World Tree MUSH

    Dark clouds hang in the sky, billowing ominously, tinted with a strange red that occasionally focuses itself into a bolt of lightning, striking haphazardly along the ridges and mountaintops at the periphery of this valley. A blasted land, stripped bare of life and vegetation, with only the occasional hint of it in the form of splintered stonework and long-fallen walls. This must surely have been a vibrant place at one point, but now plays host to periodic storms of such violence they have come to be known as 'Catastrophes'. With these storms comes the wonder mineral known as Originium, a dark-grey crystalline substance that seems unremarkable at first glance, yet holds the answers for this world's triumphs and ills in equal measure. Today we ere on the side of 'ill', as two fleets of armoured vehicles of differing colour schemes approach from opposite ends of the valley. The white-and-blue of Rhodes Island Pharmaceuticals on one side, the orange-and-grey of the Reunion Movement on the other. 

    < MUSIC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGnfna20t0A >

    Inside one of the R.I. vehicles there is a rather restless girl, silver-haired and argent-eyed, with canine ears atop her head and a tail swishing at her lower back to match. Rather than being strapped in as people ought to be when heading into deployment, she is hanging between the cockpit positions of the vehicle, grinning wolfishly as she stares at the enemies ahead. "Ehehehe~ All that new space to go steal from, and Reunion *still* wants to scuffle~! I *love* it~" Her tail wags steadily, like a pleased dog might at the prospect of playing fetch. Which, Lappland is about to play... After a fashion. "Hey, hey! Jessica! Ehehe~!" She looks over her shoulder, flashing an excited and all-too-wolfish grin. "This'll be fun, right~? It's been a while!"

    In a DIRECT contrast to the eager Lappland, the contractor from Blacksteel Worldwide, called back into her home world for this event, is not at ALL eager and happy to get into a fight! But then, it's hard to tell if she's different from most of her other endeavors. After all, saying 'Jessica looks skittish and nervous' can apply to preparing to enter a pitched battle, or to trying out a new video game. The catgirl's tail is flicking back and forth jerkily, her ears splayed. "Um... it's nice to see you, too, b-but I'm not sure about this. Look at how much of a movement they have!"

    That squeak of dismay comes while she's 'fidgeting' with her firearm. That is, a fidget that includes quickly checking the magazine, reviewing the slide and mechanism, and otherwise going through a smooth, rapid and practiced last-minute inspection of the deadly firearm. Nervous as she may be, the feline girl wouldn't have been given one of those precious firearms if she weren't very well-trained in it.

    "Storm's a brewin'..."
    Salome Highscribe is not a native of this world. Yet here she is all the same; the witch in red rests side-saddle on her broom, regarding the two opposing forces from along the center of the valley, puttering along at an all too lazy pace beside her companion as she drums on the handle of the broomstick holding her aloft.
    "Lucatiel, my friend, did you know... A witch is born out of the true hungers of her time," she said. "I was born out of New York. The things that are most wrong here summoned me." The old elf murmurs with a husky chuckle, reaching forward to pet the black cat sitting on the head of her riding broom.
    "It looks like it's going to be a big fight." The cat muses, craning his head into the petting fingers as Salome brushes her thumb along an ear. "If we're lucky we can be in and out without anyone noticing us. Otherwise you two might have to pick a side and play nice."
    "Play nice?" Salome scoffs, "Me? You insinuate that I play dirty, my darling kitty." She croons before shifting on her broom, continuing at her lazy pace into the hell of what is about to be a pitched battle.
    "Now don't you worry your head none darlin', we're not here to fight, just to nab some of those shiny crystal rocks and git, got it?"

    There's a guy on a motorcycle not too far from all this, on something relatively high, so he can look at the area. Actually he's not literally ON the motorcycle. He's standing beside it, and he's got a pair of binoculars in-hand as he's surveying the area. As it turns out, one of Speedwagon's observers reported the storm... and then disappeared. So not only is Josuke here to look for the observer, but to figure out what the hell kind of storm this was that the observer just INSTANTLY disappeared.

    Josuke is wearing something other than his usual school uniform here. A V-neck sweat over a turtleneck sweater, slacks, and at least the same brand of shoes than he usually wears, as well as a pair of gloves. All but the turtleneck are in various shades of brown; the turtleneck is lime green.

    He's also not alone! Though his companion isn't a human. Floating/flying next to him is a tiny, Barbie-sized robot girl kitted out with tiny medical equipment -- defibrillator pads are holstered at her hips, and she carries a large, syringe-shaped gun. "What do you see, Master?"

    "Probably not as much as you could," Josuke admits. "<Crazy Diamond> doesn't have the visual precision or range that <Star Platinum> does." He looks up from the binoculars, looking at the robot girl in the air next to his shoulder. "I'm seeing two vehicles heading for what looks like it might have been the middle of where the storm hit. Looks like they have different colors on them. Roberta, can you go and get a closer look? Be careful though -- if you get in trouble, get out of there immediately."

    "Of course!" the robot girl replies. "I'll be back!" And she zips down to what's sure to be the site of a major battle... though of course neither she nor Josuke know that yet...

    "Whooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

    It's weird. The scream of The Mighty One almost seems to be heard before the swirling portal opens up in front of one of those convoys. Probably has more to do with bad timing than anything. But when it does, out falls a teenager with a red baseball cap to hit the ground and roll along. He smacks the ground with a dull thud and skids to a bit of a halt. "Really gotta' learn how to stick those landings."

    Stepping out of the portal, after him, is what can only be described as a Giant Chicken. His face is focused on a map he's holding up so he pays no attention to the oncoming convoy that may be closer than comfort calls for. "In time, Mighty One. In time." His arrival out of the portal is as calm and easy as he doesn't even look up from his map. "Perhaps if you didn't jump into each head first." That would be Virgil.

    The third and final arrival through this temporary portal is a much larger individual with an air of warrior about him. Huge sword strapped to his back and a fitting beard for all violent occasions. The moment he steps free of the portal, he sniffs the air. Almost as if he can smell the potential for violence. He doesn't say anything so much as turn to look in the direction of oncoming ground vehicles with a narrowed gaze and a frown. A different one than the one he usually wears. This is Norman.

    The baseball cap wearing kid finally gets up to his feet, dusting himself off as the portal closes behind them... the energy of which seems to crackle and fold in the direction of his baseball cap. "Yeah, yeah. Most of the time I have to jump because you won't ever find us a portal that's on the ground, Virg!" And this one's Max. As might be somewhat obvious by the huge red M on his t-shirt. "What're we doing here again?"

    "Passing through, Mighty One." Virgil explains, the exasperation is real. "We will only be here a moment. If you will let me concentrate."

    "Well uh..." Max notices many vehicles with much speed headed towards them. "You might wanna' concentrate faster! RUUUUUUUUUN!" Max POINTS and turns to run like heck. Norman follows... reaching back to snatch Virgil up by the robes! Feathers fly.

    Emily Nyx is wandering through the blasted landscape, looking somewhat morose, and perhaps out-of-place; she's taken the form of an auburn-haired woman in her forties wearing a snappy midnight-blue business dress, and a pendant of a silvery sword. ... Also she has glowing purple eyes and four arms. Okay, maybe she's not that out-of-place.

    She perks up slightly at the sight of the convoy coming by. She rises up off the ground and glides forward, waving cheerfully ... before she notices a familiar face. With a wave of her hand, opens up a staticky portal, leading right next to Josuke and Roberta. "Hey there, Higashikata!" she says, slipping through. "You still have the most fabulous hair out of everyone in the World Tree. How's tricks?"

  Dust sifts from the hooves of the dapple grey stallion plodding beside Salome Highscribe. In spite of the bleak surroundings and the dust on his pelt, he is a horse that positively oozes 'good breeding,' 'good training,' and 'costs as much as a small kingdom.' Even at a tedious plod, he floats as though he were stepping on air. Although he doesn't wear armour, his tack is tooled black leather, accented with what looks like real gold.

  The saddle is quite nice, too, and currently supports one Lucatiel of Mirrah. The elite knight sits the saddle like one born to it. A straight-bladed cavalry greatsword is held and slung carelessly over a shoulder, the flat resting against a lavishly tooled and silver-chased cuirass. The knight is facing the closer of the two vehicles, blonde braid trailing like a rope down her back, face hidden by a brass mask. A magnificent plumed hat shades her brow. Every so often, the gloved gauntlet raises the sword, twirling it at the wrist until it whistles, stopping it neatly and resting it over her shoulder again. Either it's a very light blade, or the knight is very well-trained.

  Her voice echoes from behind the mask. It's a bit dull and muffled, but perfectly understandable, pitched so low as to sound androgynous. One doesn't need much imagination to evoke the depths of her bored apathy.

  "And in Mirrah," she comments in precisely measured tones, "the sandstorms are said to bring evil with them, to wreak upon the desert." She sounds thoughtful more than bored, head tilting very slightly this way and that as she studies the vehicles. "They are not wrong. Storms appear to precede great change in many cultures..."

  The head shakes; the massive plume mounted on the hat bobs. It's stiff and straight as a blade, jagged near the quill. The cat says it looks like it'll be big. Lucatiel shifts in the saddle, leather creaking; the horse snorts and stamps a hoof. In what might be surprising empathy, she reaches out and pats the stallion's salt-and-pepper mane. "Saa, Naruiel. It sounds as though we are nearly there."

  The head glances up, to watch the vehicles. At the scolding to play nice, there comes from within the mask the most exasperated, put-upon, 'done with this shit' sigh in the history of sighs. She gives Naruiel a final pat, harness jingling, and then glances to Salome.

  "It will be... interesting." The word is spoken blandly; so painfully blandly. Lucatiel straightens in the saddle and shifts her weight. The movement seems to focus Naruiel, too; his head picks up, dainty ears pricking toward the impending clash. He snorts, tossing his head and lashing his tail, but otherwise doesn't budge from his pace. "Your orders, Lady Highscribe?"

    "What, thaaa~aaat little party?" Lappland asks, jerking a thumb toward the viewport in front of her. Her grin only widens. "Thaaaat's nothing. We'll be fine! You, me, and a pile of dead bodies. That's our immediate future~!" The look in the wolf's silver eyes expressly indicate that she's not trying to be a comfort. Not that Jessica can appreciate this for long, because she's back to looking ahead and wagging that fluffy silver tail in anticipation. 
    The convoys approach to within a certain distance one another and then the vehicles swing a hard left and brake, each kicking up a clowd of the dead, brown dust that cakes the land. Doors open, equipment deploys, drones take to the air and await further instruction. All in near tandem, a deadly and practiced choreography. The lines are drawn and the troops begin to hastily deploy on both sides, each trying to avoid being caught off-guard by the other. This all might have gone off in a very clinical, brief and violent way as it must surely have so many times before, but. Well. Things have suddenly gotten weird in an unexpected and seemingly-dangerous way. So soon after a Catastrophe, things are expected to be strange... But giant chickens fall out of portals, followed by a kid and a bear of a man? This isn't just strange, this is potentially dangerous! Unheard of, even! Near-instantly, both sides of the assembled battle lines shift in a very perceptible way as they move from preparing to assault to preparing to defend. Troops huddle and form positions near their vehicles as guns deploy and one or two drones become swarms in a near instant.
    This while a wolf looks positively ecstatic, having booted the door of her vehicle open and seen the whole thing take place in a matter of moments. With a sword in each hand, she smiles. "Ehehehe! Look, look! Jessica! *Weirdos!* Let's get 'em!" Aaaand she's off, moving with such speed as to kick up her own dustcloud as she... Doesn't really go in any direction approaching 'chasing giant holiday dinner and friends'. No, she's just running an immediate dash for 'the middle', and will probably do what she likes from there. In her wake, chaos ensues, as the clouds of drones begin battle in earnest, opening fire on one another and peppering the air with bolts of yellow and red.

    The idea of being surrounded by dead bodies makes Jessica's ears flatten, the shy girl seeming to wilt. Not that it's... anything strange, and Lappland is fully aware that it wouldn't be the first time Jessica ended up being the last one standing on a bloody battlefield. However, being a professional soldier and ENJOYING the killing are two very different things!

    Speaking of being a professional soldier, Jessica is already ducking for some cover behind part of a vehicle, standing on the lip of the wheel well and drawing a bead on some of the soldiers. The sharp report of that surprisingly long-range pistol can be heard, but then she squeaks worriedly. "N-no Lappland, those are offworlders! I think that might have been a Vine opening up! Make sure they don't take any originium offworld!"

    Lung has it as contraband for export, but that is secondary to Jessica's worry that it might start spreading oripathy offworld, where nobody has any treatments for it.

    Concentrating on the battlefield-to-be (and keeping an eye on Roberta), Josuke doesn't see the portal Emily made until she's already there. "GAH!" he yelps when the sudden greeting startles him. He turns quickly, realizes it's Emily, and relaxes. "Oh! Uh, hi. Sorry, I didn't see you at first." Her words register then, and he grins, raising a hand to pat at his hair. "Heh... thank you," he replies. That grin is an incredibly dorky grin. Just from looking at it, one might be able to realize he's a teenager.

    Though as he looks back to the battlefield, he realizes there's a problem. "...Wait a minute..." He looks through the binoculars again. "Oh shit, there are people in the way of those vehicles!" he observes. He makes for his motorcycle. "Be right back!" he promises, and starts the motorcycle. Quickly he heads down into the fray!

    As he rides down, the top half of Crazy Diamond pops up from Josuke's back, in preparation to try and grab some of the people. Of course, he also yells forward, "Hey! I'll help!" He plans to try to grab the larger of the two with Crazy Diamond, and try to grab the smallest one himself. He can still drive the motorcycle.

    ...He hopes.

    Hopefully he can get to them before they get run over. Or killed by whoever's coming out of those vehicles!

    And so the battle begins. Salome holds up a hand, indicating it a good time to hold up for a moment. Reaching into the pocket of her duster, the elf witch pulls out a glinting coin, twirling it in her fingers before flicking it up into the air with her thumb.
    The coin travels up... Hangs in the air for a beat, and as it comes down, Salome snatches it out of the air, planting it squarely on the back of her upturned free hand.
    "Heads." She says smugly, having used the coin toss to decide her next course of action.
    "Simple, Lucatiel. We ride in, use the chaos to our advantage, and make off with some of those sweet, sweet, crystals." She says to her compatriot before kicking her broom into action and riding into the chaos towards the biggest patch of Originium she can see.

>> SUMMARY[Salome] >> Hello I am here to steal your crystals while you're busy fighting over them.

    Emily regards the distant chaos. "Welp, looks like the fun's beginning!" she remarks. "I wonder which side is the good guys."

    But then Josuke is taking off, and she raises her eyebrows. "Right, then!" In a swirl of what appears to be silvery-glitter, she transforms into a roughly disk-shaped high-tech vehicle with a couple of oversized headlights, and speeds off after Josuke.

    She screeches to a halt next Mighty Max and company. "Correction, we'll help!" says her voice, the headlights flashing in time with her words. "Hi, I'm Emily, and this is Josuke! I probably won't take you further into danger, but who knows?"

>> SUMMARY[Emily Nyx] >> Turning into a car sort of thing, and being the opposite of reassuring.

    There is much flailing by way of Max and Virgil as they are trying not to be in the line of fire of whatever craziness is about to happen between both sets of vehicular convoys of doom. "How come your maps never tell us when we're about to land in the middle of, oh I dunno, A WAR, Virgil?!"

    "Just keep running, Mighty One!" Virgil's even trying to do some flapping to see if that helps. Which is not helping at all. Robes. His robes are heavy.

    Norman narrows his eyes at the arrival of the Motorcycle Warrior. Although, they did not immediately attack so that's something. Norman reaches out and hoists Virgil up with a simple toss towards Crazy Diamond. "Take this one! He weighs more!"

    "Leave my weight out of this!"

    "Whoa-hey!" Max looks back and almost hops back into the grabbing of Josuke. "Hey uh, thanks for the lift. If you could drop us off at the nearest place of non-violent activity, that'd be great. I'm Max, by the way." Max cracks a big ol' grin at Josuke.

    As soon as Norman notices that Virgil and Max are no longer in immediate danger he unsheathes his sword and allows his boots to skid to a halt. He grins ever so slightly and twirls the blade in his hand. He's been dying for some action and it looks like he's about to get some. Soon as he figures out which side is evil enough to punch first.

    Max does a double take at the disk-shaped high-tech vehicle that's suddenly nearby. "Um. What are you and can I have one? Virgil! I want a talking flying disk thingy!"

    "Not now, Mighty One!" Virgil's hanging on for dear life right now. Feathers away.

  The Elite Knight of Mirrah raises her head just slightly to regard the forces coming together, dust plumes marking the trail of anything that moves out there. The hat brim tilts sharply sideways, black plume bobbing a little. She's watching as Salome pulls out her coin and flips it.

  There's another one of those exasperated sighs. "Our course of action is being decided by the flip of a coin?" Lucatiel's voice is leaden in her... lack of enthusiasm. "I gather we are not to engage, then, unless we are challenged first."

  Whether yea or nay, Salome has already kicked her broom into high gear. The knight leans forward and sets her heels to Naruiel's ribs, and with a great snorting breath, he leaps after Salome. Lucatiel crouches low over his neck, greatsword scabbard and steel buckler hammering against her spine with every leap, blonde braid flying behind her like a banner.

  Screw the upcoming battle. She just refuses to be outdone by Salome without a fight. "They should be occupied for a time!" The knight has to shout over the wind to be heard. Like vultures descending over a corpse, they'll be too busy squabbling amongst themselves to get to the actual collection of the resources. Right?

  Hopefully, because if anybody takes exception to her and Salome absconding with this stuff, it means she has to work. Ugh.

>> SUMMARY[Lucatiel of Mirrah] >> Oh goody it's go-time. Lucatiel spurs her horse forward as they race toward the Originium.

Lappland says, "Got it, got it, Jess~! Thieves! Thieves gotta die! Aaaahahaha~!" Maniacal cackling that echoes across the battlefield, signalling to the Reunion troops the presence of someone they ought to rightly fear. The White Wolf of Rhodes Island is not one to be trifled with, and the orange-and-grey troops huddle closer together as they realize just who the lone attacker flanked by a cloud of enemy drones happens to be. Then it seems to get more distressing for the poor Reunion Sword Bois.

     < MUSIC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFjE5A4UAJI >

     Soon, one of the orange drones is commandeered with a leap into the air and a blade thrust down into it to act as a makeshift gearstick. She forces it to turn as it struggles to accomodate further mass while reporting an unknown assailant to friendly that have yet to be given the okay to shoot one of their own. Plenty of time to 'pilot' it towards the band of would-be thieves. "Hey, Reunion Jackholes! Those guys wanna steal your Originium! THIEVES SHOULD DIE, RIGHT? EHAHAHAHA~!" More maniacal laughter tickles at the battlefield as a chase ensues, and some of Reunion's forces fall for the bait. That is to say, rather than following whatever rank structure they have, the rebellious forces end up splitting in half as some of the more foolhardy sorts give chase to the 'thieves' and to Lappland alike. Chaos in a manner far beyond the expected quickly ensues, with the remaining 'loyalists' apparently opting to make the best of this mess and run straight at the defensive Rhodes Island lines instead.
    If nothing else, Jessica has plenty to shoot at now.
"

    This isn't good at all. Jessica frets, ears flattening again, and... after some hesitation and internal debate, Jessica sighs. She has to do something. A quick series of shots tries to draw the Reunion attention toward her. "Lappland, worry about the ones grabbing the crystals!" She calls out toward her companion, hoping against hope that... well, she doesn't know if she can really 'guide' Lappland, but maybe if she points the crazy wolf in the right direction, the destruction will do the job for her.

    Max and his companions, plus Josuke and Emily, seem to just be in the wrong place at the wrong time. "You five, get under cover! Don't touch ANYTHING!"

    It's good that Crazy Diamond has two hands. With Norman seeming to want to stick around to do violence to things, that leaves just Virgil and Max! Fortunately Crazy Diamond has a grand total of two (2) hands. And since there are two (2) people (even if one is a giant chicken), this is something he can manage! He'll stop once he's got them both out of immediate danger. Crazy Diamond will move to carefully put them both down, and the Stand will disappear.

    It's only then that he greets them. "Hi! A bit late, I know, but..." He points to Emily, who introduced him. "That, yeah! You guys came in at a bad time! But I guess we all did, really."

    "Master!" It's Roberta, flying over the chaos to find him. "There you are! I went back to look for you!"

    Josuke rubs at the back of his head. "Ah, sorry... I was trying to pull these guys out of the way."

    Suddenly someone's yelling about stealing something, and Josuke instinctively shouts back, "I didn't steal anything!" Guilty dog, woof woof. More importantly, though, there's now soldiers heading their way! "Oh, come on!" Josuke gripes. "Do we LOOK like we want your origin... origal... whatever the hell she just said?!" Yeah, he doesn't even know what the stuff is.

    Regardless, the enemy is coming, and Josuke's ready for them. Crazy Diamond appears again, between him and the approaching army. "Roberta, snipe with your poison from above!" he calls to the tiny robot girl.

    "Right!" she calls in response, and zips up into the air to start looking for targets.

    Jessica calls to them then, and Josuke looks in her direction. "I don't think these guys are gonna let us!" he calls back. Nonetheless, he is going to start retreating off the battlefield, away from the 'prize'. But he's not going to neglect defense. Whenever the first one of these people gets into melee range, they'll find a super-speed punch flurry waiting for them. Which could be even more strange depending on how many of these guys can actually SEE Crazy Diamond...

    "Aw c'mon, where's your sense of adventure, Lucatiel?" The elf witch retorts when questioned on her means of decision making. "It's always about the throw of the die, or toss of the coin. Statistically speaking, right now we've got the advantage of the battle going in our favor." Salome calls back over her shoulder. "That's right they should be plenty occupied, no one will notice a few crystals missi--..."
    She trails right off as Lappland rides a drone calling attention to Max and company, causing the Reunion forces to break off that way.
    "See? See? Look at that, a perfect opening!" She says, leaping off her broom and landing in a skid by a patch of Originium.

    The Emily-mobile just starts giggling uncontrollably as Norman wisecracks about Virgil's weight. That laughter abruptly stops the instant Max says the words 'I want one.' In another swirl of silvery nanomachines, she transforms into a pale woman in a sorceress's robes, with a beehive hairdo with her hair so black it looks like a rip in space or a graphical glitch, and still with glowing purple eyes and four arms. And a very unpleasant smile. "I am a Eudaemon," she says coldly, "and I do not belong to anyone. Got that? Releasing capacitor seals three and two!"

    She's surrounded by three distinct auras, one gold, one silver, and one pearlescent. The first two shatter, and the third one fades. In another swirl of nanomachines, she's suddenly holding a pair of falchion swords in her lower hands; she raises her other two hands, and five golden bolts of light appear over her head, pointed at Max!

    ... only to immediately turn around and start shooting towards the Reunion forces as they suddenly head their way. It looks like she can only manifest five bolts at once. "Y'know what, hold that thought," she says. "Violence first, bickering at cross-purposes about slavery later!"

    She gives Jessica a sidelong look as she butts in. "Yeah, what Josuke said," she says, materializing another pair of swords in her upper hands to use on whatever enemies get too close. "'Berta, you take the high road, I'll take the low road!" There's a bit of a cranky undertone to her voice. "And I'll get to ... to Snipe-land ... y'know what never mind."

    Safety is relative considering the fact that now there are soldiers galore headed in their direction. Which is to say that at least they aren't going to be completely trampled to death or something. That's a plus.

    But then the floating disk thingy turns into something so much more scary that even Max has to take a step back. "Whoa! Hey, relax, lady! I was just saying you're pretty cool!" Max turns to look at something that's not there and offers a quick shrug of his shoulders, "Doesn't she remind you of my math teacher?" That done, Max focuses his attention back on the fact that they are about to be attacked. "Hey uh, Virg? Map? Portal? Out of here? Now?!"

    Virgil's going through the maps in his robes as quickly as he can. While also cowering in fear. Because there's really too much violence happening around him for him to concentrate.

    The arrival of Norman comes in the form of sword first. He arrives from above, having performed a dramatic leap once he found out that Max (and Virgil too, he guesses) were being put into harm's way! So the leaping Norman decided to land in the middle of the sect closest to getting to Max and lay into them with his fists, feet, and that mighty sword of his. Violence is definitely Norman's first language. Time for some things to die.

    Max whistles at Norman's arrival. "Yeah! Get 'em, Norman! Aim for the kisser!" Max makes with some shadowboxing and some very much NOT actual punching. As Mighty as he may be, Max can't fight!

  "Absent!" Lucatiel cries over the wind, but there's a thread of a cynical laughter in her answer. "I am no stranger to going where the wind blows, but I am not interested in complicating situations any more than they need be! Your complications oft carry the tang of Death, and I do not intend to ask Death's hand in a dance just yet!"

  All that to say, she's really good at what she does, but she's also kind of selectively lazy. Most especially when it involves saving her own skin.

  Crouching low over the stallion's neck, the woman issues a keening whistle from within the mask, resonating. With a grunt, the horse abruptly slides to a halt, hooves skidding over the Originium deposit Sally's come to a stop at. His ears swivel back as she looks out over the flatland. Wind riffles the feathers atop her hat, and the single jet plume jutting skyward.

  She stays in the saddle, though, reaching up to draw the cavalry greatsword. Naruiel is walked in a brisk circle around Salome, filling out guard detail as long as no one takes notice of them just yet.

    "Oh?" Lappland sounds out, ears perking as comm-chatter from Jessica is enough to rouse her attention to... ACTUAL thieves? "Ehahaha! Oooh~! You're either clever or you're stupiiid... Clever or you're deeeead~!" There's a creaking, shearing sound as the wolf hauls her sword free of the drone and vaults off of it, sending it flying backwards into a hastily pursuing swarm of Reunion drones, some of which collide and collectively explode and pepper the wasteland below with shrapnel. She lands in the dust, kicking up a spray as she keeps running, argent eyes wild with bloodlust. For now, at least, chicken cinner & co, plus weird-hair-that-contains-another-person and assorted robots, are all forgotten... Because there are people running *towards* the battle, despite the oncoming half-horde of Reunion Sword Bois behind her, and that means they want to do a mischief. If the band of 'weirdos' don't do something soon, they're going to be... Fighting a lot! Or would be, but Emily's energy bolts and swords are enough to catch some attention, and fell some unarmoured goons with little-to-no-effort. Not that it perturbs the rest of them in the slightest. On the other side of things, the remaining Reunion forces break themselves against Rhodes Island's lines in their classically self-sacrificial way, nevertheless battering shields and defensive positions like the waves of an angry see. Attrition is very much the name of their game, their lack of experience and equipment meant to be bolstered by their numbers.

    The larger numbers of Reunion are a problem for someone like Jessica. It's like the drones she's shooting down are cheaper than her bullets. It isn't actually the case, but that's the equivelent here. Fortunately her training takes over and she IS concentrating on blasting down any drone that comes within range, quick and efficient... which is again at odds with her trembling, worried voice.

    "Get behind the Rhodes Islanders and Blacksteel troops if you just want to get out! PLEASE don't pick up any black rocks or crystals, they'll make you very sick!" Not... entirely true, as it isn't a guaranteed thing, but it's a general worry, and she's definitely not going to be going after any herself! Let the collectors who are shielded do that! Jess doesn't have any problem with shooting people, she just happens to be concentrating on drones.

    That has to change though. With the chaos of the battlefield, she needs to do something. As one of the few natives with extensive offworld experience... it's up to her to explain to people. And SHE is looking for people grabbing it. She dashes out, shooting one soldier without thinking, then calls out to Salome and Lucatiel, "PLEASE don't pick that up unprotected, it's dangerous!"

    Josuke sees it out of the corner of his eye, Emily turning to aim at Max. And then he turns to her. "Hey wait!" he begins, purposely getting between her and Max -- there's too much to protect people from! He drops his guard for this, in fact, and receives a sword to the side for his mistake. Fortunately it's not a serious wound, and an application of Crazy Diamond should sort that out -- at least, the deliverer of that wound.

    Emily speaks then, and Josuke sighs. "Okay, I don't know your history, I admit. And it sounds like some bad stuff happened. But he literally thought you were a car," he points out. "I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have said that if he'd known you weren't a talking car."

    Honestly, Josuke is going to be doing something weird here... healing literally anybody who gets hurt, on either side of the conflict. But also knocking them out and mangling the hell out of their weapons where he can. He doesn't want them to DIE, but he doesn't want them to fight either.

    And, uh. Emily might find that Roberta's 'poison' isn't really that strong. It's just making people a little woozy. Sometimes a little nauseous. Yeah, she's not a combat unit, and spends much of her time fixing people up. She's not going to want to do the killing herself!

>> SUMMARY[Josuke Higashikata] >> Being a total bada-- ... ...Josuke why are you healing everyone you idiot they're trying to kill you.

    Emily launches a dude into the air with her sword, leaps up after him, and sends him crashing into several of his buddies with another swing of her sword. But Josuke's words bring her down to earth. "Yeah, okay," she answers him, a defeated tone in her voice. "It's been ... a touchy subject for me late ..." She pauses as she notices what he's doing. "... ly. Oh my god Josuke!" She laughs out loud. "Okay, fine."

    With that, she dematerializes her swords, and switches over to markedly less lethal tactics. Punches and kicks, mostly, which involves her limbs extending far beyond the human maximum. But she does take a moment to slip past Virgil. "So, 'Virg', huh?" she says. "Here." She materializes an oversized katana which looks almost identical to the kind wielded by a different Vergil, and drops it off next to him. It will dematerialize in another couple of minutes, but ...

    "Hmm." She glances over at the Originium that's currently just lying around. She probably can't get sick herself, given that she's a cloud of nanomachines ... but nah, no need to risk it.

    And then she breaks into a grin as she sees Salome and Lucatiel. "... Is that who I think it is? Oh for crying out loud ..."

    Yep. Thieves. Actual, honest to goodness, real, Originium thieves.
    Thieves who-- are halted briefly by Jessica. At least Salome is; propping one boot up on a crystal and tilting her head to peer at the cat-eared girl, one fingertip thumbing at the butt of the gun resting holstered at her hip.
    Before she draws it.
    "Well thanks for the advice, kitten, but I've got all the protection I need right here."
    Oddly enough she's not aiming the gun at Jessica, but rather at the ground, when she pulls the trigger. It goes off with a loud report, but what fires is not a bullet.
    "Elements of the sun,
    Elements of the day,
    Come this way,
    Powers of night and day,
    I summon thee,
    I call upon thee,
    To protect me,
    So shall it be!"
    No sooner than the spell she fired hits the ground and this incantation is said a soft glow suffuses the witch as she holsters her six-shooter and... Makes to pick up a huge hunk of crystal.

>> SUMMARY[Salome] >> Thanks for the warning, Jessica!

    The Mighty Max Crew are up to three separate levels of things. It's weird but this is what they do.

    Virgil is doing his best to stay out of the way of anything that might be violence by ducking here and there while digging out one of his many maps and fanning them out to see if he can't find a portal out of this place. Because that's the only way that any of this nonsense is going to fix itself. If, however, something does get too close, a rolled up map or a heavy book is swung with some serious bonking action!

    Norman is on the opposite end of the spectrum here. He's slicing into and through anything that comes close enough to him and looks threatening to himself or Max or Virgil. He's very specific in the way he stabs and slices and punches and kicks and headbutts drones or sword bois. Nothing gets to Max on his watch. "Ha!" Norman's response to being hit or zapped by something before he retaliates. Tenfold.

    Mighty Max spends most of his time trying to talk his way out of this mess, "So uh, you guys really don't have to try and kill us, y'know? We're just passing through. We don't want any of your whatever it is!" And then dodging attacks at the exact moment that said attack may take out another possible attacker. Oh Mighty One.

  The horse jerks its head up and wheels in the direction of Jessica's voice at the same time the knight astride him looks on with interest. That massive blade is raised easily, silver reflecting the bleak sky. Lucatiel says nothing, but she does interpose herself and her horse between Salome and Jessica.

  Naruiel screams and rears at the sudden thunder from the ground, but Lucatiel pulls him back to ground with a swift tug of the reins. The sword is whirled and held up in clear defensive gesture. It must be heavy, but the sword is held with both hands absolutely motionless, at the ready to kick Naruiel into a charge.

  She'll wait until Salome signals it's time to go, motionless as a statue so long as nothing makes any aggressive move towards the witch.

    "Just WHO do you think you ARE~!?" Lappland asks, suddenly standing in front of Jessica with a puff of dust about her, a sword in each hand. Her tail flicks quickly, she's smiling toothily, and there's a wild look in her eyes. "Didn't you hear? That crap can make you sick~ you don't want it *growing* out of you, dooo you?" It might be at this point that those listening in catch onto the fact... That originium shards are, in fact, growing free of Lappland's thighs quite visibly, given her choice of shorts over pants. "But you know, so what. You wanna die of the magic cancer. That's fine! Normally I might have humoured you, but yoooou hurt the cat's feelings, and we can't have that." Did... Did they really, Lappland? Did they hurt Jessica's feelings? "Ehehe, ehahaha! Come on then!"

    Jessica has to balk at that display of... magic? That isn't what shocks her though, it's Lucatiel suddenly thundering up to block her... and then LAPPLAND of all people coming to her rescue to... um... oh, she's just picking a fight. Ears flick back, even though Jess is pretty happy at the wolf feeling protective of her at all.

    "Y-you really need to be careful, yes," she points out, shying away from the rocks herself. This brings her closer to Lappland, but unlike many she isn't scared of the Infected themselves. With the wolf here she can peek over at the others to see if Max and the others made it to safety yet though. "It's fine... we aren't the police, but you really shouldn't play with that! It's dangerous. I just don't want anyone getting sick."

    It's a simple protection spell, but a potent one; and Salome's lips tug into a cheeky grin as Lucatiel swings up between her and Jessica and Lappland. "I did what now?" She seems genuinely confused, because, for once, she wasn't too mean.
    Still, with the originium chunk in one hand, her other taps on the butt of her six-shooter again. "Hmmmmmm, think I'll pass." She ultimately decides, tossing the crystal chunk in the air to her hat-- which snatches it up with its tongue and swallows it down.
    "Gyehehehehehe!" The hat cackles as Salome whistles, her broom swinging back around to pick her up as she hops onto it and--
    "Bye!"
    Oh look there she goes. Lucatiel better get a move on.

  Oh, look at that, the witch is already swinging the broom around and taking off. Lucatiel gives Jessica and Lappland one last look before whirling the massive sword, this time to slide it back into its scabbard in a single practised motion. Turning the reins, the masked knight sets her heels to the dapple's ribs again, and the horse turns neatly to lunge after Salome.

  That broom may fly fast, but that horse is also fast. He has comparatively little trouble keeping up with the fleet broom of the witch; Lucatiel crouches low over his neck, one hand holding the reins at Naruiel's withers, the other whisking that magnificent hat off to clutch it close as she rides.

  ...Seeyalaterbye!! She's not being paid nearly enough to stick around and wait for anybody else to notice her!

>> SUMMARY[Lucatiel of Mirrah] >> Exit stage left! Hi ho Naruiel away!!

    He notes Emily's laughed statement. "What?" he asks, looking in her direction. "It's easy to forget that these are people! What if they've got kids or something?" He'd grown up without a father, and when he finally got one, he turned out to be... well. Joseph FREAKING Joestar. There's probably worse people to have as a father, but he can't think of any off the top of his head.

    That aside, truth be told? That's one of the reasons he hasn't gotten off of the battlefield yet. Norman seems to be able to take care of himself, but Max and Virgil seem to need help. So he's kind of acting like a meat shield for them.

    Given his healing/mending abilities and his confidence in them, this is when the ball bearings come out. Ever wondered what a ball bearing would do when fired with the velocity of small arms fire? Well, wonder no more, because Josuke is using his Stand and the ball bearings to snipe at the legs of some of the attackers. Those not attacking him -- or Roberta, to note -- don't get that treatment.

    "Yeah, it's --" Emily stops. "Oh well, there she goes." She chuckles, and snaps her fingers. "I have no idea why I'm attracted to that witch, jeez."

    She just shrugs at Josuke, in between punching goons. "Yeah, yeah," she says. "I don't actually have an instinctive understanding of the value of human life anymore, and my current ... situation is not helping." She trips up a guy and kicks him into another group which unwisely bunched together. "Which is why I'm following your lead, hero."

    She grins, interposing herself in front of Virgil and Max, helping Josuke defend them. "... My creators would still be horrified to see me getting up to this malarkey, but fuck 'em."

>> SUMMARY[Emily Nyx] >> Multiple examples of Emily's off-kilter morality.

    "Aha!" Virgil finds the right map and reaches over to yank Max out of the way of some oncoming stuff of violence. "This way!" And Virgil starts dragging Max away from the scuffle of violence and in another direction all together!

    "Hey Normaaaaaan! We're outta' here buddy! Come on!" Max yells through his cupped hands as he's dragged off towards wherever the next portal is going to open up when his Cap gets close enough to it!

    Norman takes the head off something else and looks at whatever things are left. "This was fun. Let's do it again sometime." Norman sheathes his sword and grins. "I might even let you get a hit in next time!" And with that, the Mighty One's bodyguard leaps up and over to meet up with the rest of his party so that they can escape through to the next portal out of this place.

    "Hey hey, Jess. It's fine~! It's their funeral," Lappland says in a far-too-breezy kind of way. She flashes the nervous Feline a smile over her shoulder, one that's... Well, it's *less* homicidal and closer to reassuring, if not all the way there. It could almost be considered heartwarming, at least in Lappland's case, that she's being so heroic for Jessica's sake. Of course, it gets ruined by Salome's swift departure, Lappland left genuinely stunned by it, allowing Lucatiel to leave without a fight. So dumbstruck is the wolf that, for a moment, she actually has to turn around and look at Jessica with a confused 'what?' look on her face. "They ran *away*? But... But that's..." She ends up skewering a Reunion soldier through the throat before he can make an attempt on either of them, kicking him off the blade with an irritated boot. "No one's done that in ages! Now I want to trample them even harder~! Ehahahaha!"
    While Lappland is finding the best in a 'bad' situation, the battle elsewhere is... continuing apace, and ultimately coming to a close. Where it may have otherwise gone in Reunion's favour thanks to weightier numbers, the confusion caused by chicken dinners, robots and Hair(tm) have shattered any strategy they might have displayed, and turned into something out a rout. Those who haven't been healed and knocked out by Josuke have bundled into their vehicles with literally only what they could carry, leaving most of the magic mineral behind for Rhodes Island to collect. A victory then! And a new target for Lappland to hunt.
    "Heeey, Jessica~! Got some of that pocky? I really need something to *bite into* right now..."