World Tree MUSH

    Chicago, from a particular Earth.

    This isn't the modern day, no. Advanced architecture mingles with old here and there, largely dominated by the bright lights and the presence of advanced vehicles. Somehow still identifiable as Chicago, at least, but if the only issue here tonight was the culture shock for a handful of people it'd be a good night.

    No, sadly, it seems in the dead of night monsters have appeared. The same monster, to be precise, in dozens of different locations all at once. Described as a large, almost fifteen foot tall humanoid in fleshy robes and with... tentacles? for a face, wielding a staff of some kind. It reportedly brandished magic at hapless victims, either freezing them to death, making them turn onto each other, or blasting them so hard against walls there wasn't much left when help showed up.

    A few did claim to have killed the beast, with enough gunfire. Dissolved into a kind of purple-black miasma.

    Then the lights went out across an entire district, and around one of the power distribution centers nearby. In the unusually iluminated city, these odd dead zones of darkness stick out like a sore thumb, and teams trying to restore power haven't come back from their trips there.

    To make matters worse, ships from another world have rolled in too. A trio of them, two green-blue and one red, like large floating rectangles. They've been hovering over the darkened district ever since the lights went out. Some people say they saw a dozen humanoids jump off the ships and into the city streets.

    Sounds like a mess! Where do you want to start?

    "My, my. How far this rebellious nation has come." Says a hooded figure as he wanders through the streets of Chicago. He looks... different, to say the least. Flowing white robes and ornate black pants, a hood pulled up to conceal his face and hair and a staff in his hands to help him walk as he goes along, he looks like he's from some long lost time. 

    "It reminds me of someone, almost. Wild and free-spirited, growing up far too serious and perhaps a bit ill at heart." He taps a finger to his lips as he considers it, striding through the streets and taking in the sights as he glides along, "This nation, too, took on a mantle that was far too great to support some may say. Perhaps it is unavoidable to repeat." He thinks this over as he walks. 

    Without much thought to the matter, he seems to wander into one of the dead zones. It's once he is deep in the darkness that he looks up, "Oh my, oh my. This won't do. Won't do at all. How can I sightsee in such darkness." With an elegant twirl, he slams the end of his staff against the ground, "Okay. Don't bite your tongue on the incantation this time." 

    "Glow, glow, shine, shine. Illuminate now light of mine." The man flicks his fingertips at his planted staff and the top of it begins to shine like a floodlight. 

    "Ah. Better. Much better."

    Of course the Earth he finally manages to get to is a far cry from the one he's better acquainted with. Cayde isn't even sure that he remembers what Chicago had been like before everything the Darkness ravaged everything and the Fallen moved in, and if he'd been there before he took on his new job then chances that he'd recall it are next to nil.

    "On the bright side? ...okay, there's no bright side here, I guess," the Hunter Vanguard concedes to his unseen companion as he sweeps a look around the street he's just turned down. "...yeah. Didn't know where I was going with that either. Guess we'll just make ourselves useful."

    His hand cannon materializing in hand, Cayde picks up his pace, wandering towards the patch of obvious darkness he's spied ahead, his head tilting skywards, glowing blue optics lidding as he eyes the ships far above. "Nope, don't recognize 'em," he murmurs in response to his Ghost. "Can't tell if that's good news or bad though..."

    Being a 'wandering samurai' is actually a lot harder than it sounds. At least Yahiko's kimono is in good condition again, thanks to Athena. Now, he just has to cope with wandering through Vines and always ending up in weird situations!

    Well, actually considering how many worlds he's passed through, most of them have been pretty boring.

    This one, not so much. And more interesting is how he's ended up on the same street as... Cayde. "Huh? It's you... do you know what's going on here?" This is... probably worth switching to his actual sword, he's already thinking. "There might be people in danger that way..."

    This is Athena's world, and she's already been in this city. Recovering from being /shot through the chest/ takes a little hospital time, and this was the last place she had a hideout. Now it's under attack, and everything is a mess, huh? She's just getting suited up, and this time wearing actual battle armor and carrying weapons. Just hoping her advanced healing has caught up enough that she's battle ready!

    "Is that...?" She pauses, staring at the ships. "The dragoon..." She's too far away for her spatial awareness to have picked up on Cayde and Yahiko as of yet. Chicago is a big city, so even being 'close by' it's hard.

     A creature makes its way out of an alley. Even a quick glance is enough to determine this thing as 'out of this world' or at least 'unnatural', the small lizardish creature sniffing the air, looking confused as it takes in the surrounding area. "Guess I am lost..." he mumbles to himself. The dark areas he can spot are enough to put him a bit nervous. 
      The digimon fox grumbles to himself as he tries to find out what is going on, his fur slightly on end as he moves towards one of the darkened spots, trying to see, or even smell what is going on, claws clicking on the pavement. He hears some voices nearby, and makes his way to Cayde and the others, hoping they might share some information on what might be going on.

    Out from the shadows which Merlin has so easily chased away emerges a black robed figure, brimming with purple miasmic energy. Could this be one of the apparent legion of monsters that plague Chicago this evening? Alas, this figure is no fifteen foot monstrosity as Tharja stands a mere third of that height. As for the monster part? Well, that depends on whom you ask, but the misdeeds of this evening do not originate with this Dark Mage. She instead raises a hand to shield herself from Merlin's sudden illumination. Pressing her tongue against the roof of her mouth, Tharja advances towards Merlin, studying him with interest. "What do we have here?" She muses softly before giggling to herself as she shies now back away from Merlin and his illuminated staff. "Not what I am looking for, " decides the Dark Mage with a shrug of her shoulders as she glances away for a moment before turning her dark gaze back upon him. "Do you too seek the source of all this mischief?"

Of course Demi isn't from Earth to begin with, she's from Motabia so she has no idea what Chicago is supposed to look like in the first place. The advanced vehicles get the android's attention though, "Such wonderous technology how could any just abandon it?! Perhaps the giant monsters had killed the owners before they could escape?" The normal cheerful girl looks a bit glum at the though of that.

 Her attention turns towards Bewul and the others. Was he one of Seed's expirements? She didn't remember the AI working on any lizard-fox creatures. "I would say good evening everyone but that seems not to be the case..."

    Light is good. Merlin hears something hiss in the darkness, as if in protest of his light. What a great start. The streets ahead are pretty messy, too - it was obvious without light, but much more so with. Destroyed cars, the occasional body. Luckily, a lot of people seem to have had the reflex to barricade themselves indoors.

    The monsters don't seem to have bothered breaching building doors or windows very much.

    The bright side to the darkness, Cayde, is that when heroes appear, brandishing lights and torches, it's easy to regroup! See, there IS a bright side!

    Ahead, the streets split. The power plant - well, the routing center, more likely - is the largest building in the area, surrounded by fancy-looking pylons that aren't brimming with energy anymore. Up ahead, the magitek engines of the ships give off a constant, ominous hum, filling the streets with background noise. But nothing ever comes from them. They don't even look armed.

    What does come is gunfire, up ahead. Humans - seemingly in full plate mail, bearing the trappings of the Niflheim Empire - are firing automatic rifles at a massive humanoid. They seem to be trying to secure the power plant? They might need some help.

    From behind the gathering group, their exit is suddenly barred. If any had the thought to turn back towards the illuminated parts of the city, two massive humanoids now bar the way. Mindflayers! Identical ones, no less. Something's off about them though - they're not entirely corporeal. There's a vaguely human shape visible through them, an actual person. The same person, in all of them.

    "M...or...e... n...eed... mo...re... sl...ee...ve...s..."

    Attacks do come. The Mindflayers raise their staves, and a barrage of deadly ice hails down without warning.

>> SUMMARY[Aranea Highwind] >> Behind: two hostile mindflayers. Ahead: one, at the power plant, fighting imperials. Something is wrong about them though. Ice spells at party! (the ones grouped up, anyway)

    "I should hope I'm not what you're looking for," Merlin says to Tharja, flashing her a gentle smile as he lifts the light up a bit before adding, "Since that would mean we'd met before without me knowing, and I'm sure I would not forget you." He extends a hand towards her, "Call me Lin. I'm..." He thinks of a good thing to say here. 

    "A wandering magician of little-to-no worth who gives people bad advice." He decides to declare himself as he lifts his staff up and looks around a bit, "Truth be told, I was taking an evening stroll. Stretching my legs after not being able to for a long time. I seem to have wound up in quite the situation, though, yes?" He asks to Tharja before sighing a bit. 

    His glowing staff does provide both illumination and a good beacon to gather people towards. He tilts his head at the approaching monsters, "My. What have you made, I wonder?" 

    "Very well! The time has come for this worthless magician to take action, I suppose!" With a flourish of his staff and a gathering of energy, Merlin prepares for combat. Those waiting with bated breath to see the legendary spells that he may have stored deep within himself and the gradiose power of a Caster-class Servant had best prepare themself for... 

    Merlin to reach into the sleeve of his robes and pull out a longsword which he holds in the hand not carrying a staff. "Come!" He declares, pointing the tip towards the monsters.

>> SUMMARY[Merlin] >> Merlin prepares to fight. Contrary to what many believe a Caster should do, he pulls out a sword. Also chatting with Tharja a bit.

    "Oh, hey kid! You following me again?" The Exo seems to smirk, if briefly at Yahiko. "As for what's going on? Something about monsters? Someone didn't pay their electricity bill?"

    He pauses, glancing past the young swordsman towards the movement from the alley at his Ghost's mental head's up. For a moment he looks just about to raise his Ace of Spades at the digimon, but then the light anomaly some blocks down seems to be more than just some accidental electrical flare up. "Hmmm, so is that a good thing or a bad thing? Anybody?" He's entirely open to suggestions, but so long as nothing is being blasted at them, he'll be optimistic. Clearly that's the direction to go, and with a shrug and a gesture, he starts onwards.

    ...or...he would have, except that it seems Yahiko's a bit off in who might be needing help at this point as it seems to be them. "That's...probably not good." Yeah. Less talking, more shooting, Cayde. He takes his own advice at that point and lets loose with a few blazing shots from his hand cannon at the nearest of the ghostly forms. Sure, they don't look like they might have physical form but he's shot at plenty of things like that before and he's not about to change tactics right now. -at least, not until they rain down ice upon them. "Watch it!" he shouts at the others, throwing an arm up as he skirts back towards Yahiko and whoever else might have trailed along with them.

Athena certainly gets Demi's attention as well, was she an android like herself or cyborg? She doesn't have a chance to ask her before her sensors pick up Cayde as she hears the world child but then realizes she's she never met him before so it wasn't directed at her.

 Noticing the mindflayers approaching she finally decides to speak up, "I've seen some unusual human programming but it seems impractical for an aquatic creature that large to be able survive on land." Then again Demi doesn't know a whole lot about how magic works either. She notices the sudden ice being hurled at them and takes cover behind one of the cars. She hates using for a shield but she can always repair it later. Even if she's resistant to the cold getting water inside her would certainly cause trouble.

    Tharja tilts her head to the side at Merlin's introduction, her raven colored locks spilling down around her cloaked shoulder as she does so. Something that Merlin says amuses the woman for a ghostly whisper of laughter escapes from her. "Or this is simply the first time you have actually noticed me. Perhaps I have always been there. Just...out...of...sight." Tharja quips back darkly chuckling to herself once more, not actually introducing herself at all. Despite her ominous arrival, it does indeed appear that this Dark Mage is in good humor this evening...for now.

    Her nearly grey shift to look around their odd surroundings before shifting to look back at him. "You seemed to have picked a terrible night to take an accursed stroll through these streets. Dark magic surrounds us even now, and I do not speak of my own." She murmurs, raising a hand up into the night air as she does so. The Plegian woman suddenly throws her arm back, a dusty, black colored tome appearing in her hand which she then takes and hugs against herself. "I suppose this is the quickest way to find the source of all these ill portents." She deadpans before trailing after Merlin at a comfortable distance behind him.

    Yahiko chuckles, about to answer, but his mirth is short-lived. Not just for the situation, but because the situation worsens so rapidly. "I'm not, but I think I'm happy to have someone else nearby. I'm not really good with range," he admits. The boy tightens his grip on his sword, seeing trouble coming. He has no idea if Bewul is one of the opponents, glancing at the digimon, but neither is he rushing to attack yet...

    Well, not until ice attacks are coming. Dashing aside when Cayde shouts a warning, Yahiko tumbles, coming up with that odd reverse-blade at the ready. He quickly analyzes the situation, then calls out, "Think you can give me enough cover to get in close?" Introductions will have to wait, but at least he can assume Bewul isn't an enemy, nor anyone else being blasted.

     The small creature turns around when he hears someone speak, raising one arm to wave back, "Hi!, I am not sure what's going on, except it seems bad." he says loudly, moving closer to Cayde still, due to the light, "Maybe they know what's going on." he adds, moving a bit faster. He does not really look threatening in this form, even waving a few times in a friendly gesture. He was facing away from the Mindflayers, so he does not really notice what is going on until the shooting starts. 
     The digimon wastes no time, rushing closer to Cayde, since the attacks were not aimed at him!, hoping to reach the others and figure out things. The moment he sees a shard of ice flying around, he decides to take things seriously, his form glowing brightly, as the small lizard thing is replaced by a tall, quite lanky... foxlike creature, long claws, and long muzzle!, i tmight be more than a bit scary. Still, despite being a larger target, seems to be far faster on four legs, and quickly rushes for behind the nearest, large enough thing, a small delivery truck parked nearby. He tries poke his head out to glance at the 'monsters', launching an attack in their direction, that maw opening wide as a blast of dark energy is fired towards one of the pair, not a particularly strong attack, but an attack nonetheless.

    Okay, people are fighting. And though Athena doesn't realize Demi has detected her light cybernetics, she's paying enough attention to hear the commotion, and that instantly gets her eyes that way. Is that... yes, she knows two of them. The airship will need to wait for now. Her rifle comes up to snap a shot off at the mind flayers near the group nearby, but it's not aimed with precision. It's just cover fire so she can group up with Cayde, Yahiko, Bewul and Demi. "Cayde, Yahiko! I'd say 'welcome to my world' again, but these things aren't native. Any ideas?"

    Incorporeal or not, the daemons seem easy enough to harm. Blazing shots from Cayde seem to wound one of them just fine, black miasma pouring from the holes made. Using a car as cover proves effective too, in the sense that being behind something is better than being behind nothing. It's crushed under huge icicles now but better the car than Demi!

    Cover fire from Athena does injure the daemons too. They look big and intimidating but they're unusually squishy. It's not right. They feel stronger than they really are. In fact, between Cayde and Athena, one's already down, dissolving into black miasma. The other two that are still up - the one behind, and the one far ahead fighting the imperials - reel in pain momentarily.

    And then more come. Five more mindflayers emerge from the shadows, attempting to surround the group. Six in close proximity now, plus the one at the power plant.

    One raises its staff, trying to inflict confusion onto Demi and Cayde. Four break the ice spells out again, massive chunks of ice forming and crashing down towards Athena, Yahiko and even Bewul, though he's more catching collateral and direct attacks. And one detaches from the group, pursuing after Merlin and Tharja, telekinesis ripping through the streets in their direction for a blunt, physical-sort of attack.

    "Mo...re... gi...ve... me... mor...e bo...d...ies..."
    It's probably creepy how they all talk in unison.

    AT THE POWER PLANT, red weapons are shining brightly. The soldiers with rifles seem to be backing away to let more soldiers step forward, wielding large, cavalry-lance like weapons covered in red lights. When they fire, they fire strings and ropes of red light. Are they trying to capture one of those things?

    "Oh I doubt that. See, this is the first time in a long time I've been able to leave my home." Merlin points out to Tharja, "And I would have seen you otherwise." He tilts his head and gives her another smile, clearly enjoying the quipping back and forth between the two of them. 

    As the Spectre seems to come towards him and Tharja, he looks up a bit. The telekinesis ripping through the streets prompts the wizard to slam his staff down on the ground again. A runic circle surrounds him, "Miserable creature. Let me show you a trick that I once used to amuse a King in his youth. Invisible Air!" Merlin cries as he seems to erect a barrier of solid air in front of himself. The telekinesis impacts it and there's a blowback of force all around him as the solid air tries to hold the force back. 

    The force of the wind around him from blocking the attack blows his hood back off his head, exposing the long locks of iridescent hair that almost flows all the way to the ground, shimmering like a rainbow any time the light catches it. Merlin dashes forward towards the monster, swinging his sword in an upward arc as it releases a flash of light before vanishing from his hand after the strike. As a follow-up, he grips his staff in both hands and swings the shining side like a club for the mindflayer.

>> SUMMARY[Merlin] >> Defensive Barrier. Chatting with Tharja. Hood gets blown off. Arts -> Arts card combo.

    "I don't think they care about science right now!" That's shouted in Demi's direction as the Exo flinches at the impact of a few shards of ice off his arm. Ice is terrible and this little storm isn't just pinging ice balls at them. While he's no Titan, Cayde still knows he's probably a little more sturdier than the rest of his present company, about the only reason he's moved to play shield as he tries to line up a few more shots. Thankfully nothing's gouged out an optic or done more than scar his armor, but it still stings!

    Cayde's about to respond to Yahiko when the creature he'd nearly fired at earlier suddenly speaks up. Well, he's glad he didn't because that would have just made things awkward, now wouldn't it? Of course, with everything going on it probably doesn't need any more explanation for the moment, not that Cayde has much of one to offer. Also, somehow Bewul's gotten bigger. Less to babysit then, all the better!

    "Yeah, I'll cover you-" he says, finally addressing Yahiko, even as his Ghost reports incoming fire- familiar at that! "Hey Athena! You needa have tighter customs around here. Just sayin'!"

    What was he going to- Oh, right. Cover! Without further hesitation, the Exo dashes forward, arms leveling his gun to take more shots at the thing. He starts to aim for the staff and suddenly falters at the zing that follows. "Agh, what was that-??" Stumbling back, he shakes his head, his Ghost's voice slightly panicky. "'m fine, think I'm fine," he mutters, swinging his gun around- except he's aiming at the wrong targets, whoops.

    Sleeves... bodies... Athena is hearing this, but it isn't making a lot of sense. "They're after more sleeves... but they aren't native. That's strange." She snaps off another shot, then hisses as her frosted armor makes the motion stiff. The shot goes wide, so she takes a more careful one at the nearby one trying to surround.

    "Watch where you're aiming!" Athena calls out, before she takes the shot she lined up. "Look everyone... they're trying to cut us off. Drive away the ones behind us and then try to join up with the power plant, get them all in one place! Maybe Aranea is there and has some idea of these." Those ARE her ships, right?

"I wonder how they would be effected by electricity?" Demi suggests to the others, the mindflayers certainly look aquatic after all. She doesn't get a chance to test this herself as she's brought under the influence of one of the monster's spells. Of course Demi's mind might be difficult to influence to someone who's not familar with her technology.

 Still it's certainly possible as 1's and 0's start to become jumbled in the android's head and she tries to shake the effect off, she tries to speak but it ends up coming out in binary, "01001000 01110101 01101000 00111111". She feels compelled to draw her Impacter rifle and start shooting everything around her." It seems like the programming error as effected her targeting ability as well. She would be rather upset if she aware that was going on.

"We shall see about that."

Tharja says those words in a bare, ominous whisper to Merlin before turning her attention to the matter at hand. She prepares her own counter, but sees that Merlin has taken charge on that front. Using him as a magical meat-shield, Tharja merely steps safely behind him where she lets him weather the attack while she uses this opportunity to begin her own incantations. The black tome in her hands flips open and the pages begin to turn themselves as first the tome and then the entire Dark Mage's body glowing in perilous purple portent. A gleam appears in the hex-user's eyes as she feels that she has gathered enough energy thanks to Merlin's shield take the force of the blow. Stepping out from Merlin's shadow, Tharja raises her time high in the air while her other hand is placed palm first towards the attacking creature. "Begone!" Tharja proclaims before dark swirling clouds of energy gather at her outstretched palm before a sudden beam of purple light explodes forth at it seeks to inflict grievous harm upon the mindflayer by attempting to pierce its unholy heart with this beam of dark magic.

    It is only then that Tharja notices the other nearby group of people that were also dealing with these creatures. "More guinea pigs have come to play," remarks the dark-clad woman with a chuckle. Whether she is referring to the other 'heroes' or the other monsters is unclear.

    Yahiko asked for cover, but these things seem intelligent... and fragile. He'll need to be careful if he wants to keep his 'no kill' oath going. He's ready to try to do just that, though! If he can manage, anyway. The idea is to dash for one of the mind flayers... but the 'cover fire' seems to be headed toward him instead! It looks like it's up to Merlin and Tharja to deal with the others, because Yahiko has to dive behind a dumpster, his shoulder wrenched from suddenly being forced to take cover from his own allies. "That isn't what I meant!" Something weird is going on here...

    That's why Yahiko chooses to react by kicking the dumpster toward Cayde and Demi, to have his cover suddenly be a threat that won't actually take out his allies(?) permanently. NOW he can look for a way to keep the mind flayers from surrounding them.

>> SUMMARY[Yahiko Myojin] >> Kicking a dumpster toward the confused people, but hurting his shoulder in the process.

     Seems the situation is only getting messier as more of those things are appearing!. He hears what Athena says and nods, "I'll try to help." he calls back, glancing back at the monsters as they seem to focus on his allies. He decides he won't waste time, "I'll charge them, check what is going on with them!" he calls to Yahiko, not really thinking too much. 
      Before Athena can really reply, he is already running from behind the cover, rushing closer to Mindflayers, he HAS to do something!. Bewul's form starts to glow brightly as the fox changes one more time, the lanky thing replaced by something looking like... a very large metal dog statue, the heavier steps on the road are certainly a clear sign that the creature might be solid metal, or close to. He grunts as one of the shards grace his shoulder or head, metal noises coming from his hide, not quite as nimble as before, being a far more stockier form, but he really believes there is not much time to waste. As soon as he gets close enough, he jumps at the closest of the figure, his heavy frame flipping in the air as the armored bulldog looking creature shifts into what seems like a large mallet, slamming against the creature!, he is not sure he can take out all of them, but he is sure he can buy some time.

>> GAME >> Bewul spends an Edge for: Digivolution to Ultimate

>> SUMMARY[Bewul] >> Bewul somehow decides that charging/distracting the things might be a good idea, and digivolves to Ultimate, slamming into one of the four creatures in the process.

    Merlin's blade cuts through the mindflayer, wounding it deeply - and his staff, illuminated, reveals to him the daemon's weakness to light. Not to holy magic, to powerful sources of light outright. Before the weapon even clubs the daemon, some of its ethereal skin scorches and burns off, as if turning to ash, making the strike connect that much harder.

    It goes without saying that when Tharja decides to release a lance of purple light in its direction, it pierces it all the way through. The mindflayer breaks apart, dissolving into black miasma.

    The death ripples through the other mindflayers. Now that two have fallen, it's easier to notice that the other ones are... slightly less corporeal. They were already flickering, semi-transparent, now they're a bit moreso.

    Cayde's aim is off! Not totally, entirely off, and he'll be able to shake the weird sensation off in a few moments, but enough that he doesn't manage to disarm one of the mindflayers, so much as put a few holes in it. Another round of covering fire from Athena peppers it, too, the daemon roaring in a completely inhuman voice.

    There's an answer to Demi's question, but she'll have to find out when she isn't talking in binary and momentarily confused! On the bright side it wears off at the slightest hit, or on its own. Just slap her hard enough! Or let the mindflayers do it.

    Kicking that dumpster toward those two might solve that problem neatly. It also affords Yahiko some cover because there's a huge, metallic object suddenly sliding across the battlefield and distracting the mindflayers.

    Bewul, meanwhile, spits darkness at one of the mindflayers. It actually does a good job of finishing off the wounded one, more black mist being all that's left of the daemon. As the others reel, the Digimon transforms, turning larger and deadlier. And then he pins a mindflayer hard enough to slam into a truck that's been tipped over already.

    It's dead, Jim.

    Bewul gets a faceful of that black miasma as the daemon vanishes. It's... Wrong, in a lot of ways. Certainly smells and tastes awful. But in this small a dose it's not harmful. Not even sickening. Just feels very wrong.

    There remains three with the party now. They all raise their staves, and a psychic screech resonates outward in a circle. It's not physically painful, but having someone scream in your head isn't fun.

    "M...O...RE... NE...EED... MO...RE... SL...EEV...ES... TO... HAV...E... MOR...E... PO...W...ER...!"

    They say hi, by the way.

    AT THE POWER PLANT, meanwhile, the Mindflayer there has gotten fully strung up in those red strings and chains. The soldiers with the weird magitek lances are straining to keep it from breaking out, and one of the three dropships is start to lower, its doors still open, the ship swinging around to possibly load the thing onboard.

    It's not without reprisal. Twenty more daemons appear. All the same. All identical. All flickery, ghostly, with that human shape inside them. They're between the party and the imperials, and splitting off about 50/50. Athena might be on to something that grouping them up might be the best way to deal with them, but it's not looking like the imperials came without self-serving goals just to protect this place.

>> SUMMARY[Aranea Highwind] >> 3 ded, 3 still attacking party with psychic screech. At the power plant, the imperials are getting ready to load theirs onto a ship. 20 more mindflayers show up between the party and the power plant, splitting off 50/50 on the aggro.

    ~Cayde, you're firing at friendlies! Hang on, I think I've got it-~ The Guardian's Ghost yammers in his head, at least getting Cayde to cease his random gunfire. Probably just as well his aim had been pretty atrocious- but it's hard to get a steady shot when your visuals and your internal readings overlay aren't synching. 

    "What the hell just happ- oh crap!" That's about when a dumpster comes barrelling towards him, courtesy of Yahiko. It slams into the Exo with a loud, ringing metallic thunk. 

    Well, in a roundabout way that kinda worked out for Yahiko?

Of course Demi's not expecting to being hit by a dumpster of all things so she doesn't bother to get out of the way. Still, the small android weighs more than one might expect and sparks go flying as metal hits metal knocking her over, "Rebooting systems...". She monotones and her green eyes have a line through the middle of them for a second before it vanishes and she makes a beeping sound. "Diminutive Freyna-Class Android back online...systems operating at 78% capacity." Suddenly she gets back up on her feet and the emotion returns to her voice, "What just happened?"

    "Oi oi, you know. We make quite a team." Merlin smiles at Tharja, "A balance, yes? Light and Dark. A natural combination." Merlin taps his chin a bit, "But really, this is all a bit of a hassle. Perhaps I shall end this quickly." 

    Merlin places the bottom of his glowing staff on the ground and then spreads one hand to the side, "Let us speak of the king's tale." Merlin's posture changes in a moment, something about his entire demeanor seems to adjust itself and a warmth begins to flow off of him. 

    "The inner sea of the planet." Merlin chants, looking up towards the sky as a soft breeze flows around him. 

    "The platform of the watchtower." The words fall from Merlin's mouth like a gentle rain from spring, washing away the world around him. 

    "From the edge of paradise you shall hear my words." The Magus of Flowers shuts his eyes as if he can feel the sun on his face. 

    "Your story shall be full of blessings." Abruptly, under Merlin's feet, the world seems to fall away, or rather... fall downward. In actuality, Merlin is standing atop a Tower. 

    "Let only those without sin pass." As the Tower finishes rising, the world seems to fade away as a new one comes in its place. 

    "Garden of Avalon!" Merlin finally cries out. 

    For a brief moment, a single moment in time, there is no Chicago. The world is replaced by what can only be described as Heaven. All those within the city will describe it the same way: A gentle field of flowers, a soft breeze that seems to caress and soothe their souls, and most importantly the warm glow of sunshine on their faces. The city, dark and dreary, is gone for those moments. 

    Avalon, the fields of safety and paradise. A place mortals never get to walk. For those fighting the daemons this day, it provides them invigoration. It soothes their wounds. It heals and mends them. It gives them energy. 

    And for those daemons, the Garden of Avalon may be hell itself. Pure, unfiltered sunshine that rolls across the world, that falls without discrimination and illuminates. 

    And then... just as instantaneously as it appeared, it ends. And the world snaps back into place. And Merlin is standing where he was before.

>> GAME >> Merlin spends an Edge for: Garden of Avalon: The Forever-Sealed Utopia

    "You two started shooting at us!" Athena calls out, motioning for them to join her. "Get over here and let's lead them over toward the rest of the fighting! This divide and conquer thing is a real mess when we're the ones being divided!"

    She's laying down cover fire now though. "Hey! You... dog-thing! Regroup with us, it's dangerous to go alone!" She's not scolding, actually. That move was pretty heroic and gave them time to get a breather.

    Athena is calling for Bewul to come back to them, so... Yahiko might as well help with that. He does use the sword that PROTECTS after all. "Sorry," he says to Demi and Cayde, before rushing toward Bewul. He's going to lift his blade up defensively, to give the digimon some cover of his own while they retreat toward the others, and the power plant if they can. "At least we're keeping them busy, right?"

    Busy here, means they aren't bothering the civilians, at least as he figures it. "What /are/ these things?" the boy asks, grumbling in confusion at what he's facing. "They make my head hurt!" He's going to need something on his forehead or a painkiller after this.

     Seems pleased that the creature was smashed away with that much ease, even if the miasma left in it's place is not pleasant. He shakes his head a little, just to clear his mind, and seems to prepare to hit the rest of the Mindflyers, standing tall and starting to howl, when he is hit by the psychic screech, the large metal creature staggering a bit, snarling and pawing at his head, his aborted attack seems to produce a small shockwave coming from him but it is little more than just a display of light, too weak to do anything. He seems quite affected by the mental attack... did it just flicker?. He is certainly extremely grateful, and confused, when the world around him seems to change for a few seconds, shaking his head as the screams filling it fade awau, and his waning energy is recovered. 
      The big armored dog seems willing to listen to an idea of regrouping, and 'quickly' charges his way back to Athena, thunderous steps behind him, "On my way!". he bellows, panting as he tries to catch up with the rest, glad the friendly fire incident seems over, "What was that?" he calls out.

    Tharja peers at Merlin. She has actually stopped paying attention to the battle at hand and was now staring at him after what he said that to her. The dark cogs within Tharja's mind turn. "-We- make a good team?" These words seem to puzzle her. "Do not lie to me or I will curse you for all eternity." She warns as she hugs her tome, unsure of whether Merlin was telling the truth or not. She could perform a hex to divine that, but it seems the mind-flayers have taken upon themselves to so rudely interrupt her inner musings by trying to kill her.

    Tharja's typically calm and collected manner is stripped away by the psychic assault. Not many would dare look into her mind, but daemonic mindflayers would be of the ilk that could manage such a feat. The Plegian Dark Mage is struck with one mighty magical migraine that is strong enough to cause her to hunch over in pain. Both of her hands go to her forehead as she tries to soothe the pain, groaning at the sudden acute pain that wracks her mind. Her once held tome disappears when she had let go of it and it the entire episode leaves Tharja momentarily stunned.

    But then Merlin's magic rolls over her in its terrible brightness and warmth which still very much has its intended effect on her despite her preference for darkness. Her migraine goes away, and her thoughts are hers again. A low rumble can be heard that turns into laughter as Tharja regains (?) her composure. "Ha....ha...ha...hahahaha!" Recovered, her purple tinted eyes glow with malice. The mind-flayers were close enough together. Yes, close enough indeed. With a flick of her wrist, a new tome appears in her hand. This one is a pallid yellow in comparison to the black from before. "Hahahahaha!" Perhaps Tharja has -not- recovered from the mindflayers psychic attack afterall. Far above the heads of the creatures that attacked her, storm clouds quickly form. They swirl and fester until the laughing Dark Mage suddenly brings her hand down in dramatic fashion, her tome glowing bright yellow as she does so. Sudden a large thunderbolt streaks forth from the gathered clouds, seeking to electrify the three mind-flayers that launched the psychic assault against everyone.

    Great light shines through the district. For the people stuck in their homes, it's the soothing relief they needed. For the people fighting the daemons, it's a momentary reprieve. For the daemons, it is in fact hell.

    Exposure to direct sunlight scorches their ghostly skin badly; the creatures lose color, turning ashy and grey. The burst of sunlight is too brief to banish them outright, but it's enough to seriously weaken the lot of them. They're crippled, now. Some have dropped their staves, even.

    That makes things a lot easier for everyone, needless to say. Athena's shots, normal rounds as they might be, now penetrate deep enough to wound the daemon behind her target too, their bodies crumbling in a mix of ash and black miasma.

    Tharja, meanwhile, answers Demi's question. She wasn't too far off, calling them water-bound creatures. The daemons ARE in fact weak to electricity, and the cackling witch reduces the three that dared scream in her mind to dust and black smoke with that crack of lightning.

    Bewul charges through again - this time he can easily claw or bite two of the daemons out of the way, and per Athena's instructions making a way through the beasts towards the power plant isn't hard. It helps that the Mindflayers are all disoriented or crippled, too - every death slows them down, every death seems to make their bodies kind of... lose consistency. They're less and less there. They're not even screaming about bodies or power anymore, for a change!

    It also helps that Yahiko's playing defender. The few Mindflayers that do try to attack, use their size and strength to swat at him with their staves, but his skills with the blade keep them from harming anyone, especially Bewul as he charges through.

    AT THE POWER PLANT, it seems the imperials have had to scramble in a hurry. The sunlight from Merlin's magic weakened their prey, but it also threatened to kill it, given how weakened it is. The daemon's gotten shoved into one of the two blue ships, and a number of the soldiers have gotten back onboard. Actually, all but three.

    Aranea emerges from the other side of the plant, or rather lands, following a long jump, to stand by the remaining two men. They're not armored like the others, and she signals for them to head inside. "Biggs, Wedge, I want this damn place outputting power again in the next five minutes, you get me? I'll keep 'em off our cargo if they try anything."

    They nod, and rush into the building.

    There's only about fifteen of the mindflayers left, and they're looking less and less impressive with each passing minute. But they ARE recovering their strength and color, slowly. And regrouping, too. Might not be a bad time to round them up and blast the lot of them at once, among other potential plans.

>> SUMMARY[Aranea Highwind] >> About 15 Mindflayers left, but no attacks from them given everything that happened. Aranea's guarding the ship that loaded a daemon up. Two soldiers are off to fix the power plant, apparently?

"I'm sorry! It must have exploited a bug in my programming somehow." Demi sounds rather sincere as she raises her arm, "I'll make sure it can't do that again!" She figures it might be best to go on the defensive for now to make sure she doesn't try to hurt them again as one of her hands starting glowing with green energy. X shaped force fields surround all of them protecting them all against magic and hopefully preventing them from getting mind controlled again.

    Now that things are actually under some semblance of control, Athena can take stock of her own situation. Her side is still being favored from the earlier ice attack that got through her armor, but she's able to fight, and now she's picking her shots with her energy rifle to see if it's more effective. The armored goddess sighs, "They're after bodies, but they don't seem to know how to get them. Looks like they're all... linked or something too."

    The shimmering barrier that pops up gets a thankful look to Demi. Looks like knocking some sense into the android was a good idea. "Thanks for the assist." And with Bewul as their pointman, they're making some progress. Enough that she can spot Aranea. Athena, of course, doesn't have any hesitation in blasting any mind flayer she sees. "ARANEA! Do you know what these things are and why they're looking for sleeves? They aren't native to /my/ world..." Though they do look vaguely familiar somehow.

    Merlin inhales, and then Merlin exhales once more, letting his arm fall to his side as he looks around, "Well. I have to say. I'm not used to doing so much." Merlin mutters to himself. His free hand reaches back over his head to grip the side of his hood. He pulls it back up over his head to obscure his face once more. 

    'What would he say, I wonder, seeing them in such a state?' Merlin thinks to himself as he pulls the hood back up. The equally unspoken conclusion moves through his mind afterwards: 'And what would he do if our positions were switched?' 

    Merlin smiles a bit under his hood and then swings his staff. The light extinguishes from it as he makes the motion. He looks towards Tharja, watching her as she laughs and summons lightning down upon the mindflayers. Her magic was strong, and to command such an element demonstrates a strong aptitude. Merlin leans against his staff for a few moments, pondering the situation. 

    "I believe that..." Merlin considers, "I have done enough for one day. Any more and they may notice I am helping them." Merlin decides as he grips his staff. The numbers are dwindling, the monsters are being herded, "And this is..." Merlin searches for the word, "For them to fix, anyway." 

    With that decided, unless actually stopped, the hooded Magus will begin walking away.

    As the daemons that attacked her are reduced to dust, Tharja's laughter begins to subside into a soft chuckle until that too fades. Those conjured storm clouds also disappear which leaves the sky much the way it was. She then closes her magical tome and affectionately pats the outside cover. Her purple eyes now survey the battlefield at large, taking in the sights of the power plant and all the activity in that direction. The nature of the building is unknown to the out-of-time-and-place dark mage, but she discern that it must be important for so many military types to be fluctuating around it. The others fighting the monsters get glances too. An android, some sort of fighting creature, a swordswoman, and some strange archer-mages. It is an interesting and assorted crew that has gathered in Chicago of all places to be sure.

    But once again, Tharja looks to Merlin and she nods towards him for his aid so far which is high praise coming from one such as herself. Just as Merlin turns to walk away, Tharja stirs, but she does not try to stop him. She simply let's him get a head start before starting to follow him. Great sources of light do cast long shadows.

    Nonstop defense is just as hard as nonstop fighting! By the time they're all grouped up he's panting and... wait, what are these soldiers doing? Maybe he should have like... more information. "I feel like we've missed something important."

    Sigh. Well, he'll smack himself later.

    Bringing up the rear due to having some issues with a dumpster, Cayde empties the rest of his rounds at the lingering Mindflayers as they're distracted by the swift samurai. He's swapping out his emptied cartridge for another full round when they come up within sight of the plant, slam, click, spin. While he's not sure what's going on, he figures it's best following Athena's lead. He'll take the glowing green of Demi's doing as a good sign, confirmed by his Ghost's reports as it continues to monitor the area.

    Whatever that other fancy light show was, it seems to have helped as well given the state and readings of the remaining creatures. Cayde continues watching their backs as he catches up with Yahiko. He offers the kid a pat. For a good job. And a 'I forgive you for ramming me with a dumpster.'

    "Above my paygrade, sorry," Aranea replies, shrugging to indicate she's not entirely sure herself. "At a guess though, the Chief Researcher did something stupid like try to transfer that guy I brought back's mind into a daemon's body. Guessing all these daemons are the rest of his bodies. Sucks to be him."

    It's not entirely correct but she wouldn't have a way to know. No, rather, she probably doesn't want to know what the blazes Besithia is doing in his lab.

    "We'll have power back up in a moment here, those daemons knocked the generators offline. Got my two best engineers on the job. The light ought to take care of the rest of them." She was only asked to bring one back, and she's all too happy to help put the remaining ones six feet under.

    "Anything else I can help you with?"

    Tharja and Merlin sulk off. Demi's got the group protected, Yahiko's catching his breath. Cayde is making up for getting knocked around a bit by racking up kills. The weakened Mindflayers topple over in droves, and due to Demi's shield, they can't so much as fire back against the party. Ice and telekinetic assaults crash, harmlessly, into the field of light.

    Then power returns to the district. The futuristic neon lights of the buildings, of the streets, click back online. The daemons screech, shrivelling up as they burn away into nothing but black misma, which soon disappears as well.

    Well, that's been handled pretty well, at least.

    "Think that's my cue," Aranea says to Athena. "Sorry 'bout the mess. I'd say something like 'it won't happen again' but that's not my say. I think someone's taken a bit too much interest in your world's technology. Probably a matter of time before he sends me to fetch some sleeving equipment 'by any means necessary'."

    Another shrug, but Aranea then glances up at her red ship. "Well, see you around! And the rest of you too~."

    Best not stay, the odds aren't in her favor. She leaps up, straight for her ship. Moments later, all three dropships are gearing up to depart.