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[Joe: Narnia: Bridge]

It might have been a good plan. Maybe. But, then again, even if you're strong, sometimes a giant weight falling on you couldn't be stopped by a punch.

The monk let out a loud <********> as the blow from the claw connected, the male flying down to the bridge before being crushed underneath. Oh, he was still conscious, but goddamn did it hurt, being crushed under so much pressure. It wasn't like he could do much from that position, all he was hoping for was that any of the effort he was exerting was helping him not become a bloody smear on the bridge.

He did manage to still do something though. He pulled a 'glob' of wind into his mouth and spit it out, the wind bullet flying at the Dragon's face. Would it do anything? Hell if Joe knew. But he hadn't quite given up yet.

{James ; Leon : Narnia : Bridge}

James' focus had been on the beast as the attacks thrown at it surely have some sort of impact, but not enough. Right after his first volley Amy called out about the towers, something which the corsair had been thinking about himself and Dani called out about the singing. It was all connected and after the minimal amount of damage dealt the corsair was convinced about that now as well. Before he could act any further However, Belphagor unleashed a massive attack across the sky and bridge. The corsair thinking quickly "dashed" in close to Jenny and Sayrike's Mirror's Reflection to protect himself from the blast.

"Sorry Jenny," he apologized for the closeness, as he had basically glomped her in the process, due to the speed at which he had moved. While they were friends and given the circumstances he was sure she wouldn't mind. He still felt the need to apologize.

Leon had been front and center with the beast as it unleashed it's massive attack and had no means of protecting himself from the blast. The force of the jet knocked him back and chilled him to the core. The gunblader slowly rose to his feet, trying to shake off the cold. When he finally felt like he could move again he turned his focus back to the dragon. He noted that a fair few of the others had shifted their focus, now intent on taking down the surrounding towers. However, he felt like they had that under control now. So he focused his attention on the dragon. He charged forward, charging energy into it as he dragged it across the ground, energy trailing it. He then brought the blade up, cutting into Belphagor as he launched into the air. The energy from the Rough Divide following after him, blasting the dragon. He hoped that the explosion had enough force to either ruin the charging attack or possibly force him off of Joe.

James scanned the field quickly, trying to decide the best course of action. The pillars were falling, six of the remained and he was certain the others would continue to focus on them. However, Joe was pinned, and another attack was coming. Their leader needed help, that much he was sure of. The corsair quickly "dashed" into range charging energy into his gun as he did so. Right as Leon's Rough Divide was unleashed, the corsair unleashed a Blunderbuss at the same point Leon was aiming for. Hoping to increase the damage and add to the force applied to free the bo-wielder.

[Nicholas <> Narnia <> Castle Gates?]

Nicholas narrowed his gaze as Louis began to talk. His appearance was definitely corrupted, to say the least. The icy presence surrounding the Avatar of Mateus gave him the chills, but he wasn't ready to give in that easily. Alone with a corrupted Eldritch host? A few different outcomes played out in his mind as he listened to Louis talk.

A: I kill Louis here and now and saved the day. I doubt this outcome is realistic but if it happens, hey! Happy day.

B: I fought Louis, wounded him, but died in the end. Chaos dies with me, and Louis is then defeated by the Earthlings.

C: Louis thoroughly kicks my a** and murders the ******** out of me and then takes over the world after murdering everyone else.

The Swordsman's thoughts were overtaken all at once by his memories of his sins in Atlantis, and his stomach churned. It was a strange sensation, watching himself commit something so heinous yet not feel like he had actually done it. But he knew of his sin, and the feeling of guilt hung on his shoulder. He raised a brow at Louis' remark about Ajora, but before he could inquire further, the Avatar of Mateus had summoned his armor.

Oh, you dramatic son of a b***h! You will not have the last word!

As Louis approached full force, Nicholas brought up Garland's blade to deflect the naginata. The blade skimmed the side of his face, and Nicholas quickly turned away and stumbled back and laughed. The goggles covering his eyes slid down his nose and fell into the pure white snow with a small crunch. The Avatar of Chaos looked up, a small trickle of blood leaking down his face and onto the ground. His right eye had returned to normal, a regular pale blue iris staring down his opponent. His left, however, still bore the influence of his summon; the eye itself was entirely black except the sickly green glow of the iris.

"I'm sorry, Louis, but I still have one more sin to commit." Garland's blade shifted once again, separating into two separate blades. The larger blade's hilt was long, and the blade had a minor curve. The shorter blade, however, had its hilt behind the blade giving it a stouter appearance. Nicholas flipped the smaller blade in his left hand, having the blade rest along his arm as a defensive measure while the longer blade in his right looked ready for blood. He gave a gigantic Aero Stomp, attempting to push back Louis and give him distance between the two.

[Nicholas <> Narnia <> Castle Gates?]

Nicholas smirked as Louis got knocked by the wind attack. He knew he could play keep away with the Avatar of Mateus but Nick would eventually have to cut him down. Killing seemed to be such an abstract concept, despite the vivid memories he'd seen. With teeth gritted, his resolve had slowly stopped wavering.

This is great. I have to survive long enough to let the Earthlings kill him. But with how much they'll have to face,I'll have to kill him or die. This is some unfair bullshit. Like, Xaldin level bullshit.

Louis began sending crescent blades of ice at full force, and Nicholas dashed forward, bringing his blades crashing into the ice to shatter it. Most of the ice magic he was able to break but a few came through and cut into him as he made his move.

"Louis, why don't you just give up now? I'm not really feeling this fight and we both need to die anyway, so you might as well go first and pave the way down to hell." Nicholas called, continuing his full rush towards the naginata wielder.

Once he was in a close enough distance, he inhaled the cold air and let out a Roar of the King to hopefully Stun Louis.

[Kyla: Narnia: Bridge]
It was Dani’s attack that clued them in and the assault on the pillars began. The regeneration of the demon had to be dealt with- when the assault broke the first- the singer faltered and they had their plan spelled out for them- that was until Joe was supposedly in danger. When the laser attack of nitro-levels of cold streamed down across them, Kyla was able to quickly create a very basic shield which shattered upon usage but took the full brunt of the blow. She felt the cold cover her clothes in a crisp layer of frost but the child did not sink in thankfully. She was glad because the artist wanted to spend her well of mana on the more pressing issue- the pillars.

She used her Meta-slash to aid in carving at the last remaining six when Joe was suddenly stepped on! As Demyx, James, and Leon launched a valiant attack to stop the dragon- and with Amy calling over the chamrs she had Joe covered Kyla reponded-"On it!"
Kyla focused her attack on the pillars. She went all out, and her book seemed to explode- 2 separate versions of Birn Strike lvl 2 were launched and the winged missiles of energy soared over head at the pillars, each slicing across at least 2 at full force and disintegrating on impact on the 3rd.

"-common...break..." she muttered biting her lower lip.

Next she looked skyward- that voice had to be shut up! Was there a way to get in? Silence the singer? A window an opening- she was ready to snipe a volley of attack through an open window if it meant shutting the singer up. Assuming the destruction of the pillar did not.
"Lets hope the perfomrance is over after this... unless you think blasting at every window will help?" she said over the charms.

[ Sayrike : Narnia : Bridge ]

The mirror-mage bit her lip in response to Kyla. "They seemed to get weaker with damage to the pillars, so it's our best bet for now."

She was looking for some way to contribute--Joe needed help, but the pillars needed to be destroyed, and fast. Maybe she could use Reflect? No, it would wither away in an instant. She could use the Mirror Storm, but that would take so much focus and mana at this range--

"Hhhay Sssaruke!"

Sayrike's attention snapped over to Noelle--of course this had messed with Merlin's magic, too, why would things be easy--and tried to figure out what she meant. The scene that played in her head, however, made things very clear.

She wasted no time in immediately flinging her largest mirror out and over the bridge, holding still and closing her eyes as she focused her mind's eye on the mirror itself. Noelle had acted quickly, too; perhaps she'd been a little too quick, with the distance between them, but by dipping her mirror low to the ice, Sayrike was able to catch the falling monk.

"Gotcha," she said over the charms. "I'm gonna be a bit slow with you on the mirror, can you jump? I can move it under you as you do."

Assuming we don't get shot to hell...

[ Kyle ; Sora ; ??? : Narnia : Bridge ]


Sora's attention was brought around quickly as the monster slammed back down onto the bridge, and he looked on in more than a little fright as Joe was caught underneath its leg. The monster was already charging something, and the remaining towers seemed to aid it.

The keyblader couldn't do both. Instinctively, the lurched forward, beginning to head down the bridge as tried to figure out some way to help Joe. Healing? No, only temporary. Maybe damage the leg? If he could find a weak point, if would take and keep damage, that might work, but...

"I've got Joe! James, Leon, and Demyx are helping distract Belphagor. Let's finish off the pillars."

His gaze immediately went around at the pillars. The others were really starting to pummel them--and he didn't have time to think. He had to hit hard, and he had to hit now. So, he pulled his right arm back, flooded the Kingdom Key with light energy, and tossed it out at one of the stronger-looking towers--specifically, the one between two others, and across from one.

On contact with the tower, the Keyblade erupted with magic, and suddenly three light-based copies burst out from the blast, spiraling toward the nearest three towers and striking them.

Kyle was reeling, watching as Joe was crushed, watching the monster charge up his attack. Anger bubbled to the surface, confusion and rage. There was too much going on, and Louis was still just toying with them, he wanted to go skewer the beast in the throat, wanted somebody's head on a pike, but everything was happening so fast, he needed more time, they needed more time, he clenched his teeth, pushing the pounding headache back, even as it forced magic to flush through his veins--

--which he didn't actually realize until he saw everyone around him moving at half-speed.

Time had slowed down--no, he had sped up. For every moment, he had two, for every inhale they took, he was already exhaling and moving on. Now it wasn't his head hurting, but his chest. Still, now he had time. Time to act, time to kill--

--time to breathe.

Whether it's Joe or the towers, I can't do enough on my own right now.

His gaze turned, instead, to the person who could. Even as she was winding down from casting magic just moments before. He inhaled again, channeled the temporal energy from just a few moments ago into his hands, tossed them out toward the red-haired sorceress.

The blade returned to Sora's hand, and without hesitation, he turned and tossed it again, his muscle screaming as he launched it farther back, striking in between two of the stronger remaining towers. This one only erupted into two copies, striking the adjacent towers.

The elementalist was just catching her breath when she felt herself become imbued with more magic; at first, those around her suddenly dipped in speed to about half, and then the very next minute they slowed by half again. They were as snails, and she was as lightning. Even the energy from the dragon's mouth was moving slow by comparison.

She turned toward the source of the spell, looking back to her side--only to find the dragoon having fallen down to one knee, gripping his chest, breathing raggedly. His shoulders shook, but he only looked up to her, and then forward, to the monster.

She followed his gaze--and her grin widened.

"Then let the fires burn."

The staff disappeared from her hands, and she lifted her arms skyward, fires consuming her body before she pulled her arms down in a single swift motion--summoning a large, fiery greatsword that crashed down in front of her like a meteor. She grasped its hilt, pulled it up, inhaled, exhaled...

... and disappeared.

At once, she had appeared airborne next to one of the pillars in a concussive blast of fire, slashing it, vanishing--

--and reappearing next to another with the same blast, giving it a blazing uppercut and disappearing yet again, as the chain went on.

To everyone else, to those in the proper flow of time, it was as if a large set of firecrackers had gone off, except each crack was a deep boom like a shockwave, a mixture of thunder and dynamite going off one after another, half a dozen within a single second, and it just kept going. Those that bothered to count, or those that even could keep up with its speed, would have found the total to be thirty strikes--five on each of the pillars.

The sorceress finally reappeared back where she started, slamming the greatsword into the ground and using it to keep herself standing. She struggled to catch her breath, but the heat of her gaze on the monster never diminished, her smirk never shrinking.

[[Belphagor : Narnia : Castle Bridge]]

[[YOUR FATE IS SEALED]]

[[BGM: Fallen God from Drakengard 3]]

Their choices made, fate showed its hand and the world moved forward. Joe fell through the bridge, hurt severely but alive, others struck out against the dragon but it didn't flinch, holes formed its its flesh but without the concentrated firepower of their whole group they could not break any of its limbs or shift its focus. Even Joe's efforts to distract the beast did little but make it blink its crystalline eye.

The crystal towers one by one collapsed and with it, the voice of their battle's muse gave way bit by bit growing ever silent with their destruction, yet the dragon's spell continued to charge. They'd saved Joe, but at what cost?

The sorceress flew about slicing and dicing the remainder of the towers, obliterating the ones that still stood but were damaged by the efforts of those who chose to save themselves. The deep hum of the charge stopped a split second before the towers shattered and there was an eerie calm that settled on the battlefield.

There was a loud shattering noise as the poor dragon's leg snapped, simply broke away at the knee. There was a screech like nails across a chalkboard in a loud speaker, as the massive body began falling to one side. As the monster flinched and began to shift, the charged spell within its maw spat forth all at once. A massive beam as large, if not larger than the bridge exploded outward, like a dam breaking and spilling out its contents upon the unaware masses in the village downstream. An overwhelming attack, easily capable of encompassing all on the bridge, was pulled to the side and engulfed only half.

Bobbi, Nanaki, James, Kyla, Noelle, Dani, Kyle, and the sorceress, were fortunately, all caught in the blast. The attack only lasted but a moment, before the dragons jaw caught the side of the bridge and was wrenched up, forcing the remainder of the attack into the sky.

As the fog and frost cleared, the pitiable dragon of ice fell from the bridge entirely, pieces breaking off of it mid fall, its body crumbling apart as whatever magic that held it together fell away, stealing its new-found life as fast as it had been given. Shimmering lights mixed with rainbow auroras flowed out and around the bridge as their victim vanished, signalling the end of the villains' struggle with the guardian. The open gates before them signaled, at last, they would be able to face the one responsible for this tragic flight into Narnia.



But among these tragedies perhaps some good might have come of it. Nanaki, the red wolf-like creature that aided these ill-guided earthlings, being center-most in the blast, stood frozen solid, only a statue of ice remaining where the creature once stood, his face cemented in an expression between a sickeningly pleased smile in their victory and satisfying horror as his fate closed in around him.

Perhaps fate isn't so cruel after all.