doesn't stop. It's a bit of a panic. It worked before, why isn't it working now, what's she doing wrong?! 
     When Andy shows up, the raider just focuses on Mau, and is about to stop chest compressions and go in when- 
     Choke. Sputter. 
     Suvdaa winces out in pain and hisses out as she's wrapped up tightly, but she holds it out. Now some sense comes back to Suvdaa, and she just srt of holds Mau up with one arm, the other resting on the ground to sort of keep herself up from getting pulled down from Suvdaa's tight grip. 
     "Nnghff.... Y-yeah, You won." 
     There's this bit of a smug tone as she clenches her teeth through the pain. "Told you. You'd get yourself killed without me, dumb cat."

    The Army of Darkness shatters and breaks, fleeing from the Angel, and the remaining Allied Army. Illumiel pulls up short, taking a pose with her blades held out at angles from her waist, while her wings flare out. She strikes an imposing figure, and stays there for a time, daring the demons and other monsteres to come back and face her.

    Once she's sure the battle is over, she looks back to Mau, Suvda and the others. She wings over, dismissing her swords and swoops down to land next to Itana, reaching out to grasp the archer's hand. "..."

    "Awesome." Is Mau's initial reply to Mao Mao and Suvdaa before she releases the raider girl from her arms and flumps her head back, eyes closed. For a moment she's silent. But she's still breathing at least.
    "Cool. I'm just. Gonna take a small nap, now." She decides then and there. "Sorry, but I'm beat."
    Cats sleep a lot.
    And Mau is a typical fucking cat.

     Suvdaa releases Mau once she lays back and takes a nap. A growling bear catches Suvdaa's attention as a lumping Dulguun moves over to her side and sits down. 
     "You know what. A nap... Sounds..." 
     Suvdaa lids her eyes some and hunches forwards some, just taking a few breaths. 
     "... It hurts to move." 
     Dulguun lets out this little noise, as if agreeing. It hurts to move.