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It seemed like all hell had broken loose.

The world seemed to move in slow motion around her. Everybody screaming, panicking, trying to figure out what to do. But somehow in that moment things seemed so...clear to her. Clear, but in chaos. If it was possible for chaos to be crystal clear, that would have been how Shehk described what was happening around her. Crystal Clear Chaos. Everything seemed to distort and twist..or perhaps it was herself flickering in and out of an existence that could try to withstand the presence of the Red that had dragged itself out of the abyss... out of the darkness.

The sun had risen and she herself was a night creature, standing in front of a creature that would just.... what was going through Red's head, she wondered. The pricolici didn't approach her, instead staring at her from where she stood, her attentions transfixed as though if she stared long enough everything would be fixed.... all would be better. But in her heart, Shehk knew that wasn't true.

She was powerless.

"What is it you want me to do?" she asked quietly, as though it could be heard even if only by herself - as if that was all she needed to get an answer from the monstrous entity of FEAR in front of them. "What do you need me to do? What is the answer? Tell me. Tell me. Tell me.." she felt like she was beginning to repeat the same thing over and over again. But she was powerless. Would she have prevented all of this if she'd reached the falling weapon in time? Would this have all been prevented if the students had been strong enough to stand against the hunters?

"I still stand by what I said to you, Red....I don't want to see anybody go down.. I didn't want to see anybody go down.... that included you... how do I fix it? What do I do? I just need a sign..something...anything..." Shehk clutched at her coat, tears streaming down her face.

She was unable to move.




She would not attack.

Just a few seconds of freedom- and then another net had come right at her, and it was back to square one. Screaming in rage, she clawed at the ********* net again, apparently presenting herself as a sitting duck- someone else attacked her, while she was still in the net, and that sent her toppling over onto the ground, where she lay still, cringing, fighting more tears away.

This wasn't how it was supposed to be. Struggling to sit up, the salamander tried harder at ripping this new net off, but to no avail. All she could do was.. watch.

Watch as Professor Red fell, consumed by the weapon she used.

And then, all of a sudden, the net simply broke off, falling to the floor. Vieve wasted no time; leaping up, she darted behind a rock, surveying the situation, and then a huge, dark monster with glowy blue markings came into view. Instantly she could feel something.. odd- but then the monster growled, and there was the same fire as before- the only fire that could hurt her.

Did that mean...

Was that.. was that the natural form of the weapon Red had used? Vieve pieced together what she knew: a machine that turned halloweeners into weapons, but now that the weapon had.. sucked Professor Red in, had it regained its natural form?

And was it on their side?!

HP: 11/30

She had been doing her best to stay out of the fray, knowing she wouldn't be much use in a fight. She was pretty beat up already, and she wasn't nearly as strong as some of her fellow class mates. It was better to stay on the sidelines then to be a burden. Then it happened. Red died. The gun was kicked over the cliff, and Shehk wasn't able to get it.

Whisper couldn't move. She was paralyzed watching the battle ensue in front of her. Her hero just fell. The one person she held above all others. This was insane. This wasn't right. She couldn't die, that was literally impossible. Right? Right? She managed to clasp her hands over her mouth to stifle the cries and whimpers that began to seep out. Tears were flowing down her face, mixing with the blood that had dried from her nose. It was the color of rust, and it was probably going to stain her already tattered outfit. But in all honesty, that was the least of her worries and her furthest thought. This was pure madness, and in some ways worse then the island.

Just when she thought that this whole thing was a lost cause, something miraculous and yet terrible happened. A huge monster rose from the canyon, and Whisper knew it was Red. IT had to be, she would never abandon them. A twisted smile crossed the hellhound's face, unsure if she should be over joyed or terrified. She saw that Shehk was equally as shocked. She managed to slowly saunter over to the ghoul, appearing to be just as distraught. "I don't know...Shehk how can we...how can we attack her? She's..."

Her words trailed off as she began to shed a few more tears. This was true emotional turmoil. She was at a loss, would she really have to attack Red?

But then she was hit. She felt herself began to fade out, dropping to the ground. As she fell Whisper reached out to Shehk, but murmured Natalia's name.

[HP: 12-3-10 = -1]

An ice sword was held in her hand, ready to make a second attack at the hunter. The frost demon however, was stopped from attacking by the series of events that had unfolded. Red. Gone. Absorbed by a weapon. ....One of their own?

There was so much Edel couldn't understand.

The sword slipped from her hand as she stood there in a daze, watching the others attack the lead hunter. What should she do – no, what could she do? The frost demon had turned her attention away from Gale in favour of launching an assault on Caelius but then the ground shook. A pillar of blue flame extended into the sky and for a moment, Edel was blinded by the sight of its radiant glow. Darkness faded and light began to seep into the canyon. The sun had risen.

But.

Obscuring it was a creature the ghoul couldn't recognise, a monstrosity even for Halloween's standards. Was that....Professor Red? Edel stumbled back a few steps in awe and shock, trembling involuntarily. The attack from Red came almost a little too quickly and the ghoul was scorched from the flame. A sickening feeling filled the atmosphere, everyone, not just the Halloweeners, could sense that there was something off.

A short distance away Edel could see Lattice crouched and overwhelmed. The hunters had all redirected their focus towards Red, and the frost demon took the chance to run to her side.

“Lattice, Lattice, are you alright?”

HP: 30 - 8 = 22

Aksaja bit back a soft cry as shapes came at him out of seemingly nowhere, fighting to stay in the air now whilst avoiding things he couldn't be sure were real or not. It was like the island with the damn fog all over again . . .

And then a voice called his name, and he snapped his head around just in time to see a Pumpkin Pill thrown to him by Nefertari. Quickly the lightning dragon reached out and grabbed it, then tossed the other winged student a quick grin. "Thanks!" Without wasting any time, he popped the pill into his mouth. Instantly, he felt about a hundred times better, definitely able to finish this fight . . . he wasn't letting anything stop him.

(( HP: Back to 40 yea baby! ))

Bix tried his best to ignore the students. They too seemed to be focused on the beast with only a few smaller squabbles here and there. It was hard to fight one another when a monster seemed more than willing to roast all of them alive.

Bix set himself and did his best to aim but the monster was weaving back and forth, tossing it's head in fury, and when he did manage to let off a shot it zoomed past it's maw into the abyss.

[[ HP: 37 / 40
Target: RED'S HEAD
Damage: MISS
Weapon Charge: 0 / 3
Charge Attack: Pinions of the Dawn Star; Swift Strikes. Bix fires an arrow into the sky which then splits into many arrows and rains down on the enemy.]]

Tess was overwhelmed. Far, far too overwhelmed to have anything beyond the massive behemoth that had been their Gym Professor register in her mind. While the other students took action, Tess could only stare up, slack-jawed. It was only when the agonizing pain of fire striking the undead did she snap out of her stupor.

Tess HP: 40 - 10 - 3 = 27

Amrita's panicked gaze tore from Johan to see Shehk kneeling in the distance. She recognized that stance, the way she curled in on herself; it was something she had done often on this trip, and if her experience here had taught her anything, it was that it wasn't good. At all. The blue flames were still lingering everywhere, and the Vetala took in a deep, shuddering breath.

"Johan...I'm so sorry, I just...I'll be right back, I promise!" Her unbroken arm gently brushed against his as she turned from him again, this time moving towards the Pricolici and the ghoul who had come to join her. She heard what the other one had to say and did piece together what was happening, but...the other ghoul did not look good. At all. Biting down on her bottom lip, Amrita considered her options, and after a grueling minute or two of hard thought, went to Shehk first.

"S-shehk, scarelin'--" She murmured softly, trying to sound affectionate. The Pricolici would find the lesser of two wounded hands on her shoulder, followed by an equally awkward and somewhat bloody hug. Amrita was no stranger to this body language; did it always hurt this badly to see it in someone else...? "It...It hurts. It really does, but...Red was our Gym teacher. Our Battle instructor...s-sitting here, it...it goes against everything she's ever taught us." The gravity of the situation was hitting her now, and her voice strained with emotion instead of pain. She didn't have many one-on-one interactions with the Professor, but she had been in her detentions, or in the field trips where she showed her face.

"S-so...you can't just sit here, Shehk, y-you...you've got to move, c'mon." Her words were accompanied by a gentle tug, trying to give the ghoul a reason to move. "Please...? At least...at least move enough to save your friend here." Through words she tried to force her comrade to acknowledge the incredibly wounded Whisper, to give her something to do instead of sitting there. It had been done to her before, it was a good tactic to try and pass on, or so she hoped.

"And...if it still hurts too much, take it out on the jackin' slime balls that are responsible." Was that a bitter growl in her voice? Yes, yes it was. Her attention moved to look at a couple of the white coats nearby, her gaze filled with a brief, absolutely seething hate. Yes, all this was their fault; they attacked for no reason, and in her mind it was all their Leader's fault this happened.