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Owner	Pose
Timekeeper	"But there are people here whom we can save..."     "We can, and should when we have the opportunity, spare them as much suffering as we can. I believe that is worth it, even with the Storm coming." Vertin keeps their eyes fixed forwards while moving through the crowds, but there's a building level of strain in keeping their voice steady and unreadable. "... But we cannot save everyone. The Foundation does not have the space or resources. My suitcase only preserves items between eras, and I have... tried, many times, with people. Focus on what we *can* do." "When you first sensed it?" "Are you *this* Storm's herald, Timekeeper? Or do you just scent the smoke first among the forest?"     Vertin blandly smiles, one hand keeping their hat on their head as they look up at the technicolor moon. "I'm not sure if a charcoal deer still runs from the fire. Perhaps I'm a lucky reusable canary?" More seriously, they close their eyes as a raindrop-laden breeze washes past them. "... I am responsible for both the beginnings and ends of eras. My arcane sense is still the most early and precise forewarning of the Storm the Foundation has, even with Laplace's developments."     Then, "I'll see the moon soon, I'm sure. The Storm Syndrome can't affect me, but I still perceive the end of the world along with everyone else. The dissolution of reality won't be strictly psychological for long." "Sonetto looks after a lot of small details for you, doesn't she?"     "Regulus also wears sunglasses and a hat," Vertin adds, knowingly unhelpfully, as an answer to Lilian's comment. Rather than looking especially guilty or defensive at Lilian's implicit accusation, Vertin has a distantly fond expression on the half of their face that's visible under the top hat.     "She's still quite impressive, ever since we were kids. Before she was assigned to me, I'd hardly kept an assistant for more than a month, but it's been four and she's yet to be reassigned. I suppose I don't mind relying on her a little when I can." "You mentioned we can't tell people about the Storm, to avoid panic, but if a fight breaks out openly, won't there be panic all the same?"     "That may be so," Vertin acknowledges at Audrey. "But I don't believe that changes anything. A man that preaches doomsday while all those around can already see it is wasting the time he has left. Not that I mind answering questions, but I'm not certain what alternative course of action you're imagining taking should you break that rule."     At 'break rule', Sonetto catches on to the side conversation between Audrey and Vertin with wide eyes. "Are you discussing telling irrelevant people about the Storm? That is not allowed! Telling them may drive them towards the promises of the Manus Vindictae, where they will only be used as pawns towards their ends!"
Timekeeper	"If multiple organizations able to survive, in some way, the Storm are in pursuit of the Philosopher's Stone, what should happen if all groups fail to reach it before the Storm does?"     Sonetto shakes her head, half-ponytails waggling slightly offset with the rest of her hair. "This is an urgent mission assigned to us by the Foundation, which is critical enough to warrant a delayed evacuation for the Storm. It would be a long time before we could attempt it again."     Vertin folds their arms across their chest, elaborating from the perspective of someone experienced with the shifts between eras. "Currently we have no way of knowing what era awaits us. The Philosopher's Stone would end up wherever it happened to be at that time, but as a highly secretive artifact, we may not be able to uncover its location even before the following Storm. The Storm resets all progress we may have made in any engagements with the outside world." "Lilian has command experience and she's used to fighting outnumbered."     "Right." Vertin tips their head to look in Lilian's direction, unreadable expression while their eyes linger on Lilian's necklace for a moment. "You've worked with these Elites before, haven't you? Then I'll leave their specific duties to you. Everyone, please coordinate according to Lilian's suggestions. Until I've seen your abilities in action, I'll only be able to give general direction." "These Manus ships - and the Apple, do we know what they look like?"     "The Manus Vindictae vessel was a black and blue arcanorganic entity, capable of surface and subsurface travel with a high degree of dexterity," Sonetto rattles off. "It possesses a range of weaponry in both ranged projectiles, as well as anti-naval physical weapons, which are adaptive to a degree. Its method of production is unknown, but it is likely an arcane summon or construct."     "Regulus's ship the Apple is... a... ship... of some sort. I am sorry, it is not a combat vessel, so my knowledge is... limited. It is red, and white, and has the word 'APPLE' painted onto it. I hope that is enough information." "I love the sound of this pirate. I bet she has really straightforward motivations we can work with!"     Vertin smiles tensely at Flamel. "The specific quality of her motivations may not be inclined towards joining the St. Pavlov Foundation without a push, unfortunately." "I didn't think something big like 'time' would care about something small like 'what art people are making'."     The time pressure is evidently getting to Vertin, because they just shake their head and give a 'this NPC needs more story progression before unlocking new lines' answer. "Sorry, I'd like to talk about this sometime later." "She has light powers, but she decided to go into music...?"     Rita's brief friendly look softens Sonetto's posture enough to see that she's already accumulated a lot of exhaustion in the past 22 hours. Einar's more authoritative one firms her back up, flawlessly disciplined. "Her manipulation of light is used for invisibility and illusions, likely to facilitate her life of crime; however, she is known to be clever and utilize underhanded methods such as surprise whenever she can. I also have light as my medium of choice, though my techniques are very different. I am skilled in incapacitation, if Regulus remains disorderly once cornered."
Timekeeper	"That is to say, by what means will the Foundation approve of retrieving the Philosopher's Stone?"     "The Field Investigator's Guidebook includes many specific instructions... but as for open combat, it is allowed. Manus Vindictae will not be holding back this close to the Storm, and their monsters will attack without regard for their lives, so we must respond decisively. If we encounter any civilians who have put on their masks, then... it is best to attempt nonlethal measures until they are transformed." "Does the Foundation have any intent to perform an extraordinary rendition of Regulus, or is she an inconsequential individual?"     "We will offer Regulus the opportunity to join the Foundation's employ, but... if she refuses, then retrieving the Philosopher's Stone is enough. We have the authority to disable her and reclaim it off of her person if that is what she forces us to do." Vertin stays silent while Sonetto explains, not contradicting her, but their one visible eye tightens a bit at the corners.     "Outsiders are..." Sonetto looks to Vertin a little helplessly. 'Not supposed to be here' isn't an answer she'll say out loud, but it's painted on her face, and Vertin finishes her sentence before Sonetto gets a chance to.     "Do anything you must, with your discretion. If there ends up being a reprimand for it, then I'll take the blame. We don't have the luxury of being bogged down in details right now." The display in the nixie tubes on her wrist reads 0 1 : 0 6.     "Downriver is that way. Regulus is likely coming from upriver, if you take a car that way to search for her. Sonetto, do you see that bend down by the jetty there?" "Yes, Timekeeper." "Bring the group capable of boarding the Apple over to that shore. It's relatively narrow, with good sightlines down the river, and Rita can wait in the water to disable the ship once Regulus approaches. Try to drive it to shore when you do, so that Regulus doesn't go down with her ship-- the Manus are formidable enemies in the water, so be careful yourself as well."     There's a few minutes to prepare, via positioning, acquiring or summoning vehicles, or preparing spells and abilities. Sonetto waits along with some portion of the Elites on the slope covered in tall wildgrass that Vertin pointed out, with nothing but a walking trail and some abandoned food stalls nearby. The music from the numerous street performers is barely audible here, which eases off of the emotional sway it has over you, but the minutes of silence gradually increase the urge to produce some music of your own to fill it.     Soon a red and white trawler boat comes down the river, and Sonetto gasps to enthusiastically inform you that this is, in fact, THE Apple. In pursuit behind it is a monstrous thing that breaches out of the surface of the water, half-sea-vessel and half beast, with blue-black spines protruding all across its glossy back. An arcane sigil flickers into existence above it, before a black bolt of magic fires towards the Apple, causing it to careen while trying to escape.     This is now exactly the time for Sonetto to announce her presence to its captain, hands on her hips and shoulders square, raising her voice to be heard over the music, the rain, and the distance.     "Regulus, Captain of the Apple! We are investigators from the St. Pavlov Foundation! As an unregistered arcanist, and for the crime of assaulting Foundation staff, you will be detained and your possession of the 'little thing' reclaimed by the Foundation! Bring your ship carefully to the bank and disembark peacefully, and we will take you somewhere safe!"
Regulus	1966 Before The Storm... The Swinging Sixties. A time of cultural revolution of the UK spurned on by the growth of cities and economic growth post the second war to end all wars. Heralded by rock music and miniskirts, it was a time of experimentation, freedom and bright colours to chase away the gloom of war and bombs. The music sang about love and promised peace and revolution. Discrimination based on race was formally prohibited just a year earlier and discrimination based on gender, disability, and more were yet to come. Three years ago, the Contracts of Employment Act was passed and in three years the In Place of Strife papers will be published in turn. And you're here looking for a little lion, A familiar sourceless voice croons in Vertin's ear. She stole a precious stone but you're after a different kind of rock. She survived the blitz as a young cub but only found her soul in the 60s. She heard Jimi Hendrix play a chord and it rewired her brain and she's been nothing but trouble and in trouble ever since. Her DJ piracy and hijacking of airwaves has led her to be hunted by the british government but they're not the only ones after her. She's too free to weather the coming storm or tie herself to a mast, she'll be swallowed up by a vortex soon enough, love. Soon enough. "Goooooood Afternoon, London! This is Radio APPLe coming to you from the River Thames!" A young woman's voice singsongs over the local radio band. "I'm here with some special guests who thought they could get the drop on me, the pirate! These Foundation plods have been stalking me since my latest heist, no doubt thinking they could pirate the pirate! But nobody gets the drop on Regulus that easily!" Two Foundation agents wearing Foundation uniforms are assuredly tied up together with a cartoonish amount of rope. They are sitting on a moderately sized boat, its sails ridden up and patterned with a split apple that also vaguely evokes a skull. It is also labeled the APPLe, written just above a life preserver fastened to the wall of the ship. A sound stage has been set up on the main deck, a stereo system is hooked up to a record player which is also hooked up to some radio transmission equipment. The pirate in question is a young woman, probably around her mid 20s, with chestnut hair and sunglasses, wearing a blue miniskirt and a white and blue polka dotted scarf. She has a backpack full of records practically spilling out of it on the deck beside her while she spins a vinyl record on her hand and carefully placing it down on the record player while dancing. She's a woman having the time of her life, totally oblivious to the coming Storm. She's wearing a pageboy cap with a heart-shaped slice of apple on its front and is also wearing a vibrant red jacket. Numerous bangles of various shapes and sizes, including a white pointy star-esque stone, are fastened all over her backpack. An apple wearing a tie and collar floats around, attending to various tasks. "Let's see if we can open their minds to the power of music! How about some Rolling Stones to start with?" Regulus half-sings, half-shouts. She places the needle on the record and it begins to play. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_0TOCR_OIk But before she can really get into it...
Regulus	''Regulus, Captain of the Apple! We are investigators from the St. Pavlov Foundation!'' Regulus startles and spins around on her foot to look in Sonetto's direction, her sunglasses slide down her face a bit but she quickly pushes her glasses back up her nose. "My ... 'Little thing'....? What--she's with the fuzz too?" "Miss Sonetto!!" One of the tied up Foundation agents shouts. "We're sorry. She got the drop on us!" Regulus looks over her shoulder back at the Manus Vindictae vessel. "Bugger me, they must be behind that ship that's been tailing us too. And they've got a ton of backup by the looks of it... Is this the end of Regulus's rock and roll journey...? Well we're not gonna let them rob us are we, APPLe." "Technically you robbed them first, Captain--" APPLe begins. "They couldn't even use it so it's better in my hands." Regulus counters 'reasonably' before adding, "Fire the cannons!' The cannons in question aren't really cannons, there's some firework launchers and a few t-shirt cannons mostly which APPLe gets to firing as the Apple itself starts drifting closer to the opposite shore--perhaps to open up some distance from Sonetto and anyone accompanying her. The firing of the 'cannons' results in the following being launched at or around the various Elites. A) About three fireworks, not aimed directly but sort of around The Elites to add to the mayhem B) Apparently some apples were snuck into one of the t-shirt launchers and a bunch of apples are being launched directly at Odette. C) At least three t-shirts with Regulus's grinning face on it on one side and the word GroOooOOoVy in colorful letters underneath her face. On the other side of the shirt is the phrase 'OFFICIAL RADIO APPLe' on it in similar coloring. And D) A singular carbuncle (think a black fuzzball with fuzzy cat-like ears) riding a firework that seems to have snuck into the chamber when Regulus wasn't looking. It WAS nibbling on an apple. Now it is shrieking and flying right at Audrey. But before Regulus can do anything else, a spiked harpoon launched out from the Manus Vindictae vessel smashes right into the larboard side of the vessel, splintering some wood as it hooks into the Apple. This shakes the Apple enough that Regulus nearly tumbles over. Instead, she steadies herself on the railing as a bunch of her records tumble out of her backpack and onto the deck. "Oh no! My records!" Regulus cries, scrambling to gather them up. "Why does this always happen to me??" ONGOING PROBLEMS 1) Those Foundation members are still tied up. Someone should free them because they're sitting ducks right now. 2) First Mate APPLe is launching a bunch of junk at anyone and anything that looks remotely hostile to Regulus and the Apple. Those cannons are a nuisance! 3) The Manus Vindictae vessel has hooked onto the Apple and is no doubt entirely willing to fish the stone out from the bottom of the Thames. 4) A fair number of Regulus's precious records have tumbled out of her bag! Are you willing to save music?? Either way, Regulus is not making any attempt to hide just yet.
Flamel Parsons	"Is that what we're going with? We're going to take her little thing?" Flamel briefly pokes his head up from the astral projection he's in the middle of, sort of peeking his head above the swirling psychic energy. "Well, I've worked with worse code phrases."     Surging astrally into the nearby crowd, he tries to leverage some focused adjustments to the behavior of riled-up psychohazards. This is a show -- there's music, there's lights -- so there's designated places for the crowd to stand, at a certain distance from the performers. There is the stage and there is the crowd, and the two shall not cross. If the performers leap from the stage, then the crowd can support them carefully and gently. If the crowd leaps to the stage, then their collective will should have them pulled back. But above all else: Collectively keep distance from the show.     It should give the regional psychohazards something to feed on in a contained way, where he can eliminate them thoroughly. And more significantly, it should keep civilians in the area away from the fight effortlessly! Which he'll need.     He pops into invisibility, rushing to the shore where Regulus is trying to make her escape. "Someone get me something really sharp!" He calls out, telepathically, in a big broadcast. Huge floating hands begin to latch onto the harpoon, and if anything large and sharp is provided, he aims to saw through the tether. Otherwise, disentangle it manually!     "Captain Regulus of the APPLe!" He calls out in a telepathic broadcast. "This is special agent Flamel Parsons, from a vague yet ominous government organization! I'd *really* rather we aim this more in a privateering type of relationship!! I'm pretty sure you'd get good money for your seized cargo, and a letter of marque, and the whole thing! I'm-- I'm eighty, maybe ninety percent sure that's how this relationship is *supposed* to work! I'm not, I'm gonna admit I'm not totally sure how it usually works for pirates, but--!! I know the Thames has some bad history but we're not trying to Acts of Grace you here!!"     Let's see... is the crowd managed enough for him to try to board soon? He'll start prep to get closer if he can, soon -- but he might need to stick to shore with Tamamo to handle civilians...
Audrey Basque	"Are you discussing telling irrelevant people about the Storm?"     "Nothing like that, I was just curious if this was a case of some panic being fine, but some other specific panic being bad. It's not like we can *avoid* making a show of things if it's a fight." arcanorganic     Oh, that's a new word.     Audrey files it away for later. "Manus Vindictae will not be holding back this close to the Storm, and their monsters will attack without regard for their lives, so we must respond decisively."     "Monsters? What kinds of..." She stops, realizing they're going to find out in moments *anyway*. Ships! Pursuit! A pirate!     As she said she would, Audrey's immediate contribution is to tear space open, creating a pearlescent mess of broken mirror shards that anyone can step through to simply be on the Apple, without having to fly or swim over. She steps into it first, because it's only correct to show it's safe.     Which means appearing by Regulus and APPLe, and Audrey is quick to try to appear non-hostile. "Captain Regulus! Apologies for the intrusion, I'm just here to shield your vessel. I can't speak for anyone who follows though!"     She trudges over towards the rear of the Apple, to start twisting and pressing space together into a barrier. The type she usually projects around herself, but sized up for the ship-- which means it'll take her a moment, and eat up her focus.     "I mean, we're here to help! Obviously! Just-- someone else will explain better than me! Hopefully! Please do not attack anyone coming out of my portal!" With fireworks, merchandise, or fuzzy critters! Just don't!
Einar	The HMS Clover takes up a holding position to one side beneath the river with the intent of slipping beneath the individual to be pursued, and their pursuers in turn. As it is also capable of subaquatic travel -- indeed, there seems no environment it is completely ill-suited to -- and the "vehicle" in pursuit of the Apple surfaces in its chase, it is well-positioned to slip right in to the fray-- and it does so, its upper surface breaching the water as it pulls parallel with the Manus Vindicate vessel. Anyone who needs assistance with aquatic travel may board and utilize the Clover to deal with it.. On the ground, Divine General Einar twists his hand behind his back and steps through a rift in space into that 'white zone' he had occupied previously. An instant later a similar rift emerges on the deck of the Clover, through which a great knight-styled mecha -- a gunmen -- emerges. Bulky and broad, with a stylized spiked surface in black-and-gold -- much like Einar's own armor -- the EP-001 Chur Knight Custom strides out with a sword and a shield in hand and adopts a 'ready' posture. It has a very distinct shape and way of moving-- very organic, very human-like. It also has a face in the middle of its chest that is more expressive than its actual head, though both sets of eyes gleam that characteristic pink. After considering Flamel's request for a moment, the Chur Knight rears back and throws its sword into the sky-- it's sized for a 20-meter combat robot, so it's hardly unimposing.
White	White may have been comically mistaken about what she was summoning exactly, but her teleportive magic is very nearly as tactile as physical touch. Reaching out and 'finding' Einar's ship, her mind and spirit don't even need to question the strange divergence of shape from what she was anticipating, in the same way that one's hand will adjust to open a door even if the knob isn't shaped quite how they expected. Her inward self-congratulations are tinged with a slight embarrassment after she realizes the mistake, but... Well, it isn't a super robot, so she supposes it isn't *quite* as cool, but a giant ship is still impressive. She can still be proud, at least.      But, she's delayed enough. Stood facing the river, her head is only turned slightly in Vertin's direction for most of the instructions, and before it's even quite done White calls out another little spider and gently places it atop Vertin's hat, then begins to move. The spider will let her keep constant tabs on the situation more easily and recieve any updated instructions without using her phone, though someone might have to actually tell Vertin or Sonetto that... Because she's already blipping away in a faint glimmer of magic, teleported to the highest point she can see. Maybe a building nearby, or maybe a high beam on a bridge over the river. Her minions have already spread a decent distance out from where the group was discussing, so her overall range for monitoring the area is growing steadily over time. After preparing a couple of Black Spears in advance, she then spends the rest of her time conjuring web-wall blockages along either side of the river, hopefully ensuring that nobody unaccounted-for will be approaching the active chase to complicate the situation any further; she doesn't want to risk some stupid rioters coming tumbling onto the scene and distracting their more heroic individuals from the job, after all. Well... She'd be at risk of being distracted too, if she got too comfortable.      Once the vessels they're waiting for make themselves apparent, White spends another moment realigning her senses. She can maneuver wherever is necessary, but for now she's sticking to the general plan; the others will catch Regulus, she just has to run interference. If APPLe takes a shot at her with the makeshift 'cannons', she'll be able to see it coming well enough to defend against the unlikely chance of an inconvenient hit to the head, especially given her distance and high vantage. Which means, she can do whatever she likes. Well, almost. She lets that harpoon rope remain attached to the Apple for now, thinking it will slow the ship down, and instead starts adding more charged Black Spears to her floating array, and begins firing them down at the Manus vessel. Each shot is heavy, like a solid steel spike being launched at barely subsonic velocities, and any shots that hit directly enough to embed in the vessel will start eating away at it further, dissolving the hull over time until they burn out their allotted charge. She paces her shots into a steady rotation that, at a distance, sounds like the muffled firing of a slowed down gatling gun. Maybe if she's lucky, Regulus will take this kind of aggression aimed *not at her* as a sign of good intentions... But destroying one's enemies is self-justifying regardless.
Riku Asakura	'... But we cannot save everyone. The Foundation does not have the space or resources. My suitcase only preserves items between eras, and I have... tried, many times, with people. Focus on what we *can* do.' "Right... focus on what we can do right now and worry about the rest later.  I'll do that, Ms. Timekeeper.  I'll help anyway I can, but for now, let's focus on getting the stone and Ms. Regulus," he says more as an affirmation to himself than to the Timekeeper herself.  It's hard for him to understand the scale that Timekeeper is working with, and it's challenging to accept that he cannot simply stop the Time Storm.   He runs with the others, aiming to catch up with the APPLe.  Of course, what Regulus does at their first meeting is launch the cannons at them.  Riku goes to brace as best that he can, but it's not actual cannon fire, but fireworks and T-shirt cannons, which one hits him across the chest and knocks him over onto his back.   Coughing from the smoke, he stands up after needing a moment to catch his breath, and draws out a strange device in one hand and a capsule in another.  "Standing around doing nothing won't solve anything!" he affirms again, before leaping out towards Audrey's portal and running towards the back of the APPLe.   "You go!" he shouts, scanning the first capsule.  "I go!" he says, scanning a second capsule.  What appears next to him are ghostly copies of Ultraman.  Specifically, Seven and Leo.  He draws the strange device to his chest the moment he reaches the back of the ship and leaps off.  "It's time for my courage to shine bright.  GEEEEEEEEEED!" and with that, a glow of light shines out as Riku changes his shape from a normal human to that of an Ultraman himself.   The form is mostly red, with silver parts that look like armor, mostly clustered along the chest and arms.  He grows very tall, matching the size of the two ships standing up, and tall enough that his upper half is above the water itself.  Steam pours out from bits on his arms and legs as he summons another weapon into his hands.   The Geed Claw, a claw-like weapon, snaps up and towards the chain buried into the side of the APPLe, while Geed himself tries to interpose himself between the APPLe and the other monstrous-looking ship.
Rita Ma	"The Manus Vindictae vessel was a black and blue arcanorganic entity..."      "Oh! Oh. That makes it a little easier, I think?" Rita says, blinkingly startled.      'Waiting' comes uneasily to her, especially in these circumstances. Rita has no material or magical preparations to make; everything she needs, as ever, is beneath her skin. Every so often she glances up-river, thinks about diving in early, and then thinks better of splitting that far off the group; and so there's nothing to do but...      taptap--taptap--taptap--taptap-tap-tap      ... add her own rhythm to London's distant cacophony, fingers on knees.      - - - -      Sonetto gasps      That breaks the spell. Rita bolts upright, glances back at Einar--      <J-IC-Scene> Rita Ma says, "Can you defend me while I'm underwater?"      <J-IC-Scene> Einar says, "Yes."      <J-IC-Scene> Rita Ma says, "Alright. I'll move accordingly."      --and springs into the river, and she's gone.      The water barely ripples as she passes its surface. Then an unfurling glow pierces its murk, like a thin-petaled luminous flower blooming down there; the flower contracts again, and becomes a white bolt moving beneath the water's surface faster than a car could on land.      Other people have the Apple, Rita thinks while her tentacles slice her through the water, and they're getting the harpoons too. But if the ship can just keep up and shoot more, it's no good.      Circling beneath the flagship- typically a bad position for depth charges et al, she knows, but that's what Einar's for- Rita looks upwards for anything that looks like it's responsible for propulsion, flippers or a propeller, and lifts a glowing hand towards it with a moment's taxing focus.      On purpose or not, the following lancing-upwards energy beam is perfectly to the beat. With a thump and a sizzling overflow of its banks, the river briefly glows again.
Veronica	When the Apple rounds the bend, Veronica weighs her options. Going big and loud this instant might only spook this Regulus lady into drastic action... It takes until the hulking Manus vessel comes into view for her to decide it's time for Baker and Seventh to come out. The hands printed on the back of Veronica's vest emerge from the fabric and encircle her in a cocoon of limbs, and the bulky, house-sized brick-and-stone figure of the EGO armor builds itself out of thin air around that. After a brief flex of its limbs to make sure all the pieces are there, Veronica is reminded that action is required immediately by an enormous harpoon thunking into the Apple's deck.     She can't tell exactly what that harpoon's cable is made of, nor does she especially *care* - all that matters now is to break it! The enormous subwoofer-like speakers on her EGO's shoulders power up with a low hum, then project a two-pronged 'beam' of high-powered, telekinetically-contained sound waves that presents a modest threat to the far riverbank's structural integrity.     A moment later, Baker and Seventh hunches over to sweep the beam across the width of the river. With the beam tuned to travel through air, and not water, it foams the surface of the river but does not penetrate to threaten anyone beneath the waves. What it does do, is project acute and intense vibrations into the harpoon's cable as the beam sweeps perpendicular to the line, slicing the cord in two.
Flamel Parsons	A big-ass sword! Flamel can't summon more than giant hands -- summoning a giant body, for him, actually requires multiple psychics working in tandem -- but Einar's got that covered just fine. Four hands, the limit of Flamel's psyche at the moment while he's otherwise occupied with the civs, swirl around the Chur Knight briefly, before surging forward and snatching the sword out of the air, acting as a kind of support-telekinesis for Einar. Two grip the tether to an advantageous angle, and two bring the sword down on it, or saw it, or any number of different maneuvers.     This should leverage the attack power of Einar's sword, while Einar benefits from a free hand and the chance to focus! And, advantageously, he can work to reinforce Veronica's air cutter, yanking the cable to make sure it sweeps across any damage he's already managed to do.
Einar	What, exact, defense does Einar have on hand to protect Rita? Well, as it happens the entire surface of both the Chur and the Clover are conductive of his particular type of ability, and so while his reach looks limited to 'above the water' while he's standing on the top of the Clover in that mech, in actuality he has a much larger line-of-sight and line-of-effect than would appear to be the case. So it goes that when Rita deploys into the water, his attention does follow her-- though it is through the observational feeds of the Clover's lower decks rather than with his own eyes, that seems to be more than enough. The moment there is a hint of danger -- and perhaps just a little before, just in case, because there is nothing stopping repositioning these -- flowers begin to bloom in the water around Rita. They are large, clover-shaped, though the actual space inbetween each petal seems to be as solid as the rest of it despite the apparent absence of physical matter-- and more solid, for that matter, because they are incredibly benign-looking constructs for the sheer destructive force that they can catch without being dispersed. MEANWHILE, the Chur's sword is telekinetically seized and empowered. Einar sees no reason whatsoever not to follow the 'intent' he intuits from the expression of psychic might, and so the HMS Clover simply swerves to put Einar's mech within swiping distance of that chain, joining the other assaults on it for a moment before swerving back into a parallel course.
Odette Raskins	"Focus on what we *can* do." "R.. Right." Odette believes what Vertin's saying, but she's not happy about it. Why should she be? If she had more sway over the Company, if she had made more connections to other worlds, if she had more power like many of the people around her, maybe she wouldn't have to settle for that. Maybe she could do more alongside everyone else. It's not rational thinking, it's not something that'll help right now, and she recognizes that it's the Storm Syndrome seeping in again. Closing her eyes while walking along, she digs her palms right into the sides of her face, then grunts in an attempt to psyche herself up. "Right! We'll save who we can now, and then we'll do even better next time. Just need to keep moving ahead." "Everyone, please coordinate according to Lilian's suggestions." "Raskins is to . . . with the field agents." Brimming with confidence now, Odette smacks the side of her medical case and only winces a little at the light sting from hitting her finger joint on one of the corners. "Everything's ready, Dame Commander. Blunt force and stabbing treatments are all ready to go, and I've got plenty more stuff to handle burns and eye pain depending on how Miss Regulus' light abilities work. I-I've even got tranquilizers if we need to get anyone to settle down between the Storm Syndrome and the... Erm. The masks." "The Manus Vindictae vessel..." "Regulus's ship the Apple is..." One of two ships are described, and that's more than enough for Odette to know what to keep her eyes peeled for. "Then if we see anything black and blue around, we might be able to follow them." She suggests, stumbling briefly as her gaze remains focused on the distant water instead of what's in front of her feet. Odette's prepwork for all this, as usual, is making sure she has all her medical supplies arranged properly for convenient grabbing and jabbing. She checks her injection gun to make sure it's aligned properly at her hip, and she doesn't notice herself tapping her fingers on the medical case when the silence drags on for just a little too long. The red and white boat doesn't even catch her attention much at first, either, until Sonnetto points it out. That's roughly when Odette says the black and blue thing in pursuit of The Apple,, and she feels a lump forming in her throat as she realizes she might not have something to answer for that. She just needs to remind herself that she doesn't have to. Her job here isn't to fight a ship, but to preserve lives and manage injuries. Another deep breath to steady herself, and then the EMT promptly screams when explosions start sounding out all around her. It takes her a moment to realize said explosions are fireworks, but getting pelted with apples from a t-shirt cannon keep her from relaxing as her screams turn into pained yelps. "What the..?! H-hey, cut that out! That's not-"
Odette Raskins	Another frightened yelp comes out when she sees the noticeably less annoying and considerably more dangerous harpoon latching onto the Apple, and then she hastily pulls out and cracks open a handheld flare. "Ah geez... Hey, come on! Hurry over this way, before the whole thing sinks!" Squinting a little more at the ship, however, she spots those tied up Foundation members in a rather precarious situation. She also spots the bulky mecha sporting Einar's own colors hurling that sword into the air, and she stares at it open-mouthed for several sections before forcing herself to focus on doing her job. "Rescue, rescue.. Right. Rescue!" Looking around rapdily to try and find a way across, Odette spots Audrey's convenient space-tear, and she leaves flare by the shore before hurrying through it. Audrey, of course, gets a grateful wave in passing. Stumbling a little as she steps onto the Apple, Odette glances around once to get her bearings before hurrying towards those two Foundation agents. "Odette Raskins, Company EMT. Can you hear me? Are you hurt anywhere? Can you walk?" She asks, pausing between each question to give the agents some time to answer (or not) while she gets to work on cutting their bindings with a basic pocket knife. "Let's get you two out of here first... Ah. Can you make it to that space over there with all the broken glass? It's safe, really!"
Tamamo	' The Philosopher's Stone would end up wherever it happened to be at that time, but as a highly secretive artifact, we may not be able to uncover its location even before the following Storm.'     "I see. Thank you; I now understand our priorities."     'Well, I've worked with worse code phrases.'     Tamamo agrees with Flamel with a trace of reluctance. "I suppose she could have said, 'we are here to claim your precious thing.'" It could (almost) always be worse.     With a few minutes to prepare, Tamamo begins setting up a 'please leave' zone along the region of shore -- or the region of footpaths and roads near to shore -- where she expects they'll have to work. Sticking talismans to rails, walls, and lampposts, they exert a strong yet subtly difficult to perceive compulsion to take a different path. Without entirely enclosing the area, she can't make it invisble to others, but even people with a strong motivation to go look at the river will find it confusing and frustrating to get there.     As for actually curing people of their madness, she'd rather leave the first attempt to Flamel. Working on a lot of people at once, if they're moving around, is more difficult for her, and she'd really like the time to check how her techniques would affect them... which is time she doesn't really have, in 'a few minutes.' Instead, she takes up Einar's offer, and leaps over to the HMS Clover, and hurriedly sets up a small, talisman-bounded field of protective filtering, shielding a space on deck from which to work without having to worry about external, mind-altering influences.     Immediately upon completing her preparation, Tamamo looks up toward the moon. If the odd appearance is the result of her perceptions being altered from reality, it should look different from inside a shielded area. If it's something to do with the moon, itself, or with the space between, then there should be no difference.     The protective field doesn't do much to t-shirt cannons -- but Tamamo snaps out a fan to catch one, twirling it around to drain momentum, and then looking over the design with a critical eye to fashion. "Hmm..."     'These Foundation plods have been stalking me since my latest heist, no doubt thinking they could pirate the pirate!'     "Ms. Captain!" That's probably the wrong address, in English. "Your pursuer is not part of the Foundation. It is truly quite concerning, and time is growing short. Though this is frightfully hurried, I hope you will consider joining us somewhere safe from the storm." There's no audible capital letters, there.
Natsuki Nuki	I would be curious to know-- what do you think of those who enjoy the storms? A question lingers in the air towards the fiercely stylish tiger-eared Osakan woman, who had joined the restrained-seeming Vertin and the deliberate-seeming Sonetto. The 'madness of the era', the way people dance and scream and gnash their teeth in joy and rapturous madness... "They'll dance whether I want them to or not. Open their mouths and call for a drop just for them. I could drop a bolt of lightning down and it wouldn't turn the dancers from their dance." Natsuki shrugs. "It's only fair. The dancers can't turn me from my storms, but," A frown, deepening on her lips, twitches on her face and then works out through a sigh. "If the dance is convincing enough, maybe I'll entertain them. If I herald the rain, being stingy with myself is harming everyone, isn't it? And spiting the faithful..." It's a complicated prospect for her. The tug of being dimly responsible for where her presence and displeasure spills clearly hangs a bit tighter on her than might be expected for a terrible mythological monster. I'm not sure if a charcoal deer still runs from the fire. Perhaps I'm a lucky reusable canary? "A charcoal deer?" Natsuki appraises, broken from her Einar-directed thoughts by a quirk of a smile and the leak of an eyetooth over lip in grin and birdchirp appreciation. "Much better than a re-usable canary. One of those would be native to a forest of ashes, wouldn't it? 'Herald of beginning and end', that's not too bad. 'The storm syndrome can't affect you'," A chuff follows, Natsuki working her thumbs out of her pockets. "I see." If we encounter any civilians who have put on their masks, then... it is best to attempt nonlethal measures until they are transformed. Natsuki frowns. "What, just whack the mask off of them? Or just knock them out and leave them on the ground? If it's transforming them won't it. . . finish, while they're down?" She inquires, her own eyes tracking out over the surrounds but the jeweled serpent-eyes on her belt buckle staring directly at Sonetto. "Either way works for me, but if you want me to leave them a way, be clear." Natsuki directs, returning her attention to the Timekeeper's assistant with a pan back of slit-eyed and dark-ringed attention. Do anything you must, with your discretion. If there ends up being a reprimand for it, then I'll take the blame. We don't have the luxury of being bogged down in details right now. "Anything I must? Then, apologies for your excuses in advance." Natsuki rolls a shoulder as she sets back in amusement, then, sets to work. Once she's out of mosey-mode, the Lady Nue is leans forward and as soon as she pushes off from the slight crease of her nice shoes, the disappears in a silhouette of dark smoke, bounding up onto a roof rather than tracking on the packed streets and being carried down to the riverline of the Thames in a billow of black clouds, heels and shoulders gouting the faint nimbus of flight without a beat of wings -- entirely carried or leaping and leaving trail -- until she catches sight of the Apple, and its chase.
Natsuki Nuki	Pausing, Natsuki falls victim to a first barrage, immediately being cloth burrito'ed in the center of her dark-vested mass by a T-shirt bearing OFFICAL RADIO APPLe marks and 'oof!'-ing the shorebound Nue back a quarter-step as she reaches up to catch the merch bonked into her chest. "Huh," The well-dressed chimera woman decides, looking down at the shirt, and then clearly deciding over a second what she's doing with it: putting it in her jacket pocket such that it half sticks out with a curl of Regulus' bright-eyed face visible outside her pocket. "Good merch, nice." Vertin and Sonetto's people are already calling to the shore, and Ultraman and Einar's ship-mecha are doing interposing acts, so Natsuki stands on the shore of the River Thames and spiritually reaches up into the clouds, the rains of London, the great storms of the British Isles, and summons up a storm she recognizes and knows, the one she can grip hold of and own for a moment. The dark cloud smoking off of her rises up, fingering towards the sky, seeking-seeping into the sky as miserable mixing mist. A kraka-THOOM! of thunder peals, point blank, deafening-loud and blinding-bright as it falls on thing but Natsuki herself, where she '''catches''' the energy and spins, forked finger directing the channel of local atmospheric electricity of the storms of London in its entirety into the Manus vessel down the span of the Thames from the shore.
Rita Ma	Through the Clover's scans, Einar can see the blossoming ribbon-tentacles with Rita at their center, now appearing dressed in white. Each one presents its edge to slice through the water or its flat to catch friction, whipcrack-propelling her as needed.      If the flagship affords her a second's lull, she pokes a clover-flower's edge tentatively with a finger, like it might zap her. A little bubble of wonder escapes her mouth when it doesn't, and then she wraps a ribbon around it, trying to hold it closer. Yay!
Lilian Rook	'Regulus also wears sunglasses and a hat'     Lilian snorts quietly.     'She's still quite impressive, ever since we were kids.' "I see." she says; the way that means neither 'moving along' or 'I don't care', but 'that's a lot to think about' instead. "Not that it's anything similar, but I'd be a hypocrite to say much more. I understand what it's like to rely on a partner for their sense and let the work fall as it may. I hope you keep her for a little longer." It's an odd thing to say, while visibly armed, and in 'talk while we walk'.     'But there are people here whom we can save...'     'You mentioned we can't tell people about the Storm, to avoid panic, but'     'Are you discussing telling irrelevant people about the Storm?'     Lilian doesn't need to breathe deep to focus on this one. In the same tone that came out for Sonetto before, she repeats out loud, "Stay thy hand not for unnecessary persons." For once, it isn't a reassurance to herself, or an explanation for someone else, but, in its own way, an implicit command.     'You've worked with these Elites before, haven't you?'     "Unfortunately." Lilian replies, unable to help a complicated, fond-sarcastic smile. "Well, plenty of them aren't bad people, once you get to know them. But I wouldn't want to represent them like you're doing with the Foundation." She catches Vertin's gaze a moment later, but doesn't need to trace it. She can feel the slight weight of black iron and magnetite on her breast so well that she could tell if the little occult pendant were resting upside down or sideways without looking.     "Is something the matter?" Lilian says, tilting her head just slightly.     Sonetto's intel about the comparative merits and details of the two vessels raises an eyebrow up by half. The fact that this information is something Sonetto clearly had to scrape up herself, probably secondhand, isn't lost on her. The way Lilian stares is 'reevaluative' in some difficult to pin down sense. "Well, it won't exactly be difficult to sort out who they're chasing on the Thames." she offers. "If Regulus decides to be a problem, I'll happily lean on that assistance of yours. I'm--" Lilian pauses, then changes what she was going to say. "--used to rougher customers."     'If we encounter any civilians who have put on their masks, then...'     Lilian's eyes widen. She looks to Vertin, too. "Masks? You mentioned 'monsters' before; I'd already assumed they had access to powerful summoners, or at least dedicated lifecrafters, but what's this about transformation? Are they a terrorist group or--" Don't say anything about Dimo. Don't compare this to Dimo. Pick anything else. "--a vampire cult?" Lilian stumbles out, having never watched any pop sci-fi or read any YA slop to compare to. She says ". . . Thank you for informing us now." in a way that means 'I wish you'd told us earlier'. Either way, there's only one real conclusion to take away; especially thise close to midnight.     'We have the authority to disable her and reclaim it off of her person if that is what she forces us to do.'     "Understood. Moving."
Timekeeper	"My ... 'Little thing'....?"     The Philosopher's Stone is an ancient and highly sought-after arcane relic that's only a rumor to the public! It's part of basic St. Pavlov Foundation Guidelines For Peaceful Public Perception to not go *shouting around* about whatever artifact you're trying to retrieve! Who knows who might overhear, and get scared that some arcanist bullshit is happening nearby? The whole point of the Foundation is to minimize the presence of dangerous arcanist bullshit in the public consciousness! "Miss Sonetto!!"     "I-- I didn't realize..." Sonetto's eyes widen when she hears the captives calling out to her. "Th-this is too far! She has taken Foundation personnel captive!"     In contrast to Sonetto, who's readying herself for imminent combat, Vertin stands a slight ways back on the slope with their arms crossed. Their visible eye is steadily trained on the approaching ship, voice even. "Stay calm, Sonetto. Remember, if she's willing to work with the Foundation, then we're meant to rehabilitate her, not get revenge." "Of... of course, Timekeeper."     Sonetto's first priority is to recover the captured Foundation agents! She can't scale up to match the size of the boats like so many people can-- and not a single one of those methods, whether mechs, transformations, or EGO, are familiar to her-- but after a quick glance around to make sure that she won't be caught underfoot accidentally, Sonetto draws her ornate glass fountain pen as a wand. She holds it up in front of her face and closes her eyes while a glow forms in the core of the pen, and streams out in ribbons as she writes that spiral into the incantation she speaks.     "Ascoltare. Capire. Pregare. Perdonare."     Woven shields of light bloom into existence to block the (t-shirt) cannonfire aimed in their direction, with as much seriousness as if it was fully lethal weaponry. Looking towards the Captain of the ship with somewhat more hostility than she was instructed to have, Sonetto calmly speaks to Vertin without turning away. "The enemy has opened fire on us. Please remain close to me, Timekeeper."     The two of them take Audrey's portal to the ship, and Sonetto immediately steps between Regulus and the captured Foundation goons, wand leveled at her. "It is a *serious* crime to assault and capture Foundation agents like this! Surrender now and do not use your arcane skill, and we will take you in for registration and perhaps offer a deal if you are compliant."     The white spider on top of Vertin's hat displaces the weight of it just enough that it slides a little *too* far down their face, tilting from brim-over-eye to hat-over-forehead. Vertin raises up a finger to pet the back of the spider-- she's not sure why it's there, but she trusts that White had a reason-- and gently pinches the back brim to tug the hat back into place.     "Regulus. The Manus Vindictae are after you as well, for the object you stole. From them and other threats, the Foundation will offer you protection." "Let's get you two out of here first..."     While Sonetto guards them from the terrible retribution of a pirate woman with a funny scarf, Vertin squats down along with Odette and offers out an arm for one of the agents to lean on. "Are you able to support the other one, Odette? We need to get off this ship before the Manus sinks it."
Lilian Rook	. . . . . . . .     The snatches of familiar songs that drift through Lilian's mind while waiting in position have nothing to do with the end-of-the-world festival all around; at least not in a supernatural sense. Old habit, expecting to be deployed in place for hours, conjures the efficient split in attention, and the circumstances simply remind her of one in particular. It's her awareness of what's going on that makes her keep it to herself. It'd only increase tensions if--     'As an unregistered arcanist, and for the crime of assaulting Foundation staff, you will be detained and your possession of the 'little thing''     'Is that what we're going with? We're going to take her little thing?'     Lilian starts choking on her own spit from the effort of not coughing out loud. A piece of her footing slides on the steep riverbank, and she has to catch herself from tumbling all the way down like a ragdoll.     'Goooooood Afternoon, London! This is Radio APPLe coming to you from the River Thames!'     'Miss Sonetto!! We're sorry. She got the drop on us!'     No. It's fine. Though her hopes of the enemy using a little surplus pirate PT boat are dashed, everything is more or less going to plan. The Elites are properly working together for once, and given Rita is now in the water, Lilian's confidence could scarcely be any higher. Gathering herself up, she taps Tamamo on the shoulder to signal 'I'm going', and with a mutter of "First things first." drowned out by the cannons, disappears.     Or rather, appears on the deck of The Apple. Though she'd assigned herself the job of incapacitating Regulus in particular, there are several extra steps to go through, so her second tactical back-pat is on Odette, ostensibly taking overwatch while she assesses their condition and removes the sloppy pile of ropes, and using the spare time to scan around the deck and fire shots into the cannons she has a straight view of, not particularly caring where the 'casings' end up on the rolling deck. Once Odette has the agents, Lilian wordlessly slides in between them, tries to say "Hold still and don't throw up." to the captured agents, has her voice completely lost in the fireworks and explosions, and drops them back off on shore.
Einar	Up on deck, the Chur Knight turns vaguely in Natsuki's direction. The chest in the face speaks as it talks, and its voice carries just fine-- it is Einar's that flows out, "That is a fascinating answer, to which I believe I do not have an altogether adequate reply. Deeply regrettable as it is that we haven't the time for elaboration, allow me at least to say that it is a fortunate thing that someone who is prayed to has a notion to, at times, reply to those prayers." The HMS Clover activates an exterior device that makes a sound close-to-but-not-quite-whale-song -- whatever creature it is imitating in making this noise was certainly whale-adjacent, but it doesn't correspond to a known species from any modern Earth at all -- that can reasonably be interpreted to be a 'you're welcome'.
James Bond	Telling them may drive them towards the promises of the Manus Vindictae, where they will only be used as pawns towards their ends!     Bond stops in his tracks as if something were thrown across his path. He resumes his search for transportation, but the pause is as noticeable as the flash-tightening of his grasp on the car keys.     His watch provides him with an audio feed of the briefing, piped in from the microcamera he'd mounted earlier. He swallows the regret which the tricolor moon beams down upon him in as much measure as he's able. The silver grand-tourer he finds would normally bring a smile to his face. Reflected in the sheen of the brand new paint job, Bond can only notice the lines that his long-hardened heart carved in his face. He isn't sure if it's the coming storm or his own imagination that set them to dancing, but his concentrated grimace only twists them further. Above all, he knows he can't drive it with a civilian standing atop the hood and strumming an acoustic guitar.     Bond snatches it out of their hands and shatters it against their back, sending them tumbling dazed from the hood. "Sorry," he says, stepping over the fragments and the dazed civilian alike to open up the door. The key's teeth contour perfectly to the lock, and to the ignition after. The tenor growl of the classic's straight-six engine rises above the din of the many impromptu concerts. Bond pops the hood, steps out and reaches into his blazer, procuring a flask. Instead of taking a drink as might be expected (or feared) he pours it over the engine. "Bottoms up." Heat-activated nanites drool from the flask and come alive upon contact with the hot engine. Bond closes the hood and gets back into the car just in time to see the once-inocuous radio console swivel to reveal a new series of still-being-labeled switches and buttons.     Flipping a brand new silver toggle, the local broadband is piped in through the radio as he peels out in pursuit. Regulus is likely coming from upriver, if you take a car that way to search for her.     "Understood," says Bond, adjusting the mirror and grimacing as the same lines from before haunt the perimeter of his eyes. I always told myself I hated these people for never having done enough. The DB5 peels out of its parking space, whipping around in an expertly controlled rapid u-turn.      The fireworks wouldn't ordinarily be a concern with Bond in one of his cars--or even in this one, enhanced with added features thanks to a timely gadget. But ordinarily, Bond isn't struggling with hallucinations. The bright and vibrant colors both set him to swerving and prod further at the feelings he's trying to put off examining. That wasn't true. The Aston jumps a curb at speed and Bond slams on the breaks, turning against the acceleration to avoid hitting a crowd by a margin of inches. For some of them, maybe it was. But for every one I saw and wanted to hurt, more were fighting and being hurt for whatever ounce of joy they could find.     Shifting down, Bond slams the gas and turns hard to get back onto the road, chasing the Apple and its Manus Vindictae assailants. The shapes of the ships grows closer and closer in the windshield, until the harpoon smashes into the Apple's port side. Hand on the gear lever, Bond's thumb flicks open a just-installed secret compartment and presses a button. The Aston's headlights fade into the car as he hammers the brake to flick its back end out. The tires screech on the road as the noses of two machine guns emerge from the headlight housings. Bond weaves expertly around a crowd on an embankment, and once clear, hammers at the chain of the harpoon with a barrage of high-powered fire from the machine guns.
Regulus	''This is special agent Flamel Parsons, from a vague yet ominous government organization!'' This is the day Regulus has spent her entire life preparing for. The secret government has finally learned to be frightened of Regulus tearing their whole organization open with the power of free love and music and a resounding love of peace. She's not sure yet if the Foundation works for the secret government or if the secret government is actually just working for the Foundation but that doesn't matter right now. She's hearing voices in her head. Fortunately, she knows exactly what to do. "Quick APPLe! Put on the arcane device before they prompt you to mutiny!" She enunciates with capital letters but as APPLe darts into the cabin he reemerges wearing a tin foil hat rather than any actual device. This grants him the power of--well nothing. Regulus didn't actually test it out to see if it actually worked before she doesn't usually get people trying to read her mind. Flamel can cut free the harpoon with something suitably sharp, it's not invincible, though chaos continues to unfold around him. Out loud she shouts, "Sorry I'm not a government stooge!" ''Audrey summons a portal and boards the Apple!'' The launched carbuncle flies through the portal and comes out the other end, dropping back down nice and frazzled by Regulus. "You there...! It's your chance to defend this vessel from the forces of austerity--" The carbuncle immediately leaps at Regulus and chomps her leg. Regulus yelps, hopping back and shaking her leg off until it goes flying off and rolling across the deck of the ship. She is about to answer Audrey when she sees the gunmen. MECHA?? Regulus is shaken a little. "Ah... I see... the police really upgraded their security robots!" Regulus manages, a bead of sweat dripping down her face. ''Black Spears'' The Manus Vindictae starts taking fire from White's magic. The Manus Vindictae Vessel shudders under each strike but appears to be made of sterner stuff than the Apple. Nevertheless, black ooze drips out of the wounds--yes, wounds seems a little more appropriate than damage. The vessel starts pushing up out of the water some. It screeches and a few women climb out of the vessel, each one wearing a large black mask--more a helmet really--that is vaguely draconic and has many sharp teeth. Black goo drips out of the helmet as they retaliate with a barrage of black bolts of lightning aimed at White's general position. ''GEEEEEEEEEED'' As Riku interposes himself between the two vessels he makes himself a BIIIIIIIIG target. The Manus Vindictae vessel opens up its jaws and attempts to CHOMP down on his leg and then shake him around like a ragdoll. Perhaps Flamel can guide that claw to slice the harpoon free? ''Rita in the Thames!'' Rita finds that the creature is largely propelling itself through four limbs and a long bestial tail covered in armor. It seems to be dragging itself along--it's not mega fast which is why it's overrunning a sailboat. But as she unleashes a lancing beam of light at its underside... It explodes open. The creature screams in pain as black ichor floods the river. It's an unpleasant substance. It doesn't smell tasty at all. It's wrong and gross. The blow jostles the Manus Vindictae goons, sending a number tumbling into the water whereupon they try to make it to shore. The vessel tries to puncture Rita's body repeatedly by stomping on her with its very sharp legs.
Regulus	''Veronica and Flamel cut at the cable!'' Flamel gets a sword! He's able to slice into the cable hard enough that, along with the machine gun fire from Bond, renders it in tatters enough that one more good strike ought to do it. Veronica is able to finish off the cable with her sonic slice which rends the rope in twain and even shatters the hook. ANOTHER mech appearing is only adding to Regulus's growing concerns. She has no idea who is an enemy and who is a friend and saying 'We are friends, really!' when it seems like everybody's after her and maybe each other is not really encouraging her to surrender to anyone and she's already inclined to never give up, never surrender so it's easy to default to. Bond's ''Company EMT!'' "We're being boarded... This ship can't manage a crew of fifty!" It's considerably less than fifty people on the boat but Regulus is starting to see the writing on the wall regarding on whether she can actually lose these people while staying on her boat. The Foundation agents don't seem to be that badly beat up, just some light bruising. They are tied up, but it's normal rope. Odette can just cut through it to free them. "Thanks... Who are you people?" The Foundation Agent asks but doesn't seem entirely caught up to speed on Elite matters. ''I hope you'll consider joining us somewhere safe from the storm.'' "Ahah! There's no storm Captain Regulus can't brave--" Though Regulus's confidence seems more to convince herself than Tamamo right now. And not because of a 'storm', she's definitely not afraid of that. But she's starting to suspect these people might be right that they're not with the other people because they're trying to kill each other? Did another great war break out or something? She's not sure. But she feels a compulsion to not go to the shore that Tamamo is setting up wards so she wrenches her wheel to push the Apple towards the OTHER shoreline. "Be careful with that t-shirt, miss! It's gonna be a collectible one day!" Natsuki can readily catch a t-shirt for herself--a collectible! It's bound to be worth something! Better keep it safe! But she also sends electricity crashing down to the Manus VIndictae vessel, giving the ship a nasty shock and also jolting the many Manus VIndictae members that have fallen into the water. They go still and start sinking into the water, leaking black goop. Regulus is no longer really concerned with keeping the Foundation members captive. She was intended on letting them go after healing them with the power of Mick Jagger so when Sonetto moves in between her and the agents she says, "You've got some serious style, love. Take your people, but don't think I'm going to give up that easily... But don't worry, I don't plan of making use of my arcane skill just yet." ''The Foundation will offer you protection.'' Regulus smiles at Vertin. She's not above delivering a thumping but she is also someone who believes in her own message enough that she's willing to let it stand on her own. And Vertin's giving her an opportunity to deliver that message. "That's sweet to offer, love, but...can't you see I don't want to be protected? Maybe registration is fine now, but it can be used against us. Wouldn't you rather ''live''?" She is briefly deterred from her soapbox to ask, "What's Manus Vindictae?"
Regulus	''Lilian destroys cannons'' Regulus nor APPLe are inclined to prevent Lilian from wrecking those cannons at this point. The carbuncle rolls over to Lilian and whines at her while bonking her leg lightly. This doesn't stop her from cinematically detonating several cannons with well placed shots, resulting in minor fires on the deck of the ship but nothing too serious. This results in Regulus shouting another 'Bugger!' but between Vertin, Odette, and Lilian they can certainly rescue the Foundation agents no problem. The Manus Vindictae vessel is dying and leaking black goo and its agents are tumbling all over and those that aren't are concerned with swimming to shore. But the beast has one more trick up its sleeve. It opens up its maw and unleashes a black laser that erupts out from its body and THROUGH the hull of the Apple, bursting a ginormous hole through one side and out the other. "My Apple!" Regulus wails, having gathered up some--but not all--of her precious records and shoved them into her back. The shore is rapidly approaching. "Agghh... I'm not going to have enough time... Farewell my beautiful records..." She makes her way towards the railing of her boat and hops up on top of it in a crouch. APPLE moves in between her and the Elites in a maneuver they clearly planned out in advance and unleashes a bright flash of light, briefly obscuring her and him from view... ..and when the light fades, Regulus drops down on the shore near Bond right as the ship sinks/crashes into it. She says, cheekily, "Better luck next time, vague yet ominous government man!" As she-- Vanishes from sight. PROBLEMS 1) The Apple is sinking and is beyond saving. Anything you want to seize from it, such as the records, you only have moments to do it! You also have moments to ESCAPE the sinking vessel though thankfully it IS close to shore. 2) Regulus has VANISHED and gone invisible! Along with her little thing! She's not making you grabbing her little thing any easier! 3) Some Manus Vindictae goons have survived the horror and are clambering up on the shore. Without a Regulus in sight they have immediately started harassing any civilians that remain in the area and are swinging giant hammers at them and the like. 4) A crowd has started an impromptu dance party in between you and where Regulus was last seen. They have completely lost themselves to the music. They'll have to be dispersed somehow even through their trance. 5) That black goo leaking out of the corpse doesn't...seem good. Maybe there's a way to clean that up? Maybe it doesn't matter with the Storm coming.
Veronica	The Manus Vindictae ship-beast has several cans of whoopass opened at its location, enough so that Veronica doesn't see much cause to join the beatdown. Instead she turns her attention to the thoroughly perforated Apple (the ship) as Regulus and APPLe (the apple) vacate the deck and promptly disappear from view.     Seeing the radio-pirate's goods slipping ever closer to a watery grave, Veronica reaches out with her mind and the same telekinetic force that powers Baker and Seventh takes hold of the records and player. From afar, she lifts them carefully from the ship and depositing them on the shore next to Tamamo. Hopefully Regulus saw that - with how important the records are, it might earn some crucial goodwill!     With Regulus's most prized possessions recovered, Veronica turns her attention ashore and pivots around toward Regulus's last known position. Baker and Seventh's speakers emit a stream of high-pitched sonar clicks, trying to zero in on the invisible arcanist through echolocation - but unless someone else clears the crowd, there might be too many bodies in the way!
Riku Asakura	The Manus Vindictae ship tears into Geed's leg with the unexpected bite, shaking the Ultraman like a ragdoll with unexpected ferocity.  However, with it taking enough damage to start sinking and expelling black blood, he's freed and flips back to his feet, sparks being the only noticeable damage from the attack for now.   Back on his feet, he's unable to interpose himself between the massive beam from the Manus Vindictae ship and the Apple, which causes the poor Apple to start sinking, and Regulus to start abandoning it.  However, it seems like someone needs something from the ship, and there are still his allies on board, so he moves towards the Apple with a purpose.   He grabs the side of the ship and, with effort, starts pushing it towards shore.  He tries to be as gentle as possible with it, but prioritizes trying to get the thing ashore before it sinks.  He eventually lifts; he's strong enough to easily lift the ship and set it on the bank of the Thames itself, though it might cause some traffic problems if there are roads here.   This takes his effort and focus, and hopefully, the other ship doesn't take another shot at either him or the Apple, though it appears to be sinking thanks to Rita and the others.
Audrey Basque	Several people end up on the Apple! And there's a lot of talking, commotion, and in the end-- it doesn't much matter, because Regulus had an escape plan all along. Which means protecting the Apple just became so much less important. Audrey abandons setting up a barrier, especially since Lilian moved the Foundation staff away and so there's... really nothing left for them on the ship, except to make an escape. Not to mention Riku is currently lifting the ship! That's-- Audrey needs a second, to catch her footing, shouting a "Thank you!" at the massive Geed.     Then she turns to look at Vertin and Sonetto.     "The tear is two-way, if you step back in you'll go back to where we were before," she indicates, motioning towards the pearlescent crack that's still crinkling gently on the ship's deck.     "I'll head to the shore to take care of the civilians there! You're free to follow, I'll make another tear."     It's really no big deal; she's dressed for ease of casting, and the difference between teleporting just herself and leaving a tear behind is minimal.     Audrey squints, to get a good look at the shoreline, and then steps forward, opening another tear and slipping through it, to reappear on the shore where the Manus goons are turning on the civilians.     She stomps her foot down, twists a line of magic, and presses down. The Manus goons-- but not the civilians, or anyone else-- are suddenly subjected to a sharp increase in gravity, and rather than pick a value and pray, Audrey's turning the metaphorical dial up until the last one of them is down on the ground, making sure not to go beyond that.
Tamamo	Tamamo stuffs the collectible(?) t-shirt up her sleeve until all sign of it disappears. She'll give it another look, later on.     A blinding blast and getaway.     For a moment, Tamamo's concerned that Regulus has successfully teleported away -- but she then reminds herself that the stated ability was manipulation of light. Tamamo isn't immune to blinding, but it's Not Very Effective on her, either, here in her warded space on Einar's ship. It's only a little delay before she starts working out a plan. She tries, in the meantime, not to imagine what arcanorganic seabeast blood smells like. Something truly awful, no doubt. <J-IC-Scene> Tamamo says, "Lilian, please fetch me a familiar item. One of these records may do." <J-IC-Scene> Veronica says, "I'll get you the records, uh, Miss Fox!" <J-IC-Scene> Tamamo says, "With haste, if you please."     Once she has the item -- any item that Regulus has, ideally, recently touched and cared about -- Tamamo sets it and herself down, legs folded under her, and begins her scrying. Feeling out the threads of familiarity like this won't let her pierce invisibility, but it will let her see where her target presently is -- and she can then relay that information to everyone else, foiling any attempt to simply lose pursuit while invisible.
Rita Ma	Rita hunches behind the Einar-gifted clover while the beast lashes out with its hindlegs. One, two, three awful impacts- and then as its struggles slow, the black ooze polluting the water tells her it's time to go.      The masks 'convert' people, right? This ooze feels awful. Am I in danger? Ms. Timekeeper didn't say anything about goo, she thinks, scrunching her eyes shut. But the Apple's sinking anyway, so...!      Rita bursts up onto the shore again, re-raveling herself into her old outfit in a distortion of chromatophore-colors. Several of the Manus monsters harassing civilians nearby lose a limb or two without an obvious mechanism of injury, even as she spits up a little black-tinged water and wipes her eyes with her sleeve.      "Eugh. Thanks, Mr. Einar," she mumbles, "but..." But she couldn't quite keep her end of the deal. Oh well.      Actually, there's a thought. Having regrettably gotten a bit of the goop in her mouth, Rita tries to test whether that's a salient enough connection to the Manus monsters- if they, after all, count as 'monsters' in the first place. Lifting a hand towards one of the hammer-toting ones: "STOP," she mentally commands as it advances on a civilian. A cloaked tentacle stands at the ready to kill in case that doesn't do it, but if it does, a bit of extra manpower could be rustled up for catching Regulus.
James Bond	The sight of that laser tearing a hole through the Apple has Bond's hands clutching the wheel in a white-knuckle grip. Better to sink the ship and everyone on it than risk anything or anyone falling into the wrong hands--is that it? The Aston reaches the shore just as Regulus herself does.      Gone. Something about the word bores a pit into his stomach. But it is true that as far as he can see, Regulus vanished. She's a 'nice-to-have,' and if it were only her, he'd leave it at that. Since she ostensibly still has the Stone, he won't. The issue is the people that have sprung up around the car. Why do you keep following me? I'm not one of you. I was never brave enough to--      Bond's thumb and forefinger pinch the webbing between the same, on his opposite hand, hard enough to turn the skin there white as a sheet. Ignoring willfully his reflection in the rear view, Bond reminds himself of the mission. Doing that sets a ache in his chest, even if he knows that he doesn't have to task himself to it in the way he would have, years ago.      A steadying breath reminds him that he can disperse these people gently, if not gracefully or *as* gently as Tamamo or Parsons would. With the car forcibly parked in the middle of one crowd, Bond flips a lever on the radio labeled 'OIL.' The Aston appears to suddenly spring a massive leak, a pool of inky black oil spreading outwards from beneath the car. Setting the ones in his vicinity to stumbling and slipping on the sudden oil slick, Bond opens the passenger door for Flamel.      Spikes emerge from the DB5's tires after Bond flips a switch labeled TRACTION, and following a slow and careful extraction from the crowd around him, he's off again, the spikes retracting. "You'll want your seatbelt on," he says, downshifting and gunning the acceleration to draw both a tenor growl from the Aston and a solid push from inertia.
Flamel Parsons	"Sorry I'm not a government stooge!"     "There's no shame! Really! Lots of people have been st-- organizational-manipulation-challenged! And the suicides and framings are just a stereotype, most pawns of a vague yet ominous government agency get to become owners of a small business!" He calls out, in a faltering tone. "...And I'm not saying you are anyway!!"     No dice. She's gone. And the other problems, he probably can't help...     He readies up to hop into Bond's car, where he'll dive into the passenger seat with practiced ease -- he actually is ready to do so without Bond even stopping, if he wants to do a stylish skid -- and zips into the astral plane as fast as he can. Infectious dance plagues are actually one of the original psychohazards, so it's something he's well-equipped to handle, but it'll still take it out of him to do that this close to the storm... And as he does, he releases pulse after pulse of intense psychometric scanning. It should at least reveal Regulus' footsteps, or the passage of her more intense emotions, especially if cross-referenced with whatever Tamamo can get from the sympathetic connection she's looking to acquire.
Timekeeper	"Wouldn't you rather ''live''?"     "Yes," Vertin nods, basically unresponsive to the combat happening around them, having propped the captives up for Lilian to take earlier. They're just not really a combatant! "And I would rather you do as well." "What's Manus Vindictae?"     Vertin closes their eyes for a moment. Of all the secretive organizations to *not* be aware of, it's the one currently firing arcane weaponry at her and trying to either rob her or pressgang her into service. "A terrorist organization, with racial supremacist goals and a willingness to kill with little provocation. You are a target of theirs." "But don't worry, I don't plan of making use of my arcane skill just yet."     "My problem is not 'yet', Miss Regulus!" Sonetto protests, while the ship careens around under fire. The final attack of the Manus Vindictae ship rocks the deck beneath them, forcing Vertin to grip onto a railing and Sonetto to stumble and lose track of Regulus in the moment when Regulus starts to make her escape onto shore.     She fires off an arcing barrage of light in Regulus's direction that peels off of elaborate cursive writing in the air-- "Regna sereno intenso ed infinito!"-- but they paff into the ground harmlessly. Without hesitating, Sonetto jumps onto shore when Riku safely maneuvers it close, and begins running up the slope to get a better lookout. Vertin, meanwhile, takes an extra short diversion on the ship, kneeling down to scoop up several records and a t-shirt, admiring it bemusedly before tucking the salvage under her arm.     To the spider, and also to the transponder, they relay some simple orders before vaulting over the rail to follow Sonetto. "Anyone with countermeasures to invisibility, pair up with someone who has fast transportation. We can try and circle around her to pin her down."     To discourage the Manus Vindictae arcanists from coming onto shore, Sonetto flourishes her glasfeder again, and out of its tip comes an abstract painting-esque cloud of luminous starry-black energy. "For I have sworn thee fair; more perjured I // to swear against the truth so foul a lie." The cloud explodes, star-fragments swirling around the Manus and pulsing with strobelight, attempting to blind them.
Einar	Divine General Einar weighs his options as he surveys the situation. He has ways that he can stifle a quarry he can't see, but the question is whether or not it is worth the risks. Without a clear indicator to the contrary from Vertin, the default assumption is no. This reality seems fairly fragile, on the whole, to function in the way that it does. He's also going to have to stow at least two large objects regardless of all other circumstances-- and he's currently thinking it'll be three. He adjusts one of his comms to the Clover-- but before he can finish ordering them to communicate with Rita, she's back on-shore and apologizing. The hulking Chur Knight turns in her direction, shaking its head. "A plan rarely survives contact with the enemy, Miss Rita. We adapted as well as we could. Are you alright?" In the absence of an answer from Vertin, the Chur Knight turns towards the shore and raises both of its hands, as if seizing on a very large set of knobs, and begins twisting slowly. The clovers that begin materializing along the cityscape that surround the location of the Apple's beaching steadily form a wall-- it fences in the possible escape routes until, finally, a significant area of London is simply boxed in. The only way to physically go for somebody who has to move BODILY through space is back towards the wreckage, and the water-- where the HMS Clover hovers just above the Thames, now. Lowering both hands, the Chur makes a sweeping gesture. The Apple's beached wreckage is swallowed up in the same white-space Einar sent his subordinates to earlier, leaving behind an indentation in the beach. In the cockpit, Einar sighs in exasperation-- and with some amount of exertion.
White	White reacts to being fired back upon with the good common sense to use her high vantage and duck down, making herself a harder target with the edge of the surface she's standing on as a slight shield against the black lightning. Seeing as Rita has struck a severe blow from beneath the water's surface and Natsuki's lightning has disabled a bunch of the people manning the living ship, White settles for giving it one brisk volley of Black Bullets, scattering explosive projectiles across the top surface of the ship while keeping it restrained enough that she doesn't miss and endanger Rita beneath it. The explosions aren't strong enough to tear a vessel of that size apart without a few more waves back to back, but it's enough to scatter whoever's left standing atop the ship and stifle their attempts to fight back, like they're being shelled with mortars. Mortars with some kind of abstract flesh-eating acid component, anyway... There's a reason it's dark magic! The living 'ship's' final attack is quite intense, though. There's not much White can do if hammering it with more firepower doesn't stop the beam from firing, and as long as Rita looks like she can handle evasion with Einar's support well enough not to be in danger of sharp-legged underwater steppies, she's better off moving to a new position and a new task.      Fortunately, her spiderlings spread all around did exactly as needed, keeping her aware of new developments. The one on Vertin's hat falls off backward when flashbanged but catches itself with a string of web and climbs back up to their shoulder. White arrives the next moment, teleporting down from her vantage onto the sinking ship beside Vertin. Her eyes narrow as she looks in the direction Regulus fled, eyes narrowing and then widening trying to get more than flickering results from the Evil Eye. Invisibility... This isn't something she deals with often, and it's unfortunately tricky. Someone else is aiming for the records, so White shelves the idea of using them as bait. When a call for help with the bystanders is made, White peers out over the side of the sinking ship; if she can't see Regulus at all, the Evil Eye shouldn't affect her nearly as much as the pedestrians and rioters, which means she can use it more or less freely! She activates the Evil Eye of Fear and the Evil Eye of Repulsion, giving the crowd both mental and physical impulses to move *away* from her, and thereby get out of the way of the other elites. If the civs get a little tangled up in the webs she laid earlier on the opposite side of that street, then hopefully they'll also stay there for the immediate future and remain out of the way!      Regulus might feel a little bit of a distortion in her center of gravity, and maybe a little bit of strange anxiety about the creepy staring woman in the white dress who still hasn't disembarked the sinking ship (especially now that it's being pushed to shore without her having to lift a finger), but surely that will smooth over later. Once everyone's out of the way of Bond's car, she'll take Vertin's cue to try and pair up with someone... But as she looks at her options, she's a bit stumped. There's Rita, who's probably faster than she is on land, and at least fast enough that she doesn't need a teleporter's help, but White also can't really pinpoint Regulus at the moment. There's Flamel, who's going with Bond already. There's Lilian and Tamamo, but those two make a relevant pair on their own, and White can't imagine it going well to like, pick up someone's wife and run off with them suddenly. She has a *little* self awareness, y'know? Ugh, whatever, she'll just blink off vaguely ahead of where Bond and Flamel are going, and see if she can use the intermittent Evil Eye tooltips and her more general magic-sense to at least pretend she's tracking Regulus properly.
Odette Raskins	"Are you able to support the other one, Odette?" "Yes, Miss Vertin! Yeah, come on. If you can't get up, I can..." Odette starts even as she turns sideways to inch closer to the agent opposite Vertin, preparing to haul them onto her shoulder if need be. "... Get you right up on here. Don't worry about the weight. I'm built for this!" Short as she is, Odette does at least sound suitably fired up enough to actually carry one of the agents, gear and all. "Thanks... Who are you people?" Wait, this is where she's not supposed to tell irrelevant people about the Storm, right? Right. Just because they've been identified as Foundation members doesn't necessarily mean they're supposed to be in-the-know, especially since all these Elites are already straining what might be a precarious situation. "Uh... T... Tourists! I saw the ship from over there, and..." She waves in the general direction of where her flare is still glowing bright, although it might be a little hard to see with all the fighting and more important things going on. Tourists probably aren't wearing EMT uniforms, either, but thankfully... "Hold still and don't throw up." Lilian's there to work her magic! Without thinking too hard about why she said that, Odette's already holding her breath while Lilian handles the actual evacuation of the agents. She staggers slightly at the sudden disappearance, but continues holding her breath as she gets up and sees the agents safely on the shore. Her relief is short lived, however, as the Manus Vindicate vessel blasts that black laser right through the Apple, drawing yet another frightened scream out of the EMT already scrambling for cover. "Farewell my beautiful records..." "Puh...! D-d-don't worry about the records! Just get to shore, Miss Regulus! And.. F.. Floating apple!" Odette shouts at Regulus and APPLe, the latter getting a confused look from her momentarily before she just files that away as something to get confused about later. Their sudden disappearance is certainly a problem, but her attention quickly shifts right towards the Manus Vindicate members arriving on shore to start swinging at civilians still hanging around. "Ah heck... Uh! P-pick on someone else!" Shouting at the goons from the sinking ship, Odette braces her hands on the edge of the Apple as Ultraman Geed tugs it towards the shore, then hops right off in time to see Einar's white-space handle the Apple's wreckage. Like with the floating APPLe, Odette files the thinking-too-hard about what would've happened if she stayed for later. For now, she scurries over to check on any of the wounded civilians while Rita delimbs and Audrey pins their attackers down. With her fancy medical HUD glasses, Odette heads straight for the ones showing DANGER RED and CAUTION YELLOW first, getting out her first aid sprays to stem bleeding and treat the most dire wounds first. If need be, she even starts hauling anyone away that can't even get up to get them somewhere safer away from the shore, fighting, and dancing.
Rita Ma	Mid-engagement-and-experimentation with the weird Manus monsters, Rita spares a moment to wave up at the Chur Knight. Fortunately, the polluted water is sliding off her just like the rain does; rather than wringing out her hair she can just give it a little toss, like a dog.      "I- think, I'm alright, Mr. Einar. Thank you for looking out," she says, with just a tiny hitch for actual self-examination. This is a girl who knows what corruptive evilmodes feel like, after all. "At the very least you don't have to worry about me right now. I can heal a little."
Natsuki Nuki	Just before unleashing her electricity, the Chur Knight addresses her and the Lady Nue smiles, fanged-amused, on the shore. The moment isn't quite one where she can keep it going, but she certainly doesn't mind praise and consideration. There's a part of her that doesn't want to stop, and there's more and greater-now parts of her that wants to say several other things. However, Natsuki channels a deafening blast of electricty that primarily deafens *her*, the center and fulcrum point that the energy turns from sky to perpendicular wrapping in thick ropes and loops of roiling motion and bright energy that leaves ozone and afterimage burned into the air and to vision both. She ends, pointing black-clawed index and pinky at the sinking Manus vessel, and the first thing she hears out of that fading ring is Regulus' voice indicating she now owns a collectible! -- Also, that the timing for when it would become collectible was a lot sooner than she expected it to be! "Tch," Natsuki begins, lifting a shelfed set of fingers over her eyes to ward off her own deluge and peer into the misty and choppy waters of the Thames. The Manus' counterattack had crippled the Apple, and that might mean the floating fruit-Kami of the noble vessel might have taken critical damage too! Or, so at least Natsuki as trained occultist understood. Clearly this was a world of humans and spirits so such a telling blow might have critical threats to Regulus' companion! She really doesn't get it, but at least the bell bottoms were themely. "C'mere, captain! You're not--!" Natsuki begins to bellow, as Ultraman Geed shifts the riven boat to shore and she hops up onto the deck to either help Vertin and Sonetto or grab Regulus by the back of the jacket. She barely gets a boot onto the bending deck after her high jump up before she's falling (falling, falling, disappearing) and spooked enough by the Divine General's disappearing of the vessel that she aborts into a dissociative ink-and-sludge smear of colorations that is caught by her stormy flying hater nimbus and reforms on the shore in a crouch besides where the boat disappeared. Regulus got away! It's good that Natsuki hadn't said the whole line or she'd feel *very* stupid. Soured by the escape of the clever lightbender's mate and pirate captain, Natsuki rises to her full height in the middle of the blocked-off advance of the Manus up the shore and finds herself grabbed at and aggressed by the local masked morons looking for a scrap at the end of the world. Making good on her threat to Sonetto earlier, and a lot clearer-headed about what she's doing, she advances on the few Manus trying to make problems for the civilians with a few measured blows to the Manus-masked heads and swatting backhands as she finds targets -- feeling herself a little more than fighting, wading through the sucking sand and general oozing madness of the era -- while getting a read on the situation. "Did you put her in your hole, armor man?!" Natsuki shouts over the din and storm out onto the water, though she receives direction after. Find someone? Invisible? In this soup of a situation? Natsuki hates looking stupid and finding the rocker in a mad haystack seemed like a sucker's game. "Hey, Ultraman!" Natsuki addresses up to the giant. "Don't you go 'kiyah' and sense invisible things? Or is that a different one?"
Lilian Rook	<J-IC-Scene> Lilian Rook says, "The hell is that uniform? Are those the 'masks'? No, they're using magic-- they can't be." <J-IC-Scene> Vertin says, with the tiniest shred of urgency, "The Manus masks are used as a method of control on humanity. They look like two hands covering their eyes, and eventually result in a transformation into a monster. These are arcanists." <J-IC-Scene> Lilian Rook says, "Enemy insurgents, then."     The way she says it, coldly switching tracks to a new state of fact, would make anyone normal assume that Lilian has set her uncertainty aside so that she can take out the enemy without any reservations. While she doesn't have ideal shooting conditions by far, the distance between the two vessels and the amount of ammunition she has on-hand should make killing several of Manus Vindictae's arcanists an extremely doable task; which makes it strange for anyone irresponsible enough to be paying attention to her specifically when she flips the break action, vents lumiferous aether, turns the inner and outer array under the sign of jupiter with a thumb and finger, and returns fire on the vessel with--     Well it's not ideal, maybe, that Lilian's magic is always 'black and'. Surely someone else here will vouch for why the brand new flash of magical circle muzzle flare is shooting black lightning back at the Manus Vindictae. <J-IC-Scene> Lilian Rook says, "The hell did they make that thing out of?!" <J-IC-Scene> Lilian Rook says, "I've never seen Rita not get it on the first try!"     Solid gold casings roll down the tilting deck, followed by the ping-clatter of the ejected en-bloc. Winter Crow gushes star-studded smoke as Lilian exclaims, slamming another amalgam cartidge in as the Foundation agents escape, and turning on Regulus nxt.     'But don't worry, I don't plan of making use of my arcane skill just yet.'     "Your choice." says Lilian, now back on the ship. Unlike Audrey, there's no portal, and unlike White, there's no ostensible fluctuation in spacetime, so she may as well have just been out of sight for a second in the chaos. "If you're hedging against how bad things will be for you in case you get caught, that's fine, but you should listen to your intuition already and surrender."     'Maybe registration is fine now, but it can be used against us. Wouldn't you rather ''live''?'     "Because so can what you're doing right now. If you're that attached to your 'freewheeling live-another-day counterculture attitude', you're better off gathering up your records and not letting yourself be tied down by the government's property." Lilian should really not be pointing a weapon at Regulus if she wants to be on Vertin's side, but Sonetto said that this was perfectly acceptable by Foundation standards, and so she does. "You're not terribly well-informed, are you? Even the pirates of this country once worked for the Queen."
Lilian Rook	'Better luck next time, vague yet ominous government man!'     "Don't even--"     Too late. Lilian swears as Regulus disappears right before her eyes. She knows it's invisibility, not teleportation, but even if she were to shoot right that second, there's a very good risk she might just kill Regulus with an unlucky shot; or, potentially, hit the Philosopher's Stone. She scans around in a hurry, slicing her aim behind her gaze, but gives up quickly; even if Regulus hasn't taken basic precautions to not be found by arcane senses, the Storm's sheer level of ambient energy is already bad enough noise that Lilian knows won't be able to pinpoint much. She looks to Sonetto and Vertin for confirmation, but,     'Anyone with countermeasures to invisibility, pair up with someone who has fast transportation. We can try and circle around her to pin her down.'     It's quite clear what the handbook says already. Lilian only stops to confirm with "Do you two have either or both?" before holstering her weapon and moving off again, leaving the crowd to others. Tamamo is her partner by automatic preference, even if she hadn't just reached out a second ago. Before long, both she and Lilian are at the top of a building nearby. While the former works on her divination, the latter is committing the surrounding area to memory as best she can, whilst quickly drying off her clothes with time magic, as if compelled to use the rapidly dwindling clock as efficiently as possible on something.     "The talking apple went with her, right? I don't think we have a sympathetic item regarding him too."
Riku Asakura	Ultraman Geed looks down towards Natsuki and scratches the back of his head a bit awkwardly.  "You got it half right, I don't see through invisibility, so it's up to others to help us find Regulus!" he says towards Natsuki and looks around.  "At least I don't think I can." He squints very hard for a moment.   "No, I can't."
Einar	"I doubt very much that I did. If our positions were reversed, and I fleeing the ship while it is swallowed up, I would not have been caught at that pace," Einar replies to Natsuki through the Chur Knight, "And that is not why I took the ship besides. Miss Rita, if you are afflicted please board the Clover and I will guide you to the medbay. Our healing tanks can fix most things, though I do not know if this qualifies as most things. I trust you to be able to ascertain when -- if at any time -- you will need assistance, however."
Timekeeper	With the Foundation captives now freed and on the shore, Vertin approaches them as their highest ranking superior, in a sense. They rifle through a pouch in their coat, pulling out what appears to just be a floppy disk inscribed with unreadably small gold text and arcane sigils, and hand it over to the agents.     "There's under an hour until the Storm arrives; the teleportation ritual should be able to accomodate two by now, as long as you both touch it. Return back to Headquarters and take shelter from the Storm." Vertin has to hope that they won't try and make an incomplete report about Vertin's use of Elites on this mission in the next forty minutes, but... it can't be helped. The Foundation agents take the disk and activate it, being surrounded by the glow of an array before vanishing. "Do you two have either or both?"     Vertin nods at Lilian, standing aside to be paired along with Rita in a moment while organizing the records tucked under their arm into a neat stack. When Regulus uses an arcane skill, I'll be able to spot where she is. I won't have a lingering view of her, but I can track her that way.     "Sonetto-- catch a ride with one of the giants, or run if you believe you can keep up. It's alright if you fall to the back, because the worst outcome would be having the Manus Vindictae surround us by surprise."
Timekeeper	> TAMAMO LOOKING AT THE MOON     From within Tamamo's protective field, the moon is... different, *more* worryingly-so. Less than an hour before the Storm, the faint circle of the moon in the sky is split and spiraling apart, spreading apart from its core like an orange being continually peeled. It stutters occasionally into technicolor triple-vision, and even more worryingly for her, the corona of the sun is beginning to spiral off as well.
Lilian Rook	When Lilian had heard 'teleportation disk', she'd assumed, for whatever reason, an enchanted stone disc covered in runes and quenched in sacred oils or something. Seeing a floppy disk sets her coughing into the back of her hand to disguise her reaction. Wide-eyed and dazed at the sight of it actually working, Lilian briefly reflects on the thought that she would be less discombobulated if it had been a shitty old laser disk instead.     "Correct me if I'm wrong, but that means you have two left, Timekeeper." she says. "If it can accommodate so few, then you'll need to get Regulus and 'APPLe' into the suitcase as well, if you want to make it. As well as nearly all of the rest of us." Lilian continues. "I need to know as early as possible if the Foundation headquarters they're targeting is guarded by some means or another than would prevent anything from our-- two and a half specialists from reaching without the disk, or if it's something that can be managed by enough effective range."     In other words, will everyone be okay as long as they touch home base, or is Vertin saying the incantation and using the disk personally the only thing that's going to save anyone from the Storm?     "Sonetto." --gets her question once both groups are underway. "Regulus didn't incant anything or perform any gestures before disappearing. Is that a property of the Philosopher's Stone, or a unique talent of hers?" Lilian asks, making a lot of assumptions out of having seen about four entire local spells at this point. "I've no criticisms of your technique, but you're going to have a difficult time capturing her if she can cast that quickly compared to you. Is there anything you can use to subdue her that wouldn't also affect someone else in close proximity? Failing that, please tell me the exact incantation of what you would use instead; so I can memorize its length."
Regulus	''Most pawns of a vague yet ominous government agency get to become owners of a small business!'' Regulus is visibly horrified. Her sunglasses drop as a SHOCKED expression takes over her face. "No..!" She shouts at this dire threat. "You'll never get me to file tax returns!" She's more against the paperwork than the idea of taxes though. One of many reasons to just keep spending money as soon as you get it. ''Just get to shore, Ms. Regulus'' "Will do. Please take of yourself, Miss." The floating apple tells Odette. Regulus seems to be aiming to follow Odette's advice even as she's saying it. "This is a poor place for a tourist to linger." He is clearly intent on sticking with Regulus. ''Because so can what you're doing right now.'' "That's..." Regulus hesitates. It's such a clean point even she's struggling to come up with a counterargument, real or stubborn. "I'll think about it!" Her intuition? Her intuition says that this might be it for her but her heart says she hasn't run out of tricks yet. And yeah. Regulus needs a moment to think. To wrap her head around the situation. She just lost her ship and most of her records but she can't afford to stay still. She wonders if that girl in the hat understood what she meant... It felt like she did, but ... they just want her for the stone right? There's no telling what 'living' means to these people. She thinks about what that other lady said--should she just dump that 'little thing' somewhere? It makes sense--but... But she's certain that if she lays low long enough, she'll never see any of them ever again. At least not until her next broadcast. ''Riku brings the Apple ashore'' Riku can deposit the ship on the floor. There's still some fire slowly spreading and it probably won't sail ever again but at least it won't be shedding debris off into the river. Regulus's record player has also been left behind along with her radio equipment. Einar can uh. Eat? The boat? He can do what he wants with it. Don't worry about it. ''Audrey cuts loose!'' Audrey can also return to shore and start pounding Manus Vindictae goons into the dirt. They writhe and push like all their adrenaline is trying to break free no matter what it does to their bodies in the process. But so far it's keeping plenty of them contained. ''Tamamo scrying!'' Tamamo can get a general idea of where Regulus is. She can sense her in the crowd, at first, and then running past it down a side alley towards what appears to be a brewing dock worker strike. There's also a bunch of COPS and assorted security goons heading over to break it up. Another symptom of the Storm? Perhaps. Though it's unclear what Regulus is planning.
Regulus	''Rita says STOP'' Rita psychically exerts her will and finds that there's an issue. Though the sudden ferocity of the command jolts the hammer wielding Manus Vindictae agent for a moment, there's ALREADY a psychic presence controlling this guy. A very powerful one. It might remind Rita of the Queen or something with similar capacity of dominance. Nevertheless, she thinks she can pry the control free of these goons--even impose her own will--but it'll take time to undo the control that's already in place. And in the meantime they're going to keep on trying to hurt people. Luckily, removing limbs helps put a stop to that too quite elegantly. ''Bond is oil SLICK'' Manus Vindictae goons that Audrey missed end up taking a tumble as they find the floor considerably slippier than expected. The Elites are really benefitting from being a new force to this world. Nevertheless, it'll buy time for the others to deal with them. In the meantime, he can give Flamel a ride, easy peasy. Regulus isn't wearing any kind of tinfoil hat, but the problem that he (and Audrey) are running into is the crowd giving out a lot of extra noise. ''Vertin and Sonetto'' Vertin can also readily get some records of her own. And even a t-shirt. It's all pretty silly. Regulus might be a bit silly. And probably not someone who thinks too far ahead on her own. She seems happy. And that silliness comes from that happiness. Sonetto sees that some Manus Vindictae goons are trying to clamber ashore but blinds them, causing them to completely lose sight of where they are supposed to be going. Some tumble onto the shore on their bodies. Others start swimming blindly in the wrong direction, fumbling and sinking as their instincts lose it. ''White disperses the crowd!'' White can't affect Regulus too keenly with her powers? That's fine though. Because it actually proves to be useful. Instead of EVERYONE panicking and fleeing into her webs, all the civilians EXCEPT Regulus startle--and their eyes focus and it seems like they're seeing the Manus Vindictae goons for the first time and that, and the compelled fear, is more than enough to send them scattering. Some into webs, some just...out of the way. Either way, this makes it far easier for Veronica's echolocation and Flamel's psionic sense to readily pick out Regulus far more precisely. Her movements match what Tamamo and White's general approximation of her movements are, but Audrey and Flamel have a much more precise reading of her position. Regulus doesn't seem to realize this is being done to help track her just yet--it seems reasonable to her that the crowd would scatter after all.
Regulus	''Did you put her in your hole, armor man?!'' Regulus isn't about to shout back at Natsuki about this, though she can hear her because of how powerful those pipes are. But sometimes you have to draw attention to lines like this. The Manus Vindictae goons go down in a few sharp strikes. They're starting to really thin out as far as 'active problems' are concerned. Though there might still be more in the area. Nothing is stopping Lilian from getting to a rooftop. She can't SEE Regulus but she has a clear line of sight towards where she's headed and all the crowd and cops that are converging there. And then Regulus does something unexpected. 5rShe reappears near those striking dock workers and those converging authorities and starts shouting at them. "Hey! What're you doing?! These people are fighting for a better future! What right do you got to badger them??" She sends a few colorful magical notes flying their way which seems to bowl them over but she starts vanishing shortly after. "Don't let them stop you from achieving your rock and roll dreams!" PROBLEMS 1) The Manus Vindictae goons by the shore are solidly dealt with, but now there seems to be a a brewing conflict between the striking dockworkers and the local police. There's something wrong with the police though. Their faces look splotched with bright and colorful paint, like it's dripping down them. They are wielding police batons and pistols and there's a sense they aren't going to go easy on the striking dock workers. Periodically Regulus is tripping them up while invisible. Her concern for the strikers seems to be slowing her escape. 2) On a rooftop across from Lilian's, a young woman is strumming a guitar with her eyes closed as she dances along up and up and towards the edge of the roof. Is she aware that she's about to throw herself off? Or maybe that's her plan all along. 3) Seeded amongst the union workers and the police are men wearing black masks of hands covering their faces. They shout for the crowd/police to kill each other for being fascists/communists. It seems their intent is to make the violence worse. Those not wearing masks don't seem to recognize the presence of said masks. 4) A man mumbling about how nothing matters steps in front of Bond's car as it's approaching, intentionally trying to get hit by it. "Everything's gone barmy...!" Regulus hisses through her teeth.
Timekeeper	"If it can accommodate so few, then you'll need to get Regulus and 'APPLe' into the suitcase as well, if you want to make it."     "Fifteen minutes before the Storm, two disks will be enough to transport everyone, as long as no ships or giants are included." Vertin's answer to Lilian is immediate, either because they pre-calculated it before handing the disk off to the field investigators, or because of that arcane sensitivity they mentioned before. "Ten minutes before... the majority could be transported by a single one. There aren't any arrays that ward against foreign teleportation to the Headquarters-- how many people can White and Audrey teleport each?" "Is that a property of the Philosopher's Stone, or a unique talent of hers?"     The impulse to hang her head like she's being scolded flickers across Sonetto's body motion, but she's sooooo brave and good that she resists it in order to give a detailed explanation instead. "Each arcanist has different demands for their arcane skill. I am... not able to use mine without language, because of the necessity of having lines of arcane significance. However, I have a high degree of control over the spells I manifest, and as long as the Timekeeper points her out, I am certain in my ability to subdue her."     "The incantation for a spell to completely disable her... 'Blunt thou the lion's paws, and make the earth devour her sweet brood'." Sonetto opens her eyes after reciting the line, having closed them even though she wasn't actually casting anything.
Einar	The HMS Clover lifts up out of the Thames entirely and drifts over land, flying low as it does so. The airship is large, but not large enough to cover both the jumper and the crowd below-- and it very obviously selects the striking dockworkers and the trouble with the police. As it traverses, the Chur Knight retreats into one of its hangars. A couple of moments later, Divine General Einar bails out of the hangar on foot, his armor giving a sharp hiss as it applies some sort of braking that allows him to land lightly. He lands amidst the brewing trouble and spreads his hands as if parting a curtain. Space expands. It is not distorted-- there is not a twisting or a changing of what's there. It grows larger. One moment the protesters are in their tense posture and another they are outside of the effective range of most small-arms from the police. The crowds are not parted-- but the world is. This also shuffles around Regulus who happens to be within the area, though it isn't particularly targeted at her. A sharp, green light gleams within the black knight's visor. "If you will excuse us..." Einar rumbles, twisting his hand in the air once more. This one IS a distortion, though a little is added at the same time. The ground the police largely occupy is down at the bottom of a hill that didn't exist a moment before. The exact nature of the created space varies a little -- it is making SOME use of the actual locality -- but the spaces that are created outright don't actually have a sky. They're... floating. Semi-existent, but drawn from nothing. They have some distance from the increasing maddening nature of the storm, so that by itself may defuse a little of the situation-- if the distance alone doesn't.
Rita Ma	The Manus monster jolts but doesn't drop its hammer, so Rita puts a few hand-sized holes through it without obvious source or motion, and nods her apology to the civilian it was going for.      So it's like that, she thinks. Is 'organization' even the right word at all...?      "Miss Rita, if you are afflicted please board the Clover..."      "Of course, Mr. Einar. I'll let you know if I start becoming impaired. Um, besides the Storm Syndrome, I mean," she adds, which is definitely comforting to Vertin, who she looks-down-apologizes-to with a smile, too.      Now mostly dry from the Thames (even if she's composed like a human again, it's still a bit unnerving to see a droplet of tainted water roll smoothly over Rita's eye), she bends at the waist and offers Vertin her arms, slightly uneven. "Sorry about that, Ms. Timekeeper. Put your arm around my shoulders and hold on, okay? I'll try to keep it smooth."      Two beats of the music after Vertin climbs up, Rita makes a cute little 'hmp!' of effort, and there's a little dust-scuff where she was standing.      They land on a rooftop three stories up in the next heartbeat. Rita glances around for a moment, zeroes in on the striking dockworkers, and scamper-leaps across a couple more rooftops- one slanted, with a graceful slide down and kick-off- to land smoothly (for Vertin; poor cobblestones crunch) on the opposite side of the disturbance, cutting off Regulus's route.      "Ms. Timekeeper, do you 'see' her in the crowd? I can't..." Rita- grimacing- is tempted to intervene against the cops too, even with her arms full of Vertin, but luckily Einar's beaten her to it. Hopefully the space-distortion will be enough.
Riku Asakura	Einar has the entire boat consumed, put into white space somewhere else for later, which causes the Ultraman to look confused for a moment.  Einar says not to worry about it, and he stops worrying about it on a dime because it's a lot to take in all at once, and he needs to focus on what's happening.   Of course, the docks are turning into a complete mess.  That and Veronica calls out that Regulus is near the cops.  He still can't see her, but instead makes his way there towards the strike turned riot.  People are being hurt, and the cops are hurting the strikers.   This turns a bit in Riku's stomach. Cops are supposed to protect people, or so he thought.  Not needlessly beat down hard-working, but underpaid strikers.  As he approaches, he shrinks down to the size of a house.  He still is huge compared to the average human, but he's no longer boat-sized, so that he can better interact with the problem.   This is when he notices the black masks in the group.  Regardless, Ultraman has a job to do.  He transforms again.  This time, it's Hikari and Cosmos that appear close by to him, and are drawn in when Riku, at the core of Ultraman, scans the capsules inside.  "You go!  I go!  Here we go!  I'll show you something shocking!  GEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED!" he says as the transformation courses through the Ultraman and reveals Geed in a blue and silver armor.   Others will take care of the black masks.  Riku can do what he can for the people fighting.  He brings his palms out, turning them mid-circle, and attempts to draw them back after a half-circle.  A circle of rainbow light appears as his hands glow.  There is a beam of energy that fires out towards the crowd that attempts to soothe but also remove the mental influences of anything that might be out there.   "Smash Moon Healing!"
Veronica	Veronica spots Regulus attacking the line of police, and quickly assesses the situation and makes a judgement. "Sonetto! I'm setting you down here. Regulus is- she's fighting the police up there. I'll make some space between them and the crowd, maybe you can catch up to Regulus that way?"     Setting Sonetto down as gently as can be managed with haste, Veronica picks up her pace in Baker and Seventh and jogs toward the embattled crowd, the ground shaking from the EGO's weight. Skidding to a halt over torn-up pavement a half-dozen meters from the back of the crowd, Baker and Seventh raises both arms pointed straight ahead.     With a crunching of shattered stone and a shriek of twisting metal, a large pipe emerges from each of Baker and Seventh's arms, running along the length of the limb. A high-powered jet of water spews from each pipe, rushing through the air over the dockworkers and toward the police line. At this moment, Einar rearranges the street into a hill with the police at the bottom, which does mean they're farther from Veronica than she was expecting - but it's no matter, as the impossible tide of water rushes downhill toward the cops in a growing wave.     Not only will it possibly sweep the police away entirely, the spray also obscures their line of sight, making it harder for them to aim into the crowd. Blind-fired bullets can still kill, but Veronica hopes this will be enough...
Rita Ma	<J-IC-Scene> Einar makes an uneasy noise. "I would prefer if what I have just done does not have to exist for long. I would also be much obliged to know if this worsens the parameters of the Storm's influence." <J-IC-Scene> Rita Ma says, "Oh! Um, one second, then. I'll do my best."      In time with Geed making it harder for people to want to fight, Rita makes it harder for them to be able to. On the far side of the cops-and-dockworkers disturbance, Vertin gets front-row seats to a slithering-unwinding noise that doesn't seem to have a source.      A moment later, batons fall to pieces and guns are pierced through as if a pack of invisible swords had set to work on the police's weapons. The black masks get the same treatment if there's any within reach, although the 'telekinetic' 'blades' don't seem to reach more than thirty feet from Rita. She's hesitant to wade in while still holding Vertin.
Natsuki Nuki	As a true child of the Land of the Rising Sun, Natsuki was ready for this whole situation to be sorted by Ultraman making a kiop and maybe a knife hands pose while turning about. Looking at a camera, perhaps, and lunging through a model city to wrestle something a little rubbery. When it's not -- and her faith holds through the rather young-seeming Ultra to turn and focus... -- Natsuki scowls up and stormily chins down and shakes her head. "Early season. Can't be helped." She shikata-ga-nai's at the young Ultra's lack of exactly the trick to solve this problem after three minutes of choreography and a few canned exchanges. "Try to conserve that flashing light of yours, Ultraman! We'll need every second!" Natsuki shouts up, before turns and dispersing into inky mist and dissociating stormclouds again visually, rolling as a thick mist before running out of it through the London streets as time dwindles down so quickly it seems ten minutes are lost at a chop even at the group's speed and power. Time spins madly away and... "Is part of the madness losing track of the hour?" The nue wonders, bounding through the streets and bouncing off of mad cartop concerts to dive through the era's final hours. Behind her, from the back of her coat and pants, her '''belt''' has come undone, snapping through the air as trailing limb, serpent-headed and red-eyed, all too real and present. In her wake it lashes, snapping at both the civilians that get close and the Manus that lurch forward, though at Natsuki's mist-draped speed and bad-news pace she's difficult to land a grip on. It does not mean the Storm hasn't gripped her in its own way. She had called to it, and Londontown's lurid sky had answered her, and as she follows the chasing scriers and bounds in Tamamo's wake to catch up, she sees a gaggle of smear-faced police officers and gets a little hot under her underbuttoned collar herself. "oi, Oi, OI!" Natsuki shouts into the crowd, each roar a rumble far-off and present tboth. "You lousy bastards! You want a scrap? You want a single PIECE?" Natsuki reaches a hand into her jacket and produces a grip of exotic seeds with a green leaf-sprout out of each, tossing them as rice for a wedding out ahead of her. Racing over her streetcobble planting, in her wake sets and grows those green sprouts, which draw in rainwater and magical energy both from the surrounds and mature at a biologically impressive speed, growing up and out and bright red before the nue's pepper posse of red Pikmin sprouts and hops up in the chirp-commanding wake of the crime chimera's orders, snapping to startled attention and lean-dashing off with bobbleheaded determination after her. "I've got all kinds of pieces!" The maddened nue claims, lurching first into one of London's finest with an elbow and grabbing two Pikmin as she pivots to toss the head-banging pepperthings into the masks of the Manus there for them to be beaten and assaulted by a plant on their face. More of her army swarms in, unintentionally helping the invisible Regulus that Natsuki still can't see. If they were alone in the rain in an empty room, Regulus might have no ability at all to evade Natsuki, but in a thick crowd as one more bodyshape in the rainwater, she's as invisible visually as she is by negative silhouette in the chaos.
Audrey Basque	With (enough of) the Manus goons down-- whether through the gravity, or Rita making a gory mess (which would cause Audrey to pale, surely, if she knew Rita was the source)-- Audrey scoots over towards Rita and Vertin, on the shore, since she was there anyway! Which means she overhears the question aimed at Lilian, and has to provide an answer. "how many people can White and Audrey teleport each?"     "Short answer, enough, long answer, it depends to where. White is *much* more capable at long-range teleportation than I am, so while she's preparing a spell to go directly where you want, I can round everyone up. Or if you give me five seconds with your briefcase I can shunt people directly into it and we can depart from there. If it doesn't matter *where* we go I can take people somewhere offworld in a minute. So just let me know what you need."     And then Rita abducts Vertin!     Audrey refracts along, just in time to see-- or well, *not* see-- whatever it is that sets about disarming and demasking the rabble, not from the same rooftop but the next one over, remembering Rita's unease with the teleportation and not wanting to invade her space.     She wonders, idly, and then...     Reaches from afar for one of the masked men's masks, as if there were no space whatsoever between her and him. She tries to yank the mask off, not with her hand but by bending space outright, to place the mask in her grasp and the man further away.
James Bond	Bond hammers the brakes--the nanites he'd used to upgrade the car only did so much. This is still before the era of anti-lock brakes, and the upgrades were more along the lines of making the car pursuit-capable against armed opposition than making it safe for Bond, Flamel, or pedestrians. "Good God--" he isn't sure if the man in the road is real or not, but Flamel can detect an urgent, animal panic that surges through Bond's mind like wildfire.     Fortunately for both occupants in the vehicle and especially the ideating pedestrian, that technology is still pretty new in Bond's world, which means the knowledge of how to keep brakes from locking up at speed is fresh in his mind. The feel of the road beneath the Aston is intuitively felt as a kind of connection between himself and the machine; his foot releases from its hammerfall right when he feels the tires begin to slip and the steering lock up. In measured cadence, he stutters the brake and steers the car into a curb. It's still going fast enough that it jumps the curb and hits a lightpost.     Bond's right arm clotheslines Flamel's chest. It hurts, but it doesn't hurt nearly so bad as in impact with the console in a car hardened by nanites which neglected to add airbags. Bond isn't so lucky; though the seatbelts over himself and Flamel are an added feature, his doesn't stop his head from impacting with the concrete-hard steering wheel. "Keep looking," Bond utters through grit teeth, blood trickling down his forehead as he lifts it from the wheel. "I'll be back on the road in a minute." If it weren't for his altered physiology, that might have killed him.     Without someone to watch him, that man in the street will certainly die. I can't even say I was never as scared as him. Bond rolls down the window, hand rapidly working the lever. Stars dance at the edge of his vision, his ears ring, and his skull rattles, but still he holds his right arm out the window, places his left hand on his watch, and with a twist, fires a tranquilizer dart at the man who'd tried to kill himself. Bond unbuckles the fabricated seatbelt, stumbles into the street and hefts him into a fireman's carry before he can hit the ground. For lack of a better place to put him, Bond lays him gently down on a park bench. "If you can give him good dreams or something, I'll owe you a favor," says the spy as he gets back into the driver's seat.     The light pole wrenched around the Aston is only a problem until the traction spikes engage, forcibly prying the car free. The suspension bucks as it backs down from the curb and gets back to the search. He isn't fanning out for long before the local broadband piped in through the car's radio gives up a crucial detail. <J-IC-Scene> Veronica says, "Sonetto! I'm setting you down here. Regulus is- she's fighting the police up there. I'll make some space between them and the crowd, maybe you can catch up to Regulus that way?"     Bond pays little regard to his own blood as he works the wheel and brakes to drift around the corner. "I've got something to slow her down," he says, pulling up to the confrontation between the multicolor cops and the dockworkers. "Point me at her when you've found her." The Aston screeches to a sliding halt as Bond pulls up to the area. Rather than give away that he's waiting for a signal from Flamel, he sprints towards the police much, much faster than a man his age with a possible concussion should be able to manage. A flying armbar drags one to the ground, stopping a flying baton mid-swing and stripping it with a twist of his hands at the offending wrist. I was too scared to find my own happiness, and I hated those people because so many of them weren't.
Odette Raskins	"Don't you go 'kiyah' and sense invisible things? Or is that a different one?" "No, I can't." "There's more of you...?" Odette's gaze flits from Natsuki to Ultraman a few times in wide-eyed awe behind her glasses, and that doesn't fade even when it turns out Geed can't do the invisibility-seeing thing that the Lady Nue referred to. No... She's just amazed there's more giant silver space guys. "Can't believe I've never seen one of you before... Um. You." "Please take of yourself, Miss." "Of course! You... Too?" Wait. Where's that voice coming from? Right, Regulus and APPLe have invisiblity powers. Still, she can't help but feel a slight jolt in her chest at hearing that touch of concern, glancing around a few times to try and see the source of the voice she hasn't identified as the floating apple's just yet. Instead, she puffs up a bit to try and look that much more composed and calm despite the chaos around her. "Don't worry, mister. It's all part of the job." She replies, clearly feeling SO cool saying that. "There's under an hour until the Storm arrives;" With the clock ticking down, however, Odette can feel the pressure mounting. She's somewhat relieved when the agents escape with one of those teleportation disks, at least, but it's still far too early for her to leave now when there's still fighting going on. The fact that all of this healing might not matter in less than an hour doesn't occur to her right away, but it might later. She'll certainly have her work cut out for her as the Storm Syndrome intensifies, especially as tensions continue to rise between the police and the striking workers. Regulus appearing somewhat suddenly to address that has her pausing to consider applying tranquilizers to the pirate DJ, but... "The Manus masks are used as a method of control on humanity. They look like two hands ..." Preventing more people from getting hurt wins out over just trying to subdue the group's target for now. Seeing the many masks and melting faces confuses her briefly as to who she should be focusing on, but Vertin's clarification helps guide the EMT to where she should be going. Coming up from around the side of the police, Odette loads several doses of tranquilizers into her injection gun while tipping her cap forward a bit like it'll help her blend in better. Hearing the bloodthirsty shouts helps guide her further as she nods and pretend to be one of the cops' on site medics. Luckily for her, Veronica dousing the cops and Natsuki exploring their faces with her fists gives her plenty of opportunities to play that part! Namely, by dosing them with tranquilizers while pretending to help them up. "E-easy now! I've got you, I've got you... Count to five for me, alright? Breathe in, breathe out, relax..." Despite her words, however, Odette's finding it harder and harder to relax, not because of the time limit, but from seeing Natsuki work her way through the crowd in that way. She's starting to feel a little more worried.
White	White's ability to keep track of Regulus is a little more tenuous than she'd like it to be. Go figure that the power of magic eyeballs is defeated by the invisible woman, right? Well, hindered at any rate. She's pleased that her choice of how to handle the crowd panned out how she hoped, but now she feels a little tense just kind of standing way down the street with her hands folded, trying to see what can't be seen and finding insufficient success. But she has help! 'by the cops' is a vague descriptor normally, but using her vastly spread out spider observer network she can quickly pinpoint and teleportively arrive at the correct location. The problem, then, is how to actually resolve this... Walking into the midst of a crowd of angry strangers and getting jostled around, or lumped in with one of the sides and attacked (or at least shouted at) is almost as good of a ward against her passage as the protective torii she encountered when meeting Lilian's sister.      She tries to raise her voice, but her soft-toned words are completely swallowed up by the clamor of the crowd, and she barely manages to even mouth the "Miss..." before giving up that tack. Einar's intervention seems to reduce the danger immediately, but he implies it isn't sustainable. Rita volunteers to help with the deescalation, and Riku is already on the job with some kind of rainbow beam, so that probably means *at least* Rita will be fighting the Manus agitators. Good enough! So, she puts that out of mind. If she sees a weapon pulled with her all-around range of vision, she'll do something about it, but otherwise she's focusing on narrowing down Regulus's position based on the people she's toppling, the sound of her movements and voice, and the magical signatures White can pick up from her invisibility technique. And... Walking toward her. Slowly, steadily, hands folded in front of herself politely. She's trying not to be abrupt, like Regulus is a cat that might startle, but likewise if Regulus starts moving faster to avoid her... She'll move faster in turn. Encroaching quickly, narrowing down the places Regulus can move to get away from her, hyperfixated on the invisible woman with every sense... Not threatening *at all*, surely!      If she can get close enough while she's still politemoding, she'll carefully lay a hand on Regulus's shoulder. If she can't manage that, she'll cast an ultra-light web over the air to fall down over as much space as she thinks Regulus could be occupying; it's exactly as thin and weightless as a natural, brand new spiderweb, and only meant to let White see her more clearly, not to capture her by force. Only after she's confident she's looking somewhere in the direction of Regulus's face, even if she can't see it still, will White attempt to reach out via telepathy and speak to her in a way the crowd can't drown out. "Miss Regulus. Please. Come with us... And talk to Miss Vertin. If you want to leave... After you hear her out... I will help." She's not lying, but she's also *definitely* not going to say that there won't be anything to come back to if she does leave. She's going to count on Vertin to smooth that little fast-one over for her later.
Lilian Rook	'Fifteen minutes before the Storm, two disks will be enough to transport everyone, as long as no ships or giants are included.'     Lilian's look says 'about what I expected', but then . . .     'Ten minutes before... the majority could be transported by a single one. There aren't any arrays that ward against foreign teleportation to the Headquarters-- how many people can White and Audrey teleport each?'     She pauses long enough to open her mouth, thoughtfully hold onto certain words, and then decide on, instead, "I wouldn't try to count on Basque. Commander White could handle everyone if we're all in physical proximity. She can activate spells through her familiars, but it takes longer."     Lilian seems to decide on something; at least, that's the best explanation for the way her expression practically 'clicks' into another gear. "Please send the coordinates to her, as well as myself. If for any reason you or Sonetto plan to use either disk, alert me immediately, no matter what, then wait up to thirty seconds if possible." She doesn't explain, but she does look back over her shoulder. "There are certain risks I just can't afford to take on behalf of other people."     'Each arcanist has different demands for their arcane skill. I am...'     "That's acceptable." Lilian says, only just barely not cutting off Sonetto. "We didn't have the time to share any information or drill anything in tandem, so we just have to what we can." she continues. "We don't have the time for me to share the details on my half, but as long as you're using that incantation, and I can hear, just trust me that it'll work and don't hesitate."     'Hey! What're you doing?! These people are fighting for a better future! What right do you got to badger them??'     Lilian properly sets her sights on the goal when those words come echoing over. "Fussing over silly things like that when the world is about to end . . ." she mutters. "Can't she sense it at all? Even if we don't tell her, there's obviously so much wrong. What in god's name does the Foundation want with someone like this?"     Out of the corner of her vision, the woman wandering her way to the edge of the rooftop catches her eye. A half-second later, Lilian realizes she's going to fall. A full heartbeat plays out, then another, and icy panic never arrives. The absence arrests her for only a moment; there isn't time to calibrate that feeling, but when Lilian looks away, reassuring herself that the total stranger can't even kill herself-- not really-- with the 'Storm' incoming, she can't help but wonder why she queasily thinks of Lobotomy Corp.     "Stay not thy hand for unnecessary persons." Lilian whispers to herself, then with Tamamo's next set of directions, she hoists her up, saying "We'll get closer. It'll be easier if you can give me a facing rather than needing to pinpoint a set of coordinates."     She has a good idea of how fast Regulus can run now, at least. Lilian aims in the direction Regulus seemed to be going when she last vanished, and appears on the dock level with Tamamo as a short stream of explosions rake the construction a few meters ahead the most generous estimate of how far Regulus had gone. The fact that they all land simultaneously makes it look like more impressive firepower than it actually is, and creates a briefly solid wall of danger that should at least limit the directions she can scamper away in.
Flamel Parsons	Flamel tries to deal with that man! Quick, quick, dive into his mind, defeat his massive ennui, restore meaning to life -- AUGH CRASHING!! Flamel slams into Bond's arm with a loud "OOF!!" He pants heavily, adjusting his sunglasses and continuing his pings. He leans out the window and he calls out, "It's still worth living, I promise!!" To the man who will cease to exist within a few minutes.     How people cease to exist -- that is to say, how people die -- is actually still quite important. Psychonauts will often heal people close to death, purely because there's still a lot of value in someone's mental wellness as they pass on. That's, honestly, an entire philosophy... that doesn't exactly connect to why Flamel's doing that. He's doing that because of the dogooder instinct. Isn't that why James did as well? He does dive in, real quick, to get the man some good dreams. A quick telekinetically-delivered dream fluff. "Gave him one of my favorite ones -- 'meeting an old friend', it's great." He explains, still catching his breath.     Point him at her... He leans out the window like a weird dog, plants two fingers on one temple to get a clear signal, and releases a singular, massive pulse of high-intensity psychometry. He's trying to match the local energy, trying to align with the Storm, to ride with it rather than against it. He won't be able to brave the Storm, but he might buy some time and fill some sails, so to speak: His pulse tries to zero in on Regulus by leveraging the Storm Syndrome's heightened energy and alerting the local psychohazards that mostly-fresh ecosystems exist among them. If it works, he's psychically filling the environment with sixties-era punk photo-collage where her approximate form is highlighted in bright colors, marked in daring marker outlines against collage-amassed groups, where her wanted poster -- hypothetical or real -- is turned into an indicator of her, among the strikers and the police.
Timekeeper	Vertin and Sonetto are both given uppies! Vertin holds their hat onto their head with one hand and relocates the spider to her chest when lifted up by Rita-- her expression doesn't shift even a tiny bit when being princess carried, which might feel vaguely humiliating. "Ms. Timekeeper, do you 'see' her in the crowd?"     "There." Vertin points at a spot in the crowd right before some of Regulus's musical light flares up. With one arm hanging around Rita's neck, they shift their pointing finger again, locking on to Regulus's next position. "There."     Sonetto is considerably less chill about being picked up by the friendly neighborhood (literal) concrete mech than Vertin is about being princess carried by a sea monster. Regardless of how gently she's held, Sonetto stays tense and stiff-backed, gripping on to an extended piece of rebar for balance and keeping her knees bent as if she might have to jump off at any time. When Veronica starts to set her down, Sonetto jumps the rest of the way herself, landing with her heeled boots from a relatively significant height without stumbling. "Thank you for your assistance."     Using Vertin's index finger as a guiding direction with as much precision as if it was her own sight reticle, Sonetto swivels towards where Regulus most recently was. "For I have sworn thee fair; more perjured I // to swear against the truth so foul a lie." It's still a very salient point that Sonetto's incantations are longer than anyone else's seen so far, only just shorter than activating a teleport disk.     "Rioters and local law enforcement, please separate yourselves! Dangerous arcane skills are currently being used in your vicinity! Disperse and stand down!"     Sonetto seems about as inexperienced with Storm Syndrome as Regulus is, because her calls out to them aren't very effective. She seems somehow a little pleased when the crowd parts anyways, even though it's because of Einar and not at all herself. This important deescalation means it's now time to lecture Regulus by scattershot scolding until an indignant response signals her location for Sonetto to immediately cast a binding incantation towards.     "It is *shameful* and childlike to simply get involved with whatever unruly activity happens nearby you! You are neither properly educated in the matters of this protest, nor well-equipped to advance any political pressure through proper channels rather than escalating violence against law enforcement for the sake of it! Each act of disorderly conduct reduces the leniency you will be afforded by the St. Pavlov Foundation!"     In Rita's arms, Vertin lifts up their wrist to look at the countdown glowing in the nixie tubes. "We're running out of time. If she escapes this plaza, we might not have the chance to pinpoint her again." "Short answer, enough, long answer, it depends to where. White is *much* more capable at long-range teleportation than I am," "I wouldn't try to count on Basque."     Vertin nods, without any disappointment towards Audrey. She looks down at the spider on her chest. "I'll relay the coordinates to Commander White. Are you able to do that for me?" She doesn't know that the spiders can. She just thinks they should be able to.
Tamamo	Tamamo doesn't really notice the person about to commit suicide. She's really focused on the impending mass violence on the ground, and even more so, on her scrying. If she had noticed it -- she'd still have Lilian's words to lean on. The need for immediate action, the clock that's ticking down, the danger that only she -- and Vertin, more than likely -- has seen, these things make it easier to push away other concerns, and to focus on 'things that must be done.' This is less difficult for her than she'd readily admit. A gentle, unthreatening person should have difficulty with it. That's what the subconscious assumes.     She focuses. Her ears flick. She can't see Regulus, and picking out noises is difficult -- until Einar spaces them away from each other. Until the words rapidly muttered in a specific cadence combine with the glowing trails left by her fingertips, letting characters hang and burn away with golden-white light, and her vision shifts toward the spectrums she'd suggested to White. If 'light' won't find her target, then magic might -- whether from Regulus, from APPLe, or from the 'little thing' she likely still hasn't dropped. And if it's none of those, the fox's tall ears are now poised.     Her hand lifts, and she points out a direction. "There." She waits for Lilian to move them both, and repeats the process.     "Leftward."     "Further by forty paces."     "Near that worker -- footsteps -- perhaps."     There's only one other thing that she has time for, and is also worried enough to try. When they get near one of the cops with odd colors over their face, she spares a curative talisman, similar to those she used to isolate a space to look at the moon, and sends it their way. Riku is leveraging a wider-area solution, but Tamamo's interested in seeing the effects in detail. She can do little for these people, right now, perhaps -- but any sudden changes may be... informative.
White	Fortunately, the little spy-der is quite attentive as is its duty, even while doing a bit of cowering as a treat. A lifted and turned foreleg salute is the best gesture it has to convey an answer at the moment, so that's what Vertin gets! It also, a little afterward, reaches up to tilt her hat back a little by pushing slightly on the front brim. Correcting for earlier when it uncentered her headwear, you see.
Lilian Rook	<J-IC-Scene> Lilian Rook over a filtered background soundscape that suggests moving around, says, "Forget the cronies. What's important is that the target keeps prioritizing random civil disturbances over effectively escaping. If we don't get her in the next minute, we're better off instigating one on purpose to lure her out."     'It is *shameful* and childlike to simply get involved with whatever unruly activity happens nearby you! You are neither...'     Good job Sonetto! If Lilian had the time, she'd give you a thumbs up! That's exactly what should draw her out! As long as Regulus appears one more time and in the general direction Tamamo indicates, Lilian can do her usual bullshit! Yay!
Regulus	Einar is able to buy some time by opening up the space between protestors and cops and it does make Regulus stick out more either through echoloation or the other methods of pinpointing her, but she's temporarily distracted by the going ons. It's starting to occur to her that something weird is going on because those are normal people in those weird masks and it's never seemed this bad before. This slowing down of the pirate DJ lets Rita move down ahead to block off her (eventual) escape route. Riku soothes people's thoughts but not everybody in the crowd is acting based on beliefs or even really duty. There is a lull in the fighting but eventually the agents who are determined to make this in a fight will make it into a fight. Those that regain enough coherency to recognize there's an Ultraman around wonder aloud things like 'Is this a new New Human presentation?', 'I think I heard of a show on the telly about a guy like that from across the seas' 'big...'. The police, being police, decide that maybe they aren't ready to shoot people to death but they CAN still beat them up with billy clubs. So they advance on the union workers only for a deluge of water crashes into them, bowling them over like bowling pins. Some of them hit each other with their billy clubs because it's not like they're going to NOT swing that around now that they have it out. But before long, Rita is slicing apart even those billy clubs and those guns, rendering them useless. Now the cops will have to attack innocent people with their FISTS instead and for some reason they're a little less inclined to attack when they're unarmed. The Manus Vindictae agents will fight either way though and without the ability to effectively instil a conflict between two factions they are going to just turn on both of them. But before they get too far in that, Natsuki flings pikmin in their direction who promptly beat the shit out of them. It's not immediately disabling but it is VERY effective in discouraging them from their objective as they run towards walls to try and bash the pikmin and their face into. ''Audrey removes a mask'' Audrey sees an opportunity to try removing one of those gooey hand masks! She can do this but as the mask falls off, that goo dripping from the mask isn't just an external thing. She sees the goop dripping from the man's eyes and ears and she can't get rid of all the goo entirely because it's attached to something INSIDE them. The man immediately tumbles over, convulsing as he starts speaking nonsense words incoherently as he promptly starts dying right there and the floor. The civilians are too busy to notice and the Manus Vindictae don't seem to care to help him so much as immediately shift their objective to rushing Audrey, intending to swarm and beat HER to death! With hammers and fists!
Regulus	Bond avoids the pedestrian at personal cost but he has no problem tranquilizing the guy. He's no danger to anyone but himself. And, well, Bond. But only because he's a good, decent man. The man stumbles and then crumples to the floor. He doesn't even hit his head while doing it. Due to the accident, the police are broadly cleaned up before he gets there but there's still Manus Vindictae agents amongst the cops. He clears a couple of them off from pursuing Audrey by armbarring them to the floor, knocking them out in the process. Flamel takes a moment to focus on the pedestrian himself and gives him a pleasant dream. Slowly the pained, doomed expression of the man fades away into a peaceful smile. He'll dream wonderfully even as the world ends. It's maybe the nicest way to go he could've had. Not as kind as surviving but you do what you can. He notices that Regulus seems to be heading towards a side alley away from the disturbance. He can sense the irritation she's feeling at Sonetto's jabs from afar. Odette tranquilizers the rest of the manus vindictae goons and this doesn't seem to put them near death but does put them to sleep. Aside from the ones actively bashing their heads in walls, the cops and agitators seem to be gradually downed. The strike continues peacefully, more or less, though Odette certainly can see that one guy who is definitely dying from, apparently, having his mask removed. ''Miss Regulus. Please. Come with us...'' A voice in her head again. 'Which one's Miss Vertin?' Regulus thinks. White can sense Regulus's movement across her webbing. Regulus hasn't considered the webs might be from one of the Elites and hasn't bothered trying to avoid them. Lilian unleashes a series of explosions, cutting off one avenue of escape for Regulus and pushing her down a small sidestreet--heading straight towards where Rita has blocked off her escape, though Regulus doesn't know that yet. White places a hand on Regulus's shoulder and she yelps and jumps and is about to yelp-- --but APPLe helpfully covers her mouth with a hand resulting in a, "Mphhh...!" Yeah and she was about to shout at Sonetto too. But her First Mate is there to cover for her. At least once. "Something's weird going on..." Regulus tells White softly. "What's with that paint covering their faces, it's like they were melting and.. those masks... they don't feel right." The bravado has faded considerably from Regulus as it is confronted by a reality so surreal and violent as to be unsettling even for a brash lady like her. Lilian can get a clear bead on Regulus's location. White has a hand on her. And shortly after, Regulus's invisibility fades but... A man wearing a Manus Vindictae mask steps into view. ..Just as the woman with the guitar on the roof walks to the edge... She dances. She hums. She sings. She indulges in the music of the era and loses herself in it even as some part of her knows that it's just music. It's just music but it's her music. It's what she had. And if it's going to fade away, she'd like to fade away with it. And with a light sway, she takes a step off the roof and falls into a world of beautiful melodies.
Regulus	Tamamo sends her talismans out to heal some of the wounded from the brawl. The talismans seem to have some effect on the 'melting' cops, but it is largely slowing the progression rather than stopping it entirely. Regulus slowly turns to look at the man in the mask. "...Hey...you're ... James aren't you?" She asks. "...Hey Reg..." The masked man says. "Still at it huh?... Isn't it pathetic? You play your music, run around enjoying yourself as you please... But the world gets worse and worse and you're barely even noticing..." It's not just James, though, more Arcanists in the Manus Vindictae helmets start pouring out of the building, intercepting Regulus just before she was going to fall into Rita's trap, all armed, and rapidly cornering her and White against the wall. "They kill every hope we latch onto." James says. "Because it's not real. And it's about time you give up your silly dreams too. You can join us if you want but either way we're taking that stone." Regulus is properly cornered but unfortunately... it seems you're not the only ones who've cornered her. Her expression is as defiant as ever, but she's also ... hurt. However she knew this guy, it wasn't like this. "Get ready..." She murmurs to White. "The moment we see a way out... we run." But White knows there is no way out.
Rita Ma	her expression doesn't shift even a tiny bit when being princess carried, which might feel vaguely humiliating.      Rita, fortunately, has low enough resting dignity that she can't be humiliated by something as simple as 'a stoic passenger princess'. <J-IC-Scene> Lilian Rook over a filtered background soundscape that suggests moving around, says, "Forget the cronies. What's important is that the target keeps prioritizing random civil disturbances over effectively escaping. If we don't get her in the next minute, we're better off instigating one on purpose to lure her out."      Rita's face scrunches. Isn't that the exact opposite of what Vertin had said- that the happiness and safety of these people is important, even if time's about to reverse? 'These common people aren't important' is something she's been hearing too much lately. It's not what Lilian's saying- Lilian wouldn't say that- not Lilian lately, anyway- but it's unpleasantly close.      "Ms. Timekeeper. The safety of these people is still a high priority, isn't it?" She thinks so. She wants to think so.      Fortunately...      "There."      Rita was going to have her gribbly little invisible tentacles in the crowd anyway. When Vertin calls out positions, she sweeps, pushing people aside and holding out sinuous limbs for Regulus to hopefully clothesline into. But it doesn't come to pass. Just when she should have an opportunity--      Ah. That's someone falling off a building.      Rita's eyes catch the flutter of her clothes in the air. Time seems to slow. The crowd's melodies stretch out. Someone else could catch Regulus. Will anyone else catch her?      "Sorry-- Ms. Timekeeper--!" That's all the warning Vertin gets before Rita sets them on their feet, lunging forward through the crowd towards the plummeting woman.      She can make it to within thirty feet, at least. Thin air catches the woman, bending and flexing like a heat mirage or a video artifact; it wraps around her, lowers her slowly.      By the time Rita turns back, Regulus is kettled.
Odette Raskins	Good news for Odette: The fighting's dying down enough that she doesn't have to worry about people dying. Yay! She might even be able to get back to trying to subdue Regulus at this rate so long as nobody else turns out to be dying. She breathes a sigh of relief, gets up while pocketing her injection gun, and then she sees the man with the melting head. It's not quite the same kind of face-melting she had seen, either, because those other people seemed to be in control of their bodies. This one seems wrong somehow, especially with all that convulsing and gibberish he's spouting along with the convenient little meter on her glasses displayed right over him dropping rapidly. She nearly bowls someone over while rushing over to the fallen guy, loading a cocktail of stabilization drugs to try and keep him alive a little longer. "St.. Steady! What's going on? Breathe, don't move. Where does it hurt?" As Odette tries to get some kind of answers out of the dying man, she takes a handheld scanner out of her pocket, holding it over him to try and get a read on his vitals in the hopes of figuring out why he's dying. That gnawing feeling of not knowing if she even can save him in this state with so little time left returns to her, but she still needs to try and find out how it's killing him, if nothing else.
James Bond	Bond catches the silhouette of Regulus out of the corner of his eye. Good work, he thinks, half-of, half-at Flamel. Even after that impact with the steering wheel, there's an animation to his brutish close-quarters takedowns, a kind of haste more characteristic of a man ten or fifteen years his junior. What must he have been like *then?* The butt of a pistol strikes the temple of a Manus agent. It seems like he's going to use it--only to whip around and shoot at the ground directly under Flamel's Regulus-Outline.      He's a moment too late.      There's the expected crack-crack of the Walther, but it isn't bullets that emerge. Rather, exploding capsules send stun gas upwards in shock-white plumes. It isn't the instant-knockout variety, but it's strong enough to make the coordination required for running or fighting difficult. What was aimed for Regulus instead is sent towards the crowd that now surrounds her and White.      "These Foundation people are giving you a way out," Bond says. "I suppose the Manus Vindictae are, too. There's no outrunning what's coming," he says, lowering the Walther, but keeping a wary eye on the masked man in their midst. "Not in the way you're used to. It doesn't get tired. It doesn't discriminate. It doesn't even have a will. It's a force of nature, and it'll be on all of us in less than an hour. You're going to have to make a decision that's going to affect you for the rest of your life. I'd prefer it if you lived to resent the Foundation instead of dying to spite them or living on what passes for hope with those people."      "Hope is... something new for me. But I know it enough to know what it isn't. Holding onto something bloated and scabbed-over, letting it slowly scour away everything you loved about yourself because you hope it'll kill the people you want dead isn't hope."      "Take the Foundation's offer. Learn what you can. If you don't like what they're selling, you can always defect."     "It worked for me."
White	White's attempt to resolve things with words (and persistence hunting)... Actually works! Or at least, Regulus is speaking to her, and doesn't seem to see her as an enemy. It's refreshing, really. Her hand on Regulus's shoulder is gentle to the point of almost non-contact, barely enough to crease her clothing. "I know," she says, this time aloud, and probably still too soft to hear properly without reading her lips. "... You can do... Something about it. But not here. I'm sorry." But, then her head turns away. She doesn't have to close her fingers to gently pull Regulus back a step after she exchanges the first words with 'James', and she interposes herself sidelong and halfway in front of her with a natural calm that is hard to place. While looking at the Manus arcanists, she speaks to both them and to Regulus when she says as plain and soft as if she were scolding a cat, "No."      With one hand still on Regulus, the other raises in front of herself. In the blink of an eye her scythe emerges into her hand, grasped with the blade down and braced against the ground like an inverted cane. The non-metal blade still clacks on impact, then quietly grinds as she twists it against the ground, her eyes' gleam brightening a little. It's not a subtle posture; it's a threat display, as clear as day. She's not the hero, saving people in the streets while going out of her way. She's the final boss. She gets to take what she wants, and nobody short of a hero can tell her otherwise. "I'll show you... To her, Miss Regulus. Don't worry."
Einar	The planning spools out in several different directions, and Einar simply stands at the center of it, space expanded all around him. As the riot quiets down he draws his hands in towards himself, and the space he created fades away in green particles. There is no harm to those occupying that space as it ceases to exist-- they're simply shunted into the nearest real space. That leaves him standing among the crowd, his role at least temporarily expired. But he is one of the people who troubles to look up, and when he does so he sights a woman with a guitar just about to take a step off of a building. There is a part of him that would liked to have hesitated. There is a part of him that writhes against exercising more power than he needs to. But the very instant he began to actualize his change to reality, Rita was moving. Weary brown eyes blinked slowly behind the opaque visor that concealed all about the figure within. The same impulse... he thought, following that distinct motion that turns to practically nothing as it reaches its goal-- the heat-mirage that blurs a part of his heads-up display, and which he is quite certain will look exactly as odd on his armor's video log. Einar folded his arms over his chest and watched, a vague sense of guilt building steadily for the exercise of hazardous power he was prepared to wield for a task that was, perhaps, trivial. Or futile. It was good to have somebody else handle it. It was better to witness an instance of the same impulse. And then Rita is out of position, and for a heartbeat Einar is as close to absolutely certain he knows what Rita is thinking as he is willing to commit to certainty about anything. He raised his hands and pressed them outwards as if opening a door. There was a path in front of Rita. It did not correspond to rational space; it passed straight through the crowd around Regulus and right to her side. It did not abridge the distance, it merely bypassed the lack of unoccupied space to make the approach; Rita would have to cross that herself. Re-folding his arms, Einar watched quietly.
Natsuki Nuki	Natsuki doesn't know she's feeling it, but, she's feeling it. Madness, rapture, music that throbs like a heartbeat in the chest, and the scent of rain all mingle in the chimera woman's senses as she goes nearly all-in with her fistfight with the Manus. Behind her, her cursed tail spreads its scaled-dark span with the emergence of centipedal legs, flicking tongue drinking in the magic surrounds. The riot turns around her -- is turned -- by Einar, and Natsuki's swelling-strong fists swing about to crack a Manus-masked agitator across the face. Knuckles slick with someone else's evil goop, panting and askew, the support of her Pikmin posse spreading through the crowd as limited by the stage guardrails. The Nue in a jacket lifted by the spill of a shifting-sinister tail's rise and menace snarls about, mouth curling into a near muzzle-like snarl, lips pulled up teeth to show a row of sharp points and long eyeteeth. Battle-drunk, she's almost at a rolling birdsong-giggle while jumping onto another target - Manus, police, or protester, anyone. Almost, except for the wet squelch and Pikmin-cry of a single smushed pepper posse member. Ears twitching in recognition of one of her little cooing garden battle buddies getting the ghosting-crush by a madly suicidal skull trauma attack, an infuriated Natsuki finally reasserts over her twisting attitude with an important matter for her attention. "!!!" Natsuki barely vocalizes, because the sound is entirely atmospheric, her displeasure booming down as a finger from some God above. Forked and flashing, the thunderbolt expresses as a Zeus-like displeasure in specific, pyreing the particular mad Manus and Pikmin plant-soul both in electric detonation and violent discharge. She's spitting, hateful, not articulate in her moment of furly, and panting afterwards. Fists dripping dark, Natsuki looks up at the sky, sweeping a dirty and clawed hand across her head and taking a final stock of matters in London. Seeing Odette in the crowd, Natsuki places her thumb and middle fingers into her mouth and lets out a Whistle that immediately resummons and even revives her posse of red pepper helpers which had been downed (but not smushed or crunched) back up onto their feet and immediately falling in with her (and up onto her back, shoulders, ponytail, and one riding on top of her head. "We need to go, girl!" She shouts at Odette, and as she hustles to the medic, scruffs the triaging doctor, and starts dragging away the aid worker towards Commander White and their evacuation from this cursed place. "We're not taking them with us, but it'll take *us* with it if we stay, so come *on*!" Natsuki gives Odette very little choice as she bears away the worker from what might kill her by forgetful continuance. Searching for the spiders, Natsuki is swift enough to make it to rendezvous... and she's willing to believe the space-warping general can handle himself.
Flamel Parsons	"These guys," Flamel pipes up with James (Bond). "Probably have whole departments for handling a defection quick. There's a lot of power in a bureaucracy, in an organization! It's a kind of sea you can sail -- instead of trying to be on everyone's good side in something personal and emotional, you learn the rules and deal with a system that's at least not going to focus on how likeable you are."     He's got his hand out as well, pistol-configured. Two fingers planted on his temples, focused look behind his sunglasses. He fires on any Manus Vindictae that approach beyond an arbitrary boundary of hostility, first a warning shot and then a bolt of orange telekinetic violence. But White's here too. And now he's realizing exactly what kind of psychic atmosphere she's putting off. A quick shiver down his spine -- at least a few of the connectomes in him had some phobia that gently ticks away at what White's doing, but he stays focused.     "Things are getting really bad, and I think Vertin's the only one who's got the knowledge *and* the total willingness to accept lots of risky accountability to say it out loud around here!" Flamel calls out. "If it helps, she's really trusting and you can just dash if things get bad. But she's definitely worth a chat -- especially with these guys..." He keeps a tense look at Second James, clicking a tongue.     Flamel's hurt a lot of girls by abusing their trust, but he had the decency to be friendly, uplifting, positive about it. Rubbing their nose in your psychohazard is worse than even Flamel at his worst, by his reckoning. "A big organization to navigate, no matter how vague yet ominous, is a lot better than people who can heap pain on you just for the sake of having miserable company." He says, in a brief burst of direct sympathy with Regulus. "Isn't a heist supposed to be hopeful? Don't tell me this guy helped you with your little thing."     Don't... don't say it like that. Don't say it like that Flamel.
Audrey Basque	Plucking the man's mask off and causing him to drop and start dying would probably bother Audrey a LOT more if she could actually focus on that; instead she has to contend with now holding a gooey black mask, which she hadn't expected to remain gooey once in her hands. Or rather, to be producing goo?     It's barely a distinction.     The remaining Manus goons deciding she's a threat is enough to keep her from thinking about it too much, and so she pockets the mask fully expecting it to ruin her shirt at the bare minimum.     Rather than stay and fight, Audrey takes a step back, retracing her precious teleportation back onto the rooftop she'd occupied momentarily. From there she can spot people's movements and regroup pretty easily, and ends up picking Odette and Natsuki over subjecting herself to more derision, rejoining with them to seek out a spider.
Rita Ma	In the un-urgent aftermath of 'too late' and 'I didn't make the wrong call, did I?' Rita unwinds something slick that's only silhouetted by the raindrops from around the just-saved woman, burbles a shellshocked little "Please don't-- do that again" in her direction, and tries to stumble through reassessing her options again.      Whether I should have or not, Regulus is pinned down now. Do I try to cut my way in from behind? But then if Ms. White has a plan--      She doesn't get very deep into that before a path opens in front of her.      Ah. An urgent chance again.      The raindrops and the music seem to slow once more. Rita only has just enough time, she senses, to glance up over her shoulder at Einar. Confusion, but then... He could put anyone by Regulus's side, couldn't he? she thinks. So why me? Oh, it's because... He's nominating me to be there because he would've done that too.      There's a tiny nod blended in with the sharp motion of her lunge-through, skidding to a halt by Regulus and White with raindrop-outlined somethings out.