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"Yuh I'm ruh-ruh-ready-" Dylan sputtered towards Aki.

As Flair continued to take the helm he listened carefully but continued to look towards Velda and those that spoke to her. Watching them talk amongst themselves made him unsteady.

Now that they were on the move though Dylan was able to distract his nerves. Thought that went for naught when a storm of feathers and sharp beaks attacked Flair. He didn't know what to do... He actually had to stop and THINK about what he would do while she was overwhelmed by the critters.

but his thoughts were interrupted when Mercutios body buried itself in the swarm.

"ME-" Dylan stumbled on his words.

And that was when Dylan grew increasingly aware of his vulnerable state. None of those people down below would see what he would see tonight. "Oh... Oh Jesus Gawd..." Mercutio looked as though he'd now been wearing a coat of bloodied feathers. And then he felt them around him himself. It reminded him of startling a flock of crows on his grandparents farm...

Only these were literally tearing him apart. The picking at his face was particularly paralyzingly. The recently peeled skin was raw and tender as beaks ripped at him like trying to unravel the flesh off his body.

Hearing Flair shouting into the mic after Mercutios cheers had him quite conscious of the situation and at her order moved quickly to the argus. "Luh...luhlets git moving come on Mercutio, I've guh guh got bandages!"

HP: 25/40

It hadn't taken long for the Life assistant to notice B-Rad wandering around looking generally lost and a bit panicked. It had taken even less time for the older man to disrupt the Mist hunter with a few smooth insults and instructions to just stay and man the ******** radio channels, as he'd be only be in the way of the ever so slightly more capable hunters otherwise. Velda, preoccupied with her own tasks and equipment, just gave Bradley an encouraging nod and did her best not to think that they'd just basically given him a front row seat to what was likely to be ground zero. Not to mention the privilege of getting to hear the last words of those hunters unfortunate enough to get caught by the Horsemen's power.

It didn't take long for the teams to reach their destinations and set up.

it didn't take long for Conquest to begin what would become a massive wave of death and destruction.

It didn't take long for the screams to start.

The explosion rattled Julio, nearly causing him to fall against Em. After Marsh managed to get the helmet off of her, he let out a cry as he struck his staff into the ground one last time. Em might not have needed it any more, but he set up the barrier around her anyway. She didn't need anything else striking her right now after all. If he could, he would have placed one up for them all. Just to help them out. For maybe.. just maybe one of them might be able to get out of this.

It didn't seem too likely. But that slight glimmer of hope was still there.

"Good job.." he barely managed to utter out before blood began to trickle from his nose and mouth. Something or several things had ruptured inside of him when he struck the ground, but none of that really mattered so much at this point.

"You did.. good.." he repeated, looking towards her. If anything, the last thing he'd see was her beautiful face. That counted for something, right?

Hearing Lowe speak out, he let out a weak and ragged chuckle.

"Some gift.. huh... Happy.. birthday anyway," he grinned lightly.

Shuddering, Julio tried to not put his weight on Em, but putting up that barrier took out the last of his strength. He could barely move anymore at this point. Though, as he heard the woman under him speak, he managed to shift his head to see her more clearly. What was she talking about? Come to think of it.. Heidi had wanted to speak to him too...

It didn't seem like he'd have a chance to find out what she wanted to say. But at least he could listen to Em.

The words that came from her first sparked surprise, then for a few moments.. confusion. Love was something he had generally tried to avoid, not wanting to get too close lest he end up with a broken heart.. or end up breaking someone else's. But that didn't stop him from wanting to help others. To make them feel good or whatnot. But, as the shock faded, he realized everything was making more sense here.

He had always appreciated Em in a different way than with other girls. She shared his beliefs and mentality and thus he was able to relate with her. To not have made the connection earlier, made him feel so blind.

"I wish I could have seen it sooner... So closed off to the idea, I didn't see what I had before me.." he chuckled weakly, "Always so free and full of love.. you deserve every last ounce back. Perhaps.. we can live this out wherever we're going, my mari-- no.. mi querida."

Querida. She liked the way that sounded falling from his lips. Those lips that had kissed her more than any man on this earth - only because she'd let them. Her last kiss was saved for him, meant for New Years Day, meant for that ball drop. She thought she heard something like people chanting a countdown in her head, and smiled.

But it was 11:02pm, and in reality, the ball was nowhere near ready to drop.

Her lips curved slightly upward, the red stain of her lipstick mingling with the blood that poured freely from the corner of her mouth. It kept coming in waves, coughed out every time she felt there was too much, only for the cycle to start anew. She was being liquified from the inside out, but she couldn't feel a thing anymore. She still felt like she was flying that Argus, high up in the sky.

There was no blood on her lips when she lifted up and turned her head, pressing a gentle, loving kiss against Julio's lips. She felt his enthusiastic reply, and it seared through her, healing every sore muscle and broken bone until all she felt was the joy of love ebbing through her every pore. She knew everything was going to be all right, because Julio loved her, and that was all she wanted.

But in the real world, Em hadn't moved an inch. Her head was still lying down against the hard cement of the floor, and her lips were pursed up in an eternal smile, destined to remain on her lips.

She dreamed of kissing Julio one last time, but her body had nothing left to give. Her mind was slowly shutting down, and on her lips, Em's last kiss waited, untaken, and ungiven.

It was a promise she was never meant to keep.

Em's weapon, as boring, dull, and lifeless as ever, finally felt a pang of regret for never giving a care to his owner. As her life slowly vanished, he couldn't even be bothered to stay with her. The pole dissipated in her hands, without the strength, or motivation, to stay alive itself. He left her alone to die, just as he had in life.

I hear it, Julito. She whispered out, or at least she thought she did. There's a woman - do you know her? She's singing my song. It's so beautiful, Julito. I'm going to go see who it is. I hope she knows you. I hope you're not too far behind.

Una Mariposita, que del Cielo bajo...con sus alas tendidas y en el pico una flor.

She followed the sound of that voice, that beautiful, female voice, that was singing her song and calling to her. It feels warm, Julito. Are you with me? I can't tell. Julito? I see a light..

Para quien son las flores, sin no son para mi? Ay mamita del Alma, yo me muero por ti..

Not a single word had left Em's lips, this entire time.

Ay, mamita del Alma.. yo me muero por ti.

((Em has passed on.))

This was it.

From here on out was a game of chance. A contest to see whose luck had not yet run out. The more powerful denizens of Halloween had already put their unpredictability on parade once tonight; who was to say the most calculated motions and tactics wouldn't directly lead to their entire division's demise?

"I wouldn't let anything hurt you," she tried to offer to Selena, but she wasn't sure the words even found their way out of her throat. Hopefully she knew that much. In spite of their rampant unreliability and generally ridiculous behavior, C wanted to believe that she really put full trust in both Mark and her, just as she put her full trust in Selena.

"Don't let us die," she wanted to plead, but their pilot was already sailing into battle. Her palms were so sweaty and she rubbed them over and over on the rough fabric of her coat. It didn't take long to turn into a nervous fidget, and not much longer until her palms began to sting from the cold on her raw skin.

Muddy green eyes shifting focus from the sky, to their level, and back to the sky again, she waited for the inevitable attack.

But the inevitable attack didn't come. Instead there was just a swarm of ******** run-of-the-mill birds, and they dived towards them as if they were out for blood. She tried to position herself so her arms guarded both Mark and Selena, bracing to be pelted with talons and feathers. Her gaze was fixed on the incoming bird army - she'd close her eyes at the last moment to (hopefully) prevent having them pecked out, but she was meant to watch over Selena with Mark, and she had to make sure she knew exactly what was coming towards them.



Em?

"Em!" Her voice shook, whether from the oncoming attack or the sound of the other hunter's distorted voice. "Mark! Selena! Careful, the others are d-"

The remainder of her sentence was drowned out by an explosion. She teetered on her anxious legs as the building shook, knees buckling until they send her kneeling in front of Selena. Her ears were ringing, and she could only hear the faint screams of everyone else around her. There were thick, wet trickles running down her jaw, cooling quickly in the chill of the late December night. Her eardrums had given in against the without much of a fight.

The steady barrage of transparent droplets that slipped down her cheeks and clung to the tip of her nose seemed to imply that she'd done the same.

But she forced herself to sit upright. She'd said she would protect her. This would be the worst time to flake out for her own selfish reasons, even if her reason was that she thought she was experiencing what it felt like to have your heart start breaking apart piece by piece. Especially when someone else - Em? - had sacrificed themselves for her.

More logically, she was pushing her way out of a panic attack for the sake of saving everyone that she could.

C didn't make it to Selena in time to shield her from the pelting, leaving all three of them at the mercy of some very pissed off birds. They tore at her face and hands, tangled their talons into her hair, and tapped their pointed beaks into her already throbbing eardrums and her clenched eyes. By the time they'd passed, she could only see through a haze. Her friend's form was on the roof beside her, smudges of red already starting to spread across her body. Fishing her bandages out of her pockets, she smoothed them out and began separating them to patch Selena up.

"I'm sure those who die from lack of bandages on this mission will truly appreciate the sacrifice," mocked Henry's voice, echoing in her head.

"Shut up, sexy," she murmured, wrapping the bandages as carefully as her trembling hands would allow.

"Mark? Are you okay back there? Mark, man, did you make it?" Her words sounded like they were traveling through water; she didn't mind the temporarily deaf and partially bird-blinded as long as she could know the status of her other two team members. Her inquiries were so loud that it sounded like she'd meant to shout them. If she couldn't hear a response from him, she'd paw around after her makeshift medic attempts were done.

She was losing it. She was losing everything. Were they all going to fail here? What kind of unjust universe would let the bad guys win?

HP: 25/40
Bandaged Selena for: a whopping 3 hp

She had failed and her world was ending.

The sound had gone first. The screams, the explosions, they all seemed so far away. The feeling went next. She was barely aware of the roof below her, of the wind or the chill in the air. She only felt the pain. It was everywhere, and every time she tried to breathe it was worse. She'd never felt pain like this, never been so shattered.

The last thing she saw was her teammates dying along side her. Maybe the pain had blinded her. Perhaps she'd closed her eyes, for the sight of it was too much for her to bear. She had been willing to die for them. One hundred times over. Them, or any of the teams she'd ever been on. But this...this was not how she'd wanted to go out. Amy had never felt so helpless in her entire life.

She didn't feel that way for long. Even the pain stopped.

Amy Bennett was dead.

Seth was glad that other had invited him into there group, so focused on his task on protecting that he didn't say much, but nod his head as he listened to everyone and made sure he knew all by look just in case when things crazy.

He had quietly followed his team as they got set up to do there task. Seth didn't know what to say to any of them as he was getting excited to what could happen as he just wanted to protect them as long as he could. Keeping a good grip on his weapon to draw it quickly to slice up any creature in its way.

But this time he didn't even get his weapon out of its holder, as he heard the screams the explosions and the explosion of pain that he felt. This has been the most pain he had ever had felt in his life and fell to the ground when his legs couldn't hold him any longer. Seth did cry out for a little before he could no longer breath. He didn't want to die there was so much he needed to protect and he knew he was. So much pain, he could see his teammates dying around him. It had been a long time since he felt so helpless to help his teammates as this wasn't how it was suppose to happen.

Seth let the pain engulf him and all his awareness of all that was around him, he had failed and failed hard to those that he was suppose to protect and to those memories that he had held to keep alive would die with him.

A few more breaths later Seth Grayson was dead.





((OOC: Thanks so much for letting Seth in your group, despite me not able to rp more with you all. ))