[center][h2][u]Titan Fightan | 11:45 EST[/u][/h2][/center]
A collab with [@PapiTan][@Kamen Evie][@Scribe of Thoth][@banjoanjo]


[hider=Boss Fight]
An echoed disorted cry escaped from the massive trio, creating a shockwave of pressure strong enough to knock Steve off his feet. The titan in the front, Alpha, took one step forward. The gait of the beast was slow, bringing up its leg revealed the slag-like stump of a foot. It brought it down onto the shore with a heavy, earth-ruptured thud. Elongated fingers darted outward, with its left hand focused on Yui, theright focused on Rav. 

Just as Steve got to his feet, he was taken off guard by a bright light. The 'eye' of the left Spirit, Bravo, focused on him, its light blinding. The asshole covered his eyes from the intense rays; he was unable to feel himself be lifted off the ground. By the time he did take notice, he was already being abducted, floating through the light at a rapid pace towards the gaping hole that the light escaped from. He could see it burn brilliantly with a massive, golden flame; the source of the light and its 'eye'.

The third Spirit, Charlie, Started to move towards the right. It seemed to just want to reposition itself onto the shore. However, just as it brought its foot up for the first step, Ryleigh made his retribution. The shark-beast emerged out from the murky depths, and clamped its jaws over the leg of the giant. Both its teeth and the spirit's odd skin cracked at the force. Blood splattered from the jaws of the shark, yet it continued to hold. It thrashed about with violent fury; combined with the factors of the titan's own weight and that it was now only supported by one leg, it collapsed backwards. Like a falling pillar the spirit back breached the water and tumbled into the depths. A drawn out, disorted, 'cry' (Similar to Alpha's), escaped it as it slowly fell beneath the water. One mighty hand fell onto the shoreline, fingers gripping the soil and crushing trees that happened to be in its path. It was starting to pull itself up. 

[i][color=B0C4DE]'D-Did you beat them?'[/color][/i]

[i][color=f7941d]'None can bear my might.'[/color][/i]

[i][color=B0C4DE]'Um... that's nice. I-I need to get my phone and-- Venga? V-Venga, sir?'[/color][/i]

Less than a minute later, a gargantuan lizard charged out and tackled the shining being's legs with the full force of its weight, sharp protrusions from its body piercing into the creature. Trailing not far behind was a girl, soaked to the bone, sprinting breathlessly and watching the exchange with wide-eyed horror.

[color=cfa9af]'Rust, Dagda, Tyet.'[/color]

Ravenna took off from the floor, small puffs of dust kicking up where she had pushed against the earth, a quiet inhalation all she needed for an elegant evasion through the fingers of the beast. Not between, [i]through[/i]. The woman's body passed the outstretched hand like air as her available spirits followed the semi-spoken command. Dagda and Tyet returned to their sealed states while Rust reformed into his catalyst, the staff easily falling into Ravenna's grip the instant before she met the air.

Once airborne, the barista took a quiet breath. This wasn't really her speed, especially not with two enormous beasts having a match she didn't want to interfere in and--

[i][color=cfa9af]'--oh, Steve. You really are a handf...ul?'[/color][/i]

Another gargatuan beast tore into the fray, tackling the giant with Steve in what Ravenna could only assume was its grasp, her chest tightening in an unpleasant, hollow ache as it did. Now [i]that[/i] was a feeling she thought she'd long since abandoned. Bitter, unpleasant, hollow, longing, painful. How unpleasant. But there were other things to think about, so Ravenna chuckled to herself as she conjured four runic blades, dull pink light moving with a sweep of the staff to catch the would-be victim of a freefall on their flat sides.

She darted after the blades, her amused expression still in place as she came to a halt above her (uncomfortable) makeshift platform.

[color=cfa9af]"Care to show off some of that strength, dear?"[/color]

Yui, on the other hand, wasn't doing nearly as well. The quake had caught her off guard, she had only barely managed to avoid the Spirit's attack with a clumsy roll, and now her hands were trembling, her thoughts clouded with a petty desire for violent catharsis. She gave a couple wild kicks to the creature's arm, feeling its "bark" crack and splinter against her foot, and gave a dissatisfied grunt.

[color=BEBEBE][i]Strength... Right.[/i][/color]

Yui backflipped high into the air, getting some distance between herself and the trio, and removed the card from her belt, replacing it with another; [b]Strength[/b]. She huffed as she felt overwhelming, absolute power course through her body, her armor becoming clad head to toe in bulky, chitnous black and brown plating. Any further tactical thought was rapidly overcome by the desire to tear her foes apart.

Alex stumbled onto periphery of the battlefield and froze, not sure how to react to the presence of all these people already engaged in combat with the... things. Drawing off his experience with the two girls earlier, he tentatively decided everything that looked like a human was probably an ally for now, to say nothing of the giant lizard that seemed to be locked in melee with one of the three monsters.

He closed one of his fists on instinct - or was it his spirit's subconscious goading, it was getting harder to tell in this form - and shortly after felt a sudden weight manifest in it. Between the gaps in his fingers, the same ramshead amulet he kept around his neck when not transformed rested on his palm.

[color=cc0000]'You desire safety. Throw it,'[/color] The Ram ordered in the back of his mind, an unfamiliar eagerness in its voice that Alex had never heard before.

So, he did; Alex tossed the medallion upward, and it erupted into a mass of organic matter that stunk of mildew and rotting meat. Woody tendrils intertwined into the rough shape of a body as The Ram stretched to its full height - made much less impressive, in Alex's opinion, by the literal titans battling just a short distance away. The spirit simply observed for the time being, not rushing headlong into the fight as Alex had expected it would do, given its earlier sense of urgency.

Blood ruptured from cracked stone and torn roots from the lizard-spirit's impact. A disorted cry echoed over the woods as the titan slowly collapsed from the sheer force it endured. The ray of light had ceased as it fell backward, released Steve from its power. Although caught by that witch, he didn't fully appreciate the rudimentary, uncomfortable 'floor' she had created for him. He was torn between showing off, and leaving them to fend for themselves. More importantly, he didn't recognize the new spirit that just appeared, a rogue spirit? Perhaps a spirit wielder...This was getting interesting.

[color=#EA970D]"Oho, so the princess wants my help hmm?" [/color]Despite the danger of the scenario, the prideful bastard wanted to milk it as much as he could. [color=#EA970D] "I'm a bit disappointed you don't want to take care of it for me, I'm not the servant here. But I'd be willing to grant you the honor of seeing my form, at a price."[/color]

He paused for a moment, and acted as though he was going through made-up costs in his head.

"Let's say...one grand. I take checks of course."

[color=cfa9af]"Oh, dear, I thought you might have learned by now that I'm a lover, not a fighter,"[/color] Ravenna cooed from the safety of her perch. [color=cfa9af]"Nobody expects much from a little pawn like me, but I can't imagine that my dear benefactor will approve of her toy being broken when someone like you was around."[/color]

[color=#EA970D]"That hag..."[/color] He grumbled to himself at the thought of her 'benefactor'. Her toy was persuasive if nothing else. [color=#EA970D]"Oh fine... I suppose it would be a shame to lose that pretty face of yours. $200."[/color]

[color=cfa9af]"If you're that hard up, dear... why not?"[/color] The coy smile that played on the woman's lips and a distinct lack of concern for the danger she was in was anything but subtle. [color=cfa9af]"As long as we keep the orb, yes?"[/color]

[color=BEBEBE]"Maybe none of you will get to keep the orb since you're not DOING ANYTHING!"[/color] Yui roared, having lost any notion of "passive" aggression, and charged back towards her foe.

Bravo fell into the lake with a great impact, water erupted upward and coming down to add to the storm's precipitation. The damage inflicted by Venga spread further up its leg from the impact, due to a weakening structural integrity. Titan Alpha however, continued its assault. Its attention focused to the transformed Yui, as Ravenna had fled into the air. Since Yui had gotten some distance as well, the giant moved with haste out of the lake. It took three long steps, each shaking the surrounding earth with tremendous weight. Its hand clenched into a fist, with an arc-motion, it aimed to crush her like a hammer.

If Yui were thinking clearly, she probably would have tried to avoid such an attack by simply moving aside.

Instead, she tried to catch it.

She let out a mighty cry as she pushed up against the titan's hand, her boots sinking into the mud. Though she strained against the Spirit's efforts to crush her into the dirt, she held her ground nonetheless.

[color=9262CB][i]"Yui?"[/i][/color] The doctor's voice rang through Yui's helmet. [color=9262CB][i]"What's going on?"[/i][/color] The PHANTOM agent rolled her eyes and huffed at the question as she attempted to shift her weight.

[color=BEBEBE]"Engaging the targets, obviously!"[/color] Yui growled, taking a tiny step forwards.

[color=9262CB][i]"I appreciate the pressure test, but you don't usually act this... rash. Your heartrate has been abnormally high, too."[/i][/color]

[color=BEBEBE]"GET TO THE POINT!"[/color] Yui yelled, taking another step.

[color=9262CB][i]"Another spike."'[/i][/color] Harper noted absent-mindedly. [color=9262CB][i]"I'm getting readings from an abnormal amount of unaffiliated Spirits nearby. Could be related. I'd advise switching back to Justice, you might be able to blow it off that way."[/i][/color]

[color=BEBEBE]"You couldn't have told me that a minute ago?!"[/color]

[color=9262CB][i]"No. Good luck, Yui."[/i][/color]

And with that, the PHANTOM agent slid the titan's arm aside, lunged forwards, and grabbed it by the wrist. She dug her heels in and pulled as hard as she could, determined to either topple the beast or pull its arm clean off... Maybe Harper had a point.

While one hand was occupied in lifting Titan Charlie, the other had successfully taken ahold of Ryleigh. The white spirit writhed around violently, like a fish out of water. The titan started to crush him, though thanks to his tough and slippery skin, it bought him some time. The root-like fingers made sure to imprison him in the grip, however, so the beast tried in vain to bite away at the many fingers and stony flesh. 

Mackenzie was leaned up against a tree, sparing only occasional peeks at the scene. Thank goodness everyone seemed to be too distracted with the battle, she was in no shape to run now. A piercing sense of shock had taken her limbs. Alarm bells were screeching in her head, amplified with every rapid heartbeat that rattled her thin frame. It took so much to even just keep her breathing stable. 

She knew this feeling. Lived it to some extent, every single day. It was different now though. Unnatural.

She lowered herself to her knees for some stability. [i][color=B0C4DE]'Is this... you?'[/color][/i]

The beast gave no response, crying out another [color=f7941d]"YAHAHAHA"[/color] instead and bombing itself into the water where it aimed to clench its jaws around the enemy's neck.

Upon noticing the shark-like being's distress, The Ram seemed to have found an adequate target, rushing at the hand Titan Charlie had rested on the shoreline. It leapt and dug its gnarled talons into the titan's fingers like a cat climbing a tree, aiming to climb its way to the top of the hand. As it went, mycoid tendrils snaked out of the nooks in the spirit's barklike skin, lapping at the titan's flesh to seed it with speckles of crimson spores. With any luck, the giant wouldn't even notice it had been infected until the spores had taken root and its hand was eroding from the inside out.

Alex, in the meantime, cowered behind a nearby bush like the brave warrior he was. Every few seconds he poked his head out to check his spirit's progress and watch for any stray giant monster limbs coming his way, but for the most part, he was just trying to stay out of sight - be it by titan or other human.

Yui's strength began to slowly overtake the titan. Alpha's wrist started to crumble, as roots were being disjointed by the constant pull. It eventually gave way, the entire hand of the titan disconnected from the wrist, the immense weight of the hand now free in the agent's grasp. The exchange caused the titan to stumble back, nearly falling into the water, a soft murmuring hum escaped the hole on its face.

The roots that supported Charlie's infected hand began to rot away. As the roots wilted, the rocky body it held together started to crumble. The titan noticed far too late, as it withdrew its hand closer to its face as if  to inspect the damage. Clumps of stone and wilted bark fell, showering the water below with its debris, it presumably wailed in pain, though the disorted noise was too alien to relate. Though roots and stone still trapped Ryleigh, its weakened and rotting structure made it that much easier to tear through. A triumphant, bestial roar escaped the shark-spirit as it dove back into the water; free. 

Bravo fought against the weight of its attacker. It stood abruptly from the waters, though it was unable to free its throat from the jaws of the pompous lizard-spirit. The stony flesh started to crack as the roots that held it crumpled under pressure, the spirit's blood sprayed outward with some insignificant hydraulic pressure around the beast's jaws. The titan then moved left to right, in a rhythmic, shaking motion; trying to force Venga off of it with the swinging motion. 

Steve had turned his attention away from the Rav to take a look at that action. Did he really need to help? The last he watched was Ryleigh slipping into the depths of the lake, before he returned his attention to that witch. 

[color=#EA970D]"Tell you what princess, consider it an I.O.U.."[/color] He grinned to her just before he started to crouch. [color=#EA970D]"I'll show you what a real king of a spirit can do."[/color]

Flames began to erupt off the body of Steve, his shit-eating grin vanished under the veil of heat and light. Those bat-like wings returned, though they too, we're soon consumed by fire. Heat and Spiritual energy began to rapidly build up from the source of the fire.

The titan's movements did nothing to deter Venga. Its teeth gnawed in further, clawed limbs scrambling against the enemy for a foothold. Something to lever against and tear this cur in two.

Yui wore a determined smirk, the titan's hand smashing into the dirt as she held it at her side. She knew it might be a good idea to swap out, but she also knew a great opportunity when she saw one. She flipped a switch on her belt, and the card slot on the side began to glow with heat. Steam even began to form from the rain that had previously coated it. Yui began to feel the departed Spirit's power go into overdrive, every muscle in her body burning like it was on fire. She could lift that hand like it was nothing now. She felt like she could flip over a mountain. Or a continent. Or-

[color=9262CB][i]"A Remnant Charge?"[/i][/color] Harper questioned. [color=9262CB][i]"Are you sure?"[/i][/color]

[color=BEBEBE]"Of course,"[/color] Yui responded, her breathing heavy. [color=BEBEBE]"I've got the upper hand."[/color] A quiet sigh was her only response. She got a good grip on Alpha's hand and pivoted, swinging the giant fist around before holding it above her head and hurling it straight at the hole in the face of its former owner.

As Charlie brought its crumbling hand closer to what The Ram could only assume acted as its face, the spirit released its grip and vaulted itself upward in a leap toward the titan's "eye". Its mycelial tendrils extended again, though rather than continuing The Ram's fetid assault, they now served as a means of gripping Charlie's barklike skin should The Ram's talons fail to secure a purchase. It had little choice but to crawl around like an annoying tick on the giant at this point in time, given Charlie's height, but as long as it was still over the water, The Ram figured it would be prudent to keep it occupied.

The Alpha titan had prepared a counter-attack, but wasn't fast enough; The severed fist had made a heavy impact to the face. Both the hand and head of the titan crumbled away rapidly from the force, as the body fell backwards. Slayed, the spirit's descent slowed as its body disintegrated in the air. Spiritual flakes rose from the dissolving form with disorted static. The water was barely disturbed, as the last of the behemoth faded away. It had left behind only a remnant: A large black orb. The remnant radiated with black disorted static, similar to the energy that had escaped the vortex prior. It floated in the air just above the lake's surface.

Charlie struggled about, wounded and enraged, it tried desperately to attack at the Ram. In futile efforts it tried to grab hold of it with its other arm, but failed to catch its assailant. In addition to use of its arm, it tried to move about as if it could shake the spirit off of it. 

Ryleigh peaked his head out from the lake to observe the action, his attention shifted from the dissolving titan, to the distracted Charlie, and then lastly towards the great flowing light and heat. He knew that energy well, and he is somewhat pissed Steve would be so reckless. With a desire to avoid being caught up as a collateral, the shark-spirit dove back further into the lake and waited. 

https://i.imgur.com/4cpPHgX.jpg

The growing fire where Steve once stood then exploded into a blinding light, like a second sun had briefly formed to deliver its blinding glare. Followed by the light was the battlecry of another spirit; a loud guttural screech. The light faded abruptly with the arrival of a serpentine figure already flying in the air, moving from where Steve had been originally. Green-scaled, winged, and forked tongue; the monstrosity was about as long as the titans were tall.

With the return to his power, all steve could think about was "Kneel before me, insects." Unable to speak in this form however, this translated to a drawn out screech. The dragon flew with great speed, Flames frothing off of its open maw as it charged into Charlie. He bit down on the Titan's side with burning fangs. The section of torso crumbled under the crunch. Fresh roots depeserately tried to fill the void left in its torso as the titan's weight started to shift. Before it could recover, however, the ANIMUS Spirit shot a breathe of flames outward onto the fresh injury. The roots we're incinerated immediately. The rapidly spreading heat caused the body of the titan to light-up with molten cracks. The melting of stone and disintegration of roots caused the titan to rapidly fall apart beyond the point of its original injury. One last moan escaped from it as it, like Alpha, began to dissolve into the air itself; though this time from two seperate halves as it was torn asunder from both the bite and breathe. A remnant had formed just above the water where it had crumbled to, Steve flying off in a continued path.

The sustained wound on Bravo's neck grew from Venga's continued grip. The physical stress had worn enough now that the head was now halfway off the body; which hanged loosely to the left side as more of the spirit started to crumble. With one last effort, the giant tried to fall to the lake, positioned where it could crush the overgrown lizard between itself and the lakebed. 

Venga gargled out some muffled taunt and allowed its legs to dangle once more, propping it against the weight of the titan. There it would aim to readjust its jaw and finish it off in one last chomp.

Yui took a deep breath, beginning to come back to her senses: She'd simply watched at all the carnage unfolding around her, but all of it simply rolled over her without really processing. She was still riding that high of satisfaction to the point that she only now noticed the armor beginning to fade away from her power suit.

[color=BEBEBE][i]Oh, right... This one's spent.[/i][/color]

She removed the now faded card from her belt and shuffled it back in with the rest, pulling up two more to replace it; [b]Justice[/b], which she loaded into her belt, and [b]The Hanged Man[/b], which she loaded into her arm. She tried to keep her mind sharp as her armor changed to once again embody the locust Spirit's power, focusing on her tight grip on the kusari-gama that had appeared in her hand. She shifted her focus to the Remnant's power, drawing on its more nuanced powers...

Through the height of the storm, a particular gale of wind pierced through. Far from the turbulence around it, this one had a sense of direction and purpose that resonated with the souls it touched. Yui felt the fog going through her mind begin to clear, and gave a quiet sigh of relief, reflecting on her actions just seconds before with subdued embarrassment. She looked back to the Remnant left behind by the Spirit she'd destroyed, focusing power into her legs as she swung her chain around at her side. 

The PHANTOM agent leapt high into the air, soaring high over the surface of the lake, and swung the chain towards the black orb left behind by Alpha. It wrapped itself around the Remnant, and Yui pulled the chain back in, the Remnant already beginning to reshape itself in her hand as she fell back down towards the water.

The Ram scrambled across Charlie's skin, desperately trying to maintain its position on top of the titan as the creature tried to swat and shake it off. Not that it mattered, as Steve obliterated the behemoth in a single swoop. From there, The Ram had little choice but to cling to the burning husk as it toppled down toward the water. It wasn't necessarily assuming foul play was involved, but there was always the possibility that glorified flying reptile wanted The Ram out of the way to consume Charlie's remnant itself. 

The spirit dug its claws in and rode one half of the titan along its descent, pushing off before it impacted to dive into the water. Its barklike skin splintered under the force of the collision, but the damage was too superficial to truly be a hinderance. After it regained its bearings, The Ram swam for the surface, ever mindful of any falling debris from Charlie's body.

Alex, in the meantime, had fully removed himself from his hiding place behind the bush to gawk at the destruction - and more importantly, his submerged spirit partner.

They were all so eager to throw themselves into the fray, weren't they? Ravenna had made certain to move herself out of harm's way once the fighting picked up, ever-observant eyes drinking in the sights. If the woman were honest, she'd already gotten what [i]she[/i] wanted--a little more information, a little more exposure--and it had come at the relatively low cost of a dip in the water. 

[color=8fa5c7]'You could try to get that Remnant.'[/color]

[color=cfa9af]'And put myself in danger? Are you certain you're Rust?'[/color]

[color=8fa5c7]'You're not interested.'[/color]

[color=cfa9af]'Well now, I can't say I have that much need for it.'[/color] The woman sighed softly to herself. [color=cfa9af]'But I suppose if you're so dissatisfied, I could [i]try[/i]. A bit.'[/color]

She really wasn't that interested though. Power was best left for people that needed it, and certainly, Ravenna wasn't a woman that chased it. Dusty rose hair swept behind her lithe figure as she cut through the air, her breath stilled in her lungs as her body passed through crumbling debris, her staff held firmly at her side. Maybe it would have been safer to use Rust's abilities--no, maybe not. Obstructions were difficult enough to deal with, much less trying to navigate through them with a poor attempt at a runic weapon used as a vehicle. The medium came to a clean stop by the Remnant herself, Lyra's intangibility fading from her with a single exhalation as a delicate hand reached for the blackened orb.

She really wasn't that interested, but if it made one of her darlings happy, then she could do with the effort. 

Venga's bite finished off the titan, the jaws cleaved through stone and root. There was a deafening cry that escaped the falling, severed head of the titan as it started to crumble. The body of the spirit remained in place, falling apart piece by piece. As cracks rapidly ruptured over its body, a blinding but harmless light escaped from those veins.

By the time the head reached the water, The body exploded into dissolving chunks and light, leaving behind a remnant that slowly descended to the surface of the lake. 

Yui's remnant twisted and spiraled into a small explosion of light, similar to the death of the last titan, only that there was a surge of electrical force that harmlessly moved around her. It was always a strange sensation, no matter how many times Yui had felt it. As she fell back beneath the waves, she held her arm forwards, watching as the power snaked its way up her wrist and into her hand, threading and compressing itself into a flat rectangular shape. The agent shuffled the blank back into her belt; it wasn't ready yet. She began her swim back to shore, reluctant to fly back if it meant losing control again.

Steve had still been climbing heights rapidly in his ascent far above the lake, though in a U-Shaped formation, he directed himself towards the ground and slowly made his descent towards the shore.  Ryleigh had already beaten him there, using 2 of his arms to climb about onto the surface. The fish-beast shaked its body like a wet dog. 

The three guardians had been defeated, 2 of their remnants remained, one within the reach of Ravenna, the other closer to Venga. The lizard grinned beneath the water and closed its mouth around the light.

Yui climbed out of the lake, and a strong gust of wind blew her armor dry. She took a good look around the shore, her eyes settling on a curious figure hidden behind a tree. A young boy in an odd mask... She knew a Medium when she saw one. She scanned about for any more as she made her way back towards Hurricane, and the key. [color=BEBEBE][i]Maybe someone should have been watching that...[/i][/color]

[color=BEBEBE]"Oi, Harper."[/color] Yui said, putting a finger against her helmet again. [color=BEBEBE]"We took care of the three Spirits. Managed to get a Remnant, too."[/color]

[color=9262CB][i]"Excellent."[/i][/color] The scientist responded. [color=9262CB][i]"What about the other two Spirits?"[/i][/color]

[color=BEBEBE]"Haven't given us any trouble... yet. There's at least one Medium here, might be one of theirs."[/color]

[color=9262CB][i]"I see. You've given me enough test results for one day. Securing that key is your priority."[/i][/color] Yui nodded in response, before realizing that Harper probably couldn't see it.

[color=BEBEBE]"Got it."[/color] The agent answered, pressing a button on the Binding Chain and watching as spiritual power returned to the motorcycle. It revved as if it were stretching as it morphed into its black, unsealed form. She picked up the key and kept the Medium in the corner of her eye, deciding to pretend that she didn't see him.

Alex froze as he heard the motorcycle revving, then swayed side to side hesitantly as if debating whether to run back into cover or not. He'd been so caught up in watching the spirits clash that he forgot to take into account that there were probably other people like him in the vicinity too. If machinery was working again, that at least meant it was over, right? He had nothing to worry about; the other mediums were probably on his side. Probably. The boy reached down to check his phone to confirm electronics were actually working, only to be met with the realization that it wasn't in his pocket. It must've been under his outfit, but he had no idea how to get it off without The Ram around. That meant he needed to go collect his spirit. From the lake. Where all the scary monsters were still swarming around those floating orb things.

He deliberated for a few more seconds to build up courage, then just bolted for the water. As he approached, a clawed hand broke the surface and dug into the muddy shoreline, followed by an impressive pair of horns. The Ram completely ignored Alex in favor of gazing at the other two remnants as it rose from the water, its hollow eyes somehow managing to portray a chilling amount of anger. Or maybe that was just a consequence of their mind link thing. Alex really had no idea how any of this worked.

[color=ffcccc]"Is, um, is everything alright?"[/color] Alex questioned sheepishly as he neared the spirit, his posture sunken and anxious like a messenger sent to deliver bad news to a ruthless tyrant.

The Ram shifted its attention downward at the approaching mortal. [color=cc0000]'I underestimated the amount of spirits in the vicinity and have been denied my prize accordingly. There's nothing more for us here.'[/color] Then, the spirit simply started lumbering back in the direction of the school, with Alex quickly falling into step behind the creature.

The serpent spiraled into the parking lot, deforming just before he made contact with the ground. In plumes of light and smoke, the dragon-spirit vanished. Steve then moved out from the dispersing smoke, towards the lake with a cocky grin. 

[color=#EA970D]"How about that for strength, huh?"[/color] He called out. 

Ryleigh, meanwhile, was still adjusting his injuries. A long tongue licked bleeding cuts and bruises from the fight. Teeth were already in the process of regrowing to replace the ones that were damaged or lost. 

Venga snarled at the spirit. Its eyes glanced along its long form, sizing it up. Another low grumble and its skin began to shift, hardening into something formidable.

[color=f7941d]"I stake my claim on this territory. Take your leave before I--"[/color]

The lizard burst into particles and wisped its way towards the school. The specks of light returned to a girl hobbling away from the lake, breathless and shaky.

Yui watched as the Spirit dissipated. [i]That's the last of them...[/i]

She picked up the key and wrapped it up in her now thoroughly soaked clothes, tying the arms of her jacket around the makeshift cushioning. Ideally she would have selected something more respectful, but it would have to do for now. She picked it up and strode towards the parking lot.

[color=BEBEBE]"We've got the key,"[/color] Yui stated flatly, giving a look to each of her allies. [color=BEBEBE]"I suggest we leave."[/color]

Ravenna took a gentle hold of the Remnant--by which she really meant she had barely touched it before it began to do its own thing. It wasn't exactly surprising that her spirits might be interested, but Ravenna had expected Tyet or Lobo to have been the first to make a suggestion to chase power. That Rust had was...odd, even by her standards. The barista hummed softly as she drifted through the air, giving only a languid motion of her hand toward Yui in response. More important and more pressing matters were at hand. 

[color=cfa9af]'Satisfied?'[/color]

[color=8fa5c7]'Hmph.'[/color]

[color=cfa9af]'Good to hear, darling.'[/color] A satisfied smile played over the medium's lips, another grounding sense of fulfillment burrowing into her chest. 

[color=cfa9af]"It's been very enlightening spending time with you, dears, but you have a point. My darling Lobo might try and eat my date if I stick around too long,"[/color] the woman chimed, her tone almost a pleased hum. With a pleasant laugh and an expression that spoke more of a casual stroll through the park than of witnessing and evading a battle between giants, Ravenna gave a final wave. Its levity hardly seemed appropriate. [color=cfa9af]"Feel free to come visit me whenever you need, dears."[/color]

But from the way the woman was subtly gaining a slight altitude, it was evident she didn't plan to stick around.

Ryleigh made some odd low-pitch sound toward Yui, seemingly in agreement, as he already started to stroll at the direction of the ocean. [color=#EA970D] "Yeah we better get going, your lot can play around with that orb, but we expect to learn about whatever you find with it." [/color] Steve stated to Yui as he began to follow. [color=#EA970D]"Oh and make sure your hag knows how much I helped you today." [/color] He smirked up to Ravenna as she started to fly away. 

Yui only gave a delayed nod in response, beginning to wonder if ANIMUS even cared about the key in the first place. She swung her leg over her motorcycle and gave a quick wave before she sped away into the storm.
[/hider]