"Well, that must be the the last of them. With these in place we can leave, before the fireworks begin." Dusk Razor said as she finished planting the explosive devices they brought. With the strategic points of the Blue City all covered, getting out of there was the only thing they needed to do.
"That's ok, we even got a fine haul," Argent Maiden said. In her hands she was holding nothing but the unconscious body of Absinthe Blue, who had the misfortune of crossing the Ivory Masks strike party when she went to check one of the gatehouses which failed to send back a report in time. "Let's retreat, our mission is more than complete."
A few minutes later, a set of huge explosions shaking the critical points of the Cobalt Bruisers defenses, opening the gates in the process, along with the arrival of the third — and last — of the mechs deployed by the Ivory Masks would turn the tide of the battle dramatically against the Blue Guild.
However, the coup d'grace to their resistance would come when Argent Maiden's party joined the battle at the main Gate, holding a
very interesting hostage along with them.
"What do you pretend to do," Absinthe said, demonstrating some very evident nervousness, "Do you think that anyone would drop the fight just because you have me as a hostage? On a game like this, that's stupid."
"I kinda know that, right?" Maiden retorted. "I'm not holding you because of any tactical advantage. It's just that I know that there's someone on the Ebony Strykers who has hurt my younger sister that has an unhealthy fixation on you. I just want for them to feel a bit of the pain she suffered. It's not like I'm threatening you in the real world like they did threaten my sister, is it? I wouldn't go so far because of a game, you can rest assured."
Following that, Maiden cast both her Consecration and Argent Shield Spells, immediately buffing a sizeable wing of the Ivory Masks army with tougher armor and a damage absorption/delayed healing shield. At this point the battle of the Blue City was all but won, all that the Ivory Masks needed to do is a final push for the victory.
"Oh, someone who will not run away like a stray mutt?" Eclipse Princess' expression suddenly took a turn away from her default frown as Butterfly stood against her. The look on his face made it evident that he had recognized her somehow, yet decided to stand his ground and fight back, instead of fleeing.
Well now, Eclipse Princess didn't have anything personal against the Cobalt Bruisers. Indulging both herself and her 'guest', while also making sure that Butterfly would learn the difference between them and their guilds couldn't possibly hurt anyone, right?
The Berserker readied herself to the incoming lunge, avoiding it would be easy, had Princess decided to do so. Nevertheless, it would never have the same effect as sacrificing a few Hit Points to both gauge Butterfly's DPS output as well as grabbing the rapier with which Butterfly tried to hit her, effectively negating him of any further attacks as the blade was held firmly in Princess' grip. "That is a good weapon, but you lack proper form and discipline. If you attack someone so earnestly, without any ploys in mind, ask you are going to achieve is scratch damage", Eris said earnestly. After all, there was no point in having a duel against a duelist that didn't knew the basics of dueling.
To punctuate her statement, Princess let Butterfly's rapier go, before kicking a shopping basket that was laying on the floor nearby, straight into his face. She grabbed the plastic appliance as it rebounded harmlessly from the Bruiser's face and smashed it against him with enough force that — if the attack hit home — he would be thrown across the room once more. At least, it would deal significantly less damage than being hit by Eclipse Princess ' actual weapon, almost as if she were doing it just for fun. Which was perhaps the case, if one had to guess based on the gleeful smile Eclipse Princess had on her face just from being able to brawl with someone without restraints.
"Huh, wait, where did—?" Faust's exclamation about the sudden attack was lost in the initial burst of the mech's weapon, which followed Warhawk's roll behind a flimsy wall that for sure wouldn't make for such a good cover against a heavy war machine such as the Ivory Masks' walking tank.
"You really have guts if you came here without support, don't think that you'll be getting off easily!" The Warlock shouted to Warhawk, using her action to run around the corner—using a couple of her summons as shields, in case Warhawk had anything planned. Which proved to be prudent when one of them was skewered, losing a chunk of its health as a spear impaled it mercilessly.
As soon as Faust had the Bruiser's Warrior within her sight line, she assumed a combat stance—holding her whip over her head—and conjuring a spell: "Ethereal Chain!" At the avatar's command, the space around Warhawk rippled and eight silvery-blue chains appeared from the very air, holding the Warrior down. "I could take care of you on my own, but given that I don't know if you still has other allies lurking around, this will be a lesson for you to learn not to oppose us with your meager resolve—"
The short pause made by Faust was just enough to get the Mech's pilot to line up his aim at the immobile Warrior, waiting for the command to kill. "He's all yours." Fuast pointed to Warhawk and the mech's pilot opened fire without the least hint of remorse...
The helicopter danced over the rooftops as it tried to catch up to Rocket Lancer. The avatar's agility and small size were a big problem. Even so, the sprays of bullets kept of streaking through everywhere, filling the rooftops with holes and weakening the buildings' structures with rocket fire.
The smoke wasn't even accounted for more than a split second, the powerful gust that generated lift for the aircraft blew the black smog away with ease. Seriously, who uses smoke against a helicopter?
What wasn't predicted was the mad dash that ended with a lance trespassing the aircraft's canopy. At first the pilot almost lost control of the helicopter because of the sudden action, however he calmed down when he noticed the lance, and thereby it's wielder had become stuck to the bullet-proof acrylic. With an evil grin on his face, the pilot had the best idea ever, something that would kill this annoying lancer fast.
Making a sign for the gunner to brace himself, the helicopter's pilot dived fast, barrel rolling his way through the buildings at a height that Rocket Lancer wouldn't be able to equip a new weapon before plunging to his death. That is, is he found some miraculous way to avoid falling into the propeller and be shredded to pieces as the flying war machine spun and whipped around like a mad bull.
Meanwhile, the gunship's crew realized the danger posed by the War Machine when the debris from their last maneuver where lobbed just a few thousand feet bellow them by the vehicles rumored teleport capabilities. Thankfully the information they got in advance from the Ivory Masks was enough to let them plan for this outcome.
With change of plans the airplane trained it's guns on the city around the War Machine's path, two or three buildings in between the street it was and the buildings they were destroying. The goal wasn't hitting the War Machine anymore as the distance was such that there was no risk of the buildings hitting the vehicle or of it running into them before the scraps hit the grounds.
No, the goal was to create blockades and funnels to impede the War Machine's path, while also destroying all bridges in the way. It could be agile and have special powers, but the War Machine wouldn't be able to pass through concrete and clear gaps of the fallen bridges. As long as they made it not reach the battlefield their goal would be fulfilled.
If the War Machine managed to get stuck at a dead end in this process, well... that was just live fire target practice. None can complain about having a little fun in the line of work, obviously.
"What's it, Kit Kat? You can't handle the heat so you called the AC man?" Blossom shouted as soon as Reodath joined their duel. Despite the numeric disadvantage the smirk in her face only grew larger as the countdown of her Pyromania was missing only two charges, which would be coming in pretty soon. To that end Blossom jumped from the broken column, running down the side of a toppled wall, taking the time to cast a Lightning Bolt at both Reodath and Tiger, filling the remainder of the charges, which was very evident by the way her avatar became wreathed in a mantle of fire.
"I could handle you at any time, Shortcake. But I guess that you Harlots don't have anything against a gangbang do you?" Tiger replied. She tried to dodge the Lightning and counterattack with a charge, but it turns out that that spell is just too damn fast and ended burning some more of Tiger's body, even if she managed to avoid a direct hit.
The problem really was what was coming later. "Hehe, I hope you greens like it hot, 'cause I'm burning now! Double Fire... Ball!" Blossom yelled gleefully, shooting a pair of orbs of flame exploding with wrath, in a way that both would hit the two Rangers at the same time. Any damage from these balls of molten destruction would also add a nice stun to them, making the rest of the fight a piece of cake to Blossom, as long as they hit their mark, of course.
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