Not As Planned

Not As Planned
Date of Scene:	12 September 2013
Location:	Central Isles - Golmore Jungle
Synopsis:	It was intended to be a grand day, a day of learning, of testing out new advances with Gummi Blocks. It doesn't go that way as the Undead have other plans, life can be a real Lich sometimes.
Cast of Characters:	Mercade Alexander, Avira, Maira, Vespa, Hati, Minerva, Emi Dennou, Percival, Ariel, Arthur Drover

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Arthur Drover has posed:
Camp Pair Dadeni is home to a lot of people who enjoy "roughing it". The heroic and villainous populace of many worlds tend to enjoy a vacation from themselves, and here where knowledge and open secrets find root, it is not uncommon to see some questionable individuals mixing among the more upstanding folks. Arthur Drover is known for drawing ecclectic people, and Avira is a well-liked member of the mercenary group known as VALKYRI. The forgemaster has toiled alongside his prettier partner, and the results have been miraculous. What was first a set of sturdy walls has turned into a fireproofed palisade, with five or six trained archers replacing the earlier two dozen scuffle of local hired muscle. The archers have been drilled in repelling the regular undead attacks. A well-beaten road leads to the camp, and people have seen announcements on various bulletin boards - for example in Traverse Town - of the grand unveiling. Avira and Arthur are at the forefront of undead fighting and gummitech research - with both a necromancer and a state of the art gummi forge next to Arthur's more ordinary one.

Other marvels abound. With the help of Maira, Avira, and Orienne, the smith had put together a heated bath system to replace the old silver-coated bags for hot water showers. Essential for hygeine, but even moreso to meet the demands for comfort. Posh scientists are a bit less likely to put up with discomfort than adventurers. The amenities are almost livable, and thanks to Mr. Farnsworth the eternal tureen of soup in the middle of the camp has yet to run dry. The only rule is not to ask what is in it.

The exact middle of the camp, due to the older Smith's compulsive standards, holds the Void Point - a gate into gummi space suitable for launching and testing vessels, here away from bustle and intrusion except the welcome kind. The platform at the middle of the camp has been home to the slow construction of the Badb. The avian moniker is well deserved - it is a thing of beauty. Black as night, with curved talons concealing multiple Thundara-G cannons. The "beak" holds the cockpit, and the entire thing gives an impression of motion while standing still. This impression is doubly appropriate because while it is accessible through a set of steps, it is also on greased rails with blocks to hold it still. A series of safety levers, properly engaged, would allow it to slide free and launch it into the blackness of the Void.

Below the stage, one of Arthur's experiments combined with Avira's sterling designs has given rise to Gummi Bumper Cars. Kids and adults alike cavort in the limited, gummi-lined space. It looks like a huge bouncy castle, and is mostly covered in a transparent film. Ships that try to stray out of bounds bounce back, and the "pew pew" of harmless lasers marks points as people try to outscore their friends. The ships inside are various simplistic designs with safety cushions in bright colors. There are sizable fees being collected per-try and these are being placed in one of Arthur's "special" lockboxes in bright purple.

On the ship platform itself, the smith stands, waving to the assembled crowds. Everyone loves a show. He cups his hands presently. His voice is like brass, the hammer on the anvil, cutting through the din insistently in the woods. There are patrols out to drive off undead, but he finds his throat dry to see so many milling folks attending. It is exciting, and he's not one for public speaking. Which is why the contents of his message are:

"Ladies, gentlemen! Children, and geezers like me, welcome to the realization of a wild dream. When we began, a short time ago, we didn't imagine we'd have such breakthroughs. We could not have done this alone. As we embark on this first stage of our research, I ask interested parties to inquire about supply runs into the Lanes Between, and the lucrative opportunities therein."

A pause, lick of his lips, and then: "I now yield the stage to the real hero of the day, designer and artisan - Avira, come out."

He gestures toward a nearby curtain to invite her onstage, and takes a simple silver flute from his belt.

One blow of just the right note, and confetti rains onstage from balls overhead. Around the camp, weak fire gummis go off as torches, casting light across the place and focused via mirrors on the stage. The man steps back, removing his cloth cap to mop his bald spot. He is smiling.

A young boy, sitting on his father's lap, waves at grandpa from the front row, and Mariel sits, a book on her lap, decanting potions in an aisle seat with a cauldron next to her.

Neither Arthur nor his wife ever could leave work at home. But she waves and smiles absentmindedly, all the same.

Ariel has posed:
Ariel - in pants of course - is in the crowd down below the ship. She's quiet, but in great awe of the majestic construction. She's seen lots of ships - up close even, now! But never one quite like this.

Hati has posed:
Once, this might have been a perfect opportunity to cause havoc. All it would take is a few Heartless. Maybe just one or two and she wouldn't have to deal with...

Hati growls under her breath as a little boy tugs on her tail. It is likely not the first time this has happened today, leaving the resident werewolf looking irritated. "Alright, that's enough." She pulls her tail away, crouching, "Hasn't your mother ever taught you that it's impolite to go tugging on other people?" To which the boy's eyes just get wide, a grin spreading over his face as he reaches for her ears and shouts: "Puppy!"

Why is she here again? Oh yeah, guard duty. Just incase someone decides to try to kidnap Avira, or Maira... again. Luckily, she's saved by the boy's mother, who nervously tugs him away murmuring, "I think the puppy has had enough attention." To which Hati just folds her arms and grumbles, "I am not a puppy."

Maira has posed:
If you have to ask where Maira is, you don't know Maira very well. Obviously, naturally, Maira is in a gummi bumper car and has been for quite some time. Hoots of wild laughter and shouts of girlish glee have been heard for hours among the "pew pew" of lasers and the sound of gummi car impacts. Indeed, it seems Maira would never tire of this, for she had easily been doing it for hours at the exclusion of just about everything else.

Finally however, Arthur moves up and gets the attention of the camp, causing Maira to look up just before she slams into another gummi car, a cheshire grin widening. It was time then! With that, she jumps up out of her gummi car and scampers out of the enclosure to make her way over to the ship, ready to cheer her little lungs out when Avira takes the stage. "WOOO! AVIRAAAA! YAAAY! That's my best friend!" she says to whoever happens to be next to her, despite practically everyone knowing this fact already.

Percival has posed:
So the Gargoyle had to admit it. Spaceflight made him giddy inside, in a way that he hadn't felt since he was a hatchling watching reports of the Yanks and their moon landings on the telly.

He just wasn't going to show his enthusiasm, so openly. Even so, the culmination of Avira's joint project with Arthur Drover still made him feel happy for VALKYRI's leader.

And it's okay Hati! He has everything on the Maira kidnapping front under control. You may feel free to allow little boys to play with the puppy. The Gargoyle catfaced at her in a way that made him certain that she'd be siccing more Shadow Wolves on him for his training in such rapid succession that his head would spin. He stood a little ways behind Maira, with his arms crossed and his wings cloaked around his shoulders, just grinning at the situation. Wait to go Avira!

Avira has posed:
'Prettier' being relative, of course. Though based on personal experience, Avira has discovered that there are men out there who definitely do not mind scarring on a woman.

Over a month of blood, sweat, and tears were amounting to this. In that time, their 'staff' and their costs had ballooned like crazy. She had been trying to do the accounting over this venture and the numbers were making her a little nervous-but the payoff for this research would be invaluable. That gummi ship from her dreams would sail again!

But today there would be a far smaller craft being experimented with. Nevertheless, the Badb cut an impressive figure that Avira was especially proud of-its shape and colors were things that she had a personal hand in. Even for what was supposed to be a prototype it looked great. Though the Badb was impressive, Avira was fearing that the Bumper Gummis would be stealing the show here-part of her didn't mind. Those would help recover lost revenues.

When Arthur calls out for her, Avira makes her appearance and-oh Faram. She dressed up. Rumors had been going around about this but tonight it is clear to see that it is no rumor. Avira has come in form-fitting spandex. RED form-fitting spandex from head to toe with a hip-hugging red spandex skirt on top of it. Across her breasts is the shape of a black bird with its wings spread, perhaps reminiscent of the prototype gummi ship next to her. There's a helmet in one of her hands not unlike that of a racer or motorcycle helm. Before she even begins talking, she gently places a foot against one of the wings of the ship and strikes a well-practiced pose.

Grinning like a lunatic, she turns to face those gathered, "Hello everyone and welcome! Thank you for that generous introduction, Arthur, but I cannot claim to be the real hero of the day here! Everyone in this camp has worked hard to secure this area, fight the zombie menace, build this facility, gather our resources, and construct this ship! The Badb is the child of Heart's Desire and VALKYRI alike and today's maiden flight will be in honor of us all!"

She doesn't wait for an applause or anything-she starts applauding on her own; applauding those who gave their time and energy to make this moment a reality. Applause to follow from the crowd or not, Avira continues, "A Shadow Lord recently warned me that we should FEAR these spaces in between! We should not venture into these parts unknown because heartless and danger awaited us! Well I say to hell with that! With this step, we more capable of fighting this menace that threatens all worlds! With this step, we will be able to bridge the gaps between and no longer shudder as we step through the mercurial dark corridors that dot these lands." She lifts her helmet high into the air over her head and unleashes her deepest, most hot-blooded yell she can manage, "ONWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARD!!!!!!"

Still grinning like a lunatic, she puts the helmet over her head and climbs into the gummi ship.

Vespa has posed:
The VALKARI maid Vepsa is in among the crowd of people, she stands out being in a maid outfit and that gaint axe she carries. She just walking around the camp she get a few double takes as she walks thought a few people point at her she just ingores them as she muches on an apple. She spots Maira being her usual exubrant self. Vespa has to wonder where she got the gummi bumper car thought.

"No. You can't have one Al. How the heck would you drive it?" She hms looking up on the stage as Avira walks on to it. She stabs the apple onto her axe, then cheering and clapping. "WHOO! GO Avira!"

Minerva has posed:
Minerva has been here with the rest of VALKYRI for the most part since this whole affair started, she's remained here save for the times she wen to pick up supplies in Traverse town or perhaps Manhattan depending on what was needed. There was no shortage of fighting, or work here. Given the nature of this job and she's been more than getting her fill of combat even if most of her foes had been the mindless undead.

Minerva additions to the cam was simple she made sure there was am ample supply of beer, ale and just about any sort of common drink one could be able to find. She's done a pretty good job of keeping things supplied. Though as for the experiments others were preforming that had left her somewhat mystified about just what they were up to. he only hoped this worked whatever it was. She's there dressed as she often is while Arthur is giving his intro speech and here comes Avira the Monk smiling and seems to be pretty happy. As the group had put a heck of a lot of work into this.

So hopefully nothing would go wrong, if something does there are enough here to guard against such happening at least she hopes so. She was not sure what to think about space flight honestly herself i was just a bit beyond her. She coped well enough however, she didn't think about the hard technical things.

"Tch respect the power of what lurks in the darkness between the stars. Yes. Fear it? That only gives it more power over us."

Emi Dennou has posed:
Emi Dennou has come to support Avira whom she adores. You'd adore someone too if they saved you from a holographic death laser and maybe cyber zombies? But of course it's more than JUST that--but that is probably the big start of when 'adoration for Avira' became a key aspect of her feelings regarding her.

She applauds politely. The other Dennous, whom are farther back, do so as well. They are very good at clapping, in fact, and do so in perfect synchronization. They also do it /right on cue/--but it was a good time to start clapping anyway.

Emi Dennou hopes Avira doesn't explode, though, because it would make her sad. She's sure that probably maybe won't happen though.

She hopes.

Arthur Drover has posed:
Arthur joins in the thunderous applause when Avira speaks. But he adds two punctuating claps above his head. This signal calls both of his Apprentices forward. While their uniforms are similar to his, they are white with silver trim rather than blue with gold. The men are smiling and officious like their Master, but they move with the efficiency of the closely watched. And indeed he would grade any sloppiness later with a ruthless hand. Still, his was a prestigious indenture, and they were glad to have it. They set to work giving the ship a final check and buff. When they are done, Arthur looks it over, giving them the grudging side-eye of a man who is disappointed he can't find anything wrong with their performance. They move to the levers, ready to pull at his signal.

Arthur enters the ship with a nimbleness that denies his slightly-overweight-shopkeep angle, but he's too excited to keep the mask up just now. He stands on the edge of the cockpit, and once more that stentorian bellow rings out: "We're doing final checks, everyone! Now let me explain. This ship is stocked with gummis in the hold. You can't see it, but most of this ship is storage space. The cockpit is small enough we can fit a lot of gummis in. We plan to have cargo runs, a real gummi shipping line. And that's why we're testing it with Gummis, because if we make a mistake we can just scoop them up from The Void again and try again." A pause, as an apprentice with a black outfit, and copper trim, brings him a glass of champagne. Indeed, drinks are being distributed throughout the audience to the adults. The gummi bumper cars have been stopped - it was probably hard to pry some kids out, but there are a lot of insistent men preparing to move the gummi space aside. All focus is on the stage, though Arthur is privately thankful for the revenues on this shindig. Anyone vending potions or food also paid Arthur a sizable surcharge, and maybe his partner will be happy when he presents it to her later.

Arthur's wife has stopped her work long enough to lock eyes and blow a kiss, but her hands are still grinding something with mortar and pestle.

"We are going to enter void space, then do a loop and come back in. You'll see there is an exit ramp behind the stage, for us to land on. But we have cushions around it just in case. Once I leave, my lads will knock down the stage, and set up a safety zone. These ships stop on a dime once they're out of Void Space, so you'll all be quite safe."

Arthur slowly removes his spectacles, folds them up, and puts them in his breast pocket next to the cleaning cloth. "Wish us luck, and we'll see you shortly!"

He climbs into the cockpit, and slams it shut. The men outside wait for the signal, and after a moment, Arthur blows his flute in a standard bosun's call.

The levers are pulled, the Badb begins a speedy but majestic slide toward the slight pucker in the air that is the void point reacting to an approaching mass of gummies. Seamlessly, the ship vanishes into darkness, without a sound or fanfare except perhaps applause.

Ariel has posed:
Ariel half-thinks someone is going to kick her out of this, so she doesn't interrupt proceedings. She does try to get a glass of champagne even though she isn't technically an adult. It just looks so bubbly! Can't she have some? She is sure if she makes big enough eyes at someone that this will work out just fine.

Vespa has posed:
Vespa watches as the ship rises into space "There they go. I'm sure it will be fine.."

Maira has posed:
Maira whistles when Avira appears in her new outfit, wondering if those will be standard for VALKYRI now? They are pretty spiffy, but Maira isn't sure sure about the whole skintight nature of it...well, suppose it covers more than the Game Central Station outfit.

Maira keeps cheering, bouncing up and down excitedly in the crowd. "Woo! Avira! Arthur! YAAAY!" applause applause etc. "Ou! Bubbly!" she exclaims, snatching some champagne as it passes as well. She holds her glass up toward Ariel and smiles widely. "Cheers! Vespa! Here, have some bubbly stuff its delicious," she suggests. She had to stop bouncing, less the champagne spill. Few more gulps, champagne is gone, and bouncing is resumed!

"This is going to be so awesome...exploring gummi space! Sure there will be things to fight, but aren't there everywhere these days?" she asks her nearby friends, her eyes fixed on the ship as it zooms off into gummi space. She's a bit nervous, but she's dealing with it.

Vespa has posed:
"Careful Maira or you going to start digging a hole in the ground.", Vespa says smiling a bit. She take the glass of champane from Maira taking a sip, someone around her has to keep a cool head, just in case.

Percival has posed:
The Gargoyle doesn't partake in the champagne, well because.. reasons.

He does stop to look at Avira's Gummiship outfit, wondering if it bore any similarities to the suits he'd seen on the Grid. He watches the rest of Arthur's explanation with an impassive look, despite keeping his enthusiasm /just/ beneath the surface as he states why they're doing some of their checks.

When Vespa calls Maira into attention, he leans over to her, murmuring. "She already digs ruts around in the common room floor." Before stating to Maira with a grin, "Well at least if we're going to have to fight space Heartless, we'll be properly outfitted. Now we'll all just need proper callsigns."

Ariel has posed:
Ariel gleefully drinks the happy sparkling liquid. How nice! She is also amused by the very pretty glass it's in.

Avira has posed:
Avira grins as Arthur climbs into the ship, though that can't exactly be seen since the helmet is a little on the opaque side. The vizor of it looks black on the outside but Avira can see through it from within. She seems to realize that Arthur likely can't see her grinning so she gives him a thumbs up instead.

"Alright. Dusk Wolf, Badb, launching!" she says with an extreme amount of cheerfulness.

The ship disappears into the darkness of the void point.

Time passes....

Maira has posed:
Maira glances to Vespa, blushes slightly, and laughs. "Sorry! I'm just really excited! And champagne is delicious!" she explains. Somehow, someone has handed her another one. It is all part of a world wide conspiracy to turn Maira into a lush.

Maira looks up to Perci and grins widely, smacking him lightly in the arm. "What's that suppose to mean!?" she asks. No, really. What the heck does that even mean.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
There is a yell in the distance, and a low crash as a familiar detective arrives back in the camp.

Mercade approaches the festive, celebratory atmosphere as he looks over the events, and grimaces as he sees the ship vanish into Gummispace.

"Whoops." He says to himself. He looks at the others here, partying and celebrating the successful work done here. "Hi guys! Guess I, uh..." Mercade scratches the back of his head embarassingly. "I guess I missed it."

Avira has posed:
After about three or so minutes of silence, a rumbling boom can be heard somewhere in the distance. The void point emits a buzzing sound and the edges begin to spark with electricity.

This is the only warning everyone gets before flaming gummi blocks explode out of the void point. It starts with singular loose and colorful pieces-perhaps those that were contained within the cargo holds of the Badb? After that come bigger pieces and large black chunks, some of which still have other gummi blocks attached to it. They hit the ground like bouncy falling stars, knocking over those unfortunate enough to get in their way. The material is fortunately pliable enough that it won't cause anything more than a concussion to get hit with. However, bouncing off a large piece into something much harder could prove to be a definite hazard.

Avira is flung through amongst the gummi blocks, still attached to the pilot's seat by her seatbelt, her helmet shattered and her outfit burned and torn.

Arthur Drover has posed:
Arthur spirals out after her. His outfit is a torn and burnt mess. A gasp flies up from the crowd. The Synthesist's body is uncharacteristically limp. His spectacles are on his face, rather than in his pocket, and they are intact. His mouth is wide in a soundless scream. He describes an elegant arc in the air, gloves tattered and cloth cap missing. He is heading for the ground, without the benefit of a safety seat like Avira has.

There is a second gasp, and a sudden whooshing sound. Something is moving with quicksilver speed. The thin, tall form of the Forgemaster doesn't hit the ground. Instead, strong slender arms scoop him up in a diving, rolling catch.

Arthur's wife moves with a dancer's grace, rescuing the falling "damsel" and laying him across her lap. The dancer left her cauldron behind, arriving with canny speed to sit cross legged and shout in a voice, not shrill but deep instead:

"MEDIC."

The voice shakes the stage, as flaming gummis rain and the two intrepid pilots sit amidst the wreck.

A small golden phial has already been extracted from Mariel's blouse and poured down the smith's throat - Elixir. Whoever rushes forward to help Avira would be instructed to give her one drop from the same phial, and nothing more.

And then the groans begin as the dead, perhaps wakened by the sizzling power, rush the walls.

Maira has posed:
A champagne glass goes flying through the air, half drunk, as the void point explodes with gummi blocks. In instinct Maira's magic leaps into existance, a greenish-white circle of flame springing up around those assembled to help protect them from the barrage of gummi blocks like a force-field.

When Maira sees Avira come flying from the portal, she screams and begins dashing forward. "AVIRA!" she cries, the crowd clearly for her as she nudges her way through toward her best friend with a healing spell sparkling in the aura of magic that has sprung up around her form. She drops beside Avira and lets her cure spell wash over her friend, looking to Mariel with a nod as she takes the vial and administers a drop to Avira's tongue. That really ought to do the trick!

Then, the groans rise, the undead battle cry fairly uninspiring as far as battle cries go, but still mighty annoying and worrisome. Obviously, the maiden voyage had gone terribly wrong! They hadn't called it unsinkable or something, had they?! "Oh <GOOSEHONK>!"

Ariel has posed:
...Oh, not good!

Ariel is just about to take Sip Number Two when a flying gummi block starts heading straight for her! She panics, ducks, and hits the ground, sadly shattering the pretty cup in the process.

She still has her head down when other, worse things start happening. She looks up to see that trouble has really begun. She starts to run in to provide some support, despite being afraid.

Minerva has posed:
Minerva does join in clapping for a moment and she just wonders about this trip. She's not so sure about t but well she needs to get over what she saw. That huge ass heartless. That would be one thing as everyone is climbing in at this point. She watches getting ready for the launch. She seems pretty pleased and she's cheering now hopefully this should go off without a hitch. Right? What could go wrong they got a good security detail. There should be no trouble if someone pulls something right?

Percival has posed:
Percival mock winces as Maira smacks him on the arm. Rubbing his arm in an exaggerated manner he begins to explain with a sheepish look, "Well it means..."

Then flaming explosions of gummi blocks out of the Void point and /MEDIC!/

Saved by the explosions. Wait, Explosions!? Percival hurries after Maira into the explosions. Luckily she's mostly immune to fire so he doesn't have to worry about her safety as well.

Then comes the telltale signs of Undead and... well, the Gargoyle does the only thing he really can in this situation. He draws his sword and steels himself for what is likely to be quite the horde.

Vespa has posed:
Vespa smiles. "It's okay. You can keep bouncing Maira. I don't mind. One of us has to be excited.", she chuckles a bit at Pervical and Maira verbal sparring. Then the gummi ship EXPLDOES. "OH <GOOOSHONK!>", and the gummi block start falling down. Vepsa pulls out her axe and start hacking away at the larger gummi blocks that start raining down. "STAND BEHIND ME FOR PROTECTION!", she shouts out to the panicing crowd. There a strew laden amout of profantiy coming out her mouth now.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
And then everything goes to hell. Gummi Blocks go flying in all directions, and one of them narrowly misses Mercade's head as he jukes out of the way. "WHOA!" Mercade blinks as he sees the Void Point disgorge Avira and Arthur. "Oh hell!" Mercade says, seeing Avira hit the ground, wounded. He charges forward, kneeling next to her as he notes Arthur is being tended to and Maira is handling the medicine for Avira. "Damn it... This isn't how it was supposed to go." Mercade grates.

And then the Undead come. Mercade turns, his eyes flashing. The helpless feeling of watching Avira lie there, wounded, gives way to an outlet. This is something he understands.

This is something he can do. There is a flash as Mercade summons up his Keyblade, and begins stalking towards the incoming undead. "Keep her safe, Maira. I believe in you." Mercade says, his voice tight.

Avira has posed:
The pilot's chair, mercifully, comes to a stop on the ground facing upwards with the pilot still rigidly. Avira's helmet can be removed easily from her head. Once it's off, she's obviously...well, alive, but staring forward blankly in shock at what just happened. In her hands are the remnants of the steering wheel, fingers still clutching around its horn-like sides. Judging by the look on her face she might not even realize just how much pain she's in yet.

She might never have to with Maira quickly rushing in to administer her healing spell and follow-up drop of elixir. Both at least do their job and heal her physically. Mentally, though, she still seems to be procssing everything that's happened in the last few minutes. The undead suddenly swarming hasn't even registered.

"Guh." she vocalizes eloquently.

Emi Dennou has posed:
Oh, Emi thinks distantly, she should have listened to her initial instinct. Avira is now exploded. She is gone forever. She hits the deck, but what's the point, she thinks, if only she had told Avira not to go do this thing because she thought she might explode, this wouldn't have happened. A tear threatens to well up in her eye when suddenly--

--oh Avira IS okay? Right. Emi rubs at her eye briefly and coughs to herslf before she manages to stand herself up. Sure, she might be in agony, and yes this is probably a huge dissapointment but all Emi feels is relief.

She approaches Avira (the other Dennous focus on the zombies). "Avira..." She says. "I'm sorry it didn't work ... but this one is glad you're okay."

Arthur Drover has posed:
The dead are coming from all quarters, and will give Mercade and Percival no shortage of bladework practice. They are the usual slow shambling fare, but they are in force. The jungle is an open place, and the archers on the walls are using the cleared sight lines to run some off. But as always, a few rise from the earth.

Avira is surrounded by people who are giving her friends time to work. Maira is a qualified medic, and an apt defender, so they see to the smith and anyone else who has been lacerated or burnt in the explosion - very few people due to the safety cordons.

The dead are being "led" by a few floating wizard-like entities. Liches.

Arthur's kids are helping him up, but his wife insists he not be moved, except to move closer to Avira. He's fluttering into consciousness, but even elixir can't fully heal someone. Avira has greater vitality than he. His voice is a raspy guttural sound: "Flute." he manages through cracked and bloodied lips.

It is sitting somewhere nearby, and a boy scuttles to grab it from the mud, cleaning it judiciously before resting it on the injured man's chest.

His breathing is deep, and his wife is checking his cuts to apply antiseptic.

Cleanup crews are efficiently at work - but this is an embarassment.

Not a shattering one, he realized what was happening even as it went up. And it would be very embarassing when he told people later.

One of the crases by the east wall has been pushed down, but the dead are having trouble getting through the gap. The front gates are shut, and people are being ferried to safety zones under cover, far from the walls on consecrated ground.

"Avira." His voice is a rasp. A Lich levitates overhead, hurling a few lazy fireballs down toward the crash site with a malicious grin somehow manifesting on its skeletal face.

There is a horde outside, slowly pouring around the camp like water around a stone.

Ariel has posed:
Ariel wonders if there is any way to... um, make them better.

She runs to see how Arthur is doing. "...What's the flute for? Is there anything -- here." She reaches into a pocket and gives him a potion.

Maira has posed:
Maira looks up to Mercade, nodding. "Of course I will!" she replies, shooing him off then to go fight zombies! Hop to it boys!

Maira looks back to Avira, having pulled off her helmet and examined her for signs of concussion, she winces a little. "You may be a little concussed..." she says softly, glancing to Arthur, who looks even worse. She'll let his wife care for him however, unless he needs magical healing.

Maira looks up then to see the undead hoard being lead by floating skeletal wizards--liches! She's totally read the Monster Manual. Her eyes widen as she takes in a breath. This is /bad/. Fortified as they are, she is wondering if perhaps they should retreat! Somehow...No, there's no where to go, is there? Maira exhales sharply and steels herself, reaching out with her magic sense to strengthen the magic protection she has laid around the camp, the energy of Holy surging up to burn at least some of the undead as they try to pass. "Ugh...I could try to pour all my energy into the ward and try to zap as many as I can....but then I'll be useless and the ward will come down," she says, hoping someone has some strategy to offer.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
Mercade was /really/ hoping for a nice, easy time. "You know..." Mercade says offhandedly as he begins to smash into the undead with holy power. "I was really looking forward to this. There was going to be food, and drink, and talking to interesting people. And then they get to come back and be all like 'MAN THAT SPACE TRIP WAS AWESOME' and 'IT SURE WOULD HAVE SUCKED TO GET EXPLODED OUT THERE', and they could have been all like 'IT WAS JUST LIKE STAR WARS'." He turn s towards the lich that's floating over the wall and menacing the camp. The Twilight Seeker keyblade is leveled towards it, and a lash of holy power sweeps out like a lasso, catching on the undead. "BUT NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" He yells, pulling on it like a fishing rod and hauling the undead mage down close, where upon he lunges forward and delivers a vertical cleave. "YOU GUYS HAD TO SHOW UP. Did you get invitations? Huh?"

The Detective seems a little frustrated.

Arthur Drover has posed:
Arthur smiles kindly. His wife looks up with an indulgent smile, but she's seeing to the gash in his leg now - uncomfortably close to an artery even with Secret Elixir in his system. The potion sits untouched next to the flute.

Drover asks Ariel, making eye contact: "Know music?" He nods toward the flute, then winces and regrets the nod. "Important. Play." Each word is an effort, his throat is parched and blood is on his lips, but he seems in no danger of unconsciousness.

The Lich feels surprise for one of the first times in a long long unlife. It intends to fly higher and hurl a lazy blob of poison at Mercade. Except its arms are bound to its sides. Then it is getting lower. The last thing that goes through its mind is Twilight Seeker. And through its spleen, or what used to be a spleen and is now a raisin.

The two sides of the Lich fall to the ground in a mess, waiting to be disposed of later.

One down. A few more float around, making a mess, but at least the crash area is a bit safer. Undead swarm toward Mercade, perhaps drawn by the release of energy when he bisected the beast, they are not powerful but plentiful - they grasp with yellowed nails and greying hands.

Vespa has posed:
"From bad to <GOOSEHONKING> worse!", vespa says seeing the horde of undead coming it. She spots the floating ones. Not sure what they are but they look important. She looks at the undead slowly walking towads them "You all picked a really bad time to show up.. Cause I'm really not in the mood for this.", she get this massive grin on her face. "I have some anger I have to let out.. You all are going to help me? Isn't that nice? RIGHT? RIGHT!!?! RIGHHHTTTTTTTTTTTT?", Vespa just charages into the horde of undaed swing her axe around in massive arcs bodie parts go flying everywhere as she works her way forward thought the undead horre clearing a path.

Percival has posed:
Percival looks at the Horde of Undead with the floating liches at the head, then speaks to his companions. "You know, you all have too many anger issues. We should really just all calm d..."

The Gargoyle's lip twitches. "Nope, couldn't say it with a straight face. Go to town guys!"

He growls, his eyes glowing a ghastly, hollow white color before barreling into a large column of the Undead himself, and while the effect isn't quite as impressive as Vespa... well he gets the job done.

Minerva has posed:
The undead have returned, she is not shocked at all. She's not shocked at all about this, they really need to get this ground blessed where the heck has Faruja been. Seriously where the heck has he been? Too late for such thoughts now in her mind as she finds herself knee deep in dead or is about to be such.

Arthur s alive at least. Things are going to hell in a hand basket though with Arthur and Avira basically taken care of at this point. She's slams her fists together at this point as she looks to see just what else happened, aside from the explosion. She really was a perhaps a second too late. This is a hell of a mess at this point.

"That is what I planned to do so sir knight!"

She calls out to Percival, she's now moving in they do have to keep the undead under control.

Avira has posed:
Concussion is definitely the order of the day for Avira. She seems to be having difficulty focusing on Maria in front of her with anything other than a vacant stare. But gradually, those symptoms seem to fade away due to being hit with healing magic and a drop of elixir.

What remains, though, still seems to be shock. Quite understandably, Avira looks pretty put out. As if the fire in her heart was suddenly snuffed! One of her hands releases the broken steering wheel and both arms flop down to the ground, the object clattering out of her fingers.

She doesn't seem to want to get up right now. Those here will have to defend the camp without her! "Alive." she barks back to Arthur for his benefit. A weak smile is given to Emi. "Thanks." she offers for the comfort, letting her head loll to the side to look at Maira.

"Do it. Then fight without magic." is all Avira offers.

Ariel has posed:
Ariel DOES know music, and rather well. She takes the flut into her hand, and looks down at it...

Then she puts it to her lips. It takes a moment for her to get used to the instrument blowing air through it, but she's done the same underwater. She picks into a bit of a march.

She hopes that it will help. Cheerful music CAN help.

Arthur Drover has posed:
Percival shoulder checks a bunch of zombies, who are unsteady to begin with. His burly strength manages to push them down a nearby embankment and they fall in a tumbling mess that won't rise on its own. But then a larger one, a zombie ogre by the look of it, comes to match brawn to brawn with the warrior.

Minerva notices that the wreckage didn't burn long - infact, the gummis are remarkably unharmed. It takes a lot to truly destroy them. With nothing for fuel, the flames are dying. Mina is closest to the recuperating pilots and in prime position to ward off the zombie wave encroaching on Maira's defensive field, as if drawn by magic.

Arthur, Avira, and their attendants make a hell of a tableau. A fireball bounces off Maira's defensive shield, but Mercade has killed its source as the flames find nothing to consume and die off too.

Vespa is bathed in foul ichor which stains the ground and paints the tent walls. She moves through the dead like a hot knife through butter. Something comes skittering from under a wall - a spider-like creature with hands on the ends of its legs instead of feet. Humanlike hands. It comes grasping and screaming. Its teeth are knives and its eyes are nonexistent. A Creep from the depths below. It hungers.

Ariel begins to play.

The cheerful marching music has a few seconds to lilt into the air. The tune of this flute carries remarkably far, the whisperweed in the reed reacting with things that Avira and Arthur had set up the first week they moved in.

The sound echoes through the hills. The zombies even begin shambling in tune to it, it is quite cute.

Outside the camp, in zones marked out with purple sand, the ground begins to turn into roiling magma. Then the explosions happen. Faint pops at first, as smelting catalysts sing in time with their companion geodes. All of this happens outside of the camp, but they have confronted this problem often enough As Ariel picks out notes, especially high notes, the "danger" areas outside the walls turn to molten slag. They would make some quite pretty glass and decent charcoal later. The flames are contained, precise, and enough to burn the weaker straggling zombies to cinders as the princess picks her tune.

"Smoother, girl." Arthur intones - the voice a raspy hell, indicating she should vary the tune, but his smile is back and he is practically falling asleep with his head on his exasperated wife-savior's lap. To Avira, only "I know why. Talk later."

Vespa has posed:
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!, is all that is heard as Vespa makes work of the undead. Behind her there just a trail of body parts behind her bodies cut in two vertailly and hozitannly toros missing all there alot of it it just a mess of paste and goo...

COMEONEONCOMON!! Is this all you got??"] Best not to get near Vespa right now.

Ariel has posed:
Ariel gets the zombies moving in a cheerful way.

That surprises her so much that for a second she misses a note, and the flute squeaks. An explosion follows this up. Arthur gives her a new instruction... and she blinks a few times at him, batting blue eyes, then squints at the flute.

She tries again. This is slower, an almost-mournful dirge. She has gotten the hang of this air-flute rather quickly.

Emi Dennou has posed:
The Other Dennous have been fighting in the BACKGROUND. Actually sometimes sthe animation budget may have mistaken the number of Dennous present, and there was a SECOND Derpyhooves too which was the worst.
ut now that Emi is confident that AVira is 'okayish', Emi turns her attention to zombies. She raises her hands to attack--!!! But then she notices the zombies are dancing.

She lowers her hands afterwards. Unfortunately, Emi can't bring herself to fight zombies that are dancing. Sure their skin is falling off and they hunger for brains, but they're so adorable!!!!!

Mercade Alexander has posed:
The Lich is cloven in half, and the Detective wrinkles his nose at the evil remains. "Looks like you had to..." He tips his hat. "Split." He turns away, and then looks to the oncoming undead horde. He took care of the closest, but now they have to deal with the closest Mercade grins as Percival tries to makes a good joke. "See, that's why I like him." He says as he grapples a zombie and launches it into an approaching group. "I like his sense of humor."

They begin to get interrupted as the music begins to play. Huh. Mercade draws back, observing for a moment. Well, if they're going to move in time to the music, this makes them predictable.

And in a fight, predictable means dead. Mercade continues hacking away, unleashing blasts of white power into the undead horde. "Whoever's making that music, keep it up! It's helping!" Mercade calls. "Also, if there's anyone near those floating evil mages, take them out! They're the leaders!" The only thing worse than undead hordes are /organized/ undead hordes.

Maira has posed:
Maira frowns deeply at Avira. She knows physically she is alright, but she can practically feel her disappointment and heartbreak radiating. She had worked /so/ hard on that ship! What had gone wrong? Maira leans forward and hugs her best friend tightly, reaching up to smooth her hair soothingly. "It's okay Avira. We'll build another. Everything will be alright! I won't let your dream go out just like that," she assures her warmly.

The young mage with the red-gold hair nods then, hearing Avira's advice about the ward. "Alright...I'll do what I can," she says. Fighting without magic might not be much of an option. She might just knock herself unconscious with this, but hopefully it would work--even the odds some to take the pressure off the main defenders.

Maira lets go of Avira and steps a good fifty feet away. If she's going to do this, she wants to make sure none of her friends get hurt accidentally. She listens to the flute music for a few moments, knowing what it must be doing to those still outside the walls. Maira will concentrate closer in, but first, a warning. She yells, both in person and over her ma belle to make sure everyone hears; "Step back from the walls when I say so! I'm going to blast them!" she says, the amber depths of her eyes beginning to glow with the magic she holds.

Then Maira becomes a small sun standing in the middle of the camp, her form blurred by the bright white flame that engulfs her. It is a furnace of purging flame, raw Holy. Maira taps into the ward she made around the camp, envisioning the link between it and herself, then opens the flood gate to let her energy pour down the link. "Get back, NOW!" she cries, gives them a few moments to get out of the way, then lets the ward ignite.

The walls around the camp erupt with holy energy, white motes of light that glow like miniature stars slam into the darkness that is the undead, burning to ash.

Percival has posed:
The Gargoyle takes a stout blow against the back of his head, knocking him to his knees. He rises unsteadily, surveying his newest challenger.

Zombie Ogres? Do Zombie Ogres have layers? Well he's about to find out.


Taking up the Guardian Blade that he learned about from Atlantis, he carves it in an arc which careens out a wave of pressure, trailing streamers of blue energy. This is only meant to knock his foe off balance, before he closes in, and attempts an upward slice against it's arm to check on the layer thing.

His Orichalcum blade gets wedged against one of the bones, as he kicks back a taloned foot in an attempt to pry it out.

And then /THRILLER/ the flute edition happens, and Percival is given pause, as he looks back at the lady who is totally not a mermaid princess. Even in the midst of the grand melee he's forced to give her a one talon up.

Which promptly gets him thwacked on the back of the skull by the Ogre using his other good arm.

This causes him to be dazed once again, before there's a moment of sheepishness, and a roar as he charges forward again to try and finish the job.

Vespa has posed:
VesWho is next?"</span>", she cuts down another undead. How about you?], the another ansi(+red,You?)], then another. ansi(+red,You? It's not enough! I need more! MORE MORE!!")], she keeps on swinging her axe cutting thought the undead, working her way toward one of the liches.

Arthur Drover has posed:
Ariel's tune becomes different, and a crate of Cure gummis labelled in purple begins to resonate. Their healing energies lash out, mending fighters and killing zombies in blasts of apprentice level magic. At an approximate cost of 10,000 gil. They so need to fetch more supplies. The group is running out of gummis now, and that won't do. But consciousness slowly leaves the smith. Only to bring a sharp pinch to his cheek as he is scolded to prevent passing out. That would be bad, if the artisan has a concussion too.

In keeping with some dark and fell Disney Princess Magic, some of the zombies are dancing in a circle around the nonviolent form of Emi, frolicing merrily. This isn't anything Arthur's flute can do, Ariel is just literally magic.

The Ogre however becomes more dangerous rather than less. It begins to weep uncontrollably at the funeral dirge somehow. Its arms fly out toward Percival in a haymaker. A Lich hears Mercade. It hears him directing the camp fighters to go after the Liches.

"Oh, nice, very nice, hey, Jerry, get over here."

The second Lich joins the first, hovering some distance above Mercade. "So you assume that just because we are Liches, we are the leaders?" The voice is like a sepulchre. An irritated, shrill sepulchre.

"I bet you think that zombie gnomes run all the banks, hmm? What about Jim over there?" He gestures to the crying Ogre, which has ripped off its own left arm and is trying to beat Percival with it. "For all you know he could be upper management. Is it because we can fly? Pigeons can fly too but they aren't VPs in charge of horde poop flinging. That's Bernice in the Third Ziggurat, I swear the ignorance of some oh, right, fighting- ICE BLAST."

And then the two let loose with a pair of giant ice shards that somehow conspire to be contemptuous as well as pointy.

Vespa is standing in the middle of a small lake, which is washing outward.

But at that precise second Maira lets fly. The holy energy /cleans the corrupted blood off the ground/. It dissolves the remainder of the dancing undead not re-killed by the other coordinated attacks - but the Liches have Turn Resistance +8, and the Ogre used to be a chaplain (yet another layer in his personality), so they are unaffected and still quite pissed.

Ariel has posed:
Ariel does have Disney Princess magic, which can sometimes cause song and dance numbers to spout for no particular reason. She therefore isn't too surprised anymore by any of this, but she keeps playing as it... seems to be helping somewhat? Her song comes closer to something like a lullaby. The healing energies must be helping...

She would speak out, but flute playing definitely precludes this.

Emi Dennou has posed:
The Dennous end up caught up in the impromptu dance number, some even going hand in hand with zombies and liches (or whatever). La la la! La la la! Looks like the Hivemind has been Disneyfiltrated! Thsi could be trouble!

"Hush little zombie, don't say a word~, Mama's gonna buy you a final girl~" Umi sings.

Minerva has posed:
Minerva hands burst into holy flames as she leaps into the air somersaulting as she foes before she comes in for a landing in hopefully a larger pack of the undead. She'll leave the more important ones to the people stronger than her. She can handle cleaning up the fodder. She strikes brutally rapidly never once letting the flames about her fists fade

"You shall be returned to your graves!"

Minerva drops downs sweep kicking as her leg is covered with a aura of holy fire much like her fists have been all fight so far.

Vespa has posed:
VesThat's hurts..</span>"She just throws her axe at the lich, it making contact and cutting it in half! NEXT.}", she makes her way to her axe, puching thought a undead head on her way to it.

Avira has posed:
One of Avira's arms reaches up to give Maira a limp one-armed hug before the fire mage takes off. Hearing Arthur says he knows what went wrong was some reassurance but it couldn't dig her out of the mental morass she's fallen into at the moment.

With Maira departed and everyone fighting the undead all around them, Avira slowly moves to unbuckle the safety belt currently holding her to the seat. The straps come undone and the small woman squirms her way out of it, forcing her sore self to move. Just as she rolls off the seat, a fireball touches down against it and spreads a small ring of flames. Made of gummi blocks, the material burns for only a few seconds before the fire goes out. There is slight charring but no melting.

Realization dawns upon her, "...hey, the liches are talking. I've never heard them talk before. Well..." she thinks back to the Horned King attack in Traverse Town, "...okay maybe I have."

Maira has posed:
Maira continues pouring energy into the ward, hoping undead will keep mindlessly throwing themselves at it like bugs diving into a flame for as long as she can. Which is for about another minute. That is a great deal of energy to channel, and Maira cannot hold it long.

Finally, she is forced to let it go. The light of the ward fails, as does the aura around Maira, guttering like a flame deprived of oxygen. Maira flops backward, passing out on the ground weakly, completely spent. Hopefully, it was worth it, because the magical ward is gone now.

Arthur Drover has posed:
Arthur waves to Ariel, indicating she can probably stop. The Liches hover in the air, he points and says: "Someone capture." Then he's out of strength, arms fall by his side. He'll explain the stupid mistake to Avira in morning, for now he needs to focus on recuperation. It is going to take him a lot longer to heal.

Ariel has posed:
Ariel lowers the flute...

She looks tired. She takes a big breath to stabilize her air intake (in a small way it's still weird to need air all the time rather than water sometimes).

She frowns... "I hope he's going to be okay. Is everyone... doing all right?"

Percival has posed:
Jim attempts to beat the Gargoyle to death with his left arm while sobbing. The Gargoyle actually lowers his sword briefly, just avoiding him with bodywork. "So your name is Jim? Upper management?"

The Gargoyle makes a shhh, shhh type of motion, before stating, "Look, I know all about the pressures of leading an unholy horde of abominations. You can't let the stress get to you. And..."

He curves an upward slice of pressure wave with azure streamers in an attempt to cut him in half, staring at the liches. "....No seriously, the troll is strong with you but this guy was barely middle management material."

And then he falls back to the base because Maira's just passed out from mage exhaustion.

Avira has posed:
One of the floating liches looks to the other, "He thinks we're leading this? Hah, don't be silly, we're not the-" Before this particular Lich can continue, Vespa's axe cleaves it in half and the pieces slap wetly to the ground into puddles of spreading rot.

"...well that was disconcerting..." the remaining lich says and immediately turns tail to float straight upwards, mindful of the holy fire barrier that Maira has created around the camp. Maybe it could flee that way!

The undead Ogre doesn't really have that luxury. But that undead ogre is also busily trying to beat Percival to death with its own arm so Jim at least gets badass points to him. Unfortunately for him, Percival's energy wave carves a partial line across the undead's body. Due to thickness it doesn't turn to be a clean cut through but because of the sheer size of the beast, the cleaved top half kind of slides off and snaps on its own.

Vespa has posed:
Vespa get her axe back. She pants looking quite tired.

Vespa has posed:
VesI'll take you all on..."</span> she pants again calming down from her rage "Then again mabye not.. I think I'm a bit outnubmered here.. Oh well.: She get into defense stance, letting the unead come to her cutting down any that get in her reach, which is pretty good consider the size of her axe.

Minerva has posed:
Minerva is panting a bit as she s whiping off what undead guts she can of her self she needs a shower, or she needs to learn how Maira sets herself on fire like that she needs to work on her elemental control more. She takes a deep breath and then exhales as she looks to make sure there are no undead left standing that they are not questioning.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
Mercade looks up at the Lich who is engaging him in sassery. He folds his arms, waiting patiently as he is read the riot act for making assumptions.

And then he is buried in sassy, contemptious ice. Mercade yelps as the spikes hit, and he vanishes under chilliness and pain. Several seconds pass...

And then there is a silent detonation as the ice vanishes in a wave of light, Mercade standing up, rumpled, wounded, and angry. "You know, there's some things I can't stand. You don't mess with the hat. You don't mess with the people I care about."

He turns his hand upwards, and he focuses, power gathering around the Keyblade. "And I hate sass from malevolent entities who are trying to murder people." He hears Arthur in the distance asking for capture, and he grunts, changing his focus. Once again, he lashes out at the final lich, trying to draw it in... And he'll slam it into the ground. Several times.

"Now sit down, and shut up while I beat you senseless, you son of a lich."

this might go on for a while.

Avira has posed:
If liches ever had the reputation of slow-moving undead, they should have it stricken from the record tonight. With the proper motivation, they can be quite speedy, and the remaining one seems well on his way to escaping by fleeing straight upward. Surely Maira's holy barrier didn't extend that high.

However, it's crimes are numerous, among which murder and sassery could be counted. He isn't fast enough to escape Mercade Alexander, though not for lack of trying. Just when he thinks he's in the clear, Mercade's keyblade power drags him back in, the legendary weapon whipping him down to the ground. Close quarters is clearly a disadvantage for this particular undead since it did not give him enough time to properly form spells to cast.

After it first touches down, the lich makes a lunge at Mercade...only to be brought down into the ground again. This continues for a painfully long time.

"Enough already!" the lich croaks, "Stop this!"

Mercade Alexander has posed:
It would be almost comical, really. Mercade has been flailing the lich back and forth into solid objects on a tether of holy power for several minutes. "You give up?" He says, pulling the lich in and grappling him, then slamming him down into the ground manually to put him in a hold. "ARM BARS EVERYWHERE!" Mercade yells with entirely too much enthusiasm. "Now call off the undead and hold still while we lock you down. Try anything sassy and I get back to seeing what breaks first: You, or the ground."

Avira has posed:
"Both of those options are awful!" The lich complans as its arm is wrenched out of its socket by an excited keyblade weilder. Both get a small crowd which watches carefully at a distance that would mean they remain untouched. Beyond this pair, nothing else significant seems to be coming after them.

between their combined magical might and the persistant fury, the camp is safe and the undead no longer advance. If the lich had been controlling the undead here, once beaten down like Mercade has, it would have lost that control though there doesn't seem to be any signs of this. But on the bright side, that lich has all but given up.

Minerva has posed:
Minerva comes up to the lich she takes a good look at them as Mercade does his thing. Given his powers he'll be far better with it than she'll be. Hopwever her first bursts into holy flame and she looks the lich over for a moment longer. She looks the lich over and says "Do not think he is the only one who can deal with you..."

"Mercade? It was an honor to fight along side you again, but now I need to find a shower. Before I smell like a ditch in the trade city."

She'll go to check on Avria first before tending to such.