World Tree MUSH

    The last time Thanatos-4 and company had been out to the ruined old tower things did not go as planned. It's a world of medieval level technology and culture, and getting out to the rickety old ruins can be a bit of a slog, but for those who arrive tonight, will find the Warlock dressed for all out war.
    Slung on his back is his favored auto rifle, swapped out for the sake of holding a sleek black shotgun with glowing purple lighting that seems to come alive as he grips it. With a sidearm holstered at his hip beneath the folds of his red longcoatm the Guardian stands waiting at the entrance.
    His Ghost, Dis floats just off to his side, keeping her cycloptic eye out for the others, while Thanatos works on a series of glowing purple runes etched into the frame of the tower's door that were not there before.

    Deku may or may not have been assigned to one of the 'hero' participants that are visiting this place today. He's dressed in his superhero uniform, this strange green getup with big white gloves, looking as awkward as the teen himself looks. He smiles nervously while he looks over the others present. He takes stock of everyone's appearances, and keeps making nervous glances at any weaponry that might be considered lethal. The kid's obviously not used to people from worlds where lethal force is more common.
    But, he isn't complaining about it. He seems ready to go, even if he's a little quiet right now while he waits for Thanatos to open the door.

    Given that their last endeavor was left unfinished, Cayde has decided to hang around. After all, Thanatos had said he needed a Fireteam, and having nothing better to do and with the promise of plenty of things to shoot at in the secret basement, well, what more could a restless Hunter ask for? 

    Well, actually there are quite a few things Cayde could ask for, and maybe this crusty old wizard (not Thanatos) might have some interesting treasures hidden under all the undead hordes. Maybe. Hopefully.

    While they were waiting, the Hunter Vanguard had been poking about the area surrounding the old tower to see if there's anything else to do. By the time Izuku arrives, he's lounging in the crook of a broken bit of wall, idly spinning his Ace of Spades back and forth over his gloved hand. He tosses the kid a two-fingered salute.

  Although there are a lot of things to oversee at Snowpeak Garrison, there is one thing the Kingdom of Hyrule prides itself on, and that is the reciprocation of debts. Thanatos had helped the princess once, long ago, and the princess has not forgotten that favour. So it is that when he calls upon her particular talents, she is quick to saddle up and ride breakneck down the trail.

  The princess does not look the part of a princess. In fact, she looks a bit sinister; a figure on a very large black horse, flinging clods of earth behind its hooves as it charges down the road. Hidden completely by a hooded black robe with runes stitched in silver thread bordering its hems, her face is completely hidden, and in fact it's impossible to tell whether this is a 'he' or a 'she.' By garb the figure looks like some kind of warlock or something.

  There's just one thing. The figure is practically /radiating/ divinity, holy power, the Light; whatever name one wants to put to it. That is... definitely not a warlock.

  The big horse is reined up near to Thanatos, but not close enough to trample him. Zelda stands in the stirrups, and he might get a glimpse of eyes flashing beneath the shadows of the hood.

  "I am here." It's all she announces; surprising, maybe, to those who don't know her: A young woman's pretty voice issues from such an ominous-looking figure. "Sir Thanatos. I understand there is a darkness, a great evil, to be dispatched here. Hyrule stands ready. And I have brought help."

  ...Yes, there's a second person on that big demon-horse, who probably had to hang on for dear life.

    Luke certainly did not enjoy the... ending of the previous excursion as much as he expected, but it WAS a neat adventure, and he was more than happy to offer his help again, as long as he can do something at least!. This time finding the tower was easier, and he makes his way to the gate while riding on Dynamo, the round looking tiger moving with surprising speed as it carries the boy closer to Thanatos. He quickly sopts Izuku, a new face!. He climbs down the pokemon and approaches the costumed teen, "Hi! I am Luke, nice to meet you!" he offers, before pointing to the 'feline' near him, "He is Dynamo." the pokemon offers a nod and a 'ger' at the introduction, "Nice to meet you."

    Dante makes a quick last-second entrance, riding a sweet Ducauti to the scene as he hops off. "Sup Cayde, Than, Luke, chick who stabbed me once." He recognizes Zelda pretty damn easily, and is still grinning as he bows toward the Hylian. Seems like almost everyone he meets gets at least one chance to try and kill the Son of Sparda, even friends get in on it!

    "So, big tower fulla nasties eh? Can do. Let's go kick their asses." He grins, drawing Rebellion off his back as the greatsword leaves a shallow trench in the earth where it hits. "Folks who don't know me, which is just that guy" He motions to Izuku with his greatsword, "I'm gonna need some space for this. Try not to get too close to me, kiddo." He says to Izuku, before popping his neck with a big, giddy grin on his face.

    Terra somehow made it all the way 'home' without any trouble after the ruckus of our last visit to the Totally Not Cursed and Very Beneficent mage tower. Safe and sound, away from the shambling, moaning dead.

    All too happily, she's traded the gloom and cold doom of the tower for the murderous pace of Zelda's horse. She hangs on, sure, but she's used to operating ponderous machinery! Well, her physical conditioning is at least. The ride is quite a thrill otherwise! Good to know she can survive a long trip on Zelda's tank of a horse. Rolling up, she doesn't immediately abandon the mount, instead choosing to look over the assembled people - there's a new face, it seems. Still, everyone seems very eager so she offers after hopping down from the murderhorse, "Let's be careful!" Oh. Helpful.

     There's a low rumble in the distance as something comes rolling along. It's hard to tell at first then out from the forest barrels a vehicle. It's sleek pitch black and built for war, there's little more then a thin strip of a viewpoint with heavy metal rivets done up and down the front window allowing very little viewing space. 

     The vehicle vaults up and over the tree line skidding into view as it spins out a full one hundred and eighty degrees sliding through the mud on its wooden and rubber tires before sliding to a stop at the base of the tower. 

     The door pulls open and a military boot steps down onto the ground. Thundering the engine slowly rumbles down as its turned off allowing the driver to come out. From toe to head he's dressed for combat, a thick visibly metal plate of armor has been strapped to his chest and over it a pair of crossed bandoliers. The overly muscular man is covered in munitions and weapons have been strapped across his surface. It's a modified version of the Italian Royal Army Adarti Special forces uniform.

     Walking out with thick leather gloves covering his hands the man cracks first his knuckles and then his neck. His dark uniform makes him almost blend into the night but the shine of the metal breastplate and the cacophony of guns says that he's not exactly planning on full stealth.

    "Oh! Oh Thanatos! Thanatos, they're here!" Dis chirrups as people begin to arrive. The Warlock glances over his shoulder, one blazing red-range optic glimmering as he looks from face to face, while keeping his other eye on the runes. Though he pauses on that to properly face the arrivals.
    Cayde, he just assumed would still be around, and that proves right when he gives the Hunter Vanguard a silent nod of appreciation. Then there's Zelda and Terra. Terra had been about on the prior expedition, but not the blonde woman leading that monster of a horse. Yet the Warlock recognizes her enough to dip into a semi-formal bow. More than formal enough considering the circumstances- but also taking the dire circumstances into account and not resting too much time on it. "Madam Sheik. I think your skillset would be an excellent addition to this expidition." The Warlock replies in his usual gruff and softly attentuated robot-man tone.
    There's Dante and Benito-- and then Thanatos' attention is *instantly* locked and focused on Luke and Midoriya. Optics lock on the boys and he seems to freeze up, as though staring through them for a long beat.
    "Thanatos?" Dis whispers floating by his ear. "Thanatooooos. You're doing it again."
    It shakes him back 'awake' with a soft sound somewhere between a growl and a grunt.
    "Let's make this long story short. The Darkness has infested this tower. This is an Extermination mission. Hunt and kill, No survivors." He says with a grim pragmatism. "Do not let anything touch you. Aim to destroy the head or disintrigrate as much of the body on each target as possible and it will not get back up while your back is turned."
    That explanation out of the way, he scratches one of the runes on the door off, and they all dissipate, undoing whatever arcane seal he had on the doorway and allowing the group to make their way into the entry hall, and once again give them the three way choice of up a set of stairs into the spinneret, further in, or a secret latch in the floor that had been left uncovered.

>> SUMMARY[Thanatos-4] >> Inside again. Three way path choice: Up, In, or Down.

    "Pretty sure I might be fine, half-demon and all." Dante muses, before shrugging his shoulders. "Let's go kick some ass." He claps Thanatos on the shoulder as he waltzes into the tower, nonchalantly kicking down the front door and everything if possible. He heads up the stairs into the library this time, having known that Thanatos, Benito, and Cayde ran into some trouble there. He grits his teeth as he boots the locked door in, and leaps through the entrance as he hoots and cheers.

    "WOO HOO! BRING IT ON!" can be heard all the way in the foyer. Someone might wanna make sure Dante doesn't get himself hurt too badly.

    That or steals too many kills.

>> SUMMARY[Dante] >> GOIN' UP!

    Izuku waves and seems to relax a little when Cayde salutes at him. He smiles more naturally at the guy, even. He replies to Luke, "Hey! I'm Deku," and he looks down at the feline creature, and murmurs something about 'portable beasts' to himself, his brow knitted in confusion. Seems there's a Pokemon game equivilant where he's from.
    Dante would note Deku shuffle away from him when warned not to get in swinging distance. He smiles in assent to the warning, but such a thing makes the already awkward teen smile more nervously, mumbling, "A sword...?" in uneasiness.
    He looks up at Zelda and Terra, his brows lifting for a second. "... oh yeah, magic," he mumbles, after a moment of trying to process what she said to Thanatos.

    The door is opened, and he sucks in a breath. A strange glowing, spiderwebbing pattern -- his veins? -- shines over his skin, and his nervousness vanishes for a serious expression. He flexes his hands, a couple knuckles popping in one hand. Then he hops through the door when it's time to do so. When he moves, he moves fast, bouncing off of the door frame with one of his feet and taking big strides to get deeper into the structure. It's immediately clear he's all about physical power. He is, however, not looking for anything to fight directly...

    He was just told not to let any of them touch him. It'd be hard to punch something if he can't let them lay hands on him.

>> SUMMARY[Izuku Midoriya] >> Deku heads IN, but with intent to scout and not to fight. He's fast!

    Cayde hops down from his wall, dusting himself off as he holsters his gun. He nods at the others once they've arrived, both familiar faces and new. A brow plate lifts at Zelda's mount, if not the cloaked and hooded one astride it. Oh, Thanatos knows this one? Aaand so does Dante, apparently, the look he casts towards the guy one of amusement. That sounds like an interesting story, but for now, it looks like they're set to move in. No objections to Thanatos' objectives here. 

    "Shoot all the things. Got it." His favorite tactic.

    Cayde slips on in, his gun once again finding its way back into his hand as he follows Dante, pausing as the guy moves enthusiastically onwards. "Heh, well can't let him have all the fun!" Nope, he doesn't seem too worried about Dante. After seeing what the guy could handle back on robo-dino world? Yeah. He's got this. ...right?

    The kid he's just met? Well, most of the kids he's come across have proven to be pretty durable and able to watch themselves, so he's not too worried. ...does that make him a bad parent. Eh.

    Moving onwards, he cocks his head at the internal reports from his Ghost. Then he snorts, moving towards the latched door, tugging it open. "How bad can it be?" he seems to be asking the air, in reality his Ghost. One quick check of his hand cannon and he's heading on down.

>> SUMMARY[Cayde-6] >> Down the rabbit hole!

  When bowed to, Zelda has the presence of mind to incline her head graciously, not quite bowing, but still returning the respectful gesture in the intent it was given with. A royal acknowledgement, albeit a brief one, considering the situation. Izuku also earns a brief nod; she notices him studying her. Dante is ignored. He's a demon. He's lucky she has the self-restraint not to try to stab him /now/, aware of what he is, and the more he messes with her, the more he's pushing that envelope.

  "I serve," she says simply to Thanatos, in humble acknowledgement. Whatever he needs done, she's ready to do it. Her kingdom is one that reciprocates; one that minds its debts. "And Hyrule serves."

  She slides down from the saddle, tying that monster of a horse's reins to the nearest thing that can be tied to, whether it be the ruins of a post or a tree stump. That done, she turns, striding purposefully towards the front door of the keep and into the foyer. Hood tilting this way and that, she surveys the room, considering.

  "I sense them," she states to Thanatos, softly. "They are here. I do not know where. But I will find them."

  Decisively, she continues forward, heading for the latch at the floor and kneeling to give it an experimental tug. Gone is any good cheer the princess might have. She is here in her aspect as a hunter; a woman on a holy mission.

  Yeah, sorry, Terra, you might be on your own, here. There is proverbial blood in the water and Zelda is quickly losing the capacity to deal with anything that isn't tracking her quarry and dispatching her quarry. As a result, she completely misses Benito's impressive vehicular entry.

  "Thanatos." This is called, softly, over her shoulder. "Where does this hatch lead to?"

    Luke appreciates the warning, taking some steps as well. He might not seem AS nervous as Izuku is from seeing the guns, but he clearly is not a big fan either, reaching to pet the round tiger a bit as he hears the mission summary from Thanatos. NOW he looks a bit uneasy, if due to using the term 'kill' and 'extermination' or because he is still affraid of the shambling things from last time, it's hard to tell. "F-fire might be better for this?, I am just affraid of burning the tower or hurting others." he muses outloud. He reaches for his belt, tapping a button and producing a white and red sphere, releasing Agni from it's pokeball. 
     "He is good at close range, using fire and explosions.". He is distracted from his explanation slash question at the myriad of things happening, Benito's wonderful arrival, Izuku's very neat power up sequence and dash, and everyone else going ahead. "Wait, which way?" he asks, slowly moving behind Zelda, since he was not going to blindly run after Dante, (and he is not that great at running). Of course, Dynamo is promptly returned to his pokeball in the process.

     A drum of amunition is pulled from his uniform with one hand as the other grabs off the top of his pack a Thompson SMG. The weapon itself is silver plated with ornate clearly religious designs covering its surface. The drum is massive far larger then the standard that would come with such an SMG. 

     He's right beside Dante the entire way. Checking corners and keeping an eye out while thumping his way through the halls with no care who might notice. "So, living dead, this normal on other branches or is mine not the only sane one left?" Spoken with a light smirk as the light of his orange glowing cigar illuminates his face bright as a flashlight.

>> SUMMARY[Benito Bontade] >> Benito goes with Dante ready to kill all the things

>> SUMMARY[Zelda] >> Zelda is futilely struggling with the Basement Hatch.

>> SUMMARY[Luke Gray] >> Luke is not sure where to go, so he ends up following Zelda.

    That's it, then? The door is open, warnings given and already the hunt is on. Terra, not quite so enthusiastic for destruction and not nearly so fast as some of the others, trots into the lobby and toward a decision. Follow the others? With people gravitating toward the library and a wealth of knowledge and moving targets, something else enters her thoughts. That lab.

    Setting her jaw, she decides to take a small side trip toward that lab and the horrific bounty within. Maybe she's caught up in Zelda's purity, the violent zeal of her other companions or even the determination of the younger members of the group. She won't tarry, she thinks to herself, as she hurries toward the foul wizard's working area.

    Should she make good time and if she manages to steal away on her own, she'll give vent to her anger. Something about the room is just- She couldn't explain her feelings if she tried. There's something else to it. It won't matter for long as she lifts her hands and strikes out with her fiery magic, attempting to lay waste to the laboratory's chilled tomb. She's always felt guilty for using her fire against a person and even, on some level, monsters. Not this time. She just feels bad for trying to sneak off and not helping watch over the group.

    Should her efforts prove fruitful, she'll hurry back to rejoin the group. Those kids are bound to get into trouble!

    "Yes Cayde. Shoot all of the things." Thanatos replies dryly. "Except the things you know not to shoot. ... I'll trust your judgement on that." The Warlock mutters.
    "Shoot all the things!" Dis says way too chipperly. But already the group is splitting up.
    Thanatos takes mental stock. Dante and Benito are headed up... The boy just ran through the door to the next area, and Terra followed suit.
    Zelda is curious about the hatch that Cayde casually pops and heads down with Luke.
    The Warlock grumbles, but his first response is to the Hylian princess in exile.
    "Not certain. It's not the path we took the last time we were here. But there was a crypt in the lower levels full of ghouls and thralls. It may connect ... I'm going with the boy to make sure he's not alone. Be safe, madam."
    "Sparda." It's a call for Dante's attention as he heads up the stairs, before the Warlock tosses him something. It's an earpiece. "It will keep you, Cayde, and I in contact." And thus the group all have means of reaching one another. So onward...

    Heading up the spiral staircase to the spinneret leads to a single door at the top. It's not locked, though old and with rusted hinges, forcing the door will open it easily into a single room. It looks like it may have once been the chambers of the wizard who lived here, himself. There's a grand bed, eaten away by time, a small library and a work desk. It is quiet except...
    Something seems to stirt on top of the roof as soon as anyone enters the chamber.

    Onwards into the door beyond leads into the great hall of the tower- once again proving that the time-space alterations on the building are still in place as it opens into a large room. Thanatos sets a hand on Terra's shoulder to slow her only briefly. Pointing a finger up.
    "Stirges." He warns, motioning for the rafters, urging the hero student and Terra to be a little more subtle in crossing. Though Deku's speed makes it an utterly moot point as he blitzes past so fast that the mosquito bats don't even bother stirring for what they can't catch. So it's on their way to the laboratory and library, he'll let the two choose the path once at the junction, but the Warlock does remind, at least Terra, "The entrance to the crypt was in the library."

    TDown the hatch though leads into darkness. Pitch black and cold, the air is dank and smells of mildew and stale standing water, tepid and rank with microbial life growing in it as boots splash in small puddles.
    Thanatos was right though. It does connect to the crypts considering the shackles and rusted chains on the pillars holding up the ceiling, and the caskets embedded in the walls.
    ... And the shuffling of movement in the dark.

>> SUMMARY[Thanatos-4] >> UP: Something is up there. MID: Pick a path, kids. DOWN: Something is DEFINITELY down here.

    The earpiece is caught, and stuffed in his ear. "Got it. Sparda's my dad, though. Just call me Dante." is what the white-haired slayer said, before he took off.

    Heading up the staircase with Benito, Dante boots the door down, just to find...nothing in the room but normal shit! "...huh." He looks almost disappointed, as he enters the bedroom and sheathes his sword. He grabs at the old bed, ripping the sheets off and drawing Ebony to aim at the bed in case a zombie pokes out, putting two rounds at whatever he finds.

    Then he hears something at the roof. "Hey, you hear that too Ben?" He looks upwards, aiming his pistol in that direction alertly.

    "Yo, Than, Cayde? Hearin' me okay? Nothing's in the room...which is kinda spookier than zombies might be." He remarks into the earpiece.

    "Eeeugh, gross. Maybe we shoulda gone up instead," Cayde announces as soon as one boot sinks in front of him with a sploosh. He holds an arm out to signal the others who've decided to take the low road with him, then realizes that he might accidentally clothesline someone. "Ghost. Light us up."

    There's a shimmer in the darkness, the blue core-eye of Cayde's Ghost instantly visible, and then it brightens and turns, casting a beam of light along the walls and the caskets decorating them. Its vertices twitch with a shudder. "Oh my..."

    "Oh boy," Cayde says about the same time, lifting his gun. "Lock and load, people. Sounds like we've already got company coming."

    He pauses, lifting his head as Dante's voice comes up on the comm. "Loud and clear, Dante. And about to get louder--" he warns as he snaps up his weapon and starts to spatter fire into the darkness ahead once his Ghost confirms targets.

  While the princess takes the time to inquire about the hatch, Cayde and Luke head down there without actually stopping to ask about what they're getting into. She sighs thorugh her teeth. Duty may call her to seek and destroy the ancient evil in this place, but it isn't so strong that she's lost her reason and will. Yet.

  The hood turns slightly toward Thanatos when the Warlock explains. So, it has a crypt full of ghouls and thralls, which are probably going to come seething up as soon as anybody disturbs the corridor. Yes? That's always the way.

  "Goddesses watch over you," she says softly in parting to Thanatos, reaching up to touch her forehead and make a strange gesture. Her words are spoken with sincerity, however low her voice.

  Once Thanatos moves on, Zelda vaults neatly into the open hatch, unslinging her bow and fitting an arrow loosely to the string. She takes a moment to wait for her eyes to adjust, but there is no adjustment to a darkness this complete.

  Zelda thins her lips in displeasure; wrinkles her nose at the rotten stench. Not her idea of a vacation spot.

  Cayde's Ghost lights up the tunnel, and she narrows her eyes at the sudden illumination. Where he blindly fires into the dark, she waits until there's something to fire at, shrugging her bow from her shoulder and keeping an arrow fitted to the string. No, she'll wait; for one, to save her arrows, and for two, because...

  Lock and load, Cayde says, and she lowers her arrow from the string, replacing it in her quiver. Huh? There's a whisper from Zelda in the dark, spoken in a language as old and dead as this crypt.

  Light flares /behind/ Cayde. When Zelda raises her bow, there is something brgiht and scintillating fitted to the string. It blazes with righteous fire; divine wrath given form and function. She holds her shot, though, waiting until there's something actually worth shooting at other than 'the darkness.'

>> SUMMARY[Zelda] >> Following Cayde, summoning Arrows of Light, and /not/ shooting blindly into the dark.

     Benito's Chicago typewriter is held to the side with one hand loosely pointed towards the ceiling. His eyes slowly trace the room peripherals looking towards the roof. "I'd be lying if I said I didn't." He takes pause moving towards the books. "Be lying even more if I said I didn't full well have a gut feeling it means us nothing good." 

     Movements stop at the base of the bookshelves. "My mother didn't raise a liar." Though he's acting as if he's not paying attention the barrel of that SMG traces the path of motion above. "Not by any stretch of the imagination." 

     Smoke slowly rises up from the end of his cigar ash dropping onto the flooring one speck at a time as he moves a quick glance towards the books as he keeps on his toes.

>> GAME >> Zelda spends an Edge for: Arrows of Light!

>> SUMMARY[Benito Bontade] >> Benito keeps aim on the thing on the cieling pretending not to notice it.

    Luke is... keepign close to Zelda and Terra, wondering if he made a mistake coming around, those undead things were creepy!. Oh well, at this point he decided to finish what he started, even if he ends up almost hugging the big, bear like fire pokemon near Terra, some kind of protection just in case. The noises from the guns cause him to flinch, but otherwise, tries to act cool, glancing into the darkness as well, "Agni, get ready." he commands. The bear seems to grow brightly as the air around it heats up sharply.

    The look Thanatos gets is a bit guilty. Terra nods, refraining from vocalization for the moment. Her intentions remain, though her timetable may be a bit relaxed now.

    Under supervision, she still carries out her plan. There's no reason to leave a lab such as that intact; there's nothing useful that she can envision that might lie within. So, fireworks ensue. Her expression is grim, brow knit but she doesn't look near as irrationally angry as she feels. "I'm sorry." For being so violent where anyone can see? "We should try to catch up to that boy." Right? It seems like a sure thing but her voice doesn't exactly sound sure. Still, provided nothing terrible happens beyond lots of burning lab equipment and other horrible-gross stuff, Terra will lift her head, indicating which way she thinks Deku might have bounded off to. This way?

    An experienced hunter like Dante will know it before it happens. That static feeling charge in the air that hums on the nerves before a fight. Benito's old military training and instinct will tell him what he needs to know, too, and he's already aiming up, to boot. This room is dangerous.
    There's motion on the roof. Something heavy and lumbering. Something that swings down. Something that peers in through the window before smashing inside.
    In an instant, a monster of stone and rock bowls into the bedroom, the gargoyle hissing in a rasp as it lashes out at the pair with sharp stone talons.

    Thanatos looks on in silence as Terra takes flames to the labs. All that dark knowledge is better let to burn than surface anywhere else, and a few well placed grenades from the Warlock helps quicken the process before it's on to the library and the stairs down into the darkness. All it takes is a tug on the proper book on the shelves to open the way and head into the crypt below...

    The crypt in which, in another section, Cayce, Zelda, and Luke get exactly what they expected. The walking dead. Shambling corpses, ages old, thin skin stretched over dry bones, reaching out in silent hunger. Their darkness is pervasive and wrong.

>> SUMMARY[Thanatos-4] >> UP: Gargoyle. MID: Burning the lab. DOWN: What did you expect? It's zombies.

    "Heads up!" Dante exclaims, just as the gargoyle smashes into the room from above. He draws Ivory, his other pistol, before the guns let out echoing booms with every shot like cannons are going off. Benito might be more accustomed to hearing artillery pieces with that kinda noise than pistols. Ebony and Ivory seem to keep firing, without needing a reload as Dante begins to strafe to the side, keeping out of the gargoyle's reach as he leaps backwards from a swiped talon. "Go wide!"

>> SUMMARY[Dante] >> Dante hammers the FUCK out of the Square button on this guy.

    The sudden glow behind him has Cayde glancing over his shoulder. "Whoa! Didn't know we had a Nightstalker in the party." Which is fine with him. He snaps his attention back towards the darkness at his Ghost's shout, shifting his stance so that he can give Zelda and Luke room to maneuver as well, although he sems to be taking it upon himself to play tank while he resumes firing, especially now that their targets become more clear, coming into the light of both Zelda's and his Ghost's glow.

    Normally he'd charge ahead and right into things, but there's...a -lot- of them coming, and he also figures between the three of them, he's the best to play at shield for lack of a Titan. ...not that he'd ever want to be a Titan class. 

    "Heeeere they come!" he says as he slaps the hammer repeatedly, firing at the shambling undead at the front of the oncoming horde. Sorry, he's not gonna make a good meal and they can't have the kid and the lady! 

     The moment Dante goes running one way Benito goes running the other right up the side of the wall using his momentum to keep himself going as already he's opening fire with that SMG of his. That weapon makes a thunderous clatter of its own as he fires it one handed sliding up one of his trusty pistols under the rifle to support his shots using the second to aim with his off hand. 

     He doesn't speak a word as the ash falls from his cigar in a trail behind his motions the musclebound man doing a flip over the creatures head to the other side of the room trying to pepper it with more .45 rounds from the smg. 

     Landing down on the other side he skids to a stop for a short moment kicking his foot out to stop himself. "Looks like a rocky fight in the works, but I got a feeling we're both ready to hammer a tunnel right through this mountain." His Thompson dropping slightly to the side as he fires off a few more pistol rounds. "Got a feeling it's about time to bring out a jackhammer." He looks to the demon, while reaching to his bandolier pulling out a WWI grenade from his kit. It's simple in design with barely any frills but explosives rarely had to be. "What do you think Dante, ready to cut this fight or we want to have a bit more fun?"

>> SUMMARY[Cayde-6] >> SHOOT ALL THE THINGS while pretending to be a Titan but not

>> SUMMARY[Benito Bontade] >> Benito does some wall running while opening fire on the beast and readies a grenade for a second pass.

  Although she raises her head at the sound of shuffling in the dark, the princess does not look surprised. The radiant arrow on her bowstring throws light deep into the shadows, and from the depths of her hood, the reflection of her eyes can be seen.

  She's lining up a shot with the nearest monstrosity, looking past her allies and searching for that seething sense of corruption. Light from the arrow blazes, but the brightness of it doesn't seem to bother her.

  Closer. Closer...

  Zelda draws the string a little further back, back to where her pointed ear rests under her hood, bowstring creaking. She narrows an eye closed; sights her shot with the other.

  Closer...

  /THWHANG/.

  The Hylian releases the bowstring, and the Arrow of Light leaps forward almost faster than the eye can follow, a radiant symbol of divine power. It certainly /feels/ like divinity, very strongly; an almost overwhelming sensation to the supernaturally sensitive. It thuds into the torso of the nearest unliving servitor. Thin skin stretched over dry bones is wonderful tinder. The shambling corpse erupts into white fire with a dull /thump/, crumpling forward as the flames of its destruction light up the corridor.

  Another arrow hisses into another corpse, followed by another; soon the hallway is blazing with light.

  Still Zelda continues to fire, and her voice can be heard over the /thwhang/ of her bowstring; prayer, or a litany, or both, spoken in a ringing, hard voice of command. Aristocracy, at the very least, if not royalty. It's the voice of a woman who is not accustomed to being ignored or disobeyed... a priestess, maybe?

  Whatever she is, she doesn't flinch from the approaching horde. She calmly and quickly fires arrow after arrow into their midst, never slowing, never stopping, no matter the burn in her arms and shoulder.

  These things are an affront against the goddesses, and they /must be destroyed/.

  She is, at least, very good at threading her shots around her allies without actually hitting them. A fine markswoman.

>> SUMMARY[Zelda] >> Zelda is in an arrow-firing trance of Kill All The Zombies, and by the way, those zombies are wonderfully flammable once they've been hit. The whole corridor is lit up by Holy Fire.

    Terra doesn't get the most satisfaction ever from burning the lab down. The explosions from grenades helps, certainly, but she's all too eager to turn away from that miniature catastrophe. She covers her mouth, more to avoid the smell than anything. Chemical fumes, yay.

    "Should we try to get back to the others? That boy, Deku, I think? He's..." Somewhere. Fast, no doubt capable. Just... He's off somewhere! Alone! Her fretting is difficult to miss but she'll go along with whatever at this point. So long as it's a whatever that isn't anywhere near the burning wreck of the lab.

    In an instant all three paths are hostile.

    In the wizard's chamber up top, Ebony, Ivory, and the silver-plated Tommy rip into the gargoyle. Its stone skin absorbes round after round, some spanging off impossibly hard rock, others punching bulletholes into the monstrous statue as it flares its wings out, using them as weapons against the two to try and batter them about the room. But eventually the two do wear it down, pieaces flecking off. Then cracking. Then a good old grenade tears it apart, leaving the two in silence once again.

    Thanatos and Terra proceed. And the green-haired young woman's concern for Deku is mirrored in the Warlock, even with the faceless visor of his helmet, when he pauses.
    "Dis. Go find him." He commands his Ghost. It's an extreme risk, but the Ghost can at least move mostly unseen. But if he were to die without her...
    He shakes the thought from his head. Deku's safety is priority over his own.
    "We have to press on." He grunts. So it's into the catacombs with them.
    There are zombies here too, but more pressingly, come the black specters and phantasmal beings that blades and guns cannot harm.

    In another section of the catacombs though, the undead are pressed hard to try and sate their hunger. The Ace of Spaces blows heads to dust. The bodies are so old that Agni's flames will turn them to ash without issue.
    And then there is Zelda. Her marksmanship is spot on, but more than that, the divinity within her arrows is inimical to these creatures of darkness, making them just EVAPORATE on impact as the trio take on the horde.

    It's not long before the undead thin, but some searching will eventually lead Cayde, Zelda, and Luke to a large set of doors covered in runes and sigils leading to an inner sanctum in the underground. All it takes is a quick radio blip to tell the others where to reconvene, and Thanatos is already inspecting them.

>> SUMMARY[Thanatos-4] >> Lots of thinds die. Everyone should meet in the basement.

    The boy seems more than a bit surprised at the sight of those shambling undead, slowly walking back, moving closer to Zelda, blinking a few times, as if hoping that it was some kind of illusion or trick!. He finally snaps out of it when Cayde begins to shoot, followed by the attack from Zelda. "Agni!, Stay close!" he calls. 
    The bear like pokemon nods, moving ahead as it begins to glow orange with heat, planting itself next to Cayde and rearing up, "Keep those things away!, Flamethrower!" The big pokemon simply tries to take care of any remaining thing approaching with jets of fire released from it's mouth at any creature that manages to sneak closer.

    Dante's almost disappointed by how the gargoyle just dies. "Huh, that wasn't as tough as I was expecting." He cants his head to Benito, and points toward the door. "We'd better head to the basement. Might still be more to this stuff." He says, before heading downstairs to the basement. "You got some moves, dude. Goes with the Typewriter you got there." He comments, as he heads down to the basement where Thanatos has directed everybody. Big honkin' door in the basement, with runes and sigils. "You guys didn't find a gargoyle down here, did you?"

     Benito looks about as disapointed, his shoulders slump slightly as he shifts his posture back to a more natural stand his Thompson placed back into a one handed at rest position. "Can't say I'm any too pleased about that." Kicking at the remains of the gargoyle. "Had a whole move planned out in my head I thought might wind up doing a better job." He flicks a second grenade in his hand. 

     "Learned everything I know from my brother" As he starts to walk over to the shelf, just doing a quick slide of his hand from one side across to the other in an attempt to quickly knock the books into his bag for later resale. "Well, him and the army." A light chuckle. "Must say you're none too bad yourself, need to trade numbers for our gun dealers though." 

     Before he's right back walking down to meet with the rest of the group. "If you did I recommend grenades," A long drag taken from his cigar while tossing the grenade several times."seems some men just can't handle their Trinitrotoluene." The grenade goes right back into his pack.

  It's slow going to the inner sanctum, between the hordes of the unliving and the damp, neglected passage. Zelda keeps moving forward as she fires, waiting between shots only long enough to aim around her allies and pick out the closest targets.

  Her expression is stony behind the hood. These things are an affront to life and natural order. Wiping them out gives her satisfaction, but it's a grim sort. Someone did a great disservice to these things that were once people; ripped them from a chance at their final rest.

  Another arrow rips into a shambling undead form; white fire blooms from the point of impact, throwing flickering shadows behind her. Still the hooded Hylian advances, ignoring the muck and filth underfoot.

  She draws up beside Thanatos, but turns, searching the darkened corridor behind the party for any stragglers. Light blazes from the arrow laid across her bowstring; the light dances in her eyes, under the shadows of the hood. "Sir Thanatos. Those doors. Can you open them...?"

>> SUMMARY[Zelda] >> Zelda waits, all grim righteous divine wrath, at the inner sanctum doors, and asks Thanatos if he can open them.

    Good enough, Terra supposes. We'll scour the place later if need be. There's fighing- loud fighting going on below and as soon as that's over...

    The half-esper breaks into a trot until the treacherous central hall. She slows, mindful of the dangerous bug-things that likely still lurk about, then it's back to all haste once within the 'safety' of the library and the stairs leading toward battle.

    There, it's mass undead and ghosts, gunshots, fire and gleaming arrows. Anything that crosses her path that even appears ghastly, transparent or plain dead is ignited with a grimace from the green haired woman. Once more of the group are together, she blows out a sigh, brow creased with worry. A glance it cast toward the door but she isn't sure what to make of the magic so apparent there.

    "Is everyone alright?" Cue very unsubtle look at Luke.

    The pokemon trainer seems shaken, keeping near Zelda, while the fire bear furiously burns anything that looks dangerous and even seems to look at it, or Luke funny... so... basically what Terra is doing. Things seem to calm down slightly as people begin to gather by those mysterious doors, and Luke takes a deep breath, before coughing a bit, it can't smell good in that spot. Terra gets a wave from him, smiling and nodding, "I'm fine, just somewhat freaked out." he says softly, the fire pokemon calming down adn moving closer.

    Agni's fire does a fine job of keeping any curious zombies at bay. Between Luke's pokemon and Zelda's divine arrows, anything that wanders on the group is easily handled .
    "No gargoyle." The Warlock replies curtly to the son of Sparda, doing calculations in is head. "Possibly. Probably." He replies distractedly to Zelda, tapping at a rune now and again, he takes his helmet off, just to rub at the chin of the skull-like plating of his face, metal beak clicking thoughtfully, before the scholar-warrior snaps his helmet back into place.
    "This system of sigils is fascinating, but pitifully simple. If I'm correct this one will open the way. If I'm incorrect, then they will suck the life from everyone in the room." He says as casually as though it were a Sunday. And then defaces the glyph.
    In an instant the rest of them all flicker out, before the Warlock levels his shotgun. The door opens... A single coffin lays within.
    But as soon as everyone crosses the threshold a wave of terrible, nauseating energy erupts from the sarcophagus. The room chills and freezes, a spell already intending to sap the life away from the party as the undead wizard within begins to rise from his tomb.
    "Who dares disturb my slumber..." Hissed in a rasp.

    "That is a lich." Thanatos says, stating the obvious, lifting his shotgun and beginning to unload blasts at the undead ruler.

>> SUMMARY[Thanatos-4] >> That is a lich.

    "'bout that, mine's kinda dead." Dante says apologetically. 'Fire burned down her shop. Brother and I had and still have a bit of an 'its complicated' deal going on." He says with a shrug.

    "Woo, my dream. Yay life-sucking." He says flatly as Thanatos examines the sigils. THEN the door opens, and no such thing happens. "Guess you don't get told 'i told you so' much, huh?" He enters the tomb, and feels a chill across the air. Bad night to not wear a shirt under his coat.

    Of course, the Lich emerges from its tomb, and Dante just levels his guns. "We're gonna have to ask you NOT to do that, your spookiness." He opens fire as Thanatos does, not waiting for a response.

  Between the rest of the party, it doesn't take very long to confirm that there are no more shambling undead husks to come. Between the lot of them, there isn't anything that can threaten them from the mindless hordes, but Zelda doesn't lower her bow.

  Her eyes flick back at the sound of Thanatos debating whether or not the gates can be opened, but she doesn't offer any immediate comment, squelching her flicker of unease. She files into the room after Thanatos...

  ...and almost drops her bow at the nauseating sensation, grating her teeth and struggling past it to raise her bow. The weapon trembles slightly, but that doesn't stop her from slapping another blazing arrow to the string, drawing it back to its fullest, and firing directly at the lich. And another. And another. And another.

  Zelda doesn't stop firing arrows, in fact. She advances slowly, inexorably, and there is, curiously, a light from beneath that hood. It's her /eyes/, blazing with the same terrible radiance as her arrows; almost brighter, even.

>> SUMMARY[Zelda] >> Zelda is firing a whole lot of arrows after the lich. Also her eyes are glowing now because she is full of Divine Righteous Wrath. Ew, undead.

     "Shame, about that. My dealer's still around but I lost my brother a few years back." Benito is silent for a time waiting and watching. When he finally levels his weapon it's not the Thompson, but the massive barrel weapon strapped to his back. He levels it towards the lich's center of mass. "Don't rightly know what on gods earth a Litch is, but I've got a good feeling enough bullets will take it down same as anyone else." 

     With the rifle leveled he just says. "Do me a favor. Try something."

    "Sure. Army of dead things in the basement, of -course- there's gonna be a head-honcho dead thing lurking around," Cayde huffs, rolling his shoulders as he steps in after the others, having trailed a bit to keep any stragglers off their backs once they'd all managed to reconvene. He gives his hand cannon a flick, expelling its spent ammo cartridge so he can snap in another, clicking it back into place. 

    With Zelda unloading right on the tails of Dante and Thanatos, the Hunter isn't long in joining them. He tucks into a roll to the side of the door and out of the way of the others, still at a kneel as he fires away.

    "After all that and you're just gonna talk to it?!" he shouts at Benito.

     And then he pulls the trigger. There's a thunder of a canon going off in his grasp as a bright flash like a grenade going off blinds the world for a moment. It's only a quick moment and if it didn't manage to hit it's about to leave a rather large hole in the wall.

    Oh, the door? Right, the door. Terra turns as it's mentioned the attempt to open the door may be fatal to all nearby. It's an alarming thought! She doesn't protest, though, before the door simply opens.

    The wave of unholiness is nauseating. She doesn't take it well, swaying to one side and shouldering against one of the walls. Then there's some dead thing rising from its tomb and she joins in with everyone else.

    Her magic doesn't crack or bang or even shine like Zelda's arrows. It's just fire. Magic fire, certainly, but it appears as roaring, leaping, consuming flame. Her aim wavers as Zelda begins to march forward. She can't- "No, wait!"

    That cry rises from her and she starts forward, braving the wrong side of the firing line and fully trusting her companions not to hit her so she can catch up and maybe stop Zelda from getting too close to that thing. Somehow. She's in a mild panic!

    Luke takes a step back as he hears the warnings about the door, he is NOT going to risk getting his life sucked up. "What is that thing?" Luke asks, shocked to hear it speak and threaten the rest of the group. 
     Agni seems to take a simple approach to the situation as the unholy creature raises and launches that odd 'attack', and joins Terra in the 'let's try to burn the thing', moving a bit closer and trying to hit the thing with a similar jet of fire he used on the other creatures.

    This encounter would have gone so much differently if it had been a party of adventurers from this world, equipped with swords and crossbows and holy symbols.
    This encounter goes wildly off the rails when every party member brings a gun, blazing fire, or holy divine fury to the table.
    Quite frankly, it does not matter how powerful this lich may be. No magic he could raise in time would fend off the hailstorm of endless bullets. But what takes the cake is... Zelda.
    The princess' wrath is like that of Hylia herself, striking down the perversions of undeath, every arrow disintigrating huge portions of the Lich's body while Cayde, Thanatos, and Benito's converging fire rattles the body too much to even move, as everyone rallies enough to respond with swift, decisive, and justifiably brutal force.
    And then. Then there are flames. Between Luke and Terra, whatever is left of the Lich's BODY is reduced to ash. But this is the Lich's inner lair. His deepest sanctum. It stands to reason that he would never have expected anyone to get this far.
    His phylacteru is right there on a pedestal behind the sarcophagus. ... And the ornate glass and gold container of the ancient lich's soul is already melting from the wash of heat, cracking... Splitting... Shattering-- it erupts in a puff of green flame within the blase as the soul of 'Azoros the Undying' is destroyed soundly.
    Only then does Thanatos stop firing, shoulders rising once and falling in the motions of a sigh that he does not need to take.
    "That was the source. Any he raised or pulled from beyond should pass on now. But I'll stay behind and clear out the catacombs just in case, once Dis gets back to me."

>> SUMMARY[Thanatos-4] >> Ding dong the lich is dead. Which old lich? The wicked lich!

    It's pretty clear this place is way too underleveled for this party. Dante spins his guns cowboy style, before Ebony and Ivory take a nap in their holsters. "I guess that settles that." He says with satisfaction, and he dusts his hands off as the chamber goes still and Azoros' handiwork is soundly undone with his elimination. "Don't stay out past curfew, buddy." He says, clapping Thanatos on the shoulder before he takes off. "Cheers, dudes. Let's do this again sometime maybe. It's been a blast." He calls over his shoulder, and with that he leaves without a second wasted.

    The flare of gunfire and holy light, the explosions, the flames, the carnage. Beautiful. Cayde would wipe a tear if he could still shed them. 

    All in all, it seems over much too quickly, but they had a pretty solid offense, and what did lich-face have? Um. A rotting body. And whatever that magic was didn't seem enough to keep him together. 

    The Exo rises once Thanatos signals that things are over, although not without putting a few more extra shots through where the Lich used to be. Just in case. He taps a finger against his gun, glancing at the others. "Yay! We did it!" he says after a moment. Thanatos hardly seems one to be exuberant about it so he feels -someone- should. Not that Cayde doesn't look searchingly at the others for shared enthusiasm. 

    "Nothin'?" He watches as Dante heads out, giving a salute with his gun before he holsters it. "Well, if we're done here an' you're gonna be playing around in the dust, I'm....gonna have myself another look around. Just to make sure nothing's still crawling around, you know?" he says, gesturing loosely as he points about.

    In Cayde-speak that's probably 'Gonna go find me some loot if there is any'.

    Luke lets out a loud sigh of relief when Thanatos says that the situation is over, brushing his forehead with one hand, "I'll be going outside for some fresh air, that was great!." he says with a grin, before turning around and making his way to the entrance of the tower, while his pokemon tilts his head, glances back at teh others, and finally takes off after the boy, glancing around warily as it moves, can't be too careful!.

     That gun belonging to Benito goes right back over a shoulder, and a moment later he is cracking out his head. It goes from one side and then to the other. "Well just saved this whole place a skeleton of problems in a single night" He looks down towards the ashes left behind. "While you take care of that I'll take my payment out of the building." Motioning around himself. "Once you're done with it, I'll bring in some construction crews to fix the place up." 

     Finishing his old cigar he tosses in a new one right in its place. "Free of charge of course."

  After a few seconds of watching the lich shatter, the princess realises that she has no more arrows to fire. The last one erupts into a brilliant bloom of white fire on the ashes of the lich, at about the same time Cayde's final shots ring out through the chamber.

  Slowly, she reahces up with her free hand to sweep her hood back, baring a young woman's face of maybe twenty years, eyes still blazing with golden-white light, too much so to see what colour her eyes really are. Her hair is blonde, drawn back into a simple braid; an iron cuff bearing a red silk tassel in each long, tapered ear. Some kind of elf, maybe? Definitely not some kind of creepy cultist or necromancer or something as the hooded robe might imply, though.

  The light fades to eyes of a hard autumn blue, and even that seems to fade, until her eyes are the softer, paler blue of a summer sky. She exhales, softly; shakes her head vigourously as though to clear it. Her bow is returned to her shoulder, under the hooded robe.

  Her head shakes, and she offers an abbreviated bow to Thanatos. "Call upon me if you have need of my services again, Sir Thanatos. Hyrule stands ready." Even if she's pretty much the only person from it who can answer. It counts, right? "I will return home now."

  Summer-blue eyes flick sidelong, to the green-haired half-Esper. "Miss Branford?" Coming? It's probably best they head home, to Snowpeak, now.

>> SUMMARY[Zelda] >> We're done here. Let's go home, Terra.

    Such violence! Terra does her best to keep out of the way of all of it while approaching Zelda from behind. Still, she doesn't know what to do but it turns out she didn't /need/ to do anything at all! The fight is done, if it can even be called that. The lich, incinerated, extinguished and released into the embrace of... Anyway. The matter of the lich is settled and everyone is already set to disperse from this place. Even Zelda. She dips her head in a little bow toward Thanatos, then she nods once at the princess.

    Though she might hurry along to make sure Luke gets out. Fret. Fret.