melodiesoflife | Event || Cluedo [Conclusion]

[Kyoko would have simply come off as angry -- the fact she could not bring herself to quite look at the pile of bodies, betrays her horror.]

What kind of unholy crap is this...

[Teeth grit, one fist clenching and un-clenching - hungry for her lance. A dark, fierce look is shot at someone in the crowd that's gathered, impossible to distinguish who in the mayhem.]

[At Zelda's words, Tazendra was already shrugging out of her robe and holding it out. It was the only action she could take; she was no physicker, and didn't have the magic to heal.]

Ah... do you. That is, did you...

[And she has to stop to think of how to frame the question without unintended insult, which is more thought than Tazendra normally gives such matters. Normally she says what she thinks and damn the consequences, but... well.]

[When Sparks arrives on the scene, for once, he doesn't have any snarky comments for what's gone on. After landing with Mercury a few dozen yards away, he walks over slowly, removing his hat. He's too exhausted to have any strong outward reaction to this, other than looking devastated.

After a few moments, he turns to the others there, trying to get his game face on. It's not working too well.]

... Who got here first. Who saw anything. Who saw something.

[Reno had only just been released from police custody, with the promise that they'd surely have more questions. Seeing all the bodies, mind flooded with memories... He took a step back, then another.]

[And hearing Jack Harkness demand that all Heroes remain where they were only made up his mind that he had to leave. He turned tail and tried to run.]

[ Needless to say, any attempts to use Life—Or any other curative spell ended in failures. The bodies were far too damaged for it to work, but was it how the spell was even supposed to work? At least something should have happened, yet nothing. Maybe something was preventing the white magic from working. Something or someone.

Not that it mattered. Rialynn kept her hand on Ramza’s back for a while, looking up as Sparks arrived on the scene. Not only him but many, countless Heroes of Light gathered around the corpses. She closed her eyes for a moment, before staring back at the dead bodies, quietly so as she muttered to the obviously distressed Heroes of Light around her. ]

Don’t worry, everyone’s here. It’s all over now.

[ With that said, she removed her hand from Ramza’s back, revealing was wearing a particularly beautiful, yet strange looking, ring. It seemed a bit too big to be a regular ring and its design nothing like that of jewelry. No, if anything it was strikingly alike to Magitek weapons used by the Heran Empire. And indeed, it soon proved to be more than mere jewelry as she pointed her hand to a Hero of Light in front of her—Zelda to be specific.

Within a split second, a beam of energy emerged from the tip of the ring—It could have been mistaken for some manner of laser if it hadn’t been for its color, black and surrounded by a purple aura. The beam was aimed at Zelda and went right through her heart, which would doubtlessly cause the poor Hero of Light to fall onto the ground before meeting with certain death. But this wasn’t to be a mere rest, a temporary death from which she would wake after seven days. As Zelda’s Crystal fell onto the ground, it shattered into a thousand pieces. At this very moment, every Heroes of Light would feel a sharp and nigh unbearable pain, only for a second.

Rialynn on her end raised an eyebrow and smiled, though it was nothing like her usual smile. It was cruel and gleeful, albeit in a stark contrast her voice was cold and unamused. ]

And so this is how Heroes of Light die, the same way as anyone else.

[Zelda doesn't have time to react to Rialynn's movements. Pain flares through her chest. Her legs crumple under her own weight and her consciousness flickers to darkness as the scene, her friends, fade from view.

She tries to inhale but pain fills her lungs and within seconds she feels her consciousness ebb.]

[Oh, there's that pain again, the same one everyone experienced way back in February. Once he recovered, he gawked at the dying and disappearing Zelda before facing Rialynn.]

You! I don't even know either of you, but you're gonna regret it!

[And, blades drawn, he leaps at her, intending on gutting her]

Rialynn?

[The Barkeep turns away from his unsuccessful spell when he hears Rialynn speak. There was much time to see what happened - her finger raised, the beam, Zelda falling to the ground, the pain in his chest.

No.

Zelda does not deserve this.]

Rialyn!!

[The adrenaline moves his hand before he can think, and as she was also standing besides Ramza, he grabs her shirt in one movement.]

What was that?! What did you do?!

[Jade was pushing through the crowd when the pain hit. He hardly has time to gasp before it's gone -- only to be replaced by a sinking feeling of dread. He's felt this pain before. That time when Kalki destroyed the crystal of an unknown Hero of Light...

Bracing himself for what he'd inevitably find, Jade arrives at the scene. His gaze goes from Rialynn to the mangled bodies, and to Zelda.]

Damn...!

[He crouches by Zelda's body. One look at her shattered crystal confirms what he feared. He's seen that before, too.

Too late again. Damn it.]

[While Cloud has not been very visible during all of this it's still been something on his mind. While their time in this world hasn't exactly been peaceful, the serial murders were as unsettling if not moreso than some of the supernatural and magical situations they were in. The fact that they had been, up to this point, more relatively mundane was perhaps the tilting point.

The gathered crowd and the screaming had called him over, and he was caught between wanting to get a closer look and turning away, to do something to help or stay out of the way of those better suited for it.

What happened next came so fast even as it seemed so slow and casual. His eyes went wide as the hand was raised, the prickling of instinct driving him to move just before the beam was fired, but Zelda's name didn't leave his lips until it was too late. Pushing against the pain he was feeling in his heart he tried to muscle his way through the crowd, the clutch of panicked people pushing back against him as he struggled to move forward. He broke free of them, nearly falling to the ground as he ran to Zelda's side, tearing a hole in the knee of his pants as he dropped to the pavement by her side.]

Zelda! Zelda no!

[He gripped his friend's hand and wrist, hoping to feel some sign of vitality, but his breath caught and eyes widened once more as it became clear she was gone. Through shuddering breaths he remained hunched over her but slowly turned his gaze to Rialynn, eyes burning with anger.]

Why.....WHY?!

[ In the reigning chaos and confusion, Parasraya knelt by Zelda's side, letting Sephiroth and Jade to ascertain whether she was still alive or not. Her gaze rested upon Rialynn for a second, her eyes cold and curious before she shifted her attention to Zelda. ]

... I'm sorry.

[ She then looked at what was left of Zelda's crystal on the ground, speaking to whomever was around-- And calm enough not to give into panic. ]

Gather her crystal's fragments. Do not let them fade.

[Deadpool isn't the only one making a move for Rialynn. It takes Sparks a few moments to recover from that sudden pain, but when he does, he arms is robot fists and jumps right after her. His aim was to hit her and knock her out before the other Heroes could get their hands on her and kill her.]

[Sephiroth, along with all of the men that had been trying to keep the crowds of citizens at bay, was a ways off from the scene when he caught the dark beam out of the corner of his eye. Half turned back to see Rialynn as the sharp pain from within pierced up through everything. Stunning him just as it might stun everyone else.

Blink. Awareness rushed to catch back those milliseconds missed, sounds still sounded distant and focus swam. Someone was down, and there was a flash of red noticed in the same instant...only a small distance off-

Deadpool. No.]

-tch.

[He took a breath and held it.

Conjuring Dash, closing the distance towards the leaping red manikin the sharp sing of Masamune being drawn and cutting through the air sounds as Sephiroth closes in. He'd not had time to calculate cleanly, but there was no time to consider to react, as two sharp chink sounds connected with the others' knifes as the silver haired SOLIDER sought to interrupt the attack with a swift uppercut of his own. With any luck it might disarm, at the very least knock the blades off of their trajectory so that another Hero might follow to intercede-

A low scuff of a kick follows quickly, at ankle height, to further disable the press of an attack, just in case.]

Rialynn- No. It's not her. It's another fucking illusion. It has to be. "Dispel the illusion!" But what in the world would be working on so many people at once? There's only two people Jack can think of with that much power, and neither one are who he wants to see when that comes down. Because he's trusted the both of them.

Back. There's still people here. Get them out. Jack is moving away from the fight, towards the people still surrounding the square. "Leave the area immediately, there is still a danger! Return to your homes, get out, now!" Desperation leaks into his voice, even as he is trying to take command.

Doc? Please? If you're watching over this? Can we get through this day with no more death? For once?

[Ignoring the sting of pain as Zelda falls, the magical girl's signature lance springs to life.]

Goddamnit!

[The weapon unfurles into chained links with penance, whipping out to try and clasp around the ringed wrist -- the better to let Deadpool gut her. At least one of these idiots knew how to do something other than talk.]

[For once in her life, things are sufficiently confused that Tazendra doesn't know who she should be attacking, given half her allies are turning on the other half.]

[On the other hand, before she had come here, she had been a Finder of Penrose, and that meant protecting other worlds, beyond her duties as a Lavode to her own. That she could do, and it was clear it needed to be done, and the only thing that could overcome Taznedra's love of a fight is the love of duty and honor. So she stepped towards Zelda, to start gathering up her crystal's shards]

[Maybe some how she could save this woman's world, even if the woman herself is dead.]

Well, now what I am to do with this to keep them from fading.

[Perhaps if she had the lantern back in her room...]

[Through the pain and the chaos and the despair that comes with the loss of not only a friend, but also the goddess of a world, Ramza had only one thought: protect Rialynn. She could not be acting of her own accord. Ramza knew that as surely as he knew anything. His own hands had been forced by an unknown puppeteer earlier that month, had they not?]

[Rialynn was still by his side, still obviously not herself. He could not let anything happen to her. Yes, she was a suspect, and a witness, and a victim, but most of all, she was his friend.]

Stop!

[He tried to scoop her up in his arms and turn to shield her, leaving his armored back facing the oncoming attacks aimed at Rialynn.]

[Everything went into slow motion as Sephiroth intercepted Deadpool's attack, uppercutting him and tripping him up, causing him to fall back.

Back to normal speed, Deadpool pointed towards Sephiroth.]

This isn't over! Smoke Bomb!

[And Deadpool disappears in a poof of smoke and attempts to pounce Rialynn from above!]

Death from above!

Oh for the love of...

[Jade leaves Zelda with the others and makes a dash towards Rialynn. Of all the times to not have combat Jobs equipped... He'll just have to trust that Sephiroth will react fast.]

Ramza, move!

[He makes no attempt to attack the woman. Instead he makes a grab for her hand to try and wrestle the ring from her. He didn't see the attack, but he recognizes Magitek when he sees it.]

[Ramza making off with Rialynn is fine by him. He figures that'll work. Instead, he'll focus on knocking out Deadpool instead. Good thing he switched over to Time Mage this month, because he's got a Stop spell with Deadpool's name on it.]

Dangit, calm down! Ramza, get on Mercury 'n go to the station. Keep her from usin' that ring!

[Mecury was still waiting where Sparks landed on him, a few dozen yards away from the scene.]

[ The Heroes of Light were successful in protecting Rialynn from Deadpool—At least to an extent. Rialynn didn’t allow Ramza to scoop her up, but he would still have been able to get a hold of her, as would have Jade. But rather than let Jade take the ring, Rialynn suddenly and abruptly closed her hand around Jade.

When Deadpool reappeared over her and Ramza, there wasn’t any avoiding of this attack. And truth to be told, she didn’t even try to avoid the attack. Instead she used Ramza for the purpose he had cast upon himself. She used his body as a shield, making no effort to protect him. Quite at the contrary she pushed him back brutally against Deadpool and if her smile was any indication, she was more than happy to let him die at whatever weapon Deadpool had in store. ]

Oh, how noble of you my dear friend.

[ With that said, Rialynn, or whoever was controlling her looked at Jade. Without any warning the ring activated and a beam of dark energy went right through Jade’s hand, only to then pierce Sephiroth’s and Kyoko’s shoulders in the process. As the beam didn’t hit any vital areas, neither of them would die. However, their crystals’ light would start flickering dangerously, as if it was reacting to the wound inflicted by the weapon. She then chuckled. ]

I am afraid Rialynn will have to die too. You are all killers after, what’s one more body on your death count?

[ And “Rialynn” pointed the ring at Sparks. It indeed seemed as though she wouldn’t stop unless killed first. ]

[ Parasraya tended to Zelda still, seemingly keeping hr calm. She then turned to Tazendra. ]

If memories serve well...

[ A pause. There were so many things in the Zelda reports had written. And now she was gone and her legacy was used to help her. ]

There should be Crystal Containers in Palitutu's Laboratory, once used to store the Black Crystals. It's our best bet.

Okay, this was ridiculous. Looks like its time for the double dremteam of pony sibs.

"EVERYBODY FREEZE!"

And on his mark, Shining loosed a area of effect telekinesis spell, to hold everyone except for those gathering the shards in place. He and his sister had timed this seconds into the conflict. The wave burst outwards, grabbing for those who were panicking, attacking and otherwise adding mayhem to the conflict.

THAT IS ENOUGH! NO ONE ELSE DIES TODAY!

[And joining Shining is Twilight, her own magical telekinesis joining her brother's and essentially grinding everything to a halt around the Heroes of Light. Hopefully making sure Deadpool didn't gut Ramza in the process.]

No one else. Dies. While I'm here. Got it?!

[And she jabs at the citizens still gawking.]

Get out of here. NOW!

[By the time he turns from where Deadpool has poofed from where he landed everything is happening at once. Rialynn, Ramza, Deadpool coming down-

Jade was incoming, but there is no way he's going to make it-

Masamune's handle was turned, Sephiroth's balance shifted to attempt to leap over the height at which Deadpool was incoming.]

-RGH

[The flash of the beam was like a purple blink just feet away in a direction he wasn't looking. The force from the dark energy beam ripping through his shoulder forces his whole balance back, loosening all the tension in the arm holding his sword instantly as he's jolted with the impact -almost like hitting a cold brick wall- his back leg buckling-

Then frozen by the telekinesis-]

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