[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/qFC355N.png?2[/img][/center][hr][hr][right][sub][color=1a7b30][b]Location:[/b] Near the Dying Mistle @ The Ruined City[/color]     [color=A9A9A9]//[/color]     [color=007236][b]Date:[/b] February 23, 2057[/color]     [color=A9A9A9]//[/color]     [color=00746b][b]Time:[/b] 16:06[/color]     [color=A9A9A9]//[/color]     [color=0076a3][b]Interactions:[/b] Ajax, Vincent, Cerise [/color][/sub][/right][hr][hr][center][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FU8gSz8EZNw&list=PLPJny5xpzQqS0uk4bb_Q5wPjnsQRaFKgW&index=8]𝅘𝅥𝅮[/url] / [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lZwy_yGVeM&list=PLPJny5xpzQqS0uk4bb_Q5wPjnsQRaFKgW&index=9]𝅘𝅥𝅮[/url][/center]
Lys’ thoughts mirrored Ajax’s. The Bomba was in turns recoiling or lashing out, unleashing terrifying wails and roars. There was… something about it that filled her with a sense of primeval terror in a way that more humanlike Lost - even ones just as powerful - didn’t. 

Ajax sliced a tentacle free, which thrashed and wriggled like a giant dying worm underfoot before dissipating, but a new one just grew up in its place, the damage impressive in appearance but ultimately negligible. Lariat struck true and the beast roared, weeping blackish pus from its damaged eye-hole. A whitish grey mist spread through the area and it took Lys a moment to notice it through Sky Princess’ camera. She pulled her mask away from her mouth for a second and shouted at the top of her lungs. [color=7FFFD4][b]“Protect your eyes, people! That stuff is blinding! Desmond: mask on!”[/b][/color] She suited words to action and sealed hers back over her mouth and nose.

A bolt from Poppy’s crossbow struck true along with one of Princess’ rockets. The glowing red pits ruptured, and pungent, corrosive slime splashed down across the battered pavement, burning and scarring the concrete. The Tsar Bomba let out a higher-pitched shriek that reverberated through the evening sky. Lesser lost scampered about, snarling, chattering, and gnashing their teeth. This was bad: [i]really[/i] bad. The massive grime had slowed, but was still headed broadly in the direction of the group. 

Then, Lysandra got an idea. “Ajax,” she called, “Vincent. I need you two to make it feel some real pain. I need it facing me and roaring!” The mouth. That led directly inside it. That had to be a point of vulnerability, but one that the melee types couldn’t reach. If she could feed it some high explosive, that might really do some damage. She’d have to hope that Cerise would catch on as well. Poppy had switched targets as needed and was cleaning up Thralls, and Erik seemed to be working on something with Dallas but he, too, had taken out some of the nuisance enemies.

[color=orange]”Oh, I can do pain!”[/color] Vincent called out, though it was hard to hear Lysandra over the noise the massive grime and surrounding Lost were making. He stood on the pile of rubble he had perched on to avoid the mist, cracked his neck, then brandished his improvised weapon as energy flickered across his shoulders and down his arms once more.

He then leapt from his perch and into an open second-floor window of a nearby building. He sprinted down the length of the floor as the building worked to provide cover, though he still had to jump over and slide under the occasional tentacle. As he made his approach, using holes in the ceiling to ascend a couple more floors, a flash of inspiration hit him. [color=orange]”Ajax! Sync up with me!”[/color] he yelled. With that, he crashed through the window on the far side of the building and launched himself at the Bomba. He landed on the base of the nearest tentacle and began to hop from one to the next, using them as platforms as he ascended higher up the monster.

Vincent and Ajax were doing their thing. Lys knew they would give her the opening that she needed but, to her horror, as she watched, the surface of the Tsar Bomba began to bubble around its eye holes. The three eyes that had seemingly been taken out reemerged, no worse off than before. Its ability to take punishment was unbelievable!

The Sword in the meanwhile had been pinballing in a circle around the creature, putting his agility on full display. Throughout varying aerials and swift slashes, he’d been keeping an eye on Vincent’s position. When falling down into the gas cloud, he shut his eyes. Having taken a mental snapshot of his landing position, he rolled upon impact with the ground. Using the momentum from the motion, he sprung up into a jump up and out of the cloud again. 

Now able to see his surroundings again, an arm smashed through a window on the opposing building from Vincent to grab hold. Ajax turned his head behind him to see his contemporary leaping from the creature’s tentacles. Remembering the admonition from both him and Lys, Ajax began to climb up higher with Vin’s pace in mind. When near the top, he looked down to where Vin was one more time to confirm the timing. Then, pushing off of the wall, he let himself drop to sync his downward attack with Vincent’s upward.

Of course, it wasn’t all quite as smooth as the two of them thought. Ajax’s agility was stunning and Lys let out a low whistle, mostly inaudible, in appreciation, but there were still a [i]lot[/i] of tentacles. She had to expend two more rockets on protecting Vincent from being blindsided, and one on Ajax, which she hoped she’d be able to tease him about later, assuming they all got out of this intact. [color=7FFFD4][i]Only five left,[/i][/color] she lamented inwardly, making a snap decision. She set Princess to follow a specific target and sync her fire with it, moving the drone out of the colossal grime’s range. Then, Lysandra flipped back her headset, grabbed her bow, and plucked a very particular and rather heavy arrow from her quiver. She nocked it, raised her bow to the right angle, and pulled back, ready to loose.

Vincent looked up to see Ajax in freefall above the grime and knew it was now or never. He leapt off of a final tentacle and held his improvised weapon over his shoulder. Time seemed to slow down for him as he drew in a deep breath through his mask. He tightened his grip on the rebar as he felt power flow through his muscles. His silver eyes flashed red and, with a roar, he swung with all of his might. As his weapon made contact, the Tsar Bomba’s flesh rippled as a low boom could be heard.

The two of them impacted at almost exactly the same time: Vincent smashing and Ajax slashing, the latter carving a deep furrow in the beast’s disgusting flesh. Lys didn’t even wait for the roar. She sighted where its mouth would open, pulled back with all of her considerable arm strength, and let the nitroglycerin-packed arrow fly. The Tsar Bomba unleashed a deafening noise and the bellow was so loud that most of the people close by visibly flinched. 

Lysandra’s eyes followed the arrow as Ajax and Vincent wasted no time in clearing the area. Into the great grime’s mouth the projectile flew, joined moments later by a bright barrage of smaller projectiles as Sky Princess unloaded her entire payload. From a distance, the repeated fire of Cerise’s Lariat could be heard. Lys eyes widened and she grinned in malevolent glee as a colossal explosion shook the Tsar Bomba. For a moment, it was only visual, before the sound and shockwave reached her. Her hair whipped about her head and shoulders like so many tendrils of her own and her jacket fluttered behind her. [color=7FFFD4][b] “Fuck you, Eldritch motherfucker! Hahahahaaa! [i]Eat[/i] it!”[/b][/color]

She had calculated on the fly as best she could: just enough explosive force to stop the monster dead in its tracks without triggering its self-destruct instinct. It took a moment for the flash and smoke to clear and Lys lowered her bow, ready to behold the results. 
[hr][hr]