[center][b][u]Collab between Orpheus and Fox[/b][/u][/center] [center][img]http://i57.tinypic.com/14txwyc.png[/img][/center] Out a few ways from the dome, Numair was keeping an eye on the mermaid's tail which was getting paler and paler by the second. "H-hey, aren't you going to die if you continue-" His inquiry was cut short by a choking sound and he turned around to see the witch clawing at Lesley. As he ran up to the pink-haired individual, Lesley kicked the witch away... [b]"Gouge out their eyes for they might capture you with a glance right?"[/b] "Heh. Great kick," Numair smirked and nodded at the other Lost Soul before running after the hag, his head lowered like a bull charging after the prey. New humans had joined in? She was surrounded. Ha, and the humans had actually managed to make a comeback as well. The witch hadn't been expecting this in the slightest, and now she stood hunched over, a tar-like substance seeping out of the wounds that had been inflicted on her. The pink haired one had even managed to blind her in one eye. No matter, it would be ending soon. "Foolish mortals, we heal faster than your kind." The old hag attempted to close the gash on her now limp arm, but it didn't heal as expected and instead she was rewarded by a sharp and burning pain. How was this possible? The witch stared at them with her remaining good eye. "What?" [center][img]http://i60.tinypic.com/2vlsdtt.jpg][/img] [img]http://i62.tinypic.com/2h4b0nc.jpg[/img][/center] Luke grinned from ear to ear, he had a hand on Rainbowzilla's head. "Weapons from the darkside, hag. You ruined our picnic, we're gonna make you pay!" Rainbowzilla seemed to like that idea so he flailed his arms around before letting out a loud burp. The ground beneath them shook and Luke and Sacha scrambled away just in the nick of time. Gary got up from the ground, one hand wiping away the mustard splattered all over her face. After her perfect wonderful fantastic decoy attack the witch pulled a column of earth from under her feet and... She landed facedown on a sandwich! On other circumstances that might have been okay, but she didn't like mustard! Not one bit! That weird yellow color and that tart taste... She shuddered at the horror. "C'mon Porkchop, let's Deep Fry this oldie!" She cried out and the little pig squeaked in unison, only for their tandem pose to be ruined by roots and thorny vines wrapping themselves around Gary's legs. The pole wasn't very useful against these types of stuff... The more she tried to jam the end down to crush a branch its thorns dug deeper into her skin, leaving thin trails of scarlet running down the fair skin as she struggled. Gary turned her head and saw a tree near her, its pointy red eyes glowing as it let out a nasty cackle. "ONCE I GET OUT OF HERE I'M GOING TO BURN YOU TO ASHES!" She let out an otherwordly screech and rammed the pole down at the branches gripping her feet. [center][img]http://i60.tinypic.com/2nk7fd.jpg[/img] [img]http://i58.tinypic.com/2urm7ti.jpg[/img][/center] "Ace! Get to Inadi and Jasper." One eye left, this was their chance to catch the witch offguard. Riley picked up a fallen arrow and ran as fast as she could towards the witch. The old hag was staring at the hooded figures. Wait, wait, wait, hood figures? Was it really them? She couldn't be sure and there was no time to wonder about it now. The witch continued glaring at the new people with an absolutely murderous expression, this could be her only chance to strike. "This time you should stay dead!" The witch spun around to look at her and Riley drove the stick right into their foe's remaining good eye. The witch screeched before stomping down hard on the ground. A column of earth shot out from beneath her feet and collided into the fire mage. She lurched back, coughing and sputtering pained curses. However, soon after, another earth column tore out of the ground. Riley was sent flying back and this time she didn't get back up. "Oi grandma!" At the last second, the witch turned around and didn't quite expect to be [i]lifted[/i] up. The boulders she had summoned dropped down to the earth in a shower of soil and pebbles. Numair tackled her and she lurched over his shoulder, one of her legs immediately being gripped tight by his left hand when the hag screamed loudly enough to break anybody's eardrums. Even with this haphazard position, the Lost Soul seemed to think that it was fine enough and kicked up from the ground, the two of them landing on the rocks with a loud thud with the accursed creature bearing the brunt of the fall. Numair rolled away and got to his feet, swaying side to side as blood trickled down his ear. "That was a crappy idea," He laughed weakly and held his head, the other hooded figures rapidly approaching. It looked way easier on TV where professional wrestlers did it... Hahaha... [i]Ow.[/i] The witch's eyes began glowing a dark red. She had had enough of these mortals, they had outlived their usefulness and it was time for them to die. Slowly she staggered to her feet the witch let out an inhuman screech and a strong force attempted to knock everyone back. She stomped down on the ground and hands made entirely of earth came forth. They shot out towards the hooded figures at maddening speed and each time one missed another would leave tear through the earth. "Her chest, right? Oi!" He sidestepped to the ride, barely avoiding contract with a stone fist. "Girl with the sword! Toss it to me!" Jasper looked a little startled at first but tossed the sword into the air. Luke quickened his pace, leaping over another one of the witch's attacks. His finger's wrapped around the sword's hilt. "FOR OUR PICNIC BASKET!" The witch snarled and two arms tore from the earth, heading straight towards Luke's feet. He leaped onto it and made a beeline for the witch. "FOR SACHA'S TUNA SANDWICHES!" The boy slashed at her face, but he only managed to cut her in the cheek because as soon as the sword had made contact with her flesh another stone hand wrapped its fingers around him. Luke let out a yelp as it prepared to crush him. "Gargar! A little help, please!" Thankfully he had at least one arm free. He tried to slash at the stone hand but it didn't even leave a sracth. "Oi! C, catch!" She looked his way and nodded and he tossed the sword in her direction. The witch didn't like that and Luke felt the air being squeezed out of his lungs. "Anytime now Gargar!" "Don't rush me, diaper! I'm trying as hard as I can!" Gary screamed in reply from like, the other end of the battlefield as she finally got rid of the last few branches around her ankles. She shot the evil oak a murderous glance as she rushed forward, deterred by a burning pain which constantly seared up her bleeding calves. "Porkchop, don't dawdle!" That. Tree. Was. Going. To. Be. Firewood. The pink-haired girl chanted this to herself as she pushed herself faster. Her legs ached from the injuries and her feet were ready to give up, but no way was she going to let Diaper get crushed by a freaking rock palm! "Why are you such a baby!?" Numair fell facedown with a squeak of surprise when Gary used him as a footstool to land an aerial attack on the hand. The end of the pole glowed and the rocky limb crumbled to pieces, but Gary's landing was not as lax; she miscalculated the weight her legs could take after that struggle with that fiasco with the tree and ended up crumpling to the ground, twisting her ankle in an attempt to break the fall. "Sacchin!" She cried out for her best friend, tears immediately gathering at the corners of her eyes while she held her bleeding ankle. "C'mon, stop crying! You're going to be just fine, okay!?" Numair yelled as he scrambled towards the girl amidst the erupting earth and pulled her on his back, bidding a hasty retreat to the side of the battlefield... Except the witch wasn't having it and pulled the pebbles out from underneath them. The two bowled over and Gary fell from the surfer's back, while yet another hand sprouted from the soil and made for them. "Screw you, hag!" Numair roared out from under another hand while Gary crawled backwards, using her hands to push herself away from the approaching hand. "I've ... lifted weights worse than this!" He cursed as he pushed himself up. "Gargar! Numair!" Luke fell onto his behind and scrambled back just in time to avoid being impaled. The young man got onto his feet only to have a smaller version of the rock hand grab him by the neck. He was lifted into the air and slammed into a nearby tree. The boy found himself choking and he scratched at the earth in vain. "Get your damned hands off me," he snarled as dark spots began to cloud his vision. [center][img]http://i59.tinypic.com/2mx0pd0.jpg][/img] [img]http://i59.tinypic.com/2nb4npu.jpg][/img][/center] The earth around them was tearing open. ???'s eyes flitted to Sacha and Rainbowzilla. The two were quietly approaching from behind. "Humans, you'd best be leaving." As soon as she finished her sentence the ground beneath her feet began floating into the air. With Harper's sword now in her hand ??? began making a beeline for the witch. She ducked as a hand attemped to bash her skull in. "Sacha now!" The boy nodded and grabbed onto both the witch's arms. They only had a moment! She sidestepped another one of the many arms that were lashing around and pulled back her hand. The girl buried the blade into the witch's chest and placed both hands on the sword's hilt. Her expression turned steely and with all her might she pulled down, tearing through flesh and bone. They could see the heart now. It was a gemstone that was perfectly round in appearance and it was as dark as the sky above them. Sacha, Gary, Luke, and her. She couldn't quite remember, but they had done this all before. Perhaps, even more than once. Her eyebrows furrowed in irritation and she pressed down on the blade even harder. The witch dropped her hold on Luke and instead focused on them. The ground beneath Sacha's feet shifted and he scurried back in time to avoid a pointy and deadly column that had taken the shape of a spear. He shook his head, had that hit him, he would have been cut open like a birthday cake. ??? wasn't as lucky and while she had attempted to scramble back one of stone swords had caught her in the side. She stared curiously at the red stain that was spreading on her cloak. "Blood?" And then the pain hit and she lurched forward only to have a blunt column send her careening back. The witch was getting tired as well and her own moves were growing less lethal and choatic in nature. "Hold on, C! Oi, oi, Gotcha!" ??? crashed into Luke and the boy held her steady. He gave her a concerned look when he noticed blood on her, but it didn't seem too deep and they could always patch it up later. "We can see the heart now, good job--OH CELERY!" The boy pushed his friend away as a rock-hard fist slammed into his stomach and sent him flying. Luke groaned, to be honest, he didn't want to move at all but staying down would pretty much be suicide. The witch made her way towards him but before she could exact her revenge Rainbowzilla dove for her ankles and bit down as hard as he could. The witch spun around and suddenly a hand reached into her chest. Sacha's eyebrows were drawn together, and he looked very upset. He wrapped his fingers around the heart and with a grunt pulled as hard as he could. The ground beneath him tore open and he feared it would swallow him up, but he didn't give up. He steadied himself, took a deep breath and pulled harder than he ever had in his life. Sacha fell onto his backside and watched as the witch sank into the ground. Her heart was safe between his hands. It was almost unbelievable, but it was finally over. [center][img]http://i60.tinypic.com/2mo845e.jpg[/img][/center] "Out, now!" Cobalt and Citrus barreled up the stairs and out the door, following after a flaming and flailing Ran. Not long after, the trio were joined by an out of breath Ise and Toby. They coughed and gasped for air but unlike Ran both were unharmed. "We actually made it," Ise couldn't believe it herself. "Good job, you two." The girl stooped down to grab Ran by the collar of his shirt, "give me a hand Toby, Ran is really heavy." The two of them managed to get the man to his feet and it was only after that when she noticed how frightened Cobalt looked. "Cobalt, what's wro--oh, Celery." She paused mid-sentence. The entire house was in ruins and several bodies littered the ground around them. They weren't her fellow riders or soldiers of Aven...but nobodies and humans? Where was the witch? Ise's voice was barely a whisper, "Ran, Toby, you found your batch." And with that her eyes flitted to figures in hoods. Eh? Weren't they the wanted criminals. Today was just her lucky day! And then her eyes fell on the dead dragoon. She could recognize that uniform anywhere, there was no mistaking it. "You!" Ise began marching towards the injured humans and the hooded figures. "I recognize you, you're criminals!" "Uh-oh. The law's arrived. Hey Gargar, giddy up!" The surfer had crawled out from under the debris and was appraching the pink-haired girl, who was trying to use the pole as a crutch to get up from the ground. He turned his back to her and she latched on with a huff. Sacha's clasped the witch's heart even tighter between his hands and he shook his head. "EH? We just saved these people!" Luke noticed the uniform the girl had on then scowled. "Looks like everyone is out to ruin our picnic. THEY SENT SOLDIERS." He looked more upset than hurt or angry but each time he tried to take a step, he'd end up limping. "I'm from Aven!" Ise held out her knife, the only weapon she had on her at the moment. "We'll be getting backup to help you soon! We have two humans with us as well, so just sit tight and we'll get you medical attention as soon as possible." She kept her eyes glued on the hooded figures. "You'd best leave before they get here, you're all wanted criminals." ??? nodded her head. "We have what we need." Numair, carrying Gary on his back, was approaching the other hooded figures with a strange look on his face. "What...? I don't get it,. We got beaten up just for that?" He mumbled as he stared at the black gemstone in Sacha's hand. What the hell was that thing anyway? "We're not going to eat that thing for dinner, are we?" He added. The sound of crinkling paper filled the air and the living list made its way out of Harper's messenger bag. The fourth item on the list, the witch's heart had been crossed out and the fifth item made its appearance. A USB owned by the late Mr. Clock. "It's time we leave," ??? nearly tripped on her own feet but Luke was quick to help her out. The young man pulled a smoke bomb out of his pocket then rolled it towards the humans. "I guess we'll see you guys around, you should join us for tea sometime." The circular bomb let out a hiss before exploding and consuming the entire field in a dark and smelly fog. By the time the smoke had cleared, the hooded figures were nowhere in sight and they had taken the fourth item with them.