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Sanary Rondel -LAST TIME-

After the revival of the Skeleton Warrior with the magic sword, Royal Knights arrived on the scene commanded by Valgar the Black Knight and Zur the... Zur. A fight broke out in the cemetary where the undead rose from their graves, the Resistance fought against the knights, and a cyclops was led by the kingdom's wizards into battle to add to the chaos. After fighting off the knights, the group decided to regroup at a later time with Serena, the former commander of the Royal Knights, to seek counsel from an eccentric hermit in the forest near the castle.

-TODAY-

The Elites arrive at the designated meeting place: A forest further past the town that everything had started in. It's far enough away from the castle that only the top most parts of the castle are actually visible in the occasional gap in the dense trees that cover the forest.

Serena is already there, waiting fairly close to the warpgate with the Skeleton Warrior standing by next to her. Sanary is there as well, taking the opportunity to do a bit of scouting for anything that looks out of place. It's a fairly regular forest: Wolves prowling around, pudgy goblins with clubs roving in packs, tiny green seedlings transforming into human-sized plants with teeth, and swarms of bees attacking anything and everything they come across.

Regular forest.

"Thank for coming back. I was worried that you had been discovered by the kingdom." Serena salutes the approaching Elites, then starts to follow the white-clad healer. "I've had a few contacts monitoring the Resistance's movements, and they're holding the village well enough. Now we just need to find the hermit. Use caution, everyone."

And as she says that, wolves and goblins come from several different directions while plants grow from around the group. Nature conspires against the Elites today!
Count Kord     There is a twenty foot tall Yveltal here. He seems to be minding his own business while everyone gathers up in this completely ordinary forest. He seems bored, his half-lidded and glowing eyes matching the vague frown on his beak-like face.

    When the group gets accosted by the wildlife, he responds by laughing aloud, and using their shadows to pick them up and beat motherf***ers with other motherf***ers. One wolf goes soaring through the air, used as a club, attached to the ground by a tether as it's flicked violently into goblins and plant monsters alike. Kord, himself, doesn't raise a single claw unless any of them get close, because he would rather not get their blood all over him. "Heavens, this will be fun," he remarks aloud, because it's just regular fighting to him. He's got no investment in the local politics, he's just here to beat things up.
Krusty     Funnily enough, this is a pretty regular forest for Krusty.

    "Greetings, Serena." He gives the former Royal Knight a nod in greeting. The other elites that gather get the same, before it's time to move off.

    Beginning to make their way through the forest appears to draw the ire of its inhabitants. Given the size of the group, Krusty isn't surprised. He draws the large two-handed sword from his back as a wolf charges him. He swings, letting the large blade cleave through the creature. He's not expecting much in the way of strong opposition from the wildlife. The attacking nature does get a mild reaction out of Krusty as he is forced to rip his feet free of some coiling roots. But it's nothing the seasoned Adventurer can't handle.

    With some idle curiosity, Krusty asks of their local guide, "Is it normal for the forest and its creatures to be going out of their way to attack us?"
Note     Note, as always, decides to arrive the way of a martial artist.

    Flying.

    She swoops down into the clearing, held aloft on the stormy white aura of her own swirling inner energy. Down she comes though, planting both feet on the ground not far from the swordswoman, with fists clenched at her hips. "Ready for anything!" The girl shouts confidently as she unwraps her tail from 'round her waist for extra balance.

    "Finding him, wonder if I can..." Note begins to extend her senses, feeling for life forces, but... that results in her IMMEDIATELY spinning about to fire a lone Ki blast towards the bushes an instant before the creatures start rushing out! It was deliberately fired wide anyways as a warning, but the timing was off...

    "Why were they waiting HERE?!" Oh well. If she can bring down a few wolves she might have a good meal on her hands if she gets hungry... so she dives in to deliver a beatdown! As usual, she's holding back her full strength, aiming to just KO and drive off foes instead of delivering mortal or crippling wounds... but if a wolf or two dies, that's probably dinner.

    "What about these guys? Where's THEIR caution?!"
August Kohler August Kohler is here, dressed in forest survival gear such as his hunting jacket that blends in nicely, a pistol and a knife at his sides, a mirrored bracelet on his wrist. They were to meet with an old hermit, August understood that, so he nodded as he approached Serena, eyes darting up to Kord briefly, but apparently, he wasn't after the Resistance. "Got it. Let's go, everyone." And as the wolves and goblins come out...

August glances into the bracelet, summoning his Persona in a flash of blue light with a call. "Persona!" The Tin Soldier manifests, and immediately raises its gun leg, blasting flames to try and engulf the plants growing around the group. They're controlled enough to /probably/ not start a massive forest fire, and just instead burn out the hostile plants. "I'll keep them off us. Deal with the vermin!"

Hopefully, the group can clear some of them and push forward.
Alexis     Let's be entirely honest. Alexis has no idea what's been going on around here. She just happened to be passing through this region of the Multiverse when she caught wind of some sort of 'Rebellion', noticed a couple of Elites around, and true to Trainer tendancies decided to poke her nose in for no other reason than it might be curious to see. Totally a Pokemon Trainer. See, she even has a Pikachu sitting on her shoulder. Granted her Pikachu is far from typical cute rat mascot, wearing a red leather jacket and black leather pants that have a certain punk rock vibe to them.

    At least she catchs up quickly, between the former Knight, the formally living Knight, and some nonsense about the local rulers not liking swords for whatever reason. Okay then. Not the weirdest situation she's haphazardly stumbled into. "Interesting times," she mutters to herself.

    Which only gets more interesting when the forest literally comes to life to accoust them. "Tch. That's what people are worried about?" The Pikachu sparks a little at the cheeks. "Easy girl. I think the big death bird is on our side. Just zap anything that gets too close to us." As for the rest of the matter at hand Alexis tosses a different pokeball. "Let's get this mob under control. Go, Spindrift!" A flash of red and the large spike-backed rodent appears in front of her. "Use Stealth Rock!"

"Saaaan." With a hiss the Sandslash rolls into a ball and starts spinning in place, sending little needles off it's spines in various directions to dig into the ground. Then from those spots larger jagged needles of rock burst out of the ground, zinging for the legs and underbellies of the wolves and goblins to hinder their approach and keep them from outright dogpiling the group.
Staren     Regular forest.

    For Staren's world, it is. Why do you think he considers wearing power armor everywhere normal?

    His normal armor is getting maintenance, so he's wearing the heavier armor today. He doesn't like how bulky it feels, but it shouldn't be much of a problem in a forest; he'd be more worried about trying to use it indoors or in narrow caves. Unfortunately, there isn't actually much benefit to the bulk. Somewhat heavier armor, and enhanced strength which is basically only useful to Staren for rescue situations. That's why he usually doesn't use it.

    Staren's nods of greeting to the group don't show through the armor; after a moment he realizes that and awkwardly adds, "Hi." Then he turns towards the skeleton hero. "So, is Mr. Bones going to explain what's going on, or...?"

    In any case: Monsters face his beam cannons and bees have no way to get into his armor unless they can eat metal, in which case they have shocks to contend with.
Touta Konoe      Where in the Multiverse is this considered 'REGULAR'?! Well perhaps there were certain places this was normal. He's seen plenty of strange things since traversing the Muliverse and at this was just one of those many great wonders he gets to have the pleasure of getting to explore.

     Upon his arrival Touta's appears to have made somewhat of a minor wardrobe change. It's not much for the spikey black-haired kid but there's some nuance.

     His black jack seems new with some newly designed floral pattern. He's still got the black slacks and red t-shirt under it. Also who could forget that black katana he's always walking around with unsheathed. There's even a bracelet with yellow and black on his wrist as well. But enough about his attire, mo one told him there was an issue with swords or no swords so he's clearly just arrived as he usually would.

     There's plenty of familiar faces as he drops in. Sanary, Krusty, Staren, Tomoe, and he's pretty sure he even spots August! That's been a while. He definitely gives a fair greeting to all of those he's fond of and probably tries shooting the breeze with anyone that had been willing. Though there's also a few people he doesn't recognize. Like the giant twenty-foot tall...Thing that starts talking out of the blue and uses the forest denizens to beat other forest denizens as they continued on the path. So...That's a thing. "Uhm...That's new."

     As the fight begins to progress Touta will play his part. He's using his sword to slice at plants as they try and wrap around him, and if they get too antsy...He starts yanking them out of the ground from their roots. He's surpisingly strong for his stature and it'll probably show. As for the goblings and wolves that decide to go his way probably get a bit more mercy than some of the others are doing. Using the back of his blade to try and knock them out.

     To be fair, this was their forest and this large group did just randomly appear out of nowhere to trespass. Though as he continues fighting he finds an opportunity to strong arm one of these goblins

     "Hey buddy, you wanna tell us why every single thing in this forest decided that we're public enemy number one?"

     He doesn't know if these Goblins are smart enough to speak coherently or not but at least he doesn't have to worry about not understanding them if they do. Thank you Multiverse translations! Hopefully even if it's smart enough to talk though it's smart enough to answer Touta's question because well...It's probably better than the alternative which is just letting one of the other guys have him.
Tomoe So they were off to find a hermit, right? Tomoe knew this was a good idea but in the back of her mind part of her was screaming in terror of there being a fetch quest or an escort involved in this somehow. She kept that to herself she also had not her sword out today nope, she had her Naginata the Mooncutter out as she moved along she seems confident in its use.

The party had formed up nicely. She sees a lot of people she knows here, there's people she has experiance working with. She takes note of Touta,, Krusty, Sanary and August most notabley. Kord is someone she didn't expect to see him here, she also tkaes note of Alexis, who has shown up out of whatever place she was hunting for pokemon in at the moment.

"looks like we're all here."
Sanary Rondel "Unfortunately. The goblins often ride the wolves, and they feed their dead to the plants to keep humans from encroacing too far into their territory. They generally don't leave the forest, though, so it's safe enough on the roads with the.." Serena sighs lightly, gazing at her blade for a moment shortly before plunging it into a goblin's head casually. "... Knights patrolling the area." Indeed, there's a few lamps around, but it doesn't look like there's any knights actually around.  The road is barely even visible with how much the grass has grown over it all, the closest sign of civilization being a wooden signpost mentioning an arena somewhere.

The Skeleton Warrior, meanwhile, doesn't actually answer anything. It doesn't seem capable of speech, only grunting as it slashes things apart wildly. Trees go down in its wake, goblins are suddenly missing their bodies, and plants are thoroughly whacked!

Sadly, the goblins also aren't quite capable of speech. Not in an understandable language, anyway, as the one that's grabbed screeches and howls wildly, thrashing about to try and wrestling Touta to the ground in its haste to escape.
The fauna are easy enough to dispatch, whether by physical force, magical force, fire, shadow, lasers, or otherwise. They may be dangerous to civilians, they're still animals (and plants that behave like animals). As the group moves onwards, however, a curious sight greets them: More of those animals and goblins are coming, but not to attack the group. They're focusing entirely on running, but from what?

The answer is fireballs. Lots and lots of fireballs. The earth shakes, too, as something massive comes towards them, somehow managing to maneuver around the trees effortlessly despite being as tall as they are and three times as wide. It's a massive green... Thing, looking somewhat like the mouthed plants and covered in vines with three layers of... Flesh? Flesh, four feet around its base, and fire spewing from the mouth on the top.

Those with magical senses may detect that this thing is BRIMMING with magical energy, too. Its entire body is pulsing with it, its fireballs are literally magic and somehow aren't igniting the forest around it, and it's spinning each segment of its body around as it charges at the group with fireballs raining down at them!
Count Kord     Kord has a merry time just DESTROYING anything that dares to be aggressive to him or anyone in his vicinity, but all that fun comes to an end when he has to hop back to avoid getting hammered with a fireball. The creature that approaches soon after makes his eyes widen in confusion, its odd physiology alien to the likewise alien death-themed bird-dragon. It seems to be hostile and coming right at them, though, so he opens his maw in preparation for his retort. What ends up happening is...

    He fires a big, bright laser with an accompanying cannon blast noise, shattering trees to splinters in its path toward his target: the weird plant stack monster. It kicks up wind and dust, because it's just raw physical energy, directed straight for the creature's center of mass.
August Kohler As things burn, August takes a deep breath, glad to see that SK, the skeleton knight, is still handling his own. As more monsters come, he prepares to fight...but they're fleeing something. A horrible hideous something with /fireballs/.

Which impact on the Tin Soldier, sending it flying back, in horrible pain and blackened metal, August himself clutching his side as he can feel the burn despite the fireballs not hitting him physically. "Ugh...guys, focus damage on it! SK, try and flank around the back, attack it there!" SK does follow orders, after all, so they might be able to coordinate tactics. If SK follows the order...

The Tin Soldier rushes forward, moving to shoulder charge the thing, weaving out of the way of the hyper beam at the last possible moment, only bare energy scalding the metal, before raising the gun leg and shooting a blast of fire at it. If this works, SK should also be able to hit it on the back, and with everyone's combined attacks...possibly take it out in a fell swoop.
Staren     "Good grief. These animals have no survival instinct, why aren't they all dead? If they never know when to run away..." Just then, they start running away... from something else. "Oh COME ON! They run from THAT but not from US? What is this, another MMO world?"

    Despite his complaint, fighting a giant monster is... sort of routine after over 12 years in the multiverse. Jumpjets and energy wings propel the bulky armor around -- Staren tries to use tree trunks as partial cover while blasting it with his beam cannons. If it looks like the group has to get more serious to take it down, he starts adding explosive missiles to the mix as well.
Alexis     A few attacks to show they mean business and the enemies run! ... No wait, that's not right. Not if they're as dedicated to protecting their territory as Serena says. They wouldn't just turn and flee at some resistance. It doesn't take being an expert in monster behavoir to deduce that. "I don't think they're running from US guys!" "Pika!" Zapette agrees as she points at the form looming from the distance.

    Sometimes it sucks being right. Sometimes it burns. Especially when being right involves rains of fire, and she's not the one causing it.

    Spindrift jumps out of his spin only to dive to the ground and burrow in to avoid the volley of fiery projectiles around them. "Light Screen!" Alexis commands, and Zapette complies by projecting some of her electrical current into an energy barrier above them. The fireballs slam into it and disperse, though even through the shield Alexis can feel the burning heat generated. Plants with fire? That's something even Pokemon hasn't done that she's aware of yet. Huh.

    Alexis eyes the faint burrow rise making it's way across the forest floor. Dig takes a few moments. "Give Spindrift some cover to get into position. Electro Ball!" "Pika!" Zapette holds out her forepaws, electricity arcing from her cheek sacks to them, and then collecting in between them. As it forms into a sizable sphere of charge she tosses it in the air, then leaps up after it to spin around and use her tail like a racket to send the electrical sphere hurtling towards the fire-chucking plant-worm-monster thing.
Krusty     The ground shakes...

    Krusty knows that sound...

    This feeling of anticipation, of uncertainty of success...

    ... A world boss!

    Surely a strong monster, capable of wiping the group out if they're not careful. The call to pile damage upon the monstrous plant-creature is made and Krusty smirks just a little in response.

    Krusty dashes forward, his cloak billowing out behind him as quickly closes the distance to the hideous abomination. He deftly moves amidst support fire from behind, sweeping his large sword out to the side, its blade beginning to glow with light. Krusty then leaps at the creature, quickly swinging the sword across its midsection, the weapon seemingly passing through it, before Krusty lands on the other side of it.
Note     As most of the monsters seem to be focused on diverting AROUND the group, Note realizes a bit too late... she withdraws her copious fist assault and backflips away to get a look at what's coming. She can feel it, after all!

    "What's that? Never felt anything like this before." But it does feel like it's MUCH tougher than these wolves.

    The youth's eyes go wide as they can though when FIREBALLS start zipping through the area. "Is someone trying to burn down the forest?!" This could be really bad. REALLY bad. Who uses fire in A FOREST?

    Note drops into a combat stance, and summons forth a surge of inner strength that's shown by an outwards KAKATHOOM of burning white aura rushing around her!

    Then it bursts into view... and her expression turns foul. Somewhat nauseated.

    "It's..... uuuuuuugly...." And yet, thank heavens, it's not lighting the forest on fire like she first was afraid of. On the other hand-- "Y-yaaah!"

    Note enters a wild pattern of zigging and zagging backwards and sideways as the fireballs rain down, narrowly evading direct hits but being left singed and scorched by a number of encounters that were WAY too close and nearly engulfed her. Chunks of her outfit smolders...

    "Why does everyone gotta use stuff that ruins my clothes? Guh..."

    Angrily, she cracks her tail against the ground like a whip.

    AND THE GROUND CRATERS.

    The very next moment, Note draws herself to standing tall and unleashes a mighty kiai! Golden energy mixes into the aura from feet first and ignites upwards. In a transformation that releases a shockwave-burst of pure life energy, her smooth black hair and ponytail both rise upwards, splitting upwards into spiky locks that color-shift to gold. Glaring with eyes that are now a light green shade instead of black at the monster, she dives at the thing with tremendous speed, ainming to just SLAM A FLYING KICK into it. "HYAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!"
Touta Konoe      WHAT EVEN IS KORD!?!?!?!

     The goblin that tries to tackle Touta to the ground doesn't get thrown to the others to be mutilated but he still is forced to knock this thing out. It's pretty violent still. What's even more violent is whatever Kord had just fired. Seriously, is that a dragon or something? What kind of dragon shoots laser beams?! Something to ask the Dragon Witch if she's ever heard of it later probably. But for the most part it seems like everyone appears to have alot of firepower on their side which was a pretty good thing all things considered.

     The moment he starts thinking that though is the moment he gets to watch as the Tin Soldier gets hit. It's only at that moment that he notices August cringing in pain for some reason? Why was that, was he injured from before or something? Either way Touta can't just screw around while the others are putting in effort, so he'll take this opportunity to charge in along with Krusty to attack this monstrosity in the mid-section as well. He zigs and zags trying to avoid incoming fire...Literally, and avoids a direct hit! But his jacket looks like it's taking a bit of damage, but sacrifices must be made!

     Now, while he doesn't have a large sword like his well armored friend...

     "100,000 FOLD!!!"

     He's got a sword that lets him fight above his weight class. Even at a weight that this sort of gluttonous thing should have problems shirking off. He ends on the other side besides Krusty where he checks on the status of one thing...His jacket.

     "Huh, it really does mend itself! Okay, this is a good gift."
Tomoe Today Tomoe is not tanking, no she's actually going to be trying her hand at damage today she's put the weapon to use to cut any plant life that blocks their path and soon there are other things coming after them and she's quick to strike down what does attack them. The plants and goblins, infernal green skins can she not get away from them? Likely not and all she can think about they just are everywhere.

She hacks and slashed, heck she even flips in the air before bringing down her weapon putting that reach to very good use.

"Wait how is it not setting the forest on fire?"

She dances out of the way of one of the attack and will wonder about this later, as she takes a hit from several fireballs as she closes trying to get up close to put her spear to work against it.

"SWORD ART SPEAR DANCE!"

She launches into a savage combination of strikes that hard for the naked eye to follow but she's taken some hits to get this close and it's showing.
Sanary Rondel SK does indeed follow the order! Even if it's not capable of speaking or thining for itself, having clear instructions is enough to get the undead fighter circling around the beast. As Kord's and Staren's lasers slams into the creature from one side, SK's blade digs into it from the other end alongside Tomoe's spear slashes. The Tin Soldier's flames scorch it from the... Side? Flank? Probably the flank, if the mouth pointing slightly more in one direction is any indication.

The result of getting hit in three directions at once: The green giant howls as it spirals into the air, spinning for several moments before righting itself and landing with another earth-shaking thud. However, the bruises and gashes and scorches that should be there following those attacks simply... Aren't. They were there moments ago, but it seems as though this creature is healing itself incredibly fast!

Odder still, the creature looks slightly smaller than before. It still packs as much of a punch as it did before, though, as it continues spewing fireballs and charging around, aiming to collide bodily with anyone in its path. As it charges around, though, it slams directly into the Pikachu's lightning ball, letting out another unearthly yell. Krusty's and Touta's blades tear through its planty flesh in conjunction, drawing an X-shaped spray of light from its side where blood or something more liquid would be expected. Note's flying kick collides with it directly, sending the green monster flying backwards and knocking over several trees in the process.

"Magic, probably!" Sanary shouts in response to Tomoe as she focuses some healing magic on her arm, fighting off some of those burns before following that up with more healing for the rest of the group. "Just keep whaling on it!"

It's still shrinking. Unlike before, however, it doesn't quite stop shrinking as it starts flying through the air uncontrollably, not unlike a giant balloon deflating rapidly with nothing to hold it in place. The green creature flies aorund for a good ten seconds before it suddenly pops out of existence just in time for a tiny white rabbit to appear in its place. The rabbit hops away, heading for one particular tree with a small clearing around it when a lightning bolt strikes the ground next to the rabbit.

The rabbit doesn't seem to be startled in the slightest. When the light clears from that flash of lightning, there's suddenly an older man standing there, looking much like a stereotypical wizard: White hair, moustache, big poofy robe, a gem-tipped rod. He catches the rabbit in his arm, eyeing the Elites with a warm smile.

"Ah, guests! Welcome, welcome... What brings you here? Mido didn't give you too much trouble, did he? No, he didn't~" The old figure chuckles softly and nuzzles his face against the rabbit-that-was-a-giant, almost as if he doesn't know or care that they had just beat the ever-loving crap out of his healthy-looking rabbit.
Alexis     .. And after all that it was just some magic rabbit guard-monster?

    Alexis' ponytail swishes as she shakes her head a bit. "Still not the weirdest thing I've seen." And considering what little she's heard about the other side of this anti-sword issue, not really surprised there'd be that sort of protection.

    By the time Spindrift finally Digs back out of the ground the monster is gone. So Alexis just pats him on the head for being diligent and recalls him.

    They don't dispute the 'didn't give you trouble' remark. Though Zapette does hold up two digits to point at her eyes, and then point at the rabbit. She's watching you, one long eared varmit to another.
Count Kord     "Your rabbit is bloodthirsty," Kord remarks, dryly, caring not a single bit about angering some insane wizard, as smoke rises from him from getting winged by one of those fireballs from earlier. "Please keep it on a leash."
August Kohler As SK follows the order, August is glad they recruited the skeleton. He'll be a valuable ally for the Resistance. WHen the monster goes flying, starts shrinking, and...turns into a rabbit, August pauses. And then there's an old man, presumably the Hermit, acting like nothing weird happened.

What the hell?

Either way, August realizes this guy is probably old and crazy, so he approaches cautiously, keeping his Persona nearby. "Nnnno, Mido was...fine. Name's August Kohler. We're representatives of the Resistance." If he's against the Resistance, he's against the Resistance, no point in hiding it.

"We've heard you're, uh, a wise man. Living out in this forest all alone. And we have an ancient skeleton knight with an ancient sword that is said to 'seal away the darkness', and we'd like some information." August gestures to SK. "Can you give us any?"
Touta Konoe      As the green giant continues to heal there's a bit of a concern that this might be something of the 'immortal' persuasion, to which if it was Touta's training has told him how long this fight could actually drag on for, and that'd be bad...But that doesn't seem to be the case apparently. That's a relief, if not a surprise when he sees that the giant monster they had just been facing had been turns out to be a little rabbit. That's probably one of the most adorable monsters he's had to face...

     Though as the others start remarking about Mido, Touta takes this chance to walk over to the wizard and his fluffy companion. "Name's Touta. We're here cause the locals wanted your help, it seems. I'm not too sure on the details so I'll leave it to one of the others to handle."

     And with that he takes the moment to pet Mido the fluffy killer rabbit. He seems pleasant enough now at least. Besides...He was just guarding his home before right?
Krusty     ... Okay, not a world boss.

    Krusty shields himself from one of the last fireballs using the flat of his blade, before watching with some disappointment as the large monstrous creature turns into a cute bunny rabbit. Krusty puts his face into his hand for a moment, before sweeping his sword up to place it on his back once more.

    Approaching the old man, Krusty remains silent as August essentially covers their reason for being here. He watches the wizard closely though, not entirely trusting of the 'wise hermit' look.
Staren     Staren keeps his forcefield up when he's not shooting -- Some fireballs hit it, wearing it down.

    The monster... gets smaller? Aha, it's having to cannibalize its mass to repair itself. That makes sense.

    And then it acts like a deflating balloon, finally popping into a rabbit. What. That's weird even by Multiverse standards.

    It's someone's pet. "Why..." Staren starts, but others talk slightly more diplomatically. Staren decides it's best to get what they came for and leave as soon as possible. "Yeah." he adds after August's explanation. "And do you have any idea why the king is sending soldiers to their deaths over that sword?"
Tomoe The fight is getting pretty heavy here, and she'd hate to admit it but she is kind of enjoying this fight. She keeps trying to deal with fireballs even once trying to spin her spear to deflect one and it doesn't go as well as she'd like.

"Isn't that how it always seems to go, Sanary?!"

She'll not pester Sanary for heals not here's people who will need the healer's talent far more than she does.

Also the creature finally goes down in one of the strangest deaths she's ever seen in her life.

"Wait did it just..."

It totally just did deflate and now they have found hopefully the person they were looking for.

She'll grin at the man for a moment. 5R
"Not much trouble really at all sir."

She pauses looking at the bunny it became? She stares for a moment.

"If that comedy crew only knew.... Good to meet you sir I'm Tomoe."
Count Kord     "I must reiterate that your pet is a monster, because these people are being polite and that's just dumb."
    Kord continues to smolder.
Note     Note's not the sort to pursue a fleeing enemy, and so when the magic that maintains the rabbit's transformation starts to falter... she just backflips, waiting to be sure the fight's over.

    THEN LIGHTNING STRIKES. "Y-yeeagh?!" It has her standing straight up. Startled, she drops out of her transformation - all the glowing just poofs away, and her hair and eyes return to black... and far less spiky, for the former.

    "... it's an old grandpa!" She blurts out rather childishly, sprouting a grin. "So the hermit's actually a WIZARD. That's pretty cool!"

    After a breath to regain her composure, Note bounds forward. "I'm Note!" The girl exclaims... then glances over at August, who seems to have explained everything quite handily.

    The fighter actually wanders next to him and lightly elbows him in the side to get his attention. "You do this kinda thing a lot... that's the feeling I get from you."
Sanary Rondel Mido doesn't like you either, Zapette. Somehow, it strikes a kung-fu pose even as it's being held by the old man. Kord, meanwhile, gets to see a rabbit bare its teeth! Briefly, of course, before the old man gives it some more petting and affection with a wrinkled old man hand.

"The Resistance? Oh, those optimistic young upstarts. I wonder how they're doing..." The old man starts while running a hand through his moustache. Not his beard, because he doesn't have one, but just his moustache. "If it's information you're seeking, then... Ah. Did you know the king isn't really the king? Not anymore, anyway. And it's not the king that's ordering these troops around. It's not even the king that fears the sword... No. It's the wizard, Kanon G. Grey. But that old fuddy-duddy has the 'king' by the ear, so whatever he wants, he gets!"

Mido approves a little more of Touta, but only a little. He's stil snapping his teeth at the boy, but not enough to actually bite him.

"As for information on the kingdom itself... Hm. If Kanon wants the sword so badly, I doubt he'll leave any of us alone even after he gets it. That strange warrior over there has something to do with it, doesn't he?" The old man eyes the golden warrior for a few moments, then chuckles and starts walking while gesturing at the group to follow. "Anyhow, it's getting dangerous around here these days. Come. I know a safer place this way."

Alas, the safe place the old wizard is leading them towards is not very safe at all. Valgar arrives with a contingent of troops, leaping besides the old man with a blade drawn and leveled at the old man's back. "I've finally found you, old man. You're a wizard, aren't you? I don't know who you are, but don't get in my way. Take him away!"

As a pair of Black Knights arrive to lead the wizard (and his fuming rabbit) away, Valgar turns his swords towards the group of Elites. "You disgraced me before, and I'll make you pay for it now. Here I come!"

"Wait a minute! They aren't worth your effort." A woman's voice comes out from behind Valgar, and a woman in red armor not unlike Serena's steps forward with a contingent of knights in similarly red armor. Unlike Serena, however, her hair is a bright pink in color. "This way. Let my soldiers handle them, my love. I wouldn't want you to get hit by flying bodies."

As the (second) red swordswoman starts to leave with Valgar, she gestures towards the Elites with her shield. "Those are you targets. Kill them!" And with that, the Red Knights charge at the Elites head on! Unlike the knights in the knights in the town, these knights seem to be of a more skilled stock than the last knights they've faced. A pair fire lightning bolts towards the group from afar as their companions charge in with halberds drawn, working in pairs to aim large swings both low and high!
Staren
    Staren nods as the old man says the king isn't the king. It almost makes sense, although it's completely useless information without further info on this 'Kanon'.

    Suddenly, black knights! How did noone see them approaching?! Staren aims the beam cannons on his arm at the guy holding a sword to the wizard's throat. "Hey! Hang on, we need him to give us exposition!" But things... progress despite his protests. "Stand down! ...Are you fucking serious?!" He takes to the sky on jumpjets, but then lightning hits him, slagging a bit of his armor plating and scorching a lot more.

    His voice booms angrily from the speakers: "I AM STAREN WIREMU, HAND OF THE CONCORD! SURRENDER NOW AND YOUR LIVES WILL BE SPARED!"

    He doesn't wait for a response: He immediately rains down missiles at the attacking knights, a mix of high explosives that aim to turn armor into cans of chunky salsa, and HEAT warheads that try to skewer through lines of knights on lances of heavy plasma.

    If the survivors actually surrender though, he won't attack further.
Alexis After that explaination Alexis rolls her eyes a bit. "Oh wonderful. Evil advisor trope." Some how she isn't surprised. "Let me guess, the sword is the key to undoing his grasp on the ki--"

    She doesn't get a chance to finish that snarky comment before more knights barge in though. Some to take the old man away from giving them more advice, and others being ordered to attack. "Rude! We were having a conversation here!" Oh, and also lightning.

    "Pikaaaaaaa!" Which Zapette takes care of, jumping to intercept the bolt coming in Alexis' direction and absorbing it with her Lightning Rod ability. She's smoking and sparking a bit more when she lands back on Alexis' shoulder. "Chu!" Meanies.

    "Hold your charge. Dealing with these jerks require a specialist." Alexis draws a different pokeball, spinning it once before tossing it. "I choose you, Crosscut!" And releases not one, but *two* swords. Fairly large swords with flowing pink banners on the handles, and what appears to be an eye in the middle of each hilt. "Aerial Ace!" The two swords of the Doublade wrap the banners around each other's hilt, and spin themselves through the air like a ghostly buzzsaw towards the interrupting knights.

    Alexis just happened to have the Pokemon that's sword based with her (she uses it as a machette when exploring, if you were wondering why) and as these guys are being jerks about magic swords, decided to rub some salt on it with duo ghostly swords fighting them.
Note     Ah. So the King's being manipulated by someone! It's starting to make a little sense. Even Note's paying a bit more attention now. Perhaps a tiny drip of maturity just blossomed here as she realizes how much trouble this place is actually in.

    Sadly she can feel a lot of lifeforces approaching, and so points out as they're walking... "Someone's coming! Lots of--..." But of course, here they are.

    Drat this darned forest making it hard to keep a feel for what's around them in time to react.

    But it just has to be the these jerks. Again. And this time, there's a girl warrior with them.

    Seeing the way the wizard's being manhandled, something snaps in Note. And she realizes.

    These people are just plain JERKS. "Get your hands off grandpa wizard. GET THEM OFF HIM!" With another raging explosion of golden Ki Note again assumes her Super Saiyan form... no doubt wasting a boatload of stamina to transform YET AGAIN.

    All the while, she's grinding her teeth. She's been in it for some action and adventure so far. But now...

    NOW she really just feels bad for the Wizard. So it's time for a rescue.

    Note's energy surges higher and higher, and with it her aura grows grander and grander. She's burning that candle a bit brighter, but her stamina won't last... or can it?

    It won't matter, as long as she can bring the knights down and get to the wizard. "No more holding back!" She growls out... and then leaps straight into the fray. Lightning flies at her, but this time...

    It strikes?! No... the sizzling energy just goes through empty air. The eyes were tricked... it just struck an afterimage.

    The Saiyan has joined Staren up in the air. Hands cupped at her side with palms facing each other, energy gathering.... "Deal with the best of the New Turtle School, you jerks! If you can. Kaaaaaaa Meeeeee Haaaaaaa Meeee..."

    Although she's hovering weirdly, she aims down, bringing those opposed palms forwards so they're both facing the warriors... "Haaaaaaa!" And the gathered energy is unleashed in a roiling, thick wave of glowing blue-white devastation!

    She lied, though. She IS still holding back. Because should it hit, this will only cause a crater that's a few dozen feet wide. If it was her best...

    Well. Some here have seen what those with Saiyan blood can do.
August Kohler As they get information, August nods. "Interesting. We'll deal with them." And a glance to Note. "Yeah. I've been doing this for four years." He realizes that she doesn't seem to be allied with any of the factions, as they talk. Maybe...

Knights attack. August is glad his Persona is already at the ready, as he begins firing psychic bullets at the attackers from the Tin Soldier's gunleg, hopefully enough to pierce their armor. As lightning bolts fire forward and halberds come flying, the Tin Soldier raises its arms, miming a battle cry as it moves to push past the halberd ones to charge at the knights slinging lightning. If it can, it'll try and tear them apart with a slew of flaming bullets. August will flinch if they actually die instead of just getting injured, but...that's how this works.

He's learning.
Tomoe They get some information of use as they speak to the hermit as they move, she seems in good enough spirit, will that last not very long as after the old man is leaning them on for a bit more Knights show up and they grab him. Tomoe looks at the knight for a moment and there's this odd expression on her face and it's not a nice one.

"So we have to do it this way? So just this out of pride? I see so that's the sort of person you are and let's face it better bandits than your knights have tried to kill me."

She's now in the fight she will bob and weave as he keeps using her reach against the Knights as they fight, she'll focus on takedowns over outright kill shots though she just want to get them out of the way as fast as she can, still she wonders how the hell did her life come to this and why didn't she walk away the moment she got her settlement for the death game like one friend did?

"How many odf these knights are there?!"
Krusty     The old man speaks a fair bit, but doesn't say much. Is it some kind of wizard regulation that they have to speak in such vague ways?

    And how is it that the Royal Knights keep showing up? Are they tracking the group some how? No, doubtful, considering all they did this time was sick their subordinate knights on the group of elites and then walking off.

    Krusty rubs his temple for a moment, looking somewhat annoyed. But he then narrows his eyes at the charging knights, "You're in the way." Krusty reaches beneath his tabard and pulls out... A scroll. In two swift movements, Krusty throws the scroll into the air. As it rises up, it unfurls, revealing numerous magic runes etched on it. With his other hand Krusty reaches back, quickly drawing his sword and slashing through the paper.

    As the two halves of the unfurled scroll separate, they suddenly burst into flames. They quickly grow in size as the scroll vaporizes. Fire flows upwards through the branches of the trees, collecting in the air. They begin to take the shape of a large bird.

    "KREEEEEEEEEEEE!"

    The fire bird's cry bites through the air, its firery wings beating. It then dives down towards the ground and the charging knights, pulling up at the last moment as it sweeps through them, burning those it touches and leaving a trail of fire on the ground behind it.

    After sweeping across the ground the fire bird rises up into the air once more, before diving straight towards the center of the knight formation, impacting the ground fast and exploding in a large blast to send knights flying.
Touta Konoe      The Black Knights are trying to take away Touta's new rabbit friend. Also the old mage who seemed...Not too crazy. Besides he did offer the group info so he's clearly not a bad guy.

     "I've got the whiskered du- Staren, hang on man!"

     He watches as the bolt hits Staren in the sky and apparently that pisses him off enough to fire off his missiles...Right /after/ telling them to surrender.

     He really wants to help the old man, but at the same time he'd prefer not having people who are just following orders unknowingly getting blown to bits. After all...There's no way that someone can't see the outcome of missiles vs knights. It's one-sided on so many levels and he knows that Staren is capable enough to get them to stop fighting without resorting to lethal force. In fact, he doesn't know what Note's doing either but all that glowing looks really similar to what Kord was doing before. "Oh great..."

     "Grasp the Earth!"

     The young man uses a flash movement technique, Shundo in an attempt to try and smack as many of these unlucky knights from being blasted with a Kamehameha wave or deadly missiles. He really doesn't have the leisure to hold back but he imagines what every sort of injuries he gives them by sending them flying is a hell of a lot better than anything they'll receive from missiles and...Whatever Note is doing!

     Unfortunately for Touta, he's trying to knock as many of these knights out of the way till the last moment which means...Well, he gets to enjoy the full brunt of a Kamehameha Wave and Missile assault simulateneously.

     On the bright side...The effectiveness of Staren's bombardment should still retain its intended effect of threatening the remaining the Soldiers after they see what's become of Touta!
Sanary Rondel Unlike the knights that had been encountered in town long ago, these knights know how to handle themselves much better around skilled opponents. Unlike those previous knights, however, these knights are also faced with a more focused intent to kill compared to last time.

They have numbers, at least, even if they're not really standing a chance. The lucky ones are those that get hit directly by missiles, beheaded by sword-shaped beasts, pulverized by fist lasers, double-tapped by fire bullets, incincerated by birds...  The unlucky ones are those that actually manage to avoid direct hits and get away with grievous wounds for their trouble. Or, in the case of those trying less lethal attacks, still sustaining heavy injuries.

Those are the knights that are going to keep fighting despite their wounds. Despite the clear difference in power and ability, the knights still have too much pride to surrender, and definitely too much to thank anyone for knocking them out of the path of a deadly attack. They start coming at the Elites en masse, halberds and swords swinging every to try and maintain some sort of formation to limit their exposure even as they're picked apart. The red and pink swordswoman, noticing this, sighs as she draws her own blade to approach the group.

"When I said to kill them, I meant to /KILL THEM/! You've fought well, though. I, Katrina of the Red Knights, shall be your next opponent!" Brandishing her blade, Katrina leans back slightly as if readying for a charge when Valgar steps beside her with his weapons drawn once more.

"By now, my soldiers should have finished off those green armored wimps that call themselves the Resistance. There's no place for you rebels to hide, so surrender!" As he prepares to join the fray with Katrina, however, the swordswoman stops him.

"Valgar, stand back! I can handle them myself. Prepare to meet your doom!" Katrina lets out a battle cry as she leaps forward to engage the Elites alongside her knights, aiding their lightning blasts with a massive ice beam of her own, and deft sword slashes and stabs to shore up holes in her knights' own swings and thrusts.

Valgar, meanwhile, remains where he is as he watches the fighting continue with his teeth clenched and the swords still held tightly in his grip. He doesn't seem pleased with having to wait and see.
Alexis     "Power Trick," Alexis commands and the Doublade draws back from the attackers briefly to recross their blades. Which essentially sheaths themselves as the X-shaped metal guards manifest over them, shifting their offense for defense. It's not quite the formation change of their evolution, but now it does resemble a coat-of-arms of crossed blades rather than attacking ones. Doublade focuses on deflecting halbards and other attacks, and leaves the offense to others in the group, while keeping the knights from getting any closer to its trainer.

    Even with the switch to defense it's only going to last so long as the constant barrage of attacks wears away at it. For now though it's holding up, abiet a bit of wobbling as the head lady joins the fray with her more potent strikes. And she uses a sword amongst the sword-haters, how hypocritcal!

    Alexis frowns a moment. "Zapette, remember the stunt Bowling Jenny and her Chatot showed us?" "Chu," replies the mouse with a nod. "Good." Alexis picked the Pikachu off her shoulder, then wound back as if warming up a pitch. Not far off considering a lifetime of hurtling Pokeballs at things. "Ready. Set.... Go!" Alexis pitchs the Pikachu into the air as hard as she can towards Katrina. Then shouts "METEOR MASH!"

    Wait, what? What Pikachu knows that move?

    Maybe it has something to do with the costume?

As she's hurtled into the air Zapette swings back her own little clenched fist. "Piiiiikaaaaaaaa." Which starts to glow very brightly, to the point that when she's just about to collide and swings that punch it looks more like a comet crashing down. "CHU!"
Tomoe Touta goes in there's nothing Tomoe can do it's too fas too much firepower.

"TOUTA!"

Damn it, is the only thing looping through Tomoe's mind right now.

"No."

is the only reply on the surrender Tomoe gives, as she races in with her spear now there's not much she can do, she's focusing on the leader though.

"I fought people like you before. They made no illusions about what they were unlike you."

Tomow will shift flare out her wings for a moment to boost up and try to get behind the leader of the Red Knight with another attack.

"Come now, let's see how you fair you witch."

"SOMEONE GET TOUTA!"
Krusty     The flames from Krusty's phoenix eventually die down, its assault combined with the others wiping out much of the hostile knight forces. Krusty glances amidst the remains of the fallen knights. It's quite a gruesome sight. Krusty hmmms quietly.

    Attention is drawn to Katrina as she makes her presence known. Showing a little more enthusiasm, Krusty smiles just a little, "Excellent." Krusty swings his sword out to his side and then starts charging forward towards the knight leader.

    A couple of surviving knights attempt to block Krusty's path, halberds raised towards him. Krusty doesn't stop though, letting the weapons scrape across his heavy armour as he charges into them, smashing through and continuing to close the distance to that (other) red swordswoman.

    Krusty circles around to approach Katrina from the other direction of Alexis and Zepette, calling out to Katrina (possibly in an attempt to distract her from the flying Pikachu), "Defend yourself." Krusty swings his large blade to match the timing of Zepette's punch, trying to catch the leader between the two blows.
August Kohler Touta throws himself in the way of devastating attacks, and August curses. As the vampire kid is hit, August has heard he's a vampire so isn't too worried...but is still worried enough to charge in with the Tin Soldier at the halberd soldiers to try and keep them from getting to him. "Hey, idiot! Don't throw yourself in the way of laser beams!"

That's his job.

If there's anything left of Touta from the strikes, August will move to try and protect his body, hoping he'll regenerate, while flames spray out at the soldiers attacking, possibly turning them into metal coffins, again. The Tin Soldier and the redhead both surround Touta, trying to give him cover. Hopefully, they can thin the mooks as well.
Staren     Staren is able to stop at least /some/ of the missiles from detonating. Which answers the question of what he'd have done if they surrendered *after* he fired the missiles. "Dammit Touta! if they wanted to live, they wouldn't be attacking us! I spared and revived the others, they know who we are! You're making it worse!"

    The knights, apparently, have no sense of self-preservation, truly believe the heroes are doing something evil, or didn't hear. Staren wonders if the story of him sparing and resurrecting some of their fellows was censored.

    "Enough! I don't have time for this." Staren keeps the field up and just tanks for a few seconds -- speeding towards the wizard, trying to pull him free of whoever's holding him, and then fly away with him as quickly as he can get out of lightning range. Let Katrina rage, she can tire herself out if she cares more about fighting than running away with Old Man Exposition.

    "Dude, why isn't your rabbit helping us, anyway?"
Touta Konoe      Smoke and dust arise from the spot where the screaming had come from before. The spot where some stupid kid got in the way of others doing the proper thing. As August arrives at the spot where Touta was bombarded he won't see Touta. At least well..Not Touta as he recognizes him, he sees a carcass. A lump of flesh and a blood-stained ground. To someone so familiar with death at this point even with his vision impaired slightly by the smoke he can tell that this is no longer a human but a corpse.

     "It, looks like your good will went to waste. In fact, it looks like it backfired entirely. Look how worried you made some of them."

     There's a voice that comes across though, but it's definitely not Touta's. But that's when he sees it. Blood spilled on the floor returns, a body reconfigures itself, all in the matter of seconds and within the smoke a spikey-haired boy scratches the back of his head.

     "...Jeez, you can say that again." The boy looks into the sky towards Staren "You still shouldn't be telling people to surrender and /then/ shooting at them before seeing what happens! We already know you're gonna wi-..." It's at that moment he stops himself as he looks down. A lot of his clothing did not survive that blast...Thankfully there's still some smoke and dust around. It's also good that the Tin Soldier and August decide to cover for him...Both metaphorically and hopefully literally. "Oh, uh, thanks. Sorry about this August you don't have to do this I'm fine to go abou-"

     "Just wrap yourself with the jacket..."

     "Oh? Oh, wow it did survive! Alright..."

     At this point, August will see Touta as he's familiar with him...Just with a jacket being wrapped around his waist is all. "Sorry for the scare guys! I'm fine! Honest!" Anyway, now that it seems that surrender for these soldiers is not an option he can get them to make he'll probably have to put in the extra effort to deal with them...
Sanary Rondel The Red Knights are faring much better this time around with Katrina bolstering their lines, but even a skilled knight commander can only do so much in the face of overwhelming odds. The knights form a phalanx of sorts as they shift to a more magic-based offensive, firing out alternating blasts of lightning and ice to make it even harder for the Elites to approach them.

Despite their efforts, however, the Elites still manage to break through. With Zapette, Tomoe, and Krusty all attacking from multiple angles, a lull in their lightning-ice waves form as they're forced to go entirely on the defensive instead of maintaining the attack. Even on said defensive, however, the knights' shields don't last long under that assault, and several of the knights fall convulsing or dead. August's flames add to the body count, sowing confusion in the ranks when several of those knights are burnt alive and someone that looked dead is piecing himself back together, sweater and all.

"What the hell are you outsiders made of? Tch... I'll just take you on myself, then!" Fighting largely alone at this point, Katrina seems unperturbed as she brings her sword up once again. Instead of firing another ice beam, however, snow starts to billow out of her weapon in massive swaths like a localized blizzard. They freeze whatever they touch rapidly on contact, turning both the forest floor and the trees themselves into slippery obstacles that threaten to freeze even the hottest of heads.

The wizard, meanwhile, seems to be taking this whole situation in stride. "She's pushing herself too hard. An admirable trait, but these people might just kill her at this rate." He laughs heartily even as Valgar draws one of his blades again, letting out a confused noise when Staren comes by and tries to free him. The knights themselves are quite strong as well, though, and Valgar even dashes in to swing at the flier's outstretched arm to dissuade him from interrupting. He's still holding back for the time being, but it's becoming clearer that the Black Knight is still holding back!

Mido, meanwhile, is still being pet by wrinkly old wizard hands. It's still chomping at the bit to do something, but the wizard doesn't seem all that fazed by the whole being-taken-captive thing.
Note     Horror. That's the only thing on Note's face when the smoke clears... because Touta had to go and get in the way. A horrible feeling wrenches about in her chest. Did she do that...? No, no no no...

    But... wait. What?

    Touta's getting back up. Pulling himself back together in the freakiest way. Note's expression turns rather ill, but Katrina below getting all ICY on the group shakes her out of her stupor. Rapidly shaking her head, she rejoins Staren in the AIR RAID DEPARTMENT, ganging up on the interfering Valgar by swinging a KICK for his (armored or otherwise, it won't matter much from her perspective) gut!

    "Haven't you figured out you're not dealing with some typical villagers yet?! And you still treat us like you can just do whatever you please. You're in for a lot of bruises!"
Staren     Cold. It washes over the forcefield, steadily depleting it. Staren has to drop it to grab the hermit though, exposing him to Valgar's sword strike.

    He'll take it. He doubts one swing will cut all the way through his armor, and he only needs a second to grab the wizard!

    If it took more time, he might notice the wizard didn't seem to care and rethink about whether this fight was really important.

    As it is, he wraps his arms around the hermit in a hug and takes off! "You could HELP, you know!" he chides the hermit, re-enabling the forcefield as soon as they're airborne.
Alexis     Everything was going relatively well, up until that wide area ice spell. Being so close to the epicenter of SUDDEN ICESTORM leaves Zapette with little option, and she's sent sliding back to Alexis frozen solid in a chunk of ice. Doublade fairs even worse off, as the magic attack blasts right through it's physical defense, leaving it clattering to the ground in a now unconcious heap of swords.

    But Alexis can make use of that in another way. "Come on out, Blazemore!" The fluffy orange and striped dog appears in front of her, and doesn't need much more than that. Seeing the other incapacitated pokemon makes the canine scowl, and with a very big almost roar for relatively small creature charges into the fray. Not just to take their place in the fight. But blazing right towards Katrina with all the intensity of a dog much bigger in size to protect his friends like a good loyal and brave doge!

    Which is exactly why Alexis used him. Retaliate is a much more powerful move when used to counterattack an enemy that knocked out a previous pokemon.
August Kohler As Touta regenerates, August flinches slightly at the gore, but steels himself. "...glad you're alright, then. You're not one of mine, but still, don't do stuff like that." Despite being hypocritical, August seems worried for the kid, as he quickly circles around to take out the last remaining soldiers. Bullets and fire move to finish them, with every death August steeling himself that he's doing what has to be done. Even though he hesitates as he pulls the trigger, allowing any soldier that'll surrender to live, he's growing at the same time.

Perhaps, some day, August Kohler will be a cold-hearted killer. But not yet.
Krusty     Tch. Krusty is forced to jump backwards as the knights' leader unleashes a blizzard upon them. He takes much of the wintery assault on his side, before landing and skidding to a halt on the now icey ground.

    Krusty glances down at his arm, seeing it encased in ice. That could make things difficult if he doesn't deal with it. Krusty raises the sword in his other hand, then smashes the hilt into the ice. It cracks and with a bit of flexing, breaks off and falls to the ground. Krusty winces at the pain, also watching part of his HP bar drop. He looks up at Katrina and gives her a bit of a smile, "Not bad."

    Krusty digs his feet into the ground and then dashes forward. Moving fast, he leaps into the air and in what might be an unexpected move, rears his sword back and then throws it, point first, straight towards Katrina. The sword pierces through the air with impressive speed and power behind it.
Tomoe Tomoe says "Binary code and flesh."

Comes Tomoe's reply when the Knight captain asks what she and the rest of the elites here are.

"As for the others it's up to them."

Then thing start chilling out here and Tomow will take flight even if not at a full-on flying speed getting off the ground. She looks to the Knight captain or a moment. She looks well at Katrina as she closes in again while keeping to the air and flying right at her.

"Good thinking but not enough you're just in over your head."

She notes as she makes for another attack on the knight.

Tomoe would too accept any surrenders but right now she's got the captain to worry about.
Sanary Rondel Valgar's already prepared for opposition when he's taking a swing at Staren. He possesses a great deal of strength and skill in equal measure, so that blade is going to hurt! He's not grabbing for the wizard himself, however, as his attention is already being split two ways. Note coming after him forces him to do a SWEET BACKFLIP to avoid getting kicked through a tree like Mido was earlier, narrowly passing under it while leaving little room for his own counterattack.

"I don't have time for this! Where is..." He has other things on his mind, though, so Note gets away with taking that swing and not being retaliated against. The old hermit's laughter seems to be grating on his nerves, though, even as that voice grows more distant with Staren pulling the old hermit away.

"It's alright, sonny. The prince can kill me if he wants, if that's how the kingdom treats its subjects!" Despite how obvious of a taunt that is, it's still irritating enough to Valgar that he opts to let the old hermit escape even as the eccentric is laughing the whole way.

Katrina, meanwhile, is not doing so great. Having expended most of her energy fighting among the knights and launching that blizzard spell, she doesn't have much in the tank left. Her troops are either standing down from August's threats or dead already, the fire and prior screaming doing quite a number on morale even among her most loyal troops that had come with her today. The hermit's been taken, and the outsiders show no signs of stopping.

That's not enough to make her give up, though. She colides with the flaming doggo shield-first, digging her heels in to withstand its charge without giving an inch. The flying blade from Krusty forces her to draw that shield away from Blazemore to keep it from splitting her skull, but the stress from defending against two massive attacks cracks the shield, and the red swordswoman leaps back to get some distance between herself and the Elites present. She spits out a wad of congealed blood and grips her sword with both hands, preparing for one last charge when...

"That's enough, Katrina!" Valgar shouts as he leaps towards the red knight, drawing an incredulous look from her.
"I can still fight. I know how they fight. I've got them right where I want them!"
"We'll crush them later. There's nothing left for us here."
The irritation is evident in Katrina's expression as she maintains that white-knuckle grip on the sword, all while Valgar picks her up and leaps away. He just leaps two or three times, clearing several yards in each bound even with both of them wearing all of that armor.

The hermit, meanwhile, is still laughing like nothing's wrong. "There they go. It should be safe enough here now. Mmmhm... What were we talking about?"
Alexis     "Okay," Alexis looks up as the other dude picks his lady up and leaps away. "even if they are assholes, in all that armor that's pretty impressive." "Growl growl!" "Yeah, good job to you too." Alexis pats Blazemore on the head, getting puffy tail wags in return. Then goes to fish an Ice Heal out of her pack to get Zapette unfrozen. "Someone make sure the old kook is okay so he can finish explaining things."
Staren     "Ahhh! F***!" Staren shouts in pain as Valgar carves part of his arm away. It's okay, he can fix that! In the meantime, medichines release painkillers and stimulants into his bloodstream. Unfortunately, they can't actually /repair/ him quickly, and putting him in medical stasis to stop his blood from flowing would put him unconscious, so bleed away he does.

    Once he's a few seconds away, he lands long enough to grab foam missiles out of his bag... His AI reminds him that the foam breathes and is only intended to be used for restraints. Right. Okay. He grabs bandages instead and awkwardly stuffs the hole with his good hand, then pours in healing potion, and wraps tape around the arm to keep the bandages in.

    Only then can he pay attention to his surroundings again. "What did you say?" Staren plays his audio feed back. "You don't even care about dying? That better be because you have a way to cheat death too, or I don't know why we're listening to such a moron."

    He turns the hermit to face him with his good arm and steps back. "Who is Kanon and what do they want? Tell me something useful, if you care about this kingdom at all! If you don't... then get out of here, because I'm not going so far to save you next time."
Krusty     Krusty does not pursue, watching with some satisfaction as the two knight leaders retreat, likely followed by their subordinates. Though it's not the retreat he's satisfied at, "That's more like it." Krusty casually walks over, pulling his large sword out of the ground where it landed and returning it to his back.

    Krusty then turns his head to look at the hermit with a scrutinous look. He walks over to the old man, stating rather blunty, "They were after you." Krusty looks him over for a moment, seeing no obvious reason that they would want him. So Krusty asks, "Why? Why would they send a contingent of knights and their leaders for you?"
August Kohler As the soldiers go down and the knights retreat, August approaches the old man. Whereas Staren is being harsh, August decides to take this chance to be nicer, despite the eccentricites...so he can make sure the Watch has him as an ally. The man has a murder rabbit, after all. "Glad to see you're alive, old man." He nods to Krusty. "They mentioned you being a wizard. Why would they be after a wizard? What does that mean in this world?" August usually isn't the 'good cop' but this is important enough to give it a try, even if he's still frustrated over Touta.
Tomoe Tomoe sees the enemy is routed and is going to let them go, she too like August will accept surrenders from those soldiers here, and she wonders just what is driving them like this? The comment of we'll crush them later? This was not going to be ending anytime soon when she thought about it. She half expected them to show up on her front door and makes a note to warn her landlords and family after she gets back from this outing.

As they pull out, she'll turn her attnetion to the old man and looks to him tiling her head.

"What do you know that would make them expend man power like this..."

She's also looking worried about what? Touta's well being that's what...
Sanary Rondel With the immediate threat of capture gone, the hermit is free to behave much like he did before: Petting his pet killer rabbit, smelling the flowers, and talking every now and then. "Oh, don't take that for me wanting to be dead. I'd much rather be alive than dead!" The hermit laughs and smiles jovially at Staren, raising his staff briefly as if doing that was demonstrative of something. "Kanon is a wizard as old as I am."

He pauses, then adds right when it looks like someone would ask the natural follow-up question. "A few hundred years. I never know the man personally, but he's been working hard at building up his own power for a while now. Not only by controlling the royalty, but..." The hermit looks left, then right, then wiggles his hands in the air as a few lightning bolts and streaks of fire fall from the sky around them (safely and without striking anyone, of course). "He's been moving quickly ever since the golden knight rose from the grave. At this rate, he has enough power to destroy the entire kingdom."

Lowering his hands, the hermit uses his rod as a cane to lean on while tilting his head back and cracking his neck slowly before turning to August and Krusty. "That's a wizard, by the way. There's plenty of wizards in the kingdom already, but Kanon doesn't take kindly to wizards that aren't under his thumb. Loyalty and monitoring, that sort of thing."

And then the hermit takes on a more serious tone for once. "I'm open to more questions, but I've got one for you now since that Valgar fellow mentioned that his troops were attacking the Resstance." The hermit picks up Mido and gives him gentle pet, then taps the gem on his rod against the rabbit. The rabbit rockets into the sky for a few seconds, lands back in the wizard's arms safely, and then he gives the rabbit another wrinkly pat on the head before looking back up.

"They could be occupied for a while. The castle might be easier to attack at this point, but those rebels could be in a pickle with the knights at their doorstep already. Or in their homes, eating their food and breaking their televisions..."
Note     Note's kick goes wide, though she forced Valgar to PAY ATTENTION... so that has its own little kick of happiness for the fighter girl. She swoops around in the air, outfit fluttering in the winds of her own energies.

    She manages to hear what the old wizard's saying and... and wonders.

    Is he UP to something? Is that why he's going with them quietly? She frowns briefly. That'd HAVE to be it, right? He couldn't just be that...

    "Whew..." Unfortunately, between the KameHameHa earlier, and holding Super Saiyan this long, she's starting to breathe a little hard. "I've got to do something about how tiring this form is if it's going to get me anywhere..." She mutters.

    Note swerves back down to the others after their foes retreat... but doesn't change back. The golden aura dies down to a minimum, though it's still wastefully blazing about.

    "Were they following US, or looking for grandpa wizard here?" Note asks, quite unsure about that matter.
Tomoe Tomoe says "He's subverted the knights to do his bidding and twist their oaths against them too hasn't he?" SHe tolts her head for a moment "The comment made about the restiance worries me they could need a lot of help right now I'm afraid. So whats the deal with this blade and it's origins?" The concern is real and it seems most of the party seems interested in going after them first.
Touta Konoe      Touta does what he can to save people, sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't. In the last moments of the battle though he finds himself not able to do much with his hoop gone and the Ice magic being used. Talk about akward. But the others find a way through the difficulty without much problems and because of it the wizard is safe. Touta's safe too unsurprisingly, though his attire is uh...Not much to look at now. Also...It's cold still...Pants would be nice right now.

     There's not much for Touta to add to the conversation since still being somewhat new to this whole mess but even with that said when they start deliberating on what the group should do on whether they should go back to help the resistance or try to attack the castle while.

     So...it's at this moment the barely clothed boy at this point has to ask a simple question, "Why not try to do both?"
Staren     Staren crosses his arms, and winces. "You still haven't told us why he wants the sword."

    When he discusses what to do next over the radio, he doesn't physically speak. His headcomputer synthesizes his voice for the radio signal.

    "Those knights were eager to fight us to the death. I was here before -- I talked to the knights who showed up then. I spared them. I brought those I could back to life. Why did they insist on fighting me now, what's changed? Where do you get off being mysterious and cryptic and constantly dodging questions, anyway? Is it all that gives you amusement after living centuries?"

    Staren tries to grab him by the collar with his good arm. "Because I don't care about your amusement. I care about innocent lives. If you do too, tell us what we want to know, or maybe I'll try following an... acquaintance's advice."
Alexis     Once the ice has softened enough Zapette breaks out of it, shaking off the lingering bits of ice. "Pika.. ah!" Then gets a big slurp from the fire mutt happy that she's not a pikacicle any more.

    With that taken care of Alexis just sits back for the moment, one leg bent so she can rest against it and catch her own breath. "This Kanon sounds like one hell of a control freak. You do what he says, or he makes sure you're not a loose end." She lets out a snort as she looks off into the sky for a moment. "So much for just exploring. Sometimes I wonder..." It's like the harder she tries to stay out of 'Big Problems' the more likely she is to stumble into them anyways.

    Then sighs softly in relent as she holds out an arm for Zapette to climb back onto her shoulder, then gets back onto her feet. "Right, so where we going now?" This wasn't her fight... But after seeing what the stakes are she can't just walk off, either.
August Kohler August talks over radio. At first, he's going to try and save the rebels. But Krusty has strong words, and now August is unsure. But he is sure about one thing.

When Staren grabs the guy by the collar and threatens him, August calls to him, hand moving over to his waist. It's a universal signal - I have a gun - though August doesn't actually draw yeet. "Staren. Drop him. Where do you get off acting like a thug to people who are helping us, even if they're not doing it perfectly? We don't need to know why they want the sword. We know well enough that they're the problem here, and that SK is on our side, and we're not letting them get it."
Sanary Rondel "If they were after you, then I suspect they'd have brought way more than just the two squads. I didn't see the clown or the one-eye around anywhere." The hermit replies to Note, laughing once Sanary raises an eyebrow. "A different one eye."

"The knights...? No, I get the feeling most of them are in their right minds. Loyalty to the kingdom and all that. Or..." He looks from Tomoe to Serena. "... That boy doesn't even know he's not the real prince, does he?" THe green-haired swordswoman shakes her head with a somber frown, and the wizard just shrugs his shoulders. "He'll sort that out one day."

"As for that sword... Alright, no need to posture in front of me. I've seen enough of that in my day." The hermit laughs unflinchingly as Staren grabs him, making no effort to actually stop him. There's another pause for someone to start asking something, and then he starts at the most inconvenient time. "Story time. There was a knight that once served the real royal family. He was a mighty warrior, serving them faithfully and all that jazz, up until the day he died defending the royal family. When he died, they too died. The king at that time-"

Another pause, then a nudge of his head towards Serena. "Her father. Or... Great grandfather?" Serena mouths 'great' silently. "Yes. The King himself said just before he died 'Now my kingdom is that of the sword.  Destroy us now, and the sword will return, and avenge us.' "

     And then the hermit lets out a deep sigh. "Any other questions, students?"
Staren     Staren doesn't have to turn and look at August, he has suit cameras for that. "You think the wizard can't defend himself against /me/? ...I suppose that explains why someone who can live for centuries would choose to appear /old/." Staren sets him back down.

    "Well, that's something... Thank you." Any other questions? "Yeah. And I ask this as an aspiring immortal myself: What do you get out of the crazy old man act? Even if you ARE crazy, your wits are about you enough to call upon your powers. Your pet is a mighty monster. Why are you hiding out in the woods instead of helping directly? Or do you really have no desire to ensure one side wins? ...I suppose your answer could tell us something about Kanon too, if he's as old as you are. ...Did you know him, personally?"
Touta Konoe      It feels like the more they talk the more arguements the group was going to have, and the more they deliberate even going as far as a vote appears to keep them stalling. But with everything that occurs, Touta hears something that peaks his interest from the old Wizard. So he doesn't cast his vote yet and instead walks back towards the wizard trying to warm himself up. He could really use that rabbit fur right now to cuddle...

     "Hey wiz, you said before that these knights are loyal to the kingdom, not to this prince or this Kanon guy, or whatever right? I'm not too familiar with the history of this place or these swords or these skeletons but if we can prove to the soldiers that this guy isn't the legitimate ruler, the fighting should stop pretty quickly right?"

     Maybe he's missed something earlier on, but he wants to hear what this wizard has to say because maybe there is a 'third option' that can be done. Or something that a single person could to while the larger keeps the rebels safe.
Alexis Alexis ... just slaps a palm over her face as Staren gets himself sidetracked with the whole 'crazy geezer' attitude of the wizard. Sigh, scientists. Always so easily distracted. "If we're gonna go knock over a castle can we go before nerdcat starts picking this guy's brains?"

    She shakes her head, and switchs the signal on the smartphone-esque device to call home. "Spikes, fly out my heavy hitter squad. Sounds like I'm going to need the-- Oh don't give me that sigh. You should be use to me stumbling into trouble by this point."
Sanary Rondel "Sonny, I havne't had a good tussle in decades. But that's because I /am /too old for it." The hermit's next chuckle is a little more somber this time around. "Throwing around magic to destroy is easy, giving something a boost to crush and burn is easy, but fixing people? Healing is it's own beast. Most of the healers in the kingdom aren't even that good at it. The last one with real talent I saw was..." He hums softly, raising a hand and drawing a shape in the air with his finger.

"Some... Airheaded lass that went on about a 'church of smiles' or something. Fixed my back up right, though, so it couldn't have been all stupid." The hermit laughs freely, indeed having quite good posture for someone with that many wrinkles and being so old. "Can't say I'd envy having that kind of skill, though. People already ask for magic fixes to every little thing, and it's so... So annoying. All I get out here are the occasional lost traveler, band of travelers fighting knights, or overeager youngsters looking to become like me."

The hermit laughs again. "I wonder how that boy's doing.. Ah, anyway. No, like I said. Never met him, heard he was insufferable back in the day. Can't imagine how long-winded he'd be now. I don't think any of the knights are serving him because of his glowing charisma." Stroking his moustache, the hermit shuffles over to a stump to take a seat there instead. "If you prove that the king isn't legitimate... Well, so what?"

"Aside from all this sword business, having no legitimate king means... Who's coming in? The princess here?" He waves a Serena "Somebody calling themselves a distant nephew of the last queen's gardener? Me?" He pauses, almost looking like he's considering it, then shudders and shakes his head. "... No, I'd rather just stay here and leave that to someone else. It's so hard to watch your shows with everyone banging on the door."
Staren     Airheaded? Church of smiles? Staren briefly wonders if there's some kind of medieval fantasy alternate-universe version of Pinkie here. A concerning thought.

    He nods at the description of a wizard's life. People always asking for stuff. "Would you like me to try to make you young?" Hey, never know when you could use a wizard ally.

    So what? Staren nods again. "Posession is 9/10ths of the law. 10/10ths if you make the laws." He turns to pace, wincing as he accidentally moves his bad arm without thinking. It's numb, but he realizes an instant afterward that moving it is bad for it. "I guess I see your point. We want to protect innocents and stop needless death and fighting... but does either side winning, or just stopping the conflict, do that? Or will the regime change make things unstable for years to come either way? There must be a better solution... hmm..."
Sanary Rondel      The hermit laughs yet again at Staren's offer of youth. "You threatend me not five minutes ago. I'll take my chances with the high fiber bread." The rest of the questions get simple shrugs from the old hermit, and he starts hobbling away with Mido in tow.

     Not because his feet hurt or anything, no. It's just fun kicking the dirt up.

     "It... Sounds as though our next course has been decided, then? We'll regroup here soon, then." Serena confirms while scoping the overgrown road out. "There's path near the mountain that'll take us to the village. We can regroup there."