School House Rumbles 3: Act 3. Warriors and Liberators.

[FarBeyondC]

He took two more lances of energy to the back, and whipped around to retaliate only to feel a familiar energy signature pop into being nearby.

Turning in the direction he felt it, he saw Amare...

Strike the ground. Face first.

"Well that's not at all good." He grunted, already cutting his way through the soldiers moving in on her.

Clearing enough of them away he threw up two quick barriers, one of diamond and one of shadows, buying him time enough to check on her.

"You aren't dead, are you? Please don't be that," he pulled one of his two remaining healing crystals out just in case.

Did someone really just ask if I was dead?

The very thought hurt her more than the series of events that led to the question.

"Leave for a while, and everyone forgets about you," Amare said, as she picked herself off the floor. "Haven't you heard about "Amare the Undying"?"

Outside of a vague sense of familiarity, she had no idea who it was she was speaking to.

OT: I believe that you were in old god form the last time she saw you.

"I mean, sure," she continued while taking a quick look around, "I wasn't exactly a household name for those not interested in the martial arts, but that was only because most of my fights were deemed too brutal for television. Anyway, as you can obviously see, I'm not dead. Still, I suppose I owe you something for the time and effort you wasted- even if it wasn't asked for."

[Cthulhu_of_R'yleh]

Did someone really just ask if I was dead?

The very thought hurt her more than the series of events that led to the question.

"Leave for a while, and everyone forgets about you," Amare said, as she picked herself off the floor. "Haven't you heard about "Amare the Undying"?"

Outside of a vague sense of familiarity, she had no idea who it was she was speaking to.

OT: I believe that you were in old god form the last time she saw you.

"I mean, sure," she continued while taking a quick look around, "I wasn't exactly a household name for those not interested in the martial arts, but that was only because most of my fights were deemed too brutal for television. Anyway, as you can obviously see, I'm not dead. Still, I suppose I owe you something for the time and effort you wasted- even if it wasn't asked for."

"Like I told you when I met you and your... mellow friend; I didn't watch or keep up with the tournaments much." He put the crystal away again. "I'm Casimir, by the way... I was the Golem, thing last time you saw me."

"But no, you're far from it." He smiled, "but you don't owe me anything. This has given me a second to think," he paused and listened to the lightning hat was still sounding nearby, "I do have a question about the lightning, though."

[FarBeyondC]

High up in the air- far above the clouds (or where the clouds would be, were Eden not within a dome), far above even the battle for air superiority playing out above the war for liberation being waged on the ground below- Iriesia completed her observations.

She hadn't been there- or anywhere near the field where so much was on the line- for longer than a few seconds.

Those seconds were enough to show her how bad the situation was.

Within the cloak that bent light to its mistress's whims and the self-contained bridge which denied the both the transfer and detection of heat, she brought forth from the void two more shards of the general type used at Baad Industries and drew the power within them to herself.

Then...

Calore, Hikari...

From within the various layers of stealth, the twin phoenii who now were making their fourth appearance as guardians on this plane emerged.

Kanetsu, Lucifer...

Joining them were a pair of humanoids with wings and garments formed respectively of heat and light. Despite their human shape, they seemed to be of the same nature and served the same role as the phoenii.

Go forth, my guardians, and herald the turning tide.

Her thoughts, not unlike an unbreakable oath, compelled the four to action.

Leaving their mistress's side, the four descended.

Not even a second passed before Calor, Hikari, Kanetsu, and Lucifer made their initial attack; by the time all but a very select few even knew there was something to defend themselves from, the explosive ends of struck enemy craft began to paint a scene of destruction upon the azure canvas.

[FarBeyondC]

"Like I told you when I met you and your... mellow friend; I didn't watch or keep up with the tournaments much." He put the crystal away again. "I'm Casimir, by the way... I was the Golem, thing last time you saw me."

"But no, you're far from it." He smiled, "but you don't owe me anything. This has given me a second to think," he paused and listened to the lightning hat was still sounding nearby, "I do have a question about the lightning, though."

Golem thing?

"I'm afraid I have no i- wait..."

Something in Amare's mind remembered hearing bits and pieces of the man before her's spoken words before.

"Oh," she said almost disappointingly when it all came together, "it's you. What to happened all the rocks and stuff? You looked cooler with them."

Almost forgetting the last part of what he said, she added, "What about the lightning?"

[Cthulhu_of_R'yleh]

Golem thing?

"I'm afraid I have no i- wait..."

Something in Amare's mind remembered hearing bits and pieces of the man before her's spoken words before.

"Oh," she said almost disappointingly when it all came together, "it's you. What to happened all the rocks and stuff? You looked cooler with them."

Almost forgetting the last part of what he said, she added, "What about the lightning?"

"It's a long story, really..." He sighed. "But that part of what I am is gone. Didn't agree with my fiancé." And it hadn't. She preferred the normal, human Casimir, and he preferred not being twisted and used like a toy.

"That lightning's pretty strong yeah?" He returned to his question. "As it is now, is it strong enough to hurt you?"

[FarBeyondC]

"It's a long story, really..." He sighed. "But that part of what I am is gone. Didn't agree with my fiancé." And it hadn't. She preferred the normal, human Casimir, and he preferred not being twisted and used like a toy.

"That lightning's pretty strong yeah?" He returned to his question. "As it is now, is it strong enough to hurt you?"

"That's a shame," Amare said, wanting to fight him like he was then. "But at least the rest of you is still here. To answer your question, the lightning coming from Sparky right now would definitely hurt me, unless I decided to focus on defense. Why? Are you worried about getting hit by accident? Or do you have something else planned?"

[Cthulhu_of_R'yleh]

"That's a shame," Amare said, wanting to fight him like he was then. "But at least the rest of you is still here. To answer your question, the lightning coming from Sparky right now would definitely hurt me, unless I decided to focus on defense. Why? Are you worried about getting hit by accident? Or do you have something else planned?"

That was better than he'd hoped. "No. That stuff shouldn't do more than burn my skin. I'm not worried about getting hit. Thing is, I can absorb and amplify the lightning, had planned on doing it a bit after it started."

The barriers he'd thrown up were now starting to fail, as many soldiers as there was he was surprised they had lasted long enough to even have this brief conversation.

"Just wanted to make sure I wouldn't hurt you too bad when I did." He looked at the barrier wall and sighed. "Ready to get back to fighting?"

[Hazard]

"Sure. If I can't get over it by then, a little brain damage will make it easier." Sloane spun out of the way of an incoming attack.

"Well, let's get back to fightin' before we talk 'em to sleep."

Robert grinned.

"Now those are words I can get behind." In a blur of speed he rushed towards the enemy, the soldiers he touched in his way fell to the ground, immobile under the increased weight.

[Cleric of Hell's Brigade]

Marceau looked around at the forces arrayed against them, oddly unimpressed, "Hmm... I do believe this may be your last battle, Hilda."

He strengthened his shield, sending out arcs of electricity into the forces around them, "Unless, of course, you have an exit plan."



Camryn floundered when they arrived, unable to fight the natural urge to try to balance against the sudden stop, "J-jeez...! Where's Skye?!"

Mack, standing invisibly atop a large robot that was currently being forced to unload its munitions into the backs of its own allies, turned his head to survey the battlefield for his next target. That was a particularly large group of enemy soldiers: perfect pickings for another dose of the South Wind... Wait. Was that Hilda in the midst of those troops?

Mack's eyes widened in alarm. This was one of the worst-case scenarios in his plans. If Hilda died here, then he'd be pushed back to a much weaker gambit. Mack wasn't going to let her die.

Leaping from his perch, Mack went into Ventilation Infiltrator mode and shot across the battlefield with Run Like the Wind. Reaching the edge of an area held by the Paragons, Mack turned and activated East Wind, switching places with Hilda. Immediately upon relocation, he sped upwards in his gaseous form before either Durand or the horde of enemies could open fire - Mack didn't want to get caught in the middle of that.

Mack considered returning to where he'd teleported Hilda and doing the same for Marceau, but thought better of it. The man's naked ambition was clear to nearly everybody. If Volkov's forces killed Durand here, it was one less future coup attempt to worry about. And if the elder Durand survived, it would be by obliterating thousands of enemy forces. Mack smiled grimly as he returned to human form far from the mass of enemy. He loved a win-win situation.

Just before Mack moves to save Hilda, and before Hilda responds to Durand, a beam of energy lances out from atop the roof of a nearby building.

It stabs down again and again, the shots picked carefully to kill or disable enemies.

Tracing back the beam, Hilda looks up and, seeing someone, her eyes grow wide. She grabs Durand and points.

"Look!"

There, atop the roof, is a man with an antique looking laser rifle. He wears a cowled robe not unlike what Father Jacob wore. In the smallest of breezes, the cowl flutters open enough to reveal a familiar face.

Gulliver Forte Tantalus lived.

The Arcadian headmaster shot again and again, nailing those surrounding Hilda and Marceua. Hilda grinned and slapped Durand on the back.

"It seems the Fates are together again, Durand. Lets show them how dangerous the three of us really are!"

She grabbed an upturned mech suit, one in each hand, and exited the barrier Durand had erected. She began slamming the suits into her opponents, batting them away in droves through sheer brute strength as the laser rifle in Gulliver's hands stabbed down again and again, covering her and Durand.

[Tami]

Just before Mack moves to save Hilda, and before Hilda responds to Durand, a beam of energy lances out from atop the roof of a nearby building.

It stabs down again and again, the shots picked carefully to kill or disable enemies.

Tracing back the beam, Hilda looks up and, seeing someone, her eyes grow wide. She grabs Durand and points.

"Look!"

There, atop the roof, is a man with an antique looking laser rifle. He wears a cowled robe not unlike what Father Jacob wore. In the smallest of breezes, the cowl flutters open enough to reveal a familiar face.

Gulliver Forte Tantalus lived.

The Arcadian headmaster shot again and again, nailing those surrounding Hilda and Marceua. Hilda grinned and slapped Durand on the back.

"It seems the Fates are together again, Durand. Lets show them how dangerous the three of us really are!"

She grabbed an upturned mech suit, one in each hand, and exited the barrier Durand had erected. She began slamming the suits into her opponents, batting them away in droves through sheer brute strength as the laser rifle in Gulliver's hands stabbed down again and again, covering her and Durand.

Rivia's heart skipped a beat, smiling briefly as she saw Gulliver in the distance before turning her attention to the fighters. Like a strobe light of day and night, she continued to move quickly, gracefully through the enemy ranks. Destroying their weapons, their technology and their mechs with pin-points of laser light, explosive disintegration, and powerful blasts of fire.

Spread out, but not too far from her, eight fairies, four of light, four of darkness, plus one transformed human girl in flight dodged the attacks and left their own paths of destruction and protection.

[Cleric of Hell's Brigade]

Eisen staggered back, her healing laser lancing out, trying to save those of the resistance she could. Despite her best efforts, she couldn't save everyone. However, more of the opposing force had fallen than the resistance, thanks to her timely stream of healing she kept up.

Beside her, guarding her, is Marko. Astride Sharatz, he batted the enemy away with his constructs. He had taken the lance and sword away and replaced them each with a mace, breaking bones everywhere and leaving about him a trail of wrecked, but alive, bodies. Sharatz took out as many as he did, the horses hooves flying. More than a few had been kicked clear fifty feet by the horses back legs.


______________

The comm Xaric gave them al beeps.

'Heads up, all. My techs have just completed my trans-axial matter smasher, or TAMS for short. I'm about to hit the barrier around Volkov's building with more power than is probably safe. Get ready to storm in once it goes down, because it won't stay down for long, I assure you. Also, as much as I'd like to just nuke the place when the barrier falls, we can't. Some sort of temporal anomaly is taking place inside. The readings on the computers back here are going off the scale. Too much firepower might make it go boom, and who knows what damage that will cause to Eden. You'll need to go in and take Volkov out the hard way and shut whatever he's doing down.'

[Sub-Zero MKA]

There, atop the roof, is a man with an antique looking laser rifle. He wears a cowled robe not unlike what Father Jacob wore. In the smallest of breezes, the cowl flutters open enough to reveal a familiar face.

Gulliver Forte Tantalus lived.

The Arcadian headmaster shot again and again, nailing those surrounding Hilda and Marceua.

Her heart flutters with joy. "Ah! Headmaster is alive! I knew it." With a happy grin on her lips, he charges into a group of soldiers and traps them in a gravity field, rendering them immobile under the immense weight.

Just then, something begins to hover around her head, firing its laser ordinance and rendering the soldier around her unconscious.

♪ Shoot to thrill, play to kill
Too many women, with too many pills
I said, shoot to thrill, play to kill
I got my gun at the ready, gonna fire at will
'Cause I shoot to thrill, and I'm ready to kill
And I can't get enough, and I can't get my thrill ♪

She is about to cover her ears to drown out the dreadfully obnoxious 'music' bubbling out of the drone when she recognizes the lyrics. Only one person would be bold enough to blare AB/CD or whatever it is called during a battle of this importance.

She flips her comm on and tries to contact Casimir. "Casimir!"

[Guy Smiley]

Seeing Gulliver returned, Mack grinned. He wondered how the instructor had escaped Xaric's notice this whole time. Mack would have thought he'd have been all over this Resistance thing.

Still, this changed a number of factors... Mind awash with possibilities, Mack turned back towards the rest of the battle.

The comm Xaric gave them al beeps.

'Heads up, all. My techs have just completed my trans-axial matter smasher, or TAMS for short. I'm about to hit the barrier around Volkov's building with more power than is probably safe. Get ready to storm in once it goes down, because it won't stay down for long, I assure you. Also, as much as I'd like to just nuke the place when the barrier falls, we can't. Some sort of temporal anomaly is taking place inside. The readings on the computers back here are going off the scale. Too much firepower might make it go boom, and who knows what damage that will cause to Eden. You'll need to go in and take Volkov out the hard way and shut whatever he's doing down.'

"What? Temporawhatsis? The guy's messin' with time in there?"

Mack really didn't like the sound of that. He sighed before going into Ventilation Infiltrator and flying upwards. Rather than return to the battle, he was going to wait for that shield to fall. If the window was shorter than Xaric expected, he could still make it inside. "Can't b'lieve I'm runnin' t'wards this craziness," he muttered.

[Eternal Torment]

Just before Mack moves to save Hilda, and before Hilda responds to Durand, a beam of energy lances out from atop the roof of a nearby building.

It stabs down again and again, the shots picked carefully to kill or disable enemies.

Tracing back the beam, Hilda looks up and, seeing someone, her eyes grow wide. She grabs Durand and points.

"Look!"

There, atop the roof, is a man with an antique looking laser rifle. He wears a cowled robe not unlike what Father Jacob wore. In the smallest of breezes, the cowl flutters open enough to reveal a familiar face.

Gulliver Forte Tantalus lived.

The Arcadian headmaster shot again and again, nailing those surrounding Hilda and Marceua. Hilda grinned and slapped Durand on the back.

"It seems the Fates are together again, Durand. Lets show them how dangerous the three of us really are!"

She grabbed an upturned mech suit, one in each hand, and exited the barrier Durand had erected. She began slamming the suits into her opponents, batting them away in droves through sheer brute strength as the laser rifle in Gulliver's hands stabbed down again and again, covering her and Durand.

"Holy fuck, it's Gulliver." Sloane said in awe, backing up slightly as the headmaster made his reappearance.

How did he get out of that one?

[Cthulhu_of_R'yleh]

The comm Xaric gave them al beeps.

'Heads up, all. My techs have just completed my trans-axial matter smasher, or TAMS for short. I'm about to hit the barrier around Volkov's building with more power than is probably safe. Get ready to storm in once it goes down, because it won't stay down for long, I assure you. Also, as much as I'd like to just nuke the place when the barrier falls, we can't. Some sort of temporal anomaly is taking place inside. The readings on the computers back here are going off the scale. Too much firepower might make it go boom, and who knows what damage that will cause to Eden. You'll need to go in and take Volkov out the hard way and shut whatever he's doing down.'

Her heart flutters with joy. "Ah! Headmaster is alive! I knew it." With a happy grin on her lips, he charges into a group of soldiers and traps them in a gravity field, rendering them immobile under the immense weight.

Just then, something begins to hover around her head, firing its laser ordinance and rendering the soldier around her unconscious.

♪ Shoot to thrill, play to kill
Too many women, with too many pills
I said, shoot to thrill, play to kill
I got my gun at the ready, gonna fire at will
'Cause I shoot to thrill, and I'm ready to kill
And I can't get enough, and I can't get my thrill ♪

She is about to cover her ears to drown out the dreadfully obnoxious 'music' bubbling out of the drone when she recognizes the lyrics. Only one person would be bold enough to blare AB/CD or whatever it is called during a battle of this importance.

She flips her comm on and tries to contact Casimir. "Casimir!"

Casimir had long since lost his headset by the time Xaric, and Max tried to get a hold of him. With Amare still with him, he instead continued on with his plan.

Shattering the barriers around the two of them, impaling the soldiers who were trying to hammer through it, he waited for the telltale tingle from the next lightning strike then shot into action. Willing his new found durability into being, he teleported into the bolt, absorbing it in its entirety, and while he was no longer at risk of being killed by it, it hurt quite a bit more than he expected.

Grunting in pain, he dropped into the mass of soldiers below and loosed the now amplified electricity, which was accompanied by a massive crack as it was released.

The burst, a massive discharge of electricity that consumed the city block, devastated the area, frying not only the soldiers around him, but the airships overhead, causing them to drop out of the sky doing even more damage to the area.

It was a satisfying sight, and one easily seen, heard and felt, by the others.