Scene #6096: The First Case

Owner	Pose
Ryouma Sakamoto	EARLIER: FUDO KAZAN is the youngest heir of the Kazan family of magi, having only recently inherited his family's knowledge and Magic Crest. He stands now before a man in an impeccable white business suit, with a black shirt underneath and a white tie, who opens a briefcase to show him a number of things. "And that's the best you can do? Don't joke with me, this is all scrap," Fudo spits, evidently angry. The man with the briefcase smiles, and opens a second compartment, revealing something else. "Is that...?" Fudo asks. "It's only one hundredth of it. It keeps the Counter Force off our back. Of course, you understand the price will be most of your Crest, correct?" the man asks. "I don't care. You can take all of it, as long as I get my revenge. Are there negative effects?" Fudo questions. "None, unless you prove too weak for it," the man answers. "Don't shit with me. It's a death sentence for someone like me, yeah?" Fudo scowls. "Perhaps. Do you still want it?" the man inquires. "... yeah. Let's get somewhere safe to do the graft." Fudo nods. NOW: A great fire burns in the heart of Tokyo. The local branch of the Mage's Association could no longer be called a building at all - it's as if a volcano had opened directly underneath the building, swallowing half of it and turning the other half into red hot slag. The fire is starting to spread, but no policeman or fireman can possibly get close. That's because FUDO KAZAN is here. His clothes are torn away in places, revealing hints of a battle between magi. Evidently, he came out on top. His right arm is glowing an ominous purple-black, caused by circuitry of the same color lancing up from his hand along his arm and shoulder like poisoned veins. His brown hair is rapidly paling into whites and greys, and his eyes have lost any light or reason. Cracks spewing flames follow in his footsteps, melting the concrete beneath his feet as he walks towards the blockade of firemen and policemen who don't know the first thing about dealing with the supernatural. It's going to get way uglier in a second if no one steps in.
Alexis Maaka	VROOM! A sweet Ducati motorcycle carries Alexis toward the scene. Hopping off the bike with the grace of a pro, she grabs a few things as she ditches the helmet; A cowboy hat, a black coat, and a gun! It's a custom AKM styled rifle with an M4 styled sock, a custom muzzle brake and selector switch, foregrip, laser-light, a red-dot sight, railed dust cover and handguard...basically stuff you'd see a gun have in a videogame or action movie like Warzone: Off the Books 2 or something along those lines. Except unlike some mall ninjas who go straight for the neat toys without training or regard for their wallets, Alexis Maaka knows what she's doing, even if she looks like she came off some weird neo-cyberpunk western thanks to the gun and outfit she has. The automatic weapons WILL draw some raised eyebrows in a place like Tokyo, not to mention the PMC styled rig Maaka wears under her armored coat. She sees someone who looks like he just had an argument with a lot of wizards. Also he seems to have blown apart a building. "Back away, focus on civilians!" She barks to the local cops and firemen. It's clear these guys are clearly outclassed with Mr. Wizard here, and Maaka trains the rifle on Fudo. "Guess surrender's out, huh? Good." She growls, before opening up with a few shots from her AK.
Seifer Almasy	Seifer Almasy really shouldn't be out here. Seifer is heavily injured. /Heavily/. He's covered in bandages, and, until a few days ago, he couldn't even walk, having put so much on the line to protect his Servant, his Sorceress, his wife from Siegfried's overwhelming Balmung that it nearly killed him. He's still visibly broken in a lot of ways, covered in bandages like a mummy and attended by a Moon Cell drone with glimmering silver light in the event that something goes wrong. But he's out here because he /can/ walk, thanks to a spell from a kind-hearted bone witch repaying him for buying her a cell phone, and because he needed to get away from that bed and that ceiling and those twisting, warping cubes. He's coming to like the Moon Cell, but you can only spend so much time laid up in a place before restlessness stirs you, no matter how much you like it. And he's out here because he was planning on getting a present for Caster, and figured he should probably go to a world that's at least reasonably similar to hers. And he's right here because Tokyo is the center of the universe and he was learning about maid cafes. Not firsthand. He was having it explained to him somewhere nearby. But then the fire started, and then Seifer was off, gunblade out of his inventory and equipped, running as fast as he could manage without hurting himself. His gunblade is clutched in his bandaged right hand, slung over his shoulder. The unmistakable image of Command Spells weaves around his left hand, dipping around his fingers in equal parts a wedding ring and fingerless gloves. There's a glimmer of red under his right hand, too... He skids to a stop. He looks from the fire, to Fudo, to the policemen, to everything that's going on. Seifer grits his teeth. Gonna be no pay in this, but this is the kind of thing heroes and knights should be doing to show off, right? He swaggers forward and motions to the police and the firemen. "You guys get in there as soon as I buy you a chance," he says, cocksure and ready, a grin on his handsome, bandaged face. He unslings the gunblade and tosses it into his left hand, pointing it - and the Command Spells - at Fudo. "Hey, you." "Let's skip the pleasantries. I'm Seifer Almasy. We're gonna dance, you and me." "But I gotta warn you, pal." Seifer takes up his usual stance, levelling the strange weapon like a rapier with a pistol handle, a ridiculous-looking stance that's almost parody in and of itself. "I got a hell of a soft-shoe routine."
Cu Chulainn	There was a chance of this being Grail shard related. That was the official answer for why Felt and Lancer were assigned to clean up the volcano mage. The actual answer was because they were nearby and it's super easy to just toss them at things, because the two are as loyal as dogs. As they arrive at the scene, crossing down the road, the two are in suits, government agent style, Felt wearing a pair of sunglasses. "There's our target. Lancer, I'll let you handle this." Cu Chulainn, the Lancer, just grins. And then, as Felt hangs back, getting an idea of the situation, Cu Chulainn dives in with superhuman speed. He skirts across the ground, moving up to Fudo and trying to plain stab him in the chest with the spear before he can even notice. If something interrupts him or it's clear Fudo's not going to go down that easy, Cu speaks up, cocky and self-assured. "Yo, mind telling us your story, why you're burning down the city? Or you too melted in the brain for that, burning man?"
Nie Li	Nie Li had been advised by Concord orientation crew to Go Check Out A Tokyo and learn more about this commonality of the Multiverse. It just so happens that the Tokyo that he ended up in was this one. The youth's been walking around guided by a smartphone. If he's been shopping, there's no way to tell - because any goods he's picked up would've been stowed into his Interspatial Ring by now. But there's something wrong as he strolls out of a shop. Smoke. The scent is faint, but he happens to be just downwind enough... The man's brow furrows and gaze sharpens in a flash. That's a WEIRD smoke. Too much smoke. What the heck's going ON?! His eyes subtly shift from ordinary blue to... iris-less black, and WHOOOSH! He's off like a land-bound rocket, crossing the distance in swift and acrobatic leaps from benches and street lamps and signs like some sort of ninja. As he nears the source, Nie Li fades out. Visually. Spiritually. Every trace of his presence just vanishes to all but the sharpest of senses. And so, he approaches in Void Form to find a vantage point where he can watch what's going on. Perhaps the windowframe of a nearby building, or atop of a street lamp. Any perch will do! "No idea WHAT I'm dealing with this time." He utters ruefully, although this just focuses his curiosity down on the WALKING DISASTER MAN down below... Specifically, that glowing, corrupt-looking arm has his attention. What the HECK is THAT?
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa had been on her day off up to her neck on a big ticket restoration job a 1970s Mustang needed a conversion to a legal engine and she was having a field day. Then the call came in. Kotone signed had to rapidly change up into her combat gear an and she's making for a warp gate, she's kept herself cloaked given this words not too with it on magic and the multiverse at large. She didn't enjoy such worlds but knew mass panic could get a lot of people dead. Speaking of that here she is in Tokyo now sneaking though a version of the city from a time before she was born and her parents were children. The one nice thing was she was not getting constant popups on her cybercomm which was welcome as she moved. She saw the mage moving to attack the cops. She'll form a comm link to Makka as she moves in clutching her assault rifle which she sets into single fire mode. There isn't any talking time the cops are at risk and over their head. She'll line up the shot and take it on the rampaging mage, she's a phantom for the most part but she might notice at the point she fires.
Nova Terra	"Reaching drop site in thirty seconds." The warning crackles through the nearby intercom as Nova finishes equipping. She quickly walks over and bangs her fist against the console. With a whir of gears the landing ramp in front of her begins to open, the sound of rushing wind quickly becoming apparent as the cargo bay interior is exposed to the air outside. As the door opens, Nova can see the city of Tokyo spreading out beneath, the more taller buildings speeding past. Finally the intercom crackles once more as the voice says, "Five. Four. Three. Two. One. Jump!" Nova does just that. The Ghost jumps out of the invisible starship, plummeting a short distance before hitting the roof of the building below. She goes into a roll before skidding to a stop barely a meter from the edge. She stands and looks up, seeing the cargo bay interior disappearing as the door closes, the stealh ship once more rising away. Nova takes a few steps up to the edge of the roof, bringing her visor down over her eyes as she looks towards the streets below. It's not hard to locate the target she'd heard about, her visor zooming in on the out-of-control mage with flames trailing behind him. Nova is no expert on magic, but judging by the state of the nearby building, this man is a serious threat. Nova doesn't bother with negotiation, a warning, or announcing her presence. She simply kneels down on the roof edge, bringing her Canister Rifle up. She looks into the electronic scope on top, slightly altering her aim as she brings the reticle to aim towards the mage's head. Her suit's systems work in concert with those of the weapon, providing adjustments for range, wind, movement and other variables. Finally satisfied with her aim, Nova pulls the trigger. The large 25mm round blasts out the end of the rifle, the sound of the shot muffled by the supressor on the end so it's unlikely to be heard at such a range. The bullet spins through the air, arcing down as it covers a considerable distance, before proving to be on the mark for the mage's head moments later.
Arthur Lowell	Here comes Arthur Lowell. Blasting over the sky like a jet, he clings white-knuckled to the handle of his big metal broom. Isn't there supposed to be a /thing/ somewhere around to deal with outrageous outbreaks of magical malice? Arthur swings low, hard, dismounting dramatically to skid to a stop near the building. Alright, how to handle this? There's a guy, a Fightable Foe on the field here, and Arthur's first instinct is to go after him. Then he actually regards the situation. No, no, there's a huge fire! Arthur may be full of battlelust, but civilians are his priority. Sadly, Arthur has nothing that's good for cooling anything down. If this is the logcal Magi Association's branch, they've got their own magical matters for extinguishing fires that Arthur shouldn't interfere with. Everywhere else? Not as lucky, as the spreading fire indicates. "ALRIGHT!" Arthur shouts, brandishing his broom upwards, pointing it aggressively high. "You wanna bring those SICK FIRES, homie, you best make 'em LASER FOCUS! You wanna bring that HEAT up in this business, then let's get some ROOM FOR IT!" He plants the thing bristle-down in the street. Very abruptly, he exerts tremendous force on local geometry. The average distance between city blocks is usually something along the line of 750 feet. If Arthur can have his way with local space, it'll shortly be a few thousand feet instead, creating a vast, ad-hoc asphalt arena out of the warping of existing space. He can't do much for the buildings already on fire, but the source of this baleful magical flame can at least be more isolated than it was before, and hopefully it can get some of those emergency responders out of here too. "Dunno what your fuckin' DEAL is, dog, but you keep the MUNDANES just tryin'a LIVE THEIR LIFE outta it," Arthur says, dramatically flipping his broom about into an offensive, combat-ready stance. "Or I'm gonna gonna give you the kinda KNOCK you gave THESE HOMIES, CHRISTMAS-WRIST. Let's fuckin' DO THIS SHIT!" He flares with a gushing plume of black-and-white magical energy, and leaps in among the projectile fire to strike with broad, sweeping broom strikes.
Ryouma Sakamoto	Some cops are incredulous. Some were present last time something like this happened and know better. The end result, luckily, is that cops and firemen start shuffling out of any kind of direct line of fire, but some still stubbornly man their posts, because that fire really needs handled. Without bothering to talk to the raging man, Alexis opens fire. The bullets melt into slag before reaching Fudo, who just sort of stares. His body starts glowing just a bit brighter. The air is heavy and difficult to breathe. Lancer's spear finds its mark. Fudo... doesn't groan, or wince, or react in any kind of pained way. He looks down, surprised. Flames spew from his wound like an uncontrollable inferno, trying to scorch the Servant and shove him away at the same time. The wound remains open, and continues belching out fire. "FUDO... I'M... FUDO... AND THIS IS... MY FAMILY'S DREAM..." Kotone's shot comes streaking in. A molten bullet peppers Fudo, whose skin barely reacts to the hot material. He turns up to glare at the direction of the shot. "MAGIC. A NEW MAGIC. THE FLAMES OF PROMETHEUS, EVERBURNING." Nie Li can get a sense that whatever's in his arm, it isn't his'. And whatever he might be thinking, it probably isn't something new. That black-purple circuitry coming from his hand is eating him up from the inside, but it's also giving him a pretty significant power boost. And yet, not a single mote of magical energy is being expended. Not one. A new arrival. One with a much larger gun than the others. That bullet can't melt fast enough. No, even if it did, it would just explode right next to the mage's head. That might be what happened, because he's actually knocked back for a change, tumbling on the ground before hitting a car. The car starts melting from contact alone, as Fudo rises, nasty gashes covering half of his face. And spewing out flames, not blood. With Arthur's arrival comes a change in terrain. SOMETHING resists him, but not enough to say no outright. Space expands such that collateral becomes less and less of a concern, though Arthur can feel that keeping this effect going will require a continuous magical upkeep. Apparently, local space doesn't like its rules being changed. He charges in to strike Fudo, who is finally aware enough of the fight to act. The broom is caught, and a wounded hand spews flames out. "WITH THIS... I WON'T BE CONSUMED BY IT, I'M SURE!" A magical circle blossoms out from underneath Fudo. "IGNITER, SET." It spreads along the ground like a wildfire, crawling underneath each (visible) target without immediate harm. "FUEL, FLOW." The magical circle starts glowing brighter and brighter. So does Fudo. Not a single drop of mana is being spent. "SPARK!!" The magical circle erupts. Explosion after explosion starts homing in on anyone who's made their presence known, unrelenting and out of thin air. It's hard on the ears.
Nie Li	Unable to hold Void Form for too long, Nie Li reappears in a shifting of blue-black energies. He's standing on a street lamp near the trashed Mage's Association branch, arms folded and a fiercely thoughtful look on his face. Eyes shifting back to blue, he simply is staring down at Fudo. Sure, he wants to actually DO something about that fire, but his mind is racing through idea after idea. All of his abilities, all of his knowledge. Everything that MIGHT be helpful requires preparation time or resources he doesn't have on hand. Aggravating! So, a flurry of wispy energy emerges from the ring he wears, forming into what looks like an oversized jian sword, the blade is lightning-blue and the hilt quite ornate. As Nie Li raises it, the weapon glows and an otherworldly aura flows from it. The air sizzles and crackles and hair might start standing on end. Pumping Soul Force into the weapon, Nie Li simply keeps it pointed skyward! Bolts flicker-spark from the weapon and then spring up into the sky. Roiling thunderclouds form in no time just above the area, beginning to slowly swirl. These are no ordinary clouds - the air's thick with an angry charge, as hundreds of bolts arc and leap about the clouds every second. At the center of the storm, the bolts begin to accrete and coaelsce into a single glowing point of ball lightning that grows, grows, and grows some more as loud booming thunder punishes the area. And then... KRA-KOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! "Since I can't stop the fire, I'll keep that guy too busy to interfere with the emergency team. Have a taste of my Thunder God's Meteorite Sword!" An abnomrally thick and grandiose bolt of eye-searingly bright lightning CRASHES down, headed straight for Fudo! And this is no 'over and done with in a split second' bolt either. This one is sustained for a pummelling surge like divine judgement from the heavens, bringing with it all the paralyzing force of FAR too much energy surging through one's body at once.
Arthur Lowell	Arthur is launched back by a gush of flame. His ASPECT bar is already visible, with a visible chunk of it eaten up by the ongoing effort, harshly impeding his MAXIMUM ASPECT; a little status icon of an Earth globe pops up on it. It means he's got less to work with to defend himself from what comes next, when he raises his broom and covers himself in a hemispherical dome of protective magical energies to blunt the impact of the mass explosions. "HhhhhhrrrrrrrrrraaaaaAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!" He screams, as his HEALTH VIAL display eats a battered chunk of damage, but not quite as much as that Spark might have taken out. Arthur takes it as a challenge; he demands to be heard, and to scream ever harder to be heard over the noise. "You wanna DREAM a BIG DREAM of FIRE AND MURDER, homie?! Your FAM there got some DEEP LOVE for some ASH? Hit me with that HOTTEST FIRE YOU GOT, HOMEBOY." He slogs his way through the explosions like they're a deep swamp. "I wanna feel your HEAT, dog! Bring me that HELLA INCANDESCENT AMBITION! I want you to dump EVERYTHING YOU GOT! But if you wanna DREAM the FAMILY DREAM of the HARDCORE INFERNO, you best bring more than this ZIPPO BULLSHIT, FFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUDOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Arthur is not correct, this is probably more fire than he can deal with. But he's trying to egg on a specific management of the magic, a counter-assault of his own; a harsh field of flash antigravity tries to take advantage of the way heat rises to make it "rise" directly into the ground, ideally combining his gravity with Fudo's en-masse explosion-craft to quickly slag the concrete and asphalt that make up the terrain just below Fudo's feet, and then slam him with a wave of heavy anti-anti-gravity -- that is to say, being really heavy, downwards -- to force him knee-deep into it like a hammer striking a nail into wood, and then pressing more. Arthur can't match this "DPS" or this total "AP" (at least not with the world apparently fighting against him), and he can't gauge anything about the guy's "HP" given his fiery innards, but he CAN try to dump another chunk of his ASPECT bar into an effort to take advantage of his own abilities and the terrain!
Nova Terra	Nova stands, some mild annoyance on her face as her shot, while not completely negated, doesn't have the intended effect. She mutters to herself, "Not so simple, huh?" Suddenly the metrics on her HUD start to go crazy as the space in the local area seems to warp. Nova wobbles a little simply out of mild disorientation, until things finally settle again. Unfortunately it's at that point that the large spell circle becomes obvious. Clearly not a good thing. Nova starts running across the rooftop as the explosions begin to form, ripping holes into the concrete and sending debris flying. They finally catch up to the Ghost, blasting her in the back and sending her flying off the edge. Nova quickly recovers from the sudden pain and ringing in her ears to find herself plummeting towards the ground. A quick burst of telekinetic energy hits her from the side, throwing her back towards the building. Crashing through the glass window, Nova tumbles to a stop. She groans a little as she moves to stand again, briefly stretching off the pain of the blast and the landing. Walking up to the window she'd just smashed through, Nova looks at the firery mage below. From her vantage point, she can also see the others still trying to contain him. Spurred on by the comms from them, Nova zooms her visor in on the mage. Specifically his right arm. As she watches, she radios back to her ship, "Reigel. Any idea on what's up with that arm of his?" On board the stealth ship circling high in the air above Tokyo, Nova's technology specialist hmphs at the question, "I'm no wizard, you know." He moves over to a console to review the information coming in from Nova's visor, "But I'll take a look."
Seifer Almasy	Ah. Aha. That's great. Space bends and warps and twitches, and the arena is made...slightly?...safer for it. Safer for everyone outside it, anyway. For Seifer and the rest, less so. Seifer listens to the guy rage, shout, do his thing. It all kinda washes over him. It's not that Seifer's jaded or anything, far from it, he hasn't seen everything and done everything like a lot of people in the Multiverse. He just has no idea what the fuck this guy is talking about. Who's Prometheus? Sounds like some white-haired prick who can see the future or some loud-mouthed robot zombie or something. But when Fudo says 'spark', Seifer's combat instincts kick in, and he lunges to the side. And the air explodes just where he was a moment ago. "Shit!" He hurts his leg in the process. He was still healing, after all. He really shouldn't be out here. He falls to one knee and grits his teeth, eyes narrowing. Great. All the times he could twist an ankle and he's staring an explosion in the face. Fire blossoms in front of him. He drops under it, hitting the ground. It singes the air above him. Another one starts forming; he rolls himself to the left, and it gouges out the ground around him, showering him in heat and gravel. "Shit!" He mutters again, "God damn...fucking...Balmung nonsense! God damn fireballs!" Another one. He rolls again, but he's coming up against the edge of the arena, and he's covered in dirt and dust and little burns ignited on his bandages. "Shut-" "No, wait. You're right. You're the better option." Seifer's voice drops to a whisper. "You better not take anything real big, Greg." "...yeah, well. Emergencies are emergencies. My own fault I came out here, right?" The fire starts forming. Seifer clutches his hand. "GILGAMESH!" The sky opens up. Four swords fall from nowhere. Each is a colossal weapon. One of them falls straight through the explosion about to envelop Seifer, a long and sharp black nodachi. One of them falls next to Seifer's arm, a huge red-lined broadsword. Another broadsword, huge and blue-lined, hits the ground behind him. The last one is a purple-hilted katana that lands on the other side of it. Above Seifer, a vortex of tattered red cloth swirls. It grows upwards, transforming into a grey-skinned giant who stands nearly twelve feet tall, with three grey arms on one side and three...cardboard...arms?...sticking out of its red cloak. White eyes shimmer as it rises, glimmering, without a single pupil.
Seifer Almasy	Behind its cowl, it speaks. In a purple and yellow polkadot voice. "The price will be pretty high, but I'll keep it to a minimum!" The figure grabs a sword at random from the four. It's the long, murderous-looking black katana. Arthur can tell at a glance that it's as thin as an atom, maybe even thin enough to cut space in the right hands. The giant casually slashes aside another explosion, and then starts walking forward. "Hi there! We have not yet met! But you should know something important!" The giant vanishes in a flash, reappearing in one of those sword-slashed-already anime-as-hell motions. It straightens and shoulders the sword, looking over at Fudo. There's the sense that it's grinning. "Now we fight like men!" The giant pauses as the slash catches up with reality, a flickering strike that follows his motion. He rubs his chin. "Wait. Is that sexist?" He ponders this for a moment before his two unoccupied grey hands hold up a finger. "Aha!" Now we fight like men! And ladies! And ladies who dress like men!" "For GILGAMESH...it is Morphing Time!" The giant levels his blade at the mage and swings it once as Seifer groans and presses his head into the dirt. "Cover me, you fucking moron!"
Kotone Yamakawa	While not as wired up as her world's Tokyo, it's still a modern Tokyo. She's able to get into systems. She may cause Felt some issues later but then again they need to stop this. She'll hunt for open ports as she goes. She gets nearly posted on her way out by Fudo's attack. She knows Makka's also here good she's going to pull away and move to aid the firefighters they have gear but well they are being overwhelmed. She decloaks out of sight and comes to some of the firefighters she flashes her quickly praying Felt will help with the aftermath of this and will direct them to give her several of the fire hoses, given her strength she can handle what might take several other firefighters would need to do, and she can take the flames a bit better too as she moves in to start hosing down some of the fires and freeing up some manpower here, though it may make her a target. <<Aiding with fire control>>
Cu Chulainn	As Lancer strikes into Fudo's chest...the mage survives it, blasting Lancer backwards with intense heat. The Servant can take it, but he's still sent reeling backwards, giving Fudo the space he desires. "Your family wants fire and brimstone? Not very fun, is it?" And then, the explosions come crashing down. Lancer's fast enough to react, avoiding getting hit head on by one, but it's an explosion, so it still slams into him, sending him flying back. He flips in mid-air, landing on his feet, and then spins around to face Fudo again, though his suit's now scuffed and charred. Lancer fixes this by replacing it magically with his blue bodysuit and red earrings, the outfit manifesting over him. Taking a second to get into a stance, Lancer then proceeds to sprint back forwards, holding that spear up and moving to aim it for Fudo's magical arm, trying to see what happens if he stabs it. If he explodes, well...worth the risk!
Alexis Maaka	Maaka sees her bullets have zero effect on Fudo. Cursing under her breath, she ducks behind cover as the fires rage her way...and every other way really. She only just notices her hat is pretty much gone now. "Son of a bitch..." She growls, and sprints her way toward something big and red. "YO!" She calls out to the remaining firemen. "I need the hose, please tell me you still have water left." She says, looking mildly roasted but otherwise still combat capable. That coat's both fireproof and bulletproof, but Maaka might need to ditch it to keep moving fast if this goes sideways, however. Maaka's briefly thrown off her train of thought by the arrival of GILGAMESH! (Not that one.) "...y'know what, just make sure everything in that area's sprayed and we'll handle the rest." She says, before grabbing a spare hose and letting loose with a torrent of flames at the mage's path before more fire is thrown about.
Ryouma Sakamoto	Firemen attempt to help Alexis secure a hose. In the chaos of explosions, this proves difficult, but not impossible. Alexis is now harmed with a firehose, and a few firefighters to help control its recoil. They just need to not get exploded, now! But if she can keep them safe long enough, having water might be really handy. Though an initial splash of water does a wonderful job in angering Fudo. The steam blinds him for a moment as the water flash-evaporates on contact with him, even! Nie Li abandons stealth in favor of divine lightning. "CYLINDER, FORM." Flames are whipped into existence. The shape is rudimentary, but you might almost swear there's a literal engine cylinder block forming a barrier of fire around Fudo. It can't stop all of the lightning, but it certainly puts up a valiant effort. No, more than that, Fudo isn't expending any magical energy to maintain the shield. So while the shield keeps broken and letting some electricity through to shock the mage, it also keeps reforming. And reforming. And reforming. Arthur taunts Fudo. It... seems to be working, because the mage glows brighter and brighter still. His veins lit up like lamps visible through his skin, discounting the ones glowing an ominous black and purple. The circuitry spreads a little more over his body. Even as he's blasted back by his own attacks through a clever use of gravity, losing chunks of his good arm to the explosions, he seems... disconnected from the notion of pain. "I'LL BURN... BRIGHTER THAN YOU! THAN MY FAMILY EVER COULD! THAN THE ASSOCIATION EVER THOUGHT WE COULD!" He is armed with Magic, capital M. Who's laughing now? Not those dead magi, that's for sure. He is. Nova's sensors will largely confirm a lot of the things that were said: whatever magecraft he's using, it's being powered by... somethign in his arm. Something biological but not human. Like a foreign object or maybe a freaky organ transplant that shouldn't have happened. Instead of the body fighting it off, though, it's the object that's rapidly fighting the body off. There's also something about Fudo's body heat. It keeps climbing. If he doesn't stabilize, the obvious might happen. Gilgamesh happens. Or occurs. It's an event, at any rate. Fudo stares, and would no doubt be either impressed or confused if he wasn't rapidly slipping out of his mind. His response, instead, is as one might expect. "PISTON, ENGAGED. IGNITER, SET." Flames sprawl out of his good arm, bursting through the skin. In lieu of an arm, he has a colossal blade of fire for a limb, and it crashes into Gilgamesh's. Fudo lacks the skill to match the giant, but makes up for it with quite literal firepower, trying to hold him back. Kotone joins Alexis in the handling of firetrucks and firefighters. The party is now armed with TWO firehoses! Kotone is trying to keep the flames from spreading, which naturally is easier said than done, but you have to start somewhere. The main building might be too hot to extinguish yet, but the spreading fires, not so much. Lancer jabs a red pointy stick in Fudo's unstable arm while he's busy holding Gilgamesh and Nie Li back. There is a surge of something that... isn't. It Isn't. It's black and purple, it's there, it's physical, but it's Nothing. It's raw, unshaped Nothing, with the potential to be anything. And what it is, is a shadowy black and purple lance attempting to return the favor to the Lancer by stabbing him in the chest. Those not locked in immediate melee conflict with Fudo must contend with not having lost his attention, sadly. Nova, Alexis, Kotone and Arthur all find the air growing heavier, hotter. Arcs of bright orange start forming. It's not lightning, it's plasma, thrashing about wildly.
Seifer Almasy	Whatever else can be said for the bizarre creature, Greg is at /least/ Seifer's equal in terms of swordplay, maybe even his superior. The great grey giant meets the explosions head-on, slashing and carving into them, cutting them apart before they can finish the transition from chemical reaction to eruption. It's ridiculous, even excessive, and it's also consuming all his attention. The sword's flashes are faster than the eye can track, carving into the fire. From his position on the ground, Seifer grits his teeth, trying to keep track of everything. When Fudo brings out the great sword of fire, Gilgamesh laughs, a booming, loud laugh that just carries through the arena. He engages with that heavy black sword, parrying, blocking, slashing and carving. Fudo's heat keeps the giant at bay, but the giant's skill is absolutely, stupidly absurd. It's a stalemate. Until... "Seifer!" Seifer looks up. "WHAT?!" "Throw me another sword!" Seifer stares at Gilgamesh for a long, long moment. Gilgamesh gestures with his third hand, his other two being occupied holding Zantetsuken and struggling against the power of the fire. Seifer pulls himself to his feet and grabs the blue sword out of the ground behind him. He throws it at Gilgamesh. The giant snatches the blue sword out of the air and nods. "An excellent choice! Well ,friend, you're in for a treat!" Gilgamesh holds the blue sword aloft. Power starts gathering to it. "Pay close attention! This is the Sword Of Sworn Success, the legendary blade that crowns my collection! Aren't you lucky, you mongrel?" A pillar of light explodes upwards from the risen sword. Gilgamesh pushes forward with Zantetsuken, leveraging his raw size as the light gathers. The light splits the sky, piercing through the clouds. It bends back around in Arthur's space-fold and twists on itself twice over, the light growing even brighter as power gathers to it. "Try this on for size!" "EKUSUUUUUUUUUU CALIBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!" Gilgamesh brings the pillar of light slamming down for the arm with the force of a thousand glorious suns. DINK. It does absolutely nothing. The light fractures and splinters like glass, erupting all over the battlefield in a harmless, but pretty, show. Gilgamesh stares at the sword. "Errr, whoops?" "SEIFER!" "THIS IS FAR FROM THE STRONGEST OF SWORDS!" Seifer groans. "Son of a bitch! Why do you even have two of the same sword?!" "It, it was a gift from my dog! Don't judge me!"
Nova Terra	The information is relayed back to Nova. She had been hoping that her advisor could have provided a little more. But she admits that this isn't exactly his area of expertise. Besides, it has provided a possible course of action. The mage's own body is burning hot. If they help it along, they might be able to end this quickly. Nova's planning is interupted as streaks of orange begin ripping through the building around her. She quickly acts, jumping out the broken window she was standing at. This time in an intentional fall, Nova takes the sword from her back. The blue psi-blade ignites and Nova stabs it into the side of the building. The monomolecular blade cuts through the building's structure, slowing Nova's descent until she finally pulls it out and drops the rest of the way to the ground. Hitting the street with barely a puff of dust, Nova jumps up into a sprint, beginning to close the distance to the mage. She opens the small compartment on her wrist, pulling out a couple of the high-tech grenades within. Quickly arming them, she kids to a halt within throwing range and sends the two grenades sailing towards Fudo. They bounce on the ground a couple of times before errupting into firery explosions around him.
Nie Li	Nie Li sustains the thunder for a good ten seconds. Beads of sweat start rolling down his face! How is FIRE blocking his divine lightning?! "Ghhhhuhh...." Eventually he has to lower and stash the Thunder God's Meteorite Sword. Its gleaming luster fades moments before it's sucked back into his Interspatial Ring! And instead he brings out... a scroll with a very intricate-looking design inscribed in glowing silvery ink with a metallic luster. "Fine, looks like we'll need more than just raw power to deal with this guy." He does NOT want to get NEAR that mage. Not with all of the insane heat. And with Gilgamesh... ... Yeah. No comment on that guy. Gilgamesh is one massive sweatdrop. if there were time for such things. Mental note, he has got to ask Seifer about that later. Maybe. ... It might be a bad idea. The scroll he took out, though, he simply raises above his head. "Really doubt that the Snow Wind patterns will do the job..." But he injects his Soul Force into the scroll anyways, activating the power contained in the Snow Wind Demon Beast blood used to draw the inscription. The scroll disintegrates in a swirling of silvery-white energies that gather around his fist. He takes aim with the arm... "Icy Wind Sudden Snow!" A blizzard gale rushes down, bringing a refreshing breeze of super-chilled air. Huge chunks of hail and bitingly cold snow form despite all the heat. Sure, some of it melts, and more of it the closer it gets to Fudo, but the stream as a whole's going to make it... right?! If the compressed storm hits, it's like an ice grenade to the everything.
Alexis Maaka	Seifer just summoned a Gilgamesh who has a sword fetish bigger than the OTHER Gilgamesh. That multi-armed eyesore is giving Maaka a huge headache, and she just focuses on taking out Fudo. She lays on the water pressure as she uses her augmented strength to try and kill the heat. Eventually she has no idea if it's working, and instead grabs her rifle once more. She opens fire with a few bursts, using her targeting system to take out Fudo's new arm. That is the key to this, the thing that'll end the fight once it's been taken out. That ice grenade is gonna hopefully make this much, much easier.
Cu Chulainn	Lancer impacts with the arm. There's something there...Felt identifies it, and is shocked. That arm's some sort of incredible artifact, so where did Fudo get it? But what it is and is worth is less important than neutralizing it right now, and also not getting murdered by the lance to the chest. Cu Chulainn moves to dodge out of the way, his speed helping, but the lance still impacts hard into his shoulder, ripping out a chunk of flesh, blood, and muscle. The Lancer grunts, in extreme pain, but he's alive. His right arm is, however, disabled, so he shifts the spear into his left. It's a good thing he can fight with both. Shifting into optimal position, as the others attack the arm, Lancer dives in to drive the spear into the shoulder. He's trying to aim where the arm isn't all glowy, where it's still regular flesh and blood, so that he can try and cut it off and separate it. "You've sure got some intensity...let's get that arm off you, now!"
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa is fighting fires now while the main building is too much for her hose? She is able to keep fighting the fires directing the water and getting in closer than the Firemen might dare to. She keeps so focused on her task of stopping the spread she does not notice the heat warning on her hud, it's the feeling of sensation that heat. She finds the temperature rising she sees the plasma, and it's forcing her to move. Yet to keep the hose going it hampers her mobility, in short? Kotone's starting to cook and the warnings are becoming more frequent. She's not been set on plasma yet, however it's just a matter of time for her.
Arthur Lowell	Arthur well recognizes the dangers and pain of plasma. "YEAH HOMIE! Gonna SHOW 'EM, huh?" He shouts, leaping forward through Nova Terra's burst of explosions, and then diving under the dispersing lightning from Nie Li. He depends on the heat around the melee fighters to guard him against Nie Li's grenade, or at least to live through it if it overpowers it. "So what, you gonna ROLL UP on the STUCK-UP BASTARDS gettin' SMUG at your FAM, and you're gonna TEACH 'EM by MELTING EVERYTHING? You gonna swing that with some ZIPPO BULLSHIT like this?!" "'Cuz right now, what I'm seeing is you can get any goddamn thing you want. Far as I can tell, you've got all the goddamn power in the world, 'cause it sure as hell ain't fightin' you the way it's fightin' me!" He calls out. He tries to rush, sliding under Alexis Maaka's bullets and winding up paired right with Cu Chulainn. Where Cu goes to strike the horrible Void Arm, Arthur goes to strike around the other side, keeping the blistering fiery arm from lashing out to counter Cu. Arthur is trying to lock into melee with his broom, holding close, and suffering all the blistering pain of the plasma with reckless abandon. "Tell me what you want here. You wanna show them what they refused to see, well there you go, and after this, some other stuck-up shitter's gonna say, 'well nobody else can do what he did, so I was right', huh? What happens next? What's coming after? Where's the iceberg under this tip?! You got light, but DO YOU HAVE HEEEEAAAAT?!" Arthur charges tremendous gravitational fields trying to lock against the fire Magic as well, shouting and roaring in his typical shounen way. "You're not gonna show anyone anything with a quick spark! What's /more/!? What's the /substance/?! How're you gonna /break their back/?!" His tone is both... egging him on and taunting in a way, but also, briefly, trying to be sympathetic and understanding. Arthur knows somewhere in the back of his mind that this guy is probably going to die or go apeshit super-crazy from the effects of his arm, so there's not really any chance to redeem him, but while he's consumed by this particularly specific desire, Arthur wants to at least get some info, and do it by taking the guy's flesh-blistering heat head-on and making him go through what he /wants/ more. And it is flesh-blistering. Being in that storm of plasma provokes Arthur into casting every environmental defense spell he has for space survival, and that's a lot of heat-defense ones, but it hardly defends against the raw damage of direct plasma attacks themselves, which are more than heat in their atomic assault. His Health Vial drains in a staggering and worrying drop in spite of it.
Ryouma Sakamoto	If nothing else, Gilgamesh's display of light, while it doesn't harm Fudo, is certainly attention-catching. And a distraction can be a powerful tool. Like when someone throws high-powered grenades his way! The explosions engulf Fudo, blasting away more of his skin (and humanity) to reveal an increasing amount of fire. More and more of it. There's just that other arm that's resisting the transition. And his temperature, again, climbs. The icy blast from Nie Li is, as such, perhaps a bit less effective than desired. With Fudo's temperature reaching critical levels, it means that water and ice are hurting him, but not doing much to slow him down proper. The rapid cooling and reheating kills more tissue, and the steam is making it hard for him to see what's going on. Which works in his favor a bit, too - it's hard for Alexis to get a good lock on the arm. She hits, several times, but it's hard to tell what. The mage, surely. Still, the steam and blindness is all the better for Cu Chulainn and Arthur to come in. Steam and blinding light have rendered Fudo all but incapable of seeing anything. The broom slams into him, and only then does he figure out where it is to catch it, and insodoing, lock his good arm in a vulnerable state. "I'LL DO IT... NO... I'VE DONE IT, BY ACHIEVING THAT WHICH THEY ALL CRAVE! MAGIC!" You know, the capital M of Magic is really lost in the fact he's screaming. But he definitely means it in a different way than one typically refers to magic or magecraft. Translation's weird, but the intent carries through. "THIS MIRACLE... WAS WORTH IT!" It was. That's why it REALLY SUCKS when Gae Bolg claims the mage's arm, which comes off unceremoniously in the scuffle. It hits the ground, and its power seems to start fading. Or at least the glowing circuitry is less glowy. "WH... WHAT... NO...!" Fudo's temperature starts skyrocketing, jumpstarted by Nova's grenades and made worse by the fact the arm is no longer keeping him 'powered'. There's no great, grand explosion though. "YOU... KNEW THIS WOULD HAPPEN!" His body starts breaking apart. All the taunts forcing him to produce more and more fire finally paid off. He desintegrates in a final huff of angry fire and magma, leaving only that arm behind. And a lot of fires that still need to be put out, but which Kotone and Alexis have started getting people to be on top of. So that's a nice bonus. Now the question is, who believes they deserve the trophy arm more than the others, and why?
Alexis Maaka	Maaka stares. Did they win? What just happened? Who was that guy and what caused this? The cyborg just blinks as she peers from behind cover, and brushes soot and ash from her coat sleeves. "...good job, team. Especially you guys." She says, pointing out the firemen in particular before she grabs a fireaxe and a hydrant. "I'm gonna just...go and help clean up, I guess. Anybody in the buildings we gotta get to?" Maaka may have forgotten about that in all the excitement. And she needs a new stetson.
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa is cooking off her synth hair is starting to melt a bit and the heat is going on even as the fight keeps going, she's going to keep focusing on helping with the cleanup and she's not noticed about the arm. Well for the moment there's fires and such to put out.
Cu Chulainn	The arm is sliced off. As Fudo starts getting hotter and hotter, breaking apart, Lancer takes a step backwards, waiting for him to explode. Luckily, he doesn't, so Lancer slams his spear into the ground and sighs in relief. Taking his left hand up towards the blood coming out of his right shoulder, he moves to draw a rune in the blood against his flesh, mending the flesh and bone and allowing his arm to start working again. But then, Cu Chulainn needs to move fast, as radio heats up over 'who gets the arm'. Using his incredible speed, Cu Chulainn tries to move to be the first one to get it, though he's not expecting that to be all it takes to keep it. The others are going to fight for it...so he gets prepared to battle as well, spinning the spear around. "You know, we're not /just/ gonna lock it up. Our bosses are probably gonna research it. That make you feel any better about handing it over to us?" He's expecting 'no'. Cu Chulainn's going to start trying to move away with it...but again, he expects interference.
Seifer Almasy	The arm falls. Seifer snaps his fingers. "Greg." Cu Chulainn is fast as hell. He's going right for the arm with incredible speed. Gilgamesh, meanwhile, steps forward casually. Because he's not going for the arm. He's going for Lancer's arm. The one holding the arm. Gilgamesh's Zantetsuken flashes outwards as Lancer dives for the arm, a single line of black that cuts through the sky. Lancer can instantly tell - Seifer is an amazing swordsman, and /the giant is even better/, wielding a far more dangerous weapon than Hyperion has ever been. Seifer starts walking forward, supported by his Moon Cell drone. "Yeah, no. We outnumber the hell out of you. And judging by what you guys already did with your research, I'm thinkin', maybe, that we probably can handle it better than you can. After all." Seifer's eyes flash. "We just cleaned up you dipshits' mess pro bono. An' I don't do pro bono for nobody but my wife. So if you think you get to go, 'thanks for the help, buddies, but we're gonna take the loot and split'..." Seifer rolls his neck and brings up a hand of fire, pointing it at Felt like a gun. "That just ain't how this works, man."
Nova Terra	The blue light around Nova's sword vanishes and she returns the weapon to her back. She watches the mage burn up from his own power, leaving very little behind. Just that arm. Which is clearly a dangerous artifact. Nova was about to prepare to assist the disaster recovery efforts in the area. Unfortunately the situation is not quite yet over as things heat up over the radio. As far as she's concerned, it's insane to think that such an unpredictable power is safe in hands other than the local experts. The others act fast, being closer to the arm. There's not much Nova can do to change that. But thankfully she doesn't need to get close to contribute. She raises a hand in the direction of the arm to grip it with her mind. She then warns Seifer, "You understimate just how far some of us are willing to go."
Nie Li	Now that the source of the flame's finally down, Nie Li is willing to risk approaching a bit! He simply leaps, soars down... and lands about fifteen feet away fro the arm and thus, the others nearby like Lancer. Who Nie Li casually praises! "I might have learned a few things about using a spear by watching your efforts. Impressive skill, and you even severed the arm!" Yes, that arm. He gazes at it from this distance and no further. At least, he seems to be quite cautious about the damned thing. Even taking the time to summon out a sack from his Interspatial Ring. A plain leather sack. Nothing fancy about it! But then in comes Lancer going to grab the arm at top speed. Once again, Nie Li's eyes shift to fully black. Shadowy energy gathers at his wrists, forming into what look like sickles. Or some fusion of sickle-and-katar! "Don't take this personally. I would much rather cooperate and study the arm with a local expert." But orders are orders. And just for this moment, Nie Li doesn't want to rock the boat that he's on. This means chasing after Lancer. Who might find that although Nie Li looks like a kid, there's absolutely NOTHING childish about the look Cu gets. It's the look of a fellow warrior, one who might have seen thousands of battles. Except this kid is clearly just a human using some mystical tricks! Tricks that let him move like a bolt of dark lightning, leaping after Lancer with startling speed. That is, Lancer will have to put in SERIOUS EFFORT, as the kid whose aura feels like nothing moves like a trained acrobat and assassin to try and cut him off and elbow him in the solar plexus!
Alexis Maaka	Maaka does the math. Herself, Seifer, Li, that Gilgamesh guy... She drops the hydrant and draws her AK, aiming it directly at Nova. "Drop it." She growls harshly, aiming at the Ghost. "How 'bout we take the thing and stuff it in a box that isn't gonna let magic radiation or whatever start leaking everywhere, THEN we give it back to you." She suggests. "Otherwise, you'd better not miss." She's dropped the friendly air. THere's no more quips. Just a good old Mexican Standoff.
Arthur Lowell	"Magic." Arthur says, keeping close. He's tilting his head and trying to decode the meanings and understand things. "How. Will there be anyone else who can do this? Are they going to keep breaking the Mage's Association?!" His eyes go wide. "What was it worth? What price?" He says, through gritting teeth. He stumbles only slightly when the arm he's focusing on less comes clean off, noticing the events from the other side. "Ghhh--!" His flesh blisters from the sheer heat, and he's forced to leap back. "Wait--!" He starts, eyes wide. "Who knew!! Who was--!!" He starts shouting, before the man disintegrates and Arthur has to cover his eyes with both arms. He winds up gasping and panting, coughing and trying to puzzle over the absence of annihilated ash left behind. He's about to go for the arm when the violent Apple of Discord event starts in full. Arthur immediately lets go of his space-warp, reclaiming that chunk of his ASPECT bar and trying to restore himself to fighting form. He's out of his usual playful form, and still keeping a grip on his broom while he regards the many-ended mexican standoff of fighting over the dismembered piece.
Seifer Almasy	There's a standoff. Nova points the gun at Seifer. Alexis points a gun at Nova. There's a whole ring of shit happening, until finally, Felt makes a decision. Seifer's lips split in a wide, nasty, bully of a grin. This is the Seifer who used to run Garden. This is the Disciplinary Committee Chairman Seifer Almasy. This is the guy who pushed around the rest of the school to make sure they kept in line and did their damnedest, the guy everybody was afraid of, the troubled youth. Seifer shoulders his gunblade. "You know what. OK." "You take it, pal. An' you remember that you made that choice. An' you remember that I /offered/ you that choice. An' when we come knockin', you better not fall to your knees an' apologize. You better face what's comin' like a man." Seifer looks at Nova and winks at her. "You better shoot me in the back while you got a chance, babe. 'cause once we're gone you ain't gettin' a second shot." "Concord! Let's roll." With that, Seifer snaps his fingers. Gilgamesh and his blades fade into a spectral image, then vanish. The Moon Cell Drone offers Seifer a shoulder, and he starts walking away.
Nova Terra	Nova turns her head ever so slightly. She's probably looking at Alexis now, but it's hard to tell with her eyes hidden behind her visor. While she is using one hand to focus her telepathic grip on the arm, the other is still holding her rifle, aimed at Seifer. And she drops neither. Confident that she doesn't need to, for one reason or another. The conversation plays out, seeming like it's going to escalate further into a fight. But finally Seifer chooses to back down. The wink in her direction simply causes her to smirk, "I might have taken you up on the offer..." Practically mimicing Seifer, she shoulders her rifle, "But I'm not stupid enough to do it with your allies around."
Cu Chulainn	Lancer dives for the arm. In the process, he's about to take Gilgamesh's strike. But in the end...Seifer stands down, allowing them to take the arm. Nie Li is fast, but Lancer's faster, so while he takes a blow, he manages to divert it with his arm, hitting him in the side. It hurts, it really hurts. And yet, he manages to maintain the arm's grasp. "Lancer, good work." Felt says as he stares Seifer down. "Yeah, sure. You think you can just bully your way wherever you want? We'll see." And then, after thanking Nova and making sure Kotone's alright, Lancer and Felt will head off with the arm. They have to deliver it to the Association, where they'll likely be praised super highly and brought into mage politics. But there's a price. The Concord made their threats clear. And deep inside, Felt knows they're not idle.
Alexis Maaka	Maaka slowly disengages from the conversation, lowering her rifle. She keeps an eye out in case Nova gets opportunistic, before she shoulders her rifle and returns to her bike. This isn't over just yet, and she takes off for the nearest hotel, preferably one that doesn't ask questions. She's got a lot of work to do ahead of her, and dealing with this wizard shit is already giving Maaka a bad omen. Magic...she has no idea what to make of it.
Arthur Lowell	Arthur grits his teeth, screwing his face up in a surprising degree of frustration. He's not angry at Seifer per se, just angry in some generalized sense at the situation. He's tunnel-visioned on this one particular problem, and as such, the moment it looks like Seifer's out of the way, he approaches Felt with a series of aggressive stomps. "Hey asshole! Don't you walk away on me just yet, I'm needing to figure out what the fuck is going on with where this shit came from." He jabs his index finger aggressively in Felt's direction. "You got any ways of actually figuring out where the hell this thing came from? You gonna, you know, /share/ that? Because that's the bit I care about. Only goddamn thing I give a shit about here is finding the origin, you wander off there just to turn it into a magical nuclear reactor or some shit and I'll knock on your doors just as hard as Greg's Discount Sword Emporium over there." He says, still gesticulating a bit harshly with that hand. Presumably the implicit arrangement is that he'll defend Felt's interests if they get a lead before Seifer goes after the arm, and assist Seifer if they don't. He's a videogame character, you know, very binary ways of dealing with things.