Shopping Havoc

Shopping Havoc
Date of Scene:	14 October 2012
Location:	Business District-- Lindblum
Synopsis:	Heartless Shenanigans invade a peaceful shopping session. NPCs will run. Shelves will fall. Potions will be quaffed. Taking place at your local Lindblum business district.
Cast of Characters:	Merilan Yursalin, Will Sherman, Riku, Lia Tobutori, Avira, Beatrix

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Riku has posed:
A busy city street made considerably less so by the fall of night. Still, Lindbulm still manages to be cheerful despite the lateness of the hour. Wind rustles through the well manicured trees, clumps of shrubs and flowers nodding their heads in long rows down main street.

The most populous inns are well brighted and bustling. Although many shops are closed that this hour, a figure moves along the street looking from place to place. Riku looks at the list he has in hand, folding it up and putting it away with a faint groan.

He had set himself this errand so he could get some distance from Flourgis and the Shard Seekers. He needed a bit of peace and quiet right now to focus and re-center himself. It had.. it had been a long night. It looked like he was going to have to wait until the morning.

Will Sherman has posed:
Will often finds himself in the weirdest places...even more so when the worlds got all smashed together, like a cup of ice cream, and a PB&J sandwich.

Will, as per the current job undertaken for the TDA, is out enjoying the desert night, still trying to understand how a place could be both hot and cold...it must be some grand joke he wasn't in on.

Will, like he is at home, isn't afraid of the city at night, or the things in the corner, being able to blend in and look both poor and harmless is a boon...and of course he's not really afraid of the other things that lurk below the darkness either, but that's something that might not even come up.

Right now, Will is also trying to find something to eat!

"I wonder what people in deserts eat anyway...cactus? How do you even eat one?" he asks himself.

Merilan Yursalin has posed:
Over the last week or so, Lindblum has inadvertently become Merilan's new home... of sorts.

The Aegyl was still recovering from, well, getting hit by an airship -- a thick wrap of gauze was still fastened over her head, under the headscarf. Merilan is hurrying on through, with a bit of haste in her steps; Traya and Lemy are following suit behind her, each of them carrying brown paper bags filled with grocery. Well, it isn't -particularly- large bags, and there were more items to procure.

"Come on, come on, you two... we are late, Miss Lia is going to be home from troupe work any moment," Merilan mumbles. She wanted to get dinner laid down on the table before then, as is only proper. The Aegyl turns to stop by the bakery. "Ah, good evening, Ms. Bradford! I'd like two sourdough rolls for tonight, please. O-oh, no, everything is going fine... yes, I'm feeling better, thank you..."

Beatrix has posed:
Even in the middle of the night, there are a few things that are hard to notice. One of them would be the arrival of a large airship. Not seeking war like it was before the chaotic world shaking events, the airship shows a white flag, an attempt at peaceful talks here for now. Without a queen to order them to wage a senseless war, there was no reason to uphold that, and there were more pressing matters like stabilizing the country down.

Which led to a little bit later, a small regiment of Alexandrian soldiers to run through the streets...

Well that would odd in itself, but even odder is that they... aren't equipped right now. Beside the characteristic leotards, they aren't carryign any weapons or even the iron helmet they usually do... And they... seem cheerful, giggling even.

Following not far behind, the General herself, crossing her arms at her troops "You have until tomorrow noon, no later than that." The crowd cheers at that and runs off. Apparently its a day off, and even in the night Lindblum is an active city on that side.

Which leaves the general alone to stride along the commercial/residential area of town. How long as it been since she set foot here anyway?

Avira has posed:
Avira, novice hunter of clan Dagda, is actually no stranger to Lindblum. About a week ago, she and another guild member had travelled here, ending with Avira being left behind due to insufficient airship fair. After a day spent doing little odd jobs to rustle up the needed cash, she had eventually made it back. That incident wasn't held against Mabo that much-he was just trying to teach her a lesson about being more careful with money, right?

This time, she is prepared to foot the bill, having saved enough for the ride and a little shopping on the side. Having somewhat recently arrived, she didn't have so many purchases to her name, but that would soon change.

Deja vu suddenly overwhelms her as she spots a familiar face. Actually, she spots those wings of Merlian first before anything. Grinning, she changes course and follows after the Aegyl, patiently waiting for her conversation with the baker to end before greeting her. "Merilan! Here you are again!" Oddly cheerful today, she continues, "Can't believe you're still here. Did you move in or something?"

Lia Tobutori has posed:
Lia Tobutori, Merilan's de facto landlord slash new and mildly confused roommate, is not in fact going to be home from troupe work any moment - because she's not /at/ troupe work, per se. When you're a member of the secret shadowy cabal of Lindblum (also known variously as the Tantalus Troupe, Oh God Not Them Again, or 'Sigh...') an event like a great honking Alexandrian airship toddling into port is kind of a big thing to keep an eye on. Just out of curiosity, you know, keep tabs on what's going on around town, totally not randomly spymastering around in case the absolute worst should ever happen.

With the nations at a ready peace, though, it's hardly a ~priority affair~ - which is probably why it's fallen to both the Tantalus newbie and arguably the most obvious and stand-out member of the troupe. Which is, in turn, probably why there's a six foot dog-eared samurai in an elegant robe leaning against the corner of an alley and one of the main street's buildings, her ears perked up in interest as she watches the off-duty procession of soldiers tromp on by.

Riku has posed:
The night is full of the sounds of people going about their business. Soldiers running off to take advantage of their leave.

The smell and sounds of fresh baked goods and good natured gossiping. People going to their homes for the night as well as shuffling the opposite direction. What jars against this scene is the sounds coming from the Business District Airbus station. It begins with the trouble squeal of complaining machinery. The spluttering cough, cough of propellers. An engine backfires somewhere, somehow louder in the melange of background sounds than seems warranted.

Riku looks up and notices Will. He pauses, rubbing the back of his neck and looking considerably exhausted. Riku frowns, as if not quite sure what to do, then tenatively waves to the detective, craning his neck towards the source of the backfiring machines. Writing it off as normal, he turns back to what he was doing, watching the soldiers on leave that run by him. "Hey Will." he begins, but turns all the way around as the machine coughs again, this time with an unnatural scream of metal tearing. He narrows his eyes, muttering 'Not now.' under his breath with considerable irritation.

There is another tearing metal scream followed by a series of clanging noises and new sounds. The sounds of panic, as both late night passengers and Airbus employees scramble away from the Airbus terminal area.

Merilan Yursalin has posed:
"Mumu...?"

Merilan turns from where she's just tucked the sourdough rolls into her grocery bag, wrapped around one of her arms. "Ah, Miss Avira! Well... no, I was injured about a week ago," she somewhat embarrassedly admits. "I was just flying around town and-- I guess I wasn't expecting things to be flying in the sky around the city and..."

She laughs a little faintly, pointing towards the bandage on her head. "Ah, getting hit by an airship really hurts, it turns out..."

"But, Miss Lia has been very kind and let me stay at her home, yes. So I am hurrying to make dinner for us. What about you, Miss Avira? I recall we met at the station a while ago..."

The noise and screaming does catch her attention, prompting a frown from the self-styled journalist's face. "A-ah, what is that noise, I wonder...?" There's a pounding in her heart as she starts to think of it -- it couldn't be the Heartless... here, could it? And it'd been such a nice week without fighting, as well...

Will Sherman has posed:
Will looks up at Riku. Oh hey, a familar, if not troubled, face.

"Hey Riku." he says, looking at the backfiring machine, he's not used to machines doing that...but these areas don't always have the up to date features...and he never seems to get enough bars on his (RE: Mercade's) cell phone.

"So we meed again, eh? New developments happened, but I don't think I wana discuss them out here...but uh, I did find one of your friends. You could have mentioned how much of a derp he was." Will says...

Then the screams.

"Well...looks like chatting is already going to be short for the moment..." Will, almost instictually starts turning towards the trouble, assuming Riku was going to follow him.

Avira has posed:
"Really hurts? Heck, I'd say you're lucky to be in one piece. Getting hit by one of those is much worse than getting hit by, say, a taxi." Having read Merilan's Traverse Maniacs off and on, she knows she'll get that taxi reference. "With the fall to deal with and all that. Though..."

She looks skyward for a moment, "It must be nice. Being able to fly."

The wistful look is quick to fade. "Oh, I'm just in town to do some shopping since I finally have some money to spend. Err, don't let me keep you from dinner, though, we can catch up la-" At about the same time, Avira's attention is also diverted to the screaming and commotion near the airbus terminal. "-I dunno." she says uneasily, perhaps also jumping to conclusions and blaming Heartless.

Avira heads off to the noise, "I'm gonna go check it out. Seeya later!"

Lia Tobutori has posed:
Lia is already on the move, thanks to genetics gifting her with a very good pair of ears; having identified the source quickly she's taken off at full tilt in a whirl of long jackets and hair. As much as she might be a Ye Olde Samurai Of Ivalice, she's gotten remarkably good at holding her own when it comes to landspeed in a crowded steampunk city - a first hop clears a small set of stairs and lets her kick off a buttress onto a low thick pipe, allowing a second to clear a low wall and prevent her slamming into a wall of innocent Lindblum citizens, all of which are probably gawking and staring at the terminal at this point.

"Stand back! Coming through!" she yells out as she barges straight past the rest of them and towards the terminal, already reaching for the long, slim scabbard at her waist and unclipping it from her belt.

Riku has posed:
The Business District Airbus station is in total chaos. People running from the threat trample the greenery and the cheerful flowers in their haste to put as much distance between the threat and themselves as possible. The source is plain.

A seething rift of darkness has opened in the fabric of the world, almost on top of a (thankfully) emptied airbus. A horde of silohuettes shuffle around the terminal, stark red bandanas covering half of their heads, one swirling eye painted on the bandana while a yellow orb shines through the cloth on the other side. The humanoid shapes all have a manner of weapons. Swords and knives with the occasional fishing spear or crossbow. Riku follows after him with a weary shrug, saying "You get used to it." in response. He shakes his head, muttering under his breath as he follows the sounds to their source, letting some people go past them.

The accusations of Heartless turn out to be well founded, especially as dark shapes continue to flow into the airbus, twisting and distorting the metal. It slowly rotates so that the lantern prow is straight up, the propellers extending like hands while feet grow from the back end of the cab. The lantern slowly tilts down, the light turning to dark fire as the extending front of the aircab becomes a head and body. The Threshbus begins to clatter and clank it's way across the station platform, swarming minions pouring forwards in it's wake.

Several groups detach from the swarm, starting to move further afield chasing stragglers and anybody close to the station.

Merilan Yursalin has posed:
"Mumu... I did get hit by a taxi as well," Merilan slumps a little bit. It might not be necessarily apparent at first glance, but perhaps this quick and winged journalist may just be a bit of a klutz... well, in some fashions.

"Ah, wait, Miss Avira--"

Merilan does hesitate, not quite sure what to ... feel. But... there is something within her that seems to tug her towards the source of danger. Chalk it up to journalistic instinct, or some wildly dangerous, perilous sense of curiosity, or even perhaps...

Merilan looks uncertainly towards both of her Yarhi, and moves along in the direction of the Business District Airbus. Well, she -could- just fly on over home and not use the Airbus, but the thought of people being hurt did not sit well with her.

Her eyes widen when she comes across the sight proper, however, and her suspicions are all too easily and quickly confirmed. "No, not here..."

Already, the journalist is coming a little bit too close to the Heartless, prompting a bit of a shriek as several of the lesser creatures come near her. "Ah! Don't come near!" Traya and Lemy DX in panic as they draw their oversized lances and start to bonk the head of the nearest bandit Heartless harrassing the Aegyl.

Will Sherman has posed:
Will runs, very VERY agile...much more than you might think...maybe he really IS a monk?

He lands...looking up at the large heartless and the swarm of mini heartless...

"Well, that's...a problem." he ays, looking back towards Riku.

"Yeah? Well, he knows how to fight pretty good, handled himself against Magica pretty well." he says, shrugging a bit. "Anyway, heartless first, icecream and talking about your friend se...hey looks like we got help. I'm thinking this might be almost unfair." he says, a bit of a grin on his face...

His hands move, grabbing the strings between himself and Riku.

They become visible for just a brief moment...as he strengthens their strands... Riku might feel himself stronger thanks to Will's meddling.

Beatrix has posed:
Beatrix stands in the middle of the fleeing people, hand on her sword. She shakes her head "If we did not have enough of entire cities disapearing and people going missing, we have all of those pestering monsters that drop into place without any good reason." She slowly draws out Save the Queen. She's a bit annoyed. Her soldiers are all taking a day off, they can't even support her right now. But she wouldn't let things go on rampage either, not in the middle of the city and people.

She glances to the side as other fighters join up. She remembers that Riku boy from the Sandragora. The others are all unknown though, she wouldn't be to tell on which side they are normally. But considering their reactions, she can assume at least.

Sword drawn, she slides out to intercept the first swarm. Her task is defending, and that's what she's doing, taking care that none of them pass through toward the fleeing citizens. "You shall not touch any of them while I am here."

Avira has posed:
Definitely not assuming Merilan is a klutz-instead, Avira believes that due to what she's seen written in Traverse Maniacs, Merilan is not familiar with taxis or airships. Why, in her village, her people were likely the masters of the skies and did not have to contend with these fast and zoomy flying machines.

Avira does not wait. She is quickly pushing through the throng of rubberneckers to see what's going on, witnessing a black rift opening up in reality and yellow-eyed (those are eyes, right???) somethings peering through. This...well, this remindes her a little too much of when that part of her world ended. But rather than attacking the people, those black shapes seem to be possessing the airbus. "You're kidding me!" she yelps, "Did those things just turn that /airship/ into a Heartless?!"

A shrieking woman elbows past her, chased by one of the minion Heartless that had just crawled forth from the portal. Without really thinking, Avira tears the Spine out of it's sheat with her right hand and cleaves it down through the offending aggressor. "..not my job..but..."

She makes her way forward, fighting off the smaller ones with care. Seems she's actually picking off the ones that seem distracted by other targets first before drawing too much attention to herself.

Lia Tobutori has posed:
The nu mou samurai doesn't exactly go in for 'slow and methodical', nor for 'subtle' - her mad race takes her straight through a collection of smaller Heartless and out the other side, beelining towards the transformed transport at a fair old clip; several of the small black creatures along her route are simply and effectively split apart by the flash of her blade, though most of them are simply left behind as the samurai chooses to prioritize the major threat rather than a handful of minor ones.

With an angry cry, she piles right over the top of the cowering Aegyl, her sword tearing apart the creature threatening her - and then several steps take her to the Airbus, her unsheathed sword thrust forward towards the doddering, bobbing headlight in an attempt to break it. Merilan's headline tomorrow: local heroine commits auto vandalism.

Riku has posed:
The bandits nearest to Merilan are repeatedly bonked on the head by the oversized lances, causing the already tipsy heartless to overbalance and fall over sideways. Klonk! Pow! BIFF. The Threshbus lumbers forwards, entire body overbalanced towards the front. The propellers cough, then cough again before spinning to life.

The group closest to Beatrix find themselves thudding against the immovable wall that is the general's resolve. None of those near her are able to escape into the city, exploding in tendrils of darkness one after another. There seems to be more and more coming out of the portal to replenish their numbers. Riku groans quietly at the mess, shuddering as he feels Will do something. He looks at the detective spectulatively, but there is just no time.

"This.. this I didn't need right now." He rushes into the midst of the nearest swarm, sword appearing in his hand as he thrashes the pirate heartless. There is a ringing of many blades as several more jump into the fray, parrying and slashing, forcing the teenager backwards. This garners him the attention of the Threshbus, propellers flailing as multiple spinning blades shoot out of the assembly, the constructs of dark fire arcing towards whoever is close.

What also garners attention is the arcing samurai slamming into the airbus, headline shattering in a flurry of broken glass. The Threshbus flails and stomps, propellers raised as it tries to extract the samurai from it's person, in easily digestible kibble if need be.

Merilan Yursalin has posed:
"Hyaa--"

While Merilan isn't exactly going to -win- any points for courage, Lia's sudden appearance out of nowhere is more than enough to properly startle as the bandits that Lemy and Traya were bonking are also suddenly little more than ribbons...

The battle is far from over yet, however. The Threshbus' flailing, and stomping, its propellers spinning like vicious blades and black flames and impaling bits make a number on the assailants joining it - she casts her eyes, spotting... Riku, fighting at it; then, Avira, who joined the fight beforehand, and Beatrix as well, who she did not know, but she certainly was defending the city, and...

"M-Miss Lia, I--"

...All you need to do...

Merilan pauses, her eyes widening for a moment longer. The screams of the citizens of Lindblum escaping from the melee and disaster echo through her ears. A nearby window shatters, shards of glass falling not too far from her.

There is a pulse from within her. A silent shimmer, gleaming with emerald light... silently sinister.

...All you need to do, Merilan...

Another pulse. Another glimmer, from the Auracite within. A nearby old woman collapses, of exhaustion; a pair of younger carpenters help her up, and the three limp away to duck into an alleyway.

...All you need to do is... Ask...

The Aegyl's suddenly sprung forward, leaving Traya and Lemy behind to assist with the evacuation in her wake. On a whirl of molting black feathers, the feathered blade - the Swallowtail - has appeared, and Merilan's expression has narrowed into a very fine, serious countenance as she cuts across with a midair run-through blade of wind, attacking at extreme speeds as she flits about the devastated airspace.

...Ask and you shall receive...

Will Sherman has posed:
Will, before he can do anything, is swarmed by heartless. There are simply too many, and they all seem to swarm on him, (Well that's not true, but it's hard for Will to see other people.)

The detective looks much worse for ware as he punches his way out of them, crushing bodies and exploding heartless as he moves...but their numbers seem limitless. The large heartless must be the source, he grunts, as he moves to a knee...

And LEAPS straight at it, using his acrobatics to kick off smaller heartless as they move to stop him, his hand aiming to not just physically punch the heartless, but rip and rend the tangled mass of strings that kept the...thing...intact? It's like looking at static, but Will can still pick up on it...and these things react very negitively to having their strings untangled.

Avira has posed:
Clearing her way through, Avira nears the magnificently dangerous Threshbus itself and actually hesitates because it whips out those propellers at the other people currently engaged in it and...and...

OH THE HUMANITY

Suddenly she's not all that confident about getting close to this thing, images of being thrown into a gigantic blender dancing in her head, "No no no think thinkkkkk..." her eyes settle on one of those propellers and an idea forms. She holds her weapon high above her head and concentrates, ice magic flowing from her hands grasping around its hilt and along the length of the serrated blade. Chilling ice forms along its length, cold mist swirling around it. Only then does Avira charge, not at the machine proper, but at one of the propellers itself. With a powerful swing, her blade meets that of the Threshbus and ice magic explodes from the contact.

A coating of ice is left behind where she struck. Another heavy blow leaves further ice behind, weighing the construct down and making it difficult for the propellor to rotate. With the third blow, she forces all the magic out, leaving the machine in a solid block.

Provided this works, she then turns to the Threshbus and taunts it. "Bet you can't hit me with those OTHER propellors! Come on!" Of course, she dives behind the frozen one shortly afterwards, trying to lure the Heartless into hitting itself.

Lia Tobutori has posed:
Lia pays for her mad dash in spades; she manages to brace herself against the body of the Airbus and cling on for the briefest of moments, but by the time the next rolls around she's been unceremoniously batted away by a giant whirling propeller, the force of the blow sending her crashing into and skittishly rebounding away from a now crooked lamppost as she tries desperately to regain her balance. "Hff--! Merilan, look out--!" she yells on reflex, and it has to take her a few moments for the fact to dawn that the Aegyl has pulled a sword out of nowhere and is on the attack.

Steadying herself, the samurai bites down her questions and surprise, leaving them for a time when there's more freedom to dwell on them; instead, she kicks up to her feet with a wide sweep of her blade, dicing several little Heartless as they dart in to harass what previously must have seemed like a temptingly helpless target. As far as she's concerned, the only question at present is how many more blades they've got available.

She is momentarily distracted by a wash of healing, and spares the Alexandrian nearby a grateful smile and a nod before gripping her scabbard tighter.

Riku has posed:
The Threshbus spasms. Riku ducks under the flailing arcs of dark magic while lesser minions clatter, klonk, klonk, as the detective kicks off them. The mass of tangled static convulses as he tears at it. Strings snap and wither with a high singing shriek of sound, recoiling and slithering back into the rift of darkness. The tangled mess puppeteering the Threshbus causes it to jerk and flail.

The lights go on and off, a horn lets out a sad "wahhhh", a somewhat comical blat amongst the chaos. Avira's charge connects. The propeller is frozen solid by the rush of ice magic, the blade assembly tumbling to the ground to shatter into fragments of brittle metal. It then does indeed fall for that trick. It tries in vain to reach her, still dancing as the static strings holding it snap and distort, plowing into the stump where the frozen blade assembly once was.

As it does so, snapping the rotor blades. Riku leaps to the attack, sword cutting the cables and joints that form it's massive feet. One leg starts to buckle while smaller swarms of heartless regroup around the Threshbus, crawling up it to reach Avira as the larger construct flails and kicks. The rest of the host seems stunned, twitching and jerking and flailing at anybody who gets close without real concerted force of direction.

At last, when the Threshbus is done mangling itself it turns attention on Merilan and it's other attackers, flailing frozen stumps while Heartless brandish their swords and charge again.

Merilan Yursalin has posed:
The wash of healing that General Beatrix casts upon her empowers her - the white magic, in turn, is steeped through her form and twisted into a temporary shield, which helps to guard her, in the form of several Yarhi holding up little shields, acting as buffers.

That Merilan is utilising her summons as shock troopers just seems unlike her.

The buffer, as it turns out, is only enough to prevent a severe injury upon the Aegyl, as the Yarhi bray apart at the Heartless' most recent attacks - the tiny espers fend off the Heartless as they come, but the spinning claws come to scratch and sweep, prompting a slight flinch from the Aegyl... but no more.

...No fright, no fear. I grant what you desire...

In turn, she extends her hand as she rises up into position once more.

"The faceless master whispers..."

An explosion of magical energy erupts underneath the Aegyl's feet, spreading in the form of an intricate mandala of archaic runes and words, a blood-red glow in color.

"Upon the draw-strings of the world hangs a single existence,
A truth for one, yet falsehood for all others...
Upon this natural stage lie the units of creation,
An imaginary thesis of the inexplicable..."

With a single sweeping gesture, a quartet of impaling scarlet spears, crafted out of sheerly concentrated elemental of wind, thrusts forth from different angles to stab at the Threshbus. Should they pierce their target, their adjoining will eventually implode into a storm of slashing winds as the magic frays apart.

"Unfathomable Arcanum: Scarlet Weather Rhapsody!"

The auracite's gleam shines within... silently extracting its invisible prize.

Soul Devoured: -1.13%
Soul Remaining: 70.04%

Beatrix has posed:
Beatrix seems to evade the attention of the bandits for now... now that it helps out the team a whole lot overall, she can soak damage better than many after all. But she believes her actions can still help out the cause, considering the large swarm and the few fighters around herself. Whe might excel at offense, her primary task still is protection in the end.

She keeps using curative spells to help out from the back. But she's not hiding away either.

Avira has posed:
Now a far more experienced adventurer (Aladdin, we're looking at you) would probably continue taunting with something along the lines of 'stop hitting yourself!' but Avira's far too out of breath and far too distracted to be witty right now. Though it did work, it's still pretty nerve-wracking to have those spinning blades anywhere near her and she's far too busy dodging wild swings. The smaller Heartless coming to swarm her don't help either.

It's then she recognizes this particular type. The same that were harassing her when she fought that kraken creature. The same that distracted her to the point that she ended up with a pointy tentacle in her back. "Getawaygetaway-" she's knocked to the ground, almost losing her grip on the Spine as she falls. Inwardly, she winces, waiting for that same gut-wrenching feeling she felt last time, only to find it not there. Maybe Will pre-emptively ripped out that thread of fate?

Avira rolls up into a crouched position and puts a hand over her chest, willing the scrapes from that little tussel to close, then immediately scrambling out of the Threshbus's immediate threshing range.

Will Sherman has posed:
Will's fists come up, punching Pirate Heartless away from him, and flipping back as the massive thing comes down at him. His feet kicks off of the larger heartless, and jumps upwards towards it, aiming to put himself on it's level, as he tries to slam his hands into the tangled string again...his eyes passing over Merlian as he does so...raising an eyebrow at what he saw.

The magical swirls of the cure spell wash over him, blinking as he looks for the spell's source...

"Thank ya, ma'am!" he says towards Beatrix, before the young man aims both hands down...aiming to try and rip off a large chunk of the things hull.

"NO! HEARTLESS! EEEEEEEVER!"

Lia Tobutori has posed:
With a slow breath of air, the half-nu mou springs forward a second time, though this time her mad dash has calmed itself down to a slower, steadier approach. More than that, she's emanating control, her sword sheathed and her hand hovering by the hilt as she steps in, her gaze trained on the Airbus for any signs of weak points or attack angles. Quite how you assess a magically enchanted air transport for avenues of attack is a trade secret, of course, or maybe she's just been hanging around too many engineers.

In any case, Merilan's sudden and dramatic whirlwinds generated in the aftermath of her attack give her the opportunity she needs, and through them the samurai bolts forwards, headed directly towards the rampaging machinery. Her first slash nearly cessates the roaring currents somehow, the air hanging still; the next, she's sheathed and then unsheathed her sword in a massive slice that far extends past the actual physical length of her blade.

Riku has posed:
The storm of slashing winds crash into the Threshbus, sending shadows scattering as they attempt to cling onto the larger construct for support. A few of them are hurled straight back through the portal, others scattered like bowling pins. As this is happening, Riku severs one of the cables, fighting the battering winds as the entire Threshbus creaks above him.

He kicks and slashes at the heartless that get close and try to swarm him, bopping one on the head with the hilt of the blade. Lightning lights up the sky, twin pillars converging on the Threshbus. It stumbles away, arms flailing and so confused it flails into a group of it's fellows and disrupts them. It stomps and smashes it's own troops, flailing wildly as it tries to dislodge Will.

Another spasm convulses the attack force as Will pounds into the Threshbus, metal starting to squeal as he rips away part of the hull. Dark threads of static ripple through the infrastructure. Another spasm, and the last threads snap. The mangled airbus slowly begins to collapse, one piece at a time. Riku rolls out of the way of a severed leg, then part of an arm as it clatters to the stone floor.

It's then that somethings is passed out of the rift. Dark bottles fly out from the rift, barrels rolling in ghostly parody that the shadows eagerly tear into. The forces were rapidly dwindling. The last threads holding onto their existence were being frayed. It was time. The Heartless roll out.

The Rum of Last Resort.

upon imbibing these dark spirits, the heartless throw themselves into a frenzy. They twitch and jitter, throwing themselves as much at the walls and over the sides as at the enemy, but the sentiment is there all the same. Nobody is safe from the dark drink.

Merilan Yursalin has posed:
Another mystic mandala erupts into existence underneath her feet; a revolving set of gimbals in the form of free-floating runes start to flow over her body, and her wings. Her eyes have gone into a full blood red, without feeling, without care...

...without Heart.

"Oh, this Doll knows only one Truth..."

She extends her hands again, and a whirl of blood-red winds, slithering as elemental ribbons along the length of her blade, come to form into sight, drawn from the corners of the battlefield, wherever errant motes of magic may be had.

"This girl is a prop upon the stage,
Her words without meaning, encounters apropos,
Her birth a sin, a creation detached.
The herald of a time-gilded Paradise...!"

Merilan raises the sword high into the air, and the magic coalesces into a massive spire of wind, the faint outlines of a storm braying and thundering about its length.

"O, Where am I... When am I?"

The combat-entrenched Aegyl listlessly soars up, wings spreading to either side of her, her entire body suffused with the very same machinations, the very same energies that has brought her dark sword of crimson air into existence at this very moment.

"This girl is an imaginary living body,
Seeking time, without rest,
A caricature of incantation...
Destined to the end of her cycle..."

As the Heartless take their last stand, she takes hers as well; the bandits, the pirates, the Threshbus swarm and slash at her - cutting at her arms, her legs, her body; blood is drawn, yet the Aegyl is on the absolute offensive, and does not stop for even a second to regard her own safety.

"Truth Arcanum: The Word for World is Wind..."

With an almost effortless heave, the massive blade comes crashing down from above, intent on rending the Threshbus and the Heartless all in twain.

And within, the Auracite can only gently smile its faceless smile...

Soul Devoured: -2.66%
Soul Remaining: 67.38%

Will Sherman has posed:
Will punches forward, grabbing two of the Rum bottles from the hands of the heartless.

"No." he says, and then immediately bashes them both across the forehead with it. He moves, using the now broken bottles against the flailing heartless, before throwing one at a Heartless getting ready to come right behidn him, and another towards one jumping at Riku.

It wasn't going to be pleasent...

However, His attention is stolen by Merlian...and well...

This thread of doom getting stronger causes him to pause, occasionally, punching a heartless that wonders too close...but she seems to have handled this.

Avira has posed:
The loud thrum of metal striking stone briefly catches Avira's attention and she takes notice of the Threshbus falling apart. "Yesssss-" but there is no time to rest yet as there was still a staggering amount of Heartless around the airport right now. At these numbers, they were still a significant threat. A seperate flash of light steals Avira's attention away and she finds herself drawn to Merilan.

"...what the..." Merilan was looking quite demonic there all the sudden. And that particular incantation-well, as a mage of some skill, she's long since tuned herself to actually pay attention to the words of spells as they're used.

Avira will have to worry about the implications of this later. The Heartless all around her immediately go into a berserk frenzy. This action, as she is mobbed, seems to trigger the same reaction from Avira. She flails around without skill, fending off the tearing claws with unaimed swipes of her weapon, but mostly getting hit herself.

Lia Tobutori has posed:
Lia rebounds off the Airbus a second time, except this time of her own volition and in a considerably more controlled leap - even so, a normal sword will only do so much against a contraption of steel and iron. That's fine, though, as Merilan is more than picking up the slack; it's all the samurai can do to watch as the Aegyl effortlessly obliterates the remainder of the Heartless. "Merilan...!" she yells, though she's not exactly sure why she's yelling /just yet/, be it her wounds or her Super Saiyan.

Beatrix has posed:
Beatrix sheathes back her sword as that... final, rather flashy attack seems to send the rest of the heartless flying away. She would prefer not to be on the reciving end of such an attack, no matter how strong she might be, she would feel that one, assuredly. She turns around toward where the citizens fled, assuring herself that everyone is safe, before looking back to the small ground of fighters again "Well done everyone."

Riku has posed:
And the spire of wind breaks the back of the Heartless attack force. Without their greater construct, or the guiding hand of whatever was controlling them, they have no will of their own. The rift slams closed with an ominous boom. Whatever powered it has withdrawn its favor, it seems. Riku seems much more the worse for wear than his injuries should suggest.

He bonks a last fleeing heartless as the majority of them caught outside the portal turn instantly to shadowy vapor. He nods in thanks to Will, but his attention is caught by Merilan. He widens his eyes slightly, then shakes his head and turns his face away. He turns from the entire scene, kicking a ruined bench up from it's side in order to slump down into it bonelessly.

Will Sherman has posed:
Will lands, finally after the thing was sent back to whatever abyss it climbed out of.

He gives Merilan some breath...instead, going to focus on the nice lady who kept him out of the hospital for a day or two.

"'Tis no large matter for the King of Hobokind." he says, bowing at Beatrix. Though it's easy to see that he's taking chort jestures way too lightly.

He's also going to focus on being positive right now. "The name's Will. Will Sherman."

Merilan Yursalin has posed:
Not quite effortlessly, on Merilan's part, as much as the blade -- which disappears into errant, spent and useless motes of magic as soon as the deed is done -- says otherwise.

...Thank you for your patronage, Merilan...

Victory or otherwise, the Aegyl was herself quite injured; the Heartless has done quite a number on her, and she bleeds from several places, as bloody as the crimson coloring of her own clothing.

Injury and defeat aren't what makes Merilan so horrified at fighting, however.

"I--"

She stares ahead, towards the remnants of the airbus, the damage inflicted on the station, and the surrounding area... the crumpled metalworking, the smashed stonemasonry, the injuries that the hapless citizens have no doubt sustained before the banded fighters could address the issue.

Normally, Merilan would be beside herself with worry, helping the injured, and ensuring everyone is alright.

Yet, when she fights...

...she feels no empathy for this scene.

She looks to Beatrix as she approaches, and towards Will, who she recognises - and Riku, and Avira, where she was fighting as well. She also regards Lia, murmuring in turn, "Lia..." But other than that, she is quiet, not so much as a pip, staring to where the Rift once was...

In some very small corner of her mind -- or perhaps her Heart? It almost feels like... she missed her ride home, even...

Avira has posed:
Avira drops to her knees, breathing hard and shaking. Though the Heartless were gone, she seems to still be pretty effected from being smack in the middle of their frenzy. Still clutching the Spine, she quietly tries to calm herself down, occasionally darting glances at the others gathered here that are recovering from the fight.

Many she recognized. Riku and Lia she'd only met once but Will and Merilan she certainly knew. Beatrix, though...no, not familiar at all. But even in this state, Avira could acknowledge that she looked pretty -good-.

Unsteadily, she stands and sheathes her weapon. She does take a moment to see if the Heartless left anything behind, besides the ruined husk of an airbus, that she could use as proof to her clan that she -fought this thing-. "Oh..uh..." she smiles a little at Beatrix. "You're welcome."

Lia Tobutori has posed:
The nu mou samurai is limping and wounded, but that doesn't stop her sheathing her sword with a careful deliberation, still surveying the scene in front of her for a long moment. With a painful wince, she finally starts to walk towards the assorted group, feeling in one of her jacket's long pockets; a moment's searching and she's found a roll of bandage, useful for whenever Cinna stubs his toe or Baku puts a dagger through someone's hand in a moment of recreation. God bless deep pockets.

"My thanks to you all," she sighs out as she kneels next to the Aegyl, surveying her wounds and trying to figure out where to even begin treating them, then gives Merilan a deadpan look in return. "... though really, I have to wonder how you're ever going to get well enough to stop sleeping on my couch at this rate."

Beatrix has posed:
Beatrix moves toward the others quietly, stepping proudly despite the few wounds she got from the onslaught "I can offer curing magic if you are hurt." She offers up kindly. She wasn't here to wage war on anyone after all, adn she managed to protect the citizens, which is all she could hope for.

Although she might need to rub the ears of her soldiers that completly ignored the general panic somehow... Sometimes she wonders if they take their job seriously.

Riku has posed:
Riku stares at Merilan for a long time. He finds his gaze pulled back to her time and time again as his eyes roam the shattered architecture and the ruins of the Lindblum Business District station. And every time he looks, his gaze is more and more unfriendly.

He walks over to her, digging out one of the more powerful healing potions he bought earlier. Riku snaps the top away, offering it to her and keeping out of the way of the nu mou, nodding in their direction. "Are you alright now?" he motions to another bench like the one he had been sitting in.

"Maybe you better sit down. Or-- stay here, and let your friend treat you." He still keeps glaring, even if his words and soothing and calm. Avira finds several fragments of dark glass and the remains of the shattered headlight and blade assembly from the destroyed propeller, still warped by a fragment of remaining dark energy.

The glass seems to have crystallized around the dark energy, leaving several small sharp fragments. Riku looks over at Beatrix. "Thank you." he says shortly. "It looks like this is over. For now." he digs out the list, and decides he no longer feels very helpful. He feels like laying down and sleeping for a week... and there really was only one place that he would feel safe right now.

Well. As safe as he ever got. This was just the very last straw. The very, very last. He didn't care what she would have to say. He was going to rest for awhile.

Merilan Yursalin has posed:
Merilan's Yarhi rush to the scene, Traya doting over Lia with a panicked !!D8;;!! expression as she starts to work whatever little healing magics she can -- mostly, mysteriously waving a first aid kit twice her size over Lia's face, which... magically heals?

"I... must impose on you further, I am afraid," Merilan responds to Lia, slowly, her words a little stumbled-upon. She is... strange, perhaps, in this state - devoid of the typical tenderness and anxiety and concern that fills the Aegyl with so much life. "I will repay you however I can."

Fortunately, Riku is present to offer potions for healing, which is likely to be a more competent source of healing than waggling a healing kit, to the both of them. "Ah... ...Riku." Her voice is... low, still. "It is good you were on hand..." She does look to Lia and move towards the bench to quietly sit down.

Merilan does look back towards Beatrix as she offers her services, but it appears they're well covered here. She does express her thanks to her as well, however. "Thank you... there must be others still in need of assistance in the city."

However, the repayment for Lia is, sadly, not going to include dinner tonight, as Lemy kneels and weeps bitterly over the crushed remnants of their groceries.

Baguette, thy sacrifice shalt not be in vain...!

Avira has posed:
Avira gathers all the pieces of the darkness-touched headlight into her hands, reflecting upon how much they resembled pieces of magicite like this. As she heads over to join Merilan, Lia, and now Riku, concern flickers on her face. "Say, uh..." she starts, eager to start asking questions. Her eyes flick about to the others gathered here and she decides to keep a lid on it for now. Maybe later, should they get some one-on-one time. "...take it easy, alright?"

Avira's eyes follow the sound of tiny weeping and she discovers one of Merilan's espers crying over her...crushed groceries. "..awww. Hey, if it makes you feel any better..."

Avira holds out her hand, offering a piece of the glass to Merilan.

Will Sherman has posed:
Will is quiet, watching his unfold...

He feels like a spectator...well, really he kinda is, but he shakes his head after a time.

He'll have to talk to her later, with less people around.

He looks towards Riku, as he talks to the woman, before he shrugs his shoulders...

"So." he says, looking very seriously at everyone gathered...

"...Where do we eat?" he says, his stomach making a loud noise after his uttered words.

Lia Tobutori has posed:
With a faint laugh in response to Will, the samurai straightens up - with the Aegyl in her arms, /gosh/. "I'm afraid that as far as I'm concerned, it may have to wait until Merilan can get some rest. I think at this point she's in need of rest and recuperation more than food, exactly. My apologies," she adds, bowing respectfully, "But thank you for the offer. You're probably best off trying somewhere along the Merchant's Street."

Her work on Merilan's wounds could best be described as 'rough and ready', but it's a decent attempt that'll last at least for the interim. With a glance at Riku, and then at the Alexandrian soldier in turn, she adds: "Although... if I could trouble you a moment more, it would probably be best to give the crowds a few words of relief, I suppose..."

Beatrix has posed:
Beatrix moves up to Riku first, offering him the first cure spells. When its not during a fight its alot easier and faster to cast, so it doesn't take too much time to handle the wounds. Merilan might refuse the cures, but there's plenty of other people to get around, and everyone got hit pretty hard by those bandits by thelooks of things. "We can handle the people, they saw that we eliminated the problem for now, that is all they need to know. Its the same in Alexandria right now, those monsters keep making people uneasy and unsafe. There is little we can do unless we find the cause of them, except to protect them with all of our might."

Riku has posed:
Due diligence kept, Riku nods to Merilan with that suspicious, unfriendly look still in his eyes. "Yes. Take care of yourself." his eyes flick down to Lemy weeping over the crushed groceries, and his expression softens minutely.

He doesn't have anything to give the little Yarhi so he turns away from them without another word. Riku narrows his eyes at the mention of food, a flicker of doubt crossing his face. He gives a rather strained smile to banish it. "I think there's several inns not too far away from here. I think I'll pass though, and catch up with you later. I think the cavalry are about to descend, now that everything's been settled."

Riku motions to the sounds of light and activity farther away than the circle of silence that surrounds the group in the wake of the attack, people starting to peer around and look to see if the danger has passed. Riku tugs at his jacket, brushing at his arms. He smiles at Beatrix, the smile even more strained as if his patience has finally become exhausted. "Thank you."

He turns away, muttering to himself as he starts to make his way through the ruins and away from the group. Apparently, he is not the words of relief sort of guy right now.

Merilan Yursalin has posed:
Avira would learn quickly that the Yarhi apparently have the attention span of, well, nothing, for Lemy goes from crying over spilt bread and veggies to zipping up into her face to go 'OOOOOH!' 8D! at the piece of shiny glass, bobbing over up and down towards it.

"Ah-- thank ... you, Miss Avira," Merilan quietly says, some of the life starting to try to claw and reach its way upwards into her voice. She accepts the piece of glass--

--then Lia goes to steal her off her feet, possibly to the background of lillies and flowers as is the half-mou's norm. "Miss Lia--!" she finds herself stammering some more, a faint flush coming over her cheeks. Ah, there's the typical Merilan, finally.

She does catch note of Riku's gaze. It is... different - it does not feel the same as when they were just cavorting for turnip fries. Something has -- changed... though she is glad, nonetheless, that he's alright.

Will Sherman has posed:
This is all becoming distressing to him...

Will, shrugging, wordlessly turns off and goes to look for food...too much here he can't comment on, and too much here disturbs him.

Avira has posed:
"You're welcome. Hey...just call me Avira, okay? Miss makes me feel kind of old." Though given all the teenaged boys running around, yeah, she was kind of 'old'. Alas. Merilan is quickly swept up into Lia's arms, drawing a small giggle from the huntress. "See you around. As usual." Avira remarks, just knowing that they're going to run into each other again. They always seem to do just that.

Riku decides to turn away and leave, but Avira calls out to him. "Hey. Riku." There's a moment spent waiting to see if she actually gets his attention, "I saw Sora. He's in Traverse Town."

That being said, she stuffs her remaining shards into the little pouches on her belts and follows after Will. "Hey. I've been here before, I know a few good places to eat. Er, well, at least they looked good. I didn't actually eat there. C'mon Will, I'll show you."

Beatrix has posed:
Beatrix waves a hand "I am fine with taking care of the people, I am used to it. Although I cannot say how much they will appreciate the presence of an Alexandrian general telling them to stay put." She shakes her head, and walks away toward the citizens, to offer explanations and reassurance. She does have a way with the people, that's why she is high ranked, despite that dry and no-nonsense tone of voice.

Riku has posed:
Riku stops for a moment. He looks back at Avira, but the lack of surprise on his face gives it away.

"Thanks Avira. It's.. good that he's okay." He pauses, dredging up another smile that doesn't feel like it's going to break his face to turn on Avira before leaving the circle of activity and quickly disappearing into the night.

Lia Tobutori has posed:
The samurai bows her head one last time to the assorted members of the group that are still there, giving each of them a serious pause in turn. "Then, if you'll excuse me... please take care of yourself in the city proper," she states warmly, turning to begin heading towards the terminal door. As romantic whisks away go, it's maybe a 4/10 - she's limping and sore, which isn't exactly very romantic, but there's a lot of feeling to it.

Will Sherman has posed:
Will looks back towards Avaria...he gives her a grin, "Finally someone speaks my language." he says, and goes with the woman who is going to show him the world (of food).