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"Mana isn't at peak," Johnstone explained, gathering his strength to summon the bull again. "I'm prepared to do it when you are," Johnstone announced. "But if this doesn't work, I'll be almost out of commission."

It seemed they could almost feel their hearts beating in time to the explosions.

Boom.

The bull burst into existence, charging at the Lucifex as the shadows lashed the Lucifex.

Boom.

The shield between the sprinklers and the Lucifex fell, and a hail of ice shards fell upon the Lucifex. It ran forward and slammed against the bull, a shockwave knocking the first of the shards away only for the rest to fall, the fire cracking more of its shell away.

Boom.

More throwing knives hit it and the Panzermagus launched himself into the air, dropping into a downward kick at it; the distinct blue-black glow of Cabal-style Unstoppable Force outlined him.

Boom.

The Lucifex's stone shell cracked off, revealing a combination of black and white vapors within.

The cloud jabbed two or three times at the Panzermagus, who fell on his back as he deflected it, before it turned its attention to the knife thrower, collecting around his feet and throwing him at a wall before moving on Victor.

Anolani's attack didn't do much good, but at least she could make a very good shield for Victor and herself. "And why on earth would I do that? Right now I'm more worried about keeping US alive."

Since the Lucifex was now in vapor form, she wondered if she could manipulate it to do what she wanted. Stupid idea. Maybe if I had more time I'd experiment. Instead, she tried to trap said vapor in a water sphere. If that didn't work, then she'd raise an ice wall between the Lucifex and the two partners.

Victor was growing increasingly impressed with this Panzermagus. Getting tackled by Lucifex and just taking the hit? That was impressive. Victor would talk to the Panzer later.

In the meantime, he was feeling a bit better and used his energy to shoot spikes out of the Panzer's shadow, such that they came out of the ground around the mage and slammed into the Lucifex.

Rosetta Franklin was a girl unaccustomed to being given an opportunity like the one she had just been accorded. To accompany that man to meeting... there? What was left of positive emotion had flickered briefly to life behind her emerald eyes as she scanned the letter twice. But it was no mistake; that was her name scribbled at the top of the letter.

Accordingly, it seemed like a bad idea to wear her customary slashed capris and blouse. Then again, she was going to a bar... black cocktail dress it was. Nothing too constricting; draped down behind her in fitting contour with her hair; short enough that if she absolutely had to do a handstand, she wouldn't trip on her way out of it. Different from her brother in nearly every way she may have been, but Rose and Ty were both very aware of one thing: appearance matters.

At the bar, Rose had quietly introduced herself to the bartender, who had apparently already known her name, and immediately felt drawn to Anolani, since she seemed the only other young woman in the room. She had tried to make her face known and keep the stench of fear out of the slight perspiration that shone when she thought about to where she had been invited, especially given that her "patron" had apparently abandoned her so she had to just stand silently in the circles he created, but she knew she had no business trying to interact with these people. The smell from them almost made her wrinkle her nose, it was so strong - and so many flavors! It was an honor, to be here. Unfortunately, at least one ignored her introduction entirely, and another actually had the audacity, to make vague, shooing motion after he had given his name. Only the werewolf gave her more than a passing glance; he at least acknowledged her as one of his own.

Then, the Lucifex bomb came flying through the window. Rose, about to hover on the outside of yet another circle of her patron's, saw it and dashed for the purse she had left on a chair next to Anolani. In it were her greaves and gauntlets, specially fitted so that even if she transformed...

Two feet from her target, a table cracked against her head as some attendee or another threw it up as a barrier. She fell into unconsciousness, thinking only of how humiliating the night had been.

Rose woke up wet. This is unpleasant. Her head throbbed, and she felt at the site of the wound. A little blood, but not enough to be concerned. Seeing her purse had been thrown to the ground, she peeked wary eyes up at the battle scene and snaked towards it across the slick floor, trying to locate the Lucifex. As she reached in and found the claws, she finally pinpointed the enemy - it was a gel. She froze and narrowed her eyes. So she was destined to be useless, tonight.

Despite that, with a practiced motion, Rose relieved herself of her high heels and slipped on all four weapons, breathing deeply as they graced her limbs and she stood, then tossed herself over the bar. The sick smell of alcohol mixed with the pungent, cinnamon overdose of a Lucifex. Schnapps, she thought briefly.

Someone had known they would be here. They had likely not anticipated her particular presence, but they had known it would be an upper-class gathering. She breathed to herself, sparing time for a glance over the bar. She thought about the gun in her purse. Likely useless. Just like her claws. The Lucifex was concentrating its power on shield-breaking. Even so, physical attacks on a gel seemed ludicrous.

Rose was abruptly confronted with the reality of why her species was used as shock troops, and continued to observe from her position. There was nothing she could do.

"Well, if Jace feels like getting that thing away from him or not being a whiny b***h about positive divinities harming him, I can add some holy-powered boom to the equation," Morgan replied. The Panzermagus muttered something and shoved the ice sphere away with his feet before standing again. The elements of his barrier were already returning. "Ah, finally." He threw the knife at it, yelling "This better be worth the cost of losing this expensive enchantment!"

The knife pierced the ice and burst into a white angelic light, many of the Cabal soldiers wincing or outright hiding. An unholy shriek came from within the ice sphere, a fiery spirit - the Lucifex again, it seemed - struggling to melt its way out the other side of the sphere.

The tone of Anolani's voice meant nothing to Rose. She understood her place. Darting glances between the embattled and Anolani, Rose dashed over to the demoness and dug the claws of one gauntlet into a nearby table, bracing a foot against it, as well, in case she needed to retract them.

"Excuse my forwardness, Ma'am. I assume that as a magic user you need someone more able in physical combat; I apologize if I am wrong," she said quietly as she knelt in front of the woman and wrapped the fingers of her other hand around Anolani's leg. If anything came at the pair of them, Rose was well prepared to pull the woman down and shield them both with the table. She glanced behind them once; she was not about to be surprised from the rear in company like this.