[center][h2]Debridement - Rubick, Ichiban, & the Adventurer[/h2]
Primrose and Therion’s [@Yankee], Sectonia’s [@Archmage MC]
[b]Word Count:[/b] 1486 (+3 exp) [/center]

It was pure naivety on the Seekers' part that they never considered the allies that had abandoned the cause as no longer in danger. After all, if they no longer pursued Galeem's defeat then what reason did the Consul's have to target them? It was a foolish notion.

Neither Primrose nor Therion could say that they'd gotten to know the people opposing them very well, but it was still a nasty surprise to see them here now, like this. That he'd even taken a child like Omori after the boy had given up the fight was beyond reprehensible. But this was not a hostage situation - it was a cruel show of power with only one possible outcome. The Seekers had to put aside their feelings and do what needed to be done.

[color=D34C25]"Be careful of the infection,"[/color] Primrose said. With her voice hard and as dispassionate as she could make it, she relayed the little she'd learned about it. [color=D34C25]"It takes hold quickly on contact. As you can see, the end result is... not pretty."[/color]

[color=BC8DBF]"Got it."[/color] Therion pulled out a sleeve of knives, ready to engage at range or get in and out fast with melee strikes. A flicker of fire formed around one of his hands, as he didn't discount the possibility of burning away the disease.

[color=92278f]”I wouldn’t touch such a disgusting thing even without your warning.”[/color] Sectonia said, making it clear she’d be using her magic instead of her weapons due to how gross these former allies looked. Unlike some of the others, she didn’t have as many reservations about defeating their former allies. In fact she was sort of offended they were taken over so easily, but they also left her service for one reason or another, and thus her protection.

As soon as the bodies of a few of their former allies lurched in their direction, Therion darted forward to counter. He avoided a swing of Ichiban’s bat, sinking a few throwing knives into the man before pivoting toward the wayward Adventurer.

At the same time, Primrose stayed back a few steps to perform the Peacock Strut, empowering Queen Sectonia’s magical ability. 

Sectonia used that buff almost straight away, summoning her Antlers before using her own magic to toss her massive rings of light. Rubick, being the ‘grand magus’ as it were, even though he was mindless due to the infection coursing through his body, stole her spell on reflex and summoned his own version of Sectonia’s Antlers. While they didn’t have the buff from BFF that Sectonia’s had, his unique staff upgraded them in a different way. Instead of summoning the 2 red, 2 green, and 2 blue Sectonia did, he summoned 3 GOLD antlers, who were actually bigger than Sectonia herself even without her fusion. These Antlers were far more bulky than any of Sectonia’s current Antlers, and they not only had massive shields, but also large maces they swung around if anyone got near. And if they were attacking at range, they’d shoot whoever was nearby with slow moving orbs of magic. They were even slower than Bowser or Ganondorf though, so anyone could easily outrun them.

These Antlers would act as walls for the enemy team, as they could take Sectonia’s boosted rings with their buky shields. She could zap them, and Rubick behind them with her dark lightning though, although Rubick would steal this and use it against Sectonia, which would hurt a fair amount even through her high magic resistance due to her electric elemental weakness. Even so, Sectonia’s lightning was stronger just due to sheer power and buffs.

While the proud spellcasters duked it out, Primrose and Therion made to handle the other two. The Adventurer fired on Therion with his crossbow bolts coated in viscous orange that looked suspiciously like the Infection. Therion didn't want to test if these zombies could spread the plague that way; he picked up speed to get in closer, making aiming at him harder while he dodged the bolts. During the next bolt reload, Therion was close enough to return fire with his daggers and crystal darts - unfortunately he found that his opponent had a similar knack for speed. The Adventurer rolled out of the way, beginning a deadly game of ranged tag between the two of them.

If the Adventurer had been alone, Therion would easily have the upper hand. His aim was good, the knife glyph he had meant he could cast and throw at the same time, and the horned headband he still wore duplicated his projectiles to fly at different angles just so often to be dangerous but not predictable. The Adventurer was taking damage and would eventually succumb, if one of Rubick's summoned antlers didn't move to protect the man.

[i]Bad timing,[/i] Therion thought, backing away from the massive antler's swinging mace.

Then a blast of moonlight erupted onto the antler, and the white ghost of a Vengeful Spirit passed burning through it. Primrose alighted on the antler's head.

[color=D34C25]"I've got it,"[/color] she said. She tipped her head to indicate the enemy she was trading Therion for, then cast her wide range Night Ode to catch the nimble Adventurer.

Against Primrose, Ichiban had no chance. Throughout the journey through the World of Light, the dancer had become quite formidable. Without magic resistance her spells could rip through a normal man - she had no need to even use her lance. Still, whether it was Ichiban's born tenacity or the infection puppeting his body, he refused to stay down. He had been ravaged by darkness, flames, and a combination of the two, yet still he persisted.

It was only then, watching the infected body doggedly rush toward him with spiked bat held high, that Therion really felt any pang of guilt. Ichiban had seemed like a really good guy. He'd had a heroic streak in him, that was for sure. Now he was reduced to this.

Therion clenched his jaw tightly and moved on instinct. He swung his arm like he had a sword in hand, and very suddenly the Wraith Blade appeared. The spectral sword pierced the weakened Ichiban's heart, letting the man rest for good. In one last act of kindness the ex-Yakuza fell backwards, away from the thief where the splatter of orange infection didn't reach him when his body hit the ground. 

On the antler's other side, the Adventurer was meeting a similar fate. He had no armor or magical protection, but also lacked Ichiban's stubborn spirit, so Primrose's spells made very short work of him. When they first destroyed his body it reappeared a short distance away - it didn't phase Primrose, who figured he had some ability like her own Encore that triggered automatically, even without the body's consciousness. The second destruction kept, erasing much of the zombie's infection with it. She hopped onto the ground to avoid the antler's own magic orb, subsequently destroying the summon with her defense-bypassing magic.

All that was left now was two golden antlers and Rubick, the most troublesome of the bunch. Perhaps sensing this, Rubick cast his Fade Bolt. It struck the queen and then jumped to her two companions, blasting through Primrose and Therion and knocking them off of their feet.

At least thanks to Sectonia’s Pipe of Insight, her allies weren’t hurt as badly as they could’ve been by Rubick’s Fade Bolt. With the other two down, it was up to her to finish the last one of them. As Rubick used his telekenisis to hold up one of her red antlers for his gold antlers to finish off, Sectonia remembered how Rubick’s magic steal worked, and decided to just blast him with a Reality shatter hiding behind her Antlers as Rubick’s abilities were all on cooldown. She didn’t even have to charge it all the way, just enough to hurt Rubick and make him reflexively steal her spell.

And being the instinctive infected creature he was now, Rubick did just that and began to charge his own reality shatter, which Sectonia capitalized on by teleporting next to him and used her large axe to carve through Rubick with some quick swipes, taking him out and with him being taken out, the last two Golden Antlers also vanished. 

[color=92278f]”If these three had stayed under my governance like you two, this wouldn’t have happened.”[/color] Sectonia said, shaking her head at the infected corpses that lay before the group. [color=92278f]”Even more of a shame since I aided this ‘grand magus’ out of curiosity. I suppose he got that title from stealing it, like he did all of his magic. A shame.”[/color]

The Travelers came to stand by Sectonia after getting to their feet. [color=D34C25]"A shame indeed,"[/color] Primrose said, neither of the two of them refuting the queen's comment about governance. The dancer turned her dark eyes upon the Consul then, drawing her lance in preparation for a fight.