☆TRACK XIII: HIT THE BOTTOM PT 2

[interdimanagers]

It’s almost the very end of the Tokyo tour when it happens. There was no way for anyone to be sure when exactly Gold would strike, but at least with the information gained from Silver and their dreams, the rebels have been able to prepare and lay in wait. Despite some effort, contact with Gold has been impossible. It isn’t until Lesedi has presented herself on stage that Gold comes out of hiding. It’s a special occasion, presumably. Maybe our of arrogance, or maybe as some key feature of her plan, one of the final performances is Lesedi Santiago herself singing. The crowd loves it, irrationally so – it’s clear to anyone that knows what’s going on that by this point Lesedi could be making fart sounds into a microphone and the audience would swoon. The magic is thick, and the civilians are all but zombies in its wake. So much, so, that they don’t even seem to notice when Gold drops the entire metal lighting structure right onto the stage, on top of Santiago, mid performance. Gold rides the structure down, and metal bends and grinds, screeching as lights explode and sparks fly. It’s so brazen that even Lesedi doesn’t seem to be expecting it. That becomes all too obvious when the nebulae emerges from the wreckage, furious and literally glowing with astral energy. Her song and its momentum has been cut like a rope, and the stage has fallen down like the figurative piano. “What is this?!” she screeches, indignant beyond words but ostensibly not actually hurt. Metal shrapnel bursts into the air as Gold emerges as well, a powerful aura surging around their masked form as well. The remaining musicians that were dosed with Gold’s powder some months ago will feel a strange pull against their spirits. “You.” The word is cold, in contrast to Lesedi’s fury only a moment before. Gold only offers a theatrical shrug as they tight rope walk across twisted metal scaffolding. The crowd roars in appreciate for a performance that only they seem to understand. “This is where you swear you’re going to destroy me, right?” Gold says, with antagonizing ambivalence. “Well, here’s your chance, princess.” Yet, in this moment, Silver is nowhere to be seen. [This is mostly going to be one, big free for all log, though you can make separate top levels if they aren’t going to be related to the main fight. Remember, your actions here matter! What players characters do or don’t do will heavily affect the outcome.]

Comments

(2/3) Actually, one more.

[interstellarnpcs]

"This could be considered a rules violation," Anansi notes, her voice low and untouched, though it's as clear as ever that she's down for anything. Inside her heart is beating far, far too fast. Juno looks to her and stares for a moment, before turning that scowl to Lesedi burning figure in the distance.

"I consider it taking an opportunity," Juno says, moving to the abandoned stage and seizing control of the keyboard set up to be played. "Lock her down."

"Focus on Lesedi first, aight?" Anansi chides as Juno behinds to play, two more sources of magical energy surging across the crowd. "I didn't come out to get my ass roasted. If Santiago goes down, we're home free."

With that, Anansi falls into Juno's music, and begins working her spell.

(3/3)

[interstellarnpcs]

Meanwhile, Don and Jenny are not being as helpful as they could be.

Don has dropped to the floor, rolling and smoking and attempting to shield his head. Jenny is too distracted to even consider helping him with her magic. Hair pulling? Really? Bitch, please.

You wanna fucking pull hair? Let's pull hair.

Jenny snatches at Garnet's hair in return and rips back just as viciously, going at the powered up musician like a rabid dog. 'Cat fight' surely doesn't suffice, especially now that it seems like Jenny has suddenly developed fangs and claws and is going straight for Garnet's throat.

[twoscompany]

Rabid dog, huh? Her hair hurts, her head hurts, really she is starting to squeak from the pain because Jenny's probably taking out chunks. But she's got her resolve, now. She's not going down. Not to Predator. Not with her powered-up strength and speed.

She's not up to what she might have been if she'd been her true self at full power. Certainly, compared to Jenny, she's not very strong at all. She knows it and no doubt, Jenny knows it. But she's got enough, and she's got Future Vision. She's not going to lose. Not if she can help it.

So, she starts to sing, as she tries to keep Jenny at bay. Not...very well, though. The claws are starting to dig into her scalp, and she grunts as she tries to weave her neck back and forth to avoid the snapping mouth.

"This is Garnet
Back together
And I'm never going down at the hands of the likes of you
Because I'm so much better
And every part of me is saying "Go get 'er."
The two of us ain't gonna follow your rules.
Come at me without any of your fancy tools.
Let's go, just me and you.
Let's go, just one on two."

[eba02]

He's been here since the beginning of the concert - struggling to keep himself from falling under Lesedi's sway, struggling to keep his head on straight, struggling to think straight through the cacophony exploding around him, it's all just been a struggle - and it is long past time to step in. J positions himself at the edge of the crowd and moves with them as best he can, weaving through tunes until he can latch onto the one he wants.

Afraid to lose control
And caught up in this world

He buries himself in the acrid fire that is Lesedi's tune, wrapping it around him until he can't catch his breath, until he can nearly feel his skin burning on contact, and for a moment he hesitates. This...this is sabotage. This is the edge of a very slippery slope, one he and every other Agent has avoided until just this moment, and here he is, looking down at it and preparing to step off.

But he can't guarantee that he'll succeed if he tries to support Gold - there's too many factors, and dropping the mission to fight or run will hurt Gold, and despite everything, Gold is someone they absolutely cannot afford to lose. He can't guarantee a success, but he definitely knows how to fail.

I've wasted time, I've wasted breath
I think I've thought myself to death

He pulls Lesedi's tune tight to him and collapses to the ground, taking the tune with him. He can take a fall; what's harder to take is the screeching dissonance the collapse creates, racing into Lesedi's tune. Hopefully, it'll throw her off. Hopefully, it'll give Gold the opening she needs to finish this. Hopefully, it'll be enough. Hopefully.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[sharktrash]

LITTLE SHARK TO THE RESCUE?

Turns out we haven't seen the last of the flying cat-sized fish. Having apparently recovered from the earlier blast, it's burning bright blue once again, and this time, it's darting through the air like a bullet. It might dive right through Lesedi while she's gawking at the fake Blanche, though at best it'll just cause a tiny ripple of energy in the spot it passes through, but it's possible it'll miss her entirely. The focus is below.

It's going for Jenny, circling her and trying to make contact as many times as possible - her limbs, her bitey face, whatever. If it does manage to graze her, it'll be like quickly moving sandpaper, and the area of contact will quickly start feeling a little numb and heavy.

[traumatizing]

Terry switches tunes like it's nothing, changing rhythm to match Gold first and then changing his chords to match hers. It's not the same song, but it glides underneath it easily like a booster seat. He can only imagine that everyone here is stronger if they harmonise than if they're all warring against eachother with their music.

He doesn't change back though — Lesedi might know it's a fake, but what you know and what you feel are two different things entirely. This isn't the real Blanche, but he's as real as Lesedi's thoughts and anxieties about him are. So Terry keeps it up, reaching into her mind and pulling at every little tendril he can grasp at.

"They're all going to die sooner or later," a gesture at the assembled, or as much of one as he can do whilst still playing guitar, "and then what have you got left? Me?" He scoffs, almost as derisive as the real thing. "That's pathetic."

[woomy]

There is a brief moment when 3 swears she sees her short life flash before her eyes as Lesedi's anger focuses on her. She activates her half Bubbler shield as a last ditch attempt to survive.

Yet, a flaming shark (?!) takes the brunt of the attack for her. Then the chaos erupts. 3 stands stunned for a few seconds, trying to make sense of it all, before going back into the action with shooting more bright green ink.

And since everyone is singing songs, 3 bursts out into one as well, "City of Color" by the Squid Sisters.

Tyurirurimyotte winiwini
Yuwarinicche nawemohi
Tyurirurimyohe winiwini yuwani
Yuweni yuwenu na nanihenu

She doesn't even have any magic related to it. She just has music inclination in her DNA.

[exhumerus]

For the moment, Sans is hanging towards to the back with J, and has mostly just been watching the agent do his thing. He's putting himself on reserve - he needs to be functioning in order to get people out of there if he needs to. Especially if that person is Greg or his kid.

Of course, keeping an eye on J has taken a particularly entertaining turn as J executes a truly professional level pratfall out of ostensibly no where. Sans never really got the hang of this music magic stuff - it's all just noise to him.

"Wow," he says. "That's the single most hilarious casting ritual I've seen in my entire life."

He's helping.

[panspermia]

By the time Steven's shield rebounds off of Lesedi, it's caught not by a hand, but by the base of Greg's guitar. Rather than a crunch of wood, the shield slots perfectly in place in a hole that had never been there. The resulting axe gleams, bright pink and totally righteous.

(Not, to be clear, a battle axe. Just like--like a super sweet guitar. Way rad. Not for fighting, either. Why would you attack someone with a guitar, don't be ridiculous. All this is a lot of unnecessary showmanship when you get down to it.

But Multiverse is, after all, a showman at heart.)

The father-son fusion's eyes blaze with excitement and fury as he hoists his way sweet axe and lays down a filthy bass line. This guitar does bass now too, it's magic, deal with it.

The cacophony of music from a half dozen sources are playing at once, and it's all been a matter of trying to drown each other out. Multiverse, however, somehow manages to find a beat matching to all of those aimed against Lesedi and her crew. Magic rallied against her swells in confidence as he backs up the rhythm, while her melody is left to flounder out of step.

[faithfulflame]

There is a lot going on, and Mars is not really sure what exactly she can do without getting too close for comfort. That's not really what a sniper does, after all. There are also way too many people down there that she recognizes, and throwing out spells that could potentially hurt them is the exact opposite of why she's even here in the first place. However, she's not going to depart without some parting shot.

In the chaos, she lines up a shot, aimed not at Lesedi but rather at Jenny. The Predator musician has a strong magical sense, making it a little easier to lock on, and her back is turned towards Rei in her struggle with Garnet. A distraction may help, and she owes Garnet for helping Usagi out back in Americana and she owes any member of Predator as much pain as humanly possible for what they did to her friends, so guess where the next Flame Sniper is aimed?

Jenny's big, fat music wizard ass!

Instinct tells her it's low enough that it's unlikely to puncture through and hurt Garnet, and definitely should help get those claws and teeth off the big Gem. It's not just because she wants to hurt and embarrass someone who hurt and embarrassed her one time boyfriend. And while that one's in mid-air, she fires a second shot, much more hastily at Don's prone form. The sooner he's out of the fight, the better. One less troublemaker, if it does it's job. But, with him rolling around? Who knows.

After that, she leaps back out of the stands and takes off to link up with her own group, having done what she can do without risking getting caught or hurting someone with uncontrolled fire magic.

(1/2)

[interstellarnpcs]

At this point, the ghostly vision of Blanche seems to be infuriating Lesedi more than anything else. She can't actually imagine how she could be any more angry than she is right now. As her and Gold exchange blows, every strike is to kill, and the fact that this traitor is giving her such a fight is the most enraging thing of all.

"STOP PISSING INTO THE WIND, YOU LITTLE FUCK!" Lesedi roars at Terry, slashing across Gold's face and scoring a grazing blow. She can feel it now - Gold's music is getting stronger, and all the while she's wasting more and more energy towards this fight. How will she ever catch up - ?

And then a lot goes on all at once.

Lesedi staggers as something seems to drag against her magic, interrupting the flow of her own strengthening spells. It shakes her, and with her already swelling mania it feels like a step towards totally losing her mind - just as Gold leaps forward against, and pries both of her filthy hands into Lesedi's chest and releases a sickening jolt of magical force.

Lesedi is knocked back, and hard, leaving a trail of smoke and steam in her wake. She crashes against the metal covering the ground as Gold begins to pursue.

And then the first of Mars's arrow strikes - straight through Jenny's shoulder.

(2/2)

[interstellarnpcs]

The world stops, and to Gold it seems to happen in slow motion. Lesedi hits the ground, and for a moment she can feel it. This is her chance. After all these years, this is the moment where she will finally be able to strike this bitch down. After all the violence, after all the sex, and after all the lies it's come down to this.

Then the first arrow strikes. Jenny collapses to her knees, claws and fangs still out and snarling. Gold's eyes widen. And then the next - it flaming point blows straight through Don's prone chest as he screams in pain.

Gold is stopped in her tracks, and for a moment she can't breathe. Don was never as strong as them. He can't defend himself like they could, and he can't heal.

"Domenic," Gold breathes, and her music skips, like a scratched CD.

From the ground, Lesedi offers a shrill and mocking laugh. She appears at Don's side far too quickly, as he squirms in his death throes. She could fix this, Gold realizes. This isn't more than Lesedi could heal.

But that's not what happens.

Like the vampire she is, Lesedi grabs him up like a rag doll, and violently tears something out of him - something that is bright and dark indigo all at once. Then she consumes it like a quick snack.

Don falls lifeless while Gold stares.

[twoscompany]

Dead. He's...he's dead. She killed a member of Predator. She shouldn't feel pity, but she does. That, and anger. That monstrous--

No. Garnet is bent down, and suddenly, her hair - what's left of it from the grip, at least - if free as Jenny falls to her knees. She has some cuts from where she was slashed at, but her throat, at least for now, is safe. She needs to do something.

Get out of Lesedi's way, for one - she refuses to end up like Don did, not now, not while Steven and Greg are here. Get away from this Predator, for another. And, she has to keep singing. Don't break it. Encourage Gold even as she thinks of what to do. Her mind races as to what she can do with Jenny on the ground.

"Go ahead and try to hit me if you're able.
Can't you see that my relationship is stable?
I can see you hate the way we intermingle.
But I think you're just mad..."

Ok. She has one idea. Good possibility idea. A parting shot, as it were - she distracted Jenny from her objective, and Gold is still standing. Which is a plus, she hopes. So, Garnet bends down just a little to get into some kind of plausible position for her offensive hit - and to (fail to, unfortunately by now) alleviate the throbbing her hair being pulled has now produced.

Time to attempt a nice, good, hard knee jerk, up into her opponent's chin. Here's to hoping the Predator doesn't find a way to eat her knee, whether it connects or not, before she has a chance to flee to a safer position away from the battle proper.

"..cause you're SINGLE--!"

just gunna borrow my new account

[starseedling]

Oh.

This part of Multiverse was not prepared for this. Not at all. It had felt like such a release to join together, like a sudden weight off of his shoulders to be so free, but the sight before him nearly brings it all crashing down.

Someone just died. He's not sure who threw the first shot, but either way, Lesedi finished him off. She... she ate him. Somehow.

His head spins. Their head spins. He isn't sure anymore. It just suddenly becomes nearly impossible to focus on the rhythm that they'd secure when Steven's half is filled with utter terror and the sudden desire to throw up.

[traumatizing]

Oh fuck.

Oh fuck.

Terry's instinct is to run to Don, try and see if he's still alive — he's an asshole of the highest order, but that doesn't mean he deserves to have his essence ripped out and eaten — but Terry knows it's pointless before he's even moved.

But where Gold stops, Terry's music keeps going. Still in her key, still in her BPM. Something furious in the way he bangs out the chords; all that anger and hate he's been holding onto this last year.

It's all he can think to do in the moment. Bolster Gold, try and keep her going.

[snapcrackleburn]

Roy's entire body goes numb as he watches Lesedi tear into Don's body to reach his crystal. Memories of blind anger and fire consume his mind for a minute. It's a lucky thing he's still hiding among the crowd as he stands frozen during this dizzying fight.

Had he just done that? His intention was to scare Don, only take his life if it was absolutely necessary and yet the man's torso had caught fire for a moment after that spark from up above.
He catches his breath and turns towards the stage to look at Jenny, realizing she had also been hit. That's right, that fire was from somewhere else, someone else. What was he thinking? And this is war. He's a soldier. He's killed hundreds before. It's just...

Roy curses and tries to refocus. This isn't the time to complain that the Lieutenant isn't by his side. Why did distracting memories of mistakes need to bother him now of all times? Enough lighting people on fire for now. He turns his attention to the ceiling. If needed Santiago or Jenny just might get a beam dropped on their head with the help of a small explosion. That is, if there's an opening.

[lateforkindergarten]

Amethyst is more shocked by Greg and Steven's fusion than anything else going on (but with her priorities nobody should be surprised). She gasps in delight and starts cheering both Multiverse and Garnet.

"Uh Garnet, why aren't you using your weapon?" she does have one criticism. She's about to attempt tying Jenny up with her whip when Jenny gets hit in the back by a flaming arrow. From a gem's point of view, she thinks for a second that Lesedi had just grabbed Don's gem with the intent to shatter him but as his body falls aside lifeless on the floor it becomes clear this is a most disturbing human death.

"That's it! I'm mad!" Amethyst snarls and lets her whip fly at Jenny in an attempt to wrap up her upper body and prevent any more of that obnoxious music magic from her.

[trustme]

While the scene unfolds Doctor can see the entire thing from the balcony area where he and Ivan have been playing music to power up Gold and help keep an eye on the doors. It's easiest to sense the movements of those using music magic, and he gets a good look at Terry's disguise and shakes his head in disapproval.

When Santiago claims Don's crystal he turns to Ivan and encourages him to play Gold's tune. Now more than ever they need to give her the strength she needs. While their power is aimed at Gold alone, Doctor calls out to Multiverse telepathically. "We can mourn later! Greg, Steven! Right now we have to make sure we remove Jenny from the scene without allowing Santiago to take her crystal next! Be strong for the rest of us, please!"

[panspermia]

His soul--she'd ripped out his soul, right in front of them, torn out his essence and consumed it, she--Multiverse reels with the visceral terror of both his components. Lesedi could end them, all of them, just like that, rip out what makes them themselves, undo everything they are, it's happened before and it can happen again... Doctor's words echo in his head, but they're hard to truly hear. How can they stop her? How can they hope to prevent any of that, after all they've seen?

His gem glows a dull pink, and he grasps at his guitar. This is why he can't give up, they can't--he can't let anyone have their gem, or their Gem, taken from them. The two of them survived it once each. They know better than nearly anyone why this can't stand.

All well and good to talk, but harder to follow up with your head spinning from panic and vertigo. For the moment, his beat with the rest of them is lost while he tries to keep himself in sync.

[interstellarnpcs]

Jenny goes down, still dazed by the agony of the arrow lodged in her, and easily tangled in Amethyst's whip. Gold steps towards her and the two gems, raising a hand both as if wishing to stop them, and also potentially threatening them if they don't.

"Don't kill her," Gold manages to plead, before Lesedi takes her opportunity. With the surge of energy she gained from devouring Don's essence, she seizes control of space-time long enough to make her attack.

Some of the people there may be familiar with this move. They've seen it take a life once before. It's only a last moment reaction from Gold that keeps it from ending the same way here.

Lesedi disappears, and instant later reappears behind Gold, just as Gold anticipates the move and begins to turn. Lesedi's hand materializes straight through Gold's shoulder, tearing through the matter there instead of expelling Gold's heart, as intended. Gold staggers, and for a moment Lesedi's fingers being stuck in her flesh is the only thing that holds her up.

"I - ghhn. Wow," is all Gold manages to gurgle, blood pooling in her mouth through a damaged lung.

[woomy]

Everything is confusing. Even crazier than that one time ink colors randomly switched during Splatfest. Agent 3 isn't entirely sure where thing start and end. She stops singing. It's hard to keep up the song while also dodging everything being thrown around and dishing out some of her own. She swims to a better vantage point and puts on the goggles she got from the rescuer group. Maybe this will help make sense of the chaos. Like an Echolocator.

Gold's revel as one of the Pride musicians makes 3 pause and watch. (They are so going to have s'mores and hot cocoa now that she knows that Gold has a mouth and can eat them. And maybe lecture her a bit about the power of teamwork.) And then things get even worse. One of Lesedi's goons gets shot, and then Lesedi... There's swirls going down her throat like ink dissolving in water. Some kind of energy if 3 had to guess. It mixes until it becomes indistinguishable from the energy Lesedi gives off.

3 pulls the goggles to rest on her forehead. "The goggles do nothing! Everything's foggy, and some people are foggier!" Nothing like ruining her aim. She'll continue the fight without them because they don't really give her any new information. Except that the bad guys are cannibals on top of being bad guys.

She shrieks when Gold is struck and throws another Burst Bomb at Lesedi. Lesedi is 3's main target now. "Leave Gold alone!"

[missknight]

As it turns out, Lesedi isn't the only one with teleporting tricks.

It's hard to tell, with the cacophony of noise going on, but, somewhere in the distance... There's a roar. As 3 shoots her ink, to the side of Lesedi a portal suddenly swirls into existence and immediately deposits a giant fully grown bright pink lion tackling into her.

Ignore the screaming thirteen year old girl on his back.

[lateforkindergarten]

With Connie and Lion's unexpected entrance an idea hits Amethyst. And Pearl claims I don't think enough. Meh. Out of habit she turns to Garnet for confirmation.

"Hey Garnet, what do you say we take the Scary Boss Lady's second potential power snack somewhere far far away?"

[twoscompany]

What weapon? How...how do we even--

Garnet's attention is brought back as Amethyst asks the question. Oh, yes, right. That.

"Yes? That...might be an idea!"

[snapcrackleburn]

An injury like the one Gold just got isn't much better than what Santiago was aiming to do. Hopefully someone has a healing trick up their sleeve. Either way, Roy decides he's not going to wait to find out. If Santiago doesn't go after Gold again she'll likely go after 3 or the unexpected girl and lion duo that just dropped in.

"We need help," he says as he fishes the boon he had received from the ghosts from his pocket and crushes it in his palm. Time to call in that favor.