It was a miracle that Tetrad survived as long as she did. It was an even bigger miracle that she was still surviving in this situation. Perhaps an innumerable amount of miracles had been granted upon her ever since this truck chase from hell even began. No GEMINI Espers present, nor any immediately crippling incidents, despite all the opportunity for it.
If it was a matter of drawing well, Tetrad drew [i]very[/i] well.

And she continued to do so.

A beam was a small thing, really. Small enough to weave through gaps, small enough to slip through cracks. All she needed was to get a view of her target, and the opportunity to charge up her melody. After that, it just required a quick prayer. Her eyes shone, her body transplaced, and a heavy door clunked before the door to the armored truck. Magical projectiles spewed out from the Pit Boss, piercing steel, its arcane effects seizing the machinery within. But the tail rotor was too small a target to be clipped, and the pilot was well-protected. More importantly, the gunner was swiveling, finger already on the trigger as bullets stitched into pavement, drawing ever closer to Tetrad!

The Patriot roared to life once more, reversing right by her. In that instant as it drove past, bulky from obscuring Tetrad from sight, the Maverick Esper could see a [i]nun[/i] at the wheel, pointing a finger at her.

Blacklight shone, and she was pushed back instantaneously, falling into the roadside ditch.

And the gunner continued to pursue the reversing Jeep, helicopter gradually swiveling around to chase after the suspect [i]that must have escaped by hopping back on![/i]

Was this opportunity to try her luck again at taking down the helicopter? Or opportunity to hide and escape, making her way back with Jezebel on foot?

The stakes heightened. The choice remained.

[hr]

[sub][@The World][@Ponn][@ERode][/sub]

Ashley may have been surprised, but attacked soon enough. The rodent woman was about to spring to her feet, but there wasn’t a lot she could do to avoid the incoming attack. She heard the spark of a wand firing, and she had just enough time to look up and see it collide between her eyes. Espers were magic resistant, sure, but Ashley’s wand was potent, and the head was the last place anyone wanted to get hit by anything. The neon projectile blew apart into green dust, and May’s body went limp. While the attack had only broken the skin, it hit hard enough to rupture her brain. She wouldn’t be getting back up.

Marrie, on the other hand, chose to wallow in despair. Things started out promising enough, with her finding Ashley and then running into Klava not much later. She even managed to protect Ashley from being electrocuted, but she didn’t feel like she was doing enough. She could not compete with the crazy antics of Klava, nor did she have Ashley’s determination. Two melodies backfiring was all it took to shut Marrie’s spirit down. Of course, there was plenty that she could do. She could bounce-blink to Klava’s position and give her a wind-shield to protect the detransformed esper from projectiles. She could create a new portal, closing the one in the pool and dropping her victim through the ceiling into electrified water. She could even attempt to spare their opponents that she detested the idea of killing. But it was impossible to see those options when you allowed yourself to be discouraged. She spent most of her remaining mana healing negligible damage to herself and Ashley. In her mind, her allies could fight this themselves. She didn’t even need to be here.

But was that reality, or an illusion reflected back at her by despair? Klava [i]had[/i] been shoved towards Sofron, and she [i]was[/i] able to make use of that momentum and a melody to get his gun pointed elsewhere. Her kick landed, and she was upon him not long after. Klava’s plan was flawlessly executed. Sofron might be an esper, but espers were still weak to the mundane world. A brutal beating from a pair of fists could really hurt regardless of who was doing the punching. But while espers may be weak to mundane attacks, that was only if they had no other special abilities. Sofron’s greatest attribute was his magic, but his second greatest one was his durability. This was a man who shrugged off a stab wound to his stomach, one of the most painful wounds one can inflict on another. He was immortal, a [i]highlander[/i], how was bludgeoning his head going to stop him?

Klava had to sacrifice her grace to launch an attack like this, but Sofron would not be parting with his baleful hatred. 

Between Klava’s blows, he sweeped the barrel of his gun across her arms, shoving them out of the way. This was just to buy him enough time to release the tompson and seize Klava by the throat. The maiden was strong out of the esper state, but she wasn’t an olympian. It was that kind of physical prowess that all espers had as their baseline, regardless of how old they may have looked. Sofron used his other hand to push himself to his feet. Klava didn’t stop fighting. Even if had to use her hands to stop choking to death, she could still kick Sofron. It wasn’t enough to stop him from driving his fist into her stomach. His hand glowed as he prepared a melody. Klava had been stunned, and there wasn’t much she could do in the moment to save herself but then Sofron looked up. the bit of water that dripped off of his clothes wasn't enough to smolder his flames.

He saw the squirrel woman’s unmoving body, and Ashley standing just beyond.

Salt water dripped off his cheek, or was it tears?

[color=0099a6]"No storm can rival what turns in my heart."[/color] At the end of the day, Klava was just a human with a gravely wounded esper form, and there were still other espers to take care of. He cast her out the nearby window before pointing his hand down the lane at Ashley. [color=0099a6]"Baleful..."[/color] Sofron fired a beam melody, another bale whip-looking spell. The only thing Ashley could do to defend herself was to raise her shield, but the melody [i]pierced[/i] her shield and struck her shoulder, severing her arm. Her shield and arm laid at her feet while her body cried out in pain, and her nose could pick up on the faint smell of a well done hamburger. But Sofron still moved, as he prepared a second melody. [color=0099a6]"Dragon!"[/color] This was also going to be a beam attack, most likely. But would there be anything they could do before it went off?