[center][img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/01987030-1e89-70af-9f52-c296ece903b8.webp[/img] [color=tomato]"Placeholder!"[/color] [color=goldenrod][b]"Text!"[/b][/color] [color=888888]— Finnegan Vanhorn & Mika Fang[/color][/center] Despite the banner not featuring Marrie, she’s just as important to all this as everyone else. So this time, her part is coming first! Binky only had enough time to flash a smile. Before she could say anything else, Her eyes went wide as Klava and Marrie’s steel met. *clank* Klava’s arm trembled. Marrie’s technique seemed to be working, even if her face showed a complete lack of faith in her own skill. [b][color=6ecff6]"There’s the quick and the dead, and as you can see, I’m plenty quick."[/color][/b] She brought her foot up. [b][color=6ecff6]"And for the record, I’m not an enemy or ally, I’m a professional."[/color][/b] She kicked Marrie square in the chest just as she blurted out something about gravity. Did anyone even have gravity melodies? [s]or is this like Tsubomi talk where she was being cryptic?[/s] Klava’s weapon was free, and a followup was possible, but she didn’t take the opportunity. She shot off down the hall with Binky only having enough time to point her gun at her. Firing was risky, especially with Marrie on the other side of her target. [color=baddab]"We need to wrap this up soon."[/color] Not long after she said that, the sound of ice shattering came down the hall. Sofron was free, but he was most certainly out of mana now. [color=ff6347]"I-I need an opening!"[/color] Mika looked over her shoulder. She was quite far away from everyone else, and both the mech and Elroy were bearing down on them. Binky nodded at Raven, and they switched places. While a normal gun could run out of ammo, an esper’s weapon could fire so long as they stayed transformed. The only issue was that her pistol wasn’t up to the task of suppressing a tommy gun. [color=4682b4]"Okay, Marrie, right?"[/color] She fired down the hall, mostly to keep the goons at bay. [color=4682b4]"There’s two espers in there, right? We need to take them out."[/color] She loaded her gun. [color=4682b4]"I think I can take out the one guy, it sounded like he needed help. But that other one is too quick for me. I can offer you support if you need it."[/color] She fired a few more times. [color=4682b4]"I don’t think we have much time to plan, so if you want to say something, say it now."[/color] Binky looked between the miko, Mika, and the chaos Ashley was charging into. Mika hadn’t moved from her spot, and it seemed like the mind controlled twin had been detained enough to not be a huge threat, so long as Cerise could watch over her sister. But having Mika around would be useful. She just seemed a little scared at the moment. With a sigh, Binky stepped forward. [color=baddab]"Cerberus! Here!"[/color] Binky had put it off long enough. She sprinted towards the demon as she transformed into Dr Feelgood. The demon attempted to reach over the mech and swipe at orion, but Binky’s saw denied it purchase. She leapt over the mech as Orion slid under it. She was on her own now. Her techno wand crackled to life as she fired on last shot at the underside of the mech. Certainly with the wrap job the demon was doing, it couldn’t possibly cover such an area with wall peelings. And she was right. It was fully exposed and likely the last chance for a clean shot. Her wand fired. She held her breath. A beat passes. And then, the mech started to crumble into pieces above the Knight of Tomorrow. They had finally done it. The mech was out of commission, at last. But Ashley should probably get moving before she gets crushed under a bunch of scrap metal. Her adversaries certainly had the same idea. Still clinging onto Morning, the Timekeeper had no recourse but to eject himself out of the collapsing machine, landing on the floor with a roll and a coughing fit. [color=daa520]"Fuck-!"[/color] Meanwhile, the demon was falling backwards through the wall in the building. It broke apart around Elroy, and one of his outstretched hands pulled Binky through with him. As soon as they disappeared below the edge of the opening, Boteg soared down after them. [b][color=ffffff]"Shit is getting crazy in here."[/color][/b] MDF added. [b][color=ffffff]"Okay boy, you got this. I still have plenty of reinforcements. You just need to, uh, protect me."[/color][/b] [color=daa520]"G-Got it."[/color] Finn strained out, healing himself up as much as he could and quickly stumbling to his feet. He needed to do something about Ashley soon, before the entire building ended up destroyed with everyone still in it, at this rate. Distance first though. [b][color=ffffff]"You got this, Timekeeper! You are the shit, you are the shit, you are the shiiiiiiit!"[/color][/b] [hr] [center][img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/5cdd0c35-6c1b-4e5d-8fe9-970574e18f41.png[/img] [color=77BB99]Oros, are you okay? Are you okay Oros?"[/color] [color=888888]— Bookman[/color][/center] Endless eclipse patiently waited its turn to speak. Once Himiko had said per piece, it began to fill her mind with knowledge. [color=bd71e8]"They say we have two ears because we’re supposed to listen twice as much as we speak."[/color] Veronica shrugged her shoulders. [color=bd71e8]"Though I feel in your case, there’s just a straight channel that bypasses your brain."[/color] She set down her cup and placed a hand on the edge of the table. [color=bd71e8]"I’d have preferred to save my strength for the others, but I get it. You want to talk big, but don’t have the nerve to make the first move. Then allow me…"[/color] By that point, Endless Eclipse had finished its job. [hider=Endless Eclipse stirs…] [center]34 | Female| G.E.M.I.N.I | Smooth Criminal Nameless | Unique | Arcane | Improvisation Living Doll | Best Friend Hammerspace | Darkness | Cradle DAMAGE: Above Average | SPEED: Above Average | SENTINEL: Above Average PHYSICAL: Low | ARCANE: Above Average | CHAOS: Above Average [/center] [b]Improvisation:[/b] Veronica does not have an instrument. Instead, anything she touches becomes her instrument. She can use up to two instruments at once. Improvisation only works on the last two objects Veronica touched, and does not work on other instruments or creatures such as espers, humans, and monsters. She can remove this effect from an object at will. [b]Best Friend:[/b] Veronica is a living doll, made out of stuff more durable than a normal human. She has no vitals to speak of, and does not need to breathe, circulate blood, eat, or anything else that is essential to a human’s survival. She can move her limbs even if her body has been sliced and diced, and can only be truly killed if her head is crushed in. All damage and crowd control effects inflicted on Veronica are half as effective as they should be. [b]Cradle:[/b] Veronica’s magic is based around summoning things from an infinitely vast space that holds anything she puts into it. This gives Veronica’s melodies some unique traits based on the object(s) used for the melody. All of Veronica’s melodies are tied to items in the cradle. Once the melodies run their course, the item used for the melody [color=ffffff]"remains in play"[/color] even after her melody has expired. She can also put items in her cradle by touching them. This causes the object to disappear into the cradle and for Veronica to recover mana depending on the size of the item pulled into her hammerspace. Veronica can only put things in her hammerspace that she can reliably pick up and use, and cannot use items as melodies if they would recover more mana than the melody costs. [b]Smooth Criminal:[/b] Veronica does not move through time at a consistent speed. Sometimes she jumps forward a second or so, like an old cassette tape. She can store up to three of these skips at once, which start to recharge after they are depleted. Her skips only affect her own personal time and do not affect melodies after she has cast them or objects no longer in her possession. Because it is her personal time that is being accelerated rather than her movements, shenanigans such as super jumps, super punches, super throws, teleportation, or other memes from spontaneous acceleration do not actually work. Note: Some information has been removed to bring the information in line with a rank A reveal note. [/hider] Unfortunately, Himiko would not be able to act on her newly acquired knowledge before being struck by… [center][i][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDl9ZMfj6aE][ ♫ ][/url][/i][/center] …The table. It moved suddenly and without warning. One moment the table was a foot away from Himiko’s chest, in the time it took to blink it had slammed into her. Not only that, but the table had been charged with a potent melody, as Himiko’s ribcage erupted violently. She couldn’t assess the damage though, as the upper half of her torso had been thrown over the back of her chair. Meanwhile, the chair containing her legs and lower torso rocked backwards until her knees touched the table. It didn’t tip any further backwards. The esper had been totally bisected by a single attack. [color=b0c8ff]"[/color][color=b8c5ff]O[/color][color=c0c3ff]-[/color][color=c8c0ff]O[/color][color=d0bdff]w[/color][color=d8bbff]o[/color][color=e0b8ff]s[/color][color=e8b5ff]![/color][color=f0b3ff]"[/color] Magical Dream Princess moved to try and heal the dying esper. Veronica, while extending her pinky, lifted her cup off of the table so that she could hurl the saucer beneath it at the girl. Pink pounder threw himself in front of the incoming attack and deflected the saucer with his crooked sword. Rather than shattering, it bounced off his sword with a loud clang. Next came the cup, that he also deflected. [color=ff00ff]"[/color][color=ff00f9]Y[/color][color=ff00f2]o[/color][color=ff00ec]u[/color][color=ff00e5]’[/color][color=ff00df]d[/color] [color=ff00d2]b[/color][color=ff00cc]e[/color][color=ff00c5]t[/color][color=ff00bf]t[/color][color=ff00b8]e[/color][color=ff00b2]r[/color] [color=ff00a5]l[/color][color=ff009f]e[/color][color=ff0098]a[/color][color=ff0092]v[/color][color=ff008b]e[/color][color=ff0085]-[/color][color=ff007e]"[/color] The table, on the other hand, was swung at him. It was far too much for his abused sword to handle, and he ended up toppling over sideways. The table faded away in a sea of sparkles before Veronica hopped to her feet. She grabbed the chair she had been sitting in and rushed towards the pastel princess and her patient. But she had enough time to touch the wound. Miraculously, both halves of Himiko’s body stitched themselves together. [color=b0c8ff]"[/color][color=b2c7ff]T[/color][color=b5c7ff]h[/color][color=b7c6ff]a[/color][color=b9c5ff]t[/color] [color=bec4ff]t[/color][color=c0c3ff]o[/color][color=c2c2ff]o[/color][color=c4c1ff]k[/color] [color=c9c0ff]u[/color][color=cbbfff]p[/color] [color=d0beff]a[/color] [color=d4bcff]w[/color][color=d6bbff]o[/color][color=d9bbff]t[/color] [color=ddb9ff]o[/color][color=dfb8ff]f[/color] [color=e4b7ff]m[/color][color=e6b6ff]y[/color] [color=ebb5ff]m[/color][color=edb4ff]a[/color][color=efb3ff]n[/color][color=f1b2ff]a[/color][color=f4b2ff]…[/color][color=f6b1ff]"[/color] But she wouldn’t have long to sulk. She raised her wand just in time to brace an incoming chair swing and was knocked into the pounder’s arms. Before Himiko could react, Veronica shoved her foot under the chair and kicked it upwards, flipping Himiko over. Then she caught the devil's back chair in her other hand. This was going to be an uphill fight.