View source for 2007-08-24 (PreU) End Times (part 2)

{{Logsummary|
Title    = End Times (part 2)
|Summary = Part two of the fight for Chronos. For those non-Pueblo users I've included the image that loads when you enter final room in this log instead of linking to it. 

The group makes it's way to Queen Zeal and discover the truth about her desire to attack everyone... and are reunited with the terror that caused the original quest to save this world. Can things be brought to an end before that nightmare awakens and undoes that which Guardia's King is destined to accomplish?
|Who     =  [[Flea]], [[Glenn]], [[Hugin]], [[Kid]], [[Lavos]], [[Magus]], [[Marle]], [[Miff]], [[Munin]], [[Norris]], [[QueenZeal]], [[Robo]], [[Schala]], [[Serge]]
|Date    = August 24th, 2007
|Where   = Cave of Forgotten Relics - Lavos: Outer Shell
|Log=

''Cave of Forgotten Relics''

''Upon pulling the switch the rooms suddenly changes. The seemingly living darkness abruptly pulls away revealing the room to be a gallery of sorts. The walls are painted with elaborate designs depicting strange cityscapes and alien worlds. Spaced out evenly about the room are several highly detailed statues carved after people in strange clothing. Most peculuar is the one at the back of the room. As a part of the rear wall itself are the carvings of two comical figures, like twin cartoon bakers with little chefs hats. Their faces have been marked and disfigured with strange skulls and arrows. The Duo looks quite mad. Between them is what appears to be the shape of a bunny. A stone nail protrudes it's chest making it seem to be pinned to the wall. The wall itself has been painted with vines and viens, each ending in an eye, claw, or set of teeth. What kind of maniac would build such a thing?''

''At the base of the monsterous sculpture on the rear wall, a cracked tunnel has been torn out of the rock. It would seem someone is trying to blast their way through. But for what purpose? The tunnel seems to go down even deeper into the planet than you already are. Are you brave enough to continue decending?''
----

The Queen's feet softly touched down with the rock floor of the cave as her spell failed to revitalize Kid... and she fell to her knees. Life2 was not something she could just cast left and right, after all! "Kid...?!" This was not good news... her spell had failed, and that could only mean... there wasn't really ANYTHING she could do right now. Nothing at all! How many more would fall before they'd managed to STOP this madness? If Marle had her way... NONE! That was what she was going to strive for. She looked over to the body of Kid, unable to choke up any words in the midst of this crisis right now. Instead, she dashed over towards Robo and Munin. "You knocked her out...! Alright!" And yet, this was the person that had just killed someone.. what to do? Marle looked about. This entire situation had her unnerved, and she needed a moment to get back on her feet, mentally.

Norris has taken a shot while he orders his men back at this point it be suicide for them but they could deal with other grunts that might come after our heros in an attempt to back side he watche Robo get the hit. "Good work, Do you have a way to keep her out of it, Robo?"

As events unfold, and Munin is dropped, Glenn manages to stand back to his feet. The First Knight holds that hand up, and his heal spell finishes, not for the first time today. "... Please keep her subdued..." He's really not speaking to anyone right now, and as the green haired man turns and strides back off towards the path that Zeal strode down, he utters not another word. However, those watching closely enough can see it. His eyes aren't looking ahead of him, they're looking somewhere else, focused but not seeing. It's a look of anger that is hard to place on the man's face, rare as he is to show it. He doesn't even wait for others to follow, just following in Zeal's footsteps, so to speak, without hesitation. He'd already led them into a trap once, at least the next one will be set off on him, and not them, if he moves first. That's the closest thing to logic in Glenn's mind right now.

Miff is going to just hang down on the ground where she is, even with Glenn's healing spell and the protection of her cloak, which is now ruined, adding onto Glenn's bill for this fight, she is not for the combat. The cloth hovering around her whips itself back down inside her basket as she reaches out and touches it, and she pulls the cloak off of herself as well, tossing it on the ground next to her. Well, she doesn't have two of those in there, so now she's going to have to be even more careful. That person she didn't know died, and Munin's been subdued. Well, that all works out, and now Glenn's going off to take on whoever caused this mess himself. Good! That means she can just sit here and wait for it to be over with everyone else that has an ounce of brains inside of them! Don't go running off looking to get killed, and you stay alive. Well, most of the time, unless a tank runs into your shop...but that only happened once.

Robo hadn't even hit his mark! He just hit the floor and slid a few feet, creating sparks and stopping after a moment. He slowly rises to his feet, and a quiet beeping sound comes from him, his optical orbs flashing. And he turns to look toward Munin...good, she's incapacitated. Without a second thought, he begins running into the direction Zeal had gone, conveniently right behind Glenn. Two are better than one, yes? Though, this battle will become difficult for him if he has to use anything more than the energy he used in the previous two encounters.

Schala looks with deep sadness at Kid. She wasnt fast enough to save her... and she knew the spark of life was gone. There was nothing to resurrect. Gripping her sword again, she narrowed her eyes as the blade began to glow brighter. "Mother... I hope its not too late for you, too..." she said to herself, turning to look at Marle, Robo, Hugin, and the rest. "She will not have fallen in vain... we will succeed and put an end to this evil." Schala would personally see to that... perhaps at all costs. Taking her stride carefully, she headed down the path with Robo and Glenn... off to go face the creature that stole her family away from her for the last time.

A sigh of relief escapes Hugin's mouth as Munin falls to the ground, and she leans heavily against the cave wall, clutching a hand over her badly burnt side. A slight glare is cast in Norris' general direction...apparently, she's none too happy about having been shot in the side by him. However, now is not the time to delay with screams of how one should be careful. The hand pressed to her side glows a faint white colour, and she closes her eyes in concentration...and once she pulls her hand away, the wound is healed. The bruises and scrapes can be dealt with later. Casting a glance to her sister, the raven-haired woman approaches, kneeling beside the unconcious girl. She swiftly pulls a short length of rope from a pack attatched to her hip, and quickly ties her sister's hands together behind her back. "She will not bother us for a few hours..." She then sighs, placing her hand on the girl's shoulder. "I'll get you back, sister..." Then, suddenly, the woman is no longer present, once again replaced by the form of the black raven with red eyes. With a squawk, the raven flies forward; circling the cavern once, it lands softly upon Glenn's shoulder, offering a small chirp to the man. Apparently, the bird likes him, for some reason or another.

Flea looked down at the body of Munin and Kid. Despite her talk about inferior breeds and the like... she rather liked Kid's energy for the little time she saw out of her. However, she didnt know exactly why they didnt just kill Munin on the spot. Was she not the nexus of their displeasure? She really had nothing else to say. Watching Glenn march off like he did brought back lots of memories. Was it like this for him when Cyrus was killed? Remembering how she tormented him over it actually drudged up a rare moment of guilt for the Mystic as she followed close behind Glenn... of all the warriors here, Glenn's swordsmanship was the most potent recipient of her enchantments. She only turned around once to see if Miff was following before following after the knight. Strange how quickly she was willing to become allies with her hated enemy... "Ever the hero as always... old friend?" Flea says with a sort of whimsy and admiration for Glenn's resolve.

Whirrrrrrrrr...click...CLANK! "Wow, I discover new things every day. Where am I now?" What looks like an anthro fox kit-shaped robot has found its way into the room somehow. It takes a few steps in, then stops. "...There are people here...a lot of people...have I wandered somewhere I shouldn't have?" Just then, its eyes turn to the green-haired knight. "...Hey, I remember you!" Its stubby little legs move at high speed as the little foxbot skitters toward the knight. It only makes it as far as the rest of the group, though, before it stops. "...Hey...wait for me..."

----
''Lavos - Outer Shell(#856R)''

[[File:LavosSprite.png|800px|center|link=]]

''Before you stands the towering form of Lavos. A huge armor plated monster covered in giant spikes and with an enourmous maw large enough swallow someone whole. However, within that is a giant eye, which watches attackers carefully. The beast fell from the sky centuries ago and has absorbed the best parts of vanquished foes... this won't be an easy battle...''
----

In the dim light ahead heavy breathing can be heard. A shape seems to loom out of the darkness as the group makes it's way in deeper. As the shape becomes more defined something primal sparks in the memories of everyone who whitnesses it. At first it seems to be another statue, but who would make a statue so large? Then, as if to defy logic, it moves. Towering up ahead is the massive nightmare that is Lavos's outter shell. It may seem like it's about to attack, but currently that's far from the truth. Lavos is slumbering. Waiting in near endless sleep for the day that Crono and his friends arrive and fulfill their destiny. Waiting for 1999 AD. The Day of Lavos...

Standing before it looking as intimidating in comparison as a bug to a windshield stands the form of the Queen of Zeal. Her eyes glowing of a dull silver as she looks up at the slumbering beast with a look of gleeful malice on her face. As the footsteps click on the rock behind her, she turns. One eye twitches in annoyance. "I suppose I should have delt with you all myself, but we needed more time. Look! LOOK AND BEHOLD YOUR FATE!" Without hesitating a moment longer she turns and punches into the maw of the beast, spilling open the protected eye and letting loose a spray of gelatinous goo which glows of it's own accord. The beast doesn't awaken, but it does indeed stir. Zeal begins to laugh maliciously. "So many lives... so many worlds... it all ends now... MWA-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH!!!

Norris is not a vicous man but he's just had a close friend slain infront of him, regardless of the why it will be something hard to forgive but such thoughts are quickly banished he must focus on the mission. Kid can't have died for nothing, even if would be more prudent to have left munin behind and tied up. At this point however Zeal has appered before them and he narroes his eyes. "Good you have stopped hiding behind your minions o thrall of Lavos." He reaies his weapon. "This is the day we end you. You will harm no one again after this day as history has proven you are doome to fall due to your own ego." With that he wastes no time in opening fire on the queen as she cackles. Damn villains and their rants.

"....Lavos...!!" It couldnt' be... but it was! The real nightmare... Marle recognized the silhouette as the group approached. She hugged her crossbow tightly, knowing it would be that, and her magic that would be the only things that would make her useful here... talking with Zeal was completely out of the question! "Stop it already! Haven't you done ENOUGH?! You destroyed your own kingdom..." The queen took a step forwards with one leg, getting into a battle stance... "You're not gonna destroy anything else!" Not Guardia... not this world. This would end here! Marle begins to chant softly as she folds her hands, summoning up her arcane powers that have carried her this far... then HURLED it forwards as a thick blast of ice shards straight for the laughing Queen. It was about the only way she was going to say 'shut up' without actually yelling it.

It has often been said that violence is not the answer. Indeed, sometimes it was Glenn who had said this. However, Glenn's life, his profession, no matter how anyone feels about it, is largely about violence, and the prevention of it. It takes an unusual day for Guardia's First Knight to wish to spread it high and wide. The sight of Zeal, and the sight of Lavos, together form a vision that he cannot pull himself away from. Marle's words are more than sufficient. That is good, because Glenn has none of his own... save two. "Masa.... Mune..." The words are spoken softly, a quiet voice that hides the strong and violent emotions inside. From within the scabbard, there is a sound, and a flash of light, and then he is left with only the scabbard attached to his hip, the sword itself mysteriously and suddenly missing. He crouches down low, his legs tensing, and then charges forward, bringing his shield to bear before him. A straightforward and simple charge to follow Marle's blast of ice and Norris' volley of fire. What's he going to do, ram Zeal? Please.

Miff stares at Lavos. Then stares at Zeal. Then can't believe she's down here with all of these -hero's-, because she is not one, even if she proclaims to be when there's money in it. And there everyone goes, shooting at the evil laughing woman. She should probably do something to help, but she doesn't want to draw fire down on herself from where she stands in the back. She looks over at her basket and slides her hand into its depths, pulling out a small folded square of cloth, she then pulls out some scissors and makes about six quick strokes, pieces of it falling away and revealing...throwing stars! Made of cloth...but she flicks them with her fingernail and the cloth hardens. Hm, she wonders if she's even a good throw. She holds one in her hand and tries tot hink of a better delivery system than eye hand coordination. Ah, wait..okay. She pulls out the purple cloth from before and wraps the cloth stars in them, then throws it into the air, where it begins weaving back and forth up and up and up and up until it gets above Zeal, Miff just idly shifting her grip on it now and then to control it, and then it wraps around a stalactite and whips the throwing stars down at Zeal. They'll easily penetrate flesh and armor, despite being cloth.

As the entire group arrives at the scene, and Lavos is to be witnessed by all...witnessed to be slumbering. Robo's scanners move over this large planet eating monster, and then all scanners, optical or otherwise, focus on Queen Zeal. He raises his right arm to aim at her with no words in response, no snappy heroic comebacks, no great words. No. He just braces and unleashes his own flurry upon her, the chain rattling loudly as that fist, beyond all understanding, actually rapidly fires outwards, leaving his wrist in an instant toward the Zealion royalty. The speed at which this strike would be that of an automatic handgun, or more properly, an Uzzi... Adding his own part to the assault, as it were.

Schala gasps at the very sight of her mother. She could understand why Magus could say that she was no longer herself. There was almost nothing left. But Schala couldnt let herself believe that. She didnt have anything to say to the beast who had taken her mother away. This would be the second time she stood in its midst. Looking at her sword... she... looked at Glenn. Clasping her hands together, she charged off to her mother's right, flying with great speed over the ground, then making her own charge with Glenn, trying to time her slice to hit with his. "Mother... forgive me." However... just moments before the strike, she tried to strike so not to cause any lethal damage...

As Glenn draws closer to Queen Zeal, and the outer shell of Lavos, the raven upon his shoulder suddenly beings shrieking in her general direction, in that semi-obnoxious way that ravens caw. The bird's feathers puff up, and it's wings occasionally flap, though it doesn't leave the knight's shoulder for a long moment. Then, it quickly hops off as Glenn charges forward, it's wings fluttering to aid it's descent to the ground...and then, Hugin reappears once more, her hand reaching back for that Naginata. She is unsure the exact extent of the damage she can do to this woman with her abilities, which are rather plain in comparison to her sister's magical abilities...but she can sure as hell try. "You bitch...you must be the one who ENSLAVED MY SISTER. I...I will KILL YOU before I let you ruin any more lives!" Raising a hand, her body is suddenly outlined in that same small, yellowish-golden aura...and then, with a burst of haste-augmented speed and a scream of rage, she takes off, right on Glenn's heels, towards Zeal. In addition to the blast of ice, the volley of fire, Glenn's ramming technique (or whatever it is he's doing), Miff's throwing stars, Robo's fist, and Schala's charge...the insane member of royalty will also have the sharp, rapier-like end of Hugin's Naginata, aimed at her gut, to contend with.

Flea looks up at the weird Lavos creature and emits an 'eewww' kind of noise. "THIS is the God Lavos? Ugh... Clearly Magus was mistaken... nothing this ugly could possibly be divine." Flea kept her cool with bravado quite easilly. Watching Marle's outburst closely... she recalled something Marle once did that she was witness to. Placing her hand on her hip, striking a rather confident pose, Flea places her hand to her lips and gives an audible kiss to her palm with a slight 'chu' noise, then flattening her wrist she blows across her palm and a massive chain of flaming hearts seek out Marle's attack and seek to cause a temperature change in the target so drastic, that it would shatter its target 

Upon arriving at the scene to see all hell has broken loose, the toddler-bot stops. It's not sure exactly what's going on, but it knows that whichever side Glenn is on MUST be the good guys. Then it remembers the corpse of Kid from the previous room. "...So...she must've killed her..." The small foxbot takes a step back, then presses its nose in. In a flash, it takes a new, much larger form, this one much more intimidating form, energy crackles from its blade-like tails. "...that's not something I can forgive."

Energies crackle and light flashes as attacks are blindly thrown towards the laughing queen. Yet, somehow they don't seem to reach her. Only Glenn will notice why as he's stopped dead in his tracks at arms length of his target. She whispers the words "Protective Seal" as she throws her arms up to reinforce the spell protecting her with another instance of it. With the energies focusing on that which is infront of her she doesn't have a chance to react as Schala finds her weakpoint and the woman screams, balling her hands into fists. The blood which begins to flow from the wound isn't red, but black. Something seems unnatural about this. The shield before her holds true, but Schala is left alone for a moment, protected by that same energy that Zeal is using upon herself. Perhaps, this is only irony...

Queen Zeal glances aside at Schala, and briefly a moment of sorrow fills her face. That emotion soon vanishes as she laughs. "Your father would be proud. You should have remained in your coma thanks to the dagger's poison. Your as strong here as you where on our world. A shame, you won't leave this world alive..." Looking back towards the group she narrows her eyes again at Marle this time. Apparently she was paying more attention to what was said before the attack than it was implied. "Destroyed my own kingdom?" She glances at Norris. "Thrall of La Vos?" The mad queen throws her head back and cackles. "MWA-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH!!!" Lowering her head again she shakes it as she tries to calm herself. "Such is expected of children like yourselves. No idea of anything other than what you see before your eyes." Her smile fades. "Listen, and listen well..." For some reason her voice begins to deepen as she speaks next. "...the body I inhabit gave herself to me of her own free will. In this world your heroes did abuse my network of fragmented time to destroy this form before you. But don't confuse events. The world we come from was but a blissful paradise compared to the garden you hide yourselves in. I've slaughtered more worlds than lives on this planet. And once I taste of the genetic code of my counterpart... I'll not need this world any longer... Of course, this will awaken it. But that's hardly my concern."

With a heavy wince she grips Schala's blade and shoves it to the side. Kicking off the ground she vanishes briefly and appears a few feet off to the side of the group as she regroups. Almost immediatly the air begins to fill with the sound of her bracelets chiming together. Whispering, she closes her eyes. Reopening them she screams, "HALLATION!" Schala, Glenn, Marle, and anyone else close enough will find themselves caught up in the massive wave of destructive energies. They'll also find their strength being taken from them. In game terms, their health was just dropped to one...


Norris says "It has rotted your mind, there is nothing left of the Queen. You are little more than a corpse puppet." He now readies his weapon and he says "I have delt with something like Lavos before and won. Your talk means nothing." No more talking it's time for fighting at this point. Norris was wise to hang backk as he's was able to avoi the spell and fires off a simple photon ray element at hte mad queen to keep her a bit busy

Ugh, this attack again... Marle let out a pure scream as her lifeforce was torn at and terrifying energies wracked her body, leaving her a wreck that could barely stay on her knees... she'd barely had a chance to spot what Flea had done, a makeshift antipode! But it was all to no avail... "No way..." The words of Zeal rang through Marle's head... All of this... "So, you're...LAVOS, and not just a crazy..." Uh-oh... Well, it didn't matter. It didn't matter AT ALL! Marle wasn't going to give up. "Glenn! Come on, let's.. help everyone!" She panted, then began to cast a spell of her own in response to Hallation... but there were no freezing winds coming from her folded hands. Instead, a gentle golden light flared up then fragmented into a storm of sparkles which spread outwards... [OOC: Setup for Double Cure with Glenn!]

The words are probably a surprise to everyone present, except Glenn. Not that the knight has any mysterious ability to see through the situation, but between his encounter with Zeal earlier, and Magus' suspicions of an imposter, the knight had put two and two together. Furthermore, he had been prepared for retaliation from Zeal, though he had not expected to be physically halted. He pulls back, and this time, orbs of white light surround his entire body before shooting up to mix with Marle's magic, and raining down a far more effective spell than before, with the two combined. There is no gasping or panting from Glenn, despite the toll Hallation took on his body. He's become personally acquainted with the effects far more often than he cares for. Besides, all he has to do is hold on.... The magics mix, and everyone in range, which is likely everyone that was within the Halation's range... should, ideally, be completely restored... at least physically. However, Glenn's eyes have lost that much more of their shine.

Miff was nowhere near that blast. Okay, well, she wasn't close enough for it to hit her. She sighs inwardly in relief and yanks on the purple cloth, which detatches itself from above and gathers itself back down to her hand, wrapping around her arm in abundance. She watches the battle continue, backing away a bit more to get some more distance. Hm. Well, really, the hero's are throwing a lot of spells and magic around, does she -really- need to help out and risk her own skin? She thinks not, so, she's going to watch and collect her hazard pay when it's all over. o O ( Good call Miff, stand back. Stay safe. Make money. )

Having been out of range of the Hallation blast as well, and merely spending some time regaining his balance as his fist smacks back into place upon his wrist, getting knocked to the left and waving his arms out to keep his balance. Such an awkward, heavy robot. He turns and...watches as the healing light washes over everyone who was struck by that devastating attack from Zeal. So. Verbal confirmation that Zeal is actually an alternate Lavos using her body. That actually makes some kind of sense. He stares... And calculates. That barrier kept him from hitting his target. Fine. Glenn and Marle are dealing with the healing... He pounds his chestplate with a loud SLAMSLAMSLAM sound, and begins to run, leaving time for spells to be added to the mix to make his tackle just a bit more painful. [Hinthint] And then he leaps! ...this might not end well.

Schala looks into her mothers eyes... her own welling up with tears, but her teeth gritted in determination. "But... mother.. I..." She suddenly shrieks and is knocked off her feet when Zeal removes the energy blade from her body. "There is still time..." she says as she is hit by the crushing hallation attack and brought to her knees in pain. "Aahh!" Trying to generate her own healing spell, she glances over at Marle and instead tries to generate her own protection seal on Marle first, then trying to make her way slowly across the heroes to give them some kind of protection from any further attacks. However, in her given exhaustion, it took all her strength to concentrate on the shield-spell. However, feeling the healing power of Marle and Glenn's work, Schala dives back to their ranks, trying to regain her former position, her holy weapon at the ready.

As she was directly behind and to the side of Glenn, Hugin, too, is pushed back at arms length; she looks confused for a moment, before stopping in her charge, leaping back to regroup. A sneer forms upon the raven-haired woman's face as Queen Zeal speaks, and she twirls her staff around, falling into a ready stance with the staff held high above her head...however, as the woman dissapears, the bewildered look returns...only to turn into a fearful one as the woman attacks. Damn magic! Why can't people just use their bodies like they're intended to be used?! She cannot get out of the way in time, and is thrown back by the wave of destructive energies, a pained scream escaping her throat. She lands hard on her back, looking as though she's seen MUCH better days...yet, once the spell's effects subside, she raises herself up on her hands, jaw clenched. Obviously, the girl is in pain...but she manages to offer the queen a deathglare before collapsing, face first, back to the ground. Her breath comes in heavy, laboured gasps; for the time being, Munin's sister is far too weak to continue in the fight. Well, that is, until the Double Cure takes effect, and she finds herself feeling like she was never hit by Zeal's magic. She leaps to her feet, grabbing her Naginata from nearby and spinning it once more, raising two fingers to point towards the queen. A sneer, and from those two fingers, bolts of electricity arc out...not towards queen Zeal, but towards Robo, to hopefully enhance his attack. A basic lightning spell, but it's all she has...

Flea managed to avoid being hit with hallation, by staying far enough in the back. "Magicians should never be in the front line... and that is why." Still, everyone looked like they would be concentrating on getting healed at the moment. Flea decided to take the opportunity to wreak a little havoc. Floating up into the sky, the practiced Magician, held out a single hand and lifted two fingers into the sky, flailing her cape about with much dramatic flair. "Oooh ho ho ho!" ^o^ At Flea's behest, a noxious smelling gas came up from the ground as a warning for people to get back. Of course, Robo would not be harmed by this due to his nature. The feint smell of rotting corpses and decaying flesh became prevalent as Flea's signature Rainbow Storm was conjured. However, Flea was always improving his spells for flair. A large rift seemed to open from the ground and two large claws came up and gripped the edges of the fissure. Vaulting itself from the pit, a large impish-looking dragon flew up out of the rift and exhaled a large cloud of noxious fumes in Zeal's direction. The poison wind might have been enough... but Flea was never one to skip out on being the center of attention. "How about a little fire, scarecrow..." Flea snapped her fingers and the fumes are ignited, causing a magnificent explosion. Regardless of the final effect, the rift, the dragon... all of it seemed as if it were never there. If the poison did nothing, the explosion might have some effect. And Flea looked awesome as always, waving her little finger around.

A gasp comes from the speaker on the kitsune-bot's mouth. "Hall...ation?...Damn you, Queen Zeal, you should've taught me THAT instead of that lame basic curative magic!" Seeing that Marle and Glenn have the healing handled, it decides to join the fray as an attacker. Not that it can really heal anyone but Robo, anyway. Its paws reach around behind it, clapsing the now-detached tails, still sparking with electrical energy, and boomerangs them up toward Queen Zeal. It was either that or the uric bombs for his opening attack.

As everyone braces from the Hallation cast upon them, Zeal takes a step back, clutching her side where Schala's attack had found itself. Her eyes look to her daughter as she falls, destracting her at the ever important moment. Robo strikes her down blindly and aided with Hugin's spell she screams painfully as she's thrown up against the wall of the cave and falls with a thud to the ground. There is more of that black blood trickling down from her mouth as she coughs both from the damage and from the effects of Flea's spell. It looks for a moment as though they might have won.

...only for a moment, however...

Pushing herself back to her feet, Zeal wipes her mouth with the back of her hand. Her wrist is exposed for a moment as the sleaves of the robe she wears fall down to her elbow. Schala especially might notice that her blood vains on her arm have turned a deep blue, much like one would expect from a corpse. Perhaps that is the key? She did 'sacrifice' herself after all. Not that the Queen of Zeal will give much of a chance for anyone else to ponder her personal state of well being. Pushing her sleave back down she holds her hands together, all her fingers curled but her thumbs and pinkies, as she begins to chant again. The air once more fills with the sound of her braclets clinging together.

Whispering and then... "SKYGATE!" Lighting errupts from the very stones of the cave themselves. Of course, with a mountain formerly of the Kingdom, and everyone being this deep within it, the Skygate doesn't need to be in the heavens to strike down everyone here. More powerful than King Crono's Lightning 2 this attack will strike anyone touching the ground, and perhaps shock anyone airborne. This cave could very well become a tomb.

More frightening than Zeal's attack, however, is that Lavos seems to shift it's position as the attack does minor damage to it as well. If the beast awakens, the future timelines will be rewritten. This can't be allowed to happen.

Norris had seen files of Lavos in the Dead Sea but nothing turely prepared him for this when the real deal. He's rattled inwardly however he's not going to show it this time. Flea's magical skill has never been in question as she shows her stuff, while Glenn and Marle keep people on their feet. Norris watches the queen for a second, but he's not able to time getting away this time and WHAM! Lighitng being a yellow element aligned he's not quite so badly ravaged. The Commander of the Black Wind is hurt and is smoing a bit as the smell of charred flesh flills his nostrals he manages to rpeare for another attack he take. He now channels his power into another element this one is his and his alone. "GET CLEAR!" He shout to his allies as he channels more and more of his aura into this weapon it takes a moment to collect the charge and then it lets lose a bright blast of energy souly focused at the mad insane queen!

"Schala!" Cried out Marle, concerned for the girl and COMPLETELY at a loss to explain just what was going on with the royal pair over there... mother and daughter, though 'mother' by now was not the right thing to call her. But since when was a human's blood BLACK instead of red?! The protection spell went up around Marle just in time to shield her from a good deal of the Skygate blast... But not enough! "Eeeeaaaaahhhh!!!!" OOOOOWCH! Marle smacked into the ground, HARD, from that blast, stumbling back to her feet with her clothes and flesh sizzling some... "... No, we can't wake up Lavos!" Fighting in here... what could they do?! "Don't hit Lavos...!" Big attacks were a bad idea it seemed... so Marle unslung her crossbow and let loose with a magical bolt from the weapon straight for the mad Queen! "Thanks, Schala! Are you all right?!"

The attack slams into the party with a rather drastic amount of force, and Guardia's First Knight quite simply crumples under it. It's rather disconcerting to feel yourself repeatedly drop between life and death.... and when you're the one doing the healing, it's somewhat unsettling to be teetering back and forth like that. Landing with both gloved hands bracing themselves against the ground, the green haired knight lifts his head to look towards Zeal... towards Lavos.. however one wants to slice it. "... Any time would be a good time, you two..." Hmm? Who's he talking to now?

Miff is just watching the situation start to get out of control. She really expected this fight to go faster, I mean, look at all the people gathered here to kill -one- person! Honestly, what's up? Maybe she should have a snack. She ponders this just as the lightning spell goes off and her body gets crispy and toasty, she screams the scream of people who are in far more pain than they have ever experienced and falls to her knees, her vision black, she grips her picnic basket, not because it's precious to her, but because it's something she can touch. o O ( You see Miff? Shouldn't of come here! Now you'

Miff is just watching the situation start to get out of control. She really expected this fight to go faster, I mean, look at all the people gathered here to kill -one- person! Honestly, what's up? Maybe she should have a snack. She ponders this just as the lightning spell goes off and her body gets crispy and toasty, she screams the scream of people who are in far more pain than they have ever experienced and falls to her knees, her vision black, she grips her picnic basket, not because it's precious to her, but because it's something she can touch. o O ( You see Miff? Shouldn't of come here! Now you're going to die down here and you won't be able to finally weasel out of taxes from the throne. Now you won't even get paid! Cheh! ) She falls forward, her face hitting the ground rather hard as she passes out, and mumbles, "...quad..ruple...pay..." Before she fully falls into unconciousness, and possibly soon death.

Robo actually hit with his attack?! I mean, he knew he would! His eyes flicker as his eyes scan the Queen...black blood. That means... The body is merely being controlled in a corpse-like form, and if it's brought back to life, it might pose problems for the controller! Or so he half-deducts on a quick moment before becoming a robotic lightning rod, a great majority of the lightning striking him... He sizzles gently afterwards. He twitches with the electricity coursing through his circuts... He's having trouble moving. That did alot more damage than it appears to have done. A low click and loud WHIIIIIR is heard inside as he begins to glow blue once more, but it flickers pitifully. Out of energy. He slooowly falls backwards and hits the floor with a loud THUD. Here and there, little visible static jolts can be seen moving across his limbs and torso... He's out. Until someone decides to try and heal him, of course.

Schala was just healed not moments ago and she is slammed with the Skygate attack, knocking her again to the floor. Standing up and shaking her head free, she hears Marle's voice. "Im.. fine... but... NO! Stop!" Schala is suddenly on her feet, and flying with great speed to try and beat Marle's bolt to Queen Zeal, her beam-sword already out, but she doesnt have time to swing... instead, she uses her already battered body to block the shot. However, Norris' attack was coming up, and she could not allow it to hit. Spinning the blade skillfully, she meets Norris' shot head on, the blast colliding with the Sword, almost spinning Schala from her position, unable to stop the shot, but sending it veering off course. "This... has to stop!" she says with tears welling up in her eyes. Has Schala gone mad as well? "I wont let you hurt her anymore!"

Another scream rips forth from Hugin's mouth as Zeal's Skygate spell sends lightning crashing through the cave; obviously, it hits it's mark, sending electricity charging through the woman's body...however, she doesn't have the pleasure of being sent flying back, this time. Her body stiffens as she's quite nearly cooked by the electricity, her naginata slipping from her hand and clattering to the ground. For the spell's duration, she remains as such, her muscles stiff, though occasionally convulsions ripple through them; then, as the spell finishes she slumps, falling to the ground quite unconcious. Without immediate medical care, or a good healing spell, it's likely that the young martial artist will not survive this battle...

Flea is zapped rather unceremoniously, and she is caused to drop from the sky. She barely has time to look about, casting a glance up at the princess. "... Damnit... their whole family is nuts!" Looking down at Miff, Flea tries to crawl over to her descendent, reaching out for her, but falling short and passing out with one last breath. "My ... beauty..."

As the attack continues to bear down upon everyone, Glenn simply collapses onto the ground, his muscles not responding as he feels the attack flow through him... and then everything.... well, everything goes white...

Chibi Nate manages to catch and reattach its tails, then put up a protective barrier before the attack hits...however, the attack is so powerful that it destroys the barrier like a hot knife through butter, and fries the barrier circuit. "...Lightning. You just HAD to use lightning." It looks over at Robo. "...Not on MY watch! I may not be able to put up my barrier, but..." The kitsubot searches the downed robot carefully for an access panel...some battery ends...something it can connect. Should it find one, its left index finger will open up, a cord plugging into the access panel, or a pair of jumper cables connecting to the leads. "Please work..." In a desperate attempt to reawaken its fellow robot, it sends numerous jolts of energy of ascending amounts of power through the cables. "...No, I ordered a CHERRY soda!" ... Okay.

"That. Is. ENOUGH!"

There is a tremendous surge of cold wind from behind the fallen heroes. A wave of purple energy extends outwards towards the ground and raises into the air. Like a giant wall, only fortified by pure energy. It rises into the sky for many yards, meant to separate the fallen from the form of Lavos and Zeal. ... And, unfortunately, Schala.
Floating in the air above the heroes and the energy wall is the form of Magus. The wind rustles with him, cape billowing. Eyes glowing brightly with pure energy. His hands are outstretched towards the wall and were the pupils of his eyes able to be seen, they would be seen to be locked not on the form of Zeal, or the giant spiked turtle... but on the form of his sister.

"What are you doing... do you not see that she is mad? That thing is not your mother, that is Lavos. All of it!" Magus points to Schala as he exclaims this. "Do not give in, dear sister, you are deceived!" The last thing he would ever want to do is strike his sister... but if the time comes to do so...

At the same time, the running form of Serge jumps into the fray. Brandishing his swallow in both hands, he is ready to unleash all the white magic and slashes that he can. Sadly for him, he happens to be in front of the barrier, unprotected by the magic of Magus. Assuming the dark mage's magic can even stand up to this power. Still, the boy's eyes are focused on the form of Lavos. Mainly on that ugly gaw that opens and closes. He'd like to break that beak into pieces.

He doesn't seem to notice, nor care, that he is in front of the barrier. He just wants to fight.

...to be continued...

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