[center][h2]Cleanup on Belial Four[/h2]
[i]Starring Ganondorf, Tenna, the Ace Cadet, and Sandalphon[/i]
[b]Word Count:[/b] 4782 (+5)[/center]
It didn't take a genius to see that being assigned guard duty of the coach was due to... technical limitations to put it nicely, though Ace really didn't mind. He was a quick learner, but when it came down to it then leaving the higher tech stuff like navigating a computer program to others was the right call. So the hunter shot Sandalphon a reassuring grin, patting the hilt of his short sword which jutted out from where it was stored at his lower back.

[color=salmon]"No complaints here,"[/color] he told her.

While the Seekers headed for their separate terminals dispersed, the hunter watched the moving beads displayed on the archangel's holographic model curiously but otherwise gave her some space.

He still wasn't close enough to the front of the coach to stop the sudden attack that resulted in losing a few of the Reindrix, but as soon as he'd registered that an enemy had appeared, Ace bolted towards it. The blade of his Master Bang was let loose and swinging towards the crimson hybrid while it rounded on the rest of the Pals, biting into the side of one of its legs. As Sandalphon did her best to prevent the fleeing deer from careening over the platform's side, Belial turned one of its swords on Ace. It brought the weapon down in a mighty overhead swing, producing a harsh [i]clang[/i] as it met the steel of the hunter's shield. He held it there, but when the great sword's twin swept in from the side he had to drop it and shift in order not to take what would surely have been a nasty wound. 

Ace pushed his shield to one side, forcing the first of Belial's blades to scrape down the side of it and land heavily on the ground while the hunter twisted to meet the second with the now-free shield. It struck hard enough to shove Ace back a dozen or so feet, and as if it needed to be said he exclaimed, [color=salmon]"it's strong!"[/color]

After stopping the runaway pals, Sandalphon rounded on Belial, and it didn’t take much to see the truth behind Ace’s words. Though she wasn’t the Naytiba’s primary target right now, she was still much too close to avoid its wrath if she provoked it. Her first instinct was to run away and put some distance between herself and that thing, but given the monstrosity’s partially mechanical nature, there was something she wanted to try first. From what she’d read of Markiona’s work, those ergo strings of hers could interface directly with sufficiently advanced machines and deliver electrical control signals directly to their actuators. With how much of an advantage that would grant her, she couldn’t leave that possibility on the table.

She reached out toward Belial with her left hand, and ethereal blue strings shot out of her fingertips. They strung out like fishing line until they reached the Naytiba’s more mechanical left side, at which point they wrapped around its limb like little snakes before diving into the tiny cracks, seams, and ports between the metal segments. When the threads made contact with Belial’s system, however, they recoiled as if in pain. With an odd, almost shrieking fizzle, the ergo strings were shredded, and with exclamation marks in her pupils Sandalphon grasped her left forearm as it spasmed from the bioelectric feedback. Any resistance, it seemed, would cause her infiltration to fail. Luckily, Belial didn’t seem to notice as it pulled away to run down Ace, so the archangel quickly turned to vault up to a nearby catwalk.

Tenna was incredibly disappointed when Sandalphon had told him that he would stay behind with the Stagecoach until the three dispersed groups had returned with their respective locks. Oh! The irony… The road to his fame now leads down a path of boredom. At the very least, there were faces present that the TV Host recognized nearby as he idly hummed and buzzed his theme song, waiting for anything exciting to happen. 

It seemed his wishes were rapidly being met, as nearby, his friends had begun to clash with a large, tendril-ridden amalgamation of flesh and steel. It looked like a spooky monster right out of a sci-fi horror show! But! Tenna has faced more fearsome adversaries… That Susie was quite the intimidator…

As Sandaphlon’s attempt to navigate away from her counterattack came to an end, the CRT would snap his finger loudly, not only to hopefully draw the attention of Belial away from Ace, but also to summon two henchmen, one equipped with large balls of yarn that could tangle on contact, and one with a Tommy Gun for extra firepower! They both played a melodic chirp before going to work, hucking sticky balls of yarn and firing magic bullets at the behemoth.

If nothing else Ace was glad to make use of any distraction or opening afforded to him. He weathered a series of strikes from Belial, far swifter than the massive swords would have seemed to allow, with a combination of hasty dodge rolls and quick blocks. His shield was taking a beating, but there was no doubt it would hold. Ace was glad now that he'd just recently fought together with Tenna so he he knew what to expect (well, [i]somewhat[/i] anyway), so when the attacks from the entertainer's henchman landed the hunter was quick to lash out with a cut across Belial's thin abdomen, then bring his shield up in a forceful Shoryugeki towards the spotlight that was its face.

Tenna’s momentary distraction allowed Ace to land a couple close-quarters hits against the Naytiba, but fighting this close to Belial -and especially its spotlight- came at the cost of being rendered practically blind by the searing white glare. The shield bash arched it backward, but it caught itself by pivoting its right sword arm behind it to prop itself up with. Then it transferred its rebounding momentum into a left overhead cleave to slam Ace back down to the ground, followed a second later by a heavier right slash once its right arm got back into gear. Already forced low due to the first sword's pass, the hunter essentially plastered himself to the ground to avoid the next swing. It barely passed over his head, taking a few strands of bright red hair with it.

By then the yarn from the shadowguy was beginning to wrap around its limbs, more or less doing what Sandalphon’s ergo strings had failed to. Belial turned its baleful gaze on Tenna and his mooks, the scorching light almost enough to wipe away the shadows by itself. Before it could close the distance, though, a magic ray blasted the spotlight. It flickered as Belial looked up to see Sandalphon perched on an overhead walkway, which momentarily rendered the sniper blind. Without a moment’s hesitation, the Naytiba lifted and then hurled its fleshy right-hand sword like a giant throwing axe. It crashed through Sandalphon’s catwalk, which promptly began to collapse. Unable to keep her footing on the bridge catwalk as it bent downward, especially in heels, the archangel began to slide and then tumble. Meanwhile, Belial simply regrew another visceral right-hand sword, its bloody blade serrated with bony spurs. With swordsmen on their way, Tenna and his shadowguys would have to wait.

Ganondorf, leaning against the stagecoach nearby, had remained aloof thus far. For a moment he’d been content to let the Cadet and Archangel deal with this Naytiba, his curiosity peaked when both Sandalphon and Tenna appeared to try and take possession of the hybrid droid. The warlord also possessed his own means of taking control, but it required the Naytiba to be killed first before he could try it. So he figured he may as well make that happen after Belial threw its own sword up at Sandalphon in the catwalks.The Gerudo pushed off of the stagecoach and finally deigned to spring into action.

Ganondorf used Bullet Jump to launch himself toward the catwalks to catch Sandalphon before she could actually fall. [color=797979]”Intresting time to try experimenting.”[/color] He commented dryly, releasing his hold on her before calling the Acidic Crystal Spear to his hand and dropping down from the catwalk to plunge it into Belial from above. Whether his spear actually connected to the Naytiba or not, it caused an eruption of flames from beneath Belial’s feet to add to the power of the attack.

By that point Ace had gotten up and resumed his offense, though the creature did not stand idly by to take the punishment. With one weapon it could block Ace's own, the other free to swing at him. Even though the size of its great swords eclipsed both parts of the Master Bang, the Cadet's own strength allowed him to stand his ground even if neither he nor Belial were making much progress. Its harsh glare made it hard to keep an eye on his allies' movements though, meaning it was more ready than him for the other Seeker's counterattacks.

 As Sandalphon floated down the rest of the way with Heavensent, she attempted to take aim once more. She saw Belial backstep away from Ganondorf’s plunge, seemingly showing some respect to the fighter almost as big as itself, only for the fiery plume to sear its organics. Between the Naytiba’s erratic movement and her allies in close proximity, it would be difficult to provide fire support, so the archangel prepared to change tactics.

At the same time Ace had burst out of the flames, blindsided but not too worse for wear thanks to his shield's fire resistant addition. He came to a stop a little ways from Belial and Ganondorf, a hard flick of his arms shedding the few lingering embers that clung to him. He was considering a change in approach as well, a little more hesitant now with all three of the others engaging.

He had a couple of things in mind to help deal with Belial, but whether they'd actually work or not was the question. For now while Ganondorf was taking the Naytiba's attention in close range with his blend of magic and melee, and Tenna and Sandalphon likely to continue their own magic-based attacks, Ace chose to back off and keep away from the impact of such maneuvers. If he needed to dive back into close quarters he would, but until then he put a little more distance between himself and Belial, declaring to his team, [color=salmon]"I'll try and create an opening!"[/color] 

A moment later and a great bow was in his hands, arrows coated with a paralytic substance nocked and fired at the crimson monstrosity.

With a whirl of its blades Belial scattered the flames around itself, then used the disorienting flourish to attack Ganondorf with two slashes from different angles. It sliced diagonally upward with the right, then down with the left, then turned the momentum from each slash to feed into a mirrored pair the next second–a combination that would be nigh-impossible to stop with a spear. When Ace yelled, however, it did not press its advantage, but turned its spotlight his way. He’d already taken aim, so the blinding brightness didn’t have much effect, but Belial raised its right-side greatsword to deflect and shatter the arrow with the base of the blade. It didn’t know that the arrows were paralytic, though, so since its right-hand sword happened to be organic, the fast-acting neurotoxin left that sword arm hanging limply.

However brief that exchange, it served to convince Sandalphon of something she suspected from the moment Belial launched its ambush. “It’s intelligent enough to understand us,” she informed the others through her sigil. She’d reached a spot at the edge of the hypertube platform that put her out of harm’s way, roughly opposite Ace. She had a shot from this angle right now, but that could change in a heartbeat as Ganondorf maneuvered around his foe in melee range. If she tried to freeze Belial with Frost Lock, the projectile’s lobbed arc and travel time could very well result in hitting Ganondorf instead, which would be disastrous. Tenna’s shadowguys were in a similar predicament when it came to fire support as well. Despite her usual composure, the archangel could feel her accelerated heartrate. This would have been intense even if she wasn’t unusually close.

[color=797979]”Hmph, good!”[/color] Ganondorf grunted in reply to Sandalphon. He let his spear clatter to the floor and reached to draw his own Greatswords - Litania and the Acidic Curved Greatsword and brandished them into his Gerudo sword-fighting stance while gritting his teeth through the pair of slices the Naytiba had managed to land against his left shoulder and the lower right side of his torso. [color=797979]”Maybe it will provide me with a decent challenge, then!”[/color]

She summoned Hammering, her striker running forward to wallop Belial’s left leg with her massive sledge. The element of surprise and defense pierce allowed her to do appreciable damage, though the limb was far from crumpling. With a flick of her wrist she sent ergo strings whipping through the air, but not at the Naytiba. Instead they plugged into the back of Tenna’s television head. “I can move you if need be and repair you if you’re downed,” she informed him. Even if he wasn’t a frontline fighter, her strings would hopefully embolden him. 

Tenna, while not a brawler, was certainly capable of making use of Sandaphlon’s buff. The explanation of her strings would reassure the CRT to not be afraid of the beast currently being fended off by Ganondorf and Ace. With a joyous salute, the TV Host would give the archangel a comedic salute- dressed with a serious expression. [color=#FF5349]“SIR YES SIR.”[/color] But without an opening, and the light projected from Belial, he had no good openings. For now he stayed at a safe range, waiting for an opening to present itself. 

The revelation that Belial wasn't a mindless blend of meat and machine and could change up its own strategy based not only on what the Seekers were doing but what they were saying came as sort of a surprise to Ace, and he clamped his mouth shut from any further call outs just then. If they couldn't coordinate verbally then they'd have to be extra careful - the hunter was glad he'd gotten out of friendly fire range already. His next arrow featured a rounded pouch-like head rather than a sharpened one, and he dropped to one knee and pulled the bowstring back hard before firing it up over the area instead of at the fight itself. At the apex of its arc the pouch burst open, letting the Haste Rain flow down over the Seekers, speeding up both their bodies and abilities.

Ever since switching to his greatswords, Ganondorf had been able to more easily block and parry incoming slashes from Belial’s blades. But the Gerudo was more than a mere swordsman. With a gesture he summoned Riptor to lunge at the Naytiba with her talons and fangs. If she could pay Belial back for his earlier slices, then all the better. But the main purpose was to give Ganondorf a chance to back off momentarily and hopefully give Sandalphon a clearer shot.

As she leaped forward Riptor’s toe claws sliced deep into the flesh of Belial’s leg on the side left momentarily undefended by the paralytic toxin, and the next moment her fanged maw clamped down on the same spot to worsen the wound. Orienting its spotlight downward, the Naytiba dealt Riptor’s back a grisly slash, which transferred to the striker’s master to a lesser extent thanks to his greater defense. Ganondorf had accomplished what he meant to, though, since standing still long enough to slash Riptor off meant that Sandalphon could lob a Frost Lock Belial’s way. It reacted in time to block with its left sword, but that did not mitigate the ice that froze over its left side. With its right arm only just now recovering, that gave the Seekers a chance to take full advantage and rack up damage for a killer Dissociation.

To further give Ganondorf and Ace a chance to retreat, Tenna would point to the sky to release a rain of laughing stars. The attack, while wild and sporadic in nature, was concentrated just tight enough to leave his allies with minimal dodging to its shaped attack. Belial however, became distracted with dodging the attack, giving Sandaphlon a moving target, but no allies in her way to freely fire.

“Now!” Sped up by Ace’s Haste Rain, Sandalphon led by example with a few well-placed shots into Belial’s left elbow joint, followed by whipping her puppet strings forward. That forced Tenna to fly forward like a cannonball and slam into Belial’s spotlight in a hefty headbutt, made all the more powerful by the CRT’s impressive weight. It also left him in melee range with a free chance to follow up.

The entertainer, now inches away from the mechanical infestation, would wave merrily at the creature. If its intelligence was as theorized, then it could understand this gesture before getting walloped in the head with a Snap-cut, his gloved hands smashing into its skull with cartoon-levels of strength. The beast was sure to have suffered some sort of major trauma to its head, leaving it disoriented. Electric sparks would fly from the attack as Tenna powered himself up. [color=#FF5349]“Reel me back in chief!” [/color]He shouted, not anticipating the creature to allow him time to attack again. Maybe Sandaphlon could paddle ball Tenna back and forth for stun attacks!

The archangel obliged, yanking Tenna out of harm’s way.

Like the others, Ace seized the opportunity given to them, laying into the Naytiba with more than a few well placed arrows. He focused on its torso, targeting the glowy, pulsing tubes that wrapped around its back and arm. He wasn't a sniper (at the moment anyway) and they might be not any more important to Belial than its other parts, but even if Ace missed his mark he was still guaranteed to at least hit the hybrid while it was slowed like this. There was hardly a pause between each arrow he shot, even as he dared to get a little closer after Tenna's starfall ended to ensure his Triple Volleys struck close together, packing as much of a punch as possible.

Unfortunately for the Gerudo, Ganondorf found himself having to wait for his allies to finish attacking before he could do much. Unless, of course, he wanted to accidentally catch them with friendly fire from the wide-arcing swings of his greatswords. Personally, Ganondorf wouldn’t have cared either way. But he also didn’t want to have to deal with allies being taken out sooner either. But once Tenna had been yanked away and the Cadet’s shots were timely placed, Ganondorf lunged forward with a growl and roar.

He brought his greatswords in for deceptively fast slices, due in large part to the Haste Rain he had been gifted earlier by the Ace Cadet. This let him lay into the Naytiba, where the warlord deliberately aimed his Acidic sword against the fleshy bits, hoping to dish out some extra biting acid damage on top of everything else. [color=797979]”Come on, then droid! Do your worst!”[/color] He barked in an open and deliberate challenge. It was less about intimidation and more about trying to keep Beliel focusing its attention on Ganondorf over the other Seekers present.

The ice on Belial’s more mechanical left shattered the next moment, the Dissociation payoff insubstantial thanks to Seekers’ tendency to target the more fleshy parts. Still, Belial had taken a lot of damage over just a few short moments. With a distorted snarl, the Naytiba whirled backward, readied its blades, then charged in a berserk fury. Its enormous blades carved through the air and anything in its path as it bulled around the platform, nigh unstoppable. Its savage rampage forced Sandalphon’s back against the railing, forcing her to make a split-second decision and Vault out over the open air, then slow her fall with Heavensent. Any hopes she had that her ice patch from before might make Belial slip were dashed when its wild stomps simply shattered the ice beneath its feet. Safe for now, but with no easy route to get back up from the first floor down below, Sandalphon considered her options. She knew she could warp to the Ace Cadet, but she also remembered that he requested her not to, so unless the situation got truly dire the archangel would have to take the long way around the access ramp the stagecoach used earlier.

Wait…

Remembering another technique used by Markiona in her battle, Sandalphon tightened her ergo strings, but not to pull Tenna to her. Instead she pulled herself toward Tenna, flying back into the fray from a high angle. Of course, that put her in harm’s way again, but she couldn’t afford to prioritize her safety–not when Belial’s assault risked slaughtering the remaining Reindrix and damaging the stagecoach irreparably.

As Belial continued speeding around the battlefield Ace attempted a few shots at it. It was incredibly quick and prone to suddenly changing direction, meaning the hunter missed more shots than he hit. In fact he struck with only one before the Naytiba turned on one of its heels, managed one more hit as it sped directly towards him, and then had to throw himself out of the way as one of its swords came down on the space he'd just occupied, its impact denting the floor. Ace backed away from it, bow still raised to fend it off, but it feinted towards him before dashing off towards another opponent for a surprise attack.

Even charging around like this they had to assume that Belial held onto its rational mind, so setting any traps were a no go. Waiting for it to tire was also too dangerous. But how could they coordinate something to stop it in its tracks without giving it a heads up? If he'd had his own great sword or a lance, or the lingering effects of the Haste Rain let Ganondorf keep up with it then maybe, but...

There were still a few things left in Ace's bag of tricks he could try, so for a few long seconds he kept a low profile. He was just as good as shirking an enemy's attention as he was grabbing it after all. While he moved quiet and slow he prepared a quartet of arrows and got into a likely position. 

Tenna being used as the base of an archangel slingshot was not on his BINGO card for this journey, but seeing his ally return to the fray was greatly appreciated, especially since his skills relied more on creating chaos for the enemy. Without a safe ranged ability to attack the beast with, Tenna would sigh, looking for another way to create a distraction. [color=#FF5349]“Looks like he’s ready for the headliner!”[/color]

Suddenly, he POOFED into 12 miniature Tennas, now running directly at the beast to deliver toon-force powered jabs into any exposed tendrils the tiny menaces could whack! With their small sizes as well, it was a lot easier to avoid getting hit by the massive blades, though he was willing to lose a couple clones of his likeness to keep the monstrosity busy. 

The TV-host shouted back at the group in a squeaky voice amidst the attack dog-pile, [color=#FF5349]“Don’t worry about hitting one of me! Just [color=green]GOGOGO![/color]”[/color]

As though taking his advice, Belial raised both of arms up and behind one shoulder, slotting the great swords together into one massive guillotine that it crouched and swung at the largest mass of mini-Tenna's in a wide arc. Any it struck were sure to disappear in that one mighty blow. With the dwindling nuisances at its feet and the other Seekers spread out around it, Belial could charge towards any target it pleased - and with Sandalphon now newly exposed without Tenna nearby, she could be deemed the easiest prey.

It lunged at her, shaking off what tiny TVs hadn't managed to cling to it. As soon as it did Ace moved too, rushing in and skidding to a halt a few feet in front of her with two arrows nocked and ready, the glint of metal wire not unlike Sandalphon's own between them, sans the glow. Were the angel's wires disconnected from Tenna now that he'd split his body up, ready for use elsewhere? The hunter hoped so. Even if one of their cables wasn't enough, together they might have a chance of bringing it down for a moment. 

[color=salmon]"Let's trip it up!"[/color] There hadn't been time to give Sandalphon a heads up beforehand, but she was smart - hopefully she would catch on quick. Ace fired the first Blade Wire, the arrows spread and the cutting cable between them aimed at Belial's legs. He didn't move from his spot before preparing the next set, as committed to the attack as Belial itself was.

While the others could probably afford to take a heavy slash, get healed, and keep going, Sandalphon could not. If she tried to set some sort of trap with Belial bearing down on her like a runaway train, that could very well be the end. Instead a pillar of blue light engulfed her just before the Naytiba’s vicious double slash cleaved through her. When its blades didn’t hit anything, Belial paused, but when the blue light faded Sandalphon was there, veiled in ephemeral cerulean. Belial concluded that she must have used an evasive ability and swung both blades back, even as Ace’s wire arrows sliced into its right leg, but once again its greatswords failed to connect. The Sandalphon before it was just a mirage, and the real one had warped to Ace.

“Forgive me,” she apologized, though in a way she was grateful; remembering the monster hunter’s misgivings meant that such a warp had been the first thing on her mind when she needed a quick escape. Now, she took aim with her rifle and shot her Cerulean Mirage, detonating it in a bright blue diamond-shaped blast that momentarily staggered Belial so that Ace could land his next shot. The second wire wrapped itself around Belial's limbs along with the first, finally putting a stop to its rampage as it crashed to the ground.

Thankfully Sandalphon's warp resulted in little more than tension and a chill, and he gave her a nod and a weak smile. He'd much rather suffer a little discomfort than lose an ally. [color=salmon]"It wasn't thready for that, huh?"[/color]

Now that it was down, it would be up to Ganondorf to give Belial everything he had. And the Warlord had every intention of making the Naytiba suffer the consequences of ignoring his challenge earlier. He laid into Belial, slashing and slicing with his swords, always going out of his way to aim for the fleshy parts. But more than that, Ganondorf could feel the dark energy that had been bolstering in his blades while he was using them throughout this battle. It was a trick in his bag that he admittedly had not used in some time, but now was as good a time as any to remind the World of Light why he was not one to be trifled with.

Ganondorf stabbed both blades into the floor on either side of Belial, dark magic runes stretching along the floor around them as the Warlord began to rise a short distance into the air. His large hands were held aloft over his head, charging a crackling sphere of dark magic energy between them. [color=797979]”DIE!”[/color] The Gerudo bellowed as he crashed back down onto the ground, slamming the crackling sphere into Belial and enveloping them both in his signature Dark Explosion.

Before the Gerudo had prompted the explosion, every last Tennaling would latch off of Belial in an evacuation attempt. He managed to escape with most of his miniatures intact, only losing about three or four to the mechanical nightmare. He was practically gnawing at his fingernails in anticipation, hoping the adversary wasn’t getting back up after this.

The shadowy eruption sent Belial flying, blasting it through the railing of the hypertube access platform. As a tremendous [i]CLANG[/i] echoed through the cavernous facility, it plummeted down to the first floor where it lay with its limbs splayed, its swords fallen by its side. After a moment the baleful spotlight on its head went out.