[center][h3]Sparky, Scaley, and Shooty verses Advisor[/h3][/center] From the moment that the initial fighting began there was nothing but chaos. While Stark moved with the mid-line soldiers, taking out those whom the initial attacks of the front liners missed, Alice kept to the rear lines. The gunner picking off the stragglers who came too close to the healers or the backs of her allies in general. She knew she was at a disadvantage in this kind of a terrain where there was nowhere for her to perch and observe and strike as needed. She could feel the magic pulsing in her eyes as she watched for a moment to strike the Advisor, her hand already toying with the Power Bullets Kairn had given her. However, even as she shot another enemy in the throat as he get too close for her comfort and holstered her hand pistol the explosion from the Advisor sent not only her horse bucking but her flying. It took a moment to recover as she caught her breath again but it was clear something had happened as most of the soldiers, both allies and enemies, had been blindsided by the attack. The short woman pushed off of the ground as quickly as she could manage before her rifle was off her back and in position. She stood stock still as she zero’d in on those around her. Joy was unconscious, Jinn had lost fingers and looked to be unconscious and Christopher looked the worst she’d ever seen him. “Shit!” She exclaimed as she took out the regular bullet in the chamber and unsheathed that magazine of regular bullets she had ready. Instead, she left the single black magazine that she’d been given and reached for one of the white ones. Lady Karin’s words echoed for a moment in her head, [i]”There is a unique enchantment on these rounds that will keep them from causing any damage to your allies; in fact, the round will dissolve on contact, and as the magic washes over them they will be healed of wounds of moderate intensity. Be careful, though; it will do the same to your enemies.”[/i] Her pupil’s dilated just a split second before the world seemed to slow down. Between the cross hairs she found Christopher’s head. Her barrel lowered just a bit before her finger pulled the trigger and the bullet raced towards Christopher’s left shoulder. The bullet sped along, a white streak through the air. However, just before it reached Christopher, it seemed to flash, and then began to dissolve. Those particles that separated fully travelled forward as a mist, while the remaining chunk collided with the young man’s shoulder and rapidly sunk in, not creating a wound but seeping in and dissolving entirely. Immediately, a change came over Christopher. There was a clearness in his head that he hadn’t had since the beginning of the fight, like he hadn’t been hit that hard at all, or had been rattled around in the first place. Quickly he stood, giving a slight shake of his head as adrenaline suddenly pulsed through him again, his energy returning. Quickly he glanced around, and, upon spotting Alice, gave a wave of thanks before he was once again reminded about pain when the Advisor’s whip wrapped around his throat, wrenching him forwards and towards her, off his feet. She rose her head from the scope as Chris seemed better than alright, only to loudly curse as she saw him be flung off of his feet. She readied another bullet but a streak of silver got in her way. Alice cursed again before turning and spotting her horse, moving towards it and preparing for her own attack when the chance came. Stark was moving at a dead sprint towards the flattened zone that was the Advisor’s fighting area with long watery extensions beginning from her shoulders and extending outwards. “Let him go you wretch!” She exclaimed as she snapped one of them towards the main body of the Advisor. The woman’s gaze snapped up from where she was dragging Christopher forwards (whose hands were around his throat), and she did indeed release him; suddenly the whip was yanked away from his throat even as he continued to tumble towards her, the weapon suddenly lashing up and out to strike against the water. A burst of black forced the tendril apart, making water fall harmlessly to the ground even as she brought the whip back in again briefly, before lashing forwards along the ground, splitting it forwards all the way to beneath Stark’s feet, and making black erupt forwards along that line. The water mage snarled from the back of her throat as her extension was momentarily rendered useless before she dove to the left and rolled out of the way while keeping her distance from whatever it was erupting from the ground. Another blue spell circle and the extension was back, thinner this time on either of her arms. Stark manipulated the water in a way to mimic the Advisor’s own weapon before she snapped them forward at the woman to fully get her attention. The whip was once again brought up, but this time both of the Advisor’s hands came with it. Holding the handle at either in, she used the much more solid material to skillfully block both of the extensions from Stark, swinging it down in such a way as to block one and then catch the other. One hand then slid along the whip itself, drawing it back briefly before suddenly she lashed once more, drawing both arms up before swinging it down to strike with a long, quick overhead blow, the whip screaming as it fell. She hadn’t been quick enough the release her hold on the water in her control, having been hoping to offset the Advisor’s attack-clearly failing. Off running again she was as she tried to form another plan and not die via the disgustingly powerful enemy before them-getting more and more frustrated with each step. “A LITTLE HELP WOULD BE REAL FUCKING NICE RIGHT NOW!” She shouted at the presumably busy Christopher as she tried something else. She knew it was risky but she may as well try or die. A series of spell circles not only appeared around her feet but around the Advisor’s feet and as close to the whip as she could manage. Bringing her arms upwards, dozens of tendrils shot up from the spell circles before clinging to the weapon and the Advisor themself-wrapping around anything that moved to keep it anchored as long as possible. A snarl left the Advisor, momentarily trapped; but even as she began to struggle, the tendrils began to snap away one at a time, as blackness passed over the woman in waves, pulsing from her hands to the rest of her body. Meanwhile, Christopher was slowly picking himself off the ground, rubbing at his throat briefly before he suddenly shot straight up. [b]”CHILL THE FUCK OUT, YOUR THROAT DIDN’T JUST GET CUT [i]AGAIN!”[/i][/b] Even as he yelled he was moving, charging forwards at the currently restrained Advisor. Even as he got closer she was still snapping away, getting closer to being truly freed, but not quite quickly enough. Instead, Christopher’s fist went forwards, striking her hard in the stomach; again, electricity travelled through her, and the presence of the water send it passing through her once again as she was taken off her feet a few inches. Before she fell back down, Christopher turned and flung out his fist in the same movement, once more cracking it across her face. This flung the woman backwards, snapping away from the tendrils entirely, but sending her toppling for just a few brief moments before she once again stood as well. [b]”WHY ISN’T THIS OVER ALREADY?!”[/b] Christopher annoyed exclamation was quickly drowned out as the Advisor bought both hands up. A circle of black surrounding her, from it lines suddenly began to shoot out, in their direction; these lines went back and forth in sharp, jagged patterns, stretching both high and low. Where they met the ground they easily tore into, and at first they seemed more intent on reaching Christopher: [b]”OH, FUCK!”[/b] He managed to dodge the first few, but then suddenly he was skewered, lifted off his feet as the black impaled him, stabbing through his torso, arms, and legs. Forced into the air not unlike a broken mannequin or puppet, he hung there even as he struggled (which simply caused more pain), while those lines began tearing along towards Stark as well. Stark had tried to keep up with adding more of a hold on the Advisor but she wasn’t fast or strong enough to do so. She felt her stomach flip as Christopher was skewered and struggling but that feeling only lasted a moment as she felt her feet taking her off again-trying to evade as best she could. However, Stark screamed out as her own shoulder and forearm were stabbed through. This, of course, drew blood that didn’t fall to the ground but filled the jewels on her wrist; her skin changing to that of silver scales and claws. She brought her other arm down on the black tendrils- breaking them- before taking off again. The attacked arm leaking blood from between the scales as she rounded back with another set of spell circles working for her at the base of Christopher as a torrent of water shot upwards before chilling and freezing around the black skewers-aiming to snap them. Christopher was ready to escape, and though the cold was surprising he made use of it. When the lines were frozen, suddenly he began to twist and wrench, and soon they were snapped away, still poking through him but not restraining or holding him up anymore. He fell to all fours, and briefly he trembled because of the pain, before he reached with his hands and began to wrench away those he could from his arms and legs, leaving holes behind. Briefly, he examined one of them, actually easily able to stick a finger through it before he explosively swore, and began to move forwards again, lurching through the maze of lines. The Advisor, meanwhile, hissed sharply, and suddenly the black lines began to retract towards her, no longer pursuing Stark. “OH NO YOU FUCKING DON’T YOU HARPY!” Snarled Stark as her slitted eyes thinned once more and a single massive torrent around The Advisor and initially close blackness that had been retreating towards her before she froze the water again-not sure how long it was going to hold her for but hopefully long enough to do some damage. The moment that the water froze Stark was on her way again sprinting towards the woman with her claws ready and teeth bared. She was going to rip this woman’s throat out one way or another. Frozen in place, the Advisor couldn’t do anything besides struggle within, sending cracks through the ice, but once again Christopher was the one to do most of the work. Slamming his foot down just before reaching the ice, his fist flung forwards with massive force, and it easily tore entirely through the ice, to the Advisor’s throat. Gripping, he then wrenched back, and shattered the ice entirely as he yanked her out, before whirling and flinging her towards Stark. [b]”HEADS UP!”[/b] Stark caught the woman by the face, giving almost cruel amounts of pressure under her claws before her right arm coiled back before shooting forward and piercing through the woman’s chest cavity before releasing her face and raising the woman’s body into the air-making sure to curl her claws into the woman’s innards in the process. “Gotcha.” A single black bullet screamed through the air, as Alice watched from her crosshairs, towards The Advisor’s newly exposed head. In rage and pain, the Advisor shrieked, and then suddenly she moved. Her arm shot up, grabbing the hand that held her by the face. With an enormous shove she moved her own head out of the way, knocking the both of them off balance and sending them both tumbling, but in that struggle and topple her arm went upwards, and the bullet passed into her forearm, suddenly coming to a stop despite its velocity. When they hit the ground, the Advisor lashed out, kicking at Stark to knock the other woman back and free herself. With this came some violent tearing of her insides, and made another shriek leave her in the process. However, she had no time to wallow in pain, as she immediately stood and instinctively held her arm out, and for good reason. Within her, the bullet’s shell suddenly cracked, and red poured forth before it shattered entirely in an even redder explosion. Within her forearm the explosion tore through, flesh being dissolved in seconds between the two large bones of her forearm, before they began to be eaten away as well. With another roar, two of the Advisor’s fingers of her other hand shot over, and in one brutal movement scooped and ripped away what disappearing flesh remained, before carving out shards of bone as well in a brutal, animalistic movement. All was tossed aside. Her arm fell limply, trembling. The long, gaping wound could be seen through easily, white and red both exposed. However, the energy was no longer there, instead disappearing upon the ground as it ate through the last of her flesh and bone. Once more the Advisor’s hands went over, but with all five fingers this time. Rapidly, she pressed multiple points along her arm and fingers, even several times within herself, before she drew it away; and with it, her limp arm began to rise slightly. In the simplest of terms, she was puppeteering herself. And with both hands she reached towards the gaping hole in her chest. Black covered both hands, and she spread them across herself; in a sort of shiny, almost gel-like substance left behind, the wound was sealed and closed off. She coughed sharply, and a copious amount of dark blood leaked from the cracks in her mask, even as she looked up to glare at them all. Stark hit the ground hard, spitting blood at the impact, before she rose her head as blood steadily dribbled from her lips. “STOP FUCKING LUBING YOURSELF UP YOU PATHETIC WASTE OF TIME AND SPACE AND FUCKING OXYGEN!”She shouted as she struggled to get up. Alice simply frowning in silence from her position on the rear lines as she knew shit was probably about to promptly hit the fan. [b]”STARK I REALLY DON’T THINK IT’S A GOOD IDEA TO POKE THE VERY ANGRY BEAR WITH A-”[/b] Even as Christopher shouted, the Advisor was rushing forwards, straight at Stark. Both of her hands shot up, wrapping around Stark’s throat tightly, squeezing even as she slammed her into the ground. From there, she rushed forwards again, pressing Stark so tightly against the ground that she tore through it, leaving a rut behind. It was quick and brutal, and in just a moment she had reached right in front of Alice, one hand going up and then back down upon Stark’s face, shattering her nose with ease. Immediately afterwards both arms went up, and while one gripped Alice’s throat like that Advisor had done for Stark, but the other went to her arm. With one twisting yank cracks rang out as Alice’s arm was twisted out of place and utterly dislocated, before she swung her around by the same arm to send her crashing down on Stark. Slowly, Christopher lowered his hand. [b]”... Stick, like that…”[/b] He barely had time to bring both arms up in front of his chest, but the Advisor’s blow snuck underneath, her elbow crashing right into where his diaphragm was. Once more, he was sent flying off his feet, but before he could launch backwards properly she grabbed him by the foot, yanking him back towards herself so that she could bringing her forearm down upon his head, striking him into the ground and crushing his head down into it. Even as Christopher coughed several times, trying to bring in something to his lungs that wasn’t dirt and rock even as he struggled to crawl and put some distance between him and the Advisor, a sort of calm passed over the woman. Her hands went up, running through her hair and pushing it back a little as she turned, walking over to calmly pick up her whip- And then, with another extremely violent movement she whirled, striking Christopher across the back at the distance and easily slicing into it. Christopher screamed.