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Mer'loct paused for just a second as he saw the flash of red and orange, and then the explosion against the tower. He saw the cracks jut through it's structure and knew the ivory tower was going to fall. He broke back into to his sprint a new fire in his lungs. This was the person he was looking for, this would finish this ruthless attack. Screaming into battle he cut down the first mercenaries he came across with ease and looked to meet blades with the man in center of the small crowd.

Walking down the dimly lit staircase which was more or less the only exit and entrance to his cell, Ra'Zir stopped and pondered where exactly he was. Last thing he recalled was the Order of Gemini, and all of its unholiness. Continuing down the stairs he finally arrived at the exit. Bright sunshine washed over his eyes s he quickly covered them his scaly hands, hissing. "DAMN IT! I forgot how wretched that could be...." he muttered to himself as he slowly regain his sight. Beginning to walk again, he reached into 'his' backpack and rummaged through it until you found a map of the facility. Reading it long and thoughtfully, he traced his whereabouts to the Armory. "So that's where they're keeping my baby!"he said before quietly laughing to himself.

"H-hey!" Was all Bane stated as Tsunaimei used him as a crutch to rise to her feet. Before he could even think of a smart mouth comment about it, he heard the explosion and the crackling of something falling apart. "Well...that's never a good sound." He muttered. Bane rose to his feet and headed to then entrance (or what was left of it) to see the Tower collapsing. Just as Bane turned around to report to the others that the Tower was falling, he noticed Celine pull forth from a small pouch the very thing they had been sent to collect! And he was near it! ALL THIS TIME!! While Bane mentally kicked himself over it, he realized he was in a uncomfortable position.

Bane was still, technically, the hired enemy and still, technically, had to retrieve the stone. But the people around him and his target were allies. Bane sighed heavily as his mind raced.

Dmitri blinked. "What...?" The man refused at first help. That was until he tripped and fell unconscious. As he helped Celine prop Valthis to a sitting position so she could cast Aegis upon him, the man awoke and began to move once more. "Oh I give up!" He shouted in frustration and ran a hand over his face. Then he felt the earth shake and heard a loud booming sound. He fell onto his rear and looked up to see the Tower collapsing. His jaw dropped in shock and confusion. It was something near the Tower that drew his attention away from the scene.

It was Mer'loct who was running headlong towards the mercenaries that remained, surrounding a man. Dmitri rose to his feet, retrieved his blade and dashed forward to aid Mer'loct.

"I'm glad you are willing to take the job. I can't tell you how much of a burden you have lifted off of me and more precisely, your interest in future jobs." Delita stated with a grin, his hands drawing together, fingers gently rapping against one another. "As for payment. Do not worry. You will be well compensated. You will be well taken care of so long as you and I continue working with one another. You may begin whenever you feel ready." Delita motioned for a guard to come forth who bowed to him and handed Crimen a few papers.

"A map of area, habits of the target and whatever else I thought might be useful to aid you in taking care of the Judge."

Mer'loct watched in horror as the blade of his father's sword shattered before his eyes. A rage gripped him like none that he's had since he watched his brothers get cut down by the masked assassin. Several of the mercenaries rushed at him now that he seemed defenseless. "I've had more training than that." Mer'loct said with a deathly growl in his voice. With a quick turn he backhanded three of the mercenaries who were standing around him before hitting the last one with the 'secret fist' technique. He froze as his insides were turning inside out from the sudden reversal of the soldier's chakra. Seeing three mercenaries standing in a row, Mer'loct summoned all his anger into one strike. "Earth's anger running through my arms! Earth Slash!" He cried as he pushed all his anger out and shot it forward to bring down the last of his normal opponents. Standing amidst all unconsious mercenaries, the knight took up one of their swords and pointed it at the man that shattered his father's sword. "This may not work as well as my blade did, but it'll be more than enough for me to cut you down."

Entering the somewhat guarded Armory using stealth means by crawling on the walls by digging his sharp claws into the dark stone. Ra'Zir managed to find what he was looking for, sticking to the shadows he maneuvered over to a particular weapon, a grim looking scythe. "Glad to know you death worshipers can take care of weapon that don't belong to you properly!" The Dragonkin shouted out, alerting all the guards in the building.

Twirling his weapon around and slashing the air around him, Ra'Zir was getting a feeling for his weapon again. Finally he moved forward with a toothy grin as he had his scythe propped against his shoulder. "You know... I could have just as easily walked in here, slaughtered you all, and THEN taken my weapon back... That you had stolen from me ages ago... But then how could I get the rust off of my abilities..." he let out a low growl as he suddenly rushed forward towards the knights.

They brought up their defenses after the first knight was taken by surprise, as Ra'Zir turned his head to face his next victim. "Look, you're all going to die, so at least make this sporting and start RUNNING!" he began to laugh, leaping at the next knight who was only able to black the initial attack before Ra'Zir claws tore into his expose head. One knight had listened to Ra'Zir and began to run before the Dragonkin took notice.

Gloria gasped, hearing that the tower had fallen. She then was distracted by Tsun's movements to protect her. "Tsunaimei...we need to help Mommy... Uncle Gwynn thinks that the stone is still in the creek and..." She then blinked. "...What if he caused the tower to fall?" It was just then that Bane hit the Blue Dragon.

"Wha-what are you doing!?" she cried out to the merc as she moved to grab her 'big sister', though she really wasn't strong enough to do more than make her landing softer.

Celine tore after Bane, drawing her sword. "Come back here, you coward!" she shouted, unfortunately being attacked by a couple of mercenaries that decided to help Bane out. "Noo! We can't let him get away! Dominic, get that pouch!"

Dominic called out to Dmitri, and tried to get over towards the two allies, when he heard Celine shout. The knight glanced back in time for Bane to pass him up, only understanding what was in Bane's hand after the sell sword had passed him. "Oh s**t!" he said, running as fast as he could. "You're not getting away!"

Gwynn was going to continue his assault on Mer'loct, however, his ears caught the wind of victory that Bane was saying. "Ah, it seems I have much more important business to deal with," he said, bowing a bit to Mer'loct, then teleporting. He landed close to where Bane was running. "Give it to me!" he said, getting to the minion. He snatched the pouch out of Bane's hand and peaked inside. The smirk on his face showed he was pleased. "Then let's go! Everyone fall back! We have what we came here for." He took hold of Bane's arm, and teleported again, the bigger man in tow. If he couldn't teleport far, none of the virgos could most likely tell.

Back at the tower, pieces of the rubble moved, revealing Fiora as she crawled out unscathed minus a bruise on her face, and possibly others that weren't visible. She had completely missed what transpired and found it painful to stand. However, she was still alive, thanks to those that gave their lives for her safety. "GWYNN!" she shouted, trying to spot her brother. However, again, she was too late.

Bane had handed the pouch over just as Gwynn snatched it and before he could say anything, Gwynn had grabbed hold of his arm and teleported the two away. As they re-appeared in a different area, Bane felt like his head was spinning. "Gaaah..." He stated, rubbing the temples of his forehead.

"It wasn't easy...ya know...getting the stone." He muttered. "Some Virgo knight had it all along. I was nearby and didn't even know 'til she pulled the damned thing out after the Cathedral was blown up."

Dmitri wondered what the knights were chasing after the man for. It wasn't until Dominic ran past him and nearly grabbed a hold of the retreating man that he began to suspect he had something important. Dmitri tried to trip him but only succeeded in tripping up Dominic.

"Sh*t! Sorry! Gaaah!" He stated, helping Dominic to his feet. Dmitri looked back to see not only the odd man but also the leader teleport away. "Some help I was..." He muttered.