[IC] War of the Multiverse

[Vesuvius00]

Allen was one step ahead of Gojira-san as she told him to get the little girl out of there. Rushing over, he scooped the girl off of the ground and carried her away from the soon-to-be confrontation, putting her down on the front porch of her house. He watched a moment as more people arrived and started targeting either the floating woman or the cute little cat-bunny beside her.

Sure, it's cute. But the amount of hatred Allen could tell that people had towards it was extreme, and probably for good reason too. He watched, slightly confused, as one person actually went up and kicked the thing, yelling her head off as she did. With how many people were there already, He decided that he could take a moment longer with the girl before he needed to go over.

"Hey, are you ok? Do you know what or who those two are?" He smiled at the girl and spoke kindly, both to help her calm down and to not scare her any further. "What did they do?"

[Tachi]

It wasn't that Rachel didn't think saving the old man's daughter was important. Although with so many people rushing that way already, it didn't seem quite as urgent as it might have otherwise. It wasn't that she didn't want to be far, far away from "the Jesus of bird-kicking" here. However, the reason Rachel was stepping away from her Dandeliner instead of speeding ahead of the people who had raced off in the direction the elderly projectile had come from was related to that.

"Did they really think leaving FLORIDA MAN alone here to make sure this guy's okay was a good idea? HE'S EATING A BLOODY BEER BOTTLE FOR...whatever." Rachel thought, taking a deep breath and doing her best to ignore the super"hero"'s latest exclamation.

Sighing, she closed the Lockseed on the front of her belt, dismissing her armour, and headed over to the old man.

"Um, are you okay, sir?" She asked. "Um, I mean...I'm not sure what exactly the situation there was, but...do you need any medical attention? I think I heard someone in the bar shouting about free drinks if you need something to help you calm down. Maybe a lift home?"

Okay, given how he'd arrived here, asking the old guy if he wanted a ride home on a flying vehicle might not be the best thing Rachel could've suggested, but it's the thought that counts. Right?

[Lost Cause]

The shouts from outside caught Lucy's attention, and for reasons she couldn't quite understand, she ran to follow them. What she didn't notice was the Smile Pact launching itself off the floor one last time and landing in her pocket.

She saw a flash of something green and purple that might have been vaguely grape-shaped as she ran. And then her eyes fell on the familiar white... thing with the red ring on its back. And those piercing, unblinking red eyes.

Of course, what she didn't see was the exposed tree-root that she caught with her foot, which combined with the already low grip her shoes had on the sandy ground to make her face-plant right in front of everyone else.

"Ow..."

[Psyga315]

Edge of Town

Wendy formed a barrier of wind just as the bullets were about to meet her face. However, as it exploded, some of the knockback hit her face, causing her neck to tilt with a loud crunch. However, she tilted her head back.

"Oh! A challenge! I haven't had one since Contra's world!" With that smile, she flew towards Noel to try and tackle her, only to crash into Gojira. "OUPFH!" She cried out.

---

le bar

As soon as Florida Man landed and he began to drink, the old man told him the situation, not minding the fact that he just ate a glass bottle.

"My granddaughter... I couldn't see what she's talking to, and I got blown away, but from what I heard from her... those fairies are gonna take muh granddaughter away!" He cried out. "Save her! Don't worry about me!" He told Rachel.

Seeing Rachel transform into Ryugen had Jason realize that it was time to suit up. He took the Lost Driver and slapped it on his waist, then pulled out the USB.

SKULL!

He placed it in the Lost Driver and switched it on, with the USB giving out the same cry. Gentle gusts breezed through as particles formed his armor from the feet up. By the time the armor had been completed, the scarfed skeleton was back in action.

"I guess I'll come with you too." Jason bit his lip upon hearing Rin say that it's hero time. He ran with them.

---

Edge of Town

Kyubey shifted his gaze towards Rin as she and the others arrived. Wendy got up from crashing into Gojira.

"Humans? How are they able to see me?"

"You idiot! They're obviously travellers! The crap they got allows them to see you guys!" She said. It was the first time that she was actually angry. Though her scowl faded into more of a delightful smile. "We can't just leave now, though! She's gonna contribute to a greater cause! Isn't that right, girlie?" She asked her and forcefully grabbed her face. She just whimpered out:

"H-hel-" Right before Wendy backhanded her.

"Silly willy! That's not what you're supposed to say! You're supposed to say how happy you are to commit your soul for the greater good!" She smiled, as if she had just given her a playful pat on the back.

"Wendy! We're not supposed to say that right now!" Kyubey said as the girl just continued to cry.

"Oh, yeah! Leave that until after they contract! I always forge-" That's when Rain shot her. She was unprepared, and thus, she had a pretty little hole right in the side of her head. She screamed out in pain. "YOU BIIIIIIIITCH!" She turned her head towards Rain. As she did, Rain could see a dark aura bleed from the hole she made and radiate the area before the hole closed up. "I'm trying to pitch a deal here, and you guys just stomp on my turf?!" Just then, Kyubey was rider kicked by Anno. Kyubey had gotten up, unscathed and unfazed by the kick.

"She's right! All we're doing is raising cattle. Is that to much to ask?" Kyubey asked.

"Yes... it is." A stern voice said as a loud musket fire was heard. While the bullets missed a few inches from Kyubey's paws, black and red ribbons sprouted out and grabbed Kyubey. "You remember these, do you?" Kyubey could see Thomas walk towards him, gun pointed to him at fifteen feet. "Try not to move and maybe they won't suck you dry this time!" Thomas glared, then gave a mutter. "Surprised you bastards even bleed in the first place."

"Th-thomas!" Kyubey stammered.

"Yeah, you remember me, do you?" Thomas glared.

"Look, about Mami, she knew what she was getting int-"

"She knew nothing!" Thomas fired at Kyubey and blasted off one of its paws.

"Hey! Leave him alone! He's just trying to save the world!" Wendy said before Thomas pointed at her.

"I'd be wise to pick your battle, Devil." Thomas said. "Though I guess spreading despair is what you monsters live for..."

That's when Allen came by and picked up the girl. She immediately cuddled into Allen's arms. She then cried and told him about how the Incubator came up to her and told her to make a contract with it, having its partner hurt her grandpa to force her into doing it, which apparently meant selling her soul.

---

le bar

Back at the bar, the Bartender handed a few drinks to Ran. "On the house as per Happy Hour." He said. That's when the manager of the Wagon Station came in, stumbling about as he looked beaten up.

"What happened to you?" The Bartender asked.

"Some chick mugged me with an Asmodeus! It was horrid! Luckily, security came over and apprehended her. Man, people be scaaaary!" He said. The bartender rolled his eyes. He had a reputation of being a stoner.

"Charles? Is that you? You deadbeat asshat!?" That's when the bar's own manager came by, rolling a bottle cap with his fingers.

"Yeah, Eric mah maaaaan!" Charles said.

"Out! I'm too pissed. Apparently there's a world that passes off bottle caps as money! BOTTLE CAPS!" Eric said.

"Oh, you mean the Nuka Cola caps? Man, I looooove me some Nuka Cola... Those caps are like, collector's items, maaaan..." Charles said.

"I didn't ask for your opinion! ... By the way, did you just say you got beat by a girl?" Eric said.

"Hey! The dude...tte jumped me! I wasn't prepared! Dude, I could handle her if she didn't jump me, like how I saved ya from those giant ass ants back in the day! Remember?" He asked.

"Oh yeah... I also remembered having to save your ass from the Star Lord right after." Eric slammed his fists on the table and gave Charles a death glare.

"... Who?" He raised an eyebrow. After a brief moment of silence, Eric smiled.

"Exactly!" He laughed and playfully patted Charles on the shoulder. "Pull up a chair, my man! Okay, ya seriously gotta tell me about these bottle caps! What's it like to carry a bunch of them as loose change?" He sat down and nudged the bartender on the shoulder.

"Eh, it's a looong story..." Charles said as he sat down.

[Lmpkio]

And with a mighty CRASH!, Gojira-San would hit Wendy like a runaway freight train as she grabs her with her left hand.

"Not today BITCH!" roars the mighty Goji, answering to what Wendy said earlier.

She quickly comes to a halt as she begins shaking Wendy around like a ragdoll, shaking the life out of her! Oh how much satisfaction is she receiving from doing so, even more so then the MUTO she fought earlier. Then with a powerful arm throw Goji-San throws Wendy right into Kyubey.

'CRASH!' (2:01 - 2:04) (Grunt sound effect can be found via Gojira-San's profile)

[Vesuvius00]

"They want your soul? That must mean..." Allen trailed off, finishing the thought in his mind as he watched the fight. These people are sided with the Earl. Allen smiled at the girl one last time, telling her that she'd be ok before running back to join the fight. When he was halfway there his eye activated and he transformed his arm into Beta Cross, aiming the cannon at the evil bunny-cat, as it seemed Gojira-san had the blonde woman taken care of.

Waiting for the right moment to fire, someone shot at it first, entangling it in some sort of red ribbon. Allen couldn't hear from where he was, but it seemed that the man who had fired was talking to the creature, making Allen unsure of whether or not to shoot it as well. He lowered his cannon and stayed where he was. He'd watch from there and protect the girl if either of them tried to come after her, still ready to shoot at any moment.

[VitaVitaAR]

Noel Vermillion, Oh God What is Even Going On

There were suddenly a whole lot of other people. Way too many people, in fact. One of them kicked the little fuzzy thing and... and a lot of people really hated the little fuzzy thing. Noel almost questioned why... but then... then it said a lot of really terrible stuff! It was being really mean, no wonder people hated it! Luckily, someone else was already protecting the girl... which meant Noel could focus on the perpetrator. It looked like even really nasty injuries weren't a problem for her... but... but... Noel couldn't just stop because of that... she'd hurt that old man, she had to get arrested! The kind of scary-looking scaley girl suddenly managed to throw the blonde into the fuzzy thing, and Noel took her chance to make a sprint towards the downed criminal before she could recover. She had to be subdued first... and it might take a lot if she could recover from stuff so easily...

But with Bolverk keeping her steady, Noel had to whatever she could to arrest her!

As she drew close, standing over the perpetrator(W-was her name Wendy like the fuzzy thing said? Well... th-that didn't matter right now!), one of the duel pistols snapped foreward.

"I... I said I'd use force!"

With that, provided the girl hadn't moved, there was a crack of gunfire as Noel pulled the trigger. And then she pulled it again. And again. And again.

Each blast rang out repeatedly, over and over, a chorus of gunfire.

[Raineh Daze]

Okay, so everyone was beating up Cueball whilst someone had just survived a headshot from a gauss rifle. Whilst it was nice to see that people had their priorities well in order in what was the worse thing to leave alive, the bigger threat seemed like the person that had survived what should have been a fatal wound. You weren't supposed to survive headshots like that!

Fortunately, two people had indeed joined in on attacking her: Deathclaw lady, and... she thought her name was Neil or something, but the flashes from her guns were distinctive. As was the beret, which did a depressingly good job of hiding her hair. With Wendy apparently capable of healing quickly and someone else shooting, the YCS was once again thrown over Rain's shoulder, and she went with Plan B.

Also known as 'sprint in and punch it'. Seeing an opportunity, with the girl probably not on her feet, Rain attempted to slam the flaming power fist into the girl's stomach. Maybe she'd get lucky and light Wendy on fire? If she hit, at least.

[Tachi]

Rachel nodded and raced back to the Dandeliner. Taking to the sky, she quickly found her way over to the fight...Only to realise that there seemed to be at least 7 or 8...maybe closer to a dozen people fighting what looked to be a teenager and small animal. While Rachel wasn't opposed to fighting with a numbers advantage, she knew there was a point where the advantage turned into a guarantee of friendly fire if she actually tried anything.

The bike pulled a 180, heading back to the bar. Upon arriving, Rachel returned the Dandeliner to its Lockseed and headed inside. She took a seat at the bar and tried to get the bartender's attention. As she waited, she glanced around, taking in the general atmosphere of the place, even if it did seem rather...quiet at the moment.

[Dblade26]

Luckily for August his attempt at peacekeeping had been successful and in fact people seemed quite happy with it, or at least happy with the free drinks he'd provided for the bar. The patrons even launched into a weird, multi-varied version of the Gaston song, and apparently that particular character was a hero in the wider multiverse which August personally found strange.

Before long though, the bubbly Japanese-looking woman who had angered the Godzilla girl previously wound up thanking him. "It was nothing big really, I just didn't want anyone to get hurt and in almost anything I've seen free drinks at a bar cheer people up!" He might have absolutely no money for a while but it was all still pretty worth it. Someone else had even congratulated him for what he'd done and he smiled sheepishly in response and sat back down at the stool he'd been on throughout, trying not to call too much attention to himself otherwise.

That was partially why when someone cried out "HELP ME!" he was more than glad that many of the bargoers rushed out to answer the call for heroics. August and his shard advisor both briefly considered it, but considering so many others had already gone both felt it was better not to get in the way and August figured that if he needed to be there the Narrative might conspire to make it so anyways. Instead both stayed as August sipped at what was left of his sarsaparilla and tried to just enjoy his time off without any trouble.

Luckily enough since things got relatively quiet at the formerly bustling saloon the nice but energetic woman apparently named Ran who'd thanked him before seemed to have recovered enough to properly introduce herself. August took her hand and shook it enthusiastically while returning her grin with one of his own. "Nice to meet you! My names August Lim! I'm just a multiversal traveler and occasionally sort of a swordsman, not much of a hero really though, I just wanted to make sure everyone in the bar was safe!" That much was the truth at least.

That was nicely handled with that violent girl, but you do realize that woman just referred to herself as a sorcerer of some power? It would be best to keep your guard up, boy.

Huh, she did? Well, I doubt anyone this nice is gonna want my blood for use in dark rituals or anything, 'Rari'!

"So what brings you to cowboy world, miss Hoshigane?"

[clanjos]

The voices in Florida Man's head were deafening, even if their advice was occasionally solid. Plus seeing all those ghosts with Florida Vision was freaky as hell... The day saved, Florida Man took out the H-Dial, going through and entering the sequence to turn back...

O! R! E! H! When this mystical sequence is put into an H-Dial, the powers are lost and the transformation is broken, allowing the user to return to their normal form! A responsible hero only uses their powers for good, and always gives them back when the battle is over.

---

John Shirkwood, the bar

Sidling up to the bar, he pocketed the H-dial and dropped his head. Motioning for a mug, he sat up and sighed.

"Fucking Florida Man. I'd say he's the world's worst superhero but, hey, he gets the job done. He didn't do any damage this time, right?"

[Moonman]

Edward Evans, roughly 50 feet above the ground

To say that Edward's first experience with inter-dimensional travel had been a pleasant one would be a lie. To put it simply, the jaunt had felt like someone had stuffed Evans into a man-sized laundry dryer for 30 minutes. As a result, he came out the other end of the portal disoriented and ready to vomit. Adding onto that, he was completely unaware as to just how far he was from the surface. Then it hit him. Or, to be more accurate, he hit the ground. The impact did a spectacular job of both launching a great deal of dust into the air around him, and getting Mr. Evans back to his senses.

---

Well, that was a soft landing. Odd. While it certainly made little sense as to why the fall had been practically painless, very little of the past half-hour had made any sense whatsoever. At least it was consistent in that regard. Now that he no longer felt like emptying his bowels, Edward lifted his head out of the sand, and went about getting his bearings. Somehow, he'd wound up in a town that looked like it came straight out of an old Western movie; it had the works: sand, cows, cowboys, old fashioned buildings, ect. I suppose it could be worse. At least I'm not in Winnipeg.

With that out of the way, Mr. Evans pulled himself into a sitting position, whereupon he finally noticed that something was very, very wrong. First off, his clothes had somehow been replaced by some sort of blue bodysuit, with angular vein-like designs scattered here and there. However, upon further inspection, it seemed that describing it as a bodysuit was somewhat inaccurate. It was more like a second layer of skin, which had an odd metallic feel to it, and was surprisingly comfortable. Secondly, the 'suit' bore the same eyeball emblem he'd seen on the canister from before, emblazoned right over his sternum. If he were to hazard a guess, the peculiar cloud that had attacked him was responsible for this somehow. Finally, he felt up his face, and discovered that it was almost entirely smooth, save for two protrusions where his ears were, along with a rigid head crest.

Well, for starters, I look a bit out of place. Locals don't seem to mind, though. While Mr. Evans didn't know it himself, the folks around here were rather accustomed to odd happenings and peculiar individuals. Anywho, there's gotta be someone who knows where here is, and how to get back where I should be. Bartenders have answers for just aboot everything, so let's start with that. Thus, Edward got up, shook the remaining sand off his body, and proceeded to make his way inside the nearest bar.

Strolling up to the counter, Edward almost ordered a bottle of whiskey, only to recall that the 'suit' was still covering his mouth. As he currently had no way of removing it, drinking would be impossible.

Well, that's just lovely. Sighing in resignation, Evans skipped to the next thing on his to-do list. "So, you willing to answer a few questions for me, if it's not too much trouble?"

[Grey Star]

"Well, the same with most other multiversal travelers mostly. I somehow stumbled upon a trinket that pulled me out of my somewhat ordinary life and thrust me into one full of extraordinary situations and circumstances that transformed me from a weirdy to a weirdy with supernatural powers above the ken of most mortal men." Ran said with a straight face even as she stuck a thumb towards herself, having fun making a satire of herself. After all, she knew exactly what she was and the girl wasn't afraid to point out how strange she could be.

"Mostly, I'm on a world hopping tour. Which is basically the same as a world tour but with the multiverse and replace countries with worlds. I'm planning on having lots of fun and adventures and maybe stick my nose into things and somehow blunder my way into helping the situation. So far it's worked, and I've learned a few pointers here and there as well as picked up some spiffy souvenirs. It also lets me meet itneresting people like you so that's another plus to keep on hopping."

Shrugging her shoulders theatrically, the magister magi then pulled a small bag of white chocolate macadamia nut cookies from her hammerspace pouch to dip one of them into her refilled glass milk before munching on the treat with relish. "Want a bag? Least I could do for you helping me out with that encounter. I tend to cook way more than I should, but since my hammerspace pouch keeps things in temporal stasis, the freshness is pretty guaranteed for my stockpile so it helps save time to do things in bulk."

[Psyga315]

Fight At The Edge Of Town

As Wendy was tossed into Kyubey, she could see Noel sprinted towards her. As she brought her guns forth, Wendy tried to use the wind to push herself out.

BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG!

The pistols were the quicker of the two and Wendy wound up gaining a few bullet holes before she thrusted her arms backwards and created a gust of wind to push herself into the air. The rest of the bullets wound up shredding the Incubator and rendered it into Swiss cheese before it fell over. Wendy landed... right into Rain's punch.

BAAAAANG!

As if like it was a scene out of a shonen fighting manga, Rain's fist pounded into Wendy's stomach so hard, she could see her own fist on the other side of her body. Wendy began to twitch. Her jaw gyrated. She began to cough up, not blood, but a sickly, black, mud-like substance. Despite this seeming fatal blow, Wendy just laughed and smiled.

"Fufufufufufufufufu! That tickled!" She cackled as she pushed herself off of the fist. Tiny strands emerged from one part of her stomach to the other side in a rapid motion and in no time, her stomach began to regenerate. With that though, her body began to emanate a larger version of the dark aura. Morgan caught up with Thomas as he saw his victim turn into mush.

"What is she?!" Morgan asked.

"It's as I said, she's a Devil. A human that has descended so far down the abyss, that not even they identify themselves as humans." Thomas said. He then looked at Wendy. Despite shrugging off both a gauss rifle to the head and a fire punch through the gut, Wendy was damaged. Her legs trembled a bit as Wendy panted a bit heavier. The aura was a good sign too, as he can tell from his history of hunting Devils. "We keep this up though, and we'll beat her." Thomas readied his muskets.

---

The Bar's Chatter
By now, the song of Gaston has died down and Charles and Eric reminisce of the good ol' days. The bartender went to Rachel.

"What can I fix you up with?" He asked Rachel. He then turned to Edward. "I'm all ears."

"Floridaman... Floridaman... Something rings a bell... Hey, Charles, wasn't there that one time a rabbit saw Florida off the map while we were on it and left us to die on there?" Eric said.

"Y-yeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaah... maaaan... that was a weird trip..." Charles said.

---

Back to the Brawl
A new Kyubey appeared from out of nowhere and proceeded to eat the other Kyubey's remains.

"Wendy, our opportunity has been wasted. There is no further point in engaging this." Kyubey said.

"N-no! Not until I settle the score with that ass over there!" She pointed to Rain and glared. Small, black tornadoes began to form over her arms. "You've wounded me so much... And now... now I've had enough!" With that, she slammed her fists into the ground, knocking Kyubey away from the battlefield and kicking up a sandstorm in the process. Thomas immediately began to shield Morgan from the sand.

"I knew this would happen!" Thomas gritted his teeth.

---

Inside the sandstorm, Wendy dug her finger into the place where the rifle bullet met her skull and dug into it. The darkness faded away as the wound reopened. She twisted it over and over until her finger was dyed with red. She pulled it out as the wound closed up again. She then proceeded to draw a magic circle with the blood. When the circle was complete, she placed her hand over it.

"My Abyssal Beast, hear my cry
I call to you to come and fly
to when I need you the most
come forth and protect your host
O spirit of the Slyph
FLY AWAY NOW:
GIRUDA!!!"

---

The barrier of sand burst apart as a giant white bird, with the head of a crane and the body of a crow, spread its wings wide open. Thomas covered his eyes from the sand and pulled out his card, scanning the bird. Instantly, the card's background went pitch black as a picture of a bird was shown and on it: The Fly.

"No doubt about it! This is her Archdemon!" Thomas said. The bird swooped in to attack Noel. Meanwhile, Wendy fired a blast of hot air towards Rain. Kyubey landed on his feet.

"I just don't understand..." Kyubey sighed and tried to get away.

[Raineh Daze]

Fight at the Edge of Town

As always, it was frustrating when something appeared to just shrug off being punched in the gut. Admittedly, that was more often particularly nasty Deathclaws or people who'd acquired power armour than cute magical girls, but it was rather depressing to see said cute girl regenerate the damage entirely.

Though as it turned out, bracing for her revenge mostly resulted in a gust of hot wind causing her coat to billow dramatically. It was unpleasant, moreso on top of the omnipresent dry heat from their surroundings, and if kept up could probably have done some actual damage. As it was, the worst that she was expecting was reddened skin that would be back to normal in a few minutes.

The bird thing was scarier, but it was still... a bird. Even big.

"Are you sure this is worth it? You have a bird and some magical tricks. We've got guns, advantaced technology, reptile lady, and numbers," the white haired courier stated, walking forwards ominously. Maybe she could just talk the girl into giving in? It wasn't likely, but other than 'punch her until it sticks or she changes her mind' there weren't many alternatives that Rain felt she could take part in, "Do you think this is going to end well for you?"

[VitaVitaAR]

Noel Vermillion, oh now there's a bird why is there a huge bird

Noel stared in shock for a few moments. Bolverk... it wasn't set to be lethal, she wasn't trying to kill her! And now it had torn apart that weird fuzzy thing everyone seemed to hate... Quickly Noel backed up, trying to get her bearings. The girl was regenerating, but it was clear that her body wasn't very strong from what she could tell... that... that other girl had punched right through her! But she had all that black stuff inside her... Swiftly, Noel did her best to try and keep her in her sights, but then there was that swirling storm of sand... Noel stepped back again. She had to keep trying to arrest her, it was her duty, she had to...

For a few panicked moments, she stared in shock at the enormous bird that emerged from the sandstorm. She stepped back, her heart hammering in her chest, as it set its sights on her and swooped towards her. Bolverk keeping her calm, Noel remembered herself and dove to the side, feeling the air rush past her as she rolled across the hot ground and steadied herself on her feet. It... it was really big... and scary, but... if she could get it out of the air, maybe...?

A-aiming for the wings! That might do it!

Snapping Bolverk up, Noel took a deep breath. Both pistols swiftly were trained on the bird as she took aim and fired off two shots with a flare of light and a crack, trying to hit its wings.

Anno, The Power of Song

Anno took a step back. And another. Her entire body was quaking with fear. She'd seen Kyubey and rushed in to kick the little bastard but now... now there was... that enormous bird, and the girl was filled with horrible black tar, and... and she couldn't do anything to help. Everything was happening like this and there was... there was nothing she could do. What if someone got hurt? Or... or worse? She wouldn't be able to help anyone at all... Stepping back further and further, away from the battlefield, all the brunette girl could do was watch in fear as the battle escalated. And yet, beneath all the fear, the worry, there was something new... Even as she watched how the girl seemed to simply regenerate from all harm, and how the massive bird swooped down to attack, and the fear grew, something else grew with it. There was... a song? Faintly, inside Anno's head, there played a small tune, one she'd never heard before, a soft, simple chain of notes...

Even as she slid to her knees on the dusty ground, Anno felt herself reaching into her pocket, and grasping it in her hand. She drew it out, the little gem on a string. It almost seemed to glow. In the palm of her hand, the necklace was pulsing with light. Was it... was this...?

... Of course. A song.

Anno's grip tightened on the gem as she rose to her feet shakily. That was it, wasn't it? That's what this thing was. And if it worked... if she was right, then she could...

There was only one way to find out.

The words came to Anno's lips almost as a natural progression of the song playing in her head.

"~In light, the silence ends...~"

The necklace flared brightly, and golden light engulfed her. And she could feel it, even as she shut her eyes. Her clothing vanishing, only to be replaced with the varying layers of armor and clinging underlayers, overlaying each other to form the outfit that constituted what she would wear in battle. It really was what she thought it was. Opening her eyes, Anno saw the rushing lights all around her as a golden rod formed in front of her, a brilliant silver blade projecting from the tip to form a long-hilted sword. She grasped it in one hand, her fingers clutching the metal, as the lights faded away.

She didn't know what she was doing. But Anno knew, now, that she could help.

This was her Symphogear.

[Green Rhapsody]

Cecilia
At first, it seemed as if the group that had arrived were handling the situation well enough that they didn't seem to need her. The blonde was about to make her leave from the scene when suddenly a giant bird appeared and started to fly at the law enforcement girl from before. Reacting quickly, she raised her staff as a magic circle appeared in front of her.

"Vortex!" She shouted, causing small tornado to appear from below the bird. The winds were strong enough to blow it off course and cut into its hide. Hopefully, the combined shots to its wings and the mini-tornado would be enough to at least get it out the air.

Cecilia walked over to Noel, her staff still raised in front of her. She was prepared to cast another spell if the bird came at them again. Or anything else for that matter.

"Are you okay?" She asked, giving a quick once over to her fellow blonde. She didn't appear to be injured. Thank goodness. Even if she could heal, it was better that no one got hurt in the first place.

[Dblade26]

The appearance of cookies just about ruined any attempt of mature, mysterious bravado August might have attempted to cultivate. In fact his eyes just about sparkled with glee at the sight of a pouch of the things, and though no one else could hear it the spirit in his shard sighed in exasperation. Nevertheless August was grinning like a loon with his eyes aglow with happiness.

"I haven't seen decent western-style baked goods since I started traveling! Can I really have those? Really?" despite his line of questioning he eagerly snatched up the small bag took one of the cookies and nommed on it before pocketing the rest away in some hidden pouch of his duster as if they would suddenly vanish or reveal themselves as an illusion otherwise. After a second he remembered himself and quickly tried to shift the subject away from his outburst of squeeing.

"A-anyways, the multiverse is a pretty good place for traveling and sightseeing considering just how much is out there but it can be a pretty dangerous place too, full of lots of conflict. That's why occasionally I-" he paused for just a second. His connection to the Zyguard and their movement and subsequent role in the ongoing war wasn't exactly something he'd heavily publicized before now and it occurred to him that the fact that he occasionally undertook missions for them as he traveled might be better kept a secret.

"-stop and lend a hand to people who need it! Yup! But for now I'm kind of taking a break on Cowboy world! It's nice to meet someone else who enjoys traveling around as much as I do though!"

August wasn't even sure why the lady had referred to herself as a weirdy. Her level of enthusiasm seemed like the right sort of reaction to having an infinite multiverse full of amazing worlds to explore in his opinion.

[Moonman]

Edward Evans - The Bar

"Well, I don't suppose you could tell me where here is, exactly? As far as I know, there aren't any deserts like this near the Yukon border." Or anywhere in Canada, for that matter. "On that note, mind telling me where the nearest airport, or even a bus stop, might be? If those are out of the question, I'd be fine with a map and some supplies, I'm used to hoofing it."

"Admittedly, I have more questions, but unless you know anything about whatever this is," Edward pointed at the 'suit' before continuing, "I'm not too certain you can help me on that front." When he'd finished talking, Mr. Evans leaned back in his chair and stretched his arms upwards, relaxing his muscles. Unfortunately for both him and the bar's owner, this somehow triggered one of the suit's many functions, the thermal blasts in particular. Nary a moment later, a beam of thermal energy erupted from each of his hands, boring two perfectly circular holes in the ceiling.

"That was an accident, I swear."

[Vesuvius00]

Allen watched as the fight went on. The blonde woman was tossed into the Cat-bunny, and then someone started shooting, missing the blonde but tearing the Cat-bunny to shreds. The group didn't miss a beat as someone else went up and punched the woman right in the gut, making a sound like a clap of thunder as the fist connected. The woman began to twitch and cough, a sick black goo coming up as she did, but soon started laughing as she regenerated.

"Disgusting. I can't see her soul, which means she must be human, but the way she acts and regenerates is like an Akuma." Allen spoke out loud as he noticed another Cat-bunny, (or maybe the same one?) had appeared and was eating the remains of the other one. And those Cat-things are not much better it seems. At that, he began to target the Cat-bunny, but couldn't fire before the woman started a miniature sandstorm, blowing the Cat-bunny away and temporarily messing up Allen's aim.

Before Allen could relocate the Cat-bunny, a giant bird appeared, stopping the sandstorm as it began to take flight. He was going to try and bring it down along with the others, until he noticed the Cat-bunny starting to run from the scene. He chased after it until he caught up, pinning it in place by standing on one of its ears and aiming his arm-cannon at it. "What the heck are you two?"