World Tree MUSH

    When Dante got the word about this job, he was quick to make a call. Or rather, send a letter; "Going to Prague, gonna be lots of skeletons. Bring the squad. -D" That letter was delivered to Castiel's place, and Dante was hoping that the angel was feeling ready to bring about some righteous retribution. By the time Dante got to the Czech Republic, Morrison was there waiting with a car and a lit cigar.

    "You gotta do that in the car, man?" Dante said as he stuffed his bags in the back and grabbed a seat, grousing at his handler's stogie while the elderly man chuckled.

    "I gotta appreciate the finer things in life, Dante. It's what keeps me going." He grinned, with white teeth amid a gray beard. "Besides, if Hellspawn aren't gonna kill me then lung cancer sure as hell won't."

    "Well, you better not. Otherwise I'm stuck with Enzo, the penny pitching prick...so where's the job?"

    They were going to have to wait just a tad longer. The city was dark out, with nary a soul outside in the middle of the night. One could swear there was a flying shape out there, and it was too damn big to be a bird. Prague was known for its gothic, foreboding architecture, it was practically made for monster movies. Except this time, there wasn't exactly a movie set around and the actors skipped town, or were already demon dinner.

    "Prague... Skeletons?" Castiel is practically baffled by the letter, but the signature is familiar. It can only be from Dante, the son of the legendary Sparda.
    Well with that figured out, she tugged on Illumiel and Itana.
    "I think we are making a trip." The Guardian Angel says in her usual mild tone.
    SO ONE TRIP TO PRAGUE LATER...
    "Cigarettes can not be counted among the finer things in life." Castiel points out as she arrives, dressed in a pretty white dress and a simple pair of sandals.

Time has passed. Itana's search for Golbez has continued. Turns out it's hard to find someone when he's probably in a highly fortified castle, you don't know where the castle is, you have no way to get there, you don't know what he looks like and it's been at least two years since he did the crime. In frustration, she'd gone home to Castiel's house to sulk and bury her frustrations in fluffy angel feathers.

Then a letter arrived. Itana could not read it. She got an angel to recite it.

She has her bow with her today, but it's not drawn right now and she's got her quiver at her hip. In its place, she's got a long boathook. It's the one she borrowed from a ship when rescuing a small watersnake girl from evil sirens way back when. Striding up behind her angel, she gives Morrison a flat look once they're all together.

"Dying from that is longer and less pleasant than being hellspawned, and you smell like absolute shit while you do it."

     Luke can't deny that the word Skeletons caught his attention, and of course, hearing from Dante again! that guy was rather cool!. He is not really sure where exactly they are all are, so he ends up wandering in the spookyish area for a little while, flanked by the tall and not particularly intimidating figure of his Bewear, who insists on being out while roaming around. At least he seems to find them eventually, the boy waving eagerly as he spots the group, trying not to gawk much at the angel. Dante seems to find cool company anywhere, even if he is not sure he approves of the smoking person either.

    Skeletons? That smells of Undead, and the Littlest Avenger abhors the Undead... she has found a few, a very limited few that are tolerable, because they're useful, and don't go around eating brains or sucking souls... thsee sound like the un-useful type, and so it takes little prompting from Castiel, and none from Itana to get her moving.

    She adjusts her equipment, bandoliers draped around her small frame, sporting various improvized weapons. Unfortunately her Actual Sword broke some time ago, so all her 'weapons' are repurposed tools, or lengths of pipe, and a crowbar or two.

    She frowns at the older man, and shakes her head without speaking on it. The others have already done so, and her own input would be moot at best.

    She looks around.

    Morrison, after tipping his hat at the ladies and boy, seemed to get the message and stubbed the stogie out. "I guess I've been outvoted, then." He said, before putting the car in gear and driving with everyone in tow. "The cathedral's down the road. This has been going on for about a week now, the cardinal came to me beggin' for my 'specialist' to come deal with this thing. They got it locked down in the catacombs, but there's stragglers still out there."

    Dante nodded, "Theory's that if we kill the source of this, the rest of 'em will wither. Some kinda necromancy spell, if I recognized it." Mom would've known, even if she never talked about it.

    The cathedral was enormous, and there were terrified civilians and priests alike inside who seemed to be watching the basement entrance like it could open at any moment. One rushed Morrison and Dante, "Thank the Lord you came! And you brought help as well! Goodness, almost looks like the Heavenly Host came as well." The poor old gentleman said.

    "Yeah, funny how that works out. Something something mysterious ways, right?" Dante grinned before producing weapons; Shotgun, ice nunchucks, sword, pistols...all the essential party favors for the night. "Okay, folks! We're gonna deal with this now, shouldn't take us more than an hour tops. If it goes over an hour, I'm chargin' extra!"

    Morrison of course took a seat, "I'll leave this in your hands, Dante. Good luck to you and yours."

    One of the priests chimed in with a cough. "Sir, is it wise to let a child join you down there?"

    Dante chuckled, "Don't worry about it, with the backup he's packin' he'll be fine, right Luke?"

    As the entrance to the catacombs were opened, Dante led the group down the stairways. "Don't let the cigars get to you guys. Morrison's been my fixer for years now, finds me work that pays the big bucks." He explained idly. "Known him since I was a kid just startin' out, must've been Luke's age when I was swingin' my sword at any spooky thing under people's beds when I got into the business."

    They were surrounded by skeletons in coffins the whole way down, with dimly lit pathways into darkness complimented by the stench of sulfur and decay. "Ugh." Dante made a face as he drew his shotgun, grabbing a torch as they descended lower and lower. "At least we're on the right track, these guys stink like nothin' else."

    Ahead, there was a massive burial chamber, a tomb intended for saints and other revered figures. Some of them were those who bought their way to paradise, so to speak. Not that it mattered now, any tomb down here was being defiled today, by shambling, rotting skeletal figures in dark robes. They turned to greet Dante and the others, and one leveled a scythe before suddenly its skull was blown to powder by Dante's shotgun. "Alrighty! First wave's up, let's DO THIS!" Dante said with a laugh, before he rushed into the thickest concentration of the skeletal reapers.

Itana nods grimly as Morrison snuffs the stogie. Life improves marginally.

A thought occurs to her as she looks out over the city, then to the cathedral looming ahead. "I feel like I remember this city. A version of it, anyway." Something about clay men and an angel flits through her thoughts before vanishing into the focus of preparation for whatever's ahead.

Of the group arriving before the great church, Itana may stand out the most: She's dressed in her usual desert outfit and is carrying a boathook. She lets Dante do the talking. He's the yapper of the bunch anyway. Following along, she squints into the catacombs beyond. Such close quarters weren't what she'd expected; she'd opted for the boathook entirely because shooting a narrow pointed object at something made out of hard struts and open spaces is generally unhelpful.

Down they plunge - down into the pall of death. Grimacing, Itana pulls a fold of her scarf up over her nose. "What a disgraceful way to see to the dead," she mutters as she descends, giving a wary look to a few of the still piles of bones about them.

The chamber beyond is full of bone racks that are distinctly /not/ still.

"I don't like this place," Itana mutters before launching herself out of the doorway and swinging her boathook out. She sweeps the hooked end towards a shambling figure, the animated form of some monk or wannabe martyr long since forgotten to Bohemian history, and attempts to snag a rib with the hook before spinning away with a violent yank - a vicious twist aimed to rip out the ribcage and disassemble the bonewalker from the centre out.

    As the one comes running up, and mentions the Heavenly Host, Illumiel steps toward him. A hand lays gently on his forearm, and without a word, she imbues a tiny sliver of her Authority into the touch. "Be at peace, child. We shall purge this darkness and restore His light to this place." Her aura is not one of protection or peace, it's one of wrath, holy fury. Her words are edged with that same fury.

    Illumiel steps after Dante, unhitching a pair of pipes from her bandoliers before breaking into a run to catch up with Dante.

    On meeting the enemy, her weapons begin to glow with Blessed Flame, and slam into skulls to crush them, or into joints to disable limbs. Even if these things can't be /killed/, they won't be useful in a fight without arms.

      A car drive! those are not too common back where he lives, usually you just walked or ride a pokemon (or a train/boat). So he enjoys the trip to the cathedral, while making sure Bewear is returned to its pokeball, no point crowding the car, right?. "Anything I should know about this?, fire, zapping, hitting them hard?, I don't really know what is effective against skeletons." he says softly, feeling a bit under prepared perhaps. At least he hears Dante defend him when this Morrison doubts him!. "Yeah, I am not so much a fighter myself, but got some friends pretty good at it." he nods, smiling to Dante. 
    As they finally disembark at the building, he glances around and is quickly joined again by the fluffy bear beast, it seems to just sense stuff is off. He certainly stands out, teen in casual clothes, with a baseball cap and that weird pink, black and white thing besides him. He and he walks down after the rest, the Bewear letting out a sharp noise at the smell, good noses are not an advantage here!. Once they spot the skeletal things, the Bewear takes position near Luke, before charging at the nearest of the unholy things and punches it right in its ribcage with enough strength enough to send it through the room, and toss a couple of its buddies at least before returning close to Luke.

    "An hour? Do you really think this will go that quickly?"
    Castiel has her doubts; there's always something that makes things go sideways, usually. If this goes that easy well... She won't *complain* but she'll still think it's strange.
    Nevertheless the cigarette goes out and the party heads down into the catacombs.
    Castiel makes a slight face at the stench but says nothing until there's a room full of shambling skeletons rattling around.
    With a tiny sigh the Guardian Angel unfurls her wings, the pristine white dress replaced by silvery armor as she draws a soft, slow breath.
    "Oppose, o Lord, those who oppose me; war upon those who make war upon me. Take up the shield and buckler; rise up in my defense." She says gently as Itana lunges into the door- setting a hand tenderly on the nomad archer, suffusing Itana with a gentle warmth and an aura of protection.

>> SUMMARY[Castiel] >> Casting Protection From Jerks On Itana.

    Dante laughed at Castiel's concerns. "Honestly? Bet we could do this in thirty. If we do, pizza's on me!" He grinned at the angel. Once they were in the tombs proper, he was pretty much dead-set on seeing just how fast they could pull this off. Dante was like a whirlwind of buckshot and ice, using Cerberus's nunchaku form in one hand while the Coyote shotgun blasted away. Dante was using all manner of tricks to reload his shotgun, while using Cerberus's swift strikes and ice blasts like a gunslinging, nunchuck toting Bruce Lee.

    "C'mon, boys! What's the hold up? I got enough asskicking for all of you!" He laughed, as he spinkicked one of the Hell Caina hard enough to knock its head backwards before he smashed it with a pillar of ice from Cerberus. The Hellish guard dog's icy breath was formidable, able to freeze demons solid and leave them vulnerable for anybody to smash, whether it was Itana's boat hook, Illumiel's pipes, or Bewear's paws doing the smashing.

    Castiel's spell would do its job, as a Hell Caina's scythe managed to bounce right off of Itana. It looked confused just as she wrenched her hook into its ribcage and tore it apart.

    Illumiel would be in luck, as while her pipes were just found lying around, her angelic aura was just enough to make the skellies a bit nervous to approach, except for a rather large one dual-wielding cleavers. It rushed Illumiel with a wordless scream, high-pitched and harsh on the ears, the kind of pitch that only existed in the deepest pits of Hell. It was covered in hooks and other piercings, a result of endless tortures that drove the demonic shambler beyond the point of madness before it was set loose upon the mortal world. This creature was going to be a bit difficult to put down.

Itana does not have a scythe. A boathook will have to do. So will being touched by an angel.

A ghoul's blade slips past her guard and nicks across her chest, without effect, before she's able to yank and dismantle. With a puff, she glances back towards Castiel and flashes a smile of genuine gratitude.

As Dante shouts and exults, the desert archer lets out a heavy huff and turns back to the fray. "You'd think he enjoys this," she mutters bitterly before something else comes lurching into the battle - straight at Illumiel. Itana widens her eyes, but there are too many sickle-wielding fiends between herself and the littlest avenger for her to do much for the moment. Whirling her boathook in both hands, she sweeps out in front of her to try and create space, her makeshift polearm locking for a moment with one much more deliberate, before she leverages away and spins to try and hurl one Hell Caina into another one like a ball into a stack of bowling pins.

The move is simple yet purposeful. She's trying to clear herself a path that'll let her move in and support Illumiel from the flank.

    Illumiel slams one of the lesser monsters aside with both pipes, then has to shift to defensive stance as the new one comes in, shrieking like a damned soul. Her own wings flare out, silver armour forming as she clashes with the Hell Antenora. The Blessed Flame on the pipes flares brilliantly, pushing back against the demons assault.

    "COME THEN YE FAITHLESS WRETCH! DOEST THOU DARE STAND AGAINST HIS WILL!?" she bellows in challenge, digging her platemail boots in to brace.

Luke is considers how best to help, at least Dante is helping Bewear's normal punches be effective, but he can't depend on that help if they want to clear them faster. "Bewear, try Shadow claw, perhaps a ghost move might help.". The bear focuses its attacks on the skeletons closer to Luke, and decides to try the attack on the closest one, charging at them, one of its arms becomes engulfed in a black aura, taking the shape of a larger limb ending on a large claws, which slashes into the nearest couple of them!.

    With Itana given the blessing of a protective ward, Castiel takes another slow breath. She watches almost distantly as Dante, Luke, Itana, and Illumiel go to town on the undead. She'll hang back and play more on the defensive and supportive line of the battle.
    Itana's smile is returned, genuine and gentle, from the angel before she shifts her attention. And while Illumiel wades through the undead, Castiel squeaks her way in past some of the monsters to join at her sister's side.
    A small hand lightly sets on Illumiel's back. The touch is brief, but the contact is warm as Castiel bestows another protective ward upon her twin...
    Before she quickly slips back to the back row!

    Bewear's claws managed to cut deep into the demon skeletons, splitting them to pieces. Dante flashed a thumbs up at this, "Nice, Luke, real nice call there! Now have Teddy Ruxpin tank for us a bit more!" He said, before lashing out with Cerberus taking the form of a whip of sorts, sending a spiral of ice at more of the skeleton devils as another one of the Hell Antenora rush the group. He would focus on this one, mocking dodging its cleaver strikes before booping it on the forehead with Cerberus, beginning to cover it with a thick layer of frost.

    Itana's strategy managed to be successful, hurling the skeleton over at its brethren.

    Dante went back to back with Illumiel as they dueled their respective Antenoras. Dante could feel a searing ache in his back from being so close to the Holy spell, but it was worth it.

    The demon brute struggled against Illumiel, the deceptively strong and smol angel was holding her own while they clashed weapons together.

"Lumi," Itana shouts over the noise of combat and clattering bones. Sweeping her boathook forward, the archer lunges over the pair of broken skeletons, dashing towards the demon brute menacing the littlest avenger.

There are too many undead in here. The space is too confined for Itana to use her bow, and she doubts it'd affect skeletons much anyways, outside of her bowcraft. That leaves hooking. Dashing close, she dives and tumbles behind the looming Hell Antenora, then pops up on the opposite side from which she started. She pivots on a heel and swings her boathook, eyes flicking with intent towards her target: The underside of one of the huge being's arms.

Her swing is rapid and upward-arcing; she attempts to dig the hook into the Antenora's armpit. Twisting her hips, Itana drops back to one knee and uses the boathook as a lever. She strains, arching back and to one side, trying to wrench the gigantic cleaver-wielding beast to one side - to pry it off balance and force open its guard for Illumiel.

    Now this moment, Castiel is presented with a conundrum. Dante is back to back with Illumiel, and Castiel isn't sure she SHOULD use a blessing upon a cambion like Dante.
    Will that make him explode?
    Briefly Castiel rubs her chin, imagining Dante exploding in a holy conflagration, and then makes a little face. She can't reach him anyway with monsters everywhere, without incurring something's wrath on her way, so she hangs back, fairly certain Dante will be fine...
    And then Itana moves to help Castiel's beloved twin. No sooner than the desert archer is wrenching and prying...
    Castiel is beside her.
    "I am with you." She says, tone gentle as she takes hold of the boathook as well, grunting and straining, and flapping her wings to help Itana offbalance the beast.

    The touch and protection lets Illumiel adjust her footing, her pipes starting to bend and crack under the pressure. She can't hold much longer, even with the boost.

    She shifts, allowing Itana to take a swing and pull the thing off balance, accompanied by her twin. She gives them both a smile, as she tosses the broken pipes away, their flames guttering out. She then pulls a new pair of weapons; a crowbar and a metal baseball bat. She clanks them together as they lim in Blessed Flame just as the pipes did, and now properly armed again, leaps back in to batter the off-balance monster with righteous blunt-force trauma.

>> SUMMARY[Illumiel] >> Brand new can of whoop-ass, opened just for you!

     As Dante calls for Luke to 'tank', he nods nad tries to point Bewear to the nearest group, "Bewear, Bulk up and try to get their attention." He hopes he is right in that the skellies so far seem mostly just 'hit physical' things, so the 'defense' boost will help Bewear!. The pokemon rushes into the group of the skeletons closest to Luke, and lets out a challenging roar, flexing its arms as a crimson aura flares around it, before redoubling its efforts with that curious Shadowy claw... is it larger now?, certainly seems to hit harder, as far as claws made of seemingly shadow energy can hit harder.

    Illumiel's attack crushed the Hell Antenora's skull like a pumpkin, just as Itana managed to swoosh it off its feet no less. That was one score for teamwork.

    Bewear's massive size and bulk managed to make it nearly untouchable to the Hell Cainas, as they began to flee while the bear pokemon tore them apart in tandem with Dante's own strikes.

    "Phew...think we're almost finished." Dante said, just as an inhumanly deep growl emerged from one of the deeper chambers. "And /that/ must be the boss fight..."

    This demon was similar in appearance to the undead reapers but much, much bigger, brandishing a scythe with a glowing blue blade that hummed with wails of the dead and damned.

    "Hoo...yeah, that's a biggun." Dante mused, before unloading his shotgun on the big guy. "C'mon, meter's running!"

    Teamwork accomplished, a little bit of sweat rolls down Castiel's brow.
    A soft huff though and she wipes it away and rallies.
    Just as she hears the growl.
    "Ah...?" Castiel looks over at the chamber further in as the much larger reaper emerges with its accursed scythe.
    A small part of the Guardian Angel quails at the sight of it.
    But she rallies from that too, with a whispered prayer under her breath.
    Castiel reaches a hand out, and to her hand comes a silver flagpole. It had not been there before, but it is there now as she speaks...
    "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty... I will say of the Thee, he is my refuge and my fortress..." She murmurs quietly as the banner upon the pole unfurls, shedding a brilliant light upon the chamber and its inhabitants.
    "Friends- family- rally to me!" Castiel declares as she hoists the banner high to inspire her allies.

>> GAME >> Castiel spends an Edge for: Unfurling the Banner of the Host

    Illumiel tosses the bat away. It snapped with the force of her finishing strike. The fractured lump of metal clatters noisily in the crypt. The new reaper-like skeleton earns a snarl of defiance from the Avenger, her wings flaring out. She grabs another weapon from her dwindling supply, and launches from a standing start hard enough to crack the stones under her boots.

    Castiel's Banner unfurls, and the pearlescent feathers in the Avenger's wings flare in response. She charges straight in like a tiny meteor, slamming into whatever she can hit with both her infused crowbars, their flames burning a brilliant golden hue.

Down goes the fiend, and Itana rolls to a knee as Illumiel strikes true. The archer raises her boathook a little and flashes the tiniest avenger a quick smile - a silent acknowledgment. /Well done, my angel./

They are far from out of the woods. The growl from the depths is met with a purse of lips as Itana drops her boathook to her side. Eyes narrowing, she reaches back and comes up with her bow, an arrow flashed to the string.

Behind her, the banner of love and joy unfurls. The warmth of Castiel's presence shines on Itana's back like a ray of sun, warm and healing in the musty din of the crypt. The nomad draws a breath, lets it out, then smiles tightly. So long as her angels are here, she will prevail.

They all will.

The creature is predictably immense. Huge even by Dante's standards. Itana notches her arrow anyway, arm snapping back with a whiplike movement. "Sanchir," she murmurs.

Itana's arrow flies with a deafening crack. The sound barrier rips apart with an impact that sends cracks riddling through the floor of the crypt and hurls disarticulated bones away from Itana in a sudden shock. The arrow speeds across the room in a millisecond, the halo of force around it hopefully enough in and of itself to deal the colossal hellbeast a blow.

     Castiel's banner seems to work quite well on the pokemon. (wonder what the pokemon is seeing!). And seems to smash away what little fodder was left when the large, and rather intimidating figure appears!. The large pokemon wastes little time charging at it, even Before Luke can call for it to perhaps be careful and see what it might do! The very impressive arrow blast only makes it try harder, and this is clearly not an opponent to underestimate!. For starters, it tries something simple, the red aura from before flaring again as it begins to unleash a flurry of punches on the hellbeast's legs, its fists moving fast enough it looks as if it was hitting it with quite a few fists at once.

    The demon rushed toward the mortals, as if contemptuous of them for trying to stop it from corrupting this cathedral. Its hellish hatred radiated off of its form, feeling much like a knife on the nerves of these mortals who dared defy it. The sight of Dante however made it flinch, and the Son of Sparda followed Bewear as it charged in turn. Using Bewear as a springboard while it clawed and punched rapidly.

    ITana's arrow pierced the demon in the chest, making it stagger as Bewear hammered on its body, and Dante and Illumiel smash into the demon in tandem.

    "Jackpot!" Dante said, as he unloaded Coyote point-blank into the Hell Vanguard's skull. With Castiel's spell, this happened in perfect cohesion.

    And the demon was reduced to dust.

    Landing, Dante twirled his shotgun stylishly as he took in the eerie silence. He could feel the demonic presence diminishing by the moment, until it shriveled up and died. Something amid the Hell Vanguard's ashes glowed weakly, pulsing like a heartbeat, before he took aim at it and blasted the thing.

    And after that, it was over. "...guess pizza's on me after all." He said with a chuckle. "Might as well treat ourselves, right?"

Angels do angel things. The defiled dead are avenged. Itana looks on with a certain satisfaction, smiling tightly and rising from her firing stance. She breathes out heavily, breath disturbing the already kicked-up dust that has begun to settle back into place as the melee wanes into the silence that comes in the wake of combat.

The archer drops back and lays a delicate hand on Castiel's shoulder, giving a firm squeeze. She nods once, approvingly. Then her eyes chase after Illumiel. Another slow, approving nod is given.

"With luck, the dead can sleep undisturbed now."

    Illumiel's momentum carries her through the crumbling monster, and she lands near the far end of the crypt, her boots kicking up sparks as she bleeds off her speed. She turns, dropping her broken crowbars now too... "I liked those." she states blandly, furling her wings and returning to the normal looking white dress.

    With a shrug, she turns to walk over towards Castiel and Itana, giving the former a hug, and the latter a gentle touch to the arm.

    Angels do angel things. It's what they do. And with the large demon felled, Castiel's banner fades into a gentle light and vanishes from her grasp.
    Looks like pizza is on Dante.
    Castiel can't help but smile warmly as Itana and Illumiel join her.

    Luke seems relieved as the large demon seems to collapse into Dust, while Bewear looks around cautiously a bit longer and glances up at Dante, reaching to pat his back, if it had thumbs it might give a thumbs up to the son of Sparda. "Is that all of them?" the boy asks cautiously, before motioning his pokemon back to his side. He tries to act cool at least. "Is everyone ok?". He calls Bewear back to check him and give any first aid it might need.

    "Think so, yeah." Dante answered to both of Luke's questions. "Let's go tell Morrison and the priests the good news. This oughta clear up in a few hours, give or take." He said, ambling toward the staircase back up to the church proper.

    Phew.