[Day: Sunday, April 17th. Time: Midnight] [The lot of you teleport onto the observation deck, along with Shika and Yusuke Fukuyen. The place is in bad shape, looking like a battle just took place here. Probably because it did. Over towards the main elevator are the Arcana, in various disarray. Some are poised to fight, some are trying hard not to be noticed, some are taking care of the wounded and/or dead.] (Yay not having to burn DR on teleporting in!) [The people you assume are the Lovers are at the opposite side of the deck, past the outer railing. Yes, past. They're floating in the air, a handsome man and a beautiful woman in their late thirties, hands clasped as though they were doing the waltz. The man's in a nice suit, the woman's in a pretty dress. They and their clothes devoid of any color. They glow a bright white.] [Since Saki has to walk, you beat her to the top! Woo!] [Start!] * Haruko quickly looks over the wounded to see if any are at immediate risk of dying. * Taki looks around trying to find both the wounded and the lovers and just trying to figure out what the hell is going on up here. (Beat her by a great deal, looks like.) * Katie blinks, taking it in, and then dashes over to the hurt. "Taki," she calls. [The wounded are towards the elevators, where I said they were :P] (Then that's where I'm going. :P) * Taki nods and runs over there! (How many of them are there?) ( Ummmmm ) (And any near dying?) * Taki also lets go of Satoshi to do this. * Kaede narrows his eyes at the scene and curses mildly, looking over the hurt to see if there's anyone they know. * Satoshi gazes over the wounded before finally focusing on the Lovers. (They're just floating, and making no other moves at the moment?) ( Senshiro, Toshiki, Akito, Takeo, Sumire, Matthias, and Mamiya]) (Who's Mamiya again?) (Mamiya is Temperance, for those who forgot.) [The Lovers both turn their heads at the same time to regard you, but they do nothing, yet. Takeo and Akito are both lying on the ground, looking pretty bloody. Takeo's breathing, Akito isn't.] (Akemi and Soleil should be at the subway. Probably Miho, too.) [Hinako's not looking in the best mental condition, either, what with cluthing her head and hyperventilating.] * Haruko looks to Taki. "We probably have half a minute. I suggest evacuating the wounded." Haruko focuses her attention on the lovers though. She lets her water pool fall and goes watery herself, preparing to put up her wall if the attacks start. * Katie checks Akito immediately. "" she says quietly and to herself. "" She shakes her head and starts checking Takeo's vitals. "Taki, here." * RowynWorkyn is now known as Kaede [Sumire's next to Takeo, trying to make sure he's comfortable. She looks freaked.] What happened? [The Lovers speak! At the same time. "Where is she? Bring her! Bring Saki Morikawa!"] * Taki comes to where Katie indicateds, she stifens for a moment as she sees Akito, but then she kneals down to put an hand on Sumire. (The one without the Cup in it.) * Kaede keeps half an eye on the Lovers as he goes forward, hissing under his breath and speaking very low. "This isn't good. It's not like they weren't used to fighting or anything. I can get try the elevators to get people down that way, but I don't know how much I want to reveal." (That for Katie's ears only, or loud enough for others to hear?) (And that was mostly for Katie, because he didn't want to risk the Lovers overhearing.) * Satoshi sends to Haruko. ~What should I be doing to check people's condition?~ [Sumire sobs. "It was horrible! Takeo and the other one tried to fight, and were swatted like flies." She points accusingly at Hinako. "It's her fault!"] * Haruko thinks back. ~Should I talk back to them.. probably.~ ~Get them together and out of here.~ ~Try elevators may work. Saki's taking them.~ * Haruko replies to the Lovers from her watery state. "She's coming." * Taki looks at Sumire. "I'm, I'm gonna get you out of here." [Sumire shakes her head. "If we try to leave, they'll kill us!"] * Haruko thinks more. ~Okay, no elevator.~ ~Dang, they're flying, can't even run them over.~ ~Maybe try to get everyone to touch hands.~ ~Tell Taki to port when they get distracted.~ * Taki looks over at the floating couple and shakes her head. * Katie looks and then nods slowly. "Okay. Taki. Fix Takeo." ~When are they going to be distracted, though?~ * Haruko keeps her vision focused on the Lovers. No good to have the party killed because she was slow with the shields. Scotty would be angry at her. ~Saki~ How did the Lovers hurt them? * Taki looks at the cup in her hand and the nearest source of water. "Haruko? I need some water, please." * Haruko sends over a cupful of water absent mindedly. It floats in the air next to Taki. * Taki scoops it up with the cup and brings it to Takeo. * Satoshi walks over to where the injured are and kneels down. * Taki then kneels down and raises his head a bit so there's a chance he won't drown when she pours the water into his mouth. * Kaede looks over at the Lovers for a moment and keeps an eye on them too, knelt near the group. * Taki takes a deep breath and does it. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Taki (2d6) and gets a natural 4 for a result of 4. (I'll keep that as my soul roll!) [Takeo's wounds heal like magic!] * Taki lets her breath out and looks to see who's the next most wounded. She also mutters under her breath. "Thank God that works... who next... who next?" [Matthias appears in that way he always does. "Nobody else is injured. Not yet, at least."] Good. * Kaede keeps a good eye on them. "What do they do, exactly?" ( "They... They... force you to ping out!" ) (GASP!) (THE HORROR!) (O noes!) (They lag you out and then beat on your defenseless body until you go linkdead!) * Katie checks Takeo over again. She smiles weakly at Sumire, then goes to check on Hinako, who's... uh, going crazy. On the way, she blinks at Mamiya. "When did you get here?" * Haruko ripples with relieved at the lack of other wounded. "Satoshi.." Hmm? [Mamiya answers quickly, "I've been here." And continues to hide in her corner.] * Haruko makes a quiet shhing sound. ~What?~ * Taki clutches the cup in both hands as she looks at Akito's body. ~Looks like there's no evacuation.~ ~Not yet at least.. it will probably.. can't focus on that.~ ~When this is over, we may be fleeing fast.~ ~Please take Akito's body when we go. He deserves a proper funeral.~ * Haruko 's thoughts are more focused than usual, but also have a constant nervous edge. * Katie just sort of nods at Mamiya. She turns her attention to Hinako and lays a hand on her shoulder, gently shaking her. "Hinako?" ~I... I will. And I'll get ready to move fast if we need to.~ * Taki tears her eyes away from the body and looks out at The Lovers. [Hinako turns her head towards Katie. "This wasn't supposed to happen. Why did it happen this way?"] (Because someone was screwing with your head.) [Apparently the elevators are working, because the doors open with a *ding*. Saki steps out.] They tricked you. Put something in your head... it's not your fault. * Haruko 's water ripples more as she gets ready to raise her shield. * Taki keeps watching the dancers. * Satoshi sends to Taki. ~Get ready to port people out of here if the Lovers are distracted.~ * Katie looks to see Saki walk in. * Taki starts and starts to speak. "Ye..." but she catches herself and thinks the response. ~Yes. Okay, just gotta get them out. ~ [The Lovers lean forward in excitement as Saki steps by the other Arcana. She glances at Akito briefly, then turns her full attention to the Lovers. "Here I am."] [The Lovers float closer to the deck. "Morikawa! Revenge! We clawed our way out of the land of the Judged for a chance to make you suffer, as you had us!"] * Taki looks at Satoshi. She just can't help it. * Katie does, too. [Takeo rubs his head and opens his eyes. "Ugh. Man, what's going on?"] * Haruko scoots behind Saki while leaving her water in front. No point leaving herself exposed when the shield goes up. * Satoshi sends to Taki and then Katie almost immediately. ~Oh, damn. Stop looking at me?~ * Taki 's eyes widen and then she quickly looks down at the cup. [Shika and Yusuke (whom I'd forgotten about until just now), also look at Satoshi. "What?"] Takeo.. start to get up. This will probably get ugly. * Katie trusts Sumire to fill Takeo in and shakes Hinako a little more. "Come on. We need you." [Takeo blinks at Haruko, then looks at the Lovers. "Oh yeah. I got my ass kicked." He gets up.] * Satoshi sends to Katie. ~I didn't do it... I really have a lot to learn about my previous self's mistakes.~ [Hinako looks blankly at Katie. "There's nothing I can do."] ~I know. I'm sorry if it looked like I was blaming you.~ * Kaede turns away from the Lovers for a moment to look at Katie. "Is she ok-- no, obviously she's not. Why am I wasting my time with worthless questions? How can I help?" * Katie wrinkles her brow slightly. "Why not?" * Kaede goes over towards Katie to help Hinako. "I don't think you need me to tell you they're way out of our league, right?" [Hinako shakes her head. "I don't want to bring any more disaster for you all."] [Meanwhile, Saki moves up to the front line (Toshiki and Senshiro). She pauses there a bit, then steps past them. "Revenge? For what? I don't even know who the hell you are."] No, I don't think you do. And Hinako, now isn't the time. Feel bad later. We found the cause; if we're lucky, the effect is over. * Taki nods, mostly to herself. * Haruko makes sure her water keeps pace with Saki. "Takeo, how'd they bring you down?" * Haruko , for the record, is still in watery form. This may or may not confuse Takeo. But really, hardly any powers should weird people out at this point. [Takeo rubs his head. "I'm not sure. Happened fast. Some kinda energy blast?"] Right. Thanks. (Takeo gains points in Haruko's book for his amazing straight answer ability. :P) * Katie keeps her eyes on the Lovers, clenching her free hand. [The Lovers nearly screech. "Matsunaga! Our son! You killed him!" That causes Saki to pause in her tracks.] * Katie winces. * Taki looks up at them. [Shika frowns suddenly. She exchanges a glance with her brother.] (He's not dead! He's really Yusuke!) [Saki hesitates, and the Lovers use that moment to attack! Gimme init rolls!] d6+7 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Taki (d6+7) and gets a natural 5 for a result of 12. d6+6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Katie (d6+6) and gets a natural 2 for a result of 8. d6+6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Haruko (d6+6) and gets a natural 5 for a result of 11. d6+6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for RowynWorkyn (d6+6) and gets a natural 2 for a result of 8. * RowynWorkyn is now known as Kaede d6+6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Satoshi (d6+6) and gets a natural 3 for a result of 9. (Taki's going to take her self out of combat as soon as she realizes what Saki's doing.) (Unless you want to split it between sessions.) (And I'll note Haruko's readied move.) (I'd say split it.) (Better to get more of it done. It might go long anyways so may as well at least try.) ( I guess so.... It'll take me a good 10 minutes just to roll init for the NPCs anyhow x.z ) ( Meh, I'm gonna do away with init for this battle. Too much of a pain ) (Okay. ) (*nods*) (That seems practical.) (It does, and I'm probably not going to take part in it anyway, unless I do something incredibly suicidal.) (Especially since most of us probably aren't going to fight.) (Haruko will of course be participating. She has favored enemy (love). ^_~) ( Haruko, gimme another init roll. ) (XD) d6+6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Haruko (d6+6) and gets a natural 3 for a result of 9. (So 11 and 9) (Unfortunately, peace is not one of her favored enemies.) (Then she'd be the ultimate Vash slayer. Except for her lack of combat ability. :P) (*snerks*) (Aside from the shield, which was a great investment and represents 90% of what she does in combat. ^_~) (That makes it even better! Vash can't make her look bad in combat situations!) (That's true! And she's a flirt and he's weak against that.) (Although a good percent of the Trigun females may have more levels of attractive than she does.) [The Lovers point their palms outwards, and a wisp of light flies forth. Haruko's shield goes up, but the Lovers are faster, and the light passes before the shield is ready. It wrap around Saki, then flings her into a pillar. Toshiki moves towards her, while Senshiro picks up an chair with one hand and flings it at the Lovers. It shatters on a wall of light that appears before them.] (I see Senshiro has decided to learn from his defeat and use furniture to his advantage!) (We have trained him well.) [Shika and Yusuke both do nothing at all. Meanwhile, Takeo starts moving forward. Sumire seems surprised at his sudden movement, but follows behind, a curved Chinese blade in her hand suddenly. God, who else is there? x.x] [Mamiya hides in her corner! Woo! Matthias hangs back for the moment.] (And Hinako.) [Hinako turns her head at the start of the battle. "They're fighting! Why are they still fighting?"] Curses... Attack from behind the shield! * Kaede looks on at the Lovers. "Well that's lovely." He glances at Hinako and addresses Katie. "How out of it do you think she is?" (Okay... so the only evacuatables near Taki are Hinako and Akito's body?) ( I think I got them all. ) ( And that's just one round x.x ) ( Mamiya, too. ) (We go?) ( And you could argue to Matthias, Takeo, Shika, Yusuke and Sumire. ) (You could argue all of us.) (She's just going to take whoever's closest and isn't moving towards the Lovers.) * Katie removes her hand from Hinako's shoulder and concentrates, focusing on the Lovers. A breeze picks up around her. "Fairly," she answers Kaede. "They fight because they have to do *something*, Hinako." (Okay, I have a question.) (The Lovers are outside. Is there a window in the way?) ( No ) (So it's broken.) (Bits of glass everywhere?) Yeah. Is she still being controlled or is she just a mental case? Second. So...whatever I used against Tenjirou that one time won't work in this situation? Don't know. I could try it. Odds are she'll end up more messed up than she already is. That's how things usually work around here. (And they're hovering in the air. Right?) (Actually, probably should break that convo up a bit more. I mean technically, we're doing rounds. ^^;) [Meanwhile, the wisp of light that had tossed Saki goes for her again, crashing into the pillar as she dives out of the way. Toshiki comes up behind it, slamming it with his staff, and it dissipates. Senshiro grabs a table, and flings that, too, getting much the same effect as before.] (Um, *do* we go?) ( orz, this is hectic. You can go ) (Or are we just acting? I'd like to make a readied action, Brett. Next time they start to shoot a light, I want to use wind to knock them off balance / out of the way so they miss.) ( Ok ) (*whaps Brett with a table*) * Taki notes that people are arguing and so changes her plan and runs to the one person she knows wants out: Mamiya. ~Satoshi, ask Shika and Yusuke if they need to get in close range with them.~ (With who?) (The Lovers?) (Yes. ;P) * Satoshi sends to Shika. ~Shika, do you and Yusuke need to get in close range with the Lovers?~ [Shika and Yusuke still do nothing! So does Matthias, but he looks more like he's waiting for an opportunity than just not interested. Sumire swings her sword, a purple wave of energy shaped like the area she just cut flies forth, towards the Lovers. It cuts the man's cheek, and he and the woman scowl. Takeo.... I don't remember what the hell he can do o.o] (We never found out, really.) (He can make a field! Whoo.) * Haruko keeps the shield up. "Saki and attackers, stay behind the wall. Focus on offense." * Taki talks to Mamiya. "I... I'm going to get you out of here, okay? Just take my hand." * Satoshi sends to Katie. ~They don't seem to want to get involved at all.~ [Mamiya takes Taki's hand hurriedly!] (Subway station near The Tower teleport get!) 2d6-3 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Taki (2d6-3) and gets 9, a CRITICAL FAILURE!!! "Some things just aren't meant to be." (DR GET!) 2d6-3 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Taki (2d6-3) and gets 9, a CRITICAL FAILURE!!! "Looks like your thread just got cut. Sorry." (...) ( :o ) (......) (OTHER DR!) 2d6-3 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Taki (2d6-3) and gets a natural 9 for a result of 6. (... made.) ( Aww. Damn, that woulda been a good one. ) ( Taki winds up on the moon! ) (You can get her on the way back, I'm out of DR.) ~Tell them it was a different Saki, and they don't care how many of *us* they kill!~ * Satoshi sends to Shika. ~Well, they don't really seem that concerned about how many of us they kill.~ * Taki goes. [Session Suspended!]