[center][h3]Tora, Poppi, and Big Band[/h3]
[b]Location:[/b] Sandswept Sky
Level 9 Tora (176/90) Level 9 Poppi (176/90) Level 5 Big Band (114/50)
Midna’s [@DracoLunaris], Sectonia’s [@Archmage MC], Primrose and Therion’s [@Yankee], Jesse’s [@Zoey Boey], Raz’s [@TruthHurts22], Raiden’s [@XoXKieroBombXoX], the Phantom Thieves, Braum, the Scout, Peacock, Mao, Robin, Tharja, Ciella
[b]Word Count:[/b] 1398[/center]

Though the assembled Seekers bombarded the incoming Bolsepia pod with everything they had, it took a coordinated effort between Sectonia, Big Band, and Raiden to stop the imminent disaster for good. The cyborg swordsman sailed skyward in spectacular fashion, first launched by Band and then springboarded even higher by his insectoid ally, until he reached the pinnacle and unleashed his Blade Mode for the whole desert to see. His blade carved into the giant organic mass fast as lightning, each slice shearing straight through from one side to another, and in a matter of seconds the pod plus all its contents were reduced to ribbons that plummeted to and blew up harmlessly on the desert sand below.

A chorus of assorted hurrahs heralded Raiden’s arrival as Sectonia brought him back down to the train. In one awe-inspiring display he’d gone from dubious stranger to certified hero in their eyes, and Tora most of all. “Meh-meh-meeeeh!” he cheered, spinning with glee as he jumped into the air. “Friend sliceypon save train from bomb bugs!”

“Don’t forget Sectonia!” Poppi chided him as the giant wasp touched down. Despite her best attempts to save face, the effort of keeping up with the train throughout the whole stunt had taken its toll, leaving her tuckered out for the time being.

Tora clapped his wings together as he continued to dance. “Tora not forget! She do good job too, meh-meh!”

“Bravo, you two!” Big Band tipped his hat to the pair, more than impressed by what they’d managed to accomplish.

With the Bolsepia threat cleanly nipped in the bud, only the Trilid remained to challenge the heroes aboard the train. As the swarm approached the gunners and casters opened fire, but the Akrid were every bit as bothersome as before. Midna’s summons speared several with each lance, the Thieves’ turrets blazed with explosive rounds, and Ciella’s arrows tore through swathes of Trilid at a time, but without Sectonia’s wide-range magic to fill in the gaps the swarm was pushing through. Poppi downgraded to QT mode for better defense and missile coverage, while Braum readied his shield to protect the caboose’s volatile contents, but Primrose stepped up to the plate. Even as her hair and flowing garb whipped in the wind, she poured all her concentration into the palms of her hands, bringing forth one wellspring each of pyromancy flame and dark magic. With teeth gritted she pressed them together, melding a raging sphere of fearsome black-white flame. Its intensity grew along with its size, larger and larger, until finally Primrose hurled her pitch-back pyroclasm into the incoming swarm. Its explosion sent a wave of heat across the area, as hot and weighty as the fire itself, which splashed like magma from a volcano to incinerate every Akrid it touched. Only stragglers were left behind, easy pickings and so few in number that the threat was as good as gone.

“Meh-meh-meeeeh!” Tora cheered again as he bounced into action, with Poppi right behind. While Therion mashed his console to turn the cannon around, the Nopon hurried back down below to assess the damage. Thanks to Jesse and Band’s efforts earlier, a fresh Cobalt was already loaded in the main gun, with a second fully powered up in the charger. There was one problem, however: the charging station was now offline, with an empty T-ENG canister popped out from the top. [i]Replace thermal energy canister[/i], the console displayed in big, flashing letters. Poppi skipped off toward the caboose to find one.

In only a couple more seconds, the cannon had turned its gleaming barrel on Red Eye, a chilling ultimatum that the behemoth lacked the capacity to appreciate. Therion barked out the words that everyone wanted to hear, and as Jesse began her countdown everyone clapped their hands over their ears, bracing themselves for the weapon’s cataclysmic report, and it did not let them down. The Dragonfire roared for a third time, evaporating a massive chunk in Red Eye’s left side, right on top of one of the throbbing red weak spots that the Thieves helped soften up with their turrets. Red Eye’s howl shook the earth as it thrashed, driven to even further agony by the immense, grisly wound. Still, an uncharged Cobalt shell was no substitute for an energized Devil’s Roar, and while it was still good progress toward the behemoth’s demise, the damage was a whole lot less than last time. Red Eye fell back, but it did not retreat underground; instead, it veered sideways, positioning itself directly behind the train once more.

The Seekers got back to work straightaway. With only a slight turn needed from Primrose and an energized Cobalt ready to load, it took only a token effort to ready the cannon once more. This time, however, Red Eye seemed to have learned. As it trailed behind the Railway Gun, growing closer and closer, it kept its giant, armored maw clamped shut. No matter how many of the little eyes on its jaws the heroes shot, it refused to budge. As it continued to encroach Jesse held her fire, worried that she’d waste the round on a hard target. The seconds passed like molasses in this standoff of titanic proportions.

Meanwhile, Therion reached the engine with the news. “A pit?” the conductor squawked, looking understandably frazzled by everything that had been going on even before the thief’s sternly-given order struck him. “D’ya mean Hollow Heights, laddie? With such a big train, the whole peckin’ track might come crashin’ down beneath us! Or…beneath [i]it[/i]. Say, that just might work! Full speed ahead!”

Back at the train’s other end, the situation suddenly came to a head. Red Eye dug down and, with a burst of speed burst up from beneath the sand. Jesse opened fire. The shell smashed into the upper section of Red Eye’s gargantuan jaw, blowing through hard shell and bristly teeth, but it wasn’t enough to stop the behemoth’s attack. The tip of its jaw erupted beneath the caboose, hurling the entire train car upward and sideways. It flew from the track in a scene of transfixing horror. The others could only watch as Braum leaped from the top of the doomed armory, using an ability to zoom straight in front of a more securely-positioned ally. Behind him the caboose ripped free from both the coupling and the tracks, tumbling to the left and crashing end over end across the sand until all the ammunition inside went off in one heart-stopping catastrophe. Through the cloud of acrid smoke and plume of sand Red Eye appeared a moment later, wounded but not crippled, and ready to deliver the Railway Gun to a similar fate.

Ciella pursed her lips. “It’s gaining on us. Slowly but surely.” She considered transforming and flying off then and there, but decided to stick it out a little longer, and see if these heroes came up with anything.

It took a few moments for Tora to swallow his sheer terror and find his voice. “N-no real damage to Railway Gun!” he squeaked up from below. “B-but no more armory, either!”

“That means no more shells,” Big Band growled. He watched as Red Eye’s jaws opened wide, and though it had fallen far behind after Jesse’s broadside, Ciella was right about it gaining on them. It was like staring death in the face, painfully slow but terrifyingly unavoidable, and it left the detective paralyzed. Until he remembered the special shell. “Wait, we still got one!” He plucked the Wrath shell from the reserve spot on the cannon loader. “But this one didn’t fit!”

Tora had come up from below, his expression one of dumb dread, but when he saw the shell in band’s hand his eyebrows shot up. “MEH!” he cried. “That Wrath shell! It strongest of lot, but it not go in normal loader! We need use crane loader, and for that, we need cannon straight forward, meh!”

Big Band inhaled sharply. Could they do it? Did they have enough time to spin the cannon all the way forward, load this grace-given round, and then swing it all the way back? “Well, not like we got a choice here.” He grabbed on tight to that ray of hope, and like the word of law, held it higher. “Y’all heard the man! Less ya wanna be worm food, let’s boogie!” he shouted.

[b][center]One More Hit! (?)[/center][/b]

[center][h3]The Chalk Prince, the Fallen Child, and the Skullgirl[/h3]
[b]Location:[/b] Frozen Highlands - Snowy Forest
Linkle’s [@Gentlemanvaultboy], Frisk’s [@Majoras End][/center]

D nodded when Linkle introduced herself, although Tatiana went as far as to give a nice curtsey. “So nice to meet you, miss Linkle!” In doing so she nearly tripped over her own feet, but she managed to steady herself with a helping hand from D on her shoulder as the Skullgirl explained her group’s destination.

“We haven’t had the pleasure,” D replied to her question. “The Litany of Proper Death, by itself, is not an offensive incantation. Its purpose is more as utility, to deal the final blow and usher the departed off in the true and correct manner. If your aim is to slay an invulnerable man, you must first come by a method of harming him–in any meaningful way, that is.”

Frisk’s question seemed to puzzle the hunter of the dead, as far as Albedo could tell. While the man’s expression was inscrutable, his tone of voice gave the strong impression of a raised eyebrow as he replied. “Our power is not magic. Indeed, it is a far cry from the self-important erudition of the scholars, casting away all things sacred in their obsessive glintstone studies.” While his reply couldn’ be called ‘vehement’ when delivered in such a steely and measured tone, it bore a profound personal touch nonetheless, albeit in a different fashion from his denouncement of Those Who Live in Death. Albedo couldn’t help but wonder if D still nursed scars from conflict with the glintstone scholars he alluded to, at some point in the past.

“Our miracles and incantations are the result of faith,” Tatiana explained, her tone a little more gentle and understanding now that she knew Frisk to be a layman. “They are invocations of a higher power, capable of truly incredible things. Heavenly light and lightning, holy healing, cures for maladies and defenses against attacks of all kinds, banishment of evil, all made possible by our wholehearted deference! The only thing it can’t do, it seems, is make me any less clumsy.” She smiled and patted the child’s head. “If you’re interested, I have good news! I’m sure it could all be yours too, so long as you believe.”

At that, D gave a dry chuckle. “Would that it were so easy. Even with the Erdtree right there, its golden glory plain to see for all, men and women of true faith seemed few and far between. And now, in this tractless land, we few must persist with nary a glint of gold.”

“And yet our miracles shine no less brightly.” The reality check did not seem to bother Tatiana. She merely shrugged as she smiled. “Perhaps faith can only truly mean something in absence of definitive proof.”

“Hmph.” D glanced idly over at the Gammoth, which his clergymen were still working tirelessly to carve. “Such musings are none of my business. Only to be a blade against defilement, a hunter of the dead.” His gaze seemed to linger on Linkle for a moment, as if suspecting something, and after waiting a brief moment Albedo cleared his throat.

“It sounds as though you and Sister Rosaria might get along,” the alchemist mentioned. “In Mondstadt, where I’m from, she is a nun in service to the church of Barbatos, the God of Freedom. It is said that Barbatos, seeking not to interfere with the freedom of the people, is the most seldom seen and heard among all the gods, and likewise Rosaria takes a rather hands-off approach. She is more concerned with practical matters, such as the disposal of anything that poses a threat to Mondstadt’s citizens.” He crossed his arms. “There was even a time in which she investigated me, and I was pleased to ultimately prove her suspicions unwarranted.”

D gave a noncommittal grunt, but he did turn his attention elsewhere. Linkle was safe for now.