Tribulations

[Sam]

Seeing the ball head towards him, Sam dodge rolls to the left in an attempt to not get hit by the high speed flaming baseball.

"Figures you choose things the hard way. Normally I'd say a bunch of puns like let's play ball, but since I'm on a schedule I'm afraid I'm can't have as much fun as I want to. So I'm afraid I'm going to have to take this a bit more seriously than I usually do."

Sam fires both finger guns as speedy bolts of violet and blue energy shoot out towards the two demon guys

[Axel Akutare]

The hellfire clings to ice as well, burning constantly and melting it's way through! Not to mention, some stray shots are burning through the roof, making it unstable. The added weight of the ice isn't exactly helping in that regard.

-----

As for the angel, he is blown backwards by the force of the explosion, to stunned to dodge the energy blade! It slices through a wing, sending him crashing to earth!

Rocky lands on the ground, a bit away from the angel, sheathing a Prnny Knife.

"My knives have cut another useless NPC."

As for Axel's crew, Izumi feels the Hellfire melting the magic ice, and she looks to Sherry, who just grins and punches the roof with the force of a freight train, aiming to drop through into the building.

[KonokoHasano]

Both angel and demon stare at Konoko, sweatdroping slightly.

"You ramble a lot." the demon says.
"Yeah, you really do." the angel agrees. She squirms a bit at the question. "T-They should be honoured. It's scientifically proven that religion can make your life better!"

-----

"No you're not, we just know you because of your mother." Abba says flatly.

"I'll be frank, we want to meet with her. DO you know where she is, or how we can get in contact with her?"

"Religion can be a good thing, yes, but it is also something that shouldn't be forced onto people. One can get along fine without religion. Also, what about those who likely already do have a religion, but you have turned to your side? You likely forced them into a much different religion than they were comfortable with. However, because they have been turned into completely mindless drones living only to serve you, it's a rather moot point." Crosses her arms and considers. "So you would rather people didn't have any freedom and blindly worshipped something forced upon them?"

Spins around a little, arms out wide. "But beyond that, while it can be a good thing and allow people to come together with shared beliefs, it can also be a horrible thing. People blinded by religion fail to understand the ideals and opinions of others because they think that only they can be right. Wars have started over the very notion that one religion is superior, and those who practice another should be converted. It's something that has repeated throughout history, and you who want to force people into it don't realize just how much harm you are doing."

"Also, by saying 'scientifically proven', you are assuming that science has actually backed the entire thing. While religion and science can go hand in hand with various things, what you said is not true. That is merely an opinion that you are saying. A false fact that has likely been told to you." Crosses her arms. "People should be able to live their lives WITHOUT being forced into things like this against their will. By forcing people into doing things for your side against their will, you angels and holy beings aren't any better than demons. The only differences between the two of you are your alignments. Both of you can be capable of great evil, while merely trying to twist it in order to make your ways seem better."

-----

Marco pouts at the blunt statement, and crosses his arms as Abba asks him the questions. "Oh, I might know some things, but it's not like I'm telling any of you." Points "Dude, I'm as dense as a log at times, but even I know that you guys aren't good news, you know? You probably just want mom for evil! I've seen what was happening to Muffinville. You want her to make things even worse."

Places hands on his hips. "So I say nay; I won't help you in whatever you are trying to do. Nope." The words 'nope' appear before him.

[Jello Shot Mischa]

*Nods to the two girls*
We'll carry on this conversation back at the village, we're disengaging. Stay close and don't enter into combat with the belligerents unless there is no other option for escape.
*Crouching... he jumps off back into the direction of the village, the black cloud dissipating as he increases his distance*

Abel nods. "Very well." Toggling her comm, she subvocalizes her commands to the rest of her team. "Assault Team, I'll be accompanying Mendokusee back to the Muffinkage Village. Regroup at rally point Alpha and meet me there.."

With that done, she starts following after Mendo, teleporting from point to point to keep up with his jumps!

As for the soldiers on the roof, hellfire is a bit more complex that a pure energy blast. It clings to the surface of the shield, burning constantly, draining their shield's power steadily. The demons themself scatter in the air, continuing their stream of fire, dodging the shots ate AA barrage! Some go down, but they have three dimensions to dodge in! The CTC only have two, and the hellfire that missed is starting to weaken the roof!

The sergeant nods to himself at Abel's orders, before turning to the rest of the HTR squad. "All right, soldiers, we are leaving! Francis and Angela, you two take point! We'll have the EDU robots bring up the rear!"

The remaining soldiers nod, and begin to head down to the streets below, leaping clear of the roof as it becomes increasingly weakened and relying on their thrusters to break their fall! The two troops taking point quickly move to cover the street below, establishing a quick perimeter as the other HTR troops follow.

The EDU robots, meanwhile, begin backing up towards where the HTR troops are leaping free of the building. Their AA guns glow, and are quickly reshaped into micromissile pods, which fire a sudden hissing flurry of missiles! Each micromissile packs only the punch of a grenade, but there are now a couple dozen homing missiles streaking after the dodging and weaving demons!

The nun's magic flickers and disperses in the cloud of AFC2, the nuns themself looking scared and worried. They have no defence when the HTR squad shows up, falling at the first barrage of electrolasers! The families smile gratefully at the squad leader.

"Thank you... thank you so much..." the father says.

The HTR soldiers move to secure the nuns, while the squad leader nods at the father. "You're welcome... but let's keep you moving! We've got medical treatment and supplies waiting at the checkpoint." Motioning to the troops, he quickly directs them to form a protective escort around the two families, herding them towards the fortified CTC checkpoint along with the nuns they took prisoner.

[Mendi-chan]

*Jumps and jumps... leaping over the wall to the village and standing on the path on the top. He stops for a moment waiting for Alex and Abel to arrive with him. He glanced between the two... but then focuses in on Alex*
Alright, now it's time to spill. What's going on with Blaze and where is she?

[Blaze]

~*Many things*~

Julio grins and waves over a passing nun, one who hands him a hand mirror. He kneels down and holds it up for Innes, allowing her to see her own cute reflection.

"You came out rather well. An angel of charity I would imagine. Fitting, considering what you did.

He stands up and gives the mirror back, all business again.

"Right, we made a deal yeah? I'll give you some more sets of hands to carry supplies to whomever you need to give them too. Then you report back for duty, got it?"

Seeing the ball head towards him, Sam dodge rolls to the left in an attempt to not get hit by the high speed flaming baseball.

"Figures you choose things the hard way. Normally I'd say a bunch of puns like let's play ball, but since I'm on a schedule I'm afraid I'm can't have as much fun as I want to. So I'm afraid I'm going to have to take this a bit more seriously than I usually do."

Sam fires both finger guns as speedy bolts of violet and blue energy shoot out towards the two demon guys

*The ball penetrates through the wall behind Sam as he dodges, the boy smacking away the violet bolt with his bat!! Te older demon has some moves though, dodging to the side to avoid the blue bolt as he swings his axe, aiming to take Sam's head!

"Color user eh? Leave this to me lad, you call for backup." THe younger demon nods and runs towards an office space in the back of the room!

Rocky lands on the ground, a bit away from the angel, sheathing a Prnny Knife.

"My knives have cut another useless NPC."

As for Axel's crew, Izumi feels the Hellfire melting the magic ice, and she looks to Sherry, who just grins and punches the roof with the force of a freight train, aiming to drop through into the building.

The roof crumbles under the punch, dropping the group to the lower level... the chunks of debris consumed by Hellfire falls with them though, spreading and consuming more of the building! Now they're surrounded by the flames...

"Religion can be a good thing, yes, but it is also something that shouldn't be forced onto people. One can get along fine without religion. Also, what about those who likely already do have a religion, but you have turned to your side? You likely forced them into a much different religion than they were comfortable with. However, because they have been turned into completely mindless drones living only to serve you, it's a rather moot point." Crosses her arms and considers. "So you would rather people didn't have any freedom and blindly worshipped something forced upon them?"

Spins around a little, arms out wide. "But beyond that, while it can be a good thing and allow people to come together with shared beliefs, it can also be a horrible thing. People blinded by religion fail to understand the ideals and opinions of others because they think that only they can be right. Wars have started over the very notion that one religion is superior, and those who practice another should be converted. It's something that has repeated throughout history, and you who want to force people into it don't realize just how much harm you are doing."

"Also, by saying 'scientifically proven', you are assuming that science has actually backed the entire thing. While religion and science can go hand in hand with various things, what you said is not true. That is merely an opinion that you are saying. A false fact that has likely been told to you." Crosses her arms. "People should be able to live their lives WITHOUT being forced into things like this against their will. By forcing people into doing things for your side against their will, you angels and holy beings aren't any better than demons. The only differences between the two of you are your alignments. Both of you can be capable of great evil, while merely trying to twist it in order to make your ways seem better."

-----

Marco pouts at the blunt statement, and crosses his arms as Abba asks him the questions. "Oh, I might know some things, but it's not like I'm telling any of you." Points "Dude, I'm as dense as a log at times, but even I know that you guys aren't good news, you know? You probably just want mom for evil! I've seen what was happening to Muffinville. You want her to make things even worse."

Places hands on his hips. "So I say nay; I won't help you in whatever you are trying to do. Nope." The words 'nope' appear before him.

"Oh man, would you shut up you old hag?! We're sorry, please stop lecturing us!" the demon yowls, struggling to run away!

The angel on the other hand, remains silent, digesting what Konoko said.

-----

Abba gives a tiny smile, getting up to approach Marco.

"Defiant eh? Okay, I can work with that."

He snaps his fingers... and holes appear in the fabric of reality! Marco gets a glimpse of something...horrible through them, when hands reach through, horrid, molted, warty hands that reach out to grab him!

~*Not as much stuff*~

As the HTR soldiers make their way across the roofs, they can see Axel's group busting through to the lower levels. The demons are quickly taken down by the homing missiles, not clever enough to let off hellfire as flares to divert their attention.

The angels and demons seem to be slinking away now, to lick their wounds and come back another day... when shots fire out from buildings around the street, hitting members of both groups in vital points, killing them! The remaining ones, enraged, continue the battle, much bloodier than before!

-----

The families, happy to be safe and protected, walk with the soldiers to the checkpoint. The nuns moan softly as the effects of the shots wear off, staggering along,

*Jumps and jumps... leaping over the wall to the village and standing on the path on the top. He stops for a moment waiting for Alex and Abel to arrive with him. He glanced between the two... but then focuses in on Alex*
Alright, now it's time to spill. What's going on with Blaze and where is she?

Alex gives a tiny shake of her head.

"I dunnooooo... Jean an' Lucy an' Okuni an' Logos said that she 'went underground' for some reason... something to do with the angels and devisl fighting..."

[Sam]

Sam slides under the swing of the axe without breaking a sweat. However, Sam realizes the younger demon is about to call for back up and decides to focus a majority of his attention on him.

"Sorry, but I'm afraid the kid is going first"

Sam opens the palm of his violet arm towards the younger demon as a large blast of violet energy shoots out out of his hand. The energy this time is less of a bolt and more of a large burst of violet plasma as it speeds towards the young demon at an ever-growing pace. A significant portion of the violet color fades from that arm however some does remain. Sam's other blue arm remains mostly charged though.

[Jello Shot Mischa]

As the HTR soldiers make their way across the roofs, they can see Axel's group busting through to the lower levels. The demons are quickly taken down by the homing missiles, not clever enough to let off hellfire as flares to divert their attention.

The angels and demons seem to be slinking away now, to lick their wounds and come back another day... when shots fire out from buildings around the street, hitting members of both groups in vital points, killing them! The remaining ones, enraged, continue the battle, much bloodier than before!

The soldiers immediately move to cover as soon as the shots ring out, although they quickly realize that they aren't the targets of the shots.

"Hmph..." The sergeant toggles his comm. "Command, we've got an unidentified third faction involved. They appear to be armed and firing lethally to stir up the other two factions." He pauses a moment, and then nods, switching his comm to the squad frequency. "All right, change of plans. We're securing intel on who these guys are. Scope, got a CB trace?"

"Got a few, sarge... nearest one is that building there." He points out the nearest of the buildings the shots were fired from.

"All right, everyone, update your battletac with the new target point. We'll enter through the roof and try to secure anyone there for questioning. They may be expecting either these demons or angels to attack from the roof as well, so expect a hot entry. Use non-lethals, though -- we want someone we can question."

The soldiers all confirm their orders, and then the squad uses its thrusters to leap over onto the rooftop of the building the snipers were firing from! Assuming no one is present on the rooftop itself, the CTC troops then move to secure one of the access doors from the roof into the building proper...

The families, happy to be safe and protected, walk with the soldiers to the checkpoint. The nuns moan softly as the effects of the shots wear off, staggering along,

As the group reaches the checkpoint, the second HTR squad moves out to take over escorting the families. "We have a medical vehicle nearby," the squad leader tells the parents. "We'll provide a medical examination to ensure that you're all right."

Meanwhile, the first HTR squad takes custody of the groggy nuns. "All right... time to take you to the lieutenant. She and the chromes will have some questions for you..." They start ushering the nuns towards the nearby command vehicle!

Alex gives a tiny shake of her head.

"I dunnooooo... Jean an' Lucy an' Okuni an' Logos said that she 'went underground' for some reason... something to do with the angels and devisl fighting..."

Arriving in the ninja village after Mendo, Abel remains quiet as he starts questioning Alex, although she does quirk an eyebrow curiously at her response. "Hmm..."

[KonokoHasano]

"Oh man, would you shut up you old hag?! We're sorry, please stop lecturing us!" the demon yowls, struggling to run away!

The angel on the other hand, remains silent, digesting what Konoko said.

-----

Abba gives a tiny smile, getting up to approach Marco.

"Defiant eh? Okay, I can work with that."

He snaps his fingers... and holes appear in the fabric of reality! Marco gets a glimpse of something...horrible through them, when hands reach through, horrid, molted, warty hands that reach out to grab him!

"I am NOT an old hag, you brat. That is so rude." She proceeds to put on a an old woman costume. "Now I'm an old hag, sonny." Waves a cane at the demon. "You young whipper snapper and your disrespect. I should bend you over my knee!"

----

Marco blinks and stares in interest at the holes in reality. Upon seeing the horrible thing, he frowns. "Ewwww ew eww, someone could do with a bath... or a makeover... or a makeover bath... big time. Do those such things exist? Man, it'd be amazing to be pampered like that." He pulls out a cream and squirts it onto the hands. "Wart remover shall take care of that, though I dunno about the molting. That's-- ack!" He lets out a yeep as he's grabbed. "Leggo leggo! Bad touch, bad touch!"

[Mendi-chan]

*Mendo sighs*
She went underground? Do you have any intel on where she might be or anything further on why the angels and devils fighting may have caused that?
*He glances to Abel*
And actually, any information you might have on this issue would be helpful as well. I know you have eyes and ears in all sorts of places.

[Restless Lucidity]

Innes blushes quite a bit, but is somehow able to maintain composure. She examines herself closely, lifting the locks of her hair in examination and inspecting her arms and legs while looking in the mirror... she can't help but think of how small and gentle-seeming they are. Her form was... radiant. Luxurious, perhaps. She certainly never pictured herself looking like this, but none of it really registers. She knows it will later, and when the time comes she would need some time to herself, but until then she has to steel herself for what is to come. For a fleeting moment she can't believe how quick she had been to eat that moonberry, but now was not the time to doubt herself.

"Julio... why a female angel, though...?" She asks the question without even the intention to. She blinks, surprised yet again at her voice and her words, and stares at Julio in a sort of daze. It isn't until several moments later that she is able to break out of that trance, but even then she finds it hard to react. Ultimately, she just stands there, awaiting a response from Julio.

[Axel Akutare]

Axel starts to think as they're surrounded by the undying flames, trying to figure something out, when Vermouth whispers something to Izumi.

"Oh yeeeeeah~" Izumi raises her staff again and it glows red, "Pochi~~~~~~!"

The surroundings start to rumble just a bit more as a huge serpent-like dragon made of molten rock and some demonic flames shoots up through the building, picking up the party onto his head, and probably up through the top of the building... can't say much for the building as the party clings to the beast's head though.

As for Rocky, he's looking around while generally being Prinnytastic.

[Blaze]

Sam slides under the swing of the axe without breaking a sweat. However, Sam realizes the younger demon is about to call for back up and decides to focus a majority of his attention on him.

"Sorry, but I'm afraid the kid is going first"

Sam opens the palm of his violet arm towards the younger demon as a large blast of violet energy shoots out out of his hand. The energy this time is less of a bolt and more of a large burst of violet plasma as it speeds towards the young demon at an ever-growing pace. A significant portion of the violet color fades from that arm however some does remain. Sam's other blue arm remains mostly charged though.

The kid had just grabbed a phone... as he is hit by the violet plasma, crying out in surprise, dropping the phone! The older demon snarls and presses the attack, swinging wildly, black flames coming off the edges of the axe.

~*so much things, you don't even know*~

The soldiers don't find anyone on the roof, the shots having come from inside. Heading into the building proper, they find that all the floors seem to be deserted! If they search, they may find the casings of the bullets fired, these ones having slight traces of infernal energy. Obviously used against the angels. At the very bottom, they find a door into an alley kicked in.

-----

As for the familes at the checkpoint, they eagerly follow the soldiers to the medical point. Muffinville does have a lot of weird diseases after all, and the gangs likely don't care about the Geneva Convention.

The nuns are still a bit groggy from the electrolasers, only lucid enough to mutter bitterly and weakly struggle.

"I am NOT an old hag, you brat. That is so rude." She proceeds to put on a an old woman costume. "Now I'm an old hag, sonny." Waves a cane at the demon. "You young whipper snapper and your disrespect. I should bend you over my knee!"

----

Marco blinks and stares in interest at the holes in reality. Upon seeing the horrible thing, he frowns. "Ewwww ew eww, someone could do with a bath... or a makeover... or a makeover bath... big time. Do those such things exist? Man, it'd be amazing to be pampered like that." He pulls out a cream and squirts it onto the hands. "Wart remover shall take care of that, though I dunno about the molting. That's-- ack!" He lets out a yeep as he's grabbed. "Leggo leggo! Bad touch, bad touch!"

"... weirdo." the demon mutters, suddenly making a break for it! The angel blinks, and spreads her wings, trying to fly away!

-----

The hands hold firm, not caring about the 'bad touch' accusation. Another portal opens above Abba and an uncarrot is dropped from it into his hand. He walks up to March and pinches his nose.

"Say 'ahh.'"

*Mendo sighs*
She went underground? Do you have any intel on where she might be or anything further on why the angels and devils fighting may have caused that?
*He glances to Abel*
And actually, any information you might have on this issue would be helpful as well. I know you have eyes and ears in all sorts of places.

Alex thinks hard for a moment, pressing her fingers to her temples.

"Hmmmmmm~ Apparently, the others are undercover~! Jean an' Okuni an' that! They wanna try and learn somethin'!"

Innes blushes quite a bit, but is somehow able to maintain composure. She examines herself closely, lifting the locks of her hair in examination and inspecting her arms and legs while looking in the mirror... she can't help but think of how small and gentle-seeming they are. Her form was... radiant. Luxurious, perhaps. She certainly never pictured herself looking like this, but none of it really registers. She knows it will later, and when the time comes she would need some time to herself, but until then she has to steel herself for what is to come. For a fleeting moment she can't believe how quick she had been to eat that moonberry, but now was not the time to doubt herself.

"Julio... why a female angel, though...?" She asks the question without even the intention to. She blinks, surprised yet again at her voice and her words, and stares at Julio in a sort of daze. It isn't until several moments later that she is able to break out of that trance, but even then she finds it hard to react. Ultimately, she just stands there, awaiting a response from Julio.

"It's a Muffinville fruit, they tend to make people female. We've been trying to get some bishi dust to balance the ranks, but that stuff is hard to find." Julio says with a small sigh. "Well, not 'female' per se. Angels are sexless beings by definition. But, you are very feminine."

"Anyway, we better get those friends of yours some food yeah?" He waves over a nun and whispers to her. She nods and heads into the back, soon coming out with two crates of supplies.

Axel starts to think as they're surrounded by the undying flames, trying to figure something out, when Vermouth whispers something to Izumi.

"Oh yeeeeeah~" Izumi raises her staff again and it glows red, "Pochi~~~~~~!"

The surroundings start to rumble just a bit more as a huge serpent-like dragon made of molten rock and some demonic flames shoots up through the building, picking up the party onto his head, and probably up through the top of the building... can't say much for the building as the party clings to the beast's head though.

As for Rocky, he's looking around while generally being Prinnytastic.

The group manages to escape, cutting it pretty fine as they fly though the CTC's anti-air barrage. THe CTC robots are likely sent scattering all over as the building begins to collapse! Soon, it lays as a pile of rubble on the streets. It was due to be demolished anyway... but there are a pair of boots sticking out from it! Someone was inside!

[KonokoHasano]

"... weirdo." the demon mutters, suddenly making a break for it! The angel blinks, and spreads her wings, trying to fly away!

-----

The hands hold firm, not caring about the 'bad touch' accusation. Another portal opens above Abba and an uncarrot is dropped from it into his hand. He walks up to March and pinches his nose.

"Say 'ahh.'"

Konoko laughs at this, letting them leave. "Next time I'll tell you lots of stories! Also, tell your leaders that Konoko Hasano says hi and wishes them a good day!"

-----

Wiggles as his nose is pinched. "Ah don' wanna say ahh!" Too late, as he did say 'ahh'!

[Mendi-chan]

*Nods*
I see, I see... So is Blaze undercover then with them?
And let me be clear, we aren't taking sides this this conflict. We're neutral parties. We help none but those who need it to survive. We attack none but those who threaten us directly.
Understood?