Help us! (open)

[Rikka]

***4:23***

The minutes slowly ticked by as children played on the playground with robot nannies. The parents of district three obviously felt no need to be outside when they could watch from the comfort of their home. One child with white hair, fox ears and green eyes was gathering the children to play a hide and seek game. Of course the boundaries were the playground. If they went off they had to be 'it' next. Her simple pink dress really stood out from the expensive clothing the other children were wearing, though it didn't seem to bother her. After she had about 6 other children they started the game with the little white haired girl being 'it' first.

From the benches a girl with braided fiery red hair sat cross legged with a screen being projected from her storage device. Her green shirt and blue shorts were splotched with grease and slight burn marks from accidentally touching her heated metal stick to them. In her lap was what looked like two dozen half metal marbles sitting in a tray. Her left hand worked adding tiny circuits and breakers to each individual ball. Her right hand was moving an enlarged image of the miniature circuit boards she was working on. Anyone else would look at them and know she was doing something but not exactly sure what. Beside her on the bench was another tray with the other half of the marble things that seemed to have small cracks in them to the untrained eyes. Rikka knew exactly what they were. She was mass producing little flash traps. They would start out as the large marble sized balls but when activated by a remote they give off an intense flash and turn into a high density metal cage. The cage would have thin bars that needed extreme heats and colds to break. Also someone would need a high density weapon to destroy the needle width bars.

***4:27***

Kiki ran around attempting to find three more of her friends. They had hidden really well. Giggling she found Sally who was hiding in a bush on the edge of the playground. The other two had affinities they were using. One could turn invisible and the other if he wanted could blend in with his surroundings. Holding still for a second she looked around and found the boy childs outline against the slide. Running forward she tapped his head causing him to lose his concentration and showing his normal features. Giggling Kiki ran off to find the last one.

Rikka looked up as Kiki ran off and smiled. Looking back at her blue print she finished installing the circuitry and started reattaching the other half of the traps back on the ones she had in her lap. It went much faster now as she only had to replace the tiny hinges. By the time the clock struck 4:29 Rikka had all the large marble sizes traps fully connected and was quickly putting them in her storage device while she figured out what to work on next. In the next minute the ground shook as a large bang burst through the happy setting. Gasping Rikka looked up wide eyed as she heard screaming and smoke rising in the district two. Next her eyes sought out Kiki who was soothing the youngest of the group of children cause the blast had apparently scared her. Putting away her tool Rikka hopped to her feet and went to collect Kiki. She didn't know what was going on and school would be the best place for them. Before she could reach her sister a city wide Alert boomed through district three.

"Emergency lock down, Category 1! All maximum level defenses engaged. All lifeforms are to proceed to their designated evacuation points and await further instructions. This is not a drill. A possible Category 0 disaster is in progress. Prepare to abandon the city!"

Worried Rikka moved to the children and Kiki. "Alright everyone I want you to come with me. I know your going to want to go home but until the emergency is over I need you to come with me." Several of the children started to cry and demand to be taken home. Shaking her head she soothed the smallest children while the older three seemed to understand. Kiki using her 5 year old logic simply told them they were gonna play a game. They had to hide from the bad guys and stay safe. If they won they got to go back home after the game was done. If they lost well then there parents would be sad. The five younger children nodded and seemed to like this game idea.

Rikka smiled at them all and did a quick head count. She needed to know how many were now in her charge. Eight children plus Kiki making a total of 9 in her charge now. Feeling a chill run up her spine she straightened up and looked around noting that a miasma was creeping around the playground she realized the nanny bots were missing. "Alright lets get--" Suddenly the playground seemed to come alive and metal bars were yanked from the ground striking out at the group. Rikka shot her arm out melting the monkey bars before they even got close to the children. Using her left arm to melt the playground into hunks of metal while her right hit a few buttons on her storage device looking for a large hover-board she had been working on. It was almost complete cause she was in the middle of painting it and working out the kinks. Pulling it out she decided now was as good at time as ever to test it. Hitting a button on the baseball sized metal in her hand it flattened and expanded into a circle with a 6 foot diameter. "Get on quickly!" Dealing with demented jungle gym she left the older children to get everyone on it. Once they were Rikka hit another button and guard rails jumped up from the sides keeping the children from falling out. Doing another head count she tied a rope through a couple of holes on the railing and around her waist before taking off running toward the nearest building. Getting to the gate should have been a priority, but Rikka knew that if the thing, whatever it was, had any brains it would head toward the screaming people. As she ran looking for the best place to set up a defense she watched others running around and the normalest things like coffee makers, clothing and office chairs attacking people. She needed a place to keep the children safe. They came first. Finding a two story electronics store she didn't give it a second thought but raced toward it.

If there was any place she could hold her own it would be where she was surrounded by a supply of electronics and all sorts of new circuitry. Pulling her gun out her bag she shot the hinges and simply pushed the doors in as she got to them. Racing in she found the nearest office with out windows and stopped. "Get in the there. Youngest get in a corner the older ones set up a barrier with the desk and chair. Kiki lock that door and don't let anyone in unless its me. Got it?" Giving Kiki a serious look Kiki nodded her head and ushered everyone inside before shutting the door behind her and locking it. Rikka heard the lock click and quickly untied herself and hit a button on the hover board reverting it back to the little baseball. Tossing it back in her storage device she scooped up an abandoned hover cart and rushed through the store looking for anything and everything she could use.

Dumping several containers of wires, metals, and circuit boards of different sizes into the cart she heard a sound. Freezing she hid behind a shelf as one of the nannie bots from the playground walked past. It was covered in blood and seemed intent on something in the room with the children. Suddenly it clicked. The nanny bots always placed a homing device on a child in their care. It made finding a lost child easy. Mentally yelling at herself for forgetting such a stupid fact she aimed her gun and fired hitting the nannie bot in the head which should have destroyed the motherboard. Though instead of going down it simply turned toward her and leaped forward attacking with razor sharp fingers. Moving fast she got up a barrier of fire causing the robot to scream in frustration as it melted from the heat of the Rikka's fox fire. Rikka stared out the window of the stores and knew that soon the other nannies would be coming and they would probably bring friends. Running through the store now she filled the cart till it was over flowing with anything she could make strong defense out of. Moving back to the door she rapped on the door with a series of knocks and the lock quickly clicked open. Shoving the cart in Rikka slammed the door shut and braced the second desk in the room against the door. "I need you all to hand me your transmitters now! Quickly Quickly!" Moving to the children she took the transmitters from three of the younger ones and searched the others quickly before she was satisfied. Counting the locator devices in her hand she realized she had four other nanny bots headed their way. Focusing her mind she burned the devices until nothing but ashes remained.

Moving to the cart she dumped it on its side and started sorting through the stuff she had gotten while forming new traps and pulling up old traps in her mind. She needed to first have a way to kill the nanny bots who would eventually realize they were some where in the general area then find a way to get them to the nearest gate. She would take them to Pandora. Rikka knew where the old house was and could have a quickly defense built before anything could get to them. Pulling out a screw driver and several other weird looking tools she started to build herself a camera of sorts. Though it would see up to a 10 block radius giving her ample time to create a defense before anything got close. Building a square in ten minutes she programed it with her storage device and placed it against the wall before hooking it up to a screen. All the images on the screen popped out and gave her a 3D view of everything solid. "Kiki watch that screen and tell me if anything gets close to the store. The store should be red outlined building." Even as she spoke Kiki had already begun to watch the screen while Rikka continued to build traps from memory.

[Horo]

”The world has gone to hell... Perfect.”
”It should feel just like home then.”

Soleth raced through District 3 towards his home. For the time being he avoided the dark beings that arose from the environment but taking note on how that corrupted the spirits of those they touched. The city streets were cracked and buildings damaged beyond belief in comparison for how long the attack had been occurring. It was a long dash from the School, but Soleth managed the three mile dash to his home within 10 minutes.

*time: 4:40*

Soleth ran up the stairs of the front step and entered through the open doors. There was a note left for him: “Vacationing. How long until you figure out where? Clock is ticking.” Soleth gritted his teeth and slammed his fist down on top of the intable the note had been residing on. ”Those... They went to Decidia without me.” Sophia giggled at Soleth’s frustration. She floated around him, before gasping. ”Soleth! Behind you!”

Soleth ducked and rolled away from the danger. He turned around to see a dark figure that used to be a man. ”Why does it have to be this way?” He thought for a moment and reached his hands forward, he latched onto the man’s soul and tried pulling it from the darkness, but it was too far gone and the soul was ripped in half, causing the being to die. ”Sophia... I don’t think I can save these people...” She placed her hand on his shoulder before pulling his head into her chest saying without words that it would be ok.

”I’ll save those I can... Levante! I’m calling in that favor! Soul Merge!” A robed spirit appeared before Soleth and nodded with a smile. Their souls became one, causing glowing tattoos to appear briefly on Soleth’s body before they dimed into a soft glow. Levante's spirit created a robe around Soleth’s body and from his hands appeared two glowing white whips. Soleth rushed from his home and began searching the buildings for other living spirits. He passed a melted park, dead people mangled on the streets before coming across a building in the distance that possessed 10 spirits held up in one room. Looking at the doorway he noticed several robots, dark and blood covered.

’Those robots are NannyBots, model 17, they are state of the art, designed to protect their children at all cost. There are multiple small spirits in that room, so those must be the children. Now the NannyBots are corrupted which would have changed their protocol and judging by how everything else is occurring they must be attempting to kill their children and anything that tries to stop them. Thus, the only option is to stop them before they have the opportunity.‘

Soleth lunged forward, raising his arms up and lashing out the two whips. Infused with his spirit energy, Soleth was able to slice through the dark energy and combined with Levante’s ability with the razor whip the metal that encased the NannyBots was cleaved in two. Soleth moved forward and destroyed the remaining bots with ease. He began up the stairs and lowered the hood of his robe and replacing the whips to his hips. He walked to the door with the spirits, noting who and where they were. He recognized some of them, but their leader wasn’t a stupid person With another moment of gazing he concluded his course of action ”Rikka Soul, it is Soleth Holmes. It’s safe to come out now. We should leave before more dangerous creatures arrive. I know you know I destroyed the Robots, but I don’t think staying in the room for much longer will be of aid to you.”

Having a last name like Soul brought her under Soleth’s radar when she first arrived at the school. Soleth was always interested in what the little creature would create next with her mechanical genius. These things lead him to an encounter with her after he destroyed part of the dorm building in a fight against a suspect and had to contract her to repair some of his computer systems.

”Let’s get these children to the Divinity Gates. I sense more evil spirits approaching.”

[Rikka]

Kiki stared at the projected screen and began to shake. Things with a purple outline were beginning to approach the building. "Rikka! There are more. Their just standing there. What are they doing?" Rikka glanced up at the screen and cursed under her breath. Pulling out her new Flash trap she rolled it across the floor and under the door. Watched the screen she used it like a game system and added a bit of heat to the ball allowing her to control where it went. Stopping it outside the door she waited and watched one of the robots attempting to sneak up on the door from the right. Rolling the ball toward it she set it off. In a blinding flash it created a fragile looking cage to all others. Rikka heard the thing laughing on the other side until it realized it couldn't break the cage.

Rikka smirked at its apparent frustration as it hacked away at the needle width bars. Then it went quiet. Not letting that distract her for long she knew the others would be trying to devise a way to get in soon enough. Turning back to the mass production of traps she made them almost faster then her storage unit could grab them. They were basic traps that would trap the things and refuse to open unless completely destroyed or had the access code. She also added a few lazer lights so that if the cage was damaged in any way the thing inside of it would be damaged beyond repair. As she built a trap with the last of the lazer lights she moved on to ones that would self-destruct if the main circuitry was damaged. Suddenly the thing outside the door started to speak. "Sally. Sally dear. Your mother sent me to bring you home. Don't you want to see your mother? Shes awfully worried about you." Sally the 6 year old in the group cowered behind the ten year old. Rikka watched the door before returning to her traps.

Kiki looked at her sister for a moment before noticing that something was moving on the screen. Turning her gaze back she noted that the thing moving had just taken out the bots by the door. Though it apparently didn't notice that their was one beside the door for it had gone quiet again. When he started to speak outside the door Kiki moved toward her sister. Rikka was in the middle of a trap as Soleth started to speak. Not trusting his words she got up and grabbed her gun. Motioning for Kiki to get in the corner with the others she waited till she saw Kiki climb over the measly barrier before moving the desk from the door. Unlocking the door she opened it almost as fast as she had the gun to Soleths head. One look and Soleth would know that the hyper girl people normally saw was gone. Looking him over she noted he didn't send chills running up her back like the others had. Lowering her gun the thing to her right chose that moment to reach through the bars in an attempt to wound her. Rikka slid to the side and shot it in the head with out mercy. The thing yanked its arm back into the cage and waited biding its time for Rikka to make a mistake. "I need ten more minutes. Don't get too close to that thing. Even though I shot the mother board it seems to still move."

Racing back into the room Rikka went straight back to working on the trap she had stopped mid-way through. Finishing it in a matter of seconds she worked on a decoy. Using the bare minimum for it she slid it over to Kiki and the group."Kiki get them all to cry into that about wanting to go home and being scared please." Blinking it crossed her mind that the thing outside the door might warn others that they had made an escape. Not wanting her decoy to be discovered until they were well away from the scene she snapped her fingers lighting the thing outside on fire until it and the cage, unfortunately, were melted into a hunk of metal. Creating her own decoy she quickly made soothing noises while Kiki got the kids to make complaints and real crying. Kiki slid it back over to Rikka as she worked on calming the two three year olds. Patting their heads like Rikka did for her, Kiki refused to give into her own childish wants to cry cause she knew it was only going to distract her sister. Setting them both on repeat, Rikka set them aside. Her hands ran expertly across several new mother boards as she created a few more traps with the last of the supplies she had grabbed. Tossing them into her storage device she counted over 150 new traps in her arsenal. Pulling the clip out of her gun she counted her remaining bullets and slid it back into place. Flipping through her storage device she pulled out a pair of cargo pants and her combat boots. She usually used them for practicing in advanced magic.

Slipping out of her shorts and tennies she didn't even give it a thought that Soleth was standing there as she slid on the cargo pants and secured them to her with a belt. Pulling on the combat boots she laced them up, placing her gun into one, and moved over to the children pulling them out of the corner. Handing the three smaller children to the older ones she pulled the hover board from her storage and hit the button as she tossed it to the left of Soleth. It opened up with the guard rails up. A section of the guard rails went down as the kids ran forward and climbed in quickly. "Everyone sit down this time. Since their will obviously not be enough room. Younger children sit on laps. Quickly." Tossing her decoys into the corner the kids had just vacated she set them to start up in the next few minutes. Moving to the door she had her storage device in one hand and the other was flipping up a panel in the hover board reconfiguring it. When all the children were seated and she had done another head count she used the bars at the top of the guard rails turn into a solid sheet of metal over the top creating a safety barrier out of her hover-board. Slapping the panel shut she started pulling out three extra clips and several of her flash traps. Sticking the ten flash traps into a pocket she raced back into room grabbing the movement camera off the wall and stuck it to the top of the container of children. A new screen was projected and now the container was red showing Soleth and herself beside it. "Alright lets go!" The moment Soleth moved she followed after him quickly with the container staying beside her. Looking back she shut the door and pulled her hand forward as the metal desk slid back into place.

[Horo]

Soleth waited as Rikka prepared herself for and the children for the journey ahead. He watched as Rikka prepared and moved further into the room next to the children as she got changed. ”Have you ever seen those movies with the bad guys who attacked were defeated by the good guys? I’m one of the good guys, but for the good guys to win you must do what we tell you when we tell you to do it. Ok?” Soleth returned to the door and stood watch.

He allowed his senses to expand over the area; the path to the Divinity Gates was full of obstacles of negative spirit energy. ’If the children were touched by that they could be corrupted and become dark themselves. I could try to separate it... but that didn’t work out well last time. I don’t want to have to kill- no Rikka would die before she let me. We have to keep them safe at all cost. If we go directly there we will encounter a lot of resistance but it is a straight and short path. Time of the journey would only be about 20 minutes, 25 max with the fighting. Or if we took the side routes... it would take about 45 minutes if the building weren’t destroyed but then we are confined and at risk of ambush...

Soleth looked back to Rikka who seemed ready to begin. ”Remember to listen to whatever we tell you.” Soleth walked out into the hall and replaced his whips into his hands. once down the stairs and outside he allowed his spirit energy to infuse, causing the whips to glow a dim white. ”Stay about 20 feet behind me. Rikka, pick off anyone who comes past me or from behind.” Taking a large leap forward Soleth began slicing through the fallen obstacles that blocked the road. His pace was fast but once the buffer distance had been set he locked into a brisk jog. ”Sophia, keep watch on the rear for us.” The spectral woman retreated behind the children and began to float backwards. ”All clear!”

”Here is the first group. If we keep this pace and run right through them it shouldn't take us too long.” Lifting his arms up, Soleth began lashing and spinning, gaining angular momentum and cutting through the men, women, lamps and ever doorknobs that were moving in to attack them. He used his spirit energy to force their bodies to shatter into white dust on death in an attempt to save the children from mental scarring.

((- - - insert Rikka saving the day stuff timewise - - -))

The advance was working nicely. The party had advance four blocks and the children were behaving themselves to the best of their ability. Soleth allowed a smile to break across his face as his senses told him the area around them was clear. Things were going nicely, but that thought robbed Soleth of his smile. ”Rikka... I have a bad feeling... Do your Kitsune senses tell you anything?” Soleth looked left and right, front and back with nothing entering his field of vision.

Sadly he forgot to look down.

The ground began to crack and shift, forcing Soleth into the air to avoid the loss of balance. A large Alligator covered in darkness erupted from the sewers and began lashing out at him. Smacking the beast with his whips to gain distance, Soleth began to realise that this creature was ano another level from the others. ”Rikka! Take the children and run!” Soleth lashed at the gator a few more times before beginning to drop from his position in the air.

Sadly he forgot to look up.

A large Eagle swooped down and took a claw at his back, missing by inches but tearing his cloak to bits. Another higher level monster, they fixed their gaze on Soleth. ”ON second thought... I might need some help.” Soleth dropped his Spirit energy that held his male body and reverted back into Sophia’s form. (Soleth will now be referred to as a girl) Her clothing reverted with the body, allowing a nice fit as she began to flip and roll, avoiding talons and teeth. She gathered focus and lashed up hard with the whip, causing a white scar to form on the darkness for an instant before it was masked by the darkness.

”Times up Soleth. My debt is paid!”

The whips vanished as the spirit of Levante left her body for the spirit world. ”JERK!” she shouted before jumping to the side to dodge another attack. ”Rikka! I’m going to need a few seconds to catch my breath!” With a quick breather, Soleth would be able to draw all of this expelled spirit energy back into his body, saving it was not corrupted, and resume the attack.

[Rikka]

The kids listened to Soleth and nodded their heads solemly. They didn't like this game any more. They just wanted to be with their parents and have this nightmare end. Kiki watched Soleth as they started to move and tilted her head slightly as if she was trying to figure out something. Unlike Rikka she didn't know why Soleth gave off a feminine scent. She wanted to ask but felt the timing was bad.

Rikka nodded her head and began to walk backwards 20 feet from Soleth as she kept an eye on everything. Keeping her ears sharp she listened for anything that might be corrupted. Hearing Soleth up a head her right ear swiveled to listen. Turning around she pulled out some flash traps from her pocket and jumped on top of the container of children. It gave her a vantage point over all of them. When some got past she tossed five of her little contraptions at the corrupted and ended up with three to two in each cage. Watching them as they past she waited till the children were no longer watching and snapped her fingers causing each cage to melt killing the being inside them. Watching from on top of the container now as she decided to stay on top of it. Since it have been a hover board originally it responded to the slightest of movements from her.

As the area got quiet a shiver went down her spine. Standing up she looked around from the hover board and tried to find the source of her uneasiness. Hearing Soleth she turned to talk to him when she looked down beneath him. "Soleth!!" Her cry came too late as an alligator erupted from the sewer system bent on killing Soleth. Hitting her Storage device she pulled out a long bow and her quiver of arrows. Staying twenty feet back she notched an arrow and pulled the string back as he yelled for her to take the children and run. Like she was leaving him here to deal with that. She could hit the alligator with ease from here. Her attention was jerked up as she heard something on the wind. Looking up she noted the large eagle in the sky. This day was just getting better and better. "Everyone shut your eyes and do not open them until I say so!" They all shut their eyes and Rikka loosed her arrow at the Eagle as the tip of it burst into flames. It just missed its tail feathers as the creature altered its path from Soleth.

Cursing under her breath she notched another arrow and loosed it on the Alligator. The minute the arrow pieced the alligators back Rikka knew it had missed the spinal cord. That was a bad thing. At least the arrow in its back would limit its movements. Notching another arrow she aimed at the eagle again as it went to dive at Soleth once more. In the same moment she loosed the arrow she noted that Soleth had reverted to Sophia's body. "Your body looks lovely as always Sophia." She was talking to Sophia even if she couldn't hear the girl reply in her ghost form. Pulling herself from the distraction she noted the eagle was now missing some of its feathers on the left wing. Well that had to have made it mad.

[Horo]

Soleth took in a deep breath and began to draw all her expelled spirit back into her body, her face remained unphased as she destroyed corrupted fragments, decreasing Soleth’s life by an unknown amount with each destroyed fragment. She exhaled white smoke and rushed forward and slammed her fist into the under jaw of the the gator. Its head whipped backwards exposing the throat perfectly for Rikka to deliver a quick end with an arrow. Soleth slammed a kick into the gator’s stomach before landing back on the ground and launching into the air towards the Eagle.

Gripping onto the foot of the bird, she yanked hard downwards forcing it to open it’s wings wide to stabilize itself. Transferring a small amount of spirit energy into the bird, Soleth pulled outward and tore the body apart from the inside out. She landed softly on the ground and drew the uncorrupted energies she had used back into the body before transforming back into male form. ”Nice shooting Rikka. We should keep moving before more arise.”

((You can choose the next situation they get in ))

[Rikka]

Rikka watched Soleth as she took a breather and loosed another arrow at the Alligator causing it to jump back or be killed. When Soleth was back on her feet Rikka notched another arrow when she had exposed the Alligators through and let it fly. It stuck home suffocating the alligator in its own blood. Looking up as Soleth destroyed the eagle she let her bow rest at her side as she looked around. Resting while she could she watched Soleth take on his male appearance again. "You look so much better as a girl Soleth." She teased him trying to make light of the situation.

Hopping off the hover-board container she smiled and nodded. As he continued on his path she followed staying twenty feet back since it was more likely they would group around him than her. Looking at the screen she had forgotten till then she noted their was several corrupted hiding behind fallen buildings. Narrowing her eyes she looked around her and pinpointed which buildings were hiding them. So long as they didn't attract too much attention now the corrupted might think the alligator got them. Walking backwards again she pulled another Arrow from her quiver and notched it but didn't pull on the string. Glancing occasionally at the screen they were making good headway toward the gates.

***5:00***

Rikka blinked as several gasps came from inside the container. Stopping she opened the top and looked in on the children wondering what was going on. Once glance at them all and she noted that they all had an eight point star on them. Looking at Kiki she blinked as her sister spoke. "Look! Rikka has one too so its all okay!" The children who had started to get worked up seemed to settle down and whispered quietly. "Alright. Since we all have one it must mean something. Now its time to quiet down again." Shutting the top of the container again she looked over at Soleth who also seemed to have an Eight point star. Moving a bit quickly to gain the ground she had lost she readied her bow just as the first corrupted attacked. Before she could loose her arrow though lightning rained down from the sky killing it. Looking at her screen she watched at all the corrupted hiding were taken out. The miasma was also destroyed. Since it wasn't hurting them she followed after Soleth quickly keeping an eye on the screen once the lightning stopped. It was only about five minutes later that the miasma came rolling back in.

Shuddering at the thought of the corrupted coming back she placed a hand on the container of children. She needed to get them through the gates. Looking away from the screen to scan her surroundings she looked both up and down before she looked at the screen. Blinking she watched several fast moving things blinking across the screen because they were so fast. "Soleth head-" She didn't even finish as she was sent sprawling with a corrupted person on her in one direction and her bow and quiver in another direction. Rikka concluded that this fast moving person must be on another level like the alligator and eagle and had decided her weapons were a nuisance. As the person grinned and went to bite her she slammed her fist into its head before noting that three more had converged on the container with the children attempting to open it. Pissed she flung her arm out wrapped in the container in a fire shield causing the beings to jump back screaming. One of them had melted hands and other two were missing fingers having been fast enough to get away. Two knowing that the container was being guarded flew toward Soleth and attempted to take him down by tag teaming him. Feeling the one on her bite into her shoulder she turned her blood into fuel for fire and snapped her fingers burning the man to ashes.

Before she had time to get her breath the last of the three pounced on her in a cheetah form. "You know I never really did like cats." Before the cheetah could strike the finishing blow she shifted and raced out from under the cheetah leaving only her clothes behind. Growling, Rikka's fur stood on end as she leaped at the cat and both with rolling claws and teeth snapping for vital veins or limbs.

[Horo]

”I take no objection to that, but it is more rational for my to occupy this body as a male as I have been one longer... actually... maybe it hasn’t... I’ll weigh the risk at a later time though.” Soleth allowed his body to relax and with the use of spirit energy forced the lactic acid out of his muscles. Looking over to Sophia he motioned. ”Please find Saiph and gather his aid. I would rather not lose more spirit energy if I can prevent it.” Sophia nodded and disappeared from his vision as she began searching for the old sword master.

5:00

Soleth took a look at the 8-point star that appeared on the back of his hand. ”This is Erebus’s doing. Rikka prepare yourself.”

Soleth charged his fist with spirit energy for the time remaining, preparing for battle. Corrupted lamp post and cars rushed him, but he easily began to deal with the lesser beings before they could even attempt to move towards the children. As his fist connected with the second one the lightning rained down from the sky and destroyed the creatures. He took in a deep breath as the blast traveled through his body. He dropped down to one knee and exhaled heavily. ”Let’s... keep moving.”

Soleth painfully pushed himself back to his feet and stumbled a few steps before regaining his balance. The blast had only targeted the corrupted but since it had polluted his spirit, he was also affected. Soleth clenched his chest as his mind calculated how much he had lost from his lifespan with that uncontrolled destruction of energy. They soon came across a barricade that had quickly been made. It was blood covered, lifeless bodies were littered about and it had a horrible smell. ”Hold your nose.” Soleth pulled back his arm and sent a powerful punch forward, opening up a hole in the barrier. ”It should be large enough for the hover board.”

Soleth turned quickly as Rikka was attacked by corrupted. He took a few steps forward before feeling something tugging at his shoulder. He looked back and smiled. ”Soul merge.” Two white scimitars appeared in Soleth’s hands as he rushed forward and sliced the beings that had attacked the container. Not restraining his energies they were cleaved into pieces that hadn’t even hit the ground by the moment he was behind the cheetah. ”To bad for you. I’ve got friends on the other side” Soleth’s arms blurred as the cheetah was reduced to shredded fur. His gaze then fixed on Rikka. ”Forgive me for this invasion, Sophia!”

Sophia descended into the body as Soleth flew into Rikka’s and possessed it. His voice rang in her head. ”Don’t fight this. I’ll be done quickly.” He forced shi spirit energy through her body, trying a different method than he had earlier to capture all the dark energy that would have been transferred into her. Within 10 seconds he leaped out of the body and back into his own, pushing Sophia out. He then with the darkness wrapped in a ball of his own spirit destroyed it. ”This miasma infects those who are exposed to it. I imagine it like those zombie infections, so I had to remove it from your body... It corrupts the spirit and takes control, so it’s my speciality.” Soleth turned away, his face was visibly tired and his limbs looked weaker than ever before. With Saiph’s swords in hand he lead the way through the hole in the barrier and into the real ambush. Corrupted rained down from all the buildings that surrounded them, ”Rikka! Turn back and take the alley way around, The gate’s aren’t far from here! Get the children to safety!” Soleth began utilizing Saiph’s skills to their fullest as Sophia raced through the spirit world until she found a spirit of wind. She brought the spirit back whose name was Kaze.
”Soleth, soul merge with him! He’s a powerful spirit!”
”I”m already merged with Saiph! I can’t fit a third person in here!”

Sophia gave Soleth a firm glare as he complained.
”FINE! SOUL MERGE! KAZE&SAIPH!”

Soleth began to shine a soft blue light as Kaze was brought into his body. His feet lifted off the ground as runes appeared in the air around him. His body became covered in light green tattoos that faintly glowed and his eyes matched in color. The scimitars in his hands grew in size and were composed of rushing torrents of wind. Kaze’s vitality rejuvenated Soleth as his body reverted forcefully back into Sophia’s. The power he felt was wild, near-uncontrollable, and required his full focus.

He smirked.

Soleth flew forward and began swinging his blades around, each strike took out a small number of the corrupted that had begun to flow out of the buildings. He spun and dances around their attacks, light as the wind, while every strike sent blades from the edge of his blades through the crowd. Twisting around he covered every side from attack while simultaneously killing off the corrupted. A large corrupted appeared, destroying the building in front of Soleth. Planting his foot on the ground, Soleth released a horizontal slice that removed a third of the original amount of corrupted that had participated in the ambush. He glared up at the large corrupted and blasted forward towards it, leaving a large trail of dust and debris behind him. He spun up the monster’s torso, slicing the entire way and generating a small tornado.

Soleth landed on the ground and heaving sheathed his blades. The corrupted of the ambush were destroyed and gone. He looked around and smiled before the glowing runes and tattoos shattered and dissolved into the spirit world. Alone in his body again he collapsed onto the broken ground behind him and heaved from exhaustion. ”She’d... better … get those children to safety. Sophia... I think I’m going to take a little nap. Bodies all yours.“

Soleth’s spirit went into the equivalent of a slumber as Sophia returned into her body. She kip upped off the ground and looked around at the landscape. It had been leveled by the degree of attack Soleth had unleashed. She turned her head and slowly began to notice a flurry of arrows and scorch marks that got more apparent as she returned her gaze to the barricade. The ground was black with ash and littered with arrows with a wall of fire still burning around the metal container. Sophia walked back towards Rikka who was standing ready for another attack.

”Soleth’s too tired to function so I’m here with you. How are the children?” Sophia smiled and turned towards the gates. ”We’re almost there. I’d say about 5 more blocks until we reach the complex.”

[Rikka]

Rikka skidded away from the cheetah as it tried to take a chunk out of her tail. They flew at each other again and again. Rikka took several chunks out of the cheetah while it merely got hairs. She was smaller in width and had agility to very many could match. Growling she rushed forward sending them both rolling before Soleth showed up. Guessing what he was gonna do to the cheetah she sprang away from the cheetah and sat as she caught her breath. Licking her shoulder she attempted to heal it with fox fire and ended up hurting herself instead. Gritting her teeth she blinked and looked at Soleth as he possessed her body. Knowing it would only hurt them both if she fought she relaxed and allowed Soleth to do what he needed to do.

Nodding her head as he explained she moved to her abandoned clothes and tried to get into them the best she could in her fox form. As she shifted back she stood up on her feet and shifted her clothing back into place. Grabbing her arrows and the ones that had fallen out she scooped up her bow and ran back to the container of children. Hearing Soleth shout she narrowed her eyes on him. Yeah he just did not get how she worked. As the corrupted surrounded them she threw up a shield of fire around the container.From with in the shield she hopped on top of the container and loosed arrows at noises as they were bombarded. She was down to her last five arrows when Soleth finished them off. Dropping into a sitting position she dropped the fire and took this moment to conserve some energy. She was probably gonna drop once they reached the gates.

Hearing foot steps she looked up and had an arrow notched ready for another attack. Noting it was only Sophia she let her string on her bow. Nodding to Sophia she crawled off the container and led the way through the alley way. Suddenly several noises came from on top of the builing and contaminated bricks and metal rods rained down on them in another attack. Saving her arrows Rikka tossed up several flash bombs and caught the falling demented purple bricks. Continuing made it two more blocks when dumpsters seemed to take up a life and groaned as they attacked them. About to throw up a barrier something white leaped from the top of the building and landed on the dumpsters. Roaring the great white monster looked like a Chimera gone wrong. It was about 10' tall when standing on its back legs, and it hand spikes running down from the forehead to the tip of the tail. Long fur like Chimeras grew down the spine and shorter fur covered the rest of the body. The head looked to be made of bone with the eyes sunken into it. The teeth looked even sharper. When it finished downing the dumpsters it turned to the little band of survivors. Walking forward on all fours it watched them as Rikka drew an arrow and aimed. Tilting its head it drew closer before growling at them.

Stepping back slowly Rikka watched the thing before her. It didn't seem demented but really Dumpsters shouldn't be demented either. The thing watched her as she inched to the side slightly before moving forward slightly keeping her eye on it. The thing followed after her and sniffed at her hair before Jumping to the wall and clinging to it and moving to the top of the container. Several children squeaked as the thing moved around on the container watching the children through holes in the sides. Noticing Sophia at last it stared at her for a long hard minute before laying contently on the container. Rikka watched it and saw that it made no move to get off the top of the container. "Well what do you make of it Sophia?" Letting her bow string relax again she stared at the thing before looking back at Sophia. It didn't seem to want to move anytime soon.

[Horo]

”Your first instinct when something approached your sister wasn’t too kill it; I think based solely on that we can let it stay for the time being.” Sophia gently walked up to the awkward beast and stoked its fur. The monster didn’t immediately try to kill her, so she moved to the back of the container and began pushing. “We will deal with it when we get to the gates.”

Then the sky --- enter all the things that occurred when Erebus killed the corrupted. I’m too lazy to write it out with the sky and the chains and the grim reaper(too small to see from where we were and the boom! --

Sarahi gasped as the strange occurrence ended. She felt the area of her chest that had the chain protruding from it only moments ago. ”That was strange...” She looked around as black dust floated into the air. She thought, trying to use Soleth’s deductive skills. His voice was mimicked in her head as she thought ’This is the same black dust that comes from the corrupted objects, so they all must have gone poof.’ She felt comfortable with her reasoning.

A moment later, an announcement was made across the city.

”THE CITY IS ENTERING A CATEGORY 34 EVACUATION, PLEASE LEAVE PROMPTLY AS BUILDING INTEGRITY CAN NOT BE CONFIRMED UNTIL A LATER TIME.”

Sophia shouted up to Rikka, ”Well, the crisis is over. Now we just have to worry about building falling on our head form the actual fight. Wow, I wish I had been there.” The company reached the Divinity Gates and Sophia stopped pushing and looked at the beast. ”Could you get down? We need to open the container.”

[Rikka]

Rikka nodded and watched the thing tilting her head. It seemed to like the children. "Alright lets go!" They hadn't gotten far when chaos rained down again. When it was over she patted her chest trying to find the chain she had felt. Looking at the container she noted the monster was not an unsettled at they were. Uncomfortable with the turn of events she quickly led them to the gates. Hearing Sophia she grinned. "I'm good."

When the stopped the thing looked at Sophia and huffed out a breath at her. Staring at her again it hopped off because it wanted to. It seemed to have authority issues. Turning it watched as Rikka opened the container and started helping the children out. When it was Kiki's turn to hop out she was instantly scooped up by the thing by its giant hands. Rikka whirled around her bow in hand and an arrow notched waiting to be loosed if the thing did anything to her sister. Kiki stared at hte big thing scared since she hadn't even known it was going to do this. Soon she was tilted from one side to the other as if it didn't quite understand why the little girl was so small. Rikka watched it as it examined Kiki and relaxed her bow string again. It seemed almost confused.

Placing her weapons into her storage device she walked slowly up to the thing as it suddenly licked Kiki as it came to grips with its confusion. It hugged her sister close but gently as it looked at Rikka. Kiki looked at her sister then felt something against her head. Looking up she felt with her hand and found a collar hidden by the fur. "sissy! He thinks I'm his! He must have lost his owner." Rikka watched as it kept Kiki safe in his arms. Well it looks like he comes with. Lets get through the gate. Rikka gathered up the children and lead them toward the gate as Kiki coaxed the thing to set her on the ground. Gently she grabbed hold of a little of his fur and led him after Rikka.

[Horo]

Sophia stood behind and waved to Rikka. Being in the form of Soleth, Sophia had special license to remain behind in any crisis to investigate as 'he' saw fit. "Bye bye children, behave for Rikka!" Sophia turned back and returned into the city and gauging how bad the damage was.