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Gawain The Scorched Wood is a land of burnt, haunted trees. It feels eerie to walk through the winding, dirty roads, as winds blow over you and chill you to the bone, and the shadows grow longer than even winter. But, luckily, this is not a ghost story.

As they pass through the plains and forest, they reach a bridge, the sun starting to set. The bridge is made of cobblestone, and crosses over a deep river. Standing plain in the middle of the bridge is a knight in full armor, except for his hands, where they're skeletal bones. His platemail is black and menacing, quite familiar to someone else here, but where there would be eyeholes on the helmet are only two red lights shining through.

The knight holds a colossal rusty sword in both hands, blade pointed towards the ground, in a 'you shall not pass' measure. He's waiting for travellers to approach. And when they do...

He speaks in a rough, coarse voice, low in tone. "I am the Brand Knight. All who wish to travel here must duel me. One versus one, one versus many, it matters not. I do not seek mortal combat. If you lose, you will be branded with my mark. If you win, I will give you advice on how to safely travel this land."

"Actually..." Gawain is here, with fake glasses, and a notepad and recorder! He speaks up. "I don't plan to fight, just take notes, as a newfound scholar and all, but, I would like to change the agreement! If we win, can you tell us about yourself and your fellow undead?"

The Brand Knight just stares at Gawain, hard. And then, after a long moment, he speaks. "Fine. To begin, strike me. The opponent goes first."
Linehart      When hunting a Death Knight, you might as well bring your own.

     The imposing Linehart certainly fits the bill. He is tall, perhaps a bit too tall, a looming shadow cast over everything around him. Armor so black it swallows the sun and swaths the Mirror Knight in roiling darkness. A trailing cape that seems to be made of shadow and smoke, growing less and less substantial until it seems as if it doesn't exist. The only colors on him are the faded grey of the fur that wraps the helmet and links that eerie cloak to the armor, the faded grey of his helmet's tassel that similarly turns to smoke and shadow at its end, and the blazing red of the cross-scar visor. A massive black spear covered in glowing, blood-colored runes sits over his shoulder, much too big for any normal man to wield.

     He has not spoken. He has not laughed. He has not even given his name. The only noise around him besides the heavy crunch of the leaves under his massive boots is...

     The music.

     There's just...music, around him. It's not coming from anywhere. It's not coming from any sound system or speaker. It's the kind of music that goes from Ominous, Low-Pitched Intro to Frenetic, High-Energy, Desperate Struggle, that sort of iconic music seared into cultural consciousness as "major bad guy music." For most of the walk it has been merely ominous and low-pitched, like it's just taking a breather.

     The Brand Knight declares a challenge.

     The shadow-clad giant moves forward. He is not fast. He is inexorable. He is the glacier slowly creaking on, the inevitability of the dying sunlight and the creeping night that comes to cover the land. The ominous music grows slightly loud.

     A text box pops up.

    I am Linehart, the Mirror Knight. My Sphere is Evil Knight. If you would challenge then I will answer.

     Yeah it's literally a text box that just kind of pops up with a quiet retro-sounding 'breep.'

     The dark knight starts walking again, but this time, his left hand rises.

     The deluge that breaks the walls of the Firmament - Fiat Aqua!

     The sky cracks. The world around the Knight cracks. Water starts leaking forth, slowly at first. Then, the world shatters, and an overwhelming flood pours out of the gaps in existence, waves smashing against the Brand Knight with all force.

     It does not hurt a single person who isn't the Brand Knight. It doesn't hurt a single member of the party.

     And when it's done everything is back to normal and there's no damage to the surroundings at all. Not even a drop of water remains.

     Man that's weird.
Alexis The chilly wind is in itself not that bad. But combined with the ambience of the dark, gnarled forest and general foreboding essence of the scenery it's enough to make Alexis adjust her hoodie a bit all the same. Not so much to put up the actual hood, but she does unroll the sleeves to cover her arms, and the potential goosebumps. "This guy sure knows how to pick a location." The atmosphere, creepy as it is, certainly fits.

As does the bony knight standing guard over a bridge, even if that's a little cliche. Best position to keep people from trying to go around you, at least easily. Bypassing a bridge usually means a more dangerous route, a risk not everyone is going to be willing to take. "This is gonna be interesting... At least he's straight to the point." The less time spent on long talks, the better. Even Gawain's negotiating for an alternate reward (the purpose they're here after all) is thankfully short and deliberate. While that is going on she plucks one of the red&white spheres from her bag strap and expands it, bobbing it in her hand a few times. Until Brand says they get to go first. Take the initiative, no problem. She flings the ball towards the their end of the bridge. "I choose you, Gaurdia!"

Pokeball hits the ground and bounces upward as it opens and the brief surge of energy spills from it. It quickly consolidates into a bipedal reptillian form, angular skull-like covering over her head. "Maroooowak!" As the ball comes back down she turns, smacking it with the large bone in her hand to knock it back to Alexis, who smirks in that 'What else would I use against a skeleton?' sort of way as she catchs the pokeball return.

"Okay, lets get a feel for what we're dealing with." Alexis side turns and does the classic point-and-attack-call pose towards the Brand Knight. "Headbutt!"

Despite the somewhat stocky lizard build Guardia has some reasonable mobility, charging towards the Brand Knight while lowering her skull-clad head like a living battering ram.
Raziel With a shift of the Etherial into the Material, the form of the Spectre Raziel takes shape.  Blueish light taking form until a physical form is manifested directly.  His form is seemingly either undead or demonic based on your opinion of such things.  However, with some extra effort.

Better armor covers his form, and while he looks very thin for a person, if you had not seen his actual form you would be none the wiser.  His head is covered by a red scarf, which wraps around his face and down his back like a cape.  His two tattered wings remain, a reminder of what he had lost thanks to Cain's jealousy.

His hands remained clawed, with only three digits instead of the normal five.  His cloven feet hidden behind boots designed for his form.  

'The land that was called the 'Scorched Wood', it lived up to its name.  The dead land reminded me of Nosgoth, which in itself was humbling in some way.  Ones lay on the ground on the way to an old bridge, created from cobblestone that lay before us.

'Standing in our way was the knight itself.  The mail of the blackguard is telling.  Whatever he was in life, his death apparently has caused him to be a mockery of what he once was.  However, instead of attacking in madness, he made declaration...and one most odd.  Perhaps...it is looking for something to finish it?  Or perhaps it is simply doing what it did in life?  Who could say, but right now it challenged us.'

Raziel's spectral sword came to life as he pointed the blade at the Knight.  "I am Raziel, that is all that matters today.  I accept your terms, foolish as they are.  If you feel confident in your skill, it is not my place to correct your actions," he says, before leaping at the knight.

The first thing he does is an attempt to test his defenses, swiping at the creature with weak, but fast blows, attempting to position himself around the knight.
Tomoe Tomoe had heeded Gawain's rundown on the task at hand and the price if they lose. She grimaced but knew they needed the information, additionally she was seemingly living a tale right out of the tales of the Knights of the Round Table. That did excite her. She also got the idea of the calibre of people on this job which left her confident they could handle this as a team. Though there was at least one new face. That being Linehart, though she doubts Gawain would accept someone who clearly didn't know what they were doing so Linehart must be pretty good.

She looks the Brand Knight over. He lays out the terms of the duel..

"I see so it is until knock our or one side or the other relents I understand."

She converses over the radio for a brief moment, and then make ready drawing Caliburn. She has the Mourning wall also at the ready the challenge has been met.

"I am Tomoe the Iron Lily and I accept the terms."

She watches Linhart for a moment wait there's music, and he's speaking with text boxes?! It screams certain things to her but there's no time to ask the other Knight question it's time to pile in and Tomoe will make for the Brand Knight rushing in launching into a quick series of probing sword strikes.

"Rapid Strike!"
Staren     Staren is all for furthering the pursuit of knowledge! Gawain's got a pretty cool idea, so here Staren is. He's in his white armor as usual, kept unnaturally clean by nanites.

    He listens to the death knight's speech, then tilts his head to one side. "...You're going to WAIT for me to attack?" Staren starts rifling through his bag, trying to decide which missile launcher or space raygun is the best opener. He pulls out something made of smooth black metal, only the barest suggestion of the shape of a gun, and takes aim... then sighs. The death knight doesn't want to kill them, and isn't going around marauding. There's no call for just trying to blow him to pieces.

    Also, the Mirror Knight shows up and talks in textboxes. Huh. So THAT's where that was coming from. Staren watches Linehart with interest, since he's never seen this guy before. He's actually KIND OF ALARMED when the world breaks apart, and then everything is okay. Huh.

    He puts away the raygun and pulls the laser rifle off his back, taking careful aim. "And I'm Staren Wiremu, Hand of the Concord. If you wish a contest of martial skill, I'm down. Let's see how you handle..."

    Staren steadies his aim, and then three invisible pulses of intense light shoot out, aimed square for the Brand Knight's chest.
Bedivere Bedivere drew the short straw as to who amongst the round table should accompany Gawain on this expedition. An advisor himself, he'd look as much comfortable with the clipboard as Gawain seems slightly strange. He like his cohort seems entirely too comfortable with this expedition. How many black knights has he even fought at this point? That this one is a skeleton is only moderately unusual for their ilk.

    The conversation, such as it is, with Linehart is as simple as it is strange. Linehart seeks to form the backbone of this operation, and Bedivere is happy to provide, even if it will be his first time /supporting/ a black knight. Bedivere concludes that conversation with his silver hand crossing his breast, over his heart, an oath that transcends to reality to defend his charge.

    Which brings us to how exactly he intends to help. It is fortunate the bridge is wide and sturdy, because Bedivere does not intend to fight unmounted. raising his hand away from himself, his armorclad motorcycle steadily climbs into reality, composed of spiritual matter more than real matter at this point. He climbs on. He smiles grimly. "If everyone else is introducing themselves, it would be remiss of me not to as well. Good Sir Brand Knight, I am Bedivere of the Knights of the Round, Advisor To His Majesty and Master of the Cavalry, and I shall see you bested!" His motorcycle seems to practically flash forward, weaving between the other combatants as though a lazy sunday at the obstacle course. His bardiche materializes in his hand, immediately using it to clash blades with the Brand Knight in a speeding driveby, testing the waters with his own safety.
Doctor Strange      Strange had said he'd be right there. He is, as it happens. A hole in the air forms, a ring of burning sparks. Through it there appears the image of the Sorcerer Supreme, confidently striding closer. Behind him, many people, dressed in modern clothes, walk down crowded sidewalks as cars slowly filter through the skyscraper-lined streets of New York City. He steps through the portal, which closes behind him, and none of the New Yorkers seem to notice or care.

     He arrives just as the party approaches the knight. He gives his name to those he's not met yet, and allows Gawain to take the lead since it's his op. When the Sun Knight strikes an agreement with the undead right away, Strange nods approvingly at his fellow Paladin. He then takes a look around at his allies. There are quite a few of them, even without Gawain. The undead has no problem fighting all of them at once--either it's arrogance, or there's an ace up his sleeve.

     One on one would be safer--it'd allow Gawain to conduct research in a less chaotic way, spread out over several bouts. But... if there /is/ an ace up its sleeve, then these fights might not necessarily be fair for the average traveler. Depending on what these brands actually /do/ that could be very bad.

     "So... guess I'll be the one to ask. What do you say, guys?" Strange makes a few motions with his hands, tracing lines of energy in the air. He 'sets' his gyph with a thrust of his fists, and two burning mandalas appear, one for each fist. "Dogpile?" He might as well call it what it is. When everyone agrees, he waits for the front line to go in first. As Lineharts' introduction and entry to the fight grows more dramatic, Strange blinks. Then nods, as he begins weaving a spell.

     "Yeah," says Strange as his mandalas rapidly lock a combination of glyphs into place. "Guess I should introduce myself, too," he utters quietly. Rising into the air, his Cloak of Levitation billows out behind him as his hands complete the final motions of the spell. "Hail to you, sir knight," says Strange as motes of frost crawl across the surface of his mandalas. "I am Doctor Stephen Strange, Sorcerer Supreme of Earth." He strikes with both palms.

     A cone of pure cold roars forth from his hands, sounding like a blizzard and following the use of Fiat Aqua. "And these," says Strange as his spell begins to flash-freeze portions of the rushing water. Oddly, only hexagonal portions are frozen, no matter where he aims. "...Are the Icy Tendrils of Ikthalon. Apparently." Like the limbs of some giant, frozen squid, spined tentacles sprout forth from the ice.

     Stranges fingers form rapid mudras. In response, the tentacles animate, bludgeoning the knight and attempting to pierce him with their spines. They don't... quite look... real? They certainly have substance, but they look as if someone took a jpeg of 'ice,' stretched it unnaturally, and tesselated it, all over the Tendrils.
Rean Schwarzer Spooky forest, spooky knight. The (also spooky) Knight from the other day is here as well, as the sudden text boxes filling his vision and ominous music filling his ears tells him. He at least seemed kind of reliable despite his appearance, at least based on yesterday.

Rean crouches low and then rushes the Knight at full tilt, putting as much of his momentum into his slash as he can.
Gawain The group all introduce themselves and attack the knight. He just waits, patiently, until the first attacks begin.

Linehart comes at him with a massive flood that just /pours in/ out of nowhere. It smashes into the knight, but if he's shocked, you can't tell. As it smashes into him, slamming into his armor and forcing him to put his strength into maintaining position, he takes one hand off the blade, and it sets aflame. The necrotic fire starts to steam some of the water, even as it's fading away as if it was never there, and he uses this as a defense measure.

The icy tendrils move to smash into the knight. One slams into his armor, while another finds itself rapidly breaking into pieces as that sword moves. It's rusty. It's old. It's way too big. Yet it moves like a knife in the hands of a rogue. He is staggered backwards in the process, but the Brand Knight shows amazing resilience.

Guardia headbutts the Brand Knight. He staggers again, but he's quickly moving backwards, away from the Pokemon, as Raziel's sword comes swiping at him. It's fast. Several of the blows are intercepted with rapid movement, but the blade pierces his defenses, swiping into his heavy platemail. The Brand Knight hms, as more attacks come forth.

Tomoe's sword comes swiping in, as the knight blocks several strikes again, but takes more slashes to the armor.

Staren's attack hits dead-center as the knight questions what to do with it. It imapcts with his chest, staggering him backwards across the bridge and scoring red-hot marks into his armor, but yet...he's still moving. He's fine.

Bedivere moves to clash blades, coming at the knight fast with a motorcycle. "I see. You are not petty bandits in strength."

As the sword comes to clash into the knight, his own sword moves at Bedivere, in two strikes in /rapid/ motion. One moves to completely block the clash, trying to set Bedivere's aim off. The other, a second later, moves to take that big sword and try and unseat Bedivere from his motorcycle.

Rean's final slash breaks through the defense again, but this time, the knight finally strikes again. The sword moves to cut into his arms and leave nasty bleeding wounds if it hits, aiming to try and disable an arm as quickly as possible.

"Six more." He says, still with that hoarse voice, as the knight takes his first real step. The bridge creaks under his boots. And, then, he takes another, and he's gone.

He cheats. For a death knight, he's not slow at all, but it's clearly magical enhancement for anyone keen on the sort. The sword is enhanced to have a magical aura around the blade, as it strikes. Linehart is slashed into with a heavy strike, followed by a golf-swing towards the Marowak, a horizontal slash towards Tomoe. Doctor Strange looks fast and agile, so he gets three rapid strikes in his direction, each trying to impact him. Staren is underestimated in melee combat, so he gets one heavy strike.

"You are not alive. Did you come from the city?" Raziel is asked, dismissively, as a vertical slash is thrown at him, with great strength.

Despite the 'basics' of the slashes, this knight certainly packs a punch. He can't be underestimated.
Raziel Raziel's glowing eyes squint, the Soul Reaver moves up to try and defend against the surprisingly deft blade.  The two clash as he is rapidly struck at.  However, Raziel is light on his feet, as he is swift with his blade.  Finally, he ducks under, but the top of the blade smacks into the back of the ghost, nearly knocking him flat.  

However, he rolls with the blow and rolls under the Death Knight.  He turns, balling up telekinetic force in his free claw and flinging it at the Death knight as he moves to a better position, attempting to stagger the monster back.

"No, I am not.  I am from Nosgoth, where I was killed by my former lord in a fit of jealousy and assisted by my former brethren as I was tossed into the abyss," The memory forms in his head, a dark day that was, and not a single day passes that he does not remember it.  
Rean Schwarzer "Six more?" Rean mutters. What did he mean by that? Rounds? Hits? People? He's not given much time to contemplate this, because the Brand Knight is on the offensive now. Rean raises his sword to block the strike, propping it up horizontally with his other hand. But the Knight's blade is heavy enough to push it into his palm. Rean hisses, blood dripping from the wound. He takes a few steps back, and returns his sword to its sheath.

Carefully, he waits for a moment, still holding onto the hilt. He then swiftly draws it, sending an arc shaped shockwave at the Brand Knight.
Doctor Strange      "Our concern, sir knight, is whether you yourself are a bandit," says Strange in response to the Brand Knight. Spotting the undead warrior's approach, and his flaming sword, Strange conjures a weapon of his own. Rather... he calls it from the halls of the Sanctum. A far cry from the rusty greatsword, or from Strange's normal energy weapons, this one is a real thing. Seemingly. It's just a handle...

     But when the sword strikes come in, Strange nevertheless holds it ready. A jagged crystal growth rapidly emerges. Under magical guidance, it forms into the long, even blade of an estoc; a sword designed for piercing. Strange is, however, unprepared for the speed of his opponent. The first two strikes are just barely blocked. Strange makes a startled retreat in the air, but the knight knocks his guard aside.

     The third strike is true, cutting across his leg. He knows better than to expect a response, so he doesn't say it. But he does think it. That sword may look old, but it's actually a little overkill, magically speaking. If he's usually dealing with bandits, why the magical enhancement? He decides to see what else the Brand Knight has up his sleeve, by flying above what he thinks the knight can reach.

     From his vantage point, Strange levels the crystal sword. His mandalas, one laid over the other, rotate into place. A bolt of crackling lightning is aimed towards the Brand Knight's sword, in an effort to electrocute him.
Alexis While she may not be the one in charge of the research Alexis is watching the first string of attacks unfold and the Brand Knight's responses with just as much intent. The difference being she is doing so more for strategical consideration than scientific analysis. As much as she thrived on a challenge she had to keep a good grip on the situation so it didn't upturn suddenly on them.

Guardia rebounds from her strike, gripping her bone club in both paws to hold it up defensively. The Brand Knight's sword collides loudly against it, and the force of impact alone is enough to send the Marowak skidding backwards from the blow. She wiggles one forelimb a few times afterwards, working the strain out of it some. Just deflecting an attack like that from a direct body hit still leaves a sting.

The reaction also helps Alexis in gauging the knight's offensive strength. Options are weighed. That others attempted multi-hit strikes with no clear advantage over a single blow puts that tactic on the sideline for the time being. "He's not holding back, and neither are we!" Guardia grows in agreement, gaze narrowing in the bony sockets, and she does some posturing swipes with her weapon to get herself pumped up.

Then hurtles herself at the Brand Knight once more, this time using the thick club in her paws like the weapon it is and swing a strong bludgeoning blow at the armored skeleton.
Staren     Oh fudge he's fast! Staren barely has time to get his forcefield up and try to dodge out of the way! The sword impacts the field at a bad angle but still breaks a large chunk of it and sends Staren skidding several inches. Staren is Concerned about dealing with this guy in melee, but the death knight has already moved on to Raziel. "What city?"

    The laser worked once -- Staren aims and fires again. For now he opts not to escalate, Seifer's talk of not showing your hand fresh in his mind. It's a calculated risk; if he waits to take flight later, will the knight waste buffs or a charging attack that only help in ground battle? Or will the knight's next powerful strike catch him when he could have avoided it?

    In any event, Staren's not so naive as to assume that the knight has no ranged attacks.
Tomoe Tomoe has no idea what to expect other than this Brand Knight is quite the heavy hitter she would suspect. She sees Bedivere moving in now as well Alexis sending in some of her many Pokemon and Staren busting out some sort of gun of some sort opening up with no visible shots is that a proper laser? It could very well be but there's not much time to think about that.

As Beidvere also moves in she'll try to keep very aware of here he is, after all, he's up in the face of the Brand Knight. 5R
THen in the backline is Doctor Strange. Who she's rather glad to have along for this. He's clever with how he makes use of Linehart's it seems like it could work with freezing part of Linehart's spell, it is a pretty creative use of magic.

She keeps her shield ready.

The melee is fully underway now, she sees just how durable the Brand Knight is as he weathers the attack coming his way.

"You ain't so bad yourself."

She notes as she now moves up to intercept the slash fo her with her show and while it conned the pure force of the blow and the act of parrying it leaves her injured form the pure force of the blow her HP bar drops and she's keenly aware of it.

"Not bad at all!"

She chants briefly in Norse, golden runes dance about as she moves and then her blade seems to catch fire with white flames as she makes another run at the Knight faking out to the side as she attempts to strike a blow from the side. She has no idea what the countdown is and she'll focus on her job of trying to get the Brand Knight's attention.
Linehart      The heavy strike crashes against Linehart's armor. It smashes into the Mirror Knight with all force, enough to push the heavy, shadow-clad monster into the ground. There's a crater around him from the sheer force of the blow and his own massive armor's weight, just a stamp in the earth that wasn't there before, as if something very heavy hit the ground from very high up.

     Numbers pop up over his head.

                                    114                                    

     The Mirror Knight rises, the dust rolling off him. He tilts his head sideways to let Strange's lightning blow past. The electricity crackles around him. His cloak of shadow billows ominously. The music gets faster.

     The strange Pokemon thing comes swinging in with its bone club. Linehart moves forward with a sudden surge of speed, making his giant bulk the center of the Brand Knight's attention, the red cross-scar visor flaring in front of him. At the last possible moment, the sudden bulk moves to the side to let Raziel's shockwave hit the chest and thereby open the way for the Marowak's strike. He flanks with Tomoe as she brings her blazing blade down hard on the undead knight.

     White Knight. Stay there.

     That horrible, massive black-and-red spear goes jamming upwards into the bone knight's armor from the side. But it doesn't sink into the armor. It disappears halfway through, vanishing into its own reflection.

     The black-and-red spear *literally* emerges straight from Bedivere's chest plating, piercing right for the back of the Death Knight's head.
Bedivere Bedivere has his silver arm on the motorcycle, glowing softly, and guiding it with preternatural precision. The motorcycle moves as if it is as much a part of himself as that silver arm has become. The machine seems to flow like a liquid, carrying itself and its rider just out of the tip of that flashing swordstrike aimed at dismounting Bedivere.

    Getting Linehart's signal, and committed to his assistance, Bedivere grinds into position behind the Brand Knight, using his foot and the pole of his spear to turn on a time, engine revving to go again. Now's the moment. . .

    That black spear surges forward, and Bedivere, while speechless, also immediately guns his engine, seeing his opportunity. He closes right behind that spear thrust, rallying his bardiche with both hands. He leaps from his motorcycle, using the spinning weight of the polearm to vault over the brand knight at the same time he strikes at him, landing back on the motorcycle flawlessly, his own cape billowing against him. "Most impressive, Sir Linehart!"
Gawain "I see." Is the response Raziel gets, as he fires telekinetic force straight at the knight. The Brand Knight staggers back, and responds by closing the distance, slashing into Raziel again, this time, fire congealing around his blade to up the impact.

"Eight of you." Is all that Rean gets to answer his question. It's likely he meant 'six more to attack', based off context. Rean's shockwave is attempted to be blocked, but the blast ricochets off it and into the Brand Knight, smashing into more of the knight's armor. The knight retaliates with another fiery blow, like Raziel got.

Strange also cheats. He begins to fly. "I am no bandit." The knight says, actually kind of angry at the possibility. From the vantage point, lightning strikes the blade, and into the armor.

It does not break the sword or the armor, but it does conduct into the Brand Knight, hurting him. But it's not as effective as lightning /should/ be on a human - there are no nerves to paralyze. The knight clearly considers how to react. He has ranged options - fire begins to congeal around his fist, though he wants to just jump up there and smash Strange. But he's not /that/ agile.

So, he points his finger. A bright streak flashes from it, as a necrotic fireball explodes around Strange, trying to burn everything around him and weaken him. Yet Strange will definitely get the idea that this isn't his strongest attack - the knight's got more to show.

A thick club smashes into the Brand Knight, but he uses his sword to divert most of the damage. His lower armor is cracking a bit. The sword is flipped in his hands, and then the hilt is smashed into the Marwoka's skull, trying to crack it.

The sword is flipped back right in time for Staren's laser strike. "The city of the undead." As he fires, the knight swings straight at the laser, expecting it this time, and just /reflects/ it back at Staren. It moves fast, as he just 'hms' again.

A fiery blade slashes into the knight, burning into his armor. Yet, he reacts with his own fire, smashing a fist into Tomoe's head to push her back and possibly set her hair ablaze. It's dirtier than he's shown so far - he's not playing around.

Linehart and Bedivere use trickery, teleportation, and teamwork for their strike. Linehart's spear /impales/ the helmet as it jams into the side, but it doesn't go all the way through the head. The helmet actually starts to crack from the sheer force, falling apart. It reveals the true face of their foe.

A skull, with bright red spheres for eyes. Spheres that feel like they're made of hate, not fire.  As Bedivere's own polearm strike comes down, the knight deflects most of it with a quick sweep of his sword, turning it into a glancing blow, clearly angry his helmet was smashed. He takes his sword, and slams it into the ground.

A shockwave of electricity and necrotic energy, focused on Bedivere and Linehart but hitting anyone else on the ground as well, blasts outwards trying to break through their armor. "You trick me. That is clever enough. But you also insult me. Destroy my helmet, reveal my face. Call me a bandit. Show me /honor/! Are you not knights? I see your armor plain!"
Raziel The mighty blow augmented by fire comes for the body of the ghost.  Raziel moves quickly, as the Reaver itself starts to change colors, going from a ghostly green to a brighter more defined green.  The aura around the blade changed, as the air itself seemed to wrap around it.  The fire aims to lap at Raziel, but it was blown away from him as he clashes with the knight.

The blades collide, as Raziel manages to match the massive strength of the knight with his amazing swordplay, as well as his ability to lighten blows.  Shifting his weight just right to cause the force of the blow to just narrowly be redirected in a way that he could brace.  

Raziel leans back, spinning to try and get out of his grip and get ready for retaliation.  The blade is swung in a force right towards the side of the knight, aiming to try and knock the knight from his feet with the power of the Wind Reaver.  

'The knight was far stronger than he let on.  Even now I could feel him holding himself back.  However, such was arrogance, as the people set before him were more than powerful enough to handle whatever he had to throw at us.  I wondered, however, how long before his pride left, and he was forced to use everything?  I wished not to find out, and decided to try and end it before the Knight was motivated enough.'
Alexis This time Alexis doesn't wait for all the attacks to unfold, instead trying to take some advantage of the sort of chaos these kinds of multi-opponent fights tend to be. Every little bit that can edge in their favor, she'll take it, because she was right in odds not making that much of a difference. "BRACE AND COUNTER!" It's not a specific attack call, nor does it need to be. Alexis trains with her partners to use other key phrases, to make things less obvious when the names of techniques might give it away.

Think of it in the same way as sports plays usually have clever nicknames, it's the same concept.

Guardia certainly knows what it means. She digs in her heels, and one end of her club into the ground while holding it with both paws to farther anchor herself. Braces with her tail against the ground, and hunches her head down against her shoulders in a clearly defensive stance.

The hilt slams into skull. The creature groans as she strains, pain ringing down through her body. But refuses to buckle under the blow. Brand Knight would find that despite the bone-like appearance the cranial covering has hardened and calcified into someone much more supernatrually strong and durable. That's just the way Pokemon biology works.

As soon as the skeleton pulls his weapon away to strike at someone else, the 'Counter' comes into play. No not the actual move Counter. The counter-strike is the second part of this particular technique as Guardia aims for one of the cracking points in the armor and releases the tension in her body. As a result she lunges towards her opponent to bash her head into him like living piledriver.
Linehart      The Death Knight roars, angrily, accusing Linehart and Bedivere of being honorless for destroying his helmet. The necrotic lightning explodes outwards.

     The Mirror Knight's hand comes up. The lightning smashes against it. It crackles around him, roiling and flickering. It dances along his armor, merging with the flowing shadow, casting eerie silhouettes across the ground. It pushes him backwards. It digs a trench into the ground.

     With a flick of his wrist, the remnants of the crackling lightning gather into Linehart's hand. He closes his fist over it. He crushes the lightning out of existence. The numbers pop up above him.

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     The ranting and raving receives no words from Linehart. Not even a text box. Not even a pop-up. Raziel surges forward with all his strength.

     Linehart pulls attention from the ghost.

     The Evil Knight's foot smashes down onto the helmet. The sheer weight of his armor, the overwhelming strength of his body, combine. He smashes into it hard enough to fragment it, to splinter it, to crush it into bits. Another little crater erupts in the ground around his step.

     It's an intentional motion, but it's also part of an attack.

     Linehart's spear reverses itself in his hands. The butt of the spear, carried forward by his momentum and his own enormous strength, smashes for the Brand Knight's skull at the same time the Marowak goes forward. That spear is massive enough that even a bludgeoning attack is going to be potentially lethal.

     Also, skeletons are usually weak to bludgeoning, but he doesn't know that.

     No text-boxes have popped up. Apparently the Mirror Knight is content to let his actions speak for him.
Staren     A reflected laser pulse catches Staren in the shoulder, ablating part of his armor away and leaving a blackened, warped pockmark. Staren isn't sure what happened for a second, and can scarcely believe it after. The knight's not in his face right now, though, so he has a chance to recover his guard.

    Staren stays on the ground at first, repositioning to keep distance from himself and the others so as not to provoke sweeping cleaving energy waves or the like. But then it turns out the skeleton can throw such a wide-area attack that Staren has to take to the air to dodge.

    Staren takes the opportunity presented by the brand knight blasting people away to have the other shoulder's missile rack pop up and fire a plasma minimissile down at the knight. It's not really any different from an intense magic fireball.

    "If you are no bandit, then why do you fight all who travel here? Are you an extremely violent toll-taker? We're giving you some benefit of a doubt since you aren't killing people, but if you don't explain yourself, you have only yourself to blame when others get the wrong idea!"
Bedivere Bedivere guns it, but there's simply nowhere to go. Feeling that wave creeping up on him, Bedivere has no choice. He leaps his armored motorcycle into the air, dismissing it into so many motes of light that he can safely call it later, and lands with a grunt, the bulk of the wave having passed him over. It's not a clean break, and puts him at a disadvantage, but he'll adapt.

    Seeing what Linehart's going for, Bedivere moves in sync with him. He shakes his head as his only response to the Brand Knight's accusations, and charges forward. Holy light flares through his silver arm, eyewateringly bright, and pulsing down the haft and accumulating in the blade of his weapon. He goes in for a legsweep, looking more for synergies with his new ally and a chance to recover than to really lay on the hurt, asking the knight to muster a quick defense below at the same time as he needs a strong one above.
Rean Schwarzer Rean tries to sidestep the attack, but the flames are too strong, and he gets singed.

Rean moves further back, raising his free hand and quietly murmuring something. A ring of blue light surrounds him, and then disappearing into a faint spray of glowing drops around him. He looks down at the cut on his hand. It's closed up now, though not much else has gotten better wound wise. He then turns his attention towards the Brand Knight again, as that ring of light appears again. This time, when the ring vanishes, a swarm of shadowy butterflies appears around the Brand Knight, bursting into explosions of darkness when they land on his armor.
Doctor Strange      Strange is absolutely expecting a counterattack of some variety. Channeling the lightning through the sword was a taxing spell for the amount of force he intended. When he spots the mystic gesture of his opponent, Strange readies a defense. He holds the sword out like a lightning rod, attempting to siphon the strength of the Brand Knight's spell to fuel one of his own.

     Even holding back as he obviously is, the knight's magic is powerful. His response to being called a bandit is interesting. For some reason, he doesn't like it. That's one point towards this being above-board, at least. He mentioned a city... a city of undead, to Raziel. It's possible he's guarding the entrance. Or perhaps the exit?

     When Strange is struck by the fireball, he misjudges the angle of the knight's attack. Only some of the energy is absorbed. The rest slams into him, knocking him into a backwards loop. The Cloak rights him, and he touches down. "Whoever you are," says Strange to the Brand Knight, as he lifts his sword. Another, identical voice comes from an identical Strange. "Whatever your reason for being here..." Finally, a third one... "You are clearly equipped to defend this bridge, no matter the style of your opponent."

     That's enough probing, for now. He knows that this knight can easily deal with ranged attackers, as he did with Staren's shot, and with the fireball spell. Strange readies the sword and approaches the knight. He holds it in a defensive posture, intending to block first and strike second. By the style of his sword, the knight can tell that his melee attacks will be mostly thrusts. The three Stranges approach, each one holding a defensive posture...

     One of them attacks, followed in quick succession by the other two--but only one of them is real. The other two will shatter the moment they strike, or are struck.
Tomoe The Brand Knight is proving to be quite the fearsome foe, indeed. Her violet eyes are mostly focused on the fight themselves but there is something strange she notices white numbers over Lineheart's head, damage numbers? There are to be questions asked later from this. She keeps focusing on the fight looking for trying to get in even as Lineheart has worked well flanking her.

Hopefully his continued action will help her find an opening.

A fist connect to Tomoe's face she cries out, in pain, the blow is so strong Tomoe's face deforms into wireframe and angry red digital material where the fist struck her for the moment. It may be time for her to consider getting a helmet. Even Klien wears that armoured bandana of his after all. Also, her hair is smouldering now which forces Tomoe to put it out before she ends up with some kind of DOT damage.

This will force her back for a bit and as she recovers and is looking half panics. She also gets a chance to see the Knight's face. It's skeletal his eyes? To Tomoe still, seem to be alive to her.

"Then... let me show you."

Bright red wings flare out from Tomoe's back. The translucent flap for a second and that's the only warning she's about to start moving.

She's off like a shot, flying right at the Brand Knight picking up speed as she does so, she'll bring up her shield and tries to impact with the Brand Knight hiping to stagger him and give her allies a chance to score some hits.
Gawain Raziel moves to knock the knight off his feet. This is exceptionally difficult. He briefly manages to stagger the knight and lift him a few inches, which makes him more fragile for the others, but as soon as the knight lands, he 'hms' again. And then he comes at Raziel. The strike is light, as if he's conserving energy...or perhaps draining it, as Raziel will feel some of his stamina disappear on a successful hit. What could he be preparing for?

Alexis's counterattack hits hard. It cracks some of the armor outright, exposing bone underneath, but, somehow, the rest of the armor holds on tight. The knight responds with another light, fiery slash, that absorbs some of the Marowak's energy in return.

"I will answer your questions only if you win. That was the deal. You will learn about me no sooner." The Brand Knight replies to Staren, as he fires the plasma minimissile. It explodes, sending the knight staggering backwards again, as Bedivere's strike sweeps his leg, damaging the armor down there but not knocking him off his feet. Rean's shadowy butterflies come flying forth, and the knight, increasingly angry, just moves to cut through them, exploding them in mid-air around him.

A small fireball is thrown at Staren, not as strong as the one thrown as the others, as draining strikes are launched at Bedivere and Rean. Strange comes in with the three attacks, the true one making its mark, another fading away as its hit, while the third is destroyed by the knight. Yet again, he's holding back, trying to sap Strange's energy with a blow.

The same for Tomoe. As her shield staggers him, he quickly recovers and comes down vertically with the blade, trying to cut through her non-lethally and sap her energy all the same.

All in this motion, at the same time as Alexis striking, Linehart has smashed the helmet and came in with a bludgeoning attack. It smashes into his skull, and really goddamn hurts, but it doesn't crack it or kill him. "You...my helmet!"

Necrotic energy starts swirling around the blade, as the knight suddenly bumrushes Linehart. The blade is forced into him, over and over and over again, in an attempt to break his armor, break him, deal as much damage as possible, and get revenge - yet, without trying to kill him. He's angry, not dishonorable.

"The only thing I could use to hide my shame, and you crushed it. You are as black as the armor you wear!"
Alexis If they weren't in middle of a heated battle Guardia would sympathize over the loss of headgear that had significant meaning to the wearer. Cubones wear the skulls of their dead elders until they're strong enough to evolve, if the injury of losing it didn't kill one.. the heartbreak probably would. This is not the time to worry about that sort of thing though.

The brief thought does spurr her on though, determined more than ever to give this unfortunate soul the proper challenge in battle he sought, and not the sort of psychological warfare others are trying to use. She brings up her club as she twists in motion, partially intecepting the blade. Sparks fly as it grinds down the length of hardened bone, and then digs into the lizard's shoulder. She hisses a moment as she draws away, but the spirit of battle burns brighter than ever in her eyes.

Alexis clenches her fists, her own competative spirit entirely into things now. Plus she's listening to the other conversations, and quickly adapts to that situation as well. "Crack him like a boulder... ROCK SMASH!" At the command Guardia heaves up an arm, twirling her bone to hold it like a javelin rather than a club. Throwing it is something she's as good at as clubbing, but instead of a spinning momentum like her trademark technique she hurtles it like a spear, aiming the pointed butt end of the bone for those cracks in hopes of breaking even more of his armored defense loose.
Staren     The knight doesn't want to talk. Well, okay, they did kinda make that agreement at the start, didn't they? Fair enough.

    They're not fighting to the death. If the gathered elites somehow lose, they need only surrender before death.

    But what would make the knight surrender? Can he (or she, or it) even die?

    Linehart discovers the answer: The knight really doesn't like having their armor destroyed.

    Staren can work with that. The missile rack drops back into waiting position, and Staren shifts the laser rifle onto his back and pulls, from his bag, the strange lump-of-black-metal-that-suggests-a-weapon he showed at the start of the fight. But the way Staren uses it now is not the way Staren was going to use it then.

    Staren waits for Strange to restrict the knight's movement somehow, and then fires! Honestly, despite all the cool science going into it, the effect isn't immediately impressive: The end of the rifle shoots an automatic spray of glowing energy 'bullets' at the skeletal knight. The bullets are slow enough to see, and dodge, even, inferior in that way to conventional bullets!

    The trick turns out to be that the apparent velocity and size of the bullets has no connection to their effect on impact: At the current setting, they explode on impact with force equivalent to getting hit by a heavy railgun slug! Staren expects to do a nasty number on that armor, denting and battering it if not outright blowing holes through it!
Raziel 'The strike to the helmet was enough to incense the Warrior.  Feeling the increasing anger building from the Death Knight, as well as the build-up from his last strike, I knew that something dangerous was coming.  While I would normally feel compelled to warn my allies, in this case, I felt after their dishonorable strike that the tables should be turned.'

Everyone was working together to train and restrain him, Raziel could indeed help with this.  Instead, however, he refuses to take the obvious path to victory.  The blade swings, attempting to Enervate the Ghost, but once more the blade swings to intercept the Death Knight's own.  The two clash, and while it feels like SOMETHING lives in that etherial blade, it does not lose any energy.  In fact, the clashing seems to make it stronger, more aroused as the battle continued.

Using his blade to clash with the Knight's, instead of falling back, he moves forward to get within claw distance of the other knight, attempting to use his psychic force to attempt to blow the knight backward.  Raziel knew that the distance between them would be necessary for the upcoming plan.  
Doctor Strange      Strange nods at Staren approvingly. Although he might've voiced his concerns differently, the scientist more or less outlined Strange's own reason for being here. There are too many variables to just accept that this is all above-board. Even if the Knight is a decent guy, is his boss? After the knight strikes his illusion, Strange makes a counterattack.

     The crystal estoc is brought up to deflect the flaming greatsword. The moment they strike, Strange's fingers are burned owing to the heat of the blade. But, moreover, the crystal estoc releases a blinding flash of scalding heat, directed in a ray towards the Brand Knight. Strange nimbly rolls off of his opponent's pressure just as the knight heads for Bedivere. He raises the sword for a thrust to end the fight, but stops, upon hearing Linehart's request: hold him down.

     "You got it," says Strange in response.

     Strange strikes the air. It shatters, like glass. The break spreads all around the area, isolating their battlefield from reality. The ground beneath them is struck. A ripple, angular and brutalist rather than organic, travels through the earth. Pillars of dirt rise up from the ground, striking at the Grave Knight like fists. The close combat fighters aren't harmed by these--anyone nearby simply brushes past the pillars with ease, and may even stand upon their sheer sides in defiance of gravity. Each one remains after it rises. Allied strikes cut through them with ease.

     For the Grave Knight, however, things will be more difficult. The pillars form a claustrophobic geometric maze, through which he must aim before swinging his sword, lest it strike a pillar.
Bedivere     Bedivere nods. "I know you feel shame, but the greatest shame is in a battle dragged on past the point of validity. The black knight who lost every limb and still fought is the subject of parody, not respect, at our court. You fight well, but we aim to end this."

    First, Bedivere resummons his motorcycle, leaping back onto it, gunning the engine as it lights up, plugging his silver arm into a specially recessed socket. He mutters a blistering chant under his breath as his arm leaks holy light from every crack and crevice, pouring it into the engine. Holy smoke blasts from the exhaust, the tires running white, and then he's flashing forward.

    "Every journey begins from a single step, every great man from a small man, every sorrow from a good intent. A thousand years carry me from then to now. My Forsaken Journey And My Holy Blade, ~Airgetlam~!"

    The silver arm blasts to life, the motorcycle glowing white along with it. Bedivere blasts through the Brand knight at a seemingly impossible speed, leaving behind a smear of white light that erupts along the knight's armor, holy power and undeath reacting caustically to each other.
Rean Schwarzer Rean narrowly avoids the Brand Knight's strike, maybe only losing just a little more energy than normal from the effort. The Knight seemed really mad over the damage to his helmet. What was he hiding so much that he needed it? Maybe he was a skeleton underneath and didn't like people seeing his undead face? They could find out if they beat him, though.

Lineheart makes a 'call' to hold the other knight down and Rean returns his sword to its sheath.

He couldn't pin him down literally, but...

Rean grabs hold of the hilt, and then rushes the Brand Knight, unsheathing his blade as he passes by. The single strike then blooms into several strikes. Maybe the sudden influx of extra slashes would surprise him into being stunned?
Tomoe Tomoe does not have the intention to destroy the Brand Knight, she does intend to defeat him she does wonder why he did not bring up his helmet before? She doesn't know but she frowns a bit if it was that important he should have said something about it. She's able to tank most of the fireball it dissipating somewhat about her body for the most part but she's not totally unharmed as she's a bit more toasty than she was before.

Ses the Knight lash out against Linehart It's bad and then Linehart calls for help. 5R
She will give it she's used to tanking and taking orders from a raid caller after all. She quickly chants tank spell and launches herself back at the Brand Knight intending to slam into him with her full wright and there's a bust of magic as she moves to strike out with the blade and slamming into his armour trying to break the Brand Knight's guard and put them off balance. Hopefully, the heavier hitters such as Linehart will be able to make use of this to push the brand knight closer to defeat.

"GUARD BREAAAAAAAKER!"
Linehart      The blade hammers against the swirling armor. Over, and over, and over, the necrotic energy pours down. The blows rain down upon the black knight, each a strike of lightning in a pouring storm. Each strike is heavy, each strike is forceful, each strike is backed by the anger of a shamed man. Each strike batters the Mirror Knight further and further into the ground, pushing aside the earth, pushing aside the shards of the helmet he so callously crushed.

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     And then his hand comes up to grab the blade in the middle of the swing Raziel blocked, taking the chance while it's held still to grab it in that shadow-clad hand.

     The red-scar visor flares with light.

     Honor is not a lump of metal.

     Linehart rises out of the ground, pushing back against the Brand Knight. Overwhelming strength is brought to bear, the inexorability of the oncoming night once more made manifest in every footstep, in his raw, unbelievable mass, in the power of one who once stood at the end of a long and winding road, waiting for the onset of a destiny that did him no favors and gave him no kindness. He pushes the Brand Knight backwards into the Marowak's javelin club, a sudden shove to make the spike stronger, giving up some of his own momentum to hold him down, and in the process making Staren's job that much harder. When Strange's claustrophobic maze begins to form, Linehart kicks away with a sudden smash from his feet, backing off from the maze to let Bedivere come roaring in with his shining silver arm, to let Rean start hammering away. Tomoe steps in, and Linehart steps back.

     You have nothing to hide. The only shame is what you impose upon yourself.

     Linehart brings his hand up. Your honor is not so fragile that any could break it but you.

     Power gathers in that hand. Particles just start gathering in it, sweeping into the center. And now, the final curtain!

     Light blossoms in his grip. His red-cross visor flares with that bloody red light as the bright white begins to shine.

                The light that dictates the time of origin!                

     The world disappears. The battlefield goes black. Not black as night, not black as shadow. It becomes nothingness. Darkness. Absolute, unending darkness. Everyone can still see each other, can still see the geometric maze, the smashing blades, but there is no light, not even a speck. No trees. No grass. No land below them.

     Slowly, streaks begin to gather around the Brand Knight. They build, faster and faster, like entering a science-fiction hyperspace. Then in an instant they are compressed into one.

     Linehart holds up his hand.

                                  FIAT LUX                                  

     The world explodes into light. There is an enormous roar. Stars burst into being. Galaxies go whirling past. Suns ignite, set careening on their paths. The Brand Knight is in the middle of all of it, in the middle of the whirling, overwhelming force of someone's overly-dramatic rendition of the Big Bang.

     And then it fades.

     And, again, absolutely no damage has been done to anything on the field, and nobody except the Brand Knight has been touched.

     Linehart shoulders his night-black spear. Let the light of beginning blow away the veil upon your eyes.
Gawain After the sapping blows, the group sends starts coordinating to disable the knight. They don't want him to go on forever. They want to end this.

The Brand Knight tsks, as more armor is shattered by the Marowak. As the RAISER explodes and sends him careening backwards. As the psychic force pushes him further back, towards the end of the bridge. As pillars were formed, smashing into the Brand Knight and stopping from using his sword or his normal magic. As Airgetlam's lance shines and purifies more of that armor, the holy energy searing the knight. As several slashes stun, and as his guard is broken with the full weight of a tank.

As the world itself disappears. As it becomes nothing, and the universe forms in an attempt to take him out, stars exploding against the Brand Knight, causing him to actually grimace and animate in pain, his armor almost entirely pierced. All that is left is his greaves and bits of his chestplate.

Yet, he still stands. And he does not surrender.

"You want to end this? Very well."

[ansi(+xterm202,HELLFIRE ORB)]

Necrotic energy and fire forms into a ball in his hands. He builds it up, like a child with playdoh, until it's perfectly round, and then, he chucks it at the ground in the middle of the group. The result is a /massive/ exploding sphere that tears into the bridge, cracking and melting some of the cobble, and threatening to knock people into the river below. It tries to melt the pillars, and if it can't, it simply goes around them, spreading outwards to encompass the whole small area. The fire sears into the skin, into the heart, into the soul - you can hear screams as it burns in. This is the true power of a death knight - his strongest attack, the one he saves for desperation.

But at the same time, it likely won't kill you. And the knight knows that. He knows you're strong enough to withstand his greatest attack. But the question is, if you'll still be standing.
Alexis The surge of dirt pillars from the ground is a surprise but Alexis is quick to jump on the changing situation. "Change in terrain, take advantage of it!" Guardian certainly does, weaving between the pillars to get close enough to retrieve her boneclub from spearing the knight's armor. She snags it up, and turns to withdraw just as the skeleton is recovering from the assault to unleash his counterstrike. "Get do--" A split second pause as she remembers the weird effects Strange's magic can have on terrain that she's seen before. And one time even fought against. "--No. Get UP!"

Marowak doesn't learn Rock Climb, but you would never guess it by the way Guardia jumps at the shout, and sure enough manages to run partway up a pillar before leaping off towards another as the first starts to recede again, and kicking off that one to go for a third. She isn't fast enough to completely outmaneuver the coming onslaught, but improvised spacing between Strange's obstacles helps shield her from getting nuked directly, bracing against the pillar she grabbed to keep from being flung into the water below. That would be really bad for a Ground type. Being surrounded by scorching heat and necrotic energy is bad enough as it erupts admist the battlefield, worse than any Fire-type's attack she's had to endure before.

Even being in the background of the fight Alexis turns partially away while shielding her face with an arm. First from the brightness of Linehart's visual budget breaking assault and then Brand's retaliation, the kick up whipping the ends of her hoodie and ponytail around her. Did impromptu tactics work?

It seems so. Guardia is scorched and hurting, but she's still moving on her own, finally kicking off the pillar as the flames wash about. Now she's got a vantage point, leaping upward while whipping her weapon around. Until she sees the Brand Knight amongst the dying flames of his onslaught. "MAROWAAAAK!" She whips around in the air, hurtling the bone into the air like it was intended to be. The whirling dervish while strike once, hopefully before the Knight can realize the attack is coming from a high angle instead of the ground.

The real trick of the maneuver is that after one hit, the spinning bone hurtles through the air to defiantely turn around and come back at the knight from a differant angle to hopefully hit a second time!
Raziel The attack was thrown like a grenade into the middle of the group.  Raziel was thankful for that distance he gave himself now more than over, as he prepared to face the attack meant to obliterate them.  The screams were not ignored, but right now Raziel could only focus on weathering the storm.

As the flames came for him, he threw his hand up.  An attempt to counter the flames with the Wind Reaver's gift to his Telekinesis to try and force the attack back.  To no avail, it was far beyond the poultry Kinetic force he had to bring to bear.  It would take the Reaver itself, as he swung down.

The two collided the Reaver and hellfire.  Despite everything, Raziel's swordplay was holding up today, able to find the right place to cut into the attack and force it with aid of his Wind Reaver, to spit it around him like a rock in a stream.  His clothing does not survive.  The scarf burning away, as his metal armor is melted away.  Forced to unhook it with a free hand before it did melt his body.

All that was left was the Specter, the day he was born into the underworld.  Blue 'skin' if you could call it that, no stomach and the ribcage and backbone able to be easily seen.  A standard wrapped around his mouth was the only thing remaining of his actual clothing.  His legs, more muscles than anything else as well as cloven claws and long boney claws for fingers.

Those eyes, orbs glowing as they stared back at the knight.  Raziel prepared for this, as he dives through the remainder of the attack, and attempts to slam into the knight with another Telekinetic blast.  However, this time he repeatedly slashes at the knight, attempting to break through his defenses.

This is followed up by the Reaver raising into the air, and creating a burst of wind, attempting to drag the knight up, and then slam him harshly into the ground.  Should the knight be felled, his blade pointed down towards the head of the knight.  
Doctor Strange      The blast spreads around the pillars like water seeking the path of least resistance. Strange falls--upwards. The arena turns upside down. Each of his allies will be able to manage the sudden shift with no negative impact to their balance. As the earth turns upside down, the effects of the blast are plain to see. The pillars also fall upwards, flying into the infinite blue void of the sky, hurtling past Strange.

     Safe from the blast and from his own pillars, Strange once more folds space. Where others have kept their cards close to their chest, the Sorcerer Supreme is throwing the whole deck and daring his opponent to guess which cards are his. The field of pillars is folded. A great swath of earth simply rises, and becomes a wall, and again, and again, until the field is more like a tunnel, with two walls, a floor, and a ceiling. Each is a copy of the last, meaning that the walls of this tunnel are fraught with jagged, cut-off stumps of earth.

     A squadron of illusory Stranges flies in, each one with a different weapon in hand. They make a pass at the Brand Knight, but it's a distraction for the real attack. The tunnel itself turns against him, rolling like a child's toy dropped down the stairs. It's meant to throw him around the tunnel, slamming him into the hard remnants of the pillar-maze.

     As before, Strange's allies are able to weather the violent changes in gravity as if they didn't exist. To their eyes, it will likely just appear that the Knight is being shoved around.
Bedivere Bedivere is overheating, his motorcycle evaporating into spiritstuff as he's forced to take the bridge once again. Steamy heat is coming off of his arm, scalding him where it contacts his flesh. And now he has to use it to block. Seeing that Hellfire Orb coming, Bedivere does the only sensible thing in his position. He slams Airgetlam straight down, fingers of his gauntlet crunching into the rock and eretcing a wall of blasted out holy light. This is going to hurt him no matter what, but whether it's feedback from his overloaded holy blade or the hellfire orb's blast that hurts him worse, hopefully it'll be less than taking that hellfire to the face.

    After the blastwave has concluded, knocking Bedivere's helmet open, revealing the faint-blonde hair of eternal youth, Bedivere stands tall, his arm dimming as it goes into its cooldown cycle. "You are one tenacious knight," Bedivere sighs, shaking airgetlam at the wrist twice. It's a habit he's never broken though he lost his original arm a lifetime ago. Still, it does him no good to sit idly by, even if he has to buy time. He lurches forward, leaning on his bardiche just a little, trusting in the ongoing rush of combat to mask his slower approach. He grasps it in both hands, wincing, and proceeds to launch a flurry of light swings, all he can afford at this moment.
Tomoe She sees Linehart make his move and it's honestly almost artistic it's entrancing to someone who at her core started to escape into Fantasy world for enjoyment when you get down to it. All of her allies are pulling out the stops too from Alexis, Dr. Strange, Staren? Everyone is She knows though the counter-attack is on its way. Quickly Tomoe triggers a chain of tank skills she gets faint glow about her as the Brand Knight channels their own spell she beings up her Shield and the hellfire comes.

It burns at her, it tears at her she can see her HUD's Hp draining down into the start of the red Tomoe is in a good deal of pain her body is deforming in some places governing her body and armour in angry red wireframes.

As the spell fades away she' still standing on her feet.

"I still stand...Sir Knight."

She has given a lot she's almost spent, yet she's not quite out of the right just yet. She's holding back now and chanting. Golden runes dance about her body. She raises her sword arm at the knight and a bolt of lightning leaps from her hand, it's not much but it's still something.
Linehart      The HELLFIRE ORB crashes full on into the Mirror Knight. It erupts around him, bathing him in necrotic fire. It scorches the air. It blisters the ground. It sears flat the rocks. It melts the dirt. Necrotic energy crackles in the air. Smoke rolls upwards from the impact crater.

                                    307                                    

     The Mirror Knight emerges.

     He is not unharmed. His armor crackles with black lightning. The fur of his smoke cape is literally burning, smoulderimng around his neck. His footsteps burn black what wasn't already set aflame. His armor is hot, and inside is probably unbearable but for his own inherent stoicism and the lack of voice.

     The Mirror Knight is inevitable.

     The Mirror Knight is inexorable.

     Though his armor is covered in scratches, though it must surely burn inside like the sun, though he is literally smoking and burning and smouldering from several parts of his armor, though black lightning arcs across his body like dancing dead dragons, the Mirror Knight advances.

     He sweeps aside his smoky cape, flicking away the last of the black lightning in the process. The cape disappears. He may have just unequipped it.

     He doesn't bother with a big, smashy attack from his spear. He doesn't bother with another massive cutscene attack. Linehart doesn't bother with any of that.

     He just grabs the Brand Knight by the skull to slam him into the ground with all the strength he can bring to bear. The burning black gauntlet, still hot from the necrotic fireball, may very well burn the brand of Linehart's hand into the Brand Knight's skull in the process.

     The Mirror Knight is absolutely going to squeeze, after all.
Staren     They dump everything they have... well, no, not everything, but an impressive show of force nontheless, into the enemy knight. Linehart even does one of those crazy RPG attacks again, but Staren's starting to get the idea now. It's pretty neat to watch once you realize it doesn't mean you've ACTUALLY been flung out into space.

    But all of it is not enough to stop the knight. Hellfire spreads across the battlefield -- thank goodness Staren can fly so as not to get stuck in it! Even so, some of it burns away at his armor, which is pretty freaky considering his armor is generally good at NOT being on fire! And he can hear the screams of the damned...

    It sounds a lot like burning ghostrock...

    Staren frantically tries to put the hellfire out, even dipping in the river if needed. He spares some wild shots from his energy weapons at the knight, but he's too distracted to aim well right now!
Rean Schwarzer So when the Brand Knight throws a fire ball of flaming death on the group, Rean puts as much as he can into jumping away from it...but he's not fast enough.

The ball of fire burns into his skin, into his uniform, scorching his hair even darker than it already was. Rean lets out a few coughs, propping himself up onto his sword as the hellfire vanishes. He's barely able to get back up, but he's got just enough energy left to do one last thing.

He ignites his sword and rushes in, slamming it into the Brand Knight with all of the force he can put behind it, as if he's trying to burn through the knight's armor.
Gawain The Hellfire Orb does not do enough damage to knock anyone out. The Brand Knight sighs, and waits for what's to come. The bonemerang comes slamming down, and boomerangs around, himming him twice real hard.

Raziel's slashes and throws are devastating, cracking some of the greaves and leaving the knight staggered on the ground, enough for Linehart to come up, grab him by the skull, and slam him into it over and over. The Brand Knight breaks free...and is sent flying around in a tunnel, cut by the jagged cutoffs, slammed hard, his armor breaking completely. When he stops, Bedivere's strikes and Tomoe's lightning impact into bone, as he's just a skeleton with a sword. Staren's energy blasts contribute as well, and then...

Rean's massive strike slams into his chest, breaking several of his incredibly sturdy bones, and causing him to make a 'hm' sound one last time. As he staggers back, he can still fight. He still has his sword, and he's one buff skeleton. But...

"I yield. I will answer your questions. To start, I will answer the one previously asked of me." The knight, hopefully out of the illusion, sits cross-legged on the damaged bridge.

"I brand all who I come across in an effort to search for a bandit, a killer who slew me fifty years ago. My name was Sir Wilhelm, Knight of Scora, the destined hero. He killed me in the road for my gear, leading to the fall of Scora in the Great War." Strange would have heard of Scora, and can affirm what he's saying - there was a great war, and Scora fell, being swallowed up by enemies, fifty years ago.

"Until he has been paid back for his crime, I cannot move on. I refuse. Despite my shame to be in this form, as a death knight. The brands allow me to track his closeness to the brand, and teleport through them. When someone eventually finds him, I will be able to confront him at last."

The knight looks as sad as a skeleton can look, as Gawain comes forth from his hiding spot to take notes. "I will then head to the city of Mausoleum, where the undead walk in a fallen kingdom, finally pass the gates for my shame allows me no solace, and fade into nothing. And then, I will be at peace. Until then, I refuse to enter Mausoleum. I cannot have sanctuary."

"I do not deserve it."
Doctor Strange      As soon as the knight yields, Strange pulls everyone out of the Mirror Dimension. Everything returns to normal, and those who were standing on the walls are gently placed back on the ground.

     He listens to the knight's explanation of the brand, and allows him to finish speaking before he replies. "Well," says Strange. "That would mean you've been here for fifty years, which..." He takes a look at the level of decay evident upon the knight. "Tracks." He says it loud enough for the others to hear--yes, this guy is probably telling the truth, his tone says.

     "First and foremost, sir knight, I offer my apology for doubting your intentions." Strange lands and makes a formal bow, brushing the Cloak of Levitation aside as he does so. "I have questions, but they can wait. Rest for a moment. After the fight you just gave us, I think you deserve at least a measure of rest."
Staren     The hellfire stops. Staren lands by the bridge to listen.

    It sounds sad, and pretty above-board honestly.

    Staren can't help but wonder if the bandit has grown to regret his actions and might now be a force for good. But voicing that sort of concern just seems to piss people off; and it's just a hypothetical. Maybe the bandit is now a cruel old man who kicks orphans or something.

    "I see. I hope that one day you can find peace. But today we are here on a scholarly mission. Do you have any idea why you have been able to press on after death for five decades, when others similarly wronged just, well, stay dead?"
Raziel There is a struggle, briefly, within Raziel's arm.  The Wraith struggles for control of the mad spirit that is the Reaver blade itself.  However, Raziel's will is stronger.  The weapon returns to its dormant state and returns as a ball of energy on his arm.  He listens to the tale of the Knight.

"That, I can relate to.  Your killer yet eludes you, laughing while you suffer in darkness, unable to move on.  That nobody should feel the anger that prevents you from moving on or the shame that comes from such pitiful form you inhabit."

Though Raziel was not in control of his resurrection but rather forced into it.  "I will say more once the intention of our mission is complete, sinner."
Rean Schwarzer Rean finishes his attack, and collapses on the bridge behind the knight. He's still awake, but too tired to move or really respond. So he just listens to the knight's story and lets the others handle the questions. Turns out he was right about the skeleton thing, and his shame was a failure to protect his people as a result of his death.
Shame leading to revenge.
Alexis And after the second hit the spinning club rebounds to fly back to it's master, catching it dramatically as she lands back on a solid surface. A nice side effect of her jumping to attack was the twisting and turning about by Strange's magic didn't disrupt her much being airborne. Guardia braces for the next retaliation... Which doesn't come as the knight relents, admitting defeat. Though she doesn't relax until Alexis walks up and pats her on the skullcap. "Good job."

Reality is set right again and the Brand Knight, or rather Sir Wilhelm, sits to tell his tale. Sad one that it may be. "So the brand is like... survellience. Hoping someone else will cross pathes with this bandit." Taps a finger thoughtfully at her chin. "... Yeah, losing your kingdom because some jackass mugged you for your gear and kept you from being there when needed most, I can see how that would drive a man to cling to the mortal coil to dish out a comeuppance." She muses, then nudges her bag with her elbow. "Hey, Caddie, you awake in there?"

The bag rumples around a bit, before the fox-like pink head pokes out with a cute yawn. "Syl? < Yes? >" "Hyper Potion." "< On it >" One of her ribbons dunks back into the bag, rummages around to find the right category, and pulls out one of the spraybottles to pass to the Trainer. "Thanks." She kneels down to sprints the healing agent over the worst of her pokemon's wounds. Guardia just sits there as she does, giving the death knight a mournfully understanding gaze. Her species is repeatedly tormented and bullied by others, human and pokemon alike, forced to take up the remains of ancestors as armor and weapons to survive, so she can kind of relate to where he's coming from.
Tomoe Tomoe is breathing ragged she's going to be injured under her avatar, and the pain there reminds her of her true form's existence. When the Death Knight yields she will lower her blade sheathing it and banishing her shield back to her inventory she's looking pretty beat up at least her form has the red wireframe starting to revert to normal. She will near the Death Knight to listen to their tale frowning at the story but does seem to move her she seems sympathetic as the tale is laid bare.

"You wish to confront your killer and the one who brought ruin upon what you loved in life? I see, and that plan is quite clever. I also must admit you gave us a very impressive fight."
Linehart      The Brand Knight yields. The Mirror Knight rises to his full height. That red-cross visor glows with a quiet pulse as he stares down at the skeleton, as if in thought. The music grows quiet and somber. Linehart's obviously melancholic, obviously...thinking of something similar, something different. There's a brief spike of anger in the music, a brief spike of sharp tone. A gauntleted fist clenches.

     Destined heroes.

     The pause is noticable. The massive dark shadow simply stands there for a moment, the smoky cape flowing around him, unmoving, looking down at the skeleton.

     Finally, the Mirror Knight turns away.

    None can take your honor but you. No shame in defeat, nor glory in victory. If your life was lived well, if you strove to be the finest you could be, then that is more than most can say, and you hold yourself penitent for failing to be the impossible.

     The red-cross glare flickers over his shoulder as he turns his head slightly to look back at the skeleton. There are so many who wish that their only shame was being killed on the road. You are blessed.

     With that, the Evil Knight walks over to Gawain. He just stands there, waiting to see if there is a quest reward. Whether Gawain gives him one or not, Linehart walks forward, gets aggressively into Gawain's space, fills his entire gaze-

     -and then vanishes through his glasses.

     It's sort of space-bendingly weird to watch, since he doesn't get *smaller* or anything, he just...he just *stops* being there, and Gawain's glasses ripple slightly as the last of the smoky cloak vanishes into their lenses, and that's the only sign that he was even there.
Gawain As the group responds, Strange telling the knight he should rest, he nods. "Yes. But I will uphold my bargain first." Raziel gets a nod as well, them understanding each other well, having similar fates. It's Staren who gets more words first.

"Hate." He says, firmly. "It is hatred for that man that moves me. It fills my bones with a spark. It is what animates us death knights - the spark to keep moving and avenge ourselves."

Gawain starts prompting him for various questions, dietary and health-wise, as well as various miscellaneous questions to fill out the notes, and the knight answers each diligently. Gawain then hands him a radio, saying. "Here. You don't deserve to be /so/ isolated, dear knight."

And then Gawain moves over and lifts Rean over his shoulders. "Come on, we're not letting you pass out on a creepy bridge!"

Though, when Linehart comes for a reward, Gawain tilts his head for a second, and then 'ahs!' "Ah, you want to get paid! One second." He pulls out a pouch of money, and also several candies. They were just in Gawain's pocket too and he's feeling nice, but they can probably be used to get past a crying girl in an alley or something.

And then Linehart disappears into his glasses. That was...that was weird. "Um. Okay, then!"