Boss Run, Round Three

[revenancemods]

Who: A Nightmare and you!
What: BOSS BATTLE
Where: Fourth District, Fountain Plaza
When: About two hours after this post
Warnings: Violence. On account of boss fights.

It's quiet. Much quieter than this area usually is - the fact that it's devoid of Nightmares might have something to do with that.

You've heard about the Nightmares Spellican summoned. Right now, all you can do is be on your guard and wait.

[OOC: Everyone gets the same prompt to start; the only difference is the location. Please reference this post for boss battle tagging rules. Once a good number of people have tagged into each prompt, we'll introduce the bosses. After a boss has tagged into a thread, no new characters may tag in. Ready? Go!]

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[elementofloyalty]

A proud pegasus on patrol landed in the plaza, a frown on her face and a Pricklemane on her back. "You see anything?" she asked Rex. The Dream Eater sort of quivered in response, which was apparently enough for Rainbow Dash to interpret.

Still keeping a sharp lookout, she paced up the stairs on one side of the plaza, determined to find the creatures that had everypony worried and deal with them.

[spaceracist]

Emile entered the plaza from the north, after having patrolled the Fifth District for the Meta (or those pesky other bosses). His Hebby Repp (painted to match his armor) and Kab Kannon are on his heels, and the other Spartans probably aren't far behind.

"Eyes open, everyone. Watch out for a cloaking shimmer."

The only one he'd faced before was the Meta, but for all he knew the others could have stealth capabilities, too.

[lonenoble]

Noble Six was following a short distance behinds, keeping a careful eye on things. Her bat is nearby... She really should work on getting herself a second dream eater now that the bat is trained.

"I know. I was there last time."

[fatemeter]

Meanwhile, halfway down the steps, Naoto came to a halt with barely enough warning for her Ursa Circus to avoid lumbering into her. The figure that had just passed her was another of the sentient ponies, it seemed; even if the bright colours had thrown her for a moment, she thought she could recognise the signs by now. Still, that only gave her a different reason to pause, and that drew her attention to the armoured figures now approaching them.

She made up her mind. In an operation of this scale, coordination would be key.

"Excuse me!" she called, even her small voice loud enough to echo in the unnatural silence.

[realmenknitplushies]

Kanji's edgy. Very edgy. His hands are shoved in his pockets, and he's looking around with a frown on his face. Even his Dream Eater duo seem to be a bit twitchy. There seem to be enough people gathering around here, though, that surely he can ask -

Ah.

And if there's one person he knows he can count on for gathering information, he's just spotted her.

"You seen anything?" he asks. "Uh, anyone?

[spaceracist]

One advantage to looking for something stealthy was that an entrance like that wasn't exactly going to be ignored. Emile and Spikes jumped up to try to avoid the shock, but Jorgie stood his ground and began lobbing attacks at Nightmare Moon. If nothing else, that would illuminate her as a target for the others.

"This one's got magic!" Emile shouted, probably unnecessarily, and he began to run closer so he could be in his own preferred range. After all, a shotgun was no good from a distance.

[realmenknitplushies]

Lightning didn't worry Kanji. It was, after all, his element. But, still, being hit by it wasn't his idea of a fun time - he backed off, hoping for the best.

"Yeah, this is the same asshole we dealt with in Ponyville," he called out, pulling a shield from his back. "Or thought we did." And he'd thought she was gone for good... but who hadn't thought the same, about so many Nightmares around here?

"Hey! How 'bout a taste of your own medicine?" It'd worked well enough in the past, so he wasn't going to hang around - in a blue flash, the giant armoured figure of his Persona flickered into existence, and with a swing of a lightning-bolt sword shot a bolt of electricity at the Nightmare.

[elementofloyalty]

"Aaaah! Nightmare Moon!"

She'd heard about Nightmare Moon's return and didn't understand it at all. Princess Luna was here, and definitely not on the side of evil -- how could Nightmare Moon exist? Worse, here she was without her Element, and without the girls to help her.

How could they beat her?

But this was all a dream. It was all a dream and Nightmare Moon was a bad part of that dream, but Rainbow sure felt awake and able to deal with it.

"Nightmare Moon!" she yelled upwards as she reared back. "You're going down!"

Then she threw herself at top speed towards the Nightmare's wing, hooves outstretched to ram into her at top Rainbow Dash speed.

[seasaltkeys]

Roxas jumped back quickly with his spirits, Flipper already throwing his ball at Nightmare Moon. Bouncer got to work with his cure spells, bounding around to make sure people were okay.

"Thunder!" Roxas shouted, joining up with Kanji's attack.

[elementofloyalty]

Rainbow came to a halt a couple dozen feet up and behind Nightmare Moon, her teeth gritted in anger. Stupid evil princess pony and her stupid lightning... but hey, actually that hadn't been so bad. She hadn't even gotten hurt! Maybe this Nightmare Moon wasn't as bad as the real one had been.

Grinning at the challenge, and apparently completely convinced that she had to solo the boss, Rainbow drew back like a runner on the block, then shot back at Nightmare Moon as if the rings around here were nothing more than an obstacle course. She weaved through with grace and expertise, coming around with the intent of hitting the Nightmare in her blind spot, right between the wings!

[spaceracist]

Emile grunted as his shields were hit by Nightmare Moon's lightning attacks, leaving them weakened for the incoming aura pulse. Thinking quickly, though, he drops to the ground to attempt to avoid them and lets off a trio of shotgun rounds while down. He'll attempt to spring back up as soon as the aura burst passes.

Jorgie holds his ground one more time and tries for a little more accuracy and a little less colliding with everyone else's attacks. Spikes jumps over to his friend's side and lobs a couple fireballs as well, though he looks nervously around and ready to spring back into a dodge if there's another magical attack.

[seasaltkeys]

Well, that seemed to work. Roxas jumps to the side to try and avoid the incoming flames, and Bouncer is full heal mode, bounding after Roxas.

"Hey Kanji! Let's try that again, I think it worked!" He shouted.

Flipper, in the meantime, makes a discouraged sound and lunges for his ball to try another attack.

[fatemeter]

Naoto glanced round at Roxas' shout. Susceptibility to electricity, was it? Judging from how the monster was holding up, she couldn't be sure. Regardless, she mentally filed that detail away for later.

There wasn't time to act on it yet, not with the pulses of energy speeding towards her - but she wasn't helpless, and she certainly wasn't done sizing up their foe. With a wordless cry and another burst of blue light, the small outline of her Persona again glimmered into existence behind her, this time enveloping her in a translucent shield. If her guess was on the mark and this malevolent aura was magical in nature, the pulse would rebound, perhaps even leave an opening; if not, she'd at least be protected from the next attack that was.

[juniorganymedian]

Jeeves drew in a sharp breath as the rings seared across him. When Nightmare Moon dissipated and the bats descended, he called out a warning once more to the others. "Mind your footing. She will buckle the ground beneath our feet until the bats are gone!"

That attended to, there was the matter of Mr. Wooster and his injured Spirit. Telling the other man to leave and relying on his cowardice had so far proved ineffective. His compassion might move him to the preferred action more effectively. "Sir, you have given a most valiant effort so far, but your animal requires healing. You may wish to retreat with it."

Kant and Descartes knew what to do with Komory Bats, at least. Decartes recovered his flight and aimed a few sonic blasts around at the aerial enemies, hoping to confuse them into attacking each other. Kant, meanwhile, recovered briefly from the rings before belching fire at the sky, trying to hit the enemies.

[elementofloyalty]

Rainbow couldn't believe she'd just whacked Nightmare Moon in the small of the back. The astonishment mixed with serious glee lasted right up until a whole bunch of bats showed up to harass her.

"REX!" she bellowed as she pulled in one wing and fell a dozen feet while rolling, ducking beneath the fangs of the Nightmares. "Protect the others! Everypony else, get back from where she went in! When she comes up, I'm giving her all I've got!"

Rainbow stopped in midair, then shot upwards like she'd kicked off a wall, hooves extended to plow through the Nightmares above her and keep heading up.

[laughingsword]

Souji flinched from the bite of the strange magic -- that was two blows, and he was starting to feel the effects of the injury. There were already welts coming up on his arms where the lightning had struck.

And yet, finally, here were enemies he could strike. His eyes narrowed with concentration, and he leapt forward at a bat, sword flickering out on a trajectory to bisect its body.

"Toshi!" he called to the Pricklemane. "Stay with me -- fight!" It lunged after him, mane spiking out in a hundred directions to stab at the nearby bats.

[realmenknitplushies]

Okay, that had been too close for comfort. He could almost feel the magic singing his hair - or whatever magic did. A glance over to where he'd heard a slightly pathetic squeak as his Pricklemane was hit, and he frowned - "Aw, hell, Plum - you okay, little guy?"

If it wasn't, it wasn't showing it too much. It dived into the bat swarm. "You know what to do if she starts that earthquake crap again - keep movin', okay?" he called after his duo, before reaching for his own weapon.

Some fighters use shields as their weapon for pragmatic reasons. Some personal. Some symbolic.
In Kanji's case, it's because it's a whole lot easier to carry around with him than a folding chair.

He ploughed into the waves of Nightmares, style unorthodox and untrained but brutal, to smack whatever he could reach aside forcefully.

[fatemeter]

The piercing light clears, and Naoto looks practically offended. "I was careless," she mutters, drawing her pistol again. Whether that's true or an excuse, she knows she doesn't have the stamina to pull off another heavy-duty spell right away. As frustrating as it is to simply mimic their opponent's defensive manoeuvres, until it re-emerges, she may have no choice -

Or maybe she does. If flushing Nightmare Moon out of the ground is the way to go, she can think of one other option. It's a long shot, and she'll need a very particular kind of backup, but when has that not been true?

Motioning Doyle to follow closely, she summons another shield - this one shimmers in a slightly different colour before fading into the air, a ward against physical rather than magical impact - and sprints across the roiling plaza, hoping that it will be enough.

"Kanji-kun, to me!"

[realmenknitplushies]

A misfiring Megidolaon? That had Kanji wincing slightly as soon as he realised what had happened. No time to think about that now, though... He remembers this. Remembers it all too well. Honestly, being back on two feet is a mixed blessing right now...

Hearing his name, he looks over - "I'm comin'!" he yells, and starts to scramble his way across the breaking ground, with his Dream Eater duo watching his back. What's she thinking? he wonders.

[juniorganymedian]

Well, that is incredibly inconvenient. Were Jeeves a man given to emotion, he might have stamped his foot in frustration. Trust the thing to change its tactics! As it was, his frown dipped a little lower, but he made no move to voice his irritation.

The valet did let go of his employer, though, to better focus on his footing as the ground began to move. "Sir, please, I must insist on retreat." And trust Mr. Wooster to go limp in the middle of battle. If he didn't respond, Jeeves had a mind to take the man's arm and forcibly lead him away. They could grab the wounded Rudolphus, leaving Descartes and Kant to continue aiding the others with the battle.

Kant, in the meanwhile, simply skittered about, doing his best to avoid being hit by any jagged pieces of earth that popped up. Descartes watched safely from the sky, but he was annoyed that there were no enemies coming to attack. In a fit of pique, the bat dived toward one of the cracks that had formed in the street and shrieked a sonic attack into it. He had no idea if it would work, but better than just flapping about.

[spaceracist]

Spikes, caught on a jagged upheaval of the pavement, squaks disconsolately - between that and being caught in the Megidolaon, he's quite down for the count at the moment. Jorgie is a bit faster to react and, following Emile's lead, hops into a clear area so as not to be hit by any falling debris.

As for Emile, he's concentrating on his motion trackers and night vision, hoping to catch some sense of the invisible enemy. As soon as she reappears he'll be ready to blast her again with his shotgun, but for the moment he'll gulp a potion to try and get the damage under control.

[juniorganymedian]

It's just as well Jeeves only has himself, Mr. Wooster, and Rudolphus to take care of. The ground working against him is something out of one of his nightmares, and he pitches forward, momentarily stunned when he slams his head against a spike of earth that's risen up.

That does it. When he comes to his senses, Jeeves takes Mr. Wooster's arm once more and calls out to his Spirit. "Rudolphus, come!" Trusting the injured Meow Wow to work in a way that will favor the preservation of its master, the valet turns his attention to his own Spirits long enough to see that Nightmare Moon has reemerged and is firing on his Komory Bat.

"Kant, protect Descartes and the others!" he directs.

And now the matter of running. Jeeves hopes he'll have his Spirits after this, but if not, he can make more, he supposes. Though he would, perhaps, miss the company of the current ones. Mr. Wooster is much less expendable, however. "Sir, we need to call in the aid of others more suited for this style of battle. Please come with me."

With that, Jeeves half-leads, half-drags Mr. Wooster out of the fray and away from danger.

Kant takes the last order given to heart and heats up to send a gush of flames at the newly-appeared Nightmare Moon. Descartes attempts to dodge, flying straight at the Nightmare in the hopes of drawing her own attack back toward her if the beam follows his movements. He does make an effort to time it so as to avoid Kant's flames in when passing the Nightmare.

[elementofloyalty]

Rainbow was better in the air than anypony else! From her advanced height, she practically threw herself at the Nightmare, winging circles around the beam as she poured on the speed.

"GET OUT OF THE WAY, 'CUZ HERE I COME!"

[laughingsword]

There! As the Nightmare emerged from the earth, she was still within range of Souji's blade -- and her attacks weren't aimed at him, leaving him free to go on the offensive. He sprints toward her, blade ready at shoulder height, and lashes out with a long slash aimed to carve across her flank and wing from shoulder to tail. If it lands -- he hopes -- it may be harder for her to get off the ground.

Toshi, without orders, hops and leaps after him, lunging up to thrust every needle in his mane out in a piercing blow at Nightmare Moon's chest.

[spaceracist]

Utterly ridiculous, that's what this is, but Emile actually finds himself holding back to dispense the lat of his potions to his Dream Eaters (and himself). He really needs to find one of these things that has some kind of healing ability (or find power armor for them, but so far the Moogles have been less than forthcoming about that). If there's enough time, he'll fire a couple more rounds at her, but his first priority is getting his team away from dangerously low levels of health.