Scene #9829: Rattle him, girl!

Owner	Pose
Meresankh	Meresankh's arrival, at the gates of 'Mythril town' (more of a city as it turns out but a queen doesn't let simple things like facts stop her bluster), is far from subtle. The royal funereal barque is hard to miss, even when it's not bedecked with black-and-green flags and dynastic insignia, and even when there's not a dozen skeleton-robot trumpeters standing on deck blasting a fanfare. They don't have lungs, so they're actually playing back synthesized recordings and just holding the trumpets, but this is about presentation. At the prow of the vessel stands Queen Meresankh herself, cloak flapping in the wind. She raises a hand and the vessel comes to a halt, gravitic oars humming in the breeze. Holding the orb of her scepter close to her mouthplate, she calls out, voice amplified a hundredfold: "PEOPLE OF MYTHRIL!! Beware, for I come not in peace on this day! I demand audience and honorable combat with your champion, this 'Ember', and will accept no compromise! Bring forth the great hero of Mythril town, or face the wrath of a true monarch!" The queen folds her arms, waiting impatiently. She really is just going to stand there on the prow of her spaceship until Ember comes outside, isn't she?
Ember	The city of Mythril is an ancient one, but it has seen better days. Also, thankfully, it is being repaired thanks to Regulus and her careful teaching of various locals on how to actually fix things. The gate of the city actually opens up into almost immediate farmland. Most of the land nearer to the city is actually used for cattle and pig farming, but farther out you can see various other food crops set out and slowly starting to be harvested. It is, after all, harvest season. Many of the people watch the ship come in, and more gather around as the skeleton guards come out to trumpet the arrival of a... skeleton queen! It's even more of a wave when she mentions Ember by name, who is at least well known in the city as a member of its rebellion group... and probably a local hero in the population that is watching right now. That isn't to say there aren't any rich or oligarchs watching. They just aren't going to go immediately out into potential danger. Guards in the Gold Quarter are lining up on the edge, watching and waiting. Others, such as a few Oligarchs, are watching through magical means. Somewhere else... Ember looks unsurprised that she chose to come here, and she's done with it when she makes a declaration like that. She is, at least, not blasting people randomly or trying to destroy the city. He tells the rest of his group to carefully get the uninvolved people away from the ship... Now... With two wings, claws, and bird-like features, Ember flies out from somewhere in Mythril towards the Necron ship itself, before slowly floating down and landing in front of Meresankh. "So you want an audience? I don't think there is anything left to say other than: It's just Mythril, not Mythril town. It's not even a town; it's a city, come on." Ember holds a clawed hand out towards Meresankh. "Anyway, that's over." He says, and releases a massive gust of wind to attempt to hurl the shrieking skeleton against the side of her own hull.
Meresankh	As Ember flies into view, Meresankh cackles. "So, the hero emerges from his village, to face his rival at last! We've gathered quite an audience, Ember, I hope you won't disappoint them!" She casts a dismissive gesture toward the crowd below, who gawk even as they are ushered back through the gates by Ember's compatriots. The gust of wind catches Meresankh off-guard, sending her stumbling back across the deck; she slams her back into a pole and "Hmph!"'s in anger. "You have chosen to rely on your pitiful gods, child. So you have chosen humiliation! Go, my scarabs!" Dozens, then hundreds of mechanical insects scuttle out from the below the deck like a pot boiling over. En masse they rush toward Ember and begin tearing at feathers and flesh alike!
Ember	The sight of watching Meresankh flying and smashing into the side of her ship gets a smirk out of Ember. Of course, he doesn't like her response and fights to restrain a scream as the scarabs rip, tear, and eat his flesh and feathers. This isn't a favorable exchange for him, and worse, he can only do so much against this storm of robotic insects. Though he does have the right god summoned for this. Around him, the skies begin to darken, and the wind starts to whip into full gale strength as the wind itself breaks into a swirling cyclone around him. The purpose is to catch the scarabs in the tornado. Then he releases the cyclone from his body and directly at Meresankh, aiming this time, tosses her into the air, and land ungracefully back onto the ground below. Feeling his flesh burn like this sucks, but he does at least return her quip, "And relying on your failing technology? Really, I expected better."
Meresankh	Although vicious, Meresankh's scarabs are not individually strong. The sustained force of Ember's whirlwind sends them flying every which way, struggling to stabilize in the air or resorting to crawling back toward Meresankh's ship on the ground. The central tornado, too, seems to do the trick - Meresankh is indeed tossed skyward, her trajectory enhanced by the antigravity column on which she floated. She tumbles around in the air, howling something about "Foul trickery!" She finally stabilizes shortly before hitting the ground, turning what could've been a nasty crash into just a rough landing. "You fool! You think YOU have mastered the storm!? Behold TRUE power!" Raising her scepter, a jagged forked-bolt of lightning crackles forth from the staff's brilliant orb, lancing through the sky toward the hero.
Ember	The lightning was heading his way, so Ember was forced to think fast. Garuda was not going to be a good match for bolts of lightning... however, he did have another summon that /was/ good for this. The magic of Garuda dispelled as he released the magical god, and immediately a spike of earth covered Ember himself. The lightning still pounces through the defensive maneuver, crashing right into Ember and causing his hair to stand on end from the bolt. Gritting his teeth and biting his lip to try and fight through the pain, he draws a knife from his belt and immediately throws it... Though the dust covers him, the knife cuts through it and out the other side of the cloud. It's easily avoided by the aware Meresankh, but before she could get another quip out... Ember materializes where the blade lands. It wasn't aimed at her; it was there to close the gap between them, and now a golem-looking Ember who has grown a few feet stands over her. He brings his massive hands down, aiming to try and bury her under them, enough to cause a localized earthquake where he strikes.
Meresankh	Meresankh scoffs as she scoots out of the way of the dagger. She does get PART way through her next quip: "Your secret technique, I presu--" However, the enormous teleporting rock golem does catch her off guard. Teleporting is HER trick! This should be illegal! Or so go her thoughts when Ember sends her careening back across the open field. Standing up, her eyes glitch for a moment - she knows she has to make this next one count. "Very well," she calls across the distance between herself and Ember. "You leave me no choice. Now bear witness! The debut of my latest technology!" Then she's gone, blinking out with a sudden teleport. A low rumble begins to sound from a short distance behind Ember, and Meresankh's voice rings out again: "Feel the power of the Yonic Phase Incinerator!!!" Her scepter's orb glows a deep red, and immediately the air surrounding it shimmers with heat. She twirls it in the air, and the thermal energy responds accordingly, beginning to flow in a rapidly widening spiral. The very air ignites, then, into an enormous whirlpool of flame rushing around Ember on all sides, threatening to bake him alive inside his stone-armored form!
Ember	He has to admit that the maneuver and then ragdolling her put a smile on his face. Like before, however, that moment was short-lived because this shrieking skeleton really did have tricks up her non-existent sleeves. She released her apparently newest weapon. Some stupidly named device, but despite his feelings about its name, it DOES generate an absurd amount of heat. Titan's defenses were not enough to weather the storm, and the heat was quickly leaving terrible burns across his skin. Despite this, screaming he releases Titan and immediately summons his third god. Horns break out of his head, his hands turn into claws, and he grows a little taller again. His own flames build across his body as he dives out of the flames she had created and immediately jumps overhead towards Meresankh to close the gap between them. He crashes down like a meteor at her, and even if she manages to escape the direct crash, the fire that erupts from him is not so escapable. It burns in all directions, incinerating anything that gets caught up by those terrible flames. He doesn't have the capacity to quip anymore; he's far too hurt.
Meresankh	Meresankh is caught genuinely off-guard when Ember fails to beg and scream for mercy. This is usually the part where people do that, right? Instead Ember transforms again, pounces out of the flame-whirlwind of the Yonic Phase Incinerator, and lands explosively on top of Meresankh's position with fire and fury of his own. For a moment it seems like she didn't even try to dodge, until the chill sets in. The temperature drops, rapidly, so quickly that the air is pockmarked with little bursts of ice crystals. Meresankh's scepter glows with a faint blue, flickering like a candle-flame, light struggling to shine even from the very device causing this sudden thermal inversion. "My absolute zero technique," Meresankh declares, her voice glitching and distorted from the visible damage she's taken. For a moment everything hangs in the balance, elemental fire and the scientifically perfect cold of deep space clashing as Ifrit's flames struggle against the chill. Then, with the two forces at a standstill, Meresankh extends the hyperphase blade from her scepter and lunges for Ember's chest. One way or another, this ends soon...
Ember	For a moment, the fire and ice collide against each other, one trying to overpower the other and creating a boundary of pure energy between them as the clash continues. Despite the hellish fire produced by Ember's flames and the bitter cold produced by Meresankh's deep-space cold machine, the battle still continues. Right up until Meresankh's blade flies out from her staff. This gets more of a reaction than anything out of Ember, who is forced to plan for the worst-case scenario. He moves his body just enough to avoid it being lethal. Hand-to-hand fighting has taught him well, but his hand also flings the knife off into the city, though it might be missed by Meresankh initially. The blade hits him dead to rights, but it does manage to miss his vital organs and causes him to stumble back from the blow. He staggers back and drops to a knee... and immediately the ability to hold the summon fades, with it returning Ember to his natural state. It might give Meresankh a little time to realize she has won. Unfortunately for her, the moment she goes to gloat... Ember vanishes, teleporting to the thrown knife that has landed somewhere in the bewalled city. Probably not TOO far away from the wall, but enough to get distance from her.
Meresankh	Meresankh takes a second to realize she's finally bested the people's champion, such that he's already on one knee with the Ifrit form fading like smoke by the time she releases the absolute zero technique and begins to laugh. "Ahahahaha! NYAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! Look at you! You are pathetic! Let this be a lesson to you, never to meddle again in the affairs of your betters! Not to mention, to never underestimate the superiority of Necron-" Then he's gone. "Hey! Come back! I wasn't done! Learn your lesson, boy!" When it becomes apparent that he's probably being ushered away and tended to by his allies in Mythril, she finally relents and takes a step back toward the funeral barge - and immediately staggers, catching herself on her scepter. Despite the wounds to her body, she floats back onto the barge and lies down in her sarcophagus to regenerate from her injuries. On the ride back to the nearest warpgate outside the city limits, inside the black stone monolith at the barge's heart, she mutters to herself, "The boy has potential. I'll have to keep my eye on him..."